I Can Grow People!

I saw a shirt when I was pregnant that said "I can grow people" on it and I wanted it really badly. Come to think of it I still want it and it is still appropriate because I CAN grow people and I have proof. On September 15, 2006 at 5:28 p.m. the person I grew made his first appearance into this world. He weighed in at 6lbs. 11oz. (not quite the 8lbs the Doc had predicted, Whew!) and stretched 21 inches long and gets cuter and cuter every day. Some websites you can check out to get some more information until I get more time to tell you stuff personally are:

www.myspace.com/babybam906
www.likeatwister.blogspot.com
www.centralbap.com - click on baby central, then the "H" block, then "Leiah and Matt" to see his hospital picture.

So far in his life he has mastered breastfeeding, peeing, pooping, burping and sleeping. He is starting to be able to focus on things like his parents faces and I think he likes to stare at his uncle Charles' art work that I have hanging above my bed. Life as a mother seems pretty natural. I immediately lost my fear of tiny newborns when I held Ben. He is such an incredible little person. Words cannot express what it does to you to become a mom. Now that Ben is here I can't imagine life without him. It's different from being pregnant. It's harder because your main priority becomes your child. Forget having hot meals or going to the bathroom when you need to, or showering...you have to do these things at the convenience of your infant. But it doesn't matter because he's the reason I make sure to eat healthy meals (hot or cold) and he's the reason I take a shower (so he has a clean food source). I do just the basics for myself so my little boy gets the best care I can give him. He is so cute...See for yourself!













He loves mommy's magic finger...

Lookin' like a gangsta...For anyone who has any doubt about my little wildcat...He glows Blue!!

The End Woes

Today is Sunday Sept. 10, 2006 and my son has yet to arrive (he's 4 days late). It has it's ups and downs that he hasn't made an appearance yet for instance and up is that I have time to get a few extra things done like blogging and a down is that I am very pregnant and getting rather cramped. So today is the day that you will all be let in on the joys of late pregnancy. Lets start at the top...The puffy fingers. All I really have to say about that is it's a good thing my engagement ring started a little too big because now it has become hard to get it off. Oh yeah, sometimes the joints in my fingers get sore too like I've been clinching my fists for a really long time.














Next for the feet. They have been the source of laughter many times among myself and my friends and loved ones. My favorite is when the vietnamese people at the pedicure place say, "You swole. Once baby come, no more." Swollen feet don't necessarily hurt but they make wearing shoes a difficult task. In the morning they aren't too bad but all it takes is standing in the shower to puff 'em right up. I can feel it happening too, like someone dropped a bunch of needles down the inside of my legs. That feeling only happens when they first start swelling up for the day. Here's what they start off like...


















And here's what they look like by the end of the day...


Matt said to me one night that by just looking at my feet it seems like I should be at least a hundred pounds overweight because they swell up so bad on the tops . Notice the indents by my toes from the shoes I was wearing. Oh well, at least my toes look good.






And this is what happens when you wear socks... Needless to say I've only worn socks once.














I managed to go without stretch marks for the majority of my pregnancy but about three weeks the inevitable occurred. Matt pointed them out to me since they appeared on the lower part of my giant beach ball belly and I couldn't see them. They aren't that bad really. I don't think very many have actually broken the skin, but only time will tell what the permanent damage is. I'm really excited to be able to see that part of my stomach again even though it will look totally different than ever before. With so much weight being carried out in front of me and the recent craving for root beer floats, avoiding stretch marks would've been nothing short of a miracle.

Another end of pregnancy thing that happens to a lot of women is nesting. I mentioned this in an earlier post and you can see an example of how clean things stay around my house if you look at all the pictures in my home sweet home part II blog entry. But in the home is not the only place nesting occurs. Just yesterday I walked outside on my front porch to water my plants and noticed that there were quite a few dead leaves covering the walk way. I decided, although they would probably just end up right back where they started off, that I would sweep them into the yard. While doing this I realized just how much the grass had grown over the concrete. It was really hindering my sweeping of the leaves so, like some uncontrollable force had taken over me, I started pulling the weeds away from the walkway. The irony of all this is that in the 2 1/2 months I've lived here that was the most I'd ever walked on that walkway. So everyday I maintain the housekeeping so that it feels clean enough to bring my baby home to whenever he finally decides grace us with his little self. I'm so excited to see him and hold him and kiss him on the lips. It makes all these ending woes seem very worth it.

Home Sweet Home Part II

You may remember seeing some pictures I posted a few months ago of a duplex undergoing some renovation. It was in the process of getting some new vinyl and carpet and Matt and I were in the process of packing up our overcrowded one bedroom apartment to move into the bigger, better duplex. On June 24, 2006 we made our move. It has taken a little while for me to be able to take some pictures of our new place in it's fully decorated stage mostly because we had to wait a while for our nursery furniture and other random odds and ends to be tied together. It is mostly complete now and I am ready to share with all who have taken an interest in my little blog.

Our driveway goes around the right side of the house to the back where the carport (with storage) is located. That is my lovely green 1995 Ford Taurus.

Our side has the good yard. It's necessary for a hammock and patio furniture.

Most everyone who comes over enters through the back door since there is ample parking space back there so that is the way I will take you on this virtual tour. When you enter through the back door you are in the kitchen. The laundry closet is directly on your right and everything else it to the left.

From the kitchen you go through a small hallway that leads into the the livingroom. The bathroom is off to the left of the hallway and the bedrooms are to the right.

The frong door leads into the livingroom so that is why there are some outside pictures included with the livingroom segment.

Across from the bathroom is the coat closet and the bedrooms are on either side of that.

The baby's room is mostly complete. I am waiting on the wonderfully talented Allison Reschke (my friend who painted all the baby's furniture) to complete some paintings on canvas she so sweetly agreed to do for me.

The baby's room doubles as the office.

Our bedroom is complete for the most part. The only thing missing is a dresser thing I am getting from my mommy and daddy.

There is a cradle in front of our bed now. We'll be sharing our room for a little while...As soon as this baby decides to have a birthday!

That is it for the tour. I love my new home. It's really is perfect for us. One catch...the landlords just decided to sell the property and, although it won't have any effect on us until our lease is up, we fear that the new owners are going to raise the rent. We planned on staying in this place for at least two years so we'll see what is to come. I like to think everything happens for a reason so perhaps it just means that we'll get better landlords or we'll be in a place to buy a home...some place more permanent. For now we are very happy and can't wait to have a baby to put the nursery to use.

Coming Soon...

I know I made promises in my last update and now I am giving a progress report on the promises made. Where to start? Ok...last weeks of pregnancy woes including but not limited to: puffy hands, baseball ankles, vienna sausage toes, nine month beach ball belly, stretch marks, nesting, etc. Thanks to the nesting (an uncontrollable urge to keep your house beyond immaculate and clean places you'd never before even wanted to think were dirty) I got some really nice pictures of my new digs all clean and decorated, so I will have those on display as soon as I get them loaded into the computer. I would also like to share the abusrd phenomenon of how being pregnant makes you become an advice/comments box.
Today, Sept. 6th, 2006, my due date I would like to report that I have been experiencing mild contractions I like to call "muscle tightneings" because they aren't really a significant sign of labor although they do indicate that progress is slowly but surely being made. I crossed the last thing-to-do off my list today and with the assembly of my cradle yesterday and putting sheets on it today I'd say I am totally ready to meet my son. If only the damn sink could stay empty. So still no baby but...Maybe tomorrow, or tonight for that matter! I'll try my best to get these prior mentioned blogs posted before giving birth. I would just like to say thanks for all your patience.