Continue reading »]]> This should have been posted 2 weeks ago, but I kept forgetting to dump the photos off the camera…I blame the preggo brain!

You know that moment during the day when you realize you’ve suddenly turned into a sweaty mess?

No?

You don’t?

Oh, guess you must not be 30 weeks pregnant…

Do you know how strange it is for me to be running warmer than Mr. Metabolism (aka – Steve)??  SUPER STRANGE.

One of the first things I realized about babies is that they are WARM… At the time, I didn’t realize that means a fetus is also WARM!

And holding an infant while preggo??  Oh geez, double heater action!

Dear June Gloom (and May Gray, for that matter): I welcome your presence!

And just for you, Miranda… here’s a bump photo:

Continue reading »]]> As most of you have likely already found out, the whole baby market is a total racket.  If you can somehow stamp “baby” onto anything, people will pay an absurd amount for it.  Michelle told me that one of my jobs was to figure out what baby monitor to buy.  So… as with anything else, I turned to Google  which quickly led me to reading numerous reviews on Amazon.

The two that I liked best were the Summer Infant Baby Touch Digital monitor and the Motorola Digital Video Baby Monitor, $193 and $240 respectively.

These both had excellent reviews and all of the features I wanted (encrypted, panable, dual-way audio, video, “night mode”)… except they were both outside of what I wanted to pay.

So… back to the Googleing I went – This time searching for wireless IP baby monitors.  The idea being that we have several computers as well as smart phones.  The search led me to realize that I was definitely not alone in rebelling against the ridiculous prices of the above baby monitors.  One website in particular caught my attention Next Step Baby Monitors, seemed to offer exactly what I was looking for, at a fraction of the price ($130).  However, going one step further I noticed the camera they were using was made by FOSCAM and decided to visit their website.  Comparing the NextStepIP and the FOSCAM, I couldn’t decide what the real difference was other than the FOSCAM was only $85.  Again searching the internets, I found fairly good reviews – so I decided to take a chance.  I ordered the FOSCAM 8918W pictured below:

If you are somewhat knowledgable about networks and basic computing the setup was fairly easy.  The instructions were decent but were obviously translated from Japanese (I was waiting for “all your base are belong to us”).  Perhaps the most frustrating problem was figuring out the audio.  The current software/Windows 7 interface is a little flaky; it has to detect that a microphone is plugged in before enabling the audio.  Luckily for me FOSCAM appears to have a decent forum where people had already figured this out.  $6 for an iPhone App and both Michelle and my iPhones can easily see/hear the baby room, control the camera, and talk to Kit.

SO…. here are a couple of pictures (yes, it can snap pictures):

Radar inspecting all the baby stuff… I had an early picture of him sitting on the little table staring right at the camera as I panned it around, but unfortunately lost it when I restarted IE.

Crib (thanks Gma Denise) with new crib mattress (thanks Jeff, Wendy, and Tyler) as well as Shep and a pillow that Michelle made.

Last but not least a video:

Continue reading »]]> I think it’s safe to assume that Kit is going to be a bit of a geek – that will be genetically unavoidable, I think!  An aerospace engineer father and a CPA mother have to make geeky offspring, right??

But I think we confirmed it last night.  Steve & I were catching up on last week’s episode of The Big Bang Theory, which is one of our favorite shows.  Steve relates well to the nerds on the show, and I have empathy for Penny, the non-science girl next door from Nebraska…  Some of the writing is a bit canned, but we both appreciate the effort that’s put in to the science & technology talk.

Anywho, we are watching the show, and I’m lounging on the couch and Kit is going crazy, lots of rolling around with kicks mixed in.  I mention this to Steve, who hypothesizes that Kit likes the show.  I just roll my eyes, but sure enough, Kit stopped moving as soon as a commercial came on.  And then as soon as the show comes back on, the rolling & kicking start back up again.  The cycle continued thru the whole show, and the constant movement stopped again as soon as the show was over.

The Big Bang people = Kit’s people.  Already.  In utero.

I’m gestating a geek.

I’m trying to get a video of the bump movements, but it wasn’t going to happen last night because I was laughing too much at the bizarreness of the situation!  It’s rather entertaining to watch a large lump (that I’m assuming is Kit’s butt) migrate to various areas of the bump.  My other problem is that Kit is rather like me and seems to shy away from the camera/iphone – so every time I try to capture movement, Kit abruptly ceases to move.  Maybe Steve can try videoing while I eat some ice cream (Kit is definitely a Fox – goes crazy for ice cream).

If you haven’t seen TBBT, check out this clip of nerd basketball.  This is by far Steve’s favorite clip from this season – I haven’t seen him laugh that hard in a long time!

Continue reading »]]> Thanks to Liz & Jeff’s good neighbor, Trent, baby Kit now has his/her first handmade item (well, at least the first item specifically made for Kit).  Trent flew out to LA on a business trip, and came bearing gifts!

Granny Liz made a granny square crochet blanket for Kit!  I kind of/sort of know how to crochet, but am not very good at it, and would much rather sew.  Thankfully, Liz has crochet talent, and seems to enjoy crocheting also.  I do have a strong preference for the “granny square” (and this is one giant granny square).  So even though this is Kit’s blanket, I absolutely think it’s great!

And seriously, how awesome does that look draped over the crib?  It’s the kick in the pants I need to keep working on Kit’s quilt.  Babies aren’t supposed to sleep with blankets, but they sure do make tummy time a lot more cushy (and make for pretty photo backgrounds).

Almost immediately after taking this photo, we had to fold the blanket back up & sit it on the bookcase – both cats expressed interest in claiming the blanket for themselves!  Now if that isn’t a positive endorsement, I don’t know what is!

There are a few other handmade items we have already for Kit – a couple of my baby blankets and a cross-stitched quilt my Grandpa Rex pulled out of his pile when we gave him our good news over Christmas.  I also quilted up a pillow cover a few weeks ago to use in the chair as a back rest, so I think I’ll get more use out of it than Kit!

We’re still working on Kit’s den, there’s still quite a few things missing (including the dresser).  We did inherit a boatload of newborn & size 1 diapers from Kit’s friend Sara, and I quickly realized I need to figure out storage for those big boxes!  At this point, our plan is to be okay with the cats being in the baby’s proximity (including nursery) under supervision.  But both fur children have a tendency to get into things they shouldn’t, and chewing open diaper packs seems like something they would do.  So I need to figure out a secure & not ugly storage solution for the diapers.

I’m quickly realizing the cats might be a big help in figuring what should be Kit-proofed.  For example, I threw some sample items in the diaper bag, but didn’t clip it shut, so Radar dug thru the bag and pulled out a lotion sample to play with, which I later found in the living room.  Awesome.

Alrighty, enough rambling for now…

Continue reading »]]> This weekend, I started browsing MY baby book.  I used to love looking through it as a child, and am hoping Kit will enjoy his/her baby book too!  I’m really interested in creating a baby book, rather than buying one.  In today’s digital age, that shouldn’t be too difficult!  As an added bonus, the book would only contain what I want to document (rather than having potentially awkward blank pages).

My plan is keep track of typical baby book items in a draft format – things such as tracking milestones, what the world is like in 2012, photos, etc.  Then once I have enough material compiled, I’m going to make a photo book.

One of the things I think is really nice about my baby book is the family tree my mom had filled out.  There’s direct lineage shown, with names, birth dates and birth places.  Plus, there’s a section where she filled in the extended family – aunts/uncles/cousins (well, at least the cousins born before I was).

So I also took the opportunity to update the family tree I had started testing out a few weeks ago at geni.com.  I’m using the free version of the website, and it seems to be meeting my needs at this point.  There’s space to enter in names (including maiden names), birth/death dates/places, current locations, etc.  There’s actually more fields than I want to document, which is a good thing!

Just based on my baby book info, here is what my 5-generation direct lineage looks like:

click image to make bigger

Based on just my baby book data, I was able to make it to the great-grandparent level on both sides of my family, and my mom supplemented me with some names to round out my maternal great-great-grandparents (plus one set of great-great-greats, indicated by the green arrow on the right).  I need my dad’s help with his side of the family, but I’m pretty sure my Grandpa K has been working on compiling this info.  I’m not sure how much Grandpa has in an electronic format, but maybe I can help by using this website??

The free version also offers an expanded tree, which incorporates extended family and multiple marriages, etc.  This seems pretty well thought-out to accommodate today’s complicated family trees.

I’m the white box on the bottom, and you can see how quickly the extended family branches out!  I’ve only updated for my parents siblings (including half-sibs) and their children, and it already looks like this!

The really neat thing is that you can click on anyone in the tree, and rearrange it from that person’s perspective, including the 5-generation direct lineage.  So once I add Kit into the tree, I’ll be able to print everything out from both sides of Kit’s family.  If Kit ever has to do a family tree, we will be set!

Of course, I don’t have the knowledge of Steve’s family to go very deep down his line.  So hopefully some gentle prompting of Kit’s grandparents (hint, hint Liz & Jeff), I can get some of that info entered into the tree.

I’m also going to have to upgrade to a paid version once I hit 100 people in the tree.  But I’m liking the website more & more as I play around with it, so I think it will be worth the cost to get a snapshot of the family tree as of a certain point in time.  Of course, there are lots of software options available, but again, I’m liking the formatting going on with Geni.

Continue reading »]]> Let me catch you up on a few things that have been going on around the house…

In case you missed the photos on Facebook, here is the transition the stairs have undergone since we bought our place in November 2009:

Here is the “staged” view of the stairs.  We added a kitty door in the closet door, so it can remain closed but the cats still have access to their commode.  We’re loving the lack of smell!

Other household projects include adding more storage shelves in the garage (which is freeing up some closet space in the guest bedroom), and some landscaping on the patio. 

The other “must do before baby” work we’ve done is replace the awful sliding patio door.  The old door was original, 34 years old and very neglected in terms of maintenance, so it made the most horrible racket when sliding the screen open.  The glass was also pretty noisy.  The overall effect was unacceptable noise right under the baby’s room.  We had french doors with a “side light” (aka, non-moving full height screen section) installed.  We also replaced our window box in front of the kitchen sink with a normal window.  I think Steve is missing the storage space for miscellaneous kitchen junk, but I think it looks much better!

Steve is making progress on the built-in dresser that’s going in Kit’s room.  He’s missing class this week for a work trip, and doesn’t have class next week due to Spring Break, so that’s been put on hold for a couple of weeks.

Speaking of classes, I’m starting a Photoshop class with the Redondo Beach parks department this week.  Sometimes books/online tutorials don’t work for me – so I’m forcing learning by making myself accountable for going to a class.  Poor Kit is definitely going to be the victim of my post-class practicing!

We should have more updates soon – the crib is set to arrive this week!  If I could just figure out a chair solution that doesn’t break the bank, I would be set with nursery furniture!

Continue reading »]]> We are exactly 3 months away from Kit’s estimated arrival!

Apparently baby bumps elicit all sorts of random comments from total strangers.  I didn’t really appreciate this phenom until about a month ago.

I inevitably am asked what the baby’s sex is, and can pretty effectively kill the conversation with an “I don’t know” answer.  For some reason, no one seems to have a ready platitude for that one!

I really could do without these conversations, but especially when they go like this:

Random Stranger: “Oh, you look like you’re almost there!”

Me: “Oh, I have a few months left.”

RS: “Twins?”

Me: “No, just one.  Three months to go.”

RS: “Oh, you look really big.”

I awkwardly walk away…  Gee, thanks, Costco food lady.  I really needed that confidence boost.  Pretty sure she’s lucky these sorts of conversations stun my brain a bit, so I’m never able to spit out a snappy comeback!  Maybe I should just pretend some hearing loss??

The crazy thing is that I’m pretty sure my belly measurement is right on the money.  I’m also positive I won’t be wearing non-maternity clothes when I am actually 9 months along, like I was for this encounter!  I sure as heck won’t be shopping for toilet paper in Costco when I’m 9 months along! 

So as a plea… if you feel compelled to talk to a pregnant stranger, please only say nice things to her.  And tell her you think it’s awesome that she’s not finding out the gender of her baby!

I’ll be back next week with an updated belly measurement from my OB, along with an ultrasound!  I won’t drink OJ beforehand this time – hopefully, Kit will pose all nice & pretty for us!  The ultrasound should also give us some size measurements to benchmark.

Continue reading »]]> Saturday was spent running errands, with a trip to the movie theater to see The Hunger Games.  A rainy Sunday canceled our plans to head south to visit the Carlsbad flower fields, so we spent the day puttering around the house.  Our nice, quiet weekend ended not so nicely on Sunday evening.  I developed a bout of the stomach flu, and spent the night in misery.  Steve stayed by my side, lending me mental support with his presence.

Strangely enough, one of my pregnancy book talked about the stomach flu and specifically said “While that’s not the way you want to spend a Sunday night…”  Really, book??  Rub it in, why don’t ya??

Kit wasn’t exactly helping matters… all of my crazy intestine noises must have riled Kit up, because I’ve never felt so much movement for such a sustained period before!  But all of those kicks and pokes weren’t exactly helping matters (I’m sure my innards were suffering even more abuse than would have otherwise).

Talk about a double-edged sword!  I wasn’t concerned about calling my OB, because the baby seemed to be moving just fine and I figured I would be able to replenish lost fluids.  But I’ve never actually wanted the baby to stop moving before!

I spent Monday catching up on sleep and rehydrating myself.  My personal chef, Steve, made up a yummy batch of homemade chicken noodle soup for dinner last night.  And I’m feeling well enough today to make it back into work.

I’ll be plenty happy if I never have to go thru that while pregnant again.

And as a plea to Kit: please don’t get sick like that while your daddy is out of town for work, because I don’t think I can handle a sick kiddo by myself!

Continue reading »]]> I don’t have gestational diabetes!

I drank the glucose crap yesterday and the nurse actually managed to draw blood… and normal results today!

Woo hoo!

Oh, and the glucose drink isn’t as nasty as I had heard it was.  I had fruit punch, and it tasted like Hawaiian Punch without carbonation, kind of syrupy.  So not what you necessarily want to drink as an adult, but I didn’t have any trouble getting it down.  Of course, a straw always makes the liquids go down faster…