Well, today was quite a success on many fronts. It was a big day for Spencer and I as we were separated for nearly four hours. Jim met me at Spencer's school and we dropped him off along with a backpack full of his clothes, blankets, diapers (our tuition fee includes diapers, but they currently don't have any babies younger than 8 months, so today they didn't have any small diapers on hand.) I had also printed out a detailed page of his sleeping and eating habits, along tips & tricks we've learned about his likes and dislikes, and left them with a whole bunch of milk. It was very hard to finally turn around and exit the room. But we did, and I didn't cry. I think all of the adjusting we've being working on was helpful - today was the first day this week that I didn't actually cry. After leaving, Jim and I ate lunch together, then I went off to run some errands (didn't get to go shoe shopping) and squeezed in a haircut with whoever had availability at the Alan Murphy Salon. I felt a bit bad about not using my regular girl, but I haven't been 'wowed' with the last few cuts, and I was excited to have an hour to get a cut at all. When I returned to school, I found Spencer hanging out in his infant carrier with Ms. Karen. It was an adorable scene to watch 13 month-old Hannah standing there too who seemed to enjoy rocking Spencer's seat as he stared back at her. Ms. Karen said he had been so curious about the new surroundings and barely closed his eyes at all. He ate a lot, but according to the take-home sheet with his eating/sleeping/diaper change information I see that little Spencer has not pooped since Wednesday. Not of real concern, babies sometimes go for many days without pooping, and it does not mean they are constipated. Hey, I'm not going to complain about only changing wet diapers!

Another wonderful part of today was that, after a few emails back and forth, I finally got a call from Stacie! We talked on the phone for about an hour, and made plans to get together tomorrow. Her baby girl Katie will be four weeks old. Right now it looks like it should be a nice day to take a brisk walk outside. Hopefully our babies' schedules will cooperate to allow that to happen.

This week has been really rough so far, emotionally. (Things are improving physically, thank goodness.) On Monday Spencer and I went to his school for a couple of hours to check things out and prepare ourselves (me) for next week. Of course I know this is going to be hard, but I never realized how powerful the feeling would be. Mommies are just not programmed to hand their babies over to someone else and walk away. Monday morning (shortly before lunchtime) yielded a bunch of cranky toddlers and left me feeling a little unsure of our decision. (Carol confirmed that, as a teacher, Monday mornings are particularly tough on little children.) But Jim and I returned on Wednesday morning to find a more even atmosphere in the room. And we went back later that day to meet the afternoon staff and found it to be calmer and even more organized at that time of day. This times out great for Spencer's schedule, as he often doesn't wake up from his morning nap until around 1:00.

It's also been rough because we suspect that Spencer may be coming up on his three-month growth spurt. After managing to bank about 40 ounces into the freezer in the span of about two weeks, suddenly I am having trouble satisfying Spencer's appetite in the evenings. It's frustrating for me, and not altogether comfortable either, to have him want to nurse for the entire evening. Yesterday he didn't take an afternoon nap of any kind, except for occasionally passing out for 10-15 after a bit of nursing. The book I ordered to learn how to effectively put your baby to sleep arrived yesterday and I poured over it immediately. "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems" was recommended very highly in "Baby 411" The first few chapters have already given me a much better understanding about the science of sleep. With that, the approach on how to teach babies to go to sleep is entirely logical. Unfortunately, young babies are neurologically immature and unable to calm themselves down (why infants require swaddling) so we are still unable to put these techniques into practice just yet. Which is why Spencer continues to spend many overnights in the swing.

Tomorrow I plan to leave Spencer at school for a couple of hours, so I can burst into tears somewhere other than work! Perhaps I'll finally make it to DSW to get some new shoes for my return to work.

It was so good of Audra to call on her way back into town to see about meeting up for dinner. We went out to Guadalajara with her and Dawn and Joni. Spencer cried and fussed a little bit during the meal, but was well-behaved overall. Dawn asked when I would be returning to hockey, but didn't give me the third degree I was expecting. Right now Spencer's evenings are so fussy it seems hard to commit to being away on a regular weekly basis for a league. We're still a bit confused as to how to handle this 'limbo' period for putting Spencer to bed. He's a bit beyond the 'do what ever it takes to get him to fall asleep and be quiet' and not quiet old enough to 'train proper bedtime rituals.' We gave him a bath when we got home last night (and he is indeed starting to enjoy them somewhat) then another feeding, and just when we think everything is quiet and ready for bed, he begins his usual late night cry. Argh!

Just when I think things have really begun to turn a corner I feel like I get punched below the belt. Earlier this week I was feeling really good about my new role as a mom. Having my mother in town was a big help, and the visit to Spencer's pediatrician the week before yielded some good suggestions for breastfeeding. He was most helpful, and we now have about 40 ounces of milk in the freezer. I had been optimistic that we were all set for Spencer and I to start school and work in just one more week. But yesterday I went back to my doctor because I suspected something just wasn't right again. And she confirmed that Spencer and I have thrush. Argh. Another infection. Ironically, it's possible that taking antibiotics to treat the mastitis is what made me susceptible to getting this! So now I'm requiring medication again, and we will likely have to visit Spencer's pediatrician again after the weekend to get some type of baby mouthwash for him. And, I asked about my sore abdomen while I was there as well, and a quick exam concluded that my muscles have been significantly weakened and I am at risk for a hernia. No lifting, except for the baby of course. Good grief.

Happy 28th Birthday Deena!!!

Yesterday afternoon we took Spencer to an ENT who confirmed his laryngomalacia. Unfortunately, the process to do so involves putting a small fiber optic scope up his nose and down his throat. Despite the little bit of numbing medicine, Spencer HATED the ordeal. (As the doctor had said he would.) Jim was holding the baby sitting on his lap, and I watched him scream with absolute terror on his face. Truly awful. The doc did pass the eyepiece of the scope to me and I got to check it out for myself, which was kind of cool as it look exactly like pictures I had already seen online. Spencer quieted down within minutes after the scope was removed, but Jim and I were still a bit traumatized for much of the rest of the day.

Spencer is now wearing Size 2 diapers!

A few things I've been remiss in writing about.

Stacie had her baby! Kate Madison Condon was born on January 31st and she's a cutie!

Last Friday while mom was here, I thought it would be fun to take advantage of coupons I received from JC Penney and have some portraits taken of Spencer. Boy did that suck. First, he was impossible to awaken, then while trying to take some sleeping pictures he woke up screaming. The photographer was a big pain in the butt - completely ignoring my requests. I don't know how many times I told her that neither I nor my husband were interested in naked pictures of him with a big satin bow, yet she insisted on taking them anyway. About 45 minutes later I was very irritated at her and disgusted at having to keep Spencer from trying to eat the nasty fabric or the nasty toy she kept waving in his face. Spencer was exhausted. Then she tried to get us to buy the crummy photos. Finally we went into another room with a different girl to try pictures again. She was much better (explained stuff the first on omitted, like how to hold on to him!) but poor Spencer was just so pooped by this point. We did manage to get one picture that was sort of cute. No smiles, but cute. It was nearly a two hour ordeal (and we still have to go back in three weeks to pick them up!) The whole event was thoroughly frustrating and I think it's safe to say that we will never be doing that again.

Time has absolutely been flying. Mom is in town again for the long weekend to visit with her grandson (and us!) Her presence has afforded Jim and I the opportunity to enjoy a romantic Valentine's Day dinner out last night at Chef G's, and an indulgent trip to the movies this afternoon to see Miracle. Speaking of Valentine's Day, Spencer isn't even three months old, and he received three valentine cards this year! One from his great-grandma (my grandma in NY,) my mom, and his special Aunt Ronnee. What a lucky little guy! Although we knew not to get accustomed to any 'schedule' as it is destined to change, we had been enjoying some predictability in Spencer's schedule for the past two or three weeks, and it was quite a shock to our systems when he was unable to sleep more than two hours at a stretch last night.

Right now Jim is playing hockey, mom's at the grocery store, and I'm home with Spencer, more or less waiting for him to wake up so I can feed him. It's nice when you have three people around taking care of one infant!

Yesterday was a follow up dr. visit from the breast infection. As I have clearly moved beyond that event, we spent most of the appointment discussing troubles with breastfeeding this hungry guy in general. She was helpful in giving some new advice that I will try to fold in to the current strategy adopted since visiting Spencer's pediatrician last week. I also took the opportunity to share my awful experiences with the lactation consultant they recommend and the things she told me that were just plain false. It was clear in looking at Spencer that he is healthy and happy. Most of the trouble is trying to get myself settled in with a schedule, and that will all change when we go to work and school in just two more weeks.

Reality of nursing is that it is quite limiting on my time. The ability to pump affords me some flexibility because it allows me time away from the baby for errands or dinner out. But I still have a 'curfew' which caps the amount of time I can be away based more on my own needs than Spencer's. I had been looking forward to returning as a judge in this year's SCI://TECH Exposition, as it is rewarding and encouraging to see how mature and intelligent some of the kids are out there. But I finally concluded I just can't swing it. The jr. high judging is from 5-9pm up at Montgomery College which means that it will take at least an hour to get there at that time of day, and close to that to return. Six hours is just too much. Heck, I don't even get to sleep for six hours at a stretch during the night! So I guess I'll add this to the list with the hockey tournament as things I will once again be able to consider for 2005.

Last night I went out for dinner with a bunch of new mommies and it was great! Carol had extended the invite to include me in the monthly event which Ronda organizes. It was so fun to swap stories about little ones, and empathize with frustrations and challenges of being a parent of an infant/toddler, as well as the immeasurable rewards they add. I brought a few photos of Spencer with me to share (I knew this was one place I could not show up with out pictures!) but quickly realized that I should put together a little brag book to carry around. Something to add to my to do list.

We are so lucky to have such good friends who are brave enough to spend a weekend with us and two month old Spencer. Karl and Heather came to town for a visit, and to meet our little bundle of joy. Spencer was a pretty darn good baby, well-behaved (i.e. sleeping) most of the time when we were at restaurants and slept for decent stretches during the night as well. Karl joked how this was some of the most sleep they had gotten in recent weeks - who would have thought that to be possible? It was an absolutely beautiful day here on Saturday. Jim, Karl & Heather took advantage of the awesome weather to do some flying around the city and get current. I headed over to SAFE adoption with Spencer to introduce him to Joyce and Greg and Kacie and a whole bunch of the pooches as well. They all kept saying what a good looking little guy he is! It was great having adult company around and (try to) discuss subjects other than babies. Karl even extended the standing invite to include Spencer if we wanted to stay with them in the city next time we're in NY. Wow. Here are a few pics from our weekend.

I just snapped to the fact that this is the first weekend in February, and for the first time in the past six years I am not playing in the Las Vegas Women's Hockey Tournament. Wow. But I'm not as bummed as I expected I would be. I think that is largely due to the fact that many of my buddies are not attending this year either. Perhaps we will all make sure to return in 2005, if I can tear myself away from 14-month old Spencer at that point!

Spencer is growing. Not a real shocker, but both Jim and I were taken aback just a bit when Spencer weighed in at 13 pounds 1.5 ounces at his two month appointment with the pediatrician this morning. That puts him in about the 65th percentile for weight, and he was a little below 50th percentile for length. (At his two week check up he was in the 30th percentile for weight, and 50th for length.) Clearly he's catching up, as is to be expected with babies born before 40 weeks. He received his first round of vaccinations today: five shots in total. Ouch. But Spencer was a champ. Of course he wailed loudly, but the nurse worked quickly and he quieted down almost as soon as she was done. It was no picnic to have to hold him down while he was getting stuck, but this experience was far less awful than the horrible newborn blood screen conducted at two weeks. At today's visit, the doctor was very pleased with everything he observed. He did suggest seeing a specialist to confirm the earlier diagnosis of laryngomalacia. He's 99% certain that is the source of his adorable squeakiness (a.k.a. stridor,) and no treatment is required as babies outgrow this condition within their first year or so. His mild case does not cause labored breathing and is clearly not interfering with his ability to eat and gain weight! An ENT will be able to close the door on the remaining 1% and use a scope to make sure his internal structures are fine. We'll probably be making that trip down to the medical center sometime later in the month.

Things seemed to have returned to normal (our new definition of normal) this week. I finished off the last of my antibiotics this morning, and have been feeling better, and my production is back up. I wouldn't wish a breast infection on my worst enemy, it was a physically and emotionally painful experience. Although it has been over 50 years since grandma nursed a baby, I could practically hear her nodding over the phone in sympathy as she remembered the pain of "milk fever." Spencer's last taste of formula was on Friday. It's taken a fair amount of effort, but I've been able to meet his needs since then. Now my goal is to try and get ahead and start to siphon off a couple of ounces into the freezer every couple of days in preparation for my return to work. I'll have to drop off Spencer at school with about 20 ounces or so for his first day - hopefully I'll be able to hit that mark over this month.

Tomorrow Spencer will be two months old. We have a Dr. visit for him to get a round of shots (!) and we'll get new data points for his height & weight to see how he's grown. Looking back over the pictures from the past two months, it's clear to see that he has changed. And I had a hard time believing much of what we had been reading about newborn care, but as promised, I am actually starting to see patterns emerge in Spencer's daily routine. There is great relief in some amount of predictability with our schedule. I now know what time of day I can take a shower and not have to run out to care for a screaming baby.

Looks like the little dude is now ready for 'lunch.'

I first suspected something was wrong on Sunday evening. Breastfeeding has hardly been all fun and games, but that night I noticed my right side seemed a bit tender. During the day on Monday the soreness persisted, and some lumpiness made me think perhaps I had a plugged milk duct. I tried some of the tips to remedy the painful situation, but nothing seemed to help. As Monday evening wore on, I began to feel like absolute crap all over. I got chills despite our house being comfortably heated, my temperature was a slightly elevated at 99.6, and I had developed a raging headache. After pumping at 4:00am, I was feeling so horrible that I was unable to fall back asleep. I checked my temp again and this time it showed I had a fever of 102, which confirmed that this had indeed escalated to a breast infection. The infection is actually in the duct, not the milk itself, so not only is it ok to continue to nurse, it is recommended to do so frequently to try and clear out the plug. Trust me when I say that having an infection in a lactating breast HURTS, and it is extra painful when the baby nurses.

I called Tracy in Botswana to give her the low down, and she echoed what I had read online which was that although there was nothing a doctor could do to help unplug the ducts, I did need to get antibiotics for the infection. The next 24 hours were a blur - nursing or pumping every 2 hours during the daytime, and getting up every 3 hours during the night. (For those who have not had babies yet, feeding sessions are always timed from start to start, not from finish to start, so "every 3 hours during the night" means I was only sleeping 2 - 2 1/2 hours at a stretch.) By Wednesday afternoon the pain was still present, and to make me feel even worse, it had now become obvious that the blockage had significantly affected my production. By the end of the night the inevitable came to fruition as we had to supplement young Spencer's diet with a little formula, because there simply was no more milk. On Thursday I was able to get ahead of him in the morning as I pumped extra during his long sleeps, but he caught up during his afternoon and evening clusterfeeding sessions and again we needed to give him a few ounces of formula before he went to sleep for the night. On Friday things took a small turn for the better as one of the plugs finally dislodged. But production has not returned to where it was before, and Spencer again needed an ounce or so of formula to top him off for the night.

I'm not sure at all where that leaves things now. I'm still trusting that this setback will soon be behind us. But so far it's been a slow and painful road to recovery with a lot of frustration and tears mixed in as well.

I should definitely mention the couple of bright spots this week. Before things turned to absolute crap, Spencer & I went out to lunch with Carol & Brian and Kim & Chloe. It was quite enjoyable to socialize with other mommies and babies, and we hope to do more of those before I return to work. Carol said she had seen that the Pottery Barn Kids menorah (like the one Hunter brought over when we celebrated the first night of Hanukkah here) had gone on sale, but when we tried to order them, they were actually sold out. We called all over, but struck out finding any left in stock anywhere. Somehow my mom managed to locate a few in an outlet store in Alabama - so now Spencer, Brian and Gail's grandson Zack will get to enjoy them later this year. And finally, after hanging out in the house and feeling crummy for days, last night the three of us went out to dinner at Cafe Red Onion. I spotted Rebecca who recently moved back to Houston. We last saw each other before she left in 1997 (?) and have really only kept in touch through holiday cards. Since that time, we've both gone from single to married with kids - two boys for her, one for me. I brought her over to our table to say hi to the boys, but Spencer had just woken up and was crying for food, so we couldn't hang out and chat but we did agree to make plans to get together soon!

The jury is set for Martha Stewart's trial and it does not include pop. Albeit a highly interesting opportunity, pretty crummy timing for a self-employed CPA to be away from the office for over a month. He said he was about four feet away from her while he was in the jury box at the beginning of the morning while the judge was explaining how things would work. That was before all of the lawyers went back to the judge's chambers for one on one questioning with each juror. Once that was underway, the courtroom was not very stimulating. Having finished the book he had started on the train ride earlier in the morning, he tried to find out from the courtroom sketchers where their work would appear. Unfortunately, that conversation was not permitted. When his turn in chambers came, they asked directed questions about his responses on the juror's questionnaire that had been filled out in advance. Questions like 'do you admire Martha Stewart?' (interstesting, as she is in the room as well!) and 'what's your opinion of stockbrokers.' When that concluded, he waited for a short while as the lawyers for both sides privately discussed his responses, and then the judge appeared and told him that he could head home.

Plus, the length of this trial may have conflicted with scheduling a return visit to Houston to visit Spencer until after tax season.

Our baby is growing up! (and out!) After too many blowouts this past week, we concluded the newborn size diapers might just be a bit too tight and we moved Spencer up to size one over the weekend . So far, so good. Plus, unlike newborn size, size one diapers are available at Costco and can be purchased hundreds at a time. Saturday's haul of a giant box of diapers plus a giant box of wipes should keep us well-stocked for about a month.

Spencer has been such a champ when meeting new people. This evening we went to a housewarming party at Monique's big home up in Tomball. We were so proud showing off our son to everyone there. One woman who is expecting her first granddaughter in March just couldn't get enough of Spencer. She was absolutely in heaven being able to hold and feed him. Earlier today we were able to introduce Spencer to Mark when he stopped by the house during his last minute trip back to Houston to visit friends. A couple of photos of him and Spencer were added to the January photo album.

Yesterday Audra came to the house to hang out during the day. We tried to go out to lunch, but after the car was all loaded up and we were ready to head out, Spencer decided to wake up and annouce that he was hungry so we brought everything back in the house and stayed in for the afternoon instead. At night, the three of us (Jim, Spencer and I) did manage to make it out to eat with Heath & Kim & Chloe. He was very good at the restaurant and slept the whole time so we were able to eat uninterrupted. Yeah! Looking back, I think I prattled on quite a bit about feeding the baby and incessantly tracking ounces and hours. However, back at the house, Spencer showed his true colors as Kim helped feed him the 11 ounces he wanted before he went to sleep for the night. Good grief baby.

Right now he's being very fussy. I guess that's part of the price for the good times earlier. He's already eaten a ton this evening and we keep thinking that sleep should be right around the corner, but apparently our baby has other plans.

I'm tired.

I was able to get an exemption from my jury summons because I am home full-time with Spencer right now. Jim's jury date next week was actually canceled (to be rescheduled) because of the Superbowl. However, Pop just learned he will be reporting for jury selection this morning in the city. Perhaps we'll see him on the news coverage.

Yesterday Spencer and I hung out with Carol and Brian. Fortunately, he was more or less cooperative. Not a whole lot of baby interaction at this young age, but Carol and I were able to enjoy each other's adult company!

Time to head back to bed...

Two weeks ago I received a jury summons, last week Jim received one, and last night when I spoke with pop on the phone he said that he received one too. But, his is far more interesting as he is part of the panel of prospective jurors that will sit on Martha Stewart's trial.

Some pictures of Spencer from mom's visit this weekend have been added to the January photo album.

Mom flew back home to NY last night, and I think Spencer too is a bit sad as he has been enjoying her company this long weekend. It's been wonderful having her here to help me and spend quality time together with me and the baby. When they learned she was coming back down for a visit, different business contacts and friends loaded up her carry-on with gifts. So many people have been showering our son with kindness it's almost overwhelming. Mom has such good friends, and through their friendship with her, they have been so wonderful and generous towards our family. I remember reading something many years ago that said something along the lines of 'your good friends are the ones who parents are also in your address book.' I think this could also be expanded the other direction as I now have my mom's friends in addition to some of my friends' moms. In my life, those are people like Tracy - who flew out to visit when I was pregnant, returned a month later to visit Spencer as a newborn, and will fly back in another two months (next time she is in the country) to check in on us again. Friends like Audra who has been so excited for us and Spencer months before he arrived, and seems to bring something else for him every time she comes to visit. Like Bari who has been so incredibly helpful with lessons learned from her two little ones, as well as generous hand-me-downs like their entire supply of bottles and accessories. Like Heath and Kim who call and come by regularly just to make sure we're hanging in and doing ok as new parents. Like Carol who responded immediately to my woeful questions following Spencer's bris; and like Dianne who lets me vent about the frustrations of breast feeding and the ridiculously small amount of time off from work. We have experienced such a wonderful network of support during this tough time, and this list of those contributing is quite long. It was obvious right away how everyone's generosity completed Spencer's room - we have had to purchase little more than diapers and wipes for our baby, and even those necessities were well-stocked for the entire first month. I never imaged the amount of emotional support more importantly required to get through this time. I am thankful for all of my friends, and especially my mom.

Spencer smiled at us tonight for the first time! We've certainly seen some 'smiles' before, but they were associated with gas or poop. Tonight he was lying on his back on Jim's lap, and I leaned in to tickle his belly a little and talk sweetly, and he just looked back up at us with a huge grin! What a great day!

Last night we watched MythBusters for the first time on the Discovery Channel. Does anyone else watch this cool science show?

I'm so glad that we had read the chapter on poop in Baby 411 several weeks ago, so we were well prepared the first time we found little gel balls in our baby's diaper. This morning there were quite a lot, and it was good we understood that this is simply some of the super-absorbent diaper material. But it sure does look strange!

This morning was my six week post-partum checkup. The Dr. was pleased with my healing, but I was sad that she signed off on my medical release to return to work which ends my six weeks of disability pay. However, there there is no way I could return to work this week and successfully continue breastfeeding. Spencer is such a little milk mop I just can't get ahead of him to store up any reserves. Even though I spend all day, every day with Spencer, we are only just barely beginning to figure each other out. Thanks to the Family Medical Leave Act, I'll be able to take some more time off taking care of the little guy.

On the way back from the doctor, we stopped off for a short visit with Carol and three month old Brian. Hopefully we'll be able to see more of each other before I return to work. I've spent these first six weeks in the house with very few trips out. My goal for the next few weeks is to get out more with Spencer during the day.

Kelly H. emailed this link to a great NY Times article about signing with your baby to help them learn to better communicate with you before their speech is fully developed. Interestingly enough, we had already received a copy of Baby Signs from my cousin Hedy as a gift, which is specifically referred to in this article. I'm glad we have so many friends and family interested in helping to stimulate Spencer's intellectual development. When Tracy was visiting last weekend, she skimmed through the book and instantly jumped on Amazon to send copies to her other doctor friends. I haven't read it cover to cover yet, but so far it is fascinating and we are eager to put it in practice.

Yesterday afternoon Spencer entertained Monique and Zoe who came to visit. Actually, he was sleeping most of the afternoon, but did wake up eventually and they were able to enjoy feeding him. We were hoping to take him outside so everyone could enjoy a walk on such a beautiful day, but he was super hungry and was choosing to stay in and eat instead. Here are a couple of new pics of Spencer and friends, including Thursday's lunch outing. Monique told an incredible story about moving their backyard pizza oven to their new home which she will soon be writing up for CountryStyle, TX Magazine.

Nothing much on the agenda today. One goal which I might try to accomplish is clearing all of the maternity clothes out of the closet.

Thursday was just great! Spencer was a champ on our trip out for lunch. He stayed asleep while we ate, cuddled up on Stephanie's shoulder while she held him, and Diana even got to feed him a bit when he woke up hungry. He snoozed and ate in big chunks for the rest of the day, which made life nice. We have no real predictable 'schedule' worked out yet at this point, but possibly due to the fact that we keep changing up his feeding strategy. Hopefully we'll be able to see some patterns develop during his second month of life which will help things continue to improve.

Audra came by yesterday afternoon just to hang out and visit with Spencer & me. She was able to feed him a few bottles, but he didn't have quite as good of an afternoon eat/sleep pattern as the day before. He did doze off for about an hour while relaxing on Audra - it was very cute.

In the last day or so, it seems that Spencer is becoming more aware of his surroundings. Yesterday he spent a little while checking out his right hand. We used part of the gift card from my group at work to purchase a swing last night, and he definitely seemed curious about the little sea creatures spinning around above his head.

I had planned for some adult interaction today (a.k.a. ability to have a conversation during daylight hours, and someone besides me could hold the baby when he just needs to be held) but that didn't work out. Tomorrow I will venture out for lunch with Stephanie & Diana - my first trip out alone with Spencer. Of course I did reserve the right to change the plans to sandwiches here at the house if that becomes necessary! If all goes according to plan, this will be his third restaurant trip. Last night we met Kim and Heath and Chloe out for dinner. Unfortunately, Spencer didn't do as awesomely as he did over the weekend. He got hungry and started crying right as our food came. So Jim and I had to take turns eating and feeding. Now it's time for Spencer's evening cluster feeding - oh joy.

Congratulations to our friends who squeezed in under the wire for the 2003 tax write off. Diane and Marcos welcomed Michael Robert Martinez on December 30th at 5:27pm. He weighed 8 lb. 4 oz. and was 19 inches long. Jeff and Amanda announced that Berit Eliza Schaus arrived on December 31st at 12:31pm. She was 7 lb. 9oz. and 20 1/4 inches. Babies everywhere! Next friend due is Stacie in about one month from now. I think after her that's it for babies for a little while.

Spencer is one month old today! Check out these black and white pics that were taken on his due date (Dec. 26.)

Two major milestones today for Spencer. First, we ate dinner out at Hido this evening WITH Spencer. He seemed to quiet down a bit after some cluster feeding in the late afternoon so we decided to chance it. The folks we shared the hibachi table with thought he was adorable, and I'm sure they were also pleased that he stayed quietly asleep for the entire meal. He needed a bottle on the ride home, but we are thrilled and consider our first outing a complete success. (No guarantee that will be duplicated any time soon, but tonight was very pleasant for everyone.)

Second milestone occurred when we returned home and noticed that Spencer's umbilical cord FINALLY fell off.

Hooray! I took a shower this morning (well, really it was closer to 1:00) and Spencer was not screaming when I got out! I guess that sort of makes up for all of the messes he has caused in the last two days. Yesterday I was wearing my fourth t-shirt of the day by 1:00. This morning Jim had to clean up projectile poop, and I took my turn with projectile vomit. We both had to deal with him unloading his little gun while cleaning up the bigger messes.

Tracy's plane should be landing any minute now - she can't wait to meet the little guy. And we're excited to have a pediatrician in the house for the weekend to help assuage some of our concerns and answer questions about what is and isn't normal during this time.

Happy New Year! Some silly folks asked us what our plans were last night. Well, it was pretty much exactly the same as the night before, and the night before that... We knew from reading and from people telling us that infants are hard, and breastfeeding is hard but we didn't really understand what that meant. "You have to figure out what works best for you," is really the best and truest advice that folks can give. For us, we are now on our fifth differnt feeding strategy, improving little by little each time.

Yesterday was my first day completely alone with Spencer since he was born, and I think we both did ok. Of course he didn't take any substantial naps, so I was constantly with him, and only managed to get things done in very tiny blocks of time. I guess that is the way things will go from now on. So now it's two days in a row that I got in the shower while Spencer was quietly sleeping, only to turn off the water and hear him screaming because his little t-shirt had gotten wet from a leaky diaper.

And some genius at the city courthouse decided next month would be a good time for me to serve jury duty.

Friday evening Heath & Kim & Chloe came over and we talked about how hard it is to take care of a newborn, and all of the little things you figure out day by day to help make things easier. We also discussed how scary the thought of a having a second child is at this point. To properly manage an infant and stimulate a toddler seems daunting during this time when eight hours of uninterrupted sleep is just a faint memory.

Yesterday we were able to show off Spencer to the rest of the Leach family at Uncle Mike's. It took quite a bit of planning to figure out how to manage his feeding schedule to be able to be away from the house for three hours. He was a champ - staying quietly asleep like a little angel so everyone could check him out and hold him, and waking up to eat exactly when we had hoped he would. I doubt we'll always be so lucky on future outings, but yesterday he made both of us very proud.

Life has gotten significantly better in the past two days since taking demand feeding one step further. Even though mine & Spencer's 24 hours totals (production & consumption) are in check, his demand at cluster feeding time in the evenings far exceeds what I (or anyone) could be expected provide. So now, with a little organization and planning, I pump on a regular schedule (day & night) which allows us to feed him as much as he wants when he wants it. Everyone seems much happier.

Today is Spencer's due date - how inconceivable is that at this point in time?

Lots of visitors today! Audra came by after lunch to hang out and visit with Spencer (and us!) Then Aunt Ronnee stopped in and was just in time to give her favorite nephew an afternoon bottle. And this evening was special as Spencer got to meet Great Grandma Leach for the first time. (Four generations photo to be uploaded shortly.)

The past three days we have seen a (sort of) pattern with Spencer's eating and sleeping. He cluster feeds in the late morning and prime time in the evening. In between these feeding frenzies, we usually have a decent bit of down time to get stuff done. Last night I was able to make this Pastitsio (sans eggplant) while he snoozed in the afternoon, but unfortunately had to scarf it down because he was waking up to start his evening eating just as we were sitting down at the table. Tonight I satisfied a craving for some fresh baked goods with this gingerbread recipe.

Since our life has indeed changed so much since Spencer's arrival, we decided it was time to change some things on the blog too. We consolidated the pregnancy links (baby's room, ultrasound pictures, belly pictures, etc. into an archive page and added links to Spencer's photo albums on the right side of the page. I also added a few new photos in the December Album.

It's dizzying how the days all just blur together, and how weeks have already started slipping away. Mom went back to NY after spending time taking care us of so that we could focus on taking care of Spencer. And, she of course helped out with the 3am diaper changes as well to present me with a clean baby for nursing. Now her hundreds of home-made cookies have dwindled down to two rugelach, but we are left with a freezer full of dinners for many nights to come.

I gave birth to Spencer three weeks earlier than my due date - the pregnancy was indeed considered full-term and, independent of his birth weight/length, Spencer is not counted as premature. I know this is not news to anyone who knows us, but it's become our new pet peeve to continually explain this to folks who keep asking if we got our dates wrong. It borders on insulting to ask a couple of engineers, not mention all of our doctors, ultrasound techs, etc. if we made a mistake and counted incorrectly. Our newest pet peeve is folks telling us how their own angel infant started sleeping through the night at some very young age. Spencer is 2 1/2 weeks old and we are not expecting him to sleep through the night any time soon. In the meantime, we're tired from feedings around the clock and those stories really don't help us feel any better.

Our baby is already more than two weeks old!!! On Thursday we both had our two week post-partum checkups and everyone seems to be doing just fine. My doc was pleased with how her stitches are helping me to heal, but thinks my abdominal pain is likely a muscle tear (probably from pushing for two hours) which will take several more weeks to fix itself. Spencer's hearing was re-checked and he passed the test which he initially failed in the hospital (but no one there was concerned because most newborns do no pass right away - fluid in the ears from the birth can prevent proper hearing for a short time.) It was also time to re-do his newborn bloodwork, which really sucked as Jim and I had to hold him down while they drew more blood from his heel by flexing and squeezing the pricked site. By the time we left, his eyes were glazed over and he was exhausted from screaming. Fortunately, we don't have to return until he is two months old - but that trip will involve shots.

Last night was Spencer's first Hanukkah!! The Parkhills all came over to celebrate as we lit candles together (Hunter had a special menorah to 'light!') and ate latkes and opened presents. I think Spencer may have gotten jealous of our holiday meal and insisted on being fed just as we were sitting down to the table. And so began what I am sure will be a long tradition of Jim and I tag-teaming to get through a meal. Check out some pictures!

With yesterday starting just the third week of life for Spencer, it seems that nearly everything is a first. First bath, first walk, first just about everything... except diaper, we are WAY past that first... Here is a new photo album that includes some of those firsts... Enjoy!

Today is a significant day for many reasons.

First, 100 years ago today, the Wright Brothers (actually, just Orville) flew for 12 seconds and covered about 120 feet. That introduced powered flight to the world.



Less than 20 years later, Also on this date, my Grandfather was born. Today is his birthday! In addition to countless other things, he is the one who introduced the world of flight to me. He got me my first flight lessons at the age of 16, and I have been hooked on it ever since. I'm very much looking forward to passing the love of flying on to Spencer in the same way.

Life is good. In fact, we think it's just perfect.

I love dressing our baby boy up in blue every day - he looks so darn cute! We've been bad about keeping up with photos, but will have some new ones posted soon. Right now, I only have a few hours at a time to get anything done, and usually sleep comes to the top of the 'to do' list. Although, things have gotten a little easier since we switched from 'feeding on schedule' to 'feeding on demand.' We're letting Spencer snooze as long as he would like during the evenings, and last night that plan allowed both of us to get some uninterrupted sleep from 12:30 until 5:00 this morning - whoo hoo! But, who knows what tonight has in store for us. We're pretty certain there is still one more feeding to go before we'll get some rest ourselves, and after that it's anyone's guess.

Hopefully the umbilical cord will come off any day now, and with his circumcision healing nicely, we are very much looking forward to giving this kid a good bath. Not that he smells or anything (the parts that get really dirty get cleaned regularly) but I think we would both feel better to wash him up a bit. Unfortunately, we fear that Spencer may very well hate the idea of being naked for an extended period of time.

It's cute to see Spencer do some of the same things now that we saw in the ultrasounds - like putting his fists up near his face, and sticking out his tongue. Now that he is here with us, we get to learn about his unique sounds as well. For those that haven't yet met Spencer in person, he emits random little squeaks which we find quite endearing.

Saturday was a joint baby shower for Diane and I with all of the hockey girls hosted at Dawn's. It was a tiny bit odd to attend no longer pregnant, but I was so proud that Jim and I were able to show Spencer off to our friends. I know Diane was a bit jealous with still a month to go until her due date. And Tracy informed everyone that she is just completing her first trimester, so in the next several years perhaps our kids will be playing hockey together as well!

Right now days blend together. It's great having mom here to so I can take an afternoon nap, and wake up to full-on dinners like roasted chicken with stuffing, gravy, potatoes, green beans, cranberries...

We're going to get around to re-organizing the links on the side of the blog (remove some pregnancy stuff) but for now we've simply been continuing to add some Spencer photos to the exisiting Ofoto album.

For now, we have been adding more photos, including the ones from the Bris to the same ofoto album. Click here to see the latest pictures...

Yesterday was such a big day for Spencer, and us, as we celebrated his Brit Milah. The day started early with guests arriving around 9:00 and by 9:30, our home was filled with so much love from family and friends. Spencer was a real champ - he didn't even utter a peep during the circumcision. After that deed was completed in the back room, we gathered around in the living room to publicly name the baby, and explain the significance of the names we had chosen for him. The "S" for Spencer is from my grandpa Sidney, and "J" for Jacob is for Jim's grandma Jane - neither of whom are around to be a part of his life, but we hope that their namesake will live on, and that traits we admire about them will be reflected in Spencer's life. It was an emotionally draining event for new parents, as we continue to struggle with the adjustment to our new sleep schedule.

It would be very easy to use this space to vent about the serious frustrations new parents experience during the first week of their baby's life, all of which are compounded and made to feel infinitely worse by the lack of a full night's sleep. Instead, I thought I would share Jim's funny observation which we have both experienced. As everyone knows, babies need help to burp after being fed. But, at least for Spencer, the burp takes a couple of minutes of coaxing. We've noticed that while we're holding him to our chest, and gently patting him on the back over and over, we often end up making ourselves burp too!

My sweet baby boy! Already I love being your mother and am so thrilled you have joined your daddy and I here even earlier than we had anticipated. We just couldn't be any happier or prouder than we have been since you arrived. Seeing how we can change your mood from utter despair to ultimate contentment simply by changing your diaper or swaddling you up tightly in a soft blanket gives us a ridiculous amount of pleasure. Right now you're sleeping a lot, but during those times when you are awake, it's an indescribable feeling as you stare back at us with those curious eyes. The past few days have been eventful for all three of us, and we are excitedly looking forward to our upcoming journeys together as a family.

HE'S HERE!
December 4th, 2003
5:23pm
8 lbs. 2 oz.
20.5 Inches long

Click here for photos and here for a few small videos...

Here is what we learned during the ultrasound: this baby is BIG. Current weight is estimated just under 8 pounds. This will definitely not be one of those wrinkly-looking newborns. He is big and plump everywhere - face, fingers, belly, etc. Also learned that his large size has been squishing the rest of my organs up high, and actually pinching off the ureter causing a build up of fluid on my right kidney. But this is no cause for concern as it is only moderate and all my organs will be able to spread out again in the near future. The ultrasound technician also checked on our baby's lung maturity and pointed out a marker which indicated his confidence that he feels everything would be perfectly ok if he were to arrive now.

Here is what we learned during the PA visit: she thinks this baby is not going to wait until his due date. She was very pleased at his 'healthy' size, and hopes (for my sake!) that labor is right around the corner. She says there is no concern at this time about my not being able to deliver this baby. But they probably would not let me go beyond the due date before deciding to induce. We're going to see the doctor next week for our 38 week visit, so we'll get to hear her plan on how the next few weeks should go. No change in dilation, still 1.5cm for the past two weeks, but effacement has progressed from 30% to 50% so things are indeed continuing to move along. The PA joked that she didn't think labor would be tonight, but tomorrow was certainly a possibility! We are truly in "any day now" mode!

Check out today's ultrasound pics (a bit hard to see because he is really running out of room!) and what we believe to be the final belly pic added to the line up.

I completely forgot to blog yesterday after I spoke with grandma. When mom visited her on her birthday (Monday) she dropped off the scrapbook photo album from her birthday party that I worked on in October and November. She called a few times later in the evening but was only able to leave messages because we were out at the Aeros game. But her messages were so cute - she absolutely loved her gift. We finally spoke with each other on the phone yesterday morning and she just couldn't say enough. That made me feel really good, because it was quite a bit of effort to put my first scrapbook album together in a time crunch and it's nice when people show such appreciation. Grandma had a friend over and was in the middle of showing the pictures off to her when I called, and then they were headed down to one of the common areas so she could show the album to more of her friends! Very cute.

While Jim was out at CAP last night, and I decided to see what I could make to use up the extra cranberries in the fridge that I had bought last week before Thanksgiving. I decided on this recipe for Cranberry Coffeecake from epicurious.com. When Jim got home, we watched Queer Eye together and enjoyed the cake hot from the oven - yum! I thought it would undoubtedly turn into a big pink swirl, but the layers stayed neatly separated in stripes and it even looked very cool! (I've got some here for snacking on this morning and it's still yummy the next day!)

Hopefully we will have some new ultrasound pictures to post later tonight. I hope they are the 4D, but we are not sure what they will use today. We keep getting asked what is the difference between the 3D and 4D, and the answer is motion. 4D is like a video in 3D. I was able to get one of the smaller clips uploaded so everyone can see what it looks like. As you can see, Spencer has a pretty decent right jab that he throws at Bonnie's insides... The clip is big (2mb) and may take some time to load, but its pretty cool to see the movement... Click here to see it.

Well, it looks like we have entered the last month before Spencer arrives (unless he's way more stubborn than anyone thinks he is and hold on until January)... Tomorrow will be the end of the 37th week, so we officially have a full-term baby. Tomorrow is also another Ultrasound and then a visit with the Dr. to take a look at how things are progressing. The ultrasound is mainly just to determine how big he actually is in there. We haven't had an ultrasound that was diagnostic since week 20. At that time, he was about a week ahead of average and Bonnie's measurements have tended to also show him a week or two ahead of growth progress. Check back tomorrow evening to see what we find out. Maybe even a new ultrasound picture or two...

Champions again! (OK, I didn't actually play in the hockey tournament this year, but I'm still happy to share in the excitement from the weekend.) It was still lots of fun to hang out and visit with our hockey friends whom I don't get to see very often any more. It's frustrating to think that it may very well be close to a year of no hockey before I get the chance to put on my skates again.

The long weekend was a nice break away from the office, and now today is just another Monday morning back at work.

Two more days until our next dr. visit for the baby. Plus an ultrasound. We're both very anxious to hear and see the latest updates about our son!

& HAPPY 90th BIRTHDAY to my grandma and Happy 27th to Jim's Brother Rob!

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a great dinner yesterday with Katie and some of her family and other friends. She made a yummy turkey. It was really nice to be able to have Thanksgiving dinner as more of a pot luck style meal. Everyone is able to contribute to the meal, and no one ends up overwhelmed.

Before the big dinner however, there was still a bunch of work to be done around the house. The final major 'project' left was to clean out the guest room, which was where we had piled everything removed from the baby's room months earlier. Jim did an amazing job of purging junk we don't use, and neatly migrating the rest up into our attic, which I'm told is now quite full. I handled some less physical tasks, like wrapping some Hanukkah presents and preparing them for shipping.

Today begins the 4th annual Turkey-dillo co-ed hockey tournament. And, for the 3rd time in 4 years, the Beliveaus will be returning to Texas to stay with us and play. Although it's early in the morning here in Houston, they have already completed one leg of their trip, and I see that the second flight will be delayed about 15 minutes or so. That's just fine, as Jim will get a little more time to sleep in. I have been unable to sleep past 8:00 recently. I now am awakened to pee three times during the night - usually once before 2:00am, again around 4:00am, and when I get up for a third trip around 7:00am, I just can't make it back to sleep. Oh well, I guess just practice for round the clock feedings which are not too far off.

A few more important milestones are under now under our belt. Yesterday was Jim's final trip out of town for the rest of the year. After the news at last week's appointment that we are in 'any day now' mode, he adjusted his travel plans to ensure he would not be away from Houston overnight. What that translated to yesterday was him getting up at 5:00am to leave for the airport, arriving in Boston after noon, working for a few hours, then flying back and returning to home by 11:00pm. Ouch.

This morning we went to the doctor for our 36 week visit. The PA exclaimed, "I thought you might have had this baby by now!" She continued on that all numbers (weight, blood pressure, fetal heart rate) are just "perfect" and that my belly size measurement is still tracking a bit ahead. Assuming our boy doesn't make an appearance before next week, our 37 week visit will also include another ultrasound to check on his size. The doctor specifically said that she is not worried about a 12 pound kid, but they just want to have a better idea what might be in store. (More pictures for us, perhaps!)

We met up with Heath and Kim and Chloe for a late lunch today. Back at the house afterwards, little Chloe (now 14 months old) was quite interested in checking out the brightly-colored assortment of toys on the shelves of the baby's room! Not too much longer now until our young son will be here to check them out himself!

Man, a ton of stuff has happened since I last posted on Friday. This weekend was just awesome! Tracy flew in from Atlanta to spend a few days, and on Saturday we had a mini Rice reunion. Rachel drove in from San Antonio for the day, and Stacie and Jen were able to drive out to the house as well. It is just stunning to think that it's been nearly 10 years since graduation (gasp) yet hanging out together it was like no time had passed at all. Except for the not-so-small details like the fact that Rachel has an 11 month-old little boy, and Stacie and I are both in our third trimester of pregnancy! What a great day - doesn't seem like too much has changed from the pictures.

So, there was even more excitement this morning. I woke up around 5:30 to pee (not uncommon) and discovered everything was wet, so we rushed off to the hospital. A couple of tests later (they use litmus to detect the presence of amniotic fluid!) they confirmed my water had not broken or leaked and sent us home. Not a bad trial run, I guess, and at least now we know where the elevators are! There are a bunch of mixed emotions running through my mind right now. After getting so geared up early this morning that today was going to be the day, there is some level of disappointment. I've also been a bit worried that my text-book pregnancy is suddenly jumping over to a seemingly accelerated track (not fun to have to tell the hospital nurses that my due date is the 26th... of next month) so I'm also feeling relieved that our son will get to cook a bit more and continue to mature. And, there is a bit of embarrassment in going to the hospital thinking that you're ready to have a baby, only to find out you are wrong. I know I should discount that last feeling, because we did call before leaving the house and were told to come, and before getting discharged from the hospital they told us to come back if the same sequence of events occur again.

Our online baby pool has now been closed. This morning's events don't indicate that the birth will happen any sooner or later (Dr. confirmed no additional dilation) but this week we will officially enter the 9th month, so it's time to close that door. It also means that I'm done going to the gym and spinning (unless I go beyond the due date and hopefully then exercise will help to get things moving!)

Since we found out last week that Bonnie's body has already started preparing for the birth, and the next news we get may well be that Spencer's arrival is imminent, we have decided to close the baby pool game. If you want to change you guesses (or fix them... Audra), Monday is the last day....

Definitely a shift in mindset these past 24 hours! To be honest, I am excited, but not entirely happy about the news that this delivery may occur sooner than later. I've said all along that I hope to still be pregnant in January, but now that scenario seems less likely.

My husband is awesome. Just wanted to reflect here about how fabulous it is be able to relax and know there is someone dependable to take care of situations - physical, emotional, or otherwise. I have felt so reassured (through our relationship, and especially during this pregnancy) that I can depend on him for anything. To quote my grandma from a conversation the other week, "It's so nice to hear how he is so involved with everything: coming to Dr. appointments and all of the work in the nursery. In my day, the men really didn't get too involved. It makes me happy to hear how he is so attentive - I like him!"

Today was a 35-week Dr. visit, and we have been a little apprehensive. At last week's Dr. visit, Bonnie saw the PA who was concerned enough about the fact that Bonnie was tracking ahead of schedule that she asked Bonnie to see the Dr. this week in spite of the fact that we were supposed to be on an every two week schedule for 2 more weeks. Add to that the bruising and pain that the baby is exerting on her insides, the fact that she is noticing the signs of the baby moving down, and some stress over the last few days - we were getting a little concerned. Well, this morning we had an appointment and she is still tracking ahead, but we were SHOCKED to hear that her cervix is 1.5 centimeters dilated and 30% effaced! I was not really expecting to hear that. The good news is that the Dr. isn't all that concerned since she is tracking ahead in size / development she said that if the labor starts anytime from now on that they won't try to stop it. She also mentioned that this could go on for several weeks and not progress, but she called it a "nice little head start". The idea of this happening "any day now" is still sinking in...

Two different strangers stopped me at lunch yesterday and told me that I looked just "wonderful" and "beautiful" with my big pregnant belly. That made my day. :)

The city is almost dried out - still some standing water on the way to work this morning in areas that were impassable last night. We checked the radar closely during the evening and made a quick round trip back to work to fetch the car during one of the lighter periods of rain so we would have everything home safely. Katie emailed they let everyone at her law firm go home early and it still took her four hours! What a mess in Houston.

Well, I finally saw it this morning when I got out of the shower. The intermittent pain I've been feeling below my right rib cage has now manifested itself into a bruise that is visible from the outside. PA said that area is near my gall bladder, so this will definitely be something to discuss at this week's doctors appointment.

Lunch date today with Wendy - I'm looking forward to hearing how life has been with six month old Paige!

What a crazy past few days. All of the hard work from the past few weeks was certainly worth it, so I was able to relax (?) amid the frenzy of activity the last few days. After a false start due to the canceled flight, mom arrived in town on Friday evening, and we went straight from the airport to Pappasito's. Where else, right?

The weekend was such a blur. No one at the shower knew more than 1/3 of the people, but with mimosas and Katie's original design for laminated nametags the conversation never seemed to stop. Audra and Bari really outdid themselves in the planning details. Now the nursery really seems to be pretty darn complete, just waiting on the baby!

On Sunday mom and I hit Harwin, but no luck. Although mom did find one purse to give as a holiday gift. Then on to Memories to plan some paper for additional gifts. We picked up Jim amid the thunderstorm and were able to enjoy one meal together in Houston before mom headed back out this morning. Her travels were uneventful, thankfully, and our city is now completely soaked from massive rain. Coming home after spinning (which was a super-fun class with Lynn's all-80's mix combined with movie trivia!) was more than a bit scary for me. I followed another SUV who negotiated the higher water ok, Jim had to get a ride home from Heath's truck. Hopefully things will dry out without too much damage to our city.

I'm tired. It's been a long week. I think I got everything taken care of for this weekend. Mom's flight tomorrow morning was already canceled (gusty winds in NY canceled tonight's inbound planes,) but she was re-accommodated on the next flight and will still make it to Houston by dinner time. Cleaning ladies are coming tomorrow, so it will be nice & relaxing to come home to a clean house at the end of the day. Time for bed...

I am beginning to feel like the end of the projects are (sort of) in sight, but there is still a lot of little stuff to do. I've decided I'm not a big fan of scrapbooking. Or, at least I'm not happy to feel that there is a deadline inside of which I have to try and be creative. That doesn't work well at all for me. I am mostly done with grandma's birthday book, but mostly done in this case means about 5 original designs to go. I hope to be able to get it all knocked out tomorrow. Maybe I'll do some web surfing for ideas. (Gee, why didn't I think of that at the beginning of the week?)

Today was a dr. appointment for a 34 week checkup. (Reminder for the rest of the world that doesn't count in weeks, pregnancy due dates are set at 40 weeks, so I still have six weeks to go. Babies born after 37 weeks are considered full-term, and doctors will induce labor after 41 or 42 weeks.) And despite everyone's protest that I am getting unbelievably huge, I weighed in only one pound heavier than I did two weeks ago at the 32 week checkup. So, to those rude folks who asked if I'm having twins, or if I'm due next week - go take a hike. Belly measurement was 35cm which means I'm just slightly ahead. (I was told there is only cause for concern if weeks vary from centimeters by more than four.) From now on, I'll be visiting the doctor every week. Guess that means we're really getting close!

One of the women in the spinning class this week told me she was doing aerobics until the day before the birth. Good grief. I'm not sure how much longer I can ride the bike, my belly is definitely starting to get in the way. Although I felt really good during this last class, so hopefully I'll be able to continue. The baby is usually quiet during exercise, so that's a nice respite from his usual wriggling around.

I finished the pillow this evening. Pics are posted on the updated Baby's Room page. Now I plan to put away the ironing board that has been out in our living room for the past two weeks!

New belly pictures are posted for November!!!

This weekend was full from beginning to end. Saturday we drove down to Jim's dad's to celebrate Jackie's HS graduation. Then drove back home, where I turned right around to head down to Kimi's bridal shower at Katie's. Too bad I could not enjoy all of the different and fun martinis. But it was fun to decorate the martini glasses with the special pens Katie found for the project. As I was leaving, Katie touched my belly to say goodbye to the baby and he gave her a huge kick, right on her hand! Then Kim and Lara tried and he rolled over and rearranged so body parts were just traveling everywhere. Good show, son!

By the time I got home, Jim had cleaned out the entire garage and it looked fabulous! Needing to use most of that space for the various construction projects that have been going on, it was wonderful to see everything cleaned up. One big help was that the truck from the Houston Furniture Bank finally came to take away our sofa donation. Early Sunday morning Jim was even able to install shelves for the hockey gear, and we were able to park both cars in the garage on Sunday evening for the first time in about a month.

I am still continuing to work on grandma's little (7" x 7") scrapbook from her birthday party. Man, when you buy photo paper and use high quality print settings for digital pictures, the results are awesome! I am planning to work on that more this week and I think I'm still on track to finish in time to send it home with mom this weekend. One more sewing project before I put the machine away for a little while will be to make a pillow for the chair in the baby's room. Still trying to decide on what trim to use around the border. That reminds me that we need to post pictures of the Roman shade which was indeed completed last week. Stay tuned...

Yesterday was a great birthday! With so many other things on our minds recently, I kept forgetting that the day was approaching. Jim surprised me in the morning with a new watch so I can be a "hip mommy." And I received several e-cards and birthday emails from friends and family. A bunch of us from work went out to lunch together and my boss even gave me a present - a cool stone bracelet that perfectly matches the shirt I was wearing. How awesome is it to work for a boss that acknowledges your birthday like that!

After work, we relaxed at home a bit before leaving for dinner at Americas. Jim presented me with a gift certificate for spa manicure & spa pedicure at Derma Technique Day Spa. Of course, not knowing this I had treated myself to a manicure & pedicure on the way home from work, but hardly the spa kind with hot wax and massage up to the knee. Can't wait to redeem those!

AND, the big gift from Jim for my birthday was a pair of diamond stud earings! I was speechless. I had been viewing this birthday as a rather minor event, not feeling much like myself 7 1/2 months pregnant, and all of the focus recently on the baby and projects around the house. Last year was the big 3-0, this was just another birthday. But this gorgeous gift was something special from my sweet husband was also to remind me that all of my birthdays are indeed very special occassions, no matter what else is going on in our lives.

Today is Bonnie's Birthday!

My life seems consumed by projects and arrival of new babies. On the 1st Maura's baby boy arrived, then Claus' son on the 3rd. Jen & Thomas went to the hospital this morning to be induced for their son, and I predict Jason's baby girl will be born on the 7th just to round out the pattern.

Yesteday Audra and I drove down to the Scrapbook Village so I could get started on grandma's birthday album last night. With her help, I think I made good progress in mapping out some page designs, and will be able to continue for the next week. My plan is to finish and be able to send it home with mom next weekend.

Today I was able to get the rest of the hardware for the roman shade and have almost all of it put together! If tonight wasn't a hockey night for Jim, we certainly would have had it hung before going to bed. I feel good knowing that it will be complete by tomorrow. Pics to follow!

We're relaxing on the couch after an evening out downtown to celebrate Kimi's enagagement at the Twelve Spot. Baby was pretty quiet all night, but now seems to have developed the hiccups. This week should continue to be productive working on stuff for grandma's birthday party scrapbook, and making a Roman shade for the baby's room. We've watching them do it a dozen times on Trading Spaces so hopefully that can be knocked out fairly quickly. The "k" initial purse Katie bought when we went to Harwin on Saturday was hugely popular (especially with Kelly, Kelly, Kim and Kimberley) and a few girls are planning to pick up ones for themselves later this week. I may try my hand at making one out of the leftover material from the ottoman. Or, I may decide I have enough projects on the table and just get one for myself from Harwin (although when we went on Saturday none of the stores had any "b" purses.)

As promised, I added photos of the bumpers, and the new living room set-up to the baby-room page... Check them out...

No new baby pics to post, but more as projects are being completed there will be some additional photos to share. Stay tuned for some updates on the new ottoman (which coordinates with the new sofa & rug in our living room) and the crib bumpers which should be completed this week. After a couple of false starts during the week, I turned my back on the pattern instructions to figure things out for myself. In sewing class yesterday, the instructor concurred that sometimes those things are just written stupidly and should not always be strictly followed.

The show was certainly more of a success than the previous one (earned back the both fee at least!) but it's still a bit puzzling to figure out how to sell, when the product is obviously good. Last night at dinner Jack reasssured that it takes about two years of putting your name out there before people will start coming to you. Jim and some hockey buddies had gone golfing together during the day and we all met up in the evening for dinner. I had never met Jonathan's wife before, nor their adorable little kids (ages almost 2 and almost 3.) It was great to meet another couple who said they hadn't gone to any pregnancy/birthing classes either. I'm a bit tired of people giving us that look when Jim and I say that we haven't, and aren't planning to, take a class.

Later this morning I will be going for my first professional massage ever - a gift from Deena last Hanukkah that I'm just getting around to redeeming now. And Jim will be driving me to & from so I won't have to deal with west loop traffic right after I get all relaxed. Not much else on the calendar today, perhaps I can finish up the bumpers before the weekend is through.

The projects continue to mount. Mainly because items get added to the list, and not much is getting crossed off. Last night's efforts on the crib bumpers ended up resulting in an equal amount of time required to rip out stitches and re-think an approach to deviate from the pattern so I won't go crazy. Hopefully I'll be able to get more work done this evening in between trick-or-treaters ringing the door bell. It's been four years since a Halloween with no dogs at home - should be relatively relaxing for a change. I think last year was when we had a pair of wire-haired Daschund puppies and had to put up a baby gate at the front door to keep them from tumbling out each time it was opened. Hopefully I can get enough work done to possibly (?) be able to finish during sewing class tomorrow. It's going to be a busy morning with another B & B Creative show. I'm sure this one will be significnatly better than the crap-fest at St. Timothy's last month.

Omigosh! Tonight I headed out to our monthly Girls' Night dinner, only to arrive at the restaurant and discover that was the cover used for everyone to assemble for a baby shower! I was caught completely off guard, and just too surprised for words. Thank you guys!!! It feels really great to have friends who do special things like that for you.

This afternoon's 32 week check up (check in) was wonderful as well. All numbers were good, and my belly measurement is still tracking about one week ahead. That's about all the info we have to share to help make your guess in our online baby pool. We'll be locking it down before the end of November so be sure to get your guess in now! Our game name is "leachbaby."

October babies #5 and #6 have arrived. Diana's son and daughter-in-law welcomed Isabella at 1:06 Monday afternoon. No pics just yet. Just a short while later, at 6:11pm, Brett and Liana welcomed their daughter (no name yet!) after only a couple hours of labor. Seems like newborns are everywhere!

Here are some pictures of the purses I completed over the weekend.

Monique and Grant came by last night to complete our area rug deal, and the new sofas will be here later today. Old sofas will be in the garage waiting for scheduled donation pick up until Friday.

We are becoming very aware that there are only two months left until our due date. This weekend has been so incredibly busy. We had hoped to go down to Cuero, TX today to celebrate Kim's engagement, but there was too much to do to leave for the day. (It's not like we won't have two more opportunities to celebrate with her during the next two weeks.) For Jim and I, our only 'outing' together for the weekend was Friday night's Aeros game. The game itself was a bummer as the good guys lost 5-2, but the new Toyota Center is very cool, and Malinda hooked us up with some amazing seats which included access to the club. Very nice! Yesterday Jim was teaching a class for Civil Air Patrol, and I was continuing my sewing class where I finally completed the purse I have been working on for the past week. My first sewing project! Next one (already underway) are bumpers for the baby's crib which I started in class and have been working on today as well. Today has been consumed by tons of errands out of the house, and many more projects at home. Jim has done a tremendous job completely redoing a rocking chair - stripping it down to the wood, changing the shape of the frame, and building everything back together. This weekend included working on the exterior upholstry, and now we can really see the light at the end of the tunnel. Thank goodness for the end of Daylight Savings Time - we needed that extra hour today!

Allergies are no fun, really no different than being plain old sick. I think I've turned a bit of a corner as the sore throat phase gave way to the runny nose phase, and now I'm just left feeling run down with a big stuffy head. I'm going to blame the physical drain as one of the contributing factors to nearly passing out at the brit milah (bris) of Alan & Carol's son. That, coupled with a very hot room, plus knowing that it would soon be our little boy's turn for this ceremony, seemed to have the deck stacked against me. And it was more than a bit embarrassing that Alan's dad had to rush across the room with a chair as he (and others, I'm told) observed me going pale and slumped over on Jim who was keeping me from falling. From this experience, Jim and I determined that it's ok if we are not in the 'front row' for our son's ceremony.

Speaking of babies, Jim's hockey teammate confirmed the arrival of October baby #4 earlier this month. The brief version he relayed to Jim of the hospital circumcision underscored how glad we are to have a mohel perform this procedure, rather than the hospital's technique. Oh, I should jump back to Brian Hal Green's bris and state that Jim and I were very relieved to note that the baby did not fuss or utter a peep when he received the anesthetic injection, and was completely numb and unaware of when the actual circumcision occurred. If our son gets through his own ceremony this well, we will be thrilled. I hope as the emotional parents, we'll do ok too.

After the hockey carpool this week, Lori sent Jim home with a chocolate & caramel covered gourmet apple for me. Yum! Thanks Lori!

Tonight is the Aeros home opener!!!

Highs and Lows...We're told that the 9 months will be full of them. I guess we are having a low spot as Bonnie is getting more uncomfortable, and is having a bad stretch of allergies causing even more discomfort for which there are very few effective meds that are safe to take right now. I guess we are just going to have to plow through it...

I completely forgot to blog about how awesome it was to see Alli & Dave (a.k.a. Dr. Baker & Dr. Brain) during their <24 hour visit to Houston over the weekend! Best of luck in their move from Boulder to the Bay Area!

After weeks of missing each other online, I caught up with Kim and she shared some photos of her new place in Dubai. It's HUGE!

I'm pretty bummed these days that I'm starting to outgrow some maternity clothes already. I'm just finishing up week 31 of 40 (roughly 6 1/2 months) which means there is plenty more to go. And, it really doesn't help that I'm such a klutz these days and am managing to stain the limited number of clothes I do have!

What a busy weekend! Still so many projects on our plates! One of the big 'to do' items we checked off of the list was picking up the crib and mattress - a very generous gift to us from mom. Thanks mom! We had already made our selection about a month or so ago, but didn't want to do too much too far in advance. (Besides, even though the store does have a generous 90 return policy, we thought we should wait until our due date was closer than that!) Our Honda Pilot proved invaluable in transporting everything home from the store. And although Jim was feeling a bit under the weather yesterday, he just couldn't help but assemble the crib and get everything set up. We think it looks great - see for yourself! I've taken two sewing classes so far, and hopefully I'll be able to begin working on crib bumpers from the pattern I bought when mom was in town earlier this month. Should be fun!

Last night was the second half of "So, You're Having a Jewish Baby" class and it was quite informative. With all but one of the pregnant women expecting boys, the audience was keenly interested in the presentation by the Mohel (a ritual circumciser, rhymes with 'oil') who will likely be the one performing the circumcision at our babies' bris. He even brought along some tools for visual aid as well! It wasn't the most pleasant topic, but knowing this is something we will be participating in in the near future, it was very helpful to be able to ask questions and attempt to become a little more comfortable with the details of the ceremony in advance.

October baby #3 arrived earlier this week. Congratulations to Alan and Carol who welcomed Brian Hal Green on Tuesday evening!

Man, it has been an exhausting few days! Mom and I had a great visit here in Houston over the weekend - shopping for shoes, sewing supplies, baby stuff, etc. Kim was kind enough to meet us out at Babies R Us and help navigate through the maze of stuff. The sheer volume of products in that place is still a bit daunting to me.

Today was a 30 week check up appointment. "Perfect" was the word used to describe my progress at this point. We even had the opportunity to get back into the ultrasound room for some more 3D pictures of Baby Leach. This time he was definitely awake - opening and closing his eyes, sticking out his tongue and wiggling around. His hands and cord are still up by his face, but we had more photo opportunties today. His head is already down, and the strong movements I've been feeling on the right side of my rib cage were identified as his knees and feet.

Its been a while since either Bonnie or I had a chance to blog. Bonnie's Mom was in town this weekend and I was in NY visiting a Karl and doing a little flying. Time seems to be the main thing we just don't have much of these days. I understand that sleep is what we will be missing most in just over 2 months. Today is the 30 week Dr. visit. The schedule calls for little more than the heartbeat check and some measuring of Bonnie's belly and a new weigh-in. We are hoping, however, that the technician that did the 3D ultrasound will not be too busy to take a quick peek and see if Spencer is feeling photogenic today. We are not getting our hopes up, but its possible.

Friday we met up with Diane and Marcos for lunch after their 3D ultrasound appointment at our doctor's office. It was nearly a two hour drive for them to get a chance to see their baby. Unlike baby Leach, theirs cooperated and moved all around and they were able to get some great pictures! My favorite of the bunch is this one.

At night, Chris and Katie came over to the house. The boys watched the Penguins opener and the NLCS (much thanks to picture-in-picture along with ReplayTV) while Katie and I worked on invitations for Kimi's wedding shower.

Crafts continue with our first sewing class this afternoon, and mom arrives later today so we'll do some baby stuff together over the weekend.

Someone did bring my pills back to the pharmacy and we picked them up last night on the way to "So, You're Having a Jewish Baby" class at our temple. It was a fun discussion with six pregnant couples and the rabbi. Due dates ranged from two weeks, to me (two and half months) and I observed that I was not significantly smaller than anyone else in the room. We covered topics including baby naming traditions and significance, as well as the covenant ceremonies that will take place following the birth. It was great to see Jen back in the country! After class we went out for dinner with her and her folks to catch up. With an induction scheduled less than a month away, it's very exciting for her to be able to count down to a real date. (As opposed to our countdown on the right which has a standard pregnancy error of -3 weeks / + 2 weeks.)

Pregnancy is full of highs and lows. Just spoke with someone at the doctors office who confirmed that each of the interval results from the glucose test were within the normal range. Yippee! This means I do not have gestational diabetes and do not have to avoid all the wonderful desserts in November and December! Yesterday I suffered from a pregnancy moment at the grocery store. I paid for my refill prescription for pre-natal vitamins at the pharmacy, picked up a few groceries and then proceeded to leave the pills in the basket when I checked out. I hope that someone returned them to the pharmacy and that I'll be able to pick them up later today.

Today was round two for glucose testing to see if I have developed gestational diabetes. They drew blood, then I had to drink a sweet orange soda. Following the drink, they drew blood again every hour for the next three hours. Since I waited 45 minutes before I was called back the first time, I was at the lab for nearly four hours this morning - not fun. I guess I'll call this a bonus of pregnancy (one of very few) which was that since bloodflow has stepped up in my body, I was a pretty easy stick for the technician. My veins are usually a big pain - frustrating the tech and leaving me black and blue for several days afterwards.

Yes, definitely not what we would have scripted for our only anniversary alone as a married couple, but memorable nonetheless. When the cantor was carrying the torah around during the processional in the morning service, he stopped by us for a few extra seconds and told me to make sure that the baby had a chance to 'kiss' it too. A few of the people sitting near us laughed a bit. Only our congregation's cantor could tell jokes on a day like today. Quite contrast to the emotional sermon delivered by our senior rabbi this evening. As Yom Kippur also focuses on remembering our loved ones, his words brought about more than a few tears, and sniffles could be heard throughout the sanctuary.

We did talk about our fabulous wedding that took place one year ago, but decided we need to set aside some dedicated time to focus on each, other without other events piled on top. Our anniversary was certainly not forgotten by others - mom's card and gift arrived via Fedex this morning before we left for temple. Grandma couldn't decide on the perfect card, so she decided to send THREE! And we were touched to receive an anniversary card from the Ruhlman's, so we fondly remember as the couple (after us) who had the best time dancing together at our wedding.

Today was one of those days when the planets aligned and pretty well ruined what would otherwise have been a great day. Today was to have been not only to be our first wedding anniversary, but also to be our last without children. However, today is also Yom Kippur and a day that carries with it an obligation to fast (just for me, Bonnie, being pregnant was obligated to eat and to drink for the obvious health reasons) from sundown (last night) to sundown (tonight)...Not exactly the way you want to spend your anniversary. But, we knew about that for several months, and sort of just decided that would make the meal later tonight, all the more enjoyable. Little did we know that I'd get to start off the day by going into work to notify one of the people that works for me that their position is being eliminated and they are being let go. Not a fun way to begin the day. That all said, we decided to push out our anniversary to some later date and enjoy the full day without all the other stuff.

Since I had no fewer than 10 requests this weekend for more pictures of the baby and for the update to the belly, I have added two more ultrasound pictures on the 28 week ultrasound page and the October Belly picture.

It was great to be able to celebrate with Tracy and Oriol at their Houston wedding reception yesterday evening since we were unable to attend their big event last month in Victoria, BC. I guess haven't seen many of my hockey friends in a while (understandable since I haven't skated in six months) so many were surprised to see how big I had gotten during the summer. Dawn instantly checked out the belly with her hands when we arrived, then gave Jim a hug hello, and finally it was my turn to be greeted!

Later in the night Katie and Kimberley got to see and feel the baby squirming around, and today Monique got to feel him move too. He's done a decent job of moving around when people want to check him out - except of course on Wednesday when we were trying to take some video. He's quite an active one (though I have no basis for comparison.) We were told that the head is already down, so most of the kicking and moving can be seen higher up on the belly.

The glucose screen from earlier this week indicated numbers just barely above the range they like to see, so I will be going back to the lab for a comprehensive test this week. (Drawing blood four times in three hours - ugh.) Nothing to be concerned about at this point, as only a relatively small percent of people who have to take the full test actually have gestational diabetes. The bummer is that following a 'better safe than sorry' practice until this next test is complete, I am keeping an eye on my sugar intake which has put a severe crimp in my fondess for desserts! We went to the Greek Festival for lunch, and that was where I had my one sweet for the day. And we bought a few pastries to take home so I could enjoy one during each of the next two days.

Last night's dinner with a bunch of our Canadian friends revealed how woefully sad our U.S. based healthcare plans are when it comes to time off for new mom's. Not that we thought we got a good deal by any means, but it was sad to hear specifics about how Canadians can receive 75% of their pay from the goverment for a year. And that mom and dad can each take advantage of this benefit. Six weeks...

Figures that as Baby Boy Leach is normally super active, he decided it was nap time about 10 minutes in to our 28 week ultrasound today. He curled his arms up to his face, crossed his legs and dozed off. Before that happened, we were able to clearly count 10 fingers and 10 toes, a few clear glimpses of the boy parts, and some cool 3D images of the face. We never got a great frontal shot because of his arms and the cord obsuring the view. He did flex his little baby muscles a bit and punched a few times, but mostly quiet.

Its only Wednesday and its already shaping up to be a week of extremes. Yesterday, I went flying an airplane that was built in the 1960's with 1930's technology. Its a Belanca Citabria, a plane with a tailwheel and made of a combination of metal tubes and wood and covered in fabric. Quite a technology throw-back. Today, we are getting ready to hit the other end of the spectrum. We are scheduled to experience one of the coolest new technologies, the 4D ultrasound. I'll be posting some of the fruits of this as soon as I can get them converted to a format that will be viewable online.