What Motherhood Means to Me

I Love You Because…
For Mom

You made me a rainbow room and a Grover pillow.
You let me lick the beaters for every batch of cake you mixed.
You filled the hallway candy jar with candy corn every October.
You never forgot to put out the “You are special today” plate on my birthday.
You taught me to bring a book when I get my hair cut,
And that hours wasted playing Set are not hours wasted.
You made me French toast every Saturday morning.
You clapped hands with me whenever we walked together.
You taught me to love chocolate thoroughly and unabashedly,
And to enjoy Breakfast at Wimbledon with mimosas.
You always chat up cashiers at the grocery store.
Your thumbs are always active, and so are mine.
You’ve shown me the art of making a great care package
And how to have many best friends.

You believe that the only actions that matter in life are what you do for others
And that everybody needs somebody, and that you should be that somebody.

You encourage me to be myself and you love me for who I am.
You taught me to enjoy life and to laugh in the hardest of times
And to be good because you trusted me, not because I might get in trouble.

You have given me a model of motherhood.
Thank you.

A Day of Preparation

We were asked to bring our "birth partners" to the prenatal class today. Chris dreaded it all week. He was in a bad mood when he woke up this morning, and when I asked him why, he said "because I'm yoga-ing against my will today". Too bad. He had to go. It turns out he enjoyed it more than he thought he would, and we both learned some stretches and relaxation postures that we can do at home, including the pose shown here.

We also went to Toys R' Us to check out the selection this morning. We don't have a Babies R' Us here in Wilmington, but the Toys R' Us did have a good selection of baby stuff. I expected to be lost when it came time to registering for and buying baby stuff, but today I realized that it's not that confusing--we basically need one or two of everything. We didn't register yet; we still haven't gotten the bedding that I ordered and we are also going to check out what Target has to offer. We'll probably register at both. Now comes my poll: I would like to know any advice that all the parents out there have for registering. Is there anything you are really glad you had, or that you wish you had, that is not an obvious item? Any and all suggestions are welcome.

I Dream of Wiener Dogs

So I (Chris) had a dream the other night. Wanna hear about it? Great, here it goes!

I dreamed of Dachshunds. Five Dachshund puppies actually. Andrea and I were moving into some new home with a huge back yard, and I opened this box and out shot five baby wieners!

From there, the rest of the dream was pretty silly; those hotdogs were running all over the place, and we weren't chasing them in a "gotta catch you before something bad happens" kind of way, but more of a "oh, I'm going to tickle you when I get you" sort of way, which was of course kind of corny, but whenever I see my parents' Dachshund Doogan, that's what I do...which I hear is considered a form of art in Finland.

Anyway, Andrea was interested in the dream and found this somewhere on the web. I will now commit plagiarism before your very eyes:

During the second trimester, a pregnant woman's dreams contain animals that are more baby-like, such as pups, chicks, and kittens. Depending upon her attitude toward the pregnancy, her mate, and her situation, the animal may be either threatening or lovable. Joan's dream (above) suggests she felt some ambivalence about the effect of the strange new creature coming into her life. Would its presence be destructive?

The presence of friendly animals — rare and charming creatures in dreams — is generally thought to represent a good relationship between the dreamer and his or her instincts. In the dreams of many pregnant women, animals are frequently cuddly and cute. You may find that the animals in your dreams develop from sea creature to land mammal, repeating the journey of primeval ancestors; at other times you may find you dream of your unborn child directly. Your feeling about the animal or baby reveals something about your attitude at the time of the dream.


So the moral of the story? If you find yourself suddenly transformed into a wiener dog in a dream, and you see me, RUN!

Nursery Theme (or Lack thereof)

As soon as people found out we were expecting, they started asking us about our nursery theme. To which my response was always "I dunno". I didn't really want to give it much thought until we knew the sex. I always assumed, though, as did most of our friends and family, that there would be some kind of nature or animal theme, ourselves being nature- and animal-lovers, and those being such common nursery themes. However, as I did research on-line for nursery theme ideas and viewed pictures of nurseries with themes, I found that it was all just too over-the-top cutsie for my taste. I was having dinner with my friend Susan last week, and for some reason, it hit me like a flash--I would decorate in blue and brown. You see, I love that color combination and have always wanted to decorate a room in those colors, but have not had a room that would be appropriate. This is the perfect opportunity. The colors are both manly and appropriate for babies, and they make me happy. Plus I think the Talleys should be happy, as this theme incorporates UNC's color, "Carolina Blue". The photo is the bedding set I ordered on-line from JC Penney. Hopefully I will like the colors and the fabric in person as much as I like the picture--if not, we're back to square-one.

Still Just Looking a Little Chubby

I went to my prenatal yoga class this afternoon. There was a woman in the class who, I swear, looks 40 weeks pregnant. At least I think she looks how I'm going to look at 40 weeks. I later found out that she is only 24 weeks pregnant! Mind you, I am 18 weeks and look nothing like that. People keep telling me I should be glad not to be so big, but I just wish I looked pregnant rather than a little chubby. It is awkward to have to tell people I'm pregnant, and then they look down and wonder if I'm even past my first trimester. Of course I know this is due in large part to my tall stature--there's lots of room for the baby to lengthen out. The woman in my class said her stomach started "popping out" at 18 weeks. So maybe soon. I'm hoping the maternity clothes my mom and I ordered last weekend will get here soon, and they might also help me look more pregnant. The prenatal yoga class is great, by the way.

It's a Boy!

A big thanks to a couple of my aunts, who suggested that we create a blog so that our friends and family across the state and the country can keep up with our pregnancy and other news. I have been waiting until things really got going, and it feels like this is the right time to start it.

Chris and I went to our OBGYN on Tuesday, the morning after I arrived back in Wilmington from Cincinnati. We were both excited to learn the sex of the baby, though we both already had a feeling it was a boy. The ultrasound tech was really great, and gave us the photos below to keep.

Besides finding out the sex, we also learned that everything else was intact--10 fingers and 10 toes, one heart, etc. According to the ultrasound, he is in the 84th percentile for size--but you wouldn't know if from the size of my belly! He's also about 5 1/2 inches and .48 pounds. Where does all that fit in there?

I started feeling a few tiny kicks last week. They can't be felt from the outside yet, but I can feel them periodically inside. It's a nice, reassuring feeling.

We were thrilled to find out the news. We would have been thrilled about either a boy or a girl, but it was exciting to know for sure and to get to see the little guy, even if he does look a little like the Terminator. Now we just need to get used to calling the baby a "him" instead of an "it".