Wordless Wednesday - Washing cars

Bowl of warm water + soap + cars + imagination = Car Wash entertainment while mama does the dishes.

36 weeks

Kiddo is still squirming around in there, pretty strongly...still usually in the morning and late at night. Man, I swear sometimes it feels as if he is stretching both arms up and legs out at the same time. Brian comments that he is often getting kicked in the side when I snuggle up to him while sleeping. With looking at this picture below, it is no wonder I don't want to eat much, get heartburn, and can't make it through a stanza of a hymn without gasping for breath!

Our doctor appointment this morning went well and quick. My blood pressure is still holding, much to the delight to my doctor. My weight is holding as well; I've gained about the same amount as I did with Tam, but I know I may get a few more pounds here at the end. My back's been pretty achy lately and with my tiny squished bladder I'm waking up 1 to 2 times a night to go to the bathroom. Since I'm at 36 weeks, I got the routine cervix check, which was 2-3cm dilated. Good, but in no way an indicator of how soon labor may happen. Because of how well I've done and knowing that family has to come in from out of town, the doctor but the bug in my ear that she'll induce me if I want after 39 weeks. The pros to this is baby comes while family is here since Brian's folks are coming on the 19th of May and I may be "done" being pregnant by then. The cons is this may be our last pregnancy and my last chance for a more "natural" labor. I've heard that induce labor and contractions are bit more painful than if it happened on its own. I told the doctor that we'll think about it and I'll keep the idea in the back of my mind over the next week or so.

How your baby's growing:

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.

At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position.

Coloring eggs

It's Easter time...tradition dictates it's time for coloring Easter eggs. Well, Easter was last Sunday, so I'm a touch behind on these posts.

I can fondly remember dying our eggs when little. Some times we did this with plastic sleeves that shrank around the eggs, some times it was the vinegar dye, some times it was some wacky kit with wax pencils and glitter. I also remember my Grandma Elsie hard boiling TONS of eggs for all of us kids to color in her kitchen. She would use the big roasting pan to fit all the eggs. And of course there were cookies after for munching down.

Since neither Brian nor I really like hard boiled eggs, I decided to blow out raw eggs instead of going the traditional route. We then used the egg guts for french toast and pancakes. At the time I did this last week, we only had 7 eggs in the house. Then the clean, dry, hollow WHITE eggs, sat on our table for days...


At the last minute, the night before Sunday, we decided to finally dye them. I had Brian buy a kit on his last grocery trip...but I totally left it up to him what type to purchase. He came home with one that used dye that had the consistency of gel, rather than the liquid/vinegar dye. The box tooted that it was "no mess" and "beautiful eggs in seconds." Sounds like a great kit to use with a toddler who is ALL MESS.

I tried it on two eggs...can you guess which two in the photo below? It was easy, and the eggs came out rather pretty with a shimmery quality.

Then Tam noticed that I was doing something cool and wanted to get involved. After a quick wrap in a vintage apron and the addition of plastic bags over the hands as toddler-size gloves, Tamlin was ready to participate.

I would drip the dye on the egg, and he would swirl it around with his hands. He chose which colors to use and when the egg was considered all done. He really liked the purple color, maybe because it was the darkest of all and spread around the easiest. His attention span lasted through five eggs...perfect.



A bunch of eggs that will display beautifully next year.

Easter & Peeps

Peep humor. . . he, he, he :-)

Peep invaders from space

Godzilla Peep


Peep show

'
Goodnight moon (peep)...from the Children's book

No wire hangers! - From "Mommy Dearest" movie

Peep pun

Peep Trek
My favorite!

What week am I again...

Each week I can't believe the wee one gets a bit bigger and causes my stomach to get a big bigger as well...

Officially, I've just reached the 35week mark with 5-6weeks to go for full incubation period. If I was living back in the 1700s and rich, I would be starting my laying-in period in a closed room with closed curtains and staying in this claustrophobic room until about 1 month after the birth. Well, that's not for me. I'm hanging in there and still teaching all my classes, including a walk or two each week identifying plants around the area with my taxonomy class.

I'm still feeling pretty good, but noticibly slowing down and becoming tired more quickly. My feet have started to swell by the evening and my back hurts almost the entire day. Indegestion is still high 'cause the little one hasn't fully dropped yet. However, weight is staying steady as is my blood pressure.

As to Baby, he's still active in the morning and nighttime (11-1am). The movements aren't as quick or frequent anymore 'cause he's running out of room, but they are still pretty strong. It is still very odd to stare at my belly and see a lump move from one side to the other :-)

The doctor appointment today went fine. She's really pleased that I'm doing so well, and doesn't foresee any problems unless my BP shoots up. I'll start my weekly appointments with her next week...every Tuesday. Hard to believe it is almost go time!

Baby Center's Comments:

How your baby's growing:

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

Wordless Wednesday : Playing with Friends

We ran into our neighbor last week while both of us were outside with our boys. Collin is only one day older than Tamlin. And, to both of our surprise, Collin's mom is due again at the end of August (not too far from my May time)!

The boys had a blast running around the backyard...