BABIES!

First of all, our baby appears to be a GIRL! I had been nervous about having a boy (because they're so wild and I don't have a lot of little-boy experience) but then I got used to the idea, and then I fell in love with the idea, and I was really surprised to hear we have a little girl coming!

And she is really big! According to the sonogram measurements, she is in the 95th percentile. I will be tested for gestational diabetes, which worried me at first, but now I have found out that most pregnant women are tested for it. Also, that type of diabetes is usually not that big of a deal, unless you're obese or have some other issues, and I am not even overweight and don't have any other pregnancy-related issues. We just won't talk about other kinds of issues for now.

She may just be big, because Jason and I are both around 6 feet tall. And Jason weighed over 10 pounds when he was born. Plus, those measurements are imperfect. So I'm not worrying about GD unless I find out that I have it. And I'm not thinking about the delivery of a giant baby yet -- I have plenty of time to deal with that terrifying prospect!

But it is a good additional reason to eat lots of fruits and vegetables. It is so easy to let myself have lots of treats! I deserve them, come on! But for good health, the baby and I need the best nutrition I can get, so I'm trying to be a better eater.

Our little girl is also super active! Both times we have seen her on the sonogram screens, she has been twisting and somersaulting and throwing her arms over her head. It took about an hour for our sonographer to get the 8 measurements he needed. I think it often takes about 20 or 30 minutes. But our little wiggler would not hold still long enough to be measured. And I had NOT just had any caffiene or sugar -- imagine if I had!

In other baby news, we have had some squatters in our back yard. Aren't they cute?



Little cottontail rabbits! All they want to do is eat my whole garden and dig lots of holes in our yard. Awwww, so cute! When I spotted the first one amongst the cucumber plants, I was simultaneously SO mad (we've been fighting to keep the parents out of the yard since we moved in) and FILLED with a desire to pick it up and pet it and try to tame it and keep it as a pet.

Don't worry -- I didn't touch it. Jason put on gloves and caught it (it screamed when he picked it up!) and then we found two more lurking around. We carried them a few blocks away and let them out in an open space area. According to the internet, they are big enough to survive on their own. I just hope they can't find us again. Then they'll want to have THEIR babies in our yard, and you know how quickly they multiply! They only gestate for one month and can have up to 12 babies in a litter.



Hopefully they enjoy their new home enough that they don't come back.



Goodbye, cutie!

New House: Third Month

Here is the painted loft. Our niece helped with this room, too. The color is called Spa Blue, and it may be the brightest color in our house. We hope to build a big built-in bookcase in the niche where the books are currently sitting. It will be floor-to-ceiling and fill in that whole area. In this photo, all the books are two-deep on the shelves. The envisioned built-in should house all the books in single rows AND leave some empty spaces for displaying things.



Of course it's also possible that this area will fill up with toys and kid stuff. :)

New House: Third Month

Our second bathroom is designed for kids. The counter is about 6 inches lower than in our master bath and the tub is really low for kids to climb in and out. That will be great for our little guy or girl -- until he or she grows up! Our kids may be taller than we are, and we're both around 6 feet tall. Oh well, we tall people know all about backaches from leaning down.

Our niece came over to earn some cash and help us out with this room. At that time, the smell of our low-odor paint was still making me nauseated after about half an hour. The color is Misty Surf.



It was so nice to have this room done before my mom came to visit! I'd say this bathroom was one of the dirtiest looking rooms in the house, and now it looks clean and sharp.

New House: Third Month

Here I am painting in the front room. The wall on the left is Secret Passage, and the one to the right hasn't been painted yet in this photo.



Here you can see the two different greys: Secret Passage and Silver Charm. At some times of day, the two walls look like they are the same color because of the lighting.



Here's the front door with our new pendant light (the old one was the brassy metal that isn't our style). The darker grey wall is adjacent to my life-risking yellow wall.



We put our old furniture in this room for now, and we barely use it. Eventually we'll figure out what we want to do with it.