Third Trimester!!!Sign of the Week, “drink.”
On Saturday Eric and I attend our first official baby/parenting class called, “Happiest Baby on the Block” at CHKD. There were about 10 couples there and the instructors were a husband and wife team. We learned the 5 Step Technique for “Calming Baby.” The information was based on research from a well known doctor whose technique has been featured on Dr. Phil, The View, and Jeopardy! We really enjoyed the class and even got a CD and DVD to bring home. Eric was an EXPERT at the 1st step – Swaddling. He had our pretend baby swaddled in that yellow (gender neutral, obviously) blanket in no time! Even the instructor told him he was doing great! I told him that he must have been good at wrapping that blanket because he gets so much practice dealing with “wrapped packages” everyday at work! Eric was also great at the 2nd step – Side position. Because of his long arm and big hand he could hold that baby on its side with no problem! Way to go, Eric for acing the first class!
Later that night we celebrated our friend, Jessica’s, 31st birthday. We went to Shogun for dinner and then to a bar/restaurant, Kelly’s Tavern, for drinks. I got Eric to get me a “Shirley Temple” so that I could “blend in” with the drinking crowd! One of Jessica’s friends, Tiffany, is also expecting so Eric took a picture of the 2 pregnant girls. We had fun! The best part about the restaurant/bar scene now is that Virginia has passed a law for No Smoking!
On Sunday Eric and I went and picked out the paint for the nursery. We decided on a neutral color, tan, so that it would go with our other nursery colors. We looked and looked and finally found the perfect color and guess what it was called, “Lamb’s Ear.” I thought that it was a fitting name for a nursery!
On Monday I was off of work and Eric was on vacation for the week so we worked on things around the house. Eric and his dad painted the nursery while I made phone calls and caught up on housework. I also got on the website for Restoration Hardware; Baby and Child and completed my registry. It felt good to have that done. Aunt Erlinda came by later to drop off some chaffing dishes that we are going to use for the party and also decorated the tables. Later that night Eric and I were going to register at Babies R’ Us but we ran out of time. Instead we just ran an errand and got a bite to eat at Applebees because one of my students had given me a gift card for Christmas.
On Tuesday after school I went and picked up a hand-me-down crib that a friend wanted to give me. Both of her children had used it and she no longer needed it. I got it from her because I am planning to put it up at my grandparents’ house for when the baby and I go to visit. I plan on taking weekly trips to Sandbridge on Fridays to visit my grandparents when the baby comes. Thanks, Tatyana for the crib!
On Wednesday Eric put some of the nursery furniture together. One of the pieces was damaged so we had to return it to the store to get another one. I think the furniture looks beautiful. I also took a picture of the swatches to give you an idea of the colors. I think it’s all going to blend together nicely. I began putting things in Baby Thames’ nursery when I got home from school. I got an iHome for Christmas so I put that in the nursery to play lullabies, classical music, and white noise to Baby Thames when he/she is in there!
For a pregnancy update…My stomach officially feels heavy when I stand up for long periods of time at school. My lower back will also ache a little if I’m standing up for too long. I have also been having some problems with my sciatic nerve and the pain will run down my right leg. It doesn’t happen all the time but when it does it sure is a nagging pain. I am really trying not to arch my back so I have tried to remember all my years of good posture from dance when I begin to feel myself tiring.
For a name update…Eric and I still have not decided on names. We have decided though that we will be taking 1 boy name and 1 girl name to the hospital with us when we deliver. The job between now and then is deciding which 2 names to take! There are lots of names that we know that we like but I guess I’m just not willing to settle yet. As many of you know, I like to weigh out ALL options of everything before I make a decision. I guess I’m afraid that if I settle on a name too early I will find one that is more suitable later on and then want to change it. So instead of telling everyone names now I think I’ll wait until a little closer. Since we are now in the Third Trimester and the baby can more clearly hear sounds we began reading to him/her. The first book that Eric read was called, You Were Loved Before You Were Born, by Eve Bunting. I know that the baby has been able to hear sounds before now but I figured that he/she gets lots of story time in while I’m at school. I read at least 1 to 2 stories per day to the 1st graders so I know that Baby Thames is listening!
On Thursday I stayed after school to work on sub plans for Friday. Then I went shopping to get the other part of my outfit for the party. Once I got home Eric and I cleaned the house. My wonderful husband had already cleaned the majority of the house that day so we just had a little left when I got home. I also got a most wonderful phone call tonight. My cousin Linda called and told me that she would like for me to have my great Granny’s goose neck rocking chair. She said that she knows Granny would have wanted a baby to be rocked in it. Baby Thames would have been Granny’s great, great grandbaby. My great Granny was a special lady in my life when I was younger. She lived to be 100 years old before she died. I’m so excited to be able to add that piece of history to the nursery. I told Linda that the chair would definitely be the most significant gift I would receive throughout this whole process!
On Friday it was my birthday and I had taken the day off from school. Eric and I slept in the first part of the morning. Then we went and had the salad bar at Ruby Tuesdays. It was so nice to go to lunch with Eric and be relaxed on my birthday. Eric surprised me with my birthday present at lunch, diamond earrings!!! They are very beautiful and I was shocked.
After lunch Eric and I went to Babies R’ Us to register. We were in the store for over 2 hours and still didn’t get through the whole thing. We had a good time going around and picking things out. It was kind of hard to do though because we weren’t sure which things were best to register for. I had taken my Consumer Reports Best Baby Products book with us to help guide us through safety precautions and such, but it was still hard. Eric tested out the stroller & car seat/travel system that we chose to make sure he would look good pushing it too! You see, with him being so tall and me being so short we had to pick a stroller that had an adjustable handle. Eric also picked out a “guy friendly” diaper bookbag that he liked. I also caught him scanning a few other things, a rubber duck that tells when the water temperature is too hot and stuffed animal lamb that he liked! We had to leave to come home and meet the exterminator for our annual inspection so when he left we went back to Babies R’ Us. We were able to finish up the rest of our registering pretty quickly. We went back home and finished getting things ready for the party. DJ, Penny, and Tristan came over to help us get ready too!
No comments:
Post a Comment