i can tell that we are going to be friends...

Dear Baby Girl,
Last night I had a dream about you. You were tiny and pink and talking to me. We had the best time. Several months ago a friend who'd just had a baby told me that she actually missed being pregnant. At the time, I thought this was maybe the dumbest thing I'd ever heard. I can see now that she had a point.

You and I have had the best time together this week. You have been flipping all around and I can even see you move from the outside now. It feels less like alien possession that I would have imagined.

Your dad and I have been reading to you (his favorite: Once Upon a Potty). Yes, your dad is in junior high.

I love you baby.

demolition christmas

In an unusual turn of events, Nate and I decided to forgo our trip to California this Christmas to stay home and knock down walls and put up windows in preparation for the bean's arrival. (Sorry, Mom). We feel very parental indeed. Here's a shot of Nate on Day 1. At the moment we have a sweet secret passage way through the middle of the house, but that will eventually become a wonderful, boring hallway.

teachers give the best books

Thank you to my Wednesday night Methods in Literacy class for surprising me with a baby shower! The Bean is going to have the best little library!

movement

Baby girl has been moving like crazy this week. She seems to be a big fan of orange juice and shows her enthusiasm for it by ramming her little self into my much, much bigger self. I love this stage of pregnancy. I'm bigger, which is a weird thing to love, but so is she- and it's great to feel her roaming around. Recently she visited a movie theater, dinner at the Montage and church- all three of these places made her bounce around like she's had a big hit of orange juice. All of this is so much fun it almost makes Nate want to carry her for a while.

half-baked alien baby waves hello

Here's one more picture from last week's ultra-sound. She's finally stopped lounging around and has really started the gymnastics now. She especially loves to swim laps after a nice cup of cocoa.

photo shoot for our girl bean

Guess who we saw today for the first time? Our tiny girl bean. She looked perfect. I couldn't believe how detailed everything in there is...little fingers and hands and a beating heart and a nose...everything.

We had a great ultrasound this morning and a very patient technician who tried and tried to get her to show us the goods. Finally, she called in another tech and we were able to see... girl-italia.

I'm posting a picture of the girl bean now. I've seen a lot of parents do this, and I've never understood what all the fuss was about- til now. She looks amazing.

baby likes cranberries

We enjoyed the rowdy festivities with the big Curtis family this year for Thanksgiving. The bean and I both especially enjoyed the mashed potatoes and the cranberries. I am actually considering sending Nate back to Keizer for leftovers...which, for the record, would be the strangest pregnant lady thing I've done to date.

For those who were wondering, I accidentally got a bit confused about ultrasound dates, we should know soon.

I'm now going to pester my husband for more turkey. De-lish.

dear baby...

it's amazing how much i think about you. and wonder about you. and look forward to your arrival (though i wish you'd pick a different way to enter the world). i've read books that have scared the living daylights out of me regarding the subject of your entrance, but i'll be brave. it's for a really good, tiny cause.

next week we find out if you are a boy baby or a girl baby. i can't believe that is happening so soon. there is lots to do. there are leisure suits to buy, and cribs to build. not that i want you to worry about these things.

we love you. we talk to you all of the time. the other day i took you shopping and stopped for a soft pretzel with cheese. this is something that your grandma used to do with me. i'd put pennies in the fountain and just loved those times. i see things now and look forward to sharing them all with you: walks with monkey, leaves changing color, soft pretzels with cheese.
love,
momma

nice moves

I don't usually post so frequently, but you don't usually move around for us on command.
Thanks, baby. Your dad and I were watching The Incredibles for the 5,000th time and around the credits you decided to get jumpy. Nate was pushing on my belly and you decided to do a little back flip. We both felt you move. There is nothing like it. Nothing.

Also, I thought you might enjoy this little photo from the film....the guy looks a lot like someone we both know and love.

an invitation to dance

The bean now weighs an impressive 6.5 ounces, and should weigh more than the placenta from this point on. Since hearing is more "fine tuned", the bean may respond to loud noises. According to the pregnancy books, I could even feel movement at the sound of large trucks passing or a slamming door.

Your dad and I thought better of trying to scare you into moving around, but we're ready to feel you do some flips, so feel free baby.

the umpa lumpa stage

I have entered that stage of pregnancy where I can no longer sit through a 3 hour class in my big jeans.

It is also the stage where people come up to you, say hi to your face, and then do a not-so-subtle belly check.

The bean is now about 6 inches in length. The finger nails and toenails are now fully formed. The urinary tract and bladder are functioning, emptying about once every hour, still considerably less frequently than mine.

did you know?

that in China, your age includes the time you spent in the womb?
i think that's brilliant.

pregnant dreams.

• There was the one where chickens the size of kindergarteners took over my farm house (I don't have a farm house) and behaved as people (without the talking). They even read the paper.
• And also the one where I bought the General Lee (you know, the car from the Dukes of Hazard) from my high school boyfriend for $1500 cash. In the dream, Nate was not happy. When I told him in the morning, he told me that was a really good deal.
• And last night I gave birth to a fully formed 6 month old little boy with lots of blonde hair, wearing adult socks.
  

Just thought you might like to know. Maybe it's time to cut out the late-night snacking...

parents' weekend

We just got back from a much needed little mini-break at the Oregon Coast. Nate and I stayed at this hotel that is literally right on the ocean. It was a typical Oregon Coast weekend, beautiful mist and grey skies. We mostly stayed indoors except to venture out for coffee in the afternoon.

Highlights of the weekend for me were playing Scrabble (and, shockingly losing twice!) and having my first room service meal ever (what fun!). Nate explored the wonderful world of cable TV (sorry baby, your parents have 3 channels for you to choose from).

On the car ride out we discussed possible names for you, boy names are easier for us than girl ones...not because we're hoping a boy...I think that is mostly because I am more picky about girl names. Don't worry, baby, I won't let your dad do anything too bizarre with your name.

We came home refreshed after a long week.

i've been writing you private little messages...

...that somehow felt too personal for the whole world wide web....anyway, you've had a sad mom lately. You know this, because you have the best view of anyone. Bunches of people told me I was going to feel better once the 2nd trimester hit. I'm still hoping and waiting for that-I think I took it really personally that I was still sick.

It's taken a bit longer than I expected to say goodbye to your great-grandma. I so wanted her to meet you- you are just her favorite kind of person-tiny. I know that she would have been crazy about you. So the last week I dove into school work (which is a nice little escape, and escape options are limited when you've got a little guest in your womb).

Your dad has been great. Bringing 7-up, making multiple boxes of macaroni and cheese (your personal fave) and reminding me when I forget about all of the blessings around me.

Thank you for giving me things to be thankful for.

one down.

The pregancy book says that by the end of the week you'll be the size of a peach. I remember you when you were the size of half of a grain of rice.

You weigh about 14 grams and are about 2 1/2 inches in length. You have reflexes and will begin to have activity in the digestive tract. Bile (gross, baby) is now being secreted and these types of developments are to prepare you for life outside of me.

Welcome to the 2nd trimester, baby! We heard your heartbeat again today. Your dad says for a little tyke you sound strong (and a little like a punkrock song). You sound beautiful to me.

what she gave

I've been writing this in my mind for a couple of days. It's hard to put into words everything that's been going on. Amazingly, the bean continues to grow, despite my sad heart. My parents came to town for one funeral, and accidentally got 2. It's been a strange week.

My grandma, Jauneta passed away this week at the hospital in the little town that she lived in since my mom was a young girl. In a month a new family will live in her house on Cascade Drive.

She was a homemaker, she made ceramics, she went to church. Still, I believe the thing that defines her is her faithfulness. She watched her first husband, my grandpa, suffer with Alzheimer's disease for a very, very long time. She faithfully visited him day after day even as he forgot who she was. She didn't let it break her heart. She kept on loving him and caring for him. This is the way that we should love. Holding nothing back. Dyeing our gray hair brown so that our beloved might recognize us. Feeding him, when he forgets how to hold a fork. Speaking for him when he can no longer speak for himself.

I think she learned how to do these things because she had practiced on her children. She loved us- the children, the grandchildren, the great-grandchildren.

I will try to teach you the things that I learned from her, baby. The crocheting, the faces, the games. I will try to love you with her kind of faithfulness.

a head to grow into

Your baby weighs about 7 grams, is about 2 inches long and in an ultrasound will look a bit out of proportion. Your baby has toes, eyes, ears, fingernails and lips, but it may appear that your baby's head is about 1/2 the size of their body. This will change as the baby grows. I always said I liked kids with big heads but maybe not quite that big.....

very powerful heartbeat

All 3 of us went to the doctor this morning and experienced both frustration and love. We had to wait a very long time to get in to see the doctor. 45 minutes of sitting in a waiting room and watching 6 people go in to see the doctor ahead of me (including 3 men...what could they possibly need?) and we got to go in and hear the heartbeat. I could have stayed all day.

The bean sounded so strong and so beautiful. I have a new favorite sound.

monkey's fall look

Nate has started telling Monkey that he's going to be a "big dog." Here he is in his fall sweater, looking forward to the bean's arrival.

making your presence known

I've been pretty miserably sick the last couple of days (partly pregnancy related and partly a cold). (add apples to the growing list of foods to avoid.) I'm learning how to take care of this baby. To give him/her good things to eat, lots of naps, plenty of water.... I'm learning this while the bean is still on the inside.

For me, this year has all been about waiting. Waiting for school to start, for it to end, to stop feeling sick, for baby to be born.

I'm thankful that we're designed to carry a baby for nine (10!) months before they magically appear. This design is so smart. Imagine just instantly having a baby without the weeks and weeks of anticipation and preparation and pain. That's how I would have designed things...not a smart design at all!!!!

Always know little bean, that you are worth the wait. I'd gladly throw up a tree full of apples to hang out with you. We're going to have a great time together.

friends, family, sausages...

Your baby now is somewhere between 1 and 1 1/2 inches in length and probably weighs about 4 grams (which is about the same weight as 4 paper clips). In terms of physical development, your baby has toes, eyes that are usually open, and ears that are completely formed. Your baby now has lips and the genitals that are becoming more clearly defined. The little pollywog you have inside loses its "tail".

What are you looking at with those openned eyes, baby?

This weekend we took the bean to the Oktoberfest in Mt. Angel. We worked at Calvary's fish taco booth again this year. Nate fried fish and I stayed as far as possible from all varieties of tacos. This was somewhat challenging for this pregnant lady. We finally settled on some not-so-exotic fare and of course, lots and lots of lemonade, the staple of my pregnancy...

with elbows and everything...

Your baby now has elbows and is somewhere between .51 and .66 inches in length. And your baby probably weighs only 1 gram. Your baby will now move if touched through the wall of your uterus, and can also move on its own. In terms of physical development, sex organs are becoming evident. This is the week your baby can officially be called a "fetus", which means young one.

We love you, little young one.

4 generations of slyter women

this weekend the bean met the slyter women- aunt carol, grandma and great grandma. it was a sweet, sad time as great grandma is needing some extra care and will be living in an assisted living place. but that's not what i want to talk about. we had such a good visit. great grandma is so excited that you are coming, baby. she smiled and smiled when i told her about you! the lady loves babies. she even said, "now i have something to look forward to." - which was great.

your grandma and i also took you for your first pedicure. this is a long tradition for the slyter women. i can't wait til you're on the outside so all of these women who love you can hold you and hug you.

a grape-sized bean...

An ultrasound done of your baby at this stage should show a fluttering heartbeat. Your baby is three-quarters of an inch long about the size of a grape. The liver is churning out large amounts of red blood cells until the bone marrow forms and takes over this role. Week eight marks the beginning of a very busy developmental stage. The face continues to change as the ears, eyes and the tip of the nose appear. The intestines start to form in the umbilical cord. Your baby's teeth develop under the gums.

Grow baby, grow.

very small morning person...

The bean and I have been spending our mornings together. we started out getting up between 3:00 and 5:00 AM, and have now switched to 2:00 AM. Pregnancy is a weird, weird thing. You never forget that there is this tiny person there with you, at least I don't.... we're doing fine though, we registered for our fall classes this week and had our student id photo taken (I hogged the camera). The bean will possibly be the youngest grad student in Corban's short history.

welcome, bean.

"Your baby is about the size of a small bean, about a half an inch long, this week. If you could see inside yourself, you'd find the baby has an oversized head in proportion to the body. The facial features are forming with dark spots where the eyes are, openings where the nostrils will be, and pits to mark the ears. Protruding buds that will become the arms and legs are more noticeable now. The hands and feet look like tiny paddles. You can't hear it yet, but the heart is beating about 150 beats per minute (or roughly twice the rate of yours.)"

Surprise! There's going to be a baby.