Surrey with the fringe on top

Okay, so maybe there's not actually fringe, but I was very excited to receive our infant car seat and stroller frame from my wonderful coworkers at work last Friday. We had one of our Beer Fridays at the end of the day, and I got an impromptu shower from my fellow architects - what a nice surprise. DH was a cohort in the operation, so I have to thank him too. I finally got it out of the box, so here's pictures of the whole thing put together, complete with CAT scan...

I have to say, the Graco Snug Rider stroller frame was literally a *snap* to put together - the wheels and frame all snapped together right out of the box, no tools needed, with little spring-loaded tabs that locked the pieces together. Also, the one-hand operation is great too - you engage the thumb trigger and twist the handle, and *voila* the frame will collapse. We decided to go with this combo due the lightness of the frame (12 lbs, sans car seat and baby) compared to many of the heavier stroller systems out there. I'm probably the one who will be lifting this thing in and out of the trunk a lot, so weight was definitely a big factor for me. When the baby gets to be about 6 months or so where he/she can sit up, we can upgrade to a lightweight, upright stroller. Can't wait to be able to put our new wheels to use! 8 weeks and counting...

30 weeks and counting

I've made it through 30 weeks and things are going well. This week, the baby has been wiggling around quite a bit. A little different-feeling than the occasional poke or punch or kick I was getting before. Now it's more or a rolling or internal wiggling feeling - what is baby doing in there? I can also definitely feel hard spots or a bony spot - maybe the head/rear vs. a fist or foot? It's hard to tell. My biggest symptom this last week has been swollen hands and feet. I am hoping the cooler weather coming our way soon will help relieve this! Plus I am looking forward to fall in general, as it's one of my favorite seasons.

My friend Val has her first of many fall art festivals starting this weekend - check out her website, PenguinArts. I designed her penguin logo - isn't it adorable? Happy Labor Day weekend, everyone!

Baby B Baby Pool - Let the Games Begin!

Two posts in one day? Unheard of!

Actually, I've been meaning to set this up for awhile - enter our baby pool and take your guess at Baby B's gender, weight, length, and birthday! Prizes to be determined - I'll update that on this page when we've decided. Have fun!

Enter the BabyBachmann1 Baby Pool!

Month 7

My friends Heather (due Nov 2), Jennifer (due Nov 7) and me (due Nov 8), 8/13/10.

I just realized I haven't updated in awhile. I've been on Facebook too much, I suppose!

Well, I've made to to my third trimester. I'm about 29.5 weeks at this point, with only 10.5 weeks left to go, plus or minus. It's been a pretty uneventful pregnancy so far. My worst symptom to date has to be these swelling feet of mine over the last week or so. Back pain has not been bad, occasionally I get arms and legs that fall asleep, and I'm having to take iron for anemia. I didn't pass my first, 1-hour glucose test last Monday, so I had to go back and take the 3-hour glucose test this past Monday. Thankfully I passed this time, so no gestational diabetes. What a relief. DH and I took a breastfeeding class at the hospital several weeks ago, and we're signed up for a childbirth class in a few weeks. Some friends are working on throwing a baby shower for us at the beginning of October, so we're working on the registry at Babies"R"Us and amazon.com. There are so many baby products to research! I've been having a ball going to the fall baby consignment sales here around town. I've been able to get many little outfits (unisex, yellow, green, or neutral colors), like overalls and onesies for dirt cheap. Of course, there's still room for the pink and blue outfits later!

Sesha the kitten is getting bigger every day. She and Thoth get along better for the most part, although the part where she wants to play all the time doesn't always please him. He's a good sport and will tumble around a bit with her, but then gets tired of it quickly and tries to get away from her. He does make some funny growling sounds at her at this point, but she doesn't seem to deterred by them.

Great Expectations!

DH and I are so happy to share that we're expecting a little bundle of joy on November 8th! We are very excited and a little overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done in the next 4 months, but I am sure we will manage just like everybody else does. The 20-week ultrasound looked great. It was so neat to be able to see baby's head, eyes, spine, chambers of the heart, kidneys, hands and feet. We were so glad to see that all looked well with our little peanut.

To answer some of the typical questions... I have been feeling great and was very blessed to be free of any morning sickness (far from what I expected!). I'm about 22 weeks along now, and have been feeling baby moving around maybe the last week or so - particularly in the last two days I have been feeling actually pokes, and DH felt one today! Maybe a little hand or foot? We are not going to find out if it is a boy or girl - waiting for a surprise, and making two lists of names. Our new kitten has been good mommy and daddy practice for us - she has unending energy and has trained us to be watchful and up at all times of night. I think architecture school was probably good training for me too - good to get a refresher on being up all hours of the night again. Otherwise, things have been pretty uneventful, but I'll try to make note of any interesting happenings.

As for our holiday weekend, we enjoyed the Marietta fireworks with some friends last night, and then early this morning, DH ran his 9th Peachtree Road Race. The weather was perfect for the run, and SIL and I had an enjoyable time watching the race for DH to come by my usual spectating spot at Colony Square. Happy Independence Day, and thanks to all the men and women in our armed forces who protect our freedom each and every day!

New Fur Baby!

We've added a new fur baby addition to the Bachmann household! Here she is, yet to be named. A friend had a stray cat have her litter in their garage, so being the softies that we are, of course we had to take one in. (In fact, if you're in the Atlanta area, there are 2 more calico kittens available - let me know if you're interested!) Although DH and I had already been talking about getting Thoth a "sibling" at some point too, so the timing just seemed to work out. I picked her up today, and she's in quarantine in the "master bath suite" until she's old enough to get all of her testing done. Thoth did get to see her several times today from a distance, and seemed interested and not too bothered by her presence. She appears so far to be fearless, spunky, vocal, cuddly, and a loud purr-er. Hopefully the transition from a 1-cat to 2-cat household will be smooth. Name suggestions and kitten advice welcome!

To Infinity and Beyond!

DH and I headed down to Titusville, Florida last Thursday to meet up with some family and friends and to witness the final mission launch of the space shuttle, Atlantis. We staked out a spot along the river east of Titusville at Parrish Park around 10 am on Friday. There was a small beach along the north side of the road, so we were armed with chairs, a pop-up tent (thank goodness, because it was sunny!), sand toys for my bonus niece (3 yo), and picnic food. There was quite a crowd as the morning wore on, and by lunchtime, you'd a thought it was Gameday! RVs, surfers, families, retired folks, students, people with dogs, were all out and waiting to watch the launch. I've been crazy busy with deadlines since coming back to work this week (among other things going on too), and so I haven't had a chance to go through all the photos yet, but here's one at liftoff. The launch was pretty much on time, around 2:20 pm, and I was glad I had thought to bring a little radio (and batteries!) so that we could listen to the AM station with the countdown. The skies were clear so we had a great view of liftoff, the arch of the shuttle, the contrail into infinity, and the rocket boosters falling. What a fantastic experience!