30 weeks!

OK, so it's not a big fetal development milestone, but hitting 30 weeks sure feels good. We still don't want to see them for at least six more, but that's ONLY SIX MORE WEEKS! Can you believe it? Sometimes that feels like an eternity and sometimes that feels like it's right around the corner.

This week has been much harder on my body. Jono has a cold and wants to be held all the time. I really feel his 20 pounds these days on top of the extra weight I'm already carrying. We have called in the cavalry, though. Our church's women's director and children's director collaborated on an email to lots of families to see if some nice folks want to start taking Jono for some playdates between his naps a couple days a week so that I have more chances to rest while David is at work. If you're in Sugar Land and do not go to Crossbridge (or do and didn't get the email) and want to help, let us know! It's humbling to ask for assistance, and I can get pretty down in the dumps feeling like a bad mom for not being able to keep up with the energy level and activity requirements of my 10 month old, but such is life right now. As Katy reminded me last night, in the grand scheme of things, this will all be over very, very soon.

belly tour--video!

(finally!) new belly pictures--29 weeks and general update

We missed 27 weeks. Sorry faithful readers!

First the pictures, then the update...

bare belly, side view: http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ewalrus/IMG_4005.jpg

bare belly, front view: http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ewalrus/IMG_4008.jpg

At my OB appointment last Friday, I was measuring 39 cm, which means my uterus is the size of most women's when they are 39 weeks pregnant, or very nearly term. I'm sure I'll top the 40 cm mark sometime between now and my next appointment, and then we'll be in uncharted territory!

We also had an ultrasound, which showed quite clearly why I am the size I am. These babies are BIG! They were estimated at 3lbs, 3oz (baby girl) and 3lbs, 5oz (baby boy). That is above the 75th percentile for singletons at 28 weeks gestational age. Crazy big babies! They look healthy and are very, very active.

My cervix has started to change a little bit. It's nothing to be concerned about yet (and is really to be expected given that I already have 6.5 lbs of baby in there), but pray that it stays stable so that we can avoid preterm labor and bedrest. We don't want to see them for at least 7 more weeks!

I apologize for the poor paragraph spacing. Blogger is being so uncooperative today! Bah!

cousins!

Nathan, Stephanie, Lucy, and Ben were here this past weekend. Here's a cute bathtime picture of the bigger cousins.

Can you see them?

Jono has two teeth through his bottom gums! He cut the one on his right early in the week, and the other late in the week. Finally!

Here's another picture from the same photo shoot. I took several trying to get a good shot of the teeth. No teeth visible here, but plenty of silliness! Enthusiasm is not something that Jonathan lacks. Crazy baby!

I'm going over to Christina's house today,

and I don't want her to be sad that I'm not playing her little blog question game, so here goes...

What I was doing 10 years ago... I was in college at the University of Texas! Hook 'em Horns! and (if I've counted back correctly) I was living in the Pecos House with 7 other super cool girls, many of whom remain dear friends today.

On my to do list today... Hang out with Christina and baby Joy, do laundry, generally keep the house from getting wrecked my Mr. Destructo.

Snacks I enjoy... diet coke, Valentine's Day conversation hearts, and goldfish crackers. (What? Those things aren't good for the babies?)

Things I would do if I was a billionaire.... I don't know. Finish all the remaining big house projects (floors, foundation, landscaping, etc) in one week while we vacationed somewhere relaxing so I wouldn't have to deal with the mess. Have wonderfulamazingdarling Florie (my housekeeper) come much more often, and hire her a helper so that she doesn't take so long. Hire yard guys. Buy a 2nd washer/dryer since I'm going to have 3 in diapers! Go with David on his business trips to Canada and the Netherlands and hire a nanny to come and help with the child chaos. I could go on and on...

Three bad habits... nail biting, diet coke, and not putting things away when I get the out.

Five places I've lived... Russellville, AR, Nacogdoches, TX, Arlington, TX, Austin, TX, and Sugar Land.

Five jobs I've had... In high school, I worked at a snow cone stand and at a cute little tea room. In college, I worked in after-school care at a large church and at the front desk of my dorm. I've taught at a nice collection of small and not-so-small private Christian schools, and currently am mommying.

Alright, I feel better about my pending play date now. Whew!

Jono plays in the wrap!

I haven't wrapped him in forever, since I'm not wearing him right now, but I thought he might like to play in it. David got a big grin out of him, but overall, he seemed unsure. Super cute picture nonetheless!

Here we were in the same wrap a loooong time ago (or so it seems!). He was exactly 2 months old. And since I took the picture myself, we can assume that we were home alone, which means I got him up there all by myself. We've both changed a lot, huh?

vacuum cleaner trauma

The opposite of many babies we know, Jono throws a fit when you turn the vacuum cleaner off.



And yes. Tantrums are becoming more and more common. For all sorts of reasons. Oh boy.

We promise not to blog every messy baby eating picture, but this one was particularly good. Cornbread...mmmm! (Click on it to make it bigger--it's more entertaining that way!)

I learned some things about cell phones today.

If your cell phone spontaneously goes into "car kit" mode, you are in trouble. Car kit mode seems to mean that your phone will only communicate through a non-existent (in our case) car kit. I could see that it was ringing (caller ID came up and the backlight came on) but could not hear a ring, nor could I speak to the person calling when I tried to answer it, because alas, I am not a car kit. Our home phone has been out for about a week now due to Vonage router issues, so I was left without an important communication device for most of today. A little Googling on the part of my husband (after a frantic email from me to every one of his many email addresses begging him for ideas) revealed that this happens when LG phones have suffered water damage. This could be caused by baby slobber, if say, your baby has been permitted to play with the phone to keep him from whining in Target.

David's Googling found that the problem could very well be fatal, but we could try the following before giving up:

• Completely remove the battery cover and battery and dry everything thorougly.
• Take a toothbrush (new, if possible, or just very dry) and clean out the little port where you plug the charger.
• Try to "short circuit" the phone and trick it into working by sticking some aluminum foil or a kitchen knife into the same port and wiggling it around.
• Plug in the phone and wiggle the cord in the port a bit.
• Try to make a call with the phone plugged in.

I tried all of the above. It improved significantly. The "car kit" notice went away, and I was able to place calls! I was not, however, able to be heard. David thought that the microphone was likely still wet, and maybe some hairdryer time would help. I tried, to no avail.

We pretty much gave up and left our email conversation with plans to get me a new phone tonight. Then someone on my message board suggested taking all the phone parts apart again and burying them all separately in a bowl of rice to see if they would dry out any further. Figuring it couldn't hurt, I buried the phone in rice for the rest of the day.

David returned from work and mocked me for my rice-drying efforts, removed the phone from its starchy bed, and re-assembled it. Lo and behold! It's alive! It works!

Note to self: tempting though it may be, try *not* to let the baby play with the phone. Rice might not work twice.

And now, not wanting to eat the rice that the slobbered-upon phone spent the day in, I have decided to make a rice sock. Our doula said that one might be nice to have in labor, so it was on my project list anyway. Now's as good a time as any...