The Baby in the Belly!

That is the endearing term Roman typically uses to refer to his little brother or sister on the way (he also calls it "the brother or sister" and even knows the names we have picked out!). It has been quite a while since I have mentioned much about the pregnancy, so I thought it was about time that I did!Currently I am 26 weeks, due May 25 (memorial day). With that said, I am not at all planning on actually going into labor on that date! In fact, I am planning on going to our family's lake cabin, just so I don't get my hopes up for the baby! I'm thinking somewhere around the 28th or 29th (which is my grandma's birthday and she would be utterly thrilled about!).

I am still shocked by just how different this pregnancy is than my last! I am carrying this baby so low (I feel like my belly is hanging between my knees!) and I am have been having quite a bit of hip pain (rather than the upper back pain like I had with Roman). Everything just feels different and my brain is already fuzzy and forgetful! The baby is especially active in the mid-afternoon and very late at night (like 12:00-2:00 am)- I am preparing for many long nights!

We had an ultrasound at the beginning of January to check and make sure everything looks good (since my brother has spinabifida)- I knew I wouldn't feel comfortable progressing with a homebirth if we hadn't ruled out birth defects. As it turns out, the baby is practically perfect in every way, and no, we did not find out the gender! We still have fun looking at the photos and DVD to debate that question though! Check a few of the pics out:

I love how the baby looks like it is smiling in this picture! That bubble above it's face is a cross-view of the umbilical cord.

Yes- this is one flexible child! That is a leg!

We think this picture is both a little freaky and funny! The baby was so active, moving around, opening and closing it's mouth- the ultrasound tech could hardly keep up!

Everything is beginning to come together for the homebirth. We ended up switching to a different midwife who we absolutely love (we really liked the last one too, she just has a lot on her plate right now)! Our new midwife, Dana Combest LM, CPM, is wonderful! She comes to our house for all the appointments and is so caring- she is everything you could want or expect in a midwife. We like her more each time we see her, and the more we find out about her birth philosphy the more we know she is the right choice. She is very hands off and will encourage us to deliver the baby ourselves (which Jer is very jazzed about- he REALLY wants to catch!).

Other than our midwife we will also have our two awesome doulas (both of whom were at Roman's birth) and two close friends to help with Roman (who we at least want in the room for the actual delivery- we think it will help with the mental transition of having a sibling if he actually sees where it came from) and what not. I plan on delivering in our bedroom, most likely in the birth tub that we will have set up- I couldn't think of a more perfect and cocoon-like environment to give birth to this baby! I also couldn't be more excited about this birth (which I never thought I would say) and really think it is going to be a wonderful experience for everyone!

So that is about all so far! I will try to be better about posting on the babe! Also, if any of you have any questions about homebirth or any of the rest, please don't hesitate to leave them! I won't be offended and would love to share more about it with you! More to come!

A few changes...

I have been wanting to snaz things up on my blog for a while now, and finally got around to it today and this weekend! So what do you think? It is a work in progress and I still have a few things to tweek and add. Also, I lost a lot of the blogs that I like- so if you happened to be in my blog list, please leave a comment and I will add you again!

Gro Baby Contest!

Want to win two of these beautiful new innovative diapers, plus a magic stick? Well, I don't know about you, but I sure do! These diapers by Natural Baby Co. are coolest new design! The inside soaker snaps in and out so you can just change it at changings if the cover isn't soiled! How cool is that!?! Plus, it is one-sized, so it is hard to beat in the economy department!

Head over to The Cloth Diaper Whisperer for all sorts of chances to win these awesome diapers and diaper salve! And hey, if you win and don't like them, you can always pass them on to me!

Letters and Love!

The past week and a half or so we have been incorporating lots of ideas I have found on my favorite Tot-Schooling blogs: 1+1+1=1 and Totally Tots! I love the constant inspiration I get from these blogs and it helps to keep Roman's interest as well!

Our first new activity has been pages for a letter notebook. Basically, what I do is make a page with a certain letter and pictures of words that begin with that letter. I then tell Roman to find the different pictures which he then "circles." So far, we have worked on letters "O" & "L". Along with letter recognition this has been a great way to work on his speech. Granted, he is not even three yet, but it was the perfect time to get him to say his "L"s better- we had him stick his tongue way out when he said the names of the pictures so that he made an "L" sound instead of a "W." He especially loves having his work up on the fridge to show off! Much to my surprise he even traced inside the lines of the "O" all by himself!
Another way we worked on letters was with these Thomas the Train flash cards my grandma just gave us (one of the many awesome learning hand-me-downs we just received from her that belonged to my cousin!). Roman's favorite activity with the cards is to hammer them! We set a bunch of cards out and I call out a letter- he then tries to find the letter and hammer it before I grab it away. He loves this game- just the kind of high-activity thing he needs to stay interested!

Our other main tool this week has been our LOVE poster! We got this idea from this post on Totally Tots. We have 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 hung above the poster and an envelope with a bunch of hearts- each of which has a different aspect of love written on it as described in the verse. Every day (or every other day) Roman gets to choose a new heart out of the envelope and paste it on the poster. We then talk about what that heart means and review all the others. We try to do some practical activity to demonstrate what the concept means and continuously talk about whatever concept we are working on throughout the day. Much to my surprise, one night before bed Roman actually told me that he needed to be patient for morning so he could do the next day's activities! I guess something is getting in that little head! It is always nice to have those rewarding moments when you know all you are working with them on is not in vain!

This next week I am very excited to work on a few other awesome ideas from the blogs I have mentioned above, including lacing cards, stringing beads, pouring things and transferring! Stay tuned!

Knitting Fool!!

Well, all the spare time that I could have spent blogging lately has been devoted to my recent knitting projects- and there are a lot of them! I think I have been teasing a few of my readers on Facebook for a while now about these knits, so I thought it was about time I started posting! So, here is what I have complete:

A pair of "Just in Case it's a Girl"Newborn-size Perfection Pants longies- hey, I couldn't help myself! This yarn colorway was just irresistible! I plan on knitting a lacy hat and puff painting a shirt with the first letter of the name we have picked out so that the whole outfit can be used that first day for pictures, but that will come in time. And yes, I do intend to make a boy version of the outfit as well!

A Size-Small Curly Purly Soaker in wool I got from 100purewool.com (sorry I can't remember the name). I prefer the rise folded over and if I make the pattern again will probably shorten it throughout the body. All in all, I am happy with it though!

A dishcloth from the Monthly Dishcloth KAL Blog. This particular one is the mid-month cloth for January. I am going to attempt to make all the cloths for the year (24 in total) as I think it will be a fun challenge, plus we could use the cloths! (Sorry the pic is a little dark- I had to take off the flash to pick up all the detail)

Now, as for what is on the needles! I am working on a earflap hat for my father-in-law's birthday (which is today but we won't be celebrating until Sunday- luckily, since it isn't quite finished yet). He has been begging me for one of these hats since we saw them at a street fair last August and was so dissapointed that he didn't get one for Christmas! Since money is tight and he wants it so badly, I figured his birthday would be the perfect opporunity to make one for him! I created the pattern myself, so needless to say, there has been a lot of ripping out and reknitting! But I thinkit is finallys tarting to take shape and I will hopefully have it done in time!

I am also working on completing a couple other soakers for the babe, an adorable stuffed animal for a friend's daughter's birthday (next weekend, sheesh! What's with February and the birthdays?!), the current dishcloth for the Monthly Dishcloth KAL blog (plus the one for the beginning fo January), and a couple other adorable projects I found on Ravelry that aren't quite started yet but hopefully will be soon! Phew... that's exhausting just writing it all- my fingers need to get flying on the needles!

In other knitting news, I have also managed to get my page up and rolling on Ravelry.com- an awesome Beta site for those in the fiber-arts! So, if you are on there, check out my page (I am ChicMama) and link up as a friend! I would love to knit with you!