Valdez Gets a Baby Store!

One of my dearest friends opened up a baby store in Valdez! Little Ones of Alaska opened on February 3rd and has been hugely popular ever since.

Brandy's eye for fabulous merchandise is to be praised. The organic cotton and bamboo clothes are adorable. The lead free toys are a hit. And stuff for mommy too, everything Valdez was missing.

True to the name, here are Brandy's little ones; hers and her friends from all over Alaska...of course the majority are from Valdez. Such a special touch.

Thank you Brandy for taking on such a huge task to bring wonderful things to the
families of Valdez.

Casting Call

The day after Thanksgiving, my midwife Rinn (lower) and doula Merreley (with the hat) came over for dinner and casted my 39 week big belly.

The finished product is absolutely amazing. I plan on sanding and painting it at some point, but that's not really my top priorety at the moment. Until then, it is floating around my house until I find a good home for it.
I love looking at it. It really blows me away to think that that is my belly with our baby inside of it. I see myself in the mirror everyday, but to see a replica of what I look like amazes me. It kinda makes everything a bit more real to me.
I think every woman should make a casting. It was so easy, and even if you don't keep it around, it's really something precious to see. I look forward to taking pictures of our baby curled up inside the cast to see just how she fit in there.

We're Getting Close

You can probably tell I didn't sleep very good the night before these pictures. Oh well, can't be perfect every time :) These are at 34 weeks.

Notice my little guard cat in all the pictures. Story of my life-he follows me everywhere now.
Cross my fingers: Not a strech mark in sight (yet)!
We'll be doing a belly cast soon. That'll make some fun pictures to come. Keep watching!

Who Needs a Sugar Baby When You Can Have a Pumpkin Baby?

Justin thought it would be a good idea to make a baby pumkin for Halloween since we don't have our little one to dress up yet.

Tommy has been very protective of the baby, both the pumpkin one and the one in my belly. He is always following me around and making sure everything is ok. He even tries to sleep on my belly at night (until I get too hot and roll him off of me).

Finally after 8 weeks and a bunch of phone calls our crib mattress made it here. It fit perfectly in the crib. Justin thought it would be a good idea to make sure the "baby" would be comfortable...so here it is. :)

Practicing for our family photo.

...but I'm the baby!

Look at all these clothes! Are they for me?

I think I like this one the best.

See Mom, it fits purrfectly.

Who needs a baby when you have me?

The moral of this story...2 Stroke is going to have a difficult time adjusting when the baby comes.

PS*He got into the dress all on his own.

The Handyman Can

The day before Justin left for his 2 week training in Louisiana, we spent an entire day putting together a majority of the furniture for the baby's room.

Baby's proud Daddy was hoping for something a bit more solid, but we take what we can get up here in the isolated AK.

2 Stroke was eager to help out. He spent the whole day with us...supervising from the rocking chair, making sure we didn't forget anything in the boxes (primarily by playing in them), and of course the most helpful-drinking Dad's water.

Tommy wasn't quite as concerned. He came in after all was done to do the final appraisal. He gave his mark of approval by walking over the changing table, leaving a trace of foot prints and kitty litter.
The crib came in while Justin was still away at training. Hopefully we'll get that put together sometime this week.

Servin' Up Another Round of Belly Shots

I won't lie. It feels weird to post pictures of myself getting bigger. Such a difference from normal life when most people want to look smaller the next go around. Just another backwards symptom of pregnancy I guess. These are from the beginning of our 26th week...six months down, three to go! I'm not sure this outfit will last through the next few months. That's alright I guess, I'm kind of over it. It doesn't really go with summer anyways.

Soooo Excited!!!

So at the advice of our two of our friends, and some wonderful string pulling of one of my co-workers/midwife, we were able to get into a sonographer specialist in Wasilla who was absolutely FABULOUS! She went over the details of the baby down to the fingers and toes and every organ in her body. Yes...in HER body. IT'S A GIRL!!! So this picture is a good side shot with her head on the left side. The thing that looks like little bubbles coming from the mouth is actually fingers. It's kind of hard to tell from this picture, but in the original we can definitely see the finger bones there.

Knowing exactly what is growing inside has made this whole experience so much more real. I finally understand that deep maternal bond that people keep talking about. I knew all along I'd be more attached to this baby than anything in the world, but just in this past weekend it has become a reality. This picture is mostly of the head again down in the bottom left with her face pointing upwards. It is also a good shot of her spine curving down along the bottom. The ultrasound showed that she is very healthy with everything where it is supposed to be and nothing missing. She is measuring a tad bit under average size, which doesn't bother me at all. A 7 pound baby would do me just fine. Right now she is only 1 & 1/2 pounds though.
Here is the famed 3D/4D picture. She had just had some of my lunch, so she was really active when we went in. It made it hard to get a great portrait shot. I think this one does just fine, but Gretchen our sonographer said she could have done better. It is really amazing what technology can provide us with these days. Seeing her facial features and the little fontanels of her head just blows me away. I'm not sure how this will come across on the web page, but you're looking (from top to bottom) at her forehead, eyes, nose, lips, and chest.

After our appointment we drove into Anchorage and found a great sale going on at Fred Meyer. Justin was absolutely priceless, picking out adorable clothes and little things "that she's going to need". He has already claimed her as "daddy's girl". It makes me feel so blessed for the family we are coming to be. I couldn't ask for a better life.

Belly Shots-Not Body Shots

So we took the first belly pictures on Sunday. I was hoping to get them at a nice even 16 weeks, but due to time and laundry constraints, they had to be put off for a week. So here it is, debuting at 17 weeks, 1 day, in the yellow baby room, none-the-less.

I never thought I'd be one to count the days of the pregnancy, and really I'm not, but I thought I'd do it for the more detail-oriented friends who may be curious. Really, I could never figure out how all my previously pregnant friends kept track of their pregnancies by the week. I soon figured that one out. So much change happens every week, than I can't help but remember where I'm at and what is developing now. (By the way, the website that keeps me updated has now upgraded the baby from an avacado to an onion.)

About the room...it just so happened to be under construction when we found out we were expecting. Lucky us! So we went with the nice, neutral yellow (hopefully which will go with anything). The carpet is due to be installed after the 4th of July. I am truely excited for that because it means that not only will we be ready to put in furniture and clothes in the closet, but also everything that is said in the hallway will quit echoing throughout the house.

Our New Addition

Like any good mommy-to-be, I feel it is my duty to post the first ultrasound pictures of our growing little bean sprout. I also feel that it deserves the honor of the having the first posting on the new blog. So here s/he is, debuting at 12 weeks developed. Since these pictures were taken, we've been to Honduras, Belize, Mexico, and Grand Caymen. Well traveled little one for not even being born yet.