Happy Birthday for me and ten weeks left!!

I had to write a birthday blogpost because my in-laws completely spoiled me and Jace with birthday presents this year! When Rod and I got home from our anniversary trip a couple of weeks ago, there were boxes piled around our mailbox and landing, it was insane. Then I had to ignore them for two weeks until my birthday arrived so I could open them... (little did I know that no one actually expected me to ignore them until my birthday). We got so many baby things, it was like a second baby shower, but now, I feel ready for Jace to come. We have everything we need to comfortably welcome him into the world.

Some of the gifts are in these photos, the new changing table pad, the cover for the changing table, the diaper pail, a bottle warmer and a wipes warmer. In the bottom photo is a pad for supporting Jace in the carrier and a carrier cover. The carrier I actually got from my parents, but the accesories were from my inlaws. We also got a swaddling wrap, which is not in these pictures, but I was super excited about. It also had monkeys on it. I wonder where the monkey theme came from. My guess is that it's because Rod told his family that we had noah's ark bedding, but regardless, I'm thinking it's pretty cute!
   The other gift I was really excited about was the bottle set. I plan on nursing mostly, but having some bottles so that Rod can take some feeding duties will be really nice. The most unexpected gift--bag balm. I had no idea what it was, and could only guess from what the can said. Of course, the can only says that it's used for cow's udders.... so I really wasn't sure what to make of that gift. I looked it up and discovered that it's been widely used on humans as well, a great lotion basically. People who use it usually swear by it and one recommended use is on diaper rashes. Then it made sense. We got a good laugh out of that gift!
  We also got a bottle cleaner, bottle drying rack, a laser thermometer, a mattress cover, and my absolute favorite gift:

A baby bouncer!!!!

I had been really wanting one of these, a good place to set the baby down while puttering around the house, and an opportunity for him to get some play time too. I was super excited when I opened this one, and put it together right away. I'm so excited to use it! The middle toy plays the tune to a children's song (three little ducks went out one day, over the hill and far away.... remember that one?) so I had it stuck in my head all morning after putting the bouncer together. I warned Rod that he might have to get used to getting kids songs stuck in his head...
 Obviously you can tell, I've been very spoiled and I'm very excited for Jace to come now so we can put all these goodies to use! Unfortunately that's a whole ten weeks away! Rod and I started the prenatal classes last night. There was a ton of information being thrown at us, it was all a little overwhelming. Understanding the process better was good, because we feel a little more informed on what needs to happen, but a little overwhelming because now we understand all we have to go through to get this baby out. Rod and I were talking this morning about how I could be in labor, but he could go to work and come back again before we actually had to go to the hospital. I've decided that waiting sounds like it might be the most painful part!
  Knowing me though, waiting might seem the most painful because it would be more of what I'm doing now, just trying to keep busy while waiting for Jace to arrive. In my attempts to keep busy, I've been trying to take on little projects. One of the ones for this week was this:

Like Jace's mobile?

I made this mobile for Jace's crib. It's made with paper, wire for hanging, wire loops for connecting the paper, and embroidery hoops to put the chains on. It's pretty cute looking, if you ask me. It was a good way to keep busy for a couple of days. Fortunately, Rod got me a couple of books for my birthday, so I have those to keep me busy to. (he's discovered my passion for reading this summer, and made my birthday cake into a book too!)  I'd say life is pretty darn good, and we are so excited for Jace to get here.... if only he'd get here. 10 weeks left!

Third Trimester!

     Well, I haven't been a very good writer for a while... So, now we're on the third trimester, the final countdown, enjoying the beginnings of the nasty aches and pains that accompany it. The end of the last trimester was very nice, I spent very little time suffering symptoms of pregnancy. Jace has become more and more active over time, and stronger too. I can now watch my belly distort as he exercises. I was talking to Rod the other day, commenting on Jace's activity and I said, "When he comes out, he's going to flex those little muscles and have a six pack!" Rod declared he'd better not, because his father would be jealous. :)
    Fortunately, it's been a very healthy, low key pregnancy so far. Lately the biggest news on the pregnancy front has been collecting things for Jace. We had a baby shower, put on by a good freind of mine a couple of weeks ago. She coordinated it with my family's visit so they could be there. My parents got us the stroller and carseat, such a big help! And it is super cute too! We got lots of clothes now, so Jace will be well dressed for at least the first month. After that, he may have to run around naked....:) No, we're going to pick up more clothes yard-saling this summer.
  We also have a crib and changing table, which we just set up. Now a corner of the bedroom is converted into something of a nursery, and it is super cute! I am so excited about it!

I actually moved them apart after taking this picture so they weren't so close. Isn't it such a cute set?

  That is definitely the biggest excitement lately, I can't wait to show it off to people, because I think it is so darn cute, and I can't wait to put a baby in there! The bedding is a little Noah's ark set, and I have a second set with polka dots on it. I'm a little torn about it, I may switch the bedding before he arrives.... I'm just so excited to have it all set up!
  Now it's just the waiting game until Jace arrives. We have the birth classes starting up in a couple of weeks, happy day! Here's a picture of me, the day before 29 weeks:

I just keep getting bigger!

And the baby is....

A BOY!!! A healthy little boy! We had our ultrasound today, and the baby is right on track, healthy and strong. Makes sense, because I certainly have been feeling him wiggling around in there a lot the past couple of weeks. At this point, I can feel him wiggle all throughout the day. It was funny, when we started the ultrasound, we could see him moving. At first, he was moving his hand, like he was trying to push the ultrasound thing away. Then he gave up there and started trying to move away from it. The technician was saying, "The baby keeps moving around, I'm having a hard time chasing him to get a shot of him." By time we got a full shot of him, he had wedged himself down into my pelvis, trying to get away. He was all scrunched up, folded in half with his feet by his head, and his arms wrapped around his head. Apparently he had no interest in his photo op, or in any intrusion on his space.

The top picture shows that he is indeed a boy, it's basically a shot of his bum, so he's mooning all of you. The second photo shows his leg, right by his head. And the third photo is a head shot. 

Now that we know his gender, we know that I am carrying little Jace Ryuu Tamanaha. And I think he takes after his father in more than just the gender. Here's another shot of his face, close up. Notice how it looks like he has almond shaped eye sockets? I bet he has his daddy's eyes, our little half asian!

His face is the top circle, I turned it so it would be easier to see. The bottom circle is his chest.  Honestly, his face looks like one of those green aliens from a sci fi movie.

It's so exciting, to imagine a little boy, wearing cute little overalls, and little sweater vests to church. Can't you just imagine? I'm so excited to actually have him here, not just in the bump. (speaking of which, here's the latest bump photo, from last week.)

So much new excitement! I can't wait for him to come, though! Now I can really start baby shopping!

First flutterings

I have reached the point where I can feel little Junior move! It's not much, just the occasional movement here or bump there as I'm falling asleep. The first time, it felt like a little bubble running along my skin, except it was inside my body, right where Junior is. Since then, I have just felt little bumps against my belly. Just little, gentle ones, like a tiny body rammed into my belly while he was busy playing gymnastics inside. A new favorite pastime of mine- laying in bed trying to see if I'll feel a motion before falling asleep at night. I think it's funny that I can feel him move as I'm falling asleep, like that's the only time he wants to be awake, when I'm falling asleep.... a pattern for the future? I have a feeling most likely.
It's so fun though, to be able to feel that the little one I've been carrying, and bellyaching over, for the past 4 months is now moving around and active. It really makes him feel alive to me, it's definitely been the newest, funnest experience of pregnancy so far. Much better than other developments I've gone through--more pain free too!
Here's a picture of me at 17 weeks, taken this morning. My mentor teacher at school has been commenting about how I definitely have a belly showing now. It's kinda cool to start getting comments about my belly, exciting that  it's obvious enough for everyone else to notice too now!

More belly, more heartbeats!

   We heard the heartbeat again at the doctor's office today. I actually stayed home sick today with a cold, and the office called to see if we could move the appointment time up, which we could because I was home sick today, so Rod got to come! He was so excited. If he couldn't come, I was planning on trying to record it, but he came and I forgot. Don't worry, despite my lack of audio clip of our baby's heartbeat, there is still a way you can hear it. Just ask Rod. He does the best imitation of the baby's heartbeat I've ever heard. He was doing it all the way home from the doctor's office. He's gonna be such a good daddy!
    My mom tells me that a baby's heartbeat sounds like a train (chooochoochoochoo). But what I hear is different. I wonder if it's just because it's earlier in the pregnancy, but the baby's heartbeat is more of a whooshwooshwhoosh sound. Again, ask Rod, he's really good at it. On the way home we decided it's actually just an Asian thing. We're having a half Asian baby, so their heart speaks a slightly different language, more whooshy than choo-ey. I hear that the ch sound is a hard one to learn how to pronounce anyway, so I think that explains the difference.
  So, I'm 15 weeks and a day now, and I am DEFINITELY showing. I'm so excited about this too! I was nervous for a little while because I thought I was just eating too much, or not healthy enough, but when I went to the doctor's today, it turns out I haven't gained any weight yet in the pregnancy. And yet, in this picture, you can definitely see a belly there. I have quite the baby bump. This means that I've slimmed down a little bit elsewhere, because that belly hasn't added any weight. I'm just so excited to have a visible baby bump. It is now available for all to see and get excited with me!

Too big for my shirt!

13 Weeks and there is a visible belly!

I have now officially outgrown my first shirt. I put on a button down shirt today that I haven't worn in a little while. I have been adjusting it all day long to try and not have a belly hanging out underneath the lowest button! I guess it's time to retire this shirt for a while!

Human again!

 You know the song from Beauty and the Beast? "We'll be human again, only human again, we'll go waltzing around once more..."? Ah, this past weekend has been so wonderfully human again! We're hitting week 13 now of pregnancy, and without the student teaching for the weekend--which has been my main source of exhaustion--I have finally been able to be myself again. I have been busy all day for four days in a row now without having to take a nap, or lie down because it was too much because I'm pregnant. I am so excited. I cleaned the house on Friday and made bread, which I've wanted to do for several weeks now. I have been so happy. Rod and I went to the gym on Saturday, and though we were both tired, we watched a movie and then went out for a walk later that evening, and I still had energy to do it all!!! That is the most exciting change that has happened recently. It'll be interesting to see what happens when I go back to school tomorrow, but so far, man it feels good to be human again!
  Along with that change, my husband has noticed that with the beginning of each trimester, I've broken out in acne. True, and very irritating.... But, that means no picture this week (well, that and I forgot to have my husband take one before I posted this) so I can't show off my baby bump. Yes indeed folks, it is there! It showed up on Monday and has grown a little since then too!! Unfortunately, it's not very big yet. It's exciting for Rod and I, because after three months of telling everyone we're pregnant, we wanted to start looking it. When we found the definite bump on Monday, we were SO excited. But it's only just big enough to cup my hand around, so it's really not big enough for anyone to see yet. No matter, everyone will see it soon enough, now that it definitely is here, right? I'll have to take a picture next time, just so you have a picture, even if it's not quite visible yet.
  According to some research, starting with the thirteenth week, the baby can hear sounds, though it's mostly just manifested as detecting vibrations, not really distinct sounds. We found that exciting, and Rod spent yesterday morning trying to communicate with the baby, "We love you, Junior." I don't know if he got the message, but like my mom says, if he missed it now, we'll have plenty of opportunities to tell him later.
  Recently, I have been dreaming more and more about babies. All the time, actually. It's exciting. Last night I dreamt about my little sister, Mary (who is NOT pregnant--it was a dream, remember) having a baby shower. I was looking at these booties that someone gave her that were soo cute, white with little polka dots on them, and when I got up this morning, I was so excited about baby stuff! I jumped on Rod (yes, he was already awake) and begged him to take me baby shopping this morning. I didn't have to beg very hard. I think that's the fastest I remember us getting out of bed in the morning. We went to Target, and then to look around at prices at Babies R Us. We got so much fun stuff! I think Rod enjoyed the morning just because he spent the time watching me jump around all excited. He was on a little crusade to find the right stroller, though we didn't buy one yet. We're holding off on the big purchases for now (mostly because we're going to have to just store them until the baby arrives). We bought little things, burp cloths, towels, wash cloths, a couple of pacifiers, bibs, socks, onsies, a first aid/bathroom care kit, diaper changing kit, fun stuff. We had a good time looking at clothes, but didn't buy any because we want to know the gender before we buy clothes.

PS-those little things, watch out! They can rack up fast!

It was so much fun to buy some stuff for Junior. The bathtub in the picture, I bought that while out with a friend on Saturday, and I think now that we have a blue bathtub, we're ready to have a girl... :)