Saturday, November 24, 2007

The Honeymoon Is Over
Angie continues to carry on, growing ever bigger and closer to delivery. With a little over a month to go however, things have gotten a little uncomfortable. Her bladder has become a bit of a trampoline of late, and space is at a premium in the belly. But as usual, she makes no complaints and keeps active. Things are close enough now, and the false-labor symptoms are becoming more apparent. We haven't packed the bag for the hospital yet, but the luggage is out of the attic.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

AWM Making Friends
Pinky has always had a keen sense of what will get him the furthest in this world. Be it kitty-catting his way onto Angie's heart strings, or just being cute and lazy, he's got the run of the house and the ultimate benefit of the doubt. Take for instance his latest alignment with AWM. Paws firmly wrapped around Angie's belly, Pinky is making it clear that he comes in peace and welcomes any new additions to our family, further cementing his place amongst the untouchables in the family hierarchy.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Reader Interviews!
Thanks to everyone who participated in the Q&A we provided. It's been a blast combing through all of the answers and taking notes. Below we've posted the questions and a selection of answers from you and everyone else who responded. We can't thank you enough for your contribution and your friendship. To have people who have been through the process and emerged with crash-tested methods in our lives is truly priceless.
_____________________

1: Aside from strollers, diapers (the usual): What is one parenting "gadget" you could not live without?

The consensus pointed to the simple (or in some cases, vibrating) Bouncer Seat.
*or*
"Baby Bjorn" -Pete & Caroline B., Dallas, TX.

2: What is one "gadget" that is completely useless?

This question got a lot of varied answers,
among the most interesting were any kind of
warming device (i.e. bottle/wipe warmers)

*and*
"A changing table-much better to have a dresser and attach a changing pad-then the dresser is still useful for other things."
-Liz B., Chicago, IL.


3: If you could do it all over again, what would you change (if anything)?

We were happy to see that a lot of readers were satisfied
the way they've done it and wouldn't change a thing!
Three cheers for parental instinct!

*also*
"Read more, eat less." -Trudy W., Conroe, TX.

4: What is one thing you would take to the hospital
that isn't on the lists?

"Vanilla Lavender Aromatherapy Oil"
-Beth E., Denver, CO.


5: If you had one piece of advice for Angie, what would it be?

So many good and thoughtful answers!

"Don't stress out about putting him on a schedule
the first few months. I was freaking out because he wasn't
eating or sleeping at 6 weeks to two months.
It will happen." -Emily M., Houston, TX.


And I'd be a fool not to post this:

"Don't be too hard on Robert, although it will be difficult."
-Holly R., Baton Rouge, LA.


6: You are in the hospital, you have just given birth. What food do you most crave?

Some said thirst was more prominent than hunger,
but something greasy (cheeseburgers/fajitas)
got the most mentions.
*and*
"Sushi. And Italian subs, I ate one everyday in the hospital."
-Victoria N., Boston, MA.

7: What is the most difficult thing about newborns?

No surprise here, Sleep Deprivation was a
prominent answer.
*and*
"Getting the baby to latch on properly for breastfeeding.
The baby is starving and won't latch on and is crying and
getting all worked up because he is starving, their
little nails scratch their little faces.
Get some tiny mittens for his hands for the first 6 weeks."
-Kristine M., Spring, TX.

8: What is easier than you expected?

"Bonding with your baby....it's love at first sight."
-Joy S., Leeds, UK.

9: What about your newborn do/did you find most fascinating?

"It was the first smile, that first real connection,
that melted my heart, and it's just downhill from there.
You fall fast." -Christy S., Harrisburg, PA.


10: How long was your labor?

The shortest non-surgical labor was 4 hours.
The longest was about 36 hours!


Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Z Recommends
Shuffling through Blogger out of curiosity can be fun and at times even frustrating, but recently I stumbled upon a real gem: Z Recommends. Z Recommends is a blog that goes in search of the truly kid-friendly, kid-accepted and kid-compatible solutions to your child's every need. From time-savers to time-gainers, from good things to downright dangerous things, Z Recommends keeps us in touch with what's hot and what's not, from the eyes and sensibilities of Z.
Z is the daughter of Jeremiah and Jennifer McNichols, who are obsessive product appraisers, invested online community members, occasional consumer crusaders, and tireless blog enthusiasts. Check 'em out!

ZRecs has just published their annual Gift Guide. So if you are ready to get out and do that holiday shopping, don't do it before you check out Z Recommends and see if it passed mustard with a real child first!

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Evil Clocks
Waiting around for the inevitable can get into your head. We have just 6 weeks remaining until we check into the hospital as a team of two and check out of the hospital as a gang of three. But time passes oh-so-slowly for Angie. The more time we have to wait, the more time she has to consider all of the possible ways labor and delivery will go. The way it has gone is as more time goes by, the worse it gets in the delivery room. Hours of labor, epidurals, episiotomies, Cesarean sections! The fear is creeping in and there is still a lot of time on the clock, the evil clock! How about a short, painless delivery? Not a chance.
You Know That Your Spouse Is A Dork When....
She gets visibly excited when the FranklinCovey catalog comes in the mail.

Friday, November 02, 2007

We're Not Good At Building Registries, But...
We're in the process of finalizing our baby registries. We've been encouraged to expand our options by adding Target to our original Babies "R" Us registry.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Notable Birthdays In December and Beyond
Since we're fast approaching Angie's due date, I thought we'd (hastily) post some notable people with December birthdays that are on or around December 26th give or take 2 weeks.

December 12:
Daniel Agger
December 14:
Michael Owen
December 15:
Robert's Father, Matt
Gustave Eiffel
December 18:
Stephen Spielberg
December 21:
Robert's Maternal Grandfather, Dale
Paco de Lucia
December 26:
Ozzie Smith
December 27:
Angie's Paternal Grandmother, Maria
December 28:
James Blake
December 30:
Angie's Sister, Jill
Tiger Woods
December 31:
Henri Matisse
January 3:
JRR Tolkien
January 4:
Angie's Sister-In Law, Guerdy
Sir Isaac Newton
January 8:
Stephen Hawking