Fido, meet Baby

We have joked for a while that our dog Maggie is our baby and now she is going to be a big sister. While she has been good training for us for a number of different reasons, we know that there is nothing like the real deal of a human baby.

There are also a couple advantages about a pet:

• Our dog can go outside and pee on the lawn (which our son will probably learn to do too)
• we can leave the dog unattended while we go out for dinner and a movie
• Maggie sleeps through the night and takes multiple naps each day
• We feed our dog once a day and she can eat from her bowl whenever she is hungry
• She only gets fussy when she needs a walk or sees us putting our shoes on
  

We recently got a free "New Parent" magazine and found a fun little article about bringing a baby home to meet the family dog. We want to share some of it with you.

• Before bringing the baby home, bring some of its clothing with the baby's scent on it for your pet to smell.
• Have someone else hold the baby when you step into the house so you can greet your pet warmly.
• Maintain regular pet routines like feedings and walks.
• Never force interaction between your pet and the baby.
• Never leave the baby unattended with your pet (I guess that means Maggie won't be babysitting for us).
  

We really do love our little Maggie and hope that she will adjust along with the rest of us. There is a lot of love in our hearts to go around, for the baby, for each other, and for our pup.

2008 is going to be great

We are down to our final few weeks until the baby comes. The official due date is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and we have been told that we won't go past that day. So, knowing that this kid could be coming any day now is quite the feeling.

We have finally assembled the crib and have most of the nursery put together now. I still have a little bit of work to do on the changing table repairs. Trish has been making lists of baby items that we still need, writing thank-you cards for all the wonderful shower gifts that people have given us, and she has been enjoying the fact that she won't return to work until April. Maggie, on the other hand, has been sensing a change coming and is demanding more attention lately, especially on days when she's cooped up inside all day because of the weather. She is probably in for more of a shock than any of us.

We had a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year. But, we have been looking forward to and spending so much time and effort preparing for this baby that we overlooked the holidays a little more than we have in the past. So, it made for a bit of a strange couple of holiday weeks knowing that life is about to change. We are glad that we didn't have to spend our holidays in the hospital, though with all of Trish's appointments it almost felt like we did. She has been going in for non-stress tests a couple times a week and has had up to three trips to a dr.'s office in a single week. Again, she is glad to be off track and out of school for a while.

We were going to do a Christmas letter but decided to wait for our new addition. We are hoping to send out birth announcements with our letter so that we can share some photos of our new lil' guy with all of you. So check your mailboxes, email inboxes, and our family blog sometime in February for the update.

34 down, how many more to go?

Cute Trish at 34 weeks!!

We can hardly believe that Christmas is only 2 weeks away. With all the baby preparations like painting his room and buying all the baby essentials, we've hardly begun our shopping for Christmas. We did get our tree up and decorated, but we have not strung any Christmas lights because of the snow. We have not yet started to panic (about Christmas and the baby coming), but it's almost getting to that point.

As an update about our lil' baby's bedroom, we have been painting the walls a light-yellow color. We had been using that room for storage and have been working for almost this whole pregnancy trying to get it cleaned out. I still need to assemble the crib and paint and repair the changing table, but otherwise the room is starting to look like a lil' nursery. Based on the results of a poll that we had on this blog, we have decided to go with Jungle as the theme for the room. Actually, that's what we wanted from the beginning, so it was nice to know that y'all supported us in our decision. Some of you may be asking, "why aren't they doing a sports theme?" The answer is quite simple really.... we are having a baby monkey and he needs to feel comfortable in his natural habitat. There you go. Plus, he'll have plenty of other sports stuff like his wardrobe, his toys, and playing and watching sports with his dad. But yes, he really is a monkey.

The main questions that we get asked at this stage in our pregnancy are, "How is Trish feeling?" and "What are you going to name the baby?" The answers to those questions are "good" and "ask us again when he's a few hours old."

Trish really has been doing pretty well considering that she is 34 weeks tomorrow. She has had a bit of nausea and throwing up that has unfortunately returned from the beginning weeks, and there is of course the common aches and pains of pregnancy like back, neck, etc. She really can't complain though because she has been sleeping quite well and isn't to the point where she is so miserable that she just wants him to come out. She is handling the stresses of pregnancy very well and I am inspired by her determination and strength to carry-on. I love her. Best mommie ever.

As for the name.... I never thought it was going to be this difficult to name a baby human. I mean, I've named puppies before. I had a name for my first car, my first computer, my bike, my even my imaginary friend when I was little.... but I've never had to name my own baby before, and quite frankly, I'm struggling. You see, I was named after someone my dad knew from his mission in England. It has always meant something to me that my first name had that significance, had some of the flavor of the British Isles, and was fairly uncommon. So I think we've backed ourselves into a corner wanting something that isn't too common, but not weird. Something with meaning and not just a random name from a baby book. Also, my connection to Japan isn't going to work very well for an American baby. And most of all, something we both agree on. Whenever someone gives a suggestion of a name they like, we can always find a reason why we aren't going to use it (read that as Trish has been a school teacher for 4 years). The fact is, we just aren't sure what we want to name him yet. Good thing we still have a little time to think about it.

We are getting really excited for our little boy. We are hoping that he won't come before New Years (despite Colin's desire for a tax deduction). At our last ultra sound, we saw his cute chubby cheeks and watched him nibble on his own toes. Trish has been visiting the doctor every week lately for non-stress tests and he is an active and healthy little monkey. We hope not more than we bargained for, but we are grateful to know that he is still growing, his heart is beating strong, and he is enjoying the jungle gym inside his mom's tummy. :) We hope to add a few more blog entries over these next few weeks, and Colin has even said that he wants to blog from the hospital! We'll see if that really happens.

As always, we would love to hear any comments from you parents. Please share any experiences or advice that you think might be of help. We always look forward to hearing from you.

P.S. We added a new poll! Check it out!

Happy Fall Ya'll!

I can't believe it is November already! Two weeks from tomorrow and it is Thanksgiving! I have absolutely loved the weather lately. It is so nice to be outside in the afternoon. Also, I just love cuddling up in sweats and hoodies at night. It feels great! Soon the snow will come and we all must agree our least favorite part: it is no fun to drive in it! But, it also means that the holiday season is coming!

So, I thought I would write a quick post about how I am feeling now that we have made it to the third trimester! It really has all gone by sooo fast! Most people have told me that my pregnancy has gone by fast, but that is because they are not the one pregnant! I really haven't felt like that....at least not yet. I know that I am coming up on the hardest stretch...the last few weeks when you are so big that you can't do much of anything. That is when it will start to feel like eternity.

I do admit things are getting a little more difficult. My favorite example is at school or primary...where I am prone to drop things a lot. The kids are trained to know that if it falls on the floor, they need to pick it up because I'm not getting down there anytime soon! They are sweet and are always willing to help! Colin, being the sweet husband that he is, has even started tying or buckling my shoes. It is funny how those little things are just so painful.

Colin teases me lately about breathing heavy! Come on, don't get the wrong idea here! :) It is the classic, I walk about the stairs with laundry and I'm out of breath...or just as simple as finding a comfortable position to lie down in bed takes it out of me! What we have learned at our class is that they baby pushes on the diaphram (just like every other organ they push on) causing shortness in breath! It is also fun trying to keep up with a white fluffy dog when she is "taking YOU for a walk around the block!"

Speaking of our adorable Maggie, I wanted to include her latest picture that we took on Halloween. I know this is our baby blog, but as far as we're concerned, she is our baby....FOR NOW!! She is sure in for a rude awakening once this baby comes. We love her a lot and know that it will take some time for her to get used to the new baby, but we know she'll be a great big sister! ha ha ha

Third Trimester here we come!!

Here's Trish: 6 months down, 3 to go!



So this past week, we started our Child Birth Class. We decided for the simple Third Trimester class that gives 6, 2-hour classes on all the basics of pregnancy, labor, birthing, and taking care of an infant. We decided not to take the Lamaze class. Will we regret it? Did any of you out there in reader land have Lamaze training and found it worthwhile?

Anyway, so at our first class we got to meet about 8 other couples that are all having their first baby. There was quite a variety of people in the class, some a bit older than us, some about our age, several people from other countries, etc. We were excited, but not sure what to expect.

It turned out to be kinda fun. We learned a little bit about nutrition and the benefits of certain vitamins (like DHA and Omega 3 fatty acids!). Our teacher also talked a little bit about what kind of things help a woman feel like she had a positive experience with her pregnancy. The number one factor wasn't the amount of pain involved in the pregnancy, but rather most women who felt like they didn't have control over what was going on during the whole process were more likely to say that their experience was negative. The teacher said that one of the goals of the class was to come to a better understanding of the process so that we could have some control of the situation, especially by being more educated and prepared.

We are looking forward to the rest of our classes and hope to learn a lot more. We have officially entered the third trimester and are getting closer and closer. In fact, one book that we have been reading (Pregnancy: Week by Week) said that babies born as early as week 26 actually have a chance of survival. We are 29 weeks tomorrow, and so that means that if something happened and we had to deliver the baby early (even as early as right now!) that our little guy could survive. That means it could happen at any moment and we have to be ready (which we're not yet....).

Things we still need to do to get ready for this lil' guy:

• Get a crib or cradle for him to sleep in
• Get a stroller
• Get a carseat
• Buy more diapers, wipes, and little things like that
• Decorate the baby room (probably in Jungle theme, since that is what most of you voted on)
• Clean and sterilize/disinfect the rest of the house
• Go to the movies while we still can
• Buy more lil' sporty outfits

We'd also like to hear from you, the reader, about your experiences with shopping for baby items. Things like, where did you find good deals? What diapers were the best (see the new poll)? What items are a waste of money? What should we do to get ready in our last couple of months? What should a clueless husband know in order to not be clueless?

Please let us know what you have learned with your babies.

5 Things I'm looking forward to most about having a son

The other day, Trish asked me the question, "What are you looking forward to most about having a baby?" Being that I love lists of all shapes and sizes, I replied with a list of the top 5 things that I'm looking forward to.

#5. Sports. Can you hardly blame a soon-to-be-dad for wanting to play sports with his son? Whether it's teaching him how to throw a ball in our backyard or coaching his little league teams, I'm certainly looking forward to sharing my love of sports with my lil' sport.

#4. Seeing our tiny family get a little bit bigger (and I'm not just talking about Trish's cute tummy). One of the reasons I married Trish is because we wanted to have a family someday. While I've certainly loved the freedom that comes when it's just the two of us, I even more love the thought of having a family. I loved my family growing up, having siblings, family trips, etc., and now we can move on to the next stage of our lives by starting our own traditions with a baby of our own.

#3. A tiny family means tiny family photos. Since the day we got married, Trish has been talking about the different poses for family photos: in the canyon with fall colors, under the Christmas tree, on Old Main Hill in Logan wearing Aggie apparel, etc. Trish even has the outfits planned out. Family photos mean making memories. Of course, that means adding photos to this blog too! And if you know Trish, you know that she loves taking pictures!!

#2. Father and Son moments. Sports deserved its own item on this list, but I am eagerly looking forward to all the other Father-son moments. Blessing the baby in church, hearing his first words, teaching him about the great things in this world like ice cream, taking him camping, baptizing him, and the list goes on and on. There is a point in life when you feel like you've maybe lost some of the enjoyment for many of the smaller things. But having a baby will be a chance to see the world from a different angle and will be a chance to learn to enjoy life all over again.

#1. To see Trish be a mom. This has been a goal of hers for so long, and she worried for a while that it would never happen. But to see her holding our baby is definitely the thing I'm looking forward to most. I know she is going to be a great mom, because she has been a great wife.

I'd love to hear your comments about what have been your most enjoyable moments with your little additions, or what you are looking forward to most about having a baby of your own. Part of the fun about having a baby is just the "looking forward" process. For 9 months we know that a change is coming, and with that comes a lot of anticipation, excitement, and joy.

Murray, this is the place

This last weekend we had the opportunity to tour the Intermountain Medical Center. This is the new hospital in Murray that will open the end of October! We are excited, because this is the place where our little guy will be born! It was very nice. It was fun to look at the labor and delivery rooms and try to picture myself in one of them!!! Also, the post-pardum rooms were very nice too. Colin's favorite part in there was the pull-out sofa bed where he is SO looking forward to sleeping on!

It definitely made it seem more real to see where we will actually be. Colin joked that when I go into labor that I can take myself to the hospital and he can meet me there because he can ride TRAX from his work! I told him that probably wouldn't be a good idea. Another weird thing that Colin mentioned as we were touring the new hospital is the fact that his son is going to be born across the street from where he went to highschool! Colin grew up in and lived in Murray for over 15 years, and so this means a lot to him that his son will be born there! Our whole experience on Friday night at the hospital, sure hit close to home!

Well, so how is the baby? He is doing great! If his kicking is any indication of how happy he is, there is no question that he is the happiest kid on the block! His mom is going bonkers though! My blood sugars have been outta control!!! My insulin intake has dramatically increased in the last few weeks. Basically everyday, every meal, every piece of food put into my mouth is a guessing GAME!! I am trying the best I can and trying not to get down about it, but it is definitely FRUSTRATING!! I am hangin' in there and thing are easier with a great supportive husband and super doctors who are doing their best to help me out too!

Anyway, another month has passed and so that means another profile picture!! Colin thought it would be fun to put both of our profiles on there and ask for the new poll question, "Who's tummy is bigger!" Believe me, I won't be offended if you say Colin's!