Ready to POP!!

 

Boy versus Girl Predictions

When you're pregnant, you receive much unsolicited advice, comments, and opinions.  At least half of the time when I told a questioner that we were going to be surprised with the sex of our baby, he or she would give me his or her prediction as to whether we would have a boy or girl.  Most of the time (I would say 90% of the predictors), the predictor would state "boy."  It was either because my belly was high or because it was low (?), because my skin was clear or because I was active.  I was curious what the ACTUAL wive's tale was regarding how you are carrying the baby, and I found many other predictors. 

I was carrying low (versus high) which predicts BOY
I was craving sweets (versus salty) which predicts GIRL
Mother's age plus the year is odd (even predicts girl) which predicts BOY
I had clear skin (versus blemished skin) predicts BOY
I had little to no nausea (versus highly nauseous) predicts BOY

SOOO - according to most of these predictions I was to have a BOY, which I did!

Other quirky wive's tales that I didn't get to do:
Hang your wedding ring by a string over your belly and if it swings a girl and circles a boy is predicted.

Drop a key on the floor and if the person who picks it up for you picks it up by the round part a boy or narrow part a girl is predicted.

And I saved the weirdest for last...
Pee in a cup and to it add a tablespoon of Drano.  If it turns green a girl or blue a boy is predicted. 

I had a blast waiting til the birth to find out the sex of our little bun in the oven.  Each day closer to his or her birthday I anticipated meeting him or her even more than if I knew the sex.  It was the biggest "planned surprise" of my life.  I loved making my friends and family crazy with anticipation too ;)

New Year's Resolution

My new year's resolution is to take advantage of technology.  We have lots of fancy gadgets that we don't use to their full potential.  We could be communicating with friends and family better.  And I want to be a hip parent to Elijah! 

1.  Write a blog once a week.  I also have a lot of blog posts to write to catch up on with the end of my pregnancy and the birth of our baby - so stay tuned!

2.  Take more pictures with our digital camera.  I definitely take a picture a day of Elijah with my phone, but we have a nice camera that I should be using more.  I've already started reading up on how to operate it and reviewing the basics of photography - now I just gotta pratice.

3.  Make sure Andrew sets up the baby-cam and Skype to communicate with friends and family.

4.  Read from my Kindle during the day while breastfeeding.

5.  Learn about and use Apple TV. 

I these are definitely do-able! 

7 Months Prego!

The belly is getting BIG.  I'm definitely starting to get uncomfortable.  I'm not complaining yet, because I know BIGGER is to come.  (Man, I looked cute at 4 months :)). 

Last Travels Before Baby

Andrew and I have been packing in our traveling the latter part of summer before the arrival of our bundle of joy.  We had plans to go to Mexico for a wedding the end of October, however since Baby Woo will make his or her arrival around the same time, we decided to switch our Mexico airline tickets for a "babymoon" vacation!  The most economical option to trade our AirTran tickets from San Antonio was Tampa, FL.  We stayed at a lovely St. Petersburg bed & breakfast for 3 nights.  My favorite breakfast meal was a tempura poached egg - Y.U.M.

We went to the beach complete with a picnic from an Italian market

Crazy cool trees.  Originated from India

St. Petersburg at sunset

In front of our bed & breakfast - The Dickens House

On the same weekend that Andrew went to Denver for Caleb's bachelor party, I also took a weekend to "party" with my Chicago peeps!  Beth was a gracious host for the weekend, making sure I was always well fed and hydrated.  The weekend was filled with fun and friends and went by WAY too fast! 

Beth got us some sweet newborn Hawkeye gear!  We'll be ready for the Minnesota game (and maybe even a couple more before that too)!

PT mini-renunion

I had the best baby shower - complete with Hawkeye tailgate.

More Hawks gear!  The jersey will be ready for next season and the bib will inspire the baby forever.

mamas

Newman Center Reunion

What is left of the delicious spread that Beth prepared - including black bean burgers for us vegetarians

Go Hawks!

Chicago skyline from Soldier Field

We were threatened by beer bongers that we could not leave the parking lot unless we did a beer bong - Adam Muckler saved the day :)

Last, but certainly not least, we will attend the Stoll/Church wedding in Nashville!

Welcome 3rd Trimester!

Hello 3rd trimester, and hello lots more eating!  My appetite has definitely exceeded that of my hyper-metabolic 6'2" husband.  At our last check up, doctor states that I'm "in perfect health" and the baby is doing great too!  Now we start going to the doctor every other week rather than once a month.  We have painted the nursery a neutral gray color, and we continue to read, attend classes, and prepare for welcoming the "Wittle Wooter" into the world.  Here's the most recent bump picture - I can't believe I'm going to get (lots) bigger than this!

I left the t-shirt on just for you Carrie ;)

Grandma Brown is Getting Excited

Though I haven't even my own child, I can imagine that being a grandparent must be even more fun than being a parent.  You get to witness all the goodness and joy without as much responsibility, discipline, and "bad-guy" as the parents.  By the looks of it, Grandma Brown is getting pretty excited for Baby Wooster to make his/her appearance in November!

Courtesy of the Iowa State Fair - Grandma holds a doll the size of a 30 week old gestational baby

Also at the fair - Grandma's got baby on her mind when decorating a cookie and entering it for official judging

Saved the best for last - remember those beautiful wedding bags that she made each of my bridesmaids?  Baby Wooster has one too, but of course baby style.  Very precious.  

I hear that Grandma Wooster has some surprises of her own in store for us too ;)