Baby Andreoni

Baby Andreoni!

Bri had her first sonogram this afternoon, and here are the first views! The nurse that was administering the sonogram said that the conditions that they look for at this stage were not coming up, so everything looked good and healthy. She measured the length of the spine, the diameter of the head, measured the kidneys, monitored the heart rate. We got to see the arms and legs moving around (!!!!!!!!!), the mouth opening and closing. It was amazing to see the little life moving around on the monitor. Even better to know that we have a well-developed and healthy baby! And yes, we’re still going to wait to find out what the gender is. Picture 1 and 2 are pretty close, but picture 2 gives a bit more of a view of finger or toe nubs. Woo hoo!

Baby Room

The baby’s room is really coming along. I wish that I had taken some before pictures so you could have seen how nasty the floor looked prior. The walls are painted a slightly paler yellow than our living room, and the ceiling is a nice bright white (it was muted before). I rented a drum sander to get the old stain and the majority of the paint off, then used a belt sander to clean up the edges of the floor. What little pink paint was left, my dad and I used some wood chisels to literally scrape it down. Another 3 rounds of hand sanding and I was ready to stain. I used Golden Oak made by Minwax, let set overnight, then applied 2 coats of semi-gloss Polyurethane to seal. What a difference! And last weekend Morgan and I painted the trim, so that’s good to go. All that’s left is to get a nice rug, painting the doors to match the trim and finish cleaning up the door hardware, and add some kind of stensil runner around the top part of the walls, maybe a nice farm motif in sage green to match the bedding. So we are both feeling really good to get the major part of the baby room work out of the way! 20± weeks to go!!!

Bri and I had our first “milestone” doctor’s appointment 2 weeks ago. We were able to hear the heartbeat and capture it on tape! Very exciting! Tomorrow will mark the 15 week point. Not too much else to report, really. Bri’s hanging in there like a champ. The morning sickness phase we believe has passed. Luckily there wasn’t any throwing up or anything. At most she had some pretty heavy nausea. But she seems to be getting her energy back!

We hit Babies-R-Us in Portland last weekend. It was actually a lot of fun to be able to see and physically check out everything in person instead of ordering everything online (which seems to be the norm these days). We picked up a crib (which we have to get with my dad’s truck, as it was too big to fit in my car) , a stroller/car seat travel set, and some various other things. It’s such a load off to be able to get some of this stuff out of the way.

The baby’s room is also coming along nicely. I’ve got the walls painted a nice soft yellow, and we’ve ripped the carpet up. We pulled up a corner about a month ago just to see what the wood underneath looked like, and we discovered that the previous owners painted the floor pink. Pink? Anyway, we really wanted to have the room to have the natural hardwood, so I pulled the whole carpet and saw that they only painted one side of the floor pink, a stripe a foot wide out from the wall. Now, that to me is even more odd that painting the floor pink. Just a foot wide stripe? At least it will make sanding it off that much easier. The plan is to get the floor sanded and stained, and have a nice round area rug in the center. I’ll post some before/after pics when we get it all set!

Just a quick note, I’m running different blogging software, so please bookmark the new address!
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Patrice dropped off an adorable little fleece baby outfit for us this afternoon. Little pants, a jacket, boots and a hat. Thank you, Patrice!!

Of course the thought crossed my mind (both Bri and I, actually) to try them on one of the cats, but I resisted. You can see what this baby is going to be in for.

It really tugs at the heart strings imaging those little pants and jacket with hands, feet and a smiling (or crying) face popping out of the top and ends. I can’t express how excited I am. There must be something about being a first-time parent that triggers this exhilarated/goofball/blathering-idiot brainwave or something.

Bri is defintely feeling some effects of the pregnancy, both physical and mental. She tends to get tired out more easily, and with work and doing horse chores, she’s been ready for bed by 6:30 most nights. But I’ve been helping with the chores on nights that I get out on time, so it’s not so bad. We’ve amended our weekly grocery shopping staples to include more fresh fruit and veggies, as well as some pre-natal vitamins. She also has had some mild mood swings, but that’s nothing new (just kidding, babe!). But, I think that all is going well so far.

Each day that passes, my excitement builds and builds, so at some point down the road I’m sure the neighbors will hear a sound like a muffled balloon popping, only wetter.

As you all know, Bri and I are going to have a baby! We’ll use this blog to chronicle our adventures and fill everyone in on what’s going on, so check back often. Bri and I have both told our respective work places, and were both met with hugs and congrats.

Our first major doctor’s appointment is Friday, April 13th. (Great, Friday the 13th) Can’t wait!!!

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Well that’s it for now!

–J