29 weeks and 1 day

Dr's update: all is good! I am measuring normal, my weight gain is on track (just hit the 20 lb. mark) and the heartbeat is still strong! Again, the Dr. mentioned the baby was active (like I didn't already know that) but other than that, all things are on track! Next appointment is in 3 weeks.

Tonight I've actually been able to be home and cook dinner - which was really good, I must say (#60 from Rachel Ray's 365 dinners cookbook) and actually relax a little. Baseball play-offs are on and its a night to take a break. This weekend we actually assembled the crib, so we have a better idea of where things are going to fit, and I think it will work just fine. We still have a lot on our list of things in the next 10 weeks, but we will just need to focus and take one task at a time. 

The weather is finally starting to cool off, though we had issues with our a/c again, but Kris got it taken care of this morning, so that is good. Not much else to report, so maybe I'll get to bed early tonight! 

Whirlwind week!

As I mentioned on Tuesday, this week has been crazy! It is finally friday night and I have a moment to reflect on this week. We had an awsome lecture from Jonathan Segal, Architect Wednesday night. Kris and I were lucky to play "host" to him by entertaining him around Orlando while he was here. We both got to know him and picked his brain for "architect as developer" knowledge (http://www.jonathansegalarchitect.com/) It made for a couple late nights, but was definitly worth it. 

Today was also a sad day as it was the last day my boss was going to be the City Architect of Orlando. He is on his way to Dubai, and though I am extremely excited for his new adventures, I will miss him a lot and all his mentorship. I can't wait to hear about his adventures and all the awesome things he will be designing and taking part in, in Dubai. 

So now is the weekend, thank goodness, and I hope to get lots of rest and catch up on stuff at the house! I will be 28 weeks on Monday (or is it 29?) so here are a few of the latest photos. I have already mentioned that this baby is very active, and this week has been no exception. It is starting to grow and fill up more on my sides, so I have been getting more and more uncomfortable. I'm also gaining more weight, so my legs are reacting to that as well. 

So, photos speak a 1000 words, so I will stop now. Have a good weekend!

This week has been - or will be - so busy and it is only Tuesday. I have been to two baby classes - Basic Infant care and Breastfeeding 101, we have an AIA lecture tomorrow night, a retirement party for someone at my office, and my boss' last day is Friday (he's picking up and headed to live in Dubai!) Not to mention we will be taking my Dad to the airport Thursday morning, as well as Jonathan Segal, who is the lecturer tomorrow night. I have managed to do some laundry and make dinner too. I have a feeling that things are only going to get busier as I adjust to things at work, and getting prepared and organized for the baby! In the mean time, I'll attach a photo from last Sunday when we visited my Dad for his belated birthday. Kris is still out entertaining Jonathan, and I am headed to bed. Hopefully I'll find time to blog again this week! 

Facebook breakdown

Okay, so I finally broke down and joined Facebook - which hopefully will direct people to this blog! I can't believe how many people I know and grew up with are on the network - even my Mom is on Facebook! Anyway, its nice to have a place to keep in touch and find out how everyone is doing. I'll be focusing more on the blog, so check here for updates. 

Benjamin Wolf Chase has arrived to Kimmi & Abre

At 9:26 pm on 9/19/08 Benjamin Wolf Chase arrived into the world as a little blessing to Kimmi, Abre, and big brother Oskar Rocket. We are so excited for all of them and can't wait to meet him!

Great-grandmother to-be

http://www.commercial-news.com/local/images_sizedimage_261104728/resources_photoview

So you may wonder where Holly was influenced to become an architect... well a little of the creative gene comes from her grandmother, aka Nannie. Nan was featured in two of the local Danville newspapers this week for the opening of a new gallery in downtown Danville, where her fashion illustrations will be on display. The article has a few mistakes in it she said, but is interesting anyway:

http://www.commercial-news.com/local/local_story_261113056.html

That's the latest news for the day. Kris just got home from teaching his class, and now it is time to go to bed!! 

Chicago weekend

So they call Chicago the windy city, but this past weekend you could definitely call it the rainy city! Since we landed in Midway on Friday night, it did not stop raining until Monday morning. Saturday broke a record with 7 inches of rain in 24 hours. We were thankful that Beth & Jay's place stayed dry, though the subdivision had to close roads due to retention ponds and soccer fields that overflowed into the streets. Beside all the weather issues, we had a great time staying with Beth, Jason and Alyssa, and visiting with Mich, John and Jack, and Nathan on Saturday.

However, the main reason for the trip was for Carrie and Matt's wedding in Downtown Chicago Sunday. The wedding was absolutely beautiful! The wedding and reception was at the hotel Allegro downtown, which worked out perfect due to the weather. We stayed there on Sunday which was really convenient for the festivities. Carrie and Matt looked wonderful and everything was just perfect. I've never had a wedding cake as good as this one - plus the food and the band were awesome! Kris and I got to visit with a lot of friends that we hadn't seen in a while. Plus, since this was the last long-distance trip pre-baby, we tried to live it up at the reception - everyone danced and partied like rock stars. Dancing with a baby in your belly is a little weird, but I think the baby enjoyed it as much as I did. See the link for the rest of the photos from the weekend festivities.

Kris and I also took advantage of taking Monday off and toured Downtown - thank goodness the rain stopped Sunday night - so we had a wonderful day on the town in Chicago! More photos at the link:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=18b1mpvl.8nfajt79&Uy=j9seqo&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&UV=449023845726_918214019605&localeid=en_US

Busy week!

Wow, I can't believe it is Wednesday night already. We had dinner last night with friends from Bloomington, Joe and Ruth, who are getting some R&R in Orlando this week. We took them to my favorite hang out in Orlando - the Mall at Millenia - for a quick shopping trip and dinner. Tonight both Kris and I had meetings after work and then Kris had his class after that and should be getting home shortly. The late nights have been an adjustment for him for sure! Tomorrow night we'll be packing and getting ready for our trip to Chicago, and then Friday, we'll be there! 

As for the baby...did I mention that it likes to move around - a lot?!? My belly is really wierd looking when one side is bulging out way farther than the other side. I've also felt what I guess is the hick-ups, which also feels really wierd! It definitly makes me smile, though. When ever I get stressed at work, I start to think of the baby and everything Kris and I are looking forward to, and it helps me chill out and focus. I guess that's the baby's way of helping me put things into perspective. I think I'm gonna like this kid!!! 

Diaper Dillema?

We've had another productive weekend! We have cleared more space for the baby, though we only relocated the stuff to my dad's, but still! We will be in Chicago this coming weekend for a wedding (which we are totally looking forward to since this will be the last long-distance trip while I'm prego - but also to see friends). So I did a little shopping for a few things for Kris for the trip, and looked more for baby furniture and ideas. Overall I'd say it was productive. 

We also had dinner on Sat. with our good friends Kimmi and Abre and Oskar (their blog is on my favorites list). Kimmi is 37 weeks with a baby boy who will be arriving any day now. They raised Oskar on cloth diapers, and are an inspiration to us and we plan to do the same. They have a great blog on their system that I encourage everyone to visit if you are not familiar with modern cloth diapers. Please see link: http://oskardiapers.blogspot.com/

It seems like a fairly substantial investment at first, but when you think about how much you spend on disposable diapers, and how much of a carbon footprint you make in the landfills, we see this as the right thing to do. Don't get me wrong, we're sure there will be times that we will want disposable for convenience, but we will try not to as much as possible. 

Lots more decisions to come, but we think we've made up our minds on this one.

Dr's update

Well, all went well at the doctor's this morning. I have gained 13 lbs, the baby's heartbeat is strong and sounding good, and all measurements are normal too. So, not too much to report! I mentioned the pain I'm having below my belly, but Doc says its normal, and there's really nothing I can do about it - it could get better or it could get worse! Great! But the nurse commented how the baby moves a lot since she was trying to hear the heart beat and the baby kept moving around. I said its been like that for about 3 weeks now! So, if that gives us any idea of what is to come...we may be in for it! Well, that's it for today. I'll try to think of something more interesting for tomorrow!

"Baby-space" progress

Shocking how quicly a three-day weekend goes! As I mentioned before, we were hoping to take advantage of this weekend to get the "baby space" a little more organized. Guess what - progress was made!! Though it seemed like we were taking two steps back to go one step forward, by today, we had actually cleared enough stuff out of one of the closets to be able to dedicate it to the baby!! Yippee!! We also made a couple trips to look at baby toys and furniture at a few friend's houses that are getting rid of stuff. So though we aren't to the point of taking a picture (because it really doesn't look different) we are closer to making a decision about furniture and where stuff is going to go.
Preview to tomorrow's blog: my next Dr's appointment is tomorrow, so I hope to give you an update on the baby's progress. I will be taking the glucose test, too. Sounds exciting - right! Anyway, hope to have good news to report.