New Star makes her Debut

Gloria Kathleen Denmark was born on 11/9/05 at 11:03 am. She weighed in at 10 lbs 1 oz and 21.5 inches long. I had a very easy labor and she came quickly. We've been doing very well at home. Noah is adjusting better than I thought. He points to her and says "baby" all the time. He likes to sit down next to her and poke her nose and rub her head. He pulls us to her when she cries. The only jealousy we're seeing is that he wants to be held when we're holding her.
Here are a bunch of pictures.

For whom the bell tolls

Just a quick update. Spoke to the dr. yesterday afternoon. We're going in at 11:45 pm Tuesday night next week. She'll be born on the 9th, but it may be early in the morning. He said he couldn't get me in at any other time. Hopefully, it'll be nice to be done by the afternoon. Next update will probably be the baby update!

Now that's what I call progress

Good news from the doctor today. I did progress naturally. I am currently at 3-4 cm. Doc called the hospital to schedule my induction for next Wednesday, the 9th. I'm VERY happy with that date. It's superstitious, I know, but everyone in our little family has a birthday on a multiple of 9. Mine is Jan. 9, Noah's is Feb. 18 and Wally's is Jan. 27. So, if I get to choose which day my daughter is born, I'm going to go for the 9th. Now, she could still decide she wants to come out on her own earlier, and that's fine too. But holy cow! That's next week!! I feel like I have so much to do, but I'm not sure what I need to get done. I guess a clean house would be on the top of that list.
In other news, we had a great Halloween night last night. We put Noah in his costume and he helped pass out treats. Or rather, he ran up and down the sidewalks and one of us chased him. We just went to a couple of neighbors to get candy for him. He had got a boatload from daycare earlier that day. Here's some pics of the little dalmation having fun.

We can barely contain our excitement

He was running like this the whole night!

Noah, enjoying some candy before the wrapper is even off!

Progress naturally

I hate those words. I really wanted to have a schedule today. It would have made my life, well, scheduled. Which, when you have a toddler and sister who lives 45 minutes away that will take care of him, it would be easier to be scheduled. But, grumbling aside, she is still perfect. She's measuring more like she's 37 1/2 weeks. (I'm actually 36) and we're guessing around 7.2 pounds right now. He said that could vary either way, so she could be anywhere from 6.5 to 8 pounds. I'm only dilated about 1 cm. So, he wants to take a wait and see approach for right now and let me "progress naturally." I'm not sure what I expected. I guess I was really hoping that we'd say, ok on this day, we'll go to the hospital. But, I'm still under the impression from the doc that we will not go full term, or even to 39 weeks. Might be 38 or 38 1/2. I guess the overall word is "Stay Tuned for Coming Attractions..."

In other news, Noah has learned the word No and how to use it properly. But it's more like "Noo-oooo" whenever we do something he doesn't like. And he's proudly reaching his terrible twos tantrum phase. He cries and throws himself on the floor when he doesn't get his way. Too bad it doesn't bother us and he still doesn't get his way. Good thing is, this only happens at home right now. Oh boy is he in for it when Gloria arrives!

And just a few more that wouldn't fit

We're just outside our garage blowing bubbles and digging in the sand. The unfortunate end result of all this was a foray into a fire ant bed. This was about 2 weeks ago and his feet are just about cleared up.

More pics than I can handle

Here's Wally and I on one of our rare nights out alone at a friends wedding in September.











My little cuddle bug REALLY loves his blanket. He'll cuddle up with it anywhere, even if it's the kitchen.





Some Pics from my and Noah's trip to the Animal Kingdom in September.

Noah also loves the dishwasher and tries to "help" whenever he can.

Picture update

More to come soon. Here are some pics from our trip to MGM with Noah in August.

Crafty

I am so proud of myself today. Got in the creative mood and started making Noah's costume for Halloween. He is going to be a dalmatian puppy. I've got all the spots, and the ears and the tail done, just waiting to apply everything. I think we're going to penney's to get pictures taken this weekend.
Went to the doctor's appt yesterday. Everything is moving along as planned. Nothing new really to report there. We're going to skip the next appointment and just wait for the ultrasound on the 25th. He said that at the latest, we'll schedule to be induced on the 8th. All in all I feel pretty good. I'm still ready, but this one has been much better overall.
Noah is as cute as ever. I think he might be catching on that something's going on with Mommy. He lifts my shirt and gives my belly kisses. Of course, he's still going to be in a real big shock when I bring Gloria home.
More news on the possibility of working from home to come real soon I hope...

2 then 2 then 1 and done?

Had another appt yesterday. Yes, we're getting down to the wire. I am 31 weeks along. Doc said we'll have another at 33, then 35 then an ultrasound at 36 and he said we'd probably go after that. Everything's going along as planned. And I'm really starting to be ready.

Work is getting stressful, or maybe i'm getting less tolerant. Another reason I need a good 12 weeks off. I have Friday off, which is good. Still trying to decide what to do with my time.
Will post more pictures soon. I promise.

I will retire in Siesta key

Siesta Key, off the coast of Sarasota was the most beautiful beach I've been to date. The sand was perfect, our motel was charming, private and convenient to the beach and the pool. Downtown Sarasota was the cleanest, prettiest city I've seen for it's size. It's actually a real downtown. I went to the farmer's market and discovered Whole Foods grocery store. Why isn't clermont progressive enough to have one of these gems? So green and earth friendly, it's really the shopper I want to be but can't afford to be. Anyway, off topic a bit...
It was wonderful to spend time alone away from everything and everyone except Wally and Noah. Noah was delightful and a joy to be around. He enjoyed the beach, the aquarium and the hotel. I got to see and do everything I wanted in one day and still feel relaxed. Although, I did not find much in the way of souvies to take home, but at a 2 hour drive, I think we will be spending time there again as our weekend retreat.
Oh, and as a sad sort of bonus, I got to see a sea turtle on the beach. It seemed as if she was stranded and the federal wildlife rescuer were on their way. We didn't stay long enough to see her get picked up as it was getting late and Noah needed to be in bed.
Most of my pictures lately have been on film and need to get developed, but here's what I have on digital of us thoroughly enjoying our trip.

25 weeks

Sorry, haven't posted in a while. Not much to say at this point. Pregnancy is going well. Saw the doc last week and now he's talking about me having an ultrasound at 36 weeks to check her size. That will be October 25th. So, I'm guessing that if she's a normal size we'll induce any time after that. Either way, she'll be here early November at the latest. I don't think we'll go past 38 weeks as long as everything seems healthy.

Noah is doing good. We went to MGM this past weekend and had a blast. I'll have some pictures up soon. He seems to be talking more everyday. His favorite words are "uh-oh" and "buh-bye" but he can also say mama, daddy, hi, dog, shoes and I'm sure a few others we haven't figured out yet.

I do so wish it'd cool off here...

Welcome Finn!

On Thursday, June 30th, my beautiful friends Becky & Don gave birth to a 9lb 7oz baby boy (way to go girl, you beat me!) His name Finn Alexander and he made his debut at 1:07 pm. Welcome to the world baby boy and congratulations Mom & Dad.

20 weeks...

...and 18 to go. I know what most of you are thinking, isn't it supposed to be a total of 40 weeks? Talked to the doc today and we have already decided when I'm going to be induced. He knows my history of big babies and wants to make sure that this one comes out normal (or normal for me anyway) Also, my laid-back, no-nonsense doc has no problem telling me that he'd rather schedule the birth than be woken up in the middle of the night. And due to the proximity of Thanksgiving, he wants to make sure we're all around a table of turkey and fixin's that day. So, to make a short story long, we will more than likely be induced on November 9th. That's the plan for now, as much as you can plan when it comes to babies.

My beautiful blue-eyed baby.

Look out, here I come!

Reading by sunlight

"Let's see, if I tip the waste basket, how many papers can I play with?"

"Helping" clean the office

Noah "How can I help Mommy?"

It's A Girl!

We had our ultrasound yesterday and although the tech said she can't be 100%, she said it looks like a girl. According to my mom, she's alreay bought some girl clothes. Of course, she went out and bought more yesterday.
We're absolutely thrilled with the news. Doc says she looks healthy and is progressing naturally. Official due date is still November 22nd, but we know she'll make an earlier appearance, by will or by pitocin!

week 17

All is well in the land of the pregnant lady. Went to the dr. last week for a routine check up. Everything is fine, no problems. Heard the heartbeat at about 158 bpm. Next Tuesday is the ultrasound where we will be finding out what we're having.

Noah is doing terrific. Getting smarter and talking more everyday. Although, we can't always understand him, he still likes to carry on conversations with us or his toys, or as you can see below our phones!