Onesies, Twosies, Pinksies, Bluesies

Again, it is a good thing we do not know the baby's sex. The maternity part of the Gap is strategically placed in the back of Baby Gap and I think Matt's mom, sister, and myself could have easily bought one of everything in the store. Luckily, not knowing meant the only baby purchase this weekend was this...

Thanks Katharine! Emily will appreciate this too I'm sure!

Speaking of onesies, I spotted this on an endcap at Target.

It's not that cute but um, hello? This is funny. Matt is a Sheriff's deputy. He has corrected me many times when I say he's a Sheriff ("there is only 1 sheriff, Katy") which is funny because he is essentially admitting his place to the "new sheriff" who comes to town in October. Obviously this is for a boy and obviously I had to balance things out and get a girl onesie too.

Since Matt has hipster glasses, I thought a hipster baby was a good idea. Now we have one for each. Thanks Target clearance rack! I don't know what is more dangerous, buying 1 of each whenever I have an impulse to buy, or just knowing what it is and clearing out the Baby Gap. For now, $3 clearance onesies will have to do.

I started compiling a list of names I like (no, I'm not telling you any) and gave Matt the list to "edit." I knew he wouldn't like a lot of them but I was shocked to find he hated most of them. Out of 69 girls names, he strongly eliminated all but 19. That's 50 names crossed out! And of the remaining 19, he only actually likes about 5. The other 14 he doesn't like, he just doesn't hate as much as the first 50. Out of my 23 boys names, he left 3. 3 stinkin' names. Obviously boys names were harder for me to come up with too but come on! After massacre on my lists, I asked him to make a list of 5 boy names and 5 girl names he thought were good. His 5 boy names were all ridiculous and I am confident that I hate them more than he could hate any of the names that made my lists. They wouldn't even make my top 1,000 names lists. As for his girls' list, he has come up with 1 so far (and its been over a week). This is not going to be easy.

Oh, Namesies. What to do-sies? (get it, inner circle?)

Week 21: Bunny Food

This week the baby is the length of a carrot.

albanyalive.com

A 10 1/2 in long carrot; a karate kid the length of a ruler. Apparently the martial arts are going to start getting good but so far, they haven't been too bad. I assume I've felt the baby move since there are weird feelings that happen repeatedly, but I'm still waiting to SEE my belly shift or move. Matt has walked in on me staring at my belly more than once and he thinks I'm weird. Just wait until he feels it.

Last week at the ultrasound baby was 12 oz. Matt and I have come to terms with the fact that our baby is going to be a chunk. I weighed 9lbs 6oz when I was born and neither of us are small people. I haven't seen a lot of Matt's baby pictures but my favorite picture I have seen of him so far is this....

I hope our kid looks like this if its a boy. Just a reminder, Uncle Patrick has promised to get a matching outfit to every outfit he purchases for baby. I STRONGLY recommend something similar to this. Pat had similar get-ups back in '89 and I'm sure he can track down some lavender suspenders.

My photo supply is limited as most little Matt and Katy baby pictures are at our parents' houses, but here is a little dose of the parents~ not as babies but maybe you will catch a glimpse of what the carrot might look like.

Baby has eyebrows this week~ hopefully they aren't thick and black like the look on the left.

This week I busted out the belly bands I bought about a month ago. I finally got to a point where my work pants were not buttoning comfortably. I still think my baby bump looks more like a beer gut but hopefully with each day, it will look more like pregnancy and less like college. I went shopping with Matt's mom and sister this weekend and got a bunch of new clothes. Some were maternity and some weren't but between the new stuff and my regular clothes, I should be set through the summer. Thank God for flowy dresses. I switched out my winter and summer clothes from my closet and there were plenty of things I just said, "won't bother hanging, won't bother, put back in the closet...." you get the point. It was a little depressing but all of the new stuff spruced up the selection. Thanks Nancy!

Matt assembled the crib this weekend and we are diggin' it. Matt did attach the part the mattress sits on upside down (which caused me to make a tiny hole in the new mattress) but maybe if I publish his error, it will motivate him to fix it sooner (subtle hint to Matt #1). I put together the changing table and will leave it at that. Matt hasn't inspected it too closely yet. I'm anxious to get the walls repaired (there are 5 million anchors and nail holes - plus the stupid butterfly decals) so I can get the baby's room painted and start decorating (subtle hint to Matt #2). For my Birthday I got a Silhouette cutter and I finally took it out of the box and put it to use on my baby wall art project.

This was my inspiration...

and this is the start of my version...

The frame on the green one is not accurate~ they will all be black but those are 3 of the 10 images I'm cutting in different sizes, shapes and colors for a little collage. The Silhouette is super fun to use and picking out the images in even more fun. I have way more than 10 that I want to use but I don't want a small collage to turn into a hot mess. If only those walls were patched so I could paint and start hanging.... (subtle hint to Matt #3).

To wrap this up, let's go back to bunny food. When I hear bunny food, I think, carrots, leafy vegetables, my baby's length, that kind of thing. Walter thinks, bunny=food. One cold, Friday night this past winter, I let Gus and Walter outside around 10pm and immediately knew I had an issue. They took OFF into the yard. Bolted. A little back and forth along the fence (I figured they were chasing away the winter birds/rodents) and the hustle stopped. Perfect. Animals had been chased out by my guard dogs, they would do their business, come back in and we could all go to bed. Nope. Not tonight. Walter came trotting out of the darkness with a bunny in his mouth. This was no small baby bunny little thing. This was a full grown FAT adult bunny (longer than a carrot) that probably had too many carrots preventing it from escaping through the fence. I panicked. Matt had just left for drill and would not be back until Sunday.

A) How would I get the dogs in? B) How would Ii keep them from consuming the bunny? C) What would I do if Gus then licked me? D) How would I let the dogs out all weekend with a dead bunny in the yard?

Oh my. I freaked out and yelled at Walter who was so startled, he dropped the bunny immediately (did I mention it was still twitching?). In case you haven't picked up on it, I have a favorite dog and my biggest concern was keeping him out of the situation. So far so good but he was definitely watching what brother Walter was doing. In our old house, Walter had made a habit of jumping the chain link fence which resulted in him having a shock collar with a perimeter just shy of the entire fence line. As soon as Wally dropped Mr. Foo Foo, Gus ran in, snagged the bunny and ran to the top of the yard where he knew Wally couldn't go (Gus is not only my favorite, he is smart too). Shit. Walter admitted defeat and I lured him into the house. I quickly grabbed plastic bags to put over my arms and ran out to Gus with treats in hand. After running back and forth with the bunny draped in his mouth, Gus finally traded the bunny for treats and I got him inside (both went immediately to kennels as I would not allow either of them to lick or drool bunny guts in my house).

Now it was 10:30, cold, dark and I was alone for 48 more hours. There was a twitching bunny in the yard and I had 2 poop filled dogs that I did NOT plan on walking 50 times to do their business. I decided to wait an hour or so and let the bunny die or escape, whatever it was destined to do. FF an hour. I went outside in Matt's boots with a shovel, triple lined plastic bags and 5 gallon bucket. I poked the bunny with the shovel and at that point, he was stiff. Thank God, the twitching still haunts me. Initially, I could not see a head. I was about to puke in my mouth thinking one of the dogs ate the head off but I mustered up courage (a long 2 min worth) to flip the bunny. I just knew I would find a gaping hold with guts and gore oozing out of it but thankfully, the head was still attached, it was just bent in an unnatural position, and the bunny didn't seem to have any open wounds. This picture does not do the scene justice...

That is post-flip so the head seems normal. There was one small issue though, the tail was missing. The only remains were a little, pointy, skinned, boney thing (imagine a red rocket on a dog the size of a bunny). Apparently one of the dogs snapped during the chase and just missed it by a hare. HAHA. I found the cottony poof in the yard and proceeded to scoop bunny and tail into the bag, into the bucket and out of the back yard. I was not about to walk the bucket through my house so I went around (with my arm stretched as far away from my body as possible, also holding my breath as long as possible) and left the bunny in the bushes by our garage for Matt to deal with. It was trauma. I still get shivers thinking about scooping the carcass. Thank God there wasn't any blood.

Bunny food: To each, their own.

Picture Day

My mom made a comment on the banana blog post wondering about baked goods. My little brother loves banana bread, banana cake, banana Runts, and even those banana popsicles, so she is used to baking with nanners. Apparently my maternal instinct was turned on this weekend though because Saturday, I made a double batch of banana muffins to get rid of the rotten bananas that had been hanging out on our counter for a couple of weeks (thanks to Matt buying 10 lbs of bananas for his Smoothie craze). Once again, I ate the baby without realizing it. Maybe there is some science behind the food comparisons. Its like they know what foods I will be eating at each point in pregnancy and its kind of creepy #iatethebabyagain (did I twitter reference that right??) Anyway Mom, the answer is, No, I don't need banana bread. I would probably eat some though. Feel free to fish out all the banana Runts from a pack for me too. Patrick isn't the only one who's bananas.

kimskandykreations.blogspot.com

Baby got its 20 week Glamour Shots yesterday. I sort of feel a little bad for not feeling more emotional about the ultrasound. It is really amazing to see the baby move and grow etc. etc. (and I cried the first time) but the pictures are sort of weird and creepy. No offense to those of you who opt for (or pay for) this kind of thing, but the 3-D and 4-D ones are even weirder. I think they look like crappy clay-mation figures that a 4-yr old could make (too harsh?). I keep seeing commercials for "Stork Vision" where you can pay to go have unnecessary ultrasounds of the 3-D and 4-D varieties (in fact, it was the Groupon or Daily Deal or something today) and I think all patrons of the place are absolutely nuts. A) Do you really want the shitty clay-mation pictures all over your house? B) Can't you wait a few more months for pictures of the real thing? C) Ultrasound pics are worthless once baby is here. Box them up and store them away with the other junk you never look at again. Okay, that may be a little too much, I do enjoy the pictures that I have gotten from ultrasounds but I would never in a million years PAY for additional photo shoots, of additional cosmetic pictures, of little Gumby babies.

*THIS IS NOT OUR BABY

3dultrasoundss.com

Do sculptures cost extra?

When Charlie and I were little (either before Patrick was born or when he was a baby) we found this book buried under our couch that had pictures of the development of a baby in the womb. We thought it was pornography. We were blown away (granted we were under the age of 7) at the pictures of little aliens floating around. Thanks to "Look Who's Talking" we had an intro of the birds and the bees from the insides, but pictures of ultrasounds take me right back to those awkward feelings of seeing something I shouldn't be seeing (haha I say this as I post my own pictures. Invade away, I guess!).

Now that I have offended someone (I'm sure) I will get off of my soapbox and share OUR ultrasound experience. Again, I appreciate having the ultrasound and seeing the growth and development, and I also appreciate the medical benefits that all of the measurements and observations can lead to. But at the end of the day, Matt and I agreed that 95% of the pictures looked like weird blobs. This could have been the gender reveal day but I told the sonographer, no way. We were instructed to turn away at certain points and I caught Matt peaking more than once. He claimed he could be staring right at the parts and would have no idea but I was not happy and made him turn around. I've mentioned all the dreams I've had about accidentally finding out and I wasn't ready for that happen.

The whole finding out vs. not finding out thing is starting to annoy Matt. He wants to know and he thinks I would be less neurotic if I knew too. I see it like this. Yes, I want to know what is inside of my Christmas presents that sit there and taunt me from under the Christmas tree but no, I do not want to know what they are before I open them up. It takes all of the fun, excitement and anticipation out of the experience. "Oh, I bet this is the shoes I know I'm getting. Whoopee." I might as well keep them wrapped until I need to wear them. Why bother opening them? My family has always been good about keeping presents surprises. My mom asked for lists but there was no guarantee that what was on it was what you were getting. I am not a fan of shopping for my own gifts or telling people what to get me (or me what to get them for that matter). Suggestions are welcomed but seriously, the surprise is WAY better.

Situation A: (Christmas morning - Patrick's voices in his head narrating a gift he never received in reality because it would be boring) Oh, this must be that DVD I really wanted. I'll just leave it in the foof until I want to watch it. HELLO EVERYONE! I'm done with my present, who is next. Wait, what did I get? The DVD I wanted. I said, the DVD I wanted! Isn't anyone listening to me or paying attention to me?!?!

Lame.

Situation B: (Patrick's voices inside of his head) What is in this fantastically foofed package? shake shake What could it be? untying bow I didn't ask for anything specific... hmmm. How exciting, all eyes are on me!  I love attention. rip rip Everyone wants to know whats inside! Look over there at Katy & Matt, givers of this gift. They obviously are bursting with excitement! tear tear OH EM GEE.

The crowd erupts in cheers! Yay! Its a Patrick bobble head! Patrick on a TOILET bobble head! I didn't have that on my list! Thank God they didn't follow any list. (This would look good sitting next to the fetus sculpture pictured above!)

See folks, surprises are WAY better (remember that at Christmas, and on February 6th). Excuse my digression but we do NOT know the sex of baby today. Matt and I were pretty impressed the sonographers don't slip with that news. Ours said she tries not to find it out herself if the couple doesn't want to know because she is afraid of being the one to spill the beans. I feel like I would be like, "Oh there is his foot" and not even realize that I said "his." Insert look of devastation from parents who wanted to be surprised, here. She said they get good at saying "Baby" but I still think it would be hard! The family in front of us found out baby #5 was also boy #5 (as twin 3 yr olds were looking on). The twins looked so much like girls due to their long hair that the entire office was calling them girls until the parents made the correction as they exited the office. Oops. That poor mom had some wishful thinking. I guess drag twins will have to do.

Enough of my jibber jabber, here is what you have been waiting for.

Profile (looks the same as the 12 week shot)

Big Yawn (I admit, this is cute but I am a little weirded out by the skeletor resemblance the face-on view shows)

Foot (begin useless ultrasound pictures) This is a foot (on the right) and a knee (the blob on the left).

From here, pictures were sort of not recognizable. "Here is the baby's left kidney." Neat. The spine was pretty cool to see, I will give them that, and obviously the face shots. It was also cute to see the little arm stretching above the head and coming up to the face. The last thing the ultrasound revealed was that my bladder was getting pretty full and this must be uncomfortable for me. Um, yea (maybe that's why I am not all rainbows and sunshine about ultrasounds?!). Last time I was diagnosed with a full bladder at this office was even more uncomfortable, as it was pointed out by the doctor that was elbows deep in my annual exam. I didn't realize they could tell that~ especially from the ultrasound pictures. Clearly we were right about having no idea what we are looking at. See my pee?

Week 20: Zoeisms

This week is halfway through pregnancy. "Thats Bananas" (click to hear the real deal)

telegraph.co.uk

If you were concerned that the baby's girth is shrinking, this week marks a shift in measurement. Rather than measuring the baby curled up "crown to rump," they now measure the length head to toe. So, the baby is not the size of a banana, its the length of a banana. "Bananas." My little chiquita is accumulating a "black gooey substance" (meconium) in its bowels, the beginnings of the first dirty diaper! Whoever changes it gets to hold this first...

mypartyplanner.com

Why are there so many pictures on the internet of babies as produce? Anne Geddes would be proud.

Aside from a crib and changing table that I ordered being delivered yesterday, Chiquita got more baby gear this week. This gift is one of my favorites (probably THE favorite, sorry everyone). It was handmade by my friend Laura, the day we told everyone we were pregnant. She cranked it out within a few hours but kept forgetting to give it to us. Finally, its here...

Sooooo cute! Laura crocheted some presents for me to give Patrick and Matt this past Christmas and they were FANTASTIC. "I died." Below is an example of her Christmas masterpieces.

dreamsassurance.in

I can't wait to have the first bearded baby. Combine the patterns and get crocheting Laura!

Finally, this past week I also heard some exciting news. My good friend Allison got engaged to her sweetie Vince, and I am SOOOO thrilled for them!

I'm not sure what is with the back to back thing, but apparently, we do it a lot and subconsciously must each have a "good" side.

Vince is the one in the blue shirt if you were wondering what his head looked like. I can't wait for all of the celebrations and showers leading up to the wedding and of course, the wedding itself! Yay for Vince and Allison!

nataliedee.com

That's Chiquita celebrating the engagement. It's just "Ba-nanas!"

Covered in Cheese

Although my weekly email said Tomatoes this week, "What to Expect...." had a much more graphic description of the baby's size.

Who's hungry for lunch?

photograzing.seriouseats.com

Grilled Mango & Goat Cheese, anyone?

Week 19: The Bee's Knees

Tomatoes!

post-gazette.com

The baby is the size of a large heirloom tomato. Tomato was a slang term for "female" in the 1920's. These are my favorite tomatoes (besides the baby of course).

We had a fun girl's weekend in Denver last August (if you recall, this roadtrip was where "the bet" came to light) and the theme was Putting on the Ritz. It was a whoopee time.

The cat's meow at the swanky Brown Palace.

Too much giggle water at the juice joint.

Enough about tomatoes in the 20's and back to the tomato in my tummy. Baby's brain is developing areas for the senses and some research shows that the baby can hear voices now. Matt will be singing to my tummy every night from now on. Requests are welcome. The baby's arms and legs are proportionate with the body which is good news, no T-rex baby here. Finally, hair is sprouting on the scalp. In a few weeks, it might be the same amount as Matt has on his head (which wouldn't be much of a feat!).

Sunday was Mother's Day in case you missed it. I don't feel like a "mother" but apparently everyone else considers me one. I got cards/gifts from my parents, brother/sister-in-law, and cousin and a number of additional "Happy Mother's Days" directed at me and my belly. Emily found the perfect gift for Mommy & Baby...

This little tomato will be rockin that bib for sure! I guess the pressure will be on to maintain a blog once the baby is in the world. This week, Tomato got news of his/her first best friend and/or future spouse (depending on genders). I can't say much else (its probably around the sesame size) but I can say the Core's are all PUMPED for another little bug to play with!

Finally, this weekend I got motivated to paint. I am so over painting (since I painted practically every room in our old house before we moved) that I swore I would be in NO rush to paint anything in the new house, even though it is desperately needed. BUT, since we got the new counters and other kitchen upgrades, the walls were really bugging me~ mostly because I didn't want anyone thinking we CHOSE the hideous color that was there. Lucky for Matt, he worked all weekend and lucky for the Krebs family, they were available. My mom and Emily helped be turn the flaming orangey/red sponge paint into a "vast desert."

Although vast desert is a sort of boring neutral, it was a welcomed change from the heinous flames. The room looks bigger, brighter and much less distracting. The desert took a coat friday night and one saturday morning. Once that was wrapped up, I kept the motivation going and decided to paint the living room that the kitchen opens up to. It was white and boring and looked like a big empty space with our furniture sitting in it. We picked "Seal Gray," Matt went to work and I got painting (this time alone). I didn't have the skill to take a picture of myself painting but to get the idea, this is the fabric on a chair we have and the Seal Gray is a similar shade to the bluish gray color in the fabric. I LOVE how it turned out. It is cozy and warm and still really bright with all the natural light in the room.

Now, with blisters on my palms, paint in my hair and legs so sore they feel like I ran 20 miles, I am once again OVER PAINTING. Bad news is the most important painting is left to do... the Baby's room! I hinted at Matt it would be wonderful to pick the color and come home to find the room painted (notice I said I would pick the color - that is VERY important to this being a fun surprise). I also would like to paint our entryway, dining room, main floor bathroom and 3 other bedrooms but we have nothing but time. Baby is the next priority!

Week 18: Spicy

Baby Core, a 7oz.....

biology-blog.com

I guess that's appropriate since its Cinco de Mayo. (For those of you who don't know, like the lady in my office who is the equivalent to stapler guy from Office Space, Cinco de Mayo means the 5th of May.) In honor of this, I will try to eat Mexican (including peppers) in the near future. I do have some Cucumber Gazpacho from my post last week in my fridge and that includes peppers so I guess I'm covered! (For the record, I had to Blendtec it myself, thanks a lot Matt!)

We had a doctor's appointment Monday and it was uneventful. We waited ONE HOUR (the doctor apologized over and over) and nothing else really happened. We did hear the heartbeat so that is always pretty amazing. Our next ultrasound will the the 18th and hopefully we will get more pepper pictures. I've had 2 dreams in the past week about the Baby and in one, I have birth to a girl and we named her _______. I won't tell you the name because it is in the running (well right now, like 50 names are in the running). Then I had a boy dream which was my first boy vibe in a while. I was at the doctor and the ultrasound was showing parts so I had to turn away. My mom was with me and she peaked and I was really mad at her. Then they told me I could look and I saw the baby floating on its stomach with a little wee wee sticking out. I was PISSED. Not that it was a boy, but that I accidentally found out the sex of the baby. This has been a reoccurring dream theme, me accidentally finding out. Hopefully it isn't a sign! 2 weeks until a picture show... hopefully Doc is careful!

We made a baby purchase this week thanks to the Berkshire shareholders "sale" at NFM (what a nightmare, that place plus shareholders is). Du da Duh (in an Emily voice with an armpump)! Its a crib mattress! No crib, just the mattress. I couldn't commit. The issue was not so much the crib, but more the color. I have since made some progress inside my head on the nursery so I think I have some direction to start committing to things. I have a sort of inspiration board going on of pictures and ideas I like (Matt likes them too, its not all about me) which is helpful. Baby's brother also got a new crib mattress. No, there are not twins inside, Baby's brother Walter has ruined 3 or 4 $80 dog beds and a cheap crib mattress is less money, wipes clean, and fits perfectly in his kennel. Yes, Wally now sleeps on a crib mattress but don't worry, Baby's is WAY nicer.

Speaking of Wally, I don't think I have mentioned the Baby's big brothers on the blog yet. OMG look at them.

Hewoh. I'm Gus and I am the best most perfect, most cutest, doggie in the whole wide world. I like the "R" word (rides).

Hello (Eeyore voice). I'm Walter. wah wah wah. Katy gets mad because I put my face on her. I drool and shed and my jowls slime people.

We are going to be good big brothers (especially if you are holding something edible). Check out the focus.

Gus is so cute.

Wally invades personal space but he thinks if he looks regal, you will pet him continuously.

They already have things in common with their new baby, naps.

And one more for your viewing pleasure....

How can you not love that face (not Matt's, Gus').

Gus can be pretty naughty sometimes. He thinks he is the boss. He responds well to any consumable though and I can usually get him to do what I want with some bribery. His biggest issue that concerns me for baby is that he is a jumper. Usually its only a greeting and its over in a minute or 2 but we probably need to do something about that. He also thinks all soft things are his toys. Baby toys will obviously fall into this category and Baby can't be sharing spit with Gus a Roo. Wally's baby issues will be personal space. He nuzzles and puts his face on you until you pet him. He also uses his paw to sort of bat at you if you stop petting. 100lb doggie bat doesn't hurt but is too rough for baby. Reading up on babies and dogs, I think we will be able to handle it and introduce baby to dogs pretty smoothly. We also have a guinea pig at our house a couple of times a week...

This is Aidan and he is helping Gus and Walter get used to little people. Gus likes to give him kisses and has quickly learned that little people drop crumbs and do not protect their food. Walter is usually good about leaving food alone but even he has stolen a LARGE cookie from Aidan. Jumping hasn't been too much of a problem and Aidan hasn't cried yet because of them. Good work dogs. When Aidan was less than a year, we watched him overnight and Gus was really gentle and seemed to "get it" that Aidan was fragile. When we put Aidan to bed, Gus posted up outside the door and didn't move for the rest of the night.

I think we will be in good shape. I am 95% confident in Walter and I think Gus will be okay too. Lucky for Gus, he is my favorite and I am more tolerant of his behavior. I am his favorite person and I will relinquish that position for a Baby pepper only. Matt is afraid I will treat kids like I treat dogs, with a clear favorite. Come on Matt, "they are just dogs" (I get that line from Matt a lot).