Well after taking last Monday off, my dad and I were back at it again today – Monday the 7th of May.
Today’s work included putting up the white trellis in front of my trash can – that’s at the start of the video, planting the two plants, and laying down some fresh mulch. As far as work days go it wasn’t all that bad.
Next week is finishing up the deck and that will about do it.
Then we wait out the Summer and get everything ready for Winter this Fall.
Not a lot going on around here right now. Mom to be is hanging in there. Not a lot to report.
I posted earlier this week that we are having a boy, which is big news in and of itself.
Mom to be has started to feel the baby moving around and today Friday the 4th of May she felt a kick. That’s pretty cool to hear about.
All in all things are well for mom to be and baby boy.
20 weeks is half way.
Your Baby
This is the week most women get that ever-important gender-revealing ultrasound. If your baby isn’t shy, the genitals can be clearly seen at this point. Will the baby pee standing up or sitting down? Well, that depends on how you potty train—but if you’re interested, you could leave the appointment knowing if you’re carrying a boy or a girl. Other highlights this week:
Your baby has established sleep patterns akin to a newborn now. Many babies even have a favorite sleep position already. Some snooze with their chins resting on their chests, while others nap with their head flung back. Many babies at this age fall into noticeable cycles of sleep and activity, so you may know before she arrives whether you have a night owl or an early bird.
If your baby is a boy, the testes have begun descending from the pelvis into the scrotum. If it’s a girl, her uterus is completely formed and the rest of her “parts” are in development. (Is that TMI?)
From this point forward, your baby will put most of her energy into gaining weight and, not coincidentally, so will you! Right now your baby weighs approximately 10½ ounces and is about 6½ inches long, about the size of a can of Red Bull (which has way too much caffeine for a pregnant woman to be drinking).
via 20 Weeks Pregnant – 3D Pregnancy Calendar
When I run,
I love to smell,
Honeysuckle.
I love to see,
it hanging,
from the vines.
I love to see,
it blooming white.
I love to taste,
its nectar,
growing wild.
Yes,
I love the Spring,
the warm weather,
and
Honeysuckle.
In the waiting room
We will soon know boy or girl
It’s going to be . . . boy
It’s funny how nervous you get just waiting for something like this today. I think the nervousness came from the fact that we were not only going to know the sex of our baby, but this was the first time we would see it. See it from head to toe and see if everything was all right.
Well folks, so far so good.
They scanned every inch of the baby and they said everything is developing normally. When I say everything, I mean everything. That went up the arms, across the back, down the sides, across the head, everything that could be seen was seen – inside and out.
Amazing what you can see from some warm jelly and a little white wand.
This has to be the best visit so far. We got to know the sex, hear the heartbeat, and see the baby. It was just awesome.
Then we were off to Target to register for baby stuff and again – wow! I honestly just can’t believe what there is for people to buy for kids these days. What happened to the simple stuff we had back in the Seventies when I was a baby – cough – cough – early Seventies.
Once all that was done it was time to head home.
Just an amazing day.
I had no idea,
April was poetry month,
I tried to latch on at the end,
with day to day posts,
through WordPress I did send.
Now my posts will get more random,
not so much day to day,
so I won’t bombard you,
or run out of things to say.
It’s tough trying to post everyday,
thumbs up to you who can,
but I just need a break,
so I can continue being,
The Poet Man.
Tuesday is going to be a big day for us. That is the day we learn the sex of our baby. So in honor of that day I want to post this poem because we both need some prayers for that day.
The Lord’s Poem
Love and sorrow,
you will partake,
faith in the Lord,
you must not forsake.
For life is short,
each day is dear,
but within his heart,
you’re always near.
I wrote that some time ago and I thought it might be best to post it now. It’s nice to read that when you have something big coming up in your life.
How are mom to be and baby?
They are both doing well. Mom to be is starting to get back to a normal schedule when it comes to food and sleep. Gone are the 1st trimester symptoms. The headaches have also started to pass as well.
I have been thinking about this since she got pregnant – nobody seems to talk much about the pregnancy itself. What it will be like? Maybe I’m out of the loop since I don’t read as much as mom to be. I read the dad stuff, sure, but not the stuff that women read.
Did anyone know you can’t have honey or cold cuts when you are pregnant? I had no idea until mom to be told me about it. It’s those kinds of little things you have to be on your game about during this time.
There are all kinds of little things like that you got to be aware of before the baby even gets here. Then that is another set of things you got to think about. It can be overwhelming if you let it get to you.
Anyway, all is well over here. We are all hanging in there.
This week your baby starts bulking up and packing on the grossly named “brown fat” he’ll need to keep warm when he gets evicted from his comfortable uterine home. Other highlights this week:
Vernix, a milky white coating that protects your baby’s skin, appears all over your baby’s body to keep his skin from getting pickled in the amniotic fluid. Think of it as if your baby has been dipped in yogurt, like those delicious but fake-healthy yogurt-covered raisins and pretzels. Ooh, we feel another craving comin’ on. … Under the vernix, a fuzzy layer of hair called lanugo now covers baby’s body. Don’t worry, your Mini won’t look like Cousin It when he’s born. Most of the fuzz will fall off before baby makes his grand entrance.
Good news: Your baby’s kidneys are fully functioning and producing urine this week. Bad news: That means there will be lots of diapers in your future. But so far you’re safe—at the moment the pee just passes into the amniotic fluid.
He or she now weighs about 8½ ounces and measures 6 inches, as long as a turkey sub from Subway on warm, delicious Italian Herbs and Cheese bread (or Honey Oat bread, or Oregano bread or …)
No major landscaping this week.
My dad and I spent the day working on staining the deck. I think it turned out pretty well.
This might have been the toughest job we’ve done so far. It wasn’t so much the physical nature of it, which was tough, but it was trying to get all the little posts holding up the rail. That was time-consuming. I think today might have been our longest day so far.
Next week we hope to finish the staining which is mostly underneath the deck and move on to more landscaping once that is done. Getting closer to the end so that is nice.
Thanks dad for helping me out.
I did an update about mid week on the doctor’s visit so if you read that you are basically caught up for this week.
Mom to be is getting back to more of a normal schedule – headaches are fading and the body is adjusting.
There are little things from time to time. That’s to be expected, but for the most part I hope everything is starting to stabilize.
Next big one is finding out the gender which should be on May 1st.
Other than that – all is well for mom and baby.
Something funny
My favorite one is around :26
What an expression!
http://www.bestyoutubevideos.tv/funny-youtube-baby-videos/
Your Baby
Your baby’s ears are now facing forward and are completely formed so she can actually hear you talking now. You don’t need to abandon your potty mouth just yet, but you might want to start thinking about it! Other highlights this week:
This week is also the beginning of ossification. And while that sounds like some long and involved paperwork you’ll have to fill out, it’s really a fancy medical term for the hardening of your baby’s miniature bones. And that’s a good thing.
Your baby’s nerves are making more and more complex connections. Her sense of smell, taste, sight and hearing are all developing. A substance called myelin, which makes nerve connections travel faster, is now coating your baby’s nerves.
Your baby now weighs between 5 and 7 ounces and is about 5½ inches long—about the size of a pickle from the corner deli. (You’re familiar with pickles, right? Your regular accompaniment to a big bowl of ice cream?)
Nestled In The Tropics
Nestled in the tropics,
a little borrowed piece of sand,
a place full of endless margaritas,
listening to a calypso band.
A warm breeze off the ocean,
quickly drying the sweat upon my head,
mixing with the friendly locals,
talking to a woman dressed in red.
A familiar song comes out of the band,
a Jimmy Buffett kind of feel,
set against the atmosphere of palms,
with time the only thing to kill.
Senoritas
On my boat,
out at sea,
nothing but love,
all for me.
I feel the waves,
crashing around,
I feel my boat,
on water’s ground.
Life at ease,
all for me,
just looking for tropical bars,
where I will be.
Sitting with a cold drink,
drinking Margaritas,
propped up on a stool,
kissing senoritas.
What a life,
just spinning around,
never stopping,
endless ground.
Just loving each day,
loving each night,
everything,
feeling so right.
A Wandering Dream
As I watch the boats,
setting sail upon the blue ocean,
I feel my heart rise,
lifting to a pirate notion.
Wanting to be among,
the motley cast and crew,
wanting to be a pirate,
if only for an hours few.
Alas, I am a mere dreamer,
casting out from the shore,
but how I love to cast,
if only for a moment, nothing more.
Mom to be went to the dentist this morning.
Love the toothbrush they gave her for the baby.
It’s the little things for me – so sue me.
The doctor visit went well yesterday for mom and baby.
It was nice to hear the heartbeat so clear this time. Last time I had to decipher it from a bunch of static.
The only bad part was the wait. It took us so long to get in and out of the doctor’s office. I don’t know what was going on. At one point I opened the door and looked out into the hall. I was sure everybody had gone home. It was just crazy. We got done though, mom to be is great, baby’s heart – very strong. I can’t wait for the next visit. We will know the sex of the baby then.
Today, this morning to be exact, the FedEx truck somehow backed down the drive way. Once it did we received our first piece of baby furniture. Now, it begins, the making of the nursery. I will probably do some videos on that once we get it up and running.
That’s it for today.
I know it looks open, but if you can imagine the white bush on the right, the tree in the middle, and the bush on the left filling in. It should not be as open once that happens.
Three Mondays in and still going strong.
What a day.
Here’s how the third Monday went.
The morning went smooth.
We took out the plants that needed to be out and trimmed the bushes.
Time for the new tree, the one in the middle with the red leaves in the video above. This is going to be an easy day.
NOT!
My dad and I thought this was going to take but a few hours. It turned out to be our longest day so far.
Why?
We honestly didn’t know how much space there was in this one spot. With all the dead stuff, the weeds, and the three overgrown bushes it just looked a lot smaller.
It wasn’t.
Once we got it stripped down to where we wanted it to be we realized it was pretty open.
Another issue we had, the mulch.
Now the journey out begins.
This is why it took us almost 6 and half hours to complete this task today and the reason why I sit here with a small sunburn.
Now I’m sitting here with a cup off coffee, a small burn on my neck and shoulders, thankful it is all done.
Next week – maybe staining the back deck.
Fingers crossed with that one.
Churning over open waters,
nothing in its path.
Fueling fire inside itself,
destroying all within its wrath.
It starts as a depression,
forming slow and fast.
Then a tropical storm,
with a hurricane at last.
It grows angry upon the sea,
like a beast inside a cage.
Waiting to showcase its power,
in a last and final rage.
When at last it roars,
it will feast upon the land.
Taking all within its grasp,
dealing a final deadly hand.
Here it will die,
upon the grassy Earth.
Fighting till the bitter end,
showcasing all its worth.
It seems like Emily’s headaches are finally starting to subside and other than some back pain she has been doing pretty well.
We are now back to eating -most- of our regular meals. I think mom to be has crossed that threshold. There are still some hang ups with certain foods, but for the most part all is well.
A couple of interesting things this week:
Your Baby
Speaking of packing on the pounds, that what it’s all about for baby this week. He’s adding fat stores that will keep him warm and cozy after he’s born. Your baby’s weight will increase approximately six times over the next four weeks. Good to know you’re not the only one tipping the scale. Also this week:
Your baby is hard at work honing his sucking and swallowing reflexes—all the better for eating that 2 AM (and 5 AM, and 8 AM …) meal in a few months! The finger- and toenails are beginning to grow from their nail beds, which would explain why he’ll need them trimmed almost as soon as he’s born!
Your baby weighs nearly 5 ounces and is a little over 5 inches long—about the size of a baked potato (load on the butter and sour cream, please).
via 17 Weeks Pregnant – 3D Pregnancy Calendar.
http://www.pregnantandiknowit.com/
Well another Monday has passed and, yes, more yard work. This time we took care of the area in front of the house.
We dug up a lot of those green things you see in the video, put in some new plants, mulched, and added some grass seed.
Now it’s up to me to keep not only the plants alive, but the grass as well.
Yikes!
To all plants I apologize in advance.
Does it seem like it has quit raining all of a sudden? We get all of this new stuff planted and of course it decides to stop with the constant showers. I couldn’t run last month without dodging at least one shower and now that we need the rain it isn’t here. I guess that’s the way it goes.
Thank you’s go out to my parents who helped me yesterday. My mom has a green thumb and it is always nice to not only get her input, but help as well.
Week 16 and still going strong.
Here’s what the little one is looking like right now.
Your Baby
Your baby is already mugging for the camera as she practices all sorts of facial expressions, such as squinting, yawning and grimacing, which will come in handy when you introduce her to pureed spinach. Check out what else is happening in utero:
You’re just getting comfortable with being a new mom, but you’re actually on the road to being a grandma. If your baby is a girl, her uterus is fully developed and the ovaries already hold primitive egg cells. Did that just make you feel a thousand years old, or what?
Your baby’s skin is still translucent and wrinkly, not unlike an old man’s, but more fat will soon accumulate under the dermas to plump her out. If you could peer inside right now, you’d be able to see all of her veins under her skin. And speaking of veins, your baby’s heart now pumps about 25 quarts of blood per day, and she hasn’t even seen Orlando Bloom yet! Also, her eyes are now locked and loaded at their final destination, facing forward rather than to the sides. (Whew!)
This is the week women get an amniocentesis, if their doc recommends it. In addition to supplying doctors with a boatload of info about the baby’s health, amnios are also more than 99 percent accurate in determining what version of baby you’ll be having. So if you want to know and you’re getting an amnio, now’s a great time to find out for sure.
Your baby weighs about 3 ounces this week and measures between 4 and 5 inches, about the length of your mascara.
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ode to Pirates
Take to the seas,
a sailor’s life you please.
Plunder, pillage, do what you do,
man that ship – man that crew.
Pirates and Mermaids
of Pirates and Mermaids
I’ve heard told,
stories from sailors,
centuries old.
We know of pirates,
they did exist,
but of mermaids,
was there a twist?
Did the legend get changed?
year to year,
mouth to mouth,
ear to ear.
Maybe sea monsters,
or other things from the deep,
where down in its dark heart,
the secrets it keeps.
Perhaps we will never know,
if mermaids did exist,
but of this I do know,
their legend is hard to resist.
ode to Mermaids
A sailors aid.
A deadly raid.
A siren song.
A luring wrong.
It’s Midnight in Hawaii
Sitting in my little tiny beach hut,
far from the pounding surf,
nestled in among the trees – the palms,
castaway on my own gentle turf.
The moon reflects its golden rays,
upon the cigar smoke I swirl,
as I take flight in my swinging hammock,
with thoughts of the sweet Hawaiian girl.
She hulas into my mind,
with dreams of erotic passion,
I see her in the blue ocean surf,
her small bikini – her only fashion.
My thoughts are rustled,
a visitor at my tiny hut door,
she is the soft Hawaiian girl,
dropping sand upon the little beach hut floor.
We kiss in the warm night,
the moon at her soft brown back,
it’s midnight in Hawaii,
as I close the door to the tiny beach shack.
The Lone Hammock
Laced among two swaying palms.
Caressed in a swing like motion by the breeze.
Set upon a lone Hawaiian beach.
Where the winds of winter will never reach.
And begin it did.
My dad and I started out on this earlier today – around 8:15 A.M.
We finished about noon.
What you see in the video above is the first part of what we want to do to fix up the landscaping around the house.
Since my wife and I moved in we haven’t done a lot on the landscaping. This year – being out of work and having time – I decided to give it the love it deserves.
I hope to document this journey from where it is today to the final completion somewhere far, far, far, far, down the road.
. . . and so it begins.
Your Body
Your energy may have returned but that doesn’t mean you should be hitting the clubs until 4:00 AM every night. With a baby growing inside you, sleep is one thing that you can’t go without. Try these tricks to ensure you beat up the sheets.
If your growing belly is getting in the way of a good night’s sleep, surround yourself with pillows to make for an extra-comfy nest effect. Sometimes room temperature can affect sleep, so make sure that your air conditioner is cranked up if you’re feeling too hot.
Some sleeping positions are more comfortable than others for pregnant woman, like the “I’m just going to pass out on the La-Z-Boy” position. And get comfy sleeping on your left side while you’re preggers: It’s what the docs recommend to keep the blood flowing full steam ahead between you and the tadpole.
Your Baby
Although many women don’t start feeling the baby move until the 17th week (or later), your baby has been having his own party in the amniotic sac he calls home. If you feel a little flutter in your belly this week, don’t discount it as gas or hunger. It could be your babe banging around. Here’s more to look forward to:
Baby’s head is now resting on his well-formed neck instead of directly on his shoulders like Igor. He’s beginning to grow eyebrows and eyelashes this week. (All the better to give you that “Mom, you’re crazy” look when he’s a teenager.) The hair on the head also begins to grow and, with some creative styling, you’ll be able to turn those locks into a Maddox Jolie-Pitt faux-hawk some day.
Although baby’s eyes are sealed shut, he’s now able to sense light. His eyes and ears finally look like real baby features now. As your baby practices sucking and swallowing actions, he may actually hiccup. You’ll know he’s had one too many shots of amniotic fluid by the steady thump-thump you feel.
Over the next month, baby will grow faster than ever, so make sure you load up on enough nutritious food and fluids to support his growth. Your baby now measures nearly 4 inches, about the size of a Kit Kat “finger” (regular-size, not the Big one you get at the movies), and weighs almost 2 ounces.
A Poetry Journey 