26 Weeks: The Honeymoon is almost over

 I think Brian might be getting tired of posing for pictures.  I think it was the gold pom-pom cape the took it over the line.  He looks so defeated.  But I really thought he was excited for the Purdue/ND game this weekend. 

Babycenter.com:

The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel. If you're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum — a trip that will take about two to three days.

I've just embarrassed my son for the first time by referring to his unit on my blog.  Whoops.

Here's a more candid look at pregnancy from a different website...

Alphamom.com

Your Baby:

• Is almost two pounds. Celebrate this milestone with a two-pound box of chocolates. You know, in order to really get a good VISUAL.
• Remember those early bubbly butterfly kicks? Yeah. Those have been replaced by something akin to a rabid mongoose flippin’ out inside a burlap sack.
• If you DO occasionally feel smaller, rhythmic movements in your belly, it’s probably your baby hiccuping. Babies actually get hiccups from late in the first trimester on, but most women don’t pick on them the second trimester or later.
• All five senses are fully developed. Whoa.

You:

• Are in the last and final week of the second trimester! (At least according to the books I’ve chosen to listen to — some mark the beginning of the third trimester as week 27, while some make you wait until week 28. Look, we’re all big and lumpy and ridiculously cranky, let’s get this final trimester STARTED.)
• Of course, the end of the second trimester also marks the end of the so-called “honeymoon” phase of pregnancy, as the final three months can get awfully uncomfortable. Back and joint pain, swollen ankles, restless nights and Braxton-Hicks contractions, ahoy!
• You’ll gain about 1/2 inch in belly/fundal size EVERY WEEK from this point on, oh mah gah. I guess I should stop being so smug about those pre-pregnancy lowrise jeans I’ve been wearing (with just a little help from my trusty rubber band).
• The books say we’ve gained about 16-22 pounds, so long as we’ve been following a “nutritious and sensible diet plan.” Bite me, books.

This is true.  I'm very sad that the honeymoon is almost over.  I'm starting to grunt with every movement.  I'm having trouble sleeping.  Oh and what's this little thing called heartburn?? Sweetness.  Lots of fun stuff ahead but this is definitely the best part of pregnancy, like, right now, so I better be enjoying it. 

Heartburn means lots of hair right? That's a GREAT thing.

And finally... your baby lesson of the day...

Danielle Gets Married

Last weekend we went to Rensselaer to attend Desi's sister Danielle's wedding.  It was a lovely wedding, I have to say, and we had a really fun time.

The Keiper family did lots of dancing! 

Jack showed off some awesome moves.

The whole family did the Hokey Pokey!

Isabel had some interesting dance moves with her blankie.

The groom looked handsome and the bride looked gorgeous.  Although I must say she looks kinda sassy in this picture.  :)

The girls REALLY wanted to catch the bouquet!

There were Jello Shots...

which Andrew enjoyed.

This little girl enjoyed her momm's heels.  So cute!

Before the night was over, Lilli decided she was tired.  She got a blanket and fell asleep under the buffet table.

Brian probably enjoyed the night the least because he spent it in his kennel.  But he did get lei'ed when we got home.  Good for him.  :)

I hope you have a big trunk... because I'm puttin' my bike in it.

I finally got my birthday present! Andrew got me a bike for my birthday this year.  But it's not just any bike... it's a vintage Schwinn! FUN!

It was his mom's bike originally.  He took it to the local Schwinn dealer and they were really excited about it.

It's a Traveler III in a really cool "Schwinn blue".  The bike shop wanted to deck it out with blue tires, rims, handlebars, etc.  Luckily they did not.  I think it looks fine as is. 

I found out online that I can look up the badge number to find out what year it is.  The badge number is 0789. I believe that means that it's from the 78th day (March 19th) of 1979 making it 31 years old! Wow! It is in excellent shape.  The shop owners said that they had 2 other Schwinn Traveler III frames come through their shop recently and each one was rusty.  They were amazed that this one was completely rust-free. Sweet!

It needed a little fixing up.  When we picked it up at the bike shop today, Andrew saw it and said, "WHOA! It looks completely different!" It has been in storage for a loooonnngggg time. 
But... he didn't get a "Before" picture! :(  Dang!

I gotta say that it is really fun to joy ride around on my new Steel Steed.  But X-tra Lite? Not so much.  Maybe for 1979?

I also got a new app for my iPhone called Hipstamatic. (Thanks Aunt Shiela!)  It makes your iPhone photos look retro.  Very fun little app once you figure out how to use it.  I took some experimental pictures...

Whoa! So retro! :)

This looks like a lot of the photos in my family's albums!

My favorite one.  It's hard to line up the lens through the app but I'm working on it.  More fun retro pictures to come, I'm sure!

I can't help but sing Kodachrome when I use this app.  But I always sing it as "I got an iPhone camera, I love to take a phoootograph. So Mama, don't taaaaake my Kooooodachrome awaaaaaay."

Sorry.  I should have given you a Nerd Alert before that one. :)

Andrew's Last Game: GOOOAAAAALLLL!!!!

Andrew had his last game of the season last night at 10 pm.  Gross.  That's late.  But I took a nap so I could go and I'm glad I did.

The game started as all the other games did.  Nothing new.

The screaming crowd was in full effect!

Haha, just kidding.  I was seriously the only person sitting on those bleachers.  I guess everyone else thinks 10 o'clock is too dang late.

Andrew was doing pretty well so I decided to take some video of the game.  I wasn't really paying that close attention when.....

WHOA!!! Andrew scored his first goal!

GOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!!!
Sing it with me now!

"DOH DUH-DI-DOH, DUH-DI-DOH, DUH-DI-DOH-DI-DOH-DA-DOH..."

The guys were all really excited for him.  It was awesome.  I'm so glad I got it on video so he can watch it over and over again.  You know he will! :) 

So congrats to Drewfus on his first goal!
He went from this...

to this...

 What a "good game" it was, indeed.

24 weeks: Kickin' It Up A Notch

 Brian was jealous that he hadn't been on the blog in awhile so he posed for this picture with me.  Gotta love First Borns! :) Such a regal beagle/pug. 

 So I've officially hit 6 months. I can't believe it.  It doesn't seem like it's been 6 whole months.  Things are becoming so real now. 

Let's see what the preggo websites have to say this week...

Babycenter.com...

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

Whattoexpect.com...

Your baby is about eight and a half inches long and weighs one and a half pounds, gaining steadily at a rate of six ounces per week. Much of that weight comes from accumulating baby fat, as well as from growing organs, bones, and muscle. Those little ears of his are getting sharper and can hear very loud sounds, from a yapping dog to a jackhammer. Also by now, that fabulous face is almost fully formed, complete with eyelashes, eyebrows, and hair. Is your baby a brunette, a blonde, or a redhead? Actually, right now his locks are white since there's no pigment yet. 

Baby T is really kickin' it up a notch, hence the title of the post.  But as of last weekend, Andrew still had not felt the baby kick.  I felt so bad.  Any time I would have him put his hand on my belly, he would stop kicking.  At the 30th b-day party last weekend, someone said, "Oh my gosh, you're six months and he hasn't felt the baby kick yet?" That made me feel even better. :(  But this person did say "When he finally does feel the baby kick..." and she made the "mental picture" snapping motion like on The Office when Jim and Pam got married. 
Video explains it a little better here:



"...Take a mental picture."  So of course I was determined to make sure he could feel it.

On Monday, I was wearing these shorts that are a little too small in the waist (can't believe that!) and Baby T was going nuts.  I said, "OK hurry now, this has got to work."  He put his hand where I told him and.... HOLY CRAP! he said.  Baby T gave him a hard kick at that point. 

Mental picture... framed forever.  :)

One final thought so not to end on too sappy of a note...

Here is the first lesson in our online birthing class. 

Lesson One: Drying Baby

I think we're going to learn a lot in this class.

Boys Who Turn 30 Are Still Boys

We went down to Indy this weekend for Stafford's 30th birthday party. Now... the Staffords know how to party.

I mean, anyone with a coconut bra would know how to party!

There was a bags tournament.

...where Andrew took some time to do a little dance.

There was a grown man wearing size YOUTH MEDIUM swim trunks.

There was slapping for no reason.

The Slip N Slide was a big hit. I'm sorry, the Slip N SlideS. There were 4 in a row.

Here are some of the Slip N Sliders, bruised, cut and bleeding. Those things are dangerous!

Lower and Travis were the winners of the Bags Tournament. The trophy was a mannequin... because why not, right?

Later in the evening there was a rousing game of Sloppy Die. Yes, I was jealous. It looked like so much fun! Next year! :)

And finally there was wrestling... and again that creepy mannequin.

I believe this was an Alpha Male contest. It was very interesting. I believe in the end it was a draw because we told them to stop because one of them was going to die. When it was all over, they stood up and shook hands, complimented each other and went on with their lives.

BOYS ARE WEIRD.

Here's some video proof of all the fun that was had by the party-goers. Sorry for the violence of the wrestling match. It gets a little intense at times so avert your eyes if you get a little freaked out.

National Lampoon's Keiper Vacation: Part Deux

I don't have any stories left from vacation but I did want to post some of my favorite pictures that I didn't get a chance to post last time.

The sunset was gorgeous every night.

...and so were the mustaches.  Sick.  Another reason why we have to go next year... so Andrew can blow them out of the water with his lip sweater.

I think this picture is just so cute.  Here's Lilli contemplating her next wakeboard move.

 This is Isabel swimming as hard as she can (obviously before she "cut her foot in half").

This is another favorite from the trip.  Only because of the pink umbrella, broken sunglasses and a Budweiser to cap it all off.  Hillbilly culture embraced!

Most of the following pictures are going to be of Adam and his "Gnar Shredding".  (I don't care if I don't use the term right, ADAM!)

Gnar.  Shredded.

This one looks like Adam got shredded and not the gnar.  :)

This one too but I actually think he landed this one.

In this picture, we are following him riding behind a friend's boat.  We've found you get the best pictures this way. 

Adam would know.  He's a little obsessed with wakeboarding.  So much so that he has done it hillbilly style in our front yard at home.

He also won a contest (just a drawing, not a talent contest) and won a bunch of crap.  It's still up on the wakeworld website in fact.  He really did win a bunch of crap.  Plus he got professional pictures taken of him making the board and also using his new board on the lake while he was in Seattle . 

This is the only one I could steal from Facebook. He got to fly to Seattle, make his own board, and got a bunch of freebies to go along with it.  It was his dream come true.

You can kind of see the custom board he made here.  At least half of it. 
Ok back to the vacation.

Here are some crash shots.

This was one of the friends on the other boat crashing.

Stephanie didn't crash too much.  She basically just would let go gracefully! Makes for a good picture though.

 Here's Adam making a big splash. 

Here's Adam making an even bigger splash. 

 Here's Adam skipping across the water on his back.  OUCH!

Brandon's turn! Also a very epic crash. 

Finally, this is the friend who owned the other boat.  We had to get his picture too.

GNARLY DUDE! :)