Mother's Day 2006

Grandma K., Mom-to-be, Great-grandma T. 

28 week appointment - Glucose Victory!!!

On May 12th we went to our 28 week appointment. Carrie had a meeting that morning and used all her strength to not eat a doughnut or anything else sugary because she knew she was going to be tested for gestational diabetes at the appointment. She wasn't told to fast or anything but she figured it couldn't hurt to avoid sugar!!!

The first thing Carrie had to do when we showed up for the appointment was to drink a super sugary drink (she chose lemon-lime per a coworker's recommendation). It was served in a regular sized styrofoam cup so she didn't have to drink too much. She wouldn't have wanted to drink any more but could handle the amount she was given. We were then sent to see Nurse Joan for an hour while Carrie's body worked on the sugary drink.

Nurse Joan measured the bump - it was 30 cm so still on the bigger side but still no big deal. She was showing Kirk how tough the uterine wall was and the baby kicked her! Baby K. was either saying hello or telling her to stop bugging her! Nurse Joan called her a little tsunami because Carrie's belly was just rolling. All in all the baby is doing great - heart rate and activity are just perfect!

When the hour was up, Carrie was relieved to find out that she passed the glucose test with flying colors! Hoorah!

Now our appointments are every two weeks - time is just flying by so fast!!!

Baby K's Nursery

The baby's nursery was painted the last weekend in April. All that's needed to be ready for baby now is furniture (which we are working on)! The theme for the nursery is "You are My Sunshine." Carrie had the nursery concept/mural in her head even before we started thinking of getting pregnant. She's always loved the lullaby. Surprisingly, after we learned we were in need of a nursery, Carrie came across a bedding set that would work perfectly and helped Carrie visualize the types of animals she'd like to incorporate in the mural. (Sidenote: Finding the bedding was surprising because Carrie can be quite picky.)

Carrie knew that this project would be a lot of work and enlisted her artistic mom, Theresa, to help. A few weeks before actually painting, Carrie and Theresa went out to baby stores to get more ideas for the mural and sketched various bugs and animals that they saw. Carrie then created a rough sketch of the entire mural. Before Theresa came up for the big painting weekend, we worked on the background (Carrie drew, Kirk painted). Then all that was left were the critters and other details! Carrie and Theresa had a lot of fun with the project and everything went extremely well!!! Theresa's favorite part is her alligator - Carrie just loves the entire thing. The following are pictures of the whole process.

Here's the wall before we got started. Carrie and Theresa taped up their sketches to visualize spacing and size. 

The beginning!!! 

Kirk working on the pond. 

Kirk did an awesome job of painting the sky, pond, grass, and sun! 

The artists are ready to tackle the walls! 

Theresa working on the letters. 

Carrie's frog (Theresa kept making fun of Carrie because it was taking her so long to do the darn thing...Carrie just wanted it to be perfect! The frog was the inspiration for the entire mural!)

The first two animals!!! 

Theresa being a speed demon with the letters. 

Carrie concentrating on her caterpillar. 

The right wall. 

Apparently this was too much work for Hannah to take...

Critters... 

And more critters! 

Carrie doing the grass. 

We are almost done!!! 

We did it!!!

The finished project - here's the left wall! 

And the right wall!

Both walls! 

Baby auditions for Riverdance

The baby is turning out to be quite the active little thing...and unfortunately for Carrie, the baby is a night owl! Two nights in a row, baby decided it was time to "riverdance" on Carrie's lower stomach while mommy was trying to get to sleep. Carrie got a small glimpse at what sleep is going to be like once baby arrives. Good thing is, baby seems to be like daddy and enjoys sleeping in on Saturday mornings.

Carrie read that babies are most active in the 7th month...which she is just starting. So this should be an interesting month! After this month, there will be less room for the baby to move around. We will then have the Alien-type experiences of body parts randomly jutting out.

A few cute things baby has done....

Kirk decided it would be funny to try and "call" the baby and started to tap Carrie's belly the other night. After each tap, the baby would kick! They are already teaming up against mommy!

Hannah felt the baby move!!! Hannah was lying on Carrie's belly when the baby kicked underneath where Hannah was. Hannah looked down really quick right where the baby kicked! Hannah continued to lay there which is good - she'll have to get used to abuse from the baby. We aren't quite sure how Sly is going to handle it.

Other news....

The nursery is painted! Carrie and Theresa labored long and hard last weekend and actually completed the mural! They have to admit that it looks fabulous. Pictures were taken along the way but we aren't going to put them on the blog until the big unveiling at the baby shower in a few weeks.

We have a few short trips coming up. Mother's Day weekend we are heading over to Wisconsin to see Kirk's parents and grandma. We haven't seen them since New Year's! Then we will be back in Wisconsin in early June for a baby shower Kirk's family is putting on for us. We are looking forward to seeing everyone!

We have our 28 week appointment on May 12th - we'll let you know how it goes!!!