Third trimester, Baby!

So as of yesterday (10/22) I am 27 weeks pregnant. However, as of Wednesday (10/21), I am officially in my third trimester (according to me since I'm 3 months from my due date). So I guess I'm in the home stretch. Since it seems that almost everyone I know is having baby boys, I keep thinking that there is something going on to cause this. I have no idea what it is but I've just never heard of so many baby boys on the way (or maybe I've never quite paid attention like I do now). But I was reading a blog post from www.dooce.com and found this story to be pretty funny regarding the drama/intensity/craziness of raising a girl so I thought I'd share. Maybe you can comment if you agree or not. I know when I was hoping for a baby girl, a lot of my friends told me that their baby boys are so sweet and less dramatic. Although if Graham has his way, our baby boy will be a drama king (He told Nathan and I one night that he hopes the baby is dramatic!) Anyway, here is the post (Leta is the 5 1/2 year old daughter of Heather and Jon Armstrong. Katey is Heather's assistant):

All grown up
Jon calls me into the kitchen where Leta is having a snack, and our assistant Katey has just finished up some paper work. I ask what's going on, and he motions for all of us to look at Leta. The three of us surround her as Jon tries to stick his finger in her mouth, a risk not unlike trying to pet an alligator.
"STOP IT!" she screams and immediately covers her mouth with both hands.

"Leta," Jon says with a tone of exasperation that has filled this house for oh, five and a half years. "Show them your tooth."

She vigorously shakes her head without removing her hands as Jon explains that her front left tooth is loose, and both Katey and I cannot help but SQUEEEE!!!! Our little baby Leta is about to lose her first tooth! We both remember when she had none!

Leta interprets our squeeeing as mockery, and hops off her chair. "IT'S NOT FUNNY!" she yells, temporarily letting her arms hang by her side. So we explain in great detail why we made that horrible, high-pitched noise, tell her that this is a Huge Event In Her Life, and doesn't she know? Oh Leta! THE VERY BEST PART! The Tooth Fairy is coming!

"But I don't want the tooth fairy to come," she says, only because that's what girls do. They want drama, they thrive on irrational thinking, they want you to scratch your head and go WTF?!!

"Leta," I start to explain, "the Tooth Fairy comes and leaves you money. MONEY. M-O-N-E-Y."

"But I don't want money!" she says. "I want presents!"

That's when all three of us, Jon, Katey and I, we simultaneously groan, "YOU CAN USE THE MONEY TO BUY PRESENTS, LETA."

She stands there blinking her eyes for several seconds, and then she reaches up into her mouth to feel her loose tooth.

"Okay," she says calmly. "I can work with that."

Are you pregnant and expecting a girl? GOOD LUCK.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that I'm probably going to be thankful for having a baby boy who will hopefully be a little less dramatic and a little easier to deal with. I can tell you from working all females, that I know women can be moody, catty, crazy and just dreadful sometimes. In fact, the book I'm reading right now is called, "Men are Stupid, Women are Crazy". (So men shouldn't be all high and mighty either! :) )

Looking forward to my family baby shower this Sunday. I will hopefully take some pictures to post next week!

Have a great weekend,
Dawn

Pumpkin Patch

So we took our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch this past Sat. but we tried a new place this year called Eagle Fork in Troy, MO. I liked it but the pumpkin selection wasn't the greatest. They either had ginormous pumpkins or small pumpkins. My sister-in-law said they had a lot more when she was there a few weekends ago so maybe they just can't keep up with the demand. But we had a good time and it wasn't as cold as I thought it would be. Here are some pictures. Ignore the date stamp on them!

L-R: Graham. Lexie, Clayton & Elaina

Adelyn

Graham

Lexie and Graham after Rachel dumped corn kernels down his back

Chantel

Clayton

Graham

Elaina

Nathan

Graham running through the corn maze

Graham and Clayton in the corn maze

Heavenly Fried Twinkie! Yes, I ate the whole thing by myself!

Sunday we picked up the dresser we bought for the baby's room. We love it but it sure does seem a lot bigger in the little room than it seemed at the store. It almost matches our crib perfectly. I'll post some pictures of the room when it's finished. We have a few things to hang up in there still, need to get some curtains and need to get the bedding at one of the upcoming showers (hopefully at the one this weekend!).

Have a great week!

-Dawn

Weekend Recap

So what's new? Not too much. On the baby front, he is moving and kicking up a storm. Graham got to feel a kick for the first time this past weekend. It's so cool to feel but I have to admit that it's sometimes annoying - especially at 4:30 or 5:00 in the AM!!! :) But it's also good reassurance that he's doing good. My last doctor appt. went well. I did my glucose test and haven't got a call back so far so that's good. No news is good news for that sort of thing. I also got the flu shot while I was there. The baby's heartbeat was strong and of course he kicked while she was listening to it so she commented that he's quite the kicker. I felt like saying, "Tell me something I don't know, doc!"
Next month I am going to see Dr. Durer so I can be sure he's the one that I want to deliver the baby. I've been seeing a Midwife but she doesn't deliver babies anymore.

This weekend was a nice one. We didn't do much on Friday. Sat. I had yoga and then Nathan, Graham and I went to the Halloween store. We really didn't see any costumes that excited us though. And it's extra hard for me this year to think of what to be since I'm preggers. That night the 3 of us went to dinner and then saw "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs". It was a cute movie. Sunday, the 3 of us, with my mom, went to the Botanical Gardens. It was a beautiful day and they had the Missouri's Best event going on. I actually took lots of scenery pictures so I'll post some of them here (and a few with people!).

Graham with the pumpkin he decorated in the Kids Corner

Graham, Nathan and mom

me and mom

Graham, Nathan and me

Graham jumping from rock to rock

Hope everyone has a nice week!

Love,
Dawn

Recent Tidbits

So I wrote a long blog post last week from work and when I went to publish it, an error occurred and I lost it. I was not happy. Let me see if I can remember a little what it was about. I think I just rambled on about the latest stuff we've done to prepare for the baby's arrival. After 3 attempts we finally got the right paint color for the nursery so Nathan got that painted. I can't wait until we get a dresser and put up window treatments and get all of the bedding in place. Our theme is "A Star is Born" and we are sparingly decorating the room with stars and moons. It's really just a nighttime theme. We didn't want anything over the top or too babyish.

We've also registered at Babies 'R' Us. That was an experience. There is so much useless stuff you can register for but we tried to stick to the basics. We added some more things when we had a couple people tell us we didn't register for enough (rightfully, so) but we still probably don't have as much on our list as some new parents do. We just do have a lot of room to store a lot and don't want our small house cluttered and overwhelmed with baby stuff. I actually found a mommy blogger who agrees with us. Here is a little of her wisdom:

If this is your first pregnancy, you're probably ready to start registering for gifts. And you're probably feeling pretty overwhelmed and unsure of where to start. So...allow me to boss you around for awhile then.

There's obviously no shortage of baby paraphernalia you can register for, but so much of that stuff is best if you pick it out later, once your baby is here and you've gotten to know his or her likes and dislikes. And no matter what that crazy wild-eyed blonde woman said to you at the store about which bottle/pacifier/diaper brand is the Best Thing Ever, resist the urge to register for multiple identical items, but instead register for one or two of multiple brands and let your baby make the choice.

As my registry dwindled, I felt obligated to add more stuff and crap to it. And that's how I ended up with 434 receiving blankets and at least 10 of those sleepsack things-- and only three of the blankets were actually big enough to swaddle my linebacker of a newborn, who hated the sleepsacks with the heat of...well, a thousand fleece sleepsacks. He hated the Avent wideneck bottles and pacifers I'd stocked up on, preferring Dr. Brown's standards and Soothies. The vibrating bouncy seat (which I'd gotten in place of a swing, because "everyone" told me their babies hated swings) pissed him off like nothing else. He loved, loved, loved the swing we went out and bought out of sleep-deprived desperation a week later.

I discovered that I hated those elastic-bottomed gowns that "everyone" raved about, preferred co-sleeping (which I'd been deadset against) to lifting him in and out of the Pack-n-Play bassinet attachment, and kicked myself for not getting a sling. And don't even get me started on that freaking awful stroller.

So. If I could go back and do it again, I actually would have registered for a lot less, and resisted the urge to keep the list stocked with low-cost gifts that ended up getting donated to charity basically unused. (Because OF COURSE I ripped the tags off ALL 434 blankets and washed them BEFORE Noah was born. Because OF COURSE I DID.) I should have politely requested more gift cards for use later -- there's just no way to know how many diapers you'll go through, or whether breastfeeding will work out the way you plan, or what kind of exersaucer you'll want six months from now.

Oh yeah, I also tried to post about Nathan's 30th Bday last time too. We celebrated with some Demolition Ball at Adrenaline Zone in St. Charles. Then a few of us headed over to Hot Shots to hang out. We'd like to thank everyone who showed up to either part (or both). We have terrific family and friends and I know Nathan felt very loved. Here are a few pics from the Demo Ball part (You can click on the picture to make them bigger if you want to):









So I've been feeling the baby move a lot. Nathan got to finally feel a kick this past week so that was pretty cool (more so to me than Nathan though I think since he's been through this before). I have appt. this week and I have to do the Glucose test. I am very relieved that my Dr. does not make me fast for this test. I will be 24 weeks on Thursday.

Nathan and I also interviewed two pediatricians and found one we liked. So now I need to fill out the hosptial pre-registration packet and send that in. We took a tour of St. Lukes and that is where I will be delivering.

Last night Nathan and I saw a sneak preview of the new movie, "Whip It" and it was very good. We even got a free t-shirt when it was over so that was nice. It helps me feel not quite as bad about spending $21.50 at the freaking movies (and that's not counting any food!). Today we hung around the house. I made homemade meatballs from the Rocco Family Cookbook. They turned out delicious! I also attempted some cookies from the same cookbook but just as I put the cookie sheets in the oven, I saw the unopened bottle of baking soda sitting on the table. Baking soda was listed in the ingredients but it was left out of the paragraph that tells you what to stir in and when. Grrr! So those didn't turn out the greatest! Oh well, I tried to be Susie Homemaker for a day. Now Nathan is at the Social Distortion concert and I am going to watch some TV tonight and relax.

Hope everyone has a fantastic week!

-Dawn

To Rocco or not to Rocco - That is MY Question

(This is actually a logo from a band so I'm not trying to steal it but it was the only "Rocco" graphic I could find. Here's a link for copyright purposes: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&safe=active&um=1&q=Rocco&sa=N&start=240&ndsp=20 )




Many of you know that Rocco is on the top of our list for boy names. I originally chose it because it's a family name on my side of the family. My grandma's maiden last name was Rocco and I have tons of relatives with the last name Rocco. In fact, we have the Rocco Family Reunion this Sunday (on our 1 year wedding anniversary) and we have the Rocco Reunion Website that details the latest news about our family. (http://www.roccoreunion.com/)

In addition, when I first researched the name, I found that it is an Italian name with Germanic decent. I thought that was pretty cool since I love my Italian heritage but also have German heritage. And Nathan also has German heritage. So it seemed like a good fit. We put the name on our list and Nathan liked it but his one complaint was that his sister has a dog named Rocco. I couldn't help that she named her dog a cool name. In addition, she and her family were moving to Dallas so it's not like the dog would be anywhere nearby so no confusion should ensue.

We continued on searching for names and Maxwell (Max) also came to the top of our list (other top names included Carter and Xavier). But after we found out that we are for sure having a boy, Nathan has come back around to Rocco. He has even come up with a middle name: Rocco Flynn Meyer. It does have a nice ring to it. And I keep saying that Rocco covers my Italian heritage, Flynn covers our Irish heritage (b/c we are both Irish also) and Meyer covers our German heritage. So the name seems to be working on a lot of different levels.

I think one of the only things holding me back from 100% deciding on the name Rocco is some of the reactions to the name and wondering if it's too much of a big name for someone to live up to. It seems like most people around our age (20's and 30's) like the name. It seems like the older generation (the Baby Boomers) do not. I don't think my mom or mother-0n-law are too hip on the name and I don't think that my aunts particularly liked it either when I mentioned it to them. I know that not everyone is going to like the name we chose no matter what it is but I can't help but want everyone to love it (or at least like it). But ultimately, this is our baby and our decision.

I did a little research today on the name that I'd like to share. Some of it I knew already but some of it I did not. Here's the lowdown on "Rocco":

Rocco is used chiefly in the Italian language and it is derived from Germanic origins. From the elements 'rohon' meaning to roar, battle cry ; 'hrok' meaning rest, repose. Roho (Germanic) is an old form of Rocco.

The name was borne by Saint Rocco (1295-1327), who nursed plague victims and is today known as the patron saint of the sick. I like this because I was scarred as a child when the nun at my Catholic school told us to research the saints that we were named after. I told her I wasn't named after a saint. She told me to use my middle name. I told her that wasn't a saint's name either. She then told me to just pick any saint and research him or her. For some reason this embarassed me and I have never forgotten it. Silly, I know, but knowing that there is a Saint Rocco makes me feel better about the name. :)

You can click here for an image and more information on Saint Rocco. It's an interesting Catholic story that I was not familiar with. It also details one woman's experience of naming her son Rocco and the negative reaction she has received.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://raisingrocco.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/saint-rocco.jpg&imgrefurl=http://raisingrocco.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/&usg=__L-ayijS8BxDQcp9DW4wE8nlzevg=&h=353&w=251&sz=19&hl=en&start=28&um=1&tbnid=xdzgk_yGWByA1M:&tbnh=121&tbnw=86&prev=/images%3Fq%3DRocco%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DN%26start%3D20%26um%3D1

The variant Rocky is often linked with toughness and physical strengh, from association with the famous US boxer Rocky Marciano (1923-1969), who was born Rocco Marchegiano. If we choose Rocco, his nickname will NOT be Rocky. No way, no how!!!

Rocco is a fairly popular baby name for boys, and it is also viewed as trendy. (Yay!) At the modest peak of its usage in 1922, 0.034% of baby boys were given the name Rocco. Its ranking then was #285. The baby name has since suffered a steep loss in popularity. In 2008, its usage was 0.033% and its ranking #418, somewhat regaining its popularity in the recent decade. (So it's not too common but not too out there and it's on the up and up!) Out of all boy names in its group, Rocco was the most widely used.

Famous people who gave their babies this name: Ted Nugent, Madonna

Famous real-life people named Rocco:

Rocco Baldelli - Boston Red Sox outfielder.

Rocco DiSpirito - American celebrity chef and reality show host.

Rocky Colavito - former right fielder in Major League Baseball.

Rocco DeLuca - Rocco DeLuca and the Burden are a four-piece American alternative rock band from California who formed in late 2005. Previous to this Rocco DeLuca himself was a solo artist who opened for artists like Taj Mahal, John Mayall and John Lee Hooker, and played with Johnny Cash.

Rocco Mediate - famous golfer

So anyway, this is what I've come up with and I guess it remains to be seen if our baby boy will be name Rocco. But if he is, you will all now know all there is to know about the name and why it was chosen ( at least by me; Nathan's reasons may be entirely different!) :)

Love,
Dawn

20 Weeks - IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The top picture is the baby with his spine up toward the top. He's looking down.

The second picture is the proof that he's a boy. It's hard to tell here (you can try clicking on the picture to make it bigger but I still think it's hard to tell) but there is an arrow pointing to the "proof".

The baby's face

So most of you have heard through text, phone call or Facebook but I had to post about it too. Today was my 20 week ultrasound and we found out that we are having a little boy. The good thing about this post is that I can give a little more detail.

Baby boy was very cooperative at first and gave the Ultrasound Technician some good shots. But then he got fiesty. The tech said on several occasions that he has attitude already and is a little stinker. He kept putting his arms up to his head, kind of in a dramatic fashion. Then he buried down into my pelvic area so this made it difficult for the tech to get some of her shots. She would have to put down the wand thingy and push on my stomach with her hands to get him to move up. He'd move up and then when she'd pick up the wand again, he'd move back down. He kicked and punched and was just generally being a little dickens! After she revealed that he is a boy, she laughed and said, "You'll never guess what his hand is holding right now!" We only needed one guess to know that she meant that his hand was around you know what! I'd say that is a pretty bold statement along with his other actions. I think we are going to have our hands full with this one!

The tech said he looks healthy and everything is on track as it should be. The doctor said I've gained a good amount of weight so far (11 lbs.) and she agreed that all of the ultrasound pics looked great. Next month I will get the glucose test. We are going to take a tour of St. Luke's Hospital soon to make sure we want to deliver there. We will also sign up for some labor and delivery classes. If anyone has any pediatrician reccommendations out in the St. Charles/St. Peters area, please let me know.

We are very thankful that our baby boy is healthy and everything is on track. We feel very blessed. Thanks for everyone's continued prayers, well-wishes and support. We greatly appreciate it.

I am trying to scan the ultrasound pictures but am having technical difficulties. I'll have some one at work do it for me tomorrow so check back.

Thanks,
Dawn

Recent Pictures

Here's some goings on from the past week weeks.

If you haven't had the chance to check out the City Garden in downtown St. Louis, you should try to see it sometime soon. It's pretty cool and a neat place to let your kids (or you) run around in fountains and cool off this summer. One Sunday, a couple of weeks ago, me, Nathan and my mom headed down there just to check it out.












My cousin, Kim, came in town last week from Aug. 5th - Aug. 9th. She forgot her camera and I didn't take any pictures except these few (that Nathan actually took) so this is all I have to show for it. But we had a great time and I wish we could see each other more often. These are from Friday night when we went to dinner at The Drunken Fish.

Christa, me & Kim

Kim

My baby is due in Jan. in case you didn't know! I love this tank because it let's people know that I'm pregnant and haven't gained some extra weight just because! :)

I had a doctor appt. 2 Wednesdays ago and everything was good. The Dr. found the heartbeat a lot quicker this time and it was strong. Kim and my mom were there so they got to hear it too! My next appt. is Sept. 3rd and it's the big 20 week ultrasound where we hopefully get to find out the sex of the baby as long as he or she cooperates. Nathan and Graham will be there (neither have seen an ultarsound live yet!) so I really hope we get to find out AND everything looks healthy and good. I'm ready to start shopping and registering for this new member of our family! And it would be nice to narrow down some names. Right now, our top girl name is Kennedy. Our boy names are Carter, Xavier, Max and Rocco. We really don't have middle names at this point.

Graham had a baseball tournament this weekend. Unfortunately, they played teams that were two years older than them so they didn't fare too well. Today was his last game this season with The Tigers. Next up is either fall baseball ball with a new team or possibly soccer.

Hope everyone has a great week!

-Dawn