Halloween n Stuff

I think Dallin has a Halloween picture of both of us, together, on his phone.

Dallin is downstairs, working.

I am upstairs, blogging.

The distance is just too great.

So you get pictures of each of us, in turn.

Here is Dallin. He is a baker:


And here I am. I am also a baker. But I have an oven. And what is baking in my lovely oven?

A bun.


Ha ha! Get it?

We ooze of cleverness.

I know, these pictures suck. Maybe I'll put Dallin's pictures on here later. But if you know me, you're probably not betting on it.

So, Halloween.

A series of unfortunate e-mails that I received on Friday night led me to something of a nervous breakdown this weekend. I had a freak out party in my head about baby and money and who knows what else, but it seemed like the world was going to come crashing down.

It didn't. Don't worry.

However, ASU football suffered a(nother) devastating loss, this time against the Cal Golden Bears. We really should have won...we were very close to winning...so that was sad.

I am also fairly to moderately positive that I did not consume any food the entire day that had any sort of nutritional value to it. Yes, I think that's about accurate.

We did get to go to a fun party that night, at which we got to show off our costumes and play a few games, one of which was the donut-on-a-string eating contest (pictured above). Dallin and I did not compete against each other, but we did claim victory in our respective meets. Maybe we should have gone head-to-head...between you and me, I could have taken him.

We finished off the evening with a showing of Pirates of the Caribbean (the first one, duh), which led to a late bedtime.

And then there was (very) early church. We all know how I feel about that.

After (very) early church, I slept off my nervous breakdown a lil bit while Dallin proved that he IS in fact the most incredible person on the planet. He did this by basically cleaning the entire house, including doing some much needed organization in the baby's room.

I heart him.

Also, Happy November! It is very difficult for me to wrap my head around the fact that our baby will be here this month. My due date is in less than two weeks. Less than two weeks, people! Do you know how much time that is not? A lot.

I may or may not be incredibly, irrationally excited about this. I'll let you know which.

So how is everyone?

oh...bot?

So.

Yesterday I went to get my third trimester ultrasound. My doctor said it's pretty routine for them to do a third trimester ultrasound...you know, to see how the baby's growing, positioned, etc. Plus she said I was looking a little on the small-ish side.

Hmph.

But I went happily, because hey, I wanted to see my baby.

So after the shirt was up and the jelly was rubbed and my innards were revealed and some head/heartbeat/leg/whatever else measurements were taken, ultrasound technician lady asks, conversationally,

"So, what are we having?"

I assume she knows it's a baby, since she can see it more clearly than I can, so I figure she's talking about the gender. My powers of deduction are amazing.

"Oh, it's a boy!"

"All right, let's check that out."

So she moves the little prober to that general area, and checks it out.

Brief pause.

(UTL=Ultrasound Technician Lady, K=Katie)

UTL: "It's a boy?"

K: "Um...yeah."

UTL: "Seriously, I told you it was a boy?"

K (out loud): (nervous laugh) "Yep!"
K (thinking): "Yes you told me it was a boy! I've been in here with you two other times and you told me it was a boy! You drew a little arrow on a picture! You used the word 'scrotum.' YOU DEFINITELY TOLD ME IT WAS A BOY. That is why I have boy-ish crib bedding. That's why everyone's been giving me boy clothes. That's why I've been stressing out over a BOY name. BECAUSE YOU TOLD ME IT WAS A BOY."

UTL: "Did I really? Did I write that down? Did we keep any of the pictures?"

She spins her stool around to look at my chart on the counter, and flips through some pictures trying to find the "proof." I lay there just watching helplessly, a "smile" frozen on my face.

UTL: "Well, there's the picture. I guess I did tell you it was a boy. Let's look again."

We spend the next few minutes trying to figure out if there is a protrusion that sticks far enough out between my baby's legs to be a boy part, or if the fact that it doesn't seem to stick out very far, plus the fact that we can see a faint line (although boys have those too), means that we're checking out a little miss.

In the end, UTL decides that she's sticking with boy. She says she's only been wrong twice in her 20 something year career. She also says that one of those times was about 3 months ago, so she's a little paranoid.

My mama bear mind interprets that as, "You got me just as I was losing my touch."

But she did say she still thinks it's a boy. And she sure seemed pretty dang sure when she cried "male" before. I'd say it would be pretty odd for this baby to not be a boy.

At least, that's what I keep telling myself. Over and over again.

Oh and also, my baby is plenty big enough, thank you very much. She's guessing he'll be 7 1/2 pounds-ish when he's born. I've also apparently been doing great with my water drinking (YES!) because there's a lot of "great water" in there. Oh, and the baby is settled pretty low in my tum, which is what's making me look/measure small-ish. This also means he might come a smidgen early.

Assuming, of course, that he is still a "he."

Heh heh heh heh....heh.

What's in a Name?

That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

But my baby ain't no rose.

And he needs a name.

And he probably wouldn't smell as sweet if he was named something like...Wulfric.

Which, along with being one of Albus Dumbledore's middle names, was actually a name in one of our baby name books.

And I just admitted to you that I know Albus Dumbledore's middle names, and that I currently have, in my house, more than one baby name book.

I should really be more careful about what I write.

So... I've looked at names. I mean, I've looked at names.

**Side note: Dallin recently caught me sorting through the tab on my bookmarks toolbar labeled "baby stuff." With all the crazy "research" I've done on everything from cribs to cloth diapers to diaper bags to baby slings to names, this tab contains an unhealthy number of links. Dallin laughed. And I got mad. And I wouldn't even let him kiss it better. That's how you know I'm mad. Side note over**

But seriously, I've looked. Like, look at this website: http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager

Why in the name of truth and goodness would you need or want this much information on baby names? Am I really going to christen my child based on which name was most popular in Minnesota in the 1950s?

If you did that...um...well, I was going to apologize for making fun of you...but that's just too weird. Intended apology rescinded.

Anyway, no amount of online searching has really changed my mind either way about the names I've been considering, or really presented me with any new names that I've fallen in love with. And the books, lent to me by loving, caring people, have really not helped much either.

And yes, I am female, and I am Mormon, so I have been thinking about baby names since like, before I could date.

But this is the real deal. It's different when it's the real deal.

But in the past couple of days, Dallin and I have buckled down and hammered out a short list.

My criteria for names that made the short list:

1) All boy - I don't want some girl having my son's name.
2) Not super common, but something that he won't have to repeat more than once when telling someone his name. (Dallin has to do that...he don't like it)
3) Ideally, can be used with Dallin as the middle name. I think this is very difficult, because I love the name Dallin. I think it's a very strong first name, so it's hard for me to give it the secondary slot. And it's hard to come up with names that are strong enough to precede it.
4) Not super trendy or cutesy. I think those names just end up being weird.

Dallin's criteria for names that made the short list:

1) Not Wulfric.

I think he really just wants to name the kid so I'll stop stressing over it.

Well, without further ado...here are the top 10 competitors in the race to win the title by which our firstborn will be known for his whole life. Gulp.

In alphabetical order:


Brendan

Derek

Devin

Jacob

Jaxon

Layton

Logan

Parker

Tanner

Trevor


Some stick out to us more than others. Some have been on the list from the beginning. Some are more common, some are a little more unique. Some are more like "filler" names, like we like them, but would probably just use them if we decided we didn't really like anything else. You know?

Anyway, that's the list. We'll see how long it takes us to narrow it down completely. I really want to have a name picked before the baby is born. I am not a student of the "When you see him, you'll know" school. I think brand spanking new babies look pretty much the same for the most part.

If you feel the urge to comment on a particular name or whatever, feel free. I can't promise we'll listen to you...but you know, if it'll make you feel better.

But we're not voting or drawing out of hats...yet.

It's September.

It's SEPTEMBER.

This scares me to death.

I am scared for the following three reasons:

(1) It's SEPTEMBER and my baby is due in NOVEMBER.

(2) It's my little sister's birthday today and she is no fewer than EIGHTEEN years old.

(3) ASU football starts on Saturday.

Let's take these backwards...it'll be kind of like a countdown thing. It'll be fun.

(3) ASU football starts on Saturday.

If you wonder why I am scared about this, wonder no longer, for I shall explain all.

First of all, an ASU football game can make or break a Saturday night. Last year, lots of Saturday nights were broken. Crushed, really. Shattered, if you want to be frank about it. No, it probably wasn't the worst season ASU football has ever seen...but it might have felt like it. And now, me and every other ASU fan in the world has absolutely no idea if this season is going to be any better. Sure, our lousy quarterback graduated...but now we're left with a starting quarterback with hardly any play time under his belt. Yeah, ASU football hasn't had two consecutive losing seasons since like the 40s...but that might just mean our time has come. We do still have some big guns in our possession (Williams, McGaha, even Weber)...but we have a few more that are simply unproven.

Needless to say, my realistic hopes are approaching on their tippy-toes. We should win on Saturday...it would be incredibly embarrassing if we didn't...but the rest of the season may just have a dark cloud of doom hovering over it. I guess we'll see.

2) It's my little sister's birthday today and she is no fewer than EIGHTEEN years old.

I'll tell you what...wow. See, since there are six kiddos in my family, I've always kind of mentally divided them between the elder three and the younger three. Jenna is the oldest of the younger three...and she's 18.

18 is adulthood.

She's an ADULT? Wha-wha-wha-what?

Also, freaking out about this kind of makes me feel like one of those old aunts who can't say anything about you other than how big you are and how she can't believe how much you've grown, blah blah blah. Does anyone actually have one of these aunts, by the way?

At the risk of becoming that, I'll stop now. I love you sis! Happy birthday!

Now go get back in your footie pajamas.

1) It's SEPTEMBER and my baby is due in NOVEMBER.

We're in the "BER" months, people. September and November seem a lot a lot a lot closer to each other than August and November. Tell me I'm not right.

Can we say...freak out?

Furthermore, I am approaching the 30 week mark. 30. Weeks.

Do you know how long it takes a baby to cook? 40. 40. Weeks.

30 is almost 40.

Everything after 30 is really almost 40.

You get beyond 30...and you have...numbers of weeks left with only 1 number in them. Like...9.

Yeah, my baby's due in like almost 9 weeks. Gulp.

I should learn how to be a mom. That might help.

I should also buy some things...like a crib and some diapers (AHHH! CLOTH OR DISPOSABLE?!?) and some more clothes and a breast pump (tmi? lol. sry.) and some blankets and some bath toys and some make-your-baby-brilliant movies and a stroller and a diaper bag and oh my gosh baby needs a name!

Ok but really, I'm not freaking out this much. I still have a shower coming (probably second weekend in October...let me know if you want an invite! They haven't gone out yet...), and I'm not exactly Miss Workaholic right now, so I've got plenty of time to peruse stores/the internet looking for smoking deals on the cutest slash very most necessary baby items.

But still...there's a lot to do.

P.S. about the names...I think we've got it narrowed down. Maybe I'll write a post in a few weeks about all possible options, and then let the blogosphere decide for me! Yeah...probably not. But I'd at least enjoy the validation - genuine or not - about my name choices.

Baby's kicking/rolling/punching up a storm. I've been feeling sickish and am hoping it's pregnancy related and not cold/flu related. Dallin finally felt him while he was being really active (Dallin's felt him before, but never while he was really on the move) and said "So that's what you have to deal with?" Yeah, that and then some, babe.

Finally, and just fyi, I love juice. I am about to finish my fourth carton of juice in like, a week. Mmm...it's so yummy!

Wake me up when September ends.

Size: Prego

I very much like shopping.

I don't even necessarily have to buy anything...just walk around and look at lovely things and know that they are there for me to buy, if I had the money/desire to buy them.

Oh, who am I kidding? It's much more fun when you can actually buy something.

But I am a very careful buyer. I'm not a very trendy person. I really only buy something if I'm fairly to moderately positive that there is a high probability of my wearing/using the item for years to come. I'm proud to say that this is absolutely true.

Which, I just realized (I mean really, just realized. We are discovering things together, reader - you and I), is probably why shopping for maternity clothes is proving to be...well...frustrating.

And yes - the time has come. I mean, I'm not suddenly in dire need of a whole new wardrobe or anything. In fact, I still have no trouble at all fitting into most of my pants. But the shirts...well, it just gets a little annoying to have to keep constantly pulling them down. I can still comfortably wear probably a third of what I have. But what's more, I don't want to stretch anything out to the point that it's unwearable post-partum.

I don't really know the first thing about buying maternity clothes. Well, that might not be true...since the first thing is probably that they are usually bought by pregnant women. But the second, third, and all subsequent things, I am a little bit lost on.

For instance - will the maternity clothes that fit me now still fit me in 3 months? I mean, they're not sized from month to month, so I assume that they are made to fit throughout your pregnancy. But I also don't want to have tons of barely worn clothes that I can't squeeze my ginormous 8 month tum into.

And I don't want to spend precious house-down-payment dollars on clothes that I'll only wear for a month.

That's the other thing - helllloooo expensive! I mean, ok, it's not that bad. Shirts for $15-$20 really aren't that bad, compared to some other things. I'm not looking for Gucci prego sweatpants, or anything. It probably just seems so pricey because we are trying so hard NOT to spend money. And I found some cute stuff on Down East Basic's website for $5, which is suh-weet. But still...if I have to buy a lot of this stuff... it's gonna add up. I also tried a thrift store... to very discouraging results. And no, I'm not above shopping at a thrift store! Are you?

But seriously - found nothing.

I went over to my aunt's house to borrow some of the large stock of clothing she's collected over the years. The thing is, all of it is kind of on the large side. And while I'm willing to sacrifice some style in the name of frugality, I still want to look...well, nice. There are a few things in there I can use, because they tie in the back and I can cinch them up as needed, but the majority of it is most likely going to go unworn. Sigh...some of it is cute too.

Anyway, I will survive. A lot of the shirts I have are pretty long to begin with, so they will work for now. And I found a couple reasonably priced things at Target. AND my darling husband has assured me that, if it makes me happy, I can spend the money. And he was totally sincere.

But that sounds like a guilt trip just waiting to happen.

So...advice?

Oh, and in case you're wondering about the little one who's causing all this trouble...

I went in for another ultrasound on Tuesday. At the first one, when we found out the gender, the baby wasn't really moving enough for the technician to get quite all the measurements she and the doctor wanted, so she had me come back. We got some better pictures this time - post-worthy pictures, as a matter of fact. Check it:

Here's his cute little alien face (technician lady says he has chubby cheeks!):


And a little foot, which is being thoroughly exercised, by the feel of things:


And, my personal favorite, the profile:



And, of course, as this little guy grows, so do I. Here I am, sporting the 23 week tum:


I so look pregnant. My sister said I look "huuuuuge," and I'm thinking, "Uh, first of all, this picture was taken at night, right after a big meal...so basically when I'm my largest, thank you very much. And secondly, I'm going to get bigger. Probably much bigger. Let's save the huuuuuges for then."

But I do love having a tum! For now.

OH BOT.

So.

Dallin and I go to get our ultrasound done yesterday.

We got there on time (fear #1 appeased).
The technician lady was not sick/absent for any other reason (fear #2 appeased).
All the equipment worked (fear #3 appeased).
The baby cooperated enough so that she could see the gender (fear #4 appeased).

Let's just say I was kind of expecting something to go wrong...and it didn't!

We told her that we wanted her to seal the "results" up in an envelope so we could open them at the big family party planned for that very reason. She did. And we didn't peek.

And when the moment FINALLY came, after eating lots of pink or blue sugar cookies and drinking pink or blue lemonade out of pink or blue cups and washing your hands with either the pink or blue soap in the bathroom (yes, my mother planned this party); and after waiting for everyone to arrive/get on the phone, and then for the video camera to be turned on, we opened the envelope....

and...

there was a little picture of our little baby, with a caption that said....

"OH BOT."

No, really - this is what it said. It would be kind of pointless for me to put the picture up on here, because you really can't see much of anything except those words.

After a split, devastating second of thinking I was going to be giving birth to Wall-E, I realized that the "T" is, of course, right next to the "Y" on a keyboard, and anyone, except expert typer people like blogger typer people, could easily make such a mistake. Technician lady should blog.

To be sure, we looked at the other pictures.

And, indeed, our precious baby boy made himself known. And technician lady spelled "boy" right in the other captions.

I mean, you couldn't see anything very clearly...which is why I'm not going to put any pictures up here. You'd probably be like, "Um, sweetie, I don't think you're having a baby, let alone a boy..." so it wouldn't really make sense to post the pictures. Just trust me.

The poor little guy wasn't moving very much at the moment, so we didn't really get any awesome pictures.

But, our pictures are clearly labelled "boy"/"bot," and really, I can see where she's coming from. It's there, people, okay?!

Oh my goodness...I'm gonna have a SON!

He's going to be the biggest ASU football fan ever. Heck, he's going to be the best ASU football player ever.

Oh yeah, that's my boy.