1 month to go

Holy cow. Seriously?! 1 month until we have baby Thor in our hot, very excited, slightly nervous, hands. Yay.

Thought it would be fun to try out a bit of fortune telling...

In the comments, give your best guess for Thor's birth date and time.

There will be a prize (baby related) for whoever guesses the correct/closest date.

If two people guess the same date, the tie breaker will be the closest time.

Last chance to guess AND be entered for the prize is January 18th, or when labor begins (should that happen before the 18th). FYI- I'll try to make a quick post before we go to the hospital. Feel free to keep guessing after the 18th, if I haven't gone into labor, you just wont be eligible for the prize.

Any lurkers on our blog? You're welcome to play too. All entries must have a US mailing address for the prize, and a way to contact you (if you're not a friend, whose email I know). One entry per person, please.

xoxo.

Merry Christmas!

Enjoy all things merry & bright

34 weeks

We had another doctor's appointment this week, since our doctor is gone for a 2 week christmas vacation. It means we had another chance to check-in on Thor, which we always love.

This time, we got serious, and felt like we needed some details confirmed for us. In particular, his sex. Anyone see confirmation in the ultrasound picture?


Yep, we can be confident with a boy name (we're close, but don't have one yet) going into delivery.

The stats: weight is up to 2,360 grams (5.2 pounds). He's got cute chubby cheeks, a perfect button nose, tim's lips, and my head - the doctor confirmed a round head that is 'larger than average' (I couldn't let it go after asking about it last week and had to clarify, much to my dismay).


He's sticking out his tongue at us
The countdown to Christmas begins, and as with the Northwest, we've been getting blanketed with snow this week. Tim's still been riding to work when the roads are clear, which makes me nervous. But the snow is beautiful, and hopefully means we'll have a white Christmas in Munich!

33 weeks

Thor has reached a grand ol' weight of 2033 grams this week (4.48 pounds). His other major milestone... he's head down, in the birthing position, ready for his big debut! Mom and Dad are going to their all-day birthing class on Sunday, so we're getting ready too.

I realized last night that Tim and I have only 6 weekends left (or less!), just the two of us. We'll be heading into town tonight (Saturday) to shop around a bit, and then have dinner out. As much as I can't wait for Thor to arrive, I want to take advantage of this time with my amazingly, wonderful husband.

Just me and you, butter. It was just us who started down this potentially crazy path in life, and it will always be you that I want to share future crazy adventures with. I love you more and more everyday.

31 weeks...

What's 18 inches, 1500-1800 grams and cute all over? Thor!

I haven't mentioned this yet, but we're in the third trimester - wow!! While I can't wait to meet Thor-inator, I think I'm going to be fairly emotional and miss the bond of baby being inside of me. He's no longer kicking up a storm, or reliable as to when he kicks. Probably due to less wiggle room, he makes more methodical movements - feels like an elbow or foot moving across my belly, and then maybe one quick jab. And he seems to be on his own timetable... He used to kick immediately after I ate, whenever I drank an apple juice (ohhh, the sugar!) or if I changed positions (laid down). Now, when we go to bed, he might take 10 minutes or more to wiggle around and give us a show, and food/drinks don't seem to effect him.

We wonder a lot about what he's going to look like, his personality and how our lives will change.

Speaking of change, my belly has grown significantly! And it's lopsided. Thor seems to congregate on the left (wonder if that's because it's the side I sleep on?) and therefore, my belly button is no longer center - it beams off to the right.

Picture is from 32 weeks
You can't see what I mean, but trust me. And can you see how tired I look? Deep, restful sleep is becoming harder with the need for 2am potty breaks, and/or a sore back at night. I love that we're in the home stretch though! My excitement might also be keeping me up a bit.

We love you little man, keep growing!

Family

What life is all about...

Grandpa

Grandma, Aunt Beth, and Daddy

Great Grandma (94 and still a firecracker!) & Joe

Aunt Christie & Grandma

Uncle Dean & Aunt Beth

Mama, Aunt Christie and Aunt Beth

We love you, and had so much fun sharing the pregnancy and this changing time in our lives with you! Thank you for being so wonderful, and being you. You're the reason we come home.

See you in 2009, with a new addition in tow!

xoxo,
L&T

Pregnancy Shots

While visiting Seattle, we asked our engagement photographer to take some pregnancy photos. I love them! Amy does such a great job, I'd highly recommend her.

Showered

Oh baby, we are two of the luckiest people. Today we had a shower to celebrate your upcoming arrival. In addition to the amazing gifts you received (you are going to look the cutest, and have the best toys to play with!), we were able to spend time with some of our friends and family - the girls, at least!

Sonya hosted an amazing event...






THANK YOU! We're so happy to have you in our life.

And we saw many friends...


LOVED IT

And family...


LOVED, LOVED IT

Celebrating you is my favorite thing to do. I can't wait to introduce you to all our loving, generous and fantastic family and friends. Lucky, lucky us.

Momentous

We're here! Arrived in Seattle the day before Halloween. Before leaving, our doctor checked us out, and all our rest and relaxation had paid off. You turned and are now head up, and my cervix looked much better (no shortening, and she even said the tear had closed some). Yay!

I'm still to take it easy on the trip, but here we are. We have much shopping to do (you need a stroller, little man!), and many friends and family to see. However, I haven't over-packed our schedule, so as to keep my promise to your daddy of not 'overdoing it'. I'm walking slow, and spending quality time with those that I can. As a matter of fact, I'm walking so slow, your grandma made me use the disability motorized cart at the grocery store to keep up with her! Very embarrassing, but anything to keep both you and grandma happy.

We also arrived just in time for the Presidential elections. It's been pandemonium with election discussions, ads, and various candidate support/coverage. In the end, Barack Obama will be our next US President, and who you enter this world with. I hope he's all that he's promised, and I hope he makes the US and world a better place for you. There is so much excitement around his presidency, and I feel lucky that we get to experience such a momentous time in history.

26 Weeks

26 weeks! Amazing we've come so far, yet it continues to feel like we should be further along (maybe like, 32 weeks?).

But here we are, at 26 with a lot of upcoming plans: a trip back to Seattle (with major baby shopping and quality time with family and friends planned), Thanksgiving/rest for a couple weeks, visitors in December, Christmas/New Years holidays and then a few weeks wait in January for Thor's big debut. I have a feeling time is going to do nothing but fly by at this point!


We received both positive and negative news at our appointment this week. Thor continues to be perfect - great size/growth at 880 grams (1.94 lbs), good heartbeat, lots of activity, and certainly in the highest percentile for cuteness! The picture above is one of the first good peeks we've had of his face. He's usually hiding, rascal.

The bad news is that I have a small tear on my cervix, which the doctor thinks is due to Thor's head pushing down on it. She's worried about my cervix shortening early, so we have another appointment next week to check it and make sure all is OK. If so, off we go to Seattle. If not... ?? This week, I've been told to relax and avoid anything strenuous (exercise, lifting/moving anything, housework - yay!, etc). Because of this, Tim is being wonder-man: grocery shopping, cleaning, dealing with another bum computer hard-drive, and not letting me lift a finger. He says he must approve all moves I make, and is liking his new power. Ha, ha.

I'm sure things will be OK, and we will do whatever it takes to keep Thor happily floating in his placenta castle for another 10+ weeks.

Speaking of which, here we are at 26 weeks:


xoxo,
L, T and baby Thor

The Blackforest

Baby bump Thor, mom and dad hit the road with friends (Erica + baby bump, & Andrew) over the weekend to visit the Blackforest (Schwarzwald).


Above: Burg Hohenzollern (south of Stuttgart), with changing fall trees

Was gorgeous, with fall trees changing color, waterfalls, old towns, and lots of cuckoo clocks. My interests in the Blackforest were to 1. see the forest, and 2. have a piece of blackforest cake. After one bite of cake, it was painfully obvious that the cherries had been soaked in schnapps. I was shocked, then worried I might be hurting Thor to eat it, but Tim assured me I was being silly. So, I enjoyed what I could of the cake - which was ridiculously delicious, and then asked for Tim and Andrew's help to finish it off (I bought 2 pieces - no comments).


Above: In Schiltach, cute town!

Was a great weekend. Can't wait to continue traveling to great places with little Thor, on the outside of my belly!

Belly Button

Belly button, oh belly button, wherefor hast thou gone?

I used to have an inny, but no more! It's essentially flat now. Just another sign of my body changing to accommodate little Thor and his rascaliness.

Speaking of the little man, Thor has been busy the past couple weeks:
- He went on his first hike (see previous post)
- He went to his first Oktoberfest
- He measured 1 week bigger than his due date at our 24 week appointment yesterday (We're not sure if that's larger than before by 2 days, or if that's essentially the same 5 days bigger she previously told us about - we let the comment slip by without asking for details)
- Lived through his first hail storm on Saturday

We'll be going to hospital open houses the next couple weeks, trying to decide where to have him. It actually came as a surprise yesterday that our doctor will not be the one who delivers Thor, so that's thrown me for a bit of a loop and I need to make sure I'm comfortable with the staff and set-up of the hospital. Especially if I'll essentially be going in knowing no-one AND be less familiar with the german system/set-up. Surprises, surprises.

Thor has also been kicking a TON more. Before was typical, but infrequent: maybe 3-5 kicks after meals, or if I drank an apple juice, etc. Now, he's become a 1-2 boxer, and then likes to follow up with a spattering of kicks, to where we feel him 10-15 times in only a couple minutes time. I can also feel him when he squirms or changes position. Our doctor said that his muscles are growing and he's much stronger now, so it fits with his kicking and movement changes.

Oh little baby, how we can't wait to meet you!

22 weeks & Thor's first hike...

...and probably his last, in the womb. We decided to start the little guy off early, let him know what kind of active family he's in for. Things may change later in life, but for now, he's at my mercy.


Kelsey and Lloyd's visit was the catalyst to go on our favorite hike of last summer - Tegernesee Hutte. I must admit, I didn't remember such a strenuous vertical climb... Thor and I got a tough workout. But it was really, really worth it with perfect hiking weather, and a beautiful view of the alps while kicking back and enjoying lunch at the Hutte. Everyone else had beers as well, but Thor and I stuck to apple juice (Our decision seemed even more solid on the hike down. What, you slipped, again?! ha, ha).

Those of you asking for updated belly shots, just don't know what you're getting yourself into! I tried to take a normal shot, but they were bad. So, I turned into a wacky pregnant girl, while Tim was very patient and kept his cool as I said 'no, terrible, re-do' time after time. Eventually, it all went downhill and this is what we ended up with:


It wasn't ever intended for public viewing, but I have nothing else to offer. Enjoy the very in-your-face 22 week pregnant belly!

xoxo,
L

Making your own baby food

I'm pretty excited about the idea of making Thor's food - another cooking outlet. Although, it sounds so easy, I'm not sure you can consider it 'cooking'. Steam a veggie, puree with some water and freeze it in ice cube trays.

I just found a great website for recipes, baby food stage chart, and storing tips. If you're interested in making your own baby food, check it out! Wholesome Baby Food

Has anyone else tried or made their own baby food?

It's a boy!

Watch for Thor Wyckoff in the 2029 Tour de France... he'll be the one leading a break-away.

p.s. We're at 20 weeks!! Woohoo, half-way there.

p.p.s. Thor is the baby's new nickname. Tim's very attached to it.

Pro-Soccer?

We felt the first kicks at 17 weeks, but only with a hand pressed on my stomach. But today... full-force kicks, no hands required. It's completely amazing and weird at the same time! Sort of feels like a carbonated bubble bursting in your stomach.

We also took the little boodlie on their first amusement rides this weekend, although he/she probably didn't feel a thing:


Our very first ride: The one that goes around and it's like you're riding a wave - up, down, up, down. Round and round. (Music Express)


On the swings.


Picture of the Rosenheim Herbstfest (a pre-Oktoberfest fest), from the Ferris Wheel.

Was a fun day for the whole family.
xoxo,
L

18 weeks

Sometimes it seems like we're moving along slowly, other times it's flying by. Soon though, we'll have a tiny little boodlie in our arms and our world will be turned upside down. It never seems more real than when you're doctor is doing an ultrasound and you see the baby moving and how much he/she has grown.

In our 18 week appointment on Thursday, our doctor took some growth measurements and a bunch of new pictures. Apparently baby is 5 days bigger than he/she should be, and so I've been put on magnesium to soften my stomach muscles/ligaments for more growth (personally, I prefer less softening, but my opinion seems to count for diddly squat these days). She said the growth is due to some very long legs. Hm, wonder where baby gets those from? I like this picture because you can see the long, long legs, knee, an arm and some of the face.



Alas, the baby has continued to tease us and didn't show whether he's a he, or she's a she. We are left waiting another couple weeks for our 'big' 20 week ultrasound. Our regular doctor said that the ultrasound doc will not let us leave without knowing the sex. He's apparently very stubborn, but so it also seems with the baby. Fight results will be posted here after September 11.

As for my watermelon tummy, it continues to grow (and grow and grow). I still fit into some of my regular jeans though, hallelujah for the low-rise trend, and am making the most of my regular summer wardrobe before I need to buy some winter maternity gear.


Here's the 18 week photo

Currently, we're all doing great and happy, and awaiting the birth of a friend's baby, due in the next two weeks. Very exciting times!

Boy or Girl?

For the longest time, Tim and I couldn't decide if we wanted to know the sex of the baby before birth. There's something great about the surprise at birth.

I could say we chose to find out because of logistical reasons (there are only so many gender neutral clothes you can buy - before getting sick of yellow, green, blue and red, needing to decorate the nursery, etc). But in reality, we just want to know and are too excited not to ask.

We may be able to find out next week, assuming the baby is turned the right way and all that. If we still can't tell during that appointment, we have a 'big' ultrasound scheduled on September 11th. Our doctor said we will be able to see EVERYTHING at that time due to the fancy, dancy equipment - 2 hands, 10 toes, good bits, everything.

So, what do you think? We'll open a poll (see the right hand column) and I'll give you some hints, based on old wives tales...

BOY:
I am carrying the extra weight out front.
I am carrying low.
Sleeping in a bed with my pillow to the north indicates that I will be having a boy.
I didn't have morning sickness early in pregnancy. (neither did my mom, and she had 3 girls and 1 boy)
My chest development has not been very dramatic during pregnancy, unfortunately. Although tim said otherwise this morning... maybe I'm just wearing baggy clothes and don't notice.
The sum of the mother's age at conception and the number of the month of conception is even.
I have been having headaches.

GIRL:
The hair on my legs is not growing any faster during pregnancy.
Tim hasn't been gaining weight along with me.
A needle on a thread held over my belly moved from side-to-side.
I am craving sweets.
My nose hasn't changed during pregnancy (can this happen?! yikes), which indicates a girl.
I have been craving fruits (I think this is the same as 'sweets', as it probably has to do with the sugar in fruit - but whatever, wives tales!).
I love to have orange juice daily.
My belly looks like a watermelon.
Lastly, according to this Chinese Gender Predictor, we are having a girl.

What do you think? Vote in the gender poll to the right.

If you want to wait to vote, we'll probably be posting an 18 week photo next week.

Pearls of Wisdom

After visiting one of my daily blog reads, then clicking through a couple others, I ended on this blog... and found these mommy confessions:

"I bribe my kids whenever it will work and threaten them if the bribe isn't working. I refer to it as "The double bribe threat combo" and I actually have no problem with this method of parenting. "

"I let my voicemail pick up 90% of my phone calls each day and only return about 10% of them"

"I ate the last piece of my daughter's ice cream cake after I told her there was no more left. "

"I'm too lazy to take my daughter's binky away at night."

"I let my dog "vacuum" my floor if the kids spill crackers or something."

"I tell my kids food is spicy if I don't want to share."

"I rent porn on occasion, tell DH it was not me and he calls Comcast ranting and raving about erroneous charges "

"I hold my laptop more than I hold my baby. Actually in my defense I do them at the same time (BFing). I told DH the heat from the laptop keeps her warm. LOL"

"I will be a sad sad woman when the kids stop believing in Santa... Santa threats make 85% of my problems go away!"

"When make cookies or cinnamon rolls for the boys, I always pick out the "best" ones for myself (the ones with the most chips, or the most icing)"

"I also tell the kids places are closed when I really just don't want to go there! My son was soooooo surprised that Chuck E. Cheese was open for his birthday party! LOL"

"I take my laptop in the bathroom with me and surf the web ..DH thinks I just have an upset stomach"

"I buy treats at the store and hide them from my kids & DH"

"If we all sleep in until 8 or 8:30, I lie to DH and tell him we've been up since he left (7 a.m.) I try not to sound too lazy. "

"I don't recycle. And I only feel a little bit bad about it."

"When Noah's fish died I was elated! That damm fish food smelled so bad it made me want to barf. Oh you didn't know Noah had a fish? Yes, Fudgy the fish died before I had a chance to even write about him. Did you know you cannot pet a fish like a cat or a dog? Well, now Noah does!"

"Sometimes I let Emme chew on a piece of Kleenex. The girl loves paper products! I almost always get all the pieces out before she swallows them."

"Noah caught me saying "crap!" one day and started repeating it. I convinced him what I actually said was "crack!" as in "crackers" so now whenever he drops something or stubs his toe he says "oh, crackers!!!!""

What are your mommy confessions? I need to know it's ok to be bad, sometimes.

13 weeks

This was THE big week. We told the world that we're preggo. It's soooo fun to share the news, and heightens the excitement when you're talking to someone else as over the moon as you are.

Thank you to everyone who made sharing our news infinitely memorable. We love you guys!

13 weeks means we're at the end of the first trimester (wow! that went incredibly fast). I had no morning sickness - unless you count the one week I felt a little queasy around 10am each day, but that promptly went away within a few minutes and after eating something. I feel like it's negligible.

At our 12 week ultrasound, the doctor measured the baby at 5.74 cm, and she said it's about the size of a match stick. We saw the baby moving it's arm around and nodding, and got to hear the heartbeat for the first time. As usual, I got excessively happy and started laughing, so we only heard it for a few seconds. The rest of the time was me laughing.

We do intend to take 'belly shots'. I think it's fun to do a few pictures throughout and watch how much change happens to your body. Scary, but fun.

So here I am, 13 weeks. Most people probably can't tell that I'm pregnant (or if you can, don't tell me), but to Tim and I, it looks like I've gained a few snickers pudgy pounds in the stomach.

10 week ultrasound

Hello baby!

This is our 3rd ultrasound and picture of the baby. At 12 weeks we go in again for another ultrasound and some tests to make sure our odds of any irregularities will be low.

It's so amazing to see how much he/she has already changed, and when you see it moving around... it's overwhelmingly, fantastically powerful.

7 weeks

I had another doctor's appointment today, and saw the heartbeat. It was so overwhelming and wonderful. I started to laugh, and all around the baby was a red glow. I'm thinking that's a good sign and now I want to laugh all the time. Anyone know any good jokes?

The doctor gave me the first picture of you, although you look like a little newt right now. The most beautiful newt I've ever seen! And your heart was beating so fast. She measured you at 0.89 mm, so just under 1 cm. While the baby websites say you should be about the size of a blueberry, I think you're still in the lentil phase. We must be in the early part week 7, as they say you will double in size. You may be a blueberry yet.

Also, amazingly (crossing my fingers, knock on wood, thank the heavens), I've had barely any morning sickness. Haven't thrown up once. You are my little hero!

As for other pregnancy issues - some smells bother me (gas and smoke), certain foods sound better than others (had a craving for a PB&J sandwich yesterday), and I'm more tired than usual (but not exaggeratedly). Otherwise, we're business as usual. This is all key, as we're about to embark on your daddy's big bike trip Saturday. I'd really like to keep things as normal and easy as possible, ok? I know it's not my choice, but I'm begging.

Lastly (drum roll), we know the due date: January 29, 2009

We love you little one.

5 weeks

This weekend has been nothing but fun - thinking about what a baby means. Where to put a crib, have either of us thought of names, will I be sick on the big trans-alp/dolomite ride in 2 weeks, what's the due date, and on and on...

We are not serious about anything yet, and I have my first doctor's appointment tomorrow to check that everything is OK. It's just fun to think about life with a baby. The cute little diaper butt, the tiny fingers, and a new stage of life for all of us.

Some fun trivia for you... at 5 weeks, the baby is about the size of a sesame seed and his/her heart has started to beat.

We love you already, baby sesame.

This is it

It took us 7 months. Friday, May 30th is the official day.

On this day, I was about two weeks late.
On this day, we were wondering...
On this day, I took a pregnancy test.
On this day, we saw two lines.

We're having a baby! (screeeech. stop the presses! whoa!! a baby?!)

Admittedly, I am quite nervous, but we couldn't be happier. We can't wait to grow our family, and share our lives and love with a little boodlie (aka- baby).

I will never forget how Tim's face lite up when I told him. He came home from work, knowing he had a surprise, but thought it was a gift from italy. I sent him directly to the kitchen, telling him something was wrong with the oven. I had a hamburger bun in inside for him to find, but he didn't get it right away... so funny, his troubleshooting skills were already in the works, asking me if I'd checked the breaker and thinking about wiring... he wondered about the bun, but totally ignored it. When I asked what he thought of the 'bun in the oven', he started to say something, and then totally got it. He came back around the corner, with huge eyes and a big smile, and then saw the baby banner. I also bought an extra test that we could do together later that night. I didn't want him to miss out on seeing the two lines, and getting as giddy as I was over a pee stick.

Welcome to our lives, little one!

Today was a great day.