Week 30: SURPRISE!

So I was going to write this post and catch you all up on what we've learned so far in our Bradley classes, but then some wonderful friends and family had to go and throw me a surprise baby shower yesterday so I have to recap that first :)

Sunday morning I got up and got ready for church with my mom, and this thought ran through my head "I can just wear this ok outfit today and no makeup, since no one knows me at that church". Whoops, I should have taken a note from my Eagle Scout husband and "always be prepared". After church my mom left for "Walgreens" and I thought I was going to the Fingland's to help soon to be Aunt Blair with "decorative boxes" for her coworkers. Was I ever wrong. What greeted me were about 30 or more friends and family shouting SURPRISE. I was completely shocked, then realized, "oh no, I'm going to be so hot in this outfit and it's not my shower dress and I have no makeup on". It turned out to be amazing, and everyone involved did such a great job--at decorating, cooking, planning, AND keeping it a surprise! Even including Bryan, who has known for months and not even a hint at spilling any beans. I'm still amazed! Pink and orange decorations were plentiful, the cake was delicious, and we might have to rent a u-haul to take back all of Baby Fingland's stuff. (I joke slightly on the last one, because knowing Bryan, he will want to spend at least an hour configuring the perfect way to fit it all in our trunk, and keep his "expert packer" status alive.) Some gift highlights:
-Lots of books! Little girl is going to be reading at month 1!
-A wardrobe of pink and orange clothing, clothing, and more clothing!
-Our crib mattress and cover! Yay! She has somewhere to sleep now!
-Our pack and play
-Our BOB stroller, which is already put together by Daddy Fingland in Colorado and waiting for me, I mean, the baby, to test it out!
-Some of our cloth diapers
-Bouncy seat
and so much much more! We are so blessed to have such giving and caring family and friends and yesterday was just an overwhelming reminder of that. Thank you again to all those who organized and attended, I loved it. Baby Fingland also kicked and turned all night long, so I think she enjoyed herself too!

I can't wait to organize all her little things in her room, which is coming together! The dresser is almost done:

The name canvases are done:

And her mobile project has been started:


We are looking forward to relaxing and enjoying our last baby-less Christmas break these next weeks. Let the sleeping in begin! I will report all of our learning next week since I couldn't help but share all the shower details with you this week! So fun!

Lots of love and Merry Christmas!
Bryan, Katie, Bailey, and Baby Squash Fingland

Week 29: Hungry Hungry Hippos (hopefully not!)

This week was spent celebrating the Christmas season, and getting more things done for baby girl's nursery. So far the 3rd trimester has greeted me with one thing: hunger! The past couple days I've had more of an appetite than usual, but have been trying to keep it healthy while I eat more. She's got quite the appetite already, so Bailey and I are keeping up on our walks, and I'm still loving my Super Fit Mama weight circuits book. I'm looking forward to spending some time in St. Louis starting this weekend, even though I will miss this Colorado weather (50 and 60 degrees in December, who would have thought!).

How far along?: 29 weeks 4 days.
How big is the baby?: Squash...looks like a pumpkin!
Weight gain/loss: 20 pounds
Pregnancy symptoms: Hunger, a little bit of crankiness :) tired feet!
Sleep: Much better this week! Need to start going to bed earlier though...
Best moment this week: cutting down our Christmas tree, a really fun Christmas party at our house with friends, finally getting some tamales downtown! (I've been scouting out tamale joints in Denver for a while and tried one out finally)
Movement: Lots and lots! We like to stare at my belly and see it move/jolt on its own...too crazy!
Food cravings: Mexican, but isn't that all the time?
Food aversions: none
What I miss: sleeping through the night without a pee break!
What I am looking forward to: Some time in St. Louis and our first Baby Shower!
Nursery Update: I finished her canvases with her name on it (one for each letter). I am now working on the quote canvas for her room, where we finally picked out this Picasso quote: "Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel."
Bryan has sanded, primed, and painted 2 coats on her dresser and it is almost done. Need to find pulls! I printed out some plans for making a mobile today and hope to make one over break, as well as figuring out the curtain situation.

Hope you are enjoying the Christmas season and see some of you soon over break!
Love,
Fingland's

Week 28: Third Trimester?!!?

Happy December! This week we enter into the final trimester. Only 3 more months until our little girl will be here! It seems to have flown by, and we are getting even more excited, and a little nervous, for what life will be like after she comes.

She has been moving like crazy the past week. There will be times where my stomach feels extremely hard in one spot, and we put our hands there and she starts moving. We've been trying to remember to put on some classical music and some Jack Johnson, for her at night. Night time is her busiest time--kind of scary for what's to come once she is here! Luckily I got some new slippers for my birthday this weekend, because I was getting really worried about getting up in the middle of the night and having cold feet. It's the little things...

Other than that this week has been fun-filled. We celebrated my birthday Saturday with dinner out at Vesta Dipping Grill, Christmas lights and the Botanical Gardens, and then some homemade whole grain chocolate chip cookies--one of Bryan's specialties. Sunday we had a permit to go cut our Christmas tree down in Golden Gate Canyon State park, about 30 minutes from our house. We found a wonderful tree, after hiking up 2 very steep hills--I was out of breath! Bryan spotted the beauty, of course on a 60 degree "cliff". I came down, approved, took two swipes with the saw, and then crawled back up and sat down and watched him get to work. :) Nice job Bryan! Check out our pictures for the weekend in our Winter Album below, and there of course is a new belly pic at the top of the page's album.
http://picasaweb.google.com/kfingland/201012WinterActivities#
(Get a sneak peak here at the crib and in progress dresser too!)

Fun Baby Fingland Facts:
"Your baby may measure more than 14.8 inches long and weigh in at roughly 2.2 pounds. Up until this point in time your baby's brain resembled a smooth surface. By roughly 28 weeks pregnant however your babies brain begins to mature, forming tiny grooves and canals that we typically associated with the human brain. Some babies hair will grow and lengthen during pregnancy at 28 weeks, though many babies will remain bald until weeks after birth. Some babies will be born with a full head of hair that not only falls out but also changes color shortly after delivery! By roughly pregnancy week 28 your baby will be developing lovely eyelashes that will blink lovingly at you after birth."

Hope you all are well,
The Fingland's

Week 26 and 27: We're Back!

We are back from blog vacation! We had a wonderful time in St. Louis with friends and family. It left us feeling refreshed and blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives and we can't wait to share the joy of Baby Fingland with them. Although we got a lot of rest on vacation, we are playing a little bit of catch up now, so I'll keep this one short using this format I saw on someone's blog.
How far along?: 27 weeks 3 days...almost to that 3rd trimester!
How big is the baby?: Eggplant, about 2 pounds
Weight gain/loss: So far, it has been 18 pounds...YIKES. I know that is healthy for where I'm at, but it is still a little (ok, a lot) shocking to look at on the scale! It seems to just be in the chest and belly so far, so I guess I can handle that. Not sure how I am standing up without falling forward yet...
Pregnancy symptoms: starting to get hard to sleep comfortably, tightness on sides of belly from stretching
Maternity clothes: bought 2 more pairs of pants for a total of 4 maternity pants. Hoping this will be it! Legging and long tunics. And of course some of my old pants with the bella band on, completely unzipped :)
Sleep: Starts off really good since we are doing our Bradley Method relaxation exercises at night, but hard to fall back asleep if I wake up!
Best moment this week: Testing out 2nd stage labor positions from our Bradley Method workbook. We missed class last Wednesday, and us trying to teach ourselves the positions from the book pictures ended up putting me in tears I was laughing so hard, since half the time I would fall over. Good thing we have lots more time to practice!
Movement: She has decided that night time is the best time for somersaults! She also kicked her big sister today. I put Bailey's paw on my belly and we were talking to her. Bailey thought it was soooo cute.
Food cravings: homemade, healthy food after a couple days of stuffing myself with pie! Food aversions: none
Belly button in or out: outie...whoa!
What I miss: Zipping my pants and hard core workouts. Watching Jillian on the Biggest Loser, and seeing Bryan do P90X makes me want to do Making the Cut so bad. Hopefully I feel the same way after she is born!
What I am looking forward to: Cutting down our Christmas tree on Sunday and my birthday on Saturday
Nursery Update: Chair and ottoman gliders are in, dresser bought but not painted, crib is in but not put together, and art projects are underway! Pictures next week!

Lots of Love, Bryan, Katie, Bailey, and the Eggplant

Week 25: Ladies and Gentleman, we have a crib...

...and a dresser/changing table, and now a MILLION plus one ideas and projects to finish for the nursery! We finally dove in, bought a crib, and even have a back up crib in case we get that one and don't like it (whoever decided it would be a great idea for an uber planner + an indecisive guy to prepare for a baby, obviously wasn't thinking too straight...). Not only do we have a crib on the way, but we picked up a dresser from the Habitat for Humanity Outlet for 60 bucks, and Bryan is super excited to start priming it, painting it white, and then we get to pick out the new knobs (the fun part!). Bryan was also obviously not thinking too straight when he said after finishing taking the PE exam "I'm going to have to find a project or something to occupy my time".

We also have an upholstered rocker and ottoman in the works from Craigslist, if we ever have time make the trip down to Castle Rock (45min away). It might need a slipcover, but it looks like it is in great condition. Nursery progress never felt so good! We also are planning on making (mostly Katie, with Bryan's input and handyman help of course): a mobile, a quote/picture canvas thing, canvases for her name, a magnetic alphabet wall (thanks Brenda for that blog link again, it gave us the idea!) http://blogs.babycenter.com/life_and_home/not-your-mothers-magnetic-letters/,curtains, and a growth chart. We will see what all gets done, but I have a feeling as this cold weather settles in and the belly grows, I'm going to have a lot of couch time to occupy! Plus, this is the FUN part. Bryan is excited because his fun part is getting tools and putting up a chair rail :).

We also started our first Bradley method class last Wednesday. I must say the 2.5 hours seemed to fly by, even though it was during my sleepy time of 6:30-9. We learned a lot about this natural method, got exercises and relaxation techniques for homework, and even got to test them out together. By giving us exercises to do at home, she likened it to saying you are running a marathon in 9 months, so it would be crazy not to train for it. We both could relate to that one so we did our homework right away! Bryan is the most diligent coach and constantly reminding me to do them. My favorite story however from our first class was when we went around and introduced ourselves. After the women did most of the talking, the men would say "I just want to be here to support her, I am here to learn all I can to be able to help, etc." AWW, so cute! Now, Bryan's turn: "I'm here because I am hoping that I can support her, but I'm hoping this class will help her learn how to accept my support and coaching." We got lots of laughter instead of "awws" needless to say.

Wow, sorry for writing so much! Got excited at all that happened this week. One last thing, we had a doctor's appointment today and everything looks good! They started measuring my belly now, and the centimeters should correspond to how many weeks you are. So I measured 25cm for 25 weeks! That is so bizarre to me how that works out. I forgot to take my glucose drink (OOPS), so we go back in 3 weeks and I will have to do it then. It tests for gestational diabetes.

We are so looking forward to spending the holidays with family and friends, and celebrating them with baby on board. Love,
The Fingland's

Baby Fingland's Wish Lists!

Yay! The time has come to spread the registry lists around of what Baby Fingland (more like her parents) can't wait to use! We are registered online at a "one site fits all" website called MyRegistry. We are also registered at a local store here in Denver and Boulder called "Real Baby" where the registry is available online or in the store.

1. "MyRegistry" link: http://www.myregistry.com Find our registry by searching for our names on the top left. Now, here are some SIMPLE (I promise!) instructions to follow since the MyRegistry website isn't a real store:

*Shop around - You can view the items according to categories from the drop down menu at the top of the registry. For each item, please be sure to check the size, color, and notes for more details. We have gone through each item and noted where the item is available online or in-stores. (there may be many more websites or stores that carry the items, but we just listed the few that we used)

*Take a closer look - You can click on the "View or Buy This Gift" button and it will take you away from the MyRegistry website to the online store where we added that particular gift (for example, if you click on our bedding it will take you to the Land of Nod website). Also a little window will pop up that let's you fill out what your intentions are - this can really be ignored unless you decide to purchase the item. More on this little window in the next step.

*Important Part - Regardless of where you decide to shop (online or in store) you just have to remember to fill out the information in the little window that pops up when you click on an item on the My Registry website. This is how MyRegistry keeps tabs on what has already been purchased. Simply, click on the item, mark yes in the little window, include the quantity, click continue, and voila! That item is marked as fulfilled or purchased and duplicate gifts are avoided.
*Gift Receipts - We appreciate all gifts, but please also remember to get a gift receipt just in case. This should be an option available at checkout on all online stores linked to our MyRegistry website and of course in store as well. THANK YOU in advance!

2. Real Baby In Store and Online Registry: http://www.realbabyinc.com/wish_list.cfm Scroll to the bottom and enter our last name. This is a more conventional store registry, so you can purchase online or in store, and it will all stay updated nicely. There are a lot of things on here we did not put on the MyRegistry website, since it had some unique stuff, so don't worry about duplicates with the Real Baby registry.

Here are some helpful sites and stores we used/looked at:
Babies R Us: http://www.babiesrus.com
Target: www.target.com
Real Baby:(Denver store) http://www.realbabyinc.com/
Amazon: www.amazon.com
REI: www.rei.com
Eco Politan:(Denver store) http://www.eco-politan.com/
Cotton Babies:(stores in Midwest) http://www.cottonbabies.com/

PS- We are just sending this out via the blog since it is the easiest way to reach all of our family and they've been hounding us for it! Please don't think you have to buy anything though, we're just spreading the word!

Week 24: Checking things off the list...

This week (or rather weekend) was a busy one! We got a lot of things checked off our baby list including: painting the nursery (nice work Bryan!), finishing the registry (see separate post), taking a tour of the new hospital delivery wing, and wrapping our heads around our system for cloth diapering.

The nursery is painted! We chose a subdued lime color (matched to the fabric swatch or our bedding) on top, and a gray brown on bottom. It will be accented with the turquoise/bright blue from our bedroom swatch, and even (yes, get ready) dark pink. We plan to put up white chair rail and have white furniture too. I took a pic of the color scheme, but it might not look right on the screen. We are happy with it though and I can't wait to find our crib, furniture, and make lots of decorations for the walls! (The color scheme pic is below, but it was taken with my phone so not the best. I didn't get a picture of the nursery painted during the day, and our lighting isn't the best at night so I will get one soon!)
The wall colors look a little dull in the photo, but you get the idea.

Also this weekend was the hospital tour. We went to a tour this early (and will go again in January to pre-register) because Exempla Lutheran, which is 5 minutes from us, just did their grand opening of the new labor and delivery wing. It was amazing! We are so lucky we get to deliver here and that they spiffed it up just in time for us ;). I have lots of pictures from the tour, and I put them in our "Baby and Belly pics" album so you could take a look. Sorry if some were blurry, tried taking them on my phone while moving since I didn't want to get left behind on the tour!

Finally, we start our first Bradley Method class THIS Wednesday. Seems so crazy that it is finally here and the classes will probably make things even more real. I am already starting to have worried thoughts now that it is hitting me that she is going to be coming out soon, and I have to do that, no turning back now! :) Haha. Meanwhile, Bryan wants to pass the time by training for a half marathon. Oh how different we are.

We will give you an updated on how our class goes next week! I will be posting another entry tomorrow morning if you want all the juicy details of our registry! I'll send out another email with it tomorrow. I thought I would end with some fun facts since I haven't in a long while...

By week 24, Baby Fingland is about a pound, and almost a foot long (this could vary depending on whose genes she takes on in the height department). Her skin is becoming more opaque as the fat starts to pack on. I've also read that her taste buds are continuing to develop, and the more variety of food you eat while pregnant, the more they will be willing to try out of the womb. I've been trying to eat super healthy, but I must say that my sweet tooth is back and I have daily conversations with it, trying to overcome it :).

Love,
Bryan, Katie, Bailey and the Papaya

Week 23: Dreaming of Baby Registries...

First things first, I can walk again! I went to the Physical Therapist Friday and got the report that my left side of my pelvis was higher, and therefore asymmetrical. Which means that all asymmetrical activities (walking, stairs, etc.) were extremely painful. I was told not to exercise all weekend (a little bit of a bummer for me), and to do these mobility exercises to try and stabilize and even out my pelvis. I went back in today, and it was way better. In fact, the right side was a tiny bit higher now! But way less pain, so it isn't out of place. Now I am to do the mobility exercises on both sides daily to keep the pelvis stable and in place. I got to do a workout today and it felt wonderful. I also did my exercises at the end so hoping tomorrow I still feel the same way! Yay! So thankful for being fairly pain free now.

Bryan's PE test went well he thinks, and we will just now have to await results until Christmas. In the mean time, I completely took his mind off that Saturday and Sunday with baby extravaganza days! Saturday we started the registry and finalized a lot of items that we wanted. We took some nice pictures of picking out our carseat...notice the 'Baby Bargains' book in my hand, that was a MUST and I am so glad I had it from the library! It has listings for all things baby and their picks for the best items/deals (kind of like Consumer Reports for Babies). It made the 2.5 hour registry event go shorter than I think it would have otherwise. We also finalized the nursery colors and Bryan is off to Lowe's right now to pick them up and start painting! It is a green on top and a brown/gray on bottom, and he is putting a white chair rail up as well.

It was a really productive weekend overall! I know some of you are wanting our registry website (we aren't using the Babies R Us one, we have this online one that allows you to add from any store), but we aren't quite done yet. We have a couple more things we need to research and add, including all our stuff for the cloth diapers :) I promise though that next week's blog (or sooner) will have it for those who want it. And yes, there is a tad bit of pink on it (minus the light pink stuff). Besides, she already kicked and agreed with me when I asked her if orange/green/bright blue are way cooler. ;)

Have a great week!
Bryan concluding that our arms are going to get ripped from lifting this thing. I should start working out with it now, because it felt heavy to me!
Scanner and Baby Bargains in hand while testing out the new car seat. And yes, I realize I have a sleeveless dress on in near November. Thankfully I did though because the layers were peeled since the store was soooo hot. I really don't think they remembered that pregnant ladies were shopping there that day.

Week 22: OUCH!

So after the big week we had last week, not much new is going on around here. The little chica is moving around like crazy. In fact, that might be what is causing this horrible butt pain I have. They think it is my sciatic nerve being pinched, and to be honest, I've felt a dull pain in my bum ever since July. I thought it was just some tight muscles from working out, but could never quite stretch it. Then last month, my right side had some shooting pain, but it went away. Unfortunately, last week though it came back pretty severely on my left side. It is hard at times to stand up or get up out of bed, and then makes me limp around at times too. I saw the doctor Tuesday since the pain got so bad, and after contacting my old physical therapist and pulling some strings I get to go in for PT on Friday. Oh, and the Dr. now says it is not my sciatic, and that it has to do with my pelvis. We'll see how Friday goes. I am hoping for any relief at this point because even sitting and walking are painful.

Other than that not so fun news, we are getting excited that Bryan's PE exam is this Friday! Well, he might not be so excited to take it Friday, but we are BOTH excited to have it over and done. This means that within the next week or so, we should have made some big decisions about the nursery, and finalized our registry! Really looking forward to checking this off our list and to seeing things come together. We will keep you posted. :)

Have a great week everyone! Enjoy the belly pic with the latest clothing item needed in our house: hats! We are enjoying our heating bill being low until the little one comes :)
Love,
Fingland's

Week 21: It's A...

Baby Girl!
We went for our big ultrasound today and Bryan won the bet! We are so excited! He will now be outnumbered around here with all of us chicas. She is growing wonderfully and is 13 oz. in weight. Her feet are up by my belly button and she was facing my back, but moving around like crazy. She is quite active and ready to get growing and come into this world and wear some ORANGE! With a tiny bit of pink. :)

Everything else looks great and the only thing that they are watching is my due date. Since I had long and short cycles before getting pregnant, it is harder to pinpoint a more exact date for me. They are saying between Feb. 26 and March 1st on my charts, so we know that if she isn't out by the 26th, it just might mean that I need to be pregnant a little longer. So we will see!

Bryan got to feel her move this week and the movements keep getting stronger and more frequent--very cool! We also are on the downhill countdown to when our busy times (fundraiser for me and PE exam for Bryan) will be over and we can finally start going full force on the nursery and registry! I am going crazy not having much done around here, but it has been a busy October. I actually started an online registry that we are excited to use once we get going. It is called My Registry, and it allows you to put stuff from any store (yes, even the Jayhawk Bookstore and Chipotle) on your registry. We've been having fun playing around with it and will have it up and running before Thanksgiving!

It has been such an exciting week and we are so blessed that everything is going well with our baby girl. We can't wait to meet her and start getting all of her room and things in order before she gets here. Oh, and yes she has a complete name waiting for her, but we will announce it when she graces us with her presence.

Don't forget to check out the pictures in the album and below. I posted my belly pic from 20.5 weeks and one from today, as well as all of the crazy ultrasound pics from today! Also, I rearranged the photos so all the belly ones are in a row, and same with the US pics. Enjoy!

Lots of love,
Bryan, Katie, and Baby Girl Fingland
Excited to find out the news! Heading in... Proud daddy to be and winner of the bet! He knew it all along that it was a girl...

Week 20: Halfway there!

Believe it or not, we're halfway there! 20 more weeks until the Baby cantaloupe arrives! Which, by the way, kind of blows my mind that there is a cantaloupe in there--that seems so big!

This past week was extremely busy for both Bryan and I, but amidst the craziness I felt the first tiny movements of Baby Fingland! The first time I felt it was on Tuesday, October 5th, while we were watching the Biggest Loser. It must have been trying to get a workout in as well! Like most people told me, it feels like tiny bubbles bubbling or popping inside. It was fairly faint at times, and Bryan is bummed because he can't feel it yet. We are looking forward to it getting stronger each week!

We also finally decided on taking Bradley Method birth classes. These are more "intense" than Lamaze, but we have heard that it really prepares you well. (By intense, I mean longer classes, more involved, etc.) It prepares you for a natural birth, but also goes over all possible interventions, medicines and how they work, and so on. We are pretty excited and this teacher was recommended to us by friends. We start Nov. 10th, so Wednesday nights are going to be long but informative! (I have art club until 4:30 and class is 6:30-9...whoosh!)

Other than that exciting news, we have just been doing a daily countdown to the 18th, and our big Doctor's appointment! We have a bet going to see who has it right...I am guessing boy and Bryan is on the girl side. We are just hoping for a healthy baby and can't wait to watch it for an hour long ultrasound, but winning a 30 minute back massage would be icing on the cake! :)

What do you all think? Now's your chance to guess! Either way, Bailey is looking forward to having someone to play with her. She's getting all her toys ready to share!

Until Monday!
Bryan, Katie, Bailey, and Cantaloupe

Week 19: Is that MY belly button?

Not much happening this week that is new to report. We did change the date of our 21 week ultrasound from Oct. 19th to the 18th. So now we get to find out if it is a chico or chica one day earlier, and/or watch the little one for an hour long ultrasound! Super excited about that one.

Hopefully that appointment will kick us back into nursery mode, and we can then get moving on finishing that in November before the holidays! Still looking for furniture for the room daily on craigslist and other websites, and just ready to buy something already.

As far as the baby and belly go, it is definitely getting bigger. My belly button is becoming weirder and weirder every day. The top lip of it is starting to poke out and it is just bizarre! Still no maternity pants yet, hanging on with the Bella Band since my pants fit everywhere else, and I just need help with the zipping. Baby Fingland is developing his/her senses of taste, touch, vision, hearing, and smell these days. We are also almost to the HALFWAY point (20 weeks). Crazy how fast it has gone by so far! We also got our blood work results back, and they were negative for any signs of down syndrome, spinal bifida, and other stuff it tested for. Praying for a healthy little one in February still, and everything so far is looking good!

We forgot to take a new belly pic this weekend, so we took one quickly before work this morning. I had some leftover pants from when I was in between weights, and they are a lower rise. This meant something very exciting for this picture...no elastic waist AND pants that are zipped!
Enjoy!

Hope everyone is enjoying their October!
Lots of love from the Fingland's and the little Mango

Week 18: Happy Fall!

This week of pregnancy involves a lot of favorites...favorite number (18), favorite(one of many) food: sweet potato, and my favorite season, Fall. (Although in Colorado, for some strange reason it doesn't want to go below 88 degrees, ugh.)

Week 18 was spent doing more of the same, constant researching for baby gear. This week however we started looking into birthing methods and classes. We are looking into the Bradley Method and have some teacher recommendations. We also had another appointment today, and met our first midwife at the practice, Julie. Our office has certified midwives and OB's, that work closely together. Both are always on deck at the delivery area in the hospital too. We talked to her about the Bradley Method, and just the difference between midwives and doctors, because we had no clue. Basically, she said midwives approach the birth as a natural thing happening to you, rather than a disaster waiting to happen. Also, they are there with you for more of the birth process. I absolutely loved her too! She was super nurturing and that's what I've been looking for. A lot of the doctors we've met so far, with the exception of one, have always seemed so rushed. I'm hoping Julie and Dr. Sweeney will be on call at the time of our delivery :). We are leaning towards sticking with Julie, since the Dr. said I am not a high risk and would be a good patient for a midwife.

We also got to hear the heartbeat of Baby Fingland, but no new pictures. It was going strong at 152bpm. In 3 weeks, we have THE BIG ultrasound. An hour long, taking all the measurements, and of course, finding out the gender if we are able. We are really excited and have marked the date--Tuesday, October 19th! Be ready for some phone calls!

I am hoping that any day now I get to feel the little one move around. I keep thinking I feel it, but then I'm not sure because I have no clue what it really feels like! We also made it out to see some Aspens in their Fall glory this weekend, so be sure to check out this web album while you're looking at the new belly pic this week...http://picasaweb.google.com/kfingland/201009FallLeaves#. Gorgeous! Posted one below as a preview!

Happy Fall!
K, B, B, and the Sweet Potato

Week 17: Addicted to Craigslist

Hi my name is Katie, and I have a problem. For the past 3 weeks, I have been addicted to Craigslist! I am so excited to find a "deal" that I check it daily, at least twice, for cribs, furniture, baby slings, rockers, and whatever else you can imagine. So this weekend, when I decided to take a "baby break" and just get some relaxation in, I tried to stay away from stalking out the greatest deal on Craisglist. I must say, this helped us be productive in other ways--organize the basement, fold the laundry, and more--but I couldn't stay away from baby stuff for too long. Instead of "craiglisting", I went to Lowe's and had them match our fabric swatches from our baby bedding, and painted the test colors on the nursery walls. We are leaning towards putting in some white chair-rail, painting the brown on the bottom and the green on top. So much for taking a "break" from baby decisions! (See photo below:)
Oh, and I think that means we finally decided on this bedding(boy or girl) from Land of Nod:http://www.landofnod.com/family.aspx?c=167&f=3916 We'll just accent it with orange (boy) and hot pink (girl).

Bailey getting tired from all the decisions... Looks a little darker on camera...

This week we also went to a "Just Between Friends" consignment sale--very large, full of stuff. However, since we haven't done our research yet on strollers, carseats, etc., and don't know the gender yet, it was kind of pointless being there. Until we found the book section. I absolutely love children's books and illustrators, and we both want to read to our kid, so we got really excited that we finally found something we could buy for the baby at this moment in time. Giving Bryan a list of authors/illustrators/titles to look for, we set forth in diving into the whole book section, scouring it over for deals. And boy did we find them! 20 or so books for 30 dollars! Including some favorites: 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' (board book and hard back), some Curious George, 'Green Eggs and Ham' and 'Horton Hears a Who', and much more--all in great condition! We celebrated by reading a couple of them that night to the baby, who now at 17 weeks can hear sounds outside the womb.

So, as Bryan studies for his PE (Professional Engineering) exam, the next month should be full of me starting some research on what to buy (bottles, strollers, car seats, rockers, and so on!). We are hoping to register towards the end of October/beginning of November, and I know Bryan is counting down the days until he gets to do this!

I will keep you updated on when we find a crib/anything on Craigslist too! :) Hope you all are doing well. The 2nd trimester has left me feeling more like myself and with lots more energy, except I still can't stay up past 10 anymore. Regardless, it is still good to be feeling better than the first trimester, and I've been blessed to have a pretty smooth pregnancy so far!

Lots of love,
2 crazy parents to be, the onion, and a dog who can't wait for more hands to pet her!

(Fun Facts on Week 17 Development: the bones are hardening and becoming complete in Baby Fingland. Gotta get in my calcium! Also the little one is somersaulting, rolling, and moving his/her joints now. Only a couple more weeks they say until I will feel all this movement. Can't wait!) Belly pic Week 17 uploaded in the photo album up top.

Week 16: Katie vs. The Burger

The craving of the week, as you might have guessed by the title, was a burger. The night before Grandma Fingland left, the 3 of us went to Ted's Montana Grill for the first time. I had already checked the menu prior to leaving, so I knew I was in for a treat of burger amazingness. However, little did I know that this would be a humongous slice of heaven, and that I would devour every last bite. A yummy, 1 inch buffalo burger, with bacon, was so amazing I was in my own little world. Bryan barely finished half of his as he stared in awe of me pounding my half pounder. (You can do a lot when you have a rubber band on your pants!) I've already checked out our next locale for when the burger craving hits again, this time a grass-fed beef burger, or more buffalo if I so dare. It has to be SOMEWHAT healthy...

Other than that we finished clearing out the nursery, and have picked out paint swatches and colors. I think I am going to put all our nursery ideas on the back burner for the next 4 weeks, until we find out the gender of the babe and I can finalize some things that are questionable. We are also going to a huge consignment sale this Thursday, and will hopefully find some furniture or other necessities there for cheaper. Our next appointment is Sept. 27th, and we will meet with a certified midwife this time and see how we like her and what the difference is between them and a Dr. (I am still confused!).

As far as baby Fingland goes, his/her development includes toenails and the scalp line this week. Apparently within the next 3 weeks, I am to get ready for a growth spurt! The avocado will start getting bigger, and with that, so will the belly bump. The belly pic up this week is of what I call "my afternoon belly" since I usually take the photos in the morning. After lunch and 2 nalgene bottles full of water, I get my "afternoon belly" :)

Finally, since I started it with a story about me pigging out, I'll end it with my proud exercise moment of the week. I was slightly afraid to run during the 1st trimester because of stories I had heard, so I had been doing tame walks for the past 3 months. However, yesterday Bryan and I went out for a run and I was able to go 25 minutes straight! Very excited, considering my goal was 1 song on my iPod, since I had no clue what to expect. It was definitely a little harder, but I'm hoping I could get a couple more of these in each week, along with my circuit exercises from a GREAT book, 'Super Fit Mama', before my belly gets too big.

Have a great week!
The Fingland's

Week 15: Diapers, Rocking Chairs, and Cribs-Oh My!

This past week was fun and exciting as we dove into the realm of "Stuff for the Baby". Grandpa and Grandma Fingland came into town on Thursday for the long weekend. We headed to Rocky Mountain National Park on Saturday, and got to take my 15 week belly photo "off site" for the week. (I'll add the new pic each week to the album on the upper right).

After spending a day in the mountains relaxing, we decided to spend a day in the frenzy of shopping for the babe. We went to 3 different stores on Sunday, just to start to familiarize ourselves with what's out there (A LOT, that's what!). The first, we received the very informative spiel on how these "new" cloth diaper systems work. We have been really interested in trying that out and it seems like it would save tons of money. So that was helpful and gave us an idea of what we need in order to go that route. The next store included the best product names ever found. Among them were "Hooter Hiders" for nursing, and "Pee Pee Tee Pees" for all the "wee wee" (fabric cones for changing boys). I also found the cutest puffy gray vest for a boy, and amazing brightly colored tutus for a girl.

Finally, we headed to the Babies R Us superstore. It was a bit overwhelming, but we narrowed in on looking at cribs and rockers/gliders. We really would like an upholstered chair that is small sized and a rocker/recliner. However, Bryan has become "Goldilocks", only that no chairs fit just right. Too small, too short, can feel the rungs, doesn't work right...oh the joys of being married to a tall engineer. Double whammy! Of course, the only chair Bryan has liked is the crazy expensive one found at the boutique store, so I will be stalking Craigslist for one just in case.

Also, our nesting has officially started. Grandpa Fingland helped Bryan remove the built in desk from the downstairs office, which will now become the extra bedroom. Grandma Fingland is going to help us paint it, then move down the furniture so the nursery will be a blank canvas! I have picked out the bedding officially, and am now working on wall colors. We also ordered our bedroom furniture (finally), so we will have nightstands to put baby toys and bottles on in the middle of the night. Super excited! I will take some pictures and post next week to show all the changes. Hope everyone is well.

Love,
Tight Pants, Goldilocks, and the little Orange (what a great color! :)

Week 14: Something from all of us...

From Mommy-to-Be: I survived my first week back at work! This week marked a bunch of other new milestones as well. Week 13 Baby Fingland begin to hear sounds through vibrations in it's skin, and week 14 it's liver and pancreas are hard at work, along with the growth of some hair! Hopefully it isn't true that if you eat a bunch of spicy food, your baby has more hair, because otherwise I might be giving birth to a gorilla! We also started taking belly photos. This past week I have definitely felt it stick out a little bit more, and feel some of my pants get a little tighter. Monday we had another Dr. appointment with our first big ultrasound.(See below for more info!) The Dr. said everything is looking good and that the nuchal measurement they tested this week seems healthy. The test (for Downs and other abnormalities) will be concluded in 4 weeks with another blood test. Monday I also told my students and will announce it in our school newsletter Thursday to all the rest of students I don't have right now. The "nothing sounds good to eat" syndrome is going away, and I am enjoying more of my variety of foods (and vegetables again) now. For Belly pics, click the link on the right at the top of the page that says "Belly and Baby Photos".

From Daddy-to-Be: Lately Katie and I have been discussing some nursery design ideas - paint colors, fabric patterns, furniture needs, what to buy new, what we can get cheap on Craigslist. Unfortunately though, the only thing we've really decided on is which room in the house the nursery is going to be! ...If only Katie could get me to sit down for a minute to look at the bedding options she's selected. We have discussed decorations and paint colors some, but nothing is finalized. We're going to try to keep things pretty gender neutral though (pretty pinks and/or baby blues would be too obvious a color choice for my wife's artistic eye, luckily we agree on this though). We can't wait to have our eager-to-work, soon-to-be first time grandma and grandpa Fingdog arrive for an extended Labor Day weekend to help us out with all this nursery stuff. Mom and Dad, don't forget to pack your paint shirts!

From Daddy-to-Be (cont'd): The other ongoing discussion we've been having has been whether or not we will find out the sex of the baby prior to delivery. My position has always been, yes, we will. Initially, Katie was on board with this approach, but lately she has been more on the fence about the decision. I've been saying all along, "You are either surprised the day of the delivery, or surprised 4 months earlier." But now that I find myself in this reflective state of blogging, I've come up with another analogy. Its like when you were a kid and you were presented with the option to open a gift on Christmas Eve (in the Fingland family, we always waited to open presents until Christmas morning). You'd make the same decision every time; you'd ALWAYS take the option to open the gift on Christmas Eve because you couldn't wait for the fun to begin. Why wait until February 26th to find out, when I have the option to find out sooner? I'm too excited to wait. I think I may have Katie back on my side of the fence, with the compromise being that we can be more likely to not find out the sex of the baby the next time around.

From Baby Fingland: Hello family and friends! This week was pretty exciting for me, seeing as though I'm getting taller; I am about 3.5 inches now. Mom and Dad got to see me on the big ultrasound screen Monday too. I put on quite a show for them and the ultrasound tech. I was wiggling around, and waving my right arm up and down (Mom thinks I'm already raising my hand to be a good student!). It was a little hard for the US tech to get her photos that she needed, so after about 15minutes I finally calmed down, crossed my feet at the ankles, and relaxed for a bit. Check out my self portraits below:
Look for more photos in the Belly and Baby Photos Link!

Week 13: Tribute to Jack Handy

For those who know me well, you know already that I'm a neurotic planner. So you will be just as shocked as I am when I tell you that lately I've been in a "Baby Daze". I haven't made any lists yet, haven't really had many practical decisions on what needs to be done by February, or moved any furniture in the soon to be nursery. Maybe this baby already has Bryan's laid back personality! We have, however, had a wonderful collection of "deep thoughts" that are so ridiculously random I have to write them down so we remember them. And, since no "deep thought" would be complete without mentioning Jack Handy, that's where the title of this post comes from. (If you don't know who Jack Handy is, or his thoughts, you need to go here pronto: http://thinkexist.com/quotes/jack_handy/ )

Deep Thoughts, Discussions, and Decisions we've had so far:
-We might not have a crib picked out, but we have scouted out the best Baby/Kid hiking carrier packs from REI. Who needs a crib when you can sleep in a cool carrier while enjoying the mountains?

-We are both certain that we are not ever going to be the pet owners of: rats, hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, etc.; even if our kids begs for one.

-While working out the other day, I was really pumped up by my running/workout playlist, as usual. This got me thinking about labor and how, since it is pretty much going to be the hardest workout I've ever done, why not have my workout music with me? Forget relaxing music, I want the music that helped me run 2+hours and pushed me up trail runs in the scorching heat! No worries though, I will have Jack Johnson on standby in case this idea fails miserably...

-ONE wonderful practical thing is that I already have a baby sitter/licensed home day care lady lined up for next school year, and hopefully the last 6 weeks of school in the Spring! She is a mom at our school and watches other teacher's children, so I am pretty excited about our rational thinking on that one and getting it accomplished!

-I have the greatest art project ever planned out for whenever Baby Fingland starts walking (even though he/she's feet are just developing still). It came to me one day and I can't wait to use it!

-We know (and most of you do too) that if it is a girl, her name will be Lucy, since I've had this name on reserve for what seems like forever! However, we had a boy's name picked out and now I keep going back and forth. So now I've begun the hunt for a backup, just in case.

-This past week while talking about maternity leave, Bryan and I realized I will be home during March Madness. Talk about timing!

Well, although there are probably many more I'm forgetting, that gives you an idea of how our first trimester thoughts went. Maybe now that we are entering the second trimester, this "renewed energy" I am supposed to have will kick our butts into list making gear. In fact, we went to Lowe's last night and got a bunch of bright colored paint swatches. See, we're getting better already...

Love and random thoughts,
Bryan, Katie, and Baby Fingland

12 weeks

The 12 week mark has finally approached. 2nd trimester, here we come!

I announced the pregnancy to my school on Friday, the 13th, to an excited and nurturing staff. I've already received a cute shirt and an offering of toys. Now to just find a long term sub...

Cravings/Aversions: Fruit, and, anything SOUR! In fact, I broke down and ate some Sour Patch kids last week. Now I am vowing to eat a lemon instead in order to avoid everything artificial they put in those things. I'm still having some annoying aversions to all foods in general, where nothing sounds good. The past couple of days have been a little bit better, so I'm hoping it is fading.

Progress on Operation Nursery: I ordered some swatches from the Land of Nod for our favorite (so far) crib bedding. We will see how the colors look and if we decide on that one or not. http://www.landofnod.com/family.aspx?c=167&f=3916

Progress on the Bump: Hopefully soon I will start posting photos of the "bump". As of now all my clothes are still fitting, and it just looks like I ate too much. I bought a Bella Band so I can hopefully wear my pants as long as possible. It allows you to wear your regular pants unbuttoned and keeps them in place. It's super comfortable!

Our next Dr. appointment is Monday, August 30th. We should have new ultrasound pictures to post then! Hope you all are well,
Katie, Bryan, and the little plum

10/11 weeks

Today we had another appointment where we were able to meet with one of the doctors in the practice. We thought we were just going to ask our questions and get a quick update, but were treated to hearing the baby's heartbeat for the first time! She said that we can't always hear it this early, but she found it beating strong at 168bpm. Very cool and reassuring. We go back at the end of August to do another ultrasound and some more bloodwork/tests. They said I am 11 weeks as of tomorrow, August 6th.

So far the 1st trimester hasn't been too hard on me. Some queasiness, mostly at night, and loss of appetite. Mainly I've just been really tired and napping every day, although this week I did have some good cries over some really "upsetting" stuff...tv shows, not sleeping, having to use mozzarella on my grilled cheese. You know, really sad stuff. And Bryan thought I was crazy before...

We've also been slowly telling family and close friends still this week, but have yet to let our jobs know. That will come most likely in the next week or so. I've also added a "ticker" at the top of the blog that lets you know how big the baby is. It will update on it's own, so be sure to check back. Right now we have a little prune/lime, and it's our bed time!

Love from Colorado,
Bryan, Katie, and Baby Lime Fingland

(We also added 2 more videos below...one of Aunt Blair's reveal and the Fingland grandparents' reveal.)

Our First Doctor's Visit and Spilling the Beans

July continued to be a month of visitors, and our first Doctor's appointment was scheduled during my parents' visit. We had also just had our 2 nieces, my sister and brother-in-law, and 2 nephews out for the weekend as well. Needless to say, if I hadn't been worn out from the first stages of pregnancy, I would have been worn out from all the visiting! We planned on telling everyone after the first Dr. appointment, but some very good detectives spoiled those plans!

First, my nieces were out for a week on their own with just Bryan and I. While I was taking one of my many naps, they had played "spy", and discovered my stash of pregnancy books from the library. They were really good at keeping this secret--we didn't find out until a week or so later that they had known! Also, the night before my sister Suzanne, and brother-in-law, Gary left, Sue just asked me right out if I was pregnant. It must run in their family because both her and her daughter had scouted out the secret! They left the morning of our first appointment, July 20th, 2010.

At this appointment, we were expecting that I was 6 weeks along. We also were planned to do an ultrasound since there had been some spotting, just to make sure things were ok. The ultrasound was the first thing we got to do, and it was amazing. It turned out I was actually 8 weeks along, and there on the screen was our 1.65cm baby! I guess it is still too early to tell if it will have Fingland height, or Morrell [lack of] height. We also received news that Baby Fingland's birthday will be on *or around* February 26th, 2011. Save the date!

We also were able to see the heart beating at about 170bpm, and make horribly wrong guesses as to where the head was. (If you said 'Right', then you win!) We scheduled our next appointment and left the office with more information and brochures than we knew what to do with.

After a day of not being able to read all the information and still keeping it a secret from my parents, we decided it was time to spill the beans to them. We went out to dinner at Colterra, north of Boulder, which was a beautiful farm to table restaurant. Here is the hilarious video of how we announced the news to them:

The Beginning...June 25, 2010

Welcome to our new Baby Blog! We hope to keep our family and friends updated on the latest and greatest happenings with Baby Fingland through this blog.

Bryan and I found out that we are expecting on Friday, June 25th, 2010. We had company in town (soon to be Uncle, Brad), and were getting ready for a true Colorado adventure--a weekend in the woods backpacking and camping. Little did we know we'd start a whole new adventure that weekend also! I took the pregnancy test Friday morning, as we were leaving that afternoon. Being the planner that I am, if I was pregnant, I wanted to make sure the Dr. would be ok with me being at the altitude of the hike, just in case.

After the news at 6:30am of a positive test, Bryan and I were thrilled and of course, a little freaked out. We ended up telling Uncle Brad that night around the campfire at Piney Lake in Vail, CO. The next day, we went backpacking to Deluge Lake, which ended up being a 6 hour, extremely steep, uphill battle for me. I swear that it was the pregnancy. I would NEVER have sat down, cried, told Brad and Bryan to go without me, or got mad at Bryan and made him carry my pack if I hadn't been pregnant! Promise...

We all survived the weekend and were exhausted yet excited at what was to come.

Piney Lake. Vail, CO

Deluge Lake. Finally at the top!