Property of DOT.

As our house fills up with more and more baby stuff,
we are feeling more and more blessed.
We are so grateful to everyone
who has given us such wonderful gifts
that help us feel prepared to bring Dorothy home!


Here are a few of the cute clothes
we have received;
I think this little girl already has more clothes than her
mom or dad!

This is the rain forest swing we picked out
with one of our gift cards.
I love the leaf mobile and the soft nature sounds it makes.

Grandma Vieira is such a crafty lady!
She made us this great set of Wizard of Oz plush toys
(what else for a little Dorothy?).

Grandma Heaps sent us this fantastic rocking chair
for the nursery,
and the quilt on the back was made by one of Marty's relatives.

I wanted to put her name up on the wall,
so I made these signs using stuff from around the house.
Now I just have to figure our a way to hang them.

And this surprise came in the mail yesterday!
We had told my mom we thought this picture would
be wonderful over Dorothy's crib.
She must have agreed!
We're so excited to pick out a frame and get this up on the wall.

It's still a little hard to believe that we only have
less than 7 weeks until Dorothy is due.
I think we have been blessed from all our walking and yoga
because I still feel pretty darn good--
I am just getting anxious!
I still need to pack our bag for the hospital
and wash all the clothes and blankets we have gotten,
but other than that I think we're about as ready as we can be!

Hi. My Name is Asher Lev. And you should read me.

Oh, Happy Day!
With the help of my wonderful friend, Allison,
a book group was finally created in our ward.

I was in charge of picking our January book and
leading the discussion.
I chose a novel that I had seen taught in some high schools
and had peaked my interest:
My Name is Asher Lev
by Chaim Potok.

This is a great novel to hunker down with.
I will warn you,
this is not a happy-go-lucky book;
however,
it is quite thought provoking
and uses some great symbolism and imagery.
It also gives more of an insight to Hasidic communities
and explores the tension between the worlds of religion and art.

I was a bit giddy to have an opportunity
to do some research and create discussion questions.
Oh, how I miss teaching high school sometimes!

Thanks, ladies,
for a great night of intellectual stimulation!
Next month: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
Time to make a cup of tea (or teeccino:),
grab a quilt,
and get reading!

And I thought Postum was wonderful...

I've always been a Warm Beverage
kind of gal--
hot chocolate, herbal teas, and apple cider
are all equally appealing to me in this cold weather.

And, I must admit,
I used to LOVE my daily cup (or two or three) of coffee.
We're talking I couldn't get the day going,
I felt quite nauseous if I didn't have it,
LOVED my daily cup.

When I decided that I wanted to live a healthier,
more spiritual life and return to church,
I struggled with giving up coffee.
The smell, the taste, the ritual, I loved it all.

I tried a few different coffee substitutes
to help me get by.
Postum was always my favorite,
but sadly it has been taken off the market.

Well,
while I was at Shaw's yesterday
(stocking up on a wonderful assortment of herbal teas),
I happened to look at the bottom shelf and saw
Caffeine-free HERBAL COFFEE (by teeccino).
WHAT?
What does that mean?
Well, I bought a canister,
along with a small french press,
and decided to find out.

If you love coffee
or loved coffee in your former life,
this stuff is fantastic!
Made with ingredients like barley, chicory root,
dates, almonds, and figs, this stuff reigns over postum.
There is naturally no caffeine,
every cup has potassium and fiber,
and there is only 1 gram of sugar per cup.
Hot chocolate can't even compare.

I think the warm beverage world
just got even more heart warming
for this pregnant lady.

My Birthday Dinner

Kim is the true blogger of the family,
but I thought I would try my hand at it.

There is nothing better for your birthday
than to eat a meal you get to choose.

Home-cooked meals are always better than restaurant food
(especially when you're married to the best cook on the planet)
so I asked Kim to make me dinner instead of going out to eat.

This year's request was steamed salmon with rice pilaf and corn.
Everything was perfectly done. We love using our bamboo steamers.

Dessert was even more scrumptious!
Kim made me her very own fried ice cream with fresh strawberries.


What a sweet life!
burp.

I know this guy...

He just so happens to be the most amazing
person that I know,
AND
he is my wonderful husband!
How lucky can a girl get?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY,
Marty!

Ain't he sweet?

Nesting

Since we found out
that we are having Dorothy,
this pregnancy has become even MORE real to me
(as if this growing belly were not enough).
All week long,
all I could think about was getting her room ready.

Thursday afternoon, I spent a good few hours
deep cleaning the dresser
we were planning on using for her clothes and diapers.
However,
it was an old dresser from Marty's parents place
and it had a little bit of a musty smell going on.
I could not handle it!
I called Marty in a panic
telling him that we HAD to get something else.
He calmed me down,
and that night we took the dresser back to Westport
and switched it out for a newer dresser.
SO much better!
After vacuuming out and wiping down every surface
of this new dresser (of course),
I felt comfortable putting the few clothes I have bought
into one of the drawers for when Dorothy gets here.

I love when our home is clean,
but I really hope that this OCD-like,
slightly manic approach to clean things eases up
after the baby is born.

Besides the cleaning binges,
I've also starting
baby-crafting like a fool.
I've made a few soft toys out of yarn,
and yesterday I did about half of a baby blanket.
I guess I need something to keep me busy!

Part of me cannot believe 30 weeks have gone by,
and the other half feels like 10 weeks is too long
to wait to meet our little girl!
I'm really just trying to relax and enjoy
the end of this pregnancy,
but it will be a sweet day when we get to meet our daughter!

Our little Dot

What an incredible experience last night!
To finally have an identity,
a specific gender, face, and name for our little girl
literally left me speechless.
Marty noted that I was very quiet during the ultrasound,
but I was just trying to take it all in.

So here she is!
The placenta and cord were both near her face,
so it was hard to get a clear shot.
But here is the best one!
We love her little nose and lips.

It was so wild to see what Dottie was up to in there.
We saw her kicks,
her heartbeat,
her eyes open,
and even her drinking some amniotic fluid.
It was crazy!
Here is a shot with her eyes open.
Again, the placenta is covering half her face,
but at least you can see one eye.

She is quite the flexible little lady,
let me tell you!
She had her arms down at her sides,
but her legs were bent and her feet were up near her face.
Apparently she finds this to be a comfortable position
because she would not move.
So here you can see one of her feet up near her face.

And,
last but not least,
a perfect shot of a perfect little foot!
Her feet look really long to me,
and it looks like she is going to have feet like her daddy's--
the second toe is longer than the big toe.
I can't wait to kiss those feet and meet her in March!

Now I just have to use as much
will power as I can muster to not go out
and buy a ton of girl stuff.
I did talk Marty into going to Target last night
after the ultrasound.
And, yes,
I bought Dorothy some shoes.
A girl can always use a good pair of shoes:)

We're having a.....

GIRL!!!

I must admit,
I was a little shocked when the woman told us!
My mothering instinct was definitely
telling me boy.
But we are very excited to know that
Dorothy Mae
will be here soon!

Check back tomorrow for the 3d pictures!

Suggestions?

Okay, ladies,
I would like some advice.

Yesterday, Marty and I began the project
of turning what has been our
computer room
into what will be our nursery.
We got the desk out,
all of the cables and cords out,
vacuumed, wiped down, and rearranged everything,
and brought out the baby things we already own.
It is starting to take shape.

As we are preparing this room,
(and just for the baby in general)
I keep trying to walk myself through
a day in the life of a new mom.
I feel like I have been able to think of many of the
things we will need,
but obviously not everything.
This is where all of you come in.
For all of you moms out there,
what are some of the day-to-day items
you find most helpful?
Is there anything you thought you would never use
but now are grateful to have?

It's funny,
I feel completely calm about labor and delivery,
but I'm nervous that we won't be prepared enough
when the baby comes home.

Speaking of the baby,
tomorrow night at 7 we have our
ultrasound appointment to let us know the sex!
AND
can you believe that this week will put me at
3o weeks into the pregnancy?
Time is flying!
Another 8-12 weeks
and little baby Vieira will be here!
What a great milestone for 2009.
We can't wait!