How many people does it take to make a tribe?

Five and a cat...trust me.

This past month has been pretty eventful so far. We took the 3 boys to a wedding over the 4th of July weekend and we had such a good time - especially during the reception when we all got our dance on. Congratulations to Dina and Sam on getting hitched and giving us a place to kick up our heels!

On the 7th, Rodney and I had our first night back out in the world (sans spawn). We caught Yazoo/Yaz in concert and it was such a blast! I was the only person in our area (practically) who kept standing up to dance but I don't care. Who can sit down to "Goodbye Seventies" after all?! I may have embarrassed Rodney, but it's alright because he's used to that kind of thing.

This past weekend, we celebrated Ethan's 10th birthday at the local mini-golf spot and everyone had such a good time. We had an extra fun and special birthday cake made for him that turned out so cool I have to share it with you. We are going to have this same cake made for all the boys when they turn 10...


Here's a picture of Ethan and a couple of his friends along with Graeme tagging along as they waited in line for the bumper boats at his party. Graeme was so darling because he kept pushing his way in the midst of all the 10-year old boys and joining in as though he was one of them. We love how he is so self-confident and can mix with any crowd.


And now, for more photos of Xavier... He is so funny because he's hard to photograph or film candidly - he's always trying to look straight into the camera, no matter where it is. He's a star in the making! Hahahaha! He will be 11 weeks as of tomorrow, Wednesday, July 16, and it really is just amazing how time's flown and how much he's grown already. His eyelashes are growing and you can almost see how nicely they curl over his eyes. He's just too cute (have I said that already?!)!

Baby Food

Lately, my biggest challenge is trying not to eat this kid up...



We went in for his 2-month appointment and he's doing really well! He now weighs in at 12 pounds and is 23 inches long - the kid has grown and we are just so happy. He's getting chubby cheeks and chubby legs that make him so cute and tasty.

He's also changing in so many ways. He started smiling right around the 6-week mark, but his smiles were elusive. Now, they are coming in droves and it is so special. When he first wakes up in the morning, he is all smiles and it just warms your soul. He's also been cooing a lot so we are having tons of pretend conversations where I make up what he is saying like, "Oh, you want daddy to change your next 25 poopie diapers? Okay, I'll let him know."

There is nothing like being a parent. Babies are such a wonderful way to start people, 'tis true!

Thanks for the Memories - Game & Watch

I am currently enthralled (well, ok obsessed) with the very first handlheld gaming system I ever owned/played - the Game & Watch Chef game. I remember our parents buying us these games as kids and the Chef one was mine - I definitely wore it out. Each of the kids had one of their own and, as far as I can remember, we all had different ones (smart move on the parents' part - so there was no mistaking who belonged to which game)... ah, memories. I want to buy one, but they are very pricey to acquire (insane!). One of these days, though, I may just break down and buy the Chef game just to relive that time of my life. Mmmmm... (insert sigh of contentment here)

CHEF


OCTOPUS


PARACHUTE


MANHOLE

Long Time No Write...

Today, a friend of mine said to me that when you have kids, the minutes last forever and the years go by in the blink of an eye. I love these little tidbits of knowledge that make me say, "Yes of course, why didn't I think of that myself!"

Xavier is going to hit the 7-week mark this Wednesday and it already feels like time is just speeding by. He's still so little but he's already changed so much, eating more, sleeping more, starting to "talk" (okay, he's just cooing, but whatever - he's baby-talking - wink!), making eye contact, recognizing voices, etc. This past week, I've even been getting real smiles from him. He's most smiley in the morning, when it's just me and him, but today I managed to capture it on video so Rodney can see it too.

That said, it is then strange to look at Graeme who's just growing like a weed, talking and reasoning like a big boy, and is turning 4 this September. These first years have just sped by! Then I look at Ethan who is turning 10 in about a week and I freak out at how fast the past 10 years have gone past. I can still remember Ethan and Graeme as newborns so I am reminded to savour every single moment (even the crazy ones) as none of it lasts long enough.

Rodney, if you're reading this (and you better be!), you need to capture all the video I'm taking so that I can post some. And by the way, I love you. :)

New photo of the week:

Time Flies

I can't even believe it's already June 1st. We've officially survived our first month with Xavier at home. But then, I've had my lifesaver, Rodney, home all month to help me out. He has been so absolutely wonderful and I have been so spoiled. He goes back to work tomorrow and I'm scared... who's going to bring me my meals so I can sleep all day?!! ;)

June is going to be a month for me and Xavier to readjust to being on our own (at least until Ethan is home for the summer break). Once Ethan is home, too, we'll have to make sure Graeme stays home some days so we can all play hooky together. It will really be fun being able to take Xavier out more this month, though, and maybe even going for long walks and so I can start to get back in shape. Will let you know if I can sneak that into my days in between napping. Am also trying to get the love of my life (yes, Rodney - hahahaha!) to buy me that new Wii Fit so I can stay at home, play video games, and still lose weight.

This weekend was the art & wine festival in our little town. We spent most of Saturday enjoying food and rides and friends. Okay, I spent most of MY time sitting on the lawn nursing Xavier, but it was still really great to be out and around people. Graeme rode on several rides - he was hesitant to try anything at first, but was sold after the first ride on the "race" cars that went round and round. Here's a photo of our cute lil' guy at the fair - he's getting so big and growed up!


Another interesting thing about this weekend - we were adopted by a new cat. Kinda, sorta. We found a new cat hanging outside our front door yesterday afternoon and she is apparently a homeless cat that someone's dumped out here. She's been going from home to home in our little neighbourhood, I guess making the rounds to see who's going to let her in. We can't take her in, but we, thankfully, have a friend, Sylvia, who rescues cats so she's going to help us figure out what to do and how to get her to a new family. She's living by our front door and, for now, has a bed, food, water, and some attention. We hope to find her a good home. I wish I had a photo of her to post because she is so pretty, with really beautiful patterns on her. Graeme is absolutely fascinated with her.

Since I don't have pictures of the cat, I'll post a couple of recent pictures of the Grussing men, just because...

Can I Pet Him?

Tomorrow marks Xavier's 3-week birthday. In this short time, I'm amazed at how much he's already changed. In addition to getting longer and heavier, he's starting to spend some time awake and looking around at things, he's getting chubbier by the day, and he's definitely getting cuter every day! It's crazy to realize that, as much sleep we've already been deprived of, there's still months and years of it to come. Thank goodness it's all worth it. :) He's seemlessly merged into our family and we are so lucky because he's turned out to be an angel baby. He's so calm and quiet that it's been so easy so far. He's also been sleeping these past few days in 2-3+ hour stretches so we can do things like nap, catch up on housework, and even get out of the house. Now, if we can just get past the non-stop feeding hours, life would be perfect - hehehehe! What a little dream child this is!

The older boys are adjusting amazingly well to the new brother in the house. Ethan is an old hat at this big brother stuff so he's really done a great job of being a sweetheart to both his brothers, understanding the lack of energy and time that mom has right now, and being so wonderful and patient at everything; good thing he's good at self-entertainment and that Rodney is around to give attention all around! Ethan's nickname of "Buddha" really suits him well because he's got such a mellow and sympathetic personality.

Graeme is likewise enjoying all the attention that his daddy is giving him these days - so much so that he could care less that I'm generally "stuck" with Xavier and with running my new business, the 24-hour breastaurant. Rodney and Graeme are attached at the hip these days and let's just say that, if I wasn't so tired, I might feel more left out and jealous than I do. ;) When it comes to Xavier, Graeme constantly asks about what the baby is doing. Unfortunately for him, the stuff that Xavier can do right now is limited to eating, sleeping, or pooping so the answers don't vary much. The cutest thing about Graeme, though, is that he will come up to watch Xavier and never fails to say two things about his new baby brother. (1) "He's so cute!" and (2) "Can I pet him?"

Welcome to the World...

I guess all my suspcions of Tuesday night were right after all - I had a feeling we had something brewing!

So, to (try) to recap this long story, Rodney and I were up til midnight (haven't been able to sleep well this last week) working on laptops in bed (I know, I make it sound so sexy - hahahahaha!) and by 2am, I was back up, feeling a contraction every 7 minutes. I woke the Rodman up sometime before 3am so he could help me track the contractions. Finally, at around 4am, I decided it was time to call the doctor and see if we should come in and we were told it was probably cool to do so. So we called my brother, Manolete, to come and watch over the boys while he headed out. At the hospital, there was still a fear that they would send me home if I was having false labour as I was only 2cm dilated and apparently some women can walk around that dilated for days/weeks. But walking around the hospital for a bit really did the trick and by 9am, I was at 4cm and my doctor said not to send me home.

I was hoping not to need pitocin in order to avoid the epidural for this one and I was doing so well with contractions and dilating that I didn't need it to help me progress, but the aspirations of not getting an epidural quickly went down the drain because the pain was just too much and I suppose my threshold for pain is not as high as I thought. I tried fentanol (sp?) first and that lasted about 30 minutes for relief so I went ahead and asked for the anesthiologist to come rescue me. Yayyyyy for epidurals, man. It gave me hours of much-needed rest and also respite from the monster contractions. By 2pm, I was stuck at 8cm dilated and so they recommended the pitocin to help the final stages. Since I was already on the epidural - why not?!

By 4:12pm, we started pushing and by 4:34pm, we were hearing those magical words, "It's a boy!" Unfortunately, Dr. Arjomand didn't let us film the birth (party pooper!), but I had them wheel in a mirror so I could watch the little man pop out. Everything about the birth was as easy and smooth as I wanted it to be, starting from the desire to experience real labour instead of my water breaking again. So, welcome to the world Xavier Rhys Grussing! (His name is pronounced Zay-vyer Reece, by the way.)

Right now, it is 11:22am on May 1st and Rodney and I are on computers and email, writing everyone back to thank them for congratulatory notes. Xavier is asleep in the bassinet - he's had a preety intense last 21 hours so far and is pretty knocked out. We should really catch up on sleep before he lets those nonstop munchies and rockstar lungs loose on us again. Just kidding on the crying because he's been so non-fussy so far and we are feeling so blessed at this little piece of perfection we made all by ourselves.

More photos to come when we get a chance to download more, but here's one of me and the boys, our first family photo.

Wishful Thinking?

So, the last 2-3 days have been a little different. I can definitely tell that the baby has dropped and my body is acting differently, too. I've been feeling a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions, way more than usual and tonight, there have been a couple of huge, pretty intense ones. I don't know if it's just wishful thinking, but I really think this week is the week.

Will keep you updated as much as I can these next few days. Fingers are crossed for an easy labour and for my dreams of "no pitocin." If they don't give me pitocin, I will try to not ask for an epidural unless it becomes absolutely unbearable. Rodney is excited about me waiting til the last minute again to get the epidural. :)

Having this baby is just the most important thing to do right now and we are so looking forward to meeting the little one. I think we're ready to be parents to three kids. Whether we are or not, though, here he/she comes!

For those of you who have not played our baby guessing game yet, here's the link: http://expectnet.com/index.php?t=0. The game is called "GrussingGuessingGame."

Life Moves Forward Whether You Like It or Not

This past Saturday, we held a memorial service for my mom. It was beautiful and so many people came. She has touched so many lives and it was really great to see all the support and love that was in that room. All her kids went up to talk about her and it was really nice for all of us to stand up there together in unity and in honour of her, something she would've also loved to witness. I imagine that she was there in spirit and smiling down on all of us. Even Ethan went up to speak on behalf of all the grandkids and, though he couldn't finish, it was just an awesome show of the love he felt for his G.M. - that kid has such a heart of gold and we were all so proud of him. Rodney and my brother Manolet put together a really beautiful video with so many pictures of her life and with such beautiful music. When I get a copy that I can post, I will do so you can look at it at your leisure. After the service, we had a reception at her house and her place was filled to the brim with people and food, just her style. It would've been a party she would have been so happy to see - we did everything just the way she would have, I even tried to cook some of her dishes although one can never fully replicate her work because she didn't cook from recipes ever - just always from the heart. So many times during the party, I found myself waiting for her to walk around the corner into the kitchen - she would've had such fun being in the midst of all the hubbub and cooking. I miss her so much and I know I always will...I wish you could all have known her.

Death and birth are completely related parts of life and both are to be respected. I am happy in the knowledge that my mom is happy and healthy in her next life and I know that she would be so happy to see us move forward, with marriages, births, and the rest of our lives. Until we meet again...

This past Saturday also marked another huge turning point in our lives ----- we hit the 37-week milestone so the baby is considered full-term. This means that if the baby decides to poke his head out now, they won't stop him. His lungs are fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb. The baby weighs about 6 1/3 pounds and about 19 inches long. Ethan and Graeme were born with hair on their heads so I have no reason to believe this little one will be any different.

Ideally, I am still hoping that the baby comes one day late, on May 11th. That day is Mothers' Day and I would love to give birth that day in honour of my mom who couldn't be here to witness his arrival. I am visualizing that scenario in my head every day so please help me with positive thoughts and vibes as well. But don't worry about me if he decides to come earlier or later because I won't be sad about it either - babies come when they're good and ready and I'm alright with that. Bringing in my mom's 11th grandchild will be a gift no matter when it happens.

Love to you all,
Marissa

With Love to Mamita

The past week has been really tough. My mom passed away last Wednesday and we are all still in turmoil, shock, despair, grief, and whatever other emotion you could possibly imagine having in this new reality. Not a day has gone by when I haven't cried for the end of our life together, the end of future conversations and shared experiences. I try to fill my head with all my happy memories of her laughter and the love and silliness she shared with us all.

I am extremely sad that she will not get to meet the new baby in person; her grandkids were the light of her life. She was there when Graeme was born and was the first person on earth he actually laid his newborn eyes on and we had been planning on her being there for the birth of this, her 11th grandchild. Deep in my heart, I feel and know that she will be there in spirit and that she will again be the first to welcome this child into the world. Her baby prediction was for a third boy for me and the other week had bought and delivered two new boy outfits for him. Whether this kid is a boy or a girl, I think I will make a point of making him/her wearing the outfits anyway. She would find that hilarious, especially if her next grandchild is a girl.

One thing I've learned and hope to never forget is that all the petty angers and arguments are really just that in the end - petty. They are not the things that matter most. What matters most is love and lifting the spirits of those around you. When you are faced with any sort of choice about people, always choose what matters most...

Life and people are precious so don't forget to tell those close to you just how much you love them. Don't miss the opportunities for that extra bear hug and that extra "I love you." Do it often. I find some solace in the fact that we had been spending so much time with her lately and that the last words we said to each other were, "I love you and I'll see you later."

Move forward in happiness and love,
Marissa

Her obituary and a guest book: http://www.legacy.com/insidebayarea/DeathNotices.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=107794891.

As the belly turns...

40 days left. The baby weighs about 4.75 pounds now and is almost 18 inches long. He's definitely running out of room in there - poor thing. :) He's also definitely permanently upside down and getting ready to exit. At the doctor's this past Thursday, Dr. Adams (one of the other doctors in the practice) helped me to feel his head wedged in my pelvis. Very very cool. One extra thing that's really great to know is that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks generally do fine so I am done worrying about preterm labour. I am only looking forward to meeting this little miracle.

At home, we are slowly working to get the house ready for the new lil' one. With less than 6 weeks left to our due date, I'm starting to feel the pressure of actually getting everything on our TO DO list done. A big one off that list - Graeme is completely toilet-trained and has settled into his "new" life of sharing a room with big brother Ethan (Ethan is still adjusting to it, however, but is being such a super big brother). We worked on the backyard some this weekend, getting it ready for planting a small flower garden. Next, we have to get the deck ready for the spring/summer BBQs that we love. Ethan and Graeme were both the biggest help with the backyard cleanup project - they are such awesome kids!

Summer is a going to be such a great time to be home from work. The weather will be incredible and there will be lots to keep us busy. The Rodman and I are also looking forward to all the movies we'll be able to catch up on during that first month when we are just lounging around the house with the new baby.

Life is great. Love is great. We are all so happy!

47 Days To Go!

Actually, considering my track record, I'm thinking it's really more like 42 days left or something more like that. Ethan came 10 days early; Graeme joined us 5 days short of his due date. I am treasuring each day.

This past weekend was quite a treat. We enjoyed some unadulterated family time in the beautiful spring weather. On Saturday, we headed out to Chinatown in SF. My mom came with us and it's always a treat watching the surprised looks when she spits out her perfect Cantonese. On Sunday, we went out for a family brunch, picked up new baby clothes, took the boys to an Easter celebration at Bay Meadows race track where we had time to bet on one race (We are THE best parents, taking our kids out gambling instead of to church on Easter Sunday - hahahaha!), then hung out at my mom's house with my brother Manolet and his family. We also found time to look at the Saturn Outlook (no minivans for us ever, I hope!) and head out to Pacifica to have dinner with my dad and "the Manolets" again. I love non-stop weekends like these. So what if the laundry and dishes are piled up - I won't go to my grave regretting all the laundry and dishes I didn't do, you can count on that.

Today, I am clued in to how out of shape I've gotten -- my calves hurt today from all the weekend walking and it wasn't even that much! It's hard to imagine that I am the same person who ran a half-marathon when I was 2 1/2 months pregnant. Wow, I've come a long way indeed. So sad...

About the bambino: he's about 4 pounds and has passed the 17-inch mark. I think knowing that makes me feel all the more how close to the end we are getting. At least we finally have the baby names figured out (the boy name always takes longer; our girl name's been picked since we first started dating so that one is super easy).

Some random baby trivia: A Russian woman holds the record for having the most children. Between 1725 and 1765, she was pregnant 27 times and had 69 children.

Life is good. Love is good. And babies are the best way to start people, it's true.

Who ate all the Frusen Glädjé?

We've got nails! Yep, the baby's got nails covering the tips of his toes and fingers now. It's almost strange to realize that not everything just appears at the same time, that there's a timing to everything. The baby's about 3.75 pounds now (about 20% of the weight that mom's actually gained, but let's not talk about that right now) and about 16.7 inches long. He's taking up so much space that his movements are really seeming more and more like the alien from "Aliens" trying to see his way out of my tummy. So far, my guess for this kid's future occupation is acrobat/contortionist.

My sweet tooth has not abated. On Saturday, I admit it, I secretly ate the last of the Butter Pecan ice cream that Rodney showered us with. I doused it with hot fudge and ate it straight out of the carton, making sure that I finished before any of the boys strayed in my direction to see what I was up to. How demented, huh? At least no one noticed that the ice cream was gone before I had a chance to replace it with a new half gallon yesterday - hahaha! Now I just need to avoid the "what happened to all the chocolate-covered pretzels" conversation and I'll be all set...

Happy happening of the day: I won tickets to the Duran Duran concert on the drive in to work today. Show is on May 2nd so I need everyone's positive thoughts that this kid won't decide to show up before or during the show. :)

Thoughts for a Monday Morning

Not that I'm greatly eager to be done with the pregnancy or nearly ready to evict this kid from the womb just yet, but I am excited to report that there are 61 days left to "B"(irth) Day. That's under 9 weeks left. Amazing how time flies and I am relishing every moment.

My favourite pasttime during pregnancy? Belly-watching. Watching the baby shape and reshape my belly while he is twirling or kicking is both amazing and, yes, plain crazy. Seriously, I think this kid is trying to kick his way out half the time! I just love it, though - feeling this secret language of baby movements - it's like a personal show 24/7. The times when we can actually feel actual body parts pushing out, that's just pure bliss!

Graeme, who loves to look at my belly, kiss it, and talk to the baby will refuse to even put a hand on my belly if I tell him the baby is kicking. I think he's afraid of getting hurt. Hahahaha!

Some things I love about being pregnant:
* Realizing again how easy it to love someone even at the point when they're no bigger than a grain of rice.
* Allowing the belly muscles to relax from years of sucking it in. :o)
* Finally having a GOOD and valid reason why I can't clean the cat box - now I just need to pay the doctor for a note for why I can't do it the rest of the time.
* Feeling the baby move when no one else knows it's happening - you just can't help but be happy during those times; it's like a being in a secret conversation, just the two of you.
* Wearing cute maternity clothes and letting the baby bump speak for itself. YAYYYYY to flaunting the baby bump!
* Working on THE perfect baby name - Aldous Bukowski Grussing is cool, right?
* Having the best excuse to take naps in the middle of the day.
* Eating an extra (or 5) helpings of food and everyone thinks it's funny, not gross - well, they could think it's gross, I just don't care.
* Listening to the baby's heartbeat and seeing the baby via sonogram - I only wish it could be every day.
* Knowing we are going to bring in the next mini-Rodney (aka, the spawn) and looking forward to meeting him.
* Looking at baby clothes and supplies for hours on end, just planning for his arrival.
* One word - cleavage - hahahahaha!

On the other side of the coin, there are things I'm not as keen about. Not to complain because it is all so worth it, but there are just a few things... come on people, back me up here:
* Increasing brain cell/memory loss and plain old acts of dumbnification, like walking somewhere and forgetting why I'm there or telling a story and forgetting my point midstream
* Sleep deficiency. Between the multiple bathroom trips and insomnia alone, I'm lucky when I get 3 hours straight. I keep forgetting that this is nature's way of getting me prepared for the next few years of sleep deprivation.
* Hyper-clumsiness. Seriously, how many times can you drop and pick up the same pen off the floor?! Sometimes I just have to leave it there so, for anyone who's wondering why there might be random items collecting at my feet, here's the answer.
* Getting emotional and teary-eyed over silly things like dropping the pen for the 10th time. :)
* Don't even get me started on what the iron pills are doing to me!

I am feeling really great though and am lucky to have escaped all the other dregs of pregnancy one more time, yes including the morning sickness at the beginning. I think I inherited the knack for breeding from my mom - she only had 7 kids, you know.

The memory thing can be funny, though - even at this late a stage, I've found myself waking up to see this huge belly before me and being surprised for a minute because I've temporarily forgotten that I'm pregnant.

To update you on the baby, this newest Grussing is over 16 inches long now and weighs about 3.3 pounds. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's moving a lot more now, too, so he is now able to wake me in the middle of the night with his kicks and turns. His eyesight continues to improve and he will respond to light shone on my belly (direct experimentation will begin tonight). I'm also starting to experience Braxton Hicks contractions, which just makes me feel even closer to the day I will meet this new little miracle.

Grussing Guessing Game

To make the baby's arrival a little more fun, we like to play a little thing called the Grussing Guessing Game. Essentially, you log into a website (see links below) and enter your best guesses about how big this kid will be and when he/she might get here. We hope you'll all play along with us!

To participate, go to: http://www.expectnet.com/games/GrussingGuessingGame or go to http://www.blogger.com/www.ExpectNet.com and enter GrussingGuessingGame as the game name in the space indicated on the home page.

For those of you who might be interested in some helpful hints with your guessing, here are some real facts along with some bits of information you might find useful:

- Both our kids are boys so think about the odds (wink!)
- I experienced no morning sickness this time around, the same with both boys
- Ethan was born 10 days early
- Graeme was born 5 days early
- My belly is shaped more like a beach ball than a watermelon
- Both boys weighed in at around 7 pounds; one was slightly longer than the other
- Third babies may or may not come out larger than previous kids
- I love eating salty, sour, and spicy foods, but have been wanting dessert lately
- The "cork" trick says I'm having a girl (but it said that for Graeme, too, at first)
- Heart rate has been consistently over 150BPM
- When asked if we were having a girl, the Magic 8 Ball said, "Yes, definitely"
- Oh, and I have bad gas - hahahahaha!

Ah, the suspense of not knowing! Life IS wonderful! Happy Monday everyone!

Graeme's Pledge

So, when was the last time you recited the Pledge of Allegiance? You know you need a refresher course on the verbiage - admit it. Here's Graeme's version and we find it to be one of the best we've ever heard. And, no, we're not biased and I'm offended that you would even suggest that! ;)

Some current baby facts

1. Baby weighs about 2.5 pounds
2. Baby is about 14.8 inches in length
3. Baby can blink eyes that now have lashes
4. With his/her eyesight improving, the baby may may be able to see the light that filters in through the womb(at)
5. Baby kinda sorta looks like this:

This image's labels kinda crack me up. The most informative ones, in particular, are (i) the one pointing to the "eye" (because I would NEVER have distinguished that from a toe or an ear) and (ii) the one pointing to the baby's shoulder and labeling it as "fat." Um, okay... I guess there is more to babies than I ever knew!

Baby Photos

Here are the last photos of the new baby, taken last December 26th. We brought both boys to the ultrasound and it was a mixed bag, with Ethan asking a thousand questions and Graeme actually falling asleep in Rodney's arms. We were all so excited to be watching the little one, though. Ethan said that it was really hard to keep looking away and not peek when we might have seen what sex the baby is. :o)

The photos above show a leg, a face, a hand, and the full profile. You can click on the photo to see it in a larger view, of course.

84 Days and Counting Down...

Saw the doctor yesterday to check on the next Grussing spawn. Heartrate is a fast 153 and the baby was sitting upside down when I was in there. Yes, butt up in the air so you know he/she will fit right in when he's/she's finally out with the rest of us crazies. It's amazing how Dr. Beretta can feel around and tell exactly where all the body parts are. I wish I could do it so I could tell if this baby was kicking me or punching me or just giving me a shoulder heave.

For those who are interested, at this point, the average baby this age is nearly 2 pounds and about 14.4 inches long, head to toe. The baby now sleeps and wakes at regular intervals. Waking time seems to coincide with mommy's sleep times, but I digress... The baby's lungs are still immature, but would be capable of functioning - with assistance - if he/she were born now. Amazing, huh? Lately, too, I've been feeling "rhythmic movements" and just discovered that they are likely due to the baby hiccuping. Lay off the amniotic fluid, kiddo!

This Saturday marks the start of Week 29 so we are really into the third trimester now - the final stretch. Instead of going to see the OB every 4 weeks, I have graduated to going every two weeks, which is cool. I love these little milestones!

In our house, there is a split right down the middle when it comes to internal voting on the boy vs. girl question. Rodney and Ethan believe we're having a girl. Graeme and I still feel like there's a boy in there. It is so great having this as a surprise - now we can debate about it all the way til birth day. Then, when the baby is born, there will be so much excitement like there was when Graeme came out showing off his gigantic testicular parts.

We'll run a Grussing Guessing Game like we did last time just for fun so watch out for that. As for names, we are still considering DingBang if he's a boy and PomPom Anemone if she's a girl. Hahahaha!

The next ultrasound probably won't be until right before the due date (D-day = May 10) so I'll update with ultrasound photos from last Christmas as soon as I can get those scanned in. We are lazy about scanning in our neck of the woods so don't hold your breath. Hahahahaha!

By the way, Happy Heart Day everyone!

The First Note

Thanks to the Rists, I discovered a place to actually be able to blog for free - hurrah!!! We'll hopefully use this spot to update family, especially those who are not close by about all the stuff we are up to in our neck of the woods. Stay tuned...