What Kind of Parents Will We Be?

In our pre-natal yoga class the other night, our yoga instructor asked us to go around and introduce ourselves and address a specific question - what do we plan to take from our parents and use when raising our baby?

Both Ed and I said, that we wanted to love our baby, but we also wanted to take Ed Jr. with us wherever we go and have fun with him.

The other parents had great plans for their babies too, but of course I liked ours the best.

*Pronto!*

I know I have been spending more time rambling on and on about Ed Jr. and not so much time dedicated to registering for baby items - as is the promise of the premise of this blog.

So, here is something we would like.

Skip Hop Canvas Pronto.



If you buy it for us - please comment (you can comment anonymously) in the comments link below so that no one else gets us the same thing.

Thank you all so much for reading this site and thinking about us.

Ed Jr.

Ed Jr. is learning to breathe and taking practicing breaths. This means he gets the hiccups frequently. Right now he has the hiccups and bad! It is so strange to have your whole belly jerk but know that you have no ownership over the movements.

Every morning as I sit and drink my coffee, he moves around and kicks my ribs. It is a very special time of the day for me. I really look forward to it. I sit quietly, he stretches out, I read the on-line news, we listen to NPR, we enjoy breakfast and I mentally prepare for the day. I wonder if he looks forward to our morning ritual? The rest of the day usually flies by and I am busy busy busy, noticing only his strongest kicks or punches, but it is the morning time where I can really feel him move in my belly, I can really feel how big he is, his feet, his little butt and his hands. I like to think about what he looks like in there. I am positive that he is quite handsome.

I hope that after he is born, we can enjoy our private breakfast time together.

*More Registry Items*

According to recent moms the finest gift their friends can give them is delivering food right after the baby is born.

I would like to register for some yummy meals from my friends for us to eat after the baby is born. So many of my friends are such amazing cooks!

Maybe you could toss in a couple of babysitting coupons, or take Miles and Selma for a walk coupons.

Child's Pose

My favorite yoga pose right now is child's pose supported with a bolster. As a bonus, dad's are supposed to push down on your sacrum while in the pose to relieve pressure on the lower back. I call it heavenly.

Last night, Ed helped me out in this pose, so I returned the favor. He loved it too.

Maybe practicing our labor yoga poses will be pretty fun afterall, huh papa?

Notre Dame

According to FIL Ed Jr. is going to be playing football for the Fighting Irish. Here are his little baby Notre Dame clothes to prove it.


FIL described S. Bend, IN as a little corner of paradise.

Ed Jr.'s Little Library

Thanks to MIL and FIL - Ed Jr. has a great start to his library. Thank you!

SO there are a bunch of books we don't need to register for anymore.

Clifford The Big Red Dog
Clifford The Small Red Puppy
Clifford's Family
The Complete Adventures of Curious George
Where the Wild Things Are
The Giving Tree
The Runaway Bunny
Richard Scarry's A Day at ...
Pat the Bunny (Touch and F...
Best Word Book Ever! (Gian...
Richard Scarry's Best Moth...
Cars and Trucks and Things...
Busy, Busy Town (Giant Lit...
Richard Scarry's A Day at ...
Richard Scarry's Animal Nu...
Happy Birthday to You! (Cl...
My Book About Me
Richard Scarry's What Do P...
Richard Scarry's Please an...
Richard Scarry's Best Firs...
Richard Scarry's Bedtime S...
Richard Scarry's Cars and ...
Richard Scarry's Longest B...
Goodnight Moon
Guess How Much I Love You

30 Weeks

We are 30 weeks along. That means in 6 weeks Ed Jr. will be fully cooked. In 10 weeks he should be coming out. In 11 weeks if he doesn't come out on his own, they will go in and get him, which I definately do not want. I want him to come into this world on his own time.

Check out the big brain on Ed Jr. at 30 weeks.

You may notice that not only is my belly bigger, but my hair seems quite dark. Long story short, my hairdresser interprets highlights and lowlights as yellow and orange. They were awful. Thank heavens for my step-mom who spent her Friday night fixing my clown hair. I am now an official brunette. I like to call the color of my hair "chocolate lab" in honor of my baby girl Selma.

Some people say that you shouldn't dye your hair while pregnant, I guess I should have listened to them. I just wanted some nice sunny blonde hair for our cruise, but now, I look more like Wednesday Adams or Betty Boop.

Toy Box

For the baby - my dad is building Ed Jr. a toy box. He already needs one - thanks to all of the cute toys we have received from Josh and Amy.

Yesterday he called to find out what kind of finish we wanted on the toy box, if we had a specific non-toxic finish in mind. I was a little confused by this. I told him whatever finish he wanted to use was fine with me because I wasn't going to be around the toy box during the application or the drying of the finish on the toy box. No he explained, he wanted to make sure that Ed Jr. wasn't poisoned when he "chewed on the toy box".

I explained to him that I truly hoped that Ed and I could provide Ed Jr. with some more appropriate things to chew on besides his toy box, and if not, we weren't going to be very good parents. I started to wonder if my dad thought I was giving birth to a puppy.

He went on to explain that the reason he was concerned is because kids chew on window sills to eat lead paint. I told him, that no, kids peel paint off of walls and eat the lead paint and they eat it because it is sweet. OH - he said. I told him to choose a stain and finish for the toy box that tasted sour and we were probably going to be okay. I told him that he should go to the hardware store and ask for the worse tasting stain and finish. Then we laughed.

Pre-Natal Yoga

I absolutely love my pre-natal yoga class. Sometimes I even go to an extra class during the week. No matter how crabby and awful I feel before the class, afterwards, I feel like I have a new lease on life.

Today - Ed gets to go with me. It is a special moms and dads pre-natal yoga class. It will be a much different take on labor and delivery than the classes from the hospital. Judy, the class instructor focus on what dad can do to help mom be comfortable during labor. She claims that it is a huge eye opener for most first time dads. She also says that most dads feel exhausted after labor because they have to work so hard.

I guess the days of dad's pacing the halls waiting to hear the baby cry are over. I think that Ed and I are going to try the Bradley Method of giving birth. Sadly, there are no classes near us, but it will be a version we teach ourselves from book research. The bonus of the Bradley Method is that it is husband coached childbirth - that means Ed is in charge, he is the boss. Truly a role he is always meant to play.

I wish I could take a camera into the class to post photos of Ed doing yoga - but I think I would get into some trouble for that. I can promise you this, he will be super cute.

The Business of Being Born

Birth: it’s a miracle. A rite of passage. A natural part of life. But more than anything, birth is a business. Compelled to find answers after a disappointing birth experience with her first child, actress Ricki Lake recruits filmmaker Abby Epstein to examine and question the way American women have babies.
The film interlaces intimate birth stories with surprising historical, political and scientific insights and shocking statistics about the current maternity care system. When director Epstein discovers she is pregnant during the making of the film, the journey becomes even more personal.
Should most births be viewed as a natural life process, or should every delivery be treated as a potentially catastrophic medical emergency?


February 1, 2008 7:00pm(Q & A Following)
HELENA HIGH SCHOOL LITTLE THEATER
1300 Billings AvenueHelena, MT
$10 / pregnant women admitted free
Networking w/ local childbirth professionals, refreshments 6:00pm
For info email:icanofhelena@gmail.com

I GET IN FREE!

Yesterday Mr. ADD OB told us that many women request to be induced early 37 - 39 weeks so that they can have their babies during the week so that they can ensure that they can have him deliver the babies. It blew my mind! I always looked at birth as trying to have it as naturally as possible with medical intervention in cases of emergency. But then I was raised by hippies (love you mom and dad). I know this movie is going to point the finger at Dr.s and hospitals, but I was told recently by a guy that he and his wife were induced at 39 weeks so that they could be sure to have their baby before the first of the year to have it on last year's insurance deductible and get the child tax rebate. Many families want to control when the baby comes out and how it comes out. I mean it is not for me, and I am definitely not judging, I am just a little shocked.

I am sure I will be more shocked after the movie.

Childbirth in one of the "Last Best Places"?

I stink at e-Bay

So I have been trying to get a diaper bag off of e-Bay and I can't win for losing. I am not an e-Bayer, the only things I have ever got off of e-Bay were tickets to Modest Mouse in Bozeman last summer and I had to have Jenkins get them for me. She is good at e-Bay. She is a winner. I am a e-Bay loser.

The first thing I bid on - I was winning for at least 1 hour - then I realized it was the wrong item. I panicked and e-mailed the seller about backing out of the sale as e-Bay will allow, but all I got back was a snippy response about rescinding a bid. Thankfully I got outbid at the last second. PHEW!

The second thing I bid on - the right item this time - was snapped up in the last seconds, while I was eating dinner, for $0.50 more than my bid.

Either I have to pay full price or just get Jenkins, computer goddess, to buy the stuff for me. Anyway, here is the bag that has been eluding me. . . Skip Hop Duo. It is cool because it attaches to the stroller with these quick shuttle clips. I just can't bring myself to pay $54 for a diaper bag!

I am good at Craigslist though - I got a ton of baby clothes from a woman in Missoula! I even talked her down in price!

Baby Class

Last night was our first baby class. It was called You and Your Baby, but I will call it, How to Clean Your Baby. Along with the other tidbits we picked up, we spent most of the class learning about how to give the baby a sponge bath. The worst part was the detailed discussion about how to care for the circumcision site. Oh lord. Thank god my mom will be staying with us after Ed Jr. is born - she can deal with that part! HA!

Ed got busted for passing off the baby the wrong way. Our baby doll only had one arm. Poor little girl! The guy in our group pointed out that it will save us money on gloves.

The other thing I realized is that there are SO many people in Helena having babies now, the class was packed. We are in some good company, and some very interesting company.

To end on a high note we watched a video on shaken baby syndrome. So that was nice. . . All I can say is please don't shake Ed Jr. Save it for Selma.

Midwife Please

Next time (IF THERE IS A NEXT TIME, MOM) I am skipping the OB and going for a midwife. We had an appointment with Mr. ADD OB today and discussed the 800 things that can go wrong with the labor. Instead of making me feel good about the process now I will just spend the next three months worrying about the cord prolapsing or the fetal heartrate.

MLK Day

Both of us had intentions to go into work today. It is, at best, 3 below zero and we wanted to get what furniture we had into the nursery and unpack some of the many baby items we have.

We have done what we can with what we have.

Here are some more photos. Happy MLK Day.

The Nursery is DONE

Well the painting at least. We just need to move the furniture in and have a baby to put in there.

Ed finished it on Saturday - it looks amazing. Thanks to Doo for helping put up the chair rail.

I will post more photos when we get the furniture in there - for now it is empty and clean.
All of papa's long hours of hard work really paid off. He did an amazing job!

"You Are SO Huge"

It seems like people think this is a compliment when you are pregnant. You try not to be self conscious about the amount of weight that you gain while pregnant, but when people keep bringing it up. . . it gets kind of hard.

The funniest part is that it is people that are uh-um bigger that seem to exclaim LOUDLY how HUGE I am. The bad person in me wants to say - "well, I guess that makes two of us." But I just say "Thanks". I guess being pregnant authorizes people to comment on your weight as if it was their business.

I know that I am getting big. After all, I am 29 weeks pregnant.





Ed Jr. is a big boy. 17 inches long and 3 pounds. Although, I bet he is a little bigger than the average baby.

FIL

I got in a little trouble for mentioning that MIL was coming all of the way from Florida for the baby shower without mentioning that FIL is coming all of the way with her. You have no idea how much flying and how many airports are involved in their upcoming trip to Montana - they are troopers! FIL got the shaft in the previous post, so here is a special tribute to FIL, who is a wonderful grandpa.

FIL went maternity shopping for me, how many of you can say that your father-in-law went shopping for and bought you maternity clothes? I am guessing none. Trust me when I say I have the best father-in-law on the planet. MIL isn't half bad either.

FIL always cracks us up. In fact last night, we had a very hilarious conversation about whether Ed Jr. is going to be a football player when he grows up. FIL assured me that in fact he was.

We are very much looking forward to going on a Caribbean cruise with MIL and FIL next month. Almost 1o days hanging out having fun in the sun! Can't wait!

XOXO MIL and FIL Thank you so much for all of the baby stuff so far - you are so generous!

The Greatest Debate

The debate is on. No, this isn't the cloth versus disposable debate. It is much bigger than all that.

Ed Jr. - Denver Broncos fan or Chicago Bears fan? This debate started long before there was an official bun in the oven.

Any of you who are remotely familiar with us understand that Ed Jr.'s mom is a Denver fan and his dad is a Bears fan. It is what we like to refer to as a mixed marriage. Most of the time we can live in NFL harmony because the teams rarely play eachother and wouldn't ever face eachother in the post-season unless they meet in the Superbowl. The colors are the same and both team mascots are very cool.

I know that Ed Jr. will make up his own mind, but until then, I plan to dress him up in as much Denver Bronco's gear I can get my hands on.

Look how cute it all is! Plus since they stunk this year, it is all cheap!

I have two good friends and an uncle who are Denver Superfans, so I implore you, please help me raise this baby right - a 100% Denver Bronco's superfan. I love the Denver Broncos so much I would actually name my baby Ed McCaffery Coleman, or even better, John Elway Coleman. Ed said something about being over his dead body.

Really, if he picks either team in the long run, I will be happy, I like the Bears. As long as he doesn't grow up to be a Raiders or a Dallas fan, I will still love him. It would sort of be like Alex P. Keaton in Family Ties, but much much worse.

While I type this, Green Bay and New York are duking it out for the NFC Championship. It is very stressful. We are of course rooting for Green Bay, I dont' know anyone who likes Eli Manning - what a joke.

Go Brett Favre!

*G-Diapers*

Last summer I went to my good friend's wedding in Portland I met this great woman during the pre-wedding Bocci tournament, her husband is a professional surfer and she worked for a company she described as completely awesome, G-Diapers.

She described what I thought was revolutionary - a flushable diaper. Truthfully, the outside of the diaper is reuseable, but the inside is flushable. It is the perfect compromise in a family that is 100% pro-cloth vs. 100% pro-disposable. I don't think we are going to be flushing the inserts due to my fear of our plumbing integrity - but even if you toss the inserts, the biodegrade in 50 - 150 days. This is infinitely better for the environment than the 500 years it takes for a disposable diaper to biodegrade in a landfill.

We could also compost the wet ones for our garden. . . probably not, but it is a nice idea.

Oh, I forgot to mention, they are VERY cute. According to their website, they even sell them at the Real Food Store in Helena. I must say a very pleasant surprise. I will need to see it with my own eyes.

The website recommends that you have 4-6 g-pants on hand. We would love one starter kit that contains two g-diapers and 10 flushable refills. We would also like two goodwill green in size small some packs of small flushable refills.

It is funny because the day I was having the conversation with that woman in Portland, I was pregnant, but I had no idea. Isn't it funny how life is?

The Thing About Target

I am going to apologize in advance about the Target registry. There isn't ANYTHING in the Helena Target for babies - okay, there is some stuff, but since we didn't want to cover the babies room in baseballs or Winne The Pooh, we registered for stuff that is mostly available on-line.

Target online has awesome baby stuff.

Again - sorry.

*Layette - What the WHAT?*

Layette - fancy term for clothing and bath necessities.

Yes, I had to look it up.

This is the exact kind of thing that is perfect as used present. I mean the baby wears the onsey for 20 minutes spits up on it, or has a diaper blow out, you change it. Soon he has grown out of it. Why not deny the baby money machine and reuse clothing that is still perfectly good?

Here is what is on the layette list from my helpful preggy magazines.

wash cloths 4-6

bodysuits 4-6

caps 1-2

gowns/sleep sacks 3-5

hooded towel 1-2

long pants 4-5

socks or booties 4-6

sweater 1-2

t-shirts 4-6 short and long sleeved

If you are out and about at garage sales or used clothing stores, grab some, cheap and good for the environment. Ed Jr. will thank you - hopefully it won't involve spit up.

Killer 20 Weeks

Up until you have your first ultrasound - usually around 20 weeks - you are terrified that there could be something horribly wrong with your baby. You PRAY that there is a spine, a brain, a skull, two legs, two arms, a face, etc.

We had our ultrasound at 20 weeks, and I have never seen a more beautiful spine, skull and brain. People ask you about whether it is a boy or girl and I kept saying - "YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN HIS SPINE!" It was so amazing it brought tears to my eyes.

Isn't he beautiful?

Jalapeno

When we decided to give this whole baby thing a try, we had no idea it would happen so quickly, honestly, we both figured that it would be months of trying before it stuck. Not so much, it essentially happened immediately. There wasn't any long discussions of the pros and cons. There wasn't any real decision, there was just a "let's throw caution to the wind" and see what happens.

It was July and we were knee deep in building a deck. This deck was no small event, it was designed and built entirely by us, with some help from the Doo. Neither of us being overly constructionally inclined, this deck was a big deal, and it was hot, over 100 most days and we gave up at least three weekends to labor in the sun. No one would have thought that the two of us could have completed a project like this without tearing each other apart, just the opposite, we were an awesome deck building team, then I got sick. I started to feel terrible, I thought it was the heat or the flu, but it turns out, there was a little jalapeno in there taking all I had.

Ed finished the deck mostly on his own, and it is beautiful, at least to us it is.

On a hot August evening after Ed's golf league and after I helped Allyson pack her apartment, we decided to give a pregnancy test a try. I was about 8 days late and we had a big weekend of partying coming up. It was about 10 PM and I made Ed go in to Safeway to get the pregnancy test. He was in there so long, I was scared that he got cold feet and snuck out the back door. No, he was just in line with a bunch of drunks and old lades who insisted on correct change. The first test said "Pregnant" as clear as day within 30 seconds of exposure. It was supposed to take 3-5 minutes. I screamed, Ed came running in from outside of the bathroom door where he had been posted. I think we hugged, it is all such a blur. We were in such a shock, the shock of our lifetimes.

We had always joked that we would someday have a little Jalapeno, now it was very real. I went to the doctor to take another pregnancy test - the third one. For sure there was a baby in my belly.

It didn't take us long to start telling certain friends - and some friends, ANGELA, figured it out on her own.

We were going to be parents.

(me 4 weeks pregnant - what? you can't tell?)

Writing about it now seems very surreal. I can't put into words the feelings and emotions that had overwhelmed us at first, and how far away all of that seems right now. I can tell you this, I am pretty sure we felt like we were the first people on the planet to be pregnant and boy was it scary. We made a promise to each other to work on keeping our marriage good throughout this baby thing and I hope that we can keep that promise. So far so good. . .

*Car Seat Accessories*

It is called a Snuzzler! Can you get any cuter?



Auto Mirror.


Here is the thing. I wish we could get all of this stuff from locally owned stores - or at least local stores so you could feel, smell and play with this stuff before you ask for it, but we live in Helena and apparently I am the ONLY one in this city that has a baby in the belly, because it is a sad state when trying to shop for maternity clothes, baby gear, baby clothes.

28 Weeks Pregnant!

Today is the first day of our third trimester. That means in about 3 months Ed Jr. will be here! We are 28 weeks pregnant. I think I can feel his little butt on the right lower side of my belly. Sometimes he kicks so hard it jerks my whole body - I worry if he shifts his weight I might fall over. He is going to be a big boy. At our 20 week ultrasound they told us he is about 11 days bigger than his due date.

I can not believe how fast the other two trimesters went by. If you ask Ed, I am sure he will say it has already been a lifetime. It still seems to me like just yesterday, Ed Jr. was "Peachy Coleman".

Doesn't it kind of look like I am smuggling a watermelon under my shirt?

The Nursery Part 2

I wanted to paint the nursery a sunny orange/yellow. Ed voted green. He won.

Ed has been working for several weeks now on the paint job. It is one of the "perks" of being pregnant, I shouldn't paint.

The painting is 95% complete. What is left is painting the chair rail, installing it and painting the closet.

Didn't the proud papa do a great job?

The Nursery

This is Ed Jr.'s room before Ed's superb paint job. Before it was a pending nursery, it was our spare bedroom. I hope Ed Jr. likes it as much as Allyson did.

*Stroller Accessories*

To go with the totally awesome BOB stroller, there are some very cute accessories.

Consider us "registered"!

Kiddopotamus Cushy Straps Blue Cat.

Woobee Water Resistant Plush Blanket in Sky/Chocolate.

Save the Date

Put this on your calender, March 15, 2008. The baby shower!

The Kims and Abby are throwing me a party. Hope to see you in Helena that weekend! MIL is coming to town all the way from Florida!

*Baby Sling - Getting Fancy Now*

Like I said - anything beyond the basics is just getting fancy.

I love the idea of the sling. The infant Ed Jr. can lie down in it while being close to me, and as the baby grows, he can sit up, and then it can be used to support a big baby on my hip. I really like the Sprout Pouch Baby Slings, one they are made in Montana (yay) and two, they are very fashionable.

I am fond of The Rebecca and think I need the large.

There is a great little video to watch to see how the sling works.

*Books!*

I was surprised to see none of the "how to register for your baby" contain books. Reading is so very important to childhood development and we plan to read to Ed Jr. just about every night - so please, if you will, buy us books. Which ever ones you want, your favorite from childhood, or a new one that just looks cute. We'll love them all!

Oh and Ed really wants our own copy of Everyone Poops and the Gas We Pass.

*The Simple Stuff*

This whole baby registry thing is very new to us. I followed some of the guidelines in my pregnancy magazines for the minimalist's list of baby stuff. As much as we try to be minimalists. . . ha!

1. Baby bed - got one used from our friends (Thanks John and Rachel!) Also got a co-sleeper from MIL and FIL who are totally awesome.

2. Stroller - got one from Jr. and Chris - huge thanks. It is one of those awesome BOB strollers so we can take Ed Jr. hiking in the hills around Helena.

3. Car seat - got one that baby Faith used when she was tiny. Thank you Ian and Heather for keeping your nephew safe and sound while in the car!

4. Diapers. Now this is a touchy subject in our house. I want to do all cloth diapers, Ed wants nothing to do with it. We have reached a compromise and that is when Ed Jr. is at home, he gets cloth. When we go somewhere, we can use disposables. Then there is the big question - which KIND of cloth diapers to get. Stay tuned.

5. Feeding necessities - thanks to my anatomy baby Ed will be fed for quite a while. Heather is lending me her breast pump and we will pick up some bottles - any advice on good ones?

6. Carrier - we got a snuggli from John and Rachel, but I still think I want a sling. Any suggestions?

7. Health Care Kit - registered for one from Target. Search for Ed or Autumn Coleman.

8. Baby bathtub - on the Target registry.

9. Changing Pad - on the Target registry.

10. Layette - fancy term for clothing and bath accessories. Some of this is on the Target registry, some of it (hopefully) will come from good local used clothing stores.

Anything beyond this list is just getting fancy!