Great Landings

Erin and I did two amazing things tonight. First we went to dinner at The Melting Pot in Cincinnati. It was the first time either one of us had ever eaten there, and the first time I had ever had eaten at a fondue restaurant. Amazing is the only word to describe it. Wow, to think dipping stuff in a pot at your table can be so yummy!

The second and even more amazing thing we did was visit baby Jackson Andrew. He clearly takes after his dad, because he was one tiny dancer. Erin and I stayed for a couple hours and during that time he never fussed or anything. Just a content, sleepy, little, angel of a baby. Of course I had to take a million pictures and you can check them out in the Jackson Andrew album on the Greatlandings photo site. It was very hard to do, but I managed to sort them down from 100+ to 57. Some things are just too cute to send to the recycle bin. What a beautiful baby!

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It’s that time of the week once again, time for some baby watch! Welcome to week #21, this week is brought to you by the letter R and the number 4. (Sorry I have been watching Sesame Street to get ready for the baby) Big news this week is that according to Erin the baby is in full aerobatic swing. Rumbling, tumbling, and jumping all over the place, or so I am told. Still nothing for me to feel, but pretty awesome that Erin can feel it moving around so often. Other then that Erin is feeling great and we are both very excited to be starting the downhill part of this trip. Only 19 more weeks to go!

In other news we had our monthly doctors appointment yesterday. All six minutes of it. The entire appointment consisted of peeing in a cup, getting weighed, and listening to the heartbeat (best part by a mile). All of that stuff took no more then six minutes, the doctor said everything was looking perfect and we were on our way home. In fact now that I think about it, we waited in the waiting room almost four times as long as our appointment was.

The final development of the week was Erin and I attempting to do the Babies R Us registry. Thinking back to how I got jipped when we did the wedding registry (Erin said I could work the gun, and then took it away from me) I was all about getting in on the action. But once we got there, things went much differently then I had planned. I did get to work the scanner gun so that was cool. But trying to figure out what some of the stuff in that store was even for, let alone pick one out of a shelf of 15, was not very easy. There were crazy amounts of stuff, and variations of stuff, on top of other stuff, and I quickly started to feel very overwhelmed with the whole thing. In the end we did get some stuff put on the registry, but Erin will have to go back with reinforcements later on. Someone who knows what half that stuff is, and if we should even register for one. In the mean time I will continue my search for something I can wrap my head around. Like a video camera, or its first car.

Here is what the baby site has to say for week #21~

Baby’s Growth and Development at 21 Weeks Pregnant

By your 21st week of pregnancy, not only have your baby’s important systems developed, but many of them now are operating, in preparation for functioning on their own after birth:

• Your baby might be about 7 inches in length, roughly the length of a carrot, by 21 weeks pregnant. She weighs almost 11 ounces.
• Your baby’s digestive system is put to work! By your 21st week of pregnancy, your baby has probably begun swallowing amniotic fluid and absorbing small amounts of sugar from it.
  • Sugars pass through her developed digestive system, giving these organs important practice.
  • These sugars only make up a tiny part of your baby’s nourishment.
  • Most of her nutrition still is delivered through your placenta and the umbilical cord.
  • Your amniotic fluid changes day to day, based on what you’ve eaten. Since your baby is swallowing the fluid, she gets a “taste” of what you’re eating!
• Your baby’s bone marrow, rather than your baby’s liver and spleen, takes over its permanent job of making blood cells.
• By your 21st week of pregnancy, your baby’s arms and legs are in proportion.
• As muscles strengthen and neurons connected to her brain continue to develop, her movements become more coordinated.

Length of a carrot this week, pretty sweet! Not sure what to think of the baby getting a “taste” of what Erin is eating. Last thing we need is a brownie and diet coke addiction right out of the womb. Can’t wait to see what next week, and a new year bring!

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Since I had not been home for Christmas in a very long time, Erin and I decided we would head up to Minnesota for the holiday this year. So we packed up the car last Friday afternoon and proceeded to head North. The drive up was pretty uneventful. The weather was nice, we spent the night after about 9 hours and finished up the next day. Erin and I took turns doing the driving so the 13 hours went pretty quick. Plus we listened to the audio book Erin picked called The 8th Confession by James Patterson. Which was an OK book, but I’m not sure I had ever listened to a chick flick before.

Once we got there I was able to introduce Erin to all sorts of fun Minnesota stuff she had never seen before like ice fishing, and snow measured in feet rather then inches. My Mom and Norm took us out for Bar Bingo and meat raffles at the local bar, and Grandma took us out to dinner at 4:00PM one night afternoon. We got to meet up with some of my friends I had not seen in a while and Erin got to go to her favorite place in Minnesota, the outlet mall. The week really seemed to fly right by. On Wednesday the snow started falling and continued off and on all the way through the rest of our stay, and our drive home to Kentucky making the trip home much slower and way more stressful. Thankfully we had a much better audio book called I, Alex Cross also by James Patterson that was picked out by me to make things go faster.

All and all the trip and Christmas with my family was really great. Even though we missed everyone here in KY/OH, I am super happy we were able to spend it in Minnesota with my family this year. Hard to beleive the next time I see my them it will be to introduce them to the baby!! We did take some pictures while we were up there, and you can check them out in the Christmas 2009 – Minnesota album on the Greatlandings Photo site.

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas! See ya~

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Hello everyone and welcome to Baby Watch for week #20, brought to you all the way from the frozen tundra of Minnesota. Erin and I are visiting my folks for Christmas and in celebration of the 20th week of Baby Watch they have decided to have a 20 inch snow storm. Awesome!

This week has been good. Erin and baby are doing great, and the baby seems to be moving all the time. Since we did the ultrasound last week we don’t have another doctors appointment till next month. But judging by the way they have been going it will not be all that exciting. Although I after seeing Erin’s Cousin Steph show us what exciting looks like this past week, I should probaby just shut up and be happy.

Here is what the baby site has to say for Week #20~

Baby’s Growth and Development at 20 Weeks Pregnant

When you’re 20 weeks pregnant, your baby is getting used to all his developing parts. Your baby is moving around and you may be able to feel it. Baby development includes:

• When you’re 20 weeks pregnant, your baby measures about 6 inches, about the length of an eggplant, and weighs about half a pound.
• Your baby’s skin thickens and develops layers under the vernix during the 20th week of pregnancy.
• His hair and nails continue to grow.
• His limbs are well developed when you’re 20 weeks pregnant.
• Your baby is moving and you can feel it. Make a note of when you felt these movements start and let your doctor know.

Eggplant! Awesome! See ya next week!

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Seven weeks early the little guy just had to be here for Christmas. Jackson Andrew was born this morning via c-section, 5 lbs 2 oz. Mom and baby are reported to be doing great! Congrats to Steph and Andy, and Happy Birthday to you Jackson!

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Hello! Hello! Hello! Welcome back to Baby Watch for week #19, and what a week it has been! First and foremost Erin and baby are doing great! Just about everyday now Erin says she can feel it moving around more and more. She is still playing it music just about every night, and I am starting to think this baby stuff is the real deal!

The best news for the week is that we got to have another ultrasound on Tuesday. We told the lady right away that we didn’t want to know the sex and she made sure we didn’t see anything we shouldn’t. Although to be honest outside of the major parts, there was no way I was going to see anything that would have given it away to me. Anyway, they showed us all sorts of cool stuff like legs, arms, head, body, spine, and ears. We also got to listen to the heartbeat again, 138 beats per minute. All and all the lady said everything was looking perfect, wonderful, and right where it needed to be. So needless to say Erin and I are both super happy about that. When it was all over we asked if she could tell what the sex was and she responded that after 31 years on the job she could see right away what it was. Funny to think we were just a couple words away from knowing if it was a boy or a girl. But we stuck to the plan and didn’t find out. There are no sealed envelopes or crazy stuff like that around. We just simply have to wait till on or about May 10th, 2010! But if you want to take a guess there is a new poll on the left side of the site where you can vote. There are also total of 10 new pictures for everyone to see. This one here is my favorite. But be sure to check out the rest on the photo site.

This is what the baby site has to say for week #19 ~

Baby’s Growth and Development at 19 Weeks Pregnant

During the weeks before, during, and after your 19th week of pregnancy, your baby’s brain develops at a phenomenal rate. Other systems continue to grow.

• Your baby now measures about 6 inches, or the length of a summer squash.
• When you’re 19 weeks pregnant, your baby’s brain develops millions of motor neurons. Neurons are nerves that help muscles in the brain communicate. This new and ongoing development means your baby can make purposeful and involuntary movements. She can suck her thumb, move her head, or make other moves that you might start to feel.
• Your baby’s hearing is even more developed when you’re 19 weeks pregnant. She probably can hear external sounds and conversation by this time, or will very soon. Your voice is the most pronounced. She can hear you talk, hum, and sing!
• Your baby’s skin is covered in a white, waxy, protective coating called vernix.
• Under the vernix, the fine hair called lanugo continues to cover her skin.
• By your 19th week of pregnancy, your baby’s kidneys function. Her urine is excreted into your amniotic sac, the bag of fluid in your uterus that contains your baby and amniotic fluid. Your placenta then removes the waste.

I love it that we are now up to the size of a Summer Squash, even though I have no idea what a summer squash is. As for that other stuff on the list I can confirm that the baby was making all sorts of movements, during the ultrasound we seen it wave and wiggle all over the place. I can also tell you that the kidneys are in fact functioning because the lady pointed out the bladder out to us! What an amazing week! Bring on week #20!!




PS – We were not the only ones who had an eventful baby week this week. If anyone has not spoke with Steph or Andy in the last few days it might be a good time to check in as well as have a good thought for them. I think they could use some love and support right now.

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