41 Weeks + 2 Days . . . . AAAAnd Counting!

No new kids on the Fellows block yet ;)  Though the past few days have brought new, more noticeable contractions.  They are only practice contractions, as it seems I'll have 4 or 5 and then they'll disappear!  We even went for a walk one day in the midst of getting excited over several in a row - and we think we scared them off.  Ah well - in this case, different is good because it means my body is getting ready to PUSH THIS BABY OUT ALREADY. 
The rest of our week last week with the Steeves was awesome.  Thursday the fam headed over to Skaneateles for a day of exploration and even a wine tasting or two while Jess and I got some things done around the house.  Jesse also got to attend his new weekly golf league game - he's a permanent "sub" in a 9-hole league for the guys who have to miss.  It's nice because he gets to practice and compete a bit, meet some new faces, and - as a sub - it's free!
We all reconvened later that night for a scrumptious meal - I can't remember exactly what we had but I'm pretty sure it involved fresh corn on the cob (we've eaten so much COTC this past week! Love the summertime foods . . . )  and I'm POSITIVE it was fantastic.  Friday was Liz and Nally's last day with us up in the Cuse but Jess and I also had an appt for a 40 + Week sonogram and another non-stress test.  Both went swimmingly (we got to see baby's face all squished and looking out at us!) and we were pleasantly surprised to find that the Aunties had NOT left yet as planned by the time we returned home!  I would say it was 35% the rainy downpour that prevented them from leaving and 65% the prospect of combing through Boom Babies - one of their favorite clothing boutiques that happens to be only 2 blocks away from our house ;)  We had a late lunch at Alto Cincos across the street (I really REALLY tried to branch out in my lunch selection - they've updated their menu with some goodies recently - BUUT what can I say, the belly wanted a spinach quesadilla!)  We eventually released our grip on the girlies and they headed back to Jersey - in order to drive down to Maryland for work the next morning!  Lots of driving . . .
Saturday morning we introduced Lois and Earle to the Regional Market!  We went a little nuts in the spirit of the week and splurged on peanut brittle, three kinds of homemade pesto, a silver mound plant, baby apricots, more COTC, sunglasses, golf balls, and - Earle's favorite of the day - a bag of ripe peaches.  It was great to get to walk around and there seemed to be even more perennials available than usual.  By the end, however, the preggers was a bit pooped from the heat and we withdrew to the air conditioned safety of the Market Diner for brunch.  Once revived with many glasses of water(and a bowl of oatmeal, corned beef hash on the side, thank you very much) we decided to continue to hide from the heat and we headed across the street to the mall to see "Inception" - great choice!  It had a lot of fun actors in it and the twists and turns of the plot kept us debating the finer points with each other the rest of the weekend.  That is definitely a movie that I will have to see again in order to work out some of those bits for myself . . .
Sunday was Lois and Earle's last day before  heading home - we kept things pretty low-key: more knitting, Firefly episodes, and newspaper reading.  We had a farewell lunch at Little Thai - where I had to keep an eye on my food in order to stop Jesse from surreptitiously sneaking hot sauce into my food - a little anxious much to get things goin??  We were sad to send the Grandparents home without getting to meet Baby SheGlass but they gave us kisses and kept stiff upper lips for the ride home!  It was a fun, fun week - and though we would have loved to meet baby, we know she'll be here - one way or another - soon! 
Thanks for all your good wishes everyone!  We can't promise to keep you all in the loop THE MINUTE she arrives, but you'll probably get the news along somebody's grapevine and I'm sure we'll be crowing it to the world once we're settled back home for a bit :)  In the meantime, you stay classy.

Still Cookin . . .

Well, Baby SheGlass must be pretty comfy in there because we are officially at Due Date + 3 days!!  This little girl has made a fool of me - for the first, but certainly not the last time - as some of y'all may remember me blithely throwing about a "oh she's due on the 19th but I think she's going to come sooner."  Ah well - I did hang out in Lois' belly for a solid 2 weeks after MY due date - let's hope Rainy doesn't follow suit and only needs a COUPLE extra days before making her grand entrance :)
In the meantime, we've been having an awesome week with the Steeves Fam here in the 'Cuse.  We've alternated between decadent laziness and bouts of extreme productivity - as you will see! 
Saturday night was actually Big Earle's Bday so we trooped out to a fun italian Syracuse hotspot - Delmonico's - for a celebratory start to their visit.  The place is covered with murals of famous Italians with specific rooms/nooks dedicated to The Soprano's, Dean Martin, sports figures - you get the idea.  The atmosphere is relaxed, the portions are huge, and the food is comfy, comfy delicious.  I branched out from their amazing cheese raviolis in marinara sauce in order to try a chicken proscuitto dish with penne pasta and vegetables - success!  The big hit of the night, however, was the "Chicken Sinatra" ordered by both Jesse and Lois - their gi-normous portions ended up as leftovers feeding all 6 of us the next night!
Sunday was a pretty lazy day - I seem to alternate between days of super energy and days where I'm due for a nap by 10:30am.  Sunday being a nap day, we stuck close to home, passed around the cocktails (babytini's for me!), and dug into the Box O' Chick Flicks.  To get the blood movin' and stretch our legs a bit, we all headed over to one of the nearby golf courses for some drivin' and puttin'!  Had this golf outing been a post all unto itself, I would have named it "Putting in Polkadots" - as you can see, Miss Tiz brings a touch of glamor to any situation!  I refrained from swinging any drivers, but I did team up with Jess for a putting game against the formidable teams of GLo and E-Diddy and the Super Aunties :)   

Monday was Baby's official due date - which came and went without the slightest signs of early labor!!  Instead, we had a visit from Cousin Margaret on her way back to Rochester.  After a fresh, summertime lunch of cooked crab, avocado, celery, tomato, and basil (YUM!) we all got to work washing windows and vacuuming.  I say "all" meaning that I sat on my bouncy ball and supervised the goings-on.  We ended the night with a viewing of Pride and Prejudice (BBC version OF COURSE) and ALMOST convinced Miss Margaret to stay over for the night.  We did eventually release her - reluctantly! 

Tuesday morning came - still no sign of Baby!  The 20th was, however, the 23rd anniversary of the birth of Miss Nally, so we celebrated in style - starting off with banana, blueberry, chocolate chip pancakes with blueberry compote for brunch!  What else could logically follow but manicures and pedicures for the ladies - of course!  The boys played 9 holes over at Erie Village and we all met up back at the house in order to freshen up before . . . . Dinosaur BBQ!!!  Even on a Tuesday night the place was PACKED.  We lounged for a while at the bar while waiting for a table to open up - me with my water, everyone else with a pitcher of Sammy A Summer Ale, Lois with her knitting - Faith would have been so proud! 

Our wait was well rewarded by the bountiful table full of brisket, pulled pork, mojito chicken, ribs, ribs, oh and more ribs not to mention our variety of lovely side dishes.  I unfortunately pooped out a bit early so we didn't stay for karaoke, but now we're glad to know it's there on Tuesday nights! 

Wednesday was hot and humid, so after a morning trip to the baby doctor ("you could go any day now"), the ladies headed over to the mall for a level, air-conditioned, bench-studded environ where the pregnant lady could get in her daily walk :)  We interspersed walking with a post-partum clothes buying extravaganza, new running shoes for Tiz (hmmm ya think 10 year old sneakers might need a bit of an upgrade??), and a glorious visit to Cold Stone Creamery.  The glut of icecream ingested inspired us to complete a few uninterrupted laps around the mall's entire upper level before heading home to rejoin the boys - who had been BUSY! 
Our neighbors across the street - Kevin and Sheilah - have been soo good to us ever since we moved into the House at Fellows.  Kevin has also specifically helped Jess with a couple of house renovation projects, so Jesse was delighted when they asked if he would put is burgeoning gardening enthusiasm/skills into creating a perennial bed along the front of their house.  Jesse had found a good bulk perennial connection out in Radisson, NY so after making a varied selection, Jesse and Daddy Steeves set to work designing a bed, planting, feeding, watering, and mulching!  They worked all day and were able to get the entire front bed done - it looks amazing and next year it will look even better!  K and S were delighted with the results and we were happy to be able to give back a bit of the neighborliness they've extended our way over the past year :)

Dinner that night consisted of - thank goodness - leftovers!  We're working on getting the fridge emptied out a bit . . .
Despite our Blueberry Girl keeping us in suspense, we've had a wonderful week so far.  We've got Liz and Nally til tomorrow before they are called back to the real estate world (I SUPPOSE making money needs to be a BIT of a priority after a full week of playing) and Earle and Lois are able to stay til Sunday.  We're going to do our best to encourage a baby arrival before then, but apparently someone has decided that that is not up to me ;)  Love to you all!  We'll post about the rest of the week and stay in touch with hopefully soon news of Baby's arrival!

39 Weeks + 1 Day = FALSE Alarm!

A little excitement this morning over at the House at Fellows - just to clarify, NO BABY YET.  This morning we THOUGHT it was possible that my water had broken and with our baby doctor drilling us to call call call if we thought that might have happened, we took a little trip to the 5th Floor, Labor and Delivery to get checked out.  I think we did well for our first "practice run" of heading off to possibly birth our firstborn :)  I finished my breakfast, Jesse brought in the recycling bins and clipped his fingernails, and we both calmly gathered our bag, snacks, and baby seat!  At triage for Labor and Delivery (we should have known this baby wasn't ready to be born yet - The Birth Place was full with birthing mommas already!) they checked for the presence of amniotic fluid 3 different ways - all of which were negative (aka waters still unbroken!).  Then, since they had me hooked up to a fetal monitor anyway, they wanted a non-stress test where they monitor baby's heartbeat for 20 minutes just to see the pattern.  It took a little longer than 20 minutes because baby was being a bit squirrely and kept shimmying out of the sensor's range.  Eventually we were free to go - hopefully only to return when I am actually IN labor :)  So yes, that is our little adventure for the day.  No baby yet, but I did get some chocolate chip pancakes from Sugar Pearl out of the deal on our way back towards home :)

P.S. In case you were wondering, "How can you THINK you're water has broken - isn't it some sort of reenactment of the Great Flood??"  Well folks, apparently the dramatic water breaking on some strangers shoes on a public sidewalk happens more often in the movies than in real life.  It usually happens at home, at night, or even more commonly actually during labor at the hospital.  And when it happens - to get a bit graphic - it can be a gush or even a trickle.  Hence, the better safe than sorry false alarm today :)

39 Weeks (aka Due Date minus 1 week!)

The baby clock is ticking down over at the House at Fellows.  Our "official" due date is July 19th - but we'll see when this little girl actually decides to grace us with her presence!  I've been gettin feelings like she'll come sooner than that, buuuuutt this IS my first time to the circus so what do I know? ;)  She may even take a page out of her momma's book and show up LATE (though I hope not!). 

Happily we are feeling pretty prepared (or as prepared as you can be for a momentous change you've had no previous experience with whatsoever!) for Rainy's arrival - we've got clothes and diapers washed, folded, and tucked away in the appropriate pieces of baby furniture; I assembled (with a little muscle power from Jess) TWO pieces of baby container equipment - one swing, one bouncer - to be strategically placed throughout the house; our new glider and ottoman are nestled up in our bedroom near the bassinet; our whoah-nelly-my-water-just-broke-let's-head-over-to-the-baby-birthing-place-overnight-bag is 95% packed (the icepops will remain in the freezer and hopefully not be forgotten before we head over!); AAANNNDDD . . . . the sunporch is done! 

You can see a short video of the results here: (don't worry, it's only sideways for the first few moments!)  Now we're just on the hunt for a small pub table and chairs - CraigsList here we come!

By the by, if you are ever packing some version of the aforementioned overnight bag, here is what is inside ours:

• clothes for me
• toiletries (including my trusty denture cleaner and CHAPSTICK)
• snacks
• whole grain cheddar goldfish
• apple sauce
• small bags of trail mix
• 6-pack of V8

• massager tool and tennis ball
• 'The Valkyries' by Paulo Coelho (one of my favorite books, sure to relax)
• "Blueberry Girl" by Neil Gaiman ( for baby!)
• clothes, mittens, hats, diapers, and a "swaddle me" for baby

As I look over this list, it strikes me that Jess may want to pack at least a change of shirt and undies for this extravaganza :)  We also do need to include the camera in this mix.  Anyone have any other suggestions for items to include?  Don't worry about the weight - I'll make Jesse carry it :)

38++ Weeks

Just wanted to take a minute to give thanks for the break in the heat up here in the 'Cuse.  While having our bedroom air conditioned has been like manna from Heaven, being cooped up in one room for days on end was starting to wear me down a bit.  Yesterday I was able to go for a walk in the afternoon for some vitamin D and then Jess and I took a stroll down to our corner convenience store - Sabastino's - where they are now selling soft serve - WITH SPRINKLES!  I can't walk very far these days as it is (without having to make a pit stop/rehydrate) so it was a very sweet little walk down to the corner and back.  The clouds were rolling in and it was a good thing we brought a big golf umbrella because just as we stepped back onto Fellows the sky cracked open upon us!  Nice to be safe and dry, licking ice cream cones, watching the storm develop from our lush front porch . . . Today is even cooler so I was able to go for a bit of a longer walk just now - thank you thank you for these walks!  I get to sniff the flowers, clear my head a bit, get a bit of exercise - all good stuff. 

Now that my ode to neighborhood walking is completed, what have we been up to for the past week?  Jess has been plugging away at the sun porch windows.  As we speak, all the weights and windows and bits of wood and paneling have been put back into place - today the focus is any last scraping, caulking, painting the trim.  Once that is done we can give the windows a quick paint touch up (they got a bit grimy/fingerprinty in the replacement process) and the glass a good cleaning.

After last week's pedicure was so lovely (Bday present from Jess - wanted to use it when I was UBER-pregnant, which is right about now) I decided to treat myself to a manicure and a haircut on Tuesday!  Throw in a shower earlier that morning and it was a BIG day for Caitlin's personal grooming ;)  You can see some pics of that decadence here  . . . also pics of me in the kidde pool staying cool on Tuesday - great idea Momma Lo!

Weds afternoon we fled Syracuse for the night on a little "Baby Moon" to Skaneateles (skinny-ATlas), NY.  It's a small, cute weekend getaway town - only 35min from our door - on beautiful Skaneateles lake.  We stayed at a B&B (the Hummingbird House) and were even able to meet up with some friends of ours who live in nearby Auburn - thanks Walt and Liz for squiring us about town!  Though the heat was still pretty bad, it was nice to get away for a bit and explore a new (to us) finger lake town and eat lots of good food in the process :)


Not sure what we've got on the burner for this weekend - more house work I think.  Hopefully Jess will be able to get out to the golf course while the weather is so nice. . .



Love to you all!

37+ Weeks

We have progress!  Jess has been keeping his nose (and other sensitive parts) to the grindstone in order to assuage any feelings of panic I might be having at the baby clock counting down . . . Truly, in all fairness, I must admit that my knowledge of a ticking baby clock has not prevented me from letting my eyes nonchalantly pass over piles of laundry and crud on my side of the bedroom . . . .  :)

Anyway! The guest room is a lovely soft blue and the sun porch is - a sunny yellow!  The guest room also now has a ceiling fan - which any summer guests will truly appreciate!  To finish up the sun porch, Jess and our neighbor Kevin are patiently scraping and sanding away at all the old windows, repairing glass, applying new glaze to the panes . . . they've made a lot of progress, but it's hard to tell how much more time it will take!  The metal weights have to be rehung in the sills, each window painted, the trim and molding cleaned up, repainted, put back in . . . these busy boys have their work cut out for them! 

On a more relaxing note, I am done with Clinic II!  It was a great experience, but I am glad to be able to focus on baby prep now.  Speaking of baby prep - look at this bassinet!  Thank you Aunt Mary Marino!  Super sweet AND we now officially have a spot for baby to sleep in our room - so we are pretty much good to go if she decides to show up early - PRETTY much good to go ;)  We still have random shopping to do - Jesse is amazed by the number and variety of packages that have been showing up on our front stoop - including picking up a beautiful rocker/glider from BrUs very generously gifted to us by Jesse's coworkers at school! 

My belly is pretty much getting bigger, lower, and more stretchy-marky-covered every day.  The pregnant body is insane!  I've also started wearing wrist braces on my hands at night in order to prevent my carpal tunnel like symptoms from completely turning my hands numb in my sleep (JUST in case you thought my pregnancy had been ALL rainbows and sunshine) - I look like one of those World of Warcraft doods who sit home at their computers all day sending trolls to attack rogue ranger elves!  I probably shouldn't kid - a lot of my future PT patients will have TRUE carpal tunnel syndrome and I'll be extolling the virtues of function over fashion . . . plus neither Jess nor I are really THAT far off from World of Warcraft-like Geekdom . . . :)

Here are also some pictures of beautiful roses pressed upon me by a friendly neighbor down the road.  Her front yard is one of my favorites in all of Syracuse: perennials overflowing onto the sidewalk and all different colors and shapes of roses trailing over everything.  I try to pass by it on all of my walks and the other day I finally met her!  We chatted a bit about my own blossoming belly (she thinks Rainy will be showing up sooner rather than later!) and then she snipped a small clutch of her roses, stripped off the thorns for me, and wished me luck!  We do love our neighborhood . . .

36+ Weeks and . . . . CHAOS!!

Soooo there are at least 2 kinds of responses to the "nesting" impulse that pregnant couples are told commonly occurs in the final weeks leading up to baby birthing day . . . SOME people do things like wash baby clothes and sheets, organize said washed baby clothes in adorable piles totally negating functionality, eat massive amounts of leftover chocolate raspberry cake, shop online, and eat more cake . . .

OTHER people rip apart the guest room and sunporch  in order to refinish hundred year old weight-hung windows and scrape, spackle, prime, and repaint 2 rooms 3 WEEKS BEFORE THE DUE DATE OF THEIR FIRSTBORN.

Can you guess who is who in this scenario?  (Hint* Jesse eats cake too, but not THAT much cake . . .)

Hence, we have stacks of old windows out in the garage, guest room furniture all over the house, and the baby room looks like a blackhole.

There is light at the end of the tunnel however.  Jesse is officially on vacation (yay!!!) AND tenured (double yay!!) for next year (which gives us piece of mind in a job market where teachers at the school next door are emptying their desks AND their homes into the same Uhaul because no job = no mortgage) so he is free as a bird to get those projects moving along.  I've got 3 more days of Clinic II spread out over next week, so my official last day is Friday July 2nd.  I've been sending Rainy mental messages that I need at least 1 week after that and then she can make her grand entrance!  We'll see . . . if she decides to stay in there PAST the due date, we could count this as her first act of defiance towards her Momma.

On another note, our backyard is lush and growing.  We also got a new addition to our blueberry bush family 2 weeks ago - a friend of ours from the farm sent us over a bush as a thank-you for hosting the POD again this year.  So now we have 3 - it is officially a blueberry grove now!  No ripe berries on the new bush yet, but this past week we've been sampling dark blue beauties from our first 2 from Renee and Ellie - our Blueberry Girl will have plenty to harvest in the coming years!

We also enjoyed a visit from Johnny and Ileana - busrides too and from Brooklyn are not pleasant but we were grateful they could make the trip!  Our weekend was a mixture of house work and relaxing and lots of good food - bread and cake and CSA greens were in abundance :)

That's all for now - I'll do a 37 week update in the next few days since my week will be a little lighter than it has been of late . . . .  Love to you all!