The times, they are a changin'

Figgy gets more real to me every day. And not just because I'm still puking (wasn't this supposed to go away by now?). On Wednesday, before Pizza Club, my lovely friend Lynn brought over a bunch of baby stuffy for us.

Including a crib.

One that looks very much like this:

And now it's in our spare room, which now that it has a crib in it, I guess is officially the nursery. It's so bizarre. We've been accumulating stuff (mostly from Lynn) for a while now, a car seat here, an activity mat there, but a) most of those things are in the garage, and b) none of them are quite as big as this crib. It's huge. Lynn's husband, Marty, actually had to take it apart just to fit it through our hallway. It's really kind of freaking me out. It all goes to my friend Allison (mom to Baby Maggie)'s point that babies take 9 months to get here for a reason: you need that long to wrap your head around the fact that everything is about to change.

On the up side, we had a mini preview of how the cats may react to Figgy's arrival. Lynn brought her 2 very well-behaved boys (Jack, age 4 and Ryan, 18 months) with her to drop off the crib. They were both very excited to see Deano, Doyle & Nigella. But's let's just say that Doyle was not so glad to see them. He took one look at those kids and ran into the bedroom, where he cowered around the side of our bed. But Deano was so friendly and gentle! He rubbed against them, flopped for them so they could pet his stomach and even played with toys with them. I was so impressed with him. Doyle's reaction was a bit surprising, as he is normally super friendly and in your face about how happy he is so see you (when our insurance agent came in to show us all our paperwork, he jumped in her lap and wouldn't leave her alone). But I guess kids are different.

On Saturday, I'll be 18 weeks along. Only 2 more weeks and I'll be 20 weeks, which is the official half-way point through the pregnancy (of course, if you want to get into semantics, the first two weeks are technically pre-conception, but blah, blah blah). I know there is so much ahead of me, but it's scary because I feel like the first half has just flown by. There is so much to do and get ready for, and it's a long time and not very much time at all at the same time.

Kendra had the ingenius idea of giving Figgy (if Figgy is a boy) the middle name "Newton," as a little in-joke. Is it terrible that we're actually considering it?

New to me!

It's been a whirlwind last couple of weeks, let me tell you. I've been bad with the not updating, but there is a lot going on.

#1 Baby update. I'm getting big. Probably not so big that other people notice it much, but I totally notice. My waistline is slowly disappearing. It's strange to see it positively melting away before my eyes. I've been getting weird, almost stitch-like pains in my lower right abdomen. I don't think they're major, but they've been around for the last few days. So I'm officially at 17 weeks. And what size is Figgy? Well, last week (despite my nonposting), he/she was the size of a small avocado. Now: Your baby weighs about 5 ounces now, and he's around 5 inches long — about the size of a large onion. He can move his joints, and his skeleton — until now rubbery cartilage — is starting to harden to bone. His sense of hearing is also developing. The umbilical cord, his lifeline to the placenta, is growing stronger and thicker. An onion! 5 inches is pretty big. And that's actually not counting the length of the legs (until 20 weeks, they don't count since they are curled up so tightly).

#2 Car Update. We bought a new car! Well, new to us, anyway. A 2001 PT Cruiser, with only 22,000 miles, for less than $10,000! The car has automatic everything, leather interior, and it's just awesome. It will be a good family car, which is what we really needed.

#3 Knitting Update. The mohair Tie One On is coming along, altough I didn't pick it up all weekend, which is bad, because I've got to mail it off by Wed/Thursday, and I haven't even gotten to the ties yet! But darn it, it's going to be finished.

#4 Social Update. Cinespia started this weekend! The screenings at Hollywood Forever Cemetary are awesome, and just a fun, communal experience. They started the season on Saturday with The Maltese Falcon, and next week they screen The Birds. I encourage everyone to come out, bring a picnic, some blankets and pillows and enjoy clasic movies under the stars.

That's it for now. I promise pictures of Tie One On once it's finished.

Creative Juices are Flowing

Yes, I actually cast on for a new project last night. Mother's Day is coming up, and while my gifts for my mom are good to go, I didn't have anything yet for my grandmother. So, based on recommendations from Tuesday SnB (thanks Theresa!), I cast on for Tie One On, with some yummy mohair that I found on elann.com ages ago (K1C2 Mousse in a dark & moody black, blue & indigo colorway). I'm doing the mellow green version, so it's all garter stitch -- hopefully I can get it done in time to send it off before May 14 and I don't have to remember where I am in a stitch pattern. I'm using size 13 needles, although since I knit combination style, it's really tight, so it's more the equivalent of size 11s. It's going quickly, so I'm optimistic.

I think I was in a good mood last night because a) Richard comes home late tonight, and b) I had a doctor's appointment last night where I didn't get chastized about my weight or my poor intake of water! Hurrah! Everything seemed normal, which is good. I had to give blood, which is always a pain as I have really narrow veins, but it's for an AFP test, which screens for neural tube defects, Down's syndrome, etc. A bit scary, but I'm trying not to think about it. But on the positive side, next Wednesday, I get to schedule my level 2 ultrasound to find out (among other things) Figgy's gender! So sometime next month, we will know whether it's Fignacio or Figoberta. It's exciting and overwhelming at the same time, as most of this pregnancy has been.

What's making Sara puke today?

Well, this morning it was a combination of my cat's dried herring treats and dirty dishes in the sink. Now, since Figgy has taken up residence in my abdomen, Richard normally takes the dirty type of chores (i.e., most of them), but he is in Las Vegas right now for a trade show. So feeding the cats, taking out the trash, carefully cleaning the cat box, theoretically doing the dishes, are my duties until Thursday night when Rich gets back. I learned on Sunday that opening a can of wet cat food (which Deano needs regularly because he has a tendency to get constipated) in the morning is a bad idea. I didn't think that cat treats would do it to me, but I opened a new bag (and basically these treats are freeze-dried pieces of fish and a new bag is particularly stinky) and I just couldn't handle it. Blecch.

I have been feeling more rested the past couple of days. I'm trying to get to bed earlier than normal. In bed by 11 p.m., read for 1/2 an hour and going to sleep at 11:30. And imagine this, I got in to work before 9 a.m. (8:45 actually), the first time I've done that for a regular, nonmeeting day in a long, long time.

My elbow is still bothering me a bit from the sanding & ironing I did on Sunday. I hope it goes away soon because otherwise, it might interfere with knitting & crocheting. As for the power tool goodness, yes, they are worked with outside. We have a garage and a driveway with the new place, so the garage has become the home of the table saw, the power drill, the sawdust, etc.

K8 asked whether we are going to find out Figgy's gender. Answer: hell yes. I know that some people feel that the gender of your child is one of the few real surprises left in this world, so they leave it until the birth. But I feel like it's a surprise whenever you find out, so why add to the suspense?

I don't have a preference in terms of boy or girl -- they both seem pretty scary to me at this point. Girls are obviously more familiar to me (two younger sisters), and girls seem to be easier when they are younger, but you have to deal with the sex/pregnancy issue, mean girls, etc. Boys are unfamiliar (older half-brother doesn't count because he is so much older and didn't live with us growing up) and can be scary destructive when they are little and then just plain scary with the teenage rage issues and Columbine alienation. I know I'm focusing on the bad bits, but it's all overwhelming. Sometime within the next month or so, we will find out Figgy's gender, and it's just one more step to making this all real. Scary.