Baby Room Ready!

It's been awhile since either of us have posted anything, so let me catch everyone up.

First of all, the baby is doing great! I'm feeling pretty good too. My only major complaint is the constant heartburn. I have it from the time I get up until I go to bed. Tums have become my best friends. I don't go anywhere without them :) We went to the doctor this past Wednesday for our 28 week appointment. Dr. Adkins said everything was just as it should be. Can you believe we only have 12 more weeks to go??? I can't think about it too much or I get a little freaked out :)

On July 3rd, we painted the baby's room "Lyndhurst Celestrial Blue." It's really just a light blue, but it is really pretty. I painted the first coat and David painted the second. Stanley Steamers came out and cleaned the carpets on Thursday the 10th. By Sunday, David had all the furniture put together and the new light fixture hung! Here are some pictures:

Nursery time

We've waded through all the choices for bedding (code word for theme) online and in most of the stores, and landed on what we wanted. It's at Babies R Us, but only online. Well, on Saturday we found it at Nursery Time on New Circle, and liked it even more in person. Since we needed something to use in determining the paint colors for the room, we went ahead and bought the 4-pc set. It's full of animals with lots of colors. Here's a link to what it is: http://www.cottontaledesigns.com/catalog/Enlarged-bedding/Paradise.html

Nursery Time also had a lot of nice furniture. We picked out two we liked, and decided they were finalists along with the set we liked at IKEA. We talked about it all night, and decided to make a trip to Cincinnati to look at the IKEA set in person again. After going through the store, we noticed one of the tags on the crib said "Not in stock." We decided to look in the bins anyway. As luck would have it, they had a few. But then we started debating if it would fit in my car or not. As I went outside to measure, Janelle started talking with another woman who was getting of the cribs. She said she had been to IKEA 4 times to get this crib, and they had been sold out each time. She suggested we get it if we really were interested. We talked about it, and since it was the one we wanted, decided it was probably best to go ahead and get it now and not have to worry about the drive back up for it. So we loaded up the car with the crib, a changing table and an extra piece that attaches on the top, a toy chest and a 6-drawer chest of drawers.

Below are the IKEA photos of the pieces. We still need to paint and clean the carpets before we have it in the room. For now, it's hanging out in boxes in the garage.

Only four months to go....

We're having a....

BOY!

Baby Moving...

David's been bugging me to post something again so here it goes. I can't really write about our next visit since David's already covered that (we are so having a little boy!!!), so I'll fill you in on how I've been feeling and about the first time I felt the baby move!

The nausea, soreness, and complete exhaustion have passed, now I just have heartburn all the time. Apparently that means that this baby of ours is going to have a lot of hair :) I am still pretty tired by the end of the day, but it isn't nearly as bad as it was during the first trimester. We did discover last month that I am having PVC's (premature ventricular contractions). Basically, the ventricle in my heart beats too early causing my heart to fill up with more blood than what is needed. The next beat is a harder beat so that the excess blood can be pushed out. It feels like my heart is doing flip-flops in my chest. It doesn't hurt, but it is annoying. The cardiologist put me on a beta-blocker to correct the problem. Neither the cardiologist or my OBGYN seemed really worried about the PVCs. This condition is actually pretty common in pregnant women and should go away once I have the baby.

The most exciting thing that has happened lately was that I finally felt the baby move!!! As David and I were putting away groceries Sunday night, I thought I felt something. It happened so fast that I couldn't really tell what it was, but I sort of thought it was the baby I felt. Last night David went to a Red's game with Bobby. So, Mary (Bobby's wife) and I went to this new Vietnamese restaurant to try out their pho (the place we normally go to was closed). The pho was alright, but it was missing something. In the process of trying to make the pho taste right, I ended up making it a little more spicier than I normally would (this really helped with the heartburn!). After Mary and I got back in the car, I felt something again! It was almost like there was a bubble or a flutter in my stomach. Instead of happening the one time, I felt it a few more times. I quickly called Mom to find out if I was in fact feeling the baby moving around. She said it was and then I sent David a text message. It was so cool! This evening as I was sitting on the couch watching t.v., the baby started moving again to where I could feel it. I got David to come sit beside and put his had on my belly where I was feeling the most movement. It didn't take long before David felt something too. The look on his face was priceless!

I leave for Washington D.C. on Saturday. We are taking the 5th graders that I teach to visit our nation's capital. It was my job to plan the trip and for those of you that know me pretty well, you know how worked up I get about planning events! I was going to try to get out of going, but I figured I would be just as stressed worrying about how everything was going. I'll be back on the following Tuesday. So please just say a little prayer that none of the kids get lost or do anything stupid :)

Update

Well, it's been over a month since our last post. Janelle's tummy is getting a little bigger, I'm freaking out a little more, and everyone keeps telling us things are going to be great.

Our last doctor visit was near the end of April. The doc said everything was looking great. We got to hear the heartbeat again, and he assured Janelle that he was about 99% sure it wasn't twins. (But he didn't say anything about triplets....)

We've started looking at daycares, too. Even though we don't think we'll need care until January, we're finding that we're already behind. We are officially on the waiting list at three places, all of which we like. Time will tell where we end up.

Our next visit will be the "big one." We should do an ultra sound and find out if it's a boy or a girl. I'm betting on girl, and Janelle thinks it's a boy. Either way, we'll be happy.

Once we find out the sex, we'll be in high gear to get things ready. We've already started a list of possible names, but that will help narrow it down. Plus we'll be able to really start on the nursery, and get the furniture (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/series/11928/) and paint. I think it will be the real "go time" for us. We've already started, but I think it will be a big push.

I need to get Janelle to write again. I know she has a lot to say. :-)

Best,
dk

Trip to doctor and announcing to the world

I made my second trip to the doctor this past Wednesday. We didn't get any new pictures but we did get to hear the baby's heartbeat. That was very cool.

Since he said everything was going well and it is about the end of the first trimester, we decided to start letting our friends and family know why Janelle has been so...well, let's just say guarded for the last little bit.

Everyone has been super and very excited for us. My two favorite reactions were the Browns and the Feldmans. (Although an honorable mention goes to both Allison Russell for repeating, "This is not Dave's. Hartman, this is yours" to the ultrasound picture, and to the team of Carrie Collett and John Parker for saying, "Oh God...someone left their ultrasound picture here," when they ran across it during happy hour.)

Stephanie Brown had just taken a bite of chips and salsa when Janelle announced, "I'm pregnant." Stephanie started choking on the chip, and we thought we were going to have to do the Heimlich on her. I know us being pregnant is a surprise to a lot of people, but we didn't think anyone would literally get choked up.

When we broke it to the Feldmans, it was pure entertainment. Mary went running in one direction, and Bobby in the other. Mary returned saying, "I knew it! I knew it!" She handed us a card that she had already made with a cute stuff about us adding another to our family. Bobby returned form the garage with a bottle of non-alcoholic champagne they had bought for when we told them. Evidently, this had been an ongoing conversation for a month of so, and Janelle is officially a bad liar. It was all too funny.

Thanks to everyone for being so supportive during this exciting -- and nervous -- time in our lives. For those of you with little ones now, thank you for all the answers to questions that are sure to come over the next few months.

Building the baby furniture?

Well, I had the bright idea that I could take a woodworking class and get a little more knowledge and experience to help me build furniture for the baby. I have some great woodworking plans for a 3-in-1 crib to todler to full-size bed. But, after taking the class and looking closely at the plans, I think we'll be shopping for furniture this time around.

The class I took at Kelly Mehler's (http://www.kellymehler.com/) was awesome! It did give me a lot of useful information, and helped me improve on my skills. But I'm just not there yet.

Anyway, several folks had asked for photos of the table I made at the class, so here goes.

Enjoy!

I'm Tired of Keeping Secrets!

So, we've only got a week left before we can tell anyone besides the immediate family about this whole baby on the way thing. I just don't think I can make!

What's Left to Say...

Well, this is my first time blogging. David has been harassing me to post something since he got the idea to do this. I've been a little reluctant because I'm a terrible writer and David's already done such a great job writing about this whole pregnancy thing! I'm going to give it a try just so he'll leave me alone. Ha ha!

Like I said, David's done a great job of covering everything that's taken place so far. The only thing that he hasn't really covered is how I'm feeling. The first real pregnancy symptom I had (and still have) was sore boobs. I never dreamed that they would hurt just having water from the shower hit them, but it does! Running is not a pleasant thing to do with incredibly sore boobs either. I've always slept on my stomach so sleeping has been lots of fun...not really :)

Other than sore boobs, I've just been really nauseous, I get indigestion/heartburn from just about everything I eat and I'm always tired. David's personal favorite symptom is my new keen sense of smell. Everything smells bad to me. Foods that I enjoy eating like popcorn, green beans, pizza, etc. smell bad. The dogs smell bad. The dry erase markers I use every day at school smell bad. David even smells bad sometimes :) The sensitive nose doesn't really help with the nausea either!

I guess my symptoms could be much worse from what I've read. From here on out I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that these will be the only pregnancy symptoms I get. I have a very strong feeling that they won't be though!

Telling the parents...

Well, Saturday night was the big night -- we let the cat out of the bag for the first time. My parents, Janelle's parents and Janelle's sister joined us for dinner at O'Charley's in Ashland. We told everyone that it was for Janelle's birthday (which was the following Thursday), and no one suspected a thing. Right after we ordered...

Janelle said something like, "I want to thank you guys for always being there and doing so much for me, so I got you something for my birthday." She handed her mom and my mom each a gift bag and told them to open it.

It was funny watching them. Jeanette (Janelle's mom, far side) realized what it was first. A second later, it hit Judy (my mom). I think you can see it all in the photos. (Click on them to make them larger.)

They were very excited, and Johnny (Janelle's dad) even seemed a little speechless. Jody (Janelle's sister) and Janelle both teared up a little. It was an exciting night.

We enjoyed our dinner, and they even brought out dessert for Janelle's birthday. HAPPY 30th, honey!

David

David's First, Janelle's Second...

Yesterday, I made my first trip to the OBGYN. That was a little uncomfortable....

Janelle had gone a couple of weeks ago when she had a little pain (but everything was okay). But this was our first scheduled trip -- the initial "we're pregnant" trip. The doc did an vaginal ultra sound, and we got our first look at our little one! Sure, it was basically an alien-like blob, but we could see a heartbeat. I must admit, it was pretty cool.

They gave us three photographs to keep; said to hang it on the fridge. I think they might just play into Saturday night, when we tell the parents. I guess we'll see in a couple of days.

So far, so good...and scary as hell. But it's going to be fun!

Wish us luck,
David

The Klog -- Kitchen Blog

This should be interesting. We've entered into the world of blogging with the Klog -- or the Kitchen Blog.

This is our first blogging experience, so we're not really sure what will work best...or at all. Hopefully we will both join in on this experience -- it might be interesting to see the different perspectives as we go through the next year or so.

This first one has a lot of catching up to do, and will be a little long. I'm a little long winded when I write anyway, but hopefully they will be shorter down the road.

We have some exciting news that we hope to share with family and friends in the near future, and hope this will be a great way to keep everyone updated on how things are, and for us to keep track of what we're doing. God knows I can't remember anything.

Janelle is scheduled for a doctor's appointment tomorrow. I don't want to give anything away just in case someone stumbles across this, but we're both pretty excited and anxious. We're trying to figure out how to tell our parents -- something fun that will catch them off guard. Janelle's birthday is the week after (2/28), so we think we have a good plan. We're telling the fam that we're coming into Ashland and want to get everyone together for her birthday. I sold the ideas as the only thing Janelle would agree to on her 30th birthday.

Our plan is to get both sets of parents together -- along with Jody and Granny -- over dinner and spring it on them. How? Well, we're not quite sure yet. Maybe Janelle giving them gifts, something like, "You guys have given me everything I've needed for 30 years; I want to give you guys a present this year for my birthday." The grandparents-to-be would open their gift -- a "baby loves grandparents" photo frame, a bib or some other baby related object that would spring it on them. Another idea is to take a family photo, and just before the photo takes shout "Janelle's having a baby" -- should be a good photo. We thought about doing one of those personal calendars you can make at Wal-Mart complete with 12 months of pictures of us, and then circle the due date. Or greeting cards for the grandparents with a list of items they'll want to have at their house when baby comes to visit. Danielle Russell just announced that she's pregnant during her birthday dinner last week with her parents. She and her husband worked a present into the gifts people bought for her, and she opened a book of baby names as the way to share with everyone. (I thought it was funny yesterday when Ryan was telling me all about it, not realizing that we were trying to come up with just that idea.)There are tons of great ideas -- we just need to pick one.

We went out to eat with Bobby and Mary Feldman last night, and afterward the Feldman's went home and we went to the book store. I bought a book -- "So You're Going to Be a Dad." With all the books Janelle is reading, it's probably a good idea for me to read some, too. I'm not a reader, but this one is actually somewhat entertaining and informative, and best of all it's not really thick like many of these books.

As I mentioned, Janelle has a doctor's appointment tomorrow. She has already gone once because she was having some pains (everything was fine), but this will be our first trip together. We should find out a due date and tons of other things that will completely overwhelm us...or at least me. As long as all goes well, our parents will find out on the 23rd. Wish us luck!

I won't go into all the "how Janelle's feeling" stuff -- I'll leave that to her.

I guess that's it for the first blog. Welcome to our new online journal; we hope you'll check back often. (Of course, no one will know about this for a couple of weeks because we haven't told anyone yet. But I know some of you, and know you'll start at the bottom and read all the posts.)

Cheers (well, except for Janelle),
David

First time here? Read this first

Okay. You made it here so we'll assume you're interested in seeing what's going on with David and Janelle, and most likely the little one we can't wait to meet in October 2008.

Here's the way this thing works. A blog is basically an online journal. The oldest blog is at the bottom of the page, and works its way up to the newest blog at the top of the page. (This way you won't have to search for what's new the next time you visit.) And the name of who wrote it is at the end of each entry.

Please leave comments. We'd love to hear from you. But please keep it somewhat clean -- our parents and grandparents might be reading this! :-)

And finally, here are the key dates and numbers so far if you just want the basics.

• We found out on January 27


• Due date (as of today) is 10-09-08


• It's a boy -- Cooper Neal Kitchen