28 weeks

From Pot Roast to Chinese Cabbage, Lily is probably over 2lbs now celebrating all the fun gifts she got from her wonderful shower last weekend! This week I enter into the third trimester, and the nesting urge has kicked in. I want the room to be put together and see all the plans that have been in my head come to life in person. All of the fun stuff we got at the shower def. spurred this on, and the guest room closet is filled with fun clothes for Lily to model (Fashion Show Fashion Show Fashion Show at Lunch!). Mom, Laurie and KK were so creative and threw a wonderful shower for me complete with different potted Lilies as prizes,


Lollipops and plantable baby carraiges as favors,
and lots of Giraffe themed gifts and decor to match the invites.

The games were guess the baby picture, mad libs, and guess the baby food, which Gma D clearly did not enjoy!

But the cake was definately enjoyed by all, especially myself :)

It was a great time, and most fun was getting to share with the family that Lily will be having her first cousin!!! Laurie is due on New Years so they will only be 4 months apart, and I'm thrilled the secret is out.

Pictures of Laurie telling everyone the good news the day before:

Laurie and Kenny seem certain they will have a boy and in the meantime are calling him 'Agent M' which reminded me, I never blogged about Lily's nicknames thusfar. We've Nicknamed her Gremlin (when she was making me sick all the time), Lola (what gma D thinks we're naming her due to faulty hearing aids or perhaps just her 91 yr old imagination) or Lil' lily

Dave and I also got a new camera as a 2nd anniversary gift to each other which I love learning to use. My cousin's son RJ was an excellant model for me :)

27 weeks: My baby is the size of a what?

a Pot Roast. Yes, moving away from the conventional fruit or veggie reference, Fit Pregancy has declared Lily is now a tiny 2Lb Zero oz. baby pot Roast. You'll all be please to know I passed my glucose test, the nurse said my level was 113 whatever that means. But most exciting this week is the pending weekend where we're all getting together to celebrate my baby shower!!! The guys are going to be busy replacing the roof on mom and dad's house, it's a big weekend for everyone.

The Baby Cage and 29 other dumb inventions

Hahaha, time released photos of the 30 dumbest inventions. The baby related ones are especially hilarious.

picture from time.com

Here we have The Baby Cage for the urban couple looking to give their baby a little sunlight and fresh air, even in the confines of a highrise. I guess people really did worry less about safety back then!! Makes what Michael Jackson did with his son "Blanket" seem slightly less crazy.

~or better yet the fake breast with a heart beat used to soothe babies, of course made in Japan
~or how about the baby holder for all those times you would have missed out on ice skating just because of your life choice to have a baby?
~and nonbaby related, but cat related, the Mouse frightener!!! oooo so scary.

25 weeks

Just past the 6month mark, time is starting to fly by. Lily is the size of a Rutabaga. Cute huh? thebump.com compares her to an Eggplant, slightly cuter I guess!


I had a really exciting week in baby land for lots of reasons and got my Shower invites in the mail, they are so cute I squeeled! I'm still loving prenatal yoga, and took my last Hypnobirthing class. I'm sad it's over because it was so relaxing, hopefully I can retain all I learned for the big day.


Keep your fingers crossed for me as I take my glucose test Monday morning. Sugary Glucose Drink here I come!

25 week babycenter update link
25 week thebump update link

23 week update

Baby Lily is growing right along, the email updates say she's the size of a large mango (about 1 lb), she can hear music and feel motion so I guess that means it's time go dancing with her. I've finally got my registries up, althought I'm sure they need tweeking. I'm growing anxious for her crib to come in and we registered for a Glider at Great Beginnings, but think that we should shop around for a better deal on one first. Lily likes to kick me alot in the evenings, Dave got to feel her kicking so Laurie, be prepared since you're already afraid of my stomach alone, now it will be moving as well.

We did a new thing at prenatal yoga last night to help you sleep better, I made it to 5:15am without waking up which is a big victory over most nights when I wake up between 2:30-3:30am. The dr. gave me the icky orange drink that I'll have to drink before my next appt so they can monitor my glucose levels, hopefully it won't be as bad as everyone says. Our third birthing class is this saturday, we've really been enjoying the class so far, but there's only one more class after this one, hopefully I don't forget everything we learned.

What you put on your skin

http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ Helps you determine the safety of products you use everyday like Toothpaste, Shampoo, Sunscreen, Makeup, etc.

Each item is giving a hazard level which is determined and classified by Ingredients in the product that are linked to: Cancer, Developmental/reproductive toxicity, Allergies/immunotoxicity, Use restrictions, and Other concerns. This really helps you rank related products when determining which you prefer. I'm doing an overall average ranking score of the every day products I use, and overtime trying to improve that score. I encourage you to do the same to see where you rank.

So right now I'm using

• Biolage by Matrix Color Care Hair Conditioner *6


• Biolage by Matrix Color Care Shampoo *7


• philosophy 3-in-1 ultra rich shampoo, shower gel *5


• Pantene Pro-V Curl Defining Scrunching Mousse *7


• Secret Invisible Solid Anti-Perspirant Deodorant Spring Breeze *4


• Colgate Total Plus Whitening Toothpaste *5


• Clinique dramatically different moisturizing lotion *4


• Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Massage Lotion for Stretch Marks *6


• OPI Nail Lacquer nail polish *4


• Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm (Tube) *2


• Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisture, SPF *7

So that totals 57 if you add all the hazard levels together and divide by the number of products, in this case 11 equals and average of a little over 5. While 5 may seem like midway between 0-10, it still carries a good deal of risk and doesn't even include all the products that come in contact with my skin like hand soaps, fabric detergent biproducts, etc. I'm also surprised that the cocoa butter for stretch marks comes in at a 6. Considering it goes right on my growing stomach with my baby inside, I'm feeling I should use it sparringly.

Other products we have in the house or have used in the past

Wet 'N Wild Jumbo Juicy Flavored Lip Balm, Strawberry *9

Coppertone Sport Breathable Sunscreen, Faces, SPF 50 *5

Purell Purifying Essentials Instant Hand Sanitizer, Crisp Apple hand sanitizer *6

Hawaiian Tropic Dark Tanning Lotion, SPF 4 *9

Rembrandt Plus Peroxide Toothpaste, Wintergreen Flavor toothpaste *7

Cauliflower Part 2

Roasting Veggies always gives such a depth of flavor that you can't get from steaming or a microwave pouch. The roasted asparagus and roasted broccoli I've made was such a big hit, I decided to try the simple roasted cauliflower recipe mentioned on ThatWife from allrecipies.com. It's a 5 ingredient recipe, even easier than the broccoli one we love, and cooks alongside my roast chicken during the last half hour as a faster alternative to mashed potatoes or mashed cauliflower. I loved it, Dave loved it, and it's becoming another vegetable staple in the house.

Roasted Balsamic Cauliflower
from allrecipies.com

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 head cauliflower, chopped into bite size pieces

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil
2.Stir the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and garlic together in a bowl. Add the cauliflower and toss to coat; spread the mixture onto the lined baking sheet.
3.Stirring occasionally, bake in the preheated oven until tender, about 20 minutes.