Long awaited...

Here is the long awaited belly shot.

This and That

I went the dentist AGAIN today. Most of you know the dentist story (part one). To make it short, I went to the dentist 3 weeks ago and the hygienist butchered my gums (literally) and told me that I would have to come back in 3 weeks to have my teeth polished. I went today and it wasn't so bad, but she tried to use the metal pick to scrape at my gums again, and I very quickly touched her arm and said, "Uh-uh." After that she stuck to scraping just my teeth and it was not a bad experience. Anyway, I'm telling you all this because AGAIN they asked me why I didn't have x-rays last time. I looked at the tech and said, "Well, it's because I am pregnant." The tech exclaimed, "Oh you are, really?" And that began a series of several people coming into the room to look at me and marvel that I am 24 weeks pregnant. Even the dentist came in and asked, "Are you in you the 1st trimester?" I said, "No I am at the end of the 2nd." The dental hygienist swears I am having a boy b/c I am carrying everything up front. I am going to post a picture of my tummy this weekend to let you all judge for yourself (I think I look big, but what do I know). If it sounds like I am complaining about not being huge in the stomach...I am not. I just don't like people questioning me and I got a lot of that this morning...over and over again.

My friend, Sarah (who is due 4 weeks before me), and I went to have a consult with a pediatrician this morning. I really liked him, and his office is only about 5 minutes from our house...very NICE. Also I discovered this week that Brandon's insurance (which I am covered under) is GREAT! I got my bill from the hospital for my pre-registration for delivery and I only owe a small fraction of the total cost. EXCELLENT! Especially since we are needing to replace our roof due to hail damage. We truly are blessed, in so many ways. Sometimes I lose sight of how much we really do have to be thankful for.

Rock Out

The newest addition to the baby's room is a rocking chair. After walking around an antique warehouse, looking at five different chairs, and me simply refusing to pay $300 for a mahogony rocking chair, we ended up buying one from Cracker Barrel. My sister requested I post a picture so here it is.

The monkey has a new place to hang for a while.

LANE ______ FINCHER

Well, I thought I would share the baby's first name (you already knew the last). The middle name will have to remain a secret for now, since it would give away baby Lane's gender. Lane is Brandon's middle name and I definitely wanted to use it for a boy and Brandon liked it for a girl, so baby Lane it is either way.

There have been mixed responses to the whole, not telling the gender decision. But I have to say that I am not swayed in the lease bit to change my mind about keeping it a secret. I think it will be so exciting to watch everyone's reactions when he or she is born. So ask, text, beg all you want...

As for me, my belly keeps growing, which makes me wonder just how big I will get before little Lane (as Brandon calls the baby) will make his or her debut. I thought I was past the, "Is she chubby in the middle or is she pregnant?" glances but I guess I am not. I went to the dentist last week and when I refused the x-rays, the technician asked, "Oh, do you think you might be pregnant?" Seriously? I responded with a curt, "Uh, ya I am five months pregnant." So I guess I am having a existential belly crisis. I can't decide if I want to be big enough so that people can glance at me and know I am pregnant or if I like that I am not that big just yet. It probably changes each day. Plus I catch my clients looking at my middle with a quizical expression, wondering has she been eating too much ice cream and donuts? And I want to yell, "Yes! I am pregnant, can we focus on you now?" But that probably would be counter-therapeutic, huh?

Anyway, not many updates on the baby room since the tree. We did buy wood letters "L-A-N-E" and Brandon is in the process of staining them to go in the room. I am going to attach a picture of the bedding for those of you who haven't had a chance to look at it on target.com.

It's a ...

healthy baby!! The baby is 13 oz. and 9.23 inches long. I am still due around the 22nd. The baby was very active, which was good for Brandon to see...what I already feel inside. AND the baby already has a good sense of humor, since it mooned us a couple of times and decided to rest in the position shown below...



For those of you spatially challenged... the baby's head is in the lower right corner, the spine is curling up on the left-hand side, and the feet are in the upper right corner (right above the baby's head).



This is Brandon showing what that position would look like as a full-grown adult.


If you would like to vote, what you think the sex of the baby is, post your comments. We'll see how many of you are right. For us the most important information that we got today was that the baby is very healthy and should be here by the end of this year...Merry Christmas!!

Welcome to the Jungle!

Look! The baby's room sprouted a tree...with a monkey. Brandon and I finished our jungle creation tonight. The baby's bedding that we registered for (target.com & babysrus.com) is a jungle theme, so I thought it would be cute to have a tree in the room. It is made from a variety of materials, and I think it turned out okay. AND a big THANKS to Brandon's parents for their help brainstorming how to make the tree and helping to get it started this last weekend when they were in town. My in-laws are great! They sweated in the garage, spray painting, gluing, cutting wood, etc. Anyway, I just had to share the latest addition to the room. And just FYI... Brandon and I go for the second and anatomy revealing sonogram in two days. We are still undecided about whether or not we are going to find out the sex of the baby. One day we are and the next we aren't. So stay tuned...you never know...we probably will change our minds a few hundred times before Thursday at 1:30pm.