We finally got the house projects complete {with the help of our amazing families!!!} & the Baker abode is getting closer to being ready for the arrival of Baby Baker!!! All of JD's music & home-brewing equipment is tucked away in its new home, thanks to JD's dad's incredible carpentry skills!! {I promise to post pictures soon of the beautiful cabinets he built for us!!} We now have new hanging cabinets in our screen porch for JD's homebrew equipment & we have two GORGEOUS cabinets in the guest room for JD's music equipment!! We also installed a kitty-sized pet door so that Aja is free to travel between house & screen porch. It took some time for her to get compfortable with the new set up, but she has finally come around & seems to be a much happier kitty overall! (For those of you who know Aja, I think she's really started to come out of her shell - a few mornings this week, I've gotten up in the morning & spotted her sitting in a window sill out on the porch just watching the yard & flicking her tail!! JD & I joke that she is out there enjoying her morning coffee, watching the world go by...)
We hit a couple of bumps in the road during work week, but we *could not* be happier with how everything has turned out!! AND - with JD's stuff out of the third bedroom, we were able to start making progress on the NURSERY!!
No pictures of the nursery-in-progress yet, but here's what we've done so far:
>painted the room (walls, trim, closet, etc...)
>put in new crown molding
>purchased new blinds for both windows
>picked up dresser & crib from furniture store - dresser was already assembled
>bedding arrived & is ready to go in the crib, once assembled
It's got a long way to go before the baby comes, but it's definitely coming along!! We ended up going with a nice, neutral color for the walls (Martha Stewart's 'Alpaca Brown') with white trim - it's amazing what a difference a couple of gallons of paint can make!!
JD & I find ourselves stopping by the *nursery* most nights just to look around & think about what it will be like when Baby Baker arrives & is living in his / her new space! It seems like so far from now, but at the same time, I know it will be here before we know it!! I get so excited thinking about it!!
Last weekend we spent some MUCH NEEDED R&R time at Smith Lake with some great friends! We enjoyed the sun, games, good food, football, & baby Caleb! Here is a quick picture I snapped of the view of the lake from our room at the GORGEOUS house:
(Sadly, this is the only picture I took all weekend... must have been having too much fun??)
Other big news for the Bakers this week is that we met with our mortgage broker & are going to be able to refinance our home loan & save 3 points off our current interest rate!!! We couldn't be more excited about this - it's going to save us over $200/month, which will definitely come in handy when we have to start paying for daycare next year!
Although this week is nearly over, here's an update on our baby's progress...
Your Pregnancy: Week 18 (www.parentsconnect.com)
Now that you're in the full throes of the second trimester, you're feeling—and looking—fabulous. So don't waste it! See friends (they've missed you since you moved your bedtime up to 7:00 p.m.), plan romantic dinners with your partner (you will miss those when junior arrives) and get active. Waterskiing might be a little too much but swimming and taking long walks are great for you and your bambino.
Your Body
At about 18 weeks, you might begin to feel a suspicious flutter in your belly. The professionals call it "quickening," we call it "baby's makin' waves!" Within the next few weeks, those tiny bubbly feelings will become more obvious. And soon enough they'll be unmistakably identifiable—especially when you (and anyone within 10 feet of you) can see tiny feet, elbows and knees moving across your belly.
>>>SIDE NOTE: I felt this for the first time on Sept 20!!!
Your Baby
Your baby's ears are now facing forward and are completely formed so she can actually hear you talking now. You don't need to abandon your potty mouth just yet, but you might want to start thinking about it! Other highlights this week:
This week is also the beginning of ossification. And while that sounds like some long and involved paperwork you'll have to fill out, it's really a fancy medical term for the hardening of your baby's miniature bones. And that's a good thing.
Your baby's nerves are making more and more complex connections. Her sense of smell, taste, sight and hearing are all developing. A substance called myelin, which makes nerve connections travel faster, is now coating your baby's nerves.
Your baby now weighs between 5 and 7 ounces and is about 5½ inches long—about the size of a pickle from the corner deli. (You're familiar with pickles, right? Your regular accompaniment to a big bowl of ice cream?)
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