A moment with the Mans Family

Bells loves Rob more than anything else.

I wonder why there's a hole in the sky.

So.  

I like the environment. We recycle. Give that credit to my husband who LOOOOVVVEEESSS the environment-I sometimes tell him I'm going to go on recycling strike in which case he will do anything I want.  We even recycle glass, which requires a special trip.  We use environmentally friendly LED light bulbs (which cost a *gosh-darn* bloody fortune).  I am using Seventh Generation Diapers and Wipes which are unbleached and biodegradable, much to the dismay of everyone who every tried to make me a diaper cake. These diapers are hard to find in Birmingham.  Rest assured, I don't love the environment enough to turn down free diapers.  I couldn't bring myself to use cloth, and anyway all the extra washing uses up enough energy and water to make it not worth the trouble (that's my story...).  I have a mop with reusable microfiber pads, we use environmentally friendly laundry detergent, our next car purchase will be a hybrid...you get the idea. We do what we can without making our lives difficult. 

Well.  I get a lot of environmentally friendly stuff from Amazon.

Now Amazon thinks I need this book for Emerald's growing library.  I feel it's a bit heavy for someone who can't even reach the light switch or turn on the water by herself.  

That is all, everyone. Happy Monday!

Baby Emerald's Last Ultrasound

Today I had my very last ultrasound, and the next time we see Baby Emerald she will be face to face with us!

The estimated weight is 5 lb, 13 oz right now.  Babies gain about 1/2 pound a week at this point, so she might reach almost 8 pounds! 

It was hard to see much because she's cramped up like WHOA.  But here are the promised pictures.

She has like, NO SPACE.  

Which is why random body parts stick out of my right side most of the time.

  Check out these toes! Looks like she might get her dad's big ol feet.

Which will be fine as long as she gets her ears from my side of the family :)

She was playing with her face and fingers the whole time.  

Guess there's not a lot to do in there.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Please don't leave me alone with her-she might explode.

It has occurred to me that the morbidly curious of you have been deprived of your "Keri is getting fat" pictures (ahem, Beth).  Some people don't like them.  Some people do. So I'm posting them.

Most people don't like to post pictures of themselves past, say, 28 weeks pregnant.  I don't blame them. It can get downright gross looking.  But I have to say that while I feel like a turtle stuck on its back when I need to get out of bed, I feel good otherwise, have only gained about 18 pounds, my rings still fit, and my feet are doing good too. My cutest shoes are a little snug, I have to admit.

I've been OCD about getting in plenty of water and exercise, and I'm lucky I've felt good all the way through.  So even if things go to shit like RIGHT NOW and my stomach explodes with stretch marks while I sleep tonight (right now I have none and hoping to keep it that way), at least I'm almost done.

Here's to the home stretch!

35 weeks (yes I'm taking pictures in my office at work.  shut up.)

I should mention that I get lots of compliments on this blue tee shirt.

Which I totally borrowed from my sister-in-law.

She is the best for drastically decreasing the amount of clothes I've had to buy.

An explanation and public service announcement

I've been away so long that I feel I owe my three readers an apology and an explanation. No I didn't have my baby, but we do only have 5 weeks left of waiting.  Or maybe less!  Who can say? 

And hold on, at the end of this post there will be a PSA.  

We have been busy.  But not busy doing anything worth blogging about, hence my absence. Or maybe it is worth blogging about, but I simply haven't had the time.  After the baby showers were over, we completed the baby's room.  You have already seen pictures of that, but we did get these awesome cubical storage thingies suggested to me by my brother in law. We have been practicing keeping both doors to the room closed to keep the animals (mostly our two ginormous cuddly cats) out of there.  Slick does not like it at all and bangs on the door and howls.  So I guess it's best we get it out of the way now.

I swear her room is so peaceful I could just live there.

Guess I'd best enjoy it while it lasts.

In other news, I had to chase down a tow truck in heels (I was wearing heels.  Not the tow truck.  Damn you, misplaced modifiers.) recently on a trip to Stillman College.  See, I work at Stillman on Wednesdays.  Everyone knows me there, as I'm one of 6-10 white people on campus at any one time.  The campus cops have my tag number in their computers, etc.  So I am supposedly allowed to park wherever I damn well please.  Well, there is a new cop on campus.  His name is Officer Smiley.  NO I AM NOT JOKING.  He is also bipolar (according to him), but I think he has multiple personalities. He has a history of telling someone where to park and then giving them a ticket anyway. He tried to tow my car.  Like really, there were people under the car hooking stuff to it and it was really really about to be towed.  Well, luckily since everyone knows me there, a very nice lady came to my office to warn me and the crisis was narrowly averted.  I was informed that there are new cops on campus and "Miss (wow, that still makes me mad), you really need to take care of this."  Evidently all the new cops brought all new computers with them to their new job at Stillman because I am no longer in the system. 

We had our friends Gordon and Sheri with their son Grayson and their fetus Eliot over for the MS State/Auburn game.  We must love Gordon and Sheri because they are notoriously bad luck. 

We had a yard sale! We made 175 bucks!  For a while our living room looked like an episode of HOARDERS and I was sure I was going to lose it for reals.  But it was a success, with only a minimal pile of crap to bring to Goodwill later.  I mean----pile of treasures.

 My goal in life is to never ever have another yard sale.  

Slick and Bells should be cuddly friends by winter.  

That is Slick keeping close watch on our "change box"

AND NOW A PSA:

A person "borrowing" your lawnmower does not always look like this:

Heeeey lady I'm taking your lawnmower and gold coins!!! bwahahahahaha!

He might look like this:

 Hey, remember that time I borrowed your lawnmower and brought it back?

I need to borrow it again.  Is that okay?  I will have it back today.

Needless to say, we know who has our lawnmower, although we are pretty sure he hocked it.  And we have been dealing with police, incident reports, affidavits, and magistrates for about a week now.

And that, my three readers, is the reason for my protracted absence.

Have a great rest of the week---I will have new ultrasound pics to share on Friday!!

A clean baby, the finale!

I'm hoping I get the final photos from the first shower (thrown by my family) soon, but I have received pictures from Amy of the third shower! My Birmingham besties all came out for a "Baby Brunch" on Aug 27.  Here are more pictures of me opening presents.

I had such a wonderful time, and feel so lucky to have a great family, a great work family, and a great Birmingham family.

One of the only photos taken of me not eating or talking.

Or eating AND talking.

Lindsey, a gracious hostess, with my former thesis student, Melayna.

The decor was lovely, lots of attention to detail.

Diaper cakes by Lindsey and Melayna!

Everyone decorated a diaper, and I had to pick winners for "funniest" and "most beautiful".

Diligently working.  Even Lori McMahon is quiet.

Me choosing the winners.  

Rosemary won for "prettiest" with her peacock design.

Rosie won for "funniest" by labeling a diaper "BELLA's TREATS".

Did I mention that everyone looked adorable and wore their sassy shoes?

Mine are the pink ones, of course, which some people might remember from my wedding.

Yes, they still fit!!

Me opening presents:

Explaining the swaddler from Johanna (aka the "baby straightjacket")

OHMYGOSH the pink newborn clothes are so irresistible!

The quilt that Amy made for Em-it's perfect!

I love that Amy looks really nervous in the background, lol.

The blanket that Joy crocheted for Em-love the "E".

Me fawning over the fact that Joy's husband Charlie knitted a hat for my baby.

Merriment.

Joy made homemade soaps as favors.  Adorbs.

Amy, Christine, and I.

The shower was at Amy's house-a perfect venue for a baby shower :)

Eating and Talking.

Thanks again to everyone!  Can't wait for you all to meet our little one :)

BabyHolder completion

This past weekend marked the end of baby celebrations.  I was sad that the parties were over, but also excited to put all Emerald's new stuff in her room.  On Saturday after the last shower (still waiting on the pics from this one), I was faced with a room full of tissue paper, bags, and STUFF.  Faced with the terrible task of organizing the mess and determining which gifts needed to be returned, I set to work. There were diaper cakes to dismantle, stuff to unpack, things to put together, clothes to wash and put aways, etc. I continued to work well into the night.

Some things are still not right.  I can't really leave the quilts and blankets on the crib when Em is using it, and I totally have a couple of pillows in there for decoration.  But this is really to discourage me from storing my unfolded laundry there.

Then yesterday the mobile arrived!  I had to take apart the music box part because it didn't work, but I was able to fix it all by myself without pouting at Rob once.  Bonus points!

So it's pretty much ready to go.  We have a few things left to get, but most of it will be free/cheap considering the gift returns we have to make and all the gift cards we have.  And I'm sure that once the baby is here we'll realize all the things we forgot.

Photos!

 The crib-complete with a beautiful quilt and pillow made by Amy.

She also made these great vintage-y flags for the shower, which I stole.

The puzzle situation is not looking good.  

Hopefully this isn't too,

"Heeey, babies for sale!  I make you good deal!"

Joy knitted this beautiful blanket!  

And her husband Charlie knitted the cutest white hat!

While watching porn...kind of.

It's a long story...

Storage and whatnot.

All the diapers are rolled because they are from diaper cakes,

not because I'm a crazy diaper-rolling lady.

Em has the beginnings of a great library-

I wonder if she'll love books as much as I do.

Top of the dresser-the one we bought off Craigslist because we are cheap.

Rich and Eileen gave us a stuffed Thumper!

Amy also made this wreath for the shower.  Which I stole.

(Noticing a trend?)

It now hangs on Em's bedroom door.

Cute Bambi prints complete the look.

And some pics of Rob and I when we were babies :)

The crib, complete with mobile-

I should note here that I still have the quilt and blanket 

from my babyhood made by my grandma and mom.

But they are (probably wisely) put away for safekeeping for now.

A pic of the mobile from the company website-

Does anyone know what this animal is hanging on the bar??

Bells is excited to share her toys with her "sister".

But I think she is mostly excited for her sister to share toys with her.

And pacifiers.  And bottle inserts. Etc.