Christmas!!!

Our Christmas lasts 1.5 days long. Christmas Eve is spent with the Dakins at Grammy's! We had the joy of seeing much of the family and also getting our Pilot stuck in the mud!!

Christmas night was spent at the Forneys and we were there Christmas morning!

Since it was Sunday morning, we left when the family went to church and traveled to Mom Dakin's to spend time with that part of the family. The highlight was the Angry Birds game that our nieces received, which was immediately set up in the hallway:

From there we stopped to say hello to Nanny, Matt's grandmother before returning to the Forneys for more presents. Some highlights:

Matt opening up diapers from my parents

Ellen trying to open a box

Matt got an almanac from my grandmother

We decided to take a belly shot in front of the tree and is our first "family" Christmas shot:

The cat had had enough by the end of the day and took sanctuary under the tree:

 We hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

Ventricles of the brain?!?!?!?!?!?!

I had another doctor's appointment and ultrasound yesterday morning. The good news is that for the most part the baby is progressing very nicely! It is approximately 5 lbs 1 oz which puts it in the 70th percentile for growth.  Baby Dakin is also about 1 week ahead in development...I am 33 weeks but the baby on average is at 34 weeks so we might be looking at an early February arrival (though if it is a boy it will not be named Tom Brady Dakin like Matthew wants.) With the ultrasound comes more pictures. I haven't had time to scan them in but I wanted to share one that was our favorite:

The baby seemed to look right into the camera though I believe it has a hand covering its left eye. So that is the first glimpse at the face of Baby Dakin!!!! The other good news is that after having lost 15 pounds when I first became pregnant I have only gained just over 5 pounds back...all baby!!!! Hopefully that will make losing the baby weight that much easier after Baby Dakin makes its appearance!

A request...at the end of the appointment I was told that I need yet another ultrasound...this time a level 2 ultrasound at the UConn Medical Center. Doctor Williams told me that the ventricles of the baby's brain are bigger than they expect them to be. First of all, who knew the brain had ventricles??? I thought I had misheard her but as it turns out:

there are ventricles located in our brain. After some research, Matt and I discovered that this problem is actually quite common and for the most part it usually doesn't lead to anything and the baby develops normally. We are hoping that it was a mismeasurement during the ultrasound because this hasn't been an issue before and most of the moms-to-be who have posted online have had theirs discovered much earlier in  their pregnancy. Nonetheless, I go in on the 30th to discover what is truly going on...just keep it in your thoughts as we hope it means nothing and that our little bundle of joy will be as happy and healthy as we hope it is!!!

Birthing class

One of the joys of being expectant parents is attending birthing class. We attend ours on Tuesday night right at Manchester Memorial Hospital, where the baby will (hopefully) be born. Week one was spent breathing. Matt is very proud to proclaim that he knows how to breathe. We also saw our first birth video, which was not as gruesome as we thought it would be. The partners (as the husbands and one mom in our class are called) are supposed to bring encouragement to the mother as she goes through the contractions and start pushing. Matt has decided he will take after Bill Cosby:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYR9xX6DvpM&noredirect=1

(Oh Lord, help me now!)

So our second class included a tour of the hospital (including the LDRP rooms - which are as big as some hotel rooms we have stayed in.) After learning some more coping techniques we saw birth video number 2 which game Matt a fabulous idea:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1MtaGN0MAQ

This young lady, like the father in the video we watched, decided that diapering a cat was a good idea. Matt hasn't attempted it yet...but I am sure it is still on his "to-do before the baby comes" list!!

Only 4 more classes to go! (Goodness knows what Matt will take out of each of them!)

Latest belly shots

At 31 weeks 2 days on December 9th:

Hard to believe we are just 2 short months away!!!!!

Long week

This past week has been a long one for me (Janet). Monday saw work per normal. As a human resources manager, it seems my job is never done. I was happy to escape there around 3:30 (after arriving at 5:30) though I know I could have been there much longer than that.

Tuesday was an exciting day. We toured our first day care center. Hard to believe it is time for us to be doing these steps but with just over 2 months left, off we went. We loved the place: it was bright and colorful and the staff was extremely friendly. The problem was the price...$340/week and that was after the 10% discount they offered!!!! Needless to say, the search continues.

We also had our first child-birthing class that night. We have 7 other couples in our class and the instructors seem very knowledgeable and pleasant. We even saw our first video of an actual birth...which was not as terrifying as we thought it would be. (There is hope yet ;-).)

Wednesday was an emotional day for me. I spent much of it in my office in tears. When I did have the energy to leave, I decorated our break room at work for winter...making it snow and shine!

Thursday brought another long day at work...which brings me to today. I finally have a day off and am looking forward to just enjoying a day to myself. I think a trip to the mall and the grocery store is in store for me. Also I am touring our second day care center, which is $240/week...a drastic improvement!!!!

But this week also brought exciting news!!!! We found out that two of Matt's cousins are expecting!!! Congrats to:

Laura and Eric, expecting Baby Champagne in mid-June 2012
and to:

Erin and Nate, who are expecting Baby Harris #2 in June as well!!!

We couldn't be more excited for both of them!!!!!

Busy day tomorrow

While Janet is now just 2 months and 1 week from her due date, we have quite a bit left to do. For instance, tomorrow after we both get off work we have the opportunity to tour a day care facility that is near Matt's work. Then tomorrow night is our first child birth class!!!! Can't believe that our little one will be here soon!!!!!

Babymoon...part 2

Even though we had a wonderful cabin to stay in, we decided that we should actually take in the area! So while we were in Tennessee we saw many waterfalls:

spectacular views:

and Matt made a friend....

or two....

Babymoon....part 1

Matt and I decided to get away for one last trip before Baby Dakin arrives. So we planned our "baby-moon". We wanted to go somewhere new where we could put our feet up for the week if we wanted to and not have a worry in the world. So at the end of October we took off for Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains! We rented a cabin for the week (aptly named Remote Rendevous):

The cabin was fully equipped with a full kitchen:

a living room with a fire place:

a game area with pool, air hockey and arcade games (and a bunk bed):

a bathroom with a shower built for 2:

a huge jacuzzi tub:

a bedroom complete with a fireplace:

a deck with a hot tub, rocking chairs and a swing:

and an incredible view:

Definitely couldn't have picked a better location for this vacation!

Belly shots...

Since becoming pregnant, Janet has tried to get Matt to take belly shots as she has gotten bigger. Can you see the change?

October 3rd (21 weeks 4 days) - in our dining room

October 16th (23 weeks 3 days) - in the nursery

October 24th (24 weeks 4 days) - on vacation in Tennessee

October 25th (24 weeks 5 days) - on vacation in Tennessee

October 26th (24 weeks 6 days) - on vacation in Tennessee

October 27th (27 weeks) - in Tennessee

Again on October 27th 

November 21st (28 weeks 5 days) - in the nursery

It's so fun to see how she has progressed...coming into the last 2+ months!!!!! 

Baby's first bed...

After the painting adventure, we started thinking about furniture for the room. We already have 4 (yes 4) rocking chairs in the room, two for us, and two smaller ones that can be used for Baby Dakin or for stuffed animals. We started looking at cribs with the assistance of Mom Dakin, who purchased the crib for the little one. We ended up picking out a Graco from Wal-Mart that we absolutely love!

(It now has a mattress as well.)

We have also been blessed with a cradle that will actually be Baby Dakin's first bed.

This was built by Janet's great-grandfather, the baby's great-great grandfather and has been used by all of Janet's siblings and herself and will now be used by our child. Right now it sits in the nursery but will soon make its home in our bedroom next to Janet's side of the bed. 

Putting together the nursery

We have spent the last couple of months putting together the nursery that Baby Dakin will call home. Picking out colors was quite the task but in the end we chose a blue and yellowish green:

After painting, we decided it needed something more so looking for a border we both could agree on we found this one on Amazon that we thought was adorable:

So the finished product looks like this:

We really enjoy it and know that Baby Dakin will love this as their first room!!! Just under 3 months to go!