Woooooo Hooooooo!!!!!!!

Our floors are stained, our floors are stained, our floors are stained!!!
Our floors are stained, our floors are stained, our floors are stained!!!
Our floors are stained, our floors are stained, our floors are stained!!!

(Still some work to do, but yyyaaayyy!!!!)

- H

Not much to report ...

We went to the doc yesterday. We're still in a bit of a doctor scramble since ours is out on maternity leave, but this woman was friendly and efficient. The baby's heartbeat is strong, its head is down, and my measurements are not unusual - although my belly seems stalled at 36.5cms. No one seems concerned about that.

All current signs point to the baby holding off until post-floor and post-all-star time. Very nice.

Oh and, today they are sanding the floors. I'm a bit worried about what I'll find when I get home, but hopefully it isn't too terribly dusty!

- H

Photos ...

The floor is progressing!

Our room



The landing



Baby Thiel's room



A new letter!

And so it begins ...

Now don't freak out and think that I'm blogging while the baby's arrival is imminent (though in some ways it might be considered imminent)...

The floor people arrived today!!! Mr. Champion (er, Kyle talked to him and I watched Zoe, so he is a company man today) arrived almost precisely at 8a so that he and a partner could start work asap. They will be in charge of the carpet removal and floor installation, and another team will arrive for the sanding, staining, sealing. But - woo hoo!!! - the ball has begun rolling.

... which also means that we are first floor dwellers (and the cats third floor dwellers). Our first floor looks like a very cluttered studio apartment. Everything we need (except the shower) is down there in order to minimize traffic upstairs. It took us quite some time to fall asleep last night; strange how in the same house we were sleeping in a 'different' bed. Zoe had a few moments of concern too, but seems to have adjusted. Similarly, the cats seem quite content with their AC-enhanced, Zoe-free zone.

And - according to the books and such - our pregnancy is officially full term! I totally don't get counting to 40 weeks if you consider 37 to be full term (and because you can't make something full-er, or more unique, or more alone, if you get my drift). But it is another milestone and we are happy to celebrate it!

And finally because we came home to realize that not only had the floor guys ripped out carpet, they had also started installing the floors ... a few photos:

Our bedroom - no furniture, with carpet.



The landing with some flooring.



More landing, more flooring


Progress, I say.

- H

doctor, doctor give me the news........

7 pounds - 2 oz (give or take a pound)

so sayeth the technician driven utrasound machine.......

heather and i made another trip to the doctor yesterday. now that we have breached the 36 week mark (see the monkey at the bottom of the page for the big countdown) we are going to be going in for a weekly visit. however, we have to change doctors because the woman we were seeing went into very very early labor herself (29 weeks!) and now is on maternity leave.  thankfully, the clinic we have been at has a large group of physicians that can help to manage the workload.  as noted above, we had another ultrasound and per usual baby thiel had no interest in smiling for the camera. we took away one image but do not think it is even worth scanning and uploading. if you really want to imagine the image stare at the text of this post, squint, and shake your head back and forth really fast.  

and the news of today our new front door was installed this morning. meaning one of the big daunting to-do's on the list gets a big o' fat check.

k

More Letters ... and ...

New letters!






and testing out the baby carrier ...




kind of :)

"Be Prepared" or "One for Each"

Throughout our pregnancy, I have looked forward to the time when we could pick out two small going home outfits: one for a boy child and one for a girl child.

So, recently, Kyle and I have done some shopping and come up with the following two options:





We think they are each very cute - and while they may not be the most sensible things on the planet, how often do you get to bring a child home from the hospital, really?

Now, if Baby Thiel is a girl, we know who the little boy outfit will be sent to. But, if Baby Thiel is a boy, we are not nearly as certain who will be the recipient of an summer newborn girl-child outfit ...

So far, these are the only gender specific items we have purchased or received. Which (not purchasing) has taken a fair amount of restraint on my part, the clothes made for small people are just TOO CUTE!

- H

Update

Kyle is in Tennessee having a heart to heart with his DOE building. I am here enduring the heat and trying not to panic when I realize how soon it will be July.

We went to the Doctor earlier this week. Everything is looking good. Apparently my belly is measuring about 1-1.5 weeks ahead of the calendar - so I think that means it is 36-36.5 cms when it should be 35 cm. The doc wasn't worried and mentioned that it could just be the baby's position when she measured (fingers crossed!).

We are now on weekly appointments "through the end" and have an ultrasound scheduled for next week, which will tell us more about the baby's size and position. We've taken all of our baby classes (childbirth, breastfeeding, and infant care) which were helpful, good, and meh (respectively).

This weekend may be house-chore-focused or may include a trip to Cotton Babies (the local shop from which we plan to purchase cloth diapers) and Babies 'r Us (for a few lingering essentials). I waiver between not wanting to bring more stuff into our home right now and wanting to be prepared in case Baby Thiel does make an early arrival (you know, like bringing an umbrella along in hopes that it won't rain - I know it makes no logical sense, AT ALL, but ...)

Oh and, the doc says that she won't 'stop things' if they 'start' from now on ... Fab.

In the end, we are not in control and more than pray for an on-time baby, I pray for a healthy one ... but it sure would be convenient if Baby Thiel would wait for the floors to be done.

:)

What happened to our weekends?

I swear we blink and its Monday - or Tuesday!

This weekend Kyle's parents visited. They arrived on Friday and left this morning - and there was a tremendous amount of work on the house and baby's room that occurred in the interim. In the end, they swear they enjoy getting their hands dirty and who am I to object to two additional sets of hands, when merely ironing (never my favorite chore, but definitely not the most taxing of tasks) has me uncomfortably warm in my own home!?

In order to prepare for the new flooring, the furniture needed to be moved off of the second floor. So, that baby's room we've been working on? newly painted shelves and dresser? cute rocker? adorable oval crib/bassinet? All gone. There are a few signs of cheer in that room - Russ and Rae crafted lovely roman shades which hang merrily in the room (until they are covered in plastic to protect them from floor dust) and Russ and Kyle installed a tack-wall to display our accumulation of alpha-numeric-type offerings ... but an empty room does not scream baby. We are so looking forward to having a settled place for the little one ... one day, eh?

Russ, Kyle and Rae also moved the furniture off of the landing (our 'library' is all boxed up!) and much of the furniture from our bedroom. Here in the next couple of weeks we will become first floor dwellers! And, while I feared sleeping 'air mattress style' for the last few days/weeks of our pregnancy, Kyle believes that we can bring our bed downstairs and still have room to turn around ... I'm a little skeptical, but too excited about not sleeping on an air mattress right now to do a thorough analysis!

Rae was a great help with some new curtains downstairs. Kyle and I found them at IKEA - we really liked the pattern and they suited our style better than the curtains that came with our home. When Russ and Rae arrived, the curtains were partially hung, but by no means finished. Rae and I spent a good deal of time Saturday and Sunday hemming the curtains for our windows, and then--after we realized how wonky IKEA's fabric lengths are (apparently 98 inches does not always equal 98 inches ... even across a single panel of fabric)--she spent a good deal of time yesterday re-hemming them. They look great! And it is wonderful to have one more project complete!

We did find out that the wood for our floors is scheduled to arrive on Monday, June 29 ... and work to start on Monday, July 6. Those dates fall a tad later than we'd like, but we're gonna be flexible ... seriously folks, I'm trying very, very hard to embrace the instability!

(Really, if you decide to do some calendar math and start to freak out for us, please know that we have enough internal freak out going on right now. I promise, we have done the calendar math and know of the potential realities that these dates pose. Oh and one more factor to consider, apparently Baby Thiel is not permitted to make an appearance around July 14. The baseball all-stars are descending upon this fair city, and there may not be a reasonably priced hotel room between here and Chicago. Fun.)

Woo hoo.

- H

Happy (Belated) Father's Day!

I wanted to take a moment to thank our fathers and grandfathers for the guidance they have offered us over the years. Thank you for being you; thank you for being there for us; and thank you for guiding us into the people we are today.

er, and ... Thank you for forgiving the belatedness of these words. The current brain problems are mine, not Kyle's.

Much Love,

Heather and Kyle

More Letters to Share!

Yay!!!

Because now is the time ...

We have accepted a bid to install wood flooring on our second floor!!

Although it makes me tired just thinking about it, the process is underway. The company has ordered supplies which will, upon their arrival, spend one week 'acclimating' to our home before the work begins. First, the carpets will be removed and discarded. Next, the subfloor will be evaluated and possibly reinforced. Then, the installation will begin - laying the floors, sanding the floors (with a special 'dustless' sanding system, we'll see), staining the floors, and then sealing the floors ... I think that is the end of the process.

The company says that it should take approximately 8 working days from the carpet removal through the sealing, add on a week at the beginning for acclimation and a day or two for the July 4th holiday ... and the floors could in fact be complete before Baby Thiel arrives!

Note - Please do not disabuse me of this dream. I am currently refusing to imagine bringing our baby home admist dust and fumes. I would like to live in my Pollyanna world until I absolutely must confront reality.

Thanks!

- H

more baby gear

This past weekend ...

We traveled to Houston this past weekend for our last hurrah. Officially, our doctor has requested that I no longer travel outside of St. Louis until after Baby Thiel arrives. This makes it sound like we will be sitting and waiting for long periods of time (which may well come), but right now we have tons left on our to-do lists.

Work is relatively busy for both of us. Kyle might even take a jaunt to Tennessee to see his building-in-progress some time before the baby arrives. I am organizing my firm's team for the Komen Race for the Cure this Saturday. (Yes, I am planning to participate, and yes, it seemed like a better idea a few weeks ago, but I am assured that the pace is slow and the crowd inspirational for this fabulous cause.) We need to finish up work in the baby's room and (hopefully) get new floors for our stairs and second floor. There are a few other things going on, but those are the highlights for now.

Our trip to Houston was wonderful. I do think I need a weekend to recover, but we were surrounded by family and friends and had tons of great opportunities (even during the short trip) to catch up and laugh. Chad came in from Dallas, and Kyle's parents made the trek from Wichita to Houston, but my sister Jen, her husband Ben, and my niece Sophia win the prize (sorry, no actual prize!) for the longest journey, having travelled from Vancouver, BC for the weekend.

We got to spend great time just hanging out between visits; we met my Dad and Blake for BBQ dinner and some gelato at my brother Blake's former employer; we made a mad dash to the lake for some feet-in-the-water time; and I even got to go out to dinner Sunday evening with some of my girlfriends. No matter how much we try - we never get to see everyone! We did make a valiant effort and will try again next time to catch up with all of our friends and family.

However, the biggest event of the weekend was the amazing shower thrown by my Aunt Bonnie at her home on Saturday. She and my cousin Candice prepared tons of really great food and were very welcoming hostesses. There were tons of great family around - my dad's family from Dallas and outside of Houston, my stepfather's family, my mom's family, kyle's family, and my stepmother. Lots of my friends were able to make it - girlfriends from Saint Johns, from Trinity, from Towers Perrin, and from law school - my mom's friends from church and long time family friends. It was really wonderful to be surrounded by so many people who love and support us and who are also excited to welcome our little one.

We are still excited and amazed and overwhelmed and honored by everyone's generosity. Baby Thiel now has a nursery that is overflowing with wonderful gifts (well - some of the gifts are in Wichita with Kyle's parents for now, but will make their way to St. Louis in the very near future!).

Thank you, thank you, thank you all!

Also, shortly after we arrived back home in St. Louis, our carseat arrived on our front porch. Now we can officially bring Baby Thiel home from the hospital later this summer!

- H

Some family after the shower:

Brief

I visited my Doc last Wednesday. We are still on target. My belly measures 32 cm, and my weight is still a secret, but not of concern to my Doc. She isn't worried about my blood pressure, and so far, we aren't experiencing any signs of pre-term labor. All in all a very nice visit.

- H