Then there were five!

We're so thrilled to welcome Charlotte Grace to our family (almost 7 months ago - gasp, I'm slow!)

More soon...

Almost five

Well, I figured I'd jump back into blogging the easiest way I know how - with a story.

I was driving Aaron's to a play date at a friend's house this morning, and we were talking about what life will be like when the new baby arrives. I was explaining that it would take me a few weeks to fully recover from the birth, and I would be tired because I will need to wake up a night to feed the baby. His response:

"That's bad that babies don't sleep at night. I'm glad I'm not a girl because I'll never have to wake up at night to feed a baby."

I told him that was true, and explained that I planned on taking naps so that I could get enough rest.  He said, "That's okay, mama. I'll watch Hannah for you while you and baby sleep."

Last pregnancy post

My last post on Pregnancy & Newborn magazine is up today.  It's been such a fun way to chornicle this pregnancy - with all of its ups and downs.

Life at home is still chaos, but we're working on it.  I made it out of the house with both kids yesterday, but I may not try that again for a little while.  Slow and steady is the new name of the game around here.

More later... 

Offical Rename of Blog to "Pauly and the Hall + 2"

Hi all, Paul here.  This is just a quick post to introduce you all to our newest member of the family!

Hannah May Freemantle.  Born March 19th at 3:38pm.  7lb 5oz, 19.5 inches.  Mom and baby are doing great! Sheri will post a better blog later this week I'm sure with more pics and more detail but here's a taster for now!
Love Paul, Sheri, Aaron and Hannah
xxx

The waiting game

There's not much to report, other than I'm sitting around waiting for baby.  I've wrapped up work and all of the house projects to be done, so life is a bit restless at the moment.  I think I'll start some knitting projects to keep busy until our little girl decides to make her appearance.  In the meantime, I'll be here:

35 weeks

Here's a shot of my ginormous belly these days.  I'm feeling pretty good, other than the normal pregnancy aches and pains that come with this part.   I do feel pretty excited and ready to meet this little girl, though.  Paul says he doesn't know if this is the finish line or the starting line.  I have a feeling it's the latter.  Yikes!

Nearly ready and a little tour

Paul and I have spent a lot of time over the past few months getting the house ready for our new little person (who is due in just five weeks!)

Since we decided to stay in our little three-bedroom ranch, there were more projects than just setting up a nursery.  We had to move my office out of the third bedroom, sell and donate a bunch of items we didn't use much, and find a lot of new storage.  I'm happy to say we're almost there!  Just one more weekend, and the nursery should be complete.  (Cue sigh of relief from nesting mother.)  So I thought it'd be fun to take the next few weeks and share some of the projects we've done, and show you what our living space looks like these days.

One of my top priorities was to create spaces where A could be more independent and find interesting things to do while I'm busy with the new little one.  One place is his new craft corner.  I'm a huge fan some of the Montessori philosphies of creating independence, even in toddlers.  I notice A is so much happier if he can decide what he wants to do, then execute (mostly) by himself. 



The table we've had for at least a year.  I got it on craigslist and Paul cut the legs to kid-height.  It's a little shorter than most kid tables, but I love the fact that younger kids can use it too.  The chair is Ikea (again with the legs cut).  And the cabinet is the Ikea Helmer cabinet.  I did a bunch of research, and this was the most affordable, small-space, kid-friendly solution I could find. 

Right now, the craft corner is in the corner of our dining room, but it may slide down closer to my desk by the time we finish furniture-arranging.  (Please ignore the one leftover Christmas decoration!  I'm still trying to find something new for that space.  :)




So far, it's been a huge hit.  A has access to crayons and washable markers, paper and coloring books, some stickers and stamps and play-doh.  Our watercolor paints are also in his craft cabinet, but since he can't get the water yet, I don't worry about those.  The other paints are stored on top of my armoire, and he has to ask to use them.

Here are a few shots of the artist at work:

31 weeks

By popular demand, here's a shot of my tummy at 31 weeks.



In other exciting news, we managed to make it out sledding this weekend!  We've had so little snow, there hasn't been much of a chance for winter sports until now.





A thought it was pretty fun for about two long runs, until the snow flew up in his face. Then he opted to hit the swings at the park instead.  He thought that was hilarious.  He kept saying, "It's wintertime and I'm swinging!  It's snow-time and I'm swinging!"  Luckily I had some hot chocolate in the car to bribe him away from his winter park rendezvous. 

Stay tuned for some updated house shots.  We've got a new desk armoire in action, the nursery ready for baby gear, and a sweet new shelf for extra storage.

Hibernating

A slew of illnesses have been working their way through our house, slowing everyone down a little bit.  (Which is, honestly, probably exactly what we needed.)  So we're spending a lot of days like this:

I'll leave you with a new zinger from our little one.

Paul, A and I are dancing around the dining room to some Christmas music.  Paul and I are snapping our fingers. A: "My fingers don't make noise!"

Sugar and spice

...and everything nice.  That is what's coming our way in March!   And a healthy little one at that!! 

We are beyond excited.  Baby Girl (BG) Freemantle was sitting straight up in my belly and facing backwards during our ultrasound.  She's growing right on schedule, which we're thrilled about. And she gave a few kicks and opened her mouth a couple times during the ultrasound, which was fun. 

I'm so curious to meet this little person who has been wreaking havoc on my body.  I wonder if she'll be a tomboy romping around with her big brother, or a little primrose who loves to play dress-up with Nana.  (If the latter is the case, I may need to start practicing hair-dos now!) 

She's breech at the moment, just like A was.  But there's lots of time for her to turn around, so we'll say a little prayer for that. 

We didn't get great ultrasound photos, because BG was facing backwards.  But I'll post a few tonight for you to decipher.

Knocked Up Blog

Did I tell you all that I'm writing a new blog for Pregnancy and Newborn magazine? I can't remember if I did.

It's called Knocked Up, and it's basically a weekly chronicle of my pregnancy (published every Wednesday). This is where you can find all of the gory details, including the kind of funny story about how I found out I was pregnant in a beach house on Lake Michigan!

I'll add a link to the sidebar, too.

Belly shots

I wanted to take some photos of my belly today. Of course, my little helper needed some belly shots too. And he just happened to be wearing his new vest, knit by yours truly. (It's a variation of the Pebble vest on Ravelry.)

Here we are:




And some cute vests shots:




Some knitting notes: I learn a little more with every project. This was is certainly a little too loosely-knit. But it's the first time I've managed to size something up on my own, so that was exciting. And it's big enough that its should fit through the winter. :)

Us +2

You've probably noticed this blog has been sorely neglected this summer. I do have a really good excuse - Freemantle baby number two is on the way, due March 16!

We are beyond excited to expand our little family. Unfortunately, this pregnancy hasn't been quite as kind to me as the last - hence the dearth of blog posts (and dinners cooked, and house tidying, and a bunch of other tasks put aside while I'm growing this little one.) Fingers crossed I'll be feeling better soon. If not, I'm developing some pretty good coping mechanisms to get by. Among them - never, ever take out the garbage.

On a separate note, our England trip was fantastic. Here is a smattering of photos from the week. I'll write a bit more about it once we've settled back into Ithaca and recovered from the jet lag.

Pauly, The Hall and Someone Small!

Introducing the newest member of the family - Aaron Hall Freemantle was born at 2:20 this afternoon weighing in at 6lb 14oz and 18" long. Mum and baby are doing great - dad still has a slight 'deer in the headlights' look!

I'll leave you with a pic of the family for now. Further updates to come!

Flipped!

Good news from Cayuga Medical Center - Baby F. flipped over this morning! with a bunch of help from Dr. Gelber. The procedure essentially involved Dr. Gelber grabbing onto the baby's head and butt from right on top of my stomach, and then swinging the little munchkin around. The whole thing took about 30 seconds. It was a bit uncomfortable, but the baby handled it just fine. So now we wait... two-and-a-half weeks until d-day!

It's an amazing beautiful day here in Ithaca - 70 degrees with that bright orange fall sunshine that I love. After the baby-flipping, Paul and I headed to the Sunset Grill, our favorite diner thanks to its amazing lakeview deck. Overall, a pretty great day.

Oh, and check out who's been visiting our backyard lately.


Good thing for those birds that Paul doesn't hunt, or we could have been looking at Thanksgiving dinner!

Spin-a-roo

It seems like we've got a stubborn little kiddo on our hands, as Baby F. is still sitting completely upright in my belly. He or she is not buying the head-standing, acupuncture or chiropractics I've tried - go figure. We've got a little procedure scheduled tomorrow to try to spin the little munchkin around. If the baby isn't diggin' it, we'll most likely schedule a c-section for Oct. 1 or 2. (Funny how we could actually pick our kid's birthday!) Although if the baby decides to flip before the c-section, we'd be back to the normal birth plan.

So that's the scoop! Thanks for everyone who's checked in. I'm feeling pretty positive about tomorrow - everyone says we got the doc with "good hands." I should also note that baby and I are both very healthy - none of this is painful or dangerous, just a bit of a nuisance. And we've had a few extra ultrasounds to check on the baby's position, so we got to see the baby's face close-up and found out that he or she has a full head of hair!

Surprise!

Paul and I experienced quite a treat last night - a surprise baby shower thrown by the amazing Megan and Joshua, with help from Nicole, Zack, Norah and my mom. These guys really went out with a baby-themed dinner menu of baby back ribs, baby potatoes, baby artichokes, veggies with pesto dip served in baby bottles and baby spinach salad. For dessert, Megan made the cutest ever strawberries-dipped-in-chocolate, complete with pretzel handles to look like baby rattles. We got some fantastic presents, including tons of bottles and pacifiers, some cute outfits, a knit turtle named Sheldon and a hand-made quilt from Nicole. Since we had no idea this was coming, we didn't bring our camera. So all I can leave you with is a photo of Sheldon...

Full term

Here's a shot of my gigantic belly at 36 weeks. I'm considered full-term now, which means if Baby Freemantle decides to show up, that would be totally okay. Except that the little munchkin is still not in the right position, so we're hoping s/he will hang out long enough to flip around.

There's not a lot going on around on house these days other than baby prep. I'm officially waddling around like a pregnant lady, having a hard time standing up from cushy chairs and wanting to prop my feet up all of the time. My workouts are reduced to 1,000 yards of swimming (which feels like a HUGE accomplishment!) or a mile or two of walking. And Paul is ramping up with building baby gear. The car seat is installed and tonight I think he plans to conquer the crib. In the meantime, we're trying to stock up on as much extra sleep as possible.

Take Out Big Boy Spagetti - Pauly Style!!

Sheri has been craving Big Boy spagetti ever since we left Michigan (No Big Boys in NY unfortunately), so since I was in Michigan this week I thought she deserved a plate of the stuff.
Here it is on our kitchen counter in Ithaca:


And here is a craving satisfied and happy Sheri:


And it was still warm when it arrived! How? Here's how it got from Pontiac, MI to Ithaca, NY:


Yep, the Borg Warner Executive Jet! I love my job... sometimes!

Not upside down

On the whole, being pregnant is treating me pretty well. I feel good the vast majority of the time. And the only real change lately is that I go to bed a little earlier than normal.

But a few weeks ago I came down with the flu and made a trip to the doctor to make sure the baby was okay. (Turns out he or she didn't mind one bit.) And that's how I found out the baby is actually breech - which means "head-up."

Most babies are literally upside-down by this point, and that's how they're supposed to stay until delivery. I'm told there's lots of time for the little one to turn. But in the meantime, I'm trying some new yoga poses and working on convincing the munchkin that life would be much better for all if he or she would just flip over.

I've also been told to do some handstands in the swimming pool - very 10-year-old, but I guess it's worth a try. Imagine how funny my big belly is going to look in a handstand at the Cornell pool!

If the baby doesn't flip, that means a C-section for me - not the worst thing in the world, but something I'd like to avoid if possible. So any tips for flipping Baby Freemantle? Send 'em my way.