Yeah!

In honor of our friend Pete moving to NYC, we met up with him and a bunch of friends at Town Talk Diner. Katie bellied up to the bar for a couple of mock-tails. Travis opted for the real thing. Then we headed to the ultimate dive bar: VFW in Uptown. Coincidentally, a few of Katie's coworkers were there so our party doubled in size! Good thing, b/c Pete did a Neil Diamond karoaoke set that brought the house down (note the Elvis-like leg kick). Not to be outdone, Travis decided to show off his "air drumming" talents. 

It was fun until people's faces got blurry.

  

Smile.

I was snooping on the Smillies' blog today and noticed that an ol' Target co-worker of mine is now doing portraits. Her work is amazing and since there are a lot of parents and parents-to-be peeping our blog, we thought we'd share the goodness...here.

Fruit-o-Meter #4.

It's back. And you like it. But this week the F-o-M is the "Veg-o-Meter." 

Here's the email we received at this, our 17th week: "Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and is around 5 inches long. The umbilical cord is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby can now move his joints, and his skeleton." Really Baby Center, a friggin' turnip? That's all you could muster? We need to think of our own example this week. Got any suggestions? 

Bear hug.

  
A friend at Trav's work has been reading the blog, and read the bit about Travis being 100% POSITIVE that the baby's going to be a boy. So, she gave us this cute little blue outfit. Sidenote #1: Check out the tiny bear ears on top of the hoodie. Sidenote #2: Ever since we got this outfit as a gift 2 weeks ago, Katie has left it propped up sitting in the chair to "cheer her on" during her times of queasiness. Whatever works--Katie's been feeling awesome the last 3 days and counting. 

Game night, baby.

 
   

On Saturday night we got together with some friends for a good ol' fashioned night of pizza-making and domino-playing. (Crazy action, right?) We were excited to spend time with Steve & Erin's 2-month-old fraternal twins: Nicholas & Addison. So, so cute. To our surprise, Erin got us a special gift for Baby R: an awesomely funny book and our first pack of diapers! Our friends Carrie & John (Carrie's due in June) were there too, so it was great to catch up on all things baby. We shared stories of crib-buying and morning sickness and all that fun stuff. Baby fever is everywhere. Look out, fertile people.

Look, it's Katrav.

So our friend Kristen asked us to send photos of ourselves so she could morph them together and show what our kid is going to look like someday. It's a bit scary if you ask me, partly because it looks like Katie's bro, Mike Langer, circa 1984. You be the judge...

Fruit-o-Meter #3.

We got the latest email from Baby Center, and some might contend that "that ain't no fruit." But oh yes, my friends. It tis, it tis. The email reads: "At 4-1/2 inches long, your baby is about the size of an avocado. In the next 3 weeks, he'll have a tremendous growth spurt, doubling his weight and adding inches to his length." Looking forward to Katie Boo's baby bump! So check back for pictures of real people (instead of silly produce) coming real soon.

In loving memory.

Today my family said goodbye to a best friend. Our little princess, Kolby Marie Langer, was put down to rest. After 13 memorable years, it became clear in her actions and the way she looked Kolby wasn't absorbing nutrients (most likely experiencing kidney failure). The vet did say it was nice to bring her in when she still had some dignity. She gave Kolby a bunch of doggie treats (since she smelled them out) and said her final goodbye. Kolby always gave so much to our family. Some of Kolby's favorite things were: sailing on Lake Superior, cuddling up in front of the fireplace, taking 'porch naps' with my Dad, ice skating in the winter on Lake Minnetonka, following her Beagle nose to find every bit of edible something, going crazy happy (I mean mean going nuts) every time we'd visit, being sassy, being lovable and most of all giving all her little Beagle heart could give. We're going to miss you girl.

Fruit-o-Meter #2.

Now that Mama has regained her strength, we thought it was time to share another Fruit-o-Meter posting. The baby is 15 weeks now, about the size of this...

Bouncing back.

Although Katie is by no means 100%, she had a much better day today keeping food down, giving her more energy. Her temp is drifting somewhat back to normal (99 at the moment) as well. Needless to say, we'll be 'staying in' this weekend getting Mama Bird back to health as best as possible. Keep Katie in your thoughts. Hopefully tomorrow is even brighter than today.

No roses here.

Well, things aren't going so great w/ us this V-Day. This evening, we took Katie to Urgent Care b/c her fever had been staying at 100.6 degrees and had been around 100 the past 24 hours. So her nurses wanted K to come in just to be safe. All week, she's been home sick with a nasty cold/flu, not to mention her morning-and-every-other-time-of-day-sickness. Definitely in rough shape at the moment, but she's been able to hold down most of her food, most of today. The doctor said her lungs "are clear" and with the help of some meds, she's hoping to ward off infection and lower her body temp. Fingers crossed, she'll be able to get some solid sleep tonight.

Well, hello again.

Today was a fun day b/c we got to see Dr. Norwick for our Week 15 appointment. And we got to hear the heartbeat! At our last ultrasound, we got to 'see' the heartbeat but it was too early (at just 10 weeks) to 'hear.' So this was a welcome sound to our ears. "Whssh...whsssh...whsssh." It was exactly what we needed to feel optimistic, knowing that everything's well worth it. And so far, Mom and baby are as healthy as can be. Next appointment is in a month and that's when we'll get the final word on it being a boy. (Travis wrote that last part).

Konfession.

After Travis was so honest the last week, I felt like it was my turn to spill the beans about something. As most of you know I've been pretty optimistic about getting morning sickness and nauseated. During my morning and evening "sessions" I've rooted the baby on by saying "Good job! We're proud of you growing big..." [pause for "session"] "...and strong. We love you!"
Well needless to say, we're working on week 14 and I'm beginning to lose the positivity. It's been a tough road. SO, like a bad mother-to-be I've been giving the baby the cold shoulder! That's right, I've been giving the silent treatment. We have our 15-week appointment this week, so hopefully we'll get some reassurance from the Doc. Stay tuned.

Daddy don'ts.

My buddy Charley sent me these little "tips" so I thought I'd share. -T
For more, check this out: http://www.c001stuff.com/1133/Do_s_and_don_ts_with_babies/

Fruit-o-Meter #1.

For those of you keeping score at home, the baby is now the size of a lemon (per the 'my pregnancy this week' emails we get). "Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches and weighs 1 1/2 ounces." More Fruit-o-Meter posts to come, I'm sure.

Oh boy.

Ok, I have to confess something. Ever since K and I saw that little "+" sign, I've been referring to the baby as "he", "him", "the little guy", "little fella", "Travis Jr." etc. For some strange reason, it hasn't EVEN occurred to me that we may have a baby girl. I mean, I'd be ecstatic either way (boy OR girl), and I'm definitely not rooting for any gender at this point. But isn't that bizarre that I just assume it's going to be a boy? Weird huh. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. Good talk, Sparky. -t

Suggested reading?

Our humble abode is being overrun by baby books! :) Between the 2 or 3 we bought and the 11 more that our friend Erin gave us, we're swimming in knowledge. I guess that's a good problem to have though. Katie's latest reads include: Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthy (which she laughs out loud to) and Your Pregnancy Week-by-Week (not much of a laugher). 

Travis, well, for some reason he's glommed on to The Modern Girl's Guide to Motherhood (since he is a modern Mom and all). And of course, Complete Book of Baby Names. Let the naming exercise begin.