Isn't She Lovely?

I think that's a Stevie Wonder song, and it's a sweet little tune, especially because it completely fit the moment Tuesday morning at 4:26 a.m. when my new niece was born.

A few months ago, my brother's wife asked me if I would like to come into the delivery room when their second little girl was born. After some thought, I agreed. I had already seen my best friend give birth to her little boy, but since I am about to go through this craziness myself, I figured I'd take a refresher course. Plus, they needed a photographer (note: I did not, however, take the photos below).

So at 2 a.m. Aug. 19, I got a call from my brother, threw on some clothes and drove an hour and a half to Cleveland, Tenn. As with the first birth I witnessed, I barely got there in time. They hadn't been at the hospital two hours and she was already pushing. At 4:26 a.m., Taylor Paige was born - all 8 pounds 14 ounces of her!!! And isn't she lovely?

Like I said, this is their second girl, and the first one was just over 8 pounds. So both of their babies have come out looking like babies instead of aliens. Look at those cheeks! Here's a picture of mom, big sister (Kylee Joanne) and "baby Taylor," as Kylee calls her.

I think I learned more this time about what mom has to go through after having the baby, and I am NOT looking forward to all that. But I'm thinking once I see our little fella, it won't be so bad.

This has already turned into a baby blog... I promise I'll write about something else soon. I just had to share the cuteness with you.

The Bump

Well, after several requests, I'm cracking under pressure and providing some photos of me with "the baby bump."

I don't know if people want to see these so they can revel in your fat or what. I guess they really just want to see what you look like pregnant. Either way, I don't have any intro music to provide, but here you go:

Here's me from the front. The black shirt makes me look like I barely have a tummy.

And here's the whopper:

Considering I already had a butt, I really just look bumpy - heehee! Get it? Bumpy! No? Oh well. 

For those who need the stats, my last doctor's visit (which was two weeks ago) revealed that I have gained a total of 9 pounds. The baby already weighs a little over a pound. For those of you not reading all you can about pregnancy, someone my height, weight and age should gain somewhere between 25 and 35 pounds total. Considering I am now somewhere around 22 weeks (5 1/2 months) pregnant and more than halfway there, the weight is pretty good. Apparently, you pack on the majority of the pounds toward the end. Can't wait!

So there you have it kids. I don't mind being an incubator for the little bambino, and I hope I'm doing a pretty good job. But I also don't know what is wrong with these women who tell me they loved being pregnant. I got my Real Simple magazine the other day in the mail and three stories were about fall fashion. I can't wear any of it. Bah humbug! Well, only a few more months to go. And then I can just not care about what I look like ever again, right? Just kidding...

While Under the Heat, Grace Under Fire Walked In

While sitting at my lovely little haven called the Place that Rocks, I look up to notice a woman walk in that looks really familiar. As she and the salon's masseuse walked passed me, I realized who she was.

It was Brett Butler, the once-star comedienne (not the baseball player, and not Scarlet O'Hara's fourth husband - that was Rhett Butler) who played the lead role in "Grace Under Fire." I don't know if  you guys ever watched the show. It wasn't too bad, really. Something about a single mom living a blue collar life. She was pretty crass and a little foul-mouthed. She has apparently made an appearance on "My Name is Earl," playing Joy's mom - if that gives you any insight into her humor.

Anyway, she just comes walking into the salon! Carrie, the wonderful woman who makes my hair look good, came back over to me and asked if I saw her. I asked what the heck she was doing here and this is the dish (Keep in mind this is coming from a hair dresser which is almost the same as coming from a bar tender, so I'm thinking it's all true.):

Brett has been living in Rome for a while, moving to her own farm. Her agent or secretary from Los Angeles called and said her boss had been working really hard and hadn't been taking care of herself, so she needed a massage. So the salon, going through the routine, asked for her name and number. The agent/whoever gave them the name (which no one really thought about) but said she couldn't give out the number and that she'd have Brett call and say when she could come in. Instead of calling, she dropped by to pick up some Aveda products one day and made the appointment. When she came in, Carrie and the crew realized why the number couldn't be shared.

So there she was, in the salon where I get my hair done. When she came out from her massage, I was under the dryer with aluminum foil all over my head. She looked at me and said, "Now that's really cool," while pointing to the dryer. 

The dryer looks like the thing surrounding Uranus and rotates around my head as I sit there. So I said,"Yeah, it just kind of hovers around my head."

Then she made some comment about how her salon doesn't have those and that her gynecologist needs one in her office (which I thought was a bit strange but kind of funny).

So yeah, she spoke to me. How cool is that? I should be famous now, only she's not really that famous anymore. So if she's on the D-list, does that put me on like, the H-list - since she spoke to me?

In all seriousness, I felt kind of bad for her. She looked rough. I think she'd had trouble with drugs and alcohol in the past, and I really hope she's not going down those roads again.

But still, it was cool to see a semi-celebrity in person. And I played it so cool...so cool.

Move Over Phelps, the Water Dogs are Coming

I had been looking forward to this past Saturday for quite some time, and I think Sadie had been looking forward to it since about this time last year. I took my socializing, water-loving pup to Chattanooga this weekend to visit her best friend and take advantage of a doggie swim event.

Each year, the Humane Society in Chattanooga hosts the doggie swim day. They reserve a huge pool in the middle of one of the downtown parks and dog owners can bring their "kids" for three hours of swimming and socializing - again, two of Sadie's favorite things. So I met up with my friend Lauren, whose black lab Lexi is Sadie's best friend. You think I'm kidding? These two have been on many a walks together, many swimming adventures, many puppy-sitting adventures, and even though they haven't seen each other in a year, they devoured each other with kisses and tail wagging for about 10 minutes when seeing each other again.

So we headed to the pool for the last hour of the swim event and had a blast. We took the girls last year, and the look on Sadie's face upon arrival was like, "Holy crap, is this heaven?" She was excited this year as well, though she was a little more into the socializing than she was into the swimming. Lexi, on the other hand, can smell water a mile away and could swim ALL DAY LONG - especially if there's a toy to fetch.

When we arrived this year, Lexi just ran straight for the water and jumped right in. Sadie gets a little weirded out when there's no gradual in and out of the water, so she waited until "mom" got in to jump in. She knows I'll watch her back and make sure she gets to land when she wants to.

Here are some shots of their fun:

It's hard to take photos when everything around you is wet, but you get the point. Too bad you can't see that when Sadie is wet, it looks like her makeup is running.

You may be wondering why Jewelsies didn't join us. Well, Little Miss Spaz would be way too hard to keep track of with that many dogs around (we're talking 50 dogs or more at all times). Plus, she only very recently decided to get in water on her own free will. I wasn't sure how she'd do in a pool. A calm lake with a shore is one thing.

So after our little party, we dropped off the kids, washed off and went to Mellow Mushroom for an early dinner. For those of you who know Lauren, she's doing great. She's covering the war (not going over to Iraq or anything) plus doing more investigative reporting at the paper there and just that morning had taken the LSAT. Yep, she's a goin' to law school!

We got back to her place to find our beautiful puppies anxiously awaiting a treat:

Needless to say, Sadie slept the whole way back.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I think I spoil my dogs. Just last weekend they both got to go to the lake and play with a huge (115-120 pounds) Great Dane named Moose. I'm talking 30 acres of land and water. Jewels really enjoyed that, too.

I hope we still get to do that after Logan gets here. Honestly, I think I love them too much not to!

Visiting the Porcelain

Honestly, I don't know anyone who likes public restrooms and have even met a few people who refuse to ever step foot in one. They'll hold it for hours before going into a urinating congregation.

But to tell you more information than you want to know, I have to pee too often not to use them. Maybe it's the trying to drink more water, but inevitably at some point, I'm going to be using a public restroom.

To make matters a bit worse, that's basically what our restroom is at work. The 70s-tile-laden room doesn't smell as bad as most public restrooms, but it's still not pleasant for me to walk in and hear someone else peeing - or worse. I just don't like to listen to someone else using the bathroom, and I don't assume they enjoy whatever trickling tune I might be sharing either.

The door on our bathroom makes a unique squeaking sound, and since it's just about 10 paces down the hall, I can hear it. So if I have to go, I try to go when I haven't heard the door in a while. But then, half the time someone walks in while I'm in there. Sometimes these people take their time, fixing their makeup or popping a zit or whatever the heck they are doing in there. The whole time I'm thinking, "OK, it's time for you to get out of here now."

Then there's the chance of running into someone you haven't spoken to in a while. Do you have to get reacquainted in the bathroom of all places? I don't want to be rude; I just don't want to converse all day in the bathroom.

Recently I've been a bit annoyed by another common occurrence: foam instead of soap. What the...? I just want soap. Where did this foam thing start and why? We have that at work now. I don't know if it's suppose to save them money or what, but it seems like good ol' fashioned soap and water would kill germs better than foam and water! Weird.

And to top the cake, now I have to think about bringing a child into a public restroom. I just don't see myself using those changing tables hanging from the walls. GROSS! And then when he gets older, I'll have to bring him into the ladies room when it's just me, tell him NOT to touch the toilet seat and try to exit the room free of toilet paper stuck to his shoe... or mine.

I'm a fan of the don't-have-to-touch so much restrooms, where there's some little maze to get in, sensors on the sink, etc. But still.

Yes, I just wrote THAT much on using a public restroom. You know you hate them, too.

Drum Roll Please...

It's a boy!!! 

That's right, folks! And let's hope he's just like his dad.

We went to the doctor today for the ultrasound, which was ultra-cool. We got a quick education in what all a baby has at 20 weeks, including a nice looking brain, a four-chambered hear, kidneys, bladder, stomach, umbilical cord, hands, feet, a wonderful ability to curl up in a ball and, in our case, a penis.

So now we can stop calling him "it" and start calling him by his name... Logan Matthew. Logan is Chris' dad's middle name (as well as his grandfather's) and his great-grandmother's maiden name. Matthew is my brother's name, and he's one of the coolest guys I know. We would have named him after my dad somehow, but considering we would have had to use either Ned or Augustine, that didn't work. And my grandfather's name was Harold Bertrand - also not happening.

So there you have it, kids! And everything looked great! His heartbeat was 153 bpm, which is normal at this stage, and he was moving like crazy. Oh, and she said he already weighs a pound!

I guess I'm doing good on the pounds, too. I have gained a total of 9 pounds. It's a little scary looking at the scale, but I know I have to gain.

Weird... and cool... all at the same time.

Here are some ultrasound pics. The first and second are taken from underneath him. You can see that he is crossing his ankles in the second one. The third one is sort of a twisted profile, and the fourth is a profile with a good shot of his face. Already cute, don't you think?

Kickin' It

I rolled over onto my back this morning in bed with my hand on my tummy and felt a little bump both inside and on my hand. The baby kicked!!!

I thought I felt a little flutter the other day, but this was definitely a kick. He or she (we find out Thursday!) kicked a few times. Chris even thought he felt one or two. Wow... absolutely wow!

OK, I have to go get more food now...