26 Weeks

Time is really going by now and this week lots of things happened in our life preparing for baby Zane....

Tony referred to himself as 'Daddy' for the first time, which was really neat for me. This may sound silly but things are starting to become real, rather than surreal....and these tiny changes affect me more and more.
I had to buy size 10 shoes this week!!! I normally wear an 8 1/2 or maybe 9, so my feet are getting wider and fatter as time goes on, and this heat doesn't help at all!! I wish I could wear flip flops to work...

This weekend we finally got a new, much smaller desk for the computer, got it put together and all moved into the guest room. We had to take apart the old desk just to get it out of the room but its gone now, donated to Purple Heart. Angela, Courtney and Turner brought over the baby furniture (formerly Turner's furniture) and we got that upstairs and put together. That was an amazing moment when I walked in that room and there was his furniture....making me realize he's going to be in there soon! Its a feeling I can't really explain but my best try is a good kind of anxious feeling. Again, something that is now REAL versus just a thought of how it will be in my head.

I have decided that I do want to paint his room, but its going to all be one color, a light, icey blue that is an accent color in his bedding. I plan to get samples this week so we can get that done this weekend. They suggest painting a couple of months early so the baby won't be exposed to any fumes. I am also going to try to get the no VOC paint, to avoid fumes even more.

Friday we are taking off to go visit day care centers to see if we can find one we are comfortable with. Tony feels like he wants a commercial place rather than someones home because they are regulated. He also says that you never know who is coming over to people's houses during the day when your kids are there and there is no recourse if something happens. Additionally, for the cost, commercial is better because we can get the tax deduction for child care expenses each year, rather than paying someone who may not claim it.

Our neighbor and friend Kim is the regional manager for La Petite Academy and Child Time, one of the locations we are going to look at it Child Time and its the facililty that she is moving her little boy to as well as her daughter after school. That location also has a child of a CPS worker enrolled there, so it is on the top of our list as a good possible location for Zane to go. I am not excited about this part of it all, but I know he has to stay somewhere when I come back to work....I am trying not to stress out about it too much....

From the website this week...
The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches from head to heel. If you're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum — a trip that will take about two to three days