BBB

Who knew that Bed, Bath and Beyond carried baby items? Not I! When searching for a totally different item on the internet, I found the Ergo Carrier listed as a product at Bed, Bath, and Beyond...so I registered there. If for nothing else, I think there will be a discount to purchase it in the end, right? Well, can't hurt to try.

Crib Shopping with Nana

Today, Nana and I went shopping for our crib for the baby's room. Check it out. The crib is of the convertible variety. So, one day, it will also be a full bed. It also has adjustments for the height of the mattress rather than movable rails to lift the baby out of the crib.

I Heart the Yaris

One of my changes for the lenten season (not exactly something I'm giving up) is to change my driving habits (speeding) prior to baby's arrival. In the new car I've been very mindful of my speed, and I've begun to coast and shift into neutral even more than before when approaching a line of traffic or a red light. Not only has this been a safety practice, but I've also noticed a drastic change in my gas consumption. This week, I really kept close track of my gas guage and from last Saturday's fill up to today, I've only used half a tank! LOVE IT. When I did fill up last week, it was only $18. I can definitely live with spending $9 a week for gas. Part car's efficiency, part mine... So far, so good with the new car - it is not possessed like the last one.

My New Best Friend

A friend of mine, Janina, who also happens to be pregnant and due about 4 weeks ahead of me was able to ascertain 11 pairs of maternity pants that fit as if made for me from a friend of her who I don't even know. Now THAT is generosity!! It makes me feel silly for even having purchased pants for myself (that are much too long, but about to be hemmed). So, many thanks to both Janina and Wendy. Wendy, I think I love you. Now, I just have to acquire more shirts to go with them :)

Strollin'

Not to worry friends...I've found my replacement. I know, I know - it took all of 10 minutes. Utopia is the new pattern for me. Check it out!

Registry Regret

Well, I guess it's not regret exactly. Registering early took a weight off my shoulders early on. I felt like we were done. Decisions made...then I got the email. The fact that the stores email is very nice, but when it contains the information that a product or products you selected have been discontinued - well that's just upsetting. At first I thought, ok, so if we get it right now, we can still get it - WRONG! Of the now unavailable items are:
* Sweet Safari 4 pack Receiving Blankets (no biggie - we only picked those because they were safari themed)
* The sun screens (for the car, ok, that's all right)
* The mirrors (to see rear facing baby in the carseat - ok...not a necessity, plenty of other manufacturers of those out there)
* Baby Towel Pouch (now, I really liked this - it was a bath towel sling and I thought it was just a superb idea, so I am hoping to find a suitable substitute)
And...the BIG ONE
* Quattro Tour Travel System - Catalina

For those of you unfamiliar with baby stuff, the travel system is the big stroller, the infant car seat (you're not allowed to leave the hospital without one and without being able to prove that you know how to install it!) and the infant car seat base. Now, this threw me for a loop. Because I loved it! Tonight I went to the store to select a suitable replacement, and I was not pleased with what I found. So, it's back to the online picture and a prayer drawing board. Maybe I'll get one of the car seat frames instead. Thoughts? I'll post what I find - perhaps it will be the next poll.

Adventures in Haircutting

For visual effect...

Recently, Jeff decided that I should cut his hair. I recognized that this was a bad idea and expressed my dissent. He went ahead and got clippers anyway. I tried, but evidently the $10 clipper set including many accessories cost $10 for a reason. It wasn't the most effective tool I've ever wielded. So, I resorted to scissors to start. There's a reason I didn't go to school to become a hairdresser. Then we tried the clippers again...then we reset the power setting....then we tried different length adjustments....then Jeff grabbed the clippers from my hand determined not to have choppy looking hair. Who knew he might be so vain?? Well - all's well that ends well I suppose and it looks pretty good now.

Week 19

Baby is the size of a mango this week!

The belly continues to grow, but I'm told it's "cute" so that's good I guess. Check out the poll to the right - this will be your last chance to predict baby's gender. Next week we have our ultrasound during which we should be able to find out, and then I'm ruining the surprise for everyone. See Boy or Girl for more on why.

The Paths We Choose

This is a "wordle" I created at www.wordle.net . It is the text of an article that Jeff wrote called "The Paths We Choose" for our Shippensburg alumni magazine and also the context of an entry on his new blog, The Independent Patriot. Wordle is a form of word art that you can create either by typing in your own text or by copying and pasting text found elsewhere, for example, the lyrics to a song or the transcript of a well known speech. The wordle creates something akin to a tag cloud creating the most frequently used words in a larger, bolder font.

I chose to make word art with Jeff's article becaust it has a great deal of meaning to me and I hoped it might also be inspirational for others. Jeff has taken a new step in creating his own blog and embracing writing.

Try out wordle for yourself or with your students as a presentation tool. Perhaps a paper or speech they have written will find its way into a wordle to share with others. Use it to find commonly (over) used words in their writing. Just have fun.

del.icio.us

OK - I've finally gotten with the program. I created my very own del.icio.us bookmarks page. Last year this whole social bookmarking thing was introduced to me in a technology class, but at the time I didn't see the need. Just one more page to check and update, I thought. I have an igoogle page where I can store my bookmarks on the web and access them, why should I have these kinds of bookmarks in more than one place? I have a blogger page with links listed along the side for others to access...what's the need?! Well, those links lists along the side were getting mighty long and so were my igoogle bookmarks. The tagging ability on the del.icio.us page makes it easy to find what I'm looking for (I also didn't used to see the need for tagging - I get it now). Instead of making separate links lists for teaching sites, technology related sites, baby sites, etc....all those links can be housed together but sorted with the tagging function. Now, I still have a need for my igoogle page because I don't see the need to share my bookmark/link to my banking website, or my school email access link, and I've found a convenient way to share my del.icio.us bookmarks through this blog without having to do double duty. Look to the right, now look down a bit...you will actually notice two different blogger "gadgets". One will let you search all of my del.icio.us bookmarks without having to leave this site. For example, type in cloth and you'll get all the cloth diapering sites I've saved thus far. Type in technology, and you have instant access to all the links that I've tagged as technology related. Below that is a list of the links themselves, but they are not sorted in a feasible fashion. In fact, they're in the order they were entered, with the most recent appearing first. I tried to change this either to alphabetical order or some other seeming organization but to no avail. If anyone knows how to alter this, just let me know. I'd be happy to make this more coherent, but for the time being, it's a list of links that can be casually perused if you don't know what it is you're looking for. There's always the site itself too: http://delicious.com/ellenzschunke
Feel free to connect and peruse at your leisure. I hope that anyone out there looking for baby, environmental, teaching, or technology resources has a little luck in their searching through the help of these links. Enjoy!
A little background - I refer to the site as del.icio.us as this was its original URL. It would appear that in my boycotting lapse it has become a dot com, and so perhaps it is well on its way to sustainability as well.

Boy or a Girl?

Jeff and I are planning to find out the gender of baby at our next ultrasound on March 3rd, but let's have some fun until then. If you look to the right, there is a poll to vote for if you think we're having a boy or a girl. Express those thoughts in anonymity. Many people have expressed that they wouldn't have thought we'd want to find out the gender. They are wrong - sorry. There are a few reasons.

a) We'd like to mentally prepare
b) I don't really like people looking at my belly and deciding what "kind" of baby is inside based on the way I look.
c) I don't want to have a gut feeling and be wrong...

Maybe these aren't great reason, but they're ours. So, until March 3rd, you get to choose. After that, we'll let you know.

Happy Valentine's Day

Check out our Valentine's Greeting/Announcement. Contrary to popular belief, it is not an announcement of the gender of the baby - just pink for Valentine's Day! Our next ultrasound is March 3rd and perhaps we'll have a pink/blue announcement to make after that.

Heart to Heart

We heard baby's heart beat today. For real this time! Funny thing though, when you hear it, you listen for what feels like less than a minute but at our last appointment when we couldn't hear it, we stayed tuned in to my arteries for 8-10 minutes. I also remembered my prepared question! I know...the anticipation is killing you. My prepared question had to do with sleeping on my back. From month 4 on, you are supposed to sleep on your side and even, preferably, your left side. I keep on starting the night sleeping on my side and then whenever I wake up, I find that I'm on my back. The Dr. reassured me that my body will wake me and that when I end up on my back that way it won't endanger the pregnancy. So, rest assured (haha - get it , you can all sleep at night) baby is a-ok.

Week 18

Baby is the size of a sweet potato this week.

Valentine's Day was yesterday and to celebrate...we got a new car! We ended up getting a Toyota Yaris instead of a Honda Fit. We're also going to the movies today for some QT. You may notice some snow in the background - we got an unexpected flurry last night. You may also notice that our light post (finally) is back upright. This past week was a busy one with high school diving championships, Valentine's Parties in school and the 100th day of school which means this year is really zipping by! Our next doctor's appointment is tomorrow and perhaps this time we'll really hear the baby's heart beat - I'll keep you posted!

Week 17

Baby is the size of an onion!

What a find - I got this shirt last night at Kohl's for $3.60!! This week, I felt flutters for the first time, especially when settling down at night.

Parabens

I'm in the midst of reading "Green Babies, Sage Moms" and chapter two is dedicated to cosmetics and skin care products. I nearly skipped it because I really don't wear makeup...at all. I'm glad that I didn't. The major focus was in regard to parabens and their inclusion in many skin care and cosmetics products. Parabens are proven carcinogens and their levels are not regulated in products. This morning, I went through my cabinets to read the ingredients of different "product" in my own home. I was happy to discover that my "Kiss My Face" products were paraben free, but other items did contain parabens. One of those items was my leave in conditioner...just goes to show. Read the small print. And be informed. If there are any other huge revelations, I'll share them in future posts.

Mid-Day Movement

Today, for the first time, I could feel those flutters for the first time in the middle of the day with my mind preoccupied on other non-baby related things. Just sitting at my desk, minding my own business and I felt more flutters. Pretty cool. I am so looking forward to kicks and more obvious movement, but when you really think about it, it's kind of like getting beat up from the inside. Now that is something to wrap your brain around. Happy thinking!

Flutters

I'm pretty sure now. I first felt flutters entirely too early to be true - on Christmas Eve. But then, as I was settling in to sleep two nights ago I felt flutters, but wasn't sure that they were real or right. Last night I felt them again, but not where I expected. I expected to feel flutters low in my belly, but they were very high, up by the middle of my breastbone. I've decided that baby is enjoying his/her seemingly large current accommodations. Don't get used to it in there, it's going to get quite cramped soon enough. I envision baby doing laps up and down and completing flip turns at each end. Honestly though, it felt like a butterfly flapping its wings right by my heart and I can't think of a more fitting description. I love sleeping on a regular basis, but now I'll look forward to each night with a different sense of anticipation.

Week 16

Baby is the size of an avocado. Mmm, guacomole!


HHAA had diving champs today, so here I am in my coaching shirt. Looking at this picture, I should really get my hair trimmed. Today was pretty warm, so by the time I got home most of the snow in the background here was melted. It's supposed to snow again this week Monday night into Tuesday. A girl can hope. Today was also the Super Bowl. Once the Eagles were out of it, I grew considerably less interested in football for the season.