7 Quick takes Friday

1. YES.. I DO realize for those of you who read my "Quick" takes... that they're never quick.  But for those of you who know me you know I am:

A. an avid talker. 
B.  an over explainer... so you can't be surprised.

2.  Shaun's working nights again.  Called yesterday to say he was heading home at 2pm (what a super surprise)...

...but had to head back to work at 5pm...

and wouldn't be done till 2am (aka: home at 3:30am)  Such will be our life for a while, but I realized today after the disappointment of losing him at night (I don't sleep well without him) that I actually got him during the DAY!  You should have SEEN Ava's delight when she woke up to see "Da-Da" this morning after not seeing him for 3 days.  She was so happy.  This working nights thing could work for me.

4.  This past weekend was our annual "Feast" celebration (more pictures to come)  Look what someone decided to bring...

Funny.

Not.

...this is when I realize that other people actually DO read this blog.

3.  There's been a LOT of work going on "outside" the new house.  Stumps removed all over the yard (a LOT of stumps)

New waterline being put in (the old one contained lead)

 New connection to sewer

Abandon old septic and regrade entire yard...

This is actually a huge improvement!

4.  I am 14.5 weeks along with baby Fullen #2!  Exciting!  Here's the scoop on his/her fetal development:

This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces.

His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

So far, this has been a great pregnancy.  No real complaints.  I was complaining over the weekend with the major heat and humidity, but everyone was... so I don't think that was JUST a pregnancy thing.

5.  Miss Ava is getting into EVERYTHING now.  She's so mobile and rarely likes to be "contained" in things like a pack-and-play, her crib or her carseat.  She likes "free reign", so we've had to put up a gate because she has no qualms about venturing up the stairs or climbing any box to get up where she wants. 

Unfortunately, she's pretty smart and has figured out that she can just crawl through the living room and around the dining room then through the kitchen if the gate is up... soooo that didn't work for long. 

I do have a big gate for the large open doorway between our kitchen and dining room, but since we're trying to sell this house I don't want to put any holes in the walls and there doesn't seem to be another way to attach it.  ...and I don't necessarily think someone veiwing the house (if anyone ever does) will want to be walking through baby gates.

6.  She loves to get into the recycling...

and "decorate" the house like this:  ...EVERY-where... (to get a full picture, add kleenexes pulled from the kleenex boxes, a glass coffee table littered with "puffs" and fingerprints, all the laundry pulled back OUT of the basket after folding, etc...)

but notice how her nice bin of toys goes completely untouched?  Not the least bit interested...

And she's a just a tad clingy lately *sarcasm*. This is where she is while I'm on the computer. (yes... that's her under the desk by the hard drive, just to be close to my feet.)

7.  Lately, the only thing that consistently keeps her occupied for very long is this:

...it enables me to take a shower everyday. Honestly, she usually can't be bothered with the t.v., but as soon as I turn this on she's mesmerized.  She'll even just sit with me on the couch in the crook of my arm for the full 25 minutes taking all the colors and music in.  Thank you Baby Einstein!