Have A Spooky Halloween!

Kitties can celebrate Halloween too!

(Zoe on the left, Bella on the right)

We're looking forward to Trick Or Treating tomorrow with Kyra's cousins Mia, Maddie, and Izzy, but in the meantime we had a good time "dressing up" our kitties! Amazingly, they really didn't seem all that bothered by the pumpkin hats and collars that we strapped on to them. Geoff and I were laughing uncontrollably while we took these pictures, and the kitties were such good sports about it. Unfortunately for them, their cooperation now has me wanting to do the same thing with little kitty Santa hats for Christmas!

We're looking forward to Halloween 2010, which I'm sure will arrive much sooner than we think, when we get to dress Kyra up for the first time! That leaves me with plenty of time to think of a great costume idea. Baby Jake Balice will be enjoying his first Halloween this year (his Mommy Amanda's favorite holiday!), and will be dressed up as a skeleton. Izzy Smith will also be dressing up for the first time this year, I think as a pea-pod! I can't wait to see all the kids dressed up tomorrow, and I want to see pictures of Jake up in Newbury Park too!

Hopefully my nieces won't be too upset that I don't have a costume - I am planning to wear a Halloween shirt that I found that actually fits over my belly, but didn't feel like investing any money into a pregnancy costume this year. UPDATE: THANKS IN PART TO JOLIENE, GEOFF BROUGHT HOME A CARDBOARD BOX AND IS MAKING ME A "BUN IN THE OVEN" COSTUME!!

Aunt Jen is borrowing my Strawberry Shortcake costume, and I'm sure Mia and Maddie are already hoping it becomes a permanent fixture in their "dress-up" outfits. Geoff came to me this morning with a last-minute idea for a costume he could wear to school (his work) today: he left the house dressed as a "Hollywood Douchebag!" Jeans, sport coat, T-Shirt, Heroes baseball hat, bluetooth earpiece permanently attached to his ear for the day, and was on the way to the newsstand before school to pick up a copy of Variety to carry around with him all day. I told him to also grab a bottle of Fiji Water or Kombucha if he came across it. When I got up after he left (he leaves before 7am), I discovered that he had used some of his travel-sized "LA Looks" hair gel in his hair today! Classy!

Have a safe and happy Halloween tomorrow! Luckily I haven't actually been craving candy and sweets, so I'm not too concerned about over-eating on the candy tomorrow...But I'm sure Kyra and I can make room for at least a few pieces!

:-)

23 Weeks & We're Doing Great!

She's still a girl - that's great news!

(above) It's hard to tell, but you can see her chin and mouth on the white blob on the right - shows that she doesn't have a cleft palette.

(above) Kyra's arm, with her hand up near her face

(above) Legs

(above) Pretty neat shot of her spine and head

(above) Scary Halloween facial shot!

(above) Another face shot

We had our 23-week special ultrasound screening this morning, where they check the baby's vital organs and development. Kyra is doing great, and everything looks perfect! As my Mom has always said, ever since I was a little girl, "she has everything she needs and it all works right." So I'm feeling pretty good about that! Kyra is currently weighing in at 1 lb. 5 oz. Average delivery weight for a girl is 7 1/2 lbs, so we'll continue to see how big she gets at our future check ups. In honor of my Dad, who was an OB-GYN with terrible cursive handwriting (but very legible printing skills), I decided to preserve the doctor's scribbled notes on the scanned ultrasound pics above. :-)

I also included some bump pics from last Thursday (I was nearly 23 weeks), which were taken just before we headed out to Kyra's first Lakers game! (Thanks again Phil for taking us all to the game!) She's destined to be a fan, just like her Mommy and her Uncle Jay, and she already has her first hand-me-down Lakers onesie from her cousins - perfect for Playoffs next Spring! My tummy is getting steadily bigger. During the upcoming 6th month, according to What To Expect When You're Expecting, Kyra will double in size! My belly button looks like it's getting closer and closer to popping out - as Geoff says, I'm working on my snooze button!

Next up, we'll begin looking at pediatricians for Kyra. Our childbirth classes start in a couple weeks, so we're looking forward to those. The baby prep continues around the house this week, and Grandma Carol and Grandpa Phil (*we're still waiting on their chosen official titles) are coming up on Sunday to help with a few projects. One of my goals this week is to finalize the nursery paint color and find a cute pink damask wallpaper to use for accents in the room. As an Interior Design grad student, I'm definitely enjoying the nursery design aspect of having a baby!

At the recommendation of my doctors, I think I've decided to go forward with getting the seasonal flu and H1N1 vaccines, so now I just need to track them down! My doctor's office is still out of them, but I should get preferential treatment at clinics around town since I'm pregnant.

Lastly, I recently added a subscription capability to the blog, in case you'd like to sign up to receive automatic email updates when I post a new blog entry. There's a box on the right side of the screen to fill in your email address and submit. You'll get a verification email with simple instructions on how to complete your subscription status.

4 Months To Go!

Kyra is the size of a papaya now!

Well, yesterday (October 21st) marked 4 months until my due date! I can't believe how fast it's all flying by. Today I met an elderly woman in the park who proudly told me that she has 13 kids, and she's sure that I'll have more than 1. Yes, more than 1, probably. But more than 2 kids is pretty unlikely. I can't even begin to imagine having 13!!

I ordered Kyra's bedding early since some of it is on backorder and I want to make sure we get it in time for her arrival! The fitted sheets (white with a bright pink damask pattern) arrived yesterday and they're adorable! I'm going to start looking for some accent wallpaper to match, and we want to paint the nursery walls a light bright green shade.

Kyra's getting some really cute bedding for her crib!

Bed Skirt, Crib Bumper, and Fitted Sheet patterns (left to right)

Baby Registries

Over the weekend, we started setting up our baby registries at Babies R Us and Target. I'm still fine-tuning some things - moving items from one site to the other - but there's lots of cute stuff and it's exciting to begin picturing everything coming together for Kyra! Kyra's Aunt Jen (an amazing Mommy to our 3 beautiful nieces!) was a huge help at Babies R Us, advising us on what we'll definitely need and things we don't need to bother with. Now that I feel a little less overwhelmed about picking out all the baby stuff, I'm feeling more overwhelmed about clearing out our little townhouse to make room for all the stuff! Geoff isn't so worried but has nicely agreed to go along with my desire to push up our baby prep schedule a bit, in hopes of easing my mind a little!

Kyra continues to get a little bigger each day, which is evident in my ever-expanding belly! It seems like all of a sudden, within the last week or so, my tummy has grown a bit. I'll try to get some new bump pictures up soon! I have also started feeling some real movement in there! Early last Friday morning, I was laying in bed and felt a series of tiny kicks - they were small, but strong enough to feel with my hand! I've been feeling them every so often since then, but we haven't been able to time it right for Geoff to be able to feel it yet. I'm sure he'll get to feel some kicks soon, as Kyra continues getting bigger, stronger, and more active.

"Baby Girl Tipper" Has Her Own Name Now!

Kyra Laikyn Tipper

We're excited to tell you all that we've decided on Kyra Laikyn as our daughter's name! It's so great to finally be giving this baby an identity of her own! Kyra had been at the top of the list for years. We stumbled on Laikyn recently and got very attached to it. Actually, we first saw Laikyn spelled "Laken." Geoff liked it right away, while I almost breezed right passed it and wasn't really going to consider it. It took a couple of days, but somehow "Laken" moved straight to the top of our list of middle names! We decided to go with the "Laikyn" spelling because it seemed more feminine and matched the "ky" in Kyra. We wanted to come up with an "L" middle name in honor of my Dad, Lou, so that he'll always be a part of Kyra's life.

So, for meanings...Apparently our baby girl will in fact be a "a little lady." According to her name, she'll enjoy the sun and water so she's bound to be a good swimmer like her daddy!

Kyra:

The girl's name Kyra \k(y)-ra\ is pronounced KEER-ah.

It is of Greek origin, and its meaning is "lady". From the male name Kyros, meaning "lord", from the Persian and Egyptian word for "like Ra, the sun". A short form of Kyria, the Greek title of respect for a woman. May also be a Russian name meaning "beloved".

Origin: Persian
Meaning: Sun, lord

Laikyn:

Pronounced "lay-kin"

"Laken" spelling means "of the lake, water."

Derived from the name "Ladykin" - La´dy`kin

A little lady; - applied by the writes of Queen Elizabeth's time, in the abbreviated form Lakin, to the Virgin Mary.

We do happen to know someone with a daughter named Kyra (one of Janice's beautiful twins, sister to the adorable Dylan). Janice and I talked a while back about baby names, and I told her that Kyra had always been on my my favorite names, so hopefully she won't mind sharing! We are reserving the right to change the name, but we really doubt that we will because we love it! However, just in case there's a major scandal in the next few months with someone named Kyra or Laikyn, we'll at least have the option!

Goodies In Her Closet!

Still tons of stuff to clean out and shelves to move, but I couldn't resist hanging up what we have so far!

One of my first baby outfits (above)! My parents picked this out for me from Sears when I was a week old. My Mom (or should I say Grandma!) still has some more of my baby clothes to pass along to Baby Girl Tipper!

Very cute little yellow hoodie outfit from Great Grandma Lady (aka Maxine). It's so soft and cozy - I wish they made it in my size!

Kitty sleeper with kitty feet!
Have you ever seen a cuter skirt, because I haven't!

And another similar skirt in purple, this time from the clearance rack at TJ Maxx. Great $4 find!
There's something so cute about baby hangers!

Most of you know I love shoes, so I wonder if Baby Girl Tipper will follow in my footsteps. She'll be trained in walking in high heels from a very young age!

Once we found out we're having a little girl, we were excited to do a little shopping! After trips to Target, TJ Maxx, and Old Navy, we ended up with a few bags worth of goodies! Geoff was nice enough to clear off a shelf in what will become Baby Girl Tipper's closet so that I could enjoy hanging up her things and looking at them!

We've definitely been thinking about baby names! We've got her first name pretty much locked in, but her middle name keeps changing. We think we've narrowed the middle name down to a few options, but we switch back and forth between those options multiple times throughout the day! Once we've made our final decision, we'll let you all know!

Carol and I picked out a ton of fabric earlier this week, so I'm already thinking about a nursery color scheme that will match the Mother-Daughter blankets we're going to make - it's a very cute pattern of white, light green, and pink. I'm definitely anxious to get the nursery completely cleared out so that we can start getting it ready for Baby! Next weekend, we're going to start our gift registry, so we'll be even more able to picture what it'll be like to have a (small) home packed full of baby stuff. Aunt Jen has graciously offered to go to Babies R' Us with us to give us her motherly advice on what we absolutely must get, what we absolutely won't need, and what might be helpful.

It's definitely fun picturing us with a little girl!! After nearly 11 years of just the two of us (and 8 1/2 years with two kitty cats), it'll be great to finally have our own little family!

And the winner is...It's A GIRL!!!

Today was the day we finally found out our baby's sex - we're having a GIRL and we couldn't be more excited! Everyone really had me thinking that it was going to be a boy, but SHE proved you all wrong! If you look at the top 2 pictures above (which hopefully my DAUGHTER will forgive me for in the years ahead!), there are 3 little lines in the middle between her legs. Team Pink!

So many thoughts running through my head now! What will she be like? What should we name her? Who will she look like? The list goes on and on. Now that we know there's a little girl in there, this whole pregnancy is really starting to feel real! Grandma Carol (she's still deciding on her official title, so "Grandma" might change) and I already went to the fabric store this morning and bought tons of adorable girly fabrics and have projects all lined up for Baby Girl Tipper!

One of the first things I thought about was, "How young is too young for a Madonna concert?" And right after that, I thought, "let the in-utero music education begin!" Oh baby girl, if you think Mommy's been listening to lots of Madonna and Lady Gaga lately, well, all I can say is...strap in, hold on tight, and get ready, cuz you ain't heard nuthin' yet! But we won't just be covering the best of the pop/dance music world. My ipod has an extremely wide variety, so it's safe to say this little girl will be well-versed in Pete Yorn, Ben Harper, classic rock, alternative, electronica, 80's, 90's, and the list goes on and on and on! We might even have to register her for her very own ipod and speaker for her nursery!

Geoff and I have a date for this Friday to go check out the brand new, gigantic Target that just opened around the corner from our house (within perfect stroller walking distance!), where we will no doubt be purchasing a few too many adorable outfits for our precious little girl! Tonight we're going on a tour of Saint John's Hospital, where we'll most likely be delivering, and pretty soon we need to sign up for childbirth classes!

As they say in one of our favorite movies "Almost Famous" (also bound to be one of our daughter's favorites someday), "It's all happening!"

1 Day Left Until We Find Out The Gender!!!!!!

Only 1 more day to go until we (hopefully!) find out our baby's gender! So many people have weighed in with their opinions that, at this point, I honestly have no "gut feeling" about whether it's a girl or boy. I'll be surprised either way! It's really funny because the consensus started out that I was "definitely" having a girl, and then a bunch of people seemed to think/guess that it'll be a boy. We shall see! If anyone wants to make a prediction or share a story, hit up the comments section at the end of this post.

There are so many Old Wives tales out there - they're kind of fun to look at. According to the Chinese Gender Chart (based on my Chinese age, which is apparently 31, and date of conception) I'm going to have a girl. Based on a general Old Wives tale quiz, I'm having a boy. Based on heart rate, I'm having a girl. Not so much an Old Wives tale, based on ovulation and date of conception, it might be more likely that it's a boy. Acne breakouts (yes, unfortunately) indicate that it could be a girl. My lack of cravings for sweets like chocolate could indicate a boy. Severe morning sickness is said to predict a boy - I wouldn't exactly call what I had severe. And the fact that it hit more at night possibly indicates a girl. Another fun Old Wives tale is based on whether or not your husband gains weight during the pregnancy. Geoff may have put on a couple pounds, so that could theoretically indicate that it's a girl.

The very scientific test of threading a needle and hanging it over my belly provided that a circular motion (as opposed to side to side) means I'm having a girl. Based on the also very scientific opinion of a friend of ours, as well as our waiter at Don Chuy's (our favorite local Mexican restaurant), I'm carrying high (according to them) and so therefore am having a boy. Of course, other internet searches say that carrying high means it's a girl and low means it's a boy.

So check back in tomorrow for an update! Hopefully the baby won't be stubborn this time around. Amanda told me to drink plenty of sugary juice before going in for the ultrasound, in hopes of giving the baby a bouncy sugar rush. I'll be doing that, and am not afraid to bust out a few dance moves right there in the doctor's office, if it helps to get the baby moving!

Lastly, we got some very exciting baby news last weekend from some friends of ours which we had been speculating about and anxiously awaiting!! I'm not going to name names here, but we're very excited that Baby Tipper/Mini Tipdawg will have a new playmate in early April 2010! It couldn't be more perfect that we're having our babies only 6-7 weeks apart! So to my friends, you know who you are: I'm so, so, so happy for you, and I know you're going to be amazing parents! Geoff and I couldn't be more excited about becoming new parents right alongside the two of you!