32 Weeks

The Connors household has been through a whirlwind of changes over the past few weeks. Scott is making progress on the nursery and it is nearly ready to move furniture in. I am so excited! I will let him give you the details in his nursery stories since he is such a wonderful storyteller. Last weekend my Dad's parents, Gram & Gramps, came to visit and shared some helpful decorating pointers and helped us get closer to finishing the nursery project extraordinaire. This week we also had the carpets cleaned and an electrician installed wiring for overhead lighting in our office and a ceiling fan in the nursery. We managed to pack all this in with prenatal/gym exercise classes on Tuesday & Wednesday nights and childbirth education classes on Thursday nights. Whew!!!

Tuesday of this past week we received good news at our ultrasound. We had the ultrasound because our midwife was a little concerned about the growth of the baby due to measurements being small for my due date. However, we learned our baby boy is growing well and weighs about 3 lbs. 12 oz. and is positioned well for delivery, with his head down. He was hiding, facing my back, so we were not able to get any pictures of his face to share. I have check-ups every 2 weeks now until 36 weeks, at which point we will meet with the midwife every week until the end. This final stretch of pregnancy is difficult but is also very exciting. One of my favorite parts is watching my belly shimmy anytime he kicks or rolls around.

Next Saturday is our baby shower. This is super exciting news for me because my parents will be in town, along with both of my grandmas! Scott and I had fun registering at Babies R' Us and Target but it honestly took me awhile to get over the intimidated and overwhelmed feeling I got when we first walked into the stores. Babies R' Us in particular carries a vast array of baby things and contraptions that will soon be a part of our lives, with everything from bouncers to butt paste.

Back by popular demand... here are a couple of recent belly shots, one from 5 weeks ago and one from tonight. Scott and I can't believe I was ever measuring small. What do you think? People keep asking me if I ate a watermelon or basketball and Scott says I look like a kangaroo with a little Joey in my pouch because my stomach is all baby right now.

27 Weeks

32 Weeks

Creating a Nursery Episode II: Cool Hue Blue for You By You Know Who

Hello Mr. or Mrs. or Ms. Blog Reader. Welcome back to the Nursery Episodes! Sorry for the delay. Due to the writer's strike I felt I should postpone this episode a week in order to have enough episodes left to make it through the prime viewing season. Crystal and I have been watching the new Terminator show and now I think we should have named our blog "Preganator: The Baby Connors Chronicles". What do you think?

Anyway, back to the task at hand. I was inspired to come up with the title of this episode by the Dr. Suess' book, Fox In Socks, which I recently read to a niece and nephew. It's a great book if you are not the one reading it aloud. His tongue twisters are a bit more eloquent, but you get the point. Without further ado...


Episode II: Cool Hue Blue for You By You Know Who

01.26.2008 1230 Albuquerque, NM
In The Nursery

Scott is back in the nursery after a hard week of work at the factory. He is staring down the challenge and it is staring right back at him. He managed to pull off a miracle last week with his Red Scare work. He called it the Red Scare because while he was painting it, he was scared that Crystal would absolutely despise the dark red color (red has that effect on people) and he would have to scrap his whole plan and start over. Fortunately Crystal loved it and had been raving about it all week. Now the pressure was greater than a tea pot of boiling water and all Scott wanted to do was let out some steam to relieve it. His stomach was doing flips and his heart was racing... it was GO time!!!

Scott started painting at a furious pace. Paint was literally flying out of the bucket and on to the walls. In under an hour he was already sending Crystal to Lowe's to get some more paint (Cool Hue, a blue hue, for those of you who want to kn 'e' w) because one can just couldn't handle the domination. He owned the room, he owned the paint roller, and he owned this project. It was actually coming together. Scott was thinking he might finish two coats of paint in time for his niece's (Maggie) birthday bash at 1700 that night.

01.26.2008 1630 Albuquerque, NM
STILL In The Nursery

Okay, Scott was wrong about his record pace. He is still in the nursery trying to apply the finishing touches to his first coat of paint for the day. His early pace cost him dearly as he hit the 2-hour mark and he certainly did NOT own the closet. Scott realized that small closets are places best left unpainted. His muscles ached, his back was in full spasm mode, and he was on the brink of defeat. The worst part was that he would have to face the challenge again tomorrow. His output for the day: 1 coat of paint in 4 non-stop hours. It's a good thing Scott doesn't make a living as a painter.

01.27.2008 1430 Albuquerque, NM
Back In The Nursery the Next Day

Scott is in survival mode now. He's been left battered and bruised by yesterday's revolt by the nursery walls. He is just hoping to get this thing done in time to sleep tonight. He starts off at a steady pace, putting the finishing touches on all of the dreadful corner and edge spots. Scott despises corner and edge spots because he is a perfectionist and can never get the paint to look perfect in these spots. He dutifully pushes on, yearning for the time he can use the big roller and get it done. He loves the big roller. So big, so fast, such a perfect painting tool.

01.27.2008 1900 Albuquerque, NM
STILL In The Nursery

Scott has been steadily painting for the last 4.5 hours, yearning for dinner and rest. He is again in the dreaded closet and finishing up his time with the big roller. He applies the last stroke and calmly places the roller in the paint tray and walks out of the room a victorious man. He has stared defeat in the ojos and swatted it away like a pesky fly. He brings Crystal in to reveal his masterpiece and she is ecstatic, saying "I love it! It looks sooo good!". She immediately starts taking tape off of the walls (it is her favorite part of painting) and gets happier with each rip and pull. Scott responsibly reminds her she isn't supposed to be in the room with freshly painted paint fumes, but she presses on a few more minutes until the tape is gone. The smile on her beautiful face eases Scott's aches and pains and allows him to let out that high-pressure steam he has built up all weekend. He looks at the room and can't wait until next week to tackle the accent molding. He is driven by the joy that it will bring to his lovely wife and her glowing face.

Here is an up-to-date picture for your viewing enjoyment. It may look a lot like the pictures from the Red Scare episode, but rest assured, Scott actually painted blue on those walls. You can see white between the blue and red sections where the tape used to be. It is important to note that it isn't the same color as the turquoise blue shown in the Microsoft Paint design picture. It is much nicer (and lighter) and matches our nursery set perfectly.



The End!