Family Swim

Last Sunday Liv and I did a family photo shoot at the Y.
Pictures follow:

T minus 7

It's seven days until Liv's due date. HOOOOOOORAY!!!!

New Digs

Our baby currently lives here:



Soon it will live here:

Strange Bedfellows

What do these foods have in common?


These are the three things I have craved during my pregnancy. (I probably would have had cravings for ice cream too, but a good friend has kept us very well supplied, which means, with at least 2 pints in the freezer at all times, I really haven't had to crave.)

The Kraft Singles cravings started first and came on late in my first trimester. At first I thought I needed more protein. Then I remembered that Kraft singles aren't really food, thus not a good source of protein, and probably I should stop eating them.

Late in my second trimester, on more than one occasion, I ate an entire pomegranate in one go while standing over the kitchen sink. I remember at one point being a little glad Julie had the stomach flu so I could justify eating 2 entire pomegranates by myself.

The dark chocolate with raspberries one just hit now. It's awesome. And I'm starting to think that the this, combined with the pomegranate cravings, are because I need all the antioxidants I can get to overturn the effects of those Kraft singles early on.

34 weeks

Mini is now the size of a pumpkin.

Coolest cake ever...

It's a little embarassing to say, but we are on baby shower #3. My supervisor at work threw a shower for us today and it was amazing. People were so generous and friendly and aside from making us more prepared to meet this little bugger, it's also getting us increasingly excited for the big day.
Super big thanks to all my colleagues. What a great group of folks.

P.S. Check out this killer cake...

8lbs

This isn't your typical 7 month photo shoot, but here's Liv's belly in costume for Halloween. Pretty priceless, eh?
More photos coming soon. Promise.




P.S. It's Chet, Alan and Mini on the Dexter Trucking bowling league!

Hand-me-downs pick me up

Not long ago, I was horrified to read that average American families spend $7000 on baby related items before their baby even arrives. Because Julie and I are doing our best to keep our expenses and stuff to a minimum, our wish list is small and we are planning to reuse as many things as we can. We have been the lucky recipient of *lots* of hand-me-downs and are super grateful for them. (Insert huge thanks here to Becky, Christie, Nicole and Elisabeth for providing me with the ability to get dressed in clothes that fit on a daily basis. Delightful.)

Recently, I received a hand-me-down bassinet that looked like this.
I was excited to have a bassinet, but wasn't completely feeling the Winnie the Pooh theme and decided to attempt a Scandinavian makeover. I started renovations on Saturday and, with the help of Meredith's sewing machine, some old scraps of fabric and leftover paint from the outside of our bathtub, I created this in 4 days, and invested exactly zero dollars in it!



After taking the rocker wheels off, the bassinet is exactly the height of our bed. The crazy part is that someone could be sleeping in it in just 98 days!

Red Racer

Regardless of the sex of our future Gjestlegate-Applevang, I kinda want to paint a version of this race car in this in the baby room. Vrooooooooommmmmmm.....

Bubble Blower

After Julie's recent Rorschach and alien ultrasound photos, I thought it might be nice to post a few ultrasound pictures that give you a slightly truer sense of who is growing in there. We're very excited to meet this kid -- get ready for your first glimpse...

I like this profile pic because it looks like the baby is blowing bubbles.

Here's a nice footprint shot. While we chose not to find out the baby's sex, we did learn that this kid is very long (no surprise, long runs on both sides of its lineage). Looks like it's got long feet too.

This is Julie's favorite. Baby lounging in the womb with its legs crossed.
Exciting!

Rorschach Baby

22 Week abstract ultrasound.



Better pictures to follow...
P.S. This little bugger is long and has boxer hands. Exciting.

Less is More

Without a doubt I tend toward the ‘Less is More’ approach to the purchase of child rearing stuff. I slept in a dresser drawer when I was an infant, played with pots and pans, had a big wheel and turned out just fine (I think?!). My 9 Aunts and Uncles grew up playing with cans and my Dad’s favorite Christmas memory was the year he got a single orange under the tree. My personal goal for our child is to fill one toy box and have plenty of books and outdoor gear, but other than that I am not interested in all the extraneous plastic stuff.

That said, I desperately want this super cool hot rod balance bike!

Poll time

Megan, my friend from work, devised the following poll to let you guess our baby's sex, weight, length and birthday! She also offers up the exciting chance for you to help us pick a name.

While there is no cash pool associated with this poll, the lucky winner WILL get a prize from the baby mamas and the contributor of a winning name will have his or her photo featured on this blog, and will remain forever in our hearts.

Team Hummel

First gift from abroad.
Thank you Stine and Catherine!!! Little Gjestlegate will be stylin' at 9 months in his/her hot Danish track suit. So exciting.

18 week ultrasound

Just kidding.

9 for 9

On Wednesday July 7, Julie and I celebrated our anniversary. Instead of exchanging gifts, we decided to plan 9 adventures in celebration of 9 years together.

Our day included peach & sorbet breakfast, Big Darby creek kayaking, Renaissance rooftop swim, sunflower bouquet, Wholly Craft gifts, Northstar dinner, downtown scooter ride, half of a Clippers game and Jeni's homemade ice cream sundae!

Career Change?

My horoscope for Saturday said:
"This Solar Eclipse raises core issues. So fluff up your pillows, get comfortable, and listen to the small, still voice within - making sure to ask it whether it would like you to make any changes to your course."

The farmer who runs our crop share at Hogwash Farms had a heart attack recently. On Saturday morning I volunteered to help him out at the Clintonville Farmer's Market until he gets back on his feet. I haven't had that much fun at work in 3 years. AND, I got paid in cherries, blueberries, broccoli, farm fresh eggs and one perfect red onion.




When I told my 7 year old niece about my new job I couldn't tell if she was more impressed by me working for the farmer or the fact that I got paid in fruits and vegetables.

Kids are good at reminding us that being happy is what matters most. I am looking forward to having our own kid to share my happy day with at whatever career happens for me in the next few years. Whatever it is, I look forward to the change of course and in the meantime I am going to keep my ears open, listening for that little voice telling me to follow my heart.

fruits of my labor

Lemon

At 16.5 weeks, our growing baby is about the size of a lemon,
and can now suck its thumb.

Liv's hands with belly. Julie's hand with lemon.

Serendipity

We aren't ready to to talk names yet, but there are a few that are at the top of the list. During our 9 for 9 celebration yesterday, while kayaking down the Big Darby, something caught my eye sticking out of the bank along the side of the creek. It was this blue bottle. If you know anything about old bottles, you know blue bottles are rare and are among the more prized findings for collectors.

In any case, we paddled over and I dug the bottle out of the mud and was surprised to find it in one piece with the lid still on. When I cleaned off the thick mud, I was amazed to find that the bottle had one of the names we are considering imprinted on the bottle. I can't tell you what it is yet, but it was definitely not Bromo, Seltzer or Drug Co.!

Crazy.

Lucky Day

On April 14, after 24 long months of trying, Julia and I got the exciting and very welcome news that we will be having a baby just before Christmas this year!

Our celebration, not surprisingly, involved Jeni’s ice cream in Columbus.
Julie: dark chocolate gelato and lemon blueberry yogurt
Liv: mango lassi and savannah buttermint

Hiya

Welcome to 'baby jackpot,' Liv and Julie's chronicle of our wait for little baby Gjestlegate. We're at 16 weeks and finally ready to start posting photos, stories, video and other such stuff with friends and family. Thanks for joining us on the journey.
Julie and Liv.
P.S. Funny we chose to start this blog on our 9 year anniversary. We hit the jackpot in more ways than one!