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.