To-do List

Denver and I's to-do list is getting shorter by the day. The most critical accomplishment to date was the installation of our infant car seat.

At our CPR class they scare you into having the seat professional installed. They claim only certified safety professionals are fit for the job and then they give some starteling and staggering statistics about infant moratality in car wrecks, and then you immediately sign up for the $50 installation.

Our installer was a mix of Michael J. Fox (circa Teen Wolf) and that guy from Office Space with all of the flare. It was uncanny. He couldn't have been more excited about messing around with car seats on a Wednesday afternoon. Either that or he was on a ridiculous caffeine buzz- he was sipping a very large cup of something.

Baby Shower

This past Sunday, a small group of friends gathered at the gallery to kibitz about babies and the like. It was a really fun afternoon and I was so grateful to everyone who made it, especially the travelers in the group. I've attached a few choice photos- Enjoy!

City Drivers

After leaving our Dr.'s appointment today we navigated through Streeterville- or what I have determined to be the most insane area to drive around in Chicago. At one point we were stuck at a four way stop for so long that when we finally went I had five minutes worth of pent up rage. So it was no surprise that when some little dude in a Honda started to accelerate towards us mid-intersection, I had no choice but to give him the bird.

Denver was not pleased.

"You can't do that, he could've pulled out a gun and shot you, don't ever do that again. What if we knew that guy and I saw him later and he was like, 'hey Denver I saw you and your cute pregnant wife in Streeterville today, yeah I was the guy she gave the finger to.'"

"Sorry."

"Why did you do that???"

"I felt threatened."

There is no excuse for my juvenile behavior. But it's true there are A LOT of ridiculous drivers in Chicago. Anyone who decides to accelerate while a car is in the middle of an intersection deserves more than just a finger, they should get a big slap in the face. Look everyone, just get out of my way. I'm hungry all the time because I have a big baby in my belly and I'm feisty on top of that. Watch out. Somebody get me a cupcake.

Ginormous

This morning I had an ultrasound before my regular check-up. Somewhat unusual, somewhat precautionary, they wanted to see exactly how big this baby was because I was measuring a little further along than normal. As it turns out, Jumper is a big baby, 7 lbs 12 oz big. Keep in mind I have another week until I'm full term and 4 weeks until my actual due date. Wowsers. I'm pretty sure the only word I could muster during the meeting with my OB was, "crazy." I think I said it 7 or 8 times. Denver had all sorts of questions like, "Should Kristen go on a diet?"

Later he told me that he thought it was the two boxes of Lucky Charms that I ate while he was on a business trip about month ago. Perhaps.

I guess that guy with the "twins" comment wasn't so out of line after all.

Hubba Hubba

Some guy asked if I was having twins today.  I just smiled and thought to myself, "you're a real jerk, aren't you?"  Men, always the men.  They just don't get it.

Jumper

Our nickname for the baby is Jumper. Denver coined the name when during the first ultrasound the baby kept jumping up and down. We think after the baby is born and properly named, we'll still call him/her Jumper.

Well Jumper has moved on from those first graceful jumps to rather violent jabs. Sunday night, this baby was squirming, kicking, and rolling around with such force that my ab muscles were sore the next day. At the end of the boxing match, Jumper decided to ball up and take a nap on the far far far side of my belly. It was the most amazing thing. The entire baby was to the right of my belly button. Talk about awkward.

You always hear super pregnant women (37 weeks +) bemoan being pregnant, and now I get it. I'm actually getting there myself. I think it's nature's way of getting you psyched up for Labor and Delivery.

Bring it on! (in a few more weeks...)

Know it all

How does everyone know what this baby is but me?

I was at the hardware store and the check out guy looks at me and just goes, "So you're having a boy." I stared back at him and thought to myself, who is this guy?

Some Eastern European lady in the locker room at the gym walks by me and says, "You have boy, no?"

And the other day, an art handler came to drop off some work at the gallery and he just looks at me and was like, "You're totally having a boy."

Who are these people? And isn't it odd that it's usually a man who seems to know it all? I get the old Russian ladies at the gym, I totally get that-wisdom, old, yada yada yada. But these guys who are just so sure they know what's going on in my belly- where do these guys come from? I just hate to think that someone so clearly over confident in their assumptions could be right. But it is 50/50, so you can't give anyone too much credit for guessing correctly.

Soon enough!

The Valentine Holiday

Happy Valentine's Day!

Some people really get into this holiday. And by some people, I mean most women. I've always been lukewarm about it. My first boyfriend's birthday was on Valentine's Day so that sort of eclipsed my relishing in anything Valentine's-esque for the better part of my teenage years. I've since recovered- I like hearts, I love candy and it's always fun to wear pink.

Wishing everyone a lovely day!

Down to the wire

We're getting down to the wire. I'm 35 weeks, the doctor told me I was measuring further along, and I can just tell this baby isn't going to be on Hagan time, or late, for those of you who haven't experienced the phenomena of "See you at 5" really meaning "See you at 5:15 or so." That being said, Denver and I have put into place a couple of key contingency plans.

IF baby comes before we get the car seat installed THEN Billy Cheeseman comes to pick us up from the hospital (Billy doesn't know this yet, but thanks in advance Billy!)

IF baby comes before the crib arrives THEN baby will sleep in a borrowed Moses Basket.

This threw Denver for a loop.

"What's a Moses Basket?"

"Well, you know the story of Moses..."

"Yeah, he told Noah to build the Ark."

"Um, no that was God."

"Are you sure?"

I don't even think I justified this question with an answer, all I could think was, "hadn't he seen that Charlton Heston movie?"

"Moses was orphaned and placed strategically-to be found-in a basket, hence the name, Moses Basket. He's the guy with the burning bush, the ten commandments.....ring any bells?"

And then Denver launches into his Three Amigos bit about some bush singing "She'll be Coming Around the Mountain."

Boy needs to get his butt back into CCD stat.

Great Expectations???

Yesterday, Denver and I participated in the quintessential baby class at Northwestern, "Great Expectations."  It's basically a 9-5 marathon of all things Labor & Delivery.  I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting that day, but the class wasn't great. Our teacher talked a mile a minute and when she would ask "any questions?" she was on to the next point before you could even think of raising your hand.

I'd say we learned a few key things though.

1)  The hospital gives you (and baby) tons of free stuff before you leave.  Undies, ibuprofen, a fun travel bag, half shirts, diapers, and on and on and on.  Who knew???  I love free stuff.

2)  The delivery rooms & the post-partum rooms are tricked out.  Can you say flat screen TV, Bose stereo system, and hardwood floors?  The place is ridiculous.

3)  There is no way of knowing how to predict any element of labor and delivery.

Denver and I kept chuckling because in all of these videos we watched during the class, the stages of labor were explained ad nauseam and in the most ambiguous method possible. For each stage they would give this huge window of time like- 'this could take anywhere from 1 hour to 12 hours.'  And the best part was all of the different possible side effects of every possible drug or pain medication- 'you could have side effect a, b, c, or d, or none of the above or all of the above or in rare cases something not on this list.'  

At least we had a good laugh.

FYI

We've had a lot of people ask where we are registered- so many that I thought it wise to put up a quick post with that information: Babies R Us and Amazon.com.

I'm also in the process of organizing an all inclusive email list to send out breaking news as it develops. So if you have a new email address or you don't think I have your address at all, send a quick note with your preferred contact so we can add you to the list, khagan@gallerykh.com.

Happy Friday, er Monday!

March Madness

Does everyone know what a basketball nut my husband is? Scratch that, because it's not necessarily basketball as much as it is anything Spartan related. The other day MSU lost (boohoo, it happens) and you would've thought that Denver lost half the value in his 401k or something, wait a sec, bad example. Anyway, he take Spartan hoops very seriously.

So you can imagine my concern with the fact that my due date is, well, let's just say SMACK in the middle of the NCAA tournament.

Denver swears that it won't interfere- after all there are flat screens in the hospital rooms.

Tax Free!!!

Just in time for my recent shopping kick, the stores at 900 N. Michigan Avenue are hosting a TAX FREE shopping weekend February 14 - 16. How exciting is this??!! Very, because in Chicago we pay 10.25% (yes, that's right, it's the highest in all the land) sales tax and it stinks. So take advantage of this opportunity! Together we can get this economy back on it's feet again!

Miles

I've recently been on a miles kick, airline miles that is. For a long time I was off the kick, and now, realizing all of the new and inventive ways you can earn miles (shopping), I'm back.

Blue Nile, for example, will give me 3 miles for every dollar I spend at their diamond super store. This is not information that is of particular interest to me so I shared it with Denver.

"I love subtle hints," he says.

I've never been one for beating around the bush.

The Name Game

Denver and I have a name if the baby is a boy, we've had it since we first found out we were pregnant via CVS and before we found out via Doctor. And we still aren't telling people. Partly out of fear of the name being stolen (there are baby name thieves out there) but mostly because we don't want to see the wincing look on your faces or hear the hesitation in your voices when we tell you the name that we love. And keep in mind, a guy like Denver isn't going to name a baby something like Bob (no offense Bob's) or Sue (sorry Sue's), so you know this name will be different.

That being all well and good, we have struggled with a girl's name. Denver seems to know a questionable character with every single one of my favorite girl names. It's quite remarkable.

So on Saturday night, we went out to a nice dinner and played Baby Name Battleship. Basically we went back and forth through our top ten baby girl names, in order. Then, after allotting points depending on the rating of each name, we came up with a top 3. Very scientific. Me, I'd rather shoot a dart, but Denver likes this kind of thing so I let him roll with it.

OH I bet you are just itching to find out what those names are! And here is the kicker, if it's a boy, you never will.

Stay tuned!