shake it like a polaroid picture...

Much like her mother, Harper does not seem to be able to sit still for long. In the several weeks that have passed since I became aware of her movements, I feel like she is quite the busy-body! Whereas I once only felt her strongest movements during the rare occasions when I was completely still, now I feel all kinds of jabs, swooshes and "kick-step-jumps" at any given moment!

She actually woke me up in the middle of the night with a flurry of activity taking place in my mid-section. It was 2:15 in the morning, and she was on a roll! I have no clue what that child was doing in there - I mean, 2 a.m. is no time to cause a ruckus...nothing on the up-and-up ever occurs at 2 a.m., and I would know! Despite the disruption of sleep, Jeff and I thought it was pretty cool to have front row seats to her show! If she stopped rustling for a minute or two, I would shake my stomach around to stir her back into action...much like one might shake a Diet Coke can according to El Jefe. (Rest easy - we will not shake her once she is out of the womb, but for now, fair game!) I'm sure there will soon come a time when the disruption of sleep is not welcomed with such open arms, but at least this time it was a nice, random reminder of HOWE (sorry, can't resist) blessed we are with this little girl.

Her ears must be burning right now, because her arms and feet certainly are moving with ferocity this morning! Ahhh, every single day I become more and more anxious to meet her!

It's in my head...

I referred to myself as "mom" this afternoon. It was only in my head, but that was all it took. The realization has set in. I am a mom. Not tomorrow, not in four months, but today. I was thinking of how it is my responsibility to take care of myself, but also to take care of this little girl, Harper. I pictured her (well, it was more of an audio clip) calling me "mom" and telling me to take care of her. It was a strange feeling, yet possibly one of the best, for the idea to become tangible...I am a mom. I am many things, and I am a mom.

She kicked me just then, I swear! See, she is already embarrased by me, but she'll get over it in 20 or so years. :)

Tiny dancer in my hand...

I thought I could convince Jeff to blog a bit last week, but apparently I wasn't as convincing as I had hoped.

Jeff felt Harper move for the first time last Monday, and it was a rather momentous event! I have been lucky enough to feel her movin' and shakin' for the last few weeks as I am her landlord for the time being. She moves the most when I am sitting at my desk at work, or when I rest late in the evenings. Last Monday, I was lounging on the couch in the office while Jeff worked/played on the laptop. I rested my hand on my belly out of curiousity as she started her evening recital. Then, "pow!" I felt her tae-bo kick from the inside and out--what a crazy feeling! I yelled for Jeff to come over and try it, though I am sure he thought I was playing another prank on him. He put his hand on my belly in semi-disbelief, that is, until the ol' Mini Peel gave her dear Dad a swift punch in the palm of his hand. The look on Jeff's face would definitely have qualified as a Kodak moment. It was priceless---his eyes were so wide, and his smile so big! As I mentioned, her dance recital had just begun, so Jeff was able to feel her move around quite a bit.

If this blog entry had a soundtrack, my favorite song would be the obvious choice. Ahh, these are the days!
And now she's in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand...

Let the madness begin!

Well, I went ahead and made the first big purchase for Harper last night. First of many, I'm sure! We bought her crib last night from Amazon.com. (How I love that site!) Free shipping AND no tax (as long as none of you tattle to the state Comptroller!) - how awesome is that? I had a hard time picking out a crib I really liked, which was compounded by the fact that espresso-stained cribs seem to be harder to come by than cherry, natural or white. I thought I had another crib picked out as the final choice, but decided to look just one more time before I hit "order." I ended up finding a deal I could not pass up on an even better crib, which of course just made my night. (Breyer, you of all can best understand the joy of finding a great deal!) It will be here in a couple weeks. Obviously a bit sooner than we need it, but sometimes Peels can be a bit agressive! (It is a trait I am currently perfecting in order to accurately represent the name!)

I have included a picture below of Harper's new crib, as well as the pattern I picked out from Target. Of course, it was a complete ordeal to pick out the bedding as I was torn between wanting a more modern look without looking too adult. I think this design will end up being somewhat modern, yet still sweet. The best thing about it is the color palette of light brown, light pink and cream. I bought a very luxurious baby blanket in giraffe print from Lane's, and it looks great with the Target print. Stripes, dots, etc...almost any print can be worked into the room as long as the colors don't conflict. It is going to be so fun to design her room! I already have a ton of ideas bubbling around in my head!!

Alrighty, I need to get some other things done this afternoon. I'll leave you with this one last amusing fact. As I drove to and from lunch this afternoon, a Biggie cd was playing in my car. It was quite a contrast from the cd in the previous slot that played on my way to work this morning. Anyhoo, as I jammed to some Biggie, little Harper seemed to be enjoying it as well! It felt like she was feeling the beat and dancing around in her temporary "apartment." I'll have to try out some Big Tymers or Fat Pat on the way home...see if she prefers the Dirty South. ;)

the votes have been counted...

..and it's a GIRL! :) Kudos to those of you that correctly voted for a girl! Your prize for guessing correctly is your own self-satisfaction, unless of course you are interested in owning two Brussel Griffons!

It was awesome to see our sweet baby girl movin' and groovin' on the video monitor! She kept waving her hands out, and then pulling them back in front of her face. I am pretty sure she was practicing her "jazz hands!" Jeff saw her yawn, but I didn't catch it. She was laying with her back facing out, so I had to jiggle around and move onto my side in order to get all the shots of her that we needed. It looks like she has a really great spine, two kidneys, a stomach, a brain, a bladder, a heart...oh, and a vagina. Hehe...

Ah, little Harper Elle Peel. You have already stolen our hearts.

Now it is time to start working on your room! I will post her latest pic as soon as I get my grubby hands on a scanner!

rockabye baby

It is 2:00 am and I'm still awake--I am quite impressed! Over the past few months my regularly scheduled bedtime is no later than 10:30 pm, because I just cannot keep the eyelids propped open any later. Tonight is a different story.

What is the cause of my caffeine-free alertness tonight? Rockband! Austin, Breyer and Coats are over tonight, and we set up the band around 10pm. I could easily have gone to bed at that point, but as soon as the first song played and the jokes began -- different story! Laughter truly is energizing!

I hope Mini Peel is enjoying his/her first concert! Surely he/she is enjoying my skills on vocals. :) Surely he/she is enjoying Austin's spot-on British accent, too. ("Hey guys, ya wanna grab some coffee?" in what is actually a poor Boston accent. Close, but...well, no, not even close!)

Alrighty, time for the encore performance. Rock on!

another reason why i love target

After a delicious dinner at my favorite Thai place in town, I headed to Target to buy what seemed like a million mother's day cards (really, I needed 7 of them, but still!) and a blank VHS tape for our ultrasound on Tuesday.

I checked out the blank media section first, and was disappointed to learn that my only option was to purchase TWELVE blank tapes. The six and four-packs were out of stock, and they don't even offer a single VHS tape for sale. Ugh! What am I supposed to do? Buy the twelve-pack, use one, and then give the remaining eleven as gifts as my friends get knocked up down the road? That could take forever! I decided to keep looking in hopes that I can find a single tape at Wal-Mart or another store. (Side note: I checked at Hastings across the street and they sold a four-pack for the same price as Target's twelve-pack, and Wal-Mart is completly out of stock of any and all VHS tapes. I had no idea this simple task would become quite so difficult--still looking!)

After I gave up on the tapes at Target, I mosied on over to the greeting card section. I needed 7 mother's day cards (my sister, my mother, Jeff's mother, Jeff's three grandmothers and one great-grandmother--whew!) and finding seven decent cards was not an easy task. Honestly, their MD card selection was seriously lacking in quality! I read card after card, completly canvassing two entire racks, yet I was still empty-handed at this point. Here comes the good part!

A voice from behind me casually offered that he was really talented at picking out awesome cards if I needed any help. I turned around, expecting to see a Target employee connected to the voice, but not so! It was a college-aged guy randomly offering his assistance. I said thanks, laughed, and added that I needed eight cards and it didn't look like any of the cards there were going to make it. He seemed surprised by the number eight, and asked why I needed so many. I said, "well, my sister, my mother, my husband's mother (insert screeching halt to the guy's smile), my husband's grandmothers...." His face kind of fell as he said, "oh, you're married." Me: nodding. Him: "Ah, I didn't see the ring, I'm sorry." I laughed and said it was ok, expecting him to bow out of the conversation and let me be on my merry way to sift thru more terrible greeting cards. Instead, he continued to make small talk about how he likes to make cards for his mom (really? he did not seem the type to ever have touched glitter or glue!), and I tried to end the convo nicely and move along. He finally began to back away and wished me luck in my quest, apologized again and that was it. I had to laugh at the fact that a college guy tried to pick me up...me, a married woman, and almost five months pregnant! Hehehe... I do think he was on to something with his tactic of approaching women in the card section, though he may need to work on his pre-approach scan for certain accessories!

Oooh, one more thing before I head off to hang out at the Chamber golf tourney. I had my first pregnancy massage on Wednesday, and it was GLORIOUS! Plus, I love love love the massage therapist, because she made three separate comments about how small I still was for being at 20 weeks! Mental note - anytime I need a self-esteem boost, head over to Lori at the massage clinic asap!

Ultrasound appointment on Tuesday! Woo hoo!! Mini Peel better cooperate and show us his/her goods!

That's all for now!