The Kill Zone

For the last few posts, I have started off with mommy news as the birth of our baby boy, Hayden Alexander Weeks, draws nearer.  While mommy is doing well and we have had some professional pregnancy pics taken, I will start with uneventful and gross news with our insane tom cat, Catbert.

We believe that we have finally figured out that Catbert is a Main Coon which is why he seems to be different than the other cats; well at least others that I have had.  We resisted allowing him do go outside because Sara was worried about what might happen to him or if he would run off.  I was not worried at all because he has easy food at our house.  Why would he ever run off when he gets fed and has a warm place to nap whenever he wants!  But, Sara being Sara, decided that she would try to put him on a harness and leash him to our hand rail outside so he could get some fresh air and be tortured by not being able to participate in the outdoor action.

Needless to say, Houdini did his trick and was out of the harness in about 5 seconds flat and out and about.  Of course, Sara being stubborn, decided to try it again and again making tighter adjustments, etc to no avail.  So, one day, I decided to stop the insanity and let him out assuring Sara that he would come back when he was hungry.  And, of course, I LOVE being right..... and while he went on a full out killing spree he has always come home like clock work.

We really regret declawing him but what is done is done BUT, it does not seem to hamper his hunting abilities one bit.  He has killed birds, mice, chipmunks, lizzards, other stuff we probably don't know about.  He did try a toad but he got a frothy mouth so he stays away from them now.  He has gone through different phases of killing; only eating the heads, eating the whole thing, eating everything but the stomach, or leaving parts so he can eat it later.  He even eats all of the bird feathers!

We now have a kill zone in our garage where we have a newer remnant piece of carpet meant to wipe our feet before entering the house.  This has become the place where the prey is brought back for the feast.  Unfortunately, mommy gets to be grossed out when coming home from her many fitness teaching sessions at the YMCA or from work or wherever she is coming from because she is an active little thing and is always somewhere (typically the YMCA; her second home away from home).  So here are a few things mommy gets to deal with upon arrival into the garage:

The Kill Zone with the Stomach left over for later

The Stomach

This is a stomach from this morning's kill - Sara has not come home yet so it will be an interesting entrance.  Hee hee.

Relaxing after the big kill

Looking out of the dining room window into the back yard, is a burm where Catbert loves to hide and poop and do whatever else he does skulking around.  See if you can find him in the pic below:

Where's Waldo?

Ok, enough of the crazy cat :-)....  Mommy is now beyond 37 weeks and my new best friend is coming very soon.  Due on May 17th we are on the countdown and mommy is really feeling good with no signs of small contractions.  He is kicking her and she has had a couple of sleepless nights because his activity wasn't very pleasant feeling.  Also, while she has softened (according to the Doc's visit), he hasn't dropped yet so she while she is carrying a smidge lower, she is still having heart burn and can't eat a lot at one time.  We have a collage of sorts on our mantle because we have sonogram pics as well as our trip to Vegas, our wedding pic, anniversary cards and these really cool blocks that Sara's vendor, Dandy Products, gave to her.  Check out our mantle:

The blocks have weeks, months, days, and years, so they can go as long as he lives.  Very Cool Gift!!  Last week we had some professional pregnancy photos shot and I took the opportunity to shoot a pic of the photographer shooting the pics.  Of course, the professional pics are really cool but for some reason, the link she posted them on so we could choose our favorites is not working this morning so I will have to see if my techie wife can access the link or if I am just being a bad pilot.  Here is a couple of pics of the pics :-):

She does not look over 8 mo. pregnant!

This pose didn't even make the cut because front on she doesn't look pregnant.  The blocks spell "Hayden"

This is a crappy pic above with my camera but the pro's pic looked great!  It was only a pic of the belly and the blocks.  If you look real close you can still see mommy's ab muscles on the side.  When they were taking this photo, I told them she didn't look pregnant on a frontal shot so it got canned.

Well, I have taken enough time.....  Have a happy day and if we act like it will be our last we will savor the day.

//Loren

Week 36: We're on the Home Stretch

Yesterday we had an ultrasound to check the position of Hayden.  The two naive parents went into it thinking we were going to see a full baby in the belly and what he looks like.  We thought we would see these fat little cheeks, arms and legs, and find out if he has hair on his head.  Turns out the bigger the baby is, the harder it is to see anything that looks like a baby.  We did recognize the spine though. 

He is currently 5lbs 12 oz. and will be gaining somewhere around 1oz. per day so we think he will be just over 7lbs.  His head is in the down position facing mommy's pelvis.  His rear end is on her left side and his feet are on the right which is why we can see his kicks on her right side.

As you can see in the pic below, mommy does not look 8 months pregnant and you can still see her muscles on the side of her tummy.

Week 36

Mommy has had 2 baby showers so far and I have no idea how many more.  We have a lot of really nice gifts and I have a feeling our 1st born little boy is going to be spoiled.  He has some really cute outfits and some really great toys that will keep him engaged!

As far as everything else, we are doing fine, our cats are crazy as ever.  Catbert killed a bird the other day and ate the whole thing.  It was very crunchy and I video'd the last part of it just for Sara.  You can see the pic below is after he has eaten the bird because he has a little feather stuck to his whisker.

Catbert Feather-face

Well that's all for now.  

Loren

Belly at Week 34 - The Meaning of Easter

At week 34, mommy seems to be doing well.  According to Babycenter.com, she should start to become a bit tired.  Baby Hayden is kicking and every once in a while you will hear Sara exclaim "Wewwwww! This typically means that he has had a hard kick somewhere in the rib section.  As you can see, mommy hardly looks almost 8 months pregnant and you can still see her ab muscles on her sides which, of course, she is proud of :).

34 Weeks Pregnant

The Meaning of Easter

It seems to me that the meaning of Easter is to honor Christ's life and for Christians to recognize his resurrection from his torturous death.  Jesus lived his life loving everyone regardless.  If that is the case, and we strive to live our life the way he did, then why do we have so much bigotry, hypocrisy and down right crime and war in the name of God?

For me, it defies logic to see people or institutions mistreat people in the name of their "religious beliefs or institutional dogma."  Hide or ignore crimes committed to protect the reputation of individuals and/or religious institutions.  Or to ridicule, ostracize or hate anyone who is different. 

My celebration this Easter is to embrace all the diversity in this world.  Understanding that life is imperfectly perfect, that God does not cause disease or suffering because if he did, he would be a sadistic hateful entity.  That heaven is not a place but a state; we are all energy, forming and transforming; we are all connected to each other and "the source" the thing that powers everything, our fellow humans, the animals, the plants, the universe.

I am a Cosmic.  I believe we are all striving for the same thing ultimately discovering who we really are through our physical experience on this planet.

Maybe everyone should eat a peace lilly and may you all have a peaceful Easter.

Loren

Week 33 Belly Shots

Vegas Baby!

Last weekend, Sara and I went to Las Vegas for a quick jaunt before baby comes.  Plus, we had a plane ticket that we had to use that was going to expire if not used.  We arrived on Friday night and Saturday hung out at the pool, went to eat at Harrah's buffet, and then went to see Circ du Soleil "O."

We rented a car through Price Line which I must say for renting cars is sweet because we got the car for 50% of the price we would have normally paid.  On Sunday we drove to Hoover Dam.  If you have never seen this engineering wonder, you must go see it.  It is only 40 minutes away from Las Vegas and is totally worth seeing.

We snapped a few good pics below:

Mama outside Harrah's after dinner 

Mama and me on our way to "O" in front of Caesar

's Palace

The Colorado River on the backside of Hoover Dam

Taking a photo on top of Hoover Dam - Mama looks pretty preggy with baby

The upstream side of Hoover Dam leading to Lake Mead which was created by the Dam in 1935

Straight down on the backside of the Dam

That's all for now.  New belly pics coming soon.  Mama will be at 34 weeks this Tuesday.  Hayden will soon be here!

Loren

Sara's Grandma, Ultrasound, New Belly Pics

Again, I am tardy on posting.  We just got back from MN the 1st part of this week because Sara's grandmother passed away and we went up for the visitation.  Fortunately, we were able to visit her (Dorothy Drake) while we were there for Thanksgiving.  Her grandmother was very astute at the time as she looked at us and said "One of you is quite a bit older than the other" (go figure!).  She then went on to say that we had "matching coats" which were the same brand but different colors.  We think most people might just think we have different coats.  The last memorable thing she said was a funny comment about a woman who was sleeping in a chair across from her/us by the bird cage.  She had slumped down so far that half of her behind was almost off the chair and her neck was cocked close to the corner of the chair where the back meets the seat.  Sara's grandmother said she was "sure gonna have a sore neck when she woke up."  I bet she did!

Sara and I are getting ready to leave for Vegas on a short weekend getaway to see the Circ du Soleil show "O" and then go see the Hoover Dam.  That ought to be dam fun (hahahaha!).  This will be our last trip of any kind before Hayden is born because we are getting close at the 7 week countdown.

Today we had our second ultrasound and he is in the 46% and weighs 4lbs 4oz and is right on track to be around a 7-8lb baby.  Everything looks normal as you can see in the ultrasound photos below if you know what they mean which I don't without someone telling me (unless obvious):

Boy shot, face, profile, and nose & mouth

Below are week 31 and week 32 Pics:

Week 31 on the left; Week 32 on the right

That's all for now.  Time to go to bed.  Sweet dreams bloggy world.

Peace out,

Loren

New Belly Shots Week's 27 and 29

Sara and I have both been traveling for our jobs so I am a bit tardy on uploading belly pics.  This last week we were both in Vegas for the International Erosion Control Assn conference - I know it sounds like a blast right???? ha!

Since neither of us are much on gambling, we kept our money in our pockets.  We did go to a Cirque du Soleil show, Mystere, at Treasure Island which was unbelievably cool and I totally recommend it for anyone wanting to see a show in Vegas.  Even though every seat in the house was great, we had 1st row seats.  They must have somehow picked me out in the beginning because I ended up being picked on all night and then finally drug into the show wearing a humiliating baby costume which, of course, was fitting because we in fact are pregnant.   Needless to say, my new name is Papa :)

Papa with Over-sized baby eligible for C-section

Week 27 on the left; Week 29 on the right

It almost looks like baby is bigger in week 27 than he is in week 29 but he is not so pics can be deceiving.  Sara might tell you it has to do with her salt intake or how the baby is situated on her plumbing inhibiting her food from expeditiously moving through her system (if you catch my drift).  Evidently, this is an issue with pregnant women and milk of magnesia is not on the approved list of safe things to ingest while pregnant.  Ok enough of that.....!

We have found out that baby Hayden loves Michael Jackson and dance music like Zumba and anything with a beat.  He has been kicking mommy with a foot out to the side and so hard that it startles her; and if her arms are at her side, she can feel the kick on the inside of her arm.  He is also expanding mommy's already small frame, especially her ribs, which is making mommy uncomfortable and achy especially in her back on the right side.  Also, mommy's legs are swelling so she has gotten some pregnancy compression tights and stockings.  Since she was on her feet all this last week her whole leg swelled so when she got home she put on an ace bandage and elevated her legs.  Once she was able to exercise, the swelling went down because it got her blood and lymph system flowing. 

It looks like the showers are scheduled for some time in April - I think it is like the 13th or 15th or something.  Since I am not going, it isn't on my calendar :).  We have gotten some cool toys and lots of clothes from Craigs List for infants BEFORE they become toddlers and destroy the knees of their pants and soil their cloths.  My niece, Shandal, gave us her crib which is totally cool and it is only a year old! She also gave us some 2-3-4T clothes which are hand-me-downs from her little boy Deagen.

Which leads me to this question; if Shandal is my niece, are her son, Deagen, and daughter, Dalyn, my nephew and niece too? and is her hubby Devin my nephew in-law?  Oh how confusing.  Maybe one of my faithful 4 followers of this little blog of ours can help me with this dilemma.

//Loren