August 27, 2010

Month Five - It's a BOY!!!!





















~Amanda

Twenty Weeks Status:
Weight: 152.6 lbs.
Estimated Baby Size: Banana(13 oz. - 7 in.)


Well, as it should be obvious from the title of this post, this week we discovered that Lord Chitty is indeed a Lord and not a Lady. I can't say that anyone was really surprised, as he will be the fifth boy born to a Schwartz of this generation, in which no girls have yet been produced. There are also no girls born yet to this generation of Harpers. However, on September 9th Josh and Shelly will find out of things will stay that way. Any bets??? Regardless, we are happy that Sebastian will have a little brother to play with (and also that we will not have to have a baby shower or buy hundreds of items in all manner of pinks and purples known to mankind). Don't get me wrong, I would love to have a little girl someday, there is something to be said for ribbons, bows, lace, and the occasional beheaded Barbie doll...but we really were wanting Sebastian to have a brother close to his age. Alongside the announcement of Merlin's gender, was the reassurance that he is more than healthy and almost too quick and uncooperative for the ultrasound technicians...I was secretly rooting for him to give them a hard time. Is that wrong? Hehehe...

Well the fifth month has been exciting to say the least. We spent about a week and a half of it vacationing with my family in North Carolina. My brother and sister-in-law needed some emergency babysitting, which jump started my portion of the vacation. It was exciting packing Sebastian and myself up for a week and a half in a night's notice. Insane! Yet, 'twas fun for some reason. And alas, my master list-making skills paid off in the end. After a few days at my brother's house babysitting Cash and Sebastian, Andy joined us and we headed for the mountains to stay with my folks for a week. It just happened to be my birthday, so we reignited our awesome birthday tradition of making the best hideous-creation-that-almost-can't-be-called-a-cake and had a little celebration of frozen pizzas and video gaming. By the end of the week, I had almost eaten an entire lemon behemoth cake sans help, and Andy and I were completely addicted to Wii Mario Kart. Sebastian on the other hand will be missing the rocking horse my folks bought. Especially the song it plays, which we now sing to him while filling the roll of the rocking horse by letting him "ride" us. In any case, Andy and I weren't missing the Wii for long, as Andy surprise gifted us one (complete with Mario Kart) while he was supposed to be out picking up groceries a day or two after we returned from vacation. Fun! I hope I do my homework at least some of the time this semester.

Well, that's about all. I will post pics as usual and hopefully will be back to recap month six ( going to school pregnant starting Monday...oh joy).











August 8, 2010

Month Four















~Amanda

Sixteen Weeks Status:
Weight: 147.6 lbs.
Estimated Baby Size: An Avocado (3.5 oz. - 4.5 in.)

The second trimester is not to be underrated. The drastic boost in energy I've experienced over this past month couldn't be more welcome. While I choose not to take much advantage of this energy other than the occasional forced workout (I need to get my hands on some Richard Simmons to get the groove going) or walk around the grocery store or maternity section, it has allowed me the bare minimum fuel supply needed to keep up with school and tropical storm Sebastian, who has taken over my house. With every new bold step, and yes, every random dance move (he likes doing Lord of the Dance impressions) he is becoming more confident and pleasantly erratic. He now talks to us in Sebabble language, which delights the ears. It is most pleasing when he goes from low toned grunts to supersonic screeches in milliseconds...it neither ceases to scare nor entertain. He is just so darn cute, and we never know what to expect next with his exploratory behavior. As for Lord Chitty, he/she has begun making her own challenges to the strange creatures of this outside world in an attempt to be noticed. I have a feeling he/she is usually unsuccessful in these attempts except for when I am lying down for my evening Netflix binge or book-in-bed session. Thankfully, school is over and there will be a lot more lying around going on while I have the chance. I'm sure these three weeks I have off before the Fall semester picks up will fly by with my expected itinerary of visiting fun people and places over the next few weeks as well as relaxing at home. Speaking of fun places, we recently made a trip to the Virginia Air and Space museum, which was filled with such exhibits as "Animal Grossology" (all about disgusting animals or animal bodily functions if you care to imagine) and "Make a fool of yourself being an air traffic controller" simulations. Needless to say, we took full advantage of every opportunity to dork things up. I will post some of the better pictures below. Until next month...