Our nursery rug

They say that by the time the second child comes around, the most you will be worried about is "do I have enough diapers?"

With your first child, most parents go a little overboard on the nursery, clothes, and safety issues. And I have to say, we are following that same path having spent the past few months trying to customize Anders's nursery. That being said, I am not sure if I have shared the story of the rug we are having hand-woven in Africa. (A little overboard?....perhaps.)

A few years ago, we took a trip to South Africa with Adam's family. My brother-in-law, Ryan, is from Cape Town, and it was the trip of a lifetime seeing the culture and enjoying time with his family! We spent about a week in Capetown and then went on safari for a few days. The experience really had an impact on Adam and me; particularly a tour we made of a township called Khayelitsha. According to Wikipedia, in South Africa, the term township usually refers to the (often underdeveloped) urban living areas that, under Apartheid, were reserved for non-whites (principally black Africans and Coloureds, but also working-class Indians). Townships were usually built on the periphery of towns and cities. In some cases, there isn't running water or electricity, while others are more sophisticated.

While in Khayelitsha, we visited a non-governmental organization called Philani. The group works to reduce malnutrition and poor health in the community and focuses primarily on women and children, as they are the most vulnerable. At Philani, the women work by weaving rugs and handbags while their children are provided an education at the school on the grounds. The goods produced by the women are sold to tourists, providing not only a sense of pride but also a little money to feed themselves and their children. It is a wonderful organization that does great things for people who certainly need the help!When we began thinking about the nursery decor and how we would want a rug, we decided that it would be awesome if we could have one made by the Philani women. Now, to begin the process, we had to remember the name of where we had visited. Luckily, we had bought a very small mat while we were there and never removed the tag. In addition to that, Ryan contacted his friend in Cape Town that had organized the tour for us, and she was able to confirm the contact information. Then we found ourselves thinking, "Okay, now how are we going to choose the design and the colors, and then how will we get the payment to them, and then how will we know what we will be getting when it is all said and done?"

We assumed it would be a very, very primitive process, and in a way, a leap of faith. To our surprise, we sent an email with our request, and within a week, we had heard back from the group. After a few weeks of emails back and forth, we agreed to colors, a price, and a general design. And even before we had wired the money, the two weavers had already set up the loom, excited to begin our project!
What was fascinating (and lost somewhere in the translation) was that the weavers thought that we were having our 9' X 6' rug woven for a daycare nursery where many children would be playing on it. They could not fathom that a nursery for a single baby could house a rug of that size. (Kind of puts things into perspective, and we didn't have the heart to correct them.)

The Philani group has updated us throughout the weaving process with photos and stories, and just recently, we received an email that our rug was finished and being shipped to port. Once the rug leaves South Africa by boat, it should take about two-three weeks to reach us. So the expression "on a slow boat from China" now becomes "on a slow boat from Africa" for us. Also, assuming the transportation strikes don't hold it up for much longer, we should have the rug sometime toward the end of June. Just a minor "TAB" moment (that's Africa, baby!).

One of the things we have come to love about the Philani group is that they remind us that we are so very blessed. We hope to use the rug as a teaching tool someday to teach Anders to appreciate other cultures and be thankful for the gifts in his own life.

We are looking forward to this unique addition to Anders's nursery! :)

Sugar, sugar!

Well, thankfully sugar is no longer a concern for us!

After failing my first glucose test, I had to go back in for a three hour gestational diabetes diagnostic test where I drank a super concentrated sweet drink and had my blood drawn four times over three hours. Slightly felt like a pin cushion, but it was well worth it to find out that I am diabetic free! Whew!

So, barring no other unforeseen issues or complications, we should be coasting through these final two-ish months (hoping for more like two months! :)). We count our blessings daily for how smoothly this pregnancy has gone.

We had a sonogram at 28 weeks (now mostly through my 29th week), and everything went well. B-cubed looked great weighing 2lbs, 13 oz. and measuring 14.9 inches long. His size was in the 72nd percentile, and his head was in the 83rd percentile. (Large heads are certainly a 'Person' trait, and from the looks of my husband, I wouldn't put it past it being a 'Bronson' trait, too!) He is doing well and is learning to push from both sides of my stomach at the same time. His newest pushing exercise has found its way under my right-side ribs...good times when I am sitting down! :)

And, did I mention that we chose a name? We started the name journey thinking that we wouldn't share anything until he was born. We put all of our choices into a list on a website called nameberry.com. It is a great website that tells you name origin, a description of the name, and other forms of the name. We had several names to choose from, and each week we would try out a new one. There were only two names that actually made it into the "keepers" list, and we would take turns pairing them back to a name on the other list to see if we liked any first and second name combinations. Finally, we asked ourselves why we weren't just using our two favorite names together?

When we actually made our decision, we shared initials with a few friends and family members. Then we decided that we were being silly, and that we were probably going to let the name slip out at some point. So we shared the actual name with that same group of family and friends, but it is time to share it with you. After many months of pouring over family genealogy, we chose Andersson Keene Bronson, and we will call him Anders.

Andersson appears many times in Adam's paternal grandmother's Swedish side of the family. (Nanna was a genealogy fanatic, and kept amazing records so it was easy to find information and stories.) In Swedish tradition, the father would be named Anders, and his son would be named Andersson. In fact, Mark and PJ (Adam's parents) met a relative named Anders on a trip they made to Sweden many years ago, and said he was an adorable man with a wonderful personality! Am sure those are family traits that will be passed on to our Anders, as well. :) And from nameberry.com, we learned that Anders is the Swedish version of Andrew, which happens to be Adam's middle name. We decided that it couldn't be a more perfect fit!

Keene appears six generations back on my maternal grandmother's side of the family. My Gran is also a genealogy fanatic, and had told me about a relative named Benjamin Franklin Keene that was a doctor in Georgia and was bitten by the Gold Rush bug of 1849. He headed west to California before giving up mining to go back to medicine. Today he is known for being the Founder and First President of the California Medical Association. Adam and I both latched on to the name Keene early on so it stuck around until the final choice!

Mom, Adam, and Anders continue to do well, and we are all excitedly anticipating these next two months.

And Now for Something Different...

Here it is, the first guest post on the Blueberry blog. This is Adam, the soon to be father of our little Blueberry and Kate's wonderful husband (shameless self plug there). As we enter the homestretch of our amazing journey I am filled with all sorts of thoughts. Most people know what the mother goes through (a lot), but hey, we fathers have feelings, too.

We have spent the better part of 6 months now trying to get ourselves and our house "baby ready." I don't think it will ever really happen, but I know that when our son finally arrives, everything will be okay, and we will learn on the fly. Furniture is arranged, closets are getting organized, and though our list still has a handful of to-dos on it, on the whole we are feeling pretty good. The major issue looming now is picking a name. While we have talked about potential names throughout our marriage, now it is officially "go time." I never really figured I would feel as much pressure as I do. I mean, this is the name our son is going to have for the rest of his life (unless of course he turns out to be the next Prince, or the artist formerly known as Prince, or whatever he is called now). We have to pick a name that obviously we like, but also one that will grow with him and suit him for all ages. And then if we pick a name, there is the fear that he won't be a (insert chosen name here) when we meet him. Of course, if you know my wife you can probably guess that our son will have lots of monogrammed things, so this name swapping upon birth can't really happen. I guess I just never thought about the long term effects of this decision. My habitual indecision probably doesn't help much either...oh well. Maybe we will figure it out soon...

I also find myself absolutely fascinated by the whole pregnancy. I know people say it is a miracle and all that stuff...yada, yada, yada. It is so cliche. But going through it now, it is COMPLETELY true. It sounds so cheesy but just to sit back and think about what has happened, is happening, and will continue to happen, is absolutely mind blowing. I've watched Kate's belly grow, I've now seen Blueberry pushing and have felt him kicking. It really is awe inspiring, and truly a miracle. And in a few days I will get to see him one more time on film. Hopefully he will perform for us again as he has before. As we read in our books about what is happening to him in various weeks it is just crazy to think that "this week his heart is forming", or "now he can hear me." From what we read he is pretty much fully formed now, just growing, but still, to think that a baby came from nothing is pretty impressive, and in my mind it is most certainly a miracle.

And finally, there is my wife. I try to be helpful and do what I can to make her life easier and more comfortable, but at the end of the day she now has a bowling bowl strapped to her stomach, so really, how comfortable can that be? I'm sure once we hit 100 degrees in Dallas she will be looking for the closest pool, and I don't blame her. Blueberry is already a little furnace for her, so add to that the baking summer temps of Texas, and I'm sure Kate's tendency to always be cold is a temporary thing of the past. I can't pretend to know what she goes through or what it all feels like, but I can say that I am incredibly thankful for everything that is happening.

So on this Mother's Day weekend, we thank our mother's for everything they did for us, and now I thank my wife and soon to be mother for all that she has done and will do. This pregnancy thing is a little crazy, completely unknown, but totally amazing. I don't think anyone is ever fully prepared for it all, and I know I am not, but really, how hard can it be, right? We have three more months to figure things out, and if we don't, it doesn't really matter, because Blueberry is coming anyway.
Now, let's start thinking about Father's Day...

The Third Tired-mester...I mean Trimester

What happened to all of that wonderful energy of the second trimester? Beginning with our 27th week, it seems to be quickly dissipating. I must get through my list of to dos soon, or I won't ever finish. Here's the progress:

• Read "What to Expect..." and other baby books - almost finished.
• Choose bedding/color/nursery theme - check!
• Register for baby items for showers - check!
• Choose baby name - excited to say that we are close (even though we may keep it a secret until he is born)!
• Choose baby announcement cards - hmmmm....definitely need to think about that one.
• Write out a birthing plan - need to get on that one, too!
  

Those coupled with a few other odds and ends, and we are finally beginning to feel ready which is great going into the final stretch....or maybe pregnancy brain is causing me to forget what else there is left to do at the moment.

Other than that, things are going really well. I still feel really good. No swelling feet or hands. No major discomfort. No dark line on my tummy. No "out-y" belly button....yet. There is the occasional indigestion, but eating properly and sleeping slightly elevated seems to nip that in the bud. Allergies have hit hard lately (as they have for most of us with the weird weather of this spring), but with that came some pretty intense congestion and coughing, resulting in my first Braxton Hicks contractions. Kind of crazy to already experience those, but since the coughing has settled down, so have the contractions.

B-cubed is moving a ton which is incredible to continue to feel daily. It seems like everything grows overnight because the other day I jumped out of my chair with a screech! because he tickled me waaaaaay over on my side. You know that extra sensitive spot near your love-handles where someone can pinch you just right, and you can't help but spaz with a reaction. I had no clue he had the room to get way over there. Then he proceeded to play a little game where I would touch my stomach, and he would make little swirl movements or small pushes right back at me underneath my hand. It definitely freaked me out at first, but it is pretty cool. Adam felt it the other night, and it totally shocked him, too. Even so, the occasional evenings spent just watching my tummy jump with little (and sometimes huge!) kicks never seems to get old.

Next week we go in for our 28th week sonogram, a glucose test for gestational diabetes, and a regular prenatal visit. Adam and I are both very anxious to get a peek and see how much our little angel has grown. As of now, the books say he is about 15 inches long and a little more than 2 lbs. His current produce comparison is a large cucumber, but he certainly feels more like a pumpkin at times. He is pretty much completely formed (lungs being the last to reach the finish line), so it sounds like we will be packing the hospital bag soon just in case he has an early arrival. But seriously...have you seen our "to do" list? No rush necessary on his part!