Monthly Shots

Each month, I dress Jackson up in a favorite outfit and have a little photo shoot.  Then, I choose the best photo from each month, print it and hang it in his room on a clothes line.  I love looking at the photos every day and marveling at how much he has changed from one month to the next.  He has also started to look at the photos and smiles at his 7 month photo sometimes- super cute!

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

Back to Blogging

I really wish that it had not been 8 months since my last blog post!  I wish I had this blog as a record of Jackson's first 8 months, although I suppose I have done some of that through family e-mails.  Inspired by a friend who has an amazing blog (thanks Kyndal!), I am going to try to maintain weekly posts so people can keep track of this quickly growing little man.  In order to catch up on all that we missed, I am going to make some thematic posts that will each cover a big chunk of time.  I guess for starters, here is the big little man from last night.  His hair is wild.  I just love it. 

Jackson Arrives!

Any Volunteers for THIS?

My favorite nightly saying is "My feet need rubbed!" (This would be the Pittsburghese version of "My feet need to be rubbed.")

32 Weeks and SWOLLEN

Here are the quick facts:

Had my 32 week check up today...
-my fundal height (how big my belly is) is measuring at 32 cm, exactly where it should be; still, this baby seems like he is big because he is always poking out of my belly. See if you can find his leg poking out in the attached picture!
-blood pressure is wonderful: 110/60
-put on SIX pounds in the past TWO weeks- have now hit 31 total pounds for my pregnancy, yet my BMI still registers in the normal, healthy weight category- ha! My Ob is happy with this number since I was so far underweight when I got pregnant. She also thinks a lot of the weight is probably due to fluid, which makes sense because...
-my wedding and engagement rings officially no longer fit
-the only shoes I can squeeze these sausage feet into are my sneakers (although they are a tight fit, and I am going to borrow a larger pair from a friend) and my fake Uggs. Even the larger flats I bought over a month ago for pregnancy have become too tight.
-Steve is starting to hear back about interviews. Since interview season and my due date coincide, I spoke with my Ob today about when I would get induced (if it comes to that). They will induce at 41 weeks, which means this baby will be out by January 17 (my nephew Thomas' 5th birthday)!
-Due to Steve's interviews, I already know I will need weekday company the night of January 27 and March 13! Volunteers?

Baby Leckie Takes on Deep Dish

Last weekend baby Leckie took his first trip to a big city (it was mommy's first trip there too!). Steve spent five days in Chicago at the annual spine conference. There, he presented in front of thousands of other surgeons and academics and received the $10,000 check that he got to touch for 5 seconds before it was ripped from his claws and sent to the spine lab. Mommy and baby joined him there for the weekend. We had a fantastic time walking the city (about 5 miles per day), visiting the surgeons' museum, the planetarium and Navy Pier. We took a architecture tour via the river, and mommy got to ride the pregnancy-friendly Ferris wheel. That fell into the category of: if it's fun, pregnant woman aren't allowed to do it. What pregnant women are allowed to do is eat. And thank goodness baby really likes pizza! Baby even got his first Christmas ornament from Macy's to remember his first trip to Chicago by.

Built in Date

Sometime in the not too distant future, my son is not going to want to attend concerts with his mother. Unfortunately, now dad often can't attend concerts because of work. So, mom is taking advantage of enjoying the company of her son while he has no say in the matter ans she doesn't have another date.

In June, when I was just seven weeks pregnant, Steve and I went to see one of our favorite artists, Josh Ritter, at a free outdoor venue. As the opening band was wrapping up, Steve, who was on call, got paged and had to go into the hospital. I wanted to see the concert, so I stayed, alone. I rocked out to Josh with the baby and a few thousand strangers. This was actually the second time the baby had been to a Josh Ritter concert. The day we found out that we were pregnant also coincided with a trip to Baltimore to see soon-to-be Uncle Jake and Aunt Becca and also to see Josh Ritter play.

A week and a half ago, the baby (now 30+ weeks) and I ventured "solo" once again to a concert. Daddy was in Chicago for his big paper award and presentation and tickets were so hard to come by that I could only buy one anyway. So, I met up with some friends from work before the concert and then baby and I enjoyed Bruce Springsteen from the fourth row.

I will not be surprised if this baby comes out with some good rhythm, taking after his Uncle Jake. He also saw U2 this summer, Wicked this fall and went to a gospel show at the House of Blues last Sunday!