The Bump (better late than never)

We are looking square in the eye of the third trimester.  Yep, folks, that means only one more "mester" before we have this baby on the outside.  That being said, we did have a bit of a growth spurt this past week.  And voila....

At 25.85 weeks we are still carrying super low.  But luckily it is high enough that I still can button up my regular jeans.  I was even able to sit down and almost be comfortable after I took this picture.  Almost being the key word.  Nevertheless, being able to shimmy into these jeans gives me hope that some day I might have my body back.

I'd like to update more... but we have a flight to catch.

I just have one last picture.  I am so proud that I am finally able to rock some maternity clothes without looking like a frumpy mess.

Nursery Progress

This weekend was like an episode of Divine Design took over the Tal's.  Only instead of having a crew of people all with extensive knowledge and crazy unlimited budgets, we had the two of us, a few extra bucks and a floor plan that I drew out in sharpie.  But, in the end I think that Candice and especially Chico would be proud of what we accomplished.

While the nursery is far from complete, the hard labor aspects are out of the way.  We still have all of the decorative pieces to put in as well as our staples (crib, rocker, etc).  As you recall, we were inspired by a Dr. Seuss themed nursery that we found online.  While the inspiration was exactly what we were looking for, it was not exactly our style.  We wanted something that could really grow with our Little T through the years.  Without sharing ALL of our secrets, we soon decided that what we really wanted was a simple painted room with a thick border that would literally glow in the room.  The border itself has some secret elements that you will see soon enough.

First things first, our color scheme.  We chose a periwinkle for the walls, white for our border, and lime for an accent color.  I have always loved periwinkle and I think that Little T will be a fan as well.

Matthew got to work right away with the painting.  Unfortunately there was A LOT of prep work that needed to be done in the room due to the previous owner's poor taste level.  Once it was all prepped, up went the wall color! (I am showing you the swatch so you can visualize it a little better, iphone doesn't take the best color pics and I am too lazy to pull out the digital)

Next we went to work on prepping for our border.  This involved me and power tools, and was therefore my favorite part.

After all of the wall cleats were in place and attached to studs (in case Little T is a Little Monkey and ever wants to climb the walls), we were ready to start attaching our lighting.  Yup, you are looking at 96 feet of rope lighting.  The lights have their own wall switch which will make them great for late nights with Little T.

Once the lights were all installed, we covered our support boards with hardboard.  This hides all the messy bits, but allows the light to shine from the top and bottom of the floating border.

We still need to prime and paint the border white, but next to the installation that will be a breeze.  I can't wait to show you how we plan to dress up the border and how it will look with actual furniture!  But for now, I'm pooped.  I think I will go back upstairs and admire our hard work some more.

The Bump

Here we are at 24 weeks!  It is hard to believe that we are almost to the third trimester.  Without much fanfare, here is my excuse for a bump this week:

Jeans are definitely getting tight--- When I sat down to edit the pics I had to unbutton them.  I am sorry to say that next week we most likely will have some different pair of pants, probably of the ever so fashionable maternity variety.

If you remember my previous trick of cradling the bump to make it look larger, you will appreciate trick #2. This trick involves putting your hands on your lower back and sticking your hips forward.  See!  I think that the hand placement really says, "oh my achin' back!"

Finally, I have one last bump demonstration.  This one is inspired by my Mimsy (my mom) who advised me not to post any bump pictures until my belly sticks out as far as my boobs.  I think my lack of bump embarrasses her. Well, Mimsy, we are pretty darn close!!! 

V-day!

V-Day had a double meaning for the Tals this year. Not only did we celebrate our love with the traditional St. Valentine's Day business we also had a very big milestone. February 24th was Little T's own special V-Day.

What do I mean by Little T's V-Day? It is the baby's viability day, which basically means that at this point all of Little T's organs are formed and Little T would most likely survive outside of the womb (with the help of a NICU). We are so excited to meet the little one, but we have already told him (or her) that it is not acceptable to make an appearance just yet! Little T still has lots of growing to do before the big introduction to the world.

The days leading up to our big V-Day were pretty rotten. Luckily I have a husband who is patient enough to deal with me as a patient. On Tuesday night it seems like Little T and I came down with the ever dreaded, ever painful, ever exhausting, food poisoning. I think that I am finally back to normal, but that experience is something I would never wish on my worst enemy. I also learned that daytime television is horrible and fantastic at the same time. (Side note--- Matt and I are a Nielsen family in a couple weeks and I really hope that I can kick my Lifetime Movie Network habit before then.  I think Matt will die of embarrassment if our survey shows that all our household watches is PTI on ESPN and LMN)

We have a busy couple of weeks--- I can't wait to update on all of Little T's in utero adventures!

• Later today: New BUMP pictures (because I know you LOVE looking at my naked belly)
• Later this week: Nursery progress (Big T is at home finishing up the paint today!)
• Two Weeks: LAS VEGAS, BABY!
• Three Weeks: Brain Game Championship match (Little T is in the running for smartest baby still in the womb)
• Three Weeks: We will have a BALL (or two) at Amanda's bachelorette!
• Five Weeks: Big T Weekend (and maybe a 4d ultrasound to check out this cutie's progress)

10am, 3pm, 11pm and newly added 7am

Little T sure hasn't fallen far from the tree!  Now that I am feeling an abundance of kicks, punches and general acrobatics in my womb I have noticed that Little T is a little performer just like mommy and daddy.

For the past two weeks every day at 10am, 3pm and 11pm, Little T wakes up, stretches out and puts on a little show.  Show times always start with general warm-ups, a performance, the grand finale, and then some much deserved rest before the next performance is set to begin.  Just like papa (and totally unlike mama), Little T is never late.  Usually the warm-ups start a couple minutes early to ensure that everything is set up before the performance begins.  I imagine that Little T probably has blocking, choreography and lines running through his or her head and gets all excited as each special show begins.

So far, show times are not affected by food, sugar  or beverages.  Little T does not let any outside movements influence the performance.  T even continued with a show unaffected after I accidently pushed directly on a little head when liberally applying belly balm.  What a little pro!

This morning Little T gave me a nice treat.  Today we had a 7am performance that wasn't previously scheduled.  I am not sure if this will be a permanent fixture in the show's run, but it is a welcome addition.  

The Bump

Well folks, we are at about 22.5 weeks and chugging right along!  Baby is kicking more and more and I *think* that we are finally starting to show!  Now, I don't think that we are quite at the strangers noticing point, but the bump is looking more like bump and less like chub every day.

You'll notice that my non-maternity jeans are still in play (yee haw!), but for the most part I have transitioned over to maternity jeans and oh so comfy stretch pants.  Seriously, I never knew how liberating it could be to not have to button or zip your trousers.  I can still wear nearly all of my shirts, although many are way to short to cover both my bump and the stretchy waistband of my new favorite pants.

As an added bonus this week we have added a couple pictures for your enjoyment.  I have found that if I stand with my hands around my belly it adds some depth and actually makes the bump look a proper bump size.  Maybe I should always stand like this?

When we hit 100 can we go into syndication?

You might have noticed that the blog has had a significant lack of Lauren lately.  It is not because I don't have news or because I have run out of steam.  It is quite the opposite, I had run out of time.  The end of January is when things start picking up at work, new projects come onto the horizon, and I spend most of my time buried in packets of questions and answers trying to coordinate 20 high schools for my favorite hobby.

While crafting and theatre rank very high on the hobby list, my number one hobby is producing the tv show The Brain Game for ONNtv.  Working on this show is a true example of how you can do anything you put you want with a little hard work and ambition.

In short, I had always wanted to be a part of tv production.  The lights, the graphics, the music, everything about tv always seems so cool to me.  I was close enough to it working at a TV station, but I was always limited to my exposure through the "account executive" title that I held.  That was until I found a way to break onto the scene.  In short, if you want to work on your own tv show, here is the four step plan.

1. Come up with a concept for a show that doesn't currently exist. (for example a statewide academic competition featuring high schoolers from across the state- awesome concept.  For good measure new made up show should also be something you actually enjoy)
2. Find a client interested in the demographic for the show. 
3. Sell the client your show. 
4. Name yourself the producer.

This was more or less my plan of attack.  And somehow it worked.

However, once the plan is accomplished, you have to actually produce a tv show.  This part has been way more in depth and more work than I ever could have realized.  I have spent numerous evenings emailing, phone calling and faxing.  Then on taping dates the pressure is really on.  We are a live-to-tape show, which means what happens in the studio will air.  To date, I have produced 92 episodes of the Brain Game.  I have scheduled 180 teams, coordinated 7,254 questions and worked on many a late night project for the show.

So how does Little T feel about Brain Game? At this point I can't tell if it is love or hate.  Brain Game comes with a lot of abrupt loud noises.  It is loud if you ring in to answer, loud if you get it right and especially loud if you get it wrong.  There was a heck of a lot of kicking when there was a wrong answer this past week.  While it could be because of the noise, I am pretty sure it was because Little T knew the correct answer and was trying to ring in and steal the points.  What a smart little one.