make way for baby :)

week in review:

*zane finished another master's class (all in 4 intensive days!) with an A and is one step closer to graduating and leaving wediko again to pursue other opportunities in school systems across the northeast :) yay zane :)

*we rescheduled my ultrasound for july 11th because of some work conflicts. can't wait to see the pig again!

*we brought the dogs to see one of zane's friends, mike, from grad school who was swimming with his dog in a nearby river. they had a blast swimming around and running through the woods! they seemed to get along great with mike's dog, so hopefully there'll be playdates in the future.

*we tried to figure out what to do with our broken computer in the kitchen. it looks like it may be time for a big purchase...

*we started watching the baby einstein videos to prepare the pig for what it'll get to hear/see after november. love them!

*we made the dogs a little "igloo" cave in the big room downstairs. zane liked the idea that they could snuggle together at night if they wanted to (they love to lie together on the couch during naps), so he rigged their two crates together, giving them their own separate spaces if they want, but also the chance to cuddle. he topped the crates with a big blanket we had to make it dark and cozy and so far they love it!

and finally...

*2 nights ago we got a 15 minute show by piggy that was impressive and surreal. continuous big kicks and punches that zane could both see and feel. one side of my belly was a little lopsided, so i'm thinking the pig was laying like a banana along the left half :) i had just eaten a nectarine and was reading the sequel to "a wrinkle in time" aloud when it started it's fireworks. definitely a highlight of the week :)

so, we're in full swing around here: throwing things out, rearranging rooms, and trying to get our lives in order! we've moved into the bedroom across the hall after our roomate brigit moved down t0 manchester, closer to the sights and sounds of the city :) (we miss you bree!) and made room for baby things in the 3rd room upstairs. things feel uncluttered and wonderful right now in the rooms we cleaned...hopefully it'll last!

while we were taking these pictures, we thought we had lost the cat...even though this is a big house, there aren't that many hiding places. we finally found her in one of our old room's closets that we use as linen storage...mystery solved:

hope you're well and we'll update soon! :) happy 4th and good weather vibes to all!

love, ally and zane and the kids

yay for summer :)

we're heading into our first full week of summer (and vacation) and life is good. things are growing - the grey shirt is week 17 and the pink is week 19. in addition to a bigger belly the pig also has fits of movement that continue to make us smile. aside from the pig growing (research says that by now it is about the size of a zucchini - 7 inches from crown to rump) the garden is beginning to show more signs of the food that is yet to come. 4 more rows of corn, more lettuce and a retry for tomotoes and broccoli - time will tell how full our bellies will be but regardless of how big of a harvest it is there is a certain peace of mind that comes from knowing that at least some of what we eat will be locally grown and very fresh.

aside from the farm talk (pig and crops) zane has a master's class for four days this week--not exactly how he'd like to spend his days but it will still be a welcome break from work. he went on a boys only camping trip this weekend and came back tired and happy-rumor says he broke a 3-foot axe trying to chop down a felled tree. truth be told he did but it was in part because he was a bit off-plumb when he came down on the final blow. he was also reminded about his approaching 30th birthday this year when it took him several miutes to 'loosen up' after sleeping on cold ground the night before. while he was camping and saying goodbye to some of his co-workers (there is usually a big loss of staff this time of the year) ally was down in belmont with her parents and sister. she went out for a good dinner with lots of spaghetti and meatballs (and was amazingly hungry before she went to bed), got some great deals on a few gender neutral baby things from a consignment shop (yay for deals!) and read 2 books in between snacks. now it's back to the old farmhouse with its new crop of tiny ants (argh!), rooms to rearrange in preparation for a house with a baby and trying to pry the 80 year old windows open for the upcoming heat expected this week.

while we're doing that, you have fun doing whatever it is you are doing :) love to all,

the farm gang

what a difference a week makes

one more quick post for the day..i'm beginning to agree with zane when he says "hey...you look bigger than yesterday?!" i'm going to have him take a picture later to see if the difference i feel is noticable in comparison to last week. so, i lied. there'll be another addition to this post later tonight.

hmmm. oh yeah, and last night zane was getting ready to read and looked over at me and was able to see--without the help of shadows and carefully placed lighting--my belly twitch. VERY surreal and amazing and eerie :) and so far today, the buffalo chicken and salsa i've had (at two different times...) have kicked (haha) it into high gear. james...you know where we live. and admission is free :)

-the vacationing mom-to-be

happy tears :)

so...HAPPY summer HAPPY 2nd day in the world andrew nicholas (! baby h arrived!) and HAPPY BIRTHDAY henry!! :) our nephew turns 2 today, and while i was going to post some pictures of the family b-day party we had on saturday, i have to 1st post this picture i just got from my sister from his pre-school's birthday party for him. i can't believe he's already 2!!!!!!! so...my first bout of small tears today when i opened the email. sheesh. hormones. :)

(to make up for the lack of posts-thanks for the reminder james :)-i'll post again today with more pictures. but first, sunshine.)

love, ally

the excitement cannot be contained!

baby Einstein? (thanks momma Walsh) looks like you should have let Zane watch them when he was a kid.

yummy.

so... while i felt a little out of place getting stuff from Ally and Mom for Fathers Day (including the cards from Bruce and Carol and Jen and Nate {CONGRATULATIONS BY THE WAY!}) it was pretty cool knowing that i would be part of the fatherhood club from now on. thanks to everyone and happy fathers day to all of the fathers out there. enough about me - on to the good stuff...

Ally has now finished the school year at Bow Elementary and has enjoyed exactly 1 day of relaxation at home. her agenda includes reading, sun-bathing, maybe taking a nap (which she did more of when she was home from work in the afternoons) and eating. dinner is tough to plan - she has usually had a big lunch, maybe a snack and wont want to eat anything when i get home from work. i make attempts to coordinate when we might eat and how long i have to mow the lawn before we start cooking or driving to the restaurant and then all of a sudden she has to eat immediately - in spite of any plans we may have discussed. she reports that it is unpredictable and that she may feel full and 10 minutes later have to eat something for fear of becoming nauseous. this sort of urge demands flexibiliy from everyone. get ready, here comes the kicker...

if everything goes well in the evening and for dinner (and the couple of snacks that follow) there is a pretty high likelihood that - if i look really closely at just the right angle with the light shining in a way that allows shadows to be created easily and at the slightest movement - i can see the tiniest of nudges from inside Ally, ever so gently and quickly, press on her belly as a result of the little piggy m.o.v.i.n.g. if i have good tickets the show usually lasts about 5 minutes and is good for 3 to 8 little nudges (i suspect that there is more to the show but i usually get bothered by the wait-time in between acts). so... can you believe it?!? there is a tiny (about 6 inches from head to butt) complete (all the organs created - the itsy-bitsy heart pumps 25 quarts a day at this point) moving (and therefore thinking - your brain controls your body even if it is random) and sensing (almost all baby's at this point in development can hear) baby girl (or boy - had you there huh?). at this point in development the liver is also making bile and spleen is helping make red blood cells - it is even able to take a pee (whatever that must be like). so for tonight i suppose thats about all i have to say before i get back to work on some homework for my masters program. i hope this post (a loooong ime coming) finds everyone doing as well as they can and enjoying the finest things that life has to offer; for my part i am doing my best to do that same.

chock full :)

so...17 weeks today. wahoo!!

its been a long week for both of us...very happy it's the weekend and our only plans are meghan's graduation party (yay! congrats again!!!!) zane's recovering from a strained calf muscle and even got out to mow a bit tonight. it's a good thing we got things into the garden a couple of weeks ago, they seem to be taking off now!!

here are our potatoes and a long row shot (assortment of beans, peas, cucumbers, and zuccini)

and finally...we heard a crash the other day from downstairs and knew it had to be the cat getting into something. we came down to find her chowing her little heart out on dog food. how she managed to knock the heavy container off the desk is a mystery, but i guess where there's a will, there's a way. (and...for those of you interested, cleo lost 4 lbs!! she went from a hearty 17lbs to a much healthier 13 lbs and it shows :))

a couple last notes:

*congratulations to denise and matt and they're beautiful son luke william born on monday!!!! he's precious! :) can't wait to see even more pictures

*THANK YOU to chad and sam and caden for the wonderful package filled with baby goods!! you guys are so thoughtful and generous! much love :)
*if anyone has any ideas of good foods that will keep me full for more than 30 minutes, PLEASE let me know. i'm going crazy feeling starving all the time...

i'm sure zane'll want to add something to this, but this is all i've got to say :)

love, ally

quick update!

just a quick note...i had a dr's appt today and we got to hear the heartbeat!! zane came along and got to meet my doctor (or at least the dr. i've had a few times before...i don't officially get assigned to just 1 dr.). after all the standard questions (my blood pressure is wonderful they say!), the dr. pulled out the doppler and after a few seconds when we heard "wooshing" he grinned and said "that's not you, you know" :) what an amazing feeling. we also heard piggy kicking around and thumping in there, even more proof that there's a living (and squirming) being inside! all in all, a spectacular day. and just 5 weeks to go until the big ultrasound with pictures that will definitely look like a person! (but ps, we're not finding out what we're having. yes, it'll be tempting, but we want the big surprise at the end :))

so. that was my quick update. nothing else new. see you soon...
ally

ps--the heartbeat was 160

pps--HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA MORSE!!!!!!!!!

looong weekend!

we had quite the eventful long weekend and maybe need a few naps to recouperate :) after heading down to belmont with the dogs and the cat, we stayed at my parents house with a good meal and cool fans to combat the heat!on saturday we left for southeast mass for carrie and dave's wedding!! it was a perfect day for them and a beautiful ceremony and reception set right on the lake in the back of carrie's parents' house. CONGRATS to mr. and mrs. rushlow!!!!!!!! you guys both looked amazing and we're so happy for you guys, hope the honeymoon stage lasts as long as possible :)

it was also great to see nikki, susan, dave, and meg--other college friends that are eiter too far away to see or so close and still manage to miss each other! :) (soon we'll all be on the east coast and then there's absolutely NO EXCUSES. yay!) it was fun to sit at the guster table and gossip about all the people we'd heard stories about and were now getting to see in real life...it's what we do best, i guess...i hope it's not as long until we get to see each other again!

on sunday we lounged for most of the day, trying to keep the dogs occupied so gramps and grammy morse didn't get too overwhelmed :) then we headed into cambridge for our traditional mexican dinner with phil and jill. it was so so so good to see them and catch up about wedding stuff, the cambridge gossip and be greeted by all their "buddies" in the restaraunt. it felt like we were in the presence of royalty :) thanks for the meal guys!! can't wait to see you again!

now we're back up in nh, the dogs are settled and the cat has already tried to escape to the outside world. we've got just about 4 weeks until our trip out to kansas city to see mama walsh and grampa dan! :) school will be done for me right before then and zane will get a slight break from his school until july. we're looking forward to a relaxing summer with lots of fresh garden food (we finally planted late last week) and as many visitors as we can get up here to enjoy the best season in this house!

hope everyone is enjoy the holiday and eating lots of hotdogs, chips and lemonade (mmm. yum.) and thanks for reading all my rambling! more soon,

love, a+z+p

ps, total number of belly rubs so far--2! :)

first official baby present!!

THANK YOU JEN AND NATE AND BABY H!! :)

we received the cutest blocks today in the mail from our cousins jen and nate out in kansas. they're perfect!! thank you tons! we can't wait until piggy's here to enjoy and bash these blocks all around the house when baby H visits! ;)

we're in for a rainy and cold weekend, complete with a few movies, snacks and a few home renovation projects that may or may not get started. hope everyone has a relaxing weekend and we'll update more next week sometime. thanks for checking in :)

love, ally and zane

grilling in the rain, just grilling in the rain

so much for the days of sun and warm weather...tonight brought zane to the grill outside in layers and a fun hat, attempting to grill our 2nd dinner this week of steak tips :)we thought we'd finally get in a picture of our dogs...the smaller one (she's about 2 yrs old) is marley and the bigger one on the left is kingston (about a year old we think). cleo, the cat, was inthe background in the kitchen, but at the last second she ran off. cats....not much new to report. tomorrow/today i hit 14 weeks. some say this is the official mark of the second trimester, others say it was last week. either way, YAY!!

to follow up on zane's food entry last time: so far, there have definitely been foods that are on my top 10 (15? 40?) list...the favorites...
*strawberries. in any form.
*milk...but it's starting to hurt my stomach, so i'm laying off it a bit
*cocoa dyno bites. :) the generic form of cocoa pebbles. (there's that pesky milk again)
*green apples
*green grapes
*cranberry juice with a splash of orange juice
*ice cream-first it was mint chocolate chip. now it's cookies'n'cream.
*peas. raw. sugar snap and snow.
*baby carrots and ranch dip (the dogs got a treat yesterday when i threw a fit yesterday because we didn't have any dip...i threw the carrot bag into the fridge, it broke open and there was a feast on the floor :))
*french fries...well, i crave them, but they dont make me feel great either, so i try to stay away
*pineapple...again a craving i'm trying to ignore
*gummy bears, smarties, and tootsie rolls
*and lastly, a shocker...bananas. i'm willing myself to like them (or tolerate them). haven't gotten very far, but i'm not giving up. :)

as the weeks go on, hopefully more and more of zane's healthy influence will rub off on me. if all else fails, this little piggy will have a fit father ;)

love to all, the walshes

yes its for the three of us...

so, the information out there says that little piggy will be growing its body in terms of size and that all of the 'parts' are there all ready. so in this second trimester we will be going for growth as opposed to development. i have done a small bit of research and have decided that a few good home cooked meals will provide all of us with the three major nutrients that pig is reported to require most these days. protein (tonight it was in the form of grilled steak tips), iron (which potatoes have a lot of) and calcium (Ally bought a pint of chocolate milk, a half quart of 1% and a quart of Simply Smart Fat Free milk - my personal favorite). tomorrow will either be chicken tacos or a second meal of steak tips - baked potatoes included.

a few tidbits about nutrients...

there is about as much calcium in dandelion greens as there is in spinach

other foods that are higher in calcium than dandelion or spinach are:whole grain Total cereal, watercress, tofu, table salt and Perrier bottled water - who knew?!

when it comes to iron Total cereal makes the cut again but Kellogs complete has even more while seaweed, chrysanthemum, parsley and butterbur (a daisy like plant that can also contribute to cancer and be toxic to your liver) are the veggies high in iron but all of these pale in comparison to lamb and beef spleen which is especially rich in iron when raw - yuck.

in regards to protein you all will likely have concluded that the fishes, birds (chicken, emu, etc.) and quadropeds (especially moose-meat) would be high in protein - and you would be right; however, seal is reportedly higher in protein than these other foods and - if you believe it - Arby's coffee supposedly has almost twice as much protein than all of the other items on this list.

interesting but not the stuff i am ready to start planning a diet around. so the new hampshire walshes will stick to the common knowledge and much more widely accepted americanized foods such as lean red meats (protein and iron), chicken (p), dark and leafy green vegetables along with bell peppers (iron and calcium), and the classic milk selections (calcium). hope you found something interesting - i sure did - and that you all feed your body whatever tastes good and keeps it healthy at the same time.

much love and fullness,

the three amigo's

ps. sorry no pictures this time but Ally was asleep by the time i finished writing this and i dont know how to do anything but type in the designated box. zw

mother's day revised :)

by accident zane erased the mother's day entry, and while i dont have the energy to retype the whole thing, i'll try and recreate some of it...

overall, wonderful day down in belmont with the morse crew (mom and dad, linda and david), eating out and catching up with cake (yum...) some pictures from that day below:

zane and i comparing our bellies (after our meal, not that it made much of a difference :))

a funny one of my mom, linda and i...my mom had made a funny comment (email me if curiosity gets the best of you and you didn't read it in the original post) hence the faces...

one more of zane and i...my mother's day present from zane is around my neck :) a beautiful necklace inspired by artemis, the goddess that looks after mothers and children. as i said before on the post, this piggy's got one sweet daddy :)

it's been feeling more and more like summer up here lately, though i think there's going to be a return to spring-like weather soon. no planting yet as there have been a couple nights in the 30's, but we did get the front porch screened in! now cleo can be "outside" and watch the birds and chipmunks without running the risk of getting run over by cars! the bugs will be starting to swarm anyday now too, so it will be wonderful to be able to sit out here at night. THANKS LOVE! :)

glad people are enjoing the blog and happy belated mothers day to all the mothers and mothers-to-be that are reading. much love :)

the walsh clan

happy (early) mother's day!

we got a few different packages in the mail today and i didn't think much of opening them, until i realized they were some mother's day things from mama walsh! when zane got home, curiosity got the best of us and we ripped 'em open :) (i hope you dont mind kathy!) we're OVERWHELMED with love and gratitude and excitement!

AND, in the picture i'm wearing some of the awesome clothes my awesome mother in law sent me as well :)!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




then zane took another package that was mailed to him and let me open a gift he had gotten for me/us. it's the cutest little shirt for the year of the pig!

there's not much else to report from here. the weather has been amazing and zane

"can't wait to be working in the garden with a little baby butt wiggling around on a blanket in the yard. I also can't wait for Ally to start eating like a pregnant woman! I miss meals together and am excited to see what foods Ally wants to eat when Piglet starts getting hungry."

spriiiiiiiiing!

(first picture at 4 weeks, second at 12 weeks, 2 days)

there's a slight difference now...combined with the ultrasound, it's making this all seem MUCH more real!

the weather is finally getting pretty nice up here, which means we're going to start planting all the veggies and flowers we've accumulated in the past month. zane already got some potatoes started and if today stays nice, we're going to work on some more. it'll be wonderful to have fresh things to eat this summer...i've been starting to crave more fruits and vegetables (instead of the fritos, cheese curls, pretzels and goldfish that have dominated the past 2 months...).

i also think the miserable morning sickness is (i'm scared to say it) GONE!!!! instead, i have acid reflux (which i thought was m/s for the past week)...now i sleep sitting up and take zantac and i feel HUMAN! i'm glad i've rejoined zane in the land of the living and am enjoying stuff again. we even cleaned part of the house yesterday! spring really has arrived :)

hope it's spring sunshine and goodness where you are and thanks to everyone for their well wishes and congratulations! it feels awesome to share this with so many amazing people :)

love, ally and zane (cleo, marley, kingston and piglet!)

our beautiful, and stubborn, Pig!!!!!!

this seemed to be the best picture the dr. could get, because the Pig kept squirming and putting it's hands all over the place! he counted and said there are two legs and two arms and everything looked "beautiful". he must see 100's of these a month, but he made me feel like i was the first one to ever have a healthy baby on an ultrasound. it was WONDERFUL!

here's one of Piggy with it's legs and hands floating around, just hanging back reclining :)

the Pig was measuring a day ahead of schedule, but the Dr. decided to keep my due date at November 16, 2007. WE CAN'T WAIT! :) i'll be 12 weeks on friday, and the dr. said my feeling so sick should be letting up very soon. so much good news in such a short visit :)

welcome to all who are getting this for the first time and sharing in our little miraculous secret!

love...zane, ally and piggles

ps, i want to send a heartfelt THANK YOU to our cousins jen and nate for having their own baby blog and inspiring us to copy them! we hope you take it as a compliment!! :)