Conway's First Trip

We took a family trip to Chicago to visit some friends this past weekend. Conway really enjoyed her first plane flight. I have a feeling that plane rides won't be quite so easy once she makes her formal debut.

Here is Conway on her first flight:

Once we got to Chicago we spent a lot of time with the Fotis family, meeting their newest member Elias. We are all pretty confident that Eli and Conway are going to get married someday so we took a picture of their first date.

We also spent time with the Mellmans and their baby Blake. Such a cutie!

The most important part of our trip was when we went to Margie's Candies and attempted to consume the Royal George a la George - a 25 scoop sundae. We were not successful, but we gave it a solid try...even if the coffee flavored ice cream did taste a lot like bacon.

No more clothes needed

Well, we officially need no other clothing for Conway. We received the best outfit ever from our friends the Stevensons. I hate to put pressure on anyone else who is thinking about buying clothes for Conway, but you have to admit this outfit is amazing.


I can't wait for next football season when Conway will be able to fit into this. I might just try to roll up the pants and pin the waist for this season. She is going to be ready for OSU games!!!

So much for planning!

Well, we spoke too soon. We lost our spot at the great daycare. The only rule Dottie has about who can use her is that people who already have a kid with her get first dibs on any future spots. Another coworker of mine who has a kid at Dottie's place told me this week that she is expecting. She is very early on, but wanted me to know as soon as possible. It was really nice of her to give me as much heads up as possible. But it does mean we are back to the drawing board.

I put us on a waiting list for a daycare near home and emailed a friend about a nanny share. These are the times when my obsessive researching can be put to good use!

I still get my 6 months off though, so we have some time to figure out where Conway will spend her days.

Rocker and Ottoman

We got a rocker and ottoman for Conway's room today. The ottoman has storage in it which is a big bonus.

6 whole months!

With the pending birth of Conway we have been trying to figure out time off and childcare. Prices around here for infant daycare run around $1800 a month. Not fun. There is a place two doors down from my office (on the westside where things are cheaper) that is an in-home daycare place. The woman that is the caregiver is named Dottie and she has been watching kids basically forever. There was a woman in my office who was actually watched by Dottie when she was little! Dottie also watches the children of several of the other attorneys I work with. Because of this she really understands our schedules and what it means when we are in court/trial. Oh...and it's only $500 a month for an infant.

The hitch? Dottie can only watch two kids under the age of two at a time. Right now there is one kid there that is one. My co-worker due at the same time as me already has a kid at Dottie's, so when her new one is born she gets the infant opening. That means there is no spot for Conway until April 2, 2010 when the one year old turns two.

Our dream was that after Conway was born I would take 6 months off then Brett would take his one month paternity leave and another month of vacation. That would get us up to the April date with Dottie and allow Conway to have time with us before entering daycare.

I have been talking to our HR department about maternity leave to see if that dream was a possibility. FMLA allows me to take maximum of 18 weeks off - more than that requires approval from the office. I had a meeting with the big boss yesterday to see if I could actually get a full 24 weeks off. Without so much as batting an eye he said I could absolutly have 24 weeks off - more if I wanted!! I'm not going to get greedy (and I do have to think about my career) so I'm going to stick with the 6 month plan, but WHAT A RELIEF!!! Now the plan is actually a reality.

Other good news is that the big boss said I can have whatever kind of position in the office I want when I come back. My current role as a trial deputy creates times where I have unexpected influxes of work that require many extra hours of work. If I go back in another position it will create an easier transition back to work and will give me more flexibility with my hours. That way if Conway gets sick I can leave no problem.

Good news all around!

The nesting begins

Now that we know Conway is a girl the nursery nesting has begun. We got some of the bedding for the room. This picture has pretty much every item in the collection in it so it's a bit much. We won't be going quite this crazy - but the red chandelier is a must.

Belly Update

Here is the belly update photo. I am convinced that Brett did something to the picture to make me look gigantic, but he swears it's just how I look. Goodness.

Conway Twitty or Patsy Cline?

Yesterday we had our 20 week ultrasound. Everything checked out a-ok. Conway has all the right organs in all the right spots, the brain looks good, all the bones are straight, the weight/size are right on track, the heart has four chambers, etc.... All good news!!!

Oh yeah, and Conway is a GIRL!!!!!!

I am so surprised and VERY happy. I made the u/s tech check about three times just to make sure. I had sort of written off ever having a girl because Brett's family is very boy-heavy. I assumed we'd be the same. Brett is happy - but without the shock factor that I've got going on.

Here are some of the pics from the u/s. You can click on the pictures to see larger versions.

Here is her face and hand.

Her left arm and hand.

The gender shot. The u/s tech thought it was funny that I said I wish we had a clear "spread eagle" shot, so he labeled this one accordingly. Poor girl has super classy parents.

And the required scary alien face picture. She's kinda smiling though so things must be going ok in there.