happy 6 months, Jordan....

Your baby's growing steadily, gaining about a quarter of a pound since last week, when he was just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long, that makes a pretty lean figure, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon put on more baby fat. Your baby's skin is thin, translucent, and wrinkled, his brain is growing rapidly, and his taste buds are developing. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" and cells that produce surfactant, a substance that helps the air sacs inflate easily.

6 months today! we'll get to "see" him again on tuesday with a followup ultrasound. i'll be posting new pictures!!! as for me, i'm definitely "feeling" pregnant. but the aches and pains and all are worth it. when asah gets back from his workshop we'll be putting together the nursery! so exciting.

tnh

Christmas 2005

the first leg of the GA tour....Callaway Gardens.


A nice warm fire in the villa we stayed in.

Asah with Jordan's stocking!

Male bonding?

Daniel opening a present

Alida in a new Christmas outfit

Alida with a bow on her head

Fantasy in Lights at Callway

more lights

still more lights

and some more lights

Christmas 2005 II

a few scenes from our "GA tour" this Christmas....


Asah and his birdie friend at Callaway


Getting close to the bird


On the trolley to see the lights....COLD!


Our nephew, Sumner


Sumner with the santa hat


Asah getting a little daddy practice

Jordan Asah....Christmas week

time for Jordan's update....
pics coming soon!
th

Your baby is more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound. His skin is red and wrinkled. Blood vessels in his lungs are developing to prepare him for breathing. He can swallow, but he normally won't pass his first stool (called meconium) until after birth. Loud noises heard often in utero — such as your dog barking or the roar of a vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze your baby when he hears them outside the womb.

merry Christmas!

i probably won't be able to post for awhile, but i wanted to share our 2005 Christmas pic. the attempt was to showcase the belly, i guess you can tell a little. next Christmas will be entirely different for us. every day we tell Jordan how we cannot wait for him to arrive.
we love you all and I hope your Christmas holidays are wonderful.
merry Christmas, love,
asah, tara, and baby j (coming soon!)

here's what jordan's up to this week......

Your baby now looks like a miniature newborn, checking in at 10.9 inches and almost 1 pound. His skin will continue to appear wrinkled until he gains enough weight to fill it out, and the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his head and body is now visible. His lips are becoming more distinct, and the first signs of teeth are appearing as buds beneath his gum line. His eyes are developed, though the iris (the colored part of the eye) still lacks pigment. Eyelids and eyebrows are in place, and his pancreas, essential for hormone production, is developing steadily.

eyelids and eyebrows...wow!

tnh

puppies and planes it is!

we were leaning toward it already. i've added it to our registry on Babies R Us. Cool. Another decision made...and that particular bedding is on sale...so it works for me.
Thanks for all the feedback.
It's a rainy night here in Tickfaw. I am sitting on the couch in my pj's with a nice blanket and the tv on. no responsibilities tonight! first time in a long time and it is so nice. asah is at a meeting but will be home soon. feels great to have some downtime.
we'll be heading to GA in a week! excited to see family and friends!
well, i need to get back to doing nothing.
happy wednesday night,

tnh

just for kicks

Jordan must be getting lots bigger, I've felt him kicking and squirming around all day today. No complaints here, though. It's amazing to be able to feel him throughout the day and know he's doing well.
Today is Asah's FINAL day of finals. Praise the Lord. He'll have a tiny break until a workshop early January. I am so glad this semester is over. What a challenge!
Okay, we need some feedback. I know you readers are out there, I see you on my statcounter. Some of you I don't know who you are, but it's all good. I just need some help deciding on a nursery theme. We're stuck between an airplane design and barnyard animals. Both are very cute. I'm posting pics, please comment and vote on your favorite. We'd like to make a decision soon so we can get the nursery together once the furniture is purchased after Christmas. So here they are, vote away!


Puppies and Planes


Barnyard Animals

surprise!

my coworkers @ namb had a surprise shower for me today! exciting. i was completely clueless about it but it was SO much fun. we had ice cream cake from DQ (double yum!!) and Jordan really got some nice things. I am so blessed to work with a team of such wonderful people. since I likely won't be back to namb before he's born, they decided to do it today. so awesome to get such wonderful things!! maybe i can post some pics of the shower and some of the gifts soon.

here's how the little fella is doing this week:

Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long. His eyebrows and eyelids are fully developed. And you can certainly feel him move. He's oblivious to your schedule, though, so don't be surprised if he starts working out just when you're settling down for the night.

love,
a, t, and baby j

tired!

we had the youth Christmas party at our house last night. i am exhausted! it was good though. 9 youth came and Asah grilled his "famous" pork chops. I made butter potatoes, peas, and rolls along with some yummy appetizers and hot apple cider! the girls had fun looking at all our baby stuff and the guys played a lot of xbox. we also had a white elephant gift exchange and it was pretty fun too. now i'm just ultra tired. Asah is making progress on his finals...and i'm really glad that the end of the semester is very close.
Jordan has been kicking me a lot lately..but I love it because it reminds me that he's growing and thriving. We are so ready to meet him! time is going by quickly and I think once January arrives the fun will start with putting together the nursery, taking prenatal classes, etc.
well, that's about all the updates for now!
have a good week.
tnh

birthday flowers

i got some really great flowers from a really great guy on my birthday. we went to melting pot that night (my favorite! fondue!). The best part was definitely the chocolate fondue. it was a wonderful day and good to getaway for awhile in baton rouge.

will be traveling to namb again this week for meetings, etc. youth christmas party tonight at our place. we're looking forward to grilling for them and having a white elephant gift exchange. should be fun!

tnh

my growing belly

for those of you who haven't seen me in awhile...i've grown quite a bit. here we are at the halfway point!

asah, tara, and baby jordan

oh, and here's the update for the week:

Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom, and about 10 inches from head to heel. (For the first 20 weeks, we use measurements taken from the top of the baby's head to her bottom — known as the "crown to rump" measurement. After that, we use measurements from head to toe. This is because a baby's legs are curled up against his torso during the first half of pregnancy and are very hard to measure.)

A greasy white substance called vernix caseosa coats his entire body to protect his skin during its long submersion in amniotic fluid. (This slick coating also eases the journey down the birth canal.)

Your baby is swallowing more, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky substance that's the result of cell loss, digestive secretion, and swallowed amniotic fluid. This meconium will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in her first messy diaper (although a few babies pass it in utero or during delivery).

yuck!
tnh

pics of Jordan

here he is! my favorite is the 4D picture of the face. The entire time he had his hands in front of the face. This picture shows him with one hand up, and he is nestled up against the placenta. Maybe we'll get some better shots when we go in for the re-scan. He is a shy little fella!

tnh