Lookout Venture Capitalists, Here WE Come!

If Baby Girl U turns out to be a very outgoing, networking toddler, it will be because she spent her first 9-10 months in the womb absorbing the ways of a saleswoman shmoozing her way through meetings upon meetings and conferences from San Francisco, to Portland, to Seattle, and to Denver.

If she winds up being a little more of a wallflower, perhaps she was scarred by the hundreds of suited men that swarmed past her at the JPMorgan Healthcare Investor conference when she was just 2-3 weeks from hatching. Here I am after a day of conferencing in San Francisco. My feet hurt a lot more than you can tell!

Christmas, 2007 - Be Merry and Very Jolly!

We spent part of Christmas up at Lake Tahoe, where the Uyeshiro Family (of Modesto) had rented a ski cabin for three nights. We truly lucked out with the weather and were greeted by a Winter Wonderland!

Brett, Jamie, Brendan and Ron made use of the white fluffy stuff and got in some great runs at Heavenly. Ronee, Sandy and I made use of the cozy cabin and got in some nice snoozing and whipped up some delicious meals (well, mostly Ronee).
We then returned to Oakland for our first Christmas celebrated at our home. Here are some pictures of Moose and me by the tree. As they said in the movie Juno, "That shirt's workin' hard!" Ho, ho, ho...

Baby Shower and Checking Out the Baby Loot

Thanks to Uncle Bob and Aunt Jane, we received the baby car seat and it's stroller frame. We were surprised at how easy it was to put together. Ever since its presence graced our home, the assembled stroller has served as a very real reminder that yes indeed, a baby is coming!

Brett was quick to capture some shots of me taking it for a whirl. Of course I had to try out the "latte holder!" Moose was very curious, but wait until it has a squirming baby in it!


Here are some photos from the very girly baby shower tea that Aislynn, Mom and Sandy threw for me and Baby U. We had a very nice time and thanks to Mom and Aislynn, we enjoyed the famous Barefoot Contessa pink coconut cupcakes, which are a must at every shower for a baby girl! Thanks a million, Mom, Ais, Sandy, Ronee and Jamie, for all your hard work! And thanks to everyone that sent us such fun and useful gifts!

Thanksgiving, 2007 - Calling all Turkeys!!!

Thanksgiving, 2007 was celebrated at our home with the traditional fried turkey thanks to Brett (Year 5 and turkeys #7 and 8!). Here are some entertaining photos. Yes, we are all wearing mustaches thank you very much (Jamie has a little thing for 'staches)! And Yes, those are also Goorin hats we are wearing. It was a very serious holiday ...

Belly Update

I came across this shirt in the early days of my pregnancy and I thought it could be quite humorous with my expanding belly. I think I might have been correct! I have been trying to enjoy my jolly state rather than get upset about my ballooning appearance. The most enjoyable part is feeling our little girl moving about more and more. Brett and I have gotten some good laughs from watching my belly as she thumps around.

Here I am on 10.20 - around 26 weeks pregnant.


And for comparison's sake, here I am in the same shirt at 16 weeks and 28 weeks. I think the family will get a kick out of seeing me at Thanksgiving!

Nursery Progress

It is with great excitement that I blog about the nursery progress. Many man hours (some of them not ours) later, we have a mostly furnished and freshly painted nursery, fit for a queen baby bee.

After some deliberation, we decided on a light green shade with an "accent wall" a shade darker. The color matches the PB Kids rug really well and it looks fun with some touches of hot pink care of Karim Rashid's Groball planter (thanks Greg!) and Isaac Mizrahi's dog bed (thanks Target!), which Moose is man enough to take! In fact, Moose has grown quite fond of both his pink bed and the pink Boppy pillow that Marnie sent (true use is for breastfeeding ... hopefully this won't become a problem!).

Should you not recall the state of this room just a few months ago, please see the Nursery Before shot along the right of this blog. I think you will agree that the current state is much improved! If you want to know more of what went into the nursery, see my Before and After on YellowBungalow.com.

Craigslist Blunder - an untrust-worthy hire: Brett had hoped to hire someone to remove the old moulding and install the new this time (it is a tiresome process, but one he does well!), but unfortunately our Craigslist hire was far from ideal and flaked on us. Stuck with a project that was 1/5th complete, Brett was forced to finish the moulding installation, much to his dismay.

Nothing Like a Fresh Coat: Brett and I decided that if we were to get the nursery, hall and office painted (including the trim on the new windows, baseboard and moulding) before the baby arrived, we needed to hire help this time. Luckily our old trusty painter, Usvaldo, was available. 4 days later we had a new house!

One hope that I had was to utilize "Low VOC" paint, at least in the nursery. Low VOC paint emits less harmful odors and fumes over its lifetime, which can make a difference especially with tiny lungs. Luckily my high school Spanish came in handy and I was somehow able to communicate this to Usvaldo the painter. It turns out Usvaldo had one painted a hospital and new of a paint store in Berkeley called Eco Home Improvement. This store will create any paint color you wish, matching our Benjamin Moore selections of Potpourri Green and Pale Vista in a "Zero VOC" paint! As the man at the store relayed, "you won't smell any fumes, it will just smell wet." Fantastic!

TechBaby 2.0

You know your Dad is a tech-geek when ...

As I searched through Babies R Us and assorted sites for "nursery essentials," I occasionally asked Brett for his opinion on certain items. I quickly noticed a trend that when discussing matters of breastpumps, Boppy pillows (quote: what is that thing, a hemorrhoid pillow?) and onesies; it is better to leave Dad-to-be out of the equation for these decisions. However, once the subject turns to matters slightly more technical - such as musical crib accompaniments, strollers and carseats, Dad-to-be's ears perk right up.

I am all for Dad-to-be running with some of these decisions, so when he seemed quite interested in the acoustic equipment for the Baby's room, I was quick to pass the buck on this decision. As I learned with our wedding planning, Dad-to-be is happiest when assigned specific tasks (rather than asked for his opinion on one million decisions).

And this is how our baby girl came to own a very snazzy iPod speaker set in a stylish flowered case made by Roxy. This little speaker set will sing her to sleep in her crib and nursery, but can follow her around on car trips or just to the other room. We have been told that "The Happiest Baby On the Block" soundtrack is a "must have" for all newborns, so we will be sure to put that on the list for her iPod downloads.

Surprise - It's a Boy!

Wait ... I thought your baby was due in January ... and weren't you having a girl?

Just kidding!!! It's not OUR baby ... this is Jeremy Ruiz, our friends' Cymbre and John's 2 month old bundle of joy.

Brett and I visited with Cymbre and John and got the lowdown on the lives of new parents. They seemed quite alert for parents of a newborn. We'll have to find out their secrets!

Jeremy also very aptly demonstrated what a baby BURP and baby #2 sound like ... amazing what noises can come from such a cute lil thing!

The big question of the night was ... will Baby U be born with as much hair as Baby Ruiz? There is a striking resemblance in the mops of Jeremy and Brett ... :)

23 Week Bump Update - the Belly Has Popped!

I thought it was about time for a "Bump Update" as our little girl is starting to grow and grow and Courtney is starting to show and show!

Moose is adjusting to life with a Nursery. Although we are pretty sure he thinks any toys in that room are for him.

Don't worry Moose - it will all be worth it when Cheerios are being flung from highchairs and we are too tired to pick them up :)

Baby Girl Uyeshiro has been quite active lately! She is definitely trying to get attention and likes to kick and squirm most often when I lay down to sleep or am in the middle of a meeting for work.

Brett felt her kick for the first time when we went to see the movie, 3:10 to Yuma. Being a Western, the movie opened with quite a bang, and Baby U wanted to know what the commotion was all about.

Our Trip to LA and Newport Beach

Brimming with the news of our "baby girl on board," Brett and I were very excited to visit friends and family on our little mini-vacation to LA and Newport Beach the weekend of September 7-10th.

Brett's good friend Billy Montgomery was getting married on Sunday, September 9th, on a boat in Newport, so we drove down and spent the weekend in LA and visited with our good friends, Melissa and Eli and also got a chance to stay with Ronee and witness what film school at USC is all about.

I asked Kia (also at the wedding) to take a photo of Brett and me on the boat because we didn't have any of the "three of us" together yet. Unfortunately the wind on the boat was quite challenging and I wound up looking closer to 30 weeks pregnant than 20!

There was lots to celebrate over the weekend - Saturday, September 8th was Brett's birthday and we got to hang out with Melissa, Eli, Ronee and Kia, who drove up from San Diego. Also adding to the fun was that Melissa and Eli have some exciting news of their own ... they too are expecting and are due at the start of May!!!

Melissa and I had fun delving into some "prego mags," while the boys chose to watch Entourage and play tennis. Here are some pix: Meliss and I compared bellies (at the time I was 20 wks and Melissa was 5) ... and then Melissa and Eli compared bellies.

The Moment We've All Been Waiting For...

Brett and I went in for our 20 week ultrasound today. After waiting this long to know if "it" is a "he" or a "she," we were forced to endure over an hour in the waiting room - enough time for the lobby TV's health infomercials to cycle through again (ugh!). However, our patience was rewarded when we got to see our little one again.

After a measure of the head and the heart, the next thing we were told was "yup, looks like a girl," ... "and there is the leg...and there is," the technician carried on. "Wait - are you sure?" We had to know. With a bit of a chip on her shoulder, the technician assured us that yes, she was sure - we were going to have a baby girl! Woohoo! Brett and I were amazed and excited. We had gone out for Chinese food last night and we both agreed that we were "thinking girl," but it was still very surreal to have it affirmed.

Please meet Baby Girl Uyeshiro - 20 weeks old, 10 oz. strong and already kickin' and screamin (we saw her little mouth yapping on about something!):

*The first photo is unclear but in 2 and 3 you can see and arm near her mouth and chin. Then, a definite leg and foot! She even had her ankles crossed at one point - aww, how dainty :)

The Benefits of Sleepless Nights - Bargains!

This whole sleeping on your side thing is getting old. Since I was a little girl I have been a stomach sleeper. Now that there is a growing bump, stomach sleeping is out of the question. With the combination of multiple visits to le toilet, the whole side sleeping thing, and occasional mid-night wakeups by Moose, needless to say I have had a few nights spent on the computer with a glass of milk at the wee hours.

Long story short, last night was one of those nights. However, the benefits outweighed the drawbacks this time! Having spent many hours on Craigslist, determined to find some quality used nursery furniture, I didn't expect to hit the jackpot like I did last night. The stars aligned and by the end of the week we might have half the nursery furniture!

Here's what I found:

On Craigslist: Dutailier Glider and Ottoman - slightly used, $150 (normally around $600!) - apparently this poor mom wound up with twins and her visions of quietly nursing the babies to sleep in the glider just didn't ever materialize.



On Craigslist: Pottery Barn "Dana" Crib in white - slightly used but looking new, for $250 (normally $500). Even better, this crib happens to be about 6 miles down the road and being the only one to email about it before the break of dawn, we got it!








Pottery Barn Kids "Animals on Parade" 5x8 Rug - New on sale for $199.99 (from $299.99). Even better, when I called the store to inquire if they had one in stock she said they were backordered, but they have a floor model that is in good shape and we could get that for $139.99! This is actually a rug that caught my eye early on, as I posted on my YellowBungalow Notebook!

This nursery is coming together!

Nesting and the Endless World of Baby Stuff

I suppose I have started to nest.

Although I am not as "nesty" as my friend Lori, who has claimed to be in a cleaning/de-junking fury with all things in their home pending the arrival of their little one, I have started to clear out the nursery. Things done so far:

• Bit by bit I am selling all our extra crap (ahem, I mean stuff) that we stored in the guest/junk room. As I do this I start to wonder why we never did it before! eBay and Craigslist can be very fulfilling in a Zen-like way!
  
• So far we have banked over $300! Vases, candles from wedding - $45; Camera - $125; Other Camera - $65; Pots and pans - $50; Assorted things on eBay $40
• Shelves and shelves of books are getting boxed and carted to the garage until we have a literary urge.
  
• 3 arm-fulls of work clothes have been donated to a local charity that helps people find jobs
• Clothing that no longer fit have been bagged up to make room for maternity clothes

And the biggest thing is, I have started the baby registry at Babies R Us, Target and Pottery Barn Kids. At this point, it is helpful for me to add things to the registry as I do research. Once you have a baby on the way, you see, you start accumulating lots of advice and it's hard to keep it all straight!

Just the other day in Babies R Us a new mom told me about bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical that leaks from most baby bottles when heated. These plastic bottles (and sippy cups) are made of a hard plastic called Polycarbonate (PC), but there are alternatives made of Polyamide (PA) that is free of Bisphenol-A. Even Nalgenes contain PC (oh no!), but the problem seems to occur when you put them in the dishwasher or put something hot in them - so don't and it should be OK.

There is endless debate and information on this subject, but the bottles I am going to go with are Born Free, free of BPA. This warning also applies to pacifiers, because you put them in the dishwasher. Apparently Gerber's Nuk pacifiers are safe, as are silicone and latex pacifiers by Playtex and others. However, if they have a silicone nipple but PC safety piece, they are not as good. Another interesting thing I read is that babies seem to prefer latex over silicone because the latex absorbs tastes and they become more familiar, but using a lot of latex early on can cause latex allergies later. Aye, aye, aye!!!

Next on the topic to discover and debate ... diapers - cloth or plastic?

Week 19 - Getting Excited to Find Out the Sex

We seemed to have turned the corner from the first few weeks of the pregnancy, when we were overwhelmed with information, Babies R Us was a very, very scary place and 20 weeks seemed SO far away. Now here we are, eating our late night snack and discussing baby names. Ack - what happened?!?

Part of me feels nervous to find out the sex because then everything will really set into motion ... this baby is coming whether we are ready or not! Mostly though, we are very excited to find out if it will be a he or a she next Tuesday.

Despite the poll count, everyone we run into or ask seems to think girl ... even Brett and I admitted that we are thinking it might be a girl ... what will be on target, the polls or the premonitions?? Either way, we can't wait to find out!

Mom and Dad's Visit - 8.4-8.7

Mom and Dad were in town for a wedding up in Lake Tahoe (sounds familiar!), and we had a nice visit. They even got to meet Brett's Grandpa, Antoku Uyeshiro, who is currently staying in Modesto. Luckily the Modesto summers are hot like Oahu!

Mom and Dad stayed in the "Nursery To Be" while they still have that option (the queen bed will soon be replaced by a much smaller version!) and even brought along some things to eventually decorate it. Turns out Mom won a basket of baby clothes, toys and a cute Noah's Ark painting at a breast cancer fund raiser raffle. She said she bought two tickets for the baby basket, but still ... a fun sign! Oh -- and the clothes were pink. Hmm.

While Mom and Dad were in town we spent a day hitting up the baby-type stores to see what we are in for. Mom and Dad were amazed to see that Umbrella strollers are back! And, Mom did not hesitate for a moment to stop a new mom in Babies R Us and get her input on stroller selection. As I hid behind Brett ; ), the woman told us that she has 3 strollers (!!) with her favorite being "The Bob," which is the yuppy baby jogger stroller. Her second was the $40 "shopping stroller" where you put the baby seat on top of a lightweight frame and the third was the all in one carseat-stroller contraption.

With all that stroller talk our heads were spinning and we all enjoyed trying out the cushioned gliders, which are the upgraded version of the old rocking chair. This light yellow one is one I found on Craigslist and hope to check out this week.

The photo at the top is in Washington Square in San Francisco. We all went in to Goorin Brothers' flagship store. Goorin is one of the companies where Greg is interning this summer. It was so much fun to try on all the cool hats they have! We walked out with at least one hat each and had a good time sauntering about town with our new lids.

P.S. I started a Nursery Ideas Notebook page in YellowBungalow. You can check it out here: My Nursery Ideas Page on YellowBungalow