My lovely baby bump....

Check it out!

Week 14

Right before my birthday, still wearing my

"regular" jeans, but using the ponytail holder trick

Week 18

Week 18 Close up

One month later, wearing my beloved maternity jeans.

I swear my belly looked pretty much like week 14

until about 2 days before I took this picture.

Things my kid will listen to

The Point!

The Point! is this GREAT children's album written, narrated and sung by Harry Nillson, about a boy named Oblio who grew up in the Land of Point. If I ever heard this album as a child, I don't remember it, but Aaron grew up with it and shared it with me. If you haven't listened to this album, you should!

As I mentioned, the story is narrated by Nillson, and great songs are interspersed throughout. (Apparently Nillson got the idea while he was on acid and realized that all the trees and houses had points, but don't let that ruin it for you.) The gist: Oblio is a round-headed boy growing up in a land where everything (trees, houses, and people's heads) had to have a point. Oblio gets on the prince's bad side, and is banished, along with his dog, Aarow, to the Pointless Forest because of his round head.

I won't tell you the rest of the story, but it really is great. And the music is beautiful! Three animated film versions of the album have been made, as well as a musical play. My two favorite songs on the album are "Me and My Arrow" and "Think About Your Troubles." Watch the video clip below - I guarantee you'll love it, young or old. Parents, you should get this for your kids. It's better than anything they're playing on TV these days, and blows those stupid Kid Bop records out of the water.

The Nursery

We live in a teeny, tiny house, just 880 sf with two bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths. Fortunately we have big closets, or it never would have worked. Aaron and I would have killed each other in week one! The nursery is going to be in our second bedroom, which is currently serving as Aaron's office/studio space/CD and guitar and surfboard storage. Things have cleared out in there a good bit since we got the storage shed outside - there used to be an electric saw, leaf blower, sander, gallons of paint.... all kinds of stuff. And it wasn't pretty.

When it comes to converting this room into a nursery, I've given the design of the room a lot of thought, especially because the room presents several challenges:

1. It's tiny! Just 10' x 10'
2. Aaron still wants to use it as an office.
3. Two doors opening into the room take up valuable space.

I've come up with a floor plan that I think will work pretty well and not make the room feel too cluttered. I want to get Aaron a new desk because his is lacking in closed storage (lots of exposed computer equipment = not so good for baby) plus it's not the most attractive piece of furniture. We already have a nice rug, pendant light fixture (that I made all by myself, thank you very much!) and Roman shade (all in nice neutral cream. And I know it's stupid for us to have a light colored carpet in a baby's room, but it was only $30, so if it gets ruined it's not the end of the world.)We also have some cubby style bookcases in the room that match our floors. The room is in decent shape! But we do need to buy:

1. The new desk (as previously mentioned)
2. A crib and bedding
3. A new closet system
4. Accessories / art
5. Additional lighting
6. A chair and ottoman

We're also going to paint the room a nice, soothing grayish blue color. Yes, I know blue is associated with boys. Sue us for gender misrepresentation. The decor part of the nursery has been the biggest source of stress. Mainly because my dear, sweet, fashion and design-conscious husband is a little hard to please in the decor department. (Translation: he DARES have an opinion that differs from mine! The nerve! Doesn't he know you should never disagree with a pregnant woman? :) I've shown him about 1,000 different bedding fabrics we could use in the room over the past few months, and he's hated every one of them. We finally came up with a solution this week that makes both of us happy, which is good, because it was about to drive me totally insane.

So, here's the (proposed) nursery design.....

I'm taking off the closet door and installing a curtain instead.

(Solves the problem of that pesky door swing.)

Wall Color: Ralph Lauren paint in "Impressionist"
(See, it's a pretty blue! And not boyish at all.)

Crib Bumper and Quilt: Pottery Barn Organic Giant Dot Bedding

Sheets: By Dwell Studio
Since our bedding is neutral, we can have all kinds of fun sheets
and I looooove that they have owls!

Gulliver Crib by Ikea

It's inexpensive, modern-looking and convertible. Perfect!

Boliden Chair and Footstool by Ikea

Another inexpensive - and REALLY comfortable - pick. It may not fit in the nursery, but if it doesn't, we'll just put it in the living room.

Closet System: Trofast by Ikea

Girls, Girls, Girls

The gender of our baby has been a topic of much speculation on all sides of the family pretty much since the beginning of the pregnancy. We knew from the beginning that we would find out the sex - there's too much planning and too many emotions involved, in our opinion, to not find out in advance. Of course, there's the down side that as soon as you find out the gender, no one wants to buy you anything but clothes for the wee one. And can you really blame them? Who wants to buy a case of diapers when they could get the cute little onesie with the fire engine on it? MUCH more fun!

Also, I think everyone was holding out hope that this could be "the one," the boy that would carry on the Kautz line, the boy that my father tried to have 4 times, the boy that would start to even things up on my mom's side of the family (where there are 11 girls to 5 boys between the children, grands and great grand.) My sister wanted me to have a boy so she wouldn't inherit the pressure of producing a boy. It's been a long time since we've seen a boy.

So at the beginning, I was hoping for a boy. He would be such a novelty, such a treat! My dad would FINALLY have male progeny, the Kautz men would live on, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera..... However, Aaron was convinced we were having a girl. So much so that he ended a discussion we were having about boy name possibilities because he felt like it was pointless to discuss such nonsense when we were having a girl. And I started to believe him because he and his mom and his grandma all have a weird sixth sense about things. So, I'm not sure if it was self-preservation and wanting to avoid disappointment, or if it was the fact that "I don't know nothin' 'bout" raisin' no boys, I started to hope for a girl. Just a little....

Well, yesterday was the big day, THE ultrasound where they look at the baby's skull size and shape, measure all the bones, look at the vertebrae, the heart function, the face and about a million other things PLUS they check out the goods! (If you see a "clamshell" it's a girl, a "turtle" is a boy. Nice...... ) And about two minutes into the ultrasound, the technician started referring to the baby as "she." Then the doctor came in and agreed - looks like a girl! A fabulously healthy, perfectly sized girl! Now, they are only 90% positive (thus the single question mark on the ultrasound picture below) but I will go back in 6 weeks for another ultrasound and they will know more definitively then. But 90% is a pretty good indication!

So, with 90% certainty, we are please to announce that around February 5, 2010, the world will get to greet the youngest in a loooong line of girls, future posessor of her mom's chunky thighs or her dad's soccer calves (but dear God, don't make her have both), our daughter......

Addison Frances Kautz

(I think every last one of her 5 future grandmas and her proud Auntie M are at the store right now buying her a cute pink outfit.... but what can you do? :)

this is her alien look.

check out the hands

the 90% of a clamshell. poor kid, goods getting splashed all over the internet

Things my kid will listen to

Confession: Deep down, I am a country girl.


I'm from a very small Southern town, a not particularly well-regarded Southern town, a town that when people hear I grew up there, they look at me with a very bizarre expression and say, "Really?" Or sometimes they just laugh. I grew up on a farm with cows. My dad would stick the truck in gear, and I would just drive around the field, standing in the front seat, while he threw hay out the back. I also had a very strong southern accent -which was immortalized on a tape that thank god my parents lost years ago. I, fortunately, lost my accent years ago as well.


Because I grew up as a country girl in a small, Southern town, I grew up listening to country music. I knew all the words to any song by Reba McEntire, I loooooooooved Crystal Gayle, I thought Charlie Pride was the coolest guy around. Oooh, and George Strait! I actually listened to country music voluntarily until I was about 20 (in 2000) or so, but let's be honest - it started tanking YEARS before that... Once Toby Keith got on the scene, and George Strait kinda went down the crapper, there is nothing good about country music. Well, except for hottie Keith Urban and his sexy hair.

Now, when I was little, until probably the age of 5, we actually had cable and I watched some MTV. You know, back when it really was "Music Television." I remember seeing the videos for "Ghostbusters" and "Happy to be Stuck With You." but from ages 9 - 13 or so I didn't have access to cable, and after that, it was only when I would visit my grandparents in Thomasville. I didn't live in a cave or anything, but my musical exposure was limited.


I have a really good memory, though, especially when it comes to song lyrics, so, I have many, many years of country music lyrics built up in my head. I kicked Aaron's ass at music trivia once because they kept asking country music questions. It made him afraid. There's this show on CMT called "Can You Duet" and people karaoke to country songs. Aaron stopped the tv on that show one night, and I knew every word to the song the person was singing. I think it was "Queen of the Doublewide Trailer." That made me a little afraid, but I did laugh at the look of sheer terror on Aaron's face.


Fortunately, I became a teenager in the age of Nirvana, STP and Pearl Jam - NOT the age of boy bands and Britney Spears - and the radio station I listened to would play some quality 80s music - The Cure, The Clash, - so I developed a pretty decent taste in music later in life. Decent, but not great. However, I was not really exposed to the rock greats until I met Aaron when I was 22. At the time, I could not have named a single Led Zeppelin or Rolling Stones song. I think that I maybe, possibly knew a Jimi Hendrix song or two. The first time I ever heard Bohemian Rhapsody or Stairway to Heaven was when I watched Wayne's World. Pathetic.


Thank GOD Aaron opened my eyes to some really awesome music! He's kind of a music snob at times, but there's no denying his taste is pretty darn good. Being raised by ex-hippies in the 70s works wonders for one's musical prowess.


This leads me to the point of my post: My child will grow up listening to Led Zeppelin. (And other important artists that I will list at later dates, but Zeppelin is tops on my list.) I don't understand how I lived so many years of my life without having heard "Whole Lotta Love" or "Ramble On" or "Gallows Pole." I would love it if I had the only 5 year old for miles around that knows all the words to a Zeppelin song and thinks Robert Plant was a god. And has never even heard of Toby Keith. Or Britney Spears....

Our first baby

Although this is my first pregnancy, this is not the first baby for me and Aaron. Our first born is Ringo, our big, handsome, orange kitty. Ringo is the center of attention in our house, and is the center of a lot of the stories we tell. We have turned into "those people" when it comes to Ringo, always telling stories about him, showing off pictures, talking about his weird little quirks. Like the fact that he eats his wet food with his paw. And he always runs straight to the litter box when we get home. And he sleeps on top of the covers between my legs every night, usually with his head resting on my butt. And he gags if he smells citrus fruit, cloves or toothpaste. I am overly attached to this cat, so much so that I cry every time I have to drop him off at the vet for his kitty checkups (which I will have to do this Wednesday.) I'm sure it seems a little obsessive, but look at him - isn't he just the cutest thing???

What to Expect: Week 18

August 31, 2009


Apparently this week, my body decided it was time to be pregnant. I felt like it happened overnight - one day, my body's feeling pretty normal, belly has a little bit of a pooch, but nothing major; within 48 hours, I can actually feel my uterus below my navel (which is totally normal during pregnancy, and natural, too, but when I told Aaron about it, he got freaked out) and I look PREGNANT! Not, "Whoa, this lady is due any day," but I am definitely rocking a baby bump. Boom!


Now I just read that my uterus is supposed to be the size of a cantaloupe right now, so no friggin' wonder I have a baby bump! And the baby is almost 6 inches long. Sleeping has started being a little bit different over the last few days. I definitely can't sleep comfortably on my stomach anymore, and I had a major freak out this week over sleeping on my back. Apparently when the baby and uterus get bigger, if you lay on your back, their weight can cut off circulation to a major vein that pumps blood to the baby. I received an email from one of my baby website updates this week reminding me of this delightful fact, and the next night I woke up laying flat on my back. Panic commenced. I spent about an hour trying to get back to sleep while picturing my baby having permanent brain damage.


Thank goodness I have access to a great nurse and mommy of two, Ken's sister, Jessica, and she calmed my back-sleeping fears! Yes, you can cut off circulation to the baby while sleeping on your back, but chances are #1: you would also cut off circulation to your legs, which would make you roll over long before the baby suffered any damage. #2: by the time the baby is big enough to cut off the circulation, you won't be comfortable sleeping on your back anyway, so there won't be anything to worry about. Crisis averted. Thanks, Jess!!!