Things in Three

This week is the start of our 3rd trimester. In celebration, the barrel packed up and rolled off to Hampton, Virginia for Phish version 3.0 (as they are calling it.) We went for three nights of Phish in the mothership at the Hampton Coliseum and had a great time. Phish is Dad and Mama's favorite musical band. They are a group out of Vermont that Dad introduced to Mama over 10 years ago when they started dating. Since then, they have been to over 30 shows together (and many more alone) all over the country. Not to mention they had a Phish cover band at their wedding... They have met many new friends (or as we call phriends) on the way and converted their some of their friends to what is fondly called "Phisheads." Now you may have read much of the press about this band, and their comparisons to other bands that have droves of "hippies" that follow jambands while selling grilled cheeses from their VW vans and wear dreadlocks. The music is very different (much more rock and a fusion of many types of compositions and styles) but the crowd looks similar. However, there are many different levels of phans including the dirty loser "hippies" which we call the "wooks" who come along for the party scene to those of us that grew up and are outstanding members of society. In the end, we share a common bond of a love for music... Phish had broken up for good (or so we thought) almost 5 years ago until about the time we learned about Barack when on October 1st of 2008 the band announced that they were getting back together again. Needless to say we vowed at their final show we would make it to their return show, and we did. Even brought little Barack along. He slept most of the time, waking up during setbreaks and after the show. His Mama was busy dancing to the music, which probably helped the sleeping factor. He definitely was a little freaked out at first from the shear screaming before the start of the first show and the sound level, but by 3 songs in he relaxed and chilled the rest of the time. He tended to kick during the softer songs when Mama swayed and sang along. He got his song Bouncing Around the Room (or as we sing Womb) on the first night. We met three of our old friends from New England that we had not seen since our wedding or the last concert. The band sounded even better than before (most likely due to a new level of the band's sobriety) and the energy in the building of 13,000+ was amazing. However, we all felt our age as in 5 years, graduate school, parenthood-to-be and more, our bodies are exhausted!

Check out some pictures from our weekend...

The mothership. The coliseum is lighted in rainbow lights to make it look like s spaceship at night. So many bands love to come to this little hockey area to play.

The folks at the Phish organization sometimes has live performance art at its shows. Here there was a group of blockheads that constructed some floating blocks and rowed boats in the fountain underneath a giant white blockhead statue. There was also what looked like cotton candy in the trees for a boost of color.

Our view from our seats each night. we sat up top so Mama could have a seat and some safe dancing room than being down on the floor (where we stood last time we were here.) There were giant white balloons that were hung and lighted along with the light show. They were dropped during Bouncing Around the Room on the first night so that the crowd bounced them around the room and then again at the very end.

It was an amazing weekend. Mama and Dad were glad that they got to spend their last solo vacation seeing their favorite band. Now we just prepare for Barack's arrival in these last three months.

What a BIG boy!

We visited the OB again today and got another chance to peek inside. Some of you may be wondering, why so many ultrasounds? Well, it so happens that Mama has a benign growth called a fibroid which is very common in women (1 in 15). They tend to grow with all the blood supply and hormones, so the doctor wants to keep an eye on its size and position. We are happy to get lots of pictures of our little dude's progress. So far so good and it's not in the way of little Barack's growth or his future passage into the great world.

According to the measurements, Barack is measuring about 26 weeks and 5 days! That's ahead of his due date, which should put him at 25 weeks and 2 days--see the little monkey below to track Barack's calculated age. He's a lovely 2 lbs as well, which is about 1/2 pound ahead of schedule. His fat is filling in now and Mama's steadily gaining weight and tummy size. She officially cannot see her toes when looking down. She's still feeling good and packed with energy. Barack is a very active little bugger. He is awake more often now and packs a powerful punch (and kick for that matter!) He keeps Mama up at times at night and you can see him in action through her skin right before mealtimes when he's the most active. Should be interesting when he gets to attend his first Phish show in a couple of weeks. He loves basketball games and is a Butler Bulldog fan (we assume--however Dad will teach him to also love the Indiana Hoosiers.) Here's some pictures from today's visit:

That's his powerful right hook above his face. He was swallowing aminotic fluid (practicing for real feedings) and punching his Mama when this picture was taken.

His eyes (which have been sealed for the past few weeks) should open any day now and we can play flashlight wars.

Mama and Dad are awaiting Spring. Although we won't see her until after March Madness, we had some glimpses of her last week. All of the snow has melted and we have more rain than any nasty winter weather. Needless to say, this IS Indiana and it can snow in April. No other news from the barrel at this time.

Mama's starting to feel pregnant

Well Little Barack has gone through a little growth spurt and Mama's starting to feel pregnant--including trouble bending over, moving in bed, getting out of low chairs, trying to squeeze by narrow spaces (sometimes they really do put chairs awfully close together in restaurants), and getting a bit winded going up the two flights of stairs to her condo unit. Mama went to a ballet class last week and her ego was crushed as she realized that it takes abdominals to assist her leg getting up. She was so sore for 3 days afterwards in her legs, that her patients stated, "You are looking pregnant." Really last week, she lost both the use of her thighs and abs--a bad combination, and it wasn't due to pregnancy at all. Barack's kicks and jabs are getting stronger and he should be close to about 1 pound these days. It feels like he's taking after Uncle T and practicing flip turns in her belly.

In other news, Indianapolis got over a foot of snow this week. Dad helped shovel us out and we are very thankful for the Subaru's ability to drive in deep snow. Many neighbors got stuck and we were able to drive through it all. We are thankful that our neighborhood association was able to hire some private plows to clean up the side streets for Daddy's car and everyone else. Another reason we love living in our little downtown neighborhood.

Daddy is deep in law and business classes including his one of his favorite class, Trial Practice. He was also called to jury duty last week and was struck out possibly for being too eager of a law student. We both have wanted to sit on a jury because but have never been called/made it. Oh well. More to come soon...

Stubborn...

Just a funny update. This week, the OB doctor recommended to Mama to start wearing her maternity support belt to help keep Barack off her bladder so she doesn't have to keep running to the ladies room every hour. Well, Barack does not like it and has been kicking it with vigor during the day. Once it's removed, he flips and buries himself back onto her bladder. It's been a funny battle (well not so funny if you are mom's bladder...)

We came across a great cartoon strip this week. Although we love the name Barack (since we love our new president and its an old Hebrew name--Daddy loves the old bible names), we think that Barack might not make it to the official birth certificate.

A Day of Inspiration and Hope

Today was definitely a day marked in history. Our country has elected and inaugurated the first person of color to hold the highest office of public service. Although our own little Barack may not have understood the songs and speeches of the day through the computer speaker held up near his home, we only hope that the spirit of humility, service, and hope was able to pass the layers of tissue to his newly formed ears. Mama got a couple of kicks when VP Biden was sworn in and during President Obama's speech. So perhaps this little boy was inspired. We only hope as much.

In more exciting news, Barack is 21 weeks this week. So off to the doctor's for more pictures. Barack is definitely a boy. There was no being shy this time. Despite a half Dr. Pepper, he decided to take a nap at the very bottom (head down of course) of Mama's uterus. He moved around a bit, but for the most part was fairly calm and sleepy. Maybe all the inauguration events wore him out....

Here's some new shots of our little man:

Half way to B-day and turning 30

We've hit some major milestones over the past 2 weeks. Mama Flora turned 30 years old and Barack is 20 weeks (the halfway point). We all celebrated it with a much needed vacation, and thanks to Gram and Grandad, the whole Flora clan (including Uncle D) packed up our bathing suits and shorts and headed down to Cancun. Barack must have liked his first foreign adventure because he was definitely kicking during the week--usually during the evening hours from 6-11.

The beaches of Cancun are amazing--just like those Corona commercials with the white sandy beaches, clear aqua blue water, palm trees, and sun. We spent a couple of mornings laying out and splashing in the warm waters. Here is a view from our hotel room one early morning. The sun rose each morning at 6:00 am and it was hard to sleep in as the beaches were so inviting. Our hotel was nice, but the "hotel zone" of Cancun reminded us of a Mexican Las Vegas, complete with major American restaurants which were somewhat mediocre. Only Uncle D headed out to experience the night clubs one night in which he said they were like a Spring Break party. Barack was a little too young to go out yet.

On Mama's 30th birthday, we made an excursion inland to Chichen Itza to see one of the Seven Wonders of the World and Mayan capitol. It was probably one of the highlights of the trip. The archaeological park was big and many of the buildings were well kept. Here's a picture of the main temple called El Castillo, or the Castle.

On the trip we also visited Playa del Carmen, a beach town just south of Cancun and the all-inclusive resorts. We really enjoyed the atmosphere of Playa del Carmen, and would like to return there for another Mexican vacation. We also visited the Isla Mujeres, an island off the coast of Cancun. We got off the ferry and explored the downtown region. Then Daddy F hiried a taxi driver to take Mama and him on a tour of the island. Once we got south of downtown, we got to see the beauty the island and a Mayan temple ruin. The temple was for goddess Ixchel, the Mayan Goddess of fertility, reason, medicine, and the moon. Here are some shots from the island:

We also explored downtown Cancun called "El Centro" by locals, had some great meals including traditional Yucatan food and Barbacoa (type of BBQ), and had massages and/or traditional Mayan Vapor bath. We really enjoyed our little Mexican vacation, and look forward to visiting it soon. Even Barack got a new little outfit:

Finally, an updated bump picture to show off Barack's growing process:

A Busy End of the Year...

We have been busy monkeys around the Flora house. Oma and Opa came and helped with some home-improvement projects. We painted both Barack's new room a nice blue and our bedroom a richer shade of yellow. It took three days and lots of time spent atop of ladders as we have 14 foot ceilings in the schoolhouse. But in the end, everything looks much nicer and we are impressed with the new low VOC paints available at the local paint store.

And to finish off the week, we took Oma and Opa to a Butler Men's Basketball game. The Bulldogs came through in an exciting game against UAB. Plus Barack got a little gift of some Bulldog gear for next season: