What, no pictures?

Farking home PC! Somehow at sometime, the internet stopped functioning on our home PC, which totally SUCKS since thats the only way I have to upload pictures, whether it is to this blog, to myspace, to snapfish, or to email. So, while we pout a little while longer since our attempts to fix it have not yet worked, I'll post an update but have none of the wonderfully fancy pictures I had hoped to add.

1) Our trip to Seattle to visit my family (and completely surprise my mom) went wonderfully well, aside from the chilly weather we weren't ready for. It was great to see my sister and mom and have some real vacation time to spend with them, instead of fitting things into a "holiday weekend". We went to a Mariner's game, Mt. Rainier, and wandered around at Pike's Place market. It was an action packed couple of days, but so well worth it.

2) My GD (sugar) test came and went - and I cried, but woohoo, I passed the 1 hr! Yay! So glad I don't need to give up the ice cream and fruit I've so come to love. It sure helps keep me a much happier pregnant lady. Luckily for DH, he doesn't have to worry about weight gain either, since he indulges almost as much as I do (thinking about our sundaes from tonight, ice cream by the pool, and so on).

3) We registered, which is so overwhelming! What's even better is that half of what we picked has already been changed on the registries, but so be it. I'm a little nervous about it all to be honest, a) because I know how much of a pain the return policy is at Target and Babies R Us - basically it boils down to no receipt, no return (well, maybe 1 or 2 items a year and even then there are TONS of restrictions) - and they don't seem to care if its on your registry or not and b) I've tried to add lots of stuff for lots of options, but as of now, the only shower I'm aware of is the one in Michigan (which means flying, so how much can I REALLY bring home with me?). I know we do get completion coupons though so even if we don't have a local shower, its still nice to have a place to keep track of what we want and the option to get a discount on it.

Another annoying factor of the registry is the patterns offered at different places. We started at Babies R Us, but then I found the stroller, car seat, pack n play, high chair, bouncer, etc. that I liked SO MUCH more at LoneStar Baby and Kids - which of course is not in Michigan. So, I've added items at both places and then got thinking (and had some people mention) that a place like Target would be nice as well, since some people don't have either of the other places local. Ok, so I added some stuff at Target too. And what the heck, its another completion coupon, right? Meanwhile, I know I need to add more that I have - like bottles - but I'm' so overwhelmed on what else I'll need! Bottles - I know we want BPA-free, but what sizes? And I've been told that kids can be picky about the nipples, so don't register for a bunch of one brand. What about sizes? And what if I breast feed - do I still need bottles, and how many? Argh!!! I'm at the point where I want someone else to just register for me and tell me what I need. (((giggle)))

4) Baby J's room - it is really coming together and I couldn't be happier! I've been very unsure of what to do about a dresser / changing table since I loved the matching dresser but hated the price, and didn't want to buy a piece of furniture specifically for changing her diaper and then have nothing to do with it in a few years. I mean, thats part of why we went with a convertible crib as well (and I know everyone says no one converts them, but dang it, I sure plan on it!). So today, since DH and I still are able to enjoy Saturdays together, we decided to look for a dresser. After viewing a variety of options online (several not much cheaper than the matching piece), we thought about doing something different - which lead us to Ikea. We found a bookcase, with square shelves, in a 4x2 pattern that matches the coloring of the crib. We are actually putting it on its side since all sides are finished and it is the right height for a changing table - AND we found canvas cubes that fit PERFECTLY into the shelves. It looks so much better than I first thought it would, I actually like it better than the matching dresser, who knew!?!? Along with that, we replaced the mini-blinds, hung the valence, and found this great piece of art as well - which matches with the color scheme and is modern enough to grow with Baby J's (or be moved into another room if she decides she eventually HATES pink). We were a wee-bit hesitant at first but as soon as we hung it, we were both pleased and felt it was exactly what we wanted.

So, with today's work, the nursery is probably 80% or so complete, and it feels GREAT. We know we still want some more shelving and such, but those are things we can get as time goes one, even if it IS after Baby J's arrives. My DH's parents have talked to us about giving us the glider they have, which I would recover in some sort of matching fabric (its currently blue). I think that is the ONLY big thing we have left to do - and we still have ~3 months left (or exactly 3 months if she was to arrive ON her due date, but that's doubtful!). No matter what, its nice having so much done and actually feeling more and more prepared for her arrival as far as the house goes, since I know when it comes to the whole sleeping, feeding, bathing, burping, changing, laundry, cooking, cleaning, and such, we have NO IDEA how its going to be. I guess we'll prepare what we CAN control since there is so much we CAN'T control. :-)

In a nutshell, that's where we're at. Time has really started to fly by, and I can't be more excited! The second trimester has gone by a lot faster than the first trimester (although I lump the first month of the second trimester in with the first since I still felt like I was dying on a daily basis!). I'm hoping the 3rd trimester continues to sail on and I can hold little Baby J's before I know it. I think I switch from ever 4 week Dr appts to every 2 weeks at my next appointment, which will help make things feel like they are progressing fast too. DH wants to do those 3d / 4d ultrasound images, which everyone says we should plan to do in the next week or 2 (around 28 weeks), plus I might have a coupon for a free maternity photo which could be fun. Our child birth classes start in about a month as well. I've also had a variety of strangers ask me about being pregnant, as far as when I'm due and if its a boy or girl, which I love. I'm actually at the point of enjoying this (not including the heartburn, hard time sleeping, constantly peeing, and other random aches and pains - but its all minor compared to what I've been through). I even got to park in "Expectant Mothers" parking today. Now, if only they had that at the local Marble Slab...

Great things

My husband. He's a great thing. There has not been a single moment where I've second guessed our marriage, our commitment, his love for me, or our life together. He may not be perfect, but his is perfect for me. (He even hangs his towel up after the shower!) Sometimes I fear I take him for granted, and take us for granted, but other times I realize that comfort feeling is why we work so well. Friday, when I got home from work, he had the nursery painted with white (3-4 coats) and had the bottom in pink almost complete. He HATES painting, HATES it. Yet, he did this on his own without me asking. I had originally planned to help him with it, HELP since I know I shouldn't be around a ton of fumes, but at the same time I actually enjoy painting. Back to my point, as I walk in Friday and see how much he's accomplished, I get overwhelmed with that feeling of "I'm the luckiest, most loved wife on Earth and I truly married the best man in the world". Now, the other part of that story is that Friday was a very bad, horribly stressful day. I cried all the way home from work and was actually sobbing as I walked into the house, partially due to some drama with the nursery floors, partially due to the whole daycare issue, but mainly due to work. As soon as my husband saw me, he put his arms around me and hugged me, and then we proceeded to talk some about the daycare issue and the flooring issues. Between this and all the work he had done, my mood did a complete 180 (thankfully) and I was able to change my clothes and help him finish up in the nursery. He seems to be so good at picking the right times to do these things that just make me melt and I can't thank him enough for just being him.

Once the bottom pink was done, we grabbed something to eat and began on the top pattern - I wanted a pink and white harlequin pattern to go all the way around. Three hours later, lots of taping, cutting, measuring, and quite a bit of frustration, and about 2/3's of the first wall was complete. My husband was slightly annoyed at the whole process (and I think even annoyed with me some since, after all, this was MY idea), but I still looked at him with nothing but love and appreciation. And I knew he loved me enough to do this, regardless of how crazy, time consuming, and frustrating the whole process was. How can I not be the luckiest person on Earth? We did finish the wall Saturday and decided not to do the rest of them since we thought it would be too busy. We also started putting up the chair rail and set up an appointment to have the floors done (tomorrow) for those of you wondering, but my point here is just how lucky I am to have found such a wonderful man. I've heard from several new mom's who tell me I'll love him even more after I give birth, and I just don't know how that is even possible. Anyhow, he is by far my great thing number 1. He is the reason I get up in the morning. I feel my best when I do things for him. I enjoy every moment we spend together and miss him when we're not. I love watching him with our kitties and I'm sure it will be even better to watch him with our daughter, as I know he'll be a great father. I guess I'll have to soak up as much time with just us as I can in the next few months, since I doubt we'll get a whole lot once baby J's is born!

On to great thing #2. Today, or a Monday, he not been TOO bad. No school zones on my way to work. I've felt better than I do on most work mornings. And then there is the lady in the cafeteria - she made my WHOLE day, possibly even more. I have purchased several maternity dresses since they are much more comfortable than pants. I am also warmer than usual so I can wear them to work and not be too hot or cold. I have also grabbed lunch from our cafeteria a lot lately since work has been so crazy I can't go out. I was standing there today, waiting for my order, when the lady calls to me and tells me I have such cute dresses (she's seen several apparently). She then proceeds to tell me I make a very pretty pregnant lady. (((grin))) Wow, I'm not sure anyone has said anything since I've found out that has made me feel that great. Sure my husband tells me all the time and I am thankful, but there is just something about a stranger making such a comment that feels different and great. So yay, what a wonderful way to chase away any signs of the "Mundays".

Great thing #3 - I'm 24 weeks along. 24 weeks is that one milestone pregnant women get really excited about since its the point where the baby is considered viable. I know nothing is guaranteed, but it still feels good and helps relieve some of the worry. Its nice to know that IF something happen and I had to have this baby now, they would do everything they could to save her and its possible she would grow up to be a normal person.

And, some other great things I want to share, some of which I already touched on. The nursery walls and flooring. The walls are done, except for the chair rail - which we are planning to finish tonight. It looks great, it actually looks better than I thought it was going to, which really excites me - and once we get our Internet fixed on our home computer, I'll be able to upload some pictures! Six and a half hours of taping (no exaggeration) and the harlequin pattern came out WONDERFUL. My husband said he was even surprised at just how good it looks. Next come the floors. We had originally got a quote from Lowe's about putting in some laminate or engineered wood floors - but yeah, they quoted way more than we wanted to spend. Back to square one - we'd try the laminate ourselves. We went and priced out what we wanted, checked both Lowe's and Home Depot, then got a recommendation for one more flooring place. After talking with them, we learned they could install the flooring and all the extra's for about $100-200 more than it would cost us to do it ourselves. Bonus! I'm willing to spend that to avoid the headache of doing it ourselves - plus I like the flooring we picked out BETTER than any of the options we had at Lowe's or Home Depot. AND - they are doing it tomorrow. I was expecting it to be 2 or more weeks! This means that not only will the painting be complete before we go out of town, but the flooring will be done and we may even have the crib assembled. Woohoo! It feels so good to have things come together so quickly. Now its on to finding a dresser, a book shelf, and all the rest of the final touches. Its great not to feel like you're in a time crunch. :-)

While I rambled and rambled about the good things in my life, I hope you are able to step back and see all the wonderful things going on in your own. Take the time to be thankful for what you have and make sure those close to you are told how much they mean to you. Life is short and there is so much truth in the whole "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans", try not to miss out on the little things. Since today is tomorrow's memory, make the most of those memories. I know we all look forward to the weekend, our next vacation, that big movie coming out, visiting family and friends, or other such planned events, but don't completely overlook today. Take a moment to kiss your spouse, to hug your kids, to tell your parents how much you love them, to play with your pets, to enjoy the fresh air - basically take some time to realize how much you'd miss out on if there wasn't a today. I'm working on embracing the small things, it really does make life more enjoyable. (Notice I said "working" - I still complain more than I like and wish for time to pass all too quickly! One step at a time ... one step at a time.)

Evil email advertisers!

I open my email, and I see this:





Bam! I now want cupcakes. But oh wait, what's that? Its NOT a cupcake? I start reading the advertisement I got from Williams-Sonoma (yes I signed up for the emails, yes I choose to open it, yes I should know better, but come on, give a pregnant girl a break!) and I soon learn its a CAKE made to look like a cupcake, and they are selling the pan so I myself can make such wonderful looking concoctions.

So now, I have to have this pan. I MUST be able to make these, the most awesome looking cakes, with such little work. I think about all the combinations I can create - chocolate and vanilla, chocolate and chocolate chip, chocolate and some sort of swirl - well, basically anything with chocolate is currently on my list. Go figure. I can already hear people swooning over "those cute cakes she makes" as I bring them to various events. I think I even have a carrier I could use to transport this without the top getting all smooshed.

But wait. I need to store the cake pan. And right now all my cake pans are stored int he drawer of my oven. Its full. Like, full to the max. What about a cabinet? Hmmm, those are all pretty full as well. I mean, my china platter is sitting on my table because I cannot fit it into any of the cabinets. My husband will frown when I tell him I want ANOTHER piece of bake ware. I'm sure his very first question will be "Where are you going to put it?" and I don't have an answer for that. But, but, but (in a rather voice I'm sure) its soooooo cute! That won't work. The second question comes. (((slumps in chair))) "Do you NEED it?" and I think we all know the answer is, of course, no. But, but, but ... but how much would Baby J's love these cakes? Again, my husband will just look at me, probably shake his head a little, and say "Well, if you REALLY want it..." and at that point, feeling slightly guilty for bringing it up, I'll know that he is right and I'll forgo the trip to W-S, I'll avoid their website, and we'll continue on as normal ... and the cake pan will miss me.

There's always my birthday and Christmas, right?

Progress, progress, progress...

So much progress in the past few days, I love it! Our bedding arrived on Friday and its absolutely adorable. It of course is all packed in a single package, so I need to spread it out and possible iron a few pieces - but I don't want to put the bedding on the floor or somewhere my curious kitties can lay on it, so I'll wait until we get the crib set up. Now, speaking of cribs, we bought it on Saturday and we're both super excited! What's even better is that 1) it was in stock so its sitting in the hallway in the box and 2) it was on sale - and we all love sales. We are going to wait to set the crib up until after the floor in the nursery is re-done, which we won't do until the room is painted - which we were waiting on the bedding for. The paint colors have been picked and my husband's mother (who works with paint) will be picking them up this week. I am hoping we can get the first color done next weekend (maybe even Thursday or Friday while my husband is off) so that I can start taping up the pattern - which I'm sure will take HOURS but be so worth it. I really want to get the painting done before we take our short vacation in mid-June, but I might be a little overzealous so we'll see.

Now that we have the theme taken care of, I know we need to start registering as well. That should begin once we get back from vacation, although I'm not sure where we are going to register. Target seems to have horrible return policies and are known for NOT keeping the registries up to date - which means double items, no receipt, and the inability to return all items. I've heard that Babies R Us are going to be switching to a return policy that rivals Targets as far as suckiness, and that worries me as well. Baby Depot, but I haven't heard great things about them either. We can go with Lone Star Baby, but there are not THAT many locations, so its far from convenient for people. That leaves us with Wal-Mart (I don't LIKE Wal-Mart), boutique-y places, or online. I like online, but I know many people like to go IN somewhere and take the items HOME with them. Ughh. Stupid return policies ruin it all. I guess I'll do some more research and talk to my husband to get his thoughts. I know we still have a lot of research to do before registering anyhow - what car seat is best, what stroller, do we want a pack-N-play, what about diaper pail, and on and on and on. I can tell you the wedding registry sure was a lot easier!

Next, I signed us up for Prepared Childbirth classes starting in August and going on for 4 weeks. I got lucky since with my husbands work schedule, only one set of the classes they had before my due date were on a night that would work for us and there was enough room for us to get in. I'm thinking I might go back and sign up for the breastfeeding class that is being offer the week after out last childbirth class, since its the same schedule.

Even with all the progress we've made, I know we still have a lot of big decisions to work out - from daycare to a pediatrician to how much time I'm taking before going back. These are going to be a little more stressful for me so I keep putting them off, but I know we are running out of time. I guess they are something we'll start discussing after our vacation, tears and all.

On a less baby-related note, this month is going to be CRAZY BUSY! We have tickets for at least 3 Rangers games, 2 weddings, and our vacation. I have my sugar test this month as well (yuck!). Add this to what we'll be doing around the house and finding some pool time and you'll see we are running out of spare time. I'm not complaining though since while it is going to be busy, I'm excited about MOST of it - summer is finally here!

Now, I'm off to get ready for Ranger game number 1 this month! Go Rangers!