Friday: The "old" house needs a lot of work. There are dust outlines where the furniture was and still some random stuff on the closet and pictures on the walls. After work we headed over there so Jim could do some exterior work and Nicole and I went shopping for curtains, etc. Come 10:00 the baby was tired and neither Jim nor I felt like we accomplished anything significant.
Saturday: Family picture day! Nicole has taken dirty diapers to a new extreme. Practically EVERY one is a blow-out and Sunday was literally THE WORST it’s ever been. Kid had to get dumped in the tub and the PJ’s she was wearing might not make it to circulation again… All these little delays put us further and further behind until finally we were rushing out the door, make-up not quite perfect and baby not dressed.
We got the shots done at Portrait Innovations and ended up spending about $70 on 2 poses of Nic (her 3 month shots) and 1 pose of our family. Nicole was not amused by all the antics of the photographers, despite their patient and constant efforts, and we only got a few smiling shots out of her. This did help in narrowing down the picture selection but means our family picture has a little girl with a neutral look on her face. Ah well.
We went back to the old house after an IHOP brunch and cleaned. We have 2 rooms in showable quality now but the exterior still needs work and there are 3 other rooms that need some work. We’d be more panicked about this if people were actually walking through our house but that’s unfortunately not the reality.
That evening Jim and I headed out to Mike and Lindsay’s respective bachelor and bachelorette parties. Both of us had a good time, Jim copped out around 9 I hung in there until quarter till 1. Both Nicole and Ryann got to hang out with Grandma.
Cute story: at the bachelorette party Karrie was holding Nicole and I had Ryann. Ryann and Nic kept looking at each other so we put them close together. Ryann reached out and hugged Nicole several times and “kissed” her (she had a pacifier in at the time). ADORABLE. Later that night Nicole was not all about sleeping on the floor with her cousin and was crying to be held. Ryann army crawled over to her concerned and held her hand to try to calm her down. Mom said it was really sweet.
Sunday: We got up early, I taught at XU, Jim played racquetball with his boss and then promptly got the bug Lisa, Kendall and I all had last week. Timing was inconvenient as his cousins came into town to spend the night with us. Between Nicole's being wide awake and eager to be entertained and him praying to the porcelain goddess all night and needing various things I didn’t get to have a lot of quality time with the cousins either. I'm exhausted this morning.
And I get to get up at 5 tomorrow to go to Akron for business meetings all day. Hoor-ay. :P
Monday, October 15, 2007
Thursday, October 11, 2007
3 Months Old!
Nicole is 3 months old today! I weighed her this morning and she’s almost 15lbs which means she's gaining about 2 pounds per month. She laughed for the first time on Tuesday night – she’d giggled before but this was her first full-out laugh. See the video below!
She remains to be a really good baby- she loves getting baths, being cuddled, sleeping in bed with her mom and dad (bad bad habit that we’re ending this week hopefully now that her nursery is getting set up), and is starting to reach for interesting objects (ie her Molly doll), especially ones that make sounds. When she gets “talking” she is a chatterbox! She still loathes being on her stomach but has learned to turn on her side which is how she perfers to sleep as well. In the last week she's gone down for naps on her own which is fantastic! Now if she'd only drop that 4:00am feeding...
Sometimes it’s still surreal that we have a baby. Especially with moving it’s been very busy and taking time out to enjoy the moments is something I have to pay attention to accomplish. She’s changed so much in 13 weeks- I attached some side-by-side comparison pictures for reference. The one on the left was taken 7-16-07 when she was 5 days old. The one on the right was from last Wednesday, October 3.
She remains to be a really good baby- she loves getting baths, being cuddled, sleeping in bed with her mom and dad (bad bad habit that we’re ending this week hopefully now that her nursery is getting set up), and is starting to reach for interesting objects (ie her Molly doll), especially ones that make sounds. When she gets “talking” she is a chatterbox! She still loathes being on her stomach but has learned to turn on her side which is how she perfers to sleep as well. In the last week she's gone down for naps on her own which is fantastic! Now if she'd only drop that 4:00am feeding...
Sometimes it’s still surreal that we have a baby. Especially with moving it’s been very busy and taking time out to enjoy the moments is something I have to pay attention to accomplish. She’s changed so much in 13 weeks- I attached some side-by-side comparison pictures for reference. The one on the left was taken 7-16-07 when she was 5 days old. The one on the right was from last Wednesday, October 3.
My Kid and Me
2 days ago Nicole was clearly very happy being with Andrea, one of her babysitters. She was all smiley, cooing and giggling at her. Even as I was changing her, Nicole would turn away from me to “talk” with Andrea. When I packed her up and put her in her car seat to go home she let me know how unhappy she was to leave.
While this is great- I want her to feel happy and safe with her day care- no mother wants their kid to prefer the babysitter to them. My head danced with how I can spend more time with her, beyond weekends, evenings, and the thrice weekly lunches I visit her over. I made several off-handed comments to Jim, waiting for him to reassure me that I was still Nicky’s favorite and blah blah blah, but he didn’t pick up on cues of needing encouragement.
Well, as if Nicole did pick up on my need, she has spent the last day enthralled with me. OK, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but she is very happy with me at the moment. On several occasions I’ll notice she’s stopped nursing and when I look down to see why it’s because she’s beaming up at me. I sit her on my lap and talk to her and she squeals with delight. I stopped to see her at lunch this afternoon and she woke up with a smile when she saw me first thing. LOVE IT!
Maybe I am still her favorite. : )
While this is great- I want her to feel happy and safe with her day care- no mother wants their kid to prefer the babysitter to them. My head danced with how I can spend more time with her, beyond weekends, evenings, and the thrice weekly lunches I visit her over. I made several off-handed comments to Jim, waiting for him to reassure me that I was still Nicky’s favorite and blah blah blah, but he didn’t pick up on cues of needing encouragement.
Well, as if Nicole did pick up on my need, she has spent the last day enthralled with me. OK, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but she is very happy with me at the moment. On several occasions I’ll notice she’s stopped nursing and when I look down to see why it’s because she’s beaming up at me. I sit her on my lap and talk to her and she squeals with delight. I stopped to see her at lunch this afternoon and she woke up with a smile when she saw me first thing. LOVE IT!
Maybe I am still her favorite. : )
Beep! Beep!
A compliment is a compliment and all given to me are appreciated. There is one group of people whose compliments have, over the years, taken higher precedence- truck drivers.
Ever since I was in high school I’ve always been very grateful when a truck driver honked at me, even better if I see them waving when I glance up in my rearview mirror. If I get more than one honk in a day or back-to-back honks from truck drivers driving near each other I actually take note of what I'm wearing or if the seatbelt is positioned in a “flattering” way to attract the attention; not that I change it if it is because by then my head's held a little higher and the sun’s a little sunnier.
I think it’s because they see hundreds of women a day and yet they acknowledge me specifically. I'm choosing to ignore the fact that they could be honking at 18 other women and 3 guys a day… And, no, I don’t think I'm being honked at because I'm a bad driver. It’s not that hard to stay in my lane on the highway.
Anyway, a few weeks ago, when I got my first honk post-kid I beamed the rest of the day. I took it as the official sign that I had gotten my pre-baby figure back. A couple days ago I actually got honked at with Nicole in the back seat which I thought was a huge compliment – I am a mom and still cute!- something I don’t normally associate together.
I wonder if my father-in-law (a semi-truck driver) used to honk at pretty girls. His personality is such that I bet he did. He's the type that would tell a truck stop waitress that she "sure looks pretty today" and he'd say it just like that and be completely sincere. Now that Jim's mom rides with him I think it's safe to assume he's quit honking if he did before- she can be the jealous type and would probably reach over and pop him if he beeped at another woman.
Ever since I was in high school I’ve always been very grateful when a truck driver honked at me, even better if I see them waving when I glance up in my rearview mirror. If I get more than one honk in a day or back-to-back honks from truck drivers driving near each other I actually take note of what I'm wearing or if the seatbelt is positioned in a “flattering” way to attract the attention; not that I change it if it is because by then my head's held a little higher and the sun’s a little sunnier.
I think it’s because they see hundreds of women a day and yet they acknowledge me specifically. I'm choosing to ignore the fact that they could be honking at 18 other women and 3 guys a day… And, no, I don’t think I'm being honked at because I'm a bad driver. It’s not that hard to stay in my lane on the highway.
Anyway, a few weeks ago, when I got my first honk post-kid I beamed the rest of the day. I took it as the official sign that I had gotten my pre-baby figure back. A couple days ago I actually got honked at with Nicole in the back seat which I thought was a huge compliment – I am a mom and still cute!- something I don’t normally associate together.
I wonder if my father-in-law (a semi-truck driver) used to honk at pretty girls. His personality is such that I bet he did. He's the type that would tell a truck stop waitress that she "sure looks pretty today" and he'd say it just like that and be completely sincere. Now that Jim's mom rides with him I think it's safe to assume he's quit honking if he did before- she can be the jealous type and would probably reach over and pop him if he beeped at another woman.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Weekend of 10/5/07
I'm tired. It’s been a long weekend.
Friday: I took the day off work to finish painting Nicole’s nursery, which I was successful at. It’s a more melon-colored version of mint green. I also stopped into work with her to show her off- everyone fawned all over her which made me smile.
The house had a showing at noon and the feedback was that ours was the favorite of the day… but they have to sell their house in Chicago before they can move to Cincinnati. Boooo!
When I got home that evening we had more to pack and get ready. It was kind of sad but with all the partial moving we somehow sent all of Nicole’s diapers to the new house forcing us to go to Meijer and buy another pack. This of course made my dinner cook longer than necessary and resulted in an uneventful and bland last dinner at Kay Drive. :(
Saturday: The movers came at 10:30am and we had 95% of all our stuff packed and ready upon their arrival. Nicole was very good – she sat on my lap and watched three guys work very hard and very fast at loading all of our stuff. Hiring movers was the way to go- they were so much more efficient than we would have been and to not have to do any of the work made the process almost unstressful.
What did take some emotional toll was when Nicole’s projectile vomiting started. Lisa and Kendall helped tremendously with getting her cleaned up, changed, and ready to go while we directed movers and worked on lunch. Unfortunately the vomiting didn’t end at the first bout, it continued through her next meal, forcing Kendall to make a Pedialite/thermometer run for us to Meijer. Poor kid slept most of the day but did give Lisa and I some scares with how lethargic she became and the multiple rounds of her eyes rolling back into her head. Dr. K prevailed though and her last puke was at 11:00pm.
Lisa gave me a new sense of awareness that I wasn’t fully aware of until after the conversation. After Nicole’s big 9:00 puke that required a change of clothes for both her (her fourth that day) and me, I stripped her down for a bath. Lisa asked me if it bothered me that I was covered in vomit. I never realized it but the mom thing has set in- I literally didn’t give my own clothes a second thought, they were a simple casualty of “war” and easily laundered. AUGH. I’M A MOM! AUGH!
Sunday: There are boxes EVERYWHERE in our house. We didn’t get much done on Sunday before it was time to go bowling. We won 4/4 games but that only bumped us to 8th place out of 16. It’s still early in the season though.
Monday: Whatever Nicole had on Saturday came out in me on Monday morning, forcing me to stay home from work. It’s been a LONG time since I threw up (perhaps those wild night’s revenge with Joe and Rick??) and I wouldn’t mind if it’s a long time until I do again. Not pleasant. Just as frustrating was how achy I was. Here I am, surrounded by boxes and things to do and way too ill to move and accomplish anything. At one point I stared at the ceiling for 27 minutes without moving. I did perk up a bit around 3:00 when I opened all of Nic's clothes boxes to sort them and put them away. She owns A LOT of clothes. I did take up the opportunity Nicole presented to go to sleep for the night at 8pm. Ahhhhh, sleep!
While I tended to Nicole, poor Jim put up the fan in the morning room as he was eager to finally check something, anything, off his to-do list. Unfortunately we were missing a piece and he has to call the manufacturer so even that didn’t get accomplished. Hopefully he can change out our front door handle tonight and feel a little better that things are getting done.
One other positive thing happened last night – our neighbor up the street, Shirley, stopped by with flowers and a welcome note. I was only mildly embarrassed that our house was a disaster zone (she knows what it’s like as she moved in just 2 weeks ago too) and I was in my “sick clothes”. It was sweet of her to come though and I'm glad Jim got to meet her. I hope her and her husband Rob can be our new friends! We need someone to fill in for the Sacks who are leaving us for Arizona!
Now that we've officially been in for 2 days here are the "WTF" things about the house:
1) we get no mail. I didn't even know the post office was allowed to deny service but apparently they've said they wont' deliver until 1/2 the subdivision is complete. If they mean the whole thing of 88 houses that could mean we don't get mail for years. Larry down the street apparently "knows someone inside" at the post office and is working on it for us.
2) we don't have a linen closet or drawers in the bathroom. How is this even possible!? Working on a place to put our towels and my make-up now....
Friday: I took the day off work to finish painting Nicole’s nursery, which I was successful at. It’s a more melon-colored version of mint green. I also stopped into work with her to show her off- everyone fawned all over her which made me smile.
The house had a showing at noon and the feedback was that ours was the favorite of the day… but they have to sell their house in Chicago before they can move to Cincinnati. Boooo!
When I got home that evening we had more to pack and get ready. It was kind of sad but with all the partial moving we somehow sent all of Nicole’s diapers to the new house forcing us to go to Meijer and buy another pack. This of course made my dinner cook longer than necessary and resulted in an uneventful and bland last dinner at Kay Drive. :(
Saturday: The movers came at 10:30am and we had 95% of all our stuff packed and ready upon their arrival. Nicole was very good – she sat on my lap and watched three guys work very hard and very fast at loading all of our stuff. Hiring movers was the way to go- they were so much more efficient than we would have been and to not have to do any of the work made the process almost unstressful.
What did take some emotional toll was when Nicole’s projectile vomiting started. Lisa and Kendall helped tremendously with getting her cleaned up, changed, and ready to go while we directed movers and worked on lunch. Unfortunately the vomiting didn’t end at the first bout, it continued through her next meal, forcing Kendall to make a Pedialite/thermometer run for us to Meijer. Poor kid slept most of the day but did give Lisa and I some scares with how lethargic she became and the multiple rounds of her eyes rolling back into her head. Dr. K prevailed though and her last puke was at 11:00pm.
Lisa gave me a new sense of awareness that I wasn’t fully aware of until after the conversation. After Nicole’s big 9:00 puke that required a change of clothes for both her (her fourth that day) and me, I stripped her down for a bath. Lisa asked me if it bothered me that I was covered in vomit. I never realized it but the mom thing has set in- I literally didn’t give my own clothes a second thought, they were a simple casualty of “war” and easily laundered. AUGH. I’M A MOM! AUGH!
Sunday: There are boxes EVERYWHERE in our house. We didn’t get much done on Sunday before it was time to go bowling. We won 4/4 games but that only bumped us to 8th place out of 16. It’s still early in the season though.
Monday: Whatever Nicole had on Saturday came out in me on Monday morning, forcing me to stay home from work. It’s been a LONG time since I threw up (perhaps those wild night’s revenge with Joe and Rick??) and I wouldn’t mind if it’s a long time until I do again. Not pleasant. Just as frustrating was how achy I was. Here I am, surrounded by boxes and things to do and way too ill to move and accomplish anything. At one point I stared at the ceiling for 27 minutes without moving. I did perk up a bit around 3:00 when I opened all of Nic's clothes boxes to sort them and put them away. She owns A LOT of clothes. I did take up the opportunity Nicole presented to go to sleep for the night at 8pm. Ahhhhh, sleep!
While I tended to Nicole, poor Jim put up the fan in the morning room as he was eager to finally check something, anything, off his to-do list. Unfortunately we were missing a piece and he has to call the manufacturer so even that didn’t get accomplished. Hopefully he can change out our front door handle tonight and feel a little better that things are getting done.
One other positive thing happened last night – our neighbor up the street, Shirley, stopped by with flowers and a welcome note. I was only mildly embarrassed that our house was a disaster zone (she knows what it’s like as she moved in just 2 weeks ago too) and I was in my “sick clothes”. It was sweet of her to come though and I'm glad Jim got to meet her. I hope her and her husband Rob can be our new friends! We need someone to fill in for the Sacks who are leaving us for Arizona!
Now that we've officially been in for 2 days here are the "WTF" things about the house:
1) we get no mail. I didn't even know the post office was allowed to deny service but apparently they've said they wont' deliver until 1/2 the subdivision is complete. If they mean the whole thing of 88 houses that could mean we don't get mail for years. Larry down the street apparently "knows someone inside" at the post office and is working on it for us.
2) we don't have a linen closet or drawers in the bathroom. How is this even possible!? Working on a place to put our towels and my make-up now....
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Hats
When I was a junior in high school Sue and I became infatuated with hats. I think it’s because people didn’t really wear them and so to do so was to stand out a bit from the crowd. We even rigged the Secret Santa exchange amongst our friends so we could buy each other a hat. NOTE: I never once saw her wear hers…. Maybe I have bad taste?
When I was in college I bought a black dress hat to go with my pea coat. My boyfriend at the time, Kenny, loved me in the hat and always complimented me on how nice I looked when I wore it, which of course prompted me to wear it more often.
Now the only hats I wear are knit or fleece ski cap type in the winter because Cincinnati can get frickin’ cold with the wind chill. I still think you have to be pretty cool and confident to pull off a hat like the chick in the picture above. Further, I don’t have the right kind of hair cut to look good in a hat like that so I'm hesitant to buy one even though I like the style.
The first person who comes to mind who could/should wear a hat is Rachel, but I suspect if she did it wouldn’t be as trendy as the one I posted. Someone good with photoshop should play around with different styles for her.
When I was in college I bought a black dress hat to go with my pea coat. My boyfriend at the time, Kenny, loved me in the hat and always complimented me on how nice I looked when I wore it, which of course prompted me to wear it more often.
Now the only hats I wear are knit or fleece ski cap type in the winter because Cincinnati can get frickin’ cold with the wind chill. I still think you have to be pretty cool and confident to pull off a hat like the chick in the picture above. Further, I don’t have the right kind of hair cut to look good in a hat like that so I'm hesitant to buy one even though I like the style.
The first person who comes to mind who could/should wear a hat is Rachel, but I suspect if she did it wouldn’t be as trendy as the one I posted. Someone good with photoshop should play around with different styles for her.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Going National
Since my freshman year of college I’ve read a column, “Ruminations”, by Aaron Karo which I think many of my readers are familiar with. If not, hit up http://www.aaronkaro.com/. Anyway, in ’08 he’s launching a public rumination forum for guest writers. I figure I do this anyway via this blog, so, being totally egotistical, I suspect others might be interested in reading what I have to say. Hell, I conned someone from Austria to read regularly! ; )
To apply to be a writer I have to send in 3 writing samples of topics I’ve ruminated about. SO, is there anything that comes to mind that I’ve written about in the last nearly 2 years that you found funny or thought-provoking?
If YOU are interested in applying, check out the following site for more info: http://www.aaronkaro.com/ruminations.htm
To apply to be a writer I have to send in 3 writing samples of topics I’ve ruminated about. SO, is there anything that comes to mind that I’ve written about in the last nearly 2 years that you found funny or thought-provoking?
If YOU are interested in applying, check out the following site for more info: http://www.aaronkaro.com/ruminations.htm
Monday, October 01, 2007
Ink
I have been fascinated by tattoos for years. Shows like “Miami Ink” could play for 3 hours a day and you’d find me sitting there watching it for the full 3 hours if I had the time. Because I don’t have any myself (there’s nothing that I find important enough in my life that I need it permanently marked on my body) I am constantly interested in what and why others get inked.
Some other thoughts:
- Sarah and Viki went to Texas for a convention and got tattoos together while they were there. I SO wish I could have been there to watch the process and get their first-hand reactions at the time. This is why I'm so glad Viki let me tag along when she got her nose pierced
- Sarah F tried to get me to threatened to “force” to get a tattoo once as a punishment for dating a certain guy I was interested in. Didn’t work.
- I’ve had a long-standing idea for a book (my idea for my first self-made million!) called “The Meaning Behind the Mark” – the idea was to travel around and interview sports stars about their tattoos and why they got them. The great part of this idea is the multiple editions of the book I could produce – one for baseball, one for basketball, etc. It’d be the perfect coffee table book for every sports lover!
- Before my little brother got his cross put on his chest, he consulted me on the design – I was so touched that he thought enough of my opinion to ask!
This morning CNN had a little picture version online of real people’s meaning behind their marks – to see them: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/27/tattoos.irpt/index.html.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
2/3 Largest Life Stresses Accomplished... check!
Per the title, I've got the kid and a new house... not shooting for the new job though.
Things have been non-stop around here. As of Thursday, Jim and I are officially the owners of 2 houses. That’s right- we closed on the new one (with promise of fixing the counter to my satisfaction) Thursday at 1 and have been spending hours upon hours there ever since.
Friday, bright and early, the painters came to do the foyer, great room, hallways, kitchen, morning room, and our bedroom. It is amazing what a total of 8 workers can accomplish in about 12 working hours. Everything looks fantastic. I didn’t like the kitchen blue I picked out and as a result ended up at the Sherwin Williams store a total of 3 times having it retinted different shades. Finally I said “screw it, whatever color it comes out of the tumbler this time is what we’re doing”. True to my word I took that gallon home and didn’t even watch as they put it on the wall. It’s okay, not perfect, but not worth any more effort or patience from Patrick the SW guy.
I got part of the office and part of Nic’s room painted. Jim picked up her crib and planted about ½ the flowers we bought for along ‘the wall’. We’ll finish painting those two rooms, planting, and assembling said crib this afternoon before we go to Mom’s.
Another item on the agenda is celebrating my birthday (today). That’s why we’re having dinner at the parents. Jim organized everyone to chip in for a new rocking chair for me for the nursery. I ADORE IT. Nicole was crying in Great-Grandma T’s arms, I rocked her in that chair and she was sleeping within minutes. It’s a magic chair.
Things have been non-stop around here. As of Thursday, Jim and I are officially the owners of 2 houses. That’s right- we closed on the new one (with promise of fixing the counter to my satisfaction) Thursday at 1 and have been spending hours upon hours there ever since.
Friday, bright and early, the painters came to do the foyer, great room, hallways, kitchen, morning room, and our bedroom. It is amazing what a total of 8 workers can accomplish in about 12 working hours. Everything looks fantastic. I didn’t like the kitchen blue I picked out and as a result ended up at the Sherwin Williams store a total of 3 times having it retinted different shades. Finally I said “screw it, whatever color it comes out of the tumbler this time is what we’re doing”. True to my word I took that gallon home and didn’t even watch as they put it on the wall. It’s okay, not perfect, but not worth any more effort or patience from Patrick the SW guy.
I got part of the office and part of Nic’s room painted. Jim picked up her crib and planted about ½ the flowers we bought for along ‘the wall’. We’ll finish painting those two rooms, planting, and assembling said crib this afternoon before we go to Mom’s.
Another item on the agenda is celebrating my birthday (today). That’s why we’re having dinner at the parents. Jim organized everyone to chip in for a new rocking chair for me for the nursery. I ADORE IT. Nicole was crying in Great-Grandma T’s arms, I rocked her in that chair and she was sleeping within minutes. It’s a magic chair.
I’ve been packing some every day and we’ve taken a car load each day since Thursday. Poor Nicole has to play around the boxes! She doesn't seem to care though...
The movers come on Saturday (6 short days!) and I vow to be totally prepared and organized when they get here. I’m hoping that Saturday afternoon is just full of organizing and isn’t too stressful. *fingers crossed*
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Hello, Dumbass
Most of my pet peeves have to do with driving, which is unfortunate as people shouldn’t act DUMB when operating hundreds/thousands of pounds of metal.
1) Turning right onto a side street with no traffic signal or stop sign should NOT require you to make a complete stop before turning. Why why why do people feel they must come to a total or near total stop before executing their turn is beyond me. Really, you can take a 90 degree bend fluidly, and SAFELY I might add, by just slowing down.
2) Inevitably when I go to any major “big box” store like Target, Home Depot, etc. there is always someone walking up the dead center of the aisle, requiring all drivers to creep up behind them. How these pedestrians don’t hear a car 6X the size of them and only 8 feet behind them is a mystery that may never be solved, but they always seem surprised to see a car when they casually glance over their shoulder. Note that, defying all logic, upon seeing a car behind them moving over to the side is not always the immediate response.
3) As I drove down the street to Nicole’s daycare, a car pulled out from the right and turned left directly in front of me. I honked my horn as I was driving about 30 miles an hour straight for her WITH the right-of-way. The crazy woman started yelling all these obscenities at me, all the while slowing her turn down to make sure got every last one of them in. I was completely baffled how her illegal and unsafe turn had HER upset, so I just shook my head in disbelief while I sat stopped in the middle of the road, waiting for her to turn/shut-up. Of course this woman had what looked like a 3 year old in her back seat as she dropped the F-bomb at least 4 times.
Oh, and I don’t like open kitchen cabinet doors either.
1) Turning right onto a side street with no traffic signal or stop sign should NOT require you to make a complete stop before turning. Why why why do people feel they must come to a total or near total stop before executing their turn is beyond me. Really, you can take a 90 degree bend fluidly, and SAFELY I might add, by just slowing down.
2) Inevitably when I go to any major “big box” store like Target, Home Depot, etc. there is always someone walking up the dead center of the aisle, requiring all drivers to creep up behind them. How these pedestrians don’t hear a car 6X the size of them and only 8 feet behind them is a mystery that may never be solved, but they always seem surprised to see a car when they casually glance over their shoulder. Note that, defying all logic, upon seeing a car behind them moving over to the side is not always the immediate response.
3) As I drove down the street to Nicole’s daycare, a car pulled out from the right and turned left directly in front of me. I honked my horn as I was driving about 30 miles an hour straight for her WITH the right-of-way. The crazy woman started yelling all these obscenities at me, all the while slowing her turn down to make sure got every last one of them in. I was completely baffled how her illegal and unsafe turn had HER upset, so I just shook my head in disbelief while I sat stopped in the middle of the road, waiting for her to turn/shut-up. Of course this woman had what looked like a 3 year old in her back seat as she dropped the F-bomb at least 4 times.
Oh, and I don’t like open kitchen cabinet doors either.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Weekend of 9/21/07
Friday: I went into work late because we had our final house walk-through before we close on Thursday. Paul, our project manager went through all of our warranties, maintenance recommendations (ie sealing the driveway), and, of course, the house itself. Remarkably, there were very few items of note that we “blue taped”- some dings in the drywall here, some scratches in the hardwood there. HOWEVER, there was on major thing wrong that may cause some stir- there was a seam in our Formica countertop that was 1) VERY noticeable, and 2) gaping in some areas. Now, so I don’t go overboard, gaping to me is a 1/8 inch spread, but in my countertop, in the frickin’ center of the workspace area, that’s huge. Mom showed me how her seam, which was sealed like they intend to do for me, rubbed away over time, allowed water to seep into the particle board underneath and eventually bow. NOT HAPPENING. I'm going to see the seal they put on this morning after work today but if it’s not satisfactory I'm making them replace the whole counter.
Jim would say “see, I told you we should have gotten the quartz” here most likely.
Saturday: I got my haircut in the morning and immediately upon my return proceeded to cook for 5 hours. First I had to make Jim strawberry pancakes for breakfast and then I made desserts for the shower that evening: Black Forrest Cake (Mike’s favorite!), Pumpkin bars, good ole’ American fudge brownies, and these fruit and poundcake skewers whose recipe I found on meals.com. By the time Jim came home from picking up our new plants at Natorps, I was exhausted and had filled the sink with battered bowls, whisks and baking tins.
The shower was a success though! Mary Ann and I coordinated very well (I enlisted Dad to help me make appetizers, Mary Ann did the main meal (catered) and I handled desserts and drinks) and Mike and Lindsay got a bunch of gifts- many they can use right away like kitchen utensils, tools from Home Depot, a water filter, towels, etc. The babies behaved and got passed around the whole night. In fact, the only time I saw Nicole was to feed her!
Sunday: I slept terrible that evening because MY KID SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT FOR THE FIRST TIME! I didn’t expect it so I kept getting up every few hours in disbelief that she was still asleep. Will this stay a trend?? She slept from 10:30 to 7 last night too… we’ll see if she does it tonight!
Jim and I ran errands, watered the plants purchased Saturday, and went to bowling. I bowled like complete and utter garbage, helping our team lose ¾ games. UGH. One game I had under 100!
Jim would say “see, I told you we should have gotten the quartz” here most likely.
Saturday: I got my haircut in the morning and immediately upon my return proceeded to cook for 5 hours. First I had to make Jim strawberry pancakes for breakfast and then I made desserts for the shower that evening: Black Forrest Cake (Mike’s favorite!), Pumpkin bars, good ole’ American fudge brownies, and these fruit and poundcake skewers whose recipe I found on meals.com. By the time Jim came home from picking up our new plants at Natorps, I was exhausted and had filled the sink with battered bowls, whisks and baking tins.
The shower was a success though! Mary Ann and I coordinated very well (I enlisted Dad to help me make appetizers, Mary Ann did the main meal (catered) and I handled desserts and drinks) and Mike and Lindsay got a bunch of gifts- many they can use right away like kitchen utensils, tools from Home Depot, a water filter, towels, etc. The babies behaved and got passed around the whole night. In fact, the only time I saw Nicole was to feed her!
Sunday: I slept terrible that evening because MY KID SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT FOR THE FIRST TIME! I didn’t expect it so I kept getting up every few hours in disbelief that she was still asleep. Will this stay a trend?? She slept from 10:30 to 7 last night too… we’ll see if she does it tonight!
Jim and I ran errands, watered the plants purchased Saturday, and went to bowling. I bowled like complete and utter garbage, helping our team lose ¾ games. UGH. One game I had under 100!
Jim hung out with Nic, who’s now enjoying her Bumbo seat, while I packed. 
She can sit in it (the Bumbo) now that she holds her head completely on her own. (little plug- Lisa, notice the outfit?)
Let me add here that Nicole L-O-V-E-S Jim. If he comes to talk to her she smiles and laughs almost immediately. When he walks away she turns her head and then her body as far as she can to watch him go. It’s beautiful to watch. My remaining claims to fame are that I can feed her and that my touch still calms her down best when she’s fussy. Other than that, she’s most interested in her daddy. I don't mind too much though. :)
She can sit in it (the Bumbo) now that she holds her head completely on her own. (little plug- Lisa, notice the outfit?)Let me add here that Nicole L-O-V-E-S Jim. If he comes to talk to her she smiles and laughs almost immediately. When he walks away she turns her head and then her body as far as she can to watch him go. It’s beautiful to watch. My remaining claims to fame are that I can feed her and that my touch still calms her down best when she’s fussy. Other than that, she’s most interested in her daddy. I don't mind too much though. :)
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
A New Cutie & Song Preferences
Awwwww- Lindsay sent me this fun picture taken at the Hungary zoo. ALL babies are cute, but especially mine and elephant babies. *wink*
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Unlike MANY people, I'm a HUGE fan of the radio. I love that it’s free and that it has a large variety of options literally at my fingertips. I listen to quite a few different genres in general but I’ve noticed that it seems all varieties of music often fall into the same fault- there is one really bad line in the song. So bad I wonder why the writer didn’t take it out and come up with something, anything better.
Here are a few examples:
Eminem’s Shake That- “… And I get more ass than a toilet seat” EWWWWWWWWW!
Fergie’s Big Girls Don’t Cry- “…And I'm gonna miss you like a child misses their blanket” Dumb.
On the other hand, there are some lines in songs that are so clever that, for me, make the song:
Rascal Flatts: "...God blessed the broken road that led me straight to you" How cool is that?
On the other hand, there are some lines in songs that are so clever that, for me, make the song:
Rascal Flatts: "...God blessed the broken road that led me straight to you" How cool is that?
Green Day’s When I Come Around: "You may find out that your self-doubt means nothing was ever there / You can't go forcing something if it's just not right" Words to strongly consider some times
Also, in general, I prefer songs that
1) Tell a story
2) Have refrains with twists (not just straight repeats)
Monday, September 17, 2007
Weekend of 9/14/07
Long recap of the last few days...
Thursday- Granted this isn’t technically the weekend, but I’d like to throw out a public props and thanks to the Sturgises who went WAY overboard in wining and dining us on Thursday. This meal was so great it required Tom to take off early to help. Meghan had chocolate covered strawberries, bacon-wrapped melon, these amazing cheese bread appetizers, etc. all ready for us when we arrived. To boot, the Italian pasta and sauce was fantastic! The bar has been set! When we move into the next place we’ll return the favor. It’ll take me that long to come up with something equivalent!
Friday- Let me tell you a story about Nicole and how her weekend went. The kid got 5 immunizations on Thursday morning, one for some extreme diarrhea that kids get that I think had some residual effects on her for the next few days. When I got up with her at 5:30am Friday morning because of her restlessness and poor breathing (she’s congested), I picked her up and carried her to the other room. In route she lets out this HUGE burp (pent up gas is why I think she woke up to begin with) and then starts choking on some spit-up. Some hard patting on her back she coughs and is fine. While changing her, she starts leaking just as I pull the dirty diaper away, soiling the new one underneath. It rolls up the changing pad and wets her whole backside. She starts giggling. Love-ly.
She does successfully eat in a reasonable amount of time but right at the end the farts start rolling in and WHAM a blow-out that explodes out of the diaper and all over my silk pajama pants. This required me to yell and yell and yell for Jim to get up (he is an amazing sleeper) and help so I could get new pants on. While he’s changing her she projectile poops several feet and successfully hits the basket of laundry on the floor as well as the carpet. Rough morning.
I have no idea what else happened the rest of the day as a result.
Saturday- yeah, remember what you just read about Friday morning? Repeat most of these items, in order, except I didn’t get dirty in the process this time and instead of the laundry, the wall took most of the damage when Nicole was getting changed.
The Cetti’s cancelled on us for dinner because Julia was running a fever but this was good as it allowed lots of errands to get done, including another 3 hours at the drapery store. I can not find material I like for the kitchen curtains and I think I'm driving my dear mother insane in the process. We did successfully pick out material and design for the office and Nicole’s bedroom. I also know what design I want in another bedroom, the kitchen and great room.
Sunday- Kings Island day! P&G has “Dividend Day” once a year at PKI where they buy the park out and open it exclusively to employees and retirees. This is now the ONLY time we bother going to the park as we have no patience for standing in line on a regular day. We normally tour the place with the Childers and did this year as well. This was the first time I rode NO rides except for one little roller coaster with Ryan and Jim only rode the new Firehawk ride. That was it! Jim and I both agree that our desire to ride rides decreases proportionately with how many months it’s been since our last time doing so. This is, we think, nature's way of preparing us for parenthood- we’re looking forward to just watching Nicole and her future siblings ride rides in kiddy land and not getting on any ourselves.
Jason then took us to Natorps for the HUGE plant sale they’re having. Being a landscaper by profession we pretty much let him tour us around and make suggestions. Overall with the sale and his discount we got 30 plants for just under $200 which is AMAZING. We’ll get them next Saturday and plant them at the new house along the retaining wall.
We then went car shopping for Jim- he thinks the Erdahls have the right idea in pre-shopping. He’s strongly considering an SUV and I'm mostly staying out of it as it’s his vehicle. I’ll just step in when it comes time to final opinions and negotiations. Another 2 hours of errand running and we finally made it home, 9 hours after we initially left.
I was EXHAUSTED from such a busy weekend. Tried to go to bed at 9 but Nicole wasn’t having it. Finally sacked in at 10 only to get up with her at 11, 1 and 5. We’re going backwards in our sleeping through the night efforts. I'm hoping its residual shot effects…
An open house on Sunday led to 1 visitor and we have another separate house showing this afternoon around 5. WE NEED AN OFFER!!!
Thursday- Granted this isn’t technically the weekend, but I’d like to throw out a public props and thanks to the Sturgises who went WAY overboard in wining and dining us on Thursday. This meal was so great it required Tom to take off early to help. Meghan had chocolate covered strawberries, bacon-wrapped melon, these amazing cheese bread appetizers, etc. all ready for us when we arrived. To boot, the Italian pasta and sauce was fantastic! The bar has been set! When we move into the next place we’ll return the favor. It’ll take me that long to come up with something equivalent!
Friday- Let me tell you a story about Nicole and how her weekend went. The kid got 5 immunizations on Thursday morning, one for some extreme diarrhea that kids get that I think had some residual effects on her for the next few days. When I got up with her at 5:30am Friday morning because of her restlessness and poor breathing (she’s congested), I picked her up and carried her to the other room. In route she lets out this HUGE burp (pent up gas is why I think she woke up to begin with) and then starts choking on some spit-up. Some hard patting on her back she coughs and is fine. While changing her, she starts leaking just as I pull the dirty diaper away, soiling the new one underneath. It rolls up the changing pad and wets her whole backside. She starts giggling. Love-ly.
She does successfully eat in a reasonable amount of time but right at the end the farts start rolling in and WHAM a blow-out that explodes out of the diaper and all over my silk pajama pants. This required me to yell and yell and yell for Jim to get up (he is an amazing sleeper) and help so I could get new pants on. While he’s changing her she projectile poops several feet and successfully hits the basket of laundry on the floor as well as the carpet. Rough morning.
I have no idea what else happened the rest of the day as a result.
Saturday- yeah, remember what you just read about Friday morning? Repeat most of these items, in order, except I didn’t get dirty in the process this time and instead of the laundry, the wall took most of the damage when Nicole was getting changed.
The Cetti’s cancelled on us for dinner because Julia was running a fever but this was good as it allowed lots of errands to get done, including another 3 hours at the drapery store. I can not find material I like for the kitchen curtains and I think I'm driving my dear mother insane in the process. We did successfully pick out material and design for the office and Nicole’s bedroom. I also know what design I want in another bedroom, the kitchen and great room.
Sunday- Kings Island day! P&G has “Dividend Day” once a year at PKI where they buy the park out and open it exclusively to employees and retirees. This is now the ONLY time we bother going to the park as we have no patience for standing in line on a regular day. We normally tour the place with the Childers and did this year as well. This was the first time I rode NO rides except for one little roller coaster with Ryan and Jim only rode the new Firehawk ride. That was it! Jim and I both agree that our desire to ride rides decreases proportionately with how many months it’s been since our last time doing so. This is, we think, nature's way of preparing us for parenthood- we’re looking forward to just watching Nicole and her future siblings ride rides in kiddy land and not getting on any ourselves.
Jason then took us to Natorps for the HUGE plant sale they’re having. Being a landscaper by profession we pretty much let him tour us around and make suggestions. Overall with the sale and his discount we got 30 plants for just under $200 which is AMAZING. We’ll get them next Saturday and plant them at the new house along the retaining wall.
We then went car shopping for Jim- he thinks the Erdahls have the right idea in pre-shopping. He’s strongly considering an SUV and I'm mostly staying out of it as it’s his vehicle. I’ll just step in when it comes time to final opinions and negotiations. Another 2 hours of errand running and we finally made it home, 9 hours after we initially left.
I was EXHAUSTED from such a busy weekend. Tried to go to bed at 9 but Nicole wasn’t having it. Finally sacked in at 10 only to get up with her at 11, 1 and 5. We’re going backwards in our sleeping through the night efforts. I'm hoping its residual shot effects…
An open house on Sunday led to 1 visitor and we have another separate house showing this afternoon around 5. WE NEED AN OFFER!!!
Friday, September 14, 2007
Acknowledge Me!
I think many of us would agree that society as a whole is pretty self-centered. Though I should be desensitized to it by now, I'm still surprised and disappointed when I do something nice for someone else and it goes unnoticed. I held the door open for the guy at the bank, not a big deal, but he walks through and completely ignores me. Like my holding the door was expected or, worse yet, required!
On the flip side, as a person who routinely tries to do little acts of kindness, it surprises and disappoints me when people don’t do nice things too; like when I followed a guy into the office on my way back from training this afternoon and he literally let the door slam in my face. Yeeeaaahhhh….
On the flip side, as a person who routinely tries to do little acts of kindness, it surprises and disappoints me when people don’t do nice things too; like when I followed a guy into the office on my way back from training this afternoon and he literally let the door slam in my face. Yeeeaaahhhh….
Thursday, September 13, 2007
2 Month Check-up
Nicole just got back from her 2mo check-up. All’s well: she’s growing and meeting all of her developmental milestones physically and cognitively. Some highlights from the appointment:
- 13lbs. 3 ounces puts Nicole into the 95% for weight compared to babies her age
- Though she doesn’t look fat, her length of 23 ¾ inches is only in the 50% percentile. Apparently our kid is just dense.
- She still has a little head- 25%
- 4 shots and 1 fluid vaccination later, she’s got band-aids and a full belly showing she’s already over it
Other general accomplishments of our 9-week old:
- She can hold her head up on her own for long durations of time
- She follows objects moved in front of her
- She socially laughs and smiles
- She loves bath time and hates tummy time
One thing we were a little concerned over (and did what “they” tell you never to do- compare your kid to others) was how much she eats. Within the past week, two parents have asked what Nicole eats (3ish oz 8-9 times a day) and then followed it up with the fact that their kid at her age eats/ate 5.5oz per feeding 8 times a day. So, while she seemed content and growing to me, I wondered if we were really starving our kid.
Turns out we’re just fine. Doctor recommended 4oz. if possible (I can’t electronically extract that much but certainly can supply that feeding her the natural way) but stated anything more than 4oz. was unnecessary for a baby this age.
Yeah! We haven’t maimed her yet! :)
Oh, and I'm a pound and a half away from my pre-baby weight. Not all of that weight is in the same place it was back then, but the scale reading wasn't so bad!
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Monday, September 10, 2007
Weekend of 9/7/07
Friday: I worked until 5 as normal but Jim had a fun day at work so he picked up Nicole early (4:00) and hung out with her until I came home. That evening we went to Kohl’s to look for a new comforter set (since we’re buying a King-sized bed for the new house, none of our Queen sheets will fit!) and found not only a comforter but a big summer clothes clearance sale for kids. Two crazy things happened: 1) we bought about $20 in clothes for Nicole and Ryann that are really cute ($4 for a dress, $3 for shorts, etc.) but the next day when I returned the entire clearance section disappeared. 4 FULL racks of 50-80% off clothes were gone as if they never existed. Glad we bought when we did! And 2) the comforter we found and liked was 60% off but we had a $25 gift card we forgot at home. I decided to come back the next day to buy (hence how I saw the kids clothes were gone) and the price went to a mere 30% off. UGH- was not willing to spend $50 more on it.
We also narrowed down who we’re buying the sprinkler system from and hope to have a firm install date on it this week. A “mere” $4900+tax will keep our lawn the envy of the neighborhood for years to come. More importantly it’ll keep me from standing outside watering for hours a month for the rest of my life.
Saturday: BUSY day- Mom and I left Jim with Nicole for the entire morning and early afternoon. This constituted the longest time (5 hours) Jim has been with her alone in her entire life. She was still alive when I returned and happy to boot! Mom and I went to the Mother’s Exchange at Lakota HS and got Nic about 5 new outfits for $9, then to Carter’s where Mom bought her another skirt, then to the fabric store where we searched out material for drapes for the new digs. We picked out the style for the kitchen, living room/dining room and got a good idea for the family room. The guy there was REALLY helpful and I'm going back soon with room dimensions, etc. so we can pick out material and order it.
We did end up finding another comforter on sale at Linens N Things that was on sale AND we will get a 20% price adjustment on when I return this week. Just need sheets!!
That night we had Sean and Jessica over for game night- Racko, Euchre, and Payday. Alas I won none! What was adorable was Emily following me around a bit and imitating me tickling Ben, my posture sitting against the wall, etc. Too cute!
Nicole is somewhat of a nuisance in the evenings (that sounds horrid to say about a baby I know) because she eats every hour and a half; this makes entertaining a little cumbersome because I need to frequently leave to take care of her. Giving her a bottle is actually harder as my supply of stored milk quickly dwindles because there isn’t a 1-to-1 replacement of it (since I skip pumping). Ah well. We have understanding friends so it’s okay.
Sunday: The Childers came over in the morning and we took them to our new house so Jason could evaluate our landscaping. Good news is that he had a lot of ideas and really knows his stuff. Bad news is that his ideas, while awesome, are expensive. The waterscape he recommended will be in the thousands but sounds so cool we want to do it (but won’t now because too many other, essential things need to be bought). We have to make some decisions on flowering perennials and whether or not to keep some of the package plants that might not be as kid/pet friendly (ie pointy-leaved holly).
I ran out to Lindsay’s bridal shower (yeah! I'm getting a sister-in-law!) and then to bowling that evening. I suspect we went 2-and-2 like we did last week though we won’t know for sure until the results are posted online later this week. Carole GUSHED over Nicole and it was so nice having a “babysitter” there to help take care of her.
Good news today—we have a house showing at 1:00!!! Keep your fingers tightly crossed for us!!!!!!
We also narrowed down who we’re buying the sprinkler system from and hope to have a firm install date on it this week. A “mere” $4900+tax will keep our lawn the envy of the neighborhood for years to come. More importantly it’ll keep me from standing outside watering for hours a month for the rest of my life.
Saturday: BUSY day- Mom and I left Jim with Nicole for the entire morning and early afternoon. This constituted the longest time (5 hours) Jim has been with her alone in her entire life. She was still alive when I returned and happy to boot! Mom and I went to the Mother’s Exchange at Lakota HS and got Nic about 5 new outfits for $9, then to Carter’s where Mom bought her another skirt, then to the fabric store where we searched out material for drapes for the new digs. We picked out the style for the kitchen, living room/dining room and got a good idea for the family room. The guy there was REALLY helpful and I'm going back soon with room dimensions, etc. so we can pick out material and order it.
We did end up finding another comforter on sale at Linens N Things that was on sale AND we will get a 20% price adjustment on when I return this week. Just need sheets!!
That night we had Sean and Jessica over for game night- Racko, Euchre, and Payday. Alas I won none! What was adorable was Emily following me around a bit and imitating me tickling Ben, my posture sitting against the wall, etc. Too cute!
Nicole is somewhat of a nuisance in the evenings (that sounds horrid to say about a baby I know) because she eats every hour and a half; this makes entertaining a little cumbersome because I need to frequently leave to take care of her. Giving her a bottle is actually harder as my supply of stored milk quickly dwindles because there isn’t a 1-to-1 replacement of it (since I skip pumping). Ah well. We have understanding friends so it’s okay.
Sunday: The Childers came over in the morning and we took them to our new house so Jason could evaluate our landscaping. Good news is that he had a lot of ideas and really knows his stuff. Bad news is that his ideas, while awesome, are expensive. The waterscape he recommended will be in the thousands but sounds so cool we want to do it (but won’t now because too many other, essential things need to be bought). We have to make some decisions on flowering perennials and whether or not to keep some of the package plants that might not be as kid/pet friendly (ie pointy-leaved holly).
I ran out to Lindsay’s bridal shower (yeah! I'm getting a sister-in-law!) and then to bowling that evening. I suspect we went 2-and-2 like we did last week though we won’t know for sure until the results are posted online later this week. Carole GUSHED over Nicole and it was so nice having a “babysitter” there to help take care of her.
Good news today—we have a house showing at 1:00!!! Keep your fingers tightly crossed for us!!!!!!
Friday, September 07, 2007
Body Awareness
I'm not sure at what age you become aware of your body. I don’t mean that your hand simply exists, but rather the skill of not having to dine in front of a mirror because you know exactly where your mouth is when you’re eating. Or the ability to put your finger directly into your belly button with your eyes closed. Somehow, blindly, many of us are acutely aware of where our body parts are.
I became conscious of this when I broke a nail the other day. I had come to rely on its size and suddenly, when it was half as long, my itch wasn’t getting scratched – my finger wasn’t close enough to my elbow!
Our brains are wonderful things that not only can it judge the existence of our permanent parts like our eyes, knees, etc. but it also remembers and takes into account our dynamic parts like fingernails.
I became conscious of this when I broke a nail the other day. I had come to rely on its size and suddenly, when it was half as long, my itch wasn’t getting scratched – my finger wasn’t close enough to my elbow!
Our brains are wonderful things that not only can it judge the existence of our permanent parts like our eyes, knees, etc. but it also remembers and takes into account our dynamic parts like fingernails.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Time for the looney bin (?)
I had the opportunity to sneak away from Jim and Nic this weekend and found myself at DSW. I haven’t bought new shoes in a while because, oddly enough, I have every type that I need except for one (black, pointy, close-toed stilettos) and I don’t really need those until sandals are no longer season-appropriate.
Anyway, I roamed the clearance section for steals and found myself getting very possessive over the Size 8 section. There was a chick who was there before me and one who came after I was already there. Though I wanted to take my time and look at each shoe, I started rushing through to make sure if there were any amazing pairs that I saw and claimed them first.
As I realized what I was doing, I started thinking about the dozens of people who probably paced the section before me that day and the shoes they maybe snatched before I even got the chance to see them. What’s strange isn’t that I got hung-up about missed opportunities, but rather that my perception of many places/things is that they didn’t exist before I got there. I don’t get mad about the shoes already gone before I arrived; I don’t give too much thought to the hundreds of people who slept on the hotel mattress before me (except for the comforter, I'm very aware of the fact that hotel comforters rarely get washed); I don’t think about the possibility that the puppy’s tongue that just kissed me might have been on its butt 5 minutes before I arrived. My conscious basically convinces itself that the item (the shoe section, the bed, the puppy, etc.) I'm in contact with sat idle until I appeared. *Poof* Suddenly that thing/place exists because I'm with it.
A dumb, incorrect, and self-absorbed view of the world, I know. I think that I accept this absurd view because to think of the dozens of germs and possibilities of germs on an item is too overwhelming and I, nor any of us probably, would never come in contact with the outside world if I really stopped to consider what I'm touching has touched before me. And so, I choose to not think about it.
What probably is neurotic isn’t that things don’t have relevance until I come in contact with them but I get possessive of them once I do (like my shoe section).
Anyway, I roamed the clearance section for steals and found myself getting very possessive over the Size 8 section. There was a chick who was there before me and one who came after I was already there. Though I wanted to take my time and look at each shoe, I started rushing through to make sure if there were any amazing pairs that I saw and claimed them first.
As I realized what I was doing, I started thinking about the dozens of people who probably paced the section before me that day and the shoes they maybe snatched before I even got the chance to see them. What’s strange isn’t that I got hung-up about missed opportunities, but rather that my perception of many places/things is that they didn’t exist before I got there. I don’t get mad about the shoes already gone before I arrived; I don’t give too much thought to the hundreds of people who slept on the hotel mattress before me (except for the comforter, I'm very aware of the fact that hotel comforters rarely get washed); I don’t think about the possibility that the puppy’s tongue that just kissed me might have been on its butt 5 minutes before I arrived. My conscious basically convinces itself that the item (the shoe section, the bed, the puppy, etc.) I'm in contact with sat idle until I appeared. *Poof* Suddenly that thing/place exists because I'm with it.
A dumb, incorrect, and self-absorbed view of the world, I know. I think that I accept this absurd view because to think of the dozens of germs and possibilities of germs on an item is too overwhelming and I, nor any of us probably, would never come in contact with the outside world if I really stopped to consider what I'm touching has touched before me. And so, I choose to not think about it.
What probably is neurotic isn’t that things don’t have relevance until I come in contact with them but I get possessive of them once I do (like my shoe section).
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Show Reviews & Life Updates
1. Dad lent us a movie he borrowed from the library, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. He randomly picked it up as the back of the box looked good. It takes place in the 1700’s in France and deals with a man with an extraordinary sense of smell and his obsession with making smell last and be perfect. We gave it a B+ - VERY interesting story-line as we’d never seen anything like it before, EXCELLENT acting throughout, a little twisted though. The movie starts with the main character’s birth and shows how his mother tried to kill him. There I was holding my perfect baby watching another thrown into a pile of fish guts- horrifying for a new mom to watch. Anyway, we recommend getting it if you have time. To watch the trailer go to http://www.perfumemovie.com/ and click on video at the top.
2. We close on our house on September 27 and will move in that weekend! We made contact with several vendors this week- the painter (who I think is quoting a very reasonable rate to paint the great room, foyer, and upstairs hall), door folks (Mom and Dad are chipping in for a new fancy front door for us as a housewarming present), and lawn care company for the sprinkler system and backyard sod. The driveway and sidewalks were poured yesterday and all of our hardwood flooring and cabinets are in now. Things are really coming along. Now if our current house would just sell we’d be in business…
3. Nicole’s daycare is going well. Doing the half day thing is a good break-in for me (she probably doesn’t care at all) in regards to giving her up and easing my way back into work. There is a lot to do here (at work) so I'm keeping pretty busy in general and not sitting and being distracted with missing her. First day I got her she was sleeping, yesterday when I picked her up she was rocking on the outside glider with Marsha. All seems well.
4. Another recommendation if you have free time on Tuesday nights – the TV show Just For Laughs. It’s a candid camera type show that keeps Jim laughing hard for an hour solid. It’s literally the ONLY show we watch on prime time.
2. We close on our house on September 27 and will move in that weekend! We made contact with several vendors this week- the painter (who I think is quoting a very reasonable rate to paint the great room, foyer, and upstairs hall), door folks (Mom and Dad are chipping in for a new fancy front door for us as a housewarming present), and lawn care company for the sprinkler system and backyard sod. The driveway and sidewalks were poured yesterday and all of our hardwood flooring and cabinets are in now. Things are really coming along. Now if our current house would just sell we’d be in business…
3. Nicole’s daycare is going well. Doing the half day thing is a good break-in for me (she probably doesn’t care at all) in regards to giving her up and easing my way back into work. There is a lot to do here (at work) so I'm keeping pretty busy in general and not sitting and being distracted with missing her. First day I got her she was sleeping, yesterday when I picked her up she was rocking on the outside glider with Marsha. All seems well.
4. Another recommendation if you have free time on Tuesday nights – the TV show Just For Laughs. It’s a candid camera type show that keeps Jim laughing hard for an hour solid. It’s literally the ONLY show we watch on prime time.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Back in Action
I felt like I was 8 and getting ready for my first day of school this morning. I picked out my outfit the night before and tried to get some of the final details ready for this morning, my first day back at work after maternity leave.
So, how’d it go? Okay. The schedule was to be me get up at 6am, get showered and ready for work, feed Nicole by 6:45 and be out the door at 7:30. I wanted to be at the sitter’s by 8:00 so I could go over some notes with her and still be at work by 8:30. Well, I got about 15 minutes off schedule by getting up 6 minutes late, having a sleepy baby who didn’t want to eat, and battling 275 construction traffic. Oh well.
I made up a 2 page sheet about Nicole to give to Marsha the babysitter. I included items like when she’s supposed to eat (10, 1, & 4), how to work the bottle warmer, when she normally naps (12-1, 2-4), her preferences (going outside, sleeping with her hands in “touchdown” position, etc.), and her congestion issues. Blame it on me being a first-time mom, but Jim said that it was an overwhelming amount of information. I explained it as causally as possible, and Marsha and Andrea seemed appreciative of my efforts. That or they humored me; either way I don’t care.
Yeah, when it was time to leave I cried. A lot. It’s not that I don’t trust the babysitter, I do, but part of me feels guilty for leaving her with anyone other than me.
Once I got to work I did pretty well. I made a pit-stop in the bathroom to check my make-up and make sure it wasn’t running down my cheeks and then I started in on the hundreds of emails I had yet to read. Jason made me cry by asking about her, but other than that brief stint I was so busy it wasn’t bothersome to be apart.
My boss did almost walk in on me pumping though as he didn't know why someone was in the vacant office. ha!
I picked her up at 12:45 and she was sleeping in her car seat. I think this half week will be just enough to get me comfortable with leaving her. I suspect when I get into full-blown work mode it won’t be too much of a problem. We’ll see for sure in a few weeks though. :)
So, how’d it go? Okay. The schedule was to be me get up at 6am, get showered and ready for work, feed Nicole by 6:45 and be out the door at 7:30. I wanted to be at the sitter’s by 8:00 so I could go over some notes with her and still be at work by 8:30. Well, I got about 15 minutes off schedule by getting up 6 minutes late, having a sleepy baby who didn’t want to eat, and battling 275 construction traffic. Oh well.
I made up a 2 page sheet about Nicole to give to Marsha the babysitter. I included items like when she’s supposed to eat (10, 1, & 4), how to work the bottle warmer, when she normally naps (12-1, 2-4), her preferences (going outside, sleeping with her hands in “touchdown” position, etc.), and her congestion issues. Blame it on me being a first-time mom, but Jim said that it was an overwhelming amount of information. I explained it as causally as possible, and Marsha and Andrea seemed appreciative of my efforts. That or they humored me; either way I don’t care.
Yeah, when it was time to leave I cried. A lot. It’s not that I don’t trust the babysitter, I do, but part of me feels guilty for leaving her with anyone other than me.
Once I got to work I did pretty well. I made a pit-stop in the bathroom to check my make-up and make sure it wasn’t running down my cheeks and then I started in on the hundreds of emails I had yet to read. Jason made me cry by asking about her, but other than that brief stint I was so busy it wasn’t bothersome to be apart.
My boss did almost walk in on me pumping though as he didn't know why someone was in the vacant office. ha!
I picked her up at 12:45 and she was sleeping in her car seat. I think this half week will be just enough to get me comfortable with leaving her. I suspect when I get into full-blown work mode it won’t be too much of a problem. We’ll see for sure in a few weeks though. :)
Thursday, August 23, 2007
End of our first phase
My maternity leave is coming to an end. Today and tomorrow are my last full days off. Next week I go into work in the mornings and pick her up in the afternoon; the week after that will be the beginning of “normal” life from here out – Nicole at the babysitter, Jim and I at work.
This six weeks has gone fast. The first part went fast just because everything was a learning curve with Nicole and I was still somewhat in “non-baby” mode in thinking that I could accomplish a long list of other items during the day. I was pretty successful at doing so, if I do say so myself. However, allowing myself to continue that multi-tasking mentality I think has cost me some valuable “stop and smell the roses” time, something I had trouble with during pre-baby days but was a less significant problem than missing the “rose” time with Nicole. I’ve tried to remedy this by watching her sleep more, dancing in the kitchen with her, rocking and talking on the porch with her on a more regular basis.
Timing for my leave has been good though as I’ve been able to help some friends out - I like the fact that I could benefit some others over the last few weeks when I might not otherwise have been able to (because I’d be at work).
I’ve been frequently asked if I’m ready to go back to work and give up my time with Nicole. I’m honestly torn between hoping she’s sad about going somewhere else and getting reports of a fussy kid all day (as that might mean she misses me) and hoping she adjusts perfectly and is no worse/better off than if she were here at home with me all day. The second option is only bothersome as I’d like to think that I’m better for her than anyone and no one can do as good of a job as I can, which I know isn’t the case as I chose to send her to Marsha because she has lots more kid and mom experience than I and is probably equal/better for Nicole than I am.
I’ve only cried at the thought of leaving her once. We’ll see how I do come Monday.
This six weeks has gone fast. The first part went fast just because everything was a learning curve with Nicole and I was still somewhat in “non-baby” mode in thinking that I could accomplish a long list of other items during the day. I was pretty successful at doing so, if I do say so myself. However, allowing myself to continue that multi-tasking mentality I think has cost me some valuable “stop and smell the roses” time, something I had trouble with during pre-baby days but was a less significant problem than missing the “rose” time with Nicole. I’ve tried to remedy this by watching her sleep more, dancing in the kitchen with her, rocking and talking on the porch with her on a more regular basis.
Timing for my leave has been good though as I’ve been able to help some friends out - I like the fact that I could benefit some others over the last few weeks when I might not otherwise have been able to (because I’d be at work).
I’ve been frequently asked if I’m ready to go back to work and give up my time with Nicole. I’m honestly torn between hoping she’s sad about going somewhere else and getting reports of a fussy kid all day (as that might mean she misses me) and hoping she adjusts perfectly and is no worse/better off than if she were here at home with me all day. The second option is only bothersome as I’d like to think that I’m better for her than anyone and no one can do as good of a job as I can, which I know isn’t the case as I chose to send her to Marsha because she has lots more kid and mom experience than I and is probably equal/better for Nicole than I am.
I’ve only cried at the thought of leaving her once. We’ll see how I do come Monday.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
The Beach and the House
We signed with a realtor the night before we left for vacation. It was a recommendation/referral from one of my co-workers who used Jack for his recent move and really liked him. He impressed Jim and I with his “partnership” approach- really focusing in on the fact that this is a joint effort between us when it comes to decision-making regarding price, etc. Anyway, he had an open house today which one person attended and we’ve had 2 other scheduled appointments other than that. As of tomorrow the house will be “formally” listed on the market for 1 week.
The vacation to Myrtle Beach was great. Work continues to call (as they do several times a week) despite my being less able to give full or accurate information over the phone. Nicole has
an unfortunate fussy time from 8-10pm every night (especially unfortunate as that’s the core time she gets to see Jim and she gives a bad impression of her temperament) and we found that what soothes her is being outside on the balcony listening to the ocean. Literally once you crossed the threshold from inside to out she was calm instantly and typically asleep within minutes. We tried to isolate the variables so that we could copy the atmosphere at home – was it the heat? The humidity? The sound of the ocean? I think we determined it to be the temperature first and foremost.
2) Ocean was WARM after some horrendous rainstorms
3) Mom bought Nicole a bathing suit on clearance that we played dress-up with. We also tried on the bikini that Lori bought her- she wasn't as thrilled with our antics by the time we got it on her though...
The vacation to Myrtle Beach was great. Work continues to call (as they do several times a week) despite my being less able to give full or accurate information over the phone. Nicole has
an unfortunate fussy time from 8-10pm every night (especially unfortunate as that’s the core time she gets to see Jim and she gives a bad impression of her temperament) and we found that what soothes her is being outside on the balcony listening to the ocean. Literally once you crossed the threshold from inside to out she was calm instantly and typically asleep within minutes. We tried to isolate the variables so that we could copy the atmosphere at home – was it the heat? The humidity? The sound of the ocean? I think we determined it to be the temperature first and foremost. If outside wasn’t immediately available or wasn’t convenient the next thing that Nicole preferred was to be in 
Greg’s arms. Unfortunately I can’t compete with the salary he receives at his full time job or I’d hire him to be my nanny. That guy has a magic touch with his niece and she adores him.
We played lots of mini golf while in SC and I did POORLY at it. We also played a slew of board games, including a new one that Dad got me for my birthday (September 30) but decided we needed to play on vacation so I got it early. Good game, I think the Sturgis brothers will particularly enjoy it as it combines logic, trivia and strategy.
All in all it was a good trip. While a break from work for everyone else, what it provided from me was a break for myself. With 5 other competent adults who were eager to hold and care for Nicky, I got to actually walk the shoreline and go shopping sans baby- makes for faster, more enjoyable afternoons when you know your kid is taken care of and you don’t need to worry or go through the extra effort of toting her along.
Other highlights:
1) My cousin Jonathan caught not 1 but 2 sharks while deep-sea fishing- the only fish caught by the trio of guys going out!
Greg’s arms. Unfortunately I can’t compete with the salary he receives at his full time job or I’d hire him to be my nanny. That guy has a magic touch with his niece and she adores him.We played lots of mini golf while in SC and I did POORLY at it. We also played a slew of board games, including a new one that Dad got me for my birthday (September 30) but decided we needed to play on vacation so I got it early. Good game, I think the Sturgis brothers will particularly enjoy it as it combines logic, trivia and strategy.
All in all it was a good trip. While a break from work for everyone else, what it provided from me was a break for myself. With 5 other competent adults who were eager to hold and care for Nicky, I got to actually walk the shoreline and go shopping sans baby- makes for faster, more enjoyable afternoons when you know your kid is taken care of and you don’t need to worry or go through the extra effort of toting her along.
Other highlights:
1) My cousin Jonathan caught not 1 but 2 sharks while deep-sea fishing- the only fish caught by the trio of guys going out!
2) Ocean was WARM after some horrendous rainstorms
3) Mom bought Nicole a bathing suit on clearance that we played dress-up with. We also tried on the bikini that Lori bought her- she wasn't as thrilled with our antics by the time we got it on her though...4) Dad cooked breakfast for the whole crew every morning and made me coffee daily- first coffee I’ve had in MONTHS and damn was it good
5) Went to the Ripley's Aquarium on Thursday. Not worth $19, but still a fun time. I have a new appreciation for how nice Newport's aquarium is
Friday, August 10, 2007
What's Happenin'
A few life updates:
1. Nicole is a month old tomorrow! She went to the pediatrician for her 1 month check-up and here are the stats: 90% weight (10lb, 5 oz), 75% length (1 foot, 10 inches), 35% head (34 inches). She likes (tolerates?)
getting bathed, likes to be held upright on your shoulder, doesn’t like going to sleep and can’t keep a pacifier in on her own which is probably a good thing. She stares so intently at you when you lock eyes that you feel guilty for looking away! She rolled over in anger about 5X on Tuesday (Jen O witnessed!) but we'll see if she keeps it up. I did catch it on video! She got to spend some quality time with her cousin Ryann at her Grandpa T's 55th birthday last night.
2. My relationship with Jim is at it’s all-time best. We’ve, okay, I’ve, lost all modesty when it comes to bodily functions- feeding Nicole, going to the bathroom in front of him, etc. There’s just no time to be discreet. Also speaking of no time, we have some really good conversations at 3:30 in the morning – sometimes that’s the only time we do have to talk since he’s working so late and there’s so much to be done on the house when he gets home. Many times when I’m taking care of Nicole he’ll go get me stuff I need- a cup of yogurt, a burp cloth, whatever- this is often just as helpful as his holding her and giving me a break.
3. The house we live in now will be up on the MLS this weekend. We’re signing with a realtor from Coldwell Banker tonight. It’s been determined over the course of interviewing realtors that the asking price we thought we could get for the house ($149,900) was too high and that if we had asked $139,900 for the house on our own like we will with the realtor we might have been able to sell it to one of the multiple people who called about the house while it was FSBO. Key is that the house sells in general as we now have a closing date of 9-27 on our new house and want to avoid 2 mortgages if at all possible. We’re really hopeful that it will go quickly just based on the traffic we got on our own with no marketing, much less what attention someone actively marketing can obtain.
4. The new house is making huge progress. See picture to the right!
All the drywall is up now and there are a few improvements that we’ve gotten that we shouldn’t have due to builder errors in our favor- one is the drywall in the garage and the other is the wall tile in the master bathroom. We really enjoy working with our project manager, Paul, and have all the confidence that things are going well when we’re not there to watch what’s going on.
We leave for Myrtle Beach tomorrow so forgive me for no updates for the week!
1. Nicole is a month old tomorrow! She went to the pediatrician for her 1 month check-up and here are the stats: 90% weight (10lb, 5 oz), 75% length (1 foot, 10 inches), 35% head (34 inches). She likes (tolerates?)
getting bathed, likes to be held upright on your shoulder, doesn’t like going to sleep and can’t keep a pacifier in on her own which is probably a good thing. She stares so intently at you when you lock eyes that you feel guilty for looking away! She rolled over in anger about 5X on Tuesday (Jen O witnessed!) but we'll see if she keeps it up. I did catch it on video! She got to spend some quality time with her cousin Ryann at her Grandpa T's 55th birthday last night.2. My relationship with Jim is at it’s all-time best. We’ve, okay, I’ve, lost all modesty when it comes to bodily functions- feeding Nicole, going to the bathroom in front of him, etc. There’s just no time to be discreet. Also speaking of no time, we have some really good conversations at 3:30 in the morning – sometimes that’s the only time we do have to talk since he’s working so late and there’s so much to be done on the house when he gets home. Many times when I’m taking care of Nicole he’ll go get me stuff I need- a cup of yogurt, a burp cloth, whatever- this is often just as helpful as his holding her and giving me a break.
3. The house we live in now will be up on the MLS this weekend. We’re signing with a realtor from Coldwell Banker tonight. It’s been determined over the course of interviewing realtors that the asking price we thought we could get for the house ($149,900) was too high and that if we had asked $139,900 for the house on our own like we will with the realtor we might have been able to sell it to one of the multiple people who called about the house while it was FSBO. Key is that the house sells in general as we now have a closing date of 9-27 on our new house and want to avoid 2 mortgages if at all possible. We’re really hopeful that it will go quickly just based on the traffic we got on our own with no marketing, much less what attention someone actively marketing can obtain.
4. The new house is making huge progress. See picture to the right!
All the drywall is up now and there are a few improvements that we’ve gotten that we shouldn’t have due to builder errors in our favor- one is the drywall in the garage and the other is the wall tile in the master bathroom. We really enjoy working with our project manager, Paul, and have all the confidence that things are going well when we’re not there to watch what’s going on.We leave for Myrtle Beach tomorrow so forgive me for no updates for the week!
Monday, August 06, 2007
Hats
We leave for Myrtle Beach in a few days and knowing Nic needs some sun protection while we're down south, I decided to have her try on some hats. She's got 5, each of them is too big except for the little cloth one we took from the hospital which makes her look thugish. This one was my favorite though.
I laughed so hard when she had it on that she laughed too!
(side note: the onsie is from her hippie OR friend, Martha!)
I laughed so hard when she had it on that she laughed too!
(side note: the onsie is from her hippie OR friend, Martha!)
Friday, August 03, 2007
House Progression
We just completed the pre-dry wall walk through and things look great! We're scheduled to be done 9-20-07!
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Good ole Matt
Quick pic of Nicole. Jim said the flowers were way too cheesey but I like the shot of her anyway. Viki helped me take it when she was in town this weekend (Thanks again!). Nic is 3 weeks old today!Yesterday I ran to babies r us to exchange an outfit and a car seat base when I recognized the guy who would be standing in front of me at the guest service desk. It’s one of those weird things where you know the person in line and it’s been so long you feel sorta obligated to say hello and catch up but you’ve lived the last 10 years without doing so and wouldn’t miss the interaction if you didn’t have it but at the same time are kinda curious how they turned out. (Did you follow all that?) Anyway, I decided at first to go get the other base and if he was still there when I returned I’d say hello.
He was still there.
So I waited, did my exchange, and interrupted him before I left to pick out a new outfit. He was just who I thought he was – Matt M.- co-worker from the Orchard Hill concession stand when I was 15 and my date to Date Dance sophomore year.
Good news- he knew who I was so no awkward reintroductions.
As you can imagine, he and his wife are having a baby, hence why he was at BRU. Weirdness- he married Jamie Z- a girl he went to gradeschool with, I job-shared with when I was 16, swam swim team with, and took driver’s ed with. I was honestly more interested in what she was doing with her life than him, but didn’t want to get weird but slanting the conversation to be all about her.
Anyway, it was a short dialog in general and I didn’t learn much about what he was up to before we parted. He made me all nostalgic for about a half hour though. I’ll look for our picture and try to post it if I find it…
He was still there.
So I waited, did my exchange, and interrupted him before I left to pick out a new outfit. He was just who I thought he was – Matt M.- co-worker from the Orchard Hill concession stand when I was 15 and my date to Date Dance sophomore year.
Good news- he knew who I was so no awkward reintroductions.
As you can imagine, he and his wife are having a baby, hence why he was at BRU. Weirdness- he married Jamie Z- a girl he went to gradeschool with, I job-shared with when I was 16, swam swim team with, and took driver’s ed with. I was honestly more interested in what she was doing with her life than him, but didn’t want to get weird but slanting the conversation to be all about her.
Anyway, it was a short dialog in general and I didn’t learn much about what he was up to before we parted. He made me all nostalgic for about a half hour though. I’ll look for our picture and try to post it if I find it…
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Good Morning!
OK, I know it’s only quarter to ten, but this morning has been great. Nicole slept just as she was supposed to and woke up without much complaining all night for her 3-hour feedings. At 7:30, when she’s supposed to be awake for a longer period before a nap, she took a little more time but at for 20 minutes really well. Such duration gave me confidence that it would be okay to express the rest of her meal for later (hooray for Jim feeding her!).
After breakfast, hers and mine, we cozied up for some good reading time. Lisa and Kendall brought us a whole satchel full of kids books as her welcoming present and I stupidly chose “Guess How Much I Love You” as the first one to read to her. Yeah, that left me crying and vowing to not read that book unless I’m make-up free! We followed it up with Curious George and Olivia (a new one for me). All wrapped up in the blanket Great Grandma Templin wove for her, Nicole fell asleep in my arms and went down without complaint in her crib right on time- 9:15. Ahhhh!
I took a shower (note, I HAVE showered EVERY day since I’ve brought her home which I understand is a miracle for new moms), curled my hair, wrote this, and will get ready for her 10:30 meal before we head to my office for introductions and a 1:20 doctor’s appointment. Hopefully the rest of the day continues like this!
After breakfast, hers and mine, we cozied up for some good reading time. Lisa and Kendall brought us a whole satchel full of kids books as her welcoming present and I stupidly chose “Guess How Much I Love You” as the first one to read to her. Yeah, that left me crying and vowing to not read that book unless I’m make-up free! We followed it up with Curious George and Olivia (a new one for me). All wrapped up in the blanket Great Grandma Templin wove for her, Nicole fell asleep in my arms and went down without complaint in her crib right on time- 9:15. Ahhhh!
I took a shower (note, I HAVE showered EVERY day since I’ve brought her home which I understand is a miracle for new moms), curled my hair, wrote this, and will get ready for her 10:30 meal before we head to my office for introductions and a 1:20 doctor’s appointment. Hopefully the rest of the day continues like this!
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
2 weeks old tomorrow!
Yeah, as the only thing in my life is Nicole right now, I imagine my postings will be pretty boring to those who don’t want to read about motherhood. No hurt feelings to those who quit visiting for a while!
Things are starting to come together at this house. Nicole’s cord fell off a week ago (Sunday, 2am) and she’s had a few sponge baths since then. Poor child has dry skin and is peeling between her fingers and on her feet. This is only a problem because she has a mother with a personality trait (flaw?) for enjoying peeling dry skin (love summer sunburns!) and it’s all I can do to not pick at her. Doctor says no lotion until she’s a month old as there’s conflicting research on what lotion does to baby’s new pores. So, a little dry, but cute she remains.
Jim’s boss lent us a book on scheduling called “On Becoming Babywise” which I’m reading during feedings and at night, sometimes out loud to Nicole which I doubt she finds interesting. The premise is that babies need routine and that routine should be a 3-hour cycle of eating/wake time/napping during the day and eating/sleeping at night. The goal is to get them to sleep through the night by 8 weeks. We can extend our nighttime feedings to every 5 hours instead of every 3 once she gets back to her birth weight. We’ll know how soon that’ll be on Thursday’s appointment at the pediatrician.
She’s feeding faster than she did before which means she’s going down for longer naps as her 3-hour period isn’t consumed with an hour of eating. This is great for her and should be for me if I was smart enough to sleep when she does… it’s just very odd for me to take a nap in the middle of the day so I find myself checking email, cleaning, etc.
Yesterday we ventured out for 5 hours – ran errands, lunched with Mom, visited the new house. I felt very confident with my planning on getting her out though I was tired by the end of the day with all the activity and literal heavy lifting of putting her in and out of the car so much. Today we took it easy- had a visit with Ruth H (Jim’s boss’s wife) and are waiting on the arrival of a person who’s coming to see the house.
Things are starting to come together at this house. Nicole’s cord fell off a week ago (Sunday, 2am) and she’s had a few sponge baths since then. Poor child has dry skin and is peeling between her fingers and on her feet. This is only a problem because she has a mother with a personality trait (flaw?) for enjoying peeling dry skin (love summer sunburns!) and it’s all I can do to not pick at her. Doctor says no lotion until she’s a month old as there’s conflicting research on what lotion does to baby’s new pores. So, a little dry, but cute she remains.
Jim’s boss lent us a book on scheduling called “On Becoming Babywise” which I’m reading during feedings and at night, sometimes out loud to Nicole which I doubt she finds interesting. The premise is that babies need routine and that routine should be a 3-hour cycle of eating/wake time/napping during the day and eating/sleeping at night. The goal is to get them to sleep through the night by 8 weeks. We can extend our nighttime feedings to every 5 hours instead of every 3 once she gets back to her birth weight. We’ll know how soon that’ll be on Thursday’s appointment at the pediatrician.
She’s feeding faster than she did before which means she’s going down for longer naps as her 3-hour period isn’t consumed with an hour of eating. This is great for her and should be for me if I was smart enough to sleep when she does… it’s just very odd for me to take a nap in the middle of the day so I find myself checking email, cleaning, etc.
Yesterday we ventured out for 5 hours – ran errands, lunched with Mom, visited the new house. I felt very confident with my planning on getting her out though I was tired by the end of the day with all the activity and literal heavy lifting of putting her in and out of the car so much. Today we took it easy- had a visit with Ruth H (Jim’s boss’s wife) and are waiting on the arrival of a person who’s coming to see the house.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
How it's goin'
Well, we’re about 10 days into parenthood and so far so good. Before becoming a mom there were a lot of things I didn’t understand about motherhood that I’ve now figured out:
1) What do stay at home moms do all day? Answer- feed their newborns. I spend literally 8 hours a day feeding Nicole. While she only eats between 15-35minutes of that time, it’s a process to get her to wake up and then eat continuously. I can’t wait for my electric breast pump which goes on sale Monday (saving us $40) – it’ll be so much more convenient and nice to have Jim be able to help and to save some of the 8 hours mentioned in item #1. While I don’t mind nursing, since it is such a long job the emotional part of it is outweighed by frustration of rousing a deep-sleeping baby into being an active participant in eating.
2) I directly correlate my confidence in being a mother by how well Nicole eats.
3) I always liked attending weddings but I never understood fully how much goes into one until I had my own. Since then I think I’m a better gift giver (go off the registry don’t make decisions for them!!) and more appreciative of the little touches that make the day special. Likewise with motherhood, there are things that have proven to be incredibly helpful and, wouldn’t you know it, they came from experienced parents. Probably most helpful have been the meals that were given/offered as cooking after being up all night and day with a baby is the last thing I feel like doing.
4) Likewise with eating, I know I’m losing weight because I’ll skip meals (really bad, I know) and not realize it for an hour. I am making a concerted effort to drink a full glass of water post nursing each time.
5) Last night Nicole slept in her crib the whole night - hooray for cuddling with my husband after a 10 day hiatus. (NOTE: she was in a sleeping unit in our bed with no chance of us rolling on her or endangering her. Besides, even if we physically could we were so mentally aware of her being there I think we both woke totally up before moving an inch!)
This is a hard job. It's still kinda weird to think that she's here to stay and someone isn't going to come get her like we were just baby-sitting or something. I have no idea how full-time stay-at-home mom's do it. If nothing else, I crave for the time that Jim gets home from work. My hats off to them a million times over.
1) What do stay at home moms do all day? Answer- feed their newborns. I spend literally 8 hours a day feeding Nicole. While she only eats between 15-35minutes of that time, it’s a process to get her to wake up and then eat continuously. I can’t wait for my electric breast pump which goes on sale Monday (saving us $40) – it’ll be so much more convenient and nice to have Jim be able to help and to save some of the 8 hours mentioned in item #1. While I don’t mind nursing, since it is such a long job the emotional part of it is outweighed by frustration of rousing a deep-sleeping baby into being an active participant in eating.
2) I directly correlate my confidence in being a mother by how well Nicole eats.
3) I always liked attending weddings but I never understood fully how much goes into one until I had my own. Since then I think I’m a better gift giver (go off the registry don’t make decisions for them!!) and more appreciative of the little touches that make the day special. Likewise with motherhood, there are things that have proven to be incredibly helpful and, wouldn’t you know it, they came from experienced parents. Probably most helpful have been the meals that were given/offered as cooking after being up all night and day with a baby is the last thing I feel like doing.
4) Likewise with eating, I know I’m losing weight because I’ll skip meals (really bad, I know) and not realize it for an hour. I am making a concerted effort to drink a full glass of water post nursing each time.
5) Last night Nicole slept in her crib the whole night - hooray for cuddling with my husband after a 10 day hiatus. (NOTE: she was in a sleeping unit in our bed with no chance of us rolling on her or endangering her. Besides, even if we physically could we were so mentally aware of her being there I think we both woke totally up before moving an inch!)
This is a hard job. It's still kinda weird to think that she's here to stay and someone isn't going to come get her like we were just baby-sitting or something. I have no idea how full-time stay-at-home mom's do it. If nothing else, I crave for the time that Jim gets home from work. My hats off to them a million times over.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Sick baby? Thankfully not!
yesterday was an exciting day with Nicole but in the worried mom way...
At this stage in the game where I'm so new to everything I don't want to overreact but I also don't want to get into the "I can handle it all" mindset either and ignore potential problems.
bottom-line - yesterday Nicole was very fussy all night (regular) and finally went to bed around 4am. She didn't want to wake up for her 7:00 feeding, however, so I let her skip it and sleep thinking that she had a rough night early on and might appreciate the extra rest (I did too!). However, when she didn't want to wake up, despite hours of my attempted coaxing, until noon, which meant she hadn't eaten a full meal since 11pm the night before, I got worried and called the pediatrician.
Fortunately they shared my concerns and got me in within a short period of time. The doctor was great and spent about 25 minutes with us checking a variety of things. Ultimately to be safe he sent us to Children's outpatient for blood wok and a urinalysis. Both, thankfully, came back normal last night.
SPECIAL THANKS to my mom who came and brought me lunch and helped calm my nerves during the process!!
She has an appointment this afternoon at 3, but has been doing really well so far today on her 3 hour eat/wake/nap schedule so I'm not expecting any negative feedback.
again, thanks for the concern and the well-wishes - VERY much appreciated!
At this stage in the game where I'm so new to everything I don't want to overreact but I also don't want to get into the "I can handle it all" mindset either and ignore potential problems.
bottom-line - yesterday Nicole was very fussy all night (regular) and finally went to bed around 4am. She didn't want to wake up for her 7:00 feeding, however, so I let her skip it and sleep thinking that she had a rough night early on and might appreciate the extra rest (I did too!). However, when she didn't want to wake up, despite hours of my attempted coaxing, until noon, which meant she hadn't eaten a full meal since 11pm the night before, I got worried and called the pediatrician.
Fortunately they shared my concerns and got me in within a short period of time. The doctor was great and spent about 25 minutes with us checking a variety of things. Ultimately to be safe he sent us to Children's outpatient for blood wok and a urinalysis. Both, thankfully, came back normal last night.
SPECIAL THANKS to my mom who came and brought me lunch and helped calm my nerves during the process!!
She has an appointment this afternoon at 3, but has been doing really well so far today on her 3 hour eat/wake/nap schedule so I'm not expecting any negative feedback.
again, thanks for the concern and the well-wishes - VERY much appreciated!
Monday, July 16, 2007
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Nicky Pics + Video
Nicole and her Daddy after her bath This is a video of Nicole last night doing what she does best-hiccup, yawn and pass gas! Turn up the volume to catch all three.
I swear this wasn't posed! This is how she slept with Sarah F last night!
Nicky sleeping in her cradle. This is the same cradle my paternal great grandmother was first rocked in and every generation's children have since after her.Saturday, July 14, 2007
How Nicole Entered the World
The short version: I had a kid.
The full version:
After getting over the shock of a planned hospital visit that evening, Jim and I headed for our “final meal” at Chipotle (they told me to eat a lot!) and headed over to Mercy at 8:00. They had our room already assigned and I was checked in and donning a hospital gown within about 20 minutes.
Dr. Silver checked me out and determined that since I was a full 4cm inducing me wouldn’t be necessary, breaking my membranes (water) would should do the trick. Christy was our assigned nurse for the evening and she took care of hooking up my IV and getting my stream (not drip!) going- I couldn’t get an epidural until I finished 1 full bag which took a very short 12 minutes.
There was a natural, and therefore noisy, childbirth going on down the hall that kept Dr. Silver away until about 11 but Greg, Mom and Dad had come to visit by then and helped pass the time. When they broke my water by snagging the membranes there was a huge gush of fluid, much more than I had expected. It didn’t hurt a bit!
I had 2 level 4 contractions in 10 minutes and my IV went in- 3 rounds of a burning sensation and then a lot of pressure as the tube went in concluding with a round of cold as the medicine was pushed into me. The numbness started immediately, all except for a spot in my lower abdomen which proved to be my downfall. It’s called a “hot spot”- an area that for no apparent reason doesn’t react to the epidural and allows you to feel whatever the rest of you should be feeling- and mine grew from baseball size to eventually spanning a 12”long by 4” high area in my abdomen with full-force, teeth-gritting contractions that wouldn’t allow me to sleep.
We called my parents to come back to the hospital around 5 when I hit 10cm dilation and I started to push around 6:00am. This was very painful due to the 1/2ing of the epidural (since Nicole hadn’t dropped below my pelvic bone they thought that more pain might encourage me to push more), the large hot spot area, and being generally really really hot temperature wise. Jim was fantastic: he fanned me, held my leg as instructed (which allowed him to face away from the action area and the mirror that I had requested to be set up so I could watch the process), and was generally very encouraging.
After a half hour of pushing with no progress (still that pelvic bone issue), Dr. Silver suggested we use forceps. “What’s the difference?” I asked. “Another hour of pushing, or she can be out in 10 minutes.” Yeah, easy decision.
We went from a doctor and a nurse to a doctor and 6 nurses within about 20 minutes, but, true to his prediction, the forceps did the trick! Dr. Silver pulled Nicky through to her midsection and after Jim turned him down on his offer to finish delivering her, I got to do the honors of pulling her all the way out.
She came into the world at 8lbs. 14 oz. at 7:05am on 7/11/07 and immediately everyone commented how much like Jim she looks. She had no marks from the forceps but did have lots 
of black hair and overgrown fingernails. Her eyes are a slate color and her general disposition was pretty calm! Jim did cut the cord even though it wasn't on his original agenda.
Overall, she’s a keeper!
The full version:
After getting over the shock of a planned hospital visit that evening, Jim and I headed for our “final meal” at Chipotle (they told me to eat a lot!) and headed over to Mercy at 8:00. They had our room already assigned and I was checked in and donning a hospital gown within about 20 minutes.
Dr. Silver checked me out and determined that since I was a full 4cm inducing me wouldn’t be necessary, breaking my membranes (water) would should do the trick. Christy was our assigned nurse for the evening and she took care of hooking up my IV and getting my stream (not drip!) going- I couldn’t get an epidural until I finished 1 full bag which took a very short 12 minutes.
There was a natural, and therefore noisy, childbirth going on down the hall that kept Dr. Silver away until about 11 but Greg, Mom and Dad had come to visit by then and helped pass the time. When they broke my water by snagging the membranes there was a huge gush of fluid, much more than I had expected. It didn’t hurt a bit!
I had 2 level 4 contractions in 10 minutes and my IV went in- 3 rounds of a burning sensation and then a lot of pressure as the tube went in concluding with a round of cold as the medicine was pushed into me. The numbness started immediately, all except for a spot in my lower abdomen which proved to be my downfall. It’s called a “hot spot”- an area that for no apparent reason doesn’t react to the epidural and allows you to feel whatever the rest of you should be feeling- and mine grew from baseball size to eventually spanning a 12”long by 4” high area in my abdomen with full-force, teeth-gritting contractions that wouldn’t allow me to sleep.
We called my parents to come back to the hospital around 5 when I hit 10cm dilation and I started to push around 6:00am. This was very painful due to the 1/2ing of the epidural (since Nicole hadn’t dropped below my pelvic bone they thought that more pain might encourage me to push more), the large hot spot area, and being generally really really hot temperature wise. Jim was fantastic: he fanned me, held my leg as instructed (which allowed him to face away from the action area and the mirror that I had requested to be set up so I could watch the process), and was generally very encouraging.
After a half hour of pushing with no progress (still that pelvic bone issue), Dr. Silver suggested we use forceps. “What’s the difference?” I asked. “Another hour of pushing, or she can be out in 10 minutes.” Yeah, easy decision.
We went from a doctor and a nurse to a doctor and 6 nurses within about 20 minutes, but, true to his prediction, the forceps did the trick! Dr. Silver pulled Nicky through to her midsection and after Jim turned him down on his offer to finish delivering her, I got to do the honors of pulling her all the way out.
She came into the world at 8lbs. 14 oz. at 7:05am on 7/11/07 and immediately everyone commented how much like Jim she looks. She had no marks from the forceps but did have lots 
of black hair and overgrown fingernails. Her eyes are a slate color and her general disposition was pretty calm! Jim did cut the cord even though it wasn't on his original agenda.Overall, she’s a keeper!
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
It's Time! Dum Dum Dum!
Tonight's the night! They're inducing me at 8:00pm! I was SUPER CRAZY freaked out about this but I've calmed down for the most part. Jen in my office gave me the confidence in that the whole process from very start to finish will be overseen by medical professionals so this is a great way to have a kid. :)
Be impressed if you hear from me in the next few days! I'll try to have Jim post up some pictures!
Be impressed if you hear from me in the next few days! I'll try to have Jim post up some pictures!
Monday, July 09, 2007
Taking Nature into my own hands
So the longest pregnancy on record was 375 days (280 is normal) according to an article in Time .
I broke down and moved my OB appointment from Thursday to tomorrow at 11:00. I'm going to see a doctor i haven't seen before so I’m not sure if that'll work in my favor or against when it comes to inducement. I feel guilty moving nature along medically but I want this kid to be old enough and stable enough to travel and I want jim to be able to stay at home with me for a few days (this is his busiest time of the year).
I also feel sorta guilty for wanting to be induced because I'm not uncomfortable at all. I still have good energy, I don’t think I'm any bigger, and the air conditioning is keeping me cool. I guess we’ll see tomorrow what they say…
I broke down and moved my OB appointment from Thursday to tomorrow at 11:00. I'm going to see a doctor i haven't seen before so I’m not sure if that'll work in my favor or against when it comes to inducement. I feel guilty moving nature along medically but I want this kid to be old enough and stable enough to travel and I want jim to be able to stay at home with me for a few days (this is his busiest time of the year).
I also feel sorta guilty for wanting to be induced because I'm not uncomfortable at all. I still have good energy, I don’t think I'm any bigger, and the air conditioning is keeping me cool. I guess we’ll see tomorrow what they say…
5 days and counting...
At least I'm not offended when people are disappointed to see me. Everyone at work gives me this look of “why are you here!?” Trust me, I'd rather NOT be!! I am really touched though that people are checking in on me to see if I'm okay and if there’s any news, which there never is!
Congrats to Dale for winning the baby pool! I made it to 7/9/07! A painful pinch to Dave who thinks a new baby carrying record needs to be established by me. Uh… NO. : )
If you’re around, entertain me – I wrapped up so many projects at work that I need things to do!
Congrats to Dale for winning the baby pool! I made it to 7/9/07! A painful pinch to Dave who thinks a new baby carrying record needs to be established by me. Uh… NO. : )
If you’re around, entertain me – I wrapped up so many projects at work that I need things to do!
Sunday, July 08, 2007
40 Weeks + 4 Days
Even through the ceiling and garage painting yesterday, which was then followed up with a walk around the block delivering flyers about the house, Nicole stayed snug inside.
Special thanks to Jen and Tom for dinner and Trivial Pursuit last night! Jen got [what's hopefully one of the last opportunities] to feel Nicky move, and caught her as she was rolling over.
I slept fantastic and would be delighted to use this energy and good night's sleep to be a little physically challenged today... hint hint!
Special thanks to Jen and Tom for dinner and Trivial Pursuit last night! Jen got [what's hopefully one of the last opportunities] to feel Nicky move, and caught her as she was rolling over.
I slept fantastic and would be delighted to use this energy and good night's sleep to be a little physically challenged today... hint hint!
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Still no baby....
Pregnancy clearly suits me. At this point I’m wondering if I’ll be pregnant forever! As no sign of Nicole’s arrival has made itself apparent whatsoever, the real possibility of being induced is sinking in. How she went from a due date of 7-7-07, the luckiest day of the century (aka TODAY) to a probable induction date of 7/13/07, a Friday, the most unlucky day of the year, is crazy. I’m talking to her and attempting to explain all the benefits of coming today, but she doesn’t seem to care. : )
Thing is, I don’t feel bad at all! I want to feel something happening, I watch overly attentively, but nothing is happening that didn’t happen a week, a month, 2 months ago. Mom says her labor started out of nowhere and her water never broke with any of us kids. I’m holding out that maybe that one facet of our pregnancies will be the same.
I’m not impatient yet, but I do have concerns about Nicole’s age when we take her to Myrtle Beach in August… I’d have preferred her to be 6 weeks old and at this rate she might be less than a month. I suppose all things will happen at their own time….
Mom bought a double stroller yesterday with intentions of “pushing her granddaughters around the block while they hold hands.” The thought makes me smile.
Thing is, I don’t feel bad at all! I want to feel something happening, I watch overly attentively, but nothing is happening that didn’t happen a week, a month, 2 months ago. Mom says her labor started out of nowhere and her water never broke with any of us kids. I’m holding out that maybe that one facet of our pregnancies will be the same.
I’m not impatient yet, but I do have concerns about Nicole’s age when we take her to Myrtle Beach in August… I’d have preferred her to be 6 weeks old and at this rate she might be less than a month. I suppose all things will happen at their own time….
Mom bought a double stroller yesterday with intentions of “pushing her granddaughters around the block while they hold hands.” The thought makes me smile.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Relationship Foundations
Yes, I'm still here....
*****************************
Relationship balances are often a delicate thing. Taking two people who have completely separate lives before meeting and then trying to blend them together fluidly can be difficult. In talking with Jim about this task, he came up with a great analogy about the choices couples have to make when getting together.
Option 1: Each partner occupies their own silo of a life before getting together. Option 1 states that you continue like this, living on the same “farm” but in separate silos. What this ultimately means is that while each partner continues with their own hobbies, interests, etc., they now have a neighbor to share life with. As an example, separate bank accounts might be kept indefinitely, even through marriage, by people who choose option 1.
Option 2: Each partner continues to dwell in the silo they had before becoming a couple. However, upon coupledom, they build a bridge between the two silos. In this option, individuals continue to do their own things some of the time but fully share resources between them. Partners who choose this option most likely make a point of doing activities together (ie co-ed softball) but also continue with their own individual hobbies as well, even if the other person doesn’t join in.
Option 3: Each person had their own silo when they first got together but each chooses to knock it down and build one giant silo together to fulfill all of their needs. These couples enjoy doing nearly everything together, keep very few secrets from one another, and practice full partnership when it comes to decision-making.
Jim and I both fall into Option 2. Fortunately, we both want Option 2 and there was no dissention between us on how to live our daily lives once we got together. He has softball, I come watch. I have teaching, he stays out of it. I enjoy reading, he sits next to me and reads too. Jim has his CMA studies, I could care less. I cook, he cleans. It’s a good balance.
I think it’d be challenging for couples who disagree on what option to run their relationship in.
*****************************
Relationship balances are often a delicate thing. Taking two people who have completely separate lives before meeting and then trying to blend them together fluidly can be difficult. In talking with Jim about this task, he came up with a great analogy about the choices couples have to make when getting together.
Option 1: Each partner occupies their own silo of a life before getting together. Option 1 states that you continue like this, living on the same “farm” but in separate silos. What this ultimately means is that while each partner continues with their own hobbies, interests, etc., they now have a neighbor to share life with. As an example, separate bank accounts might be kept indefinitely, even through marriage, by people who choose option 1.
Option 2: Each partner continues to dwell in the silo they had before becoming a couple. However, upon coupledom, they build a bridge between the two silos. In this option, individuals continue to do their own things some of the time but fully share resources between them. Partners who choose this option most likely make a point of doing activities together (ie co-ed softball) but also continue with their own individual hobbies as well, even if the other person doesn’t join in.
Option 3: Each person had their own silo when they first got together but each chooses to knock it down and build one giant silo together to fulfill all of their needs. These couples enjoy doing nearly everything together, keep very few secrets from one another, and practice full partnership when it comes to decision-making.
Jim and I both fall into Option 2. Fortunately, we both want Option 2 and there was no dissention between us on how to live our daily lives once we got together. He has softball, I come watch. I have teaching, he stays out of it. I enjoy reading, he sits next to me and reads too. Jim has his CMA studies, I could care less. I cook, he cleans. It’s a good balance.
I think it’d be challenging for couples who disagree on what option to run their relationship in.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
The New Digs
There’s been some house progress in the last two days. My parents went out on Friday of last week and they had the “ceiling” on the basement in. When we stopped by on Tuesday night this is what we found!!
Front view (garage jutting out on the left, next set of windows are the dining room, then the front door in the middle, and living room on the right corner)
"Welcome Home!"
Standing in the great room, the solid plywood marks the fireplace and on either side and above are windows! Kitchen is the room just visable on the far left side of the picture.
This picture was taken standing in the greatroom and looking up into one of the guest rooms. Underneath this bedroom is the office.
Not that I expected anyone to be critical, but it was nice to hear positive feedback when we took friends over Wednesday afternoon to see the house. I think now that the framing is up it’s easier to visualize what we’ve gotten ourselves into- debt!
In regards to our current house, I put a FSBO sign at the end of our street yesterday morning and we got a call and request for tour from a single guy my parents’ age which we were happy to accommodate. He seemed very interested in the house and asked a lot of structural questions that I was glad Jim was around to answer. He asked us for our bottom-line price (to be determined) and said to give him a call this week. Jim’s skeptical because he seemed so happy with things right away, but I'm not going to look at any enthusiasm at this point as a bad thing.
We’re averaging about 2 hits/week on the Fairfield house so far and I hope it continues. Chuck and Dale both commented that they think $150K is fair for our house and are surprised we’re willing to negotiate anything below that. Very flattering!
Front view (garage jutting out on the left, next set of windows are the dining room, then the front door in the middle, and living room on the right corner)
"Welcome Home!"
Standing in the great room, the solid plywood marks the fireplace and on either side and above are windows! Kitchen is the room just visable on the far left side of the picture.
This picture was taken standing in the greatroom and looking up into one of the guest rooms. Underneath this bedroom is the office.Not that I expected anyone to be critical, but it was nice to hear positive feedback when we took friends over Wednesday afternoon to see the house. I think now that the framing is up it’s easier to visualize what we’ve gotten ourselves into- debt!
In regards to our current house, I put a FSBO sign at the end of our street yesterday morning and we got a call and request for tour from a single guy my parents’ age which we were happy to accommodate. He seemed very interested in the house and asked a lot of structural questions that I was glad Jim was around to answer. He asked us for our bottom-line price (to be determined) and said to give him a call this week. Jim’s skeptical because he seemed so happy with things right away, but I'm not going to look at any enthusiasm at this point as a bad thing.
We’re averaging about 2 hits/week on the Fairfield house so far and I hope it continues. Chuck and Dale both commented that they think $150K is fair for our house and are surprised we’re willing to negotiate anything below that. Very flattering!
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
40 Weeks - Fully Baked!
How your baby's growing: It's hard to say for sure how big your baby will be, but the average newborn weighs in at a little over 7 pounds and is about 20 inches long. His skull bones are not yet fused, which allows them to overlap a bit if it's a snug fit through the birth canal during labor. This so-called "molding" is the reason your baby's noggin may look a little conehead-ish after birth. Rest assured — it's normal and temporary.
After months of anticipation, your due date rolls around, and... you're still pregnant. It's a frustrating, but common, situation in which to find yourself. You may not be as late as you think, especially if you're relying solely on a due date calculated from the day of your last period because sometimes women ovulate later than expected. Even with reliable dating, some women have prolonged pregnancies for no apparent reason. You still have a couple of weeks before you'll be considered "post-term." But to be sure your baby is still thriving, your practitioner will schedule you for testing to keep an eye on her if your pregnancy continues.
My Take: Today is “supposed to be” Nicky’s birthday. She’s still snug inside me as of 12:47pm with no signs of wanting to see the world. I’m not frustrated with this fact as I still think the Fourth of July would be a cool birthday and there's 12 hours left in the day. I DO NOT want to go into labor at my parents’ party though. Therefore, I’d be just as happy with 7/5 or the ever cool 7/7/07.
Jim and I built her swing this morning and it’s sitting in the family room waiting for her. Her clothes are waiting, tags on still just in case she’s a Christopher after all, and I think we’re both mentally prepared for her arrival. Hopefully it’ll be any day now!
After months of anticipation, your due date rolls around, and... you're still pregnant. It's a frustrating, but common, situation in which to find yourself. You may not be as late as you think, especially if you're relying solely on a due date calculated from the day of your last period because sometimes women ovulate later than expected. Even with reliable dating, some women have prolonged pregnancies for no apparent reason. You still have a couple of weeks before you'll be considered "post-term." But to be sure your baby is still thriving, your practitioner will schedule you for testing to keep an eye on her if your pregnancy continues.
My Take: Today is “supposed to be” Nicky’s birthday. She’s still snug inside me as of 12:47pm with no signs of wanting to see the world. I’m not frustrated with this fact as I still think the Fourth of July would be a cool birthday and there's 12 hours left in the day. I DO NOT want to go into labor at my parents’ party though. Therefore, I’d be just as happy with 7/5 or the ever cool 7/7/07.
Jim and I built her swing this morning and it’s sitting in the family room waiting for her. Her clothes are waiting, tags on still just in case she’s a Christopher after all, and I think we’re both mentally prepared for her arrival. Hopefully it’ll be any day now!
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
What's Up
- Happy Birthday, Lindsay!
- The “For Sale By Owner” sign is officially in the yard as of last night. I put it in the ground and actually it made me excited, not sad as I sort of expected it to do. UPDATE: Just got a call about the house- 18hours after the sign went up!! Just general interest makes me happy!
I hear that our new house has a ceiling on the basement now – we’ll make a quick stop over before we head to dinner for Linds tonight.
- Dr. appt. was good but still no baby. I'm sitting at 3cm dilated and still 75% effaced. No painful contractions but a whole lot of eagerness surrounding her arrival (which is incredibly touching). New goal is to be 7/5/07 so I can still go to my parents Fourth of July party without incident.
- I have gotten so much done at work in preparation for being out that I'm now pretty bored. I'm obviously not going to start any new projects, but without any that I can really finish either (to pre-mature in the process to do so) I am dying at work. I’ve also discovered that I have a very hard time entertaining myself without a book, project around the house or TV/movies. The internet just doesn’t interest me and I’d feel too guilty playing online Euchre for half the day (though many of my friends find no fault in sleeping while on the clock, I can’t do that either in good conscious).
- The “For Sale By Owner” sign is officially in the yard as of last night. I put it in the ground and actually it made me excited, not sad as I sort of expected it to do. UPDATE: Just got a call about the house- 18hours after the sign went up!! Just general interest makes me happy!
I hear that our new house has a ceiling on the basement now – we’ll make a quick stop over before we head to dinner for Linds tonight.
- Dr. appt. was good but still no baby. I'm sitting at 3cm dilated and still 75% effaced. No painful contractions but a whole lot of eagerness surrounding her arrival (which is incredibly touching). New goal is to be 7/5/07 so I can still go to my parents Fourth of July party without incident.
- I have gotten so much done at work in preparation for being out that I'm now pretty bored. I'm obviously not going to start any new projects, but without any that I can really finish either (to pre-mature in the process to do so) I am dying at work. I’ve also discovered that I have a very hard time entertaining myself without a book, project around the house or TV/movies. The internet just doesn’t interest me and I’d feel too guilty playing online Euchre for half the day (though many of my friends find no fault in sleeping while on the clock, I can’t do that either in good conscious).
Monday, July 02, 2007
Weekend of 6/29/07
I’ve been hoping/expecting Nicole to come early (and technically she still can!) so we have NOTHING planned on our calendars from here until October. This lead to what felt like a long weekend because of so much freedom and a little “wow, what do we do now?” with nothing scheduled.
Friday: Work was BORING. I'm running out of stuff to do as I’ve prepared so well for being gone. When I got home Jim and I hung out and watched The Office which the Erdahls let us borrow. Jim laughs out loud so often and so hard to that show that it makes me enjoy it all the more.
Saturday: I met Lori for brunch at First Watch (delicious omelets and potatoes) and made a quick side trip to Rowe’s Furniture before I met mom for MOTG dress shopping in Kenwood. We discovered that there aren’t many options for formal dresses out there and it’s a darn good thing she picked up the one dress she liked in her size last week. When I got home Jim and I worked on the house more (ok, lots more Jim than me) on the exterior – mulching, edging, cleaning gutters, realigning the front pavement stones, etc. The outside of the house looks great and the reason for our work is obvious to those who know why- the neighbors came to tell us again how sad it is that we’re moving. Awwww!
Sunday: Sunday morning Jim and I had breakfast, relaxed,
and then I went with Lindsay and crew to order bridesmaid dresses for her Oct. 20 wedding. She has very good taste and I'm quite happy with what she picked out – it’s flattering on everyone and very reasonable cost wise (<$130). Jim and I did a huge Meijer run stocking up for my expected 3 meals a day at home (hopefully starting soon!).
Sunday evening we got dolled up and met Tom/Meghan, Dave/Rachel & Dale at the Precinct for dinner to celebrate Dale’s promotion. Neither Jim nor I had been there before and the food was fantastic! They put us up in a private room and we dined for almost 3 hours! Dale gave us a really cool book on parenting which both Jim AND I will certainly read (thanks again, Dale), and we got to hear more about D & R’s honeymoon. Great food, great company!
Oh, and a special shout-out from last weekend that I somehow missed! - Thanks to the Boston’s for their visit and lunch with us on Saturday! We only get to see them a few times a year now that they’ve moved to Charlotte so it was great catching up!!
Friday: Work was BORING. I'm running out of stuff to do as I’ve prepared so well for being gone. When I got home Jim and I hung out and watched The Office which the Erdahls let us borrow. Jim laughs out loud so often and so hard to that show that it makes me enjoy it all the more.
Saturday: I met Lori for brunch at First Watch (delicious omelets and potatoes) and made a quick side trip to Rowe’s Furniture before I met mom for MOTG dress shopping in Kenwood. We discovered that there aren’t many options for formal dresses out there and it’s a darn good thing she picked up the one dress she liked in her size last week. When I got home Jim and I worked on the house more (ok, lots more Jim than me) on the exterior – mulching, edging, cleaning gutters, realigning the front pavement stones, etc. The outside of the house looks great and the reason for our work is obvious to those who know why- the neighbors came to tell us again how sad it is that we’re moving. Awwww!
Sunday: Sunday morning Jim and I had breakfast, relaxed,
and then I went with Lindsay and crew to order bridesmaid dresses for her Oct. 20 wedding. She has very good taste and I'm quite happy with what she picked out – it’s flattering on everyone and very reasonable cost wise (<$130). Jim and I did a huge Meijer run stocking up for my expected 3 meals a day at home (hopefully starting soon!).Sunday evening we got dolled up and met Tom/Meghan, Dave/Rachel & Dale at the Precinct for dinner to celebrate Dale’s promotion. Neither Jim nor I had been there before and the food was fantastic! They put us up in a private room and we dined for almost 3 hours! Dale gave us a really cool book on parenting which both Jim AND I will certainly read (thanks again, Dale), and we got to hear more about D & R’s honeymoon. Great food, great company!
Oh, and a special shout-out from last weekend that I somehow missed! - Thanks to the Boston’s for their visit and lunch with us on Saturday! We only get to see them a few times a year now that they’ve moved to Charlotte so it was great catching up!!
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