Another Craigslist "Find"

Check out what I managed to “score” yesterday off of Austin’s Craigslist: Do you SEE all of those bottles? I mean, do you really see them all? Here, let me zoom in a bit and show it all off: That’s FOUR bags of bottle nipples, another bag of storage lids (for breast milk), 2 sippy cups, an unopened box of Medela pump converters to the Avent bottles, more sealed storage lids, and the manual Avent breast pump – complete with adapters, bags and such. Then there are 6 used 4 oz. bottles with rings and lids, 4 NIB 4 oz bottles with the storage lids only (but they’re the same as the regular bottles, so you can interchange the lids, nipples and rings). There’s 5 extra rings, and an 11 oz. bottle. And then TEN 9 oz. bottles complete with rings and lids.

Would you like to guess what I paid for all of that? Go ahead, take a guess - you’ll never in a million years get it right!

I paid $30 cash for that whole box of Avent bottles/supplies!!! What a find! Yes, I know that they’re all used – I get that. But I remember having new, shiny bottles with my daughter and after one or two washings, they looked to be in the same condition that these bottles are in. I kid you not. I plan on tossing all of the nipples out, and at least buying new nipples, since that’s the only part that he’ll actually have in his mouth. The rest will all be washed and sterilized and ready to go. And yes, I realize that I could wash/sterilize the nipples too, but Brent’s drawing a line at using used nipples. He gets the cost savings – there was at least $150-$200 worth of Avent products in that box that I paid $30 for, but he totally doesn’t mind spending $25 on new nipples at each stage of nipples to get new ones. And I’m ok with that too, since I just saved SO much on actual bottles!

Update on the crazy play-pen lady. Brandi, my good friend, was most persistent and managed to get the missing parts from the crazy play-pen lady. They are now at our house safe and sound. Not that it didn’t nearly drive us both crazy dealing with crazy play-pen lady – but it all worked out in the end. I just wonder why some people who use Craigslist expect more for less?

Why couldn’t every transaction happen the way the bottle one went down? I contacted the seller, she still had the product, she agreed that I could have it, we arranged a meeting place/time for the next day, and we stuck to it. Even though her little boy ended up being sick, and she needed to move the time around a bit, we still worked with each other, respected the other’s time and other responsibilities, and followed through with our ends of the bargain. I paid in cash, the amount that she wanted, and she provided me with a complete product. She even took the time to go through the box with me before I left just to make sure that everything was included. And she apologized for it being just in a box and not wrapped up all pretty! Like I care what it came in for $30!!!

So I’ve just decided that Craigslist is hit and miss. Sometimes you’ll get the crazy play-pen lady, and other times you’ll get a nice, normal sane person. It’s a crap shot either way. Have you had luck at finding things on Craigslist? I’m curious to hear.

JoAnn's Coupon

If you're in need of a printable in-store use 40% off coupon to JoAnn's Fabrics, follow this link.

Thirty-Five Weeks

Here we are at that big milestone of 35/35 – for those of you who might not know, that’s 35 weeks and 35 days left. Although if you ask me, I don’t think that I’ve really got 35 days left. But that’s just my opinion. There’s been a lot going on this past week, and yes, I’m a few days late on my pictures and my posting, but I’ll do my best to catch you up.

According to babycenter.com, Jax doesn’t have much room left in which to maneuver in now that he’s over 18 inches long and weighs in at a whopping 5.25 pounds (think honeydew melon). Because it’s so snug in my womb, he isn’t likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times that he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed at this point (yea!) and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete – he’ll just spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

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It’s crazy to me to think that my uterus grows and expands until it reaches just underneath my rib cage. It’s not supposed to be that high, so it makes perfect sense to me that women have a baby “pooch” after having kids. I did what I consider to be a courageous act just yesterday. After the shower, the girls spent the night and we went shopping for the remaining baby items that I absolutely needed to get before Jax makes his appearance, and we stopped off at the local Outlet Mall. While there, we went into the Victoria’s Secret store and they had some really cool jeans on sale for $14.99 – so I bought a pair. In my pre-pregnancy size. I told Brent that I was calling them my “I hope” jeans – you know, for “I hope” that I can get my fat a** into them after birthing this baby! LOL!

And just to make my point a little clearer, here are my weekly belly shots. Can you tell that he’s dropping lower with each passing day? I can tell, that’s for sure. I’m still having contractions, but they’ve subsided and I wasn’t having as many this past week. Now, having said that, on Sunday the pains/contractions that I was having over the past few weeks changed in their nature. They’re sharper, more intense and not at all like cramps. Maybe that’s the “lightening” as my boy descends lower into my pelvis to prepare to enter the birth canal and make his appearance. Of course, the doctor doesn’t want to meet him just yet, so I’m doing my best to stay off of my feet and rest. I will be honest and admit that I didn’t do a lot of resting over the weekend, but I did before the weekend and now that the weekend is over that’s all that I’m doing.

I haven’t had any major complaints really about sleeping. Then I went and jinxed myself apparently, because this past week has been really hard to get a good night’s sleep. I thought that it had something to do with me being on partial bed rest and laying down most of each afternoon. But then, I didn’t take a nap on Friday, Saturday or Sunday and I still slept like poo, so my theory didn’t hold much water.

I’ve watched a lot of tv. I’ve read two or three books. I’ve done a lot of crossword puzzles. And I have played so many hands of Canfield on my iPhone that I just have to put it down. And not pick it back up. I’ve been surfing the net a lot, and that helps to pass the time. So if you know of a really good blog that I should be reading, leave me a comment. I’m keeping my Reader so clean that I feel like I can add a few to it. Help a girl out!

So that’s about it for now. We go back to the doctor on Thursday – can’t wait! Not really, but I thought that if I wrote in an excited tone that maybe that tone would convey on to my actual feelings – maybe it’ll work, maybe it won’t.

Nothing "BIG" Happening Here, I Promise!

Do you worry about us pregnant bloggers when we “go away” for a few days and don’t have anything posting while we’re out?

I do…so sorry to disappoint you, but baby watch is STILL going on (which is a GOOD thing for me!) and I haven’t been absent due to being otherwise “occupied” just really, really, really, really busy. Did I mention that I was busy? LOL!

My friends threw us a baby shower this past weekend, that was held at our house, and they did an AMAZING job…not that we expected anything less! The decorations were great, the food was nom-nom, the cake was TO DIE FOR…and of course, our friends and family were SO generous with the gifts! All the makings of a good shower, if you ask me.

I’ve got a TON of pictures…that I’ll try to start going through and uploading today…but I only slept for like 2-2.5 hours last night…the little guy was busy, and I had a headache. So maybe today will be spent napping…and then tonight when I can’t sleep, I’ll work on the pictures! :) Just kidding…well, maybe not, but I will TRY to sleep tonight, I promise.

I know that I also need to post a 35 week update, with belly shots – it’s getting to where I completely look like I’ve got a basketball underneath my shirt! So maybe after a good night’s sleep I’ll have more motivation to do all of that…but on a good note, when I couldn’t sleep last night, I googled “how to change the font on your blog” and came across these instructions which worked like a charm! If the font doesn’t show up in your Google Reader, click over and check it out…and if you blog too, there’s a cool little tutorial for you if you ever want to do some different fonts than the 5 that blogger offers for use!

Sandwhiches...Again?

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Ok...so back to parenting lessons for a minute...or two...or fifty-seven! It seems that as a parent you're constantly involved in lessons. You're either teaching or lesson, or sometimes learning one of your own. I'd like to talk today about sandwhiches. Ham and cheese, PB&J, Turkey and swiss, whatever you like best...maybe that's peanut butter and banana?

Anyway, no matter which one we're talking about, sandwhiches are a versatile meal to have when you have children. Especially ones under the age of 5 or those that are entering their teen years who act like garbage disposals because they are starting to consume so much food that you can feel at time as if they're eating you out of house and home. And sometimes sandwhiches can be used to teach your children a lesson...

I mentioned briefly in the infamous “door post” the other day that another little lesson we’re working on with our children right now is eating nothing but sandwiches. I’ll explain, or try to, why we’re doing this…our children have been taught (by us) that eating out is ok, a good thing and a regular everyday occurrence. When in reality, it shouldn’t be. Yes, I can admit that there are times when it’s easier to eat out than to eat at home. When there’s only one person in the house for instance. Or if you’ve got soccer practice at a time when it’s too early to eat before practice and getting close to bedtime when practice is done, so stopping at Sonic on the way home is just logical. It’s also a good reward – you made straight A’s? Then you get to pick where we eat out tonight to celebrate.

But I don’t think that we should have started the pattern of eating out because it was easier on us as parents. And that’s just what we did. I own up to my part in this, I truly do. I can also admit to my kids having a crappy attitude about eating at home now because they EXPECT to be taken out to eat. They don’t say thank you to us for providing the meal (although they typically do when we cook at home). Instead, as they sit there eating the $40 in pizza that we just paid for (with no thanks) they ask if we can stop and get snow cones on the way home from dinner.

I’m sorry, what did you just say? Oh no, no, no…that’s NOT how it’s going to be.

So we decided that we would eat at home until they could learn to appreciate that it takes money (which means going to work and earning money) to feed them and that they should be more appreciative. So we’ve taken away eating out. Not until any set time in the future, but just for now. I mean, this was probably a change that was coming anyway with a new baby joining the family…so we’ve just started it a little early.

And since I am staying off of my feet, that means that we’re not eating home-cooked meals, we’re eating a lot of sandwiches. I don’t feel good enough to cook, and Brent’s working a lot of hours right now, so he’s too tired to cook as well. Enter in the sandwich. The most versatile of foods that there is…with a few variations in meat, cheese and other fillings, there are endless options out there. **Side note – our sandwiches don’t really look as good as the one pictured…I’m just saying!

We started this on Tuesday. It’s now Friday. And I’ve rediscovered a love for PB&J with chips. Yummy, yummy…it’s what I’ve had for either lunch or dinner for the past few days. The first evening that we did this, both Brent and I talked the “big talk” about how much we love sandwiches and can eat them every single day no problem. Jenna, being the 8-year-old kiss-up that she is claimed to love sandwiches too…Tanner? Let’s just say that he’s 12 and leave it at that. If you have a 12-year-old or can remember what it was like when you were 12, you’ll probably get a good idea of what his reaction was.

Brent got off of work early today, which is good news as we’re hosting our own baby shower at our house tomorrow and with me on partial bedrest, I can’t do a lot of the cleaning that needs to be done. He called to tell me to not eat lunch, that we’d grab something when I got home…and I reminded him about our love for sandwiches and the lesson that we’re trying to teach our children. This is what I heard on the other end of the line…

…cricket, cricket…

Yeah. But he agreed to follow the pact…even if it was grudgingly. You see, sometimes when teaching your kids a lesson, you get a lesson in return. Should our lesson be “think things through before you speak?” Maybe. I’m really ok with the sandwich pact, but I can tell that Brent’s getting tired of them…but I’m proud of him for sticking to it and following through with the lesson. Because as an extra bonus that neither one of us thought of, we’ve saved a TON of money this week on not eating out! And with a baby on the way, you KNOW that’s a good thing! I think that we’ll actually cook something tonight though, just to have a break in the whole sandwich plan…

Don’t worry about Brent too much…I did give him some extra motivation today. On Sunday night, all of our guests for the weekend will be gone and both kids will be with their other parents…Johnny Carino’s, here we come!

The Rest of the Story...

...Man! Did anyone else have a Paul Harvey flashback or what?!?! I sure did...

Anyway, so I promised to let you see the results of the rest of our evening of hard work yesterday, and despite evidence to the contrary I try to keep my word.

Unfortunately, you won't get to see as much evidence of my insanely great photography skills since I was getting the "evil eye" from my hubby at the amount of pictures that I was taking. In fact, to be honest, I think that I actually got asked this question: "You're NOT going to take as many pictures of this one, are you?" Except that it wasn't really a question, if you know what I mean... :)

So here goes. We also purchased the Expedite bookshelf while we were at IKEA the other day, like I already mentioned...and here's what it looked like out of the boxes (yes, there were THREE boxes for such an uncomplicated bookshelf!)... And the parts, such as they are... In fact, that's all of the pictures that I have until the final steps. (Insert sad face here) It looks REALLY big laying on the floor! Then Brent used his big man muscles and stood it upright... Just double checking his work... So once we slid it into the right spot and got it all in place, this is what it will look like walking into our room... Minus the couch with the tired-looking boy sitting on it, of course!And then to round the end of the bookshelf, you'll come to the "entrance" of Jax's room... We actually had a few more parts left over from this installation, just because we chose not to anchor it to the wall just yet. I want to be sure about where it's going before doing that step! And the next day, the kids helped me unpack the four boxes of books that I had in our bedroom and load up the shelf, so this is what it will really look like. I'm actually still looking for some maroon-colored curtains to hang on the back of the bookshelf to make it more like a wall...but BB&B didn't have anything that I really liked when I checked there tonight. Of course not, that would be too easy, right? Yeah, but it works like this for now.

So there you have it...most of Jax's nursery is put together and all. Yes, we still need to paint the trim in the room, redo the baseboards and hang the crown molding...along with the artwork and blanket that came with Jax's bedroom set, but the really big hard stuff is done. After my shower this weekend, I'll start washing all of the baby clothes and putting stuff away into the dresser and making it ready for him to come home to. I can't wait!

Putting the Nursery Furniture Together...

I think that I mentioned that we had a busy weekend…didn’t I mention that? Well, if I didn’t already mention it…we did! With my baby shower just one short week away, and me conveniently placed on partial bed rest…we needed a nice, productive weekend under our belts. I’ll let you be the judge to see if we got it or not…

I wrote here about getting the nursery furniture the weekend before last. Well, with Brent starting his new job last week, there was no chance for us to work on getting the dresser assembled during the week, or even getting the boxes moved upstairs even…poor boy was TIRED! With that in mind, we made it a point to start on this project bright and early Saturday morning.

Brent and Tanner toted the boxes up the stairs…and proceeded to unpack the various parts and pieces.

I was downstairs working on something else. Then I heard a shout from above that they might need some help…and I came to the rescue.

Look, this is my story and if I want to be the heroine, then I can! LOL!

Anyway, I was put in charge of these…

and this lovely book of instructions which contain almost NO words what-so-ever…just pictures.

Good thing that I’m so super-duper smart and can accurately depict what I’m seeing on paper to the two worker boys! That picture is also proof (Mom) that my spot was on the couch with the book of “destructions” and all of the various parts. Would that make me the parts-giver-outer person? Just wondering…

I was also in charge of taking pictures…yes, that was a self-appointed position…one that quickly annoyed SOMEONE. (not me)

Anyway, so these piles of pieces are what we started with…and the boys quickly got to work. Before I knew it, the skeleton of the dresser was quickly coming together.


Then it was time to stand it all up…

And put on the top of the dresser…

Which was BY FAR the most difficult step of the entire process. Brent was SO frustrated during this one little step…word of warning to those others that might be looking to get the Hemnes dresser. It did all eventually get put on, but it took some hard work from Brent.

Doesn’t he do good work?

Next, it was time to put the drawers together.

Can you tell that he’s getting a little annoyed by all of the pictures? This was easier, since they all mostly went together in the exact same manner, just with varying number of screws and other parts. Before I knew it, we were sliding in drawers…

And then it seemed like 15 minutes passed and the drawers were all finished.

Here is the finished product!

Didn’t I tell you that my man did great work? Tanner did an amazing job of helping too, and this was a great time to teach him some handy skills that he’ll use later in life. And not to toot my own horn or anything, but I did a FANTASTIC job of direction and handing out the right parts, as this was all that was left over…

We slid the dresser into its spot where we were thinking that it would go, and I have to admit that it looks really nice against the wall color. And I LOVE Brent’s idea to match the trim in the room (including crown molding) to the dresser stain…I'll show you what we found as soon as I remember to stop at the store and get a sample can...

Last, but not least, we opened up the lamp that matches Jax’s bedding set and placed it on the dresser. Check out how CUTE it is…


But wait! It gets better! Since we finished THAT piece of furniture in record IKEA time, we moved on to the bookshelf…but I’ll keep you in suspense about how it turned out until tomorrow! I know, I hear you…I’m SO mean!

A Wicked Sense of Humor?

Well...after the rough night that was my life last night, I think that I received definitive proof that God actually might be a woman with a wicked sense of humor...

I went to the bathroom today while at work (nothing new there) and we all know from here that it's a habit of mine to check out the grey hairs that might/might not be present each time I go pee.

Yeah, well, this morning, I did my normal check and do you know what I found? Yep, gray hairs.

Nope, not short ones right at my roots. You know, some that might have grown in to replace all of those that I viciously yank out...

Oh no, no, no. That would be too simple. These were LONG. Like back in my normal hair length (I wore my hair down today, that's how I saw them!)...and they are PURE WHITE.

So you see...definitive proof that God might actually be a woman with a wicked sense of humor!

...So We Took Their Doors!

Yeah, that's the punch line that I'm using for the title. But I promise that if you stick with me on this short rant that you'll laugh your a** off along with us!

So we have two kids. And another one on the way...and yes, there are days when I question my own sanity. Especially if it happens to be one of those days where people remind you about their friend who had three kids and the third one broke the mold...yeah. So I think that the hormones are really kicking in during these last 30 days because I have been on a tear lately. If I'm not crying about something then I'm probably annoyed or ticked off about something else...and I REALLY hope for everyone else in this house that it's just the hormones. (And yes, I know that they'll get worse after the birth...but please keep that to yourself and don't tell my husband or children that! I think that they don't know that yet...and I'd like to keep that a secret for now!)

Anyway. So we have two kids. Two kids that have become somewhat "spoiled" shall we say? They are just being normal kids, but they really need to be taken down a notch or two in our opinion...and yes, this is something that Brent and I are totally, 100% on the same page about. We are in perfect agreement in this. They've been pestering us lately, but I really mean just me, and things have just come to a head in the last two or three days. I'll moderate my comments here and stop and say that they're good kids. For the most part...they just need a little reminding about how good they have it.

They've become accustomed to things. Things that we buy for them. Things that we do for them. Things that we don't have to be doing. And I'll stop right here and take full responsibility for the "monsters" that we've created. Putting a child through a divorce and living in two houses is hard on a kid. It's also hard on the parents too. For so long we wanted to be the parent that did fun things, that spent time with their kids, that took them cool places ALL THE TIME because we could. And now, just like would be expected, they've gotten used to that life. They now expect those things from us all of the time.

It's got to stop.

But the last few days, the problem has been more that they don't listen. Yes, I know, just another normal kid complaint...but when you're 9 months pregnant, it's a big deal. I don't want to repeat myself 4,376 times just to get the towel picked up off of the floor of one of their bedrooms. I don't want to have to ask 792 times for some peace and quiet in the afternoons while I'm trying to rest and follow doctor's orders for them to be quiet. And today...I didn't want to tell them even ONE MORE TIME to stop slamming their bedroom doors.

While I was trying to nap.

Me, the 9 month pregnant woman.

Whose hormones are starting to rage out of control.

When I was woken up for the 3rd time from the catnap that I was trying to take by a knocking on one of their doors, or a slam of the other one's doors, or a whiny little "You aren't supposed to use the locks!" I sort of lost it.

I calmly got up out of my bed. I put on my flip flops and walked downstairs. I managed to not even glare at them on my way past their rooms to get downstairs. Then I saw Brent trying to take a nap downstairs on the couch and I went completely postal. On the kids, not Brent. I told him that I wanted their doors taken off the hinges.

He just looked at me.

Then he said "I've tried to keep them quiet so that you could rest and I've asked them repeatedly to stop playing with their doors..." (Like he was the one in trouble)

And my response was "Yes, I'm sure that you have. But just like they don't listen when we tell them other things, they're not listening now. And the only thing that I can think to do to teach them a lesson is to remove their doors."

I took a deep breath along with a long pause...and then I said "So, please go upstairs and take care of that."

Then I went into the kitchen and made myself a sandwhich. (This is another lesson for them - until they can learn to appreciate the fact that they get to eat out for dinner/lunch and not to expect it, we're ALL eating nothing but sandwhiches.)

Brent happily got up from the couch, went out to the garage to get some tools...and he went upstairs and took their doors off of the hinges.

You might think that I'm mean. Maybe someone out there will think that I'm a genius. But I have a responsibility to raise my kids with some sense of manners, respect and responsibility to take with them out into the world towards other people, themselves and the things that are in their lives. And I feel that I haven't done much of that lately...and since we don't beleive in corporal punishment to any extreme, this seemed like a logical solution. Because it was either that or strangle someone...I think that I took the high road...

And yes, when I went upstairs after eating my wonderfully yummy PB&J sandwhich with pretzels and sweet tea for dinner...I laughed. I laughed out loud and hard to see them both in their rooms without any doors. I know that it was a little mean...but it was really hard not to laugh at the situation.

And when I say that I laughed, I really mean that I laughed so hard that I almost peed my pants...which isn't hard to do when you're 9 months pregnant!

Thirty-Four Weeks

I guess that I should skip ahead since my doctor has officially moved my due date up by two weeks...which would make me thirty-six weeks. But you know what? I'm feeling pretty crappy today and VERY lazy and since doing that would involve me going to babycenter.com and logging in and then changing my due date in order to receive updated and correctly positioned weekly updates...I'm not gonna do that.

Maybe tomorrow.

And since moving my due date up then puts me a week ahead of where he is...it's just too confusing. I mean, these days, I'm lucky to remember my own phone number, much less what week I'm on, he's on and babycenter.com says...so we'll stick with what's working for us right now, ok? k - thanks!

So with all that being said, according to babycenter.com my baby now weighs right around 4.75 pounds (about the size of your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. His fat layers, which he'll need to regulate his body temp once he's born, are filling him out, making him rounder. His skin is also smoother than ever. His central nervous system is maturing as well and his lungs are continuing to mature too.

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Babycenter.com also tells me that if I've been nervous about preterm labor (umm...yeah!) then I'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health conditions generally do fine. Whew. Thanks, babycenter.com - big relief! There might be a short stay at the hospital involved, in the neonatal unit, and possibly some short-term health issues, but they usually do as well as full-term babies.

Well...that relieves SOME of my worries! :)

So you know my whole update...there's not a lot more to say. I'm still having contractions each day, but the half day of bedrest seems to be helping that out a bit as I don't seem to be having as many of them as I was last week when I was still working most all day long. The flip side to the bed rest? I ache. Like all over. That's not true. It's not all over...it's specific to my back. And even more specific than that, it's specific to my pelvis.

If I could accurately describe it...which I don't pretend to be able to do...it feels like someone who's really large and strong has one hand on each side of my pelvis and is trying to rip it into two pieces like you would a sheet of paper. Yeah, that pretty much sums it up...not fun! I did do a quick search on that symptom last night...which I know that I shouldn't have done (Brandi!) and I didn't really like what I read. It's one of three things...just normal pain for a baby that's turned sunny-side-up and is slightly large for a person's small sized frame, it's preliminary signs of pelvis seperation (OUCH!), or it could be the first signs of labor.

Yeah, I didn't like any of those choices either...but at least I didn't find out that I had been stung by a South Austrailian insect who carries some rare disease that can only be cured by a blood transfusion from a monkey...

See? Things can ALWAYS be worse! I'm trying to lighten the heavy mood, in case you can't tell. Mentioning humor, let's take a look at those belly shots...I was a day or two behind in taking these, but here you go!

Yeah. It's getting larger. Nothing more really needs to be said. Except that I feel like I'm about at my max stretching point...I can't compare it to how big I got with Jenna. That was 8 years ago and like I said, there are days that I'm having trouble remembering my own age, much less how big around I got during my last pregnancy! LOL!

And no, that's not a stretch mark right below my belly button, that's where my pants were digging into my belly after eating pizza rolls last night!

Ok - gotta go. Not that I really have anything to do...you'll probably be so sick of seeing me now that I have my internet problem fixed...but what's a girl to do all afternoon long? :)

Holy Cow!

Well...I'm sorta embarrassed to admit that it took me almost two WHOLE afternoons to figure out what the hey was wrong with my wireless network at home. I gave up on Friday, and then thought that maybe it was something with my work laptop...so when our IT guy stopped by today to install a new program on my station, I asked him about it.

Then I came home and got ALL kinds of excited to see the home network show up...and then it took another TWO HOURS to get it to stay connected and not continue to drop the connection every 5 minutes.

I'm usually smarter than this...honest, I am. But I'm glad that it's fixed now. At least for these 5 minutes.

Because if I couldn't figure this out, I was going to go nuts with a capital N at home all afternoon with only daytime TV to keep me "entertained" while I lay in bed doing nothing...

Quick Update...

...for all of my friends who just couldn't wait for the update to come out here - THANK YOU for emailing me and checking on me! I felt so loved!

Everything is fine...I'll try to sum this up quick and then do an official update (with pics) later tonight or tomorrow.

I am compeltely healthy. Still having Braxton Hicks contractions, which concerns the doctor. She's also concerned because I had ZERO weight gain in the past two weeks. Baby boy grew one cm - he's now measuring 35 weeks and my week count should be on 34 weeks. So, he's still large, but maybe he had just hit a growth spurt a few weeks ago and he's slowed down a little bit since then.

She's not said for certain that my due date is changing. Since it's just an estimate anyway, I guess that's ok with me. What she did tell me is that she will NOT induce me before July 8th...which gives baby another three weeks to develop his little lungs to a healthy state. She would prefer to induce/deliver me around July 15th (or July 22nd would be better, but it's a stretch!). At that point I would be well over "full term" limits of 37 weeks and Jax would have had plenty of time in the "cooker" to not have too many problems.

She did do a pelvic on me (because of all of the contractions I've been having) and I am pleased to announced that my cervix is still closed. No dialation what-so-ever. I'm mostly pleased to report that because she told me that if my cervix was anything other than closed when she checked me yesterday that she was sending me straight to the hospital for 48 hours of observation at L&D. Not good. So I was tickled pink to still be closed.

She IS threatening me with bed rest. She didn't officially mandate it yet, we reached a compromise with me promising to slow things down a bit...and I was able to go to work today and get the clearance for some reduced hours at my job - THANK YOU! I am now working 8a-1p at the office and then being "on call" for the rest of the afternoon from my bed. With my feet elevated. Not doing anything other than watching tv, reading, playing iPhone games...maybe some internet surfing and blogging??!!?? Hope so! I'm trying to get my wireless internet re-connected here at the house so that I can do that, but I am encountering difficulties. Might need a new router. Hmmm...

Other than that, the only other thing that she had to tell me is that Jax is turned "sunny side up" meaning that he's facing the wrong way. He's head down and although he's close to being considered "engaged" he's not as low as I thought he was...so that's good. But instead of facing my back, he's facing forward. Doesn't mean too much right now, as he could still roll over in the next few weeks...but if he doesn't turn before labor hits then it could mean a lot of back labor. Fun times, fun times!

So, I've been in bed for the past hour and a half...nothing good is on tv...I got up to blog this real quick and take another look at my internet stuff...and now it's back to putting my feet up!

Tell me something...how do you stop something that nature is guiding? The doctor agrees with me that it doesn't sound like anything that I'm doing is triggering the Braxton Hicks contractions...and this extra rest should prove that I'm not. If she doesn't see an improvement in the next two weeks, then I'll have to go on full bed rest at that time...I'm just SO grateful that my work was willing to allow me some extra time off to try to prevent full bed rest. I guess I'm more useful for 5 hours a day than none at all, huh?

OK - back to taking it easy!

Butterflies in my Tummy...

No, I'm positive that's NOT the baby kicking me...that's my nerves. I'm SO nervous about my doctor's appt this afternoon. I'm not worried about Jax's health or my own, we're both fine. I'm worried that this afternoon's visit isn't going to be any more definitive than our last visit. And these past two weeks of not knowing exactly what's going on or what the plan is has been pure torture.

At least it has been for me. I'm a planner. I like to know what's going on - some might call it being a control freak, but I prefer to call it being a planner. And this whole up-in-the-air we're not going to let you go to the end of July, but I won't say for sure when it will be has been nothing short of sticking pins underneath my fingernails.

OK, so maybe it's not that bad...but you get what I mean, right? I just want to know what the plan is...and I'm scared to death that my Dr. is going to be all wishy-washy about things again and want to wait ANOTHER two weeks before making a decision...

Deep breaths, Sandy. Worry isn't helping the killer contractions that you're having this morning, I'm sure! I'll keep you posted...

The Nursery "Furniture"

I swear that it’s not that the nursery is the ONLY thing on my mind…I promise it’s not…but it might be the most pressing thing. :) Because of that, you’re hearing a LOT about it…and I don’t know if that’s ok with you or if I should say “sorry!”

I mentioned the other day in a post that we worked on acquiring some of the items that we’ll need for the nursery. No, not booties, bottles and onesies…but like a dresser, a room divider, etc. You know, the big stuff! I mentioned here that we are sharing our room with baby Jax for a little while…making the lemonade out of lemons…and we had been tossing ideas about how to “divide” the room to still allow us a little smidge of privacy and give Jax his own space as well for a while. We’ve discussed everything from installing a wall (not in favor of) to hanging a heavy curtain (also not one of my favorites) and some type of bi-folding screen (not the best option either). As you can probably tell, I’m the one holding all of our progress back with my lack of enthusiasm over everything that we could think of doing.

Then the other day it hit me like a ton of bricks…what about a bookshelf? Like a really BIG bookshelf that would go up pretty high and be pretty wide so as to “create” a wall without us actually putting up a wall…hmmm…this could work. I started searching and quickly found several options that I liked on the IKEA website. Of course, when I mentioned the idea to Brent, he wanted to see it all in person and we made plans to visit our local IKEA store over the weekend.

Now, in my defense, I really DID go just to look. I mean, I thought that if we liked it, we MIGHT be coming home with a bookshelf. You know, if things went just right. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would leave the store with a truck-bed full of boxes and a MUCH lighter checkbook! But hey, when you find what you’re looking for, you get it right?
Because if you’ll remember, we were still searching for a dresser for Jax to use as well. I’ve been going back and forth about a separate changing table and then whether to snag Jenna’s dresser (which matches the crib and turns upside down to make a changing table) for a few months now. I’ve been scouring Craigslist and just couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for at the right time. For some reason, I was about 30 minutes too late on more than one listing…and I got ROBBED out of the perfect long dresser last weekend, but that’s a whole other story!

Anyway, to make a long story shorter, this is what we left IKEA with this bookshelf…

And this dresser…

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the dresser and it’s unique finish. Since we hadn’t yet decided on a trim color for our room, we immediately finalized that decision and will find a trim color that will complement/match the finish on the dresser…making sure that it also works with the wall color, of course.

And the bookshelf isn’t exactly what I had in mind…you might have noticed that the shelves are OPEN…but it’s the one that I liked the best and it’s the right size. At just over 6’ square, it’s perfect to divide our room up without actually dividing it up. And the plan is to find some curtains or some type of fabric to cover the “back” of the bookshelf with so that it’s not open on both sides…

What do you think? We’ve got our work cut out for us this weekend, that’s for sure! I’d like to have both pieces assembled before my shower next weekend, so I’m crossing my fingers that it actually happens. Then again, Brent has to work two shifts this weekend…and I know from a friend’s personal experience (holla Lady Di!) that IKEA dressers are NOT the easiest things to assemble. Let’s just say that I laughed so hard a few years back when she told me about putting the dresser that she got from IKEA together that I nearly peed my pants…there was MUCH cussing and throwing of tools, if I remember correctly…so we’ll see.

I’d like to at least get the dresser up so that I can start washing clothes and putting them up…but I’d also like to have the dresser so that I can put up the five BOXES of books that I own up on shelves and not have them in the upstairs living room any longer too. We’ll see what happens!

*source for pictures

HELLO!!

I think that the little man thinks that he can punch his way out of my tummy through either my belly button or just, you know, down there.

I swear on a stack of Bibles that he punched me a few hours ago so hard “down there” that I was shocked to not see a hand sticking out and waving at me. And all of that was done while I was having an important conversation with someone at work. Nice, Jax. Real nice timing there, buddy! Not only did you hurt Mommy, but you made me jump so hard and make such a painful face that they thought that I was having really bad contractions…

I don’t know what he’s doing, or what’s going on in there, but the punches are getting sharp. And they have lots of force behind them now.

I’ve read somewhere that they can sense light and dark now, so maybe he’s thinking that because my belly is stretched almost to its limit (which logically in my mind makes my skin thinner therefore making it lighter to him in there) that he can just reach out and touch the lightness that he “sees.” I hate to tell you this buddy, but that’s not really the way that it works…maybe someone else could clue him in for me?

If so, can you also explain to him that he’s supposed to sleep between the hours of 11pm-6am…not throw parties in my belly between the hours of 2:30-4:30am? Thanks ever so much, that would REALLY help me out!

The Progress of The Crib...

If you've been reading along with me for a while now...or if you know me in real life...then you know that it's just not in my nature to let something sit once I sink my teeth into it. Ok, Mom, I'll be honest here...sometimes it's in my nature to let something sit once I start on it - think about the year and a half that it's taken me to finish my bedspread! - but nine times out of ten, once I decide to start something and I get good and truly started on it, there's no stopping.

So now you'll understand why putting together Jax's crib was no different. Did I encounter problems? Sure. Did I still make my deadline of putting it all together on Sunday? Of course! Did I let the fact that the bag of "parts/hardware" that I remembered being the parts that held the crib pieces together was not in fact parts to put it all together, but extra parts sent by the manufacturer deter me? NO! Of course not! Two "quick" trips to Lowe's solved all of my problems...and there was a back-up plan of ordering what I needed from the manufacturer's website, if needed.

Luckily, fate smiled on me and I didn't have to pay twice the cost of the parts needed themselves just for shipping alone...LOL!

At the end of the day, this is what Jenna and I managed to get together...maybe I've already shown it off, but can you tell that I'm super duper proud of how handy I was able to be at 8 months pregnant?!?! Yep, so proud of my handy skills...I should hire out, huh?

OK - maybe that's taking things a little too far. And maybe by the time it was all put together I was pooped with a capital "P" but it was worth it. I immediately set to the task of washing all of the bedding linens and getting them ready to put on the crib. Of course, my plan was to finish the putting together phase early enough to also finish the washing phase and move on to the putting-it-all-together phase all on Sunday...but that didn't really happen. Everything got washed and dried, but there was nothing left in me to put it all together.

Somehow, I managed to get some sleep and recooperate enough so that when I woke up Monday morning, I was tired, but refreshed enough to drag out the iron and give the bedding stuff a quick press before putting it all together. Want to see it all assembled? Of course you do!

First I added the bed skirt, which I suppose would technically be called a crib skirt... Then I took the mattress...after putting it BACK in the crib first one time and THEN remembering that it's easier to put on the crib mattress stuff when the mattress is OUT of the crib..cue Sandy taking the mattress back OUT of the crib... ...and added the WATERPROOF mattress pad (VERY important!) I also managed to remember to add a waterproof crib pad on top of the mattress pad BEFORE putting on the crib sheet. Look how cute! What's that? Oh, you'd like to see a close-up of the design on the sheet? Oh, OK - twist my arm! Too cute!

OK, NOW is the time to add the mattress back inside the crib...it's ALL coming back to me! Isn't it all so cute?!?! Yes, I'm going to say that a few hundred times...

After that was all done and inside the crib, it was time to add the bumper. Did you knwo that safety regulations state that crib bumper ties can be NO longer than 9" in length for the safety of the baby? I had NO clue, and I've done this once before! But like I said, it's all coming back to me. I remembered how when I had Jenna a crib with side posts as large as the crib that I selected wasn't all that common and I had a HECK of a time getting those things tied to the crib sides. They constantly sagged...I guess it's a sign that times have changed because although the corner ties were still a "close call" on actually tying together, it all worked and nothing sags! Let's take a quick peek at how cute it will be from Jax's point of view...here's the back of the crib... And this is the front of the crib... Last, but not least, and something that would TOTALLY not tie onto the crib in Jenna's baby bedding set...the cute little diaper stacker! And not to leave anything out...there are still two things that I already have that also belong to the bedding set that I haven't done anything with...the window valance (not pictured) and the cutesy little crib blanket... As you may, or may not know, the crib blanket can't really be used as a blanket in the crib right at first...so I'm not entirely 100% sure what I'm going to do with it for now. But I'll figure it out. And the reason that the window valance isn't pictured yet is because A) I thought that I had enough windo material to make the flowing curtains match the rest of the windows in our bedroom, and I was actually short on material, so they look retarded...and B) I forgot that the window valance was actually a tab-top and the curtain rod would show. So while at Target I just bought the cheapy double valance window curtain rods since I thought they weren't going to show...I'll correct that soon!

Now maybe tomorrow, I can get started washing this pile... Yep, those are the clothes that I have already bought for Mr. Jax and haven't cut the tags or washed anything yet. Part of me was waiting to verify the sex one more time before clipping all tags, but that happened two weeks ago nearly. Now, I'm just waiting to have somewhere to put them once they're all washed and folded up. We've got the dresser, we just need to get it in the room...pictures coming soon!