Buried treasure

Matt and I have been a little slow on decorating the baby's nursery. But hey, we still have two weeks until the due date, so why not work on it now?

We have been working really hard on ideas for a pirate themed room that are fun, and something that will really make the room look great. Matt had the idea of making a treasure map to hang on the wall. I didn't quite know what he had in mind so I printed out a couple of pictures of treasure maps. They were all a lot more complicated than what Matt had in mind, so we just kind of compromised ideas until we came up with this:

We bought painters' canvas 5'x5' and I drew out each object onto the canvas before we started painting. This was a collaborative effort, so Matt and I both thought of the designs and painted.

And finally: the finished product!! The picture is kind of dark, but you get the idea...and yes, we realize that the trail doesn't need to go all away around the mountains and over the river twice, but it would be pretty boring if it were just a straight line up the river!

Whoa Mama!!

I was just minding my own business, when all of a sudden the baby decided to put his entire body WAY out in front. This is the result. Good grief, it is amazing I can still stand up and not fall over.

Estimated Arrival

Matt and I have decided to decorate the nursery with a pirate theme. The bedding set is just too cute, and we thought as the baby grows into a toddler it would be fun for him! What little boy wouldn't want to be a pirate?

So we have been looking around for decorating ideas for the room. We wanted to stay away from the scary stuff (i.e., skull and crossbones, etc.) and just stick with fun, sweet, and maybe educational. I went online and found this adorable poster! It was cheap and it completely matched the decor. I saved it in my virtual shopping cart for a little while until I was sure I wanted to order it.
I went online this morning to order it. As I went through the order process I was figuring it would be here in a week or so. I was a little disappointed, however, when I saw that it would take 5+ weeks to ship, and an additional 3-7 days in transit. YIKES! Well, what could I do? Either let it go, or order it and just scold myself for not ordering it earlier. After all, there are plenty of things that take 6-8 weeks for delivery. Ok, ok, I went ahead an ordered it. There, done.

Or so I thought!!

I received my confirmation email. I looked it over and was completely confused when I saw:

Estimated ship date: 3/30/2010 - 4/1/2010
Estimated arrival by: 4/2/2010 - 4/12/2010

At first I saw the month, what? Are you kidding me? APRIL? Don't you think that is taking advantage of adding the "+" to "ships in 5+ weeks?" That is 5 MONTHS away...

wait...did I see that right? does that say 2010?? YES IT DOES! Oh man, what have I done? This company now has my money and I won't get my poster for a year and half, until the baby is a toddler!?! What if I move? This isn't going to work for me.

I of course went back to the website for the customer service phone number. I called the customer service phone number, and it was disconnected! Yeah, this looks pretty good for me now right?

I called the corporate headquarters number, and it offered me a transfer to customer service. I thought to myself "Oh brother, ok well let's see where this gets me..." Needless to say, there was a wait to speak to a human. Finally, I got a hold of "Brooke." I told Brooke my scenario and when I said the estimated date of arrival she too couldn't believe it.

The rest of the story isn't that fascinating. I get to wait 4-5 weeks to see if it shows up (because she says that it is in stock) and if it doesn't show I up, I get to call back. I hope it does, because I don't want to kick myself for not asking for my money back today, and more importantly...I don't know how easy it will be to remember to call back when I have a newborn baby. Maybe I can put a friend or family member on "poster watch." HA! How is that for delegating!

Sheesh.

4 Weeks Left???

According to all the calendars around my house, my planner, the countdown ticker on this page, and my little countdown chain (a la Christmas time) the baby is due in 4 weeks! It is quite interesting when someone asks me, "How far along are you?" I prefer to answer with "I have 4 weeks left!" That spares them from having to figure out the math if I say "36 weeks along" or "I am 9 months, but not due for a few more weeks."

Lately I have been so anxious for the baby to come. I am actually still quite comfortable, but 9 months is a long time. I should clarify, there are plenty of times when I beg and plead for the baby to get out of my ribs and off my bladder. Then there are those moments when he stretches out his little arms and legs so far out and so strong I think he just my poke out to wave hello! Mostly, I just can't wait to see him and hold him in my arms. Last night I kept having dreams about the baby being born, and in each of my dreams I never felt any kind of pain or contractions!

This morning I had my last ultrasound. Matt came along of course (thanks to his boss for being so flexible with Matt, allowing him to come to all the appointments). The agenda was to check the baby's size and position. Let me tell ya, there is nothing quite like having a bunch of blue jelly squirted in mass quantities all over my massive tummy. I am so happy they warm up the gel. Here are a few pictures from today, and I will add a profile shot from the ultrasound back in August.

This is from August, but we didn't get a profile shot today.

This is an interesting picture, and I don't quite see it, but the ultrasound tech was pointing to my baby's mullet!! The arrow is pointing at his hair, and it a nice thick patch on the back of his head. Party on baby!

This next picture is Rated-R. Viewers should use discretion when viewing this picture of my boy's "man parts!" Yep, definitely a boy!Last but certainly not least, cock your head to the right a little and look at the baby's nostrils, then follow them down to his little lips. What an adorable little (half)-faceI wish I could tell you more about the ultrasound, but pretty early on I couldn't breathe and I started getting dizzy from laying on my back, so the tech had me turn on my side... turned away from the screen. Matt got the opportunity to watch the whole thing though.

The baby measured 7 pounds! She said there can be a one pound discrepancy, so he could be 6 pounds. He can continue to grow at about a half a pound a week, which means if he makes it just to his due date, he is a good 8-9 pound baby! YIKES! I must admit I am a little freaked out! Any moms have any words of wisdom for me? Now I can't wait until next Friday for my next doctor's appointment (and my last day of work too!).

This is such an exciting time for us! Matt and I are working on the nursery, and we spend most of our time together "playing" with the baby. I know that everyone's own child is special to them, and we are no exception. We know how blessed we are to be having a baby, and that we are being trusted with one of God's children. We have already developed such a strong attachment. As we were laying down for bed last night we both verbally said "I love you" to the baby. I just love my two boys so much!

Poor Darla

Here is Darla's owie! When they shaved her fur they realized it was a puncture wound...and after thinking about it we are pretty certain it happened here at the house verses the kennel. They had to clean it out and now she is on antibiotics and we have to flush out the abscess twice a day. Woo hoo...

Days #3-4 of killing bugs

Well, technically the bugs were dead on day #2, but we still have some work to do. We checked out of the hotel first thing in the morning. I headed off to another doctor's appointment, and Matt went to work.

Matt came home early from work for our "appointment" with the Gas Company to come and turn the gas back on (somewhere between the hours of 12-5pm). Everything in the house was fine, except for the phone. Tuesday night I called the house to check our messages and the phone call did not go through at all. I got a garbled static sound and then the call was lost...hmmm. So Matt set up an "appointment" with the phone company for today (somewhere between the hours of 8am-8pm).

I came home from work yesterday (where our air conditioning was not working...and it was more than HOT), and completely forgot to pick up the dogs. I wasn't feeling well. So Matt and I went to pick up the dogs from the kennel and everything seemed fine...until I got home and was giving one of our dogs attention and found a big abscess in her cheek. Dang!

So, this morning Matt stayed home to wait for the phone company (1st shift), and I went to work. Then I left work early to take the dog to the vet, then to take the 2nd shift while Matt goes to work...(are you keeping up?).

Turns out, our doggie has an abscess that needs to be drained and since it was an emergency, I had to just leave her there. So now I am at home waiting for the phone company...then somehow I have to go pick up my dog when she is done. *Sigh*

Maybe this is a good thing, it gives me a little perspective on things, AND I can start putting the house back together!

Day #2 of killing bugs

Yesterday I got all my preparations in order just in time before the fumigators came. They showed up early, but luckily I was all ready to go! I went and had lunch with Matt and then went to check into the hotel.

Look! The circus is in town!

The hotel room is small, but I don't need anything more than what we have: bed, full (working) kitchen, bathroom, tv (to watch the election results), and free internet connection! I actually managed to cook dinner in our hotel room, then washed our dishes in the dishwasher! Not too shabby in my opinion.I've driven past the house today to check on it, the tent came off today...but it is still uninhabitable. We have to wait until they come and certify the house tomorrow by checking the air quality.Until tomorrow, one more night in the hotel. Matt will be getting "home" a little late, and I will keep up with some thank you notes from my shower (a post for a later date). So, life goes on.

Gallon Challenge

I think I could probably take on the "Gallon Challenge" right about now. For anyone who doesn't know what the Gallon Challenge is, in short: drink 1 gallon of milk in 1 hour without vomiting for 1 hour. Basically, it is nearly impossible, and quite frankly I don't feel like vomiting...however,

I have been drinking milk almost nonstop during my pregnancy. At first I increased my milk consumption because of my heartburn. Milk is not a remedy for heartburn, but my heartburn is in the back of my throat and the milk feels sooooo good as I drink it.

Now, I crave milk. I used to be able to keep 1 gallon of milk until its expiration date. Currently my average is about 1 gallon every day-and-a-half to two days. (So not quite the Gallon Challenge).

So many people say that when you crave milk it means that your body is deficient in calcium. Well, I am certainly not deficient, but I have read that in the latter end of pregnancy the body stores the most calcium to prepare for breastfeeding.

I'm thirsty now...

Day #1 of killing bugs

So in order to officially get ready for our little boy's arrival, we have decided to get the house tented to rid ourselves of those pesky little termites! Have any of you done this before??? Quite an undertaking, but it is going to be worth it I think.

To get ourselves prepared we have

• Reserved a stay in a hotel
• Packed all our food and medicine in bags...thank goodness Matt had a whole day off yesterday in order to go through the pantries, freezer, refrigerator, bathroom cabinets, etc.
• Put our mail on hold
• Board our dogs...which also means I had to have the vet fax over their immunization records
• Pack our clothes for our hotel stay
• Have the gas turned off...the guy is outside right now as I am typing this
  
• Take our antenna off the roof (yes, we still use an antenna...no cable or satellite)
• Turn off the automatic sprinklers
• Pack up valuables, and things for the baby that I don't want exposed to poisonous gases into my van...they say that the gas doesn't leave any residue and washing dishes and clothing is unnecessary, but hey I am a nesting mom-to-be, I will be washing a lot of stuff when I come back home

Well, that is about it. We will be out of the house for 2 nights. It shouldn't be too bad. It is just a little strange to try to pack for everyday life as opposed to packing for a vacation (i.e., work clothes instead of a bathing suit!). I plan on documenting my little adventure, hopefully I can be helpful to someone out there.

Oh, and go vote!