I bet you've all but given up on checking for blog updates - my apologies! I have excuses, so forgive me please :)
Last week Austin told me every day about new people at work who were sick with what seemed to be the flu. The Buckley clinic wasn't seeing anyone with flu symptoms, and you can't miss work without the doctor's permission, so plenty of people were going in sick. It's the military's infinite wisdom - its amazing. Because of how many sick people he was around, we knew it was just a matter of time before he got it...and then before I got it. We also knew that, seeing as the military mandates flu shots, whatever strain they had wasn't covered in the shot so I wasn't covered either. It was just a matter of playing the waiting game.
Austin started to feel sick Thursday, then was at his worst Friday - I was just a day behind him as I started having a sore throat Friday then Saturday got progressively worse as the day went on. The on-call doctor at my OB clinic called in Tamiflu for me - which helped the flu, but brought on nausea so I didn't really feel great until...well, I still wouldn't use the word "great"...but I would say I started to feel better Wednesday.
Which was just in time for our first winter blizzard to come in. Wednesday morning's drive to work was pretty nasty, and it only got worse from that point through last night. My office closed early Wednesday, which I figured would happen, and then to my surprise even Buckley closed down early. So, what do people do when they have snow days? Go out to lunch/happy hour with their friends of course! We went to Old Chicago with some of Austin's friends from work, but the snow really started coming down about 2 hours into our stay there so we called it a day and went home. That's where we stayed until this morning when we had to go to work :( Yesterday wasn't as glamorous as I thought a snow day would be - but that might be because it was snowing too much to even go out there and play in it. The snow was blowing sideways, so anytime we tried going outside we were slapped in the face with snow. You wouldn't think that cute little harmless snowflakes would hurt - but they do!
In the end I think we got about 12 inches of snow at our house. Our backyard has snow levels that go halfway up the fence in some areas, we can't see any of our poor little bushes, and our blue spruce tree can hardly hold his branches up with all the weight sitting on them. It is SO pretty :) Austin even agrees that its pretty...or he did agree until 6:15 this morning when went out and shoveled for over an hour. He tried to keep up with it Wednesday, which theoretically makes it easier to shovel...but if you shovel 10 times for 20 minutes or one time for 80 minutes...which is better? This morning he declared we need a snow blower, so I'm guessing neither theory is really that great when you're talking about a foot of snow.
Today was my 24 week appointment. I had to do the blood glucose screen - ICK. The orange drink wasn't as bad as I'd anticipated, in the beginning, so it did not taint my memory of precious Robert like I was afraid it might. However, my stomach did NOT like the influx of sugar when there was nothing else to absorb it. Then the nurse "forgot" to take enough blood to do the normal blood testing, so I got pricked twice...I swear its a conspiracy at that place! The doctor let me know their H1N1 vaccines are in...yippee. I let her know that I had the other flu shot, and still got the flu, but she wasn't entertained and didn't even let me consider not getting the H1N1. people should really find more humor in things :) I couldn't get that shot today because I'm not 100% after last weekend, so I get to go BACK to the doctor next week sometime for that shot. my next appointment is the Monday after Thanksgiving, and then I have to start going every 2 weeks! I remember at the veerrrrry beginning when the doctor told me the schedule of appointments, and how after 28 weeks you go every 2 weeks until 36 weeks. I remember thinking "28 weeks? that's forever away" Yet, here it is - just around the corner.
We've got a busy month between now and then! Tonight Austin is taking me on a "date" - not sure where to, I'll let you know the details later if I feel like it :) Tomorrow night I'm hoping the weather doesn't deter the trick-or-treaters...I'm not huge on halloween but I love answering the door and handing out candy :) Then next weekend we're going to Boulder to watch the Ags BTHO CU, the next week I'll be in FLORIDA, the weekend after Florida we're celebrating our 2 year anniversary (a month early) in Estes park, then we have the last 2 November weekends in Texas. Next thing I know it'll be December...time to chop down a tree, decorate for Christmas, and thennnnnn....
it'll be 2010! My favorite year ever :)
That little look-ahead made me tired, so I'm gonna go now :) Have a great weekend and a happy pumpkin day!!!
Oct 30, 2009
Oct 23, 2009
Whoops, There's a Bump There
Happy Friday! My day is flying by, which is shocking seeing as I've had no motivation to work and generally on days when I don't work (either due to lack of motivation or lack of work to be done) time seems to pass slower. I do actually have something I need to get done today - I just don't wanna :)
I went to Panera Bread for lunch today. I went by myself - just wanted out of the office really, its a beautiful day - and sometimes solitude is better than anything else. As I got out of my trailblazer I closed the door and started to walk towards the front doors when BAM, out of nowhere the mirror on the car next to me slammed into me. How rude is that? I didn't really think anything, just kept walking, and continued on inside to order my meal and find a table. When I sat down I put my coat behind my chair, hung my purse on it, and began to sit in the seat. As I did so, I think someone must have bumped into my table or something because suddenly I was unable to get into my chair; the table was now in my way. I slid the chair back a bit and sat down.
Suddenly I realized...that car mirror didn't really JUMP out at me did it? And since no one had walked by my table, that must mean no one moved that either. It occurred to me that this was the third day this week in which something has mysteriously moved itself to be in my way as I've walked. So, I'm beginning to think that maybe items aren't actually moving...maybe my perception of how much space I need is slowly growing more and more inaccurate as my belly is growing more and more...and more.
A girl I went to high school with is 2 months further along than I am and she posted a picture on facebook of her belly at 29 weeks. She labeled it "29 weeks, 44 inches and growing" I thought to myself, "whoa, 44 inches? she was such a small girl before! I don't want to be 44 inches!!!" I then decided, to make myself feel better and convince myself I won't be 44 inches 7 weeks from now, that I should measure around my belly. Boy did I NOT convince myself. 40 inches. WHAT?!? 5 months ago I bought a pair of blue jeans with a 31 waist. 40??? I'm guessing 7 weeks from now I'll surpass that measly 44 inch mark.
So while the scale still isn't tipping as quickly as the doctor would like, there is definite growth. Whether I like it or not.
I went to Panera Bread for lunch today. I went by myself - just wanted out of the office really, its a beautiful day - and sometimes solitude is better than anything else. As I got out of my trailblazer I closed the door and started to walk towards the front doors when BAM, out of nowhere the mirror on the car next to me slammed into me. How rude is that? I didn't really think anything, just kept walking, and continued on inside to order my meal and find a table. When I sat down I put my coat behind my chair, hung my purse on it, and began to sit in the seat. As I did so, I think someone must have bumped into my table or something because suddenly I was unable to get into my chair; the table was now in my way. I slid the chair back a bit and sat down.
Suddenly I realized...that car mirror didn't really JUMP out at me did it? And since no one had walked by my table, that must mean no one moved that either. It occurred to me that this was the third day this week in which something has mysteriously moved itself to be in my way as I've walked. So, I'm beginning to think that maybe items aren't actually moving...maybe my perception of how much space I need is slowly growing more and more inaccurate as my belly is growing more and more...and more.
A girl I went to high school with is 2 months further along than I am and she posted a picture on facebook of her belly at 29 weeks. She labeled it "29 weeks, 44 inches and growing" I thought to myself, "whoa, 44 inches? she was such a small girl before! I don't want to be 44 inches!!!" I then decided, to make myself feel better and convince myself I won't be 44 inches 7 weeks from now, that I should measure around my belly. Boy did I NOT convince myself. 40 inches. WHAT?!? 5 months ago I bought a pair of blue jeans with a 31 waist. 40??? I'm guessing 7 weeks from now I'll surpass that measly 44 inch mark.
So while the scale still isn't tipping as quickly as the doctor would like, there is definite growth. Whether I like it or not.
Oct 21, 2009
Snow
It's SNOWING today :) What a beautiful sight to see when I peaked through the blinds this morning before crawling out of bed.
The forecast was for "light snow in the morning, possibly light snow in the afternoon" with an accumulation of less than 2 inches. Well, the backyard already had 2 inches on the grass at 6:00 this morning, and the light snow hasn't stopped since...so I'm thinking it MAY even be enough for snow angels tonight :) The weather men can't ever seem to get it right can they?
The roads still weren't cold enough for anything to stick, but it did make for a slushy drive in this morning. And, as always on the first slushy drive of the year, there were quite a few cars who thought they could drive as normal and ended up meeting the guardrails.
But, I'll take my 55mph slushy drive in exchange for the morning beauty!!!
The forecast was for "light snow in the morning, possibly light snow in the afternoon" with an accumulation of less than 2 inches. Well, the backyard already had 2 inches on the grass at 6:00 this morning, and the light snow hasn't stopped since...so I'm thinking it MAY even be enough for snow angels tonight :) The weather men can't ever seem to get it right can they?
The roads still weren't cold enough for anything to stick, but it did make for a slushy drive in this morning. And, as always on the first slushy drive of the year, there were quite a few cars who thought they could drive as normal and ended up meeting the guardrails.
But, I'll take my 55mph slushy drive in exchange for the morning beauty!!!
Oct 20, 2009
Update on Reagan
I realized last week that I had never updated many people on Reagan's status after our vet appointment. With everything else going on, I just kind of forgot to mention it. There's a slogan in the Army, that is applicable in lots of venues, that "no news is good news" and this is the case with Reagan. My lack of news for you is actually the presence of good news, so you can breathe a sigh of relief now.
We took Reagan to the vet the morning before we flew to Texas for Alexis's wedding - a few hours before we found out William was a William rather than a Wilma. (by the way, Wilma was NEVER on the drawing board) The vet talked about amputation, like I told you he would, but I had also heard from a friend that there is a product available at Petco called "petease" or "fel-away" (there are a few manufacturers) I asked the vet about the product and he said its hit or miss - some people love it and say it works wonders, some people think its a crock and haven't noticed one bit of difference besides the $30 spent. He said in his opinion, its worth a shot - because surgery should be the last resort. He explained that the surgery itself isn't dangerous or harmful, but there's no guarantee that the problem is purely damaged nerve endings, which means there is no guarantee surgery would cure him. So exploring all options before amputation would be a good idea.
We told the vet that we would be out of town for 5 days, and generally 2 days is enough to initiate some tail slaughtering, so we thought it'd be a good time to attempt to soothe him with pet-ease. The product works like a glade plug in air freshener, except rather than fumigating the house with the scent of roses, it sends off cat pheromones that are supposed to calm cats. The packaging advertises that it can be used to deter cats from urinating in unwanted places, scratching unwanted areas, and "other behavioral issues". Worth a shot right?
We came home from Alexis's wedding fully expecting a bloody battle to have taken place in our kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and elsewhere - but there was no blood to be found. Hooray! But - the joy didn't stop there. This pet-ease has turned Reagan into a new (and improved) cat!
I don't know if I painted the portrait of Reagan very well in my last post, but let me reiterate that he is an ABSURD animal. I love him to death, and of the 3 pets he brings me the most joy. He also, however, brings me the most agony. This was the case throughout college as he would SPRINT down the hallway and slam into my bedroom door, as he would climb up the bedroom door in my apartment, and then in our house now as he knows how to OPEN the doors. He whines incessantly from 4 am until I choose to feed him breakfast, and it is impossible to enter the kitchen for any period of time longer than 2 seconds without being berated by his symphonic howling for food. He likes to jump on top of people as they sleep, all 22 pounds of him, he thinks he is slim enough to fit through our wooden blinds (and sees nothing wrong with MAKING himself fit...whatever that entails...) and he generally likes to make raucous out of everything.
That, however, is the old Reagan. While he's still peculiar and quirky, he has a calm sense about him that he has never had. He CUDDLES with Austin every night, and anyone who knows about Reagan and Austin's strained history knows that is pretty remarkable. I'm not sure which is more remarkable - that Reagan chooses to sleep on Austin all night, or that Austin allows him to. He has scaled back his howling, to some degree, he only runs around like a mad-man on cocaine once or twice a night, as opposed to hours upon hours each night, and SOMETIMES he even waits for me to determine his feeding time. This "pet-ease" is like a miracle drug and I'm not sure how I've never heard of it before.
We did have to upgrade from one adaptor to two, as we noticed his calm behavior didn't carry throughout the house, and we already had to refill the adaptors once...so this isn't a cheap investment. But, what's $30/month for a happy cat? After all, if Reagan ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.
We took Reagan to the vet the morning before we flew to Texas for Alexis's wedding - a few hours before we found out William was a William rather than a Wilma. (by the way, Wilma was NEVER on the drawing board) The vet talked about amputation, like I told you he would, but I had also heard from a friend that there is a product available at Petco called "petease" or "fel-away" (there are a few manufacturers) I asked the vet about the product and he said its hit or miss - some people love it and say it works wonders, some people think its a crock and haven't noticed one bit of difference besides the $30 spent. He said in his opinion, its worth a shot - because surgery should be the last resort. He explained that the surgery itself isn't dangerous or harmful, but there's no guarantee that the problem is purely damaged nerve endings, which means there is no guarantee surgery would cure him. So exploring all options before amputation would be a good idea.
We told the vet that we would be out of town for 5 days, and generally 2 days is enough to initiate some tail slaughtering, so we thought it'd be a good time to attempt to soothe him with pet-ease. The product works like a glade plug in air freshener, except rather than fumigating the house with the scent of roses, it sends off cat pheromones that are supposed to calm cats. The packaging advertises that it can be used to deter cats from urinating in unwanted places, scratching unwanted areas, and "other behavioral issues". Worth a shot right?
We came home from Alexis's wedding fully expecting a bloody battle to have taken place in our kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and elsewhere - but there was no blood to be found. Hooray! But - the joy didn't stop there. This pet-ease has turned Reagan into a new (and improved) cat!
I don't know if I painted the portrait of Reagan very well in my last post, but let me reiterate that he is an ABSURD animal. I love him to death, and of the 3 pets he brings me the most joy. He also, however, brings me the most agony. This was the case throughout college as he would SPRINT down the hallway and slam into my bedroom door, as he would climb up the bedroom door in my apartment, and then in our house now as he knows how to OPEN the doors. He whines incessantly from 4 am until I choose to feed him breakfast, and it is impossible to enter the kitchen for any period of time longer than 2 seconds without being berated by his symphonic howling for food. He likes to jump on top of people as they sleep, all 22 pounds of him, he thinks he is slim enough to fit through our wooden blinds (and sees nothing wrong with MAKING himself fit...whatever that entails...) and he generally likes to make raucous out of everything.
That, however, is the old Reagan. While he's still peculiar and quirky, he has a calm sense about him that he has never had. He CUDDLES with Austin every night, and anyone who knows about Reagan and Austin's strained history knows that is pretty remarkable. I'm not sure which is more remarkable - that Reagan chooses to sleep on Austin all night, or that Austin allows him to. He has scaled back his howling, to some degree, he only runs around like a mad-man on cocaine once or twice a night, as opposed to hours upon hours each night, and SOMETIMES he even waits for me to determine his feeding time. This "pet-ease" is like a miracle drug and I'm not sure how I've never heard of it before.
We did have to upgrade from one adaptor to two, as we noticed his calm behavior didn't carry throughout the house, and we already had to refill the adaptors once...so this isn't a cheap investment. But, what's $30/month for a happy cat? After all, if Reagan ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.
Oct 19, 2009
What a Weekend!
I don't know if the stars were properly aligned, or what it was that made this weekend so fabulous - maybe just the mere fact that I wasn't working - but it was one of the best weekends I've had in a long time, definitely the best since the Holloway wedding weekend in September!
We didn't have any major plans other than getting William's closet organized and going to the mountains, so we just kind of let the rest of the weekend dictate itself. Friday after work I went to Container Store to get the closet stuff, then we had dinner and after dinner we went to Maggie Moo's for a banana split! We ordered a 'half split' to share, but the ice-cream-scooper offered to give us the regular for the price of the half since Austin is in the military. I think he just didn't want to have half of a banana sitting out for the rest of the night, but either way - works for me. It was delicious :) We had udderly cream, strawberry, and choco-mallow ice cream...have I ever written about how much I love Maggie Moo's? I doubt I have. I try to avoid the place as much as possible...liking ice cream isn't the healthiest thing, you know. But Austin offered, and I'd have been rude to resist, so I accepted just to be polite :)
Saturday morning Reagan woke me up bright and early (we're talking 4 am early) and I had trouble going back to sleep. It still baffles me that during the week I have NO trouble going back to sleep at 6:30, but on the weekends I seem to be wide awake at 5. I just laid in bed thinking about what we'd do all day, William's closet, football, etc - just thinking. I think I dozed off about 6 and then was woken up, by Reagan yet again, around 7:30. After breakfast I had Austin install the top-track for the closet, then I got the rest of the closet done. I'm sure large closets can take hours and hours to complete, but William's closet is pretty small so it went pretty fast. The longest part was trying to decide how far apart I wanted the shelves. When it was all done I was sad because it was so empty, but that didn't last long because one of Austin's coworkers gave us 3 boxes full of clothes, a high chair, a bouncer seat, and a jumper-thing on Saturday. The bigger items barely looked used (we'll need to clean them first, just for good measure, but they look pretty new!) and most of the clothes looked barely worn.
We didn't keep all of the clothes - some were stained or just not our style (my son is NOT wearing a hooters onesie, and especially not one that has words written in ebonics) so we have some of the clothes in a box to take to goodwill. We got them all sorted by size and I got them all washed (amazing how much more fun his clothes are to wash and fold than ours...) Most of the clothes were 12 months, then there were quite a big of 18-24 month, and some smaller clothes...I think that's a pretty good mix to get. We won't have to buy 12 month blue jeans, I know that much...she gave us 7 pair! I got 2 storage tubs to put under the guest bed, one for 12 month clothes and one for 18-24. For now I think we'll keep all of the clothes up to 12 months in his closet and/or dresser, and then swap them as he grows. Here are my two tubs of clothes, the bottom being 12 months and the top being 18-24:
Since I was already doing his laundry, I threw in most of the clothes that we already had too so that they'd be washed and cleaned. I LOVED the smell of the Dreft detergent that permeated the house as I did 3 loads of baby laundry. Its pretty addicting :) I still have a couple items of his to wash, but for the most part its all clean. I began to wonder, though, about washing EVERYTHING before he's here. On the one hand, its less to do later, but what about the fact that they say most babies, especially first babies, grow out of clothes before ever being able to wear them. If that's true but I've already taken tags off and washed them, I'm just stuck with them right? I suppose the clothes we have now would already be too old to return, but if I buy some closer to when he's born maybe I'll consider keeping the tags on (or maybe I SHOULD consider just not buying them...they're just so cute...) Anyhow, once the laundry was all done and the clothes all sorted, I got to hang the smaller clothes in his closet :)
The closet may not be easy to see - there is a top shelf, then the middle shelf is a basket separated into 3 sections, then under the basket there is a hanging rod that goes 1/2 way across and 3 shelves on the other half (those are above the diapers) We bought the diapers at Costco a few weeks ago - 260 diapers - sheesh that's a lot. Or it SEEMS like a lot :) They are size 2 - i THINK that is for 12-18 pounds, but I could be wrong.
And that was my weekend! A few chapters into my book it was time to go get Austin, we drove home, watched some football, made chicken salad, and headed off to bed. He was a bit sore, and entertaining to watch as he walked, from his day of skiing - I don't think his calves and lower-leg tendons were prepared for skiing yet, but he stretched a lot so this morning he was feeling much better. I don't think I could have designed a better weekend - maybe, but I doubt it. Have I ever mentioned that I love where I live? If you can't remember why, just scroll up a bit until you can see that last picture...I don't know how I'll ever *willingly* leave this place. For now, I'll just keep staring off in the distance and counting my blessings.
We didn't have any major plans other than getting William's closet organized and going to the mountains, so we just kind of let the rest of the weekend dictate itself. Friday after work I went to Container Store to get the closet stuff, then we had dinner and after dinner we went to Maggie Moo's for a banana split! We ordered a 'half split' to share, but the ice-cream-scooper offered to give us the regular for the price of the half since Austin is in the military. I think he just didn't want to have half of a banana sitting out for the rest of the night, but either way - works for me. It was delicious :) We had udderly cream, strawberry, and choco-mallow ice cream...have I ever written about how much I love Maggie Moo's? I doubt I have. I try to avoid the place as much as possible...liking ice cream isn't the healthiest thing, you know. But Austin offered, and I'd have been rude to resist, so I accepted just to be polite :)
Saturday morning Reagan woke me up bright and early (we're talking 4 am early) and I had trouble going back to sleep. It still baffles me that during the week I have NO trouble going back to sleep at 6:30, but on the weekends I seem to be wide awake at 5. I just laid in bed thinking about what we'd do all day, William's closet, football, etc - just thinking. I think I dozed off about 6 and then was woken up, by Reagan yet again, around 7:30. After breakfast I had Austin install the top-track for the closet, then I got the rest of the closet done. I'm sure large closets can take hours and hours to complete, but William's closet is pretty small so it went pretty fast. The longest part was trying to decide how far apart I wanted the shelves. When it was all done I was sad because it was so empty, but that didn't last long because one of Austin's coworkers gave us 3 boxes full of clothes, a high chair, a bouncer seat, and a jumper-thing on Saturday. The bigger items barely looked used (we'll need to clean them first, just for good measure, but they look pretty new!) and most of the clothes looked barely worn.
We didn't keep all of the clothes - some were stained or just not our style (my son is NOT wearing a hooters onesie, and especially not one that has words written in ebonics) so we have some of the clothes in a box to take to goodwill. We got them all sorted by size and I got them all washed (amazing how much more fun his clothes are to wash and fold than ours...) Most of the clothes were 12 months, then there were quite a big of 18-24 month, and some smaller clothes...I think that's a pretty good mix to get. We won't have to buy 12 month blue jeans, I know that much...she gave us 7 pair! I got 2 storage tubs to put under the guest bed, one for 12 month clothes and one for 18-24. For now I think we'll keep all of the clothes up to 12 months in his closet and/or dresser, and then swap them as he grows. Here are my two tubs of clothes, the bottom being 12 months and the top being 18-24:
Since I was already doing his laundry, I threw in most of the clothes that we already had too so that they'd be washed and cleaned. I LOVED the smell of the Dreft detergent that permeated the house as I did 3 loads of baby laundry. Its pretty addicting :) I still have a couple items of his to wash, but for the most part its all clean. I began to wonder, though, about washing EVERYTHING before he's here. On the one hand, its less to do later, but what about the fact that they say most babies, especially first babies, grow out of clothes before ever being able to wear them. If that's true but I've already taken tags off and washed them, I'm just stuck with them right? I suppose the clothes we have now would already be too old to return, but if I buy some closer to when he's born maybe I'll consider keeping the tags on (or maybe I SHOULD consider just not buying them...they're just so cute...) Anyhow, once the laundry was all done and the clothes all sorted, I got to hang the smaller clothes in his closet :)The closet may not be easy to see - there is a top shelf, then the middle shelf is a basket separated into 3 sections, then under the basket there is a hanging rod that goes 1/2 way across and 3 shelves on the other half (those are above the diapers) We bought the diapers at Costco a few weeks ago - 260 diapers - sheesh that's a lot. Or it SEEMS like a lot :) They are size 2 - i THINK that is for 12-18 pounds, but I could be wrong.
The rest of Saturday was filled with relaxation - laying on the couch watching episodes of the Unit, some football games, and eating leftovers for dinner. Typically leftovers are my LEAST favorite thing to eat, but not cooking sounded sooooo nice...and it was. We had to get to bed at a decent time because we had to get up early to make it to the early service of church. Church starts at 8 and 10:30, but we usually go to the 10:30 service. I don't make it to WORK by 8, so the chances of making it anywhere at that time are just pretty slim. We did manage to get to church before the actual service began, though we did miss the announcements, so I was pretty impressed with my speedy preparations Sunday morning :) Maybe I was just SO excited to go up into the mountains that I popped right out of bed!
After church we drove up to Dillon, where Keystone ski resort is. There are only 2 ski lifts open right now, one at Loveland and one at A-basin, so the options aren't too diverse. Austin got the military season pass, which is 1/2 the price of a regular season pass, and it includes Keystone and A-basin. He met 2 of his friends there for an afternoon of skiing/sliding down mountains while I took in the GORGEOUS weather at the outlet mall nearby. I'm always up for looking at the Coach outlet, though I've never bought myself anything there, and I thought I should look for winter-accessories at the baby outlet stores to see if anything was on sale. Osh-Kosh b-gosh had a good winter sale going on, so I got some little blue mittens for $3, a pair of red corduroy overalls for $9, a thermal onesie to go with the overalls, and a onesie that says "Handsome like dad" which was on sale for $2. I know I just got finished saying I SHOULD resist buying clothes, but it was too cute to pass up :) The "handsome" onesie is for 6-9 months, or 9-12 I can't remember, but the rest was for him when he's born. I would say its my favorite outfit, but that seems to change with every new outfit. Anytime we buy or receive a new outfit, it becomes my new favorite...so I'll just say the red overalls are my favorite for now. And if he comes a week early, they'll be so festive for valentines :)
Austin determined on Sunday while we were talking to my mom that he will no longer be using the term "onesie". Austin is VERY concerned with things being "girly" (overly concerned, obsessed even) and anytime something looks, sounds, feels, REMOTELY feminine, William can not have it. I think this is a battle we'll fight for awhile...and one that we'll both probably win sometimes and lose sometimes. So I'll concede on the "onesie" topic and save my energy for fighting on something else...like the panda knit hat that William WILL be wearing. We're not sure what term he'll use in the place of onesie, but the options that are on the table are "full body armor", "bodysuit", "full body cloth thing" and "button in the crotch clothes" None of which sound girly at all, I have assured him :) Granted I'm not the one who had the issue with onesie to begin with, so what do I know?
Once I had browsed all the baby outlets (and only made the ONE purchase, be very proud) I went to Old Navy to get some shirts for Austin. He is never going to be mistaken for a fashionista or metrosexual man, that's for sure, but he has told me that he'd like to try to look a little nicer sometimes. The issue isn't really that he doesn't HAVE nicer clothes, its that he doesn't ever choose to wear them. He has pointed out that most of his non-button up shirts are related to either the Aggies, the Texans, or the Astros and he'd like to have some shirts that aren't button up, cause that's way too dressy for a day at the mall, but aren't just casual sports-tshirts either. So I found him some in-between shirts, as he called them, at Old Navy for very cheap.
To close out my day in the mountains I bought a new book at Borders, got a hot chocolate, and sat out on the balcony and read. I will admit that every page or 2 I was distracted by the beauty of Colorado, so I didn't get much reading done, but it was a wonderful day. The weather was perfect - sunny, not many clouds, 63 degrees, a little breeze - my kind of day. I tried to get a few pictures of the view on my phone, but I think the sun was TOO bright for the phone's capacity, so the pictures came out dark. I'll share anyway, just because I loved the view so much :)
And that was my weekend! A few chapters into my book it was time to go get Austin, we drove home, watched some football, made chicken salad, and headed off to bed. He was a bit sore, and entertaining to watch as he walked, from his day of skiing - I don't think his calves and lower-leg tendons were prepared for skiing yet, but he stretched a lot so this morning he was feeling much better. I don't think I could have designed a better weekend - maybe, but I doubt it. Have I ever mentioned that I love where I live? If you can't remember why, just scroll up a bit until you can see that last picture...I don't know how I'll ever *willingly* leave this place. For now, I'll just keep staring off in the distance and counting my blessings.Oct 12, 2009
#36
Austin and I went to Target yesterday to register for William. When we went wedding-registering I quickly learned that Austin has more opinions than he generally lets on, and he DEFINITELY likes to point scanners at bar codes and pull the trigger, so to speak. The 2 revelations I had while wedding registering were only heightened as we registered for baby.
Austin had a revelation of his own while we registered: We were meant to have a son right now. Clearly we were - if you believe in God, destiny, fate or any sort of life-plan like that then you believe that things happen for a reason. We are pregnant and we are having a son, so obviously we were meant to - we believe that was God's plan for us. But this revelation occurred to Austin in the infant clothing department at Target.
When Austin was in high school he played football and basketball, and his number was 36. It seems that this season, or maybe its every season and I just don't know it, baby clothing manufacturers got together and decided that the best jersey number to use on their sporting clothes would be 36. After our ultrasound at 12 weeks, where Missy told me she was "strongly suspicious" it was a boy we were at babies r us and saw a little baseball outfit with the number 36 on it. It was a full body outfit, long sleeved and long pants, which is good for the time of year William will be born, and #36 - so we had to get it. Then I believe I blogged a few weeks ago about the precious outfit that I found that said "little line backer" for next football season - it didn't have a number on it, but it did have linebacker, which was Austin's position. Yesterday at Target, however, there was not one baby sporting outfit that had a number other than 36. There was a 3 piece outfit with fleece pants, a fleece hoodie, and a long sleeved onesie - the pants and hoodie were blue and the hoodie has a patch on it that says something related to football. We couldn't really see the onesie at first, but it looked like it had footballs and helmets on it - all the 3 piece suits were on sale for really cheap, so we decided we'd buy one. There were a few boy designs and a few girl designs, but we didn't like any of the other boy options so we actually picked football by default (which is odd for Austin...and possibly for me...) It wasn't until a few minutes later that I looked closer and saw all the little #36's on the onesie and on the inside of the hood of the jacket. I showed Austin and his face was beaming. What was once a buy by default became a must-have pretty quickly, and even if it weren't on sale and were overpriced I believe it would have found a home in our shopping cart. (the shopping cart we ONLY got to hold our coats...yeah...right...)
We continued looking through the clothes and I found a onesie on sale for $2 that says "Daddy's #1 Draft Pick" It didn't have a #36, but it was $2...and how can you pass up any baby item for $2? Tough to do, let me tell you. Couldn't buy the onesie though without the pants...and the matching jacket was so cute so why not...so a $2 onesie turned into a $10 outfit. Definitely necessary.
The pile in the cart was slowly getting higher when we get to the baby accessory section. Let me stop here and briefly touch on my concern with baby shoes. I believe babies need them. I realize that their feet never hit the ground, and I realize that the shoes get kicked off 9 times out of 10 and they grow out of them rapidly. I get that. But when I was about...6?...Maizeanne was a baby and Jan would bring her to church with no shoes on. WHAT A TRAVESTY. I just couldn't fathom a little person with bare feet. I gave Jan grief about it on a weekly basis and vowed (at age 6...have I mentioned I was born to be a mom?) to never have a child without shoes. As I grew up I realized that this vow would most certainly be broken and I would eat my own words, but right now I'm still of the belief that William's feet need shoes. At least socks...but when at all possible, shoes too. However, most other baby accessories seem useless to me and I smirk at people that insist on having them. I know this is a bit hypocritical, as I just expressed an urgent need for shoes for someone who will never touch the floor, but I just can't help it. So as Austin is perusing through the accessory area I am daydreaming, not at all paying attention, when BAM - a pair of infant sunglasses appear 2 inches from my face. The sunglasses are blue and look to have no special quality to them until Austin tilts them at a different angle and I see the TINY #36 imprinted on the side. As I become aware of the connection but am not yet aware of the need for infant sunglasses, they are quickly scanned onto William's registry. Sunglasses you ask? Yes. I may have registered for an overabundance of socks, but sunglasses???
Right next to the sunglasses were 2 pair of newborn shoes that Austin was drawn to - both related to football. While I do see the need in shoes, I am always weary of the size labeled "newborn". I know that the average baby born in the US is less than 8 pounds, so I know that newborn clothes do fit most babies when they are born, but for how long? I also know that I barely fit into 0-3 month clothes on my birthday, and Austin wasn't itty bitty himself - so in my opinion, the chance of William being 8 pounds or less is pretty slim. But, Austin NEEDED these 2 newborn shoes...so, on the registry they went.
This is how most of the day went. I pointed out things like bottles, assorted sizes of bottle nipples, high chairs, bibs, etc...some were scanned, some didn't quite make the cut. However, if you go to Target or to www.target.com and look at our registry you will find that not many toys that Austin liked were overlooked. Good thing he's planning to build a toy chest, cause we don't have a spot for all the things he felt William needed. I am remembering the first Christmas I had Reagan...how I bought him all sorts of toys that he was only briefly interested in but how much he loved the empty boxes and wrapping paper...assuming babies are similar and that we won't NEED all those toys. But, as you now know, they are on the registry and on Austin's mind for his hopes and dreams for William's infanthood.
I did manage to squeeze some books on there, though Austin kept sneaking away to the movies while I was looking at the books. I didn't realize, then, that he was actually scanning movies. I think he put a Disney Christmas movie on there - which is somewhat practical - but I think he also put the Jetsons. The Jetsons. He is a big fan of "old school" cartoons and doesn't like these "new age weird kid shows" so I know he intends to brainwash our children into only liking the "classics" I assume the jetsons falls into this category, as I wouldn't know because I didn't really get into cartoons that weren't made by Disney, and that this is his attempt to replace Dora the Explorer with something he thinks is better.
Moral of the story, if you see anything with the number 36 on it, Austin would be incredibly touched if you bought it. I think we've pretty well covered the sports concept and have done our best to instill a desire to play football within William, but I guess overkill can't hurt? That's the theory Austin is going with anyway. We're also good on the color blue, if you ask me. By our own fault, I assure you, and by the fault of baby designers who believe there are only 2 colors in the baby-rainbow (pink or blue) Its not that I have a problem with blue - I just don't think it ALL needs to be blue...but the cutest clothes seem to be, and that's where I've gravitated so far.
This weekend's William-work is to install shelves in his closet. This might be my favorite part of his room, and I might have had it made up in my mind before you even knew I was pregnant. I've designed it at Container Store and they are having their shelving sale that ends this Sunday, so the time has come. Plus, the clothes will be WAY more fun to look at when they're hanging up rather than stacked in his drawers where I can only see what is on top. I'm sure there will be lots of fun closet pictures to come :)
My day has wandered away from me - its 4:30 somehow and I still have so much to do. I apologize for being a bit spacey and maybe less dedicated in my blogs recently - my brain is overloaded and my body is worn out, this work thing is REALLY starting to get in the way of life. But - I'll save all of that for another day. Until then............
Austin had a revelation of his own while we registered: We were meant to have a son right now. Clearly we were - if you believe in God, destiny, fate or any sort of life-plan like that then you believe that things happen for a reason. We are pregnant and we are having a son, so obviously we were meant to - we believe that was God's plan for us. But this revelation occurred to Austin in the infant clothing department at Target.
When Austin was in high school he played football and basketball, and his number was 36. It seems that this season, or maybe its every season and I just don't know it, baby clothing manufacturers got together and decided that the best jersey number to use on their sporting clothes would be 36. After our ultrasound at 12 weeks, where Missy told me she was "strongly suspicious" it was a boy we were at babies r us and saw a little baseball outfit with the number 36 on it. It was a full body outfit, long sleeved and long pants, which is good for the time of year William will be born, and #36 - so we had to get it. Then I believe I blogged a few weeks ago about the precious outfit that I found that said "little line backer" for next football season - it didn't have a number on it, but it did have linebacker, which was Austin's position. Yesterday at Target, however, there was not one baby sporting outfit that had a number other than 36. There was a 3 piece outfit with fleece pants, a fleece hoodie, and a long sleeved onesie - the pants and hoodie were blue and the hoodie has a patch on it that says something related to football. We couldn't really see the onesie at first, but it looked like it had footballs and helmets on it - all the 3 piece suits were on sale for really cheap, so we decided we'd buy one. There were a few boy designs and a few girl designs, but we didn't like any of the other boy options so we actually picked football by default (which is odd for Austin...and possibly for me...) It wasn't until a few minutes later that I looked closer and saw all the little #36's on the onesie and on the inside of the hood of the jacket. I showed Austin and his face was beaming. What was once a buy by default became a must-have pretty quickly, and even if it weren't on sale and were overpriced I believe it would have found a home in our shopping cart. (the shopping cart we ONLY got to hold our coats...yeah...right...)
We continued looking through the clothes and I found a onesie on sale for $2 that says "Daddy's #1 Draft Pick" It didn't have a #36, but it was $2...and how can you pass up any baby item for $2? Tough to do, let me tell you. Couldn't buy the onesie though without the pants...and the matching jacket was so cute so why not...so a $2 onesie turned into a $10 outfit. Definitely necessary.
The pile in the cart was slowly getting higher when we get to the baby accessory section. Let me stop here and briefly touch on my concern with baby shoes. I believe babies need them. I realize that their feet never hit the ground, and I realize that the shoes get kicked off 9 times out of 10 and they grow out of them rapidly. I get that. But when I was about...6?...Maizeanne was a baby and Jan would bring her to church with no shoes on. WHAT A TRAVESTY. I just couldn't fathom a little person with bare feet. I gave Jan grief about it on a weekly basis and vowed (at age 6...have I mentioned I was born to be a mom?) to never have a child without shoes. As I grew up I realized that this vow would most certainly be broken and I would eat my own words, but right now I'm still of the belief that William's feet need shoes. At least socks...but when at all possible, shoes too. However, most other baby accessories seem useless to me and I smirk at people that insist on having them. I know this is a bit hypocritical, as I just expressed an urgent need for shoes for someone who will never touch the floor, but I just can't help it. So as Austin is perusing through the accessory area I am daydreaming, not at all paying attention, when BAM - a pair of infant sunglasses appear 2 inches from my face. The sunglasses are blue and look to have no special quality to them until Austin tilts them at a different angle and I see the TINY #36 imprinted on the side. As I become aware of the connection but am not yet aware of the need for infant sunglasses, they are quickly scanned onto William's registry. Sunglasses you ask? Yes. I may have registered for an overabundance of socks, but sunglasses???
Right next to the sunglasses were 2 pair of newborn shoes that Austin was drawn to - both related to football. While I do see the need in shoes, I am always weary of the size labeled "newborn". I know that the average baby born in the US is less than 8 pounds, so I know that newborn clothes do fit most babies when they are born, but for how long? I also know that I barely fit into 0-3 month clothes on my birthday, and Austin wasn't itty bitty himself - so in my opinion, the chance of William being 8 pounds or less is pretty slim. But, Austin NEEDED these 2 newborn shoes...so, on the registry they went.
This is how most of the day went. I pointed out things like bottles, assorted sizes of bottle nipples, high chairs, bibs, etc...some were scanned, some didn't quite make the cut. However, if you go to Target or to www.target.com and look at our registry you will find that not many toys that Austin liked were overlooked. Good thing he's planning to build a toy chest, cause we don't have a spot for all the things he felt William needed. I am remembering the first Christmas I had Reagan...how I bought him all sorts of toys that he was only briefly interested in but how much he loved the empty boxes and wrapping paper...assuming babies are similar and that we won't NEED all those toys. But, as you now know, they are on the registry and on Austin's mind for his hopes and dreams for William's infanthood.
I did manage to squeeze some books on there, though Austin kept sneaking away to the movies while I was looking at the books. I didn't realize, then, that he was actually scanning movies. I think he put a Disney Christmas movie on there - which is somewhat practical - but I think he also put the Jetsons. The Jetsons. He is a big fan of "old school" cartoons and doesn't like these "new age weird kid shows" so I know he intends to brainwash our children into only liking the "classics" I assume the jetsons falls into this category, as I wouldn't know because I didn't really get into cartoons that weren't made by Disney, and that this is his attempt to replace Dora the Explorer with something he thinks is better.
Moral of the story, if you see anything with the number 36 on it, Austin would be incredibly touched if you bought it. I think we've pretty well covered the sports concept and have done our best to instill a desire to play football within William, but I guess overkill can't hurt? That's the theory Austin is going with anyway. We're also good on the color blue, if you ask me. By our own fault, I assure you, and by the fault of baby designers who believe there are only 2 colors in the baby-rainbow (pink or blue) Its not that I have a problem with blue - I just don't think it ALL needs to be blue...but the cutest clothes seem to be, and that's where I've gravitated so far.
This weekend's William-work is to install shelves in his closet. This might be my favorite part of his room, and I might have had it made up in my mind before you even knew I was pregnant. I've designed it at Container Store and they are having their shelving sale that ends this Sunday, so the time has come. Plus, the clothes will be WAY more fun to look at when they're hanging up rather than stacked in his drawers where I can only see what is on top. I'm sure there will be lots of fun closet pictures to come :)
My day has wandered away from me - its 4:30 somehow and I still have so much to do. I apologize for being a bit spacey and maybe less dedicated in my blogs recently - my brain is overloaded and my body is worn out, this work thing is REALLY starting to get in the way of life. But - I'll save all of that for another day. Until then............
Oct 10, 2009
I am Not Buddah
I have been struggling for quite some time on whether or not I'd blog about this. I went back and forth because I know that it could possibly come across as being rude or offensive...but, today, I am just not worried about that.
Remember when you were a kid and you walked into a Chinese restaurant where Buddah's statue greeted you in the doorway? Remember how you were told that if you rubbed Buddah's belly it would bring you good luck? Let me just tell you - pregnant women are not Buddah. Rubbing a pregnant belly will not bring you any sort of luck, so you can stop trying now.
I do realize that I have the privilege of feeling William every day now, and when people see me they just want to share in that. I get that. But let me ask you this: Would you like to share in my pain on Feb 21 (ish) when I give birth? Cause if not, I don't think I have to share this with you - it only seems fair that I get the perk since I'm the one doing the work.
Now - if you are just SO moved by the sight of a round pregnant belly and you want to touch it out of love, please remember that you are in fact invading a woman's personal space - so asking permission MIGHT make the move a little easier. I have nearly swatted away the hands of people that I like - I don't want to be rude, I don't want to catch anyone off guard or do any physical damage - really I don't. But I don't typically invite people to invade my space and touch me whenever/wherever they please without warning, so a little fore-warning might be helpful. Should you ask, I might be inclined to say ok. However, if we are together for 2 hours, one "touch" is sufficient - let me assure you. You don't need to rub Buddah for good luck 10 times in one conversation, you'll just end up rubbing off bad luck and probably get smacked across the face. And, let me also make a quick note: there is a difference in TOUCHING and RUBBING. A quick little touch on the stomach as you greet me (after you've asked, as we already covered) is one thing. Rubbing my belly like a genie will pop out and grant you 3 wishes - that's another thing. And KISSING? Let's not go there.
My mom is especially bothered by my disdain for the rubbing of my belly. She seems to think its something I just "have to get used to" I don't think so. I think an easy way to make people stop would be for me to return to favor; anytime someone rubs my belly I'll rub theirs right back. People will quickly learn that your stomach is probably one of the LAST places you'd like to be touched, if you'd like to be touched at all, and maybe people would be so turned off by my reaction that they'd quit. And, if not, at least I have something to do back to them besides slap them :)
My mom also has expressed concern that I won't "allow" Austin to touch my stomach - so I had to let her know that no, Austin is in fact allowed. It is his child too, and he will be there Feb 21 also experiencing pain of his own (granted not to the degree of mine, but I can squeeze pretty tightly...) so he has earned the belly-rights. He generally scratches my stomach in the morning to say good morning to William, and he kisses it at night to say goodnight. He might touch it at some other point in the day too - that just depends. A little over a week ago when I started to feel William kicking for the first time Austin was playing with him. Austin couldn't feel him move so I'd tell him where William was moving, Austin would push back at him and talk to him, and then William would kick back. It was pretty precious, and Austin loved feeling like he was already playing with his son. He has also laid his iPhone on my belly while playing country music, as we read that at this stage William can now hear and distinguish different types of music. So, see, I do allow him to partake in the joy...I just don't think everyone at my work needs to join in with us. They won't be there when he's born, they certainly weren't there when he was conceived, so do they REALLY need to be a part of this? I don't know - make your own judgements I suppose.
I'm sure this is first of MANY opinions/choices I will make as a parent (probably not even the first actually) that will make people think I'm crazy or I've done something wrong. Oh well, that's how it goes. I'm sure I'll make lots of parental choices that are wrong, lots that I think are right but you may think are wrong, and overall I'll probably make some hands-down correct calls along the way. I can tell you that, if you haven't already had your children, I will not touch your stomach without asking you...you might think that's weird of me, and you might not care that I ask...but I will because I will remember how odd this belly-situation is.
I'll get off this soapbox now and let you all cast your judgements - really, I don't mind.
Remember when you were a kid and you walked into a Chinese restaurant where Buddah's statue greeted you in the doorway? Remember how you were told that if you rubbed Buddah's belly it would bring you good luck? Let me just tell you - pregnant women are not Buddah. Rubbing a pregnant belly will not bring you any sort of luck, so you can stop trying now.
I do realize that I have the privilege of feeling William every day now, and when people see me they just want to share in that. I get that. But let me ask you this: Would you like to share in my pain on Feb 21 (ish) when I give birth? Cause if not, I don't think I have to share this with you - it only seems fair that I get the perk since I'm the one doing the work.
Now - if you are just SO moved by the sight of a round pregnant belly and you want to touch it out of love, please remember that you are in fact invading a woman's personal space - so asking permission MIGHT make the move a little easier. I have nearly swatted away the hands of people that I like - I don't want to be rude, I don't want to catch anyone off guard or do any physical damage - really I don't. But I don't typically invite people to invade my space and touch me whenever/wherever they please without warning, so a little fore-warning might be helpful. Should you ask, I might be inclined to say ok. However, if we are together for 2 hours, one "touch" is sufficient - let me assure you. You don't need to rub Buddah for good luck 10 times in one conversation, you'll just end up rubbing off bad luck and probably get smacked across the face. And, let me also make a quick note: there is a difference in TOUCHING and RUBBING. A quick little touch on the stomach as you greet me (after you've asked, as we already covered) is one thing. Rubbing my belly like a genie will pop out and grant you 3 wishes - that's another thing. And KISSING? Let's not go there.
My mom is especially bothered by my disdain for the rubbing of my belly. She seems to think its something I just "have to get used to" I don't think so. I think an easy way to make people stop would be for me to return to favor; anytime someone rubs my belly I'll rub theirs right back. People will quickly learn that your stomach is probably one of the LAST places you'd like to be touched, if you'd like to be touched at all, and maybe people would be so turned off by my reaction that they'd quit. And, if not, at least I have something to do back to them besides slap them :)
My mom also has expressed concern that I won't "allow" Austin to touch my stomach - so I had to let her know that no, Austin is in fact allowed. It is his child too, and he will be there Feb 21 also experiencing pain of his own (granted not to the degree of mine, but I can squeeze pretty tightly...) so he has earned the belly-rights. He generally scratches my stomach in the morning to say good morning to William, and he kisses it at night to say goodnight. He might touch it at some other point in the day too - that just depends. A little over a week ago when I started to feel William kicking for the first time Austin was playing with him. Austin couldn't feel him move so I'd tell him where William was moving, Austin would push back at him and talk to him, and then William would kick back. It was pretty precious, and Austin loved feeling like he was already playing with his son. He has also laid his iPhone on my belly while playing country music, as we read that at this stage William can now hear and distinguish different types of music. So, see, I do allow him to partake in the joy...I just don't think everyone at my work needs to join in with us. They won't be there when he's born, they certainly weren't there when he was conceived, so do they REALLY need to be a part of this? I don't know - make your own judgements I suppose.
I'm sure this is first of MANY opinions/choices I will make as a parent (probably not even the first actually) that will make people think I'm crazy or I've done something wrong. Oh well, that's how it goes. I'm sure I'll make lots of parental choices that are wrong, lots that I think are right but you may think are wrong, and overall I'll probably make some hands-down correct calls along the way. I can tell you that, if you haven't already had your children, I will not touch your stomach without asking you...you might think that's weird of me, and you might not care that I ask...but I will because I will remember how odd this belly-situation is.
I'll get off this soapbox now and let you all cast your judgements - really, I don't mind.
Oct 9, 2009
I'm going to DISNEYWORLD
Before I rain on my own parade, please take a minute to do a little happy dance with me to celebrate the fact that I am finally going to Disney world.
Most of my loyal readers probably know (and I'm sure are tired of hearing about) the fact that I have never been to Disney world. I've been close a few times, but its never worked out for me. You would think that at 25 I wouldn't really care, but I'm pretty into Disney - more so than any other form of entertainment - so I've anticipated the days I'd walk through the golden gates (in my mind, there are big, HUGE gold gates that sparkle every day and that will automatically open as I approach them. don't ruin this for me.) But - for those of you who don't know my stories of almost-trips, and for those of you who want to bore yourselves with them for a second (or tenth) time, read on...
My first almost-trip to Disney world was in junior high. This was probably the furthest from an actual trip, though maybe the most disappointing. A girl who had babysat my brothers and me when we were younger was working as Cinderella at disneyworld and when she was back home at some point she connected with my parents and said if we ever came out there she could get us discounted tickets. I don't remember all the details of the story - so I"m sure if I'm wrong my mom will correct me - but the gist of it was that my dad told my brothers and I he was thinking about it, asked if we'd like to, but then as the year progressed the doctors gave my dad bad news about his condition and then Disney never happened. If my timing is right, I believe he was talking about taking this trip around the time that he was told my the doctors that his condition was not improving and that, with his current medications, he had about a year left to live. Shortly after that doctor visit he and my mom felt God was telling them to stop the medication and rely on His timing. He lived for roughly a month without medication, so obviously our Disney trip never came to be. I say it was the furthest from a trip because there were never any plans, no dates were picked and nothing was ever thoroughly looked into. The trip may never have happened anyway, regardless of what happened with my dad's illness, but I say it is the most disappointing not-Disney trip because in my mind it was either we went to Disney, or my dad died - clearly we ended up on the short end of that deal. By far.
My next near-attendance at Disney was my sophomore year of high school. My mom and Alfredo had gotten married my freshman year and they had the idea to take all the kids to Disneyworld - I guess as a family experience. The money had already been allocated, the potential dates were set - and then Alfredo's ex-wife informed him that she would be moving to Oklahoma with their 4(???) year old daughter. Alfredo was devastated, naturally, and he and my mom weren't sure what they could do, if anything. After talking with an old family friend who was an attorney, is now a judge, they found out they could file for an amendment to the divorce decree and have it included that Emily must stay in Harris County. My mom sat us all down, Brandon, Brian and myself, and told us the situation and asked us what we thought they should do. The issue here being that the only place the court fees/attorney fees would come from would be out of our Disney trip. Hands down, we all agreed that the more important use of the money was for Alfredo to fight for Emily. I strongly felt, and still believe, that it was important for Alfredo to know he did everything he could for his daughter, and for Emily to know that her dad put her above everything else in an attempt to keep her close to him. We ended up "winning" that court case, but it was a short lived victory as Rebecca came up with the same idea 4 years later, only this time she had a better attorney and requested a trial by jury. Emily now lives in Arkansas, and Alfredo doesn't get to see her nearly as much as he should. It breaks my heart for the two of them - partially because I know how much Alfredo loves Emily, and partially because I was Emily's age when my dad died and I think that having a father who loves her and is available is a blessing, one which her mom won't let her capitalize on. So - in the end, this trip may have been the closest I ever made it to Disneyworld, but I still feel like the right choice was made despite the outcome.
My senior year of high school my band director announced that our band spring trip would be to Disney Land in California. I know there's a difference between the 2 - but to me, disney is disney and since I'd have nothing to compare it to, I'd take either one. Before school started parents had to pay the annual dues for clubs/organizations, so by August our disney trip was planned and paid for. We were talking about it for MONTHS! A lot of stuff happened in band that year - it was pretty crazy actually - and over the Christmas break someone broke into the band hall (is it "breaking in" when the doors are unlocked?) and mutilated a tuba. Mutilated doesn't begin to describe the damage...there really isn't a word that could tell you. A tuba is roughly a $10,000 instrument, and the bell of the tuba (the top part) is probably 15-20 inches in diameter. When we returned to school for the spring semester the bell of that tuba was crushed together to be MAYBE 8 inches in diameter. The keys had been ripped out, holes had been punctured all over the tuba - it was beyond repair. I believe the band had insurance, so covering the cost of replacing the tuba wasn't as much of a concern as finding the person who had done it. So, in the first week of the spring semester our band director gave us an ultimatum: Either the guilty parties confess, knowing parties turn in names, any information be given, etc, by a certain date or our spring trip was cancelled. The argument was that the band director couldn't possibly trust us on a cross-country flight and in a hotel if he couldn't trust us in our own band hall, and he wanted to be certain the guilty party/ies were not on that spring trip. I think the logic behind his ultimatum was fair, and I truly think he believed 100% that a name would be turned in well in advance of his due date - so we'd all be going to Disney anyway. Well - the day came and went, and no name had been given. So, having to be true to his word, our trip was cancelled. I was devastated. It was an emotional year for me to begin with, not having my dad there for my transition into adulthood was hard to face, and I had been impatiently waiting to FINALLY go on that disney trip my dad wanted to take me on for months...only to have it taken from me by some idiot who thought it'd be funny to act as a coward and commit a crime against no one in particular, then slither away into the night. The guilty person was never "officially" found, though it has been admitted to me by one person that he did it. That was years later - so it did me no good - and our spring trip was limited to a day-trip to Astroworld, where I had been maybe 100 times in my life.
I think my mom told my band director about my emotional connection between Disney and my dad, not only because of the trip he wanted to take but also because growing up my dad took my to Disney on Ice every year. My mom told the band director she was disappointed I couldn't go, because she knew I held onto that connection and knew how devastated I was that we weren't going. I know he felt bad that the decision he made, though it may have been the best decision, hurt me that way so 2 years later when he planned the trip again with the band he emailed me and asked if I'd like to be a chaperone. I still had friends that were in the band, so I would have LOVED to, but the trip fell the week before finals and I didn't have the money to put forth to be a chaperone. It wouldn't have been an expensive trip, but I was on a pretty tight/non-existent income in college so I couldn't really spend $700 on a trip.
There are my 4 attempts, all failed, at going to Disney world. I haven't given up hope yet, and I don't ever forget to remind people that I've never been. So a few weeks ago when my boss asked me if I'd go to the CorpTax software training in November, which is being held in ORLANDO, FLORIDA, I was beyond myself with excitement. A free trip to Orlando, minutes away from meeting mickey? COUNT ME IN. I suggested to Austin that he come down at the end of the conference Thursday night and we spend the weekend there, but he said he didn't think we should spend the extra money right now. We had created a pretty limited budget for the remainder of the year in order to save as much money as possible before William gets here, and a trip to Disney doesn't really fit in that budget. While I knew he was giving me the responsible answer, just like the previous failed attempts at Disney visits, I didn't want to hear it. Especially because - out of the two of us - when is HE the one to make the budget-conscious decision? He also added that he would like to use as few vacation days as possible so he can take as much extra time when William is here - which obviously scored some points with me cause that means more double-team days! As a compromise, he looked up Disney on Ice and found out they will be in Denver the week of our anniversary, so he will take me to that. I'd say we made a pretty good deal.
Because of that though, unfortunately my trip to Disney won't be the 4 day, all day, park hopping adventure I'd hoped for. I won't have anyone with me, and I will probably only go for one evening so that I can at least SEE what its all about, hopefully see some fun characters, and maybe get a souvenir to commemorate my long-anticipated trip. Then maybe one day Austin and I can take William to disney world - and any siblings he may have - so that we can all experience the *magic* together. Despite the fact that my trip won't be all I could have hoped, one month from today I will no longer have to say "I've never been to Disneyworld"
And that still puts a pretty big smile on my face!
Most of my loyal readers probably know (and I'm sure are tired of hearing about) the fact that I have never been to Disney world. I've been close a few times, but its never worked out for me. You would think that at 25 I wouldn't really care, but I'm pretty into Disney - more so than any other form of entertainment - so I've anticipated the days I'd walk through the golden gates (in my mind, there are big, HUGE gold gates that sparkle every day and that will automatically open as I approach them. don't ruin this for me.) But - for those of you who don't know my stories of almost-trips, and for those of you who want to bore yourselves with them for a second (or tenth) time, read on...
My first almost-trip to Disney world was in junior high. This was probably the furthest from an actual trip, though maybe the most disappointing. A girl who had babysat my brothers and me when we were younger was working as Cinderella at disneyworld and when she was back home at some point she connected with my parents and said if we ever came out there she could get us discounted tickets. I don't remember all the details of the story - so I"m sure if I'm wrong my mom will correct me - but the gist of it was that my dad told my brothers and I he was thinking about it, asked if we'd like to, but then as the year progressed the doctors gave my dad bad news about his condition and then Disney never happened. If my timing is right, I believe he was talking about taking this trip around the time that he was told my the doctors that his condition was not improving and that, with his current medications, he had about a year left to live. Shortly after that doctor visit he and my mom felt God was telling them to stop the medication and rely on His timing. He lived for roughly a month without medication, so obviously our Disney trip never came to be. I say it was the furthest from a trip because there were never any plans, no dates were picked and nothing was ever thoroughly looked into. The trip may never have happened anyway, regardless of what happened with my dad's illness, but I say it is the most disappointing not-Disney trip because in my mind it was either we went to Disney, or my dad died - clearly we ended up on the short end of that deal. By far.
My next near-attendance at Disney was my sophomore year of high school. My mom and Alfredo had gotten married my freshman year and they had the idea to take all the kids to Disneyworld - I guess as a family experience. The money had already been allocated, the potential dates were set - and then Alfredo's ex-wife informed him that she would be moving to Oklahoma with their 4(???) year old daughter. Alfredo was devastated, naturally, and he and my mom weren't sure what they could do, if anything. After talking with an old family friend who was an attorney, is now a judge, they found out they could file for an amendment to the divorce decree and have it included that Emily must stay in Harris County. My mom sat us all down, Brandon, Brian and myself, and told us the situation and asked us what we thought they should do. The issue here being that the only place the court fees/attorney fees would come from would be out of our Disney trip. Hands down, we all agreed that the more important use of the money was for Alfredo to fight for Emily. I strongly felt, and still believe, that it was important for Alfredo to know he did everything he could for his daughter, and for Emily to know that her dad put her above everything else in an attempt to keep her close to him. We ended up "winning" that court case, but it was a short lived victory as Rebecca came up with the same idea 4 years later, only this time she had a better attorney and requested a trial by jury. Emily now lives in Arkansas, and Alfredo doesn't get to see her nearly as much as he should. It breaks my heart for the two of them - partially because I know how much Alfredo loves Emily, and partially because I was Emily's age when my dad died and I think that having a father who loves her and is available is a blessing, one which her mom won't let her capitalize on. So - in the end, this trip may have been the closest I ever made it to Disneyworld, but I still feel like the right choice was made despite the outcome.
My senior year of high school my band director announced that our band spring trip would be to Disney Land in California. I know there's a difference between the 2 - but to me, disney is disney and since I'd have nothing to compare it to, I'd take either one. Before school started parents had to pay the annual dues for clubs/organizations, so by August our disney trip was planned and paid for. We were talking about it for MONTHS! A lot of stuff happened in band that year - it was pretty crazy actually - and over the Christmas break someone broke into the band hall (is it "breaking in" when the doors are unlocked?) and mutilated a tuba. Mutilated doesn't begin to describe the damage...there really isn't a word that could tell you. A tuba is roughly a $10,000 instrument, and the bell of the tuba (the top part) is probably 15-20 inches in diameter. When we returned to school for the spring semester the bell of that tuba was crushed together to be MAYBE 8 inches in diameter. The keys had been ripped out, holes had been punctured all over the tuba - it was beyond repair. I believe the band had insurance, so covering the cost of replacing the tuba wasn't as much of a concern as finding the person who had done it. So, in the first week of the spring semester our band director gave us an ultimatum: Either the guilty parties confess, knowing parties turn in names, any information be given, etc, by a certain date or our spring trip was cancelled. The argument was that the band director couldn't possibly trust us on a cross-country flight and in a hotel if he couldn't trust us in our own band hall, and he wanted to be certain the guilty party/ies were not on that spring trip. I think the logic behind his ultimatum was fair, and I truly think he believed 100% that a name would be turned in well in advance of his due date - so we'd all be going to Disney anyway. Well - the day came and went, and no name had been given. So, having to be true to his word, our trip was cancelled. I was devastated. It was an emotional year for me to begin with, not having my dad there for my transition into adulthood was hard to face, and I had been impatiently waiting to FINALLY go on that disney trip my dad wanted to take me on for months...only to have it taken from me by some idiot who thought it'd be funny to act as a coward and commit a crime against no one in particular, then slither away into the night. The guilty person was never "officially" found, though it has been admitted to me by one person that he did it. That was years later - so it did me no good - and our spring trip was limited to a day-trip to Astroworld, where I had been maybe 100 times in my life.
I think my mom told my band director about my emotional connection between Disney and my dad, not only because of the trip he wanted to take but also because growing up my dad took my to Disney on Ice every year. My mom told the band director she was disappointed I couldn't go, because she knew I held onto that connection and knew how devastated I was that we weren't going. I know he felt bad that the decision he made, though it may have been the best decision, hurt me that way so 2 years later when he planned the trip again with the band he emailed me and asked if I'd like to be a chaperone. I still had friends that were in the band, so I would have LOVED to, but the trip fell the week before finals and I didn't have the money to put forth to be a chaperone. It wouldn't have been an expensive trip, but I was on a pretty tight/non-existent income in college so I couldn't really spend $700 on a trip.
There are my 4 attempts, all failed, at going to Disney world. I haven't given up hope yet, and I don't ever forget to remind people that I've never been. So a few weeks ago when my boss asked me if I'd go to the CorpTax software training in November, which is being held in ORLANDO, FLORIDA, I was beyond myself with excitement. A free trip to Orlando, minutes away from meeting mickey? COUNT ME IN. I suggested to Austin that he come down at the end of the conference Thursday night and we spend the weekend there, but he said he didn't think we should spend the extra money right now. We had created a pretty limited budget for the remainder of the year in order to save as much money as possible before William gets here, and a trip to Disney doesn't really fit in that budget. While I knew he was giving me the responsible answer, just like the previous failed attempts at Disney visits, I didn't want to hear it. Especially because - out of the two of us - when is HE the one to make the budget-conscious decision? He also added that he would like to use as few vacation days as possible so he can take as much extra time when William is here - which obviously scored some points with me cause that means more double-team days! As a compromise, he looked up Disney on Ice and found out they will be in Denver the week of our anniversary, so he will take me to that. I'd say we made a pretty good deal.
Because of that though, unfortunately my trip to Disney won't be the 4 day, all day, park hopping adventure I'd hoped for. I won't have anyone with me, and I will probably only go for one evening so that I can at least SEE what its all about, hopefully see some fun characters, and maybe get a souvenir to commemorate my long-anticipated trip. Then maybe one day Austin and I can take William to disney world - and any siblings he may have - so that we can all experience the *magic* together. Despite the fact that my trip won't be all I could have hoped, one month from today I will no longer have to say "I've never been to Disneyworld"
And that still puts a pretty big smile on my face!
Oct 5, 2009
What is a Godparent?
Growing up I knew my Godmother was Aunt Laura (lolly) and my Godfather was Brett. Mandy and Leon are Brian's Godparents, and "silly old Doug" and his wife are Brandon's. I never knew, really, what it MEANT to have Godparents, how they were chosen, why they were chosen, or what this glorified role in a child's life was to mean. I know that Marty and Jan asked my parents to be Robert's Godparents, so I liked to think of him as my God-brother, and I know Faith was my parent's Goddaughter as well.
Beyond that, I didn't put much thought into Godparents other than the fact that they were the lucky people who got to stand next to the baby during baptism, generally blocking my view. (I loved babies)
I don't think I've ever put an ounce of thought into the concept either, until back in April when my friend Jen told me they had picked a godfather but not a godmother. She talked about how big of a responsibility it was, and that Maddox's godfather wanted his role, in the event of Jen and Jordan's death, to be more financial and less of a parental role in Maddox's life...so their search for a godmother was going to be a more difficult search because they would be looking for a guardian. I hadn't ever thought about the aspect of being a guardian, but I didn't think that my parents would have given guardianship to 3 different families for my brothers and I, and I thought the concept of a godparent was religiously based as they are present at the baptism...but after quickly being perplexed on the topic I dropped it because I didn't assume I would be needing to make that decision anytime soon.
Well, once we found out we were pregnant one of the topics that came up was godparents. We both asked a few people's opinion, looked in the book of common prayer at the celebration of baptism, and we discussed it a bit, and we came to the agreement that, for our kids at least, Godparents would be more related to religious upbringing and guidance and that guardianship would be a different issue. We agreed that to ask someone to be a Godparent would be asking them to commit to help raise our child knowing Jesus and guiding him/her in their religious growth. That is a bigger decision than I would have thought before.
We have TONS of friends, family, etc who will influence William (and any future sibling/s) in his life just by being as involved as they are in our lives. But to ask someone to specifically take on the task of religious guidance - it is a different element of responsibility. I don't know that I am personally in the best place to guide a child in that manner, so who is? We've brainstormed, discussed, revisited, and ignored the issue - I just really never knew it would be such a decision.
That being said, there were plenty of people who helped teach me about Jesus, were role models in how to live a Christian life, and who were there to answer any questions or doubts I may have. I remember when I was about 5 years old(a complete estimation on my part here as I could have been any age really) my mom took me to a Christian concert at Astroworld with some of her friends from church. Jan Scarpati was there, and at one point when I raised my hands in the air while we were singing Jan looked down and asked me why I was doing that. I was embarrassed because I thought I had done something wrong, but then Jan picked me up and explained to me what it meant to raise your hands in worship and she added that wasn't ridiculing me, she was just wondering what I was thinking about as I did it. Turns out I just saw other people, mainly my mom and Jan, doing it so I did it too - but from that point on I knew what it meant to be moved by worship and to raise your hands in praise.
Another very distinct memory is of Judy Newey, and came around mother's day 1994 when my dad was first in the hospital with leukemia. I know it was around mother's day because it was when my brothers and I were living at the Sharpe's house while my mom was finishing her semester of school and spending her evenings/nights at the hospital. Rod and Cathy Sharpe had offered to take care of my brothers and I for about 2 weeks; Cathy drove 5 kids to 4 schools every morning, picked us up every afternoon, made sure all our homework was done, and took us all to the hospital to see my dad. That, in itself, speaks wonders about acting out of love. One afternoon at the hospital Bob and Judy Newey had come to see my dad and Judy had on a gold necklace with a purse pendant. The pendant was pretty big, as far as pendants go, and it opened up like a real purse. Anyone who knows me knows that I have had a fetish for purses since I could walk, so the necklace caught my eye. I told Judy I liked it and Judy responded, "I thought you might like this. Lauren told me that you liked to play purses when she used to babysit you. She said you were so cute, and you always wanted her to bring ALL of her purses over so you could see them" Again, I remember being a little embarrassed, until Judy took the necklace off and put it around my neck. She said "I want you to have this" I told her she didn't have to give it to me, and I could just play with it for awhile, but she replied "Jesus calls us to love children as He does, and he tells us that whatever we do for others we are doing for Him. I know you love purses, and I know you will enjoy this necklace more than I do, so I want you to have it as a special gift from me. Whenever you play with it or wear it, please remember how much Bob and I love you and your family". Not many days at the hospital had bright moments, but that day shined for me. We went back to Rod and Cathy's house and instead of playing basketball outside with the boys, I just sat at the kitchen table all night playing with my new purse.
Neither Jan nor Judy were asked upon my baptism to be my godparents, but they both impacted me in such a large way, by such small actions, that nearly 20 years later I still distinctly remember the lessons they taught me. And if I had more time I could share more stories; Jan and Judy are not at all alone in their lessons. So while I realize that the decision to ask someone to be William's Godparents is not one to take lightly, I also know that as long as Austin and I surround ourselves with people who not only love us and love William, but people who know and love Jesus, he will be touched in ways we could only hope for by many people that we haven't specifically called upon.
Knowing this, however, doesn't make our decision any more simple.
Beyond that, I didn't put much thought into Godparents other than the fact that they were the lucky people who got to stand next to the baby during baptism, generally blocking my view. (I loved babies)
I don't think I've ever put an ounce of thought into the concept either, until back in April when my friend Jen told me they had picked a godfather but not a godmother. She talked about how big of a responsibility it was, and that Maddox's godfather wanted his role, in the event of Jen and Jordan's death, to be more financial and less of a parental role in Maddox's life...so their search for a godmother was going to be a more difficult search because they would be looking for a guardian. I hadn't ever thought about the aspect of being a guardian, but I didn't think that my parents would have given guardianship to 3 different families for my brothers and I, and I thought the concept of a godparent was religiously based as they are present at the baptism...but after quickly being perplexed on the topic I dropped it because I didn't assume I would be needing to make that decision anytime soon.
Well, once we found out we were pregnant one of the topics that came up was godparents. We both asked a few people's opinion, looked in the book of common prayer at the celebration of baptism, and we discussed it a bit, and we came to the agreement that, for our kids at least, Godparents would be more related to religious upbringing and guidance and that guardianship would be a different issue. We agreed that to ask someone to be a Godparent would be asking them to commit to help raise our child knowing Jesus and guiding him/her in their religious growth. That is a bigger decision than I would have thought before.
We have TONS of friends, family, etc who will influence William (and any future sibling/s) in his life just by being as involved as they are in our lives. But to ask someone to specifically take on the task of religious guidance - it is a different element of responsibility. I don't know that I am personally in the best place to guide a child in that manner, so who is? We've brainstormed, discussed, revisited, and ignored the issue - I just really never knew it would be such a decision.
That being said, there were plenty of people who helped teach me about Jesus, were role models in how to live a Christian life, and who were there to answer any questions or doubts I may have. I remember when I was about 5 years old(a complete estimation on my part here as I could have been any age really) my mom took me to a Christian concert at Astroworld with some of her friends from church. Jan Scarpati was there, and at one point when I raised my hands in the air while we were singing Jan looked down and asked me why I was doing that. I was embarrassed because I thought I had done something wrong, but then Jan picked me up and explained to me what it meant to raise your hands in worship and she added that wasn't ridiculing me, she was just wondering what I was thinking about as I did it. Turns out I just saw other people, mainly my mom and Jan, doing it so I did it too - but from that point on I knew what it meant to be moved by worship and to raise your hands in praise.
Another very distinct memory is of Judy Newey, and came around mother's day 1994 when my dad was first in the hospital with leukemia. I know it was around mother's day because it was when my brothers and I were living at the Sharpe's house while my mom was finishing her semester of school and spending her evenings/nights at the hospital. Rod and Cathy Sharpe had offered to take care of my brothers and I for about 2 weeks; Cathy drove 5 kids to 4 schools every morning, picked us up every afternoon, made sure all our homework was done, and took us all to the hospital to see my dad. That, in itself, speaks wonders about acting out of love. One afternoon at the hospital Bob and Judy Newey had come to see my dad and Judy had on a gold necklace with a purse pendant. The pendant was pretty big, as far as pendants go, and it opened up like a real purse. Anyone who knows me knows that I have had a fetish for purses since I could walk, so the necklace caught my eye. I told Judy I liked it and Judy responded, "I thought you might like this. Lauren told me that you liked to play purses when she used to babysit you. She said you were so cute, and you always wanted her to bring ALL of her purses over so you could see them" Again, I remember being a little embarrassed, until Judy took the necklace off and put it around my neck. She said "I want you to have this" I told her she didn't have to give it to me, and I could just play with it for awhile, but she replied "Jesus calls us to love children as He does, and he tells us that whatever we do for others we are doing for Him. I know you love purses, and I know you will enjoy this necklace more than I do, so I want you to have it as a special gift from me. Whenever you play with it or wear it, please remember how much Bob and I love you and your family". Not many days at the hospital had bright moments, but that day shined for me. We went back to Rod and Cathy's house and instead of playing basketball outside with the boys, I just sat at the kitchen table all night playing with my new purse.
Neither Jan nor Judy were asked upon my baptism to be my godparents, but they both impacted me in such a large way, by such small actions, that nearly 20 years later I still distinctly remember the lessons they taught me. And if I had more time I could share more stories; Jan and Judy are not at all alone in their lessons. So while I realize that the decision to ask someone to be William's Godparents is not one to take lightly, I also know that as long as Austin and I surround ourselves with people who not only love us and love William, but people who know and love Jesus, he will be touched in ways we could only hope for by many people that we haven't specifically called upon.
Knowing this, however, doesn't make our decision any more simple.
We don't Believe in Brain-washing
A little manipulation couldn't hurt though huh?
We were putting some stuff away in William's dresser this weekend and I saw the stack of aTm clothes he already has...thought some people might consider this to be a little much, seeing as we should allow our child to explore his own interests, but I see nothing wrong with it :) Its our job as his parents to guide him down the right path - and clearly there is no better path for college. So - thanks mom for his onesie, his first aggie mug, and his little bitty socks (that I'm almost scared to use cause they're so cute) and thanks Brittany for his pack of nike onesies! :) He's covered until 9 months I think...after that we'll have to get back to work :)
At 16 weeks I was told that William's ears were developed and he could distinguish different sounds from inside the womb - the point being that he can hear our voices and hear when we talk. Well - this weekend he got to hear his first aggie game, and he heard his dad screaming-mad for the first time ever :) He better get used to it in football season! The aggies have definitely improved from a year ago - but they were not where they needed to be Saturday against Arkansas and it was NOT an enjoyable second half to watch.
We also got the room finished this weekend - painting I mean. There were a few spots on the stripes that just needed to be touched up so I did that Sunday before I went to work. The picture is of his crib (and all my old Disney on ice stuffed animals that will soon have a home in his room) and the window valence is hanging on the back of the crib. We still need to do the closet, the curtains, and hang up the William sign I made a few weeks ago - but the big parts are done.
Our biggest adventure for the weekend was joining the world of Costco. I thought those places were supposed to save you money? I think our receipt said we bought 25 items...don't wanna admit how much it cost. We did get a case of 256 diapers, a box of 900 wipes, and a 2-pack of infant formula. We were strongly advised to be prepared to breast feed and formula feed rather than making a decision one way or the other - as some babies don't take to breast feeding, some moms don't produce enough, some moms are unable, and some moms or babies just don't like it. There are also apparently moms who intend to formula feed but change their minds in the hospital. Because of that, we thought having a few cans of formula from the beginning would be a good, safe choice. So - William did rack up about $100 at costco...I guess that makes me feel somewhat better??? It was a lot of fun though! Costco has some of the coolest stuff - aside from the 75 pound bag of sugar that I see no need for, I found so many things I never knew I needed. I think in the future we'll have to limit our trips to costco though :)
A quick question to the moms of the world (or of my blog-audience) - how long does 900 wipes last? its gotta be awhile...2 months???? that might be wishful thinking, I don't remember how many you use each diaper change. And 256 diapers - to last one month that's 8.5 diaper changes a day, that'll work right? Please tell me you don't change the diaper more than 8 times. (and if you do - please don't tell me. just let me figure it out)
That about sums up the weekend. Working every weekend puts a damper on fun-weekend news, that's for sure. This coming weekend we have Kaila's birthday, Rick's going away party, and I do need to work some more...so hopefully this week I can get some rest in the evenings!
Speaking of work - better get to it.
Oct 2, 2009
Halfway There!
It's double day Friday - you get two posts! Mostly because my interest in tax returns has hit a brick wall and fallen down, down, down. :)
Today was our 20 week appointment - 20 weeks is halfway. Can you believe it? I can't. I wonder which half goes faster...I mean in the literal sense they go the same right, 20 weeks is 20 weeks. But I wonder if the first half seems faster, cause you technically only know for 16 weeks (or less sometimes), or if the last 20 weeks seem faster because you are so busy with all the preparations. I guess I'll be able to tell you in 20 weeks!
Side note: Technically I'm not 20 weeks yet...19 weeks and 6 days to be exact. But, besides the doctor, the ultrasound technician, William and myself...who's' counting?
The appointment went well! This was the appointment where they did the long ultrasound to take all the measurements...measured his little arms, legs, hands, spine, spine-to-stomach, looked at his organs and...most importantly of all...measured his head. I say this is most important only because the technician reported that his head is exactly average for where a baby should be at 20 weeks. Hallelujah - he might not have Brian's head after all :) One view on the ultrasound screen showed the heart beating in red and blue and showed the flow of the blood around the heart - Austin got some pictures of that on our camera so I'll put those on facebook soon - very cool. He was, again, a stubborn little guy when Missy tried to get a nice profile view to put on our fridge. William seems to enjoy hiding his face in his hand! While she was trying to get the picture he was moving his mouth (which is cute as can be, by the way, and I'm not just biased...) and she said "Do either of you have big lips?" I said that mine are bigger than average, and when I was a kid people thought I looked like Vada on My Girl but really only my lips and nose (also big) looked like hers. Missy laughed and said "well, I think he has your lips" After she had taken all the measurements she said that they all came in at normal, the heart rate was perfect, his movement looked good and his organs all looked great so there were no concerns. She then congratulated me on a job well done. While I don't really feel like I've been doing anything, it was kinda nice to hear :)
Then it was time to see the doctor. She discussed a little more with us about all the measurements, again confirming everything looked fantastic and there were no abnormalities or concerns to note, and started talking about the hospital and my next few appointments. I mentioned that Missy had suggested I let her know my high birth weight (10 pounds 6 ounces) and Austin's birth weight (he was 7 pounds 1 ounce, but he was 4 weeks early so could have been 9 pounds) and the doctor looked in my records and found that my family has a history of diabetes. She said she was going to recommend that I do the glucose test (nasty sugar drink?) at 24 weeks instead of 28 and said that they'll closely monitor the baby's growth, especially over the last 8 weeks, to ensure he doesn't get too large.
I'd like to point out that at my 16 week appointment she ASSURED me I would be needle-free for 12 weeks. Then I got a phone call the next day saying I needed to increase my thyroid dosage, and I'd need to retest my thyroid at 20 weeks. So - needle. So, she tried to reassure me that I wouldn't have a needle until 28 weeks again today, but once she decided to move the glucose test up to 24 weeks that went out the window too. Thanks a lot Dr Russell, you're my favorite.
Ok no really - its good that things are monitored, I get it, blah blah. They tested my thyroid today so if that comes out clean we won't test it again until 28 but I still have the glucose test next time. Dr Russell also asked if I'd had the flu shot yet and, when I answered no, she asked if I was opposed. I said I wasn't, but that I just hadn't done it yet. She said "Well, then let's just do it today so you can't procrastinate anymore" What came immediately after made me feel like I was at the battle of bull run or something...two women came charging into the room with weapons in hand and wasted no time in strapping me down (ok maybe I just sat there) and jamming their weapons into my arm. By weapons, naturally I mean needles. I'll admit that the flu shot hurt WAY more in my distant memory of my last one than it did in actuality, but my arm is now throbbing so I guess its a trade off. Next I have to do H1N1...two shots...yippee. Hear the excitement in my voice.
So, that was our appointment for today. We got a few more pictures of our baby, got some free formula and a book about baby's first year (Austin suggested we steal all the free samples but I thought better), and I got to bring home a bottle of what looks like McDonald's orange soda to drink before my next appointment. It reminds me of Robert because when he was little he ALWAYS had "orange drink" He was such a precious little boy - had the cutest little face and voice :) Hopefully this drink, which I've heard is the worst thing I'll ever drink, doesn't taint my remembrance of Robert! Although, I can't imagine that this drink will be any worse than everclear...and I can't imagine it'll be harder to chug that than it was to chug a pitcher of beer to get my aggie ring...so I think I'll survive.
Ok - I really must go now. It's 12:30 and my list of accomplishments for the day is very short. Before I go - don't forget to watch the aggies BTHO (beat the hell outta...for you non aggies out there) Arkansas Saturday night at the Dallas Cowboys stadium at 6:30! Have a happy football-filled weekend :)
Today was our 20 week appointment - 20 weeks is halfway. Can you believe it? I can't. I wonder which half goes faster...I mean in the literal sense they go the same right, 20 weeks is 20 weeks. But I wonder if the first half seems faster, cause you technically only know for 16 weeks (or less sometimes), or if the last 20 weeks seem faster because you are so busy with all the preparations. I guess I'll be able to tell you in 20 weeks!
Side note: Technically I'm not 20 weeks yet...19 weeks and 6 days to be exact. But, besides the doctor, the ultrasound technician, William and myself...who's' counting?
The appointment went well! This was the appointment where they did the long ultrasound to take all the measurements...measured his little arms, legs, hands, spine, spine-to-stomach, looked at his organs and...most importantly of all...measured his head. I say this is most important only because the technician reported that his head is exactly average for where a baby should be at 20 weeks. Hallelujah - he might not have Brian's head after all :) One view on the ultrasound screen showed the heart beating in red and blue and showed the flow of the blood around the heart - Austin got some pictures of that on our camera so I'll put those on facebook soon - very cool. He was, again, a stubborn little guy when Missy tried to get a nice profile view to put on our fridge. William seems to enjoy hiding his face in his hand! While she was trying to get the picture he was moving his mouth (which is cute as can be, by the way, and I'm not just biased...) and she said "Do either of you have big lips?" I said that mine are bigger than average, and when I was a kid people thought I looked like Vada on My Girl but really only my lips and nose (also big) looked like hers. Missy laughed and said "well, I think he has your lips" After she had taken all the measurements she said that they all came in at normal, the heart rate was perfect, his movement looked good and his organs all looked great so there were no concerns. She then congratulated me on a job well done. While I don't really feel like I've been doing anything, it was kinda nice to hear :)
Then it was time to see the doctor. She discussed a little more with us about all the measurements, again confirming everything looked fantastic and there were no abnormalities or concerns to note, and started talking about the hospital and my next few appointments. I mentioned that Missy had suggested I let her know my high birth weight (10 pounds 6 ounces) and Austin's birth weight (he was 7 pounds 1 ounce, but he was 4 weeks early so could have been 9 pounds) and the doctor looked in my records and found that my family has a history of diabetes. She said she was going to recommend that I do the glucose test (nasty sugar drink?) at 24 weeks instead of 28 and said that they'll closely monitor the baby's growth, especially over the last 8 weeks, to ensure he doesn't get too large.
I'd like to point out that at my 16 week appointment she ASSURED me I would be needle-free for 12 weeks. Then I got a phone call the next day saying I needed to increase my thyroid dosage, and I'd need to retest my thyroid at 20 weeks. So - needle. So, she tried to reassure me that I wouldn't have a needle until 28 weeks again today, but once she decided to move the glucose test up to 24 weeks that went out the window too. Thanks a lot Dr Russell, you're my favorite.
Ok no really - its good that things are monitored, I get it, blah blah. They tested my thyroid today so if that comes out clean we won't test it again until 28 but I still have the glucose test next time. Dr Russell also asked if I'd had the flu shot yet and, when I answered no, she asked if I was opposed. I said I wasn't, but that I just hadn't done it yet. She said "Well, then let's just do it today so you can't procrastinate anymore" What came immediately after made me feel like I was at the battle of bull run or something...two women came charging into the room with weapons in hand and wasted no time in strapping me down (ok maybe I just sat there) and jamming their weapons into my arm. By weapons, naturally I mean needles. I'll admit that the flu shot hurt WAY more in my distant memory of my last one than it did in actuality, but my arm is now throbbing so I guess its a trade off. Next I have to do H1N1...two shots...yippee. Hear the excitement in my voice.
So, that was our appointment for today. We got a few more pictures of our baby, got some free formula and a book about baby's first year (Austin suggested we steal all the free samples but I thought better), and I got to bring home a bottle of what looks like McDonald's orange soda to drink before my next appointment. It reminds me of Robert because when he was little he ALWAYS had "orange drink" He was such a precious little boy - had the cutest little face and voice :) Hopefully this drink, which I've heard is the worst thing I'll ever drink, doesn't taint my remembrance of Robert! Although, I can't imagine that this drink will be any worse than everclear...and I can't imagine it'll be harder to chug that than it was to chug a pitcher of beer to get my aggie ring...so I think I'll survive.
Ok - I really must go now. It's 12:30 and my list of accomplishments for the day is very short. Before I go - don't forget to watch the aggies BTHO (beat the hell outta...for you non aggies out there) Arkansas Saturday night at the Dallas Cowboys stadium at 6:30! Have a happy football-filled weekend :)
Light the Night - a Success!
Yesterday was the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Light the Night walk that I told you about about a month ago. The walk was a success! I'd like to find out, somehow, how much the entire walk raised because I have no idea - but I know my team raised almost $6,000! That doesn't include the charitable donation matching that Western Union does, so anyone employed here who made donations will be matched in a few weeks. I'm thinking that'll put us well over $6,000 since one person here donated $500! What a great fundraiser :)
I'd like to thank everyone who supported me. My initial personal goal was $300, and I thought I might have to make up the difference to get myself there, but I was so pleasantly surprised when after 3 weeks of fundraising I needed to increase my personal goal to $400. Still I was touched when I ended up raising just over $600!!! So thanks very much for your support :)
The walk was fun. All week the weather forecast hadn't looked good for Thursday - we were expecting a cold front to come in on Wednesday night and bring rain, possibly snow, and cold winds all day through the evening. Austin found out Monday he wasn't going to be able to walk with me because they were double booked at the shooting range so it was going to take twice as long, so I was planning to walk with my boss Dana and my coworker Dottie. As the forecast continued to seem to "rain" on our day, the two of them suggested they may not walk they'd just turn in their money. I would have been SO disappointed.
So when the winds settled and we never received any precipitation, I was overly excited because I wasn't going to be walking alone. We were working until 5:45, then hit traffic from a 5 car accident, so we didn't get to the walk as early as I would have liked - but we did get there in time to enjoy some snacks courtesy of the melting pot :) I've never eaten there, but now I want to even more than I wanted to before! They had marshmallows, pound cake, strawberries, and pineapple to dip in chocolate fondue - yum! We turned in our funds, got our t-shirts, found the balloons and just had time for a quick picture before setting off on our walk.
With all the people and the trees around it really didn't feel like it was 40 degrees (could also have been my layers: 3 shirts, 2 pants, tall socks and a beanie...) I tried to get some pictures of all the balloons along the way because it looked so neat - but with the flash you could hardly see the balloons, and without the flash all you saw were little strings of light. Every balloon had a blinking bulb inside it, so by the end of the walk the balloons were nearly dragging on the ground (or hitting neighbors in the face) but at the beginning it really was a sight to see. There were mostly red balloons, but I was happy to see white balloons whenever possible - those people had survived!
I didn't get home until 8:45 and Austin barely made it home before me - so I was pretty exhausted this morning. But it was a great night, I had a lot of fun with Dana and Dottie, and again - I really appreciate your support.
I better run though - doc appointment in 20 minutes!!! I lost .6 pounds yesterday...bad timing for the walk...so I wore my heaviest jewelry today to try and trick my doctor :) Happy Friday!!!
Oct 1, 2009
CDC - Who do they Service?
The child care facility on Buckley is called the CDC - I'll refer to it as that from now on.
Last night we were talking with a soldier in Austin's company who has an 18 month old son at the CDC. She doesn't have one good thing to say about the CDC, but she's a single soldier and I think the cost of the child care of what keeps her there. It is significantly cheaper than other options - and you get what you pay for.
First, her son was recently sick with the swine flu because an employee came to work, knowing he was sick and exhibiting signs of at least a cold. He didn't know he had the flu, because he hadn't gone to the doctor. When 2 kids came up sick all the teachers got tested and he, too, was sick. I'm not sure what came of this - if the day care had any actions in response or if they are required to, I'm not familiar with those rules. But what kind of person goes to work at a day care knowing they are ill in any way?
Second, she told me about her issues with the hours of the day care. Austin had told me that it was a complaint, but he never heard the reasons why she was frustrated with the hours (or why EVERYONE is frustrated with the hours) Apparently no child is allowed to be at the day care for more than 40 hours in one week. If your child is there longer than 40 hours, you are charged, and if your child is there for 50 hours for 2 consecutive weeks he/she is kicked out of day care. There is a state law that if a child is at day care for 11 hours in one day without being contacted by the parent that the day care is required to call the police - ok, that's fine. 11 hours is more excessive, and if it wasn't part of the schedule set in place then that makes sense. But 40 hours? What full time job is less than 40 hours in a week? If I were to work the minimum 8 hour day and still take a lunch break, adding in my commute, I would be gone 50 hours every week. And this child care center is supposed to service the MILITARY...whose schedules are never under 40 hours.
Third, her most recent complaint is on potty training. Her son has started potty training at home and apparently was doing pretty well. Its a little early for that, but every child develops differently. She talked to the teachers at the CDC to see if they could work with her on it and they said they do not address potty training until 24 months. So what if a baby is ready before that? You just force them to be in diapers anyway? And then what's the point of helping your child develop at home if the day care won't work with you?
And last - this complaint is more on my side than hers - I believe the CDC is involved in price gauging. I don't know the rules on price gauging, or how you go about reporting it or what entities are subject to the laws...but this is just asinine to me. The CDC gives priority to single soldiers first, which I can understand. Then the priority goes to the lowest ranking dual-soldier households, then it goes to dual households with a civilian. Not only is priority set that way, but prices are as well! Austin and I would pay the highest rate at the CDC because he is an NCO and I make more than a certain amount as a civilian spouse. Really? Can they REALLY charge us more for the same CRAPPY level of care because we make more money? Maybe it isn't illegal- I don't know the legalities there - but it certainly isn't right in my eyes, and that in itself is enough to make me not interested in entertaining the possibility.
I have to say - I'm more relived than disappointed in the fact that the CDC is not a viable option for us. I refuse to pay double the amount someone else pays just because we make more money (even if the rate is still half of the Goddard rate) Even if that fact didn't bother me, though, it would just never work for Austin and I to arrange to have William at a day care for 40 hours or less in a week. I'd have to work 6am to 3pm(which doesn't work at my job) and Austin would have to drop him off at 7:15 before he goes into work at 7:30(which isn't ALWAYS his schedule). Not going to happen.
So - we're still in limbo on what to do for June-July. I told Brandon yesterday that we were already looking at day cares - he was shocked that we were looking so early. Had I known there was so much coordination involved we would have started even earlier. So far none of the options have openings right when we need it, so we still have to figure out what to do in the meantime. I know it'll work out - just gotta keep workin' on it!
Last night we were talking with a soldier in Austin's company who has an 18 month old son at the CDC. She doesn't have one good thing to say about the CDC, but she's a single soldier and I think the cost of the child care of what keeps her there. It is significantly cheaper than other options - and you get what you pay for.
First, her son was recently sick with the swine flu because an employee came to work, knowing he was sick and exhibiting signs of at least a cold. He didn't know he had the flu, because he hadn't gone to the doctor. When 2 kids came up sick all the teachers got tested and he, too, was sick. I'm not sure what came of this - if the day care had any actions in response or if they are required to, I'm not familiar with those rules. But what kind of person goes to work at a day care knowing they are ill in any way?
Second, she told me about her issues with the hours of the day care. Austin had told me that it was a complaint, but he never heard the reasons why she was frustrated with the hours (or why EVERYONE is frustrated with the hours) Apparently no child is allowed to be at the day care for more than 40 hours in one week. If your child is there longer than 40 hours, you are charged, and if your child is there for 50 hours for 2 consecutive weeks he/she is kicked out of day care. There is a state law that if a child is at day care for 11 hours in one day without being contacted by the parent that the day care is required to call the police - ok, that's fine. 11 hours is more excessive, and if it wasn't part of the schedule set in place then that makes sense. But 40 hours? What full time job is less than 40 hours in a week? If I were to work the minimum 8 hour day and still take a lunch break, adding in my commute, I would be gone 50 hours every week. And this child care center is supposed to service the MILITARY...whose schedules are never under 40 hours.
Third, her most recent complaint is on potty training. Her son has started potty training at home and apparently was doing pretty well. Its a little early for that, but every child develops differently. She talked to the teachers at the CDC to see if they could work with her on it and they said they do not address potty training until 24 months. So what if a baby is ready before that? You just force them to be in diapers anyway? And then what's the point of helping your child develop at home if the day care won't work with you?
And last - this complaint is more on my side than hers - I believe the CDC is involved in price gauging. I don't know the rules on price gauging, or how you go about reporting it or what entities are subject to the laws...but this is just asinine to me. The CDC gives priority to single soldiers first, which I can understand. Then the priority goes to the lowest ranking dual-soldier households, then it goes to dual households with a civilian. Not only is priority set that way, but prices are as well! Austin and I would pay the highest rate at the CDC because he is an NCO and I make more than a certain amount as a civilian spouse. Really? Can they REALLY charge us more for the same CRAPPY level of care because we make more money? Maybe it isn't illegal- I don't know the legalities there - but it certainly isn't right in my eyes, and that in itself is enough to make me not interested in entertaining the possibility.
I have to say - I'm more relived than disappointed in the fact that the CDC is not a viable option for us. I refuse to pay double the amount someone else pays just because we make more money (even if the rate is still half of the Goddard rate) Even if that fact didn't bother me, though, it would just never work for Austin and I to arrange to have William at a day care for 40 hours or less in a week. I'd have to work 6am to 3pm(which doesn't work at my job) and Austin would have to drop him off at 7:15 before he goes into work at 7:30(which isn't ALWAYS his schedule). Not going to happen.
So - we're still in limbo on what to do for June-July. I told Brandon yesterday that we were already looking at day cares - he was shocked that we were looking so early. Had I known there was so much coordination involved we would have started even earlier. So far none of the options have openings right when we need it, so we still have to figure out what to do in the meantime. I know it'll work out - just gotta keep workin' on it!
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