Part of the Family

Well, I'm sure you all know this but my sister is dating an audiologist, well, he's not an audiologist yet, but he will be soon. Anyway, you can really tell when people make it into our family by how we accept you as an expert in whatever field you study (even if it's not really your field of study sometimes). My sister, for example knows all about aerospace engineering and if you have any question that involves any mechanical anything in any way you ask her. She'll probably know the answer, that or she'll look it up and get back to you, or she's really good at making things up. If people in my family have questions about food (why is garlic sticky? Why do potatoes get discolored after being cut? How do you avoid this?) they ask me. Anyway, I knew my husband was really "in" when my dad made a comment to him about fixing his shoulders, and knees. Now I really know that my sister's boyfriend has made it "in" to our family because of the following story:

My husband was at one of his med school interviews and they toured the campus. One lady on the faculty was showing off their clinical stuff and was looking into ears with an instrument that was connected to a monitor so everyone could see the ear. Well one girl volunteered to have her ears looked in and then nobody else would volunteer. My husband obligingly volunteered after her. When the faculty lady stuck it in his first ear there was a little bit of wax in the ear. Someone in the audience made a joke about how it looked like a huge boulder in his ear. The faculty lady, thinking that maybe Dan would be embarrassed by this (which he totally wasn't) said that it looked big only because it was on the screen. It probably was just a little flake. Then he turned away from the monitor for to check the other ear. When she put the instrument into the other ear she remarked, "Whoa! I don't think we're getting around that boulder!"

When Dan was telling me this story he remarked, "My audiologist says that ear wax is healthy and not to use Q-tips!" Now we have in our family an audiologist! How exciting!

Another way I know that he's in is that my dad wouldn't let anybody else check his hearing loss for hearing aids but him. Nobody else was good enough apparently.

Last Day

Well, today is my last day at work! Woohoo! I'm excited to start the new phase of being mommy, but I'm not really sure what I'll do this next month to keep myself busy until she comes. We'll have to see what happens. Anyway, I just thought I'd let everyone know that I probably wont be posting for a while because my trailer has no Internet access. With all my extra time though maybe I'll make it to the library and use theirs. We'll have to see.

And More Nesting

This morning before work I got in a little more sewing. I started to make the dust ruffle for the crib today. I will probably finish it tonight or tomorrow depending on what my Sweetie wants to do tonight. I'm so happy with it so far! It looks great and I'm really glad that I was able to get it done without hitch (after the laundry bags I wasn't so sure).

In other exciting getting-ready-for-baby news we got Aunt Katie's week 34 and 35 presents yesterday! I absolutely gushed over the week 35 present all day and wouldn't let Dan know what it was until he got home. He liked it too. Our little one has her first snap shirt! It's pink corduroy with little horses on it. I love it! And I'm sure my Sweetie likes that his little girl has a snap shirt.

A few weeks ago Dan and I were chatting to each other and I was saying how much I like my mirror (which he made me for Christmas). He is so good with making things and he loves to do it too! I am amazed at what he gets done. Anyway, I mentioned to him that once we have a baby that pulls up on things and whatnot we might want to think about getting something more sturdy to put our TV on. (At the moment it's on a Rubbermaid box sitting on food storage cans which is covered with fabric. It actually looks nice I think, but it's not the most stable of set-ups.) I figured he has so many projects for building on his plate right now that he probably wouldn't be getting to this project any time soon. Well, last night he surprised me during dinner with drawings that he had made for different styles of stands. His planning for projects goes a little something like this. Step one: Think about the project for a while. Step two: do rough sketches of different ideas for the project. Step three: Spend a few days deciding which one you like best and ask others for their opinions about your sketches. Step four: do a detailed drawing to scale of what you expect to make. Step five: take several trips to the hardware store/lumber store to look or scope out supplies. Step six: purchase supplies and start to build. After that he just builds the project and I don't really know if there are different steps to that. So he was already on step three of the project when he showed me his sketches last night. I was blown away! They all look great to me! I still think he needs to get some of his other projects done before this one, but I think he was excited to have something to do to get ready for the baby. I guess we're both just as excited as can be.

In the Mood

Well, it certainly has been nesting central over at my place! On Monday I decided to tackle the bassinet so that it would be completely ready for our little one. This included sanding and painting it and sewing the sheets to cover the mattress pad that I already finished. So I sanded it Monday and Tuesday.

Only after finishing the whole thing did I call and tell my mom about it who asked, "Did you make sure not to inhale any of the paint?" Of course I didn't. I'm an idiot. My baby is going to be brain dead because I probably inhaled lead paint and now we're both going to get cancer and die! But then I told Dan about how nervous I was. He reminded me of the story of the cradle. His aunt had it completely stripped a while back. She even took off the original milk paint (this cradle is now in it's sixth generation of use) and thus infuriated her entire family and her mother took the cradle back from her. So the paint is new. Although I probably shouldn't have sanded it without a mask or something at least it for sure wasn't lead paint. He then said he was surprised that I even did it since he was planning on doing it later that night when he got home. If I had known that I wouldn't have started the project in the first place! How was I supposed to know that? Oh well, there's nothing I can do about it now! Curse my over-eager self!

Then yesterday I painted the cradle with the can of paint that has been sitting on our coffee table for a few weeks now (well probably only just one, but my sense of time is awful right now). When picking out the paint I took my Sweetie with me. I was just going to get white or maybe a creamy white but he said that was too plain. He chose a blue/green white color. It was still from the white category in the store, but when I look at it I think it looks pale blue. I really like it, even though our baby is a girl. I think it's very neutral and pretty looking. What I didn't count on was that I was going to kill my body by spending the day painting the cradle (which I did do in a well ventilated area in our trailer). All the rolling around on the ground, all the up and down lunges to get to the right spots and all the craning my body around was really a work-out and I didn't even realize it! After dinner (which my husband made special for me!) I started to feel not so very good in my back and legs. So then we watched a movie and I really didn't feel good so I took a Tylenol. Then I fell promptly asleep. When I woke up this morning my butt hurt. Every step I took was excruciating pain! What was I thinking?! Lifting the 8 1/2 month pregnant body of mine around up and down all day long really took it's toll on my butt muscles and now I can't walk. Picture it, a woman that is larger than she's ever been in her life. Sort of waddling down the hall wincing in pain with each step. Yeah, I look great right now. I'm at work today and I'm trying my best not to have to walk anywhere. Yes, I admit that this makes me a horrible employee, but moving is really out of the question at this point.

Before work today I sewed both the sheets for the cradle. I had to sew then because the cradle isn't any standard size. I used very gender neutral Winnie-the-Pooh fabric that is too cute for words and now the cradle is complete! Finished! Check that off the list! I sort of want to put it in our bedroom, where it will be once the baby is home. This is so that if she cries in the night she's still close to us. I don't think I'll put it in there yet though because we still have a while to go before the baby gets here. My husband might think I'm crazy. I mentioned last week that he could put the base of the car seat into the car (mostly so it is out of the way, but partly because I'm excited about it) and he reminded me that we do have a month still to go. You can't fight that logic.

My Hero

Today I went to work feeling a little tired. Then as my day dragged on and on in the limitless torture that is having nothing to do I got hungry. Not only was I hungry and tired I felt cold and hot and generally unhappy. So I ate the sandwich that I packed myself for lunch. Only it didn't help. I was still hungry and I still had 4 hours left of work. I just wanted to sleep. At one point I put my head down on the counter and closed my eyes in an attempt to sleep. Then the most annoying woman ever came into the store. She comes in often and complains about all our things. Then after she walks around for an hour she comes up to the desk to be rung up and as I'm ringing her up she walks away! She does this even when other customers are waiting behind her! It drives me nuts. Plus, I wasn't feeling good. I decided the key was that I was still hungry. So I called in my husband to the rescue. Even though he was at work he took time off to go to Panda Express and get me take-out lunch! Isn't he the greatest?! Now I'm not as tired and I'm not hungry and the annoying woman went away! He certainly is my hero today!

Quitting

My original plan was to work at this job up until I gave birth. Recently I've been batting around the idea of quitting my job earlier than when my baby arrives. The main reason is, well, because it's stinking boring and I dread going into work. I haven't though, for several reasons: money, free internet access, a reason to get out of the trailer, etc. My Sweetie did say that I can quit whenever I want, but I can't really come to terms with going without that month of paychecks. It's not like my part-time job is what's keeping us afloat when he has a much nicer paying full time position, but I really like the feeling of contributing to our bank account. I also really like how each month I can check into our bank account online and see our little balance rising! (And then I think in my head, "Holy Cow! We're freaking rich!" and then I laugh at myself becuase only I would think that the amount of money in our account would make someone rich.)

Also, this job has started somewhat of an obsession with the internet, or really blogs. I have a good 4-5 hours each day I work to absolutley WASTE. Since I can't download anything and the work computer doesn't have any speakers, reading blogs has been my chosen passtime. I also like writing on mine and hearing comments from my family and friends because that makes me feel connected to them. My Sweetie and I don't have the internet at home. Mostly because we're cheap and partly because my sister-in-law called all around asking about internet providers to our small town and only one company offered high speed internet in our part of the world. (I know that's absolutely crazy, but it's the truth. She called everywhere.) And they charge way too much money for the two of us to justify. When I have the baby and stop working I also will stop having such easy internet access. I will need to go to the library to use it and that would mean a special 30 minute drive to use the internet which seems silly to me.

BUT! This job is starting to make me nuts. Also, the morning sickness has officially started back up. Every stinking day! (I'm blaming it on the iron for starting the morning sickness again, but I've been off it for a while now and I'm still spewing and feeling nausea.) So sitting at work, feeling big, bored, and now sick again is awful. I have resorted to making sure that I schedule out my work. (No I will not put those away until 4:30 becuase then I have something to look forward to.) And ever since Dan said, "You can quit whenever you want," I have had to literally battle myself everytime I have to come into work. So I think I'm going to give my boss my two week's notice. It wont be a surprise for her since it'll only be a month before I was planning on quitting anyway.

Make it Do

My husband's motto:

Use it up
Wear it out
Make it do
Or do without

In that frame of mind I would like to announce to everyone how good I feel about FINALLY finishing the stupid laundry bags. Yesterday my mother-in-law came over and helped me get 98% of the way done on the whole project and I'm so glad I had her to help because since attaining my bachelor's degree I have regressed to being unable to do second grade math. Anyway, I finished up this morning (putting in the button holes with my own new sewing machine and have I told you I love it?!) and now they are hanging on the frame that we bought for the old bags two years ago. I feel very good about being able to fix something instead of just buying a new one, even though at one point I did figure it would be easier to just go buy a new one. I like the bags I made better than the ones we bought with the thing too. Now I just have to figure out what I'm going to do with the extra pieces of fabric that I cut into and ruined. (I cut them before pre-shrinking them and they each shrunk about half an inch. Did I mention that suddenly I can't do the simplest of tasks right?)

ALSO, we got fabric for the sheets for the cradle. The two pieces of fabric are Winnie the Pooh and so very cute and gender neutral for future use. I'm excited because things finally feel like they're coming together, which, of course, is a good feeling.

My mother-in-law also spotted a remnant of fabric at the store that matches with our current living room stuff so I got it. I think it will make very good pillows for the sofa. When I told my husband my plan his only advice was not to make the pillows too hard. We currently have pillows that my mom gave us when she decided to change her front room. The only problem with them is that they are strictly decorative pillows, which means using them for actual pillows does start to hurt your neck after a while. They are pretty though so I've been using them even though he has always wanted functional pillows. Now maybe we can have both.

Sewing projects that I have fabric for and still have left to do:

• finish mattress pad cover (it's been almost done with only the Velcro needing to be put on for about a month now)
• two sheets for the cradle
• one receiving blanket
• dust ruffle for the crib
• pillows for the sofa

I feel like a real pro now! I have multiple projects! My mother would be so proud!

Dear Katie

Remember that message I left for you on your phone? Remember how I mentioned wanting to tell you a good/funny story? Well, it really is a good story and you really will like it, but I'm not going to tell you until you call me back.

Love,
Maggie

PS. If I forget what story it is just remind me that it has to do with the ear doctor.

Humor is Learned

Recently my genius 2 year old niece has caught on to the idea of knock knock jokes.....and she's hilarious! Mostly she just has the one joke that she adapted from the joke she heard from her older brother. Her older brother has many knock knock jokes, but only this one has really caught on with her. I would like to share both with you.

Original Joke:

"Knock knock"
"Who's there?"
"Banana"
"Banana who?"

"Knock knock"
"Who's there?"
"Banana"
"Banana who?"

"Knock knock"
"Who's there?"
"Banana"
"Banana who?"

"Knock knock"
"Who's there?"
"Banana"
"Banana who?"

(you get the idea)

"Knock knock"
"Who's there?"
"Orange" (At this point you say a small prayer because hopefully that means the joke is almost over)
"Orange who?"
"Orange you glad I didn't say banana?"


My niece's even more funny adaptation:

"Knock knock"
"who's there?"
"Banana"
"Banana who?"

"Knock knock"
"Who's there?"
"Orange"
"Orange who?"

"Knock knock"
"Who's there?"
"Purple"
"purple who?"

"Knock knock"
"Who's there?"
"Blue"
"Blue who?"

This keeps going until she feels that the joke has run it's course at which point we both laugh loud and hard and I say, "You are so funny!"

Mostly it's just so funny because this joke bungle reminds me a lot of the joke mix-ups that my good friend Heather makes.

33 Weeks and some change

Well, big news! Last Friday February 2, 2007 my sister-in-law had her little baby girl! What an exciting new addition to our family. She is so cute and has tons and tons of hair! I got to spend an hour holding her yesterday while she slept and it was amazing! She's so perfect!

Also, a good friend of mine just told me a few days ago that she is expecting! She's 10 weeks along and I'm so happy for her! I told her that if she ever needs to complain about being pregnant, she can always call me. Let's be honest, I feel completely blessed and happy and excited that I am able to bring my little one into the world, but sometimes the actual act of being pregnant stinks, a lot.

My Sweetie got back from his interview at Ohio State early this morning. His interview yesterday went well. He seems really excited about Ohio State so maybe that's where we'll go. I missed him a lot while he was gone and it's good to have him back.

I've decided that 40 weeks is like a LONG time to be pregnant. I don't care who you are or how well you carry your baby, once you get to the last few weeks you hit a wall where you feel like a big whale.

On the plus side I did convince myself to exercise today! Brownie points for me because I'm pregnant so I should be able to use that as an excuse. On the other hand I just keep thinking that there's only 6 weeks left for me to be in shape to push this little one out. Then I think holy cow! There's only 6 weeks to get everything done! ONLY SIX WEEKS! I keep telling my husband all the things I want to have done and I think he may start to believe that I'm going crazy because honestly there's not a whole lot to get done. I bet if I wanted to I could get it done in one weekend. But it's still not done! And there's only six weeks left!

And yet there's still six weeks! I still have to get bigger and bigger and bigger for six more stinking weeks! I still have to wrestle around in bed to get to sleep for six more stinking weeks! How am I going to make it for six more weeks? I asked my mom today how close she came to her due date with my sister and me and she said she gave birth two days before her due date. Both times. Hmmm. Six weeks.

For now I'm just going to focus on the baby shower my aunt is throwing for me on February 24th. That's a much, much closer date to have to wait for.

The Worst Winter in Memory

So far this winter has been unbelievably mild. Don't get me wrong, it's been single digits cold with the wind here, but there has been little to no snow. This means that going outside might be a pain, but it's not hard to get around places. All in all it has been what I would call the best winter scenario you could hope for in our part of the world. This winter reminds all the old timers of our little town (of which there are many) about the winter of '48, the worst winter in memory. Apparently during the winter of '48 it snowed so much that the people in our little town were stuck for 3 weeks and they couldn't get into Logan to get food or anything. I've seen pictures of the snowfall during the winter of '48 and let me tell you nobody is exaggerating. The snow went all the way up to the roof line of the houses in town. You may be wondering why this winter of little to no snow has been reminding them of the worst winter ever. Let me tell you. The snow that fell in the winter of '48 came all during March. There was absolutely no snow during Christmas or later until it all came down during one mammoth storm in March. The timing of the snowfall was a new little tidbit in the story that I hadn't heard before a few days ago. Did I mention that my worst fear is going into labor and being forced to have my baby at home/on the road to the hospital because the weather is so bad? We had better not have another winter of '48!