Wednesday, June 29, 2011

The Vibe

(This is not my actual car, but looks identical, picture from Earthy Cars Blog)

Yesterday I decided was a good day to put the carseat in the car and get it out of the house. I went to put it in and it didn't fit... I thought, well that is impossible. I'm pretty sure car seats should fit in cars, especially my Pontiac Vibe. So I fought with it for a few minutes until I just got mad and decided I was going to go the firestation to have someone show me how to install it. (Ben installed the base, I was just attempting to get the seat attached to the base... not supposed to be difficult.)

Well, turns out, you cannot have the base in the middle of the backseat b/c there is no latch system there (where we had it installed). I had to choose either the driver or passenger side for the nice fire fighters to install it. I opted for the driver's side thinking that would be easiest to get him in and out.

When they finished they said okay, you can move your seat back now so I squeezed myself behind the steering wheel and.... not so much. My seat could not go back with the car seat behind my seat! The 3 fire fighters couldn't help but laugh as my belly was squished up on the steering wheel! So, one said we would have to put it on the passenger side and asked me if anyone rode over there often, I said, my 6'4" husband.... He just laughed and said, well he may not like to ride over there anymore.

The car seat (facing backwards) does not let me put my front seats back to a normal riding position and I am SO sad! (All I kept thinking yesterday was, what if I was having twins still... I would have probably realized at the hospital that I would need to borrow a car to get them home!)

I love my car... LOVE IT!. I get around 32 mpg and its small, but not tiny... and a hatch back so the dogs can just hop in the back if I ever go anywhere. But now, I'm thinking how are we going to make my car work when we can't drive/ride comfortably with the car seat? Just not leave the house?

The other problem is my car is 5 years old. It has 150K miles on it, BUT nearly 95% of those are interstate miles and we have never had a problem with any of it. It should last us until 300K miles! (And prior to yesterday, I was prepared to drive it that far!) So we couldn't trade it in for what it should be worth.

I'm now a little stressed about the car situation and Ben being the free-spirit (Dave Ramsey's term for spender) of the family, would be happy for us to go get a bigger car. I'm torn though. I didn't plan for a new car and according to Dave, I should save up, pay cash for what I can afford and buy used.... well that involves planning and saving for it, which I have not done.

Ben even stopped at car max yesterday on his way home... another problem - we have a tiny, two-car garage. Currently in the garage is my vibe and Ben's rock-crawling buggy. Outside in our small driveway are his work truck and his big truck. Where on earth would another car go?! (because he says we would never get what the Vibe is worth so we should just keep it and it could be his around town car... I think he really just wants to start a collection of vehicles, lol!)

Well, since I haven't talked myself into buying a new car while typing this blog, I'm off to our 38 week doctor appointment! Wish us luck for some progress :)

Things people don't tell you

I think this is a good follow up from my last post since people like to tell you too much, what happened to the stuff they forget to tell you?

Well for one: no one told me that my hands/arms would fall asleep or get carpal tunnel so bad. This was a new and random one for me. It actually does make it very difficult to sleep if don't end up in the right position and both arms and hands go numb (making me feel like I could be close to losing them if I don't reposition quickly!). I have a friend that gets it during the day really bad too though, so it apparently can happen day or night - something about the swelling pressing on nerves...

So I want to know, what are some of the things people have NOT told you that you wish you had known?

Monday, June 27, 2011

Irritated

Today is my first day officially off work and I'm thrilled. Except I've been trying fight the irritation that comes from people's stupid comments all weekend... I think it has just built up and now I'm tired and done with hearing it.

What irritates me the most are the people who tell you what you ARE going to do. For instance, that 'you're feet WILL grow a size because you are pregnant and none of your shoes will ever fit again... EVER... because it happens to everyone'. Well, no, it doesn't happen to everyone. NOTHING happens to everyone. Every single person and pregnancy is different. There are probably more people who have told me that their swelling went down after they delivered and all was well in the shoe-world again than those who said their feet were never the same.

The worst? The 'just wait' or 'you have no idea' comments. Those are my favorite. The 'you have no idea how much sleep you will never get again for the rest of your ENTIRE life' or 'just wait until he kicks you all night long that you are in so much pain and can't sleep'. Seriously... don't tell me to just wait on something terrible, or I have no idea how horrible something will be! That goes along with your horrible delivery, horrible breastfeeding, or horrible you knew someone who knew someone whose baby died at some point in their life story! WHY WOULD YOU TELL ANYONE THAT!??! (Unless you are telling me so I can make precautions - like don't leave cords near crib slats that a baby could get tangled in - that is helpful)

I even had someone tell me that I will love the baby more than my husband and that Ben will just have to take a backseat once he arrives. As though the only reason I even married Ben was to get this child and now that I will have him, Ben is useless. Seriously?! God intended me to have a God-centered marriage, not a child-centered one.

I've caught Ben saying, 'just wait' to some of our friends who are a few months behind us pregnancy-wise and I've told him everytime because he said he couldn't stand it either, but now he's saying it! I told him he can only say it in a positive, just wait, this is so wonderful way. Then you are giving them something to look forward to.

What I do appreciate though are people who tell me THEIR stories and don't make it something that is inevitably going to happen to me. I can tell you already there are probably 25 terrible things that people have said 'just wait' about that truly have not happened at all! And if trying to google an answer to anything pregnancy-related is any indicator, you can find 4,623,982 different things that have happened to any given person regarding the exact same question. So pretty much the only thing that all people share during pregnancy is they all grow a baby. Some gain zero weight, some gain 100lbs, some never feel the baby, some wish the baby would settle down for 3 seconds, sometimes people are heavier for the rest of their life after pregnancy, some are skinnier than they've ever been!

I can say that this pregnancy has been truly a blessing and something I will miss terribly. It has been the sweetest, most surreal experience of my life thus far, and I am so thankful. I really will miss feeling his kicks and twists during the days/nights. I will miss him being able to go everywhere with me. I have had zero complications and am so thankful to still be able to go on long walks with the dogs and sleep pretty well (I've never been a great sleeper, so I don't have much to compare to). I AM ready to have the baby because I am so anxious to meet him, but it is very bitter-sweet because I know I will miss this time so much too. Someone told me yesterday they could see how Mrs. Duggar has had 19 (20?) kids, that being pregnant and having a little baby is so sweet, its somewhat addicting. Those thoughts and stories, I welcome and am so thankful to hear. (But no worries, I'm pretty sure Ben would go get surgery if I pushed him beyond 2 or 3 kids!)

*Another VERY helpful thing - mom's who have passed on advice about items they couldn't live without, things that are very useless or something they had to figure out trial/error. This I've appreciated so much!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

What to do.... A belly pic and the little brother.

37 weeks today!

And it was my last day at work until the baby arrives! I have NO idea what I am going to do with myself if he really doesn't come for 3 more weeks. I don't think I've had this much time off since the summer after high school? Geez. I'm crossing my fingers and walking my butt off in hopes he will not be late otherwise I may have to resort to actually cleaning the baseboards in the house. (Does anyone seriously do that? I always look at people's baseboards when I go to their house because I want to know, who does that and how often?! I'm a great house-guest.)

Today at the doctor: 135 heartrate which is where he has been for months now, a gain of 3lbs.... in my ankles. Seriously, I gained 3lbs in 1 week and officially have the fattest ankles/feet in the history of the world. The doctor compared them to that of a Flintstones character. I laughed while small tears welled up in my eyes.... No, not really, I only cry when Ben eats the last of the ice cream. There really is just no stopping me. As of this morning on my scale I've gained 40lbs (I used to think that was an impossible figure), but according to the doctor I've only gained 38, woo! 3 weeks to go, you think I can not gain 9 more pounds?!

Anyways, here we go:

This took 9 tries for Ben on my iPhone so we have to be grateful for what we get. :)

In other news: my little brother has been in Iraq for almost a month now. We FINALLY talked to him on Sunday. He said it is 120 degrees there and he has to walk to use the phones, which is probably why we haven't heard from him. I don't think I'd walk anywhere if it were 120 degrees... I don't even like moving when its above 80! Please keep him and his platoon in your prayers. He is a combat medic, but it does not sound like that is what he is doing while he is there. He said he goes on missions to find bombs and bad guys (except he had much more sophisticated words for both) each day and then they return, eat, shower and sleep and start the whole thing over again. His words were: "I'm living in groundhog day."

He makes the best out of it though, he said nothing is too terrible, but we are worried that since they are shutting everything down gradually, he said he will be losing internet and phones shortly. I have no idea what that would mean for him though, if he would have to continue to stay there or be transferred somewhere else.

Happy Friday to you!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

36 weeks

We had our 36th week appointment and last baby class this past week! We are definitely getting close now.

I wasn't going to post about this, but I thought I should for my own sake so I could remember everything.

The appointment went good. Heartbeat was at 140 as usual. My feet are swollen as can be... so my 5lb weight gain in 2 weeks didn't surprise my doctor, although I was HORRIFIED! I'm going to try to eat very healthy this week and see if I can maybe not gain 3-5lbs in a week. I don't know if this is too much info, but I am dilated 1/2 cm! yay! At least its not zero :) We are still walking at least 1 mile a day. (We - me, Ben and the pups) and my blood pressure was low (my normal) for everyone who thinks that my terribly swollen feet mean I have preeclampsia.... including the lady at chick-fil-a.... Little baby is still moving around a good bit, although his moving is getting more and more cramped.

Our last class was a breastfeeding class where she talked WAAAY too much about support groups and not enough about pumping when you go back to work which is what everyone wanted to know. Ben was bored out of his mind... and I can't blame him. The first 15 minutes were interesting and helpful then the last 2 hours and 15 minutes were not so great. So if you have any info about pumping such as when you should start, how often, etc. I'd appreciate it. I have already read a book on breast feeding, but it wasn't super detailed on pumping either.

37 weeks is just a few days away! Hooray! I am so anxious to meet this little guy!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Baby Wreath

I told you a few days ago I was feeling crafty with all this extra time on my hands!

I decided to make the wreath for our hospital door. If you google 'ribbon wreath' you will get hundreds of tutorials and pictures. Even some that are for sale for hundreds of dollars (?!). I decided I could probably do it myself, although I was aware my level of perfection would be much less than those for sale.

The supplies: 1 plasti-foam wreath, 4 spools of various ribbon, quilting pins and the letters. Total I spent about $23. (Would have been less if I would have called my friend Charelette who told me to look for fake flowers at the dollar store, I bet I could have found cheaper ribbon there too! - lesson learned).

Step 1:
Step 2: Keep going...
Step 3: Ta-da!
I don't know that I have officially put out there what our sweet little child's name will be, but there ya go! No secrets now :) The letters are a light brown, iPhone wanted them to look more purple... I think it turned out pretty good and can't wait to put it up when he is born!

4 weeks and 2 days until the due date! I am feeling great, no complaints at all. We are hoping he will be ready and come early though because my last day of work is June 23rd and I would LOVE to spend more time with him than without him, but I am fully aware that 1st babies are usually pretty content cooking in the belly. If he goes past his due date I will have to take longer maternity leave and possibly unpaid because school starts back beginning of August. Plus he'll be much younger going to the sitters :( C'mon June 24th! ha!

We have our CPR and breastfeeding class left to go and the nursery still looks like a hoarder owns it. I'm hoping to get my shelves back this week or weekend (my dad is painting them) and then we'll have to figure out where to put everything.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

A few more shots


Haley Graydon Photography
gave me my maternity shots this week and I wanted to post two more that I really love! No belly shots, but I just love them:

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Color Change

Okay, the P turned light green. MUCH better to have color (especially on my white door... having color in my life is very much a work in progress. I LOVE color, I just have no idea how to use it!

Up next - hospital wreath!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

5 years later - crafts!

I think it has literally been 5 years since I have done any sort of 'do it yourself' project - although there have been many on the list. 5 years ago I graduated college, looked for work, planned a wedding, got married, went to grad school and then started my first counseling job.... leading us to the present!

Now, school is out. I work 10 hour days/4 days a week for 2.5 more weeks, and things are pretty calm and quiet. I decided it was time to break out the mini glue gun and make some fun things (some of you may call this nesting.... but I refuse the term).

Plus, this is for my front door, so does it count as nesting if its not for baby?

Anyways, I follow several crafty blogs and am ALWAYS fascinated by what they can put together with some elbow grease and a glue gun. Shocked and amazed are also appropriate words when I see what people can do with a few dollars and an item from the thrift store.

I saw a picture over at Liz Marie Blog, and thought, I could maybe... possibly... do that.

Off to Michael's I went, because I do still have a few baby things on the agenda also, like the baby wreath for the hospital door/nursery and I really want some scripture over his bed. I've decided with 5 weeks to go, its not going to paint itself and I better get moving if I want anything to be done.

Here is her picture:
So cute right?!

Well, you know I have no creativity with color, so I had every intention of copying her exactly, turning to G into P.... but Michael's was out of all of the above items.

My materials: One wreath that I didn't notice was lopsided until I took this picture, the letter 'P', one strand of white random flowers and one set of purple puffy flower balls (its no wonder I'm not a florist as well).


Total cost, maybe $17.... because they were out of a lot of flowers, the ones I chose ended up costing $11.

And my finished product:
I had to pick the purple fuzzy flower balls because they had no green and they only had one strand of the white flowers like hers, and I needed at least 2. Also... I'm pretty sure I should invest in some paint other than white :) Purple?! Maybe that P will get redone in the next few days.

But its cute! And ready for summer on my front door.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

The Never-Ending Nursery

We are still ticking away at the weeks/days before our sweet child arrives and yet the nursery seems to be far from finished.

Phase 1: We painted - success!

Phase 2: Order furniture - Not so successful. We ordered furniture from Legacy because it was the same company we ordered our bedroom furniture from and we knew it was good quality. Well, the kids dresser came in and it was awful. For nearly the same price as an adult dresser we got a dresser that was flimsy and appeared to be made of plywood and much smaller than I imagined (no I didn't see it in person before we ordered...). Thankfully, the wonderful Alabama Furniture Market, where we buy our furniture from, allowed us to exchange it.

Bring on Phase 3.... the search for another dresser that matched the crib. Again, unsuccessful. We knew that the crib matched our bedroom dresser (unintentionally), but I was very against having two of the same dressers in the house. Well, three weeks later of looking, phone calls and color samples, we ordered the same dresser.

Today the dresser came in! Hooray!!! (it looks small in this picture, but it is definitely not).


Now we are at Phase 4.... how does this all fit into this room?!?!

I plotted it out on Pottery Barn Kids for about an hour without getting too excited about any of the layouts I could come up with.

Here is how it was set up when the dresser came out of the box:
What I do not like about this is the bottom left corner - those are two bookshelves next to a window. Leaving that awkward empty corner. The crib is against the top wall and the dresser against the right side wall.

We pushed it around for about an hour after that and again ended up unsatisfied and giving up with it all sitting randomly in the center of the room...


Which brings me to my next problem.... I do not like the color of the shelves compared to the crib... AT ALL. So I'm back to having to paint. I'm thinking of painting them a sage/green color. What do you think? And when will you be coming to my house to arrange my furniture?
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