Baby Shower

Diaper Cake!

My in laws are so awesome. They threw me the most wonderful baby shower on Saturday. It was a lot of fun! :) I am always so amazed by how generous and helpful and kind and creative the G's are (yes, they do deserve that many compliments- plus more).

The food spread. Yum.

Everyone was so generous and thoughtful with their gifts- and it was really good to get advice on a variety of things. I wish Dave had been there too- I think he would have had fun. But it was good just to have a girl's afternoon as well.

Baby EXPLOSION!

Did I catch your attention?

Our condo finally looks like a baby is about to move in. Seriously. Our living room (and bedroom, and baby's room, and kitchen for that matter) are covered in baby stuff. I love it. Dave just wanders around with this distant look on his face mumbling stuff about "baby sized gifts" (search Simpsons episodes for this reference). It's become a running joke between us, and well, between Dave and anyone who knows him really well. :)

My coworkers threw me a baby shower last week and then the G's threw me one on Saturday. Dave and I have all the baby stuff we can start with. I think that I can safely say that we are set- at least until Ethan starts growing. Our baby is going to be clothed, fed, and sheltered quite nicely until he is 6 months old. Then we'll have to start adding to our baby stuff collection.

I over exerted myself just a little bit yesterday getting my mom's room ready for her (moving furniture) and getting our room ready to share with Ethan (at least for the first few weeks)- more moving furniture. We have a bassinet set up on my side of the bed so I have easy access to Ethan in the middle of the night (we'll see if Dave can learn to sleep through it). We have a jungle of baby stuff in the living room to navigate through (I'm so glad that I don't have to pass through there on the way to the bathroom). And per my mom- she said she just needed a place to sleep, well Mom- your wish has been granted- you have a room but walking into it is at your own risk. :) Good luck avoiding the baby stuff.

Anyway, I'm pretty excited. I feel like I got a lot done over the weekend (even if my legs are still sore). Ethan is sitting tight, but I am hoping he can hear my subconscious thoughts to get a move on. We have 19 days, but I am hoping it is much less (Mom- get your tushy moving on up here already!).

Friday again

Well we've come to the near end of another Friday. It has been a quiet week here at VOA. Kind of nice- very different. I got a lot done this week so I feel a nice sense of accomplishment over all. I made the mistake of saying earlier how quickly my week had gone by- so my reward has been a VERY slow Friday afternoon.

The highlights from this week:

Getting the bathroom done (finally!). We tested the shower yesterday (had to give it a few days for the grouting/sealer to dry). I love it! I'm so pleased with our shower.

We had a potluck at work on Wednesday. It turned into a surprise baby shower for me. :) That was pretty awesome. My coworkers are so awesome.

Otherwise I've just been pretty lazy. I thought I was tired before, but this past week I've taken tired to a whole new level. I can make it to about 7 PM before I can literally feel the energy drain from my body. It's amazing. I read somewhere that energy requirement for growing a baby is the equivalent to running a marathon every day (then why am I gaining weight?). Anyway, I certainly feel like I've run a marathon every day.

I have some serious cleaning to do this weekend (nesting?). I have to wipe down all the cabinets to remove the dust from our bathroom remodel. Then I have to clean all the floors and do some heavy duty carpet cleaning. Then I have to get my mom's room ready (she's arriving next Wednesday!). I've started to think a lot about freezer meals as well. I've started freezing half of everything I cook so that there will be some ready made meals for when we need them. I've also got a million baby blankets that I need to make (million= 2.5). I also want to try making some reusable snack bags and some wet bags (look at me go!). We'll see how my sewing skills turn out.

Tomorrow the G's are throwing me a baby shower. I am excited just for the opportunity to hang out with them. :) Some good girl time.

Anyway, Ethan is 37 weeks now and is officially "full term." We have three weeks (or 22 days) until his "official" due date, but I'm kind of hoping he comes a little early. I'm not terribly uncomfortable, I'm just really excited to meet this man. I can't believe that we've come so far and are so close now!

Anyway, my big thought of the day (reminder to myself?) is: Matthew 6:34 "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." Basically, I'm trying to remind myself not to get ahead of myself. Things are going to work out just fine.

FINISHED!!!!

Well, it took a few days longer than we expected, but our bathroom is DONE! We went over budget, over schedule, and I almost had a mental breakdown about halfway through, but we made it. And honestly? I LOVE IT! Our bathroom looks so much better now! :) Most of the compliments have to go to Dave though- he's the one that made the important decisions like which tile to use and the new bathroom fixtures. Basically, I just sat back and watched. I really like the colors that Dave picked out. :)

Anyway, it was so wonderful to get our house (and bathroom) back yesterday. It was nice to come home to condo without tools and tiling stuff everywhere. Now we can start cleaning up the mess. If you are looking for a handyman, I totally recommend Sam.

Here are the before pictures (WARNING: this is embarassing! and sad). Frankly, it's amazing what you can get used to when you don't think about it.

Looking in from the doorway

Water damage along wall next to tub

Mid Remodel- the beginning of the new tiling

Tiling complete- just need grouting, fixtures, and a toilet.

The design on the floor (luckily our handyman is creative).

The finished product!

Complete with new fixtures!

I hate Mondays

I hate Mondays. Seriously. I just tried to post this blog entry a moment ago and even blogger hated me and came up with an error message making me come back and re-write this entry about how much I am having a bad day. Blah.

Bathroom Remodeling

Well we've already broken our budget on the bathroom remodel. It didn't help that Dave and I only like the tile that cost about twice as much as we had budgeted for. In our defense, we were thinking, small space to tile equals fewer tiles equals we can spend more per tile (or square foot). Somewhere our math got messed up. So much for economics. :) Anyway, we are beginning DAY 2 of the big remodel. Dave and I were excited/apprehensive about coming home last night to see that state of our condo and bathroom. Yup. It was dusty and there's a toilet sitting in the baby's room. It was interesting to see the bathroom all torn up and in the first stages of being put back together. Dave and I agreed that we definitely picked the right tile though so that helps.

Anyway, remodeling a bathroom is much more involved/intensive than I had previously expected. I don't know, I kind of thought it would be more like Step 1) pick out tile I like Step 2) Pay for labor/supplies Step 3) Watch it all come together. Turns out there are a million little things that needed my approval and or attention. But we seem to be moving along just fine now.

I have been trying to decide if I want to post the Pre-remodel bathroom and Mid-remodel bathroom pictures or if I just want to wait and show them all at once. Hmmm. We'll see.

Tuesday

I'm feeling kind of sassy this afternoon, which is a change from my usual "tired." The sun is finally back, and I think that it is more or less here to stay (for the summer). Over all I am feeling rather productive today- I am getting a lot of little things done so I feel pretty awesome. Dave and I have actually been up to things lately so I have stuff to write about!

Saturday I finally went out with my friend April and played Bunco. If you guys get invited to a Bunco night, I highly recommend going. I had so much fun! :) I ended up winning for the most number of buncos and for being on the winning team, but I'd play even if I hadn't won anything. It was nice to get out of the house for a while and to hang out with April.

Sunday I received my patriarchal blessing. That was an amazing experience and will be pretty much the only thing I have to say about that.

Yesterday Dave stayed home sick and I ended up going home early. It is getting harder and harder for me to make it through the day (yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't want to hear about "when you're pregnant and have kids at home..." I am trying to enjoy this first pregnancy because I know during the next one I won't be able to take it as easy). Anyway, yesterday was just and uncomfortable day in general- and it was Monday to boot. I got to work to find out the office had had a minor flood (I didn't want to guess the origin of the water- gross!) and it just seemed nothing could go smoothly. And the bonus was that I just didn't feel good. So I gave up and headed home early. I am wondering if that is going to happen more and more often. I swear that Ethan grows in 1/2 pound increments. I don't think there's any middle ground for him- he just expands all at once. Not comfortable.

Anyway- last night Dave and I went over to the Woodbury's for a barbecue and to hang out. I really enjoyed myself. We even brought Pookie with us to meet their new puppy Fergie. Fergie was a little bit too hyper for Pookie (she usually ends up getting stepped on) but I think over time they'll get used to each other. We pretty much spent the evening on the back deck eating and watching the sun set- it was a wonderful time. :)

And now for the BIG NEWS! Dave and I are re-doing our bathroom! We have been talking it over for a while, and one of our friends (actually one of the Woodbury's) referred us to a guy that has been doing some work for them. Anyway, so we got a deal right in line with our budget and he's going to tile our shower and our bathroom floor. I am totally taking "before" and "after" pictures. Dave and I are so excited. We decided that it was important to get the bathroom done before Ethan arrives and it seems like things are working out for us. :) Unfortunately we are going to be sans-toilet for 3 days (not good for a pregnant lady) so we're getting a hotel room for two of the nights. Anyway, Dave and I are really excited. It's the beginning of many house projects that we have been wanting to do. :)

I think that's pretty much all the news from around here. Only a little over a month until Ethan arrives. I can't wait.

Pookie makes me smile

So I'll post more in a bit, but I wanted to post this picture. Pookie never fails to make me smile so I'd thought I'd share this....

Pookie enjoying the sun.

The Mid-Afternoon Slump

Well, it's mid afternoon. That means nap time for me. Unfortunately I am at work right now, so napping is out. Instead I have to try to keep myself awake and keep plodding along. Also unfortunately I have officially blown my ability to think straight. One of the projects I have been working on has short circuited my brain... so I'm pretty much good for nothing right now. But at least I am trying. :)

Well folks, we have 38 days until Ethan's tentative arrival. He is full term as of the 37th week (I've heard 36 weeks is full term as well, but I'll go with 37). If Ethan were to arrive right as he became full term, he could be here as soon as June 26. Crazy to think about huh? Maybe this would be a good time to start a betting pool?

Anyway, things are quiet here. More rain and thunderstorms. So far we've had plenty of both (I'm not complaining- actually I am enjoying it very much).

It was a good test run...

Saturday morning I woke up at about 4 AM with some contractions. After laying in bed awake for a little bit I realized that I was having good sized contractions about every 5 minutes. So I woke up Dave and told him that we needed to head in to the hospital.

So it was our first trip to the hospital and it was a good trial run. We headed up to Labor and Delivery and they set us up in a room and attached a contraction monitor and fetal heartbeat monitor to me. It was interesting to watch the monitors- especially as a contraction was coming on.

Anyway, all is well now. We went home about 7 AM after a shot to stop the contractions and with directions to get lots of rest over the weekend. So it was a pretty exciting morning!

Baby Registry

Hey Folks- We've been getting a lot of questions about what sorts of things we need for Ethan. We're registered at both www.target.com and www.babiesrus.com. If you search for baby registries using our last name you should be able to pull up our list. Some things overlap a little bit because I wanted to give people some choices...

We have lots of 3-6 month clothes but very little newborn/0-3 clothes. 6 month and beyond clothes are also totally welcome (who knows how quickly Ethan will grow!?). We've decided to do cloth diapers and I've got a good amount of those already. However, we are going to start out with disposable for the first few weeks and we'll use disposable intermixed later. Books and toys would be great- we don't have too many of those. And if there are any of the "rich uncle" types out there... it's not too late to fund a scholarship to pay for Ethan's college education (just joking- unless you're serious).

Hope that helps!

Favorite Childhood Toy...

So a conversation with my mom last night sparked a memory from my childhood...

Teddy Ruxpin. Man I loved that thing. Do you guys remember this? You'd pop a tape in his back and then he'd read you a story (complete with book). It was seriously the coolest thing ever. And I thought it was magic or something.

Anyway, it was just fun to think about how awesome that toy was. If we end up with one then I am not sure who is going to enjoy Teddy more- me or Ethan. :)

Another Reason to Love Utah....

One word: Thunderstorms.

The past few days have been wonderful! Good, sunny weather all day, and then in the afternoon/evening- Thunderstorms. We're talking light up the sky, drench everything in rain, and shake the windows storms. I love them. And the best part is that it's so easy to watch them come rolling in. Waiting for them to arrive is almost as much fun as watching them. Just look up and look for the dark mass of clouds coming (hopefully) your direction. It's fun to see parts of the cloud light up with lightning and the sheets of rain come pouring down... and the distant roll of thunder.... Ah... what a way to end the day! :)