Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Baby White Week 15

Hi guys!

I'm glad to say things are going much better this week. I've only taken meds once, and that was in the evening for some bad nausea/heartburn. Did you know that stuff about heartburn meaning the baby has hair is true a lot of times? I totally thought it was an old wives' tale, but my pregnancy book says the same hormones that control the baby's hair growth contribute to heartburn in the mother and that a study showed 80% of moms who had heartburn ended up having babies with a lot of hair. Who knew?

It did get me to thinking- John's family does have super thick hair. Maybe the baby will have a nice full head of it too!

I still tire pretty easily. I still have not gained any weight. In fact I lost 3 pounds initially and have not gained them back. I haven't really had any cravings, but my taste buds are still wonky. I never know if I'll have an appetite for dinner or not. Evenings are still peak nausea time for me, but it's not nearly as bad as it was. I still have not gotten back into exercising, and I really need to change that.

Another thing that has improved is my belly is not as sensitive as it was. I can take a little more pressure on it now. And I was just noticing that the hypersensitivity of "the girls" has all but gone away. I mean- that's never an area that wants to be squished- but I think my pain tolerance in that area is about back to normal.

My grandma asked me tonight if I was enjoying being pregnant. I did not answer, because I find my feelings to still be pretty mixed. Being pregnant is not easy. To feel like you are losing control of your own body is a very strange feeling indeed. To be more dependent than usual is difficult. To admit that you feel that way is also strange. I didn't expect to feel this way. I expected to be one of those mushy-gushy "miracle of life" types. And I think as I start to get a real belly, feel the baby move, ready the nursery, see a more discernible sonogram photo, etc.. that I may start to feel that way. But for now I think it still all seems a little surreal. Also with so much else (a new job and home renovations, mostly the latter) going on, it has taken away the ability to "focus" on the pregnancy. But I think that's also good, because if I could have focused any more on my misery in the first trimester, I might have died. :)

I did successfully dismantle, wash and reassemble the stroller this week. Took me two hours to get that thing back together! But it is squeaky clean now. I also hosed down and scrubbed the crib siderails. Now our baby won't be eating any other baby's slobber germs :)

I look forward to getting our floors down (another 2 weeks!) so that I can finally setup the nursery furniture and hang photos and such. So far I've only hung two things on the wall in our house. I just feel like I need to keep things sparse until I am sure they won't be bumped, broken, covered in dust or be in the way.

My grandma tried to tell me again tonight that she thinks I'm having twins. I'm about sick of it. I told her rather vehemently that I am NOT! having twins. Her reply was "you don't know that for sure". Yes I do! Then came the "I knew women who didn't know until they delivered because one baby hid behind the other." My mom and I explained (again) that testing is much more sophisticated these days and my sonogram, fetal heart tones and labwork all indicate just ONE baby!!!!

So to show you the reason she thinks I am having twins, here's this week's photo:


And there you have it! Me and the twins. Lol.
Next post I'll officially be four months! Which is actually only three days away... see you then!

Weekend Update 05-26-11 Birthday!

So this year my birthday fell on Memorial Day again. It was Memorial Day the year I was born and several times in between then and now. My birthday most always falls on Memorial Day weekend at least.

I've decided it's not so much fun to have your birthday on a holiday. It usually means people have plans with friends and family...aka not you. Lol. And in the city I live in, it's also a big weekend for GLBT pride on our beach. The beach I love to go to. But we avoid it because things can get quite rowdy and you're likely to see some things you probably will wish you hadn't.

Anyway, this year is also my "Golden Birthday". I didn't even know what this was until my teen years. But if you too are in the dark- it's the year you turn the age of the day you were born. So it will have to be sometime between your 1st and 31st birthday. For those of you whose birthday is the 1st-10th ish day of the month- I'm sorry. Yours probably passed without you knowing it :) But since mine is late in the month, I had a good portion of my life to wait for it :)

I wanted to make special plans- but it just fell through. It's been so busy around here for me and with the holiday, not many people were up for last minute things. My poor husband even tried to surprise me two different ways and neither one worked out. (He was trying hard after I spent the night of my last birthday crying). But alas, it was not to be.

It turned out to be a good weekend after all. Friday I was off and we went to Lowes and ordered our tile. Let me tell you what a big blessing we received. I'd discovered an ad online (for a store that has a physical location in San Antonio but ships worldwide for free). We decided not to order from them for fear if we needed to return anything it would eat up any cost savings. Their tile was 41 cents a square foot cheaper than Lowes, for the exact same item. When we ordered, I did mention it to the sales clerk but even said "I don't think you'll honor this since they are not a local competitor (their policy is to beat any local competitor). The sales associate informed me that since Lowes is a nationwide chain with stores in San Antonio, they would honor the price AND beat it by 10%! This ended up saving us around $400!!!!! That was so wonderful because both the tile and carpet estimates came in over what we had planned. Now we will still be able to put down new carpet in June instead of waiting a couple months.

Also, before going into Lowes we'd made a return at Home Depot. We got a little over $250 cash and planned on just applying it toward the tile purchase. I put the money in my pocket since we were heading straight over to Lowes. Well lo and behold I put my hand in my pocket in Lowes- no money. No one had bumped into us. I traced my steps. I looked in the car. Nothing. I thought for sure that money was gone. On the off chance someone was honest, I checked with customer service. I'd of course already been praying and asking God to help me find the money. I knew even if I didn't things would be ok and he would provide, but no one wants to lose that much money! I was so grateful I nearly cried when they told me that another customer had turned it in!!!!! He found it just outside the main entrance to the store. I sure wish he was around for us to thank, but we let the workers know if he stopped by to please thank him for us! Praise the Lord what a blessing!

Saturday we did not go out yard saling. There's usually not an abundance of sales on a holiday weekend, and John was feeling a little under the weather. Instead I worked on some of the ongoing "to do" list. And then that evening we attended a friend's wedding. It was black tie and so fun! We ended up being seated next to a wonderful couple (the leader of my women's group and her husband) and shared a lot of laughs. The ceremony was very quick- I almost felt bad since the couple has been engaged for two years! All that waiting and it's over in a blink! But, it was outside. The guests were under a portico but the bridal party was out in the sun. It was pretty warm so they tried to wrap things up quickly.



This is his "I love taking pictures" face

"Beauty pains"

Afterwards they had a nice seated dinner with yummy food and plenty of dancing. They also had a really fun "photo booth" that their photographer provided where his assistant took your photo and then printed them out for you. And their photographer was amazing! On the prop table for the booth he had a monitor setup where he was displaying some of the photos he'd already taken that day. I knew he would not have had time to edit them (I even asked!) and they were stellar. Of course it did not hurt that he took them in primo afternoon light. But still, I was very impressed.




Sunday we went to church and then out to lunch at Olive Garden- per my request. I'd been craving Zuppa Toscana for awhile and since it was my birthday weekend, we went. I then enjoyed a nap and an evening of movies- We Bought A Zoo (cried way too much- thanks hormones) and Larry Crowne (with ClearPlay filtering!). My hubby picked the second (I'd never heard of it) and it was ok, but probably not one I'd recommend. We Bought A Zoo however, was great!

And Monday was my birthday and Memorial Day. I'll do a separate post on that later as I'm going to get some photos from a friend to add to it.

And now I'm off to write up my 15 week post that's way overdo!


Sunday, May 27, 2012

Happy Blogiversary!

So today marks two years of blogging for me! I'm kinda proud that I've kept up with it. I was never good at keeping up with journals or diaries. So, this it. My journal of sorts.

I've been celebrating the day with lunch at Olive Garden, a nap and now a twofer movie- We Bought A Zoo and Larry Crowne.

Since last night we went to a black tie wedding and tomorrow is my birthday, it's been a pretty big weekend for me.

I've photos to edit and share and I'll be back with you all soon!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Lost in translation so much frustration

Let me take a moment to share a fail of the US Postal Service (USPS). To be honest, I've overall always had good service from USPS. But over the last few weeks they have fallen out of favor with me.

You see, I ordered this shower curtain for our master bath. Of course I just could not wait to get it!!!! Right now all I have is a clear plastic liner. It was ruffled from top to bottom and so very Anthropologie-esque and was only $25!

I was notified by United Parcel Service (UPS) that my item shipped out on the 30th. Of course, I ordered it a couple days before and had it shipped to my current address, as we were not sure when we would close on the house. Well I found out that afternoon that we would close in a few days, so I put in a change of address.
Per UPS, my package was delivered to the local USPS office for delivery on the 3rd. This is where it all went wrong.

On the 4th, I received notification from UPS that USPS had an exception that the package was "undeliverable as addressed" and to contact sender for further assistance. But yet the name and address on all correspondence was correct. It said the local carrier could not deliver as addressed. Odd because we were getting other mail. So I asked USPS online for a redelivery and to please contact me. They did and I was told that since I put in a mail forward, the package had gone to Jacksonville to be sorted and redelivered as that is where "package forwarding" is done for my area. It took another 5 days for it to get to Jacksonville. Per the online updated it arrived back in my city (again!) on the 11th very early. And then I heard nothing. for 4 days. So I called USPS again. At first they tried to tell me the package was returned to the sender. I explained that I was told prior that it was in the forwarding system. They could not tell me anything more than the online status- that it arrived in the sort facility in my city 5 days ago.

I was told they would "look into it" and someone would call me back within 24 hours. Well, I gave them 25 and no call. So I called them. I was told again that my package was returned to the sender. I had to tell the entire story (a third time) about what I had been told and questioned why they could not locate and deliver a package (within the same city) for 6 stinking days!!!! The rep offered to "have them look into it and call me back in 24 hours". I was peeved and demanded a supervisor. The supervisor informed me that indeed they did look into it and their final determination was that the package was returned to the sender undeliverable as addressed. She even confirmed the package came to my city, went to Jacksonville, came back to my city and THEN went back to the sender. I was TICKED!!!! So the following day I called the sender about having a replacement sent (a full two weeks after it was supposed to have arrived) and they gladly obliged and told me this time my package would arrive UPS only. All was well and per UPS, my package is scheduled to arrive tomorrow.

But then... today I got a voicemail from the "consumer affairs" department at USPS. No details, they just asked me to call back. I honestly thought they were calling to apologize or get the details of the whole thing so they could prevent it in the future, or something. Well, I was not able to call them back til after work. By then I had a second missed call and voicemail from them. I skipped listening to the second and called them back. At two minutes until the end of their business day, I called back and they'd already left. I let them know I was calling during business hours and no one answered and to please leave me a detailed voicemail as I cannot make personal calls at work.

After I hung up, I listened to the second voicemail. Well let me tell you, it was detailed. They were letting me know that my package was available for pickup at my local post office. Didn't say which one or give a phone number. Just to talk to "so and so" at my local post office. But here's the real kicker- they told me there was a $7 and some change fee due on the package "since it had to be forwarded". Are you freaking serious?!?!?!?! I've called 4 times about this and been told wrong information twice and my package is 17 days late and you think I'm going to come get it and give YOU money?

So I left them another nice voicemail that I'd been told twice it was returned to the sender and they were already mailing a replacement and there was NO WAY I was coming to pay a fee or pickup that package and they could tell the "local post office" to send it back!!

Errrrrrrrrgh. Those kind of things frustrate me so much! And there's no real recourse, because it's the federal government.

Anyway, I would not suggest using the UPS to USPS service. They can't seem to get it straight.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Weekend Update 05-19-12

Hi everyone!

This past weekend was so busy- I am sure I'm going to leave something out.

My dad and stepmom came for a visit. It was really nice to have them here to help with the house. Dad installed 4 ceiling fans and six light fixtures for us. All ugly fixtures have been banished! And my stepmom made us a fried fish dinner two nights. Of course this was fish my dad caught and vegetables they grew. Yum.

Remember these hideous things?
Well now there's this instead

And the ceiling fans were soooo eighties. White with brass trim and fluted ruffled bulb shades and oak-colored with brass trim and the same lovely shades. Now we have this!

I know the details look brass but it's just the lighting. They are nickel and the fans blades are espresso. With translucent-ish white marbled shades.

And I never took photos of the two bedroom fixtues and the hall/foyer/laundry fixtures, but let me tell you they were hideous. They looked very similar to these:

The square fixtures were converted to ceiling fans and the globe fixtures were changed to these:
Again, the glass is semi-transparent white marbled. Not sure why it's glowing yellow in the pics.

In between all the frustration of getting these mounted, we snuck in some trips to the beach.
Hermit crab racing
The kayak's first trip out this year. Beautiful Destin Pass.
We had a great time at the beach and I got a nice even coat of color :) Now I just need to keep layering it!

Dad and Gena also brought their new puppy, Miles. He's a 6mo old yellow lab and can be quite precocious. Poor boy just wanted to play, but our dogs were having none of it. They barked, growled and nipped at him all weekend. Thankfully he did not care one bit and just kept trying to play- by swatting them with his giant paws.
"I'm ready for dinner"

Unfortunately the plate was his dinner. Lol.
Me, John and my stepmom also went out yardsaling Saturday. We went to a great neighborhood sale and then about 2 others. I got a lot of baby stuff as listed in this post. I also got 2 nice wiooden folding chairs for $10, a curved shower rod for $7, a causal purse for $2, a beach chair for $1 and several other things I just can't seem to remember! We had to stop because there was no room left in the car!

Overall it was a great and productive weekend!

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Baby White- Week 14

Ok so I figured if I want to have a "scrapbook" of pregnancy I better start documenting on this weekly. It's also been brought to my attention that several friends and family are wanting some updates! :)

We had an appointment with our midwife and were able to hear the heartbeat finally! I did not cry, surprisingly. To be honest, it still all seems a little surreal. It was a good and strong 156 beats per minute. Per the midwife this is still "girl territory". But we shall see. My next appointment is June 8th and she said I can schedule my ultrasound two weeks after that. So 5 more weeks until we find out if Baby White is blue or pink! :)

We may do a gender reveal party. Still have time to think about that.

I've been doing better with nausea this week. Three days out of the last seven I have not taken nausea meds. I find I do ok without them. Smells still get to me, however. Not that the nausea meds stopped that. But, they did make it easier not to feel puky when I encountered an offensive odor. My appetite is better, but still not great. I still have to keep something in my tummy or I'll get a stomach ache.

My belly is growing! Still no weight gain as of last appointment. But, things are sure shifting. My grandma swears I'm having twins or a big baby. Thanks grandma! But, she was always sick as a dog the whole time, there were no meds, and she gained very little weight. So, showing is not normal to her until very late. Yes, I know a lot of first time moms don't show until 5 or 6 months, sometimes even 7. Well, that's just not me and I'm not the only one! I was already carrying more weight in my middle before baby showed up. I'm just proportioned straight through the hip and butt and round through the middle.

So I snapped a quick pic on the way to the beach. I'm in my swimsuit which is nice and snug so you'll get the full effect of my belly. I don't look quite so obvious in normal clothes.



We're also on a good start for baby items- we have a crib, swing and bassinet. Over this weekend of yard sales we got a second swing (for my mom's house), a bouncer, a double stroller/carseat combo and an additional carseat (one to stay in my car and one for John's/grandma's car). I have a Moby wrap, a sling, a Boppy pillow, ear thermometer, some kids books and three receiving blankets.

Here's my baby loot from this week. I'm in the process of taking all the covers off everything for washing and scrubbing down all the pieces themselves. Man- taking them apart is like a jigsaw puzzle and I'm sure putting them back together will be as well!

It folds up really easy, you just slide over the red button, twist the handle and fold up! It's mostly grey with some pattern (as pictured left bottom corner)

The matching carseat. Can slip into stroller also. Has base. Whole setup- $50. Graco brand.

Swings, plays music and vibrates. For grandma. $20

Combi carseat and base to be our "second" carseat. $10

Bouncer/vibrating seat. $5

Boppy pillow w/cover $3 and 3 receiving blankets $1
So as you can see if it's a boy, we'll be set. But if it's a girl, I think all these things can work for that too. I'm making a conscious effort to get things that are as close to neutral as possible so they can be used for more than one baby. Plus, John already picked up a double stroller! Lol.

I'll update you with pics and stories again next week!


Monday, May 7, 2012

Weekend Update 05-05-12 The New House!

Hi everyone!

It's been a long and very productive week in The White House. Monday the 30th we closed on our home. Thankfully the evening of the 30th my midwife called in a script for Phenergan at my request, and it worked! Thank you Jesus! No really, there is no way I would have been able to do 1/4th of the things that needed to be done this past week.

I'd like to take a moment out to personally thank the researchers, test subjects, manufacturers, marketers, prescribers and dispensers of Phenergan. For reals. Thank ya'll. I have my life back.

So of course Monday evening also meant a trip to Lowe's. One of about 6 we've made in the last week. We got paint, light fixtures, ceiling fans...the works.

Tuesday through Friday at 2am we worked almost non-stop. And that was including help from my mom and her friend Andy. Literally every inch of the house needs painting. We've gotten about 75% of it done. I certainly flexed some muscles that are not often used. They did not like it, and they let me know! But I am so happy with the results. Our house has gone from the land of off-white and almond to the land of crisp, bright white and colors.

I can see that there are literally years worth of projects ahead of us. It's very hard for me to be patient about these things. I want it all done and perfect now. But, limitations of time, money and physical endurance will keep me waiting.

So, let me get on to the real reason you are here: pictures!

Left side, my garage

Right side, John's garage. The flagpole, antiquated monstrous TV antenna and mailbox are going, eventually. I'd also like to paint the front door a color.

Back porch

Back yard, full of sand burs. Good thing they're still green. Those suckers are getting mowed tomorrow!

Foyer/entry area. The door was almond, now white. The walls are now "Sand Trap" and "Lettuce Alone" New flooring will be laid at the end of the month.
Before- from the MLS listing. Cabinets were ecru.

Before, living room. Can you say 80's!!!

After- colors are now white, Lettuce Alone and Fudge Truffle. Ceiling fans to be replaced in a few weeks. All the common areas are going to be tile. You can't tell in the photos, but the carpet is in pretty bad shape.

Living room view from dining room.
Back  porch from MLS photos. Hate the color of the carpet. It's going!

And it's now a project area. Lol. Small dining area but we found a great fitting table. This tile will also be replaced.

Got this table and chairs for $20! All I had to do was recover the seats.

Kitchen- the white patch is where we had to repair a large hole in the wall from where a stupid small tilted TV stand was bonded to the wall. Short term plans include sanding and painting the cabinets, which have a nice thick coat of shellac. What fun that will be. Long term plans include new counter tops and appliances.

Laundry room. These built in cabinets really are nice. To the left is the washer and dryer area.

Our "new to us" front loaders from Craigslist. They have a good bit of cosmetic wear and tear, but I am still thrilled to have them!

Hallway
Guest bath before. Man, it was filthy! The patches in the wall are from where towel bars, cup holders and toothbrush holders were mounted to custom wooden plaques and then mounted to the wall. Ick!
Imagine this wooden plaque behind every fixture in the bathrooms. These light fixtures are going in a couple weeks.

Nice, clean and bright
Wooden toilet seat replaced. Flooring going in a month. Light fixture in a few weeks. Long term plans- new counter top, mirror and faucet, paint cabinets.

2nd bedroom- will be the nursery. Leaving it untouched until we know the gender. Will be getting new carpet.

Our few baby things!

Master- hard to tell in photos but the walls are a light grey called "Whispering Wind". I have a wall cling quote that says "Always Kiss Me Goodnight" that I'll be putting above the bed.

View from the bathroom

View from the hall door.

View from the bed. John's chest of drawers is now in the office. He was willing to do that to keep a king size bed :)
The baths were pretty much the same. Nasty toilets and floor. He actually had custom made rugs that covered all the vinyl in the bathrooms. And they were white! (or used to be). Those things went ASAP. But the floor has a funny smell and I can't wait for it to go!

Now it's a sunny yellow! I have a white tiered ruffles shower curtain on the way! Plans for this bath are the same as the hall bath. Except some day I'd also like to move the left recessed medicine cabinet. It's placed really awkwardly. Like between the vanity and toilet. It should have been centered over the toilet for pete's sake!!!

And tonight, floor demolition began!
So we are very glad to be in our first place. I'm happy with what it is now and excited for how it will be even better someday!

Now pray for John, because the honey-do list is very long! And for future reference, if you ever want to get us anything at all, we want Lowe's gift cards! Lol