the countdown continues

Well another week down...... things continue to go well but I can honestly say I am so ready for this to be over. Then again ask me 6 weeks from now what I think with a screaming child that refuses to be comforted with any of the 17 gadgets we now have in our closet and garage and I might think this was a cake walk.

Andy's brother graduated from high school this weekend so finding an outfit that didn't make me resemble a farm animal was a little bit of a challenge (that I did not succeed at). It was a nice weekend never the less and we were able to get a little sunshine therapy on Monday.

I have started a list of things I have tried and may continue to try to induce labor.

• Last week I jumped (okay so it wasn't quite like that) on the horse for a spin around the yard.
• For those of you from the area driving on Cty Rd 7 to Pickwick in the truck could make a non-prego person's stomach hurt last week
• Andy and I planted grass seed which included picking up rocks from the yard first (whose idea was it to have a 2 acre yard???)
• I moved the path on the outside of the field and set aside land with the 4 wheeler trying to hit every bump and gopher hole possible.

Obviously nothing has worked so far but I am going to keep trying.

In terms of other life things, we got an offer on our house which was ridiculous and asked for just about everything except our first born child (dang). We closed on the new house today which just sucks since we haven't sold the other one. Still nothing too promising in the daycare category-- Murphy just might have to do for now so he is hoping that someone can get him some books on tape related to babycare and rearing. He does watch Super Nanny on Wednesday nights but they don't have anything on baby babies very often.

Trying to get a few more things in order around the house but with pretty minimal success- perhaps this week with the rain that is predicted we can get some house items crossed off the list. I was hoping this nesting thing everyone talks about would kick these loose end house projects into high gear but so far no luck!

Have a great weekend :)

Shopping

Well I just got back from a baby shopping trip complements of Angie and Jolene. This was their compromise for not having a shower but it was still way overboard. We started by taking an inventory of what we had and although I thought we were making good progress it was evident by both of their reactions upon arriving at 31086 Nagle Ridge Drive that we were still missing a few things. Given Angie's area of expertise she was a bit concerned if I went early that we had no diapers, wipes, bottles or formula. So with that we were off to Lacrosse.

We had a wonderful meal at Grizzleys and then went to Target where we got some bottles, nipples, a nail clipper, diapers, wipes, and some other feminine products which seem ridiculous but they both assured me are necessary.

At Toys-R-Us we got a mirror for the car, a changing pad, changing pad cover, diaper bag, and baby q-tips.

Then we frequented Cold Stone Creamery to finish the night off, and there were 1,000 choices for ice cream and toppings and it took me longer to figure out what the hell to order than it did to scarf it down. But it was tasty and a fitting ending to a great night.

So a little bit more prepared today than yesterday and maybe tomorrow we will get the crib set up if it is raining.

Week 35

So it strikes me as ironic that in the beginning you are counting how many weeks along you are and at this point all I care about is how many &^$% weeks are left. My midwife told us yesterday that getting sick of this at the end is gods way of helping you endure what is to come since you are so tired of being prego.

Everything continues to go well, Andy and I have a bet on how big IT is going to be. I say closer to 6 lbs and Andy believes closer to 9 lbs. We had an appointment yesterday and the midwife did not think it was a big baby and guessed somewhere in the 6 lb range so hopefully she is right :) The every growing belly now weighs in at 28 pounds with 5 weeks to go which just sucks. Then again if Andy wins the bet that much more will be gone so maybe I should rethink my strategy.

We have another new baby (cow that is). Number 73 had a black boy today, which brought some disappointment to Andy. Sure hopes if he doesn't get his girl in real life that he won't sell it or think about eating it as the only alternatives.

Getting a little worried about when the heck we are going to get everything ready and have this house in some assembly of order for a child. Seems like the weather just won't totally cooperate with us and even though I have way more time now, I can't seem to get anything done around here. Hoping this week will be more productive but god only knows!

Also getting a little more worried about what is ahead. Had some wonderful conversations with colleagues today who are 100% rational, level headed, kind, caring people. That was until they found themselves in the birthing process. Heard from

• a pastor's wife (who's doctor was a member of their church) that vulgar language can easily slip out
• a hillarious story from one of the nicest employees at WSU who after several hours of labor and an epidural (that only worked on one leg) grabbed a nurse by the shirt upon mentioning that the baby was too big and a c-section was necessary
• a faculty member who needed to resort to creative tactics to deter her husband from using derogatory comments regarding the birthing and breastfeeding process

The scary part is all of these folks are much more calm and compassionate that I would consider myself so I may be in trouble!

Mothers day came and went-- Andy apparently didn't realize that you are supposed to be nice on mothers day so we may have to re-do it all together. His work like crazy schedule combined with the fact that he could not get a tractor running resulted in a less than chipper mood. In addition the dog rolled in cow shit so he didn't add to the pleasurable day in the least either. We did have a very nice dinner with Andy's family Sunday evening and I fully enjoyed the wide selection of desserts.

Maybe if we get the nursery together this week I can upload some photos!

Gift Thoughts

Another week down! Things have been going well- I finished up my teaching this past week and have made great strides in acquiring items this past weekend. Many of you have been asking lots about where we are registered, what we have etc. So here is the scoop...

1. We registered at Babies-R-Us/Toys-R-Us for our travel system
2. We registered at Walmart for lots of basic care items
3. We registered at Target for very little since we had such a hassle returning things there from our wedding registry. We are planning on getting our formula at Target so gift cards would be a plus, they recommended we don't stock up on one kind now in case IT doesn't like what we buy.
4. I don't know how to register on e-bay but gift certificates from there would be great as well as there are bargains galore :)

In terms of other stuff

• We have so many clothes for a newborn/infant that IT's closet is looking even worse than mine. Thanks to some great friends, and a wonderful consignment shop in Dubuque we have everything from onesies, Winona State and Vikings attire, to 35 versions of sleepers. I am pretty certain at this point either I won't have to do wash until it wears something other than size 6 months, or it isn't going to be able to wear everything.

• Thanks to some ebaying, garage sales, donations from family/friends and Kates (bargain hunter extraordinaire) we currently have crib, mattress, bassinet, 2 pack and plays, a highchair, excersaucer, 2 baby bjorns, hiking back pack, 3 wheel jogging stroller, monitors, crib set, camo diaper bag for Andy, bath tub thing, hooded towels, a bath robe,hats, mitts, socks, floor activity mat, 2 vibrating chairs, Bumbo seat, travel swing, swinging baby gates,

Other items that we would still like include

• books
• swing (but we are bidding on one at ebay right now)
• I need a diaper bag but can't decide quite what I want (UPDATED- ANGIE AND JOLENE GAVE ME ONE :)
• day care or someone who has the power to move us up the list at WSU
• a full time night shift staff for year 1
• a cleaning lady (god do I miss ours)

I will update as we acquire even more :) Who knew something so small needs so much. What the heck......