Week 37

So the month of June is finally here- although the weather is no indication of such. Thank god most days it is okay to wear sandals as tying the shoes is so a thing of the past . Had a great weekend with the fam. My parents came to visit on Friday and thanks to the McDermott baby fund we got a crib mattress and bedding. Had some funny moments looking through some of my dad's baby clothes. Who the hell has baby clothes that are 56 years old is beyond me since I can't seem to find my clothes from moving just 6 months ago. Ironically many of the outfits have a Murphy dog embroidered on them which is hilarious.

Tried to do some decorating in the nursery but Martha Stewart's force was not with us and we didn't find much of anything that would work. But for all of those who are so damn nervous that I am not prepared I now have a crib, bedding on the crib, one package of diapers, one can of formula and a bottle which from what everyone says IT just sleeps, eats and shits so we should be covered for the first week.

JB and Andy worked on the deck railing so when the little beast is mobile it will no longer fall 20 feet to the yard. Which is good for a mom that might have too much to drink on occasion after a hellish day with a screaming kid. Than again Murphy has to think of a new suicide plan if he just can't take the lack of attention and jealousy.

Had an appointment today and things are moving along (literally). IT's head is down where it is supposed to be which they said is a sign it has dropped. A guy MD must have come up with that- there is only so much room in there at this point and dropping to me would mean that the soccer player would stop kicking the crap out of me and drop on out into the world.

Had some of the "fake" contractions. Another concept only a man could come up with. Nothing too fake about them to me when they wake me up at 5:30 a.m. All I have to say is epidural, epidural and epidural.

And on those famous last words off to sleep we all go!

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......

The weather sucks and we have a new number 10

Well another week down- the weekend weather resembled something from January as opposed to May. On Monday we got 4 inches of snow- I guess this plan on not being pregnant during the hot summer months is really going to work since we likely won't even have any days above 60 before the middle of June. Thinking back to last year when we had our wedding party and stole lilacs out of people's yards for our flowers. Wouldn't happen this year (not that we should have been doing it last year for that matter).

We had a new baby in the family this past week- a new calf that belongs to Louise (for those of you who haven't heard the story we have 3 cows, 2 of which run away so their names are Thelma and Louise). She had a baby boy that is black last Friday-- still don't have a name so he is number 10. People might think it is a little strange if we have to leave the hosiptal with our kid having a number 1 on it's ear if we still can't decide that either. Andy was disappointed as he was hoping for a girl- all I hope is that she doesn't get her mom's personality. Well actually Andy is probably thinking that about our real baby too :)


This weekend was Andy's cousins wedding- needless to say if I ever have another baby I am not going to any weddings if I can not drink. Just not the same experience. Although I was feeling much better about things Sunday morning as both Andy and our house guests woke up feeling worse than I did. As luck would have it I went to urgent care on Saturday for a bladder infection so if the truth was told I didn't feel that great either and there were no great stories associated with it.

Also spent the week watching Augusta, my parents dog while they are visiting my brother in Texas. Although I have no recollection of how much hair we must have had in the house growing up with 2 labs, not sure now how my mom did it. Between not having any grass and the hair housecleaning could be a full time job around here and sure enough our cleaning lady from Winona still hasn't been able to get over her fear of driving up hills and has yet to show up at the new house.

Had an appointment yesterday- everything is still going well with the exception of a stupid bladder infection. Turns out the antibiotics they gave me on Saturday are not going to work on the type of bacteria I have so I started a new one yesterday. Hopefully in the next few days it will kick in . Trying to do my best at exercising, but I am supposed to drink 2 gallons of water a day. Needless to say the dogs and I are limited to exercising around the farm so that we all can take bathroom breaks as needed. And no I have not put my toilet paper down for those of you who remember that incident.

Looking forward to the end of the week/weekend-- Winona takes part in a 100 mile garage sale which is really something from what I hear. Hoping to hit the sales Friday and Saturday and snatch up baby deals left and right. Wishing my mom could be here to bargain as I flat out suck at that part but can't blame her for laying around in 80 degree weather poolside instead of scrapping snow off the cars here.

I will update our items we have post after the bargains this weekend!

Dresses

Okay so as if the clothes trying on this weekend wasn't bad enough...... Andy's cousin gets married on Saturday. Nobody told me that finding a maternity dress in the town of Winona would resemble something more of a scavenger hunt as opposed to retail therapy. Target has 2- and one looks like something you would only wear in Jamaica over a swim suit.

Seriously if I had any fashion sense or the ability to create things I would start my own "real women's" maternity collection. A trip to La Crosse or Rochester may be in order Saturday morning. The only bright thing was a friend from work gave me a few tops and a pair of jean capri's today in a size that starts with the same letter as lettuce (which maybe I should be eating more of and I wouldn't need that size). Then again they fit and if I have to drink milk, oreo's are necessary (right?).

Looking for new friends

Well it was a great weekend with lots of visitors. Friday our friends Mark and Lindsay came to visit from Wisconsin Rapids. They had a baby 14 days ago and Lindsay was kind enough to "donate" all of her maternity clothes. Although it was great to see her the sheer fact that she could get rid of all of maternity clothes 10 days after having her 3rd child made me want to kill her. Andy enjoyed having a new baby in the house, Murphy did a great job balancing his curiosity with good behavior. I just sat in amazement at how anyone person could own this many items of maternity clothes and not need them 10 days later. Then again Lindsay gained something like 19 pounds total so that was icing on the cake.

Jolene and Corey were here this weekend as well so Jolene came over shortly after Mark and Lindsay left. It was great to see Jo and she thought it would be a good idea to have a little fashion show with the 200 items clothes that had just been dropped off. Now you must remember that Jolene is now 4 months pregnant and looks better than I do pre-pregnancy. So whatever hate I had left in my body was now directed at her as she laughed her ass off at me trying on clothes. Needless to say there were a few items that just didn't come up over the thighs and ass. I never wanted to drink a beer so badly but we resorted to enjoying our crystal light and eating.

Sometime on Friday night I decided that from now on to be my friend you must be
1. fat
2. out of shape
3. poor (or at least as poor as we are)
4. gained at least as much weigh as I have when you had a baby.

Screening shall begin today.

Saturday Jolene and I attempted to put this uppercase living saying I have had since fall on the hallway wall. Jolene is a bit more crafty than I so she seemed like a good candidate to help. Needless to say it was a huge pain in the rear and I don't think either of us will ever put another one up. It is still up on the wall but if you come over and can't make out the words because some of the letters have fallen down, don't say anything just use your imagination.

Sunday Andy and I went to the house in Winona to do a quick clean up (that means anything you clean you do so with wipes). There was an open house today and I thought about resorting to church to see if I could get some divine intervention going on the house end.

We ended up spending the day outside- which was just beautiful. We attempted to burn some brush that was left over from Andy's winter of wood cutting. Needless to say they only thing that really burned was what was left of our Christmas tree (but at least I can cross that off the list now). We spent the afternoon at the Groth farm- Andy's parents were also trying to burn. Murphy had a grand time and we spent about an hour trying to get all the burrs out of him upon our arrival home.

Now it is 3:08 a.m. and I can't sleep and after sitting in bed for 2 hours have decided that since I can't seem to get going on the physical training end of things I might as well get started on the sleep deprivation routine.

Sweet Dreams

Items We Have

Have been getting several qut,ions about what items we need lately. I will try to update this as we get things!

We currently have:

crib, mattress, bassinett, baby bjorn, outdoor hiking carrier, 3 wheel jogging stroller, 1 pack and play, exersaucer, lots of clothes, Andy's diaper bag, baby gates, crib bumper pad, one sheet and bedskirt, high chair (gotta love ebay at 3 am when you can't sleep).....

Week 29

Well we have survived another week! We had an appointment on Monday and things continue to go well. Much to my delight I had a bladder infection that was causing the majority of my discomfort last week and has for the most part been taken care of with antibiotics. When she mentioned to make sure to go to the bathroom after sex Andy almost fell off the chair. Needless to say we don't believe that is the problem or the cure for that matter.I thought this was just par for the course for the next 10 weeks, but am damn glad that there was a logical explanation for it as the crabbiness was setting in.

The midwife scared the crap out of both of us when she mentioned the July word- as in they would be okay letting me go until the first week in July (if that is the case). She indicated that if everything was fine that it was very possible. Andy asked if husband relief would be a valid reason to induce but no go.

The weigh gain continues and Andy is now convinced that I will have stretch marks- but then again he might have a black eye if he mentions it again.

We tired to finish up the tiling and grouting in the laundry room this weekend and needless to say I didn't need yet another reminder that I can hardly get my ass off the floor so I think I will be done with those projects for now. I guess if it has waited this long- it can wait even longer.

Other than that things seem to be going just fine- my mom has kicked the craigslist shopping into full gear snatching up bargins from Rochester, MN to Davenport, IA. Although the idea of adding more crap to this house makes my stomach hurt, god knows I can't resist a bargin either.

Getting really sick of the weather and hoping that the sandles and gym short days are not far away. Only 3 weeks left of teaching so that will help pass the time quickly.

That's all for now folks!