I have to laugh or I will go crazy

Baby stress is killing me. I thought I would never go back to school for an MBA... but now I am thinking it would be easier than taking care of a baby!

So I just watched 20 minutes of an Ellen re-run. She showed this panda video on her show. I am still laughing over it. As she said, you just don't think of big scary animals like panda bears being frightened by small things. Check it out:



And here is a photo of our son JT that shows just what wicked parents we are. I especially like the milky drool on his mouth. :-)

I used to have hobbies...

I got up at 2am, 5am, and 8am to feed the little munchkin. I'm not complaining. I'm happy when he eats. And since he went back to sleep in between feedings, even better! The first thoughts that go through my mind when I wake up these days are "how long did he sleep?" "how long since he ate last?" "did he poop yet?"

And it's not just me. John got to sleep through last night. So when he got up this morning, he wanted to know if the little guy pooped. Do you think maybe we have issues? As he walked out the door, John said, "give him some more prune juice today."

JT has been a little constipated. From what I've read, it's normal if he doesn't have a bowel movement for a couple days. But we sure hate seeing him grunt and strain when he does finally have one. The doctor recommended giving him a teaspoon of prune juice. We gave him a dropper full yesterday, but it doesn't seem to have had any effect yet.

You know what's worse than forsaking your interests and hobbies to obsess over your baby's health? Writing about it on your blog... :-)

a birthday every week

JT is 4 weeks old today. We celebrate his birthday every week on Monday. Of course, today is my birthday... but it's not so much to celebrate as being ONE MONTH OLD!

On Saturday we drove 2 hours north for JT to meet his great grandparents. I think he really likes his great grandma. They spent a lot of time together! We had such a great visit. JT is lucky to have 3 great grandparents in his life. Tomorrow he will meet his other great grandma and his Aunt Joan.

"supermom"

I can't believe I have a 3 week old baby. Where does the time go? And why do I feel like it's only the start of time flying by?!

I'm not a fan of the young baby days. I need more interaction. I need to be less stressed about basic stuff - like eating. I'm going batty worrying about how much he's getting to eat, if it's enough, if he's growing, etc. So the whole supermom thing, definitely not feeling it.

JT's an awfully sweet baby though - very tolerant of his inexperienced parents. Here is a picture of him on Sunday when he discovered his reflection in the mirror end of a toy. Pretty cool to see his face light up when he caught sight of his face.

John got a hot tip that baby swings are THE thing for happy babies. So we went last night and got a swing. I think JT must like it because he's been sleeping in it for the past hour... and we don't even have batteries for it yet to make it swing on its own.

What a little precious... I just wanna give him kisses all day long... :-)

nicknames

JT has acquired quite a few nicknames in his 2 weeks with us...

Hiccup. Because he has the hiccups a few times a day. He has since he was in the womb.
Little Baby Sunshine. Because I like to call him this.
Pumpkin. Among my girlfriends, we call everyone pumpkin.
Precious. Because his dad and I think he's just so precious.
Sweet-as-jam. I don't know if it's actually a nickname, but his dad always says, "Make me some toast. I am going to put the baby on it and eat him, because he's sweet as jam."

updated to add some I forgot...
Senor Poopy-Pants. He usually gets called this when he farts or gets his diaper changed.
Mr. Fussybutt. There is a song for this one. Wouldn't you know?!
Chief Milk Belly. Because Native Americans name their babies after they get to know their personality. Well, our little one loves his milk. And he runs our house now, so he must be chief. :-)

chillin' at home

JT's first photo shoot, originally uploaded by brungrrl.

We have been working on getting into a routine. Unfortunately, blogging is not much near the top of JT's list of fun things to do. Eating, pooping, and sleeping are really his favorites.

Stroller rides are another favorite (or at least an activity that leads to good napping). His mom is getting better and more able to take longer walks, so that really works in his favor.

More pics are posted at Flickr.

home, again

We are home from the hospital... again. We came home from the hospital on Wednesday. Wednesday night went pretty well. Thursday night took a turn for the worse though. JT got really upset at bedtime and ended up being completely inconsolable for hours. At 2am he had a temperature of 99.1 and within another hour it was 100.6. So off we went to the hospital.

By 7am he was admitted to Children's Hospital to figure out the source of the fever. We were just released today after the last of the blood culture results came back. Not sure what caused the fever... he was totally fine in the hospital. They did find he was a bit dehydrated and jaundiced. The jaundice is clearing up now. The dehydration was a combination of waiting for real breast milk to start and a mother who wasn't very skilled at how to feed him.

So it was really like being sent away to parenting boot camp. We got some training on breast feeding and spent two days tracking what he ate and weighing diapers. Poor little guy... his parents are better trained now though. The nurse weighed him this morning and came back to do it again because it "just didn't seem possible that he gained that much weight in that amount of time." Yahoo! He went from 6 lbs 13 oz at admission to 7.05 lbs at discharge.

This picture was taken this morning after he ate. He was wide awake and the sun was shining on him. Is he just the picture of sweetness or what?! (The yellow around his eyes was dye from a test they did looking for corneal scratches... just in case he had given himself an infection by scratching his eyes with his dagger-sharp fingernails!)

Ok, he's asleep and in bed now... so I must be also! Have a lovely week all.

he's here!

Gotta feed the baby... but here's a quick pic and some stats:

John Thomas... aka JT
born 7.9.07 at 9:18am
6 lbs 15 oz
20.25 inches long

summer weekends are the best

Oh, I love slow summer weekends! Today is just great - running some errands, doing some chores, and crafting a little... all on an as-I-feel-like-it basis. And it is so beautiful outside, even if it's warming up a bit much.

Blogging has fallen in priority the past week. But to catch you up, it's been kind of a busy week. Worked this week, had plans all day on 4th of July, got a haircut on Monday, goofed off Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings.

Oh, and in case you are wondering, I'm still pregnant. Still have the rash. Friday evening one pharmacy wouldn't fill my prescription for cream because it wasn't specific enough. They needed clarification from the doctor and the office was closed for the weekend. So I say ok, take my prescription with me and walk away. I had another thing to pick up at the store, so as I was walking around I was thinking, "2 more days with only over-the-counter treatments?" The more I thought about it the more it itched. And pretty soon I thought, "oh no, I'm going to cry over this... I need to get out of here." So I checked out and then boo-hooed all the way home over my lack of itch cream. I probably should have had the meltdown right at the pharmacy window. It probably would have saved me the second trip to urgent care to get another prescription. So that is my weekend, soaking in oatmeal baths and lathering on itch cream. Seriously, carrying the baby is nothing. Itching ALL OVER - awful. Just awful.

Oh, and my mom was here on Friday when I came home in that state of distress. I think I've had three hormone-induced meltdowns the whole pregnancy and she had to be here for one - gRReat.

Mom (or Nana, as JT knows her) came up on Thursday afternoon and we spent the evening doing some shopping and eating Chipotle. She helped me with painting some of those fun yard sale finds for JT's room. Friday she spent the day cleaning the whole house (it's so clean... I'm loving it) and making dinner for us. Watch for photos of the craft projects. I have some more details to work on this afternoon, but then I should be able to get stuff hung on the wall already!

And to top it off... Dad is coming from Wooster this afternoon with the crib! It's all coming together nicely. I'm so excited to see it all put together. It might actually be the only room in the house that is completely done and decorated!

In photos this week, there is another post forthcoming about the 4th of July. We had an awesome day and there are some wild and crazy photos to post. But for now, I will leave you with an in-car shot of me in a headband. (I had some issues angling the camera properly for a self-portrait.) What do you think, can I do headbands? I think I'm into them (if I can get some that stay on my small head and fine, slippery hair). I'm also thinking of growing my hair out some more, post-baby. Just for something to do... we'll see how it goes.

Gypsy chic, eh? :-)

39 weeks

Last thing I craved: I don't know about craving it, but I'm eating ice cream like it's my job.
Weight gained so far: 37 lbs. Ok, I surpassed my goal. Just going to make the next goal even harder - to lose those same pounds by December.
Baby's weight: 6.5 lbs.
Last time the baby moved: Going at it right now. He likes to get lodged in there sideways. He must pinch a vein or something when he does that because I get a weird, light-headed feeling.
Latest annoying pregnancy symptom: The belly rash. Oh, don't worry, they say it will go away about a week before delivery. Uh, hello, due in 7 days and still have the rash!
Progress on the nursery: 80%. Can you believe it? We made progress! We moved all our stuff out of the nursery and got all the baby stuff put away and organized. The crib is finished and should arrive soon. Mom and I are going to do some decorative painting this weekend. I have yard sale treasures of picture frames and shelves to paint for the room. It should be pretty cute!

Fannie called...

Fannie called from the pay phone... our crib is finished! Now we'll just need to arrange to pick it up! And then get a mattress and some bedding for it. And a baby.

Went to the doctor today. No sign of having a baby this week. Guess that means I keep going to work. Ugh. Is it the weekend yet?

John rented a good movie last night, Peaceful Warrior. It's thoughtful, powerful, moving, inspirational. One of the best movies we've seen in a while. We watched some of the dvd features about how the movie was made, too. It gave us perspective on what went into making the movie. We kind of understood better how we could be so touched by what we saw.

Tonight I'm in feet-propped-up mode. I read a little more of my book: Lucia, Lucia. It's very light reading. I'm glad I am making time for reading, I really do like reading. The cool thing about this book is that it takes place in the 1950s. Lucia works as a seamstress in the custom department at a major NYC department store. So much of the atmosphere is about the fashion of that time - which I love. I have quite the collection of vintage costume jewelry, much of it from the 1950s. So it's cool to read a story related to that period.

I watched Sunrise Earth from Monday, sunrise over the Penobscot River in Maine. I got chills thinking about putting in on a whitewater river early in the morning. I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to raise my kids to love river rafting... or kayaking. We haven't been rafting in 2 years. I miss it.

Now I'm catching up on some episodes of Breakfast with the Arts. I know, I have very strange television interests.

room with a view

We finished the basement and my husband immediately set to work on getting the new tv. I wasn't thrilled... it didn't really seem like a necessity.

But since we have it... I am WAY into Sunrise Earth on Discovery HD. He's going to have a hard time getting me to delete them from the saved shows on our DVR box. This weekend I recorded the episode filmed on a ranch in Wyoming: horses, sunshine, birds twittering, a river, mountains, rising fog, green grass, etc. It's like having a big picture window in our basement where we can watch the sun rise whenever we want from wherever we want.

I've seen the sun rise a few times. Mainly, I can only make it happen on vacation. I got up for it last summer at Huntington Beach (proof: photo). And the year before I was awake crazy early in Punta Islita, Costa Rica one morning reading a book overlooking the Pacific Ocean while the sun came up. (No proof for that one, besides some bug bites that have since faded.)

The break of day is a beautiful thing... so full of hope. I'm glad someone thought enough to record it and broadcast it in HD. :-)

our baby has a room

Brace yourselves. You'll never guess what we finally did today.

We finally made some progress on the baby's room! We got all of our stuff moved out of his room. We have a ton of junk. We got the basement finished and have been spending quite a bit of time there. Well now all the crap we moved out of the baby's room is overtaking our zen-like basement space. Doh! John is assembling a new storage shelf right now to alleviate some of the clutter. (I'm sitting with my feet propped up... I'm so helpful.)


There really isn't much to photograph at this point. But at least everything in the room is the baby's stuff. We are still waiting on the Amish folks to call and let us know the crib is ready. Kind of frustrating to not have a crib yet... even though we won't need it right away. The crib would really make the room.


But we do have lots and lots of baby clothes in which to imagine our little bundle of joy. The clothes are so tiny and cute all folded up or hanging on hangers. I'm pretty sure we have plenty of receiving and other blankets, too. I filled 3 dresser drawers with blankets today!

Then there are the books... OH THE BOOKS! We have gotten some terrific books as gifts and I have found so many at yard sales for practically nothing. Let's hope he likes stories... because he is going to hear a lot of them.

day off

I took today off from work. I call it a psychological day. Sometimes you just need to be away from work. A weekend just isn't the same thing - you're supposed to be off on the weekends. So taking a weekday to just do what I want is good for my mental health.

So here's how I spent the day...

1. Got up at the usual time and showered.
2. Went to Starbucks for a decaf java chip frappuccino.
3. Met my boss for some yard sales. (Yes, my BOSS joined me on this day off!)
4. Spent the whole morning buying nutty stuff at yard sales. I had some serious fun. I got some picture frames that I will re-craft for JT's room. Also got another shelf that I can paint for his room. AND, of course... a whole pile of books for him. Some of these books crack me up. My lovely boss handed me a book about a boy who's mommy is a working mom. In the book, mommy's a witch. lol.
5. After the yard sales I came home for a PB&J sandwich.
6. In the afternoon I went to the tire place to get new tires put on my car. Can't be driving baby around on bald tires, now can I?
   
7. They had to get the tires from another store, so I went to Target for a few things. Like a shower curtain liner. Man, is ours gross. And I had to get a children's book and flip flops to send to send out for chain letters I've gotten recently. (Watch out if I have your address... you could be getting one of these!) Actually, as long as those things don't come too often, I think they're fun.
8. So then I went back to the tire place and dropped my car off. Conveniently, the nail salon is in the same plaza. So I spent my waiting time getting my toes all prettied up with some bubble-gum pink paint.
   
9. I spent my time at the nail salon reading the book I started a few weeks ago, Lucia, Lucia. So far, it's a light and fun book. Lots about the 1950s, fashion, and NYC.
10. This evening John went out with his softball buddies and I had time to watch some tv that I like and make some cards in my scrappin' area.
    

Pretty much a perfect day, huh? (Well, it'd be better if I didn't have to buy tires... but I think I took most of the sting out of that.)

calendar contest time

Time to submit photos for my company's annual photo contest! I've compiled a set on flickr of the ones I think are my best. We're allowed to submit two. Buzz on over to flickr and let me know which ones you like.

Friday yet?

This has been an oddly and unexpectedly good day. But tiring. I think I'm going to have to start planning for shorter days the next few weeks. I am pooped!

JT and I did some tai chi this morning. I think he was mocking me as I did the moves. He was all over the place while I was working out. Oh, and you've never seen anyone breath so hard just moving around slowly! Darn all that extra blood weighing me down. I am going to feel so light and energetic after he is born...

And on a random note, have you seen flickrvision yet? It's pretty cool... check it out!

maternity photos

My photographer friend Bryan was nice enough to take some amazing maternity photos for us today. He completely converted his house into a studio to take these pics for us. I LOVE these photos! I figured we should capture this pregnancy because future pregnancies might not be as glamorous as this one. (haha!) Plus, it gives me something to scrap over the next 4 weeks while we await JT's arrival.

There are several more, but I'll just post one good belly (and cankles) shot and one of me and John for now.

arts fest

Today was a BEAUTIFUL day. Aunt Joan, Uncle Wayne, and Jessica visited us this afternoon. It was so nice outside, we set up a little sitting area and had fruit, lemonade, and iced tea under a tree in the back yard. (We don't have a patio, so we have to wing it, you know?) That was so fun... I wish they didn't have to drive so far to visit for an afternoon.

This evening we picked Sarah up and went to the arts festival for some food, music, art, and people-watching. What a great evening to be out browsing around. I've been on the go all day long and my ankles weren't swollen. We took a couple breaks along the way and by 10pm as the festival was closing up, we'd seen every booth and had made our purchase.

We had in mind to buy something for the baby's room.
Our anniversary is coming up, but really buying anything for ourselves right now seems unjustified. The piece we bought is a photgraph of a carnival ride by Craig Brabson. It's very colorful with a bright blue background. It should look very cool in the baby's room. Oh someday that room will be finished enough to take some photographs... someday... maybe even before the baby is born.

Oh yeah, and John and Sarah thought it would be funny to stick the "Art Fan" sticker on my belly. So I spent half the time at the festival like this. Craig, the photography artist, thought it was so funny, he also snapped a photo with his camera phone. I'm sure his photo turned out better than ours, we'll see when he sends it to me. :-)

she's baaack!

Who's back?! Where did she go?

Vera is back.

The one and only Vera Neumann of the 60s and 70s. The artist/designer who was always ahead of her time and no one even came close to her league. She designed bold, inspiring prints for fashion and home accessories. Now someone has resurrected The Vera Company and is licensing Vera products.

Back in the 90s when flea markets were my weekends, Vera scarves, napkins, and other linens ruled my life. I have SUITCASE full of beautiful vintage scarves. The Veras were always my favorites, especially if I could find a silk one. But even the polyester scarves had bright colors and vibrant patterns. They have never lost favor with me. I can't believe I've had most of them for more than 10 years and they are still as beautiful to me as the day I found each of them.

So I am very excited that Vera is being licensed again. You know what would really take the cake?? If there were Vera scrapbooking papers! I mean, I can't cut up my precious scarves... but if there was paper that I could buy in multiples... one to hoard and several to scrap! Yum. I could just eat up those prints. That woman was ahead of her time.

I'll take some photos of the collection soon to share with you. For now, here is a scan of a Vera magazine ad from 1968, featuring Vera accessories at Kaufmann's of Pittsburgh. I bought this on eBay and framed it. It hangs in our guest room.


And then later... we'll talk about my obsession with costume jewelry. :-)

father's day spoiler

*WARNING* If you are my father and you're reading this... I am about to reveal your father's day gift. So that means you should probably look away or go to some other site or something... :-)

I can't wait until after Father's Day. It's finished now... way early, go me! I am thinking he's going to like it a lot. I think it's pretty cool.

It's another mini-album like the one from Craft TV Weekly. I really like the videos on that site. If they had a television channel on cable, I'd mark it as one of my favorites and DVR lots of episodes! And that Tricia... she is SO creative. Well, I've taken her idea and run with it. And I just keep on running with it.

Ok, I admit... I ordered a CASE of the cd literature envelopes, I liked it so much. Pretty much everyone is getting a mini book for a gift soon. Haha. My girlfriends are laughing at me. Everything now is "you sure you don't want a case of that?!" If we were talking white pens, I might say yes, though.

I like these mini books because they are quick, they have a lot of pockets, and you can add as much or as little as you need to get extra pages. You can also make up a book in advance of knowing what photos you are going to use and then just stick the photos in when you get them. If you do try one of these albums, note that 3.5 x 5 inch photos usually work best (or 4 x 6 photos that you can crop that much).

Ok, let's assume my father isn't looking now. Check out the photos of the book on Flickr. Here is a peak:

showers of love

I have a new article posted on Crafty Places entitled Storing and Displaying Greeting Cards. I owe a BIG shout out to my sis-in-law, Theresa for sparking the idea. Thank you! I LOVE this little book. What you see in the photos here isn't even the finished book. I have lots more to stuff into it. Obviously, a single baby book just won't get it for this kid.

There are more photos posted on Flickr also. I know it has looked on the blog like I never scrap anymore, but I really have been. This project took way more time than it should have, but I loved making it. It reminded me of the scrapping I used to do when I was younger. I cut the tags off JT's gifts and turned those into the journal cards I scattered throughout the book. The gift wrap and ribbons also became embellishments for the book.

Some of the tags were just so darn cute, I think they make the book. And it says something about the time in which he was born, you know? Like that everyone bought him little Carter's clothes and receiving blankets. And that his Pap got him a RealTree hat... the camouflage that is all the rage with hunters today. I mean a book from when I was born in the 70s would look a lot different, you know?!

Have a great weekend. We'll be doing some more preparations in the nursery this weekend and dreaming about our little bundle of joy to come...

35 weeks

We saw the doctor today. All is well. We'll see the doctor once a week from here on out.

Last thing I craved: Fruit. Really loving the fruit lately.
Weight gained so far: 29 lbs.
Baby's weight: 5.25 lbs.
Last time the baby moved: He has had a very active day. Stomped around the womb all evening.
Latest annoying pregnancy symptom: The giant cankles.
Progress on the nursery: 25%. Moved most of the big stuff out, now sorting through the small stuff in the closet. Awaiting the crib's arrival.
What we're reading: Oh Say Can You Say
What we're listening to: Dad's crazy talk. I'm trying to tell him he's driving the baby crazy!

good things tonight

Several good things tonight:

• Week 35 milestone reached... all is well. See the doctor tomorrow.
• A baby bunny in the backyard. Aww, we love babies.
• Ate a mango that I learned how to slice on the internet. Yummy and juicy!
• Still have the feel-goods from last Saturday's baby shower. And pics!
• Got John some summer shirts for work in bright colors. He might go for the orange one even!
• Going to see Knocked Up.

photo inspiration

Some photography inspiration from around Flickr. I am needing to take more photos. I took a few last Friday and Saturday and boy, did it feel good!


1. Spots, 2. round, 3. transformer irreplacable, 4. _MG_1464, 5. winding up, 6. LEARN TO LEAD!!! Kudos, 7. Pontile silente, 8. Melancholy, 9. LensBaby

batter up!

I haven't done much of anything this week and I'm exhausted!

Tonight I got a pedicure and took some photos at John and Allison's softball game. Catch all the action on Flickr. Now I am off to bed. There are yard sales in the 'hood first thing in the morning!

charged up with anticipation

My horoscope for today:

You are charged up with anticipation, as if you are on the edge of something big, yet you cannot quite grasp what it is now. You can't push your way into whatever is next, so it's better to prepare yourself by putting all your information in order. Fastidious mental housekeeping can insure your success over the weeks ahead.

Daily Horoscopes, Love Compatibility, Astrology Charts and More: Tarot.com

Cannot grasp what it is... Hmm, what could it be?!!! I think I know, but perhaps I don't grasp. And as far as pushing, as the big moment draws near, that may be exactly what it takes to get to this something big!

good weekend

Aaaahh... good weekend.

Not much more to say about it than that. We didn't do much of anything. John worked hard on Saturday getting everything wired up in the basement. And I got the laundry done in between helping him. So when we had tv and internet and crafting all set up by Saturday evening, what else is there to do but recreate the rest of the weekend? So that's what we did.

Very restful, but I could still go for a few more days of the same. :-)

visualization

Last night John and I attended a basic breathing class for childbirth. Many of the techniques they showed us were things I know how to do from practicing yoga. When I take a deep cleansing breath and let it go, I can do so for a very long count. And it's so slow, you really aren't going to see me taking in the air. So John kept telling me I wasn't breathing right... because he couldn't tell what was going on. Haha.

Another relaxation technique was visualization. The instructor provided a couple examples of being on a beach or a mountain and talked the class through the visualization. Then she gave the partners a chance to do a visualization for us. Let's just say, two people can have VERY different ideas on what is relaxing. I'm saying, he has a very different idea of what I find relaxing.

His first visualization had me at my scrappin' table cutting, pasting, coloring. Lol. "A" for effort, dear husband. While I enjoy crafting, I wouldn't exactly call it relaxing to think about for a meditation. I mean, would you visualize riding a roller coaster to ease pain, calm your brain, and steady your breathing?! Yeah, scrappin' is too exciting for a visualization.

His next visualization had me on a beach. Ok, this is better. He's talking about the sand... the sun... although, it's "beating down" rather than "gently warming my skin". So I'm on the beach. I'm adding the bits that he doesn't necessarily know about... I'm in my aunt's comfy sand chair at the edge of the breaking just close enough that sometimes the water rolls up under my chair. Then he brings in the seagulls. I hear the scratch of the needle going across the record in my head... SEAGULLS?! Seagulls are somehow NOT in my own personal visualization. I just half-smile and laugh to myself thinking, "we're going to need to talk before labor starts."

The funny thing is, he's been there for the majority of my most "zen moments", the things I would recall for visualizations. Here are the moments I am most likely to remember for a sense of peace and relaxation.

Top 5 zen moments:
Sitting on the balcony of our room at Peace Lodge in Costa Rica, on our honeymoon. We had a fire going inside. We'd just gotten out of the hot tub and were cuddled up in the big fluffy bath robes. We were sitting in the over sized rocking chairs watching and listening to the rain. Our balcony overlooked a deep valley covered by the rainforest.

Napping on rocks in the creek somewhere between Cranberry Glades and Snowshoe Mountain in WV. Dad, John, and I had just hiked about 9 miles on rugged terrain. We finished an hour before Mom was to pick us up. So we headed down by the creek to rest. We ended up each finding a rock large enough to lay down on. It was a beautiful fall day with a light breeze, comfortable in a t-shirt on the rock basking in the afternoon sun. And the sounds of the creek were just perfect, a light chatty babble. I don't think I fell asleep completely, it was too peaceful to waste the moment by sleeping. But looking back, it was one of the most relaxing moments I've ever had.

Lounging on the beach at Huntington State Park, SC. My favorite stateside vacation spot. Last summer, our first afternoon on the beach comes to mind. All the good elements of being on the beach... sun, sound of the waves, light breeze... but then it started to sprinkle rain. The sun was still shining and there were light rain drops falling on my skin. Very cozy in an odd sort of way.

Sitting on the back porch at the cabin in WV. It's incredibly dark. Dark like people who live in the city never know. The peepers start up their chorus as the sun goes down. They get louder and louder as the night gets darker. Sometimes an owl hoots in the distance. The stars come out just above the hills. But you can't see the hills anymore unless the moon is out. You know they're there though, hugging you close instilling a feeling of security.

Hiking at Canaan Valley in the fall. The leaves on the trees were just starting to change colors. The shorter vegetation like the rhododendrons had already turned bright red. These and the evergreens would brush up against you as you made your way through the path. The sound of the rain, the colors of the forest, the smell of the wet ground... what a great experience for a "moving meditation".

In our class, as the "contraction" came to an end and I did my cleansing breath... John's visualization morphed into something more sinister. I can't remember exactly what he said, but I think the seagull started pecking at me and I was developing a painful sunburn.


What are your top 5 zen moments?

Japanese dogwood

My Japanese dogwood has bloomed! It's a lovely tree. And it is COVERED in blooms. And when it's done blooming, later this summer... the seed pods are pretty cool, too.

But call me greedy... I'd rather have a traditional dogwood tree that blooms in April. I like knowing that spring is on the way as early as possible. So I get a little perturbed with this "dogwood" when it blooms so late.

But spring is definitely here. 89 degrees today. Just ask my ankles. :-)



Digital frame for photo by Christine Nash.

the tapper

So I hung up my finch feeder in the dead of winter. There I am... pregnant, trying to get the shepherd hook into the frozen ground. I'd go out in the bitter cold and fill it up with the best "Finch and Chips" money can buy. And what do I get? Some mean cardinals and chickadees.

Then... a finch shows up. One finch. And he's an idiot. He has been tapping at our front windows for two weeks now. I call him "the tapper". He just taps and taps... like he is mating with the reflection in the window or something. He's not even near the finch feeder. It hasn't seen any action in weeks even though it's still full of food.

Here he is... caught mid-tap:

24 hours of flickr

Well, did you take your photo on May 5 for the 24 hours of flickr photo pool?! I posted this one:


Artistically speaking, not a great photo. But as far as photo memories go... I liked this photo the best of the bunch. Mom and I LOVED this greenhouse. They had the most beautiful selection of plants. And you know it feels good to be in a greenhouse early in the spring! So this photo shows her reaching in one direction and looking in another, which was how the whole plant selection process went that day! Oooh, look at this - Ah, but look over THERE!!

And... it's where we were and what we did on May 5. Check out the pool to see all the photos from that day around the world. Pretty cool stuff!!

new purse

So my lovely purse of last fall is just too small for a mom. Heck, it was too small for me as not-a-mom. (I was carrying an extra bag to work to hold my badge and iPod!) So for summer (and hopefully in to fall) I wanted a LARGE bag with a smaller inner bag that I could use when I just needed wallet, keys, phone.

So the hunt began. Now mind you, I'm cheap. If I think it's THE thing, I don't mind paying more. But if I think an item will only interest me for a season or two, I'm less willing to pay more. So this complicates the search... gotta find a bargain.

A few weeks ago at TJ Maxx, I found the perfect large bag. It was a good deal, but I couldn't find the matching accessories to go with it. This is a fairly new rule with me... Buy no purse that doesn't have a matching wallet. But I really liked the bag and I did some quick thinking on how I could make it even more hip and trendy by choosing accessories that coordinate rather than match. Plus, this was just the right size to hold my stuff for going to work daily... or if I needed to stash a change of baby clothes, a couple diapers, a bottle, and some wipes - it surely would. And so, the giant brown zebra stripe canvas bag and I went home together.

After some looking around the past few weeks, I finally made a decision on accessories. Tonight I found a wallet and a change purse in a lovely shade of green (and at the right price) at Kohls. The wallet will hold all the important stuff. The chang purse will hold just the necessities and fit in the wristlet I had in mind.

And now, the pièce de résistance... the wristlet. I saw it last weekend at the Fossil store at the mall. It stuck in my mind all week, so it must be love, right?! Really, if I wasn't so cheap, I would have totally raided the Fossil store for the whole ensemble. But for much less, I think I put together a pretty cute set.

Here it is...


I am loving the wristlet. The large baubles sold me on it. Seriously, they're the largest, most useless baubles I've ever seen on a purse! And it should hold the change purse, keys, sunglasses, and phone... just like I needed.

Check the baubles!

Oh, and I should mention that I'm totally going ot save the cute tag with a bird for scrappin'. And the shopping bag - it's cute too. The paper is a sturdy, textured print - quite lovely and good for scrappin'!

Now, I have to stay out of the Fossil store. I could eat that place alive. Bags, purses, jewelry, YUM!!! What vintage am I, indeed.

junkie monkey

Try this out...

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Not sure how useful it is, but it's always fun to get a personality profile, right? And how about "Junkie Monkey" to describe me? I'd say that's fitting. :-)

taste of dublin

Third day of a blog post in a row! I'm on a roll... look out world! Well what else am I going to do while I sit around with my pudgy ankles propped up?

Tonight we went to Taste of Dublin after work with our friends Jenny and Robert. Becka invited us since she was working the event. We love food. These are the same people we hit the fish fry circuit with during Lent. (Picture of John is from a fish fry... I was too busy eating tonight to take any photos.) Jenny is the co-founder of Fork. So of course we should attend Taste of Dublin together!

I have to say... we filled up a few times at the Hoggy's booth. Yummers... beef brisket and macaroni with cheese. Panera had several varieties of brownies. I'd like to recommend the brownie with the raspberry topping. But my favorite thing? The chocolate dipped strawberries from Edible Arrangements. Was it wrong to stand there and eat them as fast as they can refill the table?! And do you see a theme with me and the chocolate with fruit?! I could seriously have a straight diet of chocolate covered fruit.

So we are all about these "Taste" events now. Looks like Upper Arlington's is coming up in August, the 14th. Who's in?!

Oooh, you know what else I have almost forgotten about? It's May... time to start hitting the local markets on Saturday mornings. Yahoo! I love the market.

All this talk of food on the blog... anyone want to wager that I'll be blogging more about exercise in 6 months or so?! :-)

baby time

It seems it's time for a baby update. I'll write about him while he's lodged sideways in my uterus and not moving too quickly to readjust - ow!

How far along: 32 weeks.
Last thing I craved: Chocolate dipped strawberry blizzard from Dairy Queen. (Ok, so it was the flavor of the month for February... but I just found out about it recently.)
Pounds gained so far: 24
Last time the baby moved: 5 minutes ago.
Latest annoying pregnancy symptom: According to my husband, snoring.
Progress on the nursery: 10%. I actually moved some stuff out of the closet last week! And the baby stuff from the shower went into the nursery (in a pile, but it's in there!)
What we're reading: New books from the shower and some yard sale finds.
What we're listening to: CSI Miami. I'm a great mom.

John and I are getting acclimated to baby stuff. As you can see, John has figured out how the piggy baby towel works. I got a baby gate at a yard sale for a dollar. Unfortunately, it's not so easy to figure out. Guess I'll have to apply myself to figuring it out!

I got a hot tip a week ago from the nail tech who did my pedicure. She was raving about Dreft detergent for baby's laundry. I hadn't even thought about special laundry detergent. So I bought a bottle of it to start washing up the new clothes as we put them away.

We ordered the crib back in March... should be getting the call soon that it's ready. Won't that be exciting?!

not blogging leads to...

Not blogging often enough can lead to really random blog posts! I don't even know where to start, there is so much to tell. And for once, I even have a few photos to go with my words!

This weekend has been awesome. The weather was beautiful all weekend long. I took Friday off as a "psychological day". I needed a "me day" to just chill out. I went to a few yard sales and had an acupuncture appointment. I ate lunch outside at Panera and did a little shopping.

The past couple weeks I've been keeping a more strict to-do list. I have had so many projects and things to do lately (and so very little time to actually do anything). So I made a list about two weeks ago and started crossing things off as I did them. I gave myself Monday through Friday to get everything done... and really I only expected to finish 80% of the list. So with those expectations, I didn't feel so bad when few things were still on the list for the past week. So last week, same process... about 10-12 things on the list and it took me most of the week to get things done, but I did it.

So Friday afternoon I spent working on one of my list items... packing up my craft stuff that was stashed in the guest room so it could be moved to the basement. That little amount of work about wore me out! So on Saturday morning, while I went to a few more yard sales with a friend, John moved all the stuff to the basement AND cleaned the bathrooms. Woo-hoo! More tasks done and I didn't have to wear myself out with it.

Saturday evening we went to Cirque du Soleil's show, Corteo. My brother and I had gotten the tickets for my mom for Christmas, so we'd been looking forward to this for a while. I made reservations for dinner at Basi Italia. We sat on the patio... it was gorgeous. The food was amazing!! I love their small patio, it is so quaint. The food is very unique... all the dishes have so much subtle flavor. I admit... we fought over the brownie. It was swirled with cheesecake and had berries baked right into it. Yum, yum, yum.

The show was great. The second half after intermission wasn't as fantastic as the last show we saw (Varekai). It was still a good show. It's about a clown who dreams of his funeral procession and all his friends. He has flashbacks from his life in the dream. It's a very cool concept. The acrobatics were amazing, of course. The costumes beautiful... loved the music... a total experience, as you'd expect from a Cirque du Soleil show!

So today after church... with the house pretty much all cleaned up and no clutter around, I felt like I finally had a day to do whatever I wanted. Another gorgeous day... and somehow the only way I can think to get out and enjoy it was to clean my car. How nice will that be to get in a clean car to go to work in the morning?! (Never mind that I found out last week that I need new tires - in addition to the other maintenance I've been postponing.) But after cleaning the car I think John and I sat on the porch for at least 2 hours. Just taking in the sun and watching people go by. We chatted on the phone and with each other... just relaxed. I wish that we could be this relaxed on Sundays more often!

As for this week's to-do list, I'm hoping it's a short one. I can crank it out and maybe enjoy another nice weekend in a few days. Sound good?

time to take photos again

This Saturday... 24 hours of Flickr. My challenge to you... take one photo and add it to the pool. You never know, could make you famous. Add a link to this post in the comments if you do post something.

I'll be snapping shots... have fun!

pizza bagels

I'm working too much to have much interesting to blog about. But tonight I actually made time to make dinner. So while I was at it, I snapped a few shots to share with you. (And I say why the heck not snap photos of what you eat!? It's part of our heritage, right? I mean, I don't think either of my grandmothers were much into pizza bagels back in the 1950s.)
There is no time for dinner. When things are less hectic, we're more into meal planning. For the past two weeks, I've been on a taco salads and pizza bagels kick. I know... poor John. Has to eat the same thing all the time. Whutever.

Really, don't feel bad for him. He LOVES the pizza bagels. I tried them once on a whim and he fell in love. Lucky for me, he likes the stuff that's easy to make and the harder stuff he usually could live without. So I'll tell ya how we make pizza bagels here. They are QUITE delish...

The shopping list:

• 1 package of refrigerator bagels (I usually buy the Lender's whole wheat variety)
• pepperoni
• pizza sauce
• mozzerella (I buy it in a block and shred it myself, it melts better that way)
  
• banana peppers
• fresh mushrooms (you could buy the ones in the jar... but fresh work well)
  
• can of sliced or chopped black olives
• onion (I happened to have some scallions leftover from the previous night's taco salads)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 365 F. Split the bagels into halves, lay on baking stone or pan. (Usually one bagel serves on person.) Shred cheese, set aside. Spread pizza sauce over each bagel half. Line with pepperoni. Add other toppings. Top with cheese. Bake for 20 minutes.

We like different things on our pizzas... so usually John has banana peppers on his and I have black olives and onions on mine. Great meal for kids... they can top their own!

showered with love

Dear JT,

Your mommy and daddy's closest friends had a shower for you today. I hope you realize how much love surrounds you. We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends. We are sitting at home now surrounded by all these wonderful gifts for you thinking that we are spoiled, spoiled (and so are you!).

Three hours seemed like it flew by today. I love, LOVE having all our friends in the same place. It is the most wonderful feeling. We are so lucky to know and be loved by SO MANY caring, beautiful, and talented people. It touches our hearts to know that these people will be an influence in your life as you grow up.

And in case you were ever going to ask us why we live where we do... these folks are the number one reason we live here. Your aunts Jenny and Becka threw you such a wonderful party today... your dad and I are still on such a high from the whole afternoon!

Everyone sends you their love... especially your mom and dad!

Hugs & kisses, baby boy...

play this country song backwards...

Today is like playing a country song backwards... my computer is fixed and back in my arms, the ceiling is done and looks lovely, and I lost 1/2 a pound.

Here is a pregnancy update...

How far along: 28 weeks.
Last thing I craved: Raspberry Truffle ice cream from Bruester's
Pounds gained so far: 18.5. Down a pound since 3 weeks ago. Hmm.
Last time the baby moved: 5 minutes ago.
Latest annoying pregnancy symptom: Swollen ankles.
Progress on the nursery: Still stalled at 5%.
What we're reading: Haven't been so good at reading lately.
What we're listening to: Classic rock.

Next post it's going to be time for some photos, I think.

:-)

being present for just a moment

Ali Edwards mentioned this Washington Post story on her blog today: Pearls Before Breakfast. I read it. It's a very long article. But I've read the whole thing and recommend it to everyone. It actually made me tear up to think that we are so busy and wrapped up in the day to day that we wouldn't notice a masterpiece blaring right in front of our noses. And I wondered as I read it which person I would be. As much as I want to be the person standing along the wall taking in the moment, I think I'd probably be the person barely noticing there is something different going on. And isn't that enough to make you cry? That life, art, and beauty presents itself every day and you just don't have time for it?

Oh and don't get me started on the mom who stands between her son and the musician so he can stay focused on getting where they need to go. That's probably me, too. How sad that we suck the creativity out of our kids' lives. I have made a mental note on it right now for JT's sake. (Yes, even though he's going to be a football player, his mother still thinks it's important to develop his creativity!)

Speaking of JT, he's 28 weeks today. He's doing well. He kicked his dad in the head tonight and we've taken two walks today. (Who knew a fetus could have such a busy day?!)

My computer was supposed to be away for a week getting repaired. Since it's been "in transit" since Saturday, I decided to actually talk to a person about it today. Apparently, it's lost. I am trying not to think what that means. It had better get found and back into my hands soon. I'm not sure if I mentioned or not... but I really miss it!

I'm starting to feel better about the basement, so I can actually mention it again without having a breakdown. John has been working with a contractor since Saturday to get the CeilingMax installed. Don't let their video fool you, it's not exactly like playing with Legos. There are mathematical calculations, measuring, geometry, etc. in a ceiling tile installation. It's just a few hours from being completely finished. I'll post some photos when it's 100% and all the debris is cleaned up. I've postponed the couch delivery twice now. I'm hoping we can finish up the last few items by next week. Keep your fingers crossed.

And don't forget to read Pearls Before Breakfast. Print it out and take it with you, read it in bits... just read it. Does it apply to your life at all? Which person are you... do you rush by hardly noticing? Notice and toss some change his way? Or do you stop and listen to the whole performance?

little clothes are so cute

Yesterday I went to a community "baby items sale" with one of my girlfriends. Hilarious to see women with strollers line up outside before it opens so they can get first dibs on "stuff"! Not wanting to miss anything ourselves, though... we were right there in that line.

I have no clue what we are going to need. There are a few obvious things like crib, stroller, car seat, bottles, etc... that I can think of. But for the most part, when confronted with a gymnasium full of baby stuff, I end up with a few articles of clothing and a well-worn Green Eggs and Ham. Oh, and I did get a mirror to put in the car so I can see JT's face when he's in the rear-facing position. We'll see if being able to stare at my baby while driving is a good or bad idea. :-)

And today, the most exciting thing I've done is wash all the little clothes I got at the sale. It's the first time ever washing baby's clothes... awww. They are so little and so cute. I just stare and them and imagine the little bundle of joy that will fit in them. As you can imagine, laundry is taking a little longer today than usual.

Saturday night John and I were laying on the couch watching tv, or rather passing out on the couch denying how tired we really were. Well, JT pretty much did a total 360 in utero that woke both of us up!

In other updates... The Apple support line says my computer has been repaired and is in transit back to the store. Let's hope they call soon. I'm going through mac withdrawal. And the basement remains behind schedule. So the schedule keeps changing. But there has been much progress this weekend on the ceiling. I find that I am slightly less stressed when there is visible progress.

what a week

Ugh. What a week. Here's the bad:

• Computer died last Saturday. It's away for repair for another couple days. I miss it.
  
• Basement still not done. Making me CRAZY. (You wondered what happened to basement photos, huh?!)
• Weather has been cold. The flowers didn't make it. I'm holding out hope for a few of them, though.
• I ordered maternity pants from Old Navy. They didn't fit, returned for exchange... they were OUT OF STOCK! (But I do have to say... hip, hip hooray to oldnavy.com for $5 shipping and free returns/exchanges on maternity stuff. That is the right answer.)
• The garage door opener broke. Boy that sucks.
  
• Work is crazy.

There is plenty of good though:
Been doing a lot of scrapping. My friend Jenny is keeping me motivated! I highly recommend the free rubber stamping class at Archiver's. I'm not entirely new to stamping... but it was nice to learn a few new tricks like alcohol ink. Mmmm, might need some of that!

The baby boy has been a little womb-raiding ninja lately. He's kicking like crazy. It is so cool to be able to "interact" with him now. He's kicking hard enough that you can see and feel his kicks from the outside... very cool. And no pregnancy issues... very thankful for that.

oooh, my husband just made me a sundae... gotta go. :-)

I'm into group photos

For a long time I disliked group photos. They always seem so posed and the people all look so small. Plus, they reminded me of 4-H camp photos where someone always looks dumb.

Well, now I'm kind of into them. I like to have one now at every occasion. I like to have at least one photo that shows EVERYONE who was there.

This photo of our friends taken at a wedding in January is just such an example... Sure it's not perfect. Some eyes are closed, John is making a face, some are too serious... there is another version of the photo where the people who are off in this photo are on in the other one. And folks are missing... I was taking the photo and Becka was probably filling me up another plate of food. :-)

Anyway, I was just uploading some photos for printing (got scrappin' to do this weekend) and was thinking about this. Happy Friday and Happy Spring to all!

week 25 status

How far along: 25 weeks.
Last thing I craved: Anything chocolate and GRAPES.
Pounds gained so far: haha. ha. ha. My last report was 6 lbs. Today it's 19. No more pans of brownies, I tell ya that!
Last time I felt the baby move: Oh he is kicking all the time.
Latest annoying pregnancy symptom: Gas. Not the smelly kind, but the kind that fills up your gut and causes PAIN.
Progress on the nursery: 5%. The basement is still the priority. But Mom and I did recover the rocking chair. It's lovely... can't wait to have a room in which to put it. And I think I mentioned that we ordered the crib, too.
What we're reading: I've started reading to JT at night. This week we are reading LullaBible that his Aunt Jen got him.
What we're listening to: JT likes singing to Ollabelle in the car. What can I say? His mom likes to belt it out in between bursts of road rage. :-)

autism speaks

Oh, and one other thing... I donated to Autism Speaks today through Ali Edwards' site. It's pretty amazing what these scrapbookers are doing. She's doing this through Network for Good in conjunction with Kevin Bacon's Six Degrees site and she is currently in the lead with the greatest number of donations. So what the heck... there are a few days left for Ali to make number one and I think the prize is that Kevin Bacon makes a $10,000 donation to the winning charity.

I donated because John and I have a nephew with autism. Caden is growing by leaps and bounds and making such good progress in school (he's 4). But it is still going to be challenging for him and his parents as he grows up. Here is a photo I took of him last year when he was numbering the stairs. He wasn't speaking much at the time, but he had memorized the order of numbers and alphabet letters and was crazy about putting them all in order. It just breaks your heart to know that there is a brilliant mind and loving heart trapped behind that disease. I'm all about finding finding a cure or new therapies and preventing it in future children.

chocolate raspberry truffle

Well, swolen ankles may help me keep up with blogging. By evening I am ready for some feet-propped-up time. And while I am sitting here, I may as well catch up on some email and blogging!

I cleaned three windows and the back sliding door this evening. Now, all the other windows in the house look EVEN DIRTIER. Grrreat. Well that moment of inspired-cleaning backfired. If I focus on just those back windows, though... they do look stunning. And I achieved a sparkling view of my back yard that I raked and weeded into shape yesterday evening. Man, I need a patio back there! (Photo from last year.)

Here is a hot cleaning tip for you: Clean windows with a linen cloth to prevent streaking and small bits of cotton fiber left on the window. My windows are supposed to be wiped with just water. So I use a wet linen towel and a dry one to get them really clean. But even if you are using amonia + hot water or window cleaner, try the linen cloth.

We met B&J for ice cream tonight. I had a scoop of chocolate raspberry truffle in a (warm) waffle cone. YUM YUM YUM. I am going to dream about that for a while. Actually, I'll just add it onto the dreams of Dairy Queen ice cream cake I was already having. Yeah, if you are watching what you eat, I'd recommend avoiding me. I am a bad, bad influence. Come back in August to find out how that's working out for me. :-)

Has anyone read The Secret by Rhonda Byrne? Folks keep talking about it. I'm not usually into self-help books, but I'm intrigued by what I'm hearing about this one. Have you read it? Did you try anything the book suggests? If so, how is that going?

blink and step into the sun

WOW! The weather the past couple days has been phenomenal!!

Yesterday evening I went for a walk around the neighborhood. Tonight I raced home so I could spend time cleaning out at least one of the flower beds. Everything is starting to come out: the lilac, the peonies, the daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, spirea, the redbud tree, and every other unidentified plant in my yard.

By the time John got home I had raked leaves and trash out from under the pine trees and out of the flower beds so he could help me pick up and bag the piles. He complained and called me names the whole time. But when we came back in, he did say it was nice to be outside for a little while. Turd.

I think I haven't mentioned in a while how much I love yoga. I'm still able to do most of the stuff in my Monday Hatha yoga class (with a few modifications). It feels so good to do that class. Sure, JT gets a little scrunched in some of the poses... but I feel like a new person after that class. My back feels better, I have more energy, my mind is clear, my pickup truck runs again, my dog comes back... etc... you get the point. :-)

On Saturday I tried one of my new DVD workouts: Tai Chi for Expecting Mothers. I loved it. Tai Chi is great anyway. But for right now, I'm just thankful that I will have something to keep me moving through month 9 without hurting myself.

I bought JT some books yesterday. Crazy good deals, even if the books are a little bit old for him. One is called The Paper Dragon by Marguerite Davol and Robert Sabuda. I am in love with this story! It has fold-out pages with chinese-style paintings of people and a dragon. The story is beautiful as well. A painter saves his town from the fire-breathing dragon. And the ultimate moral of the book? "Nothing is stronger than love." Awwww!!! It's art, life, culture, all rolled into one book. If you have kids, you should read this to them... they'll love it.

And here is a good way to end a random and wandering post... Check out this article about a wandering mind: When Our Minds are Wired to Wander on MSNBC.com. No really, look at the image of the article on my screen. The article talks about how much our minds wander during the day and how it can be a big problem. But look at the very screen on which the article is written. How do you keep focused in reading a 2-page article that is bombarded with advertisements that interrupt the reading?! Gee, why do our minds wander? Maybe we are trained to lose focus... we watch tv 10-15 minutes at a time, interrupted by commercials. We visit with friends only until their cell phone rings and we are put on hold. Anyway, the article is interesting, but the context is completely ironic.

just like leprechauns!

• Had a great weekend.
• Spent some good quality time with the fam - Mom, Bill, Theresa, Joan, Wayne, Jessica.
• Ate corned beef and cabbage. And pretty much anything else that didn't run away.
• Ordered a crib for JT from Schlabach's. Thanks, Mom!
• Drank some hot chocolate from Seattle's coffee shop.
  
• Loved on my nephew, Bailey.
• Learned to play Settlers of Catan - loved it.
• Can't believe another weekend is over. Off to bed now...

as exciting as watching paint dry

You know it's an exciting life when all I can talk about is drywall and paint. Hey, I've moved on from wood and electricity, right?

The basement remodel continues. We got drywall at the end of last week and since Sunday John has been painting our new walls. Check out the new photos on Flickr.

I spent the weekend with my mom... it was all about hanging out and going for walks. 4 miles each day - yahoo! Saturday morning was unbelievably (and unexpectedly) nice. We went for a walk and then had breakfast on the deck before the rain started. Can you believe it - we not only were able to be outside without freezing, but it was actually comfortable to sit in the sun and eat outside!

The only constructive thing we did was cover the old rocking chair will go in JT's room.
The chair was my Grandma's, then my Mom's. My dad was rocked in the chair, my aunts and uncles, me, my brother. It's not all that pretty... but it's in good shape and with a new turquoise chair pad... it should be rockin'. Alas, the chair is still at Mom's house, so photos will have to wait. Plus, I'm not ready to talk nursery yet... we're working on the basement right now, remember?

remodeling the basement

We are remodeling our basement... I think I mentioned that yesterday. We are half doing it ourselves and half contracting the work. We had a contractor install glass block windows and we had 2 heating vents put in and a main heat duct reworked so it didn't drop as low into the room. We have framed it, wired it, and put up insulation. The drywall guys are coming tomorrow - yahoo - walls!

Check out the photos of progress so far.

Another exciting thing that happened today was the arrival, assembly, and installation of my new laundry shelf. Ok, act like it's not exciting. But my detergents have all been stored on the floor... it takes up a lot of space and is really inconvenient. So I ordered this shelf from Home Depot. It came today and John and I put it together and put it in place. Oh, and by the way, my laundry area isn't nearly as pretty as this photo. I'll take a photo of it when the drywall is done and we can uncover it.

update on a few things

Here is the latest baby update...

How far along: 22 weeks.
Last time I yacked: Still, Christmas day.
Last thing I smelled with my super-smelling abilities:
Last bit of food I snarled my nose at for no reason: This is getting better... but really, chicken is out and seafood is in lately.
Last thing I craved: Chocolate craving is back with a vengeance. Oh, you know those little yellow cake donuts with the gelatinous chocolate coating? They have been having those at church sometimes... they are lucky I don't eat the whole tray.
Pounds gained so far: Last week it was up to 6, but my pants were tighter today, so I am guessing a bit more.
Last time I felt the baby move: He started kicking where I could feel it about two weeks ago. (It's really very cool to know he's there and doing well.) Today I think he hardly slept at all. He kicked me at least once an hour. And his favorite new trick? Punching me in the bladder.
Latest annoying pregnancy symptom: Losing sensation in my limbs. I can't sit still too long without losing feeling in my legs. And night is the worst... I have to roll over every hour to get feeling back in the bottom leg.
Progress on the nursery: 0%. You may know, we are finishing our basement first. When it's finished, we'll clear out JT's room and get going on that.

So speaking of the basement... it has been framed and wired with electrical outlets and lights. The lights are great... it gives the room great ambience. John hung the insulation this week. The dudes are coming on Thursday to drywall. This weekend is painting. Last Sunday we chose a sectional sofa in a rich chocolate brown. It should be quite lovely, I'm excited to have a space ready for it. It was the smallest sectional we could find. We had restrictions on the entryway to the basement as well as the downstairs room itself being pretty small and narrow. Plus, we like the clean lines of this one... not overstuffed or otherwise ghastly in appearance (I'm picky on furniture, can you tell?) AND it has recliners on both ends. Can you guess where ma and pa are going to pass out after long days of toddler chasing?

I have been scrapping quite a bit lately, too. I was in a creative slump there for a while, but now I really feel like it's flowing. Tonight I scrapped with my friend Jenny for several productive hours. I am now 95% complete on a gift album that I promised in November and started in January. It should be done by this weekend... I'm pretty pumped about that. Maybe I'll post a few pics when it's ready... it's not totally ugly. :-)

That's all for tonight... I am off to bed. G'night.