So this is what the "terrible twos" are. Was I a fool in thinking I would actually get 3 more full months before Zoe truly hit this stage? Probably so. Best not to answer that one for me.
This is what I heard come out of Zoe's mouth this morning...caught me by surprise. "No, I do it! My socks!" Well then! So I hesitantly let her try knowing full and well where it would end up, and it ended in a frustrated whine/grunt.
Since the beginning of the week, she's taken notice in the fact that she can take her shoes and socks off and put them back on herself. This morning, it was about the socks and getting them off by herself. So I let her try, and then eventually picked her up and showed her where to grab. She did it! And with a B.I.G smile on her face followed by "I did it!". Oh dear...here we go! This week, socks...next week, the shirt and pants, the next week, getting into her car seat by herself.....when does it end??? Yeah...don't answer that one either. I am shoving the answer to that one deep down in my brain out of sight.
I guess it's a good thing that she's working towards fostering that independence, but at the same time, it's the sound reality smacking me in the face that my daughter is no longer totally dependent on me. *sigh*
So what else am I seeing? Well, the whining thing is quickly becoming a thing of the past. I guess she finally got tired of being ignored. I don't think I've used the words, "Mommy doesn't listen to whiny girls." in a week at least. Not to say that this stage won't come and go.
But other things are emerging...things like the emergence of the "Mineosaur". That's going to become my new nickname for her. Everything is "Mine, mine, mine". "My book!" or "My toy". And when the Mineosaur rears its ugly head, look out! Sharing??? What's that? Fortunately, we've worked on sharing for the past few weeks and she's getting the hang of it. I usually will ask her, "Are you being very nice right now?" When I see the wheels turning, I ask, "Can you go share your toy with *fill in name*?" And usually, she'll do it, complete with the outstretched arm and the "here you go". Yeah, I know...good storybook ending. But what you don't know is the sometimes blood curdling squeal and possible wrestling match occurring over the toy that comes before I can waddle over to intervene. Boy oh boy do I have my work cut out for me here. I'm tired just thinking about it!
So I know you've been here, mama's. Any advice for maintaining sanity or dealing with the terrible two problems?? Remember, even we need to share. Hehe...just kidding.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Ode to Sweat
I promise, this isn't really a poem dedicated to the topic of sweat...it was just the best post title I could come up with at the time.
So can I say how much I miss being able to sweat?? I mean REALLY sweat, not just a glisten on the forehead. Does that sound nuts?? Don't answer that, I already know what you're thinking.
What I really mean by the above statement is that I miss being able to exercise...I mean grueling, huff and puff, "I can't do it anymore" exercise. Things like kickboxing, pilates, walking or jogging a few miles (though the jogging would be limited to about a mile), biking w/Zoe hooked up to a bike trailer behind me, swimming a mile in OBU's pool, playing softball, volleyball, or a good game of tennis. I MISS EXERCISE! I miss being able to sweat!
Why?? B/c when I sweat, I know I'm doing a wonderful thing for my body! I'm staying in shape so I can run around with my kiddos when they're actually at an age where it might be hard for me to keep up. I do a lot of things b/c I bore easily with too much exercise routine. It's really hard to describe, but when I finish a good workout, I'm exhausted physically, but I feel soooo good. Sweat may be pouring down my face, but there's just something invigorating about it.
I don't think I realized how much I missed it until I went for an hour walk today with Jennifer and though I couldn't move very fast, I was totally exhausted but completely energized by the time we finished. I so look forward to when I get clearance from the doctor to begin an exercise regimen again.
My only fear is not being able to be active outdoors right now. We have a jogging stroller, but it's a one seater (and you're not supposed to use it until they're 6+ months). We also have a 2 seater bike trailer, but you're not supposed to use that until they're a year old. Hmm...that's gonna be a challenge!
So walking I went today. I haven't exercised in like 6 months. My arms are turning to jello. Yuck! Since my arthritis acts up pretty easily, it just hasn't been really conducive for me to keep up a regimen. I'd have walked on our city trail, but until the last month or two, it's just been too cold to take Zoe out. I have to admit, I had an ulterior motive today, and it had ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with getting or staying in shape. Can you guess why I might have been out there???
After "lectures" from many of you to get out and walk, I decided to dodge the rain while I could and go for a walk to see if I could help induce labor. We'll see. I'm contracting again, but it's nothing out of the ordinary...no pain associated with them yet. I decided it'd be best to have a walking partner today just in case my body decided mid walk to hate me and either shut down or go into labor. I can just see myself having to call my husband and have the following conversation, Me - "Hi, Honey. I went for a walk and am in labor. I need you to come pick me up." Him - "Ok, are you alright? Where are you?" Me - "Oh, about a half mile up on the trail where there's no road access."
So we'll see how this works. The plan is to do it again tomorrow if it's not raining and I've not gone to the hospital yet. Come on, baby boy...come on down!!! *Crossing fingers, arms, legs, toes, and eyes*
So can I say how much I miss being able to sweat?? I mean REALLY sweat, not just a glisten on the forehead. Does that sound nuts?? Don't answer that, I already know what you're thinking.
What I really mean by the above statement is that I miss being able to exercise...I mean grueling, huff and puff, "I can't do it anymore" exercise. Things like kickboxing, pilates, walking or jogging a few miles (though the jogging would be limited to about a mile), biking w/Zoe hooked up to a bike trailer behind me, swimming a mile in OBU's pool, playing softball, volleyball, or a good game of tennis. I MISS EXERCISE! I miss being able to sweat!
Why?? B/c when I sweat, I know I'm doing a wonderful thing for my body! I'm staying in shape so I can run around with my kiddos when they're actually at an age where it might be hard for me to keep up. I do a lot of things b/c I bore easily with too much exercise routine. It's really hard to describe, but when I finish a good workout, I'm exhausted physically, but I feel soooo good. Sweat may be pouring down my face, but there's just something invigorating about it.
I don't think I realized how much I missed it until I went for an hour walk today with Jennifer and though I couldn't move very fast, I was totally exhausted but completely energized by the time we finished. I so look forward to when I get clearance from the doctor to begin an exercise regimen again.
My only fear is not being able to be active outdoors right now. We have a jogging stroller, but it's a one seater (and you're not supposed to use it until they're 6+ months). We also have a 2 seater bike trailer, but you're not supposed to use that until they're a year old. Hmm...that's gonna be a challenge!
So walking I went today. I haven't exercised in like 6 months. My arms are turning to jello. Yuck! Since my arthritis acts up pretty easily, it just hasn't been really conducive for me to keep up a regimen. I'd have walked on our city trail, but until the last month or two, it's just been too cold to take Zoe out. I have to admit, I had an ulterior motive today, and it had ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with getting or staying in shape. Can you guess why I might have been out there???
After "lectures" from many of you to get out and walk, I decided to dodge the rain while I could and go for a walk to see if I could help induce labor. We'll see. I'm contracting again, but it's nothing out of the ordinary...no pain associated with them yet. I decided it'd be best to have a walking partner today just in case my body decided mid walk to hate me and either shut down or go into labor. I can just see myself having to call my husband and have the following conversation, Me - "Hi, Honey. I went for a walk and am in labor. I need you to come pick me up." Him - "Ok, are you alright? Where are you?" Me - "Oh, about a half mile up on the trail where there's no road access."
So we'll see how this works. The plan is to do it again tomorrow if it's not raining and I've not gone to the hospital yet. Come on, baby boy...come on down!!! *Crossing fingers, arms, legs, toes, and eyes*
Monday, April 27, 2009
Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you...
I'm sure that would've been appropriate to sing to someone on April 26th, but not to my little boy who has, as of yesterday, spent 40 weeks inside his mama's belly.
So now, we're in the official "overdue" stage...or as a friend of mine put it last night at church, "the overcooked stage". With as much trouble as I had with contractions starting the first week of April, I NEVER thought I'd still be carrying a baby. But here we are.
The end of the week is my appointment, and hopefully last appointment. She'll most likely set a date then if there's still no change. As fast as this pregnancy has gone, let me tell you, the end of the week seems like an eternity from here. But it'll come, he'll arrive, and all will be well.
So to answer the questions I know some of you have...I'm still having contractions, but nothing different than what I've been having for a month now. Still having periodic cramps in the lower back and lower belly, but nothing different than what I've had for two weeks now. Still "nesting", but nothing different than I've been doing for 3 weeks at least. So I'm convinced now that all these signs that supposedly signal imminent (or at least close) labor are all really just to make you think you're nearing labor but really mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. ;-)
Those of you who have had babies in the past, I know you've felt the frustration of always belly bumping things. I was trying to cut my poor husband's hair last night and with as much as my belly got in the way and about bumped him out of the chair, I'm surprised I didn't accidentally send the 1/4th an inch blade all the way across his head. This is true for just about everything at this point...especially when I'm required to stand at a counter and sign papers. I have to stand a good distance away from most things at this point...sort of an awkward feeling. Now...that being said, wouldn't this be awesome?
Not that I'd really feel comfortable having special accommodations, but how neat would that be to see?
So now, we're in the official "overdue" stage...or as a friend of mine put it last night at church, "the overcooked stage". With as much trouble as I had with contractions starting the first week of April, I NEVER thought I'd still be carrying a baby. But here we are.
The end of the week is my appointment, and hopefully last appointment. She'll most likely set a date then if there's still no change. As fast as this pregnancy has gone, let me tell you, the end of the week seems like an eternity from here. But it'll come, he'll arrive, and all will be well.
So to answer the questions I know some of you have...I'm still having contractions, but nothing different than what I've been having for a month now. Still having periodic cramps in the lower back and lower belly, but nothing different than what I've had for two weeks now. Still "nesting", but nothing different than I've been doing for 3 weeks at least. So I'm convinced now that all these signs that supposedly signal imminent (or at least close) labor are all really just to make you think you're nearing labor but really mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. ;-)
Those of you who have had babies in the past, I know you've felt the frustration of always belly bumping things. I was trying to cut my poor husband's hair last night and with as much as my belly got in the way and about bumped him out of the chair, I'm surprised I didn't accidentally send the 1/4th an inch blade all the way across his head. This is true for just about everything at this point...especially when I'm required to stand at a counter and sign papers. I have to stand a good distance away from most things at this point...sort of an awkward feeling. Now...that being said, wouldn't this be awesome?
Not that I'd really feel comfortable having special accommodations, but how neat would that be to see?
Saturday, April 25, 2009
My 'lil clubber (and maybe slugger)
Hallelujah!!! Y'all, we went out in our front yard yesterday....to play!! Can you believe it?? Hmm...I'd like to be a fly on the wall to see some of your faces right now. So let me explain.
I have a really frightening (always drunk) neighbor who's wife LOOOVES cats. She would put flower pots of cat food out and feed all of the strays. Now you're probably thinking somewhere around 5 cats. Nope...try anywhere from 20-30 depending on what season it was and how much breeding was going on. I don't know how many of you have seen the strange 80's horror film about some family of human like aliens moved into a house and were surrounded by dozens and dozens of cats, but that's what their house looked like all the time. As a result, we had anywhere from 3-10 cats just hanging out in our yard. Some days, they were all just sprawled out on the driveway and grass, some days they just sat and flicked their tail from one side to the other, some days they just paced the yard and tortured our poor dog, and other days they were...well, making babies. So our yard???? Poop filled...pee filled...dead bird filled, need I say more?? Our cars? Scratched up from claw marks, stinky from pee getting into the air vents from the outside, and our windows covered in paw prints. Totally and completely nasty and really stinky. Plus, Darin's highly allergic to them.
So we've called the Humane Society I don't know how many times. They're unwilling to help. I've called the animal catcher, and b/c there's no leash law for cats in our town, there's nothing he can do. The animal catcher told me to just throw raw meat coated in freon out there to kill them off. As much as I hate them I could never do that in a million years. It's not their fault that they don't have homes and are born into strayhood. Know what it does to them? It stops up their bladder so they can't pass urine and eventually their bladder just explodes and if that alone doesn't kill them the poison seeping into their body does. Neighbors H.A.T.E them and have complained for years and years sometimes even to the police. I tried to call the health department to talk to them about it one time. Jedi (our dog) had gotten out and went straight over to the cat infested yard. We went over to get him and I was just blindsided and nauseous at the smell and sights over there. It's got to be a health hazard for the people living there. But nothing ever came of any of it. No one wanted to go talk to the neighbor directly b/c he's quite the mean and erratic drunk. So at a last attempt to do something, last year we spent about $100 on these two Cat Stops. They're contraptions that sit in the ground and put off this apparently horrid sound when cats come within 20 feet of it. Humans can't hear it and dogs aren't bothered by it. Apparently neither were these cats. It cut down on some of the traffic, but they'd quickly figure out where these two things were and carefully walk around it so as not to set it off. There's a waste of $100.
So I've noticed that they've slowly began disappearing over the course of the last couple of months. The couple split up and she moved out. I just assumed that b/c she was gone they weren't being fed anymore. But that wasn't the case at all. They were just...well, disappearing...with a little help. Darin was talking to our other neighbor last weekend and they got on the cat subject, both expressing their dislikes of the dozens of critters. He mentioned to Darin, "I'm slowly taking care of that problem." Hmm..that would explain the mysterious disappearance of them. Apparently both mentioned that kids couldn't be taken outdoors b/c of all the cat poo. That's been my biggest problem with it is the fact that our kids would never be able to go outside. So I'm not sure exactly what he's doing. He may be trapping them and taking them somewhere. Or he might be killing them off...which I have a hard time believing that b/c I've seen no dead cats. Either way, they're disappearing for good. We see maybe one a week on our property.
So now back to the beginning. We actually went out front yesterday...to play!!! And we didn't come inside with cat poo all over our shoes! How exciting is that???!!!!
Here are some pictures of our lil' clubber (what other name do you use for a golfer?) and slugger. Besides the fact that both the bat and golf club are almost as tall as she is, she enjoyed them.
So we..and by we, I mean she..did lots of this. Constantly just ran back and forth across the yard.
Lots of this. Can't you just hear her thinking, "How am I supposed to hold this thing again?"
And a little of this...
I on the other hand? Well, I just sat and watched her play. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is something I never thought I'd get the pleasure of ever doing while we lived in this house.
I have a really frightening (always drunk) neighbor who's wife LOOOVES cats. She would put flower pots of cat food out and feed all of the strays. Now you're probably thinking somewhere around 5 cats. Nope...try anywhere from 20-30 depending on what season it was and how much breeding was going on. I don't know how many of you have seen the strange 80's horror film about some family of human like aliens moved into a house and were surrounded by dozens and dozens of cats, but that's what their house looked like all the time. As a result, we had anywhere from 3-10 cats just hanging out in our yard. Some days, they were all just sprawled out on the driveway and grass, some days they just sat and flicked their tail from one side to the other, some days they just paced the yard and tortured our poor dog, and other days they were...well, making babies. So our yard???? Poop filled...pee filled...dead bird filled, need I say more?? Our cars? Scratched up from claw marks, stinky from pee getting into the air vents from the outside, and our windows covered in paw prints. Totally and completely nasty and really stinky. Plus, Darin's highly allergic to them.
So we've called the Humane Society I don't know how many times. They're unwilling to help. I've called the animal catcher, and b/c there's no leash law for cats in our town, there's nothing he can do. The animal catcher told me to just throw raw meat coated in freon out there to kill them off. As much as I hate them I could never do that in a million years. It's not their fault that they don't have homes and are born into strayhood. Know what it does to them? It stops up their bladder so they can't pass urine and eventually their bladder just explodes and if that alone doesn't kill them the poison seeping into their body does. Neighbors H.A.T.E them and have complained for years and years sometimes even to the police. I tried to call the health department to talk to them about it one time. Jedi (our dog) had gotten out and went straight over to the cat infested yard. We went over to get him and I was just blindsided and nauseous at the smell and sights over there. It's got to be a health hazard for the people living there. But nothing ever came of any of it. No one wanted to go talk to the neighbor directly b/c he's quite the mean and erratic drunk. So at a last attempt to do something, last year we spent about $100 on these two Cat Stops. They're contraptions that sit in the ground and put off this apparently horrid sound when cats come within 20 feet of it. Humans can't hear it and dogs aren't bothered by it. Apparently neither were these cats. It cut down on some of the traffic, but they'd quickly figure out where these two things were and carefully walk around it so as not to set it off. There's a waste of $100.
So I've noticed that they've slowly began disappearing over the course of the last couple of months. The couple split up and she moved out. I just assumed that b/c she was gone they weren't being fed anymore. But that wasn't the case at all. They were just...well, disappearing...with a little help. Darin was talking to our other neighbor last weekend and they got on the cat subject, both expressing their dislikes of the dozens of critters. He mentioned to Darin, "I'm slowly taking care of that problem." Hmm..that would explain the mysterious disappearance of them. Apparently both mentioned that kids couldn't be taken outdoors b/c of all the cat poo. That's been my biggest problem with it is the fact that our kids would never be able to go outside. So I'm not sure exactly what he's doing. He may be trapping them and taking them somewhere. Or he might be killing them off...which I have a hard time believing that b/c I've seen no dead cats. Either way, they're disappearing for good. We see maybe one a week on our property.
So now back to the beginning. We actually went out front yesterday...to play!!! And we didn't come inside with cat poo all over our shoes! How exciting is that???!!!!
Here are some pictures of our lil' clubber (what other name do you use for a golfer?) and slugger. Besides the fact that both the bat and golf club are almost as tall as she is, she enjoyed them.
So we..and by we, I mean she..did lots of this. Constantly just ran back and forth across the yard.
Lots of this. Can't you just hear her thinking, "How am I supposed to hold this thing again?"
And a little of this...
I on the other hand? Well, I just sat and watched her play. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is something I never thought I'd get the pleasure of ever doing while we lived in this house.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Relay For Life
Today's Arkadelphia's Relay for Life. For those of you who don't know what RFL is, click on this link to learn more about it. Basically, it's a 24 hour long event in which participants get pledges to pledge a certain amount of money for each lap walked or run around a football field track. Funds raised at Relay save lives by funding cutting-edge cancer research, early detection and prevention education, advocacy efforts, and life-affirming patient services.
Being a childhood cancer survivor, I have a soft spot for events like this. I wish I could participate this year, but it probably wouldn't be wise for me to go out there and walk 5 miles...or maybe it would. ;-)
If you are reading this and you're from a different area, I'd encourage you to find out if there's a local RFL happening near you. They happen all over the place. It's a great community event, and a great way to be directly involved with raising money to help find a cure for cancer! Happy walking!!!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Temper Tantrum + Almost 28 year old = One pathetic moment
Well, here ya have it folks. I'll be officially 40 weeks on Sunday the 26th...three days from now. Today I had, what I had hoped to be, my last appointment before the birth. But I was wrong. I currently have another appointment scheduled for next week.
According to their doctor jargon, my EDD (expected due date) based on the LMP (last menstrual period) is the 26th. But when I had my first ultrasound, it read that I was due on May 1st. How do I know this?? I sneaked a look at my chart after the doctor walked out and found that all this time they've assumed my due date to be the 1st even though their computer system says I'm due the 26th. ARGGG!! So I'm not quite measuring 39cm right now. Though I'm not sure that's even right b/c I started my weekly appointments a month ago. So who knows?? All I know is there's no induction date scheduled at this point.
With Zoe, I was less effaced and no more dilated than I am right now. Yet they induced the day before my initial EDD and the day after the date that my 20 week ultrasound showed. I didn't realize they relied so heavily on the ultrasound dates.
So here's the way the conversation went this afternoon.
Doc: "Well, no change from last week."
Me: "So what's the plan from here?"
Doc: "Well, you're cervix isn't ready for induction, so I'd like you to wait and I want to see you next week. If by then there's no change, we'll set a date."
Me: Immediate thoughts coursing through the brain in the following 15 seconds...don't cry, don't cry. Suck it up, woman! What does she mean not ready for induction? I thought that was the whole point of induction!!! Why would she have been so ready to get Zoe out and want to wait with this one?? She must be kidding me...yeah, she's just playing a joke on me. That's it!
Now...did I say any of those things out loud?? Of course not! Why? I have no clue! I wish I would have questioned her just to find out why we're waiting with this one and not with Zoe. But that's why I sneaked a peek at my chart on my way out.
Let me tell you...I was not a happy camper. Ever seen an almost 28 year old throw a tantrum? Well, I have and it's not a pretty sight. Ok, ok...so my "tantrum" consisted of a few tears and voicing the same thoughts to my desperate to cheer me up husband. No kicking, screaming, or heaving of my body to the floor involved. I guess I just assumed that she'd set a date for early next week and things would kinda play out like they did last go around, so hearing the words, "I want to see you back next week" were like hearing the words, "I'm sorry...I want you to be miserable for at least another week and lose another dozen or two hours of sleep because of those contractions your having every day all day and night. Have a nice week!"
I know...it's really going to be ok, and the Lord has a plan in all of this...another week's just not fun to think about at this point. Honestly, it'll be better for Darin because then all he'll have to get through will be finals. He's getting a bit overwhelmed and stressed at all that's coming up and he could use another week to get things done. So for him...I'll wait. As for the doctor...ppppppppphhhhhhhhhhhhlllllllllttttttttttt. :-) Just kidding. She's got some reason for having me wait, I just don't know what it is yet. And as much as I don't want to at this point, I trust her.
Really and truthfully, I must say that even though I may have whined a bit in this post, I am truly grateful that this has been an easy pregnancy. At this point with Zoe I was hurting so badly and my feet and legs were so swollen they hurt. This time, I'm just in that really uncomfortable stage...hardly something to complain about since at this point you wouldn't expect anything less.
So for now while my family and I do this
just keep checking in just in case he does decide he wants to come on his own.
So all that being said, I do want to point out that I've posted like 3 times in the last day and a half so some of you might not have seen the previous two posts. If you haven't seen the two "belly shot" posts, scroll down and glance at the pictures I took...they were fun to set up and take, and it's something I wish I would have done when I was pregnant with Zoe.
According to their doctor jargon, my EDD (expected due date) based on the LMP (last menstrual period) is the 26th. But when I had my first ultrasound, it read that I was due on May 1st. How do I know this?? I sneaked a look at my chart after the doctor walked out and found that all this time they've assumed my due date to be the 1st even though their computer system says I'm due the 26th. ARGGG!! So I'm not quite measuring 39cm right now. Though I'm not sure that's even right b/c I started my weekly appointments a month ago. So who knows?? All I know is there's no induction date scheduled at this point.
With Zoe, I was less effaced and no more dilated than I am right now. Yet they induced the day before my initial EDD and the day after the date that my 20 week ultrasound showed. I didn't realize they relied so heavily on the ultrasound dates.
So here's the way the conversation went this afternoon.
Doc: "Well, no change from last week."
Me: "So what's the plan from here?"
Doc: "Well, you're cervix isn't ready for induction, so I'd like you to wait and I want to see you next week. If by then there's no change, we'll set a date."
Me: Immediate thoughts coursing through the brain in the following 15 seconds...don't cry, don't cry. Suck it up, woman! What does she mean not ready for induction? I thought that was the whole point of induction!!! Why would she have been so ready to get Zoe out and want to wait with this one?? She must be kidding me...yeah, she's just playing a joke on me. That's it!
Now...did I say any of those things out loud?? Of course not! Why? I have no clue! I wish I would have questioned her just to find out why we're waiting with this one and not with Zoe. But that's why I sneaked a peek at my chart on my way out.
Let me tell you...I was not a happy camper. Ever seen an almost 28 year old throw a tantrum? Well, I have and it's not a pretty sight. Ok, ok...so my "tantrum" consisted of a few tears and voicing the same thoughts to my desperate to cheer me up husband. No kicking, screaming, or heaving of my body to the floor involved. I guess I just assumed that she'd set a date for early next week and things would kinda play out like they did last go around, so hearing the words, "I want to see you back next week" were like hearing the words, "I'm sorry...I want you to be miserable for at least another week and lose another dozen or two hours of sleep because of those contractions your having every day all day and night. Have a nice week!"
I know...it's really going to be ok, and the Lord has a plan in all of this...another week's just not fun to think about at this point. Honestly, it'll be better for Darin because then all he'll have to get through will be finals. He's getting a bit overwhelmed and stressed at all that's coming up and he could use another week to get things done. So for him...I'll wait. As for the doctor...ppppppppphhhhhhhhhhhhlllllllllttttttttttt. :-) Just kidding. She's got some reason for having me wait, I just don't know what it is yet. And as much as I don't want to at this point, I trust her.
Really and truthfully, I must say that even though I may have whined a bit in this post, I am truly grateful that this has been an easy pregnancy. At this point with Zoe I was hurting so badly and my feet and legs were so swollen they hurt. This time, I'm just in that really uncomfortable stage...hardly something to complain about since at this point you wouldn't expect anything less.
So for now while my family and I do this
just keep checking in just in case he does decide he wants to come on his own.
So all that being said, I do want to point out that I've posted like 3 times in the last day and a half so some of you might not have seen the previous two posts. If you haven't seen the two "belly shot" posts, scroll down and glance at the pictures I took...they were fun to set up and take, and it's something I wish I would have done when I was pregnant with Zoe.
Couple's shots
So here are some more that I took last night once Darin got home. He was such a good sport. I had a whole list of poses that I had found on the Internet and he allowed me to position him and talk him through every position with a smile. So I had him wear black too, and I realize that black next to black on black may not have been the best choice considering the lighting we had available was a teeny tiny "chandelier" with two small bulbs in it above our heads. I lightened some of them up on Picnik but they're still kinda dark (except for my washed out skin. Might need a pair of sunglasses to look at these.
If you didn't see the previous post with the first set of these pictures, just scroll down one post to find them.
So here are a few of the couple's shots.
If you didn't see the previous post with the first set of these pictures, just scroll down one post to find them.
So here are a few of the couple's shots.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Pregnancy Belly Shots
I've always wanted to do this, just never had the money to go pay for a sitting fee and then pay for a package on top of it. So...I set up my own "studio" at home with a dark sheet, a tripod, my camera set on a timer, my daughter, and my belly. Shots with Darin will be to come. I just got bored, so I decided to take some before he got home.
I love photography and though I have a LOOONG way to go before ever achieving professional results, these didn't turn out too bad at all.
And before you ask, let me explain the humungous scar going across my belly. I had cancer when I was 4 yrs old and had a kidney removed. They cut me from end to end and the scar just grew with me over the years, and stretches way out when I'm pregnant. It's a blessing that I have carried both babies low b/c it tends to get a bit tender in the latter parts of pregnancy. And yes, above that and on both sides below it are much smaller and much less obvious scars. The one on top is probably the more noticeable of the three. I had gallbladder surgery as a teenager and it required several small incisions on my belly.
So that being said, here are some of the best ones that I took.
I love photography and though I have a LOOONG way to go before ever achieving professional results, these didn't turn out too bad at all.
And before you ask, let me explain the humungous scar going across my belly. I had cancer when I was 4 yrs old and had a kidney removed. They cut me from end to end and the scar just grew with me over the years, and stretches way out when I'm pregnant. It's a blessing that I have carried both babies low b/c it tends to get a bit tender in the latter parts of pregnancy. And yes, above that and on both sides below it are much smaller and much less obvious scars. The one on top is probably the more noticeable of the three. I had gallbladder surgery as a teenager and it required several small incisions on my belly.
So that being said, here are some of the best ones that I took.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Riding the emotional roller coaster
So...Ethan, your eviction notice has been extended for a few more days! Please don't come before Sunday...and if you do, wait until Saturday!!! PLEASE, son...I beg you!!!
Yeah, I know you all think I've totally lost it. But there is a legitimate reason why I'm begging the same son who I've wanted to yank out for the last couple of weeks to stay in a bit longer.
So here it is.....
Alrighty then. So for those of you allergy sufferers, you don't need me to tell you that pollen counts have been through the roof the last week or so. All three of us have had some form of allergy issues the last several days, Darin suffering worse than both Zoe and I combined. Sunday, his eye started watering and got kind of puffy...nothing out of the ordinary since his eyes naturally water with allergy attacks. Yesterday it got a bit worse, to the point that he watered so much that he could barely open his eye. And not to mention he could barely tolerate any bright lights. Today, even worse...so he goes to see the eye doc. And guess what????? PINK EYE!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? Poor guy...no clue where he picked it up from, but he was miserable. He's now on antibiotics and will no longer be contagious after 24 hours of antibiotics. BUT...there's the 48 hour period before he went to the doctor that I'm worried about. Pink eye is extremely contagious...and I'm thinking that Zoe might end up with it. If she ends up with it, that throws our whole plan to drop her off come labor time to anyone with kiddos. She didn't have any contact with him today until after he was aware of the diagnosis, so it's really just the couple of hours yesterday and Sunday that we need to worry about. Good news is that the incubation period is really quick, like 1-3 days quick, so if she doesn't have it by tomorrow, I'll be pretty convinced she won't get it, and Thursday for sure. *sigh*...perfect timing, right??
I totally just broke down in tears this afternoon...just completely lost it. Most of that was because I'd only had about 2-3 hours of sleep last night due to strong and constant contractions from 9PM-4AM this morning...so emotions needless to say were really unstable anyway. But regardless, I totally lost it. He can't be out in sunlight b/c it irritates his eye even more...so I can just imagine driving myself to the hospital pulling over every couple of minutes for a contraction. That would be a pretty picture, wouldn't it?? That'd put a whole new twist on road rage.
So all that being said, let me be serious for a moment. Please pray that all of this works out well. I have no idea when of if labor will come this week, but I'm so terrified that the whole family will have it (me included). I know in my heart that the Lord will place His hand on us during this time, but with my emotions being so up and down right now I have a hard time actually believing that fact.
Yeah, I know you all think I've totally lost it. But there is a legitimate reason why I'm begging the same son who I've wanted to yank out for the last couple of weeks to stay in a bit longer.
So here it is.....
Alrighty then. So for those of you allergy sufferers, you don't need me to tell you that pollen counts have been through the roof the last week or so. All three of us have had some form of allergy issues the last several days, Darin suffering worse than both Zoe and I combined. Sunday, his eye started watering and got kind of puffy...nothing out of the ordinary since his eyes naturally water with allergy attacks. Yesterday it got a bit worse, to the point that he watered so much that he could barely open his eye. And not to mention he could barely tolerate any bright lights. Today, even worse...so he goes to see the eye doc. And guess what????? PINK EYE!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? Poor guy...no clue where he picked it up from, but he was miserable. He's now on antibiotics and will no longer be contagious after 24 hours of antibiotics. BUT...there's the 48 hour period before he went to the doctor that I'm worried about. Pink eye is extremely contagious...and I'm thinking that Zoe might end up with it. If she ends up with it, that throws our whole plan to drop her off come labor time to anyone with kiddos. She didn't have any contact with him today until after he was aware of the diagnosis, so it's really just the couple of hours yesterday and Sunday that we need to worry about. Good news is that the incubation period is really quick, like 1-3 days quick, so if she doesn't have it by tomorrow, I'll be pretty convinced she won't get it, and Thursday for sure. *sigh*...perfect timing, right??
I totally just broke down in tears this afternoon...just completely lost it. Most of that was because I'd only had about 2-3 hours of sleep last night due to strong and constant contractions from 9PM-4AM this morning...so emotions needless to say were really unstable anyway. But regardless, I totally lost it. He can't be out in sunlight b/c it irritates his eye even more...so I can just imagine driving myself to the hospital pulling over every couple of minutes for a contraction. That would be a pretty picture, wouldn't it?? That'd put a whole new twist on road rage.
So all that being said, let me be serious for a moment. Please pray that all of this works out well. I have no idea when of if labor will come this week, but I'm so terrified that the whole family will have it (me included). I know in my heart that the Lord will place His hand on us during this time, but with my emotions being so up and down right now I have a hard time actually believing that fact.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Groove your bump
So I'm in my final week...I hope. As I'm thinking of ways to induce labor, I run across this video. This HAS to help move that baby down. What do you think?? Couldn't you just see me on our kitchen floor "grooving my bump"? (it's a long one, but to get to the good part, forward video to 1 min 25 seconds).
And the fact that they can move like that while I can't makes me feel like this (though lately, a lot makes me feel like this).
By the way...if you didn't watch the first video all the way through, they revealed the truth (like that was hard to guess anyway). The women dancing AREN'T pregnant. Hmm..who would have guessed that someone 9 months pregnant couldn't contort her body to do those kinds of moves?? Sure fooled me! Yeah right!!!
And towards the end of the week, some of you might want to check in on me...I might have very well gone insane and be doing this.
And the fact that they can move like that while I can't makes me feel like this (though lately, a lot makes me feel like this).
By the way...if you didn't watch the first video all the way through, they revealed the truth (like that was hard to guess anyway). The women dancing AREN'T pregnant. Hmm..who would have guessed that someone 9 months pregnant couldn't contort her body to do those kinds of moves?? Sure fooled me! Yeah right!!!
And towards the end of the week, some of you might want to check in on me...I might have very well gone insane and be doing this.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Brain Fart
Since several blogger buddies are on the subject of brain farts, I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and share my "I is a smart one" moment for the day.
Tonight I was trying to get dinner ready. The last couple of weeks, I've gotten away from my trying new recipes and standing in front of a stove for 30-45 minutes and started doing more crock pot, and simple crowd pleaser meals. So up on the menu tonight...turkey tetrazzini. We bought a turkey for 88 cents a pound last week and Darin cooked it on the smoker this week, so it's given me several nights of turkey meat to work with w/o the mess of cooking the meat myself. This recipe is a kid friendly, and leftover certain meal...a good thing these days.
So the ingredients used in tonights meal? Easy...spaghetti noodles, velveeta cheese, cream of chicken soup, rotel, and mushrooms.
What? You say something's missing?
Nah...nothing's missing.
What now?? You say it's the main ingredient besides the spaghetti noodles??
No way...there's zero chance I'd forget the....oh, wait, I forgot the turkey.
Yep, there ya have it, folks. Need I say, "I is a smart one!!!".
All the way through dinner, I kept thinking to myself, "there's something missing in this", but not until I took my last bite did I realize what it was. Can I blame this one on pregnancy??
That being said, it's not as bad as my "I is the smartest person on this here planet" moment a couple of weeks ago. That was a real doozy. Here's the scenerio there...Sunday morning, 9AM..pull into church parking lot..park..open car door..close car door..walk away from car. Find the missing link in this one?? Yep...that ever important step involving removing the keys from the running ignition before you exit the car. That one took my husband saying, "Umm...were you planning on turning the car off this morning?" before I even cued in on my blonde moment.
Tonight I was trying to get dinner ready. The last couple of weeks, I've gotten away from my trying new recipes and standing in front of a stove for 30-45 minutes and started doing more crock pot, and simple crowd pleaser meals. So up on the menu tonight...turkey tetrazzini. We bought a turkey for 88 cents a pound last week and Darin cooked it on the smoker this week, so it's given me several nights of turkey meat to work with w/o the mess of cooking the meat myself. This recipe is a kid friendly, and leftover certain meal...a good thing these days.
So the ingredients used in tonights meal? Easy...spaghetti noodles, velveeta cheese, cream of chicken soup, rotel, and mushrooms.
What? You say something's missing?
Nah...nothing's missing.
What now?? You say it's the main ingredient besides the spaghetti noodles??
No way...there's zero chance I'd forget the....oh, wait, I forgot the turkey.
Yep, there ya have it, folks. Need I say, "I is a smart one!!!".
All the way through dinner, I kept thinking to myself, "there's something missing in this", but not until I took my last bite did I realize what it was. Can I blame this one on pregnancy??
That being said, it's not as bad as my "I is the smartest person on this here planet" moment a couple of weeks ago. That was a real doozy. Here's the scenerio there...Sunday morning, 9AM..pull into church parking lot..park..open car door..close car door..walk away from car. Find the missing link in this one?? Yep...that ever important step involving removing the keys from the running ignition before you exit the car. That one took my husband saying, "Umm...were you planning on turning the car off this morning?" before I even cued in on my blonde moment.
Did the road just extend???
Well, I had my 39 week appointment yesterday. He's still measuring spot on, and has a strong heartbeat, and I still get to wait some more. I'm beginning to dislike that word a whole lot. I've been at 1cm now for 2 weeks with zero change. So still at 1cm, still 40%, still 40% effaced, and still waiting. I think I really had hoped for change yesterday because I was in this (very temporary) funk yesterday afternoon about the news. Not that I expected a change, I just wanted to hear that I had a change. I'm fine now, I just needed a huff and puff moment. It just seemed for a while that the road to next week had multiplied in length and that the light at the end of the tunnel that I've been seeing dimmed greatly.
I'll be honest, I'm to the point where I just hurt all over and want this baby out. But again, discomfort at this stage is completely expected and nothing to complain about. Things could be so so much worse, and I'm thankful I've not been one of these with high blood pressure, pre-eclampsia, and even worse, one on bed rest. If the Lord allowed me to escape all the horrible things that could happen during pregnancy, I can deal with a little discomfort here and there. Besides, all that matters in the end is that I have a healthy baby boy.
I do have to share a funny story. My brother-in-law called Darin the other day to share a story about someone he knew who just delivered the other day. His message was the following: "Ok, so here's an example of what you DON'T do while your wife's in labor. This lady's water broke early this morning. She puts a towel between her legs and they get in the car. But the husband's a teacher, so before they drove to the hospital, they went by the school where the husband goes in and makes copies for the substitute. As he got to the school, he actually asked his wife if she wanted to come in with him."
Ok, so I must say, I can't imagine Darin ever doing this to me, but I would hate to think what I would have wanted to do to him in the event that I was in labor and my water had just broken. I just hope the guy's still married to that poor lady today. ;-)
I'll be honest, I'm to the point where I just hurt all over and want this baby out. But again, discomfort at this stage is completely expected and nothing to complain about. Things could be so so much worse, and I'm thankful I've not been one of these with high blood pressure, pre-eclampsia, and even worse, one on bed rest. If the Lord allowed me to escape all the horrible things that could happen during pregnancy, I can deal with a little discomfort here and there. Besides, all that matters in the end is that I have a healthy baby boy.
I do have to share a funny story. My brother-in-law called Darin the other day to share a story about someone he knew who just delivered the other day. His message was the following: "Ok, so here's an example of what you DON'T do while your wife's in labor. This lady's water broke early this morning. She puts a towel between her legs and they get in the car. But the husband's a teacher, so before they drove to the hospital, they went by the school where the husband goes in and makes copies for the substitute. As he got to the school, he actually asked his wife if she wanted to come in with him."
Ok, so I must say, I can't imagine Darin ever doing this to me, but I would hate to think what I would have wanted to do to him in the event that I was in labor and my water had just broken. I just hope the guy's still married to that poor lady today. ;-)
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
SLOOOOWWW DOWN!
Well, yet another month has passed in the Buscher household. I wish time would slow down. Zoe's now 21 months old and about to be big sister! It just amazes me that just a month can be enough time for a little girl to appear out of a baby's body. Really, over the last 2 months, I've seen so much maturity in Zoe...not that a 21 month old is really mature...rather maturity in the way she loves to learn, listens to us, reasons through her thoughts, etc.
We're still struggling with the whining, but having taken the advice of many who have traveled this road before us, we decided to continue what we were doing by saying something like, "Mommy doesn't listen to girls who whine." but then to actually just ignore the behavior after a verbal correction until she used an appropriate tone. She wasn't too fond of being ignored, so she learned to use her "big girl words" pretty quickly once she knew she wasn't getting attention from us. Pretty much all I have to do now is give her a certain look and she will change her tone.
So among the other "news" for the month are the following:
1. She now finally knows her colors. How a child learns how to count to ten and all her ABC's before she learns her colors is beyond me, but she finally learned them. For the longest, everything was red...then it was blue. Who knows??
2. She also knows her last name. Someone in the store asked her tonight what her name was (a friend of mine who I hadn't seen in about a year), and Zoe giggled and said, "Zoe Buscher". Not sure why her name is funny, but she thought so. Occasionally we'll ask her and she'll even throw her middle name in there with it, although she pronounces it "Gace" instead of Grace. So sweet.
3. She is still all about learning new words and phrases. One of her favorites is to just come up to you and say, "I love you". She also loves the new phrase "tada" when she thinks she did something good. She's speaking in sentences of about 4-5 words now and will actually carry on a small conversation with you. But with that comes the frustration of completely understanding her. She has a pretty clear vocabulary, but there are times when you just have no idea. If she doesn't like the natural parental head nod followed by "really?", we usually are able to avoid the tantrum that follows by just asking her to show us what she's talking about. She'll go and point to whatever it is, and usually what she was trying to say clicks and we're able to appropriately respond. It's neat to watch her language develop over the course of time.
Here are some pictures taken today. She was being a little stink and didn't want her picture taken today for some reason. Normally she's all about posing for the camera, but not today...so I didn't get very many really good ones.
We're still struggling with the whining, but having taken the advice of many who have traveled this road before us, we decided to continue what we were doing by saying something like, "Mommy doesn't listen to girls who whine." but then to actually just ignore the behavior after a verbal correction until she used an appropriate tone. She wasn't too fond of being ignored, so she learned to use her "big girl words" pretty quickly once she knew she wasn't getting attention from us. Pretty much all I have to do now is give her a certain look and she will change her tone.
So among the other "news" for the month are the following:
1. She now finally knows her colors. How a child learns how to count to ten and all her ABC's before she learns her colors is beyond me, but she finally learned them. For the longest, everything was red...then it was blue. Who knows??
2. She also knows her last name. Someone in the store asked her tonight what her name was (a friend of mine who I hadn't seen in about a year), and Zoe giggled and said, "Zoe Buscher". Not sure why her name is funny, but she thought so. Occasionally we'll ask her and she'll even throw her middle name in there with it, although she pronounces it "Gace" instead of Grace. So sweet.
3. She is still all about learning new words and phrases. One of her favorites is to just come up to you and say, "I love you". She also loves the new phrase "tada" when she thinks she did something good. She's speaking in sentences of about 4-5 words now and will actually carry on a small conversation with you. But with that comes the frustration of completely understanding her. She has a pretty clear vocabulary, but there are times when you just have no idea. If she doesn't like the natural parental head nod followed by "really?", we usually are able to avoid the tantrum that follows by just asking her to show us what she's talking about. She'll go and point to whatever it is, and usually what she was trying to say clicks and we're able to appropriately respond. It's neat to watch her language develop over the course of time.
Here are some pictures taken today. She was being a little stink and didn't want her picture taken today for some reason. Normally she's all about posing for the camera, but not today...so I didn't get very many really good ones.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
12 days left!!
Well, we're almost to the big 10 day countdown! I'm so thankful that this pregnancy has been fairly easy. Pregnancy is never easy per say, but I had no major issues, just a few minor bumps every now and then. It helps having a busy toddler to keep your mind from focusing on the bulge in your belly. My pregnancy with Zoe was almost enough to make me want to take permanent measures to not have any more kiddos. Well, not really b/c we both wanted more kids. But if you'd have asked me right after delivering Zoe, "So when are you guys thinking about a second?", I might have just been tempted to use my newly learned kickboxing skills on ya. She was a really rough one to carry, a problem around every corner for nine months straight starting with the 24 hour a day morning sickness accompanied with throwing up about 6 times a day towards the end of that 8 week period.
So 12 days left! I'm so excited to meet this little guy, even more excited to have my body back and to be able to walk without a waddle, and even more excited to be able to hold my little girl in my lap again. Yes, I know the order is not the greatest, but right now meeting him seems so surreal since he's been a part of me for the last 9 months. That'll all change.
Still having periodic close together contractions, and still having the crampy feeling. Add to that a warped sense of mind. I was stupid enough to spend 30 minutes yesterday spot shampooing our carpet. It just bugged me, and for those of you who are familiar with my perfectionism side, you know there was no way around it...it just had to be done. Maybe I was subconsciously trying to induce labor, who knows. Not much more I can do to get myself in trouble with anymore...already did it all over the course of the last month most likely. Maybe a little cabinet scrubbing, but that's about it. :-)
I wish you could be a fly on the wall at this moment...my daughter is doing the "Hot Dog Dance" with the Mickey crew on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Priceless, I'll tell ya! Oh, and add to that an entire line of stuffed animals who were "watching" Mickey with her. I don't let her watch much TV, but her favorite thing to do is line all her animals up so they can watch too. So sweet. After that, they all go down for a nap.
And one last thing to add to my completely random post. Zoe has learned her full name. She probably started referring to herself as Zoe when she was 12 months, but she's recently learned her last name. Take a look. Can you believe she'll be 21 months in just a few days??!!?? My baby girl's growing up!
Now off to play "farm" with Zoe and her little fisher price farmhouse. She loves that toy.
So 12 days left! I'm so excited to meet this little guy, even more excited to have my body back and to be able to walk without a waddle, and even more excited to be able to hold my little girl in my lap again. Yes, I know the order is not the greatest, but right now meeting him seems so surreal since he's been a part of me for the last 9 months. That'll all change.
Still having periodic close together contractions, and still having the crampy feeling. Add to that a warped sense of mind. I was stupid enough to spend 30 minutes yesterday spot shampooing our carpet. It just bugged me, and for those of you who are familiar with my perfectionism side, you know there was no way around it...it just had to be done. Maybe I was subconsciously trying to induce labor, who knows. Not much more I can do to get myself in trouble with anymore...already did it all over the course of the last month most likely. Maybe a little cabinet scrubbing, but that's about it. :-)
I wish you could be a fly on the wall at this moment...my daughter is doing the "Hot Dog Dance" with the Mickey crew on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Priceless, I'll tell ya! Oh, and add to that an entire line of stuffed animals who were "watching" Mickey with her. I don't let her watch much TV, but her favorite thing to do is line all her animals up so they can watch too. So sweet. After that, they all go down for a nap.
And one last thing to add to my completely random post. Zoe has learned her full name. She probably started referring to herself as Zoe when she was 12 months, but she's recently learned her last name. Take a look. Can you believe she'll be 21 months in just a few days??!!?? My baby girl's growing up!
Now off to play "farm" with Zoe and her little fisher price farmhouse. She loves that toy.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Happy Resurrection Day!
That's a phrase I had never heard before my mother-in-law said it yesterday...but it's a good one, don't you think? Sums up what today's all about. I'm glad that Easter isn't nearly as commercialized as Christmas is, but I wish it were celebrated more than it is. Everything seems to be all about Christmas, and that's not necessarily a bad thing because without the Savior's birth, we'd have no death and no resurrection. But I often think maybe we have the wrong "favorite" holiday. I mean it is the death and resurrection, not the birth that gives us the chance to be saved by grace and the chance at having real life.
If you've got a few minutes, take a look at this video by Go Fish (and moms, if you're driven insane by kids cd's in the car all the time, take a look at these guys....it's upbeat Christian songs that won't drive a parent nuts). They have about, oh, 4 or 5 albums out. Trust me, Zoe loves it, and so do both of us. And yes, I know this was originally meant to be a Christmas video, but it's still fitting.
Anyway, our weekend started with lots of this.
Our little community had an Easter egg hunt at the high school stadium. Older kids were hunting over 13,000 eggs on the main field, and the younger ones were on the practice field hunting over 9,000 eggs. It was really meant for the kids, but prizes were involved. On some of the eggs were written prize numbers. Sadly, lots of parents literally shoved their kids out of the way to shovel dozens and dozens of eggs into their baskets. It was ridiculous. The three and under side was empty in less than 3 minutes, and it's not because toddling kiddos were lightening fast. It was ridiculous how much some of those baskets were overflowing.
Zoe had a good time...here are a few of her egg hunting grabs.
This morning, all she wanted to do was play with her bucket of eggs. Made for some cute shots. And the dress, I've had it for over a year. Got it free from the MOPS table of freebies last year. She looked so grown up in it this morning. AND..we actually managed to keep her still long enough to get a family picture. A rare moment in our home.
Gotta love the 'tude. Like I say, almost 2 going on 12.
So with what's left of it, our family would like to wish yours a Happy Easter and a Happy Resurrection Day!
If you've got a few minutes, take a look at this video by Go Fish (and moms, if you're driven insane by kids cd's in the car all the time, take a look at these guys....it's upbeat Christian songs that won't drive a parent nuts). They have about, oh, 4 or 5 albums out. Trust me, Zoe loves it, and so do both of us. And yes, I know this was originally meant to be a Christmas video, but it's still fitting.
Anyway, our weekend started with lots of this.
Our little community had an Easter egg hunt at the high school stadium. Older kids were hunting over 13,000 eggs on the main field, and the younger ones were on the practice field hunting over 9,000 eggs. It was really meant for the kids, but prizes were involved. On some of the eggs were written prize numbers. Sadly, lots of parents literally shoved their kids out of the way to shovel dozens and dozens of eggs into their baskets. It was ridiculous. The three and under side was empty in less than 3 minutes, and it's not because toddling kiddos were lightening fast. It was ridiculous how much some of those baskets were overflowing.
Zoe had a good time...here are a few of her egg hunting grabs.
This morning, all she wanted to do was play with her bucket of eggs. Made for some cute shots. And the dress, I've had it for over a year. Got it free from the MOPS table of freebies last year. She looked so grown up in it this morning. AND..we actually managed to keep her still long enough to get a family picture. A rare moment in our home.
Gotta love the 'tude. Like I say, almost 2 going on 12.
So with what's left of it, our family would like to wish yours a Happy Easter and a Happy Resurrection Day!
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Eviction Notice
Look...I look like me again! 
Yeah right! I wish! Here's my belly shot at 38 weeks.
The black shirt makes me look so much smaller than I really am! That and I'm halfway turned to the front.
LETTER OF EVICTION:
To my dear son,
You are hereby given notice that you will soon be in breach of your tenancy of the premises located in your mother's womb, under the terms of the lease dated August 4th, between your mommy as landlord and you as tenant.
You are in breach because you have outgrown the living conditions provided. As a result, you are making your landlord very uncomfortable and causing her to waddle when she walks. In addition, you have caused your big sister unhappiness in the fact that she can no longer fit on her mommy's lap. In exactly two weeks time, you will have failed to comply with the terms and conditions of your tenancy, as follows: Living in your current place of residence for a total of 280 days, or a total of 40 weeks.
To remedy the above breach, you must do the following: Vacate your current place of residency within two weeks time. Please consider this letter a final demand for you to remedy this situation.
If you fail to comply, the undersigned may commence eviction proceedings against you and/or exercise other available rights. In other words, you will be removed from your current living place in one way or another. You may either leave by your own choosing, or if necessary, you will be removed by force; something called induction, and by means of an IV drug named pitocin. You have been warned.
Thank you for your anticipated cooperation. Your family wishes very much to meet you and eagerly awaits hearing your decision.
Very truly yours,
Your mommy
__________________________
Alright, so as "official" as part of that letter sounds, I promise that I have never been served an eviction notice. I was always the easygoing tenant who paid on time when I lived in apartments. I just found a sample online and let my current emotions write for me. :-)
38 week OB Update: Appointment was yesterday. I took Darin and Zoe with me thinking (and somewhat hoping) that she would say, "Wow, these contractions you've been having all week have caused you to dilate to a 4. Why don't you head on over to the hospital!". I know, I know, but a girl can hope. Real update: No change in dilation...still a 1 (and she even had a hard time calling it a 1). I am however more effaced - 40% at this point. She agreed that timing contractions was out the window since they were already as fast as 3-4 minutes on and off throughout the day. She said to go on pain level. Wonderful...
Yeah right! I wish! Here's my belly shot at 38 weeks.
The black shirt makes me look so much smaller than I really am! That and I'm halfway turned to the front.
LETTER OF EVICTION:
To my dear son,
You are hereby given notice that you will soon be in breach of your tenancy of the premises located in your mother's womb, under the terms of the lease dated August 4th, between your mommy as landlord and you as tenant.
You are in breach because you have outgrown the living conditions provided. As a result, you are making your landlord very uncomfortable and causing her to waddle when she walks. In addition, you have caused your big sister unhappiness in the fact that she can no longer fit on her mommy's lap. In exactly two weeks time, you will have failed to comply with the terms and conditions of your tenancy, as follows: Living in your current place of residence for a total of 280 days, or a total of 40 weeks.
To remedy the above breach, you must do the following: Vacate your current place of residency within two weeks time. Please consider this letter a final demand for you to remedy this situation.
If you fail to comply, the undersigned may commence eviction proceedings against you and/or exercise other available rights. In other words, you will be removed from your current living place in one way or another. You may either leave by your own choosing, or if necessary, you will be removed by force; something called induction, and by means of an IV drug named pitocin. You have been warned.
Thank you for your anticipated cooperation. Your family wishes very much to meet you and eagerly awaits hearing your decision.
Very truly yours,
Your mommy
__________________________
Alright, so as "official" as part of that letter sounds, I promise that I have never been served an eviction notice. I was always the easygoing tenant who paid on time when I lived in apartments. I just found a sample online and let my current emotions write for me. :-)
38 week OB Update: Appointment was yesterday. I took Darin and Zoe with me thinking (and somewhat hoping) that she would say, "Wow, these contractions you've been having all week have caused you to dilate to a 4. Why don't you head on over to the hospital!". I know, I know, but a girl can hope. Real update: No change in dilation...still a 1 (and she even had a hard time calling it a 1). I am however more effaced - 40% at this point. She agreed that timing contractions was out the window since they were already as fast as 3-4 minutes on and off throughout the day. She said to go on pain level. Wonderful...
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Melted Heart
This is a new but common phrase coming from a little mouth. Melts my heart every time.
Sometimes she'll come just say it to you out of the blue complete with a big grin and hug. Other times, she'll respond to you saying it to her by saying, "I love you toooooo." I love that kiddo!!!!!
BTW: Quick update...not a whole lot of contractions anymore. Some yesterday but not bad. I am having lots of lower back and abdomen cramps. Not sure what that means...I'll find out at tomorrow's OB appt. how far dilated I am now and if I've progressed anymore since Sunday. Probably nothing, but a girl can hope.....
Sometimes she'll come just say it to you out of the blue complete with a big grin and hug. Other times, she'll respond to you saying it to her by saying, "I love you toooooo." I love that kiddo!!!!!
BTW: Quick update...not a whole lot of contractions anymore. Some yesterday but not bad. I am having lots of lower back and abdomen cramps. Not sure what that means...I'll find out at tomorrow's OB appt. how far dilated I am now and if I've progressed anymore since Sunday. Probably nothing, but a girl can hope.....
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Meet the Newest Member of Our Family
Sorry, y'all, I just had to do that since you all know I'm a ticking time bomb right now.
So yes, we now have a "new" (new to us, but used) van. Long story short (as if the queen of writing novellas can really write a short story)...back a few weeks ago, the air conditioner stopped working. Had it just been the two of us w/no kiddos, we'd have just done without it...but with a new baby and lots of long travels coming up, that wasn't an option. We took it to our local mechanic who found a problem with wiring. $200 later, we had the car back and a working air conditioner. Three days later, same problem. Took it back in and they discovered a bigger problem that. The compressor had completely gone out. For the non car buff, I have no idea what it is, but I know it was expensive to replace...like a minimum of $1600 expensive (possibly more if that didn't include labor). Need I say that since we were looking into the option of buying a "new" used car in the next year or two to replace Darin's jeep, spending $2000 wasn't a welcome idea. So, guess who's car got replaced?? The van...this van.
So we head yesterday to a used dealer in town, someone Darin and I know and completely trust. We found a van, same make, model, and year with only 51,000 miles it. Price??? Only $8,000. NO WAY! What a blessing!! Trade in value of mine was $2000 (almost $2000 less than it would have been b/c of the compressor issue). So total cost to us?? Only $6000. Again, what a blessing!! And another reason it's such a blessing? He hadn't even put it out on the lot yet. He had just gotten it in that day! God is good, people!! It's in great condition, looks good, runs well, ect ect ect.
Now, that being said...we've replaced two MAJOR things in our house in just a week. PLEASE NO MORE! Zoe and her praying bear agree!
Is this picture not precious?? She's "praying" like her bear.
So, back to the story, God's taking care of us in the fact that we're getting it done before Ethan's arrival. Now watch, I'll go into real labor tonight. But at least we have a working air conditioner, and washer and dryer. :-)
Monday, April 6, 2009
Stop staring at me!!!
Seriously, I'm not enjoying the looks I get from random people when I waddle, I mean walk, into a store. It's not just brief glances, it's like these stare down competitions that you play with kids, only it's with my belly. It's one thing for a quick glance from someone, but when people just look at me and stare, it's just not nice! There was this guy in IHOP yesterday morning that stared at me for the entire 5 minutes we waited for a table. I know I was a sight for sore eyes yesterday right after I was released from the hospital, but come on now! I've got a wedding ring on and I don't have 10 barefoot kids trailing behind me surrounded in a cloud of dust, so what's the problem?? I wasn't in the greatest mood tonight when we went to the store b/c my legs are a bit sore from walking at the hospital yesterday and I was contracting a little again, so I noticed it a bit more, I think. Haven't you people ever seen a pregnant woman before?
And if it's not the staring, it's the comments. I had two in one day last week. The first was from an energetic black gentleman who was trying to sell something to my husband. He got one look at me and said, "Woah, that's gonna be one big baby!!". Gee, thanks. That night, a little Chinese lady (you've got to imagine this in a chinese accent) said pointing at me, "Woah...big watermelon!" Again, gee thanks.
Uh-oh...does this count as crabby? I'm normally not a complainer, nor do I just get crabby (even during PMS). I was informed yesterday by the nurse when she discharged me, "When labor nears, you'll get really crabby." Sorry for the soapbox, it just got to me for some reason today. Climbing down now....
And if it's not the staring, it's the comments. I had two in one day last week. The first was from an energetic black gentleman who was trying to sell something to my husband. He got one look at me and said, "Woah, that's gonna be one big baby!!". Gee, thanks. That night, a little Chinese lady (you've got to imagine this in a chinese accent) said pointing at me, "Woah...big watermelon!" Again, gee thanks.
Uh-oh...does this count as crabby? I'm normally not a complainer, nor do I just get crabby (even during PMS). I was informed yesterday by the nurse when she discharged me, "When labor nears, you'll get really crabby." Sorry for the soapbox, it just got to me for some reason today. Climbing down now....
Sunday, April 5, 2009
And off we go....
11:00PM Saturday night - finally get to bed and go to sleep
12:00AM Sunday morning - ZZZZZZZ
1:00AM - Ugh...bathroom trip #1 for the night.
1:10ish - Hmm, braxton hicks contractions again.
1:30AM - Still contracting even though I'm laying on my left side.
1:45AM - Get out of bed, go take some tylenol and drink half a bottle of water. Get on computer to try to pass some time and see if the Tylenol stops the contractions.
2:30AM - Contractions coming fast now. Not painful, just quick. Are these really contractions or are am I just feeling the baby lie against my belly? Google Braxton Hicks.
3:00AM - Still contracting. Go wake up Darin. "Honey, I've been contracting pretty quickly since 1. It's been two hours and they've only sped up. Doc said if it went much past two hours we need to go in." Decide to go take a bath to see if I could relax a little and see if they would stop that way.
3:30AM - Done with bath, no luck stopping contractions (or relaxing for that matter). Go wake husband up again and tell him I had no luck. He convinces me to lay down for a bit longer and just try to relax. Rubs my belly for about 15 minutes.
4:00AM - Still contracting. Getting ancy now. Husband gets out of bed, gets dressed, and I call the hospital to make sure it was necessary to drive the hour to Little Rock to go in. Doctor - "Umm..you need to get here pretty quick if they've been coming even irregularly under 5 minutes."
4:01AM - Minor panic attack. Talking to self in incomplete and possibly incoherent thoughts - "Is this it?? Are we just going to drive up there and be sent back home? I'M NOT READY YET!!! Must finish packing the little things that need to be thrown in my bag. Thank you God for urging me to pack all the bags this afternoon. Your timing is amazing!"
4:02AM - Throw last minute items into bag and load car. Get dressed. Let dog out. Feed dog.
4:20AM - Go wake up Zoe and put her in car. Head for hospital.
4:30AM - Actually begin timing contractions with timer. Coming every 2.5 - 4 minutes. Average time - 3 minutes apart. YIKES.
5:00AM - Just crossing into Benton. Wow...these no longer feel like Braxton Hicks contractions. They kind of hurt! Still coming every 3 minutes.
5:30AM - Walk into maternity ward. Room's already waiting for me. Strip and put on the "oh so comfy" hospital gown. Zoe begins jumping up and down and running around the room with all the excitement. Are you kidding me? It's 5:30 in the morning.
5:40AM - Nurse enters to take vitals and hook me up to monitor. She mentions, "You know you're contracting about every three minutes?". "Umm..yes, that's why we're here". Didn't really say that, just thought it.
5:45AM - Nurse checks for dialation. "It's a dimple". What in the world is a dimple?? Ask for clarification. Dimple is roughly a centimeter dialated but not quite with some thinning out. Wow..that's funny. Just yesterday I was not effaced or dialated a bit. Once again, silently ask myself, "Wow..is this it?"
6:30AM - Nurse says I need to walk for 2 hours to see if I can get labor contractions coming harder and progress in dilation. 2 hours...wow, that's a long time to walk around in the same hallway, but I'll do it.
6:50AM - Begin walk. Contractions hurting a bit more now. Also make me dizzy. Keep truckin, woman! Get this kid out!
7:30AM - Call hostess for my baby shower that's supposed to be at 2 this afternoon to tell her the situation.
7:50AM - Out of breath and sweating. Go back to room to take a 5 minute break.
7:55AM - Resume walk. Still contracting. Legs tired. Keep trucking!!!
8:30AM - Must (huff) stop (huff) walking (huff huff). Can't (huff) walk (huff) any further (huff).
8:45AM - Doctor comes to check me. No progression. Bummer deal. "Well, you're still contracting, but it's not doing anything, so we're sending you home." Bigger bummer.
9:30AM - "Ok, you can go. Come back when they get worse." Ok, so when will that be??? Nurse says, "you very well might be in early labor since they're hurting a bit. Some women are at this point for 24 hours or more. Some have it go away and then come back a couple of days later. You'll know." Wonderful!
10:00AM - Pull into IHOP parking lot. Starving mom, dad, and baby girl.
10:30AM - Inhale delicious chocolate pancakes.
12:00PM - Arrive home. Contractions slowing. Hit bed for an hour.
2:00PM - Baby shower! Eat cake, open gifts, have fun just sitting and fellowshipping. Contractions almost completely gone now.
8:15PM - Putting Zoe to bed. Then putting myself to bed (and my poor husband who is just as tired as I am). Wow..when was the last time I went to bed at 8:30?
12:00AM Sunday morning - ZZZZZZZ
1:00AM - Ugh...bathroom trip #1 for the night.
1:10ish - Hmm, braxton hicks contractions again.
1:30AM - Still contracting even though I'm laying on my left side.
1:45AM - Get out of bed, go take some tylenol and drink half a bottle of water. Get on computer to try to pass some time and see if the Tylenol stops the contractions.
2:30AM - Contractions coming fast now. Not painful, just quick. Are these really contractions or are am I just feeling the baby lie against my belly? Google Braxton Hicks.
3:00AM - Still contracting. Go wake up Darin. "Honey, I've been contracting pretty quickly since 1. It's been two hours and they've only sped up. Doc said if it went much past two hours we need to go in." Decide to go take a bath to see if I could relax a little and see if they would stop that way.
3:30AM - Done with bath, no luck stopping contractions (or relaxing for that matter). Go wake husband up again and tell him I had no luck. He convinces me to lay down for a bit longer and just try to relax. Rubs my belly for about 15 minutes.
4:00AM - Still contracting. Getting ancy now. Husband gets out of bed, gets dressed, and I call the hospital to make sure it was necessary to drive the hour to Little Rock to go in. Doctor - "Umm..you need to get here pretty quick if they've been coming even irregularly under 5 minutes."
4:01AM - Minor panic attack. Talking to self in incomplete and possibly incoherent thoughts - "Is this it?? Are we just going to drive up there and be sent back home? I'M NOT READY YET!!! Must finish packing the little things that need to be thrown in my bag. Thank you God for urging me to pack all the bags this afternoon. Your timing is amazing!"
4:02AM - Throw last minute items into bag and load car. Get dressed. Let dog out. Feed dog.
4:20AM - Go wake up Zoe and put her in car. Head for hospital.
4:30AM - Actually begin timing contractions with timer. Coming every 2.5 - 4 minutes. Average time - 3 minutes apart. YIKES.
5:00AM - Just crossing into Benton. Wow...these no longer feel like Braxton Hicks contractions. They kind of hurt! Still coming every 3 minutes.
5:30AM - Walk into maternity ward. Room's already waiting for me. Strip and put on the "oh so comfy" hospital gown. Zoe begins jumping up and down and running around the room with all the excitement. Are you kidding me? It's 5:30 in the morning.
5:40AM - Nurse enters to take vitals and hook me up to monitor. She mentions, "You know you're contracting about every three minutes?". "Umm..yes, that's why we're here". Didn't really say that, just thought it.
5:45AM - Nurse checks for dialation. "It's a dimple". What in the world is a dimple?? Ask for clarification. Dimple is roughly a centimeter dialated but not quite with some thinning out. Wow..that's funny. Just yesterday I was not effaced or dialated a bit. Once again, silently ask myself, "Wow..is this it?"
6:30AM - Nurse says I need to walk for 2 hours to see if I can get labor contractions coming harder and progress in dilation. 2 hours...wow, that's a long time to walk around in the same hallway, but I'll do it.
6:50AM - Begin walk. Contractions hurting a bit more now. Also make me dizzy. Keep truckin, woman! Get this kid out!
7:30AM - Call hostess for my baby shower that's supposed to be at 2 this afternoon to tell her the situation.
7:50AM - Out of breath and sweating. Go back to room to take a 5 minute break.
7:55AM - Resume walk. Still contracting. Legs tired. Keep trucking!!!
8:30AM - Must (huff) stop (huff) walking (huff huff). Can't (huff) walk (huff) any further (huff).
8:45AM - Doctor comes to check me. No progression. Bummer deal. "Well, you're still contracting, but it's not doing anything, so we're sending you home." Bigger bummer.
9:30AM - "Ok, you can go. Come back when they get worse." Ok, so when will that be??? Nurse says, "you very well might be in early labor since they're hurting a bit. Some women are at this point for 24 hours or more. Some have it go away and then come back a couple of days later. You'll know." Wonderful!
10:00AM - Pull into IHOP parking lot. Starving mom, dad, and baby girl.
10:30AM - Inhale delicious chocolate pancakes.
12:00PM - Arrive home. Contractions slowing. Hit bed for an hour.
2:00PM - Baby shower! Eat cake, open gifts, have fun just sitting and fellowshipping. Contractions almost completely gone now.
8:15PM - Putting Zoe to bed. Then putting myself to bed (and my poor husband who is just as tired as I am). Wow..when was the last time I went to bed at 8:30?
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Packed Bags - Check!
So today was the day I decided it'd be best to get bags packed for the hospital. Since we're an hour away, it probably wouldn't be best for me to wait until the day I go into labor to begin packing. We've been told that we need to leave for the hospital when contractions are b/w 10 and 15 minutes apart instead of 5 minutes like most others who live just miles from the hospital campus.
Somehow, it became more real by getting bags packed, but for some reason it still doesn't seem like 3 weeks from now I'll have another child. Maybe it's because part of me feels like pregnancy is just a way of life. I feel like I've been pregnant for like 3 years, but at the same time, I don't feel like I've been pregnant for more than a couple of weeks...make any sense? I'm thinking not...but anyway.... I guess Zoe has kept me busy enough that I just haven't been focused on this pregnancy much. With her, being pregnant was all I could think about and dream about. Wonder what this will be like...or how's life going to change for us?? My only worry now is, "I hope Zoe doesn't try to throw her little brother against the wall like she sometimes does her dolls when she's swinging them!"
It just feels a bit surreal still I guess. Regardless, I have my labor bag packed and Zoe's overnight bag packed just in case. There are a few things I'll have to throw in at the last minute, but I've got them on a list.
Am I totally nuts that I don't feel like it's all just around the corner? I wonder about myself sometimes...
Somehow, it became more real by getting bags packed, but for some reason it still doesn't seem like 3 weeks from now I'll have another child. Maybe it's because part of me feels like pregnancy is just a way of life. I feel like I've been pregnant for like 3 years, but at the same time, I don't feel like I've been pregnant for more than a couple of weeks...make any sense? I'm thinking not...but anyway.... I guess Zoe has kept me busy enough that I just haven't been focused on this pregnancy much. With her, being pregnant was all I could think about and dream about. Wonder what this will be like...or how's life going to change for us?? My only worry now is, "I hope Zoe doesn't try to throw her little brother against the wall like she sometimes does her dolls when she's swinging them!"
It just feels a bit surreal still I guess. Regardless, I have my labor bag packed and Zoe's overnight bag packed just in case. There are a few things I'll have to throw in at the last minute, but I've got them on a list.
Am I totally nuts that I don't feel like it's all just around the corner? I wonder about myself sometimes...
Friday, April 3, 2009
Two Fold
This post is two fold. Not much happening today.
1. I did 5...count them, 5 loads of laundry in the last 24 hours. From start to finish, each load takes 90 minutes...90 MINUTES! I've folded and put away all but one. I haven't been able to do a full load washing and drying in 90 minutes in a year or more! 190 minutes was more like what it would take to do a load in this house before the new washer and dryer. They're so quiet! And clothes come out smelling so fresh it's unbelievable! I'm not quite happy about having to spend double the price on detergent since these now require High Energy detergent, but it's worth it.
2. Went to the OB today. No change. Still not dilated at all, which I can't say I'm surprised to hear. My braxton hicks contractions have all but stopped in the last two weeks. Still uncomfortable, but by this point, who's not??!! He's considered "full term" tomorrow since I'll be 37 weeks then. So come on, baby boy, come on....
1. I did 5...count them, 5 loads of laundry in the last 24 hours. From start to finish, each load takes 90 minutes...90 MINUTES! I've folded and put away all but one. I haven't been able to do a full load washing and drying in 90 minutes in a year or more! 190 minutes was more like what it would take to do a load in this house before the new washer and dryer. They're so quiet! And clothes come out smelling so fresh it's unbelievable! I'm not quite happy about having to spend double the price on detergent since these now require High Energy detergent, but it's worth it.
2. Went to the OB today. No change. Still not dilated at all, which I can't say I'm surprised to hear. My braxton hicks contractions have all but stopped in the last two weeks. Still uncomfortable, but by this point, who's not??!! He's considered "full term" tomorrow since I'll be 37 weeks then. So come on, baby boy, come on....
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Delivery Complete!
Well, I may have mentioned that we bought a new washer and dryer last Friday at Lowes. We had been talking about it for quite some time. Darin got the set we were using USED about 20 years ago. I'm telling you...solid stuff. BUT, the last 6 months or so, the clothes wouldn't spin dry, so they were totally soaked when you'd take them out. You could get them wrung out, but it usually took an extra spin cycle or two. And the dryer...oh, the dryer. One load took anywhere from 2 (small load) - 4( for a large load w/towels or jeans) 80 minute cycles to completely dry. So one load a day about did it for me.
So Friday, we walk into Lowes to go get some other house repair items and ended up buying the Whirlpool Duet Sport Frontloader washer/dryer duo. I wanted us to look at frontloaders b/c of the higher efficiency and the fact that it uses 2/3 less water. Cost us $1500 including tax and delivery charges...not bad for a front loader set. Still...$1500 was HARD to part with.
Now, keep in mind, we did this so that we wouldn't have to be put in a bind when the ancient set finally did go kaput. So ours still worked...at the time. We hadn't necessarily planned on buying a set that day, but they were on sale and just decided to go ahead and get it done before the baby came. (Here's where God's perfect timing comes in...again). Delivery and installation was scheduled for today (Thursday). Monday, get a large load put into the washer, put soap in, start it up, water fills up and then NOTHING. The center part that agitates the clothes wouldn't turn and was making a clicking sound. GREAT! A huge load of soaking wet clothes that are now soapy. Darin looked at it that evening and decided, sniff, she was a goner. Talk about God's amazing timing, though. I only had one load left to do at that point which was not bad (of course it happened to be all of my husband's clothes, but he had enough to get by for a couple of days.) It was nice to have a few days off of the endless laundry piles anyway.
So I get a call from the appliance manager there. "Uh, Mrs. Buscher, we have a bit of a problem." Noooooo!!!!!! No problems...everything's perfect, right??? He goes on, "Well, you ordered the new Whirlpool Duet washer/dryer set. It looks like one of our guys made a mistake in inventory, and the set I told you we had is nonexistent. The good news is that we'll get it in on April 7th." Again, NOOOOOOO!!!!! So I calmly reply, "sir, our washer which was still working on the date of purchase has now gone out. I don't think we can wait until then." So he says, "Well, I've got good news for you. We have another option. There's a bigger and more advanced version of the one that you bought with more washing cycle options. It's more expensive, but since this was our mistake, we'd be willing to offer it to you at no additional charge. Would that be ok with you?" I wanted to teasingly say, "Umm...let me talk it over with my husband and see what he says." Who asks if it's ok to give the upgraded version for no additional charge?? Liability issues, I'm sure..it was just funny to me. So I reply, "Yes, that's be perfectly fine". Wahoo! Now we have an $850-$900 that we paid $630 for (after sale price).
So I'm currently working on washing the mountain of laundry that built up over the last 3 days. It'll be nice to have a load completly finished in less than 2 hours again!
Check these out?? Cool, huh? It's so quiet you almost don't hear it running.
So Friday, we walk into Lowes to go get some other house repair items and ended up buying the Whirlpool Duet Sport Frontloader washer/dryer duo. I wanted us to look at frontloaders b/c of the higher efficiency and the fact that it uses 2/3 less water. Cost us $1500 including tax and delivery charges...not bad for a front loader set. Still...$1500 was HARD to part with.
Now, keep in mind, we did this so that we wouldn't have to be put in a bind when the ancient set finally did go kaput. So ours still worked...at the time. We hadn't necessarily planned on buying a set that day, but they were on sale and just decided to go ahead and get it done before the baby came. (Here's where God's perfect timing comes in...again). Delivery and installation was scheduled for today (Thursday). Monday, get a large load put into the washer, put soap in, start it up, water fills up and then NOTHING. The center part that agitates the clothes wouldn't turn and was making a clicking sound. GREAT! A huge load of soaking wet clothes that are now soapy. Darin looked at it that evening and decided, sniff, she was a goner. Talk about God's amazing timing, though. I only had one load left to do at that point which was not bad (of course it happened to be all of my husband's clothes, but he had enough to get by for a couple of days.) It was nice to have a few days off of the endless laundry piles anyway.
So I get a call from the appliance manager there. "Uh, Mrs. Buscher, we have a bit of a problem." Noooooo!!!!!! No problems...everything's perfect, right??? He goes on, "Well, you ordered the new Whirlpool Duet washer/dryer set. It looks like one of our guys made a mistake in inventory, and the set I told you we had is nonexistent. The good news is that we'll get it in on April 7th." Again, NOOOOOOO!!!!! So I calmly reply, "sir, our washer which was still working on the date of purchase has now gone out. I don't think we can wait until then." So he says, "Well, I've got good news for you. We have another option. There's a bigger and more advanced version of the one that you bought with more washing cycle options. It's more expensive, but since this was our mistake, we'd be willing to offer it to you at no additional charge. Would that be ok with you?" I wanted to teasingly say, "Umm...let me talk it over with my husband and see what he says." Who asks if it's ok to give the upgraded version for no additional charge?? Liability issues, I'm sure..it was just funny to me. So I reply, "Yes, that's be perfectly fine". Wahoo! Now we have an $850-$900 that we paid $630 for (after sale price).
So I'm currently working on washing the mountain of laundry that built up over the last 3 days. It'll be nice to have a load completly finished in less than 2 hours again!
Check these out?? Cool, huh? It's so quiet you almost don't hear it running.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Oh Hot Dog!
Anyone with toddlers ever watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse? That show is one that Zoe loves to watch in the morning. As soon as the intro song comes on, she'll run to find her mickey stuffed animal and go stand in front of the TV dancing to the music. This morning, she did just that but added one thing. She stopped in front of where I was and with her Mickey in hand said very confidently, "Oh Hot Dog!" and then turned around and ran off. How randomly funny is that? I love that girl! For those of you not familiar with the show, part of the intro song is as follows: "Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog...".
This morning was also a "first" for Zoe. She got her fingernails AND toenails painted. She's my little girly girl who just happens to love cars and balls. Of all the pinks, reds, and silvers I had in my nail polish bucket, she chooses blue...a color I bought when I was a camp counselor for team blue. Just waiting for the rolling of eyes from my husband...And only because he knows that as soon as she learns to really enjoy getting prettied up, he'll be her test dummy. Hehehe....I'll be waiting with the camera for daddy and his purple toenails.
And yesterday was also a first. Dying Easter eggs. Fun stuff...or not so much. She enjoyed "stirring" the eggs, but got bored pretty quickly with it. Good thing we only did 8.
On another note, my dear husband helped me tag items to be sold in the Hot Springs Duck Duck Goose Sale. Took 2 hours just to hang and tag them. That didn't count the time it took to enter them into the computer. Since this is only the second time HS has done this, all clothing limits were lifted. Normally you get an 85 item limit. So how many did I have? One Hundred and Seventy! HOLY COW! Like I said a few posts back, I had clothes coming out my ears! These were clothes, shoes, hats, etc etc that were as young as newborn. So there were A LOT of them! Lots of them were clothes from a dear lady in our town who dropped bags and bags of clothes off last year and told me as she dropped them off, "Do whatever you want with them. I DON'T want them back!" Well...ok then. I took them on Monday to drop them off...phew..that means we actually have an open bed in the guest bedroom now. We're going shopping tonight...AGAIN. Why? Because now I have to get clothes for me for the summer. Ahh..the time when I can have my body back! How I long for that time! I weeded through my closet some time ago and threw out a whole rack full of clothes that were, oh, about 7 or 8 years old...faded and not really attractive anymore. So now I have about 5 shirts in my closet and some shorts and capris. Not much. Oh, and we have to shop for Zoe again. 5 of the 17 outfits and dresses that we bought her two weeks ago are too small. She's a skinny one, but a LONG one, so several were just too short on her. So what did I do with those? Turned around and entered them in with my batch to be sold. How sad is that? We were going to look for her some toys too since a lot of what we have for her she's outgrowing and losing interest in. So the frenzy begins again this afternoon. I love it though. Again...this stuff is used, but it's sold for prices close to 75% off or more. Who wouldn't get giddy about that??
This morning was also a "first" for Zoe. She got her fingernails AND toenails painted. She's my little girly girl who just happens to love cars and balls. Of all the pinks, reds, and silvers I had in my nail polish bucket, she chooses blue...a color I bought when I was a camp counselor for team blue. Just waiting for the rolling of eyes from my husband...And only because he knows that as soon as she learns to really enjoy getting prettied up, he'll be her test dummy. Hehehe....I'll be waiting with the camera for daddy and his purple toenails.
And yesterday was also a first. Dying Easter eggs. Fun stuff...or not so much. She enjoyed "stirring" the eggs, but got bored pretty quickly with it. Good thing we only did 8.
On another note, my dear husband helped me tag items to be sold in the Hot Springs Duck Duck Goose Sale. Took 2 hours just to hang and tag them. That didn't count the time it took to enter them into the computer. Since this is only the second time HS has done this, all clothing limits were lifted. Normally you get an 85 item limit. So how many did I have? One Hundred and Seventy! HOLY COW! Like I said a few posts back, I had clothes coming out my ears! These were clothes, shoes, hats, etc etc that were as young as newborn. So there were A LOT of them! Lots of them were clothes from a dear lady in our town who dropped bags and bags of clothes off last year and told me as she dropped them off, "Do whatever you want with them. I DON'T want them back!" Well...ok then. I took them on Monday to drop them off...phew..that means we actually have an open bed in the guest bedroom now. We're going shopping tonight...AGAIN. Why? Because now I have to get clothes for me for the summer. Ahh..the time when I can have my body back! How I long for that time! I weeded through my closet some time ago and threw out a whole rack full of clothes that were, oh, about 7 or 8 years old...faded and not really attractive anymore. So now I have about 5 shirts in my closet and some shorts and capris. Not much. Oh, and we have to shop for Zoe again. 5 of the 17 outfits and dresses that we bought her two weeks ago are too small. She's a skinny one, but a LONG one, so several were just too short on her. So what did I do with those? Turned around and entered them in with my batch to be sold. How sad is that? We were going to look for her some toys too since a lot of what we have for her she's outgrowing and losing interest in. So the frenzy begins again this afternoon. I love it though. Again...this stuff is used, but it's sold for prices close to 75% off or more. Who wouldn't get giddy about that??
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