Darn Computer

Well...we are having computer problems on our laptop and they are coming at the worst time possible. I'm blogging from work on my break-and this might be the last one until we can figure out what's going on with it. We've only had it for ~2 1/2 years and have kept up on all security programs so we aren't sure what's going on with it.

Today marks 39 weeks and tomorrow is MARCH (due date month-holy cow)! I had a doctor appointment this morning-nothing has changed and we are all waiting anxiously for Baby Nora to get here. My blood pressure is good, weight good, I'm measuring 38 weeks-so I'm hoping to keep her baking for another week! Chubby babies are healthy babies!!

Well, work doesn't pay for personal blogging-so I'll try to get posts up as frequent as I can permitting the computer works or I'm at work late!

Not Good News

Today, our CEO emailed me to finalized the maternity leave paperwork. She included in her email that I could take 12 weeks, but only 6-8 (depending medically) would be paid for!! YIKES, I was planning on 12 nice, easy, paid for, wonderful, lead me to summer-weeks paid for with Nora...I cried. At work. For 2 hours while working because I was so sad.

Because it would mean returning to work Mid-April, I called the potential babysitter that I was sort of, but not banking on to talk to her about scheduling. Since Jake gets off at 6:15 he's not home until 6:30-6:45ish...but most sitters want kids picked up by 5, 5:30 or 6:00 so we knew this was going to be an issue on the 2 nights I would be working each week. For some reason I was naive to think this babysitter was different-I had too high hopes-as she doesn't watch kids past 5:30pm.

That coming on the heals of a shortened-well, halved-maternity leave kept the emotions running for a while. I'm calm now, but still a little upset. Jake has reassured me that we will figure it out, but unfortunately the time to "figure it out" is running out and will run out quicker now that its only 6 weeks!

Bad timing for such an emotional time.

False Alarm!

Sunday night I had tons of contractions from 12a-2a and I couldn't sleep. I decided at 2:18 am to start counting and tracking. For an hour they were coming every 5, 6, or 7 minutes apart. While the contractions were coming, I was cleaning up the house in case Christina (my co-worker) was going to be coming over to feed and let Jersey out while we were at the hospital.

So, I cleaned up the living room, kitchen, took the basket of clothes up stairs, had the stuff ready for the hospital, took the trash out of the master bathroom-which woke Jake up...he thought something was wrong and I told him nope, just cleaning! I also Drano-ed the sinks and did a few other things before being anxious and calling the doctor-whom I woke up (I apologized, several times). She confirmed something was happening, but to rest and go to the hospital when I couldn't stand the pain any longer. Well, the contractions didn't stop, but they didn't get more intense either-so I stayed home, woke up at 6 am and re-painted my nails (you know, in case I go into labor-I have to have my nails done?! LOL)

At 10am Monday I called again to see what I should do-she had go to the office and get checked. I'm 2 cm & 80%, so she could come anytime now! All bags are packed and waiting in the kitchen ready to go.

No Car Payments!

Jake paid the last payment on the Audi! We are so excited to have it done, taken care of, and officially ours. The title should be coming soon. I just hope now it doesn't break down or something-although its still under the certified pre-owned warranty until mid-summer so if something happens-happen now.

We are going to keep the "no car payment" status for a while even though we have decided the Town & Country's are nice & we'd like to have one. For now, we need a vacation-so we are saving rapidly for that to come hopefully late August or September. The idea of paying off a car to have another car payment makes me a little sick, but we are one day going to own a bigger vehicle-just not today!

Our Funky Furnace

Remember me saying there was something wrong with our furnace? We finally scheduled an appointment for someone to come look at it on Saturday and, of course, it was working perfectly and had been for a couple days. Anyhow, we needed to get it taken care of before Nora gets here because sometimes in the middle of the night it gets down to 60 degrees-fine for us, but not for baby!

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Having anything serviced is such a pain. They never show up on time and it takes a lot out of the day to wait for them. We had an appointment between 10-12 am on Saturday, the guy finally showed up at 2:45 pm (I'd say that's on time-wouldn't you?). After he was here for 20 minutes and doing some tests to the furnace he told us we just needed to change the filter!!

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We both felt like idiots! Apparently those need to be changed every month and not every 4 like we thought. He took the old filter-it was filthy. He explained that the furnace couldn't take in enough air because of the dirt to cool it down on the inside so the internal temp was up and above 151 degrees....which caused the furnace to shut down (hence getting below 65 degrees) to make sure we didnt have a fire. Makes sense.

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We changed the filter Saturday night, and it did it AGAIN that night!! Grr...now we need to re-schedule an appointmet to figure it out all over again, wait all over again, and hopefully this time it gets taken care of. Thankfully the service call was free because the guy came really late. Still doesnt solve our problem!

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These are the things I miss about living in an apartment. This is how it would go then....Put in call to office>our heater is broken>fix it>guy comes>fixes it>life goes on!

Baby Bump!

It's funny to look back at my early weeks of belly progress-because I thought I had something going on. Now I laugh at the fact that I look like I was so proud to have a little something (that looks like I might have eaten too much for dinner). Back then I wished for a belly and for people to know that I was pregnant and that I wasn't just a little hefty, now I wish I had the back that I had back then! Here are some pictures of the past few weeks:

Christmas Day 2010: 30 weeks

32 Weeks

33 Weeks34 Weeks

35 Weeks

36 Weeks
Tomorrow starts the 37th week! My belly button still hasn't popped out...although its flat & I discovered a mole I never knew I had.

His & Hers

After searching and searching...Jake has finally found his "man diaper bag"! This is a big deal because he has something to say about everyone he has seen. It either looks to much like a 'murse' is like a 'saddle bag' or 'just hangin there', etc...you get the point. His ideas of what he wanted came from his brothers man-bag and he was stuck on it from then on. He either has the same one or one from the same company that are very similar-if it makes him happy & want to carry it I'm fine.

When he saw it, he lite up like a Christmas tree-smiling, trying it on...too funny. He mentioned that if I wanted to borrow it that I could because its 'soo sweet'. So, here they are HIS and HERs diaper bags-ready for the baby.

No Ring

This past weekend we were at the Tippecanoe Mall and I wanted to get my rings cleaned, but I couldn't get them off! The guy sprayed my hand down with Windex and they came right off.

So....at my last doctor visit, my doctor encouraged me to stop wearing my wedding rings. I haven't had any swelling up until this past week-and its only in my hands and only when I'm hot-which has been a lot lately. I haven't been wearing a coat outside, the house at 66 degrees feels good, and rides in the car are more comfortable than they used to be (Jake was hot, I was cold) now we are both good. Funny how hormones work out during pregnancy!

Speaking of no coat, when we were at the Mall the Motherhood store had all their winter coats on sale. Makes sense if women, like me, are rarely wearing one! There are some times I wear a coat, but my nicer coats for work don't button & are really tight through my shoulders so I'd rather not deal with them.

I wonder if I'll have my old thermostat back after pregnancy? I've heard your hormones are never the same! Yikes!

4 Week Count Down

We have 4 weeks to go until Nora is here...or shorter. Today's doctor appointment went well! Jake was able to go because he was off work which was exciting because he has missed a lot of the appointments. I think it really makes him "in" the whole process when he is able to go.

My blood pressure remains 120/66, weight gain slow & steady, and baby is measuring right on track. At this appointment I had the Group B swab-that's about the only thing non-routine that happened. She checked me again & my cervix remained the same as it was 10 days ago-1 cm & 50% effaced. I was relieved that Nora is listening to her parents already on staying and growing inside my belly instead of making an early entrance into the world. My doctor said she wouldn't be surprised if she came between 37-39 weeks-so we'll see. Shes out of town all next week so I'm hoping if she does decide to come that she waits until my doctor is back & on call! Something about getting used to a doctor that makes you more comfortable. Because shes out of town, I will see one of her partners next week at my 37 week visit.

This is completely random, but I hope my clothes still fit in a couple weeks if I haven't had her. Yesterday I put a shirt on...it was so tight that I couldn't breath! I had to have Jake come pull it off me-I don't know why I continued to force it on when I knew it was going to be a little tight. I don't have too much more room to grow before I'm out of most of the clothes I have and I don't really want to buy any more clothes for just 4 weeks left.

I'm excited for this weekend because we are having maternity pictures taken. My co-worker's husband has his own videography business, but he also does photography & he offered to take pictures to help build his portfolio and so we can have the memories too! I'll post a few when we get them back.

Crazy to think that she could be here any time. We are having date night on Thursday-it could be our last 'true' date night for a while so we are taking advantage of it for sure!

Car Shopping

Since we have one payment left on the Audi, last weekend we went car shopping for an upgrade on the Kia (sniff, sniff..I know sad). Goldy is a great car, good gas mileage, but get her going too fast and the paint peels off-so we are looking for a bigger vehicle (van or SUV) to haul lots of cargo and lots of people safely!

Originally we weren't going to start looking until summer, but I figured looking will at least let us learn what we want to buy. And, walking around a car dealership 8-9 months pregnant is better than hauling a baby with us or getting a baby sitter. So I gave into Jake's plee to go see some SUVs. At the beginning of the day we were looking at Pilots, Sedonas, Explorers, Outlooks, and any other SUV that carried 7 passengers comfortably, with "good gas mileage" (note: none really are good gas mileage) that were a few years old so that they could still be a certified pre-owned vehicle.

Rewind to before we went out looking-I think we should get a van!! After all considerations, I believe vans are the most economical in hauling passengers and cargo (for vacation) and still have the sweet gadgets you can find in SUVs. Don't misunderstand...I think vans look hideous, but nothing else out there compares to the size of the space behind the 3rd row seating like a van. And what other cars seats fold into the body of the car?

Ok, back to the day of car shopping...I glowed with excitement when I saw a van to look at in the used parking lot. Jake was devastated! He's not "ready" to be a van driver! However, after looking at a Chrysler Town & Country...he was pretty much sold. Sold so much when we got home he started looking them up online to see different colors and other used T & C's around the area. I laughed and smiled with excitement that he finally realized that they are worth it!

He liked the dual video screens, navigation, heated seats, all electronic switches/dials, etc and could give into a van with "all the bells and whistles" for wayyyy less than we could get the same things in a SUV with less space. He now never calls it a van..he calls it a Town & Country.

We aren't buying right now, but are weighing heavily on a van (we'd be one sweet looking couple in a van-can you picture us?) when we do decide to get an upgrade!

After all the snow today, I figured I had better change my blog background (it had snow flakes on it) because I'm ready for spring. So here's to wishful thinking and an early spring!

He Already Knows!

Thursday night we started our labor classes at the hospital. I was looking forward to them and had high expectations, but after the class I was a little let down. Well, let down, but glad all at the same time.

I'm not sure what I thought it was going to be, but I didn't really learn anything. When we got out to the car Jake said, "I think that class was for people who are not proactive in learning anything about pregnancy!" I laughed because he knew everything the lady was talking about and we were laughing during the presentation over things we had talked about related to what she was 'teaching' us. I'm hoping next week will be better-at least we will get a tour of the labor and delivery floor-that I've been looking forward to.

I signed Jake up for a car seat class on Monday. I wasn't able to go because of work, but I thought it would be a good idea for him to know how to properly install them even though the hospital does checks before you leave. I'm thinking for the other car or when/if we get a new vehicle, etc.

I'm going to a newborn massage class on the 15th and we are both going to the caring for your infant class on the 17th. I figure they are free & we are taking advantage of them.

I'll be 36 weeks on Monday...eek! Jake joked that we could be bringing Nora to the caring for your newborn class and said, "uhhh..we brought our baby!". I died laughing. Hoping she waits at least until after 37 weeks. We have a doctor appointment Monday to see how things are going! Holy cow-time is flying by. Its hard to imagine in a few more weeks she will be here keeping us busy.

Side Note: Huge excitement came when we found out Ellen & Ryan are expecting in September! Congratulations, although I don't envy your summer pregnancy.

Cable High

We are on a cable high here in the Standeford house! After nearly a year...we had the cable guy come out and set it up again. We originally tried when we first moved in, but came upon lots of problems with the installation so we just called to cancel and not get it for a while. We knew throughout the summer we would be busy and not really watch it & that we would have a lot of things to do to the house so we opted to save money (imagine that!).

Since December I have been craving more channels than 6, 8, 12, or 59!! The only thing that is ever on is the news-which I like to watch, but not all the time. Several weeks ago I was cleaning the house and needed a break. I sat down to watch TV and the only 3 shows on were the Magic School Bus (loved it when I was younger), the Suite Life of Zach & Cody, and a weight loss infomercial!! I stood up and went on cleaning-not. even. worth. watching. That night I cried because Jake was excited to watch the two football games that determined the Superbowl! Did I mention we were at Steak n Shake when this all happened. I was emotional and couldn't hold it in-it ended in a laughing hysterically with a combo cry! I couldn't stop! We laughed about it all night.

Before that night I had tried justifying that we were having our Life Group from Church over for the Superbowl and we needed it in case there was a storm and the bunny ears didn't work. He laughed at my attempt!

I think that's when he realized I needed something to do when I was "off my feet". And the baby is coming soon-I'll be home, busy with lots to do, but still some down time. So I'm soo soo glad to have it back. I've been missing lots of my shows I typically watch & DVR especially.

And.. the best part about it all is that Jake got a steal of a deal with Att Uverse where our Internet/cable (with DVR & 200 channels) was only $12 more than the Internet we were paying for previously. And...this lasts for 12 months!! Now that's cheap entertainment.

So, tonight I set up a million shows on the DVR (one that I'm excited about is Auction Hunters-I could totally do that) and am watching HGTV for the first time in our new house & loving it as I relax after a long day!

Ice Storm

I can hear it hitting our windows...another round of ice is hitting us and has been for a couple hours now. They haven't really gotten the roads cleared from last night yet-so it's becoming one huge sheet of ice outside. I came home today at 3:30-even though I work 5 minutes from home-to be safe and out of the weather, but Chase Bank doesn't believe in letting employees go home in conditions like these so Jake will be home around 7-7:30 depending on how long it takes him to get here...bummer!

Our furnace isn't working right...horrible timing. Well, it's been doing it for a few weeks now, but we've been slackers on calling a repair man. What we've had to do is turn it off, wait, then turn it back on and it works fine. I just had to do that because it was 64 in here-trying to get the temp up in case the power goes out! We are glad Nora isn't here yet for this reason alone! I'm not sure what we'd do if she was here-probably light a million candles in a small room and bundle her up...that's all I could come up with.

We should be good in all other areas if the power goes out. We have peanut butter to last us a lifetime, canned foods (and a non-electric opener), tons of snack foods that don't need to be heated & I'm about to start making stuffed peppers for dinner-hoping the oven will still work for the hour they need to bake! I filled up all the pitchers we had with water thinking it wouldn't work, but I think that might be a little over cautious because I think the water will still work. Flashlights are out and ready to go-we have the ones that don't require batteries, just cranking to get them to work. My phone is charging-in case of an emergency and we need to have a phone, but I can't think of anything else that we might need.

The only thing I wish now is that that 4 channels we get weren't all broadcasting the news-I'd like to watch something else if I could!! Oh well, the cable guy is coming on Friday (weather permitting) to install cable again (!!), but I just remembered that they have to wire the house-which means digging a hole for the wire which will be hard in the ice..grrr..right now I'll just pretend like it's happening!