Due Date

Today's the due date. And like the last three books that I borrowed from the library, Jonas is going to be over due. Dr M has ordered an ultrasound for Thursday so he can gage Jonas' weight. Then I have another appointment on Friday. As in May. As in a whole other month. I can't believe I'm going to have to go through another major sporting event like this. See, I get wrapped up in the comptetition, and my heart pounds and I hold my breath, neither of which are good for the baby. This Saturday is the Greatest Two Minutes in Sports. (For those of you not in the know, it's the Kentucky Derby.)

Unfortunately there has already been a horse put down. Horse A tossed his jockey and ran wild....ran wild right into Horse B's ass and side, knocking down Horse A, Horse B, and Horse B's jockey. (I don't remember the horses' names.) They had to put down Horse B. Horse B's jockey has a broken foot.

My mother-in-law got here Thursday evening. It's been great. I've never had the chance to spend this much one-on-one time with her. Plus she's spoiling Jason and me by cooking and cleaning. She has whipped the nursery into shape. All we're missing right now is the crib.....and the baby.

Is It Time Yet????

Much to my dismay, the answer is NO. I'm still just 2 cm dilated. Jonas has definitely dropped. If I ever get pics put up on Kodak, you can see the difference in my belly height between my baby shower and Megan's baby shower, which was yesterday. I knit her the cutest yellow baby sweater. I followed Elizabeth Zimmermann's pithy directions for the February Baby Sweater Knit on Two Needles, Practically Seamless. (Note to my knitting readers, if you don't own EZ's Knitters Almanac, run (or type) to the store immediately and buy a copy. My copy is a Dover Publication and only cost $7.95, so there is no excuse not to have this book!) I found the cutest little, square black buttons in Mom's button drawer, and I have to say the sweater turned out to be one of my all-time favorite creations. I was sorely tempted to keep it!

Since I'm home all day or nearly all day, why don't I blog/Facebook/post pics more often? Here's my explanation (besides the fact that most of the time I just don't feel like it anymore)......the desktop computer is in Jason's man-cave which is also where the kitty litter box resides. Needless to say, I don't spend more than 30 seconds at a time in the man-cave. My laptop......well, you kind of need a lap to put the laptop on. Secondly, last year I kind of stepped on the power cord where it attaches to the laptop and broke off the piece that keeps the power cord plugged in so it falls out really easily. But me picking the cord off the floor while also managing the laptop in my not-really-a-lap (and sometimes battling a cat napping on my legs) is not so easy. I suppose we could buy another battery/power cord, but it just seems like such a waste to me when the cord still works (with the exception of staying attached to the laptop). And beyond the computer issues, I have been knitting up a storm. I just finished an awesome striped sock that needs a mate so I can wear them during labor & delivery.

Moving on to less crabbiness.....Kristy P through me a baby shower the Saturday before Easter. She had it at her parents' house, which was great for me because I hadn't been there since high school. Mr & Mrs P remodeled, and the house looks like something out of a magazine without being sterile. I wish I had taken pictures! So Kristy and Jennifer came down from Lexington, and Nita and Tess came up from Nashville. Tess's husband also came for the last part of the shower. I wish Carol Jo and Emily H could have also made it, but I completely understand why they couldn't (CJ had little Olivia to take care of, and Emily H was hosting Easter at her house). It's really awesome to be able to hang out with old friends! There's just something so comfortable about it. So comfortable, in fact, that I busted out the baby belly- pokey belly button, stretch marks, and all.

I've written about half of all the thank you cards, but I've still got more to go. Jonas's bookcase and changing table finally arrived. The bookcase is assembled and in his room, but the changing table was missing some pieces. Vital pieces. As in, Jason couldn't proceed with STEP ONE of the directions without those pieces. Sheesh! The crib is also still in pieces and un-painted. I'm not worried about that, though, since Jonas will be in a bassinet for the first few months.

We got our tax return and finally bought a real couch. Goodbye, futon! (Not goodbye goodbye, just moved to the top floor.) The couch is brown leather and is a dual recliner. We've lusted for months over it. See, when we first lived together, we had an old blue sofa from Jason's dad and the ugly green sofa that Meli and I had in our room at school. Then we bought the world's most uncomfortable contemporary blue sofa and loveseat. The arms on those were shoulder height. We were young and didn't know our style, let alone that we could stretch out on the furniture before we bought it to see if it would be comfy. After a couple of years, I went to World Market and bought a super light weight green sofa. It was nice, at first, but then it quickly molded to the shape of my butt, especially after I quit smoking and spent all day knitting on the sofa. It was never supposed to be a permanent solution anyway. We were just going to use it for a year or so while we found a grown up couch to buy (that was over 5 years ago). During the ice storm, the green sofa was moved out and the futon moved in. What took us so long to buy a new couch??? We couldn't agree on something we both liked! But when we saw our new one, we knew it was for us.

Mom will be spending the days with me until Jonas decides to make his appearance. My mother-in-law is flying in from Texas on Thursday, and she's staying a couple of weeks. I'm really excited about that, since we only get to see her once or twice a year (usually just once). She hasn't been to Kentucky since the wedding. I can't wait for her to see our house. She's seen pictures, of course, but it's not the same. Needless to say, I'll probably be on the computer even less, if that's possible. I will do my best to post all the new pictures to my kodak site before Thursday evening (see older posts for the link and password.)

Cheating

I don't feel like blogging, but I'm getting requests. So I have shamelessly stolen this blog idea from Jennifer. It's a facebook survey. I'm hoping that it will satisfy some readers for a day or so.....

50 random questions...

1. What color is your toothbrush? Purple

2. Name one person who made you smile today: Jason

3. What were you doing at 8 am this morning? Eating breakfast and watching Good Morning America

4, What were you doing 45 minutes ago? Watching Harper's Island with Jason and the cats

5. What is your favorite candy bar? Twix or Kit Kat

6. Have you ever been to a strip club? Yes I have, and it was hilarious!

7. What is the last thing you said aloud? "Damn, that smells really bad!"

8. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Spumoni

9. What was the last thing you had to drink? Water

10. Do you like your wallet? Love it. It matches my diaper bag, too.

11. What was the last thing you ate? a Blimpie's Best sandwich....mmmm

12. Have you bought any new clothing items this week? I'm 38 weeks; i'd have to be crazy to be buying clothes.

13. The last sporting event you watched? The Masters

14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn? Buttered

15. Who is the last person you sent a text message too? Meli

16. Ever go camping? Yes

17. Do you take vitamins daily? Oh yeah....

18. Do you go to church every Sunday? No

19. Do you have a tan? No and proud of it.

20. Do you prefer Chinese food over pizza? Pizza

21. Do you drink your soda with a straw? Sometimes

22. What did your last text message say? I've got to share the whole convo....Me: Omg...michael welch aka mike newton is on csi tonight. Awesome! Meli: ? Me: Mike newton from twilight! Meli: AWESOME! Me: Yeah! He has dk brown hair in the episode. But i recognized him immediately. Meli: Hahaia (I'll say it...we both need a life, and Meli needs a new phone.)

23. What are you doing tomorrow? Maybe trying to figure out where number 24 went to....

25. Look to your left, what do you see? an almost finished project for a baby shower on Sunday (a shower for someone else!)

26. What color is your watch? stainless steel with a little bit of gold

27. What do you think of when you hear Australia? red dirt

29. Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit the drive thru? drive thru

30. What is your favorite number? 9

31. Who's the last person you talked to on the phone? Gina

32. Any plans today? Not really

33. How many states have you lived in? 3

34. Biggest annoyance right now? It's something that needs to stay in my internal dialogue.....

35. Last song listened to? Let It Rock by Kevin Rudolph

36. Can you say the alphabet backwards? Yup.....very slowly though

37. Do you have a maid service clean your house? Yeah, right!

38. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time? Old Navy flipflops. I have to buy 3 or 4 pairs every summer.

39. Are you jealous of anyone? Right now I'm jealous of anyone who can bend over.

40. Is anyone jealous of you? I think my cyber-stalker might be. Otherwise, why did she cyber-stalk me???

41. Do you love anyone? Of course.

42. Do any of your friends have children? Oh yeah.

43. What do you usually do during the day? I don't have a routine right now. I do sleep a lot in small batches.

44. Do you hate anyone that you know right now? As bad as it is, I do. I confessed to Gina earlier today. And no, it's not my cyber-stalker.

45. Do you use the word 'hello' daily? Yes, it's amazing how many phone calls I get for other people during the day. Possibly a future blog item.....

46. What color is your car? Gray

47. Do you like cats? I like my cats.

48. Are you thinking about someone right now? The little booger kicking my ribs.

49. Have you ever been to Six Flags? I've been to Kentucky Kingdom, but I don't know if it was before or after it became a six flags park.

50. How did you get your worst scar? Fell in a river in Cuba and sliced one of my toes

8 Lives Down

I am CRABBY.

I am, of course, having trouble sleeping again. No surprise. That's part of pregnancy.

What isn't part of it, though, is my nearly 13 year old cat waking me up at 5:30 in the morning.

He goes through this morning pest phase every few months or so, and this time I'm on the verge of strangling him. Or suffocating him with my baby bump. It starts off innocently enough at 7:30 in the morning, and then every morning thereafter he acts out earlier and earlier until he gets to 4:30ish in the morning. Then he goes back to acting "normal." He likes to do things like lick plastic bags or rip up paper. What he wants from Jason or me is to be picked up and cuddled, fed, or carried to our bed. (And when I say fed, I mean he wants one of us to stand over him and watch him eat about 5 bites of food.)

Last night I tried to be proactive. I made sure that all the plastic bags, papers, and gift bags were out of his reach. I made sure he still had some food in his bowl. I thought everything would be fine. But nooooo. He found a new trick. At precisely 5:30, I woke up to a Bang and the sounds of foraging and plastic licking. As I stumbled around cussing him out, I found him in the kitchen EATING OUT OF THE GARBAGE CAN.

Somebody will be sleeping behind a locked door far far away from me tonight in order to protect his one remaining life.

Multitasking

I hope it's just because I'm in my 37th week and not a preview of things to come......but I can no longer multitask. I tried to watch Oprah, catch up on my fave blogs, and text Meli all at the same time, and it just wasn't working today. I had to pause Oprah. I'm not complaining about that exactly. I don't really like Oprah, but today's episode is all about moms coming clean with the truth. What I've learned is to keep my expectations low, and I'll be okay. I DVRed it, and I really want Jason to watch it, too, so he can be prepared.

I haven't done anything today besides eat, shower, and knit. I think those were important things to do, though. However, I do need to do laundry and (what's new?) go to the grocery. I put all of that off since it's in the 30s, and I just don't feel like going out. Oh yeah, I can't remember where my sneakers are, and besides them, I can only wear my flip flops. I haven't worn cute shoes in months. Looking forward to doing that again.

Yesterday I packed Jonas's little bag for the hospital, and I got my bag half packed with such important items like underwear, pajamas, and one pair of pants. Maybe once the laundry is done, I'll have some shirts to add to the bag. The nurses might look at me askance if I wear the same shirt the whole time I'm at the hospital.

Well, I have to go. Charlie Gibson is on, and Kimberly is texting......I miss my multitasking skills. *sigh*

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Last week was B-U-S-Y! It was my last week of work so there was a little bit of scrambling at the beginning of the week to make sure all the loose ends were tied up.

Monday night we went to breast feeding class. I'm sure I'll forget everything by the time Jonas makes his debut. Good thing Jason took notes. Too bad he can't do the job for me.

Tuesday night was bunco and my bunco baby shower. Angela made the most divine cake.

Wednesday was my baby shower at work. Do you want to know how much my co-workers love me??? A bunch of them got together (headed by the wonderful Gina) and bought the car seat and stroller that Jason registered for. Woo-hoo!

Thursday during lunch I went with some of the girls to lunch to celebrate Emily's birthday, and then Meli arrived in the evening. We went to my parents' house for dinner. That was laziness on my part- I didn't feel like going to the grocery, and I was sure Meli and Jason would want more for dinner than pb&j.

Friday I got to wear jeans to work on my very last day (as a fundraiser for a co-worker who's husband was recently paralyzed from the neckdown in a work-related accident). It's March Madness so we were also allowed to wear our favorite team's t-shirt or sweatshirt. I wore my Forks Spartans t-shirt. Sure, they're not in the tournament, but what were they going to do? Fire me? I only worked a half day. I took Meli on a tour while I said good byes. If she hadn't been there, I probably would've been bawling my eyes out. I got to sit in the CEO's chair. I swear, if I had his chair, I never would've quit! The saddest part was saying good bye to my boss and handing in my security badge. We both got choked up then.

I wasn't sure what to do with my sudden freedom. We ended up driving to Fort Knox to the Patton Museum. I hadn't been to the museum in a loooong time. Naturally, we forgot to stop at the visitor's center at the main gate to get a map, and then I had Meli turn right towards what I call "downtown Ft Knox" instead of turning left towards the museum. I called Mom, but she was no help with directions. The one thing I was sure I could get to was the shopette on Wilson Rd. I tried asking a group of soldiers for directions, but I believe they were midly retarted. The one closest to me wouldn't look at me at all, had his head turned away from me and everything. The others waited for about a minute, and then said, "Uh....uh.....we haven't been here....uh...very long. We...uh...don't....uh know where anything is." Okay. We thought about asking an MP that was walking into the gas station at the same time as us, but he was in such a rush to get a caffeine buzz he didn't even hold the door open for this very pregnant woman. Thankfully one of the workers had the intelligence and the time to give me directions. He even offered to write them down for me. We finally got to the museum and toured it, and then we had dinner at my parents' house again. And yes, it was mostly because I still didn't feel like shopping.

Saturday Meli and Delayna disappeared to do last minute party planning and to set up the baby shower. Jason and I got our haircut. My stylist flat ironed my hair, which was a total first for me. It's not often that people with stick straight hair come into contact with a flat iron, but my hair looked awesome. And I had a great time at the shower! Then we ate dinner at Abe's on the square, and Meli got to experience her first Tornado Watch! I think she was less than thrilled about that. At least it wasn't a Tornado Warning.....

Sunday we watched Twilight and the special features. We went to Etown but the stores we wanted to go to were closed so we continued on to Louisville. I wanted to get some stuff at Pottery Barn Kids and some edamame at Yang Kee Noodle. (Side note: I always thought it was Yankee Noodle, like Yankee Doodle Dandy.)

Monday morning we ate breakfast at Paula's Hot Biscuit. We now have a tradition of having our picture made with Paula's sign. It was finally sunny so Meli started sanding the dresser while I supervised. I did end up sanding the fronts of the drawers. She put on a layer of primer, and then we went back to Etown. I had some returns to do, and we wanted to go to Fiddlesticks and Super Mommy Superstore. My feet started swelling worse than ever, and my right leg felt really sore. Hmmmm....turns out that the two whitest women in the US didn't have the foresight to put on sunscreen before staying outside for a long time. My feet and right leg were burned, and Meli's forearms were burned. Nothing a small oreo blizzard couldn't mend. Unfortunately, Meli gave up chocolate for Lent and I gave up ice cream........We're a couple of sinners. Don't judge.

Tuesday was rainy again, but somehow Meli managed to get the dresser painted. I finally relented and went to the grocery. I didn't do much that day since I had a new dirty romance novel to read. I pretty much read and knit all day long.

Wednesday morning came much too early, and Meli had to leave. I'm not sure I understand why she can't stay here all the time, and just go visit her husband a couple of times a year. I mean, come on! I've known her way longer than him! I was secretly hoping to go into labor so she wouldn't leave, but that didn't happen. I got the sniffles when she left, and then I took a nap. I definitely felt lonely yesterday. I couldn't wash the baby's clothes, yet, and there isn't much housework that Jason's happy about me doing right now. (Oh, if he only felt that way all the time!)

Today I had a check up with Dr Preen, and I'm happy to report that even though I ate many cakes last week (5) and the blizzard, I mysteriously only gained one pound in the last two weeks. I'm only happy to report that because then I didn't have to come clean with Dr P about all the cake. I'm also happy to report that I'm almost 2 cm dilated. Only 8 more to go! Jason's work baby shower was at noon, and I drove up for that. He works right on the river in downtown Louisville, and it's so easy to get to. (I won't bring up the two traffic violations I commited in sight of a metro police officer since he didn't bring them up with me.) We had pizza (yay!) and chocolate chip cookie cake (yay for J since it's his fave cake). Among other things his co-workers bought him a dude diaper bag. It's nice and manly. So he can carry that, and I'll carry my gigantic Vera Bradley. And for the quick trips, we have a small neutral diaper bag.

More pics will be on the Kodak site soon. See a few blogs back for the link and password. Still haven't figured out the removal of password thingy. I was going to post some pics with this blog, but they are coming out funky so I'll skip that for now.