Tuesday, January 30, 2007

I really love my family

I love my husband. He is the hardest worker I know and he complains less than anyone I know. Maybe to a fault. His knee is bothering him but he mentions it so rarely that I forget. I need to get him in with a doctor. Anyway, he always works hard but this move has him working EXTRA hard. He is wholly devoted to finishing every last detail with the house, and he also has to work hard outside the house so that he can keep paying the bills. He loves his work and it's a good thing because it's nonstop. Then he gets home and attends to all of the little details that need fixing here. Like last night, I'd mentioned over the last few days a few things that were not working properly and he fixed them all. The dishwasher purrs along now (he even loaded and ran it last night!), he replaced the garbage disposal and fixed the leaks under the sink, and fixed the phone, which placed outgoing calls fine but when someone would call, it would ring once and then hang up. All of that is now fixed!

I love my children. They can push my buttons like no one else can, but they are also dearer to me than anyone else (outside of Alif). They are every one of them so smart and so kind. Every one of them seeks out ways to make the others happy. Today Malachi came up the stairs as I was putting Graham & Caris down for nap/quiet time and said, "Can I give Graham this calculator for quiet time?" Just this morning they were in a yelling battle over that calculator, and here big brother is ready to just willingly give it over - and his Pixter too. They do things like this all day long for each other, and I tend to focus more on the times they are yelling or crying. I need to focus more on the bulk of the time when they are offering themselves to one another in love!

In pregnancy news, well, there's no news. HA! Sharon calls every few days to check in and I really like that. Last night while I was watching TV I had sharp, shooting pain in my cervix that made me rear up from my seat. VERY uncomfortable - no, downright painful. *Today* I'm uncomfortable. LOL My back and legs hurt and I'm just all-around uncomfortable. I think I'm allowed to just blatantly complain like that at almost 40 weeks (tomorrow) pregnant.

I am so, so, so loving being in our new home!! We are *this close* to being totally unpacked (got the dining room done last night) and my cleaning schedule is working out really well. It's hard to say how it will all be with a new baby in the house, but with only a room or two a day to focus on I think it will go fine. I have been caught up on laundry since we moved in and that alone is a big help. It requires diligence, both washing and putting away daily, at least a couple of loads (usually about 4 though) but it's so nice always having something to wear and never looking at piles of laundry on the floor.

Monday, January 29, 2007

2 more days!

I can't believe it, I'm only 2 days from my due date! Wouldn't it be fun to know exactly when he plans to make his big arrival? Alas, I'll just have to wait and wonder. My midwife came today and everything still looks great. He's very low and she said his head feels tiny. LOL! I guess he may take after Alif and Malachi in that regard??

We have been in the house nearly two weeks, and I'd say we're nearly settled too. Alif is continually fixing/finishing little details here and there. Right now he's getting his garage all organized, a big passion for him. ;-) I'm almost done with the unpacking too. I can't wait till there's not a single box left. LOL The kitchen and dining room are in a perpetual mess with the boxes and not really having places to put things, so I'd really like to get that resolved in the next couple of days.

So that's about it. No baby, working on the house . . . that's life these days! Oh! We did get back to our schoolwork last week. Phonics only but we did it every day, and this week I added math. Yay us!

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

It's a Yay kind of day!

I have been so bummed about the Consumer Reports car seat report, which implied that the SafeSeat I wanted was NOT so safe after all. Well, I do not like any of the Snugrides that they suggest but figured I'd better pick one anyway. Well guess what? CR pulled their report! WOO HOO! I had so hoped their report/testing was flawed in some way and apparently it was! Now I can get the darling seat I want and not feel guilty about it. :-P

Yesterday I got the master bedroom completed - no more boxes. Yay! The kitchen is totally stressing me out as the storage is a lot more limited than I thought at first glance. I guess I either need to pare down on what I am keeping or figure out a way to store everything, huh? It will be a happy day when every single box is unpacked. The boys' room is close to being finished, there are quite a few boxes in the kitchen and a few in the dining room. We've been here one week so I guess it's time to step it up and get us completely settled.

Last night I was thinking that I should set my alarm for 7:00. I'm almost always awake before then but I have been dozing until 7:30 or 8 the last few days just because of going to bed later than usual and not sleeping well. Well, no need - our neighbor's dogs bark every morning when she lets them out and today it was at about 6:15. I stayed in bed until 7:15 and then got right up and showered. Now that was a nice feeling, leaving my bedroom dressed, made up and hair done. Nice!

The kids & I did a bit of schoolwork today, Alif installed the living room ceiling fan, I filled out our change of address form for the USPS . . . all of these little details. Every day is full of them. It's nice to look back at the end of the day and remember what all got done, but each day feels so full of things still to do. I guess that's good - what sort of day would it be if we had absolutely no purpose in the day? LOL Tonight's American Idol - looking forward to watching that!

Monday, January 22, 2007

We're moved!!

We are officially moved in! Hip hip hooray!! Each day I feel like we're a little more settled, though it's slow-going getting everything unpacked and into a proper place. Only Caris' room is totally box-free. The first couple of days felt so strange and not at all like home, but now it really is starting to feel like ours.

Baby is still hanging out in the womb with 9 days until my due date. I saw the midwife today and everything's perfectly on track. I also got the last of what I need for the actual birth today so I'm feeling a lot more prepared. The baby clothes and diapers are all put in their places and I'll set up the pack & play later today. It's a good feeling having things ready to go! Sharon's home now too so now no date restrictions (LOL, as if there is any control anyway) except not on February 2 or 3 because the midwife has some important things going on those two days. Kind of scary since those days seem like complete fair game, right after my due date!

Yesterday we had a major scare with Caris. Randy & Penny (our old neighbors) were over and Penny, Malachi, Caris & I were on the back porch. Malachi & Caris were playing a tickle game and Caris spun around and fell forward into the frame of the metal security screen. She was crying hard, of course, and I picked her up and comforted her and prayed it was just her lip again (she's hit it 3 times since we moved in, poor thing). It wasn't just her lip. Her top tooth was pushed visibly back and was bleeding. I rushed in to call our family dentist, and they would not see her on an emergency basis since she hasn't been seen in their office yet. Talk about a worried, livid mommy. An hour and a half of calls and crying (and thankfully Caris napping) later, we headed for the emergency room. We waited there so long that the 4:00 appointment with the dentist was at hand, so we left the emergency room and headed over there. Chamil got us in with this office that she works for and it was a complete God-send. They were so kind and wonderful with both Caris and me. The dentist was able to push her tooth forward a little bit but said we basically need to just re-check it in 3 weeks and see how the root is doing. It really got knocked out of place. She really seems to be doing ok, not in pain or anything as long as she doesn't bite down with it, but Mommy's still a little traumatized. She looks really different to me and she hasn't gotten used to speaking with her teeth that way so she sounds different too.

Well, I keep thinking of things to blog about as the days go on but my online time is really limited. I will stop for now and come back another day. :-)

Monday, January 15, 2007

Going to be MIA

Well, moving day is officially ON for tomorrow! Alif's finishing up the moulding and doing some clean-up. Lynette & I went over and cleaned the kitchen from top to bottom today, and tomorrow I'll do the downstairs bathroom while the guys move stuff over. Alif has ONE friend helping him. I am thinking he's really going to regret not having taken people up on their offers to help. :-( Anyway, though our phone will turn on tomorrow (same number), our DSL won't be on until Thursday, so if I'm MIA it's because of that and hopefully not because I'm in labor!

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Whew!

I took the kids to church tonight while Alif stayed at the new house and worked on the crown & base moulding. During worship I got a little nauseous, so I sat down and was fine. Then at 6:45 I got a contraction. Nothing painful, just tight. Thought nothing of it. Until they kept coming, every 3-5 minutes. Just after 7 I got up and got the kids from their classes and headed home. I figured if this was labor, I didn't want to take any chances that I might be driving home in active labor. I got home and called LaMonica, Alif, Lynette and my Mom and told them all what was going on. They kept coming just as often, and the last couple were slightly stronger but still not at all painful. Well, thank God, the last one came at 7:58 and then they stopped. It's 10:04 now and I'm not having any at all. I couldn't imagine what a bummer that would be to have him TWO DAYS before our planned move date! LOL The good thing about it is that I got a lot of housecleaning done. I looked around at the moving messes (boxes piled high, stacked against the walls etc.) and just daily stuff and thought - well, if I AM going to have him tonight, at least the house can be as clean as I can get it. Caris & I got the front bathroom totally clean, then I put the kids to bed and cleaned the kitchen, living room, swept the house and in the meantime did 5 loads of laundry. Not bad for a couple hours' work. LOL

And in (even MORE) house news, the kids & I moved the kitties over today! Thankfully, they were both out soaking up sunshine this afternoon so we caught them without too much hassle. CC really did NOT like that AT ALL but at least I can rest easy tonight knowing that neither one of them is out in the freezing (literally) cold. They're safely in Alif's cozy office with their bed, food, water and a litter box. Hooray! Also Caris & I cleaned the master bathroom at the new house today. It felt great getting that done!! The only other real cleaning to do before we move in is the downstairs bathroom and the kitchen. BTW it is funny calling the upstairs bathroom the "master bathroom" because it's *tiny*. It's in the master bedroom though, so master bathroom it is. I have to say that once I got in there it really did seem a lot bigger than I'd given it credit for. It's small, but it's bigger than the shower bathroom we have at this house, so yay for that. And it has a really big medicine cabinet/mirror and the under-sink storage will hold cleaning supplies, toilet paper etc. just fine. We'll just keep our towels in the closet in our bedroom, no big deal.

Alright, I guess I will wind down and head off to bed now.

Ohhh! I'm so excited!!

The kids & I just went over to the new house to have lunch with Alif. It was the first time I'd seen the floors finished, since we had to stay away while he was in the midst of that process. Oh my goooosh, it looks SO GOOD!! My husband is the most talented man I know when it comes to home repairs! I am so impressed with the work he has done! Not only do the floors look awesome, but the white base moulding makes the walls look more like the taupe I'd hoped they would look like - that contrast just really helps bring out the wall color. I am so happy!! Somehow with the floors all finished it's much easier to visualize what the house will look like with our own things in there. It will be so much fun to arrange all the rooms. The only thing I'm concerned about is Caris & the baby's room - I'd planned to put their beds (well, bed and crib, for now) against the far walls, parallel to one another, but that would put baby's crib right next to mini-blinds, which wouldn't be safe. We'll just have to get all the furniture in there and play with it, see what will work. How very, very exciting this is!

TWO days!

Seriously, two days till move day. Wow! The floors have been finished for a couple of days, and yesterday Alif painted all the doors, crown moulding and base moulding and started installing it. Today I'm going to go buy some litter & a litter box and try to capture our stubborn kitties and put them in the downstairs over there. Yesterday I packed three boxes, and I have one started so far today. Lots to do!

Thursday, January 11, 2007

5 days

Our move-in date has been moved to next Tuesday, but even still, that's just 5 days away. House progress is good! Alif's almost done with the floors. Tomorrow they'll be finished and then we'll give them a day to dry before walking on them.

As for packing, my friend Liz came over and helped me pack and move the kitchen a few days ago, and that kicked my heinie *big time*. I had absolutely excruciating back pain all the rest of the day, to the point that I literally could hardly walk by bedtime, and the first time I woke up to use the restroom, I cried because it hurt so much to turn over. The next morning it was just as bad until I took a shower, then it started to get better. Now it's back to its normal painful but not a huge problem state.

I am back and forth between feeling at peace and totally anxious about when this baby is going to come. The earliest I've ever been was a week early, but each baby has their own time frame, you know? Last night while I was watching TV I was having quite a few contractions - nothing painful, but I was just thinking, maaaaan please don't come right *now*! The house is messy, half of our baby stuff is at the new house . . . Also Sharon (our Bradley teacher) will be out of town on the 16th - 22nd and I'd really like to have her there, so I am hoping he doesn't come then either. Any time after the 22nd would be fine though - we'll be in the new house and ready. My birth kit came the other day and that was a relief! I need to make a list of people to call when it's time, and put the midwife's phone number in my cell phone in case I realize I'm in labor while I'm out and about. If my labor is anywhere near as fast as it was with Caris, we'll have no time to spare. I hope I go into labor while I'm at home.

Sunday, January 07, 2007

Darn the pee

Caris wears a pull-up at nighttime and just now (7:27 am) she came up to me, gave me a hug, then felt her pull-up. In a disappointed voice she said, "ohhh, I peed it. I didn't want to pee it . . . " and ran off to throw it away. Poor her! LOL

Saturday, January 06, 2007

One week and counting

We're one week away from our planned move-in date. Alif completely redid the staircase and it looks amazing. Last night and today he's finishing up sanding, and hopefully tonight he can put down the first coat of varnish. It's all coming together!

Yesterday the kids & I packed up the boys' entire room and moved it over - everything except their furniture and clothes. It was a lot of work but we were sure proud of ourselves when we were done, and it will be so nice for them to start out with such a well-organized room! We're working on Caris' room today and hopefully will get her stuff moved over this afternoon.

We had Alia's Birthday party earlier today. It was a lot of fun and I have to admit that my favorite part was the buffet food at the pizza place. They have a salad bar, amazing pizza (I had garlic pesto, garlic & olive oil, and alfredo) and a pasta and dessert bar. Mmmm. Mid-party Caris & I left to pick up some boxes from my Mom's house. We went back and spent about another hour. It was so neat to me to see how independent the boys have gotten. They're old enough now that they can go get their own food and drinks and even go to the game area without us right there with them. That's a definite plus to their growing!

So this afternoon we'll move stuff over and also go over to Fred & Juanita's to celebrate Yuri's Birthday. Busy day!

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

I was tagged by Tammy

Name three things:

* that you had hanging on your tree:
candy canes
ornaments
lights

* that you’ve eaten / drunk lots of:
Water
Peppermint ice cream
Oranges

* that you said most often this Christmas
"Can you believe God sent his son for US?"
"Any news about Megan?"
"I'm so tired."

* that you heard most often this Christmas
"can I have a candy cane?"
"when are we getting our tree?"
"it's only xx many days until Christmas!"

* that you’ll *never* do again
Be pregnant at Christmastime
Be apart from my sister when one of us is having a baby - I hope!
Not save money - I want to be able to buy things guilt-free!

* that you didn’t do this year but hope to do next year
Have a Christmas party with our friends
Decorate the house right after Graham's Birthday
Do more Christmas crafts/activities

* favourite presents this year
Nursing bras from Alif
Make-up and fun goodies from Mom
Baby money from Dad

* that you’re glad you didn’t get for Christmas
a cold
a premature baby
food poisoning
I asked Caris and she said, "Peanuts, 'cuz I'm allergic to peanuts" What a smart girl!

36-week prenatal



LaMonica came over for my 36-week checkup today. I gained two pounds in the last two weeks, which puts me two pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight. He's measuring a little big this week - she said she would guess him around 7 pounds already! Woah babuy. She also said that she's going to talk to Sharon about being her assistant for my birth, which would absolutely thrill me. I love Sharon and would hire her as my doula if I could, but I can't afford it. Also she lives about 5 minutes away from me, so I love the idea of her being able to get here so quickly.

Monday, January 01, 2007

House update

I'm sure it's soooo exciting to read about every little thing going on at my new house. LOL! Alif sanded the bedrooms yesterday, and today he is laying the new floor in the living, dining room and hallway. Maybe he'll even be totally finished sanding by the end of the day!! Yay!