Owen, that's not where the baby is.

Imagine my astonishment when my 2 1/2-year-old, Owen, leaned over one night last week and gave me a kiss, smack on the boob. I was so taken aback by this gesture that I just stared at him for a good 30 seconds or so. Until he started to pat my boob. I took his sweet little hand in my hand and asked him in a very loving tone: "Owen, what are you doing buddy?" And his response was: "I was kissing the baby!"

Okay, well, that's pretty damn adorable. And I can understand why he thought that... lump... would be the baby. So we had a little anatomy lesson about where exactly the baby is (complete with kisses to my belly). I still can't stop laughing about it, though. Thank god he didn't do that in public - I would have died.

I think Owen really gets it now, though. He will, totally at random, tell people that he's going to have a little sister. Which is so emmer-effing cute. He also, though, thinks that he too has a baby in his tummy. He will argue with me for extended periods of time that he does, in fact, have a tiny person living in his little buddha belly. It's also a girl, apparently. And he has named her: Thomas.

He has also taken to kissing my belly multiple times a day. I'm pretty sure this is mostly because he likes the reaction it gets out of me (big grin, hugs, kisses to his little blonde head) rather than his deep-seated feelings of love for his unborn sibling. But I'll take it.

For those wondering, my back is still hurting me off and on since the weekend. I haven't gotten a call from the doctor about any of the test results, yet, so I'm planning on checking in with them when I go in for my progesterone shot tomorrow. The fact that it comes and goes so randomly is leading me to believe it is NOT a kidney infection, but rather a mild case of hydronephrosis due to the location and weight of the baby. Laying on my left side seems to help immensely, so whenever I do start to get that oh-so-fun feeling of someone punching me in the kidney, I can lay down and it usually goes away pretty quick. So. Could be worse.

This week I am very thankful that the new house has central air-conditioning - something we've never had before. It's amazing how quickly something can spoil you. Stay cool!

Dear new neighbors, you're welcome.

Our old house had a window in the bathroom that was made of that texturized privacy glass - so we always left the curtain up, because you couldn't see through it at all (even though I know it still weirded out my mom, who always pulled the roman shade down). I mean, it was a bathroom, of course it was not glass you could see through. Who would put glass that you could actually see through in a bathroom?

The people who we bought our house from, that's who.

Eric was out back talking on his phone, so he was standing right by where the bathroom window is. When he came in he looked at me and said: "You know, I think you can see right into our shower - while I was outside I could read all the labels on the shampoo bottles stacked along the window." As you'll recall from my post about my fabulous new bathroom, there is a window in the shower that is all glass block.

It's new, and it's nice. And when you look through it everything seems all blurry, so I just assumed (yep, I know) that it was privacy block. So after Eric's revelation I made him stand in the shower while I went outside and looked from the backyard. And, well, there he was. Standing in the shower. Waving at me. I mean, it's definitely not like a clear pane window, things are a little blurry. But not blurry enough. I could see him pretty damn clearly. Which means that we've been putting on a show for our neighbors for the last 4 days now. You're welcome.

So we're going to put in a tiny little curtain rod in the window frame and curtain that just covers the bottom half of the window, and therefore, covers us. I love the window and all the light it lets in. And I love the beautiful white tile. I'm not going to cover that whole wall with another shower curtain.

Mostly I'm just glad Eric made this revelation before one of us took a shower while we had company over in our backyard or something. The only people who would have seen us thus far are the neighbors behind and to the left of us, as the house right behind us is currently empty.

Thank you, previous homeowners, for yet another weird thing you did to this cool old house.

Also, I'm thinking I should change the name of this blog. It's turned into a hodgepodge of home improvement stories, toddler stories, and bed-rest stories. Because, despite being on bed-rest, I got a lot going on... Stay tuned...

Hooray for your disability!

My short-term disability FINALLY got approved last Friday (man, the insurance companies really don't want to have to pay people to NOT work), and one of my cousins wrote me a note that said: "Hooray for your disability!" And I have been cracking up about it ever since. Cause, clearly she isn't excited that I am, in fact, basically disabled. But rather for the fact that for the first time in nearly 7 weeks I should, in the near future, be receiving some fraction of a paycheck. Phew. It's been rough, and our poor, already sad savings account has taken a beating, what with the move on top of things. But we're confident we'll find out way back to a good, stable place. Eventually.

Our appointment today with Trish the midwife was great - thanks for all the well wishes from everyone! My glucose tolerance test came back negative - no diabetes! But they want to recheck me again in a month. Fun. I also learned that the genetic screening I had done also came back negative, so I can rest a little easier about some of the scarier baby concerns like Downs and neural tube problems. (Note: I opted out of that screening when I was pregnant with Owen and several times had seriously convinced myself that something horrible could be wrong - so this was more of a sanity-saving move for me than anything else).

I'm measuring at almost 28, so a little higher than my 26 weeks, but she was thrilled with the growth and said everything was great. She also walked us through all the notes from the specialist from my ultrasound appointment last week. It was very reassuring to hear that she didn't note anything abnormal with my amniotic fluid, other than there was one somewhat-large pocket of fluid. She put "Normal" in that category, which was a relief to me. I need to be better about listening to the doctors when they say everything is fine, rather than running home to Google the possible, potential negative outcomes of a possible, potential, yet un-diagnosed issue. It's a problem.

In house news, my latest obsession is what to do with this weird "shrine hole" in the wall in our dining room. It looks like this:

Many people are speculating about the shrine hole. Both about what it was originally intended for, and what we should do with it. We are pretty sure it was put there to hold some sort of Virgin Mary statue, or one of my aunts suggested it would be a good place for holy water? Cause in the 20s every house needed a religious shelf in the dining room? I don't know. I actually find it kind-of charming, and think it would be a great place to put one of my little Pewabic vases with some flowers. Except that it is RIGHT at Owen height, so, we can't put anything valuable or breakable there. For now, Buddha is doing a good job of representing in the space. But his head is just a tad too small for that big opening.

I'm thinking some other, larger Buddha would be pretty cool there, though. Or a photo of some sort? Or a candle? We shall see...

A finished bathroom - and a kid who will hopefully start using it soon.

Here is a picture of what the bathroom looked like when we bought the house. The photo doesn't do justice to the work that was needed. The shower liner was installed wrong and had drywall dust leaking out from under it. The ceiling paint was cracked and peeling. And the trim was just... dirty and not painted well and not really symmetrical (didn't line up well with the tub/shower).

And here are some photos of what the bathroom looks like today. Beautifully tiled and trimmed out (in large part by my dad), a fresh coat of primer and paint on the walls and trim, new showerhead and faucet, and my lovely Pottery Barn shower curtain. I couldn't be happier about it. Now we just need to make the bathroom upstairs in our master bedroom look this nice :)

Speaking of bathrooms, here's a photo of Owen in his big-boy underwear (dear future, grown-up Owen, I am sorry. Love, mom.).

(Cute photo of Owen in his big boy Thomas underwear was deleted due to it coming up on a creepy German search. Sad. And disturbing).

We are starting to experiment, on the weekends, with the big-boy underwear. It went pretty well on Saturday. One small accident that was caught and solved on the potty before it got ugly. Apparently having Thomas the Tank Engine on your butt makes going to the potty that much cooler. Who knew?

Tomorrow is my appointment with Trish, our midwife. Eric gets to go with me tomorrow, too, which will be nice - it's been a while since he's gotten to go to an appointment and listen to the baby and talk with Trish. We'll get the results of the glucose tolerance test tomorrow probably, too. I don't know what I want the results to say. This whole "excess amniotic fluid" thing can actually be cause for concern as it can indicate some serious issues with the baby, so part of me is actually hoping(?) that I DO have gestational diabetes, because at least that is something treatable and manageable. I should mention, again, that my doctors aren't too concerned about this at all, yet. It's that damn Dr. Google that is getting me all worked up. I need some sort of internet monitor that automatically shuts down Chrome whenever I try to Google a medical question. It's seriously not healthy. More tomorrow...

WTF is an English Houthouse Cucumber.

It's this, apparently.

And according to BabyCenter.com, this is how long baby girl is this week (at 26 weeks) - about 14 inches. I'm thinking she's probably not quite this skinny, though.

She's making me a really happy camper the last 24 hours though as she has FINALLY flipped over so her feet are up. I can't even tell you what a relief this is. Now all those sweet little kicks (that felt like daggers before), are way up in my side, not right onto my lady parts and bladder. It may not sound like a big deal, but I slept SO good last night, and have felt much more comfortable all day today because of it.

Eric is cranking away on the bathroom today - it's PAINTED! He just needs to paint the door and we'll be almost good to go. It will be nice to have two whole completed rooms (Owen's is done as of this morning - thanks Dad for hanging his curtains and finishing his bookshelf!).

Tonight I have some big plans for me and Amazon OnDemand. Eric and Owen (and the rest of my family) will be at my brother's big ski-jump tournament out at Groveland Oaks. I'm SO SAD to be missing it, but am sending lots of love and good, smooth-event vibes to PJ and all the other participants and organizers. I'm excited to see who will be crowned this year's King of Darkness!

Weakling.

When I first went on bed rest, nearly 8 weeks ago (wow), my midwife told me that I'd likely become pretty weak, due to my muscles actually atrophying from my not regularly using them. I was also told that this happens pretty fast - within a matter of weeks of being on bed rest. She told me to lift weights while laying on the couch, and even to do some leg lifts and other basic strengthening exercises with an exercise band. I admit to only doing these exercises a few times, and rather half-heartedly, thinking I moved enough that I'd be fine.

Wrong.

Yesterday I had my appointment for the glucose tolerance test, and with the way the morning worked out (Eric being gone and my having to be available for the plumber who was in our house), I ended up having to get ready in about 45 minutes. Normally if I have an appointment, I get ready over the course of the morning. Get up to get some breakfast, put my contacts in. Get up to use the bathroom, brush my hair and teeth. Get up to get more water, put on a little make-up, etc. But yesterday I had to shower, dry my hair, get dressed and put on make-up all in about 45 minutes. And, let me tell you, it totally and completely wiped me OUT. I couldn't believe it. I actually had to sit down on the couch for a few minutes before leaving the house to get a little strength back and not feel so wobbly on my apparently now muscle-less legs.

Even getting Owen ready for bed on the nights I help out by getting on his pajamas and sitting in his room to read some stories, I'm finding myself to be ready for bed myself by the time he goes to sleep.

Needless to say, it's starting to freak me out. So I've decided to make a point to use the exercise band DAILY to try and regain some muscle mass in my arms and legs. I worry not only about being strong enough for labor and delivery of this baby, but about being strong enough to actually hold her for extended periods of time once she arrives.

In terms of the house, poor Eric keeps finding little things around here that are sucking up all of his time. Today he was set to prime the bathroom, only to find out that the door had been painted over on top of varnish, and the paint was just peeling off. So instead of priming the bathroom, he had to spend a couple good hours today scraping paint off the door so he can do all the priming. However, last night he successfully (with Owen's help, of course), installed a new faucet in the kitchen! The one that was there was leaking and pretty unattractive, so we splurged on a new one (hey, just add it to my tab Home Depot). Owen got a kick out of helping dad with this project, wielding his plastic screwdriver and using it to fix (bang on) everything he could reach. He was more than a little excited to be given the task of handing dad his wrenches, too. I've got such hard-working boys!

Buhjighetty.

That sums up how I'm feeling these last few days. If you're unfamiliar with the term, we define it as follows:

"buh-jiggety": a feeling of unease and/or anxiousness, jittery, uncomfortable

I think Owen's face here, taken the day after we moved into the house, sums it up:

That being said - we have MOVED! I don't know how we did it, actually. It was pretty miraculous to watch, from the couch. We had Troy XC runner boys, a fellow XC coach, friends and family all working their butts off moving everything we own. When you have that much help, it really is amazing how quickly your house can be emptied.

I don't have photos of the new house just yet - maybe within a week or so. Right now everything is still in boxes all over the place, so it's just going to depress me to take photos of all that. We're hopeful that the living room will come together in the next week (furniture to be assembled, window trim to finish painting, curtains to hang). Owen's room should be done by the weekend - we just need to hang a few things on the wall and he'll be all set.

Eric and I are living on the mattress (still) on the floor of what will be the baby's room, surrounded completely by boxes of our clothes. It's easier right now for me to be on the main floor, and it will make it easier for Eric to paint the upstairs before we move up there closer to my due date. However, we need to somehow get some of these clothes put away, as I can't stand to live out of boxes for much longer!

I am absolutely in LOVE with the greyish/blue color we picked for the walls in the living room/dining room. Thanks again to everyone who was over here furiously painting in the week or two leading up to the move.

We are also in love with our new front porch. I think this will be our main hang-out area once we're settled, and once we have realized my vision (cast iron cafe chairs/table, painted front door, painted porch ceiling and concrete, maybe a rocking chair). In fact, the three of us sat out there last night for a few minutes to take in the lovely evening breeze, blow some bubbles, and have a beer (Eric, of course).

The sun hits the porch all along one side as it sets - it really is quite lovely. I anticipate lots of coffee-drinking, book reading and beer-sipping to be done over the next several years on this porch.

I am doing my best to cope with a house full of boxes and about 12 different to-do lists that I want to tackle, but can't. Eric is doing a fantastic job of tackling one project at a time, and I can't wait to see it all come together over the summer.

In baby news, I had that awful Glucose Tolerance test today. Where they make you drink, very quickly, a big glass of something that I would describe as a combination of Caro Syrup and the lemon/lime flavor of Sprite. Think Sprite, but with a much higher viscosity and 20x the sugar. Gross. And then they make you wait around an hour and then take your blood to see how your body reacted to all that sugar. It left me with a stomach ache and a really nasty taste in my mouth. So fingers crossed that test comes back negative and I do NOT have to deal with gestational diabetes...

More house/baby news and photos soon! Thanks again to everyone who helped with the move!

Blah doctors visit.

Today's appointment with the maternal/fetal specialist was... okay. It would appear that I lost a few millimeters of cervical length, and am measuring right around 2cm (I think she said 1.95. I was about 2.3 at my last appointment). She also mentioned that my cervix had thinned (?) all the way down to the stitch, meaning that there isn't much between the stitch and the baby - and without the stitch, we'd have been in a world of trouble by now. I put a question mark above because I'm not sure if that's the proper terminology. I tend to not really "hear" everything the doctor always says to me - I'm too concerned with trying to figure out if it's good or bad news. She didn't seem overly concerned with any of this, though, and indicated that I should keep doing (not doing) what I'm doing (not doing). So I am going to be on my best bedrest behavior this weekend and try to delegate all the moving tasks from my couch.

There was also some very technical conversation between the ultrasound tech and the doctor about the "excess amniotic fluid" I seem to be carrying around. She explained to me that this is often a sign of gestational diabetes (seriously?). However, she also said it could just be a fluke. She suggested I move up my GD test (haha, that can certainly be taken a few ways), to sometime next week, rather than waiting for when I had it scheduled a couple weeks from now. So I'll be doing that next Wednesday. Wouldn't it figure? To have to deal with that on top of everything else? It would.

The ultrasound room today didn't have the monitor up on the wall like they usually do, so I didn't get to see most of the scanning (which took a while, as they were taking all the baby's measurements again). I did get to see her a bit at the end, though, and was told that all her measurements are right on track. And the ultrasound tech confirmed what I already knew to be true - that she is lodged waaaay down low, feet down, back out (facing in). So basically every kick is right on top of my cervix and bladder, which is super uncomfortable. It took me hours to fall asleep the other night, and I finally only did so propped up with 2 pillows under my hips to get her to slide up higher in my belly and stop with the incessant kicking! Man, it's weird having a little person dancing around in your stomach.

In totally unrelated news, I cannot stop eating nectarines. I don't even know where they're in season right now, but they are SO good. Thanks to the hubby for running out last night to pick up some more, and a few other goodies (Mexicali dip, I just can't quit you) to get me through the next few days.

I probably won't post over the weekend, as I think it's going to be CHAOS with the move. But will put up some photos and a summary post on Monday. Thanks in advance to our friends and family who will be helping us out this weekend!

Fortune cookie wisdom.

Here is my fortune by way of cookie from our China Ruby carry-out last night. I think it's a pretty good one, so far as fortune cookie fortunes go. I mean. You can't, technically, prepare for the unexpected, because, well, it's unexpected. But I think it's a good mindset to have, to basically be ready to handle anything that comes your way, whether you've planned for it or not. Story of my life, right?

That being said, I stopped by (real quick-like) the new house today after my weekly progesterone shot appointment (the new house is about a mile down the road from my midwife's office - SCORE). And I might have had a mini panic attack, standing in the dining room, tools everywhere, drywall patched holes in the walls, drywall and plaster dust all over the floors, etc. The last time I was there, I remember feeling like: okay, all we need is a little paint, and some new fixtures, and we're good to go. But now it's like, an actual renovation project in progress. And we move in 4 days.

But then I walked into Owen's room, and looked at the new cool paint on the walls (like a pebble-gray), and pictured his big-boy bed with the Thomas bedding, his firetruck toy chest, and the shelves my dad built on the wall holding all of his toys. And then I walked into the baby's room, and pictured the crib I'm soon to order, the antique dresser I'm going to paint for her, and the beautiful faux crystal chandelier I want to hang from her ceiling. And it occurred to me, as it often does, that you could throw me in a one-bedroom apartment with my family, and not only would we find a way to make it work - but we'd be happy. Would I like to live in a half-million-dollar, ready to move into, beautiful, perfect dream house? Yes. But I guarantee you that this house, in its quaint little neighborhood, that we've already begun pouring our love and sweat into before we've even moved in, will be equally as full of good times and happiness and love as any other place we could be. And if it isn't perfect for the first several months because there's just so much to do and so little time, then so be it. It will get done eventually, and it will be perfect.

And how blessed are we that Eric's last day of school/work is Monday? So after that, he has nothing to do but work on the house. I'm hopeful that the rest of the work will get done MUCH more quickly with Eric being able to dedicate the majority of his time to finishing up all the little (okay some are big) projects and loose ends. Which brings me to another thing I'm thankful for - the fact that Eric and I get to spend the summer together! Granted, I'll be on the couch for most of it, but we'll both be home all summer, and can hopefully get in at least a little bit of quality couple-time before baby #2 arrives!

Laying low.

So I think I maybe over-did it this weekend. I mean. I didn't too too much, but I maybe wasn't laying down as much as I should have been? Anyway, the last couple of days I've been having some lower back pain, and have been contracting a bit more than usual. I'm not really panicked about it, as it's nothing consistent or painful - just uncomfortable and unnerving. The rule of thumb from my doctors is if I have more than 4 contractions an hour, for more than 2 hours, that don't subside with laying down and drinking copious amounts of water, then I should go in and get checked out. I'm nowhere near that, but I would say I have been having contractions maybe once an hour on average. I think a lot of it has to do with how active the baby has been in the past few days, too. Sometimes a really swift kick will set off a contraction, it seems (which just happened, as I was typing that very sentence!). I had a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions with Owen, so I wasn't surprised when I started to really feel them around 20 weeks. But given my situation, it's something I need to keep a close eye on.

So it would be fitting that the week before the big move is the week I feel like I should do nothing but rest. Assuming everything is fine (appointment is Friday morning), I hope to at least help a little bit with the move - even if to just sit around the new house and direct people on what to do and where to put things!

Luckily Eric has some good help lined up this week for painting, and I have some good help lined up around here. Kristie is coming out tonight to hang with me and Owen, and my parents and Grandma are coming for a visit tomorrow night. Thursday night Owen is with my parents, who will bring him back out on Friday night, at which point we'll take the first trailer-load of stuff over to the new house!

Oh, also, Eric got his cast off already! The doctor said with the break in the location it was, he didn't need to keep the cast on - instead he just has his two fingers taped together and was told "not to lift anything heavy." Ha. Figures. But at least the cast is off. After him working at the house and running with it on for a week, it was so stinky I was about to rip it off myself. Gross.

I need. I want. I gotta have.

A blog I subscribe to recently had a post titled "Things I'm currently obsessed with." I thought, since I'm currently obsessed with LOTS of things, I'd share some of them here on this blog. As everyone knows, I'm home, on my couch or bed, all day long. This leaves a lot of loooong hours to ceaselessly search the internet for many items needed for our new home. And with the move a week away, some of that searching has turned more serious, and I'm trying to narrow down items to actually purchase. My top 10 current obsessions:

1. Chandeliers and lighting. I need 3 new wall sconces for the living room and want a coordinating chandelier for the dining room. I am currently obsessed with these:http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053&R=100050123&catEntryId=100050123 and the matching chancelier. I love the antique-y shabby-chic look of them, as everything else I've seen looks too "modern" for me. They are just a wee bit more than we wanted to spend, though. But we'll see. Surprisingly Eric likes them, too. I will also definitely be ordering this for baby girl's room:http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&productId=202184534&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&MERCH=REC-_-product-1-_-100665765-_-202184534-_-N&locStoreNum=2757#BVRRWidgetID. What? Too cute.

2. Toddler bedding. Move to the new house also equals move to a big-boy bed for Owen. Thomas bedding or Cars bedding (despite my always having been opposed to "character" themed rooms). I think Thomas is going to win out - mostly because of the awesome matching wall decals I found that I want to put in frames around his room.

3. China cabinets/buffets: With the itty-bitty kitchen in the new house, we are looking for a nice hutch of some kind for the dining room to store our large assortment of wine glasses, fancy coffee cups, tea cups and saucers, etc. I have my eye on a few antique cabinets, but they're just not quite what I'm looking for... If only I could spend a weekend scouring antique stores!

4. This Web site: http://www.shoedazzle.com/. I have yet to buy anything from it, so I can't attest to quality, but I'm intrigued by the cute styles I've seen thus far, and the fact that everything on the site is $39.99.

5. Sookie Stackhouse novels. As I've mentioned several times. Can't put them down. On book 5.

6. This diaper bag. Which will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine.http://www.gogagalife.com/slide.aspx

7. Any type of Italian food. Lasagna, spaghetti, ravioli, GARLIC BREAD, the cheesier the better (says the former vegan).

8. Mocha coconut frappuccinos.

9. Damn You Auto Correct. Although sometimes I have to stop reading it because I'm laughing so hard I'm afraid I'll go into labor. http://www.damnyouautocorrect.com/

10. My next doctor's appointment. Friday. 9 a.m.

Major milestone: 24 weeks.

Apparently when you're a high-risk pregnancy, 24 weeks is a really important milestone. At 24 weeks, a baby is able to survive outside the womb, should it be born prematurely. However, a 24-week baby is not going to be a healthy baby, and is likely going to have a lifetime of health (physical and cognitive) problems, should it survive. I have refused to read in any detail about what any of these problems are, because I don't want to know. And because my baby is hanging out just FINE in there, and is not going to be born at 24 weeks (although today starts the paranoia that will lead up to my next appointment on Friday). So while it's a significant milestone to the doctors, I'm treating this week just like any other week of my pregnancy. For me the big milestone will be 30 weeks, where the baby has a MUCH better chance of survival, and when the risks for certain problems (like cerebral palsy, etc.) associated with premature birth tend to drop significantly. At 34 weeks I'll be golden, since that's when Owen was born, and I know I can handle that. (The goal, obviously, is to make it to 40 weeks).

This week BabyCenter.com tells me this little girl is a foot long! And I have to share the link below showing the picture for this week, because I guarantee you that is exactly how she is situated in there. I was woken up at least 4 times last night due to very forceful kicks right to the bladder, which she is happily sitting on top of.

http://www.babycenter.com/fetal-development-images-24-weeks

And a big shout out this weekend to Kristie and Larry, Sue, Charlie and my dad, all of whom are either at one of the houses right now, or have been in the last couple days. Today folks are hauling away the old brick retaining wall, finishing up the tiling project in the main bathroom, and... painting! I'm hoping to maybe make a REAL quick appearance over there today or tomorrow to at least see how the paint colors I picked actually look on the walls. It's so weird to not be a part of all that's going on over there. But I'll be there soon - we move a week from tomorrow!

Also, a giant thanks to Uncle Greg and Aunt Bonnie for the amazing gourmet meal that was delivered (by cousin Lauren) to our house last night. We feasted on eggplant parmesan, fresh roasted vegetables and a giant slice of raspberry lemon cake. And I happily opened the bottle of wine they got us, having about 1/4 of a glass with my dinner, and it was... divine. Thank you!

New yarn for new baby.

My yarn from Lion Brand arrived today, and I started on my latest project, which will be a blanket for the baby's crib! It's a very dusty rosey pink that will match the crib sheets I ordered from Pottery Barn. Its funny, the differences between what you do in preparation for baby #1 vs. baby #2. Baby #1 got a ridiculously expensive convertible crib from the fancy baby furniture store. He also got a refurbished dresser and a new separate changing table for the nursery. I also registered for a complete bedding set with sheets, quilt, dust ruffle and bumper, with coordinating curtains and lamp for the nursery. Baby #2 will be getting a crib from Target (that looks identical to Owen's fancy crib). She'll also be using the old antique dresser in my basement that I'm going to paint white and put a changing pad on top of so it can do double-duty as a changing table. And instead of a full bedding set, she gets a beautiful sheet from Pottery Barn, and a blanket I'm going to make for her (vs. the $300 full bedding set from Pottery Barn). And Aunt Sue is going to sew a coordinating dust ruffle for the crib. And I couldn't be happier about all of it. I think the old-school furniture and handmade accessories are much more my style anyway.

The blanket is a new pattern I've never made before - I'll post pics when it's all done!

Hot dog.

Hudson and I hung out in our bedroom all day today. It's the only place in the house with air-conditioning, and it was (still is?) 97 degrees out today. I think when you're a furry black dog, it's probably unbearably hot, so I welcomed Hudson onto the bed with me, where he could feel the breeze from the A/C all day. Since we've moved our mattress to the floor after the sale of our bedroom furniture, Hudson thinks our bed is the worlds biggest dog bed anyway, so he was in heaven.

The bummer of it is, if I wasn't pregnant, I'd be outside lounging in this heat. I really don't mind it. I find it soothing to just sit and, well, sweat in the humid sauna that is Michigan in the summer. But it's too hot out for it to really be safe for the baby, given that my temperature would probably rise pretty quickly if I were lounging around in this heat. So instead we settled for a day in bed, reading vampire novels and watching lots of Netflix.

Also, good news today on the new house front! After a nice phone conversation with the Planning and Building director today, he told me we were good to go to move into our new house next weekend (the 18th/19th), despite everything on the city's punch list not being done. We just have to give him a call when we do finish everything so he can come out for the final inspection (I told him maybe a month or so). Phew. That's a pretty big weight lifted off our shoulders, as the move is a week and a half away! Despite that, and despite this heat, my dad and cousin Charlie are over there right now, scraping old paint and finishing up the tile in the bathroom. I will say, once again, that we are truly blessed to have such great friends and family helping us with everything from making dinners to tiling a bathroom. We've got a long list of people who are going to have some seriously good karma stocked up by the time this summer is over. We love you ALL.

Jailbreak.

It's 90 degrees in metro Detroit. Before this morning I had 2 maternity t-shirts and one tank top, both of which are dirty. Owen has 2 pairs of shorts and 3-4 t-shirts we've been washing every other day. He came home yesterday in his "spare" daycare clothes, which consisted of warm winter-months pants. I felt awful. We clearly needed a few things. So I did something I probably shouldn't have done, and made a VERY quick trip to Target. I was in and out in less than 20 minutes. Grabbed a few tops for me (didn't even try them on), and grabbed a summer's worth of clothes (complete with a new Lightening McQueen bathing suit) for Owen. I walked verrrry slowly through the store (to the chagrin of a few shoppers who sped around me - who is in such a hurry at the Madison Heights Target on a Tuesday morning?), and didn't do any other browsing of any kind (which, if you know me, is pretty much a Target Miracle). I felt anxious and guilty the whole time, my head full of thoughts of: "What if something happens to the baby, all because I needed a new tank top? I should have ordered Owen some clothes online. I should be riding around in one of those power scooter things with the basket attached to them..." etc. I even got a little light-headed towards the end of my quick trip and had to grab a Sprite from the refrigerator at the register to cool off and calm down. Yikes.

But things appear to be fine. I have been laying down since the second I walked in the door a few hours ago. Baby girl is kicking me so violently today that I put the TV remote on my belly to watch it jump around and she managed to kick it right off. Pretty impressive. And now at least Owen and I can survive this early summer heat wave with some summer duds. Now I just need someone to come over and wash them for me!

What else ya got? Bring it.

Apparently the gods decided Eric and I needed just a few more things to contend with in the coming weeks. Me being on bed rest and us trying to fix up and move into our new house just weren't enough.

Here is a lovely visual of what happened to Eric today.

While working with an electric saw over at the new house, the saw got stuck, jammed, and then jammed Eric's hand into the window sill, causing a nice fracture that caused him to spend his afternoon in the ER getting a x-rays and a cast. On his right hand. Yes, he is right-handed.

Oh and this morning a saw-stand in his car was pushed into his windshield, cracking it pretty much all the way across. Which means we need a new windshield in the immediate future.

I've often been told by people that I have this crazy ability to always maintain an "even keel" in the face of adversity. And I do think that overall, I handle things pretty well. Which is why when Eric walked into the house after all of this happened, I took one look at his casted hand and we both just started cracking UP. What else can you do? We have SO much to do in the next few weeks and now we are BOTH pretty much incapacitated. I already have in a few calls to see if we can't hire out the painting of the house. And we have someone coming out Tuesday to look at the retaining wall and glass block window projects. My dad is AWESOME and is totally doing all the tiling in the bathroom and helping with the window locks. So. We'll do what we can, and pay people to do the rest!

And to the gods we say: What else ya got for us? Bring it! We can totally handle it. I think.

Ain't it Grand.

So I was feeling pretty good after that great doctor's visit yesterday. And I've REALLY been wanting to eat a meal OUT of my house. And Owen was at my parents last night. So I convinced Eric (well, it didn't take much convincing) to take me up to the culinary delight that is Grand Azteca for a quick dinner last night. I picked the Azteca because 1. this baby likes Mexican food, and 2. because, like most Mexican restaurants, the food comes out in like, 5 minutes, so I knew it would be a quick meal and I could then get back to my couch. And man, it was GOOD. It would have been even better if I had been able to have a giant beer like Eric (seen above, enjoying his very "tall" Dos Equis). But just to get out of the house for a little bit and eat in a restaurant just me and the hubby was treat enough.

I also want to thank my Fat Nana Pat (she's not really fat), and my Aunt Jan for basically packing my entire kitchen yesterday (and bringing me amazing greek salad and breadsticks from Milford House for lunch). One room down, the rest of the house to go!

Glamour Shots!

Thanks again to everyone for all the notes and well wishes for my appointment this morning. It went really well - PHEW. I'm measuring about 2.3, which is even better than the last appointment. The doctor was so pleased that she didn't even do a full exam (what a nice treat!).

The ultrasound technicians at the Henry Ford Hospital in West Bloomfield are seriously fantastic. Despite the fact that things were running behind schedule (as they always seem to be in the high-risk maternal/fetal medicine office), the tech today decided that this baby was in such a great position and cooperating so nicely that it would be "fun" to take a few extra minutes and get some 3D shots of her. It makes such a difference when doctors and hospital staff are so kind and personable and go the extra mile because they know it will make your day. And while I've always been a little weirded-out by 3D ultrasound images, and the shot is a little blurry, it was watching it live on the screen that was pretty spectacular. I might have even shed an involuntary tear at the sheer awesomeness of it. Or the tear could have been for the baby, who looks like she is going to probably have my giant McMillan nose Sorry baby. :)

The glory of Hot Pepper Thai.

My friend Stephanie brought me my all-time favorite lunch today from Hot Pepper Thai restaurant in Waterford. Number 3 (vegetables and tofu in red curry sauce), no mushrooms, add broccoli, mild (sometimes mild-plus if I'm feeling like a little spice). I generally either go to the restaurant with my brother or coworkers once a week (where I don't even have to order, they know my "usual"), or I call it in as carry out to eat at my desk, and before I can even finish placing the order or giving them my name, the girl will say "Hi Melissa, it will be ready in 15 minutes." While I was still at work and pregnant, I ate there twice a week a few times. It's that good. I mean, it's nothing spectacular to look at - its a tiny little restaurant in a strip mall in Waterford. But man they make a mean curry sauce.

I meant to take a picture of this glorious meal, but I ate it too fast. :) Thanks Stephanie!