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  • Notes For A Lazy Monday

    Hi friends! I am loving this long weekend, how about you? If you have to work today, I am sincerely sorry. I understand though; I used to have to work every other weekend and most holidays. I love my new schedule! Anyway, here are a few things buzzing around in my head today.

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    The Bachelorette Recap & Review

    My brother is one of the main contributors to the blog ApeDonkey (I have no idea why it’s called that), which features mostly TV reviews. Since it’s only guys writing the blog they tend to feature masculine shows. I asked him jokingly if he was going to recap The Bachelorette this season, and he in all seriousness suggested that I do so. And because I don’t have anything else going on in my life right now, I said yes. I’m not ashamed to admit that I quite enjoy this show despite its ridiculousness and cheese factor. Anyway, I watched the season premiere late so my first recap is just now up. Read it and comment please! It was my first attempt at writing a TV show review, so hopefully I’ll improve throughout the season. :)

    Reading Challenge

    Here’s yet another thing that I’m taking on this summer: Ashley’s Infinite Jest in a summer challenge! I love read-a-longs and book challenges, and after reading the summary and reviews of Infinite Jest (apparently it’s kind of a modern classic) I decided that it’s something I’m definitely interested in. Although the book is 1000+ pages long, we’re reading it all summer which boils down to about 15 pages a day. I think I can do that! I’ve purchased it for my Sony Reader so I don’t have to lug around such a fat volume, and we start reading June 1st. Visit Ashley’s blog if you want to participate!

    Nursery Progress

    This weekend we finished painting the nursery, installed new blinds, and put all the furniture together. It’s starting to actually look like a baby’s room now! There is still a lot of work to be done: put up curtains, repaint an old rocking chair, obtain crib bedding, put up wall decorations, and organize. But still, it’s exciting.

    Call For Blog Ideas

    I feel like I’ve been neglecting this blog a little bit, and although I’ve sort of done it on purpose because it can’t be my priority right now, I’ve been brainstorming ways to put some fresh life into it and keep it fun. One thing I love in other blogs are recurring features or series of posts. I’ve got a few ideas in mind, but I was wondering, what are your favorites? My goal is to use my weekend downtime to get 2-3 posts scheduled for each week, and if I have some features planned it’ll be easier to meet that.

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    Thanks y’all! Enjoy the rest of your holiday, and I hope your week goes by fast!

  • Ten on Tuesday: Photo Edition

    This week’s Ten on Tuesday, hosted by Chelsea, is a photo edition of household things. It was easy and fun, although slightly embarrassing.

    1. Your favorite piece of furniture in your home

    Honestly my favorite piece of furniture is probably our mattress because it feels amazing, but that’s boring. This table is next because I got it at an antique shop, I think it’s cute and has character, and it’s one of the main hubs of our home. My husband hates it because it’s small, wobbles a bit, and is scratched up, but I don’t care!

    2. Your favorite thing on your wall

    This is pathetic because I actually only have two things hung on our walls so far: this tiny gallery of random things with two empty frames (found in our “library”), and three bamboo plates hung up in the breakfast nook.

    3. Your bed as it looks right now

    I used to be a diligent bed maker, but now my husband wakes up after I do, and I refuse to fight that battle. I sleep on the left side, and you can see my pregnancy pillow there with another pillow to prop up my head because of The Heartburn. Also, please note that our room has not been painted or decorated in any way since we moved in.

    4. Your pantry

    It’s not ultra organized, but it has method to it. Snacks on the bottom shelf, dry goods on the middle, and baking supplies on the top.

    5. Your favorite piece of jewelry

    I’m cheating here. There is of course my wedding & engagement ring. The delicate choker is what I wear every single day, and it’s from Jeneri Jewelry. The granny square necklace I won in a giveaway online. It has different colors on the back and, not being a huge jewelry person, it’s a perfect something extra.

    6. Your favorite book

    I should really have a better copy than this movie edition. Oh well.

    7. Your most comfortable shirt

    If you’ve known me for any length of time, you probably recognize this shirt because I’ve worn it so much. It’s perfect.

    8. Your messiest room

    This is the room where everything goes that doesn’t have a home. Right now it even has painting supplies in it! Eventually it will be a pleasant multi-purpose room, but now it’s just disorganized.

    9. Your house shoes

    On the left we have the sandals I wear basically all the time right now other than for work because they are so comfortable and supportive. In the middle is an example of some soft socks that I wear around the house rather than shoes if it’s cold, and on the right are my winter slippers.

    10. Yourself

    I took this right after work yesterday. Hi!

  • post weekend thoughts

    When people ask me when I’m due, I’m so used to responding, “In July, so I’ve still got a ways to go.” But now when I tell them July they say, “That’s not very far away!” And oh my goodness, it’s not. In just a little more than three months, we should have a baby in the house. I just cannot imagine it.

    Not a free day until the end of the month!

    There’s so much still that I want to get done before that time, but one of my best friends recently reminded me that getting ready for a baby isn’t like planning a wedding. If you don’t finish everything in time, you can get to it afterward. I’m trying to remember that, because my life is kind of booked right now. In addition to 11-12 hours of being gone for work every day, I have Bible study on Tuesdays, childbirth classes on Wednesdays, and youth group on Thursdays – every week. I have monthly book club and craft club meetings, church commitments, and family gatherings. I’m trying not to abandon the things I love like blogging and keeping up with friends, reading, and a few select TV shows. All of this, except for the childbirth classes, doesn’t include any sort of baby preparation at all.

    Saturdays have recently turned into work days around the house. With the help of our parents and siblings, we’ve made a big dent in the painting. My dad helped change out a couple more light fixtures, and I’m even working on hanging some mirrors and art on the walls. A vision for the nursery is slowly starting to form in my mind. In two weeks we’re having company for a few days, so the guest room and bathroom are going to get whipped into shape.

    The breakfast nook. I like it.

    This weekend I also managed to repaint my toenails, have dinner and game night with some couples from church, visit my dog Cleo at my parents’ house (and came away with a few original paintings by my grandfather), wrangle our mentally disturbed dog Eddie who will not let us sleep OMG, do a little shopping for the guest room, and watch some of the Master’s while catching up on blogs.

    When I look at my calendar and I think about my to-do list, I have no idea how I’m going to make it. One day at a time, I suppose!

  • there’s no normal life, wyatt. it’s just life.

    That’s a quote from Tombstone, in case you were wondering, and in case you were wondering, Tombstone is one of my all-time favorite movies. Anyway.

    I’m checking in to give you a general update on my life, since it doesn’t seem that I’ve done that for awhile. Some things have been happening and I’d love your feedback.

    Pregnancy & Health

    Since my hospital visit a couple weeks ago, I’ve had a bit of a rough time. It took me a week and a half to recover from my cold, and during that time I had absolutely no energy. I just barely started feeling good again this week, and now for two days I’ve had a sore throat that won’t go away. I’m really hoping it doesn’t develop into something more, or my immune system and I are going to have words.

    On top of that, I’ve had some pretty killer back pain. For awhile I had a pulled muscle near one of my shoulder blades, and that was just miserable. But thanks to Epsom salt baths, a massage, Icy Hot, and patience, that has healed up. What I have now is constant pain around my ribs on the left back side that wraps around to the front. Usually it is a dull ache but occasionally it becomes quite sharp. No idea what’s causing this, but as uncomfortable as it is, it is better than the pulled muscle.

    I can feel Meredith moving lots now, and she’s strong enough at times that my husband and family have been able to feel her too. This is really special, because I feel like she’s my little buddy, keeping me company throughout the day.

    More detailed pregnancy updates to come next week after I see my doctor again!

    My view looking down

    Dogs

    Oliver has been so good for over a month now that we really don’t want to give him away. Cleo has been doing fine at my parents’ house, but we are contemplating bringing her home for a visit to see how she and Oliver interact because we miss her a lot (even though I do visit frequently).

    Strangely, Eddie has been the problem child lately. She is ten years old and has been extremely attached to David since she was a puppy. She’s always been prone to anxiety, but it usually comes out during thunderstorms or when the dishwasher is running. Nowadays she’s the only one out and about in the house during the day since Cleo is gone and we keep Oliver in his crate.

    For the past couple of weeks we have noticed things being disturbed in the house, until finally Eddie became downright destructive. She went in David’s closet and completely tore up all the carpet including the foam underneath, spreading it all across our room. We took her to the vet, who said she appears very healthy (bloodwork was normal too) and he believes she is suffering separation anxiety because she senses changes in the family. I don’t know if it’s because she’s lonely during the day without Cleo, if she senses I’m pregnant and is worried, or what. We have her on anti-anxiety medication now, but she is still very needy and driving us just a little bit crazy.

    This is what a crybaby looks like

    Home Improvement

    We finally started working on the house again! Last weekend a bunch of my family came over to help paint. There are several rooms plus a hallway including all the trim, doors, and ceilings to do, so it’s quite a project. So far we’ve completely done the front entryway and the guest room minus the trim and door. We also installed a new light fixture in the entryway. Eventually I’ll get around to hanging art, getting a console table, and retiling, but painting is job #1 for now.

    The current state of the entryway

    Things are up and down around here, but we’re making it!

  • pregnancy to-do list

    In my last post I talked about how I really haven’t done anything yet to prepare for the arrival of a newborn other than try to fully enjoy  myself to the max. I don’t regret taking the time to do this one single bit, but I’m approaching the midway point of my pregnancy and, let’s face it, there is a lot to be done whether I want to do it or not.

    So I got to thinking that it might help me to write down an overview of things I need to do in the next 4-5 months. I don’t want to get into specifics yet, but I also don’t want to forget anything. Here’s what I’ve got so far.

    Sooner…

    >Find a home for Oliver. This is the biggest cloud hanging over my head right now. We’ve decided not to keep our dog Oliver because he just doesn’t get along with other dogs. He has fought with 5 different dogs, in different places, and he has fought with our dog Cleo several times, the last time producing quite a deep wound. On his own, he’s a sweet, loving pet. We shipped our other dogs off to our parents’ house for a week and we found that out. We wish we had the time and resources to train him, but in our current situation it’s too overwhelming for us, and too scary to keep him around our other dogs with a baby in the house.

    >Finish painting the house. Originally I wanted to furnish and decorate the rest of the house as well, but I know that’s not going to happen. Painting, though, is a hassle that I want to complete. I have plenty of help from my family and friends, it’s just finding time to actually do it that is the problem. There are several rooms, a hallway, plus all the trim and doors to do.

    >Start childbirth classes and formulate a birth plan. Since I’ve decided to do my best to have a natural childbirth, I know I need a lot of preparation. We settled on the Bradley Method classes, and I found an instructor in my area and signed up. The classes are 8 weeks long covering 12 weeks’ worth of material, and they start March 30. From what I hear, they cover everything from natural childbirth to breastfeeding to infant care.

    >Start attending La Leche League meetings. I really want breastfeeding to work out, and I’m at least going to give it the best possible chance, so I need to be informed. I have a friend who’s really involved with La Leche League, and I want to start attending meetings with her soon.

    >Meet with my doula. I’m lucky to have a friend who is completing her doula training and she’ll have her certification by the time my due date rolls around. I want to get together with her soon to get advice, recommendations, and to discuss my situation and desires in more detail.

    At some point…

    >Get our carpet replaced. This is an expense I’d rather skip, but the future nursery used to be the dogs’ room of choice to have all of their “accidents.” We’ve since kept that room closed off, but not only are there stains galore but it smells. The rest of the carpet is stained too, as well as chewed and eaten in some places.

    >Create a nursery. This is obvious, but it still has to get done. I see so many nurseries that I love, but I need to figure out what kind of style will flow best with the rest of our house.

    >Register, have showers, & stock up on supplies. I’m a little bit terrified of this whole process, but kind of excited, too.

    >Choose a name. Right now we have several boy names that we like, because we just cannot fathom having a girl. Even after we find out (next week!) what we’re having, though, I don’t know if I’ll be able to commit to a name until the last minute. It’s so much pressure!

    >Read up on childbirth and parenting. So far on my list: Creating Your Birth Plan by Marsden Wagner, Nurtureshock by Po Bronson, The Birth Book and The Baby Book both by Dr. William Sears. Any others along the same lines that I’m missing?

    >Make a post-baby budget. I’m dreading this and will probably continue to put it off until I can’t anymore.

    >Take a short vacation or two. I can’t go crazy with my days off since I’m trying to save them up for maternity leave, but one of my best friends & her family are coming to stay with us in April for a long weekend and I’m looking forward to a couple extra days off to be with them. My husband and I are also planning on taking a long weekend trip this spring to visit my uncle & aunt in South Carolina.

    >Figure out maternity leave. This is really just a matter of talking to my manager. It shouldn’t be a big deal because she’s very supportive and just had a baby last year herself. I think I get six weeks plus whatever PTO I’ve managed to save up, but I’m not sure of the details and at what rate I’ll get paid.

    >Hammer out childcare details. I’m SO lucky that my mom has decided to retire and stay home to take care of our baby once I go back to work. We’ll be paying her, but it won’t be near as expensive as daycare and I hope it’ll be a little easier leaving the babe with her.

    Later…

    >Book photographer (maternity & birth). My friend Cio has agreed to be our birth photographer. I know it might be hard to coordinate since she lives a couple hours away and births don’t always happen at convenient times, but I really hope it works out!

    >Prepare birth details: phone tree, hospital bag, plans for dogs, birthday cake. Not gonna worry about this for awhile, shouldn’t be too difficult.

    >Pick out and prepare birth announcements. It’d be nice to get as much of this done as possible ahead of time, anyway.

    >Last minute stuff: go to the spa, have the house cleaned, stock up frozen meals. All very important things, am I right?

    So tell me, is there anything else I should add to the list? (Please don’t tell me I’m missing something major. Well, DO, but I just hope that I’m not.) Anything on the list that isn’t really necessary? Help me!