#19

No picture yet, but a new little niece arrived yesterday. Karee & Dave welcomed Jocelyn Sara(h?) at 7 pounds 9 ounces. Unfortunately my plan to have our baby on the same day they had theirs didn't pan out. I keep trying to go into labor but it just isn't happening! I tried to explain to the doctor last week that I really needed to be induced on the 29th so that Karee & I could deliver on the same day, but he didn't seem convinced that it was a good idea.

We have another dr. appt. tomorrow. I think I'll just send Jerel to this one and I'll stay home. When I go, they just tell me everything looks the same as last time, so I don't see why I should bother with going since it just makes me cranky. Or I guess I should say crankier, since my baseline mood is currently pretty cranky to start with.

On Saturday Jerel and I went to one of those little community events where they check to see if your carseat is installed properly. The best part was at the end when the top-level carseat inspector was trying to tell Jerel that he needed to change how tilted the seat was. Jerel explained that if he did what she said it would make the carseat level worse (as indicated by the little bubble level on the side) and she said "No, you're not understanding what I'm saying" and he tried his best to be patient as he rolled his eyes and said "No, you're not understanding what I'm saying." It turns out my backseat is designed weirdly but in the end everyone agreed that the carseat would be fine.

After that we went to Babies R Us to pick up the things we still needed from our registry. It was not all that fun. It didn't help that Jerel hadn't eaten. I kept reminding him that only one of us could be cranky and since I am 9 months pregnant I have dibs, but he still thought he could be cranky as well. My favorite part was about an hour into the shopping when I asked what was wrong with him and he said "Ugh. My back hurts, my feet hurt..." and I thought "Hm. That's how I've been feeling for SIX MONTHS NOW!" In the end we both survived and I think we have most of what we need now. We treated ourselves to a late lunch at Olive Garden on the way home and then the whole drive home I kept thinking about how weird it was that we have a carseat in our car and a shopping bag with diapers and pacifiers and such.

Jerel's Custom Nursery, Part III

Yesterday I finally finished Jerel's customized crib bedding set. I think it turned out pretty cute. The monkey is my favorite. I had fun figuring out how to quilt it. I haven't done a whole lot of machine quilting before but I think it turned out okay. I did a criss-cross design on the wide border, horizontal stripes on the squares with plants, and a meandering pattern (or "squiggles" as Jerel calls them) on the squares with animals.

At our dr. appt. last week he told us that if I showed any signs of labor ever coming by this week then he would consider scheduling me for inducement on July 2nd. I was hopeful and July 2nd didn't sound too far away. But then at our appt. yesterday there were NO signs of this baby ever coming out. I wasn't surprised by that, but it was definitely disappointing. The fun and excitement of pregnancy has worn out its welcome and I'm ready for it to end! So now the dr. says that if by next week there are any signs of labor then he might consider inducing me on the 10th of July...the 10th? Jeez, that's like 6 months from now! And probably next week there still won't be any signs anyway! I think what is going to happen is that instead of having my baby at the same time as Karee (she's getting induced on the 29th) I will end up having my baby at the same time as Mandy & Jake (they are due in September). But at least I'm not frustrated and whiney about it, right?

After the appointment Jerel offerred to take me to Dairy Queen, which I definitely needed since I was on the verge of tears. Then when we got home he put the tv on Discovery Health Channel (which I'm addicted to and he hates) for me and that was a good distraction. We finished out the evening watching So You Think You Can Dance and then it was off to bed for me and Charlie.

Even more ice cream...

There are two more birthdays in my Primary class next week. I figured since someday I might actually go into labor I should make sure these two cuties got their ice cream date in advance. They decided on Cold Stone. Maddi went for plain chocolate and Aria got Cotton Candy ice cream with gummy bears mixed in...it looked horrible to me, but she seemed to enjoy it! On the way home they decided next year for their birthdays they'd like me to take them to get ice cream in Tillamook. I mean I'm a pretty cool Primary teacher, but an hour and a half drive each way seems like a bit much for ice cream!

Boring Post--Not Worth Reading

Don't say I didn't warn you! Seriously, I'm not working anymore and have nothing to do besides lay around waiting for Charlie to come! So yesterday I got to work redesigning the layout of our fridge. Those of you who are long-time readers know that I previously asked all family members to stop procreating because we didn't have any more fridge space for nieces/nephews (as you can see from the picture on the left the fridge is full). Despite our kind requests, there are currently two more nieces on the way, so a new design was necessary.

Now instead of 8" x 8" each, the kids only have 6" x 5 3/8" each. It definitely limits the number of pictures of each kid, but it had to be done. (Jerel suggested we go back to his design from before our marriage--meaning only having pictures of HIS nieces and nephews and leaving mine out, but that is not an option!) Anyway, the new layout has a spot for each kid we know about and allows room for 7 more. After that we'll have to draw the line. We happen to have 7 siblings between the two of us, so that gives each one one more kid. If you are in that group and want to have more than that, please contact my sister Tab. She isn't planning to have any more and I bet she'd be willing to negotiate a deal for her spot!

Anyway, we sure do love our nieces and nephews. They are just hilarious all the time and we wish we could see them all more often!

Remember back when I was a contributing member of society?

Last week at my doctor appointment I had gained 4 pounds but my tummy measurement hadn't changed. A quick peek at my ankles confirmed where all those pounds had gone so the doctor told me it was time to stop working. I ended up having just 2 weeks to train my replacement at work instead of the 3 or 4 weeks we were planning on, but it seems to have worked out. He calls me at home occasionally with questions and that makes me feel smart & useful even though I just lay on the couch lamenting the fact that daytime tv is really boring.

My last day at work was last Friday. Friday was also Linda's birthday. She is one of those people who is so nice you want to hate her for it, but you can't because she's so sincere. She's worked at New Season Foods for 35 years or something like that. She was one of my very favorites because not only did she have a great personality, but she was very meticulous about turning in receipts and everyone knows receipts are the way to an accountant's heart! Anyway, it was her birthday so they told me that morning they were surprising her with a birthday party at 3 o'clock that afternoon. Everytime I saw her I had to hide my silly grin about the surprise, and to make it even more exciting I would only talk about it in a whisper even though she works on a different floor from me and wouldn't have heard anyway.

So come 3 o'clock we all headed down for Linda's party. It was so cute, they had lots of presents and two cakes and after a minute I realized all the gift bags were blue and there was a stork on one of the cakes. Like for a baby, which is a weird choice for a birthday party. I am a little slow I guess. We did have cake and sing for her birthday, but it was mostly a baby shower for ME! I was so surprised! We even played some baby shower games. It was a great end to my last day at work!

I kept my hard hat just in case I need it. You can see the sticker on it designates me as a member of the Safety Committee and I'm delighted to announce that the committee has agreed to let Charlie be the safety mascot when he comes along...I actually really will miss this job. It's been my best accounting job since graduating, mostly because the maintenance manager frequently brought me maple bars, but also because it was low-stress and I worked with a great group of people.

Jerel's Custom Nursery, Part II

Today I finished Jerel's crib bumper. I actually finished it twice today, but the first time all the animals were upside down...so I tore that out and got them right-side up the second time. It fits quite nicely in the crib. Someday we might even get a mattress for the crib, I think Charlie would appreciate that. Of course he probably won't be able to sleep anyway because he will be spending so much time looking at his fabulous bumper.

One of these days we should get around to buying the rest of the stuff we need. For example, I've heard we may need a couple of diapers. I suppose since the due date is just 16 days away we are kind of running out of time. I think it hasn't hit me yet. I remember waaaaay back when Jerel and I got engaged. After a couple of months I was used to thinking of myself as being engaged and then a bit later it sort of hit me "Oh. That means I'm getting married..." and that seemed like a whole new thing to adjust to. So now, after 8 1/2 months I'm pretty used to the fact that I'm pregnant, but the idea that I will eventually have an actual human being baby has not yet sunk in.

Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are!

 That's what I tell Charlie all the time. I tap on my tummy and let him know he can come on out anytime now. I think after I fall asleep at night Jerel tells him to stay in as long as possible and Jerel seems to have more influence than me.

On Saturday we picked up the crib. We ordered it months ago and when Jerel called last week to see why it wasn't here they told him him it would be a couple more months before it came. They were nice about it and said they'd give us a different crib to use in the mean time, but I found it very annoying. I only had about 24 hours to be super annoyed though because they called the next day to tell us it was in & we could pick it up anytime. I think they may need to check on their scheduling estimates: that'll be here in either 8 weeks OR 1 day. Seems like a big range to me.

Anyway, we picked it up Saturday morning and got it into the house in time to be only 20 minutes late to meeting my parents for lunch...oops. It was a busy, busy day & tough to squish in everything that needed to be done. After lunch my mom and I went to my baby shower. When I got home from that Jerel was in the middle of assembling the crib and it's just beautiful! Not in a girly way of course, but in a boyish manly sort of way...Now that we have it I can finish up the bumper and get the skirt made. I will feel better once we actually have a place to put Charlie if he ever decides to come out.

Charlie is already spoiled!

Yesterday my friend Erika had a baby shower for me. They pulled off a darling western/cowboy theme and lots of people came so that made it lots of fun! I guess most people out there are nicer than me...when I get invitations to things like that I rarely even consider going, even when it is someone I'm really close to. Those types of get-togethers are just so, uh, social and require talking to people and such. I just do much better in small groups I guess. Anyway, apparently the people we invited are not as selfish as me because lots of them showed up! There were several people from my ward, some who used to be in the ward before the boundary change, some who used to be in the ward before the other boundary change, my mom, some from my old job at the book publisher, some from my old job teaching gymnastics, but none from my current job...what does that mean? Does it take a while to recover from me or something? Probably!

We spent some time just chatting and eating, then went around the room for introductions, then opened some presents. There was definitely way too much attention on me, that's for sure! Then some of the moms tried to give reassuring advice like "don't worry, when it's your own baby the diapers really don't seem to smell as bad" but the honest moms would shake their heads to let me know my kids' diapers will be just as bad as any other.

Anyway, Charlie gots lots of great gifts. Now he just needs to come on out and enjoy them!

I've lost another body part...

The first thing to go, several months ago, was my waist. I guess it didn't actually go away it just got big enough to be unrecognizable. For your entertainment I just measured it and it's at around 43 inches or so. (To avoid obnoxious comments from my brother, I'll clarify right now that that is significantly larger than my pre-pregnancy waist measurement.)

The next thing I lost was my brain. Not all of it, but the part that's in charge of short-term memory and the part that's in charge of thinking of words. My boss has told me several times I need to start carrying around a tape recorder since I apparently never remember anything he tells me. And when I can't think of words I just make up my own, like "topstairs" instead of "upstairs." It seems to be working out okay.

This week I lost another body part and this one was a bit unexpected for me. I'm not sure why it surprised me. I guess I always just thought pregnant women were exaggerating. Anyway, I no longer have ankles. Instead I have a fat roll at the bottom of each leg where my ankles used to be. It's really quite unattractive. You know how on normal people's legs the leg tapers down from the calf to the foot? No tapering here! It's just a straight puffy leg with a puffy foot stuck on the bottom. It came on over the course of just a couple of days and shows no signs of letting up. I bought a pair of sandals in a size bigger than I normally wear and in a wide width. I can get those on in the morning, but if I take them off there's no hope of getting them back on. I went to a shoe store yesterday to see if I could pick up a pair of flip flops or something but I can't get them on.

28 more days...

More Ice Cream!

We had another birthday in my Primary class--this time it was the twins, Jessica & Joshua. They decided to go to "that Robin place" which we determined was Baskin Robbins. Josh only agreed to go there after I assured him he could get plain ice cream with nothing in it...I guess he's a little bit like Jerel in that way. The whole thing made me wish I understood how kids' brains work. While we were eating our ice cream Joshua said he had something really important to tell me. (He says this with ice cream all over his face because he wants to eat the waffle cone last so he has to put his whole face in it to get to the ice cream at the bottom.) So he says "Sister Atkinson, if for some reason you ever have your whole head in a bucket of pudding you want to be really careful not to breathe in through your nose." He makes a good point, but seriously--where do things like that come from?