I've gotta get better at this...

I have become so awful about blogging, and I feel terrible about it, especially since when my favorite blogs don't post for a while I get a little pissy. Yeah, maybe I shouldn't be tossing stones around in this here glass house.

House update: My dishwasher is now hooked up. No more dishpan hands for me, no sirree! Now if I could us get my washer and drier hooked up we'd be in business.

Work Update: We thought we'd be looking at tons of cutbacks, but our districts keep sending us kids and it seems that they will be with us next year, so our budget gap is slowly closing. There will be layoffs, but our supervisor believes that he will be able to hire everyone back before the summer is over. I have seniority over 4 people, so I'm fairly sure that I will not be affected. The other major work related change is that they are taking the 4 high school programs (emotionally disturbed, psych fragile, aspergers, low IQ) and creating one large program. Over the past few years the lines of the programs have blurred so they decided to merge the programs. Should be interesting.

Alexander Update: Alexander is almost 9 months old and is awesome. His 2 bottom teeth are halfway in, and one of his top teeth is just about to break through. He can crawl, get into a sitting position on his own, and get up on his knees when he's in his crib. He is a fabulous little guy!

Hopefully I will be back soon with another post...I will try to be better!

Finally moved!

Finally, finally, finally we are in the house! If you want to remember what it used to look like, here is my old post.

New living room!

New bedroom!

The best new kitchen ever!

Cloud ceiling detail!

I promise to post more pictures, but I wanted to get some posted so there wasn't a huge gap between posts..you know, like I usually do.

Can't Keep Up!

Things are out of hand these days! We still are not completely moved into the house; which reminds me that I have to have a post with pictures of "after" and a link to " before". We're still sleeping at the apartment and I am living out of a 56 gallon plastic container. I have Alexanders clothes on the left hand side of the box and mine on the right. As a result, I have been going to work with clothes that are waaaaaaaaaaaay to small. I'm joking, of course, but I have been going to work looking a bit slovenly. Eh, the weather has been pretty bad, and we don't have a dress code here for staff.

Alexander has been doing well. We've been calling him "Xan the Man" or Xander Salamander for kicks. He seems to like his name and all of his nicknames, including "little Schmoo".

Although I have been incredibly lax about Weight Watchers, I am starting all over now that they have the new Momentum program. It looks promising...only time (and my spare tire) will tell.

Too many things at once!

My head is spinning these days. Alexander is awesome, but is going through some kind of growth spurt and doesn't sleep as well as he usually does...but he still sleeps enough for me to remain sane. Alexander was christened last weekend, and we had a big shindig for him at the yacht club my parents belong to. We have 2 dinners to go to on Thanksgiving. And we are finally moving into the new house this weekend. Plus, I am totally and absolutely broke..mostly due to the party (which was worth every dime). I'm glad we're finally moving because there were a number of double expenses....insurance, rent/mortgage, etc. I will be living paycheck to paycheck until after Christmas, I think...oh well.

Okay...back to work!

an update in bullets

Things here are going along nicely. Alexander is taking a nap and I'm not sure how much longer I've got, so I'm going to do the bulleted list thing. Here goes:

• I'm starting to get itchy when it comes to joining Weight Watchers. I know that this itchiness/motivation will last 3 weeks and then I'll get complacent again. I know this, and I must plan for it. Perhaps I will do points, which I haven't done in years, just to keep myself honest.
• My brothers have decided that Alexanders nickname should be officially "Boom Box"
• I was told by a 6 year old that Alexander has "perfect rock and roll hair"
• Breastfeeding has gotten easier. We're doing about 50% nursing and 50% formula. I nurse first at every feeding and then most of the time he gets formula after...especially at night to help him sleep longer.
• Alexander sleeps a good four hours at a time. During our middle of the night feeding, he falls asleep while feeding, so I don't have an issues getting back to bed myself! Yay for me!
• We are still not in the new house. My new washer and dryer have been delivered and installed. I can not wait to do my own laundry in my brand new LG machines!
• I go back to work Thursday the 18th. Boo! Hiss! Waaaaaaah!!!!

Still stuck on the baby!

Yeah, I am totally stuck on Alexander. It's hard not to talk about him, or post pictures of him. I'm sorry to say that ya'll will have to deal with it for now...sorry.

The little guy is doing well. He's got pretty good sleeping habits, which I'm thankful for although I probably just jinxed myself for tonight, but that's okay. Since the last time I've written, he's had a bath during which he didn't even flinch much less cry, had an ultrasound (a minor kidney thing that in the long run means nothing but they like to monitor it regardless- and by the way, he grew out of it, which is awesome!) which he slept through, he's been to the tea room twice and slept through it. He's awesome.







Reuben seems to be adjusting well. He's interested in Alexander, but not too interested. If Alexander cries at all, no matter how faint, Reuben comes running to assess the situation...and sometimes to lick Alexander's feet...as if that will help things. So far, so good with the baby/dog relationship.

Actually, when we have company over to see the baby, Reuben will sit about 3 feet from the new person holding Alexander and he will stare until he feels that things are A-okay and then he'll go lie on his dog bed...he'll still watch to make sure that the little one is not in danger. It's pretty cool.


And finally, the house is nearly done! We had the last of the contractors in on Friday. I don't know what still needs to be done, and I'm "not allowed" to go and see as Chris wants it to be a surprise since it's been so long since I've gone there. I will be sure to take a gazillion pictures once I do get in there and post them!

No Baby Yet!

Yup...I've got 10 days left until my due date. I'm still hanging strong. Just maxing and relaxing because anything else makes me exhausted. Ah, the joys of pregnancy!

My last doc's appointment was on Tuesday and I'm still 50% effaced and no dilation to speak of. I have my next appointment on Tuesday and I get to go for an ultrasound to check the baby's size and weight. I figure it's an extra opportunity to see the little one, so I figure I might as well go for it. I'm hoping they'll print out a new ultrasound picture....I'm having this one done at a different place, so their answer might be "no", however, my insurance is paying for the damn thing, so I don't see why they wouldn't.

Now for some house details. The kitchen is just awaiting the counter top to be installed with our fancy recessed sink...then the last of the cabinets can go in and the kitchen is done! The major home store that we have been dealing with hired yet another crack team for us...this time it was the wood floor guys who thought it would be cool to put down the new wood floors without adhesive and thereby making our warranty void. Very nice. They were forced to rip it out and the whole thing has to be done again. My mother-in-law has been in contact with said home store and we'll see what happens. It would just be nice to have all of this out of the way before the baby comes. We have the apartment until September 1st, so we have a place to live...I just want Chris to be able to enjoy the new baby and not have to worry about what's going on at the house!

After the wood floors comes the carpeting, but that's minor in comparison to the floors, which once they are delivered have to sit for 72 hours in the house to acclimate. And there might still need to be painting done, but that's being done by my father-in-law who is a professional decorative painter, and we trust him implicitly. It doesn't hurt that he's one of the top in his field in our area to boot!

Still Here!

The Schmoo and I are still occupying the same space, which is cool because I don't have to change diapers and I only have to feed myself. My doctor doesn't think I'm going anywhere this week, so I'm cool with that. I'm not dilated at all, so I'm still floating around the pool, which is my favorite thing to do.

Today is my 35th birthday and my mom took me to one of my favorite places for lunch. Silver Tips Tea Room rocks the house! We had high tea...tea sandwiches, iced chai, a scone, and a slice of cake. Divine!

The house is still under construction and poor Chris is freaking out. He wants the house to be ready to move in to before the baby comes. He doesn't want to be moved in, necessarily before the baby comes, but he doesn't want to worry about the house. He just wants to enjoy the baby. I can't blame him. I don't know how much is left to be done. I get the feeling that his part is nearly done, and that the next few things are really up to contractors...like installing the wood floors and carpeting kinds of things. I just feel terrible for the poor stressed out guy.

July Post...finally

Yeah, so uh, Brigitte, thanks for bringing it to my attention that I haven't posted anything in just about forever. I have been busy with lazy-ass things like going to the pool and napping. Sure, I've been to Target to buy baby things....which reminds me, I should also post about my surprise baby shower...but I think I'll save that for another time...maybe later tonight.

There are no picture updates of the house to speak of. Chris, his dad and his step dad are up there just about every day getting ready for installation people to come. The masons were there last week, so now we have tile on the kitchen floor and tile in the bathroom. The floor and carpet guys are coming soon. Chris and his step dad will be installing the kitchen soon. The appliances are being delivered Thursday. Things are finally coming together. Maybe the house will be ready before the baby comes...who knows?

Next week I have to start calling around to get estimates for a fence for Reuben. Chris is not sold on the idea yet, but frankly, I'm going to feel comfortable walking Reuben during the day when Chris goes back to work and I'm alone with the baby. I'm thinking being able to let Reu out in the back yard would make life a zillion times easier.

hooded hoods trying to hoodwink car hoods

Good Lord I love the subject generator on Yahoo Beta Mail. Some of the subjects are awesome!

I can not believe that I haven't been here in 11 days or so. Apparently, I've been crazy busy...or super lazy. Perhaps it's a combination of the two. Anyway, I will catch us all up!

1. Tomorrow is the last day of school All I have to do is take my 3 posters down off my ways (1 Corpse Bride, and 2 Edward Gorey) and turn in my keys. The rest of the day is a BBQ thrown by admin. I love my job.
2. Tonight is graduation. I have to talk about my 2 leads that are graduating. I don't want to, but I'll do it. What cheeses me is that the social worker who insisted that lead teachers speak about their students, refuses to say anything at the graduation because it makes her uncomfortable. But somehow she's comfortable with making other people do it regardless of their discomfort. Whatever...I just need to write out a couple of index cards. Humph.
3. I had another check up yesterday. This time with the senior member of the OBGYN practice. The baby's heart beat sounds good. I'm no dilated at all yet (which means more pool time for me!) She also commented that it feels like I have a "good sized baby in there". Then she read the ultra sound results and commented..."Ooooh, about 5 and a half pounds? That is a good sized baby" I think I really might be giving birth to a gorilla in 6 weeks.
4. My co-workers threw me a surprise baby shower. They scared the crap out of me, which they thought was hysterically funny. Bastards. Loving, fabulous bastards, but bastards all the same. They all chipped in and got me my infant car seat! Plus, the shower had a full breakfast buffet with eggs, bacon, sausage, french toast, fruit, bagels and coffee. I love these people.
5. My landlords are pissing me off. You see, all in all, my landlords (a husband and wife team) are very nice people. They are just inconsiderate. Chris and I are not allowed to park in the driveway, but the kid down the street is. We were asked to be very gentle with the doors because her father is sensitive to that sort of noise. But who used to come visit him after 10pm and slam doors? She did...now that he's in a home, she'll come to get some of his clothes and guess what...slam doors. And apparently, construction in the down stairs apartment doesn't warrant any forewarning, even if it's going to be occurring after 9pm. Yes, I get to listen to the husband sawing pipes at night. I think I would be pissed even if I weren't pregnant and it didn't throw Reuben into fits. Reuben seems to think that the noise might be coming to harm me. I wouldn't care so much, I don't think, if I hadn't in the last few months of her father living downstairs, had to let the police in a bunch of times because his emergency alarm went off, pick him up off of the ground when he fell, or change the batteries in his smoke alarm. We were also asked to keep an ear out for him, which I did (which is why I knew when he fell, or if his smoke alarm was going off, etc) and I don't get any courtesy in return. Okay...rant over.
6. The house is coming along slowly, but surely. Hopefully we'll be able to move in before Schmoo turns 15.

Tore Up from the Floor Up

I was finally "allowed" back into the new house. Yay for me! We brought Reuben with us, too. We figure that if we bring him from time to time, the move will be less stressful for him in the long run. A happy dog is a good dog.








Demolished kitchen. Soon to be awesome kitchen with a dishwasher (YES) and an awesome refrigerator that has a freezer on the bottom and french doors on top. I might be in appliance choosing heaven!









Ripped up living room. Chris' dad, who is a professional decorative painter who mostly works in million dollar condos in Manhattan, is going to smooth out the giant fireplace and use a product on it that will make it look like Venetian Plaster. Awesome!









Master bedroom. Someday soon, this room will have windows...and no fake wood on the walls.












This will be the baby's room. It's the larger of the two other bedrooms. It too will have brand spankin' new windows very soon!

Yet another late update

Man, I do not know where time is escaping to! I feel as if time is standing still...I know it's not because my belly is slowly expanding. the house seems to be standing still, mainly because of one of large conglomerate contractor stores giving us the run around. The contractor who arranges for windows to put in tells us that there will be no problems with the type of window we need, that they do it all the time and that if the window guys damage the surrounding concrete it will be fixed. Meanwhile, the guy who actually mans the installation crew and comes to check out the site tells us that our needs are only 1% of what they do, and they have no masons to fix the concrete if it gets damaged. We're a tad peeved, but my mother-in-law (who is a pit bull when it comes to stuff like that) is all over it for us. What really bugs me is that I'm starting to worry that the house won't be done before the baby gets here and I really want to be at least partially settled (read our bedroom is set and ready to go with a bassinet) before the critter comes.

I'm now 29 weeks. I'm back to being really tired at night. Last night I was in bed by 9, lights out by 10:30. I used have lights out at 11:30. Mind you this 10:30 lights out is in addition to a 30 minute nap in the afternoon...I never had to do that to have lights out at 11:30. Sad, but then again, it takes a lot of energy growing a whole new person...or at least that is what I'm telling myself.

I had a check up this week and the baby's heartbeat is very strong. I did not get a "gaining too much weight" lecture this time. And I passed my Gestational Diabetes screening on the first go 'round, so I'm looking forward to more ice cream as the weather gets nicer! Woo-hoo!