In sad news, we no longer have fish. Mira was our miracle fish – read the story here. It seems that Mira truly preferred a not so clean tank. A few days after the latest cleaning we found Mira at the bottom. I think we are going to take a little break from fish for a while, but I still maintain I have the coolest tank ever.
Wade and I weren’t really prepared for a baby that arrived early. We would have made do and could have bought what necessities we didn’t have. We had the crib, still in a box, but no mattress. We had a bassinet and the foam to make a mattress, but the sheets hadn’t been tested. Mom has been a huge help with all of that and making it all look pretty too. Not only does the bassinet now have a sheet, but it has coordinating ribbon too!
Wade decided to add some RAM to my laptop. During the process he noticed my battery was bubbling. I had seen this a while ago, but didn’t even think twice about it. Oops. Wade did a little research online and found the batteries now had an extended two year warranty because of this problem. My two year warranty would have ended in January – which was after I had noticed the bubble. The fact that we bought my laptop from Colorware, who painted it red, and not from Apple also made my situation a little more complicated. Wade called Colorware and they said to talk to Apple. If we got a new battery they would paint it to match my computer. Wade made an appointment and took my battery into the store. The guy was extremely confused by the obviously Apple battery that was red in color (Apple laptops do not come in color). Wade explained it to him and the guy was actually really excited about the concept. Wade came home with a new battery for me. The best part? Most batteries start to wear out in 2-3 years anyway so now I have a brand new one and hopefully another 2-3 years!
It turns out my mom picked a good time to visit. There was a huge ice storm in Paducah Monday night and evidently it was really bad. We have been able to talk to family and friends and most people are okay, but 90% of the area is without power. My mom’s side of the family lives about 20 minutes outside of Paducah. They have all driven in and are staying at my mom’s house. She has a gas hot water heater, gas logs in her bedroom, and a wood burning fireplace (with a huge stack of wood) in her den. They are hoping to have power back to most of the people by the end of the weekend, but who knows. The people living farther outside the city will obviously be much later getting power. We hear that a few restaurants and grocery stores are open, but let only a certain number of people in at a time and accept cash or check only. There is no gas to be had so even people with generators or heaters are starting to feel the chill. We decided mom should stay with us till at least she knows she has power at home.
Finally another room is complete. I had painted the windows in the dining room right after Christmas, but the room still needed a decorating touch. Mom helped a ton with that. Now the room is done and I can just sit and enjoy!
I went to do the doctor today, but nothing has changed. I’m still on bed rest for two weeks (ending February 5th) and everything else looks fine. She listened to the baby’s heartbeat and said he sounds great.
Wade has been in a self-proclaimed funk. After lunch he finally decided he had to motivate himself to get anything done. The crib was first on the list, but I’m not sure he was too happy about it. The good news is putting it together was a breeze.
The new doors for the nursery closet were delivered this morning. Wade rounded up some help (thanks Mike, Heidi, and Andy) for another “over the balcony” experience. I sent mom out to get a picture, but she was needed to steady the ladder instead. Wade really got going around 10 pm and the doors were installed by midnight.
Mom doesn’t want me to do anything while on bedrest. The doctor said I can work at my desk and get up to get food and drink, but that’s about it. My mom has done the laundry, gone to the grocery, cooked our meals, and is now cleaning my fish tank. That’s love!
It turns out you can do quite a bit while on bed rest. Wade had finished the inside of my spice cabinet so I labeled all of my jars and got them back in the cabinet.
My mom is arriving on the train today and is going to stay to help out for a while.
I haven’t posted any ultrasound pictures – mostly because I am never sure who wants to see these things. But I have to admit to being rather bored. I had an ultrasound today and baby looks great. The best news is he weighs 5 pounds and 1 ounce. That makes me feel much better in case he does come early!
In case you can’t tell, you are seeing a profile. His face is to the right of the picture and his hand is up near his mouth.
Well this has been an interesting day. I couldn’t get comfortable last night and didn’t get to a deep sleep until 6 am. I slept till 9:30 and woke up feeling great. I put a last coat of paint on the spice cabinet, took care of some phone calls, and gathered all my bags and lists for a day of errands.
Instead of running errands I ended up in the hospital. I had called the nurse with a concern and she told me to go on in to the hospital to be checked out. Turns out I was slightly dilated and actually having contractions – which looking back is why I couldn’t sleep last night. They gave me some medicine and said the baby is fine. They also told me I would have to stay overnight. I have never been in a hospital at all and now I am going to spend the night in one.
The good news is the contractions have stopped and the baby is looking good. The doctor told me if this had happened next week they would have let labor progress and I’d have a baby. She also told me that I will be on bed rest for 2.5 weeks and at any point if I go into labor again they won’t stop it. It looks like we’ll have an early baby regardless – the question now is how early. It’s a good thing I got all my painting finished last week!
To sum up: I have felt my first contractions and had my first stay in a hospital, but I have not had my first baby yet!
Sunday Wade and I were back to work on projects. I had attempted to finish up most of my painting while he was in Orlando. I painted the nursery furniture, the dining room ceiling, and then ran into trouble. The previous owners completely renovated the kitchen back in 2003. They did a great job (and I don’t say that lightly – we’ve seen their other work). However, the spice cabinet (which I think was originally a built-in ironing board) was the only thing done cheaply. Someone had mismatched metal rails for shelves on either side, used a variety of screws, and the shelf color didn’t match the cabinet color. I had decided it wasn’t worth trying to do much, but I was going to paint it and put in new rails. I removed the rails and found a random hinge between the side wall and the back wall. I determined this was causing the shelves to be at funny angles and requiring the rails to not be continuous so I tried to remove it. Turns out that one hinge was holding the back wall in place. At this point I left it for Wade (and wish I had a picture). Wade decided the best solution was to rip it all out and build me a new interior. Isn’t my husband great? He spent Sunday building the cabinet (the rails are now going to be recessed – oooh aah) and I put a first coat of paint on it Sunday night.
The plan is to finish it tomorrow and have my kitchen put back together. The crazy thing is I actually have enough spices to fill the cabinet. I have a separate small cabinet for all liquid type items.
On a side note – that is me at 34 weeks and still wearing my normal paint clothes. Those have to be the only non-maternity jeans that are still comfortable. Too bad they can’t be worn in public.
Today’s the big day – Wade turns 30! He opened a few presents when he got up and one of the most appropriate was from his sister, Emily.
Emily had given him money and directions to a local BBQ restaurant. We’d heard a lot about Speed Queen, but never been. We ventured out and decided it was pretty good. It’s in a bad part of town so we were adventurous and even ate in the restaurant instead of getting it to go.
We spent the rest of the afternoon running errands – poor Wade. But we finished strong with a night out to the Monster Truck Jam. Wade loved it and I have to admit I did too.
I knew it was supposed to get cold today, but -8 degrees is just not nice. (Especially when the wind chill is more like -20.) Wade has left me for Orlando – smart move. I think I am going to spend the day inside. There is absolutely no reason to leave the house!
I am now 33 weeks along in this pregnancy. I still haven’t had any problems or complaints, but I am definitely getting bigger. I had a doctor’s appointment and was told everything was “great”. I was also told from this point on I would grow straight out. Wade and I have started our childbirth classes. We had our second one tonight (Wade missed the first one) and Wade learned how to give me a massage. I think practice is good!
The small guest room is really done now. The doors have been painted and put back up. Wade even made new shelves for the closet and I got everything put back in today. I almost have a color coordinated closet – scary! Want to guess my favorite color?
I received a nice surprise in the mail today. Melissa (my sister) and Chris sent us a play yard for the baby. The funny part was watching me put it together (without directions of course). It really wasn’t too bad and I really liked it. (I registered for it without actually seeing one in person.) Thanks Liss!
I also received a bouncy seat the same day. Evidently they are discontinuing the color I wanted so I got it for 50% off.
My mom loves the snow. It never worked out for her to come visit last year during the snow, but hopefully this year. I told her she should have come up yesterday. This is what is happening now:
Quite a bit more is predicted before the day is over. I hope Wade’s flight gets in okay.
I have mentioned in the past that I have a lady who comes every other week to clean for me. She brings her adorable 3 year old granddaughter who watches a movie or two and is usually no trouble at all. With the weather turning colder I have been keeping Madison inside when they come. The little girl just loves Madison, but Madison eventually gets a little tired. She has taken to coming and hiding under my desk while I work.
I love when I can finally mark projects off my list. This weekend was great for that – the nursery ceiling is painted, the fan for the nursery is painted, the dining room windows are painted, and the small guest room is almost done. In the small guest room – the picture molding has been removed, the cracks have been patched, the ceiling fan has been moved to the center of the room, the walls are painted, the trim is painted, the furniture is back. Only the doors are left to complete.
Before pictures of the guest room (taken by the previous owners):
After pictures:
The completed dining room:
Some of you know that I have been searching and searching for old wooden card catalogs for Wade. I actually found quite a few in my searching but they were either too new (without the old charm), too expensive, or in too good shape to be used in a shop. I had hoped to find them before Christmas, but this year he got an IOU. I was searching the craig’s list a few days ago and found some gorgeous ones for a very reasonable price. We drove to Lockport, IL (south of Chicago) last night to pick them up. I don’t think a week after Christmas is too late.
The couple selling them had an additional three that they are holding on to. We did our best to convince them to sell those too. Here’s hoping!
Wade decided to welcome the New Year with a plunge in Lake Michigan. He joined a ton of other people at noon to go for a dip (the official Polar Bear Plunge), but he was the only one I saw in a barrel. When we got out of the car, the temperature was reading 25 degrees. Brrr…
Here he is taking a look:
And here he is taking the plunge:
I didn’t get an after picture because he had turned red and was shaking quite a bit. I had to help him get into warm clothes and then a warm car!