At Home During the Day

To Do 4/19/10:
- Answer emails
- Watch TV
- Take a nap
- Go for a walk
- Go to Adam's singing at church
- Stay home all day...

My doctor is not allowing me to go to work anymore as of a week and 1/2 ago, so I am now at home all day by myself. I do not remember the last time that I was home by myself to just find things to do all day - Even when I would come home for summers in college my job would usually start two days after I got back and last until the weekend before I would leave again, so this is quite a new, strange, frustrating, and relaxing experience for me. Some of the things that have been good are sleeping in, taking naps, morning TV (thanks Amy for the suggestions!), and hanging out w/ ShamWow! (the other two stay up in their room most of the day - Palmer will not come downstairs anymore b/c he is scared of my exercise ball and when Nitro comes down he just grows at the ball - so I tell him to go "sleepy" back in his room!). I do also have a book on hold at the library that I have been waiting for for over a month now! I would have two books on hold, but unfortunately, the library does not have Kate Gosselin's new book! - Yes, I do want to read it and my guess is that deep down some of you do too! After all, she "Just Wants You to Know". Things that are not so good about staying home all day are not being around people, feeling bad about missing work, and old neighbors that like to tan in their back yard.

To finish on a happy note - one of my favorite new shows is Ellen. She played this game the other day called "80s Lady or Pageant Baby?" - so funny! I have attached the clip from You Tube and here are just some funny pics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDJt1X6CPZM - Ellen Clip... Start at 3:15 for just the game.


My neighbors getting their afternoon sun...


80's Lady!


Pageant Babies... note - Avery will not be allowed to participate in pageants...

Awkward thing people (mostly men) have said to me while pregnant...

To Do 4/12/10:
- Focus on something else besides still being pregnant (this one is sooo hard!)
- Think of things to do that don't involve driving
- Read work papers and stop avoiding them
- Take notes for work
- Pick out birth announcements and make sure addresses are ready
- Order weather cover for jogger
- Write down some of the strange/awkward thing people said to me while I was pregnant...

People (mostly men) have said some awkward things to me while pregnant. Here are a few of the really strange ones:

Sitting in a meeting with all of the program directors of the college of medicine before the meeting starts: Someone who knows I am pregnant (I am just starting to "show") asks me if I am feeling any better - my reply, "no, I am still very sick" (and will be until 25 weeks I found out!). The man sitting next to me is noticeably discomforted now, looking very worried that I might breath on him and pass along some germs (I think he is the program direct for Public Health and H1N1 was going around) - so I say, "it's ok, I'm pregnant, so I can not get you sick." Relief floods over his face and he says, "well, if you could get me pregnant, we would both make a lot of money!" hmmmm... silence all around....

Sitting at a table before a seminar starts: My friend asks me if I am going to get some of the pizza before seminar - I say that I am not sure b/c I just ate some soup for lunch already - their response is that I am pregnant and can have both. A man (who I have seen quite often) comes over and says, "oh, you're pregnant?" (btw - at this point, I am either very pregnant or am growing a large abdominal tumor) He continues, "in these days no one is supposed to ask until the baby is coming out." hmmm.... silence again (also - I did have the pizza too!) :)

Coming out of my house to go somewhere the other day: no hi, how are you? - my neighbor starts in by saying - "Wow! Are you going for a record or something! Sure there aren't two in there???" 1.) I have heard from my friends that this question is a "normal" one to be asked while pregnant and it is never ok to ask that! 2.) The woman who asked me this has never had children...

Finally - Facebook conversation: Me writing on my brother-in-laws wall - "If Avery is going to come on your birthday(4/8), she better hurry up!" My brother-in-law writes back - "yeah! you better light a fire up in there!" hahaha - sorry Ben if you are reading this, but you might want to "re-word this" as my mom put it.

I think people just don't know what to say to pregnant women... but, it is sometimes best to say nothing at all... :) If you have any other funny stories - I would love to read them - post away! :)

Not Home Yet

To Do 3/5/10:
- Work on writing figure assessment for lymph atlas and points for discussion
- Pick up around the house
- Read 38 week email! (only 2 more email weeks!)
- Go to Sams
- Go to Adam's singing @ VCC
- Do Beth Moore study - Our last session is tomorrow!
- Remember that we are not home yet...

Yesterday at Easter service at VCC (which I thought was most excellent!), we had a guest worship leader, Sarah Kelly, who is a Christina recording artist (http://www.sarahkelly.com/). She said something during one of the songs that really struck me - she said we should remember we are not home yet and that is why at times we feel like we don't fit in, b/c we are not supposed to - this is not our home. That made so much sense to me! There are so many times when I feel like I don't fit in, even though I try really hard to be "normal" - it's like a little bit of that junior high feeling never quite goes away... I am so glad that I was reminded of this simple fact that my permanent home is waiting for me where I will never feel out of place! This Easter I was especially blessed by the resurrection that allows me to spend eternity in the place Jesus has prepared just for me - my real home!

New Car???

To Do 3/31/10
- Submit "Head Shot" for cover contest - see image below
- Journal Club
- Finish figures and insert into atlas paper
- Work on "free" book and go to "free" small group
- Think about getting a bigger car...

First of all, I must say this is my fault. I was sitting in the Mazda waiting room during a service appointment and decided to go through the show room... Now, I have always been an advocate for small cars that are fast, turn easily, and get great gas millage - I have NEVER wanted a big car and thought I never would... Then I tried to put my jogger w/ its wonderful 20in wheels into my Mazda 3 trunk - not good! So, we are now looking for a bigger car for our expanding family (read - all of Avery's things). Here are some of the cars we are looking at:


One step from a mini van, but not quite ready to go down that road - the Mazda 5


The one we really like - such a smooth ride! - but kind of pricey, The Mazda CX-9


And the one Adam is secretly (or not so secretly) in love w/ - The Toyota Sienna... Nesting syndrome Adam? - I think so!


And here is just the head shot I am submitting for the cover contest! - a long shot, but it would be awesome to win!!!

The first and only sappy pregnancy post - I promise... plus nursery photos!

To Do 3/21/10:
- Discovery Land and Church
- Sams and Lowes
- Pedi at Becoming Mom! - (thanks for the gift card Abby!)
- Errands
- Finish Avery's laundry and fixing up her room
- Give thanks for great friends, family, and a God who loves us and knows best...

It has not been lost on my how blessed we have been during our journey of "Avery". It is funny when I look back to the end of last summer - Adam and I decided that we would put our house up on the market and also try to have a baby. I remember taking a walk w/ him and the dogs one evening and telling him how excited I was about the house we had found that would be perfect for us. He was kind of up set at me b/c I was letting myself get so excited about the house and was seemingly not excited at all about the baby. I just told him that it was much more likely for us to be able to sell our house than get pregnant since I have had several issues w/ ovarian cysts and anorexia in high school and I did not want to get excited about the baby b/c of that - Good thing God knows what plans are best for us, as now, nearly ten months later, we were not able to sell our house and will be welcoming our little girl in the next few weeks! Even though I REALLY would have LOVED to move (I am still obsessed w/ looking at the Sibcy Cline site), God blessed us w/ something so much better in allowing us to get pregnant w/ our little girl.

Being pregnant has/is not easy for me. I think of myself as a person who is always looking for new experiences to challenge myself, generally having a "no pain, no gain" mentality - but this is a whole new ball game! There have been so many times that I feel like I just can't go on and want to crawl into a ball until my baby comes and then begin life again! - so, I think if you have carried a baby for 10 months - you can probably do anything! Through all of this people have been so kind to me - other mothers have offered up encouraging words and people have listened to me whine about how many times I've thrown up (over 1 million for sure at this point!) and Adam has been there emotionally for me and to do the chores I can no longer accomplish (like bending over and putting things in small spaces now!). I am so lucky to have such a support system around me like this.

Not only have people been there for me emotionally, but the way people have showered us w/ gifts and loaned us things is just incredible. It really makes me want to cry when I think about how giving our friends and family have been to us - They have spent their time and money to come to our showers and bless us and Avery w/ awesome gifts. I am so excited that we are going to be able to welcome her into an environment where so many people already care about her and us.

Thank you to everyone who has offered an encouraging word, listened, loaned us something, or given us a great gift. You have made this so much easier for us and I am so excited for Avery to get to meet all of you, as I know you will love and support her as you have done w/ us in preparing for her. You have blessed our family so much!

Now - sorry for being so sappy... it is probably the pregnancy hormones - here are some nursery pics as promised!




Avery's Little Lamb swing and seat

Nursery Pic




Closet w/ all of her goodies! She has such a great wardrobe already!

Crib and changing table

Toy area :)

Rocker

Some of my favorite outfits - can't wait for her to wear them!

Me - 35.5 weeks and not sure how I am going to accommodate anymore of her growth!

Cooked...

To Do 3/15/10
- Work on compiling figures for lymphatic atlas
- Start on ppts for next weeks committee meeting and vascular presentation
- Finish Birth Plan
- Go to Dr. appt
- Figure out how to deal w/ being pregnant for possibly 5 or 6 more weeks...

Today I woke up and I just felt so done! I hope that what they say is true about Mother's intuition, b/c I really feel like little Avery will come in 2 or 3 more weeks - hopefully it is not just wishful thinking. My stomach now sits on my legs (see pic) - not a very attractive look and it is getting really hard for me to get around. Hopefully she is feeling as cooked as I am and will make a slightly early appearance :)


In the mean time, I would really like to get my first paper together for submission. I am working on an atlas for zebrafish lymphatic development and the pics are turning out beautifully! Here is a pic of a 3dpf zebrafish injected w/ 2um red beads. The green color marks all vessels. (ps - the images look better not being saved and loaded this way - but this gives a picture of the overall idea)

Baby List!!!

To Do 3/13/10
- Get a Jogger (check! - see pic!)
- Start painting in Avery's room
- Go to Sams
- Figure out all of the things we still have to do before Avery gets here...

Wow! We are getting so close and there is a lot to do before our little girl gets here! I think after having to spend Wednesday evening in the hospital due to braxton hicks contractions - it is all becoming very real that we are very close! I am mentally, physically, and emotionally ready for her to come, but logistically is a different story! Here are a few things that we need to get done before our little one arrives:

- Finalize which pediatrician we want to go to and a vaccine schedule
- Prepare freezer meals so we don't have to worry about a lot of cooking
- Pick a health insurance plan for Avery and start the paper work
- Finish Avery's room - including painting, furniture arrangement, ceiling fan, rugs, and curtains
- Take an inventory of clothing and diapers and figure out what we need to get
- Organize the hall bath and put in the new sink and vanity
- Schedule and go to the fire department for car seat instillation
- Finish getting nursing supplies
- Pack hospital bag
- Finalize birth plan
- Read ALL of the books we have for babies (this might not get done)

I'm sure we will think of a lot of other things, but that is it for now :) Here is a pic of our new jogger! I am so excited about it and can't wait to use it. We got a really great deal on the floor model at a bike shop - now I will have no excuse to not get out there and get back into shape after she comes!

Big Baby...

To Do 3/8/10
- Work on figures for lymph atlas
- Take down breeder fish
- Go over schedule for the week
- Make a list of pediatrician questions (our first interview is tomorrow!)
- Read 34 week e-mail (I can't believe that she could be here 3 - 6 weeks from now!!! - notice that I am not even going to think about here coming any later than 6 weeks from now)
- Try to figure out a way to ignore people who are saying how big my baby is going to be!!!

This morning when I went down to get my small, not very helpful, sad, daily dose of caffeine (just one diet coke) the lady at the counter, was like - WHOA!!! When are you due??? - I told her... and then she said - WOW, you are going to have a really big baby!!! :( hmmm... not exactly the thing I am hoping to hear. I have noticed that my baby seems very big already and sometimes I swear there are two babies in there b/c I am getting kicks at very different sides of my very large belly! (rest assured Adam - we have had 4 ultrasounds - there is only one baby!) (each time I say something like that, Adam gets really tense... I wonder why :) ). For now I am going to listen to my "Birth Affirmations" from class that tell me my baby is a perfect size for my body and other nice things about myself and my baby - I am really liking this CD! I might be slightly over concerned about this b/c my midwife did tell me to try not to grow a toddler....

flats....

To Do 3/3/10
- Work on atlas draft
- Catch up on emails
- Contact pediatricians and make interview appointments
- Go to Dr. appt.
- Free group
- Get used to wearing flats...

This weekend Adam finally convinced me that it was time to start wearing flats.... I have resisted for quite some time, but it is getting much harder to get around all day in heels. I must say that wearing flats does make it easier to walk, but they do not make you feel confident about yourself like heels do. It was a sad day - BUT - Adam did promise me that I could get a new pair of heels when Avery gets here. I did try to get away w/ buying these this weekend:





but here are the shoes I ended up w/... It is just sad....

Can I have a do-over morning????

To Do 2/24/10
- Work on Committee Meeting Summary
- Talk to tax guy at UC
- Seminar
- Dentist
- Start Free group!
- Attempt to not carry on w/ the current morning's trends...

This morning has not been one of the best... and I am hoping that the day is just up from here! First of all... Sham is having some poop problems and I had to pull a giant dog dingle off/out of him (again). I then went down stairs to discover that there was wonderfully smelling coffee just starting to brew... coffee that Adam teases me w/ in the morning that I can not currently have while he is still sleeping soundly in bed.... Off to work (enough said!) This was followed by hitting a very slick spot on the floor at work this morning when I was walking in and totally wiping out - luckily no one was there to see it though b/c I come in pretty early! I then went to get my lunch out of my purse and put it away to find that my soup has exploded all over (and I was being so good and bringing my lunch again!). After cleaning up the soup mess, I went to wash my hands in out sink and bumped some glass ware that a co-worker (cough - MITUL - cough) left right by the edge instead of putting it away - this of course crashed to the floor and broke all over! At this point - I really just need to sit down (it is not even yet 7:30AM!). Someone has used my chair and moved it - so I go and get it, turn of my computer and I see this as my new background...



nice... can I go back to bed and try again???

Sale Closed...

To Do 2/23/10
- Figure out tax questions
- Determine if the zebrafish has intersegmental lymphatic vessels by 6dpf
- Wait 20 minutes for each zebrafish pic to load! :(
- Prepare for lab meeting
- Go to Beth Moore study
- Take our house off of the market...

Our last showing was not a success. The people that came said the house was nice and a good price, but that it was not in the area that they were interested in - therefore, we are officially not moving. We have feelings of relief and sadness about this, but I'm sure w/ Avery coming, the time before we are looking for houses again will come quickly! In the mean time - we are now starting a list of improvements that we are going to make on the house since we are staying:

- Get new appliances! (yeah! my favorite!)
- Get a new sink for Adam's bathroom
- Install a fan in Avery's room
- Fix the giant hole in Avery's wall (this, I guess, was going to need to be done no matter what!)
- Paint Avery's room - we have paint and a design picked out - I'll post pics when it's done!
- Get a new bed for Nitro for our room - his giant crate will need to move to Palmer's room b/c there is no room in our bedroom for that and the bassinet, so he will have 2 beds now :)
- I'm sure there are a lot more things we will need to do, but that is it for the current list!

For Sale...

To Do 2/20/10

- Work on Avery's Insurance
- Research Alternate Vaccine Schedules
- Work on Pediatrician List
- Clean and Get Ready for our Last Showing on the House...

Today was our "last" showing on the house for now. If the person who looked at it today does not give us a good offer, we are pulling the house off of the market b/c it is getting too close to the time Avery is going to be here and we need to really start getting her room ready - not too mention with each week of pregnancy, I am would be less of a help packing up and moving a house full of stuff! The last showing is kind of a relief and really sad all at the same time... We have really been looking forward to moving somewhere w/ a yard for the buddies - but it will be nice to stay in Glendale w/ all of the sidewalks for taking Avery and the buddies for walks this spring. Either way, we have prayed about it and know God is in control. We have been so blessed to live here and trust God's will for our living location! :)

Here are a few of the pics that we took of our house when we put it up on the market!

Ice and leaks

To Do 2/19/10
- Finish tracing lymph images
- Attend HypnoBirth session
- Figure out what is going on w/ the leak in our house!

Recently we have been spending a lot of time in the room that used to be Palmer's and is now Avery's. In doing so, I noticed that the wall under the window was not quite right. Last weekend, Adam (and our friend Chris, who came over to help), pulled the base board out from the wall to discover that there was no "wall" behind the base board - just a little bit of insulation and then the out side wall. The drywall above the base board very easily pealed off and we discovered that there was ice all in the wall under the window!!! Not good! Since we are in a town house, we are not responsible for taking care of problems on the out side of the building (the leak) and we are currently waiting for the condo place to figure out what to do about this leak. A roofer came this week and cleared what he thought to be the problem... however, this morning when I left the house I found out our problem was bigger than we thought - we now have icicles hanging from the roof of our porch - or the floor of Avery's room under the window!!! Oh the joys of owning a home...

Sleepy Sheep

To Do 2/18/10
- Work on lymph images
- Take a nap (my favorite!)
- Clean up the house
- Make dinner
- Assemble Avery's new mobile

Today Avery's Sleepy Sheep Mobile came in the mail! It is too cute! Here is a picture of her mobile and some pictures of some other things in her room that are super cute!

Sleep Sheep Mobile

All of her stuffed toys in her crib :)

Her bassinet
It also has a little sheep mobile!

Her "going home" outfit! We can't wait for that!

Avery's newly organized closet - her clothes look like we are getting a little doll and not a baby!

Her armiore w/ all her little sleepers!

Aw Shammy!

To Do 2/17/10
- Compile images for lab meeting
- Go to Dr. appt.
- Work on insurance for Avery
- Punish ShamWow!

This morning I got an email from my husband, Adam, that my dog ShamWow! had eaten part of the birthday present for my friend... Not really a great email to start the day. It appears that he pulled the tissue paper out of the gift bag very gently and left it aside - then he pulled the box of candy out of the bag, chewed off one of the corners, took out a piece of candy, unwrapped it and ate it!!! (either that or Adam really wanted some of that candy and framed Shammy pretty well...) I guess I should just be glad that he didn't eat the gift card!

Pump it.... out?

To Do 2/9/10
- Go to Sams
- Scan lymph images
- Brush the buddies teeth
- Avoid people asking dumb pregnancy questions...

Over the course of being pregnant, I have been asked a lot of really dumb, awkward questions. I am now around 31 weeks and since I am the size of a small whale at this point, you can definitely tell I am pregnant and the questions just get stranger. The other day when asked for the 10th time if I was expecting, I replied, "No, I just am growing a very large abdominal tumor." I think the most weird/awkward thing so far was when a woman that I see in the halls at work occasionally came up to me and said, "Are you going to breast feed?" - no, hi, how are you... let's get right to the point - A little shocked by this coming from a person who I don't even know there name, I nod a yes and then she asks, "I have a pump at home if you want to buy it." ewwww!!! - first of all, this is a really private thing, and no, strange, crazy lady - I do not want to buy your pump from you - this is what Craig's List is for! Who goes up to someone and just starts talking about breast pumps?!?! People - let's just stick w/ the safe questions when talking to pregnant ladies, when are you due? and do you know if you're having a girl or a boy?