We survived!

It has been such a busy few weeks for us, so I was a bit amazed we survied all the holiday mayhem. Ethan's birthday was the 24th (I know). Then we had my entire family over on Christmas Day, Ethan's family on the 26th, went to Ethan's dad side of the family on the 27th, and to a hockey game today as part of Ethan's "12 dates of Christmas." Plus, my child took a 15 min nap in the car on the way to Ethan's dads house...but he fell asleep on the way home around 6:15 and because I bring pjs in just this type of situation it was all good. Well, except that he fell out of his bed for the first time last night, but other than that little hiccup he slept 12 hrs. SCORE. FYI: he has a bunk bed where the bottom bunk sticks out under the top bunk (he doesn't even know you can sleep on the top and has never seen the ladder thank you very much) and there are built in shelves/desk on each side, connected to the top so there is no room for even a bedrail. Do not ask me how he fell. I have solved the issue with a pillow. The $40 bed rail is somewhere in this house and I need to return it.

Ryan had a great Christmas as usual. I'm sure there will be pictures at some point. Why is downloading such an issue for me? Anyway, he slept in til 7:30 which is HUGE, then really wasn't interested in going downstairs but Ethan and I were ready so we convinced him. Santa got him a great new fishing game, some books, and new cooking things. He loves the Melissa and Doug pizza and a stacking hamburger game. The walkie talkies were a big hit, except he doesn't understand how to use them and then when the "grown ups" tried to use them they didn't work so they are going back. One of his major favs was bubbles for the bath, and 2 match box cars. This kid is so easy! Wall-E was exciting, but then he forgot about it so we haven't even watched it yet.

My family spoiled him. The super cool red remote control corvette is still popular around here, along with the slot cars. Poor Ryan wasn't allowed to play with them because daddy and uncle were playing with them. Ryan also got some "big brother" stuff, and a digital camera. The quality seems kinda yucky, but he loves it. My sister found this awesome fire truck that opens up into a little city and that gets a coveted spot on the couch. My sister in law is very creative. A few months ago she asked for family pictures of Ryan so I have been e-mailing her. She laminated them and turned them into a memory game.

Ethan is enjoying his new Wii games and the Wii fit. I will not play the fit because it tells you your BMI...no thanks. It told Ethan he was obese (not even close) and that he was 38...he just turned 34 so that made him sad. Mr. Wii fit also said he had balance issues and asked if he fell down a lot, LOL. So, there is no way in hell I'll be getting on that thing until I've been on weight watchers for at least a year, had some lypo, and probably a boob reduction :) I jumped on the creative bandwagon and created a "12 dates of Christmas" for Ethan. He is super easy to buy for and wants a lot of stuff, except everything he wants is pricy. And then he tells me not to buy it. I know he wants a new computer, and hopefully that will happen soon. In the meantime, I put together 12 things for us to do together and I hope we can get it done before baby gets here. I found a car show nearby that I thought he would enjoy, but also added some things in there I would like too. So, we have a date to go to Build a Bear because we did that when I was pregnant with Ryan. I also wanted to go to a pottery place and make something for each of the boys rooms. Ofcourse there is dinner, movies, the hockey game we went to today, stuff like that.

I am super excited about the new comforter set for our room and all the new towels. I love soft towels. Ours are 9 yrs old! I should be commended that I still have towels that were wedding gifts. But they have been fraying for a while now and the new ones are yummy. My mom got me new bath mats and accessories as well. A massage is in my future and I cannot wait. My sister got me an awesome wallet and did I mention the amount of books I'll be able to get at Barnes & Noble? I'm a nerd, I like to read. A lot.

Now it is time to take down the tree and unpack more boxes. I like to extend Christmas and leave the house looking like a whirlwind hit it, but Ethan already moved everything to where its supposed to go. I like having my pile of gifts to look at. Oh well. Someone should take down the tree and the other decor. Oh, and write the New Years letter to send with our New Years cards that goes something like "hey we moved."

Bye bye Laura Ingall

At last, we have internet! That was a long 10 days. I would also like to admit for all my Little House on the Prairie jokes I have never seen an entire episode. It just wasn't my kind of show.

Today I dropped Ryan off with my dad and did a 2 hr marathon shopping run and finished all my Christmas/Ethan birthday shopping. After he wakes up from his nap I'll take him back to grandpa so I can turn in our keys from the rental house, go to the cable place (again) to turn in our old box and hopefully get a newer model for this house--one that is compatible with Tivo. Then its off to the grocery store to get whatever we need for Christmas dinner with my family and the day after because Ethan's family is coming here and I'm making lasagna.

I haven't wrapped any presents...Ethan's birthday is tomorrow....i'm pregnant and tired. My sciatica is yucky and i'm getting charlie horses that wake me up in the middle of the night. Nothing quite like a limping pregnant lady :)

Cleaning day

Again I am back at the old house for a day of cleaning. FUN. Ethan is taking care of the carpets, I have cleaned all the toilets/counters, and my sister is on the way to do the oven and bath tubs for me. Its 53 degrees in here and my hands are like ice. Other than that, we are good. We aren't scheduled to be out til the 31st so it will be nice to be done early.

On other fronts, we still have no TV or internet. You would not believe the run around I've gotten. After getting different explainations from the 800 customer service line and having another installer show up for an "appointment" to install only to discover we had no lines (duh) I had enough and went to the office to talk to an actual person--yes I did.

Person #1 was not helpful, just confirmed what the technician had told me Friday morning (the one that showed up for an appt no one seems to have scheduled) that we were scheduled for a construction crew to come the 24th--which was unacceptable. Then she informed me it would probably be another week before they would do the install and NO we could not schedule an install now thank you very much. As we were talking another lady asked for our info and got on the phone. As I walked out she called me back in.

Person #2 was awesome. She had a supervisor on the phone, told him my story, and told him I wasn't being rude or anything I was just trying to find out what was going on because I keep getting different stories (pending due to weather, have to shut off power to the whole street, blah blah blah). Then I also mentioned again that I would appreciate if they stopped sending technicians to my house. When she told the supervisor that another tech had showed up and no one knows why it was scheduled, nothing showed up on the computer so I mentioned that was a safety issue--they need to know where their techs are.

Then, almost like a Christmas miracle I got a call from the supervisor on Saturday saying he came out to the house personally and everything was ready, and that I have an install appt Monday. Yeah! What I don't quite understand is how he came out (saw him out the window and it was about 30 min) and fixed the problem without construction. I was told a line had to be run under the street from the main cable box to our house...maybe the first tech was wrong. Who knows. I just know we're back in business tomorrow and I can't wait! We did miss lots of shows because however Ethan left the Tivo/cable box here it didn't work. Sad. He missed ultimate fighter, poor guy.

As for Ryan, he still does not get out of bed, just calls for me around 11:30 and again around 4. I know it could be worse so I am dealing. Last night we were out of town at a Christmas party with my college friends and he fell asleep in the car around 9 and it was the first night he slept all night! We set up another night light with timer and he calls it his special light. I think its set around 6:00 (we need to push it back now that we know it works!) so he knows he is allowed to to get up if the light is on. Such a fantastic idea--thanks to my friend Jenn for that. She has used it with her two oldest girls. Soon we'll get him a clock but for right now the timer is totally working and we're rocking it.

I can't wait to catch up on everyone's blogs! This week I'll be working on making my downstairs presentable for company since we are hosting Christmas for my family, then Ethan's the next day. I believe all boxes are out from downstairs...upstairs is just another issue all together!

Disaster or not?

We are moved! I can't believe it only took 2 days. The movers took all the big stuff Friday, along with my dad's truck and Ethan's truck full of stuff. Saturday Ethan's dad came with a truck and trailer, plus his sister's truck and my dad's again and we're in. I'm actually standing at the island of the old house right now, its 50 degrees in here, but I HAD to check my e-mail. We still do not have cable/internet at the house. I will check with them tomorrow and see what that is about. Good thing I haven't missed a new episode of The Office. Our Tivo is still here, hopefully recording what it is should. Life without tv/internet is interesting. Its not like we have nothing to do...but you can only unpack for so long. Ethan is forcing Star Wars on me again and I fell asleep 2 nights in a row during Return of the Jedi. Hopefully we'll get the Wii plugged in today so we have something else to do at night because I'm not sure how much more Star Wars I can take.

Ryan was super excited when he saw his bed Friday afternoon. He actually napped at the old house in his crib because everything was already out of his room. My brother brought him over and he loved it. Bed time routine went fine, though it was later than it should have been which always makes him wake in the night. He slept for 2 hrs, then called for me. I just couldn't leave him alone the first night in a new house and a new bed. He never cried, just wanted to make sure we were there. Then he slept for 2 more hrs, then one hour, then 20 minutes. After the 5th or 6th time of getting up I told Ethan it was his turn. This was around 2:30. Then Ethan never came back. Ryan conned his daddy into sleeping with him. Needless to say yesterday we all were exhausted. Ryan took an early nap that he desperately needed (in his bed) with no problems. Last night we had him in bed, stories done at 8:00. He slept til 12, needed some reassurance, then slept again til 4...but was AWAKE at 5. Much better. Maybe I was expecting too much? What I can't get over is that he never got out of the bed, not once. It seems comical to me.

Well, its 11:30 and I should head back to the new house and see if my boys want some lunch. A shower would be nice too :)

FINALLY

We finally closed on the house today. Luckily the sellers were kind enough to give us keys and let us start doing what we needed to do, or we wouldn't have been able to start until today. With everything that happened last week with the late disclosure it seems like it took forever. Then our lender decided to charge us $200 for not closing on time. We busted our butts to get there and sign documents, but turns out the sellers signed late in the day...blah blah blah. Our lender wouldn't fund and let title hold onto the money so they didn't fund til yesterday and we recorded today. Ethan let them know he wasn't impressed with that at all but its over so yeah! Now I can put the utilities in our name.

We've taken several loads of boxes over and most of my kitchen stuff is unpacked thanks to my mom. I had the carpets cleaned today and the cable guy came but our house had not been wired for cable. Apparently the builder didn't run the line because the homeowners said they were going to get satellite. Now they have to have a crew come out and run the line from the main box across the street to our house. Sounded like a major job but it doesn't cost us anything. I also got a tip from the guy about requesting a newer cable box so we won't have issues with the Tivo. Half the time it changes to channel 5 instead of 55, etc.

The movers come tomorrow between 9-11 to move all the furniture. We've got a lot to do tonight to clear the way for them and we should be sleeping at the new house tomorrow night. That will be Ryan's first night in his big boy bed. Probably not the best idea since he most likely won't get a nap and will be super cranky but we are not setting up the crib. I'm taking the bolts off and sending it in for the recall so he just needs to deal. We're still having sleep issues with him and I'm not sure what to do. A big part of the sleep program we used was letting him cry it out, which we can't really do with his asthma. Crying just starts a coughing fit. Cross your fingers that he adjusts well and loves his new bed. He hasn't even seen it yet. I'm hoping to have everything set up before he sees it. I got him a race car night light that I think he will love. It just seems like such a big deal, another milestone away from him not being a baby which I know he's not cuz he is 3 but still. I keep being reminded how big he is getting and it doesn't make me sad, I just realize it really doesn't last long. When you are in the thick of it and up all night and exhausted it seems like it will go on forever and then BAM they are 3 and pedaling a tricycle!

So...

After all the drama, I got the keys to the house Friday evening. I took pictures this weekend but then my batteries died so that will have to wait. Friday was also the day I took Ryan to the doctor because he had the non-stop cough again, just like Halloween and I had a bad feeling about it. His ped didn't know we went to urgent care on Halloween, but we had been in the office in September for the same thing....3 months, 3 bouts of either bronchitis or a cold w/ asthmatic episodes. He oficially said he has asthma and we are no long in the "pre" stage. He should not be wheezing or coughing like that with a normal cold virus. Not sure if it was bronchitis or not but because the antibiotics worked last time, we got a super 3 day dose. We still have the liquid albuterol but it takes too long to work, like I used it Friday night because I didn't want to walk downstairs for the other inhaler and we were up for 2 hrs. One of those hours was spent wrestling with daddy in our bed. We have an inhaler for when he coughs and he is also supposed to start a preventative inhaler daily for a year. Ethan and I are researching to see if we want to start off that drastically or maybe do an every other day. We'll see. I'm going to find out about seeing an asthma specialist as well, just for peace of mind. The sleep has been CRAP over here, and though he is better, the inhaler seems to keep him up or not let him fall back asleep so he was in our bed AGAIN last night. He cries, he coughs, the wheezing starts.

We finally signed our moving papers last night and are scheduled for this Friday. Woo hoo. Then we accidentally booked the carpet cleaner and the cable guy at the same time. It was such a pain to get the cable scheduled that we are just gonna leave it alone. The carpet guy was such a great deal I don't want to mess with it either. Turns out I can't put the utilities in our name until the house closes because they want proof I own the house. Do people go around pretending to be other people and turning their utilities on and off? We should close today or tomorrow so I can do that, along with changing the locks.

I didn't want to change the locks until everything was oficially recorded with the county but also because the homeowner has few things to do. We are finding out more of the situation. Turns out the husband didn't really help much with the sale or move. The wife moved out a while ago and she has been doing this all herself, eventhough he kept living in the house. One of the things he left her to deal with was a bunch of oil in the storage. She found a company to remove it, they came and tested it, and because he mixed oil with other things they are charging her a ton to come remove it. She is also getting two windows fixed for us because of all the drama with the lawsuit against the builder. I'm giving her every opportunity to follow through on what she said she would do. Her marriage is ending, they had a business that closed due to the economy, not a happy situation. We also knew a faucet in the master was broken. Ethan spent the entire weekend trying to install a new faucet, it was broken, then realized the brand new sink they put in but didn't ever caulk or use had a leak. We ended up buying a new sink and faucet and we're trying to find out if she kept the receipt or something so we can get a credit. It really took Ethan all weekend. Just shows you how important those separate sinks are!

My dad painted Ryan's room. We realized in better light that the room had two shades of lavender. What we didn't realize was that the ceiling was also the light lavender. Oops. Surprise dad! Ethan went ahead and painted the ceiling so my dad wouldn't have to.

Just a lot of stuff, but I know it will be great when we are finally in. Baby update: the new nurse at the office tried to say i gained 10 lbs in a month. no f'ing way. i'lll say 5 or 6, but not 10. she definately took a long time trying to read the scale so i'm just gonna blame her. I got thrown the circumcision question as soon as my doctor found out it was a boy. That is so much pressure and I wasn't ready to deal with it yet, but because I'm having the baby in another city our ped doesn't go there so we'll have the on call ped so we would have to arrange for the circ separately, if our insurance even covers it. I just don't want to think about it. Let's see, next appt I get to do the dreaded drink the sugary drink yucky stuff which I failed with Ryan, and get my rhogam shot. Super fun.

As a tease, I took some photos at 22 wks in the same clothes I had with Ryan...they will be uploaded soon.

R U KIDDING ME

No, this post isn't even about Ethan changing his mind every day about the movers. It's not. Because I have told him he is not allowed to talk to me about movers again until he simply says YES or NO and then cannot change his mind after that. He is turning into his mother. The indecisiveness (bad spelling) is really getting to me!



We had a call from our realtor yesterday (2 days before we are supposed to close) saying the seller had just told her (they are neighbors) that they are getting a settlement as part of a lawsuit againt the builder. Its one of those class action types, common in newer homes. Our realtor never participated in the suit because she didn't have any problems with her home. According to the sellers they didn't have any problems either but joined "just in case." So, this should have been disclosed to us during the disclosure process weeks ago.



The problem is that when they sign the settlement agreement they could possibly be signing away our rights as "successors or assignees" to the home warranty. The home has 2 yrs left on a 10 yr warranty. Not to mention, what kind of damage are the home owners complaining about? Is this minor or MAJOR. We don't think it is a deal breaker per se, but it is a delay. Then we find out if we don't close tomorrow our lender is going to charge $450 a week to hold our loan. The attorneys for the homeowners said to get the documents from the county which will take days/weeks. I have the attorney I worked for in the loop guiding me which is great. I was even able to get online and get the case # and some info within about 5 min of hearing about it.



My attorney thinks they are doing this on purpose and were hoping we would just let it slide. I'm not sure if that is the case but if they were going to go ahead and let us close tomorrow, they would be signing a settlement agreement and they were no longer the home owners. Didn't they think of that? Didn't it bother them that they were going to get money to fix something that could potentially go wrong in their home, if it hadn't gone wrong already, but not own the house anymore and leave us with this potential problem?

**********************UPDATE**********************************************

We got late breaking news last night and we closed this morning! We were able to get information from the attorneys about the problems some homeowners in the subdivision were complaining about. They were very minor. We trust our home inspector so all is good. We are getting the keys in a few hrs so i'll have pics.

Thanksgiving, shopping and meet Baby

**this was written a few days ago but I was waiting for the ultrasound pic to scan, there will be a more current post soon about how my husband is driving me crazy and might not want to hire movers :(

I am not looking forward to getting on the scale at the doctor this week. I cannot say no to pumpkin pie with a lot of whipped cream. I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. We had our standard family gathering complete with lots of Wii play. Apparently pregnancy has hurt my bowling skill, but my tennis has improved.
My mom and I hit the stores Friday morning around 8am. No way you were gonna see me at Kohls at 4:00. No freakin way. We went to Walmart first. I'm not a huge fan, but don't hate it as much as Liz and Judy. I like Target a gazillion times better, but if I am shopping with Ryan we have to avoid Target like the plague. Target is attached to the mall, and right outside the mall entrance is the dreaded, germ infested play area. YUCK. There is no way for him not to see it. There is a lot of kicking and screaming and it is best to avoid it. Target and Walmart both had the same things in their ads that I wanted, so we hit Walmart first because its in the same area as Bed Bath and Beyond. Plus, they had 1000 thread count sheets for $20. That was at least worth a peek.
The store was not set up well, and it was full of people which made me hot. When I'm pregnant I am a heater. They didn't have anything I wanted, or at least I couldn't find what I wanted (cupcake maker for my niece, Indiana Jones movie for Ethan, aquadoodle for Ryan's friend and those darn sheets) but my mom found some clearance pull ups for $10. Total score.
At BB&B we checked out the bathroom accessories and my mom picked up a few of the items I liked. Then I bought some decorate your own ornaments for Ryan to make for his grandparents. While standing in line I started to get light headed. Half a bagel probably wasn't enough to eat, but the heat, I'm serious, it was hot. Everyone is in coats and I just couldn' t take it anymore. I had a 3/4 length sleeve t-shirt and white tank underneath. I pulled off my tshirt thinking I was wearing my plain tank. My luck, its my "MOTHERHOOD, ITS HOT" tank. Lovely. Too bad at this point. I felt so much better and spent the rest of the morning walking around in that while everyone else was in parkas.
Then it was time for Target. Insert bells ringing and sun shining here! They store was set up very well, had a lot of their ad items at the front of the store, they had people around to help find stuff for you. I loved it. They had the aquadoodle and movie I wanted. They had some stuff my mom wanted, including some $3 and $5 movies for me.
Next I was off to Sears to get some jeans for Ethan and Old Navy to look for something I knew they didn't have, followed by a stop at Gottschalks for my mom to order Ryan's matress. I guess with her coupons, senior discount and a sale it was just as good buying it there and it was a much better quality matress than the actual matress stores. I'm not sure a 3 yr old needs that nice of a matress but whatever. My mom dropped me off and we headed to Ethan's sisters house about an hour away to have lunch with her family, his other sister, his dad and his step mom and her kids. Ryan napped for about 40 minutes. We had lunch at a philly steak place, then went to a fish hatchery to feed the fish. Ryan absolutely loved it. Then he got to play more with his cousins and we headed home. He fell asleep in the car and transfered great to the crib, but woke up 4x that night. This is getting super old super fast. I know I need to let him cry and "follow the rules" but when he starts coughing and gagging I can't take it. Plus, if he barfs who is gonna clean it up? You know it will be me so I'm trying to avoid that at 3 in the morning.
Ethan and I saw Twilight and lunch had lunch on Saturday. The movie was ok, but could never compare with the book. Some parts were so cheesy. Ethan hasn't read the books and he liked it, though he said it was "shmoopy." I guess I am bias.
And here is baby Skywalker. Luke happens to be a name in the running, though nothing is close to being settled. Ethan is ecstatic. I like it, but I also like others. I have accepted that if we named the baby Lucas he would only call him Luke so fine, its a possibility as it is. There are issues with it being a hard "k" sound. I think that requires a certain type of middle name, probably longer and can't end in an "r" because our last name ends in "r" and that makes the flow all wrong. That could just be me. Anyway, I started calling him baby Skywalker and it stuck.

Happy Thanksgiving

There are many things to be thankful for this year, and I decided a list would be the quickest. I love lists. This is ofcourse is no particular order, just the randomness of my brain.



1) My family

2) My friends

3) That we finally found a house that is move in ready and has everything we said we wanted (ok, Ethan didn't get a separate closet but COME ON)

4) That movers are going to move all the heavy stuff

5) My hard working husband who still tries to make it home in time to be a daddy

6) Health insurance

7) Grandparents, aunts and uncles who love my son and want to spend time with him

8) Veggie burritos w/ no lettuce and lots of sour cream

9) Play group

10) Starting the journey of motherhood all over again and hoping I handle the tough parts better this time around

11) That I can drive to my parents in 10 minutes

12) That my husband tells me he loves me every day

13) Ryan's laugh and smile

14) That we are generally healthy

15) Sleep when I get it

16) Cancer research that will hopefully allow my grandma and aunt to live longer and have a better quality of life

17) For my dogs who just love us no matter what

18) Target

19) Books

20) Pasta and bread

21) Freedom, choice, and the right to vote

22) Separation of church and state

23) That my friends are different than me

24) Teachers

25) That there will be more cars, trains and trucks in our house very soon!



#2 IS A BOY. Yay! Ethan is very excited that we don't have to buy anything, I think he actually said hallelujah. LOL. Little does he know, you cannot have a baby and buy nothing. Oh please. I am also over the frog crib bedding Ryan had so there is definately some shopping to do. And we need a new crib because the other one was recalled. Names. Don't ask. We threw some around at dinner tonight and we have a few on the "both don't hate it" list but nothing either of us loves. Happy Thanksgiving everyone from me and my boys :)

Tomorrow is the big day

Tomorrow (assuming baby cooperates) we get to find out if Ryan is going to have a brother or sister. Time really is going by fast. I will be 21 weeks and am already half way done. My gut says girl, just because when I think of the baby its a girl and I think in the "she" frame of mind, but the ultrasound I had at the doctor's office at 18 wks makes me think boy due to the "that could be a labia or scrotum." Sure looked like a penis to me. I guess we'll leave it to the professionals.

Woud you believe

that we had another leak? Ok, not on the magnitude of the water meter leaking into the street for 4 days and having no water, just a constant drip in the downstairs bathroom sink. It would fill up a gallon pitcher within 2 hours so it wasn't small. Ethan worked late the night I found it, I think Thursday night, but he took a quick look and said to call the property manager. NO FREAKIN WAY. I called my dad and he fixed it in about 5 minutes, then took Ryan to his house so I could meat with my nexting packing surveyor alone. I was embarassed about my mess of a kitchen but I explained I had just went through a period of no water, and we had cooked the night before so...anytime anyone cooks here it equals a mess. I swear my dishwasher is smaller than normal. Anyway, the estimate was even lower than the first. The guy threw in a discount. Yay for knowing people in the biz! Ethan is going to try and save us about $400 and pack up the kitchen. As long as I'm not the one doing it I don't really care, except for he already packed up my cookbooks and I was supposed to make beef and rice caserole tonight and I cook by the book. That just reminded me of "you kiss by the book"....Romeo and Juliet.

Saturday I went to a Christmas tea with my mom and her friend. It benefits the local hospital. Then we did some shopping. I was having new bedding issues and my poor mom is suffering because it is supposed to be a Christmas present from her. I found a great black and cream with a small stripe of red at Target, but that required our furniture to be painted black. Said painting cannot be done by me for a while due to my "condition" and after that I'm pretty sure I won't have the time til both kids are in college! Ethan told me "good luck" which is his way of saying NO. NEVER. My mom said my dad would do it but once the furniture is moved to the new house I really don't see it making its way downstairs anytime soon, plus not having dressers or a bed could be an issue. So, with a heavy heart I scrapped that idea and moved onto the brown and blue/teal motif. I hope it doesn't go out of style. I looked high and low and finally found something, though honestly, nothing is going to look super fantastic with rustic pine in my eyes, other than flowers and WE HAVE DONE THAT TO DEATH.

Bed Bath and Beyond had a great set but it was $200. Just seems pricy since I have been known to change my mind on those kinds of things...what happens if I decide to paint the furniture next year? I would feel terrible that my mom spent that $. Then we found an huge set with 2 sheets, all kinds of shams, throw pillows, valances. It was a SET. It would have been about $150 on sale. We looked at bathroom towels and accessories because you might as well do the bathroom too. I am a bit bored of the green anyway, I think I've had some form of a green bathroom in every apartment/house. Plus, the downstairs bathroom is already painted green so I can transfer my stuff down there. Then I get a call from my mom this morning "have you seen the Target ad?" They had a very similar set, not so many extras, for $55. And as I was looking through the Target ad I noticed they had some games on sale, Ethan noticed a great gift for our nephew, it just couldn't get any better!

Luckily the bed set was nice looking and feeling. It just wasn't cotton and scratchy. I grabbed the only king left since I like my comforters big, and called my mom to tell her I was getting it. Then she had me buy extra games for Ryan to keep at her house. $4 games! Also in the ad was the phone we were thinking of upgrading to but Verizon is a pain with that. Ethan has the main line so his upgrade was $49 for that phone, mine was $69. Totally fair, right? That is the online price, it is even more in the store. We got the phones at Target for $39 each and it took all of 5 seconds. We did have to go to the Verizon store to get help setting them up and the lady had a bit of a tude because we didn't buy the phone there but hey, I shop where the deals are. I am my mom's daughter. It was very productive. Now mistake lasagna (beef and rice caserole) is in the oven, Ryan should be home soon from playing with auntie, and I'm tired.

That is Ryan in his halloween costume at our play group carnival. Since he didn't get to trick or treat this is all I have. You can't see the tail but he was a dinosaur.

A few good things about having no water

1) can't do dishes
2) can't do laundry
3) you can pretend you were going to make a very fancy meal that required lots o'water but couldn't and then you make your son have Mac n Cheese and your husband a frozen pizza

The water meter leak is finally fixed. I had to call the property management AGAIN...what a surprise. The poor guy was here for 5 hrs and I had no water all that time. I was very nice and accomodating to him, though I think he was irritated he was the one sent out. I clipped a rose bush that was in his way, I offered him tools, when it got dark I brought out our huge spotlight, I offered him bottled water. My favorite was when he said he had to go to the hardware store and he would TRY to be back. Awesome. At some point he had to call in reinforcement and the city came out. I think he called the after hours emergency number, who knows. They will be paying a pretty penny for that! By 7:00pm he was done and we had water.

The other good news is that we have homeowner's insurance. Trust me, we thought of not telling them about the dogs. The dog question is new. Ethan doesn't remember them asking in 2002 when we bought our other house, or if they asked they didn't care that we had boxer mixes. We consider ourselves super responsible pet owners. We don't leave them in the backyard while we are gone. So, any damage they do is to our things. They aren't outside barking. They spend most of their time inside with us and that usually involves some type of laying down or licking. But, because we know that they are not social with other dogs and because they have a history of food agression around eachother, we wanted to be protected if for some reason they were to get out, or if a kid got hurt. Kids can be very persistant with dogs and though I put them upstairs when we have playdates, you just never know. I think most dog bites to kids occur when they are pestering the animal but still, it is our responsibility.

Farmers did not have a breed exclusion, but at a very high price. Another lady I talked to was super nice and she said to send pictures of the dogs so her underwriter could check them out. I was nervous and trying to find a good picture that didn't make Shelby look so huge and not show so much of her pit mix, but it all worked out. They were approved with no problem!

I also had a surveyor from a moving company come yesterday. I was super busy. Luckily for me MIL came to watch Ryan, but he was clingy and was all about mommy. Anyway, the estimate was for about 2k which is much nicer, but that did include us doing a lot of stuff for ourselves. I am waiting for the go ahead from Ethan to set that up. Its $140 an hr for 3 guys and a truck. The other costs are in fuel charges, insurance, and materials costs. Those darn boxes are pricy.

I got a lot accomplished, at least on paper yesterday. I have a feeling this weekend will be full of more packing. We're also hoping to go see Twilight. I am excited for that, and Ethan said he would see it because it has vampires. He really doesn't know the story line but I"m not going to tell him its more of a teen romance. If I do that I'll be stuck at the 007 movie and I can wait on that :)

I've been on the phone all day...

My mind is swimming in numbers. I feel like the phone has been attached to my head, except for the hour I went and got a hair cut. I have bangs now...Anyway, Ethan did a bunch of on-line quote requests for homeowners insurance. We are having difficulty because of the dogs. No one cares that they are mixes, and they are being counted as "attack" breeds. My boxer pit mix who is scared of paper and lets Ryan jump on her is an attack dog. The other dog is a problem because she is a shepherd mix. We have been told no several times so we are getting anxious now. I decided to field the calls today. Normally I would let them go to voicemail and have Ethan take care of it, but I was trying to be nice. I would answer the phone, take down the info, hang up the phone and the phone would ring again. I was trying to get out of the house to get my hair cut and running late. I like to do my makeup when I get my haircut so I get the "full picture" effect with the new cut. Maybe i'm just weird. Sadly I didn't have enough time so the hair is cute but my face looks so tired from being up with Ryan 3x last night and pregnancy fat face.

Then at noon I called the city because we have a water meter leak and I called yesterday at 8am and no one had come yet. Wouldn't you know it the call never got logged in. Imagine that. I'm sure that never happens. The lady was very nice, and even called me back to let me know someone would be out today. The guy showed up about 2:30 to let me know the leak isn't on the city side. Ofcourse its not, its about a milimeter to the left. So, we are responsible for paying for this leak that started on Sunday, and it took them a day and a half to come tell me its my own fault. Thank you. Then I got to get on the phone again to our property management company to let them know. I'm sure its just a receptionist and they don't care, but I wanted to stress to her that the leak started Sunday and that we have to pay for all of that water. And, please make sure you let the maintenance guy know that we already called the city...do not wait 3 days and tell me to call the city. She is noting it on her maintenance request. Oh good. Anyone need some water? Its in our gutter. We will be responsible for the drought next year.

I need a nap, but its just about time for Ryan to get up. I have a mover coming to do a survey tomorrow afternoon which means I need to hang up the heap of clothes on my dresser so we don't seem like slobs. Oh, and we're out of hangers because we never hang this many clothes at once. I get to spend this evening going over all the disclosures and hazard paperwork for the house. Fun. I'm going to do something that doesn't require any brain power.

6 ounces

I was reading in one of my pregnancy books that at about this time my boobs would have gained about 6 ounces. That is a big fat no. I had to go to Lane Bryant to buy bras this weekend because even the maternity extenders weren't working on my regular bras. Luckily there was a sale so I got some for $16.99 and 19.99 which is good. But...uh...let's just say I went up an entire cup, and 2 width sizes. Oh yes. And I'm 20 wks on Wednesday. With Ryan I went up a cup size but never width. I don't think Lane Bryant carries a bigger cup size than what I bought. This could get very scary indeed. Another motivation for me to lose weight after the baby is that maybe my boobs will shrink back down to a more normal earthly size.

Ethan is on a packing frenzy and it is cracking me up. He has never helped before, unless it was packing or unpacking the office--mainly to set up the computer. I remarked that the $4k estimate must have really scared him and his reply was that he was never around to help when we moved. Apparently he forgot all of the moves but the second one. Our first move was from a rental house to a house we bought across the street and I know he did not pack. When we moved from Sacramento to Oceanside he was already working in Carlsbad and living there for a month before I came. I supervised the movers. He flew back on a Friday night, and we got in the car Saturday morning with the animals and drove back. A little over a year after renting a house in Rancho del Oro we bought our house. Another move...don't think he packed anything. It is true he is the muscle behind the moves so he does deserve credit for that. We had professional movers last time (paid by the company). So even though he thinks he wasn't around to help (nice try) he was for all but one, which was a company paid move.

The good news is that the office and guest room are packed. The bad news is that anything I set aside was also packed. He packed the hallway linen closet, along with all of Ryan's medicines. Why he didn't think that it might be a good idea to at least leave some motrin out, I don't know. He knows Ryan gets raging fevers and we need to be prepared. He told me the box was easy to get to so I asked him to get the motrin so I could give Ryan a dose before his flu shot today...you know he didn't. There is no way I can get to the box either. I"m looking at them right now. Maybe if I was spider woman and could climb to the top which is almost to the ceiling.

We are supposed to get a formal estimate this week. Since we have already done two rooms, and weren't planning on having the movers pack the play room, I think we've decided to get a quote for them packing the kitchen and moving all the furniture. I think we can do the rest with Ethan's truck and my dad's truck. plus some help from other family members. My dad has agreed to paint the purple room which is going to be Ryan's room. I told Ethan and I thought he would be excited because he hates to paint. Apparently his idea to get out of painting was to put Ryan in the other bedroom and call it a day. I guess the room assignment discussion did not register very long in his brain. When I mentioned that his idea would possibly put a baby boy into a bright purple room it did throw a wrench in it. And, even if we are having a girl the color is too bright for me anyway, but I do like purple....much better than pink. So, painting will happen. I don't know why I am discussing logistics with him. I'm going to be the one home and coordinating movers and carpet cleaners and whatever else needs to be done.

Ok, something that makes me happy :) If you are going to be pregnant anytime soon, you need to check out Old Navy. I have been anti Old Navy jeans for a while, due to the fact that their sizing is CRAZY. Their lengths are never the same, even on the same cut of jean. For cheap jeans I like the Ana brand at JC Penney. Anyway, my mom had a 30% off coupon for Old Navy so we were there raiding the clearance for stuff for Ryan next year. They had some cute maternity trouser jeans with no panel. They are stretchy with a regular waist, and have small panels on the side. THEY WERE WONDERFUL. I will definately be able to wear them after baby and not be embarassed that I'm wearing maternity jeans. They did have some panel jeans but they were like low rise and then the panel...they were weird.

Time to get ready for Ryan's flu shot. Poor guy has been once a month since August. The virus with high fever and swollen gums, the weezing, the bronchitis and now the flu shot and his 3 yr check up. Let's hope they haven't run out of lollipops.

Movers are expensive

We have been professionally moved before, and man was that nice. We didn't have to deal with picking the company or anything like that. I told them when to show up and we moved. Gotta love it when the company pays for it. Well, Ethan's company already paid to move us out here, so its on us. And I know, I really know, how it makes everything easier. Just not sure its $4k easier! Holy moly! Or holy kamoly as Ryan would say. We're just moving across town. I want to say it was only 5k when we moved from Sacramento to Oceanside. Its by the hour, and thats fine, but then there is a fuel charge and another tax and a blah blah blah. My aunt was in the travel and relocation department of a major lab for over 20+ years. She gave me some contacts, and that was the $4k. Who knows what it would have been without the aunt discount. So, I really think this is on us. Hopefully I can convince Ethan to pay our entire rent for December and we can pace ourselves, and not try and cram it into a few days. Hello, we've got Thanksgiving and Christmas coming!

Did I mention Ryan is off track? Yeah. I am really missing my 6 hrs a week of alone time. He has been singing songs from school constantly and I think he is missing school too. His version of Twinkle Twinkle is hilarious. He has not been too helpful with some of the packing I started either. I made a box of baby toys to keep, stuff he got for his 1st birthday about and he doesn't really play with. He keeps taking stuff out of the box and saying "mom look at this...wow." Toys go out and in that box all day. The other problem is that we have nowhere to store any of the boxes I pack. I'm also donating some toys he never really played with or that annoyed me, and he keeps finding those too.

I should go pack, but I think I have some good stuff on Tivo instead. I took a nap yesterday and that was a big mistake, so I'm going to push through this afternoon and not nap. I didn't got to bed last night til 12:30, and then about 15 min later, just as I was falling asleep, Ryan woke up. His new standard is waking up about once at night. If I let him cry he starts the cough. Stupid asthma. Last night when I went in he told me he missed me. It almost made me cry so I sat in the chair with him and held him for a little bit, thinking of the song "You're gonna miss this." I had just heard it on the CMAs and while I don't think I will miss waking up at night, for what seems like years, nor will I miss 5 years straight of diapers (ok, i'm hoping #2 is better at potty training but it could realistically be 6), I will miss him being small enough to sit on my lap and knowing that I bring him comfort. I will miss knowing he thinks mommy and daddy can fix anything and that we are his favorite people. All to soon we are going to be annoying to him and his life will revolve around friends. So, last night I thought about that at 1am, eventhough I hadn't been to sleep yet, as I sat in the chair with him and he fell asleep almost instantly, and kept him close and safe because how can you not love that face.

Oh...Ethan cleaned our shower. I love him.

Room assignments

The house inspection went well on Friday, so everything should go through as planned. We didn't expect anything major in a house that is 6-7 yrs old, but you never know. It was the same inspector from the last house, and he kept joking that it was a terrible house and we should have kept the water damaged house, LOL. He said try as he did, he couldn't find one thing with the downstairs bathroom. He told us one of the bedroom closets was missing the track on the bottom, and that they are about $.39 at Home Depot and Ethan threw up his hands and said "that's it, we are backing out!" It really was funny. So, I think our biggest expense will be getting two windows fixed. They are dual pane, but have cracks in just one of the panes. Because the are on the stationary part of the window the entire window needs to be replaced. No idea how much that will cost, but the inspector said we could get a glass guy to come out and remove the cracked pane, and leave it a single pane til we were ready to pay for new windows. GOOD IDEA! There were other small random things like one of the sinks in the master didn't have a faucet. I have a feeling she used it as a make-up area, and didn't want someone turning the water on, but who knows. There also were some bonuses. We had only seen the house once, and it was getting dark then. It has a whole house vacuum which is awesome for the hard wood downstairs, a pantry in the kitchen I totally missed, and tons of shelves and cabinets in the garage for Ethan. Time to get packing.

We are getting quotes from movers, just to see if its worth it. Well, we know its worth it, but we need to see if its affordable with Christmas coming up, etc. We have started to pack a few boxes. The next thing is room assignments. Ethan is very "whatever" about this, but I think its CRUCIAL. One of the things we wanted was to make sure the kids rooms were away from the master. Its hard when they are small, but honestly, a few years down the road and everyone is going to want their space. We made the mistake of putting Ryan right next to us at this house, sharing a wall. He can hear us, we can hear him. I hate that we have to walk by is door to go into our room every night. It is literally 2 steps from our door to his. I can hear him roll over in his crib if he hits the side. No joke. We have a wooden bed rail and if you stand in his room with the door closed you can hear someone roll over in our bed.

There are a few ways to lay it out since we have a 5th bedroom. There are 4 bedrooms upstairs and one down. There is a full bath downstairs w/ a shower. The current owners use it as an office and Ethan mentioned he liked their set up. Fine by me. I hate having to go upstairs to use the computer anyway. Plus, after the baby gets here, it would be nice to be able to run in and check e-mail really quick downstairs while I'm doing other things. We discussed making that room a playgroom so we could close the door and not have to pick up EVERY SINGLE DAMN TOY before we leave the house (plastic eating dogs) but then the office would have to combine with the futon/guest room/craft desk and Ethan is not a big fan of that. I hear him. He doesn't ask for much.

So, I think we've decided the playroom will be in the formal dining room since we prefer the eat in kitchen style. The formal living and dining room is a very large space, but we don't think Ryan needs the entire area so hopefully we can keep him in the dining area. Its right off the kitchen and he can be easily monitored, better than the layout we have now. That just leaves the bedroom situation.

The master is right as you go up the stairs, there is a bedroom next door on the right, but the common wall is the master closet and toilet area, not the actual bedroom. Still, about 2 steps out the door and just too close for me. I think that will be our guest room with my craft desk and whatever else we store in there. Honestly, we've only had one guest in 2 yrs. I use the futon myself when its too hot and I want the fan on, or if Ryan is sick and he is in our bed and Ethan can sleep on the futon. I've also decided when we're gone that will be the room the dogs have access to upstairs, instead of our room. Tired of them sleeping on my bed all day.

There are two other bedrooms down the hallway, they are fairly far apart, and the wall they share is closets on both sides. I'm thinking of putting Ryan in the farthest room, and the baby in the middle. They are both across from the bathroom. This way I won't have to walk by Ryan's room going into the baby's room at night, but it also means we'll have to walk by the baby and do bath while he/she is sleeping, assuming Ryan goes to bed later. Can't really fix that, other than having Ryan take a bath in our room. In a few years after all the sleep stuff is taken care of, I think it is the best solution. Now someone needs to paint Ryan's room because its purple!

Other than that, we made it through Ryan's party. It rained about an hour before it was supposed to start, but then cleared up. We had to dry down the jumpy and all the tables and chairs outside, but it worked out. Ryan had a blast. He was so happy and full of smiles all day. He got some rockin gifts, which gave me permission to donate some of his old toys and box up the "baby" toys for #2. I'll post pics later...i totally always say that.

Woo hoo

I got a high 5 from the doc. 2 lbs in the last month, for a total of 10 so far. Not bad for 18 wks. She asked if I was proud of myself, and I kinda am, though I do miss the french fries. I keep telling myself its less to lose later, but at the same time, this is most likey (pretty much definately) my last pregnancy and I would rather not be preoccupied with weight. She did an ultrasound but it was so fuzzy. I'm glad they do the big ones at the hospital. I have terrible spatial skills so everytime she pointed stuff out I just couldn't figure out why that body part was where it was. I need to see the head first, then go down. I am pretty sure our baby is a frog because the legs were bent and then all of a sudden they flew out, like a frog jumping. And those were the longest baby legs I have ever seen. Long. When I told Ethan he said "better long legs than a big head." True. So true. We had a great open leg view, but it was blury. I saw something, but she was quick to say it could be a scrotum or labia...so, not helpful. Had she not said that I would have thought it was a penis, but she did not say penis. Now a little part of me is thinking boy, but then again, I have never seen girl parts on an ultrasound. 2-3 more weeks and then we do the one at the hospital, then we'll pay for a 3d/4d later on for some extra confirmation and totally cool photos.

Maternity clothes shopping is so not as fun the second time around. I remember wanting to wear maternity clothes way before it was necessary. Now, I'm pushing it off as long as possible. I wore some under the belly capris and shorts for comfort but now, there is no getting around it. I had a gift card for Motherhood so I grudgingly went a few days ago. I thought I should get some jeans since the two pair I have (one Old Navy one Motherhood) are under the belly and for some reason are annoying me, and they are tight in the thigh. Apparently I have moved up in size. Lovely. I also need some long sleeve shirts, nothing fancy. The girl was very nice and helpful but its hard for me to get excited about buying clothes that I'm going to wear for 5 months and then NEVER want to look at again. I don't mind paying $25 for jeans, but I tend to keep my clothes for years. I see a purpose in that. Its like these are almost disposable, though I'll give them away and I know someone will use them. I should say that if anyone is planning to get pregnant soon, you need to check out their Secret Fit jeans. I am not a fan of the belly panel, it feels too constricting and makes me itch, but this is NEW and Fabulous. I is very sheer and light, and you can roll it under your belly if you want. It was a definate find. So, I walked out of there with a pair of petite jeans I can wear with flats, a regular pair for boots, and 2 tshirts = $100. Not bad, but then I realized one of the "t-shirts" that has roushing ont he sides cost the same as the jeans. Come on now. Yes, the shirts are brown and black. Do not start on me about having color in my life.

Pest inspection today, house inspection Friday. Oh, and Ryan's big family party is Saturday. Still have not ordered the food...

The big weigh in

Today is my 18 wk appointment, and I am hoping to have a better outcome than the 7lbs in one month from last time. I also expect a better tude from the doctor, maybe even an apology. Ok, that won't happen. But i'm pretty sure I've either gained no weight in the last month, or 2lbs at the MOST. Too bad they can't weigh me naked. We will also be having the talk about the spinal. Part of me is just so drained I'll just deal with it. My insurance has said I can switch doctors if I stay in my group, but there are no female docs in my group near here. Well there is one but I've heard yucky things about her. There is also a payment issue because our "group" has a maternity plan where you pay about $300 total to the doctor, and that is it. Fantastic. No hospital bill either. BUT, the $300 must be paid by 28 wks, so its kind of a payment plan until then. I don't want to leave and screw the doctor out of money for the care I've received, nor do I want the new doc not to get paid. Its such a mess. But I am happy to have insurance. We'll see what happens.

This baby has not been very active which makes me nervous so hearing the heartbeat today will be good. I think within a week of about now Ethan was able to feel Ryan already. What I've felt I think was something else because it was too high up and I'm pretty sure the uterus is still very low right now. I'm kinda hoping she'll do an in office ultrasound...how awesome to know the sex first and then get to tell Ethan in a special way. Either way, the hospital ultrasound is coming up in about 2 weeks. I have not had any feelings or dreams, but when I refer to the baby in my head I say "she". It just comes out that way. I say baby or he/she whenever I'm talking to anyone because I truly don't know. I knew with Ryan, absolutely knew. This way we can paint at the new house if we need to, and I can order the new crib (ours was recalled and yes Ryan is still in it). I want a white crib if its a girl. Don't ask me why. There are no reasons these days.

Oh, I went to Motherhood Maternity a few days ago to use a gift card. More to come on that later!

Vote-House-Sleep

VOTE! Please vote so this whole election will be over with. I cannot imagine how draining it is on the actual candidates and their families cuz I'm worn out and have done nothing. This will be my first time at the polls because I usually vote absentee. Luckily I just have to walk down the street. And I say this and truly mean it, just vote, I don't care if you are voting against the candidate I'm voting for, I'd rather you vote the opposite of me than not vote at all. If we all meant that maybe there would be more understanding in this crazy world. I know Ethan's vote cancels out my vote, but I vote anyway. Its really hit me lately that not everyone can vote the way we can. SO GO ROCK YOUR VOTE. Be proud of your vote, and if your candidate doesn't win, give the other guy a chance. The job is brutal.

House...drum roll....we got it! Our offer expired at 5:00 last night and around 3:00 our agent called. She had some news. Apparently another offer came in at closer to what they wanted (can't go into all the details) but they gave us the opportunity to come up in price because we were there first, and because they know our agent. It does pay to know people. Ethan knew I wanted the house and didn't need much convincing. I'm just glad its over. Now he is in stress mode because he is the $ guy and all THAT stuff falls to him. It was a tense few hours because I couldn't get a hold of him and they needed an answer ASAP, but it all worked out. If the inspections go well, looks like we'll be moving in about 30 days. Another holiday move.

Ryan is getting better, but not 100% yet. The antibiotics worked great at getting whatever bacteria he had that made him cough, but he still has lingering cold symptoms--the original start of this whole deal. He still needs the albuterol and cough medicine at night, and wakes up several times. Whether its not feeling well or it has just turned into a habit, I don't know. I was up 4x last night, 3 of them were every hour. I AM TIRED. The bags under my eyes prove it. We decided to store the bed on Sunday, which was a good move. Now we can just take it straight to the new house. No reason to lug it up stairs here, put it together, then take it down again. I e-mailed our sleep consultant an update on Ryan. I do it every year around his birthday and she said he was going to bed too late and that was why he started waking up a lot at night again. This started way before he got sick. So, after he is sick we need to re-think bed time. I keep thinking, I'm going to be getting up with an infant in about 5 months and I'd rather not be getting up with the 3 yr old too.

Time for me to shower so I can drop of the check at escrow.

Our first urgent care visit and Happy Birthday Ryan

Ryan's runny nose turned into a terrible cough on Friday morning. It lasted all day and was pretty constant. No meds worked so around 7pm we went to Urgent Care. I figure our first visit took 3 yrs so that is pretty good. It seems that the asthma makes a regular old cold much worse. I was worried about the cough getting worse over night so it was worth the $20 co pay to see if there was anything to be done. Ryan was running a 101 temp, which isn't too high for him, since his normal is around 99.5, but its still something. The nurse took his temp in his mouth, first time ever, and he didn't even close it. She tried to tell him his temp was 99.8 and I just laughed at her.

The doctor said his lungs were clear, but that with the way it sounded and wasn't letting up, he was worried about bronchitis, especially with the possibility of asthma (which i'm pretty sure is a given from now on). He prescribed antibiotics, but no cough meds because all the good ones have codeine and he is too young for that--darn. He said to keep using the albuterol (which i had already tried once). By the time we picked up dinner, got home and put him in a steaming shower, it was 9:00. The antibiotic, along with the albuterol and cough medicine seemed to do the trick. He woke up a few times, but not coughing. It was his normal "i need help with my blanket" or "hold me in the chair." I said he could come lay with us, then regretted that when it took him 2 hrs to fall asleep after trying to sing songs and play drums on the headboard.

Today has been much better. He is hardly coughing at all, hasn't had any cough medicine since 2:30 am. He'll get another dose of antibiotic tonight. He's had one dose of albuterol, boy does it make him hyper. I can deal with a runny and stuffy nose. The constant cough broke my heart. He couldn't even eat. He would just cough up whatever he put in his mouth. Not to mention his coughing put my gag reflexes into overdrive. What a birthday!

We had birthday breakfast at my parents' house and he got to open his cool new mini bosch tool set. He loves it and has been "fickazing" everything in sight. Tomorrow we pick up his big boy bunk beds and we are trying to decide if we want to put them in storage or go ahead and make the transition. I'm a little worried about doing it when he is sick, plus, there is a chance we could move in 30 days so it would be easier to store them and only have to put them up once.

As for the house, we countered and now we wait. We did find out they showed the home to another couple yesterday who supposedly "loved" it and are gonna make an offer. I hope that as just a ploy to get us to do something. They also have an open house planned for Sunday. We think our counter is fair. If they get something higher, we know we lose it. I'm trying to be positive and if its the right house for us it will all work out.

Now, it is my nap time.

Survival and sick

I am so partied out! Ryan's halloween party at preschool was cute, but cold. It decided to (finally) get cold over here. They had little stations set up for the kids, and they tried to do a parade but getting 21 3 yr olds to follow in a line doesn't really work. The big party here was fun, but we couldn't do any outside play due to RAIN. Again, the pregnant me is much happier in the cooler weather but 15 kids stuck inside...It all worked out. No one seemed too excited to paint (yipee) so I was able to save my floors. We made the foam halloween magnets and that was just crafty enough, and not messy. My house is a wreck, but that is fine. Ethan managed but just kept saying "thats a lot of kids." Pictures to follow.

Ryan had a runny nose yesterday which I thought was allergies, but today has an added cough so I'm guessing we have another cold. I don't think we'll be venturing out much tonight, maybe just to my parents. Kind of a bummer.

On the housing front, they countered our offer, which was expected. Now we (Ethan) has to decide what our counter is. We are so close, I hope. It would be great to be moved in by December and have time to get settled before April. I have to keep telling Ethan how much I love the house and hoping it doesn't come down to haggling over 5k, because in the long run, that is nothing. Keep the fingers crossed.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the big play group halloween/birthday party. HERE. 22 kids, 20 adults. Poor Ethan. He has no idea what he is in for! And paint will be involved. Scary. I managed to disinfect most of the toys in the playroom, and vacuum. I also went through Ryan's book basket (its a laundry basket) and took out the baby books. He even gave me permission that it was ok to give them to the baby--yater. I have a few spots to carpet clean in there (thank you to my dogs--honestly, they need to quit eating plastic and then throwing it up). Ethan's mom is coming over later, hopefully to keep Ryan occupied so I can finish decorating and cleaning up whatever needs to be cleaned up. Cuz right now half of our "L" couch is in the entry way. Not very welcoming for guests, but Ethan wanted to clean the carpets in the family room and I said YES, PLEASE. That was last weekend. You do not need to ask why the couch is still in the entry. YOU ALREADY KNOW.

I have dips for the moms, jello (in halloween shapes) for the kids, with the Chex "autumn" mix (it has m&ms and candy corn), cupcakes, goldfish and water/juice boxes. I think I'm covered. The treat boxes came from Lillian Vernon. They are shaped like pieces of cake, and when you put them all together to make the full cake it is so cute! There is an organic lollipop from Trader Joes (though I'm not sure there is really a point to buying organic from Mexico--what's up TJ's?), Yogos (which i think are gross but the kids seem to enjoy) and some halloween bubbles. Ethan is in charge of cleaning up the backyard tomorrow, in between us taking Ryan to preschool, then going back for his halloween party there. He is gonna be high on sugar!

Our bid on the house expires tonight at 5:00. Isn't it nice that the agent was just printing out the offer yesterday (tuesday) when our agent called to confirm she had received it--one of many calls she had made to her. She e-mailed it to her Sunday night. UG. The agent did say she was going to try and get the sellers to take it, especially since we are nearing the "holiday" season and people tend to quit house hunting then. Not to mention there are no other offers AND they are priced way too high. So... more waiting. I am willing to give them some extra time, but not too much because every day we lose looking at other homes...not that I want to keep looking.

Back to cleaning...wish me luck for tomorrow. Or, wish Ethan look. I hope I don't find him curled up in his car in the garage just waiting for the madness to end.

We are not defeated

Don't count us out. We put yet another offer in on a house, or if its not already in, will be in today. I had a moment of clarity yesterday (odd as of late) when I drove by one of the houses we looked at last week. It happens to be across from our agent, listed out of our range. She showed it to us because she knows it is overpriced (way overpriced--by about 40k at least). She also knows the sellers. They are divorcing and need to sell. It would be nice to deal with them instead of these banks. When I drove by I just couldn't figure out why we would let it go without at least trying. So, we put in what we think the house is worth, according to recent comps and Ethan's other research. Our agent didn't scoff at us like we were way off, so I think that is good. Its going to be hard for the sellers to stomach I'm sure, especially when its less than what they paid for the house brand new in 2002, but that is the reality of the market right now. We sold our Oceanside house as the market was starting to go down, and we took a lower price just to be done with it after 3 months on the market (and 3 months of paying a mortgage and rent). If they want and need out, they should at least counter.

The house is great, has everything we wanted. The only con is that the backyard isn't done. Nothing. Its dirt, just like when they bought the house in 2002. They either never got around to landscaping or couldn't afford it. That is another reason Ethan thought the house was way over priced. It has great upgrades: hardwood all downstairs, plantation shutters, solid surface counters in the kitchen and it is immaculate, but those almost get cancelled out when you know a backyard could cost 20-30k. We ofcourse would do it ourselves, like we have done before (we meaning Ethan and whoever he begs to help him).

I printed out the invitations to Ryan's family party today, now all I need is stamps. It is hard to find a store that sells stamps here. I don't know why. Rite Aide...no stamps. A friend offered to make all the cupcaks for Ryan's playgroup party and I said YES. That is one less thing to do. We went to Trader Joe's yesterday and I got the rest of the organic lollipops for the treat boxes. There is still much halloween decorating to do, but at least I won't have to bake anything that day--which is also the day of Ryan's preschool halloween party so I have to attend and lose some precious party prepping hours. For the family party we are doing catered deli sandwiches and pizza. Less stress for me. Ethan is cleaning the carpets as I type :)

In other grand news, Ryan has slept through the night til 6:30 for 2 nights! He was having frequent wake ups before, and the crying would make him cough...stupid allergies. The coughing would get out of control so I would have to go in there. Hopefully that is now over.

Oh...Ryan goes off track for the month of November. Uh...

On the brighter side...

Popeye's opened :) If we can't have the beach to remind us of San Diego, we can have Popeyes. Watch me put on the weight now Dr....bleep.

Nikki is doing better. Ethan got her to eat her dinner last night and breakfast this morning. No more vomiting, though she is still drinking more water than normal. I believe the liver meds are working. SIL/vet tech said we didn't need to bring her in, since we were doing what they would tell us to do anyway, and the $100 blood test probably wasn't necessary since this has happened before. So we wait. If she has another unexplained episode we'll do some further testing, and I guess its a possiblity she can be on the $80 liver meds for the rest of her life. If she is acting fine, I'm fine. I think she knows we would never let her suffer. She gets a lot of alone time with me on the couch when Ryan naps, and with Ethan at night when Ryan is asleep so I'm confident she knows we love her and trusts us to do the right thing. The funny thing is that Shelby got to eat 4x yesterday! I kept forgetting to put Nikki's food up if I left the room. Then BAM it was gone. She is so sneaky. She used to be so obvious and you could hear her chowing down. I never heard a peep. And she still thought she was gonna get dinner. As Ryan would say "silly dog."

I am trying harder to set my brain right and accept some help for Ryan's party. I realized its next Thursday and I have nothing done, not even a list, which is very unlike me. I enjoy a good list. Time has been getting away from me and I haven't felt myself. We probably missed out on bidding on 2 houses we liked just because I couldn't process everything right now. I apologized to our agent and I hope she understands. Its weird how all of a sudden normal stuff seems so hard to keep up with. This weekend I will make a list for the party, coordinate help, and relax.

Pictures to follow of Ryan at our playgroup halloween carnival. They outdid themselves. There was a mini cemetary and one of the headstones was for Martha Stewart and it said "she dug her own grave." Isn't that hysterical?

Gonna be kind of a downer...sorry

There has been a lot of stuff going on the last few weeks and it all seems to coming to a head at once, but at the same time, I hope settling down. My grandma has lung cancer. She is not or ever was a smoker. She is 78 and healthy for her age. In my whole life I don't remember her being really sick or having to be hospitalized. She works in her garden everyday, and can hoe weeds faster and better than me. Up until recently she mowed her own lawn which was almost half an acre. And, she has been caring for her daughter (my aunt) who is going through chemo for ovarian cancer (which has spread). At the time of testing and doing her lung biopsy they found out she has three blocked arteries around her heart. Now they are waiting for the oncologist to talk to the heart doctor and coordinate treatment, if any. She always said she didn't want to go through chemo, after seeing what it can do, but she is open to at least discussing it now. Surgery is not an option due to the location of the tumor. This has been bringing back feelings and memories of when my grandfather passed away 3 years ago, almost to the day. He died unexpectedly (though he was in a nursing home) 4 days before Ryan was born. Something I haven't even come to terms with yet because during the time when I should have been grieving I was having a baby and just surviving. Cancer on my dad's side of the family is rampant and its scary. Very scary. So, if you are a praying kind of person or someone who sends out good thoughts, send them out for grandma. I pray for her peace of mind and body.

Our dog Nikki is sick again. She threw up twice this morning, wouldn't eat, wouldn't move, then scarfed down water when I brought it to her--a sign of a liver/kidney issue. Again. This time she did not get into anything or eat anything bad that we know of. Believe me, its usually obvious. I called my sister in law (vet tech) to make sure I could give her the liver support meds on an empty stomach because she wouldn't eat. She also suggested some Pepcid and pain meds to hopefully perk her up. I dropped Ryan off at school, went to my pedicure appt, ran to Ride Aide for the Pepcid, and came home. She peed in the house, expected since she never went out in the morning. I cleaned that up, gave her the meds and some treats and cheese to hopefully not make her stomach any worse. Now we wait. If she is having another liver episode, this means its happening on its own, without the trigger of her injesting something bad. Which I think means we are in the beginnings of liver failure or cancer. It was only a few months ago that we went through this, agonized over possible cancer, then found out her values went back to normal after the liver support meds. I just can't have her suffer. And I can't watch her look sad.

I had more to say since I got some info on my hospital and the spinal situation, and we looked at some houses yesterday, but I think I've said enough for now. I just need a break.

Best line ever

I am a sucker for romantic movie quotes, though Tom Cruise's "you complete me" was a bit much. I tend to forget them within a few hours, but I heard something today I thought was the best line ever--and it was on TV. I started watching "Raising the Bar" on TNT. Its a new show this season and I love it. After working in a law office for 4 yrs I'm into court shows, not the CSI kind of stuff, but the actual court antics/lawyers, etc. Anyway, one of the public defenders has been interested in his boss (the head defender) but it wasn't very obvious. They have good chemistry and friendship, but I kinda thought they dug eachother. She had a little bit of a jealous moment and he FINALLY picked up on it, though she denied it. And then he said this:

If you were to say you were available, no other women in the world would exist.

OMG.

Always get a home inspection

ALWAYS. Sadly, we are cancelling our offer on the house. We had our inspection on Sunday--well, not even a real inspection. He didn't even go inside. He saw signs of water damage outside, most likely a defect from when the house was built 10 yrs ago. The inspector had seen these signs before, and thought it was going to be pretty severe. The only way to really check was to get special permission to make holes in the walls and look for moisture. Basically, he thought the flashing in the windows was installed wrong, or the stucco was put on poorly. It was just too much to even think about dealing with. Every window had water staining, especially the windows at the back of the house (3 bedrooms, family room/kitchen). The window that was replaced upstairs was most likely because they thought it was leaking, but really it was the wall seeping. I am thankful we had such a great and honest inspector, and that we didn't get a surprise after we moved in. It really could have been a mess and cost us a ton of money--like taking off all the stucco and replacing all windows, and dealing with any mold which could have meant replacing boards. You do not want structural issues in a house. So, we have to start looking again.

Looking at houses was fun in the beginning. Now I am just tired of it. I have probably seen 50+ houses, and only been excited about a few. Hardly any (hardly) are move in ready. We can only take on so much with a baby on the way, and wanting to keep money in the bank for any emergencies. I'm sad Ethan won't get his 4 car garage, and might have to settle for a 2 car which I know won't make him happy. It will also mean I will have to find other places to store things if we don't have that extra space.

In other news, 3 yrs ago today was my due date with Ryan. So, wait about 12 more days for the real thing :) I also found out that the hospital I'm supposed to deliver at doesn't offer epidurals, they only do spinals. From what I've researched they are usually used for c-sections. You are numb higher, but its only one injection. They don't leave the tube in. Its one injection and it only lasts for about 2 hrs. With Ryan it was about 5 hrs from the time I got the epidural til Ryan was born. I'm not sure I could hang on that long and wait for the spinal. I'm going to check with my OB at my next appt and see what she says. Its possible I might have to switch hospitals which means switching doctors almost midway through my pregnancy. I'm ok with it, but I wonder if its weird to switch because I want the option of an epidural.

Look, I scrapblogged my header!

I hope no one plans on me doing anything productive (like doing 3 days of dishes) because I am busy on scrapblog.

What else is going on? I got a flu shot Monday. Exciting. I did my research and both my primary and OB said to do it. Apparently getting the flu during pregnancy is very dangerous for the baby. No side effects, other than a sore arm for a few days. Next up is the AFP blood test. Because the 8 (count them 8) I have already given was not enough. I don't go back to the doctor for 3 weeks, so I'm watching the scale, hoping it doesn't go too out of control. I still haven't had any french fries, but man, I'm adddicted to the turkey/bacon/avocado on sourdough at a local deli. YUM.

Nothing new on the house. We still don't have a signed contract, though they have our deposit in a cashier's check. The inspections should be scheduled for next week, but not until we see some signed docs. As of right now the house is still active on the market and I don't like that. As soon as we get an escrow number that should all change, but there are still people walking through my house! They were so quick to accept our offer (2 days) and want a quick close, but they seem to be lagging in drawing up the "final" paperwork. Ethan and I figured out how much money we can spend on repairs and the new flooring. Its important for us to keep money in the bank for an emergency fund (you go Suze Ormon) so if the repairs are too much, we have to say goodbye to the house. It will be sad, but not as sad if Ethan lost his job and we had no savings.

Ryan is experiencing serious 3 yr old anxiety. He worries if I will pick him up from school, he worries Ethan won't go in and get him in the morning. It is a cycle of him asking the same thing over and over, us reassuring him, then he asks again. It is exhausting. I have told him we will ALWAYS get him, then modified it to add grandma or grandpa or auntie or uncle. So many people love him this kid will never be left anywhere. I'm assuming its another 3 yr old control issue. Today at the pumpkin patch, after we did all the scheduled stuff with the preschool everyone split up. No way you can keep about 20 preschoolers together for too long. Ryan was so worried we lost his teacher. We had to go find her so he could see she was still there. I was chopped liver I guess. I kept thinking, how am I gonna do something like this with 2 kids. Ryan has been disobedient lately, and one of the things he is doing is running from me. I HATE THAT. DESPISE. He has rarely ever gotten a spank, but that is one thing that sets me over the edge. Especially when he is running from me in a crowded area. Am I supposed to 4-wheel with my stroller or bounch my little baby in the bjorn as I run after him? He will even run from me at home which is lame. He is trying to take a toy with him to time out (on the stairs). Not sure why he thought that was ok. I know, consistency consistency consistency. Workin on it.

My beef and rice caserole just beeped, and Ryan will be home soon from an afternoon of playing with uncle and grandma and grandpa. My brother is so awesome and is gonna be a great dad. This was his first week "out in the field" as a deputy sheriff and he has Thurs/Fri off. He called me this afternoon to see if he could take Ryan. Um...yes! Then ofcourse they go to grandpa and grandmas, but still, me home alone. Ethan is working late, Ryan will have already eaten dinner. I will be up all night because I took a nap...darn naps.

The House

So, that is Ethan's dream house with the 4 car garage. The one that needs all new flooring up the stairs and the entire second floor (minus bathrooms). The house that needs to be entirely repainted on the inside, at least the second floor before we move in. The house that is gonna be work work work. We got the call Friday evening that they accepted our offer, but countered for a 5 day inspection period and wanted to close escrow on Nov. 14. Everything is electronic and we told our agent to "click" yes and we were ready, though we were pretty sure we wouldn't close on the 14th because title and escrow are never on time. Ethan didn't think we would have a problem funding the loan in that time, and we were assured we could get the inspections done in 5 days.

My mom drove by the house on Saturday and called to let me know "there are people in your house!" Because the final contract had not been drawn up, the house was still listed as active. Ethan asked the agent to take us to the house on Sunday during the day because we saw the house at night. The house still had electricity, but some of the rooms were missing fixtures so we couldn't see everything. I already had plans for an in home spa party in Sacramento so I couldn't go.

Ethan took a bunch of pictures and when I asked him if it was good or bad he said he would tell me later. Never a good answer. Turns out there is some water damage in the master bathroom. He thinks its a confined area but with that stuff you never know. They also noticed a lot of random wiring and exposed wiring, along with tons of missing fixtures so we're probably going to need an electrician to come in and help with that. There is a water line that is cut, and they can't figure out if its the main or not. They usually turn the water off in foreclosure properties, but not cut the pipe. So...everything depends on the inspection. We put less money down this time because we new we were going to have to pay for new flooring and a stove, plus random stuff so hopefully the inspection doesn't find stuff that is very expensive.

This also will change our move in date. Even if we close on time, its going to take a few weeks to do the flooring, painting, and whatever else they find. Ethan was hoping we could be out of here Nov. 30 and not have to pay rent for another month. I on the other hand think we should pay our December rent and take this nice and easy. We don't really have the capacity to move in a weekend like we used to do. I can't pack anything heavy or move anything heavy, Ethan hates to pack...issues. He mentioned getting movers and I said that was the only way we could do it quick, but that still would only give me 2 weeks to paint (not me paint), clean and get new floors upstairs. I'm a mom and we're pretty magical, but I'm not sure I'm that kind of a miracle worker.

Today we are turning in our "addendum" that is a standard foreclosure form that basically says they will pay for nothing and they will charge us $250 for every day we don't close on time, which will officially open escrow, change the listing to pending, and get people to stop looking at our house. We had to add another addendum because Ethan is a licensed agent, though he is not affiliated with a broker and hasn't worked in real estate in the last 2 yrs, but we had to disclose that.

I am trying to be optimistic about it all. During Judy's home buying process she said she had to put good thoughts out there, so I'm gonna do that. It is a great house, has great bones, and we will not outgrow it. I have to believe its the house for us, where else do you get a 4 car garage in town? I have my family around to help with all the other stuff so I just gotta let everything else go and have a good attitude.

This might be our house

Details to follow...( you are lucky I was able to find the photos after Ethan downloaded them on the computer).

1989

Thanks Judy, I graduated 8th grade in 1989...I'm pretty sure I was only a fan in middle school. I do remember them having a new song in high school because I was driving when I heard it, but I was no longer a fan. I HAD MOVED ON. Promise.

Where was I last night?

At the NKOTB concert!!!! Oh, how I have dated myself. But at least I was not there in a fluorescent shirt and a side pony tail. I'm not exactly sure what they were thinking (crimped hair also) because I liked NKOTB in middle school, and I graduated 8th grade in 1998 so I'm pretty sure the fluorescent/side pony tail days were long gone. One of my favorites was the two guys with the "MY WIFE MADE ME GO TO THE NKOTB CONCERT" t-shirt. Hilarious. And I really felt bad for them until I saw them under the spot light and they were dancing. We had a great time trying to figure out why men were there. Sometimes it was obvious. For example, if they were wearing a new NKOTB concert t-shirt before the concert even started...or hand made a NKOTB 08 jacket. Ya, obvious. But there really were some guys there for their wives/girlfriends. Maybe they were the designated driver for the 30 something crazy woman in their life living out her adolescent crush. You could spot those guys because they sat down the entire time or they stood there was definately no body movement at all. I'm happy to say I was not the oldest person, nor the only pregnant person. One of my friends was pregnant as well, over 20 weeks, so I was in good company.

I am happy to report I did not know any of their new songs, and was just there to relive my middle school obsession. They are just as cute as ever, if you though they were cute before. They are appreciative of their fans, and did a long show. Natasha Beddingfield opened up for them. Ethan likes her but too bad for him because not only would he not step foot in that concert, I don't even think he would have dropped me off in the parking lot.

One of the members (Danny if you care) mom passed away from breast cancer so they have a specific shirt where all the proceeds go to the Komen Foundation. I thought that was fantastic, except it was $35 for a tank top that I would never wear outside my house.

All in all it was fun, I danced, I sang. I got to hang out with friends. I got home at 1am and never really fell asleep. I drank caffeine at dinner so I would stay awake and it worked too well. Only 4 more hrs til nap :)

Let's make an offer!

We saw three houses last night, two that we really liked. It was about time. I was excited about them both, then got some info that has us leaning to a specific house. But...the details.

House #1

1) MOVE IN READY. No lie. Even the carpets looked brand new. For a foreclosure, that is unheard of. You have no idea the icky carpets I have had to walk across. Ew.

2) Some Pergo flooring downstairs (we are anti carpet but know we need to deal)
3) 2 closets in the master
4) Ethan's beloved master sinks are separate
5) good upstairs layout so no kids room will be right next to ours
6) 3 car garage (yay for Ethan!)
7) spa in the backyard w/ deck
8) great neighborhood and local school, lots of parks
9) Totally in our range

The cons. No grass in the backyard. The spa, though I always wanted one, with kids it makes me nervous, though in general I think its safer than a pool. This will easily be fixed with a locking spa top, and the deck is raised so we can gate off the deck as well. But still, another thing to worry about. It also needs a stove.

House #2

1) Huge, 5 bedrooms and good layout w/ a great kitchen/family room
2) large backyard w/ grass and cement
3) 4 car garage (Ethan described it as heaven)
4) all tile or pergo downstairs
5) great neighborhood, local school is a "magnet" school, several parks in walking distance
6) master has 2 closets
7) pantry in the kitchen!

Cons. Needs new flooring on the stairs and the entire second floor. Also needs a new AC unit. House had it but they took it with them. Should be fairly easy to buy a new unit and hook it up since the wiring is all there. But, come next summer will be an issue if its not done yet. Needs new paint throughout. There are some funky colors and flower wallpaper border...ick. Also needs a stove and some tiles replaced in the kitchen. Other than the flooring we could move in (after a good clean) and deal with stuff one thing at a time.

I wanted the MOVE IN READY easy way out, but you should have seen the twinkle in Ethan's eye when he stepped out into that garage. Its a 2 car, with a 2 tandem, and there is another separate single garage door that leads to the backyard. Really, he could live out there. We could park 2 of our 3 cars and have ample storage to make him happy. He doesn't ask for much. Then we got some info saying we have a good chance so we are making an offer tonight. Supposedly this bank does a quick turn around so ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

As for my brother's video, I'm not sure I can post it because he is in uniform. I'll check.

Conversation with my doctor (who i now kinda hate)

Dr: You are putting on the weight fast. You gained 7 lbs (8 total on their scale) in 4 wks.
B: Yes, I know. Not good.
Dr: I don't mean to harp. I just don't want you to be unhappy. If you are only going to gain 25lbs you've gained too much too soon.
B: (in my head) who decided I was only going to gain 25? isn't that a bit unrealistic when I gained 40 last time?

Trying to sound repetent: I need to exercise more.

Dr: No, you need to eat less. You are not eating for 2. All of this weight is going on you, not the baby.

B: OK (wanting to cry)

Then it took a while to find the heartbeat which is nerve wracking, but all is well. And apparently I am now an emotional eater because I went across the street to the new Target that I love and bought a bag of Archer Farms salt & vinegar chips and ate some on the way home. Cuz that helped, I'm sure. I also bought a food stacking hamburger play thing for Ryan's birthday. He has been into "cooking" lately but his daddy won't let him get a play kitchen. So, I decided he could get some play food. This one is also a stacking game so its cool, and it has an electronic menu and it will tell you in what order by color or name, etc. how to stack the hamburger. Love it! I also looked at the play cooking stuff. $20 for a few small pans and a pink oven mit. No thanks. Because I am my mother's daughter, I went to the housewares dept. and looked at their sets. I can get a name brand set of 30 pieces (some I could use for myself with a tray) for $20. Ryan would love that even more because they are real. I'm excited about that. So, I think a few more food pieces, and the Bosch kids drill set I got him and he is good to go for his birthday!

And just for fun, my brother got tazered at work yesterday. It is not a requirement but he decided to do it. Talk about dedication. The video is hilarious though.

3 yr old = bipolar & has anyone refinished furniture?

I was commenting to Kalyn's post and asked "are all 3 yr olds bipolar?" and I thought I would answer myself with a resounding YES YES YES.

Ryan has less than a month to go before the big birthday, but I would say the last 3 months have been pretty difficult attitude wise. They have also been some of the most fun, as I listen to him explain things to me and show me things. I love listening to the conversations he has with himself and his toys. His hand gestures are hilarous! The way he reasons things out-or at least tries to- shows me that his little brain is working overtime. It was about 10 months ago that I made the call to the speech clinic and reported to the intake coordinator that my 22 month old son had no words. Zero. The language explosion of the last year has been amazing, but at the same time, has caused me to wonder about the difference between a true delay and just stubborness. Can you have a diagnosed delay of 1 yr but then be age appropriate after 5 months of therapy? I know there was a delay, at 2 he should have had many more words than he had, but what was the underlying cause? Lately, as his stubburon streak has come out I tend to think that was a big chunk of the problem. There never was a cognitive issue, as with most other delays. Usually when there is one problem there is another. As I watch this new 3 yr old attitude, the bi-polar, I know its normal because it seems everyone else is going through it too, but I still don't like it. It would not be abnormal in this house to have 5 time outs in one hour. It would not be abnormal for Ryan to get time outs for the same behavior in a row.

I cannot ignore (but sometimes have to force myself to remember) the loving party of the bi-polar 3 yr old. The unsolicited hugs and I love yous. When he asks me to play with him and actually shares his favorite train without me asking. The way his voice goes up at the end of him asking "mom, wanna go outside with me?" Watching his excitement when his daddy comes home and he goes through a very confusing story about what he did that day. Just hearing him speak is magnificent. I have to remember that we only have 6 more months of just him and I during the day. I just asked him if I could have a kiss and he said "um, yes you can."

Onto furniture. When we finally move I need to do something to our bedroom furniture. Ethan will not allow a new purchase, I won't even ask. That whole if its not broke mentality. My parents bought our set as a wedding gift, so it is now 9 yrs old. I picked it ou, and have no idea how I ended up with it. It is not my style, am I don't think it was ever close to a style I might have once had. Its rustic pine. I was having a phase where I wanted wrought iron on it, which it does have, but really, what was I thinking? I'll post a pic later, but that would require me making the bed and Ethan still has to hook up the camera cord to the computer.

I have thought of trying to re-finish it, going to a darker stain. The problem with that is that its knotty pine and I think it would be hard to cover the knotty parts because they are darker than the other parts. Another option would be to paint it white, but that would feel country to me I think, and nothing good comes of white in this house. My other option seems to be to actually paint it a dark brown, or possibly black. So, let me know your furniture changing experience.