Easter Pictures

Easter Sunday was a special day for the munchkin. We had our first trip of many to the Aquarium!

First, the spanky panties!



Then, the Dress!



More pictures of Mel-belle at the Aquarium when we get them back from the grandparents!

Mamma called the Doctor and the Doctor said...

No more monkeys jumping on the bed.

Or maybe... "Your baby is strong as hell".

Babies take a long time to go back to normal after intestinal distress. This what we learned today when Mr. C took little Melly in to see the doctor after four days of nasty diapers. Fortunately, she is happy, well hydrated, and doesn't seem to care at all that she stinks. Hopefully she will be better soon because right now she is not sleeping as much due to extreme butt action.

Speaking of sleeping, a certain little wiggle butt is no longer allowed to sleep in her swing. This morning (and I use morning lightly as it was 2:30am) we found her turned all the way sideways. Not sure how she got there. Not going to let her do it again. She was one wiggle away from being dumped onto the floor. Yes, we could strap her in... but then we couldn't use the blankets under her to pad her from the plastic bottom or the cold. So the 'baby steps' to the crib end here. Now it's time for her to be a big girl.

Oh yes, 14lbs 2oz. (this is not the weight gain of a sick baby)

Another weekend gone

Just another weekend here in sunny SC. Ok so it was windy and slightly rainy but still a very nice weekend.

Yesterday I went out to a guild sewing day and Mr. C went to play with his friends and Ms. M went to her old sitter. This was mostly due to the old sitter being sad that she is not the current sitter and wanting time with Ms. M. However the positive was I had a lovely day sewing and a wonderful sushi lunch courtesy of Ms. B. Anyway, I digress.

Today we went downtown, got some new (used) books and let Melly stare out at the world. (which she did quite cheerfully). We made some friends at the restaurant we had lunch at. And they told me all about their grown up children. (Melly was quite pleased at the attention). Then we came home for a little baby snuggle time and playing. A very wonderful day, if I do say so myself.

The only negative is the baby has digestive issues. SO she is very smelly... slightly runny... and a little sick. But as I am exhibiting the same symptoms... It's probably my fault. Or more realistically, it's probably the sushi's fault. (But gosh darn it I love sushi boats!!!)

In other news I have done a little internet shopping. I have finally decided to get some nice shoes for work (Docs) so my feet won't hurt and I won't be wearing smelly tennis shoes. And I bought a certain brother of mine a birthday present. (Keep your eyes on the post box)

Anyway. We still had some fun time for pictures... SO here she is... The little princess herself...(Not so hot a picture of Mr. C, but such a cute baby)


Drinking like a big girl. Did I mention that we discovered her favorite color is this shade of blue? She will stare forever at things this color... my pants, a cup, her toy. It's adorable!

So much to say

Here it is...in sparkling technocolor. Well, maybe not but stuff is afoot.

We lost the condo but not the war. Currently we are talking to a lady who deals in bank foreclosures. She says that there are lots of places for quick sale out in the mountains that are in our price range. All we need to do is get a pre-approval for however much the bank can give us. (Sound familiar?) Well apparently getting a loan for a house is easier than getting a loan for a condo. There is some strange thing where they don't want to give you a loan if the whole complex is less than 51% sold. I don't understand but I will go with the flow.

Onto Melly...She started with the new daycare lady this week. What is the verdict? The new lady seems very nice and professional. She fills out this little slip of paper every day and lets Mr. C and I know exactly how much food, how many diapers, and how many naps Mel-Belle has had. Which is pretty darn cool. Melly seems to like her too. They go on long walks around town and look at fun things like the ducks and the playground. Ms. L (the daycare lady) has all kinds of wonderful things to say about Melly. The only current issue is that Melly has not completely settled down yet and doesn't take long naps. Which means she is exhausted by the time she comes home and falls asleep way too early. (Which means we're up at 4am) But I am sure she will get used to her new surrounding and everything will be fine. She also has a companion how. He is 3 years old and very rowdy. But he apparently likes her a lot too as he apparently asked his mom yesterday what "the name of their baby was again". His baby. How cute!!!

We also had our first weekend of Ren faire. It was not so great. Too much going on. a tired mom, and a tired baby makes for poor company. We spent three hours on site on Saturday and the rest of the day at the hotel calming down. Sunday was better we were on site for five hours... granted one of us was asleep and being carried around for most of it. (Here is a hint, it wasn't me.) But the drive up and down was pleasant with a sleeping girl and company for me. And Mr. C got a weekend to re-live his babyless days. So it was not a total loss. Plus baby in costume=adorable.

And now we are headed straight into another weekend...
Hold your breath, we're going under.

Game Over

Condo news flash... No loan for us. So no condo for us.

And now back to your regularly scheduled lives.

My Mom Hates Me

This picture is being posted despite the protests of both the munchkin and her father.

Sleepy girl

A little Melly break on a Tuesday morning...


Speaking of which... I found childcare!!! Affordable at that. A very nice lady who just moved here from Arizona is going to be watching Melly starting next week. She is affordable, she is sweet, she has a three year old son of her own and she is locate on my drive home. Yahoo!!!! I am very excited about this. Little Melly, in her cranky night time mood was quite happy to be with this nice woman. She even took hold of her hand and shoved each and every finger into her mouth. A stunning show of support if ever I saw one.

I am still a little concerned about having her in a house with other kids. But I need to get over it and let her get acclimated to others. Melly against boys... I think she will be able to hold her own.

Saga of the condo

You know how happy I was a few short weeks ago? Well here is the deal now...

The loan we were pre-approved for was canceled. The loan lady found this out last Monday. She then started looking for another loan to fill in for the one that went away. The one she found was one that we could not afford. (The payments were too high and we would have to live in the condo for a long time before we would have enough equity to move out) And that is where we are sitting right now. We are still in escrow but it looks like our funding is falling through (stupid debt to income ratio) and we will not be getting the condo. Both Mr. C and the loan lady are still working on it...but it doesn't look good. *sigh* Unless we can come up with 11,000 bucks in the next week (to pay off a car loan and then we could get the original loan we wanted but didn't quite make) it looks like we will not be buying our own place yet. Suck.

On the plus side, I think I found daycare today. I am going to go and talk to the nice lady tonight and we will see what happens. She is in our price range and she is located very close to where Mr. C works and to where my work will be moving in a few months.

Outlook cloudy, try again later.

4 month check-up

Ms. Melly...
Weighing in at 13lbs 11oz.
Length...26 1/2 inches.

Yah big fat babies!!!!

Oopse, forgot to say the winner is Denise with a guess of 13lbs 8oz. Mine was second closest with 14lbs. Denise, you candy is on it's way.

A picture is worth a thousand

Melly really likes snuggling with stuffed doggies. And here is one that was given to her by Mr. J. Enjoy, she sure did.



Her daddy has figured out a new rocking game and this is the face she makes while playing. Think she likes it?

The big storm

So every news station has been saying how terrible this storm is going to be. How we are going to get 2-3" of rain with huge gusts of wind up to 60 mph... and what is going on? Not a whole lot. We had some wind. We had some rain. We also had some slush. But nothing more exciting than that. So don't believe everything you hear.

It's Chinese New Year today. We are moving out of the year of the pig and into the rat.

And last but not least...a baby fix.

Another few pictures

These are the beautiful flowers that Mr. C had sent to my work on Valentine's day. They are still sitting on my desk... but not quite as pretty. And they were a huge and wonderful surprise.



Last Friday my office held the last of the baby showers. This is Mel-Belle doing her best imitation of a troll hording her treasures.

The cost of being born

**Warning, this is a rant. You have been warned**
I am currently at war with the hospital billing company. Which I guess is better than being at war with the hospital... which I was earlier this year. I am not exactly sure why they keep sending my bills when my insurance company is supposed to be covering the whole thing. But here I am, calling the companies on my pumping breaks and making a big fuss. The current theory is that most people, when given a bill, will just pay it and move on. Thus getting the billing agency all the money they think they want instead of what they agreed to get from the agency contracted with the insurance people. Confusing? Yup. But after several phone calls and some very helpful claims people I am once again sitting here waiting for a debt to be erased. And let me tell you how tired of calling these people I am. However I also found out how much having a baby costs in SC county...

are you ready for this?

Upwards of $50,000!!!!

That's $30,000 for the hospital (the room, food and nurses) and $20,000+ for the doctors. Whoa!!!

Who knew that being brought into the world was so expensive? And that is not covering the cost of the OB for the previous 9 months or the tests pre-labor or even the vitamins and antibiotics. Being born is an expensive proposition.

I know too many posts in one day....

This is the actual outside of our new house. Our new balcony and our bedroom windows.



This is the kitchen dining area of the new place.


The inside of the master looking at our walk in closet. (This picture taken with my back to the window)


And here we have Melly's new room. (This picture taken with my back to the window)

Grandma's pictures

This past weekend we were visited by Grandma D. She took some wonderful pictures.

This one was just after her bath.


This is in our new living room... More pictures of the condo to come


My Baby cakes.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

And a special I love you goes out to Mr. C who surprised me with flowers and candy at the office.

The childcare crisis at home

Last night, just when everything was going so well in our lives, I got some crushing news. The woman who is looking after Melly has to go to Florida to look after her dying father. He has been given a prognosis of between three months and three years. And let me tell you how many ways this sucks. It's awful because he is dying. It's terrible because she doesn't want to go. It's crappy for Melly since they have bonded. And it's just about the end of the world for me and Mr. C as we are about to have a huge mortgage and our disposable income (how we were paying for childcare) is very small now.

And what are we going to do about it? Well last night I managed to completely fall apart. Crying and blubbering. And after a while I realized that no matter how much crying we did, that was not going to solve the problem. (Unfortunately once you start down the feeling sorry for yourself path it's hard to come back up and be rational) Then Mr. C and I brainstormed ideas of what to do. All of the places I looked at on the internet were over $1000 a month and had waiting lists. (Too much and we need someone in a month and a half.) Then we thought about all the people we know who don't work and we would trust with our baby. (Unfortunately, the list of that is extremely small, being only one person in the area: Polarmouse. Fortunately you are off the hook, keep reading.) Then I remembered the childcare switchboard which is located one cube over from me at work.

This morning, after setting my stuff down, I walked over to talk with them. Within twenty minutes I had a list of eleven people (well ten people if you don't count the woman who only speaks Spanish) who were all within two miles of our new house and whose rates we can probably afford and who have openings for a four month old baby. Now we need to talk with them, find out who we like best and figure out how we are going to find an extra 200 bucks a month to pay her.

Still in minor crisis mode, but no where near where I managed to get last night.

Don't sneak up on new mommies

We had a wonderful weekend. Lots of signing paperwork for the condo and spending time in the bright sunshine. We even had a visit from one of the Grandmas. It was very nice and relaxing and full of fun!

On Saturday night we all went out to dinner. It was a little late and Melly had been awake all day and was getting tired and over stimulated. So as soon as the dinner was over I took her in her stroller outside to get some fresh air and away from the noise. (And hopefully to fall asleep). I was out there alone for a few minutes waiting for Mr. C and his mom to pay and leave.

I stopped and stretched for a second and took my hand off the stroller. Then out of the corner of my eye I noticed someone running straight for me and the baby. I reached for the stroller and held it in a death grip and balled up my right hand to give the attacker a punch in the face....and stopped about a half second before punching Mr. C in the face for coming after my child.

What did we learn from this little story? Don't charge a woman with a stroller, no matter how well you know her.

WAHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

WE GOT THE LOAN!!!!!!!!

WE"RE BUYING THE CONDO!!!!!!!!!!!

Belly, take two

So this is what a baby belly looks like after she...ummmm...evacuates a little...

Just another night...

(Look at that baby belly!!!)

Milestones

Yesterday was Mel-belle's 3 month birthday. She is becoming quite the charmer with the sitting up and the smiling and the laughing. My personal favorite time is when she ends a crying fit by looking directly at you and saying "Meh!". Totally priceless.

Meanwhile the milestone she passed yesterday was the official "Baby's first spewing milk out of her nose" moment. (Unfortunately I was not there to witness it, but I have been assured that it was spectacular.) Apparently the little missy was busy chugging a bottle and coughed at the same time as she slurped. Thus causing milk to go up her nose. And a moment after she realized what she had done she screamed bloody murder. (When I was told about this later that night I laughed so hard my side hurt.)

In other news, yesterday I also took the first of many Russian classes. I am kind of sad that I have been losing my language skills and have been looking for a place to get them back. So I enrolled in a Russian class through the parks and rec people. It's fun. I decided to take the beginning class because even though I speak some Russian I am missing lots of fundamentals... like cursive and vocabulary. (There was only so much I needed to talk about on a daily basis.) The first few classes are going to be really easy for me, but hopefully they will become a little more challenging as the weeks go on. (I get 12 weeks!)

The condo is still in the question phase. Well, the loan for the condo is still in the question phase. The loan lady asked us if we could come up with more money for a down payment and we are struggling to put some together. (So far we have managed to beg, borrow and steal all but 1000 dollars of what she asked for, go us!) Another positive is that the bank sent an appraiser to the condo yesterday. Which means that we have probably passed their income phase and moved on to the 'is this a reasonable amount of money to give them' phase. I still have high hopes even though it is taking a long time. I really would love to be able to stay in the area.

And now I have to get back to work.

This message has been sanitized for your protection.

Bath time

(to the tune of Rubber Duckie)

Little Melly, You’re the one.
You make bath time lots of fun.
Little Melly I’m awfully fond of you.

On the day that we,
Make our way to the tubbie.
I see a little baby who‘s awful cute and real smelly,
Washing her belly.

Little Melly, Joy of Joys.
When I bathe you, you make noise.
Little Melly I’m awfully fond of you.

Little Melly I’m awfully fond of you.

This Week in Babyland

No more pictures. I'm ready for my nap.



Learning how to sit up and discovering our feet are just some of the excitement we experienced this week.


I think we have found the best color for Miss. Mel-belle.

Memories

So I'm reading back over my blog for the past few years, just to see where I have been coming from. Last year I proclaimed it the year of being girly. And I guess you can't get much more girly than having a baby. So I probably I won that. Some other girly things I did? Well, I am a secretary, a notoriously girly profession (now, not historically), I held sewing workshops, got several pedicures, has a baby shower, and all of that amounts to a pretty girly year. Go me. I accomplished a goal I was going for.

And with that... I am off to make coffee for the next seminar that is starting in half an hour.

Go me.

Just for Fluffy

When I grow up I'm gonna be a ballerina.

The look on her face in both of these is priceless. And totally wonderful. Thank you Fluffy for the beautiful knit things!

Life gets good...

So last week on a whim I was searching the Craigslist.org housing postings. I do this a lot not really because I think we will be able to find a house that we can afford, but because I like to know how much houses cost... and I an nosy like that. Anyway I came across an ad for a condo, two bedrooms four blocks from the beach, that was being listed as a measure J house (for those of you not in SC, that means reduced price so a person making a median income could afford it). And all they wanted the person buying it to come up with was $3000 bucks. So I emailed it to Mr. C as we fall nicely in the measure J limits. Mr. C called up the people and we made an appointment to look at the condo. Now, I was getting excited. We had _talked_ about looking at places before but never actually done it. The following Friday we both took our lunch breaks early and went over to see the place. We toured the facilities and looked at three different condos and decided that one of them would be perfect for our little family. So we took a deep breath and put down the deposit and made an appointment to see a loan specialist the next day.

Saturday... We arrived with all kinds of paperwork, two years worth of tax receipts, pay stubs, IRAs, college funds and all the paperwork that proves that while we have not much liquid assets we have lots of other money hidden away. And after taking all of that into consideration we applied for a loan. What is really cool about this loan is the extremely low APR and the help with down payments and all of that fun. So we should be hearing back in the next day or so if we are approved. But the loan lady seem to think it was a sure thing and was very positive.

What is the moral to this story? If everything goes according to plan we will be signing papers next Saturday and buying a condo!!!!!!!!!!!! A house of our own!!!!!!!!! It so exciting I might just pop. I have spent the last two days looking at appliances and lighting fixtures and paint cards. There is so much to think about and do... I hope we get the call soon or I might explode!

You want more? OK!

Alternative baby!



This is what angels must look like.

More Baby!

And here is my sleepy girl.

A happy baby learning that belly time is happy time.

Ramdon faces of cuteness

Baby's first Christmas. AKA: Silent night.

What's over there?

A brand new car!!!

We received a phone call last night from a company that Mr. C entered a drawing with. They informed him that we had been chosen to win one of the top five prizes and all we had to do was come on out and pull a piece of paper out from a bowl and see what we had won. It could be anything from a cruise to Mexico, a trip to Hawaii, or a brand new car worth up to $100,000!!! And all we have to do is show up!!! Well, that's not quite true. We also have to sit through a 90 min presentation on time shares.

Now, I don't know about you, but that sounds suspicious to me. However they said that we would not be required to buy or sign up for anything. And Mr. C asked them to email him all the info. And they were being supported by the Dicken's Faire, which is pretty reputable. (mostly...in recent years)

I don't mind sitting in on a presentation. 90 min seems like a small price to pay for a nice prize. However there is a catch (there is always a catch) they do not want children under the age of 10 there. So we will need to figure out what to do with Mel-Belle. Perhaps I can convince someone to masquerade as me so I can sit in the car with Melly and wait and while we still get the prize. Or possible have someone sit in the car with Melly while I go to the presentation so I can come out and rescue/feed if necessary.

Who knows, maybe they are legit. Maybe we will have a new car on Sunday. Or maybe we will get a nice lunch with a friend and screw the stinking time share anyway.

Rain and Snow

We are currently getting slammed with a huge storm. There are power lines down, trees down, gusts of wind up to 55 miles an hour... And we live in the woods. What does this mean for little old us? Well, it means that our power has been flickering all night and morning. It means that bits of stuff are falling all over the roof and making lots of noise and it means that all the roads off the hill and into town are closed due to trees falling and downed power lines. I love a good storm.

So this morning we were up and ready for work on time. Mel-Belle and I were in the car and driving down the hill right on schedule. I was driving over large sticks and pine fronds. I was feeling like quite the rough rider and then it happened. Right at the base of the road were we meet the main highway there was a tree. So I turned around and headed back home. I figured I should tell my hubby about the tree so he didn't waste his time and I was still in blackout cell phone area.

I got back home and told him. He said that the other road into town was out because of power lines. Well crap. I am the only person in the office today. No one to call and no one to cover while I try and get down off the hill. So I bundled the baby back into the car and headed back down towards the tree hoping that one of the big construction trucks that had passed me had decided to stop and deal with the tree for everyone. By the time I made it down there the baby was screaming bloody murder and the tree was being cut away by some nice neighbors. So we waited.

And not long afterwards we were being ushered through and all was right with the world... Except for the screaming baby. So we pulled over at the beach and I did a lap change (remember I can't be outside of the car as the storm is still pouring down water on my head.) and gave her a little food to calm her and we were off... an hour behind, but here non the less. I just received a call from Mr. C, apparently after all the work we put into getting to work this morning, his office has no power.

And here I am goofing off instead of working. But I needed to tell my story to someone. Thanks for listening. I now return you to your normally scheduled program.

Happy New Year

This is the cutest picture of Mel-belle yet. (Look, Mr. C fixed it, no more sideways)

It's 2008 and looking back on the past year I have absolutely no idea where this one will lead us. All I know is life seems to be getting better and lots of fun.

So here is to all of the people who I love and the people who love me.

Happy New Year!!!

Baby alone time

I don't know if this is normal baby behavior but once or twice a day little Melly is inconsolable. I change her diaper, I feed her, I sing to her, I rock her, I sit her up, I let her climb on me but to no avail. The only thing that will make her happy is laying down alone. She likes people near her, but not touching her. Is this normal?

The best nap on earth

Little Melly went to the doctor yesterday. She was weighed... 9 pounds 4 oz and measured 21.5 in. Which, according to the doctor, puts her in the 20th percentile for body weight and size and the 75th for head size. She also got the first in a series of shots. After her three shots she screamed her poor little head off for thirty five min afterwards. Poor honey. However, one of the immunizations is administered orally...and it was very sugary and she loved it! Lots of lip smacking and smiling. Just like her mama. And the fun part? She now fits in size one diapers and doesn't fit into some of her newborn clothes. So I kept the smallest one she fit into and donated the rest to a poor woman who is having her baby next month and doesn't have family support. See, I'm being so good!

Of course because of the shots she was then cranky all night. Well, all afternoon she was asleep and feverish and then she was up and cranky all night. So this is me... on about three hours of sleep. I kind of want to wake her up every forty five min to show her what it is like. But I'm not that mean. However I did put her into her jumper that says baby on it because she needed to be labeled a baby for the 35 min scream-fest yesterday and then for waking me up all night I put pooh on her head. And because of her big old head, the hat fits perfectly.

And today I went to the OB for the last time... or so I thought it was the last time. But it turns out that I am not healing as well as they want and am now on antibiotics and have to go back in two weeks. Or, not really two weeks since that would be Christmas.so the week after. So, I go back one more time. Hopefully all goes well then because I am tired of hurting.

And now, with all of this over share, I am going to deal with my crying child.

Night.

Family Portrait

Dicken's Fair

Yesterday we bundled up the baby and drove up to SF for the fair. It was great. Well... mostly great. I felt wierd not being in costume and sad that I wasn't singing with the carolers...but I got to introduce Melody to lots of people who have been wanting to meet her for several months. We walked around for a while and spoke to people and then sat down and watched Ms. B kick some serious butt in Pitates of Penzance. My favorite part was every time that she hit a high note the baby would jump. Highly entertaining. My friends are way too cool!

Afterwards we went to get a family portrait. It was one of those dress up pictures and all of us together look so very good. I can't wait to put the picture up on the wall. I also can't wait to post the picture here.

The weekend would have been perfect if I had not gotten sick. That's right. I have a cold and I am hoping very much that little miss won't catch it. There is a lot of handwashing and not being around the baby as much as possible. Unfortunately she depends on me so much and Mr. C goes back to full time work tomorrow so I don't have much of a choice but to be with her a lot.

Speaking of which we went to the Doctor last week and Ms. M was 8 1/2 lbs. So hopefully when we go back this week she will be 9. Her fat little legs and arms are perhaps the cutest thing ever!

And now I will fold laundry...

Happy Holidays!

Giving Thanks

In the spirit of the holiday:

I am thankful for my family. I not only have they all stepped up and wanted to be very involved in the new baby's life, they are also asking about me and Mr. C.

I am thankful for my friends. I may have fallen off the side of the planet for a while, but they keep calling and wanting to hear from me.

I am thankful for Mr. C. He does so much for me and even when it seems I am taking him for granted, I am still busy loving him with all I've got.

I am thankful for my sweet baby who is beautiful, healthy, and making my life impossible. I am also thankful that she will continue to make my life hard from now on.

I am thankful for my job and the ladies I work with for being so understanding.

I am thankful for all the lovely people at the hospital and the doctors who are making my life more difficult but really have my (and my baby's) best interest at heart.

I am thankful that I have a roof over my head, enough food, and all of my basic needs taken care of as well as many of my not basic needs.

I am thankful that I have lots to look forward to.

I am thankful for the Macy's Thanksgiving parade. It is one of the few constants and is the true start to the holiday season.

I am thankful for Thanksgiving as it is a time to get together with family and catch up before the stress of Christmas.

Baby

Life has gotten a little more fulfilling as little Melody decided it was her day to be born on Oct 30th, at 9:29pm. (For those of you in the South Bay, that would be about an hour after the earthquake.) I can honestly say that the earth shook when my baby was born.

The whole story:
I went to the OB on October 29th because I was concerned about a minor issue. I was completely checked out and told that Melody and I were just fine. The OB said that I was not in labor and that it was going to be a while. So I sighed and said alright. Then the OB said she was concerned about my blood pressure and so sent me over to the hospital to get hooked up to moniters. So there I sat, for about four hours and they discovered... nothing. I was sent home with directions to return in 24 hours for a second look.

So I went home and did my best to forget that I had to go back the next day.

At 2am I woke up to use the bathroom. As I was getting there I suddenly realized that I was leaking. Totally pissed at myself for losing control I changed my clothes and went back to bed. After a moment of trying to go back to sleep I realized that my water might have just broken. I laid in bed for a few more hours... and at about 5:45a I finally got up and looked at my baby books and all three of them said... go to the hospital immeadately! Hmmm. So I called the on-call at the OB. She said, didn't I just see you yesterday? I said yes. She told me to go to the hospital.

So I woke up Mr. C and we went in at about 7am. We were ushered into the labor room and they tested me to see if it really was amniotic fluid... Sure enough. Melody had decided it really was time to get out of the pool. Unfortunately, I was not having any contractions of note and we sat and waited until about 1pm before they started the Pitocin (the medications that start contractions). Then labor really started. Ok, not really.

Contractions actually started then and by the time the grandmothers got there (starting around 4pm) I was asking for pain meds and thinking it was taking much too long. As I was finally getting drugged out of my pain, I remember looking up at the ceiling and watching the sprinkler heads start shaking... I said, oh an earthquake. At which point things started happening. At 9pm I declaired it was time to push and the nurse checked me and said, yup... you're ready. So I pushed and at 9:29pm little Melody came into the world. She was 7.2lbs and 19.5 in long and took one look at this world and started screaming bloody murder.

We all spent the first 48 hours of Melody's life in the hospital getting food, bad daytime TV and all the juice I could drink.

And now little Melody is over a week old. She is learning how to be awake during th day and letting her parents sleep at night. And we are all doing well... Or as good as can be expected.

More to come...

Bizaar Dreams and Baby Showers

Last night I dreamed that I was in the bathroom when Melody decided to be born. I called out to Chris who said he would be there in a second and then all of a sudden she came flying out. I caught her and put her on my chest (like they do in all the baby birthing shows) and realized she wasn't breathing. So I sucked the stuff from out of her mouth and nose. And then I woke up. So odd. But quick and painless... Hopefully the real one will be like that... Anyone believe that is going to happen?

Also, this past weekend was the best baby shower ever! I had all kinds of wonderful people there and I got to play skee-ball and the fireman game! Plus cake and really good rice. All the makings of a happy girl. And I just got pictures from Fluffy so I will post them as soon as I get home.

I went to the OB yesterday and found out that Melody is still hiding from the sonagram... It took the Doctor (a different one than my normal lady who is out for another couple of weeks) about three or four min to find it and then she kept shaking Melly to make her move around. Which, of course, made me giggle. And then she said: If you notice lots of decreased movement you need to get into the hospital right away and get on a fatal monitor. What is it about the Ob office I go to? They always give me something new and exciting to worry about. On the plus side.... three more weeks is as long as I can go...

Anemia and you

Most of you who have talked to me about baby Melody have heard of my re-occuring issues with nose bleeds. Well, I told you all about my fun and exciting trip to the doctor last week and now I have the test results back... I'm anemic. What? Let's think about this for a moment... I have been tested for anemia every time I went to a doctor for the past five months. Why would this suddenly show up now? I ask you all... what in the world?

Angry Lawn Gnome

I went to the OB yesterday. She measured my belly several times and then decided I needed an ultrasound. Ok. I like ultrasounds. Melody doesn't, but then she still doesn't get too much of a say in the situation. I found out that the reason for this is that my belly got really big in the last two weeks and she was concerned as to why. So I went in and laid on the table and got all gooped-up. And low and behold I got a good look at Melody. She is head down and ready to come out... and huge! Right now she is approx 7.5 pounds and we still have three and a half weeks to go. So the good news is she is ready and waiting to come out, the not so good news is that if she chooses to say inside much longer she is going to be too big for a natural birth. So I am scheduled for an inducement on the 12th of Nov. (And yes, that does mean they have moved up the due date, again)

My favorite part of this whole thing is I have more pictures of her. I have two beautiful shots of her little face...and she looks adorable and pissed. In fact she looks like an angry little lawn gnome. And who wouldn't be angry upside down and squished into a little space all the time. She looks a lot like her daddy. Especially when he has his grumpy face going on.

So the good news is that everything is well and good...Melody is healthy and very happy and very big. Now if only she will come out and play.

It's over... now what?

Faire is over for the season for me. As is baby class. After this weekend the baby shower will be over. And in three weeks I will be on maternity leave. Now what?

Baby class last night was a pleasant surprise. Although I couldn't stop yawning, it was minimal torture and maximum talking to the other students. And, strangely enough, I am the only new mom in the group who is going back to work directly after the 6 weeks is up (except for one couple who lives and works at the same place so the baby will always be at work). But I like the way we live now and I don't want to give up being able to go out and do things as well as pay the bills. So there you are.

Closing parade was great! My girls were awesome. All of them dressed up like they were pregnant, including the seven year old girl. The downside to me being in the parade was the gap between the pregnant girls and everyone else... we were walking sloooooooooooooooooooooow. Oh but it was fun. And I am very glad it is over for the season. I don't have the ability to do much more of this always getting up and camping over the weekend stuff.

And for now that is all you get. I have to be at work early for a conference today. Tah.

How a crib can change your life

This week has been very eventful. Not quite as fun packed as last week, but lots of things are falling into place. To start with I went to my normal doctor this week to check into all the bloody noses. She took the test sheet that my OB gave me and added more blood tests and then demanded I have a flu shot. I have never had a flu shot in my life and was very hesitant... I mean seriously, if I have the shot I will not build up the antibodies from getting sick and it will make if worse in the future, but she bullied me into it. And now I am sitting here with sore arm from giving up three vials of blood plus being shot with the plague.

In baby class we were given handfuls of ice and told to ignore them while doing the counting/breathing thing. I still disbelieve that a handfull of ice (or clothespins on my ears) feels anything like contractions... but with one class left I'm pretty much game for anything. We also watched a video on how to make a newborn quiet (which had a section on shaken baby syndrome, for those of you who know about my baby games...and I realize that sounds very bad, doesn't it?)

Meanwhile back to the crib issue. The crib that Mr. C's mom bought us came yesterday. I almost made it through the night without demanding that it be put together. So the last thing Mr. C and I did last night was make a beautiful crib for our baby. And let me tell you... babies seem much more real when you have their bed taking up a good section of you bedroom space. I put one of the quilts I have been given on it and all the stuffed animals in it and wow... I'm really having a baby. And that baby will turn into a little girl who will grow up into a big girl... and OMG I'm having a baby.

A month? What do you mean?

I turned in all of the paperwork for my maternity leave yesterday. And then I came to the jarring reality that I was making plans not for the far future, but for about a month from now! Woah! Which of course started a flurry of activity including me cleaning out the dresser that I had stuffed all of Melody's stuff into and cleaning out a closet and several other baby related moments.

I went to see the OB yesterday and she said Melody is getting fat and seems to be very happy. (Her mom isn't too happy, but the baby is) I also get to see my regular Dr. next week to look into the bloody noses I keep getting. Yes, we are back to those. Mostly because they are not going away and I don't have any other odd things going on. But on the plus side it means that I get to go through another battery of blood work. I am going to be so light headed... Did you know that the closer you get to your due date the more you have to see the OB? I have now officially moved from once a month to every two weeks. I wonder when I get to see her every week?

Alright, it's that time again...
I'll talk to myself more later.

Tah.

A Bug Bomb in my Bung Hole

This weekend I learned just how much fun some things are to say. And if it weren't for this nifty little catch phrase, I would be a whole lot more grumpy...

Everything was going pretty good at faire this weekend. We were running a little late both days (one because of a meeting the other because Sunday was tired day for everyone). But besides that, they pumped my well on Saturday night !!! I was so excited!!! We were ready when opening parade came by both days it was great! We gigged and had fun and then it was Sunday afternoon... and the ants came out.

Yes, you heard me. A huge colony of ants decided to live in the well between the wood and the plastic coating. So I pulled all the girls off the well and grabbed my handy bottle of bleach and started to perform mass insecticide. Thousands of the little buggers died by my bleach covered hands!! Muhahahaha!

Then I walked up to the Entertainment trailer and said: I'm so excited that the well was pumped last night! Thank you so much. The new problem is ants. The well needs to be tented and someone needs to put a bug bomb in my bung hole. Then I realized what I said and promptly fell over laughing.

I did end up going home early, by the way... but I made sure the well was in good hands.

heh, a bug bomb in my bung hole.

Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit...

So I have been debating if I should write about this or not. I have come to the conclusion it is worth the telling but needs to come with a little preface. OK everyone, I went to the hospital last Friday because I was having trouble breathing and was very dizzy...but there was nothing wrong with me other than a panic attack. Get it? Nothing wrong! So you don't need to sit there and worry. The end of the story is boring. But here is the beginning...

So on Friday morning I was being run around at work during a meeting, I didn't have everything ready for faire, and I still needed to go to Costco. So I was feeling a little bit overworked. And then I started to get dizzy. As most of you know, this has been a common complaint since I got pregnant. So I decided to lay on the floor as a precaution.

However laying on the floor of your cubical in the middle of the office of education means that people walk by and panic for you. So to stop the madness (and make sure they didn't call an ambulance) I voluntarily had a co-worker drive me to the hospital. And at the front desk the nurse told me I was having a panic attack and to knock it the hell off. Which I promptly did and felt much better. Then they admitted me...

And I called Mr. C.

They hooked me up to an IV, to a fetal monitor, to a heart monitor, got me an EKG and took blood samples for anemia (again). And the whole time I was thinking (and sometimes saying) If I had been at home, I would not have come in here. I would have laid on the flood until I felt better.

Four hours later (and I'm sure hundreds of dollars later) I found out several things... Melody is reacting to just about everything I do (which is a great sign), she has a very strong heartbeat (and you can dance to it), it's fun to watch your mounters when they stick you with things and make you bleed because they go all screwie, IV bag really make you have to pee, I am having little tiny contractions (which are too small for me to feel) and am right on target for where I should be in my pregnancy, and because I'm preggers, I have to wear the fat people gown.

So much for the hospital. But don't worry, we'll be back there in a month or so.

Rain faire

You know I think it has been years since I have been at a faire that has been forced to close because of rain. And there we were... sitting in the middle of the biggest mud pit with no wrestling going on. Oh wait, was that my outside voice?

Actually Saturday was lots of fun. I sat (laid) in my tent while people visited with me. I got a two hour nap and woke up just in time to have dinner and go back to bed. So it was lovely and my tent was totally dry even though the heavens were trying their best to wash us all away.

Sunday was good too. The weather was beautiful, the temperature was nice and I was really well rested. Except for the traffic on the way home, life was good. And here I am in the last week of September.

All of the baby shower invitations have been sent out (check you mailboxes). All of my sewing is done. All I need right now is breakfast... And possibly some chocolate. Life is slowing down and that is perfect.

And that is my weekly check in. I have baby class tonight. An eyeball appointment on Friday and not very much to get from Costco. Life is good.

Tah.

Moving along...

The shower invitations arrived on Saturday and I was sitting in bed last night addressing them to various people. I realized that I might now have ordered enough and might have to do a quick re-order... *sigh* But that are beautiful. And, hopefully, will be in the mail shortly.

This weekend was incredibly stressful. So everyone knows that I am in charge of the washing well at Northern this year...I had this suspicion that there would be issues... And here is my new one. The didn't bother to drain the well from last weekend. So when I arrived on Saturday morning ti was a sludge pit full of mosquito larva. Yummy. It smelled awful and looked even worse. So I told the girls to keep it's lid on and not to get near it. Then I went t looking for people in charge. I told everyone I could find how disgusting it was and how my girls were not getting anywhere near it. The ended up mostly pumping it on Saturday night. Which did a lot for the smell but not for the mosquitoes. Then I poured bleach into it and the girls put salt into it and together I think we killed just about everything.

I am so mad about this. I was promised so much and given nothing. In fact I was so stressed out that I made myself unable to continue being at the well all day on Sunday. And after being yelled at by the EMTs I was sent home by Ent staff. Which was probably for the best as I was not feeling so hot and allowed me to go to bed really early.

Now here it is Monday morning again...

Just for Fluffy

Fluffy... you asked for a picture of me and Melly at faire... Here you go.

Belly

Many of you have been wondering exactily what does an 8 month pregnant Adie look like... Well, here you go. Not the best of pictures but it gets the point across.

Moving so fast now...

Hello and welcome to September!
All of the waiting has finally come to an end and now it's suddenly...busy time!!! The costumes I was working on are finished enough to wear and be worn. There are minor details still to be worked on, but nothing that will kill me in the next three days. My online classes started yesterday. And I will hopefully be able to keep on top of those. Still not sure how I feel about accounting, but here I am, about to find out. Faire opens this weekend and our 'guild yard' was in no way, shape, or form anywhere near ready for us last weekend. So it's a mad dash to get it ready for opening on Saturday morning. However I am more worried about the shopping I have to do on Friday after work and making it all get up to site. I think I will be leaving here way too early on Saturday morning to make sure everything is set up before we have an all cast meeting. *Sheesh*

On the big positive side I ordered the shower invitations yesterday and they should be arriving in a week. Which means that we should have plenty of time to get them addressed and sent in the next three weeks.


Isn't it great?!?! I'm very excited about this.

And more excited about finally using a gift certificate that I have been hording for almost three years... I am getting a massage on Thursday night. *sigh* Hopefully it will have a positive impact on the rest of my weekend.

And now I am late for work.

Tah!

On the weekeknd...

So this past weekend I was getting ready to celebrate Mr. C's birthday. I decided that since the people around me have been giving me all kinds of faboo kitchen toys I should probably bake the cake from scratch. So on Thursday night after work I went to the store and bought everything I needed (except the lemon extract, which for some reason was sold out!!!) and took it home. On Friday night when I got home from work I started working on the cake. It involved all kinds of fun steps like separating eggs and sifting flour. And at some point in the middle of the whole thing I realized something... I was barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen. Not only that but I was also baking my man a cake when he was out with his buddies. And after ten min of laughing, I went right back to baking.

And that was Friday night. I hope everyone appreciated how silly that really was.

Cheers!

Hey look...

It's the end of Aug and I haven't posted anything. Sorry about that. Everything is really busy right now. Unfortunately it's busy in that not exciting to post about way.

My new job is pretty cool. I finally have stuff to do all the time. (I think this might be a first.) And I am getting used to the people I am working with. (As we all know there is always a transition time.) I have managed to switch my schedule once again so that getting up in the early morning is normal... And strangely enough I don't really have a problem getting up at 6. It will probably get harder for me as the weather gets colder and it gets darker... But I can deal. I really like being off work at 5. It's like a little present.

Melody is getting bigger and more active. And well she should be at 7 months. She enjoys kicking me when I am trying to concentrate on things (How does she know?) We went tot he doctor yesterday who said I finally looked pregnant. Well good, I would hate to think I just looked fat. *grin* I am still very healthy, just in case you were wondering. I refuse to admit how much I weigh right now and truly believe I will be having a 40 pound baby. The first of the major baby presents arrived this week. We now have a beautiful stroller/car seat. It's all green and pretty. We put it together and I showed it to Melody... but she apparently has no opinions about it yet.

Anything else? Well it's faire season so I am in the middle of costumes, practice, and drama. Yes, that's right as a new guild mistress I apparently get to fill up on drama before the season starts. I am sure I will be ranting and raving about the whole situation soon, but first I need to get it under control. Oh, and before you start freaking out and thinking this is my drama, no. I am only involved because it involves some of the girls I am working with. *Sigh* And I am expected to clean it up. Great. Why did I agree to this?


Mr. C's birthday is on Saturday. So that should be fun. We're going out to dinner and I am making him a cake. I'm pulling out the new mixer and making it from scratch. I hope it turns out as well as I want it to.

Well, it's getting to that time when I have to actually get ready for work and can no longer pretend that I have all day to goof off... No matter how tempting that is. I'll catch everyone later.

Tah.