Sunday, December 28, 2008

To Do...

My "To Do" list stretches on for miles, yet I lack the energy to accomplish even a few of the smallest items. Best case scenario, I'm checking into the hospital tomorrow evening to be induced. With that in mind, I made sure that our bedroom was vacuumed and dusted (since baby will be sleeping in there with us) and vacuumed the rest of the house. The office is ok, the baby's room is ok, the kitchen is even ok. Not immaculate, but manageable.

Kind of weird to think this may very well be my last night without children.

I'll keep everyone updated, as promised!

Saturday, December 27, 2008

One Million Billionth of a Millisecond on a Sunday Morning

Today. What a great day! My good pal Naomi was in town from Buffalo, NY, and cooked dinner for a crowd over at Liz and Dave's place (and April & Jason were there, too!). I actually surprised myself by going in the first place. I've felt so damn lazy lately, and it is hard to get me out of the house these days. What can I say - the temptation of seeing Liz, April and Naomi all at once was too much, and I'm really glad I went. The conversation was fantastic (as it always is) and I really enjoy discussing motherhood with Liz. She and I may not agree on everything, but I can totally level with her cause she is just cool like that.

Something that came up in our conversations tonight was the hospital situation, and specifically if it was ok to visit me in the hospital. My response? Absolutely! I would love to see you! But please, not until after the baby gets here.

My preference is that no one comes to the hospital until after the baby is safely delivered. I realize that not everyone is going to be down with not coming to the hospital until that point, so I just request that you stay out of my room until the baby is here. I don't want you in there. Nothing personal - I just already have to share the room with 10 doctors and nurses and Josh will need a place to stand, too, and I just don't want to see anyone until after we are all done. Thanks!

*****************************************

Update: I've been having contractions! Like, real contractions. Alas - they are like 15-20 minutes apart and aren't killer yet, but things could be happening on their own! Of course, they could come to a complete stop and go nowhere, but it would be cool if I went into labor on my own before Monday!

Friday, December 26, 2008

The Waiting Game...

“How much of human life is lost in waiting.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

It seems that the waiting is not over for us, yet. At today's doctors appointment I learned that not only has Michael not done much at all in the last week, but I have acquired a brand spanking new UTI. Doctor: You have lost 2 pounds, and you have blood and protein in your urine. Actually, you have a UTI. Have you been eating? Me: Uh, yeah, eating definitely has not been a problem for me. Doctor: Oh, have you been drinking water? Me: Ummm, yeah, I've been making sure to drink that from time to time.

Also found out that my doctor decided to go ahead and be on vacation from now until January 8th, which is a major frickin' bummer. What the heck! I'm not mad that she is on vacation, but I'm a little irritated that I had to find out from the receptionist. I really was hoping she would deliver my child, but now it will just be whatever Doctor happens to be on call that night. My doctor did leave instructions to go ahead and induce me at 39 weeks, so I have one last ultrasound on Monday to check for growth and position. Then the final wait begins. APPARENTLY there are doctors out there that will induce women at 39 weeks just so they can get a tax break. WHAT?!?!? Then you have me, with sumo baby, and I'm going to have to compete with these women for an induction. They said they are going to put me on the schedule as fast as possible, but they can't guarantee that they will be able to get me in on Monday for sure.

So - what does it all mean? I guess it means that I'd be much better off just going into labor on my own. How does December 27th sound to everyone?

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas, Baby...

After the doctor told me that I would be induced no later than December 21st, I made the dumb mistake of going out and buying a "My First Christmas" outfit for my stubborn child. So, here we are, on December 24th, and besides the consistent pressure, it does not appear that Michael is planning on making his arrival any time soon. Well, I'm not going to let that stop me from putting my baby into his "My First Christmas" outfit. Oh no. Here you go, butterball :)



Husband and I are laying low around the house for Christmas Eve, and will be heading up to spending Christmas morning in Scottsdale with DH's folks and my Sister-in-law, too. Here is hoping for a nice, quiet, uneventful Christmas. Of course - in typical Josh and Kerith style, I will not be surprised in the least if our baby is born on Christmas day - my Husbands least favorite day of the year, lol.

Monday, December 22, 2008

And still, nothing...

*Sigh*

I go from feeling like I'm about to have this kid any second to resignation that I will have to be induced a week from today. Ohwell - at least I'll be able to crank him out before New Years! Hooray for Tax Credit Babies!

I've had an overly productive day (well, at least overly productive for an overly pregnant lady). First I walked down a few houses to Sean and Farrah's place. Sean and Farrah are awesomeness. They were our first new friends in the neighborhood, and we've had plenty of good times hanging out with them over the last several years. Sean and Farrah also recently had a baby - he is just now 2 months old! It is going to be great for Michael to have a little guy to grow up with since Sean and Farrah are in the same housing predicament we are (as in, our houses are now worth 50% less than what we paid for them). Anyway, Farrah is on maternity leave until she starts her new job in January, so I got to catch up on all her exciting baby adventures. Dilan is apparently a dream baby - a good natured snuggly little man. My strategy was to make Michael jealous that I was snuggling another baby, hoping this would induce labor. After an hour or so, I still wasn't in labor, and Farrah needed to run errands, so we parted ways.

After that it was off to the grocery store. I <3 the grocery store in the middle of the day during the week. It was still crowded, but I didn't have to wait in line for 8 million years like normal. I was able to stock up on several 12 packs (coke products were 5 for $12.00 - woo hoo!) and also picked up wrapping paper and other stuff. By stuff I mean a big fat bottle of wine, which I will most definitely be enjoying a glass of tonight!

Upon arriving home after the grocery store, this strange nesting phenomenon set in and I've been a cleaning fool ever since. I mean, our office is CLEAN people. I don't remember the last time our office was clean. The kitchen was "re-cleaned" for the 3rd time this week, and then I started in on putting batteries in all the battery operated baby gizmo's.

Now I'm off to make the hard working husband some Shepherds Pie for dinner, and I think tonight I'll finally write out all those thank you notes and Christmas cards so I can mail them out tomorrow (hey - it counts as long as they are postmarked before Christmas, right?).

I leave you with my all time most favoritest Christmas song ever. Karen Carpenter has the voice of an angel. /contented sigh

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Recommending...

Recommending...

1. Panko Bread Crumbs: These seem to be ALL the rage on The Food Network lately. Guess they are usually meant for Asian/Sea Food dishes, however, they translate well to EVERYTHING ELSE! I've never had such tasty, light, crispy chicken. Uh... I didn't check calories, but they can't be too bad. Tonight I made chicken tenders breaded in Panko, and they are DELISH!

2. The Dave Ramsey $10 Sale: All of his books and software are on sale for the Holiday's for $10.00 each! And, if you spend more than $65.00 you get free shipping!

3. Weight Watchers Online: The only reasonable way to lose weight, IMO. I would never be able to stick to in person meetings, but their website has so many awesome tools! I'm looking forward to using Weight Watchers to lose the baby weight (errr, and those couple extra 20 pounds I put on after the miscarriage last January). The new Weight Watchers Momentum plan seems pretty cool, and I look forward to jumping right in as soon as little Mike makes his grand entrance!

Husband is betting that I'll be in labor by Sunday night. I tend to agree with him, but honestly, who really knows. What I do know is that I will have my sweet baby in 10 days at the very latest :) Pretty exciting stuff!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Progress...

Had an internal at the Doc's this morning. Michael is on the move! All that pressure I've been feeling the last 2 days has amounted to the following:

1-2 Centimeter's dilated
Lower/Anterior Cervix Position
80% Effaced
-2 Station
"Soft" Cervix

Doctor says to get my butt in motion (ie, go walking) and I should have this kid out in no time!

We did discuss induction at great length. The doctor said that I shouldn't feel anxious about the size of the baby; that my body will be able to handle this kid. However, she can appreciate that he has been measuring several weeks ahead. With that in mind, Doctor gave me the go ahead to be induced on December 29th. That is my official "39" week mark and no amnio will be required in order to have an induction at that point. However, based on my "progress" the Doctor said she wouldn't be surprised to see me in the hospital this weekend.

Woo hoo!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

What Strangeness is This?

Feeling TONS of pressure down below. Not comfortable. And this morning I woke up ready to take on the world! Getting ready to go into town for some shopping, and then going to tackle some more cleaning at home!

Josh is worried that this sudden burst of energy = going into labor soon. I told him I'd wait til Friday so he doesn't have to take too many extra days off work ;)

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Yule Shoot Your Eye Out....

I am so not in the Christmas spirit this year! Could it possibly have to do with the whole full to my ears with baby thing? The crappy economy? The incoming administration? I just realized that not one person has asked me what I want for Christmas this year. Thank goodness, for my responses would be incredibly lame. Besides, that is the great part of being an adult. I don't have to wait all year long to get what I most desire. If I really want something, I can go out and buy it. As a matter of fact, there are a few things that I've really been wanting to purchase lately (usually I'll get an idea in my head and then run out and buy it right away... but for some reason I've been stockpiling *wants* lately).

1. Super Fancy Pepper Grinder





I lurve pepper. I lurve lurve lurve it. I especially love freshly ground pepper. I had a pepper grinder (a tiny little crappy one) and I abused and broke it. I need a big fancy one :)



2. Food Processor





Because everyone on the food network has one. And I want to make stuff. Like chimichuri sauce for all the grilled pork tenderloins husband is going to grill me once the back yard is looking spiffy again.


3. Spaghetti/Steam Pot Set





Again, because everyone on the food network has one of these. Screw strainers! I want one that is built in! How cool would this be for making pasta and potatoes, or even steaming brocolli!


Ok, I swear there are other things that I want that don't have to do with food.


4. Nikon D 60 DSLR (yeah, I'll need to save up for this one)





Isn't she magnificent? Of course, the $600.00 camera is even more expensive once you factor in all the lenses and other accessories I would want. I'll stick it out with the 12 mega pixel Fuji Fine Pix for now :)


5. This Ikea Arm Chair (x2)





6. CD Player (for the Jeep) that my Zune can plug into





I love my Zune, but I need an aux input in order to plug it straight into the jeep and not have to deal with a stupid FM Tuner thinga-majigy. The only solution is a new cd player because the factor cd player does not have this input.


Ok, I suppose that is a long enough list of Kerith's Christmas Presents to herself, lol. Now, if only I could actually get motivated to do some shopping, lol.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Maternity Leave...

I'm thinking I might need to change my career path to become a Stay At Home Wife/Mom. In just one day I have managed to accomplish tasks that would have otherwise taken YEARS! Ok, I'm exaggerating, but not by that much. So, what can one accomplish between 8 and 4 when that silly thing called "going to an office" isn't getting in the way?

-Pay Bills
-Clean Out Fridge
-Take out Garbage
-Schedule Landscaping Company to Blow up my Backyard
-Drive into town to get car washed (Jeep is now worthy of car seat)
-Meet Husband for Lunch
-Pedicure (My feet are still fat, but at least my toes have snowmen on them!)
-Costco! (I accomplished 75% of the grocery shopping here --- the rest manana)
-Drive back to Maricopa
-Put all the food away
-zzzzZZZzzzz (this is me sleeping on the recliner)
-Dishes! (My sink was stacked to the ceiling with dishes for some reason)

Life is good :)Or at least it will be rather fantastic while I only juggle home and a baby. I'm sure it'll go back to insanity when I put work back in the mix. But - perhaps with a little help from Fly Lady and Dave Ramsey, I might be able to get my household to a tighter running ship over the next 8 weeks, and when I go back to work it will be easier to manage!

I leave you with a picture of Michael, at 37 weeks:

Sunday, December 14, 2008

It's cold outside...

Omg. Kill me now. Seriously. Or at least get this baby out of my uterus. He is fully baked now (aka, full term) and since my Doc did a complete 180 on me from a week ago I'm starting to feel hopeless. We went from "lets induce on the 21st" to "Inducing is bad, mmmkay." Nooooooo! It seems like right after the ultrasound at week 36 the size of the baby was a life threatening emergency. At 37 weeks? Well, now we don't want to induce because bla bla bla bla. Doctor still thinks I will go on my own at any minute, and agreed that if I'm not in labor on my own by December 23rd, we can induce on the 23rd. "But Doctor, I don't want to be in the hospital on Christmas." Oh, don't worry she says... you will get to go home on Christmas day!

Ummm - not if I my baby weighs 13 pounds and I have to have an emergency C-section! Blargh!

So, kiddo, please, work with me. Daddy put your swing together, and set up the bassinet in your pack and play! He even installed the car seat base in the Impala. We are totally ready for you! We've got you a bitchin' Christmas onesie even! I'm already on Maternity leave! Mommy can't walk, none of her shoes fit, and she is retaining water up to her belly button.

On second thought - how about you wait until... oh, Friday. Then I can have at least a week off between work and a baby to get things done around the house :)

Monday, December 8, 2008

Always...

Don't you love running into an old song that you've completely forgotten about? I adored this song when it came out (at the tender age of 11 in 1994)



In other news, my hospital bag is packed, along with the baby bag, and they are both loaded up in Husband's car and ready to go. Now all we have to do is get the car seat installed and we are ready to rock :)

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Sagittarius Baby?

November 22 - December 21
Planet - Jupiter
Element - Fire

That happy-go-lucky child in the play circle is bound to be a Sagittarius. These carefree tykes march to their own drummer, and yes, they will walk early! They'll also be beating a path to everywhere, since they love to explore. Independent and free-spirited, it's imperative that the Sagittarius baby have lots of room to roam. Confined spaces are a disaster for these wandering souls, so they'll simply flail about until they can get out. The good news in all this is that the Sag baby won't have to be entertained every second of the day. That said, be sure to keep tabs on them in public places, as they could easily wander away! Above all, the Sag baby loves to explore, whether it's a new toy or a new friend. No fear here! This kid is a sponge, soaking it all up with relish. Thankfully, this child will know how to make friends and can be counted on to have lots of them. They love being part of a group, whether it's at home or out in the big, brave world. And it's that world they want to see, which may be why it's so easy for this baby to hit the road. Whether by train, plane, or the high seas, the Sag baby will travel better than the rest. To sum up, the Sagittarius baby needs freedom, has a curious mind, and is forever on a journey of discovery. Happy trails!

Friday, December 5, 2008

An Early Christmas Gift...

I was expecting little baby Gaines to continue to measure ahead at today's appointment. At 29 weeks when our little fella's head was measuring 32 weeks, I figured "there is no way I'm making it to my due date." However, I was not prepared for how far ahead he would be measuring today. I am almost 36 weeks pregnant today. Michael has decided to come in at the 97th percentile of babies in the womb and has a head that is measuring 41 weeks, and the rest of his body is measuring 39 weeks. HOLY CRAP! The ultrasound tech estimates that he weighs 8 pounds! At 36 weeks!

So - we at least have a game plan now. Doctor said that it is still too early to induce me right now, but I have another appointment at 37 weeks and they will perform an amnio to test lung maturity. Assuming his lungs are mature, the countdown is on. The doctor said to cross my fingers that I go into labor on my own by 38 weeks (and she really believes that I will), but if I don't that is when they will induce me. What that means is that Michael, at the latest, will be here by December 22nd.

With that in mind, I'm going to go ahead and begin my Maternity leave a week earlier than I originally anticipated, and my last day of work will be December 12th.

Let the countdown begin :)

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Now and Then...

Yeah, so I've been hiding from the camera as best as I can during this pregnancy. I bloated up like a puffer fish, and have been retaining so much damn water I don't recognize myself half the time. But - Having stayed home from work today, I had some time to look through OTHER people's pictures, and I found a picture from an ASU homecoming game lastyear, and then a picture from the same time this year. AGHHHH!!

Then: (i'm the one on the far right)



and Now: (I'm the bloated puffy whale on the left)



Don't get me wrong. I am SO SO SO excited to be a mom - so looking forward to meeting my baby - I can't wait, really. But, I'd be a big liar if I didn't also admit that I'm looking forward to getting my body back. To being able to exercise, get back in shape and lose a couple hundred pounds of water weight, too.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Productive Lunches...

Today, instead of going out to eat with a co-worker and burning an hour on good conversation, I opted to burn some gasoline and headed to the nearest Target in order to knock some items off my lengthy to do list. I was able to purchase the obscene amount of Thank You note cards that I will need to start sending out ASAP (I really want to get these finished BEFORE Michael is here, thank you very much). I also found Christmas Cards that I liked, so I was able to cross those off the list, too. And, after much searching, I was finally able to locate Breathe Right Nasal Strips. Husband was threatening me with divorce, and after waking MYSELF up 3 times in one night, I figured it was time to do something about this pregnancy induced snoring.

But - I'm not done yet! I have many more things to accomplish today! On the way home from work I'm going to stop at Kohl's and attempt to purchase Nursing bra's (ok, I'm weirded out by seeing that written out). According to every Hospital Bag packing list I have read, a Nursing bra is essential. *Shrug* What if I wasn't going to nurse? What if I can't nurse? Should I bring a bottle to the hospital? Formula? These items are not mentioned on packing lists that I have seen. I'm also getting conflicting information on what Hospitals do and do not provide. Everyone is saying "BRING SOCKS!!" but then a co-worker who just delivered said that her hospital gave her socks. What gives? What do I really need to bring? I want to pack as lightly as possible :)

Finally, when I get home this afternoon, I'm going to teach Guinness how to vacuum and Sammie how to unload the dishwasher. While the dogs clean the house for me, I'm going to assemble the baby swing, finish unpacking the babies room, and knock out my Thank You cards!

Now, everyone cross their fingers and lets hope that my appointment on Friday leads to scheuduling an inducement date of December 27th! Hooray for tax credit babies and not having to stress over what my hospital co-pay will be effective January 1st when our insurance company switches from Cigna to United Health Care.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

The last time...

Husband and I have had a terrific day. Well, I take that back. I've had a terrific day, and Husband might be pretending to have one. He humored my need to get some shopping done "just in case" I don't get the chance to get back to Costco some time in the next 5 weeks. But - before we stepped foot in Costco we braved the Chandler Fashion Square Mall parking lot and finally saw the movie Twilight. It was great - some of the special effects were a little silly, but it was great.

Costco, like always, was a terrible mess. I'm not sure what I was expecting given that this is the biggest shopping weekend of the year. We loaded our cart up with all the necessities (dog food, toilet paper, paper towels, zip lock bags, garbage bags, laundry detergent... etc) and then after deciding we didn't want to spend $9 on an 8 million pack of Q-tips, we made a stop off at Target so we could spend $4.50 on 750 of them instead, lol.

I allowed myself to get lost in my thoughts on the way home, and a few things occurred to me. First - woah - 35 weeks pregnant. Technically Michael can come at any time now and it wouldn't be any sort of disaster. Yeah - he should probably hang out another 2 weeks, but I think I'm ready to start wishing for him to be here. Other things that occurred to me is that we will probably never have a day like this again - or at least we won't have very many more. You know - just picking up after sleeping in until 10:00 am on a Saturday... heading to see a movie and then spending the afternoon shopping. Nope. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to sleep in until 10:00 am again, lol.

Yeah, life is definitely about to change. But I'm ok with that. I'm ready for that. Because even though things will be different, I know that the adventure we are about to embark on is going to be the most meaningful and happiest time of our life.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

The Final Countdown...

I'm caught in a strange fold in time where minutes seem to drag on an eternity yet flicker by in an instant all at the same time. I guess it all depends on what I'm focusing on at the moment. When I begin to put this pregnancy into perspective and realize that I'm counting by days now, that puts everything in perspective. Assuming Mike arrives based on the schedule set forth for him when I first saw a blank screen turn into a big "+" on a stick, I have:

19 Calendar days until Mike is "Full Term"
14 working days (24 calendar days) until my Maternity Leave Begins
9 days until my last ultrasound to measure for growth
4 Days until my self imposed deadline to have everything "ready" for baby

So, in these final days, I would be a big huge liar if I said I was loving everything about pregnancy. It is hard to walk, hard to sleep, hard to breathe and hard to stay awake. I've started to experience some form of contraction - they feel like menstrual cramps - but they usually only bother me in the mornings and are intermittent.

I'm looking forward to the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. My holiday begins this afternoon at 1:30 pm when I leave the office to head home and start making pies. I'll post the recipe and pictures of the concoction I am whipping up. Other than that I'm looking forward to putting my feet up tomorrow and taking a big long nap. To think that this time next year I'll have an almost 1 year old and the traditions I have grown accustomed to over the last several years may be completely different. Husband mentioned that he was feeling a bit saddened over not getting to spend time with June this year (my grandmother that passed away a year and a 1/2 ago). This will be the 2nd Thanksgiving we have spent without her and I still miss her a great deal.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Turkey Day, stay safe, drive safe and eat til you collapse! Happy Thanksgiving!

***Congrats to my little sister, and her exciting news! Looks like Mikey is going to have a little girl cousin about 4 months younger than him :o)***

Monday, November 17, 2008

You Can't Have it Both Ways...

I am getting so tired of the growing animosity over the gay marriage bans that were recently passed in several states. Why am I tired? Because of the absolute hypocrisy of those who are so enraged over the results. Everyone is so shocked that Obama won yet these bills/amendments passed, and I'm not sure why. If you voted for Obama, it is obviously because you love the government and you want it to be bigger. You voted FOR having the government get all up in your business. How DARE you be upset when the government dictates who and who can not get married! You want the government to run your retirement, tax the hell out of you so they can make sure everyone else is getting their fair share, run the mortgage and housing industry, and pretty soon the banking industry. You want them to take the rights away from parents to homeschool their children, and you want them to run the health care system.

Well, guess what? You can't have it both ways! The government can only take away the freedoms you allow it to, and at this point in time politicians have convinced the majority of American's that they can't figure it out for themselves.

Don't get me wrong. Tax and Spend Liberals are no worse than Borrow and Spend Republicans. I feel the government should be much smaller, and should govern in the limited intentions the original framers of the Constitution had. Should the government be allowed to say who and who can not get married? I personally feel that it should stop at "Only consenting adults may enter into a state of marriage." Whether that is a man and a woman, a man and a man, a man and a woman and another woman, 3 dudes and 2 chicks --- whatever! Government should butt the hell out! But you can't get pissed when you invited them in the first place and now they've made a big stinkin' mess out of everything.

Next time? How about voting for real change.

A wise and frugal government which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government. – Thomas Jefferson (1801)

A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away. – Barry Goldwater (1964)

Saturday, November 15, 2008

And now he has a place to sleep...

So, here I am, getting down to the final weeks of this thing. Began to feel some strangeness today, and I'm not sure what it was really. I felt a general pain in my lower abdomen. Nothing sharp --- dull pain. My belly looks lower to me now, so I'm guessing that little Mikey Bear is beginning to settle down into my pelvis area. Or at least my uterus is trying to point him in that direction, but he is fighting gravity.

I was able to get some items checked off my to do list for the baby this weekend. I managed to put together the car seat, the stroller, the pack n' play, the crib bedding set, and I also washed everything that will be coming into contact with the baby clothing wise. Mike officially has more clothing than Husband and I combined :)

I tried to allow the dogs to sniff out the new baby gear - I want them to become accustomed to the car seat and stroller specifically, and I also have the pack n' play set up full time in our bedroom, too. Since the dogs sleep in the room with us, and the baby will be sleeping in our room for at least the first few weeks of his life, it seemed like a good idea.

From Baby Stuff


From Baby Stuff


From Baby Stuff


From Baby Stuff

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

The New Hotness...

Ok, I normally intensely dislike hip-hop/r&b. Alas, my dear husband's favorite genre's of music are hip hop and country. I can stomach the country (and even like a lot of it) but most of the hip-hop drives me up a wall. What can I say? I guess that makes me a "hater." I think a lot of the problem is I don't understand the jargon.

But --- every once in awhile a song (or two or three) comes out that I just adore. For your listening pleasure:

Whatever you like (T.I.)



M.I.A. - Paper Planes (also known as the theme song of most Dems/Liberals)



Not sure that one actually counts as hip-hop. Maybe some form of funky alternative?

Had a baby appointment today. Michael is doing splendidly - heart rate of 145 bpm. My blood pressure was ok at 120/84. I have to get some blood work done and come back in a week. Oh, and I am officially "grounded." No traveling for this pregnant lady.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Menu Planning: 11/09 - 11/15

Sunday:
Chicken Salsa Quesadilla's w/ Spanish Rice

Monday:
Beef Stew with Dumplings

Tuesday:
Chili with Corn Bread

Wednesday:
Chicken and Dumplings

Thursday:
Porcupine Meatballs

Friday:
Bangers n' Smashed Potatoes

Saturday:
Tailgating!

Babygate 2008!

The party for Michael was a complete success! There was good friends, good food and good beer! And, the icing on the cake? ASU finally won a game, lol! The extreme generosity of loved ones have left very little for Josh and I to purchase for our little guy. Enjoy the pictures!

Pile of gifts!
From Babygate 2008


Pile of gifts from a different angle:
From Babygate 2008


Josh coming down the stairs:
From Babygate 2008


Lindz and baby Broc:
From Babygate 2008


Baby Broc and his feet:
From Babygate 2008


Ryan, Broc and Lindz:
From Babygate 2008


The Party on the Patio:
From Babygate 2008


Friends and Babies:
From Babygate 2008


Karl playing lifeguard to the little guys running around the pool:
From Babygate 2008


The back of Todd's head, Jess, Cherylyn and Steph:
From Babygate 2008


Zach and Drew:
From Babygate 2008


Karinne (holding Max), Max's mom Misty, and Zach:
From Babygate 2008


Max (1 month old!):
From Babygate 2008


My BFF Val and her sweet baby Aubry:
From Babygate 2008


April holding Liz's baby Shannon:
From Babygate 2008


Val with Aubrey and Liz with Shannon:
From Babygate 2008


Val's son Wyatt getting ready to enjoy some Pumpkin bread:
From Babygate 2008


Partygoers on the Patio:
From Babygate 2008


Buddies watching ASU:
From Babygate 2008


Steve, Stephanie and Brian enjoying some Barbeque!!!
From Babygate 2008


I couldn't have asked for a better event! Everything was great, and Josh and I can't wait to finally have our own baby to bring to these shindigs!

**if you have pictures from the event, please feel free to email them to me!**

Friday, November 7, 2008

Fun Finds!

I love the internet, and I love stumbling upon the new treasures it has to offer. Just yesterday I found a new blog that I highly recommend you check out. There is a post she writes that has me super worried about what it will be like when it is time for me to go back to work after maternity leave.

The nights have recently become much longer. For most of my pregnancy I have been able to sleep through the night, but this is just not the case anymore. I can count on waking up at least once with a screaming bladder, but lastnight I actually woke up 3 times! When I came back to bed the 2nd time the husband decided to snuggle up to me and lay his arm across my belly. He became upset when he felt the baby going spastic in my belly in the middle of the night. "Honey... why isn't the baby sleeping?" "Because... baby hates Mommy and yet still wants her company."

And after I'm done being uncomfortable all night, I make sure to complain a lot during the day. I walk (waddle) slowly everywhere. My back is killing me. I have to pee every 5 seconds. Or at least I THINK I have to pee, but I'm mostly dealing with false alarms. Going out to eat has become a fun game of "Where does Kerith fit in a booth?" As it turns out, not many places, ha.

The cats aren't too pleased with my predicament, either. Finley, my sweet lap kitty, lost the ability to snuggle up in my lap many many weeks ago. But - he still trys to find a way to make it work. Today he decided to just relocate to my new lap:



















(please excuse the multiple chins and flabby arms)

At my next ultrasound (36 weeks) the Doctors will take final measurements of Sumo baby and come up with a delivery game place. In the mean time the doctors are worried about my blood pressure again (it was 142/80 at my appointment on Thursday) so I get to do some more fun blood work on Monday to monitor that.

Tomorrow is baby gate! Hooray! I'm very excited to celebrate baby Gaines with all our friends and family!

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Scary Times...

I'd be a liar if I said I wasn't worried about my country right now. For some reason as I was coming up through the public education system, FDR was touted as the hero of the day for saving this country from the depression it had entered. But I disagree --- I think that FDR's New Deal kept this country in a depression for 10 years longer than it needed to be in one. It is often said that history repeats itself, and I can only hope that isn't true in this case. What America needs to do right now is CUT SPENDING (not military spending, thank you) and keep taxes low. Cut the ridiculous programs, cut unnecessary government spending, and DON'T RAISE TAXES! Oh, I know, BO is going to "cut" taxes for 95% of us (including the 40% of that 95% that do not pay any taxes anyway), or at least that is what he is saying, but I'm going to predict right now that no one is going to be seeing any tax cuts. And then, of course, we are going to be told that we need to be patriotic and make sacrifices and pay more taxes.

Of course, I shouldn't be concerned about anything but my own immediate situation. And believe me, I am worried. I'm 8 months pregnant, with my husband and I both working for the same company. Yes, this company is strong with a long history of standing through troubling economic times, however, it seems like every company in the finance world is having to do layoffs right now. We've been really lucky so far, but it is something that I'm worried about.

I had been holding out hope that a President would be elected that would have the right economic policies to get America out of its slump and get us moving again. I think Wall Street showed its expectations yesterday with a 500 point drop in the Dow. I think raising taxes on the people that propel this country forward is going to take us all backwards.

Despite all this, I refuse to resort to the sort of shenanigans that most liberals have in the last 8 years. I'm not going to be bitter. I'm not going to be filled with seething hateful rage. I'm going to do the best I can to take care of my family, and in 4 years I hope that conservatism actually makes it on the ballot at that time so I can vote for a conservative instead of a Republican.

***Update***

I have passed the 3 hour glucose test --- no GD (Gestational Diabetes) for me. I guess that just means I have sumo baby.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Voting...

So, tomorrow will be the 2nd Presidential election that I vote in.

During the 2000 election I was 6 months shy of 18 and instead stayed up all night at my Dad's house to watch the results. Every time Bush won my dad would play U2's "Beautiful Day" at full blast. I'm sure this woke up the entire neighborhood, repeatedly, since Bush won and lost and then won and then lost the election a million times that night. Didn't we not actually know the results of the election for like 30 days after that? My senior year of high school was an interesting time for me politically speaking. My opinions were just forming, and honestly I think I just liked to take positions that got a rise out of my more liberal classmates. They were adamantly pro-choice, and I was hard core pro-life. They were pro-gun control. I actually stood up and told my classmates that I wanted to be a lobbyist for the NRA and my mission wouldn't be complete until every household in America had an assault rifle. If you asked me why, could I have told you? Absolutely not. I wasn't actually thinking about my personal opinions, rather, I was mostly reflecting the opinions of my Father to irritate those around me, lol.

By the time the next election rolled around, I had some time to do some serious thinking. When I actually got the opportunity to vote, I really reflected on what my vote meant - and who I wanted in office. I was going to ASU... I didn't have a lot of money... I wanted wanted wanted and John Kerry had some mighty appealing ideas. Honestly, I was trying to get a degree in education, and I thought to myself that John Kerry's education policies would allow me to become a teacher with the least amount of effort. Screw that no child left behind crap. I didn't want to be held accountable. That was what immature and lazy Kerith was thinking, anyway.

But - for some reason I was tuning in to conservative radio. I was listening to Mike Savage, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh. Despite my selfish, lazy ways, these guys actually made sense to me. While watching the RNC, I listened to Arnold speak and explain why he was a Republican. I was sold:



I voted for Bush in 2004, and from then on I remained interested in politics.

Over the years my views have changed. After that election, the terms thrown around to describe the parties switched from democrats and republicans to liberal and conservative. I was a Republican as far as I could tell, but in the last four years I first and foremost identify myself as conservative. I believe that the government should be smaller, and that the government is the cause of most this countries problems, not something that will solve them. I believe that if the government just gets out of our way, we can be successful and achieve greatness.

So, when John McCain won the Republican nomination, I was dissappointed. Out of all the candidates, I felt that he was by far the least conservative. I was on the Fred Thompson band wagon. I wanted a candidate that would champion smaller government. When it came down to John McCain and Mitt Romney, I crossed my fingers that it would be Mitt. It wasn't.

But - tomorrow, I have to make a choice. I'm not going to call this the lesser of two evils choice. No - it isn't that for me. But, over the last 8 years I have had enough time to think and really analyze what I believe and why I believe it, and I can honestly say that between the two choices, John McCain will keep the government smaller, and will stay out of my way as much as possible. We may not agree on illegal immigration or global warming, but we do agree that this country is much better off when the American people are left unrestricted to achieve greatness without being overburdened by the government.

I don't know how the election is going to turn out. I hope that I get to see some great changes coming from a McCain/Palin administration. I guess we'll know tomorrow.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

New Threads...

So, at 32 weeks pregnant, I finally broke down and bought some new maternity clothes. This was the FIRST purchase I made and I am so so so glad that I finally did. Now, don't get the wrong idea. I wasn't one of those blessed women that just got along ok in her pre pregnancy clothing for the last 8 months. No no. My best friend Valerie was just kind enough to give me 2 huge bin fulls of all her Maternity clothing for the last few years since she was done having babies. We were roughly the same size, so it worked out great. But - Val was never pregnant during the winter, so all of her biggest clothes were summer clothes. Not that it should really matter in AZ, but I just needed some pants, lol.

Anyway - Josh and I picked up some cute tops at Target, and then some of those "secret fit" jeans from Motherhood Maternity. I wish I hadn't resisted a Maternity store for so long. These jeans are AWESOME! The band goes all the way up to my rib cage, but it it is a really lightweight stretchy fabric that somehow holds up without making me feel like I'm wearing a girdle.

During our United Way campaign at the office, I donated $50.00 for a "Jean Pass" for the months of November and December. Now I'll actually be comfortable in jeans at work! Hooray! I'm just glad to get some relief - I've been miserable having to constantly pull my pants up as they slip off my belly. Plus, none of my shirts seemed to be long enough, so if the pants slipped down, my poor stretch marked skin was left exposed to the world. Not a pretty site!

Speaking of stretchmarks, as we were checking out at Motherhood Maternity I noticed this skin oil meant to help with itchy skin. Since my skin just literally started getting itchy in the last couple days, I decided to pick up a little sample size bottle. I even said to the clerk "Perfect - my skin just started itching!" Her reply? "Oh - definitely use that, then! And don't scratch your skin... that is what causes stretch marks!!!"

WTF?

I didn't realize that my incessant ass, thigh, calf, belly scratching is what had caused all these claw marks. *sigh* I just assumed it was my stretching skin that caused stretch marks.

The one downside to all this walking around malls today? A stroll through Macy's has me longing to be back to my normal size! There are so many adorable sweaters that I want! Good thing I registered for a jogging stroller. I'm going to need all the help I can getting back in shape after Mike gets here.

And just for fun - a picture of my "Baby Daddy" and Mike's Grandpa showcasing their crib construction skills (and this crib is freaking MASSIVE!)


Saturday, November 1, 2008

Cribs and Candy...

Halloween was an utter failure. Hardly any trick-or-treaters. We have tons of candy left over, lol.





























































But on a positive note, Mike now has a place to sleep!


Friday, October 31, 2008

Arnold Tells It Like It Is...

Arnold inspired me when he spoke at the RNC in 2004. Today, at a rally in Ohio for McCain, he showed that he still knows how to rock a room:



And in 1 day polling, Zogby has McCain with the advantage over Obama by 1 point. Now - I know that polls are worthless (because otherwise George Bush would have lost in 2000 and 2004) but it is good to know that there is still a race!

Other fun news? Obama's aunt is living in the United States illegally, and with a standing deportation order has still somehow managed to live in public housing. WTF?

I'm so worked up for this election, but glad that I get to cast my vote (even if it is in AZ where McCain will have no issue winning).

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Is It December 19th Yet?

I think work might actually be killing me. It has been so stressful and non-stop chaos for the last two weeks that it is all I can do to keep my eyes open when I get home at night. My phone rings non-stop all day long, and while I'm on the phone with my dealers, my other dealers are calling and leaving me voicemail. On Monday I tallied up all the voicemail left for me during the day and realized I had received 33 messages! Holy crap! And that is in addition to the probably 50 or so calls I actually picked up! It seems like every client is facing a challenge right now, and there aren't any "simple" things I can accomplish. What is worse is that all these fires I'm putting out right now are preventing me from completing my everyday job description, so even though I'm busting my ass right now I feel like a major slacker. Mix all that in with placenta brain, high blood pressure and potential gestational diabetes and its no wonder my ankles look the way they do.

So, yeah, I keep telling myself that all I have to do is make it to December 19th - my last day of work before Maternity Leave, and then I am home free! Well, at least I am free to concentrate on the baby. I feel awful right now for poor little Mike. I can only imagine how my stress is rubbing off on him. I think he is trying to send me hints by the occasional jab to the ribs. "Hey, Ma, knock it off! Calm the heck down!" Sorry, sorry, sorry. I'll calm down in 51 days when I can finally put my feet up and relax until you make your arrival, kiddo.

I really can't compartmentalize my life as much as I would like to right now - everything is sort of infringing on the other crap going on. I get home and want to sleep, watch tv, or play WoW, but there is a behemoth package at the door containing a gift for Mike... his travel system! Oh, goodness! His stroller and his car seat! Wow! I have a car seat in my house?!? Reality is setting in. Who is going to put all this stuff together before he gets here? And my Jeep is so messy right now - how can I possibly think about putting a baby in there. At least Mike's room is clean :)

Babygate is just about a week away! I'm so excited to spend time celebrating our baby with our friends and family! Good food, good drinks, and even if ASU can't make it on to TV so we can cheer them on, I still think it'll be a good time for all! I will make sure to take LOTS of pictures to put up on the ole' blog.

Pregnancy has changed my musical preference for the time being. I'm sure I'll go back to my metal lovin' ways soon enough after the baby is born, but for some reason all I can listen to right now is soft/wus/alternative drivel. Ok - really it is just kind of slow relaxing somewhat sad music, but it is all I can tolerate right now. Hooray for music that doesn't give me heartburn!

The Fray: I'll Look After You



O.A.R. - Shattered



One Republic - Stop and Stare

Monday, October 27, 2008

Bar Stool Economics...

This is the best I have ever seen it explained ;)

Our Tax System Explained: Bar Stool Economics

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.

The fifth would pay $1.

The sixth would pay $3.

The seventh would pay $7.

The eighth would pay $12.

The ninth would pay $18.

The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers,' he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.' Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free.

But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.

So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).

The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).

The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).

The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).

The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).

The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

'I only got a dollar out of the $20,'declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!'

'Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too.

It's unfair that he got ten times more than I got' 'That's true!!'

shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!'

'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!'

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.

Professor of Economics

University of Georgia

For those who understand, no explanation is needed.

For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Mooning the Room...

Mike refused to show his face at his last ultrasound on the 17th, but he made sure we could see his sweet little butt and his big huge feet!

Monday, October 20, 2008

75% done, 10 weeks to go!

I feel as though I have entered the twilight zone this morning.
After getting about 3.5 hours of sleep (I was too ramped up coming off of vacation to get to bed at a decent hour) I was woken up by Mike kicking up a storm and a racing heart. I'm attributing the racing heart to the fact that I had flipped over. This mere act is enough to get me sweating. I just couldn't get back to sleep, so I laid in bed waiting for the alarm clock to go off. Luckily, I only laid there about 15 minutes.

I've wanted to write a 1/2 dozen times in the last week, but I couldn't seem to make the time (even though I was on vacation, lol). Josh and I got a lot done around the house. In fact, it is all ready to receive baby with the exception of our office which is still a terror, but one that we will attend to this week. Now it is a matter of KEEPING the house clean. Mike's room is quarantined now - the door is shut and no animals are allowed to roam on the freshly steamed carpets or newly scrubbed walls.

I've set a goal of having the nursery ready to rock and my bags packed for the hospital by December 1st. After my most recent appointment on the 17th it seems like I had better be prepared early. You see, my baby, 29 weeks gestation at the time, was measuring at 30 weeks plus some extra days from his toes to his neck, and his head was actually measuring 32 weeks! Holy crap! Oh, and no wonder I've been feeling him kick so hard - he is closing in on 4 pounds now, lol. Most people I saw at the doc's office that day said "that is one big baby!" In fact, we were told that not so little Michael is in the 95th percentile for his gestational age. I get the results of my glucose test today, and everyone seems convinced that gestational diabetes is the cause of my enormous baby, so we'll see if I have to go back for the 3 hour test now. To frost the baby cake, our nurse practitioner asked me if I knew I was anemic. Huh? I am? My blood has been fine thus far. So, yay me, I find myself now on an iron supplement. On a bright note, my blood pressure was a respectable 120/80, so at least that was normal.

And now I find myself back at work - where things are just crazy. Lets face it, if you work in the financial industry, nothing is normal right now. I feel pretty confident working for GE (we have a pretty good track record of being able to weather storms) but I'm still nervous in general. I've got 9 weeks until my scheduled maternity leave (let's see if I actually make it the full 9 weeks since the Doctor said they will induce me early if my babies big head does not slow its roll). I'm frantic to get everything perfect before my 6-8 week departure (haven't quite decided yet) and with the US economy getting worse by the second, I'm not sure this is possible.
Does anyone else feel like the US economy is in large part being caused by the Main Stream Media? I can't help but feel like they started this whole mess with their doom and gloom outlook on the housing bubble.

Alright - I have a million more things to write about, but my morning free time is quickly coming to an end, and I must now play catchup after having been gone for a week. Have a wonderful week everyone!

(Also - I have ultrasound pictures to show off! Mike refused to show his face, but we got some great shots of his sweet little tush and his big old feet --- I'll get them scanned and posted today).

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

The end is in sight...

We've been on a cleaning frenzy the last two days, and the work is really paying off. All we have left to do at this point is the office and finishing the nursery. Both of these will happen tomorrow, in addition to the carpet being repaired and steam cleaned!

It's going to feel so good to have a clean house :)

Monday, October 13, 2008

Clean up time!

So, here we are, on vacation, cleaning the house! Sound exciting? Well, it is, for me anyway. This signals the final preparation for Michael's arrival, and is easing anxiety and tension I have felt for months now over if we would be able to get our acts together to get everything ready in time. Come on people, I don't need CPS showing up to haul my sweet baby away because I can't keep the dog fur off the couch.

The plan of attack is as follows:

Monday: Any room that doesn't involve furniture moving. Kitchen, Master Bedroom, Office and Bathrooms.

Tuesday: Furniture moving required. Great Room, Nursery.

Wednesday: Backyard while the carpet cleaners repair and steam the carpet.

And then we get to lay back and enjoy Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday as actual vacation days.

Perhaps some before and after photo's are in order?

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

What's in a name?

A few of you may have wondered sometime over the last 28 weeks or so the name we had picked out for our pending addition. Or, maybe you assumed that we intended on calling our little guy "Baby G" for the rest of his life :)

In any event, now that the cat is OFFICIALLY out of the bag, as in, on invitations to the Babygate party we are having, there is no reason to keep it a secret from my blog any longer.

From here on out, Baby "G" shall be known as Michael Patrick. Or Mike? Mikey? MP? MPG? Hmmm... so maybe we haven't worked out exactly what he will be called, but the first and middle name on the sweet baby's birth certificate will be Michael Patrick.

Husband (otherwise known as Josh) expressed his desire to name his first son Michael pretty much the moment we started dating, and we haven't wavered from that decision once in the last 7 years. Michael is my Father-in-laws name, and we could not think of a better person on earth to name our son after. Of course, that is where Patrick comes in. The middle name is intended to honor my best friend's father, who has always been like a father to me since his daughter dragged me to her house in the 8th grade. Two great men, one great name :)

I am so incredibly happy to know that our son will get to know such great people, and will be surrounded by love from both our family and friends. This kid is going to have more aunts and uncles than he can count!

And what exactly is Michael up to at this point in his development? Read on...

Week 29 of Pregnancy: Baby Fat


Your baby is almost 17 inches tall now (nearly as tall as he or she will be at birth), and close to three pounds (a weight that will likely more than double — and may even come close to tripling — by delivery time). His or her wrinkled skin is smoothing out as more fat is deposited under the skin surface. This fat, called white fat, is different from the earlier brown fat that your developing fetus accumulated. Brown fat is necessary for body temperature regulation while white fat (the fat you have, Mom) actually serves as an energy source.

Which explains why your energizer baby feels so…well…energized! Space in your baby's living quarters is now at a premium, so you'll be feeling jabs and pokes from elbows and knees mostly. But those kicks will be more vigorous than before (and also less erratic) because your baby is stronger and excitedly responding to all sorts of stimuli — movement, sounds, light, and that candy bar you ate half an hour ago.

Luckily, your baby doesn't have teeth yet that would need a brushing after that sugary treat, but it won't be long before you'll need to buy that first baby toothbrush! You'll recall that your baby's baby-teeth buds formed weeks ago, but now the buds for permanent teeth are forming in his or her gums as well.

And back to those kicks, who's counting? Actually, you should be. Now's a good time to start doing a kick count twice a day to make sure baby's doing just fine (plus, it's a good excuse for a rest). Lie down (preferably after a snack) and keep track of your baby's movements. You're looking for at least ten movements in an hour's time (don't forget to count movements of any kind — kicks, flutters, swishes, rolls, and so on).

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Heroes of our Time...

Today has been utterly exhausting! After waking up at 9am this morning (the crack of dawn, I know ;o) Husband and I dinked around in World of Warcraft for a few hours. Then we set out on an epic journey involving a quest in the Costco dungeon (ok, seriously - Costco is a disaster at most times of the week - don't people realize they should be fearfully hording their money in light of this economic crisis we are facing! I would hate for someone to accidentally stimulate the economy!). We filled our cart with gargantuan portions of toilet paper, dog food, dog bones and Jack Daniels. And really, that is what makes Costco worthwhile - being able to purchase a liter of Jack for $30.00.

After Costco, Husband and I had a late lunch at Chili's. Do you have a Chili's near you? If so, I highly recommend you get in there and try the Chicken Crisper Club Taco's - super tasty! Husband and I stuffed ourselves silly and began our journey back to Maricopa and into Fry's Marketplace. This place was even more packed than Costco! I frickin' HATE shopping at this stupid Fry's. The prices aren't that great, and you can expect to wait in line for a stupid amount of time no matter what time you are there day or night. When Walmart opens in March I will be doing all my grocery shopping there. I've said it before, but if I'm going to wait in lines and fight through crowds, I might as well be getting a good deal! And unlike many people, I <3 those Capitalist Pigs at Walmart!

When we finally got home from our adventure, we were both so exhausted that we crashed on the bed and passed out for an hour, after which we were rudely awakened by one of Josh's guildmates asking if he was going to make it to the raid! WTF!

Oh oh oh - before I forget! GO SEE AN AMERICAN CAROL!! Greatest movie of all time! Plus, the liberals are trying to keep the movie from having a good opening weekend. Lastnight the husband and I along with 5 of our friends had a "dinner and a movie date" to go check this flick out. After hanging out at the restaurant for a few hours we walked across the street to the theater. We walked up to buy our tickets only to discover that the movie time of 8:25 was not listed! What the crap!??! We figured it was sold out, but I asked anyway. The guy tells me the movie is not sold out, and in fact there are 258 seats left to sell for that time. I mention to him that it isn't listed on the display above his head, which he seemed confused about. Ohwell - we buy our tickets and then run off to shop since the movie doesn't start for another hour. At 8 we walk back into the theater and towards screen 19 which is where our movie is playing. The marquee outside the theater door says that "How to Lose Friends" is playing at 8:10. WTF? We go in anyway and sit down. At 8:10 the movie starts. Now this is ridiculous. We go complain that the movie is starting 15 minutes early and finally all is settled. Meanwhile there is a crowd of people outside of the theater not wanting to go in because they don't want to walk into the wrong movie. *sigh*

It seems that AMC was doing everything in their power to make sure no one watched the 8:25 showing of An American Carol. Oh - and the trailers that were played before the movie started? You guessed it - every American Hating piece of crap movie coming out. Oliver Stone's "W", along with Bill Maher's "Religolous." Since when do they play trailers on other movies for a movie that is coming out THAT SAME DAY! I wonder if this was happening at AMC's across the country?

Alright - before this post gets ridiculously long, I want to say that the new Dragonforce album is pretty good! The first track is called "Heroes of Our Time" and it rocks my socks. I wonder if there are any other bands that fall into this genre known as "Glory Metal."



Check em' out!

Friday, October 3, 2008

Happy Third Trimester

Had my first appointment of the 3rd Trimester today. My blood pressure was high (132/90) so my doctor had them take it again at the end of the appointment (122/90... still somewhat high). The doctor stressed to me that if I had a few symptoms combined I needed to get my butt to the hospital, stat. These symptons include a headache that won't go away, seeing black spots, and swelling. I always seem to be swollen, so I guess I'll just be concerned if I notice the others. Thankfully no headaches, so that is good.

Doctor then measured my stomach, and according to her I'm measuring a week ahead (or an inch ahead of what I should be measuring) and that the baby "feels" big to her. Oh brother.

The exciting news? On October 17th we have our 30 week ultrasound! I imagine that I will really get a good idea of what our baby is going to look like, which will be fun :) The not so exciting news? Stupid glucose test that I have to do before the next appointment in two weeks. Lameness.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Martha Stewart Madness

So, if you want people to think you are creative, but don't want to put in the time or effort, you can now go to Martha Stewart Crafts and BUY wonderfully crafty items. There are tons of Halloween items available, but I mostly fell in love with the favor bags. Of course, it would be a bit silly to actually purchase these seeing as I don't really have anyone to give them to (and I don't think my co-workers would really appreciate them). But, maybe after I have my brood of children I can such purchases for them or their classmates!

On another note, today is my Friday! Woo hoo! I'm looking forward to a nice 3 day weekend, staying up late tonight to watch Sarah Palin kick some ass, and of course a date with the husband to see an American Carol! Any movie that makes fun of Michael Moore is worth seeing on opening day!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

It's gonna be a good month, Tater...

Seriously great month. Not only is it the fall (which equals somewhat more reasonable temperatures in AZ) but we have finally entered the month of Halloween! I'm telling you, from here on out time is going to FLY! Yeah, yeah, yeah, the baby will arrive sometime between the end of December and the beginning of January, which is 3 months, but these are the FASTEST 3 months of the year. I like to think my timing is perfect. I will be the size of a house in the best weather AZ has to offer, and I won't even feel like the misery is dragging on forever because the time will be zip zooming by.

By the end of this month, I will be more than 30 weeks pregnant. Holy schmoly! Every day Baby "G" is getting stronger and I'm feeling his kicks all day and night. The little dude is about 2.5 pounds now, so I can only imagine how this is going to feel when he gets to his full capacity.
Husband and I will be on vacation from October 13th through October 17th, so that is also extremely exciting! I can't wait to knock out the last of our projects to get the house "baby ready."

This month I'm going to try something new. I'm going to try and harness some of my creative abilities to embrace the fall season. First - props to Lula for her delicious looking Pumpkin Crisp recipe. I will be making this for the Husband for sure! I've also found a use for those coffee filters (haven't been drinking much coffee for, oh, I don't know... 7 months or so). I'm going to make bats!!! Don't ask me where I'm going to hang them up, lol.





And lastly, Halloween is on a FRIDAY this year! Hooray! Halloween is always much more awesome when the little ones (and their respective adults) do not have to go to school the next morning. I'm trying to con my pal Valerie into dragging her husband and children out to Maricopa for some dinner, trick-or-treating and of course handing out candy to the neighborhood kids. We'll see!

Happy October everyone!!

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Burning Down The House...

Want to know what really caused this economic crisis? Watch!



(Youtube keeps having this video shut down... I hope it doesn't have to do with this fact that it places the blame of the current crisis completely on the shoulders of Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Chris Dodd and Barack Obama)

Monday, September 29, 2008

Blogs of Note...

Gidget Goes Home

also

Baby Cheapskate

please also see:

Mama Manifesto

Happy 100th Post!

Random thoughts for a Monday morning:
1) Dole Ruby Red Grapefruit juice is not nearly as good as any other grapefruit juice I have had. Overly sweet and not grapefruity enough. Bummer.
2) The snowbirds are back. This means more traffic in the morning and more traffic in the afternoon, all behind extremely slow drivers that are in the left lane with blinkers on the entire length of the 347. Why are the snowbirds here already? It is 101 degrees on the second to last day of September. Surely there is more comfortable weather elsewhere.
3) On that note, not only is it 101 degrees here in Phoenix at the tail end of September, but there is already a Christmas display set up at the Fry's grocery store close to my office. WTF!?!? And then it occurs to me - only 87 days until Christmas! And only 47 days until 99.9 KEZ starts playing Christmas music 24/7 on the radio.
4) While we are on the countdown theme, only 12 weeks until my Maternity leave starts. Perhaps I should contact the maternity HR rep so I can get the ball rolling on that whole thing.
5) Husband felt the baby kick for the first time on Saturday night. The initial response was a look of shock and delight. Now I just think he is slightly weirded out that I have a 2.5 pound small being the size of an eggplant beating the crap out of me from the inside out. Only 13 more weeks, little guy!
6) Hello 3rd Trimester!
7) Why will I need every last second of the next 12 weeks to be ready to be gone for 6 weeks from work?

Monday, September 22, 2008

MBA in Accounting? or just plain' ole MBA?

For the last, oh, long time, I've been working towards my MBA at the University of Phoenix. I picked Accounting because I was somewhat interested in taking a role as a Risk Analyst for my company, and I also picked accounting because it was the longest program and I wanted to postpone my student loans forever and ever. Regardless of what direction I opted for, University of Phoenix has me complete all my "regular MBA" courses first. I assume this is in the event that I lose steam and want to drop out, I will be closer to graduation and decide to stick around anyway.


Anyway - as of tomorrow, I will be starting what could potentially be my last class at the University of Phoenix. In 6 weeks, I will have completed all the necessary coursework to graduate with my MBA. If I want to stamp the Accounting specialization on after that, I have to take 6 more courses.


Here is my dilemma... I am so done with so school. I have taken to procrastinating quite badly lately. All I want to do when I get home after work is sleep - I really don't want to get online and contribute to group work and online discussions about business. Oh, and finally, I'm not so convinced that I want to work as a risk analyst any longer. I'm kind of a people person, and at times I worry that our risk analysts spend too much time with numbers and not enough time getting to know the customer. Of course, that is what I'm there for - to work with the customer. Not to say that I wouldn't change my mind at some point and want to work in risk - but even if do change my mind, the MBA in Accounting isn't a requirement, I would still be qualified for the job without it.


IF I decide to just cut it short to a plain ole' MBA, my last class would end November 5th. With Baby G arriving at the very end of December, that would give me 7 solid weeks of nothing being able to relax through the holiday season after work before our first child is gobbling up my attention.


So - why do I feel guilty? I want to be done and finished, but I feel like I'm letting someone else down. Will my children look down on me later in life for not having the accounting title strapped to my degree? Will husband and I buckle under the financial stress of having my student loans come due again in January instead of May?


My potential last class starts tomorrow - I better make up my mind, and fast! (although I feel like I have already made up my mind to just make this class the last one...)

--------------

On a side note, I start my new Flexible Work Arrangement (FWA) today. My company is awesome, and has rolled out a company wide initiative to allow for flexibility in scheduling. It has always been available, really, but they have officially rolled it out and training everyone on how to use the program. I was looking at doing 4x10's (four 10 hour work days with a 3 day weekend) but that would have been a bit much for me, and a bit of a strain on my team with one already out on maternity leave. For now my schedule is 9x9. I work nine 9 hour days, and then I have every other Friday off. My first "off" day will be October 3rd, along with the 17th and the 31st! Hooray for having Halloween off! Yay!

Monday, September 15, 2008

Excellence in Advertising...

I think I laughed for 3 hours straight after watching this commercial. GE needs to hire these guys :)



The Nesting Place has the most fabulously awesome Halloween decorating ideas up on their site! Can't it be Halloween already?!?! I'm so excited that it is on a Friday this year! I'll be dragging husband outside to hand out candy once again this year - hopefully we will get lots of trick-or-treaters! Check out the Nesting Place Halloween decorating ideas here.

And finally, why is it impossible for me to get someone to pull the weeds out of my damn backyard. I have called FIVE companies. FIVE of them. Four of them have not bothered responding, and 1 left me another voicemail saying they had to see my backyard to give me a quote. Give me an effing break. I described the situation down to the height and frequency of the weeds, and even gave the dimensions of my backyard. WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT TO KNOW!?!?! I don't need an exact dollar amount! I just want to make sure you aren't going to charge me $500.00 to pull these bushy weeds out of the ground. *Grumble*

On a happier note, I can now feel Baby G on the outside of my belly :) It totally caught me off guard - I had my arms crossed over my belly and felt a kick or a punch of some sort. My belly actually kind of poked out a bit. Weird!!!!! But it made me smile nonetheless! I can't wait to be able to predict it somewhat so I can show the Husband.

Finally - Greta interviewed The First Dude on her show tonight. What a great guy :) He seems very down to earth and really represents a typical working father. I continue to be excited for the republican ticket!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Pregnancy Health, House Cleaning, Nursery Decorating

Yesterday I mentioned that I had been waiting in the drive thru at Jack in the Box. It sort of struck me after re-reading my post this morning that this whole pregnancy has not turned out the way I wanted it to. I knew that while Baby G was in my womb, I had full control of what nutrition he would get by making sure I ate the same. I have to say that I'm pretty dissappointed in myself. I don't eat too atrociously, but I ate FAR healthier before getting pregnant. I have never in my life eaten out so much or exercised so little.

Of course, I'm not one to beat myself up over it either, but I wonder if I will send poor Baby G into shock if I correct my behavior now? How pissed will he be to be deprived of skillet burrito's from McDonald's?

And I haven't exercised one time since finding out I am pregnant. If I were to hop on a stationary bike and pedal for 20 minutes, well, I'm not even sure I could make it 20 minutes at this point. But if I could, what would happen? I'm pretty sure I would pass out and die, lol, and that certainly can't be good for the baby.

I know what most of you will say - ASK THE DOCTOR! I did. She said just take it easy and everything will be fine. Don't run any marathons, but taking a nice long walk around the neighborhood won't hurt anything.

So, since I will be one of those mother's that makes the "ewww, yucky" noise every time we pass a McDonalds or other fast food establishment as I pass baby carrots to my toddler with a nod of approval, I had better cut the little guy off from all this junk food now! Afterall, they say that if you want your baby to have a taste for brocolli, you should eat plenty of it while they are in the womb.

Today is a big house cleaning day! I'm feeling pumped and motivated to do some major cleaning. I'm going to give this Flylady business a try, but I still want to mostly have a clean house when starting it and then use the Flylady system to maintain. Can't wait to no longer be living in CHAOS :)

Finally, Husband's parents called yeterday to let us know they had picked up the crib. Extremely exciting! That has me in somewhat of a panic as I realize that I need to finally get things straightened out enough for the baby to have a place to sleep! And of course, there are many projects I will be undertaking for the nursery, such as decopaged lettering to spell out Baby G's name for a wall hanging.

Remind me to charge my camera so I can take pictures of all this as it progresses!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Forevermore...

I'm not sure if any of her other songs are any good, but Katie Herzig plasters a smile on my face with her song "Forevermore" off her album The Apple Tree:

Forevermore - Katie Herzig

If you don't have an imeem account I think it will only allow you to listen to a 30 second clip, but it is still a sweet song :)

And speaking of fun songs, I was waiting in the drive thru at Jack in the Box (excellent nutrition for the baby, I know) and the most awesome song came on the radio that I hadn't heard in such a long time - I couldn't help but turn my radio up full blast and start rocking out!



I got lots of interesting looks, but whatever, who cares about what uptight drive thru critics think.

Other silly songs that you must hear and love? How about Dragostea Din Tei by O-zone, a Moldovan group that was never really popular here in the US, but they totally should have been!



Happy Saturday, everyone - enjoy some happy Saturday music :)