blackout

Our power was out yesterday for 7+ hours. It went out at 6PM as I was leaving to go meet up with a friend who was in town. Paul wasn't home either, he was working in Ogden last night. We both got home at about 9:30 and the power was still out. But the streets to the east and west of us had power so we were confused. Paul hadn't eaten for about 9 hours and I didn't want to open the fridge or freezer and knew I couldn't find anything to make him without at least the microwave. So we got in the truck and drove to KFC. Paul had put some pillows and a blanket in the truck so we drove over to Sugar house park, hopped in the back of the truck, he ate chicken and we talked. It was nice. I'm loving this cool weather. We headed back home around 11:00 and still no power so we started driving around our neighborhood. We figured out our block was out but all the blocks surrounding us had power. We finally found a dark street and headed down it for about 4 blocks and finally found the problem. Someone had hit a power pole and there were at least 4 or 5 work trucks and several men working on the lines. We drove home, lit a couple candles so we could get ready for bed, and fell asleep. When we woke up this morning we had power again.

People have been telling us a lot to really enjoy these last couple weeks together, doing things we won't so easily be able to do in the near future.

Last night was one of those nights. Not the evening we planned (I guess there wasn't really a plan), but a good evening.

Also, we need to buy some flashlights. :)

Consider us Showered

This little baby has been so blessed over the past few weekends! Thanks to all who joined in and made Paul and I and little baby PAW feel so loved. Showers have never really been my thing. I'm fine with the concept. And going to them for other people is great and throwing them for someone you love is even better, but for me, I get a little nervous being the reason for people to get together, bring gifts, and watch me open them. Don't get me wrong, its been wonderful to have so many people shower us and help prepare us for this incredible change that is coming up in our lives, but I've felt very spoiled and a little embarrassed and undeserving of all the attention! However, its VERY much appreciated.

34 Weeks and a Wood Connection shower...
Thanks Wood Co girls for planning, Jen for hosting, and all of you for the fun stuff, and yummy dinner and dessert!

35 Weeks and My extended family shower...
Thanks Aunts for planning and Grandma for hosting. I love family time. Especially getting together with the girls. Love my aunts, grandma and cousins. And great stuff- a walker, a mattress, a quilt from my aunt who is on a mission with my uncle. She made the light green quilt in 2 days! I LOVE it! My mom made the sheet, bumpers and quilt for the crib. It's really beyond adorable and I wish I had my moms talent. (You'll see better pictures when I post nursery pics.) We got a lot of clothes, gift cards, a bouncer, a carrier, and other stuff that I probably don't know what it's for! (How did babies back in the day...like me, survive without all this fancy stuff!?!)

36 Weeks and Paul's extended family shower...

Thanks to all of you for a wonderful weekend. Paul had family here from California and Colorado for the weekend. My in-laws spoiled us ALL, but especially the baby! We stayed for 2 nights at a condo in Park City. Golfing for the boys, pedis for the girls, good food, sight seeing, shopping, and lots of necessities for the baby!This is us acting surprised when we opened the stroller and car seat. I picked it out when Annie and mom and I went shopping last time we were in California.And this is dad acting surprised when he saw the stroller and car seat and found out that he bought it for us but didn't know it.And here is the lovely 36 week picture. I was a day late and half way in my pajamas before we remembered to take it. We just couldn't get a good one this week, so I'm going with the one of me showing off my sweet tattoo. Its a diaper and below it, it says 'Spank Me.' Doesn't get much classier... 37 weeks and the Girlfriend shower...

My good friend Deborah hosted a shower for me. It was fun to be with the girls. And we appreciate all the good stuff we got. Deb, Mara and Robyn (And Deb's husband, Erik) did a lot of work, and everything looked so cute! And here's the week 37 picture. Another failed attempt. Paul first took a picture of me yawning standing like this and I looked like a pregnant llama. So then we started laughing and couldn't get a normal picture. Oh well.38 weeks and the church shower...
Thanks to Sam, Kate, Mario and Tera for the fun "Cookout to celebrate the baby on the way." Men came to this one, so we tried to steer clear of the words "baby shower." :) It was funny, when people first started showing up, (and I wish I would have taken a picture) all the men quickly migrated together near the grill with their drinks talking about whatever men talk about, (I'm sure not baby stuff), and all the women gathered on the other side of the yard and shared their stories with me about labor, giving birth, parenting, etc... It was a really fun evening and we appreciate all the work that went into it, and all the great baby gifts!

Thanks again to everyone who have been so supportive and generous as we make our way to parenthood. It means the world to us and it helps SO much. I think we might be just about ready for this little guy to get here!

Fed(up)Ex

I heard something at my front door a couple hours ago and I thought it was the guy who mows our lawn, but I looked out the window and no one was there. A while later I went to take some garbage out and there was a huge (heavy) box sitting at my door. I looked at the label and realized it was for some guy I don't know who lives 8 blocks from here. Not even kind of my address. It annoyed me so bad! ...maybe it shouldn't have, but it did. I carried the box in, thought about driving it to the guys house, and then decided to call FedEx. Took awhile on the phone with a machine who didn't understand anything I said, got put on hold, talked to a real person who didn't understand anything I said. And finally I was told that the delivery guy would be called and I could just leave the box outside so I wouldn't be bothered. So I did.

I just checked a few minutes ago to make sure the box was gone, and there was another box sitting there. But this one was for me! My guess is that the guy down the street got my Balboa Baby box and I got his audio equipment box. My sister-in-laws best friend designs for Balboa Baby so she told me to pick out some stuff, and it came today. I wasn't sure what I even picked, but I think I love it! A way cute nursing cover, and an even cuter adjustable sling.

Getting my own box of fun stuff made my grumpiness go away. :)

And, Thanks Sis!!!

Look what I made

So most of the (all of the) time when I say anything about buying fabric and sewing/quilting/crocheting/knitting anything, it means I have this cute idea, I wish I was talented, and I hope my mom doesn't mind yet another project. She did a lot for the baby before she left for vacation and she took a project with her to Europe to make for him, and there is a thing or two that she's so willingly agreed to make when she gets home.

I've had a stack of cloth diapers and some fabric that I was planning to make into burp rags...but after a couple weeks I kind of gave up on the idea. And then Tuesday I got another idea from a friend of mine. They're called 'babylegs.' Probably mostly for girls, but the website had some cute boy ones. My friend sent me a DIY tutorial and it seemed simple enough. They are pretty expensive to buy finished, but the DIY way they are made out of knee socks. I went and bought 6 pairs of socks. But when I got home with a bag of socks and looked at the bag of burp cloth stuff I had no motivation (and no idea how) to make anything.

But yesterday morning I woke up determined.

I grabbed the bags and headed to my parents house. I pulled out my supplies, cut all the pieces, and failed at the sewing machine. The sock instructions used a zig zag stitch and I couldn't get the needle to move. Let alone figure out how to make it zig and zag. But my mom also has a serger. I went for it and it worked! I think the serge stitch is better (more durable), faster, and easier than a sewing machine.

Here's what I made yesterday! 4 burp rags, serged around the edges, and big stitches by hand down the middle.And these are babylegs. They are leg warmers for babies. You can put them on under pants if you're going out on a cold day, or if you're just hanging around the house in the winter you can put the baby in a onesie and just slide these on their little legs. I think I found a couple that will work for a boy, and I'm sure someday someone will have a girl and the other ones will get put to use!

Here's the finished product.
Here's the before, cut up, and done picture of a pair. It took about 10 minutes to make a pair from start to finish. Way easy, and so cheap!
Here's some cute little babies showing off what babylegs are.
And these are a couple tied quilts that my mom finished for me before she left, but I did help tie these ones.If you can't tell, I like the handmade stuff over store bought, even though it's more work and sometimes more expensive.

5 unrelated things

1. Paul and I each had a baby girl dream two nights in a row. He had a strange swimming pool, diving board birth, Samoan baby girl dream on Saturday night. And then Sunday night I had a dream that I was telling Heidi, Cat and Deb about Paul's dream and I didn't realize that my baby I was holding was a girl until Heidi complimented her dress. But it's a boy.

2. We finished our birth class last night. We feel really good about all we've learned. The nursery is done. The birth plan is complete. The bags are pretty well packed. And the emergency bucket of supplies for the car is ready. Now we just go to the doc once a week and wait...

3. Speaking of waiting. I went into work yesterday. Yes I quit my job but I had a couple projects I wanted to finish. I've worked 6 hours in 3 weeks. Exhausting. ;) Anyway, a co-worker asked how close I was and I said, "just over 37 weeks." He said, "So any day now!" He's like the 10th person who has said that in the past week. I thought "any day now" started at 39.5 weeks. But 37 is full term, and if labor started my doc wouldn't be concerned and it would just happen. That's weird to think about... I kinda miss the crafty world I used to live in. I found this online and thought it fit!4. Paul and I are grown-ups. Why? Because we got a land line installed in our house. Isn't it just grown-up, settled down, old people that have home phone numbers? Once our promo with comcast was over, our cable and internet bill was cheaper if we added digital voice. So we did. I don't know our number and no one else does either (except telemarketers!) So when it rings I don't even look at the caller ID and I never answer it. But if the TV is on and the phone rings the caller ID shows up on the TV screen. It's actually kind of annoying.

5. We had a movie night on Sunday with some of Paul's co-workers and their families. We watched 'Newsies'. (Paul's idea) He actually had to go buy it that day because we didn't own it and he really wanted to watch it. It's funny how cool those kind of movies are when you're young and how funny and cheesy they are when you're old. The same thing happened to me and my brother Taylor in Hawaii with 'Harry and the Hendersons.'

i love this

"If you could hold this baby in your arms today for one hour, get to know him, and then put him back inside, there is nothing you wouldn't do for that baby - no job too hard, no pain too intense. If you knew it was for the good of your baby... you could do anything."

--Jay Hathaway, Co-Executive Director of the American

Academy of Husband-Coached Childbirth.

I love this...I think I'll print it on a card and take it to the hospital with me.

To Do:

I was a little worried that I was going to be bored not working before the baby comes, so I made a list a couple of weeks ago of everything I need to do before his arrival, I've been just fine keeping busy, and I still have plenty to do.

The Nursery/Baby stuff
-Stain and hang frames --done
-Stain and hang shelf --done
-Wash, fold and hang all the baby clothes
-Buy mattress --done Thanks mom, Grandma and Aunt Barbara
-Make the bed, or make the crib? --done Thanks mom
-Hang wood cover above swamp cooler
-Decide about curtains. Do I want then? Should I (mom) make them? Buy them? --done Thanks mom, and I finally helped on something fabric related. Miracle.
-Finish making and hang mobile --done
-Finish and hang name frames (They probably wont be hung until after he's born, in case we have visitors who are trying to find out his name...we know you're out there. ;)) --done
-De-junk piles of baby books, hospital packets, birth class paper work, etc. Everything related to the pregnancy gets stacked in the nursery and I need to find new places for all of it. --almost done
-Make burp cloths

Our Room
-Print pictures and hang picture frames that have been sitting on my night stand for weeks
-Make new pillow cases so our room will finally start to match

The Den/Project Room
-Find places for my stacks of clothes that don't fit right now.
-Organize and condense wood stuff
-De-junk and get rid of more stuff
-Sell our electric piano
-The ultimate goal for this room is to be able to comfortably fit 2 or 3 air mattresses on the floor.

Misc. around the house
-Dust, vacuum, deep clean everything
-Clean windows
-Bug spray all the windows outside

Me (us) Stuff
-Make a few freezer meals --started
-Finish writing birth plan --done
-Finish hospital check list
-Write Thank You notes --started
-Go on walks, get massages, go to chiropractor a few more times, go to maternity exercise class a couple times a week. --doing
-Pack for hospital

I have 27 days. Give or take a few...

beer and babies

Yesterday at the grocery store I overheard an awkward debate between two people in line at the register behind me. One was a pregnant women buying a case of beer and the other was someone who didn't agree with mixing alcohol with pregnancy. I think they may have known each other and the one friend was mad at the pregnant friend and the pregnant friend was saying the baby was fine and so on. And her friend was saying she didn't know if the baby was fine or not, etc. My back was to them and I never turned around, but that's what I gathered from what I heard.

I have to say I would have been on the not pregnant ladies side. I have a book of info compiled by different doctors that gives you the basics on just about anything you might wonder about while pregnant.

Here's what it says about alcohol:

"CONCERNS: Alcohol is a known teratogen (cause of birth defects). Consumption of alcohol during pregnancy has been associated with intrauterine growth restriction (low birth weight), mental retardation, abnormal facial defects, and other major and minor fetal malformations. Although it appears that fetal alcohol syndrome is caused by heavy drinking and/or binge drinking, both the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have stated that no level of alcohol consumption, even the most minimal drinking, during pregnancy has been determined to be safe. A new study found that children who were exposed to alcohol during the first and second trimesters of pregnancy were found to have lower IQ scores. Pregnant women are advised not to drink at all.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Although an occasional sip may be okay, there is absolutely no known amount of alcohol that is safe in pregnancy. Most health care providers recommend avoiding all alcohol during pregnancy."

There are so many dos, don'ts, maybes, gray areas, and unsures that come with pregnancy that it seems like the things that are pretty clear would be easy to do, or not do. If one or 2 beers 'hardly effects' you, or you 'barely feel anything' from a glass of wine, what does it do to a little 2 or 3 pound vulnerable baby? Maybe nothing. But whats the point of risking it. I'm the type that if I eat something unhealthy like a giant cheese burger, I picture my tiny baby holding and trying to eat the same cheeseburger. :) Seeing it like that helps me put healthier stuff in my body. Yeah, not how it works, I know, but I guess I would kinda picture the same with alcohol. I really don't know how much gets to the baby and how food and drink effect it, but I try to be careful. That's all. Sorry if I offended anyone who had the occasional drink while pregnant. But it's just one of those things for me I guess.

Look what I just got...

My husband had these delivered to me today. I cried when the delivery man left.

Not our anniversary.

Not my birthday.

Not fighting.

Just because...

The past couple weeks have been a bit emotional for me. I feel like I blame everything on pregnancy these days, but its probably because I know everything I'm going through and feeling is because I'm pregnant. Not a bad thing, just an adjustment.

I've been feeling overwhelmed, scared, excited, unprepared, ready, anxious, happy, sad, impatient, giddy, overjoyed, blessed, inadequate.

I've never been a mom, so how do I just suddenly become a mom and not mess it up. And I haven't been a wife for that long either, and the wife thing also came with no training, so how do I keep trying to get better at being a wife AND learn to be a good mom?

All things that Paul has been helping me through.

Last Monday at our Bradley class we watched videos of vaginal deliveries and c-sections. When we were done I said to the instructor, "K, I don't want to do either of those, so what are my other options?" And on the way home this week I told Paul that for the first time in over seven months I feel like I can't be pregnant anymore and that I can't make it through labor. By yesterday I was ok again, and I knew I could do both, but what about everything after I make it through those things?

I wish I could wrap this post up by telling you that I've figured everything out, and that I have all the answers on becoming the undefeated wife and mother of the year. But I don't.

I have Paul. I have prayer.

I'll be ok.