Thursday, March 31, 2011

Running


Ha!  Running's getting harder...but I need to remember this :)

I'm scheduled to run a half marathon on April 10th, and, as of today, I'm still planning on it.  Sadly, I have not been training the way I know I should.  I'm doing 3-ish runs a week, but they're all 5 miles.  I'm also swimming roughly 3 times a week, so I figure things are ok cardio-wise.

No one thinks this half marathon is a good idea.

And they tell me all the time.

But, luckily, my friend Jess has volunteered to do it with me. She hasn't been training much and has promised my mother that she'll force me to take walking breaks...although I'm thinking it won't be a problem.  On Monday, I had to stop twice to pee on my run.

Breaks are not going to the be problem...round ligament pain is.

Ouch.

Also, for all you doubters...It's ok to run! (Link)

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Owl Love You Forever

When I got home from work on Monday, this was in the mail...
I love it!!!

My darling friend Erin designed it for me and we had it printed on canvas at Shutterfly.

I can't wait to get it up in The Cactus's room.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Crib and Rocker!

 The Cactus's Crib is set up!!
He has painted walls,
sheets,
a musical projection mobile (but the figures will probably change),
a protective father, 
AND a custom crib skirt! 
 I made the crib skirt on Sunday, the last day of my uber-busy spring break....I got the basic tutorial from Young House Love, but sewed my hems instead of using iron-on hem tap and added a pleat in the middle.


I added the pleat primarily because I'm not the world's most precise measurer, and it was far easier to adjust a pleat than deal with me cutting things too small.


It's attached the the frame with velcro...which was a ton cheaper and easier than using another piece of fabric as a base.  I'll probably sew on the velcro eventually...but the stick-on is working for now.

In other news, The Cactus also has a rocking chair.
Mom and I found it at Nebraska Furniture Mart.  
It's actually a piece of patio furniture, but it was super comfy and 
WAY more affordable and any rocker/glider I could find.

Plus, the cushion was already the right color--SCORE!

In sad news, I think the baby takes after me.
Not even born yet and his room is already a mess.
Not a good sign.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Garage Sale

The garage sale was a success...but man, alive, I'm glad it's over.

Those things are a lot of work!

Mom & I spent most of the day on Thursday sorting through crap--and attempting to price things.  It amazed me how much stuff we had accumulated.  Both David and I had separate households before our marriage and then received much nicer stuff for our wedding.  We also had a problem with accepting other people's cast-offs...
So the garage sale included 2 sets of pots and pans, 2 sets of silverware, 3 sets of dishes, 1 table, 10 chairs, and LOTS of various items.

Friday morning we woke up to sleeting rain.  We didn't drag anything out of the garage, since it was cold and wet.  We just assumed people wouldn't show up until the weather got nicer, if they showed up at all.

Wrong-o.  People were outside the house at 7:20 am.  Before we had the sign up.
CRAZY.

Friday was pretty steady--people bought quite a bit of stuff.  I'm fairly convinced that a lot of people who go to garage sales are just lonely.  We had one lady stick around, chatting, for 45 minutes.  She didn't have most of her front teeth, but she was nice :)

Saturday was much slower, which surprised me.  The weather was better, but I think we got most of the hard-core people on Friday.  It started to snow at 11:50, so we loaded up Mom's giant chair with the leftovers and headed straight to Goodwill.

I've never been so happy to get things out of my house--or so grateful to Mom!  We netted close to $300 AND cleared out a ton of room.

Now, I just need to get my house back in order.

I might need another spring break for that :)

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Oh My

I'm having a garage sale tomorrow.
Lord help me.

We have so much crap.

We have to make room for the Cactus.

I hope people buy my crap...cause the Cactus needs sheets.

And clothes.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Quilting Like Crazy

Yesterday, Dad, Mom, and I headed out to visit the grandparents.  
We ate dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Brownback--and then Grandma tried to give me some stuff she purchased at an auction.

Grandma likes auctions and buying things...but then she doesn't want them.
Grandpa wants them even less.

After the truck was full, we headed over to see Grandma and Grandpa Stainbrook.  THAT Grandma gave me some onion sets and showed me the progress on the Owl quilt.

She's got 5 of the 16 owl blocks finished and all of the 4 tree blocks.

She'll have that sucker finished in no time--how cute is it going to be??

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Painting!

 Over last weekend, Mom and Lindy came into town.  Lindy thought it was to catch her outgoing flight to Seattle.  Little did she know that I had other plans for her, mostly... 
 ...yep, painting my house.

Turns out, she's a good painter.

We got the nursery and the living room painted in two days, which was awesome.  
I was only slightly stressed out that my living room looked like this.
 You may not be able to tell, but all the furniture is shoved to the middle of the room and crap is piled everywhere.
When you empty a guest room, have guests (or, rather, workers) over, and move all furniture, it makes for a chaotic weekend.
 As evidenced by Mom trying to watch the K-State game and eat dinner 3.5 inches from the tv.

During the K-State game, Mom got a call... Lindy's flight was delayed at least 4 hours, and she opted to reschedule a flight out of KC on Monday.  The flight didn't end up leaving St. Louis until nearly 2am, which was NOT the expected 6pm departure.

Unluckily for Lindy, her luggage went on to Seattle...but that's actually a really complicated story in which Lindy spent hours being belligerent on the phone.  
Also unlucky for Mom, who missed the K-State game to go with me to pick up Lindy from the airport.

But lucky for ME because Lindy finished painting the dining room (yay!!!) AND put together the cactus's crib. 
Boo-ya.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Spring Break!

Today at 2:35pm, my spring break started!

Happy Day.

I have huge plans for spring break, including painting (or, rather, watching Mom paint), cleaning, a trip to KS, and a garage sale.

I am very exciting.

In other news, how cute is this?
 "My Little Night Owl" Snuggle Sack and Cap
Awwwww.  It's a baby owl!

I think I must have it for baby photo shoot :)

http://www.mommyandkidsallure.com/item/_My_Little_Night_Owl_Snuggle_Sack_and_Cap_/2346/c37

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Cloth Diaper Decisions

I think I've made a decision on cloth diapers....but David hasn't agreed yet :)

We're going to a cloth diapering class in early April, but I decided to do some sleuthing ahead of schedule.

Last Friday, Mom, Grandma, and I went on a field trip to Cotton Babies.  I actually got to see a lot of various options in person and talk to someone who knows something (i.e. the salesperson) about the differences between the various types.

Before going, I was sold on Bum Genius.  Everyone in the blog-o-sphere LUUUUVVS their Bum Genius, and even the people I could find in person.  Cute colors, economical, done.

However, after looking at the options, I think we're going to go with the Flip System.  Mom and Grandma agreed as well--and they know a heck of a lot more about cloth diapers than I do, each using cloth on 4 children.

Flips, hopefully, will be good for us.  They say you buy 6-10 covers and 24ish inserts.  You wash the inserts every time there's a diaper change, but only need to wash the covers when they're dirty.  And apparently, you'll know when they're dirty.
They're one-sizers, meaning you only buy diaper for all of childhood and then adjust to fit.
However, the biggest selling point was that you can buy disposable inserts as well as regular, washable inserts.  One of the points of concession I made with David in this whole plan was that we could use disposables when traveling, so that we wouldn't have to haul around poop.  However, that frustrated me because I could see us buying disposables and not using them before The Cactus got bigger.  The Flip disposables, however, are one-size (they fold to fit) so the size issue won't be a problem.
Flip: One-Size Diaper Cover
Huzzah!

On top of that, the Flip System seems to be the less pricey.  You get a set of 2 covers and 6 inserts for a bit less than $50.  So, if I were going to have a FULL set I would buy 5 packs, for just under $250.
Consider that the Bum Genius runs $53 for a 3 pack or a bit over $200 for a 12 pack.  They you'll need 18-24, so we're already cheaper.
Plus, they say that disposables can cost $50-80 a month...for more than two years.  I can handle not shelling out that much money every month for an initial cost outlay of 4-5 months of diapers.

The do say that the size for these diapers is 7-35 pounds and it may be difficult for newborns to fit in them...however, I have some newborn diapers from a friend, and Mom says that The Cactus should be huge.

Everyone keeps telling me he's going to be huge.  It's kind of freaking me out.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

I was given the Stylish Blogger Award curteousy of Nicole from Knocked Up.  I started following her blog a few weeks ago since we're due roughly about the same time.  She blogs about her pregnancy and is generally WAY more informed about everything than I am.  
There are 4 simple rules to follow!

1.Thank and link back to the person who awarded this to you.
2.Share 7 things about yourself.
3.Award blogs you have recently discovered. 
4.Contact these bloggers and let them know about the award.

Ok 7 things about me....

  1. I am a runner, having completed 2 marathons and around 7 half marathons.  I'm still planning on running a half marathon in April, God willing!
  2. My husband and I said "I love you" on our first date and were married less than 8 months later.
  3. I have a bachelor's and master's degree in Social Work, but right now I do statistical "things" for a school district.  
  4. I have a fainting disorder and have had numerous concussions because of it.  
  5. I am bad about calling people back, but I am excellent at texting.  I have no idea why I would rather text for an hour than talk on the phone for 5 minutes.
  6. I love to cook, sew, knit, etc.... I want to force my grandma to teach me how to can, because I think it seems interesting.
  7. While in the Peace Corps, I was told I had pink eye for 9 months.  Turned out to be an allergy to chicken feathers...which I found out after some painful and invasive procedures where a metal rod was jammed in my nasal-lachrymal canal, permanently damaging it.  Yipes.
I give this award to (in alphabetical order):
Martha and Erin are real-life friends...and I think Marisa is awesome, so I'm stalking her.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Shower!

Over the weekend, my super-duper friend Martha threw me a baby shower.
It was awesome--I had family come into town and got to see some great friends.

I also learned a lot about baby poop.  
And that I was a 9 lb, 5 oz baby.  
Apparently, David was 9 lb, 3 oz.
OMG.

Scary stuff.

On the plus side, The Cactus got tons of cute and useful items...
clothes, bath stuff, monitor, blankets, pillows, toys.

He's a lucky duck.  
I'm lucky to have such generous and wonderful friends/family.


Mom and Grandma Stainbrook came into town on Friday for the shower.  
After they joined me at my doctor's appointment, we went to Hobby Lobby.  
We picked out fabric for The Cactus's baby quilt...
and apparently Grandma has already washed, ironed, and cut out all the pieces.  
I can't wait to see it!

After dinner with my sister, we all went to the casino, 
where Grandma is happiest :)

After the shower on Saturday, David and I went to the zoo.  
I remembered that I am afraid of ostriches.  
Seriously.  Terrifying.

Sunday, we met David's mom, sister, and nephew for lunch and then did some shopping.  
Debra generously bought me some warm-weather maternity clothes, 
which I was planning on wearing today...

Too bad I woke up to buckets of snow.

Crazy.

Great weekend!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Styling!

The Cactus will be attending his first wedding in September, at the tender age of 2 months.

Since it's my sister's wedding, my dress has been picked out and ordered for some time now.

So, of course, I've already thinking about what the little guy should wear...
because there's bound to be pictures.

Of course, I found something smashing.
Look at the pocket square!!!!!

How fancy is he going to look?

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

That's my hip.

Last night, it was nearing bed-time for me (not David so much) so he was chilling in the bed getting some Cactus time in.  Since I have an anterior placenta* it'll be longer before David can feel the little guy's jabs.  In the meantime, we play a game called "Guess Where Cactus Is."  It's fun--basically we poke around on my gut until we find a lump.


Yeah, now that I type it, it sounds pretty weird.


Anyway, David was having a hard time finding the little guy until he announced that he finally found him.  


Except he was poking at my hip.


Which you can't really see anymore.  So...in David's defense, it does seem a lot like any other gut-covered lump.


I remember when you could see my hips.  Those were the days.  


In other news, Lent starts today.  I've heard several GREAT ideas about what to give up for Lent: fried food, fast food, chocolate. However, due to my current impregnanted state, I feel that giving up any of these would most definitely induce a psychotic break.  I am opting out this year. 


I figure giving up alcohol, sushi, lunch meat, tuna, caffeine, biking, running fast, artificial sweeteners, AND my waist are enough. 


*Having an anterior placenta isn't a big deal--it just means that the placenta stuck on my front instead of near my back.  Totally healthy, but it'll be harder to feel/see the Cactus moving around down there.  I'm feeling him, but he's still pretty soft and gentle.  No worries, says the doctor.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Preggo Party

Sunday evening, I met some people from the internet...and it was awesome.

There's a group of women to message back and for with from BabyCenter who are due in July and live in St. Louis...so we "met" in person on Sunday evening.

It was great to talk to them--we're all basically dealing with the same things and trying to figure out the same things at the same time.  When I got home, I told David it was nice to chat to people about all the freak outs and internal drama I'm having--besides him.  Because as much as I love my husband, he doesn't really understand how annoying/ok it is to give up stuff (tuna!  alcohol! caffeine!) and random quirks (constipation! random pains!).

Plus, one of the girls loaned me an AWESOME knitting book--that has a pattern for an owl in it!

Look out--The Cactus is getting a toy!

Monday, March 7, 2011

House Guest

David and I were graced by a lovely houseguest this weekend.
His name is Seamus and he's five months old.
His owners were at Mardi Gras all weekend, so I offered to take him.  
It was mostly as a consolation prize for feeling too lame (or pregnant) to party.

Maggie was thrilled...
They spent nearly the entire visit wrestling together.

Until bed time, where they snuggled all night long.
That was super cute, until they decided it was time to start wrestling again at 5 in the morning.
Then, a little less cute.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

My Mardi Gras

I got up and out of the house early this morning, and made a Sam's run, where I found this.
Awwww. 

I couldn't resist.  It's actually my first baby-clothing purchase yet, and I'm pleased I showed restraint up until this point.

The rest of St. Louis is battling the yucky weather to celebrate Mardi Gras, but not this girl.
I'm celebrating with cute clothing for the Cactus.  :)