Out with the Old, In with the New...

The old furniture is sitting in its new home....the wine room. That is until Mean Aunt Betty can come pick it up for her son. Seems I didn't need to post it on Craigs.list after all since she saw the pic and read that we were getting rid of them on the bloggy!

Here are pics of the new stuff. I think we may have over purchased because we don't have quite the floor space we did before, but I LOVE the ottoman (had to have it) and also the chair and a half. It feels like the perfect spot to curl up and read a book to Mr. Miles!

I took these pics this morning around 5:45 AM so it was dark outside and the only light on in here was the 1 lamp so objects may be lighter than they appear...

Speaking of lamps...what do you internets think of the shades? The previous ones were the regular "lampshade shape" and cream. These are squared off and blazingly white. The white makes the light brighter, but with the dark tables and couches I think we may need tan or maroon (yes that is why the plastic is still on them!).

Also, the end tables....TOTALLY not the ones we picked or paid for. But I think they are better and probably more expensive. I need to take a better picture of just the table, but there is a bottom piece, kind of a shelf, more like a dust collector since Miles will be crawling at that level soon - and under that is a little drawer. Like inches off the ground - weird, what could you put in there...anyway, the cool part is that half of the table top lifts up (its hinged) and you can store crap in the table itself. I like this but I don't like this. It is way awesome for storing but you can't keep stuff on the front half of the table in the event you need to open it, right? I think I like it more than I don't like it. Dean especially likes it that I can keep all the magazines that used to litter the table tops in those cubby holes.

Overall, what do you think of the new setup?

Mr. Miles is doing so good. He has been sleeping through the night for the past 3 weeks (minus one day when he got up extra early for some reason) and this week for the first time, he slept through the night in his crib, in his own room. SNIFF. I woke up a couple of times to look at him on the monitor and there he was miles (ok only yards and stairs) away from Mommy snoozing like a big boy!

We had been using a blanket to cover him, but tucked on the sides and end of the mattress. He is such a little wiggle worm when he sleeps (gets that from Momma) that he is out of it and at the total end of the bed by morning. Guess we'll need to switch to that Halo.Sleep.Sack tonight. Never used it before. It was in the tons of stuff we got from Holden. Anyone have any luck with them? I think the one I have is a Medium, so hopefully it fits him ok.

**Way off topic and for another post, but wondering - how many of you BF'ing people out there are worried about not having enough to give to the sitter/daycare while you are away at work?**
Here are my favorite people - 2 legged and 4 legged - being cozy before bedtime on the new couch!


I just got an email from BRU about some water toys made by Aqua.Leisure that were recalled. Here's the link to the recall list. We have the deluxe.baby.boat. I got it last September or so from OneStepAhead. It was on super sale so I got the baby.boat before I even had a baby! And I knew we would need something like this when we take Miles out on the boat to play in the water.

Oh well, at least they are giving me a full refund. Now I can find something even cooler!

Cuz I'm cool like that, I'm cool like that...(what's that song?)

LOOOOONG Weekend (to be continued)

This weekend seemed to take forever! I'm not complaining in the least bit since I got to spend more time with my man and my little man. But we were busy, busy Thursday - Saturday and finally got to rest and relax yesterday.

Thursday night we had dinner at this quaint restaurant with friends. They don't have a liquor license or sell beer, but you can bring in your own wine and a for a small $1.95 corking fee, they will open and serve it for you. I brought 2 bottles of our homemade wine and had the
Sun dried Tomato Ravioli (
Stuffed ravioli with ricotta cheese tossed in sun dried tomato cream sauce). It was FAN-TAB-U-LOUS!! I actually had to tell myself to not finish it all so I would have some to take home for lunch the next day. It was awesome! Anyway, that wasn't the most awesome part of the night. Our friends S & J (evacuees) are expecting baby #2! YAY! She "announced" it to us by putting a shirt on Andrew and asking us to look at him. The shirt said "Big Brother!" How fun is that! I know they are very excited and nervous about this new chapter in their lives. LOVE YA GIRL!

We have been tied up in a refinance on our house for months now. Apparently when the rates dropped everyone and their dog decided to refi so the paperwork has taken a lot longer than expected. Anyway, the guy called last week and said since our mortgage amount would be changing to just skip the next payment until they can get everything ready. Well we had already paid July so now we won't be paying til September. SWEET. But remember we aren't good savers and if there is extra money lying around, we need a reason to invest it, right? And what better reason than new living room furniture????

This is our old set we are currently selling on craigs.list. Selling the couch, love seat, end tables and coffee table. (Note: my living room is NEVER this empty. We removed the lamps and everything from the tables - and all of Miles' toys - from the pic so crazy craigs.list peeps wouldn't think it was for sale too).

So far we have had about 5 hits on it. One college bound kid wants only the tables, another lady in a new house wants only the couches DELIVERED (what? don't you know how craigs.list works lady? we post, you pick up), and several others that wanted more info but only one (college kid) has come to see them. He actually was going to take the entire set and at the last minute his dad called and said a buddy at work had a sofa set for him for free... and well free beats anything...

Anyways....Mr. Miles was a champ at the furniture store on Friday. We were there so long I had to give him a bottle, then we broke for lunch cuz Mamma was starvin', then we went back! We had gone there intitially looking for a sectional but after scouring the entire store at them, realized with our crazy room layout (TV niche to the left of fireplace) we wouldn't be able to get ample seating for the TV in a good relaxing position i.e. recliners pointed 90 degrees from TV = NEGATIVE from husband) during our lunch break is when we realized this. So when we got back I found an awesome storage ottoman that I had to have. I have always wanted one of those oversized leather ottomans. The "cushions" can be flipped and serve as table top trays and underneath them is storage for blankets and such. So then the game was to find a couch/love seat combo that matched it! Once those were found (can't find a linky to them because I don't remember their name and there are like 952 "brown sofas" on their website!) we picked out end tables to go with (same story as above). We are keeping our lamps (I HEART them. Have had them since my 1st apartment) but they have been spray painted a flat black color to match all the other wrought iron in the room. New stuff is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. Tonight is furniture move out! WHOOP! Will post an "after" pic!

**I have taken too long to post this and now it is time to go - can't be late for the van - so I'll finish up the long weekend post tomorrow - hopefully with 4th pics - if I can remember to bring the flash drive with me to work (SIGH)**

SMOOCHES

No Sleep & Lots O' Pics

So I have finally gotten to the point where I cannot get a full night's sleep to save my life! I had a headache last night so I took 2 Tylenol and went to bed at 9:20. I was hoping going to bed early would let me get a little bit more sleep, but no. I woke up at 11:45, 2:00, and 4:00 and 6:00 to go to the bathroom!! How does my little, tiny, squished bladder have the capacity to hold that much fluid without me drinking anything during the night???

I am also having to sleep with the wedge pillow under my belly and the big giraffe body pillow behind my back in the event I try to roll over in the night - which I do - but if I don't have the pillow I start to get short of breath? I guess cutting off circulation to my main vein would do that, right? Oh and to top it off, Maddie has turned into a 65 year old man! She snores SO LOUD and SO LONG! I was knocking on the headboard and calling out to her from 4-4:45 to get her to shut up!! Finally I picked her up and put her on our bed. For some reason, she doesn't snore up there, but if she does, I can easily give her a little nudge with my foot!

The 35 week appointment is this afternoon, so I'll update that tomorrow morning. Until then, here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure...

Beautiful Mess asked for pics of the patio furniture we bought last weekend...

Here is the 35 week belly pic!

The first piece of Peanut's Blanket-to-be, signed by all the shower invitees...

The changing station, dresser, and hamper. The baby's name will go above this once we know what it is!

The valance...the picture of the whole window wouldn't show up clear because of the sun shining through the blinds...

The pics Aunt Mel, Grammy, and myself painted and the crib...

The growth chart

The little shelf and painting Aunt Mel painted. We will put the baby's name and birth information in the clouds. It will also be hanging on our Post Partum room at the hospital!

The pappasan that I just can't get rid of (it will probably move to the living room and the rocker will go here after the baby moves into the nursery), the monkey we will take baby pics with, and the blanket my sister-in-law made.

The wardrobe - it has diapers and wipes inside!

Bonus!

We had our Infant.CPR.and.Safety class last night. We are now educated in car seat installation, CPR, and choking - or rather how to releive choking I should say. It was definitely worth the time and money for this class. It was the shortest of the 3 that we took, but probably the most beneficial considering it could be applied to save Peanut's life!

Afterwards, we met S&J and Baby Andrew at Buffalo.Wild.Wings because, you know when Peanut wants wings, Peanut gets wings! (It's never because I want wings, it's always because "it's what the baby wants!") We hadn't got to visit with them in a while, so after dinner we went back to their house....until 1 AM! HOLY MOLY is this Baby Mama T.I.R.E.D. I felt like I got run over by a truck. Dean had a 7 AM con-call he had to get up for. Me, well I "work from home" too, but remember I don't have anything to do since my backup-to-be wants to "learn all the ropes" before I am really out on maternity leave and un-contactable (is that a word?). So I slept in - SSHHH - don't tell LaRay. Wait. Who am I kidding? She left last night to take the fam to Disney World for Spring Break. She'll never even know!

We have a pretty boring weekend ahead. Dean is taking his son to pick up a motorcycle he bought off of Craigs.list. It's a 1963 BSA - Sportstar or something like that. Not that I know what that means. Just that it's a small, light bike that is super cool according to our friend in the UK. It is currently not running, but the boy is eager to fix it up. I am excited too, because he has no other transportation right now and lives 15 miles away. Anytime we want to do anything with him, we have to go pick him up, usually just to bring him back to our house. Then after whatever we are doing, Dean takes him back again. I just hope he gets it running sooner than later!

After that, we plan on going to look for patio furniture. Dean built this awesome flagstone patio 3 years ago when we moved in. And then last year, we finished building this outdoor barbecue. Now we need to add some nice furniture to complete the ensemble. We had better do it now while we still have money leftover from my bonus at work. Oh - and I think I forgot to post what else we have already bought with it. Baby stuff? NAH. Mommy stuff? NAH. Daddy stuff? BUT OF COURSE!

Not ONE, but TWO 46" LCD HD TV's!! Here's a pic of the one in the game room, currently in front of my couch planted butt...

Actually, he has been wanting one of these TV's for a very long time and at Christmas I put a note in his stocking that he could use some of my bonus in March for a new TV. But TWO? REALLY? And you'll never guess where we got them....at the grocery store! Our HEB is an HEB Plus. This just means it has more stuff than regular HEB's, but not as much as HEB Central Market (The granddaddy of all grocery stores). It has textiles, electronics, baby department. Anyway, they were clearing out their '08 models to make room for the '09s. We got the last 46" in a box and the display model. He was so happy to be rid of our 1990 TV's....not really 1990, but the old school box style. Hell - one was my TV from college!

What a loving wife I am to give my husband the money that I so desperately worked for (ok, the company worked for) to let him make such a grand purchase???? LOL

A little delayed, but here's the 34 week, 2 day belly pic. Please excuse the no bra and fishing pants that I am borrowing from the husband. None of my pajama pants will fit anymore!

Yesterday was a GOOD Day!

For 5 reasons...

Reason #1. Grandma got out of the hospital and is back at her Alzheimer's facility. No pneumonia!

Reason #2. I had my follow-up appointment with the RE yesterday. He confirmed (through methods we'll leave to the imagination) that the cyst is gone. YEAH! Also, I am to stop taking BCP immediately. Hopefully, he says, this will also make AF stop the flowin'. Also, husband's swimmer analysis results are in...

Count: 11.6 MILLION Motility: 25% Morphology: 4%

Side note: When I got home, I posted this SA report on the fridge, you know like some of you do with your kids' report cards? I was just so proud of him and his great counts thanks to his Proxeed supplements!! :) :) :)

Doc says the morphology is kind of low, but with the increased count and with the "wash" they do beforehand - his numbers are FABULOUS!!! On Thursday, I am scheduled to go back for some lab work and then on Saturday...We start our first Clomid cycle! This will be taken on Days 5-9 of the cycle. Then we'll go for more labs and confirm if I'm ovulating and then...........**DRUM ROLL PLEASE** We go for our insemenination!! YAHOO!! Also, since my insurance does not have fertility coverage, we had to pay for the Clomid cycle and the insemination-to-be yesterday. I was headed to check out and doc said to ask for Anna when I got there. HUH?

Me: "OK - can I speak to Anna? "

Checkout lady: "Oh have a seat right there maa'm. She'll be right with you."

Anna's office door sign reads "Financial Aid Office" EEKS! Luckily, if we paid for all of it then, we would get a 20% discount, whereas had we opted for the payment plan - no discount. So, we're all paid up!

Reason #3. Our Short Term Incentive Plan (STIP)/Bonus numbers were announced at work. This is the first company I have worked for that have paid bonuses so I am WAY excited no matter what the $$ amount is that is paid out. But let's just say...if we have to go the IVF method, we'll have all the money we need!

Reason #4. Our homemade wine made it to Day 14 and has now been transferred into its new home. She is resting quietly in the wine rack, which will be her home for the next 6 months. Notice the Man Tool of choice for the vigorous stirring required? Yes, that would be RYOBI!
Reason #5. The outdoor kitchen is complete!

Strawberries and Peppers

Here are some promised pics of the BBQ, garden, and flowers...

A is for Artall - the right counter on the BBQ


Strawberries, parsley and chives

Mexican lime and lavender

A is for purple pansies....

Hyacinths - they smell awesome!

Updates...The doubling up on the BCP doesn't seem to be helping matters... Guess I'll find out what's up with that at the appointment next Monday. Speaking of appointments, husband has his follow-up today to make for sure his Proxeed is actually increasing his swimmers like it's supposed to. Say your prayers and cross your fingers!

Progress...

We worked our tooshies off Saturday on the outdoor kitchen/bbq. We worked all day and into the night - even had to set up a light!! We finally called it quits around 8PM. The temp was too cool and the humidity too high...the rocks Dean was putting on kept sliding down the wall. He was fighting a losing battle. We had hoped to get all of the tile and rock laid Saturday and then spend Sunday grouting it all in. Sunday morning was spent laying the rest of the rock and grouting took a lot longer than expected. Especially for husband since he had to get in between all those river rocks!
I used a new kind of of grout on the tile that has an epoxy built into it that is stain and mold resistant. Which is good since it is outside and uncovered (for now). That's pretty much what we did all weekend. Laura and I did have lunch on Sunday with our old friend Rose, whom we hadn't seen in quite a while. It was good to see her. Then for dinner, we visited J and Steph and his brother and wife. Oh and little Drew too!!

Here are the pics after Phase 1 of the Outdoor Kitchen:


The BBQ pit is in the middle with a side burner on the left.


Dean did the rock


I did the tile


This backside has been grouted. It will be acid washed also to clean it up more.


From the side

AF and Super Bowl are finally here!

I never thought I'd see the day when I actually wanted my monthly cycle to get here, but since I took the last of the meds Wednesday night, I have been anxiously awaiting Aunt Flo's arrival. I helped move my friend into her first apartment (YEAH!!!) Friday and Saturday and just knew it was going to happen at the most inopportune moment. EESH. Thankfully that didn't happen.

We got her moved in without a hitch. We even set up her massive waterbed, organized her kitchen and bathroom for her. basically all she has to do is give it her own special touch and she's ready to relax in her new home sweet home. Can't wait for the first get together in the new digs!

The outdoor kitchen is almost complete. All we have left to do is put river rock on the bottom, and mosaic tile the countertop. Do you know how hard it is to find a variety of colors in small ceramic tile? We went to 4 stores. The only colors they have a blue and black. Since the rock will be mainly gray, we want something with color to "pop" on the counter. The lady at Lowe's told us of 2 more places to look. Pics coming soon.

I'm off to the store to get stuff for dessert we're taking to our friends to watch the Super Bowl. They are little mini footballs!! Hope everyone has a good Super Bowl Sunday...