That's a lot of hair!

I wonder if Bubs will have this much hair when he/she arrives! Holy crap!

Blake asked me what I imagined Bubs to look like....honestly, I have no clue. My answer to his question at the time was, "A baby?" LOL :)

Need music?

In case any of you need some music provided for anything, you can check out our friends, Ryan and Regina singing here, with me on piano. :) Even if you don't need music, it's worth a listen. {I know, shameless plug for us! I couldn't resist.}

Dear Bubs

NOTICE OF EVICTION:

I am issuing 30 day notice for EVICTION. Tenant will have 30 days in which she/he can either gather his/her belongings and promptly vacate the premises, or wait until the final day. After which, she will be physically removed from the property.

He's/ She's being evicted due to breech of contract and destruction of property. Expansions only to the FRONT of the house, within reasonable limits, were discussed. Not only have these limits been exceeded, but additions to the back of the house were also made!

Remodeling and gutting of the home was never approved, nor was changing the initial layout and base structure. And due to property damage, there are now leaks in both the upper AND lower levels of the home. On top of which, the landlord has received numerous complaints about nightly disturbances.

After 30 days from this day that he/she doesn't comply with the notice will result in immediate and forceful removal at my discretion.

Love, Mommy

{Found this on my pregnancy forum. I love those gals!}

P.S. Bubs, you don't quite have 30 days. So, hurry up!

Nesting

I had a productive day:

Played piano at church
Took a nap
Made pumpkin bars {while making lunch at the same time}
Did more laundry
Washed the dishes in the sink
Loaded, ran, and unloaded dishwasher
Swept up floors, shook out all rugs
Washed and scrubbed the floor on my hands and knees
Cleaned up main bathroom
Watched some football games

Shall we call this....nesting?

Oh yeah, all the while, I gave Bubs a pep talk. :) Hoo-rah.

Much better

Remember this fiasco last time we got Sophie's hair cut? Her most recent groom was much better, and we feel like much more responsible pet-owning parents! :)


P.S. Sorry, the pictures are a bit fuzzy, I took them both in a hurry.
P.P.S. I think I'm back online safely. Keep your fingers crossed!

MIA

Blake and I have all kinds of things going on lately:

Yesterday, we had our maternity shoot. I'm excited to see the pictures when they are up, and hopefully I can share some of them with all of you. I'll probably need help picking the ones for the 10 X 20 collage that we won! :) I planned on taking a picture of some of the items involved {watermelon, Bubs Bear, Nebraska onesie} and uploading them in this blog entry, but unfortunately, my computer is out of commission {my reason for being MIA!}. It has come down with an infection of malware and a bunch of other crap that I can't seem to get rid of. Lola to the rescue. Hopefully, I'll be back up and running soon. You are receiving this lovely update via Blake's office. :)

We also have our birthing class this weekend and Monday night. It will be nice to have that out of the way. I've been nesting, doing Bubs' laundry, packing my hospital bag {finally!}, and just trying to get our house clean in general. I'm on my weekly Dr. visits, so that keeps me on my toes in addition to last minute finalization of things for work, still maintaining the search for an organist, and not letting the children's choir drive me crazy. I am becoming increasingly bad about replying to e-mails. I think I reply when I, in fact, don't. About the only the thing I'm still good about is checking the blogs that I read regularly, and even that has been difficult with my sick computer! How irritating....

I hope to be healthily back online soon! :)

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Someone needs to invite me somewhere so I can make this. :) I'm also open to the option of someone coming to visit and bringing this dish to share.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

6 Chicken Breasts (boiled and shredded)
1/2 cup hot sauce
1 package cream cheese
1 cup Ranch dressing

Heat the hot sauce, cream cheese and ranch on the stove till the cream cheese is completely melted. Mix in the shredded chicken, top with cheddar cheese and bake 350 for 30 minutes.

Supposedly, it's not spicy....just delicious!

Model Maternity Shoot

Yay! The girls at A Fleeting Moment made a slideshow for viewing. It is very lovely {Click here to see it}. Please keep these in mind while you're viewing:

1. I can not do serious at all...I think I look goofy, and don't I look like I'm smirking half the time?
2. The wraps are a new thing for them. Aren't they nice?
3. My favorites are among the ones where I'm not looking at the camera.
4. Yes, I AM pregnant. Everyone tells me my pregnant belly is small, I didn't realize how small until seeing these pictures. I promise it has grown much since these pictures were taken!
5. Didn't the photographers do a great job?

Happy viewing and let me know what you think! :)

WOO!

Being a blog stalker is totally worth it. I like winning things! :)

Hopefully, some pictures from my "model maternity shoot" will be up soon, so I can share some of them with you. They take such wonderful pictures!

Lost.

MY ENERGY. If you've seen it, please send it back to me! I really want to feel like I can master an entire day without the need of three {or more} naps. No one told me growing a child was so exhausting....and really, I'm not even growing it anymore...just fattening it up for a few more weeks. :)

Maybe I'll find a little jolt of energy with that Banana Cream Pie Blizzard I've been craving for the past few days....yum. :P Fingers crossed....

36 days

And counting {36 days!---more or less--hopefully less ;-)}....the nursery is basically finished. I'm waiting on a couple of photos to put on some shelves, I still have to wash all of that stuff sitting on the dresser, and probably vacuum-dust-etc. again before Bubs arrives. No big rush though, I'll just wait for my nesting instinct to kick in again.

I think my favorite part about the nursery is that it has a theme but isn't entirely matchy matchy. I also love that there's a little piece of Taiwan in there {Musical Woodstock on the closet doors, the bird mobile in the window}. I guess really the only thing missing is Bubs. :)

Also on my "must do" list: Pack my hospital overnight bag. Can you guys think of anything besides the standard stuff you recommend I pack? {I've already accounted for lots of socks, slippers, chapstick, and my own travel-sized toiletries.} I figured I better get it done since my Dr. asked me about it at my appointment last week. She'll probably ask me again next week too and every week after that until I have it done....I can't believe how close this is getting....

Without further adieu, a photo tour of Bubs' nursery:

Husband Revenge

This made me laugh. {Score 1 happy point on my crabby mood today!}

Under my skin

I'll say it: I'm crabby. I've been this way for a week and I don't like it. I can tolerate most people, I still enjoy my friends and family {most of them}, and Blake is the only one that I'm truly still patient with. I actually think he just knows when I'm crabby and he's figured out how to successfully manage it, bless his heart.

My wish for the week is to un-crabbify. I need to appreciate my co-workers, all the little tyrants around school I have to face everyday, the brides needing help with their wedding music {OH THE BRIDES!!!!}, the random people asking me if I can teach their "angel children" piano, etc. Wow, typing all of that out is irritating.....I've never gotten a manicure, a massage, or any type of relaxation treatment before, but I really just think I need one. However, you will be hard-pressed to convince me to actually spend the money on one...

I'm screwed.....doomed to be crabby until this child sleeps through the night....

P.S. The weekend getaway was a nice vacation from my crabbiness. I only had to deal with Blake, my friend, Michelle {who was awesome enough to hang out with me, exploring IKEA} and a bunch of strangers. That was lovely. I'm just pissed I returned to Iowa feeling every bit as crabby as I left it.....aren't you glad you know me? ;-)

Free weekend

Blake has to go to a seminar this weekend. As I have a rare weekend free, I'm tagging along. I figured while he's in seminar, I'll do some looking around, vegging out {watching the Olympics!}, or whatever my little heart desires. Normally, I probably wouldn't tag along, but the rental car, gas, hotel room, etc. are paid for, so I'd be crazy not to enjoy one last weekend away from home with the hubby before Bubs arrives. :)

Maybe I'll have some neat stuff to blog about when I get back. Until then, you can check out Manchester, IA's zoo - Cricket Hollow Zoo. Crazy, right? MANCHESTER, IA has a zoo! We're planning on seeing Blake's family over labor day, so maybe we'll take a little trip there. Only $5 for adults! I still can't believe Manchester has a zoo.....

I can't believe it

Ben is really a senior in high school....the baby of the family is going to be off on his own soon enough. I have to fit in lots of pick-on and torture sessions before then. IDEA: Maybe I'll make him baby-sit! hehe. :)

Today, we took some photos of him for his senior pictures {I did an ok job on Brian's with a digital camera 4 years ago, so Ben thought he'd give my photography skills a whirl and attempt to save the parents some $$}. Some of them turned out very nice. Here are some of my faves:


If you've got some time to kill, you can watch the slide show below of all of the top choices + a few of the crazy shots that were never intended to be used for his senior pics {i.e. the one where you can see Blake's silhouette behind the sheet}. Also, any of the pics that you see with an umbrella was Ben's idea. I was just using it as a sun shade. :)

Intriguing

Three things have my attention these days:

1. Planning my fall work schedule. Sort of a pain, as it starts in a couple weeks, but I'm trying to plan it so that it will work once Bubs is here and I'm off maternity leave. I think I should give up, I'm sure my schedule will change...I've never had a kid before. I have no clue what I'm doing.

2. Wondering if my belly button will pop. By the end of the day, it's pretty shallow, and a few nights ago, I probably could have gotten it to pop if I had messed with it more. However, I messed with it enough that it was red and irritated. I don't know how to feel about the belly button pop. Part of me thinks it's an endearing quality of a pregnant belly, and the other part just says, "oh man, my belly button popped out."

3. The Woombie. Blake and I did get a couple other specially designed swaddling blankets as gifts, but I'm pretty interested in these right now....maybe I'll order one. :)

Because we can

LOL....our poor future child. :) For now, the bear gets all the torture!

Once we've mastered the baby bathtub, maybe Blake and I can practice changing diapers on the bear. hehe.

Kari - this one's for you! :)

Mod

One of the ladies from my pregnancy forum recently posted pics of her future son's {Ace} nursery. I wanted to share them because it's modern, cool, and based on a Shel Silverstein theme. I love Shel and his books {We already have The Giving Tree as part of Bubs' collection}! If I was any sort of an artist, I might have thought about trying to copy the idea sometime in the future. Check it out {or see the whole photograph tour here}:

Ickle me, pickle me, tickle me, too.

Cravings

Lately, my biggest craving (outside of fruit) is for sweet things, usually something with chocolate. These "No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies" have been a lifesaver. I usually eat two of them a day, and I feel good about it {I cut the recipe in half, and store the cookies in my fridge}. There is a fair amount of oatmeal for fiber, peanut butter for protein, probably a smidge of calcium, and of course, the bad-for-you chocolate and sugar. :) But, Bubs sure likes them!


Recipe:
2 c. sugar
1 stick margarine
2 T. cocoa
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 t. vanilla
3 - 3 1/4 c. oatmeal

In medium saucepan, melt sugar, margarine, cocoa, and milk. Bring to a boil, and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add peanut butter, vanilla and oatmeal. Mix well. Drop by tsp. on wax paper. Cookies will harden as they sit.

The best part about them is that they are quick and easy to make. Sure, they take awhile to harden on the wax paper, but if I don't have any pre-made and a craving sneaks up on me, I just eat the cookies hot. Yum!

We need your opinion - please? :)

We had some odds and ends contact paper left after we covered Bubs' shelves, so we decided to be creative with it. I had seen something like this done on HGTV once, so we thought we'd try it out {click on the picture for a bigger view. We left one door in its original form for comparative purposes}:


As the dots on the contact paper are only blue and brown, we feel like it's a bit more boy-oriented. On the other hand, it matches our "dot" theme to the nursery. Those facts aside, we're just not sure if it's something we want to keep or if we're better off leaving the doors plain. What do you think? Yay? Nay? Cute if we have a boy? Remove if we have a girl?

We appreciate all comments as we're clearly clueless and impartial {for the most part}. It was just a good waste of time and we felt better {and more efficient} putting that extra paper to use. :)

Sneak Peek

Remember this?

Blake and I have modified it a little bit {Multi-colored string} and made one of our own for Bubs' nursery. So far, we only have ultrasound pics up, but I'm super excited to add to it!


Full nursery tour coming soon! I want to make sure I have blankets washed, tags removed, windows cleaned, carpet vacuumed, etc. before I invite you all in. It's kind of like I'm expecting house guests. ;)

If I had a million dollars

I might think about splurging at Posh Tots. I discovered this site via my pregnancy forum, and am totally in love with their carriage bed. I would've loved this as a kid {and a Disney lover}! Actually, I'd love it now! Swoon. Too bad the bed comes with a price tag of $47,000. Isn't it pretty? I totally want to watch Cinderella now!

I would totally trade out that posh cat in the carriage doorway for a posh Sophie. She's such a diva {right, Jen?}.

Bonus: for a mere $5,700 you can feel a little Mary Poppins-esque and own your own Carousel horse from the same place. Or, buy two and make them pull your carriage bed. Wow....I'm drooling.

A good day to be my Honda

My car has been dirty for awhile. I have been too lazy to take it to the car wash {or I didn't have the 5 bucks on me at the time} and I would groan when my car was in the garage and a nice rain would come and go. Today, I got lucky. I was at a prenatal appointment {Bubs is still right on track people!}, a nice storm blew threw, and SHAZAM! my car is clean. Now, I'm good to go for a few more months.

I also learned that we're going to get a new car radio! The back light went out in June {the radio still works, the panel just doesn't light up}, and I had gotten a letter about a radio recall in February or March. I didn't keep the letter at the time as the mileage cutoff was 105,000. Since my car is well over that {130,000}, I assumed it didn't really matter {and my radio was still working just fine}. After a routine check-up call from my local Honda dealer, I mentioned the radio problem, she called the company for me, and I get my new radio covered by the recall, after all {Even though I am "pretty severely over the mileage limit"}! HOORAY! And, major kudos to Honda for loving their customers.

My Honda has sure had a good day.

Sling thing

Today, we received a gift in the mail from a couple of friends: the Peanut Shell sling! When I found out Blake and I were expecting, slings were one of the first baby items that I really researched and decided that I wanted. Upon receiving mine today, I realized that they are a bit tricky so getting Bubs in and out, initially, will take some practice, but I'm so excited to use it. I also wanted to test the sizing to see if I needed to send it back for a larger one, but it's hard to figure that out without something to stick in it. So, I borrowed Sophie (I figured she's about the size of a 4-month old child), and put her in the "kangaroo carry." I'll have to wait until Bubs arrives to test out the newborn cradle, but Sophie seems pretty content in the kangaroo carry don't you think? {Check out her little toothy smile!} :)


Please tell me you laughed a little at that photo. I think it's mighty funny. Bonus: For those of you antsy to see the nursery, this photo provides a little sneak peek! :)

That cute kid

Jennifer, Janelle, and I are all obsessed with this kid: Moses. He is the son of Jordan (see her blog here). He's cute, fashionable, and all over the web {Jennifer can probably point you in the right directions}. I know many of you have heard me, or all of us, talking about this child {the baby legs Jennifer gave to Bubs at my baby shower? Moses wears them!}, so I wanted to share what the hype was all about. Anyone else want to join in our fun of finding and admiring Moses pictures on the web? We can keep you in the loop. :P Isn't he cute!?!


P.S. I know it's pretty much a lost cause for Bubs to end up with blue eyes, but I can wish right? :)

Pregnancy Brain

I don't know why I decided to check today, but my DRIVER'S LICENSE is EXPIRED! Luckily, I'm still within my 60 day grace period {barely}, so I can renew it without taking the test. I wonder if I would still past the test if I had to take it now? Rest assured, I'm a very good driver, despite the expired license. Holy cow....this is a bad case of pregnancy brain.

PIMP

Buying baby things gets expensive. Blake and I have, thus far, done a nice job finding great deals to keep our cost at a minimum. We decided that the one area we could splurge would be the baby car seat. In our case, we ended up getting a travel system {car seat and stroller} since it was a deal we couldn't turn down, and it's ranked #1 in safety by Consumer Reports. It was delivered today, and we are in love! The ease of use, the look, everything about it is just awesome. We even let Bubs' Teddy bear try it out. Check it out {I can't wait to use it!}:

Teddy Bear all nice and cozy!

Baby Shower

Thank you to all of the family and friends that came out for my baby shower {Thanks sisters for planning and mom and dad for hosting!} :) I'm sorry I didn't get to chat with all of you as much as I wanted, but I was still so happy to see all of you. For those of you that didn't make it, but sent gifts in the mail, thank you for thinking of us! Blake especially loves them. We have a deal: any gifts that come to the house, he gets to open. Not bad, eh?

Why I love my sisters

The most recent additions to the list:

1. They planned the best baby shower for me this weekend. I know it was a lot of work, but it was so great! I loved it so much. :)
2. They are beautiful.


3. I love being pregnant at the same time as Lola {maybe Jennifer will join the bandwagon for a future pregnancy?}


4. Jennifer's addiction to blogs is contagious and humorous! The baby shower decorations were inspired by a blog, as well as her gifts for Bubs.


5. They are both seriously creative. A brunch shower, instead of the usual afternoon finger-food stuff, cute decorations, fun games. I think the favorite activity at the shower was using iron-on's, puff paints, and buttons to let the guests decorate onesies, socks, and burp clothes for Bubs. I love all of them, and the guests enjoyed doing it! Here are some {but not all} of the finished products:


6. Lola is the mother of my Godchild, Jessica, who is just the best by helping me open presents and reading many of Bubs' books in advance. I know they are kid-approved! :)

As if I don't have other things to do

Ok, I'm a total sucker for things like this {via How About Orange}. Big waste of time, but enjoyable nonetheless. Maybe I just like it when people call me names? :)

Growth Spurt

For the past two days, I think little Bubs is having a growth spurt. I've been overly tired, my belly aches, and I'm really not sure if it can expand any more. By next week at this time, Bubs should be nearly 3 lbs and 15 inches long. Crazy! No wonder some of those punches hurt! :)

Here's my 28 week 3 day belly {from Sunday night}. Really starting to stick out now!

All for love

I just spent the evening cheering for a baseball team I care nothing about {and we paid admission!}. In fact, they are rivals of my old high school. This, all for a little good PR for Blake and the business.

The things we do for those we love. :)

PS: The team lost. But, dare I say, I actually enjoyed the game a little bit.

Indy recap

Some photos to sum up our little weekend getaway. We didn't get to do a few of the things on our agenda due to weather (baseball game) and other incidents (NCAA Museum was closed due to recent fire), but it was still a nice trip. The Indianapolis zoo has to be one of the best I've visited. Nearly all of the animals were in plain sight, and there were a lot of hands on activities. Plus, we got a pretty nice show from the walrus. I seriously think he posed for the picture!

As much as I'm not a fan of NASCAR or IndyCar, the Indianapolis speedway was still pretty neat. We took the track tour for $3.00 which took us speeding around the track at around 20 mph in a bus. We even got to see the brick starting line, and I've officially completed one lap around the Indianapolis speedway. Indy 500, here I come!

We also managed to get a sneak peek of the location/intersection (49th and Pennsylvania) of Peyton Manning's house , though we weren't sure which was his....bummer. :) In the first picture, you can see the white roof of the soon-to-be demolished RCA dome in the distance, and the new Lucas Oil Stadium to the right. Enjoy!

Some street art Blake felt like imitating. It was called Wonderment.

Taking off from the starting line. Oh yeah!

Weekend Getaway

Blake and I are headed to Indianapolis this weekend with a couple friends. We are considering this our "babymoon" of sorts as this will be our last trip before Bubs arrives. You may be wondering why we chose Indianapolis? It's simple,. It's a Midwestern city that we haven't yet explored {and close enough to be a weekend jaunt!}.

On the agenda:
A trip to the zoo
Baseball game
NCAA Museum
Paddle boating on the downtown river/canal
Checking out the vintage shops/stores
Sneak peaks at the RCA Dome and Indy 500
Whatever our little hearts please. :)

Have a good weekend!

Cute

I think these are adorable for a baby's room.


I really want Bubs to learn from and enjoy all of the "old school" toys. I'm sort of over the Vtech, Leap Frog, stimulate your child with video and game type crap. There are a few modern toys that I think are cute, but generally, I'm not a fan of a lot of it. What happened to books, blocks, and toys like the oh-so-stimulating pull chatter telephone?

Belly Dance

As much as I complain to some of you about pregnancy, I really do love certain aspects of it. Feeling the baby move is one of them (except for when I get kicked in the bladder, ribs, colon, or any other unpleasant place. :)) In fact, I spend a decent amount of time watching my belly dance like so:

Name Game Update

Well, it seems that Yoshi is going to be the name of the new dog. It's a weird name for a farm dog, but I'm sure it will grow on me.

Seems like the poll was a smart idea, BUT....I would like to know who the poll cheaters are!? :) My blog is only authorized to be read by 32 readers, and yet my poll magically has 44 votes. For now, I'll blame Jennifer and Brian. ;-)

Meet Yoshi:

Holiday Weekend

I hope you all had a safe and happy 4th of July weekend! Blake and I hung out with friends, family, and had a little gathering of our own. I get a kick out of all of the patriotic (red, white, and blue) clothing that surfaces around this time of year. At least it's cute on the kids! :)

The Name Game

My parents got a new dog. Right now, they are calling it YOSHI. As it is another Sheltie, I can see no other name for it but Teddy. This would be Teddy 4. All of the Teddy's were farm dogs. Here's the overview for those who are not familiar with the Teddy tradition:

Teddy: The original. We had him for 13 years. He was awesome.

Teddy 2: You may remember this post I wrote about his passing. We were so sad. Another great farm dog.

Teddy 3: Unfortunately, we never had much time to bond with this little one. He ended up running away, and with the long winter, he didn't make it. :(

Of course, when I found out they were calling this little Sheltie YOSHI, I almost went into panic mode. How could they do away with TEDDY?! Blake and I went and visited the little guy tonight. He's definitely playful, fun, cute, and will make a great farm dog. Apparently, my parents have considered roaming away from the Teddy tradition because the last one didn't work out as well as the others. However, all of us were calling this puppy "Teddy" throughout the evening. I think YOSHI is not a good name, so Blake and I offered up Winston as an alternative if they want to go with anything but Teddy.

Here's where you come in blog readers: I told my parents I would put up a poll on my blog to see what you think about the names. Please vote! If you have another suggestion, leave a comment. :) I would not expect you to vote blindly, so there are a couple of pictures below.