Saturday, January 3, 2009

Random Thoughts

If this kid is already head down inside my belly, and has been that way for a while, does he come out with just an ENORMOUS head rush when we turn him right-side up? No wonder babies cry when they come out of the womb...

How much crap does one really NEED to take to the hospital? My bag is packed. Rocky's bag is packed. The camera bag is packed, save the laptop, which I am using til about the minute we go to the hospital. John's got a bag packed. We're going to have way too much crap...

You all are WAY too nice to us. I've been writing thank you notes for baby shower gifts all day, and I think I might be halfway done. Maybe.

Perhaps, some day, we need to pick a name for this child. And a middle name. Fortunately, we have a last name all picked out. :-)

Putting a car seat in a car without a LATCH system is a pain in the butt. For John, not for me. LATCH system, though? Kicks ass.

CoCo shall be seriously not amused on Monday when she goes to work with me and realizes that her back seat has been severely broken up by the presence of a car seat base.

Christie really freaked me out the other day when she said "Can you believe that by the end of THIS MONTH you'll have a baby in your house?" No, Christie. No, I can't believe it. Thanks for the reality check and the ensuing panic!

How much freaking football can be ON TV in one week? Five day weekend from work, and I have watched more football this weekend than I have all year. The Hokies amazingly pulled out an Orange Bowl victory.

OK, the above is a lie. I slept through most of the football games on TV this week...

Happy New Year!

Monday, December 29, 2008

Dear Rocky...

Dear Rocky,

Kindly stop kicking the crap out of my ribs. I know you're in there. No need to remind me. I know you are head down inside me, ready to work your way out. Which leaves your feet in prime spots for kicking my guts out. Your Dad is entertained, though - it's pretty easy for him to find a foot and try to tickle it through my skin. Aunt Jeanne was entertained, too, the other day when you were kicking her in the car. Good work. You can keep kicking Aunt Jeanne all you want to.

Also, if there's any chance you could make the cramps in my belly stop for another few days, I'd be appreciative. You're technically not fully cooked til Friday. So how about you just hang out in there til then. OK? Tell those belly cramps to just go away. They suck, and we're not ready for them.

We've got a few more things to do around the house before you decide to pop out, too. Grandpa brought down a bunch more stuff from your baby shower that still needs to be sorted and washed. And there is currently a Christmas tree in the spot where your glider will go, and a dog bed in the spot where your Pack-N-Play will go. Although if we don't get that set up in time, no worries. I am sure your sister CoCo will share her bed. She's cool like that. She shared it with Nana the other day.


Lots of friends and family are excited about your arrival. So come on out to see them all. Just not this week, ok? Glad we've had this little chat - I'm positive the rib kicking will diminish now, as I am sure you don't want your mom's organs to suffer any more damage.

See you soon, little boy.

Love, Mom

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Girl Power, Part 2

After a Sunday morning of beating my head against the computer trying to get a project done, I decided that a little more fun was needed in the day. So I put up the blinds in the living room that I bought at Home Depot on Friday. Hope John likes them!
Boys? We don't need no stinkin boys around here. CoCo and I do just fine on our own. Not that CoCo helped with this project at all. I think I heard her snoring down in the basement...

So John's on his way home from Vegas. CoCo is still snoring in the basement. Rocky is kicking the snot out of my ribs. And while there's still much to be done around here (shower, laundry, continue to put stuff away upstairs) I think I've had enough for the day. I'm heading to the basement to join CoCo in her nap.

PS - thanks, Dad, for raising good, self-sufficient girls who know how to use cordless drills!

Girl Power

Two nights of work, with lots of fabulous help from Christie, plus an entire day of doing laundry, has turned this:
oodles of crap...

In to THIS:
Oodles of crap miraculously gone, crib set up with sheets and bumpers, pile of clean baby clothes waiting for Christie to come fold them. :-)

We did some good work. Unpacked all gifts, sorted clothing sizes, made a pile of a few things to return, put books on the shelves, set up the pack and play.
Pack and Play all ready to go. It'll have to come down for Christmas (it's sitting in Christmas tree's spot right now) but we thought we'd leave it up for John to see it (and try to take it down...)
Books on the shelf all ready to read, and Diaper Geenie ready for some poopy diapers.
Those drawers have actual BABY CLOTHES in them. Changing pad is ready to roll, and supplies are on the shelf above.

PLUS, because two girls can do anything, we put together the toy chest (cute!), and decided to try swinging the bed around the other direction. Not sure John's going to like it that way, but it really opens the room up a lot.
Bed swung around, toy chest at the foot of the bed, and now CoCo has a place to sleep that is RIGHT next to the window - can put her little paws on the window sill if she wants!
So where'd all the stuff go that was in the baby's room? Well, the hallway and OUR bedroom, of course! It's all waiting for John to come home and lug it down to the basement. I'd have gotten yelled at if I moved it - super preggo girls not allowed to move boxes...

Thanks, Christie, for all your help!! Christie says Rocky is allowed to be born now, as he finally has an actual place to live. Can't wait for John to come home to see what we've been doing all weekend!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Christmas Carols

I have been happily listening to the Christmas music channels on XM Radio all week. Holiday Traditions (affectionately known as the HoliTard Channel by Adam) is the best one to sing along to - a little Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams, etc. The Holiday Pops channel is relaxing - it's all the stuff I grew up listening to in the Cowan house. Sometimes it gets a little too obscure for me. And the Holly channel is mostly just annoying - who really wants to listen to Boyz 2 Men's version of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"?

So I tend to stick to the HoliTard channel, so I can sing along. Growing up with Dad, we of course learned ALL the proper words to every single song. Some of the favorites:

"You'd better watch out, you'd better not cry, you'd better not pout or I'll punch you in the snout" (coincidentally, playing on XM as I type this)

"Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sled..." There's more to this one, but some people who read this blog still think I am a nice, sweet girl and I'd like to keep up that facade for as long as I can...

"Noel, noel, noel, noel. We have no water cause we have no well" (I'm just waiting for Dad to sing it that way at Christmas Eve mass some time. I shall laugh until I pee my pants)

"Chet's nuts roasting on an open fire"

"Later on, we prespire, as we sit by the fire" (By the way, who is this Parson Brown dude they sing about in that song? Why would you pretend a snowman is that guy? I don't get it)

"Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus, right down Santa Claus Lane. Bringing toys to girls and boys who don't even know his name" (John gets SO MAD when I sing this song. Dude - it's not my fault he doesn't know the words! He also doesn't know the proper words to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I mean, c'mon. You'll go down in history - like COLUMBUS! Silly boy says like George Washington. He says Columbus never did anything. HELLO?? Only discovered this continent and stuff! What did Washington do, besides cut down a cherry tree? And besides, Columbus FITS in the song. Start tossing George Washington in there and there's just too many syllabals. Sorry, babe, but you're shoe-horning it in there. It just doesn't work).

My favorite, favorite song has nothing to do with my crazy family, though. I heard it last year for the first time on the incredibly awesome "Special Christmas" channel they had on XM (sadly, no longer exists this year). It's Cartman, from South Park, singing "Oh Holy Night" Goes something like this:
"Oh holy night, oh night when I get presents..." and then continues. I heard it while driving and almost had to pull over as I was laughing so hard. Google it some time - look for the version that does NOT have him getting poked with the cattle prod - it's funnier without it. Actually - here's a link to it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHatEb1ccus&feature=related

And who can talk Christmas carols without mention of the "Ding, Fries are Done" song? A holiday classic. You'll have to Google that one yourself, though. Again, I have some semblance of an image I have to hold up here. Yes, I hear a whole lot of you laughing...

I shall have to pull out my "Charlie Brown Christmas" cd when I decorate the tree, because there's nothing better to decorate to. Even John likes that one. We had a dance-off after Thanksgiving to see who would get the cool Peanuts advent calendar. John won - he's got a better Snoopy dance than I do. Darn him! Jeanne's got a good one, too. I might have a video of it somewhere. Or at least pictures of her Snoopy dance. I'll have to look on the big computer.

Anyway - if you have satellite radio check out the HoliTard channel. It's a good one! And if you don't - well just run in to your favorite local Super Wal-Mart for a while. They're sure to be blasting Christmas music. AND (bonus!) you get to do some ghetto-fabulous people watching while you're there! Can't get any better! ;-)

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Random Photos

From our surprise baby shower on Saturday night:

Gore friends have an excellent sense of humor, and easily embraced Dad's nickname for Rocky. Although they tend to favor the "Rocky Balboa" boxer idea, as opposed to the Norman Rockwell idea.
Rocky poses for the camera. Although he has a bit of an eerie glow. Christie thinks he's an alien.
Look at that good multi-tasking Dad. Absolutely, I can hold a kid and eat a cookie at the same time!
Already a ladies man, Rocky poses with Larysa, Christin, and Maria
Resting happily in his infant carrier, in a prime spot next to the most fabulous cake EVER!
I also am learning the fine art of multi-tasking. A mom can definitely eat cake and hold infant carrier. No problem. This parenting thing is a breeze!

From the complete disaster area, AKA Rocky's bedroom:
New pretty crib (thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!), plus random assortment of computer and office supplies that shall soon be unceremoniously dumped in the basement, plus dog's steps that I broke (no worries - she hated them, anyway), plus pile of baby diapers (yay, diapers!!) that nice people brought to our baby shower on Saturday.
Ummmmm. Yeah. Enormous pile of baby goodies that are just begging for Christie Zukor to come up, unpack them, and put them some place in this mess of a room. Help!

And that doesn't even show "the rest of the story", meaning the two closets in this room that are packed full to overflowing with assortments of baby gear and Christmas gifts. Crap! Christmas gifts! Must wrap them and remove from this room, before I go nuts!

Monday, December 8, 2008

Showered

Having a cold while 8 months pregnant is not a lot of fun. I mean, sure, the snotty nose and the chapped lips and red nose and the hacking cough are attractive and all. And the daily doses of Benadryl helps one sleep. But, seriously. Coughing HURTS right now. On Saturday I was driving home from the race track wondering how I was going to keep breathing, because I had coughed enough to pull something (muscle? ligament that attaches to ribs and keeps entire belly from spilling to the floor? who knows...) and make it painful not only to cough more, but also to breathe. Fortunately, the breathing part got less painful, and John was nice enough to swing by the drug store to get me some Tussin. Which really works, incredibly. I am impressed. And even more impressed by the fact that the midwife told me I could take it. AND sudafed, or Zyrtec, or Claratin. Score! I can be a druggie! This was the icky midwife who I hate (for no other reason than that she was half an hour late for my appointment the first time I saw her), so her giving me permission to be a druggie scored her some mild brownie points. She's still not cool, but I might not as actively hate her guts any more.

Anyway, Rocky's room is in full disaster mode right now. I should take a picture. It's impressive. COVERED, wall to wall, with baby shower gifts. Because last week was officially "week of a gazillion baby showers." Which was way fun, but is leaving enormous expectant mom with way lots of work to do. Might be time to call in reinforcements to help me sort - Christie Zukor, come on down!!

Thanksgiving in the Arctic Circle was nice, by the way. Saw John's family on Thursday in Geneva, spent Friday in Lansing doing a little shopping and a lot of eating (Dad made Thanksgiving dinner again - yum!), and then Saturday we went to Baker's Acres in Lansing for my New York baby shower. It was fun to see family and friends who I only tend to see at weddings. Suppose that means I should get home more. Plus three of my high school girl friends were able to come, so it was great to eat lunch with them (and they only scared me a little bit with their birthing stories!). Two of the girls are expecting babies again - Gretchen in March, and Michelle in June, I think. So we were officially the preggo table.

Family and friends in Lansing were WAY too good to Rocky. We jammed as much as we could in to our car, while still leaving CoCo a miniscule space to sleep, and had to leave about half the stuff in Dad's garage for him to bring down at Christmas. We'll just hope Rocky stays inside me til then. Hmmm. Although for insurance purposes, it's SURE be nice if you'd pop out before December 31, Rock. Maybe we can cut a deal - born December 29, maybe? Or 30?

Shower gifts already covered the bed in Rocky's room, so I had to shift gift stashing to the floor when I brought home all the cute stuff from a baby shower that the ladies at work had for me. It was great - ate WAY too much food at the restaurant across the street, and got some great gifts for Rocky.

Saturday while I was at the race track (working, not gambling away Rocky's college fund) John went to Babies R Us to pick up our new crib, and then moved his computer desk and a book case down to the basement and set up the crib. So we now have a real, honest-to-goodness place for a kid to sleep. Along with a kick-ass Pack-n-play that will eventually live in the living room (after Christmas), and a bassinet that our awesome friends are letting us borrow, that is going to go... somewhere. Perhaps in the attic? On the roof? We're fast running out of room here, folks. Were it not winter and a little bit chilly I'd stash the bassinet (with kid included) on the deck... What? I'd maybe put some mosquito netting over it.

And THEN, we went to a Christmas party at our friend Gianna's house on Saturday night that turned out to be... a surprise baby shower for us! How fun is that?? Our friends are awesome. It was a fun baby shower - guys and girls, so basically it was a fun party with plenty of booze and food, and some baby gifts and packs of diapers thrown in for good measure. Along with a fun baby quiz developed by Ms. Zukor, and a raw egg with a face that John and I had to care for, without breaking, for the evening. John, smart engineer that he is, promptly converted a candle holder in to an instant infant carrier, making life much easier on both of us. Christie was a bit horrified, but DUDE - I am NOT carrying this child everywhere, all day long! If I were to do that, then why would I need such things as strollers, car seats, pack-n-plays, and cribs? He survived in his candle holder all night - as parents we already ROCK! :-) Soon as Christie sends some pictures I'll download a few to post here for you. Maria already sent some fun ones, but they're on Shutterfly, which doesn't allow you to download for free, thus limiting my access and ability to post here on Blogger. Seriously - if you are researching photo sharing programs, pick PICASA - free from Google, if you sign up for a google account (which you should do, anyway - Gmail rocks). Then you can share pictures with everyone, they can download them entirely for free (unlike SnapFish, which charges you, or Shutterfuly, which just doesn't seem to allow downloads unless I am too much of a moron to find that option), print them to a myriad of different photo printing places, AND they don't have to sign in to some silly website (ah-hem, SnapFish, grrrrrrrr) every time they get an email from you saying "cool, I have photos to share with you." Picasa rocks.

So this week's plan? Go to baby class tonight and HOPE and PRAY they don't show us a video of a C-Section (ick!), babysit for the Red Army tomorrow night so Santa can do some good buying of presents, pack up John to go to Vegas, enjoy sleeping in the middle of the bed for four days while he is gone (although I may have to kick the dog off to do so), and seriously TRY to organize at least some of the stuff in Rocky's room. Oh, yeah. Plus buy Christmas gifts, wrap them, write a Christmas letter, and write a billion thank-you notes to all the generous people who have filled my house to overflowing with fabulous baby stuff. Piece of cake!!