March Already?

Monday, March 1st

I'm not ready for March. My Google countdown calendar says I now have less than 100 days until the baby is here! Holy cow. Craziness.

Only really cool news today is I found out that I passed my glucose test! No 3 hour test for me. I feel like it's a miracle. No diabetes for me =)

Tuesday, March 2nd

Today we left work early to go to Grand Rapids to see a new puppy potential for my in-laws. You will all remember the trauma they experienced with their last puppy so they were nervous about getting a new one. We went to the shelter to check out the new dog and we approved. He's a little boarder terrier mix and while I think he'll be a handful for my in-laws, he's pretty cute. The only negative about the dog is he takes the WORST pictures. He's very cute in person but whenever you get a camera near him he looks like a drowned rat. His ears go down and he gets this pitiful look on his face. As soon as you take the photo though, he's right back to normal! Very weird.

Anyways, they did end up adopting him and they will be able to pick him up on Friday!

Friday, March 5th

Today I finally went in to the cell phone place to get my cell phone fixed. Sometime on Monday-ish my phone tried to auto update and me in my impatience tried to stop it because I needed to use my phone. Apparently it's really bad to interrupt cell phone updates so I completely messed up my phone. It wouldn't check email or get on the Internet and the battery wouldn't stay alive longer than 4-6 hours. I was quite frustrated. Finally, today I was able to go to the store to get it fixed. Thank goodness we have an insurance plan.

After waiting an hour I finally got a tech to take a look at my phone. He agreed it was screwed up and said all they could do was wipe the hard drive and reinstall all the software and see if that helps. Sounded like a plan to me so I left it there for him to update.

Saturday, March 6th

Today Mike and I were on a mad errand run. First, we went to a Mom to Mom sale at the local church up the street. I was a little disappointed in the variety (mostly girl clothes) and they didn't have as many big ticket items by the time Mike and I were there at 10. Early birds got all the worms... Anyways, we did get a few cute outfits but didn't stay long. After that we headed to breakfast and started running other errands. The day was beautiful so it made traveling nice. We got new blinds for pretty much every room in our house, we got a new bed set for the guest bedroom as well as paint to match the new set and we bought a few nick knacks for the baby room at Hobby Lobby. By the time we were done it was well into the night. It's amazing how fast our days are flying by...

Sunday, March 7th

After our normal church morning we had our second class of parenting class. It was on discipline and Mike and I are very nervous about how we're going to handle discipline in our house. It sounds so complicated and no matter what a parent does it seem so hard! We are intimated.

After the class we had a brunch at the church. It was super nice to talk more with the couples in the group and meet new people. We stayed for a few hours before we had to get home to get things done.

Mike came home and started working on the blinds in the baby room. It sounds like it was very complicated and he was working for awhile trying to get them up. Eventually he did and he also got the valiance up in the baby room. The room still looks plain but it's getting there =)

Tuesday, March 9th

Today I'm trying to catch up on my over-a-month-old blog. I'm trying to remember everything we did but I know I'm missing some things. Oh well... not really sure what I can do about it =)

Baby Update

Right now I am 28 weeks and still doing well. I signed up for a pregnancy swimming class that starts at the end of the month. It wasn't until after I registered that I realized I will have to get into a swim suit for the class. One, I don't have a swim suit that fits and two, I hope there are other women in the class as large as me! What in the world was I thinking...

We also signed up for a Natural Birthing Class session that starts April 1st. It's taught by a Doula and although I'm not set on a natural birth, I would at least like to have the skills to get through one in case I can take the pain =) Wish me luck. We're quite clueless on how we're going to get through the whole labor process.

February Updates

Tuesday, February 2nd

Today I sold my bed set off Craigslist! We had a really nice young couple who just bought a house come to look at it. Luckily it was a quick sale and they were happy with the purchase and didn't dicker with the price. Hopefully I'll sell the rest of the items soon...

Today was also a milestone for Mike and the baby. Mike's been trying for weeks to feel the baby like I do but the little guy just hasn't been big enough to feel on the outside. Well today Mike decided to try to listen to Baby Dozeman's heartbeat instead of trying to feel for him and while he was trying to listen for the heartbeat, Baby Dozeman gave him a big punch in the face! Not exactly how we expected he would feel the movement but at least he felt something =)

Wednesday, February 3rd

Today was the first of two classes for Basic Prenatal classes. So far it's just the basics of natural birth and what happens to the mom and baby during the process. It's a bit intimidating but it's too late to turn back now! We went over some basic breathing and coping with contraction techniques but Mike and I think we want to Lamaze or something in addition to this class.

Saturday, February 6th

We had to get up pretty early to go to yet another baby class but this time it was called Baby Basics. We learned how to bathe the baby, safety tips for cribs, car seats, etc, basic baby CPR and a number of other things. It was a very long day of learning but were glad we went to experience it.

After the class we finally registered at Babies R Us for the shower. It was an exhausting and overwhelming experience. There is so much they say you need for a baby but we're not really sure what we need so it's hard to know what's option and what's necessary. We did our best but I think there are some things we need to add later and maybe some things we'll need to take off.

Wednesday, February 10th

In the second and final round of Baby Pre-Natal we learned about C-Sections and other medical interventions in labor like inducing, etc. It was very educational but also made us hope for a normal, healthy delivery. We did get a tour of the birthing center at Bronson which was very nice. We saw were we would deliver the baby and the rooms we would go to afterwards. We really like Bronson and feel they will take very good care of me and the baby someday.

Saturday, February 13th

Today was a crazy day. Mike and I started off by getting a last minute massage because I got a coupon in an email. It was a very nice, relaxing experience but I think my masseuse was nervous about putting too much pressure on me because of the baby so I didn't feel the deep muscle relaxation I usually do after a massage. Anyways, it was nice and it was a treat to me and Mike for Valentine's Day.

After the massage we went back home to relax a bit and get ready for a busy evening. First we had Max's baptism in Albion. I can hardly believe how big Max is getting! It was a nice service, the shortest Catholic service Mike and I had ever been to, and the baptism turned out well. We had to leave before the celebration dinner because we were going to Mike's coworkers very belated Christmas party.

The Christmas party was fun with lots of food and friends. Everyone is excited for us and the baby. We didn't last as long as we have in previous years just because I can't stay up past 11 on a boring day and we had a busy day today =) Mike and I had to make our excuses and leave with the rest of the parents with babysitters at home at the early hour of 11 p.m.

Sunday, February 14th

We've officially crossed over to the dark side of boring couples. We didn't do a thing today for Valentine's Day.

Monday, February 15th

For some reason Stryker closed for President's Day. We don't close for 3 feet of snow but we have a random holiday in February. We didn't complain too much though. We decided to go paint shopping and get a few things done around the house with our extra time. We did pick out a color for the baby room and got the primer on the wall. We have to put probably two coats of paint on the walls so it's going to be a long week.

Tuesday, February 16th

Today we put the first coat of paint on the walls for the baby room. So far it looks 100x better than it did before! We can't wait to see the final results.

Wednesday, February 17th

We had to take a break from painting today to go to church for Ash Wednesday. I can't believe it's the Easter season already and Lent has begun. I will take it though because it means this horribly long winter is almost over and spring will be here soon!

Thursday, February 18th

Today we started attending a "Lenten Series" at our church. It's every Thursday during lent and it discusses topics pertaining to the Lenten season. Our priest is new to our church and super ambitious so we anticipate there will be more series like this for us to attend.

Saturday, February 20th

Today we spent most of the day painting. Unfortunately it's not that exciting so there isn't much to say about it. I must say it's getting harder to paint as my belly continues to expand =)

After we were done painting for the day we had dinner at Mom and Dad Smolsky's house. Camla came to town so we were able to make it a double whammy and see my sister and my parents in one trip. It was a lot of fun, especially after a boring day of painting.

Sunday, February 21st

Today we put another coat of paint in the baby room and had our bi-monthly bowling league. I'm still doing the same at bowling but Mike is doing really well. He plays on two leagues now - the one we are on together and another league that meets every Friday night. He's very into bowling right now. I'm on the countdown to where I won't be able to play anymore. I can throw the ball okay but I waddle a bit and it's not improving my game any!

Tuesday, February 22nd

Today we attended a "Car Seat Demo" at the local Babies R Us store. We were the only couple who actually showed up for the demo but it worked out well because we were able to get our questions answered on a personal level. We looked around at the different brands and Mike asked more questions than me but in the end we decided on the Chicco (sp?) brand. Mike spent a great deal of time putting the demo seat in his mustang trying to make sure we could safely put a car seat in his car. It was a tight fit and as long as no other passengers travel with Mike and he doesn't need a large diaper bag, a car seat will fit in the backseat of his car. Sigh. I guess we will have yet another year with his mustang =) I'm still not a fan of his car...

Wednesday, February 23rd

Today we had dinner at our friends Jessica & Adam's house. They just recently bought a new home and were getting settled when we came to visit. We had a great time and they have a lovely new home. Mike and I were a little overwhelmed by their kids (2.5 & 1 years old) running around just being kids. Adam and Jessica aren't even phased by the energy but Mike and I were nervous. This scenario will be very familiar before we know it!

Thursday, February 24th

Today I had my regular check up for the doctor. I'm 27 weeks and things are going well. The appointments are pretty routine now. I go in, get weighed, they check a number of things and ask the same questions, the doctor comes in for about 5 minutes to go over the information the nurse collected and then we're sent home. We did go for our glucose test today. It's a routine test they do when you're between 26 & 30 weeks to check for pregnancy diabetes. I've heard of so many women failing the 1 hour test I was really nervous I would be one of them! If you fail the 1 hour test you have to come back for a 3 hour test and I hear it's boring and awful. Let's hope I pass the test...

We had yet another dinner out but this time to celebrate my friend Melissa's birthday. We didn't get to talk to my friend due to the size of the group but we sat next to another couple who were expecting so we were able to talk about babies and other fun pregnancy stuff. They were super nice so we had a good time. It has just been an exhausting week of events!

Saturday, February 27th

Today we went to a local pizza fest supporting a sports group at our local middle school. Basically 8 different pizza places come to this middle school gym and they offer different kinds of pizza. You pay a set fee to get in and you get a voting card to vote on your favorite pizza. I couldn't eat that much pizza but I know Mike had at least 3 plates =)

After pizza fest we went to our friends Melanie & Bruco's house to celebrate Bruco's birthday. It was a pretty low-key party and that worked out great for me. We stayed for quite some time at their place before we had to leave for the night.

Sunday, February 28th

Today Mike and I went to church at our church in the morning and then we started a class at a different church for a parenting class. It's a series at our friend's Adam & Jessica's church that go over a bunch of different things parents go through with kids. We're a little premature for the group but overall we really enjoyed it. The couples are younger and so nice we felt very welcome.

After the group meeting we went to a Family & Children Expo at the Radisson. It's basically a bunch of different businesses in town that get together so parents can see what they offer. We were interested in the mommy/child groups, diaper services, and pediatrician offices. We didn't stay long but we did get some helpful information.

Once we got back to the house it wasn't long before our friend Phil came to help us pick up our new crib and dresser set for the baby. I can't remember which day we looked at the sets but we did make a decision and bought the set. It wasn't until after we bought it that we realized we had no way to get the set home. Our car isn't large enough and we didn't know anyone at the moment who could come help us pick it up. We had to leave the set we bought at the store and call around for someone to help us pick it up. Thankfully Phil has a big truck and he was willing to help =) I got some great photos of the boys trying to get the stuff up the stairs. Who knew baby furniture would be so heavy!

Baby Update

Baby Dozeman is doing very well. I feel like I get bigger and bigger every day but overall I'm having a very easy pregnancy. I don't get up during the night and I never have a problem sleeping. Sometimes I wake up if I accidentally lay on my stomach but that's about it. I finally got a belly shot on 2/28. I know it's late but hey, at least I got something =)

D.C. Bound

Tuesday, January 19th

Today Mike and I traveled to Battle Creek to pick up the curtains and pillows mom and Aunt Betty worked really hard on for our new living room. We were really excited to see the final product. Mom worried the pillows were good enough but honestly, they're 100x better than the pillow cases that came with the pillows! Overall we were really happy with the results of the curtains and pillows and couldn't wait to see how they looked when we got home.

Thursday, January 21st

Today I called in sick. I've had nothing but colds since winter started and I'm really, really tired of them. I'm glad I took today off though because we're leaving for D.C. in a few days and I really needed the rest and the time to get caught up on laundry before our trip.

On another note, you may have noticed my french club notes went out the door months ago. This is mainly because I stopped going. The Towards Fluency class was a little over my head for my current memory of french. I did just fine understanding everyone but communicating was very difficult for me. I felt out of place and therefore stalled around and didn't go for a long time. Finally a coworker of mine mentioned an interest in going so I felt it might be the boost I needed to start going again. My coworker, Katharina, is German and speaks french better than I speak English but she's a good sport and joined the lower level "Intermediate" level french class with me. She says it's challenging since it's learning french in English which is like her third language.

Anyways, Thursday was our first meeting together and I really liked it. Much more to my level of french right now. I struggle with the teacher though because he's from Senegal and I'm used to the Parisian accent. It's VERY different and hard to understand at first. I'm not quite sure he's prouncing things correct for me to learn if I want to travel to France but at least I'll be understood =)

Friday, January 20th -

Today I tagged along with Mike to see him play in his other bowling league. He joined another bowling league because he liked going so much and I refused to go more than just twice a month (when we have our own league to go to). So he's playing two leagues at once. Anyways, this day he was playing a group from my finance department who happened to sign up for the same league.

The boys were creamed by my finance girl friends! It was quite sad but overall we had a good time. In case you're wondering - I stuck by my husband and the losing team =P Although I did visit the winning team often since they were my coworkers.

We didn't stay too long after the league because we needed to get home and finish packing for our trip to Washington D.C.

Saturday - January 23rd

After an early morning and several hours in the airport and on flights, we arrived in Washington D.C. I am following Mike on one of his business trips because I have vacation to kill and I haven't been to the capital since high school. The weather wasn't very warm but it was MUCH warmer than Michigan so our first day here we were able to travel a bit without our coats.

We didn't get in until pretty late so we checked into the hotel and hopped a ride to the metro station to take the subway into D.C. We learned very quickly that D.C. shuts down at about 5 and we were there about 6:30. There wasn't much to do at all and it was getting dark. In the end we decided to find a restaurant, which was also harder than expected, to eat and think about what we wanted to try next.

After while we found a nice restaurant and had a fabulous dinner. Afterwards we were so tired for traveling and with a full stomach we decided to go back to the hotel and call it a night. I think we were in bed by 10.

Sunday, January 24th

Today we got up early enough to catch the metro once again to D.C. to check out some Smithsonian museums. There isn't much open on Sunday's in D.C. either so we were limited to just the museums. We ended up checking out the American History Museum and the Museum of Natural History. Both were very cool museums with lots of different exhibits and things to see and do. We paid an outrageous fee for lunch ($8 for just my ham sandwich) but we figured since the admission to all Smithsonian's are free we paid for lunch AND an entrance fee.

I discovered quickly, or maybe I should say my body reminded me, that I am pregnant and full of water. After a few hours on the marble floors and walking around non-stop I began to balloon up. My shoes got tight and my ring finger swelled up around my wedding rings. I had to sit down several times to get through the day. There was one point where I felt greatly embarrassed (I'm not showing enough yet for people to know right away I'm pregnant) when I was taking up a bench and a bunch of older people squeezed on my bench to rest and I didn't get up right away to give them my seat. I wanted to explain but they looked like spry old people and didn't say anything when I didn't move immediately.

After a long day in the museums, we took off for dinner in Chinatown. I'd never been to Chinatown but at night, I can kind of see why people think it's scary. It's like another country in a small area! Great food though... After dinner we headed back to our hotel.

At this point I feel I need to comment on our hotel. We are Sheraton Hotel fans but this hotel was seriously the worst we've ever been to. The hotel staff barely spoke English and were very difficult to communicate with. We struggled with instructions for being picked up from the hotel and driven to the metro station (it's about 5 miles away from the hotel) and a laundry list of other offenses which just really turned us off from the whole place. If the service wasn't bad enough, the hotel wasn't the cleanest and the rooms literally had paper thin walls.

Let me tell you how thin these walls are... I hear our neighbor in the hotel talking on the phone to a friend about this 37 year old hot guy she met at the bar. She didn't know much about him except that he was from Maryland. "A-huh, A-huh, Yeah, I know, A-huh, A-huh. Heh, heh! Heh, heh! Don't go there girl, it ain't like that." Think it's bad enough I can hear the conversation from our room? Oh no, it gets better when she invites this hot guy over to her hotel room and they get to know each other better at 11:15 p.m., 12:35 p.m. and 6:45 a.m.

Monday, January 25th -

Today I began my hunt for a mall in the D.C. area. After ballooning up at the Smithsonian I decided I better forgo the walking tours I could go on around D.C. when I knew I would be on my own. Mike had his conference from 8-5:30. I braved the front desk to arrange a shuttle to the metro station and I managed to navigate with very few mistakes to my destinations. I traveled to Crystal City first which was an hour metro ride only to be very disappointed when I found the mall there. It was a very touristy place with D.C. stuff souvenir stuff everywhere. It was also near a base somewhere so there were normal stores like grocery, eye glasses places, doctors offices, etc. I stayed maybe a half hour and then I turned back to go to downtown D.C.

On my own I walked around the Washington Mall and some more of the Smithsonian museums. It was a gorgeous 50 degrees out and I was able to walk around without a coat. It was heavenly after such a cold winter this year. It wasn't long before I had to go through. It takes a long time to travel on the metro.

Once I was back at the hotel I waited a little bit for Mike to get back and then we took off to meet my old friend Kate in Bethesda. It was yet another long metro ride but we eventually made it there in one piece - just an hour late! Luckily Kate and her husband Bill are understanding people and weren't too upset by it. Anyways, we had a very nice dinner with them and it was great to catch up with Kate and see how she's doing. I could tell Mike really wanted to talk shop with her because she's an Electrical Engineer too but she does something different with her degree that involves some mathematical thing that Mike recognized and was interested in. Unfortunately for them, Bill and I are not engineers so I made sure we talked about more interesting things like pets, family, and future Spodfests! =)

Tuesday, January 26th -

Today I continued my search for the perfect mall. This time I had the advice of Kate who lives in the area to try this place in Virginia. I managed to find it off the metro and it was perfect for my needs. It was a smaller mall but it had four floors. It was like narrow and tall instead of spread out.

I wandered around for awhile window shopping and eventually saw the movie "Young Victoria" which is only a limited release right now. I enjoyed the movie although I think the BBC version of "Albert and Victoria" did a better job of telling their story.

After the movie I had to head back to the hotel to meet up with Mike for dinner. Before we knew it the evening was over and we were heading to bed.

Wednesday, January 27th -

Today was a very uneventful day of traveling. After packing up the hotel and having a brief breakfast, we were on our way to the airport. Finally at 12 a.m., we arrived home.

Thursdays, January 28th

Today I slept in and did some laundry while poor Mike had to go to work. In the afternoon we had our 23 week appointment at the doctors. Everything is going really well. The baby moves a lot more now and I'm up to the point where I have to have some kind of glucose test done to check my sugar levels. Overall it was a pretty uneventful trip. My belly measured 24 cm which they say is normal despite the fact I should measure 23mm since I'm only 23 weeks along. Maybe the baby is growing faster than expected? Or maybe it was that extra candy bar I had...

Friday, January 29th

Today Melanie helped me get some stuff up on Craigslist. I was really apprehensive about this because you never know who is on Craigslist and honestly, who would want my junk? I was only too surprised to see a lot of people want my junk! I'm emailing all the time now trying to arrange for people to come see what I'm selling. Overall I'm getting rid of three fish tanks, a computer desk, head board/foot board, and a flower girl dress. I'm not sure I could do this all the time but it's certainly an effective way to get rid of stuff when you can't have a garage sale. Pretty soon that spare room will be cleaned out and we can start painting the future baby room!

Speaking of baby room, we did pick a theme for our baby room. We haven't registered yet but this is the set we picked from CoCaLo called Peek A Boo Friends:

After my endeavors with Craigslist I had dinner plans with Norm and Mary. They had a very nice meal planned and I had a great time filling them in on the baby and our trip to D.C. They were the first to buy us a gift for the new baby. They bought a very cute onesie set. The onesie was such a hit with Mike that when we were out looking at cribs on Sunday he bought a robot onesie just because he thought it was cool.

Saturday, January 30th

Today we watched "Legion" with Mom and Dad in Battle Creek and had a nice dinner afterwards at their house. The movie was good but it wasn't something I would rush out to see again or recommend someone see at the theaters. Dinner was great but we had to leave early to get home so someone from Craigslist could pick up the computer desk we were getting rid of. We rushed home for nothing though because the guy didn't come until almost an hour later!

Sunday, January 31st

We didn't do a whole lot today just because we had a busy weekend. Mike had to work some of the day but not too long. We had dinner plans with some friends for around 5. We made it to the restaurant and had a great time with our friends. One friend brought her new boyfriend so we were able to meet him. He was very nice and I think fit in well, even though we didn't give him much of a chance to talk. Apparently we haven't talked in awhile because we had a lot to say in a short amount of time!

Monday, February 1st

I can't believe it's February already. Today I spent most of my day catching up from being gone a week. It's amazing how much things pile up when you're gone! Thankfully my team is great about helping out but there is still always something left for me =)

We start baby classes this week so that should be interesting. I think I have to sign up for a Lamaze class soon too. I hear those are good to go to.

Tomorrow I have more Craigslist people coming to look at stuff. It won't be much longer before my junk will be gone forever!

Two Thousand Ten... or Twenty Ten?

Tuesday December 29th –

Today I worked while Mike stayed home and enjoyed his vacation. We met up at night with Mandee and her fiancé Ben to welcome her back to town for a visit. They had just recently got engaged and it was a bit of a celebration night for them too. Mike and I are very happy for them and expected to hear all about Mandee’s elaborate wedding plans. Instead we were shocked to hear she and Ben are getting married tomorrow!! No big wedding, just a justice of the peace deal.

Knowing Mandee I never would have imagined such a thing would be possible but she and Ben had reason to rush. Ben is in the military and about to be deployed. Unless they’re married she can’t go with him. So, they need to push up the wedding so she can follow him wherever he goes. I understand a May reception is planned. I just hope it’s after the baby is born or way before so we can go!

Wednesday December 30th –

Today was Mandee and Ben’s wedding. I didn’t get to go because I was at work but Mike went and took pictures for them. It was a small group but after a little while, Mandee became Mrs. Benjamin Little! Congrats Mandee and Ben =)

Thursday December 31st – New Years Eve

Today was a very nerve wracking but special day. Mike and I got up early and had our ultrasound appointment at 10 a.m. We were so excited yet nervous because we didn’t know what to expect at the ultrasound. We hoped our baby was healthy and everything was alright. It was like a moment of truth kind of morning.

Anyways, finally at the appointment we were beyond thrilled to see our little baby BOY moving happily in my belly. The tech counted all the fingers and toes and confirmed he only has two arms and two legs. Everything appears normal and healthy. We were so relieved and excited. Now the reality is starting to sink in that this little one is on his way whether we’re ready or not!
The rest of the day we were on cloud nine. We had a nice afternoon together and dinner out at a new Hibachi restaurant in town. As it got later we met up with Melanie and Bruco to celebrate New Years Eve. We only had plans to stay for a few hours in the bars with them but soon we ended up and their neighbor’s house for a New Years Eve party. We intended to leave again after an hour or so but then the neighbors pulled out Rock Band and I knew I was doomed. Mike was thrilled and played for hours until finally it was midnight and time to welcome in the New Year.
About 12:15 everyone was ready to call it a night and I drove us home. Thankfully the weather was nice and we didn’t have a giant snow storm as we have in the past few years!

January Highlights (Thus Far…)

Saturday - January 9th

Today we celebrated Christmas with the Dozeman family. It was a bit odd celebrating Christmas after Christmas but I was surprised to hear how many of our friends were doing the same thing this month. I guess people just have too many family members to squeeze everything into one day! It was a very nice dinner and it was great to see everyone.
Obviously it was a bit different this year for us because now we’re expecting and it was the first time the family had seen us since hearing the news. We had a great time hearing the family members discuss different birth stories and give advice on how we should prepare for the baby. My favorite comment came from Audrey who told me in complete sincerity and in a helpful sort of way: You don’t look pregnant; chubby maybe… but not pregnant. HA! I’m still rolling from that comment.

Monday – Wednesday January 11th – 13th

This week Mike was in Pensacola, Florida at a convention or something for work. I had three whole days to myself where I planned to do all kinds of house hold chores. Unfortunately I started experiencing something called round ligament pain which basically means I get sharp pains in my lower belly whenever I reach for stuff or do something too strenuous like walking. It’s very frustrating but I’m told it’s all normal. Baby Doze is making room for himself in there… Needless to say, I was completely useless while he was gone.

Saturday – January 16th

Today Mike attended his first baby class – Daddy Boot Camp! I know it’s a bit early but we’re friends with a couple who are expecting 5 weeks sooner than us and Mike wanted to go with his friend. I understand it was an interesting experience. Mike was disappointed the class didn’t focus more on the financial aspect of the baby but he was happy to get tips like bring a suit (in case I randomly decide to have a water birth… you never know) and what to do when we go into labor. I never thought of it from the dad’s side but it would be discerning to know your wife is in labor but have no idea when the baby might pop out. I guess the class gave great advice on how to handle the whole process.

The rest of the day was pretty lazy. I slept most of the morning and when Mike got home we had lunch out and then I had to clean house. Mike had some work to do so he left to get some things done while I cleaned. It’s getting harder and harder to clean without falling over exhausted. Lugging the vacuum and cleaning supplies around and sweeping, vacuuming, mopping etc, it took its tool on my back. I feel like an old woman!

On a side note, we are very sad to hear about my in-laws loss of their beloved dog Charley. In the past week we found out Charley tested positive for a disease called Brucella. It’s very, very rare but can transfer to humans and in the end the decision to put him down was necessary but difficult. Especially since Charley wasn’t even a year old yet. Please keep my in-laws in your prayers are they get over the sudden loss of their beloved pet. I think most of my family and friends a.k.a blog readers are avid pet lovers and understand how difficult this is for them!

Sunday – January 17th

Today we had company over and I was very excited about it. Chris, Minchie and their two kids – Alana and Garrett came over for lunch. We had a really nice time hanging out with them. Alana is two and a half and just full of energy. She talks up a storm and says the cutest things. Garrett is just 3 months so he was fun to make smile and hold. Mike even held him on his own and I was very proud he did it without too much hesitation. We need all the practice we can get!

Monday – January 18th

Today was another day at work and for me, a project day. I’m working on laundry and I’m proud to report I’m finally done organize the future baby room. It’s moved from just a junk room to now a future Good Will run and storage for things I want to sell on Craigslist. Pretty soon it will be cleared out and ready to paint! I can hardly believe the time is approaching where we need to consider painting the baby room. Time is flying by!

We have a busy week full of dinners and club meetings. My mom and aunt worked really hard to get our curtains and pillows made for our living room. I’m super excited to see how everything turned out. We’ll find out how it looks tomorrow. Then there’s French Club (which I’ve sadly not attended as much as I should) and bowling… always bowling.

Saturday we leave for Washington D.C. for a mini trip. I’m following Mike on another business trip but I think we’ll have enough time together it will still be fun. So much to do between now and Saturday… pet sitter scheduling, laundry, pick up dry cleaning, get work stuff done for a week off next week… ugh. Why are vacations so stressful? =)

Baby Update

Things with the baby are going well. I’m now 21 weeks, almost 22 or 5 months for general purposes. I feel him move a lot and sometimes he bounces on things that make me uncomfortable. In general the round ligament pain is the worst. I know it will continue as my belly makes room for him to grow. I’m outgrowing a lot of clothes which makes me depressed but I’m trying to look on the bright side as I continue to get new things to replace the old =)

We have our 5 month appointment next Thursday but we don’t expect to hear anything new. They’re basically check ups now. I will have my glucose test soon but I don’t think that’s for another few weeks. Wish me luck. I hope I won’t have pregnancy diabetes!

December Highlights

We’ve had a busy month! To spare you the great details, I will summarize the highlights:

November 26th - Thanksgiving:

We had a very nice Thanksgiving at my cousin Andrea’s house. All the kids are growing up so fast it’s hard to believe how big they’re all getting. TJ is 9 already, Chloe is talking up a storm and very social, and Max is walking! Then of course there’s us expecting our first so we’ll be adding to the mix next year. Mike is preparing for fatherhood by playing with the kids. I believe Chloe beat him at gator golf!
December 4th- Art Hop:

Every first Friday of the month downtown Kalamazoo hosts an Art Hop for local artists to display their work and to promote downtown businesses. A big part of the draw is local businesses hosting local artists will offer free wine/Champagne and refreshments while people walk around. We met up with some friends at a local Italian restaurant and had a nice dinner before taking off to look at the different art work. The night was pretty cold and it had started snowing heavily but we made it through and had a great time. My friend Kim brought her daughter Natalie who is such a trooper and handles moving around from place to place very well. She didn’t make a peep the whole night!

Mike took advantage of my inability to drink and helped himself to many of the refreshments offered at the various places. It also didn’t help that Kalamazoo isn’t a very big town so we ran into a lot of people we knew who all were mingling and drinking. Overall it was a great time, although we did not buy any art work, and we made it home at a decent hour.

December 7th - Christmas is coming!

Once again we bought our tree from a local tree farm and put it up. This year we had to put it on our large family room because we are planning to paint our formal living room, dining room and kitchen later this month. I didn’t go crazy on the decorations this year just because I knew we would be painting and I didn’t want to take everything down later.

December 19th - Stryker Christmas Party

This year the Stryker Christmas party was held at the Radisson. Last year was a disaster because we had a huge snow storm and the location of the party was so inconvenient, people were waiting hours for their cars and the valet was losing people’s keys, etc. I guess after that Stryker decided to change venues. Mike and I were happy with the change because the Radisson has a huge parking garage and a few of a our favorite restaurants to visit in case the party got boring.

The theme was Casino so they had fake money for people to gamble or you could use them as addition raffle tickets for big prizes. They didn’t have slot machines, just card tables, so I didn’t play anything. Mike lost a bit in some table games but saved some for the raffle. Unfortunately we did not win anything in the raffle =( There was also a comedy show, dancing and other things to do. We had a really nice time but were very exhausted by the time the night was over.

December 17 – 22nd – Painting Project
** See more pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/dssmolsky

After two and a half years in this house, we finally started painting! Granted, we did the bathroom months ago but that still wasn’t finished. Mike, his dad, and my mom all worked really hard to get the painting done before the holidays. We decided to paint the three rooms a shade of green to match the rug and paintings we bought earlier. I’m really happy with the living room but the kitchen and dining room need to grow on me. I think it doesn’t help there is nothing to pull the colors together in the kitchen/dining room like the rug and paintings do in the living room. Just one step at a time…

December 24th – Christmas Eve

As usual, my husband is still doing his finishing touches on the house. I’m panicking slightly because we have Mike’s family coming for Christmas dinner and the house is in shambles. I spent most of this day making cookies and preparing for Christmas. I was not having a good start. I made a horrible batch of cookies that tasted like sand, my basement flooded from a load of laundry that didn’t drain properly, I only had time to wash half the clothes on the floor before we had to leave for a Christmas party at Norm and Mary’s! Since the day didn’t go as planned, I knew we were in for a long night.

We did stop for a break at Norm and Mary’s house for Christmas. We had a really nice time and needed the break from cleaning/painting/putting things back in order. We stayed about an hour and half visiting and eating before we had to head back home to finish for Christmas.

After working until 4 a.m., we had the house in somewhat good shape for Christmas day. It was a very long night for a pregnant lady!

December 25th, Christmas Day

We manged to drag ourselves out of bed early enough to catch the last Christmas mass on Christmas day. We then headed back home to finish cleaning and getting ready for our guests. It took all day but by about 4 o’clock we had the downstairs finished enough for company!

The ham I bought turned out great and I think the meal was up to everyone’s standards =) I don’t claim to be a good cook- I can bake but not cook. I was really excited though because I finally had the opportunity to use our new china from Mike’s parents. They handed down the china from Mike’s grandmother. It’s very beautiful and I was so grateful for the complete set with serving dishes and everything! I’ll look forward to using it year after year =)

I managed to surprise Mike with a repaired Neptune model. If you remember, Louis destroyed his months ago. I tried to see if they had spares at work but Mike didn’t want to trouble anyone to make a new one. I thought the matter was closed when one day I received an email out of the blue from an engineer telling me he had made Mike a new model and I just needed to pick it up. I am so proud I kept it a secret until Christmas. Mike is very happy to have his new model and had been very protective of it. No one but him has touched it since he got it! I also surprised him with a bowling lesson. He is a little obsessed with bowling right now but he is improving his game greatly which is more than I can say about my own game. We’re still in a league but I’m not doing great!

Otherwise, we also received some very nice gifts from Mike’s parents, Tia and Steve and the Gibson’s. Since we’re old now it’s kind of nice to be surprised with gifts at Christmas! I managed to finish my gift baskets in time to give everyone. I only do baked goods and canned goods though. I don’t really do any shopping…

December 27th – Catch up!

Yesterday we were complete beached whales sitting in the mess from Christmas day and just relaxing after a hectic few weeks. We did leave the house long enough to get food and see the new Sherlock Holmes movie. We liked it a lot. I was slightly disappointed they didn’t follow the stories very well but overall the movie was entertaining. Not to sound like a snob but how could they make Sherlock Holmes without mentioning his heron addiction and making him swoon over a woman! In the stories Sherlock admired one woman but I would say he was far from swooning over her. Anyways, I know I’m taking the story too seriously =) It was only PG-13 after all…

Right now I’m trying to finish my mountain of laundry and dishes. I’m making progress! We have bowling league again tonight so I only have a limited time to finish what I need to get done.

Baby Update

Pregnancy is going well. I’m feeling much perkier now that I’m in the second trimester. I’m 18 weeks along now and have my big ultrasound on December 31st – at which point I will be 19 weeks. We plan to find out what we’re having if the baby will cooperate. We just hope everything is going well and the baby is healthy. In the last few weeks I’ve started feeling movement. It’s small but happens every once in awhile when I sit very quietly. I’ve also noticed the baby tends to move a lot when we go to the movies. I assume it’s because I sit still for a long period of time and the theater is usually loud.

I have no started the baby room or anything like that yet. We want to wait until we find out if we’re having a boy or girl before we start any new projects!