Today marks our 37th week of pregnancy. That means that N is full term and could arrive today without any difficulty, even though our due date is still 3 full weeks from now. (Okay, I actually expect a lot of difficulty in getting him here, but I'm quite certain it will be worth it.) We're very excited to meet our little man, but I do hope he keeps hanging out as-is for another week or two. He'll be here before we know it.
I hope Zoee likes him! I know we will.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
It only took five years...
About five years ago E and I took one of those big steps in a relationship. You know the ones... First date, first kiss, first anniversary, first time you pack up and move across the country together... You know, the big firsts. Anyway, the big first we experienced five years ago was our first puppy together. You know her - Zoee. At only seven and a half weeks old, she was ours for keeps. Anything that is right or wrong with her is completely our fault.
E and I come from very different dog families. In my family, dogs live in the house. They follow you around from room to room and sleep in the bed with you. They curl up on your feet and go on vacation with you. Pretty much like furry children with less talking back. In E's family, dogs live outside. They never come in the house and you don't share your food with them. You never ever think of letting a stinky dog on the couch. They're fun to play with outside, but they are not at all like furry children.
When we adopted Zoee, we had to come to a middle ground. Okay, we came to a ground much closer to what I grew up with, sans dogs on furniture and sharing people food. Sort of. I have to say I agree with the whole dogs on furniture thing. It's pretty nice not sitting in dog hair. But I can't resist her chocolately sad doggie eyes. I always share.
E doesn't share. He tries to get me to not share. I know people food isn't good for her. But dangit, a few strawberries won't kill her! What's the harm in a little bit of baked potato? This is how these things go.
Tonight E and I had steak and vegetables for dinner. Great for the baby. Great for me. So healthy! But as usual, I wasn't able to finish everything. I had a tiny bit of steak left - enough to be a substantial treat for Zoee, but not nearly enough for leftovers. I'm used to resisting her pleading eyes, so I just left it there, sitting on the plate, looking all steak-y and delicious. I was getting ready to toss it out (*gasp*) when E said, "Why not give it to Zoee? We don't want to waste perfectly good steak."
I almost fell off the couch. Both Zoee and I had a great time feeding/eating steak. Even E got into it. It only took five years, but I think we might have converted completely to my family's way of thinking regarding puppies. Well, except for the couch thing. I've been converted in that regard.
E and I come from very different dog families. In my family, dogs live in the house. They follow you around from room to room and sleep in the bed with you. They curl up on your feet and go on vacation with you. Pretty much like furry children with less talking back. In E's family, dogs live outside. They never come in the house and you don't share your food with them. You never ever think of letting a stinky dog on the couch. They're fun to play with outside, but they are not at all like furry children.
When we adopted Zoee, we had to come to a middle ground. Okay, we came to a ground much closer to what I grew up with, sans dogs on furniture and sharing people food. Sort of. I have to say I agree with the whole dogs on furniture thing. It's pretty nice not sitting in dog hair. But I can't resist her chocolately sad doggie eyes. I always share.
E doesn't share. He tries to get me to not share. I know people food isn't good for her. But dangit, a few strawberries won't kill her! What's the harm in a little bit of baked potato? This is how these things go.
Tonight E and I had steak and vegetables for dinner. Great for the baby. Great for me. So healthy! But as usual, I wasn't able to finish everything. I had a tiny bit of steak left - enough to be a substantial treat for Zoee, but not nearly enough for leftovers. I'm used to resisting her pleading eyes, so I just left it there, sitting on the plate, looking all steak-y and delicious. I was getting ready to toss it out (*gasp*) when E said, "Why not give it to Zoee? We don't want to waste perfectly good steak."
I almost fell off the couch. Both Zoee and I had a great time feeding/eating steak. Even E got into it. It only took five years, but I think we might have converted completely to my family's way of thinking regarding puppies. Well, except for the couch thing. I've been converted in that regard.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Just in time
I know we ordered our baby furniture back in February, and thankfully it finally arrived (only 12 weeks later). We spent a good portion of the day putting together things for the nursery and getting everything organized. Even though E isn't feeling fantastic, he went ahead and put together the crib anyway. We've got N's room all ready - now we just need to wait the 3.5 weeks until he's due to arrive. (Any guesses on when the actual day will be? Hopefully not until at least after next weekend!)
Here's E with the crib after getting it fully assembled. Looks fantastic! I'm impressed with the letters on the wall too - E said that was much more difficult than putting together furniture.
Zoee and I were resting in our gifted chair and ottoman. Check out the belly! Impressive, no? Our neighbors up the street P & L ended up giving us their old glider and ottoman - what a great gift!
Here's the dresser/changing table and the shelf that holds all the diapers. I still can't believe that the 92 diapers in that diaper holder will be gone in a week, but apparently that's the case. I think we need to stock up on wipes too.
Here's one last shot of his crib. I think he's going to like it a lot. Hopefully he enjoys puppies - they're everywhere!
Here's E with the crib after getting it fully assembled. Looks fantastic! I'm impressed with the letters on the wall too - E said that was much more difficult than putting together furniture.
Zoee and I were resting in our gifted chair and ottoman. Check out the belly! Impressive, no? Our neighbors up the street P & L ended up giving us their old glider and ottoman - what a great gift!
Here's the dresser/changing table and the shelf that holds all the diapers. I still can't believe that the 92 diapers in that diaper holder will be gone in a week, but apparently that's the case. I think we need to stock up on wipes too.
Here's one last shot of his crib. I think he's going to like it a lot. Hopefully he enjoys puppies - they're everywhere!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Exercise lust
Before my pregnancy, I was something of an excercise junkie. I really enjoyed a good run before work. It was early, it was hard, and it pretty much prepared me for whatever the day had to throw at me. After a few months of trying to run while developing a belly filled with baby, I threw in the towel. It was just too painful.Now that we're nearing the end of the pregnancy, I find myself wondering how difficult it will be to get to the gym after the baby is born. Somehow, I feel like this is going to be a next-to-impossible task. Despite what I've learned from the biggest loser about how I'm supposed to make time for this and all that, I'm suspect that getting to the gym will be super difficult.
So instead of going to the gym, I have decided that aquiring a treadmill for home use is the perfect answer to my problem. In my delusional mind I believe that if my treadmill is here, I could run and whatnot while the baby sleeps. Don't tell me that I'm going to be so exhausted that anytime the baby sleeps I'll be sleeping. Don't tell me that I'm not going to have the energy to exercise. Let me lust after my treadmill and imagine myself getting back into pre-pregnancy shape all the while having a chubby, happy son cheering me on. It's a nice dream. Plus, Costco sells a treadmill. A nice-ish one. I like to think it will work out. We'll see...
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Work is ridiculous
Everyone has those days when they feel like they're actually in an episode of The Office, instead of just enjoying the insanity from the comfort of their couch. You are no longer just working in an office, but you are actually carrying on a conversation with Dwight or Angela, and you absolutely cannot wait to get home and have a glass of wine. (Or sparkling water as the case may be for the pregnant in the bunch.)
Maybe it's because I'm 36 week preggo. Maybe it's because I'm tired and need a long weekend away from work. Or maybe, just maybe, it's because work is as crazy as I think it is. Part of my job is estimating how much it will cost to do new tasks. Typically I use technical understanding and historical evidence to come up with these costs. I'm not going to say I'm brilliant at this, but at least most of the time I feel like I've got some kind of basis for what I'm doing.
Today I'm supposed to provide cost estimates for something. This something is currently being worked by the smart guys downstairs, so I go downstairs to talk to them about what they're doing. Understandably, they're happy to talk about what's going on (we're nerdy nerdy people who enjoy talking about complicated problems - leave us be). Anyway, we talk about what the problem is an how they intend on developing a solution. A solution which I am supposed to provide a cost estimate for implementing in software. Only they don't know what the solution is. Or even really an order of magnitude of how complicated it is. Everything is totally unknown. It's crazy to think that I could reasonably estimate how difficult it will be to do this. It could be the most complicated thing we've ever seen. It could take a few months from start to finish. There's absolutely no way of knowing. Regardless, I have to come up with something.
So I will estimate a worst-case scenario. This worst-case situation will cost much more than the powers-that-be will want to fund. They'll come back and tell me I'm crazy and give me a "challenge" to do the work for much less than what I've estimated. I'll have no choice but to take this challenge. Then we'll finish the work but it won't be completely right, because we had to do SOMETHING, but not necessarily what the end user really wants. Then we'll spend a ton of time fixing things that wouldn't have been broken if we could have just waited a few weeks until the guys coming up with the plan had time to actually plan it.
Instead, we're going to do that other thing I just said. It's ridiculous. Fortunately, while we're doing all these things I'll be at home with the baby. I hope everything works out okay...
Maybe it's because I'm 36 week preggo. Maybe it's because I'm tired and need a long weekend away from work. Or maybe, just maybe, it's because work is as crazy as I think it is. Part of my job is estimating how much it will cost to do new tasks. Typically I use technical understanding and historical evidence to come up with these costs. I'm not going to say I'm brilliant at this, but at least most of the time I feel like I've got some kind of basis for what I'm doing.
Today I'm supposed to provide cost estimates for something. This something is currently being worked by the smart guys downstairs, so I go downstairs to talk to them about what they're doing. Understandably, they're happy to talk about what's going on (we're nerdy nerdy people who enjoy talking about complicated problems - leave us be). Anyway, we talk about what the problem is an how they intend on developing a solution. A solution which I am supposed to provide a cost estimate for implementing in software. Only they don't know what the solution is. Or even really an order of magnitude of how complicated it is. Everything is totally unknown. It's crazy to think that I could reasonably estimate how difficult it will be to do this. It could be the most complicated thing we've ever seen. It could take a few months from start to finish. There's absolutely no way of knowing. Regardless, I have to come up with something.
So I will estimate a worst-case scenario. This worst-case situation will cost much more than the powers-that-be will want to fund. They'll come back and tell me I'm crazy and give me a "challenge" to do the work for much less than what I've estimated. I'll have no choice but to take this challenge. Then we'll finish the work but it won't be completely right, because we had to do SOMETHING, but not necessarily what the end user really wants. Then we'll spend a ton of time fixing things that wouldn't have been broken if we could have just waited a few weeks until the guys coming up with the plan had time to actually plan it.
Instead, we're going to do that other thing I just said. It's ridiculous. Fortunately, while we're doing all these things I'll be at home with the baby. I hope everything works out okay...
Friday, April 17, 2009
Measuring 4 days big...
Today I had a sonogram to determine (approximately) how big baby H is right now. This is to give the doctor some idea how big he'll be at birth. Currently we're 35 weeks and 2 days, but apparently he measures at 35 weeks and 6 days. He's weighing in at a whopping 6 pounds, 1 ounce and is about 18 inches long. Seems crazy to me, but it just means he's getting ready to meet the world. He's head down and dropping, so it looks like it could be sooner than later.
The baby shower for my nephew is this weekend in the big LJ, and I asked the doctor if everything looked good for me to go down there. She said that everything looked pretty good - but that it was a bad idea for me to drive myself that far. Fortunately, my husband is coming with. Unfortunately, he is currently stuck in the Denver airport waiting for a weather window to catch his flight home from his training class. Apparently his flight has only been delayed a few hours, but with him already not getting home until midnight... It's going to be a long day for him tomorrow. I hope he gets home though. Aside from really wanting to go to the shower, I just miss him. It will be good to see him whenever it is he walks through the door.
Wonder if he'll think the baby has grown...
The baby shower for my nephew is this weekend in the big LJ, and I asked the doctor if everything looked good for me to go down there. She said that everything looked pretty good - but that it was a bad idea for me to drive myself that far. Fortunately, my husband is coming with. Unfortunately, he is currently stuck in the Denver airport waiting for a weather window to catch his flight home from his training class. Apparently his flight has only been delayed a few hours, but with him already not getting home until midnight... It's going to be a long day for him tomorrow. I hope he gets home though. Aside from really wanting to go to the shower, I just miss him. It will be good to see him whenever it is he walks through the door.
Wonder if he'll think the baby has grown...
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Wild and crazy week, er, maybe
A while back I posted about a business trip I took overnight to DC. Well, this coming week, E gets to take a business trip to Denver in order to take a class. I'm jealous for a number of reasons, perhaps with the number one reason being that he gets to hang out in the evenings with all of our Denver friends who I would very much like to see. Regardless of my jealousy, which I'm trying very hard to keep in check, this is a great opportunity for him to learn some things about his job and to schmooze with importante people in the industry. My hubby is a brilliant scientist, so I'm more than happy to see him get to do something like this. He's going to wow them all, I'm quite sure of it. To all our Denver friends, I couldn't really come anyway - they won't let me fly in this condition.
So while he's gone, what will I do with myself? Visit museums and do cosmopoliton things? Go out with a bunch of girls? I might've, before I grew this basketball belly full of adorable baby (I can only presume adorable). No, I'll be honest. I'll probably come home after work, walk my dog, then veg out on the couch until about 8 pm at which point I'll fall asleep. This last month of pregnancy is exhausting!
But if anyone asks, I'm out doing fashionable and interesting things during the week, same as pre-pregnancy. No worries there.
Next weekend - J's baby shower in the big LJ. It's really fantastic that my brother and sister-in-law are having their baby at about the same time as us. I can't wait for the kiddos to play together.
Happy Easter everyone!
So while he's gone, what will I do with myself? Visit museums and do cosmopoliton things? Go out with a bunch of girls? I might've, before I grew this basketball belly full of adorable baby (I can only presume adorable). No, I'll be honest. I'll probably come home after work, walk my dog, then veg out on the couch until about 8 pm at which point I'll fall asleep. This last month of pregnancy is exhausting!
But if anyone asks, I'm out doing fashionable and interesting things during the week, same as pre-pregnancy. No worries there.
Next weekend - J's baby shower in the big LJ. It's really fantastic that my brother and sister-in-law are having their baby at about the same time as us. I can't wait for the kiddos to play together.
Happy Easter everyone!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Spring in Texas
Who says I can't grow things? It's springtime in Texas, and everything is in bloom. (That includes me - you ought to see the belly. That's another post for another time though.) Anyway, as you might remember, I'm terrible at growing things. Just awful. But apparently Mother Nature has smiled on me this year - check out these beauties!
My azela is even looking fantastic. It's an explosion of pink blossoms all over the bush. Are there more leaves or more flowers? Heck if I know? All I know is that it's BEAUTIFUL!
Perhaps the most amazing thing of all, my tomato plant is not just growing happily, but it's successfully producing tomatoes! Look at them. Two little green tomatoes! Hopefully soon they'll be happy red tomatoes that are more delicious than I could even imagine.
Grow plants grow!
My azela is even looking fantastic. It's an explosion of pink blossoms all over the bush. Are there more leaves or more flowers? Heck if I know? All I know is that it's BEAUTIFUL!
Perhaps the most amazing thing of all, my tomato plant is not just growing happily, but it's successfully producing tomatoes! Look at them. Two little green tomatoes! Hopefully soon they'll be happy red tomatoes that are more delicious than I could even imagine.
Grow plants grow!Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Warm and inviting
As promised, some pictures of our re-done bathroom in the nice new shade of yellow. It's very warm and inviting. We like it a lot. Plus, check out the fantastic mirror that started it all...
Be impressed with the new light fixture and towel ring. There's a new matching toilet paper ring too. It all looks very classy. Nice work E! He's just so handy.
Be impressed with the new light fixture and towel ring. There's a new matching toilet paper ring too. It all looks very classy. Nice work E! He's just so handy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)