about babysitting. Okay, I know this blog has turned into my very own little therapeutic gripe session about babysitting lately, but it's gotta come out some time......and what better place than an anonymous online journal?

This morning the lady I babysit for brought the kiddo to my door SCREAMING at the top of his lungs. She said he was upset because she "had to hold him down while in the car because (her husband) left both carseats in the van, which he has at work right now". I'm not sure if she meant that she held him in her lap, or if he was buckled into the front seat and she had to physically force him to sit down and not squirm. My guess is the latter. Uuughh.

This is just what I wanted to deal with while feeling nauseated and exhausted....a child screaming so hard that he could barely catch his breath, and the prospect of being trapped at my house because I have no carseat. Well, I really didn't have plans to go anywhere anyway, but if I did, I'd be outta luck.....or I'd hafta pull a Britney Spears and hold the kid on my lap, which I'm not about to do.

I called the momma's cell shortly after she left to see if she would call her hubby and find out if he could swing by my house and drop the carseat off when his shift is over @ about 8:00 or 8:30 this morning, but it went straight to her voicemail...twice. If I had just dropped my inconsolable child off at the sitter's with no carseat, I'd probably make sure I had my cell-phone on, but that's just me.

I did sort of get a hold of her just now, by instant-messaging one of her co-workers who carpools to work w/ her and is also one of our friends, and asking if she'd relay the message. She said that momma was already planning on calling the hubby to gripe him out and have him bring me a carseat.

So, looks like I really have no reason to complain after all. I'll be getting a carseat within the next hour or so and little man stopped screaming as soon as I let him look inside the freezer and take out a bag of frozen broccoli to play with for a little bit.

This isn't the first time that the carseat was left in another vehicle, but the 2 times it has happened before, momma just brought their "back-up" carseat.....which is is a newborn infant carseat. His legs and head hang off of either side and the belt is too tight for him on the biggest possible setting. I'm sure it wouldn't be the safest seat if we were in an accident....so both days I was stuck with that seat, I opted not to go anywhere.

I know it doesn't seem it (with all of this negative stuff I have to say), but I'm actually great friends with this momma and her husband. They are really fun and kind people....they're just pretty disorganized and that can get irritating when you're in charge of their child.

Labels: babysitting

The lady I babysit for IM'ed me earlier and asked if I thought I'd keep babysitting after our baby is born. Originally, we discussed me taking a few months off and then watching her little boy again in the Fall, because she thought her niece might be able to watch him through the Summer until school starts. I just really want that special one-on-one time with our new little one. The thought of having someone else's needy toddler around while I'm adjusting to taking care of our newborn makes me shudder. I don't know if I'll even be up to watching the little boy again after taking a 3 month break....since I've never had a baby before and don't know exactly what to expect, it's tough to give her a "yes" or "no" answer right now. I told her that I plan on taking a 3-4 month break, like we had discussed, and then start watching her boy again in the Fall, but that I'm not even sure how I'll feel at that time. I guess her niece isn't going to be able to watch him, and she has nobody else in mind at this point, but she understands that I'll need a break.

What if I feel like I just can't handle a toddler at that point? By then he'll be 2 years and 3 months old, and our baby will be 3-4 months old. I know that moms around the world handle the combination of toddlers & small babies all the time. When you have more than one and there's not a huge age gap, it's just something you have to do. But there's no doubt in my mind that it's different when both children are your own. I can totally see myself being a little territorial, and that just wouldn't be very fair to the toddler.

We need the extra money, so a supplemental income while I'm staying at home is a must. But at this moment, I'm not sure if babysitting a small child will be feasable. Maybe I'll change my mind when the time comes, though.

Labels: babysitting

I read some Proverbs to our baby today. I just started in some random spot and ended up reading 2 proverbs that REALLY spoke to me. Listen to this: "A recluse is self-indulgent, snarling at every sound principle of conduct." Proverbs 18:1 and "A lazy person is as bad as someone who destroys things." Proverbs 18:9

These really hit home because, well....I'm sort of a lazy recluse. I prefer to stay at home by myself. And what do I do when I'm chillin' at home by myself? Nothing much. Being alone whilst doing nothing every now and then certainly has its place.....but when it becomes a LIFESTYLE, selfish, destructive, hard-headedness is the result. Pretty scary.

Believers need eachother. They need eachother's presence. Iron sharpens iron (that somewhere in there)and we'll grow dull without relationships with fellow lovers of Christ. I need to start making myself leave my house, even when I don't feel like it.

Until lately, it never occurred to me that being lazy is being destructive....but because of a sermon I heard a couple Sundays ago and then bumping into Proverbs 18:9, I now realize that my laziness creates a void in the Body of Christ. When I'm sitting back, not fulfilling God's purpose for my life, others in the Body suffer for it. Hence, the destruction.

Labels: spirituality

Well, the little guy I babysit finally got his first hair cut! It looks so adorable. I had to try to hide my excitement when his momma brought him over this morning because I think she's kind of sad that his long hair is gone. Honestly, I can't see why. Okay, he did have really pretty curls, but all day I've noticed how much easier it is to take care of him. I know it sounds strange that hair could make so much of a difference, but it really does. No more having to make him angry when I brush it and pull it up......and when we went to the grocery store today, I felt that everyone around me knew he was a boy. He just looks cleaner and nicer. To me, the long matted mess was detracting from his gorgeous little face....but now he looks so adorable! I guess I've pretty much decided that I like long hair on guys, but not on baby boys....it's too difficult to tell the difference between boys and girls when their that young, especially when the baby boy has a pretty face and long eyelashes.

Symptoms update: Feelin' puky pretty much all the time (except for shortly after I eat) and I've also had times when I've been a bit lightheaded. It seems the pukiness has died down a little and it's about 4:00 in the afternoon. I was really constipated until about 6am when I suddenly had a stomach ache and needed to use the bathroom stat!....but, man-o-man, I had to work hard for it. I bought some prune juice while at the store in my desperate quest to end the constipation, but then I suddenly had diarrhea when we got home. Uuugh. I give up. My bowels are rebelling against me. I thought it would be difficult to watch the little boy today, while feeling so ill, but it hasn't been so bad. He's been very good the whole time. He was an angel in the grocery store, which was nice, since it took me like 3 hours to get my shopping done. Guess I was just moving slow and kept backtracking to find things I forgot that were several aisles over. All of this sounds pretty normal for being at 7 weeks from my LMP.

I am determined to eat very good nutritious food for the baby. I even ate a huge spinach salad w/ sprouts, red pepper, olive oil, and lemon juice earlier when I was really didn't want to because I knew I needed some good green veggies in my system. After the appointment w/ the midwife, I was really inspired. She made mention of how every single thing that is being used to build the baby's body is coming from ME. I already knew that, but it was good for me to hear the importance of putting good things into my body because the baby's nutrients come only from my nutrients. Kind of like a seed that's planted in the ground. It's amazing to think that the flesh of a ripe juicy tomato is only made up of the nutrients in the soil - that's it.

Labels: babysitting, food, health, pregnancy, pregnancy whining

We went to the open-air market today to sell our records. The good news is, we sold over $200 worth of records in the matter of a couple hours. The bad news is, it started storming around 11:30 or noon and ruined the rest of the day's business. We had to work really hard to make sure the records didn't get wet and then pack up the truck while it was still raining.....and by "we", I mean DH and a pal we brought with us to help with the heavy lifting. I really didn't do much all day, which doesn't make any sense because I'm soooooooooo exhausted! The money we spent renting the booth, buying tables, renting the tent, fueling the truck and feeding our bellies, made our total profits like $80 or something pathetic like that. I'm pretty sure that it will be a long time before we do an outdoor market like that again. Poor DH and pal! They had so much heavy lifting to do today....and it was definitely a struggle since it was pouring rain and they were trying to figure out ways to get the tables into the truck first (the only way they would fit - it was like Tetris in there!), while keeping the huge heavy bins of records off of the wet ground. It was not pretty. But I'm really thankful that we atleast made a little more money than what we had invested into the thing....if only it hadn't rained, I think we could've made $200-$300 more. Here are some photos of us and our booth while we were still happy, dry, and making cash:





This is the fun cactus man that had the booth next to ours. DH took this picture because when he originally glanced at the sign, the hanging hub-cap dealy was covering the "s", so it looked like it said "Pot Wanted". Hee hee :)





DH bought a cactus from the cactus man because we used to have one just like it a long time ago but I killed it (long story)......and haven't been able to find one since. We loved that plant, and it even had a name: Paul. Imagine our delight to finally find a replacement for Paul, after years of fruitless searches (hey, that's part of a line in my fave Peter Gabriel song). Here is DH writing down the species name of the cactus so if another cactus masacre happens, we'll know what kind to look for.



I made decorative record bowls out of crummy records by melting them in the oven. Groovy.

Labels: home business

....courtesy of Danielle

Stop reading now unless you are willing to do this yourself.

1. My roommate and I once: got in an argument because she wouldn't stop "secretly" borrowing my clothes on the weekends when I went home to visit my parents. Ah...college.

2. Never in my life have I: given birth. But I will in April of 2007!

3. The one person who can drive me nuts, but then can always manage to make me smile is: the little boy I babysit. Man, that kid is into everything. I've never seen a kid his age climb like he does. His mom said that once she walked into her livingroom and he was standing ON TOP OF their entertainment center. He sure is adorable, though.

4. High school was: totally useless. I don't remember anything I "learned". I just earned my grades by doing the busy-work they assigned and memorizing tid-bits of info for the tests.

5. When I'm nervous: I say really stupid things and get tongue-twisted. Oh yeah, and I get gas.

6. The last time I cried was: this morning when DH was in a hurry to leave the house to run our errands because he had to be back at a certain time and I wasn't ready to go. Yes, I know, completely irrational. I wasn't upset with him, though....just upset with myself for standing there not moving because I was nauseous and lightheaded, but I wanted to go with him. I ended up staying home, which was for the better.

7. If I were to get married right now, my bridesmaids would be: no one. I'd elope, like we did the first time.

8. Would you rather run naked through a crowded place or have someone e-mail your deepest secret to all your friends? I'll take the deepest secret thing. I can't even think of what my deepest secret is. Maybe I've repressed it or something.

9. My hair: is multitonal because I'm trying to let the black dye grow out. I have naturally light brown hair, so it looks horrible at the moment.

10. When I was 5: I got sent to the principal's office for spitting on another little girls' dress.....which was a complete accident because I was really trying to spit on the eraser (eewe, gross!) because I thought the eraser should be wet in order to wipe the chalk off the board. Hey, that's what you get for standing too close to me.

11. Last Christmas: I can't remember. We probably didn't do anything really exciting....oh yeah, we went to our friends' house and ate like a ba-jillion types of meat: lamb, goose, duck, turkey, and ham.

12. When I turn my head left: I see bubble wrap and packing materials on our couch and my husband's dirty dinner plate.

13. I should be: helping DH with the records....but the boxes are too heavy for me to lift, being preggers and all.

14. When I look down I see: 70's-looking green carpet nicely garnished with white dog hair, my plaid Chuck Taylors that were recently given to me, and a dirty sock that my dog has been chewing on.

15. The craziest recent event was: finding out that we're going to have a baby.

16. If I were a character on "Friends" I'd be: Ugly Naked Guy. Just kidding. I'd be the dorky guy w/ the blonde hair that works at Central Perk that nobody likes.

18. My favorite aunt is: my Aunt Connie. I don't get to talk to her that much, but I think she's really cool.

19. I have a hard time understanding: anything that has to do with math.

20. One time at a family gathering: I ate way too much great food and passed out on the couch. Oh wait, that happens every time.

21. You know I like you if: I return your phone calls.

22. If I won an award, the first person I'd thank: would be my husband

23. Take my advice: don't dye your hair black if you don't want it like that forever.

24. My ideal breakfast is: 2 scrambled eggs w/ melted cheddar cheese, cantaloupe, biscuits and gravy, sausage patties (not from a restaurant - pork at restaurants grosses me out!), hash browns w/ ketchup, and a giant cup of coffee.

25. If you visit my home town: you'd probably think it's dirty.

26. Sometime soon I plan to visit: St. Louis to sell some more records at a convention.

27. If you spend the night at my house: we will probably make you stay up late playing a dice called "Greedy" and a Playstation 2 game called "Guitar Hero".

28. I'd stop my wedding if: I found out the groom cheated on me.

29. The world could do without: Satan

30. I'd rather lick the belly of a cockroach than: have cockroaches in my house.

31. The most recent thing I've bought myself is: salad fixin's from the grocery store.

32. The most recent thing someone else bought for me is: an iron supplement.

33. My favorite red head is: ooh - I don't think I have one.

34. My favorite brunette is: my husband.

35. My car must have a sign on it that reads: "please hit me"....no, actually that is my previous car, which got hit twice while parked.

36. The last time I was drunk: was a long time ago and I'm glad that period of my life is over with.

37. The animals I would like to see flying besides birds: Great Danes.

38. I shouldn't have been: so young when I started dating.

39. I should have: finished college.

40. Last night I: fell asleep with the bedroom light on while watching The Simpsons.

41. There's this girl I know who: talks so fast, you can barely understand her.

42: I don't know: how to stand up for myself.

43. A better name for me would be: Lazy-Pants MacGillicutty

44. If I ever go back to school I'll: study underwater basketweaving.

45. How many days until my birthday? Too lazy to count. 11 months and a few days.

46. One dead celebrity I wish I'd met is: Chris Farley.

47. I've lived at my current address since: last October

48. I've been told I look like: Betty Boop....but that was by a drunk toothless dude at Memphis in May, so I don't know if it counts.

49. If I could have any car, it would be: a Toyota something er other.

50. If I got a new cat tomorrow, I would name it: Pain in the *ss....because that's what cats are.

Now it's your turn to answer these questions and post it on your blog. Go. Do it. Now.

Labels: me-me

Our first appointment with the midwife went great! It took us 2 hours to get to her center, which isn't too bad, since we made a few stops along the way and got caught in some pretty heavy rain. We spent about 3 1/2 hours there. First off, she asked us what we wanted - what kind of birth we would like to have. I kind of stumbled over my words trying to answer. I don't have any really out of the ordinary expectations, except that I want to have a natural birth outside of the hospital. I told her that a water birth is certainly a possibility, although when the time comes, I may just want to labor in the water and then get out to push.

I asked her questions like what her hospital transfer rate is, how many births she has attended, etc. Her transfer rate is extremely low and she has delivered (she's guessing) 600-700 babies. She is a licensed midwife and was the education director at a local midwifery school for a couple years. The list of her credentials is pretty impressive....oh yes, a doctorate in both nutrition and alternative medicine....and she is also an herbalist. Most importantly to me, she has strong faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and her beliefs seem to spill over into her work. She attributes her low hospital transfer rate to prayer. She told me that I should read the Bible and sing hymns to the baby while it's in my womb. I just loved that about her!

She believes it is important for DH to play a large role in the pregnancy as well as the birth. She welcomed him to learn how to feel my belly when the baby is bigger in order to determine its position. He can also help deliver the baby if he chooses to. When she felt around my tummy for the uterus, she guided his hands in a way that he could feel it too. She checked my urine for protein levels, glucose, etc and everything was perfect. She pricked my finger so she could test my blood sugar and hemoglobin, both of which were a little low. I admitted that I had not eaten a very balanced breakfast but promised her that I would from now on. Being an expert on nutrition, she warned me that she would be a stickler on how I'm am taking care of myself dietarily. I'm glad - I need to be kept accountable. She said the hemoglobin can be brought back up by eating more green leafy veggies and buying something called "Floradix" at the natural foods store, which is an natural iron and herbal supplement. DH picked some up for me today. That, along with my 2nd bottle of Nature's Plus Source of life prenatal vitamins ran him about $45! Doh! I guess keeping momma and baby healthy can be a little expensive at times.....but it's so worth it. If I have to keep taking the Floradix throughout the pregnancy, I'll have to find a cheaper source...maybe online or something....one bottle is only about a 12 day supply. Yikes! It must've been pretty expensive, because my vitamins only account for about $11 out of the $45.

Midwife estimated that I was at 6 weeks and 3 days yesterday and my estimated due date is April 16th. Everything looked good! She tried to hear the heartbeat, but told me that it is really rare to be able to hear it this early with her equipment. She has heard it as early as 9 weeks before, so we may be able to hear it at our next appointment on September 19th.

I actually felt pretty queazy this morning, which surprised me, since I've felt pretty great until this point (well, barring the headache I had on Wednesday). This morning, just the thought of swallowing water made me want to hurl. I knew that I needed to eat and drink though, so I ate some cereal and 2 eggs, and gulped down some water. It was rough, but I got it down. I just about gagged up my vitamins, but eventually got those down too. I never actually threw up....just went to the toilet and gagged a few times after I ate some baby carrots that felt slimy to me. Now, I'm cooking some chicken breasts and I'm going to make DH and I big salads with spinach, romaine, peas, mung sprouts, parmesan cheese, and olive oil/lemon dressing. Surprisingly, all of that sounds pretty good to me right about now. My mom said that I should keep Saltine crackers on hand for when I feel nauseous, but I've been trying to avoid white flour, so it just seems strange to buy them. I've heard smelling lemons is great for nausea, so I may try that next time.

Labels: midwife, pregnancy, pregnancy whining, prenatal appointment

Still organizing the records....well, sort of. Yesterday, I was fully out of commission due to a really bad headache. It started coming on early yesterday afternoon, but I sort of just ignored it.....until it got so bad that my eyes were extremely sensitive to light, I coudn't stand any sound accept for the soothing fan in our bedroom, and I couldn't even drag myself to the kitchen to fix something to eat. I slept from the time the boy I babysit left @ 5 PM until 11:45 PM. I got up to use the bathroom, got a drink of water, and went right back to bed because my head was still pounding. Slept peacefully until I had to wake up this morning at 6:30 to babysit again. My head feels totally fine now. I don't know what brought it on. Strange.

This morning on my way home from picking the little munchkin up (his parents are having vehicle issues and are paying me $5 extra a day to come pick him up. Woohoo!), I stopped at the grocery store to grab some bottled water and bread. I had been thinking about watermelon for 2 days, so my ulterior motive was really to see if they had any watermelon. And they did! I bought the hugest one I could find and the boy and I stood in the kitchen as soon as I got home and ate 1/4 of it all by ourselves. Well, it was mostly me. It seems like the best watermelon I have ever tasted. Yum! While we were at the store, the cashier thought the boy was a girl. That has happened to me a few times while out in public with him and I never correct the stranger. I just don't feel like making someone uncomfortable and embarrassed. Honestly, I would confuse him for a girl at first glance too, because his hair is so long. It's almost always in a ponytail or bun - otherwise, it would be too unruly. Every time I have to comb it or put it up, he screams. I always say, "Don't yell at me, it's your parents' fault." But he doesn't understand, of course. I was also a little embarrassed in the store with him because his outfit was pretty stained up and his hair looked like he had slept in his ponytail and therefore had that lovely rat's nest look to it. Gggrrr. I feel like telling everyone we see, "Oh, 'she' isn't mine -I just baby sit 'her' and I didn't dress 'her' this way, I swear." I'm all about kids being allowed to get dirty and explore, but I was just raised with the idea that kids should get their mouths wiped and get a clean shirt on when it's time to go out in public. Maybe I'm a snob like that. I shouldn't even complain - I certainly didn't look neat when we went shopping this morning....I was in a baseball hat and flannel pajama pants. Doh! But nothing was stained and my face was clean, does that count as looking presentable?

Our first appointment with the midwife is tomorrow. I can't wait!

Labels: babysitting, general complaining

Our Pastor announced our great news to the congregation yesterday morning. Everyone was really excited. A couple of our pals even treated us to lunch. Hooray for free food! There are now 6 pregnant women at our church, so our kiddo will have lots of friends to play with.

I am at 6 weeks(LMP) today. Had my first tiny wave of nausea that could've just been a result of drinking some strong Green Tea on an empty stomach. I love my 2 new $5 bras from Wal-Mart. They're almost like sports bras, but a little bit more flattering. You know how sports bras give that lovely "uni-boob" look? Ick! These are definitely not as attractive as fancy bra, but I am going for comfort at this point.

I am still alphabetizing the records and probably will be for the rest of the week. I'm tired of bending over a million times - that's the worst part. It's also difficult to arrange things in bins and shift things around, as I'm trying not to lift anything heavy.....and believe me, a bin full of records is heavy! When my little guy comes over, I can't really organize the records because I know he would definitely try to "help" and end up mixing up all of my alphabetical piles. He had a great nap today, so I was able to do some organizing when he was sleeping. Here is our messy record-strewn room:





I'm beginning to dislike the musty attic smell of records that I used to find endearing. Touching hundreds of records at a time is like touching a bunch of money or newspaper - your hands end up dry and black in about 5 minutes. If I never see another record again, I will be happy. Okay, I'm making it sound a lot worse than it is. I'm just stalling because I know as soon as I'm done with this post, I'm going right back to alphabetizing.

Labels: church, home business, pregnancy

Saturday night.....after midnight.......laying on the couch in and out of sleep..... watching a paid-advertisement from Time Life for an uber-expensive bunch of classic country CD's. You know, those shows where two people are talking excitedly about a song collection that "you would have to spend thousands of dollars on to get in stores"? 4 Easy payments of $49.99. I want to get up to turn the t.v. off and go to bed, but my laziness paralyzes me. Conway Twitty happens to be in a lot of the old film footage shown throughout the advertisement.......and I suddenly think to myself, "He is Pacey from Dawson's Creek when Pacey gets older!"

Check it:



I wonder if I'm the only person on earth who has noticed this spooky phenomenon.

Labels: random thoughts

More thoughts on names, as inspired by Danielle's post about her sweet name choice...

As stated previously,
we've already chosen a name for a boy:
Xander Axel (Xan for short)
(I was pushing for Zander Axel because I think it looks better when written, but DH is not budging on the "X" spelling, which is okay with me.)

Top choice for a girl:
Tallulah Grey (Lulu for short)

You can read about the meanings behind these two names here.

More ideas:
Paisley Grey
Lucy Velouria
Jasper Alice

Velouria is a Pixies song that I really like (Weezer remade it, but their version isn't as awesome)....I wonder if DH would be against that idea.

Off-limit choices:
I've always loved the name Saffron. I used to watch the freaky British comedy "Absolutely Fabulous" all the time and Saffron was Edina's sensible daughter. (I say "was" like it's not on anymore, but I really have no clue if it is or not.)But dang it, I just can't make myself use names that end in "N" because our last name begins with "N" and I don't like it when names slur together like that. Xander's nick name "Xan" would fit that bill....but I can deal, since it's not the full name. I also like the name Teagan for a girl, but it ends with "N"!!! All awesome Welsh names end in "N", so they are a no-no in my eyes too. Dang! I nixed Lola because it means "woman of sadness" and I just don't like that. I also liked Harper for a girl, but sent it to the trash bin because it reminds me too much of Thelma Harper on Mama's Family. Tatum struck me as interesting, but it has too much teasing potential. Maybe I'm stretching it, but kids could easily turn Tatum into "tater" or something silly like that.

Labels: baby names

I took my last pregnancy test today and snapped a photo of the entire test progression. I can't remember why I skipped taking one on Aug 10th. That doesn't sound like something I'd do at all. Oh that's right.....after that first barely-there line on the 9th, I was under the delusion that I was going to wait until AF didn't show that weekend to test again. Ha ha. Yeah right. You can see how that went.

I called my midwife this morning and we set up my first appointment, a week from today at 10:00am. She seemed very excited for me. I asked if it's something she would encourage DH to attend as well, and she said, "Absolutely!". She supports fathers being as involved in the pregnancy and birth as possible, which I think is great. I called DH and he said he's going to try to get off work to go with me. He really wants to go....it's just this blasted job he's got right now. If any employers are reading this, just a little advice: don't work your employees to the bone 6 days a week. It's bad for morale and your employees will end up hating their jobs and in turn, give you sub-standard work. Really, give them the weekend to spend with their families, you awful Scrooge! Okay, just had to get that little rant out of my system.

I've got to get to work. DH and I are taking a good number of our 3,000+ vinyl record albums to an open air market in a (somewhat) nearby town next weekend and I need to alphabetize several bins. Yuk. I am VERY excited about selling them and getting them the crap out of our house. We bought them super cheap from a local record store a while back, thinking that we could sell them on eBay, but eBay is totally saturated with records. Some records that could sell for $8.00 or $10.00 at a record store are selling for as low as .99 on eBay. Grading the records in order to accurately describe their condition within the listings is a time-consuming process. I would always end up grading them lower than what they really were for fear that a customer would receive it, think I graded it too high, and then leave negative feedback on my account. We have probably sold more records and made more money putting the records on consignment at our friend's store than we have with me spending months listing them on eBay. I hate failing at something that I had confidence was going to be relatively successful. Now any time I have an idea of how to go into business for myself, I am afraid that it will be a bust like the records. I would LOVE to make a living sewing cloth diapers and maybe even buying some wholesale diaper accessories and opening up an online store with my wares....but I'm not sure where to start. It seems you need capital to start a business and that's something we don't have a lot of right now.

Labels: home business, midwife, pregnancy, pregnancy tests

The little one-year-old I babysit must have a habit of swallowing things he shouldn't when he is at home because in the last 2 days I have found 2 foreign objects in his poopy diapers. Aside from the normal peas, corn, etc, that seem to stay whole all through his digestive tract, I found a WATCH BATTERY yesterday and some HEART-SHAPED CONFETTI in his poo today. Funny? Yes. But a little ummmm....concerning too? Absolutely. I know of parents who tell similar stories of pennies and other coins making that incredible journey down to their kids' poop-chutes, so I know things like that are going to happen sometimes. But you've gotta wonder: How good is it on the little dude's colon to have a scratchy piece of heart-shaped foil confetti pass through?

I told his momma about the watch battery yesterday and we both had a good laugh. I told her that it could've just gotten stuck to his bum or something during his last diaper change. When I found it, it was his 1st dipe change at my house, so maybe when mom or dad was changing him on a couch or the car seat, that teeny stray battery could've just clung to his skin. But then when I found the confetti in the 3rd diaper I had changed today, I knew that he had pooped it. It wasn't there when I changed him the 1st 2 times - I'm sure I would've noticed a bright red shiny heart. I IM'ed his momma to let her know.....not to make her feel guilty or anything, but just because I thought she should know that he ingested something like that. I think she got a little defensive, although, sometimes emotions are hard to read when you're IM'ing.


ME: I found somethin else in babe's diaper today - some little heart shaped confetti.....I know he pooped it because it wasn't there when I changed his dipe earlier. :)

MOMMA: lol. he was playing with bro & confetti its all over my carpet cant get it up...i bet is was just stuck to his behind...

MOMMA: really

MOMMA: i am not a bad mom

I went on to say that I totally don't think she's a bad mom, but I was just thinking that there's a chance he may have swallowed it, since I didn't see it until the 3rd dipe change. But then she just said it was probably stuck in his clothes. Which, I suppose is possible, but I doubt because I had taken his shorts completely off at one point. Eh, what do I know about parenting, anyway? :)

Labels: babysitting

I swear that this is the second-to-last pregnancy test you will have to see posted on my blog. I'm so anxious to call the midwife back to set up my appointment! I hope she gets up early because she will probably be getting a call from me at about 7:30 or 8:00 tomorrow morning. Okay, maybe I'll wait 'til 9:00. ;)

Labels: pregnancy, pregnancy tests

Yeehaw. Almost as dark as the control line! I'm having problems posting about anything other than my thoughts surrounding this pregnancy, so please forgive me for being obsessive. I'm sure the novelty will wear off when I have an enormous bump and don't feel so spry and giddy anymore. Then again, my page is named "Making a Person".....so I guess is perfectly acceptable for me to go crazy and post only about this subject for a while.

We're going to announce the news to our pals @ church tonight. DH is not going to go through with his original plan of announcing the pregnancy, and I am relieved. He did get to use the joke/trick to tell one of our friends yesterday, so I think it helped him get it out of his system. That particular friend totally "gets" DH's sense of humor, so it went off well and there was no offense.....which I'm afraid would not be the case if he were to joke about it to the whole church.

Let's talk symptoms.....so far, I feel super bloated and hate wearing my jeans. I bought a pair of loose stretchy jogging pants from Wal-Mart that I am going to wear every day of my life. My poor boobies are REALLY sore and I just realized today that the days of them being perky and round are coming to an end. It sounds crazy, but I feel like I'm going to be needing some bigger non-underwire bras VERY soon. I still have a little bit of normal mild crampiness every now and then, but it's pretty dull and I haven't noticed it as much lately. I have to pee all the time, but this probably has more to do with the fact that I'm drinking a huge horse trough of water every day. No nausea yet and no real aversions to certain foods. Although, I was eating a banana yesterday and the smell of the peel was bothering me to the point where I had to take it out of the peel and try not to breathe through my nose while I was biting into it.

I took 2 sips of Kombucha and that made me pretty green, but then again it was from a pretty strong 2-week batch, so that may be why. I tend to like the 7-10 day brew better. I'm going to really limit my Kombucha intake while pregnant because of its detoxification properties. From what I've read, it's okay to continue drinking it if you were used to drinking it before becoming pregnant, but I haven't been drinking it for that long, so 2-4 oz every couple of days should probably be my limit, if I drink any at all.

DH is thinking about trying to find another job. He is really not the flaky kind of person who hops from job to job (like I am! :) but the fact that he has to work 6 days a week at a place that is an hour drive from our house is getting him down. He feels like he doesn't have time for anything and the thought of being a daddy and having to be gone all the time just makes him sad. His dream is to go into business for himself. One of his good friends is planning on opening up an espresso cafe not far from where we live and I think DH really wants to get in on that. It would be awesome if he could help run a business like that instead of "working for the man".

Labels: dh, health, pregnancy, pregnancy whining

Here's today's positive. I'm bored w/ taking pregnancy tests. Sure, there is a little satisfaction in comparing the test to the one you took the morning before and seeing if the line is getting darker....but I already KNOW the line is going to be there plain as day, and I'm not in a state of I'm-seeing-imaginary-pink-lines-disbelief anymore.

DH told his parents yesterday. My mother-in-law supports our ideas on natural birth with a midwife outside of a hospital. She said she's fine with it as long as I don't use a birth tub (rolling eyes now). She was really happy for us. We IM'ed eachother for quite a long time last night, talking about baby names, plans, etc. She doesn't like our name ideas, but that didn't really bother me. While I don't want to give my child a crazy name just for the sake of being different that I know will get him/her teased by other kids, I just don't like the idea of giving my child a cookie cutter name.

The entire time I was in school, there was only one other girl who shared my name. It's not an incredibly uncommon name....in fact, I hear it more nowadays than I did back then....but I appreciated not being a Jennifer or Jessica (again, no offense). I want my child to appreciate that he or she is not a Joshua or Jacob or Madison or Emily (those are some of this year's top 10 baby names). But rest assured, I'm not going to choose "Apple", "Moon Unit", or "Pilot Inspektor" or anything like that.

The Social Security Administration's Popular Baby Names page is an interesting visit. You can type in any year since 1880 and view the most popular baby names of that year.

Labels: baby names, family, pregnancy tests

Yet another positive that is even darker than the last. Only 4 more days of testing until I end this crazy pregnancy test binge. I'd be satisfied to stop now, but when I talked to my midwife a couple days ago, she told me to test again this Friday and call her again to set up our first appointment. Little does she know, I decided to test every single day up until then! In my defense, it only made sense to get more pregnancy tests because I had just bought 8 ovulation tests from the Dollar Tree, and they don't do refunds, only exchanges. So I went in there, handed them to the clerk and asked if I could do an exchange. I guess they are sticklers about people returning stuff because he sort of seemed perturbed and asked my reason for returning them. I told him that I bought them before I suspected I was pregnant, and now that I think I'm pregnant, I'd like to buy the pregnancy tests instead. He looked a little embarrassed when I told him all that. Too much info for him, I guess. :) DH reminded me that the Dollar Tree carries more than just pregnancy tests and I could exchange the ovulation tests for something else if I wanted to. Nope. Just fill the bag w/ pregnancy tests and I will be happy. I ended up getting 6 tests and 2 bags of chili flavored cashews. What a value.

Even though he teases me for taking a bajillion pregnancy tests, I'm pretty sure DH is glad I am testing every day....I think seeing the line get more and more pronounced as days go by has solidified the certainty of this pregnancy for him. He told our Pastor and his wife (who are really like parents to us) that we're pregnant today. They were super excited.

I am exactly 5 weeks pregnant, according to the 1st day of my last menstrual period (gestational age)........ but I'm more like 2 1/2 weeks pregnant, if you go by when I think I ovulated (fetal age). The whole "LMP" thing confuses me. Why would doctors use that to calculate how far along you are, when most women usually conceive approximately 2 weeks after the 1st day of their last period? When I'm looking at books and websites that show fetal development by weeks, which do I go by? Are we at week 5 of development or week 2 of development? I'm sure the midwife will be able to clarify this for me. I was just thinking of putting one of those corny pregnancy tickers on my site and wasn't sure what week I am at, officially. For now, I think I'll go by LMP, since that's what most folks seem to go by on the pregnancy message boards I visit.

Labels: pregnancy, pregnancy tests

Okay, here's today's positive test. I apologize in advance. I'm going to be testing every day through this Friday, so you'll probably keep seeing me post pics of my pregnancy tests. I was quite impressed with this morning's dark line and how quickly it appeared. Way to multiply exponentially, hCG!

It's driving me nuts not being able to tell our friends yet! Well, we could tell our friends because I'm absolutely sure that I'm pregnant.....but we were thinking of maybe waiting for a couple weeks before announcing it at church. When people ask how far along I am, it would be nice to be able to say "a month" or "5 weeks" instead of "between 2 & 3 weeks". I guess it doesn't really matter. I'll probably just let DH make that decision.

His big idea about how to break the news to our pals at church is to raise his hand when the preacher asks if there are any prayer requests (our prankster preacher would be in on the joke as well).....then DH would proceed to announce to the congregation that "the doctors" are trying to speak something on me by saying that a "growth" has been found in my abdomen. Then he'll go on to ask if they can join him in prayer for the "growth". I'm not sure exactly how he is planning on turning it around so that everyone finally realizes at the end of his announcement that the "growth" he speaks of is actually a baby.

My concern is that some people just won't get it and they'll end up thinking that I really do have a medical problem IN ADDITION TO being pregnant. They won't get that he was just trying to play a rotten joke and surprise everyone. Don't get me wrong, there are probably some people that will catch on and chuckle when they realize what DH is saying.....but I just think it would be mean to play with people's emotions like that (even if our church is pretty laid back and should expect such foolery out of my DH by now). I think I'm going to try to talk him into making some other clever announcement.....maybe one that doesn't have so much potential to backfire.

Labels: dh, pregnancy, pregnancy tests

The reality that I am pregnant is actually beginning to sink in. As we woke up this morning, DH rolled over and said, "Hey, you're pregnant." After I took the test you see there on the left, the pregancy seems even more real to both of us. DH reasoned, "Well, I guess it wouldn't be very likely for you to get 3 false positives in a row." I agreed. In fact, even one "false positive" would be extremely rare. I don't know if it is psychosomatic, but my abdomen does feel bloated and sensitive. Even though my jeans button up relatively easily, I just don't like the feeling of having them buttoned up. I need some lightweight cotton jogging pants! I feel more lethargic than usual and ....... come to think of it, I have been a little constipated for the last week or so. I can't get enough water. We've gone through a case in no time at all and I bought 2 more cases today.

I can't believe it! I have a little person growing inside of me! A clump of cells growing at a miraculous pace is taking shape in my womb and will be out here breathing air with us in 9 months! My mom, my grandma, and my sister all know now. DH tried to call my dad earlier, but there was no answer. We'll try back here in a little bit. It will be funny to hear his reaction, because 3 or 4 years ago DH (remember, he is a little ornery with his sarcastic & dry sense of humor) told my dad that I was pregnant just to get a reaction. I really wasn't pregnant at all, and I felt bad that my dad got excited for a minute. He may have his guard up and think DH is "crying wolf" this time around. Hee hee :)

Labels: pregnancy, pregnancy tests

Almost every year, my husband and I give eachother our Christmas presents a week....or two....or three early. When were were looking to buy our first house last October, we made an offer on the 4th house we looked at, on the first day of our house-shopping! It proved to work out just fine and the house is perfect for us, but most normal people don't buy the 4th home they look at within 20 minutes of stepping foot on the property. About a week ago, my husband who has been having some pain in his shoulders, decided he wanted to try one of those theraputic memory foam pillows. We were out with some friends late one evening and stopped at the only store around here that's open at 11:00 PM, Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart didn't have a huge selection of memory foam pillows, and I could tell that my husband would've rather held out for a better one, but his impatience got the best of him. We walked out of there with a pillow that I'm not sure he would've chosen if he had checked around at say, Target, or Kohls, or elsewhere. I know there are other examples of our hopeless impatience, but they escape me at the moment.

Oh here's one: You know how I said I was going to wait until Monday to take another pregnancy test? I know myself better than that. I took another pregnancy test first thing this morning and guess what I saw not even 3 minutes after taking dropping the pee-pee in the well?



Here are a couple pictures of the test I took this morning next to the test I took 2 days ago:





Here's what the test looked like after about 45 minutes:



I want to be excited, but I can hardly believe it! I know for a fact, though, that a pink line would not appear there in less than 3 minutes if I did not have hCG (the pregancy hormone) in my urine. I called my husband, my mom, and my sister and told them. I know a lot of people wait a while to tell their family members, but i'm extremely close to my mom and sister. They know that we're trying to conceive, and.....well, I guess that's another good example of how impatient I am!

DH doesn't quite believe it. He sort of teased me for thinking that the super faint line I saw 2 days ago was pink.....and rightly so. It was pretty ambiguous. But today's was considerably darker. My sister said she never got a test line that was as dark as the control line for 2 of her pregnancies....and she tested WAY after I did.

DH said "How do you confirm it?" and I was like "Hhhmm....I dunno...take a blood test??" But here's the thing: I'm not going to an OB/GYN for this pregnancy. I am getting my prenatal care through a midwife. The midwife I'm going to use works closely with an OB/GYN who used to be a midwife herself. All of her clients see that doctor twice during their pregnancies: once relatively early on for an evaluation and labwork, and a second time @ 28 weeks to make sure the pregnancy is "low-risk" enough to deliver naturally outside of the hospital.

Also, since my husband recently got a new job, our insurance doesn't kick in for another 90 days. That's not a problem at all, since we were planning on paying the midwife out of pocket anyway.......but it does rule out the possibility of cheaply going to the clinic we used to visit in order to see a doc there and ask for a blood test. My sis said that more than likely, they would just tell me they didn't want to see me until I'm 6 weeks along and then they'd just end up doing a urine test in their office anyway.

So, I called the midwife, told her about my tests and all the details and she told me to test again in a week - first thing NEXT Friday morning - and then call her, since I tested so early and my period was just due yesterday. She also seemed excited for me, so it's not like she didn't believe I'm pregnant, she just thinks it would be wise for a later test to confirm it. My blogger pals, Sorlil, and Danielle both suggested on my last post that I get one of those digital pregnancy tests that clearly state "Pregnant" or "Not Pregnant" on a digital screen, so I don't have to fuss with these crazy pink lines. I think that's a good idea. Maybe I'll pick one of those up for my "confirmation" test on friday. I still have one more pregnancy test in my possession. It's one of the First Response Early Result tests. I think I may continue being a crazy peeing-on-a-stick fool and take it tomorrow w/ my first morning urine. I kind of like the idea of having a photo progression of my tests where you can see the line get darker and darker as the hCG in my urine increases.

So.....I'm CAUTIOUSLY excited. I'm not going to go around telling my friends just yet. I'll wait for that.....in fact, DH has a funny plan for telling our friends at church that I'll elaborate on some other time.

Labels: midwife, pregnancy, ttc

As you can probably tell by yesterday's post, I was in a kind of a crummy mood. It doesn't help things to be negative....of course, I already knew that.....but last night at church I was reminded that words are very powerful and we can shape our lives with them. The speaker last night brought up the fact that God spoke the Universe into existence with His WORDS. John 1:1 calls Jesus the WORD. In the Garden of Eden, Satan twisted God's WORDS to deceive Eve and cause the rift between God and mankind. When faced by temptation in the wilderness, Jesus Christ resisted sin by quoting the WORD of God. Revelation 12:11 says that the brethren overcame the devil by the blood of the Lamb and the WORD of their testimonty. Proverbs 25:11 says that a WORD fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.

Really, all through the Bible there is much emphasis put on words and their power. From now on I'm going to make an extra effort to make my words positive, edifying, and in line with the Word of God.

Speaking of positive, I took another pregnancy test yesterday because I'm impatient, and I got a super faint barely-there line. I wasn't sure what to make of it. Everything I've read about HPT's says that any line, no matter how faint, means that hCG is detectable in your urine....and you only produce hCG if you're pregnant. But then, there's also something called an evap line, which is just the strip of antibodies in the test line (that would turn pink or blue or whatever the dye color is if the test is positive) becoming slightly visible as the urine evaporates from the test, when in actuality the test is negative. Most of the time evap lines are not the color of control line, rather a greyish "ghost" line or a dent in the test. I stared and stared at the whisper faint line and I'm pretty sure it's a very light shade of pink/lavendar. I know the line didn't show up right away, but I don't think it was past 10 mintutes either.

If I hadn't seen test progressions like these on the internet, I would've just called it a negative.


(tests taken from 9-14 days after ovulation)


(test taken 12 days after ovulation)

These are the same brand I took yesterday and were taken by women who were actually pregnant. I'm not sure exactly when I ovulated, but Babycenter.com's Ovulation Calculator projected that my most fertile time was between July 24th and 29th. If I ovulated on July 29th, that would make me 12 days post ovulation right now. From what I've seen, some people do get VERY faint positives when they test 11 days post ovulation.

Oh my goodness, I'm totally over-thinking this and need to just forget about it for a few days and maybe take another test after this weekend if AF doesn't show.
Oh, by the way, here's a pic of my test:



Don't strain your eyes too badly while searching for the 2nd "pink line". I swear it's there. I'm not crazy....really....I promise.

Labels: pregnancy tests, spirituality, ttc

I just got back from a walk with the world's worst stroller. I'd like to tell you exactly what kind of stroller it is so that you may steer clear of it (corny pun intended), but it has no brand name or markings. There is a tag on the back that says it was manufactured for Wal-Mart in March 2005 and its model # is 002653457/BP-1519. It looks suspiciously similar to the Graco LiteRider Stroller. In fact, the more I look at it, the more it looks like the exact same design. Beware.

It belongs to the little boy I babysit. His parents brought it over so we could go for walks. Some friends of theirs found it at a thrift store and thought they might want a back-up stroller. While I appreciate the thought, the stroller itself just isn't functional for how I use it. I don't think I'm abnormally tall, at 5'6", but the handle bar sits uncomfortably low and is not at all adjustable. The wheels don't have a great turning radius, although I suspect that has more to do with the fact that it was not very well taken care of and there is probably dirt and grime in the joints where the wheels should swivel freely. I sprayed the joints with the last of my WD40, which did help some, but not enough to make the wheels move like they should.

AND, as I stroll along with my shoulders hunched over (hoping not to encounter any sharp corners along the way), I have to make a conscious effort not to smack my toe into the thin metal back axl with every stride. Actually, this only seems to be a problem if I break out into more than a snail's pace. Part of the reason I like taking walks with the little man is so I can get some much-needed exercise. It's difficult to walk briskly when I have to pay attention to the length of my stride. I know I sound like a Negative Nelly, but seriously, whoever designed this stroller was 5'1" with stumpy legs and assumed that only people of the same stature would be purchasing it.

I know with my track record of buying baby items way too early, one would think I'd have stored up a stroller of my own, but I haven't. I'd like to invest in a better stroller for the boy and I to use when he comes over, but I really don't have the extra money. I'd also like to buy him some blocks, finger paints, a small ride-on toy of sorts, and a high chair. I suppose I could justify it if I bought them with the idea that my own child will use them some day, but I'd like my baby to have things of his/her own. I'm certainly not opposed to hand-me-downs, but I can imagine that I'd be overly protective of the highchair and toys if I knew they were going to be used by my own son or daughter some day. "Hey, you little booger, stop rubbing your grubby sticky hands all over Mystery Baby's stuff!!!" Hhhmm.....guess I'll just make do with what we have right now. We do have a laundry basket full of toys for him that his parents brought over, but I think he's getting bored with them.

Labels: baby gear, babysitting, product reviews

Still no sign of Aunt Flow, although she's not really due to visit until tomorrow, according to my calculations. I had bad AF symptoms Monday, but none yesterday or today. DH thinks we probably tested too early and I might be pregnant, but I'm not so convinced. I was thinking that w/ all the pics of pregnancy test progressions I've seen, there's at least the faintest tiniest little line showing on a positive test that was taken too early. Even if you have to close one eye, look at it in bright natural daylight, and stand on one foot to see it, the line is there. The test I took was negative, without a doubt. Not even a tiny inkling of that second line showing. But then, it wasn't my first morning urine....

My aunt and uncle have tried to conceive for almost 15 years with no success. They have tried everything and have spent thousands upon thousands of dollars with nothing to show for it. Their 2nd attempt at IVF yielded twins that miscarried at 5 weeks. Now they've been going through the long and confusing process of adopting a baby girl from China for about a year and a half. They may or may not get to visit China in January or February to meet the little girl they will potentially adopt.....and even then, it could be 4 months after their initial visit before they're allowed to go back and pick her up. I can't imagine the heartbreak and frustration they've gone through. To be honest, they've both become generally bitter people with very bad attitudes about everything. In a way, I can't blame them. But it's sad that they have spent their whole marriage living for something that might happen in the future, instead of trying to enjoy the present.

I never want to be like that. I admit that thoughts of our future life with a baby are always fresh in my mind, but I love my life with my husband and the 5 1/2 years of marriage we've enjoyed. I'm happy with our life. I know it's easy for me to say right now, this being our 1st month of trying to get pregnant, but I always want to have the attitude that I DON'T NEED to be a parent to fulfill my purpose in this world. I would LOVE to be a parent and know that children are a blessing from God. The relationship between parent and child is a wonderful reflection of the relationship between the Lord and His children. As a mom, I think I'll end up being able to understand more clearly the intense unconditional love my Father in Heaven has for me. I want to keep my eyes fixed on Christ during our efforts to conceive a child and know that God wants me to live in the present day instead of wishing and hoping my life away. Amen.

Labels: ttc

DH and I decided to go ahead and take a pregnancy test last night. I know, I know....I swore I'd wait until August 13th, but with a test just sitting in my cabinet that claims it can detect pregnancy 4 days before my period's due, I just had to do it. Actually, DH was sort of the instigator. But then, it doesn't take much convincing to get me to succumb to my own raging impatience either. He was like "You should go ahead and take a te.." and before he could finish saying "test", I shouted, "OKAY!" and ran to the bathroom while frantically trying to rip the test out of its strong foil packaging. No, that's not how it really happened.

I kind of expected it to be negative. I'm not all that bummed about it though, because it was only our first month of trying. Besides, now I have a fresh month to eat super healthy, drink tons of water, and continue my prenatal vitamins and red raspberry leaf tea. I didn't do so great at eating healthy food this past month. Also, DH was under more stress than usual with his new job. I've read that stress can be a culprit in lowering sperm count and motility, so maybe that could be a factor?

Next time I really AM going to wait until I miss my period.....I SWEAR.
I'm thinking I might take a shot at charting my temperature and cervical mucus when this next cycle starts. That way, I'll have better idea of when I actually ovulate.

Labels: pregnancy tests, ttc

I have already accumulated some decor for my future kiddo's nursery. Coming from someone who has already bought/made a slew of diapers for her yet-to-be-conceived (maybe) child and has owned an Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper Bassinet for 4 months now, would you expect anything less?

The way I see it, I had no choice but to buy these nursery accessories. The Dolly Toy Company's "Balloon Vendor" series is what decorated my room as a small child. I have fond memories of that glowing cluster of plastic balloons sitting on my dresser. Since I shared a room with my sister who is 2 years my junior, the nursery decorations adorned the room long enough for me to remember what they looked like. The walls were sunshine yellow and there were yellow and white gingham curtains on the windows. The worn-out shag carpet had multicolored stripes that (sort of, but not quite) matched everything. Obviously the carpet was there before my young expectant parents moved into the house. My mom didn't know if she was going to have a boy or a girl, so she tried to pick something gender neutral. I bet if you were born in the 70's or early 80's, chances are you may have had one of those clown balloon lamps too.

I found all these items on eBay at different times and snatched them up. My collection is nearly complete. I lack 2 pieces that were part of the "Balloon Vendor" line: The "Tidee Up" clothes hook and the "Revolving Crib Toy".
I don't think I had those two items in my room as a child, but I wouldn't mind making my collection complete. My mom swore up and down that the mobile I purchased was the one that hung over my crib, but when we were looking at some old photos, I saw that the mobile was actually a little different. It was the same brand, but there were Disney characters hanging from umbrellas instead of the balloons, clown and circus animals. I thought it was odd that my mom didn't match the mobile w/ the wall hangings, lamp, and switchplate cover, but whatya gonna do?

I've seen the revolving crib toy on eBay before, but I've never seen the clothes hook anywhere. Guess I'll have to keep looking. Honestly, I never thought I would be the kind to decorate my chid's room with any type of clown or circus theme, as many children and adults have a creepy aversion to clowns, but this clown is more goofy-cartoony looking than a real circus clown. The room is already painted a light blue - almost the exact same color as the hippo on the mobile. The carpet is a varigated green color. Very 70's. I want to make curtains that have wide red & white stripes to resemble a circus tent. I've even thought about constructing some triangular cornice boards to put at the top of the windows that look like the tops of circus tents.

I know I'm getting way ahead of myself. I'm surprised that DH doesn't think I've gone mad. I guess we just have blind faith that we won't have any infertility issues and it will be relatively easy for us to conceive.

Labels: nursery, reminiscing about childhood

I received $75 dollars from my grandma and $30 from my dad for my recent birthday. As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm a pathetic loser and I spent the money on some really nice high quality cloth diapers for my future babe. I could've bought a really nice purse or a sweet pair of shoes, but lately my shopper's lust is caused by expensive cloth diapers, of all things. I'm sure it's a sign of things to come.



I decided it would be smart to order diapering supplies that I don't know how to or don't have the resouces to make, so I purchased wool diaper covers (in 3 sizes)and organic hemp one-size diapers. I mean, I guess I could make these things, but I'm pretty sure Wal-Mart and the local fabric store don't stock up on yards of hemp diaper fabric. Also, the book I own that is supposed to teach me how to knit is really scary and overwhelming, so I leave it alone. I was really pleased with how fast I received my order from Tiny Bird Organics. I hope I get to order more soft n' fluffy diapers from them again sometime. Maybe that's what I'll ask for when Christmas and our anniversary rolls around. Ha.

I'm definitely reserving these for my own tot instead of sharing them w/ the baby I watch now. Sorry to those readers who are not quite as enthusastic about cloth diapers as I am. Maybe I'll try to shut up about cloth diapers for a few posts.

**edited to add:** I've been dipping into our super old and stale (I think we've had it in our cabinet for a year or more) Danish salty licorice stash lately. Could this very odd, dare I say disgusting, craving be a sign of early pregnancy? I hope so. Because if not, it just means that I'm a freak that likes to eat licorice that smells like cat pee. HHhhhhmmmm....maybe that's because it is seriously flavored by Ammonium Chloride.

Labels: cloth diapering

Even though I was reluctant yesterday to put one of the all-in-one cloth diapers I'm saving for my own baby on the little boy I babysit, I ended up doing it anyway. We had plenty of disposables, so it wasn't out of necessity, but I was just really curious to see how they hold up in real life. In theory, they should work fine, but I'm not that confident in my ability to make absorbant leak-proof diapers yet. I purchased the pattern from Darling Diapers, and I have read great reviews about their patterns, so I shouldn't have had any doubts.

I put the diaper on him at about 2:00 or 2:30 yesterday afternoon and changed him back into his disposables @ about 4:00 before his daddy came and picked him up. I was relieved (and actually a little surprised) that it didn't leak at all. He even laid on his side while taking a nap for a while, and there were no signs of leakage. He didn't poop, so there's where the test ended. Maybe I'll put one on him during his early nap next time so there's more opportunity for poopiness.

The next test