3/4 of the way there

Thirty weeks down, ten to go. Nothing new and exciting to report today, just thought I'd post a picture.

Advice...Please!

Many of you I've already asked, but I still want advice on baby gear. What kinds of things have you found useful? Any particular styles or brands of certain things that you would recommend? I've begun diligent research on various baby gear items and there are some that I still havent made up my mind about. For instance, I havent found an infant carseat that I really like that has good reviews and is reasonably priced. So anyone that has any advice on what they've used, whether it is a good or bad, I'd love to hear your opinions.

Picture Frames

Does anyone need a picture frame? In order to make room for baby/daycare type stuff I decided to get rid of some of my picture frames. Literally, there are over 150 of them. Yes, I realize I'll want to frame some pictures of baby when she comes and there are some special frames in there I definitely want to keep, but 150 frames...not really necessary! And the really sad part about it all was that a majority of them contained pictures of my oldest nepehew. He is cute and all but I decided to move most of the pictures into a scrapbook instead of the frames. There were so many you really couldnt see the pictures anyway. So if anyone would like a frame, I have a nice variety I'm willing to give away to people I know:)

Confession

Ok, so those of you that read every day are up to date on my whining about registries. Well, I have a little confession to make. Since I actually went into a baby store on Thursday I have become obsessed with looking at items for my baby. And adding them to my registry. Babies R Us is addicting. Of course I think I have about looked at everything on the website by now but I still keep finding that one little thing to add. After getting that registry where I feel it is complete, (although I said that last week and look what happened) I have begun adding additional items on to the one on amazon. If you ever wanted anything, between all the stores that work with amazon I think they have EVERYTHING. Anyway, I had to confess, I've been actually having fun with the baby registry thing. Basically I'm just excited about the baby coming and dont really have anything else I am needing to do right now to prepare for her. And for those of you that live in the Springfield area, Emily (my best friend) has been working hard on shower preparations so watch your mailbox:)

I have no gas in my car and a kitty that thinks he's about to starve so I must go now. Enjoy your day.

Registries Complete

For those of you that care, I did spend a significant amount of time at Babies R Us yesterday completing a registry. Then once I got home I put the things on it that I had run out of energy at the store to find. So it is now complete and available. I did, however, accidentally create two. One only has a carseat on it, the other has much more, so if you get to it and find only one item, then go to a different one. The registry can be accessed at www.babiesrus.com, or by visiting any Babies R Us or Toys R Us store. According to the lady at the store (who thought I didn't register for enough but that's another story) if you order online and dont want to pay shipping, you can have it delivered to my Babies R Us store to avoid those charges. I did not register for obvious things that every baby needs like bath soap, clothes, towels, and crib sheets. I also have the completed registry at amazon.com but it is a lot of the same stuff. Did you know that even in a store completely devoted to babies, I did not find one piece of squirrel gear? Unbelievable, you'd think my fascination with squirrels was unique (I prefer unique over weird).

And now my big question of the day is, why didnt I take today off too? I dont have anything special I need to do, but since I had yesterday off and I have the weekend off, today would have been a good addition to that:) Oh well, I need to work on my program for my senior citizens. This month's topic is hummingbirds, which must be popular because I have filled up!

Have a great weekend everyone! I'm having company tomorrow evening. it seems as though some motorcycle travelers want to stay at my house and tell me all about their trip they are getting ready to take to the best place on earth (Yellowstone for those of you that don't know where that is. And if you don't know where it is, you really should go sometime!) See ya tomorrow Mom!

A message from Kendall

This is the extent of how much I've played with my new camcorder so far. Then I went and got her a treat (she only does one thing per treat and doesnt do the second until she gets it:) And then I went to bed.

Wilderness Theme

Some things you never really give a lot of thought to and then wham...everybody starts asking you the same question. I've had this happen recently with two questions. One, how are you decorating the baby's room and two, what do you need? I don't do a lot of decorating in general, and themes are usually out the window, but when looking at baby stuff I decided I would choose a theme to tell those of you that want to know. I'm going with wilderness critters, to include all sorts of north american species. Giraffes and monkeys are ok, but what I really like are bear, deer, moose, SQUIRREL (good luck finding any of that though!) you know, the things you find outside here. And since I'm having a girl, flowers, birds and butterflies fit perfectly. Can you find baby stuff following that theme? I have absolutely no idea. I know there are a few things available, so in order to keep my sanity, I'm going against my feelings on registries and am creating two. One is at Amazon.com for you computer savvy types. The other will be at Babies R US and I'll physically go into a store and do that one tomorrow. I know many of you don't have a babies r us store either, but you can go online and look at stuff and them shop your favorite store. I dont really care where you shop. A little explanation for those of you who might not know about my aversions to registries. Creativity seems to be lost in gift giving anymore. I don't know how much people want to spend, or what they would like to get me, and ever since I was little I never have liked telling people what I want, I figure they can figure it out for themselves if they really want to get me something. I think this is all because I really don't like people to make a fuss over me and registries seem to encourage that.

As for my bargains I got Monday...It was mostly toys and other daycare type items. I am going to raise my own daughter instead of paying someone else to raise her for me, but in order to do that and still have enough money to do something fun (or drive anywhere) I am going to have to babysit a few kids. But my passion for interpretation and nature will not be lost. The kids I keep will get to learn all about God's wonderful creation and do many of the same activities I currently do at work, the only difference being I won't get fired if I mention God created it since I will not be under the state government anymore.

So stay tuned for registries (Amazon is done, I think, although I might add to it, you never know). And if any of you should happen to come across a flying squirrel mobile, let me know. I can't think of anything more appropriate. However the squirrel store doesnt even have them so I think I'm out of luck.

Busy Monday

Sometimes you think that Garfield just made too big of a deal out of Mondays being bad, then there is my lunch break yesterday that made everything Garfield ever said about Mondays seem pretty accurate. It started out with me doing a favor for my husband and returning a pair of boots he ordered that didnt fit. I fixed up the package, taped it up really well and took it to the post office. Upon returning I discovered my mistake. The piece of paper that said who the boots were coming from and why was still with me, not in the package as it should have been. Later, a quick call to the post office and another stop by and I had taken care of the problem, but I still blame it on being a Monday. And if that weren't bad enough, either I'm losing my mind, my pizza grew legs and left the building on its own, or somebody had eaten my lunch. Usually everyone is real considerate and won't eat anything that's not theirs unless specifically offered. The only thing I can figure out is that someone else had pizza in there too and they ate the wrong pizza (you'd think they could tell the difference, but who knows, maybe they are as awake as I am in the mornings). Luckily my boss was nice enough to share her lunch with me so I didnt have to go hungry. The day wasn't all bad though. I got several things I wanted to get finished at work done, as well as getting to go pick up a truckload of stuff I had purchased on craigslist. When I had told the lady I would take it, what she described to me I was thinking, maybe it would fill up about half of the trunk of the car, and I thought I was getting a good deal. When we arrived to pick it up, we had taken the truck because I knew there was one item I wasnt sure would fit in the trunk, but it was a good thing we did. We get there and when all was said and done my small pile that I had purchased filled up the backseat of the truck and completely filled up the bed as well. All this so that I will be able to stay home when the baby comes. It does make me feel better knowing that I have gotten a significant portion of what I need now. Then after I got home, I ordered a camcorder from Best Buy. I was going to have it shipped, but we would have had to make sure we were home to sign for it (which never happens and after a week or two we eventually get the package). So I opted for pick up in store, which I will do on my way home from work today. In theory when the baby comes I'll be able to post short videos right here. A little practice may be required, so stay tuned.

Do You Believe In Bigfoot?

After spending a summer in the inland Pacific Northwest, I've heard many first hand accounts of bigfoot. Interestingly enough, when we were watching a show on bigfoot on the discovery channel, I actually did know a guy that was on there giving his account. But really, is there a bigfoot? For decades people have speculated seeing them everywhere from Washington State to Oklahoma, but little, if any, concrete evidence has been found. Then this morning my husband woke me up (ok, so my alarm was going off too I just like him better than the alarm clock:) and said they've found bigfoot. Supposedly whereever he was reading this said there will be a news conference about a bigfoot that is currently residing in a freezer in Georgia later today. I find it quite interesting and am curious what will actually come of it. Of course when I think of bigfoot I think of a video Mom and Dad and I made when I was in Idaho of us pointing one out in the trees to my sister, who made EVERY anticipated comment when she watched the video. We'd paused, letting her say what we knew she would say. Of course, there were NO bigfoot really there...or was there???

Ok, I've promised a picture of week 28 of my pregnancy so I'll post it, but I am in no way implying you should think of me as bigfoot!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

I just got home from work and was reading my friend, The Park Wife's, blog today and I found it so amusing I just have to suggest that you all go check it out. To make sense of it you may have to read some earlier blogs, but some things just won't make sense regardless of how much you know. http://theparkwife.blogspot.com/

Anyway, I'll try to get another picture up in a day or two. I just forget about getting a picture until I'm in my jammies and that isn't exactly when I want to be photographed!

Prayer for a Friend

I wanted to ask all of you to do something very important today. I want you to pray for my friend, Cassie. She is 25 years old and has been battling cancer since November. The tumor has been very slow in shrinking and they recently found four little spots of cancer on her lungs. She's been very upbeat about everything, but I simply can't imagine having to go through everything she's been through. So today, instead of reading a long blog, take some time out of your day to say a prayer for Cassie.

Vacations

It seems like everyone is going on vacation this month...everyone but me. Do I sound sad? I did have a great vacation in January, where it was nice and warm while everyone was here being cold. But I just like to travel and my boss and my parents are all going to my absolute favorite place to travel to: Yellowstone. So around the start of September, I expect to live both trips vicariously through them. My boss is technologically challenged and is still using a film camera so I probably won't be able to steal any of her pictures, but I will steal some of my parents...as long as they don't run into a buffalo stampede. Afterall, that might hurt on a goldwing!

Other noteworthy news this morning...it is only supposed to be in the 70s today. But it is supposed to rain, so it may be a long boring day at the nature center. Really, I dont have any additional noteworthy news. And honestly I'm too tired to care:)

Nighttime Gymnastics

Last night, I kept rolling over to my back, a big no-no at this point in pregnancy, so my husband rolled me up against him where I could lean on him. And he put his hand on my belly....about the time the baby started doing gymnastics or whatever she was doing. Maybe she knows the olympics are next week. He thought it was funny and would poke at her and she would poke back. Remember this is somewhere in the vicinity of 2 am. It was cute, but when he got tired, he moved his hand...meanwhile she is still playing. Needless to say, she wasn't the only one awake!

Successful Venture

Ok, so I've made progress, and a little money over the weekend. We had a powerwheels that needed a battery in our garage, I made double what my father spent on it (you want your money back?). I sold leftover stickers from my wedding scrapbook for $5. As many people as asked about those, I should have asked for more. I've had close to 10 people wanting them. I sold an old VCR. And I've had about 6 people ask about the camcorder. So I could still sell it. And this morning someone asked about my leftover wedding/house decorating flowers. So all in all, progress was made.

I also got almost all my stuff out of the baby's room, with the exception of my sewing center and the stuff out of my desk (mostly CDs--you think she'll want my music in there?:) We also decided to use the dresser in the spare bedroom for her, so now that is on my reorganization list. As long as progress is being made. But now I need to load the dishwasher and fold some laundry because I spent my whole weekend getting her stuff ready that I didnt do much housework and it still needs done.

Making Room

I decided yesterday that the time had come to start making room for the baby. Up until now, her room has been used as my craft room, which means all of my stuff needs to find a new home. Some of it I've been able to box up and simply move to our storage area under the stairs, but I've also found things in cleaning that I simply don't need anymore. So I've decided to sell stuff. Anybody in need of anything just ask, I might have it on my getting rid of list. While a garage sale might be a better bet, I just dont have the time or that much stuff to devote, so I've opted for craigslist. Extra litter boxes, microwaves, you name it. I'm also trying to sell a Hi8 camcorder so that I can buy a digital one to keep you all tuned in whenever little Emily arrives.

So now I have to go to Walmart and purchase some big tubs. Mainly for fabric (anyone need any of that? I have enough to share!) and I also have quite a bit of candlemaking supplies. Some of my crafts will inevitably get put on hold for a few years, so having to drag the stuff out when I want to use it won't be all that bad.

How about a toaster? Does anyone need a toaster? VCR? VHS movies? Or maybe you need curtain rods? I'm telling you, I have stuff...and if you are nice, I might even give it to a faithful blog reader:)

I was going back to sleep but since that never happened, I am going to Walmart. Before the crowds. It is better that way.

When It Is Hot

Do you know what frogs do when it is 100 degrees outside? They bury themselves in water or mud. You know what people do when it is 100 degrees outside? Stay inside in the A/C and not outside a frog events. Our event was fun last night but very low attendance. I think the heat might have had something to do with it.....

A Froggy Kind of Day

Tonight is the big frog event at work. It is supposed to be HOT! Which is why we have things like water guns and such included in our activities. We are also hosting a 5K walk for frogs but I'm not sure we will get very many people to do a 5K in August....I know if I weren't working I wouldnt want to be out in the heat for it, even though it will be fun.

I also have to work this weekend. And next Saturday, but at least I dont have to work at the state fair this year.

So have a good weekend everyone!