New Item: SaraBear Diaper Caddy

Meet the SaraBear diaper caddy. Totally cool, awesomely stylish, completely practical. Bigger than the caddy I already have. They come in several colors, so finding one that fits with the style of my house shouldn't be too much of a problem. If it is, I can always make one, right? I'm thinking, a little fabric, a basket, and some iron-on hemming tape should do the trick.

But why, you ask, is this such an awesome thing for me to want several, or at least a few? Because, dear readers and friends, my baby's room is upstairs, and our room is downstairs. I know it's not practical. But that's the way my house is built. And it's not practical or feasible to move our room to the upstairs right now. Not enough time, too much stuff, you get the picture. Plus, my doctor won't want me to go up and down the stairs for the first couple of weeks or so anyway.

We already have one (not a SaraBear, and not this color), and I've already started putting stuff in it. (Mainly because we needed the extra space that big box of diapers took up. You know, so we could go buy more diapers.) I'm thinking, one for the living room and one for the bedroom. That way, I won't be sending my dear, sweet husband upstairs five times a day for diapers and wipes and diaper cream and...... Seems smarter to me. I could buy or make one (preferably buy, of course. We all know how this is likely to end if I try to make one now....) to match our living room. This one would kinda match, but not really.

The one we have already matches both the bay's room and our bedroom. By having two caddies, hopefully it will eliminate having to bring one caddy from bedroom to living room, then it's time to go to bed, and in the middle of the night you realize you left the darn thing in the living room. Kinda fits in with my motto: Work smarter, not harder.

Note to self: also need to buy two or three plastic rolling cart-with-drawer thingies for storing baby stuff in the bedroom the first few weeks. Since there's no need in even trying to clear out a dresser drawer. It won't ever happen, unless it gets done during my leave while I'm nesting. Also need one or two more under-bed storage boxes for our bedroom. Or some space bags. Either way, they're just going to be storing old sheets and stuff I really don't need right now, since they don't fit my bed. And don't forget to look for some kinda diaper caddy to match the living room, SaraBear brand or not.

Project Procrastinator's Party

I'm joining in on the Project Procrastinator's Party at The Inspired Room. Click on the link for more details, and to follow along with us.

My project will be my kitchen table. I hope two weeks is enough time for me to do this. But I really need to get it done, so here goes. **deep breaths**

I will take a pic tonight, and post it then. It's horrible, and I am ashamed to show you what it looks like. I'll be truthful, though. Except that technically, I have to start on my project before a pic is posted, because I believe my camera is on said table. Easy to get to, it's not buried under all the piles, but it's still there.

Also, in the interest of truthfulness (is that a word? My pregnant-brain can't remember right now....), I will dump all my work stuff on it before taking said picture. That's where I dump it every night anyway, mainly because the table is the right height for me to pack my bag in the mornings and pick it up without bending over, which would NOT go so well for me right now if I tried. That's my excuse, anyway. Really, I've dumped my stuff there every day for the last (over) two years, and I'm not stopping now. We don't eat there. My pic later will prove why we don't eat there. That and, frankly, my couch is more comfy after twelve and a half hours at work than any kitchen chair could ever hope to be.

So, I'll add my pic to this post later tonight via the magic of editing. Until then, imagine Mount Saint Helens piled on a table, ready to erupt at any moment (AKA, all my piles of stuff sliding off into the floor AGAIN).

Gah... Still behind the times.....

I just figured out that Google Reader gives you the option of creating folders to store blog feeds in.... DUH! I was wishing Blogger had that function, then I thought, "Why don't you hop on over to Google, and check out the Google Reader? I bet you can organize your blog feeds there." Guess what??? Of course you can. And I've been dealing with my Blogger Dashboard for how long, when I could have been using Reader???? Why didn't someone tell me this?!?!?


Edited at 12:24 to add:
So, I added all my blogs from blogger to Google Reader. I gave each one a tag so I could remember why I had followed these blogs (after I had to open some of them and scroll through trying to figure out why. But that's because I just weeded all my blogs out, and subscribed to a few new ones, which still left me with less blogs to follow than before!). I'm figuring out how to use the reader, and I have to say, I think I like it better than Blogger's reader. Google automatically tells me if there are any new updates since I last checked out all my feeds, so I know if I need to waste time trying toscroll through posts or not. I just scrolled through about the last week of feeds, and then marked all of them as read, so I can start off with "0 new". I figure if I haven't read them, I don't need to, right??

To-Do List update

It's been a while, so I think I need to update on my progress of wading through my massive to-do list.

I cleared everything out of my office closet except papers that need filing or scanning and trashing. I organized all my pens, pencils, markers, labels, etc. into bins. I put everything back in the cabinet neatly. I put items of a similar type (writing utensils, notepads, sticky notes.....) together in the cabinet.

I bought a few more pieces of maternity clothes. I could use a few more shirts, but I'm almost there, so trying to hold out on buying more.

I cleaned our ceiling fans. I also went through the house and dusted all the cobwebs hanging from the ceiling. While I was in the bedroom dusting, I cleaned the TV and dusted the entertainment center there. (Bonus points for me!)

I pre-registered at the hospital. Now I'm ready to go, in 6 to 8 weeks..... :) (Still have to pack my bags, wash some of the stuff baby will need the first week, get all that stuff downstairs, and buy a couple of those plastic carts-on-wheels to hold his stuff for the first few weeks, when I don't feel like and can't physically go upstairs....)

I got my hair cut! And my eyebrows waxed! I think it's been 8 years or longer since my hair has been this short. The longest layer is down to barely past the top of my shoulders. Now I can go in for a trim when I take my maternity leave before the baby gets here, and I'll (hopefully) be good to go there for a couple of months (until about the time I get ready to go back to work, give or take).

Our glider came in, and has been assembled. Yay us! It only took about 15 minutes to put together. It was just about 12 screws or so. So easy!

I bought a breast pump. I couldn't decide, so for now I got one from Walmart, an Evenflo single electric pump. Then one of the girls I work with offered me hers. I just have to buy new valves and stuff for it. It's a Medela. So if my Evenflo gives out, like a lot of people said will happen, I have a back-up.

I bought new, bigger nursing bras. Walmart doesn't sell anything that I could find above a DD cup, so I had to settle for going up a band size for now. I really need a 38F. I had to deal with a 40DD. It still fits pretty well, for now. If they'd get a little bigger soon, it would fit perfectly. I don't want to have to keep buying bras that probably won't fit once my milk comes in. I have so many better things I could spend that money on every month or two. I now have around 6 or 8 bras that I've bought the last 8 months, that don't fit anymore, and 2 that I can wear comfortably. Pitiful, isn't it? I do have a girlfriend who is giving me 2 new bras, I think a 38F and one maybe larger than that??? I can't remember.... She never wore them, she didn't get big enough for them.

So that's where I stand with THE LIST right now. I can live with that. Nesting is starting to set in. I get home from work and look around at all the things I need to do, but am too tired for, and a slight panic starts to creep in. So I take a deep breath and try to convince myself to not care, and so far it works.

To Do List and general update

Yay! More stuff done!!!! My shower is done. Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who came , and for all the wonderful gifts! I am so grateful that so many people love our child and are so excited for us, that they would take time out to come to my shower. I never imagined we would get so many beautiful, nice gifts! Thank you cards are coming soon!!

Now, for my To Do list:

1.) Debbie (bless her) got bored at my house while Aaron was trying to fix Dave's computer one evening, and she scrubbed my microwave!!! Can you believe it? I could have kissed her!
2.) I filed all my 2008 HCSA receipts, and have gotten reimbursed for them. I managed to file enough receipts to use up everything in there from last year. I also went ahead and files some from this year, that I could find. Since I filed them, I have made a manila envelope to hold receipts until they're filed, so I can actually find them when I need them.
3.) Michael had Aaron clean the carpet upstairs. He had to clean his room, since it was his dog that peed and pooped in there, so he cleaned the little 4 foot by 5 foot landing at the top, too.

Really, in all actuality, I only personally completed ONE thing from my list, but I'm still counting it all. Hey, a pregnant gal takes credit for everything she can, right??? ;)

Also, I have discovered Google Documents. Totally awesome! I mean, I've known about it for some time, but never used it. Today, I have begun uploading documents to the site. Now I can access them from any computer with an internet connection. Good thing, since I have docs scattered across the desktops of most of the computers at work. I'm trying to gradually get them all loaded onto Google and sorted into folders and deleted from the hard drives. One small step towards being organized. I'm also doing the same for my email, since I'll frequently make a personal document and email it to myself so I have it at home and work. This will help clean out my inbox. :)

My glider came in that Michael's parents and sis/bil bought for us. We're going to put it in the living room for now. We'll be getting that put together this weekend, if he didn't do it today. Add that to the to-do's. Also, thank you cards for the gifts we've received, ordering my breast pump, grocery shopping, getting a haircut, pre-registering at the hospital, and buying larger bras (again). It never ends.

My breast pump will probably be the Lansinoh double electric pump from BRU. I have a 15% off coupon for any pump, and it looks to be the best-rated for the money that they sell. My coupon isn't good until April 17, so I have to wait until then to order.

Grocery shopping won't be that bad. I'll be working every day except Mondays, beginning next Tuesday (April 21) until I decide that I'm crazy for trying to work the outage while this pregnant, or until my doctor says otherwise, or until my bosses force me off shift due to my advanced prenatal state, or until my leave starts the first of June. Therefore, groceries will consist of stuff like pizza, fries, chili dogs, bagged salad mixes and fresh veggies to make side salads, stuff for me to eat at work, and such. Stuff the guys can cook without oversight by me. Because if I have to come home and oversee dinner prep, I'll eat cereal or a sandwich and go to bed.

Since groceries will probably come from Walmart, getting the bras and thank you cards won't be such a big deal. As long as I remember to buy them.

I'll get my hair cut and pre-register at the hospital Friday before shopping. I say Friday because there's rain in the forecast for Saturday and Sunday. Boo.... It figures it would rain during my last weekend off for a while.

Chris will be staying with us one night this weekend. His visit last weekend got cancelled because Pooh went into the hospital again, so we had to rush to Huntsville.

Monday will bring another doctor's appointment. Can you tell it's getting closer to delivery day? The every-other-week appointments have started. This one should be just a regular check-up.

In other news, Pooh and the twins are hanging in there. So far, so good. They've stayed put a few more days. Her OB believes all would be well if they were to come now, but would still prefer to keep them in as long as possible. The mag seems to have done the trick. At last check, she was back off the mag and on just IV fluids, and her appetite is back. She's been craving baked potatoes. :)

Lori's mom made it fine through her back surgery. They had to completely remove the damaged disk, and "screw" her spine back together. She is home and in some pain, but fine otherwise.

Chris had a baseball game Saturday, that we got to go to. His team lost, but they played really well. Most of their practices last month got rained out. They didn't get to practice as much as they had scheduled, but the kids still did realy well considering this is self-pitch instead of coach-pitch. One boy on the team has never played before this year. He did really well, too. Our pitcher started out throwing his pitched over the batter's head, but he quickly settled down to pitch a good game. He struck several players out. Chris has just enough team mates for the team to play a game (9 players are required). If even one boy misses a game and a sub can't be brought in from the other team at the school, then they have to forfeit the game. Saturday we had one sub player. Chris did well in the game, too. He has really improved over the level he played at two years ago. He didn't play last year, because he lived with his mom and didn't want to play there. It seems to have instilled more confidence in him, which is great. As long as it's confidence and not arrogance. He is quick to point out himself the areas he could improve in. He is also quick to acknowledge his teammates' improvements, good plays, etc. All in all, the boys had fun, and that's what we're all there for.

That's all I can think of for now. Not much, is it??? :) That's what I get for neglecting my blogging like I have the last week or two, I guess. Hopefully I will be able to update more regularly. I had gotten into the habit pretty good, but I let that slip with all we did this past week and weekend.

Blitz-it Friday #2

For info on Blitz-it Friday, or to join in the fun, click the button above.

I am participating in Blitz-it Friday hosted by Organized Everyday whenever I can. One more small step toward an organized house, ya know? I missed Blitz-it Friday #1, but that's OK. I wouldn't have gotten it done, anyway, since I worked night shift last weekend.

Since I had to work today, I blitzed yesterday. I worked on organizing my kitchen cabinets. They weren't horrible, I supposed, but they bothered me. And people in my house keep eating the food and snacks I buy for me to take to work. Or they'll eat something I have planned for dinner. Then they feel bad when I get on them about it, which isn't exactly fair.

In the interest of fairness to them and keeping my food for me, I went through all of my kitchen cabinets that store food. I took out all of "my" food, as well as all the dinner ingredients I have planned meals around. I put them all on one side of my kitchen, in two cabinets, in a semi-organized fashion (meaning all of "my" food is together, and everything else is grouped by "food in a box" or "food in a can".

I took all the food that has no specific purpose other than "someone" eating it when they want a snack, or I'm not home to cook, etc. and put it in the other cabinets, on the other side of my kitchen. I grouped these into a cabinet of meal-type foods (cans of soup, canned pasta, etc.) and snack food (cereal, popcorn, etc.).

I took all of the kitchen appliances, storage boxes, canisters, etc. and put them in a cabinet, which will also house 2 liters of drinks, sugar for tea, garbage bags (the cabinet is right beside the can, more convenient than across the kitchen in the drawer full of aluminum foil and such), chips, etc.

I actually worked on this for about 3 hours, off and on, while I made a menu for all of April and part of May, using up as much as I can from my stash of canned veggies and rice mixes. I actually went through the dinner ingredients, took out what I had already planned on, made a list of what was left, and found a day to eat it on. We're trying to save a little extra money before the baby is born, so I'm trying to cut down on grocery expenses by using what we have, taking advantage of sales, and using coupons when I can.

My next blitz will be finishing the kitchen cabinets. I still have the cabinets holding my dishes, mixing bowls, and cookware left to do. I hope to get to blitz sometime next week, if not Friday. Monday I am going grocery shopping, and I have to sit down and pay bills (yuck....). I have to work night shift Tuesday through Thursday nights. I have to pick up the keys to the community center for my baby shower Friday afternoon. My shower is Saturday. Maybe Monday after grocery shopping? I can come home, unload the car, put up the perishable items, blitz those cabinets, then organize the canned goods. I can use my breaks during the blitz to pay bills. Sounds like my plan!

Armoire is up!

So, I convinced my husband (no big amount of convincing necessary) that we needed to carry the armoire up the stairs, piece by piece. So he carried it all up for me. We got it put together, and it looks great. The only problem is, the stupid holes pre-drilled for the cam locks were too big, so we had problems trying to get them to stay attached. I'm going to have to glue some of the pieces together. Mainly, the drawer fronts to the drawers. Then it should be good to go.

We're still waiting on our crib. And we still need to steam clean Michael's recliner, which is already in the room waiting to be cleaned. Other than that, we're well on track to get all this done before June. :) I may whip this procrastination thing I have going yet! Probably not, but it does make me feel better to think of all the work we accomplished while I was off work.

I had the coolest thought today. The baskets I bought at Babies R Us during our mega shopping session worked perfectly in the armoire. I had room left over on each shelf inside it, but not enough for more baskets that size. I have lots of little stuff already that I need somewhere to store. I have these little boes with drawers in them for my sewing stuff that I will use one day. I tried one, and it worked well.

So after measuring the space left inside the armoire, off to Big Lots we went. I wanted to get four more cases of the G2 type Gatorade, which Big Lots was selling for $6 each. No Gatorade in the store. They're out of it. :( But they DID have the little organizers with drawers, like you would buy from Walmart for your desk, etc. They will be perfect inside the armoire for feeding spoons, thermometers, nasal aspirators, etc. until we actually need them. So I bought 2 little ones and 2 big ones.

While there, I also bought more scrapbooking stuff (that stuff is addictive), a baby blanket, a few onesies, an infant toy that makes noise and such.... And to think, all I wanted was some Gatorade that they didn't even have! LOL.

Some of our friends asked Michael why we were doing a nursery when the baby won't be in there much. The answer is: BECAUSE WE CAN and BECAUSE I WANT TO! They think we're nuts for doing so much in there, when the baby will be sleeping in our room for at least the first several months. Whatever. My money, my house, my child. They can bite me. Really, I don't mind them asking. It doesn't really make sense for us to do all this. Until you realize that we will may be moving our room upstairs sometime in the future (according to my loving, incorrect husband). I would rather add on to our house, and then not have to worry about moving upstairs. We'll see.

Enough writing for now. Dinner should be ready. Tonight, chili. Mainly because I haven't frozen the ground beef we bought yesterday, so I didn't have to thaw anything at 6:00 to cook dinner. Love to all.

Quick update - AKA my 17w3d "Almost halfway there" freak-out

I have almost reached the halfway point of this pregnancy. Wow. Halfway there. Five more months. Considering I will work one of those months in "outage mode", then that really only leaves me with 4 productive months to get EVERYTHING done... Oh CRAP! We've bought a few onesies and a couple of cases of diapers and a few other things we KNOW we're gonna need, but that's about it. I've picked out my nursery furniture. Then I checked and half the set is on back order, so I may have to pick out something different just to make sure it gets here on time. We know what theme we want to go with, depending on whether the baby has a penis or a vajayjay. I haven't registered, picked out bedding, painted, cleaned out the nursery, bought baby clothes, or anything like that. There's still carpet to clean, walls to wash, a glider and ottoman to pick out, a house to organize, clutter and "stuff" to go through and trash anything I can, boxes to unpack from when we bought our house eighteen months ago, Chris's scrapbook to work on, the baby scrapbook to start as soon as the gender is revealed to us.... OHMYGOD! Four more months is not enough time. Not with the way I work, days this week, nights next week...... For Pete's sake, I just ordered my first few pieces of actual maternity clothes today. I'll have to buy more ASAP. My scrub tops for work are almost too small in the belly already. I guess sooner or later I'll resort to wearing maternity jeans and t-shirts to work, just so my belly will stay covered.

OK, freak out over. I feel better. I know it'll get done, if I get off my butt on my days off and do it. Lately I have had no motivation to do anything other than eat and sleep. I'll have to change that. I think my work/sleep schedule has a lot to do with it. My poor body doesn't know if I'm coming or going, on top of being invaded by a foreign person with whom it has to share everything. I have to work nights next Tuesday through Thursday night, but then it's 3 weeks of day shift. Hopefully then I'll take on a more regular schedule and I'll feel like actually doing something during the day other than sitting on the couch watching TV and surfing the internet.

The good news is, as of January 6, I've only gained about four pounds the last 17 weeks. I want to gain a little more than the minimum recommended weight, but I want to stay away from the upper end of "recommended", and I definitely DO NOT want to gain over the recommended amount. I think 30 pounds, give or take one or two, would be good. I gained over 35 pounds last time, but I was a teenager, so it was recommended for me to gain a little extra then. Not this time. This time I get 25 to 35 pounds. Period. And I intend to aim for closer to 30 than 35.

Funny, four pounds gained equals a belly so big people at work are starting to notice it under my scrubs. Good grief! I'm going to be a lot bigger than last time, I think..... :)