Turkey Weekend

I was so excited for my parents to come and be the first ones to test out Hotel L, they arrived late on Wednesday (darn Chicago traffic), but I was excited to see them so I stayed up late and waited. My mother packed for the week anticipating the arrival of the one who remains nameless, much to her dismay and to a little bit of mine baby L decided Thanksgiving best be served without her.

Here's me struggling to get the cranberry sauce out of the can:


Making his debut is D, carving the turkey!


Our little spread:


As you can see it was a very low key celebration, but I loved the elastic waistband theme, of course I ate too much and we watched movies and zoned in and out of consciousness. Really, not a whole heck of a lot to the day. We called our family in Wisconsin to catch up and say hello, but it was nice to just have a quiet holiday as I was not hiding the turkey under my shirt, but instead carrying the baby. I look at that picture and would like you to know, it really is as uncomfortable as it looks, but still wouldn't change it for the world.

If she wants to spend all her time in there, then she'll spend it all in there, I can protect her, have her and hold her 24/7 as I have the past 10 months. Shortly after that though baby, you gotta start paying the rent! Throughout my pregnancy I thought I would have her early, I was wrong and that's okay. Knowing I'll be giving birth to a full term, healthy baby is worth it. I look forward to reading all your Turkey day celebrations!

Hotel L

D and I remodeled the guest bedroom to be like a real guest bedroom for the company we are anticipating once our little girl decides to make her appearance or gets dragged out. Isn't it pretty?





If you do chose to stay at Hotel L, you'd even get your own private bathroom!



We are now accepting reservations!

Happy Tuesday

Hi all, I'm going to keep this post short and sweet. We are preparing for my parents to come into town tomorrow and also preparing for baby. Our doctors appointment was cancelled yesterday because our doc had five babies to deliver in the morning and three to deliver that afternoon. She was in delivery when we arrived, the patient was pushing and last we were told was that the patient might have to have a c-section.

I felt so bad for D, he left work (he's getting just as anxious) and was really hoping to have heard that we were ready to meet our baby girl. I was too, but had some (lots) of cleaning to get done, baby won't come till the house is clean right?! Anyways, we got our camera and our memory card works! D and I put together the spare bedroom yesterday, just got to set up our bed frame and we'll be open for business.

I will leave you with a pic of my bff's from Milwaukee, this picture was from my shower and these girls mean a whole lot to me!

There are no mistakes, only lessons

So happy Friday! This is a melancholy day for me as today marks the second job I will have left this year, this job is a lot easier to leave than my first one, but still I am leaving a job. Two jobs this year alone, I worry about how that will look on my resume when I resume being a part of the work force. I will also not be contributing to the household income which is a stupid stressor I put on myself as it has not been about money with D. He told me yesterday the car I wanted was $650 a month, (he looked, not me) but maybe he can afford that in a couple years! I just think it's so sharp looking! What do you think?


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Also, today marks one year ago from the day I met D. I would not have imagined we would be preparing for a baby or living in Indy. We don't have any special plans, he's had a rough week at work and I've been pretty lazy and sloth like around the house. Not what most think of when they think "anniversary," but I'm just fine with it.

I've been on strike. I don't mind doing the housework, but I really want D to help get things ready for the baby. I want him to pick the upstairs or downstairs and spend a few hours cleaning and dusting (I'll do the other), hopefully we can get this done this weekend. I also want to do the baby's laundry as I bought the sensitive detergent (Arm & Hammer, it was cheap), wipe down the walls of the nursery and hang the pretty picture we got for her. I got a new memory card for the camera, so I can document this! Yay, pictures! Let's just hope THIS one works!

I learned a hard lesson this week and it still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, I had to pay $150 for making a right hand turn (which unbeknownst to me is the minimum traffic fine in Hamilton County). I went to court, the officer did not tell the truth under oath, but I still had to pay the fine. I will elaborate further when I am not so angry.

It's always like this this time of year, when it's dark by the time you get out of work I have such a difficult time to find the motivation to do anything, add on 38 weeks of pregnancy and I'm spent by the time I get home. It is a full moon this weekend (apparently babies are born during full moons), but I am hoping I can have some time to relax and finalize all the preparations and enjoy a fun girls night out (which I desperately need).

How do you handle the winter darkness?

Weekend Wrap Up

Hello all, hope you had a good weekend. I did not have a very motivational weekend. D and I went to K&G Friday night to get him some suits for a great price (sale ends November 21), then we headed to a Chinese buffet with sushi (I really miss sushi). We perused Trader Jack's and although I love the pretzel bread, the lines were long and that's the only thing we would have purchased so we passed. We wandered into a trendy furniture store, but only to browse, maybe when we move into a home we'll look into new stuff, but I would die if D spent $400 on a chair.

Saturday, D went golfing with his buddies and I didn't do anything except two loads of laundry which are folded, but sitting on the chaise lounge in our living room. I met him out at the bar afterwards for a bite to eat then we came home and called it a night.

Sunday, we went to Super Target to get the rest of the items for baby. We had nearly $175 in gift cards, but still ended up spending $170 - babies are expensive. We still need a bumper, however baby won't be in her crib for a good two months or so after she's born so she'll be fine. D went out to watch football, and I watched 16 and pregnant and Teen Mom at home. I was on strike this weekend for cleaning. We finished up the weekend with game of Uno with D's friend B and had Pork Tenderloin for dinner.

SourceThis is my last week of work before the baby! The second job I have left in a year, I'm excited about being a mommy, but fear that all this coming and going will hurt my job search when I need to begin one again. D has been working his butt off and assures me I don't have to worry. He's getting more and more excited each day, he's even asked why we can't just have the baby now like I'm a kangaroo and can just take it out of my pouch and viola! there's the baby. If it were only that easy...

Attending Birthing Class

On Saturday morning we were up bright and early to head to our Birthing class, since I'm due in less than 4 weeks, it was about time to finally do the class. We had signed up for the class in September, but it was cancelled. We were signed up for one in October, but it was (what we thought would be) one of the last nice days in Indianapolis so we skipped it. Our final chance to do the weekend class BEFORE the due date was on D's "birthday week," but he declared last weekend his birthday weekend so I didn't feel too bad dragging him to class.

The teacher gave us an exercise to do separately of what we envision for our birth, what is important to us, D and I are on the same page regarding how we want the birth to be. I did ask about being induced since my mom will be coming from Milwaukee, however, we both chose to just "let it happen." I am nervous and more anxious as my due date nears, the unknown, the when. However, the excitement and anticipation is something I would like to enjoy while we can.

We learned different relaxation techniques, different "tools" to help relief pain during labor (i.e. medicine ball, tennis ball, massage tools even a painting roller), aroma therapy, and visual aids. Several birthing videos were played and, no joke, the lady running the class told us to go get lunch from the cafeteria and bring it back to the classroom to watch another video, I'm not squeamish about that, but thought some people might be.

We toured the hospital, saw the labor, delivery and recovery room. I inspected the room, the bed, bathroom, closets and television trying to familiarize myself with those surrounds knowing the next time I am in there it will be to meet my baby. We saw the room where we will go after recovery, the nursery where she will get the APGAR test and the nurses' stations. The whole experience helped me feel more at ease after viewing and imagining everything taking place, it wasn't eye opening, but I wouldn't say it was a waste.

Source I know the birth won't be like in the movies where my water breaks and 5 minutes later I'm pushing,especially since this is my first pregnancy. As great as that would be, still I get anxious. D is great about not getting stressed out under pressure and has really been supportive of my crazy pregnancy brain, ridiculous questions/scenarios, shopping trips and projects I want to get done around the house. His newest nickname for me is, most appropriately, "Nester."

What do you do to calm your anxiety?

RMHC Event

Hello dear readers! Wow, what a weekend, I have so many posts and not so many pictures. Now that I am nearing the final stretch, my temp job has had someone fill in for me on the days I have my doctor's appointments. I only have two more weeks left of work, but was a bit bummed at losing the three days of pay, but the time off so far has not been boring!

This past Friday was the first of my days off. I met D on Thursday night after work at K & G Superstore (they are having a fantastic sale on men's suits), we left my car there and went to dinner before returning home for the evening. Friday morning, we drove to get my car, we switched cars for the day because my CD player is broke (and I missed my music) and his is automatic. Don't get me wrong I still love my manual transmission, but sometimes it's a nice break especially because I had so many errands to run.

I went back to the house, did some laundry, cleaned up the kitchen and ate some breakfast and headed to the doc. Everything was good and no changes except in the size of my belly! Baby's heartbeat was 150. I planned on going to the post office, but realized once I left the house, I didn't get directions to the Aveda Institute where I was going so I used the extra time to find it. I was getting my hair and makeup done for the Ronald McDonald House Charity event at the beautiful Roof Top Ballroom downtown!



The place was beautiful! The event was great, they had a silent auction, fabulous food and (I heard) the wine was great! There were a few heartbreaking stories and of course I was the pregnant lady sobbing all through the stories. One of the most touching was of a family who had a little girl and she lived only 3 1/2 weeks. The family thanked RMH for "a lifetime of memories in 3 1/2 weeks," it was very touching and pulled at every one's heart strings.

It was a beautiful evening for a great event, we were both exhausted and headed home. We had a big weekend ahead of us: birthing class and cleaning! I'll save that for my next blog post, I would hate to overwhelm you on a Monday!

32 years ago today

32 years ago today, I wasn't even a glimmer in my mother's eye. 32 years ago today, D's mother was in the hospital, pushing out a 8 pound, 13 ounce baby boy. This baby would grow as a boy to be a great mathematician.


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As a young man, he served his country as a Marine.


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I've had the Beach Boys lyric in my head all week and although he would say "barf" to this, it's the truth "God only knows where I'd be without you..."

Happy Birthday to my Beloved!

36 Weeks

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Today I'm unofficially 36 weeks pregnant! One more week and baby is "full term." The crib is built. The diapers, wipes and Desitin are placed on the shelves, we have nooks, baby wash, lotion, oil, powder. We have blankets (oh do we have blankets), we have burp cloths, washcloths, towels. We have sleepers, onsies, socks, outfits and a Christmas dress. We have a base, a carseat, a stroller, a boppy, a bounce chair, a bumbo, a bassinet, and a pack n' play aka baby jail.

I cry when I hear country songs about a baby girl, last night, on the ride home I heard Rodney Adkins "Cleaning This Gun" and sobbed through the 465 to 69 bypass. This morning, I googled "baby girl country songs" I came across Kenny Chesney - There Goes My Life and the tears flowed from reading the lyrics.

We're so close I can taste it, I have spent more time looking through the baby clothes we have than I have watching my DVR'd shows. I have visions on photographing her under the Christmas Tree all snuggled up in a diaper with a big large bow on her. I imagine meeting her, holding her, having her close to my skin, feeding her, bathing her, watching her. I wonder will she look at me, will she open her eyes right away and know I'm her mommy. Will she have hair, will she be bald?

D is beyond ecstatic, we went out last night with his coworkers and he was just so excited talking about his baby girl, he observed how his friend always lights up when he talks about his son and I could see the same light in D when he spoke about his daughter. I've spoken to old friends, they have told me they can hear in my voice that I am happy, one mentioned a twinge of jealousy over how things are coming together in my life.

We have so much to do, but still "not that much," we are finally doing our birthing classes THIS week after postponing them twice. I can say now in a "couple" weeks we could be doing the real thing, we'll consider this weekend the practice run.

How did/would you feel when you are thisclose to meeting your baby?