The girls are back!!!!

And I can't wait to see them!

Offer

Our house was listed on Friday and we actually received (and accepted) an offer yesterday!

Keep your fingers crossed!

Playing catch up

Who knew life could be so busy when you're not at work and school is out?!?!?!

I spent all day Wednesday going through 6, count'em 6, 30-gallon Rubbermaid containers of the kiddo's old clothes. Yes, my child has 2 grandparents that buy an obscene amount of clothes for the one and only Granddaughter...it's sickening how many things that were only worn once or (gulp) still had tags on it. I sorted them into the following categories:

• Things that were gender neutral that the munchkin could also wear
• Things that were in good condition, name brand, etc. that could go to consignment
• Things that had sentimental value that I wanted to keep (i.e. the kiddo's coming home from the hospital outfit, 1st Christmas dress, Christening gown, etc.)
• Things that didn't fit into the above categories that would be sold at an upcoming garage sale or be given to Purple Heart, Goodwill, NAM, or other charity

Then, I washed the stuff going to consignment and even ironed it. It was totally worth it, because about 3/4 of the stuff in the 2 Rubbermaid bins did get taken by the consignment shop. Woohoo! There's also a small amount of stuff that is going on E-bay...mostly the classic pooh bedding and room decor from the kiddo's nursery. I am also going to be selling our china on Ebay...we only had 4 place settings and the set has been discontinued. Oh well! Let's just say that I am on quest to get rid of anything and everything that we don't need that is cluttering up the new house. I wanted to do all this before we moved, but between work, school and just being pregnant and tired, I didn't have time.

We also worked with the Realtor to finally get the old house in the hood on the market. Keep your fingers crossed that it gets sold in a reasonable amount of time! :-) I wanna buy some new furniture for the house, but refuse to purchase with anything other than cash (thank you Dave Ramsey!).

I am happy to say that I did get to spend time hanging out too. I've been taking the kiddo to the neighborhood pool for some mommy/daughter time this weekend and we've hung out in the backyard, made cookies, etc.

Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day!

Graduation

I don't officially finish my last 2 classes until August, but since my school doesn't have an August graduation ceremony the folks in my cohort will be participating in the graduation ceremony this weekend. It's a bit anti-climatic, walking now and finishing later...I don't feel like I can "celebrate" this weekend. I might jinx something. :-) But, it is proof that I am one step closer to meeting my goal, so that's a good thing. I have to admit, it is a little exciting to be participating with the 20+ other people that I began this endeavor with 19 months ago. Despite the stress, mommy guilt, missed runs and sleep deprivation, it's been a great experience!

Maternity Leave

I have officially been on maternity leave for one week and I have to admit, while I love being at home with the baby, I am a tad bit bored! Partly because until a few days ago, I really didn't feel well enough to do a whole heck of a lot. The main thing I had to do last week was finish my Ethics paper, so that's pretty much all I did when I had time. Now that's done. The hubby is holding me to that 2 weeks of no driving after the baby that the Doctor advised...personally, I think it's silly...why can't I drive? I am looking forward to getting in some workouts, but I know I'm not quite ready for that yet. The kiddo and I have been taking little walks to the mailbox in the afternoons, but that's about it.

So, in my boredom I have discovered once again that I hate daytime TV. I love watching Ellen, but I can no longer tolerate the soap I used to watch in college. I have watched the last few episodes of The Hills, so I'm finally all caught up with that. Speaking of The Hills, it looks like Heidi is pulling a Lauren and throwing away a great career opportunity for a loser guy. What is it with those girls, anyway? Am I the only 30-something who actually cares? The preview for the next season looks like it's going to get really good!

So now, I have 4 episodes of ER that I still need to watch. After that, I'll need to find out where all my books are packed, because I have quite a few to choose from for some leisurely reading before the summer session of school begins. After school starts, I have a feeling that between that and the little bit of work I am doing from home, my maternity leave will fly by faster than I'd like.

Of course, it is fun when the baby is awake. I love to watch the little faces he makes! Here's the latest pic of him:

Blessed.

Last week, you could say I received the best Mother's Day gift of all. :-) I may be a bit hormonal and sleep deprived, but I can say that I am truly blessed this Mother's Day!

Hope all the Moms out there have a wonderful day!!!

He's Here!

After posting on Friday, I managed to get in a hour nap before the hospital called. They told me that I could come in around 11 am! Woohoo! Okay, the next paragraph may contain TMI...so skip it if you don't wanna read some childbirthing stuff...it's not bad, I promise.

We arrived and were greeted by our nurse Angela, who had just started her shift and would be with us for the "long haul". She was awesome. She started the pictocin drip around 11:45 and said I was about 2 cm dialated. My doctor came in to see me around 12:45, said I was at 4 cm and broke my water. My parents arrived next and about an hour later I could really start to feel the contractions. Enough was enough, so I asked for my epidural before they got any worse. About 5 minutes later, the epidural man (aka "my saviour") arrived and administered the drugs. Around 3 pm, my parents left to pic up the kiddo from school. DH & I decided to dim the lights and take a nap. Next thing I know, I am waking up to see Oprah on the tv. The epidural was working really well, because I couldn't feel the contractions at all...but, I could feel pressure...major pressure. The nurse had already gotten all the necessary tools out and came over to check on me. She looked a little suprised and said, "the baby is ready! I'll call the doc!" In came the doc and 2 sets of pushes later....





Baby Joseph Christopher was here at 4:45 pm! 8 lbs, 9 oz and 21 cm long.

Here's the proud Big Sister:




The 1st night in the hospital is the worst...you don't feel so great and you constantly have people coming in and out of your room all night. Naturally, they all tell you to "try to get some rest". Yeah right.

Here's the proud Daddy...



The 2nd night, we let the baby stay in the nursery so we could try to get some "real" rest. Of course, nothing is as nice as being at home in your own bed.

Here we are leaving the hospital.


So now we're at home. Trying to get some rest and just enjoying finally having the baby here. He's a sweet little guy...and he has some great lungs! :-) He does have his days and nights confused, but we'll work on that. Big Sis is so excited to have him here and wants to show him all her toys.

Babywatch cont'd

Well, I called the "Charge Nurse" this morning at 5 am and was told there was no room at the inn, um I mean, hospital right now. I am supposed to wait until the day Charge Nurse arrives at 10 am to call back if I haven't heard anything.

Soooo....it's almost 9 am now. Keep your fingers crossed that the nurse says to come right in. :-)

Until then, I think I am going to catch a quick nap...it might be a lllloooonnnngggg day!

And, thanks to everyone for their kind words, thoughts and prayers!

BABY UPDATE!

I had my regular, weekly Dr's visit this morning. Here comes the TMI part.....

I am 2 cm dialated & the baby has dropped (as if I couldn't tell my the increasing pain and pressure in the crotch area that has been especially bad this week!).

The doc is going to try to get me into Women's Hosp tomorrow to be induced! When she asked me about this at my appointment today, I decided to take her up on the offer (rather than play the ol' "wait & see" game until next week). She made the same offer with Riley and I panicked and said "No!"...which resulted in me having to wait another week and two days beyond my due date to finally be induced (and resulted in an 8 lb 13 oz baby!).

There's still the chance that because this is an "elective" inducement (meaning I'm not overdue or have any health risks), that the hospital will be too busy to admit me. If I can't get in, I will have to wait until Monday (unless little Joseph decides to come earlier). Soooo...if you think about it, please send me some prayers and "easy labor vibes" tomorrow! :-) Hopefully, we'll have a healthy baby boy by the end of the day!

Thank God I took my MIS final yesterday!!! Now, I just have a few things to finish up at work....