Shopping and Reading

Well, the pregnant thing is going well. I got new shoes to wear to work, my loafers and my mary janes were all busted uncomfortable, and my feet were killing me by the end of the day. So I looked for something that could hopefully work as comfort and could potentially be worn with skirts like Mary Janes.... and I picked some Sketchers Bikers in Black. They arrived (FINALLY) yesterday and I do love them. I love how the bottoms have great grip and traction, so I hopefully won't slip and fall while preggo. The only thing is that they don't have much arch support, but I bought my regular size and they seem to be a little bigger, so I think they will work well even if my feet start to swell or something.... and I may be able to add some insoles with some arch support.

I also ordered a pair of slides and a dress to wear to a wedding we are going to in May, for our friend Joe. I can't wait since I am pregnant I don't get to go "out" really. I tend to be at home crocheting or watching TV or organizing or sleeping. LOL. I can't wait to go! I really want to get a pedicure since I can't seem to paint my toenails accurately now. But my nail-doing/hairdresser friend is too pregnant to do pedicures... so I will have to find a new place for this one time. I grabbed a cute Maternity Wrap Dress for $24 from Old Navy, and some cute slides from payless for like $16.99, which will allow me to be comfy on my feet for the reception and hopefully be able to wear them all summer comfortably too. They have a low wedge heel, so I think they will be fab. I used to have a pair almost identical years ago, but they got icky and I tossed them. They have always been my favorite kinds of slides. The dress is super cute but it's hard to see details in the picture (click to make larger) since it's all black. it has turnback sleeves or you can wear them full length.... and it has a cute tie with a bow on the left side in front, and it wraps across the chest. The tie is just above your belly for an empire waist look. It also has a johnny collar neck. So that's exciting for me. LOL.

It's Wednesday, which I am happy about, but of course I can't wait for the weekend. The house is clean and I am working on laundry, Evan was so nice last night to help me by rolling the dishwasher over after I loaded it with dirty dishes and soap, and then helping carry clean towels and rugs up and then helping me fold them without even having to be asked. I just love when he does little things like that.

I got a new magazine called Mothering. I actually really enjoy it, although it can be a bit too granola munching, Latched on Babies, and Slings. I want to breastfeed. I want to have a sling.... but I don't believe that my baby needs to sleep in my bed for the first year to be healthy and happy, and I don't believe that I need to wear my baby all day long, and I don't believe that I need to breast feed for 5 years. The first year would be an awesome goal that I will try my hardest to do, but hey, Baby steps here! They can go really over the top about the whole thing, but they have good articles that do give out good information on topics that I find interesting as a new mom. I think 1 year won't be a bad subscription.

They are also very into natural or green living, and cleaning with vinegar and wearing all organic cotton, and in the back there are a few scary advertisements for things like washable cotton maxi pads and sea sponge tampons. (that may be taking it a little too far.) If I were a SAHM I might have more time to think of those things, but I do try to think of the environment. I don't like styrofoam and I recycle and I donate to arbor day and sign petitions and try to stay aware. But I don't feel the need to use cloth diapers or sea sponge tampons. Sorry. I have to draw the line somewhere. But they do have great articles about supporting breastfeeding mothers and allowing breastfeeding in public places, which I am all for.

They have a few things that I think are meant to scare the bejeezus out of you and force you to think you are a bad mother if you don't exchange your mattress and your baby's for an all organic mattress, because there is some chemical in your mattress that is found in ALL Mother's breast milk and how come you don't feel AWFUL for feeding your baby these poison toxins!? But I did read something else interesting... that wal-mart sells nursery water (marked as such, for babies) with Fluoride. And this is a HUGE no-no. Apparently babies are getting TOO Much fluoride because it's in their formula AND it's in their nursery water (in certain cases) and Dr.'s for the American Academy of Pediatrics say that it's too much fluoride and I can't remember the side effects or whatever it causes.... but it was like WHOA! So I learn things that are relevant.

I am coveting the La Leche League Book and a few other breastfeeding books at Amazon.com but I am too cheap to buy them now, since I am saving cash for our weekend to Milwaukee. But eventually, I will own them.

So since my mind is mostly consumed with being pregnant, that's all I can think of, and that's all I have to say.

It's a..... !!

Hello! Sorry I am a sucky blogger these days, but I am growing a baby and all that. So over the weekend we had Grandpa's 80th Birthday party, which was fun. I was tired by 7:30. LOL.

Sunday we did NOTHING. I watched cable and ate a whole cardboard pizza.

Monday was the "BIG" Ultrasound, where we we re supposed to find out baby's sex. Well. Baby didn't think that was necessary.

We couldn't tell if it is a boy or girl.... Everyone together now "Damn!"

The baby had it's ankles crossed for 99% of the 1 hour ultrasound. We even got a little video of it's ankles crossed. LOL. The ultrasound tech said that we can hope that it's a good little girl since the ankles were crossed.

At the end, the legs did uncross but they were totally together. We did see the "3 white lines" of a girl, but the ultrasound tech said there is NO WAY that she is saying girl or boy because without a good view, this can still be a boy. She said she "sees no boy parts" but that's with the legs closed, but that isn't unusual and sometimes it turns out to be a boy a few weeks later. Testicles can descend up to 26 weeks. So I guess it will be a little while before we can tell for sure. For now it's still just Baby Johnson!

She did say that everything looks great, the baby measures right on with our calculations and the due date matches exactly what I told the Midwife and the Midwife told me. Looks like a labor day baby! We heard the heartbeat the clearest we have yet, it was at 153 BPM and we saw an excellent photo of all 4 perfectly sectioned chambers of the heart. And the baby waved at us. And we saw the usual spine, heartbeat, brain, arms, legs.... the whole deal. My favorite was the little arms and legs with all the bones intact.

We will try again in 6-7 weeks to see what we can see.

Well, besides that work is busy as usual and I have plenty to do. Hope all is well with everyone.... if anyone still reads!

Friday Yay!

Here comes the weekend! YAY!!!

Bought lotsa books at the bookfair today!

The Bump is BIGGER! LOL.

1. Four years ago -- where were you?
Right here in the exact same spot. Seriously. Same house, same job.

2. What bores you to tears?
Um. Not sure.

3. Do you have rhythm?
Not when it comes to dancing... but musically yes.

4. Who would you like to see today?
Carrie and Angela.

5. Friday fill-in:
Always thought that I'd Work In Agriculture.

Breaking News In Town Today...

THURSDAY APRIL 5, 2007 Last modified: Thursday, April 5, 2007 10:39 AM CDT

The Princeton Post Office was evacuated early this morning after a suspicious package was found on a delivery truck.

Breaking News...Suspicious package

By Donna Barker
dbarker@bcrnews.com

PRINCETON — Two blocks of Princeton’s South Main Street were blocked off and evacuated early Thursday morning after an unknown white powdery substance was found in the back of a mail delivery truck at the Princeton Post Office.

Princeton Police Spokesman Dan Sissel said the Princeton Fire and Police Departments received the call about 5:35 a.m. after the mail truck driver found and reported the unknown powder in the back of his truck. The powder was apparently loose on the floor of the truck, Sissel said.

F.B.I. Agent Steffan Nass and Princeton Post Office representative Janet Spanos were called to the scene, as well as about 50 emergency personnel from Walnut, Wyanet, Mendota, Utica and Tiskilwa, in addition to the Princeton Fire and Police Departments. Area hazardous materials units responding to the scene included MABAS Division 25 as well as MABAS Division 57.

Princeton Fire Department Deputy Chief John Petrakis, incident commander, set up the former Bureau County Republican building, located directly north of the post office, as the command post. Several persons, who were exposed to the unknown substance, were being examined by ambulance personnel within the command post. Three persons were transferred to Perry Memorial Hospital, in Princeton, as a precautionary measure, Sissel said.

Sissel confirmed the mail truck had made earlier stops at Peru and Spring Valley.

Updates will be available throughout the day on our Web site.

Busy Bee

Well, the weekend has been exciting so far! Friday night my JC Penney order came and I got to try on all my shirts and wear a new one to Ava's Birthday Party. It was a great time. The food was great, and we really enjoyed watching her eat her own little winnie the pooh cake and open presents. She LOVED the bubble generator and the sand and water set was also a big hit. Anya liked the dress and everyone said "awww" when it was opened. We stayed as late as I could stay awake, which was pretty good for me. You can see all the photos from Ava's Party HERE.

Friday night when we got home after 11, I started a load of laundry and submitted all of Ava's birthday photos and many of my baby belly photos so far to the Wal-Mart photo center online so that I could pick them up in the morning. Then I gathered and packed all the scrapbooking supplies that I would need in the morning and collapsed into bed sometime after midnight, which was WAYYY Late as far as I am accustomed to (since being pregnant!)

Saturday morning I got up and got showered and ready, and loaded my things in the car. I had to run to Wal-Mart to pick up photos and toilet paper.... and then on to Lake Thunderbird for a scrapbook day. It was a nice day. It's hard for me to sit that long, and I only went from 11 till 5, with a break for a quick lunch and an afternoon snack of brownie and vanilla ice cream. At the scrapbook day I got the cover for the baby album done, and 5 pages, which included all my belly photos and all the ultrasound photos we have gathered so far. I also started on Ava's Birthday and got the first page done. I bought a new set of pastel pens (good for journaling on baby pages!) and two sets of letters in pistachio green and some green and blue combo letters... and a "eraser" of sorts that removes adhesive and pencil lines from pages and photos. When I left I had such a headache I couldn't wait to get home to my Tylenol. You can see the pages I made today HERE.

Tonight I thought I would probably lay down I was sooo tired. But instead I cleaned the scrapbook table and put away all my supplies. Then I uploaded some photos to Wal-Mart to make some wallets for my new portfolio in pink that keeps wallet photos in my purse. (got that at the scrapbook party too!) Then I picked up a small veggie pizza which I DEVOURED by myself and then I made three handmade Items for the April Coloriffic Swaporama and then packaged all of the things up along with the other Lavendar and Cream and Black things that I had to send. I addressed the package, took photos, and uploaded those to Flickr along with all the scrapbook pages that I made today. See the April Swap Package HERE.

So I have accomplished more this weekend than I expected to ever get done. And now, I don't know what else to do. Surprisingly, I am not quite ready for bed. I could probably sleep.... but maybe I need to make a cup of tea. Chamomille Tea. Yes!

Well, everyone have a nice weekend!

Pregnant Brain!

Ahhhh weekend. Ahhhh yes.

Tonight is Ava's 1st Birthday party, and we are cooking out, and I am really looking forward to it. Evan was making fun of me last night when I was so exhausted but struggling to throw together the potato casserole for tonight and wrap Ava's gifts. I was trying to make them all look pretty and his thing was "why even bother! She's just one, she doesn't care! She will just rip the bows and paper off anyway." And I could see his point but I really enjoy making gifts look pretty. The presentation is half the gift, right?

And I was throwing it together with paper and bags and ribbons I already had at home, so I was pretty proud.

The rest of the weekend will be okay... I have plenty to do. I do have a scrapbook day to attend on Saturday but I have NOTHING Planned to work on, no photos developed, and nothing packed. Um. Yeah. Not sure how this will work out. And I just can not live by the creative memories motto that you just sit and crop photos without having any idea how you will lay them out or what theme you will use or what size album or what papers. Uh. No. I am much too particular. I do have a few ultrasound pics and some papers that are all in black and white so I think I will try to concentrate on those and other baby stuff if possible. But I dunno. It's looking more and more like I would rather just go for the food and maybe make a card for someone and read some magazines or something. I just can't decide and I will put myself into overdrive trying to get prepared. I meant to do it last night, but by the time we ate supper with my parents, chatted for an hour, drove home, and then I made the casserole and wrapped gifts... I was pooped and went right to bed. There just aren't enough hours in the day! Or should I say enough hours outside of my workday!

I saw a super cute cardigan pattern online, that I almost think I could follow and make! I am considering it, but first I must finish the baby blanket, so it might not ever happen. I did receive two hats that I got on ebay, I had the seller, Heidilynn Originals, make the bunny hat to fit next year around easter... but If it's a boy, I don't know about the pink ears. If it's a boy, I know he can't wear the flower one, but I bought them anyway. My hunch is girl, just based on dreams and such. We will know officially in just over a week! Yeah! We recently bought Julien the Dog, which is freakin' adorable, and holds especially more meaning because when I was little, my stuffed dog's name was Julie.

I have been waiting for 57 days on an appeal with my insurance company, for $225 that they owe me since 11/30/2006. They told me 60 days, all three times that I called to check on the status, and when I called today, knowing that Monday is 60 days, they can't find where the appeal was ever entered into the correct system. Um. Yeah. My head almost started spinning. Argh. So they are going to get back to me. I can just see where this is going. When do you suppose I will hear back? LOL.

Did I mention that this evening Evan called me at work because he nearly burned the house down?! LOL. It was my fault, when the cleaning people came, I stashed a bunch of stoneware and a wooden cutting board in the oven. Evan was going to put in the casserole for Ava's party and preheated the oven without looking inside. (uh-oh) he said he could smell it and he came into the kitchen and pure white smoke was rolling out of the oven and the smoke detectors started going off and that the whole house smells like a sauna thanks to the wooden cutting board. It didn't catch on fire but it was black and near combustion. LOL. Thank god his brother bought us a Fire Extinguisher for Christmas!

We had a good laugh. I learned me lesson about looking in the oven when I was a teenager. I was babysitting for a family and I preheated the oven for a pizza only to start smelling terrible burning plastic. I opened the door and to my horror found that the entire oven was full of melted loaves of bread and bags of buns, along with packages of cookies and bags of chips. And I mean FULL of them. And all the plastic was melted into one giant lump and was dripping down onto the bottom of the oven. The rack was covered and it smelled HORRIBLE. I spent most of the night scrubbing the oven and the rack. I felt so terrible but I thought WHO keeps bread and chips in their oven and DOESN'T tell the babysitter! LOL. So I ALWAYS look inside the oven before turning it on. Lesson Learned!

Earlier in the week I mailed an envelope and insert to the cell phone company (I hand addressed the envelope, and stamped it, and wrote the check number and the amount on the insert, and put it in the mail) and I never even wrote out the check to put in the envelope. So yeah. pregnant brain. LOOK OUT!

IYAMSOBORED

Boring. Boring. Boring. Cloudy. Overcast. Rainy.
So they released the cover for the final Harry Potter. In which he DIES.
hmm. Still not excited.
My belly is sticking out far today. I ate TWO hot dogs at the employee picnic today! he he.

Evan and I are trying to determine if we should take a weekend and go to Milwaukee. My doctor says I need to get away. Her actual advice was to take 3 weeks off work and I just can't, I can't afford it and I have no PTO. She said my stress is affecting my sleep and making me all cranky... which I agree with. She agreed that a weekend away would be a good idea. So I looked at Milwaukee and found some great hotel rates right on the lake and thought of the Botanical Gardens and the Aquarium, and the Museum of Art, and I found a spa right around the corner from the hotel that does prenatal massages and pedicures. But then I started to feel guilty. Even though it's doctor's orders to go, it will likely cost a decent chunk, and our plan was really to put all our money on loans, credit cards, etc and get everything paid off before the baby comes.... although if I really look at it, I might still be able to do that and take a little babymoon too. We haven't had any vacation (no vacation from work even for me) since we got married in August of 2005. Ugh. Decisions.

Friends Don't Let Friends Wear Crocs

Okay. So Crocs. I have to say I am not a fan. I don't (usually) look down on someone for wearing them. I work in healthcare so I see lots of them. But this one time, when I saw this chick at Wal-mart with orange crocs, pink sweatpants, and a red t-shirt, I cringed mightily. I just. can't. do it. But then people everywhere say "they are SOOO comfortable." and "pregnant feet love them!" and I am like NO NO NO. And Every time I see them in the store I think "I should try them on." and then I force myself to turn away. "Do not look directly at the crocs." They will suck you in. I can't try them on. What if I DO love them? I will turn into one of those sloppy croc wearing folks. they are like only a half notch up from those sloppy birkenstock with white sock wearing folks.

But then I am searching Zapos and Kohls and Payless online for stupid shoes and they have NOTHING! What the? I might as well wear crocs. They actually look BETTER than all the other shoes they are selling. Good God! What is this world coming to?

Ta-Da!

To ponder: Why did the town of Princeton smell like Onions this morning?

So. It's Tuesday. It was an okay day. Yesterday was very busy, like last week. My feet hurt so bad when I got home. Ugh. I need to get new dress shoes for work because all of mine are busted ass. The soles are wearing off and the insides are peeling apart. I also need to order some more shirts, since it's getting warmer and my belly is getting bigger and apparently all my shirts are shrinking (I mean that literally, cotton t-shirts that fit me last month just aren't coverin' the belly anymore... and because I am tall, this really bugs me. So I heard of some promotion codes through Penney's and ordered a few (8!) new shirts, some basic colored t-shirts and a couple of tank tops and a couple of prettier tops. That will be good.

Also on the good side, I paid off our wedding loan! Yea! Yesterday. Thank God. Only 1.5 years after we got married, and also after we put every single dime of our wedding gift money on it after the reception. It's very ironic that all of the people who gave us money as a gift were really paying me to pay for them to eat, drink, and be merry. (which I really enjoyed and would never take back) It really sucks that without even having a "wedding" complete with dress, flowers, bridesmaids, church, etc., we STILL had to take out a loan, AND use all of our wedding gift money towards it (which only cut the loan in half) AND then had to make payments for 1.5 years until we could put the wedding part behind us. Just in time to try to buy a crib and armoire for the baby room. I am really working hard to pay off all credit cards, medical bills, and loans (including my car) BEFORE the baby comes. Whew.

On the side of progress, we have *fingers*crossed* found a registered daycare provider (in-home) that we are excited to meet and hope will be the place for our baby to go when I do return to work. This is especially important because around here, the waiting lists are over a year long for infants. Yeah. No daycare has any openings. Most in home daycares have no openings. So that is good. I need to call and setup a time for Evan and I to meet her.

This weekend I became the cleaning organizing whirlwind. Late Sunday I decided that I needed to ORGANIZE the back porch and went to the mart and got a few little clear totes (I even took my tape measure) and then went home and organized. Must be nesting! And My brain has a clear path of things that I need to attack next.

I also found the COOLEST website. First, it's free. Yep. Free. No catch. Ta-Da. That's the name. tadalists.com allows you to make lists. LOTS of lists. Like my lists right now "To Do this week" and "Before the Baby Comes" and "This Spring/Summer" - and what's super cool you can share them with someone(s) and allow someone(s) to edit them (add and remove items, check items off.) It's like a virtual checklist of everything in your brain. You can keep the lists private or public, and can email yourself updates of the lists, or subscribe via RSS Feed to your lists.

This weekend should be eventful. Ava's First Birthday party... So I am making Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole (yum comfort food) for the occasion since we are potlucking/cooking out. I am planning a Bead Retreat party in April, and I am not worried about sales... I just want people to come and all of us to hang out and make bracelets and have a good time. Seems like there is lots of interest. I love the soothing feeling that I get when doing things like beading or basketweaving. I have to be in the right frame of mind to do those things though. It's strange. I love to craft.

But there is this state of mind that I get into now and again, where I am restless and cranky and nothing makes me happy and I just want to be left alone and I get so agitated that I can't be relaxed and I can't be productive. Recently I get this way in the middle of the night. If I get woken up any time after like 2:30 or 3am, I seem to have a hard time getting back to sleep. My mind starts going and I get cranky and the more I try to relax the worse it gets. I am trying relaxation music and instructional relaxation.... nothing. I get so agitated that I can't sleep... until about 1.5 to 2 hours later when I wear myself out from the frustration. So on most recent nights, right in the middle of my sleep, I am awake for about 1.5 to 2 hours straight. Once I ate my cereal at 3am and I went back to sleep fairly soon. I don't know what the deal is.

Hmmm... what else is new? I dunno. I just keep thinking if I can just get through this STUPID week things will be better. I am just not satisfied this week. It's kinda like spring fever. Who wants to be inside a stupid office wearing stupid pantyhose and looking at a stupid computer when you could be outside enjoying the sunshine and fresh air and walking your dogs and stretching your tired pregnant body and growing a baby which is SO much more important than anything everyone else is making me do.

Target "Customer Service"

Target Customer Service:

I am writing this letter in regards to two orders:

Order Date: Feb 17, 2007
Order #: 601-8351151-7649708
Recipient: Meagan Johnson

And

Order Date: Feb 11, 2007
Order #: 601-0002394-7452104
Recipient: Meagan Johnson

On Februaury 11^th, I ordered a sleigh glider and ottoman. When it arrived, it had damaged cushions, including stains, velcro sewn on backwards, and deep indentations in the seat cushions. It was also missing an allen wrench to assemble the glider. I called Target customer service immediately and was told that the parts order would take upwards of two months so they wanted to send me another glider, and have me remove the pieces that I need and then have a UPS pickup done on the remaining glider pieces.

I waited for the box to arrive, and when it didn’t I received a call from my local POST OFFICE saying that the box had been left there. Being pregnant, I am not able to lift the box myself. On top of that, it won’t fit in a car, and my husband and I had to arrange to borrow a truck from a relative and then go to the post office, after hours, and he had to load it by himself into the back of the truck off their loading dock. This never should have happened. The glider should have been delivered to our home.

We removed the glider cushions and the allen wrench and called Target to schedule a UPS pickup. We left the box outside the back door (which is where ALL of our UPS packages are picked up and delivered) and there must have been a new driver on Friday because there was a notice left on our front door, and the box was not picked up. RIGHT NEXT to the notice that he left on the door was a large print note that we had written asking that all packages be picked up or dropped off at the BACK DOOR. This was very frustrating. He was scheduled to pickup the box again on Monday. On Monday it was raining. We left the box in the garage and the large overhead door to the garage OPEN so that the driver could access the package. He walked right past the garage and left another notice on the BACK DOOR this time that he had been there for pickup and would be back on Tuesday. Tuesday, the weather did not call for rain until that night. Because the driver walked right past the box in the open garage- and because it wasn’t scheduled to rain until that NIGHT… we left it OUTSIDE right in front of the back door. We had things to do that night and didn’t get home until almost 10pm. Of course, we found the glider and ottoman and the box in the rain, completely soaked and falling apart, and the UPS driver didn’t come by at all that day, as his notice said he would.

For the remainder of the week and the beginning of this week, we left the notice on the back door saying the package to be picked up was in the garage. No one ever came.

I had also called Target last Wednesday and spoke to a representative. I explained that this glider has been nothing but trouble and that the package had been rained on, to the extent that the box has broken at the seams and fallen apart, and the contents were soaked. There is no way that UPS could even pick up or carry the box as it isn’t even in the shape of a box anymore. I asked her what Target wanted me to do about it. She told me that she was forwarding this issue and that I would receive an email from Target within 24 hours with instructions. I have received no communications from Target or UPS and it has been a week tomorrow.

I am sick of this box at my home, in my garage, etc. I am pregnant, and I can’t lift it. It is damaged and not worth anything to anyone anymore. If I do not hear from Target with directions to get this taken care of by this Friday, the box and it’s contents will be going out with our trash.

I am very upset with the customer service we have received (or should I say the lack of customer service we have received) over this package. I have plenty to worry about without the addition of this mess. This makes me reconsider having my baby registery with Target, and purchasing my crib and mattress.changing table from Target. Your customer service needs improvement.

Thank you for your time.

Meagan Johnson

SPRING has SPRUNG!

Slacker. Sorry.

I have been either busy or not feeling good for the past week. We installed a new software release at work that we spent MONTHS preparing for, and so it was an insanely busy week. I was crashed at home each night and didn't accomplish much besides staying sane. Towards the end of the week I started to have back problems and ended up needing an emergency back crack (whew!) and then being very dizzy and faint for an entire day/night and just lying down as much as possible.

Yesterday I just started to feel better and had the whole house picked up and myself cleaned up by 10:30am... which was amazing. We had a guy come from the Quad Cities to give us an estimate on new Windows, and that was successful and exciting. It was warm and humid and then it started to rain again and cooled off. We ate leftover Spaghetti Pizza for lunch and then I watched "O Brother Where Art Thou" and a few episodes of "Myth Busters" on Discovery Channel. It was a pretty relaxing afternoon.

Last Tuesday we had our March OB appointment and Evan got to hear the heartbeat. For the first time I was sure that I was feeling baby movement because the midwife felt the baby pushing back on the doppler when I felt the movement. Since then I can put my hand just right on my belly and feel pushing or kicking back, and Evan can feel it too, which is exciting. We scheduled our "big" ultrasound for April 9th, so we can hopefully find out girl or boy and get our first look at the baby in 8 weeks. Can't wait for that! I also got my Quad Marker bloodwork drawn and it was sent away for testing.

It is BEAUTIFUL and 70 degrees today, very sunny with a nice breeze. This afternoon we plan on walking the dogs, and I am going to take a bath and shave all nice so I can wear shorts! Yeah! The grass turned green yesterday and Evan said the tulips are coming up. I hope everything dries out this week so we can clear out flower beds, and Evan promised me that he would put the pond back in the ground this year, I missed it last year! We have big plans for easter weekend and this weekend I have a scrapbook day to attend and Ava's First Birthday party. I am so glad it's getting nice out! I know I will love being pregnant in the spring. We need to take belly pictures at the end of this month, because the belly is popping out now!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend and is enjoying their weather... if it's as nice or nicer than ours!

OB Appointment!

Today we had another OB Appointment. We got to schedule the "Big" Ultrasound when we find out if it's a girl or boy. It's on April 9th in the morning. Yee! I can't wait! I thought I wanted to have a boy first but I am recently freaked out because it's like boy=penis and I am not sure I am ready for that. When he's small, no big deal, right? But when he starts peeing on things and waving it around, I am not sure that I will be ready. So deep down I can feel myself chanting "girl, girl girl!" but I know that Evan wants a boy something FIERCE and although he will be happy with a healthy baby either way, I would like to make him proud, even though it is HIS sperm that made the decision! LOL.

So the Midwife said "perfect" a few times. Perfect Belly size, Perfect Uterus Size, Perfect little heartbeat, Great blood pressure, etc. She said I have a wonderful laid back attitude and she is very pleased that I am not stressing out and that I am enjoying my pregnancy. She is also pleased with my weight gain.... or should I say WEIGHT LOSS! Haven't gained any yet! Actually lost some!

What in the WORLD?!

Today I decided that I need a world map. Not just any world map. A Large, wall sized, Laminated World Map. I am ashamed to say that lots of time I am mailing swaps and things overseas and the postage is SO expensive and it takes SO long and I get SO frustrated and occasionally I think "well, I know it's over the OCEAN but JEEZ!" and then I start to feel like I should be watching it on a map. And there are maps online. BORING. I want a map on my wall. A big giant map that I can write on with a wipe off marker and circle the place my package is going and draw myself a big dotted line in red across the ocean and erase it when the package arrives. I want my kids to be as fascinated by other countries, their religions, customs, cultures, geography, etc. as my husband and I are. That said, the only place in the house with wall space left for a world map is either the baby room or the master bedroom. Uh. I really want it in the office- hellooooo!? I dunno. So I shopped online and found that the same $44 map at staples is like $20 everywhere else. WTF Staples? So I am wondering if they have them in store because I wouldn't have shipping... but anyway. Might just be a hair up my ass. Might go away. Might not. Think about the world map.

Ohhh.... maybe I could put it on my wall at WORK! Aha! But then my kids wouldn't be growing up seeing it all the time. But then I have like 4 or 5 years before they can understand it anyway. HMMMM.... Yes.... the wheels are turning.

But- If I had $240, I would buy this world map that's about 40x30 inches and have it framed and matted as I have chosen below, and then would hang it in the dining room or the bedroom and watch my packages travel the country.

Awesomeness Everywhere

Yee!!! Flickr has just implemented a new feature that I had ASKED for, and that was one of their top requests for enhancements. There are Now "Collections" which allow for essentially "sets within a set" A collection can be a group of photosets, which I am loving, because I can create a collection called "Vacation" and then fill it with sets, each one from a different trip. I can create a collection "wedding" and fill it with all my wedding related sets. I can create a collection "She's Crafty" and fill it with all my craft related sets. AND when I have the baby, I can create a collection with the "Baby Name" and then add sets of various age groups and events, such as "1month", "2month", "Birth", "Baby Shower", "Baby Room", and on and on and on till "First Birthday", "First Day of Kindergarten" etc. AWESOMENESS. And of course I have created 6 collections! Yeah! Check them out!~ Also completely AWESOME is the way that you can create Mosaics for the Collections.... as you see in the screen shot below.


And THEN, because Flickr is so freaking cool like that, they allow us to choose how our initial photo pages is viewed, and the option I chose was to show my COLLECTIONS on the right, instead of the sets that I always HAD to have on the right before. Flickr peeps, you are my heroes, thanks for doing such awesome work and making me enjoy photography and photo sharing all the more!

Twin Sisters

Tonight I watched a movie called Twin Sisters. It is based on a Dutch novel that was read all over holland and Germany. Dutch and German with English Subtitles, this movie was excellent, about two twin dutch girls whose parents died when they were very young and their family members separated them and they were raised in separate parts of Germany. They were raised completely differently, one as a farm hand for her family, with one change of clothes and beaten until she was unable to have children, and the other with rich relatives who nursed her back to health from TB and educated her and encouraged her musically. They were told that the other was dead, or that she didn't want to see her sister anymore.

Because of their different locations in Germany and their circumstances, One sister fell in love and became engaged to a Jewish boy, and the other fell in love with a boy who enlisted in the German Army and became part of Hitler's SS. When one sister saw a photo of the other sister's fiance and commented that she "almost thought he was a Jew" the sisters didn't speak for some time. The sister who married the SS soldier was notified of his death in the war, and the other sister's fiance was abducted on the street for being Jewish, put through concentration camps and gassed at Auschwitz. She married his brother in the end, and had a baby... and the sisters had a falling out that lasted their entire lives. The movie was excellent. I highly recommend it.