New words, by Hubby

Hubby can be very witty:

babiarium (bay-bee-ar-i-um) -- much as you put terrestrial things in a terrarium and aquatic things in an aquarium, so you baby things in a babiarium, otherwise known as a nursery

baby bouncer -- most commonly known as a chair which will gently bounce a baby, can also be the large dude who stands at the door of the nursery keeping out the unsavory types.

Impatience and trust

I can be a patient person, especially when its something I'm not just all that excited about. Or something that I have a definite date and/or time for. For example, I'm excited about the 2 baby showers coming up in the next week and I was very excited about the baby shower last Sunday. I'm excited about the sewing bee tomorrow, but for each of these, there is a definite date/time for each. However, when it comes to something that doesn't have a time or date for, or if there is an uncertainty about it, it will drive me crazy. But, you'd think I'd learned how to trust God's timing by now. From 18 years on, I wanted to be a wife and a mom. Through my 20s, I struggled with the idea that I might not ever get married, but in God's good timing, He brought Hubby along and we've been happily married for nearly 5 years now. Then, when we tried getting pregnant and were unsuccessful, I struggled with the idea that we might never have children of our own. Why was God denying me this blessing, I wondered? Do I really trust His goodness?  His timing has, again, turned out to beautiful! Now, I wait for little baby boy to be born and with 2 1/2 weeks left (plus or minus 2 weeks!), I'm mired in impatience. My head KNOWS that the Lord's timing is good, but my heart and my body are SOOOO ready to deliver baby boy -- so I can hold, so his daddy can hold him, so we can use the car seat and all the diapers that are sitting in the nursery!

Patience, patience... its a virtue, a fruit of the spirit, a good thing! 2 weeks (plus or minus 2 weeks) is doable!

diaper updates and count downs

With tad less than 3 weeks to my "due date" (which I'm working hard to think of a "due month" so that when baby is late, I'm not too disappointed), I need to get a move on with diapers. As a reminder, we are tightwads first and thus have become slight environmentalists, but primarily on accident. You might say that Hubby is 90% tightwad, with only 10% green in him; I, on the other hand, am closer to 70% tightwad and 30% greenie.

Anyhoo, back to the update. Hubby's cousin graciously send along a large bag of cloth diapers and the in-laws drove them from way north to way south. These diapers have made the trek. There is a mixture of sizes, brands and styles, which will give us a chance to figure out what we like. There are liners abundant and a significant stack of pre-folds.

From this stash, I've got 8 pocket diapers (for these, you put in an insert for absorption) that snap down to a small size (hopefully small enough). Plus the one my friend, Liz, made me for the shower last weekend (in the collage, top row, 2nd from the left)... so 9 total that are adjustable. And all with no-cost, so far!

Monday, Liz and another friend, Angel, will be coming over for a sewing bee. This, I'm very excited about. It is combining several "fun" elements, such as a small group of good friends, good conversation, at least one baby (and perhaps a 3 year old?), and a productive project.  I decided to go ahead and cut out a few diaper pieces, so I got material over this last week.  From the width of the fabric (both the fleece and PUL), I can out three diapers, which means I can get about 6 to 8 diapers from a yard with extra fabric. The fabric is the big cost, so estimated cost so far.... 28 (4 yards, 7 diapers from each yard) diapers at $1.42 plus notions per each diaper.... $40 not including notions (elastic, velcro and buttons).  

These diapers are all adjustable, so they should fit baby for quite awhile, assuming he doesn't get too big too fast.  Compare that to what I read this morning... from allaboutclothdiapers.com...

For the sake of these calculations we are going to use the prices on Diapers.com for Huggies Snug and Dry Diapers. It is recommended that a disposable diaper be changed every 2 hours. Let’s assume that at 4 months your baby would graduate to size 3 diapers.

• Newborn-4 months (size 1/2) = 1440 diapers x 0.18 = $259.20

• 4 months-20 months (size 3) =  5760 diapers x 0.24 = $1382.40

• 20 months- 24 months (size 4) = 960 diapers (every 4 hours) x 0.27 = $25.92

That comes to a total of $1408.32 for the first two years of your baby’s life.

I figure we aren't doing too bad yet, and I've got  a package of 12 flats that were a gift and 2 more showers coming up! I'm so excited about all this. Now, I just need to figure out the cost of a load of laundry....

Philosiology: Know a Philosopher?

philosiology

If you know a philosopher, this blog is for you. I married a philosopher and its been a joy as he has opened doors of thinking that I never imagined possible. Hubby is an amazingly logical thinker and has helped me, more than once, to really think through an issue.

For all of my family and his family, this site opens up a door into the philosopher's world to understand them better. Though I am not a born-philosopher, I've learned to think better because of the philosophy I've been exposed to. So, off you go, read and think and be ready to expand your mind and thoughts!

On my mind.... baby

Its a tad late to make it the party, but here's whats on my mind!

I think the baby 'dropped'!

Yesterday afternoon, I was waddling along as I usually do these days when I realized my uncomfortableness had changed. I felt pressure in spots I hadn't before, and less pressure where I was used to feeling it. My officemate, who has endured so much with me while at school and has been a wonderful friend and encourager, said she thought my belly was a tad lower. One gal in the office, when asking me how I was (my gait changed trying to be more comfortable walking), said she thought my belly was sitting lower. I will see a friend who is a doctor Sunday evening and I might be bold enough to ask him about it, because I don't see Doc till Friday! Can I wait that long to know for sure?

So, first is the previous picture of my huge, preggo belly from about 2 or 3 days ago (purple shirt), and here below is the new I-think-he-dropped belly from yesterday evening (red and white shirt).

                      

 

As soon as I know any thing definitive, it will appear here, I promise!

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real

Pretty

The autumn sage is starting to bloom. It will come into the full beauty in July, when its really hot, though.

Happy

A gift from a coworker. I'd been hoping to get some of these shoe-socks (or sock-shoes?), I think they are just so cute!

Funny

If we are outside, either one of us, Hank wants outside. Growing up, our cats did this -- paw at the door. Its quite funny to watch!

Real

My right hand (and I"m right handed) is so numb and tingly (its a pregnancy thing) that I can't hardly write or type, much less do a sewing project for long. I have a rug for the guest bath started (hand crocheting old t-shirts), I'm cutting up Hubby's yellowed undershirts for wipes, I've got good fabric for blankets or diapers in the box, and my February Lady Sweater sits in the bag, but nothing gets worked on longer than 20 or 30 minutes. Very frustrating at times.

Taking the challenge....

I'm going to do it... one photo from everyday life, once a week.  I generally feel life is rather mundane, but I bet I can find something. I might just start carrying my camera in my purse... or in an apron pocket. But that means I need to start wearing an apron....

To start off...

Isn't he cute!

Making things for the baby

Well, starting to think about what to make for the baby. Two friends and I are getting together on Easter Monday for a sewing bee -- I love the idea! But beyond diapers, I'm not sure what I might make. Perhaps some bibs? I've got lots of clothes from hand-me-downs, but perhaps some more warm weather stuff? It does get hot here. A blanket or two?

Any thoughts?

Is it hot already?

Usually, I switch to drinking iced coffee (versus hot coffee, unless I'm in a very nicely a/c'd place) in late May or early June. In Los Angeles, I never actually switched off of hot coffee in the morning -- it was never all that hot.  Here in central Texas, though, when the a/c runs all night to keep the house at 80' -- thats iced coffee time.

Alas, my heat production is such that I officially switched today (not that there won't be the odd hot coffee day after today). Once the upper 70s are hit, I start melting. This, from the gal who survived 100'F plus with 100% humidity for 3 summers in southwest China! With no a/c! Pregnancy has made me a wuss.

Its still cooling off at night, so even today the windows were opened this morning and the breeze through the house is nice. We get some fairly nice weather in the shoulder seasons here (Mar to mid-April and mis-Sept through Nov) and they are long enough to be really enjoyed. Here's to hoping Baby doesn't have too many allergies and window opening can continue!

April Goals

It seems only reasonable that April goals should include a great deal of baby preparation, as he is due Mid-May. I'm working hard to keep in my mind that he could come plus or minus 2 weeks of that due day of May 12 -- as early as April 28 or as late as May 26. Ambiguity tends to stresses me, so I'm working hard to not think about it too much. Nonetheless, seems only reasonable to aim to have all ready this month.

We are well stocked with baby boy clothes. All borrowed and hand-me-downs. Bummer is many of them are for cooler weather, not the 90s+ that hit in May and June. 

Thus, I need to....
1. pack my bag and Hubby's bag for the hospital stay.
2. set up the pack and play or borrow a bassinet from a friend. (got some options here, crib is optional till baby is a tad older)
3. make sure we have either flats (diapers) or other options for those first few days. We are thinking to use disposables till the meconium phase is past, due to its tar-like nature (so I've heard). But, I don't expect to get much sewing done in those days, so I plan to have some cloth options ready before baby is born.
4. put all the paper filing back into the closet, even if its not p*rfect. I think having the nursery floor mostly clear will be good.
5. Put up curtains in the nursery... or will the bright sunlight not bother baby?

Specific goals to work on....
1. Keep going with zone cleaning. I divided the house into zones and wrote out some cleaning goals for each zone.
2. Get baby goals done.

I've seen urbanknits April goals. Do you have any monthly goals? Updates for earlier established goals?

Review of March goals

Hmmm... March is over with, and it slipped by without my notice. Well, I did notice, but it was all in relationship to how far along my pregnancy is and how far away the due date is.  Its been a rough month, in general. My emotions are volatile (must be hormones, right?), and at least once, I broke down into tears for very little reason. I've struggled to keep up with school work and house work from just being tired (emotional doesn't help).

But, on the up side, its been a ton of fun feeling baby move more often and, occasionally, more forcefully. And some of my grumpiness is from general uncomfortableness that comes with having a baby who just doesn't fit as well as he used to. The baby got me in the ribs about 4 weeks ago; its better now, but, oooo boy, did it hurt at certain points.

Anyhoo, on to March goals. I posted them here originally.  Let's see...

1. February Lady Sweater still isn't finished. When I have time to knit, I'm just not inclined to work on it. It has warmed up (spring = hot here), so no sweaters will be worn any time soon. Perhaps, I'll just set it aside for now.

2. I have sorted and decluttered lots of paper from the former office closet. Its not done yet, but well on its way.

3. We put in 2 tomato plants, a habenero and 4 jalapeño plants last weekend and did some weeding then. But I've not be outside as much as I'd like.... my excuse? Too busy, really, or too distracted.

4. I've gotten a picture in almost every post! One goal reached (almost).

(and for this post...)

We said goodbye to the Anaconda this month. Her transmission went out, and we decided she wasn't worth getting fixed right now. We get a second car this summer or fall, who knows? Maybe a truck?

Pregnancy and humor

Saw this comic in a pregnancy email (gerber, pregnancy weekly, or some such)... Got quit the kick out of it.

I feel like that some evenings.

Gmail Motion BETA

Gmail Motion BETA

Google has some great ideas! If you have gmail, you should jump for this.

Is it reasonable to ask a 11 year old to be quiet?

Silence and Education

A coworked shared this today via google reader. I feel like I'm always asking students to stop talking and that no one has bothered to teach these children how to STOP TALKING and moving and being disruptive. I suspect its not that anyone hasn't tried teaching them, just that the lesson hasn't fully been taken in.

I'm reminded of Proverbs (13:3) "The one who guards his mouth preserves his life; The one who opens wide his lips comes to ruin." The inability to stop talking is a grave downfalling and though I don't expect an 11 or 12 year old to have aquired the ability the to fully guard their words, it seems they should have some ability to be quiet. Even more true for students 13 and up, yes? Are my expectations wrong? The kindergartners seem to have developed this skill of keeping one's mouth closed... is this just lost as students get older?


You might be able to tell this is a major frustration of mine. Though I must be thankful this is one of the biggest issues I deal with. One the chance that one of my students reads this, I'm thankful for each of you and its only because I desire to see you grow into a mature and competent adult that I even care about such things.