Excuse Us..We're 1st Time Parents

So this weekend in addition to seeing Jameson in 3-D we also finally picked out and purchased our stroller/car seat. Sweet Goodness!! If you ever watched Sex and the City (love it!) when it was on...think back to the episode Miranda baby shower episode. She's at brunch with the girls and is complaining about all the stuff she needs to get for Brady...she makes the comment that there needs to just be one store where someone says this is the crib for you. Well I have been in need of a store like that except for strollers. I mean seriously...it's almost insane the number of strollers that exist in today's world. And it's not even just picking a stroller. It's deciding between a travel system which includes a car seat, stroller and car seat base, and just a simple stroller. And let's face it if you're going to be shelling out that kind of money you better just buy the travel system. And if that's route you choose then you have to decide do you want a deluxe travel system or just a regular travel system. Then you have to figure out which brand you want. It's a non-stop comparison between safety ratings, features and options. Seriously...I didn't do this much research when I picked a college to attend.

Nonetheless, on our 2nd trip to Tucson to finalize the baby registry we checked out strollers again. This is after attempting to narrow it down on our first trip on our 1 year anniversary weekend in Tucson where we literally looked like ridiculous people. We couldn't figure out how to get the car seat out of the stroller let alone fold it up. I am laughing embarrassingly loud saying "Our poor baby is going to have to live in the stroller". Once we figured out how to get the car seat out of the stroller (hint if it's a red latch pull it) we were able to sit the actual stroller seat up but then couldn't figure out why the car seat wouldn't fit back in the stroller until one of the salespeople came by and said "You've got to put the seat all the way down". Well doesn't that make sense but then we couldn't figure out how to get the sea down and again the same salesperson came by and just released a latch. We ended up sitting on the shelf laughing uncontrollably while "real" mothers with their babes walked by staring at us. Needless to say we didn't even attempt the car seat bases. But I digress.

So back to our 2nd trip to Babies R' Us where we should be banned. I think I've narrowed it down to two different brands but wanted to check them out again. Remembering what we had learned about latches and stroller seats from the first go around we were able to quickly take out the car seats. Then it came time to try to fold up the strollers. Again...we have no idea. The one I want has a latch that you push and slide. Poor hubs is swearing up a storm trying to move the latch and fold it up. He's literally about to pick the stroller up and throw it down the aisle. I am absolutely no help as I am doubled over in hysterical laughter because yet again two educated people with jobs who pay taxes and have a mortgage can't for the life of them figure out how to work a stroller. The other stroller contender literally folds like a robot which is about the only thing I like. We settle on the other stroller but decided to wait. We get home and I do some more research and I cautiously tell hubs we need to go back so I can put the car seat and base in the car. He responds with a few choice words and immediately turns around and walks out.

Thus bringing us to Saturday. After the ultrasound we venture yet again to Babies R' Us. I discover that there are two versions to the stroller I want and quickly take them both of the display shelf and undo the car seats (as I'm now an expert) but this time we can't figure out how to get the stroller seats to move up. Seriously...we need to just wear a sign that says "Excuse us...first time parents". A kid probably about 17 walks by and shows us how to pull the bungee cord in the back. Yes folks that's right it's like the bungee cord on your backpack or a North Face fleece jacket to tighten the sides. Again...I'm a college educated person who teaches children and I cannot figure out strollers.

Now that we've navigated that hurdle we ask if we can test out the car seat base and car seat in the car. Oh of course we can no problem...except that this person clearly has no idea who he is about to spend 20 minutes of his life with. So the hubs pulls the car around and begins to install the base. Oh lord...why us? The base has a seat belt lock door thing that you lift up and put the seat belt in to help secure it even more. Well we're trying...the hubs and myself to get the stupid thing open. We keep unlocking and locking it to no avail until the 17 year old kid goes "It's been unlocked for awhile just pull the tabs up". "Really...thanks, you couldn't have shared that little gem 7 minutes ago?" Then he asks us if we have metal hooks in our seats. I'm looking at him going "What?!?!" Neither one of us knows the answer to this question but again the 17 year old kid is all knowing and he just reaches in and pulls in between my seat...sure enough we do. Now that the car seat is in the car I decide we're getting it. So hubs undoes everything and the kid pushes the model back in for us.

We purchase the stroller and then proceed to the exit where we can't get the cart with the giant box through the door. Again...I am doubled over in hysterical laughter while the hubs is trying so hard to not just start screaming obscenities at the top of his lungs. With some shifting and adjusting we conquer the exit door only to find the box barely fits in the back of my Kia Sorento. Again we do some shifting and adjusting and are headed home.

I was dreading putting the stupid travel system together but surprisingly that was the easiest part of this whole process. I do have to say I'm so excited. I just want to push it around but I save that for my house so people don't think I'm insane for pushing an empty stroller up and down my street.

All I have to say is if this stroller chapter is any indication of what the next 18 years are going to be like, it should be a good time with tons of doubled over hysterical laughter, some shifting and adjusting and few obscenities thrown in.

Now that you've survived this novel here is the travel system.

3-D Baby

Today we got to see baby Jameson in 3-D and no you don't need the special glasses as my dad joked. It was so neat...way better than the regular ultrasound you get done at your Dr's. office. We brought along the grandparents minus one grandpa and one of the uncles. There was a huge projector screen on the wall so nobody had to crowd around the tiny ultrasound screen. Jameson stayed in the same position the entire time. The only thing he moved were his hands and feet occasionally. Go figure since he's all over the place when I'm winding down and trying to get ready to sleep. The lady who was doing the ultrasound had me roll over to my side twice to see if that would move him but no...he just stayed happily in his position with his head down and his feet by my ribs. She also patted my belly and pushed on it to see if that would jar him and again nope...just as content as could be. But at least he was in a position so we could see his face.

We determined that he has my lips and nose. And he'll also be right handed since that's hand he played with the most and moved around. My dad who couldn't be there thought it was super neat when he got to see the pictures. Everyone..well maybe just the grandma's thought it was super neat how you could really see all the details of his face. We even got to see him open his eyes...so cool.

It definitely feels more real since we can actually make out that yes there really is a baby inside there and not just a blob. I'm so excited for him to come so we can compare his real face to his picture face.

With our 30 minute session we got 3 "color" pictures...which are really just sepia tones. And we got about 10 black and whites. Plus a CD with 85 picture images and a DVD of the entire 30 minute "show".

Here's some of my favorites of Baby Jameson at 27 weeks and 3 days.

His little mouth open.

He's got his little hand up.

The stuff coming out of his mouth is actually his umbilical cord. It looks like bubbles on the DVD when the she switched back to the 2-D version.

Guess he was done with all the pictures being taken. =)

Sucking his thumb and holding up his other 4 fingers.

He was obsessed with trying to eat his hand.

baby bumps

My baby countdown says I have 95 days left of being pregnant. To be honest I really haven't enjoyed it all that much. That may make me a bad person for saying it out loud but it's true. The only enjoyed seeing Jameson on his ultrasound and feeling him move although it's very weird to see my actual belly move now that he's big enough. But the weight gain, larger wardrobe, feeling like a freaking house, back aches, being ravenously hungry but getting full so quick, and the emotional roller coaster I could do without...especially the emotional roller coaster. This weekend I've been super bummed but I'm not entirely sure it's related to pregnancy. My poor hubs...he picks up on my bummed outness whenever it happens and he does whatever he can to make me feel better but our mini date night did the trick tonight. Guess I was just feeling needy.

There's not really a whole lot to report on. Our baby room is at a stand still right now. As soon as the hubs has time he'll start working on the murals. But the carpet situation is a no go for the time being. I found the carpet I really like and want in our 3 bedrooms and we even had someone come out to take measurements but unfortunately the estimate is $2,000 and that's just a bit out of our price range especially since we still need practically everything for Jameson. So maybe with our tax return we can afford a less expensive carpet option but I'd rather have the necessities for baby. I did find a super cute night light to go in his room on Etsy (I'm in love with that website mostly because they have a ton of owl decor that would fit very nicely in Jameson's room).

Here it is lit up with the flash of my camera on.

Here it is without the flash of my camera on.

In other baby news next Saturday we're getting a 3-D ultrasound done in Tucson and I'm super excited for that. We'll actually get to see what his face looks like (hopefully, if he cooperates) and with the package we chose we'll get a ton of pictures and a DVD as well as website subscription. We're also going to buy his stroller/car seat which for some reason makes me extremely happy. He's also moving a ton...it feels like all day every day which is really neat. Robert feels him now and I love seeing the look on his face and the little giggle he does every time. I think it makes it more real for him.

Baby Room Pt. 1

Let me tell you that I am more convinced my husband and I truly are soul mates each time we decide to redo something in our house. It is nothing if not eventful...every time. We also end up laughing hysterically for long period of times. I think as long as we can laugh with and at each other we'll last a life time.

This weekend the hubs and I started decorating baby Jameson's room. We went and bought the paint on Saturday after the hubs had cleaned out his man cave and started painting Sunday afternoon. Sunday after church we went on our Sunday breakfast date and devised a plan that included my husband moving my computer/computer desk/extra table/TV and bookshelf out of Jameson's room and into our new office which used to be his man cave while I went to Home Depot to pick up the necessary painting supplies. In our thinking we assumed that by the time everything was moved we'd be able to start painting by 1 and be done by 4 at the latest. Nothing ever goes as planned in our world. We ran into the same problem when we redid our living room a few months ago but I digress. We return home, change out of our church wear and proceed with our individual missions. I leave the hubs at home to start moving and I head of to Home Depot. My part should have been relatively easy but this is where our comedy of errors (as I will refer to most of the snags of our mission) started. I'm in the painting section looking for a large roller and a small roller and what should I happen across but an 8 piece combination painting set for $10.97. I see this and think "Jack Pot!" just what I need: the two rollers I was in search of plus a paint pan, a paint brush and a paint can opener thingy. I think "Yes, Robert will be so impressed with me---I'm getting a lot of stuff at a great price. What could be wrong with this?" So after finding my "find" I go and pick up the rest of the supplies and on my way home I head.

I get home and run in with excitement like a kid who just got an A on a really hard test and exclaim with excitement "Look at what I got for $10!!" The hubs then proceeds to let me know that while, good job me this wonderful combination piece really is just a bunch of their cheapest stuff thrown together. I insist that IT IS NOT and it'll work just fine. So after moving the rest of the furniture we proceed to start painting and sure enough my husband was right. The roller is leaving hair all over the wall. This is not going to work...it's just not. I do not want hairy walls in my baby's room. I insist that Robert go buy different rollers. So he leaves for Lowe's and left me with the job to finish taking off the outlet covers and clean the vent register. As I'm walking around the house looking for the screw driver I notice that hubs has left his bill fold with his ID and all monetary means. Another error in our comedy. So I race off trying to catch him and find him as he's leaving the parking lot. It's a good thing we are able to laugh during these moments.

Robert gets home and brings me non-hairy rollers and I get to work. He has to leave to go over to his parent's house to do some grout work in their kitchen and leaves me to paint. So I'm painting and painting and realize that I'm very quickly running out of paint. We bought a gallon thinking that would be more than enough to do the room but we didn't factor in needing to do 2 coats as the guy who mixed our paint told us we shouldn't have to. At this point I'm thinking "Seriously...what else could possibly go wrong?" So I call Robert and let him know what's going on at our house and then he let's me know he'll be gone for longer than he thought as he had run into a snag at his parent's house. I finish painting and have a small puddle at the bottom to finish the corners for the hubs since I'm not allowed to paint near the ceiling or base boards (we had some issues when we painted the kitchen). The hubs came home and couldn't believe we didn't have enough paint left over so off he went back to Home Depot to buy a quart more of our blue paint only to find out later that night that we indeed did have enough.


But needless to say the painting of the walls was complete by 9ish. The hubs is working on the door frames and windowsills today. Once that's done the hubs can begin the next part of painting which will be to paint the mural of a tree with our owl family on it. Which I'm so excited for!!We're also working on getting new carpet (which hopefully will be installed

sometime next weekend/week) and a new window shade installed. Then we can start adding the furniture.

Here's hubby taking down the old window shade that's been there probably since the house was built in the '60's.

The larger of the two hairy rollers.

The hairy wall.

Please ignore the fact that I look like a hot mess.

Sorry this isn't the best picture but the finished product minus the trim details.

The hubs taping off the windowsill.

Part of the trim details.

Of course more pictures will be added as we continue to work on Jameson's room. I feel this is going to be a several party story.

all my life

Let it be said that I love school and school things. It seems my whole life I've always wanted to be a teacher. For a short period of time I dabbled with psychology (still love it) but teaching is where my passion lies. The built in breaks don't hurt but there's just something magical about watching a little person go from not getting it to getting it. You can literally see the light bulb come on. It's awe inspiring to see a 6 or 7 year old and the things they're able to do.

This year has been a year to say the least. I have some very "good friends" and I'll let you in on a secret...when a teacher calls a student a "good friend" it usually means they drive them nuts all day every day. That "good friend" is the kid you pray is absent but of course never is...ever. They are the one kid who never gets sick despite an outbreak of hacking coughs and runny noses and sneezes that cover every inch of the room and manage to infect a person 3 classrooms away. I have a few "good friends" this year. They are definitely giving me a run for my money. Its' probably more fair to say that this class as a whole is giving me a run for my money. This year I live for breaks like I never have. For instance, we just got back from our winter break...seriously today was the 7th day back and already we have a 3 day weekend. I couldn't be more joyous for Friday to roll around. I often leave for home feeling exhausted and defeated. Things in the district are horrendous and seem to get more and more horrendous by the day. I could be on welfare and make more money than I do as a 3rd year teacher with a college degree. It's true..I've done the math. I'm asked to go above and beyond my job description every day and of course I do because deep down and on the surface (most days) I genuinely love my job. What keeps me from calling it quits is the excitement I get when I step back and reevaluate where I'm coming from and decide that maybe I need to try another way. That excitement lets me know that yes I can carry on and I still believe that this is my calling.

I get so excited to let my inner nerd (maybe not so inner) out and find some new great thing to try in my classroom. I'm so excited to get my new behavior management system up and running this weekend (it already uses some of what I do now) and I'm excited to do some research over the summer (yes I said research and summer in the same sentence) on The Daily 5 because the thought of doing centers for another year makes me want to hang out with my "good friends" all day.

baby school

So today we had our latest baby appointment and like all of the other appointments with the exception of the ultrasound it was pretty typical. Weight, blood pressure, heartbeat and measure my belly. But after our appointment we had our Labor and Delivery class. Can I just say that it freaks me out that it's only January and it's already time to start getting ready for Jameson's arrival.

The class was only about 45 minutes but we got an ear full of information about the things we need to get done. We need to pre-register at the hospital, take a tour of the maternity section, pick a pediatrician, and try to remember the tidbits of pre-term labor oh and decide if we're going to sign up for parenting classes. I feel like I just walked into my first class of the semester and went over the syllabus with the professor. It's slightly overwhelming. And me being the Type A nerd that I am I feel the need to get it all done and out of the way now. My husband however doesn't see the urgency of these matters. In fact he probably thinks I'm nuts. Which could very well be true as we have learned recently that I should not watch Dr. Phil on Oprah's OWN network when I'm pregnant. Not because I cry but because I spout off ridiculous statistics that Dr. Phil shares on his show and as of late the reruns have been about infidelity and crazy wives and husbands. But I digress.

Anyway I don't even remember half of what the nurse lady said...good thing I've got packets to read and study thoroughly. I am excited though that Jameson will get to stay in the room with us while we're at the hospital. We did learn that the maternity section is pretty much like lock down. Nobody in or out without someone knowing and they apparently low-jack the babies. They have to wear an alarm system on their ankle. Nothing like being put on house arrest within hours of entering the world. I had no idea there was this much work to getting ready to have a kid.

Here we are at 24 weeks and 6 days.

I Told Him So

I have already posted about how troublesome our two dogs can be. If you think back you may recall the paint blog about how our two dogs decided to knock over a gallon of paint and play. Well, we've inherited some new furniture from my in-laws who are redecorating their house. They gave us their southwestern styled couch and so we (and when I say we I mean my husband) decided to move the old green couch that somehow came with the house or was given to us by someone, I forget, but nonetheless, move the old green couch out into our Arizona room. Now normally this would be fine as our Arizona room is enclosed but not when you own Lady and Apollo.

Lady we adopted from a shelter in Tombstone shortly after we moved in to our house. Sweet as can be, slightly mischievous at first (jumping 6 foot walls) but mellow. Then we got Apollo. He is all Boxer. Sweet and dopey looking but loves to rough house and chew things...bottles, couches, bones, shoes, you name it...he's slobbered on it. Now, Lady alone would be fine. She's content to sleep in just as her human companions, doesn't need much attention and will let you know when she wants some love. But combine her with Apollo and it's game over. The two of them together love to rough house and play as would any dog stuck together for the better part of the day but they simply equal trouble.

Now back to my Arizona room story. So Robert moved the old green couch out in the Arizona room so we could put our "new" couch in the family room. I would like to preface this by saying he did this on Sunday, January 9. After listening to him talk up how "it won't be that big of deal", and "I think the dogs will leave the couch alone". I reminded him that they don't leave anything alone and that when, not if, but when they destroy the couch I want it gone. Immediately! He swore and we even shook on this that the day they destroy the couch it would be moved out of the Arizona room and taken to the dump. Well my friends, let it be said that I TOLD HIM SO!

Today is Tuesday, January 11 and we had a baby appointment at 11:30. We both left work early and for some reason Robert had a feeling that he needed to come home. And yes my friends, when he came home he found that Apollo (at least that's who we suspect) had taken a couch cushion off of the couch, ripped off the cover and proceeded to chew the cushion. When I came home this is what I found...

No, the dogs were not sitting there like this...they were posed but if you delete them from this picture this is the mayhem that was my Arizona room.

As I previously mentioned my husband and I had made a deal let's just say the couch is still in the Arizona room but the mess has been cleaned up and the remaining cushions have been removed. Our new deal entails that that couch will be out of the Arizona and relocated to the dump on Saturday.

I was actually surprised that the couch lasted as long as it did in the Arizona room. I suppose the upside to this is the Arizona room finally got swept and my husband will NEVER be able to put anything remotely fluffy in the Arizona room again. I don't care what it is...NO WAY, NO HOW, NOT EVER AGAIN! And if he feels the need to say "But baby..."I'll happily point him to the computer and pull up my blog and remind him of the 2010 Paint Incident and the 2011 Couch Incident.

The cushion.