Since I think I am done working and think I am stuck on bed rest till the baby shows up as every time I stand up or sit up I get some really fun cramping, I have absolutely nothing interesting to write about until I am up and around again. I haven't been leaving the house to see any interesting people or do any interesting things. So short of regaling everyone with tales of the cute positions my cats sleep in, or what was on TV two months ago (I am getting to catch up on my TV watching for the last two months), or the plot of the book of the day, I have nothing of note to report.
I will be back once there are tales of the cute positions my son is sleeping in! I am hoping that won't take more than another week and a half or two weeks. See you then!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Sarah Vs. The Morons (Part IV)
I went to get the car seat inspected today which is a service the hospital provides for free. After checking the way I had it in, the lady took me inside to go over how to put the baby in the actual seat. She brought up the following safety concerns:
Lady: We recommend that you don't attach toys to the handle as they could come off during an accident and hurt the baby, so we will just take this off.
Me: The car seat handle is tucked behind the car seat and the toy is a stuffed animal and ATTACHED to the handle. How could that hurt the baby?
Lady: Well they haven't been safety tested with the car seat, they could come off.
Me: Where do you keep your purse when you are driving?
Lady: In the passenger seat.
Me: Do you usually have a drink in the car with you?
Lady: Yes
Me: I would be far more concerned with those objects becoming a projectile in an accident than a stuffed animal.
Lady: Well, obviously you are free to make your own choices compromising the safety of your own child, but we recommend...
Me: Yeah, I got it, no toys for the baby.
Lady: Next we recommend that you don't use the bumpers to make them fit in the car seat better.
Me: Why not? I thought it was bad for their little necks to roll around in the car seat.
Lady: Well, again, these are after market and have not been safety tested by the car seat manufacturer with the car seat.
Me: Are you serious?
Lady: They add another layer of fabric between the baby and the car seat.
Me: So do clothes! You aren't telling me to not dress the kid because it might be a safety hazard...
Lady: Well it could make it hard to fasten the belts tightly.
Me: So I should just let his head roll around in there.
Lady: Not at all, you should roll up a receiving blanket to fill all the space and stabilize his head.
Me: Alrighty then.
Lady: Obviously, again, these are just recommendations, what you do with your child's safety is up to you...
Lady: Next we recommend that you not put a coat on your child if they will be riding in a car seat.
Me: This ought to be good...
Lady: It adds another layer of cloth between the baby and the car seat. You wouldn't be able to tighten the belts properly.
Me: I am due the first part of February, you are telling me that the hospital recommends that if it is three below zero, I should not put a coat on the kid?
Lady: Well in reality the kid will be going from a warm house to a warm car and doesn't need a coat.
Me: Unless the car takes 20 minutes to warm up like my husband's truck does.
Lady: Well once he is in the car you can pile as many blankets over him as you want.
Me: I was told that lots of blankets were a suffocation hazard for babies and that layers of clothing and coats were better for keeping them warm, but you are telling me that instead of putting a head bumper in the car seat and putting a coat on the baby in February, I should wad blankets around his head and throw several over his face. So he may suffocate, but at least his seat belt will be as tight as possible.
Me: One question, these recommendations...if I go to leave the hospital with the kid in a coat, will they release him like that?
Lady: Unfortunately all the hospital requires is a car seat with a five point harness. If you decide to ignore our safety recommendations, there is nothing we can do to stop you.
Me: Great! Thanks so much for you help! Great talk!
Lady: We recommend that you don't attach toys to the handle as they could come off during an accident and hurt the baby, so we will just take this off.
Me: The car seat handle is tucked behind the car seat and the toy is a stuffed animal and ATTACHED to the handle. How could that hurt the baby?
Lady: Well they haven't been safety tested with the car seat, they could come off.
Me: Where do you keep your purse when you are driving?
Lady: In the passenger seat.
Me: Do you usually have a drink in the car with you?
Lady: Yes
Me: I would be far more concerned with those objects becoming a projectile in an accident than a stuffed animal.
Lady: Well, obviously you are free to make your own choices compromising the safety of your own child, but we recommend...
Me: Yeah, I got it, no toys for the baby.
Lady: Next we recommend that you don't use the bumpers to make them fit in the car seat better.
Me: Why not? I thought it was bad for their little necks to roll around in the car seat.
Lady: Well, again, these are after market and have not been safety tested by the car seat manufacturer with the car seat.
Me: Are you serious?
Lady: They add another layer of fabric between the baby and the car seat.
Me: So do clothes! You aren't telling me to not dress the kid because it might be a safety hazard...
Lady: Well it could make it hard to fasten the belts tightly.
Me: So I should just let his head roll around in there.
Lady: Not at all, you should roll up a receiving blanket to fill all the space and stabilize his head.
Me: Alrighty then.
Lady: Obviously, again, these are just recommendations, what you do with your child's safety is up to you...
Lady: Next we recommend that you not put a coat on your child if they will be riding in a car seat.
Me: This ought to be good...
Lady: It adds another layer of cloth between the baby and the car seat. You wouldn't be able to tighten the belts properly.
Me: I am due the first part of February, you are telling me that the hospital recommends that if it is three below zero, I should not put a coat on the kid?
Lady: Well in reality the kid will be going from a warm house to a warm car and doesn't need a coat.
Me: Unless the car takes 20 minutes to warm up like my husband's truck does.
Lady: Well once he is in the car you can pile as many blankets over him as you want.
Me: I was told that lots of blankets were a suffocation hazard for babies and that layers of clothing and coats were better for keeping them warm, but you are telling me that instead of putting a head bumper in the car seat and putting a coat on the baby in February, I should wad blankets around his head and throw several over his face. So he may suffocate, but at least his seat belt will be as tight as possible.
Me: One question, these recommendations...if I go to leave the hospital with the kid in a coat, will they release him like that?
Lady: Unfortunately all the hospital requires is a car seat with a five point harness. If you decide to ignore our safety recommendations, there is nothing we can do to stop you.
Me: Great! Thanks so much for you help! Great talk!
Friday, January 15, 2010
The End of an Era
You know that job you got in college to earn some money while keeping flexible hours. Yeah, I'm still at mine. Wednesday is my last day. It is incredibly depressing not that I have been there for six years, two months and twenty days, but that I am really going to miss it. In my limited job experience, it is the best company I have worked with and overall, the best group of people I have worked with. I have been telling myself that when I go back to work, it will be in the field that I went to school for, but it doesn't make it any easier to leave behind my familiar, fun, flexible job that doesn't demand an education, just a sense of humor and an ability to appreciate the absurd. Am I ever going to have this much fun working ever again?
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Nice Baby
It feels like half of this year so far has been spent patting my belly and muttering "nice baby." Not that this mantra is in the least effective in getting him to settle down. So here we are at 2.30 after a 7.00 Am wake up and he has no interest in letting me sleep. Add to this, Rob is out of town on business, so I am kind of restless in the house. Usually I avoid the house when Rob is gone except for sleeping, but I figure with a baby, I won't be able to do that so I better learn how to be alone here.
Day one, honey I miss you and the magical effect your hand on my belly has on your child's activity level. Please come home and put him to sleep, he doesn't listen to me...
Day one, honey I miss you and the magical effect your hand on my belly has on your child's activity level. Please come home and put him to sleep, he doesn't listen to me...
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Quotables
"There are always at least two sides to an argument, I take pride in seeing the third, more absurd side of any binary choice."
--Scott Gentry
--Scott Gentry
Monday, January 11, 2010
I'm Only Distractable on Weekdays
A very productive, non-productive day...
Today we are going to play a game we call start everything, finish nothing. I started cleaning my kitchen and doing laundry, then was interrupted by a doctor's appointment. While waiting at the doctor, I started paying bills, which prompted curiosity about whether we had gotten paid which required I get on the computer when I got home. While on the computer, I checked my email which reminded me to pack for the hospital. While packing for the hospital I remembered the laundry. I knocked over the trash can while changing the laundry, so I took the trash out and the recycling to the curb, which reminded me that the furnace filter needed changed before I took the trash down. While changing the filter, the cat tripped me and I remembered that I hadn't given him medicine yet. I went into the bathroom to get his medicine and noticed that the trash in the bathroom needed taken out and when returning the trash can to the bathroom, remembered I hadn't packed bathroom stuff for the hospital. When consulting my packing list, I remembered I needed the call list off the computer. When I logged on to the computer I noticed that I had some more email and figured I could update my blog as well.
The funny thing about this is that the only thing that was on my list for today was take down Christmas decorations. I haven't even started this and yet it feels like I have been working all day. Instead, my kitchen, bathroom and living rooms are mostly clean, the laundry is halfway done, the floors are halfway done, the trash is halfway out, I am halfway packed for the hospital, the bills are half paid and the cat still hasn't gotten his medicine.
Today we are going to play a game we call start everything, finish nothing. I started cleaning my kitchen and doing laundry, then was interrupted by a doctor's appointment. While waiting at the doctor, I started paying bills, which prompted curiosity about whether we had gotten paid which required I get on the computer when I got home. While on the computer, I checked my email which reminded me to pack for the hospital. While packing for the hospital I remembered the laundry. I knocked over the trash can while changing the laundry, so I took the trash out and the recycling to the curb, which reminded me that the furnace filter needed changed before I took the trash down. While changing the filter, the cat tripped me and I remembered that I hadn't given him medicine yet. I went into the bathroom to get his medicine and noticed that the trash in the bathroom needed taken out and when returning the trash can to the bathroom, remembered I hadn't packed bathroom stuff for the hospital. When consulting my packing list, I remembered I needed the call list off the computer. When I logged on to the computer I noticed that I had some more email and figured I could update my blog as well.
The funny thing about this is that the only thing that was on my list for today was take down Christmas decorations. I haven't even started this and yet it feels like I have been working all day. Instead, my kitchen, bathroom and living rooms are mostly clean, the laundry is halfway done, the floors are halfway done, the trash is halfway out, I am halfway packed for the hospital, the bills are half paid and the cat still hasn't gotten his medicine.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
New Year's Thoughts
As I mentioned in last May's blog. Rob and I have met most of the five year goals that we laid out when we married almost five years ago. Since he was stuck with me for a three hour drive with no distractions on New Year's Eve, 'we' decided that there really was no better time to formulate a new set of five year goals. The two of us having come up with a basic list of five year goals, I was then able to set my own resolutions for the year and come up with a plan for tackling them. Tasks were further split into months and halfway through January, I find myself halfway through my task list. I don't really think this is early year motivation. Over the last year and a half I have become increasingly efficient at breaking down large tasks into manageable 'bite-sized' tasks that don't seem so overwhelming. For someone whose major fault used to be lack of follow through, it is very encouraging to look back and see my progress. Now, looking at a list of five year goals that would have been overwhelming a couple years ago, I am not intimidated at all. In fact, I am pretty sure that we will be through the next set of goals in two or three years.
Every year I read a couple 'self-help' books at the beginning of the year. This year, I read some books on money management and Covey's Seven Habits. Looking at my list of goals and feeling that they should be relatively easy to reach has gotten me thinking that I need bigger dreams and goals. Part of me still thinks that every person have some goal that is almost out of reach or that will challenge their skills and assumptions. Having been focusing on the attainable for the last couple of years has shorted out my dreamer side temporarily. Biggest goal of the year...find a big hairy audacious dream and go after it.
I realize this is usually more of a funny blog and apologize for the reflective really kind of self-absorbed post, but really the only people that read this are my closest friends and family. I believe that sharing your goals with others is a form of accountability. If nothing else, having put this in writing and shared it with you serves to motivate me.
This year's resolutions:
Ministry involvement, include baby.
Research CPA requirements and local master's programs.
If required take GRE
Sign up for summer classes, Rob's job allowing
Lose baby weight
Finish building six month emergency fund
College fund for baby
House down payment
Sew through my fabric stash
Most of these lead into our five year goals which mostly have to do with me bringing in income, Rob finishing his education, us having settled somewhere relatively permanent, having a financial safety net, actively funding our children's futures and our own retirements. Of course we will continually work on raising Godly, respectful, educated children. We believe that a peaceful, loving home that places God first is key to success in every area of life for each member of our family. We also believe that service to others is a responsibility we have been given as children of God whose needs have been met and hope that as children are entrusted to our care, we would teach them the importance of reaching out to others who are not as fortunate.
To our family and friends...your support has been and will continue to be invaluable. Please lift us up in your prayers as we begin the adventure of parenthood. We have been entrusted with a tremendous responsibility in shaping this little life. I hope that this decade brings peace, happiness and success to each of you and that your year is a great one!
Every year I read a couple 'self-help' books at the beginning of the year. This year, I read some books on money management and Covey's Seven Habits. Looking at my list of goals and feeling that they should be relatively easy to reach has gotten me thinking that I need bigger dreams and goals. Part of me still thinks that every person have some goal that is almost out of reach or that will challenge their skills and assumptions. Having been focusing on the attainable for the last couple of years has shorted out my dreamer side temporarily. Biggest goal of the year...find a big hairy audacious dream and go after it.
I realize this is usually more of a funny blog and apologize for the reflective really kind of self-absorbed post, but really the only people that read this are my closest friends and family. I believe that sharing your goals with others is a form of accountability. If nothing else, having put this in writing and shared it with you serves to motivate me.
This year's resolutions:
Ministry involvement, include baby.
Research CPA requirements and local master's programs.
If required take GRE
Sign up for summer classes, Rob's job allowing
Lose baby weight
Finish building six month emergency fund
College fund for baby
House down payment
Sew through my fabric stash
Most of these lead into our five year goals which mostly have to do with me bringing in income, Rob finishing his education, us having settled somewhere relatively permanent, having a financial safety net, actively funding our children's futures and our own retirements. Of course we will continually work on raising Godly, respectful, educated children. We believe that a peaceful, loving home that places God first is key to success in every area of life for each member of our family. We also believe that service to others is a responsibility we have been given as children of God whose needs have been met and hope that as children are entrusted to our care, we would teach them the importance of reaching out to others who are not as fortunate.
To our family and friends...your support has been and will continue to be invaluable. Please lift us up in your prayers as we begin the adventure of parenthood. We have been entrusted with a tremendous responsibility in shaping this little life. I hope that this decade brings peace, happiness and success to each of you and that your year is a great one!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
In Memoriam
We had a bittersweet holiday this year. Unable to travel to be with family due to the advanced pregnancy and its sensitivity to, well, everything, we stayed home for Christmas. Our dear friends the Halcombs joined us and we had a wonderful holiday. We went to a Christmas Candlelight Service, which has been a holiday tradition for both Rob and Becky for most of their lives. Then we spent Christmas day cooking fancy appetizers and playing games with the four of us and three other friends. Rob had talked about going to see his family for Christmas anyway, because his Grandmother's health was failing, but ultimately, we decided that it was better to be together on Christmas. After the Halcombs left on Sunday, Rob and I watched the snow pile up outside our windows and we thanked God that Rob was not fighting his way home in that weather.
The next morning we got news that his Grandmother had passed in the night. It is incredibly frustrating to not live close, to not know that you need to be there, to not know that this is the last Christmas that you will have this person in your life. While we had visited frequently this year mostly due to her declining health, when we had the opportunity, the time off, to make that last visit, it feels weird to miss that moment. We went to Chicago for the funeral, begging the baby to understand, to just stay put another couple of weeks. Then the self-doubt begins, we had really wanted her to meet her only great-grandchild, to hold him once...if we had only tried to have a baby sooner... And I know in my head that that is ridiculous, that this would have been a high risk pregnancy had we done it before I was healthy, but it doesn't make what you wish for any different.
Saturday night we celebrated Christmas with his family, one of the more unique experiences I have ever had. I have never opened presents from someone who is no longer with us. And I know we will cherish her gifts to her great-grandchild and will tell him about her and her smile and her enthusiasm. Maybe in some ways the Grandma Frances he will know from his father will be more her than the one I knew as she was already very sick when I met her.
Sunday night we got home safely and the contractions started again. This time, they were five minutes apart and painful. We laid down in the bed and prayed and begged God and the baby to just stay in there two more weeks. I couldn't bear to think that my decision to go to the funeral would cause our baby to be born prematurely and possibly have an unnecessarily difficult start in life.
Grandma, while we miss you dearly, we are glad you are not suffering anymore and that you are with your beloved husband again. You will be be in our hearts always...
The next morning we got news that his Grandmother had passed in the night. It is incredibly frustrating to not live close, to not know that you need to be there, to not know that this is the last Christmas that you will have this person in your life. While we had visited frequently this year mostly due to her declining health, when we had the opportunity, the time off, to make that last visit, it feels weird to miss that moment. We went to Chicago for the funeral, begging the baby to understand, to just stay put another couple of weeks. Then the self-doubt begins, we had really wanted her to meet her only great-grandchild, to hold him once...if we had only tried to have a baby sooner... And I know in my head that that is ridiculous, that this would have been a high risk pregnancy had we done it before I was healthy, but it doesn't make what you wish for any different.
Saturday night we celebrated Christmas with his family, one of the more unique experiences I have ever had. I have never opened presents from someone who is no longer with us. And I know we will cherish her gifts to her great-grandchild and will tell him about her and her smile and her enthusiasm. Maybe in some ways the Grandma Frances he will know from his father will be more her than the one I knew as she was already very sick when I met her.
Sunday night we got home safely and the contractions started again. This time, they were five minutes apart and painful. We laid down in the bed and prayed and begged God and the baby to just stay in there two more weeks. I couldn't bear to think that my decision to go to the funeral would cause our baby to be born prematurely and possibly have an unnecessarily difficult start in life.
Grandma, while we miss you dearly, we are glad you are not suffering anymore and that you are with your beloved husband again. You will be be in our hearts always...
A Nice Day for Sewing
Three inches of snow on the ground, my house is clean and warm and dry, I think it is a perfect day for sewing. I will work on diapers, and a bed skirt and a coat for my friend's puppy. Meanwhile, the raucous laughter of the Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me panel blends well with the soothing landscape...
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Sarah Vs. The Crib Skirt
I was going to use the space under the crib to store baskets of blankets. Unfortunately, the rails come down too low to allow for smart storage, so I was just going to put a crib skirt on it to hide underneath. Crib sheets cost between $3 and $15 depending on where you get them. Patterned, cutesy crib skirts start at $12. A plain beige, tan, cream, white, or blue crib skirt will run you about $80. What!!! So I have my heart set on a boring, plain, non-patterned crib skirt and I refuse to pay 40 times what I paid for the sheets. So I today I went to the fabric store and bought plain colored fabric. Total cost...around $10. I am thinking that there is a business in there somewhere. It cannot be a new concept to offer solid fabric choices for baby bedding??
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