Painters are Here

The paint has been bought. Tanya, this wonderful artist friend of mine, came over last night and helped me pick the perfect creamy color for the bathroom. The little square looks great against the tile, but the name of the color has me a little worried.

Orange Foam. What image does that conjure up for you? For me it's Push-up Popsicles that my Aunt Jeannie used to get from the Schwanns man. It should look neutralish next to the green tile.. If not then $15 will fix it.

Is it paranoid that I locked the office door while the guys are working in the bathroom? The key is just a little stick of metal and it's sitting on top of the door frame, so the lock is really not any good at all. But, by golly, if they do try that doorknob they will get the satisfaction of knowing I don't trust them no matter how nice I may seem and they'll get to think I'm a fakey-fake-fake.

My fits of paranoia are random. I wasn't paranoid yesterday when the office door was all open and beckoning and I slept on the couch all non-responsive and drooling. Crap. You know they heard me snoring. How embarrassing.

I get sort of weird once in awhile - like the time I was on the computer at 3 in the morning and thought someone had hacked into my Yahoo account so I changed ALLLLLLL of my passwords for everything. In the morning I couldn't log into anything because I couldn't remember any of the new passwords.

I guess that's enough for today on the strange workings on my mind.

One more thing, now I'm worried that the door won't unlock since I've never actually tried the lock before. Oops. I can't exactly go bopping in there and see it the metal stick works, because that would blow my cover. I have created my own conundrum.

News of The Duck

Hospital updates, blah, blah, baby, blah, blah. Here's the post that everyone's REALLY been waiting for.

A Ducky update.







By day 6 Ducky's water is getting a little muddy. And through the bowl, from the side, he looks a little bloaty.

I think it's time to dump the water and see if Ducky will shrink back down. I know I need to do this before the water gets a moldy skin across the top, and it it's already sooo gross.... But sometimes we have to sacrifice and do gross stuff in the name of science.

I'll do it later.
Day 1 -

Day 6 -

Update

I got to go home this afternoon.

Hospital 4.1

Good morning everyone.

As some of you know I'm blogging from Methodist Hospital this morning. Yesterday afternoon I coughed and started a little bleeding. They kept me overnight to see if the bleeding would stop. If it does, I get to go home this morning. If it doesn't, well, I don't want to talk about that right now. It's 50/50. I had a little blood this morning, but not very much.

I hope to have the shortest stay on the "forever-and-ever floor" in history. Even the people who bring lunch talk to you like a full time resident. I know that the lunch person will be off until Saturday and the supper guy's shift ends at 7, but it's really more like 7:30 by the time he gets all of the trays returned to the kitchen.

My little nurse last was a man who reminded me of someone from Lord of the Rings. Like those little people that lived in round houses like this:


Or this:

He was just sweet as can be. I could also tell he was working his behind off by the little bits of sweat under his sideburns. My Prwecioussssss.

Thanks Tanya for the link to the neat community where I got the pictures above. Here's a link to The Shire Concept, if anyone would like to look into a different kind of neighborhood.

The baby is doing great. His heartbeat is 160 bpm and he's kicking at the monitors on my tummy.

Cleaning Day

Soon the floor will no longer look like it's growing fur around the edges.

There are four people in my house making all kinds of cleaning noises. It's such a weird feeling. One question, can I kick them out of the bathroom so I can use it? Pregnancy is fun.

ETA*** They came and went like angels that smell like pledge. I love them.

Visitor From a Far Away Land

Ciara showed up 5 hours early yesterday! What a wonderful surprise! And she brought a huge assortment of couch toys for days of entertainment from both her and Kiwi. I will never need another coloring or puzzle book again. They thought of everything; cross-stich, paint by numbers, a puzzle, paint your own sun-catchers, markers and pens and crayons, a journal...

AND THIS!

I can GROW MY OWN DUCKY!

I can't wait until someone else besides me is awake so we can get a glass of water and watch it grow! And notice it's going to be distorted and have a "slimy, icky texture". Apparently that's part of the fun! Cool!
And Alan just noticed the best Disclaimer of all:

Disclaimer: This toy is in no way intended to represent living people.
Any resembblance is purely coincidental and not intended to harm people.

WHAT????

Thank you ladies. You have made my day and my presents will keep me busy for many hours.

Tightening

ETA: My experience so far is just the baby doing impressive flips in my belly! No worrying please!

I have a question for all the women who have given birth, what does tightening feel like?

The doctor keeps asking if I feel tightening. I asked her what tightening feels like because, since I've never done this baby thing before, how in the world would I know what tightening feels like? My doctor is not terribly imaginative and just keeps answering, "It's feels like, you know, tightening." Very helpful.

So even if you have never replied to a blog before, please help a girl out and tell me what tightening felt like to you. I would hate to head up to the hospital with what I think is tightening only to find out that it was bad meatloaf.

More about Jello

Blending Cool Whip with peanut butter makes a light and fluffy apple dip that is to die for.

No bake strawberry cheesecake made with Cool Whip is a yummy summer treat.

But the very best is still Kimjello with Cool Whip on top. But not just any Cool Whip. This Cool Whip has to be mixed with something to make it taste sooooo good. Alan thinks it tastes like caramel. My possible mix list includes - but is not limited to - heaven, angel smiles, fluffy stuff of goodness, or puffed up bits of love.

I just want to lick it all off the top of the orange Jello right now, except Alan won't bring the the serving dish into the living room and I'm not allowed to leave the couch. Oh, the humanity.

Shhhh. Don't tell! It's a secret!

I think I'm going to get this rug for my mom for Christmas!


It's a rug for an X-Ray tech that takes his work home with him.


And one for the taxidermist hidden deep inside each and every one of us.


And finally The Rain Man rug. Or maybe for the Firestarter or The Little Match Girl themed room. Yup, something for everyone.

Update from Doctor's Appointment

We just got back from the doctor's office and she said that everything looks good and that baby sounds good.

I have been given a few more privileges.

I can go to the baby classes we have scheduled, but while there I can't practice breathing or pushing. She said she heard about a couple that walked out of their baby class because the video of the birth was too graphic. Alan and I looked at each other and told her that yeah, we would need to discuss things such as Alan does not get to see the baby crowning, or really anything below my waist during the delivery. And that mommy/baby bonding can be just as wonderful after the baby has all of the birth-juice cleaned off of him. Ick.

Back to my new privileges - I can do short bits of ironing. This is important because I need to iron the hems on my 2/3 finished crib ruffle.

I can't float in the pool, but I can soak in the bathtub. Well, I'll be able to soak in the tub as soon as the drywall is cleaned out of it. On the way home I asked Alan why he thought it was okay for me to soak in a tub but not float in a pool. His answer was because the doctor is smart and knows that it's never just floating in the pool. There would be stretching to get on the float and paddling and kicking involved and all of those things are no-no's. Good thinking.

I am still on rest. She warned me to not walk around if I don't need to and if I do need to walk I can't go very far. I am also still on restriction from cleaning and carrying. But health-wise everything is looking positive.

THANK YOU T AND ALAN!!!!!!!!!!!

Look who showed up at my house with a paintbrush in her hand? It's the elusive T!

Alan snapped this picture before she knew he was taking it or there would have been a picture of just a corner. She's that fast.


Alan and T have the 1st coat on the guest room walls already. See the color that the walls were? If I had to describe that color it would be of a dead, bloated body floating in the Mississippi. I really hated that color. A lot.

I promise I'm sitting on the couch being no help at all. I haven't even gone up to see how the new color looks. I'll check it out on my way to bed tonight. And can I just say how grateful I am we picked up the paint last weekend?

Again, thank you T and Alan for doing this. I can't tell you how much better I feel knowing this is done.

****It took all of my willpower not to thank T & A... because, yeah, I'm four****

Bathroom

And then there was a positive side to flooding the house. No more ugly wallpaper. I asked him if he needed to remove the tile too, but he said he didn't think so.
I love this man...


Except for this *****LIVE UPDATE****

The very same man just called for Alan to come in the bathroom because he "just did a boo-boo."

Apparently he was trying to stick a knife through the wall, he hit a wire, it sparked and now there's smoke.



But the wall paper will be gone. Yay. (Oh my god. This is bad. Bad. Bad. Bad)

***Another Update***
According to all phone inquiries, all of the electricians have fled town for a long weekend on the lake. We called an electrician friend (who is also out of town, heh) and he said that the wire will be okay until we can get someone in to look at it on Tuesday.

Home!

I'm home. I'm on rest. No running around or shopping but I can go to the bathroom and the kitchen. I can sit up and play on the computer and I can go up and down the stairs a couple of times a day. I can't get the mail from the mailbox, but I can make a sandwich or warm up something for lunch.

I'm allowed to pick up Grace and I can drive her to her hair appointments. (I asked specifically)

I go back to the dr on Tuesday and if everything has been going along fine I will be allowed to do more stuff. Not a lot more stuff, but anything is better than nothing.

If I bleed again then I will be put in the hospital for the rest of my pregnancy.

Going Home

I wish I had friends all around the world that I could call and chat with at 4:30am.

Why? Because that's what time I regularly wake up and then can't go back to sleep. Right now I can't sleep because I'm worried about the undone mess which is my house. Ciara is coming to visit in about a week and I wanted to finish painting the guest room so she will have a place to sleep. I was going to paint on Wednesday. Heck, it would just be nice if the pool cover, that takes up 1/3 of the soon to be guest room, was gone and the bed could be set up instead of leaning against the wall in the master bedroom.

Obviously no painting happened on Wednsday, and none will be happening for awhile. And Alan's answer to the pool cover is to stick it in the closet in the baby's room. The closet that is full of other lost crap that needs to find a new and permanent home.

To top it off, in the process of cleaning up what must have been quite a bloody mess in the upstairs bathroom, the potty inadvertently overflowed. Alan noticed this oversight much later when water was raining down from the window in the downstairs bathroom.

I've been told there are two large holes in the drywall of the downstairs bath and several large fans and dehumidifiers scattered around the bathroom and office. (The messy office which was on my list of straightening up and organizing. That's not going to get done either.) Alan said the insurance company sent a service out to dry up the mess and they will be back in a few days to assess the damage.

I miss my puppy, but I don't think I want to go home. The thought of being stuck in bed in the middle of that chaos is too much. It's just too much. I wonder if they can medicate me?

My marriage works because where I feel a compulsion to have things in the right place and cleaned the right way, Alan just goes with the flow. He usually just let's me do things my way and he'll even help with the heavy stuff. I don't think he has any clue how his attitude keeps me mostly sane and happy.

People keep telling me to let it go and to enjoy bed rest. Well great for you if you can do that. I'm actually jealous of you. For me, I will be able to fake it when you're around. I will seem happy as a clam watching reruns of Monk and playing on the computer. But know that when no one is watching I will be crying on the couch wishing I was sewing the rest of my crib ruffle, painting the guest room, and doing all of the day to day cleaning stuff that makes me feel like I live in a safe world.

I feel like I'm about to fly into a million little, tiny pieces.

The Hospital Food is Pretty Good

Yesterday was pretty stressful. I woke up bleeding - a lot.

Alan took me to the hospital where they immediately hooked me up to a monitor. The baby's heartbeat was fine as was the neurological monitor. And no contractions at all.

They then did an ultrasound that showed no problem with the plecenta, except that it was low. Not over the cervix, but still low. They don't know exactly why I bled, but it's stopped now and I'll remain in the hospital until tomorrow for observation.

Area 51

This morning I'm calmly walking around in the backyard waiting for Grace to pickle when...what in the hell is that???



And a close up...




It looks like some alien pod-thing growing on the Bay Leaf Magnolia! I wonder if the whole thing is the alien and the red seed looking things are what it feeds off of. Or if each red seed is an alien and it feeds off of the brains of it's human hosts that it captures as they unwittingly walk by the tree... hmmmm...

I'm no Mr. Cosby

Today I woke up with a desperate need for some sweet, slimy, orange goodness with little bits of fruit nestled in the middle. Yup. Jello. Specifically Kim Jello.

Our Kim (as Alan calls her) made Jello for us once and now she has her own side dish named after her here at the Christensen's. It's like going to Mel's and ordering a Flo on wheat with a side of fries.

Who can't make Jello? Who? Me! That's who! I really want to write that it's a gelatinous mess because that is such a cool phrase, but I can't lie. It's not a gelatinous anything. It's nothing but Kool Aid.

Well, I'm off to drink my Jello.

******UPDATE!******UPDATE!********
It finally set up into a yummy Jello Dream!

Potty all the Time

Baby has found my bladder and is tapping Kicky Kangaroo all over it!

Painting the Nursery

Today was a busy day. It was the first cool day in forever so we took advantage and painted the nursery.


Grace painted the lower half of the walls, but she is little and needed a nap It was in her contract.

I am pleased to report that I can still get surprised by the previous owners talent in cutting corners in regards to painting.
I was so glad the whole room wasn't the color we found under the switch plates. As you can see they obviously didn't remove the plates, just painted around them. Weirdos.

As well as paint, Alan replaced all of the outlets and the light switches.


We had a handyman come out last week to quote a price on all of the projects around the house that need to be done, but we just never seem to complete. He was supposed to get back with us in a couple of days with a price and an estimated start date. I'm getting used to Memphis Time, which runs way slower than real time. But sadly, due to the handyman's procrastination, he has now cost himself about $490.00.

We - we meaning Alan. I was watching the qualifications for gymnastics - also put up the crib and dresser. I look like I might have helped a little bit, but notice the pillow on my lap with Grace sitting on it. Yeah, me holding that dresser knob was all staged.


Grace was so strange today. Her little body was shaking and if I left her alone, even for a second, she would hide somewhere. I never figured out where she went. Probably to the Island of Lost Toys. She had that look. Anyway, that's why she's on my lap. She didn't shake when she was sitting on me.

I think Alan was getting a little bit sick of getting his picture taken.

This is the new chair.

And finally, for my mom. Look. See? I'm growing quite round. I'm round in the back side, round in the twins, round in the face and round in the tummy! Everything is right on track and I'm feeling really good. Baby is moving all the time and Alan has even felt him once.

Company

How can a person know someone her whole life, but not really know them? That's how I feel this week.

My cousin, Corie, is visiting this week and I don't think I'm going to let her leave. She is amazing.

For instance, we went shopping on Monday and she made it so easy to try on clothes. How does someone do that? I hate trying on clothes, but with Corie there, it was fun. I think it's her positive attitude. She makes people feel good just by being around her.

***did I just say trrying on clothes was fun? looking for the bolt lightening****

We also saw Mama Mia, went grocery shopping and have been watching season 7 of Gilmore Girls. Oh, and we've talked for HOURS and HOURS. Time is flying by and I just don't think her visit will be long enough - even if I can convince her to stay for two more weeks.

I almost forgot the most important thing. She is so sweet with Grace. I know, I know. You are wondering how could it be any other way? But some people who tolerate Grace and think she's sort of cute, sometimes. And then there's people who snuggle Grace in next to them and pet her without even realizing they are petting her. Corie is a petter. It makes my heart happy.