The Coolest Baby Present I Received

So I got a lot of baby stuff from lots of people...thanks again to all of you.  But unfortunately none of you were able to find the coolest present we got.

Yes it is a tooth fairy pillow (ummm dentistry tie-in) AND it has a soccer ball on it (Jer's favorite).  We have already discussed what soccer position little Baby Kratos will play.  He will love this pillow one day.  Thanks Jean!

A Non-Birth Story

Yep...I am still pregnant.  I was due yesterday.  I got nothing.  I had really high hopes for the full moon weekend and the supposed effect the gravitational pull of the moon has on the amniotic sack during a full moon...nope nothing.  I went boating...nope nothing.   I have been going on LOTS of LONG walks...nope nothing.  Stubborn little bugger will NOT come until HE is ready....he must be my child right?

Hey but at least I took a picture of myself on my due date for all to see.  So here you go. (No I didn't cut my hair short....it is just the layers and the angle of the camera)

So despite being incredibly uncomfortable (especially at night) I am feeling well.  The walks I have been taking over the last several weeks are really doing me good (let's just say my butt and thighs (and Ozzy) are not complaining).  I am seriously ready not to be a sweaty mess ALL. THE. TIME.  I am freezing Jer out at night.  He has to sleep with a fleece blanket while I use just a sheet and have a fan directly pointed on me.  Funny thing about that is that I am usually cold all the time, my father in law actually made the comment once that the only time I am warm is in 100+ degree weather in direct sunlight...well now we know that is not the ONLY time.  9 months pregnant in Texas will also warm me right up.

Speaking of Texas....I have had a few firsts lately.  Unfortunately these first happen to be first "critter" sitings.  First, is the scorpion Jer and I have seen a few times on our nightly walks.  I have never seen one before now...it was just itty bitty, but I imagine it will get bigger.  Next was the vultures (creepy looking birds).  Then there was last night and the BIGGEST wolf spider I have ever seen (I honestly didn't think they could get that big...but I guess everything really IS bigger in Texas). 

I only wish that Jer had gotten the door stop that is near by so you can really see how big this thing is...I honestly thought it was a tarantula, but I looked it up...just a wolf spider.  I HATE SPIDERS!!! I saw this an fa-reaked out!  It is dead now though.

So last post I talked about our little birdy friends that were sleeping on the porch and how they had to go because they were leaving little poopies on the porch as well.  So we put up some spikes in those corners to prevent them from perching...and this is what we found the next night....

Yep...that is a total of 5 birds.  2 or which are sleeping on the the spikes!  Waste of time and money!  Well little did we know that we already had a way of getting rid of our little friends...we just weren't putting it to proper use.  And it looks a little something like this!

All we had to do is tell him to "go get the birdies" at sunset for a couple of nights...and he would obligingly run out the dog door (at full speed I might add) into the backyard and run around the yard enthusiastically panting!  Which apparently is enough to deter any birds from sleeping on our porch.  We haven't had any guests for weeks now!  They are definitely still around I see them flying around all day, but I guess word has gotten out that no one should sleep at this house...they have the "crazy excited" dog! 

Buddies

The big move to our house is "complete".  Meaning almost everything is where it needs to be....except for all that random stuff you really don't know where to put so you take one of your empty bedrooms shove it all in there and shut the door and put a task called "clean up random room" on your to-do list and continually pass over it.  That is "complete".  We will get to it one day....one day.  We figure we won't be using that room for a little while so we got time.

Our big move has also resulted in the happiest our dog has ever been.  He is LOVING the yard because everyday for about 10 - 20 minutes (too hot for more than that) I can take him out back for a quick frisbee session.  But not only does he love that...he has made many new friends. 

This is only a few of his new buddies.  Ozzy is the new cool kid on the block.  Which actually makes us quite a popular house.  These kids will actually come and knock on our door to see if Ozzy can come out and play.  Kids are GREAT!!  They wear him out!  He is so tired after playing with them that he just passes out at night.

This picture makes me laugh because one day Ozzy was so hot and tired from playing non-stop he just went and stood in the sprinkler...If any of you have been around Ozzy and sprinklers, you know that this is NOT how Ozzy deals with sprinklers.  If they are on, he usually is biting at them or trying not to get wet.  So to see him just stand there to cool off was pretty funny.

Funny story about one of the kids...when we moved in he went up to Jer and asked if he had any kids.  When Jer said no, he was really disappointed.  We thought for sure the kids would want nothing to do with us because we had no kids...thank goodness for Ozzy!  Now we are the hit of the neighborhood!

The neighbors so far have been great.  They ladies are all very socialable and are always out watching the kids play so we haven't had any problems with getting to know the neighbors.

Speaking of buddies...we have recently acquired a new buddy... 

This little bird has recently taken to sleeping on our porch every night.  He is a cute little bird and doesn't mind how close you get to him.  He is just sooo cute, but unfortunately he is not just sleeping on our porch...he is also pooping on our porch so this little buddy is going to have to go.  We are going to have to put some spikes on the ledges so he won't be able to roost there.  Sad to see him go, but I don't want bird poop all over my porch.  Bittersweet.

And finally, what you may be most interested in is my little buddy.  Here is a 36 week picture...

I am only showing the picture on the top so you can see my living room...not a good pic of my face and isn't my "different shades of gray" outfit just amazing!  And my too small t-shirt resulting from a very strong desire to not waste money on maternity clothes when I only have a few weeks of being pregnant left. 

I think I have done a bit of growing in the last few weeks wouldn't you say.  But I would think with only a few weeks left I should probably pop out and actually look pregnant. 

So how is my little buddy doing?  Well my little buddy is just that...little.  A few weeks ago he was measuring in the 15% percentile (25% is considered small).  He did quite a bit of growing over the last few weeks and finally at my last visit he made it to 25%.  Or as the midwife told me "well...you definitely aren't growing a moose in there".  Hey...I think I would rather have a small baby than a big baby...right?  I am already very pro medicaded birth, but really...I don't think I would want to put my body through a big baby with out a good warm up.  Baby Kratos can be considered the warm up because I don't think number 2 and 3 (maybe) will be this small.

Other than being small he is still letting me know on a multiple times a day basis that he is indeed head down.  A few good kicks in the ribs is all I need to be reminded.  He definitely likes his space and now that it is really starting to get tight in there he is pushing on me and my poor ribs a lot more.  They say babies love to be swaddled and wrapped up tight when they are newborns because that's how it was in the womb...most of the time I don't know if that will be Baby Kratos.  I think he is going to come out and never want to be constricted again.  He will want to sleep like his dad...all apendages sprawled out.

He is very camera shy so with the last 3 ultrasounds I have received they haven't been able to get a good shot of his face, so you get no pictures of that.  He apparently likes to play with his feet as that is what he was doing in 2 of the 3 ultrasounds.  He also apparently has a head full of hair (they can see that in the ultrasounds!).  BTW...the thought that if you have a lot of heartburn means you will have a baby with alot of hair is just an old wives tale.  I have had no heartburn and I have a baby with a lot of hair.  Now the question is....is that blonde or brunette?

It's Official

We have just signed our lives away.  We are officially home owners (and consequently are now saving $17/year on our car insurance*, thanks Progressive).

So far we have moved in 2 boxes or random decorations.  We spent about 4-5 hours last night sealing our tile grout in the areas that will be heavily trafficked during the moving in process.  NOT FUN!!!  Worst part...we aren't done.  We still have 2 bathroom floors and showers and the kitchen back splash to complete (mind you that each surface takes minimum 2 coats to be effective). 

Now, we have done some stuff that I don't think is very fun, like painting, and I just keep saying some day we can just hire someone to do it for us...Jer usually refuses and says that we can do it ourselves and it is stupid to hire someone.  Well...ladies and gentlemen, I think I have found the one thing that he would actually hire someone to do for him.  Since your tile needs to be re-sealed every few years, Jer was actually saying that the next time we do this we are going to pass through downtown San Antonio and pick up a few "guys" to do it for us.  I have no objections.  

We also put down weed and feed on the lawn as it is making great strides in dying and being overtaken by weeds because there has been little to no maintenance of the lawn over the last 2 months.  After getting the weed and feed on, we soon learned of a new lawn problem that will need immediate action...ANTS!  Jer spotted 3 ant hills while he was getting the fertilizer on the lawn.  UGH!  I guess this is our official welcome to home ownership right?

Today, Tuesday, we will be moving in some of our valuable items...you know the things that you really don't trust "just anybody" (and by just anybody I am referring to 16-18 year old boys) to move.  Things such as our TV and my piano (it is digital yes, which makes moving it quite simple, but it is my piano, I spent a lot on it, it needs my protection).

Wednesday will be final moving day.  Lucky for Jer and I, we both work with the youth at church (primarily those youth between 16-18).  So what does this mean...they love us and are more than willing to help us (at least we think they love us...I mean I think I am pretty cool, how could they feel differently right?!) .  Wednesday just happens to be mutual night....and we just happened to have a service project for the young men...MOVING US!!!  Cheap labor...whoops I mean service opportunities...are so easy to come by in our church, it's great!  But really...even if it wasn't mutual night...you offer free pizza and soda to a group of growing teenage boys and they are all over it like white on rice.

Some may ask how is Ozzy handling everything?  Well, I think he is a little freaked.  We had him with us last night and for the first couple hours he just sat there right by our sides panting (a sign to us that he is nervous).  And then I had to kick him out of the house so he sat right by the back door until we let him in.  And then while we were working on sealing the tile he never let us out of his site.  If we were in different locations, he made sure he was able to either see both of us, or be where he could still hear one of us and see the other person (Border Collie instincts I think).  By the end of the night he was getting more comfortable and even walked to the back door so we could let him out to do his "business" (something he would not do if he were still incredibly nervous).  BUT...while he was getting things done, he didn't go far.  I could see through the blinds that he was still keeping an eye on us the whole time (I think I will contribute this to Border Collie instincts as well).  He will adjust just fine though...the more we take him over with us and pay special attention to him during this transition, he will handle it like a champ. 

Once we move in we can get some more pictures of the house on here.  Just wait patiently.


*This savings is soon to be unrealized as just after getting the keys to my house, I got pulled over for speeding in a school zone (mind you 5 minutes prior to the school zone speed restriction ending for the day, and I turned after the flashing signs, so I didn't realize I was in a school zone).  From what people are telling me this is quite a substantial fine...I guess that is my formal welcome to the city of Schertz.  Thanks Schertz Police Department for making me feel so welcome in your town. 

Just for Bre

Bre....here you go.

So what's happ-i-lappin' lately.

1) He is kicking me lots and all day except for when someone other than me is around to see and/or feel it (i.e. when Jer gets home from work).  Sometimes he is so active I think he invited some friends over to play too.

2)  He is measuring small (no big surprise here since I have been disagreeing with the doctor since day 1 about how far along he is, long story with details that need not be shared and ending with Jer being pretty proud of himself).  My next appointment they are going to sonagram him again for growth.  I wouldn't be surprised if the due date is pushed back a week.

3)  Speaking of kicking...I think Baby Kratos is taking out his anger at the gods on my ribs.  For now they are just jabs that are more uncomfortable than painful at this point.  But, with 2-1/2 more months, I am not looking forward to what these jabs may turn into.  (Thank goodness my Baby Kratos doesn't have blades of fury or I would be in serious trouble).

In other news...we are getting ready to move.  Everything is moving along smoothly with the house purchasing process and we are still looking to close and move in next week.  I am really excited about this because I am really looking forward to not having to move for a very long time (especially after having moved 3 times over the last 9 months).