THE BIG, BAD MOVE

Okay so that title is probably an over reaction. 

Let's just say if you ask me the move started out as a fiasco! My husband who is a much more laid back guy would say I'm going overboard in saying that. (Good thing he's the active duty military dude and I'm not.) Friday started out well I thought we went and signed our new lease, did the walk through the new house and then the movers called saying they were at the gate. Right on schedule...I was pleased as peaches.  I finished the house walk through and waited for the call saying things were getting moved. Unfortunately, the first call was from my husband informing me that he was at the Main Gate to the base and that of the 2 movers, one was being arrested by the sheriff and being hauled off to jail.
[Let me refresh my civilian friend's memories....we live on a very secure base and the US Marines will shoot you (long story) if you aren't where you're supposed to be with the right clearance. Anyway, if you are a contractor (like a mover) you will be background checked before you can come on the base and if you have a warrant or anything they don't like you will not be allowed on base.] 
I ask Avery what is going to happen and he naturally tells me not to panic. Just call the moving company. Before I can do that the owner calls me and is "so embarrassed." I calmly told him I was very angry and to find someone else to come out & do my move. He then tries to get me to use a different moving company and I refused. I had one day to get this done & I hired him; it's like honor your commitment buddy! Long story short...he did finally send someone else out and the 2 kids (they had to be only like 18 years old) did the move taking far longer then I ever anticipated. It was ridiculous!! The only positive was that due to his extreme embarrassment the owner heavily discounted the move. Which is good, because had he not I would've left a very bad review on every online site his company is advertised. Now I just will call us even and write no reviews at all.
By Saturday we were completely in the new house and unpacking. Sunday, Avery & I spent the afternoon cleaning the old house. By Tuesday we were free of the house and now on Friday I feel like life in the new house is becoming normalized and for a planner like myself it feels good.  I love the new house!

Due to my current state of extreme discomfort from pregnancy, we are staying here for Easter. We'll take Matthew to the church egg hunt tomorrow and then do Mass on Sunday. It'll be pretty low key for us. I bit the bullet and took Matthew to see the mall Easter bunny since I had missed the one at the Navy Exchange. He did fine...he just refused to smile and instead sat there with a very serious expression the whole time. He finally looked up at the bunny and it seemed cute so we went with that picture. It was pricey though...jeez do the malls gouge crazy parents like me. Lesson learned!!

Pregnancy Update- Week 31

I've been feeling kind of badly that I haven't kept up with these, nor do I take many belly pictures. This pregnancy is just flying past me at the speed of light and with our schedule I just don't fit the time in to do such things. I really hope my daughter isn't upset with me someday when she looks at her baby scrapbook and notices a difference between the size of her brothers book compared to hers.

How far along? 31 weeks 4 days

How big is baby? Baby Center App says over 16 inches long and I believe it! She's stretches herself out a lot!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I weighed 139.2 on Friday, so that's a total gain so far of 22-25 pounds depending on which starting weight you use for me. (I'm only 18 pounds away from the weight I was when I delivered Matthew...should be interesting to see if I pack on the pounds in the next several weeks or if their guess that she will be smaller is correct.)

Next Appointment: In a week, Monday the 25th.

Maternity Clothes: Yes, yes. SO tired of them.

Sleep: Sleep aid has been necessary otherwise I don't sleep at all now. :-/

Best Moment This Week: Honestly with myself sick and Little Dude sick there hasn't been one. Perhaps just knowing that my Aunt arrives tomorrow to help me get through the move is it!

Annoyance of the Week: Illness in my house.

Movement: Tons and tons! She is a very busy baby girl.

Planning/Preparation: Crib is purchased, moving is commencing this week and Stork Express (my hospital's name for pre-admission & maternity tour) is scheduled.

Belly Button In/Out: Neither...it's stretched flat!

Gender: 100% girl

What I Miss: Moving comfortably.

What I'm Looking Forward To:  Finishing this dang looming move! Decorating the nursery, my baby shower and Easter!

Contractions: Yep, though not as bad as other weeks.

Milestones?: No idea if there were any!

Hello, Hello...an update for you all!

First, hello hello to my new followers! It really makes a gal feel good to know you want to read what I write. :-)  I've had so many blog topics come to mind that I don't even know where to start! (My husband always asks why I take such long showers...well it's because I am blogging in my head. Haha!)

31 Weeks: This week I'm still getting over this dang lingering head cold. I'm exhausted from it and pregnancy of course.  I hit 31 weeks...holy moly where did this pregnancy go? It's flown past me at the speed of light. I've decided if I could pick a date for her to be born that May 6th would be perfect! Why that date you ask, well it's my Grandma's birthday and it will allow for my son to see the kidney doctor without any interruption or re-scheduling.  Now that I've said this she'll either come earlier or be late of course! So in 9 weeks I'll be thanking myself for the jinx. ;-)

Her nursery: On the chance you don't follow me on Pinterest (which you should, btw) or don't talk to me on a regular basis, her room theme is Paris/Eiffel Towers with Minnie Mouse accents. Sounds odd in writing I realize, but it looks cute all together in my head. The colors are pink and black. We move next week so her nursery will be getting started for real soon. And will not just be a bunch of pins on pinterest and stuff in Rubbermaid bins.  Speaking of moving...I wish I could close my eyes and have it done already! The build-up is too much for this control freak. My husband laughs at me now. He is much more laid back then I am.

My Mom Car: I forgot to tell you shout it from the rooftops that we bought a new-to-us car recently. I joke with my husband that it is my Mom car, since we got it to haul the babies and all their stuff. It's a Honda Pilot  and I love it!! We weren't planning to even look at Honda I'll admit, but another dealership we were at had it on the lot for sale and we scored a good deal on it. Car salesmen humor me. The things they say remind me of what I was taught to tell people when I sold Kirby Vacuum cleaners for a few months one summer in college. I had to keep turning away to not laugh at the guy. He was nice, but he's a salesman first.

Matthew:  Little Dude is also getting over a cold and has conjunctivitis on top of it all. Hopefully he's better soon. I hate, hate, hate seeing him so miserable. It just breaks my heart. With the exception of the UTI, which alerted us to his kidney condition, at 4 months old he really had no illness during his first year. I guess at almost 14 months old he's making up for it!

THE MOVE: We take possession of the new house on Friday. I am stressing...just a tiny bit...and praying this goes smoothly & as painless as possible. Once we're all moved in we have until the afternoon of the 25th to have our current house in white glove clean condition to return it to the military. That's a quarters to quarters move for you folks...quick & tiring. Oh and contrary to many of my civilian friends confusion...they (the military) do not move you for these. We have to do this all ourselves. My goal is to be settled quickly though. And people who know me know I will make that happen. I'm sure I'll have a few funny stories about it though. :-)

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I'm cooking corned beef, buttered cabbage and mashed red potatoes. Oh and I'm not even remotely Irish, I just know good food. ;-) Have a lovely day friends!

Miscellany Monday

Hello friends...it's a great grey day to do Miscellany Monday!

1. Colds stink!
I have a cold, which is so far thankfully moving through the stages that are head cold misery fairly quickly. Still it's miserable and makes me feel incredibly lazy at a time when I especially need to be getting things done.

2. Moving...

Yeah we're moving in less then 2 weeks time now. Even with it as planned out as I can possibly get it at this point, it's still stresses me out. We're not even moving that far away (about 2 streets up) but still it's a lot of work and I dislike it immensely.

3. Cute Boy.
This is how we found him napping a few days ago. Love him.

Hugging his lambie!

4. Career.
Things are looking up on that front. I can't say anymore without jinxing it though. I'll be back to discuss when I actually am back to work in late summer/early fall. :-)

5. The Bachelor!
It's no secret I love "bad" television. So we know I'm tuned in. I cannot wait to discuss it with my friends. Haha!

PAIL's 20 Questions

If you'll take a second and look to the right of your screen you'll see that big button that says I am a part of the PAIL blog roll. PAIL stands for: Pregnant and/or Parenting through Adoption/Infertility/Loss. I've been part of the blog roll for months and done nothing. This month I figured, hey why not do the monthly theme. Enjoy!

Les Questions

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1. What was the last thing you threw in the garbage/recycling? I put an empty plastic bottle in the recycling.
2. What’s the #1 most played song on your iPod? According to my handy-dandy iphone it's currently "Skyfall" by Adele. Love her and that song!
3. What is your favorite quote? "Life is a succession of moments, to live each one is to succeed." -Corita Kent
4. What chore do you absolutely hate doing? Mopping the tile floors.
5. What is your favorite form of exercise? Ballet/dance
6. What is your favorite time of day/day of the week/month of the year?
   ~Favorite time of the day: Nap time or bed time.
   ~Day of the week: Sunday
   ~Month of the year: September
7. What is on your bedside table? Small lamp, clock, picture frame, cloth basket with tissues, meds, chapstick, lotion, etc in it and a water bottle.
8. What is your favorite body part? Of my body: my hair.
9. Would you use the power of invisibility for good or evil? I'd use it for good I'd hope. 
10. If you could choose to stay a certain age forever, what age would it be? Probably my current age, because it's not too bad. 
11. What is the first thing you would do if you won the lottery? Pay off my student loans.
12. What is your biggest pet peeve? Probably people who don't follow through on things. It bugs me a lot, I confess.
13. If you could know the answer to any question, what would it be?  "Where will I be in 5 years?"
14. At what age did you become an adult? According to the government 18, but let's be honest here real true adulthood began at more like 20 or 21 for me personally.
15. Recommend a book, movie, or television show in three sentences or less. "The Giver" totally gives you an interesting perspective on life no matter your age. It's fantastic and a great book to re-read.
16. What did you do growing up that got you into trouble? Usually got into mischief that my parents did not like....I was much too curious for my own good sometimes. 
17. What was the first album you bought with your own money? I don't remember....maybe Ace of Base?
18. If someone wrote a book about you, what would be the title? "Ramblings of a Sailor's Lady" It seems fitting. LOL!
19. What story do you wish your family would stop telling about you? How quote "big" I was at birth and then turned out smallish in size. Such an annoying story after 27 years.
20. True or false: The unicorn is the greatest mythical creature. State your case.  I have no opinion either way. Mythical creatures have never held my interest all that much.