The Desk

When I went out on maternity leave with Ava, my employer's building lease was up. Everyone on my team then became a "work-from-home" employee, so I didn't have a cubicle / office to which I could return. Doug and I decided to buy an unfinished (custom) desk for our basement. When we found out how much it would cost to "finish" it (I think they wanted $1,400 or more?), Doug thought it might be more cost-effective to try to finish it himself. I guess this wasn't the right piece to "learn" on, but Doug did an AMAZING job!


















Doug stained and stripped and restained this piece of furniture a few times to be sure it looked great. He is Mr. Steady-Eddy and has so much patience for getting techniques down pat! It sounds tricky getting the right consistency / application of stain and lacquer. Now equipped with the right tools to do the job very well (we now own a sprayer which Doug used to spray the lacquer), I'm not sure it was of GREAT savings for us (Doug) to take on finishing it (after sinking $ into the tools necessary to complete the job), but the quality of the workmanship is EXACTLY what you would find in a high-quality furniture store. That being said, I do think he could tackle "finishing" any piece of furniture immaculately, now that he's had this practice. He did an AMAZING job, and the finish is "like glass" on this desk.

















Yes, this desk is over 10 feet long (and is six pieces total)... I guess I should refer to it as a wall unit, instead! We wanted something wide enough to fit our home computer and my work computer side-by-side. Note to self: if ever searching for a house in the future, be sure desk will fit!!!

This Time Around

I know I HAVE to document the difference between this pregnancy and my pregnancy with Ava.



Here it is!



While pregnant with Ava:

I walked (or ran) every week day for at least 2.75 miles (treadmill or outside). Some days it was 5 miles. Some days I climbed 17 flights of stairs at work. Crazy.

I worked in an office.

Other than the exercise, I'm not sure how active my life was on a daily basis. (I slept a lot!)

I gained 29 lbs total. (going 10 days over her due date).

I had horrible heartburn.

I experienced some minimal sciatic pain, especially when on long walks.

I THOUGHT Ava was a girl.

I wanted to be sure to be a "cute" pregnant lady.

I seemed to carry Ava around the middle, and not pop out in front.

I watched EVERY morsel of food that I ate (ate tofu and good, healthy food).

I drank the occasional caffeine. (So sue me!)

I could live without chocolate. (It just doesn't taste the same).

No cravings.

No stretch marks! (I attribute this to moderate / gradual weight gain and using Oil of Olay In-Shower Body Lotion daily, followed by Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula).

I was EXTREMELY tired during the first trimester, falling asleep on the couch every night before bed.

Nausea during the first trimester. (I never vomited).

I can't brush my tongue with my toothbrush too far back or I gag. Every time.

I started wearing maternity clothes around 5 1/2 months.

I didn't get the "magical feeling" and know that I was pregnant, like some women say they do.

I read every book ever published on pregnancy and the birthing process.

Took prenatal vitamin daily.

Got emotional once while Doug was playing Canon D for Ava while in my tummy.

Bags weren't packed for the hospital, but a "pile" was started a week or so before due date.



This time around:

I haven't set foot on the treadmill! (I do go for the occasional walk with Ava, but cardio is nil). I still have 10 weeks to start an exercise routine though, right? :-)

Picking Ava up, picking up after Ava, etc, I think I'm moderately more active with daily activities.

I now work at home.

I expect to gain 29 lbs or so. (I've gained around 19 so far and docs suggest 1 lb per week for the remaining 10 weeks).

I experience horrible heartburn. I LIVE on Zantac or Pepcid and sleep on two pillows.

I experienced some sciatic pain occasionally.

I thought this little one was a girl, too, as this pregnancy has been EXACTLY like my first.

I no longer care about being the cutest pregnant lady in the world, but am now more concerned about Ava's potty schedule and other more practical things :-)

I seemed to carry this baby more out in front.

I don't watch what I eat as freakishly, but don't overindulge, either. (I'm not going out of my way for tofu this time).

I drink the occasional caffeine. (So sue me!)

I could live without chocolate. (It just doesn't taste the same).

No cravings. I do seem to live on Gatorade more this time around, to get enough liquid :-)

No stretch marks! (I attribute this to moderate / gradual weight gain and using Oil of Olay In-Shower Body Lotion daily, followed by Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula).

I was EXTREMELY tired during the first trimester, falling asleep on the couch every night before bed.

Nausea during the first trimester. (I did vomit once when I brushed my tongue too far back!)

I can't brush my tongue with my toothbrush too far back or I gag. Every time.

The belly popped out much more readily this time.

I started wearing maternity clothes around 5 1/2 months.

I didn't get the "magical feeling" and know that I was pregnant, like some women say they do.

I read part of Hypnobirthing, and hope to finish it!

I do sneeze every morning after taking my Prenatal vitamin this time around. Very strange!

Feel emotional very seldomly but have yet to cry for no reason or "go postal" (I guess Doug would be the better person to talk to about this subject! :-).

Bags have yet to be packed for the hospital, but a "pile" will be started! (I do have my "to do" list started, and will definitely be writing more things out to be sure Ava is taken care of during the potential craziness).



More to add to the list through the remaining weeks!



With love,

Shelly

Vegas, Baby!

We had a GREAT time with Doug's familiy in Vegas, staying with his sister Kathy and her family. It turned-out to be a family reunion of sorts. When we learned at Christmas that Doug's brother Joe's family was going to attend a wedding, we decided to try to get out West when they were there. Doug's Mom and Dad were able to fly out, and Doug's sister Tracy was also able to take vacation and fly out. Voila! Family reunion. Kudos to Kathy, Jeff, Payton and Sydney for putting us up for a week.

Grandpa, Grandma and the grandkids
















It was really nice to be able to relax! Doug had been super busy at work. With two deadlines just met, he was ready for a much-needed break.

While in Vegas, we hung-out with the fam, caught-up with each other, enjoyed the sunshine and beautiful weather, played UNO Attack, grilled-out, went to a local park, drove up Mt. Charleston and saw / played in snow, visited Aunt Kathy at work, took family pictures, went to a community Easter egg hunt, got to sit inside a local fire truck, saw Payton's baseball practice, ate at Red Robin restaurant, the girls all got pedicures and manicures, visited the Titanic exhibit at the Excalibur, went shopping at outlets, cruised the Las Vegas Strip, ate at the Cheesecake Factory, saw a quick show in the mall at Caesar's Palace, had a combined birthday party for Grandma Mary, Aunt Kristy and Ava (whose birthdays are all within a week of each other's).

The Ladies
















I also played Bingo for the first time ever (at a casino), going with Doug's Mom, Kathy and Tracy. T'was an interesting experience and more fast-paced than I expected! It was pretty fun. Tracy won $50!!! We also won $30 each on the Wheel of Fortune Slot in the casino on the way out. I will never forget my belly being rubbed as a good luck charm by Doug's Mom, Kathy and Tracy :-) Technically it wasn't an "all-girls" afternoon, carrying a little guy around with me in my tummy!

And Gents...
















Doug, Kathy, Tracy and Dad jumped into Kathy's 58-degree pool. Kathy first, Tracy on a dare, Doug on a dare, and Doug's Dad - well I guess he couldn't resist! Needless to say they didn't do laps in the pool!

We (including Ava) adjusted a little TOO well to the three hour time change. We were really lucky that she adjusted right back to East coast time when we got back. She thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with her cousins, and now talks about them often and fondly by name (Payton, Sydney, Trinity and Maddie).

Ava also did amazingly well on the plane ride there and back. She slept for an hour and a half on the way there (out of four hours), and for an hour on the way back (out of 3.5 hours). When we landed, we told her there would be a "bumpity-bump". After landing she said "Again! Again!" I was SO GLAD she did so well, as I feared for the worst. She normally doesn't sit in our laps for very long at all, let alone on a plane. We lucked-out that she did as well as she did.

With FOURTEEN of us all under one roof, we did amazingly well! It was great to be able to spend so much time together.

Dad, Mom and siblings
















It was a great time had by all. We miss you all already!

Thanks again to Kathy, Jeff, Sydney and Payton for hosting us all!

All our love,

Shelly, Doug and Ava

P.S. - More pictures to add, but wanted to be sure to post this for now...

The Itsy Bitsy Spider and Other Much-Loved Bugs

So Ava DETESTS bugs. With. A. Passion. She loves the outdoors, so those two things are at odds...

She comes by this honestly. My Mom tells me that she heard me thrashing about in the tub when I was younger, thinking I was possibly wrestling an alligator. When she got to the bathroom, she found out I was afraid of an ant that decided to take a swim with me....

Recently when I saw a caterpillar outside on the street , near the curb, I thought it was a good learning opportunity for her. She saw ants, too, and was deathly afraid of them. We must’ve spent 30 minutes sitting on the curb, watching a caterpillar! When I told Ava that the ants are actually more scared of us than we are of them, she seemed to be a little less fearful. I would say “oh, look at the baby ant! How cute!” She now says “Hi, ant!” when she sees them. (Much better than her previous reaction).

She’s still a bit afraid of the caterpillar if it starts crawling directly toward her. The one that we were watching decided to wake up and charged toward where Ava was sitting (if that’s possible – I’ve never seen a caterpillar move so fast!). I mentioned that “Wow, this caterpillar will probably make a really pretty butterfly when he wakes up!” So, she now talks about Caleb (sometimes she forgets that he is “caterpillar” and calls him “Caleb”?) telling us he is outside, sleeping… Hopefully she gets over her serious fear of bugs soon!!!! (Not that I want her juggling fire ants or anything...)

When Doug took Ava to bed and said prayers with her that night, she wanted to be sure to also mention the “caterpillar”, so of course Doug had to pray for the caterpillar to grow into a pretty butterfly. Kind of like the day we planted the flower she picked-out...We prayed and thanked God for the sunshine and rain so the flowers could grow big and tall. She chimed in, wanting us to also thank God for "dirt". We obliged. :-)

Peace, love and creepy-crawlies,
Shelly, Doug and Ava

Full Sentences, Potty Time, Ticks for Mommy...

This past week was Ava's Spring Break from day care. On Monday morning, I got the hair-brained idea that we should start hitting the potty-training circuit. If she would be home all week, why not take advantage of that time? And so it began, the time and energy-consuming process of putting my toddler on the potty repeatedly in hopes of banishing diapers forever. We also switched to Pull-ups (thought these might seem more like underwear to Ava than diapers).

At first Ava had a few accidents the first day. We then were able to eventually venture out without Ava wearing a diaper, but wearing big girl undies. We then were able to venture out without a diaper AND use public (albeit grotesque) restrooms! We're now officially down to one Pull-Up for her nap and one Pull-Up for sleeping through the night. She has the ocassional accident, but alerts us immediately. I was surprised at how mess-free the week actually was! Other than the use of Pull-Ups for sleepy-time(s), Ava now wears big girl undies! She is seriously proud of herself when she goes on the potty.

She is also officially a serious chatterbox. As of this week, she now talks in mostly complete sentences... Some we recently heard were:

I know, Mommy.
Thank you, Mommy.
I get up in the morning.
It be hard (this is what she says whenever she finds anything "hard" to do.)
I be cold. I freezing! (She thinks whenever the wind blows that it is cold).
I cook! (She now pulls a chair up to the counter to cook).
I did that! (What she says when she gets up from the potty, pointing into the potty. :-)
I'm a big girl!
Go to the Play Place? Please?
It's raining outside.
It's a birdie outside!
Go outside? Water the flowers?

Other sentences slip my mind, but I am astounded at the amount of things she recognizes, understands and verbalizes lately. It definitely seemed to happen over the week.

She said the sweetest prayer two Sundays ago. While on the way back from small group, she said "Pray?" So, I started out saying "Dear God". She then said "Dear God," at the same time, so I assumed she was going to say her own prayer. She jibber-jabbered for a few seconds, enunciated "Taco Bell" very clearly, and then said "amen". :-) When we ask her what her favorite restaurant is, she always replies "Taco Bell!" (Aunt Sherry would be proud). So, I think she was saying her own little prayer, thanking God for Taco Bell. :-)

I REALLY hope that Ava's day care will be able to be proactive about the potty-training this week, and not "undo" what we've worked hard at for a week now! We sent her off to day care this week in big-girl undies and with ONE pull-up in tow (along with some extra changes of clothes & underwear). Tune in later to find out how that goes!

This year I planted some vegetable plants in containers. The first time ever! I normally stick to planting flowers, but am excited to see how successful I will be with actual veggies and fruit. I planted Big Boy tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, basil, cilantro, burpless hybrid cucumbers, Quinalt strawberries, Fall Gold raspberries, Latham Red raspberries. I have fond memories of snapping many large bowls of green beans with Grandma Nila, from Pa's garden when I was younger, and tasting Pa's yummy Concord grapes and amazing tomatoes from the garden. Hopefully this year's "harvest" will be plentiful!

While wiring some tomato cages to the tomato plant pots yesterday (or while planting eight flowers, not sure which), A TICK BIT ME and decided to hang-out for a while (7 hours or so :0(. I found it on my head in the afternoon, swatted it off and didn't see where it went... Until looking in the mirror before bedtime. It had firmly affixed itself to the inner part of my ear (the "curly" part?). I pulled it off quickly, freaking out. I stashed it in a small Tupperware container in some rubbing alcohol. Not able to sleep well after that, I looked up Lyme's Disease on-line and noticed the # for the Poison Control Center is 24 X 7, so I called. The person I spoke with didn't seem to think that there would be any issue with Lyme's Disease (considering the tick wasn't on for 12 hours or more), or with me being 7 months pregnant. Fortunately when I pulled the tick off, there wasn't any blood, but definitely an impression where the little guy had been residing. Lovely.

Aside from the tick bite yesterday afternoon, I also FELL while lugging our tomato plants into our garage last night before bed, over the hill from our backyard into the front. It was dark outside and I got tripped up with two different aluminum pails in one hand. I skidded headfirst onto the driveway, stopping myself with my hands (which are pretty scraped up), and right side of my body. I tried to land as gracefully as possible. The hill is hard to maneuver with sandals on, even if one is not pregnant, carrying two pails and talking on a cell phone. (Oops, guess I don't know my "pregnant" limits). I was fortunate to forego landing on the ever-so-pronounced belly. When I called the doc this morning, they wanted to see me and monitor the baby, just to be safe. The baby is fine and his heart is lub-dubbing along quite nicely. He is quite the mover and shaker, too. The doctor didn't seem concerned about the tick bite, but told me to call if I experience any symptoms (flu-like, joint pain, etc).

I WAS OUTSIDE FOR AN HOUR!!! How in the world did a tick attach itself to me? Doug and I will be taking Brad Paisley's song to heart this summer... "I'd like to check you for ticks". Ooooh! How romantic. :0) On to less bug-infested days with fewer falls...

Peace, love and DEET,
Shelly

~Update! Update! ~
Ava did GREAT at day care today, going potty there, wearing the Pull-Up only for naptime and wearing big-girl undies for the rest of the day. She didn't have any accidents today, either. AT ALL! Woo-hoo! I have a feeling that the next few weeks may not be as accident-free as today, but I'm SO GLAD to know that her day care is willing to work with her and the other kids so well while potty-training. Yay for Ava! :-)