Look, but don't touch

Despite a pretty steadfast rule of no Christmas til at least December (and usually until after Brad's bday-- so that he gets his proper due), we broke down and got the tree on Sunday. Really, I just wanted it done before the baby came. Plus, I AM trying to rush the holidays this year... the quicker they come, the quicker this kid comes!

Anyway, the tree is gorgeous (are they ever not?) and Annie was a very good girl while we were putting it up and decorating it. BUT, it took her all of about 20 minutes to realize that the tree was possibly the coolest toy she'd ever seen, and a giant thing with branches full of trinkets to play with was really too much to pass up. We of course tried to reason with the tiny 17 month old child, but that was not happening. After chasing her for half an hour and trying to outwit her devilish plans to hijack yet another ornament, we decided something had to be done. And, short of locking Annie out of the living room for the next month (which seemed slightly over the top), we opted for plastic! A la Grandma's sofa set covered in plastic to protect it from the rotten kids, we put up a plastic barrier in front of the tree so she can't get to it anymore. It does slightly take away from the ambiance of it all, but are you really allowed ambiance when you have a toddler in the house anyway? Ambiance schambiance- at least we have a tree and this big ol preggie is no longer spending all her time chasing a little monster with an ornament obsession...

Tree post-plasticization 

(definitely could be worse... in the right light, you can't even see it)

It's not nice to be bitchy to the VERY pregnant lady

I had, yet another, OB/GYN appointment this morning. Seriously, they make you live there during the last trimester. Up to this point, I've seen (and liked- for the most part) just about everyone in the practice, but today was certainly an exception. After waiting in the exam room for almost 35 minutes, oh so comfortably disrobed from the waist down, Dr. (shall we call her) BitchFace walked in. There was no 'sorry you waited so long' (which should be automatic), no small talk, no nothing. The entire visit, including the exam took 4 minutes and proceeded like this:

Dr. BitchFace walks in: Hello. Any contractions? (Note: no niceties.)
Me: No. Lots of cramping but no contractions.
Dr. BitchFace: uh huh. (Thank you for acknowledging the cramping...) And you're due soon, right. (Hello, check my chart oh thorough one)
Me: Yes. Saturday.
Dr. BitchFace (looking at the chart): Your blood pressure is fine and you've gained another pound. (Yes- thank you, I was aware of that when I was weighed, but definitely a helpful thing to point out...)
Dr. BitchFace: And were you dilated at your last visit? (Uh- again, info YOU should have?)
Me: Yes. 1.5 cm
Dr. BitchFace: OK, now I'll do the internal exam. ...painfully digging around in my anatomy... Nope. Nothing. I'd give you just over a cm.
Me: (crushed) OK. And... (I start to ask a question... I had several.)
Dr. BitchFace (interrupting): Make an appointment for next week. Maybe you'll go into labor before then, but if not, they've probably already scheduled your induction. (huh?) You can discuss that next week though... Have a nice day. EXIT Bitchface.

Seriously? Rude people piss me off so much, and rude people with their gloved hands painfully poking around in my inner most regions especially piss me off. What benefit, to either of us, comes from you being curt with me? I've done nothing to you. I was on time for my visit. And not for nothing but I'm a wee bit hormonal these days. Being nice goes such a long way... You would think a WOMAN, dealing non-stop with pregnant ladies, would have a bit more understanding of that fact! Instead, she just succeeded in ruining my morning...

Now for the inevitable conclusion to this story: You know Dr. Bitchface is totally going to be on call when I go into labor. Won't that be lovely...

Diary of a whiny pregnant lady

5 days and counting until D day. The nursery is done, all the baby's clothes/blankets/misc. stuff are freshly washed and put away, teeny tiny diapers and wipes are ready in the drawer, hospital bag is in the car, babysitters for Annie are on stand-by, the baby car seat is ready to go, and work has been pretty much fully transitioned. All we need to do now, (and I use the term 'we' generously) is HAVE THIS BABY! As of last Monday, I was only 1.5 cm dilated, but- as is the nature of all of this- anything can happen at any minute. ...Aaaand, this minute would be nice!

In classic 'Amy style', I have made this whole thing that much more torturous by being totally sure that I would have her early. I said I didn't want a December baby, so obviously the little lady would obey... Add that to the fact that I have been having cramps for the last 2 weeks, and I have convinced myself daily that 'today is the day'. Alas, the cramps seem to be doing little more than annoying me and my daily disappointments have just served to make me that much grumpier. I really think I must be the world's worst pregnant person. I wish I was that wonderfully glowy pregnant lady, but all I am is a whiny, swollen, grumpy curmudgeon. Michelle Duggar, I am not!

It's funny, I am so ready and DONE at this point that my labor fears are almost completely gone. Guess that's all part of the cosmic plan: Get you to the point where nothing could be worse than pregnancy prolonged, and the idea of labor becomes completely do-able.

So, the way I see it, very worst case scenario we have 2 weeks left until baby. If I don't go into labor on my own, the doctor would induce between a week and 10 days after my due date, which would put us in the hospital on or around Brad's birthday. I really was hoping to not have another December birthday in the house but not so sure I have much control over that at this point. ...The best laid plans...

Project Nursery: COMPLETE

Now all we need it baby!
 

Pic of finished glider. My mother-in-law made the cushion and throw pillow and I did the ottoman. Not too shabby for a $30 POS, huh...

Jane made two throw pillows, so I was able to add one to the crib as well. I love this fabric.

Just a wee dash of cuteness to start off the day!

James it is!!!!!(?)

Violet James is the clear winner so far!

My favorite part is my Dad voted against 'James'. (He likes Elizabeth). Ha! If this lady comes tonight, she'll be Violet James (after my father, who chose a different name ;) Of course, if I have to wait too much longer, who knows what we'll come up with...

1 cm dilated as of today's doc appointment. That's something at least. Send me all your best labor inducing thoughts. I'M READY!

Happy Fall!

The middle name dilema

BG 2.0 is due in 22 days and we are still not set on a middle name. So, I'm throwing this out to you guys. Please see the poll I set up on the right hand side of the blog and select the name you like best.

Here's the rationale for the 3 names that are in the running:

1. Violet JAMES: As Violet was supposed to be a boy (insubordinate baby already!), her middle name was also supposed to be 'Douglas' for my Dad. However, Douglas doesn't have the same ring for a pretty little lady. So, we're trying to find another shout out to my Dad. Dad's middle name is 'James' and I think there is something really cute about the name. It's obviously masculine, but since Violet is so feminine, it may just counteract it nicely? Also, my other two uncles on Dad's side also have the middle name 'James', so it does become a family name. Whatcha think?

2. Violet JUTTON: Not much explanation needed for this one. Obviously my maiden name and thus a shout out to my family in general. I like the idea but it's definitely the least nice sounding of the 3. (As Gram said when I was home last week- 'Jutton, ech... that's ugly'... leave it to Gram ;) However, it probably has the most significance.

3. Violet ELIZABETH: In the vein of trying to find something that sounds pretty together, I came up with Elizabeth:
1. It's a great name.
2. I've always thought it would be great to have a name with a literary connection and my ALL TIME favorite book is Pride & Prejudice. The two oldest sisters (amazingly awesome characters each with great qualities) are Jane and Elizabeth. If we go with Elizabeth, our girls then have the middle names Jane and Elizabeth, which is kinda awesome if you ask me.
3. My sister-in-law (Beth) is Elizabeth and Mady's middle name is Elizabeth. Thus there is also a family connection.

BTW

For those of you avidly following the adventures of baby girl 2.0, I would like to report that, as of my sonogram on Monday, she is head down and ready to go! (She was breach as of my last sono, so this is definitely good news for going au natural... and by 'natural'- I mean vaginally, but most certainly WITH the lovely lovely drugs.) Oh man, I'm getting palpitations just thinking about labor again. I was so NOT nervous with Annalise, but- now that I know what I'm in for- I'm kinda shaking in my boots this time around.

Project Nursery (cont.)

Here's my newest crafty project. I wanted a mobile for above the changing table, but couldn't find anything that I liked. Our friend had made an adorable one for Annie, so I started thinking that I could/would make one, but I really had no idea what I wanted to do. THEN, I saw this wreath at Ikea.

Apparently it's supposed to be Christmas decoration, but it really got my wheels turning. I bought the wreath and a couple other matching decorations, reoriented everything, wired it with fishing line, and viola! A pretty gray textile mobile that matches the room perfectly! Yay for Ikea!

Congratulations Mr. President

UPDATE: I am very wordy, I get it. Sometimes I even bore myself. If I bored you with all this, Bill Maher just published a blog post saying similar sentiments to me (or at least what I said in the second bullet), in just a couple paragraphs. I recommend: http://www.real-time-with-bill-maher-blog.com/real-time-with-bill-maher-blog/2012/11/8/why-the-republicans-lost.html

MY ORIGINAL POST:
I have to say I was pretty surprised by the way everything went down. I had actually prepared myself for a democratic loss, so the ass whoopin that occurred last night came as quite a shock! A fabulous shock, but a shock nonetheless. Now the question is, where do we go from here!?

• Watching CNN last night, I heard one of the pundits (who I think was Republican) say 'Great, now nothing changes'. And, I have to say, that's a somewhat scary notion. The president and the Congress have been at a virtual stale mate for so long and the partisan posturing has been so over the top that very little has been accomplished in the latter part of the last administration. So, will things change? Mr. President, I hope you take this win with a grain of salt and realize that things really do need to be shaken up. Congress, please stop the pissing match and let's actually do something. With the notion of a 'fiscal cliff' looming large, we need strong politicians who plan to work together more than we may have ever needed them before. Speaking of a 'fiscal cliff', anyone notice the stock market today? We (the majority of Americans) may be happy about an Obama victory, but there are a lot of people (with a majority of the money) out there who are not feeling the same way.
• MSNBC has been asking the question all morning 'Who is to blame for this loss? Mitt Romney or the Republican party?' and I feel VERY strongly that the Republican party, and it's pandering to right wing extremists is 100% to blame for this loss. Obviously Mitt Romney was the face of the party, but if the party didn't come with so many strings, maybe things would have gone differently. As I see it, although this election was said to be about the economy, (with foreign policy/defense a close second), I truly believe that social issues won (or lost as the case may be) this election. Despite the fact that social issues were not even discussed in the 3 presidential debates (which drove me crazy), Americans showed last night that they have been paying attention and that they care about health care, women's rights, and (as was seen by the passing of gay marriage in 3 states last night)- equality for all people. And, because the Republican party- a party supposedly based on the notion of SMALL government- hypocritically insists on inappropriately extending itself to restrictive social ideals- many Americans are just not able to even consider casting a Republican vote. Until the Republican party begins distancing themselves from the wackdaloon Teaparty and the crazy conservative Christian right, I don't see things changing for them at the polls.
• I'm proud to be a Marylander today. Maryland, Maine and Washington (state) are now the first 3 states to legalize gay marriage via the popular vote. (The other states that already have legal gay marriage, like CT, did so via legislative action.) Previously 32 states had gay marriage on the ballot and ALL 32 referendums were cast down. With the 3 states voting to affirm gay marriage last night, I think we are seeing a positive swing towards acceptance and openness. At the end of the day, love is love. And, even if you don't like it, what do you really care? Who are any of us to tell anyone else who they can or can't marry? I, for one, am very very happy that restrictive and discriminatory laws are being voted down.
• It struck me last night that one of the most impressive things about Obama, and what I'm sure will become part of his legacy, is the fact that he has managed to involve Americans of every background in the political process. He has effectively taken the vote out of the hands of what was once only middle/upper-middle class whites and given a voice to minorities across the country. Women, hispanics, blacks, young folks, and other minorities came out in record numbers and truly did win the election last night! Power to the people, man!

Here's to hoping for 4 years of increasing prosperity, economic stability, and bipartisan comprise! ...A girl can dream...

Project Nursery

Violet's room is FINALLY just about all together. Here are some before and after shots. Stay tuned for more as I continue to set up the room.

BEFORE:
Boring room with a splotchy yellow paint job. The gray on the wall were the different samples we got to determine the color we were going to paint. (we went with the lightest shade)

AFTER:
Pretty light gray to counteract/neutralize all the pastels I can't help but gravitate towards for a little girl's room. Painted white dresser with additional of pretty pink knobs and sweet white crib (which converts into a toddler bed AND a full size bed).

The best part is that we hardly spent any money. We did have to buy the crib, but the dresser was part of our bedroom set that wouldn't fit in our room (that Brad painted white), the shelves were left in the house when we moved in, the glider was a Craigslist purchase for $30!, and the curtains and curtain rods we already had.

Dresser- Cherry colored dresser turned pretty bright white to match her crib. I found the adorable little pink knobs at Target, and bought some pretty matching clear ones for the closet. The curtain rods (still to be hung) also have the matching clear glass-esque knobs.

note- the green carpet runs through all 3 main bedrooms in the house. (The guest bedroom was blessed with pretty hardwood.) Wouldn't have been my choice, but it's nice and plush, and with neutral walls- really doesn't offend me too much!


Bookshelves -all we had to do was buy the white scroll brackets to hang the shelves. (the previous owners had their shelves up on an ugly white track)

Crafty homemade decor
V-I-O-L-E-T wall hanging- Letters bought at Michael's covered in fabric I had hanging around (from doing Annie's room last year). My fingertips are burned from the glue gun and I think I have a couple holes in my body from the staple gun, but it looks pretty great if I do say so myself.

Flower art- using a pillow sham I bought from Pottery Barn kids (on sale) for the fabric, I cut out the flowers and put them in simple (cheap) white IKEA frames.

Glider- to be continued... I bought a crappy looking glider off Craigslist for $30. The bones were there, but the wood left a bit to be desired and the cushions were mismatched and horribly ugly. Brad painted it white to match the room and I found an awesome fabric on Etsy to redo the ottoman and seat cushion. Just waiting on the fabric to be delivered so I can get to gettin with my craftiness!

We are pretty much all the way there and the countdown is really on now... All we need is baby!

Came home last night to find a nice little 'welcome to the neighborhood' candy package from neighbors. It was addressed to 'Brad and Kim'. To alleviate awkwardness, should I just go with it and decide to let them call me 'Kim'? ;)