tuesday, july 30 entry well - i am beyond irritated. the carpet cleaners never showed up. we slept on the floor last night, because keith moved all of our furniture into the kitchen, laundry room, and garage. looks like we will be sleeping on the floor until thursday, which is when they rescheduled our appointment. i called them today, and i know i was not very pleasant. i gave them my "how dare you make a pregnant woman sleep on the floor!" speech, and really gave them some nasty attitude. but come on, how ridiculous! the poor dogs have been penned in the bathroom for two days now, so they wouldn't be in the way, and i can't get into the kitchen to cook, so we're eating sandwiches or fast food, and i can't get into the laundry room to do laundry, and i am out of clean maternity underwear! hence my anger. they just better be here on thursday. part of my irritation probably stems from my newly-discovered hormonal imbalance. must be the pregnancy (ha). i have been pretty stable until now, but i am really getting wacky. i have about two minutes of patience with anything or anybody, and i cry all the time. i cried sunday night when we went to bed, just because. i cried monday morning when keith left for work. i cried at work because a florist delivered flowers and they weren't for me. I JUST KEEP CRYING! i am thinking about crying right now because i can't tape the mole on tv tonight because our tv/vcr is packed away! ACK, emotions gone haywire! i am unstable at this time. it is probably a good thing keith is gone a lot. he doesn't enjoy or understand the bouts of hysteria. i did manage to start my new job on monday. it is going to be a challenge to learn an entirely different line of business, but the basics are the same. the office is small, around 10 people compared to the florida office of around 50. i really like everyone there. today three of the girls invited me to lunch. i already feel like i have a few friends. the drive isn't that bad - 25 minutes in light traffic, 30 in heavier traffic. yesterday i worked 8 - 5, and today i worked 7:30 - 4:30. i am going to keep going in a half hour earlier until i find what i like best, and what keeps me out of the majority of traffic. the office is so low-key. people come in whenever they want (the president usually rolls in around 9 or 9:15), and that's fine as long as they get their 8 hours in. i am adjusting well. i think i will pick everything up super fast and impress them with my superior knowledge. one lady i went to work with told me that she is wanting to try a new couples sunday school class at her church on sunday, so we made plans to meet her and her husband there. it will be interesting! today we forgot to take the trash out for the trashmen. the other day one of the dogs (nameless to protect his identity) did business on the front lawn, and i cleaned it up, and threw away the bag in the garage trash. it gets kind of hot in there, you know, especially after a few days. keith was like, what stinks out here?!! and i was like, hmmm, well, maybe some doggie business. and he was like, (through gritted teeth) tie. the. bag. closed. next. time. oops. and can i just say, 82 days until owen is due! are we wearing them down or what? sunday, july 28 entry finally, i have pictures of the nursery up. click on the sidebar link that says 'nursery,' and the page should pull right up. it's hard to get good shots all around the room, but you should get the general idea. i also added a new belly photo at 28 weeks. tomorrow will start week 29. we are offically in our 8th month. we tried a local assembly church this morning. blech. i hate church hunting. i didn't really like this church at all. next week we will try something different. after church we came home and ate a quick meal, and then keith was off to the studio. he didn't have to go in at all yesterday, which was great for me. we ran around, went to some baby consignment sales, home depot, ate lunch at applebee's (finally!). it was a fun day. i got a few more clothes for owen, and a sling to wear him around in. then we took a nap and played cards last night. i sure miss him when he's not around. i'm not as tough as i thought i'd be. i am leaving shortly to go drive around and find my work. i don't want to be late tomorrow. i think it will be easy to find. it is about 20 minutes away. i am going to try to set up my work schedule to miss rush hour (6AM to 3PM, hopefully), but tomorrow i have to report at 8:30AM, right in the midsts of the traffic mess. that's why i figure i better find it early. nothing else happening. i am trying to get everything up off the floors today, because the carpet cleaners are coming tomorrow morning. i wish we could have had it done before we moved in, but with as quickly as we moved, it wasn't to be. i think it is going to be a nice improvement.
friday, july 26 entry this last week has been such fun! i have felt like a regular housewife, doing the laundry and cooking stuff and cleaning up the house, running errands and meeting the neighbors. if only i didn't have to start work monday! i console myself with the thought of the upcoming six weeks of stay-at-home mommying. keith is back at the studio today. his first day at the studio, wednesday, was a long one. he started wednesday at ups at 7AM, then was at the studio by noon. he finally made it home at 3AM! i was worried sick, but now we have worked out a system of CALLING THE WIFE WHEN YOU ARE COMING HOME LATE. we will see how he does tonight with the calling. yesterday he was off from the studio, so he accompanied me to my first doctor's appointment with the new doctor. we both really liked her. she is very young, i'd say under 30, but really seemed to know what she was talking about. i talked to her more than keith did, though - he split pretty quickly after the doctor sprung an unexpected cervical exam on me. ouch, thought those weren't coming for another few months. but he went upstairs to the labor and delivery floor (the doctor's office is connected to the actual birthing floor of the hospital) and wandered around, got some information on childbirthing classes, and saw some babies. i have another doctor's appointment in two weeks. i was glad keith got to go with me yesterday, because if his schedule stays the same as it is now, i probably won't be seeing much of him until the baby is born! kind of sad, but i will survive, just as i survived a year of his late-night or all-night classes at full sail. his three-month evaluation will be right around the time that owen is due, so if he gets hired on full-time, his schedule will lighten up a lot. i also got a haircut wednesday. not a trim, but a pretty major cutting of the hair. i am so excited. not having all that hair on my neck is like heaven. and it looks decent, too, which i wasn't expecting from someone who has never cut my hair before. i got it cut just in time for my new driver's license yesterday. i turned in my arkansas license. did you know that tennessee issues licenses for seven years? it's true. we took the dogs around the block last night to get them a bit more used to the neighborhood, and to the millions of dogs that reside here. i think they had fun. we have a nice neighborhood to walk in. virtually no traffic at all. we live at the end of a cul-de-sac, so every night there is a convergence of kids to play baseball in the big lot next door, or parents sitting on porches then calling kids to dinner. very americana. i went down the street today and got a library card. it's all so small-town picturesque. so far i am loving it. again, as soon as i can get keith home long enough to hook up the video camera, i'll get nursery pictures posted. i went in the nursery today to put something in the baby's closet, and then shut the door when i left. a long while later, i started calling gabriel and couldn't find him. seems i locked him in owen's room. it was pretty funny. the other day i locked him in the garage when i went to take the trash out there. he's so small, he sneaks right by. it was funny both times to open the door and see him streak into the house. wednesday, july 24 entry well - it's official! we are moved into our new house. i am so happy with everything. i am exhausted, and my poor feet look like swollen purple marshmallows, but we are almost finished unpacking everything. the move itself went relatively well - keith's friends who were supposed to help us load furniture never showed up, so keith called and hired some movers. it was expensive, but was our only option. so with that done, we finally got the apartment cleaned and emptied around 9PM. we unrolled a sleeping bag and slept in the floor until about 1:30AM, and then we rolled out towards nashville! i did a lot better than i thought i would, and keith did great driving that huge truck and pulling our other car. we made okay time, about 13 hours from orlando to the hotel in brentwood. we met my parents with no problems, and i was so excited to see them and kyle. and our dogs were even more excited, i think! that was saturday, then sunday morning we came on over to the house and started the unpacking. i can't tell you how much better i felt with my dad, kyle, and keith unpacking our furniture. movers are okay, but they just don't care about your stuff! they were awfully rough with some of our furniture. when they carried the baby's crib down the apartment stairs, i finally said, "be careful! that is the CRIB!" with all of my pregnant-woman fervor. so maybe they got the picture. the guys had our entire truck unloaded within 3 hours, and mom and i busied ourselves with unpacking boxes, decorating, cleaning, etc. so i am down to only a few boxes left. keith was home monday and tuesday afternoon, and he will be home thursday afternoon, as well. today he is at the studio. we have a doctor's appointment thursday, and we have to get TN driver's licenses and tags. i am going today to open a bank account. lots of things to take care of! i am also going for a haircut today - i am nervous! i hate going to new salons. they may ruin me. i think the best thing about our new house is the nursery. we were able to finish it completely. keith painted the room sunday night, and monday morning while keith was at work, my dad put the crib together and he and kyle moved in the rest of the furniture. i bought 30 baby hangers, thinking i was over-buying for the future, but when i started to hang up owen's clothes, i realized that i need at least that many more to hang everything up (excluding sleepers)! what fun. the nursery is beautiful, the bedding is beautiful, the furniture looks awesome, i am so pleased. my mom helped me pick the wall color - 'wild asparagus.' keith took pictures of the nursery last night, and also a new belly photo, so i will post those as soon as he gets home and hooks up the rest of the computer and video cables. i guess i will spend some time working on a nashville page. we aren't the florida fosters anymore! so that will be coming soon. thursday, july 18 entry *hrmph, noon already, and no one has showed up to help keith load the truck. am i the only one freaking out?* ack! only one more day left until the big move! i can’t believe it is here already! i am super excited, mostly about getting into our new house and setting up the nursery. i will have next week off, because i don’t start work until the 29th, a week from monday. i was offered a job by crump nashville, officially now, and it is a promotion from what i currently do. so i am really happy about that. what a blessing to get to keep my insurance, maternity leave, and everything! God is surely looking out for us! i had my last florida doctor’s appointment today. i really am going to miss my doctor; she is really great. i was at the doctor’s office for almost two hours today, because i had my glucose tolerance test, to check for anemia and gestational diabetes. i had to drink this super-sweet orange soda-ish stuff. it was pretty nasty tasting, especially on my empty stomach. i wasn’t sure i was going to keep it down, but i did. i had to wait in the office an hour after drinking it, and then have blood drawn. during that hour, i had my regular check-up. i have gained five pounds since my last visit, but i am still beneath my maximum weight gain. hopefully i won’t go crazy gaining weight in the next few months. my blood pressure was 120/70, which is high for me, but still normal. the baby sounded great, had a really strong heartbeat. his heartbeat was slower this time, 132 instead of 138 or 140, where it usually is, but the doctor said that is perfectly fine. he is definitely growing bigger; i feel like a stuffed turkey! i keep waiting for my bellybutton to pop out, but no signs of that yet at all. i have a cavernous belly button anyhow, so maybe it won’t pop out. two of the nicest ladies from work took me to lunch today as a good-bye gift, and when we got there, they also had baby presents for me! i was so excited! i got several onesies, an outfit, a medical kit, a travel kit of lotion, shampoo, etc., a picture frame, several baby photo albums, socks, a bib, a kit to make a mold of baby’s hand, so much stuff! i loved all of it. how fun to get presents for owen! tomorrow the homeowners and auto department (where i worked before i moved into this new department) is going to take me to lunch. i should leave more often! i am getting the royal treatment! i have a doctor’s appointment next thursday with a doctor in nashville. i hope i like her. i don’t want to be switching around a lot this close to the end. some doctors i called were like, “ooh, 7 months along, we don’t like to accept patients that far along...” but this doctor agreed to see me. i sure see a lot of doctors nowadays! at least every two weeks. well, i guess this will be the last entry of the florida fosters. we are packing up the computer tonight, so no more entries until we are set up in nashville. i am thinking of revamping the site to focus more on the baby. owen needs his own webpage, even if he isn’t born yet. i can’t wait to get on the road – and to see my parents and kyle! i am going to really talk up middle tennessee university while kyle is visiting (just a few minutes from our new house!) – maybe we can get him to move close to us! wouldn’t that be something. tuesday, july 16 entry i got a call yesterday from crump nashville – looks like i will be transferring after all! that is the best possible way to go. i didn’t contact their office initially, because my boss here in florida said they were such a small office, it was very unlikely that they had any open positions. but i contacted them anyway, and they have decided to create a position for me. this means i get to keep all of my insurance coverage, all of my vacation, all of my paid maternity leave, everything! it couldn’t possibly work out any better. the manager even told me specifically that the pregnancy “wouldn’t be a problem.” they haven’t made me an “official” offer yet, because of paperwork issues, but the manager is going to call me on thursday to confirm. so that was the last thing we needed to fall into place, and we’re ready to go! this is the second day that our office has been without air conditioning. yesterday it was 105 degrees outside, and it is supposed to be the same today. it is so miserably hot in the office. it is hard to focus on my work when i am sweating! plus it stinks, because i don’t think everyone used their deodorant this morning. nothing new on the baby-front. i think maybe we are having a growth spurt this week. i am exhausted and starving all day long. i can’t eat enough to make my stomach stop growling! we’ll see in a week or so if my belly is bigger. then we’ll know for sure. i had no idea i would have the insane amount of stretch marks that i do. i mean, it’s not like i had a flat stomach that has to stretch out! but i see new purple marks all the time. they don’t really bother me that much, except they kind of itch and hurt. other than the stretch marks, i think everything is going great. owen is moving a lot - a LOT - but it is great. sunday, july 14 entry finally, i have updated the family spotlight page. you have to visit and see my little brother. last night i gave keith his graduation gift - tickets to an orlando predators game. keith loves football, and orlando doesn't have a pro-team, but the predators are their arena team, and the game was really fun. we went and got a bite to eat afterwards. i had a nice time, and i think he liked it. today we (well, mostly keith) packed the rest of the kitchen stuff up, and we went shopping for some frozen food to keep us fed through the week. we only have the microwave and stove; we packed all the pots and pans and miscellaneous. we are making good headway on the packing. we also stopped at babies-r-us and purchased the crib bedding and the rest of the bassinet bedding. i will get pictures of it all next week, as soon as we get owen's room unpacked and set up. i can't wait for our nursery to be done! the only big furniture item we have left to buy is the rocker glider for the baby's room. i only have a week of work left! my boss told me that she normally pays people for their two weeks when they resign, and doesn't ask them to come in. but she told me that i have to be there, because i am the only person in the office trained to work auto files. she said that they needed the two weeks to get someone else trained on auto. i guess the joke is on them, because i am one week down, one to go, and they haven't even bothered to start training anyone. not sure what to make of that. i still haven't heard anything back from any of my job interviews, except for crump nashville, who offered to create a position for me since there were no openings. of course, that was before they found out about owen, so we'll see. they may back out on me. i should know for sure by tuesday. keep praying that i get a great job! that is the only missing piece of the puzzle. friday, july 12 entry i noticed on the webpage that today is another baby milestone! 100 days until owen is due. that means tomorrow we’ll be in double digits on the countdown. wow! he is getting so big! last night i was laying on the couch watching my stomach jump around as he moved. what an alien experience. last night we started the packing process. we packed a whole four boxes. i thought i would be okay with sitting the floor and packing, even being pregnant, but it was awful. my legs were asleep, my stomach hurt, and my back hurt. i think i’m going to have to sit at the table. that should help a lot. we don’t have that much to pack, because we left so much stuff in boxes when we moved in. keith found a 25-foot trailer to rent. that should definitely hold all of our things! he is going to drive it to nashville, with one of our cars hooked behind it. what a trip that will be. i guess i will be driving the other car all the way to nashville. i am a little worried about that. i am not good at driving long distances. i will have to get out and walk a lot anyway, so maybe that will help. it’s going to take a long time to get there, i can already tell. at least i’ll have the dogs in the car to keep me company. or jump all over me and run me off the road, either one. i need to do some maintenance to the website, i know. i have been neglecting updating some of the pages. i will get on it as soon as possible. i guess once we get to nashville, the florida fosters will be obsolete. should i do a page for the nashville fosters? just doesn’t have the same ring, does it? i think i probably will keep a page going for owen, so family and friends from around the country (and we actually do have family and friends all over the country) can see our beautiful, wonderful, adorable, smart, perfect son. wednesday night i set up his bassinet. i ordered a bassinet skirt off ebay, and it is so cute. i need to buy a bassinet sheet and blanket, and then his first bed is all finished. we dug out huggybear, keith’s stuffed animal from when he was little. he’s a little "loved" (i.e. tattered), but still cute. we are going give him to owen - a newborn and his 21-year old teddy bear. i think we are going to go ahead and buy owen’s crib bedding before we leave, so that my mom can help me pick out paint and set up the nursery while she is in nashville. i want to take advantage of her decorating skills, since i will only have her there for a couple of days. i can’t wait to set up the nursery. the nesting is starting, i think. i can’t wait to get into our new house. i will put pictures of it up as soon as we get there. tomorrow keith gets his graduation gift from me! he doesn't know what it is yet, but i think he will like it. wednesday, july 10 entry ahem, well, we are back from nashville. we got into town last night around midnight, and i am up and at work today. we had planned to be home sunday night, but things were going so well that we extended our trip a few more days. we went for the sole purpose of looking around, but we accomplished much more than that. first, keith got an internship at his first choice of studios, dark horse studios. you have to look at the site and see how gorgeous the studio is. keith had scheduled a tour, and during the course of the tour, the head engineer offered him an internship. i couldn't believe it. everyone was telling us how we would have to wait for a spot to open up, and how he probably wouldn't get a place at a small studio, etc, etc, but wow! it happened so fast. that started the ball rolling. because we couldn't let this opportunity pass us by, we made a hasty decision to move to nashville. next weekend. that's the hasty part. we found a house, a beautiful three bedroom, two bath with a great yard for dante' and gabriel, in a great suburb south of nashville, and made an offer. we found out this morning that we are now *official* homeowners. our realtor hooked keith up with one of her neighbors who does the hiring for UPS, so he now has a part-time job there to supplement income while he interns, and also offers full-time benefits for the whole family. i interviewed for several jobs, had one offer, and am waiting on hearing from a couple more. i can't believe all that we got accomplished! so now we are home, trying to get loose ends wrapped up here and get packing. we are moving in on july 22nd, a week from sunday. a week and a half! i can't wait. something strange happened yesterday on the way home from nashville - i was holding gabriel, and he was sleeping, and then all of a sudden, he started having a seizure. i freaked. keith pulled over off the interstate, and gabe's eyes were big and his pupils were totally dialated. his legs were stiff and he was vibrating. i was having a panic attack. keith tried to take him outside to see if he could stand or walk, and he just stiffened and jerked around. we jumped back into the car to try to find a vet (in the middle of nowhere on the interstate between tennessee and georgia), and after a few minutes of driving, i noticed that gabe was back to his normal self. let me tell you, i was nigh hysterical. it was an awful thing to see. we have been keeping a close eye on him, but he seems to be fine now. strange little dog. so that's the story - looks like we will be super busy the next few days. i can't do too much packing/lifting because of the little one, but a lot of our things are still packed from when we moved last year. speaking of the baby, he is doing just fine. he is moving a lot, getting stronger all the time. we are well into week 26 now, and next week will begin our third trimester. another 10 weeks and he will be full-term, ready to come anytime! tuesday, july 02 entry today was our doctor's appointment. keith went with me this time; he has been a few times now. i was very nervous about getting on the scales... i feel like i have been eating a lot of junk this last month. but i about died when i saw how much i weighed - i actually lost 1/2 pound! i was ecstatic. the doctor was like, "hmm, you should be gaining, not losing," and kind of gave me a talking to, but i know good and well that i have been eating plenty for me and owen, so i wasn't worried. everything looks really good, as usual. my blood pressure is great, baby's heartbeat was nice and strong, it's usual 138-140 range. i asked my doctor today how long she lets her patients go past their due date (i admit it, i am worried about having a halloween baby), and she told me she never lets patients go beyond 1 week of their due date. she also says that if the uterus is favorable, she will induce at 39 weeks. i thought this was good because then we'd know an exact date, for when family comes in. also, we can be sure that we won't have to share our son's birthday with a stupid holiday. so we'll see what happens when we get closer to d-day. my next appointment is in two weeks, and i will take my glucoma test. i have to drink some orange stuff and sit for an hour, then they will draw a bunch of blood and test for gestational diabetes. i have four appointments at two-week intervals, and then we start meeting weekly in september. today is the big day, keith's graduation! he already has his nice button-up and tie on. i can't wait to see him graduate! we have been running around a lot since laura and crew arrived. when they got in sunday night, we went to the cheesecake factory for dinner. then yesterday they (including keith) spent the day at disney world. after work i met them at downtown disney and we ate at the house of blues. today keith and his uncle johnny are going to bass pro shop (in fact, they are there right now), and then off to graduation! i think they are going to hit the beach after that, but keith and i have to come home to pack and catch some sleep before we head out tonight for nashville. we are going to leave around 3AM. we have to be in nashville by noon, because i have a job interview at 1PM. i know, i know, no one wants to hire a pregnant woman. but i think it will be a good connection for later, if i have to go back to work once owen shows up. busy busy, i feel like i'm running around like crazy. but i am having fun! laura brought us some of the cutest stuff for the baby! some bath stuff and some onesies, some books, a snugli, a thermometer, and some other various things. i was so excited! anything to do with the baby just makes my day. i also found a bassinet bedding set on ebay that i love for $10! we bought it, and it should be here within the next few days. can't wait, can't wait!
