Mealtime, Mom and Maggie, and a Nap in the Bouncer

Bath Day

We're Home!!

After a long couples of days, we are finally home.  Nothing went according to plan but the end result was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.  Lots of circumstances led to the decision to finally have a C-section at the send of a long day of contractions.  But I am grateful for the care that I received and the friends that were made and the family that was by my side.  There are lots of stories to tell and pictures to share but that can all be saved for another day.  Until then, here is my sweet little bundle of joy, Rachel Leigh, born at 6:20 Monday night, 8 pounds, 5 ounces, black hair and deep blue eyes, 21 inches long.  

Today is the Day!

I completely forgot to get E to take a picture of me last night for me to post on my last day of work, but that's ok. I will get one at home tonight and post it later on!

But today is my last day for 12 weeks!! 12 weeks off to be with my new baby girl. I am really excited. I know it will come with exhaustion, frustration and boredom on some (most) days but I always think of something that a friend said to his wife many years ago about staying home with their kids..."Any bad day at home with your kids is better than a good day at work doing a job you hate!" DING DING!! He wins the prize for reading my mind! I know I will have to go back to work for a little while but hopefully not for long. We have some big life events coming up besides the baby, that will be revealed when they are all confirmed so I am hoping to come home for good soon enough.

I will try to remember to post my last pregnant picture tonight when I get home, but after that...this may be the last post before I am a Mom. Monday morning, 6am starts the beginning of a long day for the staff here at Everyday Bailey!! (HA...like I have staff) But I will post pictures and announcements as soon as I get a chance! Wish me luck!!

Nevermind!

I am a super dummy! I thought that the 23rd was on tuesday and that I would be in labor all day on Monday and the baby wouldn't be born until the 23rd. Evidently I need to learn to read a calendar instead of making on up inside my head. Let's just chalk it up to a pregnancy side effects.

Why? Why?

So 39 weeks has come and still nothing is happening! We went yesterday and to my surprise, I was scheduled to be induced on Thursday (as in tomorrow). I told her I didn't think I was mentally ready for that and then when I got "checked" and nothing was progressing, so we needed to shift our dates anyway. Sigh!

As of now, I am supposed to be induced on Monday morning but since NOTHING is happening, they aren't expecting me to have the baby until Tuesday. Ummm....a full day of labor? Maybe they know something that I don't but that doesn't excite me at the very thought. And maybe I misunderstood. Because there were alot of dates being thrown around and I didn't realize what I had heard until we pulled in the driveway at home. Yes, my ankles and legs are swollen beyond recognition, Yes, my back is killing me, Yes, the heartburn is almost unbearable. But a full day of labor? I don't know. The baby can't stay forever. She only has 2 more weeks until they have to go get her regardless.

Either way, last night was a sleepless night with all of thoughts that run through my head and I am sure I will have a few more of those before it is all said and done...oh yeah, and many more to come.

Ok Ok Back to work (insert sound of whip cracking)! So much to do on my last week of work.

This Week's Projects

Yes, I know I am giving birth next week (hopefully), but there are still so many things that I want to accomplish before she gets here. None of these are vital to the survival of the baby but they would all make me feel more ready. Plus, when I don't work on a project at night, I don't sleep. The nights that I decide to sit around and relax, I end up sitting around and relaxing all night with my eyes open for hours. Not worth it! Since the laundry room is completed with the exception of a few pieces of trim (E's project) and a cushion that my mom is going to make when she gets here, I needed a new project.

So here are the projects I want to finish this week:

1.) My poor neglected coffee table. Luckily E bought me a new sander this weekend so progress is moving alot faster. But the 25 layers of clear coats are super stubborn so I finally finished sanding the top, about half of the side, and 2 of the legs this weekend. Hopefully, by the end of this week, the table will be ready for a coat of dark walnut stain.

2.) Pickup the new glider from the store and put it together. They called yesterday and to let us know it was in.

3.)Finish painting the Living Room/Dining Room and the Hallway (yes...I did start the hallway...I was bored)

4.)Rearrange the Living Room and the Dining Room.

5.) And this project is for my mom to help me finish when she gets here but I already finished my part. This is an old door that we pulled out of the house and has been sitting in our garage for 2 years now. So I decided to use it as a headboard for our bed. I filled all of the holes and put 2 coats of paint on it already. This is the before picture and I can't wait to show you the after picture.

Valentine's Party

Erika invited us for dinner Saturday night for dinner and company. She was making Smitten Kitchen's (Or as her husband, Dave, calls her, "That Lady") Spaghetti and Meatballs. Erika said "Before you say yes to coming, I just want to warn you that there will be 10 kids here Saturday night." Ahhh what a romantic Valentine's evening. It wasn't bad though...We barely even saw the kids since they ate on the front porch and played in the back room. And our friends all have good kids.

Let me just say that I hate meatballs with a serious passion!! I have never liked them. I love spaghetti though and just thought that I would eat the spaghetti and bypass the meatballs. But I am game to try anything so I put one meatballs on my spaghetti. Wow...those were awesome and I went back to get more. SO GOOD! What else did we have? Heather made an awesome salad and Lucy brought the garlic bread and Kristy and Elizabeth helped to make the chocolate mousse for dessert. I brought the chocolate covered strawberries. No...they weren't homemade...I bought them at the grocery store and ...NO...they weren't good. I could have definately made them better than they did so thanks goodness the girls made chocolate mousse. Here are a few pics from the event.

Brian and Kristy feeding Finley.

The chocolate covered strawberries (that weren't good but looked good).

Some of the spread.

The boys playing Wii and swords and guns...and I think that one kids is trying to play Wii with a bow and arrow??? I am so glad I am having a girl. I think the girls were sharing an ipod and singing in their room.

Erika, posing with her table decorations after the meal was finally finished and dessert had been served.

Since I forgot to get a before picture of the chocolate mousse before I ate mine, I am giving you an after picture. And yes...in case you were wondering...it was good!
Matt and Natalia stuck platic hearts all over their faces but Matt was the only one who wasn't too shy for the camera.

Happy Valentine's Day

Last year, E asked me what I wanted for Valentine's Day. I was just exstatic when he offered to make a special dinner that night for me. Of course, dinner took forever to make and we didn't actually sit down to eat until almost 9pm and I also found myself helping with it because I would see things that were about to burn. But I guess it's the thought that counts. He's not the "send you flowers" kind of guy. More of the "get you something you actually need" kind of guy. I remember for V Day while we were still dating, he got me a USB flash drive. Another time, I got a choice of some really cool looking bands for my digital watch which was starting to smell.

We really don't do anything major for holidays for each other. We are typically content just to be together, healthy and happy. It's typically just a day of reflection on everything that the Lord has blessed us with. He is so funny though...every year we make a plan of what we are going to do and then when it gets closer, he just wants to make sure that he is meeting my expectations so he asks "Are you getting me anything for V Day?" This is meant to test the waters. With all this being said, I need to say that I have never recieved flowers. He knows that I would rather have something I actually need. Last year, he asked if I wanted some flowers and I think my comment back was "Why? What's wrong? Are you cheating on me? "

This year, I think we are just going to have dinner somewhere together since it may be our last quiet meal together without paying for a babysitter for the next 20 years. Ironically, we did this last night too??? I just enjoy not cooking and not cleaning up the kitchen and not feeling guilty about feeding my husband cereal for dinner for the third night this week.

So to all of you and the ones that you love, Happy Valentine's Day!

Same Old Nothing!

The much anticipated Dr.'s appointment was yesterday and we had lots of questions since I am less than 2 weeks away at this point. I had been working my butt off all week trying to get my body to start "getting ready" for birth. Every week I go to the Dr., I hear the same thing... "Nope, nothing yet!" And I have been determined not to hear that again this week.

After getting a lower than usual blood pressure reading and a "mile marker" of a weigh in, I was feeling a little bit down by the time we made it into the exam room. The nurse practitioner came in and we talked for a while. Then the Dr. came in towards the end of our conversation to "check" things to see if I had made any progress. And guess what? NOTHING!!!!!!! STILL!! Sigh! So this isn't a good sign at this point. I am going in again next week to get checked one more time and if nothing is happening still, I am being admitted to the hospital next Monday night and having the baby Tuesday morning. The risk for a C-section is higher when you get induced with your first pregnancy but with my blood pressure dropping and the fact that body is not getting ready as it should, I am carrying that risk regardless. Sigh...this is so scary but the fact that this will all be over in 10 days ...wow...I have no words for that!

Too Funny to Pass Up!

Last night, E and I went to Babies/Toys R us to buy a glider. (And not a moment too late...boy, I just thought they kept that stuff in stock. I didn't think about them having to order it and then it takes 2 weeks to come in. Whew!) The whole time, E kept chiding me about the fact that I get a rocking chair, why can't he have an X-box. (But does he actually want an X-box? No. He just likes to get a rise out of me.)

So after we ordered the rocking chair, we walked over to the Toys R Us side of the store. We walked through the little girl stuff at his insistance for a little while. He was looking around in disgust at all of the toys for girls and said "I just don't think I am going to ever be ready to raise a girl. I don't know how to play with any of this stuff!" Then we passed by the GI JOE/Star Wars row and the kid in him came out VERY FAST! I heard "Oh Cool!! Check this out!!" and knew we were going to camp out on that aisle for a while.

It's no wonder that I am a military wife since my husband worships GI Joes, so much so, that he still has all of his old Joe's that move around with us wherever we go. One Joe in particular caught both of our eyes, and evidently we both have good eyes because the part that stood out was the small print on the front of the box that read "Made from 100% recycled AWESOME!!"

How funny is that??

Weekend Update

While we typically work at least an hour a night on the house these days, Friday night was the exception. Since we worked all night Wednesday and Thursday, we figured that we deserved a break. So a little pizza and a little movie .... much needed.

But back to work on Saturday. It was a long day of painting, laundry, cooking and caulking. No more pictures of renovations for a while. It's nice to see a little bit of difference being made each day and I want you all to be floored when you see the final product.

E left early to attend a boys night at Matt's house where they grilled some fish and he was able to take Maggie too so that she could play with their dog, Neal. While they did their "boys thing," I stayed home and made The Lady and Sons Lasagna, Blueberry Compote and Chocolate Espresso Shortbread Cookies. I love to put the Blueberry Compote between 2 whole wheat blueberry waffles for breakfast and I had a Ghirardelli dark chocolate toffee bar just sitting around looking for a good use...so why not cook. Besides this may be the last time I actually want to cook for a while. But I also made the lasagna so that I would have a few meals in the freezer for after the baby gets here. So I plan on putting it in the over tonight and eating it for dinner, BUT that still leaves 3/4 of a casserole dish for left overs.

I know I know...thinking ahead!!

Sunday, I made 2 big pots of Southwest Chicken Chili. One for us and one for Renee and Russell who just a baby on Wednesday. Congratulations to them on the birth of their son, Isaac. Renee was three weeks ahead of me and so I always got the 411 on everything that was going to happen to me 3 weeks ahead of time!! That was nice!! And we didn't even eat half of our pot of chili and I can throw the rest of that in the freezer too for the post baby season! Told you...thinking ahead!!

I do have a picture or 2 though from Sunday night. I took a nap and when I woke up, I saw this. E, napping, and Maggie watching tv (which she never does) in the living room. But then I took a closer look. She was actually watching the AKC Dog Show. It makes me wonder if she actually got a hold of the remote control...

Thanks GOD It's Friday!!

I know I am not the only one that is exhausted after a long week. Raise your hand if you are ready for the weekend!!!

Since "NOTHING" is happening regarding the birth of my daughter (can you tell I am still bitter about this?!?), I am keeping busy at home. I was told by the dr. that misery was in my future. Those last 3 weeks, you just start spitting venom you are so miserable. But I was feeling fine and thought nothing of it. The next day, the misery began. But I am not that person that can sit on the couch and relax when there are things to be done. Plus, I always feel guilty when E is working on the house and I am relaxing. So, instead of putting my feet up, I decided to put a coat of paint on the walls of the laundry room, do the baby's laundry, and help E install the new carpet tiles.

I felt so bad for him scraping the old vinyl tiles off of the floor but we put all of the carpet tiles we had down and realized we only had enough to do about half of the room. So he put down as much as he could and then laid in the floor and wrestled with Maggie on the new carpet!!

Getting Ready

While I didn't hear what I was wanting to hear last week at the dr office regarding how the pregancy was progressing (AKA not at all), I was hopeful for this week. Last week, "things" should have already been happening and I knew for sure that this week, "things" would definately be happening and I would get the report I wanted from the dr this morning when I went...high hopes huh?

HA...I hear the nurse say "Sorry Sweetie...it's not good news! Still nothing!!"

WHAT!!!

Why doesn't this baby want to come out! Doesn't she know that I am ready to quit work and come home to hang out with her. Doesn't she know that I am losing precious sleep over this!! Just how long is she going to make me suffer!?!?!

Breath Bailey Breath...and remember that you are not in control here.

I got the word that labor induction may very well be in my future if nothing is happening at this point! So...I guess I will just keep moving and keep getting things ready. I went to Target yesterday and used the gift cards I had to get all of the extra odds and ends that I needed. There is still work to be done on the house and baby laundry to be done and dishes to be washed...life goes on!!

Baby Shower and Other Surprises

This Sunday I had my baby shower here in Texas. Elizabeth hosted it at her house with the help of Erika, Lucy and Kristy. Everything was beautiful and delicious! (especially the cake I told you about yesterday) The baby and me got lots of cute and useful stuff so here are just a few pics of the shower and the booty!!

Me with the hostesses...sorry for the silver shirt and the flash RADIATING off of my shirt!!!

2 summer dresses and a long sleeve onesie.

Some burp cloths, teething rings, car seat protector, and Baby Einstein CD.

A bottle sterilizer.

A feeding pillow/baby prop cushion.

E has already claimed this baby gift for his own...he says that the video monitor is just the first step in the video home surveillance process!!
Also, I got a gift in the mail from Ashley at the Linares Family with a sweater and onesie inside. So cute! They both say "Sweet Pea" which is what we called the baby for the longest time until we found out she was a girl! Thanks Ash!

The Cake of All Cakes!!

Well, we had quite a weekend...and of course I forgot to bring the pictures in today to show you all but I can tell you about this cake.

Erika made this cake for the baby shower that her and the girls threw me on Sunday afternoon. She is a big Smitten Kitchen fan just like me and tried the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake for her family. They all loved it and so, it seemed only right to bring it for a bunch of chocoholics at the baby shower!! Oh Yum!! Here is Smitten Kitchen's picture...

I took a large piece of what was left home to E and BOY did he finish that LARGE piece off quickly!! I guess I now know what cake is next on my list of cakes to try!