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!!

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.

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!

Epiphanies

So I had an epiphany this morning that I wanted to share...you have probably already had this one so humor me!

Whenever I go to the store to buy baby supplies, I can always tell where the girl stuff ends and the boy stuff begins because of the color change from pink and purples to blues and greens...and then there's the unisex rack full of yellow. So I pondered that for a while...because I am not really a pink type of person. I can and will live with it but if you ask me what my favorite color is, I promise it won't be pink.

But why is it that everything you can get for a baby girl has the color pink or purple? Hmmm...and then it hit me. As a baby, you can't tell a boy from a girl so the clothes are the only ways to distinguish between the sexes and let people know who walk up to talk to you, that you are holding a girl, hence the the pink hearts all over her top.

Baby Buys

While we were home for the holidays, E picked out a few things for the baby...yes the baby who is still a month away from making her grand appearance. He picked out some pajamas for her and some socks, etc...but the strangest thing was this...

You think that's funny what till you see what he bought her at the grocery store a week or so later....

I am curious if our daughter has a chance of being normal with her dad forcing the Daring Book for Girls and Schoolhouse Rock DVD down her throat long before birth.

Progress

I feel like such a slacker this week since I don't feel like I have posted anything at all. Most of this slackerness comes from the fact that I got that computer virus going around on my machine here at work so I am working from a lab computer. Good Times!! So as a quick update, I thought I would show the progress being made on my house.

First, E was able to finished the laundry closet this weekend. So we (nevermind, not we, but E and a friend from work) finally got the washer and dryer stacked and into the closet this weekend so guess what I did all day Saturday? You guessed it ... LAUNDRY!!! Since the washer and dryer had been unhooked for so long, laundry had seriously piled up. Here are a few pictures.

Since the nursery is as finished as it can get for the time being (awaiting family to bring the rest of the stuff we couldn't fit in our car on the way home from the Christmas), I needed a new project. I have this mindset that at some point I am going to be too miserable to help around the house so I am working hard until that day comes...if that day comes. So I started painting the living room last night. Here is the color...yes, I really loved the green but after 2 years of the green, I was ready for a change. Plus, I saw this color in my sister's house and fell in love with it so don't think for a second that this was an original idea! I decided this over Christmas break so I was able to collect all of my new accessories and pillows and dishes at home with all of the nice stores that were having nice sales after the holidays! Hold on..accessory colors are orange and yellow! You will see...it will all come together and be AWESOME!!

My new dining room chandelier from CB2 came in the mail yesterday. I am excited about this...Look at my old contractor grade chandelier and you will find out why I am so excited about the new addition. We have had a rule at our house that we will not change any of the bulbs in the old light. So if all the bulbs go out, then the time has come to get a new one. We got the new one just in time...there are only three bulbs left.

And last but not least, the baby's new playyard came in the mail yesterday too. Small story behind this...Me and E have been saving our change for about a year now. I saw at the local grocery store that they had a coin star. I had used these in the past and enjoyed the fact that I got cash and didn't have to count all of that change even if I lost 10% of the money as a service fee. Now, you can buy a gift certificate to a few vendors and you get to keep the extra 10%. So I started thinking and researching. Since Amazon is one of the vendors, I checked Amazon's baby stuff to see if there was anything I could use. HECK YEAH!! They have alot of stuff! So I got an Amazon gift certificate and was able to pay for playyard and a few other small things for the baby. I was pumped...it was like all of that stuff was free because I never think about how much change I have. So here is the new playyard.

Next week, E is taking a few days off of work to work on the house with his pop, who is coming into town for a few days to help out! We are very thankful for this!! So I hopt to have more pictures for you next week!

Baby Tea Numero Uno

I had a Baby Tea when I went home for Christmas. Some friends of mine and my parents' wanted to throw us a baby tea. They threw it in our home church's foyer with the Christmas tree and everything and it turned out so beautiful!!! Everything was perfect! We ended up getting SO MUCH STUFF from the shower and from family members that we couldn't even take half of it home with us. Luckily E's dad is stopping by before the baby comes to help out with the renovations for a few days and will bring some with him and then my folks will bring the rest when they come for the birth!! But between a bouncer, 2 strollers, all of the diapers and wipes and clothes and toys, our car was PACKED to the top!! Anyway, back to the baby tea, thanks to Brooke and Emily to planning everything and thanks to Martha, Brenda and Sherri for their help in hosting. It was perfect. Here are a few pictures:

E's mom, Me, Mom and My Nanny

The tables were so cute all decorated in pink and white polka dot table cloths.

My Nanny watches as I open presents and my sister, Blake, writes everything down.

Onesie Mania

Me and Mom spent a few hours over the holidays making clothes for the baby. I just thought I would share them with you all!

Baby Legs

I have been obsessed with finding Baby legs lately. I really wanted a bunch of onesies and pair of babylegs to put the baby in when she finally comes because they would be great for diaper changes and for keeping her warm but I can no longer find baby legs ANYWHERE. I searched all through thte Christmas holidays and they were no where to be found!!! They were at Target before the holidays but I haven't seen them since. So yesterday I was determined to find or make them. I found a tutorial on flickr that shows you how to make them in less than 10 minutes. WOO HOO!! Then I went to Target at lunch and found three pairs on the sale rack. It was a good day. So here is the baby's first new pairs of Baby Legs!

If you are interested in buying some, go to the Etsy website and search for "Baby legs," or go to the baby legs website, or check Target's website.

Click here to see the tutorial.

Renovations and Nursery Finishes

I am trying hard to use things I already have or find things really cheap to outfit the nursery. However, the other night, E dragged me out to Hobby Lobby and I ended up finding this fabric and fell in love with it. Turns out, that it matches the crib bedding perfectly and softens the polka dots a little bit. Here is a picture of the 2 new peices of fabric with the bedding in the background.

I spent Saturday sanding and painting the baby's crib (not finished yet), I finished the dresser for the nursery and E put the hardware on for me...

and I got a chance to start using some of that new fabric when I repainted this chair...

and turned it into this chair.

I am so pleased with how it turned out. I have to touch up one or 2 places where I scuffed it up when I brought it into the house.

E worked hard this weekend too and had to make new door frames for the laundry room. He worked so hard trying to get everything measured and cut right. And we finally have a door up. Whoo Hoo!!

Staying at Home??

Since I am now 13 weeks away from giving birth, ideally, (can you hear the panic in my voice?), I figured I would start researching my childcare options. Our first plan was to ask if I could bring the baby to work for a while. That got NIXXED pretty darn fast. Next was putting her into care here at the university where I work so she would be close by. Unfortunately, they don't accept infants. Then, I started asking around for someone to keep her in my house. But when I actually looked at the cost of having someone keep her, it wasn't even worth it.

So I talked to E the other night and laid out my options for him:

A) paying someone to keep the baby so that I could work through the summer and then quit in August (3 extra pay checks)
B) finally get a chance to use the short-term disability benefits through work (5 extra pay checks at 60%) and then quit afterwards

Work has been pulling money out of my check for a year and a half now in case I ever want to use my short term disability so why not take advantage of it? I don't know if he just really didn't care or was preoccupied by the magazine he was reading when I brought up the subject, the response was frightening.

Me: So what do you think?
E: I think you should just stay home!

Wow, I didn't even have to fight or discuss any of this. I had all of my points ready to make my case. Maybe he knew how stressed this was starting to make me or maybe that's really what he thought but his "matter-o-fact" answer caught me off guard.

All that to say...I am staying home ladies and gents!!

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

Why bother at all? Because I don't have a fortune to spend on new nursery furniture. So let's go over how this is all coming together:

Crib: My mom and dad bought one for us second hand. Supposedly it is mission style and painted white. I have yet to see it though. All we have to do is buy a mattress.

Bedding: A friend had 2 sets for girls that she wasn't using anymore and wanted to pass them on and since I like free stuff!!!! The one I chose is pink and brown polka dots.

Changing Table: Still in the works. I have one picked out at the local supercenter but would rather find a crappy piece of furniture that I can put my stamp on. So the verdict is still out!!

Dresser: E has an old dresser that we are painting it white and replacing the hardware. So it is being repurposed in the babies room. Here is a little sneak peak of the progress I am making on the dresser so far.

Shelving: This shelf was left at our house when we moved in and I really liked it. I knew I wanted to use it but I didn't know how or where. But now it has a new place and new purpose. I am planning on painting it brown.

Walls: Since I really have no desire to repaint the walls, I don't plan on it. The walls are already tan and I plan on making that work.

This is what the baby's room currently looks like. Lots of work left to go. But my new policy is "One Hour a Day!" I worked 2 nights this week and I am almost done priming the dresser drawers and have started priming the shelf.

Babies and Diapers and Wipes... Oh My!!

Have you ever registered? Are you one of those people who actually enjoys registering? If so, our blogosphere friendship is over...or maybe I should take you shopping with me!! I haven't decided yet!

Maybe it was my lack of attention span, my sore feet and the warm temperature of the store, but I hate registering. With a shower coming up next month, and the fact that I am trying very hard to avoid holiday crowds this year, I decided to register in early November. E offered to go with me, which I am eternally grateful for, since he was the one trying out the car seats and the strollers and all of the items that I didn't have the energy to test out. All it took was the payment of one Eggnog Latte from Starbucks. Eggnog Latte? Already? Whatever floats his boat!!

But all of that shopping brought back memories of registering for our wedding? What do you really need? Will I actually use that? I don't cook so why would I want all of these kitchen items? (HA, boy has that changed) Except this time, the threat of everything I didn't know about having kid was starting to give me a small anxiety attack. Seriously though, I had no idea what I was doing. Both of us were flying blindly trying to figure out what we really needed and what normal people actually register for while trying to be practical. With all that being said, I really enjoyed registering for stuff online. I could prop my feet up, throw the laptop in my lap, take my shoes off and slip into some pj's, and enjoy a nice cup of hot chocolate while I shop at home.

So we registered for a few things and then decided we needed to do a bit more research before registering at the other store. Oh well, it was quality time together right?

P.S. while I didn't enjoy registering, I LOVE EXPECTANT MOTHER PARKING!!!

Best Laid Plans

My trip to the Woodlands got cut short this week so I am back to the blogosphere earlier than expected. Due to an out of control heartrate over 2 days, I was told I needed to go to the ER and get checked out since I was out of town. To tell the whole truth, I was more worried about the baby because I hadn't felt her move since my heartrate had jumped up which was a bit unusual. But the ER said I was fine, but wanted me to go home where I could be properly cared for by my own OB and they wanted me to see a cardiologist. They also checked Baby Bailey too. No worries there either. She was stunning!! As soon as they started hooking monitors to my belly, she felt the need to start jumping up and down and kicking and hasn't stopped yet. In fact, E felt her move for the first time last night while I was sleeping. He was quite excited. He says he is still not in baby mode and probably won't be until all of his schoolwork is over with (which will be Monday evening!!!)

So we decided it was time for me to come home and my traveling days are over unless we are together. Fine with me. It makes me nervous not knowing where the nearest hospitals are in case something happens and now that I am married, I have no desire to be in an ER waiting room by myself. I like to think I am independent enough to handle certain things alone but at the end of the day, I don't want to be that independent. And I know it made him sick that all of this stuff was going on while he was at home waiting for a phone call with the prognosis. But we are back home now and hopefully life will get back to normal starting today!

Baby Kicks and Baby Names

While we were in NY, I thought I felt the baby move but I wasn't sure. Having nothing to compare it to, I thought the baby kicking. But last night while I was in bed, the baby started kicking up a storm after I finished off the last little bit of Ben & Jerry's. The kicks were so soft that I almost ignored them until something in my triggered..."IT'S THE BABY!!!" I put the tv on mute so she couldn't only hear my voice and called E into the room. She stopped for a while so I started patting my belly like a drum and talking to her. Sure enough, she started it up again. Everytime she would stop, I would beat my belly and talk to her again and she would start back up again. So amazing!! E was disappointed that he couldn't fell them but he is able to stick his ear up my belly and listen to her. That's something I can't do. Since I knew she was awake, we tried to get Maggie to talk too. Of course, she was too obstanate to cooperate.

Btw, we did pick a name...at least a first name. We are still going back and forth about a middle name and haven't decided on that one yet. But we have decided to call her Rachel. We have been talking about Hope or Leigh for her middle name but both don't seem to fit yet so we are still brainstorming.

We are Having a Girl!!

The ultrasound was yesterday and we got the shocking news that we were having a girl!!! I honestly couldn't believe it! I have been thinking it's a boy this whole time so when she said we were going to have a girl...well, I was a little floored. Almost speechless. Even the last ultrasound we had 8 weeks ago said she thought it was going to be a boy. I couldn't believe it! Not that I wanted one sex over the other. We didn't care what we were having but I still wanted to know. E is a little shocked too. He has no idea what to do with a girl. This is going to be an interesting ride!

So we are excited. We started talking about which room would be the baby's and automatically people have been volunteering their bedding and hand-me-down clothes. That's great news to me! Free Stuff! But the one thing we haven't talked about is girl names. We haven't even discussed one...only boy names. I guess it's time to get moving!

20 Weeks Marks Halfway Point...and other updates!

Whew! Halfway done. And as the Dr. said yesterday "You are looking ripe." I guess that means I am starting to get fat. I asked E yesterday if he would still love me when I was fat...his response was that he would still love me and that I was ALREADY fat! Thanks E! Your the best!

We went to the Dr. yesterday and had some blood work done. The heartrate is good, I have gained a total of 13 pounds, he is 6.5 inches long and we go today for our ultrasound. SO PUMPED!!! I feel like once I know if it is a boy or girl, I can finally start getting ready for him to come home. (Sorry, still using the pronoun him...I still think it's going to be a boy) So I will post pictures tomorrow and let you know what we are having. I feel like a kid trying to sleep on Christmas Eve. I can't wait to see him.

E has 3 weeks of school left and then we can get the house ready. He also said that I could get a housekeeper to help me out too. Hallelujah!!! I have past that point where I can clean the bathrooms and load the washer and dryer. This was mostly a charity act as there is a lady who cleans houses that lost alot of customers after the storm and is trying to pull her life back together. However he does it, I am just thrilled to have help finally.

The plumbing is finally fixed however, now we just have to replace the subfloor where the leak had ruined the floor. Turns out, the previous owners used a straight lead pipe (bent into an L-shape) instead of a PVC L-shaped one. And of course there were SEVERAL holes where the pipe was bent. I think E had to fix the plumbing 3 times. Everytime he thought he completed the project, he would find another leak. Luckily I was out of town.

School Days are Over

Well, E finished his next to last class last night. Ahhhh...(that was my sigh of relief). I have really needed a break lately. When E is in school, I take on everything (except for mowing the lawn) so that he can focus soley on school work. But being pregnant, exhausted and sick at the same time made things...well...interesting. Our house has been is such disarray for such a long time. Luckily, I finally got some energy back last week and decided to actually keep house again. But the laundry, cooking, the yard, the errands, Maggie and the housework take a toll on me and by the time he is done with school and finally gets a break, I am ready for one too. Only one more class to go and then we are home free. No more school bills, no more waking up at 2 inthe morning when he finally crawls into bed, no more weekend exhaustion...I will actually get my husband back...and just in time to start doing some work around the house before the baby comes. We have so many projects that we wanted to finish this year and I am starting to see the year get away from us with no hope for those projects in site.

On the baby note...E took a belly picture this weekend for me. It didn't turn out so well so I will retake again soon and post it then. Don't worry though. You aren't missing anything. I just look like I normally do when I don't exercise. Nothing significant popping out yet!