Urology update, playgrounds and the ghetto zoo

Tuesday was our 3 year wedding anniversary. We had an adult evening out, going to Texas Roadhouse for dinner and then stopping at Red Mango and just sitting around and chatting as we had a few hours baby-free for the evening.

Earlier in the day I had to run a few errands and decided to take Jay to Sapora Playworld which is the big local indoor playground area in the same building as the indoor ice rink. They have a baby area with a smaller set of play tubes as well as some squishy mats the kids can play, crawl and climb on too. I thought it might be fun for him and my mom pointed out last week that he should probably spend some time interacting with other kids and babies as he's mostly around adults.

Well, he was a little freaked out and stayed glued to me the whole time.

I tried to sit him down on one of the squishy block mats and he cried so I sat on one and held him on my lap til he got comfortable with the setting and then I sat him down on the mat next to me, with him clinging one fist to my shirt. There were a few other smaller kids there - one little girl came right up by him and he though she was funny. A few 6 year old girls came over and were fussing over him, but kept inquiring why he wasn't crawling if he could do it and why he wasn't playing - why was he just sitting there, watching? My response that it was his 1st time there and he was just taking it all in and that he didn't want to crawl right then didn't seem to satisfy them, lol... I tried to get him to climb/crawl on one of the squishy mats up to the next one but he freaked out instead.

We spent a half hour there though, so maybe if we make it a regular thing he'll get more comfortable and start playing. Under 11 months is free and then it's $1 til he's a little older, but they also do half price Tuesday.

He had another night terror Tuesday night. I was tired and so was he so we both went to bed a little early, however he woke me up at 230am, shrieking. I jumped out of bed to check on him, picked him up, and sure enough, he was having one, eyes clenched shut and no sign of snapping out of it. It lasted a few minutes, however he didn't seem to be able to get comfortable in his crib, freaking out when I laid him back down, so he snuggled in bed with me for a bit til he was sound asleep again. I hate these. He hasn't had one in awhile so I guess we were overdue for one =(

Wednesday night Jay learned how his bottle nipple works and that if there's milk in it, then it probably isn't a good idea to squeeze it with his hands or flick it - while playing with the bottle nipple instead of drinking he sprayed milk all over his face, the couch and my mom's leg, lol... he startled himself too, as he didn't realize what he had done right away - it was pretty funny!

Thursday we got up early and drove up to Madison for his urology appointment with the pediatric urology specialist up there and also had an ultrasound so they could see how it's doing.

Nothing new really - they said his left kidney is slightly more dilated than before, but not much and that it was nothing to worry about at this point. He said he'll probably have us do another check-up around his 1st birthday, then come back for another one 6 months later and then at around 2 years old we'll start discussing doing the surgery. Unfortunately, we're not sure yet if we'll be seeing this specialist again yet - he told us he's transferring in the next few months to the children's hospital in Milwaukee to be the pediatric urology chairman there. He invited us to come see him there, but I'll have to check with our insurance to see if they'll let us go there. He also referred us to his associate there in Madison, whom he had us make an appointment with for next time in case we decide to stay there, and he also gave me the names of the specialists at the children's hospital in Chicago that he would recommend if we chose to go there.

Jay was amusing during his ultrasound - the tech needed to check both his kidneys and his bladder to make sure there was nothing new and while checking his right kidney she needed me to roll him on his side, facing away from her. Well... him being curious like he is, he kept wanting to roll back over to see what she was doing and check out the ultrasound monitor, lol... he laughed when she rolled the wand over his bladder area so I'm guessing he's a little ticklish there (he's also ticklish in his armpits and on his sides - both mommy and daddy's ticklish spots! lol...). She let him stay on his back for his left kidney but then he noticed the other ultrasound wands within reach and their cords and started grabbing for those! lol... He freaked out during the visit with the specialist when he picked him up to check him out, but was fine 2 seconds later when mommy took him! Silly baby!

They weighed him too - he's now 18lbs even! Yay! My baby's gained 1lb and 1oz in a month!

We stopped at the infamous Ella's Deli for lunch before heading back to town. My parents used to take me there when I was little as there's soooo much stuff to look at, including all sorts of things moving around above your head, a little train on a track that goes all around the restaurant, a working carousel just outside and lots of other fun stuff! Jay seemed to enjoy it - he was starring and looking around at everything. They're also known for their ice cream desserts so I ordered a small dish of mint chocolate chip and let Jay eat some of it after he had his lunch - he still likes it! (we had let him have some at the fair last month).

It was a tiring day and we spent the late afternoon out at the mall with my mom and sister, getting stuff for her and holiday clothes for Jay since that stuff sells fast at work!

Today I had my annual gyno exam and since I didn't bring Jay with me to my 6wk follow-up, I brought him with this time so they could all see him. They all fussed over him and he ate it up.

We had to run a few errands too, one of which was getting kitty food at Petco (we buy the Hills Science Diet stuff and the only places that seem to sell it are Petco and Petsmart) so I took Jay with and we walked around looking at all the animals and fishies. A friend on Facebook referred to it as the "ghetto zoo" which is quite funny, but true! Jay was once again fascinated by all the fish, as well as the ferrets and guinea pigs too this time! The turtles were mostly sleeping, as were the birds, hamsters/gerbils and cats. We didn't see that many people walking doggies with them this time either. He still enjoyed it though!

Birthday Weekend

On Sunday we drove out to the Quad Cities (about 2 hours away) to celebrate our nephew Noah's golden birthday (he turned 4 on the 4th of July!). Jay had only met his cousins once before, when he was about 2 months old and he was quite in shock then to see a baby close to his size! This time around, he's a few months older and he seemed to interact with his cousin Lucas a bit more (Lucas is about 3 or 4 months older than Jay).

Jay with cousin Lucas (he's about 3-4 months older than Jay)

The birthday theme was a hodge-podge of some of Noah's current favorite things - Iron Man, Thomas the Train, and Transformers. They had Iron Man masks and I couldn't resist putting one on Jay for a picture, lol...

It was held at one of the playgrounds near them and they had reserved the pavilion for the afternoon and had to chase a few LARPers (Live Action Role Players) away to a different area of the park - it was pretty awesome though, hubby and his older brother both said that if they busted out in an all out LARPing battle they were definitely going to get it on video, lol...

We had lunch at the park, then did cupcakes and presents and just socialized while the kids attempted to beat the crap out of an indestructible Optimus Prime Transformer pinata!

It got pretty hot though so we ended up stripping Jay down to just his onesie - poor kiddo was getting tired but it was too hot for him to sleep! He passed out within 10 minutes of us getting in the car! LOL...

It was nice to see everyone again, as we don't get to see hubby's older brother and his family too often since they live a few hours away, despite us keeping touch on Facebook. I hope we get to see each other at least a few times a year - it'd be nice for Jay to at least know who his cousins are, since hubby's younger brothers don't seem to be settling down anytime soon.

Jay also seemed to LOVE his spray bottle water mist fan thingy! He would lean forward and wait for me to spray it and then pull back after I sprayed it at him... and then come back for more! LOL... too funny!

101 in 1001 progress update #5

This morning the Illinois/Wisconsin stateline was hit with some pretty strong storms and our house was one of the unfortunate 600,000+ that had its power knocked out at 715am! It's about 130am the next day and as of 1130pm it still wasn't back on and was 81 degrees in the house! My parent's house has power though so we're spending the night there, hoping ours comes back on tomorrow at some point!

Anyways, here's an update on my 101 in 1001 list!

#4 - Watch at least 2 Netflix DVDs and 2 Instant Queue movies a month (11/66, 11/66)
Yeah... slacked a bit on this one. In June we watched "The Green Hornet" on DVD and I gotta admit, it was better than I was expecting (which honestly wasn't much). While it wasn't great, it was fun and amusing. I'd give it a 3 out of 5 stars. So far for June we've watched "I Am Number 4" on DVD - it was alright, although I would have enjoyed it much better if it didn't have all the dumb teenage romance drama in it. I enjoyed the kid that played #4, the gal that played #6, and Timothy Olyphant as #4's guardian. It was an enjoyable movie and I'd recommend it. Also, I wasn't surprised that the team of Gould and Millar who worked together on Smallville for years were involved, as had that teenage superhero feel to it. I could see a sequel happening for this one too. As far as Instant Watch goes... no movies in June and so far for July I've watched "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" - I recently finished the 1st 2 books and decided to start watching the Swedish films before the American remake comes out this Christmas. I gotta say though, actress Noomi Rapace IS Lisabeth Salander. I don't mind the casting of Daniel Craig as Blomkist in the American version, but I really wish they would use Noomi again as she's got the part down pat!


18 - Read at least 15 (non-children) fiction books (5/15)
I've read 2 so far for June and July! In June I finally finished "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and promptly started "The Girl Who Played With Fire" which I finished in July. I swear, Steig Larrson had a pattern to his books - make the 1st 200 or so pages of the book have just enough intrique to keep you interested (because they are a bit boring, making you wonder where is the story going already!?) and then something major happens in the last half of part 2 or between pages 200-300 that makes you glued to the book, wanting to read what happens next, making it so you don't want to put it down! That happened with both books! While book #2 seemed to move a bit faster than book 1, I was still wondering the whole time "where is this going? what's the point?" during the 1st 200 or so pages. And then something major happens and I breezed through the rest of the book in a matter of days! I really want to read the 3rd, however it's not currently available in trade paperback (only in large print paperback) and the Kindle version costs more than the hardcover version at Walmart so I guess I'll just wait...

22 - Find a part-time job that works me at least twice a week
Well, I guess I have this now! We've had several key people quit at work recently due to moving away and apparently I've "proved" myself too since as of this week, aside from management I have the 2nd most hours at work, working at least 2-3 shifts a week with a handful of on-call shifts, half of which I get called in for. The paychecks have been nice, but it's been a bit hard shifting from working 1-2 days a week to working 4-5! I'm used to hanging out with Jay most of the week and it's been a bit strange not doing that!

29 - Have a date with hubby at least once a month (4/33)
30 - Take an overnight with hubby once a year (1/3)
These go together for June & July, as hubby and I attended a wedding up in the Twin Cities from June 30-July 2 (my childhood best friend's wedding) and we left Jay with my parents to get some mommy and daddy time! It was nice getting away and not having to worry about squeezing in feedings, etc into the schedule but it was a bit strange being without him too!

51 - Host a PartyLite party once a year (1/3)
I did this in June! While not quite as many people came as I had hoped, I did get some "book orders" and got a nice bit of hostess credit. I stocked up on my tealights and took advantage of some nice hostess offers too! Definitely worth it!

53 - Visit in person with a friend once a month (6/33)
I've seen several people in June, so that counts!

60 - Go to church at least once a month (3/33)
We had Jay's baby dedication on Father's Day Sunday and we went once again in June too.

88 - Get a pedicure 3 times a year (2/9)
For Mother's Day, hubby got me a Groupon for a mani-pedi which I redeemed days before we went to the wedding in the Twin Cities - it was nice! The finger nails didn't last longer than a week, but the toenails still look good!

98 - Go on vacation somewhere once a year (1/3)
We went to the Twin Cities this year! While it was a mini-vacation, it was still a vacation for us and is about as much of one as we'll get this year, with Jay being so little. I'm sure we'll go somewhere more exciting for longer next year. Aside from the wedding, we stopped in Mall of America for a bit, ate some CiCi's Pizza (which the nearest one is nearly an hour from us so despite seeing all the commercials on TV, we've never had it!) and we drove past the Metrodome - the home of the Minnesota Vikings! Near the end of last season, the roof collapsed due to all the snow that had built up on top of it - it still looked like it was under construction!

What's in my purse - mommy edition!

Being a mommy now, most of the time I don't carry a purse anymore - instead I carry a diaper bag!

1. The Diaper Bag
It's green and black and by Just One You (by Carter's)

2. Jay's little summer hat I bought him at work (The Children's Place)

3. Jay's little sunglasses I also bought him at work, however they're a little too big for his face as his nose isn't quite big enough yet to hold them in place on his face, lol...

4. Yellow lion snack cup which I use to store his binky in sometimes

5. Bright Starts baby rattle

6. Bright Starts lion wrist rattle, although we haven't used this much yet

7. Baby hairbrush

8. My keys, and yes, one of them is a metal WoW horde symbol =)

9. Gum - this is a new addition and it's the Trident Layers gum you see on TV. By the way, it's a lot smaller than it looks in the commercial!

10. Make-up - I got my Mary Kay compact which holds 6 eyeshadows and eye applicator brushes as well as a lipstick or lipgloss and I found a few extra Mary Kay lipglosses I had thrown in the bag too, oops!

11. My phone - the original Motorola Droid and my main connection with the outside world as I don't get near an actual computer all that often anymore.

12. My wallet - it holds money, cards, checkbook, coupons, etc. I bought it at Gordman's a year ago and I love it!

13. Mary Kay Satin Hands Lotion, cuz you never know when your hands are going to get dry!

14. Hand Sanitizer, cuz you're touching a baby, duh!

15. PartyLite S-Pod deoderizor. It's a mini air freshener type product that keeps the baby bag smelling nice

16. Desitin diaper rash ointment.

17. Mini Lanolin nipple oinment - not sure why it's still in there as we stopped breastfeeding a few months ago...

18. Target diaper wipes - Target's got the best price on wipies IMO

19. Pamper's diaper pouch with diapers in it

20. Jay's favorite blankie, which I started carrying around with us after a few really windy days. Comes in handy as I can drape it over his carrier if it's real windy out when we're walking to/from the car or we can tuck it in around his arms and legs and body if it's real cold out to keep him warm.

21. Jay's stuffed Elmo. Okay, so this one gets put in the bag as he keeps it with him most of the day as it's his favorite toy right now. Seriously, the kid loves his Elmo... that is, when daddy isn't attacking him with it, lol...

22. Huggies Little Swimmers SPF 50 sunblock. I bought this the other week and good thing too as it came in handy when went for a walk last week on a really hot sunny day!

23. Jay's immunization record sheet. I keep this one of the sides of the bag so I have it with me when we go to the doctor's office as I know if I don't keep it in there I'll likely forget it at home.

24. A spare bottle, just in case he gets hungry while we're out. We use the Gerber Nuk brand as that seems to be the kind Jay prefers (we've tried other bottles)

25. A bottle tote - there's usually an icepack we put in here too as it keeps the bottles cool after we use them if Jay doesn't drink it all so we don't have to waste milkies

26. Munchkin brand 3 slot formula dispenser. This thing is genius if you're formula feeding as you can measure out the amount you need beforehand into 3 slots of the bowl and it has a hole with a cover that you pop open and pour into the bottle. Get this at Target or Walmart - BabiesRUs charges over $5 for it and I got it at Target for around $3.

27. Mini 1st Aid Kit - it has bandaids and stuff in it, cuz with a kid, you never know when you might need it.

28. A burpie cloth

29. A bib

30. Changing pad

31. Arm and Hammer diaper trashbag dispenser. Someone gave this to me at my baby shower and I put it in the diaper bag not knowing when I would need to use it. I got some use out of it the other day as I was in Gordman's and had to change Jay in the dressing room. I put his poopie diaper in one of these bags and stuck it in the side of the diaper bag until I found a trashcan and it kept it from making a mess and blocked the smell too!

What's in your bag?

The past week

Where did I leave off...

Let's see...

Last weekend hubby and I went into Schaumburg for Jeny & Tim's engagement bash at Gameworks. It was pretty fun and they had quite the turnout of friends show up throughout the night too, many of which I had met before. We had dinner with them in the attached restaurant and by the time we were done eating they had kicked out all the under 21 people and had the bar going. It was my first time out drinking since last spring. I started out with a long island which got me a little drink by the end of dinner, then we did a shot (I chose Jager, having forgotten that it tastes like cough syrup) and then I got an Ameretto stone sour but it was kinda weak so I finished it rather fast. I went back and got another long island although I didn't drink it fast enough and the ice melted and the last 1/3 of it was really watery. We played a bunch of games though - I played some DDR (and did pretty decent considering I was technically drunk) and made to level 3 of Capcom vs Marvel a la button mashing (I gave up paying attention to the buttons and just mashed em all at once, which proved successful!). Around midnight we decided to start playing the games that give out tickets in hopes of getting Jay a stuffed animal. It ended up being a fun night!

On Sunday we took Jay to his first birthday party - my friend's daughter turned 1 and they had a bunch of family and friends there, including a handful of us with babies. Jay was the youngest of the babies and the only boy too. He kept sleeping on and off throughout the whole time although he did sit in my lap and watch her open her presents for a bit, which was cute! He also got a goodie bag which included 2 Garanimals finger puppets, a fishy water squirter and a teether. I'd say it went pretty well!

1st stroller ride on the nearby walking/bike path

It's been nice out this week too, in the upper 50s/low 60s the past few days. On Wednesday Jay and I went for a walk via the stroller out on the nearby walking/bike path. Gotta admit, I'm going to miss having that around the block once we move! Jay seemed to enjoy it - he stayed awake the whole time, just looking around and taking everything in...

Monday was his follow-up doctor's appointment. He weighed 8lbs even - woot! The doctor officially reduced the amount of calories we're giving him (24 down from 27, even though I've been giving him 24) and we don't have to go back in until his regular 2 month check-up at the beginning of April. He also got his Hep-B booster, which poor guy... he didn't know it was coming! He was all sucky calmly and happily on his binky when she gave him the shot and wow... he shrieked and it took a good minute or so of mama hugging him and rubbing his back to get him to calm down.

I also asked about him waking up all congested with a stuffy nose lately - doctor said it's probably just humidity, as that tends to affect babies when the weather gets warmer out. He suggested we get a humidifier or child saline drops to stuck in his nose and suck the stuff out. I think we're going to look into the humidifier. 

Yesterday we had his follow-up urology appointment where they did an ultrasound there. The doctor said the kidney blockage looks slightly moderate so they're going to have us go up to the children's hospital in Madison for 2 tests, one of which is a renal scan that might be able to tell us why it's blocked and the other involves a catheter which isn't going to be fun =/ This should take place in about 2 weeks.

We also went to the bank and signed the loan paperwork - assuming our home inspection on Monday goes well, we should be closing either at the very end of the month or the first week of April, yay! Jay needs his own room... it's hard putting him down at night and keeping him in his own bed as I wake up to the slightest noise he makes.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Jay celebrated his first St. Patrick's Day too - I had gotten him a green onesie at Target that says "Irish (I wish) you would KISS ME" as on my side of the family we're both Irish and Scots-Irish.

Today I have my post-partum check-up at the OBGYN. Going to see about them getting me back on the pill (although now I have to wait til next month to start taking it) and get a note saying I can go back to work as The Children's Place requires it for me to come back and be put on the schedule. Hopefully that goes well!

4 weeks come and gone!

Tomorrow morning Jay is going to be 4 weeks old already! I guess losing a week, stuck in the hospital really made it fly by!

So they say by the end of the first month he should start holding his head up... well, he's been working on that since he was 3 days old and he's gotten quite good at it, being able to hold it straight up on his own for several seconds.

He's also sort of getting into a routine - we go to bed around 330/4am when daddy gets home from work (Jay is usually finishing a bottle or just recently finished one by this point). Jay wakes up (usually) around 6am wanting to eat more and then again around 9am when daddy is leaving for work. Then we go back to sleep til about 11 or 12 and he eats "lunch" before taking a short nap, eating again around 3pm and then he passes out til 6 or 7pm before eating again. He usually eats again between 9 and 10pm, falls asleep and then eats again around midnight or 1am before sleeping a bit more until it's time to eat again.

The last 2 nights though he skipped the 6am feeding and just slept right through for a good 5/6 hours straight! He sleeps in the bassinet for a few hours (which is better than none like before!), but usually ends up on my chest, snuggling with me.

He's becoming more aware of things too - he likes to look around and take things in (in the hospital one night, I was sitting on the chair at an angle where he could look out the window in the door and out into the hallway - he was very intrigued by people walking past!) and when I read to him now he looks at the pictures on the pages too! He's aware of daddy - there were several times last night where no matter what I did he wouldn't stop crying and fussing... I passed him off to daddy and within a minute or so he was calmed down - he just wanted daddy and not mommy! Doh!

Tomorrow is his first appointment with the urologist... I'm hoping his enlarged kidney is only mild or moderate and they just want to monitor it instead of it being severe and him needing surgery to get rid of the blockage!

We've had several counter-offers already on the house - they came back to our $65k offer with $71.3k... we countered with $68k and today they came back with $70k which is what we were wanting them to drop it to! I didn't get to speak to our realtor today though to confirm the offer, as he sent us the email and said he was going to be in a meeting all afternoon and to call him between a certain timeframe as he had a house to show later in the day too... I called but the receptionist said he was still in his meeting so I left a voicemail and sent him an email saying to call us when he could... so we're waiting. Which sucks. But unless something major falls through, we should be closing on the house near the end of the month and moving in ASAP!

We also got some fun stuff coming up within the next week - I'm excited!

My college roommate is coming up from Dallas to visit for a week or so and get some wedding stuff done as they're having it up here. She's got an appointment for us bridesmaids setup at David's Bridal this Sunday so we're meeting for lunch beforehand and then trying on dresses! Then on Wednesday her and her fiance are coming to us to visit and meet Jay - she said she plans on buying him Converse shoes as he grows up. Fine with me - they're cute! Friday they're having an engagement party with their friends up here at Gamewerks in Schaumburg so hubby and I are planning on going. The following Sunday is my good friend's daughter's 1st birthday party that we're invited to, so that should be fun! Our kids (her son just turned 4, her daughter is turning 1) are likely going to know each other pretty well as we're planning on going for regular walks this summer and doing other stuff together once the kids are a little bigger (like play days at the children's museum, etc).

Weekly follow-up, pampering and fun!

I had my follow-up appointment yesterday and it went pretty smooth.

Originally I was scheduled for 4pm, but they called me in the morning asking if I could come in at 2pm instead, which was fine with me as I found out the day before they didn't need me to come into work on Thursday.

The NST stress test went fine as did my brief meeting with the doctor. They also did the Strep-B Culture swab, which they said tests for a specific vaginal infection that if you have it (she said like 10% of women do) they treat it while you're in labor so that baby doesn't get the infection when he comes through. Jay's fundal height was measuring exactly 36cm which is right on target for his gestational age. She said my glucose readings looked great and congratulated me on that.

We're STILL waiting for the hospital to call me to setup the ultrasound to check out his femur and kidneys... the girl from my clinic called Wednesday morning to let me know that they got it approved with insurance and sent my paperwork and stuff over to the hospital and that I should be getting a call from them to schedule it "sometime soon" but yeah... I mentioned I hadn't heard anything from them yet at my appointment and my doctor said if I didn't hear anything by this afternoon to give my clinic a call and they would look into it, so I need to do that first thing in the morning since I think they're open til noon.

Today I went and got myself a much needed pedicure!

Hubby rubs my feet for me sometimes when we watch TV and clips my toenails for me when they get too long as I have trouble comfortably reach my feet, but it's just not the same as going to a nail salon and soaking them and getting the works done and all that... and it felt GREAT! Supposedly, there's a pressure point on your ankle that's linked somehow to your uterus and if rubbed or whatever it can cause you to have contractions - I guess we'll see if I go into labor in the next few days...

What was amusing was that the chairs for the pedicure have a built in massager - I don't think Jay knew what to make of that, with all the vibrations going on! He started kicking/squirming a good bit while it was going on! lol...

Tomorrow is my baby shower - I'm a bit excited and looking forward to it, although I can't believe it's already here as we started talking about it and set the date last fall and it seemed soooo far off!

Newborn Care Class

Tonight hubby and I attended the newborn care class that our delivering hospital offers. We signed up for it back in October and at the time it seemed so far away... and then here it was! Talk about time flying!

It was a bit of a fun class and they moved us to the room across the hall from where the previous classes we took were, which was nice as the chairs in there were a million times comfier!

They gave us a packet of info to go over like they did in the other classes and we watched some fun videos about things to know when it comes to your newborn in the first month - how to clean em, things to keep any eye out for, etc.

They gave us fake baby dolls too to practice diapering, swaddling, bathing and dressing - she had enough extras to give a doll to each of the daddy's too so they got to participate as well.

Hubby and I both got the minority dolls - mine was Asian while hubby's was black - the dads seemed to have a bit too much fun with the beanies, styling them all funny!

Some of it was kinda no-brainer stuff, while other stuff was good to know, as I guess some things have changed recently (they no longer recommend using baby powder, you no longer need to wait til the cord stump falls off to bathe baby nor do you need to clean the cord stump with alcohol). They also gave us info about their free car seat checks which they offer once a month, as well as things you get at the hospital like free diapers, cleaning care products, and all that stuff - pretty much you can take anything under your baby's bassinet that isn't the linens. They also do footprints on anything you'd like and there's a photographer that'll take your baby's first photo too if you want.

That reminds me - I need to get started on putting together a baby scrapbook for Jay. I have my follow-up doctor's appointment tomorrow morning, so I'm thinking I'll try the other Target afterwards to see about a nursing bra and then stop over at Hobby Lobby or Michaels or even Walmart to check out their scrapbooking stuff!

I also started working on some Mario Bros paintings for our apartment here since we most likely won't be in a house until at least March or April. Since we're having the Pack n Play in our bedroom, I'm doing a painting of the start screen from the original Super Mario Bros to put above that, and then where the changing table/dresser is going in our walk-in closet I'm doing 4 panels each with a classic Mario item - the red magic mushroom, the star, the fire power flower, and the 1-up green mushroom - to hang above there.

When I was at the doctor on Monday they went ahead and scheduled my appointments for next week - next Thursday is the 20th of January... exactly 1 month out from Jay's  due date! That realization kinda scared me! I look forward to meeting him in the flesh but at the same time... it just seems all too soon, like it was just summer/fall! Oh well, can't stop time!

Less than 100 days!

With the hustle and bustle of things going on yesturday, I completely forgot to check and mention that yesturday marked the countdown that we have 100 days left til Jay is expected to be here in the flesh!

How exciting!!

Also, thanks to my regular "What to Expect" emails I get, I learned that this week (26 weeks along, week 27 of pregnancy) that Jay opens his little eyes inside there. They say there's a neat flashlight trick you can play, where you can point a flashlight at your belly and baby will most likely respond to it by kicking/punching and increasing movement, like they're trying to bat the bright light away, as they say the inside of your womb is more of a burgundy color. They were telling us about this neat little trick at our first childbirthing class too. We tried it last night, but I couldn't tell if he was increasing movement or not as he was already moving around to begin with, lol...

In other news, I started my first day at The Children's Place yesturday. It seemed to go pretty well - they had me come in at 1130am to fill out paperwork and read through the handbooks and all that which took a good bit of time. Then they were going to have me shadow someone on the registers but it got a bit busy and they ended up having 4 people behind the register as it was and there wasn't much room to squeeze me in so they had me help a girl unload boxes in the stockroom - security tagging clothes and putting them on hangers and taking them out on the floor as they had a bunch of boxes to get through this weekend before another huge shipment comes in later this week! It was a pretty easy work day if you ask me and I didn't mind helping out in the stockroom - it's something to do and I'd much rather help and do something than have nothing to do and be bored.

There's also another pregnant girl working there too - I think she's a little further along than me and was having some Braxton Hicks contractions as she suddenly came in the back and just squatted in pain for a minute or so until it went away. She said she was fine though and after drinking some water she went back out. So it's nice to know I'm not the only preggo on staff! A lot of the other girls were talking about their young kids too, so it seems like most are mothers and should make for a pleasant work environment since they've all been pregnant too!