Monday, March 2, 2009

The Weekend - Goodbye Fil.

First, I'll answer the 3 questions I received from my "Slow News Day" post :)

Leah asked: Besides being a mom and all that, what would your dream job be?

My dream job (besides being a mom) would probably have something to do with illustrating or painting. I would love to illustrate childrens books and/or travel the world and paint the scenery. Anything creative that allows me to work at my own pace and set my own schedule. Even without kids that would be important to me! And I say all this with the assumption that were I to land my "dream job" (before I had kids) that my husband would be able to travel the world with me!

Melissa asked: As for a question..... when are we going to get together again??????????????????????

That's a lot of question marks! Hopefully soon! We owe you guys - I'll talk to David. We need to have you over for dinner soon! We drove right by your house on our way to Leavenworth and if I would have had your number I would have called and asked if we could stop by. Carrie & Lori were with me :)

Diane asked: My question is, So far, what has been the most surprising thing about your pregnancy?

That's tough, because some of the more surprising things are things no one ever told me would happen when you get pregnant but things I shouldn't share publicly :) I think the most surprising thing that I can say about this pregnancy is that I never get tired of feeling her kick & move. It surprises me and comforts me every time I feel her. I wish I could somehow transfer this feeling to my husband just for a few minutes so he can experience how amazing this feels. I'm also surprised that I'm not scared about the labor/delivery part. Maybe I'm naive, but I just try to tell myself that everything will work out fine...because what will worry do?

Thanks for the questions!

By the way, Diane is having a great giveaway on her blog today! Go check it out!

Well, our (not so) beloved Contorted Filbert is gone. We gave it to a family from church who wanted it. I admit the thing had personality, but the front of our home was a very strange place for it to be planted. We would have just transplanted it elsewhere, but our back yard is already crowded with other plant life and there would be nowhere for us to move the filbert without uprooting another tree or plants which we weren't willing to do. So, the filbert had to go. David's dad came over along with members of the family who were taking the tree to dig it out.
Here's the tree. Looks like a mess, doesn't it?
Here's the front of our house with the tree. Just seems like a strange place for the tree to be. D's been doing a really great job of keeping our yard trimmed up even during the winter. I commented to him the other day that winter is my least favorite season simply because everything is dead and ugly. Our yard is so pretty in the spring!
Here are the guys (minus D who is taking the picture) working on the tree.
Here you can see the big root ball. We have no idea how it was growing where it was planted. In the next picture you'll see why.
There was a HUGE rock under there! You can barely see it in this picture, but there's a giant rock in the ground right where the tree was planted. That is one resilient tree if it was still able to grow in those conditions!


We went and registered for Amelia this weekend at Babies R Us. We were sufficiently overwhelmed. It took us over 2 hours to walk through the store and one large bottle of water. I'm not sure if the things I have on my registry are good or if I need to add things or take things away. It would have been helpful to have someone with me who knew what they were doing - D & I are definitely amateurs! Whoever entered our registry info online misspelled my last name which is funny because Baldwin is a pretty easy name to spell...maybe they just fat-fingered it. I called and supposedly it will be changed by tomorrow at the latest. No sweat!

Have a great Monday!

4 comments commented:

Diane said...

Thanks for answering my question Jamie!

Your house is so beautiful. Great color.

Thanks for blogging about my giveaway... and for checking out my shops. Yes, I do make custom dolls and would be happy to make one for you. If you have ideas about color or theme, just let me know. You can also check out my "sold items" from my shop to see what I have previously made. Let me know whenever you're ready :)

Dahlia said...

Some thoughts on your registry (no offense at all if you don't like them). I know I bought a lot of stuff I never used for Will (or with Lorinc). It's hard the first time!

I would check with your ped (when you take the baby for the first time) on thermometers. I like the look of the non-contact one (I may get one myself ;)), but I know that some thermometers don't work well with newborns. My midwife told me to get a regular digital one for that reason.

Ear thermometer is not supposed to be used until 6-12 months (can't remember which). I do LOVE this one for older babies though! But just don't expect to be using it right away.

You don't HAVE to use Dreft. Any non-scented detergent is fine. Especially useful if you don't want to do Amelia's laundry seperately, which I think is a real pain, personally!

Orajel - a lot of peds will tell you not to use it because babies swallow it and it can cause their throats to go numb or something like that. I personally have used it, but ony from about 9 months up and only when my kids would be awake for a while.

You are VERY smart to register for a more lightweight stroller rather than just the travel system. The travel system strollers are so huge and heavy! I actually gave mine away and just use a peg perego pliko p3.

I personally found the front pack carriers to be uncomfortable around 12-15 lbs. So just something to think about. I love a moby wrap, pouch (see you have one of those on your registry :)), sling, or mei tai for just about any age. There is also some question around whether or not the carriers where infants dangle from their crotch like the front pack ones are bad for the hips. But nothing conclusive.

car seat technicians will tell you to not use the Bundle me or the headrest. Anything that goes between the car seat and straps that didn't come with your car seat is a big no no. The shower cap style carrier covers are approved as being ok (or just a blanket), as is rolled blankets around the head. But, any of this stuff really is a judgement call parents have to make.

I had never heard fo the stroll'r swivel'rs. Now I want some!

We have a similar space saving high chair and LOVE it! I actually got rid of the full-sized high chair, hated that thing!

The roundabout is a great car seat. But it only harnesses to 40 lbs and has a lower harness height than the other Britax convertibles. The Marathon is a much better buy and will easily last Amelia a good extra 2-3 years over the roundabout. Other great convertibles are the first years true fit and sunshine kids radian.

Motrin - can't use until 6 months. Tylenol you can use earlier.

I hope that helps some. I didn't look at all the in-store only stuff.

Dahlia said...

Thanks for your comments on my blog. The ETA is a great seat! It will last longer than the roundabout and is cheaper.

I did like the travel system when Will was a baby (don't get me wrong), but once he was out of that infant seat the stroller was a real pain! My lighter stroller accomidates and infant seat, so I ended up getting rid of it for that reason. And since my babies tend to be huge, I'm not even getting an infant seat this time (Will and Lorinc are freaks of nature that outgrew it by 3 months! Yikes!). Since mine has expired I just don't see a point in spending 100+ on a seat I'll hardly use. If this was my first, I'd get one. But this may be my last!

byLGD Glass Jewelry said...

I love the name Jamie! :) It's just darling. She'll be the Belle of the Ball for sure. (I read Sookie Stackhouse books and Sookie's close friend is "Amelia" and she is SO sweet...other than that, I know NO other Amelia's! -- A close friend of mine named her daughter Martha -- Martha is now 11mos old-- and it's just pitiful. LOL The name does not suit her... some older names are so adorable... and some? Some I can live without. LOL)

The house will be fantastic minus the rockin' tree. :) LOL

Hope the pregnancy has been going well. A trip through babies R us is NEVER enjoyable until after the baby comes, so don't sweat it. When you have the baby, go back and then everyone will want to "see" her and it will make the trip a lot more fun. :) Babies are always precious to see in those first new months of life. :)

hugs,
laurie