Merry Christmas!

Peek-a-boo!


Merry Christmas!


Many smiles across the miles!


Hope you found everything about the holidays as interesting and delicious as I did!

Eden's First Christmas Activities

Eden will be 7 months old on Christmas Eve. I can hardly believe it. We are celebrating her first Christmas in our new house together by ourselves. Just us, the dog, and the Christmas tree. In the spirit of my whole no-toys-with-batteries-or-noises-or-lights and children-shouldn't-have-more-crap-laying-around-than-the-parents-have child-rearing attitude, I made her 2 little tag blankets for presents and put a brush, some hair doo-dads, and a cloth book in her stocking. That's it. Kevin thinks even that is too much. (For those who don't know, tag blankets are generally 12" x 12" blankies with little tags sticking out the edges - like the tags that tell you how to launder clothes and blankets.) So anyway, we are looking forward to a nice quiet Christmas. Then we are off to S.C. to visit family for a week. I'm just hoping Eden sleeps okay and doesn't wake up 4 times every night like she did last night (I'm blaming the full moon. Tomorrow my excuse will be tonight's lunar eclipse.) Thankfully, Eden did successfully eat solid food today. I took a couple-week hiatus from trying to feed her and started from scratch today. I took off all her clothes except a diaper (because she's always happier when she's naked), pumped some fresh milk to mix with rice cereal, sat in a chair behind her where she couldn't see me, and had Kevin feed her. Success!! Hurray! I almost started crying from relief. She was actually opening her mouth and leaning forward for the food. Now hopefully she will continue this and make the transition into solid food permanent.
Here are some Christmas-theme photos.

Her Buhbuh (my stepdad) picked out this outfit and I got her the bow. I love hair accessories for babies!


Her first visit with Santa. I was going to put her in Santa's lap, but long story short, we were at the wrong end of the line and Santa's assistant snuck us in for a quick photo. Plus we were outside and it was cold, so Santa got me as part of the deal.


My little eighties' aerobics instructor (I love the leggings, but every time I put them on her with a headband and a onesie, I swear I can hear Jane Fonda calling out "And kick! Lift those legs, ladies! Work it!"

I'll try to remember to upload the video of Muffin crawling/scooching tomorrow.

It's been a while, I know.

I know, I know. It's been a while. I don't have any excuse other than pure laziness and procrastination. We have been a little busy, but I still could have written a post at some point. Oh well.
So this is what's been going on in the past month and a half. Eden turned six months old. She tried her first baby food. She's cut her first tooth. She can stand holding onto furniture and sit upright unassisted. Those would be the biggies. She's definitely going to crawl soon, which means way more opportunities for her to grab and chew on electrical cords, roll under tables, and eat magazines and books. Hurray. The solid food endeavor has come to a screeching halt (literally - she screeches and screams and squirms when I get a spoon of baby food anywhere near her). She blatantly refuses to eat baby food. So we are taking a small break from baby food and going back to nursing only. I'll try again in a week or so. Wish me luck. As for the tooth, I think she has horrible diaper rash because of it. Or else she just has horrible diaper rash.
Just to give you an idea about the rejection of solid food thing, here's a video of her spitting out carrots. It's not really funny, but it does give you the general idea.

rejecting eating carrots from Cameron Lawracy on Vimeo.

Sigh. So even though Eden is usually a very happy girl, I am generally a very tired mom. My mantra in life now: This is just a phase.
Actually I should add something here: In general things are going very well right now. Everyone is healthy and happy. Everything is pretty much ready for Christmas. Kevin is on break from instructing. Today has just been a particularly patient-trying day. Lots of crying for some reason. Eden was upset, too. (Just kidding - she was the one crying.) Unfortunately I decided to update my blog when I'm cranky. Sorry. Either way, I can sum up what I feel like today and how Eden feels about eating solid foods with a photo:

Confessions of a Suburban Housewife: Part 2

Today I get a pat on the back. I cleaned my entire house - and not just to everyday cleanliness standards. I cleaned to Martha Stewart standards. How do I know this? I used her cleaning checklist in her Homekeeping Handbook (handbook is a joke - this thing is an encyclopedia). What's the reason for the blatant self-tooting of my own horn (apologies for any unintended dirty undertones to the previous sentence)? This is the first time I actually cleaned the whole house in one consecutive time period to this level of cleanliness since having a baby. So in my suburban housewife world, this is a major feat. Hence, the back-patting.
Tomorrow is apparently phone-call day. I hate days when I have a zillion phone calls to make: pediatrician appointment, phone company, life insurance guy, bank, etc. And phone calls must be made during a nap unless I want to risk having to ask the customer service person to hold on while I have to wrangle a baby who is crying because she's rolled herself into a corner and can't figure out how to escape.
Tomorrow is also grocery shopping day. Also not a favorite chore because of the necessity to speed shop because of having a baby. Eden is pretty good in a cart, but I only have a good 30 minutes of content-baby-time before "Pick me up or I'll wail" starts threatening to happen. And grocery shopping in the commissary on base is a hard place to speed shop because of all the old retirees (I mean, bent-over-with-age, can-only-see-the-label-from-3-inches-away old) who stand in the middle of the lane and won't move even though you know they see you coming.
The silver lining of the grocery store trip is that I get to buy the ingredients to make my birthday cake for Thursday. I'm going to bake either a chocolate mousse tart or a classic chocolate layer cake. I can't decide. Maybe both?...
And finally, some photos of Eden:


Since Eden has discovered how to (sort of) roll where she wants to and reach for toys, she decided that Ruby's rear would be a great toy! Luckily Ruby did not mind the tail fondling or munching.


I painted our bedroom this past weekend. It was interesting trying to accomplish that with Eden. Finally I gave in and let her "help" me along with Ruby.


When I didn't let her "help" me anymore, she pitched a fit in her chair until she passed out (complete with toys burying most of her face). If you look close you can see a loan tear near her eye.

And now for Halloween photos:

At first she was a great pumpkin model.


Then she was not.


And the next night (on actual Halloween - the previous two I took the night before on trick-or-treating night) she was perfect. Perfectly cute! (This is why adults spend money on costumes that their children only wear for five minutes in the living room.)

Lots of activities

We just returned from a spur-of-the-moment trip to visit some friends in Ohio (ah, Midwest, how our distance does torment my heart). I will definitely post photos in the next few days of our goings-on during our trip, but currently I will upload some videos I took.

(Disclaimer: Again, these are mainly for the grandparents to drool over. To everyone else these will probably be immensely boring. Sorry.)

First video: Eden has recently been doing mouth and tongue aerobics. It's pretty funny. (And yes, that is a disposable diaper next to her head - I use them when traveling.)

Exercising the mouth and tongue from Cameron Lawracy on Vimeo.

Second video: She finally got her toes in her mouth and decided that her big toe is pretty tasty. It makes changing her diapers and clothes so much fun...not. Oh, and you will need the password. It's the same one I told/emailed you last time.

Yummy Toes from Cameron Lawracy on Vimeo.

Third video: In this one, Eden discovered the joys of grunting while licking a cup in the bath tub. (You need the password for this one, too. No more baby hoo-hoos!)

Bath Cup 1 from Cameron Lawracy on Vimeo.

Fourth (and final) video: On our way home from Ohio, we stopped at the Alabama Grand Ole Pumpkin Patch and took a hayride out to a pumpkin patch for some photos. We did this with Ruby in tow. It took some coordinating, but it turned out to be fun.

Hayride to the pumpkin patch from Cameron Lawracy on Vimeo.

And tomorrow (let's be realistic - it'll probably be the end of the week by the time I get to it) there will be photos. Happy video watching!

No more public baby hoo-hoos

After many requests from paranoid, I mean concerned people who love Eden very much, I have agreed to privatize the videos of Eden that have her hoo-hoo in them. Apparently there are sickos in the world who would take advantage of my baby's cute nakey-ness on the Internet so I have now password-protected the videos. I suppose the next step will be to password-protect the photos I have on flickr, too. I don't think I have too many, though. The reason she's naked on most of the videos is because that's when I think she feels best and is motivated to do stuff like roll over and giggle and be animated.

So, anyway, the reason I'm writing a post about this is ultimately so I can share the password with the people who want to see the videos. If you want the password, email me and I'll tell you.

Toodles!

One more video

I figured out the video embedding thing. Hurray!

Here's one of Eden giggling. (By the way, most of these are for the grandparents to watch and smile at. I am aware that most people will find these insanely boring. And the only reason I'm posting a bunch now is because I just now learned how so I have few videos stockpiled that I've been promising to share with the grandparents.)

giggling girl from Cameron Lawracy on Vimeo.

video test

Testing a Vimeo upload.

Eden rolling over from Cameron Lawracy on Vimeo.

P.S. Please excuse the high-pitched "YAY!!" My source of excitement now is developmental milestones like rolling over and counting poos.

Here's another video of Eden in the Johnny Jump-up.

Play mat time from Cameron Lawracy on Vimeo.

Greetings and Updates

Yes, I know it's been a while since I've posted. I've been putting off updating because I had to upload my photos in my back-up system online, upload them into my photo organizer software, and then, of course, post a few here. Well, it's 9:52pm and my goal is to just post a few with little explanation and be done before 10:00pm. I'll try my hardest to post more photos as well as some reflections and a general update on what's going on in Cameronland soon (like maybe maybe maybe tomorrow). Okay, now for some random photos.


This is Eden and my friend Kelsey's son Blake. They had a great time checking each other out. I love this photo. They are so cute together. Kelsey, I have a few more. I can email them to you if you want them.


My favorite photo of Eden and PopPop


She fell asleep on her face - flat on her face - one day during a nap. I could hear her breathing, but it still freaked me out. And made me laugh.


My cloth diapers. I love them hanging out on the clothesline in the sun.


I love her gummy smile. And she loves bath time. I'm glad that we can both be happy at the same time. :)

Now I'm going to try to post a video (it's not a great one, don't get excited). We'll see how successful I am.

I think the video works (at least it works on my computer. Now I have to figure out how to post the good ones (of her rolling over and playing in the bouncy thingy and others [these are mainly for Toto and PopPop to enjoy - these videos will probably bore everyone else]) because they are long and Blogger won't let me post ones over a certain size. So Toto and PopPop, I'm working on it so y'all can see Eden in action.

HAIL TO THE SLEEPING GODS!

Eden finally slept from 8:30 till 4:30 last night, then went back to sleep till 8:00 this morning.

It's time to celebrate by doing housework! Without a kid in my arms!!

Hurray!!

(In case you didn't guess, she hasn't been sleeping well for the past few weeks and it's been driving me crazy and leaving me exhausted, which then led to a cold that I still have remnants of. But she FINALLY slept well last night. Hallelujah! I know it's trivial, but I'll take my small victories where I can get them. Yee hah!)

Confessions of a Suburban Housewife

It occurred to me today as I was standing at the sink washing dishes while my child slept peacefully in her crib and my dogs lay passed out on the tile floor: I am a stay-at-home mom. You may think to respond with the obligatory "DUH" but really this had not occurred to me until today. Basically every time I've stayed at home without a job has been for a specific reason relating to waiting for or working towards obtaining professional employment. But today I realized that I'm not really waiting for employment at the moment. My job is full-time (though I will not qualify myself as "professional" because I have no clue what I'm doing) momma. And housewife. So I am going to try to embrace this new job of mine, which will be semi-difficult because I have always attributed part of my identity with being employed. And though I am not employed, per se, I do have a job (for which I am on duty 24/7 but at least they do allow naps on site occasionally and an optional uniform is pajamas - can't beat that). So from time to time I may offer some musings on my attempts to reconcile the roles of Momma and Housewife into the slot next to "Occupation." It may be pleasant, it may be ugly, and it'll always be honest.
This week's goals: take Eden's 3-month-birthday photos, organize my closet (includes trying on all clothes to see if any pre-pregnancy clothes fit), finish decorating my craft room, go grocery shopping, run the never-ending errands, accomplish other daily menial tasks, and above all, get dressed complete with jewelry and make-up post shower EVERY SINGLE WEEK DAY. This last goal is harder than it sounds. Don't laugh.
It's Tuesday and I've taken Eden's photos (please see below if so desired), organized my closet (about half my stuff fits which is encouraging - no unnecessary shopping needed for larger pants), cleaned out the refrigerator, and yes indeed I've gotten fully dressed - in the morning, no less!! - with jewelry and make-up yesterday and today! So far, so good. I'm giving myself a "satisfactory" on my performance report so far with extra kudos for cleaning the frige. :)
Here are the fruits of my photography labors today (warning, there are a lot):








(Does anyone else think she looks like an Oompa Loompa in this last photo?)
If you want to see even more, click HERE.

Accomplishments

The crying stopped. Thankfully. I think it was a growth spurt and she was tired of traveling. She's better now. Whew!

So I was running errands today with Eden while Kevin was at work. I had six places to go (you know, Target, post office, return a movie, those kinds of things). I organized myself, Eden, Eden's baby bag, my purse, and all the stuff needed to accomplish my errands (a movie to return, boxes to mail, things to return to stores, etc.). After I came home from doing everything, I felt so proud of myself for not getting overwhelmed and for timing the errands so Eden didn't get hungry or have a poo explosion while I was out and about. This was a major accomplishment for me, and I was quite excited to achieve it.

Funny that running errands successfully is now what I consider to be an accomplishment. I used to think that getting a job, graduating college, writing a term paper, things like that, those things were accomplishments. Now, going to the post office is an accomplishment. Funny how parenthood changes your perspective of things.

And now for photos. Again, these are just some of my favorites. If you want to see the newest photos I've uploaded, go to my flickr account HERE.

Eden's 12-week-old photos. I love overalls!


Eden's legs are getting stronger every day. She's already standing with help.


I know it's blurry, but I don't care. Her smile is so bright and happy.


She recently discovered her hands and it was so funny to see her stare cross-eyed at them.


Here's Eden's room. I couldn't help it - I had to have a pink room. I love it! I found the neatest fabric and decided to sew my own curtains and crib skirt. I also made the bumper pads and table skirt. And all the bows hanging on the wall (it's like having a baby doll that I get to accessorize every day).

?

What does one do when one's baby cries all day long, doesn't want to be put down, doesn't eat very much but wants to be attached to your booby constantly, and won't sleep?

And does this for 4 days?

??

?

Anyone?

More Eden photos

Let me preface this email with the following: I know I promised not to write posts that are nothing but my child my child my child. HOWEVER, I have realized that I'm already guilty of this BUT I have two good reasons: 1. Nothing else is happening in my life right now. 2. She's just so darn cute!! How could I not talk about her and show her off?! (This, of course, is just my humble Mommy-biased opinion.)

So here are some more photos of Eden for those of you who are interested. And a quick recap of life lately: She's sleeping about 5-7 hours a night now but still waking up at 3ish so I'm still not sleeping the greatest. She just had her 2-month well-baby check-up today and she's in the 88th percentile for height but 31st percentile for head size. She's a lanky baby with a mini head! :)~ We've almost finished rearranging everything in the house so that it's where I want it. I finished decorating Eden's room and our living/eating nook/kitchen. I haven't hung pictures or wall art yet but I'm getting there. I finally have a pink room. Hurray! I'll post photos of our house in a few days (hopefully) after I take some. Kevin and I went to Ikea in Atlanta on Saturday, and we got a new flat screen TV so I finally feel like we have a grown-up-looking living room. Yay!

Okay, now for Eden photos. Here are a few of my favorites. And click HERE (for 5-week-old photos) and HERE (6-week-old photos) if you want to see even more! (It's sad, but when I edited this I clicked on the linked and looked through all the photos again even though I've seen them a bunch already. I just can't help it; Eden's so cute (even when she looks like a grumpy old man)!!!)

Photos - Finally!

Okay, I finally uploaded almost all the photos we've taken since Eden was born. I'm not going to put them on the blog because there are way too many. However, I will include a link in this post that lets you go to my flickr account and you can see all the photos there. Have fun wasting several hours of your life looking at my life! :)

Photos of Eden

All you have to do is click on each little set of photos and stare at them until your heart's content. Have fun!

Photos

I have many more photos than this to which I will eventually put a link in a post, but for now here are two photos. The first is of us in our new house the first day we arrived in Prattville. Eden was 8 days old. The second photo is of Eden when she was about 4 weeks old. Enjoy!

Tired but happy...mostly

Sorry for my month-long absence, but I have very good reasons: I had my baby, a little girl named Eden. She was born on May 24 at 10:54am. She weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. She was born with lots of hair (supporting the heartburn=hair theory). In my humble Mommy's opinion, she is very beautiful. And yes, I did have her naturally without any drugs or an epidural. And yes, I am using cloth diapers quite successfully and I'm not tired of doing laundry (yet). Breastfeeding is going okay; I feel like a foodcart, but that's okay. And we moved to Montgomery and are still unpacking. And we've already had overnight visitors. And Kevin has gone back to work. Those are almost all my reasons I haven't blogged in a while. The biggest reason, though, is

I'm exhausted.

I have never known this level of tiredness. I hope never to know it again. And by the way, when does it end??

PS. I know pictures are requested. When I 1. find my camera cord to load the photos online and 2. get the energy to actually do that, that's when there will be photos on my blog. Don't hold your breath.

Q & A time

To answer some questions that I'm sure many of you have but Kelsey was beautifully tactful about actually asking (and without making me mad - good job, Kelsey!), here is a short Q & A session for you.

Q: Do you plan on being induced at any point?
A: No, unless there is some medical reason (meaning my life or the baby's is in danger). In my opinion, inductions are for the parents' convenience (most of the time), and if the baby is not done baking, I'm not going to hurry it out because I'm inconvenienced. Again, this is my opinion and my choices are based on that and I care not what other people choose to do with their childbirth choices - just don't judge mine.

Q: What happens if you go into labor while the movers are supposed to be at your house?
A: My dad will be here the whole time the movers are here, and he will oversee the paperwork and packing.

Q: What happens if you go into labor on the closing date?
A: If I'm in labor, then the closing date will move. Simple as that. If I'm recovering from delivery, Kevin will drive up to Montgomery with a Power of Attorney, sign all the documents, and then come back here and get me. And my mom will be here the day after my dad leaves so she'll help, too.

Q: Where will you go to labor while your house is being packed up if you're in labor while the movers are there?
A: Kevin and I will go to my friend's house. She and her family have graciously said they'd let us labor there are as long as we need (in fact, she told me her kids are secretly hoping we have to use their house so they can help us). I will not be going to the hospital until my contractions are close enough that our doula deems we need to hit the road pronto.

Q: Are you having any labor signs?
A: As of my visit with my midwife on Friday morning, I am 1cm dilated and 60% effaced and the baby's head is engaged. Other than that, no.

Q: Are you really going to have a natural labor - no drugs or anything?
A: Yes. My body is made to do this. God and Kevin and our doula will give me the support I need. No Pitocin, no Epidural, no episiotomies. The only way drugs will get into my body is if my midwife determines that my life or our baby's life is in danger.

Q: Really?
A: Yes, really.

The following is said in a nice, sweet, Cameron voice: This is the last time I am officially explaining and defending our childbirth choices. If I have to do this again, the next post you read will be written from my jail cell because I will have killed the person who asked.

Big smile!
Love, Cameron

Cameronland Conditions: Saturday

My crankiness and frustration must be at an all time high. Kevin actually asked me this morning if I wanted to go buy make-up at Ulta to feel better. Kevin hates when I buy make-up. Poor Kevin. I must be driving him crazy.

T-minus 11 days
Stress level: still slightly elevated from impatience
Baby Preparation: 99% complete
Moving Preparation: 20% complete and ongoing
General outlook: sunny with a strong chance of isolated thunder-mood-storms throughout the day

Yes, I'm still pregnant.

Warning: bitch mode ensuing...

Why do people who know you are due feel the need to call you on your due date and ask if you're in labor?

People, if I were, number one I would not be answering my phone and number two, I've been pregnant for 40 weeks. Believe me, I will let the world know when I've given birth.

*exasperated sigh*

Since I assumed the due date would probably arrive without Winky, I figured I should look forward to something else: a brownie sundae from Chili's. So Kevin and I are going to enjoy one this evening. Screw you, wrong due date.

(Wow, I'm cranky.)

T-minus 13 days
Stress level: slightly elevated from impatience
Baby Preparation: 99% complete
Moving Preparation: 15% complete and ongoing
General outlook: Overcast due to impatience, clearing this evening due to brownie eating

Cameronland conditions: Wednesday

Kevin and I have been working in the backyard the past 2 days doing moving prep stuff. I mowed and weed-whacked and pruned my veggie plants (don't worry, I didn't overexert myself - I was hoping the energy exertion would spur on Winky but to no avail) and Kevin leveled the backyard to fix all the Ruby holes and destructed a portion of the fence and cleaned up the side yard. He attached the changing table topper to the baby dresser. Then we took Ruby to Mexico Beach for a walk and ate some dinner at a local restaurant there. Yesterday was a great day: half productive and half relaxing. Today we did 3 hours of yard work and I did some insurance/banking paperwork. Kevin is currently packing his work stuff that is in various places around our house. After I finish this post, I'm going to pack up my craft stuff. Tomorrow we may attack the stuff hanging on the walls (curtain rods, picture frames, shelves, etc.). So far it's working out very well: we do a little bit at a time without feeling overwhelmed. So far so good.

T-minus 14 days
Stress level: low and healthy
Baby Preparation: 98% complete
Moving Preparation: 10% complete and ongoing
General outlook: Sunny, positive, and confident

Current conditions of Cameronland

Today officially begins our 17 Days of Crazy. I think when I wrote the last post I was feeling slightly overwhelmed (ya think??). But I've decided to nip that in the bud and go back to my previous state of minimal stress and worry about it all. We have contingency plans out the wahzoo, and we are as prepared as we can be. God will take care of the rest. I even gave in and mostly packed our hospital bag.

T-minus 16 days
Stress level: low and healthy
Baby Preparation: 95% complete
Moving Preparation: 5% complete and ongoing
General outlook: Sunny and positive

Raise your hand if you think we're crazy

Kevin and I both acknowledge that the end of May is a little...booked...for us. Winky's due, Kevin's captain promotion, packing up one house, buying our first home, moving 4 hours away. Yes, yes, we know that a lot is happening. Until yesterday at around 10:00am, I was not worried about everything working out. I had faith that everything will be okay and we'll get through the last week of May and first week of June just fine.

Then we attended the TMO briefing (for those who don't know, it's a meeting that military families attend to schedule their permanent change of station move - meaning their move to their next duty station). The actual official dates were laid out before us, and I believe that's when I recognized that we may have lost our minds trying to schedule everything at the end of May.

I will now prove that we are crazy and may need psychological help (if not immediately, then at least after all this is over):

May 17: Kevin's promotion ceremony to captain and last day at work
May 20: Winky's due - probably will happen after this day and definitely before June 3
May 26: Movers pack up our house in Panama City (we must first prepack and prepare for the movers to come; this will probably take 2-3 days. You already see the potential overlap of birthing a child and packing a house.)
May 27: Movers continue packing up our house
May 28: Movers load their van with our stuff
May 29: My mom comes to be our slave - I mean, visit us
May 28-31: We're basically camping in our empty house with HOPEFULLY our newborn and its grandmother. Oh, and we'll be cleaning out our rental house to be cleared from our lease.
May 31: Memorial Day, holiday - What holiday?? We're driving to Prattville to do our walk-through on our new house. At this point, we'll go from camping in our empty old house to staying in a hotel, with our newborn and its grandmother.
June 1: We close on our new house and hopefully move into our new house - this time, camping in our new house with our newborn and its grandmother.
June 2: Movers deliver our stuff to our new house and unload everything.

Count the days. They're 17 days from start to finish, and we have about 2 months worth of stuff to do in those 17 days.

I know we'll survive. But we are crazy. I recognize that now. Not in my previously laugh-it-off, flippant, oh-whatever, subconscious denial kind of way, but in a manic-eyed, half-grinning, slightly drooling psychotic kind of way.

My name is Cameron. And I am crazy. And still pregnant.

Locked and Loaded

Kevin and I met with our doula (birth helper lady) today for the last time before I actually go into labor. She gave us last minute advice about preparations and labor stuff. She asked if we've tried installing the car seat and if we have our bags semi-packed. We said no to both (I believe I've explained why in a previous post), and she suggested that we at least try to put the car seat in once just to make sure we know how to do it so we aren't forced to do it when our adrenaline may be high during early labor. So we gave in. We installed the car seat base (I refuse to put the car seat in there though) in my car. It took about 2 minutes and was very easy. Why do people freak out about this? I haven't a clue. And just to feel more prepared, we ran a mental checklist of where the major things are in our house that we will need to pack for the hospital. So we're all set. Cloth diapers and baby layette crap are washed. Car seat base is installed (eye roll and heavy sigh). Casseroles are cooked and ready to be frozen for meals after baby comes. Video camera and regular camera batteries are charged. Kevin's leave is all set up (his last day going to work is next Monday). Our utilities are all scheduled to be turned off and on at this house and our next house. Ruby's babysitter is all set. The movers are scheduled to come pack up our house.

We are locked and loaded, full speed ahead, ready for lift-off, let's get this show on the road, all systems go.

It's the final countdown.

Calling All Readers!!!

I have an official assignment for all my blog readers:

Kevin will be home tonight at 8:48pm from his TDY trip to Texas. So at approximately 8:49pm, I would like everyone out there to start sending me go-into-labor vibes. Very strong, urgent, immediate go-into-labor vibes. Since Kevin will be home, I will now be free to go into labor and I am 100% ready (I think) to do so. It's time for Winky to make his/her debut. So if you will please pause in your daily to-do's, and send fervent wishes my way for me to go into labor, I will love you all dearly (even more than I do now).

So please, go forth and pray, wish, concentrate, meditate, or whatever you feel comfortable doing to help get this baby birthing business going.

Thank you!

I'm so bored

Kevin is out of town in Texas till next Thursday evening and he's been gone since last Sunday morning (I know I've already told you this, I think), and I'm sooooo bored. I don't actually remember feeling this bored since I was a kid and would annoy my mom by whining "I'm boorrrreeed." I feel like all I'm doing is waiting - waiting for Kevin to get home, waiting for the baby to come, waiting to move to Alabama.

In a concerted effort to "un-bore" myself, I did some random things online this evening. I paid some bills, read about vegetable gardening in Alabama, bought the rest of the stuff from Target for Winky (we are now completely 100% ready as far as having all the necessary baby crap we need), ordered Mothers' and Fathers' Day gifts, and did some random Amazon.com surfing because who can pass that up?

Also, I washed all the cloth diapers and inserts and wipes. We have 24 diapers all ready to go. I must confess, I think they are quite cute hanging up drying in our laundry room. I can't wait to actually put one on our kid. I'm sure the novelty will run out quickly, but I still think it'll be fun to use them at first.

I also set up the pack n' play in our bedroom. Now, I'm not one to be overly prepared - meaning I haven't packed our hospital bag (I figure I'll do this once I start feeling real labor; it can't take more than 30 minutes to pack for a 2-night stay) and I haven't installed the carseat (again, this'll take, what, 20 minutes to figure out, maybe?). But dammit, I'm not disassembling the pack 'n' play even though I hate it taking up room in our bedroom (and not being used, I mean) because it was a pain in the backside to set up and I refuse to have to do it again unless I have to. Every time I look at it, though, it feel like it's taunting me, saying "Ha, ha. You're still pregnant and probably will be for a while, but I've successfully intimidated you into not disassembling me so I get to sit here empty and make your bedroom look cluttery because you're too stubborn to take me apart and put me back together again."

Sorry, had to vent. And apparently now furniture is talking to me in my head. Wow, how pathetic.

Anyway, so you can clearly tell how bored (and slightly crazy?) I am because this is a long post. Sorry. Maybe I'm feeling preggers-cranky. Probably.

Three Kinds of Bakin'

I am by no means a baker. When I try to make something, sometimes it turns out well; other times, not so much. I don't know whether it's semi-related to pregnancy nesting urges of what, but I've been in a makin' and bakin' mood lately (but not a cleaning mood, so that leads me to believe it's not nesting-related). As I was sitting here getting ready to type this post, I realized that I've kind of being doing three kinds of baking today/lately (if you really stretch the meaning of "baking"). Luckily, I've been pleasantly surprised with the outcomes of all three (so far). I'll describe them and show you pictures so you know what I'm talking about.

1. I'm baking a baby. Here's me at 36 weeks. I'll be 37 weeks tomorrow which means I'll be full term which means at any point now Winky's timer could go off and it'll be time to take the cake out of the oven, so to speak.



2. I baked a cake from scratch today for my dad. It's a Black Walnut cake (his favorite flavor). It's my first cake in my endeavor to bake all the cakes in the book All Cakes Considered by Melissa Gray (an excellent read, by the way). Pardon my pride, but I'm very proud of my not-perfect, but beautiful in my eyes nevertheless because I'm its "mother", cake.



3. I'm "baking" a veggie garden (there's heat, water, and ingredients involved - that's kinda baking). I have about 6 tomatoes that are growing quite nicely, my zucchini are flowering like crazy, my peppers are taaaallllll, and my cinnamon basil has lovely purple flowers all over it.

So there you have it. My three kinds of bakin'. Yay!

Photo Update

Kevin got his first incentive ride on Friday in an F-15 jet. I watched while he took off and landed. It's funny how a ride in a fighter jet can be used as a reward for some people (i.e. Kevin) and as a threat of torture for other people (i.e. me).

Anyway, here are some photos. This first one (below) is him in the jet with his flight mask/helmet on.



This one is of Kevin's jet taking off straight up into the air (it's called an unrestricted take-off or a maximum climb take-off).



This is Kevin and his pilot after they landed.



On much less thrilling but more exciting (in my humble opinion) note, here is the beginning on my vegetable garden. We already have 4 baby tomatoes growing. The biggest one is about the size of a pencil eraser. They're so cute! And I've already made two batches of iced mint tea with our chocolate mint and some smashed potatoes with our parsley! I can't wait for the actual vegetables to begin growing! Right now my next challenge is getting rid of aphids in the mint and zucchini.



And just because the following picture makes me laugh and roll my eyes, I had to include it. It's a few months old, but I forgot it was on my camera. Kevin and I came home one evening to this scene. The bag on the floor is a Frosted Flakes cereal bag...and it's empty...and there are cereal crumbs everywhere on the floor. Oh, the joys of living with Ruby.

The Iron Stomach

Our dog has a death wish.

I guess we should already know this. She's eaten ant poison, a telephone, cat food, various trash items that I won't be specific about, old food, dirt, Bobo barf, soap, enough dog food to last a month - in one sitting - and other things I can't even remember.

And now, she's decided to branch out and try plant fertilizer.

I'm telling you, if Ruby doesn't die from being poisoned from something she eats, she will live forever.

The Education of Cameron Lawracy

The last time I visited my friend Kelsey in Georgia, I wrote about how much I was learning from my four-day stay with her. I learned about parboiling, the Pioneer Woman blog, cooking vs. assembling ingredients, why I should cherish my food processor and other things. Trip number is turning out to be equally as informative as the first.

1. Icing vs. Frosting vs. Glaze - These three things are apparently different. Icing and frosting are not synonymous. Frosting is a thicker substance usually with a butter or fat base. Icing is thinner and has a sugar base. Glaze is even thinner.

2. Boxed cakes and mixes are still abhorred and looked upon with general snarkiness in the Peterson household. Consequently I get to eat homemade-from-scratch coconut cupcakes instead. Oh, the humanity!

3. When a soccer player gets the ball kicked through his or her legs, it's called being nutmeg-ed.

4. Some doors in houses are hollow. Never knew this. Thought all doors were some sort of solid wood.

5. Home grown beans grow at least 6 feet tall. Crazy!

6. There is a great way to garden called square foot gardening that eliminates 80% of wasted time and gardening effort and supplies.

I'm sure there's more stuff, but for right now, those have been the topics of my Kelsey/Eli lessons.

Bellies, babies, and house buying

I didn't realize that my assignment to you to choose favorite belly photos from our photography session was quite the task that it turned out to be. We decided to choose 35 photos to have the digital rights to and choosing 35 was hard! But I finally did.

On another random note, Kevin and I have been house hunting in Montgomery. We've been going back and forth trying to decide to buy or rent. We found a few really awesome houses and finally (I think) settled on (I'm pretty sure) buying. So we submitted an offer. Talk about scary and exciting simultaneously. I'm not sure which I'm more excited about: first time home buying or having a baby. It's a close tie (I'm sure it's not supposed to be a tie - babies are more special and all - but darn it, I'm a personal finance geek and buying a home is interesting to me). Anyway, I'll keep everyone updated on what happens with the offer. We went ahead and took photos of the house just in case it does work out so we can start planning furniture and stuff and post some photos. Keep your fingers crossed!

Belly Photos

Kevin and I got professional belly photos done by an awesome lady who takes amazing photographs. They're unconventional, cute, and fun. We had a blast during the photo session. Here is the link to the proofs she sent us. What're your favorites? Let me know.

http://web4.sendtoprint.net/proofbook/vue_lawracy/Cover.asp?sets=vue_lawracy

It's official: My cloth diapering quest has begun.

If you don't already know, I hate baby/toddler/kid stuff. You know, the toys everywhere, the goofy clothes with stupid sayings, the enormous potential for the stuff to accumulate everywhere in all facets of your life. Don't get me wrong: I'm excited for our baby and I think baby things can be cute (like onesies and little diapers and hats). However, I absolutely refuse to let the baby stuff take over my house/home/car/life. (Note to all the mothers who I know will have a comment about this: I understand that there will be baby things in my house/home/car/life. I accept that. I just will not accept it taking over my life. I believe it is possible.) Anyway, so one thing that kills me is the amount of potential waste with kid stuff. Babies grow so fast that everything only lasts a few months before they outgrow or no longer need everything. So in my ardent determination to minimize the wastefulness that Winky may cause by being born, I am going to try to waste not, want not in all possible areas. Case in point #1: cloth diapers. My take: if I'm not going to work for a year (as in for an employer), I figure that I can make the effort to cloth diaper, saving money (hopefully) and some landfill space. My new job will be Mom, professional laundress. So today I took the plunge and bought my first few cloth diapering items because there is a fantastic coupon for a free cloth diaper (rated #1 on most diaper sites, also very expensive normally). I can tell you, after hitting the "Complete purchase" button, I am simultaneously freaked out and also very very excited. Ready or not, I've dove into the deep end and now I'm gonna pray I don't drown in a sea of cloth diapers and doo-doo.

Where did March go??

How is it already March 22? Good lordy, if March goes by this fast, then April will probably go buy fast, too, and then it'll be May and then, holy cow, it'll be time for Winky! Oh my gosh! There's so much that is coming up that I know will make the time go by even faster. Kevin and I are having belly photos taken this Friday (fun!). Then we're going to Montgomery to look at rental houses (hopefully we find one we like and it's available to rent). Then my mom is coming to visit and my baby shower is happening. Then my mom goes home, and I go visit Kelsey in Georgia for a few days. Then Kevin is leaving for a two-week training. Then my dad is coming to visit for a few days while Kevin is gone. Then when Kevin comes back it'll officially be May and I'm sure all I'll be doing is counting down the days till Winky comes. I don't know which I'm more excited about: Winky or moving. Yay!

Baby Belly Photo

Here's an updated baby belly photo. Kevin took this yesterday. I'm officially 30 and 4/7 weeks along.



And just for a reference point, here is a photo of the maintenance banquet Kevin and I went to on Saturday night. (Spouses are encouraged to wear tricked out uniforms; my special accessory was my belly.) The banquet was the main reason I wrote the last blog posting about lots of people saying I didn't look pregnant. I will admit the beige color of the shirt doesn't emphasize my belly, but in person it's pretty obvious, in my opinion. Anyway, enough harping on that issue. I'm laying it to rest now.



P.S. I found a maternity bathing suit for $7 today at my favorite (only) baby consignment store. I love good deals! Kelsey, I'm now fully prepared to go swimming in Blake's wading pool when I come visit in April if it's warm enough.