Christmas Gifts 2017

It's been a long time since I've blogged. I've missed recording so much because I've been so busy working and raising two very sweet, very smart, very active little girls.

To save myself some time communicating, I've added things to the girls' Amazon wish lists and will give some suggestions below about Christmas gifts.

I need to go through their clothes to see if they need anything. They really don't need many toys, but I've tried to highlight a few things they don't have that they'd really like.


Maggie
Maggie LOVES books. We have many books, but if you want to see a happy Maggie, give her a book. ("Book" was her first word after mama and dada.) She likes dolls and stuffed animals, but we have plenty of both. She could probably use some new baby bottles for her dolls, but we have all the other doll accessories. She also likes blocks of all kinds, puzzles, music, our vintage Fisher Price Little People, hats, things to open and shut, and farm animals.

Lego House - This includes a Lego toilet and other home furnishings. Maggie LOVES Lego blocks. At the library, she heads to the Lego table first.

More puzzles - Maggie is pretty good at putting together the chunky puzzles that have you put a cow figure into a cow-shaped space. She's not quite ready for something harder, but she may be in a few months. Melissa and Doug make some puzzles that are like 4-piece puzzles. Some are chunky, and some are peg puzzles.

Pete the Cat - Two of Maggie's favorite books are Pete the Cat books. She would like anything Pete the Cat: more books, clothes, or a plush Pete.

Farm Beads to string - She's actually pretty good at stringing big beads, and she likes to do it. It's a good quiet activity during church.








Lucy
Lucy loves to make things. She likes craft projects, cooking, and play dough (has plenty). She likes to play dress up and board games and play outside. She is interested in science, especially animals and space. She is usually less likely to play with toys than Maggie is. She is also the one who chooses what they watch on TV most of the time. Last year, she received passes to Bounce, a local inflatable playground, and that was great. Experience/event gifts work well for her. If I come up with any experience/event ideas, I'll pass them on.

"Mermaid" Sequin pillow - Lucy REALLY wants a pillow with sequins that turn when they are brushed, revealing another color. She likes this color combination. The item on her list is just the slip cover and would require a pillow to go inside.

Dr. KittyCat books - We read Lucy some chapter books, and she likes these books. We own the second one in the series (Clover the Bunny).

PJ Masks DVDs - Lucy likes the Disney show PJ Masks, about kid  superheroes who fight super-villains in their pajamas.

Toy food to cut with toy knife - She has a real children's knife for cutting real food, but this toy looks like fun for her.

Melissa & Doug Ice Cream Counter - Lucy played with this at the library and LOVED it. It is pretty cool.

Costumes/Dress-up Clothes - Astronaut costume, Chef Costume. Keep an eye on post-Halloween clearance. She probably has enough princess dresses for her current size.

BB-8 Bike Helmet - She has a tricycle and likes that this helmet will make her look like BB-8.

Monster Feet Stilts - She tried a toy like this last summer and did a good job walking on them. The monster feet are a bonus.

Water Wow! Connect the Dots and Mazes - These Water Wow! books have been fantastic for potty training and travel entertainment. The ones she owns are just coloring books. These would require her to think and mark carefully.


Matt and I have wish lists and appreciate money.

Mechanical and Technological Disappointments

First, the used double stroller I got will be of limited use. I got it cleaned up and took Lucy for a ride and discovered that the stroller was wobbly and pulling to the right. I stopped and checked the wheels and found one of them was bent. I immediately turned back around and went home. I tried to straighten out the wheel, but I may have made it worse. I don't remember the wheel being bent when I got it, but I didn't really try it out. It's also possible that the wheel bent when Lucy got into the stroller before it was fully open and it closed on her and fell over. I quickly pulled her out, and one of the wheels popped off. I easily put the wheel back on, but it might have been bent in all of the excitement. The stroller is probably good enough for going to the pool for a while. I'm not sure I'd want to fight the pulling to the right all the way to Matt's office, especially since I'd have to fight it all the way home from his office. We'll still probably get $20 of use out of it just going to the pool, but it's not going to be a long-term stroller for us. We will need another stroller.

My other disappointment is my search for an inexpensive device that can run the Ibotta app. Ibotta gives rebates when you buy certain products and scan your receipt. Because it's a rebate, it can be stacked with sales and coupons to get really good deals. Recently, there was a $5 off diapers rebate. That would have been nice. But the app requires Android version 3.0 or higher and a rear-facing camera with auto-focus. We don't own smart phones, and our Android tablets run a proprietary version from Amazon because they are Kindle Fires. There are plenty of cheap tablets with new enough version of Android, but they don't meet the camera requirements. I've had trouble finding a tablet for less than $200 that does meet the requirements. I can't justify a $200 tablet so that I can save $5 on diapers. I looked into Apple products that can run the app, but they have to be fairly new, which mean expensive. I even looked for used ones on Ebay since I don't mind some physical imperfections. But if you'd like to actually be able to read the screen and use the device because it's not already attached to some unknown account, it will cost over $100. Still not cheap enough for a device just to run a rebate app. So if you have a smart phone, Ibotta is great. If you're thrifty and don't have fairly up-to-date devices, you can't save money with Ibotta. That's disppointing.

Emmie's Wardrobe & Pre-Baby Preparations

I think I've found and inventoried all of the preemie, newborn, and 0-3 month clothes we have. We're in better shape than I remembered. I do remember that I spent a lot of time on Ebay while nursing Lucy during those first few weeks ordering what we needed. And I started buying second-hand converter gowns in all sizes as soon as I discovered them. We may have to do laundry frequently, but we've got enough to keep her clothed as a newborn. We have 9 sleepers (footed PJs), 30 tops (both long sleeve and short sleeve), 9 pairs of pants (some footed), 5 converter gowns, and 4 pairs of socks. We have plenty of hats and bibs as well as a few pairs of mittens to prevent scratching. I added an extra pack of socks to the registry. The socks are necessary to keep her feet covered when she wears gowns and converter gowns, which I expect will be most of the time at home.

We're probably in good shape with 0-3 month clothes, too. The biggest thing I'm not sure of is how we'll dress a 2-3 month old in late summer. Will we keep her covered because of air conditioning, or will we put her in short sleeves and shorts because it's so hot outside? I don't anticipate keeping her outside for long periods of time. Fortunately, we have four cardigans or jackets, so layering will be possible. We've got 5 gowns and 7 converter gowns, so at-home clothes are covered. The other thing I'm not sure about is how well her shirts and pants match. I know some of them came as sets. In fact, some of the 0-3 clothes are brand new with tags because we received them as shower gifts for Lucy but never put her in them. (We received those 0-3 month clothes when she was 2 months old. We already had enough clothes. And the clothes we received were very pink. But it does mean that Emmie owns clothes that Lucy never pooped on. I'm aware of the little sister hand-me-down issue. However, most of Lucy's clothes are second-hand, too.) We do have overalls which makes matching less important. I'll look at the shirts and pants and see how they work together. If we need something else, I'll post about it and/or put something on the registry.

I still plan to inventory the clothes at least up to 12 months. It's not urgent to shop for future seasons, but I want to make sure the inventory gets done now so I don't have to make time to do it while taking care of two little girls. It can also be helpful to know what's needed so that things can be purchased on clearance at the end of the season. I anticipate needing some 3-6 month clothes because several of Lucy's sleepers are fleece, which will be too warm for Emmie in August-October.

I also plan to look at our baby gear. I got out the things we'll need in the first month or so: bottles, bottle warmer, bath chair, diaper bag. All were fine. (No mice this time!) I also know that the swing still works and still has batteries because Lucy turned it on (and tried to climb into it). I picked up the double stroller on Tuesday and only had to pay $20 for it because I picked it up at the lady's house. The cloth parts need to be washed. They were clean in the picture the lady posted, but her kids played on it during the days that we tried to figure out how to get the stroller to me. At least some of the pieces can be removed and possibly machine-washed. After I clean the nursery a little more, we can move the cradle in, and I can tighten up the screws on the changing table. One of the bouncy seats is already downstairs. A car seat is on the way (Thanks, Mom!). I hope to get to Lowes this weekend to check on shelving supplies. I think we're in good shape with gear. We just need Emmie to arrive safely.

I've done very little shopping for Emmie. It's a little weird to have so little to do to prepare, although when I list everything that needs to be cleaned, it seems like a lot. And with Lucy needing my time, I feel like Emmie has received less attention than Lucy or Neil did. I feel a little disconnected. Most of my Emmie preparation is actually preparing Lucy for Emmie's arrival or cooking and freezing meals. But as Emmie gets bigger and more active and as we see her at weekly ultrasounds in April, I'll get to know her better. And as the nursery looks more and more ready, I'll feel ready, too.

Amazon Baby Registry for Emmie

Mom asked me last night what we need for Emmie, so I thought I'd share our updated Amazon Baby Registry and give some helpful information about what we need and what's important. This month I plan to bring the baby gear and newborn clothes downstairs to see what we have and need, but I've started a list of what I know we need or would want.

Car Seat (PURCHASED - Thanks, Mom!)
If it's not already expired, the seat Lucy used will expire soon, so we'll need a new one. (The one Lucy used was bought for Neil.) I've got two car seats on the registry. They are both slim, which is important for fitting two car seats (and hopefully me) in the back seat of a car. The Baby Trend one has a more ergonomic handle. Each seat works with a double stroller on the registry.

Double Stroller
We use our strollers all the time. With two kids we'll need a stroller that will transport both of them. It would be helpful if our stroller and car seat were compatible because the car seat can just clip onto the stroller. The stroller that goes with the car seat is on the registry. I've found a used double stroller for $25 that I'm supposed to pick up today. I haven't seen it yet to know how good it is, but at $25, it's worth getting. We have found it helpful to have one stroller inside and one in the car, so we could probably use another one.

Feeding/High Chair
I plan to breastfeed. We have two breast pumps that still worked last time I used them, and I just found out that our insurance will pay for another one. We have bottles and nipples so that Matt can help feed. We plan to have him more involved this time which we're hoping will be possible because I have a better idea of what I'm doing this time. There are two things that I'd like to have to help with breastfeeding. First is a nursing pillow. I have a Boppy and a travel (inflatable) version of My Brest Friend (dumbest name ever!). The My Brest Friend does an excellent job of positioning the baby. The Boppy let her roll and slip. Anything that makes breastfeeding easier is appreciated. I'd like to get a regular, non-inflatable My Brest Friend and an extra cover so that I have a spare when they get dirty. Color and print are not important to me if they make a difference to price. The second thing we need is more bottles for collecting milk. I found that an angled bottle worked better for me with the breast pumps. Perhaps it's my poor posture. These bottles were used a lot and didn't hold up well to all the use, so we could use a few more.

We also need a high chair. With Lucy we used and are still using a space-saver seat that attaches to a regular dining chair. It's worked really well. Lucy is still using hers as a booster, and she's so attached to it that it would be best to get Emmie her own. If another color or print is cheaper, that's fine. We prefer something other than pink.

Clothes
We kept all of Lucy's baby clothes, so we have a lot, but we have a couple of needs. First, we didn't have enough Newborn-sized clothes for Lucy, so we may not have enough for Emmie. We borrowed clothes for Lucy. I don't know how big Emmie will be or how quickly she'll grow, but Lucy needed newborn clothes for at least a month. The 0-3 month clothes were way too big at first. I've bought one outfit that has a long sleeve onesie and footed pants. If we get a couple of footed sleepers and a couple of converter gowns, we'll probably be OK.

Our second issue is that Lucy was a September baby and Emmie is a May baby, so some of Lucy's clothes will not be seasonally appropriate for Emmie. For Lucy, 0-3 months was September to December. For Emmie it will be May-August, very different. I think I have pants, socks, cardigans/jackets, and both long and short sleeve onesies in every size because they are wardrobe basics for all seasons. I bought some 0-3 summer clothes on clearance at a second-hand store, so I'll need to look at what I've got to get a better idea of how much more we'll need. However, I put some 3-6 month clothes on the registry. I think most of Lucy's clothes are wintry, but Emmie will need clothes to transition from late summer to fall. I haven't put much on there because I haven't inventoried yet.

In short, I don't think we'll need a lot, but I'm not sure how much we'll need. I'll let you know when I inventory.

I also put a couple of micro-fleece sleep sacks on the registry. They work both for sleeping and, with a jacket, as a cover-up for going to the pool in cool weather. I've put several sizes on the registry.

We aren't necessarily picky about clothes, but we have some preferences about dressing our daughters. In case you haven't encountered our clothing philosophy already, here are some thoughts:

• We don't care if clothes come from the boys or girls section. Lucy likes Doc McStuffins, Elmo, and the Incredible Hulk, so she's got pajamas with each of those characters.
• Clothes don't have to be gender-neutral. Gender-neutral is fine, but we're not against dresses or clothes with a little lace or ruffle or bow. My personal style is not flouncy, so I'm not drawn to flouncy baby clothes (not that my kids are restricted to my personal style). Clothes can be feminine without rows of ruffles on the backside.
• We don't tend to buy pink clothes because we want our kids to try all colors and not feel color-coded by gender. I'm not anti-pink. It's just so easy to buy pink clothes and get pink clothes as hand-me-downs. If we're getting new clothes, we prefer to put in the effort to add some blue and red and green and brown to their wardrobes. Lucy's favorite color is green, but some days she chooses to wear pink pants; other days she picks brown. (She is very picky about matching.)
• We care about how the kids feel in the clothes. We prefer pajamas that snap because you don't have to undress a baby to change a diaper; you can leave the torso covered while changing the bottom half. I have seen pajamas that unzip from the bottom rather than the top, and those would work for us. We tend to buy clothes for comfort and function and consider style secondarily. We aren't opposed to cute clothes, but we don't put our kids in uncomfortable clothes no matter how cute they are.
• We expect kids to be messy. We'd like clean kids, but we know that most kids are messy. We don't tend to buy white clothes because they will not stay white beyond the first wearing. I try to keep them clean, but kids are messy. After only six hours in a white turtleneck yesterday, Lucy had gotten artificially-colored (orange) cheese, chocolate, and strawberry on it, even on the part covered by her jumper.
• Versatile clothes are appreciated. Converter gowns can be either gowns or footless pajamas depending on how you snap them. Rompers that look like dresses are casual enough for everyday but also work as dresses for church. Solid pants and shorts that can go with many shirts are good.

Toys
We don't really need a lot of toys. In addition to Lucy's old toys, Emmie will have Lucy to play with. Some of the toys are on the list because putting $50 of Fisher-Price toys on my registry entered me in a sweepstakes that would give me everything on my registry. Anything we're really interested in has been marked as having "medium" interest. I tried to focus on things similar to what Lucy really liked or that Lucy and Emmie could play with together.

Books
I put Dr. Seuss books that we don't own on the list. There are a couple of books on the list that we own but that aren't likely to be readable for long.

Diapering
We need some newborn diapers (not sure how many). If we don't receive any by mid-April, I'll probably just buy them myself when I find a good sale. We have enough size 1 diapers. We need size 2 diapers. We've found that Pampers hold a lot of urine. If Emmie is like Lucy and doesn't mind a wet diaper, they are more economical because we use fewer of them. If she hates sitting in her own pee (not a bad trait), we may have to use a cheaper diaper during the day so that we can change her more often. I also put some wipes on the list. The ones I put on there smell really good. Wipes don't have to smell good, but it's nice for something to smell good during a diaper change.

There are more things on the baby registry, but this is the important stuff to know about at this point. I may add some more things in case Fisher-Price buys me everything on my registry (wouldn't that be nice!), but the stuff I've mentioned in this post is most important.

Lord, Have Mercy!

First, I must share that often after I catch myself saying "Lord, have mercy!" or "Good Lord, have mercy!" I begin singing the Kyrie from Schubert's German Mass. I first heard the German Mass while working at/attending Luther Memorial Church in Madison, Wis. They use it in their services at the end of October and beginning of November every year because Reformation Day, All Saints, and Christ the King Sundays, which are all a big deal to the Lutherans, are back to back in the late fall. Luther Memorial hires extra musicians and has all of their choirs participate. The German Mass is beautiful and very singable. I've sung both the Sanctus and the Agnus Dei to Lucy as lullabies. I find that singing a beautiful song that says "Lord, have mercy" tends to dissipate the mood that caused me to say it in the first place. It also gives me some perspective and reconnects me with what is important. Some days you need that.

Today was one of those days. The events of today really started on Saturday morning when I smelled something like a blown out candle when I got out of the car at the grocery store. I thought it was the car next to me and went about my shopping. When I got out of the car at home, I smelled it again. My car was the stinky one. I had noticed the day before that we were overdue for an oil change, so I got Lucy ready and took her to Wal-Mart for two hours while our oil was being changed. I told the ladies at the desk about the smell and asked them when I picked up the keys if the mechanics had noted anything. The mechanics hadn't left any notes (as the ocassionally do), so I hoped that the oil change fixed the smell. It didn't. It was still there on Sunday. I asked advice at church and was told to see a mechanic right away. I showed up at AutoSmart when they opened on Monday morning because even though it can be difficult to get an appointment, they are very good about looking at your car really quickly to give you an idea of whether it is safe to drive until you can have repairs done. Since we had an OB appointment in Louisville on Tuesday, I wanted to make sure the car was safe for that trip. Two guys at AutoSmart looked at the car and found absolutely nothing wrong with it. So I left and stopped at Kroger on the way home because they mark down their perishable items first thing in the morning, and I can get half price milk, bread, yogurt, and produce sometimes. When I got back to my car, I decided to check my tires because it had occurred to me that the smell had started to remind me a little of hot asphalt. Sure enough, I could see steel threads poking through the front driver's side tire, and there seemed to be deep cracks in some of the treads. So on my way home I stopped at Firestone to have someone look at my tires. The guy very quickly said, "You need new front tires." I asked him if they would be safe enough to drive to Louisville." He said, "I wouldn't drive to Louisville on those tires." Well, if he wouldn't I probably shouldn't either. I needed to get home to Lucy so that Matt could get to school, so I left the tire guy my phone number so that he could let me know if they had the tires in stock and when I could get an appointment. It turned out the tires weren't in stock and couldn't get there until Tuesday afternoon, which is when our appointment was. Matt had already cancelled his Tuesday classes so that we could go to the appointment, so rescheduling wasn't a good option. I called Enterprise to find out about renting a car. The cost was reasonable for a one-day rental, so I made plans to drop my car at Firestone on Tuesday morning, have Enterprise pick me up there, and then take the rental home so that Matt could put Lucy's car seat in it. It was going to complicate my day, but it was a reasonable plan.

So  I got up earlier than usual this morning to put the plan into motion. Everything was fine with the drop-off. In fact, the tire guy was waiting for me in the parking lot and said he could smell my car before I even got into the lot. It was getting worse, so it was a good thing we were having it fixed. After I gave him my keys, I decided to walk a couple of blocks down Main Street to Harden's Coffee for a Chai Latte while I waited for Enterprise. I called Enterprise during the walk to let them know where I'd be. That's when they told me that they didn't actually have a car to give me yet. They were waiting for two to be returned. It might be an hour or more before they would have one. I decided to go ahead and get the Chai and then try to walk home. I knew that the walk was a little long, but Main Street to campus is a reasonable walk. And campus to home is a reasonable walk. And Matt's office in Carter Hall would be a good place to stop for a rest. So that's what I did. l talked to some friends/Matt's colleagues for a little while until I felt ready to walk home. On the walk home, I called Enterprise again. At approximately 11:00 they told me they still didn't have a car. We needed to leave at 12:30, and Matt still needed to put in the car seat, which doesn't tend to be as easy as it seems it should be. Around 11:30 Enterprise called to say they had just gotten a car and were cleaning it up. By noon I had the car home and Matt was installing the seat. I was exhausted already, and we still had an hour and a half drive and an ultrasound ahead of us.

Part of the reason that renting the car seemed like a good idea is that we are interested in getting a new car. We would like something slightly bigger so that we can fit two car seats and me in the back seat. Our Honda Civic is 11 years old and still in pretty good shape. The fan that blows air from the heater and air conditioning is unreliable, so we have some climate control issues, but we haven't had any major problems with it not caused by armadillo smashings. The rental car was supposed to be a little bigger than our normal car so that we could try it out and see whether we needed slightly bigger than our current car, perhaps a Honda Accord, or even bigger, perhaps a hatchback. We were also going to take this opportunity to turn Lucy's car seat front facing. Enterprise gave us a Ford Focus. We now know that we do not want to purchase a Ford Focus. It seems to have less space than our Honda Civic, and my seatbelt was incredibly difficult to fasten,which is extra frustrating when you feel extra confined. In addition to the irritation of being more squished than normal and significantly more squished than I had expected to be, Lucy was very upset about the new car. She loves her "blue beep." She cried until I was able to distract her with food. So after a more complicated morning attempting to get a car, the car itself was disapppinting.

After we had gotten on the road and eaten the lunch I had packed, I was feeling better. Then Matt asked if I had brought the directions to the doctor's office. Nope. I was so focused on transportation that I had not thought about directions. I thought that I had the clinic's number in my phone, but I didn't. So I went through my phone's call log until I found likely numbers and called them until I found the right one and asked for directions. Fortuneately, the directions worked for us and we arrived on time. Whew!

That brings us to our 2:30 appointment. We had another ultrasound to check Emmie's growth. They took a lot of shots of her heart. She was much more cooperative this time. They didn't say anything more about the calcium deposit in her heart, so it seems like it's no longer a concern. It hasn't caused any problems. They measured her. They estimate that she's 1 lb., 13 oz. I asked the ultrasound tech for a percentile, and she said 32. Below average, but that seemed reasonable. The doctor then came in to talk about concerns about growth restriction. Good Lord, have mercy! Not again! Neil was growth restricted. It's not what killed him, but it caused us a lot of stress. The doctor then started explaining growth restriction to us. Nothing we didn't already know. Her concern was not the 32nd percentile overall but the abdomen measuring in the 9th percentile. I had noticed earlier that they seemed to be using the due date from my last period rather than the one from date of conception that was confirmed by a growth ultrasound at 7-8 weeks. If my due date is June 1 instead of May 25, then they are expecting Emmie to be one week older and bigger than she is. I asked what difference that would make to their percentiles. The doctor had someone call my OB to confirm the change of due date, and it was confirmed. So they refigured, and Emmie is actually in the 44th percentile with an abdomen that is small but within reasonable parameters. So she's not growth restricted after all. The doctor did talk to me about what causes growth restriction. High blood pressure, diabetes, and smoking are not problems I have, so the only cause would be a less-than-adequate placenta. That would mean that my resting is even more important. Emmie gets more blood and more nourishment when I'm sitting than when I'm active. I don't feel terribly active. I try to rest a lot and even feel kind of guilty that Lucy isn't getting as much from me as I'd like. So I'll keep resting just in case my placenta is lazy. I certainly hadn't rested enough so far that day. Emmie was fairly active during the ultrasound, but she was tame compared to her sister. Lucy wanted to look out the window and count cars, and she wanted to draw, and she wanted to explore. Fortunately, the ultrasound tech thought she was really cute and didn't mind her wandering around a little. She didn't even mind cleaning up when Lucy sneezed a mouthful of water ALL OVER the room while she was sitting on Matt's shoulders. She mostly hit one of the monitors that families watch, so at least it wasn't the most expensive equipment. And it was so unexpected and amazingly explosive that everyone in the room laughed. Good Lord! That girls is something else.

Since we leave Campbellsville so infrequently and shopping options are limited in Campbellsville, we tend to stock up on a few things when we get out. We went to Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's is always so tempting. Everything looks good, and almost everything tastes good, too. There are a couple of things there that I use a lot of. My special drink is sparking water rather than sodas, and they have 1 liter bottles of raspberry lime sparkling water for $0.79. I also get high quality parmesan cheese wedges, the kind with the rind. I actually have a couple of recipes that call for parmesan rind, so I buy the pieces with lots of rind. Really good parmesan can be used sparingly, so as long as I store it properly, it lasts a long time. I also use a lot of their chicken stock concentrate. It is my secret ingredient to soups. There are soups that I have made with regular chicken broth and thought were OK and then made again later with the concentrate and raved about. It makes all the difference. The cost is comparable to buying cans or cartons of stock, but the concentrate comes in little packets that save a lot of space. And I find that I need less concentrate in my water than the packets suggest to get good flavor. Instead of using 5 packets in 5 cups of water, I'll use only 3-4 packets in 5 cups of water. The taste is still fantastic, and it makes the concentrate even more cost effective than cans and cartons. We also really like the cherry cider. If I'm going to drink a caloric beverage, it is likely to be a juice (or an Icee), and cherry cider is fantastic. I did splurge this time and get a couple of boxes of cookies for myself. They are good enough that I can be satisfied with only 1-2 at a time, and I hide them from Lucy so that they last longer. I don't tend to buy desserts for myself, so Trader Joe's cookies are my special treat. I got hazelnut sandwich cookies (two cookies made from ground hazelnuts with nutella in between), Kona coffee shortbread, and lemon thins. I've never had the lemon thins, but I do love a light, crisp lemon cookie. I also got a package of frozen spinach because theirs isn't tough like regular store-bought frozen spinach and a tray of frozen spanikopita (Greek spinach and feta pastries), which are a nice light supper with a salad. One of the Trader Joe's employees was really impressed with Lucy and gave her about 15 stickers as she left. Trader Joe's is one of my happy places, and I think Lucy likes it, too, because of the stickers and food samples. They always have one food and one drink to sample. The drink today was tart cherry juice. I tried a little and said, "That IS tart," and gave the rest to Lucy to try. She took a sip and said, "That tart." Every sip afterwards was declared "tart." I'm not sure if she knows what it means, but it was cute.

The other store I wanted to go to was Target. My primary purpose was buying diapers, but I also found a couple of long sleeve maternity shirts on clearance. I'm hoping to make it to the end of the month in my non-maternity clothes, but I've started getting out some of the maternity shirts because they cover my belly even when I raise my arms. My regular shirts are getting a little short. There are a couple of deals sites that I follow online. One of them is southernsavers.com. One of my favorite things about it is that it puts together a lot of diaper and baby product deals. The site will tell you about a sale and then tell you what coupons to use with it, even giving you links to printable coupons. It's very handy. Target has a deal this week that they will give you a $25 gift card if you spend $100 on diapers and some other baby stuff. So even if you don't use any coupons, you're getting the diapers at 25% off. I printed out coupons to save $3 per package on boxes of Pampers before I left home. The deal on the website came out to $15.75 each for big boxes of diapers that normally sell for $25 at Wal-Mart and Target. That's worth a trip to Target. When I got there, I found they had diapers on clearance, and they would count towards the deal. So I ended up getting even more diapers than planned at a better price per diaper. Another thing I like about southernsavers.com is that the lady who runs it once posted an article about what a good price per diaper is for each size of diaper and also gave recommendations for how many you need if you want to stock up. I got almost 300 size 2 diapers for $.1556 per diaper (within the $0.14-.16 good price range). I also got some size 1 and size 4 diapers. According to my inventory and the southernsavers.com recommendation, we already have about enough size 1 diapers already. We need a few more size 2 and quite a few more size 3 to get through the first year. We'll probably need a few more newborn size, too. This means that we are remarkably prepared for Emmie's arrival. I used the $25 gift card to buy the maternity shirts and a couple of other things. I had enough left over to get an Icee for me and Lucy and enough left from the Icee to get another one in the future.

Before leaving town we ate at J. Gumbo's. Wheel of Fortune was on the TV, and Lucy got excited when she saw it. We watch it at home most nights. She likes it because it's a show about letters. A show where people stand around and say letters that she recognizes is very interesting to her. While she ate supper, her eyes were glued to the TV. I told Matt that when I see her excitement at watching Wheel of Fortune I feel like we're raising our two year old to be an 80 year old. He was fine with that. We made one more stop at Half Price Books, where Lucy and I read a Pete the Cat book we'd never read before. She enjoyed it, so I'm going to add it to her wish list. We left Louisville at around 8:30, and Lucy was asleep within minutes, an hour or two early for her. She slept until we got back into Campbellsville and fell back asleep pretty quickly after we got home. She may be up early tomorrow. I'm sure I will be. I have to return a rental car and pick up our car with its new tires. I hope it doesn't stink anymore.

It was a very full day. It was complicated and tiring at times, but overall it was pretty good. We have more pictures of Emmie, who is healthy and growing. I have Trader Joe's cookies and several more months of diapers for Emmie. I just hope that tomorrow is more restful for all of our sakes.

Christmas 2015: Gifting Update

I've updated Lucy's Amazon list again. She didn't receive much from her list for her birthday, but I've found several things for her really cheaply on Ebay, so an update is in order.

Blocks

She's pretty good at putting Duplo bricks or bristle blocks together, and we've started making things, such as an ice cream choochoo, together. I'm still providing most of the imagination, but she's learning. I still think that Duplo sets that allow her to play while learning to build are a good idea. The Lego Duplo FirstPlayhouse and the Duplo First Farm have ready-made doors/rooms, which will make house building easier for her. 

Puzzles

She got several puzzles from my parents for her birthday, so she's in pretty good shape. She seems to do better with non-jigsaw puzzles, ones with pieces that aren't notched. We have an old Sesame Street puzzle with the same number of pieces as her jigsaw puzzles, but she can almost do the old puzzle herself. She'll eventually catch on to the jigsaw puzzles, but more like the old wooden puzzles would be nice. There is one puzzle on her wishlist like the old ones, the Deluxe Fire Truck Chunky Puzzle. The old Playskool puzzles are available on Ebay. 

Books

I found a couple of Curious George collections on Ebay for $2-3, so I got them. With those collections we have most of the Curious George stories. The stories we don't have are still on the wish list. We try to keep the collected volumes out of Lucy's reach and read them to her at bedtime, but she likes being able to pick up a George book and "read" it herself. We like that, too. So more individual CuriousGeorge paperbacks would be good. She would be thrilled to have her own copy to Curious George in the Snow. She LOVES that one and is kind of obsessed with snow because of it. She learned to say "snow" so she could request it. Another good option for Curious George books would be Kindle editions. We have Curious George Goes to the Beach on the Kindle, and it kept her happy while we waited at the doctor's office for more than an hour. More Curious George on Kindle could be very helpful. Don't bother with the collected volumes on Kindle. I got the one with Curious George in the Snow, and the pictures aren't on the same page as the text that goes with them. It's a little difficult to read them that way. 

I bought her BooBoo and Sheep in a Jeep on Ebay, too, in a buy 3 get 1 free sale. But she would still enjoy Sandra Boynton, Duck & Goose, Clifford, Gossie & Friends, and Sesame Street books.

Art Supplies

We have markers, crayons, and paints. She doesn't like Crayola Color Wonder. She doesn't really need coloring books. She enjoys her chalk board and dry erase board. She's getting an AquaDoodle from us for Christmas. She could use a full-size MagnaDoodle. She likes play dough, and I prefer homemade play dough because it doesn't stink. She would enjoy the Rollers, Cutters, and More set, which has scissors and some shape-making tubes, and small rolling pins that actually roll like real rolling pins. She has some extra large beads that she likes to string on a big shoelace (it's a Melissa & Doug set). She would probably like more beads. Honestly, the beads could be made by cutting dowel rods and drilling holes in them. The beads are about an inch in diameter.

Imaginative Play Toys

She has a kitchen with table and chairs and plenty of dishes and food. She has plenty of stuffed animals and dolls (in my opinion). She has bottles, diapers, changing table, cradle, and a stroller for her dolls. She also got 2 doctor's kits (which she loves). She probably doesn't need more of any of these things.  

She has a little hammer with nails that act like whack-a-mole, so she would probably enjoy a very basic tool set that lets her hammer and screw. I like that tools would develop her fine motor skills. She really likes playing with tape measures, but Matt doesn't want her to play with his. She could have her own.

She likes puppets and finger puppets. She's been playing with magnets on the refrigerator lately, and her chalkboard is magnetic, so magnets that she can use to tell stories would be good. We have two scarecrow magnets that she calls mama and dada, and I've told her the T-Rex is her, so she likes to play family with the scarecrows and dinosaur. 

She has quite a few cars and trains. She could probably use a couple of vintage Little People vehicles. She has people and a house but nothing to put in the little garage.

Active Toys

Lucy is very active. Active toys like a slide or tricycle are right up her alley. 

Dress-Up Clothes

Dress-up clothes and accessories are always welcome. I got several hats and capes at Dollar Tree before Halloween. She really enjoys dressing herself and her parents.

Music

I got several CDs at Dollar General's 50% off clearance sale. I think we're in pretty good shape now. I think she would like a music source that she can control. She still loves her musical birthday card, which will wear out eventually. She has played with wind-up toy TVs and radios and likes those. The old Fisher Price wind-up record player would be good. I'd prefer the old one that uses a music box rather than the new ones that use computer chips. I think music boxes fire scientific imagination and understanding of sound as vibration better than computer chips do. I've also learned that there are a couple of Sesame Street records for those old players because there was a Sesame Street edition of the record player.

Clothes

Lucy could probably use a few more 24 month long sleeve shirts and pants. We tend to like knit pants in solid colors--black, brown, navy--or the ones that look like jeans. If you find long sleeve pajamas (one- or two-piece) with any of the following characters, she will be happy: Elmo from Sesame Street, Curious George, Spiderman, Shaun the Sheep (perhaps will be available because of the movie last summer), pretty much any superhero.

Matt & Natalie

Matt and I also have Amazon wish lists that we try to keep up-to-date. Mine doesn't have much on it. Matt and I are both happy to receive money as a gift. I'd like to buy a new mattress for our bed, but I don't expect anyone to buy me a mattress for Christmas. Donations toward a mattress, however, would be appreciated.

Gifts for Lucy

It's August. Lucy turns 2 next month! I've started thinking about her birthday party. And Christmas is just a few months later. So I've updated Lucy's Amazon list. It's over 100 items. And I've left a lot of things on it that are great but would probably not be her first choice, so here are a few suggestions. 

Lucy loves Sesame Street, Elmo, Curious George, Shaun the Sheep, Daniel Tiger, books, vintage Fisher Price Little People, playgrounds and slides, babies, toilets, bubbles in and out of the bathtub, frogs, sheep, dogs, cats, ducks, monkeys, and elephants. That's what I can think of off the top of my head. She enjoys drawing/writing, playing with play dough, playing dress up, playing kitchen, building with blocks, and doing puzzles. Anything that combines anything she likes and loves will be a hit.

A reminder that we are fine with used gifts in good condition. At this age she doesn't know the difference, especially because most of the toys and books we buy her are used. If you can get a good deal, go for it. If a good deals means that you can afford to get her more, hurray! :)

Blocks
She's just starting to put Duplo bricks or bristle blocks together. She hasn't started imagining things to build yet, but she likes playing with figures and houses (like her Little People house), so Duplo sets that allow her to play while learning to build are a good idea. Lego Duplo First Playhouse is great because it has doors to open and a slide. And the Duplo First Farm has doors and a sheep. 

Puzzles
Most of the puzzles she has are very easy and teach matching. She's ready to work on putting pieces together. If you're into Ebay, you can find vintage wooden Playskool puzzles like the ones I grew up with. 

Books
There are a lot of books on the wish list. Some are from recommended reading lists I've found online. She requests that we read Sandra Boynton, Duck & Goose, Curious George, and Sesame Street, so more of those would be good. I think she'd also like Sheep in a Jeep. Our library doesn't have a copy of it. The Olivier Dunrea books are nice, too.

Videos
Videos are not a high priority. We have Amazon Prime and Netflix, which supplies plenty of Sesame Street, Daniel Tiger, Curious George, and Shaun the Sheep, most of which are also available on PBS. 

Music & Instruments
I don't know where to begin looking for good kids music, but I think she needs some. I grew up listening to a lot of music and would like for Lucy to also live surrounded by music. We try to introduce her to many styles of music through radio, Spotify, and Pandora (all free sources). I sing a lot of kids songs to her: I'm a Little Tea Pot, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Ring Around the Rosie, etc. I also sing her the Sunday School/Children's Church songs that I remember as well as hymns, praise songs, and scripture songs. I'd like some CDs to sing along with. As for instruments, she has several, mostly percussion, which she plays with sporadically. Sometimes she's really into them, and sometimes she forgets them. They aren't a high priority, but she'd enjoy them.

Art Supplies
We have markers, crayons, and paints. She doesn't like the Color Wonder stuff because of the lag between touching the marker to the paper and the appearance of the line of color. I don't blame her. It's frustrating, even though I like that it's mess-free. She could use a MagnaDoodle. That would be mess-free and not frustrating. She doesn't really need coloring books. I easily made her one batch of play dough months ago that she still uses. What she could use are tools to use with the dough. She has a roller and some cutters, but the Rollers, Cutters, and More set has scissors and some shape-making tubes. I've also put a set of small rolling pins on the list that actually roll like real rolling pins. The one she has is solid and so can't roll if you just hold the handles.

Dress-Up Clothes
She has some hats and bead necklaces that she loves to wear and put on Matt and me. I have put more hats on her wish list, but they are expensive. If you come across anything cheaper that could be used for dress up, for example Halloween clearance items, she'll probably like it.

Imaginative Play Toys
She has a kitchen with plenty of dishes and food. She has plenty of stuffed animals and dolls (in my opinion). She could use some accessories for her dolls. She has bottles and a stroller. She would probably like diapers. These diapers from her wishlist are cloth and fit many sizes of doll. This brand comes in other styles. If they are cheaper, buy the cheaper style. I've bought some clothes so that her cheap plastic naked babies aren't naked by necessity--I can't help if they are naked by choice--but they could use some diapers. She would also enjoy tool sets or doctor kits. We would prefer doctors' kits that don't make noises. She also likes puppets and finger puppets.

Active Toys
Lucy is physically gifted. She moves like a much older child. She slides on the biggest slides at the bouncy house place, hangs and swings on bars at the playground, and climbs ladders wherever she finds them. Active toys like a slide or tricycle are right up her alley. And she's almost able to somersault by herself, so a cushy mat would be helpful.

Clothes
I still need to inventory Lucy's 24 month and 2T clothes to see what she needs. I put a few Curious George shirts on her wish list. I do know that if you find long sleeve pajamas (one- or two-piece) with any of the following characters, she will be happy: Elmo from Sesame Street, Curious George, Spiderman, Shaun the Sheep (perhaps will be available because of the movie coming out this month), pretty much any superhero.

SCORE! Diaper Deal at CVS!

I got a really good deal on Huggies diapers and Pull Ups today at CVS. I learned about the deal from SouthernSavers.com. Here's the deal:

5 packages of diapers on sale at $8.99 = $44.95

$9.50 in coupons printed online (Thanks for my birthday printer, Mom!)
$6 off diapers CVS coupon
$4 off Huggies CVS coupon
$10 Extra Care Bucks

Total discounts: $29.50

Total paid: $15.45
Average per package: $3.15! That's a couple dollars cheaper than the cheapest generic diapers.

If I didn't count the 5th package of diapers that I used my Extra Care Bucks on, then the average is less than $3 a package. And most of those packages were disposable training pants.

We are getting ready for potty training. Lucy will occasionally sit on the potty seat and even pees in it every once in a while. I figure we'll make a more serious effort this summer when Matt can help.

Post-Shopping Update: What Lucy Needs for Spring/Summer 2014

While we were in Louisville to transport Matt to and from the airport, Lucy and I went to Once Upon a Child, a store that sells gently used children's gear and clothing. We got some of the things on our list, so I thought I'd update the list on the blog. 

Now that she has a dress, cardigan, white tights, and shoes, I think we're ready for Easter. I also got dress-like rompers and white sandals, all of which are appropriate for everyday or for church. 

I've had trouble finding nice dress socks, which would be good for church when it gets too warm for tights. The ones I've seen seem like cotton socks with lace tacked on. I was hoping for something cuter.

I'm a big fan of denim overalls. They are cute and very versatile. She mostly wears one-piece outfits, but her overalls are our second favorite. Her 3-6 month pair will fit a little while longer, but we'll want a 6-9 pair.


She's outgrowing her baby towels, so we need some toddler size hooded towels. The kinds that look like animal heads are our favorites. This pirate octopus one is especially fun.

What Lucy Needs: Spring/Summer 2014

A couple of people have asked what Lucy needs, so I thought I'd let everyone know. We've got plenty of 3-6 month clothes, which she doesn't seem like she'll outgrow for a few weeks unless she has a crazy growth spurt. I have some 6-9 month clothes, but there are a few things I think we'll need/want:

• 1-2 dresses - short sleeve, probably
• white cardigan
• 2-3 rompers (short sleeve one piece with either shorts or pants)
• a package of plain white short sleeve onesies
• denim overalls
• toddler size hooded towels
• plain white sandals (perhaps with covered toes) - size 3
• white dress shoes - probably size 3
• dress socks

Rompers that look like dresses are great because they can do double duty. Next 

We have almost nothing 9-12 months or bigger, so when in doubt, get the larger size so she won't go naked in August. If it's hot enough, she may want to go naked in August.

As far as gear or toys, I try to keep Lucy's Amazon list updated. I think we've got most of what we need. We will want a little umbrella stroller for travel. She has quite a few toys. Right now she mostly plays with a rattle, a car, some linked rings, one or two toys that play music, a couple of balls, and maybe one of her many stuffed animals. When she gets closer to crawling, more active toys will be good. She hasn't been a big fan of books yet, except to eat them, but we think she'll grow into them. I really want her to have a book of nursery rhymes. I'll try to keep the Amazon list updated with books we don't have by authors we like.

Car Seats Expire!?!?

I found out from my sister Kristin that car seats expire! Fortunately, ours has two more years before it expires. But I was surprised that non-dairy car seats have expiration dates. Also on Kristin's advice, I looked for some sort of tag on our crib that might tell me the make and model so that I could check to see if it's been recalled. There were no tags on it, but there were instructions for dropping the sides. Oh dear! Even I know that drop sides are considered a no-no. So we will need a new crib. We don't necessarily have to get rid of the current crib: it converts to a toddler bed and could still be useful in a couple years. By then I may be leary of a 12-year-old toddler bed, but for now I'm OK with it. We don't plan to use a crib right away, so we have time to get one. If we had needed a new car seat, I would have been more anxious and irritated. That's something needed immediately. I also checked to make sure our bassinet hasn't been recalled, and it hasn't. I'd really like to to prevent the nursery from being a death trap. If she survives the death trap of my uterus, I'd hate for a crib to do her in. Most of the time I feel pretty calm about my (in)ability to protect her, but learning about all the nursery items that have to be vetted makes me feel like the world is out to get her. I mean, cute Winnie the Pooh pillows are as lethal as letting her play with knives! I'm sure the paranoia will pass and return and pass again many times. I have a feeling that's not an uncommon part of parenting.

The Simplified Desired Gear List

I think the Amazon registry is in good shape now: http://www.amazon.com/registry/baby/XKGORJ9IOUAR.

I had a hard time with the registry because registries can require you to be too specific. For example, at some point we will need a convertible car seat when she outgrows the infant seat we already have, so I'd like to put that on the registry. However, I don't know which convertible car seat we want. I read reviews, but I feel ill-equipped to select one. Somebody else with actual experience with babies and car seats could probably pick one for me and I would be happy with it. But there's no way to put "pick a convertible car seat" on a registry. 

Below is a list of things I think we need. Most of the items on the list are on the registry. In many cases the items on the registry are just examples of the kind of things we want and the colors and models are suggestions. I've split the list into two parts: what we'll need immediately and what we'll need later in the first year. I've also got a list of what we have, which some people might find helpful, but it seems like overkill right now, so I'll keep that one to myself for a little while.

0-3 Months
1-2 Covers for contoured changing pad
Bassinet/play yard sheets that fit our Boppy brand bassinet/play yard
A wrap carrier like a Moby wrap for baby wearing
Stroller base that our infant car seat fits on
Mirror for car
Diaper pail
A few small Dr Brown's bottles and level 1 newborn nipples
Breastmilk storage bags
Size 1 & 2 disposable diapers & wipes

3+ Months
Breathable crib bumper
1-2 fitted crib sheets
Fabric travel high chair
Toys
Convertible car seat
Larger bibs
Umbrella stroller
Diapers
Clothes
Possibly - Crib and mattress (We have a hand-me-down crib that probably doesn't meet current safety standards but is still probably safe. If we got a new crib, we might need a new mattress.)

What Elsie Needs

What Elsie needs most is to put on weight, to practice breathing, to avoid umbilical cord accidents, and to wait until September to arrive. But none of that is within any of our control. We can pray, but it's not in our control.

So instead we make plans and buy stuff we think she'll need after arriving. As I've previously said, shopping is a way of wrapping my head around big life changes, so I've done a bit of shopping to make the idea that I have a daughter more concrete. I knew that we already had a lot of clothing due to people's generosity when we were preparing for Neil. We have plenty of gowns with cute animals on them and short sleeve onesies with sports equipment and dinosaurs on them. But Elsie is a girl and a fall baby, so I figured some of her needs were different. For one it might be nice for her to have a few things that looked a bit more girly as well as a couple of dresses to go with all the sports equipment and dinosaurs she'll be wearing. For another she would be more likely to need long sleeve onesies early on. With that in mind, we got some long sleeve clothes and dresses at a Carter's outlet in Missouri in May, tights and headbands and a swimsuit at Other Mothers in Springfield, and footed pajamas at the Goodwill store in Lebanon (where my OB's office is). I got things in a variety of sizes and seasons because I hope she'll stick around and grow. I'm pretty sure my mind has now caught on that I have a daughter.

This is what I've labeled PJs in my inventory.
Yes, those are turtles and flowers on those cute PJs.

At the start of the third trimester, I started looking over the baby stuff we've got so I can figure out what to put on a baby registry. I've got a registry started on Amazon, and as soon as I've finished it, I'll post a link to it. Last time we also did a Wal-Mart registry, but nobody else's Wal-Mart had the same items that ours did, so it didn't make buying what we needed any easier. We'll just stick with Amazon this time.

The first items I looked at were the clothes. We have LOTS of clothes, possibly enough to get us to Christmas. Here's what I inventoried:

Item	# Owned
Swaddlers	3
Hooded Towels	3
No-Scratch Mittens	3 pairs
Booties	3 pairs
Socks	12+ pairs
Hats	5
Gowns	7
Sleep Sacks	2
Hooded Snow Suits	1
Clothes - Newborn
Long Sleeve PJs w/ Feet	3
Long Sleeve Onesie	1
Short Sleeve Onesie	6
Pants w/o Feet	3
Clothes – 0-3 months
Long Sleeve PJs w/ Feet	5
Long Sleeve PJs w/o Feet	2
Long Sleeve Onesie	9
Long Sleeve T-Shirt	1
Long Sleeve Side Snap T-Shirt	1
Short Sleeve Onesie	16!
Short Sleeve T-Shirt	1
Short Sleeve Side Snap T-Shirt	2
Pants w/ Feet	2
Pants w/o Feet	3
Jeans	1
Denim Overalls	1
Dresses	3
Cardigan	1
Sweater Vest	1

Comfy gowns and sleep sacks
for lounging at home.

We plan to put her in gowns and sleep sacks a lot when we're just staying at home, so the other clothes are necessary mostly for when we take her out. Since she's a fall baby, we probably won't take her out in the cold more than we have to, especially during flu season. Matt and I don't go out often now without a baby, so it wouldn't really be a change to stay home and sit around in our PJs with her. :)

I also found that we have more than a month's supply of baby wipes and disposable diapers (in a couple of sizes). And I've got a little bit of cloth diapering stuff that we can experiment with at home after we survive the first month or so. We'll eventually need more, but that's at least enough to get us started.


We probably don't need any store-bought blankets either. We welcome home-made blankets. If you have a talent for quilting, sewing, crocheting, or knitting, feel free to make a blanket especially for Elsie. I treasure the blankets I have from grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great-grandparents and love the idea of Elsie having items made by family members. But we have a few receiving blankets and quite a few blankets and quilts, and crib bedding is discouraged by child safety experts. So if you see a cute blanket in a store, don't buy it unless it comes with promises of instant infant soothing and a money-back guarantee. If you do see such a  miracle blanket, please buy it. Buy two. :)

I just started looking at the baby gear a couple days ago. The gear inventory will probably need to be a different blog post. I went upstairs to the attic-like room that the baby gear was stored in and brought the breast pump and diaper bag downstairs. I had never opened the breast pump, which I got for less than $40 on clearance from Target. I just wanted to make sure it didn't look used: I don't think I like the idea of my daughter ingesting strangers' bodily fluids. Not only was the outside box still sealed but the individual components inside were also perfectly sealed in plastic. It seems to be new. Hurray! The diaper bag was not as hurray. There were a few items still in it: a sample package of baby wipes, a few diapers, and a Wint-O-Green Lifesaver. The Lifesaver had obviously been nibbled on. And on further inspection so had the baby wipes. Ugh! Mice in the baby stuff. The diaper bag itself didn't have any mouse pellets in it, but there was some fraying on one edge. I'm not sure if it was like that before, if it was caused by velcro snagging or by mice snacking. I also don't know if I can clean it enough to make me forget about the mice crawling through it. I looked on Amazon for a new diaper bag just in case, but I would want to see and touch a bag before getting it to make sure it seemed like it would meet our needs. Never having used a diaper bag, I don't even know what those needs are, but I feel like I could rule some bags out by handling them first.

Nibbles or snags on the diaper bag? I'm hoping it's snags.

Now that I know that mice have been around the baby gear I need to clean and inspect it all thoroughly.  I would have cleaned it anyway, but I'll probably disinfect and steam clean everything multiple times until my mind no longer sees phantom mice skittering over it. I'll try to do that soon so that I can assess any damage, figure out what we need, and finish the registry.

Completely Exhausted but Looking Good and Feeling Thankful

I have been running on fumes for several weeks preparing for Thanksgiving and the quickly approaching end of the semester.  Once the Thanksgiving meal was done, I felt more free to nap, and so I did at length.  I've been sleeping at least 8 hours a night and napping for about two hours a day.  I'm not quite perky yet.  I'm not typically a high energy person, but I've been dragging more slowly than usual.  In another week my students take their final, and after finishing grading, I'm done for the semester.  That's sounding really nice.  The next semester doesn't start for another 6 weeks, so even though I'll still be working my morning secretary job, I'll have some extra time to do what I want and need.

I was so tired that I didn't really do much "Black Friday" shopping.  I had thought about going to Elizabethtown, but after seeing the sale papers and judging my energy level, I decided to just go to Walmart in Campbellsville sometime on Friday.  Their sale started at 5 a.m.  I got there about 8:30, and they still had tons of stuff.  The only things I didn't see were the small kitchen appliances for less than $3.  I picked up a $69 Blu-Ray player, a couple $5 Blu-Ray disks, and a couple $5 long sleeve Spiderman t-shirts for Matt.  The Blu-Ray player turned out not to be able to do what it was advertised to do, so we took it back and complained that we didn't get what was advertised.  Apparently from what I've seen elsewhere online, many other people had the same problem.  Our Walmart refunded the price of the Blu-Ray player and gave us an extra $25 gift card for our inconvenience.  It turned out that we were able to buy one that could do what we wanted for $94, which is exactly $25 more than the $69 I originally spent.  So we got a Blu-Ray player that can stream Netflix movies and Youtube clips for the price of one that could do neither, a good deal.  Matt seems pleased, which is equivalent to excitement in other people.  Now I just have to do all the Christmas shopping.

I have a tendency to be unable to hide how I'm feeling, so I looked pretty rough when I went to church last Wednesday.  In addition to fatigue, I was suffering from intestinal difficulties caused by supper.  This is the second time that the tandoori chicken has made me sick, so this recipe is being retired.  It tastes good, but not good enough to get sick for.  Baskin-Robbins ice cream is occasionally good enough to get sick for; that tandoori chicken is not.  Apparently, my post-Thanksgiving naps were having an effect because I got several compliments on how I looked Sunday, mostly from people who saw me Wednesday night.  I have very kind church friends for whom I'm very thankful.

And as I have been for the last 10 Thanksgivings, I am thankful for Matt. Saying that he is my best friend sounds trite, but "best friend" is the right term for the person you want to be with for serious conversations, silliness, affection, new adventures, and trying times. We have had all of these in the last year, and I have had conscious moments of thankfulness for him many times throughout this year.

Columbus Discovered Sales and Coupons

It had been more than a month since we last went to Elizabethtown, so we went this afternoon.  I had some really good coupons for Big Lots, Michael's, and Bed Bath & Beyond.  Matt bought comic books while I bought a few gifts.  Christmas is coming, and nieces and nephews are visiting soon.  I've been buying a few things to prepare for having company at Thanksgiving.  I bought glasses and looked at silverware because we don't have enough of either for lots of company.  This week I need to buy a sheet for our crib mattress.  The crib mattress on the floor seems like a good sleeping place for the "2-3 year old set," as I've been calling Audrey and Drew when discussing preparations for their visits.  It would also apply to our friends' son Eliot, so it's a useful phrase.  We've got some cleaning and some preschooler proofing to do around here, but we're pretty excited.

We also went to Aldi as we always do when we go to Elizabethtown.  We bought some chicken strips because they seem kid-friendly.  We also bought potstickers (steamed Chinese meat and veggie ravioli) and would be thrilled if they were a hit with the 2-3 year old set, but we love them and will eat them anyway.  I also bought (with a coupon) a pumpkin cookie cutter that came with some smaller cutters that can cut out eyes, nose and mouth to make it a jack-o-lantern cookie.  I also bought (with a coupon) a couple sterno cans to use with the fondue pot we got from Aunt Sandra.  Dipping things in cheese sauce seems kid-friendly.  We haven't had Beth, Mitch and Eliot over yet, so I'd like to have them over for fondue sometime.  I also got a squirt bottle so that I can try making pancakes in fun shapes.  I loved it when Grandma Natta did for me growing up.  We've got toys and books, and I'm looking into activities.  I don't know what the adults will do, but the kids will have fun.

Newness and Renewal: A Saturday Adventure

I woke up early today and decided to try new things and go on an adventure.  So after watering my plants and starting a load of laundry, I went to the farmer's market.  There were only three sellers when I was there, but I may have been a little early.  I bought some lettuce, strawberries, snow peas, green onions, and broccoli.  I've tasted all but the green onions now and only regret the broccoli, which is a little bitter and spicy.

My next destination was a salvage grocery store called Dents & Dings.  On the way I stopped at Walmart to return the over-the-counter medications I had bought for Neil even though the pediatrician's nurse said I could/should wait to see what we needed.  I think the meds are the last of the returns.  I was only a little sad and only started crying about an hour later when I was leaving Kroger.  I was thinking about how I bought the drugs ahead of time even though Walmart is close by because I didn't like the thought of him being in pain or discomfort any longer than necessary.  I had apologized to him several times about planning to circumcise him because it would hurt.  I'm pretty sure he never experienced pain, which brings a tiny bit of comfort.  Even though it's a little selfish, I'd much rather be comforting him than comforting myself right now.  I find I cry a little every day recently.  A few weeks ago, I used to save up for a few days for a big painful cry.  I think I'm making progress.

There were no tears at Dents & Dings.  I found out about the store from a coupon in the weekly paper mailed to people who don't subscribe to the local newspaper.  I found some nifty things there.  They had two cans of the discontinued soup that Matt likes.  I also found packets of lime powder (real lime juice that's dehydrated).  I had lemon packets of the same brand.  I've got some of the lime in my water right now and am enjoying it thoroughly. And I got four packages of raspberry almond M&Ms.  I got some on clearance at Target at few weeks ago and am hooked.  Matt likes them, too.  These packages were only $0.95!  Hurray!    The store was good enough that I'll probably go back every few months to see what new stuff they get in.

I then went to Kroger to buy some of the things they've got on sale.  I also got a quarter of a watermelon and two peaches.  I love summer produce.  On the way home I stopped at Jeff's Food Mart, which we pass regularly but have never entered.  There's not much there, but they have deli meats and make sandwiches and a few other breakfast and lunch foods.  I bought a little turkey meat, mostly because I was the only person in the tiny store and the owner was watching me expectantly.  I just had a sandwich, and the turkey is good.  It reminds me of the meat we used to get at "The Store" when we lived in Ellsinore.

When I got home, I discovered that in less than three hours I had soaked through my panties and girdle despite the tampon.  Obviously, regular absorbency wasn't enough.  So I treated the stains and threw my clothes in the washing machine and headed out again to Walmart to buy more absorbent ones.  I got a package with regular, super and super plus just in case.  It's good to know that my reproductive system is recovering from pregnancy.  I kind of wondered a few days ago if I was ovulating when I felt like one ovary was grinding and creaking.  I'm old and it's out of practice. :)

While I was out, I decided to get a hair cut.  The style is the same, but it's at least two inches shorter.  I think it looks good.  The shape is better than it has been in a long time.  The stylist used the thinning shears a little, too, to lighten it even more.  It feels good, shorn in a good way.   It was a little freaky when I ran my fingers through my hair and they were covered with long hair.  But after I shower and rewash it, I shouldn't keep shedding.  I may actually try styling it to see if less weight makes my hair less flat.

At the register, there was a coupon for 20% off at Maurice's clothing store, so I stopped by.  I didn't find anything, but while I was at the shopping center I thought I'd walk down to Cato.  I never made it.  I got sucked into a sale at JC Penney's.  Everything was 15% off, even sale prices and clearance.  So I used my birthday money to get shorts that fit well right now (I have some that are a little too tight) and a couple of shirts.  One of the shirts is grey and silver and makes me feel like a rock star, probably not a very glamorous rock star because it's just a t-shirt, but a rock star none the less.

As I sit here with a new haircut and new clothes, digesting the turkey sandwich and fresh produce I bought this morning and blogging about today's adventures, I feel pretty optimistic.  After a shower, I should feel even better and then I may clean a little before napping.  After a nap, I may feel exceptionally awesome while making quiche for supper and dessert for the church potluck tomorrow.  By bedtime, I may feel so terrifically satisfied with my day that I sleep soundly.  And who knows what tomorrow may bring.