Tired, sore, brain dead . . . so worth it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/catsmine/collections/

Today was a little rough - the good meds have worn off, he was up all night and not eating well during the day. Then tonight he was eating well (as in for 3 hours straight) but not giving us the output. I think it's a clear sign you're a parent that you get excited when the nurse shows you a wet diaper through the nursery window!

He's a little jaundice, but well below levels of concern for being almost 3 days old. All in all we still think he's perfect. Speaking of perfect, he's sleeping now - which means I should be too.

Okay, we'll keep him

Wouldn't you?

Introducing Justin Thomas Schmidt "JT"

9 pds 4 oz

21.25 inches long

11/26/07

9:39 AM

More pics here with a ton more to come

Jim says "Wow, it's a life changing experience. When he's yours you aren't worried about holding, it comes natural." (He has not stopped beaming)

A giant welcome to parenthood

I've been tossing and turning all night anyway, but at about 4 Jim also got up. Here's where I have to go back a little. We have a giant size bed - two box springs and a mattress so it's pretty high up. Before we re-did the room we had a chest at the bottom of the bed so the dogs were able to jump up easily. But we moved the chest, so recently only Yogi has been able to jump up on the bed. Daisy would pop her head up now and then, but she couldn't physically make the jump.

Okay flash back to 4:00 this morning. Jim got up to go to the bathroom and Daisy had been popping her head up trying to get up on the bed. Yogi had his time with us yesterday morning, so I asked Jim to lift Daisy up into bed with us. As soon as he did we both heard a weird noise. We listened but couldn't figure out what it was . . . laid back down. Then I smelt something - I smelt pee. We hopped up and turned on the light. Apparently Yogi had gotten jealous and actually lifted his leg on our bed. The duvet, comforter, and carpet - all peed on. Good morning mom and dad.

So now it's 4:20 and I'm awake and blogging. I thought I had at least one more night before this happened.

T-Minus 20 hours and counting

Last night we stopped at Walgreens to get lights for our Christmas tree - it was after midnight and I happened to check my phone. On my front page calendar it said - Tomorrow C-Section 7AM.

Tomorrow, as in the day after today. Holy crap.

The house is ready, we've received the Ms. Makin seal of approval (it's almost as good as the Good Housekeeping seal).

But just cause the house is ready doesn't mean I am. Anyone who knows me knows that I research the crap out of stuff before making decisions. I've talked to a zillion people, pulled up stories online, probably looked at more than I ever should have . . . still not ready.

This baby is brought to you by the letter P

Jim has been telling everyone that I look like the letter P. I don't see it . . . do you?

I have pretty feet, don't I?

My mom was kind enough to give me a gift certificate to Becoming Mom Spa. They specialize in pampering expectant mothers. I'm too pregnant for a massage, so I got the hot stone pedicure. It was a very nice, relaxing treat.

As I walked out I called Jim and told him "I have pretty feet!" His response, "Can you see them?"

I can when I'm sitting down.

You and me's gonna rumble kid

We had our last shower today, a wonderful afternoon courtesy of my MIL, SIL, and niece. Jan put together this amazing word search - by hand! I was very impressed.

We've brought everything home, sorted out some of the duplicates to return, and put most everything away.

Today I made the crib, put the breathable bumper on, hooked up the womb bear. I need to plug in all the various monitors and receivers and fill out a bunch of warranty cards. I'm hoping we'll finally hang the curtains and quilt tomorrow.

However, if this child would decide to come . . . oh I don't know, say tonight, there would be no hard feelings. It hurts to move, much less walk!

Name for the week . . . Gobbler. I wanted Giblets but Jim said no.

5 Years Ago Today . . .

We were walking down the aisle.



I looked up the 5 year anniversary gift. Apparently it's wood.
(Insert Bevis & Butthead laugh here) "Wood"

That can go so many different ways . . .




Happy Anniversary Baby, you are my everything.

The POD has left the driveway . . .

Happy happy joy joy dance!

Mark Your Calendars

It's official, kinda. We are a scheduled C-Section for 11/26 - 9AM. The doctor said that the baby seems to be too large and by 39 weeks it won't be safe to try and deliver.

Works for me. I was okay either way, but this way it's not my decision.

List update:

• Bookshelf is in place
• Furniture is in place
• Kitchen is no longer storage for a shop vac
• Most of the clothes/blankets/burp rags/etc. are put away

I REALLY wish IKEA was open here. I had bought several storage boxes in Chicago and I REALLY wish I'd bought a ton more. Anyone going to Chicago anytime soon?

Premonition?

Why can I see this being something I would say?

It's beginning to look a lot like a house . . .

Dad came over and all 3.5 of us busted butt to get things done.

• DONE - Move in more furniture from the POD (I want that GONE this week)
• DONE - Put the crib together
• Bring up the bookshelf for Crabby's room
• IN PROGRESS - Start to put things away in Crabby's room (clothes, toys, diapering stuff)
• OFFICE DONE - Hang pictures in Crabby's room, office, and our bedroom
• The bathroom needs work - but that might have to wait a day or two

The living room is almost completely back together, my office is done, the dinning room is done (including setting up the pack and play), our bedroom is done except for a mirror and some knick knacks. The kitchen is a mess and Crabby's room still needs some storage bins, decorating, and the drunken dresser needs to be fixed so I can fill it.

All in all a pretty successful day. Now I'm going to go collapse . . .

Carpet Angels!

When we were younger mom and dad got new carpet in the living room. Dad was all freaked out about it getting matted or the shag going in the wrong direction, etc. So of course Amy immediately threw herself on the carpet and shouted "carpet angels"! I joined in and Dad had to laugh through his scowl.

Today, we can do carpet angels! We have carpet! Lovely, soft, covering the plywood carpet! Karen and Rick came over today and as usual Jimmy busted his little butt trying to get things done. The blinds are all hung (although one is a little short and should get replaced today). Our bedroom is pretty much together, the nursery still needs some work . . .

Name for the week - Crabby. Chosen for the second week in a row by Ms. Makin. This is two fold. #1 - Crabby's Daddy was exactly that yesterday. I'm pretty sure we're pushing him to his physical limits and he's tired. #2 - When we boiled the nipples and bottles today, we boiled them in Jim's crab pot. Then as we smelled the residual crab smell thought, hmmm - what if the baby is allergic to shellfish? So everything was re-boiled in another pot. But that sealed the name.

Here's the to do list for today:

• Move in more furniture from the POD (I want that GONE this week)
• Put the crib together
• Bring up the bookshelf for Crabby's room
• Start to put things away in Crabby's room (clothes, toys, diapering stuff)
• Hang pictures in Crabby's room, office, and our bedroom
• The bathroom needs work - but that might have to wait a day or two

It's 4:55 on Sunday morning, I can't sleep -I should go start putting my office in order, but I just don't feel like it . . .

Take all the clothes back . . .

8 pounds, 10 ounces - give or take a pound

at 36 weeks . . .

Let's see what 8 pounds, 10 ounces looks like

And just for good measure . . .

SO imagine all that, in my abdomen

No wonder I'm huge.

Baby's soooo big

So I started my weekly doctor visits today and expressed my uncomfortableness and the fact that I think this kid has run out of room and will come out driving. Doc said let's get an ultrasound, see how big we are and then we'll talk about c-sections or inductions or all that other good stuff. I go for the ultrasound tomorrow and then back to the doc on Monday.

AJ is the lucky golden ticket holder this time and gets to come see Carpe in person. I'd offer to post the ultrasound pics, but the scanner is in the POD . . .

3 down . . . 1 to go - and still no place to put the bounty

My "Thomas" shower was today. I say "Thomas" because my sister and mom were the only Thomases there - but it was my family shower and my family is Thomas. Aunt TaTa and Susie aka Martha Stewart hosted a wonderful shower today. Sue made yummy sandwiches and desserts and I received so many wonderful presents.

I'm as big as a house, but I'm still laughing.

Amy has the official Schmidt baby poll - for as little as $1 you can bet on when you think the bambino will be making his/her grand entrance. Half the proceeds go to the baby bank, the other half to the winner.

The name for the week is Carpe. This was suggested last week by Ms. Makin - as in "carpet" - as in "seize the carpet or I'll seize your family jewels". It works.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/catsmine/sets/72157602887655164/

People are so creative . . .

How cute is this. Okay - so maybe "cute" isn't the right word - but this is good. They took a gord, a pumpkin, and a little ear of indian corn.

I love the expression on the pumpkin's face.

Yep - that looks about right

Other than the fact that my belly button won't pop - this is about what it feels like. However, I can no longer see the scale (not that I'd want to look anyway).

Ms. Makin came over today and with a simple "look" she was able to help me get rid of half of the attic. We're both pregnant though (yes - both! Yeah!!) so we shouldn't be lifting a bunch. Jim will have to haul it when he gets home. I'm sure he'll want to complain about it, but the fact that it's leaving the house will make all the difference.

I feel free, it's nice getting rid of stuff. There's still a little more to be sorted through, but once Jim hauls the rest out it should be pretty quick. Very, very happy . . .

Carpet - 0, Cankels - 2

So much for things getting interesting. Apparently the carpet might not even be in until the 10th. Don't go there - I've been there and back and I'm sick of crying and screaming. There isn't a darn thing we can do about it, so I'm using one of my better skills and ignoring the whole thing.

Aunt TaTa came over last night to help give out candy, we had a few cute kids and then a bunch of punks. I guess that's what you get for not living in a cookie cutter subdivision.

After Am left I looked at my legs and realized my cankels were in full effect. For those of you not lucky enough to experience cankels, this is where your feet and ankels fail to have a distinguishing point from your calf. I figured I'd put my feet up in the recliner and hunker down there for the night.

Apparently I wasn't the only one with that thought.

You can see that Yogi, Charlie (under my arm), and Minnie (on the belly), along with myself, and the Punkin Head are all hunkered down.


And my cankels haven't gone away . . .