Nearly 75% done.

If he were a cookie, that would be enough.

I had my glucose test in early April, which I failed. I had eaten essentially no carbs that day, which could have meant that my pancreas wasn't warmed up to do the work of digesting the sugary beverage they give you (the orange wasn't bad) so it didn't produce the correct amount of insulin to manage it. Anyway, I was really upset (in tears) at the clinic. I scheduled the three hour test and went home to spend the next 5 days reflecting on my future with no simple carbohydrates. Gestational diabetes would further increase my risk of Type 2 diabetes later in life (my maternal grandmother and 3 of her children have it), and I was certain I was doomed.

I easily passed the 3 hour test. I should have listened to everyone who told me the 1 hour isn't very accurate.

We are done with our birthing class. It was okay, but we weren't impressed enough to take the newborn class. I'm keeping an eye out for something - sometimes the Mississippi Market posts some stuff on their board. I'm starting a pregnancy & yoga class on Monday, which I'll probably do until about 35 weeks - or until I can't anymore. I think I should to go to a LLL meeting, but to tell the truth I'm not super excited about it.

My weight gain is at about 16 pounds-ish. It's pretty much exactly where I ought to be. I'm glad I haven't struggled with that; I heard so many stories of 60+ pound weight gains and with the stress of a newborn I don't think I could stand that too. I shopped all of the second hand maternity shops I could find with a little luck (Babies to Bellies, Nines, Nu Look), and yesterday I bought a couple things at Kohl's. Everything is pretty blah at there, but I managed to find some affordable and COMFORTABLE things at reasonable prices AND I got a pair of sandals in WIDE because my feet are swelling a bit. I've got about 8 shirts, 2 pair of jeans and 3 pair of work pants. I should only need to replace a couple of the work pants as I expand. I think I spent less than $150 on maternity gear. I was lucky that Patty and Kayla gave me a few things, and a co-worker offered me some spring maternity gear when she saw me in all black and long sleeves on a 60 degree day. I'm hoping that comes through.

I picked a relatively eventful time to neglect blogging. All of the sudden I can see baby boy move from the outside! He should be nearly 3 pounds by now and his odds of surviving and being healthy if I went in to labor from here forward are very good.

I've got seedlings going. I started them late, but they'll be fine. I started squash, cucs, oregano, catnip, basil, arugula and...I can't remember. We'd like to get a rain barrel set up, but haven't taken the time to figure out what all is involved. Jon is always super helpful in the garden, doing a lot of the tilling, turning the compost, etc, and he seems on board to do even more as I have further limited mobility, which is great.

We're headed up to Sugarloaf with some day roadtripping up to Thunder Bay. We took Friday and Monday off - initially planning on going to FL, then to Chicago, but this is cost free which equals stress free...It will be nice to have some time to do some baby reading, name-storming and agate hunting! My dad says the snow was mostly gone last weekend and it has been above freezing for a while. We're expecting temps in the high 40's to low 50's. I wish we were headed to FL, Al and Cindy's grapefruit tree is calling me, but we'll go next year- when I can make greyhounds from them!

Considering the amount of time it took me to demo the baseboards, scrape, prime, paint, paint second coats, replace all the electrical and light sockets, paint the new baseboards, and finally cut and install the baseboards, it is amazing that I have finally sat down and posted to our blog site. The month plus project probably took so long because it is hard to come home every night after work and jump into another few hours of labor before finally getting to sleep. Wait a minute; this is the same way parenting has been described to us!

I have to admit that it was a labor of love. Much how I expect our many joys and struggles will be with our son. I learned a few things along the way, some from the Internet, some from the advice of friends and family, and some just from trial and error. I have a feeling that parenting will be very much the same journey. I look forward, with a bit of nervousness, to the challenge. I can always buy a new piece of wood and paint over the blemishes, or caulk away the imperfections, but with our son I want to get it right the first time, as the stakes are much higher. I know that I will make mistakes, but that is why I married Tanya, because she will always love me and most importantly always ground me, and inevitable help me make the hard and right decisions.

All right enough with all the introspective babble. I am very proud of how the room came out. The color and scheme came from a piece of fabric T and I found at Treadle Yard Goods on Grand Ave. I wanted a lot of strong colors and Tanya wanted to avoid the typical baby themed room. Not too much blue or baseballs, so we decided on owls. Some are whimsical, some comical (I am still a little nervous about the judgmental one), but I like the colors and the feel of the owls. She bought some of the fabric and borrowed a sowing machine from her sister to make valances for the windows. For the walls we chose a yellow, T calls it butter cream. The real name is Ray of Hope, so much for avoiding the typical baby theme. I think the excitement surrounding the election of Barack Obama is what made Ray of Hope sound fitting.

I primed the old green away and put down two coats of paint we bought at Home Depot that contained no VOC’s and it actually covered very well. I also painted all the existing trim around the windows and doors and removed the old baseboards. Next I changed out the electrical switches and plates. Finally I primed and painted the baseboards, measured many times and cut even more, and eventually used my new finishing nailer and compressor to install them. Thanks for the tools T! That’s it, a piece of cake. I think it turned out pretty good and Tanya had fun too taking that embarrassing video of me. If anyone stops by I will proudly show you my handy work. Much like when our son is brought home in July.


As a postscript I would like to comment on the issue of circumcision. If we are to choose circumcision for our son I will strongly advise the doctor . . . measure twice cut once.