I'm washing tiny baby clothes! They are SO adorable. My baby girl is going to have a new outfit every single day of her life.
I have been feeling very cramp-y lately. It wakes me up in the morning. Also I have contractions all the time, but they aren't painful. Also, the acid reflux has returned and eating isn't very fun.
I'm reading a ton and trying to enjoy being bored. Baby will be here very soon!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Reviews
I watched A Month by the Lake yesterday--there is a ridiculous deal going on at Blockbuster right now where you basically get unlimited free movies till July 4. Check it out. So we have been watching tons of movies and this one was beautiful!!! It takes place at Lake Como in Italy. The scenery is gorgeous. It makes me wish I had an upcoming trip to Italy so I could visit this place! And the story wasn't so bad either.
Places I'd like to visit (or revisit)
-Lake Como, Italy
-Switzerland
-Venice
-Napoli
-Nice/ the South of France
-Greece
-Spain
-Morocco
-Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Russia
We could probably cover the Mediterranean on a cruise ship--I think that would be amazing! We'd have to do the northern countries on a separate trip. Oh, and I also want to go to Australia. Better start saving.
Anyway, back to reviews. I'm also reading a book called The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted by Elizabeth Berg. It is a collection of stories and I'm really liking it. There were a couple of unnecessary swear words and a few lewd references, but this woman really understands food and I identify with her writing/humor in a lot of ways. It's enjoyable, and you only have to read one short story at a time if you want to.
I also read the final Emily book in the Montgomery series and enjoyed it. It's the kind of book I'd buy for my 12-14 year old daughter I think.
I read a few other books from the library but I don't think they're really worth mentioning. I didn't love them.
P.S. I walked to the Provo library for some exercise. It wore me out! It will be interesting to see how well I can handle exercise after a baby. Thankfully, only 29 pounds gained at this point. My doctor says I ought to have a shirt made that says I am 5'4'' and weigh that at 9 months.... anyway. He applauds me every appointment and makes me feel pretty good about not overdoing it. He gave me a warning at about 6 or 7 months that really freaked me out--I guess it's really easy to pack on pounds at the end. (Instead, I indulge myself in foodie books that describe all things delicious HA!)
P.P.S. We have a bassinet set up now next to the bed and it makes me all the more excited!! Can't wait for her to come! I am just waiting.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Sentimental
As I mentioned, I have been going through bags and bags of old photos, cards, and letters and organizing all of our stuff that has collected during the last 3 years. I have re-read some really sweet cards and notes that loved ones sent me, and I am glad that I am putting them in notebooks where they'll be more accessible to me in the future. Some of the dearest letters were those sent during Raimo's and my engagement, some birthday cards, and some of them are notes from my grandmas, who always offered praise and encouragement and would send a little "extra" cash or a little "dance money." However, one of the most special things I found was a high school graduation card just from Grandpa (Grandmas always wrote the cards.. usually). It was typed up on the inside of a card in that typewriter print he always used:
Jessica: I wish you lots of success in your new venture. I am very proud of you. I'm sure you have heard me say that after high school I continued to work. Later I went to Weber College for one semester mostly for the music program (I actually don't remember hearing any of this from him before) . I since have realized what a great advantage a college education is. Enclosed is a special gift for you, it is an emergency fund yours to use when in need, it is also to help you learn to control your money. If you find yourself in a bind, look at the bill... then try to work out the problem without having to use the bill. By working extra, budgeting, or maybe even going without. Here is my special offer, at the end of the school year you have been able to control your finances and still have this bill in your possession, I will double it with another one.. OK? Good luck. I love you a whole bunch and will be praying for you. Grandpa
I had totally forgotten about this promise, and I don't think I took him up on that offer at the end of the year! I have no idea where that bill is, or how big it was, but I am grateful for the lesson he offered me. I'm sure it did not stick with me that particular year as I did not work my first year away from home and was always wanting to spend, spend, spend. But since I have become totally independent of my parents and have had to learn how to save and budget, this piece of advice really rings true. I am going to try harder to hang onto my savings, and when I'm in a bind, I'll see what else I can do before using it. Unfortunately, my savings account has acted more like a checking at certain times of my life. I have good intentions when adding to that fund, but I need to leave it there!!!
One extra little perk: I found some forgotten cash among my high school graduation cards!! From Aunt Nancy, Gramma & Grandpa, Grandma Lupe & Grandpa Joe. It was a little treat after 6 years (can it have been that long already??) !!! It also made me feel a little sentimental seeing cards that still included my grandpas' names. I also found "a little dance help" from Grandma Joan that I had saved last year, and then never used! Those extra bills are definitely as helpful now (if not more so) than they were when I received them, and now I need to decide where to deposit them! I ought to put them away as my "emergency fund"...
Jessica: I wish you lots of success in your new venture. I am very proud of you. I'm sure you have heard me say that after high school I continued to work. Later I went to Weber College for one semester mostly for the music program (I actually don't remember hearing any of this from him before) . I since have realized what a great advantage a college education is. Enclosed is a special gift for you, it is an emergency fund yours to use when in need, it is also to help you learn to control your money. If you find yourself in a bind, look at the bill... then try to work out the problem without having to use the bill. By working extra, budgeting, or maybe even going without. Here is my special offer, at the end of the school year you have been able to control your finances and still have this bill in your possession, I will double it with another one.. OK? Good luck. I love you a whole bunch and will be praying for you. Grandpa
I had totally forgotten about this promise, and I don't think I took him up on that offer at the end of the year! I have no idea where that bill is, or how big it was, but I am grateful for the lesson he offered me. I'm sure it did not stick with me that particular year as I did not work my first year away from home and was always wanting to spend, spend, spend. But since I have become totally independent of my parents and have had to learn how to save and budget, this piece of advice really rings true. I am going to try harder to hang onto my savings, and when I'm in a bind, I'll see what else I can do before using it. Unfortunately, my savings account has acted more like a checking at certain times of my life. I have good intentions when adding to that fund, but I need to leave it there!!!
One extra little perk: I found some forgotten cash among my high school graduation cards!! From Aunt Nancy, Gramma & Grandpa, Grandma Lupe & Grandpa Joe. It was a little treat after 6 years (can it have been that long already??) !!! It also made me feel a little sentimental seeing cards that still included my grandpas' names. I also found "a little dance help" from Grandma Joan that I had saved last year, and then never used! Those extra bills are definitely as helpful now (if not more so) than they were when I received them, and now I need to decide where to deposit them! I ought to put them away as my "emergency fund"...
Friday, June 10, 2011
Very busy couple of weeks
So at the end of May I found Manavu apartments in Provo, which normally house single men but have contracts for marrieds from April to August. They are two bedroom, two bathroom, have a very large kitchen and living space, lots of closet space, and--best of all--have a kitchen table and chairs!!! And they are 125$ cheaper per month than our Nantucket apartment (granted, it means we have to move again in August, but that was kind of the plan anyway) AND we don't have to pay any utilities. I listed our apartment on Craigslist just to see if we'd get any bites, and after one weekend we'd had 3 couples come to see it, one that was ready to sign a contract for June, and one that was also quite interested. So we called up the landlord to let her know we were moving out (we were at the end of our contract anyway, but I had sent the check already for the next month so basically we were out of contract but would need a refund). But I was feeling good that we had found her renters and it shouldn't be a problem. Well, she had decided she was going to raise the rent by 100 dollars!! Needless to say, she lost all of those interested renters with the new price.
But I went ahead and signed the contract for Manavu for the summer because I just felt good about it. So we got our keys right before Memorial weekend, and I headed over there to clean the heck out of it. After about an hour and a half I was exhausted. Haha. I had no idea how hard it was going to be to move an entire apartment at 8 months pregnant. It made me realize how much I appreciate my usual, non-pregnant, strong body. As a single person, I had been able to pack up all of my belongings and stuff them into my car every single spring and clean up in just ONE day. We have SO much more stuff now--all the wedding gifts and kitchen stuff, furniture, memorabilia, clothes, blankets, food, and junk have just been collecting for the last 3 years has ballooned into many many truckloads. We started kind of slow--Raimo helped me clean after work, and we brought the first few loads of stuff over that day. We rearranged all the beds and furniture in the place to make room for our stuff, and that was kind of heavy too--again, seemed like it should be no big deal since I rearranged our furniture all the time without Raimo in the old place.
It ended up taking 6 days to get everything moved--it would have been less if I had done more packing beforehand, but it was such a quick decision to move so I wasn't very prepared. We had some help from the home teachers to move our bed, from Brendan to move a few large items, and from Raimo's dad to get the biggest stuff transferred on the last day. That last day was the worst--we still had to clean the old place, and it hadn't really had a deep clean in the 3 years we were there. But we had to get it done because we were leaving the next day for California. SO we cleaned the heck out of it-- I was pretty done. I kept saying to Raimo let's just not clean it and we'll give up the 250$ cleaning deposit. But we finished, and we went out to dinner at Red Lobster.
(PS still haven't gotten that deposit back, still haven't gotten a refund on that month's rent. I'm still hopeful--supposedly the landlord is in town this week so maybe we will get it after she checks out the place.)
We headed home on Thursday. This required MORE packing, but thankfully just a suitcase. I was surprised that the drive wasn't too uncomfortable. We made it in time for Reed's promotion, which was Friday morning. He was probably the tallest 8th grader out there! He is going to do great in high school. We went to lunch at Farmer Boy's, which I haven't eaten in years. The fried zucchini was such a treat! I never get to eat that! On Saturday I had a baby shower-- I was so surprised how generous everyone was! I was totally loaded up with baby clothes and stuff from my registry. I feel so much more prepared for a baby, and now when people ask what I still need, I have a much better idea of what to tell them. Just a few things, but honestly they are more of conveniences, not even needs. We are pretty stocked up and that is exciting. We stayed a few more days, spent some time in the sun, and came home on our 3 year anniversary. That drive was not quite as pleasant--I was really glad to get out of the car and just be home. I put all my baby stuff in our baby room (which is also the study and craft and guest room). It is really nice that everything has a place! In Nantucket, I had to keep all the baby stuff in the living room and in boxes. And everything is just more spacious in general. We can actually walk around in our bedroom and I will be able to make sit-down dinners.
So I have been spending my days in my pajamas just trying to clear the mess we made when we moved in. I have been finding a place for everything and actually re-packing a lot of stuff that we won't need before the next move in August. I've been organizing and throwing out a lot of things we don't need. I may not be nesting exactly, but I'm sure de-junking everything. I had 3 huge drawers filled with pamphlets and letters and cards and photos and all kinds of things I thought I would put in scrapbooks. Well, the scrapbooking hasn't really happened at all during college, so today I just put all of it in sheet protectors (in order by date) and filled three 3-ring binders with just memorabilia. I re-read some really nice notes and cards. I put most of our photos in albums already--I'm only about one year behind on photos-- but I plan on getting caught up and starting my baby's album!
Today I've been feeling some lower back pain--probably sat in the chair too long. For about 3 weeks in May I was having acid reflux. I just felt like I couldn't eat anything or else I'd feel it creeping back up my throat all afternoon and night. Thankfully that has not been as much of a problem lately, but I still can't eat too much or I suffer the consequences. I am looking forward to getting this baby out and getting to see her! I'm looking forward to bending over and being able to do everyday things like a normal human being. Oh, and to having wardrobe options again. I'm even excited to have a baby wake me up in the night because then I get to hold her!
But I went ahead and signed the contract for Manavu for the summer because I just felt good about it. So we got our keys right before Memorial weekend, and I headed over there to clean the heck out of it. After about an hour and a half I was exhausted. Haha. I had no idea how hard it was going to be to move an entire apartment at 8 months pregnant. It made me realize how much I appreciate my usual, non-pregnant, strong body. As a single person, I had been able to pack up all of my belongings and stuff them into my car every single spring and clean up in just ONE day. We have SO much more stuff now--all the wedding gifts and kitchen stuff, furniture, memorabilia, clothes, blankets, food, and junk have just been collecting for the last 3 years has ballooned into many many truckloads. We started kind of slow--Raimo helped me clean after work, and we brought the first few loads of stuff over that day. We rearranged all the beds and furniture in the place to make room for our stuff, and that was kind of heavy too--again, seemed like it should be no big deal since I rearranged our furniture all the time without Raimo in the old place.
It ended up taking 6 days to get everything moved--it would have been less if I had done more packing beforehand, but it was such a quick decision to move so I wasn't very prepared. We had some help from the home teachers to move our bed, from Brendan to move a few large items, and from Raimo's dad to get the biggest stuff transferred on the last day. That last day was the worst--we still had to clean the old place, and it hadn't really had a deep clean in the 3 years we were there. But we had to get it done because we were leaving the next day for California. SO we cleaned the heck out of it-- I was pretty done. I kept saying to Raimo let's just not clean it and we'll give up the 250$ cleaning deposit. But we finished, and we went out to dinner at Red Lobster.
(PS still haven't gotten that deposit back, still haven't gotten a refund on that month's rent. I'm still hopeful--supposedly the landlord is in town this week so maybe we will get it after she checks out the place.)
We headed home on Thursday. This required MORE packing, but thankfully just a suitcase. I was surprised that the drive wasn't too uncomfortable. We made it in time for Reed's promotion, which was Friday morning. He was probably the tallest 8th grader out there! He is going to do great in high school. We went to lunch at Farmer Boy's, which I haven't eaten in years. The fried zucchini was such a treat! I never get to eat that! On Saturday I had a baby shower-- I was so surprised how generous everyone was! I was totally loaded up with baby clothes and stuff from my registry. I feel so much more prepared for a baby, and now when people ask what I still need, I have a much better idea of what to tell them. Just a few things, but honestly they are more of conveniences, not even needs. We are pretty stocked up and that is exciting. We stayed a few more days, spent some time in the sun, and came home on our 3 year anniversary. That drive was not quite as pleasant--I was really glad to get out of the car and just be home. I put all my baby stuff in our baby room (which is also the study and craft and guest room). It is really nice that everything has a place! In Nantucket, I had to keep all the baby stuff in the living room and in boxes. And everything is just more spacious in general. We can actually walk around in our bedroom and I will be able to make sit-down dinners.
So I have been spending my days in my pajamas just trying to clear the mess we made when we moved in. I have been finding a place for everything and actually re-packing a lot of stuff that we won't need before the next move in August. I've been organizing and throwing out a lot of things we don't need. I may not be nesting exactly, but I'm sure de-junking everything. I had 3 huge drawers filled with pamphlets and letters and cards and photos and all kinds of things I thought I would put in scrapbooks. Well, the scrapbooking hasn't really happened at all during college, so today I just put all of it in sheet protectors (in order by date) and filled three 3-ring binders with just memorabilia. I re-read some really nice notes and cards. I put most of our photos in albums already--I'm only about one year behind on photos-- but I plan on getting caught up and starting my baby's album!
Today I've been feeling some lower back pain--probably sat in the chair too long. For about 3 weeks in May I was having acid reflux. I just felt like I couldn't eat anything or else I'd feel it creeping back up my throat all afternoon and night. Thankfully that has not been as much of a problem lately, but I still can't eat too much or I suffer the consequences. I am looking forward to getting this baby out and getting to see her! I'm looking forward to bending over and being able to do everyday things like a normal human being. Oh, and to having wardrobe options again. I'm even excited to have a baby wake me up in the night because then I get to hold her!
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