I Forgot That They Come This Small....

My good friend has a little boy who turned 1 in May, and has graciously offered to lend H and me a ton of baby items and clothes. So I was picking through the clothing and found this little newborn shirt. I put it next to the remote to show how tiny it is (our remote isn't huge - it's a normal sized remote). I had forgotten that little babies come this size, although the new sensations in my belly have reminded me that he's growing. Pretty true to the sources I've read, it feels like popcorn popping in my tummy (and on my bladder). Luckily, Jellybean doesn't kick me all the time - he's pretty quiet during the day, but starts getting active the minute I lie down to go to sleep.

In other news, my business partner and I found and reserved "virtual office" space to start in September. That means we have a lot of work to do between now and then. We filed to protect the business name we want to use and are waiting on approval before we apply for state and city business licenses. After that, we're pretty much a go. I'm scared, but excited. This will be quite the learning process.

It's a Boy!

I went to my ultrasound appointment this morning and got a piece of good news - we're having a boy! This was just what I needed in order to bounce me out of my funk. It was pretty funny because the radiology tech had to spend about an hour trying to get decent pictures. She kept saying "he won't cooperate" and "I guess he's shy". Every time she would get in a good position to get a good picture, he would move away from the ultrasound wand. It was pretty amazing to see him moving around - he moved his hand towards his face and moved his head from side to side as if in silent protest. H wondered aloud if you can tell a baby's personality from what they are like in-utero, something I was curious about myself. Time will tell....

Don't Know Just What To Do With Myself

I have not been in a funk, but I've not been exactly happy. Not the kind of happy I'd expect. Things are fine with Jellybean - I've had my blood test screener (AFP, I think it's called). As far as I know, nothing out of the ordinary showed up. This coming Saturday, we have the ultrasound in which we can figure out the sex of the baby. I should be excited about that too. I'm done with morning sickness and heartburn, and I don't even need the Prilosec anymore. It's hard for me not to compare this pregnancy with my first one. I was so much younger and less informed, but infinitely less worried (and happier). School is out for the summer and I do not have to go back in the fall, which hasn't truly hit me yet. Work now is going well - I'm basically working part time and loving it. My kiddos are very cute and they are at the age where it's still okay to be excited about things. One little boy runs out of his house and stands in his driveway jumping up-and-down and clapping when he sees me drive up. He remains there until I walk in with my huge cart of toys. How can you not smile at that kind of enthusiasm? My business partner and I are starting to finalize plans so that we're ready to start in September, which will be good timing. Most of the kiddos I currently see will be off of my caseload in September/October because they will become part of the public school system. K is here for the summer and we're having a good time. We just got back from Toys R Us where we bought Monopoly (his favorite board game). I can't believe I didn't have it already. H has been helping K with Algebra, although I help out a little bit. Our goal for him is basically for him to maintain skills over the summer and not suffer from rotting brain. Our new townhome is fine for the moment - there are only minor annoyances that need to be taken care of. We just had our first house guest last weekend, which went well. It's nice when you first move in because you can get a little bit of slack for things being not the most "put together". Also, I put our stove to the test, and nothing blew up, so that's a plus. We have no big trips planned, which is fine. I'm not sure I have the energy for one anyway. Okay, okay.. maybe I am in a bit of a funk. Like Cameron Diaz sang (in the most horrid singing voice ever), I don't know just what to do with myself.

Our New Home

We are officially moved in as of June 30th. My "everywhere" hurts, and I didn't even move the big stuff! I am painfully reminded of what home ownership means - we already are unable to use our washing machine because the bolt leaks when we turn the water on. Also, our fridge has taken to dripping water on the inside so that I have to put a huge wad of paper towels in there until we can get the handy man to visit. Not to be outdone, our automatic garage door appears to be possessed. Most of the time it will close when I push the little button, but sometimes, just to mock me, it will act as if it will close, then come up again. Usually this happens when I'm in a hurry or I'm late for an appointment.

Before moving in, we replaced most of the flooring, most of the baseboards, and had all of the walls painted. We decided to keep the colors neutral so that we would not have trouble selling it when the time comes.

before pic: old dirty wall, old baseboards, and filthy carpet

after pics: carpet, baseboards, and clean wall

before pic: icky carpet in bathroom

new pic: nice clean linoleum

There are a ton of things that we have on our "to do" list. The light fixtures, bathroom fixtures/sinktop, and kitchen tile are all original. But I can clean those and not have any fear of catching some disease from them.

Okay, no more dilly-dallying for me. There are a ton of boxes just waiting to be unpacked.