The latest Preggo Pic!

Well folks, here it is.... I'm about 15 weeks away from the end of my last pregnancy and here's a picture of me and my baby bump!  The four of us are all getting excited about our impending arrival and I think it's been more pronounced lately because the belly's more noticeable now than ever.  Let the stretching begin!

Picturesque Home Ice

Anyone that loves pond skating will appreciate this photo I took this morning of our home ice rink.  Tim has spent hours working on the ice after each snowfall in an attempt to "clean" it up and get it smooth again.  It's a lot of work and when I looked out the window this morning while eating breakfast and saw the sun risen over the hills with its reflection on the ice and the glistening snow, I just had to capture the moment.

UPDATE - Getting ready for baby

Okay, so here's an update on our adventure of getting ready for the baby.  This past weekend, we slowly continued our attempt at moving things out of the office and to, well, whatever place we could find for the stuff.  Tim spent at least 2 hours moving and cleaning the freshwater tank from the impending nursery to a relatively permanent location in our bedroom.  I actually think this will be a better place for it, since he (we) may actually look at and enjoy watching the fish from our bedroom more than the glimpses we were getting while passing the office before!  The next step is to figure out an appropriate location for our computer server and to run the wiring to that location.  After that, Tim will patch a couple of spots in the wall and I can finally begin painting.

Which brings me to my next topic.... painting.  Emily and I spent some time this afternoon at Home Depot looking at paint swatches in an effort to determine which shade of brown would be the best for the baby's room.  As I mentioned in my previous post, I had two bedding sets picked out (one boy-centric, one girl-centric).  After hours and hours of searching the internet for just the right combinations of blue/brown and pink/brown, I thought I had it just right with the bedding that I mentioned in my last post.  Originally, I had anticipated that the manufacturers of the bedding sets would be able to provide me with fabric swatches.  However, I've been unable to get them and when it comes to picking paint colors, I feel most comfortable when I have a fabric of inspiration to work from.  Not to mention that, in this case, I need to pick a color that will go with both bedding sets!  UGHH!!!  So we trekked back up to Babys'RUs in hopes of finding something that I could live with.  I still love the girl bedding that I'd chosen and since that's available at the store, I'm sticking with that choice.  However, the "Baby Noah" design that I choose for the boy bedding is only available online so I've settled on an altogether different bedding set, which still has the brown tones but MUCH less of the blue (boo hoo).  I'm hoping to make the blue more noticeable by using a coordinating blue crib sheet and other blue accents throughout the room.  The latest selection in baby boy bedding is called "My First ABCs" by Kidsline.  Here's some pics:

Getting Ready for Baby!

Now that the holidays are over and life is beginning to get back to normal, I'm turning my focus on the next few projects for the year.  One of which, of course, is getting ready for the baby's arrival.  Today Alex & Emily and I went to BabysRUs to register for a few items that we will need for the baby.  Although we have a lot of things that are needed, some items are nearly 7 years old and are either in rough shape or simply not recommended for use (like the infant car seat that is only rated for 5 years because, according to the manufacturer, the plastic quality degrades after that length of time).  Anyway, the main purpose for creating a registry is to take advantage of the close-out program that the store offers, in which they'll send me a coupon good for 10% off my purchases from the registry.  Keeping this in mind, I've included things on the registry that ARE gender specific, so that I can buy them after the baby arrives and still get the discount!  

I have two sets of bedding picked out for the baby's room.  The plan is to wait until our little one arrives to purchase the bedding and use the bassinette until the bedding arrives.  

If it's a girl, we'll get this bedding:  "Butterfly Meadow" by Kidsline, Inc. 

If it's a boy, we'll get this bedding: "Baby Noah" by Bananafish

For anyone interested in taking a peek at the registry, it's registry #94774637 at BabysR'Us.

  

Winter Adventures

For those of you that haven't heard yet, Tim and I decided a couple of weeks ago to build an ice rink in our backyard this winter.  We ordered some greenhouse covering plastic to hold the water in and grabbed some boards from Dad P. to create the frame of the rink.  The weather has fluctuated recently with some below freezing weather but not long enough to allow for the ice to remain frozen in our rink until.... this morning.  Tim tested the ice and although it wasn't strong enough to hold the weight of an adult, it was strong enough for the kids!  Here's a video of our children spending their first moments on our home ice!

Helping out in tough times... (Part I)

Okay, so everyone knows that the economy stinks right now and that most everyone is feeling the financial crunch.  Our family has been no exception, however, we've recently had some good fortune that has allowed me to breathe a little more freely.  Everywhere you turn, you see that food pantries and charities are having an increased demand in need for services/help, yet there's a decrease in organizations/individuals capable of helping out.  And with the approach of the cold weather season and the holidays, I tend to think of this sort of thing more.  Now, anyone that knows me knows that I don't have a long history of charity work, but that, in general, I try to at least help my friends and family when I can.  One of the values that I hope to instill in my own children is that of being thankful for what we have.  We've been talking more lately with the children about the difference between "want" vs. "need" and of course, this plays into the idea of being thankful for what we have.   I want my children to see that there will always be someone with less than they have, and that helping them out can make a difference.  So when I heard that Toys for Tots was going to host and event at the Desmond, Breakfast with Santa, I thought it would be a good opportunity to work on this value with the children.  I was disappointed when I called yesterday to make a reservation to learn that the admission was nearly $20 per adult (kids are free with toy donation).  Our feeling is that, we don't need a breakfast at a fancy place to teach our kids this valuable lesson.  So we decided not to do that and instead, I've found a local food pantry that's looking for people willing to sponsor families for Christmas.  I called and explained that while we can't sponsor an entire family, we'd like to donate a toy for a specific child on their list.  The representative called me back immediately and asked that our children purchase a toy for a boy 7-10 years old.  Our plan is to have each of our children take $1 from their piggy banks and use that toward the purchase of the gift.  For anyone that's interested in doing the same, the place where we are donating our toy is the food pantry/thrift shop at the four corners in West Sand Lake (behind Subway) on Rt. 150.  Their # is 674-4048.

PPD Test... is it safe for me?

Well, this seems to be the question of the week for me.  It all started with Part I of my physical exam required for my employment at Samaritan Hospital.  Employees are required to take a PPD (Tuberculosis) test unless otherwise noted by their physician.  I was advised by my future director to discuss the PPD test with my OB to determine if it's safe during pregnancy.  The director has indicated that other employees had opted to wait until after their babies were born to have the test done.  So I went online to do some research and found some sites that stated the test was completely safe and valid during pregnancy.  Other sites recommended against having the test because they stated it was a Class C injection, which meant that animal reproduction testing had not been done for the substance.  I also talked with a friend who is a nurse who told me that she waited with both of her pregnancies to have the test done.  Now, I've always taken a "better safe than sorry" approach to my pregnancies so I decided not to get the test done.  No problem, right?!?  WRONG!!!  I went to my routine OB visit on Friday and everything went fine, despite the rather monotone bedside manner of my physician, until I asked him to write a note excusing me from the test.  He refused to write the note and explained that the test was completely safe and he felt he couldn't lie and recommend that I not have it done.  

Well, needless to say, I was extremely upset when I left the office.  I'd had problems with scheduling of appointments with the practice in the past and was met with resistance by my doctor at another occasion and ultimately felt that I couldn't trust that my doctor would be on my side and communication with me throughout the pregnancy.  So I choose to request my medical records and now I'm in the process of finding a different OB and a different hospital.  I'm so frustrated because I feel like I've gone out of my way to ensure that everything goes smoothly with my doctor's office, yet it seems that no matter how much I try, it all ends up a mess anyway!  I just hope that I can find a doctor soon that will be supportive and informative so that I don't have to worry about all of this crap!  The doctors that delivered Alex and Emily gave me a hard time about WHERE I was going to deliver and tried to scare me into going to Albany Med instead of St. Peter's.  I even had to lie to my OB when I was in labor with Emily because she was arguing with me at 2am about which hospital we were meeting at (despite the fact that I made it VERY clear during the prior 9 months where I would be going).   I had hoped so much that I wouldn't have to deal with that sort of thing for this pregnancy, but sadly, it seems that with the way our healthcare system is run these days, my hopes may never be a reality.