I need a tracking number for my baby, please.

Well, I'm officially 4 days past my due date. Many women cringe at that thought while I'm still enjoying the time I get to spend with my husband before our lives drastically change (for the better) for the remainder of our days.

It's interesting how many people expect you to deliver earlier than your due date. It's like "oh wow, you're still pregnant?" um... "yes, yes I am and I'm 100% okay with that." It's not like he'll stay inside of me for another 9 months -- he has to come out.

To me, our baby is now completely developed, healthy and preparing for his arrival. Only 10% of babies are born on their due date and over 30% of them are born after their due date. My yoga instructor (who has been a doula and prenatal instructor for several years) said it's sometimes perfectly normal for the baby to be 3 weeks late.

Now, that's not to say my OB/GYN will wait that long. He thinks I'll deliver before he has to induce me but he also said he's not in a rush to get him out because I'm healthy, he's healthy and there have not been any complications.

Unfortunately, I've also had many people seem petrified that I'm going to try to endure a natural labor process (if I don't have to be medically induced). How do we think women have done this for thousands of years without drugs? It's sad to me how few pregnant women do their research on what potential complications and side effects that can arise for both them and their baby when automatically opting into drugs. Did you know that an epidural increases your chances of having a C-section by 50%? Did you know that drugs used to induce women like Pitocin (Oxytocin) can have some drastic, irreversible effects? (http://www.drugs.com/sfx/pitocin-side-effects.html).

Again, if it comes down to it I'll have to be medically induced and have to face those potential side effects. But I'm praying that isn't the case. Am I 100% sure I'll be able to go through labor without ANY drugs? No.

But when I get emails or texts with advice on how to "speed up going into labor" it's a little annoying. Only God and our baby knows when it's time. (Literally, the baby sends your body hormonal signals when he's ready to come out).

It's amazing... we've been reproducing for thousands of years and just within the last 80 years women have been bound to lay on their backs, forced to take drugs and deliver babies when it's convenient for the doctor, their family and even the couple themselves.

I'm thankful I've done my research. Thankful my baby is healthy. And thankful for the options nowadays should anything go wrong.

I would just like a tracking number for my baby so I have an inkling of when he'll arrive... that's all.

Snow is awesome... when you're not pregnant

I remember snow being exciting. The thought of it catapults me to the mountaintops in Washington and Oregon where I'd tighten my goggles, strap in my boots and glide down the white slopes.

Unfortunately, when you're pregnant, you can't snowboard. You can't really do a lot of things, actually. Instead, your husband (with such wonderful intentions), keeps you locked inside the house.

I slowly retreated like a sad puppy when Kyle angrily stared me down as I showered and dressed for work while the news anchorwoman in the background repeatedly said "don't travel unless it's absolutely necessary." Heck, work is "absolutely necessary" in my mind. But yesterday there was a sheet of ice over an inch thick on the ground. I agree. It's not worth trying to scoot my way out the door when I'm already off balance thanks to my enlarged stomach. One fall could be devastating. Thankfully, though, the Internet allows one to tap into work on icy days like yesterday.

One thing I'm learning quickly is that being a mom requires sacrifices before the kid even arrives. I like to think of myself as a career-driven woman with multiple dreams and desires. But I've seen the same scare tactic movies and know enough mothers to assume that my dreams will always be there but that I may take a few detours before I get there.

Well, last night it snowed over the ice. So Kyle sweetly cleared and salted a pathway for me off our back deck and out to the street. Here's one of the photos I was able to get as I sucked in the crisp, fresh air.

Ah yes. I remember snow being exciting. It still is (from the window). And although I don't live near mountains anymore, I'm guessing the snow will be much more exciting in the future as I get to build snowmen in it with my kids.

Baby Registry

Talk about a tedious and daunting experience.

Kyle and I went registry shopping. First, we hit up Baby's "R" Us. Not only did I find the breast pump decision confusing and scary but the bottle decisions are endless. I plan to breastfeed our little boy until 6 months if I can bear it. But, daddy's going to need to step in at some point. But, I hear you don't know what your baby will want in a bottle until they try them out. Needless to say, our registry contains more bottle options than anything else. A sterilizer, bottle brush, drying rack...? Holy crap. The list is endless.

Babies "R" Us ended up being the store we registered our "necessities" at. So, the receiving blankets, cloth diapers, onesies, medical and grooming kits -- you get the idea.

Then, we went to Storkland (a local OKC store). We found our modern crib and furniture, our German-made (ridiculously expensive) stroller with a reversible handlebar, hand break, custom fabric and "cool" wheels (so Kyle calls them).

Lastly, we found modernnursery.com. Hallelujah! Finally, some non-country, modern-looking patterns and earth-friendly options. Granted, the prices are steep, but it will be worth it to keep our nursery decor what we had hoped, a highchair that fits in with our new remodel (and won some sort of prestigious award in the Netherlands) and a sweet looking swinger and rocker. (see photos)

I know anyone who reads this who has children will think "it won't matter once he's here." But, please trust me, it will. I honestly did not find anything (pattern-wise) at any of the national chains that we can look at for less than a minute and stay sane. So, if you're reading this and you're coming to one of my three showers, please, please, please follow our registry. I know the plain white and tan outfits aren't as "cute" as you would have hoped, but unless we're desperate and our house burnt down and there was nothing else to keep him warm, we won't put him in any bunny-eared pajamas, choo choo train pants and tops or anything with bows.

I mean, we're parents! We finally get to call the shots for once!

Our crib


Bedding


High chair


My personal favorite, a sick rocker

Belly's getting big

Well, I'm about 26 weeks along and the heartburn is almost unbearable. I hear it's worth it though. Thank goodness.

We'll be starting the final phase of our remodel (master bath and bedroom) so we can move out of what will be the nursery room and start sleeping where we should have been sleeping since we moved in over a year and a half ago.

We also finally purchased our dining room table and chairs. Of course we had to test it out with a formal dinner with candlelight and soft music while sitting on opposite ends of the table like in the movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

I can't believe we're 3 months away from having our son. It's amazing to think how much our lives will change from that day on.

Well, Kyle promised he would rub my feet tonight if I cut up some fresh celery. Sounds like a deal to me so I'm cutting this blog entry short!

Happy New Year!

It's true... I'm pregnant!

The rumors are true. Crystal and Kyle are pregnant. Well, mostly Crystal. I'm at week 12 and I've had morning sickness since week 6 (although I strongly recommend society modify that title to "all-day sickness").

Kyle and I told his parents last week by putting an "I'm a big brother" t-shirt on Spaz -- since he already IS a big brother to Sparkz -- and an "I'm going to be a big brother 2!" t-shirt on Sparkz. Bill's jaw-dropping face was priceless. Connie was focused on making dinner so she was the second one to see the shirts. Hugs all around.

So we then flew out to Portland to tell my mom and dad. My mom screamed and my dad just sat in shock. Hmmm. Three shocks and one scream. No one was expecting this news!

Kyle and I went off to tell our sisters. Ronda (my 22-year-old sister) cried, and so did Kara (Kyle's sister). She said she had to reapply her make-up before heading to work. We thought it was odd that our sisters cried but our parents had that deer-in-the-headlights look. To top it off, Angela (my 19-year-old sister) just looked at us like we were crazy until she realized that was probably a rude thing to do, so she congratulated us. Oh well. What can you expect from a girl focused on boys and college and more boys...?

We know everyone is excited, but I think they were all more in shock when we told them. See, we've positioned ourselves as being on the "5 year plan." But, our purpose in doing that was so if we decided to take 5 years before having kids no one would be disappointed. Then, if we decided to have kids before that 5 year span was over everyone would be happy.

I think Kyle is more excited than anyone, though. He bought "Mozart's top 100 songs" so he can place headphones on my little, what I call "pooch." How cute. Here are a few photos of the dogs' announcement t-shirts...

Oh yeah, our kitchen is about 95% complete at this point... but who cares about that now anyway? Kidding. You can kind of see where we're at in one of the t-shirt photos Kyle took. Yay kitchen almost done!

Stilts & Cabinets

Every day I come home something changes in our kitchen. One day, I came home to a circus - well, a man on stilts plastering drywall. The next day, our living room was full of wood. Pieced together wood. Cabinets...

Today, I was happily surprised with the cabinets suspended in mid air, placed in their new home. Yay. We are almost half-way done. (Don't worry, we're staining them a dark, dark brown to match our existing trim throughout the house -- don't lie, you were worried).

Then, we proceeded to look for and test MORE paint samples. We have finally nailed down two colors we like. You'll get to see our masterpiece hues when we're all done.

The last photo is just a random photo from the World Championship Softball games. Wimgo.com, one of my company's products, sponsored the tournament. These are the alien-ish girls who worked for us to help promote the website throughout the USA vs. Italy game. Yes, they look bizarre. Get used to it. Weird IS my life recently.

Kitchen Be Gone!

Ok, here are a few updated photos from the past week, where our contractor took out our crappy old cabinets, put up a wall to separate the laundry room from the kitchen and started to sheetrock everything. Then, you'll see our lovely paint sampling... Our house is mighty dusty at this point, and we've stayed off-site the past three nights to get away from it all. We are totally having a blast with this remodel, though, and can't wait to do it to more houses in the future!

Piece out sucky cabinets!


Hello two-by-fours


It's magic -- white walls appear out of nowhere!


Trying out paint colors. Disliked the puke green we thought would be, um, fun. So, back to Lowe's it is!