Unexpected Visitor

Since Christmas is past, you can figure out that Santa was not our unexpected visitor, and the fact that we are expecting a baby tells you that the baby wasn't the unannounced visitor either.

The day was memorable though. All I set out to do today was do dishes and maybe work in a temporary workshop in the garage creating bookends for the baby. (He's amassed quite a few books already!) As it turns out, I broke more dishes than I cleaned, and I never started on the bookends. But I did spend most of my day in the garage.

So I broke a glass baster while scrubbing it, and then, while drying wine glasses (used for dinner when my sister and her boyfriend were over) the dishes in the drying sink shifted and broke two glasses. We are now down to 3 wine classes out of the 8 we started out with when we got married two and a half years ago. That's an average of breaking one every six months.

That got me to wondering if there was a saying or superstition about breaking glass when you are expecting a baby.

As for the unexpected visitor, when I went out to bring in the recycling bin from today's pick-up, I had quite the surprise. The recyclers threw the bin back into our yard upside down, where a mouse had decided to make a little home for himself. When I picked up the bin I jumped back, screamed a bad word, and he took off--up the driveway and towards the house. I saw him move to the right towards our porch, but when he made a turn to our open garage door, I screamed, "No! Not in there!" but it was too late. I saw him go behind a bunch of storage tubs and knew it wasn't going to be fun getting him out of there.

Needless to say, I spent the entire afternoon and part of the evening cleaning out the garage. I saw him once again, near the garage door, but as I tried to sweep him out with the broom, he scurried back to a hiding spot in the wall. It seems that there are large gaps between the floor and wall board, ideal for mice.

The abundance of items on the floor against the wall is also ideal for the rodents, so I installed one of the extra shelves we have and put a lot of loose items up off the floor and spaced the bins out so that there are gaps between them. I also decided not to place anything in the corners. It now makes it easy to watch him scurry along the wall, which worked well for the time I saw him.

I haven't seen him again, but we have some traps set and hopefully catch him soon so that our minds may be at rest.

So, is there a superstition about breaking 2 wine classes (a total of three glass objects) and having a mouse in your garage? Does this mean good luck for the arrival of baby?

We're ready, for now

Baby has not come yet. I thought I would start out that way in case you've been reading this for an update. Every time I call my mother I need to start the conversation with "Amy is not in labor" that way my mother can calm down and not think the call is to announce her new grandson.

We have done lots of shopping (spending lots of money) finishing up getting the bassinet, changing station, play pen, etc, ready. I think we have the major items taken care of, and put together.

We received a crib which we will use as a bassinet from Amy's grandparents. It is really nice, has character, and has held many Arntsons. There is a silver plate that reads "Arntson Crib, New 8/20/28 Rebuilt 3/30/79". It was the crib her grandfather was in as an infant and it has been passed down for generations. As safety practices have changed a lot in the last 80 years, I made sure to go online and research crib safety and make any modifications necessary to make it safe. I found the University of Missouri Extension service Web site with child safety tips.

Our two main concerns were that slats should be no more than 2 3/8 inches apart and the ma tress should fit snugly. We bought a new mattress and put fabric over the slats on the sides since they were 3 inches apart. The ends were safe at 2 inches. It would definitely not be safe for a more active baby that could pull itself up. As bassinets go, it is now safe for a newborn.

Amy will not be going back to school after break. Her doctor has recommended rest periods because of her high blood pressure. Her sub is now officially in charge! Chad, however, will be going back to work on the 2nd of January as long as baby is not born.

We'll keep you posted!

Happy Holidays!

Well, within a few weeks we will have a new addition. Amy and I are done working until January 2nd (unless baby comes over break).

I've been trying to sleep, but can't seem to get well rested. Amy says "Clean, clean, clean before baby arrives!" but I just can't muster the energy. Maybe over the break I can recoup. I blame winter solstice. It's 3:30pm and it's dark outside. What is that about?

Baby on Schedule?

Looks like I forgot to mention, Amy's doctor does not want to say that baby will come early. She saw a different doctor earlier but her regular doctor says we shouldn't worry about baby coming early. However, Amy is measuring at 39 weeks. We'll see what happens.

So Tired

I have an issue with leaving jobs unfinished and rooms a mess. I'm almost done for the day (check the timestamp below, sorry if there is little sense in this blog as I am sleepy) in terms of organizing baby's room.

Today Amy and I went through all the clothes and sorted them by newborn, 3-6 mo., 6-9 mo. and greater than 9 mo. I'm in the middle of washing the newborn clothes so that we may have them ready. All other clothes will be put away until he is ready for them.

We have also gone through toys, feeding things, diaper changing stuff, and other items.

The closet is pretty much organized, we have lots of shelf space thanks to the new shelf organizing system, and many shelves are currently empty.

Christmas is coming, and our wishlist is pretty much the things remaining on the Babies "R" Us registry. At least now we are organized and will gladly take more baby stuff (no 6-9 month items, please, we have a storage tub overflowing with those size clothes).

Some may say, "Chad, get some sleep, worry about this tomorrow" but I say this, "It is already tomorrow, and I consider it conditioning for the next several months (or years)."

Official Blog

In the past I've used a quasi blog, but now I'm ready to edit any time, anywhere with a real live blog complete with RSS feeds and an easy interface. Maybe I'll get Amy to start blogging too.

After things started falling into place with the baby (less than 24 days left until D-day) and I accidentally deleted one of the posts, I decided it was time to join the big boys in blogging. So here I am. Visit this blog to get all the up to date info on baby and the family.

I'm also using the blog as a little experiment for work. We are trying to keep up to date with communication and blogs and pod casts are one way of doing that. I feel that if I myself blog regularly I can learn more about it and find out ways to properly use it at work. I'll probably start up two additional blogs, one on each of my two other sites in order to become better and practice what I preach. I may kill one or both later, depending upon how I like where they are going.

Nothing new happening. The nursery is pretty much set. We just need to organize the closet, blankets and towels. Amy has a shower today at work so perhaps this weekend we will organize the stuff. Decide what goes where and what it is that baby needs in the first month or so.

Until next time, take care.

Baby Could Come Sooner

Amy was sick earlier this week and went to see the doctor. He informed her that the baby’s head is down and may be ready to deliver two weeks early. Sadly that puts it on Christmas Eve. Please baby, please don’t come out the few days surrounding Christmas or New Year’s Eve, we don’t want you to share your birthday parties with any holiday!

(Tomorrow around 5 or 6 am there will be less than 3 million seconds until Jan 7. If the new due date is infact Christmas Eve, that cuts 1,209,600 seconds off of our prep time!)