Furloughs End!

Happy Days!

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We have AC!

It's been on since a little after 1:00 p.m., and it's finally worked its way down to the low 70s. It was hot!

We are Registered!

Lots of people have asked us if we've registered. It's taken us a while, but now we have! So far, we have three registries. There is overlap among the registries. We chose the different stores based on their availability to family and friends.

1. Babies "R" Us
2. Target and
3. Walmart

What a lucky lady I am...

I gotta say it. I have the total package. My husband is helpful, respectful and so handsome (most of the time, anyway). Check out these pictures from Esther's wedding this weekend. It was also fun to catch up with my old roomie Laura. It's been ages since I've seen her and her girls!

A/C Woes

Friday when I got home from work, Jared and I noticed that our AC hadn't switched on after resetting from 78 to 72. We gave it the benefit of the doubt and hoped that it would switch on while we were out dinner. When we got home, we were met by no such luck. We called CoolRay. They came out and could not fix it Friday night. They told us they'd have to order a part and that it would be Thursday before they could fix it. I was sad, sad, sad. Friday night was hot, hot, hot. Getting ready for Esther's noon wedding was hot, hot, hot.

We survived...although not comfortably. Saturday morning, I called and requested one of their emergency coolers until they could make the repair. They said they'd send one out first thing Sunday morning since we couldn't be home on Saturday to get it. We stayed with the Corns Saturday night. Thank you Corns! When I arrived home to meet the CoolRay guy this morning, he told me that he was here to fix our ac not bring an emergency cooler! I told him that if I weren't so sweaty and gross that I might hug him! So, I'm sitting on my couch now hoping he can make the repair. Keep your fingers crossed.

6 mos Dr. Appt

Today Jared and I met with a midwife for the first time today. It was a good visit. I had a list of questions for her that ranged from my anterior placenta to back pain. This anterior placenta is nothing to worry about (which I had been worrying about). She explained that the placenta can be in three positions, posterior (most normal), anterior or previa. Anterior does not necessarily lead to previa and does not necessarily lead to c-section. Everything else went well. They measured my belly for the first time, and I measured right on track. The baby was kicking up a storm while we listened to the heartbeat. It made me giggle. He kicked three times during the short time we listened.

Kick Baby Kick!

Jared felt Parker move for the very first time this weekend! What a wonderful father's day weekend treat! I have to say they were two of the strongest kicks that Parker has done. It's as if he knew his dad's hand was there trying to connect with him.

I also saw lots of Jared's baby pictures. If our baby is anything like his daddy, he'll have some dark hair (but not a head full) and be fat, fat, fat! Jared was born a little early, so he was born small, but it took him no time to fatten up to chunky monkey status! If our baby is like me, it'll have a tiny bit of blond hair and be lean, lean, lean. Even if you're not surprised by the sex of the baby, I guess there are so many more things to be surprised by! I can't wait to see what he looks like. No matter what, I hope he gets his daddy's tan skin.

Bye-Bye High Sodium Bread!

This morning, after some prodding from me a while back, Jared went to get a physical. At his physical, his blood pressure was high. It turns out that this is the norm for him. So he has to go back and get it checked again in 3 months. In the meantime, we are trying to cut out a lot of sodium from his diet. As we were going through his favorite foods, it was startling how much sodium was in a lot of the foods he ate. For instance, the lunch he normally eats (a sandwich with some chips) had 1600 mg of sodium (the recommended daily value is around 2000). So as he went through items, Jared would throw the bad items in our floor stating "Bye-bye high sodium bread," "Bye-bye high sodium sandwich meat," and so on. It was funny in a slightly sad way.

My husband, who is the first to turn down sweets and exercises regularly, has to deal with this. Me on the other hand, the girl who guzzles salt and rarely exercises, has slightly low blood pressure. It just doesn't seem right. We'll have to investigate his family history this weekend while visiting with his parents.

Bye Bye Beer Bottle Collection

In an effort to create more space for this new person who's joining the family, we've put our beer bottle collection to rest. Our cabinets are now cluttered in crockpots, skillets & other kitchen paraphernalia...not quite as fun. No worries though, we still have the more civilized wine bottles on the opposite side of the kitchen!

Weeks 21 & 22

I am well into my 2nd trimester now. So far it's been great! I feel so much better than I did in my 1st trimester. I am feeling Parker play kickball or karate or whatever other sport he may be inventing on a pretty regular basis. It's hard to believe that I felt him move for the very first time just 2 1/2 weeks ago on the way home from our doctor's appointment. Now, I feel him every time I get up in the middle of the night and as I sit at my desk as work typing up legal documents. Next up, Jared gets to feel him move. He's been trying, but so far with no luck.

We are trying to sell our spare bedroom furniture. If you know anyone who needs an armoire, dresser and nightstands (that have great refinish potential), please send them our way! I am trying to purge as much as possible (for me, a slight packrat). I wish I had those people from clean sweep to come and whip me into shape (I just get mad if Jared tries to do it.) :)

I have started the process of registering, and it is so overwhelming...reading reviews, trying to find the best value for the money, trying to choose things that will fit into our cramped condo, making sure we have everything we need. I am fortunate to have great friends to help me and fortunate that I was definitely not the first of my friends to have had a baby.

If you've had a baby, what has been the item you have used most and found the most useful?

Our Bedding

I am very excited to share that we received our bedding today while I was at work. I was very excited to see it when I arrived home. After I finished looking at it, I asked Jared what he thought...his response, "It's kind of gay." I think it's very subtle, soothing and calming. I'm sure that Parker will l

Update, update, update

So, this week has been an interesting one...for me anyway. Jared and I decided on a first name which is very exciting. Rather than calling Pip "Pip", we'll be calling him Parker. The middle name is yet to be decided. We talked to my great Granny Pearl who gave us some additional family names such as Mason and Lewis, but Jared liked Parker best, and Parker it is! Parker Purinton...hope the kids don't call him P.P. to the point it damages his self-esteem.

Bedding, now that we know the sex, has been a big focus for me. Jared and I did the normal search at Babies R Us, and then we went to a place called The Baby's Room that Nikki referred us to. I searched online all afternoon this past Sunday. We didn't like any of the bedding we saw as much as some we found online made by Brandee Danielle. These are the two we are choosing between (as of now). I've ordered swatches of both. One is much less expensive than the other. Of course, the most expensive one is my favorite...though no one else's.

We also fell into an awesome opportunity. My friend Megan has taken up photography as a hobby, and she's gotten quite good. A friend of hers is teaching a Maternity photography workshop on July 25th, and I get to be a model. If Jared can get the day off, he will be a model as well! As a result, we will get bunches and bunches of great pregnancy pictures for free! I am so excited!

We've also been exploring childcare this week. I sent an email to my friends and got a few good referrals. One of the most promising is from my friend, Larry. He and his wife have used a family daycare center for the past few years for both of their children. The operator is a firefighter's wife. It turns out she will likely have an opening in January, and her rate is really reasonable. We can send Parker to her "full time" for what we thought we would spend on part time care...meaning if Jared needs to drop him off for the day to pressure wash or run errands, he can! All in all, I feel like we've gotten some good things accomplished this week!