Okay, I feel totally guilty that I have not updated this blog in months! You can all leave me alone now! I am taking care of it this very moment. I have been so busy, this has been the last thing on my mind. Yes, I have pictures to post, but that will have to be done later.
Let me get you caught up.....
I came home for China and my mom gave me a lovely stomach flu just in time for Christmas. This is particularly fun to have when you are pregnant and still suffering from morning sickness! It took 2 weeks to get over it and another few days to feel close to human. In the middle of all that, the laundromat happened. (I will tell that story later. I want to get caught up to March and that story will take too long. Besides, I will probably pee my pants when I am writing it and you should be prepared to do so as well when you read it!!!)
At the beginning of February, I got sick again. This time it was a head cold type thing that no one else got to share. I swear I have been sick since October 1st!!! If it isn't morning sickness, then I have some cold, etc. I am really tired of this. But there is more....
Mark always takes off the month of February for his vacation from work. We used to go either skiing or to someplace warm. Well, the last few years, this has just not happened, so we work on the money pit known as our house. This year, we planned to work on the baby's room. The best laid plans always seem to go awry.... Mark had been having lots of pain in his back between his shoulder blades for several months. Meanwhile, his blood pressure went out of control just before he had to get his medical in November. He started the rounds of the doctor appointments and blood pressure meds, but the pain in the back did not go away. I kept telling him to ask the doctor if his gallbladder was the problem. Finally, he got the doctor to listen to him and did an ultrasound. Well, needless to say, the gallbladder was a sack of rocks and it had to go. So, instead of working on the house, Mark had surgery and I had a male patient to take care of. Yes, I meant to say "male" patient. What is it about men that makes them so whiny when they are sick!?!?! He was really good until about 5 days after surgery. I think he expected to get up and do whatever he wanted right afterward and that is just not the way it works as all of us women know!! So the whining began. "Why do I still have pain here or there?" "Why can't I lift the bag of salt for the water softener?" "Will you get me this or that?" "Why can't I eat really spicy mexican food?" And, I started asking "When are you going back to work?" Well he went back to work and other than being a little tired the first few days, he did just fine. Imagine that!!!!
As for the baby's room, I thwarted the entire plan and hired someone else to do the work. Thank God!! They put up insulation, dryway, fixed the floor, painted the walls, textured the ceiling, etc. It never would have gotten finished if Mark and I had to do it!! I am so happy I hired this work out!
While we were dealing with the chaos of the contractor working in the room, Mark decided that we should just have all the hardwood floors in the house refinished. This seemed like a great idea at the time, but proved to be a real pain in my butt!
Mark went back to work 5 days before the floor was to be worked on. This left me with all the furniture to move out of the living room, dining room, both hallways and the baby's room. And, I am not supposed to lift anything. Thank goodness for family! My Dad, Mom, brother, niece and uncle came and took care of it all. The worst part after that was the fact that the dog and I had to clear out of the house for about a week. So, we went to Beth's right next door and kept checking on the progress of the floor. (I should mention that I again got sick during this entire event. This time it was an allergy attack which lasted for over a week due to the dust from the work in the house. I told you I have been sick since October 1st!)
Anyway, the floors were finished and then the cleaning began. Every surface in this house had to be cleaned. I even cleaned the light bulbs. Sam says that I am nesting getting ready for the baby. But, there was sawdust and drywall dust everywhere and I would have another allergy attack if I didn't get rid of it. So I have spent the last two weeks cleaning with help from my parents and Mark. In the meantime, the piano has been in the middle of the kitchen floor and nothing is where it is supposed to be in my house! Those of you that know me, know I can't stand that for long. I have finally reclaimed my kitchen and am working on getting the last 2 rooms cleaned. (I guess it's a good thing that I have not felt like cooking thanks to the morning sickness. And, yes I still have the morning sickness or all day long sickness as I like to call it. We are at the 6 month point and the Dr. has given me every nausea medicine short of an IV to get it stopped. The last med helps, but knocks me out so Ican only take it to get through dinner.)
The baby's room is turning out great. My Mom is working on curtains, quilt, bedskirt, etc. I purchased furniture from the Amish store and can hardly wait to see it all come together. (I couldn't stand it the other day and had to put the crib together in the mostly finished room.) As for the floors, they are awesome. I am really glad that we had it done, but what a nightmare while it was happening! They are so much easier to care for and will be a lot safer for a crawling baby.
OK, that brings us up to date. I will post pictures later. And, yes Dad, I promise to tell the laundromat story too.