Almost There!

Cian is 8 months and 4 days old and I am so close to being back to my pre pregnancy weight (the weight I’ve more or less been since 16).  My waist is almost back to what it was before as well.  Very impressive and shocking since I haven’t exercised much or eaten well overall.  It seems that every time I am motivated to get back into shape, I happen to get a cold.  And there goes that motivation. 

Well I am motivated again.  To swim a few times a week and to plan our meals in advance.  We were across the water this past weekend to go to a graduation ceremony, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I do end up getting sick.  And then there would go my motivation again and it would set me back a couple weeks (my colds usually turn into sinus infections).  Chris thinks he may be getting sick (oh no!). 

This past weekend there was an almost six month old there.  He was a little under average and still bigger than Cian.  In some ways it’s nice that Cian is so little, but it does worry me.  The doctor said just as long as he’s gaining weight.  But what if he’s not gaining enough?  What if he’s not getting enough nutrition?  I wonder how much of it has to do with his bad reflux.  It was getting better and it seemed to have stopped, but he’s been spitting up again.  Not as bad as before, but I wonder if it’s food related.  Today starts our eating well again (I’ve started several times, so hopefully it sticks this time).

He’s such a fast learner.  Cian recognizes the names of the animals (their given names). I think he’s said Mama a few times, but I don’t know when to count it as official. He’s been crawling for almost two months now.  The last few weeks, he’s been pulling himself up to stand next to everything.  Lately he’s been doing it all the time.  He’s getting pretty good at it.  I really think he’ll be walking by ten months.  I’m  not even pushing him to walk.  As exciting as that will be, I know I’ll miss when I could put him down and not worry about him moving.  The transition between me being able to put him down without him crying and him moving around only lasted a couple weeks, if even that.  He’s moving all over and curious about everything.  He likes to make his rounds around the house.  He's learned that the bookcase near the kitchen has some fun books/catalogs to pull out.  And that cords are a lot of fun, so Mommy has to keep them hidden or doors closed.  And that the pantry has a lot of fun things in it, so Mommy has to keep that closed as well.  Oddly enough, I’ve kept my house cleaner now than before Cian was born.  I guess I have to or else everything would end up in his mouth.  But not just in terms of having things picked up, I’ve actually been cleaning it a lot more (vacuuming, etc).

Previous Post

According to my computer clock, I submitted my blog entry at 11:59 PM on Saturday, July 14th.  Unfortunately, it posted it as Sunday, July 15th, at midnight.  Cian is technically 6 months and 1 day old. 

Well, since I just had to start a new entry explaining why, I might as well write about his day.  We woke up relatively early for us.  We went an hour north to get (hopefully) yummy meat from a ranch.  We barely made it home in time to feed him and then head to Sears to get his pictures done.  I found a great deal on Groupon.  Unfortunately he had his shots on Friday(funny how 6 months prior was a Friday the 13th, the day I was induced).  He’s a little fussy for a few days after the shots.  That with being sleepy and not liking the bright flash made an unhappy boy.  Probably not the best day for us to have taken him, but we wanted pictures done actually on his 6 month.  He was a happy baby when he was on the other side of the camera and was being held. 

I just can’t get over this little guy. 

*I never reread my previous post to check for any errors as I was trying to get it in before midnight.  So perhaps double fail.

Oh where has the time gone…

My little guy is 6 months old today!  What better time than to finally tell his birth story!  Before we get started with that, a little about his doctor visit.  He saw his pediatrician yesterday for the standard 6 month check up.  Weight was 13lb 11oz (2.15%), height was 24.75” (4.75%), and head circumference was 16.54” (10.4%).  He rolled over from back to front at 4.5 months, laughed at 5 months, and started sitting up on his own by 6 months.  I have been really blessed with a great baby (hopefully he will continue to be awesome well into adulthood).  Now for the story about his journey into this world:

Cian was due on the 30th of January.  We had our usual check up on the 9th (37 weeks along).  Well, after she looked at Cian, she told me that I should be induced.  My placenta had matured too fast (he wasn’t gaining enough weight, but don’t panic), so how did the end of the week sound?  Oh my, I had never felt so unprepared in my life.  We at least had the car seat, but we still needed other things for him as well as for myself.  Friday the 13th was going to be the day of my induction.

My birthing plan: water birth, no epidural, just gas and air as needed.

Thursday night came and Chris let me know that our visas would not be renewed as initially planned.  Meaning, we had to be out of the country by the 31st of January.  Oh joy!  But nothing we could do, because we had to get ready for the hospital.  I had to be checked in by 8, but I wasn’t actually admitted until about 9.  I had my first membrane sweep around 9:30 and the little strip of something to induce me was inserted right after.  Then came the waiting game.  A lot of waiting.

I couldn’t sit still.  I was uncomfortable and in a bit of pain.  I was thankful that Chris got to be with me for most of it.  The food was good.  The midwives were great.  They would check me to see how my progress was every few hours.  Not a lot was happening, though, besides the pain increasing.  It was nighttime and Chris had to leave.

Chris had been writing all these details about the hospital stay, but since we left Belfast, I have no idea where that notebook currently is.  So, I’m doing all of this off of memory. 

My midwife that I had during my pregnancy was now on duty.  Around 2 a.m., the strip got to be checked to make sure it was still in place and I had another membrane sweep.  Tears were streaming down my face, as I was in so much pain.  That was really hard for her to do since she actually knew me.  She offered me pethidine (not sure if it’s in the U.S., but it’s a painkiller injection) and I took her up on that without hesitation.  There went part of my birthing plan, but that didn’t bother me.  I was prepared to be flexible.  I hadn’t been able to sleep, but the pethidine helped me get a couple of hours in.  I woke up and was in so much pain.  Time had gone by so fast during the day but at night it just dragged on and on.  My midwife checked on me again around 4 a.m.  I thought I got another shot of pethidine sometime after that, but I don’t recall when.

Luckily the obstetrician I had during pregnancy was able to be there in the morning, but unfortunately right away she would be trying to make my waters break again.  Thankfully at 8:15 a.m., an hour before she was due to arrive, my waters broke.  The midwives had a shift change, so I had a new midwife.  Chris actually arrived a few minutes beforehand.  Chris got the midwife to check me.  I had heard contractions are super painful after being induced, and I completely agree.  I was begging for the epidural.  The midwife told me that it was too early for that.  I guess the epidural slows down the labor and would wear off before the actual giving birth part if given too early. 

Have I mentioned how much pain I was in?  Gas and air was NOT helping in the least bit.  She asked if I’d like her to check to see if I was dilated enough to get that epidural.  This wasn’t that much longer, but I think she just asked me for my benefit.  I don’t think she expected me to be ready for a while.  So, she checked and was like, oh we better get the anesthesiologist in here right away.  Maybe I was about 5cm at that point.

The anesthesiologist came in and got me hooked up.  I had to sit up on the side of the bed.  My body was trying to push that baby out and there was nothing I could do to stop it.  The midwife kept telling me not to push.  I couldn’t control it!  Nothing I could do!  The anesthesiologist was great with setting the epidural up.  But apparently he told Chris that he didn’t think the epidural would take effect in time.  I was so thankful for that epidural.  I still had the feeling that I was having contractions, just not the actual pain.  This made it great for the rest of my labor.  Probably a little after 11 a.m., it was time to start pushing.  Half an hour later, at 11:41, Cian Benjamin was born.  I was given a shot and out popped the placenta.  Cian was apparently waiting to pee until he was out because he started peeing for a very long time.  Then he was put on my chest and peed again for a very long time.  I was filthy, but I didn’t care.  I could only look at this tiny baby that Chris and I had created.

I was taken to the ward.  Chris could only be there during visiting hours, which was unfortunate.  It was hard for him to leave us.  Cian and I got to spend the night and we were discharged Sunday afternoon.  I had a couple of tears and lacerations.  I was definitely in bed for at least a week.

Fitness Fun

My goal is to lose 25 pounds in 3 months.  On Monday, I started this 5k 7-week training schedule for beginners.  I am so out of shape (on land at least).  I don’t think I’ve run consistently since freshman year of college.  I picked this schedule as it starts off fairly easy.  Monday started off with 15 seconds of running followed by 45 seconds of walking for 30 minutes.  I was ready to be done after 5 minutes, but I pushed through and finished!  It really doesn’t help that I live in a hilly neighborhood.

In junior high, my fastest mile around a track was 6:35 (2 mile cross country under 15).  I hated running, but I was pretty good at it.  I still hate running but now I’m super slow.  Hopefully I’ll be able to run a mile in less than 10 minutes after the 7 weeks.  I’m doing the Warrior Dash at the end of July.

Now off to do day 3…

Reflux

As you may be aware, Cian is not gaining as much weight as he should be.  At 1 month he was 10.42%, at 2 months 2.93%.  At our 2 month visit, he was given a reflux medicine and I was told to bring him back for a weight check in 2-4 weeks.  Last week I changed his appointment to 2 weeks later as he was still spitting up a lot.  At his weight check appointment, he was at 9 pounds 1.5 ounces (he gained 6 ounces), but his weight percentile was down to 1.67%.  His doctor put him on a reflux medicine that is a step up from the one he was on.  He also has an ultrasound scheduled for tomorrow to make sure there is nothing wrong with the muscle that opens and closes the stomach. 

If you remember, at his 2 month appointment, the doctor wanted me to feed him whenever he wanted to eat.  Well, I think Cian heard what she said because that next day I was feeding him almost every hour.  Then last Friday, I decided to actually record the times of feeding.  I stopped doing it when I got to Arizona at 2 weeks since he had a hearty appetite and was eating plenty.  Well, during one session, he ate for 1.5 hours straight.  My poor nipples.  I am really thankful that he actually latches on properly or else that would have been unbearable. 

I guess the reflux causes him to be fussy when he eats sometimes.  Lately he has been scratching my chest all up.  I used mittens once, which really helped.  The thing is, is that I don’t remember that I forgot to grab them until he starts scratching me and by then it’s too late.  And I keep forgetting to trim his fingernails.  They are really sharp and painful.  At least he isn’t scratching up his own face.

Still have so much more to write for the next few times.  Next up my weight goal and exercise plans.

Books!

I never realized how useful the library was until now (and how much money it will save me).  Growing up, I would just check out reading books for entertainment.  I’ve been looking into a lot of home improvement type and language books on Amazon (I have sooo many saved for later that the library also has).  To give you an idea of how intense my list is, I have 50 already checked out and about 70 on hold or waiting and still so many more I haven’t requested yet.  Thank goodness the library has a 100 book limit.  The books I have so far are decluttering and organizing, landscaping, gardening, and German.  I also was able to check out several cd’s to learn German.  I figure Chris can listen to it on his commute.  We’re going to be on a tight budget, so it’s exciting that I can also check out Kindle books for free!  That will save us quite a bit of money.  It’s so easy to buy books on the Kindle without realizing how much it adds up.

Cian still likes to be with someone at all times.  It may only last a few more months, but I should actually do something productive during that time.  I am thinking about getting more language books/cd’s from the library, specifically Spanish and Arabic.  Also, this way I’m not on the computer all day and not tempted to buy things on Amazon.  My goal is to do a half hour a day, at least three days a week for each language, including German.  One semester of college, I had Spanish class right after German class.  In Spanish class, I would think in German but then had to speak in Spanish.  It will be interesting to see how this will work out.  There’s a German school in north Seattle that I’d like to put Cian in.  It would be in place of the public elementary school here, but so far they only have preschool through second grade. 

Speaking of Cian, we bought a used jogging stroller for really cheap from a coworker.  I tried it out for the first time today and love it!  I like how easily it moves.  Cian was a little fussy before we left, so I was pleasantly surprised that he calmed down once we started our walk.  He looked so adorable in his snow suit.  I’ll try and take a picture next time.

I still have his birth story to write about, but next time I’ll probably write about the organizing of my house, specifically the pantry.  It’s going to be epic.  I’m excited!  And also of the house projects we had/will have done.

2 Months!

My little Irish boy is two months old today.  It’s hard to believe it’s been that long.  The story of his birth will come later.

Stats:

Weight:  Birth – 6lb 1oz, 1 Month – 8lb 2oz (10.42%), 2 Month – 8lb 12oz (2.93%)

Height:  Birth – 19.7” , 1 Month – 20.5” (12.47%), 2 Month – 21.25” (3.94%)

Head:  Birth – 12.6”, 1 Month – 14.02” (7.12), 2 Month – 14.49” (3.48%)

He had his 2 month wellness check today.  I noticed he has been getting bigger, so I was disappointed to see that he did not gain as much as he should have.  He was a tiny baby to begin with.  It is hard to believe that babies are being born that are bigger than he is.  He still fits in his newborn size clothing, though not when I have cloth diapers on him.  He is right on the edge of them being too small for him.  And here I was afraid of the clothes only fitting for the first two weeks, if even.

At his appointment, he was given a prescription to help with reflex.  We will see the doctor in three weeks to see how that is working and to make sure he is gaining enough weight.  I am supposed to feed him whenever he wants to eat, even if it is just for comfort.  He also had his first set of shots today.  He only cried for about a minute.  So far no fever or loss of appetite.  When we got home, he was eating for over an hour.  And if he wants to eat that long every time, I have to let him because of doctor’s orders.  And yes, I am producing plenty of milk, so it i not because he is not getting enough during a feed.  And we figured out how to properly latch on and feed pretty fast (thank goodness!). 

At 4 weeks old, he rolled over.  At 7 weeks old, he stood up on Chris.  He has the strength to stand, just not the balance and coordination.  I think he has pretty good head control.  He has been able to lift his head for a while now.  He smiled at Chris and me once (on separate occasions), though it was not a full smile like he does when sleeping.  It will come eventually.

There is still so much more I can write!  He always wants to be in contact with someone.  Guess I better enjoy it now since he is not going to want to much longer.  I wish I could just freeze him at this age.  He is so adorable, and I am not just saying that because of a bias.  He definitely has my ears and probably my lips.  I am hoping he will have my eye color as well.  His eyes are so pretty right now.  They’re the dark blue/grey but with light blue around the pupil. 

I really should update more so my updates are not so long.  It has been a bit hectic, though, these past few weeks.  Our carpet was replaced last Friday, so we had to bring everything down to the garage.  Basically only the furniture has been brought back up.  I am still sleeping on an air mattress.  And I cannot really do much during the day in terms of putting things away since Cian can’t go more than half an hour without realizing that he’s alone.  I have a sling, which he loves to be in, but it is hard to do much with him in it.  So now my only opportunity to get anything done is to hand him off to Chris in the evening.  It is going to be a long, slow process.  But on a good note, we love our new carpet!  We were not sure how we would like the color we chose.  The sample looked so dark against our old carpet color.  It did not turn out as dark as we thought and we actually like this color in the house better than the previous one.  Also, our master bedroom is now painted, as well as the master bath and Cian’s bedroom.  Our room is a light blue/grey color, bathroom is a light tan, and Cian’s room is green on one wall and blue on the rest.  Our house is slowly coming back together.  More on life in Belfast, trip to Arizona, Arizona, trip to Washington, and our first few weeks back home later.  But first I will leave you with a few pictures.  Enjoy!

Go Me!

I have always waited until dinner time to figure out what is for dinner.  It was always stressful for me, but I did not think about planning ahead.  A week ago I started planning our dinners a few days in advance.  I have wanted to try it for a while now, but I just have not gotten around to actually doing it.  What really made me finally take the plunge was to get start eating healthier.  I also want the practice so by the time our kids are big enough to eat with us, we will have many months worth of meal ideas.

We go to the grocery store on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday (or Sunday) and plan the dinners the night before for the next couple of nights until the next grocery trip.  I am definitely eating more vegetables than I was before (which is great since I tend to avoid the vegetables).  And the nice thing about going to the grocery store a few times a week is that the produce is fresher and that I do not have so many groceries in one trip.  I am definitely the one to throw things in the cart that are not on my list.  It is easier for me to avoid doing just that when my list is short (especially since I avoid going up and down every aisle).  

I have been putting down everything we have for dinner in an Excel calendar for future reference.  I am so proud of myself for how organized I have been thus far (and the whole planning in advance and eating healthier).  One step at a time to making my life more organized.

I am addicted to Pinterest.  When I first started, I did not understand all of the hype.  After spending some time on it, I cannot stay away!  There are so many great ideas in many categories.  Chris even likes looking at all of the pins with me.  

I am thirty-three weeks along today.  It is crazy how fast my pregnancy is going.  Less than two months and we will get to meet our first baby.  Unbelievable.  Overall I have had a great pregnancy.  I expect to have as equally great of a labor, due to my amazing genes.  Last Friday, Chris and I slipped on ice walking back to our flat.  I had a hard landing on my side, mainly my right elbow.  My muscles are still sore from it.  What is comical is that my mom had a fall onto her right elbow when she was seven months along with me, though it fractured.

Thankful

I woke up this morning to a strange smell.  A few minutes later I heard sirens stop in front of the flats.  Fire trucks had come to the flats before without it being anything, but I got a little scared because of the smell.  I opened up the blinds and saw the fire trucks right below and a crowd of people across the street.  What really scared me was seeing smoke coming from a flat near mine.  I quickly got dressed and got out of there as fast as I could.  When I got to the stairs, a fireman was coming from above and asked if everyone was out of the apartment.  I said yes and continued downstairs, passing by more firemen coming up with hoses.  I went across the street and saw that it was the flat diagonally above ours.  Unfortunately the fire was in the bedroom, which was the room closest to our bedroom.  I called Chris and he picked me up at took me to work (I was in flip flops and a bit cold).  I am so thankful that I was able to wake up and that the fire was contained really well.  My breathing hasn't been great since then, but the baby should be fine.  Our next appointment is Monday.

A month ago my hard drive failed on my laptop.  I'm so glad that it happened a week before my warranty ended.  I haven't received the replacement hard drive yet, which was shipped a couple of weeks ago.  It's really hard to receive packages at the flat as the shipping companies can't get into the building.  So, I'm never notified if a delivery has even been attempted.  I emailed the customer service guy asking the company used and the tracking number, but he was no help.  So it's probably in some depot and will be sent back sometime.  I've been using Chris' laptop when he doesn't take it into work.

I got Chris a DSLR camera for his anniversary/birthday/Christmas present.  His aunt and uncle brought it over when they visited us a few weeks ago.  Chris was shocked, to say the least.  He's been having a lot of fun figuring out everything on it.  And now he has a list of all these camera things he wants.  Oh, what have I created?  For our anniversary, which was the end of September, Chris was going to get me a Claddagh ring.  When we traveled to Derry, I found the perfect one!

We went to Galway and the Cliffs of Moher last weekend.  It was something that was planned the day we left.  I had mentioned to Chris the week before that we need to go before it gets cold and I get too big.  It just worked out well that we could go last weekend.  We had a great time and the weather was beautiful!

I'm 29 weeks on Monday.  We've been trying to take week by week pictures, but I can't get the slideshow to work on our blog.  I feel like I'm still pretty small for how far along I am.  I definitely look pregnant now, though.  I can still see my feet and don't feel huge.  The baby will slide his foot down against my tummy.  It feels so weird.  I like to poke at him when a body part is right up against my tummy.  Tonight, he finally stuck a foot out when Chris was around.  I had Chris feel it and he took his hand back right away because it felt weird.  He's been kicking more lately near my bladder.  The first time he kicked my bladder was so strange.

Pictures to come when I finally get my laptop working.

Halfway!!!

I’m still at that point where it’s not obvious yet that I’m pregnant.  I kind of expected that I’d be a lot bigger by now (not that I’m complaining, not at all).

I think I look pretty well for being 20 weeks along, though my waist has increased by three inches.  Chris has taken week by week pictures of me, but I just haven’t put them up yet. 

It’s a Boy!

We had our appointment at 19 weeks yesterday.  Everything looks great.  He looks about 19 weeks along and very healthy.  The baby was very cooperative and she could see everything she needed to really well.  She said that he’s very active, and I should enjoy not being able to feel him just yet.  She also said that he has long legs (not sure where he’s getting those from).  Our baby looks so athletic right now.  I’m sure he’s going to be a handful once he learns how to crawl and walk.  It looks like we’re going to have the baby in Belfast.  We have a couple of names picked out, but we don’t plan on revealing the official name until birth.  Our next appointment is in 3 weeks.

Chris completed his first 10k on Sunday.  It was cold and a only a little rainy, but at least it wasn’t windy.  He finished just under 52 minutes.  He managed to run with a terrible side cramp for the last half of the race.

Nothing much going on right now.  Our anniversary is in 3 weeks (the day of our next baby appointment), but it looks like we’re not going to go anywhere for it.  Chris may be working that weekend and we don’t want to make plans because of that.  We are planning on doing a one night stay at a hotel with a Groupon I bought in mid-October.  We’re hoping to go to Germany for Christmas to visit Valentina and Joerg.  I also want to show Chris the Christmas markets as he has never been.  That was one of my favorite things while in Germany.

4 Months Down, 5 to go!

So far, second trimester has been great.  I’ve been feeling crappy (like really bad allergies) once or twice a week.  I think I’ve figured out why, though.  Anytime I have popcorn, the next day my whole head hurts and I’m stuffed up.  We’ve been having popcorn more often the past month.  Apparently I’m allergic to corn, but I never really noticed symptoms like this before.

Our last antenatal appointment was on August 1, and our next one is on September 5.  We may be able to find out the sex at this next appointment (I’ll be 19 weeks along).  We really like our antenatal care, though it’s very expensive.  And it’s in pounds, to boot! 

We went to the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum last Sunday.  We had a lot of fun.  I found Bon Bons in the candy shop!  They were tasty and didn’t last long.

Chris and I signed up for the Warrior Dash.  It’s the end of July.  I just hope I’ll be ready by then.  It will be only six months after baby To-be-named-later is due. 

The Irish Fetus

I can’t believe I’m almost three months along already (1/3rd of the way done)!  I’m starting to feel better, though I’m still exhausted a lot of the time.  I never threw up, but I was suffering from nausea for several weeks.  My next appointment is the 1st of August. 

We’ll find out in two months the gender of the baby.  What’s funny is that before I was pregnant, we both wanted to wait to find out the sex.  Now, Chris wants to know immediately.  He’s finding it hard to wait even two months more.  I’m excited to know, though I’m not as impatient as he is.  I’ve only had one gender dream and the baby was a girl (Chris wants a boy so he didn’t like that dream).

I’m due the 30th of January.  If it’s really early, it could fall on Kimberly’s birthday (the 23rd) or even my birthday (the 18th).  We shall see.  I just hope that my little parasite isn’t born late.  Or would leech be a better nickname?  We really are excited for this fetus (I’m sure Chris will be shaking his head at my choice of words).

We’re not sure when we’re going to reveal the name, perhaps at birth.  We have a few picked out, but we won’t seriously think about names until we know the gender.

We don’t know when we’ll be back in the states, but the plan is to stop by Arizona first and then drive to Washington.

First Weeks in Belfast

It’s hard to believe that we’ve been here for sixteen days already.  We’ve been so busy.  Chris has worked every day except last Saturday since we got here (not complaining, just pointing out that we’ve been busy).  I’ve been pretty busy, too, getting everything in order and picking people up from the airport.  It’s so pretty here.  The weather hasn’t been too terrible.

There are so many places we want to see.  The only problem is our weekends are usually busy with work.  We switched flats about a week after we got here.  I wanted the one we’re in now because it has a more open floor plan.  There’s a lot of noise (in terms of neighbors going in and out and cars), but it’s worth it. 

Back in Washington, Chris is about a thirty minute drive away from work.  Here, we’re less than two miles away from the work site.  I even walked to work and back one day!  It’s great being so close.

I’ll try and update after we do or go somewhere different.  Perhaps next time I’ll post pictures of our flat (but that won’t be until I have everything put away).

Fence Installed!

We’re definitely excited that the fence was installed while still being here.  Now the neighborhood kids won’t be running through our backyard and shed while we’re gone (and even while we’re here).  I’m hoping the picket fence in the front will help keep them out of our front yard.  They can still enter our yard on the side, where the hill is. 

 

Because of the easement, we needed to put the picket fence back 6 feet.  I plan on taking out the grass (and trees) and putting a bunch of plants in front of the fence. 

Our neighbors can still see into our yard.  I plan on putting some plants that give us more privacy.

 

I really want to start on my yard projects now!  I’ll probably start this fall, when we get back from Belfast.

Fence!

The fence people are coming tomorrow!  We got a call this afternoon to see if we were available tomorrow morning at 8 for them to come and put posts in.  Not much warning time, but we don’t care.  It’s finally going to be put in!  I was afraid it wouldn’t happen by the time we left (which should hopefully be sometime in March).  They’re coming back on Friday to finish the rest.  I’m so excited!  No more kids running through our backyard and going through our shed (which we put locks on after the fact).  Right now the backyard is only partially fenced, what the neighbors have fenced.  We’re going to finish fencing the back yard.  Also, we’re going to have a picket fence put in that will go just in our grass area.  The kids will still be able to get into our front yard via the hill of dirt on the side.  I plan on putting a retaining wall up after we get back.  That should keep them out for good.  Pictures to come shortly!

Not much else has happened besides the fence.  We still have no idea when we’re leaving for Belfast.  I’ll keep you updated!

Artsy Wine Stuff and Yard

We’ve been saving the bottles of wine we drink.  I applied an adhesive to some of the labels several months ago.  Then, after waiting a couple months, I tried to take them off.  It didn’t work that well.  I filled the bottles with boiling water, which helped take the label off.  Unfortunately they don’t look perfect, but that’s probably as good as I’m going to get them.  I still have a lot more bottles left.  I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to do with the labels.

Chris and I have been saving the corks as well.  I hadn’t really thought about what to use them for.  I figured I would figure it out someday.  The other day I randomly got a thought for what to do with some of them.  It’s going to be pretty difficult and time consuming, but I think it’s worth it.  I want to take the outline of a wood letter and fill the inside with the corks.  I didn’t find my idea online, so I printed out my own letter, cut it, and stuck corks in it.

    No, B is not for Boy.  I am not pregnant (though I know a few who wish I was).

I’m not sure how we’re going to do the wood.  One option is to get block letters and cut out everything but a thick border.  I’ll have to see what Michael’s has.  It’ll be a pain to measure and cut all the corks so that they fit and look nice (as well as the wood). 

We had the utility people come out and mark the lines where the utilities run.  The good news, it doesn’t interfere with our plans to finish building the backyard fence.  The bad news, it basically ruins most of my plans for our side yard.  I figured this would happen, so I was trying not to get my hopes up.

Looks like someone went crazy

  Our front yard.  I had planned on doing a picket fence around our front yard.  That way we can play with our dog in the front yard and not worry about him getting hit by a car.  Also, I have always wanted a picket fence.  Now, we’ll have to bring the fence 5 feet into our yard.  I think it’s worth it; Chris hates how much it would come in.  If we do that, I plan on taking out the grass in front of the fence and putting in pretty border plants. 

  I can live with everything else.  This is the cable that completely ruins my plans.  It runs right through the middle of our yard to the corner of the house.  It’s the communication cable, which I’ll pay to have moved.  The hill on the side of the yard is better viewed on the second picture.  I had planned to bring in the bricks about 6 feet to make it even with the other part.  Then, put a bunch of retaining walls up to make it look nicer.  I plan on planting mostly vegetables in that area.  Also, I plan on taking out the flower bed that’s in the middle of the lawn and putting grass in. 

We’ll see how everything all works out.  I plan on measuring and recording slopes and where everything is before we leave so that way I can plan while we’re in Belfast.  I love planning things, even if they don’t happen.  I just like thinking about it.  Chris hates planning and listening to my plans because all he thinks about is how expensive it will be.  I try not to let it get me down. 

Washington

So I’ve lived in Washington for over a year now and lately I’ve been thinking about what I like here and what I miss from living in Arizona.

What I’ve grown to like about living in Washington

-  The fact that I can grow so much here!  I love being able to have a garden and not have to do much with it (besides getting rid of all the weeds).  I love how green it is.

-  Spring – I never appreciated the different seasons much until I came here (appreciated it in Germany, too)

-  I guess Chris being here with me.  Though I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him.

-  Walking around barefoot at night and not worry about stepping on a scorpion.

-  Having my own house and yard (technically it’s Chris’).  I have so many plans for them!

What I loved about living in Arizona

-  Getting to see my family and friends often.

-  How not humid it is.  I also loved the weather.  The sun.  Monsoon season.

-  The cacti and the mountains and the awesome sunsets (the desert in general).

-  How clear the nights are and being able to see so many stars in the desert.

-  Wearing a jacket in the winter because it’s “cold” (in the 70’s).

-  The citrus trees at my parents house.  I never bought a navel from the grocery store until I moved to Washington.  Even now I don’t like to do it because they’re so bleh.  And the lemons are so small!

And now for my observation.  In Washington there are a lot of Asians.  I haven’t seen this many in one place since I was in China.  On the other side of that, there definitely aren’t as many Mexicans here as there were in Arizona.  I guess I do miss that about living in Arizona. 

Another observation (this one more of a con):  People from Washington do NOT know how to drive in the rain.  It’s rather irritating.  Come on people, you drive in this every day!  I mean, it makes sense in Arizona.  I just don’t get it.  They also love to slow down for the curves on the highway.  And yes, there are a lot of curves on the highway.

Well there you go.  I’m sure I’m missing some things from my lists.  There are just the major ones that I can remember for the time being. 

We can do it, yes we can!

Chris and I started the exercise Program P90X several months ago.  It’s a 90 day program and we were supposed to be done sometime in November.  A little after a month through the program, we both got sick.  After not working out for a week, it was very hard for us to start up again.  It was really hard to be motivated for it, especially since the workouts were an hour long, 6 days a week.  We looked into something more cardio based to start off with and found Insanity.  It’s a 60 day program and we’re on week 2.  The workouts are only 40 minutes and a lot more intense.  P90X seemed to be more for building muscle where as this one seems to be more for losing weight.  We plan on starting P90X back up again once we finish Insanity.  I’ll keep you updated on how it’s going.  We have our fit test next Tuesday.  Hopefully the results are positive (goes without saying, but still had to be said). 

For Thanksgiving, we had planned to go to Portland to visit Chris’ Aunt and Uncle.  That didn’t happen because of the fact that we got snow a couple of days before and we live on top of a hill.  The snow finally started to melt the afternoon of Thanksgiving, but by then it was too late to make it.  We’re planning on having Christmas dinner with them.

My dad and sister are picking up a chocolate lab puppy for us tonight!  My dad’s going to raise it until we get back from Belfast.  We have our reasons for doing it this way than getting a puppy when we get back.  We’re hoping his chocolate lab (who’s 14 months) will teach it good manners.  We’re also hoping they’ll wear each other out.  More to come later (with adorable pictures!).

So much for updating often

We’re still in the U.S. and have no idea when we’re going to Belfast. 

News from the past few months:

-  Chris’ parents moved to Arkansas.  My dad said that it was because I moved to Washington.  Perhaps…

-  I went to Arizona the end of July for a couple of weeks (it was so much fun to see everyone again)

-  Chris’ sister is living with us now.  Originally we were supposed to be in Belfast and she was going to look after the cats and the house.

-  Chris and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary by going to a lodge & spa for a night.  It was a lot of fun.

-  We haven’t really done too much or planned anything because of the fact that we were supposed to be in Belfast last July.  Our lives our currently on hold (or so it seems).

-  We did end up getting a new fridge when I found out that we weren’t going to be leaving for at least a few months.  The people we got the house from took their fridge with them and put in a crappy one from the 70’s that was not energy efficient.  Now we have a nice French door one.

-  Our dryer started making funny noises.  We are planning to buy a new washer and dryer once we get back from Belfast, so this was horrible news.  I did a little research and figured out that we just need to take it apart and put some WD-40 in certain areas.  Luckily, we haven’t had any problems since.  I just hope it will last another year without any problems!

-  I have so many plans for our yard area.  I can’t do anything until we get back from Belfast, so it’s been frustrating.  We want to fence the rest of our backyard and I want to put a white picket fence around our front yard.  I also want to put retaining walls up for our side yard and plant fruits and vegetables.  I also have big plans for a deck in our back yard, but that won’t be happening for a while.

-  I’ve been baking and cooking lately (once in a great while).  I enjoy it, but I hate how dirty our kitchen gets (and I hate cooking/baking in a dirty kitchen, which is usually how our kitchen is).

-  We installed a kitty door panel (it goes where the sliding door would go) for the cats to go out to the balcony.  Before I would just leave the sliding door open enough for them, but I started looking for another way because I would get bugs in the house.  The first month or so I would leave the flap open during the day for the cats.  I tried training them a few times, but it didn’t work out so well.  One morning, because I guess I wasn’t up early enough, Rigby managed to figure out how to go outside.  Chris’ sister got to witness this milestone.  Marvin eventually figured it out as well, so I no longer need to leave the flap open the flap for them.  A few weeks ago a raccoon had managed to get on our balcony (great feat seeing how we have netting over the top).  After that, I’ve been locking the flap at night.

-  I planted most of my spring bulbs, which I probably won’t get to see.