One giant smiley face

Due to unseen circumstances that came up in my boss’ family, I’ve had the past four days off of work. I’ve put it to good use painting though! I sure didn’t think it’d take so long! Darrell and I started painting on Sunday night. I pushed it a little (okay a lot!) so we still have a bunch of junk in the living room that needs to be organized and put away. But I was too excited to clean any more when we were so close to the fun part! So, we put down a plastic drop cloth and taped it around the edges of the room. We had a good laugh when Darrell made a little dingy in it right away. Then we opened up the paint, poured it into the plastic bin and coated a roller brush with sunshine yellow paint. As I was about to make a big swoosh of paint, Darrell calls out, “Wait! Wait! I’ve got to get this on film!” My sweetheart thought to take pictures so our future baby could see all we did for him/ her! Sometimes he is so thoughtful! :o)
Well, I made my swoosh and posed. We “rollied” up the wall to my great satisfaction. Then, I went to the other side of the room and made a giant happy face! It was so cute! Darrell really liked it too and snapped another picture. And then I made about a thousand more swooshes. And then I got out the little brush and masking tape and spent 3 DAYS painting the edges. What work! But I have to admit I enjoyed it! And BOY is it yellow!
After I finally finished up the second coat we started the border around the top of the room. That was even more difficult! But all in all, I’d have to say we did a fantastic job. And we have lots of pictures!
Today marks day one of cycle number four. Cycle three was 46 days long! That is a long wait! I still wish I could have told my parents some good news at the wedding. Darn. It looks like BD Fest will commence on the train ride home. That will be memorable!

A big swoosh of sunshine yellow

Still on cycle 3, grrrr! AF is taking her sweet time. I am on CD 43. I took another pregnancy test the day before yesterday. I’ve now wasted 2 this cycle. Come on, AF. Let’s get a move on! I am ready for a new shot at this pregnancy biz.
We bought the paint for the nursery yesterday. It was lots of fun watching the guys at Wal-Mart put the pigments in the base paint. My husband is such a techno-nerd. I love it!!! The paint is a sunshiny yellow that matches the yellow diamonds on the border Darrell picked out. The colors on the border both please me and worry me. I love how they are muted and the room won’t be deathly bright to go into. But the colors of the bedding and decos and stuff will be bright primary. I hope it looks okay. We are madly cleaning out the room. I CAN’T WAIT to put a big swoosh of yellow across the wall!! WooHoo! Hopefully it will happen tonight- even if I have to push all the junk into the living room. LOL.
We are preparing to go to my brother’s wedding in 11 days. We are SO excited. Train ride! Woo Hoo! And nothing like a big trip to get your mind off of the pregnancy bit and speed a cycle up! Today we are off to Comfort, Texas to buy reams of dried sausage for my SIL Tammy. A little adventure should be fun. I am just curious how we are going to manage to bring my brother David a cooler full of Bill Miller’s brisket. The train ride lasts 36 hours!! Yikes!

HPT #3 and Hopeful Momstalk

Well, the stupid test said negative. I tested at 4 AM (I couldn’t sleep). I guess I am on to round 4. I only cried a few tears. I had mentally prepared myself for disappointment. What a bummer. It is amazing how excited and upbeat I was yesterday compared to today. It is going to be such a long time before I get to test again. AF hasn’t even ended this one yet.
I have been chatting on Preconception.com’s Hopeful Momstalk board. It helps to talk about my “obsession” with other women. My DH hears plenty already and I know he certainly doesn’t want to hear anymore. Several people have mentioned visiting or planning on visiting my website. But nobody signs the guest book. Darn.
I got my first baby magazine, “American Baby,” a couple of days ago and my first pregnancy magazine, “Pregnancy,” yesterday. I had a good laugh when I got the second one because it had my email address name “Jh****” on it instead of my name. They are both excellent magazines.
We are getting a lot accomplished clearing out the living room to make way for the computers that are currently in the “baby’s room”. I can’t wait to start painting it! But that is still a long way off yet. Let’s just say that I am not as excited about the cleaning as I was yesterday.

Nursing shirts & torture by belly rubs

I was nauseous this morning!!! Today marks approximately 11 dpo. Is that enough to get morning sickness? It wasn’t bad, but definitely queasiness. I have never been so happy to feel ill! It started in the car on my way to work, approximately 45 minutes into my day. It only lasted about 30 minutes.
Yesterday we went to go see a “Cats & Dogs.” It had just come out so we had to purchase tickets for later in the afternoon because all the early shows were sold out. To waste time, we went to the mall. Walking through the cosmetics sections of the stores really bothered me. I could almost taste the lingering perfumes. Has my sense of smell improved? In the back of my head—Isn’t that a sign of pregnancy? While there, we passed a Motherhood Maternity. Well, I mustered up the courage to go in and was pleasantly surprised when DH came in too. I came across some nursing shirts in my size (I am larger than your average woman) on a sale rack and ended up purchasing two of them. One is lavender with short sleeves that are about 1 ½ times the size of tank top sleeves. It only cost me $6.99! The other is yellow and a regular t-shirt style that cost $9.99. Both have slits on the sides and have one slit down the middle on the inside. I really like them! And I know that when I really need them I will probably not be able to find my size or they would be way too expensive.
I had prepared an answer to “When are you due?” before I entered the store. I would have liked to have played around and pretended to be pregnant, but I didn’t want to jinx myself anymore than I am already doing. Besides, my husband was with me. I decided to just say that I was purchasing a gift, if asked. Of course, at the counter, the lady asked me if I wanted to be put on the mailing list. I said okay and gave her my info. Then she asked me my due date and I gave her my prepared answer. She must have really wondered why I wanted to be on the mailing list if I was only there buying a gift! Giggle.
So, we went to see the movie and it was crowded! And wouldn’t you know it, a very pregnant woman sat beside me. I was tortured by her constant belly rubs throughout the movie. Darrell didn’t even notice! Later that evening, after the fireworks, we sat in our car and waited for the mad rush to leave. We were watching people walk by with all their stuff and their cute little kids. One by one, about three different pregnant women walked by. After the third one, Darrell commented, “Haven’t there been a lot of pregnant women around lately?” I am SO glad it wasn’t just me! My gosh, ½ of the city must be pregnant!! Is it a sign? Or am I just being tortured by the fertility gods?! Aaahhhh! I am going nuts! I can’t wait until Sunday morning. I am going to be SO disappointed if I am not pregnant!
Sam had a cardiologist appointment today. It turns out that he has an extra blood vessel going into his heart. Strange, but apparently it isn’t too serious. He just needs a yearly appointment to monitor it. I am so glad he is okay! He was very cute and happy today. Amanda left to go visit her Dad today. I miss her already.

Sam in a suitcase & a discussion about maternity leave

Well, an entry in another month. I can’t believe we’ve been trying to get pregnant since April! The time has gone fast, but every negative test is worse than the one before. I have decided that my next testing day is this Sunday. As far as I can tell, it will be 14 dpo and about when my period would be due. I know a lot of women only wait until 10 dpo (OMG- that’s today!!), since some tests MAY give you a positive result as early as that, but I’m going to try to last a little longer so that I don’t waste a test and dash my hopes too soon. It is so weird that I am madly anticipating and also really dreading Sunday. I would love to know I’m pregnant but I also like the feeling that I COULD be pregnant and I hate starting over. This cycle is particularly trying because it is the last chance before my trip to see my family in Indiana. We are planning on going to Cedarpoint Park in Ohio soon after the wedding. I would LOVE to be begged to go on one of their famous roller coasters and have to casually respond, “Sorry guys, I can’t go on that. I’m PREGNANT.” WooHoo!
OK, and I did succumb to the temptation that I swore I wouldn’t do- I looked up my EDD if I am pregnant now. How bad is that?! In case you’re interested, I’d be due on March 14 (going by conception on the 21st, not my LMP because my cycles are longer than normal). I like that I wouldn’t be pregnant in the summer too. In south Texas, we think about that. I love the weekly chart you generate at http://pregnancytoday.com/resource/theweeks.htm. I would be in my 8th week when I got there and in my 9th week when I left. Wow! That’s a lot!! And I always look at Christmas too. I would be in my 29th week. A nice round tummy to show off but not in the miserable last month or two. I think perfect. Boy am I obsessing and setting myself up for a fall, or what?!
To celebrate the day, tonight we are going to Randolph Air Force Base to see their fireworks. We went last year and it was great! They also have live music, carnival type food booths, etc. It will be fun! And it starts late enough that it will be cool outside.
The 11 year old girl I watch, Amanda, is leaving for her Dad’s house in Chicago. She will be gone a month. I will really miss her! While helping her pack I asked her if there was a favorite stuffed animal she wanted to bring along. She thought a minute and I turned around to get clothes out of her dresser. She then said that yes, there was one. When I turned back around to see what she had picked, I saw her plunk Sam into her suitcase. Awwww! I had to leave the room because I started tearing up. She packed her baby brother! On a more serious note—it is much easier to plan activities for a 11 year old and bring the baby along than it is to plan activities for a 1 year old. I counted up the work days I have until my vacation (and Amanda’s return). Fifteen. Surely I can handle 15 days, right? I am worried that Lillian will think we just watch TV all day.
Lillian and I discussed maternity leave yesterday, surprisingly. She actually wants me to take a maternity leave and come back! I joked that it would be too weird to take one child to daycare to come watch one child (Amanda is usually in school). But she wants me to bring the baby too! I couldn’t believe it! Of course, she mentioned that Sam would have to be getting all the care, love, etc. that he gets now. I think I could do it! The nursing may be a problem, but we’ll see. He’ll be older then and less likely to get into trouble in one room in the house. Wow! Stay with my baby all day AND get paid for working. I love it!!