On The Road Again

The first and last post from a mile up in the sky...I don’t know when I’ll have a chance to post this, but I am writing it on Wednesday, October 13. We’re on our way to Florida for my cousin Amanda’s wedding, which is Saturday. Today and tomorrow we will actually be at Walt Disney World with Tiffany’s folks, brother and sisters. Friday, we’ll head to my mom’s on the east coast of Florida for the wedding before traveling back to Houston on Monday. 

On the way to the airport today I realized that I had probably been on a plane five or six times before I got to college. I can remember about five and I think we flew to Florida once when I was a small child. I mention that because our unborn child is making her fourth flight as I type. This is our second trip to Florida since we found out Tiffany was pregnant, we travelled to Philadelphia and New York in August and Tiffany went to Tennessee for work in July. Interesting how things can change.

Tiffany noted when she sat down on in the seat on the plane today how small it was, I reminded her that the seat has not changed since August. I can notice a difference too, different in that I have less room to the right of me than usual:) She also noted that the seat belt seemed lower than it should be to which I replied that her stomach was bigger than normal, so the seat belt was probably fine. 

I haven’t had much time to write recently. I’ve been pretty busy with the new house, work and packing our old house. Our new house had window blinds on the first floor, but no coverings for the second. Also, the blinds on the first floor were cheap, 1/2-inch blinds that were just there for security reasons. To make a longer story shorter, we ordered blinds for every window in the house. Kevin assisted with the first install in the kitchen on Friday and I started the rest. I still have plenty to install. Much of my time this past Friday was spent figuring out if they had sent us the correct order. After about two hours of opening every box and holding each blind to the window, I was able to confirm that we got everything we ordered. Now I just have 28 of 36 windows to go. I should be able to knock it out in one long afternoon.

After the blinds it’s on to tackle the nursery. We’ve selected a color and by we, I mean Tiffany who chose two shades of green. We ultimately decided on the darker shade. Next weekend I’m hoping to finish the blinds and the nursery because we are set to move the following weekend.

This past week I spent some time changing the address on our magazines and filing our mail forwarding request. The moving truck arrives on the 29th of October, the same day the ATT guy is scheduled to arrive at the new house to hook up our phone and Internet. After the movers finish Friday, Saturday Rooms To Go will be delivering our dining room furniture, bar stools and new couch. That same day DirectTv will be arriving as well as ADT to install the control panel for our alarm system. If they all arrive between 8 and 12 in the morning, it could get a little crowded. That would mean that DirectTV and ADT were on time and Rooms To Go came to our house first, which all seems unlikely. Still, I’ll be relieved when all of this is over with.

Last week Tiffany’s co-workers threw a baby shower for Tiffany. At the last minute it was decided that guys would go too so Kevin and I ended up going too. It was over lunch at the Chili’s by Tiffany’s work. Tiffany’s mom and siblings drove in for it too. We got a lot of nice things. I had known about it for a few weeks because one of Tiffany’s co-workers had contacted me for Pam’s (Tiffany’s mom) phone number so they could call and invite her. Soon after, Tiffany started noticing items being removed from the registry. But even after she was told last Wednesday that lunch would be taken care of for her Thursday, she didn’t put it together.

When she arrived at work last Thursday and saw her cubicle decorated, I think it started to make sense, but she was still surprised to see me, Kevin, Pam and the kids there.

We also pulled the trigger on the glider over the weekend. There was actually a sale at a competitor of the store where we wanted to get it. Tiffany called, and the said they would honor the other store’s coupon so we saved 10%. We ended up getting a chocolate color and the chair swivels, glides and reclines. Once that is ready to be delivered (4-6 weeks), we’ll have the crib and dresser delivered at the same time. The crib has been sitting in the warehouse for almost two months. It came in shortly after we knew we were moving so we purposely did not have it delivered to our current address. Another reason why I need to paint the nursery sooner rather than later.

Tiffany will be going shopping with my Mom on Sunday after the wedding for baby related items. She advised that we bring another bag to take things back with us. I don’t know what they plan on buying, but we didn’t bring another bag. I’m willing to risk it. 

Well, the fasten seat belt sign just came on so I’ll use that as my stopping point.

Not Recommended

So I don’t recommend moving while expecting a child.  You might be able to tell from the  lack of posts that time has not been plentiful lately. Our last doctor’s appointment was  Wednesday. Tiffany went on her own, just a routine checkup and the appointments come every two weeks now so there will be plenty of time for me to get to some more. 

The doctor’s office did call the following day to say that Tiffany’s iron count was a little low in her blood work so they recommended more red meat and a supplement. We went out for burgers for lunch on Saturday and Tiffany picked up iron supplements at the store on Sunday.

The same day we heard about the blood work we closed on our new house so we are now the proud owners of two houses. We went out to the new one this past weekend and stayed at Tiffany’s parents. We also celebrated her brother’s birthday Saturday night. During the day we measured for blinds and went to Home Depot to pick up some ceiling fans for some rooms that needed them. I then put one up leaving the rest for another day...which turned out to be the next day, Sunday. Kevin, Tiffany’s dad, came over Sunday and we put the rest of them up. There is one that has about 20 minutes left, but we have the ceiling plate in, which is the hard part. I feel pretty confident I can put together almost any ceiling fan now.

Of course the color of the nursery is a hot topic right now. There are other things that need to be done around the house. I, knowing that painting a room doesn’t take all that long, didn’t have painting at the top of my list, but that is of little importance of course. Looks like the nursery is going to be a shade of green. My vote was for anything but pink so i had “some” input.

In the coming weeks we have a trip to Florida, packing to do and of course other baby related activities as well. October will be a busy month for sure.

Crowded Quarters

Shortly after we found out that Tiffany was pregnant, talk began of how she would need a body pillow for sleeping at night. I really didn’t give it another thought, seemed like a reasonable request. 

Soon enough a body pillow appeared on our bed. Granted, it wasn’t even being used, it just got wedged at the bottom of our bed between the mattress and the foot of the bed. There it stayed for weeks until recently when Tiffany started to use it. As you might imagine, it takes up some space.

When we got married, I’m not sure exactly when, it was decided that Tiffany would sleep on the left side of the bed and I would sleep on the right. I use to sleep on the left, but I was delegated to the right without much choice. I’ve obviously grown accustom to it and when we decided, I certainly didn’t think it was worth putting up much a fight over.

Now over five years later I sleep in the fetal position facing away from Tiffany clinging to the edge of the bed. Tiffany has all sorts of positions, but she loves to straddle the middle of the bed leaving enough space for a WHOLE OTHER PERSON next to her on the opposite side. With the addition of this body pillow my space got slightly more cramped...and then the real problem started.

When our house was first staged to sell and to have photos taken, we packed up Chase’s crate. Chase is our dog for those who don’t know and we would put him in a crate at night because he would jump on the bed at night and sleep with us if we didn’t. He reluctantly entered the crate himself (probably because he got a biscuit when he does). 

Well, we didn’t feel like setting the crate up every night and taking it down for showings so we put it in the closet for a couple weeks. When it became apparent that we wouldn’t be having showings every other day I thought it would be prudent to get the crate back out and reclaim our bed. Especially since Chase’s favorite spot seems to be wherever my lower legs are.

That did not go over well with Chase. He went to the crate when I told him, as usual, but proceeded to cry and wine for the better part of two hours one night a few days back. It seems Chase had enjoyed first class and was not eager to go back to coach. To sum up, Tiffany and I are now sharing our bed with a body pillow and our dog that both stay mainly on MY SIDE. Of course when I shared this story with someone earlier today it got a chuckle and a “wait till that baby arrives”...Maybe I’ll see if we can find a bigger crate...for me.

100 Years to Live

Things are moving quickly now, January seems right around the corner and I would call this time the calm before the storm. Tiffany is noticeably pregnant, but also not uncomfortable yet. I suspect that will change in another month or so. She has the occasional pain in the back and sleeping isn’t always that easy, but overall,\ the pregnancy seems to be pretty easy, at least from the perspective of the peanut gallery.

We’re about to be the proud owners of two houses. We close on the new one next week, the 30th and we haven’t received an offer on our current house. I wouldn’t say I’m looking forward to owning two houses, but in the long run the short term stress will be worth it. The situation also represents two P’s in my 3P philosophy of life. What’s the 3P philosophy you ask? 

1)Point of View- I think a person needs to have their own point of view or opinion, not just take someone else’s. Take in as much information as possible from other people and sources and come up with an unique point of view on any particular issue that is yours and yours alone. Sure, someone else somewhere likely agrees with you but the point is you arrived at your point of view yourself.

2)Perspective- Here’s where our house situation comes into play as an example. I grew up in a 1,500 SQ. FT home with one full bathroom in the entire house. Tiffany and her mom at one point lived in a garage apartment while her mom attended medical school. We certainly were not deprived of anything that we needed, but are mothers would be the first to tell you that we were not wealthy either. Now, in a time where many are losing their homes and going bankrupt, we will own two homes and are moving to a 4,000 SQ. FT Home on two acres. Is it an ideal situation to have two houses? No, but it’s far from a bad situation either. Not to mentionthere are children all over this country, forget about other countries, that will go to bed hungry tonight. Our child, who has yet to be born, already has a full closet of clothes, a dresser and a crib to sleep in. I think you see my point.

Sometimes when things are not going perfectly to plan, folks tend to wallow in a pool of self doubt or frustration because, as they say, the grass is always greener on someone else’s lawn. One of the keys to happiness, I think, is knowing you’ll never have everything you want, but to realize you have much more than you need. Ultimately, that’s what matters most. Could it be a hassle having two houses, yes, but we need to keep things in Perspective.

3)Patience- I don’t know many decisions in life that didn’t benefit from thoughtful analysis. There have been times that I know I’ve made a snap decision and it’s worked out well, but that is much less common than making a rash decision or doing something hastily and regretting it later. There’s a reason why when you go to buy a car they tell you the “deal” is only good for that day or why “sales” only last a prescribed amount of time. Retailers want to play on the emotion that you have to have something today because it will be gone tomorrow. They know that if you think hard about whether or not you need something, you’ll likely realize you don’t.. Patience is also good practice when it comes to emotion. I don’t know many people that can’t use some work when it comes to patience in dealing with spouses, children or work issues.  I certainly can.

Our realtor suggested we lower the asking price on our current house. I suppose it’s possible that could garner more interest, but no other homes have sold before ours in the neighborhood so it seems to me it would be a little rash to just lower the price after just a month. Our current house would certainly sell fast if we lowered the price substantially and it would be a burden off of our shoulders and that does hold some value, but panicking and lowering the price doesn’t seem too prudent right now, especially considering we are the most aggressively priced house in our neighborhood. We just need to be patient, if we want to lower the price later, we certainly can, but why make a hasty decision now.

So that’s the 3P philosophy, something that I’ve come up with in 31 years of life. Not a great accomplishment by any stretch of the imagination, but better than nothing. Having a child certainly makes a person take stock of where they are in life. It is, after all, one of the great milestones of life. 

I was wondering today how I got from throwing a tennis ball against the brick wall of our old house to owning two houses, expecting a child and getting heart burn from a pumpkin spice latte. Ten years ago i could run into a wall and feel fine the next day, today my left ankle aches for no apparent reason and my shoulder cracks if I raise my arm above my head. Those aches and pains are certainly annoying, but there are people who can’t walk, let alone limp for a few minutes and children who will never be able to use their right arm in ways that have and still can. There will be people tonight that have nowhere to call home. Now is a good time to keep things in perspective.

Lost Somewhere in Houston

Things have been a little hectic lately. We’re getting close to the closing date on our new house (Sept. 30) and of course are also trying to keep our current house looking good so we can hopefully sell it before our daughter starts grade school....

This past weekend was pretty eventful. We had the inspection on the new house Friday just to make sure the roof or foundation was not going to collapse on us anytime soon. As expected, the inspector found dozens of tiny things that are easily fixed, but nothing serious. We left him at the house before he finished because we had tickets to see Dave Mathews Band at the Cynthia Woods Pavilion, conveniently located close by in The Woodlands. 

It was my first DMB concert in some time. I think the last one I went to was circa 2002. I had tickets to a concert at the O’Dome at UF in 2004, second row seats actually, but Kristy (Tiffany’s maid of honor) was visiting UF that weekend so I passed on the concert. Yes, I do remind her of this on occasion.

It was Tiffany’s first ever Dave concert, and by association our daughters, who was kicking quite often. It was one of the better Dave concerts I’ve been to and might have ranked first, but the encore was so-so with a new song which was good, but not great, and a finish of All Along the Watchtower. Watchtower is always good, but I was hoping for a Crash, Ants Marching finish. It was also strange to hear a Dancing Nancies version where Dave says, “Lost Somewhere in Houston”...

That was probably my 11th DMB concert so to put it near the top is saying something. I remember my first ticket was $19.50, this past ticket was $70. Don’t get me started on the $11 can of beer (albeit a 24 oz. can) 

We spent the remainder of the weekend at Tiffany’s parents just down the street from the new house where we, okay I, enjoyed some college football and Tiffany got up to speed on how many clothes our daughter already has thanks to a generous donation from friends of her parents who live across the street. 

I promise you this is no exaggeration. This child now has more clothes than Tiffany and I do combined. There were crates, that’s plural, of gently used and never worn girl clothes ranging from 3 months to 18 months old. Combined with what we already have, well, this child won’t be hurting for something to wear, that’s for sure. 

Sunday we returned to our current house to find that we were having an open house. A miscommunication with our realtor, but we were happy to find something to do for a couple hours and our neighbors, Brian and Brittany, were gracious enough to let us watch the end of the Texans game at their house. 

As for developments with our daughter, I can actually feel her much more now. Tiffany claims she can see her shirt move sometimes, I can’t verify that but I can feel our little girl moving in there whether it be a kick or punch or just rolling which is nice. 

I’ve read that a woman becomes a mother at inception and a man becomes a father at birth. That makes a lot of sense. Now that I can feel the baby moving, it’s becoming more real, but Tiffany doesn’t go very long at all during a day without being reminded she’s pregnant. Other than the fact her stomach is getting bigger, it’s hard for me to understand how she feels or really have daily reminders of the pregnancy.

Today is the start of the third trimester, I think, so we’re on the home stretch. By the time we get settled in our new house, it will be the holidays and pretty soon we’ll be counting down the days.

Registry, Take 2

Saturday we did something we thought we would not do...register at Target. Not that we have anything against Target per say, but I thought one registry would be enough and so did Tiffany. That was until we got a mailer from Target offering us a $20 gift card if we registered with them, so off to Target it was. 

This time it was much more low key. We got the “necessities” out of the way at Babies R’ Us so the pressure was off to a degree. Of course Target’s shelves are filled with items not just for baby and I was tempted to slip into electronics and throw a TV on the list, but I didn’t. 

But if it wasn’t already clear, Saturday made it official how different women look at a baby registry then men. For example, I think most women are actually shopping when putting things on the registry as if they are going to get everything they registered for. I, and I assume most men, want to include anything that looks interesting and that we wouldn’t buy ourselves. Example: We are buying a breast pump, it doesn’t really matter if somebody buys it for us or not, we are going to buy it. On the other hand, if the Baby Einstein rattle that attaches to the car seat doesn’t get bought, we may go ahead and take a pass.

With that in mind I was scanning some funky toys that looked cool, but that I would never buy. Also, we didn’t want to double up on too many items, just in case the registry genie arrived and people hit up both registries. Needless to say that I think we have EVERYTHING covered now.

On Sunday we headed to Tiffany’s grandparents for a labor day celebration. There we were greeted with more baby clothes that Tiffany’s mom had picked up. This child now has more clothes than I do, I’m not even exaggerating. We let her mom take the clothes back with her so we don’t have to move them next month when we move.

For those that don’t know, we have a bought a house closer to TIffany’s parents. Much of my attention lately has been focused on that, both the purchase of the new house and trying to sell our house. Let’s just say the purchase is going better than the sale. I’m glad this will be documented because down the road the headaches will be well worth it so it will be nice too look back and appreciate the effort that’s going to take place over the next few weeks.

This week we have the inspection on the new house. I’m not expecting any surprises, it’s new construction and looks solid. That same day we have tickets to the Dave Matthews concert. We timed that just right as shortly after we bought the tickets, the band announced that they would take a year off from touring. And with a child on the way, this will most likely be my last Dave Matthews Band concert for some time.

Pick a Price

Today we we headed out first thing for another ultrasound and doctor visit. The morning got off to a rocky start as there was a traffic light out near one of the major roads we travel on which backed things up just a bit. Plus we were told I could not park where I normally do (In a Pappasito’s) so we both don’t have to drive all the way to the hospital and pay for the parking. We instead have now chosen McDonalds about .75 miles away.

Anyway, we arrived late but it made the wait shorter at the hospital (They tell you to arrive 30 minutes early, we were 10). In fact, I dropped Tiffany off at the door and parked the car and by the time I made my way to radiology, she was already being registered. After a brief stay in the waiting room and a cup of coffee for me, Tiffany  was escorted back to the room where I met her and the technician a few minutes later. 

This ultrasound didn’t take nearly as long, this tech knew her way around that machine better than a fat man at a buffet. We were flying through, the results of which you see to the left before we were told that the radiologist needed some more views of the heart.

Tiffany of course took this news as meaning something was wrong. (Spoiler alert: nothing was wrong) and of course the genius tech didn’t help. When Tiffany asked her if something was wrong or looked strange the tech replied, “I really can’t say.” Way to calm the storm sweetie, thanks for your help.

She did her deed and returned a few minutes later saying the radiologist got what he needed to see and that she would be back with the report for us to take to the doctor’s office. She also offered a warning, “Don’t break the seal on the envelope.”

As you might have guessed, this didn’t help Tiffany’s nerves. I was a little perplexed, not worried mind you, but are they not going to read the results if we open the envelope? Is the doctor going to say something to the affect of, “I’m sorry, these look like sonogram results, but you see you broke the seal on the envelope so we really have no way to be sure, your child could be seriously deformed.”

It made me think of that Seinfeld episode when Elaine gets busted for looking at her chart and gets black booked by every doctor in NYC. Needless to say, we didn’t break the seal.

But before we leave the hospital scene, I would be remiss not to mention an alarming trend that’s developing. We don’t seem to be able to get an actual price from the hospital for anything. We were charged one rate for the ultrasound the first time at the hospital and then told yesterday we were not billed enough and it would be another amount today. Then they revised that amount lower yesterday and the amount we paid today was actually slightly more. So they’re real organized over there. I’ve come to call this the Pick a Price payment plan.

We also found out that the Rogam? shot that Tiffany will get in a few weeks will be $50. This is the shot that protects the baby, and any other future babies from cross blood contamination since TIffany and I have different blood types. Basically, there’s a chance you can kill the baby without the shot so they could probably charge whatever they wanted and people would pay it. But let’s get back on track.

With our sealed envelope we made our way over to the doctor’s office which is in the building next door.  After a third stop to the bathroom for Tiffany, we got to the doctor’s office just in the nick of time to be escorted to the exam room where we waited for 15 minutes. 

After Tiffany’s vitals were taken, Dr. Thompson decided to grace us with her presence. For those keeping score at home this was her second time seeing Tiffany since the pregnancy began. (She’s now 22 weeks). She took a measurement of Tiffany’s uterus with a tape measure (normal) and then opened our magic envelope. Surprise, no problems. She asked if we had any questions and we were on our way. Tiffany’s next appointment will be in 4 weeks, I’ll probably sit that one out because two weeks after that she will begin to go every 2 weeks and she will be getting that shot so I think it best for me to be there for that. 

She’ll get some basic labs taken next time, but nothing spectacular that I may miss.  Oh, it was also confirmed again that it was a girl, which is good because we have a closet full of clothes for a baby girl.