This is your brain on Pregnancy.

I am firm believer that pregnancy and motherhood change things in your mind. It may have something to do with the decrease in the amount of sleep you get. It may have something to do with cutting down on your normal vocabulary usage to talk so your toddler can understand you. It could even have something to do with your mind being so consumed on how trying to figure out how to sit so you can breathe while your little one in utero is crowding up all your space. I think it is a combination of all of those things and many more.

So I am claiming complete preggo brain on my latest bright move. We were so excited to sell the 4Runner, that I went out the next day, a Saturday and deposited the check. After it not clearing the bank after a week, Michael went to see what the hold up was. Are you ready for this? I deposited the check into the WRONG BANK! I used the correct deposit slip, but thanks to Bank of America's systems being down on that particular day, they did not catch the fact that I was using a Bank of Oklahoma deposit slip.

So where are we now? Bank of America has cashed the check and does not know how the get us OUR money. UMMMM, hello. Just right us out a check. We no longer have any accounts with them, which makes my goof all the more of a smack on the forehead, so they cannot just credit it to our account. This has been a huge pain in the bum. We just want to get the 4Runner paid off. ARGH!

Other exciting news, Michael and I are getting a date night tomorrow! WooHoo! We don't know what we are going to do, but at least we will have dinner without having to worry about Allisyn wanting to get up and make rounds around a restaurant.

Hello, my name is Chandra Joy...

and I am a blog junkie/stalker/addict.

I am very happy that my sister-in-law, Rachel, has taken over their blog from my brother. He started in January? One post. That is all I got. I would like to say congrats to my brother though. He is now a chaplain for the Oklahoma Army National Guard. He swore in this past Friday after being out for....4 or 5 years. I know there is NO WAY I could go back in after being out that long. Of course, I never even considered getting back in. I am very proud of him!!!

Another blog that I am very excited to see, is the Fisher's. They will be leaving us for California soon, so it will be nice to be able to keep up with them and the beautiful Miss Evelyn! We will miss them tremendously.

Allisyn is talking more and more. It seemed like over night she started talking in sentences. Last night we were on our way home from church and she says, "Where did my dadda go?" I told her that he stayed and played basketball. "He plays ball?" The tone was one of shock, that he would play ball without her?

On a walk the other night she asked, "Hear that bird?" She pointed to her ear too. It was cute.
We also got asked "Where's that dog?" There were actually a few times we got asked because we heard a few talking to us as we walked by their yards.

Well, I need to get off and go ask the bank where our money is from the check for the 4Runner is that I deposited LAST Saturday. I really want to get it paid off!! Then I get to go call the Baby store again, because they were supposed to call me back this morning and they have not. Good times to come!

How much longer?

Oh yeah, 7 weeks. I don't understand how Piper can seem to be trying to bust out of 4 different places at once, but she manages to try!

We still have not gotten Piper's furniture yet. I called on Friday, but the company had already closed so they couldn't find out from them. Ummm middle of June should mean the 15th. Can you tell I'm a little impatient?

We went over to our friend's Lindsay and Dustin's for dinner Friday night. It was fun and really nice to get out and do something with another family. Allisyn and Avery played in Avery's little wading pool for quite a while. It was cute. I should have taken the camera...but did I? Of course not, because that would have been something an organized mom would have done. Hopefully next time.

Our weekend was overall unproductive. Michael did get some of the T-Molds installed and the lawn mowed, but other than that, not much got done. Thankfully, there isn't much left on our Do Now To-Do List. I really thought I had more to blog about, but I'm really tired and can't think of anything else.

Painting tips from a Pregnant Woman!

First off let me say that Piper's room is now painted!! YAY ME!! I will give Michael credit of the 10-15% of priming and taping of the ceiling that he assisted me with, but the rest was all me. I will hold off on the pictures until we get the furniture in and put together, because right now it's just blue with tubs of clothes every where!

Adding a note to say that Michael would probably have helped me with the painting this weekend, but I couldn't take the chance of something coming up to put it off any longer. Also, I'm hoping the furniture will get in by this weekend and we can work on that!

Another thing that is important to note it that I am an impatient painter. I like it to be done and quickly and that never happens. Especially when I get OCD with the primer. Another important thing to note is that I probably shouldn't really be allowed to be on a ladder when I'm NOT pregnant, much less when I am 32 weeks! But Piper has high ceilings and the step stool wasn't quite enough.

So here are some of my tips for other pregnant woman who might be impatient and NEED to get it done instead of waiting for their husband or whom ever to get it done.

1) Realize that you cannot reach as far as you could before you were pregnant. Your balance is OFF! Therefore you will probably have to get down and scoot the ladder more than you really want. It is better than ending up with matching bruises on your legs from bracing against the rungs.

2) This can actually be a tip for everyone, but I'm sure most people don't have the excuse of a preggo brain. When coming down the ladder, don't use the paint tray as something to hold on to. Brushes and rollers will go flying. Thankfully, I got the tray before it hit the ground, but the brush did hit the ground. Thankfully it was a little brush and didn't have a lot of paint. We won't discuss the amount of paint and primer that ended up on the carpet throughout this whole thing though.

3) If this is your second child, as fun as you think it might be, think long and hard about letting your first child "help." We got off pretty lucky with this one. Allisyn did not get too much primer on her, but there still is a little bit behind her ear that she doesn't like us scrubbing at.

4) This is for pregnant and blind people. Chances are you will NOT get everything off of you in just a shower. You will probably need to utilize the tub and glasses to better see places like your legs. I think I walked around with primer all over my legs for a couple of days because I wouldn't notice it until I was out in public. It was like spots appeared while I was out.

Another tip, but nothing to do with painting. I would like to say it has to do with potty training, but we aren't really "training." Allisyn just likes to sit on the toilet, wipe at nothing, then flush. BUT a good tip is to check the diaper before you take off. Just because you can't smell it, doesn't mean it isn't full of poo. The little poo balls can AND will go bouncing across the floor. If you happen to be in the nesting phase, it is not good because then you have Clorox the whole floor.

Hopefully my blog was a little more lively and fun today. Looking at my last... well, a lot, they have been kind of blah! I'll try to work on that!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all those wonderful dad's out there, and to those future dad's out there who I know will be awesome! No, I'm not announcing anything about anyone so no one needs to go assuming things!

Unfortunately, Michael had to work today. He did get to go do "Doughnuts with Dad" with Allisyn this morning. Actually I think it was doughnuts while walking around the church, but I know he enjoyed every second of it. She was not a happy camper when Daddy wasn't there to pick her up from Toddle Time. We got to the car and that bottom little lip just shook and she cried, "I want Dadda." Talk about melting a mom's heart.

Allisyn and I are very blessed to have Michael. She has him wrapped so tightly around her little finger. I'm not exactly sure what he is going to do when he has two little girls telling him how things are supposed to be! I know he will be great as always. It never fails the first thing she asks for when she wakes up is "dadda." On his days off or the days he works the later shift, I'll point to him. (Yes, we are still co-sleeping.) She will roll over and give him a HUGE hug and kiss and tell him she needs to get something to eat. She usually doesn't get anything, but the fact that he will get up with her is what matters. On days when he has already at work, I'll tell her he is at work and she will smile and tell me how much she loves her daddy.

Tomorrow Michael has the day off so I am sure that he and Alli will get to make up for him being at work today. I will get to go to my OB appointment, are you ready? ALONE! (gasp!) Did I mention that we have 8 weeks left? Physically, I'm beyond ready. We still have a lot to do with her room and the house, but hopefully the to-do list will get wrapped up soon.

Almost forgot to mention, our dryer went kapoot last night. Thankfully we still have the gas dryer from the rent house. We may be swapping them out tomorrow-- fun fun.

SOLD!!

We sold the 4Runner! It is a huge relief to have only 2 cars and one small payment. We only had to make double car payments again for one month!

We have made some progress on Piper's room. We started priming. Allisyn got to help a little. It was fun. She didn't get too much on her, and she had a lot of fun. I'm sure she will help out some more when we get back in there and work, but it is a project that will take both of us to work and keep Alli under control. She has been totally skipping out on her naps lately so it doesn't give me much of a chance to work while Michael is at work.

Her pediadontist (sp?) appointment went smoothly. She was cranky because she woke up about 630 that morning and didn't nap until after her appointment. She will have to have some work done, but we are going to have to try to find someone who is in our dental and medical network. She will have to be sedated for any work they do. They did not really give us a reason as to why her four front teeth are bad, but the rest look great. One of the options of treatment was to remove all four teeth until they grew back in. Who would do that to their child? I find it hard to believe that it would no affect speech development, but "studies show" that it doesn't. Anyway, we aren't going that route.

We had another biting incident last night. I'm not sure what happened because I was in the other room, but Sylvester bit her arm again. Michael realized that it is a situation that we need to come up with a solution for. Allisyn got over it pretty quickly this time, but he was moody for the rest of the evening and took it out on the other cats.

Well, I've got some more nesting in the form of cleaning my kitchen up again to get to. I seem to be the only one who understands how clean I like it to be. Go figure.

More nesting and turning a year older

Saturday was a great day for my nesting. Why? Michael was home and got to help! We reorganized the garage so we have plenty of room to get in and out and I don't have to worry if I am pulled up far enough or not. For some reason, the van throws me off that way. We also got started on the much neglected landscaping in out front yard. There is a lot that still needs to be done, but hey, we got started! We also picked the color for Piper's room! WooHoo!! We decided to go with a light blue. YES, I am painting my daughter's room blue. My own mother let it slip about how she would NEVER paint a little girl's room blue, but you know what? I am NOT my mother!! Sorry, moving on.

Sunday was my 27th birthday! It came and went quietly, the way I like it. We did go out and eat Sunday evening after church. Actually we ate out Saturday night, picked up fast food on the way home Sunday morning, and ate out again Sunday night, but only one was given the reason of "it's my birthday." I did more nesting on Sunday. I finished cleaning out Allisyn's closet and bedroom. She can now play in there again!! Piper has 5 tubs and a basket of clothes that I need to wash and sort through. She also has a basket of bibs and blankets that need to be cleaned and put away.

We have nursery taped off! I was hoping to get started on priming today, but it didn't happen. I knew I needed to take it easy today, especially since I wanted to go to prenatal yoga tonight. Which I did, and it was nice. I also returned Piper's first bedding choice to BRU. I don't like returning things for some reason, but I got it out of the way. I also stopped by Target and started a registry there. I also really do not like registries. Well, I like them when I am shopping for other people, but I hate putting them together for myself. Seriously, what do you register for when this is your second child? Especially when they are both girls! I did get one started though so I'm proud of myself for knocking that out.

We have 9 weeks until the estimated due date to Piper, and I am really praying that she comes sooner, because I don't know how much more of the bum in my ribs I can take. I just want to be able to breathe again!! Not to mention the summer is already turning out to be a scorcher. Well, I'm off to bed, maybe the bum will leave my ribs and I can get some sleep!

Nesting

I have been thrown into the nesting phase. It was triggered by my wonderful husband's horrible performance of keeping up with the litter boxes. It is suppose to be a no-no during pregnancy, but seriously since all my cats are completely indoors and do not eat rodents of any sort, I just threw on a pair of gloves and cleaned out the box in the laundry room. Then I thoroughly cleaned the laundry room. There was enough litter in the floor to fill about half of a litter box. So that jumped started the nesting phase.

I have completed the closet in the hall by our bedroom. It was crazy unorganized. The laundry room and closet got completed on Wednesday.

Thursday, I reorganized the pantry. It was again, crazy unorganized. It is now clean and can hold the multiple sweeping tools I have. I also got a start on our closet and got caught up on the laundry! Then I got a break and went a friend's baby shower! It was a great time and a much needed escape.

Today, I was very tired. My body told me to keep it to minimum. So I got our bedroom done, and the closet finished. I also started on Allisyn's room and closet. Piper has FIVE bins of clothes waiting on her to wear. FIVE. After we get her room painted and furniture assembled I will start washing the clothes and putting up the stuff she will be able to use soon.

Our door is now fixed and all our baseboards are installed! Michael has also installed some sort of speaker panels in the wall. It looks pretty good. Now we just have to reposition the projector and all of that should be finished. I'm just not sure how well it is going to look with all of the cords. We shall see.

Tomorrow we will be continuing on our to-do list! I'm ready to mark off all the "need-to-do" items. It is looking better though.

WooHOO!!

We have something marked off our MUST-DO List!! Michael and James got the fence put back up last night! They have to get some braces of something because they set the poles to low, but it is up and functioning! I can now raise the blinds in our bedroom again!! YAY!!

Though last night brought some not-so-fun events too. Including me tearing a hole in my foot as I shut it in the door. Well, I caught it on the doggie door. Poor Allisyn didn't know how she should react. I did not yell at Michael on the way in to take care of it, and there was a time where I was a little light-headed and the room was spinning a little that I wish I would have, but we survived it.

Our friend Daniel also came over and got an idea of what we would need to fix the door. It did not occur to me until I was on my way home from dropping off food that he would actually have to go into the laundry room. AAAACK!! That is by far the grossest room in my house. So I call Michael and tell him our laundry room is gross. His answer? Yeah, so?

WHAT!?! I made sure he was aware that someone was going to be in there, someone who is not accustomed to the filth that lies within, and he told me it was too late. Daniel was about to leave. UGGGHHH! I'm about to just break the rule of not changing litter boxes while pregnant, because my husband SUCKS at it.

BUT, the door should get fixed this week, and Daniel left Michael his nail gun so he could finish up the baseboards quickly. So that will be two more things to knock off the list.

We were thinking about trying to get things together for the neighborhood garage sale this weekend, but it doesn't look like it is going to get done. Hopefully we will still be able to work on the garage though. I get it all cleaned up and then stuff just start piling up. Next on the list will be Piper's room. I'm getting antsy to get it done. Well, that is an update on us, isn't our life exciting?

30 weeks

So we have reached the 30 week mark. That's right, only 10 weeks to go, and a LOT to still get done.

Our fence has now been down for 2 weeks, but the posts are set and the panels should be put back up on Tuesday. The door frame may also be getting fixed on Tuesday. A friend from church is going to come and see what needs to be done and see if he can help Michael with it. He is also going to let Michael borrow his nail gun so he can finish installing the baseboards faster.

THEN, we may be able to get started on Piper's room. We got her furniture ordered. BRU neglected to tell us that they were not getting in anymore of the crib we were on the waiting list for. We found her new furniture at the new USA Baby. It is where we got Allisyn's crib/bed as well. While we were there I changed our minds about her bedding. Here is the new link if you are interested. We were having problems finding stuff to go with the old stuff and I couldn't decide on the right shade of purple. With this set I have more options with color for the room.

Thanks to my wonderful SIL Rachel, I have a registry at BRU started. It isn't much, but it is started! Allisyn and I got to spend a nice couple of days with Dustin and Rachel. Allisyn really likes spending time with them. I think they are kind of fond of spending time with Allisyn too!

I have lost track of where else I was going to go with this. I know there was more, but my brain just quit. I'll blog more soon if I remember what I was going to say.