The nursery - nearing completion!

This last week my Mom has been staying with us and helping me get the nursery in order. After day two, this is where we stood.

Mom and I found this great side table at Target and it matches the furniture that we had purchased perfectly!




We got all the bedding out and decided that we would use the blanket as a wall hanging so that it can be displayed.





Here's the crib with the bedding all in it. I'll have to snap some better pics of it.





I added some of my wall decals to the wall too. They are so darn cute and really make a difference to the room.





Here's one of the shelves that we got at Ikea. Unfortunately we had a bit of a mishap with the other one and shortly after this Shooter got it put back up. Also, you can see the cute sign that we had made for Parker's nursery.




It's coming along and actually looks sooooooo much better today. I will snap a few pics and definitely post them.

Later!
L.

Seriously...where has time gone?

Okay...I just realized that it's been something like 16 days since my last blog posting and some of
you are probably wondering what has happened to me.

Well, nothing really....life has just happened....

Time seems to have sped up considerably and each day passes at mach speed. I feel like the Millennium Falcon whipping through the universe with the stars streaking past me.

I have honestly been spending much time stressing about this pregnancy, what's going to happen after the baby is born, and just dealing with a lot of stuff.

I am now starting to feel some of the amazingly wonderful symptoms of pregnancy too. My ankles are swelling to phenomenal proportions and I've had to ditch my wedding rings. My belly is poking outward at an alarming pace and the baby is growing and kicking like crazy.

Basically everything is great with the baby...we think....I would have said that unequivocally yesterday however today I received a call from my nurse indicating my OB wasn't happy with the results from my sonogram last week. She said my amniotic fluid level was a little high, 21.62 where 21 is the high end of normal. I go in next week for another sonogram at my high risk doctor's office so hopefully the news will be better.

I did have my first baby shower over the weekend and my second one this afternoon. I'll be posting pictures from this weekend and also the progression of the nursery over the course of the next few days. And I promise to try to be better about posting. :-)

Later!
L.

Recipe Time! Easy Key Lime Pie

I was over at my sister-in-law's house this weekend to celebrate Mother's Day and Shooter's birthday and of course we indulged in the most amazing food! We had the traditional family burgers which were awesome and this really great black bean salad. My mother-in-law made Shooter's favorite pound cake and then my sister-in-law made this wonderfully light and delicious key lime pie. Immediately I knew I had to have the recipe! And I shall share with each of you. :-)


Butter Crunch Crust

1/2 C softened butter
1/4 C packed brown sugar (light)
1 C all purpose flour
1/2 C chopped almonds

Combine butter, brown sugar, flour and nuts and place in a 9x13 baking pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 min or until golden brown. Remove from oven and stir at once. Quickly press crumbs against the bottom and sides of a 9 in ch pie plate. Cool. Reserve a few crumbs for top of pie.

Easy Key Lime Pie

Butter Crunch Crust (recipe above)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/3 cup + 1 Tbs Nellie and Joe's key lime juice

1 small container Cool-Whip (thawed)

Combine condensed milk, lime juice and whipped topping. Stir until well blended. Pour into cooled pie shell and top with reserved crumbs. Refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

Now, go forth and enjoy this creamy tart deliciousness!

L.

Customer service....gone the way of the dinosaur....

Okay...so this saga started on Saturday....and was only reconciled yesterday late afternoon.

(Names have been changed to protect the innocent, and me, but you can figure out who the guilty parties are easily enough...)

It started oh so innocently with me dropping off a prescription for my iron pills at the CraptasticValueShop that is around the corner from my house. I moved all prescriptions to that location because a local WalGreenjeans was horrible. Until now I've been really happy with the local CraptasticValueShop and have had no reason to complain.

Well, I dropped off that scrip and then 15 min later got a call from the pharmacist indicating that they didn't have the name brand in stock and would I settle for the generic - if I get the generic then I can get the scrip filled today. I'm not a generic drug kinda gal, so I said I'd wait for the name brand to come in on Monday.

I stop by the pharmacy on Monday afternoon, after work to pick up my scrip (as well as one for Shooter) and the tech says, "That'll be $80+ because this drug isn't covered by your insurance." I am flabbergasted because I happen to carry some of the world's best insurance and they cover practically everything for practically no co-pay. I shrug and ask the pharmacist, a gentleman who I question whether had any sense about anything, if the generic is covered and if it is I'll just take that. He comes back and tells me it's covered but they have to order it. I don't question at this point, I just tell him I'll come back tomorrow.

So....in the meantime....on Tuesday morning I call my insurance company Ate-nada and they say that they drug is by all means covered and they're not sure why it would come back as not covered. Only reason they could figure is that the pharmacy did something wrong when they submitted it in the system. Argh!

I call CraptasticValueShop back and talk to the tech who answered the phone. She's amazed at my story and puts the original scrip back into the system and says she's not sure what happened initially because it's now coming back with a correct co-pay. She puts the phone down and yells at the pharmacist, "Did you work on XXXX for a patient yesterday?" The pharmacist says, "Yea, why??" Then the tech realizes I'm not really on hold and puts me on hold. She comes back and all she says is that they'll fix the problem and my scrip will be ready that afternoon.

I mean seriously....it took me 4 days to get one prescription filled. Back and forth and back and forth...I'm surprised my filter stayed intact and I didn't go off on anyone. Here lately the baby has been sucking all filters from me and what I think immediately comes out of my mouth. Luckily for me...and for the pharmacy folks....the filter remained intact and I was able to maintain my grace and dignity. :-) ha!

Am I really ready?

Whew...is it really Monday again? I mean, seriously....where do these weeks keep going....because I'm kinda ready for them to slow down a bit!

Today marks 30 weeks in my pregnancy with Parker. I'm just amazed and flabbergasted to be honest. For the longest time I never saw myself as a mother. I wasn't really the nuturing kind and Shooter and I were dealing with our own issues and trying to keep our rocky marriage afloat. This was for a big majority of our (close to be) 10 year marriage.

Suddenly, however, Christmas 2007 marked a change for both Shooter and I. We felt different and we felt like we were ready to be parents. We have grown up, our marriage had grown up and we were ready for an additional family member. Becoming parents kinda remained an idea we were ready for but seemed so far off as we kept trying....month after month. It was something we wanted but couldn't really grasp.

In November 2008 we found ourselves faced with the reality of becoming parents. There were the first three months where we were scared senseless that we'd lose our precious baby. Then the second three months where we were scared senseless that something would be wrong with our precious son. Now I'm in the last of the three months and reality is seriously hitting me...I'm going to be a mother!!!!

Today begins our 10 week countdown to Parker's due date and I'm beginning to find myself overwhelmed with all that lies ahead of me. I'm a list person but I have avoided making a list when it comes to what we need to do to get the nursery ready. I just don't want to face it...so I'm ignoring it. That's my way. :-) Luckily my Mother isn't and she's devising a plan as we speak for keeping me on track. She's so ready for her grandson to get here she just about can't see straight. She's spurring me on toward making the list that I need to create and then start working it.

So here goes:

* Clean out closet in nursery - donate appropriate items and trash the rest
* Buy shelf liner for drawers in nursery dressers
* Write thank you notes
* Clean out guest room and move appropriate items to sunroom/kitchen/master bedroom
* Organize the top of the linen closet
* Buy shelves for the nursery
* Buy bookcase for the nursery
* Decide if I'm doing Parker's name in wood letters for the wall in nursery
* Organize master bedroom closet - make room for clothes in storage
* Find coordinating tablecloths and valances for kitchen
* Wash sheers in living and dining room
* Clean out the garage - donate appropriate items and trash the rest
* Get my "Go Bag" ready for the hospital

I know this is only scratching the surface. This is just the stuff I need to do AT HOME. This doesn't count all the stuff I have to do at work to get ready to be out for 14 weeks. Okay...I'm getting hysterical just thinking about it.....gotta do some deep breathing and calm down. I have 10 weeks to go...we can get this all accomplished....I can do it! :-)

Am I really ready? I don't know....I'm pretty sure I'm not...but I'm as ready as I can be....as ready as you can ever be.

L.

Something pretty awesome is about to happen...

Here is a picture of my iris flower bed. I have two flower beds in my front yard and one holds only perennial flowers of various types and one only has irises in it. Can you see all the blooms that are developing there? This bed is about to EXPLODE in color!!!!



Here's one of the lighter purple irises that has already bloomed. The ones above will be a really dark purple color. I just love the ruffles and the color. Something about irises just captivates me!


L.