Baby Steps

Actually, it's become more like baby step aerobics, kickboxing, rolling and tumbling! The "fluttery" kicks and sudden moves inside me have started to transform into some pretty amazing feelings of larger movements. K had his hand on my belly in bed last nite and we were both remarking at the larger feeelings of movement. A few times we could feel movement go from one side of my belly to the other side! Wow! Freaky and cool and weird all at the same time. It's really a different sensation. Once I got used to it I really started to enjoy it. The first few times were such a bizarre sensation though! I really do love this part of pregnancy! And, we're also able to watch the baby move within me. It's sooooo cool!

And, we are still stuck on boys names. So please keep those suggestions coming!

Baby Appointment

We had another midwife appointment tonite. Well, Baby and I did, K is so sick that he didn't want to get the midwife sick since she is also pregnant. Isn't he just the most thoughtful guy? So, once I got there, I called K and put him on speaker phone so he got to participate in our conversations and ask great questions! I know I say it every time, but I *love* our appointments! We get one whole hour to talk and discuss things and get informed. We are so blessed. This time we talked about some testing and post-birth testing of baby and a few shots. We also talked about the "what if..." scenario. I think everyone knows that our first goal with this pregnancy is healthy & safe Baby and Mom. In the research we have done, being low risk and healthy it's an option to do that at home. And, that is our plan. Birth at home with our midwife and her assistant (a midwife in training). Of course, with a caregiver paying sole attention to me it will be pretty obvious if things aren't going great and we need to transfer to a hospital. So we talked about that scenario a little. Needless to say, it's NOT at all what I want, but we won't risk Baby or my health and safety. My blood pressure is fab at 112/72 and baby's heart rate was bouncing between the 130s and 140s. It was pretty funny because Baby was doing a whole gymnastic routine in the belly during the appointment, so it was a little more difficult to hear the heartbeat over the sound of baby moving. Ya, we can HEAR the baby move with the doppler! It's awesome! Overall, yet another wonderful appointment!

p.s. According to my sister, that heartrate range = BOY. So, once again, I am appealing to you all for boy names. We are stuck! (Thanks to Amy C. for her suggestions so far!)

Truly, I need to learn about setting dates!

I cannot believe that I thought for a minute we'd be "close to done" by Sunday in the kitchen! The dear hubby got sick, like super sick, knock down, drag-out sick! I am trying not to get the crud so I am not pushing it much and trying to rest too. Only 1 more coat of poly on the doors and drawers and one side will be done, then I can flip them over and start the 2nd side. Since the hubby is so sick the floor is not even being considered...and there is wood to be chopped and stacked for the woodburning stove for the winter too. I still hope to have all the polying done by Halloween though. Maybe after Tai Chi and some scrapbooking shopping (click here for a fabulous sale on Saturday ONLY) I can get the doors hung and get to Ikea to look at lighting and pulls for the doors and drawers. I hope Hubby starts to feel better too, I hate it when he's sick, poor thing! He is unlike most men though, he is not one of those cry-baby "poor me" sick guys. He is a trooper.

Oh, and I am still waiting for the color chart for the new countertop resurface product so that is at least 5 days out still too. I don't think it'll ever get done.

the kitchen project continues...

Above, only *some* of the doors and drawers for the remodel.

After about 6 hours of staining spread across 2 days all of the cabinet doors and drawers are stained! It took longer than I had expected for the stain to dry, so I was only able to get one coat of varnish on one side of the doors. I plan on doing 3 coats on each side, so hopefully, after Trick-or-Treaters leave on Friday nite we can hang the doors! I am so excited to see it start to come together. We have picked up all the new laminate flooring, and it's acclimating to the house. I think we'll start installing that this week. I have a color matching card on order for the countertop product that we'll be using. Once that arrives and we pick a color, I can order the product from Hirshfields and in 3 days it'll be in the house and I can start resurfacing the countertops to look like a stone finish! I'll post more details on the product later. If I did my math correctly (which is unlikely) it'll cost less than $200 to resurface all the countertops and island to look like stone. It will be another busy week in the kitchen! If all goes well, we'll be close to done by Sunday!

Still no furnace!

It was snowing when I got up this morning and the wind was screaming! The weather channel said we were getting winds up to 50MPH today (Sunday). I was in no rush to get outta bed. I did roll over though and told the Hubby that he should put a sweater on, I still refused to turn on the furnace. He laughed and told me that he might have to work on the wood burning stove anyway; I called him a cheater! At least he waited til after 7pm to build a fire. Turning on the furnace is just one of those giving into winter things that I fight!

Perfect Saturday in Minnesota!

K, the Monster Dog and I all enjoyed a delightful autumn day in Minnesota on Saturday. We did a little around the house in the morning, went to Tai Chi class, then headed to Afton State Park for about 2.5 hours of hiking. I was a little sore afterwards. I am still fighting to get my lower back, sacrum, and left sciatic nerve bundle healthy...the weather was warm, sunny, and the leaves were covering the ground and perfect for crunching through! Monster Dog got to see his first horses and he was ready to chase them and play. It was a great way to spend Saturday. After the park, we ran a few errands then came home and I spent nearly 3 hours staining one side of all the new doors and cabinet drawers for the kitchen. A full, looonnng day!

Baby names...

Well, we have the girls names we *love*! There are 3 at the top of our list and we both agree on the order of our favorite 3 girley names. If it's a girl her middle name will be Mellissa. I am the 4th generation Mellissa so it will be an honor to continue that tradition if we have a girl. Boys names however, are a different story! We have a list of close to 40 names that either K likes, or I like or we are both "okay" with, but none for boys that we *love* yet. We are trying to find names that are unique without being sooooo different that our kid has a target painted on them for teasing and such. We are also trying to avoid the trendy names too. I think between K and I we have scoured 4 or 5 baby name books and countless web sites for names. I don't think we need to settle on one name, I'd like to have 2 or 3 great possibilities like we do with girley names. That way we can meet our baby and see what name seems to suit them the best. So, if you have suggestions, names you have heard or names you love, but couldn't or didn't give to your boys, PLEASE let me know what they are! Thank you!

The thermostat Nazi!

I think I got this from my dad...I hate turning on the heat in the fall! Fortunately, K is entertained by my resistance and he normally runs warm so it doesn't bother him. I always tease my dad that I'll hold out longer than him when it comes to turning on the heat, he claims that when he leaves for hunting mom ruins it for him and turns on the furnace. I just laugh and said it doesn't matter! This year I told him that if he really wants to win and keep mom away from the thermostat to take the cover off and disconnect the wires. Of course, when mom tries to turn on the heat and it doesn't work, it's likely she'll call us. And OF COURSE we'll head over there to fix it! I don't want mom to get cold! Hehehheehe! Our friends tease us too, that we have a cold house. Part of it is that the workshop is below the kitchen and it's not heated so the kitchen floor gets *super* cold, that coupled with 12' ceilings on the main floor make for a cooler home. I love the programmable thermostat. We have it set to 55 degrees at nite, it stays there when we get up for work and all day while we are at work. Then around 3pm the thermostat is programmed to bring the temp up to 60 degrees. But, at 9pm, it's back to 55. We do have a wood burning stove too, and that helps with supplemental heating. If we want it warmer we start a fire in the stove. K has done a great job of making upgrades to it so it's becoming more efficient. We also have a huge basket of guest slippers for folks who are visiting our home. Nothing is worse than cold feet!

So, have you turned on your furnace yet? What temp do you keep your house at in the winter?

My first real opals!

Nope, not earrings, a belly ring*! (A good piercer will not even consider piercing a pregnant or nursing woman!!!!) I have had my belly button pierced for years, so long I can't really remember when I did it, except that it was sometime after I turned 21. Due to the expanding belly my midwife told me that I have to get rid of the metal. So, I went to my favorite piercer/tattoo shop and talked to Verno the piercing man. He truly is amazing! He has an advanced college degree in anatomy and nutrition so he really knows his stuff! He looked at the belly and the old ring and told me that it was time to switch it out to a medical grade flexible plastic tubing. So, I picked out new jewlery ends for the plastic and he switched it all out. I picked out a small white opal for the top and a slightly larger white opal for the bottom. The great thing is that these ends can be used on the regular metal ring when I am done with pregnancy! Verno also said that I need to come see him regularly so he can check on the belly ring and the belly button and switch out the plastic piece as needed or tell me if it's time for the ring to go away alltogether. And, that service is free! He really is wonderful so if you are in the market for body jewlery or a new piercing drop me a line and I can tell you how to get hold of Verno...I don't want to post a link to his web site cuz...um...let's just say some people get some very personal parts of their body pierced and there may be pics of that on the site...ahem. So, below is a picture of the 24 week pregnant belly with my new opals! (One more week and I am 6 months pregnant!)

Ok, so I am a little weird.

One of the benefits of re-doing so much in the kitchen is the great organizey stuff I get to buy! Our spice cabinet was completely out of control! And it's funny because we really don't cook much! So, I culled the spice herd and got rid of duplicates, things that were mystery unlabeled spices, and stuff that looked terribly old! Then I bought a little spice bottle step ladder for the cabinet and then I alphabetized the small bottles, and the large bottles separately! Ahhh, alphebetized spices...what is more beautiful that that? I also picked up a new silverware holder because our old one kept letting the kinves escape. I love organizey things! Now, I just need to find the *perfect* stainless steel tea organizer/holder thingy that looks nice on the countertop...I might have to go to the place I am not allowed...(Ikea)!!!!!!

P.S. Ok, so after I told hubby about this post...he just patted my arm and said he was going to take swimming lessons...it took me a few seconds, but I started laughing! Remember the movie "Sleeping with the Enemy" with Julia Roberts? For some reason K is scared now that our spices are alphabetized.

My profound blog!

I was driving home from a doctor appointment today (which is another story entirely) and I came up with what at the time I thought would be the most profound discussion to start on my blog. I had a thought and wanted feedback and now, 5 hours later I can't remember a shred of what it was! I am blaming this on "placenta brain drain." I have read and heard from several preggo relatives, friends and our midwife that the hormonal changes cause forgetfulness during pregnancy. So, if I ever remember what it was, I promise I'll take notes and get it up here for us all to share!

So, onto that doctor appt story. We had been referred to an OB/Gyn specialist due to the fibroid tumor that was found in me at the first ultrasound a few months ago. Today was our 3rd appointment with him. Well, we got there at 3:45 for our appt and found out that the doc had to do an emergency C-section earlier that day and he was due back from the hospital anytime. Well, over 95 minutes later we were still 5 patients away from seeing him. So, I left the lab reports and ultrasound stuff for the doctor with his nurse. I figured we'd call the next day and talk to the nurse and see if we could do a phone consultation with the doctor. Well, around 7:30 tonite the doctor calls me AT HOME! Can you believe that?!?! I was stunned. Ok, so there are some incredible doctors out there! This doc is truly one of them. He had looked over the ultrasound report and told me that since the fibroid has been continuing to shrink that unless I started developing pain due to the fibroid tumor or other complications that I would not need to see him again. He told me to continue with our midwife for our care! Woohoo on several counts! The fibroid is continuing to shrink, the OB/Gyn saw no reason why we cannot deliver at home! I am still stunned that he called me at home. I really liked him after our second appointment, but now, well, if you need a referral for an AMAZING OB/Gyn in the Metro area of Minnesota, drop me a line. Thank you Dr. G! You are a dedicated, thoughtful, caring man and doctor.

a great photo shoot!

After a busy weekend I was able to get behind the camera again. It really felt wonderful! My gorgeous cousin is a senior in high school and she is a Fire Department explorer as well as an incredible archer and hunter. I was able to do some senior photos of her at the fire station with some of the rigs and out in the woods; we had a blast. It was obvious that the fire department is her second home and she really enjoys it! Her smiles were so genuine and she just glowed. It was a great end to a busy weekend.

A change of pace weekend

Hubby and I spent Friday nite relaxing. We did a few small clean-up-type things then went out to dinner, watched a little bit of the Gophers hockey game and then went home with the rental of the latest Indiana Jones movie. It was a nice Friday! Saturday morning was off to our one hour Tai Chi class...I still love it! I am looking forward to practicing in the evenings this week. I love watching K doing the form in class. He moves so gracefully and purposfully, I could watch him do this Tai Chi form all day! Then we spent the rest of the day running errands and checking things off our list. A trip to Costco, Menards, Lowe's, and several other places chewed up the majority of the day. We did do some more kitchen work in the evening though, so the day wasn't without some remodeling work! Tomorrow, church, then kitchen project and I am excited...I get to do a senior photo shoot for my cousin who is a fire explorer. We are doing this shoot at the fire department! I'll be sure to post some of our shots!

pathetic, with joy

That silly phrase kinda sums up where I am at emotionally right now. I think I am being overwhelmed with emotions for a variety of reasons, but I like to think it's just 5 months of PMS that never happened that are demanding an outlet! :-) So, if you keep reading, bear in mind that this is an emotional blog entry, it may not make any sense at all to you, but it's where I am right now (give me 15 minutes, I might be somewhere else!).

I *love* being pregnant, feeling baby move (which almost feels like it's constant sometimes) is so incredible. I fear that I will forget what this feels like and I never want to. I want to cherish this forever. I like the way my skin looks and that I am eating healthier than I have ever eaten in my life. It feels good to put real nutrition into me and know that I am giving our baby everything it needs to grow properly, healthy and strong. I feel powerful knowing that we are planning a birth without drugs or interventions.

I looked down yesterday as I was standing in line at the grocery store, and for the first time in memory, my stomach stuck out farther than my chest AND my shoes. I LOOKED DOWN AND COULD NOT SEE MY SHOES while I was standing still. It freaks me out and scares me. I have battled the demons of self image and emotional eating my whole life. At my heaviest (I can't believe that I am about to write this...) I weighed 198 pounds. At 5'5" that is not healthy or even "chunky," that's obese. I battled and lost weight and struggled for a long time to keep it in a healthy range which varied by about 15 pounds. Even at 198 I am pretty sure I could see my feet. At the start of this pregnancy I lost 11 pounds due to the pregnancy and fibroid dietary restrictions. Basically, I was eating MUCH healthier and seeing the results. I ate (and pretty much still do) 7-9 times a day. I have gained some weight (as a pregnant woman should do) and at 23 weeks now, (over 5 months) I have gained a total of 6 pounds(not even all of the weight I lost at the beginning). So when I look down, my head knows that it's not fat I am seeing, but still, it freaks me out. I worry about what the hubby thinks about this changing body. Don't even suggest that I ask him. Really?!? Do you see any man in his right mind telling a pregnant, emotional wife "Um honey, you really do look like a beached whale." I don't think so. Besides, K is very gentle with my emotions and would say something kind...but then the voice in my head says "ya, but is that what he really thinks, or does he just know what to say to make you happy?" See my dilemma?

Last nite I was thirsty. But I am so sick of water, herbal tea and protein drinks. That's all I drink. That's pretty much all I can drink or should drink. NONE of it sounded appealing to me. I don't know what does sound good, or what else I would drink if I wasn't pregnant (ok, maybe a glass of red wine!). I am just sick of water, tea and protein. And eggs. 2 eggs a day for nearly every day of this pregnancy. They start to loose their appeal no matter how many ways I try to prepare them. But, baby needs them.

I am tired too, just emotionally worn and on the verge of tears for 2 days now. And this is the best I can do to try to verbalize or identify it. There is so much more "there" but I am not sure how to wrap it into words.

Deep breath.....exhale....deep breath.....exhale. If you get a chance could you pray for peace for me please?

And progress continues!

Above, K hard at work making new cabinet doors!

So, we got home from work tonite puttered around and waited for each other to make dinner. :-) I guess both of us had a glum day and waited for the other. Once we filled our bellies we were off to our projects...I applied one coat of polyurethane to all the cabinets. Tomorrow night I will be able to sand the cabinets and apply the second coat of poly. My plan is to apply a third coat of poly on Wednesday evening. Then Thursday I can clean the entire kitchen! There is a fine coat of sanding residue on EVERYTHING in the kitchen. Ick. Once all nooks and crannies are clean, I can start putting things back in the cabinets (after all of those items get cleaned!)! My weekend will be spent applying edge banding on all of the doors and drawer fronts that K is busy making. After edge banding is on, they all get to be sanded, wiped off, then stained and 3 coats of poly applied...

On a great note I finally found 2 fabulous finishes that I can apply over the old, stained, chipped, yukky, 20 year old laminate countertops! Both of them are cost effective and have over 30 color choices! I will wait to tell you the details and which one we pick. I just want to get the cabinets done, then move on to part II. Some of you have asked about the order of events for this project. Here is the rundown with some explanation:

1) Prime and paint kitchen walls (DONE!)
2) Install new stair railings and modify stair coverings (DONE!)
3) Refinish cabinet boxes
4) Build a new pantry cabinet bigger to utilize all the available space & install (DONE!)
5) Build, edge band, stain & poly cabinet doors and drawer fronts & install
6) Resurface laminate countertops & install new sink (stainless) & faucet
7) Install new lighting (Ikea! Woohoo! Again stainless finish)
8) Select pulls (Ikea! Woohoo! You guessed it, stainless finish)
9) Install new laminate floor (Sam's Club -light maple color)

Naturally, floor coverings are always last so you don't drip stain, paint or tools on it. Likewise, paint walls, then stain cabinets so you don't get either of those messes on new countertops. Obviously I didn't list all the cleaning either. Where exactly is that "end that may be in sight" that I referred to the other day? I must be truly insane! (If anyone is bored this weekend and wants to stain or sand or do fussy touch up painting on the walls or help clean the coating of dust that is covering *everything* on the main level of the house just drop me a line!)

On a Baby note, the wee one is moving around LOTS now and I am feeling it all the time. It is wonderful and amazing and beyond any words that I know of. I am still waiting for K to be able to feel it. Soon, I hope, soon! According to what I am reading, Baby weighs about 1 pound now is 12" long from head to toe and all organs and stuff are "there." From here on out Baby will get bigger, finally start to put on some fat, and the organs will continue to fine tune. The pancreas is functioning and the tongue has all of it's taste buds and they're functioning already. There are some studies that suggest that the amniotic fluid is flavored by the mother's diet and that at this stage (23 weeks) baby can actually taste the amniotic fluid. Baby is swallowing amniotic fluid and practicing all sorts of digestive wonderment.

A weekend full of forward motion

We finally made visible forward progress on the kitchen face lift! K finished up the railing update and I LOVE it! It is much more modern than the old wood turned spindles. And the oak edging on the stairs will be easier to clean, especially since the spindles don't go down into the carpet anymore.

I sanded the cabinet boxes and got them all stained. If I never use a palm sander again it will be fine with me! I was finally able to custom mix a stain that K and I both like, and the same stain worked well on the old wood of the cabinet boxes and the new wood of the doors and new pantry. I ended up using a stain that I have never used before and I think I have a new favorite. I have never been thrilled with Minwax stain, it's just too uneven and just doesn't have a good "feel" to it when I am using it. The new stain is called Old Masters wiping stain and it's thick! It is almost gel consistency but goes on great and wipes off beautifully. I definitely will be using this on our next furniture making project. (Oh man, I just can't stop, can I?) Anyway, K started working on making the new doors for the cabinets tonite too. Hopefully the next few nites I can get the cabinets polyurethaned (3 coats) and then I can start edge banding the new doors. I am not sure, but I *think* the end may be in sight!

Below, the color of the cabinets originally, followed by the new color. I love the dark color! Partnered with some brushed nickel accents it will be a new contemporary kitchen...woohoo!

WOW! Tai Chi rocks!

The Hubby joined me and we are calling our 1 hour of tai chi on Saturday mornings a date! I enjoyed that hour so much I am not sure if I can put it into words. One of the funny things is that the form (Chinese word for routine) that we are learning is the form I posted here as an axample of Tai Chi. We spent the first class learning the first 6 moves. Needless to say, I am no where as graceful or coordinated as the beautiful woman in pink in the video (see here) but I have started. K and I will enjoy being able to practice together at home. I want to spend 10-20 minutes each day doing this. It takes so much concentration to control the movements of both arms, both legs, the crossing motions, and your breathing that there is a wonderful zen state that is easily achieved. I was at such peace while we were moving! Even just repeating one move to each side back and forth as we traversed the room was beautiful. I am excited to learn more of this form and to practice peace from within. Since K has 15 years of off and on martial arts experience he is familiar with the type of movements and I really enjoyed watching him. He also told me that tai chi is the hardest of all martial arts to learn. I am pretty proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone and trying something so new, especially something like this when I am such a desperately clutzy ungraceful person!

One more decision to make (sigh...).

So now I am having issues getting the grains of oak to match between the old wood and the new wood. The body of the wood is matching ok, but not the grains...it's just too obvious of a difference. So, next I am going to try a new wood dye and after that if we are still not thrilled, we will try the other extreme--to see how light we can get the cabinets. I would love to just clear seal the cabinets, and we can with the doors, but I have to get the existing cabinets *much* lighter to make that a possibility. Fortunately, I have old doors to experiment on. I talked to my dad tonite and bot the low down on the best ways to accomplish that. Unfortunately, it involves wood stripper, which, even when using a respirator and an open room, CANNOT be used by pregnant women. Argghh! So, I will have K try it on a door (if the new dye doesn't work) and if the new "light" wood will work, I will have to see about calling in some favors and then leave the house. If you know me, you know how much this will kill me! Should be an interesting weekend of decision making...

About that Rant! blog last week

A generous poster educated me last week on my Rant! blog (you can read it all here). I mistakenly stated that the HMO I belonged to was a for profit organization. Turns out, it is not. It is officially a "not for profit" in the state of Minnesota. Here is the definition of not for profit: "An incorporated organization in which stockholders and trustees do not share in profits. Nonprofits are usually established to accomplish some charitable, humanitarian, or educational purpose. See also 501(c)(3)." I still have some research to do on this topic. There are too many unanswered questions for me...Tina also found some great links which are also in the comments section of "Rant!" that you can read here.

Tai Chi!

The link above is to a beautiful example of Tai Chi. Here is a wikipedia definition of it. It's pretty much a slow, healthful, balanced form of martial arts. It's not a fighting or defensive martial art. I start my first tai chi class on Saturday morning and I am sooo excited! This will be wonderful, meditative, relaxing and so great to do during (and after) pregnancy. I can't wait to tell you how it all goes!

soooo cuuuuute!

My friend, bloggy inspiration and "dealer" (in all wonderful scrapbooking things!) gave me this today for our Baby's room. We are going to do a light jungle theme (light means we aren't going over the top with matchy-matchy stuff and all). Both K and I realize that nursery decor is really for the parents, except for pictures Baby will not remember anything about their room. But, Tina gave us this gorgeous little faux animal fur rug that is beyond words! When I showed it to K tonite, he was just blown away at how amazing it is! He loves it...and, so does Baxter. Good thing we taught him the "leave it" command. I had to use it more than a few times already...poor puppy.

And the kitchen remodel goes on (and on and on and on...)

Yep, that's The Mess. Good thing I am not much into cooking!

This is starting to get old. I feel like we are just making a bigger mess every day rather than making progress. Friday I got all the wood parts of the railing system stained, and Saturday they all received 2-3 coats of polyurethane. Naturally, I wore my respirator the whole time, had the windows all over the house open and ran a commercial air scrubber too (thanks to work for letting me bring it home). Saturday we finished taking the carpet *carefully* off the stairs so we can re-cut and install it later, got the edges where the wall meets the stairs mudded (the carpet staples chewed it up pretty nicely), I emptied all the upper cabinets in the kitchen, drew a layout of the kitchen and labeled all the doors and drawers accordingly. The Hubby will use that layout and the doors to make the new doors and the drawings with labels will make it LOTS easier to get each door back to where it needs to hang. Sunday will bring sanding of the cabinet boxes and face frames (the fronts). I also played around with stain options for the cabinets. We want to go lots darker and I am having trouble getting the new wood, which will be used for the doors and drawers, to match the sanded "old wood" of the cabinet boxes. I am using a combo of wood dye and stain and am still not happy. So, off to the wood working store tomorrow to see what else I can find. I would love to get these things stained this week and polyed, but without a viable color option I am stuck. And no, I can't paint them, they're oak and I would get put in jail for painting oak. It's ok to paint woods like pine, ash, poplar. But it's NEVER, EVER, EVER ok to paint woods like, oak, cherry, hickory, maple. It's just wrong.

The stairs, (my mud job) ready for a new look!

Above, stain matching that is just NOT working. On the left is the old wood sample that I am trying to get to match the new wood sample on the right.

Every woman should have a good knife & know how to use it!

I *love* this mud knife! It's my 10" sheetrock mudding knife. I have 6", 8" and 14" ones also. I had to do a little sheetrock patching tonight along the stairs that we are changing up a little as a part of the kitchen remodel. Mudding sheetrock (rock) is one of those cathartic house projects for me. (unless it's mudding a ceiling, ick! too hard on the neck!) Taking a gouge out of a wall and making it smooth as silk or bringing a new wall with all the sheetrock seams to a finished wall without any seams, bumps, or divots makes me happy. It's pretty instantly rewarding and it's obvious to all if the job was well done or not. I splurged a few years ago and bought my new mud knives - they all have padded handles and WOW do they make it easier! My old ones had wooden grips and they just didn't feel right in my hands.

This month's midwife appt & a moment (or 2) of panic!

We had a great appointment on Wednesday with our midwife! Some of you have asked if Kyle has gone to some of the appointments. Actually, he's gone to ALL of our appointments, fibroid, baby, me, if one of the three are involved he's there. I am so blessed to have a hubby who wants to be involved! I got reprimanded for being on my dad's roof doing roofing work a little last weekend, and for doing so much physical stuff. I really wrecked up my lower back, which is connected to the pelvis which is connected to the uterus, which is baby's home. Ya, you see the problem with that, huh? I have promised to stop trying to do "everything" as is my nature. It bites, but I know it's the right thing for me and Baby to be as healthy as we can be. It's really hard to ask for help when it's something that I know I can do. We got to hear Baby's heart rate and hear the little one squirm around; heart rate was in the 140's to 150's and was fluctuating with movements which is wonderful! My uterus measured at 22 weeks, even though I am at 21 weeks, but a little variation is normal. Other than that, not much new. I did (and am still) freaking out a little bit about one thing. Our next appointment is October 29th, our midwife told me that at that point I will be at the start of the 3rd trimester. What?!?!?!? Third tri?!?!?! No! I am sooo not ready for that! That's only 4 weeks away! I am panicking a little (ok, maybe a lot) and I am not sure I can go into all the reasons why...please just say a little prayer for me to be calm and to accept that everything will be ok.

RANT!

Grrr! I am so stinkin' frustrated with our "health care" system. What a joke! Don't get me wrong, the next to last thing I want is a national health care program. That would take away too much control and choices from parents and individuals for their own health care. Really, we don't have health insurance. We have surgical insurance. There is little to no coverage for true health and wellness. Chiropractic care is limited for most of us on the HMO plans, if covered all, same for acupuncture and nautropathic medicine. I called my HMO today to ask if they cover the cost of birthing classes. (In some states they do.) But no, paying for a $250 class is taking money from these FOR PROFIT organizations. It's like they'd rather be stuck with a much higher bill for the drugs a woman may need because she didn't learn in a birth class other ways to deal with pain. I just get so frustrated with it. The average cost of a "normal" birth in a Minnesota hospital last year was $14,000. The cost of a home birth, including all pre-natal care, at home visits after baby is born total just under $3500. And, none of that is covered by health insurance. Midwifery is legal, home birthing is legal, it's covered in other states but not here and not by HealthPartners. It's frustrating.

Mmm, a re-found simple pleasure!

Above, Paul Potts singing for the first time on national tv in Great Britian...you'll be amazed at Simon Cowell's response at the end!

I absolutely love Paul Potts voice and the backstory to his new fame. He was a cell phone salesman in great Britian with a love for opera. He appeared in many community productions and enrolled in an opera course when he was hit by a car while riding his bike to the class. Due to his injuries he never was able to complete the class. At the urging of his wife, he tried out for Britian's Got Talent and the rest is history. He won last year and from the moment I first heard his voice I was on the quest for his CD. It's beautiful! It's a mix of opera numbers that just move me. I had been looking all over the house for it and today, I was listening to a CD in my car when I hit the wrong button on the disc changer, and the Paul Potts CD started to play! I was thrilled! It just made my day to hear that clear voice again! Hhhmmmmmmm...beware, it's dangerous to drive to. I just want to crank the sound, close my eyes and let the music take control of me...Another wonderful thing here is the growth paul has had personally. The feelings of self confidence can really change change your life.

Below, Paul singing in the finale of the show...