Defying logic

You always hear new parents talking about the indescribable love they feel for their babies. How they didn't really know what love was before they had a baby. How they would die for their baby. How everything in life changed and became more meaningful and real after they had a baby. And they sound so, weird. I mean, I knew having a baby did those things, I just didn't think it was as significant as they made it out to be. And then I had Navy Bean.


But, those feelings just don't make any sense at all. I mean, lets look at the facts. In phase 1 of Navy Bean's life, she made me fat, she kicked me, she kept me from having good sleep, I couldn't eat certain foods that I love (like certain cheeses) and because I was so wobbly, I couldn't bird watch the way I wanted. Nothing there that really elicits unconditional love.

Phase 2: she ripped me a new one, she shredded my nipples, she kept me from getting any sleep (so it felt), she cried for no reason, she pooped more than any person should poop, she peed on the couch, and just this morning, while getting her out of her bath, she pooped on me.

Phase 3: we really don't know yet. I mean, genetically, she should be intelligent, but also strong willed and stubborn. And we really don't know how she'll turn out. She may be horrible. She may never amount to anything. She may save the world. We just don't know.

Yet, I melt when I see her. I'm filled with absolute joy when she smiles at me (it's not gas!). I feel unconditional, undying love when I stroke her little head. I love holding her, even when she's crying (for a while). She has become my life and I can't imagine it without her.

And it dawned on me. That's kind of how God loves us. We don't deserve his love, yet it's there. He even knows whether or not we'll reject him, and yet, he loves us. How awesome is that!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

This is how she got here

I suppose I should record the story of Navy Bean's birth. Well, the day of the 10th I decided that maybe working in the garden would help jump start labor. I think it may have worked because I was in inactive labor the rest of the day. I didn't tell Wes though, because I really didn't want him to freak out about it. And, the contractions weren't getting worse, or closer together. At bedtime, I had just about given up hope that it would happen. And then I noticed that I was feeling a little wet down there, and I had just gone to the bathroom. I smacked Wes and told him to get me a towel, my water had broken. I managed to get to the bathroom without getting anything anywhere and Wes thought I was just "leaking". Except, I went to take a shower and leaked everywhere and I wouldn't stop. This was about 11:35pm. So, we finished packing stuff up, I ate a bowl of cereal and called my mom and Camille and we head to the hospital. By the time we got there, it was about 12:30am.

We head up to labor and delivery and they stuck me in a room and came in twice to see if my water had actually broke. This, despite the fact that I was going through pads like crazy because I was clearly leaking. Finally, they hooked me up to a monitor to make sure the baby was ok (she was), and to see if I was having contractions. I was, but they were erratic and not that painful. Finally, at about 1:30 to 2:00 they moved me to a delivery room. Because my water had broke, they had to induce labor and so started the pitocin. I was only dilated to maybe a 2 at this point. The contractions started coming regularly at this point. Now, I had wanted to have a very active labor, walking around, squatting, that sort of thing. However, if you know anything about me, you know I love to sleep and at this point, I was beyond exhausted. I tried to sleep between contractions (they were still several minutes apart) but just couldn't do it and I was too tired to do anything. I was really afraid that I would be too tired to push when we finally got to that point. Finally, at about 5:00 I decided to get some narcotics, I was also dilated to about a 3. I don't know what they gave me, but they allowed me to sleep, but they didn't do anything to reduce the pain.

Now, the narcotics. They made me hallucinate. I was very upset that the hospital was allowing Dennis the menace to run around because this was not something a kid should see. And then, I was upset because the Russian guy who was supposed to bring me the giant purple mushrooms with white spots, the mushrooms that would make the pain go away, lied to me. The mushrooms did not make the pain go away, they made it worse. And I was upset that the narcotics made the contractions farther apart and I told Wes that. They had to be at least 10 minutes apart, because of the sleep and the hallucinations. Wes looked at me and said "baby, they're 1 minute apart, that's it." So I guess the drugs worked.

At around 7:30am I felt like I needed to push, but the nurse said I would probably only be dilated to 4 or 5. Finally, Wes made her get a doctor to check me. I was dilated to 9. Go drugs!!! And the pushing began soon afterwards. The pushing actually hurt less than the contractions and I felt like I was accomplishing something. The nurse finally said she could see the baby's head and she had a full head of dark hair. I'm pretty sure I told the nurse that wasn't our baby because our baby wouldn't have any hair. I might have even asked her if she was looking at the right vagina. I'll spare you the bloody and disgusting and painful last minutes of labor (including getting my giant placenta out, which ripped out half the stitches they had already done. What idiot decided to do it in that order?). She was born at 9:43 am, weighing in at 7 lbs, 10 oz. and 21 1/2 inches long. She is a very long baby. And she is very beautiful. Which is good, because she's been kind of cranky and can't figure out her days and nights. I'm a little tired.

But, she was totally worth it. Here's some silly pictures of her making faces.

Working on a yawn.

Such munchable cheeks!

I think we're going to keep her. I've become rather attached.

And, as Beth noticed, I'm not giving out her name. You can e-mail me if you would like it.

Wow!!!!

The little Navy Bean made her debut on Nov. 11, 2008 at 9:43am. It was brutal but could have been worse. I'll write more about that later, now, I'm just going to post a few pictures and then probably try to feed her again. She is beautiful and I'm very happy. We are both home and healthy (she's not always happy, which makes me unhappy, but we're good).

Look at those long munchable toes!

We have no idea where all that dark hair came from!

Isn't she just beautiful. Her cheeks are so huge!

She's perfect and I'm happy!

On the way

I interupt the regularly scheduled program to bring you this update: my water has broke and I am on my way to the hospital!!!! Hopefully it will be short and sweet (but I'm not even really having contractions yet). Update as soon as possible!

Forty weeks (and counting)

Guess who's due to have a baby today? ME!!!!! Am I having a baby today? Probably not!!!

Look at the size of that thing!!!!

Yesterday, someone asked if I was having twins!

I've tried everything: walking, swimming, cleaning, dancing, talking to her, threatening her, nothing seems to work. She is warm and comfy (I am not comfy!!!! But I am warm, actually, pretty hot all the time). Due to when my husband has to return to work and when my parents will be here, if we haven't had her by next Wed., we will discuss induction with the doctor. So we do know it will be within a week. Which excites me and scares me. But mostly excites me.

I received a wonderful box from Sandi and David this week (Fighting Maturity). It was filled with tiny little cute clothes. When faced with baby clothes I always have the same reaction: I can't believe my baby will be that small!!! Then, I can't believe I have to push something that big out of my body!!! But we didn't have any newborn clothes items, so they were needed. (Although I think someone, maybe a grandma or a daddy went a little crazy with the shopping when they discovered they were having twin girls!) Wes and I are still trying to figure out how we went from having no baby clothes only three weeks ago, to our unborn baby having more clothes than both of us combined! Although, I guess the majority of those clothes are onesies. I want everyone to take a moment, close your eyes and imagine all the people in the entire world wearing onesies. This is definitely worth one little moment! (I keep picturing Barbie in a onesie!)

The rest of today will be spent cleaning and having Mexican food. And hopefully I'll have baby pictures to post soon!

Over-heard at the gym

While changing at the gym the other day, I over-heard two mid-life women talking.

"I drank soy milk and ate soy products for years, not knowing."
"Yeah, my doctor told me that they could cause osteoporosis because of all the estrogen."
"I know. I used to give it to my kids too, including my son. No wonder there are so many gays! I bet their moms didn't even know about all the estrogen in soy milk."

There's not even anything you can say to that!

We can do it, we did it, we will do it!

I can't let the election pass without saying a few words. Before I was a mommy to be, I was a historian, one who studied totalitarian governments. Therefore I know how important voting is. It is a privilege and a right, one that too many people take for granted, thinking their vote won't make the difference anyway. You know what, it may not make a difference, but if enough people see it that way than it won't make a difference and it will be taken away from us.

John McCain is a brave, honorable man and I respect him and his service to our country. He has endured things that no one should have to go through. However, I did not think this made him the best choice to lead our country. And even if I had supported him, once he picked Palin, I would have changed my vote. I thought his concession speech was gracious and I hope he continues to try to encourage Republicans to respect and hear out our new President.

Barack Obama is a historical figure. I am very proud that I will be able to tell my daughter that the year she was born, mommy, daddy and the United States made history. I am thankful that Obama's acceptance speech was not about mandates from the people to disregard Republicans, but rather how it is time for the country to unite. That we are all Americans and that he will be the President of all of us, regardless of whom we voted for. That is the message we need and I hope that we all continue to work towards that goal.

Obama has a very rough four (hopefully 8) years ahead of him though. However, I think that even if all he accomplishes is to improve the reputation of the United States with the rest of the world, and he is able to mend relationships and open new lines of communication with countries we have disregarded for so long, then he will have been a successful President.

I encourage everyone to keep the fervor of the election alive and to remember that we are all in this together. We are united and will remain united. That we made history and we can do it again. That we need to pray for our government, regardless of if we agree with them or not. And we need to remember how blessed we are, because at least we get a voice.

I have a nursery

I know I've been promising to post pictures, but I finally got around to it. It seems like everything takes twice as long these days, and I have a feeling that by having this baby (like I have a choice now), everything will take even longer.

Pack n' play, in our room. I paid less than half of its retail cost on Craig's list!

My aunt made this. It is amazing!

And here's the nursery! All those baskets on the bookshelf, another Craig's list deal.

I'm starting to wonder, is the rest of my life going to be me wishing I could do something (sometimes, anything) but can't because I've decided to have a baby? I mean, I want to have a baby and I want to be a mom, but I know being a parent is not exactly conducive to having one's own personal life. When will I be able to sleep through a whole night again? When will I be able to read a whole book in one afternoon? Can I still crochet and sew? And I'm very upset that I missed the whole fall migration season.

I know that how we raise the child will play a large role in what we're able to do. If I read to her everyday (and I do occasionally read to her now), hopefully she will love reading and we can spend time together reading. If we spend a lot of time outside, she may better appreciate birds and nature and then that becomes family time. If I crochet and sew, she becomes interested in crafts. That's the theory anyway. But what if I have a difficult child. They happen, often through no fault of the parent. I don't mind if the Navy Bean is interested in other stuff, as long as she engages in life. I don't expect life to stay the same. I expect it to get more challenging, more interesting and more meaningful. I expect to grow as a person. I expect my world to become so much larger than I ever thought it could. I just wonder if I'm up to the challenge, because now, it's not just my life I could potentially waste, it's hers too.

This is starting to get old

So I'm still pregnant. And I'm huge. Really huge. And I can't figure out why because there is only one of them in there. One! (Although I had a dream it ended up being twins, but after 5 (FIVE) ultrasounds, if it ended up being twins, I think I would sue someone.) Anyway, we decided I should get some "classy" pictures. To remember how freaking huge I am. Fun times.

Dancing the day away!

Pay no attention to the badonkadonk. It's keeping me balanced!

This looks all serious, but I'm telling her that she has 2 weeks until I'm evicting her.

The bags are packed, the birth plans copied, the phone list on top of the bag. The baby clothes/blankets/sheets are washed. The nursery done (pictures at a later date). The car seat checked out by three firefighters. Every single time I call my mom she answer with "did you have a baby?" Like I wouldn't call her on the way to the hospital. The little Navy Bean still hasn't dropped, but I've had other (gross) signs that labor will be soon (I'll spare you). The 6th of Nov. would be the perfect day, from Wes's job's stand-point, but we don't really have too much control. Now we just wait and I dream of sleeping on my stomach again and munching on little toes.

This is easy enough

Beth tagged me for a meme and I think it's a great idea because my brain is fried and really, how much more bitching about how pregnant I am do you really want to hear?

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago:
Working on my MA in Modern European History at SMU
Working as a bill collector for a cable/telephone company
Getting a divorce
Geez, 10 years was a long time ago, how am I supposed to remember?
I think I moved (I'm pretty sure I did)
Pretty much changed my whole life (see above divorce, and MA)

5 Things on my to do list today:
water plants
write thank you notes for baby gifts
pack hospital bag
unpack my winter clothes, even though I doubt I'll be able to wear any of them this year
clean my gross kitchen

5 snacks I like:
apples with cheddar cheese
raw veggies
candy, especially Sour Patch kids and snickers
cheez-its
cheese

5 Things I would do if I were a millionaire:
pay off all our debt, including student loans
give 10% to my church
travel everywhere
give money to my family and Camille
buy a house

5 places I have lived:
Marshall, Minnesota (total of 5 years)
Las Vegas, Nevada (total of 7 years)
Dallas area, Texas (14 years)
Madison, Wisconsin (5 years)
Virginia Beach, Virginia (2 1/2 years, so far)

5 Jobs I have had:
Phone ho at Pizza Hut
Janitor at Peterbuilt truck company (this was a cool job, as I worked at the factory where they developed new trucks)
Bill collector for a cable/phone company
Clerk at the Wisconsin Historical Museum
TA at the University of Wisconsin

I am supposed to tag 5 other people, but I'm too tired to figure out who, so now I'm going to go take a nap.

It's not what you think

I have not had the baby. I know it would be easy to think that, since I've been gone for a week, but I've just been busy. And really tired. We didn't go to the wedding, but our friends did stay with us, and we had a great visit. I had my baby shower on Sunday, which went very well and we got a ton of great stuff. Monday and Tuesday we went out and spent a TON of money on all the other baby stuff we hadn't gotten, but thought we might need (we still spent less money than IQ did on her crib alone!). So we got things like a crib mattress, sheets for the crib, sheets for the pack n' play, sheets for the Moses basket, a few more receiving blankets, onesies (because I didn't get ANY at my shower!), a baby carrier. Stuff like that! All that shopping left me tired! But then I had to WASH all the stuff we bought. Meanwhile, my husband set up the pack n' play in the bedroom (we're using the bassinet for the first couple of months. The moses basket is going downstairs). So the baby has a place to sleep! Actually, two places!!! And the crib has been ordered. And the baby's room is starting to look empty. Which is good, because last week it had a ton of boxes, a huge computer desk, a filing cabinet, two computers, and a bunch of other crap in it. That's all been moved out and I think by the end of today, it will be set up (minus the crib, so it'll look a little funny). I'll post a picture soon!

Today, I need to do some clothes shopping. Yes, I know, it is a strange time to do that, only 2 1/2 weeks before the baby is due, but the weather has changed and ALL my maternity clothes are summer clothes. And we're going to Texas for Christmas, and I doubt I'll be in my regular clothes by then. I'm just going to go to Goodwill to pick up one other pair of pants, and maybe a couple of large shirts. After the baby and before Christmas, I'll go back to Goodwill for a few larger non-maternity pieces. We also put the baby seat in the car (my husband did that without cutting all the tags off of it) and we'll take it to a fire station today to make sure he did it correctly. And I'll also try to get to the many thank you notes I need to get sent out. I also haven't packed my hospital bag yet, but that's partly due to a lack of clothing to pack in it.

I am feeling good about stuff, but also want to get all the stuff on my to do list marked off. What I really want to do though, is sit down and crochet or read a good book. I miss reading! Since almost everything is done, I hope I can manage to read something non-baby related before the baby is born. As long as it's short. And while I love my magazines, since I voted on Tuesday, I don't really need to read any more political crap. I wonder if I have time to read The Brothers Karamazov again (ok, that's a joke. The book has about 1,000 pages. Although, I really would like to read it again soon). But I guess I should get started on my to do list. I think it'll be done by the end of the week, and then I can just relax until the baby gets here!

One last thing, I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and now the doctor is saying the baby is probably not going to be as big as she originally thought!!!! YAY!!!!!

We're not going.

Well, the doctor strongly suggested we not go to the wedding. Her concern was that the baby might be too uncomfortable, especially since her head is sitting on the edge of my pelvic bone (which would explain yesterday's pain) and not engaged, that she might actually flip and go breech (who knew). So, we decided to stay put. I haven't had contractions today, but we only have 3 weeks 2 days to the due date, and like she said, this stuff can happen fast. The good news is that some of our friends who flew out for the wedding are staying with us, so at least we get to visit with them.

We ordered the crib today. I'm not sure how long it'll take to get here, not that it matters because we still don't have any place to put it, but at least it's ordered (it's apparently very popular because ever single place we've looked has been sold out for the past month). And I got a couple of different packages today, so we're starting to feel like we're a little more prepared (ok, for a couple of minutes, and then panic sets in again). Overall, things are going well, and I'm waddling right along.

Just try to roll over

The house is quiet and empty. The kids and Wes's dad left yesterday. The house is a mess. He was supposed to have today off, but unfortunately, one of the other officers had a death in the family, so Wes is working for him. We were going to clean the house today, because tomorrow, we're having company! So I've been trying to clean, but um, I'm having these pesky contractions. And I've been having them off and on for a week. And they're starting to hurt and they don't go away quite as quickly as they did before. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, and Wes wants me to ask about them, but there's only one problem. We're having company because some friends of ours are getting married on Friday. But they're getting married in North Carolina, an hour and a half away. I would like to go (not at the risk of Navy Bean, of course), but I know if we ask about the contractions, that'll probably be a no (Wes doesn't understand why, which kind of confuses me). So I'll take it easy today, and hopefully they'll go away on their own. I'm sure I'll let you know either way.

They had a crane!!!!

But they took the crane away before I could use it! I did manage to get on the ship though. Wes was very happy to see me, and I him. Since I don't have 10,000 words, I have a picture.

Don't they have a crane?

Wes gets home today!!!! I am so very excited. I'll leave here in about an hour and we'll watch the ship come in (literally) and then Allison will climb aboard, and then I'll wait for the giant crane. I asked Wes how they will get me aboard. I mean, I am really big and round and have no balance or coordination. He said I could climb up the ramp. Not unless someone is pushing me (and have blocked off the ramp, it's hard getting up and down it when other people are on it and you're not 8 1/2 months pregnant). In his defense, I haven't sent him a picture in a month! And yes, I do have to go aboard, unless I want to sit on the pier for a couple of hours while he finishes everything up. Fun times!!!!

I feel bad for Allison. She has been stuck here with just me since Friday morning. Not that there is anything wrong with me, but um, I'm not used to having an 8 year old kid around. I'm not used to having anyone around. And I love playing board games, but can really only sit on those dining room chairs for an hour before my entire body screams in pain. And getting on the floor to play, hahahahahahahahaahaha!!!!! I've been trying to break the day into smaller parts, doing stuff, like shopping, or making cookies (which she's never done before), but I can tell the poor child is bored to death. She's not used to playing alone (she has one brother and two step-brothers) and she's not a reader (at her age, I would read for hours by myself. Matter of fact, for my seventh birthday, I spent my birthday money on the Little House on the Prairie set). So I'm glad the guys will be back today.

Well, I have a few things I need to finish up and I should probably shower. I hope everyone has as great a day as I know I will have!

Utter nonsense

Well, the rental car thing is done. Not exactly what we were looking for, but at least we have one reserved. I don't have to worry about it anymore. YAY!!!

The doctor (my regular doctor, who I saw yesterday) says my baby is going to be fat!!! My baby is not going to be fat! She is going to be squishy and edible and have huge chipmunk cheeks!

Which leaves us with the continuing saga of the Heroscape game! Let's see, where were we. Oh yes, no one at Hasbro knew what was going on. Tuesday afternoon another person called me (not the same person as any of the other times). He informs me the game has already been shipped so they cannot send it priority mail, but since I live in Virginia, and this game is being shipped from the Virginia distribution center, it should be here quicker than the 8 to 10 business days. Can you guarantee that? Um, no, but there's a pretty good chance that it will happen. Really, well, can you tell me what happened to the other game then? Um, no. Ok then. This is what I am going to do. I am going to order another game off of Amazon and I will send your game back and I expect a full refund. Ok, you can do that. Thank you and good-bye.

So I ordered the game off of Amazon. Their standard shipping is only 3 to 5 business days, and I actually paid less than buying direct. Their game shipped the very next morning (not the 2 to 3 days later that Hasbro did). Then today, the doorbell rang, and it was a Heroscape game. From Hasboro. I think it was the first game, since I got it only two days after it shipped, and it said it came from Pennsylvania. We may end up with 3 games. Does anyone need a Heroscape Master set?

I didn't need my head in one piece anyway!

It's been one of those weeks, and it's only 8:45 Tuesday morning. I can't wait to see what the rest of the week brings me.

Wes's dad and kids are coming down on Friday because Wes gets back next week. Wes's dad and Victor are going to drive down to Florida, meet Wes's ship and ride back on it. It's called a Tiger cruise (Allison is too young and Wes's ship is small, so there is no female berthing). Originally, the ship was going to rent a bus for all the people going down to Florida. Well, that got cancelled, so now we're stuck trying to find a rental car. Wes wanted me to go with a particular company because they have a location on base in Florida, so then a taxi wouldn't be needed. Turns out that company doesn't do one-way rentals, only local. Fine, whatever, I'll find another company. Then Wes wanted to find the closest location to the base for the car drop off. The closest is not the airport, however, all non-airport locations close 4:00pm and unless they leave at 5:00am at the latest, they won't make it. (And I happen to know there is construction in at least 2 of the states they have to drive through.) So I just shot Wes an e-mail and I'll call his dad today to find out what they want to do. In addition, the economy car we're renting, the cheapest one I could find, is $122 for one day. We were planning on renting a mini-van for Christmas, but now I'm starting to wonder if we can afford it.

I had another ultra-sound yesterday. I will never understand this, but every time I have one, the nurse wipes my belly clean after she looks, and then goes and gets the doctor, who wants to have a look himself, so they have to goop my belly up all over again. It's still a girl!!!! And she is using my bladder as a pillow. She weighs approximately 5.7lbs. I told her she could gain 2 more lbs and that was it! Then the doctor decides he wants to do a vaginal ultrasound to make sure there aren't any blood vessels from my extra placenta over my cervix. Good times! (My ultra-conservative mom had never heard of a vaginal ultrasound so I explained it. "They take this dildo, put a condom on it and lube it up and stick it up there to get a picture." My mom: "I bet Wes was jealous when he heard that!") So the doctor's appointment wasn't bad. She's healthy, so that's all good.

But then I came home and started the saga of the missing birthday present. As you may recall, Victor has not taken his parents' divorce very well, and his mom lying about stuff hasn't helped. And he really isn't happy about the new baby (who knows what she's said about that). His birthday is in Oct. and he loves Heroscape by Hasbro. So, on Sep. 8th, 2008, I ordered the Heroscape Master set (the original) off of the Hasbro official web-site. I received an e-mail confirming the order. I paid for standard shipping, which is 8 to 10 days. I received an e-mail on Sep. 10th telling me it had shipped. Well, I realized last week that I still had not received it. I called Hasbro on Friday, Sep. 26th to ask about my order (yes, I have my order #, and at that point, it had been 13 business days since it had shipped). I talked to some guy who looked at my account and basically said, "I have no idea what this means, can I have a supervisor call you back?" Um, well, how often does a person actually try to pass you off on the supervisor? So, yes, please, have them call me back. He said I would probably receive the call on Monday. Ok, fine.

Yesterday, I get home from my doctor's appointment and I have a message from Hasbro. I call back and get a regular person. Well, it looks like something happened to your order and we're going to have to re-send it today. Ok, you're sending it priority right? No, you paid for standard. Yes, I did pay for standard, over 3 weeks ago. Let me speak to your supervisor.

Floor supervisor. Well, it looks like the game was sent back to us. From who and why? I don't know. But our web-site says that in cases like that, it can take up to 21 business days. No, the web-site says 8 to 10 business days. Yes, it does say 8 to 10 business days, unless it's sent back. I didn't send it back. You use Fed-ex, can't you call them and find out where the game is. No, we can't, but I can give that number to you. The game was re-shipped on Friday the 26th (notice the first guy told me it was going to be re-shipped, but hadn't yet). She gives me the Fed-ex tracking number and then tries to get me off the phone. Ok then, if you need anything else after talking to Fed-ex, call us back. Oh, I'm not hanging up. I go to the Fed-ex site and plug in the number, they don't have that number in their system. Do you really think this is good customer service, I ask her? Well, there is a chance that the first package might still be delivered to you. Wait, now I'm really confused, you just told me it had been returned. Now you're telling me that you don't actually know where it is? Let me speak to your supervisor.

I get Brian. He is very nice and polite and obviously doesn't have his head stuck up his ass like some other people who think I'm stupid. I explain the situation to him, including that my husband's been deployed and it's his son's birthday, yadda, yadda, yadda. But I also point out that since this is clearly an error on their part, it would be good customer service to expedite the shipping of the game. Also, since they obviously have my e-mail address, when were they going to let me know what was going on? He is very nice and asks if he can do some research and call me back. I had to pee by this point, so I say yes, not expecting to hear from him again.

He called back in less than a half hour! He didn't know anything. He said they have 9 distribution centers, so he would try to find out where it was going out from and call them to have them send it priority. He also said he would try to find out what happened to the first game, as it might be quicker to get that one to me. He said he would call me back today to let me know what he had found out. I asked him if the call center worked for Hasbro directly, or if they were out-sourced (and not out of country: they were clearly in this country). They are indeed outsourced.

Ok, I get an e-mail this morning telling me my game has shipped. Let's see if Brian calls me back and what happens. As it stands, if they send it standard again, we probably wouldn't get it until 2 days before the kids leave. Wes wants me to contact Hasbro directly if this is not resolved. However, I think I will probably have to order another game from Amazon.com instead, pay extra for the speedy delivery and then deal with Hasbro, trying to get them to reimburse us for all this mess.

Wes had one last thing to say about it: don't stress out about this. It'll be ok. But make sure the game gets there in time.

*****Update*****
I just received a call from Brian's supervisor, named Ramey(?). First, if you're going to call a customer, read all the notes before you get on the phone with them. Second, once on the phone, don't ask the customer if they have been contacted yet about the situation (see above about reading the notes). Third, why are you calling me just to tell me that Brian still doesn't know what's going on, but will contact me later? I'll just wait for his call, thank you.

Well, what do you know?

I got a phone call from IQ on Thursday. She began, "it has nothing to do with what you said, but I cleaned the house, because my m-i-l is coming, not because of what you said." First, who knows how clean it really is, but I'll take what I can get. Second, I don't care why you cleaned it, I'm just happy you did. I think I'm going to have Wes talk to Mr. IQ about his fathering skills. Mr. IQ refuses to play WOW with one hand, and thus, ignores the baby if he is playing WOW. He has never even given the baby a bath (the baby is 5 months old!). Wes is horrified. Although you would have never guessed from Wes's high school actions (ok, I guess he was technically practicing to make lots of babies), Wes is a great dad. He is excited to be a dad. The thought of dirty diapers doesn't phase him. Crying baby. Not a problem. Stressed out wife. We'll get through this. When I point out all the stuff he needs to do when he gets home to get the nursery ready, he's excited because he feels left out. He's the type of dad who does stuff because he wants to, not because it's his responsibility as a dad. I really couldn't ask for a better husband.

Baby stuff is starting to trickle in!!! I know I promised pictures of the stuff I already had, and I will get to that (just not now). But this week, Camille got me a beautiful Moses basket (so now the baby has a place to sleep), the cutest receiving blankets ever, a bouncer (which I'm going to wait to put together when Wes is here), a mirror for the car and the health kit thing from Red Cross. And my Sunday School class is also going to give me a baby shower, which I think is super nice. I also decided I should probably order diapers within the next week. Does anyone know anything about cloth diapers? I've found some, but now the prospect of washing them at home (there's no diaper service in this area) is starting to freak me out. I just want to do what's best for the baby and the environment.

According to the calendar, I have 6 weeks left. It is going to fly by (at least the next 4 weeks, since next week I have 2 doctor's appointments, the week after that Wes comes home, his kids and dad will be with us for a week, then we have a doctor's appointment, a wedding and the baby shower and the week after that the birthing class). At the same time, I really can't believe how uncomfortable I am. I can only stay in one position for about 15 minutes before I have to move. How do working women do it??? How do women in third world countries, who sleep on the ground do it??? How do women carrying more than one baby do it??? (Kudos to you Sandi!) I feel like I'm constantly playing musical chairs. But I will miss the baby movements. Those are kind of cool. And she's had the hiccups every day for the last 5 days (a couple of days, twice). And right now I'm chasing a foot around my tummy. I can't wait to eat that foot!

Mother of the year

I've mentioned before that IQ is a WOW player (world of warcraft). Well, one day, a while back, she was commenting on how her sister is not a good mom because all she does is try to meet guys on the computer, ignoring her two children. IQ stated she understood that IQ Jr. comes first, and that's why when he's fussy, she'll take care of him, even though it's difficult to play WOW with one hand!

I don't play WOW and never have, but IQ and her husband have made me HATE WOW. Now, Mr. IQ is not learning diabilitied (IQ explanation for why she is how she is), but actually has a college degree, in engineering. But, when he comes home from work, he plays WOW and when he plays WOW he ignores IQ Jr., leaving IQ to play WOW with only one hand. This is an area of contention for them. But the point is, he should know better. About everything. Like the state of their apartment. His mom is coming into town this week, and IQ kept saying she should clean the house. I was there today. First, I can't believe she wouldn't let ANYONE into her house, with it looking like that. Second, I can't believe he would let his mom into the house, with it looking like that. Third, I can't believe they live in a house that looks like that.

I told her that once IQ Jr. is mobile (and he's getting there) and CPS were called, he would be removed from the home. I saw on the floor, in addition to just plain out trash, a Swiss army knife, a bottle opener, a cork from a wine bottle, 5 pens and pencils, a bag of chips, cat food, cat feces, and clumps of cat hair. And that's just what I could see. IQ was very upset that I had said that (remember, she grew up in foster care and claimed she would do EVERYTHING possible to keep IQ Jr.) and claimed she was "doing the best I can. But it's hard for me to take care of IQ Jr. and do ANYTHING." See, that's the problem. Not that she isn't capable but that when it comes to doing anything BESIDES WOW, she just can't do it with IQ Jr. around. She can't clean because of IQ Jr. She can't study for her driver's licence because of IQ Jr. She can't eat properly because of IQ Jr. She can't exercise because of IQ Jr. But she can spend at least 8 hours a day playing WOW. And Mr. IQ lets her get away with that. Well, that's fine and dandy, but I would rather get a frantic phone call from IQ screaming at me because CPS is taking away IQ Jr (which would get Mr. IQ kicked out of the navy), than a frantic phone call from IQ because IQ Jr. is choking to death on something.

But I'm glad she's willing to play WOW with only one hand because that makes her the freaking mother of the year.

She couldn't afford a clue

I was talking to IQ on the phone the other day, and mentioned that Wes will be home soon. She hadn't realized he would be home that soon and said that she bet he was really excited to be getting home. Oh yes, he is excited. She continued, "I bet I know someone who he will be the most excited about seeing, someone he probably can't wait to see. . . .IQ Jr.!!!!"

Yes, yes you are right. He has an extremely pregnant wife, two kids and a dad, but he doesn't care about any of that. He just wants to see your kid and bask in the miracle that you haven't managed to kill him yet.