Umm, that hurts…

My major complaint of the week is how my stupid belly button hurts. I mean, it’s not this ooh, that hurts a little kind of pain. Nope, it’s like, holy buckets, this piercing pain is radiating through my belly button and it just is really annoying. I had no idea that my belly button could even cause me pain. Stupid belly button!

I’m sure that the reason it hurts is due to the fact that my belly is continually stretching and growing, which is a good thing I suppose given that it means that Ryan is growing. However, I had no idea that things would actually hurt during the growing process and then there are those stupid stretch marks that keep popping up. Oh well, I guess it’s the price you pay when bringing a little bundle of joy into this world. You would think that it would be easier, but no, it’s a long process. I’m happy that my due date is right around the corner for one, to be done with being pregnant and two, to finally meet Ryan! And yes, I’m more excited about meeting Ryan than being done with being pregnant, although, being done with being pregnant is a close second. Can you imagine how an elephant feels? Like, OMG, if I was an elephant right now, and sometimes I do feel like once because I get so bloated, I would still have about a year to go. Poor elephants, I feel bad for you!

In other pregnancy news, we are close to getting the nursery ready and still need to buy a few odds and ends. My Mom and I went shopping for them on Thursday and we were able to get a lot of the stuff without spending a huge amount of money to do it. I got the Diaper Genie and not only did I get the larger one for cheaper at Target than Wal-Mart, but it even had a $5 off coupon on it. Needless to say, I was pretty stoked. Oh, and if you’re looking for a good variety of baby stuff, check out Kmart, I know, it sounds a bit ghetto, yet I was pleasantly surprised when we went there since the store has a pretty good selection and things were reasonably priced.

This week we go in for another check-up and in two weeks, we’ll attend our birthing class. A friend asked why I didn’t go to the class sooner and I was like, well, Ryan is going to come whether I go to a class or not. So, taking a class isn’t going to keep that from happening! It will be nice though to get some education on everything that will happen. I do hear that I’m probably going to watch a gross video, I’m sure that’s going to be fun.

Well, that’s all I got for now, make it a great Saturday everyone!

Baby shower = AWESOME!

My Mom, Nancy, hosted a baby shower for me and little Billy Bubba this past Saturday at her home. I must say, it was a fabulous time and before I go any further about all the fun details, who am I kidding because we actually have a name picked out for him…we’re going to call him Ryan Charles. So, I’m going to actually refer to him as Ryan from now on! However, there is a back story to his nickname, but I'll get to that in another post though. 

Anyway, this past Saturday my Mom threw me this awesome baby shower and words can’t describe how much I appreciate everything that she did. She put so much effort into the whole thing and as I’m writing this, I’m actually getting a little emotional about it and how much she cares. My Mom is super kewl and super supportive and I wouldn’t be where I am today without her.Love you Mom!

The baby shower itself was so well thought out and planned. She totally went all out and did so many wonderful things, starting with making this super cute diaper cake:

The diaper cake my Mom made for me, look how cute all the little bath animals are!

The diaper cake was the first thing I saw when she lead me to the room where the baby shower was being held at her home. I was totally taken aback at how cute and fun it looked. She also decorated the space, with the help of Kim A. who has become a really great friend, and made it all festive and fun. On each table were party favors filled with candy, and good candy too not some icky kind that no one really wants to eat, and streamers on the ceiling and walls. On top of that, my Mom also gave out great door prizes and gifts. All the food was homemade too from the sandwiches to the sides. It was a tasty meal and I'm glad we got leftovers. Oops, I forgot one more person to thank, Mrs. V. Your salad was yumtastic.

The baby shower was everything that I hoped it would be and then some. I mean, really it was and there is not much more I can say. Even the games weren't boring. We played a cross-word game and the diaper poo game. Basically, the whole thing was Awesome, Awesome, Awesome! I mean, check out this cake she picked out as an example, how cute is the cake topper??

Both tasty and beautiful! 

We received a lot of great presents from everyone as well, especially all the cute little outfits with sports themes and there was even one with monkeys and another one that was camouflage, too much fun. All of the presents we received were kind of secondary to everything in reality since it was just cool to see my family and friends. Thank you to everyone who came to the shower and for your generosity! :) You made my day! Hugs and kisses to you all!

Target to the rescue!

When we were not able to purchase the nursery furniture that Dave and I wanted for little Billy Bubba over the weekend, I was a bit upset to say the least. Actually, I’ll go one step further with that and be totally honest, I was completely freaking out because the whole incident made me feel like I wasn’t in control of the situation and our baby boy was going to have to sleep in a suitcase or something. Not good. Could you imagine? I did and it made me feel like an unfit mother before he was even born! LAME!

After getting over my initial freak-out, I realized that the situation could easily be handled by just looking at the other options that were out there again. We didn’t want to spend a huge amount of money and that was really the biggest stumbling block with getting the furniture to begin with. Reasonably priced and good quality was basically what we were looking for, which made things a bit difficult since most places were completely overpriced. For instance, at a few spots we looked we could’ve spent around $1,000 for just a crib. To me, that’s just way too much.

So to look at all the options again, I hit the Internet and the first place I stopped at was Target. I found a well priced convertible crib and dresser to match, which were actually two of the pieces of furniture that we originally looked at, at Target months ago. At that time though, they didn’t have any in stock and I was a bit bummed. However, this time around, the local store in Bellevue, WI did have both in stock. In a flash, I was on the phone and they put it on hold for me. They were out of the changing table, yet I didn’t care because I figure we can get by without one. Or if we really need one, I’ll just buy something later. 

The crib we decided on!

Anyway, after the horrible customer service experience we had at Toys “R” Us, I was a bit leery that the furniture I put on hold was actually going to be on hold, waiting for us to pick it up at Target. When I went into guest services, I told the customer service person that I had two pieces of furniture on hold. She asked what they were and after telling her, she said that yes, they were on hold and that she actually saw them in the back room. First hurdle jumped over. Then, she said to give them a few minutes to have them brought up by us. About two minutes later, the crib and dresser appeared before our eyes and we double checked to make sure they were the right finish. We got confirmation that they were, so, we got over the second hurdle. From there, we paid for everything and then she said to pull up front and that they would help us load it up. When we pulled up, three Target customer service people were outside waiting with our furniture and all three helped load it into our SUV. They wouldn’t even let Dave help them! Third and final hurdle cleared! It was completely amazing. We were in and out of Target in 15 or so minutes and it was one of the best customer service experiences that I have ever had, totally making up for the snafu that we had to deal with at that other crappy store! I must say, Target, thank you for coming to the rescue!

Now, there is one thing that I realized from this whole buying furniture extravaganza. It’s that things happen for a reason. By not getting what we wanted from Toys “R” Us, we were able to get the furniture that I originally wanted from Target. It’s weird sometimes how things just work out and I’m trying now to look at the positive side from everything that happened instead of the negative!

With that said, I bid you farewell and stay tuned, because my next post is going to be all about my baby shower that is on tap for this weekend. It should be fun and I want to thank my Mom and co-worker/friend Kim A. for that work that they put into getting it together! You ladies ROCK!

Wow, worst shopping experience ever at Toys “R” Us….

Remember how excited I was to go out and shop for little Billy Bubba this past weekend? Like, how I was super excited because Dave and I were going to get little BB his nursery furniture and all was supposed to be right with the world? Well, long story short, that didn’t happen. That didn’t happen at all and I’m vowing to never go into a Toys “R” Us store again after the shopping experience we when we tried to buy the nursery furniture that we wanted from that chain.

So here is the long story to that and yes, it’s a long story. And, I know that I’m going to write about what happened and it’s going to make me angry all over again. However, I want people to know how bad our shopping experience was so that no one else makes the mistake of going there and wasting their time.

It all started on Saturday, we traveled to a few places throughout Green Bay to look at nursery furniture. We have looked before and just wanted to confirm everything that was available. I also did some browsing online and after all the looking, we decided that this convertible crib and dresser we found at Toys “R” Us was perfect for our little guy. The crib itself even had a changing table attached to it that could later be used as a night stand. We figured that we would be all set furnishing his room until he was like 12, boy, were we completely wrong due to the fact that when we went to buy it the next day, the poo hit the fan!

On Sunday then, we want back to Toys “R” Us to buy what we found the day before and added bed rails into the equation so we  had everything we needed when we wanted to convert little BB’s crib into a bed. We should have guessed that things weren’t going to turn out well from the get-go since Dave actually had to seek someone out to help us. That someone was a sales associate who wasn’t all that sure on what to do and pretty much fumbled through the entire check out process. She couldn’t get the scanning gun to work at first. Then,  when we told her we wanted to open up a credit card through the store to receive 10% off what we wanted, as suggested by the sign on the items we wanted to buy, she was completely confused and had to ask for back-up. The back-up wasn’t much better than her and actually got testy with us because we weren’t able to read her mind in relation to what we had to do to apply for the credit card. We were finally approved for the credit card, put the new purchases on it, and then thought we were good to go. Nope, that’s when Dave asked when we were going to receive all of little BB’s furniture. The back-up said, and I quote, “You mean, you didn’t order it?” We both were like, “That’s what we thought we were doing.”

At that point I had to go to the bathroom, so I excused myself for a moment and the back-up went to a computer next to the register to actually order the furniture. When I came back, I thought things would be taken care of and we would get to leave. Nope, what I found was Dave who was completely annoyed, dealing with a bunch of clueless Toys “R” Us associates standing in front of him. There was another one added into the mix at this point because the back-up to the first one didn’t quite have a handle on things either. Anyway, turns out that what happened was Dave overheard them whispering to each other about how two of the items we wanted weren’t even available anymore. The thing is, they weren’t even going to tell us that. They were just going to order what we wanted  and then in two weeks, about half of it was going to arrive and then it was going to become someone else’s problem and not there’s. How freaking unprofessional and idiotic is that? If Dave wouldn’t have heard their whispers, then we would have gone to pick up half our order and would have been totally screwed.  It was completely ridiculous. Here we are, soon to have a child, thinking we have all that we need for our new child when it comes to his furniture and then this happens. Needless to say, we just cancelled the entire order and that meant also cancelling the new credit card we opened up to buy it all. That in itself took forever to do too.

While I was on the phone with the credit card company, the back-up to the first associate who tried to help us proceeded to throw the first associate who tried to help us completely under the bus. Saying that it was that associate’s first day and this and that, making up excuses and apologizing for not clearly understanding the situation. My take on that crap is, well, if it was the first associate’s first day, wouldn’t you have asked her everything that she did before you ran the sale through the register, ensuring that everything was ordered before it was all rung up, HMMMMMMM?

My warning to you, do not shop at Toys “R” Us, this mom to be is completely disgusted by their associates and company. We’re headed to Target to see what we can find within the next couple of days. They did have something online that I liked, so I’m going to keep my fingers crossed that it’s decent. Until next time, it’s Carla the pregnant tomboy signing off!

I want to shop!

I do believe that I have never uttered those words before, “I want to shop.” Thinking that and then saying it out loud makes be believe that this pregnancy thing is turning me into a full blown lady. Well, probably not due to the fact that I’m still walking around in t-shirts and shorts or jeans like I always do, but still, I’m probably more girly now than I have ever have been before in my entire life! I don’t know whether to smile, cry or laugh at that? Oh, always so emotional.

Now back to wanting to shop, it’s not something that I ever really wanted to do before, yet now, if I could go to Target everyday and purchase something for little Billy Bubba, I would be happier than a pig in sh&t! (And yes, I’m going to swear since that’s the kind of mood I’m in.) It does not even matter what I would buy for him either since if I could just get him something, I would be happy. I mean, like just getting him some diapers and some wipes at this point would probably bring a smile to my face and those two things aren’t very much fun at all!

My wanting to shop for him is almost turning into an addiction. At night when I’m sitting at my computer, more often than not I’m scouring whatever store online or Ebay, looking to get something cool for him. I have come across some good finds, like a cute little Nike outfit (see below) that has a matching hat and booties, which has now turned into the first outfit that he’ll ever wear. 

Gotta love baby outfits!

Oh, side note to that, I have repeatedly told Dave that when little BB is born, I need him to be all cleaned up before I have to touch him because after watching too many episodes of 16 and Pregnant on MTV, I don’t want to have to deal with a gross, ooky baby right after he hopefully slides right out of me. I want that cute little bundle of joy to be just that, a cleaned up baby that is all cute, cuddly and ook free. Just saying. :) And, I’m sure that I will change my mind at some point and decide on another first outfit that I want little BB to wear, yet right now, I’m going with what I found above.

One thing that I’m hoping will curb my new shopping addiction (that’s right, I’m going to accept what it is at this point and isn’t the first step to recovery admitting you have a problem! Hah, too funny) is how Dave and I are going to go shopping for our son’s furniture this weekend. Dave finished up painting his room last weekend, blue of course, and now we need to fill it up with a crib, dresser, maybe a changing table, and anything else that I cannot control myself from buying. It should be fun and with that said, I bid you ado because it’s time to enjoy the weekend and I’m not going to be able to do that sitting in front of a computer. So, peace out and have a good one! :)

Wow, how cool is this?

So, I just got official word that the baby blanket Wendy G. was making for little Billy Bubba is now complete and I must say, after seeing a picture of it, I’m almost at a loss for words at how awesome it turned out. Like, super, duper, awesome! See:

The baby blanket for our baby boy!

I mean, this baby blanket is the bomb and I can’t thank Wendy enough for what she’s done for us. The time, effort and energy that she put into making it just makes me smile and knowing now that it’s done has completely brightened my day! The pattern is amazing and it looks warm, soft and fuzzy. I can’t wait to wrap little BB in it for the first time!

Probably what’s even cooler than knowing that the baby blanket is done is Wendy herself! There aren’t many people like her out in this world who are completely giving and selfless. Who are willing to do something nice for someone else just because they want to. People like Wendy are totally refreshing to be around and I consider her to be a great friend to Dave, myself, and little BB.

Thanks again Wendy for what you did for us and for totally making my day! I’m smiling from ear to ear!  

This is not the parent that I want to become…

I’m sure that most of you have seen this woman on the news in the last few days:

Super gross!

You know, the mom that is being accused of allowing her five-year-old kid to go tanning with her. Now, I’m not going to comment on her situation in relation to the charges that have been brought against her, what I’m going to do is comment on how I don’t want to become that kind of mother, a person who obviously has a problem and can’t set a good example for her child. It has been said by the owner of the tanning place where she tans at that she goes about 20 times a month. That’s ridiculous and if that’s true, she’s a horrible role model for her child. Now don’t get me wrong, I do like getting a little color every now and then, yet this woman has taken it to the extreme and then some. She is teaching her child an extremely unhealthy habit given that, that child is going to equate normal with looking like a leather couch.

I don’t want to be a parent like this woman, I don’t want to set bad, unhealthy habits for my child whether it’s in relation to tanning too much or drinking too much or exercising too much or being rude to people or whatever. I want to set good examples for my child so he is healthy, strong, kind, caring, and happy. I want my child to be a hard worker and a person that can handle anything that might come his way. To do that I know I need to be strong in my convictions, positive about my overall outlook on life, and willing to do whatever I can for him so he can succeed. If that means readjusting some of the things I do, so be it. I want to be a good role model for my child and I’m willing to readjust some things to make that happen.

When I saw this mother and what she was doing, it just did not sit well with me and I had to offer my two cents. So I say to you mom who tans too much, cancel your tanning membership and get over it. You’re doing your child a disservice by setting a bad example for her. Instead, go to the park and play soccer or go for a bike ride for a nice way to bond with your daughter. It would just be a lot better doing something like that for everyone involved.

Until next time, it’s Carla the pregnant tomboy signing off. 

PS Where the hell is the dad in this whole thing if the charges against the mom are true? He needs to step up his game and tell the mom to stop. Enough said!

Working out makes me happy!

Just like the subject line of this blog post indicates, working out makes me happy and it’s one of the things I’ve been trying to do on a daily basis during my pregnancy.

What’s been hard about working out is that sometimes I just don’t feel like doing it, especially as of late since I’ve been getting bigger and find that I’m totally self conscious about doing it in front of other people. I feel like they’re staring at me. And who can blame them, I have a big belly and I’m sure that it looks pretty damn funny! Especially when I lose my balance and almost fall off the machine I’m on! J So to combat that, when I work out at the YMCA I go back to their little private workout area that’s somewhat shielded from the rest of the world. However, then what ends up happening is I’ll be the only person back there minding my own business, and then someone else will show up to work out and plop right down on the machine next to me. It’s like, really, out of the 15 or 20 machines back here, you have to pick the stupid one next to me. What’s even worse is that person ends up being completely annoying, like they fart a bunch or talk on the phone or something and then I get annoyed and don’t want to finish my workout. I try to power through, but it can be hard. And to those people who are annoying, get a clue and stop being annoying! And yes, I just ranted and feel better.

Anyway, another thing I do to combat my not wanting to workout is to make sure my IPod has new music on it, giving me something motivating and interesting to listen to. Or if I’m working out at home, I make sure that I digitally record shows in advance so I can watch them when I’m working out. It keeps my mind busy and prevents me from thinking about how long I have yet to go, how tired I feel, or how much I would rather be sitting on the couch eating Cheetos!

I’ve modified the workouts that I do now too and instead of cycling outdoors, which I’m sad that I can’t do, I ride the stationary bike in the house. Or, if I lift weights, instead of going all hardcore and pushing myself to lift as much weight as possible, I lift less weight and do more repetitions. I find that using the elliptical is a good alternative to running and that walking the dog up and down a bunch of hills makes for a good workout as well.

One of the 1980's weights I use when I lift! LOL!

Like I said before, I have found when I do workout, I’m much happier afterwards and that’s why I’m committed to doing at least a little something each day. My OB said that I can work out as long as I feel comfortable. I’m sure at some point I won’t be comfortable working out, yet hopefully that happens later rather than sooner.

If you’re pregnant and looking for some modified exercises or workout tips, check out: http://www.babycenter.com/0_the-best-kinds-of-exercise-for-pregnancy_7880.bc.

Or, if you’re not pregnant, but need some motivation, another good site to check out is: http://www.sparkpeople.com/

That’s about all I have for now, so get moving! I know that as much as I don’t feel like getting in a workout today after I post this, I’m going to make myself do it because it’s going to bring a smile to my face!