Finally, after weeks upon weeks upon weeks of work...ITS DONE!
Kind of...
I still have some small little things to do, but I'm pretty confident that I can get them done this week after work. The trim is done, the painting is done (mostly, still have the kitchen cabniet doors, and one closet door), the yard is done, the trim is done, and the trim is done! WOOT!
Our realator is coming out monday afternoon to see what he thinks we can get for the house, based on his info from when we bought it, he thinks it will go for about 10-15K less than what we were hoping for...however, I'm hoping once he sees the place in person, that number will go up...I hope.
If not, I'm still confident that we will be able to go forward w/ our move. We are going to look into a small buisiness loan and see where that takes us, 10-15k doesnt sound like alot of money to get a buisiness going, so hopefully we would get it no problem. If not, theres always plan B...Sell a kidney.
I've finally posted new pix of completed projects, I'm kicking myself hard now for not taking any before pix, oh boy, what a dork. Anyway, for anyone thats been to the house before we started doing any of this work, you can see what we've done, and if you hear someone asking, tell them what you think about it and how much its changed. It doesnt even feel like the same house to me anymore. Now after all this hard work I've put into it, its time to move on :( that part is alittle sad...but 90 degrees and sunshine should make me get over it real quick :)
Pix are on the side link under house pix. Stay tuned for more news to come, I'm thinking about starting up a totally new blog too, one thats more focused on the now than the past, we dont have the 3 cats anymore, and Elliot should be driving by next week he's growing so quick. I'm still tossing around some name ideas, so we will see what happens.
Soon as the house sells, we plan on having a BBQ/Going away party, so keep your ears peeled for that one too. Off to have dinner and watch some movies..all hail netflix!
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Monday, May 22, 2006
Head for the light!
I can see the end! Its Monday morning and I really think I can have the inside of the house finished this weekend (thats my weekend, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday), then weather permitting, next weekend we can pressure wash the outside and paint the outside and then its time to put this sucker on the market!
Managed to get a few things done yesterday like starting to take down the wallpaper in the masterbathroom. Its coming along alot better and faster than I thought it would, hope to have paint on those walls by the end of the day today. Hallway bathroom is painted, all I have to do now is slap a coat up on the ceiling and put in the bathtub enclosure and its done. Then I can take out the toilet and the sink in the masterbath, throw some paint on the walls, put down the new pergo floor, reinstall the toilet and sink and thats done too. I figure I can get all that done early Tuesday, leaving me the rest of the day tuesday and all of Wednesday to put up trim. Then this week during the work week, I can work on painting the kitchen cabniets which will go quick using my handy dandy air sprayer. All we gotta do now is send out the feelers and see if anyone has a pressure washer we can use. Renting one is an option, but free is always better. Gonna have to rent the sprayer for the house though too. Elliot is starting to wake up and Crystal is off to the dentist, so I'm pulling feeding duty this morning. More updates to follow, and pix will be on the way of the completed house.
Managed to get a few things done yesterday like starting to take down the wallpaper in the masterbathroom. Its coming along alot better and faster than I thought it would, hope to have paint on those walls by the end of the day today. Hallway bathroom is painted, all I have to do now is slap a coat up on the ceiling and put in the bathtub enclosure and its done. Then I can take out the toilet and the sink in the masterbath, throw some paint on the walls, put down the new pergo floor, reinstall the toilet and sink and thats done too. I figure I can get all that done early Tuesday, leaving me the rest of the day tuesday and all of Wednesday to put up trim. Then this week during the work week, I can work on painting the kitchen cabniets which will go quick using my handy dandy air sprayer. All we gotta do now is send out the feelers and see if anyone has a pressure washer we can use. Renting one is an option, but free is always better. Gonna have to rent the sprayer for the house though too. Elliot is starting to wake up and Crystal is off to the dentist, so I'm pulling feeding duty this morning. More updates to follow, and pix will be on the way of the completed house.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
No more living in Sin....
We finally did it, we got married!
Sunday April 30th was the day. The weather was fantastic, the food was good and the company was top notch. We just had a small family only ceremony here in the backyard, but it was special to us and those that attended, and thats all that matters.
We couldnt be happier. Elliot is doing awesome, sleeping alittle longer at night allowing mom to get some much needed rest. He's averaging about 4 hours or so between nursing at night now, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, but its a step in the right direction for sure.
Things are going well with the house, I think I only have 2 or maybe 3 more weekends of working on it and it will be done and ready for the market. With any luck, we will get a quick sale and pack our bags for the warm sunny skies of Arizona!!! All but a couple people are really happy and supportive of our decision to move down there, despite what they might think, we know its going to be a very big positive for us and our family. It will be stressful starting all over and being our own boss, but its a much healthier stress than the current job is putting on us, or me since I'm the only one working right now. I've just about reached the end of my rope there, everyday its harder and harder not to tell people on the phone to pound sand. All of a sudden lately at work I'm hearing on a daily basis "are you sure?" after I tell someone how a policy works or something...after 6 years, yes, I'm pretty sure I have it correct by now...GOD! Oh well, its only temporary now, but its hard not to have short timers attitude there.
Off to bed, its been a long day.
Sunday April 30th was the day. The weather was fantastic, the food was good and the company was top notch. We just had a small family only ceremony here in the backyard, but it was special to us and those that attended, and thats all that matters.
We couldnt be happier. Elliot is doing awesome, sleeping alittle longer at night allowing mom to get some much needed rest. He's averaging about 4 hours or so between nursing at night now, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, but its a step in the right direction for sure.
Things are going well with the house, I think I only have 2 or maybe 3 more weekends of working on it and it will be done and ready for the market. With any luck, we will get a quick sale and pack our bags for the warm sunny skies of Arizona!!! All but a couple people are really happy and supportive of our decision to move down there, despite what they might think, we know its going to be a very big positive for us and our family. It will be stressful starting all over and being our own boss, but its a much healthier stress than the current job is putting on us, or me since I'm the only one working right now. I've just about reached the end of my rope there, everyday its harder and harder not to tell people on the phone to pound sand. All of a sudden lately at work I'm hearing on a daily basis "are you sure?" after I tell someone how a policy works or something...after 6 years, yes, I'm pretty sure I have it correct by now...GOD! Oh well, its only temporary now, but its hard not to have short timers attitude there.
Off to bed, its been a long day.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Operation Desert Siege
Saturday night we left to go down to Phoenix to visit Grandma and Grandpa Grimm. We got in at 10:30 pm so we werent able to see much of the surroundings due to darkness, but Crystal and I were in agreement that the temperature being 70 degrees out at that time of night, must be a good thing :)
Sunday we woke up and headed out to pick up the rental car (future rant entry coming on this experience in the next few days) then off to see what the place looks like. We headed out with G&G and went, um...south? then maybe some west? I dont know to be honest, I was all turned around and had quite the time orienting myself, it will be alot easier next time we are in the Grand Canyon state...and yes, we will be back. The area down there is just gorgeous, did the 80°+ temperature help our eyes see things differently? Perhaps.
Cactus, I've been to texas and Nevada before, but never actually seen any of the Giant Cactus which grow down in the Arizona area we were in. Now, sure, everyone has seen these things on T.V. and cartoons and what not, but they are actually pretty cool looking in person. I'm sure anyone who's been living down there, including my dad, would quickly tire of me being in such of these things, but they are pretty damned impressive...for instance, for each arm that the cactus has, its been around for 70 years, thats right, 70. So, first it grows nice and tall, then when its 70, it spits out an arm...then in another 70 years, it spits out another one, we saw one that had 14 arms on it...I'll wait while you start up the calculator, thats 980 years old! I'm sure it was easily over 1000 since none of the arms looked to be small ones, can you think of anything else around you that you can tell how old it is just by looking at it? I cant. For visual reference, heres the type I'm talking about
This one is about 560 years old, impressive, but doesnt hold a flame to 980! Anyway, pretty cool plant, bush, weed, whatever. I dont know who the guy in the picture is, this is just some photo I pulled off the web.
I got to go and spend 2 days working with my dad. Talk about bringing back some memories, right when I graduated from high school I used to install burglar alarms with my dad, I enjoyed working with him then, and now that I'm grown up, it's nice to know I still enjoy working with him, yet again he managed to teach me things...there I thought I knew everything...oh well. The nature of the work is a blast in itself, you go into peoples homes, the one we were in this week was easily in the 800K price range, probably more, gated community, nanny at home to watch the kid, expensive (and most times ugly!!!) furniture everywhere, then you find the ones that the moving company has totally trashed, and you make it look brand new again. I must have been doing an ok job, cause almost right from the get go my dad turned me loose to work on my own, after all, I'm a chip off the old block, I got skillz! :) At one point, I started working on a piece he mentioned had to be done on my own, then later on he came over and said "we still have to do this one", I responded with "I already did it", he started looking in the area he knew a chip was, and wether or not he was just boosting my ego or not, he actually said "where was it?", that felt good. Like I say, he could have been just boosting my ego, and if he was, it worked, but it made me feel good that this would be a profession that I stand the chance to be very good at. I love doing wood work, so this is really right up my alley. All that has to happen now is to get the house sold, and move our butts down there. I think as soon as the plane got close to home and the temperature changed on board the plane, we knew we were ready to go back, having the pilot announce that it was only going to be 52 when we landed, didnt help. I wanted him to just turn the plane around and go back, but apparently my opinion didnt matter much, so we're back. At least he was nice enough to fly over the Grand Canyon on the way north..that was a cool thing to see.
Sunday we woke up and headed out to pick up the rental car (future rant entry coming on this experience in the next few days) then off to see what the place looks like. We headed out with G&G and went, um...south? then maybe some west? I dont know to be honest, I was all turned around and had quite the time orienting myself, it will be alot easier next time we are in the Grand Canyon state...and yes, we will be back. The area down there is just gorgeous, did the 80°+ temperature help our eyes see things differently? Perhaps.
Cactus, I've been to texas and Nevada before, but never actually seen any of the Giant Cactus which grow down in the Arizona area we were in. Now, sure, everyone has seen these things on T.V. and cartoons and what not, but they are actually pretty cool looking in person. I'm sure anyone who's been living down there, including my dad, would quickly tire of me being in such of these things, but they are pretty damned impressive...for instance, for each arm that the cactus has, its been around for 70 years, thats right, 70. So, first it grows nice and tall, then when its 70, it spits out an arm...then in another 70 years, it spits out another one, we saw one that had 14 arms on it...I'll wait while you start up the calculator, thats 980 years old! I'm sure it was easily over 1000 since none of the arms looked to be small ones, can you think of anything else around you that you can tell how old it is just by looking at it? I cant. For visual reference, heres the type I'm talking about
This one is about 560 years old, impressive, but doesnt hold a flame to 980! Anyway, pretty cool plant, bush, weed, whatever. I dont know who the guy in the picture is, this is just some photo I pulled off the web.
I got to go and spend 2 days working with my dad. Talk about bringing back some memories, right when I graduated from high school I used to install burglar alarms with my dad, I enjoyed working with him then, and now that I'm grown up, it's nice to know I still enjoy working with him, yet again he managed to teach me things...there I thought I knew everything...oh well. The nature of the work is a blast in itself, you go into peoples homes, the one we were in this week was easily in the 800K price range, probably more, gated community, nanny at home to watch the kid, expensive (and most times ugly!!!) furniture everywhere, then you find the ones that the moving company has totally trashed, and you make it look brand new again. I must have been doing an ok job, cause almost right from the get go my dad turned me loose to work on my own, after all, I'm a chip off the old block, I got skillz! :) At one point, I started working on a piece he mentioned had to be done on my own, then later on he came over and said "we still have to do this one", I responded with "I already did it", he started looking in the area he knew a chip was, and wether or not he was just boosting my ego or not, he actually said "where was it?", that felt good. Like I say, he could have been just boosting my ego, and if he was, it worked, but it made me feel good that this would be a profession that I stand the chance to be very good at. I love doing wood work, so this is really right up my alley. All that has to happen now is to get the house sold, and move our butts down there. I think as soon as the plane got close to home and the temperature changed on board the plane, we knew we were ready to go back, having the pilot announce that it was only going to be 52 when we landed, didnt help. I wanted him to just turn the plane around and go back, but apparently my opinion didnt matter much, so we're back. At least he was nice enough to fly over the Grand Canyon on the way north..that was a cool thing to see.
Monday, April 10, 2006
2 Month check up...
Today was Elliots 2 month check up, he's growing like a weed. He's up to 9 lbs 12 oz's now, and 22 1/2 inches long. Along with his normal check up, he had to have his shots today too, the first of many heart breaking days for mom and dad alike.
So far, up until today, Elliot still hasnt ever really "cried". Sure he's made it clear he was hungry before by letting out what we thought were cries...turns out those werent even a hint at the level to which this boys lungs can produce sound. The nurse came in with 5, thats right, 5 needles to stick him with. Remembering back to the days following his birth I know he doesnt like getting stuck with them (who does?) but I also remembered that I dont handle myself so well when someone is causing pain to my son...today was no different. I managed to keep my mouth shut this time and didnt cuss out the nurse, but I sure did want to pound her face in using her own arm freshly ripped from her body. He screamed so loud and so hard I actually felt pain in my own chest. He cried and cried and cried some more, then she stuck him with the 2nd needle. DIE EVIL NURSE, DIE!!!!!! Ok, shes just doing her job and we dont want him to get sick with anything, so its for the best, but still, it was nerve racking to say the least. We got him home and I held him on my chest for a bit and he fell asleep. Then, a couple hours later, he woke up and remembered he had been stabbed, repeatedly, and it hurt, so he let out some more of the blood chilling screams. After he finally calmed down alittle bit, we were able to get some of the tylenol down him and that made him conk out again. Its time to head out for softball practice now, I'm sure on the way he will wake up and start wailing again in the car, that will be fun in rush hour traffic :)
Stay tuned for picutres of the new improved Kitchen, got started on the counters last night along w/ big Mikes help, still lots to be done, but its getting there.
So far, up until today, Elliot still hasnt ever really "cried". Sure he's made it clear he was hungry before by letting out what we thought were cries...turns out those werent even a hint at the level to which this boys lungs can produce sound. The nurse came in with 5, thats right, 5 needles to stick him with. Remembering back to the days following his birth I know he doesnt like getting stuck with them (who does?) but I also remembered that I dont handle myself so well when someone is causing pain to my son...today was no different. I managed to keep my mouth shut this time and didnt cuss out the nurse, but I sure did want to pound her face in using her own arm freshly ripped from her body. He screamed so loud and so hard I actually felt pain in my own chest. He cried and cried and cried some more, then she stuck him with the 2nd needle. DIE EVIL NURSE, DIE!!!!!! Ok, shes just doing her job and we dont want him to get sick with anything, so its for the best, but still, it was nerve racking to say the least. We got him home and I held him on my chest for a bit and he fell asleep. Then, a couple hours later, he woke up and remembered he had been stabbed, repeatedly, and it hurt, so he let out some more of the blood chilling screams. After he finally calmed down alittle bit, we were able to get some of the tylenol down him and that made him conk out again. Its time to head out for softball practice now, I'm sure on the way he will wake up and start wailing again in the car, that will be fun in rush hour traffic :)
Stay tuned for picutres of the new improved Kitchen, got started on the counters last night along w/ big Mikes help, still lots to be done, but its getting there.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Wheels of progress begin to slowly churn
So, real quick, for those of you who dont know already...we are getting ready to move to Arizona. Ok, ready might not be a good word to use, its still a couple months away at least. Dad's buisness is really taking off and I have the oppurtunity to move down there and run the same kind of (hopefully) sucessful buisness in Tucsan (hes in Phoenix). So anyway, I'm cracking my own whip and getting the house finished up so we can get it on the market.
Theres still lots to be done, but boy have I made some progress this weekend, and theres still a day left for me to get stuff done before I go back to the job.
Our truly awesome friends Steve and Ronda came up and helped out in a BIG way monday night. I had planned on just having them help me out painting the laundry room and then we would have dinner and just hang out. No such luck, these 2 are working animals! We got the first coat of paint up on the walls in about 30 minutes. Then Ronda said, "what else can we do" so Steve and I laid down the wonderboard in the Kitchen so I could do some tile work in there next weekend. Ronda did the 2nd coat of paint in the laundry room and the next thing we knew, it was midnight and Steve and I were finishing the kitchen floor, in the midst of all that, Ronda came along and did the cutting in for the paint in the Kitchen...ANIMALS!!!! Doing that floor easily saved me a day of long hard work on my own, I cant thank them enough (but I wont stop trying either) for the help they gave. On top of that, they offered to come back next Monday and help me lay the living room parque tiles that we are doing. I'm looking forward to that, its going to be some knee busting work, which reminds me, I need to go get some knee pads for Steve to wear. I got off to a late start today, but did manage to get some work done. The pergo is down in the laundry room, so tomorrow it will be putting the toilet back down on the floor, hanging the new bathroom door, putting up trim, and hopefully painting the cabniet doors so they can be put back up later this week too. Sunday big Mike is coming up and helping me do the tiles in the kitchen, hopefully we can knock out the counter and the floor in rather short order, then maybe late monday or tuesday I can grout them and be done with the hard part of the kitchen, after that it will just be a matter of repainting the cabniets and cleaning them up some. After that, off to the bathrooms, then yard work, then we will put this place on the market and hopefully get more than we are asking for and get on down to some nice sunny Arizona weather!!! I'll get some pix posted up as soon as I have a finished room to show off.
Theres still lots to be done, but boy have I made some progress this weekend, and theres still a day left for me to get stuff done before I go back to the job.
Our truly awesome friends Steve and Ronda came up and helped out in a BIG way monday night. I had planned on just having them help me out painting the laundry room and then we would have dinner and just hang out. No such luck, these 2 are working animals! We got the first coat of paint up on the walls in about 30 minutes. Then Ronda said, "what else can we do" so Steve and I laid down the wonderboard in the Kitchen so I could do some tile work in there next weekend. Ronda did the 2nd coat of paint in the laundry room and the next thing we knew, it was midnight and Steve and I were finishing the kitchen floor, in the midst of all that, Ronda came along and did the cutting in for the paint in the Kitchen...ANIMALS!!!! Doing that floor easily saved me a day of long hard work on my own, I cant thank them enough (but I wont stop trying either) for the help they gave. On top of that, they offered to come back next Monday and help me lay the living room parque tiles that we are doing. I'm looking forward to that, its going to be some knee busting work, which reminds me, I need to go get some knee pads for Steve to wear. I got off to a late start today, but did manage to get some work done. The pergo is down in the laundry room, so tomorrow it will be putting the toilet back down on the floor, hanging the new bathroom door, putting up trim, and hopefully painting the cabniet doors so they can be put back up later this week too. Sunday big Mike is coming up and helping me do the tiles in the kitchen, hopefully we can knock out the counter and the floor in rather short order, then maybe late monday or tuesday I can grout them and be done with the hard part of the kitchen, after that it will just be a matter of repainting the cabniets and cleaning them up some. After that, off to the bathrooms, then yard work, then we will put this place on the market and hopefully get more than we are asking for and get on down to some nice sunny Arizona weather!!! I'll get some pix posted up as soon as I have a finished room to show off.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Now the web address of this blog is really dumb...
The same people that took shortbus today called back and said they wanted another cat...so they have Lucy now too. We are going to try and keep blackjack, we figure since she was the least evil of the 3, maybe the attention we were trying to split up between the 3 of them will be enough to keep her happy if we focus all of it on her. Personally I'm just looking forward to only having to scoop 1 box, and have it only be full of 1 cats crap..instead of 3. Still though, they will be missed, but its for the best, for everyone involved. Maybe with only 1 cat my allergies wont bother me so much.
And then there were 2...
Cats that is. We've decided we just cant give the cats the same amount of attention they were getting B.E. (before elliot), so, we put them on craigs list the other day and finally got someone to take one. Shortbus is no longer a part of our home, he will be missed, but for now we still have 2 other demon's to get rid of..er, I mean find homes for. We are actually thinking about just getting rid of one more so we'd still have a pet, 1 is much easier to keep track of and entertain than 3 is. If anyone out there knows of anyone that might like a new kitty, send them our way. Lucy is the next one we want to find a home for, we are thinking blackjack is the more laid back one of them all and would fit in the best here w/ the current situation. Was a busy weekend shopping for home improvment items, should start seeing some stuff get done around here next weekend in a big way. Hopefully the weather will cooperate alittle too, that would sure be nice...bet its not this crappy down in Arizona :)
Monday, March 27, 2006
Stupid rain...
Rain sucks. Yes it cleanses the earth, makes things fresh and clean (or dirty if you believe all that acid rain mumbo jumbo), but in the end, it sucks. I went to Home Depot today to get a new laundry room door and window to replace the old pos ones that are in there now and improve on some of the cold air coming into this place. Probably should have done it sooner, like before winter...but oh well. I pull into the driveway here at home and it starts raining...and its supposed to rain the next 2 days of my weekend...well thats just great! Oh well, plenty of stuff to do on the inside still, but that will require another trip to the Home Depot...I'm liking that new credit card already...this could be dangerous! lol.
Sunday afternoon we went to Aunt Jens house. Shes a professional photographer and does some awesome work. She went and took a ton of pictures of Elliot, shes still working on proofing them for us, but emailed me one, so far its my favorite picture of Elliot, its just awesome.
I mean how cute is that kid???? Pretty damned cute! She does awesome work, if your in the area, and you need pix done, this isnt just a plug for my future sister in law, she really does do some good stuff. Ok, enough plugs for her :)
Anyway, the rain sucks...maybe we should move to Arizona where it hardly ever rains :)~
Sunday afternoon we went to Aunt Jens house. Shes a professional photographer and does some awesome work. She went and took a ton of pictures of Elliot, shes still working on proofing them for us, but emailed me one, so far its my favorite picture of Elliot, its just awesome.
I mean how cute is that kid???? Pretty damned cute! She does awesome work, if your in the area, and you need pix done, this isnt just a plug for my future sister in law, she really does do some good stuff. Ok, enough plugs for her :)
Anyway, the rain sucks...maybe we should move to Arizona where it hardly ever rains :)~
Thursday, March 16, 2006
The force is strong with this one....
An untapped resource for sure.
Tuesday afternoon we decided to go to the mall so Crystal could pick up some things, wouldnt you know, the first store we went into upon arrival, Elliot decided he was hungry. So he and I went out into the center of the mall and sat on a bench and I pulled out a bottle for him...then it happened. It was like we had a sign over our heads saying "free money" or something. Women started coming up to us one after another, I tell you I've never seen anything like it! Back in my single days, I wish I knew then what I know now, babies are an untapped resource for picking up chicks! I'm telling you, if you know a single guy, and you have a baby, let him borrow them for a day, thats all it will take.
We are counting down the days til Grandpa and Grandma Grimm come into town to visit, just over a month to go. We have decided to have a BBQ here at home and get as many of the family over as we can, it will be hard to find a place to sit for everyone, but hey, they all have butt's, and we have plenty of floor space, so I'm sure things will work out fine.
Elliot is growing like a weed, I cant wait to take him to the doctor next month and see how much he really has grown, he's still small, but sure can start to see him change. His little fat rolls are starting to actually fill up with some fat, and his face has filled out nicely. Now if he would just start sleeping alittle better, things would really be good! I shouldnt complain to much though, I'm not the one that has to stay up w/ him every 2-3 hours as night when he's hungry.
Tuesday afternoon we decided to go to the mall so Crystal could pick up some things, wouldnt you know, the first store we went into upon arrival, Elliot decided he was hungry. So he and I went out into the center of the mall and sat on a bench and I pulled out a bottle for him...then it happened. It was like we had a sign over our heads saying "free money" or something. Women started coming up to us one after another, I tell you I've never seen anything like it! Back in my single days, I wish I knew then what I know now, babies are an untapped resource for picking up chicks! I'm telling you, if you know a single guy, and you have a baby, let him borrow them for a day, thats all it will take.
We are counting down the days til Grandpa and Grandma Grimm come into town to visit, just over a month to go. We have decided to have a BBQ here at home and get as many of the family over as we can, it will be hard to find a place to sit for everyone, but hey, they all have butt's, and we have plenty of floor space, so I'm sure things will work out fine.
Elliot is growing like a weed, I cant wait to take him to the doctor next month and see how much he really has grown, he's still small, but sure can start to see him change. His little fat rolls are starting to actually fill up with some fat, and his face has filled out nicely. Now if he would just start sleeping alittle better, things would really be good! I shouldnt complain to much though, I'm not the one that has to stay up w/ him every 2-3 hours as night when he's hungry.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Life is good...
Sometimes doing the smallest and dumbest of things with Elliot reminds me of this simple statement. At least daily I get affirmation of it, usually more than once a day. Things like seeing him smile, which makes me smile, which is starting to then make him smile even more. Or hearing him let out huge burps after eating, it makes mom and dad laugh, I cant wait til the day it makes him laugh too. So its not proper etiquitte to burp and think its funny...just call me whatever word it is when you dont have proper etiquitte :)
Today while changing a diaper, it just looked wet, so got that one off and wouldnt you know, the little turd tried to attack me with...well...turds. This time I was ready for his attack, SunTzu said "If once you are defeated but live to tell the tale, never fall victim to the same attack again, for you know already how to defeat it", in this particular case, this meant having a changing pad under his butt, one edge of it folded up over my leg, and a wipe on immediate standby to use as a shield from his "blast attack". This time Crystal was on hand to witness it and thought it was hilarious to watch. I have to admit, having lived thru the first one, and not being proud of my response, this time around it really was kinda funny. The poor diaper pad may never be the same...but its served its purpose in life.
Grandma and Grandpa Grimm are coming up from Arizona at the end of April, thankfully they can be here on my days off so I can get to visit w/ them some too. Elliot is looking forward to meeting his other Grandma and Grandpa, I'm glad they are able to take the time out of their busy lives to come up and see him, it means alot to me that they are doing it. Hopefully we can have a big family dinner while they are here and they can meet Crystals mom and dad too, I'd like that alot.
Your always hearing people say "its the little things that matter most in life", and now that I'm a dad, I can honestly stop thinking those people are crazy and didnt know what they are talking about, I'm a firm believer in that now, it really is the little things. Life is GOOD.
Today while changing a diaper, it just looked wet, so got that one off and wouldnt you know, the little turd tried to attack me with...well...turds. This time I was ready for his attack, SunTzu said "If once you are defeated but live to tell the tale, never fall victim to the same attack again, for you know already how to defeat it", in this particular case, this meant having a changing pad under his butt, one edge of it folded up over my leg, and a wipe on immediate standby to use as a shield from his "blast attack". This time Crystal was on hand to witness it and thought it was hilarious to watch. I have to admit, having lived thru the first one, and not being proud of my response, this time around it really was kinda funny. The poor diaper pad may never be the same...but its served its purpose in life.
Grandma and Grandpa Grimm are coming up from Arizona at the end of April, thankfully they can be here on my days off so I can get to visit w/ them some too. Elliot is looking forward to meeting his other Grandma and Grandpa, I'm glad they are able to take the time out of their busy lives to come up and see him, it means alot to me that they are doing it. Hopefully we can have a big family dinner while they are here and they can meet Crystals mom and dad too, I'd like that alot.
Your always hearing people say "its the little things that matter most in life", and now that I'm a dad, I can honestly stop thinking those people are crazy and didnt know what they are talking about, I'm a firm believer in that now, it really is the little things. Life is GOOD.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Bought a new car!
Or I could have with the money being spent on Elliots 5 day hospital stay. Over 16,000 dollars is getting billed to the insurance company! Thank God for double insurance coverage!!!
Still havnt gotten Crystals part of the bill yet...or we have and the amount was completely washed away when I saw his, I'm not sure.
It's back to work day for me today, :(
Part of me is happy to get back to working, the other 99.9% of me wants to stay home with mom and the baby. Oh well, I'll be only working 3 day work weeks from now til my vacation time runs out. Hopefully that will stretch out til May 1st or so..maybe longer I have to go back and recalculate since he came early and thru off my time line.
All is well with him and us, sure can tell he is growing just by looking at him, kinda scary, on the other hand, its just that much sooner I'll be able to get a golf club in his hands :)
Still havnt gotten Crystals part of the bill yet...or we have and the amount was completely washed away when I saw his, I'm not sure.
It's back to work day for me today, :(
Part of me is happy to get back to working, the other 99.9% of me wants to stay home with mom and the baby. Oh well, I'll be only working 3 day work weeks from now til my vacation time runs out. Hopefully that will stretch out til May 1st or so..maybe longer I have to go back and recalculate since he came early and thru off my time line.
All is well with him and us, sure can tell he is growing just by looking at him, kinda scary, on the other hand, its just that much sooner I'll be able to get a golf club in his hands :)
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Just back from the 2 week check up...
And all is good! He's growing like a weed, 1.5 inches and 10 ounces, the doctor says he is doing just awesome for being so early. We knew he would, hes going to be a butt kicker for sure.
Nothing new to report otherwise here on the home front. I decided to say no to the airport job, too many cons to changing jobs right now. Hopefully with doing fire training things will improve for me, will give me something else to do during the day, that will be a nice change I think...I hope.
Had alittle fun w/ the camera today, thought I'd share it.
Nothing new to report otherwise here on the home front. I decided to say no to the airport job, too many cons to changing jobs right now. Hopefully with doing fire training things will improve for me, will give me something else to do during the day, that will be a nice change I think...I hope.
Had alittle fun w/ the camera today, thought I'd share it.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
1 Down, 9,687,421 to go...
Yesterday I got up and decided I'd get one of the things done on my "honey do" list around here. I've actually been doing lots of little stuff over the past 2 weeks. Inbetween diapers and bottles and stuff hasnt really allowed me to do anything big, but I told Crystal my plans and she was pretty excited to get it done so she silently agreed to take care of the boy while I worked.
And work I did, got started about 1030 in the morning, had to run a couple errands first then it was off to home depot. The first of 2 trips that day. Dont you just love Home Depot? Its one of the few remaining stores where you can go and walk past what you need 10 times and never see it. During those passes, your looking for someone to ask and point you in the right direction but they are never there, then when you finally do find someone, they end up standing right infront of the stuff you need...sigh.
I decided it was time to finish the family room. It's been painted, and repainted :), for at least 2 months now, all that was lacking was a new laundry room door and the trim around the doors and window, and baseboard trim.
I had figured on it being a long day, and I was ok with that, I wish it had gone alittle quicker, but I'm happy w/ the outcome of it anyway. The only down fall is that we have decided to use cedar boards around all the doors and windows. It looks awesome when its done, the only bad part is that none of the boards you go and buy are ever the same thickness. Someday I'll have a planner and can take everything down myself if needed, but thats many many moons from now. So at some of the corners, theres a little bit of a gap or one piece of trim is alittle taller than the other, nothing alittle putty and sand paper cant fix, but still.
I took before and after pictures, they are in the house work photo section over on the right here. It was 2330 when I took the "after" pix of stuff, I probably should have waited til I got up this morning to take them, but I think they turned out ok anyway. I'm no JB when it comes to taking pix, but sure wish I was, she does some good work. Someday I'll have to get myself a really good camera, I'm sure that helps alot.
Now that the room is done, we can go and get some blinds for the window and the sliding glass door. Next project will be to clean up the garage and the back patio, its time to start getting rid of some of this construction debris thats laying around all over the place. I plan on working on that all this week before I go back to work.
Speaking of work, the Airport has finally gotten back to me about a position out there, now its decision time I guess. So many pros and cons I cant decide if its something I want to go after or not. I guess I have time to think about it, which I do all the time now. Oh well, off to get some lunch then maybe a nap. Hope everyone is doing well.
And work I did, got started about 1030 in the morning, had to run a couple errands first then it was off to home depot. The first of 2 trips that day. Dont you just love Home Depot? Its one of the few remaining stores where you can go and walk past what you need 10 times and never see it. During those passes, your looking for someone to ask and point you in the right direction but they are never there, then when you finally do find someone, they end up standing right infront of the stuff you need...sigh.
I decided it was time to finish the family room. It's been painted, and repainted :), for at least 2 months now, all that was lacking was a new laundry room door and the trim around the doors and window, and baseboard trim.
I had figured on it being a long day, and I was ok with that, I wish it had gone alittle quicker, but I'm happy w/ the outcome of it anyway. The only down fall is that we have decided to use cedar boards around all the doors and windows. It looks awesome when its done, the only bad part is that none of the boards you go and buy are ever the same thickness. Someday I'll have a planner and can take everything down myself if needed, but thats many many moons from now. So at some of the corners, theres a little bit of a gap or one piece of trim is alittle taller than the other, nothing alittle putty and sand paper cant fix, but still.
I took before and after pictures, they are in the house work photo section over on the right here. It was 2330 when I took the "after" pix of stuff, I probably should have waited til I got up this morning to take them, but I think they turned out ok anyway. I'm no JB when it comes to taking pix, but sure wish I was, she does some good work. Someday I'll have to get myself a really good camera, I'm sure that helps alot.
Now that the room is done, we can go and get some blinds for the window and the sliding glass door. Next project will be to clean up the garage and the back patio, its time to start getting rid of some of this construction debris thats laying around all over the place. I plan on working on that all this week before I go back to work.
Speaking of work, the Airport has finally gotten back to me about a position out there, now its decision time I guess. So many pros and cons I cant decide if its something I want to go after or not. I guess I have time to think about it, which I do all the time now. Oh well, off to get some lunch then maybe a nap. Hope everyone is doing well.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Dish Network
Ok, couple entries ago I touched on our ordeal w/ the Dish network...it all finally came to a head today. Or at least I think it did.
Back in the middle of January, I called them up and said "I'm paid up til the 2nd of February, so I'd like to cancel my account. How do I get your recievers back to you folks?" Oh no problem sir, we will UPS you a couple boxes with return labels, just put your recievers inside and send them back to us, no cost to you. "Cool! ok, send the boxes, and I'll get them back to you ASAP", well sir, you will have to do it faster than that, we will have to have the recievers back in our posession by Feb 15th or we will charge 300 dollars for each one you have (we had 2). "ok, no problem, you get me the boxes and I'll get them on their way to you". Come February 10th, I still had no boxes, so I called them again. "yes, I called and canceled my account last month, was supposed to be getting some boxes to UPS back to you our recievers, but I still havnt gotten any boxes" ok, I see the request was entered but maybe the boxes didnt get sent. "Ok, thats going to be a problem then cause I'm not paying you guys 600 bucks since you didnt get the boxes to me on time" oh no, I'll extend out your time, the boxes will be there in 2 days. "ok, thanks". Later that very day...1 box arrived...but not 2. So, time to call them...again. "yes, I was supposed to have 2 boxes coming to me to ship back my recievers to you guys, but you only sent me 1 box" uh oh (that was an encouraging statement let me tell you) lets see if we can get you another one, will both recievers fit in the one box at all? "well, it will, but the 2nd one isnt going to have any kind of foam or padding around it at all. I'm more than willing to send it to you that way, but I'm not going to be held responsible for any damage thats caused in the shipping process" no, we wouldnt hold you responsible for that at all. Let me double check with my supervisor and see what he says.....4 mins pass....Ok sir, my supervisor says to just pack it in the same box as best you can and ship it out to us. "ok, but I want it on record again that I'm not going to be held responsible for any damage" no sir, thats on ups if its damaged. "ok, they are on the way then, I'm on my way to the UPS store." Great, thanks for being a dish network valued customer. "oh my pleasure....I guess". So I sent off the recievers, that was 2 days ago...today, a 2nd box showed up for the 2nd reciever...sigh. At least I know I'm not the only one not happy w/ their service, when I got to the UPS store, there were 3 other boxes waiting to be picked up going back to them. So now I have this dish attached to the house, that will be fun to take off, will probably wait til we redo the roof.
No funny/gross diaper stories today, was pretty uneventful around here today. Got some little stuff done around the house, which always feels good. Tomorrow I'm going to start finishing the family room, putting up trim and a new door into the laundry room. I decided to make another link on the side for all the house work we do, can keep them seperate from the pix of the little man, not much in there yet, will try and get some stuff in there of what we've done already.
Looks like we are going to get to bed before midnight tonight! Sweet! that means I'll be up by 6 freaking am! ugh...oh well, leaves more day light to get things done around the house :)
Bye for now.
Back in the middle of January, I called them up and said "I'm paid up til the 2nd of February, so I'd like to cancel my account. How do I get your recievers back to you folks?" Oh no problem sir, we will UPS you a couple boxes with return labels, just put your recievers inside and send them back to us, no cost to you. "Cool! ok, send the boxes, and I'll get them back to you ASAP", well sir, you will have to do it faster than that, we will have to have the recievers back in our posession by Feb 15th or we will charge 300 dollars for each one you have (we had 2). "ok, no problem, you get me the boxes and I'll get them on their way to you". Come February 10th, I still had no boxes, so I called them again. "yes, I called and canceled my account last month, was supposed to be getting some boxes to UPS back to you our recievers, but I still havnt gotten any boxes" ok, I see the request was entered but maybe the boxes didnt get sent. "Ok, thats going to be a problem then cause I'm not paying you guys 600 bucks since you didnt get the boxes to me on time" oh no, I'll extend out your time, the boxes will be there in 2 days. "ok, thanks". Later that very day...1 box arrived...but not 2. So, time to call them...again. "yes, I was supposed to have 2 boxes coming to me to ship back my recievers to you guys, but you only sent me 1 box" uh oh (that was an encouraging statement let me tell you) lets see if we can get you another one, will both recievers fit in the one box at all? "well, it will, but the 2nd one isnt going to have any kind of foam or padding around it at all. I'm more than willing to send it to you that way, but I'm not going to be held responsible for any damage thats caused in the shipping process" no, we wouldnt hold you responsible for that at all. Let me double check with my supervisor and see what he says.....4 mins pass....Ok sir, my supervisor says to just pack it in the same box as best you can and ship it out to us. "ok, but I want it on record again that I'm not going to be held responsible for any damage" no sir, thats on ups if its damaged. "ok, they are on the way then, I'm on my way to the UPS store." Great, thanks for being a dish network valued customer. "oh my pleasure....I guess". So I sent off the recievers, that was 2 days ago...today, a 2nd box showed up for the 2nd reciever...sigh. At least I know I'm not the only one not happy w/ their service, when I got to the UPS store, there were 3 other boxes waiting to be picked up going back to them. So now I have this dish attached to the house, that will be fun to take off, will probably wait til we redo the roof.
No funny/gross diaper stories today, was pretty uneventful around here today. Got some little stuff done around the house, which always feels good. Tomorrow I'm going to start finishing the family room, putting up trim and a new door into the laundry room. I decided to make another link on the side for all the house work we do, can keep them seperate from the pix of the little man, not much in there yet, will try and get some stuff in there of what we've done already.
Looks like we are going to get to bed before midnight tonight! Sweet! that means I'll be up by 6 freaking am! ugh...oh well, leaves more day light to get things done around the house :)
Bye for now.
Initiation...still not sure its a group I want to be in..but what can you do?
Overall I'd have to say I was having a good day. We got out and ran some errands today, actually got some stuff accomplished.
Then it happened...went to change lil Elliots diaper, no biggie, I've even gotten pretty quick at it. Started out like any other changing, checked inside to survey the damage, just a tiny little bit of poo in there, so got the old one off, was wiping his little tush when the flood gates opened. I had no idea so much poo could come out such a tiny spot. The best way I can describe it is well...you know how when you take a little pouch of ketchup from a fastfood place and you put it on the ground and step on one end and the ketchup goes flying out the other? Well, thats what happened, and when I say it went all over, it went all over...all over the couch, all over my hand, all over my other hand (I was trying to block it and lessen the damage, no such luck) all over my shirt, all over my pants, I think the only place that didnt get hit was my face (its all about the small victories!) 9 wipes later and I had a new diaper on him and could start cleaning myself up.
I wasnt to proud of the way I responded, I started yelling for Crystal to come and help, but she was all the way at the other end of the house behind 2 closed doors, and couldnt help me, sigh. So I yelled louder, and louder, and louder. Finally got him cleaned up and went running to the other end of the house w/ him and kept yelling, completly forgetting the fact that he had no idea what was going on, I think I might have scarred him alittle, which broke my heart after Crystal pointed it out to me, she said he had a little worried look on his face, which made her cry, which made me feel like even more of a dirt bag. Many appalogies later and I still felt like the poo I was covered in...warm and slimy :(
Its late and time for bed, maybe tomorrow I can get pee'd on and even get some throw up on me, then I can say I've done the hatrick!
Then it happened...went to change lil Elliots diaper, no biggie, I've even gotten pretty quick at it. Started out like any other changing, checked inside to survey the damage, just a tiny little bit of poo in there, so got the old one off, was wiping his little tush when the flood gates opened. I had no idea so much poo could come out such a tiny spot. The best way I can describe it is well...you know how when you take a little pouch of ketchup from a fastfood place and you put it on the ground and step on one end and the ketchup goes flying out the other? Well, thats what happened, and when I say it went all over, it went all over...all over the couch, all over my hand, all over my other hand (I was trying to block it and lessen the damage, no such luck) all over my shirt, all over my pants, I think the only place that didnt get hit was my face (its all about the small victories!) 9 wipes later and I had a new diaper on him and could start cleaning myself up.
I wasnt to proud of the way I responded, I started yelling for Crystal to come and help, but she was all the way at the other end of the house behind 2 closed doors, and couldnt help me, sigh. So I yelled louder, and louder, and louder. Finally got him cleaned up and went running to the other end of the house w/ him and kept yelling, completly forgetting the fact that he had no idea what was going on, I think I might have scarred him alittle, which broke my heart after Crystal pointed it out to me, she said he had a little worried look on his face, which made her cry, which made me feel like even more of a dirt bag. Many appalogies later and I still felt like the poo I was covered in...warm and slimy :(
Its late and time for bed, maybe tomorrow I can get pee'd on and even get some throw up on me, then I can say I've done the hatrick!
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
As promised
Just a quick update, got a photo album set up finally. Link over on the right hand side now at the top of the links section.
Took me a couple days to figure out what service to use, but in the end I think this one will be cool, looks like it gives the option for anyone to order up a print if they'd like. Kind of a cool option for grandparents and what not. Will get some more photos uploaded later today as time permits.
Took me a couple days to figure out what service to use, but in the end I think this one will be cool, looks like it gives the option for anyone to order up a print if they'd like. Kind of a cool option for grandparents and what not. Will get some more photos uploaded later today as time permits.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Dare I say a return to normal?
Normal is a realative term around here...I do live w/ Crystal after all hehe.
Managed to get lots done today while the boy was sleeping, mowed the lawn, finished cutting up all the garbage trim we tore out of the house, got the satelitte dish down to send back to the Dishtv clowns (I'll probably have a post dedicated to these jokers when I get it all resolved). My little brother and his wife (also named Crystal...) stopped by to see us today too...actually he let me borrow his ladder, so he had no choice, I didnt want to go buy a ladder today :) Thanks bro!
Tommorow we have 2 doctors appointments to go to. Will be Elliot's first pediatric visit, hopefully they will tell us all is good and he is packing on weight, pretty sure he is, seems to be filling out pretty good already, all his little fat rolls are there, they just need some fat in them.
Sat down and did my taxes today too, yeah!!! a return! thats at least 1 more month Crystal can be off work, that makes me happy...jealous too, but for the most part just happy. The time off will be great for her and awesome for the baby, he gets to have mom pamper him for a good long time...lucky little turd!
Its late, so off to bed now for a few hours anyway :)
Managed to get lots done today while the boy was sleeping, mowed the lawn, finished cutting up all the garbage trim we tore out of the house, got the satelitte dish down to send back to the Dishtv clowns (I'll probably have a post dedicated to these jokers when I get it all resolved). My little brother and his wife (also named Crystal...) stopped by to see us today too...actually he let me borrow his ladder, so he had no choice, I didnt want to go buy a ladder today :) Thanks bro!
Tommorow we have 2 doctors appointments to go to. Will be Elliot's first pediatric visit, hopefully they will tell us all is good and he is packing on weight, pretty sure he is, seems to be filling out pretty good already, all his little fat rolls are there, they just need some fat in them.
Sat down and did my taxes today too, yeah!!! a return! thats at least 1 more month Crystal can be off work, that makes me happy...jealous too, but for the most part just happy. The time off will be great for her and awesome for the baby, he gets to have mom pamper him for a good long time...lucky little turd!
Its late, so off to bed now for a few hours anyway :)
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Day 1: Under siege
Ok, so it wasnt really that bad. I tried to tell myself I wouldnt be one of those parents that was always jumping up to check on him, is he still breathing, what was that noise, did he throw up and now he's choking? Good lord, not only did I do it, I did it for almost 4 hours before I finally went to sleep! Still, I feel more rested now after 5 hours of sleep than I have all week. He has moments when he is a really fussy eater, sometimes he wants to eat right thru the bottle, sometimes he tries to push the bottle out of his mouth. I think psychologically we are still kinda hooked on the nurses schedule of feeding him every 3 hours, sometimes he just doesnt want that. We will learn, we have no choice.
Diapers: Oh boy! I've never seen such an assortment of colors come out of such a tiny little hole. Thank goodness they dont stink! Or is it just that my allergies are so bad and I cant smell them? Either way, score for me!
I'm alittle surprised at how quickly his "pencil sharpening" is healing up. They have us covering it w/ a vaseline covered quaze pad everytime we change his diaper, I would have thought all that moisture wouldnt allow it to heal up so good, but its doing the trick pretty well. Whats left of the ambilical cord is just about ready to come off also I think, not sure how I'll handle that one, hopefully it happens when Crystal is changing him =:)
Lots to get done today, and kitties are howling in the hallway while Crystal and Elliot are trying to sleep, so I have to go beat them into submission now.
Diapers: Oh boy! I've never seen such an assortment of colors come out of such a tiny little hole. Thank goodness they dont stink! Or is it just that my allergies are so bad and I cant smell them? Either way, score for me!
I'm alittle surprised at how quickly his "pencil sharpening" is healing up. They have us covering it w/ a vaseline covered quaze pad everytime we change his diaper, I would have thought all that moisture wouldnt allow it to heal up so good, but its doing the trick pretty well. Whats left of the ambilical cord is just about ready to come off also I think, not sure how I'll handle that one, hopefully it happens when Crystal is changing him =:)
Lots to get done today, and kitties are howling in the hallway while Crystal and Elliot are trying to sleep, so I have to go beat them into submission now.
Friday, February 10, 2006
The journey home....
Finally!!! 5 stinking days holed up in the nursery and they finally let our boy come home! Good thing too, cause I was ready to start tunneling to free him!
Everyone talks about how little sleep you get w/ a new born...and while its too early to say "its not so bad", let me just tell you this, with him being home now, at least we get the chance to sleep when he sleeps...not an option we had while he was in the hospital nursery.
This wasnt your average, old school type nursery, this place was straight out of the sick bay on the star ship enterprise. Various stuff plugged into the wall and hanging all over the place, cupboards, drawers, nooks and crannies to store things. Every kid gets their own little "suite" if you will, that part was nice. Up until about 2 months ago, the hospital still had the old style nursery, one big room that you had to look at the kids thru a window at...lame. Anyway, someone came along and donated 2.5 million bucks to the hospital so they could build a new facility, and they used up every penny of that money making one sweet place. However, not alot of concern was given to the parents that might be coming and staying with their sick/premmie baby. Dont get me wrong, their staff (except for a couple nazi nurses) were awesome, very caring and helpful to new nervous parents :) The EKG machine that they had him hooked up too gave them a 24/7 view of what was going on w/ him, including heart rate, respirations per minute and blood O2 levels. Now this wasnt a bad thing, however, the machine is set up so that any nurse thats working in the unit, can actually monitor other babies from any other room in the place...how do they monitor it? With this really cool sounding alarm, with 15 rooms full of babies that were in there for some kind of problem or another, how many times you think that thing goes off in an hour? Heres a better way to think about it, how many times you think its quiet in an hour! There was a small couch in the room that probably could have supplied a decent enough nap...if the gong show wasnt going off all the time. I think its great that the nurses have the ability to virtually be in 2 places at the same time, but come on, if mom and dad in room 8 (our room) want to take a nap...just set the alarm for their baby, if it goes off we will come and get you, otherwise, we dont need to know that baby in room 1's heart rate just went 2 beats per minute over the average.
Ok, enough about that...its water under the bridge, see I can let things go :)
The ride home was pretty non eventful, dont think I've ever driven that safely in my entire life, but thats ok, will probably save myself some gas that way :)
The kitties arent quite sure what to think about lil Elliot, he makes some weird noises for just looking like a comfy bundle of blankets to sleep on, so for the most part they pretty much stay away from him. We had him down for a nap earlier and used our little baby monitor that we got as a gift from someone at work (thanks LF) and that freaked them out when all of a sudden this little box was making the same noises as that bundle of blankets was...good entertainment, and cheap too! Which is a good thing since the tub of formula we had to go get to boost moms milk w/ extra calories was 15 dollars! No wonder that stuff gets sold on the black market, its worth its weight in gold!
Well, the lil turd is just about due to be fed again, so I'm off to help out w/ that then its time for a much needed nap! For everyone thats sent messages and emails, text messages and voice mail, thank you for all the well wishes and what not, if I dont respond its not cause I dont like ya, just busy w/ other stuff as you might imagine. Will write again soon.
Everyone talks about how little sleep you get w/ a new born...and while its too early to say "its not so bad", let me just tell you this, with him being home now, at least we get the chance to sleep when he sleeps...not an option we had while he was in the hospital nursery.
This wasnt your average, old school type nursery, this place was straight out of the sick bay on the star ship enterprise. Various stuff plugged into the wall and hanging all over the place, cupboards, drawers, nooks and crannies to store things. Every kid gets their own little "suite" if you will, that part was nice. Up until about 2 months ago, the hospital still had the old style nursery, one big room that you had to look at the kids thru a window at...lame. Anyway, someone came along and donated 2.5 million bucks to the hospital so they could build a new facility, and they used up every penny of that money making one sweet place. However, not alot of concern was given to the parents that might be coming and staying with their sick/premmie baby. Dont get me wrong, their staff (except for a couple nazi nurses) were awesome, very caring and helpful to new nervous parents :) The EKG machine that they had him hooked up too gave them a 24/7 view of what was going on w/ him, including heart rate, respirations per minute and blood O2 levels. Now this wasnt a bad thing, however, the machine is set up so that any nurse thats working in the unit, can actually monitor other babies from any other room in the place...how do they monitor it? With this really cool sounding alarm, with 15 rooms full of babies that were in there for some kind of problem or another, how many times you think that thing goes off in an hour? Heres a better way to think about it, how many times you think its quiet in an hour! There was a small couch in the room that probably could have supplied a decent enough nap...if the gong show wasnt going off all the time. I think its great that the nurses have the ability to virtually be in 2 places at the same time, but come on, if mom and dad in room 8 (our room) want to take a nap...just set the alarm for their baby, if it goes off we will come and get you, otherwise, we dont need to know that baby in room 1's heart rate just went 2 beats per minute over the average.
Ok, enough about that...its water under the bridge, see I can let things go :)
The ride home was pretty non eventful, dont think I've ever driven that safely in my entire life, but thats ok, will probably save myself some gas that way :)
The kitties arent quite sure what to think about lil Elliot, he makes some weird noises for just looking like a comfy bundle of blankets to sleep on, so for the most part they pretty much stay away from him. We had him down for a nap earlier and used our little baby monitor that we got as a gift from someone at work (thanks LF) and that freaked them out when all of a sudden this little box was making the same noises as that bundle of blankets was...good entertainment, and cheap too! Which is a good thing since the tub of formula we had to go get to boost moms milk w/ extra calories was 15 dollars! No wonder that stuff gets sold on the black market, its worth its weight in gold!
Well, the lil turd is just about due to be fed again, so I'm off to help out w/ that then its time for a much needed nap! For everyone thats sent messages and emails, text messages and voice mail, thank you for all the well wishes and what not, if I dont respond its not cause I dont like ya, just busy w/ other stuff as you might imagine. Will write again soon.
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