Diapers Arrive

I know that my friend, the famous "if it fits it ships" postal carrier, would never do this to any pregnant woman however Chicago's real USPS postal carrier just made me carry a large box up 3 flights of stairs! Maybe he was confused and thought my huge baby belly could be from eating way too much food for my entire lifetime?! Nah, I don't think that's it. At least today I feel like I have a ton of energy! I made it up those stairs with the box in no time and without feeling like I was going to have a asthma attack. Nesting? Maybe, or I just haven't done anything in awhile and had a spurt of energy. Either way...Success! Now I just need our baby to put in the super cute diapers.

I am only 4 days away from my due date and getting restless, I just want to move onto the next phase of our lives. I know our apartment could be cleaner, more organized, have more things packed and ready to go to Michigan but I think I will always feel that way. There is just no way to fully prepare for all this at once. When I was prepping for our wedding it was such an easier process ( I am sure David would have a different side to that) because I knew what was going to happen after and I didn't need to worry about an extra person that couldn't take care of themselves. Now, I feel like I am just waiting and hoping I can make the right choices to raise him. I mean I have the really important basics down, don't shake the baby, don't drop him, nothing in the crib with him, "back is best",feed, change and hold him. Easy things to remember. But there is sooooo much more to think about and with a move coming up to I just have decided that some stuff just isn't worth the headache. If you come and visit us, don't judge us, yes my apartment is a little disorganized and messy. If it bothers you I will gladly take volunteers to clean it for me!

NATO is going on here this weekend and the Protesters have already started. There will be road closers, business and museum closers, train restrictions and lots of police activity! Today 7 people were arrested (Peacefully) for protesting the NATO conference and one women was on the news stating that "the Catholics don't support war and that is why they are protesting the NATO conference"...  I find that to be incorrect and after confirming with my father I found the passage I was thinking about:

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

A Time for Everything

3 There is a time^(A) for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

² a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,^(B)
3 a time to kill^(C) and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent^(D) and a time to speak,
⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

It truly bothers me when people make blind statements about a whole groups beliefs without actually knowing what they believe. Sigh. Despite my personal feelings about NATO, my personal belief system and frustrations with protesters, I do believe they have every right to speak their minds. But please at least do your research before going on television and stating what a VERY LARGE group of people believe in. Your personal beliefs are not the entire groups beliefs and you have been misinformed OR don't bring them into it at all, mayhaps try this one "I am protesting because I don't believe in war, so I do not want the NATO Conference to continue its planned meeting" That would be more accurate and relevant.

 

I'm back and with great news!!

I started this blog almost a full year ago! Sadly, I had to stop baking and writing, but only for the most important of reasons... we have been blessed with becoming pregnant! I am currently 12 days out from my due date and have officially started my maternity leave. It has been wonderful to be able to stay at home and relax with my wonderful husband. And luckily for me he has been able to be at home with me as he has just wrapped up his studies and is graduating after years of hard work towards his goal. I am so proud of him. We have been taking this time to prepare our house for our soon to arrive son and preparing for our first move out of state as a family.

I will be able to continue my cake making adventures soon but right now I am pleasantly plump so getting around a kitchen gets to be a little awkward. My little guy likes to kick things, people and me as much as possible so I tend to be a little clumsy with kitchen items. I want him to have all his fingers and toes and to be honest I want to keep all of mine too. I might have a problem keeping him from running around while I bake when he gets older, he is just so active in my tummy!

I hope you all have been well in my absence and feel like I should mention that I think my blog may change into a baking adventures/new Mom/new home and state blog. I am sure I will have lots to write about!

New MOM adventure moments so far-

 I just spent 3 hours with my husband haggling down a price on a cloth diaper system over ebay. Let me tell you, it a vicious cloth diaper world out there... you will never know until you have to look into it. People are ruthless and I don't really understand why. I mean in all honesty, its just poop we are talking about. I am all about personal opinion, but who knew that people are so convicted about what your kid poops in?! What a strange thing to feel convicted about. For all you new Moms out there, you do what you think is best for your child. If you want to go with disposable diapers, do it, if you want to use cloth diapers, do it. Its just poop. We chose cloth after we decided to do disposable and to be honest it was just because its more cost effective for us and with the right system it can be used for our next child if we are fortunate enough to have more. If you find the right brand that you trust (we went off from friends and family recommendations on systems, Bumgenius won)  and you like it, do it. And don't let people bug you about it. I cant tell you how many people tried to make me feel bad about my choices and I just deleted their comments. (if you are reading this and are one of the people I have deleted comments of, no offense towards your choices but I don't want negativity around me during my pregnancy)

 It's almost as taboo as talking about  breastfeeding vs. bottle feeding. That is the real underbelly of the new Mom world that is just insane. I have been accosted in a public bathroom, on the CTA and just walking down the street over that topic. I found out that there are three options you can go with, the first being tell them what you really plan on doing. Not always the best idea because no matter who you are talking to, they will treat you like you don't actually know what you are talking about and FOLLOW you until they feel like you are fully educated on the topic. The second choice being easier to deal with but sometimes you feel pretty bad afterwards. Just agree with whatever they say, the good ol' smile and nod technique, I found they lose interest and go away which is great when you are in a hurry. And lastly if you have no problem with this or if you are in a bad mood/in pain. LIE you can choose quite a few good classics: "Excuse me? I'm not pregnant, how dare you!" (which is really funny when you are in your last trimester, if you can keep a straight face) "What? I don't understand? Can you speak up? What?" shake your head, then walk away like it's just too loud, even if its not. They stand there and you walk away. I have noticed that these choice have actually lined up in order with my three trimesters. That can't be a coincidence...hmmm.

My husband has been having adventures with me too! We decided to get a Pack N Play, which is a portable crib/play pen with a changing table attached to it. We will only be in Chicago for about a month before we move; the actual crib will be at our new home waiting for our baby boy. So, David who is in IT, being so sweet starts assembling this thing. You would think, it being a PORTABLE item, would be easy to assemble. If you think that... you are sooooo wrong. We both at one point had one end of a metal pipe, pulling against each other as hard as we could until we heard (as the instructions said) "a gentle pop" HA! It was like a strong man competition! We both were sweating from the work out this "easy to assemble" item was giving us.  David actually said that he has built computers easier to put together then that thing. We were also very careful because our child will be sleeping in there, the last thing we want is it to collapse or something. After quite a few tries and I dont even know how long, I am quite happy to say the Pack N Play is safely put together by some determined soon to be parents and that thing is sturdy. It might even survive a twister better then some of the past places I have lived in.