Whew!

Man, work as been insanely crazy lately. I had to work this weekend to test a new product that's hopefully going in this week. Luckily (maybe?) my training class got pushed back a week, so I am trying to get my boss to let me off on Friday since I worked over the weekend.

The good news is that I am staying so busy, that my 8+ hours each day are FLYING by. The bad part is that I am just exhausted. So tired that I have not been sleeping more than 2-3 hours at a time. With SIL's wedding coming up, I won't have a chance to rest for at least two more weeks. Looks like I get to sneak in naps whenever I can, and pop some Tylenol PM at night to knock me out a bit more.

DH and I did do some shopping last night for baby girl's room. We picked out a wall color (light silvery-grey), and accent colors (bright pink, black, and silver). For a decoration over the crib, I am putting up her name in block letters, mounted on old records :) For the wall over the dresser/changing table, we are going to get 3 LP cover frames. We have a photographer friend that we are going to ask to take some pics. One of DH + baby, one of me + baby, and one of all three of us. We want to have them look kind of like old albums, and then have those framed & put up on the wall.

We got to go visit the babies yesterday, and they even let us touch Ellie! For being the smallest, she is actually doing the best out of all of them. Alyvia got really excited & was moving around like CRAZY while we were there. I told her she has to wait to come meet them :) Hopefully she listens!!!!

I am so so nervous. I have my yearly performance review coming up in a few days. Not sure why I get so nervous each year, but I do. We find out the fate of our raises/bonuses. But they sent out an email the other day that seemed to say that serious changes & layoffs could be happening sometime this year. Just keeping my fingers crossed that nothing happens soon. We just need a bit more time for DHs cases to complete.

Cousins!

SIL went into labor today, and unfortunately the doctors could not stop it. She's about to go into surgery right now to deliver the babies. Alyvia's cousins will be born very, very soon. I don't know if she can sense me being nervous right now, but she has been moving around like crazy for the last hour or so! Hopefully she does not get in too big of a hurry to come see them!

Please keep the quads in your prayers: Caleb, Abigail, Elijah, and Elizabeth. Caleb, Abby, and Elijah are measuring at 28 weeks, but little Miss Ellie is only at 26.5. She's definitely the tiniest, and still under 2lbs.

**ETA**

The quads were born this afternoon. Everyone is doing really, really well! I cant wait until Mike gets home & we can go to meet them (probably tomorrow).

Its a baby...

GIRL!!!

And now the fun begins :)  She actually cooperated & let us take a picture of her this time too.  She kept trying to cover her face with her hands, but fortunately for us we can just see through those hands by turning up the machine a tad bit more.  It was kind of weird to watch on the monitor & see her hands disappear, and then re-appear. 

Now, we have a few more things to get done:

1. Settle on a name.  **ETA** Done!! Alyvia Kate!!!!
2. Decide to paint the room or not.  I like the blue, but the walls are a bit scuffed.
3. Install carpet.
4. Assemble the furniture
5. Decorate the room

Getting closer & closer :)  I am just excited to be able to call her "her", instead of "baby".  Makes it seem so much more personal.

Spring Cleaning!

Last night I could not sleep well.  Because my closet was dirty, and knowing that it was dirty was seriously bothering me.  Oh boy - bring on the crazy preggo lady!!  I had always laughed when people told stories like that.  Now I COMPLETELY understand!!

I had today off work, so I slept in a bit late (7:30 is late now - man I am old!).  I got up, put in my contacts, and got right to work on my closet.  I grabbed the box of trash bags from under the kitchen sink and went to work.  I started by pulling out all the empty hangers and throwing them on my bed. Random side story - trying to pick up said hangers later is like trying to play a game of "A Barrel of Monkeys".  But not nearly as much fun.  Then I started in on the clothes.  Anything I don't like to wear, does not fit me well, or that I have not worn in over a year went into a bag.  That filled up two large black bags!!!

Then, it was on to tackle the junk on the floor of the closet.  I could hardly see the bottom of the closet when I started.  All kinds of junk - crocheting items, random bags, mis-matched shoes, etc.  Again, if I didn't like it or if I have not touched it in a year, out it came & into a black bag.  There goes another full bag!  By this time the "trash" bag was filling up too.  Then I started on the shelf.  Same rules applied, and almost everything came down off the shelf & went into a goodwill bag or the trash bag.

Since I knew DH would be mad if I was lifting, I carefully dragged all five bags into the living room & started piling them up by the door.  Then I went back & cleaned out my dresser & the linen closet (another goodwill bag).  Then I went into the baby's room & started cleaning out a stack of drawers (another bag!), and I cleaned off the desk we are getting rid of.  My mom was awesome & came over to take the trash bags (3) out to the curb, and loaded up the goodwill bags (6) to go drop them off for me.

I went back to my closet, and mopped the floors & scrubbed out the baseboards.  I am so glad to say my closet is now officially very, very clean!  And for the first time since DH has lived here, there is actually plenty of room in the closet for his clothes too (right now all of his stuff is in the baby's room).  Want to see?

The shoe-rack was found sitting out to the curb as I drove through the neighborhood awhile back.  Yay for a free find!  The closet goes back about five feet to the left, so DH has plenty of room for all of his stuff now.

Now on to the rest of the house....I need more days off work!

Party time :/

We had DH's big annual work party last night.  Usually its a blast - but last night I think I should have just stayed home...

This party is always held at a super nice hotel here in KC.  Usually they get the top floor & rent out the ballroom, bar, and dining room.  This year they couldnt get the same hotel due to a scheduling conflict, so we went to another one.  Their dining rooms are in the basement - so that was a bit weird.  No elevators down to the basement, so I got to go down three flights of stairs - in heels. I was a bit worried...heels + stairs + being preggo sounded like a bad combo.  Good thing I have not lost my sense of balance yet! DH walked ahead of me so I could hold on to his shoulder as we went down the steps.

The dining room was pretty tiny compared to the one at the other hotel.  When the chairs were pulled out from the tables, you could barely squeeze between them.  It was better once everyone was seated and their chairs scooted in.  Then the servers came out - with giant trays & dinners stacked on top.  Seeing them carry those trays always makes me nervous - and now I know why!  As they were bringing the dinners around to our table, the server accidentally tilted the tray and dropped a hot plate onto my shoulder!!  Luckily the plate tipped away from me & the food all fell on the floor, but I got a bruise & a burn from the plate on my shoulder.  Yay....

The poor guy apologized profusely, and scrubbed the salmon out of the floor next to me.  He said "Its a good thing it didn't hit you - I would feel horrible if that had happened."  DH just looked right at him & said "You DID hit her!"  The guy grabbed the rest of the food & the plate, and disappeared back into the kitchen.  I don't think I saw him for the rest of the night :(  I hope he didn't get in trouble for it - it was just an accident. 

After dinner they started serving coffee with dessert.  I can't really handle coffee anymore, so I asked for a cup of hot tea.  They brought me out the tea & hot water and it was great :)  Until they came around for refills, and another server put coffee in my tea, instead of more hot water.  Blech!   I wasn't going to say anything and just pushed it aside, but DH got his attention & asked him to take the cup away & get me another cup of tea.  So they did - but by this point I think they hated me.  The cup they brought back was dirty :(  I just stole DH's water glass and drank that instead.

After dinner we all had to go back upstairs to the ballroom (no elevator again - and 4 flights of stairs this time!).  People were getting cocktails & just hanging out.  I got to see some of the wives that I have not seen since last year, and meet some of the new ones.  It was a pretty good time :)  I asked DH to get me a glass of cranberry juice with a lime in it while he was at the bar, since I wanted something to drink.  When he came back to give it to me, he spilled it all over my shoes.  It really was not my night!!

$60 and a little creativity

Soon there will be a baby crib here.  But until we get to that point, I am stockpiling diapers in the room :)  I am using a stockpiling guideline from HCW to get a good guestimate for the number of packs we will need.  Here's where the stockpile stands:

Size - Suggested amount - (What I have)

Newborn - 2 packs - (2)

Size 1 - 10 packs - (10)

Size 2 - 15 packs - (15)

Size 3 - 35 packs - (22)

Size 4 - 35 packs - (0)

Plus I have 8 tubs of wipes, and I should be able to get some more over the next couple of days.  A HUGE shout-out to Miss Frugalsuz for sending me the $2 coupon for the diapers, and some $2 peelies on the wipes. 

I am going to stock up the rest of the Size 3s and get some more wipes during this sale.  That should easily last us a year and give me plenty of time to find another sale before the Size 4s are needed.  I know that this won't match our baby's needs 100%, but it is a great start.  For around $1/pack, its a gamble I can afford to make :)

In other news, DH has some awesome meetings all lined up for the next few days.  Its great that things are starting to make progress, but I can't wait for some of these cases to finally close!  Just one or two cases will give us the breathing room we need to keep going forward.  My goal for next Monday is to get our taxes done & filed.  By the estimates we should get back quite a bit, which could replenish the EF.  YAY!

Setbacks :(

I am really starting to loathe this "2 steps forward, 5 steps back" game.  SERIOUSLY!!!

DH got a bill for $1300 at work, that has to be paid within the next two weeks.  He does not have any checks coming through before its due, so we have to pay it out-of-pocket.  After some juggling, raiding savings, and honestly just complete luck we figured out how to pay it.  Our EF is gone, but oh well.  Time to start building it back up I guess.

Except that the car window broke today, and we HAVE to get it fixed.  Looks like it goes on the CC.

I just want to cry :(  I know this won't last forever, and setbacks happen.  But on days like this I really feel like we are trying to drain the ocean with a spoon.


*************ETA**************

I just opened up my work email to shoot a message to my boss & let her know that I will be in late tomorrow since I have to go to the repair shop first thing.  And I found an email - the company met our corporate goals, so we are eligible for raises & bonuses!!  Oh my goodness.  I don't want to get my hopes up, but this could be just what we need to keep things going.

DH and I really are blessed.  Every time something seems too big for us to handle, something else amazing comes along and smooths it out again. 

Off the deep end again :)

I have started to pick up Walgreens again.  DH has been encouraging me to get back into hounding more intensely to save money & get ready for this baby.  I had slacked off for awhile since I didn't feel well at the beginning, and the deals were crappy (and we had a TON of stuff to tide us over).

Well, I think I just figured out the best deal I could hope to find on diapers.  Seriously!

Walgreens will have their brand of diapers & wipes BOGO next week.  I don't want to stock up on wipes just yet because I think they might dry out before we need them, but diapers have a super long shelf-life, so I will get those.  DH has said I could spend $50.  Here's what I plan to do with that -

Transactions 1-9 (yep - 9!)
Neuragen PE (diabetic pain relief) - $14.99 with card, get back $10 RR
-$10 coupon found in the D&Y mag at Walgreens
=$5.37 each ($4.99 + tax).
Total cost for these 9 transactions = $48.33

Transactions 10-12:
12 packages of Walgreens brand diapers = $107.88
- BOGO sale = $53.94
$.10 taffy (filler item) = $54.06
- Walgreens' booklet $2 diaper coupons (have not found one here, but trying to trade for one)  - will take off $24 for all of the diapers = $30.06
-3 of the $10 RRs from previous transactions = $.06
Pay $.06 + tax (here its on the post-coupon price only) = $.06
Total for the last three transactions = $.18 (YEP!!)

That means my total cost for 36 packages of diapers will be $48.51, or $1.35 per package of diapers.  WOW!  Honestly, if that all works out I might see if I can't get a bit more out of the budget.  I could easily get a year's worth of diapers for $100 total!  The only thing cheaper than that would be making my own cloth diapers out of DH's old t-shirts :P

Yes, I am a complete dork.  I spent 20 minutes figuring this out, and about danced around the room when I saw it would work.  I asked DH if I could run out to the store, and he just rolled his eyes at me.  I am going to get our kiddo stocked up, and then I think I will help SIL get stocked (or take BIL out with me & show him how to do it so he can work the deals). 

Stocking up!

And the diaper stockpile continues to grow (or, it will soon!).  So far I have 3 boxes of size 3 diapers.  Since most kids don't get into size 3 until they are about a year old, I won't be getting any more of those.  But, next week they will be having another sale.  Huggies packs will be $4 each after coupons & EBs.  Works for me!  I plan to get another 6 packages, in size 1.  I found a stockpiling guide on one of the coupon forums, so I am roughly following that for stockpiling the sizes (although, I really doubt I am going to go get 35 packs of size 2's!!).  I probably won't have time to hunt down the deals as much as I do now once the kiddo is here.  These are cheap enough that if our kiddo can't use them, I will just pass them along to SIL :)

Today my sister & I went shopping.  I was able to get a pair of work-appropriate maternity jeans, three shirts, and two pairs of boots for less than $80.  I was happy with that since I needed new jeans and definitely am starting to need new shirts.  Lil' one is starting to make his/her presence known!!  And, my last pair of boots were $15 Payless specials that lasted through three seasons.  The shoe store we drove past was having a big clearance on all of their winter shoes.  I got a pair of dressy brown winter shoes, and casual boots to wear with jeans for $30 :)  That's my kind of clearance!

Heartbreaking :(

Last night I had a conversation with a friend that went really, really badly :(

This friend is in a situation very similar to the one I was in just over three years ago.  She is about to marry someone under the wrong circumstances.  Everyone in the family, and several friends have expressed their concern to her.  But she doesn't care.  She's made up her mind, and come hell or high water she's going through with it.

I had been sitting back not saying anything, but I just couldn't hold it in anymore.  I really believe with all my heart that she is making a HUGE mistake.  Its more than just not particularly caring for the fiancee.  If that was the issue, then I would have just kept my mouth shut. 

When I called her, she said that she understood my concerns, and that she thought they were valid (and they were the same concerns she had already heard from several good friends & family members).  But she was choosing to ignore them anyway, because she's "stubborn", and already made up her mind.  She could not believe that she was being forced to choose between all of her family & friends, or her fiancee.  I told her from my own experience, its a HUGE red flag when all of those you love & trust can not support your decision to marry someone.  Its because we all have HER best interests at heart, and we can see the pain & heartache coming dead ahead.  I told her that I understood what it feels like to love someone, but to have to make the very hard decision that this is not the best relationship & move on.  Its devastating.  But the consequences of going through with something that you know in your heart is wrong are even worse.

The worst part is seeing her family hurting so much over this.  They are basically losing their daughter.  But, they are still trying to do all the "normal" family things as a desperate attempt to let her know how much they care.  They are helping to pay for & coordinate a wedding that they feel in their hearts is completely wrong.  Because the alternative is to deny her help, and all but guarantee they won't be included in her life going forward.  She's being completely selfish & scheduling the wedding at a time when a few family members will be in the hospital (scheduled surgeries).  Her response?  Well, we can just move the wedding to the hospital if you want.  WTH?!?!?!

I stayed up most of the night crying about it, and praying for my friend.  I was two weeks away from doing the exact same thing, when someone had the courage to confront me about it.  It pissed me off beyond belief, but it got me thinking.  Thankfully, I found the courage to do what I knew in my heart was right, and made the toughest decision in my life so far & canceled the wedding.  Even though she was upset after our talk last night, I just hope & pray that it gets her thinking.  I will forever be grateful for the person who talked to me.

And now I have a tough decision to make.  The wedding is approaching soon.  Do I attend, even though my friend knows I do NOT support the marriage, or do I not go.  Unless something drastically changes, I can't go & pretend to be happy.  Its going to be all I can do not to stand up & yell out my objections (pretty sure that's not going to be included in the ceremony ).  I will probably just sit there & cry.

Snowed in

Since we are snowed in, I have plenty of time to play with the spreadsheets.  Nothing too exciting there since things are set to auto-pay.  I miss the days of finding extra cash to throw at things.  Now the budget is pretty streamlined...and really just boring :(  Oh well, now that we have our system down, we are paying off about $1100 per month (not including interest).  Not too shabby! 

Still waiting on all of our paperwork to come in so that we can start on our taxes.  I am going to attempt to do them on our own, but we will get a pro to officially file for us this year.  I don't know/remember enough about how to do DH's taxes now, and I would just rather not bother with it.  Its worth paying a pro to take care of to make sure everything is right.  I think we just need a couple more items, and we can find a preparer.

DH has some pending cases out too.  With our refund & any cases that clear, we will be able to fully fund maternity leave and then start in on our trip to NM later this year.  I think we have decided to only go after the baby is born, instead of trying to squeeze in two trips.  Work added in more training classes, so we would have to go early April or not make it before I can't fly anymore.  And there is no way in heck I am making a 20 hour drive at 36+ weeks pregnant!!  Maybe we can stay out there for a full week if we only go once, so that we can spend plenty of time with Grandpa. 

We had a good talk with MIL the other day.  We worked out some details for her to be our DCP - talked about schedule, discipline methods, whether or not we would feel comfortable with her taking the baby on her daily errands, etc.  Right now the biggest thing keeping her from committing is just seeing what happens with SIL and the babies.  So far SIL has a team of people lined up to help her - and we would not need daycare until the quads had been home for almost 5 months, so that would be plenty of time to adjust.  But, with them being so early, if anyone has a disability that would obviously increase the need for care & MIL feels she would need to be there.  I completely understand...but it makes me nervous just waiting it out.  Hopefully we will still have time to line up other daycare options.  We should - but I like to plan and it makes me nervous when things still are not settled.

Maybe I will spend some time tomorrow filling out our registry.  Its taking me forever since I am doing it online, and researching the heck out of items to get product reviews & recommendations before adding to the list.   I think I was able to add 11 items last time :)  Since we don't have much room, I want to make sure we register for only the things I think we will need.  The only big ticket item that we have on there is the carseat.  Everything else has been passed down to us by friends & family members!  With co-pays for Dr visits included, I really think this baby won't cost us more than $1000 the first year.  That's if I can BF - obviously it goes up if we need formula. 

And...we finally decided on a nursery theme!!  We are not going to paint - the walls will stay the pale blue that they are now.  But boy or girl, we are going to do a baby punk-rock theme :)  DH has his guitars & amps in the room right now, and they will have to stay since we dont have another place to store them for now.  We found some great blue/black/silver fabric that would be perfect for a little boy, and some super cute pink & blue guitars fabric for a girl (the blue matches almost perfectly, and we could play up the pink accents).  I will buy the fabric online, and have my mom make us some bumpers & a crib skirt.  We will either do the bumpers that weave in & out through the bars or do the individual bar ones so that they can stay on.  We have a dresser that I don't really care for because of the paint.  Instead of stripping it, I am hoping to sell it on Craigslist & buy one that matches the bed.  Hopefully we can end up doing a straight swap.