Well i’m back in Nevada *sighs* away from hubby again.  Next weekend (Dec. 9th) i’ll be greeting Patrick at the airport so we can make the drive up with the kitties to move me to Oregon with him finally.  The animals have temporary housing *cries* but will be well taken care of to say the very least!  I’ll be staying with him at our in-laws until the house sells and then we’ll make the decision of where to rent which will have to be a month to month basis until the new house finishes.  We did have some showings of the house while I was up there but no word yet of anything turning out. 

The days flew by while being with him and I was really upset to leave last night.  We did get some shopping in hitting up the after Thanksgiving sales at Washington Square.  I will never do that again LOL but it was fun to do once and we got great deals.  We were up at the crack of dawn to go though, talking 5:45am and on the road by 6:30am.  Meier and Frank was our first and big stop with a bundle load of baby’s clothes and things. 

Sorry for the poor quality of the pic but here is a portion of the slew of things we acquired at Meier & Frank.  It’s scary to think we had 40% off and still ended up with over $100 worth of baby stuff.  Can you tell that we are having a boy? Look at all that blue omgosh!  Patrick did pick out some of the outfits even! His mom also had a bag full of clothes that she showed me when I got into town.  I think he’s pretty well taken care of in this dept.

We hit up Pottery Barn Kids and looked at the crib bedding set we are getting plus checked out my dream rocking / swivel chair (not a glider)but we are going to find one similar elsewhere because it’s way way too much $$$ there.  My mother in-law bought some cute letters spelling out Braysen’s name that are in different colors and each has a different animal painted on them to go on the wall in his room.  She also got a cute soft frog that is a book.  We fell in love with their things and it could be a dangerous store!!!

Our other big stop, which Patrick and his mom ended up waiting to pay for my stuff for almost an hour and 1/2 in, was JCPenneys because they had a great maternity section and pretty much everything was 50% off so I have finished up my clothing needs for the pregnancy hopefully!!! 

A side trip to Fred Meyer over the weekend yielded a new Columbia fleece zip jacket because I needed a shell to go with my North Face coat.  It was only $27!!! on sale 40% off I love holiday sales now ..i’m convinced they are the greatest.  We also bought a few baby items at Fred Meyer and Patrick got a snazzy new microfiber coat that looks pretty classy for work but will be great in the Oregon rain. 

When I get up there to live in 2 weeks we are going to pick out our crib and changing table finally although I have ideas and slowly start working on the bigger items like our stroller, carseat etc. over the next few months before i’m due.  

We did a few stops by the house to see it’s progress and were thrilled to see the roof almost done.  Patrick had just sent me pics on Nov. 6th of the foundation and they are already framed with the roof going up as of this last Saturday.  Framing always flies though and then it’ll slow down once they start interior work.  It’s exciting to see our house take shape though!

Few pics (sorry I honestly would’ve cut these if it would flipping let me.  Anyone else lately having problem with cuts btw? It looks right then when I post or preview it screws them up) CRIES

Nov. 6th foundation
  
Nov. 25th House
 

On Nov. 5th, my husband left for his new job in Oregon.  I cried for days leading up to that departure and for days after his car pulled away.  He missed my Lvl 2 / 3d ultrasound which was particularly rough since we didn’t know what the outcome would truely be, although we kept positive the baby and I were fine.  I haven’t slept a single nite restfully.  If i’m not waking up to pee every few hours, i’m waking up looking / feeling for him and finding him not there and this week i’ve been waking up to a sore throat, runny nose etc.  I don’t think anyone has a clue how hard this is for me except maybe my mom.  She knows that i’ve never had to be this far away from family, friends and with nothing to really do.  I had to quit working due to me being so sick and it was no use going back even on a part-time basis with the upcoming move.  When I lived in Colorado, I had my family close, my friends close, was working and had school at night.  I was incredibly busy ..but here….I have nothing, no one really but some friends that are co-workers who have their own families etc.  I’m pretty much at home by myself every day just holding on in hopes that things work out on this end fast and this seperation ends.  Being away from him and family during the holidays and while pregnant is not something i’d wish upon my worst enemy.  It’s a lonely lonely world right now. 

I went out of town last weekend to Salt Lake City to meet up with my mom who asked me to join her while she had a cat show.  I drove 7 hours last Thurs. and got in kind of late that night.  Friday we spent all day shopping!!! It was the first time i’ve bought baby stuff since i’ve been hesitant on doing so.  We spent most of the morning registering at Babies R Us, which was a blast and I am VERY thankful my mom was there by my side to help me out.  After that was a lunch break before heading off to the mall which turned out to be a most productive afternoon.  Besides the cute baby clothes I managed to finally get some cute maternity clothes that I can definitely grow into since i’m still waiting to put much weight on.  I made the drive back on Sunday but left much earlier so I wasn’t driving at night like the trip down.  It was a fun weekend and great to spend time with my mom, who I can’t wait to live closer. 

I am flying out this week to reunite with Patrick after this 2 week seperation.  This week has been incredibly hard without him because at least last week I was pretty busy with the doctors appts. and the drive to Salt Lake.  I did have one appt. this week to go over my lvl 2 results but all was normal like the perinatologist had told me so we scheduled my next appt. for Dec. 13th.    Patrick’s mom got me in touch with a doctor up in McMinnville, OR (where I’ll be delivering this baby) from referrals of ladies she knows.  I called and scheduled a OB transfer appt. for Dec. 21st so we can get me set up for when I finally get up there myself.  I’ll be in Oregon for a week, which sounds atm truely wonderful.  I can’t wait to be in his arms at night and also to see his family. 

After that visit it’ll be 4 weeks before i’ll get to see him again.  God, how am I going to make 4 weeks ..I can barely make a week right now alone. 
The only reason why that is even going to work out is because we found a friend up in Oregon to watch the kitties for us and I can come visit them whenever I want to.  Neeva girl is going tomorrow to meet Patrick’s old co-workers that are going to watch her for us.  She’ll be on a farm with other dogs and have lots of room to run and play.  Plus, the lady that will be watching her stays at home and takes them on lots of walks etc.  That is a much better situation then being here at the house with me.  I can’t walk her everyday like Patrick does, I try but I managed to get a cold this week and got put on meds for it so I don’t get pneumonia (I have a bad habit of getting colds around Turkey time that progress to Pneumonia - how about 4 years in a row worth of that crap)  Definitely not good for me being pregnant! 

Anyhow, I just hate being so damn alone and alone while pregnant = 10x worse i’m convinced.  My emotions are like a flipping rollercoaster.  I don’t have him here to cuddle up to at night, or to take his hand and let him feel the baby kick.  It’s really amazing lately how much this little guy kicks me and wish he was here to experience it. 

Back to another lonely nite ~
heather

Things are finally looking safe and clear for my pregnancy after it’s ups and downs of worrying, scares here or there.  My throwing up has gone down, I still have moments in the mornings mostly but for the most part when I feel it’s a bad bad day I can take my Zofran to help out and it actually does help now whereas before it would just put a lil dent in the nausea. 

So here’s why i’m so excited ~ i’ve posted them on the boards but for those that don’t visit them here is my fave’s.

Click for Larger Views of the Pics – the first is a 3d pic, the next 3 are using a Lvl 2 ultrasound machine and the last is your typical Doc. Office machine.
3d pic of him all pretzel like         Cute Toes                  Side Profile of Head w/ Tummy       Looking at us (alien!)       Lastly, i’m a BOY!!
                        

Now, on to the name game I’ve been asked if we’ve started to think of names.  Actually, we’ve had our names picked out since the last pregnancy and the girls name i’ve had picked out since I was a youngin!  I can’t post the girls name of course because it’s for later use! 

Drumroll:  Braysen James  (Braysen is actually spelled most commonly as Brasen and mean’s “Gift of God”, which I think he truely is a gift and a blessing.  It is a real boys name but an uncommon one, which is why we chose it.  I didn’t want some name everyone had or has heard of but I didn’t want something wierd that people look at me like why did you name your kid that…of course people might think we are wierd regardless!) James comes from my grandfather on my mom’s side, Papa as I call him.  It also is Patrick’s brothers name but not the original reason why we picked it.  I wanted to keep our families names carried on.  Our girls middle name was going to be after Patrick’s grandmothers name.

Well now that we know the sex, I can finally start shopping or window shopping for things.  We have decided on our nursery bedding/decor and although I know it’s a popular one I think it’s adorable and great for a little boy.  Another plus is that my mother in-law LOVES frogs and my mom LOVES hippos.  So they both have been eyeing things for ages and buying (think my mom said she’s been buying hippo baby gear for 3 years now waiting for a grandchild) in their favorite animal prints.  They’ll fit right in with this room!!!  One thing I love though, is that tons of people have started making their own items and selling them on Ebay to match the beddings of Pottery Barn kids.  I’ve found oodles of things to coordinate with it on there and they are priced great and hand painted / made.  Things like lightplate switch covers, hampers, to lamps, to artwork for the walls.  We are going to paint the nursery in the new house light green like in this pic.  We had decided on green long before I had picked out the bedding because we thought it’d be a good color for a girl or a boy and since this will be the nursery for the next child we won’t have to repaint. 
So here’s the pic of the bedding:
 
I have pretty much all the stuff I want to buy picked out like Swing, Bouncer, High Chair, Stroller, Car Seat etc etc.  Thanks to baby bargains book, it helps review them kind of like consumer reports.  I used the bridal bargains book for the wedding and it was a godsend.  My in-laws are helping with some of the bigger purchases – crib etc.  so I need to narrow that down, hopefully while in Oregon for Turkey Day week. 
Here is the stroller Inglesina Zippy we are getting and the fufu diaper bag I’m in love with, Kecci Shanghai.  (yah, i’m wierd and it’s not for everyone) plus the greatest thing ever, the Patemm Pad (round diaper bag that folds up all small, rather then some big bulky ones plus I love that it’s ROUND instead of this sqauare skinny thing you shove under their butts!  I hated the changing pads I had to use with my sisters when they were little.  I’m going to get Patrick a “little tripper” diaper bag from Land’s End since it’s small and guy looking for when he has to go out alone. 
    
There you have it, my excitement lately.  This weekend I’m registering for baby stuff while in Salt Lake visiting her!
Hugs~
heather