It's crunch time around here.  Time to get going on Vance's room, the Baby's room, and time for me to start exercising and/or stop eating so much. 

Vance's new furniture is about two weeks from being ready.  We need to decide if he is going to move to a different room or stay put.  We need to paint his room.  We need bedding, shelves, a bookcase, and wall decorations. The majority of those decisions can't be made until the bedding is found and, of course, I can't find anything I like right now.  

The baby is basically getting all of Vance's old stuff. But I need to find new crib bedding, which again is needed to determine what color to paint the room.  I also need to get a new cover for the rocking chair made, that is unless, I find bedding to match the way it is now.  Secretly, I have found crib bedding that I like. It's made by the same designer (Dwell) as Vance's baby stuff and it's pricey. Charity read that Dwell is coming out with a line for Target in February, so I'm holding off to see what they have and hopefully I can find something there that's more budget-friendly! 

I'm guessing that this being baby number two is why we haven't gotten much done.  When I was this far along with Vance we had furniture, bedding, the room painted, names dwindled down to just a few, even a baby book with pictures in it. I haven't even been remembering to take belly pictures to chart progress.  My doctor asked me yesterday if I had sent in my pre-registration forms to the hospital for delivery. The hell? No, I have not, but add that to the list as well as the appointment for the hospital tour to see where all this magic will be happening. This is all happening too fast. 

What is also happening too fast is my gaining weight.  I didn't even think about it until my mom asked about it last night on the phone. Before bed I looked up what I weighed with Vance at this point and I'm over. Until last month I was still on track. Out with that, "I'm pregnant, so I can have 3 more cupcakes" attitude. In my defense, I did not know about Nutella when I was pregnant with Vance. If you have not tried Nutella, don't start now. You're better off not knowing how wonderful it is. 

There goes the cupcakes with Nutella ganache frosting that I was planning on making. 

   

Before switching of hands, this was a favorite restaurant for many of my family members.  I still crave the Cucumber Bisque and Smoked Trout appetizer.  Thought you'd like to read about Balaban's closing.

I felt like a kid again this morning. When I woke up, the first thing I did was turn on the TV to see if school was cancelled.  And it was, so Yea! 

We've been in a Wind Advisory Warning  since last night.  Gusts up to 50mph and wind chills between -25 and -40.  

We've missed so many Little Gym classes lately. Being sick and traveling, we've only been once or twice since Christmas. Today was the start of a new semester and Vance was excited to go. I normally would be excited too, but it being so cold out, it's really the last thing I want to do. However, classes are cancelled when school is cancelled, so we're in today. 

I do have a doctor's appointment this afternoon, so eventually I'll have to gear up and head outside. Just a normal baby check-up and (fun, fun) the glucose tolerance test. 

Vance is sleeping in this morning, so I'm off to get a few things done before he wakes. 

Vance has been waking up early, hence the lack of posts.  He's busy on a puzzle right now, so I thought I'd try to sneak one in.  

Vance's cold is getting better. The past two mornings his eyes have not been matted shut with goop.  Yum. Mine seems to be better in the daytime but the coughing and congestion gets awful at night.  I can work with that schedule.  Yesterday we were able to get out and do some playing and do some errands.  It wasn't as cold here, so I celebrated by wearing real shoes (with no socks!) and by not wearing my big puffy winter coat.  

Today we're off to the library and do a couple of errands before the cold front moves in. To date we've gotten over 55 inches of snow since the beginning of the season.  That's about 5o inches too much, if you ask me.  

Before Vance woke up this morning, I watched an old LA Ink.  After seeing Kat and Orby in the tub, I am scarred for life.  

Yesterday I began feeling the cold that I thought I wouldn't catch. Knowing that Justin was leaving for a weekend trip today, I stocked up on pregnancy-approved cold medicine just in case.

I woke up this morning feeling less than lovely and it figures, because the only times that I get sick are the times that Justin is out of town. So Mr. Vance, who is sick himself, and I will be roughing it this weekend. I let Vance pick out a new puzzle at the store today, so that will keep him entertained for at least 15 minutes. I also have one more toy that he hasn't seen since Christmas.  Maybe I'll wait until tomorrow to break that out. 

...

Late Wednesday night I received 100 cupcake boxes from the UPS driver. Exactly how much do 100 cupcake boxes weigh? 11 pounds. What do you plan on doing with 100 cupcake boxes? Split the order with my sister. I have big plans for the rest of the boxes.  Some will be used to deliver Valentine's Day treats to Vance's little friends in the neighborhood and I figured the rest will be good to keep on hand.  I was never a Girl Scout but I like to be prepared.  One may never know when a surplus of individual sized cupcake boxes will be needed.

    Got back into town last night.  It is now -8 and with the wind feels like -23.  The high today is 5. 

More later. 

Hi!  It's 3 degrees here, but with the wind, feels like -10! We didn't leave the house yesterday, but will try to at least go to the library today.  

We've exhausted most of our toys yesterday.  There's play food all over the house, including the fridge. There's nothing like opening your refrigerator to find the veggie bin full of plastic french fries and such. Is this Vance's subtle way of telling me we need more food in the house?

We've played trains, raced cars, made music, painted, rode bikes and scooters in the basement,

and hit big plastic softballs on big plastic tees.  We've played with the barn and the animals, even read a story to the sheep. We've done the same puzzle at least 6 or 7 times.        

And for the highlight of the day, Vance complimented my eyebrows. "Nice eyebrows, Mama!" 

Here's wishing everyone gets at least one compliment today.    

Starting to come down with the awful cold that has slapped everyone on their asses around here. 

Justin has been out of town and my little shadow has been leaving me with no extra energy to blog.

2-4 more inches of snow are expected tomorrow.  The high on Saturday is 1.  1 degree.  The low is -8 and it's supposed to be windy.  

Fortunately, we will not be here. Would feel awesome to say that we're using our middle fingers to give winter the bird and are flying someplace tropical for another couple of months, but no. Just a quick trip back home.  

I have no original content right now. Here. Watch Travis. 

Pottery Barn Rug Smell

Welcome to my site, Stinky Pottery Barn Rug Owners!

UPDATE: SEPT. 8, 2009. CLICK HERE TO READ!

I have been overwhelmed by how many hits I receive a day by PB rug owners. Search phrases have included, "Smelly Wool Rug", "New Rug Smell", "Pottery Barn Backing Odor", etc. However you label it, it still stinks. People from all over the world share one of the same stinky problems. A common day brother or sisterhood, if you will. Where's our rubber "Live Strong" bracelets?

After doing some research myself, I have read many ideas why the rugs smell.

• Are they sprayed with a chemical to keep bugs away during production and shipping?
• Is it the latex backing?
• Just the wool fibers and moisture?

I've also read that some people have complained and that PB has offered to take them back and refund a fraction of the cost. While I have not contacted PB about returning my rug, I will say that PB has always had a great return policy and have even offered extra credits because of mistakes on their part. I've had my rug for 2 years now and where I might feel compelled to search for answers from PB, I don't think I could ever call up and demand a refund at this point. I new of The Stink Probability when I bought the rug and I chose to take a gamble.

My job is to spread the word now. Don't get burned. Smell before you buy.

Happy Birthday Daisy Fuentes!

Although we don't know how old you really are, you've been with us 6 years today!

Frosty Paws for everyone!

Advice Needed

Our humidifier is a leaker and a white dust leaver.  

The last time it was used was probably a year ago and I boxed it up and vowed to never use it again.  

I'm in a house with two Sickos and I'm trying to stay strong.  Justin's month long cold has morphed into a sinus infection and Vance's cold just started a few days ago.  

Anyone out there love their humidifier and feel like sharing what brand they have?   

During Cocktail! time on Sandra Lee's show today, she made Bloody Mary's.  She mentioned that you could pepper the rim of the glass, because it would taste good if you drink it from the glass. This leads me to believe that Sandra usually drinks hers straight from the pitcher or uses a straw. In what circumstance would one not drink theirs from a glass?  

She also mentioned that you could freeze your vegetable juice in ice cube trays therefore you wouldn't have to use ice.  Because ice dilutes the alcohol.   

God love that woman, she's always thinking.  

I've got lots to talk about, but not enough time.  What's new?

Shockingly, it's been above freezing for a few days here.  Low 40's and yesterday low 50's! Unfortunately, it's caused awful fog that has been the culprit in many accidents around here, but let's keep things positive today.  We've also had rain that has been making the snow melt, which is near heaven for me.  Our driveway is totally clear and we have grass!  Green grass can be seen! Crazy that it's still green, but it's been so nice to see!  However, the tides will be changing tonight.  The temps are supposed to drop and we're in for snow tonight and tomorrow.  

Vance has still not attempted to get out of bed once we put him down.  Even for nap time. When he's ready to get up he still calls my name and I go up and rescue him.  At this point I think it would be silly to explain that he can get out of bed whenever he feels like it...

Started thinking about it, but what am I going to do with all of Vance's old clothes, which by the way, are so neatly organized and labeled in containers?  He has an abundance of cute baby clothes.  My favorite outfits of his are Janie and Jack stuff that must be worn again.  Hmmm...

Want to write about the pasta we had on Sunday night.  It included butternut squash and goat cheese.  Love those two together.   

Must write soon about all the PB rug smell hits I am getting.  Don't know why, but rug smells must be at their highest right now because everyone from the UK to Beverly Hills has been searching for help.  Funny, as of last week, if you Google 'Pottery Barn rug smell' I'm number 4 on the list.  

Here's Rosie Barcelona's first snapshot.  From L to R, we've got legs, body and spine, and head. The black hole above the spine is the stomach.  Hard to tell, but the Tech assured us that there was food in there.  

Project Big Boy Bed is in full swing.  I'm sure we're in the honeymoon period, where he really hasn't realized that one side of rails is missing from his crib.  Last night was his first night and he didn't get up once. He didn't take a nap today and has a cold, so he was good and tired tonight.  We put him to bed about 30 minutes ago and not a peep.  I think the real test will be tomorrow at nap time.  

We've visited 6 furniture stores in the area and the selection for kids is pretty sucky. We did go to one of those stores where they sell unfinished furniture and so far, that is looking like our best bet. They have lots of different styles, finishes, and colors to choose from.  Of course, we would opt out and let them finish it, as we have no business doing so ourselves. Surprisingly, those places aren't as cheap as you'd think they would be.  Will have to go back and get more information - there was only one lady working and after 20 minutes or so of waiting around for her to finish up with another couple, we decided to bounce. 

I don't know why the spacing is so out of line.  The first paragraph is normal, but the rest gets so pushed together.  It's hard reading it that way.  I've messed around with the coding on other posts, but the last time I got it really messed up and it took a long time to get it back to where it was even postable.  I'll work on that.

 

For the past 21 weeks I haven't allowed myself to think about the sex of the baby.  No names and no bedding.  Not even secretly looking or thinking.  I was afraid to get myself excited about having a girl and then find out that I was not.  This pregnancy felt different, but most people I've talked to said all their pregnancies were different and resulted in the same sex of baby.  I don't want this to sound bad - I would have been happy with another boy, I just really wanted one of each.  

(And, come on, how much fun is it to shop for girls?!)  ((Yes, It's early, but I'm going to mention it now.  I have a strong hatred toward those bows on elastic headbands for baby girls.))

Our ultrasounds with Vance weren't as clear.  I guess the equipment has improved over the years, which made yesterday a bit more nerve racking.  She spent a lot of time looking around the baby and pointing parts out before she asked if we wanted to know.  I thought I'd accidentally see something while she was taking inventory.  When she said it looked like a girl I jumped, sat up, and said something brilliant like, "No Way!" or "Really?!" and then cried. Justin, being Justin, kept asking if she was sure.  

Comments from the Wee Ones:  

Vance still has no idea what's going on, but kept trying to look down my shirt while asking, "Where is it?  Where is it?" after the appointment.  Ryan wanted to know if she had curly hair and is pushing for the name Rosie.  Jack asked if the baby was out yet.  

We've been out looking for bedroom furniture for Vance today.  I think tonight will be the first night we turn the crib into the toddler bed.  It's sad because he loves his crib and sleeps great there.  But, we've got 4 months to get him sleeping comfortably on his own and don't want to make it seem like we're taking his crib and giving it to the baby.  The crib needs to go away for a little bit and he's already pumped about his Big Boy Bed.  

I'll try to scan the ultrasound picture tonight and upload it.  

It's a girl!  And most importantly, healthy!  Yea!    

Please excuse the sickening pink colors, but I had too!

Well, the poll is even right now.  9 for each.  Like I mentioned before, the Poll did something to my colors, so I'll be removing it today and hopefully everything will go back to normal.  

The big day is tomorrow, 3:30 to be exact.  I have another appointment at 4:30 with the doctor. My last appointment was also on a Friday, late afternoon, and it took FOREVER.  What I'm trying to say is that I don't know when we'll be out of there.  

I undecorated Christmas yesterday, except for the tree in Vance's room.  Forgot about that.  I'm still trying to figure out where all the normal decorations go.  The mantel is missing stuff, but I cannot remember what I had up there. Guessing it will come with time.  Vance's new toys are still scattered around the house and it's driving me nuts.  We purposely left toys out to give the kids something to do during our New Year's Eve party, but today they will be moved to their final destinations.  He's totally overwhelmed with everything.  He'll start playing with one, move to another, then start to put a puzzle together, then back to the original toy, then try to make you eat a plastic pickle sandwich that he's made, then on to something totally different.  

Must get to the library and return books.  

  

I apologize for the ugliness of this blog.  When I put up the Boy/Girl Poll, something happened with the colors and I have not fixed them.  

The snow and cold weather always help boost the Holiday Spirit, but Christmas is over now. I'm ready for the snow to be gone and warmer temps.  It's 6 degrees right now and windy.  Just like it was yesterday and how it's going to be tomorrow. How the locals get used to this I'll never understand.