Top 5: What I "LIKE" About Facebook

As all (or at least almost all) of you know, I am a Facebook junky.  It took me a while to jump on the bandwagon, so I am not going to act like I was there from the start.  I even remember visiting a good college friend in Columbus post-college who was on her Facebook site and I was just surprised that she liked it.  It seemed so streamlined and boring, with very little color compared to my at-the-time obsession with MySpace.  Ahhhhhh, MySpace, that was so "early 2000s".  I have come a long way since that day in that apartment.  I started with trying out Facebook "incognito" about 5 years ago and have since opened myself up to my friends and family members (still no students - current or former and my security walls are still high) and I am now sitting at 716 friends and counting and I probably haven't signed onto MySpace since before my wedding, over four years ago.   Therefore, I would like to take a minute and dedicate this "Top 5" post to Facebook, the world-dominating website.

 

In no particular order, here are the things I "like" most about Mark Zuckerberg's social-global network:

1. No matter what time of day it is, someone is ALWAYS going to "like" or comment on something I do on Facebook, whether it is a picture post or status update.

2. Every single time I feel like I am alone in the world and make the feeling public by posting about it, dozens of people comment enough to reassure me that I am not.  Praise God I am not a TOTAL weirdo!

3. Facebook has allowed me to become super lazy about Googling or researching.  (I guess I need to consider this when I am talking to my students about research!)  Whenever I want a review on something, I go to the people I trust the most - mainly my MOM friends.  It's like my own personal GMA segment on Mom-tested items.  Does anyone know what I am talking about?  I also like to hear from all of my friends and family members.  It's very interesting to get a variety of opinions about a topic!

4. It's fascinating and heart-warming for me to see people ranging from my family members to former teachers to coworkers to high school buddies to sorority sisters all converse and/or even debate about anything and everything I ask questions or random polls about.  It's a room full of people that will never ever be in a room together anywhere else! 

5. My "Facebook Family" is always there to give me a HUGE hug and a ton of support whenever I need it.  There are people on my wall (oh, excuse me, TIMELINE!!!) that I rarely ever talked to in high school due to our "social class differences" (i.e. far more popular than me) and family members from around the nation that I have only ever met a handful of times.  Some of these people have been my greatest supporters over the course of the past few years.  Other people who I love dearly and would not get to catch up with nearly enough without Facebook are also huge parts of my life simply BECAUSE of this website.

Thank you, Mr. Zuckerberg.  I'll be honest with you; I watched The Social Network once and it confused me.  (Possibly because I had a hard time accepting that Justin Timberlake was playing the role Sean Parker.) I still don't know who to believe in this crazy story about the creation of Facebook, and frankly I don't care.  All I know is that it has truly changed my life and my attitude and it continues to do so every single day.  That's what matters to me, and I sure LIKE that an awful lot.

Techie Tuesday - Taking Screen Shots and Featured App: Baby ESP

Well, I feel kind of silly admitting this but I had no idea how to take a screen shot (a picture of whatever is on your screen) prior to creating this post. I knew it was possible because I have seen so many screen shots of text message conversations on the iPhone posted online. I knew I wanted to post a couple of screen shots of this app I will be talking about, so I simply Googled "How to Take a Screen Shot on the iPhone 4" and got this wonderful and simple video.  And I can just tell you right here, if you don't want to watch the video, that all you have to do is hold down the power key and hit the home button twice in a row.  So simple!  Now I just wish I knew how to enlarge them so they don't look like junk.  I have realized that you can barely make out the images on this blog.  Anyway, I am sure most of you already knew how to take screen shots, but I figured I would include it just in case someone didn't!

My newest app obsession is for Mommies (and Daddies) who are interested in tracking their newborn's daily habits is called BABY ESP. My friend, Holly, recommended it to me. She originally used it on her Droid, which wouldn't help either of us anymore bc we both switched to the iPhone. Fortunately, the week before Landon was born BABY ESP debuted their app for the iPhone! Perfect timing!

So, what is so great about the app? Well, there is a place to track virtually everything you might want to track (pee/poop diapers, sleep times and lengths, nursing/bottle times, journal entries, medicine, growth in height/weight/head circumference, etc.) and then the option to create any other category you may want to track. So far I have created an immunization tracker for both boys and a potty training tracker for Will.

One Week of Statistics for Landon - Covers the first full week we were at home.

Now some of you might be thinking that this is a bit obsessive, and perhaps you are right, but I did the same thing with William.... Only I hand wrote it all out. He had a few issues after birth so the Peds would constantly question the number of feelings and wet and poopy diapers he had, which there was NO WAY I could remember on my own, so instead I wrote it all down. Now I'm in the habit of doing so, so it's really no big deal and I don't have to worry about how long it has been since Landon ate, slept, peed or pooped. Plus this allows me to see patterns over time, which is something my hand-written book did NOT do for me!

William's Growth Chart over 2.5 Years... He is SO TALL!  He has always been above the 95th percentile!

This app has a fee. I believe I paid 5 bucks for it, which I feel was very well worth it. However, the day after I downloaded it I got an email about another FREE app from Similac which does the same thing PLUS some (yes you can choose the color of poop on an image of a diaper... I just HAD to share this with our Ped. He thought it was awesomely hilarious!) So perhaps you would want to download that few one before purchasing BABY ESP, but that's up to all of you new mommies!

Let me know what you think if you use any of this!

The Similac Poop Selector - I LOVE this! LOL

!!! Answers !!!

!!! Answers !!!

(A response to my earlier post from exactly one month ago called ??? Questions ???

Here are the answers to the questions Dominic and I were pondering ONE MONTH ago today:

? - What time will baby come? Morning? Noon? Night?

I started having contractions around 6am Friday morning. After getting the go-ahead from my OB, Dominic and I got in the van to head to St. Luke's hospital at 1:23pm and were in the ER by 1:45. After passing through triage, I was checked into a room at about 3:30. We got room 336, the pink room, so I knew then that it was definitely going to be a boy. Plus we think it was the exact same room we had William in! They started petocin at 4pm to speed up the labor because I had been leaking fluid for quite a while and was already having regular contractions. It was certain that this baby was going to arrive on Friday the 13th. Landon Dean Krupp was born at 9:03pm after about 3-4 minutes of pushing!

Taken Within 12 Hours of Landon's Birth

Pink Room! Again!

? - Will baby be born on a weekend or weekday? - Pulling for the weekend!!!

Friday night counts as the weekend, doesn't it?

? - Will baby be a June or a July baby? - Aka what birthstone will he or she have?

Rubies all the way! Landon not only made it to his due date of July 7th, he actually flew past it by five days!

? - Will I make it past the 4th of July? - I sure hope so!

Affirmative.

? - Will I make it to my due date? - I'm actually the weirdo who is still pulling for going LATE! Fingers crossed that this baby will be a Sunday baby just like his or her big brother, Mama, and Daddy. :) Or better YET - a Sunday the 15th baby like his or her big brother AND Mama!

Well I definitely made it to my due date, but I didn't get to have a Sunday the 15th baby, despite the fact that my induction was scheduled for 7:30 that morning. (I picked that day bc that was the day I originally wanted, but also to give baby enough time to go on his own.... Which he did! Just like with William, Landon didn't quite make it to his induction date.)

? - Will Dominic be at work 80 miles away when baby comes? - When we had William, he worked in Perrysburg. Even better, he wasn't even working! We went to the hospital over the weekend!

Dominic had decided on Thursday that he was going to take Friday off, so thankfully he was at home all day. I remember there was a moment around 6:30pm when I was experiencing severe contractions that I said to him, "If you would have gone into work today, you would just now be getting home!" Needless to say, I'm so thankful he had the intuition to take that day off.

? - Who will handle William when baby comes? - I know this will just fall together when the time comes.

My Mom was VERY helpful. She came up Friday afternoon around 12:30 and stayed with Will when we left for the hospital. Plus she stayed at our house that night. The second night Dominic came home to stay with Will and she went back home.

? - How long will I be in the hospital? - Fingers crossed that it won't be as long as last time!

It definitely was much shorter! Like I said before, we got there Friday at 1:45 and we were checked out almost exactly 48 hours later. What a whirlwind!

Our New Family of Four

? - Will baby be a boy or a girl? - We have to buy clothes either way, since William's will be the wrong size for the season. Or perhaps baby #2 will just be in a onesie and diaper all summer.

It's a boy! So far, Landon has pretty much been in a side snap shirt and pants. However, thanks to a few new outfits, I think we are pretty good with clothes sizes NB-3 months. Although I'd like to find some 0-3 month shorts! Do they even sell those?


? - What will baby's name be? (especially if it is a boy since we still haven't officially finalized one!)

We named him Landon Dean Krupp and it wasn't even for sure until the night before his birth. Even then we talked about our other options. And even when he was born I still asked Dominic if he was certain on the name! Now I can't imagine it as anything else.

? - How much will baby weigh? - My prediction is that this baby will not be as big as William was.

I was right about him not being as big as Will, but Landon was still a good sized baby at 8lbs 5oz. He left the hospital at 7lbs 12oz and was back to 8lbs 1oz by his first Peds check last Wednesday.

? - How long will he or she be? - See above prediction.

Yep- He was a little shorter than Will at 21 inches exactly.

? - Will this baby be tongue-tied like William was? - Man I sure HOPE not...

One of the nurses from his actual birth originally thought he might be SLIGHTLY tongue tied, and that was probably only because we asked. Since then, no one has thought he is (not even the pediatrician) and I certainly have noticed a difference in his ability to eat. It'll probably take until his Pediatric Dentist appointment to find out for sure, but it doesn't seem to be an issue at all.

William serving as BIG BROTHER!

? - Will this baby be on the bilirubin blanket like William was? - See above statement.

Nope! Praise God! He wasn't even significantly jaundice. He has been a great eater, pee-er, and pooper from the start!

? - Will I be finished with all of my work stuff before baby comes? - Uh, I better!

I feel good about where I left work. I was able to finish cleaning and organizing my room and I was able to meet with my sub and give her all of the necessary materials. I have a few small tasks to accomplish before the kids go back, but I'll probably wait until August to handle that. I'd also like to go to school to go through my orders if possible. That will take until our babysitter is back from vacation so she can watch William, which won't be until early August.

? - Will we have the baby before or after we move? - Preferably AFTER we move, but that's not likely.

We WERE able to move before baby! Thank GOD we were! I can't imagine life if we were just now moving. Originally we thought we'd move last weekend (the weekend of July 20-22) but thankfully Dominic is a doer and decided to get this done over the 4th-6th. We still had about four van loads of stuff to move after we got home from the hospital, but the major items had been moved in a Penske truck during the 100+ heat index over the 4th-6th. We slept here Friday, July the 6th after our BIG furniture move.

Our Moving Truck - GO PENSKE!

I loaded this carload up on my own a couple days over due and a couple of days before I went into labor... in upper 90s heat!

Exploring the New House!

? - When will we paint the bedrooms in our new house? Currently the plan is for Dom to paint sometime around July 4-6. But will we be having a baby then?

Dom's parents painted all day on the 4th of July while his brothers and Kasey helped us move and unpack. My in-laws did an awesome job taping, priming, trimming, and painting the three small rooms in one day. Cathy came back up the morning of the 5th and she and Dom finished touching up, a few final coats, and even did a fresh coat in the Master that we were originally not going to touch at all. I'm glad they did a fresh coat in our room though, because it looks a LOT better!

Painting the Nursery

? - When should I schedule to get the carpets cleaned? - As long as the paint is done this will probably be the weekend of the 7th, but that is my due date... So.... who knows!

The carpets were cleaned the afternoon of the 5th after the rooms had been painted, but before our furniture was moved in.

? - What washer and dryer will we buy? - Leaning towards the top-loaders now that the front-loaders have had so many negative "Mom Reviews".  We're also sort of waiting until we get a nice Lowes coupon in the "change of address" package because we were told by the Lowes worker that you can get that discount ON TOP OF the sale they are currently having (10% off appliances). Not bad, especially once we use our Discover reward gift cards!

After a couple conversations with Lowes employees and reading reviews online, we ended up getting the Whirlpool Cabrio Platinum top loading washer with a glass lid and the same dryer without the glass front JUST in case a kid was to smash and break the glass accidentally. We used Discover reward gift cards, a 10% off Lowes coupon plus a sale price, and then bought the rest of our gift cards at Kroger and Giant Eagle for fuel perks (we got $1.30 off a gallon at Kroger and $2.30 off at Giant Eagle because of this!) I am still figuring out all of its many features, but I've had plenty of time for this bc I have to do laundry about every day!

Day of Installation

? - Will we have our master furniture ordered and delivered early on or put it off until later? - I sure hope it's the former and not the latter. I don't feel like dealing with this once we have a baby.

Yay! We decided on a set and ordered it through a direct company in Michigan that Dominic leases trucks to. Originally we were told it would be delivered Sunday the 29th, but we found out yesterday that it'll be here THURSDAY! I'm so excited bc our master bedroom looks like junk with random piles on the floor and boxes still in the closet and master bathroom.

? - Will William be ok in his big boy bed? - We may find out tonight!  Dom and William are currently on their way to get the new mattress and we are transitioning him tonight in order to to slowly start all of his many changes.

William has done an amazing job with all of his transitions, especially this one. He sleeps very well in his bed; I think he realizes that it is much more comfortable than the toddler mattress. He curls up in the corner of his bed between two walls, which we call his "nook", so I haven't even been worried that he will fall out. I was a little nervous that he'd get upset about the fact that the nursery looks the same (just set up differently due to the room shape) yet it's not HIS room anymore, but he has been FINE with every bit of the bed and room transitions. Thank God!

First night in his big boy room in our new house.

? - How long will it take us to move? We have until early August to move out of our home on Mapleway, so we know we will be fine but we are hoping we can move all of our big stuff in a day or two.  The tentative plan is to move our big stuff the weekend of July 15-17.  Of course that depends on when the baby comes!

Well, like I already mentioned we moved in about three main days and then picked away at small loads for another week and a half. Although we had the keys until early August, we gave ourselves a deadline and the new owner an advantage by getting him the keys last Saturday (the 21st) so he could move in before his family vacation this week.

Cheers-ing at Bob Evans to Our Last Night at Mapleway

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Our Old House, Pretty Much Emptied Out

****************************************************************************************

Ultimately, the days since our closing date (June 30th) have flown by and have been packed full of craziness. We got the keys to our new home July 2nd, painted all of the bedrooms and cleaned the carpets by the 5th, moved in and slept here by the 6th, had a baby the 13th, came back from the hospital the 15th, and handed our keys over to Mapleway on the 21st. This may sound virtually impossible, but I have learned that anything is possible when you're married to Dominic and with our friends and family. A special thank you goes out to Matt McClure for being a furniture-moving beast on one of the hottest days in our area's history. Productivity and hard work is synonymous with the last name Krupp. William would even agree to this and say he can't talk long bc he has "work to do!" Now I am trying to train him that he has PLAY to do. After all, it IS summertime!

Weeding - Both WORK and FUN!

Mama Monday - I Am Thankful For...

Now that I am home alone with two kids, one of which is a nursing newborn the other is an emotional toddler, I'm recalling the simple joys in life that I have often taken for granted in other times of my life. This is mostly because when I get to experience these moments NOW in the midst of chaos at home, I feel liberated for a split second. Here they are in no particular order:

* Taking a Shower - Although these are in "no particular order" this is honestly the single most precious of all amenities. By the grace of God, I have been able to shower every single MORNING (and yes, the time of day does play a factor) since I've had Landon. This is huge bc when Will was a newborn, I often went without showing for most of the day... Or even for a whole day. Usually I had to have someone else come over (i.e. Mandy) just to get a 5 minute scrub down!

* Drying AND Straightening My Hair - Now getting a shower was nice enough back in Will's newborn stage, but I have naturally "Mufassa" hair and with this humidity, it is not pretty. So although I hate to press my luck, I'm thankful for the times that I'm able to dry and straighten my hair. This may sound entirely superficial, but hey... My self image is pretty low right now (see fourth item on the list) and whatever I can do to feel "normal" helps tremendously.

* Putting on Makeup - I only wear mascara, but again... it helps me feel like a regular member of society.

* Finding ANYTHING That Fits and Looks Remotely OK - I have no shame. I will tell you that I'm going to be stuck in these maternity capris for a while. Partially bc I can't go shopping and partially bc I just had a baby and unlike the superwoman of the world, I was not able to zip my pre-baby pants up hours after labor. At this rate, I'll be thankful if I can fit in anything by the time I go back to work Oct. 1st! But that's another day's worries. Right now, I'm just thankful for the three shirts and two pairs of pants that fit me decently. Oh, and the washer and dryer that let me wear them over and over again.

* Sleeping for Five Consecutive Hours - Fortunately Landon seems to understand this. I know I should knock on wood when I say this, but he's only gotten up once a night every night since he was born. His routine has been to eat like a horse/stockpile for the apocalypse (nurse for 1.5-2 hours before bed) and then sleep for 5-5.5 hours. I'll take that routine over getting up over and over again.

* Leaving the House - I've only been outside of the house a handful of times over the course of the past week. It's sad that I can count them on one hand. The best was when Cathy and her mom were here last Friday and she asked if I needed to go anywhere for a short bit. Wow, if that wasn't the most freeing experience yet! I had a number of errands to run so hearing these words was like music to my ears. Note to self: The greatest gift to give a new mom is some alone time! I went to Shamas to pick a product up that had been on back order for over a month and had JUST come in the day before, then I swung by William's babysitter's house to grab the fourth swaddle blanket of the pack, filled up on gas at Kroger (saving $1.30 a gallon!), and then purchased four bags of groceries and got cash out at Kroger as well. I did all of this and returned home in 40 minutes! Yep, it's crazy how much one can accomplish when time is precious. I've also gone out three other times in a week with Dominic and the boys; last Wednesday to the Peds for L's one week check and to Mapleway for a final time as a family, to Woodland Park on Saturday, and yesterday to Meijer and Taco Bell (I've craved two things since Landon was born - one time it was chocolate and the other time it was a Mexican Pizza from TB, weird yes. Now Stromboli sounds amazing!) Regardless of where I get to go, leaving the house is an absolute blessing that I am super thankful for.

* Quiet Time - I know this will only get tougher as Landon gets older and therefore sleeps less, but the fact that I've had at least one hour a day when both boys are sleeping has been AMAZING. This is like a small utopia that I'm invited to for sixty glorious minutes, and I cherish every single one of them.

* Playing with Will - The biggest guilt I am experiencing is my lack of ability to play with William when it's just me and the boys. He gets plenty of attention when Dominic is home, but when it's just me he definitely spends more time alone. Of course when he's alone, he's either getting into trouble (like just now as he emptied a bunch of my files all over the den), crying/pouting about something out of my sight, or watching a show or movie. When I'm available to help him, I'm usually trying to get him to go to the potty, changing his clothes, changing his diaper, making his meals, or getting him to eat his meals. This leaves a small window of time when we can color or play his card game or read a book. :-( Trust me, I already feel like crap about this whole thing so leave the judgements behind.

* A Clean House - I think we were spoiled for a while there when our other home was up for sale. We had to keep it clean every day. Now that we have moved, and still have yet to fully unpack, we have what I would call a BIG mess everywhere. It definitely stresses out both Dom and me.  Little by little we are settling in our new home and making it out own.  We have invested in a variety of organizational assistants such as large storage shelves for the basement, drawer organizers, drawers for under the cabinets, etc. that are helping us.  I keep telling Dominic to be patient with the process as we figure out where stuff goes.  William is a VERY good cleaner and put-away-er so once everything has a home and he knows where that home is, things will be fine.  It just doesn't happen overnight and with a newborn it might not even happen for a month!

* Owning a SmartPhone - My how times have changed since '09. When I had William I still had a flip phone. All I could do was text. Now I'm on my phone all day and night. Baby ESP is my newest app obsession thanks to my friend Holly! And I didn't even sign on to FB after William was born for like 2 weeks, so I was overwhelmed with the hundreds of notifications awaiting me. Now I'm on FB all of the time, so I can stay on top of my notifications and I don't feel bogged down! I also feel significantly more connected to the outside world. In addition to these two apps, I've been able to do all my emails, budgeting, and banking, plus shop online, play Words with Friends, edit photos, get the news, and yes - write this blog. Oh, and of course I can still text. This has made middle of the night feedings a lot more tolerable! What a great technological advancement!

* Having a Fully Functional Body - I definitely appreciate the fact that I have two working arms and legs. I don't mean to be funny here. I sprained an ankle when Will was a newborn and it changed my life! I admire anyone who can do all of this with any impairments or injuries! I have to thank God for my health and for my husband. Single moms are my heroes!

* An Awesome Support System! - Everyone who has helped me and my family out at anytime either through assisting in the move, during my hospital stay, after we returned home, making us meals either randomly or through the website www.takethemameal.com that Mandy set up, and/or bringing Landon and William gifts has left a lasting impression on our lives. People have been so generous and the outpouring of love and support is enough to bring tears to my eyes. I am taking note of "what to do for a mother of multiples" so I can apply it whenever my friends or family members have their second, third, or fourth kid. Thanks to all of you, you know who you are.

* Blogging - I truly love blogging, but of course it's one of the first things to go when there is a laundry list of other tasks that need accomplished. I've written some pretty good blogs since Landon's birth, but they are all in my head. Perhaps I should try out the voice to text feature on some other apps. I just get frustrated with that when I have to go back through and revise and edit the entire post!

Ok, I've been lucky enough to write this much! Until next time... XO!

And of course what I am MOST thankful for . . . my two best boys!

Mama Monday: The Waiting Game

Good evening, friends and followers!

Today is July 9th, which puts me exactly two days overdue with Baby #2.  I know this comes as a surprise to many people, but not me. I was 99.9% confident that I would surpass my due date again like I did with William, and am actually quite thankful for it because of the move.

Oddly enough, I was rereading our first few blog posts and the VERY first one took place when I was actually two days overdue with William.  It has been fun rereading these posts and seeing how angry and frustrated I was.  I am the complete opposite with this baby; I am calm and relaxed and APPRECIATIVE because we have had time to sort of settle in after the move.  We have a long ways to go until all of the boxes are unpacked, but we have come a long way and all thanks to the fact that Li'l Krupp is being very patient and God has answered my prayers!

So how have I been feeling? Well, although I am HAPPY that I have not had the baby yet I am still quite uncomfortable being this pregnant.  One of my most intense and recent pains has been in my hips, especially at night since I have to sleep on my sides instead of my back right now.  My hips have been in such pain, probably because all of the baby weight is resting right there.  I have to rotate sides all night long (in between bathroom breaks) which isn't the most comfortable way to sleep, but I know the loss of Zzzzzzzzs is just part of the preparation for a newborn who wakes throughout the night as well! Other than my hips, my other greatest pain is still my swollen cankles. Uggg, I can't wait until I can see my ankles and feet again! The other day I got a cut on my toe and it bled and bled and bled.  Blood was gusting everywhere and it was the tiniest nick.  I understand that pregnant women bleed more on average, but the amount of pressure on my foot surely added to this particular gush.

Stepping into our new home with our right feet (1 Week Ago!) ... evidence of my cankle!

As far as baby's progress, I actually have a slight feeling that things could be happening soon.  At first I thought that today would be the day since it was Dom's first day back to work after being home for five straight days, now I am thinking maybe tonight.

It all started this morning when I needed to do laundry:

We don't have a washer and dryer at our new house, which is semi-frustrating.  When we ordered our new set we were told that it would be coming in this Thursday evening.  (Later today we got a call saying that we have been moved up two days and will get the set on Tuesday instead! Exciting!)  However, since I only have about four shirts that fit me right now, one clean bra with a dark design, and I can't find my jean capris... I am limited to very little that I can wear with my black pants and a brightly colored bra.  Add all of this to the fact that I thought we weren't going to be getting our laundry for another three nights AND William already peed through his diaper onto his sheets, laundry was a MUST this morning.

Since I had to go back to Mapleway to do laundry, I decided to grab more items to pack in the van while I waited on my ONE load which took about an hour and 45 minutes to complete.  Now granted, I wasn't carrying heavy items because I am not that stupid, plus I can't lift them anyway.  But I WAS doing a lot of going up and down stairs between the basement and the 2nd floor.  It has been significantly cooler than it was last week (hovering around the mid-80s), but after enough trips around the house to mostly fill the van, I was sweating a lot and just plain exhausted.  I had water, but I hadn't had much food.  I finally called it quits right after my clothes were dry.  Although I probably worked too hard, it felt really good to get another van load of stuff out of that house.  Especially since a lot of the stuff were things we needed either immediately or fairly soon. 

Not my best packing job, but a pretty full load nonetheless!

Anyway, when I got back to Belmont I unloaded the van and started feeling very faint.  I knew I needed to shower soon because my body was too hot.  I ate a yogurt and jumped into the shower.  As soon as my hair was dry, I had to lie down and take a nap.  I didn't have a lot of time because I was scheduled to be at the OB in 45 mins, so I just slept for 30 mins but that helped me out so much.  I rarely take naps anyway, and when I do I have to keep them short because if they are long I just feel gross and groggy the rest of the day.

At the doc's, I learned that baby was farther down and I was 1-2 centimeters and 60% effaced.  This was encouraging news for a girl who just moved an entire house over the course of a week in 100+ degree heat and was 2 days overdue! ... I would have been a little upset had I heard "no progress" again!  My doctor (today I saw the woman who delivered William) also stripped my membranes.  (I had my membranes stripped with William and it really didn't change anything, but I figured it was worth a shot to get things going.) She asked if I still wanted to go naturally, and I said that I did.  Therefore, she reminded me that I would have to have another ultrasound to check the baby's size and fluids.  After 41 weeks, they want you to schedule an induction.  By the end of the appointment I had an ultrasound scheduled for Wednesday afternoon and chose to be induced Sunday the 15th (of course!!!)  Even though Sunday the 15th is the day I have been hoping for all along, I also chose it because it was one of the last dates I could choose and that gives me the most amount of time to go on my own.

After dinner, my friend and coworker Carrie stopped over with her two boys.  It was fun to see the three boys play together.  William always looks so grown up when he plays with big boys.  When she was here, another neighbor stopped over with her two daughters and some banana bread.  This lady is friends with the woman who sold her house to us and her daughter is really good friends with one of the seller's daughters, so I felt a little awkward when they were here.  Were they judging us for the boxes that lay around?  Did they think it was too odd that we didn't change anything on the first floor?  Were they weirded out when we told them we painted the bedrooms?  Will they run back and report all of this to the former owners?  And the biggest question I have when any new neighbor comes over, "Are we supposed to give them a tour?  This place is a disaster!  Are we supposed to invite them inside?" It's all so awkward and probably will be until I have enough stuff put away to feel comfortable offering them a tour.

At the end of the day, I was just beat and ready to relax.  Another day in the books.  So who knows, maybe I won't have the baby tonight.  That's probably a good thing since I am sore and tired from moving that load today and I should rest before I go through hours of labor. 

OK, all for now!  I will surely keep you posted!

What I Wonder: Is Honesty Truly the BEST Policy? If so, why don't we use it more?

Honesty IS the Best Policy . . . or so "they" say!

Last Friday after we closed on both of our houses and had a delicious lunch, Dom and I took a quick 1.5 hour shopping trip.  We needed to pick up William's box springs from the mattress store and look at some furniture for our master bedroom.  Before we did either of those things, he jumped into a new store called "5 Below" and I ran into Old Navy to look for some post-baby tops.  He found a car charger for his phone (he's lost two or three now) for FIVE bucks!  I found three shirts that I am hoping will fit me after I have the baby.  After I had paid for the shirts and was about to leave, the cashier did the typical smile and "Have a great day" phrase.  In my head, I responded, "I am having a great day!  I didn't simply buy these three cute tops at a discounted price, I just went through two closings and now I own a beautiful home in Perrysburg!"  But instead I just smiled back and said, "Thanks.  You too."

Don't you wonder why people don't share more?  I know the response is to be polite and just say thanks, but why don't we share our good news with complete strangers?  And if we did, what would they say in response?  The opposite is also true.  There are times when I am having a terrible day and a cashier says, "Have a great day!" and I want to respond, "You know what?  I am not sure that's going to happen, because I'm dealing with __________________ today."  Instead, I still try to smile and say thanks.  Such is typical American culture, but it makes me wonder what life would be like if everyone was simply honest about their lives at that exact moment.  Do you ever wonder that?

I think I'll try this out over the course if the next week and let you know how it goes. Feel free to join me on this honest journey!