How many is too many?

Krispie Kreme that is! Today at school, PTA brought Krispie Kreme donuts to the faculty and staff. I went down to get one, and well...couldn't stop at one. So I'm sitting here now, still in sugar shock, wondering..."when should I have stopped?!"

Showering the baby (and mommy too!)

Ok, so on Sunday September 27th, I had my first baby shower. Emmy gave me the shower at my mom and dad's house, and it was perfect! It was special, and all of those special people on my side of the family came to shower Owen and I. WOW at the gifts! I thought wedding showers were overwhelming, but I believe that baby showers are just as overwhelming. People were everywhere in mom's house, and it was practically standing room only, people kept coming, and with them came gifts. I was amazed, and felt loved. I know Owen is going to be one lucky little guy, because all of these people are so anxiously awaiting his arrival. And, so are we! I have 2 more showers, one on October 14th at school, and another on October 17th, given by Chad's side of the family. This is exciting. :)

This is becoming a habit...

Ok, so it now has officially been a month since my last post, and a lot has gone on. The room is oh so close to being finished! Yay! We came up with THE name...Owen William Painter. FINALLY! We both liked Owen and Wyatt, and so on our way home from Josh and Melissa's beautiful wedding in Beaufort, we discussed it, and came to the conclusion that Owen it was. William is Chad's middle name, and he wanted to use it, so there it is, THE NAME. It has taken us 14 weeks to get to this point, and it feels good to finally be able to call him Owen, instead of "it" or "the baby". Like, while he is being a Mexican jumping bean in my belly, I can now say "Owen is moving like crazy" rather than "the baby/it is moving like crazy" Speaking of Mexican jumping bean, OWEN moves constantly, and I mean constantly! If I am awake, so is he, and he is all over the place. I thought by now he would be too big to move around so much, but boy was I wrong! I will be one of those few who end up with broken ribs, because he is everywhere in there. I am about 33 weeks, maybe 34. I lost count somewhere along the way, I think when they changed my due date, I continued counting like I would have, but in reality it is closer than I think.

It's been a while...

Ok....so it has been almost a month since I was last on here, and a lot has been going on. Where to begin?! Well, we went to the beach August 5-9 with our regular crew. I must admit, it was a little different, than a not pregnant beach trip. We still had a good time, but it took a little getting used to. I had to stay in the water, because it was so hot, and I was used to sitting in the sun and baking for hours at a time. August 12, I went to the doctor, for my glucose screening, and all is well with mommy and baby, and luckily, I have not developed gestational diabetes....yet. August 13, I went back to work, to prepare for a new school year. On August 19, my new class came for the first time. I have a really great class this year, and feel so lucky to have them! It is going to be a great year, I just know it. I only have 21 students, which is a first, I am used to starting off a new year, with at least 27 or so. Today, August 29, marks my 29th week. I only have 11 weeks to go until I get to meet little baby Painter, who by the way still doesn't have a name. 11 weeks, really isn't long at all, and I am beginning to get so excited. I still feel great, and hope it continues. I feel him move constantly now, and it is an awesome feeling. Back to the name...we have narrowed it down at least! We are now trying to decide between Owen and Wyatt. The baby room is slowly coming to completion. We have painted, and last week Chad and I laid hardwood floors in there. It is beautiful, and I can't wait to get it all decorated up, and ready completely! I will post pics soon. Until next time...

Registering for baby...

Ok, confession here.... I have looked forward to going and registering for baby things since I found out I was expecting. So, this weekend Chad and I set out to Babies 'R' Us to begin our registry. My mom met us there, because obviously she has done this before, and we haven't, so I thought it would be easier with her guidance on only a few things, especially a breast pump. Well...I hated it! Sorry, but it was not fun. The first 30 minutes were exciting, but by hour #3, I was so over it! So back to mom helping...she did, tremendously on some things, but the breast pump...not so much. I guess back in the day when she had babies, you used a manual pump...Uh, no thank you! I don't have time for that. So needless to say, we spent almost 4 hours in that store, and still did not register for a breast pump. We did register for some great things, and I had to register at Target alone, because Chad had had all of the baby registry fun he cared to have. Did I mention that I haven't finished registering? I just hope I can finish it, in the comfort of my own home, so that my ankles don't swell over the tops of my flip flops!

Where has the summer gone!?

Well, in exactly a week and a half, I have to go back to work. It is bitter sweet. I usually have cabin fever by now, and I am dying to get back, because I am so bored. But this summer, I haven't had time to get bored! Between finishing up my Masters, and preparing for the baby, I have not had a break! I took classes all summer long, so no break here. We haven't even had a vacation. We are leaving on Wednesday for a whirlwind beach trip, but it will fly by so quickly, I won't even realize we were there. I just want a break, but it doesn't look like I will have one this summer. I know that I am lucky that I at least had a summer to do whatever I wanted, because if I had a different job, then I would have worked all summer anyway, but when you do have the summer off, and don't get to enjoy it, it makes going back to work, that much harder!

I don't remember signing up for this!

Ok, so we are 25 weeks into this pregnancy, and I thought that this emotional roller coaster ride would have ended by now. I did really good for a while, now I am back at it again. Either I will cuss you out in a heartbeat, or I will cry, for no good reason. I can be sitting alone, or in a crowd, and all you know what will break loose! And it is always over the craziest, most absurd things!!! For example...I was sitting on the couch the other day, resting, and noticed that I needed to dust, even though it felt like I had just dusted, and there it went...the sprinkler system started! Instead of getting up and dusting, I sat there and cried. Over dust! I sit and laugh about it now, but if you had laughed at me that day, I would have tore your head off. Which brings me to the other side of this ride. I have always been hard headed, stubborn, etc...And, I have always been that one person you could count on to tell you how I felt about any given situation, no hesitation, and no holding anything back. Well, take the old Erin, and multiply it by 100. I really need to get a grip! Here is another example for you...I went to the gas station last week to get gas, and was going to go ahead and run my car through the car wash while I was there. So, I pay at the pump for the gas, and the car wash. Pump gas, get back in the car, drive over to the car wash, and read the screen, which says "Car wash out of order, sorry for the inconvenience. Car wash good for 14 days." Really!? So, psycho pregnant girl, throws it in reverse, parks the car, and waddles inside to the counter. I wanted a refund! This is what it looks like inside...

Guy- Can I help you?
Me- I wanted a car wash, but it is out of order, so I would like my money back.
Guy- Well, the car wash is good for 14 days.
Me- I understand that, but I would like a refund.
Guy- Don't you just want to come back later.
**This is the point in which I had had enough!**
Me- If I wanted my car washed later, then I would have come in later, I want a refund.
Guy- Well I don't know if I can do that.
Me- Well you better figure it out, quick!
Guy- Ma'am, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but I don't think I can give you a refund.
Me- Listen to me closely. I don't want to come back later, I don't care that the car wash is good for 14 days, I don't even care if you don't think you can give me a refund. I am telling you that I wanted a car wash TODAY, and unless you are going to come outside and wash my car for me, I expect you find a way to get me my money back, now!
Guy- (Not knowing what to say, and looking puzzled) Ok, ma'am. I will get you your money. (refunds my money)
Me- Thank you very much, and have a good day.

Needless to say, I am too embarrassed to go back to that gas station. I have completely lost my mind. I am hoping that people realize that I am not always this way, and I am hoping that this all will disappear soon, or at least as soon as the baby gets here!

No room at the Inn!

We had to install a window, it was a must! Chad's dad came and did this one afternoon.

This is the room after some of the sheet rock had gone up. I couldn't get a picture of the whole room, without getting in the way, but you can get the picture. The blue walls are NOT the colors I am using in the room. The garage walls are blue, so they will be painted over.

This is as the walls are being built.

When Chad and I first built this house, we knew it was only a temporary stomping ground. When we got married, my grandparents gave us some land, and we built a little "pool house" type thing, because 1-we are NEVER at home, 2-it was just us two, and 3-we are stingy with our money, and didn't see any point on spending it on a mortgage, when we could just live here cheap and still enjoy our previous lifestyles of spending money however and whenever we wanted to. So...brings us to February 2009 and realizing that come November it just wasn't going to be us two anymore, we were now going to have a little one. And guess what...that little one has nowhere to lay it's head! We have a 1 bedroom, 2 bath house! The living space is 1250sq/ft, and total house including the 3 car garage! is around 1500 sq/ft. So, if I were to just tell you the square footage of our house, it doesn't seem so bad, but, the baby doesn't have a room! So, we are in the process of building a room. The room was actually already there, in the garage, but it was unfinished, and we used it more for storage. So we (and by we I mean us, our families, and friends) are working diligently to finish the room, so that baby will feel welcome! And, never know that there was once "no room at the inn"!

What's in a name?!?!

OK, so many of you know that obviously Chad and I are expecting a little boy in November. Every decision thus far has been an easy one, and we have surprisingly agreed on everything. Until now! This little boy floating around inside of me, has NO name. Not even a half of a name. There is one thing for sure, it has a last name, but that's it! I don't think we can get away with calling it Painter for the rest of it's life, and I'm pretty sure that he won't like it, even if we did. So we are stuck, at nothing. We both like the name Wyatt and we both like the name Zeke. Here is where it begins to get a little tricky...I like Wyatt better than Zeke, and you guessed it! Chad likes Zeke better than Wyatt. So...here we are, stuck! Ahhhh, this is by far the most difficult decision thus far, and the only one that has caused us any grief! It's like we both have writer's block or something. Neither one of us can get past either name. I suggested that we both drop Wyatt and Zeke, and start from scratch. We CAN'T do it! Haha, this is terrible. Hopefully come November this little boy will have a name. If not, I hope he likes Painter, and that's it!

In the beginning...

So, I have been blogging off and on for the past year, but nothing serious and mostly for school. This week I will finish my Master's and decided since I have so much extra time on my hands (hence the sarcasm) that I would start another blog, one for friends and family. Just to keep everyone updated on the happenings in our life, and especially since there will soon be another Painter on this earth. I'm not going to make any promises towards blogging everyday, but I do promise to blog often. This will probably end up being a stress reliever for me, and hopefully a source of amusement for you. I will share things going on in the Painter household, things that are bothering me, and probably more than you care to read, so stay tuned....