Recall

Okay, have ya'll heard all of this craziness with the baby slings lately?

I first caught wind of it when one of my friends mentioned it to me at church. She said she had seen a report on the news about how slings were dangerous and some babies had been hurt or killed when their air supply was cut off while in the sling. It kind of worried me, but I will admit, I kind of dismissed it after awhile. I wondered what news station had reported it (sensational or not?), what type of slings, etc. In the end, I decided that my sling was a little different than a lot I'd seen, and I would just make sure to be really careful and watch when I was using it.

SO- imagine my surprise when I was browsing CNN the other day and saw that my sling had been recalled and had been blamed for three of these types of deaths. Now, I know they have sold a million of these slings, but when it comes to safety those are clearly not odds anyone wants to mess with!! This is my sling, the Infantino Sling Rider.



If you own one, visit the Infantino website and get more information. The recall process is really easy, and they will replace your sling with another product. And that's my PSA for the year!

Nothing Much

We are still packed and ready to go, but things have calmed down (for now) in Pennsylvania. Although Miss C has had contractions on and off, it seems like we really might make it to the April 12 induction date. I say that knowing she could call me at any moment! I have never been so attached to my cell phone in my life. I felt like I needed to explain that to people who wondered why my phone was sitting next to me in the church pew, but I decided to let it go. Most people at church know what's going on, and a lot of them are just as anxious as we are!

Other than that, things have been pretty quiet around here. There was the time when I pulled out of the driveway yesterday to go to church only to realize that a thunderstorm had knocked around all my plants on the front porch. That wouldn't be such a big deal if I hadn't filled the urns with packing peanuts only two days before! We spent yesterday afternoon chasing the things through neighbors yards (and backyards), so that was exciting. Yes, my definition of exciting has taken a turn in the past couple of years. At least I learned my lesson. Packing peanuts are evil. I should have learned that one long ago.

No News...

Miss C went back to the hospital today with pretty big contractions (big is a technical term). They gave her something to stop them and sent her home. Since she has to have her gallbladder and appendix out at the time of birth, they are really trying to hold her off until April 12th. We'll see if her body and Will cooperate!

The Waiting Game

Miss C went home this afternoon. But...there's a good chance she'll be going back sometime this week. We definitely aren't unpacking our bags. Let the waiting game begin.

Ready? Or Not?

This morning I was planning to write a post about how three weeks from today Miss C would be induced, and we would finally get to meet Will. Oh how God sometimes has a totally different plan!

Miss C called this morning to let me know she was on the way to the hospital. She and Will are doing okay, but her blood pressure is a little high and her body is starting to prepare for labor.

For a couple of crazy hours today I ran around thinking we were going to be leaving today, but the doctors decided to monitor her for 24 hours before deciding to induce or send her home. So...we are busy packing up and getting ready for what could end up being a very exciting week!

Please be in prayer for Miss C in the coming days. We talk almost daily, and I know she is full of emotions. She is excited that the birth is here, proud that she has made this plan for her baby, but she also knows that it is going to be emotional and hard for her to say goodbye.

I'll keep you posted.

Paintings

I am so excited about the new paintings in Will's nursery:





Aren't they so super cute? My wonderful and talented friend Destiny made them, and they are absolutely perfect! Check out her blog Little Lambs and Lillies...so amazing!

It's starting to look much more put together in the nursery now. A lot more to do, but it's getting there!

Linus

I have a secret. Well, maybe not really a secret. Because I have no shame. Up until about a year ago, I still slept with a blanket. And I only stopped because it was coming unraveled and wrapping around my neck at night. I didn't want to give it up, but I also didn't want Mike to wake up to death by blanket.

My nana and poppa gave me the blanket when I was a baby, and it has been with me ever since. Except for a very unfortunate two weeks at church camp and the occasional night at a friends house. Not because I was embarrassed...just because I forgot it.

Here is the blanket present day, after a very unfortunate final showdown with the dryer:


Linus deserves to be remembered, so he's going in the nursery in a shadow box. Although at first Mike thought I may hang it above our bed so I could reach up and touch it at night. I told him that would be creepy. I'll just hang it by the nursery door so I can touch it when I walk by, instead.

Spring Fever

Amy's graduation just happened to be in Phoenix, Arizona, which was very convenient for our baseball loving family. Why? Spring Training of course!

We got to town a few days early to take in the Rangers training and games. It was especially great since we won't be in Texas for the season this year...so sad! We had a great time, and it was so neat to see the players up close. Amy's (and our) friend Erin and her husband came too, and Erin and Mike got a ton of autographs. One day we even looked over and Nolan Ryan was sitting next to us! You should have seen all the people trying to sneak around and get his autograph.

Here's to a great season, Rangers!

Amy Commences

The real reason we went to Arizona this week was to celebrate a very big accomplishment in the McD family!

Mike's sister Amy received her doctorate in audiology, and last Saturday was her graduation. So...if you know her in real life, you are now required to call her Dr. Amy. And don't be deterred if she tells you not to. That's part of the fun:)

So...congratulations Amy...I mean Dr. Amy! We are SO proud of you! Maybe we'll make our kids call you Dr. Aunt Amy. Now that would be cool.

Celebrity Look Alikes

I'm slowly getting back to "normal" here in the McD house. We were in Arizona last week, and it was a blast! I was going to write about it before we left, but McGruff the Crime Dog started barking in the back of my head again, so I didn't say anything. Although I guess all you had to do was look at my twitter and know that I probably wasn't sitting next to Nolan Ryan on my couch. Although that would be cool.

So...I have lots to show and tell from the trip, but I'll save that for the rest of the week. With the Oscars last night, though, I do have one thing to say.

Am I the only person who cannot for the life of me tell Jeff Bridges and Kurt Russell apart? Seriously. It's right up there with Josh Duhamel and Timothy Olyphant, who I'm still not convinced aren't the same person. I mean really:

picture from http://www.peliculasyestrenos.com/

But...I did just get the whole Meryl Streep and Glenn Close figured out a few years ago. So go figure.

Why I'm Ridiculous

While my mom was here this weekend, we picked up some things to take with us when we go to pick up Will. I just HAD to find these Q-tips I had heard about. They already had alcohol in them, so we wouldn't have to pack a whole bottle. How great would that be?

After a long weekend of no luck, I had to admit that I had probably just made them up. And after a lot of thought...I'm not really sure how the alcohol would stay inside the Q-tip until I needed it.

Well, this week at Target, I saw these:


Yes, apparently at some point I had heard about alcohol "swabs" and assumed "Q-tip."

And that's why I'm ridiculous.

The Details...If You Want Them

In all the excitement of Will's arrival, I have failed to give anybody a lot of details about Baby McDeux. So, I thought I'd just write real quick to let you know.

Yesterday we had an appointment, and although we didn't get to have a sonogram, they did pick up the heartbeat on the doppler. I promptly began giggling silently, which made the doppler sound like little explosions were going off inside my stomach. Oh well.

So...I'm still a few weeks away from being out of my first trimester, but the doctor said that hearing the heartbeat on the doppler was a great sign. It definitely made us feel better!

We found out about McDeux back at the end of January. I hate writing about this kind of stuff, but ever since we started trying, I got used to keeping a calendar and tracking dates that "things were supposed to happen." When those things didn't start happening, I kind of ignored it at first. I mean, seriously. Less than a 1 percent chance, people. I mentioned it to Mike, who's response was, yeah right. Your body is just messed up.

I agreed that he was probably right, and went on preparing for the three girls that were going to be staying at our house for the next two weeks. But...something just didn't feel "normal." I was waking up at night with horrible stomach cramps. One night of that? Normal. Five? Not so much.

Friday night the girls got here, and Saturday while everyone was at church I decided just to pick up a test at WalMart. I felt kind of silly doing it, so I just got the cheapest test possible, telling myself that I wasn't really wasting money. You have to understand that I have taken an obscene number of these test in the past, and that each and every time...nothing.

So...I raced home, took the test, and OH MY GOODNESS! It turned pink! Like, immediately. After holding it up in the light for awhile just to make sure I wasn't making it up, I immediately began shaking and thinking...must tell Mike....must tell Mike. I raced up to the church, where I couldn't find him. I think I ran through the entire church four times trying not to make eye contact with people. It turned out Mike was in a meeting, so I did what any girl would do. I went in the bathroom, reached in my purse, and took another test. What else was there to do?

Finally, I found Mike, made some weird pointing gestures to his office, got him in there, and pulled out the test. At this point, I think he got a little pale and sunk into a chair. You have to understand that while we were SUPER excited, we were also SUPER nervous. At that point, we had already known Will was going to be our son for 4 months, so one of the first thoughts through our minds was, what if they tell us we can't have him? He's our son!

For the next week, we were basically just on pins and needles. One of the first things we did after we went to the doctor was call the agency and then call Miss C. They were all so excited, and we were SO relieved! That was the day we could finally relax and start planning life as a family of four.

That was also the day I realized I was going to need to start clipping coupons.

Weekend Wrap-Up

What a wonderful weekend! My mom got here Friday night and went to work right away. She was such an amazing help, and after this weekend we are so much more prepared for Will's arrival! Between the fact that I want to sleep all the time and the fact that our nursery just became a room for two, I was definitely overwhelmed and didn't even know where to start. It looks so much better now.

Saturday morning was our shower at church, and I cannot say enough about what a wonderful, amazing, fabulous church family we have! They definitely made us feel so loved. Our families also sent presents, which was fun since we don't get to see everyone a lot anymore. It was a great time! I have a bunch more pictures, but in every one I am either looking at my present in disgust or confusion. Clearly, this was not really the case, so I don't want to post those!




After the shower, my mom and I ran a bunch of errands to get the things we will have to have right away for Will to come home. Then, it was back home to work some more. Although the room still isn't done (we need to decorate), it is now functional!

The super fun baseball blanket Aunt Amy sent.

By the time my mom left on Sunday, she had cleaned, unpacked, organized, cleaned...she even dusted my bedroom, which was slightly embarrassing! But I was totally thankful. Thanks mom! It's definitely starting to look like a baby is about to live here!

This is the "packing corner." You need one of these when the first couple of weeks with your newborn will take place in a hotel in another state!