No More Texas Summer Heat?!

We may not have to spend another summer here in Texas!

The foundry in Spokane, Washington that we want Marshall to work for after graduation (May 2014) offered him a summer internship for 2013. In fact, they REALLY want him to do the internship. 

We met Ed, the General Manager of Spokane Industries, on April 30th, at a Foundry Education Foundation (FEF) banquet in San Marcos; he sat to Marshall's left at our table. After completing this summer's internship at Denison, Marshall wanted to contact Ed about employment in the future. He left some messages, and apparently Ed got them. He passed Marshall's name along to the Technical Director Rod along with our story of Marshall being in school and us genuinely wanting to move to the northern Idaho area upon graduation. He really liked that Marshall was "stable" and had a family. 

Well, on Tuesday (I think it was), Rod called Marshall but had to leave a voice message. He explained who he was, that Ed had given him Marshall's name, and overall a very inviting message about wanting to see what they could do for Marshall. He left his direct phone number (no more leaving messages with the secretary) too. They were finally able to speak on the phone Friday afternoon, and that conversation definitely set us on a trajectory to change our lives forever. 

The foundry has zero robots, and Rod was quite interested in Marshall's experience with them from his Denison internship plus the extra curricular involvement he's doing with them right now with Dr. Amari on campus. Rod offered him a summer internship for 2013, and Marshall explained that he'd be interested but did come with some baggage with having a wife and baby. Rod's reaction--"Bring them; we love families!" They would set us up with accommodations and wage, and baby and I could go up there too--spend the entire summer together in the area we eventually want to move to. How much more amazing could this get?! 

Marshall's going to send Rod his resume, which I'm sure will make him like Marshall even more considering his military and computing backgrounds. Rod wrapped up the conversation by saying that he definitely wants to keep in touch with Marshall and build a relationship with him through 2014. Wow!

We went out to dinner to celebrate and talk about how this will affect our future. We see nothing but positives here. After Denison, we decided that we would not move there or take any possible job offer from them upon Marshall's graduation. We discussed what to do about next summer, and decided that if Marshall had an opportunity to do an internship out of state, we would have to all go together because I didn't want to be left here alone in Austin to raise baby during a very critical time in his development. Not to mention how lonely Marshall and I were without each other even with visits every 2-3 weekends. The only way all of us could go together would be if we found someone we trusted to house-sit for us, and we couldn't think of any viable solutions. We decided that Marshall would stay here in Austin and hope that a local opportunity for an internship would arise probably in a non-foundry industry. In the very least, we could raise our son together and he would program full time for income. Now, by going to Spokane and getting our expenses paid for plus a wage comparable to what Denison paid him, going up there sounds like the best option. We're going to talk with cousin Mitchell, who is a year younger than me, and who just moved to Austin 3 weeks ago and has been staying with us, if he would consider staying at our house for next summer. 

I texted my Aunt Lorraine, who lives in CDA, that I had good news and wanted to call. Uncle Jet and Grandma Barbara were also on speaker phone when I shared with them the news of the day and that we might be up there for the entire summer next year. We had planned on going there for a week in early August. It's going to be so amazing living closer to them; my heart rejoices because I love them so much, and they will be such a positive influence on Merrick. They were all really excited! Uncle Jet asked how me coming up for the summer would affect my job, and I said that we plan for me to be a stay-at-home-mom (SAHM) after baby is born. Then thinking about it more, this would be a really good reason why I couldn't come back to work for Pentagon. My FMLA leave will be from December 21st to mid-March, but then if I went back, it would only be for 2 months and then I would be gone for the summer. 

All this excitement is the reason I'm awake at 5am on a Saturday. Can you blame me? :)

Goodbye Summer 2012

With the last few hours of summer remaining, I'm thinking about how nice the weather has been here in Austin for the last week and am so grateful that fall is officially starting today. Hopefully we'll get more rain, but if I may make a request Mother Nature for it to be during the week so we can do weekend house projects, that would be splendid! 

This weekend we need to come up with a plan to tackle which house projects before baby comes and which ones to do afterwards. We also need to start thinking about more long term house projects in preparation of selling our house in just under 2 years, for example, replacing the bathroom sinks. Good thing I'm awake so early on a Saturday morning so I can get a head start on brainstorming, yes. #sarcasm

Dinner Party

Just a little blurb that we're hosting a little dinner party at our house next Saturday night. I want Marshall to meet some of the friends I made over the summer, and their significant others, so while we're having a vegetarian potluck, we'll play Apples to Apples and probably Cranium too. :)

This means my house will be clean by 5pm next Saturday, hehehehe. I think today I will put up my fall decorations too.

What's New in the World of Baby Prep?

So far Merrick's stash of essentials for his nursery is coming along nicely. I haven't worked on any "baby stuff" in about three weeks, but I will be taking some time today to do so. Since my first initial haul from Craigslist, we've also found these items. 

I went to pick up the teal Bumbo seat (I have the seat belt repair kit, but haven't installed it yet) from a Craigslist ad, and really hit it off with the mom and her 11-month daughter Chloe. She also gave me a really, really nice play mat with lots of dangling attachments and music box for free, answered a lot of my questions about cloth diapering, and sold me their glider for $20. Quite the find if I do say so myself. The Boppy (u-shaped pillow) and wedge came from another deal where I picked up 4 trash bags full of baby boy clothes for $60 (size 0-3 to 2T). I bought the boppy for an additional $3 and she just gave me the wedge, which will be great for baby to sleep on in the pack 'n play.

We have some clothes for baby now, but it's only about 30% of the stash I want to have. My friend Candice is meeting with a coworker who recently had a son to pick up all the clothes that he's already outgrown for me. Merrick also already has his first leather jacket thanks to Marshall's parents. :) My mom sent him a super soft panda blanket that he will love.

I was asked if we had decided on a color scheme or theme for Merrick's nursery. We've decided with a forest theme so we can stick with greens and cute little boyish animals like deer (a must), owls, bears, foxes, raccoons, moose, etc. One of my tasks for today is to brainstorm some ideas for wall decorations with this theme.

A little over a week ago Marshall and I went to a cloth diapering class at the birthing center because we are interested in cloth diapering for our children, but wanted to get some questions answered first before "diving right in." I think the most challenging aspect will be what seems to be a lengthy washing process. A cold rinse followed by a hot wash, another cold rinse then drying? Something like that... We'll have to buy special detergent too. All of this is very manageable, and well worth the extra time.

When I put my thoughts on paper, this is what they look like. I'm not sold on prefolds. I'm not convinced that the snappy (T-shaped tool to keep the diaper together instead of using pins) would do a good enough job keeping the diaper together on a very active baby. Plus, they look so ancient. I understand that economical benefit of using prefolds, but for some reason my mind is saying 'naye.'

I am interested in the Kissaluvs size 0 fitted diapers though. I'm optimistic with all the positive reviews I've read and seen about this brand. One thing that was mentioned at the CD class was that although the majority of one-size diapers, which are designed to go from newborn to potty-training (7-38 pounds), can fit on a newborn, they are often bulky and probably don't have all the specifically-designed features a cloth diaper made specifically for a newborn (5-15 pounds) do. This thought also has me thinking of pursuing a rental service I recently discovered. 24 newborn Kissaluv diapers for a 3 month period for $100 ($175 but you get $75 back when you return them). They will be used, but I'm confident in good shape and condition. 24 diapers is about a two day supply since I'm told to expect newborns go through  roughly 12 per day. Hopefully we will receive other diapers that we have on our registry, and we can try out those brands on Merrick at the same time as the Kissaluvs, perhaps when he's 10 pounds or so. I really want to avoid buying lots of diapers ahead of time, then finding out they don't fit him very well.

After the Kissaluvs, I want to have pocket diapers. They have a pocket for inserts and extra absorbency. They will dry faster than the All-In-Ones, which don't have a pocket but the inserts sewn into the diaper. I want to get as many fleece inserts as possible as they absorb more than the typically microfiber ones do. The bamboo and hemp ones are also very nice.

I'm also going to be spending time today updating our baby registry, which is not an official registry, but an Amazon Wish List. I like the Wish List because I can include items from different websites. Here it is if you'd like to take a look: Baby R's Wish List.

Our Son--Merrick Rainier

Most important post first, yes? We're having a son! It's been almost 4 weeks since we found out at the anatomy ultrasound. All of his measurements were slightly ahead or right on target. The report did not indicate that he was developing slowly. Although they aren't going to change my due date, if they did, it would be 12-31-12, which I wouldn't mind as my birthday is 12-13. :)

We did our gender reveal with the following pictures the following day.

It took me by complete surprise that we were having a boy instead of a girl. It took me a full week to adjust to the idea of having a little boy in our lives instead of the girl I had been envisioning. I know my family didn't appreciate me being silent on the day of the ultrasound when they were excited to find out the details, but I just wasn't emotionally in control of myself. We'll just leave it at that.

I am now in my 24th week of pregnancy, and by the first week of October I'll reach the third trimester and be 6 months pregnant. Baby will be perfectly healthy by arriving as early as my birthday to the middle of January. Obviously I'd like him sooner rather than later because I am not excited about expelling a 10 pound baby in mid-January, but it will be what it will be.

I'm feeling great, and find so much enjoyment watching my husband's face light up when he feels Merrick kick. My next appointment is on the 28th, and I will be taking the glucose test that morning. I have to drink a sugary drink in 5 minutes, then get my blood drawn one and two hours after. I learned that at the third trimester mark, the metabolism of pregnant women changes, and it is at that time when they would develop gestational diabetes, which is what they are testing for. If I fail the test, I have to be much stricter about my food choices and check my blood sugar regularly. If I pass, all is well.

Back to Team Blue!

I'll be doing some massive blog updates this morning since our internet is back up and working in the mornings. Since July, our internet connectivity has been lousy to say the least. I would wake up at 6am, and have no connection. I would come home at 5pm, and it would be working fine. I had a tech come out in early-August to investigate, and it slightly improved, but we quickly were experiencing the same frustrations as before. The router was would have a blinking orange light when it was not working, and a solid blue light meant we could go online. We did not like being on Team Orange. :(

Yesterday a tech came out and replaced the router with what appears to be an upgraded version, and we've had consistent internet ever since, including this morning! I'm so happy!

Now that I do not have to fear about the internet crashing while I'm posting, get ready for some updates!

Craigslist Booty

I was very successful this past week with obtaining three out of four big items needed for preparing for Baby R:  Pack 'n Play; stroller & carseat travel system; and dresser. I'm still trolling for a glider and ottoman. 

Pack 'n Play is by Graco and is $150 in the stores. The colors are leaf green, light blue, brown and teal. It comes with the diaper changer attachment and napper basket, which can play music and vibrate. Because of how the napper mounts, I don't think I'll be using it very much. My price -- $75!

The dresser has five drawers and is completely made of wood. Some of the knobs need to be tightened, but for $30, this is a major find. 

I really wanted a jogging stroller that has a matching carseat that can snap into it. My friend and I were at Lady Bird Lake one day and saw what I had been envisioning. I was so glad it existed, so then I started looking online. Turns out it is called a 'travel system' when the stroller and carseat come together. I bought a Baby Trend Expedition XLT that at Babies 'R Us is $240. I think Amazon lists it for $169, but I bought it for $155 from a couple whose daughter has outgrown it. The carseat expires in December 2016, so this will probably last us for Baby R1 and Baby R2. :)

Here's my view. Can't wait to see the little baby that will fit in there!

We find out the gender on August 21st, then we can start getting clothes. I already have a few craigslist ads bookmarked for oodles of girls clothes. Once Marshall's home, I want us to research together more about cloth diapering, then that will be the next big purchase.