Help Please!

All you parents out there, what did you do for your little one's gas? Avery is not in a good mood :(

Valentine's Day at the Michel's

Look how precious our little angel is. (snicker snicker)

I'm not sure that's what Franz was thinking about her earlier today. While holding her, he saw her making funny facial expressions. Next he heard the rumble, and then two seconds later he felt her butt get heavy. As he was changing her, he realized she was 'mid-stream', so he quickly covered her back up until she finished. Thinking the coast was clear, a minute later he's got the dirty diaper off and as he lifts her legs high in the air she surprises him once again. This time with an explosion out the back end!

Happy Valentine's Day honey :)

Drumroll please.....

Introducing Avery Margaret Michel! Officially born 2.9.09 at 2:27am. Weighing in at 7 lbs. 3 oz and 20" long. We are home from the hospital, and after a rough first night mom and dad realize we have a lot to learn. Hopefully I can post all the details from the past week shortly.

Thank you all for your emails, phone calls, blog posts, etc. It meant so much to us to know our friends and family were praying for us this past week. You all mean the world to us :)

I finally got a diet coke!

I finally got a diet coke!

Mom and baby Michel are

Mom and baby Michel are coming home tonight!

No that's not my boob

Yay! another tube was removed

Yay! another tube was removed today! dr is seeing her now, should know more soon.

Pictures tomorrow- I promise!

Pictures tomorrow- I promise!

Baby Michel is off oxygen.

Baby Michel is off oxygen. She's made great progress today. We've both been able to hold her and spend time with her in the nicu.

She's here! 7 lbs 3

She's here! 7 lbs 3 oz. 2:27 am will update with pics later

I'm bored

Well, the 6th has come and gone and I've finished all my projects that I wanted to get done this week. Now what do I do? In the meantime, I can't just sit around and wait on baby Michel, that will drive me crazy. So, I saw this idea on another blog and I thought I'd give it a try.

I can now post to my blog from my cell phone! When the time comes and we head to the hospital, if I'm able (meaning coherent!) I will post periodic updates. I can also send/attach photos, so this will probably be the first place you all get to see pictures! That means check back often :)

I think today Franz and I are going to go walk around the mall (since it's raining)- maybe that will get things started. There's also a women's game night at church tonight that I'll probably go to, I mean why not? The church is practically next door to the hospital- maybe if I'm lucky I can stop there on the way home!

Nursery Pics Finally- Updated with more info

I'll admit it, I've been dragging my heels. From a designer's eye, I am just not happy with the photos I've taken. I've tried taking them at various times of the day to take advantage of the natural light, I've taken them at night to see if that would help, I've taken them during very sunny days and then today when it's raining outside. I'm not a photographer and I don't have a fancy camera. So I'm really sad that these pictures don't show you all the true color that I see. Don't forget- this room is tiny! It's only about 8' x 9'. Some of you probably have closets bigger then this! And I'm not fishing for compliments either- I just know a lot of you have been asking to see how it turned out.

In this picture, I made the window valance and the two pieces of artwork.

Here's a closeup of the artwork:

Here's a close-up of the tub sitting on top of the shelving unit. I got the tub at Costco for about $5.00. It was filled with pretzels! But for $5 I had to have it and I'm sure I'll go back for more. Inside are these alphabet blocks by Fisher-Price. I think FP must be retiring them because online they go for big bucks now! I'm glad I got a set as a gift when they were still reasonably priced!

In this picture, I made the crib skirt and the photo display frame.

Here's a link to the mobile and the art cards. The funny thing about this mobile is that I didn't realize when I put the crib there in the corner when the heating or AC is on, it turns the mobile!

Remember those large picture frames that I posted about? I was wondering what to do with them, since we were going to throw away at work. Well, I made it into a photo display of sorts. Right now we've got all of baby Michel's new friends pictures hung. I figure as she gets older, we can change out the display to include her artwork, invitations to birthday parties, or whatever else she decides she wants to hang up.

I love how the light reflects the flower design on the wall. Hopefully this will be very soothing for all those middle of the night wake-up calls.

Thursday

I know you all are so excited to read each day about what I've been up to- hopefully in a few days I'll have something more exciting to post about! Until then, I guess you're stuck with my boring life.

I was woken up all throughout the night with contractions and cramps. But they weren't in a regular pattern, so there really isn't anything to do but try and get some sleep. But each time I awoke, I remembered all the things I have left to do. I just kept praying- give me two more days!

So this morning I knew I had to get up and get going if I was going to accomplish more things on my list. I'm happy to say that I finished my sewing projects! That was a biggie because I know once this little one comes I'm not going to be having time to sew.

Next up was lunch. I had a PB&J sandwich (which seems to be this trimesters craving of choice), some grapes and some baked chips. I talked with the office a couple of times and then I needed to head out. My car was due for an oil change, so I got a same day appointment at the dealer which happens to be right next door to my office. So after my oil change I stopped in and said hi to the girls. One of our manufacturers had dropped off a gift for baby Michel, so I wanted to pick it up. After chatting for a bit with the girls, I headed home.

Franz and I had probably our last dinner out for awhile tonight at Buca di Bepo. As we were leaving I had another contraction. I still have a few more things I'd like to finish tomorrow, so if she could hold off for another 24 hours that would be great.

Tomorrow I'll post nursery pics! I promise :)

Wednesday

Today was a much more relaxing day. I slept in a little- until my hips were begging me to get up. I met up with my friend Lisa in Camarillo for lunch at noon. We went to this Panini place in the old town disrict. The funny coincidence is that right next door to the restaurant there was a new place going in. It happened to be the Bella Victorian Vineyard Tasting Room. For those of you who don't know, Franz and I got married at Bella Villa Victorian Vineyard. I guess this tasting room is something new that they are trying, as they are still in the construction phase of the remodel. Anyways, the panini place was really yummy and we had a great lunch.

After lunch I went back to Target (oh shoot, I forgot to get batteries again) to return something I had purchased on Monday. I treated myself to a new bath robe (Judith- I'm finally replacing that snowflake robe I got from the Old Navy outlet when I visited you in Ohio how many years ago?!?!) and a cute pair of socks to wear at the hospital.

After that I had my 40 week doctors appointment. The good news is that I didn't gain any weight this week- woo hoo! She said I am 1-2 cm dialated. We made a tentative 41 week appointment for next Wednesday, although we're all hoping I don't have to wait that long. She also said she doesn't like for her patients to go past their due date more than a week. So she wanted to schedule an induction with the hospital. I told her I did not want to be induced- I would rather wait a bit longer to see if she comes on her own. She said she didn't think I would need to be induced, but the hospital needs to have me on their schedule just in case. So since my due date is this Friday the 6th, one week later is Friday the 13th! We laughed about that and she offered the 12th instead. I said I wasn't superstitious and it didn't really matter to me and waiting until the 13th would buy me more time if I needed it. Maybe she will be a Valentine's Day baby! Since Franz's birthday is also on a holiday (April Fools!), it would be fun to have two holiday birthdays in the family!

What's on the schedule for tomorrow? You'll just have to wait and see!

Want to play?

Guess the following:

1. Date of Baby Michel's arrival
2. Weight
3. Length

Tuesday

Well, we still have no baby. But that's okay, she's really not expected until Friday. She gets the hiccups about 3-4 times a day- let me tell you how much fun that is when your bladder is already being squished by her growing body! Her kicking has slowed down a bit, probably because there just isn't much room left for her. Hopefully she'll take a hint and realize it's time for her to vacate the premises :)

So I thought I'd let you all know just exactly what I'm doing each day this week. I'm behind a day so I'll fill you in quickly on yesterday. It started off with a phone call from my office, 30 minutes later I was on my way out the door to Target. I stocked up on all the essentials we'll need for the next month or so. Fun stuff like toilet paper, kleenex, paper towels, ziploc bags, toothpaste, etc. After that I pretty much had used up all my energy so I spent the rest of the evening parked on the sofa.

Here we are at Tuesday. This morning I started a load of laundry, then went to JoAnn Fabrics to buy a couple spools of thread for a project I'm working on. Then it was off to Vons- again to stock up. Came home, put away those groceries, then headed back out to Trader Jo's. I had to go there because they have this cereal I'm addicted to- Peanut Butter Puffins! Hmmm mmmm, they are so yummy :) Came home, put the laundry in the dryer and made myself lunch. I watched the Jon & Kate episode from last night while I was eating. Took the clothes out of the dryer, folded them and put them away. Started another load of laundry and then next I baked 4 dozen chocolate chip cookies. These are Franz's favorite.

Time to go switch the laundry to the dryer- be right back. Oh yeah, in between all these activities, I've been vacuuming and dusting. Still have the living room to go. I'm not sure I'll get to it today, I'm pretty pooped.
So is this nesting? Nesting is described as having a burst of energy before the baby comes to clean, organize, etc. But since I'm not the kind of person to just sit around and do nothing, I think this is just more about me trying to keep myself busy and my mind preoccupied while we wait. Am I feeling this burst of energy? No, absolutely not. But I guess you could say I'm a nester by nature pretty much all of the time so this behavior is not out of the ordinary for me by any means.

Tomorrow? Lunch with a friend and then to the OB for my 40 week check-up.