Non-birth announcement

Although I was hoping at this point to be posting a birth announcement, instead I'm posting a non-birth announcement. Despite my best efforts including obsessively cleaning, walking circles in our town home, numerous trips up and down stairs, and pineapple (among other things best not posted here) this little stinker is more than likely stuck in the cozy comforts of my ever increasing abdomen. No, in fact, I'm convinced it's probably never coming out. Why? Who would want to leave a perfectly temp-controlled spa complete with wave pool and all night dinner only to be thrust into the harsh light of an Iowa winter? Frankly, maybe the baby is on to something...

Any suggestions? (and no, I'm NOT drinking castor oil!)

"Powdered"

A More Permanent Abode

For those of you who may not yet have heard, we have decided to call Iowa City home. For now. We made this decision for a number of reasons, which go beyond the purview of this entry or blog. The situation being what is was, this decision seemed to make the most sense for us, and we're excited for all of the changes that are in store, even if our location isn't changing.

Suffice it to say, while Iowa City is certainly no Seattle in terms of visual stimulation and outdoor recreational activities at hand, it is a great place to call home and to start raising a family. We're glad that we'll have family and friends close at hand to help us rear 'Flip', as we've been told by others that this will be a big plus to help us maintain our sanity. We hope they are right

One of the perks of deciding to settle in a town where you pretty much know everything both geographically, as well as esthetically, is that you have a pretty good notion of where you'd like to live. Additionally for us, we had the added advantage of knowing who we wanted to design and build our home. This added knowledge was borne out of attending Iowa City's home parades of summers past, when we would attempt escaping the heat and humidity of the season by entering the comfort of an air-conditioned, newly-minted home. It was during these "Parades" that we found a local home builder/designer that seemed to build all of the homes that really impressed us.

We always said to each other that we would be interested in either re-habing an old four-square/craftsman home (there are plenty in Iowa City), or just build a new one, incorporating the same details of these older homes that we appreciated so much. Well, enter a few years later ... we decide to stay in Iowa City, a baby in tow, an $8,000 federal home-buyers tax credit, and we realize that we're probably (actually, definitely) not going to have the time or energy to re-hab an old turn of the century home. Enter option #2 ... building anew.

The second question to answer was, where? Tired of the need to drive ~15 minutes to work (yes, we realize that we're complaining about driving 15 minutes, but hey, when you live in Iowa City, you come to expect it taking only ~5-10 minutes to get just about anywhere in town) from North Liberty, we definitely knew we wanted to live as close in to Iowa City and The University as possible. However, anytime you start to look at homes really close in to campus/work, it usually means paying a premium in cost, or sacrificing peace of mind to live among students. Ideally we wanted to be able to take advantage of what recreation was available in Iowa City (i.e. City Park), be close to the Co-Op and Library, as well as be close enough to bike to work (mostly Chris on this one, his 20 year-old car can't last forever...or can it?).

Luckily for us, there is a small pocket of Iowa City that is far enough away from the typical annoyances when you live close to campus (students, game-day traffic, cost, etc.), yet close enough that it only takes ~7-8 minutes to bike in. It's located on a peninsula bounded by the Iowa River, and a stone's throw away from City Park, The University's campus, I-80, downtown, and on and on. Even luckier, the builder/designer had a few lots available in this area. Score for us! This made us very excited for a number of reasons:

1) see above regarding desire to build a home
2) we'd be within running/walking/biking distance to City Park, great for kids and spending family time
3) we'd be even closer to a new public Dog Park (handy for that future yellow lab that Emily has been dreaming about for so long) situated adjacent to the Iowa River, and just across a footbridge that crosses over the Iowa River Power Company (handy for grabbing a summer brew)
4) a nice sledding hill within walking distance (kids love to sled after all), or a great view of late summer/early autumn sunsets
5) no need to worry about flooding (we're at the top of the peninsula, out of the flood zone)
6) 2 minutes to I-80 to escape Iowa City every now and then

So for the past few weeks, we've been working to settle on a lot (we've completed this part, more on this in later posts) and a home design. While there may still be minor changes as the process moves forward, what follows are some images that come fairly close to what the final result will look like, when its finished this summer. As of right now there will be ~2,300 sq. ft. finished on the main and upper level, with a walk-out lower level that upon being finished in a few years, would add another ~1,000-1,200 sq. ft., plenty of space for friends and relatives to come and get acquainted with Flip.

We'll keep you posted as things continue to develop :o)

Cookie Party '09

Last friday we headed over to Ann and Adam Introna's home for the annual "Cookie Party", a tradition since before Emily started working at the U. We shared laughs, ate way too many cookies, and had a great time, as in years past, despite the fact that Emily couldn't partake in some of the celebratory imbibing that took place (hence the slightly blurry photos on Chris' behalf). And for some reason this year there was the uncanny absence of the usual pornographically decorated sugar cookies... one can only posit that there may be a possible connection?...

Flip's Future Bedroom

Shower mania

As mentioned in the previous post there have been a lot of baby showers that I have had the fortune to have been thrown on my behalf. The first being my family's shower in Des Moines. It was hosted by my Aunt Connie at our church in Des Moines. It was a great time complete with games, snacks and of course gifts. My Mom made a beautiful blanket for Flip that goes with the animal theme in Flip's room. We love the faces and handcrafted stitching, we're pretty sure Flip will take to it as well.

(The blanket my mom hand-stitched for Flip and clothing garb/accessories for Flip - or Chris)

The second shower was in Buffalo Grove and was hosted by Chris' Mom and sister. It was at the soon to be grandparents home, and was beautifully done, the food was amazing! We had a delicious lunch followed by games and gifts. My favorite game at both showers was the guess the belly size game, to which every single person had at least 6 inches too much, some as much as 2 feet extra. Hilarious!

The third and final baby shower was hosted by my co-workers at the hospital, and unfortunately the weather didn't want to cooperate, as this was the beginning of the blizzard that dumped about a foot of snow in town and shut down pretty much everything in central Iowa. In any case, five of my co-workers braved the elements and helped me hone my culinary indulgences in baby-food taste-testing, as well as a hilarious edible dirty diaper game (you had to be there to understand). We shared a bunch of laughs, and everybody pitched in to help Chris and I get the stroller we registered for.

Thanks again everyone for all your love and generosity, we (including Flip) feel blessed to have such great friends and family.

No, we may not have children yet but...

Since it's been mentioned by many that it's been awhile since we've posted anything on here, let me make our excuses now. First, there have been pressing issues regarding jobs and relocations that have taken up 99% of our free time. Luckily, we have that all ironed out and have time to focus back on what's really important in life. Second, babies (even before they're born) are time consuming. Here's a list of things I've been working on/ being consumed by:

1. Baby Showers: Three in total, the last one being Tuesday night with my co-workers. As wonderful as they are, most require some form of travel. Then you have to sort, organize and determine any unnecessary/duplicate items that need to be returned. Then you make the trip to the store with the items and receive your new gift card. The gift card will then be added to the already growing stack of gift cards to be used on items you don't receive at your showers but really need.

2. Baby Stuff: With all those wonderful baby gifts you receive at the shower, there are then hours of work that go into washing, drying, folding, and organizing drawers/cupboards and overall just trying to find a place for everything so that the baby isn't lost in a pile of onesies. And you'd be surprised how many times these items need to be reorganized due to receiving a new set of clothes that now need a place in the drawer. And I'm sure they'll be reorganized again when the baby is here and I find that my original placement is totally not practical when in actual use.

3. Diapers: We took a cloth diaper class in Des Moines to learn about and then purchase our nondisposable diapers. Afterwards, you get them home and then wash them the recommended EIGHT times before placing them in some sort of organized fashion that you hope will facilitate easy diaper changing.

4. Assembly: Between the bouncer, car seat (with base attachment for 2 different cars), stroller, pack-n-play, breast pump, gyminee playmat, and other random items, I've spend a lot of time assembling stuff for functional usage. Some of these things numerous times because Chris thinks it's ridiculous to have the pack-n-play already in the livingroom or the car seat already in the car. So, in my nesting urges I often find myself reassembling things 2 or 3 times.

5. Organization: If you haven't got the gist already, I'm an organization nut. I overdo, redo and undo things numerous times, often taking up several hours of one day only to end up in the exact same spot I originally started. This happens at least weekly.

6. Phone Calls: There are many calls that need to be made to prepare for a baby. Included in this is finding a pediatrician. Do I go with Mercy where I'll now have to pay a $25 copay but have more consistent doctor coverage? Or the U of I hospital where I pay only $5 and have better access specialists but will only be able to see my doctor on Thursday afternoons and at all other times likely see a resident? I'm sure the local receptionists are getting tired of my calls (in fact, today I spent 10 minutes on hold...I think they know my number). Also, with things rapidly changing with my body there have been several calls to the OB to ask "is this normal?" To which the answer always is, "yes".

7. Reading: Although your only true knowledge of how to care for a baby will come once you're actually doing that, I'm trying to prepare myself as much as possible for those little things I may not expect or remember from when my sisters were young. Some resources I've scoured the last few months include: "Husband Coached Childbirth", "What to Expect: The First Year" and "Babywise." And we're not talking pamphlets here...more like 500 pages or more per book.

8. Sleep: Since I've still been working and actually picking up extra shifts, I'm exhausted most all of the time. Plus, working night shift disrupts my sleep for up to 2 days after I've been working. This is not friendly to a pregnant body. Luckily my last night shift is tonight. Plus, I work 12 hour shifts, so you can imagine how exhausting it must be to be on your feet for 12 hours, lifting patients all while standing on a concrete floor.

The good news is that all this "stuff" and lack of sleep is preparing me for parenthood. Right? Oh wait, I guess there will eventually be a baby thrown in there with their own set of rules, sleep schedules, demands, and of course assembly of more unsavory things than a stroller. But for now, I'll get as much sleep as I can and reorganize to my hearts content.