babyblog

Cat Piss

I'm not an enormous fan of cats (sorry). They're too independent, I cannot get my head around people giving them a human personality, and the smell of their piss is one of the worst smells known to man. Every house which has a cat litter inside smells of it, no matter how hard they try to ensure that it doesn't....... disgusting.

When we moved into this house we discovered that the laundry room had been used to house a litter tray and the previous owners cat had pissed not only in it, but down the wall and onto the floor. Over the years it had soaked through the ancient lino, and soaked through the subfloor meaning that no amount of cleaning would ever get rid of it. We moved in in the summer and as the heat rose, the smell increased. Revolting and apparent from everywhere in the house. The very first DIY job that G ever did was to replace that laundry room floor, including the subfloor, so that we could live in a stink free environment.

Now - the room downstairs that we're just starting on. A room we've been using for a library but will now be temporarily used as a guest room until Dylan moves down there. It hasn't stunk of cat piss but there has often been a slight odour to the room, an inexplicable odour. Yesterday, however, when G ripped off all the carpet and trim the odour became more obvious - again with the cat piss. It seems that a cat had used the corner of this room to piss in. Since the cat, the carpet had been replaced (not by us) masking the worst of it.....but the piss had soaked through the carpet gripper rods, rusting them and making them stink, and it had stained the concrete underneath. So we now need to replace all that and scrub that concrete with bleach, possibly putting some of that 'killz' odour sealing stuff down.

WHY DO PEOPLE HAVE CATS??? grrrrrrrr.

Nursery - Before and After

I'm delighted to say that we have (99%) completed the Nursery in just a few short weeks! There are still a few things to fix which are not 'perfect' and a couple of things to add (lamps, decor stuff) but I'm very pleased with the results!

Before - not alot to say about it really other than note the lovely 70's bright blue carpet, and tiny rubbish skirting boards and old nasty plug and light fittings. Structurally it was sound so what you'll see that we've done (aside from adding all the girly stufF) is repaint in 2 tones of pink, fit new skirting boards and paint those, and replace the carpet and all the electrical fixtures.

And now it looks like this.

The IKEA wardrobe with a touch of butterflies to liven it up. Also note the butterfly sheer panels on the window!

The cute 'dolls house' book-case (waiting to be filled) and the old rocking chair!

Cute artwork plus hanging fabric butterflies.

Girly bedding

Butterfly panels hanging like a canopy over the crib - this is one of the things that needs fixing as I'm not 100% happy with it, but you get the point...

I should also add that 5 mins after moving all the construction gear out of this room and photographing it in it's officially 'finished' state, G was on to the next project - ripping out the carpet and trim from the now-ex-library, ready to fix a large crack in the concrete floor before we start remodelling it. No rest for the wicked (and an 8 wk deadline until it has to be complete, lol).

Alarmed

We just had an alarm company in to set us up with a home alarm system.

The way this house is designed, it's built into a hill. You walk in at the front and you're on the upstairs level. There's only one entry point to outside on the upstairs level (the front door) and everything else, because the hill drops steeply, ends up being 2 stories high from the ground outside Then you go downstairs which has multiple windows and doors opening to the outside further down the hill.

Currently we're all sleeping on the upstairs level, where there are 3 bedrooms. There are 3 more bedrooms downstairs and the children are all going to move down there shortly. The baby will be in with us for the first few months but the nursery is going to have to be downstairs so she'll have to go down there. At the same time we'll also put Dylan down there ...... with Harry staying upstairs for a while longer until he's fully toilet trained.

I have felt extremely uncomfortable about putting the kids downstairs on another floor and the idea that someone could break in down there unknown to me has scared me - so I'm thrilled that we've ordered an alarm system! Nobody will be getting in now and I can sleep knowing they'll be safe... and when they get older, not escaping outside in the night either, lol. I'll also sleep better when G is not here at night.

I need a wee

I've reached that stage of pregnancy now (30 weeks today) where every time I stand up I need a wee, urgently. It's not the best feeling in the world, to say the least. And of course when I eventually manage to find one, having held it desperately until I do, I manage about a teaspoons worth! 8 and a half weeks to go, and counting!

I've also got a mad appetite at the moment. I'm starving. All the time. Not good for the waistline.

Harry just looked at me and said 'You're too big mummy'. Out of the mouths of babes.

Night At the Museum

G and D are camping tonight - in the middle of the Seattle Science Museum! It's a thing with the cub scouts - the pack and their vairous dads go and sleep in any area of the museum that they choose (I'm not sure which they've chosen but I think it's somewhere with small animals behind glass, lol) overnight. They have to sleep on a mattress pad (1cm thick piece of rubber) and in a sleeping bag. 'Lights Out' is at 11.45pm and they have to wake up and get up at 6.30am..... they're going to be exhausted tomorrow!

Dylan is convinced it is going to be like the movie 'Night at the Museum' where everything comes to life. He's a bit scared. He'll be fine and have a great time :)

Exhausted

The last couple of days I've been completely exhausted, to the point where all morning I've dozed on the sofa with half an eye open talking to Harry but unable to move or do anything constructive. I don't know why this is - I sincerely hope it's not 'how things will be' for the next 9 weeks! I think it's not though - I think it's just the tail end of whatever bug has been afflicting all of us for the last week or so. It's annoying though because for the past week I've been really busy getting loads and loads of things done and I would like to continue in the same manner.

Another issue I've got at the moment is increased discomfort - a kind of very sore pain at the very top of my left leg / groin area which is obviously related to pressure of the baby.... and which varies in intensity as the day passes, usually becoming extremely painful by the evening and making it hard to walk. After a good nights sleep it improves only to go through the same cycle the next day. If it stays like this I can handle it, I just hope it doesn't get any worse during the day!

Wardrobe Issues

When I was pregnant with Harry, my dad bought this gorgeous stained pine wardrobe for his nursery. It has 2 rails for clothes, shelves, and large drawers..... a really lovely piece of furniture.

When we moved into this house, his new bedroom already had a built in closet but because we loved the wardrobe so much we took the doors off and the shelf out of the closet, and put the wardrobe into the alcove where it's sat looking glorious ever since.

The nursery doesn't have a built in closet, so G decided that we would take Harry's wardrobe down there, and then put the doors and shelf back on the built in one in his room. I reluctantly agreed.

Yesterday then, G starts to move the wardrobe down there. It is extremely heavy and large and obviously I'm not doing much in the way of lifting right now, so he had to struggle with it on the dolly thing ..... it separates into 2 sections. He managed to take the lower half down on the dolly and place it in the rom. The upper half (considerably heavier) he had to wheel down next doors drive and in through the playroom doors on the lower floor. Then into the hall and down to the nursery - in theory.

In practise it ended up getting stuck in the doorway. No amount of maneuvering would get it through that door and around that corner so G then had the bright idea of taking out a window in one of the other rooms and lifting it in that way. One smashed window later and he finally gave up on the idea and decided that we would buy a new wardrobe for the nursery. Which is what I wanted all along but the process of getting there was not ideal, LOL.

Ended up getting one from IKEA which would not be my first choice for furniture but after spending gazillions already G vetoed the $700 one I wanted from the local furniture store that I like and said we would get something at Ikea. It's nice, mind you. It's white - which all girly furniture should be. She currently has a pine crib and drawers but when she's big enough for a proper bed she'll get white... so a white wardrobe it must be.

G had some weird throwing up bug yesterday morning and then I had it this morning - well I threw up around midnight last night then again at 4am then felt dire for a couple of hours before feeling remarkably better - which is the same path his followed...... so he stayed home for a couple of hours this morning while I recovered and he put the wardrobe together. Harry helped, making sure that he had his 'bang' (hammer) with him at all times.

Harry is very funny about the nursery - he keeps identifying things like the crib, the drawers, as his. Of course to him they ARE his..... and he won't have it any other way. He keeps asking to get in HIS bed. I also bought for the baby a pink rabbit cuddle blankie thing, which is very similar to something Harry cannot go anywhere without - his being a green frog cuddle thing which he calls his 'baby'. Seeing the pink one in the nursery he immediately identified it as a 'baby' and demanded to hold it and announced that it was HIS.

Overly Emotional

I am being a bit of a wimp at the moment, bursting in to tears at the slightest thing. Even Dylan (Mr Sensitive) has become hardened to it - rolling his eyes and saying 'Mom, you're just being pregnant' when he sees me cry.

Last night I sent G for Indian take-out and when he got back I was really hungry and ready to tuck into the mouth watering food. I served my food onto my plate and then promptly dropped it upside down on the floor. Cue Niagara Falls worth of tears! I'm so pregnant, lol.

She has a birthday!

My new OB called this morning to discuss 'the date' for the c/section. She has decided that it will be on Thursday 28th June at 7am. How very real and scary!

It is interesting to note the differences between hospital / DR policies here. Harry was born at 38 weeks exactly - that was the policy of the hospital in which he was born. Here, the policy is 39 weeks. As my due date is a Saturday, and of course American hospitals don't schedule things for weekends, 28th June will actually be 38 weeks + 5 days. (It's that or 39 + weeks which given my anticoagulant situation they don't want to leave room for nature to get in first). Also, if it were to be 2 days earlier than that they'd require an Amnio to check the baby's lungs were ready to be born as they don't like doing them any earlier than 38 and a half weeks.

I feel sick

I woke up this morning at 4am, feeling sick. I woke up again at 7am, feeling sick. I still feel sick now. Is this a bug or Morning Sickness 2 - The Revenge? I hope the former, really.

Haven't got the energy to do anything today either. Blah.

Spendy Spend Spend

Been going a bit mad buying all the necessities for the Nursery over the last couple of days. You'd think I wouldn't need much... and the worrying thing is that I don't actually need much, but I have still spent a fortune!

Yesterday I bought a chest of drawers for Harry. They're to replace the small set which are currently in his room (which match the crib) so that I can move the baby furniture down to the nursery. He now has a nice big chest of drawers that will hold is increasingly large clothes. I also bought a new crib mattress on the grounds that you should do this for each baby!

Today I bought the crib bedding that I finally decided on. It's very cute, a kind of patchwork with dolly dresses embroidered onto it - in pinks and pale greens. Very sweet indeed.

I also bought a ceiling light - a very cute girly chandelier with leaves and flowers.

I'm now filling my virtual basket at Pottery Barn Kids full of curtains, curtain rods, tie backs, and a really cute white book-case shaped like a dolls house!

Pregnancy Stuff

I don't feel like I've written much about this pregnancy, details wise, compared to what I wrote when I was having Harry. It's not because I'm any less interested or focussed on it, but more because I have less time to sit and write. When I was pregnant with Harry, Dylan was at school most of the day so I had time to think and spend online!

The first 15 weeks of this pregnancy - which I didn't really write about because we didn't tell anyone until I was past 12 weeks and then because we had family visiting - they were quite tough in terms of feeling vile and nauseous. I never experienced morning sickness with the boys and I had several weeks with this one of feeling utterly wretched. Thankfully I didn't actually barf, but it wasn't pleasant feeling dizzy and pukey all day. Following from that in the New Year I had 2 or 3 weeks of being knocked for 6 unable to get off the couch with exhaustion. I think this was a backlash from Christmas stress and also possibly some kind of virus. I then managed a couple of weeks of feeling alright before all the stressful weeks started with various diagnoses of doom from the Perinatologist.

Today, at 28.5 wks, I feel OK. The last couple of weeks were tough with stress and exhaustion but now that I'm relaxing back into my own pace and worrying a bit less about these prophecies of problems I am feeling alot better. The bump is still quite sore and painful, the more I do, and I am trying not to overdo it for fear of abruption or similar, but I'm alright. I've got a bit more energy than I've had in the last few weeks from somewhere - and I'm using it to manically 'nest' and prepare the Nursery.

The bump itself is funny. I didn't really show much at all for the first 15 weeks or so. This was very different to the boy pregnancies who popped out almost the second I discovered that I was pregnant. I then grew slowly for a few weeks but more recently have overnight become enormous-like-I'm-ready-to-pop large. This of course due to the Polyhydramnios. I have put weight on elsewhere, my arse is definitely bigger worse luck, as are my legs and - well, everywhere. I didn't do this so much with the boys, at least not so generally overall..... my face puffed out with both of them as it has this time. Out front though, Im now carrying her high and very 'out front' in the way that the boys were. She feels like she's already under my ribcage and man she is active - far more active than either of the lads were. She is on the go constantly.. hopefully this does not mean she will be a hyperactive child! :-)

For Steve: My boobs are now holding steady at 40 E !

About this 3rd baby thing..

I'm beginning to feel nervous about the reality of having 3 children. 3 CHILDREN. THREE. That's alot of children. That's more children than adults.

When Dylan came along we enjoyed our lifestyle as we had before, it's quite easy to bring a small baby everywhere you go. We certainly didn't stop doing things we'd previously enjoyed, if anything we enjoyed them more with him in tow. The difference between having one child and two children, however, is quite significant. Not in the early days..... when they're tiny they are very portable... but Harry is a totally different personality and just with two examples.....going out to eat or travelling has become much more challenging.

Harry is somewhat typical of a 2nd child in that he's more feisty, less sensitive, far more 'into everything' than his brother ever was. The whole 'sit still' thing doesn't work with him, he is permanently on the go. THe's utterly delightful, but aking him anywhere is quite challenging and exhausting at this point - especially being 7.5 months pregnant! But the point is, it's more work with 2 than it was with 1. Going out to eat, something we did without thinking, now has to be considered depending on where we are planning to go, Harry's mood, etc. I know he's only 2 and a half, which explains his behaviour right now, and it will improve, but it's quite astonishing to see the difference between the two boys and I hold up my hand to ever thinking I did a good job with Dylan and thus avoided much of the terribleness of the two's..... it just depends on the child.

So what on earth is it going to be like with 3? Am I ever going to have any time to myself ever again? Will the babysitter be OK with 3 kids so that G and I can at least go out and have a social life now & again? Will I ever be able to afford to fly to the UK again? Am I going to be permanently exhausted and unable to leave the house due to the logistics of coping with 3 kids? How will we travel - where on earth will we all sleep? Can we ever stay in a hotel again without having to bankrupt ourselves and book multiple bedrooms? Can we eat in a restaurant, and can we actually afford to eat in a restaurant when there are 5 of us to pay for? Will we afford all the various clubs and after school activities that 3 children will require? How about Christmas presents? Birthdays? Yikes!

Of course some of these logistical issues that I"m afraid of won't be as bad as I fear. Dylan is that much older that he is really no trouble at all (although increasingly expensive when one takes him out), he doesn't run off in public, throw tantrums in the middle of stores, or stand on the seats in restaurants shouting at the neighbouring tables. He is polite and lovely and will be a big help with his siblings. Harry will get older and less manic and is very excited about the baby, kissing my stomach constantly and telling me that there is a baby in there. Of course, this baby will be lovely too and I shall love all 3 of them so much that the logistics will just fall into place...... and we are alot better off financially than many people so we'll be fine on that front too..... I'm just allowed to worry about these things :-P

Meanwhile, yesterday, we went to Pottery Barn Kids and bought some lovely things for the nursery. Some artwork for the walls, a mobile for the crib and a little pink rabbit. Very cute. Also very cute at PBK was the fact that Harry had been asleep in the car and G carried him into the store thinking he would wake up - he didn't. We ended up lying him down on this little toddler bed that was on display and he had a good 45 mins nap in the middle of the store much to the amusement of shoppers who thought he was a cute prop.

Master Carpeter

We really whizzed through the nursery decorating this weekend, and Gareth was able to fit the carpet in amazingly quick time considering he's never done it before. A friend came over to help him cut the piece to size (we have a garage full of brand new carpet that we ripped up in favour of wood floor when we moved in, and kept to use in the rooms that need it downstairs) and they got it down there and laid out within a couple of hours. He then rented some kind of stretching thingie that carpeting people use and in a couple of hours this morning had it stretched out and attached to the gripper rods at the edges and it looks great! He's now got to fit the skirting (which is under way) and new switches and plug sockets and things and we'll be all set - really good swift work.

I then have to decide on bedding and such... which I'm losing the will to live with really, because I can't find anything that is exactly what I want and doesn't cost $400. I also need to find decor for the walls and fabrics and such like.... blah.

Oh and we need to buy Harry some new drawers and then repace the closet doors and shelf and rod in his room, so that we can steal his lovely wardrobe and drawers and take them down to the nursery.

28 weeks

At 28 weeks my baby is weighing about 2lb and 3oz and has an 80% chance of surviving unscathed if she is born. These are good statistics :-)

Today we have been painting what will be the nursery in PINK. This is the first time I have ever painted a room PINK. It felt quite strange, I can tell you. As soon as it started going on the walls G & I looked at each other and commented how odd this felt. I am so used to neutral or boy-ish colours that PINK is a totally alien shade. It's a bit like walking around Toys R Us when you have sons. You go through all the cars, trucks, trains, etc, then on your way out you walk past this area full of pink sparkly scary stuff with abnormally large asian looking eyes and hooker-style clothing, and it all seems so wrong, somehow!

Anyway, it looks nice. I chose 2 shades of pink - one is barely pink and is on the main walls. Then there's a slightly darker (but not much, it's subtle) shade which is on the area below the shelf which runs around 2 of the walls... the shelf top being white. It's good. I like it. Now we have to put some new carpet in and new skirting boards and switches, plugs, light fittings... and it's ready to furnish in girly fabrics and decor. Oeer.

Back to Normal

The in-laws went home yesterday and I am taking advantage of having a quiet day with Harry, both of us winding down and taking it easy at our own pace!

I just had a call from the DR's office and at this point I *dont* have Gestational Diabetes. Which is great, and yet leaves this fluid problem lacking in explanation somewhat. Still, I will continue to watch my diet.

Meanwhile, some jokes.

Q. Should I have a baby after 35?
A. No, 35 children is enough.

Q. When will my baby move?
A. With any luck, right after he finishes high school.

Q. How will I know if my vomiting is morning sickness or the flu?
A. If it's the flu, you'll get better.

Q. Since I became pregnant, my breasts, rear-end, and even my feet have grown. Is there anything that gets smaller during pregnancy?
A. Yes, your bladder.

Q. What is the most common pregnancy craving?
A. For men to be the ones who get pregnant.

Q. What is the most reliable method to determine a baby's sex?
A. Childbirth.

Q. The more pregnant I get, the more often strangers smile at me. Why?
A. 'Cause you're fatter than they are.

Q. My wife is five months pregnant and so moody that sometimes she's borderline irrational.
A. So what's your question?

Q. What's the difference between a nine-month pregnant woman and a model?
A. Nothing, if the pregnant woman's husband knows what's good for him.

Q. How long is the average woman in labor?
A. Whatever she says, divided by two.

Q. My childbirth instructor says it's not pain I'll feel during labor, but pressure. Is she right?
A. Yes, in the same way that a tornado might be called an air current.

Q. When is the best time to get an epidural?
A. Right after you find out you're pregnant.

Q. Is there any reason I have to be in the delivery room while my wife is in labor?
A. Not unless the word "alimony" means anything to you.

Q. What does it mean when the baby's head is crowning?
A. It means you feel as though not only a crown but the entire throne is trying to make its way out of you.

Q. Is there anything I should avoid while recovering from childbirth?
A. Yes, pregnancy.

Q. Does pregnancy cause hemorrhoids?
A. Pregnancy causes anything you want to blame it for.

Q. Where is the best place to store breast milk?
A. In your breasts.

Q. Is there a safe alternative to breast pumps?
A. Yes, baby lips.

Q. What does it mean when a baby is born with teeth?
A. It means that the baby's mother may want to rethink her plans to nurse.

Q. How does one sanitize nipples?
A. Bathe daily and wear a clean bra. It beats boiling them in a saucepan.

Q. What are the terrible twos?
A. Your breasts after baby stops nursing cold turkey.

Q. What is the best time to wean the baby from nursing?
A. When you see teeth marks.

Q. Do I have to have a baby shower?
A. Not if you change the baby's diaper very quickly.

Q. Our baby was born last week. When will my wife begin to feel and act normal again?
A. When the kids are in college

OB Visit - 27.something weeks

My OB is leaving, which is annoying, because she has a very reassuring nature. I saw her today for the last time (I see a new one next time), following the Polyhydramnios diagnosis, and had a good chat + the Diabetes screening test done.

My stomach is measuring 6 weeks bigger than it should. The baby isn't, thank goodness, but the reason for my discomfort is comfirmed. She said that the fluid level is mildy high - which is good news (as in, it could be worse). We discussed whether Diabetes is likely to be the cause and we suspect it might not be as my home taken blood sugar readings are all normal, but I informed her that I've given up sugar and high carbs anyway because it clearly did some good last pregnancy. She agreed with this as a positive step and said that it could well be some reaction my body has to sugars that is causing this - or could be unexplained -but that it was a good idea...... not least because I've only gained 0.5lb between visits this time as opposed to 11lb between visits last time!

It is possible that the fluid levels will drop of their own accord, or rise, but basically I'm stuck with it. With some people they give them Ibuprofen which can help, but that is not an option for me with the Lovenox (Ibuprofen thins the blood too) so let's just hope I don't keep increasing in size quite as dramatically.

They're attempting to schedule my c/section date now - fingers crossed that we will get a date soon so that Dad can book his flights!

Meanwhile G has taken his parents + Harry out for the day so I'm off to relax and make the most of it.

Stressed

I'm incredibly stressed at the moment. I'm so scared about the way things are heading with this pregnancy. Things are going along the same lines as they did with Dylan and that ended up with a blood clot on my lung.... and I'm really frightened and convinced that it's going to happen to me again.

This condition, this Polyhydramnios, puts me at a bunch of risk too, but in the immediate present it is making me feel so very uncomfortable. The bump HURTS..... everything has been stretched so big so quickly and I can barely waddle around. It's OK as soon as I get up in the morning but the second I do anything, even something really inoccuous like loading the washing machine, it begins to hurt. Alot. It aches and pulls and makes it really difficult to get around. It gets worse and worse as the day goes on and by the end of the day after being up and down like a yo-yo after the kids, guests, etc, it's agony.

I'm also really scared that the placenta is going to become detached - Placenta Abruption. A problem which this fluid issue can cause...... something they thought I had with Dylan, and something I'm apparently at increased risk for without this added to the mix, because of the other problems I have. Apparently they can put you on bed rest with all this going on. I don't want to go on bed rest... but at the same time I'm struggling to keep going day in day out with little rest.

Actually, today I have managed to get some rest..... we had a thing tonight for Dylan's cub scount troop at this redneck raceway place. The cubs were performing the opening ceremony... followed by an evening of demolition derby's, school bus racing, etc. I was looking forward to it because I wante dto see D's ceremony and also wanted to see H's little face when presented with a real version of something he's really into....(car racing) but by late afternoon I can barely sit down so there was just no way I could go, and the others went without me. So I have been able to rest more than usual, but I still feel like crap. And wishing I could have seen the racing.

(end of woe-is-me rant)

Polyhydramnios

Bugger.
Bollocks.
Pissed off.
Various other expletives.

I have Polyhydramnios again. I had it when I was pregnant with Dylan. It explains why I am ENORMOUS and VERY UNCOMFORTABLE. It also puts me at risk for pre-term labour among other nasty things. Worried and concerned. Seeing OB on Monday for diabetes test as this may well be what's causing it (having had a careful GD diet when pregnant with Harry this may well be why I avoided it with him). Self-prescribing a GD diet anyway from this point on as I really don't want this to get any worse... already feel like a hippo and about as comfortable as if one were sitting on me.

Bollocks.

Meanwhile, we got some absolutely lovely 3D images of the baby today at the growth scan (still 45th percentile btw, which is great). Mum thinks she looks like Harry as a baby and I agree. It was really quite moving to see the 3D images today, both G and I were reduced to some tears, the images were so lifelike and real... quite amazing.

God I'm knackered

Even though I'm able to sit down for periods of time, I'm not able to rest as I'm used to doing with having the in-laws here and my heart rate has been through the roof several times each day as I've done various things too many. My feet are more swollen than they were too, and my hands. I also have a nasty pain in my bump (top) every time I've overdone it and it feels like it's being stretched and hurt, and the only cure for it is to lie down. It's usually gone by morning but the more I do each day the earlier it hurts. By late afternoon I'm wiped, and of course having to cook dinner each day as opposed to eating alot of take-out that we usually do!

The men are making excellent progress on the house mind you, they cut most of the 2 ft high grass yesterday, first with a strimmer then with the mended mower. It isnt' finished but we had a frost last night so we have to wait for it to warm up and dry out a little before they can finish it this afternoon. Meanwhile they're de-cluttering the hot tub room and restocking the black storage room with properly marked boxes, so I'm actually able to know where everything is! Even found the lovely Bugaboo stroller which gave me a momentary heart attack as the bits which had been left in the garage had gone mouldy - eek - but fortunately I was able to put the fabric through the wash and it was fine after that. Fortunately for Gareth as I'd be demanding we buy another one for $1000 if it wasn't, lol.

I took Harry's enrollment forms to the Montessori school he'll be starting in September today, which means we've decided that we're moving next Spring instead of this summer. Exciting stuff, to think of him starting little school! I have to potty train him first of course, argh.

Must dash - off to meet some girlfriends for lunch.

Operation: Clearout

G's parents arrived on Wednesday and after a couple of days of resting and getting over the jet lag, G has enrolled his Dad into helping with some major clearing out of this place.... to enable us to finish off those rooms downstairs and decorate a nursery.

First job was yesterday - clearing out the garage. Amazingly (considering it was completely full of shite from wall to ceiling and you couldn't even get in there) they got it done. It is now very tidy indeed!

Today they went to the tip and got rid of a truck load of shite that we'd thrown out from the garage, and then we got stuck in downstairs. First off they ripped out everything from the storage room and the cupboard under the stairs and half of it has again ended up in the back of the truck to go to the tip. Then they started on the hot tub room in which is a whole bunch of boxes that can be taken up and put in the garage as they're not immediately needed. I filled 3 large boxes full of books to go to the 2nd hand store, and 3 more which can go into the garage along with half the shelves, the other half to go into the emptied hot tub room... leaving the library empty so that we can paint, decorate, and use as a guest room!

All in all, this is a massive amount of lugging heavy shite around and it's a good job his dad is here to help!