Made in Richmond

RVANews has commenced with it’s second annual rebuttal to Richmond Magazine’s Best & Worst list. Or as I like to call it, the “WTF, Richmond Mag?”

Nominations started yesterday and go through the 17th. Go forth and opine.

(I should also note that my good friend The Suze composed this article, and I must say, she was on fire with this one. ON FIRE.)

I had my 26 week appointment today. It was delightfully uneventful and consisted of me making the usual urine deposit into a cup, getting my blood pressure taken, getting weighed, and listening to the heartbeat for about 10 seconds.

I went in prepared to ask all kinds of “informed pregnant woman/parent” questions pertaining to things like circumcision, pediatrician recommendations, and perineal massages (yeah, go ahead and click that one), but I just couldn’t muster up the energy to talk about any of those. I just needed a nice, quick, solely positive conversation that ended with “Ok, everything looks great. Keep it up!”

I go back on September 3rd for my 30 week appointment and then I start going every two weeks. In the meantime, we have our follow-up ultrasound with the prenatal specialist and I get to endure the fabulous gestational diabetes screening. We’ll get another ultrasound (bringing our grand total to 6) with my regular doctor at 32 weeks. Soon after that, I’ll start going every week.

Although life in general has been hectic and stressful, the pregnancy has been pretty enjoyable lately. I’ve got quite the active little friend here, and it’s really hard to stay pissed off or annoyed with anything when your thoughts are interrupted by a sweet little elbow or foot jabbing you in the ribs.

Ross spent some time reading some science fiction to the baby last night. Either the kids loved it or REALLY hated it because there was much kicking.

I don’t have a “real” picture of the belly because Ross takes them, and I’ve seen him for about 15 minutes in the last two days. Maybe this weekend, kids.

Enough mopes. Time for good stuff…

Two of our very best friends have finally decided to get hitched.

I mean, how can you be bummed after great news like that?

This whole selling and buying of houses thing is proving to be quite the uphill battle, one I just won’t speak of because it will either make me cry or cause my head to explode from how a-holish people can be.

Meanwhile we had round 2 of our Baby Basics class tonight. This one involved discussions about things like circumcision, vaccinations and general care and feeding of infants. My chest tightened with each topic and I repeatedly had thoughts of “I’m not sure I can do this.”

And now I’m seriously considering giving the dogs away. Or just leaving them on the side of the highway. Or in the middle of it.

Friday: Home late. Took a quick nap while waiting for Ross to get home. Went to pick up dinner. Watched The Eyes of Tammy Faye (yeah, that’s right) while starting the task of packing. To bed late.

Saturday: Up around 8. More cleaning and packing. Dealt with house stuff because that’s all we do at the moment. Ending up having to miss a blogger meet-up in DC because of house stuff. Got to have a nice visit with Matt and Maura. To bed around 11.

Sunday: Up for laundry and packing. Nursed Shooter through an epic seizure. Met some family for lunch. Home for a quick rest. To church. Home for more packing. To bed early I hope.

Think good thoughts for us. We’re in the home stretch. We just need things to not fall apart. Sigh.

We all know that childbirth and parenting come with gross things. Luckily, I am extremely non-squeamish.

Poop? Fine. Really, it’s fine.
Blood? Eh.
Vomit? Not a problem.
Other weird fluids? I can handle it.

But there is one thing that grosses me out beyond belief, and I have no idea why.

Nothing gives me the heebie-jeebies more than loose teeth. I can’t handle it when little kids play with their loose teeth, making them flap all around all willy-nilly.

Yes, it grosses me out so much that I adopt sayings only used by people over the age of 75.

Hopefully Ross will be able to handle that part when this kid starts losing his/her chompers. I might pass out if I actually have to pull one out.

I haven’t posted in about 4 days which is pretty much unheard of in these parts. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s going on…

-We’re on track to close on this house and the new one on Thursday August 14th. Yes, that’s in 13 days.

-We are now in the process of coordinating the move and final paperwork to make this happen.

-Packing started tonight. And by packing I mean Ross doing stuff and me hobbling around the room trying be helpful but getting pretty frustrated that I can’t do much.

-My mother is coming to help me pack tomorrow because Ross has to go into work.

-My mother-in-law is making all of the phone calls to coordinate PODS and what not. She even emailed us with a list of possible delivery scenarios, complete with pros and cons. I almost cried, it was so thorough.

-The baby kicks all the time. It is also now startled by loud noises which freaks me the eff out.

-I get elbowed (or kicked, or punched, or kneed) at all hours of the day and night. I love it but sometimes it really, really hurts.

-I feel that I am approaching ridiculous-looking status and I still have 14 weeks to go.

-I ONLY HAVE 14 WEEKS TO GO.

-I am constantly praying that the stars continue to align and that all of these carefully balanced elements of my life do not fall apart.

-I have never needed alcohol so much in my life.

There a few things in life (other than parenting, I’m sure) that make you feel more stupid and incompetent than a buying a house.

Couple that with pregnancy and you have a big (literally), blubbery mess. That mess would be me.

I’m amazed by how much I don’t know, even though I’ve been through this process once before. Granted we are buying AND selling, but still. You would think past experience would make it easier. Well, not so much.

So I spent some time today crying. And then some time feeling guilty for crying. And then some more time trying to at least stay on top of everything I could.

I just keep telling myself, “Two and a half weeks, two and a half weeks.” And then I keep telling myself that, really, this is a wonderful problem to have.

What with all the house buying and what not this weekend, the Zappturday post never happened. So to make it up to you, Zapp decided to pose for possibly the best picture she’s ever been in.

May I present Gangsta Zapp, The Master of Gangsta Rapp:

I’m sure this made it all worth the wait.

(This picture taken with Ross’s new iPhone or, as I like to call it, The Widowmaker.)

Friday: Came home. Took a nice long nap. Woke up and had a snack. Puttered. Back to bed late.

Saturday: Up at 6:30 despite my 1:30 bedtime the night before. Sat around. Was exhausted by 10:30. Took a shower. Stopped by World of Mirth to pick up a birthday present for a certain two-year-old. Went home. Had lunch with in-laws. Went to take another look at a couple more houses. Decided to make an offer on one. Off to the Southside for the two-year-old’s birthday party. Back to the city for a friend’s birthday dinner at Me Kong. Home for a miraculous bedtime of 10:30.

Sunday: Up to meet our real estate agent to make an official offer. Spent the rest of the morning crossing fingers and puttering. Off to the West End for errands. Randomly to stop at Short Pump to see if the Apple store had iPhones. They did. Stood in line in the hot sun for 30 minutes so Ross could buy one. He did. There was much rejoicing. Off to Costco for olive oil, cereal, and $1.50 hot dogs. Home to shower finally. Church. Got a call from real estate agent with the seller’s counter offer. Accepted it, mostly because they agreed to a two-and-a-half week closing (!). Dinner at Bottom’s Up after church. Home now to do various chores and hopefully get to bed soon.

This house is getting inspected tomorrow. We we officially apply for our new mortgage early next week. The new house will be inspected soon as well. Pray that the stars stay aligned and that our luck won’t run out yet.