3 + 1 = 4

Welcome Dean Thomas Erickson

Born Friday, January 24th, 2014 at 4:44 a.m

Weighing in at 8 lbs, 15 oz

40 + 1

Happy Hump Day everyone!  Hope you all are feeling thin and peppy.  Me?  Oh no I am not.  I am still pregnant.  My due date was yesterday.  Thought I would give you all a rundown of what I have been hearing from people this week.  Enjoy!

• "Happy Birthday Dean" - from Kevin every morning this week.  One of these days he will be correct.
• "Is Baby Dean ready to come out?" - from Kaci every morning this week.  She is excited for the following 3 reasons:
• She will get to stay home from school for a few days - or at least go in late.  She loves school.  But her love for laying on the couch in her underwear and watching Curious George outweighs her love for school.
• She may possibly get a sleepover at her cousins house while we are at the hospital.
• And of course she is excited about having a baby brother.
• "Good Morning Jaci" - (read this as though you are pitying me...then follow it up with a chuckle) - from the teacher at Kaci's school every morning this week.  I smile, give her back a bright and cheery "Good Morning" in response and leave.  Ugh.
• "You're still here?" - Most everyone I encounter on my way through the building at work.  Again - every morning this week.  "Yep - still waiting!" is my go to response at 7:45 a.m.
• "JACI!" - From my boss every morning this week.  He then goes on to discuss all things work related as if A - I care and B - I will be here forever to take care of these items.  I humor him and go along as if both are true.
• "Have you tried _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _?" - Choose an item from the list below to fill in that blank.  
• caster oil
• walking
• sex
• spicy food
• sitting on a yoga ball
• eggplant parmesan
• acupuncture

In reviewing my writing above, I see that I come across as terribly irritable.  I really am not.  I mean don't get me wrong, I do have my moments.  For the most part though I am doing just fine.  I am healthy.  I am not uncomfortable in any way.  Baby Dean will be fully cooked (hopefully not 14 lbs though).  I get to eat treats and not worry about how much weight I have to lose.  Yes - I know I should be thinking about those treats before I pop them in my mouth - but I am not.  And the end is near.  At my doctor appointment yesterday we talked about inducing if needed on Wednesday, January 29th.  

I will keep you all posted!

A picture of me today - I am trying to do a bit better in documenting.  I didn't have any pictures from Kaci. 

Kaci's Day

Kaci caught a case of cabin fever after staying home all day long this past Saturday.  Hey - I had plans to leave the house, but they didn't pan out.  So Sunday morning she wanted to make damn sure that it would not be another torture filled day of wearing her cozy pants and playing with all of her new Christmas toys.  Sounds painful huh?

I too felt like getting out and spending some of that excess money I have laying around, so I decided to treat Kaci to a ladies day out.  First thing she did was announce to her Dad the following: "Hey Daddy, do you want to go with us?  Sorry you can't!  Hahahahaha!"

First up on Kaci's agenda was picking up her cousin Rowan.  Then we hit up Super Cuts for Kaci's first haircut.  Ro decided to get a new style as well.    Thank goodness she did - had she not gotten her haircut first, I know that Kaci would not have done as good as she did.

Before:

After:

"GASP!  How could you cut off all of her little curls?"  Oh you mean those dreadful little knots that caused her screaming and tears each and every morning?  They had to go.  This new cut makes for easier mornings for everyone.

After the haircut we roamed around Target for a bit, burning time until lunch with my parents.  Kaci's go to lunch spot is Subway.  She of course voiced her opinion so that Rowan and I could hear - along with the rest of the shoppers in Target.  I promptly vetoed her decision at a much quieter level.  Much to my surprise she did not crumple to the floor in a puddle of tears.  She calmly (yet loudly) said "o.k. - but no McMenamins today".  McMenamins is my go-to lunch spot.  Dang.  We finally settled on BJ's, where Kaci could enjoy some macaroni and cheese, and I a pizookie.  

January 11th, 2014

Well...it is 7:01 p.m. on January 11th.  Yes - the day that I had ordered Dean to make his first appearance.  He has not arrived yet.  In fact - he hasn't even shown any initiative in beginning the process yet.

Oh Dean - please come out.  Just to let you know...your sister listened to me.  I had her date scheduled just like this.  Though she did not arrive until the following morning, she did at least start her journey on the date I requested!  But hey - it isn't too late little buddy.  In fact you still have time to one up her and be BORN today!  Come on Dean - Kaci double dog dares you!

Here she is taunting you Dean!

If nothing happens tonight, I will have to deal with uncertainty.  Not my cup of tea.  I currently have all of my loose ends tied up and feel fully prepared.  It is impossible to stay at this level of preparedness.  Nope - everything will just slowly unravel.  Let me explain...

1. Work - Email inbox is cleared; all voice mails returned; all of my duties have been assigned to others; etc.  So when I show up to work on Monday - I can't just leave things that way.  I will be forced to take back over things I had previously given away and start working on new issues that will most definitely come up.  Sounds messy to me.
2. My house - It is spotless.  All laundry is washed, folded and put away.  Everyone has clean sheets on their beds.  Bathrooms and floors are sparkling.  Now the beds will get slept in, laundry will be dirtied, dirt will bet tracked in, etc.  
3. Food - I took the liberty of going grocery shopping last night.  I stocked the pantry and fridge so that I would not have to brave the flu infested crowds at the grocery store with my new bundle of joy.  Kevin and Kaci will only starve so long before they go foraging for food on their own...eating their way through my stockpile.
4. Me - I washed, dried and flat ironed my hair today.  I also shaved my legs.  You can't expect me to do this every day.

So that is where things sit at this point.

To close this post, I will let Kaci write a bit.  She has been begging me for this big break.

 q3333333333333333cy

Her hair shows the stress she was under to make this publishing deadline

Until next time Readers!

Holiday Recap

Let's take a stroll down memory lane - to December.  Sorry - I usually like to look forward into the new year...but as usual I fell a bit behind on my blogger duties.

December kicked off with a trip on the Polar Express.  We hit up the Mt. Hood Railroad in Hood River.  It was a good time with family - sure could have used some booze in my hot chocolate though.   Here is Kevin and I on the train.  Kaci wanted nothing to do with us.  Didn't even sit with us in fact.

The following week Kevin came home with a tree that needed to be cut off the fence line.  Yes I will take a free Christmas Tree!  A bit scrappy but it still deserved a topless tree decorating session.

Oh at this angle you can even see Kevin's Women in Waders calendar in the background.

Christmas day was perfect.  Kaci woke up excited for presents.  We then relaxed and cooked a prime rib dinner.

One of her favorite gifts she received from an uncle.  Her favorite cargo to haul happens to be her panties and socks.  P.S. - these are not the pants I wanted her to wear with that sweater...She vetoed my decision however and wanted these as they were "the pretty ones".

Fast forward to New Years Eve.  I think these two pictures tell our story perfectly:

 High hopes for an exciting evening filled with food, family and fun!

Then reality sets in.  I felt like staying home.  After this little nap in the grocery cart, Kaci was able to make it until 9:22 p.m. that night.  At that point I noticed she was being very quiet in her room and suspected she had found her new makeup set she got for Christmas.  Nope - she had crawled into bed!  Kevin then headed out to a party and I watched TV on the couch.  Worked for us!

A resolution for 2014?  Well I did notice that in 2012 and 2013 I did 21 blog posts each.  I think I can beat this.  I am going for 25 this year.  2 down - 23 to go!!!

Dean Bean

Here I sit at 37 weeks and 2 days pregnant.  Figured I should update my blog before all hell breaks loose.

A picture of me tonight...Kevin isn't home so I took it myself.  Figured I better do it before my mood for both blogging and taking selfies in the bathroom passed.

Well now that we got that out of the way I will give you the rundown of how things are going to work (I hope):

• The next 7 working days will find me uber productive at work.  I will accomplish everything on my to-do list.  I will feel so good about everything that I will even leave work at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, January 10th.
• Once I leave on Friday I will head over to the nail salon and get a manicure and pedicure.
• After that I will head to the grocery store, where I will find zero crowds and zero annoying people.  I will quickly and efficiently fill my cart and head home.
• Saturday morning I will get my house cleaned and then sit back and wait for the show to begin.  YES...This is the date I believe that our little Dean Bean will decide to make an entrance into the world.

Hey - it never hurts to have a plan.

Aside from a lengthy to-do list at work that I need to wrap up, I think I am as ready as can be.  Car seat is in the car; bags are packed for us and Kaci and the closet is well stocked with diapers.

Kaci has been busy with preparations as well:

She made sure the that the car seat will be a good fit

Practiced her diaper changing skills

And even tested the quality of the sleeping accommodations

She also has already outgrown her shoe closet.  Sorry Dean!  I will leave this battle for you to fight.

We are all very excited to meet you Dean.