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Would I be a good Nebraskian?

That's the question as of today.

Aaron's job had a big town hall meeting and they are taking three of the four jobs that he knows up to Omaha where the headquarters are.

They will tell people who is going to be going on May 15th-ish and if we're one of the ones that will be going then they will buy our house and give us a small moving package and send us on up to Omaha on August 15th-ish.

If we are not one of the ones that are picked, it doesn't mean that we won't still have to go up there in October when they will probably pick another round of people. It's possible (though not definite) that these people will also get their houses bought and a small moving package.

After that ... who knows ... involuntary lay offs are definitely a possibility the boss told everyone today. If that were to happen, it'd be very difficult for us to pay for our house. And, I'd never get to live my dream of being a stay at home mom with Liam.

So, Aaron has volunteered to go this first round. It's the only way that ensures that we'll get out of our 30 year mortgage and such. So, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. It's based on seniority and anyone can bid on the job, even people that don't even know the job. (Which I think is complete crap ... who wants someone that doesn't even know the territory working the territory?)

I guess we'll know more in two weeks. -Shrug-

Five weeks left

Of school that is.

It's actually going quite well. My students missed me like crazy (weird) and that is a big relief. It makes leaving my baby not any easier .... but not as heart breaking.

I think that there could be a lot of change happening in our lives soon ... but I'm forbidden to talk about it as of yet. Which I hate. I'm not at all a secret keeper.

I think I should know more by this weekend ... you'll all have to wait.

It has been weeks!

Yikes! Sorry about that.

I've been busy cuddling my little lovey (which is what I call dear sweet Liam!)

Unfortunately, I return to work this Thursday. It's for one day before we're off for Good Friday. However, it's one day of TORTURE.

Ugh, my boobs are screaming at me just thinking about leaving my little guy for the whole day.

Luckily, my grandpa will be watching him ... so that's something at least. I won't be leaving him with a complete stranger. Whew.

Liam's new thing: When we take his bottle away from him to burp him ... he starts this whole warrior cry thing. It's flipping High-Larious. I'll try to get it on tape to share.

Liam is SUCH a model

Look at this little cutie!

He's already a month old. Jeez.

Today, we went for his newborn pictures. Basically, he was adorable the entire time. He even started smiling today.

The photographer started talking to him and he looked up at her and started grinning away. Then, he turned to us and started smiling our way as well!

Babies aren't technically supposed to start "social smiles" until 6 weeks. So, I guess Liam is just SUPER advanced. Like Aaron says "I know that everyone says their kid is special ... but ours really is!"

He's so playful and has been using his voice a LOT lately. He just talk talk talks ... I think that he gets that from his mother.

I'm so enjoying this motherhood thing. Well, except for the loosing sleep part of it. That kind of blows ... but whatcha gonna do!

Tomorrow, Aaron will be running in the Stride4Strokes in honor of his grandma Lily. I'm planning on posting video of him crossing the finish line so that we can show it to MawMaw. Maybe I'll post it here too ... but let's not get too carried away. Two posts, two days in a row? RIGHT.



And have I mentioned what an INCREDIBLE dad Aaron is? This is him reading "Skippy Jon Jones" to Liam ... see how attentive Liam was? This was week 2. I'm telling you ... future literary scholar here ... for real!

I saw this on another blog and didn't have anything original to write about

As my dear blogging friend Jules posted ... Itunes has had 10 BILLION songs downloaded. 10 BILLION! I can't decide if that's a lot .. or a little given the population of people that actually use Itunes.

Either way, they've posted the top twenty songs, and like Jules ... I'm quite surprised. They are all new songs. I figured there'd be a few classics somewhere. I mean, not even Michael Jackson made the list after his surprise demise earlier this past summer.

So Jules talks about how she's only downloaded seven of the 20 ... so I thought I'd see how many I have downloaded. 15 of the 20. And here I was thinking that I had original taste in music.

My list:

2. Pokerface - Roadtrip to Austin
3. Boom Boom Pow - Roadtrip to Austin
4. I'm Yours - Just for me
5. Viva La Vida - Just for me
6. Just Dance - Roadtrip to Austin
7. Low - Workout
8. Love Story - The Taylor Swift CD
9. Bleeding Love - Just for me
10. Tik Tok - Ke$ha CD
11. Disturbia - Workout
12. So What - Roadtrip to Austin
13. I Kissed a Girl - Just for me
16. Stronger - Roadtrip to Austin
18. Hey There Delilah - Just for me
19. Right Round - Roadtrip to Austin

After further inspection, I guess the reason that I've downloaded so many of them is because I was trying to download the top songs of the time for our roadtrip to Austin. So yeah ... I'm a little mainstream ... but not THAT bad.

Quick! Before I have to pop out a boob and feed my child!

I'm frustrated with boy's clothing.

We have bought packets and packets of onesies lately. This is due to the fact that Liam WILL pee all over himself or his clothes at LEAST twice a day. Seriously, he has a grown man's stream or something ...

Anyway. So, we go through onesies quickly.

Aaron isn't into sports really, so when buying onesies I tried to find ones that had dinosaurs or monkey's on them. But it's virtually impossible not to have about fifty different versions of "I want to be an All-Star" or "Daddy's little All-Star" onesies in Liam's closet.

And I think it's sucky!

What if I don't WANT my son to be an All-Star? What if I want his aspirations to be "Mommy's Little Literary Scholar"? Or, "Daddy's Number 1 Zombie Killer"!

I think that I should go into the onesie making business. I'm sure I could make a killing on quippy little shirts.

"Mommy & Daddy's Infant Genius"
"My Mom says that my reading level ROCKS!"
"Dad's little 360 Player"
"You might be able to throw a football, but I know PI to the 42nd place"

Introducing: Liam Michael

Isn't he absolutely adorable?

Liam Michael was born January 31st, 2010 at 2:09 PM. He weighed 9 lbs 7 oz and was 20 in long.

I started feeling contractions about every 7 minutes starting at around 11:30 Saturday night. We finished watching Knocked Up (Ironically) and I went and took a bath to see if they would go away. I'd been having contractions off and on for a while, but they'd go away with a good warm bath.

They continued and started getting a little closer together, so we went ahead and went on to the hospital. By the time we made it there (about 30 minutes away) at around 3am , they were coming every 2-3 minutes. The doctor came in around 7 am and checked me and I was still only dilated to a two. He broke my water and I got the epidural and continued the wait. When he checked me again, I was still only a 4 and Liam was still kind of high.

At around 1pm, they checked me again and I was STILL only a 4 even though I was having some SERIOUSLY strong contractions. So, the doctor thought that the cord might be wrapped around Liam's leg or hip or something that was causing him to "bungee jump." (See, already adventurous!)

So, we ended up having to have a c-section :( I was super duper scared ... but Aaron was absolutely amazing through the entire thing.


I'll leave you with that for now ... it's time to watch the Super Bowl!

Liam says "WHO DAT!"

Induction scheduled for Monday

BUT!

There is a full moon tomorrow. Like, a super full moon. Apparently, it's a really rare one where the Moon will be the closest EVER to the Earth, meaning the gravitational pull of water will be even greater ... or something.

So, here's hoping for water breakage tomorrow and labor to start shortly after!

I'm READY! I'm SOOO ready!

Let's get this thing on the road! I'm tired of having random contractions that have no substance and no rhythm, bring on the GOOD ones.

I'm dilated to a 2 and over 60% effaced ... so that's DO THIS!

Otherwise, I'll be stuck with Pitocin ... and I hear that stuff HURTSSSSS.

Oh, and I swear, if my baby gets any bigger ... he's going to rip me in half. He's something like 8+ lbs. My doctor says "Will he fit? It'll be close! But, there's no point in not trying."

So, please pray for a healthy delivery and no c-section ... I barely have ANY time to take off from school (Stupid unpaid maternity leave) and really don't want to have to spend the entire thing on recovery from a C.

Next time you hear from me ... there might be a little baby to post pictures of!

Donate for a good cause!

Aaron will be running in a 5k on March 6th for Stride for Strokes in honor of his grandmother, Lily Taylor. This is a race solely dedicated to Stroke Awareness.

We'd love to have people donate to the cause if possible. We'd like to raise 1,000 dollars, but every little bit helps!

If you'd like to donate:

Go to Methodiststride4stroke.com
Click on Sponsor Participant at the top of the website
Put in Aaron Allen as the person you are sponsoring
That will take you to his website where you can see how much money we've donated so far and how much more we have to go!

Thanks for any and all help and prayers!

Still no baby

But, we still have a week to go. I'm off to the doctor again tomorrow ... maybe he'll say something like "WOW, Rachel ... you're dilated to a ten with absolutely no painful contractions what so ever ... just push a little bit and we'll have this baby right here! No hospital stay!" ... Hah, I crack myself up with my wishful thinking.

So, here's things that I've been thinking about lately:

I totally haven't taken a picture in forever ... so there goes THAT resolution. But, in my defense, I know that when I'm in a big hurry on my way to the hospital when this baby FINALLY wants to come out that I'll forget the camera. So, it's already packed up. And if it's packed up then I can't very well use it now can I?

I really really really want to change my layout on this thing. I want a cool blog ... a cool blog with my very own cool banner and such. Think someone can make that happen for me? That'd be great.

I think I'm going to have to stop lending out my books. Or ... at least the books that have been signed by the Great Jen Lancaster. Our friend's cat took a bite out of the cover of Such a Pretty Fat. I took the news with grace ... smiled the entire time ... and then explained to them that she'd be back in May and they should go and buy me another one and get her to sign that one too. We'll see if that request happens. They were going to try and email her a picture of the book and a 100 dollars to send me another one. Either way would be cool with me. I mean, I can't be too mad ... Link has chewed up some of my books too. But, you know ... not the good ones that are signed by awesome authors and all.

Nope, No Labor

False alarm!

My contractions started about 2:30 am and were roughly 10 minutes apart. They were very light, like the start of period cramps, but nothing unmanageable. After about 12 hours ... they just stopped.

So ... no baby!

I'm still a week and 4 days from my due date ... so I guess it's just back to the waiting game now.

I'll be keeping everyone posted! Thanks for the well wishes!

Early Labor?

I went to the DR again today.
I'm officially 1 cm dilated.
And 40% effaced.

So, as I'm leaving, the nurse whispers in my ear about "labor sex."
We tried it out tonight.
Besides the whole "OMG I can't breathe on my back" kind of thing ... I think it might have worked.

I've been having random contractions throughout the night. They aren't getting closer together ... or any stronger ... but they are continuing. Even if I lay on my side and/or drink some water.

I haven't slept much. I think that Tuesday inadvertently was my last day. There's no way I'll be trekking my pregnant stomach up to school today and risk going into ACTIVE labor around those kiddos. Nope. No way.

I think it's time for a good old fashioned walk? Any other suggestions?

Lazy Saturdays

are the best of the best!

I've had two naps already today and have sat around in my pajamas nearly all day. It's an amazing feeling that you have nothing to do but sit around and watch television and read your Kindle.

I have one more week of school before I go on Maternity Leave (YES!), so that I can further prepare for baby Liam's arrival! VERY exciting! I can't wait to meet him! He's so dang adorable.

The last ultrasound we did (37 weeks) found him sucking on his arm in the womb. He looks a little upset ... but I think that he was pouting because Daddy wouldn't let us have Cheesecake for dessert at lunch. :)

Another rant about something maternity related ...

Aaron and I went shopping today to pick up some last minute items for my hospital bag. You know, the one that I'm supposed to be packing ... probably right now ... oops. The main thing that I needed was night clothes for the hospital, lanisoh, pacifers, and maternity bras.

We went to the "Bra Specialist" for the maternity bras. Yeah, we have to go to a specialty shop for these bazooma's because the regular maternity stores make me look like I'm going to enter myself in a teeny weeny bikini contest. Seriously, the only thing the regular store bras cover is PART of a nipple.

Maternity bras ... check.

Off to Target to see about some PJs and the other items on the list. Target's maternity line is lacking. Seriously. Every time I go, I never find ANYTHING. Reasons why I am STILL going have yet to be discovered. I'll just blame it on being too lazy to drive all the way to the mall this time.

I picked up some pants that'll work just fine ... and went around trying to find some tops. Nope. None. Nada. So, I'm stuck wearing the same last three cotton comfy shirts that my stomach still fits in for my PJ shirts while in the hospital. Aaron says that he can't WAIT until I can start wearing regular shirts again and he will never have to see these shirts (three exactly the same just a different color) again.

But dangit if they aren't comfortable ...

Oh, and one last thing. I can't STAND nicknames for pacifiers. I will ONLY be referring to my child's pacifier by its true name "pacifier." None of this, nuk nuk, or nunu, or nom nom, or paci, or whatever. Gag.

I guess this is enough procrastinating ... I mine as well go and pack my bag and get it over with ... who knows, maybe Liam WILL decide to come early. Doubtful, very doubtful ...

But just in case ... room ready!

Cancer Awareness?

Today, I get off work (which sucked) and come home to find numerous status updates that contained random colors.

I rolled my eyes and went on about my business. In fact, I even found out that it's possible that President Obama will be giving a speech on the day that Lost will be premiering ... WHAT!?!?

Anyway, after further investigation ... I received this email:

Some fun is going on.... just write the color of your bra in your status. Just the color, nothing else. And send this on to ONLY girls no men .... It will be neat to see if this will spread the wings of cancer awareness. It will be fun to see how long it takes before the men will wonder why all the girls have a color in their status... Haha! ♥

........

What *I* would like to know is how it's supposed to be cancer awareness if no one even knows what the heck the color stands for? Doesn't it actually have to talk about the thing that it was trying to inform people of to be considered awareness? I mean ... not to be a buzz kill or anything ... but seriously.

So now facebook is riddled with everyone and their mother (literally) posting the colors ... which makes ME immediately imagine them in their bras ... including my high school theatre teacher. VERY uncool.

But, for the record ... mine is a dingy nude.

See?

Well, it's day three ...

and I'm already running out of things to take pictures of.

I swear, I was going to take all these adorable pictures today of my doxie Link playing with his best friend Jeff. Jeff is a neighbor of mine from when we lived at our old apartment. Unfortunately, I got lazy ... and Jeff wasn't feeling well ... so we decided to rain check that meeting. Luckily, I didn't tell Link about it. He would have started whining about it ... and would probably chew up another book of mine.

Oh waitttt ... He already did chew up a book of mine, while I wasn't paying him attention because I was in the bathtub. See, I don't think that raising a child is going to be that hard after raising a doxie. He seems like he's probably a little more needy than a child.

I mean, I'm already used to all of the animals filing into the bathroom while I take my bath. See, no privacy ... check!

Luckily, for Christmas ... my amazing husband got me the greatest gift in the world: The Kindle!



Now, if Link tries to chew THIS book ... it'll break his teeth! Win for me!

What I See When I look down

My stomach is getting huge! There's still four more weeks to go ... yikes.



A few days ago, we had Aaron's parents and sister over for the evening! It was a lot of fun. There were three doxie's and a chi running around, so the cats called it a night ... for the whole day.



And I made some DELICIOUS "Fruit Cookies." It was actually supposed to be fruit pizza. However, I didn't have a roller ... and apparently wasn't clever enough to use ANY THING ELSE THAT IS KIND OF CIRCULAR to roll out the dough. So, I made fruit cookies instead. They came out absolutely amazing. Too bad they aren't at all healthy!

Resolutions

It's that time again!

Resolutions for this year are as follows:

Lose 50 lbs (which shouldn't be difficult since 40 of that is Baby weight)
Stop cussing (Must be a good Momma!)
Stop Procrastinating and MAKE things happen
Take more pictures!

So, I've decided that I'm going to try and keep up with the picture taking on the blog. I'll post a new picture every day! Minus the days that I'll be in the hospital with the baby ... when I come back after that I'm sure I'll have TONS of pictures to post .... so it should even itself out.

So, I leave you with a cute one! Liam says HELLO AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!