Could you live with this much orange? I think I could.
Chagas-the new AIDS
Great, just what we need---another dang plague-causing bug in our fine state of Texas.
Apparently, a new AIDS-like disease called Chagas is being diagnosed through South and Central America. And, living in such close proximity to the border, Texas is blessed with the rapid transmission of the problem. It's estimated that 11% of pregnant women in Latin America are infected. (They're being diagnosed during prenatal care.)
The creepy part is that we have TONS of the bugs that are passing the parasite---kissing bugs, also known as assassin beetles.
Here's an article describing the problem.
Basically, Chagas is a parasitic illness that is passed along by kissing bugs, a type of blood-sucking insect. Symptoms of the disease range from those similar to the flu in the acute stage to major problems with the nervous, digestive and cardiovascular systems in later stages.
Cardiomyopathy and arrhythmias caused by the disease can eventually be fatal. About a quarter of the people who contract Chagas develop enlarged heart or intestines that can burst causing sudden death.
Oh! It also has the distinction of being what some researchers presume killed Charles Darwin.
More Waiting
Loooooong days.
We're eating lots of popcorn.
Sharing with Mooskies, of course.
I was thinking---don't you hate trying to figure out where all the dishes are at someone else's house? Since a few people are staying post-baby to help, I thought I'd take a quick photo of our cabinets. Then, I'll tape the photo to the corresponding cabinet and they can tell at a glance where things go. (I wish my cabinets looked more catalog-y, but they just don't.)
Adam had some nice Chinese cookie fortunes in the past few weeks.
Popcorn with Mister Squirrel
I'm making please-don't-kill-us-bribe-brownies for the nurses. Since I have nothing but time on my hands, I also made a 'thanks' sign. It's probably paranoid, but I live in fear of hacking off a nurse or a doctor, then having them give me or my loved ones sub-par treatment.
Just in case there is any confusion, I want this attached to Baby Girl #2's bassinette at the hospital. Hmm....have I mentioned lately that I'm a total control freak?
Stuff while I wait
Look at Little Miss Smarty Pants. She said, "Look Mama--I made 'Violet'!" That's pretty dang close. I think her understanding of letters far exceeds her manual dexterity in drawing with a crayon. I always wonder how much she understands, but can't quite verbalize.
Ug--the calendar. I've resorted to X-ing off the days in red.
I decided to make a Moby-style baby wrap. Paying $59.95 for a long rectangle of fabric irritates me, so I made one.
Here's a link to making your own from Rookie Moms.
I'll give you a super quick set of instructions, though:
1. Buy 5-6 yards of stretchy fabric. I bought 60" wide fabric.
(A good rule of thumb is to match the length to your height---short? Buy 5 feet. Tall? Buy 6 feet.)
2. Lay it all out (down a hallway is handy), folded in half like they roll it off the bolt at the store.
3. Cut it into 3 super long 20-21" wide strips. Final measurement of each: 5 or 6 feet long x 20-21 inches wide. Each strip makes one baby wrap.
That's it! If you bought a knit, you probably don't need to hem. I hemmed mine. You don't have to. If you want to, sew something on the edge to mark the center...a button, a tag, a piece of fabric, whatever.
The center front is marked by the Moby tag to help you with placement, so I sewed on a square of fabric with a cute vintage bunny.
So....I bought 6 yards of fabric at the remainder bin at Walmart for $1.50. So, $1.50 x 6 yards = $9.00 + $1.00 for thread, $10.-- total. This makes 3 baby wraps.
$3.33 per wrap vs. $59.95 - I can live with that.
Oh, and I'm going to dye the other 2 lengths to make 2 more wraps in different colors.
Here's a video that shows how to put a newborn in the wrap, kangaroo-style.
Waiting
Waiting and waiting and waiting.
Due to preterm labor difficulties with Violet and having contractions with this baby since 18 weeks, my goal was simply to stay pregnant. Making it to 36/37 weeks felt like a big achievement, and I'm quite happy about it.
However.....now the time is starting to drag on. And on and on and on.....
My doctor says, "I'm really surprised you're still pregnant. You could have the baby at any minute now."
So....imagine having all your bags packed for a trip. A not-so-pleasant trip to a place you don't really want to go to with an itinerary you're not so excited about. Now, imagine that whenever a beeper goes off, you have to leave. Right that very second.
So...that's where I am right now. Waiting and waiting for the baby beeper to go off. I can't really get engrossed in a project, I can't go anywhere else, and I'm huge and exhausted I can just barely manage to get basic things done. And I'm so uncomfortable and gripey.
That's my life right now.
Whine. Gritch. Moan.
Chiggers and Adam's birthday
(Let Seasick Steve tell you all about in "Chiggers". We've been listening to this a lot this week.)
My poor, poor husband....he's covered in chigger bites! I've counted over a hundred on each leg. Adam was out in tall grass, and even with boots, jeans, tall socks, bug spray, and sulphur powder, they still ate him alive. He said, "Oh gross...I look like I have eighty year old-man diabetic legs." Poor honey.
(Yellow: Moderate concentration, Red: High concentration) Chiggers are so NASTY! They lay their babies in your skin. During feeding, they inject a fluid into the skin which dissolves tissue. Chiggers feed by sucking up the liquefied tissues.
Adam's birthday was this week. It was a little one, seeing as how I can barely move. We were thinking over the past year, and it was a good one. He spent more time having fun this past year, and not quite as much time working overtime. He ranked as the best left handed arm wrestler in Texas in his weight class, he got a several bonuses, awards, and a raise and a promotion at work, he got to work on a bunch of satisfying personal projects at home, and even though he didn't make it on to the engineering reality show, it was an interesting process.
Three year olds pick out unusual gifts, yes? Still, I wanted to let Violet pick out something herself.
I got Adam "La Cucaracha" airhorns for his truck. He asked for them-he's wanted them for years.
Books we've been reading
Since we're just waiting and waiting, we've been reading a lot of books. Well, I always read to Violet, but we've been doing even more than usual. And, since I have seemingly endless hours and relatively no energy, I'm reading extra, too.
I finally finished the Steig Larsson trilogy. Unfortunately, the last book was my least favorite. It wrapped up loose ends, but there wasn't enough Lizbeth in it. Too much background info regarding the Swedish government.
Those Sookie Stackhouse novels are like crack. So trashy and easy and entertaining.
Here's a nice book of sewing tips if you're an intermediate seamstress with an interest in tailoring your own clothes.
I'm a fan of circular knitting needles, but I'm not comfortable with them yet.
I just started this. I heard the movie rights have been purchased recently. It's always nice to see a movie of a favorite book. Some people hate it, but I love it.
Game of Thrones was one of the best books I read in the past year. I'm looking forward to the rest of the books in the series. Adam and I watched the first season of HBO's Game of Thrones, too. It was great---the sets, acting, casting, costumes---everything! It's gratifying to see a series made at movie quality.
Good Night, Garden Gnome by Jamichael Henterly
The illustrations are fabulous. It's a picture book only-no words.
Oliver Finds His Way by Phyllis Root
This is such a sweet book. I love the little bear's chubbiness and his expressions.
I'm not crazy about this one, but Violet loves it. It's super repetitive, which 3 year old like. I'm guilty of skipping pages with this book---bad Mama!
I like these illustrations, but the little girl's solid black eyes are creepy. I've never liked button or oval shaped solid black eyes. It makes kids looks zombie-like or dead.
The paintings are fun, though. Clara 'finds' an enormous fish at the park and brings it home in her imagination.
All the Sam Books by Amy Hest are sweet. I love the relationship between Mrs. Bear and Sam. However, the wording is always a bit off to me. I think they might have been translated from another language.
We like the green truck that looks like Daddy's. The phrasing is often strange....like, they'll say, "Sam climbed into the green truck that was green."
Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal is fun! It's about a pea who is forced to eat his candy for dinner so he'll grow up big and strong. He only wants to eat dessert.....spinach!
From the same author is Little Hoot. In this owl tyke's world, he has to stay up late while all his friends get to go to bed early. His parents try to keep him up, but all he wants to do is go to bed.
Still Pregnant
Yep.
Still pregnant.
New Pinterest Board-Mexican Decor
I made a new Pinterest board called Mexican Decor. Go have a browse if you're interested.
In my studio, the sewing room will be Catholic Kitsch themed--yay! I can't wait. I've been saving stuff for years. People have given me some great Mexican-themed stuff, too.
Don't buy Vanilla Gift cards
I am having a horrible time using Vanilla Gift cards. I have lodged a complaint with the Better Business Bureau ---can you guys think of anywhere else appropriate to contact?
This story is really quite boring, so save yourself the trouble and read the short version:
Vanilla Gift cards suck. In my experience, they make it nearly impossible to use them, they are denied 95% of the time at stores, or are shown as having a $0 balance. They have sneaky fees, even if they state they do not. Their expiration dates are ridiculous, because LONG before the card expires-even if you purchase nothing-you lose all the money on the card due to fees. Their customer service department basically says, "Yes, we kind of suck, but that's just how it is. Good luck getting your money back and all that."
I have the long version below, but it's too boring and irritating to read.
I received a $25.00 gift card that I have had MUCH trouble using. I have tried to use it at multiple locations to be told the card is either invalid or has no money on it.
Vanilla says the stores are scanning the cards incorrectly. However, I do make sure the store is scanning the card as a credit card, not a debit. I also make sure they use the gift card last when the total is over the amount of the card. (both suggestions from Vanilla)
In addition to this, the front of the card states an expiration date. However, in fine FINE print, they state a date many months earlier when money starts being removed (after 7th month) per month. It is ridiculous to expect someone to see an expiration date, and if they wait to use the card until shortly before th exp date, have the card emptied of money due to monthly fees.
They credited my card $10.00 to resolve fees that were being added. However, after this my card continued to be denied at stores. At a Walmart, they scanned my card, said, "This card is empty", then I had to pay the full balance for my purchase. The cashier groaned and so, "Oooooh no, not another one of these. We have soooo much trouble with them!" She had to do that long drawn out 'call the manager' thing. Don't you just love being the person who holds up the line like that? It's so inconvenient and embarrassing. Vanilla says Walmart took money off the card but it didn't show up until the next day. Since I paid the full amount out of pocket, I have no receipt or no way to dispute this.
I feel like the company makes it inordinately hard to use their card, hoping people will just give up. It in unconscienable to have people buy a gift card in good faith, then have the recipient be unable to use the card. OR have so much trouble using the card they end up spending (LITERALLY) hours on the phone trying to resolve the issue.
I've contacted the BBB. I need to find more places to lodge complaints. PLEASE do not purchase these cards. The company has unethical business practices, and they are nothing but a hassle.
