Being Productive

We got back late last night from Trevor's Family's Reunion, and I wasn't sure if I was going to get up when Trevor did or not.  But, when his alarm went off at 6:06am (I know, weird time!), I was hungry.  So, out of bed, and into the kitchen I went.  I fixed Trevor his lunch while breakfast was cooking, then after he left, I sat down at my computer to get some baby stuff ordered.  This was my top priority for the day, as it is almost time when she could arrive and be OK, and all I have is the carseat, diapers, and some clothes.

I proceeded to check my email, then facebook, then my blog and my email once more (for some reason I have to do these things, in that order, before I can get anything done).  This took about 45 minutes as I had some emails I responded to, and a bunch of junk mail to mark as spam!  Then it was off to the shower with me... I know.... I sat at the computer to order baby stuff, and what do I end up doing....  Anyway, in the process of dressing for the day, I realized I didn't have any clothes to wear, so I donned some sweat pants and began sorting laundry, thinking that multitasking was good and I could order the baby stuff while the clothes washed.

The third load is in the wash now, and I successfully contained myself to the computer chair and have ordered the Breast Pump, Nursing Pads (these supposedly really cool ones called Lily Padz, they have great reviews, so we'll see how they work out!), some nipple cream (just-in-case), as well as the Co-Sleeper.  The Co-Sleeper is similar to a bassinet, but it has a side that folds down to provide easy access to the baby without getting out of bed... meaning I get to sleep more!  She'll stay in it up to 23lbs or whenever she can pull herself up...then will move to a crib.  It is also on wheels so I can wheel her around without disturbing her while I get things done (ie: shower, make food, etc.).  AND I almost forgot about the scale I ordered.  It is digital and acurate to 1/2 an ounce!  I figure Trevor will get good use out of it weighing his fish he catches (AFTER we use it to weigh the baby of course!).  ;)  Remaining items to get are the Snap N Go: a stroller frame so we dont have to lug around a regular stroller in the back of the car (we'll save the regular one for walks), changing pad and covers (which I think I'll make), baby toiletries (wash, lotion, diaper rash cream, a wipes dispenser), as well as some breast milk storage bags.  I also need to order the birth pool, some emergency cord clamps (just incase the cord needs cut) and herb tinctures (incase of excessive bleeding because eating the placenta just grosses me out) which I think I should be able to find locally.

Now that I have eaten my lunch (while writing this...gotta love multi tasking), I need to head out to the garage with some empty boxes (saving them for our next move), and bring in some more to unpack.... gotta love moving!  Then figure out what to make for dinner...  I'm thinking some BBQ chicken - or should I do fish??? -  cob corn, and either a baked potato (which would require me to make some ranch) or some herbed pasta... leaning towards the pasta, even though it would take longer to make than the ranch!  haha.

To ensure you have a great afternoon, I'll leave you will some Bump Pictures!

:)

Time is Flying

Wow.  I cant beleive we're over halfway through August already and I haven't posted anything.  We just got internet in our new place today.  It is still a mess or I'd take and post some pictures.  It is pretty nice, even Trevor agrees, and he is hard to please... housing-wise atleast!  ;)

We ended up signing a 6 month lease on a one bedroom that comes with a garage.  We're not planning on staying long.... we're ready to buy a house.  Hopefully by the end of our lease agreement, we'll have saved the other half of our house fund (we're anticipating whatever we buy to need immediate repairs...roof, flooring, etc).  Moving was a little crazy.  My poor little car was packed to the brim (suprising how much it can haul) for many trips to Portland.  Thankfully moving expenses are tax deductible, because our gas bill for the month was outrageous.  Our next move we're renting a giant U-Haul and making one trip!

Gotta get some dinner going, but here's a quick update on the baby.
She weighs aprox. 5.5lbs, and is over 20" long (this is average of all babies born at this time, not necessarily OUR baby).  She's just sitting in there developing her brain and lungs and putting on the ounces!  Her favorite thing to do is get up under my ribs and make it so I can hardly breath.  Her second favorite thing is to lodge her heel at my rib and push.  Not a pleasant feeling! 

More later!

32 Weeks!

Baby:  YAY!  We've finally reached the point where we will make efforts to save the baby if she is born early.  Before this point, we didn't feel that she would have a "life" if we attempted to saved her and were successful.  Now, she may or may not be able to breath on her own, but would probably have difficulties and require oxygen as she is just starting to get surfactant in her lungs.  She would probably be able to suck, meaning she could nurse rather than having a feeding tube.  Because her liver is so under developed at this point, she would need to be under special lights to help her body process the Bilirubin (Jaundice) to prevent mental retardation.  She has a minimum of 5 more weeks before she can make her entrance and most likely be OK.  At this time, she weighs over 4lbs and measures about 18 inches.
Moving:  Trevor got a new job in Hillsboro a couple of weeks ago.  He gave over two weeks notice at his current job, and we gave our 30 days notice on our duplex.    He has worked up there three days so far, and I hunted for a place for us to live.  The first two days I had ZERO for luck.  Everywhere was either full and only had 2 bedrooms for super expensive and required a 12 month lease, or had rather expensive 1 bedrooms and charged $50-100/month extra to do anything shorter than a 12 month lease.  Yesterday, however, I widened my search radius to include Beaverton, and found two places with rent in the $600 range and 1 month free if we sign a 12 month lease!  To break the lease, they charge 1.5 times one month's rent, so really, we'd only have to pay an extra $300 or so to move out if we couldn't find someone to take over the lease.  Also, both of these places have pools!  Sunday, I'll show Trevor and let him decide!  We will be moving in the morning of the 7th because Trevor works the following three days in a row, but we dont have to be out of our duplex until the 12th, giving me plenty of time to put the non-essentials in a storage unit and clean so we get our deposit back.

Preparation for Baby

Carseat:  The carseat will be here Monday!  I'm sooo excited.  This is the first big thing for the baby.  My parents got it for her, so Monday I'll be heading to their house to await the UPS Truck!  After much research, we decided on the Safety 1st onBoard 35 Air in McKenna.  I actually liked the pink and gray one (one of the few girly items I actually like out there - hot pink just isn't my thing), but we dont know for sure we're having a girl...and what if the next baby is a boy... we'd like to be able to move this baby into a convertable and use the same bucket for the next kiddo (hopefully before the seat expires!).  Originally we were going to just skip the bucket, and use a convertable, unfortunately, it wouldn't fit in my car rear facing at the angle needed for a newborn.

Diapers:  My cloth diaper stash is nearly complete for the first 4-5 months or so.  In the right hand column I've listed what is in it.  I got all but one of the Nubunz for $3 EACH!  Apparently, they got a bad batch of fabric and didn't know it until it was too late, so they're selling all the diapers made at that time at a huge discount.  Customers have been reporting about a 25% failure rate, and some even luck out with all good diapers!  Depending on how many are bad, I will probably have to get some more.  Trevor's mom found a bunch of soakers (what goes inside the diaper) and a couple of used diapers that have been added too.  The soakers were great because I ordered the Nubunz without them... the reviews on their soakers weren't all that great.

Rear facing vs forward facing position in the car

Update

Lets see....

N. Umpqua Fishing Trip
We went fishing up the North Umpqua.  Trevor had never been fly fishing and got a bite on his very first cast.  The second cast he caught this fish:

And a few casts later he caught this fish:

He fished the remainder of the day, at three different spots along the river but didn't catch anything else.

Job Hunt

Trevor got the job with Metro West Ambulance in Hillsboro.  He has decided he is not going to work both jobs, so I have been packing our house.  We plan to put everything in storage except the essentials, and find something cheap to rent in Hillsboro or Beaverton until we can find something more permanant.  Right now, there is only one house on the Good Neighbor Next Door Program list and it would take Trevor over 40 minutes to get to work....  So, we wait.  So far, Trevor really likes the job, and LOVES getting EMERGENCY calls!  He will continue his current job through the end of the month, then is on the schedule for August with Metro West.

Baby

The baby has been moving around a lot.  Not many kicks but TONS of stretching and buldging.  Her heart beat was 140bpm (138bpm last month), and she is still measuring about two weeks ahead.  Her fingernails have reached the end of her fingers now, and it's possible for her to scratch herself... poor thing!  We have one more week until she is developed enough that we will try to save her if she is born early, but she really, really, needs to wait annother month and a half to have no problems.  She is about 17" long and weighs about 3.5lbs.

Here are some bump pictures:

30 Weeks

And I finally figured out how to set the self timmer on my camera, so these should be much clearer from now on!

31 Weeks

Here is the Belly Map from today:

And here is the interpretation of it:

If the interpretation is correct, she is Left Occiput Posterior.  She has flipped, but is not in the best position for birth.  There some exercises I will do to help her face backwards closer to birth.

Evidence-Based Medicine

Even before we became pregnant, we looked into pregnancy and birth.  I've spent countless hours looking at real research surrounding birth, and Trevor spoke (on a professional level) with OBGYN's while he was in clinicals for Labor & Delivery.  We have listened to other's opinions surrounding pregnancy and birth, mainly, those who came to the same conclusions we have.  One of my favorite blogs on the topic is Stand and Deliver.  I agree with alot of what Rixa has to say (but not all, of course).  Her most recent post got me thinking.


Every parent has to decide what is best for their family.  What I don't understand is how people can just go along with what "professionals" say without looking into it themselves, and then try to force their beliefs onto others.  Many of these "professionals" don't practice Evidence-Based Medicine.  They practice what I like to call Routine-Procedure-Based Medicine.  They do this because somewhere along the line, a patient needed the procedure and it wasn't done.  A policy was made to ensure that this wouldn't happen again, and it stuck.  No one considered the side effects this now routine procedure would have on those patients who don't need it.


I realize that these professionals are very busy and don't have time to pour over all the research.  I also realize that research is a never ending process, and the more technological advances we have the more the conclusions that came from that evidence can change, and we can even find new evidence.  I even realize that change is a slow process!


The first book on birth I read was on the Bradly Method titled "Husband Coached Childbirth."  It was originally written to advocate for fathers being in the delivery room at the time of their child's birth instead of pacing the halls of the waiting room.  It also talks about how animals give birth and how we should try to replicate that...that Natural Childbirth has the best outcomes for all involved.  It may Talk the Talk, but it does not Walk the Walk.  It is laden with Routine-Procedures...Interventions of natural childbirth.  Interventions that are sooooo routine and so accepted their not even considered interventions.


I am no longer shocked by the numbers of people who think birth is an emergency, and is dangerous, and is the "worst pain of your life," and needs to be managed by a doctor.  I am beginning to become amused by the number of people who want to be "Kept in the dark" regarding birth and pregnancy.  I've had numerous people tell me, upon hearing our pregnancy and birth preparation and plans, that it was so much easier when they had babies... they didn't have to do anything, the doctor just told them what to do.  How can they have so much trust in a doctor to keep them and their baby healthy... someone they see once a month, and have zero trust in their body to grow a perfectly healthy baby?  Women have grown babies and given birth since the beginning, then all of a sudden we have technology and doctors and medications available and they MUST be used!  I find it hard to believe that God, as Awesome as He is, would design us incapable of growing and birthing healthy babies.  I think it is much more likely our interference with His plans for us that renders (some of) us incapable of growing and birthing healthy babies.


This Technology, Medication and information the Doctors have are gifts from Him, and have their place.  However, because doctors don't do the research, and don't have time to review the research, they practice Routine-Procedure Based Medicine entirely too much.  Especially in birth.  Birth is not an emergency (there are some things than can become an emergency, but birth in itself is not an emergency), it is not inherently dangerous (driving a car is more dangerous), it is not "the worst pain of your life" (this is the media and general stigma surrounding birth - rent the movie "Orgasmic Childbirth" if you don't believe me), and it does not need to be managed (did Eve deliver her babies in a hospital with a doctor telling her what to do?  I THINK NOT!  Also, in other countries - Britain for one - you do not go to the hospital to give birth, babies are born at home).


I will not subject myself or my baby to Routine-Procedure-Based Medicine just because that is the view of our culture.  We will not have a managed birth.  We will not go to the hospital unless there is an emergency.  We will not be induced leading to an epidural leading to difficulties in breast feeding and infection needing treated with antibiotics which leads to allergies in the baby which leads to feeding formula which leads to more allergies and food intolerance.  I will not have a c-section if there are more than 12 hours between the water breaking and birth - this is necessary in a hospital because of risk of infection (my opinion - but a land fill probably has less antibiotic-resistant strains of germs).  There will be no cervical checks to give me permission to push - again the germ thing, and I will push if and when I feel the need to assist my body.  I will not be hooked up to an IV to keep me hydrated so I don't eat or dring anything in case of c-section.  I will not be forced to lay on my back to give birth - which leads to tearing or an episiotomy and often a "stuck" baby requiring removal by forceps, suction and even c-section.  The umbilical cord will not be cut or handled until it has stopped pulsing on its own - early cord cutting cause Rh sensitization in mothers if the baby and mother don't have the same blood factor, which leads to a managed pregnancy for the next baby, which leads to a multitude of other interventions.  It also deprives the baby of its own blood which leads to an anemic infant and stresses its body in more ways than I care to list right now.  She will not be suctioned, baby is capable of clearing her own passages given that the cord is not cut early.  The baby will not be given painful stimuli to make her cry (many babies born in water don't cry and it does not effect their apgars).  There will be no cord traction or uterine massage which can lead to turning the uterus inside out, partial release of the uterus, hemorrhage and maternal death.  The placenta will come out when it is ready.  There will be no Vitamin K injection - causes problems in getting a blood sample to check for the PKU test, nor will she be vaccinated for Hepatitis B - her body cannot process the other stuff in the vaccine and she is not at risk at this time in her life.


After we've had a chance to get to know our baby a little, get some food in all of us, bathe and get everything picked up, and rest a little, we will call our parents to come celebrate with some Birth Day Ice Cream Cake.  :) 


This is what is best for our family.  To those of you who roll your eyes at me and give me speeches on what is best for my baby, you add humor to my day.  You did what was best for your family given the information you had at that time.  Do not tell me what is best for my family using the information you had at the time you decided what was best for your family.  I'm choosing not to be stuck in the past, to live in the present, and have faith in the future.

3 WEEKS!!!!!!!

WOW!  I cannot beleive it has been three weeks since I posted on here!  Time sure does fly when stuff's a happen'.

Lets see....

Briana's Graduation party went well, we had pizza and of course cake (dont worry I didn't eat the frosting...it had High Fructose Corn Syrup - why does everything have to have that stuff in it?).  She got her quilt finally.  :) which she was pretty happy over...unfortunately, I forgot my camer and dont have any pictures of it finished to post.  Today is my Mom's Birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!) so I'll be going over and will take a picture then.

We took a trip to Roseburg for Trevor's Job Hunt.  Eighty-one people were invited to take the Physical Agility Test, 60 showed up for it and only 30 passed.  Those 30, including Trevor, then went and took the Written Test, which Trevor did awesome on and now has an interview!  We also stopped at the Umpqua Dam.  Trevor had never been there and enjoyed seeing the fish!

We went to the lake this past weekend, and I ended up sewing a swim suit top because all the "Tankini" style ones are waaaaaay to short to cover the bump.  It worked well, but I think it will be too tight across my belly in about 3 weeks, so I'll have to make annother, or break down and pay $35 for a "Maternity" swim suit top.  Old Navy has them a little cheaper than that online, but I like to try things on and they're conveiniently NOT available in the store!  Ugh.  To the left is a picture of the ONLY fish Trevor has caught this summer.  Mom was also the first person to ski, but I only have a video and cant figure out how to put that on here (which I"m sure she doesn't mind!).

We went fishing the other day to Cottage Grove Lake.  Trevor caught Nothing.  He wasn't a very happy fisherman.  Plus the wind came up and blew the boat into shore after each cast.  Next time we think we'll go in the evening.  We know there are fish in there because we saw a huge dead bass.  It was huge.  And just floating there with its eyeballs all puffed out.  Yuck!  We finally left the lake, and got some very late lunch at Arby's where I had a Ruben (YUM), and we lucked out with the DMV being right across the parkinglot (Trevor needed a copy of his driving record for a job he's applying for).  Never again will I go to a Eugene or Springfield DMV.  I'll spend less time driving down to Cottage Grove, having our number called before we even have a chance to sit down, and driving back home, than I would if I just went to the DMV up here!  WOW!

Yesterday, we went to Hillsboro for an interview with an Ambulance Company.  They're hiring 1-6 of the six they interviewed...depending on who they like.  Trevor HATES Portland, and would be getting paid less if he takes the job, so I'm not sure what will happen with that.  However, it is EMERGENCY, which is the issue with where he's at now (not emergency), and he really wants emergency, so the draw to it is pretty strong.  He thinks he can continue to work where he is and drive up there to work that job too.  I dont want that because he already works 48 or 72 hours every week, add to that annother 40 hours in Hillsboro and 12-16 of driving every week and we will literally NEVER see each other.  I told him we could put everything in storage and get a studio apt. or something and just "stay" up there rather than "live" up there....  The traffic was pretty bad (I thought the closer you got to California the worse they drove, apparently, Portland is the exception), and the rodes are so close together we turned several times where the GPS told us to turn then it ended up being the wrong rode and had to "Recalculate" us with it's attitude it gets (both Trevor and I think it has an attitude with it says "Recalculating!"), didn't help that we ended up getting on the high way instead of taking the rode NEXT to the highway, where we proceeded to sit while we waited for the all the cars in front of us to get the green light to get off the on ramp and onto the high way...  I really dont like those things, but I think maybe River Road and Delta Highway in Eugene need them!  Might keep Beltline flowing a little better!

Baby Update:

And here's what you've all been waiting for!  :)

Our baby will start to vary now from the average as the average is just that.  A computation of all babies' statistics at this point in pregnancy, some weight less and/or are shorter, and some more and/or longer.  But, she now weighs about a little under 3lbs, and is nearly 17" long!  She'll continue to put on the pounds for about 7 more weeks (when she is more than welcome to come out), then she'll slow down considerably (and we try to wait with patience for her to come out).

She blinks her eyes, and can see lightness and darkness (I put my tummy in the sun while we were fishing and she squirmed all over the place!).  She knows my voice and most likely knows Trevor's voice.  Funny thing is, when we're (baby and I) are around other people, she hardly moves at all... maybe she is listening?!!??!  She is still giving Trevor a hard time.  Everytime I tell him she is moving so he can feel, she stops moving when he has his hand on my stomach, then as soon as he gives up, she starts moving again.  However, if he lays his head on my stomach, she has no problem kicking him in the face!  Poor Daddy!  He says it's ok, she wont be able to avoid him much longer, but I still feel bad for him.

Also, this past week I've been noticing some Braxton Hicks.  They're really strange.  I think I've been getting them for a while (you're supposed to start getting them some time in the 2nd semester, but some people dont notice them), but didn't realize that's what it was.  Some times my tummy just felt uncomfy and "tired."  Now that my tummy is bigger, I've noticed it gets very hard when it feels uncomfortable.  I've also noticed they go away much faster if I sit down and rub it.

Found the cord to connect my camer to the computer...it was in my camera case... so here's the bumb @ 29 Weeks!

Baby

Today marks the start of week 26 and I thought I'd write something about what the baby has been up to.  We're going on four days of TONS of movement.  Before it would move alot and then have a day or two where it was pretty quiet.  However, it ALWAYS moves around in the morning.  I dont wake up from it (I wake up from starving to death), but the days I've been awake early, movement has gone from around 6:30 to about 9.  The last few days have been near constant movement all day long!  Maybe she's just running out of room and I feel all of them now?

Anyways, she now has nearly completely developed blue eyes, and they will open this week.  Her nails are growing, and the blood vessels in her lungs are beging to grow.  Alot of growing still left to do, but if she were born now, she'd have a 70% chance of making it....of course she'd be immobile with drool running down the side of her face for the rest of her life if we tried to save her, so she can just stay in there until atleast September 2nd, when it is safe for her to come out.  So far, no Braxton Hix contractions so atleast the baby and my body are in agreement that she should stay in there longer, however she has been measureing about 1-2 weeks ahead.  I'll start the Raspberry Leaf Tea in a couple of weeks though.

It looks like it has been a while since I've posted any Bump pictures so here ya go!

Almost 23 weeks... laying down.

About 24 weeks.

Almost 26 weeks.  FYI - That shirt is size LARGE!  And I'm having a terrible time finding maternity pants that fit.  Finally found those ones at Ross - they're super comfy, but the lack of a butt makes it so I have to pull them up quite a bit.  I was really hoping I'd get a butt out of this!

Same day - 26wks - laying down.

Busy Weekend

We had a super busy weekend last weekend, but I think we've finally recovered!

FRIDAY: Trevor worked and was up most the night running calls. I got stuff ready for the weekend and worked on the nightmare of a quilt I made for my sister for graduation (will post pics after she gets it at her grad party).

SATURDAY: 7:15AM - Trevor gets home, he takes a shower and we hop in the car. Trevor drops me off at my parents and he heads out to Elmira for a Burn. 8AM - Off to Corvallis I go with my family for Briana's Graduation.

We watch a mass of people dressed exactly alike take their seats.  

Thanks to technological advances (cell phone) we are able to spot Briana - in the back waiving her arm at everyone - while she waits for others to take their seats ahead of her.

And through much eye straing, and several more phone calls, we find her at her seat.

We sit and listen to the "Important" people being introduced, and suprisingly, some very short speeches (took less time than the introductions).  They called the names of those receiving their Doctorate, and they walk across the stage to retreive theire much earned diploma (yes, they actually received their diplomas at that time - no waiting until August for it to come in the mail!).  Then the Master's students picked theirs up (46 of them teachers - more competition for me).  And finally the Undergrads formed four lines and picked their diplomas up from the outer stages.  I have a video of this, but I cant figure out how to put it on here without first putting it on YouTube.

After more phonecalls and crowd searching, we found Briana!










Then back to Eugene we went.  Finally around 4pm Trevor showed up and we had Pizza and Spuds, then Trevor & I piled into the car and off to the Sister's Rodeo we went.

Every year, Trevor's parents get tickets to the Rodeo.  We got there about 1/2 hr. after it started and missed the wild horse chase.  None of the bull riders were injured, and hopefully none of the animals were injured...just mad as could be.  I feel sooooo bad for the poor little calves with their headgear on so they dont get their horns ripped off their noggins.  At the break, they had the buffalo again... then FINALLY came the good part.  The barrel races!  Unfortunately, most of the contestants knocked over a barrel, but one who didn't was 4 one-hundreths shy of a record, which was pretty cool.

SUNDAY we finally got back to Eugene around 5:30 and my mom made Trevor some BBQ spareribs for his birthday dinner.  No idea what time we made it to bed, but Monday, Trevor was up at 6 to go back to work.  Poor Guy.

Pirates

I found a cribset I like better than the fire/dalmation theme....  it is PIRATES COVE.  Problem is, it is much more expensive than the previous one, and only comes with 4 pieces - those in the crib!  I'll attempt to make some of the accessories in my "spare" time after the baby is here.

This not knowing what it is forsure stuff is pretty hard.  :(

Cheap Diapers!

Snappy Diapers is selling the "old colors" of FuzziBunz size SMALL for the same prices as the "seconds" sell for on other websites.  I ordered 1 red, 4 light blue, and 1 pink as we dont KNOW forsure that it is a girl.  The remaining diapers are PINK....  so if you're having a girl!!!!

http://www.snappydiapers.com/item_21/FuzziBunz-Perfect-Size-Diapers-Clearance.htm

Seconds are at:  http://www.fuzzibunzseconds.net/store/Default.asp
These have slight defects or irregularities from the factory, but are still very usable.

Cichlid Attack!

Trevor has had African Cichlids for the past couple of years.  We were worried about them when we went to Washington because they are very agressive, and will eat each other if not fed enough.  We left them with a 14 day feeder disk for two days.  When we returned, ALL fish looked just as they had before we left! 

Friday, Trevor got two new Yellow Lab babies.  An Albino had been chewed up previously and was living in the "recovery" tank.  When he put the new Yellow Labs in the "recovery" tank, the Albino was moved into the main tank (she's been healed for some time now, just no reason to move her).

Saturday night, I come home (Trevor worked all weekend) to find the Albino all chewed up on her side at the bottom, barely breathing.  I catch her, very easily, and put her in a special net inside the tank.  I sat and watched the fish for quite some time, and the larger ones were being VERY aggressive.  So, Trevor decided they had grown too large and needed more space (when they're small they need to be crowded so they cant single out a fish and pick on it).

We search craigslist for a larger tank, and pet stores for 55 gallon.  [We planned to get a tank over 100 gallons after we bought a house and were hoping they'd make it until then, so we really didn't want to spend the money on a new tank just to turn around and buy a nice one in less than a year.]  Monday, we ended up at WalMart, and purchased a 55 gallon kit for less than used ones were advertised on craigslist, and minus the extra fish they came with!  :)

Here's what we spent last night doing:

29 Gallon - Please excuse the agle, it only showed up on camera...we couldn't see it...must be something to do with the flash.

Trevor saved as much water as possible for the new tank, and cleaned out the sand/gravel.

He caught all the fish and separated the mean ones in the bucket on the right.

He then filled the new tank.

And arranged his decorations, as well as added some new gravel (I spent the entire time he was dismantaling the old tank rinsing the gravel)

After carefully ensuring the water was the same temperature, in went the fish.

Ta Da!  Happy Fish!

The orange fish are Red Zebra's - they look like gold fish to me, and there are three of them.

The black and blue fish was discovered so recently it has not been named... we call it the "Wanna Be" because it looks like some other fish he has but different markings.

The blue striped one is a Demasoni - they're our favorite and are supposedly the most aggressive of all the African's.  They're one of our least aggressive ones.  Go Figure!

The blue and orange fish is a Red Top.  This one is a male, the female is an ugly brown.  We have 4 baby fish from them in the "Recovery Tank" below.

Here is one of the two Albino's.

All of the larger baby fish.  There are three Red Tops and the two new Yellow Labs.

The smallest baby.  It is a Red Top.  He is probably 10 times bigger than when we first saw him, and the only known survivor of the batch.

I am happy to report that all fish are alive and doing well this morning!  AND their aggressiveness has diminished considerably!  Today I am tasked with syncing the heaters at the proper temperature.  :)

Nursery Ideas

Since we wont be finding out if it is a boy or girl, I'm trying to do something that will work for either.  I'm having a really hard time because when I see something, I dont see both genders in it...I see either BOY or GIRL, but I think I've come up with something that will work.

The lower half of the room will be painted red (once we buy a house - hopefully before baby), and the upper half will be left white.

If it is a girl (like we think it is), we'll do Lady Bugs:

  I know if I order this, it will end up being a boy though....  So I'm going to attempt to make the main pieces.  The border will go where the red meets white on the walls, and the red would be painted with black dots like a lady bug.

For a boy, I'd like something similar to this:

Probably more dalmation and less firetruck-ish.  I'd like a cartoony dalmation border where the red meets white, and the white will get black "spots" like a dalmation.  I even have a dalmation poster.

Onions!

At the beginning of the week Trevor and I had a nice Trip to Walla Walla, Washington.  Trevor has been applying for 911-System jobs (he currently works as a paramedic for a non-emergency transport company), and was accepted to test with Walla Walla Fire District.  It was a 5.5hr trip that we made in about 7hrs.  We stopped to eat as well as several potty breaks.

I really enjoyed seeing the Columbia River Flood Basalts along the gorge (above), and Trevor enjoyed the rolling hills once we got out of the gorge (below).

We had planned to stay in a Budget Inn, but on the way up there we had drove by one and decided there was no way we were staying in one of those.  We ended up staying in the next cheapest hotel...the Travel Lodge.  The sign outside said it was recently renovated, but I think all they did was put tile flooring in the bathroom.  It was clean though and we had a HUGE king bed - apparently I hog the entire Full we have at home, so Trevor was pleased.  He quickly learned that it doesn't matter what size bed we have, I still like to snuggle up next to him... and he didn't have any more room than he does at home!  ;)

Check-in for his test was at 7:15.  I dropped him off, and drove back down the road to Milton-Freewater, Oregon for gas.  Washington gas prices dont make sense.  It was $3.15 in Walla Walla at the cheapie stations.  I drove less than 5 miles south and paid $2.85.  I had a nice guy come out and pump the gas for me, and there was no sales tax!  Not sure why anyone would pay $3.15 for gas, when they can just drive across the border and save  $0.30/gallon... 10 gallons and you save $3!  I can think of alot of things I can buy for $3!

Anyway, on the way back from getting gas, I drove around and looked for houses for sale.  They have decent prices, and nice sized back yards... however, their floorplans are a little off...but maybe that was just the architec?

As I sat in the parkinglot at the Test, I was suprised at how many people were finished in less than an hour.  Trevor said the test normally takes him about 2hrs, and these people were done in 45 minutes!  To pass the test, they had to score 75%, and only the top 20 scores were to move on to the Physical Ability Test and Interview.  Some of the people were comming out and driving away, while others came out and sat in their cars.  I assumed the tests were scored as they left the building, and those who sat in their cars were waiting to see if they were in the top 20.  Trevor came out at the 1hr mark.  When he got in the car he gave me the bad news.  They weren't hiring.  I was shocked.  Why would they have all those people drive all the way there to go through the hiring process if they didn't have any positions open!  Apparently, they're required to have a "List" of hires incase something happens and they have to hire immediately.

We waited around until 12:30 for the test scores to be posted.  They ended up only posting the top 20, which Trevor wasn't in, so we headed for Oregon with the intent of doing some sight seeing and fishing.  We were 40 minutes from Walla Walla when Trevor received a phone call.  I was just about to get on the freeway when I heard it was someone from the City of Walla Walla.  I went past the onramp and pulled over.  They had moved Trevor to the #20 position because one of the top 20 hadn't showed up for the Physical Ability Test and Trevor had been #21 (out of about 100 people)!  We turned around and drove back to Walla Walla.

Trevor went through the Physical Abilities Test with one of the fastest times.  Afterwards they told him how many points they earned for certain times...  Everyone else knew this ahead of time, prior to completeing the course.  The time limit is 10 minutes, and normally you just have to be within that time.  Trevor said he could have gone way faster had he known ahead of time that it was scored based on time.  I timmed him at just under 2min. 30sec. and they timmed him at just over, well within the 10 minute time limit.  Trevor did awesome! 

We ended up having to stay the night because interviews were scheduled for the following day.  The night before, after we had checked into our hotel, we had gone for a walk and found the Budget Inn.  It looked super nice and brand new!  We opted to stay there the second night, and were really impressed with it.  BRAND NEW... even smelled a little like paint still... really nice... AND we had a huge bed agian! AND it was a few dollars cheaper than the run down Travel Lodge!

The next morning, Trevor interviewed at 8:40, which went really well, then we went back to the hotel, he changed, and we checked out.  We decided to head home through bend.  We went past a HUGE lake (Lake Walula, I beleive, below).  This way took us a considerable amount of time because we made a few long stops and a detour.  Leaving around 10am, we finally made it home around 7pm.

Overall we feel the trip was a success.  Trevor is now on a list, and if they hire in the next year and a half, he will be called.  We do have to wait a couple of weeks to find out where he is ranked in the list though. 

Crooked River Stop (Near Bend):

He Did this to scare me.... :(

Columnar Basalts

Closeup

Trevor's Prairie Dog (can you see it?)