Pre-birth Anxiety!!

Dear Baby Waider + Little Brother Too,

Well I've been a whole ton of emotions today! I've gone from wanting to have Little Brother RIGHT NOW, to being a little anxious about having him... See birthing is tough stuff. Scary in fact. Probably not much I should get into on a blog that I hope for my kids to read and enjoy some day. Fact: It hurts. Even with drugs. It hurts. My hope tonight is not that I have Little Brother soon, but that I have him safely. That he and I are both safe. I'm a little excited to see what his story will be. Baby Waider yours is fantastic. I wrote about it when it happened. Dad taking the wrong way to the hospital and stopping at Hardee's. Little Brother right now we wait and see what your story is to be. If you aren't born tonight or tomorrow night you will be FORCED out of your safe and cuddly womb on Monday. We are all super excited to meet you. Except for our cat, Super Kitty. She will not be excited to meet you. And possibly Mia. I think she would have been perfectly happy as an only. Once the fun wore off of getting table scraps she is kind of over being around little kids.

Today I had a lot of fun with Auntie April and Auntie Katie. We got pedicures and manicures. A BIG thank you to Grandma Halter for keeping you during nap time so we could go. Dad, Uncle Robbie, and Grandpa Halter went shootin' clays. Mom has always been a general disaster with pedicures. I actually feared them for years for several reasons: 1. my feet are NASTY. I have bunions, (which are genetic so have fun with them!) some weird toe fungus, and lots of calluses due to lack of care. 2. I don't really like people touching me. Specifically strangers, and specifically my feet. 3. I have always pretty much been able to paint my own toes without any trouble. Anyway, for the past couple of weeks I've wanted a manicure. My toes have not been painted and I wanted them to be, but I don't have the color I wanted. I wanted light blue because Little Brother will be a boy. I'm far too lazy to go to the store and your dad will paint my toes, but for some reason the thought of going somewhere to get it done appealed to me. The Aunties were down and Grandma was fine with nap time at her house so we went for it. The trip could have been just what I needed. Although it was SUPPOSED to induce labor and it clearly hasn't yet. This man, Goti? in Vietnamese and Benjamin in English did my pedicure and manicure. He was pretty ruthless, but very funny. He was digging in my bad toe so much that my eyes were watering and it was BLEEDING!! Thankfully Auntie Katie told him to STOP and so did the lady doing Autie's pedicure. Then, when he started massaging my legs and feet it started to tickle. I am super ticklish. So I started to laugh and I seriously could not stop. Eventually I was able to calm down when he painted my toes and my fingers. I love the blue and while I am in labor I'll be able to look at my pretty toes and POSSIBLY have a chuckle remembering all the fun that I had with the Aunties getting our nails done.

This is the ruthless Benjamin. He looks harmless, but was not. He was actually hilarious and possibly just what I needed.

Despite the fact that I was having a blast I still was thinking some pretty serious thoughts. Our lives are about to change forever... Baby Waider will no longer have BOTH parent's undivided attention. Our lives will again be filled with sleepless nights, clueless crying (meaning crying where we have NO clue why it is occurring), constant feeding, lots of diaper changes, and pretty much being chained to the house. Despite all of that we will also have the amazing blessing of getting to snooze with a cuddly little baby, smell that beautiful newborn baby smell, listen to soft coos, see that first smile, and just generally cuddle for hours. I'll tell you one thing, we held you all the time Baby Waider, but this kid isn't getting put down. This sweet time we are about to enter ends far too quickly and if I didn't know it enough before I know it now and I will drink up every. Single. Minute. Plus, now Baby Waider you will more than likely have BOTH parent's undivided attention right along with your Little Brother's. You after all are pretty entertaining.

For now, we continue to wait. Wondering if tonight Little Brother will decide to come or if tomorrow will be one last day of being pregnant. Either way this mama is terrified, excited, and anxious all at the very same time...The end is near and change is coming. We are ready for it, but that makes it no less scary. We can't wait to meet you Little Brother. I gotta go and try to think of a name for you. We still don't have one quite yet..


As always, Mama loves you!!

Love,

Mama

So Much to Post About...

Dear Baby Waider + Little Brother Too,

I really have so many things to post about. I'm not really sure where to even begin. I suppose I could start with the fact that we really made it to our goal Little Brother! You will be born in September and at some point in time I'll have a beautiful sapphire to show for it! :) Additionally, we made it through the first week of school. I am officially ready for the long-term sub. The house is...sort of as ready as it can be. We need to do a little more cleaning, but for the most part we would be well prepared for your arrival. So nice job! You too listened to your mom. I really would be okay with you arriving anytime. Right now we have an induction scheduled for the 9th of September, though Dr. B. thinks it will be sooner.

Also, last night as I was laying in bed, with heartburn for approximately the 275th night in a row I started thinking. I started thinking about the weekend I had your sister. So many things were similar. It was a three day weekend. Your dad and I went to Target and spent way too much money on infant stuff. I spent too much time at Hobby Lobby looking at totally pointless stuff. We watched a movie, and I painted stuff for the nursery. You would be around two weeks early. I went to bed last night almost certain you would be born today. It seemed just perfect. Alas, as everyone says, babies come when they want to and obviously last night and today you didn't want to.

Additionally, summer officially came to a close this weekend. It is labor day weekend. Despite your dad's injuries we closed the summer out with a bang. Two weekends ago we went to the Central State's Fair. Let me just say that you LOVED the fair. You loved the rides, the food, the creepy people. EVERYTHING about the fair was super fun for you. You and your dad rode tons of rides. You had absolutely NO fear on any of the rides. I have a feeling that I'll be watching you and your dad ride lots of rides in the future. Your favorite ride was probably the cars. It was the ride that never ended. You did go on this terrifying balloon ride. It totally FREAKED me out. I cried. Then, you fell over and hit your head in the balloons. I cried harder. I did manage to take lots of pictures despite the tears. My camera was completely covered in the tears. You cried, but not as much as I did. You just seemed so little to be on such big rides. By the end of the night you wanted dad to let you ride the carousel on your own. Thankfully he didn't let you. I've never been a huge fan of the carnival. I hate rides, I've been puked on at the carnival before when I wasn't even on a ride, so I've never had much time for it. But, this I know for sure. I will not be missing the carnival with you again because it was FUN.

This weekend we spent ample time getting ready for Little Brother. We did manage to take some time on Friday night to go to the Central football game. We didn't go to watch the game, but we went to watch the band! Cousin Brooker is in the drum line and the band is super fun to watch. You and Finn had a blast and I have to say that you really liked the football game too. Papa taught you when to clap and you loved it. Sunday we hit Old Mac Donald's Farm one more time this season. Dad did all the leg work this time because mom was hot, huge, and tired. It was still fun and we took yet more pictures!

YOu LOVED the black and white cow. You hung out with her for about 20 minutes. You and the cow were covered in flies and I was totally creeped out. All in all I'm glad that I let you hang out with her because I think she enjoyed it too. Sorry that the pictures I took weren't great because I sat on a bench in the shade and it made the whole trip bearable. Little Brother you were there too!

When we got home we tried out some of the baby gear. You loved the baby Ergo, and we loved having you contained for a little while.

Seems strange that it is already September. It is cliche to say that time is flying, but it really is. Hopefully soon we are posting about your arrival, LIttle Brother! No pressure, but your mom is mighty tired of being huge, having heartburn, and having to go to the bathroom every five minutes. :)

As always, Mama loves you!

Love,

Mama

Let's make a deal...round 2.

Dear Little Brother,

So tonight at a family dinner it was brought to my attention that you've dropped. Meaning you could be making a quicker appearance than my due date. This can't happen for two reasons. 1. The long term sub wants me to make it through the first week of school. Which I totally get!! 2. I do not want an ugly August birthstone. I'd much prefer a Safire as your birthstone for my mother's ring I will have some day. Your sister had a deadline as well. I asked her to make it until after parent-teacher conferences. No pressure, but she was a good girl and listened to her mother. We are ready for you, but we sure would take another week before your arrival to be even more prepared! We can't wait to meet you in one week! :) Go ahead and make it Labor Day.

Love always,

Mama

DIY-ASTER and Gender Reveal Party that was 4 Months Ago

Dear Baby Waider + Little Brother Too,

Things have been trucking right along here. Mom and dad managed to get the nursery pretty much done. This is mostly because of the hard work of Tom Tolman. He has been a savior this past summer. Any time we've needed anything he's been here in a jiffy. He's told us enlightening stories that help us remember what it was like to be in our early 20's and we let him use our Internet. To help get the nursery ready he helped dad take down a HUGE desk that we had in there, a bed, and other heavy stuff we just couldn't move. Without him it never would have been done. So we owe him a huge thanks. Once he helped get that out dad took out the carpet. He was "thrilled" to discover that the carpet pad was glued to the floor and disintegrating. So dad took on the laborious task of scraping, vacuuming, and generally removing the old pad and carpet. One casualty of this task was his belt sander that was his grandpa's. It ended up in the front yard after taking a trip out the window. Once that was done he painted the floor, I happily painted the walls, dresser, and bookshelf. I am not dad. Tasks like these do not come easy to me, but for some reason I always want to take part and do something. I tend to rush, not do my best, and not really pay attention to detail. Painting is about the extent of what I can do... The walls were fairly routine. I noticed some parts where I neglected to move nails and just painted over them. I also saw spots that should have been taped and weren't, but like most things I do despite what may appear to be "shoddy work" I am generally happy with the results. All in all the walls look pretty good.

The furniture I had another vision for...A Pinterest vision for. Pinterest is this idea site where mom has an entire set of dreams. Dreams for how I want my home to look, myself to look, toys to look, classroom to look...You name it Pinterest has it. For the past couple of years I've drooled over painted furniture that did not require sanding. Your dad and I redid a piece for your sister's room that too FOR-EV-ER! It was unreal. It required sanding, priming, painting, painting again. Painting again, pinstriping...It went on and on and on and on. But it was beautiful. I wanted to restore something old for your room and we were given the perfect dresser at our own garage sale. Grandma and Grandpa Halter had Tom Tolman's old dresser in their garage and were going to sell it. Fortunately they gave it to us. I couldn't wait to paint it. My dream was to buy some of the "Annie Sloan Chalk Paint" and all the jazz that goes with it. I was having a hard time committing. We can't buy chalk paint around here for some unknown reason! To have it shipped here in a kit with all the goodies would be around $200.00 Lowes has a version of it that requires a special primer, which makes the chalk paint completely pointless. THANKFULLY one of my friends JoLisa said, "Why don't you just make your own? My sister in law did it and she said it worked well." Wow am I ever thankful for her suggestion. I went, bought two quarts of latex paint (2 X $17.95). Minwax ($9.95) Used some un-sanded grout from the basement that we had laying around, mixed it up and it worked beautifully. I did stalk the sister-in-law of JoLisa, Tarah, while she was on a trip, and read and reread and read again her blog about using the un-sanded grout. I'm probably being lazy and can't find the actual post, but this is their blog here, . The blog was fantastic and the process worked really well. I did two coats, and it completely covered and hasn't come off at all. I haven't picked out the dresser pulls yet, but I do plan to get some. All in all the project took very little time and I of course, not being a perfectionist, am totally impressed with my own work. Perhaps the best part is that I did it ALL BY MYSELF. Which is something I love to do!

Next I tackled the giant bookshelf that has been in the office as long as your dad has lived here. It came from where all of our finest furnishings come from, the Rapid City School District auction. It is sturdy and tall and I think much nicer than the cheesy bookshelves you can buy new, but not nearly as pricy as the wooden ones from say a furniture store. It was a pretty awful color and still had a metal piece on it that said Rapid City Independent School District. I have googled, googled, and googled and cannot figure out when it went from Rapid City Independent School District to Rapid City School District, but I will tell you this. It predates me. This bookshelf likely held tons of books or materials in a classroom for MANY, MANY years. Was sold to your dad at an auction, brought to his house and stored countless materials and books and has been here since 2003 or 2004. Nearly ten years. I slapped a fresh coat of paint, actually two on it and it seems to have a new life. I'm yet to do the waxing on it because according to package you aren't supposed to use the wax pregnant... At least you can't in California. Dad is going to wax it, but he needed to get the flooring in first.

Since the painting was done it was time for dad to install the flooring We opted for the all in one laminate with the pad under. It turned out awesome and I really like it. Now all we have to do is slap some stuff on the walls and it should be good...The major hold up is that we want to put your name on the wall and we can't decide on a name...More on that in a later post.


I guess DIY-ASTER was just a clever name for the blog. It wasn't really disastrous. All things considered it went really well.

About 4 months ago I found out that you, little brother, were a boy. We decided to have a gender reveal party for the cousins, aunts, uncles, Kayla, and G and G Halter. It was of course a blast, complete with balloons and cupcakes. The pictures tell the story as well as anything.

We put balloons in a box, wrapped the box and had all of you open the box to see what was in it it. I'm not sure that it register to anyone besides Vern that blue meant boy. Everyone was pretty excited, except your sister. She seemed pretty sad. But it seemed after a blue cupcake and getting a new boy doll the idea of having a brother grew on her!

As always, Mama loves you.

Love,

Mama

Sturgis Take 2

Dear Baby Waider + Little Brother Too,

Earlier this week Grandpa Halter said, "Hey, Carol, do you want to take Ellie and go to Sturgis?" My response was, "I'll think about it." Truth was I did kind of want to bring you to Sturgis. You had been there when I was pregnant with you two years ago and thought it might be fitting to be there with this kiddo too. So we loaded up the Subi and headed to Sturgis. I was pretty sure I'd made a HORRIBLE mistake as we drove into town and drove down Lazelle St. It's like you forget all of the people and by people I mean crazy, mostly naked people who are at Sturgis. When you go back it all floods back to you and you remember the nudity, vulgar t-shirts, crazy hair, painted ladies, gangs, and ultimately the reason you probably wouldn't want your little girl, who happened to be wearing an adorable pink and white gingham dress with cupcakes on it, to be apart of the crowd. Anyway grandpa assured me that you would not be traumatized by this trip.

We got parked, which was and always is an ordeal. We walked to Main Street and you were just fine. All the super loud noises, herds of creepy bikers, loud pipes, loud music, and putrid smells had little to no effect on you. You had a big old smile on your face and seemed to be enjoying it. Grandpa was having a blast, and surprisingly so was I! Grandpa is a huge fan of the Sturgis Rally and speculated that your first trip to the Sturgis Rally was actually his 40th trip! We tried to find a shirt that said "This is my 40th Rally" for him and a "This is my 1st Rally" for you, but we struck out on all accounts. Additionally, I remember shirts being something like 3 for $10, but they are not that price anymore. They are more like 1 for $10. So I decided to not get you a t-shirt. Possibly a mistake since we had such a nice time.

The trip itself was pretty uneventful. Lots of tacky souvenirs. Lots of bikes. Lots of weird people. Six painted ladies. Not too much more. Sturgis is pretty typically the same year after year after year after year. What was fun this time was hanging out with Grandpa Halter, who loves the Rally. Hanging out with you. Walking around Sturgis. Eating the awesome cinnamon cashews. We snapped a few pictures. Even got one of the 3 generations at Sturgis. All and all a good time and a great chance for Grandpa Halter to pass on one of his favorite outings of year.

Three generations at Sturgis!

You and papa at the rally!

A random bike parked on the sketchy side of Main Street.

This would be a prime example of one of the tacky souvenirs. I think tacky is a description that fits it well, as does creepy.

As always it is so much fun showing you the world!

Love,

Mama

Digital World

Dear Baby Waider + Little Brother Too,

So I've decided on a NEW blog title. I feel sort of sad combining your blog, Baby Waider, with your brother's blog. I know when I was a kid I would have wanted my OWN separate blog. But, now that I am an adult I wouldn't really care about the blogs being combined. So if it bothers you just wait a few years. It won't bother you forever. Anyway I stole the "and brother too" from a blog who I can't remember to give the person credit to. I changed the and to a +, added little and I like it. I'm sure some blogs will be specifically Baby Waider content and some will be specifically Little Brother content. So I will address those accordingly. I've already realized some blogs I've left out for Little Brother that I need to write.

The point of this blog wasn't to talk about the shiny new title. What I wanted to really discuss is how awesome I think technology is. A few years back this video was all over. I generally despise comics. I don't find them the least bit funny and often find them to be offensive. Which is odd because I generally like offensive things so I'm not sure why I have this immense disgust for comedians. Anyway, the clip below is my all time favorite and it always cracks me up. You are growing up on a world that is so different from even the world I grew up in. In many ways you will grow up in an easier world, yet so much more complicated.


"Everything is amazing and nobody is happy" by Meowbay


Your dad and I love to quote the video above when our phones are being particularly slow. For instance I may send him a picture text and it takes 45 seconds rather than 30. I like to get frustrated that it is being, "SO SLOW!" but it is in fact traveling to space and then back to dad's phone, which is pretty amazing when you think about it. I like to think of my Grandpa Halter when I think about technology. He was an old guy, but he was pretty "up" on technology. He had a Commodore 64, which was pretty hip for an old guy to have. I have no idea what he ever did with it. We played asteroids and other games on it that would look totally old school by any of today's standards. But what your GG Halter would be so fascinated by is the fact that we carry a phone in our pocket. This phone is essentially a computer with about 10 ways to communicate with any given person in any given place anywhere in the world. Not only that, but it takes pictures, and even can access the Internet. It is pretty unbelievable when you really think about it. What's even more unbelievable is the fact that you will never know a world without this type of technology. You love this book called Glitter Colors. You love to point to the pictures and say "That?" Which is short for "What's that?" The picture that really made me think about this blog is this picture:

I honestly didn't even know how in the world to explain to you what this is. You have play phones, but most of them resemble a cordless phone that could almost pass as a cell phone. This phone in this picture is something you will never know in your life. You will never be attached to the wall as you have a conversation. You will probably never have to share a "home phone."

What amazes me is how nostalgic people are for this old, out dated form of communication. I don't miss having a home phone at all. I don't miss having to listen to 100 messages after being gone all day and I love that 95% of my communication with people happens through text message. It actually makes me feel like I have more time. I also LOVE the world of Facebook. There, I said it. I LOVE FACEBOOK. People love to criticize Facebook and other avenues of social media. Why would I ever hate something that keeps me in touch with my family who live thousands of miles away? I get to see their children grow up and I feel a connection with them that makes those miles seem much closer. I keep in contact with friends from every avenue of my life and get to see their kids grow up. I am amazingly connected with so many people I feel rich! Some will argue that friends are about quality, not quantity, but I personally love sharing my life with all the people who have contributed to who I am. I would find it sad to be isolated to a few people who I could exclusively have phone conversations with regularly. I do enjoy an occasional phone conversation, but it makes it difficult to be with you and manage a phone call.

Bottom line is that your life will be exponentially different from mine in ways that I can't even imagine right now. I am excited for you in that respect and I am also pretty glad you won't ever know the annoyance of being stuck to the wall on a phone or have to rewind anything ever.

As always, Mama loves you.

Love,

Mama.