Alcatraz - The Crate, Not The Place

This is Clover:

This is Clover's crate:

About the crate: Constructed to be the Alcatraz of pet cages, the 3/4" frame is forged from 20-guage steel and reinforced by 1/2" diameter steel tubes for the strongest, sturdiest, most durable crate/cage on the market. - Link

We adopted Clover from the Durham Animal Shelter with very little knowledge about her. All we knew was she seemed very sweet, loved attention from humans and was missing some fur on her back. We could deal with the fur issues, so we decided to take her home with us. We soon found out that we had some serious problems. We tried leaving her in a room with linoleum in it but she would go to the bathroom in the room. We finally bought a crate and put her in that. She would escape from the normal wire dog crate. Our little 18lb dog apparently did not like to be left alone and also did not like to be crated. We soon found out that not only was she escaping from the crate, she was going to the bathroom in it, as well! No matter what we read about or talked to professionals about, we couldn't figure out what was going on. Finally, we decided to purchase Alcatraz (see above picture). This is a crate that is made specifically for bully breeds who tend to escape or chew threw smaller crates. They can't chew through this baby.

It's an eyesore, I know. Bonus, we don't have another room in our house where it can go other than our family room. The room where we spend most of our time. I'll get back to that. We got Clover this crate and no, she can't escape from it. That's the good news. The bad news is it is obviously uncomfortable with the bars on the bottom but they're there for a reason....she still pees in her crate. Yay, I love troubled animals!! So, for the past 4 years or so since we got this crate, we have been lining the bottom with newspaper and cleaning it out every.single.day. Talk about a pain, huh? Well, unfortunately peeing in her crate is not where this ends. She also has issues (the separation anxiety thing) where she will pee in the house if she is left alone downstairs, while we're upstairs, mind you, for more than 2 hours. She will also do the other thing. Our carpet in our family room has been steam cleaned at least 50 times now. We purchased our own steam cleaner because we had to clean it so often.

Crazy Girl (don't you know that we love you)

She really does look sufficiently crazy here...

I decided there is absolutely no way I can handle a crazy, peeing and pooping in the house and crate dog with an infant on the way. We discussed it together and decided to spend the money to take her into the vet to get checked out and to see if we could take drastic measures. Pills.

I took her to the vet 2 weekends ago and the vet, after hearing everything I told her, decided to go for it. She prescribed Clover what I like to call "Doggie Prozak." The pill is called Reconcile and it is taken once a day. It is FREAKING EXPENSIVE but ... if my carpets are going to stay clean and my house isn't going to smell like dog pee....let's do it. She gets one pill a day (at $2/pill). Currently she is on the name brand stuff but we'll be switching to the generic brand if this works.

Guess what?


Two weeks have gone by. She peed in her crate just a couple of times the first week and 0, count them ZERO times this week. She has done nothing in the house. It also looks like the pills may be helping her with figuring out she has to let us know that she has to go out. She now runs to the door when she has to pee or poop.

OH MY. Why we didn't think to put her on meds years ago, I will never know but if it helps? We will somehow find the money to buy her these pills each and every month.

I can't believe I just said that.

So, this means....we may actually be able to disassemble Alcatraz and possibly find a new home for it! We are going to keep her on the pills and in Alcatraz for 2 months. If she continues on this path, we get to put her in a normal dog crate!! Excuse me while I dance a jig in my clean, non-stinky family room! A room that will soon be de-uglified!! Woohoo!! It will be so nice to have the baby here and not have to worry about Clover peeing in the family room if I am upstairs with the baby. Drugs work, people. Drugs work.

Happy Dog = Happy Owners! 

(photo bomb by Thumper)

BGH's Nursery = Complete!

One of our big goals when we were decorating the nursery was to keep it as reasonably priced as possible. There are so many fancy nurseries out there that are absolutely beautiful. I think it makes people think that they MUST make their nursery absolutely gorgeous. You know, to keep up with everyone else. I totally understand if you have the budget to do a fancy nursery and you know what? I love looking at those nurseries, so please keep posting your pictures of them! All of that being said, I am so happy with the nurery we put together on our limited budget. When I walk past it in the morning, the coral wall just glows. It is so beautiful! I can't wait to spend time in there with our little girl.


When you walk in, the wall in front of you has the one window in the room. The valence was the first thing I picked out and set up the entire nursery based upon it. The curtains (yes, I know they are too short, I hung the curtain rod too high. Ooops) are from a flea market. They're a thick cotton material that I may decide to dye someday if I find the right color or if I find the dye I want to use a little cheaper than I found it on the RIT website. The curtain rod is a double rod from Target. The bookshelf came from my craft room and was originally purchased at Michael's.    
The lamp and wall decorations are a yard sale purchase from before we were even pregnant. Yes, I knew I wanted to do a sea theme back then.The green bucket was sitting in the storage closet forever and the stuffed animals were gifts.

All of the books were gifts. I joined a church about a year ago and joined a ladies group in the fall. Last week they threw me a surprise shower and everyone brought their favorite children's book! I feel so lucky to have so many children's books already.

I took 5 of the paper place mats my friend Lauren made for my shower and glued those to the backs of odd squares of the bookshelf. They're not that noticeable but I really wanted to re-use them. You can see them best in the middle hole.


On the opposite wall is the changing table which we purchased at a kids sale early on in my pregnancy. The changing pad and cover were gifts at my shower. The diaper pail was a gift and the wicker basket with the liner came out of our bedroom.

The two pictures hanging over the changing table were drawn by our nephews. We found out later they copied each other on their drawings. Gee, can you tell? I loved them, so I grabbed some frames from my craft room and hung them up. I think I want to paint the frames green but, for now, I'm leaving them as-is (laziness prevails)!!


The changing table consists of three big baskets. One holds diapers, the other holds onesies and small outfits (3 months or under) and the third contains swaddle blankets and swaddles I also have blankets on either side of the bottom basket and towels and washcloths.There's also a smaller white basket that holds toiletries.


Now, on to the coral wall. We tried to figure out what we wanted to do with the color. Did we want to paint all of the walls coral? (too much) Did we want to paint stripes on the other walls? (Too much work!!) Did we want to paint the other walls a different color? (nope, this looks just fine!) This is the second gallon of paint that I ended up buying for this wall. I swore the other color was perfect. I was wrong. Very wrong, it was so pink! I really wanted an orangey coral color and this is it!



It goes great with the crib bedding, valence and the banner. Speaking of that banner, it was one of my first projects made on my sewing machine. I fell in love with some banners I had seen on Etsy. Unfortunately for that shop owner, she never responded to my questions so, I made one myself!

I found the fabric at a local shop here in town, cut out a pattern on cardstock and then cut out the fabric. I didn't do anything fancy, the stitches are simple and to keep the triangles, I left the edges raw. I found the ribbon at Michaels. I'm really happy with how it turned out and think it looks great against the coral wall.


I purchased this mobile specifically to go with the room theme. My one unnecessary splurge.


The turtle is one of mine that has been around forever, the fish and starfish were gifts. The blanket in the crib was handmade by my mother-in-law. She knitted that one after realizing the pink one she made for us wasn't going to work out so well. Haha. She doesn't know me that well yet.

You'll notice there is no dresser. I bought a closet organizer that holds all of her folding clothes for now. I found everything fits pretty well into either baskets or the hanging closet organizer when it's tiny. Once she's a little older and ready to move into a bed, then I want to buy a dresser with a matching headboard for her room.

I covered most everything in this spreadsheet below. I know I left a few things out, like paint ($62 for 2 gallons of paint (due to the oops on buying the first gallon). Everything else I missed was either a gift or re-purposed from some other room of our house.



I didn't add the blanket, but it was a gift, as well. It's the multi-dot blanket from Carter's. We used a gift card from Hops' co-workers to buy it.

I absolutely love how it turned out and like I said above, cannot wait to spend lots and lots of time in this room.

Pregnancy Weight - The Naked Truth

"Women in a normal weight range should gain 25-35 pounds during their pregnancy." -WebMD

Back in the days before we started thinking about having a baby, we had a wedding. I lost about 10lbs before my wedding in October 2010. At that point, I weighed 138lbs. I visited my PCP and she told me that I did not need to lose any more weight, so please just maintain and don't try to diet. Well, I'm pretty sure the 10lbs I lost pre-wedding was just wedding stress. I didn't weigh myself between my wedding and my first OB appointment. When I went in for that first OB appointment, I weighed in at 146lbs (exactly one year and 10 days from our wedding day). At 5'7 and I'm pretty happy with my weight when I started my pregnancy.

7 weeks pregnant

I've always carried extra chub in my belly and my belly definitely started pooching out more than normal early on. For me, there was no hiding pregnancy in shirts like this one without a sweater or cardigan over it.

If you have a normal pregnancy, you will get weighed at every visit you make to your OB or midwife. Most doctors will see you every 4 weeks until 27 weeks. At that point, you will start going every 2 weeks until you are at 36 weeks. Finally, you see your OB once a week until the baby arrives. At every visit, you get weighed and your weight either gets ignored or "tsk-tsk'ed."

During my first trimester, I had some pretty bad food aversions. I didn't want to have anything to do with meat but I could eat other things just fine. There were days when I wouldn't eat much but I always tried to get something down. At my second OB visit, I was told I had lost a pound and was asked if I was eating. I wanted to laugh at my doctor but instead told him I was doing my best. I think he was worried I was dieting or calorie counting.

Once my food aversions went away and the fun part of pregnancy started (cravings!!) and I let myself enjoy it. I've never been a really healthy eater and figured that I didn't really want to change things drastically towards a healthier diet while pregnant either.

20 Weeks Pregnant

Does that sound horrible? Oh well. I never ate really badly but I do allow myself treats when I crave one. I eat the way I learned as a kid: cereal, sandwiches, fruit, chips, meat and potatoes. I don't like vegetables all that much, so I don't eat a lot of them. I do eat dessert at least once a day. I drink lots of water but sometimes supplement with Gatorade because, you know what? Water is boring! I love food and I wasn't going to restrict myself during this one time in a woman's life when she can really just enjoy watching her body grow bigger and not worry about it!

31 Weeks Pregnant
(definitely gained some chub in other areas than just the belly) 

I'm currently 37 weeks and 6 days pregnant. My weight is 188lbs, after a starting weight of 146lbs. I found this on WebMD today when I was double-checking some of my stats:

Where Does the Extra Weight Go During Pregnancy?

Baby	8 pounds
Placenta	2-3 pounds
Amniotic fluid	2-3 pounds
Breast tissue	2-3 pounds
Blood supply	4 pounds
Fat stores for delivery and breastfeeding	5-9 pounds
Uterus increase	2-5 pounds
Total	25 to 35 pounds

Source: WebMD

That's a lot of weight that's not just extra fat you're putting on your body!

Now, you might be wondering about exercise. I'll be honest with you about that. Pre-pregnancy, I did not exercise. Every once in a while, I would get this grand idea in my head that I was going to try something new. I would never follow-through. Wait, I take that back. Pre-wedding, I did couch to 5k and ran my first 5k. I also completed Jillian Michael's 30-Day Shred. When I want to work out, I can. When I have no reason to or just feel bored with it all, I don't work out. I'm LAZY. During my pregnancy, it's been the same way. I tried some prenatal yoga videos and realized even pregnant, I'm the most awkward person on the face of the earth. That was out. I walked some during my first two trimesters but then we hit my third trimester and yeah....walking hurts. I try every once in a while to get out and do a mile around the neighborhood but it takes me so long these days to do that because of the belly and the groin pain. I give up. Come on baby, I'm ready for you to be here already so I can soon at least walk without being in complete misery!!

Finally, here are my stats:

I got "tsk-tsk'ed" at week 27 for gaining 7lbs in 4 weeks. That made me sad but it did kind of knock me upside the head a bit. I knew I was being the woman who ate for two when it comes to desserts. I decided to change one thing. I stopped eating such large bowls of ice cream EVERY NIGHT for dessert. Seriously, people. I was having homemade sundaes with like 5 scoops of ice cream, caramel sauce, crushed oreos, sprinkles, whipped cream and cherries. It was bad.

I did not start eating salads. I did not start dieting or calorie counting. I watched my food intake and made sure I was eating normal sized portions instead of portions no one should ever be able to get down. I found drinking water helped. Everyone says this and I've finally realized, they're right! When I think I'm hungry, I'll drink 24oz of water before I eat something. If I'm still feeling hungry, I'll eat something. Most of the time, the water helps to dampen my appetite but it never gets rid of it. I can usually still get some food down. The water serves two purposes, though. It makes me feel a bit fuller and I'm making sure I'm staying hydrated.

 

I was enjoying treats things like this from Room Service when I was still traveling for work (please excuse the dark hotel room picture plus my first attempt at Instagram filters). In case you are wondering, that's two Doubletree cookies stacked with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. It. Was. Amazing.

I cut back to ice cream sundaes once or twice a week and had a different, less fattening dessert every night - like an ice cream bar or some homemade cookies. I tried to keep more homemade items in the house like cookies, rice krispie treats or brownies. Those I was able to portion out and eat a certain amount a day instead of gorging.

Well, I saw the same doctor yesterday who tsk-tsk'ed me about my weight at week 27. She actually congratulated me and said I had done a great job with my weight since she saw me last. I was shocked considering I'm up at 188 now, but still happy to hear that from her.

I know I gained more than the "average woman" gains during her pregnancy. I know exactly why I gained that weight, too. I think if I would have had more control during my second trimester, I probably would have gained the "recommended" amount. At the same time, am I disappointed with what I have gained? No. Am I looking forward to losing the weight when the baby is here? You better believe it! I look forward to getting back to 150 and if I get under that number? That will just be an extra bonus.

How did you handle gaining weight while you were pregnant? Was it frustrating for you or did you just go with it?

Baby Shower Time

In late April, my friends Lauren, Bonnie and Christy, along with my Mom, put together such a fun baby shower for BGH and me. We held it at my house so I wouldn't have to go anywhere. It sounded like a GREAT idea at the time until I realized I was going to have to clean my entire house because of course people were going to want to see the nursery.

Enter: Lauren.

This girl is an absolute saint. On top of having to clean up the house, I wasn't feeling great that week, leading into the weekend. I was just tired and when I got home from work, all I wanted to do was sleep! Lauren came in Thursday night and I took Friday off so we could get some stuff done. We started work first thing in the morning by dropping the dogs off at the sitter. Then we headed home and scrubbed. We did everything from chair rails to blinds to floors. Lauren even got down on her hands and knees and scrubbed my kitchen floor. Yeah, you can say she's a good friend. Dan spent Friday cleaning up the outside - mowing, mulching, moving things, etc. By Friday night at 8pm, we were done and I was exhausted. Mom arrived around that time. I spent an hour with them and finally went to bed.

Saturday morning, we got up and I showed Mom and Lauren where everything they might need was. At 9am, I was shooed upstairs and sequestered there until I was given the okay to come down at 11, when the party started. The girls did such an amazing job decorating the house (the whole reason why I wasn't allowed to come downstairs for two hours). Lauren made most of the paper decorations using her Cricut. How CUTE is all of this??






Coffee Table Decorations:




More of those awesome hanging decorations:


The food was fantastic, as well. Check out this cake. They really nailed the colors that they knew I would love to see at the shower. Orange, pink and white. Perfect! The cake was from Whole Foods and I have to say, it was the best store-bought cake I've ever had. No fondant in sight!





See the paper palcemat under the fruit? I re-used 5 of those in the nursery. That blog post on the FINALLY finished nursery is ready to go sometime next week!





After we had our fill of food (or continued eating) we started in on the shower activity. Thankfully, my suggestion of no gross shower games was approved. Instead, the girls and my Mom came up with the idea of doing a shower activity. Mom brought a ton of different fabrics, scissors, iron-on paper and templates. She also bought a stack of bibs, onesies and burp cloths.

Everyone took a template that they wanted to iron onto their item of choice and cut out fabric to match it. Then, we went to the ironing board to iron that image onto the onesie, bib or burp cloth. There were also permanent markers and stencils for drawing if you weren't into the ironing bit.



They came out absolutely great! My sister in law took everything home with her to sew the images on so they would last longer. How freaking awesome is that?





Of course there were presents (boring pictures of me making funny faces as I thank people for stuff) and then we said goodbye. I could not have had a better time at the shower celebrating the birth of our little girl. I feel so lucky to have such a great group of women surrounding me at this really special time.