I kinda can't believe that I almost forgot to tell you guys about this! So a few months ago I created this crazy spreadsheet in Google Docs because
1. I love spreadsheets
2. I love Google
3. I wanted to pull together all the lists of "Things To Buy For A Baby" that I kept coming across on the internet and consolidate them all into one big crazy list so that Hubby G and I would have an idea of what we needed to get for our little Peanut (plus all the little 'extras' that we could also consider getting)
I'm not joking when I say I love spreadsheets and I love Google. When I have the chance to create a spreadsheet for something in Google Docs, the time spent on that spreadsheet is pure joy for me. I'm weird and nerdy like that.
So anyway, I created this crazy spreadsheet that's all color-coded according to 8 categories that I placed 79 different items in. With estimated prices. And a column for priority level. If you didn't think I was a nerd before, I'm sure you definitely do now.
I was so jazzed about my spreadsheet that I made a template copy of it and loaded it into the Google Docs Template Gallery. And then I completely forgot about it for a month or so. A couple of weeks ago I randomly remembered that I had uploaded my template, so I went to check it out- 85 people were using my crazy spreadsheet!
Um, the only thing that could possibly make this nerd even more giddy about my obsessive spreadsheet is the fact that other people were digging it too and actually USING it. MADE MY DAY. Times 1000.
I just checked in on my crazy little template again and now it's got 148 users! I am LOVING the crazy spreadsheet love. My nerdy little heart is just about to burst!
So I know you all want to check out my crazy spreadsheet for yourselves now right? Here it is:
Buying For Baby- The First Time Parents List
And I know my list is by no means perfect, so if you've got any suggestions of things I should add, adjust, or change, please let me know!! I would love to improve upon this little project with some help from all of you!
2.16.2011
If You Want To Make Me Smile...
Take just a second and click on the Top Baby Blogs badge on the right side of my blog or on the bottom of my feed to vote for this silly little blog of mine! Top Baby Blogs resets their counters every so often so that newbies can move into the rankings (a pretty cool and smart idea!) and they just recently did a reset. So even if you clicked on it before, click again for me and you'll put a big goofy grin on my face because I love that you're out there reading my random thoughts and following me on this adventure! Thanks loves :)
2.15.2011
Valentine's 2011
I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day this year! Hubby G and I spent the whole day together- I began the day by making heart-shaped chocolate-chip pancakes, heart-shaped muffins, and scrambled eggs for breakfast. It was really corny, but we're corny people so we liked it :)
We got a few errands done and then headed to the furniture store and we bought a chair for the nursery! We opted for a plushy recliner instead of a traditional glider because we figured a recliner would be comfy enough to fall asleep in if we're awake a lot at night with the Peanut.
Even though our bedroom is right next door, I think the recliner will be a nice cozy spot to sit and rock our little dude in the middle of the night.
We had gone out for dinner the night before, so we had decided to get Valentine's Day ice cream instead- I think I liked doing that even better! And when we arrived home, these were waiting on our doorstep:
Our cloth diapers!! Woohoo! The darker green color had been back ordered, so they had taken a bit longer than usual to ship out to us. They are so cute and I'm so excited to use them!
I headed back to work today thinking Valentine's 2011 was done with, but Hubby G is a super sweet heart and he dropped off a a little present for me at my office- my favorite candy and a cute little bear. He had said that he was glad that we got to hang out together all day on Valentine's Day, but that also meant that he couldn't surprise me at work with anything, so he carried it over to today- I told you he was a sweet heart! I told him that I think we should always celebrate Valentine's Day on the 15th so we can get everything cheaper- I think that's a pretty good idea!
Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day 2011!
We got a few errands done and then headed to the furniture store and we bought a chair for the nursery! We opted for a plushy recliner instead of a traditional glider because we figured a recliner would be comfy enough to fall asleep in if we're awake a lot at night with the Peanut.
Even though our bedroom is right next door, I think the recliner will be a nice cozy spot to sit and rock our little dude in the middle of the night.
We had gone out for dinner the night before, so we had decided to get Valentine's Day ice cream instead- I think I liked doing that even better! And when we arrived home, these were waiting on our doorstep:
Our cloth diapers!! Woohoo! The darker green color had been back ordered, so they had taken a bit longer than usual to ship out to us. They are so cute and I'm so excited to use them!
I headed back to work today thinking Valentine's 2011 was done with, but Hubby G is a super sweet heart and he dropped off a a little present for me at my office- my favorite candy and a cute little bear. He had said that he was glad that we got to hang out together all day on Valentine's Day, but that also meant that he couldn't surprise me at work with anything, so he carried it over to today- I told you he was a sweet heart! I told him that I think we should always celebrate Valentine's Day on the 15th so we can get everything cheaper- I think that's a pretty good idea!
Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day 2011!
2.11.2011
Guilty As Charged
I just wanted to take a second to admit to you all that I am *still* rocking the BeBand. Yes, with 10 weeks until my due date I still haven't purchased any maternity pants.
And it's not because I haven't gained much pregnancy weight- I've gained about 30 lbs. So yeah...the BeBand is working overtime.
And thank goodness for leggings. They are my other savior.
I feel like if I've made it this far it almost feels silly to buy maternity pants now, but I'm getting increasingly uncomfortable, so I think a pair of jeans and a pair of pants for work are becoming a necessity. You can only get away with leggings for so many days of the week.
And it's not because I haven't gained much pregnancy weight- I've gained about 30 lbs. So yeah...the BeBand is working overtime.
And thank goodness for leggings. They are my other savior.
I feel like if I've made it this far it almost feels silly to buy maternity pants now, but I'm getting increasingly uncomfortable, so I think a pair of jeans and a pair of pants for work are becoming a necessity. You can only get away with leggings for so many days of the week.
The Water Heater Fiasco
I literally have about 5 different blog posts that are in various states of "finished" that I haven't gotten a chance to actually post here because this week has just been so darn busy! In my head I always think that I should have some non-time sensitive posts ready to go and just schedule them out, but I always just end up leaving them only partially completed and then they never actually get scheduled.
Anyway. Here's the story of one of the things that's been keeping us busy this past week: The Water Heater Fiasco.
Since we were dealing with gas and flames and I was paranoid about blowing the whole house up, I waited until Hubby G came home and we watched the video together and Hubby G did the lighting. Success! Pilot light re-lit and we’re back in action.
Or so we thought.
We went to check on the pilot light a few hours later and it was out again. Bummer. But now we knew how to re-light it! So we did that again. And it went out again.
Google search: “Water Heater Pilot Light Keeps Going Out”
According to Google the problem was likely to be our thermocouple. Thermo-what? Yeah, we are not savvy in the DIY home-repair world AT ALL, so we were thinking it was time to call in a plumber. We called a plumber and set up an appointment and he told us that the thermocouple would cost $11 to replace and the labor would be $88- so this was going to be about a $100 job.
Well...I turned to good ole Google and YouTube again because I remembered that while watching the “How To Re-Light Your Pilot Light” video, I had seen a “How To Replace Your Thermocouple” video. Hmmm......
I watched the thermocouple replacement video and it seemed pretty easy. So I stopped by the hardware store after work and my conversation with the very nice and helpful employee there went something like this:
Me: So I don’t really know what I’m talking about, but I need a new thermocouple for my water heater. I’m just stopping in on my way home from work so I don’t know any specifics about the water heater, I just know it’s a 40 gallon conventional tank.
Hardware Guy: Ok! You probably don’t need to know any specifics about your water heater, they’re all pretty much the same as far as the thermocouple goes.
[Hardware Guy shows me where the thermocouples are and grabs one for me- only $7 by the way]
Me: So I watched a YouTube video about how to replace one of these things...is it really as easy as it looks?
Hardware Guy: Yep, it’s pretty easy, except that you have to be down on your hands and knees to do it. If you just pay attention to how the old one is in there, you shouldn’t have any problems replacing it with a new one. Just make sure you have the gas turned off while you’re working on it.
Me: Ok, this might be a dumb question but I’m going to ask anyway because I don’t want to blow up my house- how do I make sure the gas is turned off?
[Super nice Hardware Guy proceeds to take me over to their display of gas valves and shows me what ours should look like and how to be sure it’s in the off position. Then he also takes me over to their display of water heaters and shows me how to make sure the gas is turned off there as well to be on the extra safe side]
So I leave the hardware store with my $7 thermocouple in hand and determined to do a little DIY water heater repair to save us a nice chunk of change. Hubby G was at work, so I texted him and told him I was going to try to be handy and fix our water heater. This is how our text conversation went:
Thermocouple replacement success! I was feeling so handy! Here I am, 6 months pregnant with a big belly and I’ve fixed our water heather myself, saving us approximately $90, all by watching a YouTube video. I AM SHE-RA, PRINCESS OF POWER!
Except it didn’t work. I was totally bummed. I checked the water heater an hour or so later and the light was out again already. Booooooooo.
So the next day we had a plumber come out. It turns out that the thermocouple wasn’t the problem (which actually made me feel a little better because at least I knew that I had done the replacement correctly and that wasn’t the issue) and it was something different and without getting into all of the details, we ended up just getting a whole new water heater. So definitely more than $100. Boooooo.
BUT our hot water is now back in action with a more energy-efficient model and we might even be able to get a tax credit for it. But I’m telling you, if your water heater ever stops working and the pilot light won’t stay lit- you can definitely try fixing the thermocouple yourself first, because if that IS the problem, it will save you a nice chunk of change. Or you can call me to change it for you and give me that chunk of change. Seriously, $88 in labor for something that simple?! If I didn’t think I would feel like I was getting away with murder I would totally go into business exclusively changing thermocouples for that kind of money.
Anyway. Here's the story of one of the things that's been keeping us busy this past week: The Water Heater Fiasco.
Late last week I was at home after work and I noticed that when I went to rinse some dishes, the water wasn’t getting hot. Uh oh. Hubby G was at work, so I texted him and told him that something was going on with the water heater and we didn’t have any hot water.
And then I Googled it. Because that’s what I do whenever I don’t know about something.
According to Google, our pilot light was probably out. I went downstairs to check if I could see a flame, and sure enough, it was out.
Next step: Google search “How To Light Water Heater Pilot Light”
I read a number of step by step tutorials, but the most helpful thing by far was this YouTube video:
And then I Googled it. Because that’s what I do whenever I don’t know about something.
According to Google, our pilot light was probably out. I went downstairs to check if I could see a flame, and sure enough, it was out.
Next step: Google search “How To Light Water Heater Pilot Light”
I read a number of step by step tutorials, but the most helpful thing by far was this YouTube video:
Since we were dealing with gas and flames and I was paranoid about blowing the whole house up, I waited until Hubby G came home and we watched the video together and Hubby G did the lighting. Success! Pilot light re-lit and we’re back in action.
Or so we thought.
We went to check on the pilot light a few hours later and it was out again. Bummer. But now we knew how to re-light it! So we did that again. And it went out again.
Google search: “Water Heater Pilot Light Keeps Going Out”
According to Google the problem was likely to be our thermocouple. Thermo-what? Yeah, we are not savvy in the DIY home-repair world AT ALL, so we were thinking it was time to call in a plumber. We called a plumber and set up an appointment and he told us that the thermocouple would cost $11 to replace and the labor would be $88- so this was going to be about a $100 job.
Well...I turned to good ole Google and YouTube again because I remembered that while watching the “How To Re-Light Your Pilot Light” video, I had seen a “How To Replace Your Thermocouple” video. Hmmm......
I watched the thermocouple replacement video and it seemed pretty easy. So I stopped by the hardware store after work and my conversation with the very nice and helpful employee there went something like this:
Me: So I don’t really know what I’m talking about, but I need a new thermocouple for my water heater. I’m just stopping in on my way home from work so I don’t know any specifics about the water heater, I just know it’s a 40 gallon conventional tank.
Hardware Guy: Ok! You probably don’t need to know any specifics about your water heater, they’re all pretty much the same as far as the thermocouple goes.
[Hardware Guy shows me where the thermocouples are and grabs one for me- only $7 by the way]
Me: So I watched a YouTube video about how to replace one of these things...is it really as easy as it looks?
Hardware Guy: Yep, it’s pretty easy, except that you have to be down on your hands and knees to do it. If you just pay attention to how the old one is in there, you shouldn’t have any problems replacing it with a new one. Just make sure you have the gas turned off while you’re working on it.
Me: Ok, this might be a dumb question but I’m going to ask anyway because I don’t want to blow up my house- how do I make sure the gas is turned off?
[Super nice Hardware Guy proceeds to take me over to their display of gas valves and shows me what ours should look like and how to be sure it’s in the off position. Then he also takes me over to their display of water heaters and shows me how to make sure the gas is turned off there as well to be on the extra safe side]
So I leave the hardware store with my $7 thermocouple in hand and determined to do a little DIY water heater repair to save us a nice chunk of change. Hubby G was at work, so I texted him and told him I was going to try to be handy and fix our water heater. This is how our text conversation went:
Thermocouple replacement success! I was feeling so handy! Here I am, 6 months pregnant with a big belly and I’ve fixed our water heather myself, saving us approximately $90, all by watching a YouTube video. I AM SHE-RA, PRINCESS OF POWER!
Except it didn’t work. I was totally bummed. I checked the water heater an hour or so later and the light was out again already. Booooooooo.
So the next day we had a plumber come out. It turns out that the thermocouple wasn’t the problem (which actually made me feel a little better because at least I knew that I had done the replacement correctly and that wasn’t the issue) and it was something different and without getting into all of the details, we ended up just getting a whole new water heater. So definitely more than $100. Boooooo.
BUT our hot water is now back in action with a more energy-efficient model and we might even be able to get a tax credit for it. But I’m telling you, if your water heater ever stops working and the pilot light won’t stay lit- you can definitely try fixing the thermocouple yourself first, because if that IS the problem, it will save you a nice chunk of change. Or you can call me to change it for you and give me that chunk of change. Seriously, $88 in labor for something that simple?! If I didn’t think I would feel like I was getting away with murder I would totally go into business exclusively changing thermocouples for that kind of money.
2.02.2011
SNOWPOCALYPSE!
I'm a Yooper, so it's hard to impress me with snow fall- but this is pretty crazy!
You can't even tell where our driveway is if it weren't for the path that Hubby G started clearing!
Hubby G got called in to work overtime since so many people are snowed in- I'm happy to report that he made it in safely thanks to our 4-wheel drive vehicle. According to the news this is just a lull in the action, in about 2 hours we're going to be hit again!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
You can't even tell where our driveway is if it weren't for the path that Hubby G started clearing!
Hubby G got called in to work overtime since so many people are snowed in- I'm happy to report that he made it in safely thanks to our 4-wheel drive vehicle. According to the news this is just a lull in the action, in about 2 hours we're going to be hit again!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
2.01.2011
Childbirth Class: Part 1
Hubby G and I went to our first childbirth class! The childbirth classes that we are attending are free and part of our insurance plan. They're supposed to be 5 weeks long, but since Hubby G's schedule and my schedule didn't really jive with the class schedule, the instructor graciously offered to work around our crazy schedules and condense everything down to 2 classes and have a one-on-one session with us!
So our first class was 3 hours long with the instructor who is a registered nurse. She's had 3 of her own children, worked in labor and delivery, prenatal care, and post-natal care, so she has experience in a lot of aspects of childbirth. She was also very enthusiastic. It was a good thing, and I'm glad she was so excited to accommodate us and our schedules!
We got a whole book (ours to keep) called "Prepared Childbirth: The Family Way" to reference throughout the class. We didn't use it during the class much, but it seems like it's a really great reference to have on hand and to look through when I get a chance.
After a review of some anatomy basics for pregnancy we talked about breathing techniques. Although I'm a very analytical, organized, person, I'm also quite laid back and I rarely stress over things, so I wasn't really sure I'd get much out of the breathing techniques. I really liked the basics: Find a focal point, Take a cleansing breath, breath through the contraction, then take a final cleansing breath at the end. I think I'll definitely use that, but the different breathing techniques that you use throughout the contraction were harder for me to see myself using. But who knows!? Maybe once I'm actually in labor and having contractions I'll be really glad I know a few of them!
The other major thing that we went over were labor positions. I've read in a few places that some hospitals aren't very accommodating when it comes to laboring positions- I've read in a number of places that women can be mostly limited to laboring on their back (lying down) which isn't ideal. Thankfully our instructor informed us that the hospital that we'll be delivering at isn't like this at all and she encouraged Hubby G to remind me to change positions every 30 minutes while in labor so that the baby is better able to rotate- which will then lead to a less painful and more relaxed delivery- definitely a good tip! We went through a number of different laboring positions and she pointed out a few that help with painful back labor specifically. She also explained a few techniques to help stop the urge to push. I thought this was really interesting and valuable because she explained that if you get the urge to push but your body isn't quite ready yet (not dilated and/or effaced completely), then you're much more likely to experience tears and increased pain.
Our class was about 3 hours long and Hubby G and I were both glad we went! I think that for some parts of it I would have liked to be in a whole class of people, but for other parts of it I was glad that it was just one-on-one. We have part 2 of our class next week, so once we're done with that I'll let you know how it went!
So our first class was 3 hours long with the instructor who is a registered nurse. She's had 3 of her own children, worked in labor and delivery, prenatal care, and post-natal care, so she has experience in a lot of aspects of childbirth. She was also very enthusiastic. It was a good thing, and I'm glad she was so excited to accommodate us and our schedules!
We got a whole book (ours to keep) called "Prepared Childbirth: The Family Way" to reference throughout the class. We didn't use it during the class much, but it seems like it's a really great reference to have on hand and to look through when I get a chance.
After a review of some anatomy basics for pregnancy we talked about breathing techniques. Although I'm a very analytical, organized, person, I'm also quite laid back and I rarely stress over things, so I wasn't really sure I'd get much out of the breathing techniques. I really liked the basics: Find a focal point, Take a cleansing breath, breath through the contraction, then take a final cleansing breath at the end. I think I'll definitely use that, but the different breathing techniques that you use throughout the contraction were harder for me to see myself using. But who knows!? Maybe once I'm actually in labor and having contractions I'll be really glad I know a few of them!
The other major thing that we went over were labor positions. I've read in a few places that some hospitals aren't very accommodating when it comes to laboring positions- I've read in a number of places that women can be mostly limited to laboring on their back (lying down) which isn't ideal. Thankfully our instructor informed us that the hospital that we'll be delivering at isn't like this at all and she encouraged Hubby G to remind me to change positions every 30 minutes while in labor so that the baby is better able to rotate- which will then lead to a less painful and more relaxed delivery- definitely a good tip! We went through a number of different laboring positions and she pointed out a few that help with painful back labor specifically. She also explained a few techniques to help stop the urge to push. I thought this was really interesting and valuable because she explained that if you get the urge to push but your body isn't quite ready yet (not dilated and/or effaced completely), then you're much more likely to experience tears and increased pain.
Our class was about 3 hours long and Hubby G and I were both glad we went! I think that for some parts of it I would have liked to be in a whole class of people, but for other parts of it I was glad that it was just one-on-one. We have part 2 of our class next week, so once we're done with that I'll let you know how it went!
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