Laundry Situation

So for years (years!) I’ve always wanted to have a washer/dryer NOT in the basement. Every time we moved (which is often: 3 times in 5 years) I would search for months for a place that would have the following:
-Clean (preferably newer) bathroom/kitchen
-Allows cats
-Washer Dryer NOT in the basement
(not to mention location, rent etc.)

This was near impossible and became a fantasy rental when I added the following two stipulations in our most recent search:
-Allows dogs
-Fenced in backyard.

Well I came as close as I could with our current duplex. Clean bath/kitchen, allows pets, fenced backyard and washer dryer hook-ups (but no washer dryer) in the basement. I really wanted to be able to do laundry but my spider phobia just won’t let me down there. I tried one time but literally a huge spider dropped from the ceiling in front of me. No lie. So, Josh washes the clothes, and until I got pregnant, I cleaned the bathrooms and managed the pets. I think it is a good deal that worked out well.

Well nearly a year later, we still don’t have a w/d. Josh decided that he’d rather drive to the laundry mat and wash 6 loads at a time and be done in 90 minutes twice a month. I have no argument there. But since getting pregnant I have been campaigning for a w/d because everyone gets this incredulous look on their face mixed with pity or horror when I tell them we don’t have one. Oh, and that we must be brain damaged to think we won’t be doing laundry every day with a baby.

It was back in October that I witnessed the destructive nature of babies and clean clothes. My nephew luke in just a few hours, not only pooped out his own clothes, but got poop on his mom’s pants while she was holding him. He then proceeded to spit up milk on me and then his father. That’s half a load of laundry right there!

I begged josh. I sent him w/d ads on sale then used w/d ads from craigslist. There was even a set a man would sell us and then deliver it! I told him horror stories, and tried reasoning with him. I even tried guilting him that all that time at the laundry mat was time away from his son! I tried asking him the tough questions: Are we just going to have poopy sheets sitting in the house for a week?!!

His response is either a version of “I’ll take care of it” or “It’ll be fine”
Because in the end, he does the laundry not me, so he ultimately decides.

Plagued with visions of stained and thus ruined clothes piling up in the hamper all week, I’ve come up with a plan to salvage them. I decided to fandangle a bucket system in the basement. Poopy, spit-up items will be rinsed in the sink and then soaked in a large bucket of water and oxyclean in the basement until laundry day. Josh promises to go once a week to the laundry mat. I suppose his task will also be emptying the bucket of water.

This is the best I can do to make the situation better? A bucket?!

Aches and Pains

25 days until the due date, and on Sunday I will be full term. I don’t know what to think of this. On the day of the birth, two huge changes are going to happen:
One: I will have a baby and
Two: I won’t be pregnant anymore.
It’s amazing how quickly I’ve gotten used to the status quo.

It officially hurts to walk, I have bad joint pain in my hips and pelvis. I am so very tired at work and my feet/ankles balloon at the end of the day. I am getting by the best I can. It’s just that anything physical is an (often painful) effort. The days I work at 1pm, I go to bed around 11:30 and stay in bed until 11:30. And I could stay there all day. I know this is a finite time in my life, so I’m just taking it day by day. I’m also scared that next week will be much worse. And if I can’t cope now, I’m screwed.

Still, I’m not ready for him to be here yet. I know the names of the streets in the hell that I am in at least.

On the plus side, Bot is doing well. He’s probably pretty cramped himself. He keeps trying to stretch me out. I feel pressure low and his big butt keeps pressing into my lungs. My favorite thing to do is to trace the outline of his feet when they poke out of me. The food that gets him moving is cream of wheat, because I put loads and loads of sugar on it!

And now a message to Bot:
Dear Bot: Sorry about the Wendy’s today. I know there was nothing of nutritional value there. But how delicious was that premium fish fillet with added cheese and no tartar sauce? I smothered it in ketchup. Soooo yummy!

Completed nursery!

I had a blast doing this nursery. Thank you to my mom, sister and josh for letting me pepper you with emails on opinions. I feel like I got a lot of great deals, and with it being Ikea heavy, you know it was on a budget :)

Enjoy!

Bird Mobile off Etsy.com (there is a bird theme going)

Dresser and curtains from Ikea

Eventually there will be a chair there instead of a stool (maybe).

I impulsively got these alphabet cards off etsy.com because it was such a great deal!! And it took up a lot of wall space not to mention being educational :)

Wall decal of birds and branches off etsy.com (can you tell I am addicted to this site?)

Josh purchased installed these shelves!

Bot's cage...err.. I mean crib.

Close-up of the scary owl faces blanket and sheet I got off of etsy.com. I needed a touch of spooky to make this nursery juuuuust right!

Nursery Progress Pics

Putting together the crib

Futurama playing in the background (of course!)

Only one missing screw! (barely wobbles)


Upacking the new lamps from Ikea

Painting the nursery "smoke screen" gray blue

Ikea dresser parts (enjoying our affordable Swedish crap)

Those Swedes know how to put in almost everything you need!

Undecorated room, but painted and furnished!

35 weeks

The front

The flip side

The bump side

Hmm, I guess you can see my belly button from the front. I guess any denial that it has gone from an innie to an outie is over. ..