I’ve been trying to bust out some posts in advance that I’ll schedule in June to keep the blog fresh while I am away from the internet waiting for Tater to come. That is the idea at least. If anyone wants to guest post here just sign up as a user and I’ll get you all hooked up to be a contributor.

Okay, so over the weekend we did get lots done, as usual… For starters we wrangled the freecycle dog home through our back gate so now Dixie has an even nicer shelter to enjoy. Problem is Haily, the outdoor cat, is smarter than Dixie and she manages to take over the dog house every time. Dixie refuses to fight for it and just sleeps out on the deck.

Mind you Hailey has her own house that we built but she refuses to use it unless absolutely necessary. So when we go out and lure her out of Dixie’s home, Dixie can use it but it seems every time the rain starts to fall or when it gets windy Hailey is in the dog house and Dixie is outside… I give up! If the dog doesn’t want care to fight for her home that is her bad, right?

We also went by the old place to do some deep cleaning. We spent 3 hours there doing the kitchen and basement. We’ve only got a few rooms left to do now and then we’ll be totally done with that shit hole. Yay. Oh and while the cleaning was happening guess what we discovered growing on top of the basement carpet and up the outside of the wood paneling in the corner…

MOLD!!!

Yep, you can see it with your own two eyes just growing right on top of all the carpet and wood siding. We had a freestanding shelf in that corner holding my business stuff but once we moved all our things out of the basement and began vacuuming we spotted the fairly big moldy corner. N took some photos of it on his iPhone. I’ll share them soon.

It’s been over a month since we met with the slumlady and started the ball rolling on having them sign our mutual release letter. They’ve been avoiding us now for over a month and N has begun the harassing phone calls to them again. We’ve not paid them April’s rent and are trying to set up a meeting time to turn over the keys and complete the final walk though. It seems they could care less, still.

Last night N put the freecycle crib together in Tater’s room. It was an interesting process since it’s an older crib that needs work, plus the assembly instructions were nonexistent so we were winging it so to speak. It is now pieced together, just needs some wood glue and some screws tightened. We’ll buy a crib mattress for it sometime after Tater is here if we still haven’t found anything better/ safer.

We spent Sunday thrift store hopping. We were window shopping for a washing machine since come May 1 we will have no way to wash clothes (other than a laundry mat), we also thought we would keep our eyes peeled for some necessities for Tater while we were there. Things like cloth diapers, receiving blankets and a variety of sized onesies.

We managed to find some clothes and a few receiving blankets that we spent $6.00 on. We didn’t see any pack n’ play’s or newborn sleeping solutions and we didn’t see any washing machines either. We plan to keep looking, hopefully we’ll find all that we need in due time.

It’s was a windy, rainy weekend but we still managed to get some good progress made! We even found a work around for our failing external hard drive (I’ll post more on this later) and N painted my toenails for me since I can no longer reach them. Isn’t he a trooper?

We took my blood pressure at the grocery store and it was 108/70, I am still not swelling or having any heart racing or blood sugar issues. I haven’t weighed myself since we moved in, the scale is still missing but I feel like I’ve gained a few (5 or so) pounds. LOL. What do you think?

We’ve got a shower in our honor taking place in Phoenix, AZ courtesy of Krystal on May 2nd that we are getting excited about. We’ll be there via video conference to talk to and enjoy everyone’s company. If you are going to be out that direction and haven’t already received an invite shoot me an email and I’ll hook you up with the details.

We’ve also got a web baby shower going on right now and a live shower chat scheduled courtesy of another bloggy friend, Maiden53, that you can check it out here.

Don’t forget to put your dollar in and place your baby weight bet! Remember 2 winners split the pool of cash so the more people who enter the better it is for YOUR pocket book, lol.

Okay, I am off to try finishing those 3 blog posts and I’ve got to feed the animals and such. Have a good monday everyone!

Oh, and if you aren’t afraid to see how an actual homebirth was featured in a commercial check out this video. Thanks Ryan and Kari for blogging this! Don’t worry it is peaceful and beautiful. Just graphic, shows nudity and you know a baby coming out from down there:

The post Weekend #2 in our new place, it's been busy! appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

That is the 3rd pregnancy test I’ve taken. I have been feeling woozy. I am not sleeping through the nights, I am peeing a ton, have been dizzy and super achy in my lower back. I have been keeping a journal of my thoughts each day we tested. Looks like we’re having a baby.

Pregnant? Oct 9th 2008

N and I were discussing my monthly fertility chart yesterday. We use the TCOYF method of natural family planning. It is recommended that both partners take part in the process so N participates by recording my temperature data on the chart every morning. I am in charge of interpreting the chart and then we both make mental note of my fertile days.

Anyway we were discussing my fertility for the month yesterday, N was asking when we should try to “make a baby” so we grabbed the chart and started analyzing. We realized our chance of already being pregnant was good.

I have been feeling fatigued, have been having sleep irregularities, am feeling achy, crampy and have even been feeling nauseous. Today will be 8 DPO so that means I just have to wait 6 more days to know if I am pregnant or not.

Here is the next entry:

October 12th 2008

I took a second pregnancy test, it looked like it had a very faint pink line. The first pregnancy test was very obviously negative, it has a evaporation line but had no color. The second one totally has a faint pink line. Seriously, it is super faint though. Here is a photo:

N and I even had an argument about whether or not it was a pink line, he claims he can’t see the line. According to my chart I ovulated 10/1 so that means I am now 13 DPO.

I have been feeling tired and achy still. In a few days we’ll know for sure if we are pregnant or not. If we are that means that I’ll be having a baby 3 weeks before our projected wedding date.

Now that gets us to today, October 14th 2008 and we have unmistakable double pink line action now. Too bad I don’t have insurance, oh and what are we going to do about the planned wedding and the dress I just bought? Do you think I’ll be able to get married 3 weeks after having a baby? I guess at least I’ll have nice plump boobs.

Oh, and Hailey actually pooed today! It was very little and it was super dry but at least she did it. Now we just have to fix her diet so she stops having pooing issues.

The post My brain is mush, la, la, la (might be the HGC huh?) appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

The dress retails for $1100, the slip for $49.00 and the bra for $80.00, we got such a steal and did a heck of a job staying under our $400 wedding dress budget.

The dress is brand new, the bra was used for a fitting and the slip was worn previously but I don’t mind. All I wanted was for the dress to be new and authentic. Now all I need is the matching veil and some shoes I like!

N says we should take the dress, bra and slip in to the David’s bridal shop for alterations, to get the matching slip and to rub in the great deal we got on the dress. I am considering it, we are going to have to hold off on the alterations though especially since the period is late again…

Just wanted to share that great deals I got with everyone. It really does pay to shop around! Those bridal shops want to create a sense of urgency at the shop so they can pressure you in to completing the sale. They work hard at it and we almost fell for it. Good thing we didn’t because it saved us a whopping $947!

Also, thanks a bunch for all the thoughts and advice about Hailey and her poo shenanigans. We are attempting to remedy a possible health issue of hers. We suspect she is constipated and that is why she is pooing in strange places (thanks to much google searching and your comments).

Now she is locked in the garage with a litter box, water, a bed and some wet/ oily cat food. Apparantly cooking oil can help with constipation. So we’ll see how often she poos and what the consistancy is. Fun huh?

The post When my wedding dress comes it is going to be like X-mas!! appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

Last night at about 2am I woke to an Elizabethan collar banging against the bathtub, yeah Hailey is in one again. This time it is because she is missing the huge patch of fur under her chin. We have been applying ointment, we tried covering her neck with a bandage also. Unfortunately nothing has succeeded in keeping her from scratching her flesh open where this patch is healing. So we busted out our trusty Elizabethan collar again.

After waking to the sounds the collar clanking against the bathtub I began to analyze. Did I leave the bathmat down after my bath? When you do that it gets pooed on so after each use we hang it on the side of the tub. If the bathmat is up where it belongs then that means SOMEONE is pooing in the laundry hamper by the bathtub. Either way pooing was taking place, I was sure of it. The poo is just sending me over the edge guys!

So I throw the covers back and tip toed to the bathroom where the suspected poo shinanigans are taking place. I enter the bathroom, flick the light on and low and behold, it is Hailey squeezing one out on the bathmat! I yelled, grabbed her and placed her in the litter box right in the middle of her dump. Now I bet you guess what happens next… She wont finish pooing!

We have two litter boxes (one on each floor), we buy the expensive litter and I scoop the box every day so there is no reason for the cats to be boycotting the litter box. That hasn’t stopped Hailey from pooing wherever she wants.

Now I know that she is just going to go finish her pooing somewhere else now that I have interrupted her and confiscated the bathmat for washing. Like I said before I am at my limit with the inappropriate pooing. I don’t want her to leave us a present somewhere else in the house so I sit there in the closed bathroom trying to encourage her to finish her pooing at 2 am. She refuses so I lock her in the bathroom after removing the laundry basket and the bathmat, then I crawl back in bed.

Hailey stayed locked in the bathroom for an hour. She refused to finish her pooing and she proceed to annoy me by banging her collar against the clossed door and scratching the hell out of the door.

By 3am I was decided, she was so voted off this island! I asked N if the garage windows were all closed, he muttered assurance so I grabbed Hailey, put on some shoes and found the flashlight.

We make the trek out to the garage where I dumped her off for the night. We now have ourselves a garage cat. The great thing is she has an entire world to poo on now, not just my bathmats and carpet.

The post Someone leaves the island… appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

I am thinking about just setting her free outside that way she can poo anywhere she wants. Anyone want a carpet pooing cat? Just kidding.

Enough about the cat poo. We are supposed to get some rain tonight here in Evansville. For the last few weeks we have heard nothing but whining about how dry and hot the weather has been. Every night when I switch on the news to see N’s report I hear about how hot and dry it was again today.

We think it has been just fine weather, minus the blood sucking mosquitoes. It has been much like Phoenix, AZ weather- hot and dry (but not nearly as hot as Phoenix). We are used to hot and dry and now that we have a house with AC (unlike Flagstaff, AZ) no heat or humidity is too unbearable for us.

Yesterday we went to the Mesker Evansville Zoo yesterday and had fun checking it all out. There were so many great animal exhibits and plants to view. Our favorite was the Amazonia exhibit because it was so beautifully landscaped and it allowed for great access to the animals.

After visiting the Amazonia exhibit I was really wondering how all the tropical plants can survive in this climate. The zoo had so many cannas, elephant ear and other tropical plants that shouldn’t be able to live year round here. So many businesses and homes in the Evansville area also have these same tropical plants everywhere so how is this possible?

According to the national gardening association our USDA zone for Evansville is Zone: 6A so plants that can’t handle cold winters shouldn’t be growing here. Unless everyone rushes out and digs them up and stores them during the cold weather.

Now these tropical plants are EVERYWHERE here in Evansville and I just can’t imagine that everyone runs out and digs them up before the first frost. That is just too much work and hassle and I just don’t believe that is what people actually do.

Well I better get going now. N has been anticipating seeing the fall decor go up and I have been putting it off for a while now. Over the weekend we visited Rural King and snagged some clearance mums to make our doorstep too like fall. Now I need to dig out the rest of the fall decor and get things decorated!

The post The Mesker Zoo and cat poo… appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.