My fiancé got his W2 from his current job the other day, but we can't file because he had three other part-time jobs last year and so we're waiting on them. Problem is, I'm not sure if they have our current address, but we left a forwarding address. Mom says if we don't get them by the 31st, we'll have to call all three places and try to schedule a way to get them here. It's frustrating. I don't want to worry about taxes right before the baby comes...
We're moving this week! Finally got the place finalized. The landlord is replacing the carpet tomorrow and then we'll be able to move in. No painting is allowed sadly, but I'm praying really hard that nails are allowed so I can decorate the nursery. If I can't paint the walls, I'll be painting large canvases, which will take up all my free time and money and probably still look like crap. I'm also dying to get a full-length rug of the room because their carpet color looks hideous. I've started the nesting phase just thinking about it, and it doesn't help that my baby shower gave me items that I have no where to put at the moment. They are sitting in boxes waiting for my greedy hands to open them.
On a side note, does anyone know how to deep clean a full or queen size mattress? I forget what size ours is, but I'd like to clean it before the move. I read that within seven years, over 50% of the weight of the mattress is actually dead skin cells accumulated in it, which attract microscopic mites (the ones you're never more than 3 feet away from anyway) that I happen to be allergic to since I'm allergic to the mite family (lucky me). I don't think normal vacuuming works to get all the skins cells out of it, and I have no idea how to wash a heavy mattress because I have no idea how the inside would get dry (and if it doesn't dry, it'll mold, and I'm allergic to mold, too). I really want to avoid replacing it because it is relatively in good condition. I just want to clean it and can't really find any good ideas online, but maybe I'm not looking in the right places.
@Bubbles3592 I'm not sure of a way to clean a mattress other than vacuuming and such. I don't think you can really get the skin cells and dust mites out and lots of water sounds like a bad idea. The best way is to prevent them from getting in by using a mattress cover that keeps them out. They sell covers specifically to keep them from getting through to the mattress. At least if you got one now it would be a barrier between you and any mites that could give you allergies.
So after complaining about DHs w2 yesterday, the mail was just late and it came that afternoon instead of lunchtime. Oops.
That said, I did our taxes longhand last night! Nerd status achieved. It was definitely a challenge just to know what forms I needed, and I have no idea if I did my self-employment stuff right. I'm really glad we still plan to do the software and have my MIL check to be sure we include everything we needed to and got the best state return. Iowa has the option to do married joint, married separate or "married separate on a combined return"; which are all just slightly different. I'm pretty ridiculously excited to see how close I got though.
According to my numbers we should get a little over $4k back, which would be about perfect to cover a decent but cheap car to take DH to and from work. Now to convince him it's worth the money (especially in insurance/registration/upkeep) so I can have the van to be able to leave the house with both kids next fall/winter when it's too cold to walk. *fingers crossed*
I made a pan of enchiladas for supper last night but didn't eat any because DH gets home late and I get sick if I eat before I go to bed. He finished off the entire pan before 10 AM and the only taste I got was the bite I snuck from his final plate. This is so backwards!
@Bubbles3592 I would look on Pinterest for mattress cleaning solutions. I'm almost sure I've seen something involving baking soda on there, but regardless the "crafty housewife" is a giant majority of the Pinterest demographic and you're sure to get some great ideas there.
Fiancé is making pork chops for dinner... I'm not a huge fan of pork... I'm also not a huge fan of making everything to go with said pork chops and still considering it him making dinner... Can't we just have pasta instead so I don't have to go in the kitchen at all tonight?
Is anyone else feeling the compulsion to get rid of everything in their home that they're not currently using? We moved the last of the bookshelves out from the nursery, and rather than putting the books back on the shelves in the room where they are now, I've started listing them online to sell (most of this batch are monographs I bought for college courses, all of which I've staunchly refused to sell back or otherwise get rid of for years). I've already gotten rid of most of my pre-pregnancy clothes, including my wedding dress, and this week I'm planning on bringing a giant batch of papers to Office Depot for shredding. I've begun collecting boxes of miscellaneous stuff to pitch or donate as well. I can't seem to make much headway on actual baby preparations, but I'm certainly making plenty of space.
It's not immediately clear whether I'm crazy now, or whether I was a crazy packrat before who's redeeming herself. I'm just a little concerned that I'm going to wake up a year from now and wonder where all this stuff went.
@AGK2015 That is how my nesting started last time and it hit me hard again this time. Nesting brings out the desire in me to streamline everything. I think it's a little bit psychological, at least for me. Bringing a baby into the world is overwhelming and getting rid of stuff makes my home feel more in control.
WWYD: Intermitttent vomiting and diarrhea and fever between 100-102 for the last several hours. I've been pushing fluids slowly but not a lot is staying down. Urine isn't too dark yet. At what point would you call for advice? I managed to knock my phone into the toilet as well today and speaker is being funky, and I'm hesitant because I'm home alone with DS (happy 5th birthday to him, poor little duck).
ETA: Meant to post this in symptoms thread, but now that it's here ill just leave it. Sorry!
@cmjenkies if your fever has hit 102 I'd go in, especially if it hovers there and you can't get it down at home. Staying that hot is dangerous and you'll need IV fluids.
@AGK2015 I'm both hoarding and tossing, if that makes sense. DH is an awful hoarder of worthless crap, like the 20 copies of every official-looking paper he's ever received. He makes copies in case one gets lost, which I get, but then he keeps the copies with the original and they just get scattered everywhere. I hoard things like butter and juice containers because I'm cheap and find a million ways to reuse everything. I am saving my pre-pregnancy clothes because I REALLY want to be able to fit back into them down the road!
I have gotten rid of truck loads full of stuff in the last couple months! I still need to get rid of lots more! It was partly to make room for the baby's stuff but I have extra reason because I'm moving across the country this summer (still don't know where) and have to figure out how to get all my crap there.
@AGK2015 I've been wanting to have a garage sale for a while to get rid of all of the miscellaneous stuff we have stored in DS's room before we move. I really want to minimize things to make the move easier.
On the flip side, I've started hoarding diapers for LO. So far I have one jumbo pack of newborns, three jumbo packs of size 1, one jumbo pack of size 2, and one jumbo pack of size 3. DH and I have a pregnancy rule that once we get to a certain point, we buy a jumbo pack of diapers for LO so we won't have to think about it later when money may be really tight.
@cmjenkies if your fever has hit 102 I'd go in, especially if it hovers there and you can't get it down at home. Staying that hot is dangerous and you'll need IV fluids.
Thanks gals, I called the OB emergency department at my hospital and was advised that "it was up to me" whether or not to come in but that I'd be okay to continue to monitor at home for now. They suspect a flu virus. My RHR was up to 110 but baby is very active right tonight. I haven't puked in an hour and am trying to push fluids and eat a couple of crackers to see if I can at least bridge this nausea. I'd like to take a Tylenol for the fever/aches but I need something on my stomach first.. vicious cycle. Fever is low grade down to 100.2.
I'm going to continue to monitor tonight then call my OB during office hours tomorrow or go in tonight if it persists/worsens.
Oh and to add insult to injury I have an oven rack burn on my R hand from Wednesday that is stupid painful and starting to feel like it's pulling across my wrist. Pretty sure it may have a bit of a localized infection. Blehhh..
Well I have a full week ahead of me. Moving into the new place starts either tomorrow or Wednesday, then I have the hospital tour on Thursday, and an Ob-Gyn appointment on Friday. Anyone else feel like a chicken with its head cut off?
Also, since we can't afford new furniture and I'm not too pleased with our options of used furniture, I thought I might make a few things. Still costly, but cheaper than buying outright new stuff. I was looking over some fun ideas I could do in a day. My problem is with the corners to these ideas. I want something that will be easy to babyproof. So if I make these items, what's the best way to babyproof them?
@Bubbles3592 We didn't babyproof corners. The outlets got covered, the wood burning stove and stairs got gates and the cabinet with cleaning supplies got a lock.
The biggest thing is worry about with that style is their access to everything. DD loves to push buttons and go through DHs basket of video game controllers in our open shelf entertainment center etc. Doors would have been really nice.
@Bubbles3592 I would also be wary of splinters with those crates. I made a coffee table like that and I ended up with quite a few splinters. We ended up changing it out for a fabric coffee table before DS was born.
My 17 year old was accepted into Job Corp and will be leaving in 2 weeks. Job Corp is a federally funded program for 16-24 year olds to earn their HS diploma and become certified in a trade. She's pretty much moving out and she'll be home every other weekend. I'm so happy and sad at the same time. I'm emotionally not ready to let her go.
My 17 year old was accepted into Job Corp and will be leaving in 2 weeks. Job Corp is a federally funded program for 16-24 year olds to earn their HS diploma and become certified in a trade. She's pretty much moving out and she'll be home every other weekend. I'm so happy and sad at the same time. I'm emotionally not ready to let her go.
That's so awesome that she's driven enough to take that on!
@rebelone As sad as it will be to not have her around as much, it's great that she's taking such a big and responsible step at 17. Yay, independence! I can't imagine how that must feel, though... My oldest is 1.5 years old.
@fbanke42 Did you use shellac to finish the wood? That should prevent splinters.
@imrachellea Thanks. I'm thinking of using a more permanent rounder, but I could just hot glue some temp corner bumpers to it as a solution. I'm more worried about LO getting his arm stuck inbetween the slates, but I really like this type of design. So conflicted.
@mrstrax I was wondering about that. Maybe I could make miniature doors and turn it into cabinets instead of open?
@Bubbles3592 I did not. The coffee table was a last minute "sure why not," so I did not plan very well. I sanded it a bit, stained it, and nailed it all together.
@Bubbles3592 You definitely could. It's definitely not a necessity since you can always teach them that it's off limits, but it's an easy "battle" to just avoid if you have anything breakable/dangerous on those shelves. It's all about a balance of them learning to have boundaries (ie. leave mom and dad's books on the shelf) and not making your life any more difficult than necessary (move the books up a shelf so they're not as tempting in the meantime).
DH bought me a basic and inexpensive sewing machine yesterday. Now I can work on things at home instead of trying to plan around going over to my MIL's to use her machine. I got some red knit fabric to make a newborn hat for LO, once I have time to set the sewing machine up and get the fabric cut out.
Did a trial run with some saltines this morning.. now eating my first meal since breakfast yesterday - ChicFilA soup and a grilled cheese. Oh please be nice to my stomach!
My belly has developed a very weird shape. It almost looks like LOs butt is pressing on my belly button giving my bump a bump. My belly button is very close to becoming an outtie aswell and DH stares at my bump like it's an alien.
Re: **The Everything Random Thread for April Mamas**
I would do that not pregnant so....I don't know where to go from there.
Wow, lots has been talked about while I was gone.
My fiancé got his W2 from his current job the other day, but we can't file because he had three other part-time jobs last year and so we're waiting on them. Problem is, I'm not sure if they have our current address, but we left a forwarding address. Mom says if we don't get them by the 31st, we'll have to call all three places and try to schedule a way to get them here. It's frustrating. I don't want to worry about taxes right before the baby comes...
We're moving this week! Finally got the place finalized. The landlord is replacing the carpet tomorrow and then we'll be able to move in. No painting is allowed sadly, but I'm praying really hard that nails are allowed so I can decorate the nursery. If I can't paint the walls, I'll be painting large canvases, which will take up all my free time and money and probably still look like crap. I'm also dying to get a full-length rug of the room because their carpet color looks hideous. I've started the nesting phase just thinking about it, and it doesn't help that my baby shower gave me items that I have no where to put at the moment. They are sitting in boxes waiting for my greedy hands to open them.
On a side note, does anyone know how to deep clean a full or queen size mattress? I forget what size ours is, but I'd like to clean it before the move. I read that within seven years, over 50% of the weight of the mattress is actually dead skin cells accumulated in it, which attract microscopic mites (the ones you're never more than 3 feet away from anyway) that I happen to be allergic to since I'm allergic to the mite family (lucky me). I don't think normal vacuuming works to get all the skins cells out of it, and I have no idea how to wash a heavy mattress because I have no idea how the inside would get dry (and if it doesn't dry, it'll mold, and I'm allergic to mold, too). I really want to avoid replacing it because it is relatively in good condition. I just want to clean it and can't really find any good ideas online, but maybe I'm not looking in the right places.
That said, I did our taxes longhand last night! Nerd status achieved. It was definitely a challenge just to know what forms I needed, and I have no idea if I did my self-employment stuff right. I'm really glad we still plan to do the software and have my MIL check to be sure we include everything we needed to and got the best state return. Iowa has the option to do married joint, married separate or "married separate on a combined return"; which are all just slightly different. I'm pretty ridiculously excited to see how close I got though.
According to my numbers we should get a little over $4k back, which would be about perfect to cover a decent but cheap car to take DH to and from work. Now to convince him it's worth the money (especially in insurance/registration/upkeep) so I can have the van to be able to leave the house with both kids next fall/winter when it's too cold to walk. *fingers crossed*
Also, I finally bought something for LO.
I gave away most of DS's old Halo sleep sacks, so I decided to try something new since they were less expensive.
It's not immediately clear whether I'm crazy now, or whether I was a crazy packrat before who's redeeming herself. I'm just a little concerned that I'm going to wake up a year from now and wonder where all this stuff went.
ETA: Meant to post this in symptoms thread, but now that it's here ill just leave it. Sorry!
On the flip side, I've started hoarding diapers for LO. So far I have one jumbo pack of newborns, three jumbo packs of size 1, one jumbo pack of size 2, and one jumbo pack of size 3. DH and I have a pregnancy rule that once we get to a certain point, we buy a jumbo pack of diapers for LO so we won't have to think about it later when money may be really tight.
I'm going to continue to monitor tonight then call my OB during office hours tomorrow or go in tonight if it persists/worsens.
Oh and to add insult to injury I have an oven rack burn on my R hand from Wednesday that is stupid painful and starting to feel like it's pulling across my wrist. Pretty sure it may have a bit of a localized infection. Blehhh..
Well I have a full week ahead of me. Moving into the new place starts either tomorrow or Wednesday, then I have the hospital tour on Thursday, and an Ob-Gyn appointment on Friday. Anyone else feel like a chicken with its head cut off?
Also, since we can't afford new furniture and I'm not too pleased with our options of used furniture, I thought I might make a few things. Still costly, but cheaper than buying outright new stuff. I was looking over some fun ideas I could do in a day. My problem is with the corners to these ideas. I want something that will be easy to babyproof. So if I make these items, what's the best way to babyproof them?
Take your pick!
We didn't babyproof corners. The outlets got covered, the wood burning stove and stairs got gates and the cabinet with cleaning supplies got a lock.
The biggest thing is worry about with that style is their access to everything. DD loves to push buttons and go through DHs basket of video game controllers in our open shelf entertainment center etc. Doors would have been really nice.
It's a boy! Grow baby, grow! EDD: 4/22/2016
@fbanke42 Did you use shellac to finish the wood? That should prevent splinters.
@imrachellea Thanks. I'm thinking of using a more permanent rounder, but I could just hot glue some temp corner bumpers to it as a solution. I'm more worried about LO getting his arm stuck inbetween the slates, but I really like this type of design. So conflicted.
@mrstrax I was wondering about that. Maybe I could make miniature doors and turn it into cabinets instead of open?