So there is news

So it is as official as it is going to get...

We have our next roaming destination: Vienna, Austria


Kdubs just got the finalized job offer and he accepted. He will be going off and on until November/the-month-the-baby-is-due. We will all move over there after the baby is born...hopefully early to mid-January if all the paper work works out.

I don't know much about Austria, except this building seems pretty popular


And they are known for their music. Something about a boys choir and an opera?

The job will entail a LOT of travel around Europe and will last around 18-24 months. So as of right now...that is the plan. Crazy, right? We knew this might happen, but we just didn't think that it would pan out. I'm a little scared...ok, a LOT scared. And I am still processing a bunch of details and plans and to-dos.

So this is why I have been quiet for awhile. Negotiating, Processing, going back and forth.

What do babies sleep in?

On our Babies R Us trip, Kdubs and I discovered something disheartening...

Bedding Arrangement-Plan A won't work.
What is plan A, you ask?
Since we have no idea when we are going anywhere, where we will be going, or what our arrangements will be, we wanted to get something that could travel well (since we might be traveling a lot and hotel cribs ook me out) and would be sturdy...

So after much research I thought an Arm's Reach Co-sleeper would be best. Great for breastfeeding, keep the baby close but not in the actual bed. I also thought it could be used as a play pen later. I had read a lot of reviews and was pumped.

Until I went into B-R-Us and played with the one on display!
It was unruly, hard to fold up, the play pen area looked flimsy and awful. It was small and there was warning labels printed on all the fabric...SO NOT CUTE!!!! Kdubs played around with it for awhile, and he was even more fed up than me!

So we looked around and brainstormed:

Do we get a Moses basket, a bassinet, a playpen, and a a traveltime bed? We'd like to wait to get a full crib until we move...less furniture to move, etc.

What do/did you all use for the first few months? Did you try something and hate it? Please advise me!!!

Birthday to Me

So 28 years of me being on this planet has come and gone!!!
But this birthday was special for me because it is the first one in awhile that K-dubs was able to fully participate in the birthday festivities.

He took me out to breakfast to my favorite-Waffle House-by ourselves...it was so nice and just plain fun.

We took my cousin to see G.I.Joe. Popcorn and coke...my favorite treats!
The movie was okay. I loved the cartoons as a kid but they have globalized Joe and for a lot of reasons I got severely ticked at the politicization of Joe. The movie was really loud (I felt like an old fart until Kdubs and the cousin agreed that it was unnecessarily loud) so I couldn't really enjoy it.

He got me a cake (from Publix, of course). However, i was a brat about it because I wanted a Great American Cookie Cake. We decided it was a hormonally pregnant fit.

He also got me some awesome presents. He hasn't been able to take much time for presents in the past but he did great this time:

A great green Vera Bradley purse that I said I liked 6 months ago but never mentioned again.
A very pretty necklace that we had to unfortunately return (but I got a great gold one that is very unique).
And a very pretty dress that he picked out at Dillard's all by himself. I can't imagine him walking around Dillard's looking for a dress for his 6 months preggo wife.

He went out to dinner with my family and even happily took the requisite picture around the cake (which he usually grumbles about).

Needless to say...I am one lucky girl!

SOS

Okay,
I have to set up my registry asap!
What do you register for? What shouldn't you register for?
What are the MUST HAVES?

I NEED HELP! Pass it along!

Boy, Girl or Neutral?

The number two question we are asked (after "when is the due date?") is "Do you know what you are having?"

And we get a very strong reaction on both sides when we say, "oh, we're not finding out till it comes out!" or "we're going to be surprised."

People like my mom and brothers say things like, "How can I buy things if we don't know the gender?!?" "How are you going to be surprised...are you surprised by a coin toss...WOHOO! It's TAILS!" "Ugh, I couldn't wait to find out!"

Other people like my midwife and my mother-in-law are very enthusiastic about not knowing. They think it is great fun.

Really we decided on this for a couple of reasons:
1.) I think it will give me an extra reason to push! and I love surprises but always spoil them.

2.) I am the most impatient person in the world and thought that if I could test my patience with this that I may actually have some patience in me somewhere!

3.) I think it is more fun to tell people on the birthday..."Its a BOY/GIRL! and we've named it ________" rather than having everything picked out and saying, "So, ________ is here." (I know it is silly and small but it is something that I want to have for my first pregnancy at least.)

4.) Even if we didn't tell people a name, I didn't want to be smug and tell people: "yeah, we know but we're not telling."

5.) I like being difficult and doing things my own way...bet you couldn't tell that about me.

6.) Kdubs didn't care about knowing so that made the decision even easier. If he wanted to know or wanted to find out without me...I would totally buckle down to pressure.

7.) I also have heard that if you don't know that you get more practical gifts for showers, which is great. And since I don't know where we will be when this baby is born, I don't want to be moving a bunch of extra baby stuff. And not knowing the gender has really tempered my mom's desire to spoil this kid already.

So did you find out? What were the benefits in your mind either way?

Onward and Outward

Here is another belly picture! 108 days to go. This is crazy!

There is a lot that I would like to record down for posterity's sake. So I will be writing about some of these things coming up:

Why we are not finding out if this peanut is a boy or girl.
What we should register for.
How to acclimate Penny to baby.
Nursery color plans.

Any thoughts on this so far?