Still Waiting

Well since I said to expect a post in a week regarding the job opportunity in Portland I figure I need to update. Cam hadn't heard anything from the Portland office all last week. On Friday about an hour before his shift ended (which would be 2 PST) he sent a message to the manager inquiring about the position. The dude in Portland told him that they hadn't figured it out yet. Cam let them know that he was expecting a baby still (he had mentioned it at the original interview as well) and that he may not be in work next week depending on what happens. The Portland guys say they will give him a call on his cell phone, if he isn't at work, to let him know about the job.

I guess this shouldn't come as a HUGE shock to anyone that has been following the stock market the last few weeks; there have been tons of banks going under and huge plummets and rises, so things have been pretty busy. Anyway, the training for the position starts a week from Monday (October 6th) so E*Trade technically has all of next week to mull over the decision of who they are hiring as well, I just hope they let us know sooner rather than later. Hopefully the delay also means that they are trying to get funding to help with moves (since they are having to import employees).

In other news I am still waiting on Chelane to decide to make her entrance into this world as well. I was due last Monday (the 22nd) and there is no "change" that I can see to make me predict when she is coming. I am hoping it will be sooner rather than later as well since there will be a lot to do if we have to move and I would like to be pretty recovered from child birth when I have to make a 12 hour drive to Oregon. *Sigh* I hate everything being to up in the air.

For something completly different Dallas broke our DVD player this week. He tried to put both Baby Signing Times in at the same time... Cam had to take a screw driver to the player to get them out and once he put it back together it wouldn't read the DVD's. It is OK though, the player was old, the remote only worked half the time, and we got a new player for about $30.

Of Bibs and Ducks

So, as Chelane is stubbornly waiting until AFTER her due date to come, Dallas keeps reminding me of the fact that I am an anxious waiter.

Dallas came two weeks early so one afternoon in August I decided, "Hey, why not set up all the baby stuff?" So I did. Since Cam is an EXTREMELY heavy sleeper (as long as it is in the middle of the night, from about 5am on he isn't so heavy) and the master bedroom is in this house is huge, I just set up the crib and dresser, with the baby clothes and diapers, on the side of the room we weren't using. Cam, of course, came home and immediately teased me for being so pro-active and then put the crib (already complete with sheets) to good use as a hanger for his work pants. *sigh*

Every few days or so Dallas will decide to rearrange my baby organization job and pull the clothes out of the dresser. He especially seemed to love a little pink spit bib (he believes it is a hat I think) until the other day. He pulled out a cute, newborn-size, yellow sleeper with ducks on it and brought it over to the bed where I was finishing "Return of the King". He handed me the sleeper, and when I asked what he wanted me to do with it he promptly started trying to pull his shirt off and signing "help". When I didn't oblige and tried to explain that the sleeper was for a baby and too small for him, he took the sleeper from me and went to find Daddy...

Portland

So Cam had his interview for the RM position in Portland yesterday. Cam has applied to almost anything that has opened up in the Sandy center over the past few months (about 3 different positions); after all those interviews, however, he said he didn't feel good about the interview... he didn't think some of his answers were good or he felt ill-prepared, etc. When he came home yesterday he said he felt good about the interview. I take that to be a good sign.

If he gets the position he would have a week of training in Seattle, a week in GA and then start on Oct 20th in Portland. We will know if he got the position by the end of next week so (for those of you not doing the math) that will leave basically 3 weeks for 2 weeks of out-of-town training and moving. That also means (for those of you not following too closely along) that I will be packing up the house pretty much by myself with a newborn and a toddler running around. At least I won't be bored! Hopefully Karma can help out...

As you can tell (well maybe you can't) I am getting my hopes up, which I know I shouldn't be. I am just VERY ready to be out of the desert and I know Cam is ready to be off his estate and retirement team. Anyway, we will find out by the end of next week, so watch out for a post along those lines in a week!

Some Pictures

I am not sure why I am posting these, most people that check this are family and have already seen these pictures, but they are so darn cute. So here are the Dallas and me pictures with my 33 week preggo belly and Dallas is about 19.5 months.

The Waiting Game...

I didn't expect to be waiting until my due date with this pregnancy, but it looks like that is where I am headed. Dallas came over 2 weeks early so I just assumed that would happen again, but here I am 8 days from the due date and nothing. Cam is looking forward to his daughter, not only to have another baby but also to take some time off of stressfull work.

Also Cam is applying for a position within E*Trade at a new office they are opening in Portland. It is the same position we have been waiting to open in the Seattle office, but this will at least get us out of the desert at considerably closer to family. He has an interview on Wednesday and the position would start October 20th (when Cam first told me about the position I thought they would *maybe* be filling it by around Christmas... this would be happening a lot quicker than that).

Dallas started saying some more words. He has "yes" ("ya-ya" in a very happy (and high) voice), "no" (complete with head shaking), juice ("oo-s" along with the sign), and cereal (sounds a lot like his juice but he is signing cereal along with it), and "uh-oh" that I have only heard a few times. His understanding of words has ballooned and he is starting to obey better (and at the same time be more defiant). Cam and I are looking forward to his verbal skills taking off.

Baby Arrangments

We moved around furniture today so there would be room in the master bedroom for the crib and baby dressers and all that. Dallas is still using the crib to this day, but we are planning on getting him a "big boy bed" sometime in the next month so he has time to transition before the baby comes.

I guess I haven't said already, "It's a girl!" There seemed to be no sign of baby boy parts in the ultrasound. We are planning on naming her Chelane (sha-lane), Cam loves the name and suggested it for Dallas before we knew the gender. I already bought a bunch of fabric and made the top of a baby quilt for her (it is reminiscent of Dallas' for those who have seen his - but with purple, green, and pink). I just need to put the border on, tie it and hem it up (of course I have to go buy the fabric to do that with still...).

I actually have had a bit of fun sewing last month. I was making that baby quilt and then I decided to make some wipes. They are two sided flannel, about 7"x 4" and fit in a regular wipes box just perfectly. Of course no Kassie project would be a Kassie project if I had finished it all at one time... I still haven't bought the essential oils and other things to use as the wipe "juice", so we are wetting down the wipes as we need them. This is something else that will have changed before the baby comes as well (I hope!).

I bet now you are wondering, "Wait, why is she making her own wipes?" Well Dallas is in cloth diapers now. It works great and isn't a huge change from disposables. Even Cam changes his cloth diapers (as long as it isn't pooey, lol but then he was the same way before...). I just use a prefold that you pin down and a synthetic cover. I haven't had a leak outside the cover yet (and the covers are so easy and quick to hand wash if there is a leak outside the prefold). I really feel like I am doing a bit to help the environment and I haven't had problems with Dallas having diaper rash at all since I switched. I am excited to see how they work with a newborn. We do still keep some disposables around, but those are reserved for day trips (if we take any) and babysitters (if we have any). The "sposies" are a brand called Tushies and are made with cotton and wood pulp innards rather than all the weird chemicals and non-biodegradable stuff most diapers have in them. They are a bit more bulky than other brands but again, I feel better using them (yeah I know, I am going granola over here).

I will get a pic of the quilt up here some (mostly so I can get compliments for it, lol).