The first one I will title, “Inside the Apartment, Outside The Apartment”

Inside the Apartment
After having a late start to my day, it was around 11 am. I was waiting for the shower to warm up, so the water was running. I also had my portable iPod stereo going. Then I heard a weird yipping sound and thought at first that the iPod was skipping or something. After pausing the song, I realized, no, no, it was Remy going insane with barking. Which meant, most likely, that someone had knocked on the door. Still wearing my P.J.’s, I hurried over to the door and saw a FedEx lady standing outside. Earlier that day, I had moved our bag of recyclables next to the door so I would remember to take it to the disposal room. The bag had slid down and most of the contents were all over the entrance. As I opened the door–with Remy still barking and completely freaking out, but convinced he was heroically saving my life–I had to use the door to push about 20 Coke cans out of the way. Apologizing to the lady, I signed for Josh’s iLife ’09. “It’s okay, they sound like energetic little guys,” she said. “Oh yeah, it’s just one really freaked one,” I replied with a little shame. (That’s a first–barking in such a way that sounded like TWO dogs.) Thanking her, I closed the door.

Outside the Apartment
After knocking, a FedEx lady had to wait several moments and listen to a couple of dogs’ crazy, high pitched yips. Obviously, on edge and probably stressed or underfed. Finally, the door started to open. Although it was past 11 in the morning, a woman still in her pajamas had to move what sounded like 2 dozen empty cans. She must have just woken up from last night’s party and hadn’t had a chance to clean yet.

—

“The Teague Males Talk in Their Sleep”
So Remy, as many dogs do, makes little sounds in his sleep sometimes. Almost like a chirping. Last night/this morning around 1 am, he started doing it. Josh got out of the bed and said, “Remy, Remy, it’s okay, come on in, buddy,”  and opened the door. Remy was staying put in the living room, but Josh seemed to think he was already in the room and continued to comfort him. “It’s okay, that’s a good boy,” Josh said as he got back in bed. 

“Josh, he’s fine,” I assured him.

“He was barking,” was Josh’s answer.

“No, he was just doing that thing where he makes sounds in his sleep, but he’s fine.”

After getting no answer, I suspected Josh had never really been awake. This theory was confirmed. Josh has no memory of the event.

Which means, I do believe, that man and man’s best friend were in a simultaneous state of semiconsciousness.  I may be the only one, but I find that to be an impressive bond.

Doesn’t the guest bed look so comfy? After buying bits and pieces of it for the last few months- a frame here, some sheets there, things called bed slats that we didn’t even know we needed- it’s finally ready and waiting. Particularly for you grandparents. (I would say soon-to-be, but you already are. But soon-to-be grandparents of a Seattle baby.) And now a room that I always avoided because it was a collecting ground for Goodwill items is one of my new favorite places to be. We’ll show more pictures once the crib comes in.

In other preparations for Baby Teague’s arrival: thanks to the incredible generosity of family and friends, we have a stroller, car seat, bath tub, and jogging stroller (amongst other wonderful things). But those are the things that had some assembly required. Well, consider them assembled. Yay for Josh! I was quite impressed. He put all those things together in one night.

As for other gifts we’ve been blessed with, blankets and outfits are washed and folded. Toys have been opened and put in their very own toy bin. (The first of many, we’re guessing.) We’re slowly but surely getting things ready for Baby. Of course, we still have about 2 months left. It’s just so fun to get things ready, what can I say?

As for baby updates, our little one has some thing in common with his/her cousins, especially Silas, Caroline, and Mary Ellen- he/she loves doing gymnastics. I’ve never noticed pregnant women flinch or shift around as a result of these gymnastic moves. So I feel like if I flinch, I look like a total wimp. So out in public, I muster up a blink or sniff or something you wouldn’t even detect. So I can be as graceful as all the other preggers. But at home, I jump up or switch positions, or do something I’ve learned pregnant women shouldn’t do- say “Ow!”  I just had no idea I’d be sitting around watching 24 and suddenly feel as if a tiny, kicking foot is about to  break loose and float around inside me. Of course, it’s fun in its own way and completely worth it to know there’s a healthy little guy/gal getting ready to make a debut.

So the guest room is ready and waiting for you. And the nursery part of that room- we are happily working on it. Progress to be posted.

Hormones wreck havoc on pregnant ladies. I blame the following situations on my current hormonal make up: Craving bananas at 5 am. Being awake at 5 am in the first place. Fussing at Remy for whining, then feeling so guilty because he’s such a sweet dog that I hold him in my lap and fight back tears. Trying to decide what to have for dinner when I’ve ruled out Italian, Chinese, Mexican, Thai, hamburgers, salads and pasta. And chicken. 

That’s just during the waking hours. Here’s some random, vivid dreams I’ve had during the past few months. And yes, I blame these weirdos on the hormones as well.

-I was back in a classroom teaching. The class was a mixed group of kindergartners and high schoolers. And neither age group was listening to a word I said.

-Driving to teach school one morning, I looked at the clock and completely panicked when I saw I was an hour late. To top it off, my classroom had been moved into a shopping mall.

-Josh took me to a pet store/warehouse where you had to walk between boa constrictors roaming the floor. I woke up convinced there was a snake in the bed and if I moved my leg an inch, I’d feel it. 

-I was hanging out in my high school biology classroom when I realized I was about to miss my ultrasound appointment. My teacher and several classmates gave me a ride and we got stuck on horrible traffic. I had to call Josh, who was waiting for me at the office, to tell him I was going to miss it.

-In another ultrasound dream, the technician offered to take the baby out so I could hold it. Or should I say “her,” since I saw that it was a girl. I felt terrible that I forgot we were going to wait to find out the sex. Josh wasn’t even there. But Mom and Annie were. (Thanks, Ladies!)

-At Mom’s new house, I was going to take a shower. The shower was more like a huge tub that filled up incredibly quickly. As soon as the faucet was turned on, you found yourself standing in four and half feet of water. You also had to climb stairs to exit the shower/tub.

-In the most disappointing dream, Josh and I brought the baby home. It was a boy, and I was really excited to bring out the newborn blanket and let him play on the floor with cute little baby toys. Even though he was teeny tiny, he was able to speak and told me he didn’t want to play that boring game.

-In the BEST dream, I was in a cafeteria of endless food lines and I could eat any and as many desserts I wanted. I could still taste the chocolate when I woke up.

It’s time for the first month recap. Ta da!

Pictures to hopefully follow- still looking for the cord that inputs the pictures from the digital camera to the computer.

The first week actually went by pretty fast. Josh being Josh made sure we had internet access four days after we arrived, and me being me (and newly addicted to Jon and Kate plus 8) begged for a new tv and cable access. Missions accomplished. We could email, twitter, keep in touch with everyone and enjoy watching the twins and sextuplets. 

We attempted to buy some cheap camping chairs or bean bags to use as temporary furniture until our stuff arrived. Four hours and five stores later, we had discovered the world’s most crowded Walmart (seriously, it was so insane we walked in the door and right back out when we saw the lines.) But we did not find any chairs. Josh had a brilliant solution and moved the air mattress (which we brought on the road trip with us) into the living room. Our bed/couch.

The second week was when Josh went to California for training. Since we didn’t have any of our kitchen supplies, I spent that week eating microwaved meals from Trader Joe’s. I recommend the potstickers and chicken/bean burritos. 

Oh, another thing that stands out from that week was when I was watching a late night movie on T.V. All the sudden, as the credits were still rolling, it cut to a preview of the next show. Which was about children who claim to be psychic. One kid was saying how he could see shadowy figures around him that no one else could see. The t.v.  showed their version of hooded figures  standing in a room. I was fumbling in the dark hitting every button on the remote except the one that could change the channel. I wasn’t fast enough and the words/images made their way into my brain, officially creeping me out.

It took everything I had in me not to move Remy’s bed right next to the air mattress. I was thanking God for not only his protection, but for providing us with a Jack Russell who yaps and barks if he hears anything that sounds remotely like someone trying to come into his territory. Including shadowy figures, I presume. All in all, that was a fairly slow, relaxed week.

Then a whole bunch happened all at once. Josh came home on Friday. Yay! The movers called Saturday morning and said they were downstairs WITH OUR STUFF. Yay! OUR STUFF ARRIVED! The first boxes I unpacked were anything marked “kitchen.” I missed home cooked food so much. It was beautiful when I made that first meal. I could have wept with joy. The joy of cooking- I finally get that title now.

And just as our third week was about to get underway- da da  da da daaa !!! We had our first guest! Beau was in town due to a work related trip and we got to hang out with a family member! Then- ta da!!! Jeanne came the next day. We got to go out to MEALS with PEOPLE we KNEW. It was awesome. And we felt our first pride in our new town as we got to show it off.

The rest of that third week we were able to have a few more meals with Beau and Jeanine. Jeanine was even nice enough to spend a whole day helping me unpack and organize our new closet.  Josh started working at the Seattle branch and of course, loved it. I continued to unpack and organize. Which is pretty much how we spent the next two weeks. Josh going to work, me unpacking, cooking, (Hooray!) and exploring the area.

Then…this past week…the Heat Wave hit. The good people of Seattle don’t believe in installing air conditioning. “It’s so cool here, you’d only miss it a few weeks out of the year.” Well, this past week was one of those weeks. We’re on the fifth and top floor of our apartment complex and it was like an endurance test every day from about 11 am until 6 pm. Yesterday, which was a Sunday, Josh and I left the apartment to go for a long drive just to feel the AC in his car. By the evening, half the traffic lights were out in the city due to power outages as every store in the area cranked its AC up. The city is not prepared for hot times such as these.

A big part of the heat wave is the fact that despite my expectations, it’s barely rained here at all. The rainy months aren’t expected until October or so. I’ve been watching the weather reports like a hawk. And today, wonderful today, the predictions came true- it rained this morning and the temperature dropped into the low seventies. I am so happy I wanted to write and let everyone know. Everyone- I am so very comfortable right now.

So that’s about it. We really like our new city and all the parks here. We’ve met some amazingly nice and friendly people through the church.  All in all, it’s been a great month and we’re really close to being settled.

But we’re not ready for pictures of the apartment yet. They are coming. =)