The True Adventures of Superhero Girl

January

2012-02-05T10:37:00.000-08:00

My blog is pretty now, but I have failed to add any new content. When I can't sleep at night, I think up all kinds of posts. In the morning I either can't remember the ideas, or the ideas make no sense. Does that ever happen to you?

To be honest, January was not the greatest for me. I felt kind of down. So worn out. No way to recharge. I know this is all temporary, but that doesn't help me magically summon the energy and patience needed for each new day. Dh and I have been working harder to have scripture study together and that has helped the most.

Miss E can read several words now and is often a great helper. Don't tell her, but I trick her into tidying by telling her someone she likes is coming to visit. It completely works. She even dusts the piano and entertainment center. And then my house is tidy when that person shows up later that day. She whirls around the house, a cleaning dervish, chattering on about how "we simply can not have a messy house when so-and-so comes over." Sometimes she even does it in a faux British accent, which is my favorite.

Ace is ADORABLE with freckles splashed across his face. The freckles seriously slay women everywhere. Women are always commenting on them. I think he might finally be toilet-trained completely. What an ordeal. Days were fine, but he would often go #2 in his nighttime diaper just after we put him to bed, and sometimes, I kid you not - in his sleep. How does one alter that? It's not easy, let me tell you, especially when my son continued to shrug in a very French way no matter which toy Dh or I took away as a consequence. The solution is: buy a Super Toy Assortment from the Oriental Trading Co, full of the lowest quality toys ever, akin to the prizes at Chuck E Cheese's. Place one toy where child can see it and assure him he can have it once he poops in the potty. Repeat every day. Voila!

Baby C, oh I can wax rhapsodic about my darling Baby C. She is so sweet and fun and funny. Such a good little baby. Well, not so little anymore. She will shortly be 6 months old and weighs about 16 pounds. She adores her entire family. Ace and Miss E love to talk to her and play with her. The other day I entered her room to find Miss E reading her a story. Sibling love is so precious. She is quite good at grabbing things and loves to shriek happily. No sitting up unassisted, though it shouldn't be too long now. I have given her a couple foods in the past couple of weeks - applesauce and prunes - and she made the most horrified faces. The kids and I found it vastly entertaining. She does like to drink water from a bottle, though I have serious doubts about how much water actually makes it into her mouth.

In January we had some flooding. None very near to our house, thank goodness. This picture was taken by my husband 1-2 miles north of our house, where town gives way to farmland.

Dh's parents visited us the second weekend in January and brought the children's Christmas presents then. Ace wanted to try out his new toy boat right then. And for some reason needed to be naked to test it out. ?? Please note Miss E is appropriately attired. Ace quickly froze his tuckus off and raced inside to warm up.

Another day in January we headed up into the Cascade Mountains to a beautiful waterfall in the middle of nowhere. We barely made it back in time for Miss E to attend her afternoon kindergarten class. The water was so clear and cold. The fresh mountain air felt wonderful in our lungs. I had forgotten how much I enjoy the mountains.

2011-12-12T22:51:00.001-08:00

Sorry bedtime came right in the middle of blog reconstruction. Promise it'll be prettier soon!

Wednesday

2011-12-07T22:00:00.000-08:00

Bummers:

The state of my home's carpet. It gets vacuumed very sporadically right now.
That I rely on spell check to spell vacuum.
Baby poop that refuses to remain contained within diapers and instead gets on every. piece. of. clothing. Baby C owns. And my clothes. And then stains them.
Dh and I both having PMS on the same day. Haha That day sucked. Except for when Dh admitted that he has hormones too. That was kind of awesome.

Funnies:

Hearing Ace say, "Mom, Phineas and Ferb are making a title sequence!" in his cute little boy voice.
Baby C working the entire crowd at my church's Christmas party last night. No one can resist her.
Miss E asking to play "Farstall" on my computer. Then the next day asking to play "Stallfar." Starfall website
Watching Better Off Ted with Dh. That show is hi-frickin-larious.

Happies:

Miss E's face when Santa sent her a video message (via this website).
Decorating the tree with the kiddos.
Making Sprinkle Cookies with the kids.
I loooooove Christmas time. The entire month of December is marvelous.

This and That

2011-11-12T21:52:00.000-08:00

Since my husband finished grad school, he's had more free time. He's been spending it fishing (as much as I will let him, which is pretty often), hunting whenever possible, and following college football. I have discovered I actually find football pretty interesting to watch. To the point that despite the fact that Dh is working, I watched bits and pieces of the Oregon-Stanford game all on my own. And crowed (nicely) to my brother in Florida via text, who had very snidely suggested last week that Oregon would surely lose. Booyah!
My kids are on me all day long. It starts from the moment they realize I am awake and it does not cease until they are asleep. It drains me every day. Then I have a couple of hours to myself, or to spend with my husband, and then I do it all again the next day. It is so exhausting. I know we are all trying to find our places again since the addition of Baby C, and it is rough on them for Dh to be temporarily working swing. (They were kind of manic last fall - Dh works swing every autumn.) Miss E started kindergarten, and my mom was here for a full month, and is gone now. All these upsets to our normal routine. But oh my heavens. The constant whining and fighting and begging for candy. (Seriously wtfreak is up with the constant begging for candy?? That alone is driving me mad.) And then. And then Miss E brings me a picture she drew for me, of me and her holding hands, and she has written our names across the top, and I melt. So fortunately for my children, they do just enough cute and sweet and well-behaved things that I have thus far staved off complete insanity.
In my children's defense, I dragged all three of them to Target and Safeway on a Saturday (today) and they were all super, super well-behaved. I even remembered to thank them for that when we piled in the car, and their beaming faces were beautiful to see.
The baby is so sweet. I absolutely adore her. She is a good sport with the pestering her siblings give her. (Though when Ace accidentally kicked her head today, I got extremely mad.) She sleeps so well at night it is truly wonderful. She usually goes down around 8, and sleeps until at least 4. Lately she has been sleeping until 5 or 6. But I mentioned that Dh is working swing? He gets home a bit after 10. So I usually stay up and hang with him. (Stupid.) I haven't been getting that much sleep. I want to see my husband, okay? I think I'm going to have to stop seeing him though, because this not-enough-sleep thing is not working out for me in the long term. Or even the short term.
Okay my husband just got home, so that's all folks!

Apparently Eating Is Important

2011-11-04T15:44:00.000-07:00

First of all, you are very smart bloggy friends! I was indeed Kate Middleton. I guess the good people of my town are not as up on posh Brits. Weird.

* * *

If you have had a baby you know how it goes with eating - you might get to, if the baby stops needing you for one minute. Which she doesn't. Besides which I have these two other children who keep expecting clean clothes and regular meals. I keep feeling really shaky, only to look at the clock and realize it's 2 pm and I've yet to eat a bite. But the clincher is I am coming down with my second illness in as many weeks.

My husband is confused by the entire issue. But I've seen how he works. He doesn't worry about pesky things like the dishes, or cleaning, so he just sits right down and eats at the same time as the kids. I hate getting up ten times while eating, so I usually just wait until they're done eating before I attempt to eat. I prefer to clean while they eat, because it doesn't matter if cleaning gets interrupted ten times. But I hate soggy cereal or lukewarm food. This worked fine before I had Baby C, but it just doesn't work now. Cue the shakes.

Right now though, Dh has taken the children away for a little trip to a yurt at the coast, so it's just me and the bambino. It more than makes up for his blase approach to cleaning!!

I'm a Winner! or, Why You Should Always Fill Out Those Surveys

2011-11-02T20:29:00.000-07:00

A few months ago Random House sent me a couple of surveys. I get two of their newsletters, a general fiction one & one that showcases newly-published cookbooks. So they asked me what I thought of some changes they were considering making, yadda yadda yadda. They said, as thanks for completing this survey you will be entered in a sweepstakes to win a free tote bag & book of your choice. Then I had four choices of this book I could supposedly win.

Well imagine my surprise when Random House emailed me a couple weeks later and said I had won! Woo! There was no indication whether it was for the fiction survey or the cookbook survey, not that I could remember which free book I had opted for anyway. Two days ago I received a sturdy canvas tote bag with the Random House logo and this cookbook. I love winning, and I love free things. Let this be a lesson to us all. Haha

Halloween 2011

2011-11-02T20:22:00.000-07:00

I didn't think my costume was that subtle, but no one guessed it. Who am I?

October 15, 2011

2011-10-15T15:36:00.000-07:00

I am in the thick of unable-to-accomplish-anything-during-the-day-because-it-seems-all-I-do-is-nurse. I can usually do 1-2 loads of laundry, do the dishes, feed everyone (sometimes even myself), and make dinner. Miss E has been on time to kindergarten (I drive her. We tried walking, it just doesn't work with 2 kids & an infant.). Beyond that, frankly, I've been trying little else. Lots of nursing, rocking, diaper changing, and fight breaking-upping. In the evenings I put on blinders so I don't notice how messy the house is. I zone out & watch tv with Dh, do a little knitting, relax so I can do it all again tomorrow.

This baby is delightful. But holy moley babies are a lot of work.

In Which I Get Along Swimmingly With My Mother

2011-09-29T15:45:00.000-07:00

My mom has been here nearly a month now. I was pretty apprehensive about her visit prior to her arrival. But apparently it makes a big difference to not have just had a baby. By the time she arrived, Baby C was just about a month old and therefore I wasn't super hormonal and desperately sleep deprived. We've gotten along just fine. The first week was a bit rough at times - figuring out how to do the dance of two adult women, both used to running their own households. I had to be a little blunt a few times ("Mom, Miss E bugs me for new clothes all the time. Please don't add your voice to that chorus." "You don't have to like how we discipline Ace.") I said these statements in a very nice tone of voice, trust me. Though there might have been one time that I exclaimed, "Don't rearrange my kitchen! You're making me crazy!" accompanied by strangling motions with my hands...thankfully she has kept her hands off my appliances ever since, so no actual strangling has occurred. I freely admit that the one thing I am SUPER ANAL about is my kitchen. Don't touch it. Don't mess it up. Only I get to do that.

What I am now apprehensive about is my mother leaving. Dh is downright scared for her to go. That's right, Dh wishes his mother-in-law could stay longer. He knows his life is going to get a lot harder when she leaves! He is right. She handles the laundry, while I handle the cooking. We take turns dropping Miss E off at kindergarten depending on whether the baby is awake or not. She is perfectly willing to change lots of poopy Baby C diapers, to burp the baby after I nurse her, to hold Baby C while she fusses (she is my first baby with an actual fussy time - 5-7pm) so I can make dinner. All of this is going to change once she leaves. I have a feeling my baby is going to have to cry more often then. Sometimes I will just have to strap her into the carseat screaming so I can take E to kindergarten. Yuck. I hate having to let my baby cry. Oh well. She will be fine, and I will be fine. And really I am so aware of how blessed I am that my mother could come out and was willing to come out for so long. What a giant help and blessing she has been. Dh is getting her a present on his own to show that he is thankful (his idea, smart guy!) and I am going to make her this bag with some nice linen yarn she picked out to thank her for her help.

So a few days before Baby C hit 6 weeks, it was like a switch flipped. Suddenly she is sleeping for a long time at night. She wasn't easy her first 6 weeks. She had day/night confusion, she would only sleep in arms, she woke every two hours at night. Now she sleeps from 8pm -4am. I KNOW. It's awesome. The only down side is when she gets up at 4 she seems to think it's morning and is wide awake for 1-2 hours. Sooo. Not sure what to do about that. Once I finally get her back to sleep, she sleeps for anywhere from 2-5 more hours.

She is a smiley baby and I am just eating her up. She loves to be sung to, so I've been doing tons of that. She smiled at Grandma around the same time she smiled at me (on her 1-month birthday). She gave huge smiles to Ace, who adores her. She smiled at Dh about a week ago. I'm not sure if she has smiled at Miss E. I thought Miss E was going to love having the baby around...not so much. She seems to mostly find Baby C inconvenient. Also she is busy adjusting to kindergarten; that is her focus right now. She doesn't want to hold her usually. Ace is the one who just can't get enough of Baby C. He sings to her when she gets fussy (cutest. thing. ever.) and loves to chat with her and show her toys during diaper changes.

Baby C was blessed at church this past Sunday. It was a beautiful, happy day. Both sets of grandparents were there, and one of Dh's brothers & his family. We had a big luncheon for all the family and EK's family, it was crazy & fun. Dh got a bit stressed beforehand, he was convinced we would not have enough food. If I hadn't been defensive, I would have thought it was cute. Ha ha (We had enough food.)

When I get some free time, I spend it wasting time on the computer (I like shutting off my brain), reading, or watching some tv while I knit. The knitting has become necessary. It's soothing. The down side to the knitting is I keep spending money at the local yarn shop. I swear, I'm singlehandedly keeping that place in business. But really, how was I supposed to resist the merino/cashmere blend in the coolest mix of purple, black & gray that was on clearance? (It's becoming a cowl.)

Birth Story

2011-08-27T18:59:00.000-07:00

On Sunday August 7, I woke up around 4am to roll over. The baby had dropped about a week before and my pelvic pain had taken it up a serious notch. As in, I was in pretty constant pain. So I woke up at night any time I rolled over because my hips would scream in protest. So I woke up and noticed a slightly different contraction than my normal B-Hs. You would think after two babies I would know a labor contraction. But I was only 38 weeks 2 days pregnant, and Miss E & Ace had been born 2 days early and 1 day early respectively, so I was confident this baby would not come until quite close to her due date. Shows how much I know.

A few minutes later, I had another contraction. And then I felt a little...gushy. (This is a labor story, y'all. There's going to be TMI.) I hopped out of bed (as much as a 9-month pregnant lady can hop) and found woo-hoo! bloody show! I was sooooo excited, especially since this meant that soon I would no longer be pregnant. I hadn't been driving since the public fainting at 34 weeks and I was still having faintness/dizzying to the point that Dh had started his leave when I was almost 37 weeks. Also the aforementioned severe hip pain.

Okay, so the gushiness made me think perhaps my water had broken (it's never broken on its own) so I elected to go sit on an old blanket on the sofa because I figured there was no way I'd be able to fall asleep. I texted my mom because by this point it was 5 am and it was 8 am in NY and I knew she'd be up getting ready for church. Dh saw the light on when he got up for a bathroom trip, so I told him that I thought I was in labor and he went back to bed. I had one thumb left to knit on my very first pair of mittens, so I finished that as I timed my contractions. Around 6 they had started to get painful, so I decided to pack my hospital bag. I woke Dh up as I packed so he could shower & get ready. I curled my hair. Interestingly, that is the last time I curled my hair. Twenty-one days ago. Ha ha I was delaying leaving because I didn't want to wake EK up (she was my childcare). When Dh pointed out that my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and that surely that merited leaving for the hospital, I called EK around 6:20. Dh went to wake the kids up (the one day they slept in, of course!) and they were soooooo excited. Almost as excited as I was!

We dropped the kids off at EK's around 7 am I think and then it was off to the hospital. My primary fear was that my epidural wouldn't work, like when I had Miss E (the reason I KNOW I never want to have natural childbirth). However, it worked like a charm. When I checked in I was at a 5 and the contractions were every 3-4 minutes, moderately painful. By 11 I was at a stretchy 7. By 1 I was still at a 7. The doctor broke my water. By 3 I was still at a 7. And really frustrated. Also, my epidural was starting to wear off, and I was having significant back labor. The nurses deduced that the baby was posterior which was 1) causing the back labor and 2) causing me to stall at a 7 because the baby's head wasn't putting enough pressure on my cervix. The anesthesiologist returned and discovered that no medicine was going into my epidural tube. Thus the PAIN. So he flushed the tube and got it going again and gave me an extra dose too, to get me comfortable. The nurse had me lay on my side and put my leg up on a giant ball. Apparently this uses gravity to let the baby kind of flip over. The nurse said she'd seen it work a million times. It ended up being good the epidural messed up because it enabled us to figure out the baby needed to shift. The nurses & doctor hadn't been able to tell via touch.

As the epi kicked back in, I was able to doze a little. After an hour the nurse returned to flip me to the other side. "Oh let's check you first." I was fully dilated! Huzzah! It only took seven hundred hours. Okay, it was a little after 5:30 pm by this time, but I had spent the entire afternoon getting more and more frustrated (not to mention more and more hungry!) so I was really stoked. The nurse left to get the doctor and I confessed to Dh that I was scared. He is the best person to have around when in labor, he always says the right things!

The only downside was the extra dose of epi meds had completely removed all sensation to my legs. So I had to be put in those full stirrups. But that's okay, because it didn't affect my ability to push! With my very first push the baby started to crown. The nurses said slow down. I said, "Oh right, I don't want to tear." One of them said, "Well, and the doctor is still putting on his gloves." I didn't say anything, but in my head I was thinking, "yeah, like I care about that!"

Oh I'm sorry doctor, am I inconveniencing you with this delivery? Whatever! Put your gloves on faster, man!

Seven or eight pushes and she was born! The actual birth was so fast my head took an hour to catch up to the fact that I was done! Her apgars were 9 & 9. The doctor said it was a textbook delivery *patting myself on the back* and I only needed a few stitches.

Man, do Dh and I make good-looking babies.

Baby C weighed 8lbs2oz and was 20 inches long. She is really beautiful. She has very light brown hair; when she was born she was pretty much bald on top with a fringe in the back, like a monk. Now it's starting to grow in on the top. Not sure of the eye color yet, but since Dh has blue eyes and I have green, it's a safe bet it'll be one of those two colors.

Excited child faces and really pregnant mama. This is moments before we left for the hospital.

Blogger, why did you change the order of the photos I uploaded?? This was supposed to be at the top, and I have no inclination to reload it to fix its spot.

Yup, Ace is wearing his sister's shirt, with puff sleeves. Boo-yah.

Here is a picture of us as a family of five! The babysitter snapped this pic when we got home from the hospital. Sometimes I can't believe I have three children. But I think my family is complete now.

Baby C is a pretty standard baby - neither hard nor easy. Sometimes she sleeps well, sometimes we have to hold her for hours until we are quite sure the kinks in our backs and necks are permanent. She is different from her siblings as babies because she is pretty fond of the swing, and she sleeps really well in the car. In the past few days I have noticed a new awareness in her eyes - I have a feeling smiles aren't too far away!

Miss E and Ace adore her. They think everything she does is cute. At first Ace was having some trouble - nighttime wakings and fighting bedtime. That lasted a couple of weeks and now he's fine. However, now that it's been a few weeks, Miss E is seeing the downside (as far as she is concerned) to this baby - Mama never seems to be able to play or help her because she is always taking care of Baby C. Today at the park I purposefully walked off with Miss E when I knew Baby C was poopy and about to start crying. Miss E and I got some alone time and Dh got to bond with the baby! Ha ha (Ace was riding his bike in circles, in his own world.)

Recovery has frankly been a breeze this time around. I barely tore (1st degree) and the hospital was free with the Percocet. (First time taking that stuff - took the edge off my pain, and made me sleepy - a bonus when you are recovering from labor). With Miss E I had a 3rd degree (OUCH) and lousy ibuprofen. With Ace I had a 2nd degree and again ibuprofen. After less than a week I was off all pain meds and feeling pretty good. Of course, that's when the happy hormones wore off and the fatigue started to catch up to me. The past couple of weeks have been a bit rough, but Dh is home and lets me sleep more. He's finally realized I really meant it all those times I told him I need more sleep than he does.

My stomach is almost flat again. I kid you not - it's like a Christmas miracle. I love it. All I can figure is it is snapping back in place because I've had a longer recovery from my last pregnancy. My first two pregnancies were only 14 months apart, whereas Ace was 2 1/2 when I got pregnant with Baby C. I'm still a size up from my regular size, which I figure will last til I wean (my body always holds the last 7-10 pounds while I'm nursing), but it's truly delightful to be able to access even half my closet again, after those hateful maternity clothes. I can't wait to bid them adieu.

It's taken me a couple of days to get this all down, and most has been typed one-handed whilst also holding C. I'm so tired. I don't really like the newborn phase. Sure there are nice things about it, and I am able to enjoy those things more with my third baby, because I know the ropes by now, so my anxiety is almost nil. But I do NOT do well with sleep deprivation. At all.

As I mentioned earlier, Dh has been on medical/paternity leave since I was about 36.5 weeks pregnant. He's been home all month. It's been marvelous. He has been able to declutter a few closets and the attic. He even went to the cannery and came home with 60 cans of wheat for our food storage. And he's been enabling me to sleep in and/or nap whenever possible. He goes back to work next Monday (wah - okay I know I am completely SPOILED). My mom arrives Saturday to stay for a month! (See how neatly I arranged their times to overlap?) Dh has to work swing each fall, which sucked last year when I just had Miss E & Ace to care for, much less a newborn, so I asked my mom to stay an extra-long time. Hopefully we don't kill each other!

Craftiness

2011-07-20T17:51:00.000-07:00

Here's the link to my recent knitting projects.

Update

2011-07-12T22:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry no belly shot. I just keep forgetting. I am nearly 35 weeks. Not feeling any rush for this baby to come as her room is still a shambles. I did get all clothes, blankets, burp cloths, and bibs washed and put away last week. However, the crib is still actually a toddler bed. There's a massive stockpile of diapers in the corner (should last us 3 weeks at least lol). The walker is shoved on top of the swing because we're not quite sure what to do with either one yet. But the bassinet is ready so she'll have somewhere to sleep at least.

EK says I seem more relaxed with this pregnancy than with the last one. Ace's pregnancy is a bit hard to remember honestly, but I believe her. I am choosing not to stress out about all the things I can't control right now. That list is pretty frickin long at the moment. Ha ha Friday I fainted while by myself at a store. Luckily lots of people were around so I didn't hit the ground. The hospital staff checked me out and I'm okay, but I have been having sporadic dizziness since then, so my husband put his foot down (wisely) and restricted my solo outings. Standing up for more than ten minutes is hard for me right now! Do you have any idea how much that sucks? And how inconvenient it is to not go anywhere by myself? But of course Dh is right. It's not like the kids could catch me if I started to go down at Wal-Mart. I went with the kids to the library and McD's today, but I figured that was okay because I sit down pretty much the whole time at both those places.

I've reached that stage of pregnancy where you really have to slow down a lot. Either it makes it crazy or you give in to it. Me, I've given it to it. I've been knitting a lot since I've been sitting a lot. I just finished a small shawl/big scarf (I call it a shawlette), that I'm blocking right now. I'll post a pic of it later. I made a really freaking cute dress for the baby that will fit her around 3-6 months. (Again, pic later.) But in the past week, I've mostly been making dishcloths because that suits the sloooow brain processes I am capable of recently.

Dh sold his motorcycle a few weeks ago; he's decided to focus on fishing. He sold two boats and bought one. Confused? Yes, it makes me dizzy too. Whatever, I am happy he has finally focused his efforts and resources. And that there is only boat parked on the side of our house now. BUT the point of all this is that with the sale of the motorcycle we agreed we could each have some spending money (most of the money is going toward a big payment on his truck), so last week I ordered a Silhouette SD! It arrived last Friday (the fainting day) so I didn't get to play with it til the next day, but oh baby, me and that thing are gonna have fun together! Even Dh was impressed with all the cool things I can make with it. He asked me for some bright ribbon to tie on his suitcases for a little trip he took. I said, If you had given me some warning, I could have made you some awesome laminated luggage tags! ha ha (Yes I have a laminator too, I got it off Amazon when it was on craaaazy sale.) In fact, even in my dreams I have been planning cool projects. But that is partially due to pregnancy I'm sure. It's a little exhausting to dream of crafting, I find. The projects never make sense once I am awake. Ha ha

House Parties

2011-06-15T19:12:00.000-07:00

Recently I've had the opportunity to host two house parties. Have you heard of House Party? I was skeptical at first. Basically a company sends you a bunch of free stuff and you invite your friends so you can all check out the company's products. I applied for the Philly Cooking Creme house party and was selected as a host. They sent magnets, note pads, wooden spoons, and coupons for the products. The host gets cooler stuff for being the host. I got a Green Pan and a cooking mitt. Also four coupons for free Cooking Creme so I could make stuff for my guests. I made the Creamy Italian Chicken & Orzo Skillet:

and the Southwest Pasta Skillet.

Well, this experience converted me to House Parties, because dang that food was good. I had about six people come and everyone really liked the food. (Cassie, I'm looking at you. Have you tried the cooking creme? Because you would seriously heart it.) Also, that Green Pan ROCKS. I love it.

So after that I applied for all the house parties that sounded at all interesting to me. Just a couple months later, I was selected to be a host for Fresh Wave. I had never heard of Fresh Wave before that. I was even more doubtful about Fresh Wave than I was about the Philly Cooking Creme. (Because really, a creamy version of cream cheese? How could that be bad?) Fresh Wave is a line of odor absorbing products. Let me tell you, the stuff works. I received some crystal gel containers, a candle, room spray and pearl packs. The company sent lots of stuff, so everyone got a fair amount of loot. A couple of days after the party, my husband pulled out the George Foreman to make some hamburgers. That thing always stinks up our house to high heaven, so I lit the candle. Lo and behold, no nasty aftersmell! I could hardly believe it. I stashed a pearl pack in the kids bathroom (which smells bad no matter how often I clean it) and the car (which can get a little fusty) and both are noticeably odor-free. I love it.

I feel a bit like a corporate shill, but I don't really care. Neither company is paying me to say anything, and the parties are already over. I'm just sharing 1) delicious food that's ridiculously easy to make and 2) my surprise and delight about the lack of stink in my kids' bathroom!

In Which I Complain About How Unpleasant I Find Being Pregnant

2011-05-25T20:09:00.000-07:00

Recently I've been feeling rather like Worst Mother of the Year. I can't bend over easily and I'm in almost constant pelvic pain. My sleep has been erratic and interrupted. These things equal grouchiness. Some days, extreme grouchiness. My poor kids. My house is constantly messy and everything's so hard for me to do right now. I've been really pissy. It's temporary. That's what I keep reminding myself. I'm 99% sure this is my last pregnancy. I don't think my hips could take another baby. Sitting for too long hurts. Standing for too long hurts. Walking for too long hurts. Rolling over in bed hurts. The doctor said, Um yeah this is your third baby. *sigh*

I told the kids I wasn't very happy because they weren't being obedient and Ace gave me a big hug and then looked up and asked, "You happy now?" How could I say anything but yes?

I asked Ace to pick up some toys and told him I can't bend over now. He said, "Grownups can't bend over, but I can." Ha ha I was like, "Um, a month ago I could bend over. I'll be able to bend over once the baby's born. This big belly makes it hard." To which he responded, "You have a fat belly, Mom!" Ha ha

Note the tongue.

The baby is REALLY active which is often amusing. One night around 4 am Miss E came in because she'd had a bad dream. She scared the crap out of me when she came in to our room (perhaps I was in the middle of a bad dream myself). Dh put his arm over me and tried to reassure me. A big, heavy arm weighing me down did not help soothe me! I think I even batted ineffectually at it and said, "That doesn't help!" Ha ha Once I had fully awakened I was able to help our poor daughter. But anyway, since I awoke fully, it was a good hour before I could fall asleep again. The baby was going nuts! Lots of hard jabs and the funny leaping thing she does. I wonder if she does that every night and I usually just sleep through it.

Tonight we were all sitting around the table talking about whatever. Ace randomly asked Dh if he liked strawberry donuts. (Mmm strawberry donuts. Have been rationing myself to those babies 1-2x a month.) Dh said he didn't like them very much. Ace asked, "You like them one much?" I was confused where he came up with that until I realized that Miss E often says, "I love that too much!" So we started goofing around, asking each other if we liked something three much, or just one much. Hopefully those silly times at least balance out the bad days.

I've been knitting and crocheting and reading (all things you can do sitting down). I made a tiny white hat for the baby, a purple hat for Miss E, a blue hat for Ace (modeled above, it's too big for him, oh well), a tiny purple hat for a friend's baby and a white slouchy beret for myself (see middle pic, I heart it!). I've been slogging my way through The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. It was our May book for book club and I've only got 50 pages left so I'm going to finish it, by golly. The more I read it, the less I like it. I've also been working my way through Lie to Me season 1 on Netflix instant view. Dh doesn't care for it, even though it seems a lot like other shows we both like (The Mentalist, Psych, with a dash of crime fighting show). It's the salmon run so he's been obsessing over that. Lol

Keep me in your prayers please. I've got nearly three months to go!

Super Deals

2011-03-19T20:12:00.000-07:00

I scored some super deals yesterday that I'm so excited about, I just have to tell someone! I told Dh, but...it's not the same. He doesn't get into it.

So anyway, JC Penney and Kohl's both sent me $10 off coupons, with no minimum purchase, my favorite kind! At Penney's I managed to find girl undies for Miss E for exactly $10, so they were free! At Kohl's I found a 2-pack of Cars pajamas for Ace on clearance. After the $10 was taken off, they cost me $6 out of pocket. Considering I can't find used pajamas at Value Village for less than $2.99, I was very pleased.

I also used coupons at Bath & Body Works to get two shower gels, a travel size lotion for my purse and a mini hand sanitizer for $12 total. Shower gel's about all I use from that store, since let's be honest their lotion is really subpar.

Of course, then I wandered in to Nordstrom to replace my favorite Lancome lipstick...only to discover it was Lancome gift time...so naturally I had to buy two lipsticks...Not super deals, but fun! Especially since I used my favorite lipstick until it is literally a nub. They don't make that exact lipstick anymore. :( The woman at the counter very patiently rubbed color after color on her hand to help me pick out the closest colors to my dear departed lipcolor.

Perhaps the colors are off on my laptop, because the lipsticks don't really match how these pics are appearing to me. They are very wearable, and both pretty close to my normal lip color, though obviously the bottom one is pinker. I forgot how fun it is to buy makeup...

It's about the only thing I feel like buying right now. Since I'm pretty sure this is my last baby, I don't want to spend a penny on maternity clothes if I can possibly help it. I did buy the cutest floral t-strap wedges a few weeks ago at Charlotte Russe. If only it would stop raining so I could actually wear them!!! Hopefully I can wear them a few times before my belly grows so big that giant wedges become hazardous to my safety.

This Time I've Had a Good Reason For Not Posting

2011-02-11T13:50:00.000-08:00

Buying Things for Myself at Christmastime

2010-12-27T14:35:00.001-08:00

I found this shirt online, and I just NEEDED it. It came while we were out of town for Christmas. I am rocking it today. Probably no one who sees it gets the joke, but that's okay because I do.

Hubs got me a yarn swift (yay!), the Farm Chicks cookbook, a deluxe kitchen timer (can time 4 different things!) and the Broken Bells cd. Also some gift cards to Banana Republic because he loves to spoil me. And I love to be spoiled.

The kids followed strict gender roles with Christmas presents this year. Miss E got an Ariel barbie doll and Littlest Pet Shop. Ace got motorcycles and fire trucks. They are both THRILLED with their presents.

Dh says we need to go RIGHT NOW so ciao. We are meeting up with Dh's brother and family for some fun.

In Which I Cry Over Shredded Cheese and Invent the Next Big Thing Whilst Sleeping

2010-12-06T21:09:00.000-08:00

I got this baby on Black Friday for a sweet price. And I didn't even have to get up early. We rolled out of the house at 8 and wandered into Bi-Mart around 10, where I saw that not only was the 9-cup food processor on big sale, it had an extra $20 mail-in rebate. SOLD! The next day I shredded vast amounts of cheddar in 3 seconds and wept great tears of happiness.

Last night I had a cuh-razy dream. It included spiders that Dh & I planned to eat for dinner and a newscaster carrying my groceries for me at Winco. I have no idea where my subconscious comes up with this stuff. Anyway, at one point in my dream I was using the facilities and the bathroom contained a combination gum dispenser and toilet paper roll holder. How genius is that? Someone show me how to patent because the advantages of that device are plain to see!

I am back in the YA fiction because it is a devious vortex from which no escape is possible. I have read some great YA novels in the past month:

Technically I am not done with that last one, but I'm half done and really enjoying it. I liked Ship Breaker so much I am thinking I should give Windup Girl another chance. Seriously I LOVE everything I have read by Bacigalupi thus far, so perhaps I didn't give Windup enough time. His story in Wastelands was amazing. I STILL think about it, a year and a half later. It's the only story from that book that I remember in any detail. So good.

I gave Dh Dark Life to read and he really liked it too. I plan on giving him the other two from the list above. I might have to wait on Number Four. Dh hates to start a series before it is completely published. He made it a firm rule after I had him read Hunger Games 1 & 2 and he realized he would have to wait ages to read the 3rd.

Dh is working swing (complete hate) (though wonderfully he switches back to days in a week!!!) so I've been entertaining myself with this* and this. And admittedly, also this. Don't judge me. The longer I watch Doctor Who, the more I love it. My husband thinks I'm loony.

*I have no idea why there is such a lame/weird pic for Witchblade. The show is geekily awesome. Also fantastically unrealistic. Those are the two things I love in a tv show.

The Morning Breaks

2010-08-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

Dh drove up to Portland yesterday and turned in his final project for graduate school. He has a presentation in a couple weeks, and then he is COMPLETELY DONE. It's surreal. He's been working towards this for so long. I've been working towards this for so long. I almost can't visualize grad school not being a part of our lives. I don't know if Dh'll know what to do with himself. All his new-found free time!

Oh wait, yes I do. FISHING. Ha ha

I've read so much young adult fiction in the past while that I am absolutely sick of it. And I've even been reading some really well-written stuff. It's just the teenager-ness of it that I'm sick of. I needed to purge my head. I read a couple of non-fiction books, but it wasn't enough. I wanted a classic. So I started reading Vanity Fair...about a self-absorbed teenager...ahhh! Next perhaps I'll read The Road or something that is unquestionably adult and doesn't have a single teenage character. Not that I have anything against teenagers. I'm quite fond of (some of) them. I just want some rich, multilayered fiction about adult topics.

I still haven't made that Cinnamon Squash Bread. It's summer...and I haven't felt like turning the oven on. I've done almost no baking this summer. We've had some very warm weather (for western Oregon) and our little a/c units are doing the best they can, without me adding oven heat to the mix. Though I will hereby prove the lie to everything I just wrote, because I made a squash casserole from the Paula Deen magazine a couple of weeks ago that was quite good. And it had to cook in a hot oven for an hour and fifteen minutes. So...apparently I'm just too lazy to cook this summer. *Shrug*

Summer Living

2010-08-09T09:39:00.000-07:00

I dreamed that Taylor Lautner was a childhood friend. Then I dreamed that I was kidnapped and forced to become the wife of a bushman.* I helped all the other kidnapped women escape but for some reason we had to crawl an extremely circuitous route on our escape - through a movie theater in fact. Because, you know, there are LOTS of movie theaters in the African bush.

This has been a really fantastic summer. We haven't done anything big. We went over to Dh's parents for a weekend. We went up to Yakima for our niece's baby blessing over Fourth of July. A couple weeks ago we took the kids to the zoo for the first time. But this summer is fantastic because we've been spending time as a family, having fun, relaxing. (And Dh has been able to go fishing/boating so he's happy too.) Last week we made homemade ice cream and I looked around at my family as we relaxed out back and I took a mental picture of pure joy.

I love summer in Oregon! Right now the children are playing outside in a chilly Oregon summer morning. By eleven the clouds will have burned off and by five it will be uncomfortably warm, but right now Miss E is rocking a long sleeved tee and winter boots. As for me, I'm wearing socks, obscenely loud pajama pants, and an apron! And yes, it looks AWESOME. I'm very used to the temperatures of Oregon now. I wilt in temps above 90F. And I freeze in temps below 30F.

Our garden is looking fabulous. I shouldn't say "our." It's all Dh. I've done completely nothing with it. I did cook up his green beans last night and they were so good. And organic! I plan to make cinnamon squash bread this week as four good-sized summer squash are sitting on the counter right now. Summer squash and zucchini are always so...prolific. The carrots, tomatoes and cherry tomatoes should be ready soon. I have my eye on making this with the little cherry ones. I figure I can try my hand at pesto too, since there is also some basil out there and Dh makes very grouchy noises when I don't use the herbs he grows for me.

*Sorry Bushmen for the slander.

Mac N Cheese

2010-08-02T16:35:00.000-07:00

This post over on Meredith's blog inspired me to actually write a post! Wow!

I love macaroni and cheese from scratch. Love, love, love. Sometimes I use a recipe from Real Simple with crisped prosciutto on top. Usually though I use the macaroni and cheese recipe from Bake Until Bubbly. That book, which I highly recommend, is full on sinfully delicious casseroles. It's probably been at least a year since I ate the Kraft stuff.

However, my children are irritatingly picky eaters. They disdain pot roast or grilled chicken and adore hot dogs and bologna. They hate Parmesan-Reggiano. They love Kraft mac n cheese. See, irritating.

This morning at lunch time I was ravenous due to not eating breakfast. I took a bite of the kids' mac n cheese and it tasted awful! Metallic with a really strange aftertaste. Dh was home for lunch.

"Dh, try this! It tastes weird!" I said.

"Why would I want to try it, if it tastes weird?" Dh asked, though he ate some anyway. "You taste weird. This tastes like normal mac n cheese."

"Well, that's gross. I've ruined myself to Kraft macaroni and cheese." I announced.

Which is not really a bad thing. Sorry, Kraft.

Graduate School, Babies, and Eavesdropping

2010-05-21T11:10:00.000-07:00

We are in the final countdown for graduate school classes ending. Three weeks........
I think I hate Dh's graduate school classes as much as Dh does.

Yesterday I cleaned Miss E's room. Before you think, "Wow she is setting herself up for a life of servitude and lazy kids," let me tell you I did it for a specific reason. She had a lot of trash in her room. Obscene amounts of trash. Crumbled leaves, at least thirty scribbled-on post-it notes, stickers ripped off paper, ripped up papers, cheap McDon@lds toys. If she cleaned the room, she would fight me to the death to keep all of that garbage. So I cleaned her room (it only took about fifteen minutes) and filled up a grocery sack with very small pieces of junk.

I have done almost nothing constructive today. Does going through my Google Reader count? I got up at 6:45 with the kids and JDub said (whilst chatting on FB) that counts as work right there. And I fed the kids, as opposed to giving them bowls of dry cereal and sippy cups of milk and calling it good. Which of course I have never, ever done.

I watched Babies on Stephanie Nielson's recommendation, and I loved it. It did not make me baby crazy, though. I know there is one more baby waiting to join our family, but I do not feel ready for said baby to pop in just yet.

And when I went to see Babies, I went to the movies by myself for the first time. Which I have always been scared to do. EK did it, so I figured it must not be awful. And it wasn't! I brought my knitting, and eavesdropped on other people's conversations, which I have always enjoyed doing. The three sisters in front of me were encouraging each other not to be like Gigi. It was really hard not to laugh out loud.

It's May Now

2010-05-04T21:02:00.000-07:00

Can you see why I am totally in love with this kid?

So late April is an orgy of celebration - Ace's birthday, Dh's birthday, our anniversary, and my birthday. I gained about six pounds. Since I am certainly not willing to bid adieu to cake and eating out (not to mention eating my birthday candy - this year gummy worms & candy orange slices - Dh knows me so well!), I have decreed that May shall be detox month in perpetuity. So naturally I kicked it off by eating crap all weekend. Boo-yah!

I made an Oriental Chicken Salad tonight from a recipe I got from a friend. It's not really healthy...but I tried to make up for it by doubling the cabbage and keeping everything else the same. It was sooooo good so I'm hoping the cabbage really upped the health factor.

My birthday was pretty good. It kicked off poorly, with a big ol' accident on the carpet from the little miss pictured above. Last week she was acting strange - really angry and sassy. (This week she is sweet and helpful, I am happy to report.) But Rainbow had us over for lunch and that was really nice, as she is fabulous and fun to hang out with. Her daughter Becca is one of Miss E's dear friends. In fact, that night Miss E insisted that I call her Becca, and she kept calling me Rainbow. That got old! Ha ha

Dh got P@pa John's pizza for me for dinner as that is my favorite pizza. After all those afore-mentioned celebrations, I didn't feel like getting a babysitter again, and going out to eat again. So I guess I kind of shaft myself for happening to have the last birthday in April. Oh well! He also got me a lovely bouquet of flowers. I got myself a few presents: this book and this album.

I devoted some time to pondering whether it bothered me to buy my own presents. It does not. Dh cannot pick out a book that I will like from off the shelf at the bookstore, my tastes are too specific. Nor does he care for the folksy retro sound of She & Him, so it would never occur to him to buy me that. I like buying things. And I especially like buying things for my birthday, as no guilt need be involved.

I also got some goodies from EdgyK and my visiting teachers. Yum! Goodies!

The children enjoy eating fresh pineapple with Dh.

Recently I have had itchy fingers like you wouldn't believe. I have been churning out knitted and crocheted projects. Several of my friends are expecting or just had babies, so it all coincides together nicely. I get soooo bored with empty hands while the kids are playing at the library or playground, so I just bring some knitting and am still able to pay attention to the kids but not get antsy from idle hands.

Okay now I really must finish proofreading Dh's schoolwork. (Four months until he is done with graduate school FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Top 10 Kitchen Items

2010-04-17T19:00:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, Martha and Me did a post on her top ten kitchen essentials. It inspired me. So here is mine, in no particular order, except in the case of the first item which will always be first in my (kitchen) heart. Seriously, we're talking true love's kiss here. (Watching a lot of princess movies in the Superhero household now...have an almost-four-year-old girl...)

1. Oh Kitchenaid, how I adore you. Sometimes I wonder how I ever got along without you. It feels like we've always known each other. Before I got this baby, I had a crappy little hand mixer. It sucked, yo. Even cookies were hard to make with it. I nearly wept as this beautiful red mixer effortlessly creamed sugar, brown sugar & unsalted butter for a batch of chocolate chip cookies. I have used it to make many, many things. Primarily bread, as I hate kneading by hand. Also frostings, muffins, mashed potatoes. Those are its primary functions.

2. An instant-read digital Taylor thermometer. For testing the temperature of water or milk while making bread. Yes I know REAL bakers can tell if water is too hot with their wrist or some such nonsense, but I have killed yeast with too hot of water. So I use this little number. (In case you're wondering, no I don't really use it for meats. I have a meat thermometer that has a "probe wire" and stays in the meat while it's cooking, then it beeps when it reaches my chosen temperature. I love it, but I rarely use it (don't make much of that kind of meat), so it didn't make the list. But you can get your own here.)

3. A small strainer. No link because I think I just got it at Target. I have a medium size one too, but this is the one I use again and again. I get dried onions from my church cannery, and this is the perfect size for straining them afterward. Also used when reconstituting dried minced garlic (see #7).

4. I think I've talked about this one before, but well, I love it. EK introduced me to the Roul'Pat Pastry mat. It's perfect for rolling out pie crusts, cookies, breads, etc. Anything you want to, you know, roll. Easy clean, too!

5. The Anolon Saucier Pan, which is on sale right now on Amazon for much less than I paid for it, which is quite irksome! This pan was quite an investment for me but is so worth it as I use it at least three times a week. That and my old nonstick pan was flaking off cancer-causing particles into our food! Yum! For nonstick, you should just fork out some dough, because otherwise you're going to have to buy a new one in a year.

6. Pyrex measuring cups. Here you see the 2-cup one, which is the one I use most often. I also have the 4-cup and 1-cup. The 2-cup is so versatile. The 1-cup is handy for smaller amounts. The 4-cup is good when you're making broth, or have to strain lots of liquid off something. Or when you're making macaroni and cheese and have to measure out 3 1/2 cups of whole milk. Or whatever.

7. No list of Anth's kitchen essentials would be complete without a respectful shout out to Penzey's spices. Since discovering them via a prize won at Bunko many years ago, I have seen the light and completely converted to the amazing spices produced by Penzey's.

True story: my s-i-l made curried chicken for the whole family over Christmas. As we were trapped in a small town in eastern Oregon, she had to make do with some cheap curry powder from Safeway's. It made Dh and I burp like anything. I have the same recipe (since I got it from her originally) and make it all the time. Dh said, "I never burp when you make curried chicken!" "That's because I use Penzey's curry powder," I replied. Experiment: made the curried chicken at home later, no burping. Moral of the story: use Penzey's. Some of my favorite Penzey's blends are Krakow Nights (good on sausage pasta dishes), Sandwich Sprinkle (I use it on my omelet burritos), and Cajun style seasoning (obvious, so I'm not going to tell you what I use it in!)

I also recommend that you throw away any spices in your cupboard that no longer smell right and/or that are older than one year.

8. Williams-Sonoma bread loaf pans. Yeah, they're kind of pricey for loaf pans, but you'll pretty much never have to buy bread loaf pans again. And if you make bread with any frequency, you'll thank me for this recommendation.

9. I think this might even be the pattern of Corelle bakeware that I own. I hate the pattern, but whatever, man! These are the best for a reason. Bake the casserole, cover it and stick it in the fridge. They last forever, can go in the dishwasher, etc etc. They were a wedding present eight years ago (woah I am getting old) and I use them a lot.

10. This chef's pan is the newest addition to my kitchen essentials list. I got this pan in February because I wanted a saute pan that was not nonstick. I use it to brown meat mostly. It's a lot lighter than my nonstick pan, so it's easier on my wrists. (Weak wrists, right here. And weak knees. And ankles...)

So that's my list of items I would really prefer to have with me always and always. What's yours?

Pics

2010-03-17T09:38:00.000-07:00

Ace copies everything Miss E does. Literally. And I have no idea why they are being so serious.

Check out my sweet loot from the thrift store. I have a weakness for old cookbooks.

In Which I Sound Like a Corporate Shill

2010-01-26T09:12:00.000-08:00

I took the kids to the library last week, and right on schedule Ace got sick a few days later. He was so nice as to pass the cold along to me. Lovely, really. I've been sick off and on ALL WINTER. That makes me grouchy.

So I started taking a multivitamin. Don't tell my mother about the multivitamin. She is a rep for Us@na, and keeps trying to convince me to take their products. At $30 for a one month supply, I don't think so!

I also started Zicam whenever I feel the twinges of a new cold. My dad and Rush Limbaugh suggested it to me. Who am I to resist those two? So....not to sound like a commercial, but holy crap Zicam totally works! I'm susceptible to colds, I get them hardcore, they last a full two weeks, can't breathe, feel like death, etc. But after taking just a few Zicam, my last cold was really, really, fabulously mild. I was completely functional. I was feeling so good, I didn't keep up taking the pills, so my cold still lasted about 10 days. Since now Ace has handed me another opportunity to test Zicam, I'm really going to try to take them the entire length of the cold.

In other news, I joined Paperbackswap.com and I looooooove it. I listed 10 books, people started requesting them. I mail a book, and once the other person receives it, I get a credit, which enables me to request someone else's book. So I essentially just pay the media mail rate for each new book. Cheaper than I can get them at used book stores or thrift stores.

In other other news, Ace is walking around the house in Miss E's princess shoes. And falling a lot. And then crying. But refusing to take off said shoes.

2009 Survey

2010-01-10T19:49:00.000-08:00

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before? Competed in the Mrs Oregon pageant.*

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I made a goal at some point to get to my pre-Ace weight, and I'm now four pounds away from my goal. I'm ten pounds lighter than I was last January. It's really nice to put on a skirt and it's loose.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My sister-in-law had a baby girl in January and my friend Becca had a baby boy, um I can't remember which month because I am a bad friend. ha ha

4. Did anyone close to you die? No.

5. What countries did you visit? I barely made it out of the state. Woo, Washington!

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? I didn't really lack anything in 2009. We have enough. Though I'd like to request obscene amounts of foreign travel.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Um, I guess Miss E's birthday. I threw a party, my first kid birthday party, and I was kind of stressed. For no reason, of course.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Once Ace reached 1, things got easier. I kept a pretty clean house and I developed my homekeeping skills. I baked bread a lot more and tried lots of new recipes.

9. What was your biggest failure? I made a baked pasta recipe from Martha Stewart Living. The sauce called for anchovy paste and tuna and some other stuff all combined in the blender. Once cooked, it smelled so awful I thought I was going to hurl. I took one bite and couldn't force down another. Martha? You let me down. Oddly enough, Dh thought the dish was just fine. I hate when a recipe sounds good on paper, but cooks up into awfulness.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Swine flu, October - November. That blew.

11. What was the best thing you bought? I scored a Sitwell skirt (Anthropologie) at the local thrift store for $2.50.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Everyone in my family! Dh for sticking with grad school, even though it's awful, and possibly created by the devil to make Dh suffer. Miss E for learning to count to 14, and sharing so sweetly with Ace (sometimes). Ace for finally getting off his knees and walking!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Tiger Woods, the Gosselins, Obama for breaking promise after promise before he'd even been president for a year.

14. Where did most of your money go? Graduate school. Dh just reminded me, Fixing up his boat.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Dh says, Him having a boat. I've got news for him. Not exciting. When Ace said "I love you," to me, and my heart exploded into radiant happiness.

16. What song will always remind you of 2009? "You Belong With Me" by Taylor Swift. Miss E calls it, "I'm in the Room" and requests it often. (You know, "I'm in the room, it's a typical Tuesday, and I, I'm listenin' to the kind of music she doesn't like." Yeah. Anyway.)

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? A little happier (see looser skirts, above).
b) thinner or fatter? Thinner.
c) richer or poorer? About the same.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Saving of $$.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Stressing out over things I have absolutely no control over.

20. How did you spend Christmas? In eastern Oregon, with Dh's entire family.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009? Nooo...

22. What was your favorite TV program? I was introduced to Tru Calling. I liked Southland, then it got canceled. Boo.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? No. (Usually I would put "Your mom" here, but I'm trying to elevate my speech. Lucky you.)

24. What was the best book you read? Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, Gone by Michael Grant, Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen, Little Bee by Chris Cleave and Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? I really got into Muse.

26. What did you want and get? Shallow answer: black knee-high boots. Deep answer: time spent with my family. Both are true.

27. What did you want and not get? I honestly can't think of anything important that I really wanted and didn't get.

28. What was your favorite film of this year? Star Trek. I am a bit of a Star Trek geek; I grew up on ST:NG. This movie was far better than I expected and I was delighted with it in every way.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 28. I went out to dinner with my husband to my favorite restaurant in town.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? An obscene amount of foreign travel.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009? "In Which I Refuse to Wear Skinny Pants in Any Way, Shape or Form."

32. What kept you sane? Dh giving me regular time away so I could be all by my lonesome.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Pass.

34. What political issue stirred you the most? Health care reform.

35. Who did you miss? My sibs. They are flung out across the country and we are all too poor to travel much. I got to see my brother Pat, but not my four other siblings.

36. Who was the best new person you met? My friend T. I guess I didn't meet her in 2009, she was an acquaintance before, but in 2009 I got to know her better, and the more I find out, the more I like her.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009. If I read my scriptures first thing in the morning, the day goes much, much better.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. Oh for heaven's sake. I can't think of a thing. I'm Yours by Jason Mraz. That sums up how I tried to relax and enjoy life in 2009!

This survey was snatched off Cassie's blog. Thanks Cassie!
*Yeah, that's a total lie. I couldn't really think of anything good.

In Which I Argue the Kitchen is My Office

2009-12-04T17:17:00.001-08:00

Dh wants a calendar for the kitchen. He says it would be helpful to schedule Family Night and aid in correlating our activities. This is true. My automatic response was to argue against due to no room in the kitchen. Our kitchen has literally no wall space. Dh quickly and easily cleared the top half of our fridge off, leaving a nice, big, empty spot for a calendar. My next argument (it's automatic, I told you) was calendars are always ugly or tacky. He assured me I would find one I liked if I looked around.

Today I stopped in a calendar shop and found an incredibly girly calendar - a John William Waterhouse calendar, all romantic figures from mythology.

Dh said, "NO WAY."

I stifled my laughter and responded, "This kitchen is my office! I'm the one who will look at it all day!"

"What am I, chopped liver?" he asked.

"You're at work all day, so you don't have to look at it," I shot back.

He made a disgusted noise.

Then I held the calendar up to the fridge. It is much too large.

"Only a cheap, tacky calendar will fit there," Dh said, not without malice.

Meh. Can someone point me to a NON-UGLY calendar that will fit in a 19x19 space??

In Which I Realize I Am Old

2009-11-22T21:29:00.000-08:00

I waltzed into the bathroom where Dh was supervising Miss E using the toilet. I showed him my new running-around jacket. It is navy blue with small white stripes, a short collar and a zip front, by Nike. (And it was on clearance, naturally.)

"Don't you already have a navy jacket?" Dh inquired.

"That jacket is Roxy and I have been informed that I am too old to wear Roxy." I responded primly.

"Who informed you of that?"

"EdgyK."

Dh was silent for a long moment. I assumed he was about to tell me EdgyK is a dreadful liar and I can wear Roxy for years yet. I know Dh really liked the surfer/skater girl look I affected during my early twenties.

Finally, he spoke. "She may be right."

My jaw dropped. "I'm OLD!" I wailed.

But at least I have a cute new age-appropriate jacket to wear.

A Typical Day

2009-10-28T20:24:00.000-07:00

6:30 - My alarm goes off. I hit snooze.

6:35 - I wake up (sorta) and read scriptures for as long as I can keep my eyes open.*

6:50 - I try to get a few more minutes of sleep in.

7:00 - Ace wakes up, here follows a flurry of diaper changing, panty put on-ing, and usually at least one bed that needs to be changed. My kids sleep for 13 hours, I'd like to see you go that long without leaking through your diaper/Pull-Up!

7:05 - Miss E asks to watch Sleeping Beauty, if she can have milk, if she can eat Cheerios dry in a bowl while watching Sleeping Beauty, where we are going today, if she can wear all ten of her Halloween rings to the store, and can she have her milk in a princess sippy cup. This intense level of communication continues unabated all day.

7:15 - Ace attacks my back in his signature "Hug Mama From Behind While She's Crouching." The first few back hugs really caught me off guard!

8:30 - Kids have eaten and are settled down with Dinosaur Train or Super Why or Insert Your Favorite PBS Show Here. (Recently though it's been All Sleeping Beauty, All the Time.) I hate soggy cereal, so I just don't even try to eat until the kids are done.

9:00 - I think about getting dressed. Decide to do the crossword instead.

9:30 - If it's sunny, I go on a long walk. I have a route, 2.75 miles. It takes me right past the movie store and bank, so it's multitasking.

If it's not sunny, I make up an errand or go to the library. I say make up an errand because the kids get rawther bored if we stay home all day. And yes, Miss E wears all ten of her Halloween rings (skulls & bats, thanks dollar store!) to the grocery store. Ace brings a small jar of PowerBait. I cannot explain his attachment to small jars of PowerBait, but he really truly loves them.

11:00 - Wish I had gotten dressed earlier, and therefore out of the house earlier, and therefore wasn't still out when Ace is STARVING for lunch because oh my gosh the boy cannot handle discomfort. Even if he is watching you make food, he will fuss for it.

11:15 - Arrive home and start lunch.

11:17 - Realize Ace left his PowerBait in the special car-shaped shopping cart. Realize that Dh is not going to be thrilled that I left his $5 jar of stinky fish bait at the store.

12:00 - Ace goes down for his nap.

12:15 - Miss E dawdles her way through naptime routine.

Blissful, blissful coinciding naptimes.

2:00 - Ace wakes up. Discover that Miss E pooped in her Pull-Up and therefore did not nap at all, but rather played so quietly I just thought she was asleep. (I've told her many times to just let me know when she poops, but I guess I shall tell her many times more.)

2:30 - Watch beaming as children play nicely together.

2:33 - Tell Miss E to stop choking Ace with the tape measure.

2:37 - Tell Miss E to stop stealing Ace's toys.

2:39 - Put Ace in time-out for hitting.

2:45 - Put Miss E in time-out for hitting.

2:50 - Take advantage of kids temporarily playing nicely again by reading novel.

3:00 - Watch kid videos on laptop with kids draped on me.

3:20 - Try to fix keyboard settings which Ace managed to change when I wasn't looking. How does he always randomly hit the shortcut keys??????????????????

4:00 - Start dinner prep.

5:00 - Eat dinner. Remain calm as Miss E tells me she doesn't like soup (it's chicken pot pie). Watch in wonder as Miss E actually eats dinner. Pretend I don't notice that Ace is carefully scooping his dinner into the cup holder on his tray and not eating a bit.

5:10 - Daddy gets home. Greet him at door with kiss. (That happens on the good days.)

5:20 - Get Ace ready for bed. Have I told you how much I love that my son goes to bed at 5:30?

5:31 - Inform Dh that overpriced PowerBait was sacrificed to the grocery store gods. Inexplicably, Dh does not find this amusing.

6:10 - Miss E has meltdown and I remember she missed her nap. Dh and I put her to bed twenty minutes early.

It was a good day.

*God had to pretty much hit me over the head with the whole "scripture reading" thing. I really need it to make it through the day successfully. I have to wake up and read before my kids wake up, otherwise it just doesn't happen. I have been such a happier, calmer person since I started doing this. It's amazing (and also a bit pathetic that it took me so long to start).

Why I Like Being a Grown-Up

2009-10-27T18:23:00.001-07:00

I can throw away the end pieces of bread loaves. My mom made us eat those, and I always seemed to get the end piece. ALWAYS.
I can pick out the gross rye pieces from Chex Mix and throw them away. (Obviously as a child I didn't get to WASTE enough.)
Driving a car.
Knowing I can do whatever the freak I want. Even if I don't. Just knowing, that if I want to, I can sell my house, withdraw all my money and go live in Baja Mexico.

Okay that's really I can think of right now. I can't really explain why throwing away end pieces of bread gives me such pleasure.

My husband feels right now, for several good reasons (graduate school, job he doesn't loooove, little free time) that being a grown-up is kind of lousy. But I am really digging it. Plus, I don't live at home. You've never lived in my parents' home, so you'll just have to believe me when I say that being independent of that place gives me another happy feeling.

On Being an Oldest Child

2009-10-01T20:59:00.000-07:00

I crave solitude. I need it to stay centered and sane. I like entertaining, but I can't do it constantly, or even that often, really. It hurts my head to always be surrounded by people. I have to just be. by. myself. for a while. And then I'm okay again. I think this comes from being the oldest of six children. There was always someone around. Growing up, my friend NY Jill*, who had just one brother, thought being in my house was zany. I thought it was tiring. Even now, with two little ones in a kinda small house, I can suddenly feel so closed in, so claustrophobic. I turn to my husband and say with urgency, "I need a break." Honestly, my break often consists of going to the library, finding a deserted corner and curling up with my current novel. I just need to be alone.

I am a perfectionist. I only pursue perfection in areas I think I can actually achieve perfection in, such as:

go kart racing
word usage
baking
fashionable ensembles

I do not pursue perfection in all areas of my life. When I decide to, I can be shockingly good at accepting disarray and imperfections. Such as:

untidy surface of my dresser (okay, disastrous would probably be a better adjective here)
unfinished craft projects
pie crust (I just buy it. Boo-yah.)

I am not a Type A person, unlike most eldest children. Controlling everything has never really been in my personality, though I had to be in charge a lot during my late childhood and teen years. When I went away to college, I just let go of trying to control everything. It was wonderfully liberating. When I returned home for the summer, I found that the next oldest child had stepped right up to that Type A plate and was busily bossing around children 3-6.

So naturally I married a Type A man. I calm him down. Or try. He spurs me to action, without which I might never leave the house on weekends.

I take parental attention for granted. Children 3 and 4 are constantly seeking that attention, or obsessively pretending like they don't need it anyway. Poor middle kids. I think they get the crappiest piece of the family pie.

My brother (#2) once fantasized that our parents had stopped at two kids. What a fabulous life we would have had, he mused. It's true we would have had nicer clothes. Much nicer clothes. But when my sister (#5) calls me to let me know that if I love her, I will buy a magazine for her high school fundraiser, or I leave completely random information on my brother's (#3) Facebo0k wall, knowing he will find it hilarious, I can't help but be glad for all those siblings.

But I could really use a break.

*NY Jill got married this summer! Shout out to the married lady!

Some Pics, Showcasing Miss E's Haircut

2009-08-07T23:09:00.001-07:00

Here we have pretty much the only thing Miss E will wear: her Sleeping Beauty dress. Miss E and Ace are chowing down on blueberries. They'd each eat a pound of them a day if I let them.

Miss E loves her new fairy pajamas. (Thanks, local thrift shop!)

I kind of miss Miss E's long hair, but her new cut is really cute, and it's so much easier to convince her to let me brush it now.

Ace daily defies death by standing up in his high chair and cavorting around. And yes, he fell out once. And no, it did not deter him from continuing to cavort. And yes, I plan on rigging a strap to the chair. One of these days.

In Which My Husband Proves His Awesomeness

2009-08-05T20:26:00.000-07:00

Today I met up with Rainbow at the library. We talked politics while Ace constructed a giant tower of books. Which I left in situ. I figure I'll atone for that when I'm an ancient volunteer at the library, picking up children's books and thinking about my baby boy. I tried to take the kids to storytime, but when Miss E saw that room full of strangers, she emphatically refused to enter. She isn't too fond of being surrounded by strangers. She likes to them to come to her in ones and twos.

Dh plans to go fishing on Friday (nonrefundable charter boat on the ocean), and we agreed that Saturday could be my day. The whole day. What a blissful concept, after a full year of breastfeeding, to be able to leave for hours. Well, he called me up today and said his coworker who was supposed to work Saturday has a family emergency and has to leave, and could Dh work Saturday for him?

"But," I protested feebly (and guiltily). "That was supposed to be my day."

"I know," said Dh.

Long silence as the angel and devil on my shoulders duked it out.

"Fine. Do what you have to do," I said unwillingly.

Two minutes later Dh called me back. "I worked it out so I'm taking Thursday off, so you can have that day all to yourself, and then I'll work Saturday."

What a fabulous husband I have.

Two things: this is in no way an attempt to suck up to Dh for complaining about him earlier. I really am being a lot more careful what windows I leave open on the laptop when I'm done with it. Ha ha
And second, what am I doing tomorrow, on my day? Shopping, of course!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Noticing

2009-07-30T20:30:00.000-07:00

I took my car in for an oil change today. The mechanic at the dealership informed me my car would be ready in an hour. Um, I wasn't prepared for that. (I have a lifetime oil change thing, and it used to only take 25 minutes!) I had the single stroller, I was in flip-flops and Miss E was wearing her princess high heels. But off we went. I decided we would walk to the mall and get Miss E's hair cut there. It was only a few blocks. As we slowly walked (to accommodate the restrictions of princess high heels), I was struck by how much more I notice when I am walking as opposed to when I am driving. I saw:

a man looking chagrined as a cop wrote him a ticket
a limousine being towed
a church with a "Closed - Gone to Vegas" sign in the window
a apartment building with a charming mosaic tile entryway

The only thing I might have spotted while driving is the guy who was pulled over, but I would have merely thought, "Sucka!" as I cruised past him. Miss E chattered happily and told me about the leaves on the ground, the cars on the street, and her princess shoes. Ace was content to chill in the stroller.

(When I get around to it, I will take some pictures of Miss E's new do. It's just a simple shoulder-length cut. The hair all the way down her back was just too much, since she cried like a banshee whenever I try to brush it.)

Tomorrow I am going to a show for the first time in forEVER and I am excited. Dh and I are going to see Blue October and Switchfoot. These are mainstream, right? EK and my brother had both never heard of them. I have decided they are the weird ones and I am the normal one. Ha ha

I am stuck in a terrible sleep cycle. I stay up too late, then sleep badly for four or five hours. Then when the kids go down for their naps, I crash for two hours. Then I'm not tired until late, and sleep badly for four or five hours. Repeat ad nauseum. I can't seem to break it. All I know is, these dark circles under my eyes are probably permanent.

Oh and somehow Dh already found the criticism of him contained in that last post! (...possibly because I left the laptop open to this blog...) Obviously I'm going to have to be a little more careful. Or less critical. Umm....yeah.

A Day in the (Grouchy) Life

2009-07-26T23:53:00.000-07:00

Miss E dumped Cocoa Krispies all over her brother's head and the carpet this morning while I used the bathroom. Have you ever cleaned wet Cocoa Krispies off a carpet? It's a freaking joke. I had to pick them all up by hand. I swore in my wrath that tomorrow I am ordering a carpet cleaner. I tried to get Miss E to help me, but she kept accidentally stepping on them and grinding them into the carpet more. I had a minor meltdown.

I was a grouchy mess by the time Dh got home from his church meetings. Both kids were half-naked and I was still in my pajamas. And yet somehow we were ten minutes early for church. That's journal worthy. Ten minutes late is what we are 99% of the time, and I'm not exaggerating. At least I looked smokin', which did ease my angst temporarily.*

During the sacrament, Miss E said everything loudly. "That baby's cute! Can I take my shoes off? Is the sacrament over yet? Can I have some pretzels? Can I take my shoes off? Can I take my shoes off?" A red haze passed before my eyes as I whispered "Shhh!" ineffectually.

My husband made dinner and then expected accolades for it. Is the kitchen messy? Yes! How did you know? I know you're supposed to reward desired behavior with positive reinforcement, but I just didn't have it in me. I was too busy being grouchy, if you must know.

I oversaw the children playing in the pool. After Miss E threw water in Ace's face for the 9,000th time and threw all of his toys out for the 135th time, I picked her up and carried her naked soaking body into the house to spend some enforced quality time with her father. I could hear her screaming bloody murder even with the door closed. On the plus side, once she was gone, Ace played quite contentedly in the pool for ages.

I was not a nice mom or wife today. The good thing is I get to try again tomorrow.

*Apparently exercise really does make one look better. Who knew?

All Parents Believe Their Children Rock

2009-07-05T20:41:00.000-07:00

Ace emerges from the water fountains at the park with a cool look of triumph.

Miss E helps Ace get some breakfast.

Miss E helps Grandpa build a crib for her baby doll while looking effortlessly stylish.

Miss E shows off the cool loot she got at her 3rd birthday party.

Ace really enjoyed celebrating Miss E's birthday.

Miss E riding a train at a local theme park. By herself. *sniff* My baby is growing up.

My Newest Love

2009-07-05T16:13:00.000-07:00

So, hi. I just haven't felt like blogging. I've been reading oodles, which has been lovely. My kids are bigger. My husband is still in grad school. But I tried a new product recently and am so in love with it that I thought I would send out the news to the ether, in case someone else is also searching for something better in the makeup department. The product:

I've been reading in fashion/beauty magazines for literally years that cheek stain is the way to go. But seriously, who named that? I don't like stains. They get on my kids' clothes and sometimes render said clothing unwearable (because yes, ugly = unwearable). I can hardly ever get those puppies out. So in my mind, cheek stain = scary red blotches on my face.

I was at Sephor@ the other day with my m-i-l (I know, kinda weird) and I saw the above cheek stain, and thought oh what the heck, I'll try it. I put it on and instantly fell in love with how I suddenly looked a bit like Snow White (in my own fanciful mind). Loved it. Bought it on impulse.

Then lo and behold, this stuff stayed on my face all day. No reapplication required whatsoever. I'd been using Neutrogena blush, but had to reapply about every three hours to avoid reverting to my natural deathly-pale shade.

This stuff is so easy to apply. No scary red splotches! It's easy to layer to build up the color, and just a little bit of rubbing and then you're completely done for the day. My pallor is gone.

Goals

2009-02-17T20:49:00.000-08:00

So I was reading the February Redbook* horoscope this evening and it talked about how one of my dreams was going to start coming true on the 9th. Since the 9th has obviously already passed, I tried to think back a whole eight days to see if I could pinpoint the magical dream unfolding in my life. First of all, I was unsuccessful in remembering the 9th. And second, I couldn't really think of any dreams that could come true at this point in my life. Let's see if I can articulate this. I have a great man and two beautiful kids. My husband has a solid job and we have a nice house and nice cars (with no car payments). I'm satisfied with my life right now. Whatever goals I have right now are small:

Don't yell at Miss E when she shoves her little brother over on purpose.
Calmly maintain control of self when Ace rolls over on the changing table whilst covered in poop.
Be nice to my husband.
Improve cooking skills.
Read the scriptures more often.

See? Little things. Little things that will take me my entire frickin life to master, but nothing huge. Later, when my kids are older, my goals are going to change. Then there will be "dreams that will start to come true in my life on the 9th." But for now, being a good mother and wife are my major aspirations.

*I think I might be out of the Redbook demographic, i.e., too young, but unlike magazines geared for my age bracket, Redbook often has articles with actual substance. Aaaaand there's where I sound like the middle-aged woman I apparently am underneath.

Light of the Moon

2009-02-11T15:58:00.001-08:00

Light of the Moon by Luanne Rice

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
How did I get tricked into reading a romance novel? I'll tell you - the author lured me in with a main character who is (supposedly) an anthropologist. Unfortunately the best word to describe this book is "hokey."

First of all, no anthropologist worth her salt would use the word "exotic" as much as the main character Susannah does. I didn't believe for a second that she was actually a cultural anthropologist. The post-modern world of anthropological academia has no time for self-absorbed mysticism. Susannah had no sense of current anthropological theories. It was like Rice read a few journal articles, browsed a few university websites, and felt like she knew quite enough to make it convincing. Only she didn't.

The relationship that developed between Susannah and her love interest was melodramatic and unmoving. I laughed many times during what I'm sure were supposed to be romantic, thrilling scenes. I finished the book to see if it ended as ridiculously as I thought it would (it did). Also to write a scathing review here. Ha ha

The book's one saving grace was some sincerely moving passages about the love between mothers and daughters.

View all my reviews.

Winter Weight Loss

2009-01-27T11:26:00.000-08:00

It is raining here. I don't like to be wet or cold. My outdoor excursions during the winter are currently limited to: walking to the post office or movie store (2 miles round trip) on the rare occasion that it's not pouring down rain. That is about once every two weeks.

But my scale shows the lowest number since October. My secret? Stop eating so freaking much. I ate whatever during the holidays. The holidays only come once a year, right? But now Dh and I are being more strict on our budget. That means no more ice cream, root beer, etc. And I'm trying to incorporate more vegetables into our diet. And voila! I lost a few pounds.

Now if I actually started moving my butt, I would fit into my prepregnancy pants!

Some Recent Pics

2009-01-27T09:59:00.000-08:00

Ace sleeping unswaddled. This is a very recent accomplishment.

On our Sunday walk, it was unaccountably cold. Like, I thought I lived in a temperate zone. But apparently I live in the arctic. Miss E rocks the princess sunglasses and strange medieval-style cap, while Ace is dapper in his Winnie the Pooh hat.

The laundry basket as bathtub, an age-old imagining. The empty baby food jar as medicine, Miss E's innovation.

This picture is not that great, out of focus, but I like it because it captures my kids pretty well. Miss E runs around with messy hair, and Ace sucks on his binky and watches Miss E's shenanigans.

The Children of Men by P.D. James

2008-12-30T10:19:00.000-08:00

The Children of Men by P.D. James

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I give this book 3 1/2 stars. The plot was compelling, the concept intriguing. It follows a man through 10 months of his life in a world where mankind has lost the ability to reproduce. There is not a fertile man in the world, and the youngest people are now twenty-five. James' imaginings of the impact of worldwide infertility are well-realized and believable.

I took the rating down from four stars because James' sentences are quite convoluted and she gets really bogged down in descriptions. In the midst of the climax of the book, she has a paragraph taking up most of a page which describes the trees around a lake. No thanks.

View all my reviews.

It's Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T15:23:00.000-08:00

My husband told me he doesn't like White Christmas by Bing Crosby. That sounds awfully close to blasphemy to me.

I've felt recently that I need to work harder to keep the Sabbath holy - specifically, not read novels on Sunday, but instead read religious books. The first two Sundays I felt this, I just ignored the feeling. The past two Sundays I have read The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis instead of whatever novel I happen to be in. It was so hard. I spent far less of the day reading than I normally do. I'm kind of embarrassed by how difficult this is for me. But at least I am making progress. I know I need to make Sunday a special day, set it apart from the rest of the week.

So Long, And Thanks For All the Fish

2008-11-07T11:44:00.000-08:00

Blogging just isn't doing it for me. I never want to update my blog anymore. Opening my Reader and seeing eleventy-million updates stresses me out. So instead I just close it and read no one's updates. This is all just feeling like a pain for me right now, instead of fun. So I'm quitting.

I'll probably pop in to your blog occasionally to see how you're doing. Just don't expect anything out of this blog. Posting will be erratic to non-existent.

If we've emailed privately before, drop me a line if you want the link to my private family blog. That will probably be the only one I update (for the grandmas).

Halloween Cuties!

2008-11-03T22:48:00.000-08:00

Return

2008-11-02T21:18:00.000-08:00

I've been busy, yo. Dh's parents came last weekend. Two days after they left, my mom flew in from NY. The day after that, Dh left to go hunting with his dad and brothers. He returned this evening, and my mom flies out tomorrow. I think Miss E is going to collapse in a puddle of tears upon her discovery that The Grandparents Adventure 2008 is over and life is returning to normal.

Ace can totally sit up now. Go, Ace!

Miss E is really bossy now. Um, it's funny but I bet it's going to get old fast.

Dh came back with some elk (his brother got one) and is canning it in the kitchen right now. I already told him we are eating out until the canning is done and that kitchen is clean again.

I think he thinks I am joking.

Last night I dreamt Obama came to my church. The parking lot was flooded, and we innertubed around in it. He was nice, but a bit superior.

Saucy Miss E

2008-10-19T21:12:00.000-07:00

Miss E is almost 2 1/2. I am constantly delighted by her expanding vocabulary and comprehension. Though occasionally chastened:

Someone in a van in front of me was driving sooooo slowly. Finally they pulled into a turn lane. "So long, grandma," I muttered as I passed them. A few moments later, Miss E thoughtfully asked, "That was Grandma?" Oops.

* * *

She still talks about that calf from the pumpkin patch. The other day she carefully laid her baby bear down for a nap in a large Rubbermaid tote. "Baby Bear scared," she told me solemnly.

"What's Baby Bear scared of?" I asked, suspecting the answer.

"Baby Bear scared of cows."

I reassured her that Mommy and Daddy would not let any cows hurt Baby Bear. A few days later, Dh asked Miss E if we should go to the pumpkin patch and she emphatically told him no, because she didn't like the cow. That cow is very vivid in her memory!

* * *

Miss E loves Sesame Street. She loves all the different characters, knows their names. One day she was hanging around me while I made dinner in the kitchen.

"Wait a minute!" She looked up at me expectantly. "Wait a minute! Oscar the Grouch!"

I suddenly realized she was quoting Oscar. I filled in. "Now scram! Wait a minute! I sent this email! I'll scram!" (There've been a lot of Sesame reruns on lately, so I've got the skits down too.) She was delighted and danced around the kitchen saying, "Now scram!"

Today she saw my shoes sitting out on the bathroom floor as I put on my makeup before church. "I wearing Mommy's shoes to church!" she announced. "Mommy's wearing Mommy's shoes to church," I replied. "No, I am!" she shot back. Have you noticed all the exclamation points? That's how Miss E talks. Emphatically.

When I emerged from the bedroom all dressed and ready to go, Miss E came up to me. "Pretty shoes. Ooh, nice tights. I like your skirt. Nice shirt, Mommy! It's nice!" She went right up my outfit. I loved it!

Miss E constantly runs around. She also constantly narrates her day. This afternoon Dh and I were eating a late lunch after church. He read the newspaper, while I tried the NYT crossword (pretty hard today, only got about a third filled in). Miss E ran around the table, narrating to herself. "I running! It's fun!" Repeat for five minutes. Then she started with the "I'm gonna get you!" and tickling us. She can only be neglected for so long. Ha ha

Wow Ace's clothes totally don't match.

It's a good thing Ace is a big boy, because his big sister has no concept of playing gently, despite my best efforts. She loves to lay on top of him and give him rough hugs. Fortunately, he loves it and will squeal delightedly and grab on to any part of her he can. She usually loves to help me, fetching a bib or binky for Ace, or running into his room when he wakes from a nap to keep him entertained for a few moments until I get free.

She has been asserting her independence more often recently. She threw a huge fit at Target Friday because she didn't want to ride in the cart. (I suspect this was because Dh was with us. She rides in the cart all the time when I take the kids by myself.) She never wants to go for a walk anymore, though she used to love walks. This afternoon I insisted on a walk, and she bawled for the first five minutes. Eventually she got distracted by something and forgot to keep crying, and then had a lovely time.

Ace has taken over the high chair, and our chairs are much too big for Miss E, so we got her a booster seat. To get her psyched, I told her she was a big girl to eat in the booster seat! A big girl like Ballerina (EdgyK's daughter, one year older than Miss E). Now every time Miss E eats in her booster seat, she announces proudly, "I a big girl! Like Ballerina!"

She also wants to be just like her Mommy, which makes my heart sing. She carefully watched how I ate my spaghetti and was soon trying to wind her noodles around her fork too. She didn't want the noodles cut up! She wanted them long - "Like Mommy!" I love to hear that little phrase.

I love the spontaneous bear hugs, the unsolicited kisses, the requests for me to kiss an owie and make it better. Miss E is fabulous!

Lousy Movie

2008-10-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

This movie is really quite dreadful. First of all, Patrick Dempsey is borderline to begin with. In this movie, he plays an extremely annoying womanizer who is supposedly so charming that women are willing to sleep with him despite his misogynistic ways. Oh and the main female character, a genuine, sweet girl (Michelle Monaghan) is also fine with being his best friend while he sleeps with most of the female population of NYC. It only goes downhill from there. The last twenty minutes of the film are composed of literally every cliche in the canon of chick flicks.

Only watch this movie if:

You love Patrick Dempsey so much it has turned off all your brain cells
You enjoy throwing up in your mouth
Your queue is absolutely empty AND your husband is out of town AND you are bored.

Why Did My Kids' Naps Only Overlap by Thirty Minutes Today?

2008-10-08T13:58:00.000-07:00

What a cheesy grin this boy has! I love it!

This is the intent look Ace gives Miss E all the time, like he is memorizing her coolness so he can adopt it himself in a few months.

Dh started grad school a few weeks ago, but thankfully Crazy Dh* has not appeared. On the contrary, we've been getting along very well. This is partially due to the fact that Ace is getting older. I'm getting more sleep, and therefore am not constantly annoyed and blaming Dh for everything. Which I think he is thrilled about. Go figure.

The past few nights, Ace has been waking every 1-2 hours wanting his binky popped back in. He's nursing less (a couple of times making it to 5:30 am!) but waking more. Since Dh is the one fielding the binky requests, he's getting really annoyed. I'm starting to think a true cry-it-out might be in order. If Ace can sleep from 6 to 5:30, he's obviously not actually hungry at midnight when he usually nurses. I don't know. I think I'll at least wait until he hits 6 months.

Miss E is still talking about that cow from the pumpkin patch. She tells me that the cow scares her. Oh and she has started the whole "Don't touch me, Ace!" while they are in the double stroller. Frankly, it's hilarious.

As for myself, I'm kind of stuck in Brideshead Revisited. I'm finishing up a crocheted afghan. And I started a cooking blog with EdgyK. I am a freaking nerd! Boo-yah!

*Crazy Dh is the person who replaces my husband when he is in grad school. In the words of Miss E, "I no like it."

Visit to the Pumpkin Patch!

2008-10-03T19:50:00.000-07:00

I was excited to take Miss E to the Pumpkin Patch, which also promised a petting zoo. I thought she would love the animals! Unfortunately, this innocent creature completely freaked her out!

She spent most of our visit in tears. Anytime she heard the calf moo, she would say quietly to herself, "I no like it." She got far away from that cow as soon as she could and cheerfully yelled, "Bye bye, animals!"

Apparently when you go to the pumpkin patch on Friday afternoon, you get the Patch completely to yourself. It was actually a bit creepy.

The following picture illustrates what Ace happily spent the entire visit doing:

"Miss E, show me your teeth!"

We'll see how she does next year.

Fully Upright, I'm Happy to Report

2008-09-26T22:05:00.000-07:00

The vertigo is almost gone, so my body decided it would be super! cool! to come down with a cold. A cold I can deal with. A cold does not lead to me potentially passed out on the floor. So yay for a cold!

I emailed my doctor, specifically mentioning that the pharmacy said motion sickness tablets are not okay to take since I am breastfeeding. He wrote me back: take motion sickness tablets for a few days. Sigh. It is so nice to know he just skimmed my email.

BUT in happy medical news our co-pay for Ace's hospital stay is ridiculously low. Like, ridiculously. I wrapped my arms around Dh and said, I know sometimes you hate your job, but your benefits are worth their weight in GOLD. And he agreed.

* * *

Sleeping issues are better. Ace has settled on a bedtime which miraculously is usually within thirty minutes of Miss E's. Yes that's right, both my babies go to bed around 6 pm. Ace sleeps until midnight, when I nurse him, then goes straight back to bed until 5 or 6-ish, nurses again, then sleeps until about 7:30.* And he usually takes two two-hour naps during the day. To compensate for all this sleep, he nurses every hour and a half when he is awake.

I honestly think he is hungry both those times at night. (Ace's pediatrician does not agree, which doesn't particularly bother me.) I mean, I can barely go six hours without food, and my stomach is at least five times the size of Ace's. Miss E was still nursing once at night at this age, and she didn't have the same level of fat to maintain. :D

* * *

So the other day Ace was laying on the floor. Miss E was laughing. I looked up to see Miss E standing on Ace's legs. He was not crying; he didn't even seem phased. Miss E got off him guiltily. But needless to say, I was pissed. Miss E didn't protest timeout - she knew she had earned it! I guess I can't use Ace crying as a clue that Miss E is mistreating him. He looks at her so adoringly. I think he's just thrilled for any attention she throws his way. Thankfully Miss E gives Ace hugs much more often than smacks.

*He does wake periodically throughout the night, but Dh pops his binky back in, and that usually works. Dh = no Mommy milk smell

An Inconvenient Illness*

2008-09-21T19:52:00.000-07:00

About four or five years ago, I suddenly started getting really dizzy all the time. My co-worker told me the only time she got dizzy like that was when she was pregnant. So I thought I was (it was too early to test). But as the dizziness continued over a week, and no other symptoms appeared, I became suspicious. I went to the doctor and discovered I had an inner ear infection that was wrecking havoc with my sense of balance. He prescribed a high-powered motion-sickness medicine to suppress the dizziness until my body could fight the infection on its own. I had to take a couple days off work (boo-hoo) and then I was fine.

Thursday morning I was getting the kids ready to go to the local children's museum. Suddenly I got really dizzy and really nauseous. So much so that I laid down on the couch and couldn't get up without feeling like I was going to pass out. I recognized the feelings - it was a more sudden and intense version of that ear infection. I called my husband and he said he would come home. Of course I had made the mistake of telling Miss E where we were going, so when I let her know that I was sick and we would not be going to the children's museum, she freaked out. Ace was already strapped into his carseat and after a few minutes started to fuss. I crawled slowly down the hallway to drag him into the living room. I was worried that if I stood up and carried him, I would fall and hurt him. I was only able to drag him halfway down the hallway before I had to lay my head flat down on the ground. That's where Dh found us when he got home. He carried me into bed and took over the kids.

It was so weird. Other than the extreme dizziness and nausea, I felt fine. No ear pain, no congestion. But I couldn't even elevate my head on two pillows without the room spinning. After a bit I developed a major headache. Thursday was pretty bad for me. Dh took the kids to a nearby nursery and they perused the plants. The doctor's office said the high-powered motion sickness medicine was out since I was nursing, so pretty much all I could do was sip high-fructose juice and move slowly. Um, thanks.

Friday I was a bit better, but still couldn't be upright for more than three minutes. I had to lay around. Which sounds like it should have been totally fun, right? And it kind of was. I mean, I finished one book and started another. But as the day wore on, when I asked my darling husband for something (food, ibuprofen), this was his response: "You gotta be kidding me!" accompanied by a loud sigh. Ooh-wee is my husband not designed to stay at home with two kids. He was so grouchy by the end of the day, he couldn't even be civil. Frankly, I was trying not to laugh. Like it's impossible to take care of two kids? Apparently yes, I must be amazing. Dh has a hard time even temporarily putting himself at the bottom of his own list. And it's not like he did much cleaning. He only loaded the dishwasher because literally every cup was dirty.

I was reminded yet again of why I stay at home with the kids and Dh goes out and earns the money.

Saturday Dh had to go in to work for several hours because a big project that he was in charge of was taking place. Miss E played at EdgyK's and I laid on the bed. Luckily Ace takes long naps. I made it to five minutes upright on Saturday!

Today there is major improvement. I have to move slowly, and not sling my eyes around too quickly. Also bending down is a bad idea. But I sat up through dinner and I am sitting up typing this entry. But, um, I think I need to go lay back down now. So here's some cuteness for you:

*Yeah, I realized after I typed that all illnesses are inconvenient. "Oh, this illness came at the perfect time! How lovely!"

A Bigger Update

2008-09-15T15:23:00.001-07:00

I have been considering this change for a few weeks. Some might say dithering. I got my hair whacked off. Here's the kitchen floor after Edgyk's sister was done:

I think I like it. It's still too new to tell. Here is the five-pounds-lighter, not-as-susceptible-to-Ace's-hair-pulling me (forgive my poor photography skills):

And as a bonus, the little Hair Puller himself:

Please note ankle rolls:
Yum!

A Little Upgrade

2008-09-09T09:37:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I turned on the faucet in the kitchen and water started spraying out of the back of it, down where the faucet meets the sink. I quickly turned it off, jiggled the faucet a bit, then turned it back on. It started spraying again. I looked over at my mother-in-law who was visiting for the weekend. "That's not good," she said quietly. No, indeed.

I called Dh over, showed him the problem, then got the heck out of the kitchen. House emergencies + me + Dh usually = fight. Luckily my father-in-law was there to serve as Dh's assistant. They tried to get the faucet working correctly again, but it was no use. They opened the cupboard under the sink to find that water was spraying everywhere down there too. Oh yay! We've been having trouble with that faucet pretty much since we moved in four and a half years ago, but we've always been able to jiggle it around and get it to stop spraying. Not so this time.

We left Ace home with Grandma and the rest of us went to Lowe's to pick out a new faucet. I found a nice one on clearance. Here is a close approximation to what our old faucet looked like. Except ours was uglier:

And here is our new faucet:

It had never occurred to me to replace the faucet, since (most of the time) it worked just fine. Replacing things just because I'm not fond of them is not in the budget right now. But the old one went kaput, and we were forced to get a new one. And I am thrilled! I like it so much more and I think it makes our whole kitchen look nicer.

Ace's Four Month Stats

2008-09-06T23:16:00.001-07:00

Weight: 18 lbs, 12 oz
Length: 27.5 inches
Head circumference: 16.5 inches

Ace's pediatrician was surprised to see him as strong, agile and squirmy as he was. Apparently big babies usually just kind of lay there, weighed down by their own bulk. Hee hee Ace is an active, happy baby!

Recent Pictures

2008-09-06T23:00:00.000-07:00

Miss E leads her uncle around for kicks on a daytrip to the coast.

My friend Lissa is much better at doing Miss E's hair than I am, despite having only boys!

Miss E giving Ace some "tough love."

She wants to be just like her mama!

Another picture from the coast. Obviously Miss E was not too interested in posing.

And one of me, with poor lighting.

NieNie Day

2008-08-28T11:04:00.001-07:00

Some of you may be familiar with NieNie, aka Stephanie, the charming mother of four down in Arizona who has an equally charming blog that bursts with love and cuteness. Recently she and her husband were in a terrible plane crash and are looking at months of recovery. Design Mom put together a blogosphere wide effort to raise money for Stephanie & her husband's recovery. There are about a bazillion online auctions going on today all over the Internet. You can find more information and links to all the different auctions at Design Mom. I want to point you specifically to my friend Katie's blog - she is auctioning off some fabulous items, including two Shabby Apple dresses! So go spend some money, it is for a very worthy cause.

Much Better

2008-08-27T13:30:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all the sympathy. I really appreciate it. I guess it's true that it's always darkest before dawn, metaphorically that is. Because I've been awake right before dawn, and it's not very dark.

Anyway. Ace is doing a lot better. He spent the past two nights in his crib. I'm getting him back on a daytime nap schedule. And we are all starting to feel more human. Thank goodness.

Yesterday he took his morning nap very sweetly, no crying. At his early afternoon nap, he cried for 45 minutes, then slept for an hour and a half. At his late afternoon nap, he cried for two minutes and slept for an hour. At night he cried for half an hour before dropping off to sleep for a solid four hours before his first night nurse.

This means I am about ten times happier.

So now I'm quite bored with ~~whining~~ talking about Ace and his sleeping habits. And I bet you are too.

I already admitted to the Internet that I covet my neighbor's stroller. Obviously, the only way to cease that dreadful sinning was to get one of my own. I ordered it off Amazon and it shipped yesterday!! I am so stoked. Also, I decided to check the price of the Roulpat, and found to my delight that it was on clearance! So that will soon be at use in my kitchen.

Though I see that the Roulpat is now on even lower clearance. Blast. If you are in the market for a silicone roll mat, now is certainly the time to get it.

Not Good

2008-08-25T13:35:00.000-07:00

Ace has been sleeping incredibly poorly since returning home from the hospital. Last Tuesday night was the worst - I got about three hours of (interrupted) sleep. Wednesday morning I took him to his followup with his pediatrician and mentioned the sleep issues. The doctor cheerfully informed me that the steroids they gave him in the hospital cause hyperactivity for 7-10 days and that combined with the stress of the hospital visit means he won't be sleeping much. I think I just sat there with my mouth open for a minute.

I started crying in the parking lot, and called Dh. "The doctor just told me the worst news ever," I said, choking on tears (please remember how much sleep I'd had). Dh felt a momentary panic - did Ace have cancer or something? No, it was just me being melodramatic. But I was freaking out. I knew I cannot function on three hours a night. Dh talked me back from the ledge - he told me to forget about cooking, forget about cleaning, to just focus on getting through this time. I took several deep breaths and calmed down.

Since then, each night has been a little better than the one before. I've been doing whatever it took to get Ace to sleep - letting him sleep in the swing, in bed with me, anything. Saturday night he woke and nursed three times, but spent the night in his crib! I was so excited - perhaps the end was in sight? Perhaps we could get going on sleep training again?

No. Last night was awful. Ace went to bed like a dream, so I congratulated myself - much too early. He woke half an hour later. I decided, Tough, kid, I know there's absolutely nothing wrong with you. So I tried to let him cry it out. An hour and fifteen minutes later, I gave up. I nursed him to sleep, then let him get nice and zonked out on my bed, then carried him to his own crib. That was about 10:30. He woke at 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, 4:45, and 6:15. Between his 2:30 and 4:45 wakings, I lay in bed awake, unable to sleep (curse you, insomnia!!!). At that last waking, I gave up and brought him into bed with me. He got what he wanted. He snuggled right in and slept for three hours, nursing briefly at 8. I was so tired I was able to sleep with him right against me (normally I can't - he's noisy and he wiggles). Lucky for me Miss E didn't mind playing in her crib for an extra hour.

Now while Ace was in the hospital, he hardly nursed. My milk level went way down. So at first I was kind of glad he was waking so much, to nurse around the clock every two hours, so that my milk would come back. But as of yesterday, my milk level is finally back to normal. And I KNOW he's not hungry. He just wants to nurse. All the freaking time. I mean, half an hour after bedtime? Give me a break. I feel like I'm going crazy. I've been constantly on the verge of tears all day just from sheer exhaustion. I've got five loads of dirty laundry waiting to be done. Dh's parents are coming this weekend, but my house is trashed. And Ace is still resisting all naps. This really, really sucks.

Book Review: The Other Boleyn Girl

2008-08-22T16:29:00.000-07:00

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
It feels like every time I turn around, I find another historical fiction novel with an annoyingly precocious heroine, who anachronistically insists on having some sort of recognizable-to-modern-readers version of a career, on being "more" than a wife and mother. Medieval feminists? I'm so sure. Contrary to popular opinion, the millennia preceding feminism were much more complicated than: Start your period, get married, make babies.

Thankfully, this masterful book takes no such patronizing views of the past. I read most of Antonia Fraser's The Six Wives of Henry VIII as a young teenager (made it all the way to Katherine Howard), so I've long been interested in this time period. I have to admit I didn't expect much from this novel when I began, because I distrust anything with fake gilt on the cover.

Gregory does a fantastic job evoking the attitudes and mores of the Tudor court. I loved the main character/narrator, she was a woman I could really root for. And so it felt almost like a slap when she mentioned in passing: Having the poor around is very economical, like keeping a pig (paraphrase). WHAT? That's not something the heroines of lesser historical fiction would ever say - they're all too busy preaching 20th-century ideas of equality to the piggish men around them! Gregory, though, is really trying to reflect Tudor England as it was, not as we wish it had been. For that, she won my eternal love.

This book is long (660 pages in the paperback edition). It's going to take you a while to finish. But if you like learning about different cultures and times, and you like a great story, you really ought to read this book!

View all my reviews.

A Meme Instead of Whining

2008-08-20T09:09:00.000-07:00

Thanks for tagging me, Britt! This meme is sure to be much more interesting and positive than the post I would write right now - on three hours of crappy, interrupted sleep - about how my baby is making me crazy.

Eight Things: A Meme

8 things I am passionate about:

Family
Religion
Possession of the remote control
Staying home with my kids
How 80's fashion should not have come back
Good books
Good sex
Good food

8 books I’ve read and enjoyed:

The Poisonwood Bible
The Harry Potter series
The Book Thief
In Defense of Food
1984
The Twilight series
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Lost in a Good Book

8 words/phrases that I say often:

“Dude!”
“Whatever.”
“It's/He's/She's/They're making me crazy!”
“Sucka!"
“Pish posh!”
“Blast!”
“Do you concur?”
“It's possible, pig.”

8 things I want to do before I die:

Earn a black belt
Become fluent in another language
Earn a graduate degree
Visit other continents
Think of others more often than I think of myself
Finish all the needlecraft projects I have laying around my house
Serve a senior mission for my church
Write a novel

8 things I’ve learned in my life:

People are usually just shy and/or insecure, not snobby
Possession of the remote control is really important
Exercising my mind each day keeps me happy
Everyone really is so different that there's precious little use in judging
Don't try to change other people, just myself
Take time to nurture my friendships
...And my marriage
Keeping the long term in mind helps me cherish the here and now

8 places I want to see:

The Rose Window in Notre Dame
Iguazu Falls in Brazil
The English Countryside
Alaska
Venice
The Pyramids of Giza/the Sphinx
China
India

8 things I currently want/need:

A RoulPat
New flooring throughout my entire house
The yarn and time to knit everything in my newest book
Some jeans that don't give me muffin top
A good pair of flats to wear everyday
A hair cut
A double stroller
More sleep

8 people I want to tag:

(if you want to)

Cheers!

Ace Sure Knows How to Celebrate!

2008-08-18T14:55:00.000-07:00

Today is Ace's 4-month birthday. We just got home from a two-night stay at the hospital.

Should I start from the beginning?

Saturday morning, we found Ace had completely lost his voice. I thought he was just a bit hoarse as we had recently started sleep training, so he'd been doing some crying at night. But this was pretty bad. He sounded awful. He was acting pretty normally - smiling and rolling around on the carpet - but the sound of him trying to cry was horrible, so I tossed the sleep training. I figured a day or two and he'd be right as rain. While on the phone with my mother in the early evening, I held the phone to his face so she could hear him. She asked, "Is he breathing through his mouth?" "No, through his nose, his mouth is closed," I responded. Unfortunately for all of us, I failed to ponder the ramifications of that fact. Obviously (in retrospect), this wasn't a matter of sore vocal chords.

Dh got home from a motorcycle ride in time to watch the Olympics that night. After we watched Phelps win his (totally amazing) 8th gold medal, we decided Ace's breathing was quite bad. He had also started a cough that sounded like a barking seal (which we did not know the significance of). We called our HMO's advice nurse. When she heard Ace's breathing, she said we needed to take him to the ER immediately or call 911. That's when I sort of freaked out.

Off I went to the ER with Ace. Our country's anthem was playing and Phelps was on the medals stand on the tv when I hurried into the ER with my wheezing baby (it was about 11 pm). The nurse at the counter "heard him coming," - he was that loud - and took us straight back into a room (with a door!) and within a few minutes a respiratory technician was checking Ace out. The doctor was not far behind. Ace had croup. They were all surprised - apparently croup season doesn't start until late September here - but once they found out Miss E was just getting over a cold, the mystery was cleared up. Ace got a nebulizer treatment and some steroids in apple juice. I told him his big sister had to wait until she was about 18 months old to ever have juice, so he was quite "lucky."

Around 1 am, the doctor told me she wanted Ace to stay overnight for observation and more nebulizer treatments. The first treatment had helped a bit, but Ace was still breathing laboriously. We got into a room in Pediatrics around 3 am. We were both wasted by this point. Ace had got maybe fifteen minutes total sleep since 11 pm. He was so tired he fell asleep sitting up on my lap. I wrapped him up and laid him in the crib and tried to pay attention while a nurse told me about the room and their procedures for what felt like an eternity (but was probably only twenty minutes). I curled up on the bed and crashed.

For an hour, until someone came in to check on the baby. Poor Ace was so tired he didn't even wake. The rest of the night is a blur - I woke up at one point to find a different doctor checking on Ace. Someone hooked up a cold humidifier to blow onto Ace's face. I slept through a call from my husband at 7 am. I woke up to Ace moving around, fussing to be fed, around 8 am. Dh called shortly thereafter. I really wanted him to be there with me, as I was still pretty stressed (not to mention still exhausted), but what to do with Miss E? I remembered that EdgyK was just barely back from her vacation and was going to church in an hour. "Ask EdgyK to take her to church with them!" I told Dh. (Thank goodness she was back! This is when family nearby would have come in super handy. Note to self: start pressuring favorite relatives to move to Oregon.)

Dh was able to pawn our oldest off on EdgyK and joined me at the hospital. We slept when the baby slept. Ace was like a newborn - he'd wake up and nurse, then fuss very soon thereafter to go to sleep. We'd swaddle him and rock him, and he'd sleep for an hour and a half. We repeated this every two hours all day. He had a few more nebulizer treatments. By 2 pm, they decided to hold off on any more treatments to see if he continued to improve on his own. And they wanted Ace to stay a second night. I realized I was going to need a few more things from home. Dh left around 3:30 to pick up Miss E from EdgyK's (where she had happily played through her nap). He brought her to the hospital briefly so I could see her, and brought the things I needed. They left around 5:30. I tended to Ace and while he slept, I read The Other Boleyn Girl until the light from the window gave out around 8:30. In bored desperation, I downloaded a game to my cell phone. That entertained me for an hour until I could sleep.

Sleep was again erratic and interrupted, but oh well. It's a hospital. I woke at 8 am to see Ace's regular pediatrician listening to his breathing with a stethoscope. He said he wanted Ace to get one more dose of steroids and we were good to check out around noon. We're to go for a follow-up appointment on Wednesday.

So now we are back home, and so glad to be here. Ace celebrated being home by taking a nice 2.5-hour nap and I celebrated by taking a shower! Ace is smiling and laughing, despite the continued barking seal cough. His doctor said that may last for a week. He is breathing easily now, thank goodness. He is four months old today and weighs 17 lbs 10 oz. I love my big boy so much and am so glad he is doing better!

In Which I Covet My Neighbor's Stroller

2008-08-13T22:16:00.000-07:00

EdgyK is on vacation for a while. This means I am totally bored. Because let's be honest, I only have one friend. Lol

Anyway, she lent me her double jogging stroller and I love it. I've been using it tons. Monday I walked for an hour, Tuesday twenty-five minutes, today just shy of an hour. As long as the sun's not in his eyes, Ace just chills, sucking on his binky. Miss E alternates between chilling next to her little brother, reaching out to touch the local flora, and protesting if I dare to direct the stroller back towards our house. "I don't wanna go home! Wanna go walk!" Of course her wish is my command.

A couple of Christmases ago, my dad gave me an mp3 player already conveniently loaded with a lecture series on Einstein's special and general theories of relativity. (I come by my geekiness honestly, people.) I got a third through in early 2007 and then stalled. But I have discovered it's the perfect thing to listen to while walking around my town. Today I learned that astronauts aren't actually weightless in space, they are in constant freefall. It was so interesting! I really should have taken physics in college.

Anyway the point is, I am going to have such a hot little body that when EdgyK comes back, she is not even going to recognize me! So maybe I can pretend to be new in the neighborhood and thus hold onto this stroller a little longer.

Breaking Dawn

2008-08-06T22:30:00.000-07:00

I pre-ordered Breaking Dawn from Am@zon. Apparently when you go for super-duper free shipping or whatever it's called, it means you have to wait until MONDAY to get your vampire love book. So I got it Monday, and I just finished it and I am happy. And can finally start getting some sleep again.*

Dh has been gone since Monday morning on a rafting trip for the teen boys in our church congregation. No cell phone reception in the back of beyond where they're at, so with no contact I find myself really missing him and his voice.

Which reminds me. Dh made a casual reference to something I said on this blog recently. As soon as I caught the reference, I frantically started a mental scroll through my recent posts to make sure I hadn't said anything too rude about him. I remembered the post in which I ranted about his slobbiness, but he was smiling, so I guess it didn't bug him. I had just assumed he didn't read this thing.

I had this terrifying dream last night that my m-i-l invited someone to live in MY house. And then my m-i-l morphed into my own mother, and seemed to also be living in my house. It was such a nightmare. I am firmly in the "Houseguests stink after three days" camp.

Ace has been waking up anywhere from 2-4 times a night. Twice, I can deal with. Three, meh. Four? H NO. I am too grouchy without decent sleep, so for his own sake he should really cut that out. I have these memories of Miss E sleeping like a dream, so I looked back in my journal** this evening - turns out I have major rose-colored glasses when I look into my past. She was getting up 2-4 times a night at this age too, and taking 1-hour naps during the day just as Ace is now. So I am just trying to chill and ride this out.

*Fantasy just doesn't work when you're being constantly interrupted by your little ones, so I read BD during naptime and after the kids were in bed. Which meant late nights.

**Yeah, I keep a journal and a blog. I can't really explain it.

2008-08-02T11:35:00.001-07:00

You Are Megara!

Charming and witty. You are always the first person to come up with a wisecrack. Sure, you have an attitude, but that's why people love you. You keep them on their toes. Sometimes you can be misleading, but always end up doing the right thing for the people you love.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

2008-08-02T10:25:00.000-07:00

Ace blows bubbles like you wouldn't believe. Also drools profusely. We go through a lot of bibs now.

Our little thumb-sucker.

Miss E smiles sweetly before church.

Fathers and Sons

2008-07-29T13:59:00.000-07:00

So my husband went ballistic last night because I threw away a receipt he needed. Little does he know:

If I didn't go through his stuff regularly and throw crap away, we'd have one of those houses that just have the little trails through rooms, and Health Services comes in and finds dead cats buried under all the old magazines and gas station receipts.
I've been throwing away his crap for over six years.

I just slipped up and misjudged on what was trash. I blame the newborn.

Well, so I was all peeved. What's a girl to do? I emailed his mom, of course. She's such a cool m-i-l that I can obliquely criticize her son and she doesn't even care. On the contrary, she responded:

"I can't throw away stuff fast enough to keep up with F-i-l. So just keep up with Dh."

Totally sympathetic. I heart my m-i-l.

I pondered this situation. I'm sure Dh picked up this charming "Leave My Crap Everywhere" trait from his father. Is Ace destined to do the same? Can I, by example, steer him in a neater direction? I hope yes, but I'm betting on NO. I guess I should start now to develop inner peace with the slobs in my life.

Love you, sweetie!

To protest my anger in response to his anger, Dh decided to ignore me for a while. This was quite amusing, as he kept forgetting and talking to me. For instance, this afternoon he nicely greeted me when he came home for lunch. Then he burst out, "Dang it! I was supposed to be ignoring you!" He makes me crazy, but I sure love that man.

There's No Unifying Theme to This Post

2008-07-21T13:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at church the teacher said, "Ladies, we're still in the hopper!" I turned to EdgyK and asked, "What's a hopper?" EdgyK laughed for twenty minutes straight and then refused to tell me what a hopper is. So annoying! Dh told me when I met back up with him, after church was over. So tell me. Do you know what a hopper* is? Because I sure didn't.

* * *

Miss E has been making me nuts. Getting into everything, making huge messes everywhere, whining constantly. When is this phase over? And don't tell me age 5. DON'T. She has been hitting Ace less often, at least.

* * *

Did I say I loved all the Jack Reacher novels? I take it back. I just read the newest one, Nothing to Lose, and it was dreadful. Awful. Horrible. Stupid. Highly NOT recommended.

* * *

A few days ago I was driving to the grocery store (by myself!). I passed a small grove of deciduous trees. You don't see a ton of those trees here in Oregon, there always seem to be evergreens liberally sprinkled in among them. But this was a grove of just deciduous trees. It reminded me of my parents' town in upstate NY, which I called home for many years. Suddenly I missed New York so badly it hurt. I haven't been back for almost two full years, and I doubt it's going to happen anytime soon. It's so beautiful there, with the hills so close around you, like a big hug, and everything so green and alive. Oregon is green too, but it's not the same. My parents live in a house on five acres, on a quiet street. Nature is all around. My house is on a small plot on a busy street. Nature is miles away. I wonder if I will always feel that way about New York. If I someday move away from Oregon, will I begin to pine for evergreens?**

*In this context, it was apparently the second definition under "Mechanical Parts."

**Like I could resist such a fabulous pun. Puh-lease.

Image credit: Traveling Peter's Flickr. My parents live on a little road much like this one.

Ace, Three Months Old

2008-07-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

Weight: 16 pounds, 11 ounces
Length: 25 inches
Head circumference: 16 inches

And yes, he IS on a diet of pure cream, why do you ask?

Grrr

2008-07-16T19:00:00.001-07:00

I'd like to take a moment to complain about Gerber onesies. Ace has grown out of almost all of his 3-6 month clothes. Most of the clothes I have for him in the next size up are winter clothes, since I thought he'd be wearing them starting in October. So I bought a 5-pack of short-sleeved onesies yesterday, size 6-9 months. I washed them, and they all shrank. Now they are all TOO SMALL. I am very annoyed. And no, I did not wash them in hot water. I followed the care instructions perfectly.

And Ace had two blowouts today, one in the car seat and one in the swing, soaking both covers. So I've been doing laundry all day.

Recent Pictures

2008-07-12T10:40:00.000-07:00

I'm shamefully behind in posting photos.

Dh took this picture and I think it's cool. He's been learning more about his fancy camera, and using Picasa to further enhance his photography skills. This is the view from our backyard. Though I promise we don't actually live in the country like it appears!

Miss E loves oatmeal and eats with great gusto.

"I nakey!" Miss E loves this state of affairs. Fortunately for me, she considers being in just a diaper being naked.

Miss E loves to unsnap Ace's clothes. And would remove his diaper if I let her.

I don't understand the fascination with Dh's socks.

Baby Einstein taught my daughter to Twist.

In Which I Can't Stand to Be Around the Love of My Life

2008-07-11T20:41:00.000-07:00

You might have noticed I've been rather absent. Just a few token book reviews of late. Dh has been on paternity leave for the past two months. On Monday, Dh's paternity leave is officially over. He took off a week right when the baby was born in mid-April, then took off 7 weeks starting in late May. It's been great.

It has also sucked like a mutha.

I'll try not to make this a big complaining session. But I think you should understand. When I tell my friends, or people at church that Dh took paternity leave, the universal response is "Oh, how wonderful." But consider if you will, the reality of paternity leave in the Superhero household.

Good: Dh takes care of Miss E in the morning (breakfast, diaper change <- inevitably a big stinky poo).
Bad: Thinks I am sleeping in while in actuality I am taking care of this second child we now have.

Good: Dh helps clean up the house.
Bad: Dh is by far the messiest person in our family. This completely cancels out the good. The house has been incredibly messy while he's been home.

Good: Dh loves playing with Miss E and takes her places to keep them both entertained.
Bad: Dh has confused paternity leave with personal vacation and complains about lack of fishing trips.

Bad: We have both been getting on each other's nerves like crazy and have been bickering a lot.

And there's just not really a good to balance out that last bad. This past week Dh left for a few days to visit his friend in eastern Washington. He went on his motorcycle and had a great time. And frankly, so did I. The kids were well-behaved. I slept reasonably well. I had a few friends over one night and we stayed up much too late chatting and laughing our heads off (they left my house at 1:20 a.m., to be precise). And when Dh got back, we were both so refreshed from our break from each other, that we have been getting along well ever since.

Paternity leave is a double-edged sword. I am really glad Dh can take time off. He is quite helpful, and made the transition much easier for me. I liked it especially at the beginning, when I was still so nervous about caring for two children. And Miss E was acting out and needed extra attention. But now? I just want him to go back to work, so I can get myself and the kids on a schedule. And the house clean again. So Dh and I can get back to our normal relationship of fun and love.

I suppose you might be just fine during extended paternity leave if you and your husband normally spend everywakingmoment together. But we do not. Apparently that is for a reason. My husband and I have different spheres of activity. And now I know exactly why.

White Bean Chili

2008-07-11T16:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a recipe that is delicious, cheap and easy to make. It's part of the Nourishing Frugal Food Carnival over at The Nourishing Gourmet! My husband hates going meatless, but even he loves this chili.

White Bean Chili

1 pound white beans
1 T oil
2 onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
8 oz chopped green chilies
2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1 1/4 tsp chili powder
6 C chicken broth
1 C shredded cheddar

Soak the beans overnight, then rinse thoroughly.

Saute onions 10 minutes in oil. Add garlic, chilies, and spices. Saute 2 minutes.

Add beans and broth. Boil until beans are tender. This will be at least 3-4 hours. Add water as needed. Once beans are tender, add shredded cheese.

Garnish with additional shredded cheddar, sour cream, and/or salsa if desired.

Check out the carnival for more frugal delicious recipes!

I Am Way More Holy Than Thou Art

2008-07-09T12:56:00.000-07:00

This can't be right. I know I have more pride than this.

Greed:	Low
Gluttony:	Medium
Wrath:	Medium
Sloth:	Medium
Envy:	Medium
Lust:	Low
Pride:	Very Low

Take the Seven Deadly Sins Quiz

...and I expected the wrath to be higher.

Found on Marni's blog.

And yes, that was a fabulous Weird Al Yankovic reference in the title. Go me!

The Store

2008-07-09T12:21:00.000-07:00

"Want to go to the store?" I asked Miss E. She loves to go places, so I knew that would make her happy. I put her shoes on her, got together all the masses of gear needed to travel anywhere with a baby. Dh packed Ace into his car seat and buckled Miss E in. We were off! We had to go to Dh's work first; he had to drop something off. This required driving past T@rget, then backtracking.

I drove past the turnoff to T@rget and Miss E started crying. "I want go store now!" I laughed, then reassured her that after we stopped by Daddy's work, we would go to the store.

As I drove, I pondered the implications of the exchange.

Miss E considers T@rget to be "the store."
She knows the turnoff to T@rget.
She is excited to go there.

To Dh, the implications were simpler: "You go to T@rget too much."

Some Brief Reviews

2008-06-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

Persuader by Lee Child. Sometimes I just want to watch a stupid action movie and be mindlessly entertained. Each novel in the Jack Reacher series is a book version of a stupid action movie. I love them.

Parenting, Inc. by Pamela Paul. Excessive details. I know already that there are lots of expensive learning toys, lots of expensive baby clothes and bedding, lots of expensive baby classes. Paul provides examples ad nauseum. But it is nice to read a book that encourages me to continue resisting excessive consumerism. And it was a quick read. Suggested if you feel yourself weakening, drawn inexplicably to buy every LeapFrog toy created.

Love, love, love this book. So entertaining. Great plot, very engaging characters. Same weaknesses as Meyer's Twilight series: repetitive adjectives and simplistic writing. But I did not care a bit. Found myself thinking about this book for days after I finished it! I wish there was a bit more action in it. Of the hot 'n' heavy sort. I mean, this is for adults, yet there was less kissing than in the Twilight series! What is up with that??

Here's what I'm reading right now. I'm a little over halfway through. This book is quite amusing and inspiring. I went through my closet yesterday upon the authors' insistence and ended up with a garbage bag full of castoff clothes! Shirts I've been lugging around for ten years, yet wear maybe once a year. (And yet I somehow still have over 30 short-sleeved shirts...obviously I need to cull a bit more!) Tim Gunn's writing style is insanely pretentious, and yet he manages to be warm and engaging at the same time. Not sure how he does that. I'm greatly enjoying this book.

Tagged

2008-06-19T15:11:00.000-07:00

...by Woman on the Verge ages ago!

5 Things About Me

1) I enjoy doing 16x16 Sudoku puzzles and always attempt the Sunday NYT crossword.

2) I have only successfully completed the Sunday NYT crossword twice.

3) I am really lazy about bathing my infant, mostly because I hate handling slippery little bodies. (Insert my imagined images of dropping him accidentally here.) Instead I wipe down his hands feet and neck every couple of days. I was the same way when Miss E was a baby. I only bathe him when Dh is around to help.

4) I rather compulsively save all recipes that sound good to me. Also all knitting & crochet patterns that look neat. I often make the recipes I save. I rarely make the knitted or crocheted things.

5) I have had ice cream go all freezer-burned because I forgot I had it, but I can and will eat an entire bag of sugary candy within two days.

I tag EdgyK, Alfred's Mom, Cassie, Deena and Rebecca (sorry y'all, her blog is PRIVATE).

Happy Boy

2008-06-10T20:35:00.000-07:00

My New Baby

2008-06-06T21:21:00.000-07:00

I am now the proud mama of...

I broke it in this evening by making some cookies. It was so EASY. I already love my KitchenAid.

...and Dh has already eaten most of these!

And here are my REAL babies!

Miss E's Birthday Fun

2008-06-06T21:13:00.001-07:00

Yes, Miss E is in a t-shirt and diaper.

She was excited to get a Baby Einstein dvd.

She thought the cake was "funny," but didn't eat much of it.

Photo Time

2008-06-05T14:59:00.001-07:00

Miss E at the coast this weekend. I swear this kid feels no cold. The ocean at the Oregon coast is FREEZING. And yet she is obviously loving it. Her uncle, Dh's brother, had to rescue her from waves a few times. She probably wouldn't have cared too much if she had been dunked by a big wave!

Dh got out his Playstation 2 and naturally Miss E was fascinated. She "played" with him for a while. Ace observed while having Tummy Time.

"Yeah, I'm man enough to sit in a pink bouncy seat. Go me."

Miss E loves water in all forms (and temperatures). This is a new development as of this spring. On the few warm days we've had so far this spring, she's had a blast playing in the backyard with sprinklers, buckets, and bubbles.

Funny Things My Daughter Has Started Doing Recently

2008-06-04T10:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday she nursed her baby doll, put it to sleep in the bassinet, and put it in her shopping cart. She told it to "sit down" in exactly the voice I use to ask her to sit down while shopping.
Last week we went shopping as a family. Dh manned Miss E while I actually browsed around with the baby. Miss E ran from rack to rack, pulling things off, holding them up to herself and announcing, "This is cute!" What can I say, she learned to shop from the best.
She finally started saying "I love you." The 'love' is hard for her to form, so she says the whole sentence very slowly: I...wuvvv...you. Picture my heart bursting into a million pieces.

Miss E turns 2 today. She is such an awesome little girl!

Well...

2008-05-21T15:13:00.000-07:00

Dh is gone all this week. (It sucks. I miss him.)

Yesterday afternoon I started to feel a bit unwell. Over the course of the night, a cold settled into my nose and throat. This morning Miss E awoke with a face covered in snot. We are both sick girls. (Feel bad for me.)

But the nights are going pretty well. I figured out through sad experience (sad mostly for poor Ace) that I really can't eat chocolate whilst nursing the little guy. I felt so bad - he spent all of Monday night grunting from gas. I dozed off, but I don't know that he did. :( Ace spends his first sleep in the bassinet (anywhere from 3-5 hours), then I usually just put him next to me in the bed for the rest of the night. Who wants to get up eleventy-billion times a night to pop a binky back in, when I can just lazily reach over to my baby next to me in bed instead?

My friend Lisa took Miss E Monday morning (and would have today too, if not for the arrival of Snot Face). It was quite glorious. It allowed me to easily: take a shower, vacuum, do laundry, do dishes, and check my email. These things are all hard to do with a toddler and a one-month old.

Speaking of which, holy crap, Ace is already one month old.

Oh and in Really Fabulous News, Miss E committed her first act of aggression against Ace last night. She was trying to force his binky into his mouth, so I took it out of her hand. As I did so, she hit him on the head! Ooh was I peeved. It was ten minutes before bedtime anyway, so I put her to bed early. She's been acting out more and more. Wants my attention, positive or negative, doesn't seem to matter much to her which kind she gets. The other day she started coloring on the table while I was nursing Ace. She looked over at me with a bratty smile, because she thought I was stuck on the sofa. I got up and took her crayons away, nursing the baby the whole time. I don't think she was too pleased to learn that I am still mobile while nursing. I'm not too pleased that I have to be mobile while nursing, but that is the reality of the situation.

I am happy to report I no longer look pregnant. I fit into my bigger pants. Well I can squeeze into my smaller pants, but it causes some muffining, so I will wait a little longer on those. It is so delightful to look in the mirror and see my normal figure again! My abs are reattached and my skin is sloooooowly starting to shrink back down. My 6 week appt is in a week and a half, then I can start exercising again!

Finally Some Pictures!

2008-05-15T18:20:00.000-07:00

I think Miss E would make a really cute trucker!

Action shot of Ace!

Power to the people.

This picture showcases Ace's cute strawberry blond hair.

Mother's Day, and My Mom Goes Home

2008-05-11T20:53:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the dearth of pictures. The laptop is on the fritz and the photo uploading software isn't on the desktop. And I'm not downloading it, because I only have the use of one hand due to holding adorable son.

Ace is 3 weeks old and what a good little baby he is. He sometimes does a 4 or 5 hour sleep at night, followed by his standard 3-hour sleeps. Of course last night just to mix it up, he slept 4.5 hrs, then woke every 2.5 hrs. Perhaps a growth spurt is coming? My dreaded insomnia is creeping back. I had it terribly when Miss E was born. Spinning wheels in the mind, while my body just wants to weep from exhaustion. I am not there, but am scared of it coming back. I've been able to sleep pretty well due to my mom, who helped so very much at night and would even then get up in the morning with Miss E to let me sleep a little more. I say "helped" because she left an hour ago. :( She was so great with taking care of Ace or trading off and taking Miss E to T@rget for a while. Of course it was hard to have her here for two weeks, to have anyone stay for 2 weeks, but I'm really glad she could come.

Dh has most of this week off. Next Sunday he leaves for a week, and that is what I am really afraid of. Christy seems to handle her hubby being gone okay, but we can't all be that fabulous, you know?

I have been watching Gilmore Girls season 2. Most girls watched it back in the day, and so then later when they watched Heroes, they yelled, "Hey! That's Luke's nephew Jess!" I watched the shows in reverse, so I yelled, "Dude! Peter Petrelli is Luke's nephew!"

Um yeah my life really is that exciting right now.

I have also read two books that I am too lazy to link to. Girls in Trucks by Katie Crouch. Good writing, quite melancholy, felt very real. I wanted to shake the main character and tell her to stop being broken. I would like a Southern girl to read it and tell me what they think. Other book is All Saints by Liam Callanan. Man can that guy write. Unfortunately his plot quickly devolved into melodrama. But really, really good writing. (Erm, unlike this review...)

Miss E has, I think, realized Ace is a permanent addition. She bursts into tears for little to no reason at least once a day. Also keeps asking to be swaddled. But is still sweet to Ace, and will steal baby blankets to wrap around her stuffed animals, who she then rocks and pats. It's very cute.

Book Review

2008-05-06T15:30:00.000-07:00

My Best Friend's Girl by Dorothy Koomson. This book is dreadful. It became so bad, it was almost good. Here is my favorite part:

"He returned my gaze, steady and straight. With the laughter of children, the conversations of adults, the cries of babies, the sounds of animals as a backdrop," (the characters are at a crowded zoo) "our mutual dislike grew. The seeds had been planted yesterday afternoon, had been watered in the evening, and were now sprouting roots while strong green shoots pushed up through the earth. A few more hours and this feeling between us would blossom into an orchard of full-on hatred." (p. 175)

An orchard of full-on hatred. I mean, it just doesn't get better than that. I have quickly added this phrase into my repertoire.

Mom: What do you think of this shirt? (Holds up latest Lucky magazine.)

Me: Ew. I feel an orchard of full-on hatred for that shirt!

Ace's Birth Story

2008-04-30T10:31:00.000-07:00

April 17, Thursday afternoon. By 4 pm I had about had it. My full-term OB appt was the next morning and I really didn't want to go to it. I wanted to be in labor. I'd had barely a Braxton-Hicks all day. So I put Miss E in her stroller and went out for a marathon walk. I walked briskly (for a 9-month pregnant girl) for an hour! Every time I had a B-H, I would tell the baby that it was a great day outside, and a marvelous day to be born. By the end of my walk, I had B-Hs coming every 5 minutes. Not that I really thought anything of that.

After Miss E went to bed, Dh left to play basketball with friends. EdgyK offered to come over and give me a pedicure. She showed up with not just pedicure supplies, but also caramel apple cider from Starbucks and delicious cake donuts from the local grocer. Ah, bliss. I started keeping track of my contractions around 6, when I realized they kind of hurt and were kind of regular. EdgyK and I OD'd on sugar and she painted my toes a delightful bright pink. By this point it was about 9 and the contractions were irregular (every 4-11 minutes) and sometimes painful (only like a 2). I stopped keeping track because I was bored with that. Dh got home from basketball and found The Never-Ending Story on tv. Dh and EdgyK watched it with the creepiest glazed look on their faces. I guess I am a little young to be hypnotized by that movie. Ha ha

At this point, it was about 10; I was still having quasi-regular, mildly painful contractions. I didn't really think I was in labor, but that of course didn't stop us all from making jokes about it. Dh and EdgyK told me they needed a full night's sleep. I told them I was going to wake them up at 3 am. EdgyK went home around 10:30.

I ate a snack, and then shortly thereafter - bloody show! (Was that TMI for you? Then stop reading, darling!) I was like, "Holy crap, I AM in labor!" I told Dh, and we quickly threw our hospital bags together. I wanted to get some sleep while my contractions were still so mild. I thought I was too excited to sleep, but I did manage to drift off around midnight. Unfortunately, my body decided to ramp it up at 2 am, when I woke to a rather intense contraction. 45 minutes later, I decided it was time to wake Dh up so he could be fully awake by the time we needed to leave for the hospital. I called EdgyK at...3 am, just as I had joked. She had magically woken up on her own about two minutes before I called, so she sounded remarkably lucid. She came over while I was on the phone with the dr's after-hours nurse, who said I could go on in to the hospital. (I was positive for GBS, so I needed to be on antibiotics for at least 4 hours before the baby was born, and therefore I didn't want to cut it very close.)

Dh and I headed for the hospital around 3:30 am, got into a room by 4. I was dilated to a 5 or 6. I was a little bummed about that, since when I'd arrived at the hospital to deliver Miss E, I had already dilated to a 7 or 8. I got an epidural by 4:30, sweet sweet relief.

***A brief note about Miss E's birth for comparison purposes: epidural didn't work correctly, but no time to fix it. She was born just three hours after I arrived at the hospital. Bulging bag of waters, had my water broken, then after an hour of pushing Miss E was born. There was meconium in her amniotic fluid and the cord was wrapped twice around her neck. Therefore there was no cuddling with my newborn immediately upon her birth. She was whisked over to the tray where an entire team of nurses and doctors suctioned meconium out of her passages. Her Apgars were 5 and 7 (not very good). Doctor Z gave me an episiotomy (WITHOUT discussing it with me at all) and then I ripped beyond that, I ended up with a 3rd degree. Which in case you're wondering means FREAKING OUCH.***

So anyway, back to Ace's birth. Dh dozed and I tried to as I continued to dilate further. The epidural brought my pain level back down to a 4 or a 5, where it had been a 7 or 8 before. By 8:30 am April 18 I was dilated to an 8 or 9. I was stuck at that dilation for a couple of hours due to a bulging bag of waters (I must make amniotic sacs of steel or something). The nurse & doctor figured the bulging bag was preventing the baby's head from putting enough pressure on my cervix to finish dilating, so I was like, let's pop that sucker! The doctor broke my water around 11, and then contractions ramped up.

I didn't feel "pushy" as my nurse termed it for about half an hour. That half hour was no fun, as I could feel the painful contractions, but felt no urge to push (wasn't fully dilated yet). I started pushing around 11:30. I had some trouble at first getting focused. What finally helped was when the nurse brought in a mirror. Once I could see what was going on down there, I found my focus in a real jiffy. Such that that baby really started sliding down, and the nurse ran from the room to grab the doctor, yelling, "Stop pushing!" as she left.

I looked at Dh. "I'm not stopping."

"Anth," he pleaded, "don't push. The doctor needs to get here."

"You can catch the baby," I answered. The look on his face told me perhaps that wasn't the best course of action, so I held off as much as I could. I saw the doctor's feet appear beneath the curtain blocking the doorway. "Is that you, Doctor X?" I yelled out.

"I just need to put on my gloves and scrubs!" he answered, coming around the curtain. "Think about something else - don't push - think about the beach."

"The beach!" I said, almost deliriously. "That won't distract me! I'll think about waffles! I want some waffles! I'm really hungry!" The nurses, doctor, and Dh all started laughing. Finally Doctor X was ready and gave me the go-ahead to push.

With the next contraction and pushes, the baby was just moments from being born. "I don't want an episiotomy!" I told the doctor. "I don't want to give you one!" he answered back, which was enough to make me love him forever. It was so weird and cool to watch the baby coming out in the mirror. Once his head was out, well I got kind of distracted and lost my focus again. So he was half in-half out for a few seconds longer than normal. Oopsie. But out he came, and they laid that beautiful baby boy on my stomach. He cried, and then I cried, and Dh cried and it was the most amazing experience. After a few minutes the nurse asked if she could take him to clean him up a little. His Apgars were 9 and 9!

Doctor X stitched me up - I had a second degree tear, which after the third degree from last time is like a cakewalk. (Stupid Doctor Z with her un-desired - and probably unneeded - episiotomy!) Ace was born after a mere 25 minutes of pushing. Despite being about a pound and a half bigger than Miss E with a head a full inch bigger around, this labor was a much better experience. In no small part, I'm sure, due to the fact that everything was all kind of stretched out and experienced, so to speak. Also I did a much better job pushing.

Quite frankly, I found Miss E's birth to be horrifying in the less-used sense of the word - shocking, dismaying. After she was born, I felt completely exhausted and used up. In contrast, I found Ace's birth...empowering. Many women told me the second birth is easier, and I've found that to be true for myself as well. After Miss E's birth I didn't even want to think about going through labor again, for a long time. After Ace's birth, the idea of childbirth doesn't frighten me any longer. It's just the 40 weeks of pregnancy that proceed it that I loathe! Ha ha

The prize at the end of a hard 40 weeks!

Some Reviews and News

2008-04-28T10:21:00.000-07:00

Dh went back to work this morning after a week off. He was very helpful, especially at night. He understands that I need as much sleep as possible to stay sane. :)

My mom arrived Saturday evening; she is staying for two weeks. Sunday morning my mom offered to give Miss E a bath while I relaxed in bed a bit. I asked if she had had her morning poo yet. (Miss E is very regular.) She had not, but my mom decided to forge ahead. Well, Miss E squatted down in the tub and unloaded. I guess you could say Miss E wanted Grandma to brush up on her young-child parenting skills immediately! (And way to take one for the team, Mom! Heehee!) Right now she is off at the grocery store with Miss E, where I think she is buying fancy cheeses and other various goodies. My parents' standard of living is higher than ours (due to lots more moola) and so we reap the benefits when my mom comes to visit (no cheap Kleenex or grating your own cheese for her!).

Ace slept for an almost 5-hour stretch last night! Fortunately I went to bed 45 minutes after he did, so I got a glorious almost 4-hour sleep! That's the longest I've slept in one go since he was born. Naturally I woke before he did, irrationally convinced that something was wrong with him that he was still sleeping peacefully. Ha ha It didn't even feel weird to go to bed at 8:45 in the evening, owing to extreme tiredness.

I look about 4 months pregnant. Not too bad, I suppose, for a week and a half postpartum. And my stretch marks don't look as bad now that they're not all stretched out. I did forget though how hard it is to find shirts in my closet that fit these temporary boobs. What a pain getting dressed is! :)

Ace is a marvelous little baby and I am soooooaking up his deliciousness. Someone told me you are able to enjoy your second newborn more, simply because you've done it before so you're not constantly experiencing scary new things (Shooting poo! Nursing in the car! Pee all over the carpet!), and they were exactly correct. I feel so much more chill this go-around. Though I do sometimes find myself with much less patience for Miss E's antics. I know she just wants attention, but funny, that doesn't make her attempts to pull every wipe out of the container or dump my water glass all over the floor any easier to deal with.

And now for some brief reviews:

Juno. I liked the humor (sarcasm is my boyfriend). I thought it was a cute story. The anti-man undercurrent was super annoying. This whole trendy idea that mother + baby = nuclear family, with the "+ father" as an optional accessory is antithetical to a functioning society.

The Cutting Edge - Chasing the Dream. Um. That's all I can say. I watched this movie for about fifteen minutes before vomiting violently everywhere (sorry, hope you weren't eating just then). In my defense, I was horrifyingly bored (this was while 39 weeks pregnant). Don't even go here. Just DON'T.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. You didn't think I was going to let a little thing like having a baby stop me from reading, did you?? This book is marvelous and I think you should read it. If you enjoy being moved by a book, if you want to think about things in a new way, go get it from the library now! It took me a little while to get into, but by page 194 I was tearing up (and that's only halfway through the book). A very good book; I highly recommend it.

Pictures ('Cause That's About All I Can Manage Right Now)

2008-04-24T20:09:00.000-07:00

EdgyK's son saw a pic of the baby and promptly nicknamed him Ace. I think it's a brilliant blog nickname!

Miss E is very good about being gentle with the baby.

Miss E has a cold and mightily resists most nose wipings. I think the above pic is funny because 1) her dramatic expression and 2) Miss E makes Ace look like a little shrimp!

Anth Smiles Happily (and Tiredly)

2008-04-20T20:42:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for your well wishes and prayers!

We are home now, but this is still surreal to me. I'm still realizing that 1) I have a baby, 2) I have kids, and 3) I'm not pregnant anymore. Though Miss E already figured out that last part, as she settled onto my lap this evening. :) When she notices the baby (only about once every half hour), she very gently pats him on the head. Otherwise, she has been running around like a crazy child, desperate for lots of attention from both her parents.

Baby Boy's birth went very well - the quick and dirty details are 10 hours of labor (not counting all the very mild contractions on Thursday evening), born 1 day before his due date. Got an epidural (which worked fabulously - woohoo!), baby born after 25 minutes of pushing. He came out looking not particularly newborn-y due to his large size! I'll try to type up his birth story sometime soon...

But now he is sleeping, so it's off to bed for me, at least for an hour or two. Here are some more pictures of our beautiful baby!

The Arrival of Baby Boy

2008-04-18T20:45:00.001-07:00

I am so happy to announce I had my baby this morning at 11:54 am. You can see from the scale below just how very big he is!!!! He is 21 inches long and perfect in every way.

I Think So

2008-04-17T23:07:00.000-07:00

Pretty sure I'm in early labor. Contractions since 5-ish, getting progressively more painful. Also had bloody show. The contractions are only mildly painful still, so I'm going to try to get some sleep, if I can. Starting to get excited...

Pray for me, please!

Temporary Mama's Girl

2008-04-16T21:33:00.001-07:00

As I have mentioned before, Miss E is a daddy's girl. This delights Dh. It delights me too, because then when he is around, I can kind of "check out" and have some down time while he entertains her.

Well, for the past week and a half Miss E has done a complete 180. Now she just wants Mama, Mama, Mama. I've been enjoying the kisses and hugs, and the joyful shouts of "Mama!" when I walk in the room. She only wants me to put her to bed, which is kind of a problem, since I can't really hold her for more than about thirty seconds without experiencing major pain.

Poor Dh is having a hard time not taking this "Mama's girl" phase personally. I'm pretty sure it's just temporary, due to some kind of subconscious recognizance on Miss E's part that her life is about to undergo a major upheaval. I really want the upheaval to come soon.....

Miss E

2008-04-16T21:10:00.000-07:00

I'm still pregnant. And grouchy about that fact.

So I'll post some recent pictures of Miss E in a probably vain attempt to distract myself.

Here is Miss E about to go to church. She was wearing a sweet, poufy dress with coordinating sweater from my mom. You might notice her hair looks unkempt as always. Another mom told me a couple of months ago that if you want your daughter to sit still and let you do her hair, you have to train her to do so from the time she is very, very young. I didn't do that, and now Miss E's hair pretty much always looks like this. She pitches a huge fit if I try for more than the ubiquitous clip.

Miss E is very fond of Dh's motorcycle (as long as it's off). She loves to look through his motorcycle catalogs. He trained her to call them "vroom-vrooms."

Just a couple of pictures showing Miss E's ebullient love of life. :)

These are pictures of Miss E at a local park last weekend. We had a rare warm sunny spring day on Friday so we celebrated by going to the park as a family. I sat on a blanket (soaked my bum) and Dh played photographer as Miss E braved the slides and made friends.

I Can't Make Up My Mind

2008-04-12T19:59:00.000-07:00

I just took this personality quiz and my results were:

Feels trapped in a distressing or uncomfortable situation and seeking some way of gaining relief. Able to achieve satisfaction from sexual activity.

I think this quiz might have been created by a frickin genius.

However, this evening I've been thinking about the actual possibility of labor, based on what I can remember of my labor with Miss E. (My memory has dulled a lot of the pain.) And I suddenly realized I'm not actually that keen to go through it again. Granted I don't have a lot of choice, or rather, I made my choice 9 months ago. But, um, labor hurt. So I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm okay with a little more waiting.

Almost 39 Weeks...

2008-04-11T13:56:00.000-07:00

Had a doctor's appointment this morning. Everything's fine. 33 lbs weight gain. I'm 2.5 cm dilated...the baby could come any day now. (Baby. I'm talking to YOU.)

Go give some love to Alfred's Mom. She didn't go into labor like she'd hoped, and is having a c-section like, right now. So she gets to meet her little boy today!

It's a beautiful sunny day here, so when Miss E wakes up from her nap, we're going to go to the park! Huzzah for the sun!

Why Rainbow Is Awesome

2008-04-08T14:58:00.000-07:00

Rainbow and I have been friends for about five years. She is one of the nicest people I know. Here is some proof:

Dh and I and Rainbow and her husband are planning to double date this Friday. We were going to go to one of the few good restaurants in our town - the only place I've had quality Italian food since moving here. However, while talking on the phone this morning, I admitted that I have reached that magical phase of pregnancy - luckily the very end - where I am uncomfortable in every position - walking, standing, sitting, lying down - it doesn't matter, it all hurts. She asked if I would rather not go out, that they could just come over to our house. "Yeah, but then I'd have to make dinner," I whined.

"No, you won't. We'll bring dinner," she answered. I said that sounded wonderful. Also this way I don't have to go pick up and then drop off a babysitter, which I hate doing.

"In fact," she continued, "why don't you let me come over to your house next week and clean it. If you have the baby this weekend, I'll get Dh to let me in, and I'll clean your house while you are in the hospital."

I was rendered speechless. Finally I squeaked out, "Rainbow, you are awesome."

"I know," she responded in a happy voice.

When you're awesome, you should just admit it.

Fun with the Tax Refund

2008-04-06T18:59:00.000-07:00

Friday our tax refund deposited into the account, so we had some fun spending money.

An HP C7280. Dh and I are both in love with this printer. It prints photos! Easily! Dh was so inspired, he bought some photo frames and printed out adorable photos of Miss E to put in them. I think this will also make timely baby announcements much more attainable and affordable.

A new cell phone for me. Mine's midnight blue. My old cell phone was just over two years old. It would say it was fully charged, yet after a five-minute conversation the "Battery Low" warning would start to beep and flash. Annoying. The only sad thing is my lame ringtones are all gone now.

This Simplicity crib in Cognac. It's cheap. That is a major factor in why we got it. Dh put it together today and it is Miss E's new crib. The crib she was in was not convertible, whereas this one converts into a toddler bed (safety rails included), a daybed, and a headboard for a full mattress. We now have two cribs up in Miss E's room. (We are selfish and not ready to give up the office to children yet.) I'll take pictures soon, once I get Miss E's old crib all prettied up for the baby. Rainbow's husband brought the bassinet back about a week and a half ago - that's where the baby will sleep at night, just outside my bedroom door, at the edge of the living room. For daytime naps, though, I obviously needed a place to lay him down where Miss E would not be shrieking randomly or loudly demanding bagels or cheese. So now he has a crib of his own. Miss E's new crib has a large trundle drawer underneath, which freed up space on the shelves in the changing table for Baby Boy's clothes. Slowly but surely, I am getting ready for this kid's birth.

Image credits: printer and crib - Amazon. Motokrzr - Skatter Tech.

Unsuspected Anxiety in Miss E

2008-04-04T16:26:00.000-07:00

This morning I was leaning against Dh as he browsed T@rget's website on the laptop. Suddenly I had a sharp, intense pain in my lower right side. "OW!" I yelped and sat up as quickly as I was able. (Downright slowly, in case you were wondering.) Miss E looked up from her blocks and asked with real anxiety in her voice, "Mama?" I smiled and told her I was fine, but she didn't believe me. Smart girl, since I was lying through my teeth. "Mama?" she asked again. By then the pain was gone, so I could honestly tell her, "Mama's okay." She went back to playing with her blocks. Dh and I exchanged looks and I whispered that I hope I go into labor while Miss E is asleep so she won't be worried about me. It was quite touching to see her little face full of concern.

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I realized last night during a long sleepless hour (gotta love the last month of pregnancy!) that I have become excessively lazy while expressing myself both on my blog and in my comments on friends' blogs. Everything is "sooooo cute" or "sooooo frustrating" or "totally great" or blah blah blah. I am smarter than "soooooo" and "totally" and I am going to make a conscious effort to utilize my vocabulary.

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I also heard Miss E wake up at 5:45 am and start talking animatedly to herself. I don't usually get up to get her until 7:45. I thought she woke up between 7 and 7:30 each morning. Does she wake up at 5:45 am every morning? I have no idea. I only heard her because my soft, cushy bed was too uncomfortable, so I decided to sleep on the old, flattened sofa. Where I was finally able to successfully fall asleep. I know. It doesn't make any sense to me either. I only know I am thrilled to be nearly done with this pregnancy.