Love, Love, Love

She's here. We are absolutely thrilled, and she is the most beautiful little creature on the earth. Sorry to all of you who think yours are too ; ) I'm not planning to reveal the name here on the blog, and I haven't yet decided what her online Moniker will be either, so I am taking suggestions on that.

She was born Monday, May 18th, following the season finale of 24. I really can't complain too much about the whole labor process, except for the 30 minutes preceeding the birth that were, well, a bit intense ; ) She shot right out (literally), and my Dr. wasn't even able to be there. Once I started pushing, it only required 2 more pushes and a total of 9 minutes.

I decided to go this round sans epidural, and while I am quite impressed with myself and the BK, I'm not sure I could endure it again (give me a year or two and I will probably have forgotten). However, I will say this, the aftermath has been TOTALLY worth it. Recovery has been 200% better and while I won't be out running any marathons this week, I can at least walk. The best part (and the worst) is that I remember everything, and that moment when that little creature was placed on my body was the most incredible of my life. And to think that I didn't stop loving the LG, and was suddenly just able to love her as much is truly a miracle and a tender mercy from heaven.

Final product was a 7 lb, 20 inch miracle. Email me at megappod@gmail.com if you would like her name, and please don't mention it in the comments if you already do. Thanks! And thanks for all the well wishes!

Nesting

Poor LG. As I was working before I had him, I didn't have the time or energy to do any home crafted sewing projects (I'm sure he will actually thank me later). This time round, however, I have managed to sew a few little items that turned out quite to my liking. I sewed the crib bumper and a little quilt, and even a skirt (not pictured) thanks to the inspiration of my niece-in-law (nephew's wifey) my who is much more ambitious and creative than me. Anyway, here is the finished product already hooked up to the crib.



The universe is opening, the veil is thinning and momma is getting really grumpy. In other words, I am ready to go. My mother-in-law is being picked up from the train station as I speak, and that officially relieves me of any anxiety related to where the LG would be if I went into labor. It's time. I'm taking guesses for when, how big and how long the baby will be. I will figure out the prizes later. I feel I must level the playing field however and mention that the LG was 8lbs 9oz, 21 inches long and was 2 weeks early. The official due date is May 31st and the Dr. has assured me that she won't let me go over. This baby is coming this weekend if I can mentally will her into it ; ) Best of luck to myself, and I will keep y'all posted on her arrival. Ta ta till then.

DIY Lessons

I'm sure I have mentioned more than a few times the nature of the nature in our yard. I am happy to report that, with the exception of some minor landscaping details, all our hard work is paying off (this is assuming that the sod we planted actually takes - but this is Oregon, most everything does).

The pictures below give you a good idea of what we were dealing with when we started last year:




And from the front...


The list of shrubbery, trees, foliage, cement and whatnot that we have removed reads a lot like the 12 Days of Christmas (except that you probably wouldn't want any of these items as gifts): 12 dry and crusted bushes, 11 loads of concrete, 10 drug related items, 9 posts of fencing, 8 ivy bushes, 7 railroad ties, 6 square feet of decking, 5 metal posts with concrete, 4 tall evergreens, 3 rubber tires, 2 plastic pools, and one overgrown birdhouse. We had to rent 4 of the yellow bins you see above (one of which was double the size of the one above), and we still have enough debris to warrant another. Looking at the pictures above makes me feel feel a mixture of pride and insanity. I'm just surprised that all the rock moving I have done hasn't sent me into premature labor.






A Couple of Lessons Learned:

1 - Never buy a house in the jungle.

2 - Make sure you have a good health insurance policy.

3 - Don't send an over eager husband up on a ladder to start cutting willy nilly at all the foliage on the side of your house BEFORE checking for electrical wires.

4 - A wheelbarrow is worth every penny you might spend.

5 - Plan ahead so you only do each job once, like tilling a rock garden in preparation for planting sod.

6 - Go to school, get an education, work hard, and PAY someone else to do everything we have done.

Comings and Goings

EASTER

This is a holiday I can really get into. A few presents in a basket, chocolate, good Sunday service, typically tolerable weather, good food, and kids dressed up with hair combed (this is a rare occurence around here). I still don't get the Easter bunny delivering eggs. I comment on this every year, but shouldn't it be an Easter chicken?





NOSES

I don't really like mine. Most of the time, I forget about it and am used to the way it looks on my face, and then there are times (like that captured in the photo below) that make me want to see a surgeon.



POO
The LG has had a weeklong case of the runs - probably from drinking standing water out of strange places in our backyard. Results: 5-6 poo poo changes per day, verge of blisters bottom, lots of baths and poo floaties, failed attempts to potty train (at this point, I would rather clean the poo off the wood floor than off his chaffed hiney), and a trip to the doctor with a full diaper in a baggie in case they asked for a stool sample - which they did, and I had to help scoop the poo into small containers. Good times.

Random Rumblings

I just ate 6 pieces of toast with butter. Some with jam. This is how I celebrate the news that so far I have gained just 25 lbs with this pregnancy with only a month or so to go. Considering I gained 50 with the LG, I was feeling pretty good, until that 6th piece of toast. Did I mention the eggs? I feel so bad that I am considering 2 more to make me feel better.


6:15am
LG: Daddy (mommy doesn't respond at this hour), can you come get me?
BK: No, LG, not until 7:00. Go back to bed.
LG: But daddy, it's 7:00 on my watch. Come and see.


We got the LG a real size mattress. Figure we ought to transition him before #2 comes and every other part of life as he knows it ceases. As you can imagine, bed time and nap time have been drawn out a bit. One night, the BK went to stand next to the LG's door to listen for movement. As he was ready to leave, convinced that all was quietly in hand, out crept a chubby little hand from the space under the door to tickle the BKs feet. Tickle tickle baby. Tickle tickle.

Gotta go, the toaster just buzzed.

And On and On and On

So Week 2 started with a trip to the Grand Canyon which entailed driving an hour north from Flagstaff, paying a $25 park entrance fee, looking into an amazing canyon for 10 minutes, eating some lunch in our car, and heading south to Tucson. By the time we pulled into Grammy's, the sight of her two 125+ lb canines was just to much for the LG to take at 8:30pm and he started screaming like I've never heard him scream before. "Mommy, I wanna go home!!!" It lasted a good 45 minutes. Considering that I had my own meltdown somewhere around Phoenix (the kind where you can't get comfortable, everyone/everything is driving you nuts, and every noise feels like a small needle poking through your ear into your brain) I was ready to buy 2 plane tickets home the next day and let the BK drive back at his leisure.




Luckily, things got better after some sleep. I would say a good night's rest except that the bed we slept on has 2 separate pouches or something that allow you to adjust the "firmness" of the mattress. Whoever slept there last apparently has become accustomed to sleeping on concrete, and that was the good side which, as the prego lady I am, I commandeered. Sorry BK. Anyway, it was good to see family and the LG has some pretty sweet cousins who live next door to Grammy to keep him entertained.


A Little Cactus Whacking


One of the highlights by far was our trip to the airplane graveyard (Pima Air and Space Museum). All these old planes just sitting on acres of desert for your viewing pleasure. I highly recommend this place if you are ever in Tucson or headed for the border.






This post is starting to feel long like our trip, so I am going to wrap it up. After 3 days in the desert (which is not that hospitable a place for a toddler - cacti, pools, large dogs, javelinas, snakes, hot sun), we decided to cut our week as short as we possibly could and head back north. Two more pit stops in LA and San Fran and on to home where we happily pulled in and sat in the car for a good 20 minutes while the BK and I stared at each other in complete silence. No words were necessary at that point to express our exhaustion and wonder, "WHAT THE HELL WERE WE THINKING?"

I would say never again, but I know better.

Road Tripping With a Toddler

Yes, we are insane. We just returned from a 2 week road trip from Portland to Tucson, AZ and back home again. 4,000 miles with a 2 year old and an 8-months pregnant wife is akin to the pioneers crossing the plains in my book. I'm sure you can imagine the insanity, so I will only bore you with the highlights from week 1 for now.

1 - Crater Lake. This fantastic lake, which took us about 2 hours out of our way, is currently accessible only to those crazy enough to drive through a maze with 20-foot snow drifts that take you through a long and winding canyon with no place to possibly turn around. We were afraid we wouldn't even catch a glimpse of the lake once we "arrived" at the viewpoint but after the BK initiated a successful scouting mission over the top of an icy embankment, we took the LG out of the car, wrapped him in swaddling clothes to protect him from the biting wind gusts and climbed over the embankment for a 30-second glimpse.


2 - Roadside fun. Pregnant lady has to stop every 90 minutes to walk around to prevent blood clots and death. This can really put a kink in the arrival times set out by the GPS, but makes for some relaxing pit stops and good people watching. The LG enjoyed stick collecting and tree climbing at the Rest Areas where we also changed him into freshy freshies as we like to say, ate lunch, and got in some interesting reading in the bathroom stalls. We also stopped at a lot of scenic points, one of which was near Mt. Shasta.



3 - Catch up with family. We were able to see one of my favorite aunts in San Francisco, as well as some uncles and and aunt I haven't seen in years. Always a good time to hear stories about my dad that he has likely intentionally kept under the radar. In LA, we got to stay with my brother and his adorable family. We went to the park, the train graveyard, the beach and generally just lazed around and let the kids run wild. I forgot to mention that our little LA trip started with the LG puking all over the back of the car 5 minutes before arriving at my brother's place, and ended with my nephew puking all over his favorite blanket (now destined for a burial ceremony) at 4am before we took off at 6am. Good times.





4 - Sunshine. If you are going to tour the west coast from top to bottom in a car with no air conditioning, at least we picked the right time of year. As vampires up here in the north, it took us a few days to adjust to the constant stream of vitamin D into our systems, but 75 and sunny is a good way to spend 2 weeks. Stay tuned for more highlights from week 2.