Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone has been enjoying their holidays. We've had a good amount of snow here and we would have had a white Christmas in Seattle if we had stayed home this year. Yep, it snowed there today. Little Mal didn't sleep very long last night and has been a cranky pants today. Poor guy :( He's 20 weeks old today.

It has been really nice hanging out with the family this week. Our vacation here has flown by - I can't believe we leave for Seattle in the morning. It really feels like we just got here. We're going to have fun when we get back. A long-time internet friend, Jayne, is flying in from Australia tomorrow night. She'll be hanging out in Seattle for about a week before she heads up to Whistler for snowboarding fun. We're going to be throwing a little holiday potluck on Sunday afternoon to celebrate the holidays with our friends. It should be fun!

Utah for the Holidays

We're in Utah visiting Tony's family for the holidays. Gosh it's cold here. There was a snowstorm last night that was pretty crazy. We've been having fun with the family - here's a picture of the two cousins that are 4 days apart:

Two quarters down...many more to go

Fall quarter is over without too much grief. Management of IT = done! Here's my review of the class: The instructor, Dr. Diane Lockwood, is very knowledgeable and experienced in the IT field. She assigned us very useful readings. However, the lectures were repetitive and a bit boring. A big part of our grade (30%) was participation in class discussion. Unfortunately, I personally didn't find many of the lectures interesting enough to provoke discussion. The structure of the lectures was pretty much the same for every class. I also didn't like that we didn't receive grades on anything until the end of the class. I did like it when she mixed it up and brought in a guest speaker. Overall, I did gain some good knowledge from the class that will be useful in my career.

I got a B+ on my final and a B+ on the group presentation. I'm expecting a B overall in the class. Of course I would have liked an A, but I wasn't inspired enough to try and force myself to find things to discuss in the class. I was a little surprised that I got a B+ on the case part of my final (I thought it was A work) but am pleased with the grade because I wasn't that confident in the answers I gave to the questions part of the final.

The group presentation is always more of a challenge because your grade depends on the quality of work that each group member puts forth. I felt like everyone put forth a really good effort, but you could tell that we had different presentation styles. When we actually presented, I gave the introduction and the conclusion. Unfortunately, some other members talked too much during their sections and we were pretty much out of time when it was time for me to give the conclusion. Oh well...it happens. It's done and I'm happy that we got a B+.

I'm taking Business Statistics next quarter. I was also going to take Legal & Regulatory Environment, but decided against it because I've been told that it's a ton of reading. I know plenty of people who have struggled with Statistics and I feared overwhelming myself. Although I do have some time during the day to do schoolwork, I never know how much time I'll have.

Little one just woke up from the phone ringing. I'm going to go with Julie & Jeremiah to Babies R Us to help them register. They found out this week that they are going to have a little girl!

4-month letter

My little Mal,

Your Daddy got a job this month so now it's just you and me hanging out during the days. When your Daddy gets home from work, you are so excited to see him. Sometimes, though, you don't take an afternoon nap so when he gets home, he finds himself coaxing you to sleep while I cook dinner.

You improved very quickly with controlling your arms and hands and like to grab things constantly. It's fun because now you can entertain yourself with toys. It seems that you have inherited the talkative gene from your Daddy. This past month, you figured out how to squeal so loudly that people react by covering their ears. You sure do enjoy using your voice! Your sounds have expanded to the cutest coos that make my heart melt.

Now that you are getting stronger, tummy time isn't so bad. I expect you and Collin to be wrestling when we go visit family next week. Everyone is very excited to meet you.

Can we talk about the drool? It's getting a little out of hand. I have to change your bib 2 to 3 times a day - what's it going to be like when you start teething? Now it's your job to figure out how to start swallowing your spit 'cause your Momma is tired of her shirts being wet all the time.

Love,
Mommy

Soup Swap = Delish

Last night, I attended my first Soup Swap and I sure do hope it's not my last. I just finished a bowl of Great Northern Bean & Kale soup and it was very yummy. I love soup! Since my crock pot is only 3 quarts, I made 2 different kinds of soup: Black Bean and Lentil. I should have made 2 batches of Black Bean because I think there were 4 lentil soups there. It was a vegetarian swap, too. I scored the previously mentioned Bean & Kale soup, a spicy tomato soup, a bean extravaganza soup, french onion soup, miso soup and a bean & barley soup.

A spare moment for a quick update

Mal's appointment with his new pediatrician went great. He has no concern with Mal's weight because it's consistently on the same curve. He said that the little guy is exactly where he needs to be in regards to his development and remarked on how strong and vocal he is. Good things! He's currently 11 pounds, 13.6 ounces and 24 1/2 inches tall. I really like his new doctor. He actually took time to explain the vaccines to me and why each one might have side effects.

The company I've been doing the contract work for wants me to do even more stuff for them on a longer-term basis. Horray! Unfortunately, I can't work as many hours as they would like, so I hope it works out. It helps when you have friends in high places.

The Loss of Kitty Companions

I have had two dear friends lose feline companions recently - one to an automobile and another to cancer. My heart hurts for them both. When you have an animal companion in your life for a period of time, you become quite attached to him or her and many people consider their animals a part of their family and most of those people would tell you that they love their pets.

So when your pet dies, it hurts a lot. A big piece of your life is gone.

Both of our kittums are getting up in age and I worry about their health. Fortunately, the vet says they are both quite healthy for their age (both are around 12 years old). I hope they are around for many more years.

Whew!

I've been reluctant to post anything until it was finalized: Tony got a job! Here's the story: he had a phone interview and in-person interview for a Quality Assurance Analyst position at Classmates.com before the Thanksgiving holiday. That Wednesday, they told him they would be offering him the job and sending him the official offer on Monday. Our friends, Cathy and Eric, both work at the company and worked hard at getting him the interview and had a big influence on the hiring manager's decision. Tony hasn't done QA in about 7 years, so his experience is rusty.

He also had a phone interview the Wednesday before the holiday with a small, Microsoft-owned company doing PHP & MySQL Web Development which is what he's been going for this whole time. The phone interview went better than he expected because he honestly didn't believe he was fully qualified for the position. His face-to-face interview with the company was this past Monday. He was upfront with them from the beginning regarding the job offer with Classmates. The interview went really well and they presented him with a job offer on Tuesday morning.

Imagine that - after 3.5 months of job hunting, he gets two job offers. He accepted the Web Development job and started on Friday. The compensation is what he was looking for and the location is just a 15 minute bus ride from our house so we won't need to get a second car. The Classmates job was south of the city and would have been an hour and a half bus ride each way. His first day went really well; he's very excited about the work environment and says that all of the people that work there seem to work together well.

We can now breathe a sigh of relief.

My final was more challenging than expected, but it's done. Malcolm is doing really great - I haven't been taking as many pictures lately. Shame on me! He has his 4-month well-baby appointment next Wednesday. I'm anxious to see how his weight gain has been. He's still a lanky tike, but he does have more pudge and is definitely growing in length.

We might get snow in the city this weekend and the local ski resorts have started opening. It's killing me a bit because I am DYING to go snowboarding but have no clue how to do so while breastfeeding.

Here I am!

I haven't forgotten about you, my dear readers. I've just been busier than usual. During my free moments during the day, I've been helping a friend prepare for a move the company she works for is about to do (paid gig) and also trying to work on my final and group project for my class. My final is due next Thursday and the group project is due on the 13th.

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving. We went over to the house of Lorian and Douglas along with many more people (12 total) for a large feast of good stuff. I contributed sweet potato casserole, mushroom stuffing and Field Roast. Manda brought the meat-free gravy and homemade cranberry sauce. There was also two other kinds of stuffing, ham, turkey, corn casserole, asparagus, green bean casserole and 4 pies. Douglas also made sweet tea. He's also from the south so thought it was appropriate to add that to the feast since I was bringing sweet potato casserole. Malcolm did really well the whole time we were there.

On Sunday, we are going to an after-Thanksgiving potluck at Jill and William's house where there will be at least 20 people. I'm making homemade cornbread for that feast.

Yay, food!

3-Month Letter

My Little Mal,

You turned 3-months old earlier this week - good job! This past month, you discovered that you can have fun. You like to smile a lot and suck on your right fist. My suspicion is that you are right-handed. One of your daddy's favorite things to do is to get you to giggle (he's much better than I am).



Your giggle is infectious! We have to work at getting you to giggle like we had to work at making you smile. Now you will greet me every morning with a smile. You've been working really hard on figuring out how to control your arms and get better at it every day. When you suck on your arm and fist, you make this obnoxiously loud slurping noise. It really is the cutest!

Since your 2-month exam with the pediatrician, your dad and I have been obsessed with your poop. We took a sample of your poop to the lab to have tested and the results showed that you weren't absorbing enough nutrients when you ate. We started giving you something to help out with that and you've been gaining weight like a champ since then. The other change is your poop. I won't go into details, but I will say that changing a poopy diaper is now an adventure.

A few weeks ago, we started attending a support group for new parents. We hang out with these other families every Wednesday and talk about how we deal with particular situations. On the first night, we decided to get a picture of all of the babies together.

You're still figuring out how to stay sitting up and have actually improved since this picture was taken. Fortunately, you are sitting next to Michael who is a few weeks older than you so he did what he could to help you out.

You also love for mommy and daddy to sing to you and make faces at you. You're trying really hard to mimic the faces. Your newest thing is blowing raspberries.

I would have to say that this has been a very productive month for you. You really seem to be enjoying the growing up thing except for tummy time. We're going to work on that more before you meet your cousin, Collin. He's a few days younger than you and he loves tummy time. He started lifting himself up weeks ago! Check it out:

I know you'll get there really soon. No pressure, I swear.

Both of your parents got sick this month and somehow you didn't get the illness from us. I am so impressed! I have to admit, I fear your first illness, so keep up the good work with staying healthy. You are my favorite little guy.

Love,
Mommy

How to be a good parent when you are sick

Please tell me because I do not know.

I think I had a 24-hour stomach bug yesterday that totally kicked my butt. I woke up and felt a little 'eh' and it proceeded to get worse throughout the day. I couldn't eat or drink anything without my stomach cramping up and add on nausea, diarrhea, weakness, fever and a headache. I could barely lift my arms. How am I supposed to take care of Malcolm when I am that sick? I really don't know what I would have done if Tony wasn't here to take care of the little bean all day long. He brought him to me when he needed to eat but I was having a hard time with that due to dehydration.

I am feeling much better today. Not 100%, but definitely better.

Update on the baking soda as deodorant: it is working much better than expected. I have to admit, I am quite surprised. I would be interested to see how it works in more humid environments where people tend to sweat more.

There are a couple of ways to apply it. Some people mix it up into a paste as described here. I brush it on with an old make-up brush. I've done it when my pits are completely dry and when I splash a bit of water on them - it doesn't seem to make a difference. Although I apply it while leaning over the sink, baking soda tends to get all over the bathroom counter.

Armpit stink

I have sensitive pits and they are particular to what gets put on them. Most anti-perspirants give me a terrible rash and deodorants don't do the trick in covering up the smell. I've tried the 'natural' crystal deodorant but it stings my sensitive skin. Right now, I have Trader Joe's unscented deodorant in my medicine cabinet but it doesn't really deodorize very well so I end up not using it most of the time.

Since being eco-friendly is the new 'it' thing these days, I've been reading a lot about people using good ole' baking soda as deodorant. I think I'm finally going to give it a try. I don't have much need for an anti-perspirant since I don't sweat much (it kinda weirds me out anyways. Aren't we supposed to sweat?) and I don't have much to lose since I'm basically not using anything now.

This post is brought to you by the stink of my armpits as I wait for Tony to get out of bed on this Saturday afternoon so I can go take a shower while he watches the little guy.

12 Weeks old!

12 Weeks Old:

8 Weeks Old:

4 Weeks Old:

2 Days Old:

Updates

Jenn's house is still standing and a friend who lost her house is staying with her. Cameron is also back home with her.

Malcolm's appointment on Tuesday went well. He gained 17 ounces in two weeks. Go Mal! That was the last time we will be seeing that pediatrician. Although she was happy with Mal's weight gain, she instructed us to start feeding him even more formula. I just don't get it. We're going to start taking him to the pediatrician Angie & Jessie take their kids to.

The little guy is talking up a storm and he's been working hard on his arm control. He now rubs his eyes when he's tired and he sometimes finds his mouth and sucks on his fist. He makes these loud, slurping noises that are darling. This past Wednesday, we went to a new parents support group that meets weekly. At the end of the meeting, we put all of the babies on the couch and one of the dads took pictures. It was hilarious! They are all pretty young and haven't started sitting up on their own so there was lots of leaning on each other.

Today, I made a vegetable stew with kale, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, onion and garlic. Delish!

California fires

My sweetest sister lives in San Diego. Last I heard, her house is still standing. Cameron is staying with his dad - his place is currently not threatened by the fires. The hospital where Jenn works is taking in evacuees from nursing homes and she's on call 24/7. It's an intense time in SoCal right now.

We love you, Jenn and Cameron! You are constantly in our thoughts.

The Weight of Poop

I think little Mal will weigh more tomorrow just from all of the poop he's holding in. Before we started everything, we were changing around 5 poopy diapers a day. Now he's only pooping every 2-3 days. And when he does poop, it's A LOT of poop. If he doesn't poop before his appointment tomorrow, I'm sure all that he's holding in will add at least half a pound to his overall weight. OK, enough of the poop talk.

On Sunday, we had Julie, Jeremiah and Natalie over for brunch. Nat stayed over all day hanging out - it was great! Her computer broke so she brought it over to see if Tony could figure out what is wrong with it. We sent her home with a somewhat functioning computer + my old desktop so she could at least use the internet at home. Sunny & Annie were in the neighborhood so they stopped by for a little bit to hang out. I feel really lucky that my friends want to come hang out with us at our house since we can't afford to go out to eat and socialize.

Metric played a show at The Showbox this past Tuesday. I am a little sad that I missed it. I also realized that it's unlikely that I'll be able to snowboard for most of this season since I'll still be breastfeeding Malcolm. I can't go all day without feeding or pumping, ya know?

SAHM

I never thought I would become a stay-at-home-mom. I never thought that we could afford it. It's funny how you prioritize your life differently once you have a child. My main focus in life is my family. The biggest decision I have to make everyday is whether the weather is good enough to take Malcolm on a walk. There are very few 'new' events that occur, but I don't mind one bit. My biggest concern in my life is the well-being of our child.

Tony has 2 interviews next week for jobs that sound pretty exciting. WaMu is deciding if they want to have second interviews or if they are just going to make an offer which tells us that they are having a hard time deciding between Tony and another candidate. Things are definitely looking up on the job front!

My milk production is definitely up so let's hope Mal's weight is also. Since we've started the whole formula, Lactaid, fennel and Fenugreek regime, he's been spitting up often throughout the day. If he's gained enough weight to satisfy his pediatrician, the formula is the first thing to go. Tony has been really enjoying feeding him daily, so I'm going to start finding time to pump throughout the day so he can continue to do so with bottled breastmilk in the evenings. It's going to be so weird not having him around all the time. I've gotten quite accustomed to him helping me out during the day. Although it's been a little scary with him being unemployed the last couple of months and us not knowing where our income will be coming from after my severance pay runs out, it's been quite wonderful for all of us that he's been able to spend so much time with Malcolm. They really do adore each other.

Poop update

He's pooping less and it's definitely thicker. He had one of the messiest diapers yet this morning. The real test to see if the Lactaid is doing its job will be his weight gain.

I started drinking fennel infused water per the recommendation of a friend. It increased her milk production when she was having difficulties. If the Fenugreek and the fennel do not work, I'll look into a prescription (thanks for the recommendation, Jean).

I'm reading an interesting book right now: Into the Minds of Babes: How Screen Time Affects Children from Birth to Age Five. It's pretty interesting so far. I'm planning on doing a chapter-by-chapter book review when I'm finished. The information in the book is important for all parents to know which is why I'm going to review it and post it online for those who do not have the time to read it.

Our recent digestive pleasures: crustless broccoli & mushroom quiche, banana bread and lentil stew. I cook while Mal is napping :)

The Scoop on the Poop

On Wednesday, we took a sample of Mal's poop to the lab to get analyzed per his pediatrician's instructions. She wanted to make sure he was absorbing all of the nutrients he needs since his weight gain is slow. She called us last night with the results: he's absorbing the fat just fine, but isn't absorbing enough lactose. Apparently, it's not uncommon for a newborn's intestines to not produce enough lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose. This is often called lactose intolerance, but that would be an incorrect diagnosis. True lactose intolerance is actually quite rare in babies.

Anyway, the symptoms we read up on when doing our own research matched exactly what Malcolm experiences: watery stools and gassiness. She recommended that we start giving him Lactaid before he eats.

When I started going to class, we started giving Mal a little bit of formula when Tony would run out of pumped breast milk. We noticed that the next day, he was spitting up quite often. So, we went ahead and got him soy based formula. Boy does he hate the taste! The pediatrician instructed us to start supplementing his feeding with formula until his weight increases and I can increase my milk production (she thinks that my milk production is low).

While I was giving Mal his bath last night, Tony ran to the store to pick up some Lactaid. We gave him the dosage she recommended, I then fed him and then Tony gave him a bottle of formula. He was a happy baby. Tony was playing with him on his lap and he was doing his cute cooing and whatnot when suddenly, he vomited all over himself and Tony. Ack! Our first time having to deal with our kid puking! And of course he did it after his bath. He didn't cry or anything so we think he was feeling just fine. This morning, I gave him some more Lactaid and also a bottle of formula (he only drank an ounce this time) and so far we are in the clear. I've come to the conclusion that he just had too much to eat.

I'm really hoping that he puts weight on quickly so we can stop giving him formula every day. It's hard for him to digest.

2-month letter

Hey Malcolm,

Can you believe it? You are two months old already! We have been having so much fun hanging out with you - more than we could have imagined. Your first few weeks of life, you liked to snuggle all of the time which everyone enjoyed. Then, you suddenly became alert and started to interact with us. Everyday, we can't wait to see what new thing you are going to do. You have become very talkative and have started to roll from your back to your side and have figured out how to scoot yourself around the bed.

We took you to see the doctor yesterday and found that you are now 22 1/2 inches tall and weigh 8 pounds 12 ounces. Although you eat quite often, the doc wants you to put on more weight. She says that you are too skinny. I wonder if this is an indication that you are going to be a lanky kid - it does run in the family.

Since we brought you home for the first time, you have been really good about sleeping for long periods of time during the night. We feel really lucky because that means that your mom and dad aren't sleep deprived. Apparently, this is rare. I've been reading that your sleep patterns will change in the next few months when you start teething. Let's make a pact now that you'll continue to figure out how to sleep through the night :)

I'm typing one-handed ATM in an attempt to finally get this letter finished (been working on it for two days now). We love you, lil' bean, and are so happy you came into our lives.

Love,
Mommy

2 months old!

I'm thankful these times are rare

The little guy didn't get to sleep until midnight last night and woke up around 2:30, 4:30 and then again at 6. I can usually nurse him back to sleep quickly, but he thrashed around the whole time which is quite uncomfortable for me. I gave up and got up to put him in his swing in hopes that it will lull him back to sleep. He's yawning lots and also making grunting noises, but no sleep. Maybe he has gas? Sleep, baby! Mommy needs more sleep, too!

What we eat

Something my mum said when she was visiting inspired this post. She said that she would have no idea of what to cook for us since I'm vegetarian. This past week, I made Mexican Bean and Polenta Stuffed Peppers and Creamy Rice and Spinach Casserole. The stuffed peppers came out well but definitely needed more salt. They've also reheated well. I made the casserole with orzo pasta and a variety of greens (broccoli, spinach, green beans and edemame). It was a bit disappointing - especially since it got such high ratings on VegWeb. I ended up adding parmesan cheese and it made it better. It was also better the next day. I also made a batch of chili and froze half for later. For quick meals, we eat a lot of wraps. Essentially, we just put random things in tortillas and eat. It's easy, quick and usually healthy.

Now that we have a limited income coming in, I'm trying to get us on a food budget. This has proved more difficult than I thought. It's easy for me if I'm just buying for myself, but Tony often doesn't like what I buy. It's too healthy and not convenient enough. He's also been on a meat kick lately and prefers to make his daily trips to the store to buy food he wants to eat that day. We have quickly found that meat is expensive!

7 weeks (and a few days)

Why don't babies blink? Mal is in his swing just staring away at the red button on the side of it and not blinking at all. Do their little eyes not dry out?

Poor little guy got painful diaper rash earlier this week due to me drinking orange juice. It's an adventure figuring out what foods I eat affect him.

I went to my first class last night for Management of IT and was gone for 3.5 hours. I had only pumped enough milk for one bottle and Mal drank that quickly shortly after I left. Tony didn't know where the formula was for back up so when he got hungry again, Tony gave him water with sugar in it. I'm still not really sure why he put sugar in the water, but it made for one bouncy boy! Fortunately, it only kept him up about an hour later than his usual bedtime. My class was kinda boring. I really hope it gets more interesting. Maybe it bored me because it reminded me of work and I don't really want to think about work right now since they laid me off this week. Yes, a week before I was to return. And that's all I'm going to say on the internet. If you want more details, email or call me.

Smile!

I was finally able to catch Mal smilin' on camera today:

Update - Six Weeks

Six weeks ago today, lil' bean was born and we named him Malcolm. JoJo (my mom) arrived on his two-week birthday followed by PopPop (Paul) and Aunt Jenn. Shortly after their departures, Grandma (Tony's mom) arrived for a 5-day visit. A few days after she left, Granpa (my dad) and Nana (Carolyn) arrived and they just left today. Now I have two weeks to convince little Mal that he wants to eat from a bottle when I'm not around. I really don't know what I'm going to do if he refuses a bottle since my maternity leave is up and I have to go back to work on October 3rd.

He slept in today missing Nana & Granpa's departure so that means no morning nap. Right now, he's in his vibrating rocker being as cute as ever. His neck and leg get stronger every day and he's started to smile but we're not convinced he's doing it on purpose. The biggest unfortunate thing is that he suffers from uncomfortable gas and we're not sure how to alleviate it. One thing that calms him down is going up and down the stairs. I'm starting to think that he does this so we stay in shape. He has the cutest expressions but we can't seem to capture them in a picture to share with everyone.

These brief moments of having both arms and hands free are valuable and I usually spend them making food for myself, doing laundry or taking care of myself (peeing or taking a shower). As he gets older and we can establish a routine, I hope to update the blog more frequently. I also need to prioritize sending out thank-you notes for gifts from the baby shower (why oh why didn't I do that before he was born?!?) and birth announcements.

Oh yeah - school starts next week. I'm only taking one class this semester but can only do so if we can convince Mal to accept a bottle. I suppose that means we only have one week to accomplish this. Although my class is only 2.5 hours, he is still eating on demand and pretty much wants to eat constantly in the evenings. He's a hungry boy!

Be sure to check out the pictures from all of our visitors on my Flickr gallery.

Looks who's 4 weeks old!

4 weeks old:


2 days old:


He's started a new routine - awake and alert in the morning and grumpy in the evenings. He's stopped taking naps during the day and I think it's making him grumpy. He's still sleeping 6 to 7 hours straight every night and eating constantly when awake. I have no idea how I'm supposed to get up a supply of pumped milk for when I go back to work. We still can't get him to take a binkie and he won't take the bottle yet. We're going to try different nipples and hope that works.

One Year

One year ago today, Tony & I got married at Smith Tower surrounded by family and friends. Since then, we went to Prague for our honeymoon, bought a townhouse and welcomed Malcolm to our family. I started the MBA program at Seattle University and we visited Atlanta and San Diego over long weekends. It's been a wonderful (albeit busy) year and it baffles me how much our lives have changed over such a short period of time. I feel so fortunate to have a supportive, loving partner and an amazing son. We have so much to look forward to and much to be thankful for.

Malcolm will be four weeks old tomorrow. 4 weeks! My mom came to Seattle on the 21st and Paul & Jenn joined her on the 25th. They helped out around the house and got lots of cuddles with Mal. Tony turned 36 last Sunday and we had several friends over for a birthday brunch. Tony's mom comes into town on Tuesday for a 5-day stay and then my dad & Carolyn come to town after she leaves. The consensus so far is that Malcolm is a very sweet baby :)

The last few days, he hasn't been sleeping for long periods of time during the day and wants to eat most of the time he's awake. I spend much of my time sitting on the couch and my body is starting to ache from the lack of activity! He will sleep for long periods of time during the night if he's sleeping in bed with us. I love having him so close, but I have anxiety dreams of him falling off the bed or getting smothered. We've been putting him in his cosleeper for part of the night, but that means I am up ever hour. When he's sleeping by himself, he doesn't stay asleep for longer than an hour and it's usually 30 minute stints. I had him in his cosleeper for about 4 hours last night so I am pretty tired right now. I started pumping breastmilk this morning so I put him in the cosleeper after feeding him, turned the monitor on and came downstairs. Shortly afterwards, I heard him making his little 'awake' noises and then he was quiet for the rest of the time. I went upstairs to see if he was still sleeping and sure enough, he was fast asleep but not in his own bed. Tony had picked him up and put him in our bed so they could both get more sleep. I almost crawled back into bed but decided to take advantage of having both of my hands free :)

There are pictures up on Flickr of the recent visit from family (thanks, Paul!)

17 days

Once again, I find myself thinking that I am a very lucky person. Malcolm is such a good baby. My mom arrived on Tuesday to help me out and I think she's a bit bored. Mal is a cuddle bug so that's pretty much all I ask her to do - cuddle him so I can get stuff done like cook. Can you believe that I have a 2.5 week-old and can cook dinners that take time to prepare? I never though that would happen! The little one is gaining weight like he should (if he's awake, he's eating) and pooping and peeing a good amount. And, he loves to sleep! We have found that we haven't suffered from sleep deprivation - can you believe it?

Parenthood is pretty amazing. Malcolm is adorable. I'm so in love!

The Birth Story

Tuesday, August 7th, 2007: I woke up with my lower back aching. It was aching enough for me to decide to not go to work. I was told by several people that this ache could last for days. Oh yay. Since sitting and laying down made it worse, I did stuff around the house to keep myself busy. I probably started feeling minor contractions in the early afternoon but they were sporadic and mild enough that I didn't give it a second thought. Tony decided to come home from work a little early to see if I needed anything. We went for a long walk in hopes of it giving me some relief. As we were walking, my contractions started getting more intense and frequent. We went to our local park and sat on a bench and talked about becoming parents in the very near future. It was quite lovely.

We arrived back home around 5 PM. Tony made me a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich - yum! By 5:30, my contractions seemed to be getting close enough to where I thought we should start timing them. I was not going to even suggest going to the hospital until my contractions were occurring every 3 to 5 minutes and lasting for at least a minute each. During this time, we put things in order around the house, I shaved Tony's head and we packed a bag to take to the hospital. We headed out at 6:30 and arrived in the maternity ward shortly before 7. I was fully prepared for them to check me out and send me home, but instead they admitted me right away. Our first Nurse Practitioner informed me that I was still only 3 cm dilated but now 100% effaced and predicted a morning delivery. We started calling family and friends to let them know that I was in early labor.

The staff was going through a shift change and our dedicated NP, Kristeen, came into the room. She checked out the baby, got the bath ready for me and we discussed pain medication options. I told her that I wanted to try going natural so she told me she wasn’t going to offer pain medications again - I would have to ask her for them. At this point, the contractions were definitely getting more painful, but not unbearable. Tony helped me into the tub where I continued to groan (loudly) each time a contraction came. After 45 minutes, I got out of the tub so Kristeen could monitor the baby. The pain was definitely increasing so I decided to try a systemic painkiller. After she monitored the baby and gave me a small dose of painkiller, back in the tub I went. Natalie arrived shortly thereafter to watch me writhe in pain. The contractions were constant by now and I knew there was no way I could deal with that level of pain for 10 more hours.

Sometime shortly after 9, Kristeen got me out of the tub to monitor the baby once again. I asked for an epidural and the anesthesiologist was called. Before his arrival, Kristeen checked my cervix and found that I was 9 cm dilated! Once my water was broken, I would be having a baby! Since the little one was almost here, I decided to forgo the epidural. I now understand that my contractions were so painful because I had transitioned which is often the most painful period in the labor process. Then, we were informed that the on-call OB would be another 10 minutes (she was finishing a C-section surgery). I was at the point in labor where I HAD TO PUSH. Kristeen went to speak with the doctor to see if she could have someone else break my water; the doctor refused and said that we had to wait for her. My choices were to not push for 10 more minutes (not happening!!!) or get an epidural to prolong labor. This is where we all become quite displeased. The reason why we chose Swedish Medical Center as the location where I would give birth is because we were told that we would be the ones in control and in this instance, we were not OK with either of those options. Fortunately, Kristeen was on our side so she told me that she couldn’t tell me that it was OK to push, but she couldn’t stop me. As soon as I started pushing, my water broke. Funny how your body knows what to do at the right time. I almost forgot to mention - we did have a resident doctor helping out, too. She assisted the doctor once she finally arrived. It was such a relief to start to use my contractions for something and I found that although exhausting, pushing didn’t hurt as much as the contractions after I transitioned. After pushing for around 30 minutes (crowning for 20), Malcolm was born at 10:22 PM. I had slight tearing on my inner labia, but that is it.

Tony, Natalie and Kristeen were amazing. I don’t think I could have done it without them. The whole thing happened so quickly that I didn’t have time to even consider the breathing techniques I had been practicing or any of the other coping mechanisms to deal with the pain. I had these ideas that I would use the birthing ball and I had also been doing exercises to strengthen my quads for squatting - all of that went out the window. I didn’t even have time to think about it! With that being said, I feel extremely lucky that labor was so quick - we were totally prepared for a 12 to 15 hour ordeal. It was an absolutely amazing experience and I am so glad that I didn’t get an epidural. Although the pain was really intense, I couldn’t imagine it not being part of Malcolm being born.

Several friends had come to the hospital - most all of them didn’t arrive until around 10. I wasn’t really up to seeing anyone right away - I just wanted to bond with the little person I gave birth to. Julie and Jeremiah did come in to say hello - Julie was meant to also be there during the birth but didn’t arrive in time. They all came back in the next couple of days to visit us in the hospital and meet Mal for the first time. We came home on Thursday and have had many friends visit since then and bring us lots of food. It is so wonderful to have such a great support network.

The first family portrait:


There are more pictures on my flickr gallery and on our Tony Loves Kris website :)

The Overdue Update

Malcolm made his way out of the womb on Tuesday, August 7th at 10:22 PM. Labor was much quicker than we anticipated and definitely painful - I'll be writing another post focusing on the birth story. We came home from the hospital on Thursday after being delayed due to our car not starting. Julie ended up picking Mal & me up from the hospital while Tony had the car towed to get looked at. Everyone is healthy and happy - Malcolm is perfect! He's also awake now and asking to be fed. More later!

How are you feeling?

I got asked that question a lot yesterday by coworkers and friends. And yesterday I felt just fine until we went to see Dr. McDermott. She poked around and "mixed things up to get labor moving along" which just felt like an uncomfortable pelvic exam. I'm 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced. She exclaimed excitedly that we're going to have a baby this week!

It's typical for me to cramp after an uncomfortable pelvic exam. I continued to cramp and bleed for the rest of the afternoon. I finally gave up on feeling any better and we left work about an hour early. After laying down at home, I soon came to realize that I felt better walking around. This made me happy since we had plans to run some errands last night. Lil' bean was also really active all afternoon and evening - much more than usual.

I was so hopeful that I would wake up this morning and feel fine, but I didn't. I awoke before my alarm as usual, got up to empty my bladder, went back to bed and soon realized that my panties were wet. So I got up to get in the shower which made clean-up much easier as my body expelled the mucus plug. My lower back is very, very achy this morning. I'm not having any contractions yet, but I'm also not feeling up to working today. I actually called in sick. I think it may be the second time I've called in sick to work since I started working there almost 3 years ago. So today I'm going to skulk about and try to distract myself from the discomfort. If it goes away, I'm heading into work. If we're lucky, these are the signs that I'm going into labor - hopefully sooner than later.

A cat and a pregnant lady

This week, my feet have swelled twice and I have a slight headache for most of my days. Just slight discomforts. I have to admit, I think I may miss being pregnant after lil' bean arrives. Don't get me wrong - we are both ready to meet him. It's going to be weird not being pregnant.

Poor Brenda is not having an easy time with her pregnancy. I'm starting to think that she may go into labor before me even though her doctor originally said she got pregnant after I did.

We are going to be parents before we know it. Wow. Just Wow.

Learning the basics of parenting

When you make a little person, he doesn't come with an instruction manual. Therefore, we signed up for some classes at Swedish (the hospital where bean will be born). On Monday, we went to the breastfeeding class and learned a lot of good stuff. The instructor even talked about the recent studies that came out regarding plastic bottles and recommended that everyone buy glass if they plan on using breast & bottle. We are so ahead of the game. Thursday, we went to the Newborn Care class which was also very much worth our time. The last class we are taking is Infant CPR next Monday.

I think it's late enough in the game that I can say this without jinxing myself - this pregnancy has been really easy. I cannot believe how lucky I am. Sure, I get occasional heartburn and a bit of back pain, but I have heard that it is so much worse for many women. I have enjoyed being pregnant. Everyone is convinced that since I've had such an easy pregnancy, that I will have an easy labor. I'm definitely not expecting an easy or quick labor, but I'm also not fearing complications. If there are complications, there will be lots of people around to help out.

I'm feeling really good today - my energy is high and I feel well-rested. This is a good thing because there is a very long list of things I want to do around the house :)

I made the compost bin last weekend but haven't had the chance to check on it all week. I'll be adding more items to it today. The thing I'm really wanting to avoid is flies, so I'm hoping that I'm taking all of the proper steps to do so.

Bean update - 37.5 weeks

Today we found out that I am negative for group B strep and that my cervix opening is 2cm dilated! The doc could feel bean's head! Very exciting stuff. I'm still feeling a-okay and am doing my best to take deep breaths regarding work.

Now I just need to let it go

It has been one of *those* weeks at work. To end a kinda intense week, the power in our office went out today at around 9:30 AM...from the use of space heaters. Yes, I said space heaters. In the middle of summer. Ever since our air conditioner got fixed, it gets really cold in the office when it's cloudy outside. We have no control over our thermostat so people were running space heaters today and it blew one of the fuses in the building. Due to rational that I can't explain, building management didn't bother getting an electrician out to fix it until 1 PM this afternoon. I let our staff go home around noon since we didn't know when the electrician was going to arrive or how long it was going to take to fix. Once the power was restored, Andrew turned the servers back on and went ahead and went home. I stuck around to assist in tracking down a bookkeeping issue. Our office is kinda creepy when you are there by yourself.

It's just become really intense for me because I want to make sure that my staff is as prepared as possible for when I am gone for 2 months. However, I really haven't had the time to focus on making sure everything is in order so it's stressing me out a bit. And, there are other things that are going on that I can't really share on the internet.

Did you come here to read about my complaining? I didn't think so. I'll shut up now.

The Nursery in Progress

My energy is back up - I think it was the anemia kicking my ass. I ran out of iron supplements and went about a week w/o. Now I know better! I took some time last night to finish cleaning the crib and put it in place. Here's what the nursery looks like so far:

This is the west wall.

The crib that we scored off of Freecycle.

The north wall with the hide-a-bed.

This room will still be serving as our guest room for awhile. We'll be cosleeping with bean for at least 6 months and can just roll the crib into our bedroom after that when we have guests. I still need to pick up the footstool and the bookshelf.

New belly video

I tried embedding the video, but it didn't work. Go here to see it.

36 Weeks

We're in the homestretch now! I had planned to get so much done this weekend but it takes very little to exhaust me. I unpacked the crib, but now am too worn out to put it together. It's frustrating, but I'm trying not to let it get to me. My body is busy helping grow a little person and that's its big duty right now. I will take pictures once the crib is set up. We still need to get window treatments and a bookshelf - my goal is to have the window treatments ordered this week.

We have an appointment with Dr. McDermott tomorrow. I think I may ask her to test my thyroid level to make sure it's just the pregnancy that's making me this exhausted and not my thyroid being all wonky.

I bet it was hotter here

We experienced record high temperatures yesterday - mid 90's. It wouldn't be so bad if we had air conditioning in our houses. I also developed a migraine headache and all i could do was lie on our sofa and sweat. I bet you wish you were me.

The nursery is now a very "boy" blue. I will take pictures once Tony moves the rest of the furniture in there. I still need to get window treatments and help Tony find a dresser so we can use his old one for the baby's room. We're making progress! Next: getting the office in shape. It's a wreck right now as is the garage.

We went to see the movie Sicko last week - Michael Moore did a good job on this one. I'd definitely recommend seeing it.

I'm trying to get inspired to write something interesting but it's just not there. Sorry!

Happy July 4th!

We are having a perfect summer day in Seattle so far. There is not a cloud in the sky which is unusual - it's usually cloudy on the 4th. There is a soft breeze blowing and it's currently 74 degrees Fahrenheit. We are going to go to at least 2 barbecues today so we can hang out with multiple groups of friends.

Baby update: Dr. McDermott recommended that I stay away from eating lots of sodium since the likelihood of swelling is bigger now. Lil' bean is now in the upside down position and she's estimating that he's about 4 pounds now and will be around 7 when we welcome him out of the womb. He may seem small for today's standards, but I'm not a big human and I am much more comfortable with the idea of squeezing a 7 lb baby out of me compared to a 9-10 lb baby. I have started purchasing things for the nursery this week. I have been getting as much as I can second-hand, but I also want to like it. I wasn't finding any used rockers/gliders that I liked, so I did buy that new along with wall art. I've also been ordering necessities that we didn't receive as gifts and I haven't been able to find second hand and I have to admit, it's been fun :)

Speaking of baby stuff, I should get moving on clearing out the upstairs room in preparation for painting on Saturday.

This American Life on iTunes

Not just the podcast anymore. We can now purchase the show! I am so freaking excited. We pretty much just watch TV off of iTunes when we do watch TV. When I heard about them making TAL into a TV show, I was so hoping iTunes would pick it up and now they have. Is it wrong for me to be so excited about a show?

From Green Bin to Composting

Awhile back, the city of Seattle started providing Green Bin service for yard waste and food waste. They set up a city composting site. Great idea! When I set up our waste service in our new home, I requested a Green Bin. Thing is, we do not have yard waste to speak of and we produce very little food waste. The Green Bin is taking up lots of space and also attracts many flies. We have come to the conclusion that the city-provided service is just not right for us. It doesn't feel right going back to putting our food waste in the garbage, so I am going to make a compost bin using the instructions on You Grow Girl. I'll be chatting with our neighbors in hopes of them donating grass cuttings since we have no grass. Wish us luck!

Happy July 1st! I can't believe it's already July.

Here are the pictures from my baby shower. I have had an extremely lucky weekend with collecting stuff for the baby. I posted about it over here. I still haven't taken inventory of all of the stuff that we have, but will be tackling that this week. I hope to have the nursery painted next weekend. I almost forgot that Wednesday is a holiday and that means No Work and fireworks. Yay!

That 'New House' Smell

We've lived in our house for 6 months now and moved in right after construction was (almost) complete. This past weekend, we had family come in from out of town and stay with us. We received the comment multiple times that our house still smells 'new'. What is that new house smell? I'll tell you what it is: the chemicals and crap used to build the house are still giving off fumes. Tony & I no longer notice it but it's apparently still there. The paint, carpet, glue, treated wood, etc, will be giving off fumes for who knows how long. It makes me sad.

The thing that was even worse? My dad thinks he might have been suffering from an allergic reaction from all of it. He couldn't stay in the house for very long before feeling sick. LAMENESS.

Atlanta trip

Me and Tony at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. Thanks to Betsy for the picture!

Recap of our last vacation being able to travel lightly: we arrived in Atlanta Thursday night and went out for a lovely dinner to a restaurant I cannot remember the name of. We stayed with Betsy at her very cute house with her very cute animals and her very cute girlfriend, Sarah. Friday, Betsy and I went to yoga in the morning and then the 4 of us met up with Amanda, T and the other Amanda for brunch at a place called Delish or something like that. Afterwards, we went shopping for Tony - he was in desperate need of appropriate clothing for Georgia weather. The 4 of us (me, Tony, Betsy and Sarah) met up for dinner with Sandy, Heather and Amy at a place called Harry and Sons. They serve Thai and sushi which seems weird to me, but is a common combination in Atlanta. Afterwards, we went to see Feist. Fun day!

On Saturday, we met T & Amanda for brunch at The Flying Biscuit. Yummers! The Botanical Gardens were on the agenda for the day. Beautiful! That evening, we went to a bbq anniversary party. Sunday was a relaxing day before heading to the airport to come home to Seattle.

It's Friday so I'm allowing myself to procrastinate

Our trip to Atlanta was too short but still lots of fun. I took lots of pictures during our trip to the botanical gardens - they're posted to my Flickr album. We were sad that Kik & Amy didn't make it up, but they are going to try to visit us in Seattle in the near future.

This weekend is all about family visits and the baby shower! Tony's mom & niece arrived Wednesday night, Dad & Carolyn arrived last night and Jenn is arriving tonight. The skin on my belly hurts and I'm expecting stretch marks to show up any day now. I have red spots on my skin that makes it look like someone has been giving me hickies above my belly button.

I need a nap.

Cascade Fresh products

I've been making an effort to eat locally produced food as much as possible. When I picked up yogurt earlier this week made by Cascade Fresh, I figured I should check out their website to see where they get their milk from. I couldn't find any information, so I sent them an email. Here was there response:

Thank you for taking the time to contact Cascade Fresh. At Cascade Fresh we use milk from cows not treated with rBGH (recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone)also known as rBST (recombinant Bovine Somatotropin) to make our products. Cascade Fresh purchases milk only from suppliers who have certified that their cows have not been treated with this genetically engineered hormone.

The cows that supply our milk live in the best possible conditions. They graze in open pasture and are also fed a pure vegetarian diet of hays and grains including alfalfa, barley and corn. Cascade Fresh pays farmers a premium to not use hormones, steroids or antibiotics. Our carefully crafted products would not culture successfully if there were antibiotics in the milk.

Additionally, cows that have health problems are removed from milk production immediately and properly taken care of. We purchase our milk from various milk co-operatives in the Northwest, Northern California and Southern California.

Thank you for your interest in Cascade Fresh.

I was hoping that they got all of their dairy from Washington farms, but we aren't a big dairy state. I did find some lovely yogurt made from goat's milk at the farmer's market, but it is 3 times the cost and we're having to tighten our budget in preparation for the baby.

Trick your body

Real post coming soon!

Who me? Rest? Never!

Whew! I am pooped!

The next few weeks will be busy; I started off hitting the ground running. This weekend, I painted the downstairs room in preparation of moving the office down there so we can start setting up the nursery upstairs. I will post before & after pictures once it's all situated. This was the first time I have ever painted a place where I have lived. I could never paint the walls in any of my rental apartments for all of these years. It was great fun! I'm taking a break while the second coat dries and am a bit nervous about taking off the tape - that's when you notice all of your mistakes. Per recommendation, I used American Pride paint and am quite pleased with it. The color is called Almondine and Cory described it as a pale avocado. I wanted something light since the room is so small. We'll be busy moving the office down there the rest of this week before heading to Atlanta on Thursday.

I'm still waiting on my grade for Business Ethics. I have no idea what I got on my last two projects, but I think I did well. Final grades are due this Thursday.

The Final Countdown

Business Calculus: done and passed! I got 100% on my take home final and an embarrassing score on my in-class exam. I left the exam not knowing if I scored high enough to pass the class, but I did. My overall grade in the class was a solid B. I have come to the conclusion that I just test terribly when it comes to math. Now it's on to Accounting, Finance and Economic classes. I'm hoping that my brain stores this knowledge differently so it will not blank out during test time.

This weekend, I focus on my final project for Business Ethics. I have until Friday to complete it, but really would like to finish it ASAP. It would be awesome if I could get it done this weekend so then I can be D-O-N-E after my last class Monday night. I am so ready to start focusing on nesting and getting ready for the baby. Although it's late spring, I am ready to delve into spring cleaning.

The heat wave we've been experiencing here is almost over. It has been making the office miserably hot and my guess is that it will cost the building owner a big chunk of money to properly fixed it. We'll keep on bugging him until the environment is comfortable to work in. I just do not feel right asking our employees to work in such terrible conditions. The weather is meant to be cloudy and in the mid 60's next week, so no suffering then. I typically do not wear tank tops to work, but did all last week. The heat was just too much. I also haven't been sleeping as well as I would like. I don't know if it's the heat, hormones or stress.

Damn. The prenatal yoga class I was planning on taking today was cancelled. Good thing the one tomorrow was not. I'm going to be diligent about attending yoga in these last couple of months because I've heard it really helps with labor. I've started reading up on HypnoBirthing...very interesting. I'm hoping to pick the brains of Rachel and Angie to see what methods they used to make their natural births successful.

What's been keeping me so busy as of late

Let's see...the company I work for moved our offices to Seattle. This time around, I had lots of help since we have many more employees. On the 17th, we packed all day and then the movers moved our stuff on the 18th. The 19th was spent setting up the office. There were hitches and snags with the move, but they are worked out now. Our new office location is 3 miles from our house and only a block away from Seattle University. It's awesome. The not awesome part: it's an old building with terrible windows. With our lovely spring weather, the office is unbearably hot and we have no control over the air conditioner. While we were negotiating the lease on the space, we put in the requirements that the HVAC system be thoroughly checked out for issues and these issues need to be resolved (we'd been dealing with HVAC issues at our old location for 2 years). They told us it was done and now we find out that it was not. I know how to resolve the issue: new windows. Seriously. Now that we're in the city and do not have designated parking, I also get to hear complaints regarding parking. I had a good guess that it would be an issue. However, the number of employees who have to drive to work has been greatly minimized including T & me.

Now that the move is over, my amount of work feels like it's becoming more manageable. It's been a hectic month.

There are only a couple more weeks left of school for this quarter. This past Monday, I had a group presentation for my Ethics class and it went really well. We actually had fellow classmates complimenting us after it was over! I've been putting a lot of focus on the project so now that it's complete, I can now turn to Calculus. My in-class final is this Wednesday and I need to have my take-home final done before then. Guess what I'll be doing with my 3-day weekend? The nice thing is that because I do have a 3-day weekend, I can actually have a bit of downtime in the mix.

Lil' bean's been doing somersaults in my belly. It's the weirdest thing to watch. I had a doctor's appointment this past Tuesday to get the blood sugar test done. I'm not diabetic, but I am anemic. I have to admit, my diet has gotten poor (for me) since school started. I'm looking forward to having time to cook again this summer. I also dropped a couple of pounds since my last appointment to which Dr. McDermott says, "What is up with your weight?" The baby is continuing to grow, so she's not too concerned about it. However, I'm a little tired of people commenting on how small I am. I got a chiro adjustment yesterday and my regular doctor is out of town. The one who is filling in for her couldn't get over my size. Her sister is also pregnant and is about as far along as I am, so naturally she compares me to her sister. I just wish I had some sort of response when people make that comment.

I swear I eat. I feel like I'm eating all time time. I've increased my calorie intake. I'm trying! My body is going to manage this pregnancy in the way that it knows how. Speaking of eating, I'm hungry so I must go stuff my face before doing productive stuff today.

I really should be doing homework right now

Lots to do tonight! I have a group presentation tomorrow and have a few more things to wrap up. I also need to write a 1000 word paper to make up for the class that I missed last Monday due to being sick. And then, if I have time, I'll do my calculus homework. Why am I posting to my blog right now? Oh yeah:


28 Weeks!

84 days to go!

There is much to do and if I think about it, I get overwhelmed.

Stuff for Lil' Bean

Since people have been asking if we started registering, I set this site up. As we narrow down what we want to use for baby J, I'll add to the blog.

Happy Mom's Day

I woke up much earlier than I wanted to this morning with thoughts of work. I couldn't get back to sleep, so I stayed in bed reading a book for my Ethics project. After eating breakfast, I called Mom and was chatting with her. Tony comes downstairs showered and dressed. This is unusual for him to do unless he has plans. I continued to talk to Mom as I watched Tony straighten up the house. Again, unusual behavior. He then asks me something that hints he's got something up his sleeve. I paused my conversation for a moment and he tells me that he's invited a few friends over for Mother's Day brunch. Surprise! I ended my conversation so I could get some clothes on before our guests arrived. It was lovely to hang out with my friends and have my husband fix brunch for us :)

I feel like I'm coming down with a head cold. Ugh. I took advantage of the Mother's Day thing and asked Tony to clean the bathtub for me so I can take a bath tonight. It worked! Now I just need to get through a bit more of this homework before I can justify a break.

We stole the sunshine

It seems the weather is crap everywhere in the country except here. The weather has been lovely here this week which will make the Arthritis Walk tomorrow so much more pleasant.

Pregnancy update: I have gained 5 pounds and am finally over my prepregnancy weight. Things are going swell. My belly is big enough now to where my friends ask to touch it and I get asked often by strangers when I'm due. I'm currently creating a website for baby stuff we need for those people that want to get us stuff and would like recommendations. I'll be sure to link to it when I'm done.

School's keeping me busy as usual. This quarter is over in less than a month. It sure did fly by! Once school is over, the summer gets really busy with a trip to Hotlanta for a long weekend, baby shower with family coming to visit and then getting the house ready for our new addition. We haven't decided on a name or come up with any more options. Honestly, I haven't had time to think about it!

Baby names

OK, I give in. Inquiring minds want to know. Here's our current list of names we are considering for lil' bean. We may add to it in the next few months (who knows). His middle name will be my given last name and his last name will be my taken last name.

In alphabetical order:

Killian
Kincaid
Quentin
Quinn

Here's what Tony says about each name:

I like Killian because then we can call him Killy for short.
I like Kincaid because Caid is a cool short name. And when he gets older, "Kinky".
I like Quentin because that's my middle name and then my names are the bread in our baby name sandwich.
I like Quinn because it's a nice, short Scottish name and we both have lots of Scottish heritage. Not that we'll be putting him in kilts or getting him bagpipe lessons, but it's nice to give your child a link to their heritage.

Please note that he is joking about the nicknames "Killy" and "Kinky" :)

I'm down to weekly posts it looks like

It was so lovely to spend time with Jenn & Cameron this past weekend. I miss them dearly. I accidently stole her hairbrush. So sorry, Jenn!

Although I'm very busy, things are going really well. Pregnancy is going great - I'm finally above my prepregnancy weight! School is going great and work is pretty good. My classes are inspiring me to develop new things at work already. I have my work cut out for me this summer with finding financial aid for school (paying out of pocket this quarter was just too hard), getting ready for the baby and finding the best day care for the little one.

Oh yeah! We have neighbors! I came home from class on Monday to find that two sets of families had moved in that day! I hope to meet them this weekend :)

Happy Belated Birthday to cousin Colleen!

I am still alive!

Just very busy with work and school. Casey, Tony's nephew, was in town this past weekend. We went to the zoo on Friday which was pretty cool. I was holed up at home working on a project for Ethics class for the rest of the weekend. We're going to San Diego this weekend to visit Jenn & Cameron - so excited!

OK - must get back to worky work.

Lil' bean update

We saw Dr. McDermott today for our monthly check-up. Everything is peachy - she said my weight gain (or lack thereof) is just fine. When she saw that bean is a boy, she asked about circumcision and was extremely relieved and happy that the turtle will not be decapitated. She told us about 40% of her patients want their boys to be circumcised. The reason? The dads want their sons to look like them :(

It's been one of those weeks

Whew! Work has been exciting but not in a good way. It's been keeping me awake at night thinking about it. Nothing devestating, but one thing after another keeps happening.

I brought the banana bread into work and it was a huge hit. I highly recommend the recipe.

I'm finding the movement of lil' bean to be very comforting. I still don't feel like I'm eating enough...I'm always hungry! There is never enough food around. I am one pound away from my prepregnancy weight - I think I'll be back up to 125lbs next week!

Thanks to generous birthday gifts from the parents, I now have a better desk chair for home and will be ordering a deep tissue back massager. I was able to sit at my desk for 3 hours last night without any back pain. Fabulous! From friends, I received lovely bath items for the much needed baths to soothe pregnancy pains that will come in the 3rd trimester. I'm also wearing the new earrings that were also a gift.

A Very Nice Sunday

As Tony was helping me with my Calculus homework last night, we discovered why it seemed so hard to get the correct answers: my lovely Mac OS was not displaying the equations correctly. Bah! If my score is low, I'm going to email my instructor. We reinstalled Windows on the laptop so I won't have this problem any longer.

A coworker brought in very ripe bananas into work on Friday. I grabbed them and am currently baking banana bread. I've never made it from scratch before. The recipe got very high ratings on VegWeb so my expectations are high! I do have to admit - I used eggs instead of egg substitute. If any of my vegan / egg allergic friends come for a visit, I'll make it without eggs for them :)

We received large baking potatoes and leeks in this week's produce box. You know what that means: potato leek soup! Still have to squeeze in the soups before the warm weather is upon us. It will serve as a few tasty lunches this week. Last weekend, I made a vegetable soup that was quite tasty if I say so myself. I should go check on the status of my boiling potatoes.

Popcorn

After a couple of days of feeling lil' bean move around, I didn't feel much of anything until Thursday. Tony felt him moving around, too! Bean's been pretty active the past couple of days. The best way to describe it is it feels like popcorn popping in my belly.

School went pretty well this week. I'm going to need to put in a lot of time into the Calculus class outside of class. I am slow when figuring out problems on my own - this is a problem when we do our group assignments at the end of the class. I feel bad for not contributing because my other group members figure the problems out so much quicker than I. Fortunately, the instructor put all of the Powerpoint lectures up so I can actually look ahead to see what we'll be going over in class to prepare myself. Now I just need to start doing that! My plan for today is to study up on the math, complete my homework that is due on Monday and maybe start on my taxes. I want tomorrow to be my fun day in celebration of my birthday. We are having dinner with several friends at Tamarind Tree tomorrow evening. Tony & I enjoy the food there immensely and it will be the first time for many of our friends. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

The First Comment

When my belly is bare and I'm showing it off on purpose, I look pregnant. However, I think that it may be iffy to a stranger. Yesterday, I was wearing one of my regular t-shirts that still fits so it was pretty tight. While I was out shopping for clothes for Tony, the salesperson helping me asked me about my pregnancy! You know, is it a boy or a girl and when your due date is and whatnot. This was the first time a stranger said something about me looking pregnant!

Honestly, I think that people might be afraid that I'm not pregnant and that if they say something, I'll be offended because I look pregnant but just have a belly. I know this will be changing in the next few weeks as my belly continues to grow.

I'm still fluctuating between 123 lbs and 124 lbs. My pre-pregnancy weight: 125 lbs. I promise that I am not starving lil' bean. I feel like I'm eating all the time. Speaking of eating, I hear a baked acorn squash calling my name...

The belly grows

A little movie Tony made to see the comparison of the belly growth. 7 weeks, 15 weeks, 17 weeks, 19 weeks and 21 weeks.

And..AND...I can definitely feel the little guy moving around today. This ain't no fluttering, I tell you. All of the books say it will feel like a 'flutter'. It's much more definite to me. I felt something strange on Friday as we were driving home from work and thought, 'maybe...' but then didn't feel anything again. This morning, I was laying in bed with a kitty wrapped around my head and another on my legs. My hand was resting on my lower abdomen and I felt him move under my hand. Surprise! I thought my brain was playing tricks on me because there is no way I can actually feel movement with my hand this early in the pregnancy, right? But then it happened again. I have felt him multiple times since sitting here writing this post. I think it was the rich, fancy French food I ate last night at Jill's birthday dinner.

What to call him?

Tony thinks I should stop referring to the growing baby inside me as lil' bean because he's much bigger than a bean now. I like the nickname. His recommendation? The parasite.

Brenda (Tony's sister) found out today that she's also having a boy. We'll have to converse to make sure we don't pick out the same name :)

Schoolin'

My First Week of Graduate School
by Kris

My schoolin' week started out with Business Ethics & Social Responsibility on Monday. The instructor is not boring and fellow classmates are friendly and willing to discuss things in class. I will be spending plenty of time reading and writing outside of the classroom. First homework assignment due tomorrow.

Today was Business Calculus. I attempted my first homework assignment that was meant to be completed before today last night and promptly realized that I had forgotten everything I 'learned' while studying for the GMAT. The class was good and it was helpful to have the instructor go over things step-by-step. When we broke up into groups to do the in class assignment, I found that I was not the only one who was rusty on the math skills. I think I will be spending extra time going over algebra on my own in hopes that the class won't be too much of a struggle. First homework assignment isn't due until April 9th which is Awesome. This class isn't as hard-core as my other classes will be: it's non-credit and pass/fail. Doesn't mean I'm going to slack, though!

Must get some rest now. Very sleepy.

Soyogurt...the verdict

I have tried multiple kinds of soy yogurt and have never found one that was tasty. Yesterday, at VegFest, I tried a sample of Wild Wood Soyogurt and actually liked it. Amazing! I'm just now finishing off a tub that they gave me. It's not real yogurt, but it's definitely the best soy yogurt that I've ever tasted. Unfortunately, it's not made with enriched soy milk or active live cultures so the calcium isn't where I'd like it to be.

The Turtle will not be decapitated

The pictures didn't come out that well. In my 'free' time, I'll try and see if I can get a good scan. Here's the Turtle picture:


Check out my Flickr gallery for the rest.

The night before the Ultrasound, I was kept awake with the question, "What if Tony wants lil' bean to be circumcised if it's a boy?" We hadn't had the discussion yet so I didn't know his views. I did know, however, that it wasn't something I could compromise on. I'm not sure how it came up, but we discussed it this weekend. It went pretty much like this:

Tony: I'm against circumcison.
Me: Oh good! Me too. I was all afraid that you would want lil' bean to be circumcised.

And then we went and talked about the many reasons why The Turtle will not be decapitated and I also told him of the recent issue Chuzzle's moms went through. If you go to her home page and scroll down, you will find multiple links with info on circumcision.

In the nearish future, we'll need to have the diaper discussion. Tony goes for convenience, but may just change his mind after I give him all of the stats on one-use diapers.

I've also gone and created a new blog that has more of a focus. Check it out!

Cognizant Living

Because, you know, I'll have tons of time to keep up with two blogs - especially since my classes start today! ;)

Turtle

Now that I have spoken to all of my immediate family, I can post it here. We had the ultrasound yesterday and lil' bean is growing as he should and looks healthy. Yep, I said he. We're having a little boy! The tech pointed out the 'turtle' as she called it. The scrotum looks like the shell and the penis is the turtle's head poking out. So silly. When I put the pictures up, I'll be sure to point it out because she is right - it does look like a turtle.

I was busy running around yesterday. I got home around 10 after dropping Tony off from work and then had to leave at 11:30 for my massage appointment. After that, I got my hairs cut and then my school orientation. I ended up not getting home until 7 because I thought I was supposed to meet Tony on Capitol Hill. He was going to get a ride there after work. However, I left my phone at home and didn't have any change to call him from a pay phone. I ran around to his regular haunts but didn't find him. Gave up and went home to find him there. It's times like those that remind me how dependent we've become on mobile phones.

Candy is EEEVVVIIILLLLLL!!!!

Someone in the office keeps buying candy and filling a very large bowl with it for everyone to put their sticky hands in. I can't stop eating it! I don't need all of this sugar. Lil' bean is going to be a sugar addict if I'm not careful.

Good news: my forearm pain is very minimal now. This also means I haven't been on the computer to speak of in the evenings. I need to get wrist supports for home and start using my laptop on my desk and connect it to my monitor & keyboard.

I haven't been reading my books as planned. Tonight, though, Tony will be at Amanda's house so I can read while sitting in front of the fireplace. I find it very difficult to read while the T.V. is on and Tony always seems to be watching something.

We went over to Chris' house last night for Movie Night and watched the new James Bond movie with a bunch of peeps. My back didn't start hurting really badly until the end of the evening and fortunately, the pain didn't last until today. Looks like I'm on the mend!

OK, before this gets any more boring, I'm going to stop with the writing and read Maggie Mason's book. I'm putting myself to sleep.

Two more free weekends

I'm using a gel wrist support with my mouse at work and that has really seemed to help with the forearm pain. I have to be honest - I believe it's my laptop that is the culprit since I use it while sitting on the couch. I'm not sure it could get less ergonomic than that.

It's the weekend! Horrah! Sleeping in! Horrah! I have two more weekends to be lazy before school starts.

My favorite internet past-time lately is looking at design & home improvement sites. I am inspired to do fun things with the house, but we just don't have the money right now. These are the times where it's dangerous to have credit cards. We've been really, really good, but the temptation to use them is still there. We racked up a good amount of cc debt with our wedding & honeymoon and I'm not willing to rack up any more until we get that debt paid down significantly.

OK, done with the blahblahblah. A few books I ordered last month finally arrived yesterday. One of them is No One Cares What You Had For Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog and I'm on a mission to get some good use out of it.

Another thing that makes me a little odd

I get great satisfaction out of paying my bills and balancing all of my bank accounts down to the penny. What does this say about me?

I have pains in my right forearm. It's no good. Makes typing very, very unpleasant.

The Poop Mystery

I arrived home yesterday to find poop on the floor downstairs and it smeared across the floor for about 3-4 feet. Gross! I had dropped Tony off at Amanda's, so he wasn't there to clean it up immediately. I sent him a text message informing him of the treat he'd have to deal with when he got home. This type of behavior is not typical of the kitties and it was likely that the pooping action was causing them much discomfort. After multiple text messages, Tony admitted that he had gone to Taco Bell the night before while I was out getting my eyebrows waxed and shared part of his steak burrito thing with the kitties. It was likely his fault that this happened because the burrito caused him great discomfort and it probably did the same to the kitties.

Poor kitties. He totally deserved having to clean that mess up.

What 'the books' say

They say that by this point in my pregnancy, I should have gained 10 - 13 pounds. The books that I have do not say this can vary widely between women. I think it's a ploy to make us nervous.

To this date, I've lost two pounds and gained three. I, however, will not listen to the books. If my doctor shows concern, then I will be concerned. I also think it's time to find some new books.

By Proxy

One of the many reasons to support NPR: This American Life. And now, it's coming to TV - Showtime. I sure do hope we can buy them off of iTunes. We subscribe to the podcast and are currently listening to the most recent show: By Proxy.

The shopping trip with Julie was successful and only a little painful :) I think I'm set for a little while. Our brunch today was a great success. In attendance were: the hosts, Chris, Jeremy, Julie, Jeremiah, Sunny, Cory, Solomon, Lauren, Steve, Em, Natalie, Rob and Damon. Who knew waffles were so popular? Mmmm...waffles!

Bedding update

Every time I make our bed, I'm reminded to tell the internet that I wouldn't recommend the bamboo sheets I acquired from Bed, Bath and Beyond. I don't know if it's just the nature of bamboo fabric or if it's just the way these are made, but the pillowcases wrinkle terribly. It annoys me so. Although the sheets feel super soft, the bottom sheet has pilled on Tony's side. I'm not sure what he does, but he makes some sheets pill up. Since we've lived together, we've only had one set of sheets this hasn't happened to and it's our high-count Egyptian cotton set. Of course, this set of sheets is black and doesn't go with our new duvet cover at all. Woe is me.

Work was pretty busy this week and my back has been hurting a lot more than usual. Hence, the lack of posts to the blog. Tuesday night, we went over to Natalie's to hang out with a bunch of peeps in her new place. It's really too cute! My back didn't like it at all - it's very particular about support and many people have smooshy couches that provide no back support whatsoever. My back was a'hurtin at the end of the night and it just hasn't fully recovered yet. The think that irks me most about it is that it really restricts what I can do. I can't handle going to see a movie or even go over to Chris' house (he was having pple over on Wednesday night). Time for me to stop complaining. I grow tired of hearing myself.

I am going shopping today with Julie for maternity clothes. Ugh. I tried wearing pants a couple of times this week and it was so uncomfortable. Also, my belly keeps showing because my shirts aren't long enough. The day that I did wear the one maternity shirt that I do own, everyone said that I looked really pregnant that day. My guess is that the cut accentuates the growing belly.

We are having many friends over tomorrow for brunch. I am determined to get social time in before school starts - pains in the back be damned!!

Kill me now!

I registered for classes last week: Business Calculus and Ethics & Social Responsibility. The B.C. class is a prerequisite and I am dreading it so. The class is 4 hours long on Wednesdays. Shall I start crying now? I hope it doesn't make me cry. Chris has already offered to tudor me if needed. I be lucky to have smart friends :D

Friday, we shut the office down early and went bowling. It was tons of fun! I posted pictures in my Flickr gallery if you are interested. In other work news, we had to let someone go today that I really liked. I so did not enjoy that and will miss him. He was a good employee, but he just made a mistake that couldn't be overlooked. Crap happens sometimes.

This weekend flew by and I was just a big homebody. I'm trying to make the most of my downtime before I no longer have any, but I should also try and be more social since I won't have time to socialize once school starts later this month. Natalie moved into her new apartment on Saturday so Tony was off helping her move. I thought about doing some shopping, but just didn't have the motivation to go out and spend more money. I did do a little bit of internet shopping - I bought our plane tickets to San Diego! We're going during the last weekend in April. Yay! Tony hasn't been since little C was 3 weeks old and now he'll be 3 this year. Time flies way too quickly.

Learnedededed

In a few minutes, I'll be leaving work early to head to Seattle University, the place that will be taking lots of my money in return for a quality education. I will be learning about my program and what classes I need to register for and when. One prerequisite that I need is Business Calculus. Scary!

Urge to spend money

It doesn't happen very often, but once in a while I actually get the urge to go shopping. I have that urge RIGHT NOW. Here's a list of things I would like to procure:

- bookcase for our living room
- maternity clothes
- vase & something to go in them for our fireplace mantel
- window coverings
- jeans for Tony
- barstools
- bedroom suite

The bedroom suite, barstools and window coverings are unlikely ATM. I have my eye on a bookcase at Ikea that's $80. I know I can find the mantel solution at Michael's for less than $30. However, I would feel guilty for spending money on any of the above things because they are wants and not needs. But, then again, Tony just spent a good chunk of change yesterday on snowboarding which was definitely a want. Why do I have such a hard time spending money? Although we are in debt, we aren't poor.

It's already Friday

This week has flown by. I can't believe it's Friday already! The only thing I didn't get done on my cleaning feat list was the bathroom on the first floor. This weekend, I'm going to sweep our drive & patio if it doesn't rain. Tony will be out snowboarding on Saturday so I'll have the house all to myself. Bookclub is on Sunday.

Last night was busy. Always Chiropractic was having their 2-year birthday celebration. Tony & I went right after work to celebrate, eat and catch up with Stine & Lyam. We then went and picked Teresa up from work and then headed over to Twist in Belltown for a fund raiser for Jill's brother. He was in a hit-and-run accident as a pedestrian back in early December when we had the big windstorm that knocked out power in much of Seattle. He just got out of the hospital this month and is making marked improvements. $14k was raised for him last night! Afterwards, we went back to Teresa's house for a bit so Tony could meet her little puppy, Piper. He's in love now :)

Too ambitious?

As we work on decorating our house, we're not finding any curtains/drapes that appeal to us for our living room. I have this idea that maybe I should sew them myself. I haven't broken out my sewing machine since moving to Seattle. Is it too ambitious? Am I willing to risk spending money on fabric and then the curtains turn out poorly? What I think may be a good idea may indeed be a bad one.

I didn't get through my feat list. That was too ambitious. However, I am confident that I will get through the list this week. I dyed Tony's hair yesterday and now there is dye all in my clean tub. So disappointing :(

Amanda - I have been known to clean people's houses when I visit them. Especially if they have to work and I am carless. Just ask Betsy!

Weekend feats

- Scrubbed the master bath from top to bottom (except the walls)
- Installed new bathroom fixtures in the guest bath (we've had them for MONTHS)
- Made vegetable stew (potatoes, carrots, collards, kidney beans, tomatoes, onion)

Now that I list it out, it seems like I didn't get a lot done yesterday. Today, my goals are:

- Clean guest bath, half bath & downstairs bath (no tub to scrub so it won't take as long)
- Vacuum
- Organize downstairs guest bedroom
- Take out recycling
- Laundry

Poor Tony is sick with another cold and isn't feeling up to doing much of anything. Teresa was going to come over tonight but we may have to cancel if he's not feeling any better later today.

Make it so

If I tell the Internet, I'll be more likely to do it.

I fully intended to get some cleaning done tonight. Instead, I read my Real Simple magazine, talked on the phone with Jenn, sorted through the pile of mail, paid bills and then wasted time browsing the internet. I have two cleaning goals this weekend: vacuum the house and clean ALL of the bathrooms.

ShooshShooshShoosh

We heard lil' bean's heartbeat today so we know I'm still pregnant. My diet has been poor (for me) and I've been paying for it with constipation. Yeah, I know constipation happens when your pregnant, but I also know you can prevent it if you eat enough fiber and I have not been eating enough fiber lately. That will be changing now because I am not liking this constipation deal AT ALL. I've got the bloating pretty much under control. Eating smaller meals at night means I wake up ravenous, but oh well.

Tony & I are now having to have the discussion on whether to test for down's syndrome or not to test for it. I don't want to do the test and he does. The test could give false positive results. He says he will be too anxious thoughout the rest of the pregnancy unless he knows. The only comprimise I can come up with is that I get the blood test done and have the doctor call Tony with the results.