Dear Blog

I think about you often. I do, I swear! I think about how I should update progress (or lack thereof) on my goals, talk about the baby shower for Julie & Jeremiah, post some of the pictures and movies of Mal, share stories about the get-together of longtime internet friends that we threw on Wednesday...you know, the usual babble. But, when I think, "I should post something!", I get taken away from my computer.

Right now I'm thinking about how I should be composing a 7-month letter to Malcolm and how I need to take a picture of him today with his Ugly Dolls. He's taking a much-needed, very long nap right now but could wake up any moment. Plus, I just got done writing a long post at tonyloveskris.com because I've recently got the idea in my head that I should upkeep two blogs again. We'll see how that goes.

And now my brain is telling me that I should really be using this time to write down my very long to-do list. This means that my brain is telling me that writing this is a Waste of Time even though my heart tells me differently. Ha. Silly heart.

pictures
movies

Clock watching

I hate this part of the morning. The part where I have to wait to eat and I'm really hungry. I have to take my thyroid medication on an empty stomach and then wait an hour to eat after I take it. I can have water, but that's it. I also have to wait 4 hours to take anything else like multivitamins and Tylenol. Even though I've been on this medication for 4 years now, I still hate this part.

What will happen if I do eat before the hour is up? I imagine that the medication won't work as well and I'll end up feeling like my veins are filled with cement instead of blood. Therefore, the most I'll risk is 10 minutes. I admit, sometimes I just can't wait the full hour and I'll eat food 50 minutes after taking the medication.

The clock is getting close to the magic hour so I'm going to go make some coffee and pour myself a bowl of cereal.

Applesauce

Who knew it was so easy to make? Not me until I made it today for Malcolm. He likes it, but makes funny faces when he eats it. I'm assuming it's a reaction to the tartness.

Co-sleeper update

Monday night, I put Malcolm to bed in his co-sleeper. He proceeded to wake up every half hour. The last time he woke up before I went to bed, Tony went up to settle him. Unfortunately, he's still having difficulty putting him back down and getting him to stay asleep. So, when I went to bed, Mal was put in the bed with me.

Tuesday night, I put Mal to bed in the co-sleeper again. This time, he only woke up once before I headed to bed. The next time he woke up, I was already in bed. I picked him up to settle him, but could not figure out how to put him back down in his co-sleeper while I was sitting on the bed and holding him while sitting up in bed was KILLING my back. So I put him down in bed with me again.

Tonight, he's in his co-sleeper again and I guess that I'll have to get out of bed when I put him back down. We'll see how long I can keep him out of our bed since, in all honesty, he's there because it's easiest for me.

Before this week, I'd settle him by nursing him. I've stopped that and he didn't seem to even notice which is a surprise to me. We're making progress and it's been at the right pace for all of us.

So...

Last Wednesday, I put Malcolm down in his co-sleeper when I put him to bed. That night, he woke up every 1.5 hours. That was an exhausting night. The next night, 2 of his diapers leaked for some unknown reason which meant he woke up twice crying to get into some dry clothes. The second time was around 1:30 AM. He didn't go back to sleep until around 3:30 / 4 AM. For some reason, Tony wanted to stay up with him even though he had to get up for work in the morning. We were both pretty exhausted on Friday. Fortunately, we haven't had any more incidences since then.

Friday night, Chris, Allison, Natalie and Cory came over to hang out. Yay, friend time! Chris brought over his PlayStation 2 to give to us along with Guitar Hero II and Rock of the 80's :D This is a fun thing since my computer's video card is too slow to run the Guitar Hero III game I bought and I can't upgrade since I have a laptop.

Thursday night, Amanda came over to babysit so Tony and I could go out on our first date since Mal was born. Since the restaurant we wanted to go to was only serving a fixed menu since it was Valentine's Day and it was not vegetarian friendly, we went to an Ethiopian restaurant. Mmmm! I love Ethiopian food.

Introducing table foods to Mal has been fun. He now eats banana, oatmeal, avocado and yams. The process is slow at first since you can only introduce a new food every 4 days. I think I may introduce rice cereal next so he has some variety in his cereals. I'm a little concerned about making it, though. I don't have a food processor so I puree all of his food with a blender and I'm not sure if my blender can handle uncooked rice. It was suggested that I use a coffee grinder, but I fear coffee residue getting into his food. I know I could just buy commercial rice cereal, but it's incredibly processed and it's so much more expensive than making it myself. What to do, what to do...

The Eleventh Goal

The 11th goal: instilling better sleep routines with Malcolm. This has been the goal that I've been focusing on the most and have been experiencing moderate success. First part = putting Malcolm down for his naps in his playpen instead of his swing or rocker. I gave away the swing to take away that crutch and am able to put him down in his playpen about half the time. The thing is, he has to be completely asleep before I can put him down on a flat surface to where he won't wake up but can put him in his rocker as he's falling asleep. Sometimes, it's hard to tell when he's completely asleep. I feel good about getting him accustom to sleeping in his playpen.

We've been experimenting with the nighttime routine and have recently come to the conclusion that he sleeps much better when he has an evening bath. When I don't give him a bath, he is more likely to wake up about an hour after we put him to bed and not go back to sleep for 2-3 more hours.

Since he was born, we've been following Dr. Sears' theories on sleep. It's what has seemed natural to us from the start. Mal's not the perfect sleeper, but it's unreasonable for us to expect him to be. Honestly, we don't have a problem with his sleep habits; I just worry that he doesn't get enough sleep at night when he stays up until 10:30/11 pm at night. One of the babies in our PEPS group was waking up every two hours pretty much every night. If Mal was doing that, then we'd have a problem. We're still going to see if he'll take to the co-sleeper to see if he's ready to sleep on his own at night. If not, it's no big deal.

Malcolm vs. Screech

Don't worry - he keeps his claws in :)

6-month letter

My adorable Mal,

You turned half a year old yesterday - how exciting! We've spent a lot of this month holed up inside due to the cold, rainy weather. When the sun does come out, we go for walks around the neighborhood. Even though I bundle you up lots, you still seem to get cold.

We were introduced to your second illness this month: the stomach virus. I think we can all agree that it was no fun at all. Both me and your Daddy were so happy that you recovered quickly.

Your Granpa and Nana came for a visit - you loved the extra attention and never wanted to take your naps. You were pretty fascinated by the funny noises that Granpa makes. He invented lots of them when your Mom was growing up because they made me and your Aunt Jenn giggle a lot.

This past Wednesday, we went to the pediatrician's office for your well-baby visit and he gave the thumbs-up with your development. You are currently 13 pounds, 6.4 ounces and 25 3/4 inches tall. Your vocabulary is continuing to expand and you love sitting up even though you still need a little help. Table food is our newest adventure and so far you seem to really enjoy it which makes my job much easier.

Me and Daddy fall in love with you more and more each second; sometimes it feels like our hearts will burst!

Love,
Mommy

Malcolm's first food

Malcolm's first food
Originally uploaded by Snake in Seattle

The little guy turns 6 months old this week so we've started him on table food yesterday. I pureed banana with a bit of formula and he loved it. I made it a bit too liquid, so today I used half the amount of formula. And, of course, it's a big mess.

A Visit from the Tummy Bug

Baby tummies sure are cute and bugs are pretty neat, but Tummy Bugs are no fun at all.

After a very nice visit with Dad & Carolyn, Malcolm got right back to his nap & sleep schedule. Things were looking good. On Monday night, Mal was acting tired earlier than usual so we put him to bed about an hour before his usual bedtime. When he woke up about 45 minutes later, he wouldn't go back to sleep (this is a common occurrence that we're trying to resolve). I brought him back downstairs for Tony to walk him around in hopes of getting him back to sleep. Around 10 PM, Mal threw up all over himself and Tony. He then proceeded to throw up then dry heave every 30 to 45 minutes until 4:30 AM. It was a looooong night.

I call the pediatrician's office Tuesday morning to see what I should do. I was giving him Pedialyte every 15 minutes and the nurse told me to start feeding him small amounts if he was able to keep the clear liquid down for two hours. I started feeding him and things were looking good. He was starting to act like himself again. I thought we cleared the woods until he threw up again around 1 PM. Fortunately, he didn't continue to throw up. So I did the clear liquid for 2 hours and then started feeding him again. When I tried feeding him at 5:30, he was not interested and I knew we were in trouble again. Tony got home around 6 PM and gathered poor Mal into his arms. Guess what happened next...Mal threw up again all over himself and Tony. Ugh.

We waited several more hours this time to feed him again. We had a really hard time getting him to bed because he was pretty hungry. I fed him small amounts throughout the night and he was able to keep it down. When he woke up at 7 this morning, I probably nursed him longer than I should have in hopes of helping him get back to sleep. When he didn't fall back asleep, we got out of bed and came downstairs where he then threw up again. However, it was a lot less this time.

The tummy bug is no fun. There is lots of crying involved. He's either whimpering because he doesn't feel well or crying because he's hungry. Taking care of a sick babe is definitely one of the more difficult parts of parenting. When he whimpers, I hear him saying, "Mommy, why aren't you fixing the way I feel?" When your little ones are sick, all you can do is comfort them until it passes while it breaks your heart a little that you can't magically make them feel better right away.

Recipes

When I cook, I often use recipes more as guides rather than following them exactly except for the first time I make it. For the quiches, I use this recipe. Instead of a 9x9 pan, I use a pie dish. I've used fingerling potatoes, yellow potatoes, red potatoes and russet potatoes. Our favorite is the fingerling and least favorite is russet. I added the caramelized onions because it's good and I use whatever greens strike my fancy. It's definitely the best with fresh herb goat cheese from the farmer's market, but will use plain goat cheese crumble often because it's a third of the cost.

The basics of fried rice are similar in every fried rice recipe. I add in the vegetables that I have in the fridge and always use long grain brown rice because that is what we keep in the pantry and I always spice it to taste. I use VegWeb a lot for ideas and recipe basics. The recipes are all vegan, but I often use real eggs and real cheese when the recipes call for the substitutes.

Goal update

I know this goal stuff doesn't make for the most interesting reading and for that I do apologize. I'm writing these out for myself because if I do not keep track of my progress, I will likely forget about them.

I cooked some good food this week. Mmmmm. I made a delish quiche with caramelized onions, garlic, kale and goat cheese. I also made fried rice with snow peas, broccoli, yellow onion, garlic, pineapple, marinated tofu and green onions. When you make fried rice at home, it's so easy to keep it good and healthy.

My eleventh goal this year is to transition Mal from his current sleeping places into his crib. When he naps, he sleeps in his swing and at night, he sleeps in our bed next to me. Before Mal was born, we intended to have him sleep in a co-sleeper that is attached to the bed thinking that there wouldn't be enough room in the bed for all 3 of us. Once he was born, we found it no problem for him to fit in the bed with us. The family bed has worked out great so far, but now he's at an age where he could be sleeping for longer periods during the night and this is not happening. It's possible that he could sleep longer when he's in his own bed. Transitioning him to his own bed is going to take some work and some loss of sleep. I've started working on transitioning from his swing to his playpen or crib for his naps. The first step has been successful so far - I stopped turning on the swing so he gets used to sleeping in a still place. Unfortunately, when I put him in his playpen when he's pretty much asleep, his eyes pop wide open and I have a difficult time getting him back to sleep.

We'll be trying the methods mapped out in The No Cry Sleep Solution and The Baby Whisperer. The other parents in our new parents group are going through the same thing right now. We are often discussing sleep issues in our weekly meetings. Who would have thought that teaching a little one how to sleep could be so complicated!

Baby steps

No, Mal's not walking yet. He's not even close to crawling. I'm referring to myself taking baby steps when trying to meet my goals. It seems that it's all that I have time for.

Speaking of time, the little guy decided to wake up at 4:30 AM this morning. I tried getting him back to sleep for 45 minutes, but finally gave up and got up. I brought him downstairs to play in his playpen while I laid down. I moved him to his swing around 6:30 and he fell right to sleep. I sure do hope he doesn't outgrow the swing anytime soon!

My sciatica has been flaring up these past few days. This displeases me greatly since I no longer have the insurance coverage for chiro/acupuncture/massage. The other thing that really helps the sciatic pain? Exercise.

This is so stereotypical but I suppose it's a must. Another goal for 2008:

- Exercise regularly

My goals so far:

1. organize the garage
2. organize the office
3. give away the stuff we hold on to and never use
4. move around more (yoga, exercise, whatever!)
5. read more child development & discipline books
6. make a house cleaning schedule
7. start a new hobby
8. get back into cooking good food regularly
9. take more quality pictures
10. exercise regularly

I've done a little bit of the organizing of the garage and office, but still have lots to do (baby steps). I've given away one item and set aside some clothes to take down to Goodwill this week. The cooking part is hard because it really depends on Malcolm :) I've been taking some cute pictures but my camera battery died and I haven't gotten around to recharging it.

5-month letter

Sweet Malcolm,

It sure has been an exciting month! You took your first plane trip to Utah to visit family and you did so great on the plane. You charmed everyone in the family and confused the little ones but only because they would mix you up with your cousin, Collin. You and Collin didn't wrestle like I predicted but he did try rolling on to you every time we put you two on the floor together. Everyone joked that he wanted to eat you.

You loved all of the new faces and getting so much attention. On Christmas day, we found out that you will have 3 new cousins next year, so get the 'new baby' attention while you can!

Things have been a bit out of whack since returning to Utah. Mommy caught a cold on the plane and has been keeping you up with her coughing. Also, we kept you up late a few nights with holiday celebration which made you very grumpy. Now you have a cold and are having a hard time breathing out of your nose. I keep demonstrating to you how to blow the snot out of your nose, but you just can't seem to get the hang of it. When it gets really bad, I use a bulb suction thing to get the snot out for you which you HATE but you then appreciate the results.

You have gotten so strong this month - everyone who holds you takes notice. You are standing up while just holding on to Mommy's fingers and you've been practicing sitting up on your own. You have actually started to play with toys while laying on your tummy which is such a huge improvement from just a couple of months ago. You are still a squeaker and a fist-eater but now you've added in rolling your tongue around in your mouth. Sometimes, you do all 3 at the same time which amuses your parents greatly.

Have I mentioned how adorable you are lately? Do you need proof?


You are doing a great job growing, kid. Keep up the good work!

Love,
Mommy

*Hack*Hack*Hack*

This cough will be the death of me. I'm coughing so much that it has given me a headache. I didn't wake up as often last night, but did wake up too early this morning and also woke up Malcolm. I feel worse for keeping him up. He's taking a long nap right now and is having no problem sleeping through the current hacking.

The plan is to go snowboarding this weekend. I will only go if I am 100% better. We have been getting a good amount of snow in the mountains and I would LOVE to board this weekend, but cannot risk getting sick again and passing it on to Malcolm.

Our friend, Kait, gave birth to Kailyn Elise yesterday morning. Congratulations to Kait and her family! She was able to have a water birth at home with no complications. I wish I could go help her out, but they live in Minnesota.

Another goal: take more quality pictures!

And then we danced

I just can't shake this cold. Ugh. My voice occasionally makes an appearance and when it does, is quite deep.

Last night, we played Sandi's Wii = Dance, Dance Revolution and some bowling. The recent playing of group games has made me want a game console. Since I know I wouldn't get our money's worth from purchasing one, I will just invite us over to friends' houses more often. However, I found out that there is a version of Guitar Hero III for the Mac. So...it was ordered today thanks to Dad & Carolyn (Christmas present!) I bet they never would have thought to buy that for us for Christmas :) Hell, as of recently, I never would have asked for it.

I've been thinking about making some new year's resolutions, but have decided against making 'resolutions' and have decided to set some goals for myself:

- organize the garage
- organize the office
- give away the stuff we hold on to and never use
- move around more (yoga, exercise, whatever!)
- read more child development & discipline books
- make a house cleaning schedule
- start a new hobby
- get back into cooking good food regularly

That's a start! I will be making 12 goals - one for each month. Right now, I must go take care of Mal. He's starting to squawk as if he is bored with the current activity he is doing :)

Happy New Year!

A head cold caused me to be up earlier than I would prefer. Everyone else is still sleeping in bed but congestion would not allow me. I apparently caught a cold on our flight back and have been ill since Thursday. I am not used to illnesses lasting this long. It started with a sore throat and earache for a few days and then moved to my sinuses. I think today has been the worst for my throat but that is because I did something a little stupid last night - I sang the vocal part while playing Rock Band. The first song, my voice cracked many times which made my friends laugh. The second song, I sounded like a foghorn. By the end of the night, my voice was gone. I couldn't resist playing the game - I think it's terribly fun.

We went over to Jill and William's house for a small gathering last night and kept Malcolm out too late. We didn't stay until midnight, but it was pretty close. Our potluck party was a success and I have to admit that I'm glad that not everyone we invited showed up. Our house can only hold so many people! Today, we are going to a New Year's brunch at Sunny's and then a get-together at Sandi's house. It's been fun having Jayne here and I am very glad that she likes little ones and can tolerate a bit of crying from time to time.

Mal just woke up so I'm going to go get him and let Tony sleep for a bit longer :)

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!