Saturday, May 30, 2009

Survey Says!...

Yeah, not so much on the pizza thing. Okay, it had me fooled for a minute because for about an hour and a half last night I did have some semi-regular contractions, of which I have had almost none up to this point. But then by around 11:00 everything had quieted down and I had a good night's sleep. I'm not complaining about that one, I tell you! And the pizza was so yummy that you should just have some any way, whether you're trying to go into labor or not. Maybe I'll have more today, just to make sure....

Friday, May 29, 2009

Putting it to the Test


What is that delectable looking pizza, you ask? I'll tell you. It's from Trio, it's called The Chicken and Mushroom, and it's fabled as being able to put a woman into labor. We've heard it from several people now. We decided that tonight was the night to put it to the test. After all, my hands are so swollen that I won't be able to wield a piece of pizza much longer. We'll let you know if it has effective results. For the record, it was delicious.

In other news, Bitty has finished her last day of her first year of preschool. We're really going to miss Miss Patti. I think she's going to retire before our next baby is old enough to go to her school. She's been awesome. For the last day the class had a swimming party in Patti's back yard, complete with Popsicles and a froggie pond, populated by amphibians of the plastic variety only.




Also, Stomper's school held its annual Student Art Gallery Stroll this evening. I'll be honest, I didn't expect to be attending, but since I don't seem to have anything better to do, we all walked over and enjoyed looking at some great art projects the kids have been working on this year. Stomper was really proud of what he had hanging on the wall and I think he loved showing it off.


Troy took Bitty home a little early so that Stomper and I could spend some extra time wandering the halls, doing the scavenger hunt and the the thumbprint project. I spend much more time with Bitty these days than I do with Stomper, especially alone, and I always love the chance to hang out with my boy. Frankly, he's so much more affectionate...well, more consistently affectionate than his sister. She flies between adoration and despair faster than...than...than her mother (!!!) For example, today she proclaimed that she was having "the best day of her life," which comment was followed not too shortly by, "this is the worst day ever!" She was with me when we went to pick up Troy's car which had been in the shop. She does not ride in this car often, and didn't even know it hadn't been at our house for a day or two. However, when she found out that it had been gone she burst into tears, saying that she had missed it so much and that she was going to give it a hug and a kiss when we got home. She is a thunderstorm, I tell you. Stomper, though, is pretty steady and seems to always like me. At least he's much more apt to hold my hand wherever we go, and I hope he doesn't stop doing that for a long time.

Okay, I've rambled enough. It's just that it's late and I'm waiting for the pizza to kick in. Let me know if you have other suggestions....

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Worth the Wait

No, I'm not talking about our baby, because she's not here yet. I'm sure she also will have been worth the wait whenever she does arrive. What I'm talking about is my birthday present! Okay, I only waited one extra day, but it would have been worth it to wait a whole lot longer than that! Last night as I was doing something (worthwhile and productive, no doubt) on the computer, Troy was messing around in the kitchen. I stood up, turned around, and this is what I saw on the kitchen table:



Do you hear the angels and the harps? The choirs singing its praises? I sure did! A Viking Stand Mixer. I thought I was going to have to wait many years before one of these graced my kitchen counter. And by "grace" I actually mean "dominate." Move over bacon, here comes something really big. The kitchen now needs some serious rearranging, which I will enjoy doing while I'm waiting and waiting for a contraction to show up.

Thank you, sweet husband, for fulfilling my dreams of mixing joy. I can't decide what to start with. I really have no need for whipped cream at the moment, but the sight of the giant balloon whisk attachment is pretty tempting. And come on, how often have you been unable to find a use for a quart of whipped cream?

Monday, May 25, 2009

Due?!?

Here I am, on the eve of my due date, and I'm realizing that I'm a big fat baby. I have never made it to my due date before. I'm always early, and so I really really thought that after three other pregnancies I'd totally go early with this one too. Waaaahhhhh! I am trying to remind myself that people go up to and past their due dates all the time and it's normal, natural, survivable and I'll be just fine. I really don't like being induced; I like the baby to come when she's ready to come. Except that now I'm ready and I'm getting really impatient. See? I'm a baby! I think after the whole "your baby is turned the wrong way and we might have to induce or do a C-section this week" thing made me really ready. And still, nothing! Also, with this nice long weekend where everyone, from babysitters to my midwife to my husband, were perfectly available and ready for action, I felt like it sure would have been convenient to deliver some time in there. Guess not. It's a school day tomorrow and I'm wondering if I just go ahead with normal life like usual. Guess so!

Oh yeah, it's also my birthday today. Happy Birthday! I think I kind of wanted to deliver today because I think that May 25th is the most wonderful day of the year. It would have been fun to share the day, I think, though maybe in the long run the baby would like her very own day. I guess the 26th would be okay too.... We had a really fun day today. Because we really truly thought we'd have a baby by now Troy and I made exactly 0 plans. So when we woke up this morning we were like, "Uh, I guess let's do something for your birthday!" And we proceeded to eat ourselves silly for the rest of the day. Troy went and brought me breakfast from Eggs in the City, a great little joint. Nothing better than eggs benedict, I'd say! I was pretty satisfied with that, especially since I got to eat in bed while finishing up a pretty good book. But then a couple hours later a friend showed up with a giant cup of my favorite frozen yogurt - Luna Berry - you must try it next time you're on 4th South and 7th East. I recommend the plain yogurt with mangos and almonds. THEN Troy considered sending me off to lunch with a friend but decided he'd rather be with me instead (awwww) so my kind sister took the kids while we went to RedRock Cafe downtown. I must admit I was still a little full from the morning, but I managed to enjoy my sandwich - French Onion Steak Sandwich. Another must. Luckily I got a little afternoon nap after that before another friend showed up with a nice little gift and an invitation to dinner. Okay!!! You know, I've noticed that if you eat out all day long and neglect your children there are very few dishes to be done at the end of the day. Awesome! I still feel a little full, but hey, I'm still eating for two, right?

Monday, May 18, 2009

Good Baby!

Thanks everyone for your "flip that baby" energy and prayers that you sent our way, 'cause guess what. After a long night of yucky dreams and little sleep, I went into the hospital this morning for my version (baby flip) and they discovered that she had turned on her head all by herself like a good baby should. Now, she may not stay that way, so keep that "head-down" energy coming. I'm going for a walk now, though not with any pogo-sticking like the nurses recommended. We don't want any tinkle on the sidewalk. :)

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Put That Thing Away!!!

Holy Crap. That's about all I can think of to say. I asked Troy if we could snap a few pix tonight to show off my highly blossomed belly. Now that I look at the pictures, I'm not sure it was such a good idea. Woah. Well, that's how it goes, I guess.

An update: our daughter (not Bitty, the next one) is already turning out to be disobedient. I had an appointment today with my midwife to see how things were coming along. It turns out that our child has decided to stretch out side to side in my belly, like she's hanging out in a hammock. I'm sure she's very comfortable, the little stinker! I wouldn't mind so much except that I'm now past 38 weeks and could go into labor at any time. A spine-down baby is not a good thing for going into labor, just so you know. So on Monday morning we're going to go into the hospital and see if the docs over there can flip her around (from the outside). Hopefully that will work. We're looking at a possible C-section if she won't flip or won't stay flipped. I will confess that a C-section is not a part of my ideal birth plan. However, getting a baby here safely is higher on my list of priorities. I'm feeling calm and good we'll see if we can get this little gal turned around. She's squirming right now...maybe she'll do it all by herself!

I couldn't help but include a picture or two of Bitty,who already loves the camera. She sees it come out and instantly starts posing.





And me. Because I look funny. I will not be including the shot Troy took of my feet. Now THAT is scary.



Okay, friends, keep your fingers crossed that our gal starts somersaulting!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

The Last Hurrah -or- You Know You're Pregnant When...


I have never been a major Star Trek fan, especially of the original series. I can appreciate it, and I did watch many many Next Generation episodes with my dad. But as soon as I saw the trailer, I knew I'd want to see the prequel movie that came out this weekend. I remember watching the trailers, and the date it would be released and wondering if I'd be able to catch the movie before this baby was born. Well, we made it. Troy and I don't go out on a whole lot of dates with just the two of us, but we pulled this one together. For one thing, my sister's girls have grown up and become great babysitters. We hired the eldest for the evening. She even put my kids to bed, the super girl! We called our friends, the Mayfields, and bought our tickets a week ago. And lo and behold, we made it out on a date. Dinner at Biaggi's in the gateway and then Star Trek. I am not sure if Troy and I will make it out on the town again pre-baby, so we were so excited for this fun evening. It really was fun. I have promised my brother to say NOTHING about the show, so I won't review it here. I do have to tell you that at the very beginning of the show there is a rather traumatic birth scene and I just had to laugh at myself. I'm pretty sure I'm pregnant because I sobbed through the whole thing. This is STAR TREK, right? Action/Adventure? SciFi? Not a lot of girly stuff going on. I couldn't help it. I had tears pouring down my face. I have a head cold so I'm pretty stuffy, and my nose decided to drain right then and there, and throughout the remainder of the show. Luckily Misty had some baby wipes in her purse or I would have had to leave the theater. Funny. Great movie, and that's all I'm going to say.

Bitty's New Hair-Do


I think every parent has gone through this. I waited and waited for Stomper to do it, but he never did. (Or hasn't yet, anyway.) So when Bitty gave her self a little hair cut (with my razor! Hello!) in the shower last night I wasn't really mad at all. When I got her out I noticed hair everywhere, and when I asked her what happened I think she thought I was going to go berserk, because she started crying, wrapped her little wet arms around my neck and sobbed, "I'm so sorry!" It took me a minute to find the hair cut's location, because I thought she would have just scraped the razor along the hair by her face or something. Finally I parted the hair on the back of her head and found quite an impressive bald spot back there. I'm surprised that she got it so cleanly shaven without cutting herself. She's actually been pretty happy to show people her new bald spot. I thought she might get upset about the lack of hair back there, but it seems to be a badge of accomplishment or something. I think I prefer the back of her head to a bang-snipping like so many other kids do. I'm just glad there was no blood involved.

New Toy

Troy and I have both been wanting a new camera for a long time. I used to have a little Nikon point-and-shoot, but it got destroyed somehow. (I swear it wasn't me.) I've been using Troy's work camera for anything I've needed for a while, but it doesn't really take the kind of pictures we've been hoping for. Well, Troy simultaneously got a bonus at work and had a trip to (tax-free) Oregon, where a camera shop is located not far from where he was staying. Of course Troy had been researching his camera choice for who knows how long. This is something I love about him. I hate doing that kind of research - I'm so lazy and impulsive. But when Troy shops he always ends up buying exactly what he really wants. It's great. So, we splurged and got the camera. A Nikon D90. Uh, it's so fancy I'm a little afraid to pick it up. The instruction booklet is novel-length, and I fear that I'll never really know half of what there is to know about this amazing piece of equipment. Troy's currently going at it a little at a time and then giving me lessons. What I do know is that when I push the button it takes really good pictures. We're in danger of filling up our hard drive in a few days with how many pictures we're taking, and they're so fun we're having trouble deleting any of them. Here are a couple of my favorites so far:





Troy did a blessed thing yesterday and took the kids up Emigration Canyon for a little stream-side playtime for a couple of hours. I think he took about 75 pictures. Don't you love kids and streams together? It's a wonderful match. And I got the house clean. Too bad I was so wiped out by the time he got home all I wanted to do was lie down...

Anyway, I'm looking forward to some better pictures showing up on the blog from now on!

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Happy Birthday, Our Boy


Yesterday was our special Matthew day. Two years have now gone by since we said goodbye to him, and it's crazy to think about how much has changed. How mind-boggling that we're now counting down the days until a new baby arrives in our family. I have to say that our Matthew experience has made her arrival much more poignant for us in such a good way.

We had some plans to really celebrate Matthew, and we were able to pull a few of them off. Let's just say that Stomper and Bitty really make the concept of 'quiet reflection' next to impossible. And in some ways, that's a blessing. They certainly keep us grounded and moving forward. No wallowing here. And we didn't feel like wallowing anyway. We're in such a different place this year than last, that really, all we wanted to do was celebrate a little. So, like I said, some of those things happened, and some didn't. That's okay. We can turn our "Matthew Day" into "Matthew Week" and keep enjoying the process.

I think the thing I'm most excited about is that we made a paving stone in his honor, and bought a plant; a bleeding heart - my favorite. We have never had a place to go to remember Matthew. Due to the fact that he passed away before he was born we didn't think we wanted a grave for him. I'm not saying that I regret that decision, just that I never imagined how much I'd want one special place to go when I wanted to honor or think about him. We contemplated a tree for a long time, but that can be kind of a big deal. So, we made this stone out of concrete and had the kids decorate it with beads and rocks and stuff like that. We'll plant the bleeding heart in a shady spot by the house and put the stone next to it. I love this idea. Then if we ever move, we can take the stone with us and plant another bleeding heart. I'll post a picture of the spot when we're done.




We also did what is becoming a tradition for us - writing notes, tying them to balloons, and letting the balloons go. Gosh. It was kind of a comedy of errors. The kids just really made the whole day kind of frantic and the writing notes wasn't as quiet and peaceful as I would have hoped. Then when we went into the back yard to let them go, three of the four balloons got stuck in trees or power lines in our yard. Slightly anti-climactic. Super-hero Troy saved the day by unhitching two of the three, but his own balloon may still be lodged in the big tree it got stuck in. That's okay. We know Matthew knows what we wanted to say, and really the note writing itself is very therapeutic, even with kids bouncing all over you while you're trying to do it. Just taking a moment to say what you really want to say helps a lot.

So, little Matthew, to you I want to say that having a new baby makes you an even more special part of our little clan. I am sure that each time I hold her, wrap her and rock her, I will be both so grateful that I'm getting the chance to do that for her and missing the fact that I couldn't do it for you.

Monday, May 04, 2009

The Great Outdoors

Wow. I guess I don't blog much these days. Seeing as how I'm now 37 out of 40 weeks pregnant, I guess I'll cut myself a little slack.

I just had to post a couple of fun things. After and amid torrents of rain, spring has finally sprung in Salt Lake. We're getting some good outdoor time. Last week Bitty went on her first school field trip. She was supposed to have gone on one earlier in the season, but it was just too cold and snowy or rainy. So finally the class made it out to the local gardening store: Cactus and Tropicals. For an adult, 25 minutes of walking around a garden store can be fun but might not be that exciting. But for 10 little three- and four-year olds, it was a trip through a magical kingdom. They were convinced that they were actually walking through a tropical forest and the hot dry desert. Pretty fun. We nearly had one bystander get pushed into the koi pond, but her dad made a quick rescue and all was well.



Also fun to witness has been Stomper's foray into the world of all things slimy. On Friday he had a playdate with a girl in his class. This is actually the first time he's really wanted to play with one of the girls instead of a boy. I wondered how it would go, as in the past when he's played with gals in the neighborhood he's gotten really frustrated when they didn't want to play dinosaurs. Well, the two couldn't have been more compatible. Despite a cloudy and somewhat drizzly day, they spent their entire playdate outside. For at least three hours. It was awesome. Though some time was spent in the apple tree, their real fun came when they found a snail, and decided it needed some nurturing. Oh, the time they spent finding it a good home (a large empty plastic planter box) and giving it what Stomper called "its habitat." Grass, leaves, water, of course. But they really went above and beyond and gave the thing some toys (the plastic animal variety) and some friends - other snails, a worm or two and a millipede-looking thing. Amazingly enough, the snail even survived all the attention. His name is Slimy. Appropriate, don't you think?



The next day Slimy's nuturing was continued. Bitty had a playdate with a gal from the 'hood, but they weren't getting along too well. Instead, the friend and Stomper spent a very rainy morning on the back porch playing with the snails. They actually had snail races going for at least an hour. I'm sure the snails were running for their lives at that point, but to no avail. The other snails were eventually dubbed "Sticky" and "Fred." Apparently Fred is a biter, so look out.



And now at this moment, the day is drawing to a close. Homework has not been done, dinner has not been eaten, but I cannot bring myself to call the kids inside. They are out in the back yard digging in the dirt, finding additional creatures to add to the mini-zoo in the bucket. They are completely filthy, and that is how it should be.