WARNING: Don't read until after Thanksgiving!

I'm reeeeeally picky about women's voices, and I'm even pickier about what versions of O Holy Night I enjoy listening to because to me it's a song that should be sung with light pure voices and is often sung operatically instead (blecccchhhhhhh!), with heavy vibrato. So, I'm always on the lookout for good versions of the song, and while I was browsing through Christmas music on youtube and Amazon today (I know, I know...), I came across this:

Celtic Woman/Chloe Agnew - O Holy Night

Oh my goodness! I LOVE it! These voices are exactly the kind I love! They sing so beautifully!

This one is for Eloise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKrx-4Awe70&feature=related
(Look into Celtic Woman in general... Warning: The video looks a little cheesy sometimes.)

Here are a few other great Christmas songs I came across today, to give you a little head start for the upcoming holiday season:

Michael Buble - The Christmas Song Who am I kidding? Anything Michael Buble! (White Christmas, I'll Be Home for Christmas, Let it Snow...)

The Carpenters - There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays Okay, anything Carpenters too.

Harry Connick Jr. - Christmas Waltz (no recording--can anyone find one?)

And of course, all the classics by Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, etc.

Coventry Carol

Josh Groban - What Child is This?

Are you sick of this yet?

You probably think I'm lame for always posting these, but I don't listen to the radio so it's amazing I ever find them at all...

Here's another song I'm loving right now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nTSU-mFWGs

Actually, I'm liking the singer in general.

What He Said

TrueWilderness.blogspot.com

Palo Alto Moonlight Run

Well, I did it! I ran a 5k race without walking! It was very tiring, but I think it was worse than it normally would have been since it was night time. That's just not nearly as nice a time to run as the morning!

Anyway, I convinced Peter to come with me and he was going to take a picture of me at the finish line but somehow he didn't see me and I didn't see him, so all we got was a couple of post race pictures.

The course was almost entirely flat, but it was dark, aside from the nearly full moon, so lots of people had headlamps and flashlights (I brought a little flashlight). It was also veeeeeeeeery crowded. The 5k run alone had 840 people in it, and since I was pretty slow, I started off pretty close to the back, which means that my time really would have been a few minutes better because it took a really long time to be able to start running, with so many people starting a race at the same time.

In case you have a morbid curiosity of just how slow I really am, I ran it in 33:43 and my mile pace was an average of 10:51, coming in 535 place overall and 46th for my division (out of 83). So, basically, I'm just a normal average slow person--I beat my first goal, but wasn't thinking about the numbers of people slowing me down when I made the goal, and I feel pretty confident that I would have been at about a 10 minute mile pace if it hadn't been so crowded. I feel like once I was running, I was going faster than my normal slow pace. (To further embarrass myself, I'll mention that I paced myself on two different sets of elementary aged girls running with their parents. I managed to pass them both with 1 mile to go when they stopped for water and I never saw them again, but I also started slowing down once I didn't have such good pacers anymore.)

Anyway, I'm definitely no runner, but I'm still proud that I ran a 5K! Maybe someday I'll be able to do a 10K (though if I do, I better run habitually first).

Some of my current song faves

It's all about the dancing baby! What have I been doing all my life? I could have been DANCING!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3xx72NGrUc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PNSg2NTRNc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sei-eEjy4g (Don't listen to this one if you're sensitive to drug and gun references...)

Running

A few weeks ago, I signed up for a 5K race that happens to be this Friday night, despite the fact that I never run and even when I do, I'm really slow. So, once the week of the race rolled around Monday morning, I decided I better figure out if I'm gonna cut it and I went for a run with Littler after dropping Little off at her first day of co-op preschool. It was a hilly run and I ran 2.65 miles without walking any of it! The best part was that it felt GOOD! From the first moment I started running it felt good, and that has NEVER happened to me before! I was really stoked, so the next morning I went to the gym with a friend and ran 5K on the treadmill. Wow! That felt good too, but it also gave me huge blisters on my feet and made my muscles reeeeeeally sore (they're much better today, although not fully recovered), so I decided that I'll take it easy until the race. The race is a moonlight run, so it will be dark aside from the light of the moon, meaning it will be at the end of the day, after dinner, etc. On the treadmill I ran it in about 33:30 (slow, I know...) and my ultimate hope is to finish under 30 minutes, but my first goal is to beat 35 minutes. We'll see how that works out, but wish me luck and hope that running will feel as good Friday night as it did Monday and Tuesday!

They Call This News?

Look at this (really, you need to):

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=591496

I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

Who Am I Anyway?

Every time I read posts I've written from a while back, I don't even recognize myself! Who was that lady writing things about my life (quite precisely, as my memory would tell you). It's so odd...

But, I just had a lot of fun reading posts from when Littler was born and right before and looking at pictures of when she was a baby (because I couldn't remember how long she was when she was born, or even *gasp* what she looked like back then!). This is why we need to get our video camera fixed so we can watch the video of the birth...

Can You Hear the Wolf's Cry?

One night last summer when we were in Alaska, we were lying in bed asleep or falling asleep (depending on who we're talking about) and we heard some wolves howling some completely indeterminate (by me) distance away. As we were lying there, both Peter and I were entranced by the sound of it--it was such a poignant, deep, enthralling feeling to lie in bed and listen to a sound we'd never heard before and may never hear again, knowing that such a magnificent animal was close enough for us to hear but not see. To this day, when I think back on those moments, my heart still quickens and I still feel tingles in my body at the memory of it. It even brings tears to my eyes. I don't know why it has this effect. All I know is that now I yearn to hear it again. Something tells me that if I ever do, I will only be disappointed because the magic of that experience is not likely to be duplicated. This is a poem I wrote a few days ago after talking to Peter about this experience again. (I am not a poet by any stretch of the imagination, but this poem just kind of jumped into my head and I feel like it captures the way I feel about that night, so I thought I'd better put it in "my jernul". It's actually really embarrassing to me to have this here, but I'm putting it here anyway because this is where it belongs.) Here it is:

Can you hear the wolf’s cry?
Stretch. Turn. Listen.
There!
Do you hear it?
Feel the chilling music in your bones.
Let it take you back.
A time you don’t remember.
But somehow it’s familiar.
Feel the music of the pack.
In your chest. In your arms. In your fingertips.
Can you hear the wolf’s cry?

Taking the Plunge

Well, after living in our apartment for two years now with no washer and dryer, not to mention the year and half before that in our apartment in Tucson with no washer and dryer, we have decided to get a washer and dryer. The funny thing is that the main reason is not for the convenience of washing my clothes at home instead of carting 4 or 5 very heavy laundry bags to another building every 10 days or so in our bike trailer/stroller (although I have to admit that not having to do this does excite me possibly more than you can imagine). What got me started in this direction was thinking about the ways we save money (next post, possibly tonight). I realized that there was one major area in our lives where we have not only chosen the more expensive route, but also the less environmentally friendly route as well: disposable diapers! Now, if you believe the diaper companies' spin doctors [read: Proctor & Gamble], then you probably think that disposable vs. cloth diapers is an equally balanced bad for the environment situation. Not so! I think this page puts it pretty well: Diaper Dilemma (Part 2): The Environment

But, as I was saying, it was the cost of disposable diapers that got me on this track. I realized in one grand epiphany that we have already spent more money on diapers for our two kids than it would cost us to buy a washer and dryer and use cloth diapers. Mentioning this to Peter, along with the fact that this trend would continue without buying those things, was all I needed to have the go ahead on his part to spring for the duo. We, of course, looked at Craigslist first and managed to find a cheap Energy Star (required by Stanford Housing) washer and a normal dryer right here in our very own neighborhood! So, I bought them, just now. Being the nice person that I am, I'm letting her keep it until they move, so we'll pick it up when we get back from our trip to Utah (which we leave for in a little over a week, so, no skin off my back...).

The washer and dryer aren't so much what the plunge is all about though. It's the switch to cloth diapers. When I first came up with the idea this morning, I was a little intimidated. But with a little memory and internet searching, I found that there are really some easy, no hassle, non finger staining ways to do the whole cloth diaper thing, and now I'm actually pretty excited about it! Cloth diapers are so much cuter, for one thing! I mean, who wouldn't think this is cuter? It's probably not the one we'll be doing, but doesn't it look nice and easy?

And really, I am SUPER excited about having a washer and dryer in our apartment! Really really. Really.

Yep, that's me

You Are Snow White!

Pure and trusting. You are a gentle soul who can get along with just about anyone. Everyone you meet instantly falls in love with you. How can they resist? You have a pure, lovable nature that's irresistable. Just don't trust everyone who comes across your path.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

MEME

Okay, I know you're just dying to know all of this info. (It beats coming back to the same post over and over right?)

45 Things About Me

Do you like blue cheese? Eh...kinda. Not by itself.

Do you own a gun? I'll let you find out when you try to break into my house...

What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? Don't go to Sonic. We rarely eat out and it's not on the top of my list of places to visit when there are so many great ethnic and other non-chain places to visit!

Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Yes.

What do you think of hot dogs? I tried no to like them. It didn't work. I like them despite myself (but only heated and in a warm bun with onions and mustard)

Favorite Christmas movie? It’s a Wonderful Life

What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Juice. I can't drink water in the morning unless I've exercised.

Can you do push ups? Not the "real" kind. I've always had poor upper body strength.

What’s your favorite piece of jewelry? my engagement ring

Favorite hobby? reading, sewing, music playing, dancing and wishing I were a dancer

Do you have A.D.D.? nope

What’s one trait you hate about yourself? too critical

Middle name? Kaye

Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment: I have a headache, I want to dance, Wow Peter sure likes the mandolin I got him for Father's Day!

Name 3 things you bought yesterday? Nothing. We only ride our bikes to the store, so I shop much less frequently now.

Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Water, apple juice, grape juice

Current worry? That this headache is really a migraine creeping up on me.

Current hate right now? Um...don't have one? Nothing comes to mind...

Favorite place to be? anywhere where my favorite friends and family are

How did you bring in the New Year? Fondue with parents-in-law, and YUMMY apple cider (the real thing!)

Where would you like to go? Europe

Do you own slippers? Yes, but it's hard to walk up and down stairs in them so I don't wear them very often--only if I'm reeeeeeally chilled.

What song makes you happy? Michael Buble Feeling Good

What year would you go back in time to? I have no desire to go back in time. That's too freaky.

Can you whistle? Yes.

Favorite color? straight green (I recently realized this to be true)

Would you be a pirate? No. That's too edgy for me.

What songs do you sing in the shower? Whatever is in my head, IF I'm in the right mood (the kind where I also want to dance)

Favorite girl’s name. Elise

Favorite boy’s name? Elias

What’s in your pocket right now? A piece of paper

Last thing that made you laugh? The enrichment play/musical I went to tonight. Good stuff.

Last thing that made you cry? I don't know. I don't cry very often these days. My life is too blissful.

Worst injury you’ve ever had? Getting hit in the head with a soccer ball during a game and getting stitches (right by my eye) I know, that's not even very bad.

Do you love where you live? YES! It's the best! Everyone should move here!

How many TVs do you have in your house? One.

How many dogs do you have? None.

What is your favorite book(s)? It depends on my mood. Passage; Animal, Vegetable Miracle; To Kill a Mockingbird; lots of others

What is your favorite candy? Um... Snickers?

Favorite Sports Team(s)? You know, I recently discovered that I don't really care for watching sports anymore. I'd much rather PLAY them.

Your favorite meal? Pizza (sad but true), or, a really yummy carne asada burrito, or a chicken shawerma wrap

What were you doing 12 AM last night? Sleeping for the last few minutes before having to wake up and feed the baby

What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? I wonder how long I can keep sleeping before I reeeeally need to get out of bed?

Do you have any odd habits? Sure. Every once in a while I snort like a pig.

How many siblings do you have? 276...er...um... 13 I think

THE END

Another Good Song

Okay, I discovered another great song that I love, despite myself.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=bd2B6SjMh_w

What do you think? (honestly--even if you hate it) This song came out in 2006. That surprised me.

A Day of Celebration!

Today is a big day for me! Today is the day...drumroll please............. I have officially met/gone lower than Peter's weight! Woohoo!! That was goal number two (which incidentally, only happens to be three pounds lower than goal number 1). Goal number three is about 5 pounds away. This is a slow process for me (though steady, thank goodness), so it will probably be a few months, but, that goal was my original bottom goal. I've now changed my official goal to ten pounds below that, but regardless, I'm pretty happy with the way things are right now! I'm within the healthy weight for my height, and I haven't been there since I was 19 or so. Yippee!! What should I get to celebrate? I was originally going to get some pants, but I'm thinking a dress might be best... (I'm thinking going out to eat might not be the most fitting celebration...)

A Few More Great Dinners!

Monday night:

Rotini pasta with chopped agretti, cilantro, olive oil, spices and some cheddar cheese grated on top, with a side of spigariello lightly sauteed in olive oil. Mmmmmmm...

Tuesday night:

Frittata with turnip greens, cilantro, and cheddar, eaten with homemade 1/2 whole wheat biscuits.

Wednesday night:

Soup! Chicken breast boiled in water and shredded, about 1/2 cup rice, 1/2 a purple cabbage, 3 baby turnips, 5 baby carrots (real ones, not the little shaved things from the store), 2 leeks, all chopped and simmered with the water and chicken after the chicken was cooked and the rice was mostly cooked. Can't forget the spices! Salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic. Topped off with about 12 ounces of 2% evaporated milk. Most of the veggies became creamy, with just a few soft chunks to accompany the shredded chicken. This was really yummy! And to accompany the soup, we had some homemade 1/2 whole wheat apple strudel muffins. Yum yum!

I think we're starting to get better at knowing how to use our veggies...

A Must Read

If you are a regular reader of my blog, PLEASE read this article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/magazine/20wwln-lede-t.html?pagewanted=1

Please read the whole thing!

I challenge everyone who reads this to act on it. And let me know how it's going!

Michael Buble

Just in case any of you have not yet discovered Michael Buble and will appreciate knowing about him (although I always seem to be the last person to know about things...), here is yet another song that I LOVE, and want to dance to like crazy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PDXjJQfTsU

Isn't his voice just awesome??

Barbara Kingsolver = My Heroine

Okay, so, per my post below, I'm writing a post about 'how Barbara Kingsolver is my new heroine', and I'm combining it with 'our new wine crate garden'. The previous post about our dinner can be read as on offshoot of this post as well.

Have you read the book Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver? If you haven't, you should. That book has literally inspired me to change the way I live my life in regards to food and food making and food buying habits. She has the perfect blend of wry humor and wit and intelligence and plain old FACTS, and vignettes of different facets of her experiment for her family of four to eat only local food for an entire year. While reading that book, I wanted to dig my fingers into the soil and plant and harvest things, and I wanted to cook and eat and can lots of fruits and vegetables, and I wanted to own chickens, and make cheese, and stop eating animals that not only spent their lives crammed together, but who also had lower levels of important vitamins and other nutrients, and whose eggs had higher levels of the bad kind of cholesterol than their pasture fed cage free counterparts. (Make no mistake, I have no intention of ever becoming vegetarian voluntarily.)

Long before I was finished reading the book, Peter and I had decided it would be extraordinarily clever of us to find some wooden wine crates for free from a wine or liquor store to use as square foot gardening boxes. So we did. And you know what? It really was extraordinarily clever of us! It's working like a charm! We have no dirt of our own, and no sunlight in our back patio, pretty much ever, so, on our front porch we currently have 7 wooden wine crates filled with little growing plants, with plans to find 5 or 6 more. In these boxes, we have squash, peas, spinach, lima beans, and lettuce, accompanied by a couple of potted strawberry plants.

A little over a week ago, we were notified that a garden plot was waiting for us that we had been on a waiting list for. So for the last week we've been going over to our garden weeding, turning the soil, transplanting the thinned out plants from our wine crates (it's worth a try, right?) and some other plants, and finally, today, planting new seeds! We transplanted a potted tomato plant and strawberry plant, and several squash plants. And today we planted: green onions, yellow onions, serrano peppers, jalapeno peppers, tomatoes, corn, zucchini, cantaloupe, honeydew and one other kind of melon, spinach, and basil!

I have to tell you, the satisfaction I feel from seeing little plants poke out of the ground from tiny seeds we planted and watered is pretty profound. I am profoundly satisfied with my gardens! And hopefully, if we have thumbs anywhere near the color green, we'll be eating our own organically homegrown vegetables in our meals, right around the time our Two Small Farms first 9 week period is over.

Now we can sit back and wait for the fruits of our labor, and while we're waiting, we'll munch on a little bit of that homemade cheese.

Ahhhhhh.

Our Dinner Tonight

So, recently we signed up for a CSA called Two Small Farms, which delivers fresh veggies to a pickup site nearby (closer than our easy walking distance library). It is a big box of veggies. So big, that in order not to waste any (and to benefit the budget), we are splitting the box with some friends of ours. We've had a fun time incorporating vegetables (some that we've never even heard of before) into our meals in semi-creative ways. Some of the things we've had since we got our first box a week and a half ago are:

*(Potato) & cardoon gratin
*(Potato), carrot, parsnip soup
*Spinach/(tomato) pizza
*Arugula/(tomato) pizza
*Mushroom/radish green/Wensleydale cheese omelette

and the one that takes the cake so far is tonight's dinner:

*salad greens (none of it was lettuce...) with grated radish, grated carrot, boiled eggs, sliced lunchmeats, Wensleydale cheese, (tomato), (black beans), and HOMEMADE mozzarella cheese. Yum! This was served with a side of applesauce.

The fruits/veggies/veggie-like things in parentheses did not come from Two Small Farms.

There were other things we got that were incorporated in smaller ways, like celery for ants on a log, etc.

Using all the vegetables is a challenge and is definitely changing the way we eat for the better. For one thing, it's hard to see yourself spending money on something that goes to waste, so we feel like we HAVE to use it all. We already wasted some mustard greens that we didn't know how to use (because they are spicy and bitter and needed more thought beforehand), but we aim to do a better job in the future. Now we need to find a way to use our agretti and our fennel, preferably before Friday, when we get the next box!

Being a Mom

Being a mom is really really REEEAAAALLY hard work. Being a mom is how you really learn what unconditional love is--especially being a mom of a two year old (I don't know how I'm going to survive the teen years...). Being a mom is working full time and being underappreciated, yet somehow continuing on hour after hour after hour, day after day after day. Being a mom is stopping writing a blog so you can bring up Monk-e-mail on the computer for your two year old.

Love this song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYBLjEaDFDE

Worst Blogger on the Web?

I realize that I am probably one of the most inconsistent bloggers on the web, but if you check my blog, please don't stop! I actually like having the four or five people who visit me somewhat regularly. And, after my most recent blog drought, I think I'm going to try to post at least once a week...

I made a pillowcase dress for Little a few weeks ago, and I even took really cute pictures of it. The the pictures got loaded onto the laptop, and since then I've been too lazy to go and retrieve them, which is why you haven't seen it yet.

And, really, I have lots of things I should be blogging about, such as:

*my adventures in no recipe baking
*my adventures in weight loss
*DANCING!
*bike riding
*how Barbara Kingsolver is my new heroine
*why I want everyone to recycle
*our new wine crate garden

Aren't those topics just tantalizing?

Check this out!

My Etsy shop, Frills and Frolic!

I also want to make some bags/purses, and maybe some little girl dresses, and some headbands to list there. Maybe one of each of those, at first, to see if anyone wants to buy them. But, it's so fun to be crafty!

Couples Meme

Couples

How long have you been together? Married: 3 years, Dating & Married: 8 1/2 years, Friends: 11 years

How long did you date? 5 years (or 3 if you take out the mission years)

How old is he? 1.25 years younger than me.

Who eats more? It depends on the meal, the food, the day, and who has eaten more recently.

Who said "I love you" first? He did.

Who is taller? He is, by an inch or so.

Who is smarter? Neither of us is humble enough to admit that the other might be smarter, but he knows much more trivia (more facts)...

Who does the laundry? Both, usually together.

Who does the dishes? I do about 75-90% of them.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Currently, him.

Who pays the bills? Me, all the way. He has no idea how much money we have.

Who mows the lawn? I'm not sure we'll ever have a lawn. We're not really lawn people. But if we had one, it would be him.

Who cooks dinner? We both do. If he gets home past 5 or so, then I do it by myself, otherwise we share the responsibility. I'm sure that will change after grad school...

Who is more stubborn? Me, all the way. No contest.

Who kissed who first? Both. It was a total failure.

Who asked who out? Neither, it just kinda happened.

Who proposed? Neither--the conversation in which we decided to date determined that we would also marry. Not really the usual way to go about things, and I don't recommend it, but it ended up working out for us.

Who is more sensitive? Outwardly, he is, because I come from an emotionally retarded family (sorry family, if you read this, but I know you agree...)

Who has more friends? He does, because of all those mission companions

Who has more siblings? Me! I have 13 (6 adopted)! He has a piddly 5.

A Meme

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Not that I know of...
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? I don't remember...probably from a movie, since I'm lame like that, but I always try to hide it...
3.DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Some versions of it, sometimes. My most commonly used one is pretty messy, since I'm always hurrying as I write
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? turkey breast or roast beef
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? yep, two little girls
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? If I were ever able to get myself to open up and talk, I think I would be
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? I used to A LOT, but I'm not sure if I still do. I'll have to ask someone.
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yep
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Depends on the circumstances. It feels risky, so, maybe not.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Um...I like lots of them, depending on my mood and the day. Life, Cheerios, Rice Crispies, granola, Chex, etc etc
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Yes. I'm not sure how I measure up now, because I used to be a lot stronger. I'm actually pretty prideful about it.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? vanilla or fudge marble
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? their teeth
15. RED OR PINK? pink (pale)
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? my emotional retardation
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? all of my family--my sisters and sisters-in-law in particular
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? sure, if anyone actually reads it
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? no shoes, light brownish tan fine corduroy pants
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Cheesecake (Yum!)
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The only sounds I hear are all related to the computer
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? probably some pale color, like a pale pink or a pale yellow
23. FAVORITE SMELLS? Peter with Uno (Shaklee) deodorant, riparian habitat (cottonwoods lining a stream), gasoline, tennis balls, new shoes, rubber cement, GOOD food
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My friend Brittney
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? It wasn't technically sent to me... but I like the person whose blog it was on who asked me to do it :o)
26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? basketball, swimming, gymnastics, ice skating
27. HAIR COLOR? brown
28. EYE COLOR? hazelly bluish gray
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? sometimes, esp. when I go swimming (so, not much recently)
30. FAVORITE FOOD? too many to write them down. It depends on my mood.
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? I LOVE happy endings and I HATE scary movies!
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Munich (with our Clearplay)
33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? green
34. SUMMER OR WINTER? Spring.
35. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs.
36. FAVORITE DESSERT? ice cream or something citrus-y, or both, like lime sherbet
37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? probably nobody
38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Katie (no internet right now)
39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? The Bread Baker's Apprentice, Sauces, Collapse, Howard's End, Parenting With Love and Logic, Freakonomics, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and Glimpses into the Life and Heart of Marjorie Pay Hinckley--I kid you not. Soon to start Dandelion Wine.
40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? no mousepad
41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? Did not watch TV
42. FAVORITE SOUND? My kids laughing, a creek nearby, birds chirping, THUNDER and rain
43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles
44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Either the southern tip of Florida, or Prudhoe Bay, AK (I'm pretty sure Prudhoe Bay, Alaska)
45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Not really.
46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Greenville, TX
47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? friends, family
48. WHAT TIME IS IT NOW? 8:49pm

Martie's 30 Day Challenge, Feb 1

To see what I'm talking about, read this.

My points for yesterday are pretty abysmal. They will be even worse today though...

personal challenge number: 20
rooms completed: 2 of 6
today's extra focus goal accomplished? yes. Way more items than 40! (I counted 1 point for every fork and spoon...)
focus area for tomorrow: none--it's Peter's birthday and I'm taking the day off

I intend to really get rolling starting on Monday.

Awesome Fabric Project #2

Here are some pics of my latest project with the awesome fabric pieces I picked up for free. (Plus some bias tape, which I had never used before. That stuff is awesome! Who knew! I'm never going back...)

The Dress

The Dress in use

Awesome Fabric Project #1

Here's my first completed project with some of a large amount of awesome designer fabrics I picked up, thanks to the heads up from someone in my ward. I've reeeeeaally been wanting a cool bag, and this fabric was begging for me to make it into one, so, here it is!

Epiphany!

I just realized that light blue jeans are not really in style anymore. Why did it take me so long to realize this?

I've Changed My Title

But the web address is the same as before. Now there's a way to get around the fact that someone used that name already! (Nevermind that they don't ever use it...)

Christmas HOOPLA

1. List 12 random things about yourself that have to do with Christmas
2. Please refer to it as a 'hoopla' and not the dreaded 'm'-word
3. You have to specifically tag people when you're done. None of this "if you're reading this, consider yourself tagged" stuff is allowed...then nobody ends up actually doing it. The number of people who you tag is really up to you -- but the more, the merrier to get this 'hoopla' circulating through the blogosphere.
4. Please try and do it as quickly as possible. The Christmas season will be over before we know it and I'd like to get as many people involved as possible.

1. I used to be a Christmas fanatic. Now I just really love Christmas.
2. I used to wear a different pair of Christmas socks for every day in December, and I still had some left over that I didn't get to wear.
3. The only time I wear ear rings is at Christmas time, because they are Christmas-y ones!
4. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to buy/make other people presents.
5. I have never had a White Christmas.
6. Every December we make snowflakes all the time leading up to Christmas and make sure the house has them hanging all over the place.
7. This year we are spending Christmas at Martie's house.
8. I love Christmas carols. Playing them, singing them, listening to them. I'm not into the Jingle Bells ones so much.
9. I made our stockings 2 years ago out of fleece (hard to sew!), and this year will be Chub's first year with a stocking!
10. This will be my second Christmas ever not spent with my family (MY parents and siblings) and it's with the same people I was with last time it happened!
11. For Christmas, I like to eat Eloise's pan dulce.
12. I made a real gingerbread house this year, out of real home baked gingerbread. (It's harder than it looks.)

I tag: trogonpete. Ha ha! (or Ho Ho Ho!)

Online Radio

A friend of mine told me about this online radio website. It's got lots of variety. I'm listening to choral Christmas music right now, to get me in the right mood for the gingerbread I'm about to make. Check it out!

http://www.pandora.com/

Hip Hip Hooray!

Or, Hooray for smaller Hips. I have reached pre(this)pregnancy weight! Now, on to losing even more. I started making sure the cardio I was doing lasted for over 20 minutes at a time and it has really made a difference. Same for eating less. And not having much sugar (though the last three days have been awful). One of these days I should throw my scale away...

What stinks about ebay...

is when you buy something from a seller who has what looks like a good feedback score and it turns out when you look three weeks after purchasing an item and not hearing from the seller or receiving the item that what's really going on is that they sell so much stinkin' stuff that the hundreds of negative and neutral feedback comments they have barely make a dent in their score.

All for an $8.50 camera cable.

Poo.

New Family Blog

We've got a new family blog:

palewis.blogspot.com

This blog is now my personal blog, so if you're looking for pictures, etc, check the other one!

Exercise

I've decided that I actually want to have a waist again. And I really don't want to wait the 9-10 months that it took after Chub was born, and that only gave me a partial one anyway, so, I've come up with a plan. I've already been going to the gym Monday-Thursday morning and doing yoga on Friday mornings, plus I added in a run on Saturday morning this past weekend as well, which I'd like to keep doing. Unfortunately, due to time constraints related to having children and a husband who actually does need to leave the house sometimes, on the days I go to the gym I'm only able to do 20-30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise on a combination of stationary bikes, ellipticals, stairmasters, and treadmills, with some abs and weights for a few minutes afterwards. I also walk there and back, which is about a half mile each way. So, until we can afford to buy a double jogger (I REALLY want this one, but this one will do), I've decided on a "crunch plan":

*For every piece of candy I eat (which isn't very frequent, but it's post-Halloween right now...), 50 crunches.
*For every dessert I eat, 100 crunches
*For every meal with potato or white rice, 100 crunches
*For every time I eat white bread, 100 crunches

This helps me eat better, and helps offset at least a little when I make poor eating choices.

Think it'll work?

A Happy Hello

I've been working out at the gym with a friend for the last three weeks, which has been really awesome! Usually when I get home everyone is either still asleep, or Daddy and Chub (and maybe Shrimpy) are downstairs eating breakfast or reading. But today, as soon as I opened the door, Chub turned around from the recliner and said "Mommy!", giving me a huge grin. I walked into the living room to see Chub sitting in the recliner by herself, with her Pooh bear, her dolly Atigun and her stuffed eagle, Kenai. Daddy was nowhere in the vicinity. So I went upstairs to find Daddy still asleep in bed, along with Shrimpy. So how, you ask, did Chubby end up waiting for me downstairs? Well, when she woke up, Daddy got out of bed and opened her door and promptly fell back asleep, so Chubby grabbed her toys and took them downstairs and sat and rocked on the recliner with her toys for company until I got home. Now, this may not seem like a big thing to you, but Chub is ALWAYS on the same level of the house as us, and does not usually just sit still in a chair for fun. It was such a cute sight to come home to!

Our Earthquake

We had an earthquake on Tuesday. It was pretty scary, but only because of the idea of earthquakes, not because this one was particularly bad, because it wasn't. It was a 5.6, and twenty miles away or so. We could hear it coming before we felt it, which was really strange. All in all, it was very different from the way I expected it to feel. And I've gotta say, feeling the earth move under you like that sure makes you feel powerless and insignificant! After it happened, I didn't want to let Chub out of my sight. So, it probably seems like I'm totally blowing the whole thing out of proportion, but, we almost didn't even apply to Stanford because I was afraid of living in the Bay area with its earthquakes... And here we are, earthquakes and all. Hopefully this will be the worst of it!

For the Ladies

Check out these awesome articles written by my smart and insightful sister in law:

http://women.ldsblogs.com/

Really, truly, you won't be disappointed. Read them!

Wow!

Check out this cool blog (more particularly the cool things to make):

http://heatherbailey.typepad.com/

I really want to make some of those cute little booties!

Chub Loves to Play

Shrimpy is 6 weeks old!

The Answers

Well, I was trying to give people some time to answer, BUT, enough is enough. It's been a whole week people!

1) maintain a house that is always clean and comfortable

YES! It is so satisfying (and comfortable) to look around and see a lack of mess--order, cleanliness, a shining kitchen floor, etc. I'm doing pretty well, but when most things are great, there is almost always at least one messy spot in the house.

2) travel to New Guinea

No. That's Peter's dream, but I'm going with him. I'm always too concerned about safety (or should I say unreasonably paranoid?) for wild places to be my dreams. I feel safer dreaming of places like New Zealand, all of Europe, etc.

3) do the Ironman triathlon

No, but I do think it would be fun to do a shorter one sometime. My first goal in this area is to do a relay triathlon and do the swimming portion. Who knows when that will even happen though.

4) learn to play the piano well enough to play in church

YES! Not that I necessarily aspire to play in church, but I want to at least be good enough that I could (without freaking out about it).

5) go back to school and get a graduate degree in linguistics

No. I love linguistics, and I will if the chance comes up, probably, but it's not a goal anymore. I don't like the pressure of assignments, papers, and all of those scary things that graduate students have to do.

6) own a small hobby farm

YES! I want horses, goats, chickens, etc so much! And land for them to roam on. And lots of garden space with lots of fruits and veggies.

7) learn how to cook a perfect souffle

No. I LOVE to cook, but there is no particular dream or goal associated with it. We had a souffle enrichment activity, and it didn't look too hard though. I think I'll try it soon.

8) be the Relief Society President

Um...NO! This was your free NOT. Who does, anyway?

9) be in a community orchestra

YES! I've only ever played in bands, and I really want not only to play again someday, but to experience playing in an orchestra and play some great music, like Beethoven, Dvorak, etc. Bands don't have that, unless someone rewrote it for them.

10) swim on a Masters swim team

YES! I've always wanted to do this. Swimming is my sport. I love it. I love water. I love being in shape, and competing in swimming is tons of fun!

So, there you are. Of my 2 participants, Little Mama beat Real by 1.

I know I have more than two readers!

Clearplay

We used to be subscribers to CleanFlicks, and when they closed because they lost their lawsuit, we were pretty durn bummed. But recently, a friend of mine told us about Clearplay, which is pretty much exactly the same thing, except instead of renting an already edited DVD, you rent or buy a normal one, and download the edits from their website with a little USB thingy and plug it into a special DVD player you buy from them, and voila! You have a nice edited movie. You also have to pay a low monthly membership fee for access to the movies. We're trying to decide right now if we want to spend that much money just to be able to watch lots and lots of really good movies that will no longer be inappropriate.

Apparently, Clearplay faced a lawsuit similar to the one CleanFlicks had to deal with, since certain filmmakers consider the editing of their movies to be akin to removing measures from a symphony, or covering up the naughty parts of the Venus de Milo. Fortunately, Congress decided that we have a right to filter the content of movies in our own homes, so as long as we're not purchasing something that has already been altered, it's okay. That's why CleanFlicks went down the tubes...

A Quiz for YOU!

Per my husband's request, here is a little quiz for you. I don't necessarily expect you to get the answers right, since I'm not sure myself what I'm going to put yet, but here goes.

Out of this list of ten things, which FIVE are some of my personal (somewhat passionate) life goals? (I even gave you a free "NOT")

1) maintain a house that is always clean and comfortable
2) travel to New Guinea
3) do the Ironman triathlon
4) learn to play the piano well enough to play in church
5) go back to school and get a graduate degree in linguistics
6) own a small hobby farm
7) learn how to cook a perfect souffle
8) be the Relief Society President
9) be in a community orchestra
10) swim on a Masters swim team

Now that I've finished, I think if anyone guesses all five, they were just lucky. And if anyone guesses the "NOT", then we need to spend some one on one time together...

Feel free to do one of your own, or have a go on Peter's blog.
Good luck!

Fall Fever!

I have a very bad case of Fall Fever. And watch out--it's contagious! All I can think about is making goodies (pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread and muffins, ginger snaps, decorating sugar cookies), Halloween costumes, parties, crafts, getting together with family and friends, and other generally fun and exciting things. And of course, that leads me to Christmas and winter, and I'm pretty much ready to listen to Christmas carols now.

I'm ready to break out the apple cider and hot chocolate, my sweaters and slippers, and oh boy do I wish I had a fireplace right now!

Mmmmmmmmmm! I love this time of year!

It's All About Me!

Well, I never got around to posting my last pregnancy photo. I had Peter take this picture the day before The Shrimp was born, when I thought there was a good chance it was the last day I would be pregnant. So, this is 38w3d:


These next two photos show my really awesome new mommy toy, The Ultimate Baby Wrap. This is the best baby carrier ever! Basically, it combines things like the Snugli and Baby Bjorn and other slings into one, and it is super comfortable and easy to use! I LOVE it. Unfortunately, I'm wearing a shirt the same color as the carrier, so it's hard to see all of the details, but you can see the basic idea. (Especially if you click on that link...)

More Pics of The Shrimp

These pics were taken at 3 weeks 2 days old:

Super Chub!

Little Chub is such an awesome toddler! She seems to be pretty well adjusted to having The Shrimp around now, and she especially loves playing with all of Shrimpy's things, as you can see in the picture above. You can also see another of her favorite things to do, which is to spread everything all around the floor...


Little Chub also now lets me put her hair up, which is VERY exciting to both Peter and me, because now no one can tell she has an extreme mullet! In the pictures above and below, she actually has what I call a "triceratops" hairdo (there's a ponytail in the back too...), which was just a joke, but I kept the top two in all day, even though they look silly sticking straight up. We usually keep her hair in cute back of the head pigtails, which you can kind of see in the top picture.


Some of Chub's other accomplishments are speaking in little sentences (our favorite is 'That's a whale!'), learning to count, and popping out with vocabulary we had no idea she knew, such as 'woodpecker'. The first time we realized that she knew how to count to ten, we counted up to five slowly, and then she said six, we said seven, she said eight, we said nine, and she said ten. We were amazed! We're also starting to work on her letters, and she loves to get out crayons and paper and have us write letters and words. She also sits with her Daddy to read and makes him drag her finger along the words as he's reading. So far I have no idea what she knows because she usually keeps it hidden until she can completely surprise us with something.

One other very cute thing Little Chub does happens at bedtime. Her Daddy almost always puts her to bed, and she always goes to bed with dolly, pillow, and her special quilt her Aunt Margaret made for her. Daddy puts her blanket on her, then goes and turns off the light. As he's walking to turn it off, Chub is holding the blanket at her chin with a little twinkle in her eye. He turns off the light, and then goes over to kiss her goodnight, and EVERY time, she pulls the blanket over her head and makes Daddy find her. She's done this with me a few times at naptime, but she stopped doing it because it's just not the same with Mommy! Little Chub and her Daddy have built a very special relationship since The Shrimp was born and it is very cute!

Old Pics of The Shrimp

These are from the first two weeks...

9.8.07

9.8.07

9.9.07

9.14.07

9.19.07

Ta-Dah!

The Shrimp, 3 days old

The Shrimp has been breastfeeding shield-free for a few days now. Yippee! We'll find out on Thursday how much weight she's gained, but we know she was only 1 oz below birth weight at 1 week old. Her cheeks are starting to fill out, which is super cute, and Peter HAS been taking lots of pictures, so we'll put them up soon.

How We're Doing

Lest you all sit at home biting your fingernails with worry that things are not going well over here, I thought I'd let you know that things are going GREAT! They could be better, a little, but all in all it's great. My midwife gave me a nipple shield to use with The Shrimp, since she has such a tiny mouth, and now, even though we still use that for almost every feeding, and for the whole time, most of the time, she is at the breast for every feeding which makes me very happy. Now if I could consistently get her to stay awake while she's eating, we could transition off of this thing! (It's a miracle, by the way. I think it really would have helped with Little Chub.)

Aside from that, Shrimp's bilirubin level went down, so we don't have to take her back to the pediatrician anymore, and thank goodness for that because we think she already caught a cold there. She only had 5 heel pricks and 1 shot total in her first week of life. Welcome to the world Shrimpy! It actually got harder and harder to watch them prick her and squeeze blood drops from her heel. I would have thought it would have gotten easier, but by the last time, I was pretty much crawling in my skin. Shrimp has almost no jaundice left, and she's really cute.

Little Chub is doing great. She sometimes gets a little jealous of The Shrimp and tries to throw her off of my lap, so I try to make special time to read stories with her on my lap, because that's her favorite thing in the whole world. She is trying to learn how to be soft ("sof") and gentle ("jettow"). She is having a blast playing with her Aunt Chicki who is here visiting with us. She also has really big feet all of a sudden. They grew through 2 sizes in a matter of weeks, and now I have to go to the store and buy her more, when I just bought her two new pairs about 4 weeks ago. And one of them was actually not on clearance. Go figure. At least now The Shrimp will inherit a really nice barely worn pair of shoes in a year and a half or so.

Little Chub also is a little bit jealous of the fact that The Shrimp gets to nurse. I let her try every time she wants to (we even tried tandem nursing once), but she has no idea how to do it anymore. I wish she did. I feel sad that she was weaned so early. The big change in Little Chub's life is the hardest part for me in the transition to having two kids. Sometimes she's sad now and there's nothing I can do about it, and it makes me feel like I've abandoned her. But we're trying to get into a rhythm, and eventually, Little Chub will get used to having her little sister ("sissi").

As for me, I wouldn't mind if every postpartum period was just like this one, because I'm not sure if it's possible for it to be any better! I had to force myself to sit around for the first few days, on the command of my midwife. I feel great! The only physical complaint was those durned afterpains. And those are a distant memory for me now.

Hooray for having babies! I even had them both, all by myself while they both needed me...for about 30 minutes...

The real fun begins next Wednesday.

My Birth Story...

Is two posts down.

Breastfeeding The Shrimp

Sorry Real, and everyone else, for the lack of a birth story so far. Hopefully this issue will be resolved and we can move on to more exciting things.

A few minutes after Shrimp was born, we got to nurse for the first time. It was great! She latched right on and has a powerful suck! I was so excited after the nightmarish first several weeks of my breastfeeding relationship with Little Chub. My midwife reminded us that in the first 24 hours or so, newborns are often more interested in sleeping than anything else, so it was okay if she didn't nurse quite as often as would be the norm after that. Still, she woke up every few hours (not quite as often as 2-3), and she latched on pretty well still. I noticed that there were a few minor things we would need to work on to alleviate some soreness for me, but aside from that, things were great. Day number 2 came around--Thursday. Shrimp's latch was the same as the day before, but I had to aggressively wake her up a lot of the time. Still, once she latched on, it was mostly perfect. Day 3--Friday. The Shrimp is nearly impossible to wake up. But, I still manage to do it, and she eats. My excitement about her nursing abilities compared to Little Chub's and the fact that she was tormented at the pediatrician's and very much needed to nurse after the visit kept me from really realizing that things were going downhill (already had, really). Incidentally, we went across the hall from the pediatrician to the lab where they stuck her heel and took a million drops of blood for the bilirubin test. Also incidentally, my milk was starting to come in that morning, and continued to do so all day, until Friday night, I was engorged. I hadn't realized with Little Chub when it was coming in, probably because of so many stinking sore areas I had, until I was engorged, so as the milk was fully coming in this time, I was optimistically (still! and I didn't really think I was an optimist...) thinking The Shrimp was eating enough to keep us from a repeat performance of engorgement. Unfortunately, The Shrimp was unable to latch on-to my engorgedness, so I had to pump some off the top. By the time I had one side ready for her, she had given up. She refused to try to latch on, and I was getting frustrated. We decided that with all that we learned last time, we might as well feed her what we had pumped, so we bottle fed her the pumped breastmilk. It was breastmilk, but I was not happy about it. She became much more alert after drinking 2 ounces of breastmilk, and even woke up twice in the night to eat (each time after about 3 hours). I had to pump some off the top each time, but after that, with some hard work, we managed to get a successful latch. Now we were thinking that if we could manage to un-engorge me that everything would be a-okay. Sadly, one breast will not un-engorge, with any amount of pumping. The other one is HUGE, but the engorged one in comparison is like Alaska compared to Rhode Island or something (yes, that's an exaggeration...). The Shrimp has been sleeping ALL day, so we've stuffed a bottle into her sleeping mouth to feed her (after trying in vain to breastfeed repeatedly). Then we got a call telling us that her bilirubin is high. They wanted us to go to the ER tomorrow to repeat the bilirubin test, and make sure she's okay. We get to go to a lab instead. We're trying to stuff her full of milk before then, and we're putting her by windows all the time.

So, here I sit, with edema that makes me look worse than when I was pregnant, and causes me to weigh only 3 pounds less than when The Shrimp was born, with a boob the size of Alaska (but as hard as the Grand Canyon), and with a baby who won't wake up (unless it's nighttime and I'm trying to have her NOT sleep on the bed), and therefore, cannot eat without a bottle. It's kind of depressing.

The Shrimp's Birth Story

Tuesday, September 4th:

I was taking a nap while Little Chub took hers, and I noticed that I was having crampy feelings come and go, but not necessarily in a pattern. I took Little Chub outside to play after she woke up, and this continued. When Peter got home from work and joined us in the courtyard, I told him, "I wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be early labor. But then, I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't either..." He was surprised that I thought it could turn into the real thing though. The crampy feeling continued to come and go through dinner. After dinner, Peter left to go tutor, so I went for a walk around the apartments with Little Chub. After the walk, I sat down to read, and felt some undeniable contractions, but they were mild, like the ones I had felt every once in a while at night during the previous week and a half. Even though they were mild, I was pretty certain by the time Peter came home (around 8:15pm) that this would develop into true active labor eventually.

We started timing the contractions after we put Little Chub to bed, around 9pm. At this point they were anywhere from 6 to 11 minutes apart--not really predictable. I was reading (Slaughterhouse-Five) during the contractions, as they still weren't all that strong. Peter called our friends that would be watching Little Chub to let them know there was a possibility we'd be calling them in the middle of the night, and I went around the house collecting the bags I'd packed already and getting together everything else we wanted with us. We had dessert, and shortly after eating I felt my mysterious abdominal pain come on, around 10:30pm. At this point, I was freaking out (internally) because my worst fear of this labor was that this pain would happen at the same time, and I wasn't sure I could handle that. I decided to go up to bed to put myself into my weird position that alleviates a small fraction of the abdominal pain, to wait things out there, and see if I could eventually fall asleep. While the abdominal pain was happening, the contractions almost disappeared. I could still feel one every half hour or so, but barely.

Wednesday, September 5:

After a little over two hours, the abdominal pain was gone and I fell asleep for a few minutes to be woken up by a contraction slightly stronger than the strongest I had felt before the abdominal pain came. It was now about 1am. I was excited! Peter had come to bed earlier and we had both decided that as much as it stunk to have the abdominal pain, it would still be nice if labor were really happening, and we were hoping it would resume after the pain went away. I waited a few more minutes, through two more contractions that felt like they were getting a little bit stronger, then woke Peter up to tell him that it definitely seemed like labor was here for real, and asked him what time it was. We timed three more, and they were about 6-7 minutes apart, so we decided to get out of bed and time the contractions (charting them in Excel) and get ready to leave for the birth center, so we could make sure not to leave anything important behind. I was really tired, so I laid down on the floor with a couple of pillows, which was really comfortable, but it felt like I was keeping labor from progressing, so I got up and moved around, collecting even more last minute things to take to the birth center. The contractions started to become strong enough now that my preferred method of dealing with them was to lean against the couch or anything nearby until it was over, but I could still handle them in any position, and I was completely normal inbetween them.

Around 2:30am, we called our midwife and Peter explained to her where I was at in labor. She let us decide if we wanted to come in yet or not, and since the birth center was in San Francisco, about 45 minutes away, we decided to go sooner rather than later, to avoid driving during very strong contractions. So, we called our friends (Brittney and Chris), and dropped Little Chub off. She went back down to sleep like a champ! And we were on our way to have a baby!

The contractions in the car were quite painful, but breathing slowly and trying to relax as completely as possible really helped. Peter drove with one hand and held my hand with the other, and made sure I completely relaxed for each contraction. I also had our dumb cell phone jingle in my head, and my brain slowed down a small part of the melody and repeated it really slowly for each contraction. It was weird, but it really seemed to help. I also found myself chanting in my head, "Open up for the baby," over and over again, which also helped a lot.

When we got to the birth center, shortly after 4am, I'm not sure the midwife was convinced I was really in labor because I think she thought I was acting too normal, but she took a pee sample and checked the baby's heartbeat through three contractions. As soon as we arrived, the contractions spaced out a little bit. They had been about 4 1/2 minutes apart for the whole drive over. So, the midwife checked me to make sure things were really happening enough to call it labor, and we found out I was 5 centimeters and completely effaced. She said that we didn't know where I started from, but usually this point was what took the longest, and things were usually much quicker after 5 centimeters and full effacement. I was happy because with the contractions I was already having, I was hoping to be at least 5 centimeters along.

We walked over to our birth room, and at about the same time the contractions really started to get serious. The midwife told me to make sure to relax my shoulders while I was standing and leaning against things, and I didn't think I could relax any more than I was already in that position, so I laid down (on my right side) on a comfy little pad they had laid out on the floor for me in case I didn't feel like climbing onto the tall bed, with my head on Peter's lap. All along he had been rubbing my back or stroking my hair or doing anything he could to help me through contractions. It turned out that what I wanted the most was for him to not actively do anything, but just to make sure he had some physical contact with me during a contraction, like to rest his hand on the small of my back. The contractions on the floor were a turning point in the labor--I was no longer able to come fully back to reality and my normal self between contractions, and didn't move between them. I kept my eyes closed. Peter reminded me often to breathe and to relax. With each contraction, I relaxed, breathed, and closed my eyes, trying to feel with each contraction when the peak was and when it was tapering down, and really concentrating on the "shape" of the contractions. After each contraction, and sometimes during, I was shocked by how incredibly painful and intense they were. My mind knew that labor was strong and knew it would be painful, but somehow, as is true for most people, I was able to forget over a year and a half just how strong and intense contractions really are. In all honesty with myself, though, I think these contractions were stronger than the ones I had with Little Chub.

Shortly after lying down on the pad, I was already feeling pressure in my butt with each contraction, which was really surprising to me. After a few of those, I decided to get up and go to the bathroom. They were starting to fill the tub now too, and I was eager to get in there, which was a good sign that I needed it. I hadn't really felt like it when she had mentioned before that she didn't want to get it ready just yet to make sure not to slow the labor down. I had three or four close together contractions while I was sitting on the toilet, and another one leaning against the edge of the tub right after coming out of the bathroom. The midwife rubbed my back during this contraction, while Peter was changing into his swimsuit in the bathroom. Then they helped me into the tub, which, just like last time, felt like a bit of heaven to enter into. Ahhhhhhhh. How nice. But then another contraction came and I felt the same as before, except that I really really love water, and being in a warm tub, and a very slight edge was taken off of the contractions. For each contraction in the tub I was leaning against the edge of the tub with my back and butt in the air. At one point I commented that the shower water that was still filling the tub was going up my butt.

I changed angles a few times, and after a few contractions in the tub, I felt my body make a little push and I grunted involuntarily. At the same time, Peter could feel the baby move down, through my lower back where his hand was rested. That urge was a surprise, and I told the midwife so after Peter called her back into the room. She reminded me of the desire I had expressed to her not to push the baby out too fast and told me to breathe through the contractions instead of pushing. I asked her if she thought my body might be cueing me to push a little before it was ready, and she told me what that would feel like, with pain still pretty intense, like the way contractions were before pushing started. I felt like that was the case, and so made sure not to push yet. Once the pushing urge started, I started to groan as low as I could for each contraction, and often decided to just keep groaning inbetween them a little bit too because it felt kind of nice to groan! Before this, I had been silent for every contraction, not for any particular reason, but because that's what felt natural to me. I had a few more pushing but not pushing contractions, and before I knew it, I felt like the baby was near the end of the birth canal, and the midwife was instructing me on how I could help guide the baby out myself with my hands, which I feel was very intuitive of her because it really helped me a lot knowing where I was in that process and actually feeling the baby's head coming out. Finally, once I had this feeling of the baby being near the end of the birth canal, I started pushing with each contraction, but not too fast. I could feel her head coming most of the way out in the next contraction but then recede again, so in the next one, I pushed it most of the way out, and in the next one, out came her head and then the rest of the body, and I felt the whole thing! It was so amazingly cool to feel her coming out, both with my hands and in the birth canal. Peter was sitting on the edge of the tub while I leaned against him and talking to me excitedly about how we were so close to having a baby, and the midwife and I caught the baby and pulled her up to my stomach. Her cord was very short, so we couldn't pull her up any higher, not even to my chest, so we decided to clamp and cut the cord a little sooner than we otherwise would have so we could pull her up to my chest and blanket her. She was born at 6:03am, and the placenta was delivered five minutes later. The Shrimp entered the world after 5 hours of active labor, covered in a thick coat of vernix, 6 lbs 3 oz, 18 inches, and ready to eat!

The Shrimp

You've seen these already, but they need to be here, so here they are again!

Weight: 6lbs 3 oz

Length: 18in

This is how much I love you guys...

We're going to the birth center right now. Thought you might like to know!

Bloody Show!

Yep, that's right. Not really surprising though... Now I can just go ahead and wait some more I guess.

False Labor!

Argh! If I'm going to be waking up at night with contractions, couldn't it at least be the real thing?

Last night I woke up feeling like I had horrible cramps, but it just so happened to fade away after a minute or so. Then it happened again a few minutes later, and faded away. And happened again. And then I got a whole bunch of Braxton-Hicksy contractions one right after the other for a really long time. Then I went to sleep.

Those were the most frequent contractions I've ever had, including Little Chub's labor, but as I was lying in bed trying to sleep instead of pay attention to contractions that were obviously not at least active labor, I kept repeating in my head "longer, stronger, and closer together" and it just didn't fit. *sigh* Oh well. One good thing that came of it is that I realized that I should at least pack a bag for Little Chub with clothes and diapers to drop off with her at our friends if labor happens before my sister gets here. So that's done now, as well as the bag to bring to the birth center with us. And the video camera is charging. Now the only things left to do are to find a place for the 5,000 hangers sitting in our hallway that I took out of the girls' closet, and install Little Chub's convertible car seat in the rear facing position (she got a new Stage 2! oooooh!).

Wow. That's crazy. When did I get so on top of things?

Today is 38 weeks, by the way.