Zoe, come on down!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Wordless Wednesday
Me, 37 weeks pregnant, in labor and delivery last night around 9 p.m. after being monitored for an hour with contractions. As Sarah would say, I'm over it.
Zoe, come on down!
Zoe, come on down!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Week 36
Looking as big as I feel! But the new hair is helping me feel better ...
Other things that are making me feel better:
1. My weight gain has plateaued. There's almost no room for food in there so my portions have had to be smaller and I've cut way back on salt = a much less swollen me.
2. My LA- and OC-based girlfriends have come to visit "one last time" before Zoe arrives! It has been like having a shower bit by bit, which is actually more fun than doing it all at once anyway as it turns out.
3. My mom faithfully comes to see me and help me once a week, always toting with her some adorable thing for Ms. Z and also some fun thing for Mr. N. She is so good about making sure he feels as loved as can be. This past week it was a toy stroller (with which he is fascinated) and jelly bellies (his absolute favorite "food" in the world).
4. The fact that, thanks to very generous friends who've given us *lots* of their daughters' hand-me-downs, Zoe now has pretty much everything she needs. And it has all been washed, dried, and folded. I also put most of Nick's baby clothes on consignment this week to start an account at my favorite second-hand baby store where now I can go and get new things for him and Zoe! Why I didn't come up that idea sooner I don't know. But since most of my mom friends are having girls Nick's clothes were just taking up space. I saved a few of my favorite things for my girlfriend Michele who is having another boy, and the rest will help us make way as these two grow!
I've also found a place I can donate all my maternity clothes in a few weeks where they will go to moms in need. I think that's awesome!
So as I tidy up and organize, we are almost, dare I say it, ready for this beautiful girl to make her debut!
Other things that are making me feel better:
1. My weight gain has plateaued. There's almost no room for food in there so my portions have had to be smaller and I've cut way back on salt = a much less swollen me.
2. My LA- and OC-based girlfriends have come to visit "one last time" before Zoe arrives! It has been like having a shower bit by bit, which is actually more fun than doing it all at once anyway as it turns out.
3. My mom faithfully comes to see me and help me once a week, always toting with her some adorable thing for Ms. Z and also some fun thing for Mr. N. She is so good about making sure he feels as loved as can be. This past week it was a toy stroller (with which he is fascinated) and jelly bellies (his absolute favorite "food" in the world).
4. The fact that, thanks to very generous friends who've given us *lots* of their daughters' hand-me-downs, Zoe now has pretty much everything she needs. And it has all been washed, dried, and folded. I also put most of Nick's baby clothes on consignment this week to start an account at my favorite second-hand baby store where now I can go and get new things for him and Zoe! Why I didn't come up that idea sooner I don't know. But since most of my mom friends are having girls Nick's clothes were just taking up space. I saved a few of my favorite things for my girlfriend Michele who is having another boy, and the rest will help us make way as these two grow!
I've also found a place I can donate all my maternity clothes in a few weeks where they will go to moms in need. I think that's awesome!
So as I tidy up and organize, we are almost, dare I say it, ready for this beautiful girl to make her debut!
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Ten on Tuesday, the What's Crackin' Me Up version
So many things are making me laugh out loud these days, I've decided to list ten of them as my ToT for this week! What's making you laugh?
10. The fact that Nick now talks in his sleep, about birds, and says the word bird as soon as he opens his eyes in the morning. He's totally obsessed with birds, any size, shape, or kind.
9. The fact that I have no flippin' idea how I will keep my life together once Zoe arrives. And for some reason to me, that's hilarious.
8. The fact that my parents keep saying they are getting their house ready to put on the market by "getting rid of stuff" when they have nothing - literally nothing, not even furniture - left in the place. What are they getting rid of exactly? Excess oxygen?
7. The fact that Dave sweats all the small stuff in his life. Everything annoys him, all the time, and it's funny to watch how way too seriously he takes life.
6. The fact that I have gained so much weight all over with this pregnancy but people keep saying "it's all out in front." Have they seen me from behind?
5. The fact that I just found out I live less than an hour away from a Le Creuset outlet store and now that I have kids, I can't afford to buy anything I don't need. And no one needs Le Creuset - they just covet it.
4. The fact that all this swelling makes my feet look like Barney Rubble's feet from The Flintstones.
3. The fact that Nick learned two phrases this week, both of which get said a lot in this house: Oh God, and All Right! (The way he says them is Ah Ga and Ah Ra.) He also has a wickedly funny way of saying "oooooh nooooo" when he spills anything, even if it's one sprinkle off a donut. Oooooooh nooooooo!
2. The fact that if I didn't write down what I need to accomplish in a week, nothing would happen except things that don't need to happen within a given 7-day period.
1. The fact that everything is funny to me in part because I haven't slept for more than 2 hours straight in almost 4 months. And I haven't slept more than 6 hours straight in 2 years.
10. The fact that Nick now talks in his sleep, about birds, and says the word bird as soon as he opens his eyes in the morning. He's totally obsessed with birds, any size, shape, or kind.
9. The fact that I have no flippin' idea how I will keep my life together once Zoe arrives. And for some reason to me, that's hilarious.
8. The fact that my parents keep saying they are getting their house ready to put on the market by "getting rid of stuff" when they have nothing - literally nothing, not even furniture - left in the place. What are they getting rid of exactly? Excess oxygen?
7. The fact that Dave sweats all the small stuff in his life. Everything annoys him, all the time, and it's funny to watch how way too seriously he takes life.
6. The fact that I have gained so much weight all over with this pregnancy but people keep saying "it's all out in front." Have they seen me from behind?
5. The fact that I just found out I live less than an hour away from a Le Creuset outlet store and now that I have kids, I can't afford to buy anything I don't need. And no one needs Le Creuset - they just covet it.
4. The fact that all this swelling makes my feet look like Barney Rubble's feet from The Flintstones.
3. The fact that Nick learned two phrases this week, both of which get said a lot in this house: Oh God, and All Right! (The way he says them is Ah Ga and Ah Ra.) He also has a wickedly funny way of saying "oooooh nooooo" when he spills anything, even if it's one sprinkle off a donut. Oooooooh nooooooo!
2. The fact that if I didn't write down what I need to accomplish in a week, nothing would happen except things that don't need to happen within a given 7-day period.
1. The fact that everything is funny to me in part because I haven't slept for more than 2 hours straight in almost 4 months. And I haven't slept more than 6 hours straight in 2 years.
Sunday, February 01, 2009
What we do on weekends for fun
When we moved into our current house, we had a plan to stay here for 5 years. We've now been here 3 1/2. It looks like, with the economy in its current state, we'll be here more like 6-7. But it's still fun to go "househunting" and tour homes in new developments that look like what we'd like to have next. Part of me wonders, given how much I love this hobby, whether I missed my calling as an interior designer or real estate agent.
Anyway, on weekends, that's what we often do - tour home models in new developments. It's fun, Nick loves all the walking and running around and exploring of new spaces, and I get to take pics that hopefully one day will inspire me when our time to buy again comes around.
Here are our favorite photos from this weekend's round of house-touring. These models were actually in our price range, unlike the ones we toured two weeks ago which were amazing but completely out of reach. Those homes were unbelievable, but I think you'll join me in saying no one needs a furnished two-bedroom casita on their property that's adjacent to the swimming pool.
Here's my favorite cool and unnecessary item of this weekend's tour:
And here's my favorite kitchen (they called it "tuscan farmhouse"):
Here's my favorite little girls' room we saw, out of about a dozen:
And last but certainly not least, my favorite master suite. This one had an office loft above it to boot!
What do you do on the weekend that's just for fun?
Anyway, on weekends, that's what we often do - tour home models in new developments. It's fun, Nick loves all the walking and running around and exploring of new spaces, and I get to take pics that hopefully one day will inspire me when our time to buy again comes around.
Here are our favorite photos from this weekend's round of house-touring. These models were actually in our price range, unlike the ones we toured two weeks ago which were amazing but completely out of reach. Those homes were unbelievable, but I think you'll join me in saying no one needs a furnished two-bedroom casita on their property that's adjacent to the swimming pool.
Here's my favorite cool and unnecessary item of this weekend's tour:
And here's my favorite kitchen (they called it "tuscan farmhouse"):
Here's my favorite little girls' room we saw, out of about a dozen:
And last but certainly not least, my favorite master suite. This one had an office loft above it to boot!
What do you do on the weekend that's just for fun?
Friday, January 30, 2009
Women's Wisdom - or what people SHOULD tell you about life but don't or won't
So a friend of mine came to visit yesterday and we ended up talking about all the things no one tells you in life - how challenging the first year after college will be, how stressful the first year of married life can be even if you life together first, how much children change EVERYTHING, and so on. There are a few books on the market with titles like "The Girlfriends Guide" but I have found that even they sugarcoat the reality of things, the difficulty of circumstances, or they stop short of saying everything that needs to be said.
I'd like to author a series of books called Women's Wisdom, each tackling a different subject from a dozen perspectives and offering some candid views that women need to hear but often won't, or don't, even from their best girlfriends and mothers.
Take for example the things I wish someone would have told me having kids (and I am only including those items I've noticed my other mama friends mentioning, too):
1. That when you get pregnant and have a child, you will actually finally appreciate your mom.
2. But you'll resent her too when she isn't as warm and fuzzy and loving toward you in your new mom role as you thought she'd be. Or when she judges everything you do and makes you feel like a second-class parent.
3. That as a great cosmic joke you will have the highest sex drive ever while you are pregnant (because of blood flow to the ... er ... region) at a time when your husband is least likely to find you attractive and at a time when you feel least attractive as well.
4. But the good news (I guess) is that your sex drive disappears the day you deliver along with the other feel-good hormones that kept you from killing people during gestation.
5. That your husband is not going to watch your child as carefully as you do because he didn't carry her or him. It's a fact.
6. But you need to let him watch your child because he's his/her father and you need time alone.
7. That you will want to stop swearing and white-lying and doing anything bad in your life once you have a child because you see all the goodness of the world reflected in his or her eyes.
8. But if you said "fuck" (or in my case "holy crap") a lot before he or she was born, you will still say it, even accidentally, when you're frustrated and tired. You just have to be careful not to say it too much or within earshot if possible. Or substitute a more benign term in its place (which has worked for me and others).
Oh the list could go on, and the anecdotes that go with these items. When I finally get time I'd really like to get this all written and compiled and ready for a publisher!
I'd like to author a series of books called Women's Wisdom, each tackling a different subject from a dozen perspectives and offering some candid views that women need to hear but often won't, or don't, even from their best girlfriends and mothers.
Take for example the things I wish someone would have told me having kids (and I am only including those items I've noticed my other mama friends mentioning, too):
1. That when you get pregnant and have a child, you will actually finally appreciate your mom.
2. But you'll resent her too when she isn't as warm and fuzzy and loving toward you in your new mom role as you thought she'd be. Or when she judges everything you do and makes you feel like a second-class parent.
3. That as a great cosmic joke you will have the highest sex drive ever while you are pregnant (because of blood flow to the ... er ... region) at a time when your husband is least likely to find you attractive and at a time when you feel least attractive as well.
4. But the good news (I guess) is that your sex drive disappears the day you deliver along with the other feel-good hormones that kept you from killing people during gestation.
5. That your husband is not going to watch your child as carefully as you do because he didn't carry her or him. It's a fact.
6. But you need to let him watch your child because he's his/her father and you need time alone.
7. That you will want to stop swearing and white-lying and doing anything bad in your life once you have a child because you see all the goodness of the world reflected in his or her eyes.
8. But if you said "fuck" (or in my case "holy crap") a lot before he or she was born, you will still say it, even accidentally, when you're frustrated and tired. You just have to be careful not to say it too much or within earshot if possible. Or substitute a more benign term in its place (which has worked for me and others).
Oh the list could go on, and the anecdotes that go with these items. When I finally get time I'd really like to get this all written and compiled and ready for a publisher!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Closing in on week 34
Tomorrow I have my last FFN test for prematurity. My doctor will let me go into labor anytime after week 36 (that's TWO WEEKS FROM NOW!). Okay Zoe Bean, the countdown has begun!
Here's a pic of the awesome blanket I had made for her, which arrived today and totally made me smile:
Hope your week is ending on a smiley note, too.
Here's a pic of the awesome blanket I had made for her, which arrived today and totally made me smile:
Hope your week is ending on a smiley note, too.
Sprinkle post-script
Thanks to you who responded to my last post. I decided in the interim to do a little research into "second showers" and find out whether it really is taboo to have them, under what circumstances they are considered acceptable or appropriate, and generally whether there is a generational component to people's seeming distaste for them.
On the day I posted the last entry on sprinkles, incidentally, I received my FOURTH second-shower invitation for this spring, given for another friend of mine who is pregnant with her second son. Her firstborn and Nick are just weeks apart in age. On an unrelated note, they are doing something pretty cool, I think! If you bring the mom a box of diapers you get two raffle tickets, and if you bring her a box of wipes you get one ticket, and the raffle items are awesome! And mama gets all the newborn diapers she needs! When I throw my next shower I'll be stealing that idea for sure.
In any case, what I learned in my research was that it IS a generational issue - that people my mom's age believed in one wedding shower and one baby shower per customer. I didn't have a wedding shower, but as I mentioned I had one heck of a first baby shower, and in my mom's book (and rightfully so according to her generation) she is not obligated to be involved in any way in a second shower or sprinkle. Knowing this helped me take her reaction to my desire to have a second shower far less personally (she had said I was being greedy and tacky, if you recall). Our generation has apparently embraced the idea of multiple showers in many cases because there are folks like me who did not have major wedding showers, or because perhaps we have more financial resources to celebrate new arrivals than the previous generation did. Second showers now range from sprinkles, or benign celebrations, to all-out crazier-than-the-first-shower fetes. The NUMBER ONE reason people identified for attending or throwing second showers was the arrival of a second child of different gender, incidentally, again because in such cases you need "stuff".
I have decided after too much deliberation to take the money I would have spent on a second shower and buy Zoe the remaining items she needs. It seems like the most cost-effective and energy-efficient solution. I am going to invite our close friends over after she's born for a small get-together, and that way gifts are sort of understood to be a "non-issue" (since she'll already be here) and our focus can be on seeing her, playing with her, and snapping lots of pics with her and the people who have been so eager to meet her.
I am happy with my decision. I feel like I really thought it through and this way am not imposing on my two friends who offered to help me throw a shower but who really are too big and pregnant themselves to be of as much help as I know they'd like to be.
For now I am rounding up the last few things Zoe needs, like onesies and socks and beautiful blankets to wrap her in, spending way too much time on Etsy once Nick goes to bed at night. And then I think I'll almost be ready for her to make her debut!
On the day I posted the last entry on sprinkles, incidentally, I received my FOURTH second-shower invitation for this spring, given for another friend of mine who is pregnant with her second son. Her firstborn and Nick are just weeks apart in age. On an unrelated note, they are doing something pretty cool, I think! If you bring the mom a box of diapers you get two raffle tickets, and if you bring her a box of wipes you get one ticket, and the raffle items are awesome! And mama gets all the newborn diapers she needs! When I throw my next shower I'll be stealing that idea for sure.
In any case, what I learned in my research was that it IS a generational issue - that people my mom's age believed in one wedding shower and one baby shower per customer. I didn't have a wedding shower, but as I mentioned I had one heck of a first baby shower, and in my mom's book (and rightfully so according to her generation) she is not obligated to be involved in any way in a second shower or sprinkle. Knowing this helped me take her reaction to my desire to have a second shower far less personally (she had said I was being greedy and tacky, if you recall). Our generation has apparently embraced the idea of multiple showers in many cases because there are folks like me who did not have major wedding showers, or because perhaps we have more financial resources to celebrate new arrivals than the previous generation did. Second showers now range from sprinkles, or benign celebrations, to all-out crazier-than-the-first-shower fetes. The NUMBER ONE reason people identified for attending or throwing second showers was the arrival of a second child of different gender, incidentally, again because in such cases you need "stuff".
I have decided after too much deliberation to take the money I would have spent on a second shower and buy Zoe the remaining items she needs. It seems like the most cost-effective and energy-efficient solution. I am going to invite our close friends over after she's born for a small get-together, and that way gifts are sort of understood to be a "non-issue" (since she'll already be here) and our focus can be on seeing her, playing with her, and snapping lots of pics with her and the people who have been so eager to meet her.
I am happy with my decision. I feel like I really thought it through and this way am not imposing on my two friends who offered to help me throw a shower but who really are too big and pregnant themselves to be of as much help as I know they'd like to be.
For now I am rounding up the last few things Zoe needs, like onesies and socks and beautiful blankets to wrap her in, spending way too much time on Etsy once Nick goes to bed at night. And then I think I'll almost be ready for her to make her debut!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
No sprinkle in the forecast
We had an amazing baby shower for my son Nick, who's now 22 months old; it really was the shower to end all showers. I wasn't planning to have more kids after Nick, but when I found out I was having a girl this time I really did want to have a party for her. Not a full-on shower, but what's called a "sprinkle" or a mini shower, in part because there's so much we need given her gender (there's something so wrong about swaddling her in football-printed blankets or making her wear blue socks, which right now is all I have) and in part just to celebrate her arrival so she'd have the full scrapbook of pre-birth photos of people welcoming her like Nick does.Well, here I am 33 weeks pregnant and the window of opportunity to "sprinkle" her is closing. My sister kindly offered earlier on to throw a party at her house but she lives in Orange County and I knew my San Diego friends with kids wouldn't want to drive all that way. My mom says I shouldn't have a second shower because it's tacky, and suggests that I want people to buy me more gifts. She says in her generation you only got one shower per family, and I've had mine. But I'm going to three "sprinkles" for friends of mine in the next two months who are having their second children - all of whom are about to have girls after having boys - and getting ready for their showers makes me sad about not having my own.
Last weekend I got inspired with a small boost of energy and went on evite only to find beautiful rose-themed invitations (perfect given Zoe's name) and thought hey, I could do a small fete at the house on Valentine's Day weekend (again, the theme) and keep it low key - just finger foods and rose cupcakes like I'd planned and I wouldn't have so much cleaning to do or so much prep, it wouldn't be so expensive, and I could do it all myself. But then the energy left me and I became overwhelmed again by trying to get this all together and planned. I'll be 36 weeks pregnant by Valentine's Day.
Dave had a good idea last night - write a letter to Zoe telling her all the things I would have done, all the little details I had in mind, and just explain to her that I waited too long and was too tired to act on them. But the loving intention was there to welcome her with a rose-themed party. I know I would appreciate knowing that my mom wanted to do something for me, even if she wasn't able to do it. Girls appreciate that, right? Of course Dave had another idea that was awful - wait until after she arrives and then have a party. Only a man would even propose such a ridiculous plan. If I think I'm tired now ...
If you're reading this and have strong feelings - like YES you should plan it and do it even if you don't feel like it because you'll regret it or NO just move on and let it go - I'd love to know! For now it's a sunny forecast ahead - not a sprinkle in sight. And in a way that makes me just a bit sad.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Monday Madness
Here begins week 33 and I'm feeling as big as a house! I'm 4 inches bigger around my tummy today than I was when I delivered Nick at 36 weeks. My friend Michele talked me into letting her take this picture even though I was feeling particularly run down. I guess it's good to document your pregnancy even when you feel less-than-photoworthy.
Nick and I are both sick, that's the other good news. I am working feverishly to finish up the last of my work projects so I can enjoy my maternity leave and get ready for Ms. Zoe's arrival. Crazy to think: My doctor says she thinks Zoe will be born in February, not March when she's technically due. January may be my last month as a mother of "one on the outside."
Nick and I are both sick, that's the other good news. I am working feverishly to finish up the last of my work projects so I can enjoy my maternity leave and get ready for Ms. Zoe's arrival. Crazy to think: My doctor says she thinks Zoe will be born in February, not March when she's technically due. January may be my last month as a mother of "one on the outside."
Sunday, January 18, 2009
32 weeks
Only one month left until she's the same gestational age as Nick was when he arrived. Hard to believe! The countdown has begun ...
And my favorite photo of the week of the little elf who's already here ...
And my favorite photo of the week of the little elf who's already here ...
Friday, January 09, 2009
Five on Friday
5. It's 11 p.m. so I better hop to it, or this will have to become the Six on Saturday instead.
4. At most I have 8 weeks left to spend with Nicholas alone before Zoe comes and part of me is just so emotional about that fact. I couldn't stop crying tonight as I held him and he fell asleep. I think when I actually go into labor I'll be a wreck - happy on the one hand and eager to meet Ms. Zoe but just about as sad as I can be that Nick will never after that point have my undivided attention again (well not for long stretches like he does now, anyway). So I'm soaking them up, our little mommy and Nick moments. And I'm writing to him in his book about this time we are sharing and how much it means to me, both so I'll remember it and he'll be able to see that once he was the center of my world.
3. I just started to cry again writing that. Ugh. Hormones.
2. I never knew, before I had kids, that I could love another person the way I love my son. Everyone tells you that's the case, but you just can't imagine it. Today when Dave came home from a week out of town, I thought Nick would be eager for some space from me. I went to the bathroom ALONE (meaning it was just me in there and I actually closed the door) for the first time in like 6 days, and he banged on the door and cried and said, "mama, mama" over and over again. The best part about a parent's love for her child is that it's returned so generously.
1. I'm just bewildered as to how my heart can be so full and so torn at the same time, and I worry that I won't be able to give either of my kids all the attention they deserve. I guess every parent who has more than one child feels this way.
On that note, it's off to bed for this tired mama!
4. At most I have 8 weeks left to spend with Nicholas alone before Zoe comes and part of me is just so emotional about that fact. I couldn't stop crying tonight as I held him and he fell asleep. I think when I actually go into labor I'll be a wreck - happy on the one hand and eager to meet Ms. Zoe but just about as sad as I can be that Nick will never after that point have my undivided attention again (well not for long stretches like he does now, anyway). So I'm soaking them up, our little mommy and Nick moments. And I'm writing to him in his book about this time we are sharing and how much it means to me, both so I'll remember it and he'll be able to see that once he was the center of my world.
3. I just started to cry again writing that. Ugh. Hormones.
2. I never knew, before I had kids, that I could love another person the way I love my son. Everyone tells you that's the case, but you just can't imagine it. Today when Dave came home from a week out of town, I thought Nick would be eager for some space from me. I went to the bathroom ALONE (meaning it was just me in there and I actually closed the door) for the first time in like 6 days, and he banged on the door and cried and said, "mama, mama" over and over again. The best part about a parent's love for her child is that it's returned so generously.
1. I'm just bewildered as to how my heart can be so full and so torn at the same time, and I worry that I won't be able to give either of my kids all the attention they deserve. I guess every parent who has more than one child feels this way.
On that note, it's off to bed for this tired mama!
Monday, January 05, 2009
Saturday, January 03, 2009
First pics of 09
Here are the newest pics taken of Nick in this new year, age 21 months. Oh how I love photographing him. It brings me such joy. Hope your new year is off to a great start and that these make you smile.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Bird?
Nick is all about birds - he loves seeing them in person, and he has a special book he calls "bird book" (the real title is "Who Pretends?" but because it has a bird in it, he named it bird book) that he insists on us reading to him at least 4 times before nap and bed and 4 times afterward. In fact when he wakes from his nap the first thing he says is "bird book?"
I'm loving this time with him when he's developing his vocabulary and becoming expressive. The way he says bird is adorable to me - he always raises his voice at the end, as if he's asking a question ("bird?") and he sees birds where there are none, like inside the grocery store for example. He'll point up and say "bird?" and I feel so sad when I have to disappoint him and say "No, Nick, there's no bird in here." Last week he caught me off guard though at Red Robin when he said "bird?" and I said, "no honey, no bird" and he got so frustrated with me: "bird! bird! bird!"
and pointed at his cup, which actually did have a bird - a red robin, duh - on the front.
Here's a short clip of him bird-hunting one morning with Dave:
I'm loving this time with him when he's developing his vocabulary and becoming expressive. The way he says bird is adorable to me - he always raises his voice at the end, as if he's asking a question ("bird?") and he sees birds where there are none, like inside the grocery store for example. He'll point up and say "bird?" and I feel so sad when I have to disappoint him and say "No, Nick, there's no bird in here." Last week he caught me off guard though at Red Robin when he said "bird?" and I said, "no honey, no bird" and he got so frustrated with me: "bird! bird! bird!"
and pointed at his cup, which actually did have a bird - a red robin, duh - on the front.
Here's a short clip of him bird-hunting one morning with Dave:
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Sneak Peek: Zoe Rose at 29.5 weeks
She looks *just* like Nick at his 30 week ultrasound ... amazing! She weighs 3 1/2 pounds now. For comparison sake, here are HER photos from today ... 
And here are Nick's ultrasound photos from the same week, two years ago:
And here are Nick's ultrasound photos from the same week, two years ago:
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Peek-a-Ba!
Another video - now that I know how to upload them to YouTube, expect many more posts like this one ...
Monday, December 29, 2008
Bright Blessing
He is my sunshine, my only sunshine; he makes me happy when skies are gray. He'll never know, that Nicholas, how much I love him. Please don't take my sunshine away. (Photos from Christmas day and today, 12/29, his first visit to Sea World!)
Monday, December 22, 2008
O Christmas Tree
Two of my three trees are up this year. I have completely run myself ragged getting Christmas together (the back pain from shopping and wrapping and working and chasing and lifting and carrying around an extra 30 pounds is horrendous) so the third tree and other decorations (like those I collected this fall for Zoe's tree, which will be a fairy/secret garden themed tree ... she has 2 fairies, 2 butterflies, and 4 green glass ornaments so far ...) have been packed away safely in anticipation of more energy on my part next year (ha!). But the trees photographed above really are my favorite two: The gingerbread tree, and our main tree, the red tree. I tried to take some good photos by playing with my camera's ISO and other settings (thanks for the tips Susie!). On a funny note, we went to a Christmas party this weekend where Santa arrived and you had the option of bringing a small gift for him to give your child while he was there. Well, when he got to Nick's gift, he YELLED out "Nicholas!? Where is Nicholas? That's MY name!" and scared the crap out of my little guy, who started crying and didn't want to take the gift Santa offered him (even thought it was a cool red bird and Nick l-o-v-e-s birds).
My child isn't a huge fan of Mr. Claus. Yet.
Sadly, another child at the party had parents who either didn't remember or couldn't afford to give him a gift from Santa so the hostess collected money from everyone and put it in an envelope for him. All of the other kids' gifts were thoughtfully chosen and wrapped; it was hard to watch him open his envelope of singles without a sign of joy or happiness on his face. {sigh} Makes me wish I had been thoughtful enough to bring an extra gift just in case. I will next time. It was another reminder to me of the many blessings I tend to take for granted.
Merry Christmas to you all.
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