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November 2007 NaBloPoMo
November 2006 --> NaBloPoMo
In the baby days:
email me at sarah at ratatat dot com
Happy Birthday B!
May 31, 2008
A first birthday is special indeed!
One Week
May 28, 2008
We're racing now:
Should it be more disturbing that this is a bridge to nowhere? At Henry's preschool picnic, he immediately joined a group of random 4 year olds to run over the bridge, over and over. And then under it, a little. And near the 3 inches of water that flow under it. Both sides of the bridge are in the park.
And the house was built. First one wall:
Before I even took a photo...three more walls. And the roof trusses arrived.
We have a door!!
The view from the inside. Is it big or small? It is so hard to tell.
Run!
Happy Birthday to Rob
May 22, 2008
Yes, I am sneaking this in after the fact. Happy Birthday Rob! We say Indiana Jones, which was sort of a reverse metaphor for your birthday--the movie was highly anticipated, your birthday, not so much--we decided to celebrate it with the kids on Friday. The movie was less than awesome, not much of the old magic. You are still awesome. May 34 be a good year!
Bridging
May 21, 2008
The floor joists (or ceiling as the children charmingly call it) is in place.
When we decided to add Bilco doors into the basement as part of the addition, it didn't seem that big of deal. But really, it is. It is integral to the structure.
The decking makes me forget about the basement below--the bilco door entrance makes me see what the decking bridges over.
Yesterday was a day that bridged over the holes. Henry had his last day of 3 year old preschool. He got a certificate.
It was short and sweet ceremony. The kids learned all of the letters in the alphabet in sign language and a word for each letter too. They sang a song or two. They had their picture taken. I teared up, but that isn't memorable.
I see Henry has been growing--in size if not in weight. His self-portraiture skills have been growing too. Or at least his choice in art supplies photographs better now. I think he has gained a pound or two. But weight is more variable by scale than height is by ruler.
There has been much more discussion about who Miranda looks like than about Henry. He has his father's smile, and hairline and cow-lick. Different nose and brow. He's growing up into a handsome devil.
There is no accompanying picture, but I feel asleep after supper last night and slept until 6am, the household wake-up time. And I got up because I should, not because I was wide awake. I have bridged the traditional half-way point in this pregnancy at 20 weeks. More than half-way if we acknowledge that the c-section will come at 38-ish weeks. I feel good, but tired.
Holes
May 19, 2008
There is a hole in our yard. A gaping yawning hole. I have probably read Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel too many times, but I underestimated how big the whole hole would be. (In that story, if it wasn't beloved in your childhood, the steam shovel does such an amazing job at digging a big, deep hole, it gets stuck at the bottom. And when it can't get out, it is converted to a boiler. Not sure, as an adult, what the take-away message is there.)
And so part of me imagine a whole precisely the side of the new addiction. Not so. Today is back-fill day. They dig a much bigger hole and then push the dirt back around the foundation.
We're built our house on sand. Here is the hole circa last Tuesday. The footings are in place.
Before they back fill the hole, we can see the basement in cement block.
And there has been another hole in our house:
Miranda's two front teeth have been loose for weeks. I thought she'd lose them in California. But not until she got home. Two nights in a row is tough on the tooth fairy.
10 Action Packed Days
or
Watch those bulk sizes at Costco
or
It will be a Girl
or
The Travels and Travails of the Ratatat family
May 14, 2008
In true Rocky and Bullwinkle fashion, when we last left our heroes, they were blissfully unaware of the excitement yet to come.
We had a delightful visit with our friends W&A. We can't wait to see you in Texas in 4 years.
Then Cinco de Mayo, which went almost uncelebrated.
Then the big ultrasound.
I am finding it hard to accept that the ultrasound technician is really sure it is a girl. We've always had such uncertainty. So forgive my lapses if I refer to said fetus as it. She is staring out at us. She refused to do the profile shot. Already stubborn. More on that later.
At first I thought I should crop this photo, but it seemed to so match the beautiful mess I leave on the island daily. A mess that rarely bothers me except when my grandmother is coming or I take photos.
Then 2 days later, Thursday, we left for San Francisco. But I am missing a step--I ran all over creation Wednesday. And my foot started to hurt I was wearing the stupid Old Navy socks that I only wear when I run out of clothes. Why? Because they hurt my feet. And by about 4 pm, I couldn't walk. I couldn't put pressure on my right heel to take a step. And I freaked out about it. I can't walk. I am flying to SFO in less than 18 hours. This does not compute. Rob took me to urgent care. Plantar Fasciitis. He subscribed codeine for the pain, but I do wonder if that wasn't intended to calm me down. My foot hurt. My heel was in agony. But it wasn't broken! So we went.
Flying with crutches is not an experience I recommend. Because overall, my foot hurt, but I had some mobility. I could limp along in a fashion. The care from the outside world was uneven. A sheriff's deputy at MKE was terrific--she carried some of our bags, she bullied the Midwest employee into getting us into a faster line. Midwest was underwhelming, sweet as always, but not really helpful. The kids did fine on the plane, better than I did. My ears filled up on the landing in Kansas City and didn't pop for 5 days.
In San Francisco, we got a wheelchair, but she didn't seem willing to take us all the way to the rental car place. So I hopped along. Waiting in line in crutches (Dollar was having a stupendous sale, is all I can say. Their check out line was so long and every other counter was empty) got us our car sooner. Not sooner than if I has signed up for Dollar Express. Next time...
My foot got better with movement, proving the doctor's diagnosis correct. I was limping by the time we saw sea lions. I just walked less over the weekend than would have otherwise.
We had a nice lunch at the place we always have lunch (the Sea Lion Cafe). The kids don't remember last time. They probably won't remember this visit in 3 years. Sigh.
I was very intimidated by the walk from the parking garage. But I am glad we went.
By this point, Rob is carrying my crutches for me. And that may be easier than when he was carrying my purse.
San Francisco is in the background.
We drove to the far out suburb to see our fabulous friends. Thank you A&P&L&B for a fabulous weekend. We enjoyed seeing you. Thank you for the place to stay, the fine food, the sightseeing, and the companionship.
On Friday, we hung out in the North Bay. On Saturday, we did tourist stuff. This was a grave miscalculation. But we did take in the Golden Gate Bridge, along with hundreds on new Girl Scout cadets.
We walked out a bit, but the crowd held us back as much as the children's fatigue and my foot.
We headed to Stinson Beach after the bridge. It was beautiful. Not too crowded. The children frolicked a bit. i realized I forgot towels. And that it was much warmer than I anticipated.
Henry ended up in his underwear about a minute after this. Luckily, I brought spare clothes assuming we'd be cold after our ocean foray. I love how Miranda holds up her shorts as if the ocean is going to sweep up and splash her.
We were supposed to see Muir Woods after that. But Miranda was car sick of Route 1. And we ran out of time. Redwoods on the next trip. We did head to Traintown in Sonoma. Miranda commented at one point that she didn't really care what we saw (she is so not a sight seer. Even Henry would point out the window and say "look, look!"), as long as we had time to play with L&B.
Sunday was Happy Mother's Day! A brunch at the yacht club. Many adorable babies. Miranda was in heaven. Henry liked the chocolate fountain and running down the docks.
And Monday was an extremely long travel day home.
Tuesday, I got a call from my OB. If you are a pregnant woman, it is never really a good sign to have your OB call herself. A nurse, an assistant, a disinterested scheduler...no problem. The OB. She started with the good news--the baby looks perfectly fine on the ultrasound. Healthy, normal. But the placenta...it is attached by my c-section scar. This might be a problem. (Dr Google suggests it might be placenta accreta). Getting the baby out,even if the placenta doesn't attach itself in an aggressive manner, like through the uterine wall or into my bladder, may be a challenge. Like vertical incision or ??? and we face a real possibility of a hysterectomy right after the birth. If the bleeding doesn't stop. I am now a high risk pregnancy; with that designation comes lots of ultrasounds and extra watching. I'm sure I will have more to say about that as things develop.
I am not too freaked out about the hysterectomy risk. The last cycle before we succeeded in getting pregnant, I bought the super duper Costco pack of feminine products. I didn't realize how far reaching that would be. Pregnant and now I may never menstruate again? I would keep my ovaries and their lovely hormones. And the unrelieved bleeding is what kills. The loss of my uterus would be more of a metaphorical loss. But #3 was planned to be the End. And Rob might avoid the snip-snip.
I am, upon further reading, worried about pre-term labor, bed rest or having the placenta hurt my bladder. Those are remote risks, but more specifically real than they were in general pregnancy.
And today, to finish the whirlwind 10 days ...I watched a friend's son, E. He was cute and sweet and a bit freaked out to be at my house. He's not quite 3 months old and who am I again? What on earth is going on? I guess when he comes back tomorrow, his initial tears will be a referendum on today.
Wow
May 4, 2008
Well, May is off and running, and so far much less stressfully than the Kentucky Derby. I am writing this on my laptop, which means I am just about transitioned to it. I've only had it since late February. I mean, you wouldn't want to rush these things.