Destiny

DEAR SELF

doubletake — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 18:56:07 GMT

In the future, DO NOT EVER offhandedly remark about how easy/simple/straightforward ANYTHING that relies on temperment (baby's, mom's, dad's, grandma's...) was for you to a new mom. This is harrasment on the lowest level and probably will only make yourself feel good/superior for like a minute but will cause infinite misery/stress/worry/fury for her.

In related news, I currently despise my neighbor's daughter with the white hot fury of a thousand suns.

Why no, sleep "training" isn't going well for us. Why do you ask?

Good day. Good kid. Tired now. Fwump.

doubletake — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 04:28:26 GMT

Saw Kayo and Linda downtown; piroshkies and catching up. Leta very good, pretty quiet but allowed hugs and played with them after a little bit of shy.
Did not bring bottle; she was too excited to nurse and kept getting distracted so instead of going straight home afterwards we took a detour to West Seattle and dropped in at the midwives' office. Saw Christine this time.Leta was pretty hungry but tanked up pretty quickly. Got cupcakes and came home. On the bus home we met a girl in a wheelchair with a cat (Leta LOVES cats!) and later, after two older ladies got really worried because there was a yellowjacket on the window near us, a sweet ninja knight in shining armor caught it in his bare hand and let it go out of the window.
She was super excited to see her Daddy when we got home.
Peaches and yogurt for dinner. Pulled to stand (augh!) on my leg while I filled the tub. Noooooooo!

Dear 6 Month Sleep Regression,

doubletake — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 14:57:48 GMT

EFFFFFFFFF YOOOOOOOOUUUUUUU.

Seriously, SUCH a bad mood this morning. And nobody else is even up yet.

Stayed up late last night because the fruit flies were swarming so badly that they were bumping into my face when I went to wash my hands. I was on a mission. A two-fold mission:
1) Find whatever it is they're eating and get rid of it.
2) Clean the whole bloody kitchen spring-cleaning-clean so that it would be easier to starve them out (read: I won't have to stay up late looking for hidden food/puddles of water). This mostly meant doing all of the hand-wash dishes that had piled up over the last few days.

There is this...THING...which I have observed. If the sink is completely empty and the counters are completely empty, we can maintain that cleanliness level easily for several days. Dishes get dealt with as they happen, stuff gets put away. As soon as ONE FREKKIN' CUP gets left in the sink, it's all over. Suddenly there are dirty dishes piled everywhere, greasy pans on the stove, food scraps in the disposal, and the sink is half-filled with grimy dishwater because the drain is covered with the unwashed masses.

Except I have a 6 month old kid who has been waking up every hour or two all night SCREAMING and hysterical (growth spurt? gas pains? teething? bad dreams?)...and so far the only thing that works is to nurse her back to sleep. Which only I can do. And she's mobile. And the house is not childproofed. Or safe. It's not really adult-safe either, but at least we know to put pressure on the wound and not to stick our fingers in the sockets. Soooo, not a whole lot of time to patrol the kitchen on Cup Watch. And I'm not a single mom, so the cups are not all my fault.

Like this morning, when I walked into the kitchen at 6 AM after a late night of broken sleep, early because I couldn't go back to sleep once David had flumped back into bed after a bathroom trip and She With The Two Teeth was startled while nursing and OW, and there were FOUR DIRTY CUPS sitting on the pristine, like-seriously-I-moved-my-KitchenAid-mixer-off-the-counter-just-so-it-would-look-less-cluttered, clean countertop. Over the dishwasher. Which by the way, is dirty. And only half full.

HULK SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSHHHHH.

Which, honestly, took a whole 5 seconds to resolve (put 4 cups in dishwasher, close door). I just...rargh. RARGH.

Half year.

doubletake — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 04:40:00 GMT

She's now 6 months old...and a bit.
She's also...
...pretty mobile, via a modified commando 'crawl'. She will come to you if you tell her to. That's pretty damn awesome.
...LOUD and very interested in telling us alllll about...something. Something involving a lot of vowels and yelling.
...started solids. Apples, sweet potato, banana, and avacado. And rice rusks. Andbroccoli tonight.
...sleeping...inconsistently.

...to say the least...

....sooooooo tiiiiired...:D

When /I'm/ a parent, I'll never do XYZ...

doubletake — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 15:39:58 GMT

...well, if only XYZ had been 'update journal', I'd be pretty close. I can barely keep up with Facebook, let alone my email. Slowwwwly becoming human again, as opposed to a monster that only emerges from her cave to make panicky calls to the pediatrician and fail miserably at A Nice Meal Out, Come On, She'll Fall Asleep In The Car.

State Of The Union:
Me: Bed and Breakfast. All joints seem to be failing, probably due to her preference for side-lying nursing. Getting more proficient at a lot of things, sadly, driving is not yet one of them. Have gotten in some decluttering and a wee bit of sewing.
He: Work goes well; big raise and bonus this year so he's a little more motivated to stay. Anemic again. :(
Her: creeping, babbling, laughing, fricken adorable. Adores tags, rattles, and her Daddy. Still refuses pacifier, dislikes but tolerates bottle on rare occasions. Does not sleep through the night or nap reliably, probably related to continued slow weight gain. Two teeth. We're waiting for the 6 month mark for solids but she's already REALLY interested. :/
Cats: coping, poor things. Yumi is incredibly tolerant. Aoshi has been brave...ish, mostly because he can't stand being alone.
House: slowly...slowly...soooo slowly working our way toward kichen remodel. Lots of other projects to finish first.
Greg: Moved back in with us, paying rent which is why we'll be able to do the kitchen remodel.

Her, update: Very happy.
Yumi, update: Rapidly losing fur.
Me, update: Gotta go.

Whoops.

doubletake — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 21:45:41 GMT

Been a while.
Had a baby.
Parents went home.
Baby needed emergency surgery and a 9 day hospital stay.
David's job started needing him more.
Laptop died.

Now, NEW LAPTOP! It is an Ultrabook and sooooper shiny and awesome. First new computer I've had in 13 years. :D

Parenthood is working out. Colette is now 2 months, totally adorable and just a wee bit colicky.
Except for today, which we started out with an extra-early wakeup call, pediatrician visit, and 3 shots. Heheheh...let's just say, CRABBY PATTY. Baptism class is tonight. No babysitter. My cousins are going also, for their new baby Nate (5 days younger than Leta). They also have no babysitter...for Nate, or for their two older boys. There is apparently one other couple attending...eheheheheh...sorry, folks!

Will have to backdate (almost finished) post detailing home birth, which was great.

Imminent...or maybe not...

doubletake — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 15:41:11 GMT

Stillllll waiting. :)

Parents are here; hooray! They brought many baby goodies, and leek starts, and a partially completed birthing stool (which Dad will hopefully finish today). We're all sort of on a slow, comfortable pace which I am appreciating. Finally got to Dunn Lumber, which turns out to be a very nice hardware store, and I picked up the siding we need to fix the hole in the side of the house where the old range hood 'vented' (except for the part where they used a sprayer for painting the house before we got it and sprayed over the mesh that covers the vent, rendering the thing useless). It's supposed to rain a bit today but I'm hoping to get that primed and painted--want everything ready to go before we put a 'real' hole through the wall. Need to find some Teflon tape so we can do some plumbing work today, too--gotta hook up the diaper sprayer and maybe even the kitchen faucet David bought me for Christmas (eeee!).

May have met contractions...maybe not. People keep saying 'you'll know it when you feel it' but I'm still a little worried that I'll go into labor and not realize it until it's far enough along that prepping for the birth will have to be rushed. Do not want stress. WOULD like to be able to sleep better (HAH!) and am starting to think that getting up every two hours to feed/change her may be easier than this is--there's only a couple of 'comfortable' sleeping positions and those eventually make my hips hurt, so I've been getting up early because I just can't sleep through the pain anymore.

Blueberry banana bread for breakfast. Yum! Froze carrot soup pucks and leek/kale strata yesterday. Freezer is approaching 'burgeoning' but I'm pretty sure we'll go through most of it pretty quickly after bebe arrives and parents go home.

Must take trash to curb before the guy gets here.

Holding pattern

doubletake — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 19:05:46 GMT

No baby yet, and it could be a few weeks still. However, come hell or high water, she will be out by the first, since that's "42 weeks" and the medical community doesn't like prolonging gestation past that (that's when the midwives would be 'obliged' to transfer me to standard care...aka chemical induction and/or C-section...of course, the ladies have a bunch of tricks up their sleeves for making sure that doesn't happen, so I'm not worried.)

Tired, sore. Physically, the last week has been pretty rough. She's been a tad 'less' active, which mostly means that she can't really wind up enough to give me a good punch now that we're pretty much down to her, a couple of pounds of placenta, and a bit over a pint of fluid. I can still put on my own shoes (Fanfare!) by hauling up each leg by the pants cuff, but I tried picking up a pencil off the floor while seated in the car and THAT was horrible, even after I managed to point it up and down using my feet. Last night we walked around WalMart after our final HypnoBirth class, mostly to look at new trash cans and re-stock the medicine cabinet (got a tackle box for the newly fishing obsessed husband on clearance, though). Toward the end something happened, but I don't think it was contractions? She was moving quite a lot and I think her head might have been pinching bladder or cervix or somebody else against my pubic bone. YOW.

Was given a worksheet to fill out at the last HB class, of 'fears and anxieties' to work through with David. Mostly, I'm not very afraid. There's some little niggling doubts that are driving me nuts, and the hormones, oh!, the hormones...those have been bad and like to turn the dial up to 11. The rest of the time it's pretty easy to say, it'll be fine, it'll be what it is, she'll come when she's ready and worrying does nothing. The "big 3" were the same for both David and I (money, relationship changes, and his mysterious health issues)...butI had one more, The One That Garnered a 5/5 on the Likely To Cause Issues On Birth Day...and that's the state of the house. GRAH. WHY CAN I NOT MANAGE MY OWN HOUSEHOLD WHEN I'M NOT EVEN WORKING OR GOING TO SCHOOL?! I have been somewhat depressed and 'tetchy' for the last couple of weeks and while I'd love to blame it on the hormones, I'm pretty sure it has a lot to do with this failure. If I get one room clean, it goes messy again by the time I get another one clean. We have too much STUFF and I have too little discipline. And for a while there I got to be such a bitch about it that David has pretty much given up on helping since he's likely to get his head chewed off for trying. Good job, me. My next job will be a hole-digger. I'm quite good at it...just need some training on how to exit the hole once I've gone in way over my head.

Today, like the last 5 days, I am Bound And Determined to just get the downstairs clean and get everything on the Baby Ready and Birth Ready lists DONE by the end of the day. Little actual hope of success. :( But I seriously, seriously do not want to have a late baby and harder labor because I couldn't just get my act together and clean up.

Oh, but parents on their way! Very happy about that.

Wiped out. By awesome.

doubletake — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 21:33:11 GMT

Friday, Colleen came over and we hung out for a while and then she went with me to my midwife appointment, which was nice. Taylor (midwife) let her hear the heartbeat and feel the baby (who is apparently really low now, which explains my newfound ability to breathe without getting lightheaded again...and my newfound need for a bathroom every 15 minutes) and we talked a bit about what happens if she doesn't come 'on time' (basically, if we start reaching the end of the window where a certified midwife can preside, although neither midwife thinks we'll get that far).

Saturday was kinda busy; I painted the closet underneath the stairs and put in an organizer, and we got the first can light working after MUCH craziness:
(David is in the attic, I'm downstairs.)
Me: "Hooray! The light is on! I'm pressing the dim button. It's still bright. It's still bright. It's still bright. The indicator is still at the top...damn. Why isn't it working? Wait, now the indicator is lit in the middle. It's blinking. The light is still bright. The indicator is on the second to last spot. Still bright, wait, now the light is dimming, now it's at the bottom and the light is di...now it's at the top and not blinking and the light is bright...now it's in the middle...I'm not touching anything...it's blinking...the light is still bright...I'm still not touching anything..."
Him: "Okay, kill the breaker."
Me: "What were you doing?!"
Him: "Uh...nothing."
Both: "...."
Yeah. So there was that. I lost count of how many times I flipped breaker 6, but we got it in the end with help from Curt and a lot of internet research.

Sunday was the second baby shower. Which was super fun and awesome...I got to see many of my favorite lady-people (Angela, Cherylyn, Yenny, Sarah, Kayoko, Linda, Liz, Anna & Colleen all came, it was a great group) and Colleen made lots of yummy snacks and OMG TINY TINY CUTE THINGS GALORE. Like, galore-galore. Tell women that they can go baby shopping for frilly cute things and then stand back! We mostly sat around, decorated baby headbands and talked about...well, about all sorts of things, babies, books...including 50 Shades of Grey, LOL!...TV shows, movies, knitting...babies...babies...babies...and then there was a lot of gift unwrapping, and we had cake...it was a great day.

Honestly, Colleen did 95% of the party prep (I made a cake, which we actually hadn't planned for, but Pinterest and Preggo are a dangerous combination) and the house was pretty tidy even though it looked bad (David and I had done it up nicely the previous weekend, so it hadn't had time to get too bad). We did some minor cleanup in the morning, and David ran me down to Michael's to pick up some ribbon roses and elastic and stuff for the headband project, but that was about it. Even so, yesterday I ended up barely making it through prepping 3 meals (all cop-outs, we're working through leftovers and trying to clear the fridge, so not a lot of actually cooking involved), a load of laundry, a load of dishes, some minor cleanup, and one baby bootie (machine sewn) for the whole day. I took three naps, watched a bunch of TV (which I could recap approximately 3% of), and that was it. I was exhausted.

Needed another nap this morning after breakfast, putting away laundry and taking out the trash/recycle/yard waste, but right now I'm feeling pretty good so we'll see how the rest of the day goes. We're about to go down to VM to talk to a couple of pediatricians so we can pick one, and maybe get some vaccinations (DTaP and influenza) if they'll do them there. Otherwise, I guess we'll need to stop by a Walgreens or something. "Birth tub" (aka kiddie pool) arrived today so we're gonna do a dry run tonight and make sure it doesn't have any leaks.

Still need to install the car seat and have it inspected, 'strip' the cloth diapers I bought, and install the diaper sprayer on the water line behind the toilet.

Officially at 37 weeks, so FULL TERM. Her lungs should be developed enough that they won't try to stop labor if it starts now. Taylor says she things the Grib is at about 6 lbs right now. Wonder what she'll be when she comes out...

I Am Whale

doubletake — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 05:59:26 GMT

Feel huge. Still able to tie my own shoes...barely.

Sleep has been an issue for both David and I--I'm still spending most of my sleep time in shallow half-consciousness or REM filled with disturbingly vivid, wacko dreams, waking up every 2-3 hours to pee....which makes him wake up, which keeps me up as I try to get him back to sleep... His work has picked up, meaning that by the time he's done for the day, he's really Done. So we haven't got much done around the house...still no lights in the kitchen. And it has been really cold and wet out, so I have been pretty lax on the whole 'take a walk every day' thing. Which means very, very little exercise (especially for him) most days...which doesn't help with the sleep for either of us. Monday, we did an IKEA run, which meant a lot of walking, after which I stayed up until midnight assembling a bookshelf, laundry hamper bins, and dresser for the nursery. I slept better than I had in weeks, but still woke up around 6 AM, unable to fall back asleep. Need more exercise. May have to start mall walking, or just going to different big box stores to get in some walking in the warm and dry...

Yesterday I mostly worked on sewing projects--cut the old flannel sheet with bunnies on it from my baby days (adorable and sentimental for mum, but stained, and the elastic was shot) into a receiving blanket and a bunch of cloth wipes. Also managed to finish a crib sheet--out of the adorable elephant print I bought months back...I did the sewing for the second sheet today (the lovely tree/leaves cotton) but will need to make a trip to Joann's for more elastic before it can be finished.

Crib parts arrived today, so tomorrow I can hopefully put it completely together...mostly as a test, since I think we'll probably disassemble it and move it out of the nursery along with most of the other furniture for the home birth. Have ordered the birth tub; just need a couple more items and the birth kit will be done. Still have to finish packing the just-in-case 'go bag'. Made appointments to meet-n-greet two potential pediatricians next week.

I made myself work on my emails/calls list today, including calling Costco to see when they'd be getting the pannini press we wanted back in stock. They had ONE in the store, and apparently there was a $20 manufacturer coupon for it, so we changed our evening plans and went right over. Also picked up a new rice cooker (that apparently can act as a small slow cooker, which was what was actually on my list...but multitaskers are my fave and we can pass down our cooker to Greg and Sarah) and an immersion blender that was on sale. Forgot coffee, so we stopped at TJ's on the way home. And then we got home, and I couldn't fit the few groceries we had bought into the fridge/freezer. So the rest of my evening was/is (taking a break because kneeling to get to the fridge brought on the Braxton-Hicks something FIERCE) organizing/clearing...and the rest of the week is going to be leftover smorgasbord for every lunch and dinner. Ridiculous. I have GOT to get that under control...:(

Progress Report

doubletake — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 07:36:35 GMT

Crib & mattress, Pack n' Play obtained.
Assembled nursery rocker and footstool
Started to assemble crib, but am missing some parts
Ordered drop-side immobilization kit
Bought Oxyclean, got Chux pads and...other...fun...items...(labor is gonna be a hoot, if the shopping list is anything to go by)

This week, I need to:
Figure out the ultrasound bill with Premera
~~Call crib manufacturer and see if I can get the missing plates~~
Pick up the two missing screws from the hardware store
Sew the two crib sheets I've already purchased fabric for

Home stretch.

doubletake — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 21:54:35 GMT

Trouble sleeping, and The Return of Zero Lung Capacity, has rendered me fairly useless, which is enraging. Trying to do chores/errands in short spurts, interspersed with lots of lie-downs and sit-downs. V. frustrating not to be able to do more, esp. since there's so much that wants doing. Spending this much time 'idling' might be pleasant, but hoo lordie does the guilt pile on after about the third nap of the day!

First hypnobirthing class last night. A bit difficult for me (self-hypnosis is something I believe in but which has never come easily to me), but I think it will be helpful. Deep breathing/centering is apparently mega-popular with the Gribble--as soon as I found my rhythm, she started having a field day in there! Of course, classes are in the evening, when she's usually more active, but this was a step above. Apparently, relaxing the uterus gives her a feeling of 'more space', and the increased oxygen saturation can help make her more energetic.

Feeling very close to/dependent on David these past few days; more willing to surrender control to him, take orders, let him take over "my" jobs (which I usually jealously guard)...suddenly, our roles have changed somewhat and I'm not sure how that happened--we certainly hadn't planned it...hormones, perhaps?--but I definitely think it's in preparation for what lies ahead. Also finding it easier to make what I would normally consider to be 'selfish' requests...like buying things when they're not on sale, ordering dessert when we eat out...and asking David if he'd be willing to bring the porch swing inside for the Big Day (it is my favorite place to relax, and I was rather put out to realize that it might be too cold to labor outside on it). I thought he'd laugh at me, but his only thought was that he wasn't sure it'd fit through the door. We'll have to measure.

This morning was very icy and cold; apparently there was snow up north. I hope there hasn't been a lot, as we're planning on driving up to Shoreline to pick up Miss Grib's secondhand crib/mattress, pack n' play, bottle warmer, umbrella stroller, etc. from Jolie tomorrow. Two baby showers coming up.

Feels like the whole of my life/David's life is revolving around baby right now. It's going to be Really Weird when she finally arrives. We've been planning/prepping for so long....but I'm a little apprehensive of that 'it's all over, why is the Earth still spinning?' feeling. I am anticipating at least a few days of 'Holy shit, now what?"...hopefully not too many. :) Thankfully, I've got a support network that seems more than happy to give a few days of their lives over to revolving around us/baby/world still spinning. Oddly, one of the things I'm most glad of right now is that we had a wedding before we're having the baby...not because 'she'll be born in wedlock' but more of 'at least we've had practice having the world revolve around us for a day (which is freaking weird), and I now know that people won't hate us if it doesn't Go Perfectly As Planned, and when it doesn't Go Perfectly As Planned, our peeps are pretty adept at handling the whoopsies, so it Really Will Be Okay To Let Go And Accept Their Help'. Important but very difficult lessons for me. :)

Pregnancy: Now smells like dessert!

doubletake — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 21:43:39 GMT

Tired. The exhaustion is back, but this time it's been coupled with some pretty rough sleep. Two nights ago, I was highly amused that I got up to pee at almost exact (within 10 minutes or so) 2 hour intervals, on the hour: went down at 10, then up at 12, 2, 4, 6, and up at 8. I've been having trouble getting back to sleep, though, and a lot of the sleep is more shallow than I'd like. I suppose this is good practice for once she comes out and I have to wake up every two hours to feed her. :)

The Gribble is getting big (probably almost 5 pounds and 18 inches long, according to baby book--yipes!) and that means ARGH STRETCH MARKS ARE SO ITCHY. I have never been much for personal care routines beyond brush teeth, brush hair, wipe bum, shower every few days, wash hair during shower...but suddenly my world has become full of lotion and body butter. I know it won't stop the stretch marks from forming, but it does help with the itching a little. My skin has never been so...moist. It actually feels a little weird, BUT the two things that are working best also have the added benefit of smelling delicious. There's a Burt's Bees body butter that smells like warm honey, and yesterday Leah gave me a LUSH lotion bar that smells like (to me) sweet lemon frangipane. Mmmmmmm...it makes me want to bake croissants...

Our calendar is becoming pretty baby-centric. Colleen is hosting a baby shower on the 27th. There will be a company baby shower/potluck coming up as well. I need to schedule a tour of the local hospital's birth center (in case of complications) and start attending birth classes. We have our 'home visit' coming up in about two weeks and after that the midwife appointments are weekly. This coming weekend we'll pick up the secondhand crib and Pack n Play from Jolie & Everetts. Hopefully sometime this week we'll also hit IKEA for the nursery dresser. I'm still trying to decide if I should just use shelves from the library in the nursery--they were always meant to be temporary in that room, and it seems silly to buy more just because I want a different color. I could paint them, but of course they're the dark black-brown color which might be hard to cover.

Today I'm going to set up the swing and co-sleeper and cover them in foil and sticky tape in what is probably a vain attempt to teach the cats not to use them as kitty nests.

Just two more days...

doubletake — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 18:25:29 GMT

I may survive.

Actually, the visit hasn't been that bad...for a 2-week winter visit wherein David and Greg could get very little time off. I feel kinda crummy because Ray and Rachel have been primarily cooped up in our unfinished, poorly lit house every day. Rachel has had a bit more fun, visiting with Sarah and Kristian mostly, although they did go out rock climbing one day. Ray has not been so lucky. He went out shopping once (Sam's Club, Super WalMart...remind me never to let that happen again, my fridge may never recover), visited Mike & Jo's once, Sarah/Greg/Kristian's apartment once, and a group of us went to the Museum of Flight. We've been out to eat three times, although the third turned into carryout when Mike called needing a ride home for Jo & the girls because he needed to go to the ER (low blood sugar; he's fine, just an idiot sometimes). Otherwise, we've been home, where I cook and clean and try to keep conversation going while avoiding sticky topics (religion, politics, child raising, Those Liberal Bastards In California). We've had people over for dinner, but it's still this house, this table, this couch, and only a few three-prong outlets. :/ I had grand plans for at least a couple more outings, but he thought indoor go-karting was too overpriced, the Turner Joy wasn't much of a draw since he'd prefer to see a battleship and pretty much all of us had been there before, and he wasn't into the LeMay car collection because the cars are all 'too old'. That was pretty much the whole of my carefully collated list...oh well. Spring/Summer visits from now on--in both directions, if I can help it--Christmas in Indy held similar issues...Winter visits just aren't much fun. It's too cold/wet to do anything outside (picnics, parks, hikes, beach), and going out to do something in the warm starts adding up $$$ wise.

Today I'm planning on doing a little mini-tour of DT Seattle (Pike Place, Penzey's Spices, Pioneer Square?, and a stop in to see Greg at the Columbia Tower) and then we'll all (sans Greg) meet up in Tukwila for dinner out. I have a late (7:45pm) midwife appt, so David will take me to that.

And tomorrow they leave. And then we have 44 days left until the "due date".

David had to go to the ER earlier in the week, for a nasty headache+wooziness/shortness of breath/tight throat/panic attack. They found nothing scary (although it took most of the night to figure that out) and gave him a prescription for Vicoden in case he got another 6/10 headache (he hasn't, and we probably won't bother filling it). Since then, he's been back off gluten, just as an experiment...and headache free. Aaaaaargh. So it may be the same beast, but back with different symptoms (he's had none of the classic rash or gut issues he had before).

I think 2013 may need to be the year of Priorities, And Keeping Them To A Minimum. I figure this month, we need to focus on:

Birth and Baby Prep
Getting Light Back In The Kitchen
Good Eating, Exercise, and Personal/Home Maintenence Habits
Keeping Our Priorities/Projects/To-Do Lists/Etc To Just 3 Until We Can Handle More

Gribble is VERY active. She can make my whole abdomen rock back and forth now. Soooo weird.

Quickly

doubletake — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 00:39:09 GMT

Christmas this year: SUCCESS. As in, I'm feeling pretty damn good about what I got accomplished. Everyone enjoyed their gifts, and all the 'really important' ones got there in time or have a scheduled arrival that I'm comfortable with.

Me: Exhausted. Ray and Rachel are here, and David still has to work days so it falls to me to feed and entertain. Also the house needs a lot of tidying to make up for holiday madness and contractor madness. And I think the preggoness is finally starting to slow me down.

House: Not so great. Kitchen has no lights still. Nursery-cum-Christmas-Workshop is a disaster area. Still cleaning up after Christmas dinner.

Aloo Chaas for dinner tonight. Not sure what Ray will make of that. :/

Getting close now...

doubletake — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 01:07:17 GMT

Exhaustion still reigns, although (knock wood!) I'm feeling much better sick-wise...might have finally beaten this thing!

Contractor in doing drywall at the moment; he'll have to come back once more tomorrow morning but then they'll be OUT and I can mop up the drywall dust and have it stay mopped!

Mailed off Christmas packages this afternoon, cooked up a big batch of hot fudge sauce for local friend & coworker gifts, wrapped up the last of the finished gifts, found some fun foil fringey party blow-outs for the Christmas crackers. Have made peace with not-going-to-get-all-the-stockings-sewn-in-time; will have to pick up some cheapy ones at Michael's or Bartell's or something. Trying to make peace with what is sure to be the rockiest cookie party in all 7 years I've hosted. Very grateful that I have friends who won't judge, because there's gonna be gaps in the floor and unmudded drywall and holy bejeezus does the lino in the kitchen look baaaaaaad now. :)

What's left before Christmas:

Final payments to contractor (tomorrow, obtain cash tonight)
Finish knit/sewn gifts: Sophie's, Bella's, Rachel's (DUE MON AM)
Finish assembling gifts: Greg, Sarah (DUE MON AM)
Card for Anna & Rob (DUE TUES AM)
Deal with flavored toothpicks (tonight)
Buy an umbrella for Kristian's stocking (tomorrow)
Trip to Tacoma for Ray's gift
Trip to Penzey's for Ray's stocking stuffer (tomorrow)
Midwife appointment (tomorrow)
Assemble crackers (the kind with paper crowns in, not the Ritz kind) DUE BY MON PM
Obtain tree and decorate (tonight)
Gingerbread houses and cutouts for cookie party, plus frosting and snacks DUE BY SAT AM
Make chicken nuggets because I HAVE to use up the chicken breasts before they go off (tonight)
Make, bake, and decorate cookies (tonight, tomorrow, Sat AM)
Cookie plate for David's coworkers (tomorrow morning)
Clean the hell out of the house; upstairs DONE (tonight), downstairs DONE (tomorrow night), guest rooms DONE (DUE BY SUN AM)
Smoke half of rashers (tonight)
Borrow slicer, slice and wrap rashers & bacon; freeze rashers (tonight? tomorrow night?)
Buy goodies for Deb, Carrie's kids; wrap Indiana gifts & mail
Wrap bacon/sundae kits for local giving (DUE SAT AM)
Cookie bags for neighbors

Loves it, precious!

doubletake — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 03:19:21 GMT

The coffer walls are out! All that remains is some small touch-up, the inspection, anything the inspector requests, and to give the nice contractors another 3k or so. IT LOOKS SO DIFFERENT. IT IS AMAZING. IT IS A DIFFERENT HOUSE. I LOVES IT PRECIOUS.

Curt and Petra came by on Saturday and helped David move the wire for the range and me clear out and tidy the library so it can be used as a guest room. They were here until past 3 AM and had to drive home (40 mins) because their cat recently had surgery and needed another dose of morphine. We owe them BIG TIME. Like, owe them a kidney big time. We loves them, precious.

Sunday, David and I got an understandably late start. I got some cleaning done and wrapped some presents. Then we went shopping for recessed can lights. It. Took. Forever. Then he worked on moving the light switches that had been in the fireplace wall to the other walls, while I helped intermittently and organized tools and put the ceiling fan back together and ran dishes and laundry in between. We were SO proud of ourselves at 9 PM, when the second switch WORKED! HAHA!...then realized that the first light switch we'd moved, plus the lights in the bathroom and two of the downstairs bedrooms no longer worked. Weird wiring; we'd severed a line we thought wasn't needed and it totally was. Boo. David and Greg are working on fixing that tonight.

The house is an unmitigated disaster. There are boxes and insulation dust and chunks of drywall everywhere. I'm still sick (not digging this whole pregnancy-lowers-your-immune-system thing) but David is on the mend at least. I'm exhausted and crabby, which is not a good combination with a big long Honey-Do list and a close deadline.

Christmas won't be what I had dreamed of (again) BUT since I've been actively working on reducing stress (bad for baby) I'm surprised at how little I'm freaking out about that. We'll see how long I can keep it up...

Marching right along!

doubletake — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 17:55:52 GMT

Cabinets/counter are OUT!
Chimney is OUT!
Fireplace is OUT!
WALLS ARE OUT!

A small setback--due to weirdness in the way our floor joists are piered/posted, new piers and posts have to be installed at the ends of the beam that will carry the load from upstairs across the new opening. Those got poured on Thursday, but have to cure until Monday. Currently, the kitchen/living room is full of coffer walls+giant beam (had to be brought in before coffer walls, otherwise we couldn't get it in). Monday the beam will go in and the rafters will get extended and tied into it, so hopefully Tuesday we can have the new work inspected and the guys can clean up and clear out by the end of Wednesday. There will still be a patch of bare subfloor upstairs, a huge mess in the floors downstairs (some bare subfloor, some recesses where the old walls were, and a chunk of different linoleum where the cabinet was) BUT the wall will be gone and the room will be open. The whole downstairs already feels monumentally different and I CAN'T WAIT to get some sort of temporary island set up and the stove moved.

Which brings us to this weekend...since we're doing our own electrical, we have a couple of jobs to do this weekend...because some of the wires (notably, the one that operates the range) cross right where the new beam is going to go. They've got to get moved before the beam can go in. We did get a permit, and maybe (hopefully) Curt can come down and give us a hand, but...argh, NERVOUS! Also, the house is a disaster due to massive stuff-shuffling (I despise stuff-shuffling) and David's dad shows up in just 8 days (Cookie Party is in 7). I do have some promised help in the form of Greg for Mon & Tues, so hopefully I'll be able to get the house in order and the media room mudded, sanded, and painted...hopefully...

Possible YIKES: according to the permit paperwork for the contractor, if you have work done that requires a permit, you're required to bring your house (?!?) up to code re: hardwired smoke alarms!?!??!? I REALLY hope we're reading this wrong, because our budget is stretched thin as it is...and we have a lot of rooms...AUGH. Planning to ask the inspector on Mon/Tues.

Good Grief.

doubletake — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 03:31:01 GMT

So dead.

Sick. David and I both are; I have had a cold since Thanksgiving, and a wicked sore throat this past week. David's just started, but he's twice as miserable as I have been and not very good at Just Powering Through.
Contractors show up at 8:30 AM tomorrow to start demo-ing the chimney and fireplace and then patching the roof.
This means we had to finish taking out the cabinets/rack/drywall/non-load-bearing studs today.
We're not done yet and both of us are bushed, winded, sore, and crabby.
I can no longer see my toes without bending over, and squatting/leaning down to pick stuff up off the floor is incredibly difficult. Whoops! Guess that's what everyone was warning me about...
Contractors have changed their mind and DON'T think they'll be done by the time I had scheduled the floor guys (I know, I know, you should never believe what contractors say...I've def. been learning that lesson with this...the guy is awesome but NOT good at communicating how long things will actually take. Case in point, I thought we'd be done with this part in mid NOVEMBER. This means we have to reschedule the floors AGAIN, which I feel terrible about...and they'll have to get done in January...after Ray and Rachel have visited. Damn.
Plus side is that leaves me with a lot more time to get the house clean and the Christmas decorations/gifts done.

Once again, I'm pretty much Over December before we even hit halfway through.

My fridge is full of MEAT.

doubletake — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 18:15:21 GMT

2 chickens, 3 pounds of trotters (split), 7 packages of pork belly, and a big hunk of fatty pork loin, which I'm hoping will work for British rashers.

Most of it's going into a massive batch of bacon (they were having a sale), which we'll dole out to locals instead of the usual caramels and candied nuts. The chickens will become a big batch of chicken noodle, chicken nuggets, and shredded chicken for the freezer. The trotters and chicken backs and some of the pork belly are for this week's big project: David made me a special dinner (butternut squash, pear & asiago ravioli from scratch) for my birthday, so I'm hoping to do the same for him--tonkotsu broth 'ramen' (he actually prefers konyaku noodles, so I've got some of those) with chashu braised pork belly and ajitsuke (marinated soft boiled) eggs. We'll see how it goes.

Slowly working on once AGAIN reconfiguring the house for another episode of Life With Contractors Doing Things That Require Empty Rooms And Us Temporarily Moving Out. This edition (hardwood floor refinishing) involves clearing the downstairs living room, hall, understairs closet, linen closet, nursery, master bedroom, and office...completely. Oh, and removing all open packages of food, especially dry goods, as the VOCs or whatever that offgasses from the curing finish can apparently taint your food. This time has the added confusion of the wall & fireplace removal, since that means the (at least temporary) loss of two kitchen cupboards, the pot/pan rack, and a substantial chunk of counter space...which we want to replace with an island but which will have to wait while we build up funds again. Sorry Gribble, you're gonna come out into an unfinished house...but it didn't kill me, and my parents STILL aren't done, so...

Christmas plots and plans slowly coming together. I may not get anything under the tree this year (other than small goodies) because I've been getting my presents early due to Massive Coincidental Sales of things that were on my wish list and The Realization That Not Using Something You Already Own Which Will Make Life Better/More Comfortable/Easier/More Efficient Just Because Then There Will Be Nothing Under The Tree Is Totally Stupid. I am now the very happy owner of a compact table saw ($80, Black Friday), rotary cutter/clear grid ruler/self healing mat for sewing (60% off, Cyber Monday), anti-fatigue mat for the kitchen ($11 on super clearance), and pull-out kitchen faucet ($50 off coupon). David is getting most of his Christmas Retail Joy early as well, in the form of a really nice Husky rolling tool chest with ball-bearing drawers for the garage, which was on Special Buy for a truly impressive price...but of course I couldn't get it home without his help.

Gribble and I have hit the third trimester--29 weeks--and see the midwives every two weeks now. She is doing well as far as we can tell; she is exceedingly active and supposedly the size of a butternut squash. Last visit, I got the glucose challenge (no gestational diabetes, Yaaaaay!), a blood draw (all good, hematocrit low but that is apparently normal so no alarm bells), and a Rhogam shot (in the butt, argh!) because David has a positive RH while I'm negative. Food becoming a chore again, although in the first trimester all I wanted to eat was NOTHING EVER except maybe grapes and Special K, whereas now all I want is dairy and sugar and chocolate and I want those things ALL THE TIME. Trying to be good...

Trying to get onto a reasonable schedule.

doubletake — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 17:13:01 GMT

Like, one that involves getting stuff done, eating 3 meals a day, and exercise. David and I both needed a change badly.

We'll see how this attempt turns out. We're on day 3, have not stuck to it for a whole day yet (already borked today by sleeping in an extra half-hour), and are both a bit burned out. If we can actually soldier through until it becomes routine, I think it'll be great. Right now, it's torture.

Contractors are scheduled. Christmas Cookie Party scheduled. Ray and Rachel scheduled. December will be nuts, but maybe...just maybe...doable. One can dream.

Sewed a Christmas stocking. V. in love with sewing right now. It's like crafts and art, but you're actually making THINGS.

Lots of Christmas shopping to do today, and a couple of cookie recipes to test since David wants to send cookies up to AK for their holiday party. Dinner at Colleen & Josh's tonight, so at least I can get rid of the extras. :)

Thanksgiving

doubletake — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 06:42:54 GMT

Was great.

Well, there was too much food.
And I caught a cold from one of the tiny adorable carrier monkeys that I call my nieces/buddies.
And I seriously thought I was going to fall asleep at the table if people didn't start leaving soon (it was a late night, but mostly because I'd just had a two-night bout of insomnia).

BUT.

Food was good and enjoyed by all (other than my alien husband and his continuing disdain of Brussels sprouts), and the company was great fun. Next year I'll have to cut down on the cranberry sauce (no one ever takes more than a dab) and green bean casserole, but double up on gravy (I found out you can make turkey pot pie with leftover gravy for the sauce! What?!) and Brussels sprouts (everyone else loved them).

Had Deve & Sue over for most of the week, which was lovely. A) Company! B) Help with food prep! C) Help with cleaning! Plus, I don't get to see them often and it's always nice to catch up face-to-face, and they're easy to have over since they know where everything is/goes and don't expect much in the way of hostessing.

Miss Grib is...active. She either loves or hates the car, because she gets super punchy whenever we go for a drive of more than five minutes. David finally saw her kick the other day, in the Rite-Aid parking lot. It's been happening for almost a month now, but she's usually very shy about showing off for him. It still weirds me out a little to see the little lumps and bumps pop up under my skin. Alien invasion!

Went to see Finding Nemo in 3D at the $2 theater. Love that movie. Now it holds new meaning. Oh, please let me NOT be a helicopter mom...

Ahhhhhhhh...

doubletake — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 03:18:15 GMT

Minibreak in Portland:
Lindsey Stirling. Is. Awesome. Although I think I may be getting too old for live shows like that. Too many people. Too hot. (see: Too many people.) Too muggy. (Also see: Too many people. Ew.) Too much body odor. Too loud. And waaaaay too much standing. Openers were pretty good. Miss Gribble either hates or loves trumpets, as I was practically disemboweled from the inside during the first opening act. The first couple of times I figured it was a coincidence, but EVERY time the trumpet played?

Stayed at The Folly, which was lovely...even more lovely because, since we weren't paying for a hotel, we ended up making a really lazy minibreak out of it...drove down Thursday, stopping at Sweet Tomatoes for dinner and going to see Lindsey Stirling that night; lazy Friday: Hawthorne Fish & Chips for lunch, a little walk around the Hawthorne area (helloooooo, hipsters!) and a lazy knitting/movie afternoon back at the Folly...and then a laser light show at the OMSI planetarium, something we've wanted to do for years. Pink Floyd, too! It was cool. Saturday was equally lazy. We walked around Historic Troutdale (antiquing mecca, apparently), stumbled into an outlet mall (cheap maternity shirts!) and then went in search of a bottle of Bailey's for a birthday present to Hank from mum. Booze is way cheaper in OR, so we also got a bottle of Harlequin since I've been out for a while. Mmmm...we'll see if David likes it as much as Grand Marnier. Dropped the Bailey's and some birthday cupcakes off at Dave & Hank's, then drove home.

Tomorrow we have AJ and Liz coming for lunch and car repairs. Then I suppose we'd better do Thanksgiving grocery shopping.

Yes, it is truly fall.

doubletake — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 18:43:42 GMT

Frosty most mornings now.

We are out of triple-digits-until-due-date, and switching to a 2x/mo checkup routine with the midwives. Monday after Thanksgiving is the glucose challenge, which I'm not looking forward to. 500 grams of sugar in 5 minutes. I like sweets, but that is disgusting. I have been craving sugar a bit though...I reeeeaally hope I don't have gestational diabetes. Just starting to get the first signs of why the third trimester is not-so-fun...two weeks to go until I'm officially in the third, but already having some issues with bending and leaning over. Slip-on shoes, here I come! Other than that (and some well placed internal karate), I feel great! People keep treating me like I'm an invalid, which drives me crazy...oh well. I'll probably be glad of all the breaks, held doors, and footstools later on. :)

Finished the baby blanket (eee!) and the nursery mural (eee!) and am def. in NESTING MODE, HIGH GEAR. It is a bit creepy how compulsive it is. I like being in control, especially of my own body and emotions, and being pregnant has been a huge challenge to that. Thankfully, I've been able to use some of the nesting energy toward general cleaning/remodeling/holiday planning. I have my Christmas gift list all figured out and a few gifts already purchased/completed and wrapped up, AND the Thanksgiving menu is planned and I have a grocery list ready for that, too. My plan is to clean like the dickens today and get the downstairs common areas really ready; then use the remainder of the time before Thanksgiving for advance food prep and working on the upstairs. It's gonna be another big group. :)

Mike & Jo have closed on their new house and we helped them settle in over the weekend--I helped assemble furniture and organize stuff, and paint Sophie's bedroom walls; David helped Mike with some minor plumbing matters. We're both a little jealous because their house is a lot more 'ready' than ours was/is (and they have a two-car garage)...but it was a flip and they're starting to find issues that are common with flipped houses...like shoddy wiring and lazy shortcuts. Nothing that I think will make them regret their choice but enough to be frustrating. It is really nice to be able to help them out with some of the skills we've learned over the past 3 years.

David is taking me to Portland to see Lindsey Stirling live on Thursday. I'm looking forward to that.

Dropped a spoon on my toe this morning and it still hurts. Swollen enough to split a little. I hope it isn't broken.

Aftermath.

doubletake — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 05:04:43 GMT

Have now seen (and freaked out over) kicks externally several times. Gribble is very good at pinpointing one particular spot and zapping it over and over and over. 24 weeks now...111 days to go. Yipes!

In the spirit of the previous post, the rest of the insanity:
Sun-Had Chris & Alice by for brunch. Tomato tart on basil crust. YES. Pear upside-down cake (Fannie). YES.
Mon-Pulled down some drywall with mom. Mark & Cindy came by for lunch. Leftover chicken noodle reheated very well. Mark had a go at the drywall and got a HUGE chunk done. Leaving the rest up for now; more than enough is exposed for contractor to peek.
Tues-Mum & I went to visit her old friend Reri, who used to babysit me when I was itty. Had fun talking babies, although Reri's daughter-in-law is a delivery nurse and told me dire stories that made me freak out a little. Also some funny ones. Too tired to make dinner, got Thai carryout instead.
Weds-Mom sewed the blackout curtains for the nursery. Sarah came by and helped me install the curtain rods and curtains and we got them all up. Fried rice and sesame spinach for dinner.
Thurs-Took old computer, monitor, and TV to e-Cycle place.I sketched out the nursery mural. Mom finished the last of her organizing binge to much fanfare (I am forever grateful). David and I took a load of crap to the dump. Finished one drape, left pot pies for the boys for dinner, and Mum & I went shopping for dried fruit and maternity clothes. We MAY have gotten slightly lost on the way to the Tacoma Mall (thanks, GPS) but shopping went VERY well and we had coupons from Anna that saved us an extra $70. Awesome!
Fri-DRAPES. Seemingly all day, although there was also the baking of another apple tart, about 400 Sicilian fruit cookies, a big fruitcake, and some gluten-free pumpkin whoopie pies. Dad built a cover for our crawlspace well and finished the last touches on the built-in shelves. Colleen and Josh came over for dinner (roasted pumpkin with shallots & sage & goat cheese over pasta, mmmm!) and they brought me an ERGO for my birthday! Woohoo! Colleen also sewed an adorable "Love Monster" plushie for the Gribs. Mom and I finished the last of the drapes (including hanging) at 11 PM...although we're still short one drape because I didn't buy enough hardware and there aren't any sheers yet.
Sat-Slow morning, baked an orange crunch cake, admired the drapes and then drove down to Portland to visit with Dave & Hank at The Folly, along with Mum & Dad and the Raw Banana bunch. On the way David got a call from a colleague on the East Coast about a potential problem with the data backup they're doing in preparation for the Frankenstorm. Pulled over and sat in a Burger King parking lot for an hour and a half while the problem was assessed, then finished the drive. Folly is quite cute and I can't wait to take kids there for summer holidays. Orange crunch cake big hit (Happy Birthday U. Dave).
Sun- Hung out at the folly for the morning, big pancake breakfast with all minus Dave/Hank (antiques expo!) and plus Deve/Sue. Ate remainder of cake for second breakfast, then went to IKEA for lunch with the extended fam. Afterwards, David and I did a round of shopping, picking up my birthday present from Mum (second rocking chair for in the nursery), a replacement cushion for David's POANG, and the things to finish installing the front room drapes. There was A Moment where it looked like they were all out of the cushion color I wanted, but as we were leaving the aisle, we saw one last package that had been put away wrong. Hooray! Shopping Luck continued when we found an identical POANG cushion to the one we were buying in AS-IS. 30% off because it wasn't in packaging.