Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Vertical again

Our family is on the mend and we are (almost) back to normal today: Chad and I at the office, Liam at Cindy’s house. Liam spent yesterday with Cindy as well, and it was kind of odd, having the two of us home all day without him there; had I been in a better state, I would have loved to take advantage of it and get a few things done. As it was, the day was devoted to regaining some strength and putting our lives back in order. The place was pretty much trashed on Monday night, and Liam was upset because neither one of us was in any state to play with him, and he didn’t quite know why. We made up for that when he got to eat whatever he wanted for dinner (the details of which I can’t remember now – I was averting my eyes from food at all costs), and went to bed without brushing his teeth. These are the survival mechanisms to which we stoop when we feel like death.

My return to the office will be mercifully short-lived: my last day of work is one week from today. Woot! I am definitely counting it down. It has only recently started to sink in why this next week is my last, and why I should be excited; it’s just easier to think about it in terms of wanting out of the project I feel like I have been working on forever, getting to spend some quality time with Liam, etc. Then there are a few other ugly reasons starting to rear their heads. Like, last week I actually went to work one day with my pants on backwards, and didn’t notice until the day was almost half over. Not good. There is also someone in my office that has started commenting on how big I am every time she sees me, which does nothing for the self esteem, you know?

Of course, some of the unpleasantness will continue even after my LOA has begun. I have started to have a few aches and pains that I never had with Liam. Partly this is my fault for not being in good shape anymore, and partly I think that with each kid you have, you just get a little more beat up. Have you heard about that Duggar family in the US, the one that is constantly featured on shows on TLC? They have 16 kids and just announced this week that #17 is on the way. I cannot even imagine how that woman walks around without her insides falling out.

Nonetheless, it was with a very happy state of mind that I called human resources this morning to ensure that all the paperwork is in order for my personnel file to be updated next week. Going on EI isn’t supposed to be such a happy proposition, is it?

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

At home and projectile vomiting

Yeah, this is fun.

Monday, February 26, 2007

1 year, 10 months, 1 week and 3 days

That's exactly how long I lasted as a mom before I was forced to clean up the puke of another human being. I am one of those types who can't even see someone being sick on TV without feeling ill myself, so this was one of the parts of parenthood I was not looking forward to at all. I hate vomit so much that I have my own personal vomit history etched in my mind and can go back years telling you when I was sick and where I was when it happened (once during this pregnancy, after driving home from a night class; about 6 or 8 times while in labour with Liam; once while pregnant with him, also after driving home from a night class, which should have been all I needed to know to not enroll in another night class while pregnant; and before that was December 1999.) I should not have laughed so loud while reading Dawn's story a few weeks ago; I should have realized that I would be next...

Anyway, Liam came home from Cindy's on Friday seeming fine, but without much of an appetite. When he puked more than I thought was humanly possible about an hour later, I realized why. His stomach was plenty full as it was. Our house is 95% hardwood/tile and where do you think he puked? On the carpet, of course. I held it together pretty well as I cleaned up as best I could (wouldn't you know that THAT is when we ran out of paper towels?), soaking and blotting and trying to get rid of all the remnants. For his part, Liam wasn't upset at all. He was mildly distressed that some had splashed onto his hand, but as soon as it was washed off he was raring to go and didn't get sick again. Me, I spent the rest of the weekend out shopping for deodorizing products to take the lingering smell out. Every time we walked in the door this weekend it hit me like a brick wall. I finally got some pet odour eliminator that seems to have done the trick. (Chad saw the bottle and asked why was I using pet odour eliminator, because Liam isn't a pet after all? What I hadn't really realized before is that there is no such thing as human vomit odour eliminator. They count on humans being able to make it to the toilet in time. I guess nobody has ever stopped to consider that one-year-olds don't really have that ability.)

Since it seemed to be a one time thing and Liam was back to normal, I took him to the Early Years Centre on Saturday morning (where, as you can see by the photo above, he spent more time wandering around wondering what to play with than actually playing). However, last night Chad starting puking too, and now I'm sitting at my desk starting to feel nauseous as well. God help us. This is not what I needed this week!!

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Pink

(The pink block was originally a photo of the new wall letters... which will be a secret for just a few more weeks!)

Thursday, February 22, 2007

It's all a thing of the past

When we decorated the nursery for Liam, we were mindful of keeping it fairly gender neutral. Even then, we hoped that a new tenant would be moving in within a couple of years, and realizing that we'd be busy enough doing a big kid room for Liam, we didn't want to have to redo this one, too. Initially, there were several aspects of the room that seemed almost too girly for Liam. Although I am trained now to see only the blue, the bedding has pink and purple in it also; the rug has pink. It was easier to overlook that once the blue blinds and basket liners and lampshade and wall letters and picture frames went in... that's when it started to feel like a boy's room. And it felt that way even more once Liam had moved in, too.

Now those things - including Liam - are all gone, or on their way out the door. A couple of days ago I went to the fabric store, and $7 and a few hours later, I am midway through doing new (pink) basket liners. I also caved and bought some pink roller blinds (I sewed the blue romans myself, but I know my limits, and don't think I am feeling up to repeating that task right now!) The new prints are out being mounted. The letters have been replaced, the lampshade has been replaced, even the picture frames have been replaced... and while I like the way it is all coming together... I look back at pictures like this one and almost want to cry. I loved Liam's nursery. Even though I caved and went with Chad's choice of bedding, which wasn't what I originally wanted. Even though I disliked how the blue accents made the walls look too yellow (they were supposed to be cream, and I have to admit that the pink accents make them look more true to how I originally pictured them). And, even though I love the new big boy room Liam is in now... it's still hard to kiss the old room goodbye.

Looking at this photo (from December 2005) now, it's easy for me to see that it's already gone. I know that once the new tenant has moved in, my feelings will change, and it will seem like the perfect first home for her. Once we get a couple more things in place, I will take some photos of the new room to share. I know I will also want them for my own future reference. After all, it's hardly been more than a year since I took them, and I'm already thankful to have these shots from when it was Liam's first home, too.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Snack attack

Although Liam will still eat just about anything you put in front of him, he is starting to get more vocal about his preferences. Alas, he’s not the little vegetable he once was, and I can no longer eat peanut butter cups right in front of him with him completely unawares of what he’s missing. What’s worse, he has discovered our snack cupboard. It’s a high cupboard, not a low one he can get into on his own; as soon as we’re in the door from Cindy’s house, he is usually found underneath it, swinging from the countertop and saying “Up there! Up there!” This is his way of making it known that he would like you to pick him up so he can open the cupboard door and do some browsing.

Most of the stuff in there is not really bad stuff; it’s well stocked with fruit cups and pudding cups and animal crackers, middle-of-the-road sorts of foods that I don’t mind him having, but not right before dinner or in place of it. Sometimes he wants to browse the fridge as well, which 9 times out of 10 ends with him wanting a yogurt. I try to explain to him that he can have one of these things after dinner, and I will get him some cheese or crackers to snack on before dinner, but sometimes it is so much more worth it to cave and let him have his dessert first to avoid any tears. He usually goes on to eat his dinner anyway, so I’m hoping there’s no harm done.

His very favourite food item of all these days is dried apricots. I buy them in bulk and snack on them at work, and now he is addicted to them, too. He wants one after breakfast almost every day (despite having already had juice and fresh fruit) and that’s the first thing he asks for out of the snack cupboard at night as well. The after breakfast part is OK, since we go upstairs to brush his teeth right afterwards, but I hesitate to dole them out all day long because I fear his teeth will rot right out.

Surprisingly, he has never asked to sample the rice or noodles or other dry goods in the snack cupboard. Maybe they just aren’t packaged flashily enough to intrigue him? Also lucky for me, he has never taken any interest in the bags of chocolate chips we keep there. But I’m not taking any more chances; the chips and Oreos get socked away in a different hiding spot when they find their way home with us. I don’t want to be battling over those on a daily basis.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

You can't go home again

On the weekend, Chad and I had our last hurrah before becoming parents to another little hellion. (Liam gave me a run for my money going to bed last night, and was none too helpful in getting out the door this morning, either, so pardon me if I don’t sound overly thrilled with him right now!) For Christmas Darin and Jennifer gave us a Romance Getaway package at the Elm Hurst Inn, which is where we got married. Babysitting was included in the deal. So on Saturday we packed up and headed to London, where we dropped Liam off for a little quality Aunt and Uncle time, and spent the rest of the day on our own.

It’s at times like those, that are so few and far between, that we realize just how much has changed in the past couple of years. Normally by 3 p.m. on a Saturday, we could have been to London and back. As it was, we were just hitting our first destination at that time. Efficiency is a thing of the past. Still, we did manage to pick up our new double stroller, get some shoes for Chad, stop in at Funky Monkey Baby Boutique and then go for an awesome meal – at a restaurant with tablecloths, even! We also went to a movie – not a movie we were desperate to see, but by golly we had the opportunity to do it, and so we did. To be fair, Liam did come up as the topic of conversation a few times, and we stopped in at Old Navy to pick him up some new clothes. But by and large it was an adults-only event.

We had talked about how great it would be to be able to sleep in all morning, but I guess our internal clocks have been permanently reset, and we woke up early. We tried snoozing for a bit, but it was ridiculously futile. We’re early birds now, like it or not. We enjoyed a big brunch, and then spent some time checking the place out. By and large it looks the same as it did when we got married there 5.5 years ago, but it seems that their target market has changed: rather than hosting weddings in the Grand Ballroom on Saturday nights, there are now dinner shows featuring cover bands: it was Creedance Clearwater Revival when we were there, and I think Neil Diamond is next weekend. Good thing we got in when we did.

Liam seemed to enjoy his weekend, too; Darin and Jennifer have 2 kittens that he probably tormented the whole time, Jennifer catered to all his culinary whims, and we hear that he finally found something to say to his Aunt and Uncle. Normally they get the silent treatment (along with the rest of the world), but I think they know now that we’re not making it up when we say he can talk.

So here we are now, with our last solid night’s sleep and our last adults-only getaway behind us for the foreseeable future. We are somewhat well rested and ready to face Phase II of Our Life With Kiddos. It remains to be seen whether Darin and Jennifer will ever volunteer for another weekend adventure!

Monday, February 19, 2007

35 weeks

Last week was an eventful one on the baby front. Wednesday was my regular check-in at the doctor’s office. Dr. Bailey gave me my papers, because Friday we had our hospital pre-admit appointment. As she handed the papers over I asked if much has changed at the hospital since we went through this last time, and her reply was all about the epidural and how great it is now that it’s available here. However, she followed that up with her first-ever admission of the drawbacks, risks of complications, recovery time etc. I don’t doubt for a minute that an epidural is a wonderful relief, but I also have to say how awesome it was when Liam was born to be mobile right away. Being stuck in bed would drive me crazy. And if that weren’t encouragement enough, there was also forceps talk to drive home the fact that I’d really rather avoid it.

We then had our pre-admit, which included a quick tour of the maternity ward. On the one hand, it all seems like just yesterday that Liam was born. I clearly remembered being in triage and which room we had, and the fact that they push ginger ale on you 24/7 while you’re there (we were even offered a ginger ale during our pre-admit, and the nurse made sure she pointed out all the fridges where it’s stocked during our tour). On the other hand, some of the details are hard to remember. Maybe that’s due in part to the fact that we pulled an all-nighter at the hospital. Dozing off in between contractions definitely helps the time to pass faster, and I hope the same thing happens this time, too.

I had the same pit-of-my-stomach sense of impending doom I had when we stepped off the elevator and onto the ward last time, the one that would have had me willing to call the whole thing off had I heard any screaming in the background. Luckily there was none of that; the big excitement of the day was the scrawny, inefficient-looking little security guard posted outside the strip of patient rooms. (Seems someone was being paid a visit from Children’s Aid on Friday, one the hospital staff did not expect to end happily.) Still, the hospital experience coupled with Dr. Bailey’s epidural horror stories sent me straight to the phone when we left, and I called the doula we used last time. I did contact her last fall, but hadn’t spoken with her since. Last week was all the push I needed to decide I definitely want her back. Luckily she returned my message, and I think we are good to go now.

Officially there are 5 weeks left on the countdown clock, but my guess (hope) is that it will be more like 4. Which doesn’t sound like much at all. When I was pregnant with Liam, I thought (worried) about being in labour constantly, and I think it helped because in the end, it wasn’t as bad as I’d expected. This time around, I had hardly given labour a second thought until last week… and now I’m starting to freak out a bit. Reality is starting to sink in, and I’m not sure that it’s a good thing.

Friday, February 16, 2007

The best part of the haircut is the sucker at the end


Thursday, February 15, 2007

Our Valentine's day: a photoessay

Here Liam is, playing with his balloons yesterday morning. He got quite a kick out of them, making it worth the $7 and the half hour it took to get them done at the dollar store. Unfortunately, Captain took a liking to them too, and we were woken up a couple of times the night before by the sound of him jumping around and batting at them. (It could have been worse; at first we thought he tipped over my orchid.) After so much disrupted sleep, I almost didn't even crack an eyelid when Liam woke up yesterday morning yelling "I'm stuck! I'm stuck!" Turns out he'd somehow slid down between his bed and the wall. Goofball.

Here he is last night, taking stock of all the loot he acquired. I thought it was cute to give out a little package of candy, but I had no idea that EVERYONE does this now. So he came home from Cindy's with 3 treat bags and we found a 4th at the front door when we got home (thanks, Evelyn and Audrey!) Cindy said the kids loved the Valentines Liam handed out, but not for the reason I thought (i.e. the candy) - instead, they thought it was cool that they had Liam's photo on them. I thought that was funny. If I was a kid I would be all over the candy and not give a darn what it looked like.

And here he is after dinner last night, having just mowed down 4 huge chocolate covered strawberries and a couple of Hershey Kisses. (Pardon the major hat head: we have a haircut on the agenda for tomorrow.) He looks happy, right? Well, getting his pajamas on last night resulted in the biggest temper tantrum we have seen to date, and he didn't go to bed until after 9 p.m. Then he was up once in the middle of the night and up early again this morning. I don't know if it was the excitement, the sugar, or what (and Cindy's report from yesterday failed to detail how long he napped for; maybe he didn't even nap at all). He knew he was driving me crazy, too. As I was trying to get him to sleep he looked over at me out of the corner of his eye and started reciting: "Monday... Tuesday... Wednesday... Thursday..." When I obviously looked pleased with what he was saying, he finished off by telling me where he'd picked this up. "Cindy's house," of course. I feel bad now for not knowing that he knows the days of the week, and for never even thinking of trying to teach them to him myself.
In this shot he has either a strawberry or a Hershey's Kiss tucked away in his cheek like a squirrel. To finish summarizing our day, Chad did indeed break our no-gift Valentine's Day pact and he got me a new hard drive for the computer. Things have been running awfully slowly lately, and I think it's all my photos and digital design kits bogging things down. I had hoped to hook it up and transfer most of my crap over last night, but with Liam going to bed so late, it was all I could do to keep my eyes open for Lost. For Christmas Chad got a new HD tv, and part of the deal included a DVR box. It pays for itself on nights like last night, when we could record the show and then dive into it the second Liam's head hit the pillow. My thinking cap is now on for Chad's birthday, which will be here in about six weeks. I think I owe him now.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Valentines, schmalentines

If this were five – wait, let’s be reasonable – ten years ago, Valentine’s Day would be all about Chad and I. Love and coupledom and all of that. Fast forward to present day, and it’s all about Liam. Chad and I are not doing anything to celebrate today, no dinner out or gifts (if Chad does anything to break our deal on this arrangement and makes me look bad, I will be ticked!) The reasons are many: lack of babysitter; we’re going away this weekend anyway; and I guess the simple fact that we no longer feel the need to impress each other. And, let's face it, between a yoga class and a new episode of Lost, my Wednesday nights are already jam-packed.

On the other hand, it’s a holiday, and there is nothing like having a kiddo around to bring out my inner craving to celebrate the holidays. A couple of weeks ago, we (I) made Valentines for Liam to hand out to his family and friends at daycare. I decided it was best not to involve Liam in assembling these Valentines, because he knows exactly what a Hershey’s Kiss is, and had he helped, I doubt there would have been any left to give away. He was not terribly cooperative about having his picture taken – there’s a surprise! - so on the cards he has kind of a funny look on his face. I made sure I packed an extra bag of kisses in his diaper bag today, just in case he started to fret at the idea of giving them all away and wanted one of his own. Cindy was planning to make little cupcakes for the kids, and I’m sure he will come home tonight with at least a few cards. Just to drive the holiday thing home a little further though, we presented him with a balloon bouquet this morning, and made sure he was wearing his Valentines shirt. (Which caused a bit of a stink yesterday, when he wanted to wear it then and I said no. Then he wanted to wear some of his summer clothes and I had to say no again. Luckily, we were able to distract him with a basketball shirt, and finally got out the door.)Regardless, it’s sad to think that, with the abundance of kids’ holidays, we’ve taken one of the few remaining adult holidays and basically ignored it; sadder still to think we’ve turned it into yet another one for the kids. Ah well. I’m sure that in the blink of an eye, Liam will be celebrating Valentines Day by blowing his allowance on some cheap, gaudy doodad to impress a girl, and he won’t want anything to do with mushy sentiments from his parents. Then Chad and I can go back to celebrating each other, back to overpriced roses and hard-to-get dinner reservations; and the whole reason why Liam even exists today.

ETA: since I wrote this, my little cutie pie gave me a beautiful orchid. Strictly speaking, this is Chad bending the rules a little... but it's pretty enough that that's OK!

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

More conspicuous consumption

On Friday we got a call from the children's superstore in London where we placed an order for a double stroller several weeks ago. It's in! - and none too soon, as we're heading to London this weekend, and may not be back again for some time. The arrival of this last major piece of equipment required to transition from one kiddo to two has me thinking about everything else we need to accomplish in the next month. We are mostly set to go: we have a pack of disposable newborn diapers and a bin full of freshly laundered cloth diapers, the dresser is stocked with enough clothes to get us through at least the first few weeks, and at least we know where the infant car seat and bassinette are, even if they're not yet dusted off and ready to be put to use again.

With the bare necessities covered - I hope - I am trying to think of what just-to-make-our-lives-better items we're missing. On the weekend I took advantage of some free time to hit a dollar store and pick up a few new things for Liam, to keep him occupied at the hospital and/or at home for the first few weeks. I finally did order those prints for Little Miss's room, and FedEx promises to deliver them today; I also decided to make do with the lamp already in the nursery, and found a more girly shade to replace the blue one that's currently there. Being in the home stretch now, it is time to fish or cut bait with any more purchases that I've been debating for the past little while. Browsing some of the online baby goods sources (and a Pregnancy Buyer's Guide Chad stuck in my stocking for Christmas), I am once again amazed at just what is out there. Unfortunately, it is too late in the game for us to drop $200 on the Baby Plus Prenatal System, which is essentially a set of lessons on tape and some headphones you strap onto your belly to brainwash your captive gestating child (starting when they are just a clump of cells) into being the next Einstein. I guess the price we'll pay for being so lazy now is that we'll have to push the academics much harder later on. Like, once the kid is actually here.Luckily though, we still have time to pick this up, if we so choose: What is it? Why, an iCrib, of course. So Little Miss can jam out to the iPod while in her crib. What better sign of the times could there be?

I must be getting that nesting urge now, because suddenly I am thinking that hitting the fabric store for some pink and white gingham, so I can sew 8 new basket liners for the nursery, sounds like a pretty good idea. I also found some pink miniblinds for a great price in a catalog the other day, but alas, they seem to be discontinued. I'm hoping the basket liners alone will satisfy the urge, because tackling new blinds on top of it all still seems like a daunting task.

And - oh, yeah - aren't these pretty? I may have to invest in a couple, one pink and one blue, once we know for sure that Little Miss really is a Little Miss.

Monday, February 12, 2007

34 weeks

Today is a classic example of why I am so excited that there are only three weeks left! (Well, 3.5, to be technical.) Mad rush out the door, crazy day at the office, etc. Remind me of today and days like it when I have two screaming kiddos on my hands and can't get either one of them to stop crying, OK? Hopefully that will put it all into perspective for me.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Sunday morning bedhead

Saturday, February 10, 2007

A toddler lives here

The photo to the left shows the current state of the message board in our kitchen. That is to say, the messages have taken a back seat to the large number of crafts and colouring pages and other odds and ends that Liam brings home. The colouring page came from Cindy's house, where the topic of the week was hearts (mostly referring to Valentine's Day, but there was also a lesson about maintaining a healthy heart in there somewhere; I guess you're never too young to start). The doily craft on top is something Liam and I made together today at the Early Years Centre. (This is the first time we've gone to the Saturday drop-in session; I felt bad that he hasn't been able to play outside all week on account of the cold, and thought it would be good to get him down there for open gym time so he could blow off some steam. We did the craft while he was catching his second wind.) Underneath the colouring page on the left there's a penguin (penguins also being a recent theme week at Cindy's) and on the right, there is still a construction paper Rudolph from sometime before Christmas. Heck, there is even still a small photo of Liam from last summer, matted on a piece of red cardstock; it's from a Father's Day craft Liam brought home last June: a styrofoam-cup dalmation wearing a fireman's hat and holding his picture with the caption "Happy Father's Day From Your Little Sparky".
It is becoming a chore to keep the clutter from piling up, as this doesn't even scratch the surface of all he comes home with. (Thank goodness for recycling bins!) The photo on the right is another treasure from this week: at Cindy's house the kids made bird feeders, which consist of pie plates filled with water, birdseed and some glitter thrown in for good measure, threaded on a shoelace, frozen, extracted from the pie plate and hung from the tree. We chose the tree right in front of Liam's table in the family room so that he could watch the birds enjoying his handiwork while colouring or playing with Play Doh or eating his breakfast. It took all week, but we finally had a visitor come to the bird feeder. Unfortunately, it wasn't of the feathered variety.

Friday, February 09, 2007

The home stretch

We seem to be in the midst of the storm before the calm. Not exactly how most would describe the imminent arrival of a new family member, but it’s the case for us. We are mostly over being sick now, but Liam’s teeth still haven’t come through, throwing him a little out of sorts; and for me the pace at work has increased, and promises to stay that way for the next 3 weeks until I’m done. Even bringing work home to fit into my spare time (my spare time yesterday being a stretch from 9:30 p.m. til midnight), I don’t think I will finish everything I would like to before my time is up. I have 1.5 vacation days to fit into the next 3 weeks or else I lose them; and I am starting to think I might have to kiss them goodbye. It only gets worse from here on out. Next week I will be cutting out of work early on three days: once for a doctor's appointment, once for an early pick-up at Cindy's (Chad may do this, depending on availability, to help save some of my sanity) and once to go register at the hospital. Because it's about that time.

This morning Liam pitched a fit when it was time to get dressed and out the door to Cindy’s, at which time Chad remarked how glad he is that there are only 3 weeks of this left, after which I will be on the hook for getting him out the door in the morning on the days he goes, and Chad can just deal with getting into work on time. Right now the plan is for Liam to keep going to Cindy’s one day per week. Enough to maintain contact with Cindy and see his friends, and have a change of scenery; but to also have him home enough that I get to enjoy him too. We may revise this down the road, depending on whether he would rather get out of the house, or spend time with me (us). (And depending on whether #2 is a good baby like Liam was, or whether she’s a firecracker who will keep us all hopping for the first few months.) Whatever Liam is happiest with, I am OK with that. This morning when Chad was trying to peel Liam’s pajama pants off, and Liam was trying just as hard to pull them back up, it was awesome to be able to think that in 3 weeks, if he seems to not want to leave home in the morning, then he doesn’t have to. I am sure there will be many days when we will live in our pajamas.

Of course, I didn’t mention the flip side I was thinking about to Chad… which is that, a year from now, we will be fighting 2 little ones to get out the door in the morning, not just 1. Which is precisely why I hope to make the most of this year while it lasts!

(Liam is not much of a talker on the phone, but he enjoys listening to others who call to talk to him. Last night I happened to have the camera out when a call came through from Grampa Bruce and Gramma Dee.)

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

In response to an email from my sister today asking "How's it going?"

Ok. All 3 of us are sick. I have a cough and cold medicine for Liam that seems to make him feel a lot better, but it literally makes him pass out about 30 minutes after he takes it – you can set your watch by it. Last night that just so happened to be when he was trying to make it down the stairs (unbeknownst to either Chad or I) and he fell. So there he is with a big goose egg on his forehead, and I’m worried that he could have a concussion, and he’s starting to pass out from the cold medicine – or is he starting to pass out from the head injury? We don’t know. We also don’t know exactly how many steps he fell down, so we don’t know if this is just a bump or if this is a headfirst-down-an-entire-staircase sort of thing. We ask him where he hurts, and he keeps pointing to his knee (where 95% of his boo boos occur), but there’s no mark on his leg and yet there’s a huge red patch/carpet burn/instant bruise on his forehead. So now I’m thinking his brain isn’t even functioning properly because of the spill. And I consider taking him to the emergency room, but it’s like -25 outside and the hospital is packed with sick germy people and the waiting time in the ER is horrendous. Instead, I spent several hours last night lying in bed beside him to ensure his breathing didn’t change, then was up every couple of hours after that to make sure he was still breathing. This morning the bruise is virtually gone and he’s fine, thank goodness, but it was a long night.

ETA: This comes from an email Chad sent me, presumably after reading today's entry: You forgot the funniest part, when you were asking where he hurt and he pointed to his knee, ha-ha but then you tried a different angle when you asked where did you fall [meaning on what part of his body did he fall], and he said "down the stairs".

Monday, February 05, 2007

33 weeks: barefoot and pregnant


The mood at our house today is better than expected. Chad is taking yesterday’s loss surprisingly well. Despite an exciting (and misleading) 1st quarter start, he claims not to have really expected the Bears to win… he was just glad to see them there. Awww. Doesn’t that just smack of good sportsmanship? The award for bad sportsmanship goes to Amy and Adam, who called at halftime to gloat when Indianapolis was only up by 2 points. Come on, guys – it still could have gone either way at that point! Yesterday’s all-meat menu went down well (though there was at least one person in the fridge looking for something with vegetables in it to round out his diet – proof that even on Superbowl Sunday, a little variety is in order) but we now have about 8 bags of leftover chips that we really don’t need stashed around the house. They are stashed away because Liam knows where they are normally kept and he really loves his ‘hips’.

His mood may start to take a downward turn as the week wears on and he doesn’t quite get why he’s being held hostage inside the house (both at home and at Cindy’s) when it’s a lovely sunny day outside. I think I drove past some penguins on the way into work this morning. It is insanely cold, and Cindy has been really good about getting the kids out for an hour or two each day all winter, but I think this is where the line is drawn.

On my end, there is nothing new. I had a doctor’s appointment last Wednesday that I never mentioned because it was uneventful as usual: girly, 152 bpm heartbeat, stable blood pressure, 1 pound gained since 2 weeks prior. However it was shortly after that appointment that Little Miss decided to perform some gymnastics that literally took my breath away. Now I’m a little freaked that maybe she has twisted herself right sideways rather than behaving and staying head down like she should… I guess I will find out next week when I am back to see Dr. Bailey again.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

We need a miracle

We're gearing up to throw a Superbowl party tomorrow. Chad has spent the past 21 years being a devout Bears fan, and so far, it's gotten him nowhere. Tomorrow, we'll let him have this day of glory that's been so long in coming. The menu for the day consists almost entirely of meat (chili, wings, coconut shrimp) and deep fried products (chips, jalapeno poppers, etc.) I'm going to take a crack at the infamous Buffalo Chicken dip, too (though I'm generally not a fan of spicy food, so I'm not sure I will have much of it, regardless of how it turns out). Send us your good luck vibes... I hope there are no man tears before the day is out.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Just like in my dreams

I have this picture in my mind of what Little Miss is going to look like. Basically, it consists of Liam with long hair. More delicate features maybe, but essentially the same big brown eyes, rosebud lips and curly red hair. I know siblings can look radically different - Dawn, this especially makes me think of you! - but with Liam as all I've ever known to be the product of Chad's genes and mine, this is what I've come up with. Also, Chad and I look alike in a lot of ways. We don't have radically different hair and eye colours and complexions, and Liam really does look a lot like both of us; so I can't imagine a scenario where one sibling takes after one parent and the other takes after the other, dividing the family neatly down the middle. I think we are all going to wind up looking more or less the same.

The other day I picked up a new magazine and found this ad. It literally took my breath away. This is exactly the little girl I have in my mind. She reminds me so much of Liam when he was younger: Now that I see that this child already exists, I realize that Little Miss has to look different. No two are alike, right? Still, I can't stop flipping back to this page in the magazine. It's my first glimpse of this new little person we are all waiting for. I can't wait to see her in person.