Sweet Yet Sour

The White Whale!

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 | The Daily Special | 1 Comment

Oh look, a beached white whale (however did it wrangle the cute kid?):

Preggo 31 weeks

So we all know I was overweight before I got pregnant, but it does really suck to go into the doctor’s office (which is now every two weeks) and get weighed.  Yesterday (when this picture was taken) I opted for contacts instead of my glasses in the tiniest hope that it would shave a few ounces off my weight gain.

But, heck, I had a bad week last week so I turned out to have lost weight instead of gained since my last appointment.  I’m supposed to be gaining weight now for the baby – at any other time in my life weight loss (@5 lbs) would have been just grand.

Pele does seem fine anyway and I am happy to report that there is one nice thing that resulted from all that vomiting I did last week.  At my last appointment the midwife was a little worried that Mr. Pele was still head up, banging his forehead on my rib cage, not where he needed to be in preparation for his impending birth.  But apparently if your mommy/host throws up for 5 hours straight you might become perturbed enough to flip yourself head down to get away from the direction of the chaos…  Let’s just hope he stays there so I don’t have to go out and find another stomach virus to catch.

We are now officially at 31 weeks now, with 9 more weeks to go.  I’m doubtful/praying that we have less than that, since Anna arrived at 37 weeks and if the kid makes it to 40 weeks I will be in the hospital for Anna’s birthday.  Double yuck.

On a lighter note, my midwife (whom I love – she was great for Anna’s birth) told a story that really freaked me out.  We discussed that the second time labor is likely to go faster than the labor with the first kid.  My labor was 18 hours last time, so I’m okay with shaving a few hours off that time anyway.  My midwife told me “my first labor was 12 hours and the second was 37 minutes.”

Hold on there! It takes me 30 minutes to get to the hospital!  Oh, that is just not good… Don’t worry though, I will not be naming my child, “CRV” or “Element” after the car in which he’s born.  That would just be tacky.  Perhaps we should rent a Lexus in a few weeks just in case – that sounds like a nice prep school rich kid name – instead of an “I was born in a car” name!

Yuck

Sunday, January 31st, 2010 | The Daily Special | 4 Comments

That’s about all I can say about the past week, yuck.  And then maybe (avert your eyes!), damn, I didn’t finish this month’s baking challenge – again!  I had planned to make this month’s Rugelach this week, but alas, it was not to be.

The week started out really well.  Monday I felt good, Anna and I were both recovered from a cold, and the weather was sunny.  We trooped off to our Monday morning music class, walked the dog, went to the park, and had a good nap.  It was all going so well! For dinner I was a little tired, but I managed to prepare a new tilapia recipe, basmati and a nice spinach salad.  Four bites into dinner things turned sour and I just didn’t feel right.  And thus begins my unpleasant week…

For the next three hours I experienced some um, severe stomach and intestinal issues, to put it delicately.  At around 11, when I could no longer keep even water down and I was having contractions, we finally called my OB doctor.  We were told to head to the hospital without further adieu.  My brother-in-law, who was fortunately up late working, came over and stayed on our couch listening to Anna’s baby monitor while we trooped off to the hospital.

When we arrived at the hospital at midnight, we checked into the Labor and Delivery department, a seemingly unending 20 minute process that was made worse by the heat in the admin office and the woman’s perfume, which made me even more nauseous.  I have no idea what cruel person finds it necessary to make you answer questions about your insurance and fill out billing forms while you are obviously ill, but I think whoever thought of the process is related to the Marquis de Sade. The printer jammed, the copier jammed, the printer ran out of paper, hot air blew on me and I still didn’t throw up – kudos to me!

Long story short, we were in the Labor and Delivery department for 6 hours.  I threw-up so much I raised a nurse’s eyebrows, got three bags of i.v. fluid, had contractions 2-4 minutes apart (caused by severe dehydration), got anti-nausea medicine and anti-contraction medicine.  I was not able to sleep due to being hooked up to an i.v., a contraction monitor and a baby heart rate monitor and Mike had barely any luck with the make-shift bed/chair in our room.  We made it home by 6 a.m., just in time to hear the first chirps of Anna who had slept through the whole thing.

Anna became sick later that morning and Mike and I traded trying to take care of her and trying to sleep the whole day.  For the next few days no one really felt well, we all were exhausted, and Anna watched way too much t.v. while we tried desperately to sleep even for a few minutes.  Mike was able to work from home on Wednesday and went to work on Thursday, only to come home to me having more contractions, and I forced him to work from home on Friday, just in case another trip to the hospital was needed. Sadly, although friends would have liked to help, all offers of help were ended with, “but we don’t want to get sick.”  Come on! Don’t you too want to have this very fun stomach virus?  So we were on our own…

Friday we all started to finally feel better and a little more rested.  Yesterday, Saturday, we ventured out to get diapers and other things we were in desperate need of, and had some fun at the park after Anna’s nap.  Our week that began with such awful sickness is finally over and I’m thankful. This experience, although unpleasant, has certainly put things in perspective.  When I complain of my hip pain or heartburn, Mike now gently says, “At least you’re not projectile vomiting.”  Truer words were never spoken…

Anna and the Stock Show

Sunday, January 17th, 2010 | Anna, The Daily Special | 2 Comments

Just in case you didn’t think that Denver was at it’s heart a cow town, the annual Stock Show is in town this week.  Apparently the Stock Show has been going on since the late 1800’s and for the past few decades it has featured rodeos, mutton-busting for the kids and the usual livestock auctions and shows.

Friday, my sister and I packed the kids in the car for a day at the Stock Show.  I told Anna that we were going to see “animals” and she got pretty excited and said “elephants!”.  I’m not sure if she was disappointed, but we did see lots of horses, cows, bunnies, chickens and even some guinea pigs…

The highlights at the Stock Show for the kids are the rides however.  Here are Anna and Brendan waiting in line for the little train ride – we made Brendan hold Anna’s hand – which he did begrudgingly, and then promptly let her go as soon as the ride was open.

Waiting for the train

I got a shot of the kids in the train as it went by, I have video too, but here’s the kids on the little engine:

Riding the train

After the train ride, it was off to the pony ride.  They strap them in pretty good, but don’t worry, I walked alongside Anna just to make sure she didn’t fall off.  She held on pretty well and seemed to like her horse, Dr. Pepper.

Riding Dr. Pepper

As we walked around the grounds we found a huge tractor, far bigger than my camera could capture.  We stuck the kids on it for a nice photo of them looking frightened of the big wheels.

On the big tractor

It was a long day, Anna had a late and short nap and after nap I let her play in the sink – it’s one of her favorite things to do.  And then since it was so close to dinner time I just put the plate of ham and cucumber next to her and let her eat dinner from the sink.  Good times!

Dinner in the sink

Family Update

Monday, January 11th, 2010 | Anna, Updates | 3 Comments

Yay! Our first family update of 2010!

As always, let’s start with the cutie.  Currently, the cutie is sick and cranky.  Wednesday night Anna woke up crying 6 times, probably due to the fever of 102 that she had.  Thursday I took her to the doctor where they said her throat looked red and icky – a strep test came back negative but we are waiting for more detailed lab results.  They sent me home with an antibiotic prescription and instructions to keep her medicated with ibuprofen and Tylenol.  Due to her sore throat Anna is enjoying a diet of yogurt and other soft foods while we wait out whatever this is that she has acquired.

As it turns out, Anna is obsessed with Christmas lights – absolutely loves them! Requests for “Christmas lights” come from the back seat of my car every time we go anywhere – day or night.  So, last weekend we took her to Zoolights, which is the Denver Zoo all lit up with lights in the shapes of animals.  Since it’s night time there weren’t many animals to see, but the elephants and giraffes were inside and were the highlight of the trip.  We got a good picture of one of the few moments Anna would stand still while we were there:

Anna at Zoolights

Pretty soon all of the Christmas lights will be gone and Anna will be very disappointed.  It’s hard to explain to her about something that will happen “tomorrow”, let alone not for another 11 months.

Recently Anna found in my drawer some old mascara and cover up.  I think I was blissfully folding laundry in another room while she decided to do some make-uping of her own…

Anna's first make-up attempt

She knew that the things she had found went around your eyes, so she aimed there, and fortunately didn’t poke herself in the eye with mascara.  We’ll work on proper application tips later.

Anna was also recently introduced to lollipops when her cousin brought some over.  They were kind of huge and I got a great shot of Anna looking like a rocker with a microphone while she tried desperately to keep the whole thing in her mouth:

Lollipop girl

As for me, I’m pregnant, large, running around after a toddler and just generally exhausted.

Under the Big Top

If you only look briefly at this picture you might say – “Oh look, the circus came to town! Oh, no wait…”  Some jerk maternity clothes designer thought it would be HILARIOUS to design pajama pants for pregnant ladies that make you look and feel like you are the Big Top! Not only that, but they are flannel! Oh so sexy!  I have no idea where the top is for these pajama bottoms, having borrowed almost all of my maternity wardrobe from my sister, but I wouldn’t wear the top anyway, because then I would really feel like I needed some popcorn and cotton candy to complete the outfit.  Unfortunately, these are the only comfortable pajama pants I have right now.

I attempted to resolve this situation by heading to my local “Super” Target only to discover that the maternity section consists of 4.5 racks stocked with either fancy short dresses or camisoles.  Apparently Target thinks that pregnant women are either going to parties or laying around waiting for our breakfast in bed to be delivered… Screw you Target!

Anyway, the kid is kicking a lot and has earned himself the nickname “Pele”.  He seems to be healthy and growing well – although I have an ultrasound check in a few weeks to make sure his kidneys are okay due to a size difference in the two of them in the last ultrasound.

As for Mike, he returned yesterday from the “Big Beers Belgians and Barley Wines Festival” that he attended in Vail with his friend Nate.  Sadly, neither of them took any prizes home from the homebrewing competition, in which they both had beers entered, but it does seem like they had a good time anyway.

Mike is looking forward to having another “brew day” – the initial brewing of a beer takes an entire day – soon.  I got him a gift certificate to his favorite brewing supply store for Christmas and I’m sure he’ll come up with some new and fun recipe to delight all those around him who drink beer.

Mike is also getting over a nasty chest cold, that has been hanging around for several weeks now.  This hasn’t stopped him from going to hockey though and his weekly racquetball league starts up this Thursday.  Perhaps all that chasing after a ball will kick the chest cold out this week…  Wish him luck.

And that’s all the news that I can type while Anna is still waking up.  I’m off to bring her some milk and some antibiotics and start our day.  Take care everyone!

My Favorite Christmas Shopping Carol

Thursday, December 10th, 2009 | The Daily Special | No Comments

I grew up with a dad who loved Tom Lehrer – a comic/singer popular in the 1950’s and ’60’s.  My father, being a chemistry professor, loves Lehrer’s “Elements” song, which is sung to the tune of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Major-General Song”.  If you haven’t heard his songs, but can deal with a little dark humor, go check him out…

Each year as I start my (always belated) Christmas shopping one of Lehrer’s songs begins to run in my head, his “Christmas Carol”.  The lyrics have some great lines, such as, “God rest ye merry merchants, may ye make the yuletide pay”.

I thought I’d share it with all of you for a little laugh as you do your Christmas shopping…

Last Week in Anna’s World

Monday, December 7th, 2009 | Anna | 4 Comments

Anna and I had a busy week last week, but I took lots of pictures, so I can write about it here.

First, Anna had her first haircut last Saturday.  I took her to a special kids’ salon where they have special riding toys for the kids to sit on during the haircut.  Anna picked out a purple dinosaur and then gripped it tightly looking shocked for the whole thing.

First haircut

Luckily the woman was quick and only snipped enough to make Anna’s hair even all around.  She was able to get a ponytail and a bow in Anna’s hair before we left as well.  We took pictures of the new haircut afterwards and another picture of the bow, which we haven’t been able to get in Anna’s hair since.

Cutie with new hair

The new ponytail and bow:

Bow in hair

On Monday, our friend Laura came down with her daughter Piper, for a play date.  Piper is only 5 months old, so there’s not a lot of playing together that Anna can do with Piper, but still it’s always nice to get together with another mom.  We played with the girls, ate grilled cheese and coconut cake for lunch and generally had a good time.  Anna got out some of her new cookie cutter set, which we just use as toys, and decided maybe Piper would like to see them.  She would take one out, tell Piper what color it was and then put it on top of Piper.  Poor Piper was covered by the time Anna was done with her:

Piper covered with cookie cutters

On Thursday, our friends Angie and Steve dropped their son Timothy off at our house for a play date while they went to rehearsals for the symphony, where they play violin and tuba, respectively.  Timothy is one month younger than Anna and we see he and his family quite regularly for play dates.  Kids at this age don’t really play together, but you can occasionally get them to play in the same area and do the same thing at the same time.  I caught them playing with the crayons at Anna’s drawing table:

Drawing with Timothy

I wish I could have gotten a good picture of Timothy, but I wasn’t quick enough and neither of the kids stayed in one place for more than a minute anyway… All-in-all, it was a busy week, but we had lots of fun and it was great to see friends.

Finally, Coconut Cake

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 | Cooking | 2 Comments

I missed the September and October assignments for Have the Cake, including the one of my own choosing, Sacher Torte.  The first few months of my pregnancy were marked by nausea and fatigue, but now I am finally feeling a bit better.  So, just under the deadline, on November 29th, I finally made a coconut cake.

Even though I’m pregnant, I’m not able to consume an entire coconut cake by myself and even with my husband’s help, it would be hard.  So, I opted to make the gluten-free version of coconut cake from my “Gluten-free Baking Classics” book by Annalise Roberts, so I could share the cake with my sister, who has a wheat-allergy.

Having learned from my mistakes from the carrot cake I made from the same book, I knew that Ms. Roberts has recipes that don’t do well at high altitude.  As I reviewed the recipe, which I won’t waste your time with here, I decided to reduce the moisture in the recipe to save myself from another Titanic sinking cake.  I cut the 4 eggs down to 3 and reduced the 1 cup of oil to 3/4 cup oil.

The cake mixed up well, although it was oddly sticky:

Sticky cake

Joyfully, the cake did not sink in the middle, but was probably the most even cake I’ve ever made.

While I made the frosting, which also called for too much liquid, the cutie came by to help out by going through the cabinet beneath where I was working.

My cute helper

After adding more powdered sugar than the recipe called for, I finally finished my coconut cake.

Finally, coconut cake!

My gluten-free recipe received rave reviews from my husband, Ellebee, who came by for a play date the next day, and most importantly, my wheat-allergic sister.  All’s well that tastes well, I say!

10 Reasons…

Friday, November 27th, 2009 | Anna | 4 Comments

Here are 10 reasons why you should not leave your toddler alone with your Macbook, even for a moment…

1. Tab

2. Shift

3. Enter/return

4. Apple command

5. Function

6. Caps lock

7. W

8. Alt

9. H

10. Shift (the other one)

10 reasons

Said toddler, although incredibly adorable:

So deceivingly cute...

will pull the keys off your laptop with the dexterity and accuracy of a Certified Apple Technician…

If Anna had a college fund, I would now be removing from it the $150 it is going to cost to get the keyboard and the attached logic board replaced.  The “genius” (if he is why can’t he just put the keys back on), at the Apple store said too many keys had been destroyed to just replace them.  Toddler, no! Queen of Destruction, yes!

Hanging on the Quilt Rack

Friday, November 20th, 2009 | Anna | 2 Comments

Anna has discovered that our quilt rack, which is normally covered with blankets and afghans, is a great place to climb up and practice her parallel bars skills.  Amusingly, while she does this, she normally yells out “climbing!”, which is a nice little warning to me to stop whatever I’m doing and race over to make sure that she doesn’t tip the rack over.

Recently I took some video of Anna’s antics so that later, when she is the first girl to compete in the parallel bars and rings and complete the “Iron Cross” move on both, I can give this to the media…

Skateboarding Lesson

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 | Anna | 1 Comment

As some of you may or may not know, Mike was once a semi-pro skateboarder.  He doesn’t roll out the skateboard very much anymore, but recently while we were all playing in the driveway he got the board out to show Anna some of Daddy’s tricks.

Of course, upon seeing her father doing such a cool thing, Anna immediately stated, “Too!”, which is her saying she wants to do whatever it is that you are doing.  Fortunately, I had my camera with me and was able to video her first lesson.  It turned out to be a short lesson, and a lesson about how NOT to play in the street, but I digress.  Enjoy the skateboarding!