Looks like it’s going to be one of those days again…if I can only get the energy to get it all done. Here is my to-do list for this afternoon:
Make a rhubarb pie & whipped cream
Bake some zucchini bread
Buy groceries
Clean/laundry
and…obviously hang out with my main man, Hank.
Who is this person? Although I would not have seen myself here 5 years ago, I am loving every minute of it. Looking forward to the weekend (and being able to eat the rewards!)
It’s 8:22 am and I’ve already eaten my lunch. It’s going to be one of those days….
Over the past week I have channeled my inner domestic goddess self and got to work in the kitchen. A good crop of tomatoes were ripe, so I tried my first attempt at canning. It went a lot smoother than I thought it would - no injuries at this point. I prepared the tomatoes in their jars and then after H finally went to sleep I got to work processing them using the hot water bath method. Six pints of fresh garden tomatoes now reside in our pantry. Let’s hope we don’t die of botulism. If we do, however, it will be feasting on our delicious efforts! Worth it? Maybe not…
Other endeavors included:
- Making a batch of granola (of which I am currently finishing the last few bites)
- Baking two loaves of chocolate zucchini (again, from the garden) bread. I made this last year to take to our childbirth class when it was our turn to bring in snacks. Cue nostalgia…
- Preparing & freezing more baby food for H. Here is where I (not surprisingly) injured myself. While chopping pears to be put in the food processor with my new awesome and very sharp knife, I cut straight through my thumb nail, nearly slicing the tip of my finger off. Maybe not so dramatic, although words were said loudly. Good thing H was outside with Jon…don’t need him hearing foul words spouting from his mother’s mouth. Here’s hoping her enjoys the pear/mango puree!
Since when has UW admitted 12 year olds to college? I couldn’t help but channel the (incredibly creepy) quote by Matthew McConaughey — “That’s what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age.”
How’s that for my latest post? This is what I come up with after 7 months? Following my son’s birth story with a raunchy movie quote? Something is seriously wrong with me, but that is what was on my brain as I groggily walked to get coffee this morning at the union. Hopefully the third time is a charm and I can actually find time to update this….not that anyone ever reads this except my mom and Elizabeth…
Adventures in Childbirth
Henry Raymond was born late October and we’ve been on a wild ride every since. Here is a recap of the day that changed our lives:
I worked a full day and then went with Jon to my 39 week appointment. Henry was due to arrive the next day and we discussed possible induction options in case I went too far past that date. As far as I knew from the appointment the week before, I was about 4 cm and 80%.
We went home and I made a very blah dinner. Stuffed acorn squash, which took far too long to make for how it turned out. At around 7:30 I was feeling hungry when I noticed a new pain in my lower abdomen. Hmm… I felt it again a little while later so I decided to take a shower. It happened twice in the shower. Getting closer together. I told Jon what was happening and he told me to drink some water. Didn’t help. We tried timing them in between my rolling around on the living room floor. Didn’t work. At least not really. I hung out in the bathroom in pain, while Jon hung out in the living in denial. Finally the pain was constant and unbearable and Jon called the doctor. She told us to head to the hospital. We gathered our things and as I waited for Jon to pull up with the car I felt a strange mix of peace and panic. Our baby was on his way. Little did we know what would happen upon arriving to the hospital.
We got to the hospital around 10:45. As we sat in triage, I felt the urge to push, so the nurse gave me the old once over. Sure enough, I was complete and ready to push. She quickly called the doc and Jon called the soon-to-be grandparents. They wheeled me down to the delivery room with a sheet over me (no time for gowns!) all the while I’m signing consent forms and trying to answer all their questions. No, I don’t know how much weight I gained - GET THIS BABY OUT OF ME!
After an hour of pushing, beautiful Henry was placed on my chest. Jon stayed with him while he was weighed and measured (6 lbs 15 oz, 18.5 inches). I was allowed to nurse once he warmed up a bit. He latched immediately and seemed to enjoy his first meal on the outside.
We were all healthy and happy. Finally - a family of three!
A dear friend recently noticed that I have not posted in over two months…coincidentally, that is also about how old Henry is. Looks like I’m adding to my list of 2011 resolutions.
Along with keeping up with this more, here are my other resolutions. Hopefully I can keep them going.
- Get things ready for the next day the night before (i.e. iron clothes, pack lunch)
- Try more new recipes (actually working on that as we speak)
- Run!
- Make baby food
Adventures in Home Buying
One month from today we will be closing on our first home!
It’s been a crazy October, which started with me pleading with Jon to go with me to an open house of a home we found online and really liked. (this was a Sunday) We didn’t think the house would even last two weeks on the market, so when the open house came around, I thought it would be fun to just “check it out.” I fell instantly in love with it - and so did Jon, even though at the time he didn’t want to admit it. We went home and I could not stop thinking about it. Jon spent the rest of the day crunching numbers and worrying about how we might ask our landlord out of our lease 8 months early. I took on the task of contacting our Realtor for another showing and emailing the landlord. We met on Tuesday evening to walk through the house again and also heard back that we would not be allowed to sublet. There was absolutely no way I was going to take that answer - our landlord was not going to stand in my way! We had an offer in on Thursday (still no official ‘yes’ from the landlord) and had an accepted offer on Saturday (still no official ‘yes’ from the landlord). We were elated, but still worried about the renting situation. Long story short - the old man finally agreed to terminate our lease as of 12/31/10 - and we are closing on 11/30/10!!
We might be slightly insane to have both a new baby and new house in the same month, but we’re excited to take on the challenge! There is a lot to do in the house and we cannot stop thinking about all the DIY ahead of us. At least it’s a good distraction from thinking about all the diapers ahead of us.
At almost 40 weeks, I’m starting to think that this baby is never going to come. I was born 10 days early and Jon was born three days late. Jon discovered that coincidentally, we were both born very close to a new moon. We’ll see if that rings true for our little guy - the next new moon is November 6th. Two more weeks of work?? CRAP!
A very nice high school student made my day this morning by offering her seat to me on the bus. I declined, but thanked her for offering. She is my new favorite bus-mate. This pregnancy thing is pretty great. Better take advantage of every little thing in the last few weeks I have left.
On that note: At the doctor on Tuesday, she told me that I am “progressing” nicely and that if I were having contractions, she would have kept me in the hospital. HELLO REALITY CHECK. Time to clean the apartment and really get things ready.
Is it such a bad thing that the main motivating factor getting me out of bed the past two days is knowing that there are cookies in my office??
