The prize has finally arrived after many months of drool beyond compare, and chewing, and fussing, and pooping. (What? Pooping is not a sign of teething? Then why do you always seem to read how someone's little one had "a big poop" and that's just how they knew a tooth was coming? I figure with all these diapers he's been working on something big.)
Anyway, the great moment of discovery was last night at dinner and of course the first thing we all did was immediately stick our fingers in his mouth to feel the tooth. Boy did THAT go over well (ahem).
I guess we'd better shape up, now that the little bugger can bite.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Monday, March 27, 2006
Cool tool
I'm one of those weirdo's who likes to color in maps to show where I've traveled. I've been to quite a few states, but I was nearly 30 before I left the US. So, I had to do something to make it look like I was "well traveled." I found this cool tool while surfing at Menita's blog.
I will admit that having the states where I've been as "red states" bugs me, but I'll get over it. I guess I need to go north more often, huh?
If you want to create your own visited states map, go here.
I will admit that having the states where I've been as "red states" bugs me, but I'll get over it. I guess I need to go north more often, huh?
If you want to create your own visited states map, go here.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Revival
I feel like I have been in hibernation for an eternity. lately, life has been getting the better of my time, and has left me with little extra for things like blogging. It has also left me tired and not feeling like I really have much to say.
Gabriel is growing like a weed and seems to change each and every day. Some days, I swear I wouldn't recognize him by the end of the day because he has changed so much. That's actually one of my recurring nightmares...not knowing which kid is mine in a group. I don't expect it to happen IRL, but it sure is scary to wake up from one of those dreams and start to doubt your own mothering.
Now that it is officially spring, I feel like I should be putting efforts into something constructive. At this time last year, I was having a baby shower, preparing a nursery, and wondering whether I was really cut out for the whole mothering thing. This year, I am preparing for Gabriel's first birthday in May, reorganizing the house to make one of the rooms into a playroom for him (no, he really doesn't need a playroom at one year, but I want to have it), and thinking about the expansion of our family. We have discussed it at length and are not going to revisit the IVF path. Yes, we had an amazing run of success with our one and only experience. But we were fully committed to adoption before my pregnancy, and we are going back to that pursuit. In fact, only yesterday we reactivated our paperwork with the agency. The director will need an updated profile and we will need to get recertification for criminal and child abuse background checks, but outside of that our other paperwork should still be fine. We never got to the homestudy phase the first time around, so that would need to be done regardless.
Now I am anxious to really get things fixed up around the house because once there are two kids, we can forget ever having time to do *anything*. But I am really excited at the possibility of this guy having a little brother or sister. I think he'll be happy about it too.
Gabriel is growing like a weed and seems to change each and every day. Some days, I swear I wouldn't recognize him by the end of the day because he has changed so much. That's actually one of my recurring nightmares...not knowing which kid is mine in a group. I don't expect it to happen IRL, but it sure is scary to wake up from one of those dreams and start to doubt your own mothering.Now that it is officially spring, I feel like I should be putting efforts into something constructive. At this time last year, I was having a baby shower, preparing a nursery, and wondering whether I was really cut out for the whole mothering thing. This year, I am preparing for Gabriel's first birthday in May, reorganizing the house to make one of the rooms into a playroom for him (no, he really doesn't need a playroom at one year, but I want to have it), and thinking about the expansion of our family. We have discussed it at length and are not going to revisit the IVF path. Yes, we had an amazing run of success with our one and only experience. But we were fully committed to adoption before my pregnancy, and we are going back to that pursuit. In fact, only yesterday we reactivated our paperwork with the agency. The director will need an updated profile and we will need to get recertification for criminal and child abuse background checks, but outside of that our other paperwork should still be fine. We never got to the homestudy phase the first time around, so that would need to be done regardless.
Now I am anxious to really get things fixed up around the house because once there are two kids, we can forget ever having time to do *anything*. But I am really excited at the possibility of this guy having a little brother or sister. I think he'll be happy about it too.
Monday, January 30, 2006
When it hits the fan, read it
I have been so lax in writing lately but not so lax in reading. A few posts I saw today are worth an extra mention, so I would like to highlight them here:
First, if you are looking for an in-depth, no holds barred birth story, check out Beaver Girl's blog. We have had to wait a bit to hear the nitty-gritty on the arrival of Fred, but she has come through and then some with all the poop. Literally!
Second, if you are planning to cloth diaper at any point in your life, you must read what Jo has to say. She is the queen of cloth and has also begun elimination communication with her daughter. And, again, she's a gal that will give you all the poop. Literally. (Are you noticing a theme, here?)
And last, but so very far from least, is the most recent educational symposium on adoption from the ever-lovely Karen. Asshats of the world beware! The Ovary is watching! (While Karen does not literally discuss fecal outpourings, she does give you the straight poop and therefore fits the theme. My blog, my theme.)
I have a few random posts a-brewin'. Till then, enjoy the words of these lovely ladies.
First, if you are looking for an in-depth, no holds barred birth story, check out Beaver Girl's blog. We have had to wait a bit to hear the nitty-gritty on the arrival of Fred, but she has come through and then some with all the poop. Literally!
Second, if you are planning to cloth diaper at any point in your life, you must read what Jo has to say. She is the queen of cloth and has also begun elimination communication with her daughter. And, again, she's a gal that will give you all the poop. Literally. (Are you noticing a theme, here?)
And last, but so very far from least, is the most recent educational symposium on adoption from the ever-lovely Karen. Asshats of the world beware! The Ovary is watching! (While Karen does not literally discuss fecal outpourings, she does give you the straight poop and therefore fits the theme. My blog, my theme.)
I have a few random posts a-brewin'. Till then, enjoy the words of these lovely ladies.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Mama Meme-a
Today I am borrowing a meme from the lovely and ever-snarky Jo, who credits Mamamarta (sorry- I don’t have her link) with giving it to her (or tagging her, you know, whatever). I liked it because it will give a little more flavor to the “dish”- ha! Get it? A flavorful dish?
{crickets chirping}
What were you doing ten years ago?
I was at UCLA, had just finished my master’s degree, and was continuing down the road toward the doctorate. I had also just realized that my advisor WAS truly insane, not just quirky, and I was in the process of deciding whether to stick it out, move to another lab in the same department, go to a different department, or change universities altogether. (I ultimately created a hybrid of option two and three and moved into two different labs but graduated from my original department.) I had also just moved (again- I moved something like 6 times in a three year period) into a rental house with a friend after getting dumped by my boyfriend and having him move out of our apartment. It was pretty ugly at the time, but worked out nicely in the end. I loved the new house, loved living with that friend (with whom I am still close), and actually enjoyed being unattached for almost two years (no, I’m not that lame- I really got used to living life for me and loved it). Now that it has been many years later, I even have a casual friendship with my ex and his wife (I had moved away from LA and they happened to move to same city). We have dinner sometimes, we have kids a month apart in age, I have coffee with her occasionally (she’s a lovely gal). We still have awkward moments given the history, but life isn’t always a smooth ride, so I take the bumps as they come.
I also started attending the local University Catholic Center. At first I wanted to feel a connection to a group, reconnect with a church (and I had grown up R.C., so why not start there), and perhaps meet some new people (many of my friends were mutual with my ex). I ended up finding some wonderful people, getting involved in the choir (more of a folk group), and used it as a great base to the chaos of my life. Some of my best memories of living in LA revolve around the people I met at that church.
What were you doing one year ago?
One year ago I had just entered the second half of my pregnancy and persisted in the state of disbelief that I would actually come home with a baby. As many infertiles experience, even when a pregnancy occurs there is such a cloud of doom hanging over your head because your body was uncooperative for so long that it is difficult to enjoy the pregnancy to its fullest.
Five snacks I enjoy:
1. Pretzels and diet cola (I love to eat them together)
2. Crackers
3. Peanut butter on banana or apple
4. Popcorn
5. Ice Cream
Five songs to which I know all the lyrics:
(Ok, I must qualify this by saying that as a Sweet Adeline—bet ya didn’t know that about me—I know all of the words to a LOT of songs. I will pick non-SA songs.)
1. Most everything by Erasure, Sting (not the Police), and Duran Duran (yes, I admit it)
2. Pink Floyd’s The Wall (the whole album, not just the song)
3. R.E.M.’s It’s the End of the World
4. Toad the Wet Sprocket’s All I Want
5. Blind Melon’s No Rain
Five things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Move to a big piece of land, build three little houses, and move there with our parents.
2. Open a Bed and Breakfast (...thus limiting location of property in #1, but that’s ok)
3. Buy a Toyota Highlander hybrid. (We want room for more kids and the dog without mutilating the environment.)
4. Homeschool my kid(s)
5. Write a book
Five bad habits:
1. General laziness and procrastination (lifted from Jo)
2. Chewing skin around my nails
3. Using clean laundry out of the basket rather than putting it away first
4. Over-committing myself to activities
5. Watching too much TV (cop/forensic/medical shows)
Five things I like doing:
1. Spending time with my son
2. Creating (usually jewelry, cross-stitch, or fabric-based items)
3. Reading
4. Singing
5. Hiking
Five things I would never wear, buy, or get new again:
1. Any clothing in a fluorescent color
2. Mini-skirts
3. High heels
4. Blue cosmetics (mascara, eye shadow, lipstick, or nail polish- and I had all four at one time)
5. Leg warmers (what the hell were we thinking?)
Five favorite toys:
1. Wei*ght Watchers point calculator thingy (which has helped me to lose 26 pounds in 11 weeks, thankyouverymuch)
2. Web sudoku (does that qualify?)
3. My new crock pot (hey, we both work full-time...hot meals are nice)
4. My son’s Leap Frog Alphabet Pal
5. Our digital camera
If you have not only visited my blog (it’s an elite group, I tell ya) but read to the end of the meme, consider yourself tagged. Plus, it’s delurking week so leave a comment, ok? Toodles!
{crickets chirping}
What were you doing ten years ago?
I was at UCLA, had just finished my master’s degree, and was continuing down the road toward the doctorate. I had also just realized that my advisor WAS truly insane, not just quirky, and I was in the process of deciding whether to stick it out, move to another lab in the same department, go to a different department, or change universities altogether. (I ultimately created a hybrid of option two and three and moved into two different labs but graduated from my original department.) I had also just moved (again- I moved something like 6 times in a three year period) into a rental house with a friend after getting dumped by my boyfriend and having him move out of our apartment. It was pretty ugly at the time, but worked out nicely in the end. I loved the new house, loved living with that friend (with whom I am still close), and actually enjoyed being unattached for almost two years (no, I’m not that lame- I really got used to living life for me and loved it). Now that it has been many years later, I even have a casual friendship with my ex and his wife (I had moved away from LA and they happened to move to same city). We have dinner sometimes, we have kids a month apart in age, I have coffee with her occasionally (she’s a lovely gal). We still have awkward moments given the history, but life isn’t always a smooth ride, so I take the bumps as they come.
I also started attending the local University Catholic Center. At first I wanted to feel a connection to a group, reconnect with a church (and I had grown up R.C., so why not start there), and perhaps meet some new people (many of my friends were mutual with my ex). I ended up finding some wonderful people, getting involved in the choir (more of a folk group), and used it as a great base to the chaos of my life. Some of my best memories of living in LA revolve around the people I met at that church.
What were you doing one year ago?
One year ago I had just entered the second half of my pregnancy and persisted in the state of disbelief that I would actually come home with a baby. As many infertiles experience, even when a pregnancy occurs there is such a cloud of doom hanging over your head because your body was uncooperative for so long that it is difficult to enjoy the pregnancy to its fullest.
Five snacks I enjoy:
1. Pretzels and diet cola (I love to eat them together)
2. Crackers
3. Peanut butter on banana or apple
4. Popcorn
5. Ice Cream
Five songs to which I know all the lyrics:
(Ok, I must qualify this by saying that as a Sweet Adeline—bet ya didn’t know that about me—I know all of the words to a LOT of songs. I will pick non-SA songs.)
1. Most everything by Erasure, Sting (not the Police), and Duran Duran (yes, I admit it)
2. Pink Floyd’s The Wall (the whole album, not just the song)
3. R.E.M.’s It’s the End of the World
4. Toad the Wet Sprocket’s All I Want
5. Blind Melon’s No Rain
Five things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Move to a big piece of land, build three little houses, and move there with our parents.
2. Open a Bed and Breakfast (...thus limiting location of property in #1, but that’s ok)
3. Buy a Toyota Highlander hybrid. (We want room for more kids and the dog without mutilating the environment.)
4. Homeschool my kid(s)
5. Write a book
Five bad habits:
1. General laziness and procrastination (lifted from Jo)
2. Chewing skin around my nails
3. Using clean laundry out of the basket rather than putting it away first
4. Over-committing myself to activities
5. Watching too much TV (cop/forensic/medical shows)
Five things I like doing:
1. Spending time with my son
2. Creating (usually jewelry, cross-stitch, or fabric-based items)
3. Reading
4. Singing
5. Hiking
Five things I would never wear, buy, or get new again:
1. Any clothing in a fluorescent color
2. Mini-skirts
3. High heels
4. Blue cosmetics (mascara, eye shadow, lipstick, or nail polish- and I had all four at one time)
5. Leg warmers (what the hell were we thinking?)
Five favorite toys:
1. Wei*ght Watchers point calculator thingy (which has helped me to lose 26 pounds in 11 weeks, thankyouverymuch)
2. Web sudoku (does that qualify?)
3. My new crock pot (hey, we both work full-time...hot meals are nice)
4. My son’s Leap Frog Alphabet Pal
5. Our digital camera
If you have not only visited my blog (it’s an elite group, I tell ya) but read to the end of the meme, consider yourself tagged. Plus, it’s delurking week so leave a comment, ok? Toodles!
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