Just what the doctor ordered!

Recently, my doctor gave me his lecture on swimming again. He really encourages his patients to get in the pool to help give their bodies a break as well as get some good exercise.

I've been reluctant. I'm not a big water person. I barely made it through the swim test each summer I worked at Camp Firwood. And who wants to spend a bunch of money on a pregnancy swim suit that you are only going to wear a few times?

Tuesday night, the night before Brian left for California, he combatted all of my excuses by calling our local aquatic center for open swim times, getting me some of his shorts and a t-shirt, and said we were going on a date.

We spent probably 45 minutes in the pool swimming, floating and just enjoying the water. It was great! I wish I had done it more throughout my pregnancy -- maybe next time. We did decide we are going to go more often over the next few weeks.

It also got me thinking about doing a mom and baby swimming class to help me get back into shape after she is born. I would also love for our kids to be more comfortable in the water than I am and maybe starting young would help.

Showers!

Well, I have to say, this baby of ours sure is spoiled! So many people have blessed us with homemade gifts and things from our registry. I think she has more clothes than Brian and I put together! So far we have had showers put on by family, coworkers, and friends.

When Brian and I were driving the other day, we were talking about just how lucky were are and he came up with a great analogy. It feels like we have had the down payment paid for on this baby. Yes, there will be lots of expenses to come as we raise her, but we have been given such a great start!

I think even more than the monetary support, it has been great to have everyone so excited. It has made us feel very loved! I am excited that we get to bring our daughter into such a great community. So I am sending out a big thank you to all of you!

When it rains, it pours...and I just wish it would snow

In this time of last minute preparations for baby, before Brian goes back to school we were hoping to get a lot done. Unfortunately, two weeks ago Brian came down with a really bad cold of some sort...fever, congestion, cough, running nose, low energy, etc.

Wednesday, Otis was cleared of his giardia. But we noticed that he had little white bumps on his lips. The vet said it is canine papiloma virus, which is not transferrable to humans, but contagious for dogs. The healing time is 6-8 weeks. So just when we were going to have him in doggie daycare every day while we got used to having a newborn at home, he is banned. Instead we will have an overactive puppy from being cooped up.

Yesterday, I was marvelling at how well I had been able to fend off this infirmity, and was considering blogging about how the girls in the house are so much healthier than the boys. (Trudy is still able to go to doggie daycare and little Qwanesha continues to get the thumbs up from our doctor.)

Then in the middle of the night, on one of my many bathroom trips, I noticed that my throat was sore -- the first sign of Brian's sickness. So I called in a substitute for my morning classes and slept in. I am trying to will this sickness to not take root. Anyone have any crazy home remedies that do not involve medication?

The final countdown...

Here are the facts:

• My due date is February 14th, but only 4-5% of babies are born on their due date
• The average pregnancy is 41 weeks and 1 day, which puts us at February 21st
• First pregnancies usually are late
• My doctor says "The best indicator of your pregnancy is your mom's pregnancy with you" - I came 10 days early
• I am measuring two weeks ahead and an ultrasound confirmed that she is also measuring two weeks further along
• Brian will be in California from January 23rd to the 26th for school
• I start working part-time on January 29th
• I keep going back and forth between Feb 8th or Feb 22nd - mother's intuition?

Cast your vote! You can get more specific in the comments after voting by picking an actual date and therefore have more bragging rights.

Hello Again.

This weekend I went on a trip to Boston Bar, B.C. for a friend's bachelor party. On the way home we stopped at a Triple O's fast food joint. I was sitting near the counter where you order, reading a newspaper. Most of the guys had already got their food when Kevan finally steps up and I overhear this conversation between him and the 60 year old lady behind the counter:

Woman: Hello again.

Kevan: Did you say, "Hello again"?

W: Yes

K: Why did you say 'again'?

W: Because I'm bad.

K: Because you're bad??

W: Yes.

K: I'm not sure what you're referring to but I'd like to order some food.

A week of tests

Last week at my scheduled OB appointment the doctor told me that I was measuring two weeks bigger than I should have been. This was a first! Up until that point, my measurements matched my weeks exactly. He said that I should start coming in weekly. Usually, this starts around 36 weeks, and I was only 34 weeks. Brian and I left feeling like we had entered the final stretch!

Then this weekend I started feeling a lot of pressure low in my belly.

Monday, we finally got some results from a lab test we did on Otis in early December. He has a giardia infection and it is transferable to humans. My OB's office wanted to see me that day. The nurse practitioner tested me for, among other things, pre-term labor, but, thankfully, the results were negative.

I had to see my general doctor for the giardia test and haven't heard the results yet. But I'm not really having any symptoms, so it is unlikely that I contracted it.

Tuesday, I didn't feel well, and was exhausted after only two days back to work.

Wednesday, I had my weekly appointment. Dr. Mallory said that one of the tests given on Monday showed that I likely have kidney stones. He also measured me two weeks bigger again. So he suggested we do a "two for one" ultrasound to find out the size of the stones and the baby.

We were able to schedule an ultrasound for later that afternoon. It was so fun see our little girl again! She has grown so much! Her little lungs were practicing, her mouth was opening and closing, and no longer does she look like a little Skeletor!

The technician said that I have a lot of extra amniotic fluid, which gives her room to do the gymnastic moves I've been feeling. She also measured her size at 37 weeks, and estimated her weight to be 6 lb 11 oz--already! Most babies gain 0.5 lbs per week from this point on, so our girl is probably going to be a big one! Everyone assured me that though she is measuring further along, that doesn't mean that she will come early. So don't get your hopes up! We are trying not to; seeing her again made us want to hold her.

She's a girl for sure!

Oh, yeah, my kidney stones are really small. So hopefully, they won't cause too many problems.

8 Albums From 2007 That I'll Still Be Listening To In 2009

This time of year every literate chump with access to the internet posts a Best Of... list. It's overdone but I love it. I discover a lot of great films, music and miscellany from critics and enthusiasts who do a wonderful job of enumerating worthwhile cultural offerings.

I should just leave it to them, but since I've got you here I just can't resist giving MY opinion and pretending you care.

So, without further ado, 8 albums from this year that I can confidently predict I will still be listening to in a couple years:


Beirut - The Flying Club Cup

On his second full length, Zach Condon, has added a full band and a French twist to his previous Balkan appropriations. The result is a glorious but accessible melange that, despite its exotic influences, won't be banished to the obscurity of the World music rack.


The National - Boxer

Growing up in North America I've grown weary of the suffocating ubiquity of guitars-bass-drums-male singer. So The National had a strong prejudice to overcome, but overcome they did. It's not my favorite disc of the year but it's definitely the one I'd recommend to the most people.


Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha

Pop? Jazz? Folk? Bird writes smart lyrics and vaguely familiar, but un-pigeonhole-able music. Occasionally, the literate and witty prose lends the music a little too much emotional detachment but, quibbles aside, I'm never disappointed when I give this album a spin.


The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters

With a squall of guitars thicker than the lead singer's Scottish accent, it's a wonder The Twilight Sad are able to retain so much nuance, wistfulness and even tenderness. Proof that loud music can have a heart.


Eddie Vedder - Into the Wild Soundtrack

I'm not a huge fan of Pearl Jam but I'm a sucker for Vedder's voice, which works perfectly here in these mostly quiet, acoustic numbers accompanied by mandolin, banjo, or acoustic guitar. This solo effort is, in my opinion, Vedder's best work. It worked really well with the movie (which is also great, by the way) but it also stands alone very nicely.


Amiina - Kurr

These ladies from Iceland play saws and other unusual instruments to weave the kind of spacious, ethereal songs that have come to define the Icelandic aural soundscape. But, while the similarities are definitely there, this is not the same otherworld of their compatriots and tour mates Sigur Ros. Rather than conjuring images of weightless astral ballets, these songs are more like lullabies from the alien homeland of a mother's womb.


Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

This collective emerged out of Montreal a few years ago to rescue indie rock from cynical irony and mandatory naval gazing. They take on big issues with a big sound and the gusto of U2 or Bruce Springsteen (though they don't sound like either of those). This is their second disc and it's almost as good as the first. If you like rock and you haven't heard, check them out!


Radiohead - In Rainbows

This album deserves mention not only for the band's cavalier and visionary marketing of it but also because it's just a really good album. I like Radiohead, but the excessive hype and their musical experimentalism usual keep them from heavy rotation in my CD player. So, since they gave me the choice, I only paid a couple bucks for In Rainbows. I feel a little guilty now though because I think I've already listened to this one more than any other Radiohead album.

Bunny Beanie

"cast on 3 sts, cast off 1 st, slip stitch now on right needle back onto left needle...

k2tog, k5 8 times (48 sts)...
purl 2tog, purl 6, purl 2tog, k2tog, k8, k2tog,..."

Those were excerpts from the knitting pattern of my first project. I recently saw this really cute baby hat in a pregnancy magazine, and thought it would be great if my sister made it for our baby. She had another idea: "You should make it, and I will help you."

My sister, Alli has taught me the basics before, but it was definitely like starting from scratch. I had to learn how to cast on, knit, purl, work with two colors, and join stitches! Fortunately, I didn't have to do any "character building" (undoing your work to fix a mistake), mostly because Alli was there to save the day. I did have to finish the last ear on my own at home though, a little scary, but it worked out ok.

If you walked past me while I was working you would see how hard I was concentrating, and might mistakenly think I wasn't having much fun. On the contrary, it was a blast to do a project again (I haven't had much time for my sewing hobby lately), especially one for our baby!

"I'm knitting, I'm a knitter, way far away from the Alli" -- in the voice of Bill Murray in What About Bob?

Christmas 2007

When Brian and I got married, we started the tradition of Christmas morning being just us (and eventually our family), and rotating Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner between our two families, usually tacking on an extra day on either side to make the visit a little more substantial. This year we were with the Rushes before Christmas and the Graceys after Christmas.

Here are some highlights:

• First Christmas since we've been married that all of the Rushes were together at the same time.


• Spiders! Brian's favorite Christmas treat (chocolate, butterscotch, peanuts and chow mein noodles)


• Our dogs getting to interact with baby Jamie and my parents' dog Murphy


• Being elves for Grandma and Grandpa and helping to set up Noah and Ella's Christmas presents: an air hockey table and an elaborate Barbie dollhouse



• Opening our stockings at midnight because we would rather do that than get up early


• Brian reading aloud to me while we drove


• Christmas morning service -- "Christ is born! Glorify Him!" -- followed by reading Father Mel's hilarious Christmas letter


• Snowfall as we drove into Everett for Christmas dinner -- the biggest flakes I think I've ever seen


• My cousin Cheyenne and her boyfriend Moses surprised us and showed up for Christmas dinner, even though they had to turn around and drive back to Yakima that same night


• Playing the drawing game with the Graceys and Mollers - we laughed so hard!


• Watching my parents play Guitar Hero 3!


• All the yummy food!


• Alli teaching me how to knit! (more to come on this soon)


• The chance to rest and do nothing...

Lowlights:

• Brian's mom made his favorite dessert, Mud Pie, in front of him, then he found out later it was for Christmas dinner -- She promptly offered to make him another one if we come up to visit again soon


• Our dogs taking turns vomiting in the middle of the night -- good prep for the baby, right?


• My increasingly aching back

Look who's 30!

Our friend, Eric Frazier, celebrated in style, at his surprise 70's-themed birthday party planned by his wife, Emily.

Happy Birthday, Eric!