Labor Day Weekend

Although the holiday of labor is fun because I work in a field where we actually get Labor Day off, I have to admit that going back to work yesterday was painful at the very least. I stop working on the 12th and now that its September, the 12th can not come fast enough! Thats how it goes with me and my actual notice. Once I know Im not going to be working there past X-date, I just totally check out. The two week thing is a formality.

So Labor Day weekend Mr A and I went up to Seattle to spend some time with my family and attend my high school friend Carrie's wedding. Beautiful!!! Tres beau!!! It was out on this gorgeous ranch north of Seattle and she looked so fresh and precious and she carried sunflowers and everything! (her dress is from Tokyo which really ups the cuteness factor) If you had asked me in high school what I would have imagined her wedding being like - this was it. Same goes for the guy she married. Hes such a good match for her and I like them both individually as much as I like them together as a couple. It sounds so trite but I swear its true!

The whole thing was very laid back and Mr A & I had a blast. There was even hula hooping...

CONGRATS ALL DAY LONG CARRIE & JAN!!!

In baby news: I discovered last night that washing my legs in the shower is now extraordinarily difficult. When the weather forces me to stop wearing flip flops everyday we are going to have some problems!

33.5 weeks

Im going to start scheduling all my appointments for Fridays. Mr A and I had the most fabulous day yesterday. The hilarious part is that we didnt even do anything. It was just a nice night. Maybe thats what being older is all about - just having nice nights. When I was younger it was all about the pursuit of excitement and the stranger the better. Man, Ive had some strange nights... Now Im thrilled when its nice! Haha, does that mean Ive "settled down"?!

Almost missed my check up because I overslept and by the time we pulled up to the midwives office at 4:20 (appointment was at 4) Beth was just leaving. Literally, she was getting into her car. Lucky we caught her! I hate rescheduling stuff like that.

The appointment was fantastic. This pregnancy is so uneventful and I like it that way. We talked more about delivery. Its crazy to think that right now Im almost 34 weeks and one would be considered "full term" at 37 weeks. So come October 1st, that baby could arrive anyday. Beth mentioned this and Mr A got very still and said quietly, "oh my god we are having a baby". The reality of all this tends to sink in at weird times for him.

Its funny when people ask me about if the baby is moving or contractions or things like that. Its not even quantifiable! I couldnt count it if I wanted to. He is ALWAYS moving (unless of course someone wants to feel him moving, then he mysteriously settles down right away)! Beth told me that having lots of these contractions is good because that usually means the uterus will be in better condition for delivery. Super news! Even when she was poking the belly to determine the babys position the damn thing started contracting! Its wild.

I was really surprised to see how long the baby is. His head is way far down by my public bone and his butt is all the way up by my ribs! I realize that hes normal sized but it just seems to be big when someone points that information out. Also, when he moves around now its more obvious what is moving. You can feel the skinny little arm or leg or a pokey knee or a big round butt, etc. Its very alien-esque.

She listened to the heartbeat and hes at about 120. Apparently "normal" is anywhere between 120-160 and it gets slower as they get bigger. So hes still considered normal but I was joking that he must take after his dad because Mr As resting heart rate is practically comatose! It gets below 50!

Great checkup. I still have to find a pediatrition and some other birth-prep chores. Two more weeks and then I start the every week appointments. Crazy. Wild.

Then we went to Holy Familys annual BBQ/Father Bobs birthday party and got some deliciously free chicken sausage dinner. I finally met the choir director that I see every week and have never spoken with. Apparently she also married an older man whom she is crazy about and instantly became a step-grandma! We had a very hilarious conversation over dinner.

Mr A went out this morning to fly a kite with Avary. For some reason he really wanted to specifically fly a kite with her. Its cute when he gets these ideas and hes so excited to do these things with her that he can barely wait until Saturday! I think he used to fly kites as a kid or something. We went to Fred Meyer yesterday and they just happened to have some nice kites on sale. I should clean up the house before the two of them come home for lunch. Or at least change out of my pajamas...

Belly Shots

Just to keep you updated on my growing progeny...

This is my view.



Here I am laying on the floor because 1) I look like I have better posture 2) I couldnt find anything to prop the camera up and 3) it makes gravity work in my favor.

More Diapers & Stuff

Heres fitted diaper attempt #1. Long story about seam allowances short - I think I made the front a little too tall so it may or may not fit an actual baby. Also, the elastic is still in the experimental phase, so again, no idea how its going to work in real life.

My computer isnt letting me rotate my images, which is annoying. This is just a flat view of the diaper with the doublers taken out. I made a stuffable diaper because if it were all one thing it would probably take a lifetime to dry. I was clever enough to make one of my doublers capable of being partially folded in half. This is to offer the baby that extra absorbency in the front that most dudes seem to need.

The ladies at the craft store gave me a hard time about my velcro selection. "oh that is SO WIDE for a diaper! ...doesnt that seem too wide? Are you sure you want it that big?"

Sorry ladies, but it looks fine to me.

Then, from the ashes of all these tshirts, came breast pads for leaky boobs. Gross, I know. The thing below it is a hat. It was supposed to be a gift for Mr As coworker (one of the many expecting this autumn) but I didnt like it enough to gift it so Ill just keep it for Ika.

This picture is a pair of red cotton booties that I knit awhile ago. I think they are cute enough and easy enough to make, I will likely make more in the future and in different colors. The thing about booties is I always wonder how well it will stay on a real babys foot. Geez, are we starting to detect a theme here? I need a real baby to try this stuff on!

There is also a cotton bib, which is a gift for Mr As other coworker. They are all having girls. I like this bib and it was fast so I will probably make one for my own child in blue or green.

Then there is the herbal neck pillow. This is so cool! Its a pillow thats filled with rice and lavender so it smells very relaxing. It can go in the microwave to be warm and soothing or it can go in the freezer to be cold and therapeutic! Its called a neck pillow but its also great for back, shoulder and anywhere else since the rice made it very mouldy (made up word!). The pink flannel outer part is a case so it can be removed for laundering purposes. I like the pattern so much I took a close up pic of it.

This is a gift as well. The problem is that Im not sure if this woman has the same taste as I do. As in, would she find this pattern charming (like I do) or childish? Its risky business - gift giving.

***I dont know if you guessed this already or not, but I got off work a bit early today so I had some extra time on my hands. Would we consider this "nesting"? Should I be concerned about going into labor at any moment?!

August 24th, 2008

At church we heard the story of Jesus giving the keys to Peter and telling him that hes the rock. I like that story.

Hawaii won the Little League World Series. They also won in 2005, the summer Mr A and I began dating, and I have many pleasant and vivid memories of watching that series as well. In fact, I think it was during that very series that Mr A first told me about his affinity for the name Ikaika (the pitcher was named Ikaika if I remember correctly). This team was from Waipahu. They played Mexico for the championship and won 11-3. It has been a very exciting week of LLWS watching.


I also made two bibs. The embroidered one didnt turn out as nice as I wanted because I dont really know what Im doing with the bias tape. Also, the Velcro wasnt as strong as I hoped. But ultimately they both turned out pretty darn cute. Cute and reversible!

Granny made a comment about how I was going to an awful lot of trouble for a bib (with the embroidery). Of course, I know better, and quickly asked her what she made when she was expecting uncle Bruce, her first child. She informed me that she knit a seed stitch sweater on size 0 needles in the blistering heat of Key West, Florida. AND she cant recall if Bruce ever even wore the sweater! So after putting everything in perspective, I guess my 3 hours of bib making isnt all that much trouble.

Woe Is My Swollen Feet

Oh man, my feet are swelling all the time! Its always when Im sitting, which means little to no "relaxation" time at home. What a bummer! Then I either have to put my feet up (that requires me to take up the entire length of the couch and is rather unfair for Mr A) or lay down in bed where I cant watch the TV. Again, what a bummer!

I hope my feet go back to the size they were because I dont necessarily want to buy all new shoes. I am looking forward to getting some new sneakers. But thats it. I like all my other shoes! So far I have been avoiding any shoe issues by just wearing slippers all the time. Id like to thank Old Navy and their $1 per pair sale. Ive even been wearing slippers on the treadmill at the gym sometimes because my sneakers are too tight and uncomfortable (not to mention my toe is busting out of a hole on the side). Dont worry, its only walking. What am I going to do come October when Im still preggo and its too cold for flip flops?!



Speaking of the gym, I should probably write this down for posterity...

Ive been what I would consider "okay" when it comes to working out during pregnancy. Since Curtis has taken a job as a personal trainer at the Avalon Spa & Hotel down on the Willamette River, I have been going once or twice a week depending on what my own work schedule permits. But, unless there is some unforeseen conflict, can always go on Tuesdays because he spends his mornings with Avary and by the time I get off work at 1pm, we just load up in the car and drop Avary off at her mom's house on our way to the gym. The point is, I have been regularly going at least once a week since April.

When Im at the gym I usually spend the time between 3/3:30-4 o'clock on the treadmill or the elliptical. I watch Bringing Home Baby (a winner of a show on TLC) and rejoice at other peoples ineptitude while I walk at a pace anywhere between "brisk" and "might as well pull up a chair". After that I try to do some sort of a weight routine. During my second trimester I was really gung-ho about it. I did 3 sets of 15 reps on 4 circuits, etc. Now that Im bigger and pregnanter, Im lucky to make it through one circuit. Sigh...

Occasionally, although not as often as I would like, I do a workout video my mom got me called The Perfect Pregnancy Workout. AND IT IS! I love that video! I should do it right now. Ideally, I would like to be doing that video at least once a week as well. I also liked the Crunch Gym Yoga Mama video during my first trimester, but then the public library wanted it back. Boo hoo!

Up until about a month ago I had been riding my bicycle to work. Pregnant lady on a bike = totally cute! I work about two miles from my house and the roads are fairly flat and about 90% of them have bike lanes, so it worked out well. The reason I had to stop wasnt because I got off balance or because it was too exhausting. I had to stop because the weight of my uterus makes me feel like Im going to pee my pants whenever I hit even the smallest of bumps!!! I was so sure that it was going to happen that for a couple days I had packed an extra pair of pants in my bag! When I told this to my husband he kindly suggested that now might be a good time to temporarily retire the bike! But, while I was doing it, it was an awesome way to sneak in some exercise.

Ah! Sitting at this computer has made my feet swell up again! WHAT A BUMMER!

Diapers: A Pain in the Poo

Im hesitant to write about any sort of "ideas" or "plans" I might have for child-rearing, less they dont work out and I end up looking like I *gasp* have no clue what Im doing! Im also self conscious about coming across as the naive first-time mother. But, for the sake of showing off my sewing prowess, Im willing to break the seal here tonight. Lucky you.


Ive put quite a bit of thought into babys fecal matter. What am I going to do with all of it? How will I afford to do anything with it? How many hours out of the day am I willing to spend with it? And so on and so on.

CLOTH DIAPERING:

Anyone who knows my deep and undying love of the Diva Cup could probably have seen the cloth diapers coming from a mile away. Fortunately, Mr A did cloth before so that makes our decision a little less burdensome.

People think cloth is going to save them money. Maybe in the long run it will - I dont know and Im unwilling to do the math. All I know is that to buy a stash of Fuzzi Bunz (the Cadillac of cloth diapers) would set you back $15 per diaper! And they come in 4 different sizes! Yikes. A diaper service is great but runs about $70+ a month! Thats more than internet service! Yikes. Even a good sized stash of used dipes will clock in at around $150. I thought the $30 for my Diva Cup was an investment!

Im willing to make a financial committment to cloth diapering, but not until I figure out if this is really going to work for us.

Enter: my sewing machine.

First, I found Frugal Diapering online. Then I found a bag of leftover scraps from Mr As Christmas T-shirt Quilt. Then I found some time on a lazy Monday night (post-work, pre-Olympics).


VOILA!

I made two cloth diapers (newborn sized, 14") and seven wipes for FREE! Its funny because I have absolutely NO way of proving that these work at the moment. But Im still proud of myself.

Next, Im going to make the stuffable prefold and some soakers because these dipes are quite thick and I can see why it would be nice to have CDs with fast-drying capabilities.

The wipes are meant to be used with a spray bottle full of:

2.25 C Water
2 Tbs Shaklee (or any) Baby Wash/Shampoo
1 Tbs Baby Oil

Spray & Wipe. Nothin' to it.


I also got three used but cute diaper wraps. Theres a little bit of staining but who cares? Babys just going to poop in it anyway.

The two with patterns are 100% organic cotton and SO adorable! Best part is they were A DOLLAR EACH! I know, I kick ass.

By the way -BETH- worry not. The post on bucket training will be coming shortly.