Catching Up

Its been a busy couple of weeks for wif.  Two Wednesday's ago, hub and wif started childbirth preparation class.  There are about nine or ten other couples taking the class; most of them seem pretty friendly.  So far hub and wif have learned a little and been exposed to some fairly disturbing images.  Work has been very busy for wif - her to do list just keeps getting longer.  This morning hub and wif took infant CPR class.  This was pretty useful.  Hub and wif both feel pretty confident that they could perform the necessary CPR tasks if necessary.  Hub is upstairs listening to football and putting ogether baby's crib now.  Oregon isn't looking so hot at the end of the 2nd quarter.  Wif is thinking of vacuuming the downstairs and maybe the upstairs.  The hosue is getting a little unruly.  However, a nap is also sounding pretty appealing right now.  Wif checked in with the doctor last week on a few issues.  She learned the following:

• She cannot travel by air as of 34 weeks (October 22).
• She can try a number remedies for the wicked heartburn she's been experiencing.
• She needs to check at her next appointment about the ultrasound to determine the location of the placenta.
• Apparently it is normal for the baby to feel like she is operating a jackhammer in wif's belly.
• She passed her glucose screen with a score of 100; the cutoff is 140.

Wif is noticing that the tireds are creeping back into her life.  Wif spent most of the second trimester full of energy; however, lately wif has been feeling pretty nap-like.  I guess its probably a combination of growing baby and busy busy work.

The baby has been keeping pretty busy for the past week and a half or so.  She seems to be getting bigger and stronger.  So far I have not experienced the foot in the ribs so many mothers describe, but she's still got a bit of time to kick me rib-wise.

Back to Work

Hub and wif went back to work on Monday after a week off; it was tough. On Monday, before getting back to the grind, hub and wif went to the doctor for the monthly baby appointment. During that visit wif also had to take the glucose tolerance test which involves the ingestion of 10 oz of nasty flavored non-carbonated sugar water within 5 minutes. One hour later blood is drawn to make a determination regarding the likelihood of gestational diabetes. As of Wednesday morning, wif has not yet heard from the doctor's office, which she's taking as an indication that her test came back negative. After the doctor appointment hub and wif headed to their respective offices. The work day was fine for wif although the 2:00p interview of a new potential co-worker interfered with wif's ability to get things done. Wif went home around 6:00p to rest for a while and watch a little Dr. Gross before picking up hub at 7:30p. By the time wif got home she was very tired and ready to go to sleep. Hub was nice enough to cook wif dinner because she was so tired. Finally, wif headed to bed for some much needed rest.

Tuesday was pretty standard. Hub and wif got a good start to their day and wif packed herself a pretty nice lunch (cheese sandwich, crackers and cheese & nectarine). Wif spent most of her work day catching up. There was another interview at 1:00p. Wif went to sew with her mom after work. The plan was for wif's mom to pick wif up at between 4:45 and 5:00p. This plan would have gone off without a hitch but for the cell phones failing. Wif's mom called once she arrived at about 5:00 but wif's phone did not ring. Finally, about 15-20 minutes later wif called her mom who was slightly annoyed that she had been sitting downstairs waiting for so long. Once they got home, wif finished the first onesie she had been sewing for the baby and started on a t-shirt for baby. Wif is still working on sewing straight lines when she works with stretchy material that has curves; however, wif's work is starting to look better. The t-shirt is going to be especially adorable and will match the baby's bedroom decor. The shirt itself is pink and the collar and sleeves have brown decorative elastic and the thread is green. Using decorative elastic for the neck and sleeves is much better than folding the edges under twice and sewing. Knit fabric does not like to stay folded under no matter how much it is ironed. Hub picked up wif around 6:45 or 7:00p and the two went home to make dinner stopping at the store on the way. Wif made herself a baked potato and hub had some chili. After doing some chores and resting a bit it was once again time for bed. Hub and wif needed to go to bed early so they could get up and get to work early in order to make it to childbirth preparation class Wednesday evening without cutting into the workday.

The baby had pretty standard days Monday and Tuesday. Baby's house is getting deep enough that now wif feels her on the side of her belly sometimes instead of the front.

Cribs and Stuff

Hub and wif started their Sunday with some cereal for breakfast and they got on the move pretty quickly to take care of that crib recall business.  The bed and dresser hub and wif chose for baby last Sunday was apparently recalled for undisclosed reasons.  As a result, hub and wif were required to choose a new crib and dresser.  None of the options were as good looking as the one they chose originally, but the replacement will be nice and will do the job.  In addition the folks at Babies R Us were nice enough to apply the same discounts hub and wif got originally when they bought the first crib.  The end result was that hub and wif paid slightly less.  The new crib and dresser that they chose were in stock, but hub and wif brought the wrong car so they couldn't take home the new furniture yet.  While at Babies R Us dealing with recall issues, hub and wif ran into Adam and Jacy who were registering.  This was a task that hub and wif also hoped to complete (finishing off their existing highly limited registry); however, all the registration guns were in use and there was a 2 hour wait.  After finishing at Babies R Us, hub and wif headed over to Hillsdale to pick up a bagel for lunch (yumm). Fortified with delicious Noah's team Stange headed over to Target to set up another baby registry then back home to switch cars.  Once back at Babies R Us, hub and wif finished their registry (using the last scanner available!) and retrieved their baby furniture.  The crib barely fit in the back of wif's car and it was only by wif's spotting that hub and Chris (the manager of the store) were able to get it in.  Once hub and wif got the cargo safely home, it was time for wif to rest, keep up with friends on the internet, and eventually for hub to go water his dad's plants and pick up some groceries. When hub got back from the store the two had a delicious dinner of bowtie pasta, sauce and garlic bread; it was tasty.  

The baby was pretty busy throughout the day.  She didn't do any startling giant maneuvers, but she seems to be getting better at keeping a schedule.  Lately, she's been spending some busy time in the morning somewhere between about 7:00a and 9:00a then resting until sometime between about 12:00n and 2:00p, resting again until about dinner time  and then having a busy period around bedtime.  We'll see if she sticks to this schedule.  Tomorrow is the screening test for gestational diabetes; wif hopes that problem doesn't rear its ugly head.

Saturday TCBing

Yesterday may have been the most satisfying day of hub and wif's entire vacation.  The morning started off early with breakfast at the J&M Cafe with Bill and Julie.  Hub had his usual - french toast - while wif had a belgian waffle topped with fresh peaches and blackberries and whipped cream.  After their pleasant breakfast hub and wif took the scenic route to U-Haul to acquire a pick-up truck so hub and ben could haul things.  After acquiring the truck, hub and wif headed home to clean up and wait for brother Ben to arrive to help hub load the truck.  While hub cleaned up, wif investigated the benefits of DishNetwork satellite tv. It seems like a pretty cost-effective option.  Wif also changed the data plan on her iphone after realizing that she was paying $10 extra a month for 1,500 text messages while she was never exceeding the 200 message limit of the plan below.  

Ben arrived around 1:00p after he finished kayaking on the Willamette river with Bill and Julie. Ben and Hub loaded the pickup truck with the futon from the baby's room and the green couch that has been sitting in the garage unused for at least four years.  Once the truck was loaded, Ben had to head back to Independence to take care of the dogs.  With a truck full of furniture and other Goodwill donation items, hub and wif began their delivery route.  After a quick lunch of PB&J for hub, the next stop was the dump.  Hub loves the dump (and anything else  remotely industrial) and was very excited for another excuse to visit.  Among the exciting features of the dump are the large truck scale that weighs your car on the way in and out and the large warehouse full of piles of garbage into which one throws his/her own trash. Hub did not tell wif in advance what to expect upon arriving at the dump.  Broken furniture, dirt, full garbage bags, filthy used mattresses and a large amount of decomposing organic material produced a putrid smell and apparently a liquid runoff, a puddle of which hub and wif were directed to park on.  Wif stayed in the car with the engine on and the AC running on recycled air to keep the smell at bay.  Wif developed a new sense of sympathy for the people forced to work under such conditions.  

Once the trip to the dump was complete, hub and wif headed home to change clothes and admire the newly less full garage before dropping off the truck at U-Haul.  Next it was back home to switch laundry then head back out to visit Adam and Jacy for the evening.  The four went to Blue Tangerine at Bridgeport Village for dinner then watched UFC fights.  Wif came out $3 ahead betting with Adam thanks to a lot of good guessing about which fighter would win.  While visiting Adam and Jacy, hub and wif got a call from Babies R Us reporting that the crib hub and wif ordered had been recalled.  Hub and wif will have to deal with that Sunday. Finally, hub and wif headed home to bed. 

The baby was moderately busy throughout the day.  During UFC fighting she made a couple of startling jabs to wif's upper abdomen.  That baby just gets stronger and stronger.

Japanese Garden and More

Hub and wif got off to a slow start today; they didn't wake up until after 10:00a!  Fortified with cereal (wif) and pie (hub) the pair slowly got moving.  The task for this day was fun and to hub and wif a trip to the Japanese Garden was just what the doctor ordered.  After showers hub and wif headed over to goodwill and free geek to drop off old comforters and electronics then they went to the burrito cart to find some lunch.  Hub and wif took their burritos and coke to the Holocaust memorial where there was a comfortable bench for eating.  Next they headed up to the Japanese Garden and enjoyed the pleasant zen atmosphere.

After enjoying the Japanese Garden hub and wif headed towards a photo shop which turned out to be closed; they were going to drop off film from Wif's Diana Camera.  As hub and wif drove through downtown, work called asking wif for help; since they were nearby, hub and wif stopped into the office to try to fix the problem.  Wif felt a little bad for making hub go to work on a vacation day, even though it was just for about 20 or 30 minutes.  Next the dynamic duo headed over to Baskin Robbin's for a tasty ice cream treat.  Finally, hub and wif came home and looked through mail and talked about switching to DirecTV for a savings of approximately $10/month.  This sounds like a pretty good deal; however, it means giving up comcast sports net, which broadcasts every blazer game of the season at no additional cost.  This is a tough feature to give up!

Today is eggsby's birthday!  He's 26 years old.  Happy birthday eggs!

The baby was once again moderately busy.  She gave pokes and jabs here and there throughout the day to let wif know she was still in there.  Last night she gave the strongest kick of her career.  Luckily hub had his hand on wif's belly and was able to feel the powerful jab.  That baby must be getting pretty big.

Another Good Vacation Day

Yesterday morning wif woke up to a silly surprise; on her iphone, she found a picture of Charlie cat wearing her glasses. He looked very studious. Hub took the picture after wif fell asleep watching tv. Unfortunately it was pretty dark since the lights were already out. Last night, hub took another cat with glasses picture, this time with the lights on (see image at left).

Today was another productive vacation day for Hub and Wif. This morning started out with blackberry pie, decaf coffee and a healthy dose of Cheaters. Hub got started pretty quickly with his second coat of paint in Baby's room. Meanwhile, wif started working on clearing out/organizing the hall closet. This proved to be a pretty quick task although it resulted in a pile of junk to be dealt with. Wif also moved the sheets to the shelf on the bathroom to make room in the hall closet. After laying down for a few minutes with Charlie so she could feel the baby a bit, wif took a shower and decided to get a move on her day. A snack of honey nut cheerios and a banana galvanized wif for the tough task ahead: going to the grocery store to procure lunch/dinner supplies. Wif chose chicken schwarma from one of the Rachael Ray cookbooks; this recipe promises dinner in 30 minutes. Dinner time has not yet rolled around, so wif will provide an update later tonight or tomorrow to report on how long it actually took. The grocery requirement for this 30-minute meal was somewhat excessive. Wif needed to buy several spices not currently in her stock as well as some new olive oil and several other ingredients. The grocery bill was almost $60, so Rachael Ray's recipe had better be tasty as well as quick! On the way home from the grocery store, wif picked up a burrito and some chips & pico for hub at Cha Cha Cha to reward his hard work painting. Hub and wif had a nice late lunch together (burrito for hub, cheese sandwich and nectarine for wif) and had a pleasant chat. Among other things, hub and wif continued to discuss their takes on Sarah Palin and her speech at the RNC last night. Wif won't bore the blogosphere with her impressions on Sarah Palin since everyone else seems to be on that task today. After lunch, wif did some dishes.

Wif checked the AT&T website again today; the account merger appears to have worked although the website still claims to be unable to display hub and wif's voice usage information. This is somewhat concerning. Dad will come over today to eat pie and have some of the (hopefully tasty) chicken schwarma.

The baby was moderately busy today; she kicked around here and there.

Update: Well Rachael Ray's recipe for chicken schwarma turned out pretty tasty. The cookbook totally lied about the time. Wif didn't do an exact measurement, but she'd say it took 60 minutes rather than 30. Also, (and this is a beef wif has with pretty much all cookbooks) the times listed for cooking individual elements were grossly under-estimated. There was no way in heck wif's chicken breasts were going to reach 170 degrees in 12 minutes on the grill. In any case, timing errors aside the meal was delicious. Wif omitted the tahini paste in the yogurt sauce because it seemed silly to buy a $7 jar for 1 tablespoon. However, the sauce was not lacking flavor. Dad seemed to enjoy the meal as well. After dinner wif and hub showed dad the baby's pink room as well as her bedding, stroller and carseat. Then wif and the fellas had pie and vanilla ice cream; a perfect sweet way to top off the meal.

Another Productive Day

This morning wif got up and got right down to the business of finding missing addresses for baby shower invitees along with eating honey nut cheerios for breakfast.  After catching the tail end of Cheaters, hub and wif got ready for the day and had a snack of nectarine.  Today's tasks included donating furniture to Community Warehouse, going to AT&T to switch to a family plan, trying out Hollywood Burger Bar and picking up more paint.  Community Warehouse (at the intersection of Interstate and Albina) was a quick and easy stop.  The employee that helped us was friendly and did not reject our furniture (for which we were thankful).  Next, we went to the AT&T store, where we experienced quite a wait despite being the middle of a work day.  Notably, the store has several "stations" where customers may check out or receive other assistance.  This made waiting in line difficult because people could (and did) move from area to area based on their perception on the wait length.  The AT&T employees also moved from station to station increasing the confusion.  After a moderate wait Hub and Wif asked to merge their individual cell phone plans to one shared "family" plan.  Prior to entering the store, Hub and Wif took bets on whether the AT&T employees would successfully handle this request.  Historically similar tasks have been met with smiles and promises of success but incomplete follow through; this was not hub and wif's first attempt to switch to a family plan.  This time the process took about fifteen minutes to complete and a later visit to the online account revealed the switch to be an apparent success.  After AT&T, hub and wif made a stop at the highly anticipated Hollywood Burger Bar.  This restaurant always smelled delicious and promised outstanding burgers.  Hub and Wif split a 1/3 lb burger with no mayo, thousand island or onions, an RC Cola and a chocolate milkshake.  Across the board, Hub and Wif were underwhelmed.  The restaurant was a little dingy inside rendering wif nervous about the cleanliness of the kitchen.  The burger was average; it was prepared in the old-timey style of Skyline Cafe only it didn't taste as good.  The milkshake appeared to hold promise on the menu - made from hard pack ice cream it sounded delicious.  However, the chocolate syrup employed by Hollywood Burger Bar was not the tastiest.  Hub and Wif finished their underwhelming lunch and headed to Miller Paint to pick up two gallons of seashell pink and a few other painting supplies; the employees are starting to recognize us.  Hub and wif returned home from this excursion and hub jumped into painting - first he had to finish priming then he could start the first layer of pink.  Wif played Internet, emailed Brenda the address list and then got started making blackberry pie.  Wif used the America's Test Kitchen pie crust recipe although she broke some of the rules, namely the one requiring refrigeration of the dough.  Well, wif refrigerated the dough but for only about a third of the time required by the recipe.  Anyway, as a result of wif's impatience the pie dough was tough to work with, to say the least.  It was both sticky and dry, because it was warm but wif didn't add enough water.  While wif was getting the berries ready, she noticed a few had little moldy spots; those were thrown away but caused wif some anxiety with regard to the impact on their neigoboring berries.  Wif washed the remaining berries and was assured by her mom and Hub that between rinshing and cooking everything would be fine.  Once the berries were rinsed and mixed with flour and sugar, wif discovered that her pie plate is deeper than most, so the required amount of blackberries did not quite fill the crust.  With no berries to spare, wif was forced to accept this condition and hope for the best.  Wif finally got the pie assembled and into the oven; however, wif forgot to brush the crust with milk (never heard of this method before, but did it) and sprinkle with sugar.  

When she pulled out the oven rack to quickly complete this task, she burned her right index finger for the second time in 24 hours.  All in all, wif did not have the best pie making experience but she's sure the results will be tasty making it worth the trouble.  Wif did, finally, get a chance to use her marble pastry slab and marble rolling pin.  Both were helpful and probably diminished the difficulty wif had with the crust.  Wif especially appreciated the weight of the marble rolling pin.  While the pie was cooking, hub called wif upstairs to look at the first large chunk of wall he painted pink.  It looked spetacular; baby will love her room!

Baby's day was pretty mellow.  She was busy this morning and throughout the day she jabbed here and there.  Notably, she appears to have developed a taste for jabbing toward the side instead of pretty directly out front.  This could simply be a product of her house getting increasingly deep.

Update: Hub and wif found the blckberry pie to be rather tasty.  While the crust looks pretty sloppy it tastes buttery flaky delicious.