By Julie

Because we couldn't go to the Coachella Music Festival this year, the regrettably human and therefore illogically petty part of my brain wants to believe it has already jumped the shark. So why am I sitting here anxiously waiting for the live webcast to start?

Earlier today I was on ROFLCon watching this session's live webcast. The online chatters who were watching the discussion with me were all being "extra special," especially once the live Q and A turned to issues of gender and race, so I left. I guess I could have tried to challenge my fellow chatters, but I really wasn't in the mood. Now I wish I had watched the LOLCATS session. At least they were willing to address the gender issue.

A couple of friends suggested that I update my Facebook profile with the progress of my labor. (Not that it's started yet.) My response? So not gonna happen! But I offered to text them when I head to the hospital.

Labels: music, news, pregnancy

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By Julie

Today I read about this violent hate crime against an Asian guy in nearby San Dimas. Kevin and I lived there for about a year before the kids were born. It was a very homogeneous place. Aside from the employees at the one single decent Chinese fast food place in town, I rarely saw another Asian face. There was a passable coffee house where we hung out along with the other college kids, but the jeering from the loud drunk faux cowboys who went line-dancing at the bar upstairs sometimes made it a less than pleasant experience. By the time Alex was born we were living elsewhere, thank goodness, and when we started house-hunting we didn't even bother looking in San Dimas. In my ideal town, no ethnic group would be in the majority, and while Walnut looks like it's headed to become yet another Asian 'burb, at least for now it's still fairly diverse.


Here's a picture of the nursery as it looks now. Kevin has installed most of the chair rail (slim piece of wood in the middle of the wall) and base moulding (wide piece of wood at the bottom of the wall). He did an amazing job. Trust me when I say the picture doesn't do it justice.

Today was going to be my last day at work before going on leave, but I called in sick. I spent most of the day lying on the sofa in a daze. I figured it was my body's way of getting me some rest before having to deal with the exhaustion of labor, which incidentally has not started yet.

Labels: home improvement, lusers, news, pregnancy, work

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By Julie

Last week a skinny envelope arrived from the life insurance company. I ripped it open and speed-read the letter approving me for coverage. Phew! This ends several months of bureaucracy that began late last year when I first mailed in my application. At one point they even sent a phlebotomist *to my house*! It felt like such a strange invasion of privacy. I even asked if I could drive to a lab instead but was told that wasn't an option. So Kevin ended up coming home during his lunch hour to keep watch as a stranger sat on our couch and drew a gazillion tubes of blood from my arm, then made polite chitchat with her while I retreated to the bathroom with a small cup. We photocopied all the forms she had me fill out and scrutinized them for any missed details after she left but didn't find anything revealing. I had already told them in my initial application that I was pregnant, so that wouldn't have been news to them. My best guess is they would have tested for HIV and cancer. Good to know I'm clean. And a relief to have one fewer item on our baby to do list.

Earlier today Kevin ran out to Target and bought a new infant car seat using just a fraction of the gift money we got from my generous parents, coworkers, and friends. (Who says every kid after the first one gets nothing but hand-me-downs? Not ours!) Now he's back working on the nursery. He just finished laying down the flooring and is now installing the chair rail. Meanwhile I'm in full on nesting mode. Yesterday I cleaned the bathrooms, and today I've been waddling back and forth between the washer and dryer and the suitcase in our bedroom, trying to catch up on all the laundry I didn't do last weekend due to work and pack for the hospital at the same time.

This morning I weighed in at +25 lbs, same as last week. If this remains steady, I'll end up gaining the exact same amount of weight as I did when I was pregnant with Alex and Ana. I'm so boring and predictable ;)

Labels: pregnancy

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By Julie

I can't sneeze. The baby won't let me. I can do the AH-, but instead of finishing with -CHOO, I just wince painfully. Even blowing my nose is difficult because of the abdominal muscles required. I've never experienced this before because both Alex and Ana were born in winter. Something to keep in mind for all of you future moms who suffer from spring-summer-fall allergies like I do.


Yesterday while teaching the kids how to baby proof the living room for their soon-to-be-born baby sister, I told Alex how he used to play with the TV set. He couldn't stop laughing through the whole story.

Back when Alex was a baby, we watched two shows a week religiously: Charmed and Gilmore Girls. Eventually we had to stop watching Charmed once Alex got old enough to be scared of the monsters, but at first all he noticed was the bright light coming out of the box... and the row of buttons immediately underneath.

Alex learned quickly that pressing the On/Off button got Mommy and Daddy's attention right away. When he graduated on to the channel buttons, we bought a plastic shield made for babyproofing the TV. It didn't last a week. Alex figured out how to pull it away from the TV and reach behind it with his nimble little fingers. We ended up have to duct-tape over the buttons and use the remote control exclusively.

I have many other Alex babyproofing stories, but I can't recall any for Ana. Aside from perching precariously on the arm of the sofa I don't remember her doing anything else particularly dangerous or naughty. I wonder if it's because she had an older sibling to occupy her attention. Or maybe they just have different personalities.

Daisy's preoccupation with eating plants is bordering on the pathological. Kevin found several gigantic lumps of regurgitated grass in the backyard. But I think I've found a way to keep my plants out of her reach: container gardening. I've transplanted all the small plants into long, rectangular containers and set them on the patio tables and the corn into large pots set on top of the patio chairs. Thank goodness Daisy has short legs.

Labels: allergies, gardening, kids, pets, pregnancy

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By Julie

To Do List:

1. Pack for hospital, including admittance paperwork.
2. Finish remodeling the nursery and move all furniture back in.
3. Wash and put away all 0-3 month baby clothes.
4. Buy car seat and two bases.
5. Early bird registration for Alex's after school care and Ana's preschool.
6. Bring home all work stuff I'll need during my leave.
7. Miscellaneous other work projects.

Things we just crossed off the list:

1. Buy size 1 diapers.
2. Test the breast pump to see if it still works.
3. Take Ana on a tour of the preschool she'll be attending in the fall.
4. Talk to kids about baby proofing the living room.

In addition to the baby proofing talk, we also cleaned the entire living room. It took all four of us over an hour, maybe almost two, to pick up and put away every piece of kid debris off the sofa and the floor so that we could vacuum without sucking up something that would break the machine. I did not take before/after photos because it would scare childless folks into never having kids.

I just finished reading Helping Me Help Myself: One Skeptic, Ten Self-Help Gurus, and a Year on the Brink of the Comfort Zone, by Beth Lisick. I almost didn't make it past the first chapter because I found her writing lacking compared to some of the bloggers I read daily. Plus I didn't like her personality. By the end of her year-long odyssey, I felt like I could almost enjoy her as a casual acquaintance, but her relentless cynicism would probably keep us from becoming close friends.

Labels: books, home improvement, parenting, pregnancy

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By Julie

The nursery currently looks like this. No flooring yet. At my doctor's appointment yesterday, I was told it's still going to be a little while. I guess the baby is waiting for Daddy to install the flooring in her room.


Meanwhile, here are some seeds that I'm sprouting in my kitchen window: bell peppers, jalapenos, tomatoes, cantaloupe, and corn. They're all growing like crazy, especially the corn. It's as if the seeds can feel spring just outside the window. I'll need to transplant them outside very soon, just not sure where yet. There is no spot safe from Daisy in the backyard. She likes to eat plants, vomit, then lick up the vomit. I wish I were joking.

I would consider planting them in the front yard, but our nosy neighbors (the ones that steal flowers off my rose bushes) have an unhealthy interest in everything we grow in our front yard, and if they see crops growing, I suspect they'll either steal the fruits of my labor or report us to city hall.

Other than the delight of seeing my crops growing I have little reason to like spring. Right now I have a giant wad of tissues stopping up my nostrils because they won't stop bleeding, and the reason they're bleeding is because I've been taking Sudafed nonstop, and the reason I've been taking Sudafed is because I can't take Claritin, and the reason I wish I could take Claritin is because my allergies are driving me INSANE.


By the way, here's a picture of the belly. It's not a video, but it's more bare skin than I've shown in a while...


... and here's a picture of Kevin getting some fun in before the baby comes. He didn't get shot until several matches into his day, which is quite good considering this is his first time paintballing.

I'm officially out of the office as of the 24th whether or not the baby comes, and Kevin's starting paternity leave as of the 25th. Yay! That's only 9 more days for me and 10 more days for him!

Labels: allergies, games, gardening, lusers, pets, pregnancy, work

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By Julie

Nursery: 60% finished, with stripes, chair rail, and flooring left to go.

Me: +25 lbs at 37.5 weeks, with 2.5 weeks left to go.

Work: just gimme 3 uninterrupted days and I'll be able to finish everything up.

Labels: home improvement, pregnancy, work

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By Julie

Saturday Kevin, Alex, Ana, and I had a family meeting to discuss which night we were going to unplug as part of the 52 Nights Unplugged Project. The idea is no electronic entertainment -- no video games, no movies, no Internet -- one evening a week for a whole year. After much deliberation we chose Sunday, and so last night was going to be Unplugged Night #1.

Well folks, it didn't happen. What did happen was taxes. And work.

We had gotten up a little late, around 11, and after a lovely brunch Kevin settled down at the dining table with his laptop, the copy of TurboTax we bought from Costco, and the gigantic file folder that I had stuffed full of pay stubs, receipts, and anything else vaguely tax related. I sat down across from him with my laptop, intending to do just a little bit of work.

Nine hours later, Kevin was still doing the taxes, and I was still working.

Today I got some news that should change my work habits quite a bit. At the least I think it means we'll actually unplug next Sunday.

Labels: 52-nights-unplugged, memes, work

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By Julie

Kevin has owned his new car for less than 2 weeks, and it's already been washed twice, once by the dealership on the day he bought it, and once by him last weekend. Now he's outside washing it again.

I'm glad he likes his car :)

I'm at 36.5 weeks. Only 3.5 weeks to go, unless the baby decides to come early. Yesterday I had another ultrasound. We learned that she is already 6.5 or 7 lbs. From here on she'll gain half a pound every week. Also, her head is already resting down in my pelvis in the ready-to-be-born position. Good girl!

"She can come anytime," my doctor said. I'm excited. But I need her to give me at least another week to finish up stuff at work.

Today I went to a conference in the OC and ran into some friends I used to work with. They asked me how the pregnancy was going. When I told them all of the above, they were excited for me but also slightly uneasy.

"Why are you here?" They asked accusingly. "You should be home! Resting!"

"It's okay, my hospital is on the way home," I joked.

Off to start finishing up all that work I was talking about...

Labels: pregnancy, toys, work

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