about sandbox gallery
|
By Julie
  1. Thursday I watched a live webcast of J. K. Rowling at Harvard's commencement. Her speech was so good that when Kevin got home I made him listen to the archived recording with me. He thought Rowling would make a good motivational speaker. I agree. 2. This week I signed up for the drink pouch recycling program at TerraCycle. I designated Alex's school as the beneficiary of the 2 cents per pouch that my efforts will net.   4. Legally Blonde: The Musical is looking for their next Elle Woods! Can't wait to watch this show on stage next August at the Pantages. 5. According to this doggy daycare employee, about half of all dogs eat their own poo. Good to know Daisy isn't such a freak after all. Now, if only she weren't incontinent. 6. My 6 week postpartum checkup went well. I'm still carrying 10 extra pounds, but at least my clothes are starting to fit again. I've started exercising to help speed up the process, mainly sit ups and push ups. Here are some desk friendly exercises that I plan to do when I go back to work in September.   Labels: books, environment, movies, music, parenting, pets, pregnancy, travel Comments (0) | Link to this entry By Julie
 @ birth: Latched on immediately. Wants to eat all the time. Black poo! @ 1 week: Loves baths. Hates leaving the water. Green poo! @ 2 weeks: Gained 2/3 lbs and grew 0.5 inch for a total of 8 lbs and 19.5 inches. Yellow poo! @ 3 weeks: Looks around to see what's going on. Says "ah-goo." Me, I'm doing better. No more weepiness, though I'm still inhaling Angie's delicious scent nonstop. Also I was able to stop taking painkillers last week because the single stitch I had to get was no longer bugging me. However, the weight is coming off as slowly as I'd feared. A week after giving birth I went from +13 lbs to +10 lbs without even trying, but now 3 weeks postpartum I'm still at +10 lbs. I'm not supposed to engage in any major exercise for 3 more weeks, so until then I don't think there's much I can do other than stay away from junk foood. Comments (3) | Link to this entry By Julie
The only reason this entry exists is because I'm forcing myself to write it now before all the details escape my feeble sleep-deprived brain. I haven't felt like blogging little Angie's birth story, not because it was a horrible experience but because it was so wonderful that I don't want to admit it's the last time I'll ever experience something this amazing.
Here's a typical conversation you might overhear between me and Kevin if you happened to be in our house between 9 p.m. and 12 midnight on a random evening: Me: look, she's so cute Kevin: (some sort of acknowledgment of my previous statement) Me: and she smells good Kevin: (some sort of acknowledgment of my previous statement) Me: and she's growing up too fast already... (burst into tears) Kevin: (some comforting remarks about how they'll always be my babies, how we still have many years of parenting ahead of us, etc.) Me: (keeps sobbing inconsolably and blubbering about how I don't want them to grow up) Incidentally, we had similar conversations right after Ana was born. That's how we decided maybe we weren't done having kids yet. This time, however, I think I'll just have to suck it up and deal.  Angelina was born right on her due date, April 27, at 10:48 a.m., measuring a healthy 7 lbs 5.5 oz and 19 inches. About 24 hours before she was born I started feeling something that wasn't quite contractions yet, but it was significant enough that we completely forgot about Alex's karate lessons as well as a birthday party he was invited to attend that day.  Then, sometime in the afternoon, Kevin started keeping track of my contractions. They were still far apart. To pass the time, he sang songs from the Myspace karaoke website to me. It was a very effective distraction :) At some point we told the kids that the baby was coming soon. They were very excited. Here they are playing animal doctor, delivering a puppy. We also called Kevin's mom. That evening she came to our house with her overnight bag. Kevin read the kids a bedtime story and tucked them in while I alternated between walking around the house and lying down on the sofa. Kevin's mom stayed up with us for another hour or so and then went to bed. Around 12:30 a.m. we set out. My contractions were not yet 5-1-1 (5 minutes apart, each 1 minute long, for 1 hour) but since we live about 30 minutes from the hospital, we decided to head to some place near the hospital, maybe a 24 hour diner, where we could hang out until I hit the 5-1-1 mark. About 5 minutes into the drive a particularly intense contraction made me change my mind, and we headed straight to the hospital instead. When we arrived at the hospital, I was taken to a labor and delivery room immediately. A few weeks ago I had tested positive for group B strep, so I had to take antibiotics via IV for the baby's protection. Since I had to get 2 doses, preferably 3, with 4 hours between doses, the nurses did not give me Pitocin to speed up labor. This was a new experience for me. With Alex and Ana I didn't have group B strep, so maybe that's why they gave me Pitocin to make the baby come as quickly as possible. By contrast, going through labor without Pitocin was positively pleasant. Kevin had packed 2 of my favorite DVDs in the suitcase. After we finished signing all the hospital paperwork, he started up Bride and Prejudice  . My nurse was highly amused to find me LOLing in the midst of contractions whenever she came to check on me. We never got around to watching the other movie, Nacho Libre . By then my contractions were too strong for me to pay attention to a movie.I made a joke about how strange it was that we didn't hear any screaming from the other rooms. I spoke too soon. Almost immediately I heard my neighbor in the next room start roaring in pain. I guessed that she had opted to go "natural." The yelling continued for about half an hour. It was very disconcerting. Around 6 a.m. I requested an epidural. The anesthesiologist had just come on shift, and he didn't know what the previous guy had done with the key to the epidural cart. So I had to grit my teeth through 15 minutes of the worst pain while he and the nurse tracked down the key. But as soon as the drug kicked in, it was instant relief. I was so relaxed I fell asleep. Two hours later I woke up feeling positively refreshed, but I couldn't feel a thing from the waist down, so the nurse had to give me a catheter, which was yet another experience I'd not had before and one that I hope never to repeat, because while I couldn't feel a thing with the epidural, when it wore off I felt sore for quite some time afterwards. Around 10:30 a.m., right after I received the 3rd dose of antibiotic, the nurse checked my progress and discovered to her surprise that I was fully dilated (10 cm) and the baby had crowned. Fortunately my epidural was still working because the doctor on duty was busy with another patient, so I was told to hang on for a few minutes. Immediately after the other woman delivered, the doctor ran into my room and changed into fresh scrubs. Five minutes and 4 pushes later, the nurse put Angelina into my arms, and for the third time in my life, I experienced love at first sight. Comments (3) | Link to this entry 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 Comments (0) | Link to this entry 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 Comments (0) | Link to this entry 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 Comments (0) | Link to this entry 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 Comments (0) | Link to this entry 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 Comments (0) | Link to this entry 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 Comments (4) | Link to this entry 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 Comments (0) | Link to this entry 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... Comments (0) | Link to this entry By Julie
Last week, Ana discovered during her nightly peek at the aquarium that the fish had died of a disgusting white fuzz that enveloped their entire bodies. Kevin looked it up and learned that it was a fungal infection that took over the gills, i.e. they had been suffocated to death.
I left the room and asked Kevin to scoop out the bodies because my stomach couldn't handle it. In comparison, the kids handled the deaths of their pet fish just fine, until Alex discovered that there was one last fish still alive. When he was told it probably wouldn't make it, he took it very hard. Poor kid. The snails are still alive and well though, and Ana still visits them every night. In a couple of weeks, once Kevin has gotten a chance to clean the tank, we'll get some more fish. Or who knows, maybe we'll let ourselves be talked into getting a crab or tortoise.  This weekend we invited some friends over. One is expecting a boy only a few weeks after my due date. She was happy to take our old baby boy clothes off our hands, so I spent some time weeding them to make sure nothing inappropriate got passed along. Like this gem of a vest. I don't know about you, but "star warm" sounds way too hot to me. I don't think any baby needs a vest that will keep them THAT warm. Today was all about me - and Cesar Chavez, I suppose, but mostly me. Kevin and I both had the day off, and he took me out for brunch and shopping. We stopped at the Kiehl's counter at Nordstrom where I embarassed the saleswoman asking if Kiehl's made nipple cream. (They don't.) Then we went to Macy's because I've been so very depressed about my lack of clothing options. Many of my maternity outfits are 10s on the cutesy scale, which was fine back when I didn't need people to take me seriously. But things are different now. So, despite having only 4 more weeks to go, we got me some new shirts all in the name of workplace effectiveness. Labels: kids, pets, pregnancy, shopping Comments (0) | Link to this entry By Julie
Monday morning, while I was still struggling to get out of bed, Kevin went to the kids' room. By the time I finally got up, they were already out of pajamas and in their school clothes. Kevin pointed out that he had dressed them both in green.
"That's nice," I said absent-mindedly. Meanwhile I dressed myself in blue. It wasn't until I got to work that I realized it was St. Patrick's Day. Duh. I'm in the 34th week now. For some reason my weight hasn't changed. I'm still at +20, but it feels like +100. My backaches come and go with no apparent cause other than the fact that I'm in the 3rd trimester. When I sit too close to or on the ground, it takes me a long time to get up on my feet. And forget about climbing stairs. You might as well be suggesting I climb Mt. Everest. The baby's movements have been intense. Sometimes she'll jab or kick so hard that you can actually see her fist or foot against my skin, stretching it several inches out. Kevin has been taking video. I'm too self conscious to share them at this moment. Maybe I'll change my mind later.  We've had American Idol Encore  for 5 days now and we're still singing our hearts out. Alex has almost mastered "Black Hole Sun" and "Rio," and tonight he started learning "I Just Died in Your Arms." Kevin's been getting great scores on pretty much every song he tries, even ones with female vocals, like Madonna's "Holiday" and Fergie's "Glamorous." My (now not so) secret ambition is to get 100% on "Midnight Train to Georgia." You can stop laughing now...Labels: kids, music, pregnancy, toys Comments (0) | Link to this entry By Julie
 Yesterday I finally opened The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl  and ended up inhaling it in one sitting. It was a fun read. The reason I was home wasn't so fun though. I woke up feeling awful, tried to drive to work, almost passed out on the way there, and barely got myself home before blacking out on the sofa. I didn't wake up until 2pm!!!3 days of sleeplessness + horrid back pain + killer allergies + taking pills on an empty stomach + pregnancy in the 3rd trimester = wanting to barf and black out I was already planning on taking tomorrow off, but I guess my body couldn't wait 2 days. Today I'm completely back to normal though, knock on wood. Labels: allergies, books, meds, pregnancy Comments (0) | Link to this entry By Julie
Today I submitted my leave of absence paperwork. I'm taking off the tail end of April, plus all of May, June, July, and August. This by far will be the longest period I've ever been off work.
Meanwhile, Kevin is remodeling the nursery. He's ripping out the carpet, installing wood floors, removing the popcorn ceiling, painting the walls two tone, installing a chair rail, and putting in new light fixtures. I just realized after looking at Jenny's pictures that I haven't taken any pictures of my belly this entire pregnancy. Not that you'd be able to tell the difference from one week to the other anyway, considering how my uterus wasted no time stretching out. By late first trimester, even though the baby was only a tiny peapod, my belly was already as big as it is now. I guess that's how things work after having two kids. I've only got 6.5 weeks to go, unless baby#3 decides to come early. Alex was 2 weeks late and a touch under 8 lbs, and Ana was 1 day early and 7.5 lbs. If baby#3 follows their lead, she'll be 2 weeks early and 7 lbs, hehe. Labels: home improvement, pregnancy Comments (0) | Link to this entry By Julie
Like many kids, Alex used to assume that a baby comes out of a mother's belly button. Why kids think that, I don't know, but everytime he's brought it up, we've corrected him. "No, the baby comes out of the birth canal."
A couple of days ago the topic came up again. So I showed Alex a cross-section of a baby being pushed out of the birth canal in the book, What to Expect When You're Expecting  . Then he asked something like, "But where does this happen???" That's when it finally dawned on me that Alex had no idea where the mysterious birth canal was located on the human body. So, I drew a picture.First, I drew two buttocks as viewed from the side, one for the boy, and the other for the girl. This elicited some giggles, but it served a purpose: everybody knows where the buttocks are. Then on each figure I drew the stomach and thigh. Again, for triangulation purposes. The next part was tricky. As I drew a p*nis on the boy, I did so as matter-of-factly as possible. Ana continued giggling, but Alex just grinned a little with no other reaction, so I continued. I drew a dot to show where the uretha was on the girl to show that hey, look! They both have the parts for peeing and pooing! And then, on the girl I drew a small line between the urethra and the buttocks. I pointed to the line and explained, that's where the birth canal is. As I watched him furrow his brow in concentration, I said, only girls have this part, that's why boys can't have babies. I went on talking about what's going to happen in a month and a half when baby#3 comes. I described what contractions felt like, and when Alex expressed concern over my welfare, I assured him that the doctor will give me medicine so I don't hurt too much. I also described the process of pushing the baby out as being similar to having a bowel movement, which made him guffaw, and the need for the mother to rest lots so she'll have enough energy to push, because otherwise the doctor will have to do surgery to get the baby out. This last statement made him nod solemnly. At that point, it looked like the conversation was coming to an end, so I asked Alex if he had any other questions. He looked down at my diagram once again and said, "The boy's butt is bigger than the girl's butt." While Ana laughed uproariously at her brother's outburst, I erased the girl's butt and made it a little bigger. Then Ana took the picture and started drawing little lumps of poo beside each figure. Meanwhile, Alex left the room to start up a video game. I think it went well... Labels: kids, parenting, pregnancy Comments (3) | Link to this entry By Julie
This weekend was Ana's birthday party. Friday night when we went to Costco to pick up her birthday cake, we stopped at a Taiwanese cafe called 三年２班 (Class 302) in Rowland Heights for dinner. It's an adorable little place decorated with school paraphernalia, down to the desks and chairs. One of the dishes we ordered even came in a stackable tin lunch box that I recognized from having spent some of my elementary school years in Taiwan. The food, though not the cheapest, was pretty good, but I didn't like sitting in those awkward wooden chairs. Maybe we can go back when I'm not so uncomfortably pregnant.
 This year we rented facilities for both of the kids' birthdays because I got tired of worrying about it raining on their winter parties and because I'm too big and tired to host them at home. There are some downsides: the limited menus, the strict time limits, the restrictions on the number of guests, and related to that, the uncertainty over whether the people we do invite will come. I was utterly thrilled about the turnout at Ana's party though, especially when Peg brought Ashlyn and Summer!!! It's been ages since we've hung out with them, and I really appreciated them making the drive up from the OC. Now we can relax until next year. With baby number 3 slated to show in late April, I wonder if we should have a joint birthday party at home for all three of them next spring, when the chance of rain is next to nil here in So Cal. We'll see...  Here's a picture of Kevin giving Daisy a bath. Being a straight haired dog, Daisy always looks pretty good even when she hasn't had a bath in *mumble mumble* months. What most people don't realize is how much basset hounds shed. Back in the day I used to be the main producer of the hairy tumbleweeds that we find around the house, but ever since Daisy joined the family, she's got me beat. We'd been wondering if she's been shedding even more due to lack of baths, but she proved that theory wrong. Immediately after her bath she shed enough hair to fill a Swiffer Cloth  just by doing a few laps around the dining table.So I'm now 31 weeks pregnant and +18 lbs. Only 9 weeks left, but it feels like an eternity. The bad: I've been sleeping very, very poorly. It's supposed to be normal during the 3rd trimester, but the last two times it didn't start this early. I'm also constantly congested, and my taste buds seem to have a mind of their own. Everything tastes off. The good: I've been keeping the horrid leg cramps at bay just by standing up regularly. Also, at my checkup last week I learned that my 3-hour glucose tolerance test came back negative. Hooray, I'm not diabetic! Labels: chinese, food, kids, parenting, pets, pregnancy Comments (2) | Link to this entry
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
The pregnant half blogs about money, their son, and Harry Potter movies while the non-pregnant half tries to think of a better title By Julie
This weekend we reached an important milestone in our financial life: we stuck to our credit card budget two statements in a roll! I haven't been this excited since we paid off all our student loans. Back then it was me wielding the whip that got us there, but I haven't shown much financial restraint since. Sure, I've gone through all the motions of making a budget, but it was just this number in an Excel spreadsheet. Every month I'd pay all the bills and tell Kevin, oh well, we've gone over again.
Finally Kevin got tired of hearing that we weren't putting as much into savings as I'd hoped, so he made it his personal challenge for 2008 to stick to the plan. He started logging into our accounts every week and coloring in a thermometer representing our budget, and during the final week of each billing cycle we've been finding ourselves going to extremes to keep from bursting the thermometer. Not that there's any real consequence to bursting the thermometer. It's just a fun game.  Speaking of games, Alex drew this impressively accurate representation of Pacman using the pattern editor in Animal Crossing  . He has never played Pacman before. When we asked him where he'd seen it before, he said he noticed it on somebody's T-shirt. If the kid does not have a photographic memory, I'd say he has something close to it.Over the 3-day weekend we had a Harry Potter movie marathon  at home. By Monday night we'd watched all five movies , and when I went back to work today I was experiencing serious Harry Potter withdrawal. I don't know how I'm going to make it 'til November when the Half-Blood Prince finally comes out.One thing I noticed was that Alex watched both Sorcerer's Stone  and Chamber of Secrets with rapt attention but barely paid attention to Prisoner of Azkaban , Goblet of Fire , and Order of the Phoenix . Kevin thought it was just short attention span, but I have a different theory. As a kid I never paid much attention to movies or TV shows unless they had at least one character who was my age, and I think that's what happening here. In movies 1 and 2, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were ages 11 and 12, older than Alex but still young enough for him to feel like they're not much older. By the 3rd movie, the characters are 13 years old and full of teenage sturm und drang, and I don't think Alex can relate to that just yet.With all the lazing around this weekend I experienced the worst leg cramp ever Monday night. My first thought was blood clot (panic!!!) but Kevin assures me I had it this bad the last two pregnancies and rubbed my leg until the pain went away. Also I'm pretty sure my cold is gone and that my runny nose is just due to rhinitis of pregnancy, yet something else I'd experienced the last two times. And finally, I'm back up to +17 pounds, thanks to a huge batch of oatmeal cookies I baked and subsequently ate. (Hey, at least they were made of oatmeal.) Labels: harry potter, kids, pregnancy, shopping, toys Comments (1) | Link to this entry By Julie
I came out of that awful weekend 3 pounds lighter. It was the most painful way to lose 3 pounds I've ever experienced. I'm still coughing, and every so often I get a little dizzy and nauseous. But otherwise I'm okay (fingers crossed). As far as the pregnancy goes, I'm now +14 lbs. I hate all my clothes.
The last few evenings I've spent every spare minute lying on the couch, typing on my laptop, trying to help Alex with his science project. It was hard going because the typing made me dizzy. I'm glad to say it's finally done! There's a big foldout poster board with his research question, conclusion, and everything in between, as well as an awesome video. I can't share it here because it's got too much personal identification all over it, but if you want to come to the science fair tomorrow night, it's going to playing on a loop in front of his poster board. I nagged Kevin more than usual the last few days because I thought as Mr. Science, he should have done more to help Alex on this project. As it were, I set up the experiments, wrote the script, designed the visual aids, and edited the video. All the boys had to do was follow my instructions. Finally it was a confession on my part that made Kevin realize why I thought he should have done more of the work: I've never done a science project before. This blew Kevin's mind. He had always thought of his wife as Ms. Academia, and it simply never occurred to him that I would have missed out on such a basic staple of the typical American childhood. I didn't know what to tell him. I remember thinking as a kid that I would like to do a science fair project, but I didn't know how, and I didn't have anyone to help me. Over the years it became one of many things that made me feel like an academic fraud. But now that I've done my first science fair project, I can safely put some of those feelings of inadequacy behind me. Comments (2) | Link to this entry By Julie
This morning I gave the kids each a 红包 (red envelope) after instructing them to say 恭喜發财 (gong xi fa cai / wishing you prosperity) and 新年快樂 (xin nian kuai le / happy new year). At daycare Ana's teacher gave her a 红包 and me another one to pass on to Alex. For dessert tonight I got us a few goodies from the Chinese bakery.
All day today my throat hurt and I kept coughing up loogies. This is probably not the best way to welcome the new year, but it couldn't be helped. First Kevin got sick. Then Ana caught it. After a couple of nights of her crawling into our bed and disrupting my sleep, I came down with it as well. Sigh. At least it happened right at the same time as my monthly baby checkup. Today I was able to confirm with my doctor that I could take all the good stuff: Sudafed, Robitussin DM, Tylenol, etc. But I also got a stern lecture for asking whether I could skip the 3-hour glucose tolerance test. (Because I tested negative the last two pregnancies!!!) Oh well. It's not my fault the paperwork they sent me via USPS 2 weeks ago never arrived though. I picked up a copy today and made the appointment for next week. Hopefully this weekend my cold will get better and we'll have time to go to 99 Ranch for some 年糕 (nian gao / new year cake). Labels: chinese, food, meds, pregnancy Comments (1) | Link to this entry By Julie
For a good part of last year we kept finding other people's dog droppings on our lawn or driveway every week or two. Finally about a month ago I got fed up. Instead of cleaning up the droppings, I grabbed a broom and swung furiously until they all ended up in the middle of the street, and I asked Kevin to do the same if he should see more. I wanted to send a clear message to the perpetrators, that if I should ever catch them in the act, I will take my broom to both them and their stupid dogs.
Then this morning Kevin caught sight of more dog droppings, except they were in our neighbor's driveway on the other side of the street. I should go lend the neighbors my broom. My doctor's office called with some bad news. My one-hour glucose tolerance test came back a little high, so I'll have to take the three-hour test to make sure I don't have pregnancy-onset diabetes. For the uninitiated, the three-hour test goes something like this: I'll have to follow a stupid diet for a few days, fast the night before the test, then drive to the hospital first thing in the morning through evil traffic, drink a nasty glucose solution, and try not to vomit or black out while they take several samples of my blood over the course of three long hours, leaving scary track marks all over my arms that make the coworkers wonder. I had to take this test the previous two times I was pregnant, so now I'm three for three. Maybe the epidurals have done strange things to my memory, but I do believe this test is worse than giving birth. Comments (0) | Link to this entry By Julie
I'm now 26 weeks, +13 pounds, 2 pounds less than a few days ago. Not sure what happened, maybe I'm retaining less water? Anyway, I've got about 13 weeks left. I can't wait. I'm tired of people looking at my belly instead of my face while talking to me.
We had a busy weekend. Went shopping for a few things Friday night for Alex's birthday party on Saturday, which went better than I had expected. I'd rent a party facility again, even if I weren't pregnant and my back weren't killing me.  In fact, I'm already planning something similar for Ana's party next month. I'll be a month closer to my due date and all the happier for not having to deal with all that cooking and cleaning.  Sunday we went to a lovely baby shower for friends who are having a girl. Most of the women I know who are pregnant are also having girls. Fortunately I do have one friend who is definitely having a boy. Yay, someone to take all of Alex's old baby clothes off my hands! Yesterday I woke up with a horrendous pain in my abdomen. Baby girl had turned during the night, and she proceeded to take all morning to wiggle into a different position. Meanwhile I gritted my teeth in pain as she shoved either her feet or her head against my stomach. Unfortunately, all this took place during my glucose tolerance test. The drink was as disgusting as I remembered. Hopefully my blood test comes back okay and I won't have to go through the three hour test like I did with both Alex and Ana. Just thinking about the needles fills me with dread.  After the glucose test we looked at couches in preparation for turning our study into a coffee house. We didn't buy one, but we saw several that would work. Then I got a hair cut. Alex wondered why. He liked my hair the way it was. (Long.) I thought that was very sweet of him to say. Then we went home and I helped Ana walk on Kevin's back. She's the perfect weight for working out the kinks, as long as she doesn't jump. I had other things to say but I can't remember what. Blame it on my pregnant brain. Labels: kids, pregnancy, shopping Comments (1) | Link to this entry By Julie
My HMO has a wellness program that pays members a lot of money for participating. When I first heard about it last year, I didn't bother signing up, thinking the time commitment would be prohibitive. But yesterday I changed my mind. The requirements turned out to be simpler than I thought. All I had to do was fill out a health assessment (already done!) and then participate in three different health education programs via their website.
My health assessment is a boring read, no surprise there, seeing as I've been on my best behavior due to being pregnant. Thanks to my walking buddy I've even been getting plenty of exercise. The only criticism the website had for me was that I didn't eat enough fruits and vegetables, but that's mainly because I haven't been eating much, period. I can't eat as much per meal as I used to because of the baby butting up against my stomach, so ideally I should be eating 6 small meals a day, but seriously, who has the time to eat that often? I shrugged. Oh well, I'm just doing this for the financial incentive anyway, I thought. But today at lunch I avoided the burger and fries and picked up a tuna sandwich and orange juice instead. Go Hawthorne effect :P Tonight, while watching Kevin play Animal Crossing ...Alex: Wanna know what would make this game more exciting? Kevin: What? Alex: Earthquakes and fires. Comments (0) | Link to this entry By Julie
Two examples:
Today my sister came over and brought the kids Ratatouille on DVD  as a belated Christmas gift. When we got to the scene where the food critic took a bite of his food and experienced the flashback, I started bawling.Also, I've always appreciate opera, but I didn't LOVE it until a few months ago, when I caught Paul Potts's performance on Britain's Got Talent via Youtube. It turned me into a sobbing mess. Now I listen to the opera channel on Yahoo Radio. Labels: famous people, food, music, pregnancy Comments (2) | Link to this entry By Julie
I started teaching the kids (and Kevin) Chinese over the weekend. They were such good students. We worked on numbers. I taught them 一 through 十二, then extrapolated from there. Here are a couple of the worksheets they completed:
  This isn't among my new year's resolutions, but when I went back to work last week, I confessed to a friend that I desperately needed exercise after lazing around so much during winter break. Right then we made a pact to take regular breaks and go for walks together. It's been great. So far she's reminded me more often than I've reminded her. Then suddenly over the weekend I had a horrific leg cramp. When I mentioned it during my OB appointment today, he said it's probably because I'm over-exerting myself and that I needed to take it easy. Um... okay. Right now I'm at 24 weeks + 1 day. The baby is about a pound. I haven't weighed myself since the week after Christmas when I was at +10 lb. I've also been eating a lot of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Coincidence? Haha. Labels: chinese, food, pregnancy Comments (0) | Link to this entry By Julie
The red hearts started going up the day after Christmas. I noticed them during the after-Christmas sale. At Target it was just a small aisle full of red heart-shaped bowls and the like. The chocolate hadn't been put out yet. It's just as well.
I have a confession to make: I'm immune to the allure of chocolate. It's not that I don't like chocolate or that I don't understand the difference between inferior chocolate and "real chocolate", it's that given the choice, I usually prefer other types of candies and desserts. Most people don't know about this quirk of mine, even people close to me. It's just not considered normal. When I was younger and more self conscious, I even considered fabricating a food allergy to respond to the awkward questions that come up when I turn down offers of chocolate. These days I'm a lot less reticent. When the office holiday party cake turned out to be a chocolate one, I declined. "No thanks, chocolate cake is not my thing." When pressed, I admitted that neither are truffles, fudge, or anything else chocolatey. "You're a freak," said a friend who knew she could get away with saying it. I know, I said. "I wish I had an immunity to chocolate," she continued, forking a bite of chocolate cake into her mouth. The only times I've ever craved chocolate were during my pregnancies, but the craving diminished with each one. With Alex I was devouring pounds of dark chocolate. With Ana, I had a standing order at the local doughnut shop for chocolate chip muffins. But with baby #3 the craving has been sporadic and negligible.  So what does a guy like Kevin do on Valentine's Day with a wife who doesn't go gaga over chocolate? Dinner for two always gets a favorable response, whether home-cooked or at a restaurant. Flowers are always appreciated. As for other treats, here are a few of my favorites:
How about you? What are some of your favorite non-chocolatey treats? Comments (3) | Link to this entry By Julie
Hope you all enjoyed the holidays! This year we went over to my cousin Lynn and her hubby's house for Christmas potluck. I made green bean casserole and freshly baked rolls, Kevin made bow tie pasta with sausage, and the kids made chocolate cupcakes with green frosting and red/green sprinkles.
 Here they are on Christmas Eve, each sampling a cupcake to make sure it tasted all right before taking them to the potluck the next day.  On Christmas morning we opened presents at home first. Kevin won Dad of the Year award with this gift for Alex, a Legend of Zelda edition gold Nintendo DS. Alex is being super careful with it and will be buying a protective case with his allowance soon. Then we went over to Lynn's house. During Christmas dinner, Lynn offered me a beer. Kevin and I both gaped at her for a beat before she realized what she'd done. "I totally forgot!" she laughed. "You're so small you don't even look pregnant." Other than Kevin's daily reassurances, that was the nicest thing anyone has said to me since the start of this pregnancy. At the time I was 22 weeks and +9 lbs. I don't even want to know how much I weigh now.  The day after Christmas we hit a few after-Christmas sales. Got some cards, wrapping paper, and lights. We also stopped at Beard Papa's to enjoy their delicious cream puffs. Kevin had the chocolate, and I had the vanilla. Mmmm, good.  I was so inspired that a couple of days later I tried making cream puffs from scratch. Opened up Joy of Cooking  and was delighted to find a recipe that didn't look too hard. The result was ugly but *dangerously* tasty. Kevin and I ended up devouring two whole batches by ourselves. Let's see, other things we've been doing... Cleaned the house a bit. Donated several bags of clothes to get in the last tax deduction of the year. Most of the clothes were mine. I've held on to all of Alex and Ana's old baby clothes for obvious reasons. Now that I know we're having a girl, I'm waiting to see if my sister is having a boy before giving all of Alex's old clothes to my friend T, who's having a baby boy a few weeks after me. (Can you tell I can't wait to give them away? The amount of baby clothes clogging up our garage is just overwhelming.) ADDED 01/02/08: Check out this NYT article, Tackling Clutter to Improve Your Health! I'll blog about our day trip to Olvera Street/Chinatown and our new year's resolutions later. * FYI, #2 comes on February 7th this year. It's going to be the Year of the Rat! Labels: chinese, food, kids, pregnancy, toys Comments (0) | Link to this entry By Julie
I must really be in nesting mode. I got an email offer for a new hotel in Vegas that has not one but three LCD TVs in every suite plus a host of other amenities, and my only reaction was, so what? Right now I can think of many other things to do with $200 than to blow it on one night at a luxury hotel. Like open a college savings account for baby number 3.
Today Kevin and I went to the bank and maxed out the contributions for Alex and Ana's college savings accounts for the year. If we max out our contributions every year, which we've been doing since both kids were infants, by the time they hit age 18, we'll have contributed 6-digits towards their college education. It sounds more impressive than it really is. Seeing how college costs keep rising, that could very well be just one year's tuition. I do take solace in the fact that at least we're saving something though. The other thing I've been doing is taking fish oil capsules and eating tuna regularly. Eating fish during pregnancy is supposed to help with the baby's brain development. You can always go to college on student loans, but you can't go without a brain. Comments (0) | Link to this entry By Julie
On top of my usual vitamins, I'm taking antibiotics for the sinus thing, acidophilus to offset the side effects of the antibiotic thing, and Tums and enzymes to deal with the indigestion resulting from the antibiotic thing colliding with the pregnancy thing. But I'm feeling positively grand compared to last week.
Not bothering to step on the scale has also kept my spirits up. I can already tell the baby weight is not going to come off easily this time. It's karmic, really. First time I got back to pre-baby weight in a week. (A week!!!) Second time it took 6 weeks. This time I'll be lucky to get my body back within the year.   I've been meaning to share more of Alex's artwork. He drew the one on the left recently. It really puts me in the spirit of the holidays. The one on the right he drew several months ago, back in 1st grade. Yes, that's the Statue of Liberty. Click to enlarge and read the fabulous story.  Over the weekend Kevin and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary by taking in some good old fashioned big band music, "The Rat Pack: Live at the Sands" at the Wilshire Theater in Beverly Hills. It was a fun show. Kevin and I both thought the Dean Martin impersonator was the most entertaining of the three. The theater was beautiful too. The only thing missing was a dance floor.   We also attended a birthday party. If it's possible I think Kevin had more fun than the kids! To our dear friends D and J: we've got our fingers crossed for you! Labels: kids, meds, music, pregnancy Comments (1) | Link to this entry By Julie
You know that moment in a sci-fi/fantasy movie when the hero/ine grabs their head, crashes to their knees, and experiences a cgi-induced vision that implies they are either 1) psychic, 2) being controlled by unseen forces, or 3) more powerful than they could ever imagine? I had one of those visions on Thursday, except all it told me was that I was 4) suffering from a bad sinus infection. I immediately popped an extra-strength Tylenol, then picked up the phone and scheduled a doctor's appointment for early this morning.
I took Ana along to my appointment because I didn't have time to drop her off at daycare beforehand. In the middle of my appointment, while I was discussing with the PA which antibiotic would best take care of my little problem, Ana calmly informed me that she needed to go to the bathroom. If you know kids, you know that meant I had about 10 seconds to get her on a toilet or else suffer the consequences. As I picked Ana up and ran for the nearest bathroom, the PA called after me and said she would send a prescription for my antibiotic of choice to my pharmacy. I yelled thanks back over my shoulder. These days Ana's favorite toy is a magnifying glass. She likes to use it to look up my nose. I'm just glad she doesn't use it to torture ants. Tonight, while Kevin and I discussed our evil plans to take over the world, aka the finances, I told him that on Monday, as I got on the plane for my meeting in San Jose, I suddenly remembered that we still hadn't signed me up for life insurance. Where's the form? I asked, you were supposed to help me get that done. It's somewhere around here, he motioned vaguely. Then he told the kids to get ready for their bedtime story. Months and months of forced conversations, changes in topic, and now missing forms. It was just as hard when we signed him up for life insurance. Neither of us wants to think about the possibility, but I'm not going to be able to avoid plane rides for the rest of my life. Labels: kids, meds, parenting, pregnancy, toys Comments (0) | Link to this entry By Julie
  I don't know what possessed me to even consider buying clothes during this time of body limbo, but so far this pregnancy I've bought four blouses, a pair of ankle boots, and this dress. I find the collar irresistible. The fit is flattering too, and it isn't even from the maternity section. I'm at 18 and a half weeks, far enough along for an ultrasound to determine the sex of the baby, so that's what we did today. The kids came along for the show. We all had a good time seeing the baby during the examination, but we couldn't tell if Alex and Ana were getting a brother or sister until the doctor started tilting me this way and that way to make the baby move. Finally we were able to catch a glimpse between the little legs and learn that we're having a GIRL. I was unprepared for the flood of emotions that hit me as we left the exam room. You would think that this being baby number three, I'd be an old hand at this mothering business, but all the insecurities that I felt when I found out I was pregnant with Ana came rushing back to be revisited. What it all comes down to is this: can I be the role model that this baby needs? Because even if her personality ends up being nothing like mine, she's still going to look to me for clues on how to behave as her same gender parent. I guess after almost four years of mothering a daughter I still don't have it all figured out yet. Labels: nablopomo, parenting, pregnancy, shopping Comments (4) | Link to this entry By Julie
 Today the kids and I attended my niece Abby's 2nd birthday party. I'd bought her present weeks and weeks ago, a set of six pairs of Disney princess shoes, so it was only a happy coincidence that her party today was Disney princess themed. I was overjoyed that she liked the present. As soon as she unwrapped the box she wanted to try on a pair. Here she is wearing the Snow White shoes. My sister's pregnancy is about a month behind mine. The poor woman is still nauseous all the time, so I don't think she was able to eat a single thing during the party. I, on the other hand, was able to add to my *ample layer of pregnancy fat* (see my post yesterday :P ) by ingesting large amounts of shiitake mushrooms that I picked out from the delicious chow mein my mom contributed to the buffet table, plus a couple of squares of Hawaiian pizza. Kevin didn't attend the festivities because he was planning to paint the bedroom. He was also waiting on a guy to come move our air conditioner, which had been sitting askew during the entire construction project, blocking the walkway on the side of the house and making it impossible to wheel the trash bins into the backyard. Once the guy came, it was tedious how much of Kevin's attention he needed to do the job right. Kevin couldn't actually start painting until after dinner, but luckily from there it went fast. Tomorrow we'll lay the flooring together. Hopefully that will go fast as well. Labels: food, home improvement, kids, nablopomo, pregnancy, toys Comments (0) | Link to this entry By Julie
Today I went back to work still feeling under the weather, and everything that was bad became intolerable. The last straw was when a coworker saw me getting my umpteenth drink of water and joked that the reason I'm so warm must be because I'm now covered with a layer of fat.
"I'm not warm, just THIRSTY," I snapped. "I've only gained ONE POUND." It didn't help that I had finally unpacked all my maternity clothes last night. I drink so much water during the day that my normal shirts can no longer handle how much my belly bloats out between getting up in the morning and going home at night, so today I wore an empire waisted maternity blouse with plenty of give in the belly. Even though several people commented on how cute it looked, I still felt self conscious, and the fat joke from that one insensitive git just pushed me over the edge. Incidentally, I'm at 16 weeks and 5 days. Just 23 weeks and 2 days to go. Comments (0) | Link to this entry By Julie
I haven't been sharing many photos lately. Alex and Ana have been given a reprieve by the mamarazzi while she sleeps off the rest of this pregnancy. This morning I felt particularly awful and had to call in sick. I finally got out of bed at 11am feeling not much better.
 This ultrasound is a month old. I didn't upload it at the time because I was almost too nauseous and tired to blog, let alone bother with the scanner, etc. During the exam the baby was very active, kicking and waving the whole time. This picture caught him/her holding a hand to the forehead. What a little drama king/queen! At the next ultrasound, which will be the week after Thanksgiving, we'll find out whether it's a boy or girl. Fun!! Here's a picture of Alex and Ana from Halloween. Check out those cheesy grins. I couldn't get either of them to smile naturally. Now you see why they needed a break from my camera? :)  Here's a couple of shots that show them in a more relaxed state, watching a SpongeBob Squarepants DVD, probably about 10 minutes before we announced bedtime. There's another picture (not shown) with Ana propping her feet up on her brother's bottom. I had to tell her to take her feet down; meanwhile he didn't even notice. I guess that's how she got the idea boys can take the abuse.   Labels: kids, nablopomo, pregnancy Comments (0) | Link to this entry By Julie
Recently a lot of the articles in the New York times have been making me LOL, like this one on why you don't really need to wear deoderant. Earnest science types always tickle my funny bone.
Speaking of washing one's armpits, as I was climbing into the bathtub last night, Ana insisted on joining me. After splashing half the water out of the tub, she tried to crawl on to my belly. "Be careful, don't squish the baby," I warned her. "Why?" she asked cheerfully. "Because you might hurt the baby." "But it's a boy," she explained. "What do you mean?" I asked. "It's a BIG boy," she continued patiently. "I like boys." Apparently Ana thinks we're going to have another boy, and somehow her big brother and daddy have given her the impression that boys can take all kinds of abuse. So I tried again. "Well, don't squish mommy then." "Okay." Today on the drive home Ana told Kevin that girls smell like sweetie and boys smell like chicken. She then inhaled and exhaled loudly to express approval of her daddy's scent. I guess she likes the scent of chicken. Labels: kids, nablopomo, pregnancy Comments (2) | Link to this entry By Kevin
Today we had a well-baby visit in celebration of making it to 15 weeks and out of the rather horrible (nausea 24/7) first trimester. Aside from the usual Q&A and the chance to listen to th |
