Lil' Lurie Chronicles

Reading List: 2011

2012-02-09T13:25:00.002-05:00

I have decided to write down the books I read last year. Fabulous reading and let me know if you have any questions about these reads! Don't judge me from my reading of steamy romance novels...sometimes a girl's just gotta read something sexy!

Non-Fiction
127 Hours by Aron Ralston
Slaughterhouse by Gail Eisnitz
The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzsch
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
Journey to the Edge of the Light by Cristina Nehring
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Open by Andre Agassi
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
Shaken, Not Stirred by Tim Gunn
A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle
Unconditional Love by Alfie Kohn
Raising Happiness by Christine Carter
Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne
Nurture Shock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
Loving What Is by Bryon Katie

Fiction
Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon

Two Step Temptation by Emma Jay
Laird of the Mist by Paula Quinn
Unlocked by Courtney Milan
The Reiver by Jackie Barbosa
Eye of the Beholder by Emma Jay
Twelve by Twelve by William Powers

A Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

Recipe: Creamy Pumpkin-Peanut Soup

2012-01-02T20:57:00.001-05:00

I got this recipe from Women's Health magazine, October 2011 issue. I've made it multiple times since then and to make it vegan I replace the chicken broth with veggie broth and leave out the sour cream. I did try it with sour cream and without and I will say, the little dollop of sour cream really does make the texture *that* much better but it's up to you. I hear the vegan version of sour cream is amazing. Best of all, this whole soup is done within 30 minutes. If you do Weight Watchers, I worked out the points for this to be about 4 points per 1/2 cup of soup. Enjoy!

Creamy Pumpkin-Peanut Soup
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped (1 1/4 cups)
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp chili pepper flakes
1 can solid packed pumpkin puree (15 oz)
1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken or veggie broth
1 jar roasted red peppers (7 oz) drained, 1 tablespoon chopped and reserved for garnish
1/2 cup smooth reduced fat natural peanut butter
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
2 Tbsp chopped roasted peanuts
2 Tbsp chopped scallion greens

1. Heat oil in a 4-qt saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until golden, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook an additional 2 minutes.
2. Add turmeric, paprika, and chili flakes; stir. Add pumpkin puree, broth, peppers, and peanut butter; whisk to incorporate and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer for 5 minutes, then stir in sugar, salt, pepper, and lemon juice.
3. Transfer to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Divide among 4 bowls and garnish with sour cream, peanuts, chopped reserved red peppers, and scallion greens.

Makes 4 servings of 1 cup. Per serving: 270 cal, 18 g fat, 22 g carbs, 450 mg sodium, 4 g fiber, 10 g protein.

What. A. Month.

2011-12-20T21:50:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure when it became the third week of December, but here we are. A brief update from the past few weeks:

Our First Thanksgiving
We got a turkey from a local farm - picked it up, freshly processed and never frozen - the weekend before the big day. My mom and Jack were scheduled to leave for the Philippines for my cousin's wedding on Thanksgiving day and Terri was still in New Zealand so Thad, my brother, and I hosted Turkey Day for the first time. We invited some family friends so all told we had 9 adults and 9 kids over for dinner. Thank you to the Batts, their friends from Alabama, and the Doughertys (regular DeGuia/Lurie Thanksgiving celebrators) for joining us for an amazing night. Here is a picture from our point of view at the end of the table:

We moved all the furniture out of the living room and lined up tables with food and chairs and it turned out to be an amazing feast. Thad's first experience in cooking a turkey didn't turn out the way he had hoped (the brining made it super salty) but there's a first time for everything, right? Cooking a 20+ pounder for a first time may have been ambitious but I think he did a great job. After packing 8 leftover boxes and doing multiple loads through the dishwasher, we put our feet up and celebrated a first Thanksgiving in our new house a success.

ARUBA
More to come on our first family vacation in 2 years....here's a teaser photo:

The Return of Mamo
Four hours before we returned from Aruba, Terri returned from her 3-month trip to New Zealand. It's taken some adjustment having her home on all sides but it's great to have her back and the boys were SUPER excited to see her. They still are; Mamo is back and the boys love having another playmate around. Thad and I aren't complaining either...we are getting back into a workout groove being able to escape at night to the gym after the boys get to bed. What a big help! If you want to check out Terri's adventures while she was away, check out her blog and all the work they did on Heather and Mike's homestead: http://t-notasausage.blogspot.com/.

Returning to Training
I decided that I've been milking this "being out of shape because I have little kids" business and signed up for my 7th Team in Training event. We started training 2 weeks ago for the Rock 'n Roll Half marathon in DC in March. I am very excited - but incredibly nervous - to be back in the TNT family and have the responsibility of not only training for a race again but also fundraising. The cause is far too important for me to NOT participate so here I am again, continuing our fight to find a cure for blood related cancers. I will be posting my fundraising site sometime over the next couple of weeks and my goal is to raise $1000 before the race. GO TEAM!!!

and our most recent family event....

10 Years later

This past sunday was 10 years since we lost my dad. 10 years, a husband, 2 children, and a home that have all missed my father's presence. This time of the year is always hard for us but this year even more so because landmark years are always hard. To commemorate my father and bring together family, we hosted a party on saturday for our family and friends. I'm so grateful that we can all get together and enjoy my dad's memory, as well as share stories around my husband and kids. I think I need them to hear the stories probably more so they need to hear them, you know? Here's a group shot, the best I could do with the lighting. Thank you to everyone who came; you all hold a special place in my heart and in the DeGuia family's hearts. My dad is smiling upon all of us.

So that brings me to the week before Christmas and we've been enjoying the decorations and lights. The boys are getting more and more aware of everything going on and Julian has been singing "Holly Jolly Christmas" nonstop. Unfortunately the little guy was diagnosed with Strep throat this afternoon which means it'll probably pass through the house before we know it. Last Christmas all 4 of us had the flu over the vacation week and we are determined not to let that happen again this year. Send some good health vibes this way, pretty please!

Thanks for getting this far....this has been a hell of a month and it's not even over yet!!!

Happy birthday, Mamo!!

2011-11-14T17:31:00.001-05:00

Our dear Mamo is still in New Zealand and today is her birthday so here is how we celebrated for her! Chocolate Pumpkin muffins and a song. Happy birthday, Mamo, and see you in a few weeks!

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T21:50:00.004-04:00

I LOVE FALL. Love the leaves, the festivities....corn mazes, pumpkin patches, and apple orchards. Really, I don't think I could ever live somewhere that didn't have Autumn festivities.

Last year Julian was very aware and interested in all the decorations but this year he was SO into it! I made the mistake of bringing he and Dash to Party City with me to choose decorations but the mature decorations were too intense for my little guys. I went back without them to choose G-rated decorations and the boys LOVED helping us hang up the pumpkins, ghosts, and of course, silhouettes. We totally flaked on making jack-o-lanterns this year...oops. Does that make this Halloween incomplete?

We went to a Halloween party last weekend at a friend's house and while Dash was okay wearing his lion hand-me-down costume, Julian wasn't big on wearing the actual costume but just the pirate hat. He loved seeing all the costumes but I think he was still a little confused with them. Dash didn't seem phased at all seeing all the different costumes but after that party he has refused to wear the costume until trick or treating tonight.

This past weekend was supposed to be a weekend of festivities but we were snowed out on saturday. Here is a picture of grandma's car with the slushy stuff. It wasn't enough to impact traffic or anything but it definitely bumped the outdoor plans we had for that day. We thought about going to the Air & Scare at the Air & Space Museum but apparently everyone had a similar idea because there was a line to PARK it was so busy. Glad we didn't end up going.

So instead of battling with the crowds we stayed inside, made play-doh zombies coming out of the ground (table) and had fun with costumes.

Peek a....

Boo!

Last night we attended the Holistic Moms Network Annual Halloween Party and despite the cold and arriving very late to the event, it was a lot of fun! We arrived too late for the pumpkin decorating and bobbing for apples, but we did enjoy the yummy food and company nonetheless. Plus I got to hold a 2-week old baby so it was great night.

I also love that with little ones they get plenty of opportunities to wear costumes between parties, class celebrations, and the actual night of Halloween. Julian changed his mind constantly about what to be - witch, knight, pirate - and eventually settled on being a vampire because he wanted to wear my cape (I was a vampire at the party last weekend). We went to my mother's for dinner and trick or treating since her neighborhood has a ton of little kids and the houses are closer together. Plus, I knew that my brother and mom wanted to celebrate with the boys, too, so it was a fabulous night.

Truly, tonight was one of those nights that I dreamed about when I had children of my own. The boys were so excited about going door to door, they were polite, didn't take too much, and they loved seeing all the decorations. They each got to eat one candy when we got back to my mom's (M&M's and a mini-Snickers) and they surprisingly stayed awake for the drive home. It was such a dream of a night and I am so grateful to have my family to celebrate with us.

Getting ready


My vampire

my lion

Julian's billowing cape

About to knock...

Getting their loot!

Winston Playce open for business!!

2011-10-20T21:16:00.001-04:00

A brain-child of daddy, we turned our playroom into a soft play room for the boys to play over the Labor Day weekend in September. "Just like My Gym!" is what Julian said as he ran into it for the first time. Since then it has become a hit in our house and the boys - and their little friends - just LOVE it. We are hoping to add onto the room for Christmas. Grandma hasn't had a chance to see the room so here are some very belated pictures of the new romping room. Folks with kiddos, you are welcome anytime! Favorite thing to do in the room? Obstacle courses!

Family Music Class

2011-10-20T21:11:00.000-04:00

We decided not to put Julian in preschool this fall and find activities to do as a family instead. It was a hard decision as we really enjoyed our home school preschool coop last year and thought we would continue that this year, but between our Bradley playgroup that still meets weekly (since January 2008) plus my La Leche League leader commitments, we wanted to find something that we could do together as a family with minimal expectations. I did a little research and we enrolled for family swim classes through the county Parks system and a Music Together class which we started in September.

As you know, Julian has music in his bones and I really wanted a class that would teach him more about music than we do at home. Another big bonus of the class is that it's age appropriate for both Julian AND Dash and finding a class for both of them plus mommy isn't always easy, or at least, convenient. A friend of mine took a Music Together class with her daughter who is Julian's age and gave them a glowing review so we were very excited to start.

The class has been AWESOME. The music caught on quickly and it has rapidly become a regular part of our CD rotation in the van. (Also on our rotation are the Wiggles, Rocknoceros, and some Julian-selected 'rock and roll'). Daddy has also gotten in on the action at home. Since he can't come to class with us, he learned the music to play it on the guitar so we can sing the songs together at home. Truly, it's been a fabulous experience.

If you haven't heard of Music Together before, it has a set of songs that are geared to how children hear and learn. The music focuses on tonal intervals consistent with how children begin to talk. Some of the songs are familiar while some are new to us so that has kept the kids quite entertained. They have a different set of songs for each session of the year, with the summer session being "Song Favorites." Apparently you can take a Music Together class for three years straight and never hear the same song twice. Amazing, right? They know their stuff for sure!

Recipe: Italian Bean & Squash Soup

2011-10-11T21:33:00.002-04:00

As some of you have seen on Facebook, we have been cooking up a STORM around here lately. After we watched Forks Over Knives, Thad has been much more open to trying a more plant-based diet. I've been a vegetarian on and off since I was about 15 and when we met, I was eating veggie when Thad and I met 7 years ago. He's always been supportive of my eating preference but despite my vegan/veggie books I leave laying around hasn't embraced it as much as I would have hoped. Now, though, he's more open and I am so grateful that we can share in this journey together. I think that how we eat, like everything else in life, is a journey. How we choose to feed ourselves - both body and soul - is fluid and evolves. I've decided that I am going to post successful recipes here for you all to enjoy, too, because while I wish I could share these meals with you in person, that isn't always so easy. So enjoy and let me know what works for you, too! Here is tonight's meal, courtesy of Moosewood Restaurant New Classics.

Italian Bean & Squash Soup

Services 6-8
Total Time: 30-40 minutes

Ingredients:
1 T olive oil
3 1/2 cups finely chopped onions
6 large garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 celery stalk, preferably with some leaves, finely chopped
1 3/4 cups crushed canned tomatoes with their juice (15 oz can)
1 qt vegetable broth
1 t dried oregano
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
4 c diced peeled butternut squash
3 1/2 cups cooked pinto beans (two 15-oz cans, rinced and drained)
1 t salt
coarsely ground black pepper to taste
freshly grated Pecorino cheese (optional)

In a large nonreactive soup pot, heat the oil on medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, and celery and saute until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, broth, oregano, and red pepper flakes and bring to a simmer. Stir in the squash and cook until tender, 10-15 minutes. Add the beans and salt and continue to cook until the beans are thoroughly heated. Add black pepper to taste. Serve hot topped with freshly grated cheese, if desired.

Abbey Road on the River

2011-09-06T07:49:00.004-04:00

Another bonus of living in the DC area? Abbey Road on the River, of course! We promised Julian the Beatles and we provided....but honestly, I think we should wait until later years when we don't have to juggle naps and bedtimes so we can stay and enjoy the music longer. It's an annual festival- the largest Beatles-inspired festival in the country, apparently- and the boys were so excited to hear the music live! Unfortunately, the band that we ended up catching was playing 60's music so they played not only Beatles but ELO and the Temptations, but the boys still enjoyed it. Ask Julian what he thought, he'll say it was too loud. Go figure. Ask Dash what he thought, and he'll say it was stinkin' hot out. But regardless, it was a good experience for us but I don't think we'll be returning to the festival until the boys have a longer attention span!

Swimmin' and Diggin'

2011-09-04T09:43:00.007-04:00

Grandma took off for her annual trip to New Zealand this week. She'll be gone until almost Christmastime and I told her I'd maintain our blog much better so she can see what's going on around here, so, here goes...

What a week it's been since she left! It's a transition for everyone having Mamo gone so I kept us very busy so the boys wouldn't be too sad. On wednesday we went to our Holistic Moms Network playgroup at a local park in Centreville. It was a lot of fun seeing the other moms that I know, mostly, from online posts in our local chat group. This is the same group with which we did the homeschool preschool last year and I know Julian has missed seeing his classmates this summer.

On thursday we visited Grandma Joy for a pool trip! The boys haven't been to the pool nearly as much this summer as we did in past summers since our neighborhood does not have a pool. We miss our KPW neighbors so much! Julian is not the most ... adventurous child and he hates having his face wet so the pool has always been a minor challenge. Daschel, on the other hand, is a 'do-first-think-later- kind of kid so we have to keep an eye on him in the big pool. Grandma Joy is AWESOME with swimming and kids so by the time we were done playing with her last time she had Julian floating on his back (with help) and kicking in the big pool! I'm sad we didn't get to the pool with her more this summer but hopefully next year we'll be able to do it more often.

Yesterday we headed to our farm for its annual Pancake Breakfast and Potato Dig. The thunder didn't stop us, oh no, from heading to the fields to dig up our 10+ pounds of potatoes! Julian really liked helping daddy find the potatoes! We joined this farm last year as a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) member wherein we get a weekly delivery of farm-fresh veggies and fruit plus free entry to the farm for our own picking and play. The boys love to play and visit the animals. Our first trip to the farm was when Julian was almost 2 and Dash was only about 6 weeks old and we've gone back regularly since. This has been a fabulous experience for our family and I am so grateful for the boys to see where food comes from. They've picked their own strawberries, blueberries, peaches, and now potatoes and we can't wait for fall picking with apples and pears! Funny note, we ran into the parents of a classmate from high school. Robinson families are everywhere!

Taking a moment

2011-08-28T20:45:00.003-04:00

I have started so many postings that never got posted and I figured it's time to at least check in. I am hoping to keep up with the blog better after Grandma leaves for her New Zealand adventure next week since it'll probably be the best way (other than Skype) to keep up with the going ons of our little family.

When I started this blog before Julian was born, I figured it'd be a good way to pass around what's happening here for our family and friends far away. The more and more time passes, I realize that I think this blog is more for my own journal of our family so that we have something to look back on and remember it all. Although, thank God for digital photos, too. :) That said, I want to chronicle something that happened yesterday.

We went to breakfast at our favorite breakfast place, Le Pain Quotidien, in Clarendon. We try to get out there about once a month but this summer has been so busy I don't think we've been there since at least May, if not April. Anyways, we went and then after breakfast we decided to go to Roosevelt Island for a little nature walk before the hurricane hit. On our way to the island we were driving past Arlington Cemetery and since today would have been my dad's 59th birthday, I wanted to stop and visit with the family.

Julian and Dash had been there before but it was colder out and the fountain wasn't running. This time the fountain was running and they were ready to jump in! It didn't help that the day before we went to the Fountain at Fairfax Corner so they were fresh off of a public fountain frolicking. After explaining to them that this fountain is not appropriate for swimming, we walked over to my dad's location. Arlington National Cemetery is a beautiful cemetery and I am very pleased with how they maintain the space.

We got to my dad's spot and here is what happened:

Me: Julian, tomorrow would be grandpa's birthday. Do you want to sing to him? He would love it.

Julian: *points to grave stone* Is he in there?

Me: Yes.

Julian: But he can't come out and say "yay!"?

Me: No, he can't, but mommy and daddy will clap for you.

Julian proceeded to sing happy birthday to my father and, with tears, I clapped and hugged him. I haven't known how to explain to him and Dash that they can't meet my father. I never met my mother's father, either, as he passed away a year before I was born, but I never felt disconnected to him. Through my mom's stories of him I never felt the gaping hole that I'm sure my mother felt with his absence. I just assumed that my stories of my father would fill whatever hole or gap that my boys may feel without my father being here, but here I am and I realize that whatever story I tell them or whatever pictures I show them, I'll never quite be able to express just how beautiful a person he was, or just how much he meant to me.

I'd give anything in the whole world to have my father meet my family. I can only hope that by keeping him as a verbal part of our life, and by having somewhere concrete to visit that is 'my father's space' that the boys can see, they'll understand that while he may not be here, he's out there somewhere loving them as much as I do.

drive by posting

2011-06-15T22:28:00.003-04:00

We are sitting downstairs watching "So You Think You Can Dance" and we hear, 'I want to come and watch this, it looks funny, you know,' come from around the corner. Julian decided to come by and say hello despite needing to be in bed at this very late hour for a toddler. Thad just brought him back up but I wanted to share a little story from my evening tonight.

Julian and I were sharing a quick cuddle in the kitchen just after dinner. I sang a little song to him that I've sang to him since he was a baby, a special Julian song that we share together. He looked up at me, smile, and sang the song back to me but switched out his name for 'mommy.' He's never done this before, not so sincerely or as genuinely as he did tonight. It made me cry. One of those perfect mommy moments that I hope to keep tucked away in my memory forever (which is one of the reasons I have this blog).

Thank you, Julian, for teaching me about unconditional love. And thank you for sharing your laughter with me. .... Now go back to bed and, if you could, please sleep past 5am? Thank you. :)

The little house that love built

2011-04-12T21:14:00.001-04:00

Today was the day. It was inevitable as we’ve been battling the real estate market for what feels like forever. Our decision to purchase another home prior to selling our townhouse was the best decision we ever could have made but gee, it was a gamble. For all we knew we could have ended up sitting with double mortgages for months before our townhouse sold but in the end our lovely home was picked up after only 5 days on the market (this time around). Third time’s a charm, right? We had put our house on the market back in 2006 for a hot second (literally only about 4-6 weeks) just “to see” if it would be scooped up. Obviously it wasn’t and we decided not to deal with the “keeping-the-whole-house-clean” thing unless we absolutely had to. Then there was last year. I wouldn’t wish what we did upon my worst enemy and I can’t believe Dash spent his first few months on planet Earth dealing with the stress of having the house on the market. What were we thinking?! In the end, our dream house became available and our house was picked up by a lovely woman that, if given the opportunity, I’d love to be her friend.

So there Thad and I were this weekend doing our final sweep through the old house and I found myself in tears standing in the foyer, thinking about the last almost 7 years of my life. In spring of 2004 my lease was ending at what has famously been referred to as “Cedar House” and I needed to make some decisions about what I was going to do. Was I going to stay with IBM? Travel? Go back to school? It is the dreaded question for any 20-something: “what are you going to do with your life?” My mom and I figured that if I was ever to go back for a Master’s degree my job would hopefully pay for it. Real estate at the time was the best place to invest some money, so that was where we went. We found this house with my agent not long after it had been on the market and we scooped it up very quickly. It wasn’t going to be available until August so we did a rent back after closing in June and I lived with my mom for the overlapping months.

Thad and I met the night before I moved into this house so as far as I’m concerned, he’s always been a part of it. My friend, Shannon, helped me move in and my friend, Melisa, helped me put my IKEA tables together. I mean, really, did someone really say it was okay for this 22-year old to own a house? Apparently so and I loved it. A 4-bedroom house was a big bit for me on my own so the first year in the house was spent with some lovely roommates. There was Scott and Levi, both of whom I found on roommates.com. My mom wasn’t big on me living with perfect strangers who are men that I found on a website but after background checks and some leases drawn up, my mom figured I had to figure things out on my own. Scott was awesome. He lived with me for a year and he was the best roommate. He was quiet, he kept to himself, and he has the best sense of humor. He moved out in September 2005 right before Thad moved in. Levi was not awesome. He was evicted after approximately 5 months of living together. He was stressful, inconsiderate, and he bit one of my friends. Yup, you read that correctly: he bit her. After Levi moved out in spring of 2005 my good friend from college, Lauren, moved in and was with us in the house until Thad and I got engaged in the fall of 2006. Even though she’s moved into her own apartment in Arlington now, we still say that she can live with us anytime she wants.

Most of all, the house was the stage for the evolution of my relationship with Thad and truly the first home we ever had. On our third date Thad and I laid on the carpet in my very empty house and listened to music for hours. After Thad moved in October 2005, a month later we got 2 kittens and a puppy. Oh boy did we get ourselves into a big mess. Neither of us had any idea how to care for a puppy and the kittens were 2 furry mysteries to me as I had never had cats before either. Poor Lauren had to deal with crying kittens at her door the first week they were here and a barking dog that didn’t know where to poop…oh, the mess.

In the fall of 2006 we got engaged and three weeks later got married with a justice of the peace in the City of Fairfax. Our post-marriage celebration was spent standing around our kitchen island with my brother, Thad’s sister, and her then-boyfriend-now-husband over beers and crackers. In the fall of 2007 we got pregnant with our first little bundle and over the next couple years settled in even more to our home together. In the spring of 2008 his mom moved in with us for what we thought was a temporary arrangement but has evolved into a long-term plan. We are so grateful to have a multi-generational home in a place where it isn’t common anymore. We were especially grateful to have help within walking distance from both of our moms after our second little bundle arrived in the spring of 2010 in our master bedroom.

As I walked around the empty townhouse on Sunday afternoon I could see the faint pictures of events past: House parties with friends and that time that a friend spilled a cranberry-vodka on my white carpet. Drunk stair sliding on slippery pants. The time when I hosted a big Filipino food party and I had friends all over the house chowing down on pancit, watching a Filipino movie, and drinking beers in the backyard. Making Halloween costumes with my girlfriends for a weekend of back-to-back costume parties. Unwrapping wedding gifts with Thad and being surrounded by white boxes, greeting cards, and oodles of love from our family and friends. Painting what would be Julian’s room a Winnie-the-Pooh yellow and wondering how our lives would change with his arrival. Taking a pregnancy test and walking through the house to show Thad the proof that our little family was indeed growing. Laboring in my living room surrounded by my amazing birth team and cursing at whoever put so many stairs in my house. Welcoming our son at the foot of our bed with our other son asleep down the hall. Watching my boys cuddle on the couch on Christmas morning….

In the book that I am reading right now the main character talks a lot about houses and homes. He comes from a nomadic people and he says a couple of times that a house is like a shoe. If it’s too big, it will slide and chafe. If it’s too small, it’ll squeeze and blister. While I hate to think that we left the townhouse because we had outgrown it, it’s the truth of the matter. It is, though, forever be a perfect home to me. And so it is. The little house that love built will live in my heart forever and I am glad that another family can enjoy the space as much as we did. They may not know where all the dings on the walls came from, or about the flood we had in the basement, or how Julian learned to walk on those floors, but that’s okay. I am grateful to the house for being our home.

A year old...when did that happen?

2011-02-17T21:09:00.010-05:00

Not sure when it happened but a year has passed since our little dude joined our family. I feel like I was just waddling around IKEA yesterday waiting for his arrival. We got home from IKEA about 2 hours before I went into labor. Consequently, we went to IKEA today, too. I had this great plan to chronicle what life has been like as a family of four- well, in greater detail than I have- but, alas, I guess this is what happens when you add another child into the mix. Kudos to anyone who can maintain a blog better than I have.

Not gonna lie, those first 3 months were rocky and crazy. It probably didn't help things when we decided to put the house on the market for three months. Come to think of it, since Dash's birth it has been a non-stop crazy train ride for us. Perhaps it's a testament to the presence that he has created in our lives....the kid is a bulldozer and I say that with lots of love. He's a loud, playful, crawling, toothless wonder with lots of energy and a very devilish smile...I wonder where
he got it from?

He and Julian are BEST buds and we are so excited to see just how much fun they have together. Julian is so kind with Dash. He watches over him to make sure he doesn't play with toys that are not safe for him and makes sure to take them away and replace them with toys that are safe. It's so helpful to have a watchful big brother around!! He even makes sure Dash doesn't crawl towards the stairs. If Dash does, Julian goes, "No Dash, don't go to the stairs!" and runs and gives Dash a big bear hug and lays on top of him to make sure he doesn't go anywhere. ( I'm really glad we only have one staircase in the new house. :)) A big part of our motivation to have another child was to give Julian a sibling and after seeing them together over this past year, I am so grateful that they have each other. Where Julian is a sensitive, relatively calm, and pensive child, Daschel is proving himself to be a tasmanian devil and we are excited to see what kind of personality comes out of him as he gets older.

So happy birthday to my little rogue, my little devil. It's been an awesome year getting to know you and I am excited to see what this next year has to offer. Here he is enjoying his first ever sweet treat today. See anything funny about this picture? ;) Happy birthday, chuck!

Catching up

2011-02-06T20:34:00.007-05:00

Family picture taken at the Abby's Lane (cloth diaper store) grand opening in Manassas

Holy cow, has it really been over a month since I wrote last?! Time has flown by....time to catch up:

-Thad's new job. He started the first week of December at his new company, American Wind Energy Association, as their Director of Strategic Technology Services. He had been with his previous employer for just over 5 years and the change has invigorated him. He's very busy but I think he's happy there. Not only was the work change needed, but I think working for a cause like wind power is very cool. We came up with a really cool wind ad for next year's Super Bowl...how cool if it made it that far!

-"Okay, germs, you can go away now...." Sickness. Two days before Christmas we all got sick with the flu. First my mom, then me, then Dash and Thad on Christmas day, then Julian the day after Christmas. Between respiratory flu, then suspected food poisoning/stomach flu, and colds, the whole house felt better for a hot second at the end of January but now we're back into a cold with me and Dash. Gosh I can't wait until warm weather and we can run around outside again and open the windows!!!

Attempting to make dinner....right before Julian threw up all over the kitchen.

-My birthday. For my 29th birthday, my husband brought me to this amazing Belgian restaurant in Old Town Alexandria. If you are ever in the area and in search of a delicious dinner with amazing service, check out Brabo. 10 points if you can tell me where the name comes from....hint, the chef's parents are from Antwerp. It was a wonderful night out and very needed, it was our first date since right before Dash was born almost a year ago.

-New house. You heard that right. In the middle of the holidays and a job change, we bought a new house! We closed on the 28th so just in time for my birthday (between my minivan last year for our anniversary and our house this year for my birthday, Thad has a lot to live up to next year *wink*) and we are moving in officially on the 19th of February, just in time for Dash's first birthday. We didn't want to book movers for Jan in case we had snow, which we did, so this gives us a couple week buffer to pack up the townhouse and then move in. Hopefully our townhouse will be on the market the first week of March. Anyone want a townhouse in Fairfax? If you do, let me know!!! We've got a nice one for you!!

Lessons from my father

2010-12-17T21:55:00.001-05:00

This time of the year is always hard for me. The holidays have been dappled with losses throughout my life and nine years ago tomorrow was the biggest loss of all. I realized today that a lot of the people who have become my closest friends over the past few years never met my hero, my father, so I decided to put together this small list of lessons that I was lucky to learn from him. I hope you enjoy the read.

Music is more than just notes.

My earliest memories of music are of sifting through my father’s records, curled up next to the record player, clutching Frank Sinatra’s Greatest Hits (http://www.sevensidedcube.net/wp-content/uploads/Frank-Sinatra-Frank-Sinatras-Gr-426390.jpg) and listening to “Strangers in the Night” on repeat. Whenever I hear ol’ blue eyes sing “My Way” I still get teary eyed as that was my dad’s favorite karaoke tune (and boy did he love karaoke). At Christmas time I pulled out his cassette tapes of Perry Como and Johnny Mathis singing Christmas carols. My dad was always big on knowing more about the music than just the singer and that’s something I still look into today. When the radio still had an oldies station he would quiz me and my brother on the songs that played. “Who is this? Is this the original or a cover? What year was it? What album was it on?” And so forth. He was really excited when Forrest Gump came out because the music throughout that movie could have been my dad’s life soundtrack, too. He loved telling me stories about songs and it seemed like just about every song we heard had a story. “This was played at my 6^th grade dance…” A big reason why I keep my XM subscription is because of Channel 6, and whenever we go to the Silver Diner every song I hear has a memory attached to my father. Now that Julian is obsessed with the Beatles, I am so grateful to share my dad’s passion for music with him.

If you see something you want (or in his case, someone), go after it with reckless abandon.

If you ever saw my parents together you knew they had a special relationship; a love story that any young girl could only dream of finding someday. I heard the story a million times. Here is the short version: He was a junior in college. She was a freshman running for class office. She walked into his science class one day to hand out campaign materials. She was wearing a peach fuzzy sweater, jean shorts, and platform shoes. He took one look at her and knew, “She is going to be my wife.” From that moment on he pursued her- followed her to her dorm, followed her to class, sent his frat recruits to carry her books for her. She would not relent. They were both in their own relationships which makes this story even more scandalous because he wanted her. She knew his reputation and she was *such* a goody-goody (still is). The government proclaimed martial law and everyone went home from school to their provinces, and while they were away boy and girl thought about each other a lot. “I wonder what they are doing right now?” Marital law ended, their other relationships ended, and they returned to the university town. Fresh off the bus, they were walking down the main road and they literally bumped into each other. They both claim they wanted to hug and kiss the other person but it would not be appropriate. He asked her out. She accepted. They went to a movie where he bought her some peanuts, and so began their life-long relationship. December 7^th would have been 33 years married. They acted like two teenagers in love and their love story is my proof that true love- the kind you see in movies- does exist.

Ladies love the revolutionaries.

So my parents were in college in the Philippines during the Vietnam War. My dad said he would march in the protests not because he had beef with the U.S. government but because the ladies loved the revolutionaries. “Down with American Imperialism!” and the ladies would swoon. It’s ironic that he went on to join the U.S. Navy. J

Work hard. Play hard.

He was a workaholic but I wouldn’t say it was bad, although thank God Blackberries weren’t around when he was still working. I think it was because he could never turn off his brain. But still, he worked hard so he could play hard and every weekend (and quite a few week nights) you’d see him on the tennis courts for hours. He worked hard to take his family on vacation, take us to really cool places. I get my work ethic from both of my parents but he was definitely a model for me on how to balance work and life.

If you get a second chance (or third or fourth), make the best of it.

I didn’t know this until I was older but apparently my dad entered the University of the Philippines, the most prestigious university in the Philippines, as salutatorian of his high school class, to study engineering. He ended up being a Physics major. He partied a bit too hard and the engineering school kicked him out. The only school that would allow him back was the College of Arts and Sciences and that is how he became a Physics major. He was a brilliant man and it’s no surprise that he went on to get 2 postgraduate degrees during his career in the Navy. He took his second chance and did the best he could and I know it meant a lot to him that he was given that opportunity.

Look at the big picture.

I cried through my dad’s entire retirement ceremony from the Navy. These were not tears of joy but tears of disappointment that my dad did not stay in and go “for the glory,” as I told him, and get as far as he could. First Filipino supply corps admiral? I felt like he was walking away from his career and wouldn’t get the prestige that I felt he deserved. We had a big talk about it. At the time, his next posting would have been a move from Fairfax, VA to Corpus Christi, TX for my senior year of high school. He said he looked at the big picture of the move, its impacts beyond his career advancement, and decided it was time to move on from his career in the Navy and do what was best for his family here. After having been on a solid track in Fairfax County there was no way I’d be able to take the courses I needed to get into a good college in Texas. (Not that anything is wrong with Texas but I was looking at taking about 4 AP classes senior year that weren’t offered anywhere near Corpus Christi). What about VA schools? He could have gone alone for the year and left me and my mom in VA (Brian was at Old Dominion University at the time so he was away) but he couldn’t bear the thought of being separated from my mom for so long. And so it was, Mr. Practical, left his career as a Commander and went on to do some amazing things in the private sector. This is a lesson I’ve taken with me throughout my adult life, that I have to look at all the impacts of my decisions and do what’s best for all parties.

Always have plenty of toilet paper, water, and soap.

Did I mention he was a Supply officer? Commissary runs with my dad was like we were buying supplies to support a small village. Did we ever run out of essentials? Hell no. Our house was well stocked. For hungry teenagers, this was fabulous. As I’m finding with 2 itty bitties, you can never have too many wipes or crackers on hand. It’ll be interesting to see how that “essentials” list evolves as the kids get older.

Don’t wait to wear those clothes for special occasions.

My dad had dreams of being a singer upon his retirement. “Sitting at the dock of the bay” by Otis Redding was one of his theme songs. He dreamt of being a cafe singer in Hawaii, wearing a Hawaiian shirt, playing a ukulele, and hearing the ocean behind him. He had a stack of Hawaiian shirts that he kept for this specific occasion. He never got to wear the shirts. Lesson? Don’t wait to wear the clothes you want to wear or do the things you want to do. I have a couple of his shirts in my closet.

R.T.F.Q. and K.I.S.S.

God bless him, my dad had endless patience with me and math. I was pretty good at math until I got to Trig and Calculus where I might as well have been studying quantum physics. It was damn hard. There were times we’d be up late in our kitchen with endless papers around us with scribbles and marks and pencil points where he would point (with force) at formulas and say “RTFQ!” I was like, “what the hell does that mean?!” “Read The Fucking Question, Pamela!” Or he would look at my sad attempts at proofs and say, “Keep It Simple Stupid.” Throughout life I’ve written out these little abbreviations to myself if I am feeling a bit overwhelmed to remind myself to take a step back. My brother and I still laugh about these late night math lessons.

Remember your roots.

As a first-generation American, I always wondered what it was like for my parents to grow up in a developing country (is that P.C.?) and how it compared to how my brother and I were being raised. I loved hearing my dad’s stories of playing marbles with his brothers in the courtyard of their home or using sugar cane as a tooth brush (I think he told me the latter anecdote more to fuck with me than anything else. They weren’t that rural). When I was 10 we went to Hawaii on a family vacation and my dad climbed a coconut tree to get some fruit. Seriously? I had no idea he could do that. What I loved most about the Filipino connection was that no matter where we were or who they were, if my dad found a fellow Filipino whether it be in a grocery store or in a random city somewhere, he’d buddy up to them and before we knew it we’d be invited to this guy’s house for Christmas dinner with his family. We’re all related, right? I loved that my dad never forgot his roots and never held back in trying to share it with me and my brother. Does that mean I eat balut? Hell no. But I do remember him and my grandfather teasing me and my cousins with them.

Parenthood is not easy. Heck, life is not easy.

One of the last serious conversations I had with my dad was about him as a parent. I remember him thanking me for taking it easy on him and his parenting decisions because before he was a father he was just a man. He asked me to remember that he tried his best, to be the best father he could. That behavior extended throughout his life. He wasn’t perfect, he had his transgressions and his vices, but he knew them and he did his best by the people around him. I know that everything he did- making the Navy a career because it was the best way he could support his family (he didn’t intend on making it a career, but it just happened that way), moving us every couple of years- he did it all from a place of love and support. He did it all for us and I thank him. I thanked him all the time and I thank him daily now for the life he gave me and my family. In my eyes, he was a model father. He wasn’t perfect but he did his best and I try to live by that every day with my boys. (Mom, don’t think I’m not saying the same about you. You are absolutely the model mother and I can only hope to live up to the bar you have set for me).

Take care of the people most important to you.

I remember going to the Outer Banks the summer after 6^th grade with a few other families. This was our crew when we lived in Philly, a group of Navy families that have watched me grow up from a wee one. My dad would stand in the water up to his thighs and watch us all play in the sound (our house was on Hatteras Island on the sound side so we could play without the waves). My dad didn’t swim (funny for being a Navy man). In fact, he didn’t like going too far into the ocean, but there he was, wading in the sound watching my mom windsurf and my brother and I go crabbing. The look of happiness on his face was overwhelming. Going off of my previous point, he did everything he could to bring happiness to the people he cared most about. He pampered my mom with trips to Europe, weekend getaways, dinners out- all because he knew he made her happy. How can someone get so much joy out of seeing happiness on other’s faces, knowing he’s responsible for it? I understand it now with my own family. I like nothing more than seeing my boys (Thad included) and my friends happy. I am so grateful my parents taught me this lesson.

As I read this list, I can only hope that someday my children can look back at the lessons I am trying to instill in them and think fondly of me. I know this list of lessons can go on forever but I think this is enough for now. I am a better person because of my dad and I miss him so much that my soul aches. I know that he is watching over me raise my family and I can only hope he is proud of the person I have become. I miss you, daddy.

Farewell, Fitzchivalry

2010-12-01T14:22:00.014-05:00

You can keep a dog; but it is the cat who keeps people, because cats find humans useful domestic animals.

It was the day before Thanksgiving, 2005 when we brought them home. Thad and I had been dating for over a year and he just moved in that Columbus Day weekend. I was working from home at the time and, in my desperate need to feel social, told Thad that I wanted a dog to keep me company. He is not a dog person, or at least, wasn't. He is a cat person through and through. He gets cats. I joke that Thad is the Cat Whisperer because where most cats are aloof and run away from strangers, cats purr and run around Thad's feet. In compromise, we decided we'd get one cat and one dog. Good logic, right?

We found a cat rescue organization here in Fairfax that had two little grey kittens up for adoption. We didn't intend to get two, but really, how much more work is two than one? So off to Oakton we went to meet these two little furrballs. A Six-month old brother and sister pair who were dropped off at shelter in rural VA, we couldn't bear the thought of separating them so we decided to take them both after our vacation that week.

The first night here we watched them closely and they wouldn't come out from underneath Thad's easy chair. They were scared of the big screen TV and weren't too interested in letting us pet them either. Our roommate at the time said the first night here they howled all night. Little by little they let us get to know them and after a week or so we knew our home would never be the same.

First there was the little girl, Trillian, named after the main female character in "A Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy" by Douglas Adams. Then there was Fitzchivalry, named after the hero in the Assassin series books by Robin Hobb. They were identical but for size; if Trillian was Size 1, grey kitty, Fitz was Size 2.

If you asked me 8 years ago if I ever would have owned cats I would have laughed at you. I never really understood cats. I felt like they would sit there, judging me without getting a chance to know me. Cats made me feel incredibly inferior. Apparently this is normal behavior for a cat? I wish someone gave me this manual when I got the cats: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/kitty_pet.

It's been a trying year with him. He's had to go to the vet several times for a recurring UTI coupled with total blockage; he has been through a lot. When we saw the tell tale signs again last night that something was amiss, we had a feeling that we'd be facing the same decision again soon- whether or not to keep treating the symptoms and then still wonder when it's going to happen again. Unfortunately all the tests kept on coming back that he was okay, so with no definitive answer on what was causing all these problems, we'd be back to square one. What do you do? I am so grateful to have other pet-loving friends in my life to help me be objective but caring about pet care.

And so it was today, sweet Fitzchivalry, at five and a half years old, continued on to kitty heaven. I've been thinking a lot about him and the adorable Fitz things he did. He loved to play. Julian has been using the kitty wand with the shiny strings at the end to play with him and despite his size, he was very quick kitty. He was deathly quick when he chased a laser pointer. He couldn't resist a cardboard box or a warm lap to curl up on. He loved to eat, everything from catnip mice to mango. He got out of the house a couple of times and he would be so excited about all the smells, he didn't know what to do with himself. Every night Thad's lap would never be empty as Fitz would jump up as soon as Thad sat down for the night to relax. Fitz also had an ally in Scout. Those two were buddies for sure.

Fitz also taught me about cats. First and foremost he taught me that regardless of whether or not I was done petting him, he would tell me when it's time to be done. He also taught me to fear his claws. He taught me that even if cats seem to not care about you, they actually do. He kept me company while I was in labor with Dash, to the point of needing to remove he and his sister from the living room as they were sticking so close to me that they were getting in the way. He taught me that cats' purring could be LOUD. So blissfully loud. Really, he taught me about the unconditional love of a pet that no matter where or what we did, he'd always be waiting to sit on our laps and purr.

We'll miss you, sweet, cuddly, ever-purring Fitz.

Memories

2010-11-16T20:01:00.004-05:00

Last week we were talking at dinner about our last family vacation, a trip to Aruba last December. Julian was only about 18 months old at the time and I figured he wouldn't remember anything about it. Wrong. Thad asked him what his favorite part of the trip was and Julian paused, tapped his chin (just like Wallace from "Wallace and Gromit") whilst looking up, took a deep breath and said, "Playing in the pool." I was astonished. He remembered?! Really?!!! Wow. He also remembered spinning him around in the water, going to the beach and playing in the sand. I know that toddlers don't forget anything- like a few days ago when Thad told Julian that we would get him a nutcracker next time we went to Target (he's very excited about Christmas decorations) and today when we went to pick up shampoo for grandma, he reminded me of daddy's promise. (The miniature nutcracker is currently sitting on our dining table...we named it Heir Friedrich)- but I didn't think he'd remember a trip almost a year ago.

This little exchange got me thinking about my earliest memories. When Thad and I first started dating I used to tease him about how much he did not remember about his childhood. With all those regular saturday night dates I wanted lots of stories, right? Thad claims to have very, very little memory about life before age 15. I, on the other hand, have memories back to when I was about 3. My brother may claim that some of this did not happen, but memories are memories and these are some of mine.

-Age 3. Getting off a bus/tram at the wrong spot with my father. We were in Italy or France, not sure. My mom and brother were still on the bus and I was convinced we'd never, ever see them again. Obviously, we did as we walked and were reunited with them at the next stop.
-Age 5. Laying on a towel on the sidewalk in my swimsuit. We lived in Monterey, CA and I was convinced the song "California Girls" by the Beach Boys was written for me. I'd prop my little pink umbrella up next to me and pretend to be at the beach. (I was very sad to move away from CA and could no longer consider myself a 'california girl.' 'Philadelphia girl' didn't have the same ring to it).
-Age 3. Wearing my blue leotard while watching "The Wizard of Oz" for the umpteenth time while my mom is making dinner. The house smells of garlic and onion, two of my most favorite smells of all time.
-Age 3. Collecting HUGE hail during a storm in Charleston, SC and bringing it inside to keep it for my father to show him when he came home from sea duty. I cried when the hail melted and wouldn't be able to show it to him.
-Age 5. My brother brought home the class pet from La Mesa Elementary School and the rabbit pooped by the wall and my brother said it was me that pooped. He claims to this day that it was me. I protest. It was the rabbit and I stand by that. (I did, however, pee on the stairs in that house one night when I was sleep walking).
-Age 6. My dad played in his class softball team at the Naval Postgraduate School and my brother and I would go to his games. This specific day my brother was swinging one of the bats and I happened to be standing behind him and he thwacked me in the nose so hard it bled.
-Age 9. Me, my mom, my brother, my dad, my aunt, my uncle, my three cousins, my two grand-aunts, my other cousin, and I think another aunt was in there too all drove up to Niagara Falls in a Suburban, starting our journey from Norfolk, VA. We get up there and one of my cousins, a Filipino citizen, forgot his passport so we couldn't go to the Canadian side of the Falls. We drove all the way there and waved at Canada. My cousins and I made a song up about our trip to the tune of Milli Vanilli's "Blame it on the Rain" and called it "Blame it on Manny." Manny is my cousin. I still haven't been to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.

I think this blog post could go on and on now that my cerebrum and temporal lobes have been ignited. Suffice it to say that I am glad to remember all these things of my childhood, no matter how erroneous. I only hope that Julian and Dash can remember a lot, too. Or maybe I should start giving them ginko biloba.

Before I end this post, I'd like to say this: I remember when I was growing up and my mother would lay on the couch while I played and said, "I'm not napping, I just need to rest my eyes." I'd then proceed to climb on her and pester her mercilessly. Mom, if you're reading this, I am very sorry for all those times I bothered you while you "rested your eyes." I understand now why you needed those little dozers. :)

Don't you judge me

2010-11-04T13:25:00.006-04:00

I hope you read that title with a head swivel cause I certainly am saying it that way. I *so* don't need other people to validate or judge my decisions.

I never intended our home birth to be a statement. At least, that wasn't an intention when we began our home birth journey last year, but now I am a proud, flag-waving home birth mama and I hope to spread the good word of home birth and midwifery. While I am proud of our decision to take control of our care, I didn't expect to feel like a pioneer (sometimes). I certainly never expected me or my child to be treated any differently on his home birth but, alas, that is not the case. Last month I ran into my OB from Julian's birth at Wegman's. I had been with that doctor since 2003 and she was the reason I was with the practice for Julian's birth. At the time, we didn't feel comfortable with a home birth and we naively thought we could have a simple, unmedicated childbirth experience in a hospital. For multiple reasons that did not happen and when we found ourselves pregnant again, we gave the benefit of the doubt (briefly) to our doctors that they would support us in our attempt at a vaginal unmedicated birth after a cesarean. When I saw my doctor at Wegman's, while wearing a baby that she or someone in her practice obviously did not deliver, her reaction was pretty flat. I still intend to write a letter to the doctor who made me cry as she was the catalyst for us to find a new practitioner and I want her to know that, after a lot of hard work, our son was indeed born at home.

Fast forward to today's visit. I am due for my annual exam and I originally thought of just going back to my old gyno because they are easy to get to and I know them, but then we ran into my old doc at Wegman's and I didn't get all warm and fuzzy seeing her. And, as Thad put it, if I'm going to "vote with my dollars" so to speak, I shouldn't go back to them because we were so dissatisfied with my care. I thought about Birth Care but it's incredibly inconvenient for me. I want to go somewhere that my insurance covers, so while I love my midwife, I just couldn't justify the cost considering I only see these people once a year when not pregnant.

My friend just had her second with a practice at Fair Oaks Hospital that is an OB/midwife practice. They take my insurance so I made the appointment there with an OB (whoever was available, actually). When I showed up I had to fill out the typical paper work asking about children, dates of birth, how they were born, any complications, etc. I clearly stated that my second child was a home birth and figured I'd see what they said. The nurse took me back to take my vitals and she asked me where my son was born, despite the fact that she was looking directly at my records.

Nurse: Where was your son born?
Me: Home.
Nurse: Really? Wow. I'd have no idea what to do with a baby at home.
Me: That's why we hired a midwife.
Nurse: Wow. ... Wow.
**enter 3 nurses who overheard our exchange to look at the home birth baby, expecting to see a messed up baby with three heads and blue hair, but to their disappointment found that he was a normal, happy bouncing baby boy**

It was very obvious they don't encounter many home birthers as it is an OB office, but I was armed and ready.

The nurse brought me to my room and she said not to take any clothes off, just to sit as the doctor wants to get to know me better before she gives me an exam and the nurse said a few times that this doctor would be SO excited to see Dash. So we waited and enter doctor...

Doc: Hi, welcome to our office. So tell me where did you have your son? (My chart was right there)
Me: Home.
Doc: And where did you have your first child?
Me: Here, actually, at Fair Oaks with a different practice. He was a c-section and we didn't want a repeat, so we did it at home.
Doc: Really? As a VBAC? Wow. That's high risk.
Me: Actually, it wasn't. We had great support and I left the old practice because they said they'd support a VBAC but in practice, didn't. Dash was 2 pounds smaller than my first, was in a great position for birth, and my midwife helped us have a great birth. I didn't feel like I was getting supported the way I needed to be in my former practice.
Doc *body language became physically repulsed by me, she wraps her sweater around herself and backs up against the door* Well do you have any questions? Go ahead and get undressed and I'll be right back.

I mean her WHOLE demeanor changed when I explained our home birth. I'm not too surprised, I mean she IS a trained OB with a lifetime of experience pointing her biases in one direction, I don't expect her to be welcoming me with open arms, but come on lady, get with the program. There is so much information out there for women now to OWN their births, you can't get all up in arms when someone is actually informed and makes decisions for herself.

So we did the exam and by the end of the breast exam I could tell she was just trying to get the hell out of dodge. I wanted to talk with her about non-hormonal contraception but she really, really didn't want to talk with me. She was just so....disapproving. She barely smiled at Dash, let alone cooed at him. I figure if someone is going to shove metal ware at my snatch she could have a *little* bit nicer bed side manner, but what can you do. At least I don't have to see them again for another year.

If today's experience has taught me anything it's that body language says it all. I kind of expected people to ask me about my home birth but I certainly didn't expect to be treated like I smacked them. I realize that she's looking at me through HER lens but the least she could do is try to look at me through mine. Am I going to go back there? Who the hell knows. Part of me wants to as a weird experiment to slowly infiltrate the system from the inside. :)

Point of this story? Not sure if there is one other than to laugh at this doctor and hope that whoever reads this takes control of his or her care. Just because you have an M.D. by your name doesn't make you better than me, we all travel our paths different ways, folks.

Making sense of it all

2010-11-02T19:56:00.010-04:00

If you've followed either on Facebook or by occasional emails here and there, you know it's been an interesting year for us. I know that people usually wait until the end of the calendar year to reflect but too bad....the past few days I've been unable to do anything but reflect. This probably means, though, that you won't be getting a "yearly round up" letter in a couple of months. Too bad. Gotta get it out now.

This year has certainly been a year of ... trials? In April we got our house ready very quickly in an attempt to tackle the dismal real estate market. Since then we showed it for three months, were under contract for 5 weeks of those three months, and then took it off out of sheer madness of trying to keep the house pristine with 2 kids, a dog, 2 long-haired cats, and the rest of life. Also this summer my brother's herniated disc got worse and he was waiting for surgery after a crazy car accident that left him with 4 broken ribs. My aunt was diagnosed with colon cancer. Someone dear to me suffered a miscarriage. My mother in law broke her ankle THE DAY she was to fly to New Zealand. Two weeks after taking our house off the market the roof leaked and we discovered that squirrels and mice have made a home in our attic, along with the chipmunks in our storage room. My friend told me (jokingly) that she didn't want to be around me because apparently we were bad luck.

Thad and I laughed that we burned all our karma by having a successful home vaginal birth after cesarean with our son, Daschel, in February. It's so easy to leave things up to karma, isn't it? But still, oh, shining light of 2010, the babies being born has certainly been the biggest highlight of the entire year. Babies, babies, and more babies! Babies born every month...last December I knew of 6 babies born in the same week of each other, and every month after that has been just as baby-bonanza. This October alone I've known of eight babies being born. Eight! With 2 months left in the year we have many more to go...I keep checking those Facebook postings to hear about new arrivals. :)

Sweet, smiley, cuddly babies that are changing everyone's lives as we know it. I don't know anyone whose heart isn't melted by the coos and gurgles of a bouncing happy baby. Unfortunately, though, in comes the reality when this past week we got news that a friend's infant son has a brain tumor. *blank look* Are you kidding me? A brain tumor? In someone that can't even crawl?! In someone that hasn't even figured out what kind of ice cream he likes or what is her favorite color? Please, no more. If you're reading this and wondering if it's someone you know, it is absolutely not my place to spread their business so I'm sorry, unless they've let you know, then that's all I can say.

We were speechless. Tears, of course, have been plenty. I don't even know what to say. As I sat upstairs tonight nursing Dash to sleep I thought about how I felt when he was born- that hopeful, blissful feeling of a new baby and the possibilities that lay ahead of him. He's so young, so innocent, and yet how can this happen?

This December will be the 9-year anniversary of my father's passing. When he was diagnosed at the young age of 49 which was followed by treatment, recovery, and then illness again, I did some major soul searching to try and make sense of it all. I read When Bad Things Happen to Good People and while it offered some good perspective, I didn't finish it because it started to get a little too preachy for me. I mean, he's right, just because a "good" person goes outside in sub-zero weather without a jacket on doesn't mean he will escape getting sick. I get his argument that good people are not exempt from the laws of nature. But still. That answer doesn't give me peace when bad things continue to happen to people that just don't deserve it. I read all kinds of literature on suffering and grieving, all from different religions to see if I could make sense of it and I still couldn't find answers that put my heart at ease.

It's really, really hard not to take what's happening and turn it back to us. How WE feel by this. How WE make sense of it. Unfortunately, maybe that's where I am mentally because I don't know what else to do. I mean, what can we do? I can't cure cancer. I can't make the pain go away. I think most people turn the emotion back on themselves out of feeling utterly powerless otherwise.

How is it fair? How is it fair that a parent has to decide how their child will live their final days if that's the case? Or their days in general, for that matter. Is it fair to put a baby through treatments? What about their older child? How do you explain this to them?

Thinking of all this makes me physically sick. My answer? Seems flimsy and naive, but my answer is to have faith. No, not faith. Hope. Hope that things can get better. Hope that life can BE better. And I mean it. I mean it with every fiber of my being, deep into the deepest parts of my soul, I hope. Maybe its the eternal optimist in me but if I can't hope then I might as well not get out of bed in the morning. If you take away my hope, well, I just might shrivel up and die. So let me be. Let me live in my hopeful world where my glass is half full and peace can be found. Until then, I will keep this family in my thoughts and hopes and hope that their dear little one will be okay.

Lord save us all from... a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms. ~Mark Twain

Haaalllooweeeen.

2010-10-31T20:55:00.002-04:00

This is one of those times where the journey was much more important than the destination. I realize that our children will have MANY more "first times" in their lives and I think it's our jobs as our parents to prepare them for those times, especially for a kid like Julian that needs to know what's going on at all times, and know what's coming next.

This past month has been a lot of fun with all the fall festivities. We took Julian to choose pumpkins, fall festivals, and the craft store, which is quite festive with all the decorations (obviously). We went talked about trick or treating and Julian even chose his costume - a ghost. I'll definitely give credit to the Little Einsteins Halloween episode where the kids go on a mission to collect treats for their Halloween party. Julian has learned quite a bit (especially about music instruments) from these shows and while we are careful to monitor how much and what he watches, we approve of this show. This episode is about these three ghosts follow them to each castle as they collect treats and in the end of the episode they have a big Halloween party. Julian LOVES this episode. He carries around the plastic pumpkin and shakes the "treats" inside (he uses whatever will make noise) and has been very excited about being a ghost.

The month has been a ton of fun preparing him for tonight. Last night, he was SO excited to go to sleep because it meant when he woke up, it would be Halloween! How would the rest of the day go?! I got pretty nervous when he wouldn't let me measure him for his ghost costume. Very creative, I bought a white sheet and cut a hole in the top for his head. (Whoop-dee-doo). I showed him the sheet, helped him hold the sheet, and even cut a little ghost costume for Dash. When we were getting ready to go to our neighborhood costume parade and potluck, would he put it on? No. He *did* carry his super awesome skeleton treat bag that Grammy bought him at Pottery Barn kids. He even tried wearing THIS on his head. Alas, his ghost was not to be. When we got to the party he really liked seeing all the other kids in their costumes but still, he did not want to wear his. He didn't even want to stay for the parade. He came, he ate, he left. What would this mean for trick or treating?

After a quick dinner at home (mainly for daddy and Dash), we grabbed his treat bag and got ready to go trick or treating. We talked about the protocol for t-or-t and he was very excited to try it out! But what about the costume? Oh no. He definitely would NOT put it on. We explained that he needed to wear a costume to trick or treat but we didn't want to punish him by not taking him if he was adamantly opposed to wearing the costume. Daddy was very quick to think of something and he suggested that maybe he could wear his trademark hat and carry his guitar to be a "rocker" and since these are his most favorite toys ever, he complied and off we went...to the house next door.

He stepped up to the house, knocked on the door, and when they came he even said "trick or treat!" He was so excited to choose a piece of candy from the bowl and said thank you when he was all done. Success! Off we went to the next house, our new awesome neighbors who have a 3-year old son and an 8-month old son. We scooped them up and "rocker" was joined by "buzz lightyear" (aka Emmett) and off we went to knock on some doors.

The boys did great. They knocked, asked politely, chose a treat, and said thank you. I think we hit up about 10 houses for treats and the boys were great at each one. The last house we stopped at there was a teenage boy standing in the shadows wearing a very scary mask and costume, holding a bowl of candy. If I didn't see him scratch his face I wouldn't have known he was there....oh gee, he was scary! Emmett got scared and Julian was very unsure, but Erica (Emmett's mom) got a lollipop from him to show them he was okay but the boys didn't bite. We asked him to take his mask off and show them it's just pretend and after that they were okay. Poor little guys....these decorations and costumes can be scary!!!

When we got home Julian ate one mini Snickers and was an angel going to bed. I think next year will be a lot more fun when he understands it better, but for now I think the evening was a total success....even if we didn't get any cute costume photos.

Happy Halloween everyone....now go brush your teeth so you don't get any cavities.

It always comes back to poop

2010-09-27T21:01:00.006-04:00

As a follow-up before I get into the main topic of this post Julian returned to school today for his second day of preschool. I don't know if it's because he knows the kids better, or because I was assisting today, but I think he did great. The kids had a lot of fun on our walk (in the rain) and they even enjoyed the mango/banana/spinach smoothies that, I admit, I was skeptical about myself but it was quite yummy indeed. Next week we move to a new home for the month of October so I hope that Julian does okay. We'll see what happens! Thanks for all the supportive notes about his adjustment to preschool. I think he's going to do great once he knows what's expected of him and what the routine is.

So. Poop. People have asked how it is with two kids now and the big differences between Dash and Julian. Ultimately, it always comes back to poop. Julian was a frequent, daily pooper. Sometimes he'd do it on the changing table with no diaper on, sometimes he'd get it on mommy and daddy. Ultimately, though, his poop was not an issue in that it happened when it happened and we really didn't discuss it much. Dash, on the other hand, is the most infrequent pooper and it makes *me* uncomfortable when day 5, 6, and this past time, day 9 comes and goes without a poop. When he finally does let loose, well, let's just say he takes a good nap afterwards. I've had 7 months worth of conversations about poop.

Other than their bowel movements, it has been interesting to see just how different two little boys can be. I try very hard not to compare them, and I wonder if they were of opposite genders I wouldn't compare them as much, but so it goes. Dash is a very happy little baby but he has no problems with voicing his displeasure if he is not getting his way. When he does his scream/yell/battle cry/howl, Julian goes over to him and says, "It's okay Baby Dash," and then proceeds to serenade Dash with his own rendition of the Wiggles' "Toot Toot Chugga Chugga" where he replaces all the names of the Wiggles with the names of our family. "Julian's in the back seat, playing his guitar...." It's adorable.

I do fear that we are not as neurotic about his goings on the way we were about Julian, but I think that's what happens with a second child. We definitely don't have everything chronicled for him the way we did with Julian (as you can tell from our lack of postings since his birth) and I feel like we blinked and he's already 7 months old.

The nitty gritty update? He's over 18 lbs now and about 27 inches tall. He doesn't have any teeth yet, which is odd because I feel like he's been teething for months already. He is sitting up pretty reliably now although when he's tired he'll still do the backwards dive so there's usually a Boppy or some other cushion behind him to catch his fall. He is pushing himself up really well but not pulling forward yet, but I have a feeling it's not too far away. He's a rolly-polly for sure, more than Julian ever was, and does enjoy rolling his way across our bed. He sure does love to eat. He likes to eat whatever we are eating- corn, pancakes, quesadillas- and does his battle cry when we don't share. Eating out has become quite difficult juggling the two, that's for sure!

Ah, sleep. Blessed, sweet, and unattainable sleep. I haven't slept more than 3 hours in a row, I think, since I was about 3 months pregnant with Dash, so...over a year? I am getting really tired of waking up at night but I am trying really hard to let him drive and let me know his needs. Julian inadvertently night-weaned when we moved him out of our bed when he was 8 months old and I am not entirely sure I'm ready for that to happen. We'll see, we'll see.

So that's my quick update before Dash wakes up for his 9:30 feeding. Life as a foursome has been wonderfully difficult at some points, but always wonderfully blissful. I love seeing Julian snuggle up on his little brother and I just love seeing the look on Dash's face when Julian comes to play. They are going to be great brothers and I am so glad they have each other. Daddy has his boys and mommy doesn't have to deal with pink overload. Life is good.

Family picture at the National Harbor, Labor Day weekend

First day of preschool

2010-09-20T20:46:00.005-04:00

I know, I know, I owe major postings here about life with two boys. Dash will already be 7 months old this wednesday. Seriously? 7 months? I swear he was just born last week. I will put a post up about Dash shortly, but for now, here's what happened for us today:

Tonight at dinner we talked about his first day of school. We asked him what he did today. His response? "Julian cried. Played with Whitney and Cora. Circle time." Those were some good take aways, I guess, after the emotional day we just had. Our day started pretty smoothly. He was up at 5:30am (pretty normal), we had some breakfast (his favorite: sausage) and I packed his lunch in his awesome Planet Box lunch box.

Stainless steel bento box lunch box. For lunch? Organic grapes, organic oven-roasted turkey sandwich on wheat bread, organic honey wheat pretzel sticks, some homemade banana chocolate bread, and 3 chocolate-covered marshmallows. What did he actually eat? The grapes, the pretzels, and the marshmallows. Go figure.

Before we got in the car to go to Laurie's, I took the obligatory picture of his first day of school. He's wearing his new firetruck shirt, new shoes, and holding his brand new lunch box. All the way there in the car he was talking about Nemo's "first day of school." "Just like Nemo," he said. He was so excited!
Our program is a pre-school cooperative with other families from the Holistic Moms Network of Northern Virginia. There are 7 families and we rotate houses by the month. This month Laurie is our fearless lead teacher and she has 2 other parents as assistant teachers. They started this program last year and we decided to give it a whirl this year since it's only one day a week and we'd still be able to do our regular playgroup, La Leche League meetings, and My Gym, leaving thursday as our only free day each week.

My plan during this glorious morning (weather-wise) was to go for a hike with another mom from the group, Kathy. Kathy is due next monday with #2 so we decided to take the dogs for a nice walk at Bull Run to help her get things moving. (No dice, she's still pregnant). Drop off didn't go as smooth as I had hoped it would, though. Julian basically dropped me at the cubbies to go and play so I took it as a good time to exit. I got to the car, started nursing Dash, and within a few minutes I could hear Julian crying, "you want mommy! you want mommy!" (He hasn't figured out "you" and "i" yet). I waited it out to see if I should go in, but the other moms coming in from dropping off their kiddos said I should wait outside. So I waited. Then Laurie's husband came outside and asked me to come in, so I went in to give Julian one last cuddle. He didn't want me to go and he was doing that hiccupping cry that is so desperately sad. The other kids were coming to pat his back and hug him, too. One of the assistants of the day, Paul, came over to try and show Julian his camera and bring him to play in the main room. Eventually Julian decided to go and play and I took my exit again. I was expecting to get a call that Julian threw up from crying so much but thankfully, no call ever came.

As a former preschool teacher today was especially hard because I've been on the side of the teacher many, many times but obviously I had never experienced it from the parent's side. I admit it, I was fighting back tears leaving my crying son. I've always known that Julian is sensitive and needs to know what's going on at all times. We are a very routine-oriented family and I know Julian finds tremendous comfort knowing that routine. A new day like today can be hard on these little guys and I've seen it many times before with other kids. I am so, so grateful that I was leaving him with fellow like-minded parents that I knew would treat Julian's emotions with the respect and patience that we do. That's a huge part of why we decided to try this coop in the first place. At the same time, though, Americans are so big on making sure our kids learn independence...making sure kids learn to take care of themselves as soon as possible, so part of me is trying very hard not to feel like an utter failure with a son who didn't want to leave his mommy.

Would it be better if he just took off running away from me and didn't look back? What does that say about our bond? Nothing, really, just that he's a more adventurous kid. Am I a failure because my son needs reassurance that everything is okay, needs to know that he's safe, and needed an extra-long cuddle to say goodbye? Probably not, he just needed to know mommy's still there. I mean, he's only TWO for crying out loud.

My hope is for my boys to grow up to be independent but they will always be mommy's little boys. I don't think today was as scarring to Julian as it was for mommy....he's already talking about going back to school next week. Luckily, I am assisting next week so me and Dash will be there for the morning, so I hope that will help with his transition.

Oh boy, what I mess I've been today. Just imagine when he goes off to kindergarten...it's going to be nuts!

Here's a picture of Dash since I don't want him to feel left out. Took this a month ago at the beach while we were waiting in line at 8:30 at night to get Ben & Jerry's. Julian loved it. :)

Sleepwalking?

2010-07-30T06:55:00.002-04:00

Last night at 1:15am I heard music coming from somewhere. I looked around the room and it was coming from Julian's monitor...apparently, he had gotten out of bed very quietly and turned on his sleepy music and went back to bed. I grabbed the monitor and shoved it into Thad's sleepy hand and said, "go check on him! there's music!" Sure enough, Julian was asleep on his back and his stereo was turned way up. So bizarre.

Thad asked him this morning if he had turned on his music last night and he said, "yes, julian cried, turned on music." I don't remember him crying last night but listening to his sleepy music at 1:45am in an otherwise quiet house was very, very odd.

Is 2 years old too young to sleep walk?

Daschel's Birth Story

2010-03-03T12:30:00.005-05:00

It's been 9 days since our newest little bundle has joined our family and we are still in awe of our amazing ability to grow life. He's fitting in nicely and Julian is taking more and more to him each day. Folks have asked so here's the explanation of his name:

Daschel- A name we all liked, especially Julian. When we ran a few choices past him this is the one he liked the best.

Braddock- The name of the main road where we live. We found it fitting since he was born at home.

Mitchell- Mitchell is Thad's grandfather, and also Thad's middle name. We found out we were pregnant the day that we found out he passed away....we found it fitting to honor him.

Without further ado, here is Daschel's birth story.....I'll get into what my care was like under a midwife and our decision to do a home birth after cesarean another time.

Sunday, the 21st, wasn't anything particularly crazy, just a normal day. After dinner we were in the living room and at 7:06pm I had my very first "real" contraction. It was enough that I turned to Thad and said, "ow, what the hell was that, it really hurt." We kinda took note of the time but went on with our evening, giving Julian a bath and putting him down for bed. In the 7 o'clock hour I had about 3 contractions, and in the 8 o'clock hour I had about 4. By 9 o'clock I was like, ok, these really hurt and are coming every 10 or so minutes now...should we call someone?! I spoke to a friend to get her opinion since her birth story was still fresh in my mind (she had a planned home birth but it turned into an unplanned unassisted birth since her baby came so quick and the midwives didn't get there in time) and where I didn't want to call the midwife too soon, I also didn't want to wait too long. After I got off the phone with her, we called our doula and our midwife and Marilee said she wanted to come over to "check things out." I was really nervous about her coming over because I didn't want her to come and this just be a false labor. We sent Scout to my mom's since he was whining at me and I had to work through the contractions enough that his whining was pissing me off royally. So off he went.

The midwives showed up at about 10 pm and my contractions at this point were every 5 minutes, lasting about 60 seconds long. They hunkered down on the couch and took my vitals, listened to baby, and we spent the next hour seeing how things were progressing. We called Mary Beth, too, and she decided to come over as well. I didn't truly believe I was in labor and it wasn't until we lit the birth candle and I finally posted on FB for my friends to light their candles that I thought 'this was it.'

The next couple hours are a bit hazy to me as far as the timing goes, but essentially my contractions went from 5 minutes apart to 4 minutes apart over the next hour and then finally down to 3 minutes apart. We labored in the living room and they had set up the birth supplies in the bedroom, but as the night continued more and more supplies were appearing in the living room. Soon I was stripping down my clothes and chux pads were appearing under me everywhere I moved in case my water broke. I labored most of the time on my hands and knees or standing on the stairs (having my legs at different levels really helped) but as my contractions got to 2-3 minutes apart, I felt like I needed a change. I knew he was coming down but I couldn't figure out a better position to be in, so my midwife recommended that I lean back on Thad. Once I got in the sit position leaning back, the baby dropped incredibly low and I had a feeling I could start pushing. I was really, really worried to push since I didn't know how dilated I was and Marilee doesn't check unless I ask. I figured that we still had hours of labor ahead of us so it would be premature to push. Well the position we were in in the living room was so uncomfortable that I couldn't square up my hips. My hips kept on tilting one way or the other thus the baby did too....so Marilee asked if I wanted to move upstairs on the bed to be more comfortable. We started a mad dash in between contractions up the stairs. Thad was bracing me for each contraction, Mary Beth was following me with a chux pad in case my water broke, Valerie (the midwife assistant) started shuttling birth supplies back up to the bedroom, and Marilee was talking me through each contraction. I distinctly remember someone saying to me, "when this one ends you have to move, pamela, to make it up the stairs before the next one." I don't think I walked so fast in my life, especially with a bowling ball literally between my legs.

We got into the bedroom, I laid on the bed, and I decided to have Marilee check me for dilation. Shoot, if I had hours more of this pain I had to be able to deal with my energy level, right? She checked me and very calmly said, "you are complete and the baby's head is right there." With that we began pushing around 3am. She said she could feel my bag of waters right in front of his head and I remember asking her if she needed extra clothes in case my water broke all over her. Next contraction, I beared down and my water literally popped everywhere- it sounded like a water balloon! At that his head really came down and we pushed through a few more contractions when the stretching was really kind of freaking me out Thad was being a great cheerleader, "with every push we see hair," "his head is right there!" I love him but gee, I know where his head was! There was a point where Marilee told me that she'd ask me to stop pushing so she could guide his head out slowly and when that moment hit, boy was that mean! Sure enough, though, down and out he came (cool note, my sacrum was so loosey-goosey that they said they could see it moving to let him out...props to chiropractic care during pregnancy) and at 3:33am our little boy was born. Daschel weighed in at 6 lbs 11 oz (2 lbs smaller than his big brother) and 20 1/2 inches long.

She placed him right on my chest and he was COVERED in vernix, a sign that he was early. Marilee said his gestational age was about 38 weeks which is just fine since this little dude is perfect. The placenta took over an hour to come out (it was posterior so I ended up having to sit on the birthing stool to get it out) and then I took a shower, got some stitches (which is why I was in bed for a few days to let them heal), and the newborn exam. Julian woke up just in time to see the newborn exam and check out the placenta (which is SO cool!). I'm still surprised he slept through all the ruckus.

By 6:30am everyone was headed home and Thad, baby, and I hunkered down in bed for a nice nap. Here we are, 9 days later and I am still on cloud 9 from our birth experience, and little Dash is napping on daddy's chest. My milk came in on day 2 and nursing (so far) has been a total breeze. Also, side note, all that eating well did me good...not only was Dash a great size, but I am only 2 lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight. Granted, my belly needs some, um, toning, but damn, life is good.

Here is a photo right after he was born:

Trust in the process

2010-02-20T20:24:00.013-05:00

"The whole point of woman-centered birth is the knowledge that a woman is the birth power source. She may need, and deserve, help, but in essence, she always had, currently has, and will have the power." -Heather McCue

Belly buttons are a funny thing. I used to love my belly button. I decided at age 19 to pierce it and a little jewel made its home in my belly button until I was pregnant with Julian. It never quite looked the same after having Julian and I doubt that it'll ever look the same again. Today I looked at my belly button's reflection and barely recognized the now belly button-turned-volcano sticking out of the center of my body. The baby is so low it almost points down. Julian loves my belly button. I think he thinks it's the baby, or some pathway to the baby (which, I guess, technically it is) and likes to kiss it, stroke it, and rest his head on it. Every morning he comes into our room, jumps into bed, and immediately goes for my belly button. "Hi," he says, as though he's been away for decades. After a few minutes of relentless love on my belly button, I say "that's enough" and explain to him that mommy's belly button hurts. We repeat this process multiple times throughout the day. I wonder if he'll understand when the baby is born that there is no longer a baby in mommy's tummy and he won't be mad when mommy's belly button no longer looks like a sun. "Sun," he says and signs to me when he sees my belly button. I love that my son is not afraid to kiss the sun. Makes sense, he is my little ray of light.

Today was my estimated due date. Since it's 8:30pm I doubt he's greeting planet Earth today but that's okay. As I sit here thinking about where we were 40 weeks ago (celebrating Julian's birthday a bit too much *wink wink*) and the journey since, I need to remind myself that we put out trust in the process back then and I need to trust in it now. I've been trying birth-inducing tricks the past few days (walking, spicy food, ankle massage, eggplant parm, pineapple) more out of experiment and jest than truly believing they'll make this little dude come out any sooner. I have to believe that he will come when he is ready because so far this pregnancy, the process hasn't failed us yet

"The knowledge of how to give birth without outside interventions lies deep within each woman. Successful childbirth depends on an acceptance of the process." -Suzanne Arms

When did we, women, lose the ability to know? Last saturday my friends threw me a mother blessingway ceremony to send me some positive vibes as I prepare for my second entry into motherhood. It was a beautiful and balancing afternoon for me and I left Kathy's house feeling incredibly prepared- emotionally and physically- for the home birth of my second son. Almost everyone at the blessingway had home births themselves and I look to that group, my dear mother friends, for encouragement and support for my own experience. My friend and doula, Mary Beth, was there and her words of encouragement (among many) were the phrase, "mama knows." Mama knows about birth, her body, and her baby. But, I have to ask, when did we forget?

My last pregnancy I relinquished a lot of my power to "the experts." I read the books, listened to the endless advice, and ultimately gave over the womanly knowledge inside of me that I should have trusted and listened to the whole time. This time around, I didn't want to make the same mistake. I didn't want to quiet the voice inside me, instead I wanted to help it sing out loud and reclaim that which I lost. I feel that through this pregnancy I've accomplished that and while we wait these last few days for our son to make his arrival, I know I did everything I could do to have the pregnancy, and hopefully birth, that I want and deserve as a woman. Only time will tell now and I will rest tonight, patiently awaiting his arrival with my open heart.

Here is a photo my friend, Amanda, took at the blessingway. See the belly button? :)

Snow in the DC area

2010-02-08T20:43:00.003-05:00

So for those of you not in the DC area and who have been hearing about our ridiculously snowy winter, I thought I'd post some photos of the storms from December 19, 2009 (so fondly named "Snowpocalypse"), January 30, 2010, and the most recent one, Snowmaggedon, from February 6, 2010. We are expecting another "winter event" tomorrow evening into wednesday that they are forecasting to drop about 10-20 inches of snow into the area, pushing our total snowfall this winter to be the all time high. It's insanity. Anyways, enjoy the photos, although they really don't capture the overwhelming amount of snow out there. To those of you in tropical areas, can you make some space for me on your couch for after this baby is born? We're on our way.....

Snow!

unexpected revelations

2010-02-05T20:32:00.004-05:00

Still pregnant for those of you wondering....due officially 2 weeks from tomorrow, and I guess we'll just see when this baby decides to make his grand entrance. I am praying it's not tonight or tomorrow as I just don't know if it would be auspicious for him to be born during Snowpocalypse. I figured it's a good time to put up a little posting since it's been a while and after Dos is born Lord knows when I'll have to time to post again so....

Julian has been awesome. Every morning he runs into the room, lifts up my shirt and says, "Hi" to the baby then gives my belly a big kiss. We are reading books about becoming a big brother as well as "We're having a home birth" which has rapidly become one of his most favorite books. His favorite page is when the mother is in labor and making motions like she's belly dancing.

He's been talking up a storm! Tonight we were in the kitchen and he started pulling the letters off the dishwasher- and informing Thad what they were! He named about 8 letters...totally unexpected. We've been singing songs with him while still using our signs. We've found if we omit saying the word but still do the sign, he will fill in the gap and say the word for us! He's also repeating just about everything we say (I still think it's adorable that he sometimes calls Thad "honey") so no more cursing in the Lurie household. ha.

We started attending a My Gym gymnastics class about a month ago and he LOVES it. He loves the balance beam, the rings, and of course, the slide. He loves dancing and singing the songs, and on our way there he starts signing "ball" to me referring to the ball pit.

Last saturday was my birthday and around 3am I rolled over in bed, stuck my hand under my pillow to fluff it up, and got a handful of mashed, stale banana. I almost screamed since I had no idea what it was but the smell was pretty obvious....I like to think that was very thoughtful of him for my midnight snacks, but unfortunately I think it was just a coincidence.

The move into his big boy room was a success and he loves it. We did have to shut his door fully after about 2 weeks when he figured out he could leave his room and visit us at 3 in the morning. He knows now that his old room is for baby brother and when he goes in there now I think he's looking for him! Soon enough, son, soon enough.

Here's a photo of our little dude playing in the snow last weekend with Scout. We'll see what kind of photos we get over the next few days!

Julian's 18 Month Check Up

2009-12-26T20:39:00.007-05:00

Finally attempting to catch up on our blog.....here are Julian's latest stats from his 18 month check up:

Height- 32 1/2 inches. 50% percentile.
Weight- 28 lbs 1 oz 75% percentile.
Head Circumference- 18 3/4th inches. 50% percentile.

Since his last check up Julian has since stopped nursing. The last time he nursed was the saturday of Labor Day weekend. I remember it very clearly and I am so glad that I remember it. We had gone away the week prior to the Outer Banks for vacation and while we were there our nursing schedule was kind of off. Since we found out we were expecting again back in June, our nursing had cut back tremendously, partially because it hurt me to nurse so I was deliberately trying to cut back, but also because he was getting older. I knew that tandem nursing (that's when you nurse a newborn and a toddler at the same time) was and is not for me so I tried to cut back on nursing to see what would happen. When we got pregnant we were still nursing about 6 times a day. By the time we got to vacation at the end of August, we were only nursing once, maybe twice a day. I had a feeling that when I got to about 16 weeks pregnant that my supply would probably decrease but I didn't know. Luckily, Julian decided on his own and that last time he nursed will be etched in my mind forever. It was a beautiful moment and even though I am glad to have a bit of a break before doing it all over again with Baby Dos, I am so grateful that we were able to nurse for 16 months. I wouldn't give it up for anything!

Our sign language continues to grow and even though he signs a lot (I can't even count how many signs he knows now) , he has become a talking machine! He's putting lots of sounds together and has been coming up with new sound combinations every day. He is also recognizing his colors and his letters (particularly "J"), and he is starting to count in his own special way. He has started sitting on his potty but hasn't really done anything in it yet...and that's okay.

The big news of right now is that we are moving him into his big boy room! We had hoped to do it Christmas night but you know how things happen...it's just not ready yet, so for now he's been playing on his new bed and listening to his cd player in there and hopefully he can start sleeping in there on new year's.

So we're pretty much happy as clams in our house right now and looking forward to meeting Baby Dos in, oh, 8 weeks or so! Here's a recent pic of our big boy, J.

Arooooba

2009-12-26T20:17:00.005-05:00

A few months ago Thad decided it was in our best interest to plan a caribbean vacation before baby dos arrives in February. I was a bit anxious about leaving for a whole week when I still had a lot to do to get ready for the baby but ultimately I gave in and I am so glad I did! We left the saturday after Thanksgiving (which was also Thad's birthday this year) and stayed at the Marriott Ocean Club, next door to the Marriott Resort and Stellaris Casino where we got married in 2007. Thad found a fabulous deal to rent out a one bedroom time share there and we love this resort area so this worked out great. The flight was relatively uneventful other than Julian not taking a nap but he was so excited to play with the airplane phone, how could he possibly sleep?! We arrived in hot, sunny Aruba, got our rental car, and headed to the grocery store to stock up our fridge. We haven't been back since our wedding but once we were driving through downtown Oranjestad, it felt like we were just there. It's such a happy, wonderful island and we were really excited about our week vacation!

Right away Julian LOVED the beach and the resort. He loved being able to run around barefoot and in only a diaper (or nothing!) and he loved the food, too! He was talking up a storm and within a day of being there he was saying "beach" and "potty." He loved playing in the sand and once he figured out we could carry buckets of water up to the beach, he was even more excited!

For those of you who haven't been to Aruba, there are a TON of filipinos there. They came to work in either construction or on the cruise ships and never left so everywhere we went we met filipinos. We went in search of a filipino take away restaurant but it didn't work out.

There has been a lot of construction and development in Aruba since we were there last. TONS of restaurants and shops have gone up so we actually were able to try a new restaurant each night we ate out. Of course we returned to our favorite, Iguana Joe's, but it wasn't the same without the drinking....oh well. We went to Yemenja and it really turned out to be, in my humble opinion, our best meal we've ever had in Aruba. Period. Julian loved the blonde waitresses, too. :) Our last night there we went to Marandi, which has the same owner as Yemenja. We figured we just had to try it after our experience the night before and we were not let down. The food was spectacular, especially the dessert, and they even gave us bread to feed the fish off the side of the dock. The restaurant is supposed to be a large beach hut (palapa) and it's right on the water. Beautiful!

All in all it was a great vacation and it was so nice to take Julian there. Hopefully in 2011 we can go back with Baby Dos! Enjoy the photos and if you ever have a chance to go to Aruba, GO! You won't be disappointed!

Aruba 2009

Magic M&Ms

2009-11-19T22:13:00.003-05:00

I didn't mean to bribe him to speak, it was more to keep him a little interested as we ran errands and bought him some new shoes but....

it only took him 17 1/2 months to say it, but two days ago Julian finally said, "mama."

Alleluia, he knows who I am! :)

"Nectar of Bliss"

2009-11-12T21:41:00.006-05:00

I just got back from my prenatal yoga class and during the class the instructor used a fabulous phrase during meditation: "nectar of bliss." It got me thinking about this pregnancy and how it's been for me and I was shocked to realize that I am indeed more than half way to this baby's birth already. How did time fly so fast?!

I admit, I have had a harder time bonding to this baby/pregnancy than I did with Julian. With the first everything is so new and wonderful. "Sweet! I have heartburn!" This time around, between chasing around Julian and changing care providers at 24 weeks, it's been a lot more emotional and tiring than I expected and haven't basked in the 'wonder' of it as much this time. Physically, last time I don't remember having aches and pains this soon but then again, my body is a lot different now. While I've been doing very good with my diet (this time around I am not using pregnancy as an excuse to eat copious amounts of chocolate cake), I haven't been to yoga or water aerobics nearly as often as I did with Julian.

The biggest obstacle I've had in bonding with this pregnancy is the impending birth. Why am I so obsessed with the birth when it's still so early in the pregnancy? Well, sooner or later this baby is going to come out and after what happened with Julian, up until last week I was having a tremendous amount of anxiety about this baby's birth. Because I had a c-section with Julian, finding a care provider who will actually support me in an attempt of a vaginal birth after c-section (VBAC) has been tricky. Between the different methods of prenatal care offered in this country (obstetrical versus midwifery) and the varying information available for pregnant women, it's no wonder the rate of VBACs have fallen dramatically in the past 8 years. After interviewing multiple care providers (and leaving a practice that, we feel, totally wronged me) we have decided on a wonderful midwife to help us bring this baby into the world. Ever since we switched to her care, I have felt a major weight lift off of me and I am finally ready to embrace this baby and pregnancy, and between her and my amazing doula we have a supportive team to help us with our plan.

This week I was so nervous because I wasn't feeling the baby move all that much. I know my placenta is posterior so I knew at least I should be able to feel his movements on my belly but I was hoping to feel more. Last night, however, he started moving tons and tonight at yoga I think he was doing the yoga with me! He especially loved child's pose.

With each breath I take and each beat of my heart, this baby is growing. What an amazing sensation! Inside me is a nectar of bliss that not only is nourishing my soul and bringing me joy but is also growing a life that was sprung from the love between me and my soul mate and best friend. I look forward to falling in love all over again. I look forward to holding his hand, smelling his skin, and knowing that this tiny being could destroy me with a smile. He is mine and I am his and together we shall spread our ecstasy. This is truly my Heaven.

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T20:29:00.003-05:00

Happy Halloween from our little lion. For Halloween we celebrated by attending a friend's birthday party in the morning (complete with pumpkin carving) and then in the afternoon we had a parade here in the neighborhood before the rain. It was great and we are looking forward to next year!

So far behind!

2009-10-18T14:16:00.010-04:00

I'll let the photos tell the tale....been crazy busy lately....but we finally have some time to breathe before the holidays! Hope everyone is doing well!

Visiting the USS Wisconsin in Norfolk

Playing at the splash park in Arlington

Visiting University of Rochester (daddy's alma mater)

Playing with streamers at music class

First concert- Rocknoceros!

Baby Dos, coming at you February 20

A sign of things to come?

2009-09-14T20:00:00.001-04:00

Something interesting happened tonight. Julian was playing with my water bottle when he paused, put it down, and squatted. Thad said to him, "are you pooping" to which Julian replied with a sign for "potty." We thought it was just coincidence but about 2 seconds later we could smell what he did....so, does this mean our kid is gearing up for potty training?! Or was it a fluke? Crazy.

Our trip to the Outer Banks

2009-09-03T20:59:00.005-04:00

Technically this isn’t our first family vacation but it’s definitely our first one with Julian being so active! We decided that we couldn’t wait until Thanksgiving for a possible trip to Aruba so we looked into houses and three weeks later there we were in our little oceanside cottage in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. If you don’t know where this is, it’s in the Outer Banks off the coast of North Carolina. You can see the Wright Brothers Memorial from our window.

Day 1-
The drive from Fairfax is about 5 hours but considering how bad beach traffic has been this summer (HORRIBLE), we left the house at 7:00am on Saturday hoping to pull into our cottage by 2pm, optimistically. Thad was driving and we pulled into the parking lot at 11:45am, even after a leisurely breakfast in Williamsburg. Bam! After a quick bite at The Good Life Gourmet and a stop at Food Lion for some supplies, we checked in and unpacked for the week.

Our friends, Jessica, James, and Jack arrived around 5:30pm for a long weekend with us. Jessica and James were in our Bradley class and their son, Jack, is 5 weeks older than Julian. She is due in December with their second and her friendship has been fantastic (and priceless) as we navigate this crazy parenting thing together. We ate dinner at the American Pie Pizza and Homemade Ice Cream (somewhat disappointing, I expected something better for a small $25 pie) and relaxed at the house for the evening. Not a bad start to our vacation!!

Day 2-
We woke up bright and early with the kids and were able to have breakfast and coffee and still hit the beach by 8:45am. Unfortunately the biting black flies also hit the beach by 8:45 and after a quick run to Rite Aid for some bug repellent, we had a fantastic time playing in the sunshine. It was very hot and sunny and the boys were having a blast!

We ate lunch at the house and returned to the beach after naps for some late afternoon –fly-free beach time. Dinner was a smorgasbord of corn (much to Julian’s excitement!), shrimp, chicken, salad, green beans, and watermelon. Yummy! Needless to say after a day of sunshine and running around, the boys slept soundly and so did mommies and daddies.

Day 3-
Poop. The clouds rolled in but we were able to go for a walk on the beach before Jessica and gang left to go back to DC. James bought this fantastic $6 kite that was SOARING with the gusty winds. Unfortunately, by lunch time the clouds opened up and it rained the rest of the day. I went on a mission during Julian’s nap to acquire some sweatshirts and long sleeves as we weren’t prepared for the yucky, cold weather.

The highlight of our day was dinner at this wonderful restaurant- the Outer Banks Brewery and Restaurant. It was ranked #2 in Kill Devil Hills on Yelp.com so we decided to come check it out. It didn't hurt to learn that this is the first wind powered brewery in the United States! With a homemade cream soda for me and a microbrew for Thad, we thoroughly enjoyed our dinners. Julian loved the fried ravioli, I had a corn and mushroom risotto with bacon and seared scallops, and Thad had the filet with a demi-glaze sauce, topped with crabmeat and asparagus. Outstanding! For dessert we shared a homemade carrot cake with a caramel sauce on the side. No, we don’t have giant bellies; we ate it a few hours later back at the cottage. As for the weather, I’m glad we packed some DVDs.

Day 4-
We decided to go to the aquarium first thing in the morning if it was raining in the hope of having a clear afternoon….what luck! After breakfast we headed south to Roanoke Island to visit the North Carolina Aquarium. We grabbed a coffee at a local coffee house, The Front Porch Café, and visited old town Manteo before the aquarium. What a cute place! Roanoke Island is one of the first English settlements in the new world, and even if it didn't survive, there is a lot of history on this island.

If you ever get a chance to visit the area, definitely go to the aquarium! It is FANTASTIC. Julian LOVED running around and trying to kiss the different fish through the glass, and he loved touching the starfish. We even saw some river otters and a shark, but I don’t think Julian could quite get just how big that shark really was compared to everything else. It was a great indoor activity but when we got out of the building, we noticed the clouds were starting to lift so we headed home for some beach time.

The sun played peek-a-boo for a few hours but by the time Julian was up from his nap it was out so we ran out to the beach to play. Downside is that it was very, very windy and poor Julian was having a hard time with the loud, strong wind. We got to see some kite surfers and dig for some shells before it was just too chilly to be out anymore.

For dinner we went to Mama Kwan’s, a tiki bar/restaurant in Kill Devil Hills, and it was ranked #4 on Yelp.com. It was delicious! Unfortunately Julian didn’t want any of our food (we really have a fickle toddler on our hands, folks!) but we thought it was great. We started with ‘Thai Money Bags,’ a fried bundle of cellophane noodles, ginger, and other veggies, with pickled cucumbers. For our entrees Thad got the pork dish (which tasted a lot like Korean BBQ), and I had the coconut shrimp. If you like tropical food with an Asian twist, this is the place for you! They play great music which inspired Julian to dance all over the restaurant. His particular favorite that night was "Rock the Casbah."

Day 5-
The weather in the morning was the best we got all day, and luckily we took advantage of it by spending the morning on the beach. The sun started to disappear around 10am so we got in the car and went souvenir hunting until lunch and then relaxed at the house for a while. It wasn’t raining but it was very, very windy so after Julian woke up we took a drive down to the Bodie Island Lighthouse and explored the island some more. We got an early dinner and headed home.

With the unexpectedly chilly weather, and the forecast for more rain, we decided to come home a day early. We were supposed to come back home on Friday but since it was forecasted to rain all the way to tuesday, the figured we'd just head home. All in all, it was a great first trip to the beach and we hope to make this an annual event for our family. The beach is such an easy, fun, and cheap thing to do with kids! They can scream as loud as they want, run as fast as they want, and dig as deep as they want and it doesn't make a difference! Next year will be very different with two kids to pack for, but that's a whole other issue. Hope you enjoy the pics!

OBX 2009

Julian's first hair cut

2009-08-26T20:32:00.003-04:00

It was time! His long and wispy hair was getting out of control and daddy did a little maintenance.

Our growing family

2009-08-06T10:09:00.005-04:00

There are few truly magical moments throughout life that stick to you and make you feel like all is well in the world. This morning we had one of those moments.

Thad and I had a doctor's appointment this morning. I laid back on the the table, and Connie, the nurse practitioner, put the monitor on my belly. She barely had it on my belly when we heard it: the heart beat of our new baby. We've been looking forward to this day since a few weeks ago when we got that positive test so that we could comfortably start telling one and all that yes, our family is growing and that Julian will be a big brother sometime around February 20th, 2010.

It's an incredible feeling knowing that we're about to do it all over again. Julian amazes me each day with the things he learns and does, and I am so excited that he will be a big brother. I am very excited for Thad to become a father again, as he has been the most amazing father to Julian and I just know his cup will runeth over having another baby in our family.

I'm feeling alright, not perfect, but each day is a definite improvement from the last. I am definitely showing (if you haven't seen the pictures from my high school reunion, well, it's pretty obvious) and after hearing the baby's heartbeat this morning I am less sad about the loss of my waistline and more excited about the road ahead.

So that's our news for now! More updates to come, I'm sure. :)

Paige, the Conclusion.

2009-07-21T11:31:00.002-04:00

Maybe 'conclusion' isn't the right word, but it certainly feels appropriate after everything that's been going on. For those of you following what's going on with Paige, this morning I brought her back to the breeder. Lori was incredibly understanding and I am so glad that she already has ideas of a home for Paige, after a period of adjustment at Lori's of course. After the last posting I put about Paige, we kind of left the subject hanging for a while and figured we'd talk about it at another time. She had been behaving wonderfully and we haven't had any problems, so we were being optimistic that we'd 'turned a new leaf' and she'd sta with us.

Last night, however, things changed. Part of our concern about her staying here is the obvious agitation she has when kids are around. The noise, chaos, movement, something about it all makes her uneasy. Last night after dinner we were playing in the living room and Julian was standing next to her, holding his ball, and speaking loudly (because really, how may toddlers know not to yell when they talk?) and she snapped at him and tried to bite. I ran across the room, pinned her down, and just looked at Thad in total shock. He was speechless. Did that really just happen?! At that point it wasn't even a question of if but when and I called Lori right away to tell her what happened. We scheduled to bring her this morning and Lori totally understood that we no longer felt comfortable with her in the house.

It has been an emotional 18 hours here but we know this is for the best. It still doesn't make me feel any better, part of me feels like I failed her in finding a way for her to be comfortable here, but I know I can't go down that road without going crazy.

Anyways, we'll miss you Paigey-roo and I hope you are happy wherever you end up. You'll always be our sweet little girl!

Walking and Talking

2009-07-06T20:56:00.005-04:00

After the past couple posts that weren't so happy so I thought a fun posting about what's going on with Julian would be nice.

Talking. I know we've spoken about Signing Time before but I didn't realize just how much it would help our communication with Julian. We started watching the DVD with Julian when he was 5 months old but over the past 2 weeks his signs he finally has done more than, well, "More." While he recognizes a lot more than he does, here are the signs he's been doing:
-More
-Hat
-Cracker
-Dog
-Horse
-Airplane
-Car

Walking. FINALLY he took more than 2 steps in a row! Yesterday he actually walked across the living room to go between grandma and daddy (and, I admit, Pirate's Booty was involved). Today, he was a walking machine, even eventually doing downward dog and looking between his legs at me. Enjoy the chubby legs!

Rock a bye, baby

2009-07-05T19:53:00.003-04:00

To my dear friends who tell me, at 11:30 in the morning, that you just woke up, I don't even know what to say to you. Sure, it's no surprise that with parenthood comes the long and sordid fantasies of sleeping past 7 am, and while at some point it was a luxury to spend all day in my pajamas, it just isn't the same when it's out of necessity now rather than a luxury.

Truthfully, I've become quite used to the lack of sleep, or at least shorter sleep patterns. My body naturally wakes me up still every 2-3 hours and if I get more than 6 hours of sleep in a night I am groggy the next day. My issue right now is Julian's sleep. A couple of weeks before he turned one, his naps went to crap. He used to be such a consistent 2-nap-a-day baby, giving me enough time in the mornings to get in a workout and do some laundry, and some time in the afternoon to start dinner and possibly work on my blog. (Side note: for those of you moms who also maintain a blog, how the hell do you do it so frequently?! I feel like I never have time to write anymore and I see you guys update your blogs all the time. When do you do it?!) Ever since that fateful week in May, his naps are erratic at best. Some days I get one, some days I get two, and when they are going to happen no one knows. I know he has been dealing with getting his molars out and has been starting to walk, but doesn't there come a point where his body just NEEDS SLEEP? Right now we get about 9 hours of sleep a night, if that. Period.

Yes, I nurse him down for his naps. Yes, I am trying to stop doing this. At night, Thad sways/rocks him to sleep and yes, this too is something I'd like to change. He's getting to a point where sleep is a battle and I positively dread anything to do with it anymore. Naps? We get in the car. I thought I knew Fairfax very well in my 17 years of living here but I've learned even more about it in the past month. Transfers from the car to the crib? Just forget about it. I might as well just take him out of the car and turn on some dance music because that's about how awake he is once my hand touches the seatbelt.

I have no clue what to do. I had no idea that sleep could be SO consuming. When to sleep, where to sleep, what to wear to sleep, eating before/after sleep....good grief. It's a wonder that we do anything else during the day other than obsess about sleep.

It's 8:10 and he has been crying. It's hard. We both want to help and stay with him until he falls asleep but he doesn't seem to stay asleep once we leave the room.

I'm so sorry that everything I've been posting lately hasn't been very happy, but I guess sometimes it's not always sunshine and daisies. I mean, we *did* have a fantastic weekend celebrating the 4th, other than the sleep issue. We went to the new Chick-Fil-A in Fairfax for it's grand opening, we went to a birthday party of one of Julian's baby pals, we went to the neighborhood pool for the bigh independence day bash. Grandma is back from New Zealand, too, so we've been spending a lot of time with her this weekend as well as finally putting more steps together to walk across the room! It's been a very exciting few weeks but still, I just have to know his sleep will get better.

"This too shall pass." Right?

Dog Daze

2009-06-23T09:29:00.002-04:00

I always wanted a dog. My father's response to our repeated demands for a dog was always, "there are only 24 hours in a day. When do you expect to take care of a dog?" He was an eternal pragmatist, that's for sure. I decided that when I was in a place to get my own dog, I would, and after I bought my house in June 2004 and Thad moved in October 2005, we decided to get some animals together. Thad is a cat person and I am a dog person so the compromise was 1 dog and 1 cat. Simple, right?

We adopted the cats from Cat Castle Rescue in Fairfax Station. We visited Neville, aka 'The Cat Lady' and foster mom to our cats, with the assumption of only adopting one of the gray fur balls we saw online. Once we saw them, however, we fell madly in love with the two roving furry kittens and we decided to keep the brother/sister pair together.

As far as the dog goes, we did a lot of research on what would be the best breed for our lifestyles and allergies (truth be told, I'm quite allergic to animals) and we decided on the Tibetan Terrier. It's a sweet, companion breed that doesn't eat a lot, doesn't need a lot of exercise, and ultimately just wants to be loved (sounds like me except for the eating part!). We found a local breeder, Lori, who had a 6-month old show dog that she needed to place in a home since she was having some personal issues and wasn't going to be able to show him after all. We visited him and he had me at the first sniff. I love this dog.

Fast forward a year after getting all the animals in Fall 2005. Thad and I were just engaged/married and knowing that we wanted to start a family sooner rather than later, we thought that getting a second dog would be a great idea to help with Scout. He's incredibly attached to me and we thought that if had a playmate, he would feel less "left out" once the baby came. We called the breeder and she luckily had a girl dog, the exact same age as Scout, that she needed to place in a home. She had been a return to Lori as the first owner didn't think she was "affectionate enough" and after talking with Lori about her, we decided to bring Scout to meet her and see if sparks flew. We brought him to her farm and sure enough, within minutes the two were running around like they were long time friends, and so entered Paige into our lives in December 2005.

The first 6 months were rough. She hadn't been house broken before and it took a lot of work to get her to stop peeing all over the house. We also were trying to figure out her best situations- crate, no crate, when to eat, when to walk, etc. We thought she'd just "fit" right into our already very regimented day with Scout but it didn't seem to work out that easily. Scout, also, never really took well to having her around. They haven't become the 'best of buds' we were hoping they would, nor do they seem to have an attachment to each other. If anything, I think Scout preferred being on his own and Paige was confused about another change of home. Tibetans don't have that strong pack mentality that a lot of other breeds do.

She is an incredibly sweet dog, though. Very playful, likes to eat, and loves to chase the cats. We thought this situation was going to be great for when the baby came but unfortunately it hasn't worked out the way we hoped. Scout is still incredibly attached to me, if not has become more so since Julian was born. While Scout has become much more tolerant of Julian, letting Julian climb on him and pet him and touch his nose, Paige still runs in the opposite direction if Julian approaches her. Neither dog has ever shown any sort of aggression towards him, if anything, it's total indifference on her part.

Since Julian was born we have had so many visits to the vet I can't even count, not to mention trips to the doggy ER all because of Paige. She will get into any food that's left out while we are gone, and this was NEVER an issue before Julian arrived. We have come home to find trash all over the house, Thad's work bag pulled apart with the food inside eaten and the papers shredded, Julian's books shredded, and the worst one- Julian's diaper bag (which was on the kitchen table when we left) was opened, and his used diaper pulled out, along with his lunch bag eaten through and all its contents destroyed/eaten including 1/2 a cup of raisins. Thad took the dogs to the doggy ER where they had their tummies pumped and the results confirmed our worst fears: Scout had an empty stomach, and Paige had EVERYTHING in hers.

When we leave the house now, here is my process for leaving:
1. Pack our diaper bag and put it by the front door
2. Get 2 treats for the dogs for when we leave the house
3. Put away all of Julian's toys so nothing can be chewed on or swallowed
4. Put up the baby gate at the kitchen, put the water bowl in the dining room, and move the trash can away from the gate.
5. Take out the dogs to pee
6. Give dogs their treat
7. Hit the road

Is this normal for any of you with dogs and children? I feel like I have to factor in like 30 extra minutes just to get out the door, forget the prep work it takes to be that ready. My fears are what happens when I have another child and I am trying to get me, plus Julian, plus a newborn, out the door? And what about when Julian has more toys? It's only a matter of time that Paige chews up one of his figurines and then it's another trip to the ER.

We've tried everything. We've tried adding a walk for the dogs, new chew toys, hiding treats to play games, doing more obedience, playing more outside, and taking them for runs. None of it seems to matter...when we leave, we have no idea what state the house will be in when we get home.

Last night, after cleaning up diarrhea/vomit for the third time, Thad and I sat down on the foot of our bed and discussed the future of these dogs in our home. Maybe our story here doesn't do a good enough job of encompassing just how hard it has been for us to the point where we are seriously considering finding Paige, maybe even the both of them, a new home, but I assure you, as a devoted dog owner I am at my wit's end and I am starting to resent the dogs for it. It used to be such a loving, two-way relationship where we gave to each other just how much we got back but lately, it just seems like all I do is give-give-give to these dogs. I'm on empty.

I love Scout and Paige and I just want them to be happy. They deserve a home where they get the attention they want without any of the hazards of life with little children. What now?

Planes, planes, everywhere!

2009-06-17T21:19:00.004-04:00

Our good friends, the Ingledews, have been visiting the past couple weeks and today we visited the National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Dulles, VA. I have never visited and drive past it all the time so we decided to check it out. We met our British pals when my father was stationed at the Naval Aviation Supply Office (now the Naval Inventory Control Point) and my father sponsored Vic since he was a visiting officer from the British Royal Air Force. It was 1990 when we met, if I'm not mistaken, and we have kept in touch ever since. We even got out there to visit a few years ago for Christmas.

It was a GREAT day to visit since it was rainy out and the museum wasn't very crowded at all. If you have a walking toddler that desperately wants to just GO, take them to this museum. It's the PERFECT location for kids!

Grandpa Vic had a great time pushing the stroller around the museum and Grandma Sue had a lot of fun trying to get Julian to laugh. Julian really loved the planes, too. What a day!

One Year Check Up

2009-06-03T19:29:00.005-04:00

Woo! We made it! We returned to the peds for Julian's check up and for some blood work. We are still waiting for the results but I had them do an allergy panel for him since he had a reaction to both eggs and strawberries and I'd rather know before I give him anymore. Anyways, without further ado, here are his current stats:

Height- 30 3/8 inches. 75% percentile. Look, folks. Of course he's going to look really tall when I'm holding him. When Thad holds him he looks like an actual baby.
Weight- 23 lbs 11 oz 70% percentile. He's slowed down quite a bit despite eating everything in sight these days.
Head Circumference- 18 1/8 inches. 50% percentile. Put him next to daddy and they have the exact same head shape. It's crazy.

No, he's not walking yet. He'll walk if I hold his hands although the past couple of days he has refused to do even that. He likes pushing his toys or walker across the floor, but when it comes to actually trying to WALK, heck no, he'd rather crawl. When I was at a friend's house a couple weeks ago for a play date, he did take 2 steps and I about fell over. He raised his hands up in the air and was so proud of himself! Thad's mom comes back from New Zealand in exactly two weeks and I was hoping he'd be walking by then so he could walk to her at the airport but I don't think that's going to happen. Only time will tell, right? I keep telling myself that he's a big boy and his legs have to be quite strong to hold him up...but I don't think that argument really holds any water.

In true Filipino fashion, this kid likes to EAT. Favorites? Grapes and cheese. He loves them so much that we have taken to referring to them as "G" or "C" if he is around so as not to make him too excited. He loves noodles, bread, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese....so basically anything starchy and heavy. That's my boy! He does love his sweet potatoes, carrots, and pineapple, though, and he loves salmon. The more flavorful the food, the better!! He loved some curried cabbage I was eating as well as some gyro meat. Go figure.

He is also a talking machine! Endless baby babble interspersed with actual words makes for very entertaining days. Following words/phrases spoken by Julian:
-Mama
-Dada
-Dog/Doggy
-Cat/kitty
-Touch it (says this when he points to things he wants to touch, like the leaves on trees, or possibly our glasses)
-Glasses
-Brian (as in 'Uncle Brian')
-fountain
-cheese
-more
-shirt
-what is it?
-what's this?
-sun
-turtle
-horsey
-birdie
-some
-danger
-dirty
-truck
-train
Now, I can't guarantee that you'd understand him when he says these words, but we sure do and it's just great. Amazingly, he does not know how to say "no." Included in this list are words that he may have only said once or twice but quite clearly.

Part of our night time routine since he was about 5 months old is the viewing of a "Signing Time" DVD. It has been WONDERFUL. He currently signs "More," "Milk," "Dog," "All Done," "Hat," and has done "Fish" but not consistently like the others. He definitely recognizes more signs than he can do which has been very helpful in asking him what he needs/wants.

He also is a tidy boy. He loves to brush his hair, brush his teeth, and put toys away. Oh, and shut doors. And open doors. And drawers.

He continues to awe us everyday and we are just so excited for the next steps in his development between having clearer words and walking. We're so lucky!

Happy Birthday, Julian!!

2009-06-01T21:13:00.002-04:00

Wow! A year is passed and our little dude turned one this past saturday. We had a blow-out bash at Ratcliffe Park in Fairfax City where the park was over-run with kiddies- and parents chasing after them. My mom and aunt brought some yummy pancit and lumpia and there were enough blue and green cupcakes to make everyone look, well, painted. It was a deliciously fun day and despite Julian's crankiness (due to 4 teeth erupting at the same time), he was a trooper and enjoyed the festivities as well. Here is a picture of Julian trying the green frosting! Thanks to everyone for coming out and helping us celebrate our son's first year on planet earth. It was a great day!!

Oh, cats.

2009-05-27T20:13:00.001-04:00

Almost exactly one year after Julian was born, our cats are finally warming up. Today, Fitz let Julian pet him while Fitz was draped over the table. Does this mean the apocalypse is coming? Silly cats.

Excursions!!

2009-05-15T20:38:00.009-04:00

When I was pregnant, I've had dreams of taking my son to museums, parks, and zoos. It's been a dream to be able to experience places like that with him and the last couple weeks are exactly what I needed. When he was a newborn and it was so hard sometimes just to leave the house, it was very hard to imagine that someday I would actually be able to go on day trips without it being so scary and hard.

With the nice weather, my play group, the 'Bradley Babes,' have decided to make weekly field trips with the kids. A couple tuesdays ago, we checked out the Butterfly Exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History. We are incredibly lucky to live so close to world-renowned museums, I would miss this terribly if we ever leave this area. This specific exhibit is free on tuesdays so my friends and I got there early to get our timed entry tickets (it's a small exhibit so they have to let people in in waves). We bopped around the museum for a while (Julian LOVED the bones exhibit, who knew?!) but by the time we finally got into the Butterfly Exhibit he fell asleep on me and wasn't able to enjoy the butterflies. Too bad...a reason to go back! After the exhibit my friends and I headed to the Navy Memorial Plaza downtown to let the kids play around the fountain and crawl around. It was such a gorgeous day, we didn't want to leave quite yet! Here are the pictures for that day...it was so much fun!

Butterfly Exhibit

A few days later, we met my friend and her son, Laura and Miles, at Frying Pan Farm Park in Herndon, VA to check out the baby animals that were born this spring. Despite it being a cool day, we still had a great time seeing the baby piglets and riding the tractor pull. Julian was such a trooper despite being incredibly tired. Frying Pan Farm Park is modelled after the original dairy farm from the early 1900s. Did you know that Fairfax County was the largest producer of dairy in the entire state of Virginia in the 1920s? Anyways, it was a very fun day and here are a few pictures from that day.

A few days after this trip, we visited the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, VA. We are so lucky to have such wonderful parks so close to home! We brought a picnic lunch then strolled around the park to see the various plants. There is a huge pond with big carp and turtles, but Julian was so tired that he fell asleep once we settled in by the pond. Go figure. Again, another reason to go back! He did enjoy seeing all the trees and flowers, though, before passing out. Here he is checking out the ducks.

Happy 1st Mother's Day!!

2009-05-14T21:11:00.003-04:00

What a great day!! Thad really pampered me and trust me, I enjoyed every minute of it! We slept in a bit (Julian luckily slept until 6am...wow, a vast improvement from our regular 4:45am wake up call) and then we got breakfast at our 2nd favorite breakfast place, First Watch, with my mom and my brother. After eating everything in sight, we went home and I got to do some gardening while Thad played with Julian. After a quick trip to Home Depot, Thad cleaned the house with Julian on his back and I took a nice shower (anything longer then 3 minutes is luxurious!). We spent the afternoon playing with Julian and watching "The Sandlot" and then we went to a nice dinner at Lebanese Taverna. Other than getting a flat tire on the way home, it was a beautiful day! A girl could get used to that. Here is a picture of Thad being all domestic.....

Caution: Clothing can harm you.

2009-04-18T21:10:00.005-04:00

So apparently this is not something new nor does there seem to be an easy solution. We noticed lately that Julian scratches and scratches at the back of his neck area. We thought that maybe he was just itchy or that maybe he had dry skin but the itching was pretty specific to the back of his neck. I remember reading an article way-back-when about chemical burns being caused by the "tagless" tag on infant clothing so I decided to dig around and see if maybe this is what was causing Julian's scratching. Sure enough, this is it!

Gotta love the blogosphere and being able to find all this information. I found this one blog, Mom's Journal, and her daughter's rash looked exactly as Julian's did. He was wearing Gerber onesies almost exclusively as his base layer and this is what this little girl used to wear too. We stopped wearing them 2 days ago and his back is almost totally healed and he hasn't scratched all day.

It's not only Gerber, but also Carter's, Circo, and BabyGap. I just don't understand how the clothing companies can get away with this? I also hate that I'm not entirely sure what my options are to find safe clothing for Julian as clothes with tags (hard to find as 'tagless' is becoming the industry standard with infant/children's clothing) make him itch, too.

Here is the original article I read a few months ago about this issue. If anyone has comments or recommendations on how to get around this, please let me know! I hate the idea of having to tape all his clothing but if that's what has to happen, well, so be it as long as my little guy stops itching!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T20:50:00.004-04:00

What a great weekend we had!!! We are finally getting caught up with things around here (basement is done, all we have to do is hang things up on the walls again) and we were able (finally) to have a very enjoyable weekend of relaxation and friends without sickness or whirring fans. Our dear friend, Eve, moved to Delaware to work for a firm last year and we haven't seen her in ages. She came down for the day yesterday and we were able to visit! Julian was curiously watching her as he ate his raisins but eventually warmed up and was very friendly. Mama Yost was also able to come and hang out! What a lovely saturday!

This morning we had a wonderful brunch and were joined by Terri, Brian, and our friends, the Doughertys. Argia and I met a few months ago at a random wednesday morning Stroller Strides class in Alexandria, hit it off right away (I was wearing TNT clothing and she was a former participant/Campaign Manager), and the rest is history. Her son, Inaki, was born 10 days after Julian and it has been wonderful having another like-minded mommy to bop around with and share this crazy mommyhood journey together. Her husband, Keegan, joined us, too, for brunch, followed by a trip to the swings, and eventually we made our way to a neighborhood easter egg hunt.

Personally, the whole idea of the Easter Bunny kind of freaks me out....big bunny man handing out hidden chocolate eggs? Something isn't right about this, but still, we couldn't resist going to the hunt and see the mayhem of children running around looking and possibly grabbing a photo op with a lonely egg. Inaki was a trooper, smiling and playing with the egg. Julian, on the otherhand, didn't want any part of it and well, I think this picture speaks volumes as to how he felt about the whole thing.

We are so very fortunate to have great friends and family nearby. What a wonderful weekend and we hope you all had great Easters on your end, wherever you may be. We are really excited for next year when Julian will hopefully want to participate in the egg hunt.

Happy Easter!!

If it's not one thing, then....

2009-03-26T20:54:00.002-04:00

It has been BANANAS around the Lurie household now for a few weeks so if you are wondering why I've basically fallen off the face of the earth, here's why...

1- Terri left her job in Maryland and within 2 weeks of her quitting she moved in with us. Not that she had a lot of stuff with her but the move was my catalyst to do some major house purging that I had meant to do before Julian was born but never really got around to doing it. Thank God for Freecycle because I was able to clean out a lot....of course it wasn't just unloading junk but I ended up taking a trip to the dump to get rid of paint as well as fixing the insulation in my storage area. Woo to projects that grow...

2- She moved in and we get all settled and of course I come down with a nasty head cold that Thad and Julian are both now trying to get over. Really, is there anything more sad than seeing a sick baby?! Anyways, we've gone through enough Kleenex in the past week to pad a moon bounce and I don't see an end in sight yet.

3- And of course, once I am finally feeling a little better, today the main pressure valve for our water intake pipe decided to burst and spray water all over our laundry room which then flooded and seeped water throughout the surrounding areas, including Terri's room, the hallway, and the basement living area. Fantastic!! I am dreading going into the laundry room....

So that's what's going on over here. Oh, and Thad and I just signed up for a Team in Training event TOGETHER, so please, can we pile more onto our plates?! :)

Julian's Voyage of Self Discovery

2009-03-22T21:33:00.002-04:00

No, this isn't about spiritual enlightenment....it's about Julian's inevitable discovery of...."down there." A couple nights ago during his bath we realized that while we bathed him, he would get this silly grin on his face with a far away look and while we giggled, we didn't think much of it. Until now he really hasn't made any attempt to grab down there when we changed his diapers, nor do his constant falls on the floor seem to hurt him in any way. Well last night I took off his diaper and his hands went STRAIGHT there! While he sat in the bath tub no longer do Mr. Rubber Ducky and the bubble thing keep his attention....all he wants to do is grab. Himself. A lot.

I guess we have this to look forward to? Wee, boys. :)

First trip to the cabin

2009-03-07T10:13:00.003-05:00

Jack and my mom have a cabin in Elkins, WV where they go at least every other weekend. It is about 33 acres of gorgeous rolling hillls and forest and it is really a nice place to escape, even if it's only for a few days. Last time we went there was last March for a mini-getaway before Julian's birth and I have been looking forward to taking Julian there ever since he was born. The dogs LOVE going there as they can bound and run off-leash to their hearts content and Scout can do some major deer and wild turkey watching. He still hasn't seen the bears yet and I wonder what he'll do when he does...

My cousins came up from Norfolk to go skiing at Snowshoe and my brother came out, as well, to hang out for the weekend so it ended up being a nice family weekend away. Julian did GREAT. The drive out was smooth (he slept almost the entire time) and he loved the fresh mountain air. The first night was a bit rough (unusual environment, I suppose) and he ended up waking us up a lot but otherwise he liked it. He also LOVED all the attention from his aunts and uncles! My mom went straight to the cabin after 10 days in Hawaii so she really enjoyed spending some quality time with Julian, too.

Here are the pictures from the weekend. Let me know if you ever want to go out there with us! It really is beautiful. And despite popular belief of 'rustic West Virginia cabins,' the cabin does not have an outhouse. :)

Cabin Weekend

9 month check up

2009-03-07T09:51:00.004-05:00

Gee it's been forever since I've been able to write! I can't believe how fast our little guy is growing and I am just in awe each day of how amazing he is. Yesterday while I was driving back from getting some Starbucks, I glanced in my rear-view mirror to see how he was doing and he was trying to catch the sunlight in his hand. Could he be any cuter?!

This past monday he had his 9 month check up! Here are his stats:

Height- 29 2/1 inches. He is in the 75% percentile for height and has grown 8 inches total since his birth.
Weight- 22 lbs 9 oz. He has slowed down quite a bit with his weight gain as he is in the 80% percentile for weight now and has gained just under 14 lbs or so since his birth. Despite leaning out a bit and growing upwards, he still has those adorable chunky thighs.
Head Circumference- 17 3/4 inches. He is in the 50% percentile for his noggin.

Onto some more updates...

Julian loves to move!! He has been army crawling now for a while and while it doesn't seem like the most efficient way to get around, he certainly can motor. He is interested in just about everything that isn't safe for him (stairs and cords) and has a bizarre love of the vacuum. He loves to push things around and make them roll (his favorite thing to roll around is his high chair) and he loves knocking down block towers. He is pulling up to standing now and we think he isn't too far from walking. He doesn't understand why he isn't moving forward when he's standing, though...I've been trying to explain to him that he has to MOVE to go forward but he'll get there. We realize that the days of sitting down and playing quietly with our son are long behind us and I think I should have invested in some bubble wrap and put it all over the house. I can't wait until he's walking and we can go for walks in this warm weather!

Eating solids keeps mealtime very interesting for sure. His favorites are: sweet potatoes, rice krispies, sweet potatoes, corn puffs, sweet potatoes, sippy cup of water, and sweet potatoes. I had grave concern that he would be turning orange with how much sweet potatoes he eats but as of yet he's still pretty normal colored. Some days he eats a ton, others he could care less about the solids and would rather smash hisc cereal with his spoon. He definitely would prefer to feed himself than let me or Thad feed him and he gets a proud smile on his face when he feeds himself his breakfast yogurt. This past week was the first time we tried some cottage cheese (hated it, made him barf), cubed chicken (loved it), and those bizarre chicken sausages from Gerber Graduates (hated it so much he spit it out on me). While we're out to dinner we always try to give him some of our food and he LOVES salmon and barbecue sauce (not together). Thad gave him a taste of his BBQ sauce and Julian loved it so much he was squealing with delight! Mmm...BBQ.

I had no idea, though, that stubborness would start so soon! He's become much more, um, vocal when we do something he doesn't want to do. He has decided that he's too cool for diaper changes and I really just need to let him play with the computer cord because that's what he wants to do. He is great about recognizing signs (mainly "more" and "milk" and "all done") but he would rather fight me than try and communicate right now. Ahh, preparations for those terrible 2's! Thank God I worked in preschool for a while because I know what to expect (hopefully)......

Thanks for reading! We're certainly loving life right now with Julian and we are just so excited for the many more firsts that are coming up this summer with him. Hope you all are doing well and if you're ever around and want some Julian loving, definitely give me a buzz!

Here is a family picture from last weekend's trip to the cabin.

Reality Check

2009-02-05T19:08:00.005-05:00

I had a plan. I thought now that Julian is older and his days are relatively consistent, I could train. The year we got pregnant, I had done a season with with Team in Training that spring with the triathlon program and then I was the Hike Leader for the summer Hike for Discovery (now Team in Training Hike) program. I really enjoyed being so involved with the Society and it really bummed me out that I took the year off last year (despite the break being caused by having a child). I love the camaraderie and the passion that surrounds the Society, its mission, and its volunteers, so I thought this year would be the year of my return. Besides, it's not like blood cancers took a year off, too....

So back in November I applied to be a team captain for the upcoming season for the Philadelphia Triathlon (race is end of June). I was selected and I was super duper excited to be getting back "on the saddle," so to speak. We had some recruitment meetings this past month and this coming saturday is kick off for the new season. I can handle it, right?

Wrong. Oh so wrong. I am a firm believer in following your gut and when I received an email from my campaign manager this week asking for my bio for the welcome packet and informing us of a friendly table decoration competition for saturday's kick-off, I had a minor panic attack and the rest of the day I was unusually anxious. "Why," I wondered, "do I feel this way?" So I thought about it all day and I realized that I just wasn't/am not ready for the commitment that Team in Training requires. Some days I can barely get in a shower- what more if I am supposed to help fellow participants as well as get in a 1-2 hour training daily? What about my weekends? What about my 2+ practices with my group per week?

Unfortunately, time won't multiply for me and I realized that whatever I do is at the expense of something else. The pressure of training and fundraising is too much right now and I feel incredibly guilty backing out of this upcoming season. I had a talk with my campaign manager and while she is totally understanding of my situation, I hate backing out on a commitment that I already made. If I signed the paper and said I'd do it, I want to be able to do it. Even though I think I have incredibly valid reasons for not participating this season, I still can't help feeling like a failure. A failure to the Society and to the cause. A failure to my fellow participants that YES it's possible to train and fundraise despite life's crazy schedule. A failure to Julian that mommy made a commitment that she just cannot uphold right now. A failure to the people that would benefit from the funds raised.

Yesterday we received news on Thad's friend, Hanna, lost her battle on tuesday. Hanna had been battling Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia since this past fall when she had a recurrence of her disease. She was fortunate enough to have a second bone marrow transplant (the first had put her into remission) and she and her husband were going into and through her treatment with high hopes for recovery. While I never met Hanna face to face, I had emailed with her and I looked forward to her email updates. Hanna was 32. She will be sorely missed.

Despite the things I'll be missing, I know what I'm trading it for right now. I know that triathlon will always be there and Team in Training will be there as long as blood cancers need to be cured. I'll rejoin when I can. Until then, I'll focus on the little dude asleep upstairs.

A sign of things to come?

2009-01-29T16:45:00.004-05:00

Today in the car Julian was becoming cranky and I didn't want him to fall asleep (to ensure a good nap at home) so I gave him the XM remote to play with. I didn't think his playing around would impact my listening choice (seeing as he's looking in the opposite direction and all) but it did and I went from listening to Ray Charles to Rob & Big Punisher. Anyone remember that song from 1998, "Still not a player?" After Julian's nonstop flirting on tuesday at our play date with Eve, Sophia, and Cate, I am concerned that I am going to have a real ladies' man on my hands!

"I'm not a player I just crush a lot....." Oh boy.

Eve, Julian, and Sophia watching the snow...and no, we didn't put his hand there.

YES WE CAN!

2009-01-24T19:29:00.003-05:00

This house has been buzzing with excitement ever since that fateful election night back in November. Oh the hope....here's a pic of me and Julian after we went to the polls, if you haven't seen it already:

Despite this being a blog and the perfect venue for speaking my mind on the current political and economic situation in our nation, I think it's pretty obvious how I feel by the picture above and leave it at that.

We watched the Inauguration coverage from sun up to sun down (and then some) and I am still in awe of everything. I cried during his speech and while I am still wary of politicians in general, I know in my heart of hearts that Obama stands for something completely different. And with that, I will leave you with a little obamacon.me that my friend, Amanda, made on Inauguration day.

Yes we can, folks, yes we can.

Our other children

2009-01-19T14:50:00.006-05:00

Last night while I was rocking Julian to sleep I realized that all this talk of Julian on here, where are our other kids?!

Our cats, Trillian and Fitzchivlary (both named after literary characters), are great with Julian. At first they were very curious with him (I'm sure it was because of the milk smell) and now they are indifferent but tolerant of his squeals and grabby hands. Julian LOVES the cats. Any time there are cats in a book, he smiles at them. He even knows 'cat' in sign language- at least, he recognizes when we do it. The past few days he'll look at the cats and say "c c c." This is a good sign.

Trillian (above) and Fitz in a box.what is it about cats and boxes?

Scout and Paige have been very patient with Julian. Julian will wiggle across the floor just to pull on their hair and thankfully, they are tolerant of him. Unfortunately, we had a rough year with their health- multiple ear infections, tummy issues, etc.- but overall, I think as Julian gets older the dogs will enjoy playing with him. Sure, they are quite jealous of the attention, and when Julian is asleep Scout is attached to my hip, but I think they'll get along swimmingly with him.

Scout playing with Julian & the doggies enjoying a treat

Thank you, family!!!

2009-01-09T14:43:00.003-05:00

The year before last we were really considering relocating out of the DC area. We still are but we're not nearly as driven because we realize just how lucky we are to have our families nearby to help.

This past weekend both Thad and I were sick with the flu (Thad more sick than me as he was battling food poisoning as well) and it was quite difficult taking care of a baby who refuses to take the bottle (trust me, we've tried everything and we decided to just live with it and move on). My brother came by to keep an eye on Julian while I took a nap and my mom came by to help put Julian to sleep and get some food/drinks for us. Terri came and also took care of Julian (and us!) so we could get some extra shut eye.

We are SO grateful for our family! Thank you for helping us and taking care of the little guy.

'I'm gonna get there....'

2009-01-04T16:44:00.006-05:00

The past couple weeks have been tremendous in Julian's development! It's been even better because Thad has been off from work and he's been able to witness it all with me first hand. Oh, I can't even imagine things getting any better (or us falling more in love with this little guy) but each day is just so much better than the day before. We are so blessed with such a happy baby!

First off, we FINALLY got a tooth! It popped through yesterday and I can feel the edge of it when he chews on my finger. We were beginning to think that it was never going to come up as it as been hanging out under his gums forever.

Secondly, this kid won't shut UP (just like his mama!). He talks and talks and talks. He's always the most chatty first thing in the morning (I hear this is common with babies?) and his favorite sounds are, "la la la la," and "da da da da." Or just "da da" when he wants Thad. I have been constantly following Julian around saying "ma ma ma ma" but to no avail. I know it'll happen eventually but for now, da da is his favorite! There are also bunches of other sounds and Thad swears the other morning he said, "boob" and this morning he said "kitty." Maybe we should start following him around with a tape recorder so we can capture some of it for those of you far away!

Third, in proud tradition of a military family, Julian is army crawling! He will scoot himself across the floor on Mission Retrieve Remote. Why do babies love remotes? We have no clue but he will apparently scale mountains (or crawl across the living room) to get it. He'll pooch that little tush up in the sky and push with his feet while he propels himself forward with his arms. We better start nailing things down now.....he will get up on all fours and rock back and forth and he is very close to figuring out how to coordinate his knees and hands in order to move forward. I think a project this weekend is get the baby gates up on the first floor.

That's it for now! In parting, here's a pic of Julian playing one of his favorite games: peekaboo!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T18:52:00.010-05:00

When Julian was born and we were having those many sleepless and frantic nights trying to figure everything out, I remember having a calm moment and Thad saying, "I am really looking forward to the holidays. Julian will be older, hopefully we'll be more settled by then, and we'll be celebrating our first Christmas with him." It seemed then that the time would never come, but low and behold, time has that very tricky habit of flying by and we rapidly fell upon Julian's first holiday season.

We never made it to see Santa (our attempts were repeatedly smashed) so we'll attempt again next season. He did love the lights of the Christmas tree and wanted to grab all the ornaments that he could. I have a feeling next year we'll have a gate or something around the tree to hold back curious 17-month olds. My friend, Amanda, came over with her daughter, Bryce, to take some Christmas shots of Julian. Here are a couple of my favorites:

We had Christmas Eve dinner at my mom's house as is the tradition and then had Christmas morning at our house, complete with monkey bread and mimosas. Julian loved tearing the wrapping paper (even unwrapped one of his gifts) and sitting in the empty boxes. At dinner we discovered Julian will say "mmmm" if he eats something yummy (in this case, it was a taste of whipped cream that got him). He's such a ham, he did it every time and we laughed! As long as we responded, boy did he work the crowd. :)

New Year's Eve was spent here at home with Brian and our friend, Melisa, who came down from New York (she says she came to see us but I think it was to escape the crowds!) and we had a big, nice dinner, watched a movie, and actually stayed up until the ball dropped! Granted, we forgot about the bubbly in the fridge, but the three bottles of wine before it was probably plenty enough.....Julian went to bed around 8 PM and we were able to celebrate like adults. Woo!

Here's the album of the Christmas festivities. Enjoy! We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and hope 2009 will be just as exciting and fun as 2008!

Julian's First Christmas

Wow, I didn't think it was possible!

2008-12-24T09:16:00.002-05:00

The past few weeks have been rough regarding sleep. Oh, this ever precious and ever important topic, especially among new parents. We knew that he would start sleeping longer EVENTUALLY, even if it would be when he's 3. I have friends whose 2 year olds still wake up throughout the night so I really was just going along hoping that someday, it would happen.

Well this past saturday we had our first 6.5 hour block! Thad and I were so concerned that we both went in to check on him to make sure he was okay. Finally he woke up to eat and boy were we surprised! We had a fantastic night of sleep but had to remind ourselves that it's always 2-steps-forward, 1-step-back with regards to sleep progress.

Well last night we had another great night! He slept for just over 7 hours straight!!! Holy cow, we feel like new people today. He got up, ate, and went straight back to sleep. Oh man, I hope we're on to something here.....

Julian versus the biscuit

2008-12-19T09:13:00.005-05:00

So there are these teething biscuits that Julian loves to eat/play with/destroy and last night at dinner he really gave that biscuit the 'what for.' For anyone interested, we give him the Healthy Timez Teething Biscuits in both Vanilla and Maple. It really is the perfect treat! It keeps him happily entertained long enough for us to eat dinner together and then some. He can pick it up easily, he can pass it between both hands, and he chews his way around it like a harmonica. Last night he made the biggest mess yet with the biscuit and I just had to include this pic to show his enjoyment with it.

No teeth yet. We hope that at least one will make an appearance soon because the little guy has been miserable the past week. Sleeping is off, cranky, irritable...oh, it's just yucky. I fear that this could go on for months before any teeth actually come out for all we know. I hope not!

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-12-03T20:30:00.005-05:00

We hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Julian had a great first Turkey Day! We watched the parade and some of the dog show before heading to Grammy's house. There we had dinner with Grammy, Lolo (Jack), daddy, Grandma, Uncle Brian, Shannon (my friend from college), and Leah & Ed (Jack's niece and her husband).

At the head of the table with Grammy.

Julian enjoyed his sweet potatoes fo' sho'.

Half a year!!!

2008-12-03T13:45:00.012-05:00

When he was born, 6 months sounded SO far away and here we are now! Everyone talks about this magical 6 month mark....they smile, the sleep isn't as bad (I think you just learn to deal with it better by now and your body is adjusted to the different sleep patterns), they play on their own more....it really is magical. I understand why people want another baby when they have a 6 month old because life really is great! (No, don't even ask about #2 yet!!).

Today was his 6 month appointment. Here are his stats:

Height- 27 2/1 inches. He is in the 70% percentile for height and has grown 6 inches total since his birth.
Weight- 20 lbs 10 oz. He is in the 90% percentile for height and has gained just over 12 lbs or so since his birth. He's a big 'un. We were laughing today at his big big thighs.
Head Circumference- 17 1/4 inches. He is in the 50% percentile for his noggin.

I realize that not everyone is as interested in numbers as I am, so onto the fun stuff.....

Sleep- We're getting a pretty consistent night now. We start the bedtime routine sometime around 6:30 or whenever he starts showing his sleepy signs. If it's bath night we do a bath, if not, we just change his clothes and his diaper, turn the lights low, and read a couple of books. Then we nurse, then we rock or sway and then it's down to the crib usually within 40 minutes of starting the process. While I miss sleeping with him in the bed, we really needed to get better sleep in our own spaces so I started pulling him into bed with us around the 2 AM waking. This week I've been trying to stick it out to the 4 or 5 AM waking. Hopefully as his sleeping hours extend between feedings, he'll be able to sleep the whole night on his own....but for now, we're doing pretty well.
Gross Motor- He is sitting up now very well despite some wobbly moments when he gets really excited and falls backwards or something. He loved tummy time since birth and thanksfully that hasn't changed as he loves being on his belly to play. He will pull his arms and legs up like an airplane and wobble on his belly. He also is pulling his butt up in the air and pushing up with his arms and tries to crawl but it's not very effective as his push with the arms/push with the legs combination to move forward isn't really nailed yet. Instead, he ends up going in a backwards circle...cute, but ineffective in getting to that remote control! He's standing very well with assistance, too. He's not big on bouncing but just standing very, very straight.
Fine Motor- He can pick up just about anything now that in front of him. Whether or not he can get it into his mouth is a different story...but the full hand "mitten" grab is in full effect! When he eats his potato puffs he can pick it up in his fist and then he shifts his fist around until he finds the puff to put it in his mouth. He's working hard on this one. :)
Verbal- I think he takes after his mother in that he really doesn't stop talking. He plays a lot with his consonants and on sunday he looked at Thad and said, "ada." I thought it was just coincidence but he did it twice more that day and I am now convinced he is trying to talk to us.
Solid Foods- When he was 4.5 months old he was showing MAJOR interest in our food. I figured it was just interest in what we were doing not as much the food, but I started giving him some pureed veggies periodically just to see his interest. By 5 months old we were up to 1 meal a day of solid food which sometimes he couldn't get enough of or showed very little interest. I figured just offering it as something to do and learn how to eat rather than offer any major nutritional amount would suffice. By 5 1/2 months we were up to two meals a day plus oat teething biscuits and potato puffs. He is LOVING solid food! We give him apple slices to suck/chew on and he really, really wants everything we eat. As of there was any doubt our half Filipino son would love solid food....
Raspberries!!! This beloved sound is how we wake up almost every morning. We just love it.
Show me the toes! As with many babies, he would love to just suck on his toes all day, especially when we change his diaper.

Here are some recent shots of 'baby the boy' as we have affectionately been calling him.

My missing link

2008-11-28T14:36:00.017-05:00

Ahh, the holidays. A time of light strings, scented candles, and lots of rich, yummy food (I think stuffing would be my last meal). It's also a the time of the year of family. People travel across miles (or drive down the street in our case) to spend time with those people where love is unconditional and you can unbuckle that top button comfortably when you eat too much. You can reminisce about old times or make plans for the future together. The key word here is "together." I just love the holidays. At least, I used to until it unfortunately became a time of great difficulty for me.

On December 18, 2001, my father passed away after a fast and furious battle with myelodysplastic syndrome. After our last Thanksgiving together, he entered the hospital with a lung infection. While I was taking my final exams at school he went to the ICU for breathing assistance and the night I came home from fall semester was the last time I spoke to him awake. Suffice it to say, his passing gave the holiday season a completely different feeling to me.

I knew that having a child would be hard when I thought about the gaping hole that my father would not fill in Julian's life but I didn't realize how hard it would be for me to have a son that would never know my father. It's hard enough that my husband never had a chance to meet him, but now my own son? Granted, Julian doesn't realize there is a hole but to me there is a huge one. A great, big cavernous hole that we can only attempt to fill through stories and photographs but know it will never be enough. It is a pain beyond one I've ever felt before to think that our family will never truly be together again (leaving any discussion of life-after-death for another time).

Last night when I got home from Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's (pictures to follow, I left my camera there) I was the saddest I think I've been since my father's passing. As an eternal optimist it is uncharacteristic of me to think of the things that I am missing from my life....but really, how can it be the holidays without the number one man in my life to share it with us?

Thad is such a trooper. He sits with me while I talk about my fond memories of my father and he hugs me when I cry (which, since I became pregnant last year, has been quite often!) and does his best to understand me when I say that my life will never be the same.

My father loved the holidays as well. He loved hosting family and sharing memories with me and my brother. I spent every new year's eve with my parents in high school, eating miniature hot dogs and singing karaoke until the ball dropped. It may sounds geeky that I preferred to spend time with my parents than my friends (most of the time) but now that he's not here, I am so grateful I did as those memories are what carry me through my rough patches.

Oh, he would have loved Julian. He would have loved teaching him about music (I still know too much about music from the 50's-70's for not having been alive during those decades), how to play tennis, how to dribble a basketball, and how to grill when it's snowing. Boy did he love grilling during winter. What is it about men, an open flame, and meat that makes them so happy? I'll never understand it but I will have the image of my dad grilling in the rain holding a beer emblazoned in my memory forever.

Ultimately, he was my hero. I'm sure I'm not the first to talk about a daughter's love of her father and I reach out to my fellow females who understand the absolute love a girl can have for her dad. My father was a great man....now that's the understatement of the year. He was the benchmark by which I have compared every man I have ever met and will continue to be my guiding light. I will continue to live my life in a way that I know he would be proud and now with a son, I will do my best to raise him with the same love, humor, and wisdom my father raised me.

So to all of you who have your families near and dear this holiday season, give your parents a great big hug for me. If they are not near, well, I pray that you will have the chance to give them that hug the next time you have the opportunity. I love my father and while this holiday season will be tough without him here, I look forward to showing Julian a season my father would have been proud of.

I love you, dad.

Yes, I wear my child.

2008-11-19T20:08:00.011-05:00

I proudly admit that I wear Julian almost everywhere I go and we love it. In celebration of the inaugural International Babywearing Week (yes, this is real: Babywearing International) there have been emails flying around the various list serves to which I belong (among them DCCDs- DC Cloth Diapers-, Nursing Moms of NOVA, and Babywearers of DC/VA/MD) about baby wearing celebrations. Also this week, Motrin intentionally launched an anti-babywearing ad campaign. I was absolutely shocked when I saw this ad because how could anyone see babywearing as something negative? Oh, Motrin is barking up the wrong tree on this one....most people (many men wear their children, too) who wear their children are absolute believers in the benefits of babywearing, so much to the point that they are almost militant in their beliefs of it. Motrin just pissed off a lot of people.

I knew before I ever got pregnant that I would wear my baby. I love the photos I've seen of women in other countries wearing their children while they did their daily chores. The kids always looked so snug and happy and I am a big proponent of touch so it just made sense to me that wearing my baby is the most natural thing I could do. If you have not heard about it before, check out the wiki page on it: What is babywearing?

Julian loves it. He can check everything out in the safety and comfort of our "arms" and then explore on his own terms. He can nap when he wants, play when he wants, and it's incredibly convenient for grocery shopping and dog walking.

We own 4 different kinds of "slings." I borrowed one from a friend in the beginning and we loved it until Julian rapidly outgrew it and we needed something with more support for both of us. Here are some reviews:

1. Moby Wrap- While it seems difficult at first I found this to be the best thing to wear until he reached about 17 lbs (when it would stretch after prolonged wear). He LOVED being snuggled up when he was a newborn and when he was strong enough to hold his head up he loved facing out and looking around. This can be worn in a variety of different ways and Julian loved almost all of the holds.

2. Cabin Baby- This is the one I borrowed from Jessica. It is VERY easy to put on and very comfortable for a sleeping newborn. It was great for bringing around to errands and the quick in and outs to stores.

3. Maya Wrap- This is probably the most 'stylish' of the bunch. It is more light weight so with the hot summer it was the most comfortable to wear, and it is very easy to wear, although once it is fitted I wouldn't mess with the settings anymore. I unfortunately had to unwrap mine to let it dry after I spilled a bottle of water on it and it hasn't fit the same since. I also like how I can wear Julian on my hip comfortably on this one the most out of the other slings.

4. ErgoBaby- Oooo, this is my FAVORITE. It is very easy to put on and off and to transfer a sleeping baby out of it into a bed or into the pack 'n play. He is cuddled up nicely against me for winter but by summer he'll be able to ride comfortably on my back to check things out. This distributes the weight GREAT on my small frame and I just couldn't live without it.

5. BabyBjorn- Thad wears this more than I do as I feel like I'm pregnant all over again with how his weight is held up. It's more comfortable on men, I've found, once the babies get a bit heavier, but to each their own. It's still the most well-known baby carrier and we are happy to support the brand if it means spreading the good word of the benefits of babywearing.

The Father's Rambling Perspective

2008-11-06T19:15:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone,

I know I don't post very often (or ever, I guess), but when Pamela (and I) started this blog, it was always our intention that I would also contribute. Work has been extremely busy and blah blah blah so I haven't been adding anything, but I have a couple moments now and something just happened that I think is worth sharing.

I failed.

It's hard to swallow that, being an achiever and generally successful at most of what I undertake.

It's also probably just a gloomy way of looking at the situation, as there really wasn't anything else I could have done to make things better. I guess I'll explain and all Pamela's loyal readers will be the judge...

Thursday nights there is an exercise class at 7:30 that Pamela likes to attend, and this particular evening she was also scheduled to speak at a Team in Training event beforehand. It would fall to me to get Julian ready for bed, feed him his nighttime bottle (which he generally takes without issue) and rock him to sleep. I've done this plenty of times in the past and wasn't concerned.

Pamela left as I was turning down the lights, etc. in his nursery - that's when things went downhill. He started fussing, which I assumed was due to his being hungry. The fussing turned to outright howling as soon as I presented him with the bottle, which he refused. Not good. I tried again, and still no dice. I squeezed a little of the breastmilk out so there could be no doubt of the bottle's contents, but he was completely unwilling to even consider it, howling ever louder. I gave up and stood up to walk around the room, which usually calms him, but that also did nothing.

Long story short, we did this for 30 minutes, and nothing I did had any effect whatsoever. Walking. Sitting. Different rooms. Light. Dark. Tried the bottle again at least ten times. Music. No music. Teething rings, toys, the animals, put him in the Bjorn... he would not stop crying.

Finally, I gave up and called Pamela, telling her that he would not take the bottle and she would need to feed him.

When she arrived home and I saw his reaction, I immediately realized two things: one, that there was nothing I could have done to make things better, and two, that I had failed nonetheless. As soon as I handed him to Pamela, teary eyed and red faced, he quieted and started smiling at me. When she came to give him back so I could say goodnight, he immediately started crying again until he was back with her. Not the best feeling in the world, let me tell you. I know he loves me, and 90% of the time he's so very excited to see me, but tonight was just not one of those times.

Anyway. Pamela is coming downstairs and Julian is off in dreamland, so I'll leave it here. Hope other new fathers (my friends Josh and soon to be dad Graham) can see this and know they're not alone when things like this happen.

Night all.

A lot changes in a year....

2008-11-03T18:53:00.004-05:00

Thought it'd be fun to post these two pictures....taken approximately 12 months apart.....

Taken at a wedding in October 2007 in Des Moines, IA....we were pregnant already but were not telling anyone yet.

Taken this past weekend at a wedding in Norfolk, VA.

My how our little family has grown....

Happy Halloween!!!

2008-11-02T20:10:00.003-05:00

Yes, we dressed him up. No, we didn't go trick or treating. Yes, he's sitting up on his own but not perfectly yet. We assume by Thanksgiving he'll be a sitting machine.

Julian in his skeleton outfit I got for $6. Go go BRU.

He "chose" this pumpkin at our outing to the pumpkin patch. And when I say "chose" I mean it's the one I grabbed as he was having a fit when we were leaving the patch. Done and done.

October in Fairfax

2008-11-02T20:01:00.006-05:00

Ahh, October. It's my favorite month of the year for the cooler weather, my favorite colors everywhere, and the fun opportunities to dress up unsuspecting babies.

First off, October is my brother's birthday so here's a pic of Julian with Uncle Brian on Brian's 30th birthday! Happy birthday, Brian!

Of course October wouldn't be complete without a trip to a pumpkin patch. Kathleen, Jessica, and I went to the Burke Pumpkin Playground in an unseasonably hot fall day. Although the kids were too young to enjoy the hayride, slides, petting zoo, and other fun kid rides, they were tolerant enough for us to prop them up with some pumpkins and make silly faces at them in an attempt to catch 'the perfect shot.' Here's a sample of what we got. Poor Julian looks wedged between 2 pumpkins and the flash made the kids look blue but I only had so much to work with....

In the end of the month, as a family we ran the Goblin Gallop 5K. This was Thad and Julian's first race ever!! They did great; Thad pushed the jogging stroller and Julian slept the entire race. My friends, Lauren and Maggie, also ran. It was a perfect running weather and hopefully this was the first of many family races.

Leaf peeping and eating our way through Vermont

2008-10-19T17:01:00.005-04:00

We have just returned from our first family vacation. We flew up to Burlington, VT last wednesday and stayed for 4 days. It was the perfect time to go up for the foliage and check out what this "San Francisco of the east coast" is all about. Suffice it to say that we were trying to figure out every way possible to stay up there forever.

The flight was great; Julian just nursed and played with us and he barely fussed at all. It was a cheaper flight up to VT by way of BWI so we drove up luckily during Julian's long nap of the day. By the time we got to the hotel (Hampton Inn Colchester) it was already late afternoon so we stopped at Shaw's to get supplies (read: popcorn and beer for the hotel room) and went on search for dinner.

I think it's honest to say that we truly did eat our way through Vermont. Our first night there we ate at Junior's. The pizza was EXCELLENT and because of the delayed dinner we got back to our hotel room with our large pizza and proceeded to demolish it within about 10 minutes. While we were waiting for our pizza we sat in the dining room and ended up talking with the couple next to us. They were a very nice couple; she was about 4 months pregnant (unexpectedly, they had to add) and we talked with them about life in Vermont, raising a baby there, and all the fun things there is to do in Vermont. We left the restaurant with excited for our visit...it was a great start.

In the morning we drove out to Essex to check out houses and neighborhoods and ate a fantastic lunch at Joyce's Noodle House. Our first observation about Vermont was that it is extremely baby-friendly. When we walked in with Julian we didn't get any bad looks. In fact, the waitress and the fellow diners all cooed and played with Julian. It was great. We wanted to see what the culture is like with children there and from the get-go all we got were positive vibes.

Later that day we drove out to the Ben & Jerry's factory as well as the Cold Hollow Cider Mill, both in Waterbury. We ate our fill of apple cider donuts, fresh apple cider, and ice cream. We rolled out of Waterbury pleasantly stuffed and on a sugar high. :)

For dinner we joined my friend, Liz, with whom I worked at the Little Beginnings Child Development Center. She and her husband, Deane, are from Vermont and they were living in DC while Deane was working on his Masters. She was very excited to show us her city and we were very excited to see the city with a local. We met up at the Church Street Marketplace and had dinner at Sweetwaters. They served this beer there- Switchback- that is made by a local brewer who only sells it in kegs out of his basement. It is an unfiltered beer that is DELICIOUS but unfortunately not sold commercially....too bad, as it would be a hit outside of Burlington!

On friday we first went to Essex to check out the new baby store. We thought if the baby store would be a good place to see what the culture is like for raising babies around Burlington. We were VERY excited to see this shop! The first thing we saw when we walked in were ponchos to wear while wearing your baby (very good sign). All the things they sold were in line with how we are raising Julian (organics, natural, attachment parenting) and they even had a whole room dedicated to cloth diapering!! They had a play/comfortable room for kids to play and moms to nurse and they even had a cute changing room complete with a table. The women were so helpful and nice and we got to meet a couple local doulas. Needless to say, I felt right at home. We got such a cozy feeling about the family culture in Vermont from this one store that we were seriously ready to just find a house and stay there! If you're ever in need of a baby shop in Burlington, check out Bebop Baby.

Then we went downtown to check out the Harbor area and had lunch at Cobblestone Deli right by the water. Despite the chilly weather we took a (brief) walk down by the Harbor, just long enough to see a naked 5-year old run by. Welcome to Vermont, right? Then we grabbed a coffee and crepe at the Skinny Pancake. We noticed that almost every business we visited had social and environmental missions. Everything they did lent to sustainable development, supporting local farmers/businesses, and growing long-term community wealth. Seriously, why can't more businesses be more socially conscious?! The market in town is a coop which supports all the local farms and if it isn't local, you can definitely bet on it being organic and from another small farm elsewhere. City Market (or "Shitty Market" as locals call it...not because it's bad but because they wanted it to have a fun name) was just perfect and everyone came in with their own bags (yay reusable bags!) and everything they carried was stuff you'd find at Whole Foods/Trader Joes/Wild Oats. Thad and I were so excited since we love to cook and a big question mark for us moving up there would be the availability of the foods we like to eat/prepare.

On friday afternoon we drove down to Rutland (not before Thad could take a stop at the Magic Hat Brewery for a taste test and a free growler....he talked death metal with the bartender and he gave him a free growler for talking music with him....sweet) to visit with a dear high school friend that I haven't seen in years. Katherine and I were super close in high school and after she moved to Albany after college it's been difficult to see each other so Rutland was midway for both of us for a quick visit.

On saturday before our flight home we met Liz and Deane for breakfast at Magnolia's in downtown Burlington. It was started by University of Vermont students and it is a totally green restaurant. It was a fantastic way to wrap up our vacation in Vermont. As we left there was a saturday morning farmer's market and they were playing live music....seriously, as if they needed to sell Burlington anymore to me, the acoustic live music on a sunny morning was the kicker. I was seriously ready to just set up shop forever in Burlington and send for the animals later.

All in all it was a definitely worthwhile trip and we can't wait to go back. Our next goal is to visit during the dead of winter to see if I could really handle how cold it gets. Everything else about Vermont was perfect so I won't let a little thing like below-zero weather and tons of snow slow me down! Enjoy our pics....it doesn't give our trip justice but it's just the beginning....I know there will be more pictures up of Vermont someday again soon!

Vermont

Quick update

2008-10-13T12:15:00.002-04:00

Sorry for the lack of entries lately but it's been CRAZY here in Lurieland the past couple of weeks. Thad ended up in the ER with what we thought was a hernia and ended up being Epididymitis and was on bed rest for a few days. He's all good now but it was a very stressful week with a patient who had to be horizontal (we left the ER with instructions to "take his antibiotics, take the painkillers, and to elevate his scrotum"....tricky that last one), 2 doggies, 2 kitties, and Julian. My mom and Terri stepped up wonderfully to help out. Shortly thereafter we had to take Paige to the vet because she scratched a hot spot on her shoulder that ended up becoming infected. She is now on about 6 medicines and slowly getting better. Scout had some..um...GI issues for a few days as well. Things are slowly going back to normal here at a good time as we are headed up to Vermont on wednesday for a much-needed vacation. We'll only be gone for a few days but hopefully it'll be just enough time to relax, see some foliage, have some Ben & Jerry's, and sleep in a couple times. Hope all is well on your end and I'll be posting some photos, I'm sure, of our trip to Vermont shortly after we return!

Four Month Update

2008-10-01T21:41:00.004-04:00

Today we had Julian's four month doctor's appointment. We have been looking forward to this appointment to see if he is "on track" with his development. Before I get into some specifics about his development/growth, I'd like to say a bit about growth charts. I realize that people want to know where their kid stands with regards to other kids...that's fine. All moms want to know if their kid is 'normal.' The problem I have with this as it applies to physical growth is that the growth charts- while there are ones that distinguish breast-fed babies and formula-fed babies- do not account for the variety of ethnicities out there. How can an Asian baby possibly be measured on the same growth chart against an African baby? I wonder how the growth charts used today will change over the next 100 years with all the new mixes of babies out there. *steps down from rostrum here* Moving on, here are some updates:

Length/Height- I'm not sure when we start using the word "height" instead of "length" but for now he is measured at 26 inches. He has grown 4 1/2 inches since he was born!
Head Circumference- I can't remember what his head was when he was born but as of today his head measured around at 16 1/2 inches.
Weight- He weighs 17 lbs 15 oz. He has gained 9 lbs 2 oz. since his birth! We are very excited about this doubling in weight, we are wondering about when he's going to start sleeping for longer than 5 hours at a time at night (and that's on a good night). I'll get to sleep in a little bit.....

About vaccinations....We decided to go with an augmented schedule so that he does not receive more than 2 at a time. While there are no definitive links between vaccinations and their alleged (negative) impacts on development, there is enough research that told me not to take any chances. Since our pediatricians were okay with spreading out his schedule, we decided to do just that. Here is a detailed schedule of what we are doing for anyone who is interested in this kind of stuff:

Birth- Hep B before he left the hospital
2 month- DTap & Polio
3 month- Hib & PCV
4 month- DTap & Polio
5 month- Hib & PCV

Other than this we will follow the recommended vaccinations by the American Academy of Pediatrics, but we are turning down Rotovirus, Influenza, and Chicken Pox.

Sleep....oh, that blessed, blessed gift. We were talking last night and since I was pregnant enough that I was getting up at night to pee (pretty early for me, about 4 weeks) I haven't slept more than 5 hours in one block. Good grief, I would give anything to be able to just sleep for a few days. Anyways, he is doing great. Our current night time schedule goes something like this:

7:15 PM- Julian starts showing sleepy signs
7:45 PM- Thad and I look at each other and wonder if it's time to start "the process." If it's bath night he'll have a bath now.
8:00 PM- We go upstairs and we proceed to manhandle our child by changing his diaper (been using disposables at night as they wick away the moisture better and we don't need to change him until morning unless he has a poopy), putting on a night time onesie, suctioning his nose if he's stuffy, and putting lotion on him.
8:15 PM- Set the lights low in the room, turn on the fan for white noise, and play some Enya while I nurse him in the rocking chair.
9:00 PM- This is on the later end, but by now he's passed out in the pack 'n play and I am headed downstairs for emails/cleaning up/glass of wine/Tivo'd shows.
10:00 PM- I am about to fall asleep standing up.
12:45 AM-1:30 AM- About now Julian wakes up for his midnight snack. He is promptly pulled into bed with us and we snack/sleep until about 6:30 AM, or whenever he wakes up and makes his big morning poop.

I am hoping that second block until we wake up will start to stretch out but who knows....sometimes he sleeps the whole time, sometimes he wakes up 2-3 times to eat during that time. The nurse today said that's totally normal for breastfed babies to wake up more often during the night than formula fed babies, so hopefully now that we've started solids and will hopefully increase the amount he takes over the next couple of months that'll help him be fuller for longer. Only time will tell.

Speaking of sleep, I can't hold my head up anymore so I think it's time to go. Since he had a couple of shots hopefully he'll sleep a bit longer tonight while his body deals with the vaccines. Good night, folks, and thanks for reading!!!

Yes, yes, it's true......

2008-09-24T14:35:00.002-04:00

Julian rolled over today in front of my very eyes! Woo!!!

"Please, sir, can I have some more?"

2008-09-23T19:04:00.004-04:00

We noticed that over the past 10 days or so Julian's interest in our food has gone from passive to almost desperate. He looks longingly at my yogurt, hopefully at my scrambled eggs, and hungrily at my soup, so we figured it may be time to at least try some solid foods. I know I am supposed to wait until he's 4 months old and can sit up by himself to introduce solid foods but he was already 16 weeks and he does enjoy the tasting things so, heck, why not?

This saturday we mixed some rice cereal with some breast milk and used our fingers as spoons to introduce this new substance to our liquid-diet son. At first he looked at us like we were crazy. "What is this mess you want me to do? You want to put that in my mouth? Well then...I guess I'll try it." At first he made a funny face but after a couple more tastes he was ALL about the rice cereal! He was even opening his mouth for us when we'd put our finger up to his mouth wit some gruel on it. After a few bites (enough to amount up to 1/2 a tablespoon) we stopped there and cleaned him up. Since then he has shown a lot of enthusiasm for our food and hopefully we can give him a bit each day until he is showing a strong ability to swallow the food safely, and then we'll up the amount. I am thinking of trying some sweet potatoes tonight....

What did I miss?!

2008-09-23T18:59:00.001-04:00

Last night, when Julian woke up for his middle of the night meal, I went over to get him out of his pack 'n play (no, he is not in a crib yet and yes, he outgrew the bassinet) and he was *gulp* on his back! We have been putting him on his belly to sleep at night since he was about 2 weeks old (yes, I know this goes against all the 'advice' out there today but he's obviously fine and since he picked his head up the day he was born I figured he would be fine) and I was quite shocked to find him on his back last night. I even woke up Thad to see if he had put him down on his back when he put him to bed but nope, he was on his belly.

So I guess this is a sign of things to come? Oh boy....

First Road Trip: Virginia Beach

2008-09-15T10:37:00.013-04:00

Last saturday ago my mom, Terri, and I took Julian down to VA Beach for the weekend. Daddy stayed home with the animals and took care of a massive "honey do" list for mommy (thanks, daddy!!). It was a good trip. We strapped the seat into my mom's SUV which is so much more luxurious than my Subaru. The way down wasn't as catastrophic as I was expecting it to be as we only had to stop a couple times extra for Julian-related issues, and I only had to hang my boob over his car seat once. We drove straight to the Marriott on Atlantic Ave. and Terri stayed with Julian while my mom and I went to my cousin's bridal shower. Here's a Gap baby shot of little JD on the bed. I may be biased but he just may be the cutest baby ever. :)

I thought briefly about taking Julian with us to the shower but then I realized that a bunch of Filipino women in a house would be incredibly loud for him and I just didn't want to make him deaf so young in life so Terri was kind enough to come down with us and hang out with him while we stepped into the Virginia-based outpost of the Philippines for a couple of hours. We stayed long enough to see my cousin bask in her bridal bliss and open a few presents before my boobs reminded me that I had a baby who was ready for a meal.

For dinner on saturday night my aunt (mom's sister), my uncle, 2 cousins + 1 partner, another aunt (mom's best friend) and her two daughters all joined us for a fantastic seafood dinner.

Julian was such a trooper without daddy, through the long car rides, unfamiliar places, and new people. We even stopped in at the beach sunday morning before we left for home so Julian could at least see the ocean. (Side note: A few weeks back I bought an 'ocean sounds' cd for bed time thinking that the rhythm of the waves crashing would be a bit nicer for white noise rather than just the room fan. I was wrong. Every time the waves would crash he would startle. Maybe I can revive the cd when he's a bit older and has had a chance to associate it with the ocean, because I could fall asleep to that sound in about 2 minutes flat).

Here are some pics of his reaction to the ocean. He LOVED it!

Julian's First Picnic

2008-09-15T10:24:00.004-04:00

Last thursday we went to Founders Park in Old Town Alexandria for Julian's first picnic. We went with Kathleen and Chloe, Jessica and Hartley, Mary Beth and Claire, Blanca and Alejandro, and Trigie and Vaughan. It was a gorgeous, sunny day and we had a great time! Julian really enjoyed hanging out outside. I hope this is a sign of things to come for an outdoor baby!

3 Month Update!

2008-08-30T11:42:00.007-04:00

Wowzer how time flies!! Our little guy is 3 months by date (13 weeks by week count) and is doing great! He is a non-stop talker and is trying oh-so-hard to crawl. The other morning he pushed his way across daddy while we were laying in bed! He was weighed last monday and he rang in at a not-so-small 16 lbs. He's about 24.5 inches long now, and is rapidly outgrowing all his clothes. This week I bought him some 6-9 month onesies and I am hoping he'll at least get 1 wear out of them before they have to be retired.

Some firsts this week:

First Laugh- See the post one before this one. There's even a video of it!
Sticking out his tongue- Not sure if he just likes the feel of his tongue around his lips, or he's exploring his mouth, or if he's concentrating really hard, but it's absolutely adorable.
Sleeping for longer periods- 3 nights in a row he slept for 6 hours straight before his first feeding of the night! He did it again last night and it was awesome. Downside, I am totally soaked from breast milk by the time 5 AM rolls around.....ah, the adventure of breastfeeding continues.
Grabbing his toes- He discovered his toes a few weeks ago but now he's finally making an attempt to touch them now. He gets really frustrated if he can't touch them right away, but he's working on that muscle control very well.
Facing forward during walks in his slings- He LOVES this!!! I wear him facing forward in the Moby Wrap and daddy wears him facing forward in the Bjorn. Oh he just loves being able to see everything. During our morning walks, if I stop to talk to a neighbor, now he is able to contribute much better in the conversation!
Move to cloth diapers- This is something I really wanted to do since the beginning but we just never got around to putting together an order. There are SO many options for cloth diapers. Our adventure in cloth diapering will have to be for a completely different post...there is just too much. He really is adorable in them, though.

Some mother's time....

2008-08-27T22:19:00.003-04:00

The boys are asleep upstairs and I just wasn't ready to turn in for the night yet (which is crazy since we've been running around crazy the past few days, I could use the rest) so I decided to come downstairs for some "me time." "Me time" certainly is elusive since Julian was born. Lately it's consisted of stolen seconds to respond to emails or personal hygiene matters. From what I am hearing, it is a mother's constant battle to balance her time to get some time for herself and this imbalance I am going through is quite normal. I don't know if "imbalance" is the right word- maybe "absence" would be more fitting, but "imbalance" feels right at about 10:27 PM so I'm going with it.

A few weeks ago, during a hormonal roller coaster ride and an intense need to go to sleep on the kitchen floor, I was explaining to Thad my time pie chart. If the entirety of my time is 100%, Julian takes up about 90% of that (if not more). I need to split the remaining 10% between the dogs, the cats, Thad, house chores, and myself. Before I had Julian, between reading a ridiculous amount of "when baby arrives" literature, and seeing what has happened to countless women before me, I vowed to take care of myself. Especially after the labor we went through, I couldn't afford not to take care of myself if it would have a negative impact on my ability to care for Julian. During my first couple weeks postpartum I was quickly realizing that I couldn't afford to always put others first if I was going to recover smoothly and safely.

I have always been the type of person to put others first and I realize that has left me with the short-end of the stick many, many times. Thad says that becoming a mother has enabled me to speak up for myself more and be more of a self-advocate. I don't know if this is a good thing, especially when I need to be dedicating myself to Julian and helping him thrive. It is incredibly hard not to throw everything I have- and then some- into this little baby, but if I don't learn to figure out how to keep something for myself I just don't know what will be left. I found this quote during some bopping around on the Interweb...I found it to be quite accurate to how I'm feeling right now:

"The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new." ~Rajneesh

I envy the woman who jumps into motherhood as easily as a monkey jumps from a branch. It's not easy and yet it's the most incredible adventure I've ever begun.

By Louay Kayali

We have laughs!

2008-08-25T20:27:00.002-04:00

After repeated sounds of "eh eh eh eh" when daddy says, "stinky foot" to him, Julian laughed for the first time today!!! Yesterday we thought we heard a giggle when he was looking at his bears but today, it is confirmed.

We have laughs!!! Oh man, it just gets better and better.....here's a video:

My Social Butterfly

2008-08-15T13:54:00.017-04:00

We are lucky to be surrounded by a lot of babies.....

Bradley Babies
We've been very fortunate to see our Bradley group usually about once a week. We started with our weekly get togethers shortly after our class ended in April and have continued up to now. Our Bradley instructor was due with her second child around the same time as all of us with our firsts so total there are 6 of us with new babies from that class.

Taken when Julian was 2 weeks old at a La Leche League meeting. From the left: us, Jessica and Jack, Kathleen and Chloe, Malia and Brynton, and Melissa and Caiden.

Taken when Julian was about 7 weeks old at our Bradley Pool Party reunion. From the left: Jessica and Hartley, us, Melissa and Caiden, Kathleen and Chloe, and Jessica and Jack.

Little Beginnings babies
On sunday we went to our friend, Theresa's, house for a Little Beginnings baby reunion. I taught at Little Beginnings Child Development Center from August 2006 to July 2007. Apparently there was something in the water there because when I left the school, Emily just had her son, Oliver, and Theresa was pregnant (due end of March), Cherylen was pregnant (due end of April), and shortly after I left the school we got pregnant (due end of May). Soon after that, Mandy got pregnant (due beginning of July). *phew* That's a lot of babies out of a staff of about 19 people! This was the first time since all our babies were born for us to get together. It was really lovely to see everyone! We look forward to more playdates as they kids get bigger.

Taken when Julian was about 10 weeks old. From the left: Mandy and Hannah, us, Cherlyen and Grant, Emily and Oliver, and Theresa and Eliza.

Prenatal Yoga
For one of my Christmas presents Thad got me a prenatal yoga session at a local place, SunMoon Yoga. I started in January and went up until a week before I was due. It was a great class and I met some great ladies in it. Meggan and I did water aerobics twice a week, too, until our due dates. Between yoga and water aerobics they were fantastic ways to help remain active during the pregnancy and to meet other expectant mothers. This week a few ladies brought their new babies over for a meet and greet and it was real nice to see them. We are hoping to get together once a week but you never know with babies involved....

Taken when Julian was 10 1/2 weeks old. From the left: Jen and Abby, Nikki and Camden, and us. Blanca was taking the picture, so we'll have to get her and Alejandro in there next time!

Between the Bradley class, La Leche League, yoga, and everywhere in between that we've been meeting other mommies and babies, we're so fortunate to have this support network. Hopefully this means lots of playdates as the kids get older!

"Here are a few of my favorite things..."

2008-08-12T11:17:00.007-04:00

Before I get into Julian's favorite things these days I'd like to announce that our little boy was able to put himself to sleep TWICE in a row folks. Last night after I nursed him he was nice and calm and we decided to try and see if he'd put himself to sleep (instead of the rocking/swaying/singing/bouncing/swaddling song and dance that tends to happen some nights). Granted, we tried when he was nice and calm, yet tired, and he was just bathed/clean diaper/fed so it truly was the perfect storm. Anyways, he was laid in his bassinet and within 5 minutes he was asleep! For his nap this morning he did the same thing. Oh boy, I hope this is a sign of things to come....

Without further ado, here is a list of Julian's favorite things (minus "the boob" of course...):

1. Sleeping- Well, duh, babies love to sleep. Julian is on the upper end of that "newborns sleep for 14-18 hours a day" thing. I'm fine with that. :)

2. His Bears- The play yard with the bears on top of his changing table is Julian's NUMBER ONE place to be! If he is upset, tired, cranky, or just plain inconsolable, those bears do the trick! They aren't colorful, flashy, nor do they move on their own but they bring him such happiness. He can lay under those bears and gaze at them adoringly long enough for mommy and daddy to get some things done in the kitchen.

3. Being on his tummy- We found out within his first couple weeks that if he is cranky and relatively inconsolable we can put him on his tummy and he is happy! Thank God. We can no longer put him on his Boppy on his tummy because he pushed himself forward and his forehead ends up pushed against the ground. Oh well. He also sleeps MUCH better on his tummy, too.

4. Standing on his feet- The bigger he gets, the stronger he gets, and the stronger he gets the more he wants to stand on our laps or whatever surface is around. Boy he kicks hard...

5. His fist- Since he has discovered his fist, it has becomes his best friend. He watches it, he plays with it, and he works on controlling it. He can get it into his mouth now, especially when he's tired, and this helps him get to sleep! Thank GOD. :)

6. The TV- Now, this is a tricky one because I don't put him in front of the TV and leave him BUT he LOVES watching it! Oh the colors! Movement! Sounds! It's the ultimate baby soother apparently. Here's a picture of him watching the TV from the floor. The baby in the background is Abby, Julian's friend from mommy's prenatal yoga class.

Pump up the bass, mom

2008-08-10T13:47:00.005-04:00

Julian is still hot and cold about the car. Sometimes (rarely) it's Paradise, but most of the time it's obviously the worst place in the world. He cries as if he's listening to Kathy Griffin's stand up show. I've even tried offering him the boob oh-so-illegally while Thad is driving but to no avail. Music seems to be the only thing that seems to help calm him down. Thank God for XM radio because I have over 100 channels to scroll through to see if he will like something. Most of the time classical music does the trick. He loves Schumann, Dvorak, Bach, Mozart, Haydn, and Wagner to name a few. He does not like Beethoven. I've found he likes songs that have a great rhythm like dances or marches. He doesn't like hard rock music (which is so funny because in utero he would noticeably move more when I would play hard rock and roll music- or even heavy metal) nor does he like country or bluegrass. He is tolerant of reggae (thank God) and French singers, and he doesn't mind jazz.

So the other night on our way back from dinner, I'm driving and Thad is in the back seat with the little guy trying so hard to make his stuffed Tigger's dancing seem like the coolest thing since his discovery of the bears at home. Still, he will not stop crying. So we try some music...classical, nope. Reggae, nope. Thad suggested something "bumpin'" and I tried for the House channel. It was off the air so I tried the Trance channel and wouldn't you know, Julian almost instantly falls asleep from the thumping bass. So my first thought was, "woah, my child may follow in my footsteps and be a little raver someday..." but that thought was soon pushed aside as we rounded on home and we rushed inside to give him the boob. Well, duh, he was hungry!

We've learned he is most tolerant of the car after he has slept, been changed, and has a full belly and no gas. I'll be sure to remember all that before I put him in his car seat next time....

I leave you with a picture of Julian being hard core in his nemesis: the car seat.

Houston, we have toes!

2008-08-01T08:22:00.006-04:00

This past week Julian has discovered his hands and toes. I noticed this when he was sitting in his chair in the kitchen and he was staring at something. A speck on the floor? No, he can't see quite that far yet. The chair? No, that's not very interesting. Wait. His eyes are following something. Can it be? Yes, he is! He's staring at his hand!! His little fist was moving slowly up and down and he watching it do it (he hasn't figured out that it is attached to his body yet). A couple days later I noticed he was staring at his feet! He hasn't made any attempt to touch them yet (still gotta make sure they aren't a threat, I guess) but he can stare at them forever. He even got his "wiggle-proof socks" off to look at them, at which I relied, "wow, look, Julian knocked off his socks!" Clever, I know. Here's a picture of his studying his fist.

Julian had a very busy week! We went to his first concert (Mr. Knick Knack...he slept through most of it, and when he woke up he was most interested in the fountain than the music, but that's okay), we visited a friend's house and went to a Filipino party.

He turned 2 months this week and each day is a never ending adventure. At his appointment he measured in at 23 1/2 inches long and 13 lbs 13 oz. This means he has grown 2 inches in 2 months exactly and gained 5 lbs! If you are at all interested in where he falls against other babies, he is in the 75% for his height/length and in the 50% for his weight. He's already into the bigger onesies, I find it so hard to believe there are babies much bigger than him at this age! Crazy.

Yes, our baby is already a devoted Red Sox fan and was watching ESPN all day yesterday following the updates on Ramirez's trade to the Dodgers. Julian is not happy about this. Here's a picture of him watching the news with daddy.

2 months already?!

2008-07-26T10:31:00.003-04:00

We are sitting here this saturday morning while Julian naps and reflecting on the past 2 months of our lives. Julian has been an adventure. Getting to know him, seeing him learn about the world around him, and growing (growing growing...) has been wonderful. He certainly has a little personality on him; he loves people- especially staring at their faces, loves to be on his belly, and loves cuddles with mommy and daddy. He's a genuinely happy boy- he only fusses when he needs something and even then once his need is addressed he stops- and very active and playful. He took to breastfeeding like a champ and has grown to an amazing 13+ lbs and over 23 inches long now. He's just about to outgrow his 0-3 month onesies at 8 weeks!

Everyone seems to ask how the animals do with him, and luckily they are wonderful. Scout took to him right away and protects him. When Julian was about 3 weeks old and napping on the couch and Scout jumped up and tried to cover him with the blanket. It was adorable. Paige could care less, she is basically ambivalent. Fitz is curious but afraid because of Julian's erratic movements...everytime Fitz gets close enough to sniff, Julian flails around and Fitz runs. Trillian was very curious in the beginning (especially when I'd feed him) but now she's pretty uninterested.

Both grandmas are in love with him....Thad and I think they might love him more than they love us. Terri has come down almost every weekend to visit with him and watch him while Thad and I get some time for ourselves (usually to watch a movie). Freshnie has provided much needed food and small breaks during the week (otherwise I'd never get a shower in) and watched him last night for the first time while we went to see Batman (side note: Go see it right now if you haven't seen it yet). Grandpa Lurie is coming next weekend to meet the little man and he is oh-so-excited. Uncle Brian stops by when he can and thinks Julian is adorable and Aunt Heather finally got to see Julian when he was awake during a Skype conversation. She loves the pictures and we can't wait to get him to New Zealand to meet her!

All in all, I think the past 2 months were what we were expecting with a new baby as far as the weird schedules (there's nothing wrong with going to sleep when it's still light outside), many diapers, and increased laundry. We are grateful that he's healthy and happy and that we've been blessed with such good luck so far. Ultimately, we are most grateful that we are able to provide him with a safe and comfortable home. Despite being such a new addition to our lives (outside of the womb), it feels like he's been here forever.

Your parents tell you all the time when you're growing up, "Just wait until you have a child..." and I understand that saying now. Obviously I cannot apply that saying to life with a teenager (eek, someday!) but more to the amount of love I feel for this child and the desperate desire to make him happy. I watch him while I'm feeding him or while he's sleeping and am still in awe that we made him. How can 2 cells know to make a human being?! It's just incredible. He really is a miracle. I see women out and about now who are pregnant and I want to run up them and tell them how wonderful it is to have a new baby. Obviously they are excited but wow.....I could have read and read about what it's like to be a new parent but nothing could have prepared me for just how amazing it is.

Here is his latest album. Included in these pictures are Julian's first time in a pool. Last saturday our birthing class (who have swiftly become my closest friends and I am so grateful to have them in my life) had our reunion pool party. He was apprehensive at first at the pool but eventually warmed up to the whole thing. Hopefully he'll be that water baby I've been hoping for! Enjoy!

Julian Week 8