Saturday, March 31, 2007
The Sounds of Spring
We weren't really homeowners until today. I mean, yes, we bought the house in February and already made our first mortgage payment, but you're not a homeowner until you own a lawn mower, my friend. Check it.
Many, many thanks to my Mom for the wonderful housewarming gift. It was MUCH needed and our neighbors will finally speak to us again. Thank you! |
Friday, March 30, 2007
Book Review: Rabbit, Run - John Updike
Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom is the anti-hero of John Updike's novel "Rabbit, Run". I don't know if I the reader should hate him for his lack of social responsibility (literally running out on his young son and pregnant wife because he doesn't like her and her drinking problem anymore, immediately moving in with a prostitute, leaving the prostitute to go back to his wife when she gives birth to their daughter, running from his wife again when she refuses sex just a week after giving birth - his leaving again causes her to return to whiskey and accidentally kill the infant in a bath drawn too full in her drunken state - and, finally, his running from the prostitute he returned to when he found out she was pregnant by him). Or if I'm supposed to feel sorry for him because he, like all of us, feel trapped and constrained by the social demands placed on us (especially in the 1950s when this takes place).*He does seek God and religion throughout the novel as a way to find deeper meaning to the stark realities and responsibilities in life - he's the only character to do so and at times seems closer to God then the Episcopal priest who tries to save him throughout - but in the end he finds religion empty: "Afraid, really afraid, he remembers what once consoled him by seeming to make a hole where he looked through into underlying brightness, and lifts his eyes to the church window. It is, because of church poverty or the late summer nights or just carelessness, unlit, a dark circle in a limestone facade."
The novel ends with him literally running away from everyone and everything: "his heels hitting heavily on the pavement at first but with an effortless gathering out of a kind of sweet panic growing lighter and quicker, he runs. Ah: runs. Runs."
Updike remains one of the most captivating and reality-catching novelists I have found. The social obligations we all must keep, unless we are selfish like Rabbit, are very real in this novel. The way we deal with these responsibilities, however, is very different. I look forward to the next volume, "Rabbit Redux" which traces the life of Rabbit and his deserted family ten years later - I have a feeling everyone will grow and mature but him.
*Which takes me aback because I somehow have not thought about the '50s as a
time of trial for men. I have only looked at it with Stepford Wives in mind - a feminist view of this time in history. It's interesting to think that this view is perhaps not completely whole and that men were just as bound by social constructions as women were. |
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Peace
I want to reiterate that I in no way mean to judge those of you (some are my friends) who believe in attachment parenting. Perhaps the three videos I linked to were on the extreme side (these are the only ones I've seen) and THAT is what I am reacting to. I'm all for carrying the baby in a sling and for breastfeeding (I don't, however, think I want to do co-sleeping). Also, I totally understand the need for a child to breastfeed and find it a beautiful thing (I quite look forward to it for the bonding aspect, as well as for the antibody/nutrition aspect for the baby), but I feel that after a year or so the act becomes more for the parent than the child. I agree whole-heartedly with Stuffinghead's comment - there is a time for a baby to be a baby and a time for a child to be a child. That said, I've never done it and have no idea what it will actually be like for me or for my child. Further, I have to return to work after 3 months, so that very well with dictate how long I can do it (will try pumping during this time).All I know is that I agree with how my Mom did it - once they bite me, that's it!! ;) |
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Breast or No Breast?
I don't want to be judgemental, I mean I haven't even had a child and have never breastfed, but this just grosses me out. There's no way I want my kid walking up to me and undoing my shirt. 6 months? Yes. 5+ years? Forget it. What do you think? Is this just a cultural response of mine?Shudder
Is this really being done for the child or for the parent? I think the latter. |
Monday, March 26, 2007
I'm Hungry
I'm hungry all the time it seems. Two hours after eating breakfast I'm ready for another one. Two hours after eating my lunch I'm ready for another one. It hits me in the middle of the night too. When I wake up at 3:00a.m. to take my progesterone pill I have to eat a few saltines from my nightstand to calm my stomach. Whenever I do, Neville comes galloping in from wherever he may be in the house (usually the windowsill next to my head or somewhere outside of the bedroom) and shoves his entire body into my face, essentially forcing me to share my saltines with him. Which I do. Do you know how cute the sound of a cat crunching on saltines is? Very.We did a lot of work on the den this weekend in an effort to just be done with it. I caulked the crown molding (cuz I'm better at it) and we both painted the baseboard, crown molding, window and doors. ALL DAY LONG. I was so tired that by 3p.m. I just sort of collapsed.
Yesterday Huz installed the floor to ceiling shelving that I bought from The Container Store (luckily during their annual sale) and it looks awesome. I neglected to take pictures, but I will, my darlings, I will. Then we hung curtains, cleaned up the house, and had our first guests over for coffee and dessert. We had 2 couples over who live nearby and we had a great time sitting out on our patio enjoying brownies and ice cream, libations (for most but me, obviously), and the guys (and some of the girls, in fact) smoked cigars (Huz received a congratulatory one from a colleague when he announced that we were having a Snail). It was a lovely evening. |
Thursday, March 22, 2007
And The Huz Award Goes To...
I want to publicly thank Huz for how sweet he's been to me since finding out I'm pregnant. Ever since we've known about Snail, he hasn't let me lift anything heavy, he encourages me to rest when I need it, he calls to check on me at work, he's been cooking healthy meals for me (or offering to make me WAFFLES!), he's been understanding and sympathetic to my falling asleep and feeling queasy all the time, and then (THEN!) this morning he called me while I was driving to work just to tell me that I look really nice today. That made my day! :) Thanks Huz! |Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Me Me and More Me
1. I love crunchy Cheetos. If I ever make a trip to the vending machine (which is hardly EVER, don't worry), that's what I get. Yum.2. I loathe those puffy orange peanut-shaped candies. BARF!
3. Lately I'm craving cottage cheese (all by itself, which is weird for me) as well as waffles. I know I have a cool new Belgian waffle maker, but I'm too lazy to make my own so I've been trying out some frozen ones from the organic section of my grocery store. The Belgian ones are pretty tasty with organic blueberries and syrup on top.
4. I'm really enjoying our new neighborhood. Our first week living in the house, we had 3 sets of neighbors come by and introduce themselves and welcome us to the block. The first was a woman (in her 60s I'm guessing) who lives across the street with her husband who just suffered a stroke and is wheelchair bound (Judy and Junior) and was nice as can be. The other was the gentleman next door (Don) who is in his 60s (at least) and is the nicest guy I've met. The third was the woman who lives by Don who is a young African American woman (Angela) who lives with her 7 year old daughter and teensie tiny dog (Cutie Pie). All are so sweet. Then this morning, as Huz and I were getting into our car to go to work, our other next door neighbor (Opal) introduced herself as she was out getting the paper from her yard. She said she's been in her house for 55 years (!!) and loves it here. We feel very welcomed and, of course, all the older folks are estatic that we're expecting a baby - it's like we're bringing new life to the block and they are thrilled. :) Makes me smile!
5. Pregnancy continues - I'm tired, emotional, have the sorest boobs on the planet, my waist has gone missing, the nausea is a bit less but still comes and goes, I have this strange cramp on my right side that comes and goes (must be stretching muscles or placenta attaching!?). I feel helpless to all these things happening to me, but know the reward will be worth it. Deep breath. I can't wait until the first trimester is over!
6. I tried voting for my top three faves on Idol last night (Blake Lewis, Chris Richardson, and Melinda Doolittle), but the lines were always busy. I hope that means every one else was voting for them so I don't have to worry about them getting voted off. |
Friday, March 16, 2007
Snail Introductions
Hey kids. I stayed at home sick today because when the alarm when off at 6:00 I felt like it was 2:00 - as if I hadn't slept at all yet. I think the progesterone pill was late in hitting me and I was still fully in its coma-like stupor. So I figured, what the hell? I'm in my first trimester! I deserve a day off when I need it, right? So I called in at 8:00 and promptly went back to sleep for another glorious 2 hours. Ahhhh.I just ate a banana for my second breakfast; well, that and the other half of the bagel I had earlier this morning. Pregnancy has turned me into a hobbit, I guess, because I am incapable of eating just one breakfast: I must eat two. It started the day I got my ultrasound (last Tuesday). I ate a bagel and some cantaloupe before leaving the house at the crack of dawn for my 7:45 appointment and by the time the appointment was over (of course, they did take 6 vials of my blood) I was famished. So I called and told the great news to my Dad in the parking lot of The Pancake Pantry and I called and told my sister and grandma at the table waiting for my delicious pecan waffles to come out of the kitchen. Man, I'm making myself hungry all over again!
Anyway, I thought I'd share a picture of Snail with you, so you can make your acquaintances and so you can see why I call him/her Snail.
See? The round yolk sack looks like a snail shell on his/her back. The other
part (the body/heart) was only 3mm at the time of this picture and was beating like crazy (good sign!).
We introduced Cambie to Snail, but at first she was more interested in kissing Huz's hand.
Then she really seemed to examine Snail, as if looking to see if it was going to be a boy or a girl.
Either way, she said she'd be happy as long as her new sibling lets Miss Princess sleep. (Great shot by Huz.)
Meanwhile, Neville was oblivious to the introductions because he was busy being a Sheet Lump Critter.
|
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Pregnancy: Old Wives' Tales, Part One
I'm sure I'll get A LOT more where this came from, but today someone at work told me, "Slow down! Don't eat so fast or your baby will eat really fast!"Um...I'm seven weeks. I don't think Snail even has a mouth yet. Do I really need to worry about that now? Methinks not. |
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Conflicting Thoughts and Am I Normal!?
I don't have to pee a lot, despite what all the books are telling me.When I do pee, I'm scared because I don't want to see any blood.
I can't go #2.
When I'm nauseated I wish I wasn't.
When I'm not nauseated I worry that something's wrong and wish I was nauseated again.
I'm hungry all the time.
I'm afraid of getting fat and showing too early (all the books say you don't start showing until week 13 or so...I'm on week 7 and already feeling FAT).
I'm excited to have a wee one of my very own.
I'm terrified to have a baby - what the hell am I doing? Can we afford this? Will I even be any good at this? |
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Husband, What Husband?
I feel guilty. See, my OB called me 2 weeks ago and told me that my blood work came back showing low progesterone. So I have to take 2 progesterone pills a day until I'm 12 weeks. Of course I panicked and googled "low progesterone pregnancy" and proceeded to panic some more because it all points to miscarriage (many people feel that one shouldn't look up health issues on the internet because of the scare factor and possible bad information, but it's just so damn tempting, people!). I'm feeling better about it all now because, 1. they caught it really early (my 5th week) and, 2. my cousin emailed me and said the same thing happened to her and she just had a healthy baby 2 months ago. Phew. The problem is that these little pills knock me out, like major time. I'll take one and like clockwork I pass out in exactly 2 hours for 2 hours. I took one last night at 7p.m. and entered a dreamless comatose from 9-11p.m. Poor Huz. I never see him anymore - sure, he sees me (asleep on the couch or the bed), but that's not exactly quality time. We've got to figure this out so we can actually converse and, you know, other stuff. Wish us luck in that department. For now, I set my new dual alarm clock for 3a.m. and pop a pill and go back to sleep until 6a.m. when I get up and go to work.Anyone out there have low progesterone in their pregnancy? Can you share with me? |
Monday, March 12, 2007
Lots O' Nothing
So we moved one week ago and, were I in my normal state of frantic Must.Get.All.Cardboard.Out.Of.Sight mode, we would be all done unpacking by now. But no. This pregnancy bit is for the birds. Lazy birds. Now, I'm not complaining about finally getting pregnant, really. It's just that this constant need for sleep and wanting to puke all the time is cramping my Go Get 'Em style. I accomplished absolutely nada this weekend. Not one box was unpacked. I lazed around, feeling green in the face with nausea, and did not much of anything other than watch Huz change yet another light fixture in our house. We also went to the furniture store to find end tables, but instead found a dining room table on clearance ($365 down to $98 because of a small scratch) that will be perfect for Huz's desk in the den. The den, by the way, now has the sexiest hardwood floors I've ever seen. Oh baby. |Friday, March 9, 2007
Speechless
No wonder I've been so tired! It wasn't just all the painting and popcorn ceiling removal! We're amazed and happy after trying for 10 months. Now the nursery will really be a nursery!!! I'm only 6 weeks, but saw the little "Snail" on Tuesday when we got our first ultrasound - the heart was beating 120 beats per minute and it was unbelievable.
I'm really speechless about all this. OMG!!! :) |
Monday, March 5, 2007
Land of Boxes
I've had some requests for more pictures but, people, there's nothing to see but boxes for miles. Believe me. Besides, I haven't unpacked the camera yet. I think it's in a box over in the corner of the guest bedroom, but I have no idea. It's an adventure just getting to that corner, what with the closet doors on the floor, an extra two dining room chairs in the way and, oh yes, all the freaking boxes.We're making progress, slowly but surely. Pictures to come once I'm dug out of cardboard. Promise. |
