Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Art Therapy
Get your art therapy on here.(Thanks Stumble!) |
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Give Me Some Drano, Damnit!
Overall, breastfeeding has been really great: it's a wonderful bonding time for me and Claire, she gets the very best nutrients and antibodies possible, and I've lost all of my pregnancy weight (and then some) by doing it. But, I am also apparently prone to getting clogged ducts as I'm suffering from my 7th or 8th one so far. I've got to tell you - they HURT. It feels like a hard, sore lump that only goes away with time, massage (ow!), and continual breastfeeding. Yesterday I was suffering on my left-side and today it's the right. Good.Freakin'.Times. I called a lactation consultant (who I now know on a first-name basis) and she recommended taking soy lecithin supplements which are in PAM cooking spray - it basically prevents the fat from building up and blocking the ducts. If it works, I'll do it! Shoot, if spraying PAM all over me would work, I'd do it. Calm down, Huz, you know they aren't yours right now anyway - don't bother even imagining it! ;)In other news, I'm feeling like a big loser. I set up lofty goals and ambitions for myself because they make me feel like I'm actually productive and doing something worthwhile with my life (i.e., going to grad school). But, I've decided that it would be more than I can handle right now. As it is, I'm exhausted after working a busy full-time job every day and, most importantly, I only see Claire 3 hours a day. I can't imagine having class and homework on top of that - I'd never see her, Huz, or my pillow and I just couldn't take that right now. Heck, I have specific photography goals that Huz and I talked about, typed up, and got excited about (to include a cocktail party/exhibition for friends, even), but haven't even picked up my damn camera for lack of time and energy - how could I add grad school to my list!? While I know it's wise setting boundaries for myself, I just can't help feeling a little lame for backing out of this because it sounded so damn awesome. Sigh. I don't know why I'm so hard on myself; sometimes I think I'm my own worst enemy. |
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Birthday Vigil
Thank you to Huz for a lovely dinner party celebration last night! The dinner he made was outstanding and I totally would have paid a lot for it in a restaurant. The plates were piled high: green beans with pancetta and sage, lentil salad topped with caramelized shallot mashed potatoes and, the best part, cumin roasted pork loin with mushroom sauce (alas, I didn't get pictures of the main course at all). This awesome meal began with a toast to me from my darling husband full of kindness and love that I won't ever forget. We ended the meal with a mint and chocolate brownie ice cream cake from Ben and Jerry's (yum!). Thank you to all who were there and who made it such a lovely evening. I love you guys, especially you babe.
And how can I post without leaving you with some pictures of my darling baby girl? Here are some of my recent faves:
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Claire Guest Posts For My Birthday
Geich, geich geich. Geich - geich geich geich! Geich geich geich, "geich geich geich!" |Monday, February 18, 2008
Listy List
I'm really busy at work, but wanted to take a moment to jot some things down, a.) to keep it a little less boring around here and b.) because I do like to blog even though I don't have much time/energy for it lately.1. Apparently, my baby is German. No, she isn't eating sauerkraut with her breast milk or anything, but she's learning that she can talk. And she must love the sound of it because she does it over and over again. For two days straight, all we hear out of her is a guttural, German-like sound (something like the German word "eich" with a "g" in front of it: "g-eich"). She'll have paragraph-long conversations with us (or herself) using only that word. It's so stinkin' cute. I'll try to capture it on video and post it for your listening pleasure.
2. We got a babysitter on Saturday night and attended a ball that my employer has every year with all 400 medical students. It was quite fun getting all glammed up for the evening and enjoying dinner and entertainment. Being a parent ain't cheap, though, because we had to spend $50 for childcare on top of everything else (we didn't pay for dinner because I worked for part of the event, but we chucked $50 out the window for parking and over-priced drinks). Oh well, it was still fun.
3. We're having a dinner party for 8 people tonight to celebrate my 32nd birthday (which is tomorrow). I told Huz over and over again not to go overboard with the meal since he watches Claire all day, but if you know him at all, you know he'll go crazy making a fancy gourmet dinner anyway. I know that pork loin is on the menu. At least he listened to me about not worrying about making a cake and he let me order one from Ben and Jerry's.
4. I went to the dentist this morning because after eating some peanut brittle on Thursday, my tooth has felt funny and I was convinced my filling fell out. Nope. It's another cavity in another tooth all together. Great. Another filling is going in on Thursday. Good times.
5.. That's it for now - I'm off for some birthday cake from my co-workers. Ciao! |
Friday, February 15, 2008
Don't You Hate It
When bloggers have babies? Their posts become so irregular, so boring, so monotonous. This blog officially sucks. Sorry about that.Our Valentine's Day consisted of a full day of work in the office for me and a full day of watching Claire for Huz. When I got home, I relieved him of Claire duty and he went to the grocery store to get dinner ingredients, then made a glorious meal for us to enjoy: rib eye steak with mushroom blue cheese sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, and carrots braised in brandy. It was beyond delicious. Since Claire's bedtime is a bit late for us to have dinner after she's in bed, she was part of the romance. Of course, she slept in the swing the entire time the meal was being made, then promptly woke up when we sat down to eat. We moved her to the bouncy seat on the dining room table as we dined so that she'd be entertained and happy near us. Consequently, our romantic candlelight dinner was accompanied by the cacophony of her making squishy bowel movements right next to us. Oh, the joys of parenthood! In all honesty, it was really hilarious and we laughed the whole meal because of it. Life just changes when you have a baby and it's totally okay. You'd have it no other way - and I mean that, even though it sounds cliche and everyone says it. It really is true. Things you used to take really seriously cease to matter so much and laughing and enjoying one another become more important than the social demands of romance, flowers, chocolate, etc. etc. Enjoying that lovely meal that my husband made for me with the company of our defecating infant surpassed any Valentine's Day that I can remember ever having. This is my life and I love it. |
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Now That's Love, Bitches (Revised)
I said before that my waiting to watch "Lost" until Huz could watch it with me was the ultimate show of love, but I was wrong. Love is when Huz, after huddling with his wife and infant in the hallway last night at 10:00 while a tornado warning moved through our area, faithfully stays up until 2:00a.m. watching the news until we get an all clear. That's love.God, I hate tornadoes! If I'm going to live in a place that constantly has to deal with this kind of weather, I need a basement, damn it!
Thankfully we were safe and no damage occurred in our area.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Baby in a Hat
Seeing how it's been disgustingly warm for February (67 degrees!?), I've been taking Claire on walks when I get home from work. I tried putting her in the Ultimate Baby Wrap facing outwards for the first time. Other than looking squished, she enjoyed it immensely.
She enjoyed it so much, in fact, that she declared a new national holiday: Puke Fest 2008. Oh, yes. During our walk she puked down the front of her body, splashing the street in front of my neighbor's house (you're welcome!). Then she continued the celebration at home while I was trying to take a picture of her in her cute little hat.
Puke fest on the chin:
And puke fest on the floor:
Determined to get a cute baby-in-a-hat picture, I tried again a little later and again the next day. Much better.
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Saturday, February 2, 2008
Naked Baby
The new header photo? It was taken this morning after Claire gave back the vanilla milkshake I worked so hard to make for her breakfast. Thanks, kid. My shirt, stomach, jeans, and leather armchair really appreciated the snack. So, I did what anyone would do and wiped off her mouth and multiple chins, stripped her down, draped a hand towel over my shoulder and made Huz take her picture. Why? Because I have a ridiculously small number of naked baby photos and this cannot continue. The life of her cute little fat rolls is short, so I must capture them all on film!God, I love this kid. She's just so damn CUTE!
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Friday, February 1, 2008
Now That's Love, Bitches
I got a forwarded email from a friend yesterday concerning love and what little kids have said it is. Usually I'm not a fan of forwards, but there were some sweet ones, like:'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.' Billy - age 4
'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.' Terri - age 4
'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss' Emily - age 8
'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.' Bobby - age 7
But if you really want to know what love is, I'll tell you. It's when someone asks you not to watch the season premiere of 'Lost' because he's got a school meeting at the same time, so you patiently wait while Tivo tempts you with it's red light until the next evening so you can watch it together. That's love, bitches. |
