Friday, November 30, 2007

Look at this cutie-patootie! I guess they're right when they say you always think your own baby is so cute. I mean, I think other babies are cute too, but I'm afraid my baby might be the ugliest in the world and I'm still thinking she's just the cutiest thing ever.

Does anyone know the scoop on John Langenkamp and Elisabeth... how do you spell her last name? Roese? Reyes? Well anyway, if anyone has any good gossip, pass it along my way because I'm curious.

Yesterday Anja slept all day and I worried once or twice that she might be sick. But she didn't act sick in any of the ten-minute stretches she was awake. Then I worried she might not sleep all night--but she did! She was GREAT all night, back to waking up every 3 hours instead of every hour and going right back to sleep after nursing! I think part of the help was that I never went downstairs. Sometimes I took her downstairs to her room where it's lighter and I can read my book while she nurses. But last night I just stayed up in our room and dozed off while she nursed and she went right back down again every time. She didn't wake up for the day until 8:00 this morning. It was fabulous! And today she's been amazing, just awake and content most of the day. So I guess yesterday she just needed some extra sleep. Oh well!

Last night Martino and I went up to my parents' house for a visit. They had invited Ben and Anna for dinner, and they'd eaten Yummie Pasta. Well, my mom didn't want me to know that they'd had Yummie Pasta (my favorite meal) so they finished up and hid the leftovers, but as soon as I came in the door I smelled it, and asked if that's what they had so they all had to come clean. Then my mom broke down and sent he leftovers home with us and tried to deny the fact that she'd tried to be sneaky about it. Anyway, I think she sent the leftovers home with us so that I wouldn't have to make dinner tonight, but I've already eaten it all up. Half for breakfast, half for lunch, and now it's gone. Whoops!

Anja and I took a walk today. We went to the bank and to McCords! It was very fun and not very cold at all. She had on a super cute outfit, but no one knew it but me since she was all snug in her sling underneath my coat.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

WAKE UP!!!

Anja's been sleeping all day. I wake her up and she stays up for about 15 minutes and then just wants to snuggle up and zonk again. And as cute as that is (and it is VERY cute,) I'd much rather her snuggle up and zonk when it's nighttime and then I can get back into my bed and do the same. I don't know what to do to wake her up. Martin says I should give her a bath--and he's right--but I'm kind of afraid of giving her baths. She's wobbly enough when she's dry, I really don't like it when she's wobbly and slippery as well. And she cries when she gets bathed, and I don't like that either.

This morning we went to the library together. I got "What to Expect the First Year," two Milan Kundera books and a chick lit book. I'm telling you, breastfeeding really increases your pleasure reading time. It's pretty great. I finished "Mona in the Promised Land" and LOVED it. Everyone should read it... it's hilarious and surprisingly sweet at the end. Oh, and I also got a Christmas music CD since this weekend is the beginning of Advent.

I left some reply comments to those commenters on my post about diapers from a few days ago. Just so you know.

I like having the library across the street because even when it's only 25 degrees like it was this morning, Anja and I can go someplace. And we don't even have to take the diaper bag. If she has any sort of explosion we'll just go home. It's very convenient. And, of course, it's free!

Maybe during this gigantic nap that Anja's taking I should do something special like bake cookies. I thought for sure that coming in here to blog would wake her up--usually as soon as I start doing something I really want to do she wakes right up! Unfortunately, it's not working today.

Here's something funny: Martin is traveling for work today, (not overnight, he'll be home at dinnertime) so he got a college car for the day. And he was so excited because instead of the usual old-person white Buick that he usually gets, he got this HUGE pickup truck. This thing was gigantic. And he was so excited about it. It's so NOT Martin, but he loved it. It's so big that we went through the ATM and he didn't know if he'd fit. Then he dropped his debit card out the window and neither one of us could open our doors to get out and pick it up. He had to pull out of the drive-thru before he could get out and retrieve it. And we dropped some mail off at the post office street mailboxes and we were so high up he almost couldn't reach the mailbox slot to drop in the envelopes. It was crazy! And then we saw Dan Shaw and gave him a ride home and that's probably the last time we'll ever see him since he isn't from here and he's moving to Evansville. I'm glad he got to meet Anja before he left, even though she was screaming the whole time because she hates her carseat so much.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

clarification

in case I was unclear about the driving Martino to work: I only do it on Mondays, not every day!

it's a challenge to nurse a baby and blog at the same time!

our friend dan shaw is moving to evansville. very sad.

bedtime.

Oh, I Remember Now!

I just remembered what I REALLY wanted to post about yesterday--diapers!! I don't know about the rest of you, but yesterday I found Huggies to be really worthless. Anja leaked through her diaper 3 times yesterday! I bought a package of Huggies because they were on sale. Big mistake. Now I'm afraid we're going to have blowouts until the package is empty.

We have this tree outside our bedroom window which seems to be the only tree with the leaves still on it. It's kind of weird.

I can't express how nice it is for Martin's travel season to be over. It's so great. Last night I made BBQ wings--YUM! And so deliciously messy.

I have a whole laundry basket full of socks to be matched and folded. I've done a pretty good job of keeping up with the laundry these days. Doing it is the easy part, folding it is only slightly harder... but putting it all away seems to be impossible. The big back room is filled with little stacks of folded clothes. Well, I'm getting there!

I have the best cat in the world. And so stripey too!

Tuesday Date Night Returns!

So Martin and I try to make Tuesdays our "date night" and while it used to be more important, it's still fun to observe it as often as we can. Well last night was our first Tuesday Family Date Night, and it was great!! On Monday Martin recieved a very generous giftcard from his office to JC Penny's so last night we took a trip to the mall and spent it. We got some REALLY cute stuff and everything was half off. I also got two more nursing bras, which is great, since one of mine has already broken. (But really it was okay because it was the one I bought when I was pregnant and it ended up being too small.) We got things for various ages too, but one thing that Martin picked is a blue and white stripey sweater that should fit her now or at least soon, and it's SO CUTE. She will look super adorable in it. After our shopping spree we walked over to Barnes & Noble for a Favorite Date. I got a peppermint mocha! Woooo!

This morning Martin left me a travel mug full of tea on the dresser before he went to work. Isn't that nice of him? I appreciated it when Anja woke up a few minutes after he left and I had hot tea to drink while she ate.

Also yesterday my sister came over and she & PeterXavier and Anja and I took a walk over to River Knits.

All day yesterday I wanted to post because I had a lot to say. But now I finally get my chance and I can't remember anything I was thinking about yesterday! Isn't that always the way it goes. I'm afraid my blog is becoming incredibly boring.

I do like winter and I'm glad it's here.

Monday, November 26, 2007

It was a Beautiful Weekend...

This is what Martin said last night as we were moving upstairs and going to bed. And he's right. It was a very beautiful weekend filled with just the right amount of laziness, productivity, and holiday hecticness. And it's so depressing to watch a four-day weekend come to a close. Ugh.

And how else to welcome back the old boring schedule than to have an absolutely exhausting day? Anja is creeping into the bad habit of comfort nursing. For more than one night now she has woken up every one-to-two hours *acting so hungry, just to sit there on her food dish. suck-suck-suck, stop. blink. blink. suck-suck. blink. yawn. fall back asleep. wake up the minute you put her down, acting hungry again. (repeat from *)

Not a good habit!!!! (p.s. the * stuff is knitting language, for anyone who didn't get it. I'm just a big dork is all, and going through knitting withdrawl.) So anyway, I'm hoping for another 5-hour sleep stretch tonight; that'd be fabulous.

Today, being Monday, was the first of the weekly designated Annie Gets the Car days. Every Monday from now until we buy another car I will take Martin to work in the mornings, run my errands all day, and pick him up after work. Today was not only the first day of this routine but it was also the first time I've ever run errands with Anja, including going to the grocery store. Yikes! No wonder it was such an exhausting day... hopefully it will only get easier as the weeks go by. The super fun thing about this day was taking Anja to Martin's work and showing her off to all his office mates. Old women are sooooo funny when it comes to babies. No one called her ugly. No one made fun of her pimply nose. No one even called her Anja Lasagna! It was very fun to show her off. Plus Martin always gets me coffee when I go to his office, and it's in this cozy upstairs kitchenette and I like being there. Today when I picked him up, he brought me more coffee! Yay!

After coming home from dropping Martin off at work we went straight to the doctors office where Anja was weighed -- 6lbs 15oz!!!! She'll be 7lbs by tomorrow. What a little porker. And she's only seventeen days old!

We've moved back up to our bedroom, which was weird and sad in its way. We've turned the furnace back down in the big back room and the mattress is gone from the floor and it looks kind of bare and cold and sad. It was weird to go back up to the bedroom after not having lived there for two weeks. Of course now it is very cozy and wonderful!

Maybe tomorrow I'll have more time for blogging.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Events of the Weekend Thus Far (with pictures!)

Only eight more days until I get to start singing Comfort, Comfort!! I'm soooooo excited!! Of course, it seems like the rest of the world has already started celebrating that joyous December holiday. Geeminee (Christmas)! We saw someone today driving home with a Christmas tree in their trunk. The stores have been decorated for Christmas since before Halloween. I think it's absolutely ridiculous. And besides that, Halloween and Thanksgiving are perfectly good holidays, we shouldn't be skipping them over just because we like presents and evergreen plants.


This picture is of Anja with my mom. The other kids made indian hats and cut-out turkeys, and they made one of each for Anja too. How sweet! But since we spent the holiday with the Schaps, this picture was taken on Friday when we went to my parents house for leftovers. Anyway, I thought it was cute. And speaking of the little kids, here they are! Looking silly and cute as they always do on Thanksgiving. I don't know the story behind the orange yard flags, so don't ask.

This morning we met up with Matt Aiken at Barnes & Noble for coffee and experienced Anja's first diaper explosion. We don't know it happened, but one side of her diaper came loose and as soon as we sat down at the B&N cafe, we realized she was covered in poo. Martin took her and changed her though, and now we have a bath planned for whenever she wakes up. We are lucky I threw a clean onesie in the diaper bag yesterday, because that's all she had to wear after her clothes were so ridiculously soiled! Also, she and I had our first public feeding together. Except it wasn't so public. While she is a marvelous little nurser, I, unfortunately, am not. I really should start practicing the whole covered-in-a-blanket technique at home. As for today, I went to the ladies room and sat in the handicap stall and fed her.

Last night was our first real social outing with her. We went to Vienna and were able to show her off to many of our favorite people, including our favorite Vienna employee, and lots of our highschool friends. It was a regular holiday reunion for us and it was really fun. All of a sudden we're all spread out--Emily is in Michigan, Tim is in Alabama, Joel's in Ohio and Perkins is in New Jersey. And I think it's nice that Martin and I are married now, and that us being married doesn't mean that our hoilday reunions with our friends is awkward for either of us, because we were always there together before we were married too. I'm hoping that our annual Christmas Game Night still happens this year, although I think last year it didn't pan out. Another person in attendance last night was our friend Ryan Hill who now lives in Chicago. Unfortunately, he's not in the picture because he was the photographer. But look! You can see two of the three wall paintings and the faux brick!! Now you all know what I'm talking about when I complain about the Vienna makeover. I think it's sad--that corner we're in looks like a completely different place.

It's been such a productive, yet relaxing weekend. I've gotten lots of laundry done, Martin has kept up on the dishes, we cleaned our our refrigerator (after which Martin wondered why he married me) and at the same time we've just relaxed around the house. It's been really nice. We were going to take a walk, the three of us, but the day turned out colder than we'd been expecting.

And now Anja is sleeping but is due to wake up anytime... then it's bathtime for her! Yikes!!

Friday, November 23, 2007

Thankfulness--a day late

So I've been thinking about this lately. Ever since two weeks ago (two weeks ago today!) I've been kind of waiting for all that regret and feeling of incompetence to set in after having a c-section. I mean, the books say you'll feel this way. They say you'll feel like you failed in your childbirthing duties. They say you'll have all these negative emotions, etc., etc., and here I've been waiting for them all these two weeks. But I don't think they're going to come. I don't regret having a c-section at all, really. As much as I didn't want to have one going in, I still came out with a baby, and there are some major perks to having a baby removed like a tumor rather than being pushed through a very small and sensitive place. Like the fact that (and Martin will attest to this) throughout the whole nine months of pregnancy I never once feared the pains of childbirth, but I was absolutely petrified of the idea of pooping on the delivery table. This was my one major fear going in. In fact, it was such a huge fear that that's probably the whole reason my innards failed to progress at all. This was a big deal to me. But then the day came and--SURPRISE!--no poop!! Not even a chance of it! So that was (and still is) a big relief.

There are other good things too. Like the fact that when they said recovery from a c-section takes longer, something like six weeks or whatever, I expected myself to really be in bad shape for the whole six weeks (or whatever.) But these days I feel tremendous. Sure, my belly still hurts a little bit and I'm pretty poochy, but I'd be poochy anyway. I'm able to get around just fine though, and I don't mind having a big smiling scar across my lower abdomen. I'd never had surgery before so I think it's kind of novel and neat.

Okay, and let's be honest. The other perk was the awesome spinal they gave me and later feeling it wear off. It was a pretty cool feeling. And especially cool since it made my labor magically disappear almost instantaneously. In fact, now that it's over I'm able to think back on that whole experience with fondness. Except when I think of the doctor who delivered Anja... he will always live in my memory as a big jerkface. But that's okay too because he's not my doctor.

So that's what I'm thankful for this year. I'm thankful for my c-section which turned out better than I'd expected and I'm thankful for the negative feelings about myself that never showed up. I'm also thankful that I didn't have to poop on the delivery table, and I'm MOST thankful today for the fact that Anja slept for five hours straight last night after a massive gorge-fest at 2:00 in the morning. I guess she understands the idea of Thanksgiving already. Oh, and I'm also thankful for my collarbones which are slowly reappearing.

Yesterday was Anja's first social outing! We had Thanksgiving with the Schaps this year and it was a special day also because it was AnnLaura and Aurelio's birthdays! Aurelio turned one year old yesterday. Very special. I would have loads of pictures to post, but, unfortunately, as soon as I turned my camera on the batteries ran out. So no pictures. Everything was delicious, of course, but my favorites were the cranberries. Which I made. Is that bad that my favorite dish of the day was my own? I just really love cranberries and since I basically only eat them at Thanksgiving, it makes them that much more special. Today we will go to my parents house to eat leftovers and I'm hoping they have some mashed potatoes because Martin and I just realized that we didn't have mashed potatoes yesterday, and of course, now we want some.

Today will be Anja's second social outing. We are celebrating her two week oldness by meeting up at Vienna with all our friends who are in town. I'm very excited for that!!!

Anja is awake now and Martin is introducing her to his kettlebell, so I think it's time for me to intervene.......

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Overalls

This is so funny.

Our friend Joel is in town and he's been by the house twice since he got back. Once night he just stopped by to say hello and meet Anja and the next time he came for dinner. Both times I was wearing those overalls. Okay, I KNEW I looked really dumpy and gross in the overalls, not to mention I probably smelled so much like sour milk I don't even want to think about it. But evidently Joel didn't get it that the only reason I was wearing them was because I couldn't wear my normal clothes yet, because I was talking to Perkins tonight and telling her that since I got my staples out I can wear my regular clothes again; she asked what I had been wearing before and I told her, those overalls. Well, she thought that was hilarious. Evidently she and Joel talked on the phone and Joel had mentioned my overalls, wondering why I was wearing them. HAHAHA!!!! When I hung up with her I made her swear to me that she would call Joel right away and explain things to him.

Haha, what big nerds we all are.

Pictures, As Promised

MY FEET!!! I can see them normally again. At last!

Sleeping Anja, dressed in pink

More sleeping Anja


A funny little baby smile. She looks like an Anime character.


Anja with her pet mountain lion.


Anja and me

Looking cute in her jungle crib!!

Guess Who's Wearing Fat Pants?!?!?

I AM!!!! Thanks to yesterday's staple removal I am today wearing my three-sizes-too-big blue jeans. It feels amazing. Well, actually that's a lie.. I'm still a little freaked out by my "wound" (as Martin calls it) and so I am nervous to sit down or scrunch over. Other accomplishments of today include shaving my legs for the first time in almost two weeks, and putting on my own socks! Looks like I'm getting back to normal!


So for the past several months I've been dreading this day because it's Martin's "W Night" down in Evansville. It's kind of his big project of the season, I guess you could say. I used to dread it because he'd be overnight and my due date still isn't until Saturday so I was afraid of him being so far away. Then after Anja was born I dreaded it because as it turned out I didn't want him to be away overnight after the baby was born any more than I wanted it before the baby was born. But then just the other day he was talking to me and I realized that he isn't going to be staying overnight at all. Evidently that was never the plan and I had this date confused with something else that's already over. Isn't that stupid? So I've been quietly freaking out about this looming date when really I have absolutely nothing to freak out about! He'll be getting home late tonight, but it'll still be tonight.




Anja was AWESOME last night. Every three to three and a half hours she woke up, fed quietly, and went back to sleep. She let me put her in her bassinet, unlike the night before. She was fabulous.


While we were in the hospital there were all sorts of wacky people coming and going and Martin had a lot of things to sign for whatever various things. Evidently he signed some paper agreeing to let someone from 'Healthy Families' come by and talk to us. This woman had been calling me since about the day we got home from the hospital and everything was so crazy there at the beginning that I never bothered calling her back. But she kept calling me about every day so finally I called back and set up an appointment for today at 11:00 for her to come over and talk to me, not knowing who on earth she was or what she wanted to talk to me about. When I told Martin, he remembered signing the paper and couldn't believe that he had. He said she was a Baby Snatcher and that she was coming to make sure we were fit parents. Turns out, he was right. She didn't snatch my baby because she had no reason to do that, but she did ask me a lot of personal questions like if I had ever been spanked as a child and what my own form of discipline will be for my children. She asked if I'd ever had any crimes from speeding tickets to murder and she set up all these scenarios involving my child misbehaving and how I would react. She asked how Martin and I fight with each other, what we do when we get angry and if we or anyone in our families have ever used drugs or abused alcohol. She asked all sorts of questions about our financial situation from whether we worry about money to whether we've ever had no food at home. I actually felt kind of violated. I realize my dumb husband signed a consent form, but really, none of those questions were any of her business. Lucky for me, we have nothing to hide. We have a cute, clean house and a cute baby (who's not clean, let's be honest, she's constantly getting sprayed with breastmilk) and a perfect little life on Alabama Street. Martin and I were never beaten as children, and we don't indent to beat our own. But seriously-- my daughter is 11 days old. I'm not going to know exactly how I'll react to any given situation when she's 2 or 4 years old--I barely know her!!! I know I won't start whaling on her if she misbehaves, but I can't say what particular form of discipline will be appropriate for her when the time comes. Stern talking to, or time-out? Who knows? But the bottom line is, it isn't this girl's business and I didn't like her asking.


And what I liked less about her asking was the fact that she didn't really care about our life--she just wanted to make sure we were playing by the CPS rulebook. I told her that Martin graduated from Wabash and now works there and about 2 seconds later she was running through some questions and she asked both if Martin went to college and if/where Martin is employed. When I told her the answers, she didn't give any sign that she'd already heard the answers. I told her we bought the house through NHS and she later asked if we were buying or renting our house. The small talk she made was all an act. Grrrr.


I hope that little rant doesn't offend anyone.


So anyway. I need to start thinking about Christmas presents for people. I have this really fabulous brown yarn that I'd like to make something with... and I don't know if I have the heart to give it away!!!! I'm so selfish and awful.


Another great thing about Anja and the schedule she made up for herself is that now Martin and I have our mornings together again. When we were first married I'd get up with him in the morning and eat breakfast and have coffee with him before he went to work, then I'd go back to bed after he left. Then when I was pregnant I stopped doing that. (Basically because I stopped getting out of bed at all.) But now it's great because I wake up with Anja at just about the time Martin gets up for work, and Anja is usually wide awake after that, so we get to have our mornings together! It's very nice.


Possibly some pictures later this afternoon!

Monday, November 19, 2007

Little Sickie / Staples Be Gone!

I've spent most of my day on the phone with/in doctors offices. Last night around dinner time we noticed that Anja was getting some diarrhea. It got pretty bad for awhile, so naturally, we freaked out a little bit. She was also pretty cranky all night. So first thing this morning I called and got her an appointment with Dr. Beardmore--who says she's perfectly healthy! He said if it weren't for me telling him about the diarrhea, he'd think she was a perfectly healthy little girl. That was great news for us. The best part about the visit (besides finding out that she was fine) was when he noticed the little hole in her skin next to her ear. I don't know if I've already posted this fact, but she has a little hole in the exact same place I have one. Martin calls in the hole in my head, but really it's very tiny--about the size of a piercing hole. We were excited to see that she has one in the same place. Well, today we actually found out what they are--they are leftover GILLS!!!! Evidently we all have a line of gills down our faces when we are still tiny little embryos and as we develop into normal, human looking beings, the gills fill in and disappear. Those little holes next to our ears are leftover gills that never got filled in. Isn't that AWESOME?!?!

Well, her appointment was at 10:15, which meant I had to reschedule my own appointment (which was at 11:00) to 1:00. At my appointment I got my staples taken out! Yaaay! One step closer to wearing my fat pants and not having to wear the same smelly sour-milk-covered overalls! I had 15 staples in my belly. My mom thinks that's a lot, she claims when she had her c-sections she only had 5 staples. How many did all the rest of you medical victims have? Anyway, I was very nervous about having them taken out, even though Martin assured me it wouldn't hurt. He was right--it didn't. And afterward my mom stayed in the car with Anja while I ran into Vienna for a chai!

Oh, and the nurse mispronounced her name. The receptionist, however, got it right!

I'm getting excited for Christmas music. ...I'm getting excited for COMFORT, COMFORT!!!!!! Sometimes I sing it to Anja, even though it isn't Advent yet. I figure she doesn't know the difference.

Speaking of Anja and her musical tastes, I'm figuring stuff out. She likes bluegrass music--we listened to the Dillards in the car and she loved them... or at least, she didn't complain. Her daddy sings her the bluegrass songs too, and that makes her happy when he does that. Unfortunately, my fear came true this afternoon when I broke out the banjo. She is not a fan. However, this might just be my bad playing and not the instrument itself. BUT, to make up for that sad fact, this afternoon she was having kind of a meltdown and nothing could console her until I put on the Kate Rusby album that I listened to non-stop through the last weeks of my pregnancy and all throughout the second half of labor. She calmed down immediately and for the first few tracks stayed awake and alert, just sitting on my lap listening. Then she fell asleep. Very amazing and wonderful!

She also appears to like Bob Dylan. Another good thing!

Sunday, November 18, 2007

I consciously try on my blog to not do too much gushing about Martin. I try not to go on and on about how great he is, or post sappy things about how much I lava him. ("What did one volcano say to the other?" "I lava you.") But now with a third person in the house things have been kicked up a notch. Now instead of doing sweet things for me all the time, he's doing sweet things for me and Anja, and sometimes it's really cute and I can't help posting it. Like last night when he came home from the store where he was buying milk for us and some piping for a project of his, and he made me leave the room for awhile. Then when he invited me back he showed me Anja's feet--he had bought little socks for her!!! He bought six pairs, stripey ones and ones with ducks and snails on them. They are so tiny and so cute, and now we don't have to worry about her feet being cold! I thought it was cute that I sent him out for milk and he came back with baby socks.

Today is the first day that I feel really good. I've only been taking the Tylenol-3 about once a day now, instead of every four hours like before. Usually it's just enough to get me by, but today I feel really good!

I wanted to take Anja to church today but Martin still thinks it's too early for her. I tried to convince him but he's afraid she'll get sick and die. So he went to 4:30 last night without me and I'm going to noon today without him. I don't like going to church separately. This will be the first time we've done it since before we were married.

Anja missed a feeding last night. Somehow the alarm got turned off and she slept from midnight to 5:30. I know it's not a good thing, that she needs to eat more often than that, but it was pretty nice to have a chunk of sleep longer than 3 hours. And when she woke up at 5:30, she didn't act like she was starving--she just woke up hungry, ate, and then stayed awake for awhile.

I have to leave for church; I might post again later.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

What's in a Name?

I think when Martin and I came up with the name for our baby we didn't realize how it would confuse people. I guess when you're familiar with a name, even if it has an odd spelling, you just assume that everyone else in the world is familiar with the name as well. As we've already found out: they're not.

So, for those of you who don't know, Anja is pronounced the same as Anya. Anya is a Russian name, but Anja is the German spelling of that name. Since we are neither one of us Russian, but both German (Martin more than me; and I don't care about percentages) we chose to go with the German spelling. So anyway, that's that.

Speaking of Anja, she's looking great. She's getting plumper by the day (because all she does is eat and poo) and she's already noticeably bigger. Today I put her in some footie pajamas (eventually I will begin dressing her in cutie outfits... when she starts to fit into them) and all through the afternoon her feet stayed in the feet of the pajamas!! It was amazing! I can't believe how much bigger she seems already. And her face is becoming so round and her hands are getting fatter. It's nice! Not only because she looks less sickly and granny-ish, but also because she seems less fragile with a little more fat.

These days at home are pretty relaxing, especially when Martin is here. He went back to work on Thursday and he actually went to work this morning too, but he was home by 9:30 or something, and Anja and I slept the whole time he was gone. This afternoon he's been DOING work, but working from home while Anja and I lie on the couch and talk to him and drink coffee. It's been a pretty low-key and cozy day.

Martin is good about sending me out of the house. Today I was not good about going. He offered to send me up to the new coffee shop on Main Street to get us some coffees, but I never went. I'll promise him that I'll go tomorrow. I think he worries that I'll get a blood clot or something.

My skin is looking great as well. I think the blotchies disappeared at the moment of her birth--which is awesome. Surprising as well, considering I went 4 days without washing my face.

Hey! She's awake! I'm going to go play with her.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Hitting Milestones


I hit a real milestone today--I buttoned ALL the buttons on the sides of the overalls! This is a great accomplishment, let me tell you. The next thing I want to be able to do is lean over far enough to shave my legs. That will be a joyous day.
The picture above is Anja on her quilt! Good thing she's a girl, huh!

Getting to Know You

There are few better ways to be woken up than to have a square of dark chocolate put in your mouth. That's how Martin woke me up this morning! When he went to the grocery store the other day he came home and told me he couldn't do the grocery shopping anymore... he had come home with all sorts of treats, including a 4-pack of mix-n-match beers and a Dove chocolate bar. It was a bummer though, when we realized the beer celebration would have to wait until I'm not on Codine anymore. Boooo. Hopefully that won't be too long though.

It's hard to believe it's already been a week since Anja was born!! Crazy! She is sliding into a nice little routine though, and I think Martin especially is grateful for that. She's putting on some chub and she stays awake for longer periods of time. She's really cute when she's awake. It's nice to be getting to know her schedule because then I can keep ahead of her and keep her fed and happy and avoid hunger-induced fussiness. Her belly button stump fell off sometime in the night, so now she has a real belly button and it's cute. It's an inny!

So, nobody bothered to tell me the gruesome details about breastfeeding... Like the fact that you're a freaking water pistol. I can't count the times poor Anja's been shot in the eyes, ears, or straight up the nose--and it's only been a week! She really doesn't seem to mind much, but I mind because then we both smell like sour milk all the time. I think I should invest in one of those haircutting capes to wear during feeding, and I should get her some sort of rubber ski mask. That way we'll both be protected.

Everyone is being so generous it's almost ridiculous! I can't believe how much people (especially our moms) want to help us out. Yesterday my mom and Mrs. Schap both called to see that Martin and I had dinner. Yes, we had leftovers from the dinner Tara brought us the night before--including dessert. Well, evidently, that wasn't good enough! My mom came by later on with a huge container full of green beans (I looooooooove my mom's greenbeans) and Mrs. Schap wouldn't take no for an answer when she offered to bring us some hot soup from Panera. So she came by with FOUR soup dinners for us! So while I'd like to be on my way back toward slimness, I'm afraid it'll have to wait until the generosity of our families wears off!

Speaking of slimness... I am by no means even anywhere NEAR being back to my old self, but I sometimes catch glimpses of my old self and it gives me hope. Someday I really will be back in my old clothes again. (and that day would come faster if we didn't have the Dessert Queen living next door to us bringing us delicious goodies all the time!)

I'm looking forward to moving back upstairs. Right now Martin and I are camping out in the back room, him sleeping on a twin mattress on the floor and me sleeping on the couch. This is to avoid going up and down the stairs all day and also fixes the fact that I can't very well just fall into bed (mattress on the floor) upstairs like I used to. (the harder part would be getting up from the floor, I think.) I love our bedroom though and I will be so happy to start using it again.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

The Hour That the Milk Comes In

That title is for all you Bob Dylan fans out there. If there are any of you.

So you know how when you're living with something lousy and you don't really have any idea how terrible it is until you start living with something better? Well, Martin upgraded our Windows Explorer sometime in the last couple of days, and it's awesome!! All the colors are so clear and vibrant, and things that didn't used to show up do now, and in the history drop-bar, things have icon labels next to them, including blogs with the Blogger "B," and any Wabash page has a big SCARLET "W".

Martin took today off again, which was kind of a surprise. But it was sooooooooo great to have him home for an extra day. One day at home before him leaving just wasn't enough--and he would've been gone from this morning until tomorrow night, because of a trip to Evansville tomorrow. However, that got worked out so that he doesn't have to leave until tomorrow morning, so not only did I have him here for the day, but also for the night!! Yaaay!! I feel much more ready now than I did last night to have him going back to work.

This afternoon he came in and Anja was asleep and he told me I should take a walk to McCords or Kathy's Kandies or something. So I did! It was nice to get outside and it was a perfect fall day, all cool and cloudy. I walked down to Kathy's Kandies and bought some chocolate orange peels for us. It was great. I always forget how close we are to Main Street, specifically the 6th Street intersection of Main, which, in my opinion, is the best intersection. Nicely set in the middle, a central location of wherever you need to go.

So remember that teensy little hat that I knit awhile back and modeled on Theodore? Remember how I thought there was no way on earth it would fit Dinosaur? Well, it does!! She's wearing it now! And it's nice that it fits, because it's the only hat that does, other than the one the hospital gave her.

I forgot to post THE CUTEST story ever. So the day after Anja was born Mrs. Schap brought flowers that were actually from John Mooney, who couldn't come up because his son was visiting. So Mrs. Schap went to Rubia and picked out pink roses, and she was very specific about the need for them to be pink because of her new granddaughter. So she picked out the flowers and was paying for them, and apparently the girl working all of a sudden shouted, "She had her baby!" Hahahaha, such a small town! Well, not long after Mrs. Schap had told me this story, a girl came in with a flower delivery for me--from the Tuesday girls at Rubia!!!!! Isn't that SWEET?!?!? I can't wait to go back there and thank them.

I meant to call my sister today and tell her this, but I guess she'll just have to read it here: Today I am wearing the same overalls that Sarah was wearing when I met my nephew Christopher for the first time!!!!! Yay. Gosh, it's hard to believe he's 5 now.

My neighbor Tara has a yellow preemie dress that she's going to lend to Anja for mass on Sunday. That makes me excited. I don't know if we'll go to 7:30 or 9:30.... decisions, decisions.

Mike Prangley says there might be snow tomorrow, just some spitting with the rain, but that there might be REAL snow for Thanksgiving. Isn't that FABULOUS?!? I love snow. I mean, I REALLY LOVE SNOW.

Martin has made Theodore go on a diet now that Baxter is gone. He says no more dog food. Poor Theodore.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

The Story of The Birth of Anja Louise Schap

Hooray, hooray, our dinosaur is here at last!! I don't know how many of you readers actually WANT to know the story of how she came into the world, but I figured I'd post it just in case anybody cared; mostly because I always like to hear other people's stories.

Let me just begin by saying that Martin. was. WONDERFUL. Was, and is. I really should start renting him out as a labor coach and postpartum helper man, we could have a nice second income from that.

So, starting from my last post, here is the story:

I'd called the doctor to tell them that my water had broken and the doctor on call advised me to go in right away to be given the antibiotic since I tested positive on the Group B Strep Test. (That positive test was pretty much the most troublesome thing ever.) So I showered and readied myself and we packed up our things and kissed Theodore goodbye (actually, I couldn't find him as we were leaving so I just shouted goodbye to him through the house) and were on our way. The water breaking was just like it is in the movies, except that I wasn't in the grocery store. Everyone assures you it won't happen that way, that it really only does happen that way in the movies, but it happened to me! And it was really, really funny. But a little bit unfortunate at the same time because it kept me from being able to labor at home or out of bed.

So we checked in at the hospital around 6:30 and the first thing they did was put me on the monitors, which was lame. The whole reason I was advised to go in right away was to get the antibiotic and I wasn't given it until about 4 hours later. When Dr. Genaris came and checked me in the morning I was only one and a half centimeters. Eight hours later when he checked me again, I was a whopping... one and a half centimeters. He suggested pitocin to get things moving. We reluctantly agreed. The pitocin wasn't really that bad though. It thought they'd give it to me and I'd be instantly in a horrible, horrible labor, but it didn't happen that way; Everything still came on gradually. So anyway, I almost immediately went to 4 centimeters, and labored on through the day and at 3:00 our chances for Dr. Genaris to deliver the baby were over because he had to be a Dad this weekend while he wife was out of town. I doubt he'd be able to fathom our disappointment about that. The other doctor was not so wonderful. In fact, he wasn't really very wonderful at all. But, you take what you can get.

However, every nurse that we had was absolutely fabulous. You read these books and hear stories about horribly mean nurses, and I was a little bit afraid every time shift change came around, worried that while I might've lucked out with the last one, my luck probably won't hold out forever. But it did!! I think all those nurses and the nicest girls in the whole world. And pretty, too!

Anyway, by nighttime those contractions were on top of each other, with hardly a break between them, but I was stuck at 4 centimeters, and Anja hadn't descended into the birth canal yet. (Dr. Genaris later wondered if it was because her hand was up by her face because it had been earlier in the day.) And so my prefered "natural childbirth" plan turned into an induced labor ending with c-section. I have to admit though, by the time I signed the paper allowing them to slice me open, I didn't really care how they baby was being born, I just wanted it out.

They gave me a spinal in the operating room, and the anesthesiologist (sp?) was an amazing man. When he came in to meet us, Martin and I thought he was going to be a jerkface, but he ended up being soooooooo nice. He called me "dear" and was really sweet, and after he gave me the spinal he stayed by my head with me until Martin got there, then he backed off, and as soon as Martin left with Anja after she was born, he came back to stay by my head with me and tell me how things were going and as me how I was, etc. He was so incredibly nice. The spinal was AWESOME. I mean, getting it really sucked, but as soon as it kicked in it was the funniest feeling in the world! I felt like I was in the biggst, poofiest snow suit ever made. And it doesn't last very long, so I was still all full of adrenelin (I don't know how to spell that word either) when it was wearing off and it was soooo funny. My toes were the last things to wake up.

Okay, so anyway, the cut me open and we were so happy when they told us it was a girl. Yay! She looked pretty awful when she was born--they said she looked like she'd been through the birth canal. Her eyes were completely red and her skin was pale and she had a ginormous bruise on her terribly mishapen head. Poor thing. But she cutened up the next day and now she is much better looking than she was.

The other funny thing was the recovery room where we hung out while we were waiting for my toes to wake up. It was like a big closet full of supplies and computers. Really weird and funny.

And so, I guess that's it. Anja Louise Schap was born at 10:29pm, she weighed 5lbs 13oz and was 18.5 inches long. Peach-fuzz hair, blue eyes, and looks just like Martin! Oh, the first report he gave to me after she was born was, "she has unattached earlobes like you, and long fingertoes like me!" Both are true. I have to say though, her nose--much like Martin's--looks a lot bigger in pictures than it does in real life.

We got home late yesterday afternoon, and it was a joy to sleep in our house and not be bothered by nurses and cleaning ladies all night long.

So, that's the story! And now there's another Schap in the world!

Here She Is!

Here are some pictures to start you out, then I'll go back to a different post and tell you all how the day went!


First, Anja's very first picture, taken by Martin. A little bit yucky, let's be honest.








This was a most common scene: Martin fast asleep with her on his chest. It was very cute. One night they were sleeping like that and a nurse came in and took Anja off of Martin and put her back in her box. After the nurse left, Martin went and got her again and took her back to bed with him. Then someone else came in again and Martin thought he was busted--but it was just the weird cleaning lady.




And let's be honest again: The nose is quite prominent.

Anja and her namesake, AnnLaura Louise! AnnLaura wore all pink especially for the occasion and brought loads of goodies down with her from Chicago.








Okay, this is not because I like posting pictures of myself, this is only to demonstrate how deliciously greasy my hair was!!!! I think it got to be about four shades darker than it actually is!! Hahaha!!
Okay, that's all the pictures for now.











Friday, November 9, 2007

SPLASH!!!

As I was getting up around 4:30 this morning to go potty, I thought, "aw gee, I'm already ready for the nursing home." But then I thought again. "Wait, I don't have that much pee-pee in me!"

So off we go! Thank goodness Martin got in last night!!! And good thing I have this great new haircut! Wow, the convenience of this event so far is just overwhelming.

Soon we'll meet our dinosaur! Yay!

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Hosting a Knit Night

I think it'd be a good idea to have a Knit Night sometime soon. That way all of us crafty bloggers can get together and work on our lap-sized projects and chat. I know that at least the sisters of my family are going to be working on various Christmas present projects, and it'd be fun to knit in a group instead of all alone. Knit, or quilt, or crochet or whatever it is we do. And if we do it at my house I'll make that good crock pot cider that is so cozy and delicious.

Who's in?

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Gone!!

I did it! All my long nasty hair is gone, and I have NO REGRETS!!! I was downright giddy as he was hacking away at my head. It feels sooooo great to have short hair again.

I'd write more, but I have to go stare at myself in the mirror some more.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Talked Into It

Well, tomorrow is the day. I ignored my dad's good advice and I set up an appointment to get my hair cut. Martin has been telling me for ages that I should do it before the baby comes because afterward I won't have time and I'll regret not having done it beforehand. Not only that, but he insists I spend a little extra money and get a good haircut. No Beauty Academy or Great Clips this time. (This coming from the guy who is so cheap about his own hair that he won't even go to a $10 barber--he won't have anyone but ME cut it.) I told him spending that kind of money on a haircut is a waste of money and a stupid thing for me to do, and I refused to do it. (Well, I halfheartedly refused... mostly I just whined a lot.) So then today, while I was debating whether or not to call for an appointment, who should call but PERKINS, of all people! I told her my dilemma thinking she'd be the perfect person to be on my side and talk me into NOT making the appointment, convincing me that it was a waste of money. (Perkins is a girl who, if she didn't get her haircuts for free for working at L'Oreal, she would only ever go to the Beauty Academy and be perfectly content.) WRONG. She suckered me into making the phone call. She told me Martin's right, I deserve to start out motherhood with a good haircut, that this is my chance to pamper myself, and just think of all the money we've saved over the last however-many months by having Martin get his haircuts at home? So, my two best friends were both against me on this one; I went home and made the phone call for an appointment, and they had one for me tomorrow.

Maybe I won't regret it. In fact, I know that at least a part of me will only be glad for doing it. I'm sick of my long hair. I only ever wear it up in a knot at the back of my head, and if I think that's going to change with a new baby, ha-ha, who am I trying to fool? And I refuse to become a frumpy mom right from the start. If I'm going to be fat and saggy and covered in spit-up all the time, I'm at least going to have cute hair and wear makeup every day. And cute shoes, I'll always have cute shoes.

Today I've been making chili. The whole reason I'm making the chili is to freeze it so we'll have something to eat right after Dinosaur's arrival, when I might not be feeling at my most fabulous and we'll just be getting into the rhythm of being a single-car family. The problem I ran into only after I'd started making the chili is that I'm not sure I have that many tupperware containers. I mean I have a lot, but most of them are very tiny. You know, about the size for leftover green-beans... a one-helping-of-side kind of size. Not the size for a whole pot of chili. And I can't just stick the whole pot in the freezer because it won't fit. So I have a funny feeling we'll be warming up our dinner 3 spoonfuls at a time for awhile.

Now I know you all are sick to death of hearing about my knitting escapades, but I have to tell this story because it's so cute. Last night after dinner I was working on my bear up at my parents' house, and my niece Angelica was sitting on the table talking to me and looking through the book of knit toy patterns. She suddenly had this great idea that I could knit her A WORM!! But not just any old worm--a medium-sized, black and white striped worm with big cheeks and a face!! I told her I'd be more than happy to knit her a worm. Then she also wanted me to knit her a couple of hats... so Anna and I planned to go to the knitting store with her and she could pick out some yarn for one hat that I would make for her. We were supposed to go this morning but River Knits doesn't open until noon, and then this afternoon I have a feeling their moving truck must've come into town, because I never heard from them again.

And other than that, I stole half a ball of cotton yarn from my mom's yarn basket which is a slightly darker shade of green than the green I have been using. With the three half balls of cotton yarn I have I think I'll be able to make a three-color stripey sweater for dinosaur. I had started it, but then some "kittens" got into the knitting things last night and in order to get the mess untangled I was forced to rip out all of the 4.5 minutes of work I'd put into it.

It's another wonderfully gloomy November day. I really hope that Dinosaur at least comes sometime in November, even if he is late. It's such a nice month. Not as nice as October, but a close second-best.

I also got all my errands run today and was able to check off all but one thing on my list of things to do, and then one I couldn't do because it was to boil eggs but I took up the burners with the chili instead. (which wasn't on the list at all.) Don't be fooled into thinking I'm nesting though. Because I'm not. I really had to force myself to get up and make the chili, and the only reason I did it was because I had a bunch of meat that would go bad if I didn't cook it soon.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Monday Morning, 10am

I was just "surfing" online looking for baby sweater patterns to knit. Ha. As if I could actually read them and follow them and create them to look that cute. I wish!! Martin is convinced I could and should make myself a sweater. He thinks I've mastered the hat-making technique (as evident by all the baby hats lying around the house) and thinks I should broaden my horizons. I say, maybe next year.

But as for this year, I might (emphasis on *might*) attempt a baby sweater. It would be green and yellow stripes to match the little hat I made, and I wouldn't be following a pattern because I can't read the patterns. But I think I could do it. Baby sweaters have far less shaping than adult sweaters, and I know how to increase and decrease and I understand how to do it so it looks right. The neckline would be tricky... but we'll see. That Sugar 'n' Cream cotton yarn is cheap at the yarn store, and I already have a lot left over from the hat. Anyway... we'll just see how it goes.

I had a doctor appointment this morning. The girl (who I thought might be Jennifer, whose car I hit, but as it turns out this girl's name is Brandy) who works there is SO night. She asked if I wanted to be checked today and I told her that would be fabulous. She laughed and said, "Isn't it funny how when you're not pregnant you don't want anyone going near you, and then suddenly you're pregnant and you can't wait to be checked?" She said she was always the same way, and we laughed about it. She's really nice. I hope she always works there when I'm having babies.

Anyway, that was the highlight of the visit, really. That, and finding out that my doctor is proud of me and my backwards weight gain! He said most girls don't gain at the beginning then gain a lot at the end; he says he doesn't know how I'm doing it but I gained a lot (he wasn't rude or mean about telling me this, but I KNOW how much weight I gained in those first months and it had nothing to do with the baby) back at the beginning and now I've been holding steady and am right on target. That makes me happy. I figure as long as I come out at the right number it doesn't matter how I gained it, right? He said the baby is head down in my pelvis but still floating a little bit and I'm 70% effaced, which evidently means absolutely nothing. But the other good thing he said is that his guess is that the baby will weigh about 6 1/2 pounds when he's born. I think that's a lovely size, and I hope he's right. And I'm glad the baby is still floating a little bit because maybe that means it won't have too much of a conehead.

I think that I should start focusing my wishes on having a healthy baby, rather than a timely, cute baby with a nicely shaped head. As if I'm not vain enough already, I have to project my vanity onto my children as well. That's terrible.

Okay, so back to the knitting: I also (because I'm obsessed) looked up some patterns for baby hats. And I found the best thing ever-- a SQUID HAT!! It's soooooooo cute. AND, the woman who made it had it modeled on her cat!!!!!! I think we're soulmates!!! The hat was adorable, but unfortunately, waaaaaaaaaay out of my league. I will not even pretend that I'm going to attempt something as cute and detailed as that.

Anna and the little girls are here!! I saw Angelica and Zita this morning (in the bathtub) and Angelica said, "We're going to LIVE in Indiana!!!" I think she's excited to be here! I'm sure excited to have her. Now I have all my three cutest-in-the-world neices in one town. And maybe I'll have an extra nephew as well!

This is why I like Anna: Here we are, two very pregnant sisters-in-law, and we stand around talking about our wonderful and quirky cats. :)

Speaking of Theodore and Baxter, there's an application on Facebook that I found: DOGBOOK!! Even though Baxter is only my foster dog, I couldn't resist. And while I was making Baxter's Dogbook page, I found Catbook as well!!! So now Theodore and Baxter are not only best friends in real life, but they are virtual friends as well, thanks to Facebook. Ah, technology.

Martin and I have been planning for our own dogs. We really want two. We really want a black dog and a tan dog and their names will be Karenin (Martin, is that how you spell it? I know you read my blog and just never comment) and Sebastian. Aren't those great names for two big dogs??? And they will be wonderful animals.

I know Martin reads my blogs because when I was checking the weather on his work computer the other day I saw beanieschapini in his internet history!! What a sneaky guy. Maybe now that I've exposed him he'll start commenting once in awhile.

Dinosaur's Ooma sure must love him... she came over the other day with a WHOLE JUNGLE ANIMAL CRIB SET, including mattress!! It's soooooooooooooooo cute. I love it!! And Dinosaur will love it too!!!! Now the nursery is REALLY in order.

So, since the baby isn't born yet, Martin is in St. Louis. He told me this morning though that every morning he moves entirely out of his hotel room just in case I call him during the day to come home. And this morning, he even went back up to get the lotions and shampoos for me, in case he had to leave!! What a sweetie. He made it down there last night in under 4 hours--closer to 3 1/2 I think--and his being prepared to leave makes me very happy. My mom keeps telling me not to wish to have the baby early... I don't think she understands that I'm really wishing for the opposite... I'd just be less nervous about him being gone if the baby was already here. Of course, maybe I wouldn't be. Maybe if I was here alone with a brand new baby and he was on the road I'd have even more to be freaking out about. Maybe I should just stop thinking about this and pop some popcorn and watch a movie and stop being such a spaz.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Deer on the Grill

This is the picture that one of Martin's co-workers took of the car in which he hit the deer. I told you there were tufts.

Friday, November 2, 2007

Freaking Out

I have to have this baby this weekend. If I don't, I'll be a horrible nervous wreck all next week when Martin is in St. Louis. It HAAASSSS to come this weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!

And up until last night I thought I'd be ok with Martin being down in Missouri for 4 days. He assured me it was only a five hour drive "at most." LIAR!! Maybe it's a five hour drive if you're the only other car on the highway and know exactly where you're going at all times. It took him NINE HOURS to get home from St. Louis yesterday. NINE HOURS!!! Between getting out of the city through the traffic, taking a wrong turn and not realizing it until he had to backtrack some 90 miles or something, and then hitting a deer outside of Crawfordsville, he didn't get home until almost 2:00 in the morning.

And I've convinced myself that our good fortune with him coming home last night instead of tonight means that I'll be going into labor sometime soon, when he otherwise would've been gone. I've convinced myself of a lot of things BECAUSE I'M A BIG GIANT IDIOT.

But I really, really, really, really, REALLY don't want him to be gone next week unless the baby is already here. If it weren't for him being gone I wouldn't care about having it early. But he can't stay home from the trip because it's his job, he HAS to go. I mean, he can't just take a random week off work because his dumb wife has anxiety issues (that makes it sound much more severe than it is, really I'm just a freak) at the busiest time of the entire year.

You know what disgusts me? (I'm changing the subject.) Christmas advertising that shows up now or before now. Before Halloween there was already a display at the grocery store with Christmas trees and stuff around it. They have holiday stuff everywhere, it's really stupid. And now that it's suddenly November it'll really get bad. Halloween was only two days ago, morons, and Thanksgiving is 20 days away. Let's not get out of control.

"Finding Neverland" is one of my favorite movies.

I finished the stripey hat for dinosaur (while watching "Finding Neverland") and it looks pretty good!! It's not too small like I had been thinking it would be, and I managed to match the stripes up okay at the seam. Not perfect, but it'll do.

I felt like such a bag of garbage yesterday. I even took my temperature in the afternoon thinking I was getting sick. It was normal. I was also reeeaaallly grumpy. Today I've only been up for half an hour, so I can't really tell what I feel like. But if I still feel like I did yesterday I'm going to keep convincing myself [stupidly] that labor is near.

So yeah, Martin hit a deer last night and he thinks he killed it. There were tufts of fur on the hood. Isn't that sad? He didn't hit it going full-speed because there were others so he was going really slow, and he said he saw at least 5, and was watching one on the left side of the road when this one jumped out from the right. Tufts of fur!!! I think it's so sad. And he said there was also an unidentifiable piece of deer on the grill that might've been part of a tongue. He said he didn't cry, but I would have. The poor deer. And all the car got was a slightly dented hood. I guess the Sheriff was going to kill it if it wasn't dead, but when Martin left the Sheriff was just looking at it, so he couldn't tell if it was already dead yet or not. I think it's so sad.

I HAVE TO BE IN LABOR BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, November 1, 2007

The End of an Era (or two)

Well, after two whole years my days of driving Kristof have come to an end. Perfect timing too, I'd say. It was fun, and I'll still see them at church, so that's nice.

Remember the wall mural at Vienna that Martin and I think is so weird and lame? Well now they've gone and re-furnished the back nook as well (where the wall mural is.) Now instead of those ratty old couches with the ugly upholstery that we would all squish onto in highschool they have tables and chairs and sleek retro furniture back there. It's AWFUL! I hate it!! I totally would've bought one of those gross couches from them if I'd known they were re-decorating. So many memories from that little space and now they've just been thrown out to the dumpster. Some people these days are really lacking sentimentality and it stinks.



I told Martin, I'm not counting on it by any means, but I wouldn't be surprised if dinosaur showed up this weekend. The metallic mouth taste from the first trimester has returned, along with some other weird things (that might just be psychological) and Martin is getting back from St. Louis a whole day early because the big dinner down there was cancelled. He still thinks it won't be until after the due date. I don't really care when it is, although it would certainly be convenient to not have to be freaking out about it all next week while he's back in St. Louis.



Yesterday afternoon on his way from northern Indiana to St. Louis, Martin stopped by home for two and a half hours. Hooray! We had a Vienna date (where we noticed the furniture changes) walked the dog and hung around the house for awhile. The Cooks came trick-or-treating before he left (they were the cast of Peter Pan) and as he was leaving Klara, Doug and Kristof came too! Then right after THEY left, Sarah & Andrew and the kiddies showed up and at the invitation to go trick-or-treating with them, I thought "well who wants to stay home alone in a creepy neighborhood on Halloween?" and I jumped in the car with them and went along. This was my costume:




I got lots of candy, and from my mother-in-law I got a pair of cute chicken socks and a Country Living Magazine to drool over. Halloween is such fun. And you know what? For all I say about this being a scummy neighborhood, there were NO pumpkins squashed in the street. And I think every house had pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns out on their porches. Isn't that nice? See, it's not such a bad place after all.

I'm making a stripey hat for dinosaur now. Yellow and green. Really cute.

If this nasty taste in my mouth is not a sign of labor coming soon then I hope it goes away by itself because it's GROSS!!

I took some pictures of the kiddies in their costumes, but they were kind of wound up, and the pictures are really bad. And as you all know, my niece and nephews are very cute... so I wouldn't want anyone to chance his mind about them after seeing those pictures!!