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Friday, June 26th, 2009
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3:18 pm - Quick Jonathan update
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He's still of average height and weight, and no more appointments until September. Woot!
He got his firth tooth last week (front bottom right), and I'm pretty darn sure that he got the matching left one yesterday, although he's grouchy about us putting fingers in his mouth right now. It explains the above average fussiness lately, and I hope he's feeling better soon.
He was an angel in MA other than being upset about the tooth coming in, which was a huge relief. Traveling with a 6mo didn't sound like such a good idea, but he did very, very well.
He seems to be tolerating the organ better at church, too. I hope to be able to take him in with me for whole services soon instead of hopping up several times. When he can eat cheerios or other finger foods, it will get even better.
He tolerates baby food, but is not really excited about it yet. Hopefully, it will become more normal to him and then we can really get down to trying things out.
He's still awesome. Just to be official. :) And Craig is still a fantastic dad with endless energy to play, make odd noises, and toss him about all day long. Life is good.
current mood:  pleased
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| Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009
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2:42 pm - If time were as plentiful as sand ...
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I have so many things that I would love to be doing, if only time allowed.
- become fluent in French
- grow a really good garden, taking time to weed and water like I should
- get back into cooking and baking regularly
- do a few really in-depth Bible studies
- get back into reading regularly
- get back into a rigorous exercise routine
- begin doing crafty things, like making curtains to replace the hideous ones we have or making clothing for Jonathan
- blow the doors off the project at work (instead of falling behind)
- do some real landscaping work in the yard
- take some more courses both for fun and toward another degree
- clean the house weekly (instead of when someone is coming over)
- get out and do a few more things socially - not a lot, but a little bit more
I hope to get to some of these things as Jonathan gets older and I have more time to myself, but I think that some of them just won't happen for a very, very long time.
I don't regret my life or the priorities that I have chosen; I just wish there were more time. :)
current mood:  thoughtful
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| Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
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8:32 pm - Houston, we're getting teeth ...
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OK, I feel vindicated now that the little bumps I thought I was feeling late last week have finally been confirmed by Craig. Our little man is growing his upper fangs. Hopefully the middle teeth aren't too far behind, or his little smile will be interesting. :)
So, what were everyone's favorite teething tips? He's a sweet little man, even while he's teething, but I hope he's not upset for long.
My MIL has suggested washclothes in the freezer, and we have a few little teething toys. That might do just fine, although we haven't really tried either yet. He's mostly chomping on our fingers so far, and a little whimpery.
current mood:  nervous
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8:37 am - For anyone who cares ...
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I enjoy reading Jorge Garcia's blog. He's Hurley on Lost, which is one of my favorite shows. The blog is not about Lost or any spoilers or speculation, but just his thoughts about his travels and things. He seems like a pretty likable guy. :)
Jorge's blog
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7:38 am - A request for information
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| Thursday, May 14th, 2009
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3:35 pm - OK, this one, I'll do. :)
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Your results:
You are Geordi LaForge
| Geordi LaForge |
| 75% |
| Beverly Crusher |
| 70% |
| Deanna Troi |
| 60% |
| Spock |
| 59% |
| James T. Kirk (Captain) |
| 55% |
| Jean-Luc Picard |
| 55% |
| Will Riker |
| 50% |
| Worf |
| 50% |
| An Expendable Character (Redshirt) |
| 50% |
| Mr. Scott |
| 45% |
| Uhura |
| 45% |
| Data |
| 44% |
| Chekov |
| 35% |
| Leonard McCoy (Bones) |
| 30% |
| Mr. Sulu |
| 15% |
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You work well with others and often
fix problems quickly. Your romantic
relationships are often bungled.
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Click here to take the "Which Star Trek character are you?" quiz...
current mood:  amused
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| Tuesday, May 5th, 2009
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10:48 am - 5 months and counting
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I know that I'm not posting much lately, and I apologize for that. Busy, busy, busy ...
So, Jonathan turned 5 months on Friday, and he's still an awesome little guy. We took him to the vet yesterday for his 4th visit with shots, and he was understandably upset, but he recovered in a few minutes and was showered with love by Craig and me all day long to make up for it. This time I just took the day off instead of working from home because I wanted him to feel secure and happy as much as possible without shirking my work.
We had him dedicated this Sunday, and he was actually asleep when we were bringing him up. When he woke up to be handed off, he very cutely just peeked over the shoulder of the pastor for the minute or two that he was up there and didn't cry or anything. That was a relief to me, since I was afraid that he would be too upset.
We had Music Sunday that day, and it was a blast and I'm glad its over. I directed two choir pieces, sang another one, and played bells in yet another piece. It's a good time, but a bit tiring.
We're trying desperately to get the yard under control and when the rain stops, I still hope to get my garden in this year. The food is good normally, and the additional benefit of being able to make Jonathan's food from scratch is just too good to pass up if I can possibly help it.
Other than that, same old same old. Craig is wonderful as a SAHD with Jonathan. My sister and I are taking our mom to the Cape for a week in June, and I'm going to bring Jonathan along. We'll visit my in-laws for Memorial Day weekend, and my dad will finally meet Jonathan for Labor Day weekend. No big plans other than spending time with my son under my favorite tree out back once he can sit up, reading to him, and starting him on solid food sometime in the next month or two.
Life is good. :)
current mood:  content
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| Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
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9:01 am - State of the baby - 100 days
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While we're not from the Asian continent in the least, I can see the wisdom of celebrating the first 100 days of a baby's life. So many things change, and we've gone from completely wiped out and at the end of our rope to establishing a routine that seems to be working in general.
Things I enjoyed:
- holding a tiny little man for hours at a time in the hospital, just keeping him warm.
- watching Craig care for him at all stages.
- first smiles.
Things I did not enjoy:
- getting the hang of nursing.
- screaming fits when he hadn't gotten the hang of his insides yet.
- being completely wiped out due to lack of sleep.
Things I would do again:
- have a baby? While Craig's apparently hesitant, I don't have any doubt that I eventually want at least one more child. I've always felt that only children must have been lonely growing up, so I've never even considered only having one baby.
- use the midwives at the hospital. It was comforting to know that the emergency care would be there if necessary, but I pretty much got through it with Craig's help. Even proven, I don't think I'd go further than a birth center near a hospital, and Craig would probably prefer the hospital.
Things I would do differently:
- maybe have someone at home, at least a little each day, for the first week or two. This idea really bothered me the first time, but I think it would be a really good thing next time. I think supporting everything by himself was way too much for Craig to handle on the lack of sleep he shared with us, and we both sort of crashed.
- take the full three months off of work, even if we think we can't afford it. I think we could really have used the other month to bond more and not make the transition to bottles so quickly. Little man's having a little trouble switching back and forth, and I wouldn't want to hurry another baby. I also feel out of touch with Jonathan sometimes, and wish that I'd gotten to share more of the time when he's getting to know his environment and caretakers. I feel very much that I'm missing out on that.
I think that's the short summary so far. He's a happy little guy when his tummy isn't bothering him, and I look forward to a time when my time with him isn't 97% nursing and we can play more.
current mood: thoughtful
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8:20 am - Random post for the month
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So, Craig and I have always had a system for determining how rotten we feel at the moment, and here are the metrics:
- cold
- wet
- tired
- hungry
If you are tired and hungry, but warm and dry, you are at 2 alarms. You get some sympathy, but things aren't too bad. When it gets to three alarms, there is an effort to make you feel better and more sympathy. Four alarms, and you get taken care of really well and generally spoiled until the symptoms abate. (You absolutely get sole control of the remote for the duration.)
One alarm? Quit whining. :)
P.S. When I was pregnant, I got an automatic +1 for being pregnant. This helped.
current mood:  sleepy
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| Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
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11:39 am - He's back!
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My little brother (Scott) is back from Iraq as of Monday.
I've had one quick 2-minute conversation with him so far before he had to go sign for his stuff, but he thinks he'll call back again soon. I'm glad he's in the US, and he's hoping to come up in a month or two to meet his nephew. This will mean a great deal to my mother, so I hope that he manages to call her a few times a week for a while. I'll make sure to poke him about it regularly.
Welcome back, Bud.
current mood: happy
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| Wednesday, February 11th, 2009
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12:35 pm - Well shucks
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I just cleaned out my wallet and found an old Circuit City gift card that I hadn't quite finished from a couple of years ago. I guess I missed the boat on that one. Crud.
current mood:  disappointed
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11:05 am - BBC book meme from Elise ...
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| Monday, February 2nd, 2009
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3:56 pm - Well, that settles any doubts on _that_ score ...
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| Friday, January 30th, 2009
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12:14 pm - The axe falls again; good thing I'm short
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Broadcom had a round of layoffs this morning, and I believe that I have again escaped unscathed. (From what I understand, they're trying to track the last person down, but I think they know how to contact me.)
I lost count a while ago, but I have made it through at least 7 in the nearly 10 years that I've been working with these people. Are other industries like this? It's a bit nerve-wracking, and the morale has been ticking steadily down for so long that I forget what it used to be like when people were happy and positive about things. I really hope that things turn around for our little group in the next year or so.
This latest RIF has wiped out a large group of our volleyball crew, so I fear for its continuation this summer. That's really the least important of the sad things about this, but it will have the greatest impact on my work environment, as I rarely work with those who are missing, but we play volleyball on a weekly basis. Good luck, guys. You'll be missed.
And thank God I still have a job.
current mood:  sad
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| Thursday, January 1st, 2009
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4:24 pm
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Early last week, my grand plans of going nowhere for Christmas this year crashed around my ears when we found out that Craig's parents would not, in fact, be bringing his grandmother with them when they came to visit for Christmas. We had assumed that she would come with them, since she spends Christmases down at the Kerns homestead, but the plan was apparently to have her visit, take her home, and then come visit us the following week.
We decided that while grandparents could cope without the travelling this year that great-grandparents were an exception to the rule. And so, on Christmas morning, I woke Craig after Jonathan's 9AM feeding to pack everything up so we could just tuck the little man into his carseat after the following feeding and haul butt over to Perry County.
Much to my surprise, he slept the entire way (2+ hours) and we didn't have to stop and feed him. To my further surprise, he did really well at their house. He did well enough that we stayed for a second night. He didn't scream either night. He slept during the day and his eating pattern was even different, eating more at a shot and further apart. He was mostly alert and happy with them, and it was really neat to see Craig's father and brother being so natural in their new grandpa and uncle roles.
Of course, that didn't last. But, it was a good visit. This weekend, we'll go for an afternoon to visit my own grandmother and intrduce her to her first great grandchild.
We're both still the typical new parents, both staying with him when he's awake, especially when upset, and supporting each other instead of taking more breaks and naps. But, it's working for now and we think it's OK for a little longer - until it gets closer to when I return to work. At that point, making sure we both get more sleep and can cope handling things alone will be something we need to prepare for.
current mood:  tired
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| Saturday, December 20th, 2008
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6:29 pm - Interesting little story
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I found a link to the short story by F Scott Fitzgerald, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, on TWoP today, and I decided to read it. (I was trapped under a sleeping infant, which prevented much other activity. :) ) It's a good little story, although I'm not sure they'll adapt it well for the screen. I'll be interested in hearing the reviews even if I never see the film. Anyway, I thought I'd post the link to the story for anyone else who might like to check it out.
current mood:  curious
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| Wednesday, December 17th, 2008
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9:54 am - Birth story post - sanitized for the general public
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Just for those who want the bullet points and with a passing interest in how things went for us, I wanted to quickly record the general events.
I went into real, more active labor the afternoon of Sunday, November 30th. I had contractions about once an hour that morning, and by 3PM they were nearly every 3-5 minutes all at once. I sort of thought it was some early labor but that it would stop, since it progressed so quickly. By 5 or 6, they were pretty consistently 3 and getting shorter.
However, we had a minor miscommunication between us and our midwife that changed how things went in the middle there. One of my books said to measure contractions from the beginning to the peak for the length, so that's the information that we were giving her and waiting for them to be a minute. Ha ha. She meant us to be measuring beginning to end. Around 7, we called her to clarify since they were more like 2 minutes apart, and our numbers were still closer to 40-50 seconds. When we cleared that up, she told us to head for the hospital and that she would meet us there.
We got there around 8:30, and when the midwife showed up, I was 6cm. I had been prepared to reconsider my unmedicated stance if it were only 2 or something. My back was killing me at every contraction, and no amount of preparation of relaxing techniques was going to touch that pain. Poor Craig was basically pushing on my back for 8 hours on and off the entire time without complaint. For my part, I didn't yell at him, so I hope that helped. :)
I tried the jacuzzi tub, which didn't help too much. After an hour of that, I was at 8cm and my water broke. Around 9cm, I got the urge to push, which freaked me out a little bit. I hit 10 right after midnight, and after only a half hour of pushing, Jonathan David was born at 12:48AM on my little brother's birthday. Happy birthday, Scotty!
I managed to keep my sense of humor through the delivery, which had the nurses laughing and Craig didn't worry about me too much. The back labor was almost too much for me, though, and it was far, far worse than I had expected. But, I got through it unmedicated as I had hoped, and Jonathan seems good.
He was a 6lb10oz baby at 19 3/4 inches. He's got brown hair and I think his eyes are turning brown already, too, as expected. I'll try to post a few pictures later, but we keep forgetting to take any.
Thanks to everyone who has supported us through this. It has been a great comfort to us that we have such wonderful friends and family. :)
current mood: content
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| Tuesday, November 25th, 2008
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10:29 am - Just for kicks - another Inuyasha drabble
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| Thursday, November 6th, 2008
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8:30 am - Local PSA
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For those who haven't tripped across it yet, radio station 97.5 has switched to Christmas music already much to my joy and delight. Listening to the music that the local stations play for Christmas always makes me happy, so I was glad we tripped across it last weekend. :) Some of the songs aren't my favorite, but I usually sing along to just about everything I know. Good times.
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| Monday, October 27th, 2008
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11:05 am - I have a new brother-in-law!
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My little sister got married this weekend with all the associated drama and overwhelming joy. :) Nothing went so wrong that it couldn't be fixed by the time I left the reception on Saturday night, and I trust that it stayed that way the rest of the evening. She was beautiful and happy and well-loved by everyone, which is just the best it can be. *grin*
Friday and Saturday were completely jam packed for me as I took part in the traditional nail and hair appointments with my sister, the rehearsal and dinner, setting up for the reception, and the wedding and reception themselves. Boy, what a blur, but she seemed to have a good time most of the time, and everything turned out great. I'm so happy for her.
There was so much music in the wedding, and it was so Misty that you couldn't miss it. My family sang a neat round before the processional (the Talis Canon) and I did a duet with one of her friends during communion. She's very close with another family full of singers, so they also had a solo, a duet, and a lovely, a capella Ave Maria during the ceremony as well. She even walked in to a haunting Gaelic tune I had never heard that she just loves. It was neat how customized the music was in a traditional Episcopalian high mass service, but it just seemed so right for her and so perfect. I hope she loved every second of it. I think I got something in my eye a few times, but we won't dwell on that. ;)
Oh, and my sister's wedding cake? They both decided that they weren't huge cake fans. So, they had a table just overflowing with donuts instead that were baked by the groom's cousin at his bakery that morning. *grin* Excellent.
Other stuff:
This should be my last full week in the office other than coming in a couple times next week for new employee stuff for the transition to Broadcom. After that, I'll work from home. I need to understand the expectations of me over the next few weeks, since what I'm working on is dead low priority to everyone. If they mean "working from home," I want to make sure that I understand that, although I don't think they'll tell me that flat out. But, it'd be nice to pretend that I didn't just lose all of that leave and that they're looking out for an employee who works hard when she can, even when there's no real payoff. We'll see.
I'm still feeling pretty good, although I am having a harder time maneuvering these days. Oh, and Scott moved out yesterday afternoon, so things should be able to go back to normal for a couple weeks before they get shot to heck. Heh. The current plan is that he will be back this weekend with his father and a U-Haul to finish the move completely, but he's out of the guest room and nursery completely at this point, which is certainly a good thing for my super-planning stage. I think we've got all the essentials (except a pediatrician lined up), so that's good. I'm trying not to expect anything in terms of a time line, so I'll just chug along and hope that this train gets to start itself. That's my final hope.
current mood: content
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creative