Baby and Me

Did you know Christmas is less than 2 weeks away? Oh shoot! That sucker sneaks up on you fast when you're more concerned with growing a human and keeping your husband away from the fallen power lines.

Also, that means my 30th birthday is on Monday. Monday...that's like really close. And you know what? I feel fine about it, just overwhelmed with how busy I am.

You would think I would have enough sense to pace myself, but that just isn't the case this year.

Museum event + power outage + birthday + Christmas + New Year's + husband's birthday + baby classes + finding a day care + finding a pediatrician + working full time = tired Jessica

Now add sleep deprivation to the mix. Two nights ago I woke up at 5am because I was dreaming that Prince William and Kate moved in next door. I'd taken a part time job in their house as the copier fixer. I sat around the kitchen drinking really horrible coffee and gossiping with their staff all day. It was FABULOUS! Last night I had no dreams, but still woke up at 4:10am and never fully went back to sleep.

Everyone tells pregnant ladies to sleep all they can before the baby comes, but I just can't. I find myself staying up much later and unable to sleep through the night.

Thankfully my last day at work before the holidays is December 16th. Then I can enjoy two blissful weeks of family and friends, and maybe the return of sleep.

Oh lastly John and I started classes last night with Infant Care. My favorite quote from the evening. "Enjoy that Golden Hour of time with your newborn while the doctor is performing your repair work" Gulp. That does NOT sound fun.

No electricity for us.

With winds gusting up to 100 mph in Pasadena, we're lucky we only lost electricty.

Here's our yard.

Side yard.

The alley way was blocked too.

I tried to walk Dottie, but to the right there was more debris blocking everything. To the left there was a downed tree with power lines wrapped around it.

Last night as I finished watching Top Chef the lights started flickering. When I went outside I found one of the power lines sending blue and green sparks flying. Moments later the fire dept. showed up to cut the power and block off the alley.

My biggest fear was that the neighbor's tree would come down onto our house. Its a huge pine tree that should be taken out, but since that would cost several thousand dollars, they just leave it there.

I think its safe to say we couldn't get much sleep last night. I was convinced the tree would come through our roof or a branch would come crashing through our front window. Dottie would run to investigate and either get hurt or jump out the window and get lost.

But thankfully we made it through the night with no damage to our house so far. There are lots on people less lucky, like this house near the coffee shop.

The city of Pasadena has declared a state of emergency and cancelled school today.

The winds are expected to last through tomorrow, so hopefully we will make it through okay.

Knitting for John

John's been asking me to knit him a sweater for a while...or maybe I kept asking him what kind of sweater I could knit him. Not sure which, but my point is that I'm going to attempt to knit John a sweater.

But could I find a pattern he approved of? Nope. Modern men's patterns seem to be written for the type of big bulky wool that is completely impractical in Los Angeles.

So I took my search to Etsy and came away with this gem.

I'll probably never need to buy another men's pattern book again. This book had v-necks, cables, vests, cardigans, turtlenecks, etc. Plus I can use any weight yarn I want. Light weight to bulky.

Think John can pull of this look?

Ascots are sexy.

Boring is good...but Dottie is never boring.

Baby check up shows I'm about 26 weeks along. Holy cow! Its almost 3rd trimester time.

Everything looked totally normal. Anatomy scan showed a heart with 4 chambers and that its spinal cord meets the brain. Excellent. Head was down, but who knows if it will stay that way. Still have a few more weeks where she'll be able to wiggle around. We also got a pretty clear shot of her girly bits, so I'm feeling pretty confident that it is a girl and not a shy little boy.

I finally back to my pre-pregnancy weight. It can only go up from here.

I've also managed to ward off the glucose test for a few more weeks. I'm really not looking forward to taking it.

I'm feeling really good, just moving slower. Trying to keep active though.

So...onto Dottie who is never boring.

I've had not one but two calls from John in the last week that were warnings that Dottie was hurt but fine and I shouldn't be worried about her when I get home.

Injury 1: John has been experimenting with hiking with Dottie off leash. Days 1 and 2 went perfectly smooth. Day 3 she saw a squirrel and took off climbing up a cliff to chase it. Then she realized she couldn't get back down again. John had to risk life and limb to save her.

Result: Dottie hasn't been of leash since. She was scraped up, but otherwise fine. John is not teaching her NOT to chase squirrels.

Injury 2: Her nails were really long, so I asked John to take her in for a clipping. Only her front nails needed to be clipped, but the man at the vet insisted he could clip the back ones too. Mistake...BIG mistake. He cut them way too short. In the afternoon one claw started bleeding. By the time I got home 2-3 were bleeding. Pressure wasn't working. Baking soda wasn't working. She was bleeding through the bandages and we were supposed to leave for dinner in less than an hour.

Result: I ran to the pet store and bought some styptic powder. It worked! And graciously my Mom met us in Pasadena for dinner instead of halfway between our homes. Paw was bandaged for the night and the bleeding appears to have stopped. My sister Kathryn was our hero. She assessed the situation with a practiced hand and dealt with the blood better than this Mommy who suddenly wasn't feeling too well.

She's ready for a holiday. Happy Thanksgiving!

Registry Help

As a first time Mom I feel like I'm just kind of going with the flow of things. I've purposefully avoided reading books and buying into the hysteria of preparing for a baby, but there is one area I feel completely in the dark. Baby products.

Its sooooooo easy to walk the aisles, see all the cuteness and totally buy in. There is a reason baby already has one of these.

So...for those of you who are already a Mom, I'd like to enlist your help.

I've created two registries. One at Target and one on Amazon. I've been using these as a way to keep track of what we need to acquire, but I'm not sure if I'm on the right track. I know some things are pretty pricey and might end up substituted for cheaper options later (I'm looking at you crib), but can you see any holes? Anything on there that is totally useless? Anything you couldn't live without?

Your help is much appreciated.

6 Months Gone

Hmmmmm....it appears I'm about 24 weeks pregnant or 6 months. What? How did that happen?

It also appears I'm starting to look pregnant.

According to my internet research the baby is a little over 1lb., 12 inches long, and my uterus is the size of a soccer ball. Holy crap! Sporting equipment!

Also if for some reason the baby is born early, its now reached the point of viability. Go baby!

Braxton Hicks contractions.  I have no idea if that's what is going on or if the baby is just pushing up against my insides. Its painless, so I'm not worried.

This week the weather turned colder, so I finally found time to make a few skirts. Simple but serviceable and so comfy. Plus I made 4 for less than the cost on 1 in a store and I have enough fabric to make 3 more if needed.

Hmmmm....maybe I should start clearing a space to actually put the baby.

Food...

Last night I had a dream. John was driving me to ballet class and I made him pull over at a grocery store so I could pick up Pop Tarts (strawberry with frosting), Macaroni and Cheese, and Chocolate Milk.

I needed these items because my former co-workers (Lindsey and Enika) kept making me eat cucumber sandwiches.

Last evening while John was making dinner, I perused the weekly grocery special.

Here's our shopping list so far...

mushrooms
butter
peppermint hot cocoa mix
mulled wine
eggnog
spiced cider
apple blossoms
canned vegetables (for the earthquake kit)
evaporated milk
sparking cider
cranberry juice
instant oatmeal
honey bunches of oats cereal

Do you think I might be hungry?

So far I'm still below my pre-pregnancy weight, but I doubt that will be the case for long. Especially with the amount of macaroni and cheese I seem to crave on a daily basis.