Under Construction

Milestone for the five and a half year old

Those not so familar with our family might not find this image shocking. BUT this is the child who has not willingly worn a button nor denim since before she turned two. And I mean NO buttons (not even decorative). It was her little quirk and we've worked around it.

She only owned these jeans because jeans were the required uniform for a school performance last September and she complainingly wore them that one day.

Today she put them on apparently to impress her daddy on his birthday. And she wore them all day. Amazing! Think of the wardrobe possibilities we've uncovered.

PS Thanks for all the well wishes on Oscar's arrival. Sorry I am so lame about responding but I love the comments :)

Well that was quick

Self portrait around 3:30 a.m. on Friday thinking well, if this is it, I should have one final belly shot.

And here's the contents of that belly at about 6 a.m. Yep, guess that was it.

Here's a cuter one with daddy. And note that I even managed to check "paint toenails" off the to do list. I can't actually recall but I must have been taking photos to distract myself from some extended stitching. Enough said on that topic!

And while I love reading a good birth story probably more than the average person, I'm sort of weirded out by sharing my own so I'll summarize here in haphazard-I-haven't-slept-much fashion.

Woke up about 12:30 from a not painful but a bit different contraction (this is after weeks of very frequent Braxton-Hicks). Wrote thank you notes, did laundry and dishes etc etc. 2:45ish decided that yes, they were coming along pretty regularly every 10 minutes (or 5 sometimes). 3ish woke up Mr. H, consulted and called the in laws around 3:30. 4:10ish, inlaws showed up and we gave the the instruction sheet which included "if it's not dead, release the baby bird in the box in the dining room."

Sidebar:

Thursday at dusk our neighbor rescued two fledgling mockingbirds from his dog and handed them over the fence to us. So, suddenly, we were responsible for the birds. After a quick internet consult we set the box on our side of the fence near where we spotted mom and the lively bird flew away (hopefully to safety) by the time it was dark. At dark I brought the weaker seeming bird inside with a heating pad and a plan to release him in the morning if he was alive. But, of course, baby interrupted. Father-in-law reports that baby bird was alive in the morning and promptly flew out of the box and into our fence. But he got up and flew off again so I guess that worked out.

So, back to the more interesting baby in this story:

On the way to the hospital I got a definite kick/hit right behind my belly button which made me realize baby was upside down (as in face up rather than face down--he definitely wasn't breach). We got to the hospital and I was still feeling pretty good although contractions were definitely 5 or less minutes apart. Only a few that were painful. We walked from the parking lot and by the time we were checking in (around 4:30ish maybe?) things were definitely picking up. We got to hang out in triage being monitored and making sure we'd be admitted (at this point I was quite certain this was it and we would be admitted so I started to get antsy to move out of triage.) Then the nurse said I was 6-7 cm dilated but the baby was very high. Then I was really ready to get out of triage. Sometime after 5, (maybe 5:20?) we started the walk to the delivery room (to their credit they offered a wheelchair which I declined wanting to keep things moving downward. I later regretted that decision). At the nurses station about 10 steps out the door my water broke. Because, of course, my water always breaks in random spots (see: dinner at Chili's with Biscuit). 

Then things started to get hectic. As in I could barely make it down the hall. Somehow we got in the room and I heard our very nice nurse requesting a doctor, pronto. The same nice doctor who I'd met for the first time about 10 minutes prior in triage showed up along with many other people. My eyes were mostly closed but I recall opening them at some point and being amazed how many people were standing around with quite a view. So, there we were (pushing, ouch) and then at 5:50 there was baby "Oscar." No conehead for this speedy fellow.

Other notes and observations:

Thursday I joked with several folks that my to do list was done and our construction project inspection couldn't happen until Tuesday so this weekend would be a convenient time for baby. And if he came quick enough, we could still make it to Mr. H's birthday celebration on Sunday. I think all this joking about timing is why it took me so many hours to conclude it was the real thing. I wasn't sure how far the power of wishful thinking could go.

My memory sucks but I think I feel a lot better after this delivery than Biscuit's. Probably because it was so quick and maybe the lack of epidural helped? Anyway, despite stitches recovery seems pretty good so far.

Speaking of which, I was hoping to avoid an epidural which was convenient since I couldn't have gotten one anyway.

He is a really pretty newborn. Distinguishing features: a horizontal crease above his nose that makes him have a very furrowed brow/second nose when he's mad. Adorable, round ears--I thought ears were supposed to be oval. A little cowlick (is that how you spell it?) on his forehead along with his super soft brown hair. He has a lot of hair compared to other babies on my side of the family. And very chubby cheeks.

Big sister could not be more proud. We're waiting for the other shoe to drop but so far she's been nothing but amazing and helpful. Only problem is all of us fighting to hold the baby (although I seem to have dibs on the 3 a.m. shifts).

So, a few quick notes before I totally forget everything. We're heading out the door for Mr. H's birthday party in a few (we'll make it over after all) so I'll end with our first family photo and hit publish without editing.

I made something!

A sling/moby wrap. No pattern just an idea of size and how these things work. Then I tested it with Biscuit's doll.

Giant belly plus lightweight doll makes for a pretty poor test but I think this thing'll work. If not, it was all knit fabric from my stash and only took about 30 minutes (after 90 minutes of fighting with the serger) so not a big loss either way.

In unrelated news it's pouring rain here. Totally bizarre for late May in Sacramento. And we just had 5 yards of crushed rock delivered to our driveway. I'm glad I have an excuse not to shovel all that rock!

100% more in tune with the title of this blog

Yes, friends, that is indeed the highly coveted building permit for our craft shack/tool shed/probably ill advised summer project (to go with the anticipated newborn). BUT it will guarantee Oscar a room of his own and guarantee me a dedicated sewing/craft space. Fun! In the meantime, it has mostly been guaranteeing headaches and sore backs.

And some fun. Look: we rented a tractor/backhoe/scooper thingy. It's the teensiest tractor you ever saw but oh so effective and pretty fun to drive around.

From this:

To this:

In just a few hours. All so we could transplant my beloved Meyer lemon tree that seems, at this point, unlikely to survive the trauma. Let's all send Mrs. Meyer some positive thoughts, shall we? And I'll give her plenty of water and the vitamin regimen suggested to reduce shock in trees.

Meanwhile, in the back yard trenching was underway:

I even got in on the action for a few hours. I really, really can't hand shovel at this point (nearly pulled a muscle trying to turn the compost the other day) but I can work a backhoe. In my pajamas. While Mr. H runs wheelbarrow loads to the truck.

And then there were many trips to the dump. The dump must be good business--$20/pickup and look at the line. Oh, and typepad is sideways again, oh joy.

After my backhoeing I was suitably impressed with the agility with which this fellow operated the giant CAT scooper dealy.

Meanwhile, Mr. H shoveled by hand.

Our lives are so exciting, no?

I didn't get a good shot but by the end of day two the footings were nearly dug for the foundation perimeter and the electrical trench was in. A few spots left for Mr. H to hand trench because even miniature tractors aren't endlessly manueverable.

So, to summarize our craft shack successes (and expenses because I find that sort of thing fascinating):

$730 and about 6 trips to the County Building Office later we have an approved building permit

~$300 in rental and delivery fees plus some diesel fuel and hard labor and we have our trenches dug.

$I-don't-even-want-to-think-about-it and the excess dirt, concrete and bushes are at the dump to be mulched and who knows what else

So, well over $1000 in and we have....wait for it....a place to build a craft shack and formal permission to do so. Go us!

No baby yet

So that about sums it up. Granted, baby isn't technically due for another week or two it has just seemed like he might arrive at any moment (as babies do).

Recent status of the co-sleeper/nightstand/storage unit (and the belly). Maybe he shouldn't show up juuust yet....

And let's see, here's the status of the "before baby" to do list (as differentiated from the massive/everything to do list):

• clean out car and install carseat
• wash diapers
• wash, sort and put away clothes
• set up cosleeper 
• sew extra sheets for cosleeper
• pack hospital bag (have created a pile of stuff to put in a bag)
• plan baby announcements
• figure out disability insurance for leave
• find daycare
• create list of folks to email about the new arrival
• decide on baby name

So baby will be well dressed and will be named but nobody will know of his arrival unless they read the blog or maybe facebook.

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Meanwhile, school is over for Mr. H and we may have finally trudged through the bureaucracy that is the county building permit department so plans are full speed ahead for craft shack construction. The old shed is down and there's room for new and improved. This blog might actually live up to its name for the next few months. We're renting a mini tractor tomorrow to excavate the foundation....

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And the big kid. She's been full of talking back attitude lately (and I have been less than full of patience). So that's a bummer. But yesterday she more than impressed her science teacher dad and biology major mom with a pretty darn accurate description of an ecosystem (complete with herbibores and omlivores or some such adorable mispronounciations).

This morning she showed us how her teacher taught them about ecosystems

Granted we may need to clarify the difference between omnivores and decomposers but I think that can wait. The things they learn in kindergarten. Who knew?

So, despite my lack of posting that about brings you up to date. Stay tuned for construction photos.....

Time trials

It was the first "meet" of the year. Time trials, actually.

I'm pretty sure getting the uniform swim suit was a highlight of the day.

Turned out she was the only kid in her heat in the first race--one no show and one who got too scared at the last minute. She even "dove" off the blocks.

Needless to say she got first place in her heat ;) Got out of the pool and promptly burst into tears. I think it was delayed stress relief as everyone was super nice to her and very encouraging. I had to run (to my baby shower ;) so I missed the second race but Mr. H reports that she did great a backstroke even though she just learned it yesterday. Yay, Biscuit!

 

And my ankles disappeared

So I seem to be in the winding down phase of pregnancy over here. All I want to do is knit or read. But I can't get into any books and I lost a stitch in my knitting project which for me is an unsolvable problem. So I'm probably kind of annoying.

Here's what (my tummy) looked like this morning.

Wow, dirty mirror! And you can kinda tell that my right ankle is MIA. That happened over the weekend. I miss it. Today my left ankle disappeared along with most of my left foot. Might have had something to do with working all day with back to back meetings, sitting in traffic for an hour and then teaching a sewing class for 2.5 hours. The sewing class was super fun but it did take my ankle.

This is a more realistic portrait of my morning. Biscuit dressed herself in her stage-crew-preferred outfit of all black (but with her new sparkly shoes). She's using fineese (as she calls it) to "make her hair smooth) while I take blurry tummy photos. At least we managed to get her teeth brushed this morning AND her hair. Totally a banner morning.

I realized today that Oscar doesn't have any socks and I still need to get some diapers (after the diaper shower my sister is hosting this weekend for the women of the family) but other than that I guess we're sort of set. I've been having a gazillion Braxton Hicks contractions and when I mentioned it to my doctor yesterday her response was along the lines of, "well, it wouldn't really be a problem if you had the baby right now so it's not much to worry about." Oh, right. I guess we are close to the end around here.

And that's the report from 35.5 weeks of pregnancy. 0ish-7ish weeks left depending on Oscar. It was nearly 90 degrees today and he's got plenty of quilts and blankies so I'm pretty sure he'll be okay even without any socks.

In closing on this random post, here's a phone photo from last week of my knitting project. I'm calling it the "swim team blanket" since it's mostly knit during swim team practice. I was feeling very smug about my "skills" until that stitch disappeared today. Along with my ankles.

Attributes

LOVED this "portrait" concept and wanted to recreate. Too bad I don't like the results. Bad enough layout without ALL the photos being slightly out of focus. What's UP with that? Nevertheless....