Kimba

Losing it

Pregnancy Incontinence: When one loses the ability to "hold it" when faced with a stress, such as a cough, a sneeze, or a hilarious situation.

Two instances this weekend when I nearly became a victim:

1. Watching one of the previews before Wall-E (fabulous show, bytheway). We had seen the poster for the movie outside the theater before going in, and had turned up our noses and scoffed. What is happening with the world? How terribly juvenile! Then the preview began and I don't know, something about the drama, the terrible computerized faces, and all those chihuahuas, got to me. I haven't laughed that hard or that long in ages. I was gasping. I was squealing. I couldn't stop, and I couldn't quiet down. I would almost consider renting it, just to have a good laugh. Though this is probably due to some odd pregnancy disorder, the inability to distinguish the funny from the real funny. I was the only one that seemed to "get it". I don't know, I just know I nearly lost it. In more ways than one.

2. Watching Caleb try his hardest during the downhill ski jump game on Wii Fit. There were three different people giving him instructions on how to move his body, and it resulted in the most hilarious move I have ever seen. Like so:

We were all screaming with laughter and he had no idea why. Well, he had an idea, but didn't know how funny he looked until he saw the recording Brian took of him on his camera phone. I laughed even harder than during the chihuahua trailer, if that's even possible. My entire stomach was tight and I couldn't breathe. I had tears streaming down my face, enough that Bridgette went to get me (and herself!) a tissue. And I might have lost it. Just a little bit.

Beach Day

Last Saturday we went to Rio Del Mar beach near Santa Cruz with our lovely friends. The weather was PERFECT. We went early to get back in time for Owen's nap, and got the best part of the day - as soon as we packed up to leave a few clouds rolled in and it started sprinkling. We didn't do a thing but sit and enjoy the sun, waves, and Owen as he moved the sand from one spot to another.

We took a few pictures as well.

I couldn't get enough of Owen in his little hat. He wore it all day long. And that little belly!

The cheesy belly shot. "Baby's First Beach!" (Actually...not true...) Also, can you see that sunburn? That's from the previous Monday, and pregnancy seems to have elongated my sunburn recovery period. So great. And look at that belly! It looks huge!! I'm pokin' it out a little.

Then he got even cheesier.

I insisted we needed to get a decent picture, and Bridgette suggested one in front of the ocean. Novel!

And this is pretty much what we did the entire time. Notice how Caleb interacts with us!

Mark was good enough to take some photos for us, and I am particularly grateful for this one, Caleb's Flintstones feet, immortalized in photo, forever.

And then he went and did this:

Where do I begin? I've mentioned before about watching a mosquito try and fight its way through that mess, only to give up, how we saved our marriage by each having our own soap bar, but have never shown you the evidence. Here it is.

I wish you all a peaceful night's sleep. You can rest easy knowing these legs are safely locked away. Shedding in my bed. I believe these legs are partially to blame for the way Bear acts - I think he truly believes he is Caleb's son. And who can blame him? Look at that! I think you could braid them.

Baby Bump Wednesday: Week 20

Twenty weeks! Halfway! Though every single site I looked through today was quick to remind me that the baby could come a bit earlier, three weeks, say, and woah. What? You mean this thing isn't set on a timer?! It could come *gasp* before I'm ready?!?!

Cue the OCD insanity.

Can I say again how we haven't purchased a single thing?! NOT ONE. I've looked at things, have been searching for a crib (I have a specific look in mind and wouldn't you know, it's not exactly a common look. Of course.), looked for a car seat. Thought about bottles for a minute. And that's about it. I think I need some sort of Things To Buy list. Something I can check off. Because I know I'll be sitting there in the hospital and realize that ohmigoshendoftheworld, I didn't buy any baby nose suckers. I NEED BABY NOSE SUCKERS.

The baby this week is...well. It depends. Some sites are still measuring them crown to rump, and others have switched to the full on head to toes measurement. 11 inches or 6 1/2 inches, 10 1/2 ounces. Halfway there in length, and a long ways to go in weight (though hopefully not TOO long). As big as a butternut squash! Or a banana! Are those two even similar?! How big are the bananas they're looking at? Maybe I just tend to buy a big butternut squash. He's swallowing, sucking his thumb, covering his ears when things get a bit loud (really? That seems so...mature of him...), and swimming around.

Speaking of swimming around. I felt him move on Sunday! For the first time! He's alive! I was lying in bed after my shower half asleep and wrestling with myself to get up and get ready, when I felt it. A squirmy movement, the image that first popped into my head was that of a fish trying to squeeze in between my intestines. It was quick, but unmistakable, and later during church I felt a few little kicks, which I don't believe I would have noticed and recognized had I not felt the squirminess earlier. It was such an odd feeling and realization. Honestly, there really is a living human inside there. When you stop and think about it, it seems like something out of a freak alien movie. We grow our children inside of us. It seems so unnatural, yet natural is practically the definition of pregnancy and childbirth.

More swelling this week, and I had heartburn today for the first time. Yeah. Heartburn and indigestion! Commin' atcha! I think because I really popped out this week.

Can you tell which side I was lying on? Hmm? This was taken at 6 am, I've been getting up to walk to avoid the heat, and if you could see my eyes in this shot you'd think I hadn't slept for days. All bloodshot and puffy.

I also took this one so I could send it to my mom, I've been promising a belly shot (a covered belly shot) for a few days but kept forgetting. Shocker. Also, I take my belly shots in the morning which happens to be when my stomach is the smallest, so here's an idea of what it looks like at the end of the day. Post cherries (a new obsession) and gallons of water.

(Please forgive my non-matching shower curtain. It's been a year since we've moved in to this home and I've yet to find one wide enough to cover our tub. So we've got nice soothing cream and greens in the room, and a blue swirly shower curtain. Sigh.)

We also went to a mid-pregnancy class on Monday and Caleb came this time. He spent the entire time doodling on the handouts she'd given us, random comments, silly phrases, and his interpretation of her lecture. As in, the only thing he came home with was that I need to drink more, which hardly seems possible. I don't think he'd be satisfied unless I was hooked up to a constant IV drip. One night after he'd been badgering me to drink, I decided I would do as he asked, so long as he drank just as much as I did. And he agreed, but I haven't seen any results. Caleb? You're not doing NEARLY as much peeing as I am. I win.

Today we went to our favorite farmers market for dinner with Bridgette and Owen and I was holding him while in line to get Caleb's food, and this woman in front of me looked me up and down and said, "You sure had them close together, didn't you?" Luckily for her I don't tend to get offended easily, but it still shocked me a bit. I do look pregnant now, but that was a bold comment! What if it was lingering baby weight?! It could happen. When I informed her that he wasn't in fact mine (but I'd totally take him, he's such an adorable little boy) she said, "Oh, I thought you were just popping them out!"

Really smooth, woman. Really smooth.

No longer wondering why

 The air quality here is a wee-bit poor. To say the least.

Roasting marshmellows by the campfire? Fun.

Smelling like you've been roasting marshmellows by the campfire when you actually haven't? Not fun.

Losing my mind - suddenly I don't feel so bad

I spent the day yesterday in a frantic pregnancy-nesting-organizational-the-baby-is-coming-and-the-items-in-my-fridge-need-to-be-perfectly-aligned-spree. I crawled into bed around 11 and realized I hadn't posted anything, which is unusual but very indicative of my brain the past few weeks. Not quite there. I have the best intentions, call this woman back, make an appointment, change another, finish the laundry, and two minutes later I can't remember a thing. The slate is clean.

Instead of lingering on it (I'll probably forget in a minute anyway...) let's focus on some other people who seem to have lost their minds.

*Amy Winehouse. Not that you even need to read the article to know that, but this is particularly ridiculous.

*Simon Cowell. Usually I think he has his head on straight (for the most part), but this time I'm not so sure.

*These two dudes. Must REALLY love their fruit.

*Hippie Oregon Woman. I read this a while back and wasn't surprised. Once we were driving in downtown Eugene and drove past a group of people walking their dogs wearing skirts and paper plate bra's. Well, not so much bra's, two plates were tied to opposite ends of a rope and slung around their necks in a half-hearted attempt to cover up. For some reason, a lot of Oregonians enjoy being naked in public.

*The owner. I can't imagine being proud of this.

*This woman. It's a terrible story, and supposedly unintentional, but still. How can you forget something like that?!

First Father's Day verdict: success

A week late, but fun nonetheless. For Father's Day I surprised Caleb and sent him to get a massage - he was in serious need, work has been hectic at best lately. Then on Sunday we got together with our friends and surprised the boys with this:

A candy poster. It was Caleb's first ever, and he was so excited. We made them pose this way on the stairs, very Brady-esque and cheesy. We had such a good weekend.

I also surprised Caleb with this:

His very own Twinkie Bake Set. Comes with molding trays, spatula, icing bag, and Twinkie the Kid Twinkie holder. For reals. I was so excited to give it to him, the minute he woke up on Sunday I practically threw it in his lap. I was not disappointed. It's too bad I wasn't in a clear enough state of mind to take a picture as he was opening it, the look on his face was priceless. In his words, "It's all I've ever wanted." He just needs a deep fat fryer and he could die a happy man.

He was very serious about getting the recipe right. The recipe being a general idea of the Twinkie, it came with a disclaimer that the recipes wouldn't produce the exact shape, taste, or look of a Twinkie. Not that we expected them to just hand out their secrets willy nilly, but I wonder why they didn't market it with a slightly different name. Twinkette, Twinkel, or Twonkie or something.

I don't even know. I think he was just giddy.

A little darker, no? May have been due to our regular flour use as opposed to cake flour, or it's possible that a little extra vanilla was added. Or...a lot. We enjoyed them anyway, albeit with a large glass of milk (for everyone else, water for me. I don't do milk.)

A massage, candy, and Twinkies. The way to Caleb's heart.

Weekend plans

The other day I was at home for lunch, sorting through the mess of mail that had been scattered across the floor in the entryway. I was talking to Caleb as I did so, and ran across an invitation to a party thrown by our neighbors across the street (the only neighbors we really know).

"How nice of them," I said, "They invited us to a Summer Solstice Party, 4 - 10 pm. Dinner is at 6:30."

"Oh, that's fun," he said, "What day?"

I bit back the sarcastic remark, I'll have you know. I'm trying.

"Well...it's a summer solstice party, Cabe..."

Nothing.

I had to laugh a little. I may be trying, but I'm not perfect.

Going somewhere in a hand basket...

The mutt is in trouble again. I came home from work today and went to put my shoes in the closet (so that I could put my feet up...way up) and found this:

My scriptures. Ripped to shreds. And contrary to popular belief, I do not make it a practice to smear them with bacon grease. Last I checked I didn't smear them with any kind of food. Yet he decided to take a few bites out just to see if maybe I had left some stray pieces of chicken hidden inside. Steak, maybe, if he was lucky. I only come to this conclusion because he's what, 5 years old? 35 in dog years? He should be way over this chewing inanimate objects for fun thing. That's a puppy issue. He usually reserves this kind of thing for food related items. (That's three separate times, PLUS a bonus link inside that last one.) Not for special books that are inside my purse inside the closet. With nary a piece of chocolate in sight.

I think this is proof that he does this just to get to me. That he's like, Look. See this? I still have the upper hand. I'm number one. Little does he know I've got leverage - in the form of a man-child.

Thank heavens for Scotch tape.

Baby Bump Wednesday: Week 19

I spent the first part of the day flipping through galleries of 19 week bellies. It's so strange still to look down and see it, to feel it, to remember what it means. We got to hear the heartbeat again when I had my appointment on Monday, and when she took out the little doppler and found it in just a few seconds, it really hit me, there's a baby in there. And I've said that a few times, but I still need reminding. I think a large majority of women out there imagine what it will be like to be pregnant, what it will feel like and how it will affect their body, and it's just so strange to realize that it's here. Suddenly you're pregnant (though sometimes "suddenly" comes after a long time of trying...) and poof! All of that imagining is now real. I felt the same way after getting married, for a little while it felt like we were just pretending, that at the end of the day we'd go back to our own homes as we'd always done. I have to keep reminding myself that this baby is going to go home with us, he's going to be mine, ours. It's a daunting realization.

Our baby is now 6 inches, 8-ish ounces. The size of an heirloom tomato, that's the food comparison of the week. I actually found a little slideshow comparing your baby to various foods for each week. Check it out. See what I mean? They're obsessed. We've also got some hair growing this week, which is something I'm curious about. My sisters and I were all born with hair, some of us had quite a lot, but I think Caleb had your average peach fuzz. I'm just wondering if I'll need to invest in some extra hair gel. Perfect the baby boy comb-over we all know and love so much...

While I haven't felt any movements yet, things are growing enough in there that it certainly feels different. Caleb likes to talk to the baby, see how his day went, when he comes home from work each day. He also enjoys poking and prodding and trying to feel him and this week when he was conducting his search it felt different, like whatever he was poking at in turn was massaging my intestines. It made me gasp a little bit. And I know, just wait and see what happens when the little guy decides to start his daily calisthenics. Should be fabulous.

Of course the biggest thing that happened this week was the swelling, my Gumby disease, which meant a large part of the week was spent doing nothing. Like right now. Apparently the heat and a night spent wandering the isles of Ikea were enough to do me in. I'm currently sitting on the couch, three pillows under my legs, with a large glass of water and Caleb nearly threatening to pour the water down my throat himself if I don't drink up. He's a unforgiving taskmaster.

The pregnancy brain is in full swing. Today at work I went to refill my water bottle and got water all over the floor because I hadn't taken the cap off. Which is sort of an important step when you want to refill something. You know. Then as I was making dinner I opened my spice cabinet to grab a few things and found this:

That would be fresh ginger. Sprouting ginger. I don't normally put my ginger in the cupboard, I find it keeps much longer in the fridge. Apparently I forgot, or lost my head, but it sat in my cupboard for weeks growing, breaking through the plastic bag and reaching up into my diced tomato cans.

I'm going to go now and put my gumby legs to bed. Try and catch a little bit of sleep in between the multiple trips to the bathroom that are sure to await me tonight.

Grilling, my wonderful dad, and lobster legs

(Sounds like a really bad book title.)

How is it Tuesday already? So much and so very little has happened over the past few days, it's hard to know where to start. For the most part, my weekend was spent lounging, legs up. As I mentioned, our good friends from the East Coast were here and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Lots of barbecuing, lounging by the pool, watching not-yet-out-on-video-but-somehow-magically-acquired movies, and generally laughing until we couldn't breathe. Literally. It's becoming increasingly more difficult to enjoy a nice, deep belly laugh. There's like this baby in there or something. I also managed to thoroughly fry the top of my legs a nice lobster red (only the tops...lying on my stomach on concrete was out of the question). We wish they lived here, and not just because Mr. TB makes the most fabulous homemade ice cream on Earth. (I've been waiting in giddy anticipation for it since last year.) They are truly fabulous people.

Oh yeah, and then there was Father's Day. Since I didn't have my camera with me for all of our festivities I'll have to post later when I acquire some pictures. They're priceless, you won't be disappointed. Caleb said it was his "best Father's Day ever", which is great, since it was his first. I told him it was all downhill from here, because now it's all going to be about the scribbled Picasso-esque pictures from his kids and runny eggs in bed.

I do have to say that my dad is pretty much the best out there. He has shown me how important it is to serve others, to take care of your home and your things, to keep your finances in order, to enjoy life, and to never pass up a decent brownie. All by example. And it has to be reiterated that he has four daughters and exactly zero sons (until I got all married and such), and still manages to be kind and considerate after years of raging female hormones all synced to the same biological watch.

(Here, a not-very-fabulous shot of my very fabulous dad in his favorite spot.)

Yesterday I took the day off to lounge by the pool with my lovely friends, and also to see the doctor about my Gumby legs. Which, of course, had pretty much un-Gumbified themselves by then. (Because I hadn't yet fried my legs to a crisp...so not helping...) My blood pressure was fine and the conclusion is that yeah! Another fun pregnancy symptom I get to deal with! My prescription? Drink more and rest more when Gumby Disease shows it's ugly, concave head. The end. Now Caleb's blood pressure can return to normal and I can pee in private. All is right with the world.

Strange ingredient in my pregnancy cocktail

Somewhere in the past week someone has replaced my legs with Gumby's. Or maybe with some of that green block stuff the florists use. You know, the kind that you can squish and it leaves an indentation and bits of green dust on your finger? I love to do that.

Thankfully "green dust" isn't coming off my legs.

I noticed it about a week ago after I pulled my legs up during dinner, the edge of my chair left a serious indentation in my shin. An indentation that didn't go away immediately, rather, stuck around for several minutes. Several meaning, quite a few. As in, a long time. For some reason I was slightly embarrassed by it, like, I've gained so much weight that I have INDENTATIONS?! So I told no one. Yesterday though, it was quite obvious that I had swollen ankles and feet, along with this...indentation disease...and I finally told Caleb at the end of the day.

"Caleb, look...feel this," as I pushed in the skin on top of my tibia (shin for all you LAY people...) and it stayed that way. He went back and forth between shock, confusion, and revulsion, making all sorts of marks on my legs. Like he was hand-carving a golf ball. He admonished me to drink more water, and we went to bed.

This morning, having perused all the websites I could think of, I decided to see if there was anything to this, but had a hard time coming up with something to type in the Google search field. Weird leg indentations? I push in my skin and it STAYS THERE? Clay legs? Eventually I found the name of this Gumby disease, Pitted Edema. How absolutely revolting does that sound? Surely someone could have come up with a more aesthetically pleasing name. I mean honestly, the last thing a woman needs when she is pregnant is to hear that anything on her body is "pitted". (Please see this random woman's website and scroll down to get an idea of what the heck I'm talking about. Yeah, it's like THAT.)

For some reason when I hear it, I think of pitted olives. I hate olives.  

Anyway, reading that it could be a pre-cursor to preeclampsia, I called my doctors office where they walked through a bazillion other symptoms with me, to which I had none. No nausea, no headaches, no blurred vision, no "loopiness". "What are you doing this weekend?"she asked. And I paused, not quite sure what she meant...what am I doing? Huh? Does she want to get together? Have a few non-alcoholic drinks? I mean, we've only been talking for four minutes... "Uh, we don't have anything planned really..." I said, to which she replied, "Good. Keep it that way." OH. I GET IT NOW. So I'm to drink a lot, stay away from sodium, and not do anything. Keep my feet up and the like. Be pregnant. She also scheduled an appointment for me on Monday morning, "just to see", which of course threw Caleb for a loop. Suddenly I am delicate, and have a feeling I'm not even going to be able to pee in private this weekend. Am so looking forward to it.

Time is on my side, yes, it is

I had something I was going to post about. I did. I started writing it in my head while preparing dinner tonight, edited, re-wrote a few parts, and then....it was gone. Somewhere between eating, cleaning up, and enjoying a visit from Bridge and my fabulous East Coast friend, it left. Possibly blew away with all the Uno cards we threw on the floor for Owen to play with. Something about being pregnant, and I'm sure everyone's a little sick of that, right?

This week at work has been...dead, to say the least. Our huge event finished this weekend and we literally went from running around a mile a minute, to sitting at our desks (the ones who even bothered to show up...) and picking our fingernails. Like....what just happened? Oh, Summer just happened. It's nice, definitely, to have a break, but it hasn't been an entire week yet and I'm already bored. By mid day I've perused every single website I can think of, even doubled back on a few, and then the rest of the day I'm wracking my brain to come up with something to do. Enter Flickr's Interestingness. If you haven't heard of Flickr yet, it's a website where people can upload and share their photos, and this particular part of the website is my favorite, where they post interesting photos from the previous 7 days. I waste hours hitting that *Reload* button.

Reload....reload....reload....reload....reload....reload....

Look at that! It's been two whole hours!

Some pictures are absolutely breathtaking. Some are funny. Some are insanely odd. Some are questionable. Some are frightening. And I love it. And it's an insanely wonderful time-waster.

Anybody have any favorite websites you use to kill some time? I'd love to hear them. Or rather, I need some ideas...

Baby Bump Wednesday: Week 18

The belly is here, the back is hurting, the sleep is officially restless. So pretty much, things are as they should be. Or so I'm told.

Today I was looking at the usual pregnancy sites to see what progress the little guy has made this last week, and for the most part, the websites take a very scientific look at things, they tell you how long, how many ounces, what's developing and that sort of thing, but today I ran across a site that took a little different approach. After telling me that the baby is about 5 1/2 inches long and about 6 or 7 oz., they compared the baby to a chicken breast. Something along the lines of, "It's about the size of your average chicken breast!" So of course the first thing I thought of was this:

Last week it was "your baby is water", and this week it's a chicken breast. Other sites compared it to a baked potato or red bell pepper. What's up with the food comparisons? Do they think that's all we know? That our little pregnant minds can't think past food?

Well. Maybe that's partially true.

Actually, I've been surprised at how my appetite has stayed nearly the same. Maybe it will increase later, but I'm finding myself eating the same or even a little less than before. Maybe because my uterus is 'the size of a honeydew melon", and there just isn't as much room. (Another food comparison...)

As I mentioned yesterday, sleep is becoming more difficult. I feel as if it's too early for me to be complaining about that, but every single site I looked at today mentioned that I may be getting a little "uncomfortable" at night. Validation is always comforting.

What is not comforting? Still waiting to feel the baby move. A wonderful woman commented a few entries ago and suggested I try laying on my stomach, but so far it hasn't worked. Maybe I'm just doing it at the wrong times (baby won't move if it's asleep...), or maybe I'm just ridiculously unaware. I've got a chicken breast in there! Shouldn't I feel it?!

Maybe I need to wait until it's a T-Bone steak.

This weekend I officially Freaked Out about baby car seats. We were shopping at Costco for a few items (blueberries!! 2 lbs for a mere $6, which is great, because I'm going through a lot of them at the moment) and ran across an infant to toddler car seat. I did a little research when I came home which is a bad, bad idea for me. I found new brands, read more reviews, found more styles, and soon I had thirty different options swirling around and was not even close to knowing what to get. Never mind adding strollers into the mix. I gave up, exhausted, and haven't the heart to continue my search. Why is it so hard to find a nice car seat / stroller combo that's safe, easy to use, and doesn't come splattered with jungle, safari, plaid, or swirling circle prints? HONESTLY.

While we're on the subject of ridiculous expensive baby items, allow me to introduce you to my new expensive obsession:

Tell me that is not the most gorgeous ark set you have ever seen. I dare you. I saw this, fell in love, and then immediately began looking for an alternative. It's in a magazine, it can't be in my price range. I've been looking for weeks and have found nothing that comes close. So today I bit the bullet and called the woman, a very nice woman, who explained how exceptional the piece is, how very heirloomy and wonderful and such, and then confirmed my worst fears. It is insanely expensive. When I told Caleb the price (How much is it Kim? Well, it's a lot, but it's just so beautiful, and something we could pass down... How much is it Kim?) I fully expected him to laugh, like, ha ha, nice thought, now what's for dinner?, but he didn't. He actually agreed it would be a wonderful item to pass down. I nearly died of hope, my heart bursting inside me. MAYBE! IT'S POSSIBLE. He bought himself a car, right? Surely that means I can get an ark set...

(Randomly, is anyone going to Germany in the next few months and would like to ship home a large and gorgeous ark set? Hmm? No?)

I shall just try and soothe myself with smaller decisions like cribs and bedding and bouncers and swaddling blankets and bottles and the like.

How many more weeks? Oh...

I sleep the deepest when I'm sleeping alone. Not that I don't sleep well when Caleb is there, I just don't sleep as deep. Mostly because I can't do this when he's there:

A semi-side, semi-stomach position, left leg and right arm stretched directly into Caleb's Territory. I don't know what it is, but this is my ideal position for optimum sleep. Caleb usually wakes up before I do, and the second he's out of bed I immediately roll over and assume The Position. And lapse into deep, don't move a muscle, Dreamland.

Lately though, it's failed me. My stomach, though not big enough to be the problem, is more sensitive. Baby doesn't like to be squished. This leaves me with the typical side position, and my shoulders make it about halfway through the night before they start protesting.

I am missing this:

Anyone have any great pregnant sleeping positions? Is a body pillow my answer? Or would that be adding fuel to the fire? We're already dreaming of the king bed we'll *someday* have, I don't know about adding another "body". One of us would probably kick it off, reality tv show style. ("I'm sorry, the road for you ends here.") ("We're not going to ask you to stay with us.") ("We'd love to see you next year.")

(Is it apparent that I've been in "So You Think You Can Dance" land tonight? Cause I have.) 

Suddenly a water bed doesn't sound like the worst possible bed ever created.

Wondering if we should offer it cheese

Last Thursday Caleb came home from a meeting after work and suddenly the mutt started limping. Like literally, one minute he was pacing, hoping that somehow Caleb would magically appear in the room if he'd only walk around the house one more time, and the next minute he was a three-legged-dog. I'm not going to lie, I thoroughly enjoyed letting him out in the back to chase his squirrel, watching him run around the yard, his gimp leg tucked up. One thing's for sure, that dog can adapt if he wants to.

Eventually though, Caleb put an end to my play time, and the next morning took the mutt in. He was obviously in a lot of pain and something needed to be done. $200 and half a day later they released him, claiming they'd "cleaned out some debris" from one of the pads on his paw.This was after they insisted it had to be his hip or knee, just had to be, couldn't be the pad. Sure he flinches at the slightest touch, but that couldn't possibly explain it.

It was the pad. Shockingly.

Apparently this procedure required some serious meds, they shaved a spot on one leg for a catheter (to supply the drugs, man) and his entire affected foot. Literally shaved to the skin. It is the nastiest thing I have ever seen, and people, I started out my schooling in the medical field. Even Caleb can't stand it, and this is his baby.

I warn you, the following may contain graphic or disturbing images. Proceed with caution.

I'm trying not to look at it, to ignore it completely, but it's very hard. It's just so...frightening. We've taken to calling him Rat Foot. I find it appropriate. And disgusting. And it's been three days now, and his fur is takin' it's sweet time growing back in. And I'm steerin' clear. It could be contagious. I hear Rat Foot is going around.

It's not every day...

My adorable grandpa turned 80 on Wednesday. They posted an announcement in my little hometown newspaper, and I just found it. I like to check up on what's goin' on at home. (What? I can't be the only one...) The listing of his family is a little confusing, but that's what happens when you have 73 immediate family members (so glad they added that in, I think I lost track after 50...), the majority of which still live in the area. I've got a lot of cousins. You should have seen the look on Caleb's face the first time I brought him to one of our regular get-togethers. And that was over 5 years ago, as you can tell, we're growing exponentially.

Happy Birthday Grandpa, wish I could have been to the party, though it was lovely chatting with you. Mwah!

Free landscaping

The other day I went to let Bear outside and discovered a huge hole in the dirt near our gate, the contents of the hole strewn across the rocks. "Caleb!!! Your mutt dug a huge hole in the backyard!!" I yelled and proceeded to let the mutt know that this? This hole? This is not okay. This is a bad hole. BAD HOLE.

It was a little odd though, we've been living in this home for almost exactly a year now, and he hasn't dug once. Digging, for him, is an anxiety task. If he's left alone outside for hours and hours and hours, and knows Caleb is no where to be found, he'll dig his way to China to get out and find him. Not if we let him in the backyard for an hour while we're home. He's smart enough to do the bad things when we're gone.

So a few days passed and nothing, and then this morning, groaning and stumbling my way to the back door at 6 am to let him out, I opened it to find this, again:

When I found my way back to the bed I asked Caleb if he'd seen that Bear had dug another hole last night when he let him out for the last time. He hadn't. So we have some sort of something that all of a sudden decided our backyard needed to be properly landscaped. I haven't a clue what it is, or why it's chosen our backyard, or what exactly it's doing. Cats don't dig, do they? A raccoon maybe? We're not exactly in the country though, I'd expect this kind of thing in Oregon, where possums and racoons and Nutria abound, but in the Bay Area?

Meanwhile, Bear, knowing I DON'T LIKE THE HOLES, quickly tried to look busy.

Sunning himself, as is his custom when I come home to eat lunch, but completely ignoring me when I opened the door and walked over to The Hole of Mystery. Apparently, he knows nothing.

Baby Bump Wednesday: Week 17

I've been thinking all day about how crazy it is that I'm in week 17 already. Back in the 5th and 6th weeks I felt like the days were slowly trickling by, like time was literally taking a break. No need to move forward anymore! There's no time like the present! Probably because it was all so new and exciting and I just wanted to see RESULTS and BUMPS and BABIES. And now I'm thinking, holy crap, in just a few weeks I'll be 20 weeks, at the official halfway point. It feels as if it's flown by, and at the same time, I feel like I've been pregnant forever. And I'm not even halfway yet.

So this last week was full of fun things, namely finding out that we are indeed having ourselves a man-child. The tech also took a look at the measurements and bumped up my due date to November 9th, which techincally means I was 17 weeks on Sunday, but I'm keeping this on Wednesdays. Partially because I'm not a huge believer in the same numbers for each kid, and partially because, well, I was there, and there's only a little window in which we could have become pregnant. Not that I mind bumping up the due date, I'm secretly hoping this baby comes in October, because I have issues and don't like the idea of having a baby with a birthdate with such crazy numbers. 11-something-of 08? Maybe you don't know, or remember, but I'm a little freakish, and like nice even numbers. I'd be much happier with a 10-something, even an odd something - 08. Do you get what I'm saying? I'm saying I don't know if I could handle an 11-09-08 birthdate. Because I am odd and strange and crazy.

The baby is roughly 5 inches now, and just starting to get a little meat on it's bones. Sorry, his bones. I've got to get used to this...One site I read said that my baby is "primarily composed of water" at this point. I find that an odd piece of information to put out there to all the pregnant women, even if it's true. That baby that made you sick, and is making you gain weight, and making your back hurt, and giving you round ligament pain, well, it's just water, that's all! What's the fuss about? IT'S ONLY WATER. I don't know, it just doesn't sit right. But whatever. Freak us out. We don't have insanely large amounts of hormones running through our veins...

The baby can also supposidly hear sounds outside the womb now, and can become startled by loud noises. Like, maybe, my constant sneezing (seriously, the runny-nose symptom? The one I was never told about? DRIVING ME INSANE.), or that website Caleb and Mark made me go to, the one where the music suddenly blares out, causing my heart some major palpitations. I have no doubt Mr. Man-Child was just as surprised as I was, jumped just as high (seriously boys, you're lucky I didn't have the baby right there and then). It's exciting to think that he can hear me, and also somewhat unnerving. While learning the sex of our baby made it all seem a little more real, I still find myself freaking out every time I look in the mirror or try to zip up my pants. I'm afraid I'm never going to become connected to this pregnancy, that I'm going to be in for a major shock when someone places my very own child in my arms. That's mine. That I cooked all by myself.

The sites also talked about how I should be feeling the baby move now, and lots of fluttering, tickling, butterflies, rainbows, and sunshine, and I started freaking out, because have I? I don't think I've felt the baby move! How am I supposed to tell? So after a rather large sneeze I sat and concentrated and waited...and then I think I felt something, like a very tiny stomach shudder, so small that seconds later I completely disregarded it. Couldn't have been. Probably just more of that whole "blood pumping" my body is doing. Right? Or....maybe. So I find myself sitting and waiting a lot, half excited, half thinking that nothing is ever going to happen.

We've spent the last few days quietly mulling over the boy thing, and out of the blue Caleb will start talking about how he's going to teach him all about fixing cars (can you tell it's on his mind lately?) and how to play baseball. And then we'll continue on with whatever we're doing, and later I'll suddenly ask Caleb what he thinks he'll look like, if he'll be blonde like Caleb was when he was little, or have my hair color. Growing up in an all girl family, I can't fathom what a boy would look like at all. I asked this to my sister who is serving her mission for our church, and she said, "Probably like me, but with short hair.",  and I got this image of Kathy when she was little, her fly-away hairs blowing in the breeze, a permanent red Kool-Aid stain above her upper lip, and thought, I wouldn't mind that.

In case you wanted to know

My friend pointed out to me a *tiny* mistake I made the other day on my big announcement post. I compared our little boy's (probably adorable) little face to a little painting called "The Scream." Maybe you've heard of it. Apparently this was painted by Edvard Munch, (who is no doubt rolling in his grave...he is dead, right?) not Van Gough. You can see I'm not an art buff, nor was I paying attention when I linked to his gallery. Ahem. Can I chalk this up to pregnancy brain? Or exhaustion? I've been alphabetizing medicals for the past oh, week now, and I'm a little wigged out. (I finished today, and nearly shed tears of joy!)

Also, hi, I didn't forget I had a blog, we just ran errands last night until 11, and quite frankly, that is past my bedtime. I needs mah sleep!

Finally, I've been tagged by my lovely friend, Jessica. Who I think I've only met once, (how is that? We need to rectify this!!) and immediately fell in love with. Ya know, the friend love. She's married, and so am I...

Anyway.

The rules, list all these things and then tag 5 people.

Joys

1. Caleb. My currently cooking baby. Mi familia.

2. Coming home and finding a nice stack of magazines strewn all over the floor in front of the door. How I love that little mail slot...

3. Travel. Anywhere.

Fears

1. Spiders. In my house, outside, anywhere.

2. Not being able to change my mind about something. That "locked in" feeling. I get all panicky and think I want to change my mind, even if I really don't. This doesn't bode so well for the big things like marriage and children...

3. Never moving back to Utah.

Goals

1. Finish school.

2. Raise pleasant children.

3. Find some sort of talent and stick with it. I've dabbled in a lot of things, but never stuck with something. Therefore, I'm terrible at a lot of things. I would like to not be terrible at something.

Current Obsessions / Collections

1. Home design magazines. Domino, Blueprint (may it's ever-lovely pages rest in peace), and numerous catalogues.

2. Blueberries. Always blueberries.

3. Scouring Craigslist for a possible home to rent. A little larger, preferably with more than a quarter inch of storage space. In the same area we live in (it's a tall order, Caleb!).

Random Surprising Facts

1. I have never once read a Harry Potter book.

2. I have been to Lake Powell every year since I was 7 or 8, and don't ski. I got up, a long time ago, but then I made the dance team at our high school and my advisor didn't want me breakin' a leg. And then I never really had a desire to start again. And I'm okay with it. I enjoy lounging.

3. I was once so guilt-ridden at not having a job after moving here I went to the Cheesecake Factory to apply. I sat on the bench, waiting for the manager to come out for an interview, and then bolted. I cried all the way home and holed myself up in my bedroom, ashamed.

I tag, Abby, Heather, Ms. TB, Lindsay, and Trisha. And anyone else that would like to, including you, father-in-law.

Oh, p.s, thanks to all for the well wishes, excitement, and advice about the boys. I'm gonna be needin' it!