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| From 2013 October |
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Pumpkin Picking
We decided to try a different place for pumpkin picking this year and it turned out to be a complete zoo, so we got our pumpkins and apple cider donuts and hightailed it out of there. But the pumpkins were beautiful.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Another Fever
Nicholas has a fever. And I am currently trying to convince myself that it is not the end of the world as I know it. Trying. Tomorrow is my work-from-home day, the day I'm supposed to grade 30 student papers and 5 paper proposals. As in, absolutely have to because my grading schedule is compressed with the baby coming and so instead of the 2 weeks I usually give myself to get things back to them, I have to finish the rest of these papers by Friday because they have to turn in their rewrite by next Friday. Because I need to be done with those by the time the baby comes. And Thursday and Friday I have meetings and classes back-to-back literally all day and Joe has classes. Not to mention the fact that I need to somehow avoid getting sick myself. So somehow I need to grade more quickly than usual while comforting and caring for a sick child while not getting his germs. Piece of cake.
I know, small potatoes. But this is the thing with the work-parenting balancing act: you can sort of manage it until a kid gets sick and then all the balls fall down around you. There is no wiggle room.
Bright side? I guess we'll make some progress on those crafts we've put aside.
I know, small potatoes. But this is the thing with the work-parenting balancing act: you can sort of manage it until a kid gets sick and then all the balls fall down around you. There is no wiggle room.
Bright side? I guess we'll make some progress on those crafts we've put aside.
Monday, October 14, 2013
Getting Ready
We are now under 4 weeks to the due date. And so we have spent most of the last two weekends working intensively on cleaning and organizing and getting all the baby gear washed and set up. Given that our apartment was already bursting at the seams, this required a lot of reorganization, cleaning, and trips back and forth to the storage unit. But we are now almost ready. The cars are ready and just a few more hours of work and the house should be ready. We even started packing hospital bags.
The problem with all of this prep work is that it makes it feel like her arrival should be imminent. Because the timing is so unpredictable, it was essential to get ready now, but it makes the last part of the pregnancy feel even longer. Will she come in 4 weeks? 2? 6? My money is on 3. We'll see.
The problem with all of this prep work is that it makes it feel like her arrival should be imminent. Because the timing is so unpredictable, it was essential to get ready now, but it makes the last part of the pregnancy feel even longer. Will she come in 4 weeks? 2? 6? My money is on 3. We'll see.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Vermont
It has taken me a week and a half and even with that this is likely to be a pretty incomprehensible post because it was just a looooong day at work and my brain has shut off, but here is a Vermont post.
My mother's father is from Vermont originally and even though he hasn't lived there in over 60 years, it remains a very important place to him. And Vermont in the fall is his absolute favorite. And because it is special to him and so trips there were significant parts of their childhoods, it is also a special place to my mom and her siblings (climbing Mt. Mansfield in particular).
It was not a big part of my childhood because we lived in California and so didn't make it out. But the applesauce my grandmother made with Vermont Macintosh apples that she and Grandpa got when they were in Vermont each fall was a very important part of my childhood. I remember Grandma bringing us out a few jars when they came to visit, having packed them carefully in her carry-on (on the list of things you can't do anymore). I have a vivid memory of this occasion one year (I can quite literally see her carry-on bag in my mind and see us standing at baggage claim waiting while Grandpa and my mom got their checked luggage and we guarded the carry-on of applesauce), but I assume it happened other years as well. And visits to Grandma and Grandpa's house always included applesauce that had been made and frozen. I can still taste it. It was objectively wonderful applesauce, but there is also a magical quality of something you only got once a year or so and that is connected to childhood memories at your grandparents' house. Nicholas and I have tried making it ourselves, but it isn't quite right. There was some at my Grandpa's house this summer that my mom or an aunt must have made or worked with Grandpa on at some point, though, that was really close. And I savored every spoonful, being transported back in time 20 years.
Anyway, that was a long tangent to explain why we were in Vermont. Grandpa and three of my aunts and uncles spent a week in Vermont and my parents, a cousin and her son, and Nicholas and I joined them for the weekend. Nicholas now refers to the house we stayed in as "the Vermont house" as though we own it, because it is the same house we all stayed at last summer. He also calls it "the barn house" because it is a barn red color and the windows overlooking the driveway have a barn-like feel. I was surprised that he remembered it so well from last summer, but when I said we were going to Vermont he immediately started talking about which room we would stay in at "the barn house."
We didn't climb Mt. Mansfield this time around (realistically no more than half of us would have been up for it) and we didn't camp (I know it is treasonous, but I really do enjoy this new tradition of renting a house instead of camping--I have gone soft), but we did do some shorter hikes and roast a few marshmallows in a backyard fire pit. And, honestly, the hikes we did were the most I could manage these days. I actually wondered if I'd even be able to do those, but the hideous compression stockings I've been wearing for the last month or so have made a huge difference. It pains me that a mile-long hike is a huge accomplishment for me, but there have been enough points in the last couple months where walking across campus (all of probably 400 yards) caused extreme pain that I thought it might not be possible. And, to be honest, I really only did as much as I did through sheer perseverance (or, as Joe would term it, stubbornness). And I did take the rock sections up and down from the waterfall in a crouch with both hands holding on at all points, although that was more to protect the baby than out of pain. I am positive I looked ridiculous, but since I only have pictures from my camera, I luckily have no photographic evidence of this. The only reason this worked of course is that my mom took charge of Nicholas and keeping a hand on him so that I would have my hands free to keep myself from falling. I felt like I missed out some by not getting to go out into some of the more adventurous spots, but it was fun to watch Nicholas and my mom out on their adventures.
And so on to the pictures:
This looks like an appropriate trail for someone 34 weeks pregnant, doesn't it?
If I reach just a little further . . .
Not so sure about this whole roasted marshmallow thing at first. For a kid who refuses to eat anything above room temperature, though, he warmed up to the idea pretty quickly.
My mother's father is from Vermont originally and even though he hasn't lived there in over 60 years, it remains a very important place to him. And Vermont in the fall is his absolute favorite. And because it is special to him and so trips there were significant parts of their childhoods, it is also a special place to my mom and her siblings (climbing Mt. Mansfield in particular).
It was not a big part of my childhood because we lived in California and so didn't make it out. But the applesauce my grandmother made with Vermont Macintosh apples that she and Grandpa got when they were in Vermont each fall was a very important part of my childhood. I remember Grandma bringing us out a few jars when they came to visit, having packed them carefully in her carry-on (on the list of things you can't do anymore). I have a vivid memory of this occasion one year (I can quite literally see her carry-on bag in my mind and see us standing at baggage claim waiting while Grandpa and my mom got their checked luggage and we guarded the carry-on of applesauce), but I assume it happened other years as well. And visits to Grandma and Grandpa's house always included applesauce that had been made and frozen. I can still taste it. It was objectively wonderful applesauce, but there is also a magical quality of something you only got once a year or so and that is connected to childhood memories at your grandparents' house. Nicholas and I have tried making it ourselves, but it isn't quite right. There was some at my Grandpa's house this summer that my mom or an aunt must have made or worked with Grandpa on at some point, though, that was really close. And I savored every spoonful, being transported back in time 20 years.
Anyway, that was a long tangent to explain why we were in Vermont. Grandpa and three of my aunts and uncles spent a week in Vermont and my parents, a cousin and her son, and Nicholas and I joined them for the weekend. Nicholas now refers to the house we stayed in as "the Vermont house" as though we own it, because it is the same house we all stayed at last summer. He also calls it "the barn house" because it is a barn red color and the windows overlooking the driveway have a barn-like feel. I was surprised that he remembered it so well from last summer, but when I said we were going to Vermont he immediately started talking about which room we would stay in at "the barn house."
We didn't climb Mt. Mansfield this time around (realistically no more than half of us would have been up for it) and we didn't camp (I know it is treasonous, but I really do enjoy this new tradition of renting a house instead of camping--I have gone soft), but we did do some shorter hikes and roast a few marshmallows in a backyard fire pit. And, honestly, the hikes we did were the most I could manage these days. I actually wondered if I'd even be able to do those, but the hideous compression stockings I've been wearing for the last month or so have made a huge difference. It pains me that a mile-long hike is a huge accomplishment for me, but there have been enough points in the last couple months where walking across campus (all of probably 400 yards) caused extreme pain that I thought it might not be possible. And, to be honest, I really only did as much as I did through sheer perseverance (or, as Joe would term it, stubbornness). And I did take the rock sections up and down from the waterfall in a crouch with both hands holding on at all points, although that was more to protect the baby than out of pain. I am positive I looked ridiculous, but since I only have pictures from my camera, I luckily have no photographic evidence of this. The only reason this worked of course is that my mom took charge of Nicholas and keeping a hand on him so that I would have my hands free to keep myself from falling. I felt like I missed out some by not getting to go out into some of the more adventurous spots, but it was fun to watch Nicholas and my mom out on their adventures.
And so on to the pictures:
This looks like an appropriate trail for someone 34 weeks pregnant, doesn't it?
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| From 2013 September |
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| From 2013 September |
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| From 2013 September |
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| From 2013 September |
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| From 2013 September |
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| From 2013 September |
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| From 2013 September |
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| From 2013 September |
Costume Update
Done! It turns out that making a basic shirt and pants were way easier than I had expected, especially since I was using fleece and these are one-time use items and so I just cut off edges instead of worrying about pretty hems.
Nicholas still insists that he is getting covers for his shoes with claws. I say the costume is done as is. He'll probably win in the end, but I'm calling the costume complete and moving on to other things.
I have already bought fabric for my next project (a prettier cover for the bassinet). I actually want to start on it tonight, but I promised Nicholas that he could help with that. So instead I may have to channel the nesting energy into something actually practical, like reorganizing the living room. So much less fun!
Nicholas still insists that he is getting covers for his shoes with claws. I say the costume is done as is. He'll probably win in the end, but I'm calling the costume complete and moving on to other things.
I have already bought fabric for my next project (a prettier cover for the bassinet). I actually want to start on it tonight, but I promised Nicholas that he could help with that. So instead I may have to channel the nesting energy into something actually practical, like reorganizing the living room. So much less fun!
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Halloween Costume
Most of you already know this from facebook, but Nicholas has decided to be a t-rex for Halloween. And I volunteered to make his costume. We spent one evening a month ago (I figured I needed to start early on this project, all things considered) looking through options online and once Nicholas saw the costumes for Buddy, the t-rex on Dinosaur Train (a show on PBS kids), he was dead set on being not just a t-rex, but Buddy in particular. Now, keep in mind that before that evening he had seen Dinosaur Train maybe twice and couldn't have picked Buddy out of a police lineup. But he was sold.
PBS has a free Buddy costume pattern online, but I wasn't thrilled with how costumes made based on it turned out. But in searching for pictures online of completed costumes based on that pattern I came across a couple of mommy blogs of people who had modified that pattern in various ways. So based on a combination of the PBS pattern, a McCalls pattern I bought, various websites, and a lot of time studying pictures of Buddy from every angle google images can give me, I've put together the beginnings of a costume that I am very happy with.
So far I have completed the tail and the head. I figured I'd start with those two because they are both the hardest and the most essential. If this costume was going to be impossible, I wanted to figure it out early on while I could still go shopping. And I figured that once those two pieces were done, if need be I could order an orange shirt and pants online and he would still be recognizable.
Here is the tail:
And the head (which I finished tonight):
Nicholas has been helping some, although not as much as on other projects simply because a lot of it is really complicated. It also frustrates him because since I'm engineering so much of it, I have to stop and think a lot in between steps. I will keep trying to include him where I can, but when I sense him getting frustrated I tend to switch to the baby book project he and I are working on, because that one he can help with virtually every step.
Here he is working the foot pedal on the sewing machine and watching very closely so he knows when to stop:
Next up are a shirt and pants. I had planned on also making hands and feet (mittens and shoe covers with claws), but I have this feeling I may not make it that far. We'll see. But I do feel much better that I've gotten this far and it is only October 5th. Now, we started 4 weeks ago, but that is exactly why we started 4 weeks ago.
PBS has a free Buddy costume pattern online, but I wasn't thrilled with how costumes made based on it turned out. But in searching for pictures online of completed costumes based on that pattern I came across a couple of mommy blogs of people who had modified that pattern in various ways. So based on a combination of the PBS pattern, a McCalls pattern I bought, various websites, and a lot of time studying pictures of Buddy from every angle google images can give me, I've put together the beginnings of a costume that I am very happy with.
So far I have completed the tail and the head. I figured I'd start with those two because they are both the hardest and the most essential. If this costume was going to be impossible, I wanted to figure it out early on while I could still go shopping. And I figured that once those two pieces were done, if need be I could order an orange shirt and pants online and he would still be recognizable.
Here is the tail:
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| From 2013 September |
And the head (which I finished tonight):
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| From 2013 October |
Nicholas has been helping some, although not as much as on other projects simply because a lot of it is really complicated. It also frustrates him because since I'm engineering so much of it, I have to stop and think a lot in between steps. I will keep trying to include him where I can, but when I sense him getting frustrated I tend to switch to the baby book project he and I are working on, because that one he can help with virtually every step.
Here he is working the foot pedal on the sewing machine and watching very closely so he knows when to stop:
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| From 2013 October |
Next up are a shirt and pants. I had planned on also making hands and feet (mittens and shoe covers with claws), but I have this feeling I may not make it that far. We'll see. But I do feel much better that I've gotten this far and it is only October 5th. Now, we started 4 weeks ago, but that is exactly why we started 4 weeks ago.
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
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