Babblers and Books

I created a group over at www.goodreads.com for those of us who play the game Babble and are interested in books. Feel free to join! If you don't want to join the group, but would like to be on my friends list, find my profile within the group and ask to be my friend.

New Pics

Who dropped and broke the baby?

My Personal Post Partum Diary

Ok, this is sort of more for me than anyone else out there reading, so you can feel free to ignore it! In fact, unless you're pg and interested, please do ignore! I just wanted to kind of keep track of what is happening when post partum. Somewhat for me, and somewhat for a pg friend of mine.

Sat, Aug. 11- 162.5 lbs, false labor pains all day
Sun, Aug 12- more false labor, then real labor started 2pm-ish, delivered 7:41
Mon, Aug 13- 150 lbs, went home less than 24 hours later
Tuesday night into all day Wednesday, milk started coming in
Wednesday-Friday, engorged, settled by Friday
stitches got sore at this point, more of a reaction to "Always" brand than anything, switched brands, got better
Sunday, August 19th, 145.5 lbs
Monday, August 27th, 144 lbs, had my two week midwife check in appt. No exam, just an office visit.
Monday, September 4, 142.5 lbs, and I fit into my size 10 shorts now!

What is a Boy?

This was on the wall at the pediatrician's office today, and I thought it was so perfect! The receptionist kindly gave me a copy.

What is a Boy?

Between the innocence of babyhood and the dignity of manood we find a delightful creature called a boy. Boys come in assorted sizes, weights, and colors, but all boys have the same creed. To enjoy every second of every minute of every hour of every day and to protest with noise (their only weapon) when their last minute is finished and the adult males pack them off to bed at night.

Boys are found everywhere-- on top of, underneath, inside of, climbing on, swinging from, running around, or jumping to. Mothers love them, little girls hate them, older sisters and brothers tolerate them, adults ignore them, and Heaven protects them. A boy is Truth with dirt on its face, Beauty with a cut on its finger, Wisdom with bubble gum in its hair, and the Hope of the future with a frog in its pocket.

When you are busy, a boy is an inconsiderate, bothersome, intruding jangle of noise. When you want him to make a good impression, his brain turns to jelly, or else he becomes a savage, sadistic jungle creature, bent on destroying the world and himself with it.

A boy is a composite-- he has the appetite of a horse, the digestion of a sword-swallower, the energy of a pocket-size atomic bomb, the curiosity of a cat, the lungs of a dictator, the imagination of a Paul Bunyan, the shyness of a violet, the audacity of a steel trap, the enthusiasm of a firecracker, and when he makes something he has five thumbs on each hand.

He likes ice cream, knives, saws, Christmas, comic books, the boy across the street, woods, water (in its natural habitat), large animals, Dad, trains, Saturday mornings, and fire engines. He is not much for Sunday School, company, schools, books without pictures, music lessons, neckties, barbers, girls, overcoats, adults or bedtime.

Nobody else is so early to rise, or so late to supper. Nobody else gets so much fun out of trees, dogs and breezes. Nobody else can cram into one pocket a rusty knife, a half-eaten apple, three feet of string, and empty Bull Durham sack, two gum drops, six cents, a slingshot, a chunk of unknown substance, and a genuine supersonic code ring with a secret compartment.

A boy is a magical creature-- you can lock him out of your work shop, but you can't lock him out of your heart. You can get him out of your study, but you can't get him out of your mind. Might as well give up--he is your captor, your jailer, your boss, and your master-- a freckle-faced, pint-sized, cat-chasing, bundle of noise. But when you come home at night with only the shattered pieces of your hopes and dreams, he can mend them like new with the two magic words--"Hi Dad!"

by Alan Beck

Pictures!

Moments after birth. I was wearing a flesh colored bra, I'm not naked here! Eek!
The brothers meeting for the first time. The little panda was Daniel's gift to Nicholas.

Nicholas Logan

He's here!

Nicholas Logan was born on August 12th at 7:41pm. He weighed 7 lbs, 3 oz and was 20 inches long. I'll add a picture here as soon as I have a chance to!

Short birth story: I had false labor all day Saturday and Sunday. It finally settled into active labor Sunday afternoon, and we headed into the hospital. I arrived and was 3-4 cm. After only about 2 hours, I had the ob check me again, and I was almost fully dilated! During labor I was so focused on relaxing that Doug couldn't even tell when I was having contractions. The ob said it was a "silent labor." (Not pain free mind you, just silent! LOL! I went med free.) He broke my waters, and 15 minutes of pushing later, Nicholas Logan entered the world. He scored 9/9 on his Apgars, and is just perfect! We got to come home less than 24 hours later, and it's great to be home.

Nicholas Logan's Birth Story

This is the long detailed version of Nicholas' birth story.

He was due Saturday, August 11th. I was very big, hot, tired and ready to be done by then. My primary midwife, Elaine, was going on vacation that day, and the secondary midwife, Jolene, was so new to the practice that she didn't have hospital priveleges yet. They did tell me that she'd be able to be there for the birth however, which I was grateful for, just not to do the actual "catching."

Saturday during the day I started having false labor contractions. These were basically the same as regular contractions, but they weren't in any kind of pattern and were all over 10 minutes apart. Had them all Saturday, Saturday night, and Sunday morning. Sunday morning, I thought they were regular to every 7 minutes or so, and called my mom to come over and watch Daniel. Wouldn't you know it, after I got out of the shower, they stalled out! Went back to being very far apart again. So mom went home, and I tried to rest.

I took a nap that afternoon, or tried to, but they started getting strong enough that I wanted Doug to provide some counter pressure on my back. (Doug and I had been trained in the Bradley birth method, for any who are curious, which is strong on husband-support and relaxation techniques.) Doug started timing them for me at 2pm, and they were regular again to every 7 minutes or so. We called mom back over, puttered around at home a little bit to make sure, and headed into the hospital around 4ish. I had not been able to reach Jolene on her pager, so called the office to let them know I was coming in. The doctor on call said he wasn't even sure Jolene's pager was working yet, but to come in and get checked out to see if this was it.

When we got there, we were checked into the room around 5 I believe. The doctor came in to check me around 5:20. Now, I was very nervous about having a complete stranger instead of my midwife, and a male at that. But the first words out of his mouth were "I was a former Bradley instructor" and I knew we had the perfect match! He was totally on board with our birth plan. I was hooked up to the monitor, and he checked me and said I was about 3-4 cm, so get comfy. (We actually ended up switching rooms at this point, as I wanted one with a jacuzzi labor tub instead of just a plain shower. The staff there was so accommodating!) We did notice that the contractions were much closer than 7-8 minutes. I think I was able to relax once I was in the hospital, oddly enough, as I had been nervous about making it there in time based on Daniel's quick birth.

Once in the new room, I tried out the tub first. I had heard great things about laboring in water, but found for myself that I wasn't able to keep a handle on the contractions while in there. So I got out, and tried walking around some. That worked a little bit, but still wasn't the best position for me, as I couldn't get myself to relax. Finally around 6ish I decided to try laying on my side on the bed. (This was a position that totally did NOT work for me when I was laboring with Daniel!) Doug sat in a chair beside me, ready to provide pressure on my back. I started to realize that I actually didn't want him to do that, as it was distracting me more. So he backed off completely and just basically sat and watched me. (And scarfed down half my tuna sandwich they had brought for me earlier, I might add!)

As I lay there, I just kept telling myself in my head "Don't fight the contractions, let your body do what it needs to do. Relax, work with it." I did that for every contraction, and totally concentrated on staying relaxed, to the point where Doug was only able to tell I was having contractions once or twice. Otherwise, I basically looked like I was sleeping. He later said he figured we'd be in for a long night of it, just based on how quiet I was.

(Now, I'm not saying that the contractions didn't hurt, because they did. However, once I decided to stop fighting them and work with them, it was much easier to get through each one. There was only a small time for each one that was hard, and once I got through that time, I knew it would get easier.)

After a while, I started to realize that I was feeling a lot of rectal pressure at the end of each contraction. I felt this for about 3 contractions and was thinking of having a nurse check on my progress just as my new nurse came in. The ob also came in at this point to check on me. I believe this was around 7:20ish. The nurse asked me how I wanted to be monitered, for 10 minutes every hour or 15 minutes every 2 hours. I chose the second, and chatted with her calmly in between contractions while she hooked me up. The ob asked how I was doing, and I told him about the pressure and asked if he'd check my progress. He said sure, as it had been about 2 hours since he'd last checked me. (Remember, that was 3-4 cm.) So he checked, and said I was almost complete, with only a little anterior lip left! I had basically not even noticed transition, practically slept myself through it. The ob said he could break my water for me, and the resulting pressure of the baby's head would probably start me pushing soon. I was very much in shock that I had gone to almost complete in 2 hours, and asked him to clarify again exactly what would happen if he broke my waters. I said "So I'm past transition? I didn't even notice it!" He told me there was such a thing as a silent labor, which I guess is how you would describe what I had been doing. (Doug later said the ob looked a bit surprised too when he checked me.) I decided to go for it. He said they'd get some things ready first, and would be right back. While I was waiting, I was chatting with the nurse again, and I remember asking her if it was normal for me to be chatting with her like that. She said she wouldn't describe it as "normal" but she's known for it to happen before!

After some preparations, and one more contraction which the ob said pretty much brought me to completely dilated, he broke my waters. After that he said go ahead and push if I felt like it. Now, I had been very calm and relaxed up to this point, but for some reason, during pushing, I didn't know what the heck to do. Being on my side didn't work, being on my hands and knees didn't work. I just didn't have control anymore. I finally asked Doug to come sit behind me on the bed so I could lean back against him. I also told myself again to stop fighting my body and work with it and push with it. I think some of my problem was I still couldn't believe it was "safe" to push! Anyway, I finally started to do some honest to goodness pushes, and was totally the opposite of how I was during labor. Instead of being silent, I hollered like a banshee! Not an "OMG this hurts!" kind of holler, more like a primal, karate chop, force be with you holler. What can I say, it seemed to help me push! Doug said if he'd had more hair on the back of his neck that it would have stood up. After a few pushes his head was out, and I recall saying "Oh good, the rest will be easier right?" It pretty much was! Nicholas Logan was fully delivered at 7:41pm August 12th, less than 3 hours after we entered the hospital. They put him on my chest right away while the ob stitched up my old tear that had reopened and the placenta was delivered. He scored a 9/9 on his Apgars! We did try to nurse not long afterward, but it was awkward and he wasn't ready. He and I did much better with that a little bit later.

(I'll update this later with Daniel's first visit with his new baby brother.)

The next morning, the pediatrician said Nicholas looked great, and he was fine with him going home with me whenever I was ready. Boy was I ready! The room, while lovely, had not a single soft surface in it. The bed was basically 2 inches of foam padding on plywood, I swear. When the ob came in to check on me, he said I could go home whenever I wanted to as well. So we spent the morning doing paperwork and other final tests. I need to bring Nicholas back in Wednesday morning for another PKU test and to have his cord clamp removed. We went home around 2pm, less than 24 hours after arriving! It is so good to be home now. Nick is doing great, he's very mellow and seems to be a champion nurser already. My dad and stepmom and mom are taking turns providing us with dinners this week, which I HUGELY appreciate! (Thanks guys!) Doug has the week off, and I'm looking forward to getting to know this new little guy. Daniel is too! I'll have to post more later about how "big brother" is adjusting. (Very well, I might add.)

The Brickery

This site has instructions for every possible Lego kit you can imagine! A great place for ideas on new things to build with your Legos too. The Brickery.

From their homepage:

We have the fastest growing collection of LEGO manuals on the web today. If you have lost the building instructions to one of your LEGO sets or are just looking for something new to build have a look in our Building Instructions section.

Still Here, Still Pregnant

Title says it all.

39 weeks, 4 days

I had my midwife appointment this morning. I haven't dilated much more than last time. She said I'm about 1.5 cm, 50% effaced, and -1 station. We decided to not do the membrane sweep right now, as I'd rather be closer to 3 cm before we try that. Elaine agreed with that, said it's better to let my body do what it needs to on its own time. Besides, I have a feeling if we'd done the sweep today, with such little dilation, all I'd get out of it is some pain and cramps and no labor. So on to my massage this afternoon, and more waiting!

Update: My massage was wonderful as always. It's so nice to lay on that pregnancy pillow face down, and for an hour not feel the weight of my belly. She did some acupressure points for me, which was interesting. We'll see if it does anything!

The Ultimate Guide to Free Books

This is very cool. It's a list of websites where you can get your greedy little paws on books in all sorts of different ways. There are links to free downloads to your mp3, places to trade with other book lovers, short story podcasts and many more interesting sites.
Best Places to Get Free Books- The Ultimate Guide

Can You Guess What This Is?

The answer is now in the comments!

38 weeks, 6 days

I had my midwife appt. this afternoon, and things are going well. No action yet baby-wise, as I'm only about 1cm dilated, but that's ok. I got to meet the new midwife, who is I think younger than me, and is very sweet and gentle. Elaine, my primary midwife, said they both will be unavailable from 7am to 11pm Saturday, so not to have sex (HA, right!) until Sunday, just in case. There will be a female OB from the office on call though. My next appointment is Tuesday morning, where we'll check on progress and possibly do a membrane sweep, depending. Then that afternoon, I get my next massage. :)

Stay tuned!

Still Here, Still Pregnant

I've heard from a few friends that they've tried stalking me to see if I was still pg. Yup. 38 and a half weeks today. I have a prenatal massage appointment tomorrow again, yay! Then Thursday is my midwife appointment. At last week's appt. I had an u/s to check on my fluid levels, and everything was thankfully normal. (Daniel ended up being induced due to dangerously low levels.) Other than that, not much going on. I will do a post here when the baby comes, so my stalkers will know!

Time on Your Hands?

So, you think you have extra time on your hands? That's nothing compared to this guy! Check him out....

(Star Wars Cantina Band is my favorite one so far.)

Pirate Kidds

Renfield and Evanonut's work of art: Pirate Kidds

Travel Blog

My dad, stepmom and two nephews (step) went on a tour across the US a few weeks ago. Patrick, one of my nephews, is an amazing photographer. Here is his travel blog about the trip, with some stunning photos accompanying it. It's a work in progress, so is not quite finished yet.

Muppas's Travel Blog

Punctuation Marks

Ever wonder where ? ! = & # and $ came from? Check this site out for a brief history lesson on punctation marks.

Secrets

I've mentioned the Post Secret website before, but felt it needed another mention for this postcard published this week. :)





















And for another perspective, go read this, on "Harry Potter and the Death of Reading." I'm not bashing HP at all here, just found both items to be interesting!

No Cash

One more entry from the previous website, only because it illustrates me and Doug perfectly. I had to put it here to show him later, as I'm sure he'll be glad to know he's not the only cashless man out there!

The other money-related argument is about cash. That's cash, specifically. Despite the fact that Margret's earning power is comfortably twice mine, she never has any cash. If you can conveniently pay by cheque or credit card, that's fine, but otherwise it's, 'Miiiiiiiil - have you got any cash? Only, I haven't and I need to go to the hairdresser's/pay a builder/have The Mob carry out a hit for me.' Every time - Every. Time. - I go to the cashpoint she'll appear within minutes with her nose wrinkled up pleading, 'Got any cash?' I'm just a courier; cash is only ever in my wallet for the walk back home from the bank - I think that the second I key my PIN number into the ATM machine it texts her phone. The result of this is that now I never have any cash, because Margret has it. Except, she doesn't. Margret is chronically cashless to the size of two people.

Need a Laugh?

Came across this tonight:

Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About

Here's a teaser:

Nothing keeps a relationship on its toes so much as lively debate. Fortunate, then, that my girlfriend and I agree on absolutely nothing. At all.

Combine utter, polar disagreement on everything, ever, with the fact that I am a text-book Only Child, and she is a violent psychopath, and we're warming up. Then factor in my being English while she is German, which not only makes each one of us personally and absolutely responsible for the history, and the social and cultural mores of our respective countries, but also opens up a whole field of sub-arguments grounded in grammatical and semantic disputes and, well, just try saying anything and walking away.

Examples? Okey-dokey. We have argued about:

-I eat two-fingered Kit-Kats like I'd eat any other chocolate bars of that size, i.e., without feeling the need to snap them into two individual fingers first. Margret accused me of doing this, 'deliberately to annoy her'.

- She wants to paint the living room yellow. I have not the words.

- Shortly after every single time Margret touches my computer, for any reason whatsoever, I have to spend twenty minutes trying to fix crashes, locked systems, data loses, jammed drives, bizarre re-configurations and things stuck in the keyboard. There then follows a free and frank exchange of views with, in my corner, 'It's your fault,' and, in hers, 'It's a curious statistical anomaly.'

-See if you can spot the difference between these two statements:
(a) "Those trousers make your backside look fat."
(b) "You're a repellently obese old hag upon whom I am compelled to heap insults and derision - depressingly far removed from the, 'stupid, squeaky, pocket-sized English women,' who make up my vast catalogue of former lovers and to whom I might as well return right now as I hate everything about you."
Maybe the acoustics were really bad in the dining room, or something.

-She keeps making me carry tampons around - 'Here, have these, just in case.'
'Oooooooh, why can't you carry them?'
'I've got no pockets.'
Then, of course, I forget about them. And the next time I'm meeting The Duchess of Kent or someone I pull a handkerchief out of my pocket and shower feminine hygiene products everywhere.

The blog entry appears to be ongoing, which means it's actually incredibly long. However, it's also incredibly funny! So I've bookmarked it for myself, and will be going back to it on those nights I wake up at 3am with nothing better to do than pee and then stare at the backs of my eyelids for what feels like an eternity. At least this will keep me giggling while I'm trying to convince myself it's time to go back to sleep!

PG tickers

A friend of mine is pregnant, and I want to keep track of her with a ticker, so here it is.

Light Graffiti

Here's an interesting find tonight. Time-lapse photography and glow sticks to create "Light Graffiti."

Communication Skills

Ever have to reply to an e-mail more politely than you'd like? Ever bite your tongue so hard it hurts? This link is for you! Communication Skills

Lego Artist

Daniel and I love Legos. However, I don't think we'll ever quite get to the skill level of the guy who created this!

Lego Artist
(click for more pics)

Senior Drivers

Sitting on the side of the highway waiting to catch speeding drivers, A State Police officer sees a car puttering along at 22 mph. He thinks to himself, "This driver is just as dangerous as a speeder!"

So he turns on his lights and pulls the driver over. Approaching the car, he notices that there are five old ladies -- two in the front seat and three in the back -- eyes wide and white as ghosts.

The driver, obviously confused, says to him, "Officer, I don't understand,I was doing exactly the speed limit! What seems to be the problem?"

"Ma'am," the officer replies, "You weren't speeding, but you should know that driving slower than the speed limit can also be a danger to other drivers."

"Slower than the speed limit?" she asked. "No sir, I was doing
the speed limit exactly -- 22 miles an hour!" the old woman says a bit proudly.

The State Police officer, trying to contain a chuckle, explains to her that"22" was the route number, not the speed limit.

A bit embarrassed, the woman grinned and thanked the officer for pointing out her error.

"But before I let you go, Ma'am," said the officer, "I have to ask... Is everyone in this car OK? These women seem awfully shaken and they haven't muttered a single peep this whole time."

"Oh, they'll be all right in a minute, officer. We just got off Route 119..."

Father's Day Gift Ideas

Wow, you lucky people! 3 days of posts in a row, can you stand it?

My dad just sent me this link to the Top 10 Weirdest Father's Day Gifts. Hmm, should I get him the gas powered blender, or the pocket radiation detector?

Beaches - Otto Titsling

We were talking about this on Babble tonight. Enjoy!

Zoo

I'm cheating tonight, and just posting the link to our pictures from our early Father's Day trip to the zoo with my dad.

Shutterfly, click on "view pictures"

Daniel had two rides on the merry go round, and was a little unsure but had a great time once he got used to it. I bumped the autofocus/manual focus setting on my camera, so some of my favorite animal pictures were very blurry and wasted. Others came out well.

LOST - John Locke - Speed Painting by Nico Di Mattia

Even if you don't watch "Lost" this video is amazing. It goes from a very basic sketch to almost photographic quality. Mesmerizing.

Logic Problems

I used to love doing those logic problems where you use a huge insane looking grid to figure out which people lived in what color house and in what order on the street, etc. Someone at Babble pointed this site out to me:

http://www.puzzles.com/projects/LogicProblems.html

It's just like the paper and pencil kind, except it's online. You can check the boxes right on your screen, and get a confirmation when you've solved the entire puzzle correctly. New puzzles are posted monthly. Enjoy!

Still Here

I'm here, just been lazy lately! I do have some pics to upload at some point...I'll try to do that soon. Thanks for giving me a poke Nancy!

Nerd, Geek or Dork?

Your Score: Pure Nerd

69 % Nerd, 34% Geek, 34% Dork

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.

You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd.

The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful.

Congratulations!

Thanks Again! -- THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test written by donathos on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Male Ring Necked Pheasant

Ha! I finally got the bugger! This guy has been tormenting me the past few nights. Doug would tell me he was out in the back yard, and I'd go stalking him with my camera, only to either not find him at all, or to see the dust off his tail feathers. The first one shows off his brilliant feathers. The second clearly shows why I've had trouble catching him once he decided to run! And the third is pretty much typical of the past few nights, seeing him blaze off into the distance.

Room Progress

Well, the baby's room is slowly progressing. It's funny how much I've had to do in other rooms though, as I get it ready! This weekend was all about moving all the baby things out of Daniel's room. I got closet organization systems for both Daniel's and his brother's room. This morning, I cleared out Daniel's closet to prepare to install it, only to discover that it desperately needed to be painted before I could do anything else. It was a dirt/mud/gray paint, with white where the old shelf supports were. There were also tons of test drill holes. So this morning was all about painting. Then after his nap, Daniel and Doug went outside for the afternoon/evening, while I installed the new hardware, and loaded up his toys and clothes. My arms ache, but it's done and I love it! I'll tackle the baby's room another weekend...

The Hubble Deep Field Video

This is a fascinating video that helps put the actual size of our universe into perspective.

Daddy's Helper

(I apologize for the white on the tall pictures. I don't know what's up with Blogger, it's never done that before to my pics.)

White Glop

This is the result of our spring snowstorm. Heavy, wet, gloppy. We lost our power for a few hours this morning as a result. Daniel was in the backseat, telling me to duck, the tree branches were so low. The last picture is of a power line, and how encased it was.

My Little Easter Cheeseball

Tax Day

In honor of it being April 15th.

Babble

Thanks to herinfernallady for this great poster! She told us you can make your own poster at this site: Motivator, create your own custom poster.

The Pastor's Business Card

A new pastor was visiting in the homes of his parishioners. At one house it seemed obvious that someone was at home, but no answer came to his repeated knocks at the door. Therefore, he took out a business card and wrote "Revelation 3:20" on the back of it and stuck it in the door. When the offering was processed the following Sunday, he found that his card had been returned. Added to it was this cryptic message, "Genesis 3:10." Reaching for his Bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter. Revelation 3:20 begins "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." Genesis 3:10 reads, "I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid for I was naked."

Stroke Identification

This came from an email my dad sent me. Good stuff to know.

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within three hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke . . . totally. He said the trick was having a stroke recognized, diagnosed and then getting the patient medically cared for within three hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE:
Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions: (Note, they start with the first three letters of "STRoke.")

S *Ask the individual to SMILE .
T *Ask the person to TALK , to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE. (Coherently) (i.e. . . It is sunny out today)
R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS .

NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out their tongue. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other, that is also an indication of a stroke.

If he or she has trouble with any one of these tasks, call 911 /ambulance immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

Artemis Fowl, by Eoin Colfer

I've seen these books in the stores for a while, but had actually steered clear of them because I thought they were just a Harry Potter knock off. The other day, I was in the kid section with Daniel while he was playing with the train table, and they caught my eye again. As they had the first 3 books in the series for $9.98, I decided to give them a try. Who am I to pass up a bargain?

Well, let me just say, it is not a Harry Potter knock off! Yes, it deals with sprites, dwarves, leprechauns, and other fantasy figures, but there the resemblance ends. The leprechauns are actually LEPrecons (Lower Elements Police Recon officers), the fairies use nuclear powered battery pack wings, and the lead character, while a young boy, is a brilliant criminal mastermind. The book is a light quick read, but is very engaging. I highly recommend it to either a fantasy fan, or a young adult/children's literature fan. Enjoy!

Natural Easter Egg Dyes

These eggs are created by pressing a leaf or flower onto them with a stocking and boiling them with onion skins. Very beautiful!

Onion Eggs

(Go to the link to see the beautiful pictures.)

She adds some more comments on technique here. Also scroll to comment # 29 for yet another variation. Finally, look here for other colors made using natural dyes.

April Fool's Day

I found an interesting article at Wikipedia about the current April 1st, 2007 hoaxes in all forms of media. Enjoy!

Say What?

While reading up on week 21 of pregnancy at my favorite site, "Pregnancy Week by Week", I came across this line:

After about pregnancy week 21 you may start realizing that your baby is hiccupping in utero. This is a very common albeit somewhat unusual occurrence. (Italics mine.)

Come again???

Otters holding hands

I love otters! Keep watching till 1:21 minutes in.

Maple Festival, Sugar Shack

This is inside the sugar shack, where they boil the sap collected from the trees down to syrup.























Daniel loved his little sample cup!

Maple Festival, Horses

This horse was resting his head on the handler's shoulders while they loaded the wagon behind them for rides. He seemed very comfortable!

Maple Festival, Machines

Peanut roasters.

Anyone know what this is?

Marker Fun

Daniel and I had a blast with some washable markers the other night! We both decorated his legs, and then he decorated mine. Do you have any idea how much a marker on the bottom of your foot tickles???

Sunset

This picture was taken from my back deck.

I'm Here!

Sorry, I really slacked this week! I have some pics of Daniel to post later, and a few interesting tidbits for now. Here you go:


No, I didn't take this one! Just found it and was amazed.

Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

I found this at The Manbottle Library. I picked out a few of my favorites, go to the link to see the whole list.

Every year, English teachers from across the country can submit their collections of actual similes and metaphors found in high school essays. These excerpts are published each year to the amusement of teachers across the country. Here are last year's winners:

• Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a thigh Master.
• She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
• The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.
• McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.
• The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.

Tell Me a Tale...

I need to hear stories of sons who have grown up and still stay in close contact with their mothers! I come from a long line of daughters on my mom's side, and my dad's mom passed away when I was young. So I am basing my current fears of the boys growing up, leaving the nest and rarely contacting me again on "typical" stereotypes. I have a great relationship with my mom, and am mourning the loss of that mother/daughter connection a little. I would like to hear that the same type of connection can and does happen with sons!

Be Careful What You Say!

Never mention "I had to bite my tongue" in the presence of a literal-minded toddler. I was talking to my mom on the phone, saying something about trying to keep a straight face, and the next thing I knew, Daniel was on top of me, grinning like a fiend and chomping his teeth near my face! He wasn't really biting, but having a great time making me laugh hysterically! There's something about seeing a grinning maniac an inch away from your nose that makes it very hard to not laugh!

Lost Books

If you're a fan of the show Lost, you know that there are often mulitple layers to seemingly innocent things. In fact, often the books that characters are reading have some kind of commentary on the theme of the episode. Here is a site that exclusively looks at the books that are seen on the show, and how they can be connected. (Check out the comments for each book for more details.)

Pickles

As I work on cleaning out the computer room, I can really empathize with this cartoon! Pickles

Name Suggestions

Anyone have ideas for good names to go with Daniel Morgan? We're really not sure right now...the only thought so far is Justin, but I'd like some more possibilities to narrow it down from. I'll add names suggested here (and the one who suggested it), so I can keep track!

Favorites so far:
Justin (me and Doug)
Timothy (Stidmama)
Christopher (mom)
Jacob/Jakob (me)
Benjamin (me, but it's also the name of our music teacher's son at school...not sure if I would feel right using it)

Others of note:
James (me...hmm, I'm seeing a J trend here)
Kyle (Lori)
Matthew (mom)
Jon/Johnathan/Jonathan (Book Doctor Gwen)
Keith, Frederick, Jason, Nicholas, Kenneth, (lbdawger)
Abraham, Stalin, Clinton (evanonut's idea of a historical name!)
Jeffrey, Brian (Inge)
Nathan (hurshy)
David, Richard (Kazzer)

It's A Boy!

The majority were wrong, it's a boy! The technician zoomed in, and it was very obvious right away! Baby is looking healthy, heart and all organs are right on target. He's measuring just slightly ahead, which has been the trend since the first ultrasound. I've got a bunch of fun pictures, but until I get a scanner, you'll just have to use your imaginations. Sorry!

Boy or Girl?

Ok everyone, get your predictions in! I go on Monday for my 18 week "big" ultrasound, and hopefully will get a peek at the gender. Put your guess as to boy or girl in the comments!

Here are my symptoms:

• I was very queasy from week 4-8, but then after that was fine. This was how it was with Daniel too. I think I was a little more sick than with Daniel, my mom thinks I complained about the same.
• I'm craving sweets, and feel constantly thirsty. OJ always sounds yummy.
• I can't tell if I'm carrying high or low, too early.
• I often feel like I have a mild headache. I remember getting migraines with Daniel, but not the constant headache thing.
• I'm super sensitive, but was with Daniel too.
• Everything else is about the same, hair, nails, face, etc. I think I'm gaining weight at about the same rate as I did with Daniel.
• My personal gut wants to say "girl" but I don't know if that's an official feeling, or just wishful thinking!

If I get enough people guessing, I'll post results.

Results so far:

Girl: 4 (including me and Doug)


Boy: 2 (one is my mom)


Undecided: 2

Las Vegas Churches

I have a dinner to go to tonight, so won't be able to properly catch up on my blog. Therefore, I leave you with this:

Las Vegas Churches

This may come as a surprise to those of you not living in Las Vegas, but there are more churches than casinos. Not surprisingly, some worshippers at Sunday services will give casino chips rather than cash when the basket is passed. Since they get chips from many different casinos, the churches have devised a method to collect the offerings. The churches send all their collected chips to a nearby Franciscan Monastery for sorting and then the chips are taken to the casinos of origin and cashed in. This is done by Chip Monks. (Did you see it coming? Hehe, and now I shall sneak out before I get pelted with something!)

Building Stonehenge

The introduction for the video says:

Wally Wallington has demonstrated that he can lift a Stonehenge-sized pillar weighing 22,000 lbs and moved a barn over 300 ft. What makes this so special is that he does it using only himself, gravity, and his incredible ingenuity.

Belly Pic, 17 weeks

Actually it's about 17 and a half, but who's counting! When I wear my warmer sweaters to work, you can just barely tell that my belly is sticking out, but if I wear anything lighter, it's obvious. Thus, I'm wearing sweaters for the next week, as I don't want to tell my kindergarteners until next Monday, when I'll hopefully know if it's a girl or a boy. The picture is not at all fancy, just the best I could do for a quick pic. If I could ever find my tripod, this would be easier.

Pregnancy Q & A

Pregnancy Q & A (I highlighted my favorites.)

Q: My childbirth instructor says it's not pain I'll feel during labor, but pressure. Is she right?
A: Yes, in the same way that a tornado might be called an air current.

Q: My wife is five months pregnant and so moody that sometimes she's borderline irrational.
A: So what's your question?

Q: Is there anything I should avoid while recovering from childbirth?
A: Yes, pregnancy.

Q: What is the most reliable method to determine a baby's sex?
A: Childbirth.

Q: Is there any reason I have to be in the delivery room while my wife is in labor?
A: Not unless the word "alimony" means anything to you.

Q: Our baby was born last week. When will my wife begin to feel and act normal again?
A: If you're lucky, when the kids are in college.

Q: Should I have a baby after 35?
A: No, 35 children is enough.

Q: I'm two months pregnant now. When will my baby move?
A: With any luck, right after he finishes college.

Q: Do I have to have a baby shower?
A: Not if you change the baby's diaper very quickly.

Progress!

I finished Quote Puzzler and Babble already. There isn't any good tv on tonight. I've run out of reasons to not work on the computer room/nursery any longer. I did get a bunch done with it that week we were home in February. It's already looking miles better than it was at first, now I need to start moving things out of the room.

Before:As of today:

Bunco

Wish me luck, tonight's Bunco night! Our group gets together once a month to play, and I've been on quite a losing streak lately. Did you know that Bunco dates back to the late 1800s? If you are curious about the history of this game, go here. With our group, it's really more of an excuse to get 12 women together for food, drinks and talk than it is about playing the game! Throwing the dice and winning prizes is an incidental. I'll post in the comments here tomorrow to let you know how I did!

Baked Potato Soup

My mom gave me this recipe from one of her cookbooks. I made it last weekend, and it was fabulous! I added some cut up steamed broccoli, and a little extra cheese. Yummy!

Baked Potato Soup
4 baking potatoes (about 2/1/2 pounds)
2/3 cup all purpose flour
6 cups milk
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup chopped green onions, divided (I use onion flakes in a pinch)
6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled (ham is yummy too)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Pierce potatoes with a fork, bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour or until tender. (Or just microwave them!) Cool. Peel potatoes; coarsely mash. Discard skins.

3. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour in a large Dutch oven (I just used a pot on the stove); gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 8 minutes). Add mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup cheese, salt and pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.

4. Stir in sour cream and 1/2 cup onions. Cook over low heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated (do not boil); ladle about 1 1/2 cups soup into each of 8 bowls. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons onions, and about 1 tablespoon bacon. Yield: 8 servings.