26 weeks down, 14 to go

Little Adeline has made it to 26 weeks and is going strong. 26 weeks is somewhat of a milestone – at this point, if Adeline was born today she would have an 80-90% survival rate, with a 10-20% chance of long term complications, even though she’s only 2 lbs! Isn’t modern medicine amazing? In just 2 more weeks she’ll have over a 90% survival rate with only a 10% chance of long term complications – full term babies have a 95% survival rate, and 5% chance of long term problems.

In that case, who needs the last 14 weeks? (kidding)

Adeline’s been kicking quite a bit lately and she’s definitely getting stronger, because the kicks are getting harder. Last night when I was laying in bed, Adeline did something that made me realize I’m still boggled by the idea of a human being growing inside me - she must have completely flipped her body to the other side and pushed her head up on my uterus while doing so, because what happened was I felt her push up, and then I watched this lump make it’s way across my belly from left to right. It kind of freaked me out. It’s easy to write off her jabs and kicks as gas or funny stomach issues or whatever, but when you see something like that, it’s hard to mistake that for anything else but a baby. Or alien.

I’ve also gained about 9 lbs at this point. One thing I’ve heard this past week:

“You’re still so small! Are you going to have like a 4 lb baby or something?!”

So for all you “concerned” people out there allow me to set the record straight – my baby house is just as big as all those other pooh bear looking mommas, imagine that. I’m measuring right on target at every appointment. In fact, my Dr. even said I was “getting quite a belly!” BAM! Anyway, she said the difference is that I have strong stomach muscles that just keep my soccer ball inside me, and not sticking out in front. That’s all. As for the 9 lb weight gain, most Moms have gained about 20-22 lbs at this point, but if the baby is growing on track, there’s no need to gain extra weight. She thinks I will probably end up with a 15-20 lb weight gain by the time I give birth, which is fine. She said, and I quote, “There’s no need to eat for two.” In fact, she said if I start eating more and the baby plumps up to 9 or 10 lbs, I will not be having this baby naturally. And then we hated on her last patient, who gained 10 lbs in the past month (my Dr's awesome). Touche beeches.

I feel very lucky to have had an easy pregnancy up until this point, besides some nausea in the beginning. I can only hope the next 3 months go as well as the first 6 have. And I better not suddenly pack on 20 lbs this last trimester or I’ll be pissed.

pineapple apple yummy something or other

So I think wives are supposed to blog about cooking. I think that's how this is suppose to work, so I'm going to give it a whirl. First thing's first though, I need to learn to cook...something. Truth be told, I CAN actually make a thing or two - and I'm not just talking about toast or mac and cheese! *gasp* I know! Wonders never cease. I just choose to limit my presence in the kitchen for a few reasons:


1. Brian is a better cook than I.
2. Brian enjoys cooking.
3. And I do not.


So when I am in the mood to make something, it's usually dessert. Why dessert you ask? Because dessert is GOOD! It's yummy. Not only that, but if you have eggs, sugar, and vanilla the possibilities are endless, which is key for someone who despises going to the store (but that is for a different post). And Brian cooks, but doesn't particularly bake. Make something bad for you? What? So it's up to me to make sure we have sweet, fattening desserts in the house every once in a while. So I picked up this great find today from recipezaar.com:


Ingredients:

1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple (do not drain)

4 unpeeled red delicious apples cut up

1 (1 ounce) box sugar-free, fat-free butterscotch pudding (or regular)

1 (8 ounce) container fat-free cool whip

Directions: Mix all together and refrigerate overnight

That's it! That's all it is! How can you possibly beat 4 ingredients and 1 direction? Short, simple, and yummy. Right up my alley.  And let me tell you, for a quick, somewhat healthy even, sweet dessert, this is where it's at.  Now, I'm not posting a picture of my fabulous creation - why you ask?  Because I don't want to scare you away from making it.  Because although it turned out super good, it doesn't exactly look quite as appealing as it tastes. Because you see, I didn't exactly follow the recipe. Brian was conveniently going to the store, so I asked him to pick up some crushed pineapple and cool whip, since I had the rest of the ingredients on hand.  Well, when he came back, I busily prepared everything, and then reached in the fridge to get the cool whip - and no cool whip was to be found:

"Babe, did you remember to get the cool whip?"

"Yeah, I put the whip cream canister in the fridge door."

Yep, that is exactly what he did. He put the whip cream canister in the fridge door.

So I used the entire whip cream canister instead of cool whip for my masterpiece. I was quite skeptical, but it still tasted delish although I bet it would have been even better with the cool whip. And I know it would have looked a lot more appetizing. Oh, and I used a vanilla pudding package instead of butterscotch, because that's what I had.  

I'm the next Julia Childs, what can I say.

a simple saturday

When Brian and I make hiking plans for the weekend, 95% of the time we keep them, as you can see by the overwhelming number of hiking posts. However, whether we go on Saturday or Sunday is a complete toss up. Our routine is usually that we set the alarm for Saturday, and if we don't make it up on Saturday (about 50% of the time), we almost always make it on Sunday (about 95% of the time). So on this particular Saturday morning, the alarm rang at 6am and we both didn't budge - when the alarm rang a second time I asked Brian if he was almost ready to get up, to which he replied in Chewbacca language that only I can interpret, "Yeah, just a sec," which means, "Let's go hiking tomorrow." And the next time I rolled over to look at the clock, it was 10am. I don't know what Brian's excuse is, but making a baby is hard work, people. (Yeah, that's it.)

So this:

Would have to wait.

Instead, we did the typical married couple thing and went grocery shopping on Saturday afternoon. Every once in a while we'll make a trip down to the base to load up on groceries, since it's so much cheaper. When we made it to the register, I guessed the bill would be about $280, and Brian guessed it would be closed to $350. Brian won. Hey, I'm eating for two, right?

We then came home and finished putting together our new bedroom look. One afternoon last week we went shopping for a dresser for Adeline, but instead came home with this:

All part of our, "Let's try to look like a married couple instead of college roommates," agenda. We are progressing nicely. However, none of this comes painlessly:

Me: "Okay, bring the curtain rod down a little, okay...to the right more...now up som...."

*drrr drrrr DRRRRRRR!!!!!*
Me: What are you DOING?! It's not straight ye....

Brian: (tackles me in a bear hug) "WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME!" (completely sarcastic) *Mwah mwah mwwaaaah*

This is his routine to shut me up. And it works every time -I just start laughing, and in this case live with a crooked curtain rod. *sigh* We are quite impatient with each other when it comes to home decorating/improvement projects - I'm particular; Brian just wants to be done. But somehow we manage to make it through both halfway satisfied.

And then tonight, I made this:

There's nothing like a house that smells like warm, fresh banana bread. It was suppose to be for our neighbors who just had a baby, but Brian is halfway through it. You think I'm kidding? I'm not.

Hasta!

I'm 28 now!

Man, I've just turned 28 years old. I am only 2 years away from playing in the old man's soccer league. That's scary to me. This year for my birthday we kept it simple. For dinner Sarah took me out to a German restaurant downtown called Cafe Berlin. The place only has about 15 tables, was packed the whole time, and was staffed by actual German's. Sarah ended up getting a Schnitzel and I got a Rouladen. The Rouladen was ok, not the best I've ever had, but the Schnitzel was fantastic. All of the side dishes were very good and it's motivated me to get my German Cookbook back out to try some more recipes. The best part was that they served good German beer, on tap, in LITERS! That's how good beer is meant to be served.

By the time we got home it was after 8pm and we went to bed with full intentions of snowshoeing early in the A.M. Well early came and went and I eventually got my butt out of bed at 10am. Since I couldn't sleep in on my Birthday, the day after will have to do. The hike is postponed until tomorrow, so hopefully I will have some pictures to share soon.

it's my baby's birthday!

My 28 year old baby that is. It’s going to be a great year for Brian – as this year will start the next 18 of trying not to pull his hair out due to a daughter who will probably be just like him.

Or maybe it’s more like my mother said: “You think it ends at 18? Hell, so did I! But it never ends – y’all are almost 30 and still drive me crazy!”

 And with that, Happy Birthday Brian!

2010

2010 is going to be a great year. Just like 2009, 2008, 2007, etc. I’m a firm believer that every year should be better than the last regardless of triumphs and tragedies alike that may happen, simply because all these experiences are what make up your life and what ultimately makes you the person you are today – which is hopefully, smarter, stronger, healthier, happier, kinder, more thoughtful, more compassionate, more empathetic, and more optimistic.

And those are deep thoughts brought to you today by Sarah.

So anyway, this is what I want for 2010 – and for every year for that matter: I want to make more phone calls, send more cards, and have more get togethers. I want to kiss my nephew’s chubby cheeks and see my family more often. I want to stay in touch and see old friends. I want to attend more classes at the gym, hike more mountains, and run more races. I want to backpack through Europe, visit more National Parks, attend a Broadway play in the Big Apple and go wine tasting in Portland.

I want to smile at strangers and pay more compliments. I want to volunteer at a women’s shelter and be more grateful for all the love, laughter, and people in my life. I want to watch less TV and read more books and write more blogs posts. I want to declutter my house and be more creative with our décor. I want to cook clean more do laundry more often be a better wife for my husband. I want to go to more concerts, try more restaurants, and attend more happy hours. I want to entertain recipes of all faucets and eat dessert first on occasion – oh wait, I already do that way too often.

I want to take more pictures, make more videos, and learn to Skype with my relatives. I want to try some dance classes – salsa and swing in particular. I want to be more spontaneous, good hearted, nonsensical, and whimsical. I want to worry less, brush it off, and kill with kindness. I want to be happy go lucky yet serious when necessary – but hopefully not too often.

I want to learn as much from my baby as she learns from me, and I want to love unconditionally and without bounds as Bella does us. I want to concentrate on what really matters, what’s really important, what happiness really is, and realize I will never miss the money. I want to make short and long term goals and plans, but be open to changing them.

I want to look back on this year and not say “what if.” I want to desire, inspire, act, and not react. I want to be that person who forever touches someone in one way or another, but may never know it.

meet our dog child.

As most of you already know and have seen several pictures of her accompany us on our hikes, this is Bella. Bella Bishop that is.

(I've nicknamed her "Boo-boo," which Brian has conveniently shortened into "Boobs." Our daughter's first word is surely to be "boobs," but I've already come to terms with that.) So I just realized the other day that we've talked quite a bit about our little belly bugger roasting in my oven, but we have yet to talk about our dog child. Poor Bella. I'm sure she would be so offended if she knew. She's very sensitive, people. So anyway, Brian rescued Bella from the Albuquerque pound when she was a whopping 12 months old. From what he says, I guess she was all pathetic looking, just quietly and sadly sitting there, while all the other dogs were barking like they would never bark another day and just otherwise acting psycho and crazy (seriously, you really think someone is going to take you home acting a fool like that? it only works when you're drunk at a bar, pups). So I guess Bella missed out on the crack for breakfast had the right tactic, or was just the easy choice. But either way, she went home with Brian that day and the rest is history.

This makes Bella my step dog, as when I married Brian she was almost 3 years old. Brian tells me this is a horrible thing to say. Why? How is this horrible? It's neither good nor bad, it's just what it is. I think Brian's the bad guy here stereotyping step dogs as not as loved or outcasts or something. I mean sheesh. Step dogs don't look like this:

Now, Bella is a very, very good dog. And take it from me people, I am a harsh critic. (No way, me, really?) She is completely potty trained, she can walk off leash relatively well, she comes when called, she knows when she has been bad, and she is not annoying. Thank you Lord in heaven. And this dog loves to hike and run more than we do. She inspires me, people. However (yeah, you knew there was a catch), there is just one thing that I cannot stand about Bella. Bella sheds like a banshee. And trust me, a banshee sheds A.LOT. Now, I know this is not her fault, but who else am I going to blame for emptying the vacuum 3 times when I vacuum the house every week, or for all the hair that mysteriously appears on the couch after every time we leave the house, or for all of the clothes in my closet with Bella hair on them, when everything just came out of the dryer and straight onto a hanger? Going from no dog, to doghairgaloreoneverything, has been a rude awakening.

Because of this, I do my best to hold it against her.

  But, she is wearing me down. Because Bella is that person dog who you really want to hate, but you can't. Because no matter what you do or say to her, she still can't contain her excitement when she sees you come home, and never ceases to give you more love than you ever deserve. She (unknowingly) kills you slowly with love and kindness. I should take lessons from her. But damnit Bella. Why do you do this to me?

 

I still need to call Cesar Millan about how to get Bella to stay off the couch when we're gone. And Brian wants to call Cesar to get her to stop staring at us all creepy-like when we're sitting on the couch.

But otherwise, I guess she's a keeper.

Updates!

Here is the baby room right now. Still needs the chair rail put up to cover the paint line as well as more furniture. We're getting there. Now all we need to purchase is a dresser and a chair for feedings. Slowly but surely it's coming together.

house changes

After living in our house for two years now, we have finally gotten around to printing and hanging some pictures from our travels. I know, I thought I would never see the day either. The Bishop house is now dubbed, "Brian's Art Gallery:"

And we have made our first baby purchase - the crib!

And started painting the baby room:

It's not finished yet, but we're getting there. These are huge accomplishments for us people. I mean, huge.

I have also proudly and adamantly made my first "I'm the Mom" rule. I told Brian when I go back to work full time, I'm getting someone to clean the house a few times a month. He simply said, "Okay," which was the right answer.

I feel completely validated in my decision. Our cleaning rules in the Bishop household as they stand at this moment pretty much, well, they totally suck. I must have been tricked; our rules are that Brian takes care of the outside of the house, and I take care of the inside. So this rule is almost okay for the 4 or 5 months in the summer when the lawn needs to be watered, grass mowed, and weeds pulled, but it is totally unfair the rest of the year. Because when there's no yard work to take care of outside the house, well, there certainly is no yard work to take care of inside the house either. Hey, I never claimed I thought this one through.

So this means I do all the cleaning. I do all the vacuuming, mopping, dishes, laundry, clean bathrooms, dust, etc. And this really doesn't seem all that bad when there are only two people living in the house, but silly me, I forgot a few key things that I should have taken into consideration:

1. When you are married to Iron Chef himself, he will do his best to use every pot and pan in the kitchen to cook a full seven course meal every night. (But I do thank you for cooking dear!)

2. Brian has more clothes than I do - he takes up half our closet, and half of the guest room closet. And he takes full advantage of this wardrobe by wearing no less than three outfits a day - the clothes he wears to work, and then he changes into something more comfortable when he comes home, and then he puts on his soccer outfit and goes to soccer. All of these outfits find themselves all cozy in the laundry hamper on the floor to be washed every night. This equal A LOT OF LAUNDRY.

3. Bella. SHEDS. Uggggg. Enough said.

And the thing is, I really don't mind it all that much. But there is just no way I can keep up with all of the house work, a full time job, and a baby. Read: I will not give up every weekend to clean the house. I am barely making it right now. So that is that!

In addition to all this, er, housery we've been doing, we are also well under way with Operation "Get Rid of It (seriously. OUT)" We have successfully donated a lot of our old clothes and shoes that we don't wear anymore to Salvation Army. (And not to mention the refrigerator in the garage I've hit numerous times.) I'm sure that is only a quarter of what really needs to go, but you have to start somewhere. My next job is to whip the basement into shape - oh my, the basement. I shall get to that soon. So if you haven't noticed, I am not a fan of clutter and stuffs. Uggg. No. Stuffs. Now, I am already breaking out in hives just thinking about how much "stuffs" this new baby is going to require, so by getting rid of a bunch of old stuffs, it will make getting the new stuffs that much easier. *shudder*

Cheers for becoming adults (or something like that) in 2010!