7QT: Lazy Blogger Edition

--1--

One should never ever say how much or little a baby sleeps at night, because it is bound to come back and bite you in the behind sooner or later.  The first week after the c-section, I was feeling good, reasonably well-rested, and ready to conquer the world.  I was so happy not to be pregnant any more, despite the surgery and small complication.  Ponchik was getting up about once at night, sleeping huge stretches during the day, and things seemed to be slotting nicely into place.  I was feeling good about nursing (because who wouldn't feel good about nursing with a whole 3 hours between feedings??).

"Helping" with dishes.

--2--

It turns out that preemies sleep a LOT.  But sooner or later, they wake up and start behaving like normal newborns.  Which is to say that now that Ponchik is approaching what would have been the 39 week mark (when my babies are usually born), she is currently waking up every hour from 2:00-4:30 until I give up all hope of sleep and take her into bed with me.  She can't figure out how to nurse side-lying, so I'm sitting up in bed most of that time, trying not to nod off or drop her.  She's also decided that 3 hours between feedings is completely unacceptable, and while she is nursing less frequently than any of my other kids at this point, it is still not quite as nice as the 3 hour stretches I was getting.  I have always had a painful letdown and don't get the nice shot of feel-good hormones from nursing, so I don't love the whole process, but it may still improve.  Hope springs eternal. 

--3--

So my early optimism and vigor has slowly drained away as I'm feeling more tired and run down.  On the upside, Ponchik is a delightful baby during the day (at least so far), and is starting to be alert for longer stretches in the morning and afternoon.  She's also passed her birth weight and now weighs about what Boo weighed at birth.  She's still tiny, and we have to watch that she doesn't get cold.

--4--

I'm also sad today because my mom went home yesterday.  Time to pull the big girl panties out of the drawer again and get on with things.  We got through the witching hour yesterday with a minimum of hassle, for which I'm grateful.  I was sort of catatonic by the time we did actually get the kids in bed, but that is what hgtv.com is for, right?  But, as I said last night, I gave baths, made dinner, everyone got to bed and no one died or was bleeding, so a success in my book.

--5--

Got nothing, nada.

--6--

It has also gotten ridiculously hot after being almost cold for about a week, and I think anyone who has read this blog for any length of time knows my feelings about heat.  

--7--

We are also Meltdown Central here, as the older kids are still adjusting to all the changes and extra stimulation of having a new sister.  Piglet especially has been struggling; while he is genuinely happy about having a new baby in the house, he is still sorting everything out as well and it is coming out in the form of meltdowns over silly things.  I hope things will level out in a few weeks as we get into a routine.  I may or may not have googled "coping with four children under six" last night in a futile attempt to find some strategies.  The only thing I could find was a daily routine from a woman in the UK whose kids are clearly spaced better than mine, four under six or not.  So we'll figure it out ourselves, eventually.

Go see Jen for more Quick Takes!

7QT: Post Partum Edition

--1--

Surprise, we have a baby girl!  Our daughter was born by emergency c-section at 36.5 weeks on May 15, at 10:41 p.m.  She is tiny but doing very well.  She did not require a NICU stay, for which I am additionally grateful.  I am healing as well as can be expected at this point--this is my first section, so I'm learning the ins and outs of recovery from major abdominal surgery.  I've got the birth story typed up, and will probably post it to the other blog sometime next week.  Suffice to say that our guardian angels were working overtime that day, and I'm very grateful to have easy access to a modern medical facility that can get a baby out in a hurry when need be.

Yes, there is a baby in there! (Incidently, the blanket is the one that my mom brought me home from the hospital in; we've also used it for the other three)

She sleeps a lot, and seems to be a better nurser than any of my other kids (knock on wood), but it is hard to say what sort of baby she will turn out to be as we've not yet passed her actual due date of June 8.  I'm hoping she stays a calm peaceful baby, but nothing in previous experience would lead me to expect it.  In any case, I'm really enjoying having such a quiet immediate post partum experience--I'm tired but not delirious, and my skin isn't crawling from 18 hours of non-stop nursing and crying.  We'll take it!

--2--

She mostly sleeps all the time, but has about an hour in the early evening where her eyes are open.  She looks a bit like my newborn pictures, and favors Boo quite a bit.

--3--

 Coming home from the hospital--she was almost too tiny for the car seat.  They had to do a test at the hospital to make sure she was able to breathe in the seat.

--4--

--5--

Hanging out with Piglet.  For the purposes of this blog, I'm going to call her Ponchik.  (It means donut in Russian.  I lived with a Russian family that had a cat called Ponchik and I thought it was cute.  It kind of suits her.  I've also called her Chicken Little a few times, because she is so tiny, but I'm sure that won't last!)

--6--

Birdie isn't quite sure about this new little person.  She is excited about the baby--"Baby!! Baby!! Baby!!" but doesn't quite know what to do with her.  

--7--

We named her on the 8th day, as is our Orthodox practice.

--Bonus (because I can't help myself)--

Go see Jen for more Quick Takes!

Foodie Friday: Baked Spaghetti

This recipe is just awesome goodness, and it is just a bonus that my kids love it.  I can't take any credit for the recipe, as it is from Tammy's Kitchen, but I've tried to edit it to reflect precisely how I do it.  I didn't change much from her original.

Three Cheese Baked Spaghetti

Ingredients: 

Pasta Ingredients:

8 ounces angel hair or capellini (about half a package)
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons dried parsley
1 cup cottage cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
6 ounces (1 1/2 cups) shredded mozzarella cheese

Sauce Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 cups spaghetti sauce--I love the Simply Enjoy Marinara sauce; a 25 oz jar is perfect
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
2 ounces (1/2 cup) shredded mozzarella cheese

Make pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside.  In a mixing bowl, mix butter, salt, parsley, cottage cheese, Parmesan and mozzarella.  Add noodles and mix thoroughly.

Brown ground beef, garlic and onion in a frying pan until beef is no longer pink.  Break up meat as it browns.  Add pepper, sugar, Italian seasoning and spaghetti sauce.  

In a 2 quart casserole or 9x13 pan, grease pan with additional butter or oil spray and layer all noodles along the bottom.  Spoon meat sauce on top and sprinkle remaining 2 oz cheese on top.  

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until cheese is brown and bubbly.  Also freezes well (freeze before baking).  

Makes 6-8 servings, or enough to feed our family of five real food eaters two times.  

5 Favorites: Vol. 3

 

1.  16 mm Medela nipple shield.  (TMI, sorry).  I always have issues breastfeeding.  Every single child has presented with a set of never-ending issues--some mine, some theirs, all frustrating.  The unifying thread for all of them has been the need for a nipple shield the.entire.time.  I actually don't mind it at this point--I wouldn't know what to do without one anymore anyway.  Having said that, a standard 20 mm size has been just fine for all the other babies, but they were all born closer to term than our little Ponchik, so she needed a 16 mm size.  Before that, nursing was an angry, frustrating latch-on-latch-off crying for 30 minutes affair.  Now, bliss.  (Or at least as close to bliss as someone with oversupply, painful letdown, and general unhappiness with breastfeeding can get).

2.  Related to #1, Amazon Prime.  The hospital didn't have anything but 20 mm size, and by the time we figured out Ponchik needed the smaller size, it was the weekend, and no local stores were open that had them.  Enter Amazon Prime Shipping.  We've had it for several years and I use it all the time and love it--worth every penny.  We ordered late on Saturday night, it arrived by Monday midday.  No need to take my c-section recovering self all over creation with a preemie looking for a smaller shield!  I love that!  

3.  Our little Ponchik.  'Nuff said.

4.  Even though I'm not nursing 18 hours a day with this baby (at least not yet!), I still find I need a fair amount of sitting down time to recuperate from the c-section (exciting birth story to come, hopefully early next week).  My mom is here to help, and she told me about Sarah's House, an HGTV series available to stream online (since we don't have a tv, if it isn't online, I won't be seeing it).  I'm most of the way through the Farmhouse season, and it is just perfect for right now.  Doesn't require mental energy, is completely light and airy, and the episodes are 20 minutes or so, so perfect for lots of interruptions. 

5.  My appetite has been pretty whacked out this pregnancy, and hasn't really returned postpartum.  I keep forgetting to eat, and get to the end of the day and realize I'm short a lot of calories.  (Believe me this is a weird state of affairs for me, as I'm usually crazy hungry post partum, and tend to even put on a bit of weight after--insult to injury, if you ask me).  Right now, I'm just not that hungry, but I know I need to eat enough to keep up my milk supply (and I was a bit malnourished/anemic at the end of my pregnancy), so I've been drinking more of the Naked Protein Zone Berry Blast smoothies.  I was keeping one or two around before, because I find the texture of the protein smoothies to be a little bit grainy, but I'm liking them more post-partum as I feel they give more bang for my caloric buck than the Bolthouse Berry Boost smoothies I usually drink.  I'm still drinking the Bolthouse, but I feel that I can count the Naked smoothies as a meal replacement, whereas the Bolthouse ones are more liquid refreshment and gastroparesis-friendly fruit content for the day  Just wish the Naked ones didn't cost so much! 

 

Right, so that's me for today; go see Hallie for more Faves!

Talking Tuesday: C.S. Lewis and a new baby

We have a new baby in the house!  Our daughter was born by emergency c-section on Wednesday, May 15, at 10:41 p.m.; all is well despite the preterm birth and surgery.  She is tiny but healthy and we are home and adjusting.  In light of the recent excitement, I thought it was appropriate to revisit Lewis. 

"It was in God’s hands. One must be content to leave it there. One must have Faith."

~ C.S. Lewis, Perelandra

5 Favorites vol. 2

Not enough progress on the sweater to justify a Yarn Along post this week (I only knitted 3-4 more rows), so joining Hallie at Moxie Wife for Five Favorites again.  I'm about 60 pages from the end of Present Shock and I'm planning to write something about it when I'm finished and have had some time to digest it a bit.

1. A few months ago I bought a cookie scoop--seems like an unnecessary kitchen tool when one has two perfectly good teaspoons, but actually, I love it.  Perfectly round cookies every time, all the same size.

2. I don't know if I've mentioned ThredUP before, but I discovered them this spring, and it has been fabulous!  They are an online consignment store for kids, and just opened a women's section.  They send you prepaid bags to consign your own stuff, and the items they carry are in very good condition.  I've had extremely good luck finding things for Birdie as I'm getting to the end of the clothing sizes that were handed down from a neighbor.  I also bought a few post-partum items for myself using my consignment credits!  My only complaint is that you have to be very familiar with how a particular brand fits, as they have no description of the item beyond brand and size.  I know, for example, that Gap stuff runs small, Old Navy and Dress Barn run a little big, Ralph Lauren runs small (unless it is Chaps brand for Kohl's, then it is closer to size), and size accordingly.  (In kids, Gerber runs very small and Carter's tends to run on-size; Osh Kosh runs a little big).  I also don't buy brands I'm not super familiar with.  They did just institute a return policy, but the hassle of returning something so cheap almost isn't worth it, so I try to make my orders count on the front end.  

3.  I am always on the hunt for good belts, as I tend to accessorize my vintage look with them.  As I'm getting to the end of this pregnancy, I've found skinny belts to be very helpful and can turn a sloppy-ish outfit into something that looks halfway nice.  I went to H&M earlier this week to get a yellow cardigan (not in yet, sadness), but ended up with two braided skinny belts, so yay for that!  I needed a second brown belt and a black one, and I've been wearing the brown one almost non-stop.  It has the advantage of being non-binding and just a wee bit stretchy, which is perfect for this 9 months-pregnant mama.

4. As I tend to do before every baby is born, I've been collecting books to read in the hospital and during those long hours of nursing.  This week I ordered Mary Roach's Bonk (after loving Packing for Mars).  She is primarily a science writer, but her writing is so entertaining and downright funny, you almost forget she's not a comedian.  Plus she makes what should be boring science facts terrifically fascinating.  I packed the book in my hospital bag as soon as it arrived so I don't read it before I go into labor!  

5.  I also wanted some light music to listen to in case I end up with a noisy or snoring roommate on the post partum ward.  (Please pray I have a room to myself!  I'm so nervous about the prospect, which is pretty likely given the hospital where I give birth.  I've been lucky so far, but you never know what you're gonna get and I've heard some truly nightmarish stories from friends who had rotten roommates for three days.  I don't want to come home more stressed out than I went in).  With Birdie, I had just bought Bon Iver's first album, which is lovely, but I wanted something a little different this time and bought Joshua Redman's latest, Walking Shadows.  It is jazzy and quiet, and I like it.  I'm avoiding listening to it so I don't burn out on it before the birth, but I've got it loaded and ready to go!

Alrighty, now back to Hallie!

Talking Tuesday: Broken Love

Broken Love

My Spectre around me night and day 

Like a wild beast guards my way; 

My Emanation far within 

Weeps incessantly for my sin. 

‘A fathomless and boundless deep, 

There we wander, there we weep; 

On the hungry craving wind 

My Spectre follows thee behind. 

‘He scents thy footsteps in the snow 

Wheresoever thou dost go, 

Thro’ the wintry hail and rain. 

When wilt thou return again? 

’Dost thou not in pride and scorn 

Fill with tempests all my morn, 

And with jealousies and fears 

Fill my pleasant nights with tears? 

‘Seven of my sweet loves thy knife 

Has bereavèd of their life. 

Their marble tombs I built with tears, 

And with cold and shuddering fears. 

‘Seven more loves weep night and day 

Round the tombs where my loves lay, 

And seven more loves attend each night 

Around my couch with torches bright. 

‘And seven more loves in my bed 

Crown with wine my mournful head, 

Pitying and forgiving all 

Thy transgressions great and small. 

‘When wilt thou return and view 

My loves, and them to life renew? 

When wilt thou return and live? 

When wilt thou pity as I forgive?’ 

‘O’er my sins thou sit and moan: 

Hast thou no sins of thy own? 

O’er my sins thou sit and weep, 

And lull thy own sins fast asleep. 

‘What transgressions I commit 

Are for thy transgressions fit. 

They thy harlots, thou their slave; 

And my bed becomes their grave. 

‘Never, never, I return: 

Still for victory I burn. 

Living, thee alone I’ll have; 

And when dead I’ll be thy grave. 

‘Thro’ the Heaven and Earth and Hell 

Thou shalt never, quell: 

I will fly and thou pursue: 

Night and morn the flight renew.’ 

‘Poor, pale, pitiable form 

That I follow in a storm; 

Iron tears and groans of lead 

Bind around my aching head. 

‘Till I turn from Female love 

And root up the Infernal Grove, 

I shall never worthy be 

To step into Eternity. 

‘And, to end thy cruel mocks, 

Annihilate thee on the rocks, 

And another form create 

To be subservient to my fate. 

‘Let us agree to give up love, 

And root up the Infernal Grove; 

Then shall we return and see 

The worlds of happy Eternity. 

‘And throughout all Eternity 

I forgive you, you forgive me. 

As our dear Redeemer said: 

“This the Wine, and this the Bread.”’ 

~William Blake

7QT: Bright Week Edition

--1--

Christ is Risen!  Christos Voskrese!  Christos Anesti!  Ding-dong, Lent is done!  

I've never been so happy to make it through to Pascha.  We had a lovely end to our Holy Week, the kids did reasonably well, given all the late nights, disrupted schedules and hotel sleeping, and now we are into Bright Week.  

Birdie even did pretty well during the long midnight service--I expected to have to bail after the procession and go back to the hotel with her, but she made it (with lots of breaks to walk around outside) and we were all able to stay for the feast afterward!  

--2--

This may or may not have been my lunch on Thursday.  I plead the 5th.

I spent Monday and Tuesday being pretty sick to my stomach with a virus of some sort and battling seasonal allergies, so I feel like I missed a few days there, but that is okay.  Crispix with chocolate milk for breakfast!  Chili and cornbread, cheeseburger pie, Shake Shack hamburgers for supper! Strawberries and angelfood cake with whipped cream for lunch!  Cherry Garcia ice cream for dessert!  So lovely.

--3--

And this, dear friends, is what one's fridge door looks like during Bright Week--dairy with a side of chocolate dairy.  And whipped cream.  Oh, and some seltzer water for the inevitable tummy issues that result.

--4--

Anniversary roses.  The arrangement used rosemary as the filler, which was lovely, as I usually can't stand the smell of regular green filler.

Wednesday was our 8th anniversary--this is the first year it has fallen pretty close to the liturgical day we got married, which was Thomas Sunday (the first Sunday after Pascha).  It was also pretty nice to have a Wednesday anniversary fall during Bright Week so we could go out for good burgers and get Capogiro gelato afterward.  Mm-mm good.  The weather even cooperated, as it was rainy and nasty during the day, but then cleared up and got quite nice by supper time, so we spent some time walking around Rittenhouse Square and browsing Barnes and Noble (and making fun of the sorts of things publishers make coffee table books about).

--5--

I just bought Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's album, Love Has Come for You, after a great review in The Week, and it was a Good Buy.  Who knew Steve Martin was such a multi-talented (in addition to being wild and crazy) guy??  The album is very bluegrassy because of Martin's excellent banjo picking, but I like it.

--6--

When I was laid out on the couch earlier this week, I watched a fascinating Danish film called A Royal Affair that stars Mads Mikkelsen.  I've seen a few other things he has been in (he's probably best known in America as LeChiffre in Casino Royale), and I think he is just a brilliant actor.  The movie is about how the Enlightenment came to Denmark in the late 1770s.  Danish actor Mikkelsen (oddly) plays a German doctor who gains the ear of the monarch, Christian VII, but the movie is mostly told from the point of view of his English queen, Carolina.  There is much to love about the film, and I found myself pondering the influence of the Enlightenment in Europe, and how good it really was for general society.  It is too much for a brief discussion here (perhaps I will take up that mantle over at the other blog sometime).  My recent readings of Jonathan Last and Douglas Rushkoff have certainly influenced my thinking, as has my real-life experiences as a mom of more children than the average.  In any case, there is a scene near the end that made the film for me--Mikkelsen only has one line,  I think, and the rest of the scene he conveys a myriad of emotions and thoughts without speaking a word.  Masterful acting, that.  (And great European writing--I don't like being handed things on a plate). I watched that scene in awe.

--7--

When your first child is one of those rare creatures who wears all his clothes on time (that is, according to the size label), and outgrows them on schedule year after year, you can get a little bit cocky about buying clothes for your kids.  I've got this,  I think to myself.  But Boo isn't that child, and has never worn clothes on time, outgrows things with frightening regularity and pretty much foils all my clothing purchase plans.  This season I really screwed up.  Boo and Piglet are fairly close to the same size now despite the age difference (Boo is big for his age, while Piglet is average), and I thought Piglet was probably ready to go up a size in t-shirts from last summer (his shirts last year were size 5/6, and he is getting out of size 5s).  Boo is out of 4T shirts, and I thought he could wear Piglet's shirts from last year, and I would get new 6s for Piglet.  (Following me so far?)  Turns out that Piglet isn't quite ready for size 6 (he is 5 after all) and Boo isn't quite ready for 5, and there is a difference between 5 and 5T.  So I've ended up ordering three sets of summer t-shirts in three different sizes all in the last three weeks.  Le sigh.  At least it won't be wasted--next year's t-shirts are already bought. 

--Bonus--

And now we've reached the 36 week mark, and I'm staring down the home stretch of this pregnancy.  I will confess that I've spent the greater part of this pregnancy feeling panicky about the labor and delivery because that whole mommy-amnesia thing?  Total lie.  I remember every moment of the last four labors/deliveries, thankyouverymuch, and the thought of going through it all again was enough to make me reach for a brown paper sack to breathe into.  I forgot, however, how compelling the final weeks are when you just. want.that.baby.out.  Labor-schmabor.  Bring it.  I'm ready for you.

Go see Jen for more Quick takes!

Foodie Friday: Cheeseburger Pie

Christ is Risen!  Happy Bright Friday!  I can finally post a non-Lenten recipe in good conscience.  I made this on Monday night, and neglected to take a picture while it was still in the pan, but I think the leftover wedge gives you the idea.  I can't find the original source of this recipe, but I didn't come up with it, so I'll just leave it at that.  It is super easy and fast, and I find that I often have the ingredients on hand.

Cheeseburger Pie

• 1 pie crust (you can make your own, use an oil crust, or a premade from the store; I usually use a premade)
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 T Worcestershire sauce
• 2 T. white flour
• 1 cup cottage cheese or ricotta cheese
• 2 eggs
• ketchup
• 8 oz shredded cheddar (I use reduced fat)

Preheat oven to 395.  Brown beef and onions, then add flour and Worcestershire sauce.  Roll pie crust into a 9" pie plate and spoon beef into the bottom.  In a mixing bowl, mix cottage cheese and eggs together with a spoon.  Spoon over the beef mixture and spread evenly.  Squirt a ring of ketchup over the top (probably a tablespoon or two) and spread evenly with a spoon.  Top with cheese and bake 40 minutes or until crust is browned and cheese bubbly.  Let sit for five minutes before cutting.  Cut into wedges and serve.

Bloggy housekeeping

I'm not sure how many of you come here to read about my life and how many come here to see my stamping creations, but you may have noticed that I'm not posting much stamped stuff these last months, and that many of my blog posts have become more life-oriented.  It wasn't an intentional move on my part; it just sort of evolved over the spring months.  I'm still a demonstrator for Stampin' Up!, and I still love to create cards, but I've not been as crafty this spring what with my advancing pregnancy and all the illness, accidents, and assorted crises that have been running through my family.  I'm hoping things settle this summer after the baby is born and we find our new rhythm.  

What I mean to say is, if you are here for the cards/crafty stuff, stay tuned!  I'll post crafty stuff as I can, and try to keep up with my weekly Quick Takes posting.

Okay, now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

~phfr~

Doing a different link up this week--I am planning on a Bright Week Edition of Quick Takes tomorrow, but I thought I might give Pretty~Happy~Funny~Real over at Like Mother, Like Daughter a try for the first time.  I usually don't take enough photos of "regular life" to make a full blog post, so haven't participated up to now, even though I always enjoy reading their posts!

~Pretty~

I'm really not supposed to eat berries with a lot of seeds because of my gastroparesis, but lately I have been craving strawberries like crazy.  The organic ones from Driscoll have just shown up in the grocery store and they are delicious!  (I know it is technically too early for seasonal strawberries here on the East Coast, but I say pregnant girls get to have what they want in the third trimester).  I have to restrain myself or face the GI consequences.  I bought an angel food cake and some whipped cream (it is Bright Week, after all!) to make a nice dessert with them for the weekend.

~Happy~

It's the little things in life that can make such a difference.  I have two little boys and one big one who CONSTANTLY slam the toilet lids in this house.  It drives.me.bonkers.  The noise (on top of the normal kid-chaos noise) is just over the top, and I find my tolerance for unnecessary noise is pretty low right now.  Earlier this week, my husband stopped at Lowes to buy a toilet (more on that below) and bought toilet seat bumpers at the same time.  What a beautiful thing!  And so simple to install!  And so much quieter!!  Whoever thought them up deserves every penny he has made.

~Funny~

Birdie has turned into a two-paci girl lately.  She doesn't actually suck on a paci that much, but she likes to have them both clipped to her dress, and she always wants two.  The conversation goes something like this:

B: Paci! Paci!

Me: It is clipped to your dress.

B: (putting one in her mouth and the other in her hand) Two!! Two!!

Or alternatively, when I'm getting her dressed in the morning, she wants to hold both before I put her clothes on.  It is sort of weird and funny and cute all at the same time.  Sometimes she even puts both in her mouth.  Oddly, she doesn't appear to do it for soothing or comfort, at least not the way the boys did/do.  More like a comfort object like a stuffed animal.  Strange kid.

~Real~

We have a toilet in our living room right now.  Not a functional one, because that would make sense.  In our house one must climb stairs to do anything--get into the house, use the bathroom, go to another room, etc.  Those forty-seven stairs must be used every day, all day!  No, we have a toilet in the living room because the third floor toilet needs replacing, and my nine-months pregnant self couldn't help my husband carry the darn thing up three flights of stairs.  (I have to say, it really classes up the living room--not in quite the same way that the decorative toilet in our college Sonshine campsite did years ago, but still, it has its own charm).

So the plumber is going to do it sometime today.  Yay for that!  We've had to call Roto-Rooter twice in the last two months for that dumb thing, and it acts up a lot for no apparent reason.  There is a weird hook in the base in the toilet that I suspect is the problem, so hopefully this new one will be better.  As I said, it's the little things.

5 Things

Don't have any progress on my knitting this week (Holy Week threw me off, but I've got lots to talk about book-wise next week!), so no Yarn Along today, but I thought I'd try my hand at a Five Things post.  Hallie at Moxie Wife normally hosts, but she is busy with babette #6 and Grace at Camp Patton is hosting this week.  So the deal about the Five Things is that you pick any five things to talk about that are on your mind for the day.  Many people tend to highlight other blog posts they've read, products they like, etc.  So, without further ado, my first 5 Things!



1. This pregnancy has thrown me for a loop in so many ways. I gained weight very slowly in the beginning, which is weird for me, and didn't really start to gain until I was nearing the end of the second trimester, but boy, then the weight started piling on.  I'm carrying all to the front for the most part, and I'm fitting into my clothes just fine, but this belly is out of control.  With the boys, I tended to gain side-to-side, and with Birdie, I was all out to the front, which is how this one is going, but we'll see.  The reason I mention it is that I'm starting to think about post-partum shapewear because I seriously do not want to wait another year to get my midsection back.  I've been considering various post-partum cinchers/shapers/whathaveyou, and I think I'm leaning toward this one, since it doesn't have boning (too hard to sit and nurse a baby for 18 hours in a boned girdle), no latex (allergies), isn't attached to a long-line panty (because no one has time for that when you are excreting 9 months of excess fluid and nursing a baby for 18 hours a day), and seems like it wouldn't smother me in the summer heat.  Anyone have other recommendations? (And oh yeah, I love how the models for these things are 90 pounds dripping wet and have never been near a birthing suite, much less carried a baby for 9 months).

Anyone tried a Belly Bandit with success?  I'm tempted, but they just look weird.  And cost an arm and leg.

2.  I'm so over my maternity clothing now.  I'm seriously considering have a bonfire this summer and having a crazy Beltane-type dance around it to celebrate their demise.  But that would be wasteful, especially since ThredUp's women's store is now open, and I've already earned some money consigning clothing from myself and my kids!  In any case, I'm craving regular clothes again, and have been trolling the ModCloth site kind of compulsively.  Generally speaking, I find their stuff to be too short for my tastes, and not period-appropriate to my look, but I've gotten lucky a few times this spring with a dress and skirt, so I'm hopeful for future purchases.  I love this skirt--I'm such a sucker for novelty prints!--but I can't bring myself to spend so much on a simple skirt.

3.  I've detailed our urban grocery shopping drama on this blog before, but since we moved to a regular Peapod delivery, that has been somewhat alleviated.  I really love the service, but you have to plan ahead a few days, especially in recent months as more locals have discovered it and it is harder to get a delivery window within 24-48 hours of placing an order.  Normally this isn't a big deal as I plan my main grocery delivery early in the week with a late-week delivery, and then fill in the gaps at the Whole Foods that is 4 blocks away.  What with Holy Week, and being away from Thursday-Sunday last week, and now a bunch of rain, some illness on my part, and an almost-9 months pregnant bod, those four blocks just seem so long.  Especially when I have to drag the two littles with me.  So imagine my delight when I discovered that our local Whole Foods has free delivery in our neighborhood!  And, if you get the order in by 10:00 a.m., the delivery is same-day!!  I was low on milk and a few other things this rainy morning and feeling glum about it, but I called the delivery line, placed my order, and everything arrived before 11:00 a.m.!  Yay for that!  There is a minimum order, but I had a bit of a list to get anyway, so it worked out.

 

4.  Did you find a Mother's Day present yet?  I'm loving these chocolate crossaints from Williams-Sonoma. Not that I actually got any myself; I bought them for my mom and MIL on the recommendation of Shana at Ain't No Mom Jeans.  Hopefully they find them delicious.  Personally, I'm lucky if I get a card on Mother's Day. 

 

5.  I forget where I originally saw these, but I love the idea of a black and white silhouette of the babe in the bell.  Bare belly photography doesn't do anything for me (plus no one needs to see that, after five babies in six years, it just ain't pretty), and belly casts seem sort of strange to me (where do you put it afterward?)  But this little keepsake seems just right.  I'm considering getting one made for this babette since I feel like he or she has gotten the short end of the stick from the get-go (I forgot to photograph the positive pregnancy test, I didn't get an ultrasound picture because the tech was an idiot, etc).  I've been taking faithful (clothed) belly shots every week since about 24 weeks, but I really love the look of this little picture.

Christ is Risen!

O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory?

Christ is risen, and you are overthrown!

Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice!

Christ is risen, and life reigns!

Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave!

-from the Pascha Homily of St. John Chrysostom

Yarn Along: Expectations

I'm happy to be able to link up again today, as I've made some real progress on the sweater!  I started shaping the arm holes on Monday, and I'm now working on shaping the upper back.  I have about 2" to knit before I start shaping the neck line.  I'm a little nervous about the neckline, as the instructions are to add another ball of yarn and work from both sides, and I'm not precisely sure what the author means by it.  I've made plenty of sweaters before, and this one is a new instruction to me!  If anyone has suggestions, or tips, I'm all ears. So far, though, I'm pretty happy with the way the sweater is shaping up.

Last week, I devoured Jonathan Last's book What to Expect When No One is Expecting.  It is a fascinating demographic analysis of falling fertility rates the world over, and what the implications are for the future.  It isn't particularly pretty, but I think anyone who has taken a good look at any First World entitlement system can figure that one out.  What surprised me was his analysis of how modern society has structured itself to promote lower fertility and in some cases, be hostile to family formation.  Many are small things (like car seat laws) that in and of themselves are good and worthy things, or perhaps don't seem related to family formation, but taken as a whole, really hurt the family structure.  (If for example, you have five children under 6, you will have to upgrade to a significantly larger vehicle because of car seat laws, whereas in the 1970s, families were routinely cramming five children into modest size vehicles.  Are the children safer?  Yes.  But families are smaller and it is worth examining why and considering what can be done to change things to make family formation easier.  Last's final chapter goes into more detail about this. In the final analysis, I was left wanting more!  I loved the book, and I keep referencing it in various conversations.  I love demographics and this sort of monograph is right up my alley.  It is short and extremely readable.  

 

My fancy stitch marker--I have a bunch of them somewhere, but I didn't want to go digging for them, and this worked fine, as I just need it to mark where I stopped binding off.

I'm half-way through The House at Tyneford, which is a nice little novel set in late 1930s Britain.  It is kind of Upstairs-Downstairs-esque, but has some WWII drama mixed in.  I think any Downtown Abbey fans would probably find it a cracking good read.  

I'm still working my way through The Scent of Holiness (I'm reserving the final chapter or two for the end of this Holy Week), and hope to start on Every Day Saints later this week as well (good Holy Week reading, says I).  I have Rod Dreher's new book on my reading list for after Pascha, but my husband has first crack at it since it is in his nightstand stack.