[2008 In Review Here]
1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
Had a baby. Unfortunately, this also meant that I pooped a little in front of several people, including Husband. Let me assure you I never did that before, either.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I posted last year's resolutions here, but basically the goals were to write several times a week and exercise 5 days a week. I'm going to give myself an A for the writing goal as I blogged very diligently all year and I've been plugging away at a ridiculous short story that I've been working on since 2003. I'm only getting a B- for the exercise goal because there were patches here and there where I went several days without exercising (ahem, the latter part of December, ahem).
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Me!
4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, thankfully.
5. What countries did you visit?
None. 2009 was my least traveled year in a long time. Being uber pregnant and/or having a young infant doesn't lend itself to travel very well.
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
Nothing? Honestly, 2009 was pretty good. If pressed, I would say a sieve would be nice. I'm lacking a sieve.
7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
May 27 - Bella was born
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I had the unmedicated childbirth I wanted.
9. What was your biggest failure?
I don't think I had any big failures, but lots of little shortcomings. I really suck at keeping our stairs vacuumed. And I never use Bella's napping time wisely. I've also dropped a meditation and/or yoga practice (aside from baby yoga), which is not acceptable.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
No, I was really very healthy aside from some minor issues after childbirth.
11. What was the best thing you bought?My Canon Rebel Digital Camera.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Husband, also known as Mr. Part-Time MBA Student of the Year.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
The Gosselins. And Octo-Mom. Perhaps simply saying "People with litters of children who are media whores" would suffice.
14. Where did most of your money go?
The baby, fo sho.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The birth of my baby.
Also? My last day of work on May 1. Eating sushi and drinking wine again. My birthday. Seeing my family at Christmas.
16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
Edelweiss. Because I sang it over and over and over. Sigh. I never meant for that to be the song that calms Bella down, yet the Von Trapp in her loves it. Suffice it to say: The homeland has been thoroughly blessed.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier for the second year in a row. Double happy!
b) thinner or fatter? Thinner. Kind of hard not to be.
c) richer or poorer? Richer.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Exercising, Writing, Relaxing.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Fretting about the baby. But I still think I did pretty good for myself, as I am a fretter by nature.
20. How did you spend Christmas?
Christmas Day itself was nothing special, as most of our family had not yet arrived and we had already planned on celebrating on the 27th. However, even though the 25th was nothing special, it was still nice. Husband and I hung out, played with Bella, and had a lovely pasta dinner with wine. We also probably consumed a lot of cookies, but that is typical of any day, not just Christmas.
21. Did you fall in love in 2009?
With my baby, yes, absolutely. It turns out I wasn't one of those moms who experience intense love at first sight; for me it was a slow, building love that grew exponentially. Even now I'm astounded by how much more I love her all the time.
22. What was your favorite TV program?
Glee!
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Just don't have it in me to hate.
24. What was the best book you read?
OK, so I just checked the reading history on my library account and it appears I've read somewhere in the ballpark of 125 books this past year. Yes, you read that right. 125 books and with a brand-new baby to boot. Hi, my name is Laura and I'm a book-aholic. Since I read so many books I have a hard time remembering a favorite, but I can tell you that I particularly enjoy books by Anita Shreve, Anne Rivers Siddons, and Anne Tyler. I also re-read the Anne of Green Gables series for the third or fourth time and had such a new perspective now that I'm a mama.
25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
So one of my favorite CDs is the Veronica Mars soundtrack and I've devoted a good bit of time to feeling sad that the show ended before they made any additional CDs. It only occurred to me yesterday that I could look up the individual bands and see if I like their other stuff. So let's consider this a discovery-to-be. And yes, I am slow sometimes.
26. What did you want and get?
A healthy baby.
27. What did you want and not get?
A baby that can sleep in long stretches on a regular basis without any sleep training.
28. What was your favorite film of this year?
Gah, I can never remember these things. Maybe not my favorite, but I recently enjoyed the movie Outsourced, as it reminded me of my trip to India a few years ago. [Read about our India trip starting here.]
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 29 (how fitting that this is question 29) and spent the day with Husband and Bella. I had a cupcake and ate take-out sushi for dinner. Good times. Read about the non-adventure here.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Hmmm. I don't know how to answer this one without feeling like I am being ridiculously greedy, as I really did get exactly what I wanted this past year. I guess I could say that a housekeeper would have made the year more satisfying, though not immeasurably.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Stretchy. Ill-fitting. Evolving. Denim. Something like that.
32. What kept you sane?
My blog(s).
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Mr. Shuester from Glee. Also Puck and occasionally Finn. Sometimes I forget that even though Husband is my best friend, that doesn't make him a girl, so when I asked him who he would choose to make out with between Mr. Shuester, Puck, and Finn he was less than amused. But maybe he eventually answered the question when I kept pressing him. And maybe he said Puck. But maybe that would annoy him that I'm telling all of you this. So maybe you are going to pretend you never read the last three sentences, OK?
[Husband's Comment: Puck is clearly the hottest of the three choices. Shuester is too clean looking and Finn is too awkward/boyish.]
Too clean? Dirty people are preferred? Wha?
34. What political issue stirred you the most?
The legalization of gay marriage. Why is it taking so long?
35. Who did you miss?
My family, especially since Bella has arrived.
36. Who was the best new person you met?
My baby.
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
Everybody poops.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Life began when I saw your face. (Lullaby by the Dixie Chicks)
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Letters to Bella: 7 Months
Dear Bella,
Hi, my little Chicken. You turned 7-months-old (!!) a few days ago.
I just looked at the ticker on my blog that tracks your age and you are getting dangerously close to being one year old. I'm starting to get glimpses of what you will look like when you are a little girl and no longer our baby. You are stretching out and (ever so slowly) losing your chub. Whee and sigh, all at the same time.
You still look like a combination of me and your daddy. Here I am at your age - do you see the resemblance?
You are suddenly much more active, what with all the rolling, scooting, sitting, standing, and bouncing. Your daddy and I find you ridiculously cute doing all of these things.
and the next second you are right underneath me grabbing the camera.
You seem to be mere days away from crawling. You can get yourself into position and then sort of rock back and forth.
One day everything will fall into place and you'll be off. Probably time to invest in some baby gates.
One big thing from this past month was that you got your first two teeth.
We're supposed to be brushing them, but I don't know exactly how that would work since you hate, hate, HATE when we try to take a look your teeth. Maybe you'd be willing to rinse with Listerine, instead? (I kid, I kid!)
This past month you experienced your first Christmas. You weren't totally sure about what was going on, especially when your Grandpa stuck a big old bow on your forehead.
Sorry, baby. We were laughing with you, not at you. I promise.
You were very helpful with opening presents and it has been fun to see you figuring out your new toys.
It's been another delightful month with our delightful girl.
Loving you more every minute,
Mama
Hi, my little Chicken. You turned 7-months-old (!!) a few days ago.
I just looked at the ticker on my blog that tracks your age and you are getting dangerously close to being one year old. I'm starting to get glimpses of what you will look like when you are a little girl and no longer our baby. You are stretching out and (ever so slowly) losing your chub. Whee and sigh, all at the same time.
You still look like a combination of me and your daddy. Here I am at your age - do you see the resemblance?
You are suddenly much more active, what with all the rolling, scooting, sitting, standing, and bouncing. Your daddy and I find you ridiculously cute doing all of these things.
Sitting
Standing
Rolling
One second I'm taking a picture of you with your fancy new Sophie teething toy from Auntie Val...
and the next second you are right underneath me grabbing the camera.
You seem to be mere days away from crawling. You can get yourself into position and then sort of rock back and forth.
One day everything will fall into place and you'll be off. Probably time to invest in some baby gates.One big thing from this past month was that you got your first two teeth.
We're supposed to be brushing them, but I don't know exactly how that would work since you hate, hate, HATE when we try to take a look your teeth. Maybe you'd be willing to rinse with Listerine, instead? (I kid, I kid!)This past month you experienced your first Christmas. You weren't totally sure about what was going on, especially when your Grandpa stuck a big old bow on your forehead.
Sorry, baby. We were laughing with you, not at you. I promise.You were very helpful with opening presents and it has been fun to see you figuring out your new toys.
It's been another delightful month with our delightful girl.
Loving you more every minute,
Mama
A Little Bit Nutty
When I told you the banner picture at the top of the blog was our holiday photo, I was only telling you a half-truth. That picture was on our holiday postcard - on the back. The front was...less subtle, so to speak.
Three old candy canes for anyone who can tell me what two things are missing in this picture. And a stale fruit cake to anyone who can name what is slightly different about my nutcracker compared to the others, thanks to Husband having fun with photoshop.
Happy Holidays, Reader Friends!
Three old candy canes for anyone who can tell me what two things are missing in this picture. And a stale fruit cake to anyone who can name what is slightly different about my nutcracker compared to the others, thanks to Husband having fun with photoshop.
Happy Holidays, Reader Friends!
Monday, December 28, 2009
Taking a Bite Out of Crime
My parents and siblings are visiting right now and we are having a jolly good time. One side benefit of my parents visiting is that I have access to their local Montana newspaper, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, publishers of the most awesome police reports of all time. My love for the crimes of Bozeman started last year, when I posted about criminal goats. Today's police report may not involve goats at large, but it's just as delightful. Highlights include:
- Police broke up an argument between a motorist and cyclist at North Seventh Avenue and Durston Road.
- A man complained about fireworks going off downtown that were bothering his dog.
- An officer spoke with a driver who had stopped at a nativity scene on North 19th Avenue at 11:23 pm and was blocking a lane of traffic.
- A 17-year-old girl was reported to be throwing plates at her father after he tried to take away her computer.
Friday, December 25, 2009
Sister, Sister
My sister and I shared a bedroom for well over half of our childhood. I didn't realize just how long we roomed together until my sister brought it up the other day. We finally got our own rooms when I was 12 and she was 14. So basically, in terms of kid years, we were together forever.
Very early on, our beds were a weird makeshift situation that my mom put together in a moment of frugal creativity: they were large pieces of foam positioned over what I can only describe as very short dressers. (Yes, it was weird.) At one point, the "beds" were lined up in one long line and my sister and I slept with our feet pointed towards each other. At least, we slept that way in theory. In reality, I often slept with my butt high in the air and pointed at my sister. Did I ever mention I was one of those kids who liked to be naked? And that I insisted on sleeping on top of my covers, rather than underneath them? My poor 5-year-old sister. Every night was a full moon.
Another memory I have is how my sister was kind enough to warm the bed for me each night for most of the years that we roomed together. Now if Husband were to offer to "warm the bed" for me, I would throw up a little in my mouth. Getting into a warm bed is more than a little icky, isn't it? Something about the warmth is suspect - how do I know for sure that it's regular old body heat creating the warmth and not, say, a plethora of gas? Anyway, as a child I was generally a spaz and would get into bed and thrash all over the place, moaning about how cold I was and how I couldn't sleep when it was so cooooold. So my sister would trade places with me for a bit; I would lie in her warm bed and she would get into mine for 15 minutes and lie still enough to warm it up and then we would switch back. Isn't that sweet in a weird Mary-and-Laura-shared-a-tin-cup-on-the-Prairie kind of way?
Of course, there were a lot of pranks. A favorite would be the time I hid in her bed when she was getting ready in the bathroom. I crawled in and lay as flat as I could against the wall where the covers were kind of lumpy anyway. She finished in the bathroom, got into bed and I attacked her. Fun!
My sister, being older, wiser, and a historian, is able to recount other incidents of which I have no memory. She just told me that there was a time towards the end of our room sharing days, when my mom rearranged our room so that our metal day beds were back to back. This created a freakish crib-like situation, which is wildly ridiculous for a teen and a tween, not to mention the fact that limbs could stretch over to the other's bed in the middle of the night. You would wake up to a hand right by your face or a leg touching your leg through the pseudo-crib bars. Needless to say, that set up only lasted for a short time.
Lately, I've been feeling bad about the fact that Bella will have to share a room once her sibling(s) start arriving. We simply will not have any more space for separate bedrooms and it seems like we'll be in our townhome a little longer than I had originally planned. But you know what? I think the room sharing will probably turn out to be a really good thing. That is, as long as we can keep full moons to a minimum.
Very early on, our beds were a weird makeshift situation that my mom put together in a moment of frugal creativity: they were large pieces of foam positioned over what I can only describe as very short dressers. (Yes, it was weird.) At one point, the "beds" were lined up in one long line and my sister and I slept with our feet pointed towards each other. At least, we slept that way in theory. In reality, I often slept with my butt high in the air and pointed at my sister. Did I ever mention I was one of those kids who liked to be naked? And that I insisted on sleeping on top of my covers, rather than underneath them? My poor 5-year-old sister. Every night was a full moon.
Another memory I have is how my sister was kind enough to warm the bed for me each night for most of the years that we roomed together. Now if Husband were to offer to "warm the bed" for me, I would throw up a little in my mouth. Getting into a warm bed is more than a little icky, isn't it? Something about the warmth is suspect - how do I know for sure that it's regular old body heat creating the warmth and not, say, a plethora of gas? Anyway, as a child I was generally a spaz and would get into bed and thrash all over the place, moaning about how cold I was and how I couldn't sleep when it was so cooooold. So my sister would trade places with me for a bit; I would lie in her warm bed and she would get into mine for 15 minutes and lie still enough to warm it up and then we would switch back. Isn't that sweet in a weird Mary-and-Laura-shared-a-tin-cup-on-the-Prairie kind of way?
Of course, there were a lot of pranks. A favorite would be the time I hid in her bed when she was getting ready in the bathroom. I crawled in and lay as flat as I could against the wall where the covers were kind of lumpy anyway. She finished in the bathroom, got into bed and I attacked her. Fun!
My sister, being older, wiser, and a historian, is able to recount other incidents of which I have no memory. She just told me that there was a time towards the end of our room sharing days, when my mom rearranged our room so that our metal day beds were back to back. This created a freakish crib-like situation, which is wildly ridiculous for a teen and a tween, not to mention the fact that limbs could stretch over to the other's bed in the middle of the night. You would wake up to a hand right by your face or a leg touching your leg through the pseudo-crib bars. Needless to say, that set up only lasted for a short time.
Lately, I've been feeling bad about the fact that Bella will have to share a room once her sibling(s) start arriving. We simply will not have any more space for separate bedrooms and it seems like we'll be in our townhome a little longer than I had originally planned. But you know what? I think the room sharing will probably turn out to be a really good thing. That is, as long as we can keep full moons to a minimum.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Hodge Podge
- A wee tooth sprouted in the front bottom of Bella's mouth a few days ago and today a second one showed up right next to it. So that takes care of Christmas presents for her. (Ha ha - get it? All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth? Yes? No?)
- Teething has not been as bad as I feared it would be, but she is suddenly having an incredibly difficult time going down for the night after two months of easy-peasy put-y down-y.
- This is not to say that sleep has been easy-peasy for the last two months. No, indeed. Bella is still waking up 2-3 times each night. I keep putting off sleep training because...I don't know. It seems like more work than just waking up, sticking the baby to the boob for five minutes and then everyone going back to bed. Sigh. I'll deal with it in 2010.
- Yesterday I read a tame little book, the sort of novel you'd recommend to your grandmother, when they threw in a sex scene and the phrase "long penis" right at the very end. Yes. Long penis. I...I...I have no words.
- Husband's humiliation dance will likely be filmed this weekend. Oh, it's going to be good. Good and maybe educational! Certainly humiliating, anyway.
- I begged and begged and begged Husband to let us get a real Christmas tree this year and he finally agreed, so we got ourselves a tree a week ago. And now I spend all my time sweeping pine needles off the floor and picking them out of the cats' fur, like some sort of sad cat-owning Cinderella. Stupid dud tree. [Husband's comment: Karma is as beautiful as our tree. I'm really looking forward to a nice fake tree with a fixed expense instead of this year after year business of going and buying a nice bundled tree, getting it home only to realize it's actually a gigantic bushy thing once unbundled that sheds pine needles that get in my socks and underwear, then, after Christmas, having to heave it off our back deck and watch it roll down the hill and collect with the other cash burners.]
- Are you still all reeling from "long penis"? I know! Why long? Why not just penis? Why? Why? Why?
- As it turns out, I will NOT be recommending that book to my grandmother.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Pass the Nog
We took some holiday pictures last evening as I had brushed my hair, which made it a very special occasion. (Google reader friends - click over to the site to see the new festive background.)
Here's the official picture that will go on our holiday cards.
And here are a few outtakes.
Happy Chrismukkah, friends!
Here's the official picture that will go on our holiday cards.
And here are a few outtakes.
Happy Chrismukkah, friends!
Friday, December 18, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Baby Yogini
My baby can now do a plank pose.
Next we will work on tree pose and perfecting our sun salutations. Excellent work, Bella!
Yes, I Pick My Baby's Nose
I was honored to be nominated by Carolyn from The Kipper Family Blog as a TAM - truly authentic mama. So, to do my part, here are the ways in which I am an authentic mama.
1. I will do anything to make my baby laugh. This includes, but it not limited to, "pant-hooting" like a monkey (yes, apparently pant-hoot is the technical Jane Goodall term), belting out songs, dancing like a fool, growling like a deranged animal, and making especially hideous faces and noises. Motherhood is pretty like that.
2. Whenever I can access a booger in Bella's nose, I go for it. The child cannot blow her nose and I've yet to order the horrifyingly delightful NoseFrida, so I feel it is my duty to be the picker.
3. I often simultaneously want more and less time with my baby.
4. I'm in love with the my baby's especially chubby shape. Those thighs! That butt! Such cheeks! She even has a chubby forehead.
5. I've quit brushing my (long, easily-tangled) hair now that I'm a mom. Instead, I prefer to let my perma-ponytail become a nice dreadlock in between showers. It's certainly preferable to mom hair, right? Actually, who am I kidding? I've never really brushed my hair.
Now to tag five other truly authentic mamas, who might want to play along:
1. I will do anything to make my baby laugh. This includes, but it not limited to, "pant-hooting" like a monkey (yes, apparently pant-hoot is the technical Jane Goodall term), belting out songs, dancing like a fool, growling like a deranged animal, and making especially hideous faces and noises. Motherhood is pretty like that.
2. Whenever I can access a booger in Bella's nose, I go for it. The child cannot blow her nose and I've yet to order the horrifyingly delightful NoseFrida, so I feel it is my duty to be the picker.
3. I often simultaneously want more and less time with my baby.
4. I'm in love with the my baby's especially chubby shape. Those thighs! That butt! Such cheeks! She even has a chubby forehead.
5. I've quit brushing my (long, easily-tangled) hair now that I'm a mom. Instead, I prefer to let my perma-ponytail become a nice dreadlock in between showers. It's certainly preferable to mom hair, right? Actually, who am I kidding? I've never really brushed my hair.
Now to tag five other truly authentic mamas, who might want to play along:
Andrea at The Super Telegas
Xapis at This Dreamcrossed Twilight
Lisa at The Hustads
Julie at The Antics of the Three 22nds
Kayt at The Townsends
Xapis at This Dreamcrossed Twilight
Lisa at The Hustads
Julie at The Antics of the Three 22nds
Kayt at The Townsends
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Apples and Green Beans and Oatmeal, Oh My!
We started Bella on solids about a week before her 6-month birthday. Why did we wait so long? Well, it's the current recommendation to wait until 6 months to start solids and if I'm anything, it's a rule follower (more on this recommendation). And you better believe I was still a little twitchy about starting a week early, but I figure Bella came a week late so she COULD have been 6 months had she arrived on her due date.
Since I had some time before getting her started, I began looking for information a couple months ago on exactly HOW to go about introducing solids. Like all things baby, I found much of the information to be confusing and contradicting. I kid you not when I tell you that I read or heard the following recommendations, all from reputable sources:
We decided to go with oatmeal mixed with breast milk first (which was the pediatrician's recommendation) and have since moved on to apples, bananas, sweet potatoes, and green beans. Everything has been a hit, except for green beans. You just know the person who recommended starting with green vegetables feels vindicated by that last sentence. Even though Bella's not crazy about the green beans now, I'll keep offering them again and again, up to ten times, just like a good dietitian is taught to do when it comes to introducing new foods to a baby. Being a rule follower is so exhausting sometimes.
Now for your viewing pleasure: Green Beans are Stinky McStinkertons, featuring Bella.
Since I had some time before getting her started, I began looking for information a couple months ago on exactly HOW to go about introducing solids. Like all things baby, I found much of the information to be confusing and contradicting. I kid you not when I tell you that I read or heard the following recommendations, all from reputable sources:
- Start with rice cereal as it's easiest on the baby's digestion.
- Start with oatmeal as it is a whole grain and less constipating than rice cereal.
- Start with green vegetables, then move on to orange, and then do fruit in order to optimize acceptability of vegetables.
- Sweet Potatoes and Avocados are great first foods.
- It's fine to start with fruit as it's just as sweet as breastmilk.
We decided to go with oatmeal mixed with breast milk first (which was the pediatrician's recommendation) and have since moved on to apples, bananas, sweet potatoes, and green beans. Everything has been a hit, except for green beans. You just know the person who recommended starting with green vegetables feels vindicated by that last sentence. Even though Bella's not crazy about the green beans now, I'll keep offering them again and again, up to ten times, just like a good dietitian is taught to do when it comes to introducing new foods to a baby. Being a rule follower is so exhausting sometimes.
Now for your viewing pleasure: Green Beans are Stinky McStinkertons, featuring Bella.
Friday, December 11, 2009
You've Got Mail
We live at an address that gets easily mixed up with other addresses in Minneapolis, and consequently we get packages for other people delivered to our house. This is a huge pain in the ass. And when I say huge pain in the ass, I mean HUGE. PAIN. IN. THE. ASS.
Last year we got a small package from Fed Ex that was meant for someone else and I called the number of the sender as there was no number listed for the recipient. The woman who answered was an assistant at some big law firm in NYC and she immediately launched into a frantic series of, "Oh my God!" when I explained she had sent it to the wrong address. She said something about it needing to get there by the following day or she would get in really big trouble. Me, being overly sympathetic and Minnesooooootan (i.e. ever so nice), told her I would do what I could to help her get it delivered. So I agreed to run it back to Fed Ex for her and then they could re-direct it to the proper recipient. However, once I got to Fed Ex they said they would have to send it back to the original sender or I could pay to have it shipped to the correct recipient. At this point I had devoted over an hour of my work time dealing with this issue. Grrrrr. I called Ms. Panicky Assistant back and she got even more flustered and frantic so I said I would bring it to the correct recipient's house. And I did. The lady who answered the door was so confused as to why a big old pregnant woman was hand delivering her Fed Ex mail. When I called the assistant to tell her that I took care of HER mistake, she was like, "Oh, yeah, um, thanks. K bye." Hmph. Sometimes Minnesota nice is synonymous with doormat.
Fast forward to five months ago. We got a package from UPS, this time addressed to some man. There was no phone number for either the sender or recipient. We placed a call to UPS (which involved plenty of being on hold) and they came and picked it up and then promptly delivered it BACK to our house the next day. We placed another time-sucking call to UPS and managed to refrain from yelling, "GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER" and asked them to pick the package up. The package then sat for days. I was too irritated by this situation and the previous Fed Ex package debacle to bother placing another call to UPS (not to mention busy with a month old baby). Then one day we came home to find that freaking squirrels chewed through the box and there were nuts all over our porch. Husband decided to chuck the whole thing in the trash. Before throwing it we may have opened it up to see what it was we were throwing out (nothing important - gross candy, nuts, and back issues of a hunting magazine). I was wildly hand-wringy about opening and then throwing away someone else's mail, but Husband made the good point that we had put a decent amount of effort into trying to get it directed to the right person AND it had been attacked by squirrels. But still...I'm Minnesooooootan. I felt bad that the random dude didn't have his icky candy to eat while reading his Hunting magazine.
And now fast forward once again to yesterday. We got another package for the candy eating hunter. I googled the name of the recipient to try to find a phone number, but it appeared that a locally famous newscaster has the same name. It seemed impossible to try to find the correct recipient without having to wade through pages of info about the newscaster. So I was gearing up to place a call to UPS ONCE AGAIN, when Husband noticed that there was a phone number for the recipient. Hallelujah. He called the man and he said he would pick it up this evening. When the doorbell rang at 7 pm tonight, Husband answered the door and talked briefly to the guy. He appreciated that we had called him and he took his package and was on his way.
Now, can you guess what I'm going to tell you next?
Yes, the recipient was the locally famous newscaster, gleaming white teeth and all. Good golly, Miss Molly. The news on that particular channel will never be the same for me again.
Last year we got a small package from Fed Ex that was meant for someone else and I called the number of the sender as there was no number listed for the recipient. The woman who answered was an assistant at some big law firm in NYC and she immediately launched into a frantic series of, "Oh my God!" when I explained she had sent it to the wrong address. She said something about it needing to get there by the following day or she would get in really big trouble. Me, being overly sympathetic and Minnesooooootan (i.e. ever so nice), told her I would do what I could to help her get it delivered. So I agreed to run it back to Fed Ex for her and then they could re-direct it to the proper recipient. However, once I got to Fed Ex they said they would have to send it back to the original sender or I could pay to have it shipped to the correct recipient. At this point I had devoted over an hour of my work time dealing with this issue. Grrrrr. I called Ms. Panicky Assistant back and she got even more flustered and frantic so I said I would bring it to the correct recipient's house. And I did. The lady who answered the door was so confused as to why a big old pregnant woman was hand delivering her Fed Ex mail. When I called the assistant to tell her that I took care of HER mistake, she was like, "Oh, yeah, um, thanks. K bye." Hmph. Sometimes Minnesota nice is synonymous with doormat.
Fast forward to five months ago. We got a package from UPS, this time addressed to some man. There was no phone number for either the sender or recipient. We placed a call to UPS (which involved plenty of being on hold) and they came and picked it up and then promptly delivered it BACK to our house the next day. We placed another time-sucking call to UPS and managed to refrain from yelling, "GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER" and asked them to pick the package up. The package then sat for days. I was too irritated by this situation and the previous Fed Ex package debacle to bother placing another call to UPS (not to mention busy with a month old baby). Then one day we came home to find that freaking squirrels chewed through the box and there were nuts all over our porch. Husband decided to chuck the whole thing in the trash. Before throwing it we may have opened it up to see what it was we were throwing out (nothing important - gross candy, nuts, and back issues of a hunting magazine). I was wildly hand-wringy about opening and then throwing away someone else's mail, but Husband made the good point that we had put a decent amount of effort into trying to get it directed to the right person AND it had been attacked by squirrels. But still...I'm Minnesooooootan. I felt bad that the random dude didn't have his icky candy to eat while reading his Hunting magazine.
And now fast forward once again to yesterday. We got another package for the candy eating hunter. I googled the name of the recipient to try to find a phone number, but it appeared that a locally famous newscaster has the same name. It seemed impossible to try to find the correct recipient without having to wade through pages of info about the newscaster. So I was gearing up to place a call to UPS ONCE AGAIN, when Husband noticed that there was a phone number for the recipient. Hallelujah. He called the man and he said he would pick it up this evening. When the doorbell rang at 7 pm tonight, Husband answered the door and talked briefly to the guy. He appreciated that we had called him and he took his package and was on his way.
Now, can you guess what I'm going to tell you next?
Yes, the recipient was the locally famous newscaster, gleaming white teeth and all. Good golly, Miss Molly. The news on that particular channel will never be the same for me again.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Hypnobirthing: A Review
So I meant to write this post, oh let's see, SIX MONTHS AGO after delivering Bella, but I got distracted. Babies, husbands, TV watching and couch laying got in the way (and uh, just one baby and one husband for the record). However, while I didn't get this particular post written at that time, can I give a shout out to myself for writing my birth story in great detail AND putting together a video montage of Bella a mere week after giving birth? Who was that woman? And what exactly was she on? And, for the love of god, WHY WASN'T SHE SLEEPING?
Anyway, I'm here to talk about Hypnobirthing. I briefly blogged about it a few times during my pregnancy: here, here, and here, but none of those posts give that much detail about Hypnobirthing. So let's go over the basics first.
Hypnobirthing in a Nutshell
Hypnobirthing is a natural childbirth technique developed by Marie Mongan. It teaches simple self-hypnosis for a positive and natural birthing experience, and the coursework provides information on positive thinking, relaxation, visualization, and breathing. For our particular class, we met four times (each class was three hours) with a few other couples and the instructor. We were given a book to read and two CDs to use for practice. You should also know that the term hypnosis refers to deep relaxation - not some weird sort of trance.
Now onto the pros and cons.
Pros
Cons
Even though it looks like I have more negative things to say about Hypnobirthing, I would say my overall experience with it was positive. I do wonder, though, if I would have had a similarly successful natural delivery if I'd taken a Lamaze, Bradley, or Hypnobabies birthing class. Who knows? In the end, I got exactly what I wanted, so if I could go back in time, I would make the same decision to take the course all over again. So, uh, I give Hypnobirthing a B. 3.5 stars out of 5. 1.5 thumbs up. Something like that.
Any questions? Other Hypnobirthers - what do you agree/disagree with?
Anyway, I'm here to talk about Hypnobirthing. I briefly blogged about it a few times during my pregnancy: here, here, and here, but none of those posts give that much detail about Hypnobirthing. So let's go over the basics first.
Hypnobirthing in a Nutshell
Hypnobirthing is a natural childbirth technique developed by Marie Mongan. It teaches simple self-hypnosis for a positive and natural birthing experience, and the coursework provides information on positive thinking, relaxation, visualization, and breathing. For our particular class, we met four times (each class was three hours) with a few other couples and the instructor. We were given a book to read and two CDs to use for practice. You should also know that the term hypnosis refers to deep relaxation - not some weird sort of trance.
Now onto the pros and cons.
Pros
- It works. I had a fairly quick (7 hours), unmedicated birth.
- It provides structure. It was great to "have to" practice relaxation on a very regular basis (20 minutes everyday). Had I not taken a birthing class, I don't know if I would have been as disciplined. I firmly believe that practicing relaxation was key to keeping me relaxed (uh...relatively, that is) during labor and delivery.
- It encourages positive thinking. I dislike this about myself, but I have a tendency towards pessimism. Hypnobirthing strongly pushes keeping your thoughts positive when it comes to birth. I do think mind over matter plays an important role in a natural delivery, so this was useful.
- It promotes birthing as normal, which is a nice perspective that helps to reduce fear.
- It teaches you to trust your body and it's amazing capabilities.
- The class provided a CD with a track of birth affirmations. I loved this. I could put it on in the background as I did household chores or I could lay on the coach and focus on the words. Either way it was great for keeping me positive about the big event.
Cons
- Hypnobirthing can be very pie in the sky/stick your fingers in your ears and sing "la la la" when it comes to some realities around birth. For example, Marie Mongan insists that childbirth can be painless, which is highly irritating. I get what she is trying to do - if you change the words around birth you can make it a better experience, BUT birth does hurt for 99.9% of women. It just does. Pain-free birth without medication? Pffft!
- Continuing along the lines of fingers in ears and singing "la la la", the Hypnobirthing class and book uses it's own lexicon as it feels that most birthing terms are too medicalized. The Hypnobirthing message seems to be that hospitals/medicine equals root of all evil and anything associated with them must be avoided at all costs. So there are no contractions, only uterine surges. No pushing, only birth breathing. No Braxton Hicks, only pre-labor warm-ups. The list goes on and on. Pre-labor warm-ups? Sigh. Not only do I personally NOT have a negative connotation with medical terms, as I associate hospitals with health and healing, I would think insisting on using these Hypnobirthing terms in a hospital would only result in a lot of confusion. If a midwife has been saying "contraction" for the past 15 years, can you really expect her to suddenly say "surge" instead? Methinks not.
- The book is very vague when it comes to the birth experience. In an attempt to stay away from anything negative, they keep things very general and on the surface. I found this to be a disservice because I was left feeling so confused. I do better being at least partially informed rather than ignorant.
- There is absolutely no discussion on cesarean births. I wonder what would have happened had a natural delivery simply not been possible for me. Would I have been really scared since I don't know much about them? I think the book should include a "optional" chapter that addresses the reality that sometimes women need a cesarean section and that's OK. After all, relaxation techniques come in handy in any situation, right?
- I don't know if the skills to achieve deep relaxation or self-hypnosis can be learned in a few months. I had a head start as I have been practicing guided meditation for a couple years. That groundwork was key for me and enabled me to further train my body to relax. I think I would have had a hard time if I had only been practicing relaxation for three months prior to delivering.
- The CD that came with the book is read by Marie Mongan and I had to throw it away. Her voice drove me up the wall. Luckily our instructor provided a second CD with relaxation exercises that were read by someone with a pleasant speaking voice.
- The class was expensive at $350 per couple.
Even though it looks like I have more negative things to say about Hypnobirthing, I would say my overall experience with it was positive. I do wonder, though, if I would have had a similarly successful natural delivery if I'd taken a Lamaze, Bradley, or Hypnobabies birthing class. Who knows? In the end, I got exactly what I wanted, so if I could go back in time, I would make the same decision to take the course all over again. So, uh, I give Hypnobirthing a B. 3.5 stars out of 5. 1.5 thumbs up. Something like that.
Any questions? Other Hypnobirthers - what do you agree/disagree with?
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Put on your dance shoes, Husband
Excellent work, people. You have voted for Husband to be the star in a dance video as the best form of punishment for his wrongdoings (original post here). I think someone is going to be bringing sexy back very soon. I will, however, give him a break today, as it is our 2 year wedding anniversary.
Was this really just two years ago? It feels like a lifetime. A very happy lifetime.
Our Wedding from Laura on Vimeo.
Here's to many more years of joy, my Husband! And yes, you still have to do the dance video.
Was this really just two years ago? It feels like a lifetime. A very happy lifetime.
Our Wedding from Laura on Vimeo.
Here's to many more years of joy, my Husband! And yes, you still have to do the dance video.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Just Another Crazy in the City
The looks I get when I do this are awesome. You can just see the line of thought that goes through people's minds when they see me. It's something like...What is that obese girl doing with a teddy bear in her coat?P.S. - I know that hat is ridiculous, so let's pretend I'm trying to be ironic, mmmkay?
Friday, December 4, 2009
Husband's Done Wrong
Last night, I told Husband that I had to get up at 6:00 AM with Bella in order to ensure she got at least a small nap in before her pediatrician appointment. Husband gallantly offered to set his alarm and get up with her at 6. I gave him a raised eyebrow and said, "Mmmm-hmmm" as mornings are not Husband's strong suit. He insisted he would get up at 6 AM and was all hurt that I would doubt him.
Fast forward to this morning when Bella woke us up at 6:30 AM. What happened to Husband getting up at 6, you ask? Ah, well it seems that he opted to simply turn off the alarm as he couldn't recall the exact reason for getting up that early.
On the way to the pediatrician visit, I asked Husband in my most helpful "I want you to learn from this" voice (read: irritating) what he wanted his punishment to be?
Husband, in his most earnest, "I want to make you happy, wife" voice (read: irritated) said, "Why don't you pick my punishment?"
And so I started coming up with ideas, so many ideas, in fact, that I realized I needed help deciding which punishment is the most fun. So that is where you guys come in. Help me pick Husband's punishment!
Should he have to...
A. Make dinner and do the dishes four times next week.
(Boringly domestic, yet allows me time to dilly-dally at night.)
B. Be in charge of a Celebrate Laura Day, which would include getting me dinner, a cupcake, and posting little notes about how wonderful I am throughout the house. (Fun for me, although shouldn't every day be Celebrate Laura Day?)
C. Allow himself to be videotaped dancing to a song of my choice, which will then be posted on the blog.
(Humiliation is often quite useful in teaching a lesson, no?)
There you have it. Now all I need you to do is click on the punishment of your choice on the poll posted in the upper right corner of my blog. You have until Monday night at midnight to vote.
Fast forward to this morning when Bella woke us up at 6:30 AM. What happened to Husband getting up at 6, you ask? Ah, well it seems that he opted to simply turn off the alarm as he couldn't recall the exact reason for getting up that early.
On the way to the pediatrician visit, I asked Husband in my most helpful "I want you to learn from this" voice (read: irritating) what he wanted his punishment to be?
Husband, in his most earnest, "I want to make you happy, wife" voice (read: irritated) said, "Why don't you pick my punishment?"
And so I started coming up with ideas, so many ideas, in fact, that I realized I needed help deciding which punishment is the most fun. So that is where you guys come in. Help me pick Husband's punishment!
Should he have to...
A. Make dinner and do the dishes four times next week.
(Boringly domestic, yet allows me time to dilly-dally at night.)
B. Be in charge of a Celebrate Laura Day, which would include getting me dinner, a cupcake, and posting little notes about how wonderful I am throughout the house. (Fun for me, although shouldn't every day be Celebrate Laura Day?)
C. Allow himself to be videotaped dancing to a song of my choice, which will then be posted on the blog.
(Humiliation is often quite useful in teaching a lesson, no?)
There you have it. Now all I need you to do is click on the punishment of your choice on the poll posted in the upper right corner of my blog. You have until Monday night at midnight to vote.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Letters to Bella: 6 Months
Dear Chicken,
You turned six-months-old last week. Here you are in your fancy holiday dress.
Yes, your fancy new holiday dress that is size 12 months. 12 months. That's right, you continue to grow exponentially and have gone up yet another clothes size in the past month. You are a big little chicken.
This month was full of milestones.
You began rolling over, both directions within a couple days of each other, and are now a rolling machine. A roly-poly rolling machine, that is. When I lay you down in the crib on your back for naps or at night, I never come back to find you in that same position. Your daddy and I think you might begin to crawl soon, which will be simultaneously exciting and nerve-wracking.
You are now very interested in playing with toys and often spend a good bit of time inspecting them.
You learned how to blow raspberries and went crazy with that for a week or so...
until you moved on to tucking in your lower lip all the time. 
You think your daddy is the funniest thing ever, especially when he acts like a monkey. You are delighted when he gets home from work as it means you get to hear your favorite book from your favorite person.
Your best friend is Stevie, the blind and cleft-palated cat. He treats you like his very own kitten and he even takes an active role in bathing you.
We took our first big family trip this month to Florida and you were absolutely wonderful on both plane trips.
In fact, you were great on the whole trip and everyone thought you were the best thing ever.
So those were all the big moments from last month. For me, personally, the best time I had with you was during the little moments. One little moment that I especially enjoy is when we take a nap together each morning. One day, when you start sleeping better, I won't be able to justify taking that nap with you, but for now it's an hour that I cherish. Seeing your little body curled up next to me makes me feel so lucky that I can hardly stand it sometimes. You are my everything, little girl.
Love,
Mama
PS - Photo shoot outtakes!
Papa's turn...
Baby girl,
I didn't write the last couple of months because I thought I'd do 1, 2, 3, 6 and 12 month letters. Your Mom is so good about documenting your life and I couldn't be happier that we made the decision together to have her be at home with you to do this and to care for you. She's doing such a great job and, clearly, she is fostering your growth, both mentally and physically. You are just like your daddy in that you've practically tripled your birth weight by six months. You are so chubby and so hug-able that I can hardly resist squeezing you as hard as I can, just like Lennie from Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck must have had a cute pudgy baby niece or nephew to inspire this characteristic in Lennie when he wrote that book.
Bella, when I think about the ways in which you've changed me, I can't even express the totality of the transformation. My command of the language is severely lacking when it comes to this type of expression. All I can say is that when I think about the light that you are in my life it humbles me tremendously; and while I love my work, I eagerly await the end of the day so I can come home and-no matter how exhausted I am-play for the limited time that we have each weekday. I love to see your face when I come home. You smile so effortlessly at me and have recently started reaching out to me, letting me know that you've missed me, too. As I write this it kills me to think that there will be days when I will disappoint you, when I will have to discipline you, when you'll be angry with me because these days are each so precious. Time literally stands still when I'm with you. Your Mom and I try to capture as much of this time as possible on film and in words because it means so much to us and I know that I'll revisit these posts in the future just to get a glimpse of the pure and simple happiness that we are feeling these days. I want to thank you for this...for being our little girl. You have no idea how much your mere existence shapes and gives meaning to mine. I love you, baby girl, more than I've loved anyone in this world and I hope that I can inspire and foster that same kind of love in you as you grow and change into a little girl and then into a woman.
Bella, you've taught me so much about myself, about my capacity to love, to be patient-especially when you were disrupting my sleep-and you continue to inspire me to be the man, husband and father that I aspire to be. Thank you for bringing these gifts into my life, just by being here and needing me. I love you. Happy 1/2 year birthday!
Love,
Papa
You turned six-months-old last week. Here you are in your fancy holiday dress.
Yes, your fancy new holiday dress that is size 12 months. 12 months. That's right, you continue to grow exponentially and have gone up yet another clothes size in the past month. You are a big little chicken.This month was full of milestones.
You began rolling over, both directions within a couple days of each other, and are now a rolling machine. A roly-poly rolling machine, that is. When I lay you down in the crib on your back for naps or at night, I never come back to find you in that same position. Your daddy and I think you might begin to crawl soon, which will be simultaneously exciting and nerve-wracking.You are now very interested in playing with toys and often spend a good bit of time inspecting them.
You learned how to blow raspberries and went crazy with that for a week or so...
until you moved on to tucking in your lower lip all the time. 
You think your daddy is the funniest thing ever, especially when he acts like a monkey. You are delighted when he gets home from work as it means you get to hear your favorite book from your favorite person.
Your best friend is Stevie, the blind and cleft-palated cat. He treats you like his very own kitten and he even takes an active role in bathing you.
We took our first big family trip this month to Florida and you were absolutely wonderful on both plane trips.
In fact, you were great on the whole trip and everyone thought you were the best thing ever.
So those were all the big moments from last month. For me, personally, the best time I had with you was during the little moments. One little moment that I especially enjoy is when we take a nap together each morning. One day, when you start sleeping better, I won't be able to justify taking that nap with you, but for now it's an hour that I cherish. Seeing your little body curled up next to me makes me feel so lucky that I can hardly stand it sometimes. You are my everything, little girl.
Love,
Mama
PS - Photo shoot outtakes!
Papa's turn...Baby girl,
I didn't write the last couple of months because I thought I'd do 1, 2, 3, 6 and 12 month letters. Your Mom is so good about documenting your life and I couldn't be happier that we made the decision together to have her be at home with you to do this and to care for you. She's doing such a great job and, clearly, she is fostering your growth, both mentally and physically. You are just like your daddy in that you've practically tripled your birth weight by six months. You are so chubby and so hug-able that I can hardly resist squeezing you as hard as I can, just like Lennie from Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck must have had a cute pudgy baby niece or nephew to inspire this characteristic in Lennie when he wrote that book.
Bella, when I think about the ways in which you've changed me, I can't even express the totality of the transformation. My command of the language is severely lacking when it comes to this type of expression. All I can say is that when I think about the light that you are in my life it humbles me tremendously; and while I love my work, I eagerly await the end of the day so I can come home and-no matter how exhausted I am-play for the limited time that we have each weekday. I love to see your face when I come home. You smile so effortlessly at me and have recently started reaching out to me, letting me know that you've missed me, too. As I write this it kills me to think that there will be days when I will disappoint you, when I will have to discipline you, when you'll be angry with me because these days are each so precious. Time literally stands still when I'm with you. Your Mom and I try to capture as much of this time as possible on film and in words because it means so much to us and I know that I'll revisit these posts in the future just to get a glimpse of the pure and simple happiness that we are feeling these days. I want to thank you for this...for being our little girl. You have no idea how much your mere existence shapes and gives meaning to mine. I love you, baby girl, more than I've loved anyone in this world and I hope that I can inspire and foster that same kind of love in you as you grow and change into a little girl and then into a woman.
Bella, you've taught me so much about myself, about my capacity to love, to be patient-especially when you were disrupting my sleep-and you continue to inspire me to be the man, husband and father that I aspire to be. Thank you for bringing these gifts into my life, just by being here and needing me. I love you. Happy 1/2 year birthday!
Love,
Papa
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