Thursday, November 15, 2007

Long Time, No See


Um, yeah, it's been a while. In my defense, I've been sort of busy. Making this little guy.

It's not that I haven't had anything to say, because there have been things that I think I need to tell the world about, all these strange new experiences that I'm having that I'm sure no one else has ever been through. But at a certain point in my pregnancy, everything started to feel so intensely personal, and I just couldn't bear to blog about it. It felt like posting something on this blog would take away from this very private experience.

So, I'll bring you up to speed. On June 26th, at 3:23 in the bloody morning, I had a little boy. His name is Valentino. He's named for an Italian motorcycle racer (that is a whole post that I may get to some day). He was 8 lbs, 11oz, and his head was 15" around - so you can imagine that labor was somewhat long and painful. I was in labor for almost 40 hours. I had LOTS of drugs.

Valentino is a lovely, charming boy. He adores his father and the dog. He smiles at strangers and melts even the hardest of hearts. He is a voracious eater who started on cereal at 4 months. He loves being outside and looking up at the trees. He is ticklish all over, just like his father. I am back at work full time now, but spend most of my day thinking about his funny little face, and remembering how sweet he smells and what his face looks like when he nurses.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by. I have missed reaching out to you. Hopefully I'll pick this up again and can keep talking.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Mmmmm, chocolate

In the past I have mentioned my love for a local coffee shop, Allison Espresso, and in particular for their croissants. A little while ago, they stopped making the fresh croissants that had so stolen my heart, and I was boycotting the place as a result. To make matters worse, Allison suddenly closed their doors and taped newspaper over their windows about a month ago, never to be seen again. What does this mean to me? How about that I've been denied one of my major pregnancy cravings for several weeks? I'm quite sure that my coworkers would tell you that my mood has not been the same. And no, I experience to guilt or feelings that I might have somehow contributed to their little disappearing act.

At work, we have fresh bagels delivered every Friday. I'm a little sick of bagels, but I partake because hey, they're there. Today though - oh my gosh. Fresh croissants were delivered as well. I wanted to sing, I was so happy. To make my morning even more delicious, my buddy Greg suggested having a chocolate croissant - we sliced them in half, put little squares of dark chocolate Dove candies inside, then stuck them in the microwave. I can't even describe how good that was.

Yum. I want another.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

I Heart You


Happy Valentine's Day, everyone. Yes, that is the same photo that I posted last year. The Valentine bandits struck again this year and put a heart on the door of every business on Pearl Street in the downtown business district. And yes, once again this year I was thwarted in my attempts to get the picture I took this morning from my cell phone to my stupid Windows laptop. *sigh* What I wouldn't give to work on a Mac....

Yesterday I was reading the news and checking out pictures from Mighty Girl and her beautiful new addition, and was reminded via the footer on her home page that I could put a ticker on the site! I have one set up already at Baby Center, but duh it didn't occur to me to post one on this here site. So check out the bottom of the page to see where I am.

Where I am is uncomfortable. Just the last couple of days or so. Pants that didn't used to bother me are now digging into my middle (or what passes for my middle these days). It's getting a little harder to tie my shoes - and since it's winter and snowy and all that, I have to wear hiking boots most day to avoid slipping and falling on my ass. You try lacing hiking boots with a soccer ball stuffed under your waistband.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Wild Things


I've been telling people about the elk that I see all the time on my drive home. There's a herd that frequents a meadow about 2 miles from my house, near some open space called Walker Ranch. It surprises me that they like it so much there, as Walker Ranch is a pretty big destination in Boulder for the hiking/biking crowd. I do know that this particular meadow clears of snow faster than most, because it slopes sharply and is nicely exposed to the sun - so their food must be much more accessible there.

I took this on my way to work Monday morning, just from my car. They're actually much closer than it seems. The elk seem more skittish than the deer for the most part. When they see me stop and look at them, the elk are much more likely to run off.

Thursday, February 08, 2007

20w 5d


Everything was fine with the ultrasound. The baby is big, but that's to be expected - I was the smallest of my mother's three babies, and I weighed in at close to 9½ lbs. They think it might even be a few days ahead of schedule, but they're not going to adjust my due date as the late term ultrasounds are somewhat unreliable for measuring the baby's age.

We've been basking in warm weather the past few days, finally a break from the cold and snow. We still have about 4 feet of snow outside the house, firm enough that Ruby can walk on it without sinking in. I guess it will be months before that snow leaves. Denver is approaching an all-time record for consecutive days with snow on the ground (I believe the record is 63 days). For me personally, I've been going out in just my vest, happy to leave the big down coat behind. I've even had the window down (just like summer!). I know it can't last, so I'm determined to enjoy it while I can.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

19w 4d



I have an ultrasound tomorrow, just to check general health and measure some bones. They suspect that I might be a little further along than we first thought, probably only by a few days.

We've been pretty miserable the last couple of weeks. The cold and the wind and the snow have been relentless. Everyone up on the mountain assures us that this winter is by far the worst they've seen in years, but I'm not buying it. I miss my house in town, I miss being close to home even when I'm at work. Alex and I continue to disagree about just how long we have to stay in the mountain house (I'm lobbying hard for a move in April, but he isn't budging). The truth is that I probably won't feel like moving until at least this fall, and by then hopefully we'd have a new one year lease tenant in the old house. I can make it through one more winter, although preferably not one like this.

Friday, January 05, 2007

15w 6d


Things are good. The little monkey hasn't been giving me any trouble at all. Aside from an occasional pinch or pull (especially when I sneeze), it's been a very smooth process, growing this baby. Most of my early symptoms have passed, and I can now get comfortable in my bed and sometimes sleep through the night without having to get up to pee. I have a doctor appointment next week, and will get to hear the heartbeat again. I haven't started to feel the baby move yet, so hearing the heartbeat will reassure me that everything is as it should be.

A local store was having a huge sale post-Christmas, and I picked up a box of Trumpette Monkey socks - they are wonderful! I also got a box of alphabet flash cards that are based on a vintage children's French dictionary. Obviously we won't need the flash cards for a while, but they were too sweet to pass up.

I'm snowed in (again!) today, but hopeful that the big plow will make it up to my neighborhood later this morning and I'll be able to go to town. I have lots of errands to run in preparation for a quick trip to LA next week. I can't wait, I get so homesick for Los Angeles sometimes. First order of business, Trader Joe's. Second, at least one trip to IKEA (oh, the joy....). I found a cool dresser/changing table at IKEA online, I'm going to try to get it and ship it home. They also had some wonderful lamps and ceiling light fixtures that would be perfect for a little monkey's room.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Happy 2007


I hope you all had a happy and safe holiday! The photo is my sister and my dog, taken last Thursday.

We've been busy digging out from the latest storm to hit Colorado (yeah, merry Christmas!). I took some time off work last week to hang out with my sister, but since we were stranded for a full day, I ended up working on and off throughout the day. Many movies were watched, many fresh baked cookies were consumed. In the end, we had about four feet of snow at our place. We had to phone a neighbor with a snow plow to come dig out our driveway, otherwise I might still be up there.

New Year's Eve was a great time. We had met a neighbor who lives even further back into the forest than we do, and he hosts a bonfire every year on New Year's Eve. We went up there about 7:30pm, and there was plenty to eat and drink. People trickled in to the party over the next couple of hours, and in the end there were about 25 of us there. It was all neighbors, so it was really nice for us to meet everyone. They're mostly a little older than us (on average probably late 40s or early 50s), and they're all so excited that there'll be a baby in the summer. Apparently they do a music festival in June every year, but have decided that they want to move it to July so that I can bring the baby and they can all meet him/her.