Elusive bulldog face

I don't know if we'll ever be able to catch this on still camera. We've got a few seconds of video that we'll load soon that shows it better. :)

sleep is hard

Words that are not like me to utter...ever. Seriously, I am a champion sleeper. I do NOT have trouble sleeping. It's kinda one of my things. Some people are good at a sport or a craft...I'm a good sleeper. I own it because it's what I've got. This was me for 32 years...even through the first months after adopting Cab. I didn't always get a lot of sleep, but I never had trouble sleeping.

Enter pregnancy.

I'm only at 30 weeks (yes, yes, I hear all of your voices in my head, "Oh goodness, it's right around the corner now!" Well, zip it. I know it's...he's coming. Stop stressing me out.) and things are only going to get bigger, more unwieldy and (likely) more uncomfortable.

This brings me to sleep positions. Not something I ever gave too much thought to before. I always considered myself a side sleeper with occasional back-sleep periods. I would have told you that I never sleep on my stomach. It's not comfortable and is very bad for your spine and back (true story, ask a chiropractor). I come before you today...tonight...to say that I was wrong, oh so wrong. I may have been falling asleep in a semi-side sleep position...but I was not a side sleeper. In fact, that semi-side was a stomach sleep position posing as a side. And I was really a full-on back sleeper for the majority of the night.

Where did these insights and epiphanies come from? The minute I was told I couldn't (shouldn't) sleep on my back or stomach (cue the light-bulb) it all became so very clear.

Side-sleeping is NOT comfortable, it's just not. Okay, maybe it would be if I wasn't 20 pounds heavier than normal with loosey-goosey joints that start to ache after an hour or two...maybe. There is also the whole rolling over debacle. Really folks, it IS a debacle. Here's how it goes:

1. Roll from side A onto my back
2. Pull body pillow along for the ride
3. Try to scooch over back toward side A (from whence I have just rolled) to avoid rolling onto husband
4. Roll onto side B
5. Try to get shirt and pj bottoms back in order (from the scooch) which requires much bouncing and tugging
6. Get body pillow readjusted
7. Apologize in loud whisper to husband, who is now at least 30% awake and wondering if he's been roused to check on Cab
8. Repeat every 1-2 hours
9. Add a bathroom trip every 2nd or 3rd roll

That's pretty much how it goes. And E wonders why I stay up so late.

Side-note to my whining:

This baby, this experience of pregnancy, is worth every ache, pain, discomfort or challenge. This, all of this, is what I hoped and prayed for all the while despairing that I might never know it. I thank God for blessing us and entrusting us with this baby. I also thank Him for allowing me to see the humor in it all. :)

pumpkins? we don't need no stinking pumpkins!

That's what I'll tell poor Cab someday when she's looking back at pictures of her first blessed year of life. There'll be no fally, harvesty, autumnal pictures of her in a cute little outfit out at one of the MANY farms in the area. We have a plethora of farms here in WA (Oh yes, you have a plethora of farms). We're practically tripping over farms around here. Seriously, take a 40 minute drive in any direction and you pass farm after farm after farm with corn mazes and rides and pumpkin patches. And did the "parents of the year" at our house manage to get our own little pumpkin out to one single patch for a photo op...ehno.

*audible sigh*

Oh, I'll give her excuses. "Honey, that was the year of the 2009 SWINE FLU PANDEMIC (there are no dramatic fonts on Blogger)...Mommy and Daddy were sick most of October...Daddy has an unnatural fear of scarecrows." Whatever it takes. But I'm sure it won't soften the blow.

Instead, I'll pick up a big orange squash or two down the street at the market...I think they have decorative corn stalks too. Hmm, I'm getting an idea here...just stick with me. So, if we pile up the leaves in the yard (okay, we'll pile up the pine needles...not as dramatic, but it's what we've got), add the decorative corn stalks and pumpkins, let the chickens out...TADA it's practically a farm. This could be our little racket.

"Hey all you slacker parents out there. Didja miss the harvest window? Miss the cutesie pictures? Come on over to our house and fake it. As long as your kids are under 3 they'll likely never remember there was no actual farm. We're the tiny blue house barely outside of Renton, bring cash, see you soon."

Are you sold?

to blog well, or not to blog well

I'm going to take a moment to ramble. I'm doing so mainly because it's my blog and I can verbally wander if I want to. Secondarily, I really don't think there's anyone out there reading much of this blog these days (or ever...hi mom, I know you're still there).

Hmm...that sounded like a pitiful, cry for attention, didn't it? Unintentionally though. I'm serious. It really doesn't bother me that this is just a place that my parents check monthly to see if I've posted any pictures of Cab. So, if there is someone out there reading, I apologize for the following...leave me a comment telling me to "zip it" if it really bothers you. :)

Aaaand begin rambling:

Since I've been home full-time I've been reading a lot of blogs out there on the internet-blogosphere thingy. Usually to do with families or cooking or crafts...that's just my bag, I guess. So many of them are well (or at least fairly well) written using wit, humor, insight, etc. Or they have some purpose, like sharing creativity...recipe inspirations, crafts, selling of crafts. It makes me contemplate my own lowly blog, which was started to humor curious friends and family about our chicken project (because I wasn't about to carry pictures of chickens around with me...but dedicate a piece of internet property to them? Yeah, I could do that). I could look back and tell you the last time I wrote anything about said chickens...but it's early and let's just say it's been quite a while. I'm at peace with it, what is a web log but a changing and morphing thing? My life has changed and morphed (radically and dramatically...is that redundant?) since the inception of this thing...how could the content not change along with it? But I digress.

Back to my bloggy thoughts. I wonder sometimes if I should make more of an effort. Spend a little more time coming up with creative posts, artistic pictures, witty and clever stories that not only entertain but plumb the depths of the psyche. I'd also have to curb my gross overuse of commas and elipses...(see?) and learn to craft a proper sentence. Conundrum.

Do I have time for such endeavors? With Cab on the brink of crawling and just (shy of) 3 months until the arrival of Peter...should I really be thinking about taking on such a challenge and commitment? It makes me think of all of the other things I should be "taking on" in my life. Perhaps stepping up my housekeeping skills, getting the house prepped for carpet, doing more spiritual reading and praying, taking more time to prepare healthy (and planned) meals...the list goes on.

It would be nice to have such a regular routine of emptying my brain for the entertainment of the masses. I think I'm not quite there though. I think I need to chip away at some of the tangible items on that list that impact our family life a little more acutely.

So, for now, I'll keep browsing and appreciating other people's blogs. Maybe someday in the future I'll be able to make something more of this little ol' blog, just not quite yet. Until then, I'll just blog as the Spirit moves me.

End ramble.

Note to Old Navy...and all baby clothes makers/retailers

Dear Old Navy, et al.

Regarding the sizing of infant clothing. Is there really no way to standardize the system of sizing? Buying anything is a crap shoot...some brands run long and narrow, some wide, some have small neck openings, etc. Wouldn't the industry, as a whole, benefit from some organized system? I know I'd be a happier consumer.

And regarding the size ranges (specifically Old Navy)...6-12 months is a really big gap. Have you seen the difference between most 6 month and 12 month olds? It's pretty significant. Do you really think it's fair and wise to use this large range. I can get on board with 12-18 month, their growing slows a little. My baby (at 8 months) is still growing pretty rapidly and is either swimming in 6-12 month or there is no way they'll still fit at 12 months. It makes me not want to shop at Old Navy for baby clothes. Too much to consider on a brain that already isn't operating at optimum capacity. I'm just saying.

Thanks for your time.

Healing the Culture

This is an awesome apostolate founded by Fr. Spitzer along with Camile Pauley and others. We had the privilege of attending their gala banquet on Saturday night (thanks again Julie!!). I also attended their conference last year, held in Bellevue. What an awesome group doing awesome work.

Check them out:

http://www.healingtheculture.com/

not goodbye...just see you later

We had to say Aloha to one of our favorite people the other day. She's on her way to Hawaii for a fresh start. We wish her all the best and will miss her terribly. Even though the miles will separate us, you will never be far from our hearts. And now we have a very good reason to go to Hawaii!

Oh, and Mel and Jaz had some special moments in the goodbye as well.