Happy Birthday!

Nora Katherine MacDonald 

Born Sunday, June 27 @ 11:09 am.  Weighing in at 6lbs 9 oz. 19 1/2 inches long. She is beautiful.  I have too few words to describe this amazing journey, so I will try to do it in pictures.  This may take a while...

 Time to head to the hospital - Just before 1am

Arriving at the hospital

We got to the room around this time - AM!

OK, we'll skip the grunting, pushing and yelling -- she's here!

Mom and Nora

Happy Birthday, baby!

Love at first sight

Weighing in...

6lbs. 9oz.

Warming up

Daddy helping Nora warm up

Heating up

Our nurse, Karen - she was the best!

Karen and mommy, warming Nora

All warmed up

 Mom time

 

Grammy, meet Nora

 

Nora meeting Auntie Carrie

Bath time

Nap time with Daddy

We have had the most amazing experience here at St. Joes -- everyone has been wonderful.  We love every single nurse and midwife who gave us so much support along the way.  They were so patient with me through my 2 and a half hours of pushing! I think Nora was happy not to have any drugs in her system when she was born.  She was so alert and happy for hours after delivery.  She was certainly willing to eat her first meal of yummy and nutritious colostrum. Yay!

Stay tuned for more photos of Nora -- and probably a whole lot less rambling on about mommy and daddy!

Thanks for all your kind words, support, food and treats (grammy)!

Love, 

Patty, Jamie and Nora 

Friday Night

It's pretty early Saturday morning -- not quite 8 am as I sit down to write this.  But that's how it goes, these days.  Sleep is pretty elusive, so I have to busy myself with other things. 

Last night we had a very exciting evening here at home.  It stormed like crazy.  I have never seen rain so fast and hard since we've lived here. Neighbor Larry was out back tending to the low spot in the alley.  It piles up quick right outside of our driveway and his.  We sat and watched, took photos and shot some video.  We had dinner and watched some of the NHL draft.  We were just settled in on the couch when I noticed some commotion outside.  I looked out to find a HUGE tree in the neighbors boulevard had come down, blocking the street completely.  It was CRAZY! The whole neighborhood was out taking photos.  We did not hear it -- the air is on, of course.  We were somewhat late-comers to the party (shocker), but the whole neighborhood was out.

Thankfully we had Macy there to survey the damage

We have had two similar trees come down like this in the last year now.  The first one happened on a perfectly sunny day.  I was home and heard the crack, it was so loud.  Last night was not particularly windy either.  The tree must have been diseased and the wind just right to knock it down.  Scary.  Thankfully there were no injuries and though there were cars parked right there, the tree fell right between them.  Had it been the tree on our boulevard, falling towards our house, it would have come right in to our bedroom.

Tree down

I was again impressed with the response of the city.  It took less than an hour for them to show up and make considerable progress securing the tree and cleaning it up.  It was quite the ordeal. But in the end the whole incident took probably less than two hours. All that remains of the big old tree is the flat stump, shaved down to the ground.

St. Paul, in action

Not much else to report here.  I've spent the week walking and stretching and trying to keep my mind occupied and baby moving in the right direction.

Macy's galoshes are way cuter than mine

Thirty-nine...

Lots of rain has sure helped the flowers.  Now we need some sun!

I don't think I am going to ramble on for this post (yeah, we'll just see about that).  Not a lot to report this week, outside of that I am still pregnant with no major signs of labor.  I'm feeling pretty good and the contractions come and go with no real pain or too much of a pattern.  I am trying to keep my brain occupied so that I am not thinking about every little ache or pain.  I am feeling a bit huge and would like to get this show on the road -- but a watched pot never boils, right? So I'm really trying to keep my mind off of things. It does not really help that when I go ANYWHERE, people ask me when I am due and how I am feeling. I want to wear a sign stating "I feel fine, folks. Thanks for asking!" I will call that pregnancy rage -- or pregnancy honesty, really.

 

I didn't think I had a picture of me this week. But alas, there I am, walking on the path at a photo-shoot at Como Park.

I am no longer working, which I may have mentioned before.  This is both good and bad.  I don't think I could physically do massage anymore.  And getting myself up, dressed and ready to interact with people is also questionable.  But I've had way too much time on my hands.  You'd think I could busy myself doing all the things that get pushed aside when life is too busy.  But so far I have had too much idle time and very little motivation to do anything useful.  I've cleaned the house, done the laundry, picked weeds (the ones I can get to) and done a boatload of reading (which I can't complain about). On top of that, I've spent a considerable amount of time at the mall. Now, I am generally not a mall person, but maybe I go there in hopes that it will send me in to labor.  It seems as soon as I walk in the door I start having contractions.  I think it's called mall stress.  I have been going out to the Mall of America (MOA) lately - which I guess needs no extra explanation about mall stress.  For a non-mall person, the MOA is quite an undertaking.  But it happens to be the closest mall to our house.  It is also the only place where you can hit Nordstrom and all the critical venues all in one stop.  Believe it or not, it is actually the perfect place for me not to spend too much money.  Sure, I could spend a lot of money there -- but what happens is that I start looking at things and I put them on "my list". I continue this way until I have about 10 things from 10 different stores on the list -- by the time I get to the end, I am usually too exhausted to make it back to any of the stores where any of my list items live, so I end up walking out the door empty handed (empty headed, I may add).

Oh right, I said I was not going to ramble on this week.

We had a really lovely weekend here. On Saturday, we spent the morning picking through old mail and organizing about the house.  In the afternoon we ran around ticking several items off our to-do list.  In the evening, we went to dinner at a place near our house. Mom had given me a gift certificate for my birthday.  It was a really lovely dinner, followed by a DQ cone and a nice drive around St. Paul.

Sunday (Father's Day) was another nice day for us.  We had a nice morning of coffee and leisure -- and then ticked even more items off the list.  I made a little Father's Day dinner for Jamie on his first father's day.  I guess it wasn't spicy enough to truly make it his first father's day.

Father's Day dinner at home

This week is more of the same -- Midwife appointment, Yoga, hurry up and wait, reading, etc.  I could use more book suggestions, if you have them. I'm burning through one about every other day or so.  Could be even faster if I stay away from the mall!

Have a great week!

Still pregnant...

I got flowers from mom for my birthday and they are still beautiful! No, it has nothing to do with today's post.  Enjoy!

I really thought yesterday was the day -- or at least the day I would call the midwife and explain what I was feeling. I started getting quite a few contractions on Saturday (Well, quite a few, I thought -- but what the heck do I know?). I was pretty contraction-y all day Sunday, too. Sunday evening I took a long lavender-filled bath (instead of writing a blog entry, I guess) and what do you know? I felt better. I was almost disappointed when I hit the water and the crampiness left and baby started to move around. I might be crazy, but I think I am a little excited to meet her.

Jamie was quiet all day as I moped about the house, grunting, moaning, breathing and shifting from the exercise ball to the yoga block. After my bath, I announced that I thought we'd be ok for another little white, he breathed a sigh of relief. He said he wanted to get through Sunday and Monday, maybe Tuesday too -- you know, because he has all those meetings at work. Well, baby must have sensed his anxiety and said, "Ok, Daddy -- not today"

I have not slept well in the last few nights. I'm not all that physically uncomfortable, I just seem to have insomnia. I wake up about 4 hours after I go to sleep and I'm wide awake, brain full functioning. I have been trying my relaxation techniques -- the ones I've been learning through my birthing tapes -- but my brain seems to be hyper aware of every little thing. Last night, as I was laying there, wide awake, I thought about how I had not written a blog and so I wrote a blog in my head (a much better blog than this one, to be sure). Let me tell you just how funny and witty it was. But for the life of me -- can I remember all the little things I wrote in my head? I should have had the computer upstairs.

My mind goes to strange places in the middle of the night. I remember thinking about my relaxation tapes (perhaps thinking about how I should use them to get back to sleep). Of course they are not exactly 'tapes'. They are not even CDs. They are copies of files loaded from CDs on to my computer and then on to my iPod. But I still like to think about tapes and refer to my music as tapes. But truth is, tangible media is so far in the past. Our baby girl will not know what a tape is, VHS or cassette -- surely she will be familiar with hockey tape :) But days of blowing on or into something to make it work or , God forbid, waking up to find your dog has chewed through your favorite Madonna tape and now there is a string of warped plastic intertwined in to the fibers of your carpet, are so long gone. My generation will joke about 8 track tapes and vinyl records -- but my guess is that by the time she is bopping her head to the latest boy band, ipods and music files will have morphed in to the next best thing, and probably the next best thing after that. Perhaps you will be able to just start singing a song in your head and it will be downloaded in to whatever device is en vogue at the time. I may sound old here, but it's kind of scary to think about. She will probably read this blog entry, years from now and think, 'mom, you're such a nerd'.

On Sunday, to keep my brain occupied, I tried to fix my sewing machine. I don't really know what is wrong with it, which is the frustrating part. It's a tension thing, I'm sure. I've blown air into all the critical parts and threaded and re-threaded the thread and bobbin a hundred times. It will work like a dream and then, poof, just crap out and get clogged up. Really frustrating. I was able to partially finish two panels of curtains for baby's room. At this rate, she may have new curtains on her 7th birthday. We'll see.

Perhaps I will move on to some no-sew crafts, for now. It's Monday and I have no plans for today, or for any day from here on through baby time. Probably not the best, could spell trouble. I'll do yoga again on Wednesday morning, and another midwife appointment on Wednesday afternoon. Outside of that, it is cleaning, organizing and hurry up and wait.

I am open for craft ideas, if anyone has any. I have embroidery floss and a lot of random fabrics, some paint and a camera. So the possibilities are endless, I'm sure. Wish me luck!

Check back often. We'll keep you posted!

Purple Power!

Perhaps I am feeling like we are getting close.  Perhaps I am just bored.  Whichever, it is Wednesday morning and I am sitting here feeling the urge to update the blog. 

Monday I went to the nail salon for a little retirement celebration (no, not my own retirement) with a few ladies from Lyngblomsten.  I figured this was the last opportunity to get my toenails done.  I certainly can't paint them myself at this point. It was nice and relaxing.  I picked out a nice purple color because I thought that purple would give me power during labor.  I am not usually very adventurous with my toenail color -- but the purple is pretty fun!

The sparkly went straight to my head - ok, it wasn't real

Purple power - purple pampering

Tuesday was a really fun day for us. James had the day off and I had no clients.  We had a bunch of stuff planned, but had just the nicest day of coffee and errands.  I'm not sure we accomplished a ton, but that was ok.  We woke up to a very rainy morning, which turned out to last the entire day.

We had another doctor appointment in the afternoon which went well. Jamie had only one question, "When will the baby come?"  Oh, if it were only that easy.  I continue to make progress in the whole dilating and thinning process.  Could still be weeks -- could be tomorrow.  Baby calls the shots at this point.  Our midwife said that she is small to average in size and her position is good - head down and ready to go.  I didn't gain any weight this week, so maybe that means she's now taking fat from my rear end or other places it has accumulated in the past few months.  One can only hope!

Last night we met up with some of my most favorite women in the world -- my hockey team!  Happy hour shower -- what a fabulous idea. It was so great to see everyone and they have now determined that the baby's name will be Fern Soderquist MacDonald.  Fern, for Fern's (our locale) and Soderquist for the fact that the only Soderquist to carry on the name is a full-blooded Korean boy. He's darn cute, but doesn't exactly look like a Soderquist.  We will update the baby book. Here are pictures from the shower - I will wait on updating on the rest of the week.  We might have to run out and do something crazy just to have something to write about.

Good thing Jamie was there to help with all these gifts

The whole gang

Aimee, Schrof, Devie, Karen & Tracy

These grape-scented boogie wipes are sure to come in handy

Well, we'll save the rest of the weeks updates for Sunday. 

Term!

James at 37 weeks

 

Me at 37 weeks

It's been quite a week here. I may even have to break it down day by day, it seems we had a lot going on.

Monday was Memorial Day and we had about 20 or so people over for the annual brunch. It warmed up early and was very sunny, so it was nice in the shade and pretty steamy in the sun. I know this because I was moving around so much and was not fortunate enough to get spot in the shade. The crowd did not thin out quite as early as we thought, I think the last to leave was close to 3 pm! The rest of the day was kind of a wash between napping and preparing for the week ahead.

Tuesday, June 1 -- My birthday! I didn't really have too much planned, but mom asked if I wanted to do breakfast or lunch. I love breakfast -- so that is what I chose. We went early, to Day by Day Cafe in St. Paul. I had banana pancakes, of course. Mom had a breakfast burrito. The food was delightful, not to mention plentiful, and the atmosphere at Day by Day is hard to beat. It was another sunny morning and we sat in back overlooking the back yard/patio. Really lovely. I had a load of coupons and gift cards burning a whole in my pocket, so it was my plan for the day to run around and spend them. We decided to start at Highland Nursery. I had not planned on flower shopping, but Highland is a great nursery with tons of unique plants and flowers - and close to Day by Day. It's fun to just walk through and get ideas. I bought a few impatients and we were on our way. Next stop, (after dropping the plants by the house) was Hot Mama. I've had my eye on this pajama/robe set for a few months now. I used my coupon that I earned by modeling at the fashion show -- score!

Sadly, this is just about the extent of the gardening this summer

Later that afternoon, I met Jamie and his crew from Hamline out for a little baby shower. They gave us really awesome gifts, including a Red Radio Flyer Wagon! After the shower we took a nice drive along Summit and eventually made our way to Punch Pizza and then on to the DQ for a cone. Banana pancakes, Punch Pizza and a DQ cone -- birthday success.

Yay!

Wednesday was yoga and doctor day, again. Yoga was delicious, as always, and the doctor (midwife) was good. Much to my surprise, I had not gained much weight since last week -- where was the 5lbs of birthday food? I had my finger pricked to check my iron and I had to "go" in a cup for some reason I can no longer recall. We talked about our "birth plan" and learned about what we should expect for early signs of labor and when/who we should call in case water breaks or the contractions get stronger. We also learned that I have started to dilate (yay!). As of today, we are considered full-term and would not be high-risk if we went in to labor. Crazy, right? Seems like just last week I was "going" on a little stick that told us we were pregnant. Time sure does fly.

I worked a very full day on Thursday to catch up from the holiday. I was beyond beat by the end of the day, it took much of Friday to catch up.

On Friday, my cohorts from massage school had a little graduation celebration. Yes, it's been quite some time since graduation, but you know how those things go. People are busy and schedules don't line up. We finally made a date and stuck to it. We had a lovely lunch at W.A. Frost. It was so fun to catch up with my 'Sister' sisters. It was like no time had passed. I guess that's what happens when you spend such an intense year of your life with a few wonderful women.

We had a very lazy Saturday morning. The weather was gloomy with rain, off and on. We hung out at the house and tinkered with computers and the remote control. I am starting to get nostalgic (ahem, hormones) about these lazy Saturday mornings. I feel like there is a bit of a deadline looming to this time we have -- just the two of us. As much as we look forward to baby, we still really enjoy just us.

Today is Sunday. We did absolutely nothing to write about. We are watching playoff hockey and Jamie has started another week of work. I am playing this work week by ear. I have been having contractions throughout the day today as I move around the house. It is not labor, just contractions -- and they go away when I sit and relax. But not sure how much time on my feet that I'll be able to handle. We shall see what the midwife has to say when we go in Tuesday.

We're getting there! I can't wait to come back to this site and post pictures and stories of our baby girl. I'm sure you'll all be pleased as punch when you'll have cute baby pictures to look at and not pictures of us! ha.
Have a great week!

28 days...

I wasn't going to blog today. It does not feel like Sunday, which is generally my day to blog. Well, I should say Sunday night. I'm like a high school kid with a book report due. I sit down at about 9:40 and freak out about what I'm going to write. I cross my fingers and hope not to have too many grammatical or spelling errors and hope that I don't sound like a total dummy. So far, I think it's worked out ok. Thank goodness for spell check.

Feeling as though we've exhausted all locations around the house... we've gone to the alley

36 weeks today -- at the end of this week I will be considered full-term. Which means they will probably tell me, " you could go at anytime now". I can really feel the changes in my body. She's starting to descend. I think they call it lightening -- I don't exactly feel any sort of "lightening", but that is what they call it, nonetheless. Sleep is elusive and back pain has been progressively more present. The yoga is still helping, but at times I can't find a comfortable position to sit or lie.  I'll take one for the team though, it's all for a good cause.

28 days ... not like we're counting or anything

If you are on facebook, you can see a couple of short video clips that I've posted. http://www.facebook.com/PattyMacDonald We went in for another ultrasound. We were hooked up with a fancy new machine which takes video and also does the 3D thing, though that turned out to just be sort of creepy. I have been trying to post them on You Tube -- but apparently I am somewhat of a You Tube rube, it keeps telling me the upload has failed. I will have to figure that out before we get the real show on the road.

We're pretty sure she has Jamie's Fred Flintstones feet.

Not a ton to speak of this week. Doctor, Yoga, Work, repeat. Seems to be a pattern these days. This weekend we've been fairly productive, we've made lists and actually accomplished most of the items on those lists. Jamie has continued to work his tush off and even picked up and extra shift with his second job this weekend -- so at this moment he is napping peacefully on the couch, which also seems to be a pattern these days -- bless his heart.

sorry... I can't stop looking at these pictures of her little mouth and nose

Tomorrow we are hosting the annual Memorial Day brunch here at the house. It is supposed to be quite nice (well, nicer than it's been -- not 98) and we have a good crew of people who are planning to attend. I'm looking forward to the food (of course) and the chance to show off the baby's room. It's always a lovely, laid-back gathering of family and friends. If it's cool enough, we'll have a fire and hang out in the backyard.

Tuesday is June 1, my birthday! Every year, I make no plans and tell people I don't do much for my birthday, and then I seem disappointed when nothing happens. It is silly. This year will most likely be much the same. You can rule out a wild raucous night at the Wild Onion, that's for sure. Jamie's co-workers are having a little shower for him and I've been invited to make an appearance. I am only asking for one thing this year. It is not expensive and not heavy and not breakable. Just one thing. All I want is -- a winning lottery ticket. Is that too much to ask? Message me for our address :)

Lots-o-love from our house to yours!

The heat is on...

... And so is the A/C! It is hot outside.  89 degrees and humid.  We woke up this morning soggy.  It took me a moment to decide whether it was my water that had broken or if it was some other sort of bodily fluid mishap.  Turns out it was just really stinking hot and we were both perspiring.  Gross, I know.  Sorry.  We got up and tried to gut it out before I finally declared that it was impossibly hot and I am too pregnant to deal with it.  A/C on, we left the house in order to enjoy the some mobile A/C while the house cooled down and made our way to the Mall of America - which we knew would be nice and cool.  It was actually not as crowded as you might think it would be on a stifling hot day.  Perhaps others are tougher than us -- well, that goes without saying, really.  We spent the day accomplishing little more than fact finding and picking up groceries.  But it was good.  We couldn't sit around all day waiting for the house to dry out.

This week brought to us a new crib, a rocker glider chair and a nearly complete baby's room.  It is all very exciting.  I don't have a picture of the glider, but it's a pretty standard glider.  Comfortable and neutral -- Jamie says when he sits in it, it's like vacation.  I agree. It's really soothing. Hopefully it will give us some yummy cuddle time and some comfort for those middle of the night feedings. 

What the? It doesn't come assembled?

The crib arrived on Thursday around noon. I just happened to run home for lunch which just happened to coincide with the Fed Ex delivery.  The guy dragged the 70lb. box up the walk, up the front stoop, in to the porch and through the front door. I asked, "you good at setting things up?"  He just kind of looked at my like I was nuts.  Little did he know I had a cool $20 bill in my pocket and I was not afraid to use it. I resisted the urge to tear open the box then and there, I was only home for a short lunch and had to be on my way. Later that night, I opened the box while Jamie was working.  I can't be much of a help when he is trying to do his work and I am holding up random crib items and exclaiming, "Look it!"

On Saturday, Jamie was up and at 'em early and had to head over to Hamline to work graduation ceremonies.  They had been predicting about a 20% chance of rain. But as he was climbing out of the car  there was a pounding rain and lightning all over the place.  I had no idea just what kind of day he was in for -- though being a former "event person", I suspected it would be pretty hairy.  At home, the crib had been sitting for an entire day and a half and I just got too anxious to see what it might look like when it was all put together.  I thought I would just start to get some pieces together, just to get a start.  It turned out to be quite easy, and quite fun as a matter of fact.  About an hour later, voila!

Ta-Da!

After the crib was together I had to tidy the floors and put the rest of the shower items away.  I swept, vacuumed and mopped.  I felt quite accomplished and could not wait for Jamie to get home from work to show him what I did.  All that is left is to do for the room is to figure out a rug (to rug? Or not to rug?), hang the new blinds and then make some curtains.  I don't yet have the curtain rods or the fabric just yet, but it should happen in the next week or so. 

Nearly complete!

Going backwards, Friday was my sister's birthday.  We had a super fun day of just running around and not doing a whole lot of anything specific -- we went shopping, out for lunch, hit some garage sales, etc.  It was lovely.  In the evening we had dinner followed by cake at her house.  She has the best backyard for hanging out.  It was a really great day. 

My energy seems to be lower and lower each day.  Granted I do not really slow down much, but I am feeling exhausted all the time now.  This morning we woke up very early, partly because of the heat and partly because my back started hurting and I have a not-so-fun habit of waking Jamie and "urging" him to get up with me.  We got up early and went downstairs, I started reading on the couch and he joined me.  We both fell asleep around 8:30 or so and woke up at 10am! What the?  I am not, typically, a napper. So I will just assume this is pregnancy related.  After our day out in search of cooler locations, we came home and again, fell asleep for over an hour.

We are 35 weeks today! About 5ish weeks to go.  I can't believe we are getting so close.  We can't wait to see her face and her buns and her little body wriggling around.  She is going to be just the cutest.

I don't have a picture of my belly this week.  We didn't take one and now I am just too hot and tired.  I'm sure you're all just so disappointed, eh?  Just look at last weeks photo and add a pound or two in the abdominal area.

May Showers...

Pre-shower on Saturday

We are 34 weeks today, and soon I will be 34 years old! Wow.  I thought I'd be 23 forever. Anywho... this week was another fast one.  I am having a hard time thinking about what went on because all I can remember right now was that there was the mega big baby shower event on Saturday. 

So leading up to that, I think it was a pretty standard week.  I got a massage, did some yoga, had an appointment with our midwife and worked.  It was a busy week at work, I now recall.  I think my clients should start to place bets as to the last time I plop down on the floor and can no longer get up.  It's soon, I think. Note to self: keep the call button handy.

I've gained 23 lbs., to date.  The midwife said I should teach a class on pregnancy weight gain, because apparently that is right on par with what "they" suggest.  I would love to teach that class. I would call it "Food Consumption 101".  Or at least that is how it feels lately.  I have been trying to stay healthy.    But, in a moment of weakness last week, I stopped at a gas station and bought the monster box of Hot Tamales. I nearly polished those puppies off in an embarrassingly short amount of time. I was not proud -- especially when Jamie found the box stashed in the back pocket of the passenger seat with 7 remaining hot tamales.  Apparently, I felt a moment of self restraint and tried to hide the box on myself.  Real bad. I am generally not a candy eater, but my sweet tooth got the best of me.

Flowers by Jean

As I mentioned before, Saturday was the MEGA  BIG BABY SHOWER event of the century! That is how it felt, at least.  My dear friend, Jean opened her lovely home to nearly 30 friends and family.  Mom and Carrie tried to out do each other in a show of layered cakes.  Carrie made a 16 layer (YES, 16 layers!) cake.  White cake with chocolate -- but the layers were so thin and the chocolate filling stuff just kind of soaked into the cake part, it was amazing and dense and rich and very good.  Mom made a lemon, raspberry layer cake which was light and fluffy and wonderful.  Of course, I had one of each -- I will blame the sweet tooth again.  They were both good and I am not sure the judges are done tallying the votes just yet.  Jean showed off her mad decorating skills.  The flower arrangements were amazing!  Thanks again, ladies, for all your hard work.  It was a really sweet and lovely day.  The mingling and such was all a bit overwhelming for me, because I am not, by nature, a mingler and socializer and --- well -- I am just not all that gracious of a guest of honor.  I did my best, but it was very exhausting. 

Quilt and pillow - made with love by Carrie

By the end of the day, we left Jean's with very full stomachs and a car full of goodies.  I've already spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out what should go where and how everything will fit. Can I get a shoe horn?  We now have pretty much all the bedding we need, including one of the most special gifts I have ever received.  Carrie made a stunning quilt. I was beyond touched. I have been hearing about the quilt for quite some time, but nothing could prepare me for how sweet it was to open.  It really is so sweet and so dear.  I cannot say that enough. 

Inspired by all the gifts and goodies, we came home and before passing out on the couch, we finally made a decision on a crib and hit the purchase button on it - yay! We have only looked at a zillion cribs in the past few months. It is quite a relief to finally have one ordered, it should be here within two weeks.  We were also able to secure a glider chair and some organizational items before the weekend was over.  We are getting there! As soon as we are closer to up and running, I will take more pictures.  We still have a bit of stuff strewn about the room.

In other exciting news, my dear friend, Chrissy is getting married! I am beyond happy for her.  She is just the sweetest and best gal and I am so excited to be able to be part of her special day. That said, I need to have this baby and get into bridesmaid dress shape by August 8! Yes, August 8, 2010.  I could go on - but that will be a blog for another time.  We'll just say that I'm bursting with joy -- and I already have the baby's outfit picked out!

Up next, Carrie's birthday on Friday and Jamie will don the gown for graduation at Hamline on Saturday. I'm sure there will be a few more things between now and then.  We shall see.

Happy 34 weeks!

33 Weeks!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Feeling large 

I love 33, it's one of my favorite numbers.  So I am hoping for one of my favorite weeks.  I've been feeling hopefully lately -- I guess because if  I am not hopeful, then where would I be? In total despair? At yoga on Wednesday, we introduced ourselves and shared one word that came to mind when we think of birth (specifically, our own upcoming births).  I chose the word hopeful, it is no lie.  I am hopeful for so many things, but most of all, right now,  for her sweet and happy little face -- healthy and full of the most perfect life.

Speaking of her cute face -- we got to see her this week! We had an ultrasound, courtesy of Carrie's friend.  We seem to be falling in love with her more every day, just by her movements and rumblings alone. But it was amazing to see her little face, hands, feet, arms and legs! We were able to just sit and watch as she moved and kicked and stretched and scrunched up her face. Smitten.  Of course, we already think she is the cutest kid on the face of the earth.

 

 Her face - she had her hand in front on her nose, so it was hard to see it all at once

As much as we can't wait for her birthday, she's not quite done cooking yet. From her measurements she's around 4 lbs.  So keep cooking, little girl!  We'll have plenty of time to play when you are good and ready.

Her little lips and nose!

It was a quiet-ish weekend here.  We spent some time on Saturday visiting Baby Grand to look at cribs (again).  Feeling a bit overwhelmed by options and prices, convertible, fixed gate, etc. etc.  The gal at Baby Grand is very helpful and before we were out the door we had tried on a few baby slings and made some adjustments on our registry... I think.  We may have left there more confused than when we walked in.  I still love to go though.  So many fun things. The BOB is on order, but not yet in -- should be just a few more weeks. I might want to start pushing it around as soon as we get it.

Another wild Saturday night dinner -- turkey burgers, oven fries and a splash of wine

 

Today is Mother's Day -- and we did not do a darn thing to celebrate (well, we did call our mothers). I was up early and James was not far behind.  He started working on the back of the house (small peeling paint issue) and I went to work on organizing baby's room.  It is in disarray, to put it mildly.  I am hoping it will be in order soon.  The biggest issue is, how on earth do you organize all those little items?  I finally decided the best way to deal with socks that tiny, was to put them in a basket.  Check out the pic -- No, the basket is not small -- we REALLY have that many socks for her. We have as many mittens so she won't scratch her face thingys and hats to protect her from the sun and snow and any other hazards. Where to put all those little things that don't fit neatly into a little square? I have never been a basket person, but it's starting to make some sense.

  Her feet will never go cold!

 

This week will bring another appointment with our midwife, a breastfeeding class and a shower on Saturday! Is it too early to start wishing for next weekend?

Eight Weeks to go

It's late on Sunday and I'm feeling rather uninspired tonight.  But I talked to Dad earlier and he said he was going to log on to catch up with the blog -- so I suppose I should keep the streak alive. Here ya go, Dad!

The only thing more colorful than a Creative Kidstuff store -- my shirt!

This week was fast, busy, hectic and anything but relaxing.  I don't really know why, it was fairly ordinary from what I recall - other than my that my mother and I got the crazy idea to have a garage sale.  We have had stuff piling up in the basement for the last two years -- things in boxes that have never been unpacked from Colorado Springs and New York City.  It was time to unload.  The weather on Friday was not wonderful, patches of rain and clouds on and off, but we did quite well.  I posted a few ads on craigslist, which turned out to work.  Our neighbors also had a sale on baby clothes, books and such -- so we attracted all sorts of people.  Saturday was a sunnier day, but the wind was a little much.  By 2pm we were at our wits end and closed up shop after hauling in a few hundred dollars.  Not so bad.  I think we are done with the garage sale business for a while now though. I was in a wind-blown, sun-dazed coma by Saturday night and I think I may have managed to stay up until 9pm -- maybe.

This morning I participated in a fashion show at Creative Kidstuff on Grand Avenue. Fifty very pregnant ladies and their guests milled about the store and sampled local goodies from cupcakes to baby food at the first annual baby shower event, hosted by Creative Kidstuff and sponsored by various local mom-oriented businesses.  At 10:15 I did my little runway walk in an outfit from Hot Mama -- a fun little boutique store that caters to moms and moms-to-be.  I did not love my outfit -- but it is was far better than the WHITE SKINNY JEANS that they tried to put me in at first.  All in all, it was a fun time.  I won a door prize (a baby feeding kit thingy) and also received a gift certificate for Creative Kidstuff for participating in the show. I also drank two glasses of orange juice and ate a tiny cupcake just before listening to a nutritionist talk about sugar highs and sugar lows.  Mmm, cupcakes.

In the afternoon we went to Loring Pasta Bar for a little Mother's Day celebration -- because mom has decided (for the second year in a row) to head out to California to spend Mother's Day with her favorite child and his cute, darling, adorable family.  Next weekend Carrie and I will have to celebrate Mother's day on our own -- again! Kidding, mom -- have fun in sunny CA!

Tomorrow morning I am going to get a much needed, much overdue massage.  I can't wait. I am feeling tired, stretched, tight and generally discombobulated.   I am hoping it will help me get some barrings on my body -- I seem to be running my belly in to things lately -- which is really awkward when those things are people.

We've gone pink!

 Nine Weeks to Go!!!

OK baby, we have a car seat for you! We're almost ready! 

This week brought more nesting, purging and dusting off of old items to be sold at the garage sale.  The garage is now packed with more stuff than can be displayed inside of it.  We are also short a table or two.  Hoping to get that resolved by early this week so we can be ready to go by Thursday when my mom will bring over her garage sale group from Lyng.  I can't be open on Thursday, since it is one of my busier days at work, but we can be ready for the ladies to rummage through -- a sneak peek.
 

Wednesday, we had another doctors appointment. I did not feel fantastic this week and my iron was pretty low -- so my midwife suggested I start taking some iron supplements -- hoping that it will help with my energy level and the queasiness. But, baby is good and headed in the right direction (head down!) -- I hope she stays that way! I have just been praying like crazy that she's not feet first when she decides she's done cooking.  So, STAY PUT, BABY! I don't know why I still have this picture in my head that she is floating about, arms and legs akimbo like an astronaut in space. She's big now, and packed in there like a sardine, so I don't think she's floating about anymore.
 

Baby's room is still in progress.  The dresser we got from my mom looks fresh and cute with new drawer pulls and new white paint.  Saturday we took a trip to Pottery Barn Kids and picked up a really great shelf that will look cute above the crib.  But, um -- we don't exactly have a crib, yet.  I have looked at approximately eleventy-hundred cribs thus far.  We are still holding out for the best deal on something solid. 

Today is Sunday and it has been anything but lazy.  We woke up early to the sounds of our neighbor across the alley who was already busy with a bobcat and a group of dudes, tearing down his old garage.  I got up and started to work on the baby's room.  Jamie had to run the the hardware store, so he went out back and reported to the boys that while they were bulldozing Steve's garage, he was inside painting a room pink. Sorry, babe -- maybe someday you too can play with large man toys, but today -- pink paint.

We finally decided on what we think may be our tactic for the paint, so we cleaned out the room, washed the walls, taped and got to painting.  I love love love the color -- and outside of a little paint that peeled off the wall where we had taped, but were not planning to paint, it has turned out reasonably well.  Still some touching up to do, but I am excited about how it looks thus far.
 

In the pink at 31 weeks

We had to wrap up our painting early to head to a birthday party.  My Grandpa's sister Evie is 90! Wow, what a party -- tons of people and Evie's artwork was on display all over the two large party rooms at their apartment building.  We hung out with Grandpa and Nefa, ate some food and socialized.   I had some time to catch up with my Grandma's sister, Babs, she reported that she is still looking for a man, preferably one who can drive at night. I guess priorities change when you hit those "golden years".   I had very little time when we got home from Evie's party before I had turn around and head about to another birthday party for my friend Saj (she's the center on my line -- my favorite center!).  Happy Birthday, Evie and Saj! OK, tired now.

 The birthday girl

Hanging with Nefa and Gramps at Evie's party

This week will bring more of the same - working on garage sale stuff, working on baby's room and working on staying upright.

Up next, beyond hocking our goodies in the alley on Friday and Saturday, I'll be participating in a maternity fashion show! Yes, you read that right -- I'll be wearing fashions from Hot Mama and walking the catwalk at Creative Kidstuff! No kidding. Should be interesting.  I guess I'll have something to talk about in my next post!

30 weeks, 3 days...

It's a beautiful Tuesday morning here - they say it's going to be 73 and sunny today.  We've had a just marvelous spring thus far.

I was sick yesterday, just felt crummy and low energy.  I moved two of my clients over to today, canceled one and had the other one covered.  I didn't move far.  It was so nice outside, but I didn't feel well enough to even sit in the back yard.

So today is a busier Tuesday than usual.  I don't have massage clients until 1, but it will be a busy afternoon. I had to run over this morning to put on a gal's socks (long story).  When I walked in, it hit me -- I had been able to put out of my mind just how tough last week was, but not when I walked in.  Last week I had 3 clients pass away.  The hard part about working with aging folks -- they die.  I have to be happy that they are no longer in pain and probably dancing in heaven with their loved ones. But I was personally not prepared to lose 3 in one week.  I had the good fortune to see two of them just before they passed.  It was good to have a little time to sit with them, pray for them -- and give them one last little massage.  They were all sweet and wonderful women, with amazing lives -- some of which was told more by the pictures on their walls than their words.  I had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with some of their family.  Selfishly, it helped me to see that they were "ok" with it... I felt like I could be ok with it too. I was sad to have missed Carol.  Two weeks ago, when I walked by Carol, she looked up and smiled huge at me.  Perhaps doesn't sound like a big deal, but she had not been too responsive to even my voice in the recent months.  I stopped and gave her a squeeze.  Perhaps a little "good-bye" squeeze.

So here's to Norma, Evelyn and Carol - I will miss them dearly.  And here's to hoping for a less eventful week.

We have another appointment tomorrow and soon we'll have to start going more frequently.  Yay!

Happy Tuesday!

Who do you think you are?

This photo is totally unrelated to anything in this post... it just makes me smile.

Last week as I sat and wrote the blog, I watched a show called "Who Do You Think You are?" It follows a different celebrity each episode as they explore the history of their family.  I have only seen this one episode, with Sarah Jessica Parker, so perhaps I should not pass judgment so quickly.  But I had such a hard time with how it seemed to sensationalize a celebrity.  Then, I thought, my blog is just like this show! It seems so self-indulgent.  Sure, I'm just posting a note to relay the events of the week and chronicle the expanding mass of my belly -- but reading back through some of my posts I thought, "OMG, I am totally SJP!"  (Note for the non-tech-speak savvy: OMG= Oh my goodness, SJP= Sarah Jessica Parker). I started to feel that the whole blog thing is a little self indulgent and that I am like sarah jessica parker, smiling and wowing at myself and my amazing life and my amazing family and the amazing way my amazing family was wrongly accused of being a witch -- isn't it amazing that she wasn't an accuser, but actually an accused? Just maybe I am over thinking this a bit, but it's just how it goes in my brain.  All that to say, I will not discontinue this weekly brag letter, because I actually quite like it, and I have never been one to like writing. And who knows, maybe along the way I may find a witch (accused) in my family tree.

OK, so that was a tangent. Here we go...


We are making way for baby! It's been all about nesting and purging, nesting and purging, this week.  Well, not exactly purging, but setting things aside for the big garage sale on April 30 & May 1.  If you are in the area, stop in and buy something really great! Or something not-so-great because you don't want to see me end up with all this junk in my garage.

On Tuesday I spent the day putting the room we painted last weekend back together.  I am still not sure how the whole guest/massage room will work. For now the table is folded and leaning against the wall. It does not take long to set in place.  For some reason (hormones), this hit me like a ton of bricks -- I was really sad!  I have loved my little massage room in the back, where baby will soon call home. It is just the perfect size and nicely appointed with dark shades and good lighting.  I loved that we could be sitting watching bad television and I would say to James, "Want a massage?", and before I'd know it, he'd be on the table with the music playing.   He doesn't get enough massage these days - and these are the days he could really use it!

We're ready for guests again!

This weekend brought more work clearing the basement of garage sale items and moving things toward  the garage. Baby's room is getting, um... closer?  We don't have a crib yet, but we are making space, while still trying to decide on paint colors, patterns, etc. We acquired a very nice dresser handed down to us from my mom, which will be just perfect with some new drawer pulls and a coat or two of white paint.  

Baby's room - in progress

I have been trying to keep up with "exercising" (aka walking).  OK, so no offense to the walkers out there -- but I am an athlete and working out or exercising has always involved sporting equipment, sweat and/or running long distances.  So now that I consider walking my sport, I sometimes need to use the quotations just to remind myself that I am an old athlete/work-out-snob. Anywho... I have really been enjoying my walks and I understand why people do it.  You can actually enjoy your surroundings and listen to the music that is playing in your ears.  So this past week, while I was out on one of my walks, I was listening to Bruce (Springsteen, is there any other?).  I already knew that I might be dealing with an extra dose of hormones, but it was confirmed when "Born in the USA" came on and I started to cry... because -- you know -- our baby will, in fact, be born in the USA.  Come on, really? Yes, really. I was walking down the street crying, then laughing at myself, then crying, wiping tears, laughing and crying again, all the while Bruce was whaling, "BORN IN THE USA..."  She will indeed be born right here in the US of A and for some reason I found that VERY moving. I wish someone had been there to take a picture of me, it was just the most ridiculous thing.

OK, so here is the picture this week -- I know.  Pathetic, right?  We didn't get a good one, even though it was really lovely and sunny this weekend.  So, here is a self portrait of my belly and my chubby legs.  Awesome.   Check back later this week for a real photo.  

The great white belly

Week 29

Week 29

Big weekend here at the MacDonald house -- We completed what might be considered our largest home improvement project thus far.  OK... we painted a room.  But it turned out just lovely! Thanks, Mom, for helping tape and paint and clean and all that stuff.  It goes so much easier with more hands.  We started Saturday with the ceiling which was just a total joy, by Sunday afternoon the room was complete - trim, ceiling and walls all freshly coated in crispy new paint.  The room is now ready to be put back in order.  It will pull double duty as guest room/massage room -- still trying to figure out what that might look like -- but I think it will be ok.  After all, I will not be doing much massage in there over the next few months. That said, anyone interested in coming for a visit (or a massage), your room is now ready.

On Saturday, prior to getting all Bob Villa on the front bedroom, we went for a tour at the hospital.  We learned all sorts of things, like where to park and enter, what to pack and what we might expect throughout the labor and delivery.  It was wonderful. I am so happy that we chose Saint Joe's. Not only is it the same hospital where yours truly was born, but it has a wonderful birthing center and they let you do all sorts of crazy things to help you through the "tough times". We learned about Hypnobirthing, water-birth and birthing balls. Before you pass any judgment on any of those things, you should know that I am open to any and all things that will help makes things more easy and drug-free -- though I am open to medical intervention and drugs and all that stuff too, as needed.  We shall see what happens and how SHE wants to do it! 

I have officially hit the third trimester -- and apparently the third trimester has hit right back.  I was exhausted all week.  I took several naps, including one right out on the patio yesterday afternoon -- I mean, really -- I fell asleep right on the concrete with no chair or towel or anything.  I'm guessing none of our neighbors saw because it must have looked like I'd been serial murdered, right there in broad daylight.  James continued to chip and scrape peeling paint from the back of the house (another DIY moment of the weekend), which was probably clue enough that I was only napping and not, in fact, murdered.

Last week also marked the first full week of Jamie's new part-time (yet very consuming) job.  While MacBaby and I drift off to sleep each week night, he is up cranking away -- and then up, bright and early the next morning to finish before he heads off to Hamline.  It's been quite a grind so far, but hoping to find a good groove to get us through the summer of baby spending.  He is a champion, and I don't think he knows just how much I appreciate his work.  It's nice to have work from home though.  We miss not getting to chat and watch bad tv together, but it's comforting to hear the clicking of his keyboard while I sit and read my book. 

Much to my delight -- and Jamie's chagrin, It's officially garage sale season! I have not gone totally overboard (yet), but I've already scored some great books for MacBaby.  I am kind of easily skeeved out by garage sale items, so I look at only the nicest things with the least amount of germs.  I have  also been a lunatic searching Craigslist for the past few weeks -- I'm looking for a white crib, a car seat, cloth diapers -- or anything else that might be necessary in our arsenal of baby items. We shall see, I have similar issues with things on craigslist.  Perhaps it's just the whole craigslist killer thing.  Though I am pretty sure people selling baby items are just nice people who are trying to get back some of the money that they've sunk in to their children.

I hope this week brings more lovely weather and perhaps a nap or two.  I am starting to think about life beyond all my massages each week.  It's getting more and more difficult to get up and down off the floor and to stoop over to try and massage someone's back who is sitting in a wheelchair.  I know I've said I would miss my clients, but I really will.  Every Thursday, I give massage to a lady who is a former nun, she does not speak (verbally), but each week wants to know how baby is doing and at the end of her massage she blesses the baby with a little kiss and the sign of the cross.  Some of my experiences are priceless, I could write a book already! I feel so blessed to be the vessel for this new little being growing inside of me. I also feel blessed to be a part of people's lives who are transitioning into the next phase of life (or afterlife) as hard as that can be.

He Is Risen!

We had a busy Easter-filled weekend.  Mom, once again, showed off her mad culinary expertise by putting on a wonderful brunch, Saturday morning.  We ate too much and rolled ourselves out the door to another beautiful spring day.  We've had wonderful weather this week.  Sunny and 60's... even some 70's.

We started today with Church, and sang some of the old Easter favorites, much to Jamie's delight -- even though he doesn't really participate in the singing part.  The kids hunted for Easter eggs on the lawn of the church, they were filled with birdseed.  They were instructed to find the eggs, open -- then feed the birds by sprinkling the seed around.  I think I would have been mighty disappointed if my eggs had been filled with birdseed, when I was a kid. But maybe that's just me.  It was cute, nonetheless.

After church, we went to The Krohn's for Easter dinner.  It's always fun at the Krohn's. Their big house is filled with kids and dogs and lots of activity.  There was another Easter Egg hunt, after dinner.  These eggs were colorful and sports themed, and filled with candy, finally! Again, cute.

Apparently my growth has continued, unabated, which is apparent in this week's photos. Maybe it's just the way I am standing, or the outfit I'm wearing.  Ha, wishful thinking!

 28 Weeks