2009 in Review

If 2008 was a year of upheaval, then 2009 was a year of settling in and focusing on family and friends. Here are some of my favorite moments that made this year so special.

- New Baby. Jacob is such a joy, and after all of the heartache and stress of trying to conceive him, I'm so so thankful that he is here: happy, healthy, and beautiful. It was really exciting leaving his gender a surprise, and I highly recommend it for the SECOND time around.

- New friends. Ok, maybe they aren't all brand new to 2009, but we definitely grew closer this year and started hanging out on a regular basis. I've really enjoyed my walks, talks, and lunches with Jill, family dinners and playtime with the Vugrin's, and breakfast, shopping, and pregnancy adventures with Stephanie. I would be at such a loss without my friends. As would Jo seeing how she's friends with their kids as well :-)

- Preschool. Whoever invented part-time preschool was a GENIUS. Jordan loves preschool, Mama loves preschool, it's a win-win for everyone. Jordan has learned about community in a classroom, best friends, sharing (still a struggle), and how wonderful teachers are.

- New skills. "Skill" may be a stretch, but I did take a few classes at the end of the year and it reminded me how fun it is to learn new things. I hope to continue the trend in 2010 with some photography classes.

- Hiking. We have become quite the hiking family. It's a cheap replacement from our normal travels, and it's very convenient that we have such great places practically at our backdoor.

- Family visits. Just about everyone came to see us this year at least once, and it was great. It's the last time we'll be able to host visitors comfortably, given that our guest bedroom disappears in about 5 days :-) Hotel Kropka will become Hostel Kropka in 2010.

Predictions for 2010? I really don't know. More of the same I Hope!!!

1st Christmas in the ABQ

Boy, Christmastime in this house must mean LAZINESS!! I can't believe how much I haven't accomplished this week, cooking and eating aside, and it's been great. Here's the rundown of how we celebrated:

- Jordan entertained us with her singing at her preschool's Christmas program. It was really cute; both the 2's and 3's class performed, and then served hot cocoa and cookies on the playground.

- Jordan and Mama did some Xmas shopping together at the mall, where we picked up a tag on the Giving Tree and I tried to teach her about giving to other people. She doesn't get it yet. What she did get was there's a Carousel at the mall, and she can ride it when Auntie Katherine comes to town.

- Great day, Auntie Katherine comes to town for a whole week! We did lots of stuff with her: family pics, trip to the mall to ride the Merry-Go-Round, and Supper with Santa at the Aquarium. Supper with Santa was a bit of a bust. Jo was under the impression that Santa would actually sit down to eat with us. Instead, he just did a few walk throughs of the restaurant. And the food was bad. But, it was still festive, and set us up for the walk through the River of Lights.

- The River of Lights was awesome! This will definitely become a family tradition. We didn't get to stay too long b/c it was cold and Jacob woke up hungry and pissed. But the lights were really neat and imaginative.

- We had a decent snowfall on the 23rd, and Jordan got to build her first snowman. I think this made a big impression on her, and she didn't seem to care that Daddy hadn't picked up dog poop in several days. When the snow started to melt, Frosty took a head dive into a big frozen pile of poo, and my scarf and beret are still laying tainted in the garage.

- Christmas Eve was about fun and games and eating. We ate so much junk these past two weeks, it shames me to even think about it. Jamie coerced me into the poker games going on between himself, Katherine, and my Dad. Big mistake. I had no cash of my own, so Jamie covered my debts, which were considerable after 3 fateful rounds of Knock. I left to go pick up Karen from the airport, and made a small comeback upon my return. Santa mysteriously repaid all of our losses the next morning....

- Karen arrived late Xmas Eve and met Jacob for the first time. Before we knew it we were back up, opening presents and going through stockings. Jordan and Jacob are spoiled rotten. We all had a nice Christmas.

- My Grandma arrived on the 26th, and hasn't put the baby down yet.

- My parents Birthdays are both on the 28th, and it was my Mom's big 60th this year. We left Jamie with the kids and headed to the Sandia Casino. Mom's present was gambling money, but she wouldn't spend it. Karen and I had a good afternoon on both the slots and the blackjack table.

- New Year's Eve we were all asleep by 10:30 :-)

- New Year's Day Mom cooked the big dinner, but we forgot the black-eyed peas!! So the next day we did the big dinner again WITH the peas and champagne. We also went to the sledding play area on the mountain on New Year's Day. Jordan had a blast, and liked checking out all the other kids' sleds.

- And today is everyone's last day together :-( My family leaves tomorrow morning and Jamie goes back to work. It's going to seem so quiet and lonely. I'll be sure to plan something fun for the kids and I so we're not too bummed.

Merry Christmas to Me

I have the house to myself!! For like an hour! Such luxury, what shall I do? Nap? Wrap presents? Not waste it on my blog!!

Latest Jordan Goofiness

Jordan's got some new games and sayings we find amusing. Here's a sample:

- she lines her library books up, propped open, on the floor and calls it a castle

- she mixes up her propositions "to" and "for". She'll say "Is this cookie to Mama?" (why, yes it is); "Are we going for the grocery store?"....I wonder if she's thinking "two" and "four" instead of "to" and "for".

- she's into labeling people her best friend. There's a little girl at school she calls her best friend, and they are attached at the hip. But she'll also say Nana is her best friend and Mama can't be her best friend. Huh.

- sometimes when Jacob starts crying, she'll grab his little elephant toy and wave it an inch from his face. She says she's making him happy. I asked her to entertain him this way one day when he was sounding off and I couldn't get to him. Now this is her go-to (or her go-for?) solution anytime he cries and she's feeling maternal.

- I think Jo may have figured out how to fib. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Yesterday was my turn to provide the snack at preschool, and the drink was apple juice. When we got home for lunch, Jo was thirsty. She told me they had milk at snack that day. Then she asked to drink juice.

- when Jo wants something she thinks the answer will be No for, she whispers the request.

- Jo likes to start off by saying "Mama, Mama, I have to ask you a question." When I say "OK, what is it?" sometimes she's already forgotten and responds with "What??"

- our threats to withhold certain privileges, toys, etc for poor behavior are failing. If Jordan won't pick up her toys (a daily battle) and that means she can't go to the park, then she just tells us "I don't want to go to the park." Lately she also hasn't wanted a cookie, to watch her Xmas shows, or Santa to bring her presents.

- Jordan says some really amusing things, and we laugh. We're not laughing at her, we're just tickled by whatever she's blurted out. She doesn't like it, and will hold up her hand and say "Don't laugh, Mama, it's not funny."

- Jordan's hooked on Christmas music. Every time we're in the car, we have to listen to the Christmas station on the radio. I don't mind, but they do play the same songs OVER AND OVER. Yet I still don't know all the words. Frosty the Snowman came on, and I was requested to sing along. When it got to the part I didn't know, I went "dah dah dah", and Jordan says, all serious, "You need to learn this one, Mama."

Girls' Afternoon

We had a fun girls' day out this afternoon. My Grandma is in town for the weekend, and Jordan and I went with her to get pedicures. It was Jo and Grandma's first time. to get a pedicure (well, they just painted Jordan's toes). Grandma liked it, and Jordan seemed a little unsure about the whole thing. I really thought she'd be more into it, especially since it was an activity without her brother along. But I let Jo pick whatever color she wanted, and she chose a super sparkley bright green,right away without hesitation. She has Grinch toes. Grandma liked Jordan's sparkles so much, she had them put red sparkles on her red polish. I guess I'm the conservative, I got plain red. So we're all Christmas-y.

One Month Gone By

My baby boy is a month old today. It's the last time I'll ever have a one-month old :-( I try not to think about all of the "last times" too much, just enough to make sure I pay attention to the moment and not wish him to grow up too fast. Jordan and I are on our own during the day now that Nana and Pa went back to Austin after their month-long visit. It was so nice! I got so much help and so much sleep! And Jordan had not-stop entertainment. We're adjusting, the world is full of moms who do it (and much harder things), but there's no doubt that we've been spoiled.

We took Jacob to the doctor for a weigh-in yesterday, and that pork chop is already almost 9 pounds! He's doing really well. Honestly, he's an easy baby, but he's going to eat me out of house and home by the time he leaves for college. He must be going thru a growth spurt now because he's eating a full meal every 2 to 2 1/2 hrs, with the poopy diapers keeping pace. Costco needs to come up with even bigger boxes of supplies....

Jordan's adjusting pretty well to having a new baby brother. She's very affectionate to him, is interested in what we do to take care of him (oh, I hope she doesn't talk about her Mama pumping breast milk to her schoolmates!!!), and she gets just as frustrated as we do when Jacob cries and we can't figure out how to get him to stop. She likes to say all of the things Jacob can't do because he's too little, and she really likes all of the extra TV she's getting to watch while I feed and clean and redress baby boy.

All in all we're doing ok. More sleep would be wonderful, but at least no one has gotten run down and sick, which is a miracle given preschool germs, cold weather, flu season, and visitors.

Thanksgiving Day

I did it, I pulled off Thanksgiving Dinner with a newborn. It's a good thing he was born two weeks early because I don't think I could have swung this last weekend. Of course I had lots of help from Nana and Pa that freed me up to cook. I was going to add the recipes to the recipe blog, but I'm kind of sick of the subject :-) This was our menu:

- Turkey breast with herb butter and pan gravy
- Sausage and apple stuffing
- Three-veggie gratin (potatoes, yams, and butternut squash)
- Green beans with onions and pancetta
- Dinner rolls (a la Costco)
- Fresh cranberry sauce
- Asti Spumante and St. Clair Cab-Zin (NM wine)
- Chocolate bourbon pecan pie
- Apple pie
- Pumpkin ice cream torte

We don't really have any Thanksgiving traditions besides stuffing our face and watching the UT/Aggie football game. I tried to get Jordan to tell us what she's thankful for, and she just looked at me like "Wha?" I got the same look from Jamie. I tried to get Jo to watch the Macy's parade with me this morning and she thought it was boring. I got the family picture in front of the dining room table, and got a picture of Jacob eating his Thanksgiving dinner (which I won't share) since I have a similar picture from Jo's first Thanksgiving. And Jacob wore Jo's Turkey Day outfit from when she was a baby, so that was cute. Now we're watching the game with full bellies, tired feet, and hoping for some peace and quiet. Jordan is waving a 12th Man towel and cheering for the Aggies, so the game isn't off to the best start. But it's been a pretty good day.

Much to be Thankful For

Ah, Thanksgiving. What a perfect holiday....it's about food, family togetherness, reflection, and being lazy on the couch after cooking all day, stuffing your face, and enjoying the sounds of someone else doing the dishes while you eat dessert helping #3. Perfect.


I have a lot to be thankful for, as I do every year. This year was maybe my best yet. Here's my list of what I appreciate most in my life:


- A fun and loving daughter and beautiful, healthy baby boy. Jordan and Jacob couldn't be any more precious, and I'm so lucky to have such wonderful children. May we always be so fortunate. And may they always be so healthy.


- Supportive and loving family. I'm lucky to be able to spend these years at home with my kids while they're young while Jamie provides for us all. I'm lucky to have parents that spend so much time with us, helping us out whenever and wherever they can so we have even more opportunities to enjoy our children and take time for ourselves as well.


- Ability to host family and friends, especially at the holidays. I love a full house and company to cook for. I'm glad everyone is able to come to us while we're travel-restricted. I'm excited to spend our first Albuquerque Christmas at home with so many.


Now on a lighter, less sappy note:


- I'm thankful for cable TV.... I've spent the better part of November on the couch, nursing a newborn, watching HOURS and HOURS of television. I can't imagine the horror of doing it with only network programming available. Ugh.


- I'm thankful for the ability to make pie.

- I'm thankful for dishwashers, especially silent ones.

- I'd be really, really thankful for a 3 year old that could entertain herself while we watch the football game.

More Musings on Life as a Mother of Two

What, oh what, will I do when my parents go home next week?!? All I have time to do is feed Jacob, change his poopy pants, feed him again, change my clothes when his diaper leaks and he pees all over me, get him down for a nap, take a quick shower, and then feed him again!! As far as playing with Jordan, sometimes I feel like "Who's Jordan?" Not that she wants anything to do with me anyway with her Nana being here. Only Nana can read her naptime/bedtime books, tuck her in, snuggle her, and wipe her butt. Jordan gets sick of me asking her if I can do stuff, and she tries to clarify the situation by proclaiming "I want Nana all the time." I'm sure I'll figure it out when they leave. I did win over Jordan (briefly) last night when we both wore our matching owl PJs. She liked that, and was Mama's baby for 10 minutes or so in the rocking chair. It was nice :-)

Jacob is doing well; he's 3 weeks old today! He's my little eating machine, but I'm glad he's finally putting on good weight and chubbin' up. I'm having the same milk supply issues I had with Jordan, but much worse. We had been going to the pediatrician pretty regularly for weigh-ins, and at one point he'd only gained an ounce in a whole week! So the doctor said FEED THAT KID (formula). Jacob is much happier now that his Mama has stopped starving him.... But it is a bummer not to be able to just rely on breastfeeding :-(

I have been able to do some of my normal activities (only because my parents are here to help with everything else). I've been cooking most of the dinners this past week, I've run a few errands, and Mom and I finished most of our Christmas shopping for the kids yesterday. But the picture taking has slacked off and I haven't been keeping up with the blog, emails, or phone calls. All in good time...

They're only babies once and it's sinking in that this is my last show. So despite the sleepless nights, dusty house, and unopened mail, I am enjoying these precious weeks. Really, how could I not?

Jordan's Halloween

Halloween is my favorite holiday, and it's rubbed off on Jordan as well. With Jacob's arrival, I never got to blog Jo's festivities, but she had too much fun to not write it all down. Here's how we did Halloween:

- After nap we did pumpkin carving and decorating. Jamie and Pa gutted the two bog pumpkins we got at McCalls and Pa and I carved them. Jordan and Nana decorated Jordan's pumpkin with markers and construction paper. Check out the cool troll feet.
- I made a lasagna for dinner. Since then, Jordan has referred to pasta dinners as "Halloween food".

- Jordan and I got dressed up in our costumes and we took pictures. Jordan was super cute as a flying monkey, and I'm really thankful for these pics because they were taken less than a day before Jacob's birth.


- I had to sit out Tricks or Treats this year, but I did walk to two houses in the cul-de-sac with her. Then Daddy and Pa took over, and Nana and I handed out candy and watched the Horns whoop up on Mizzou.

- Jordan pooped out early this year compared to last. Jamie thinks her wings slowed her down. When she got home, she had a great time helping Nana hand out candy and see all of the kids in costume.

- Ever since Halloween, and until she runs out of the candy, Jordan has wanted to play Trick or Treat several times a day. She gets her candy bowl and hands out candy to a trick or treating grandparent wearing a witch hat, and then they trade roles. Jordan likes to request x number pieces of candy from the bowl. I hope she realizes she can't do that when she goes out next year.

First Week Home

We've all had a wonderful first week home with Jacob. Nana, Pa, and Grandma are here, and Jamie is off of work for two weeks. Jacob is an easy going baby, he likes to snuggle and he even naps in his bassinet. Jordan is the proud big sister, and eating up her time with grandparents. She's got some new games she's made up: Trick or Treat, Pa Troll, and Birdie Nest. Family and friends have been calling to check up with us and hear about Jacob. And Dad bought us a computer camera and installed Skype so we'll be able to video conference when they go home.

Jacob is doing so well. He was having a problem with jaundice, and we had to go to the lab several mornings in a row for bili tests. By the third morning, he just gave up crying while they bled his heel and calmly waited for the tech to finish. He's super chill :-) Anyway, he's fine now, and we have a week off before his 2-week checkup. Which is good because it's stressful taking such a small baby out in public, especially to hospitals and doctor's offices.

Tomorrow Jacob will be a week old, and I'll be thinking that time is flying by. It already feels like he's always been here, he's so easy to take care of and love. We're so thankful to have him with us.

Jacob Xavier

Baby is here! And baby is a BOY!!! Jacob Xavier was born November 1st at 10:18 a.m., weighing in at 6 lb 13 oz and 19 1/2 inches long. He is perfect :-) And everything went wonderfully. I'm so thankful for many things, specifically that he is healthy, he is content, he waited for his Dad to get back from a business trip, he waited for his Nana and Pa to arrive to watch his big sister, he waited for his Mama to enjoy Halloween, and what a cool Birth Date he has!

Sunday morning I woke up relaxed from a (rare) restful night's sleep, but feeling a little funny. Jamie was dressed to go run, and I told him to wait. I thought something might be going on, and given my experience with Jordan, I thought there would be no question of whether I was in labor or not. But after 30 minutes of hemming and hawing, I couldn't tell, and was too afraid to stay home, so we packed up and went to the hospital. I was afraid they'd send us back home, but there are worse things that could happen.

Everything went so smoothly compared to my hospital arrival with Jordan. I was processed through triage, determined to be 7 cm and 100% effaced, and admitted. By the time we were in a delivery room, I started having "real" contractions that weren't bad. I requested, and received, an epidural. Oh My!! SO much better than the alternative! Despite the epidural, I could feel Jacob kick me the whole way out. He's always been a kicker.

Jacob was a surprise. The doctor asked Jamie if he wanted to announce the sex, and when he said that, I looked up and saw our son for the first time. My first thought was he was tiny like Jordan. But Jamie thought he had a chubby tummy, and sure enough, he weighed a pound more. It was a while before they weighed him, and Jamie was waiting to call family and friends until we knew the details. It was so much fun to hear announce "It's a Boy!" and share the name (we always keep the names a secret).

Due to H1N1, the hospital was completely shut down to children, so Jordan could not visit and someone always had to stay home with her. We didn't have the stream of visitors we had in Austin, nor could we since we had to be such germophobes this time. Because of that, and because we were doing so well, we were happy to go home as soon as we could be released. Jacob did pretty well that first night, but it's still not like being home with Grandma's to help out and cook you good food to eat.

When we arrived at home, we waited for Jordan to come outside and meet her baby brother. Her reaction was priceless. First she saw me. I pointed to my belly and asked Where did the baby go?? That may have been a mistake. Jordan got this totally freaked out look on her face and I thought she was going to cry. So we steered her over to the car so she could look in. Her first comments were "Oh, a baby! He's so cute!" and "My baby brother Jacob". She was really excited to meet him. Her Pa had shown her videos he'd taken in the hospital, so she'd already learned of baby brother Jacob, and commented on the fact that he "Doesn't go Whaa Whaa Whaa??" and that he "Can't walk". Once we got him inside, she sat right by him and started to pet his hands and watch him. Her attention wasn't without bounds of course. Within a few hours she was telling her Grandma to "put him in his bed and play with me".

It's been a great first night at home. I even got in a catnap before dinner, despite Jordan's squeals and ruckus downstairs. We're so excited to have this new addition, and so thankful that all has gone wonderfully.

The End is Near

It's been an exciting week, to say the least. I went in for my 38th week OB appt on Tuesday to hear that I'm 5 cm dilated and will probably have the baby by the weekend. Oy!! This sent me into a frenzy of phone calls and last minute preparations (for Jamie to do) while I sat with my feet up and my legs crossed. We dug out the baby stuff (really, a minimal amount of stuff for the first few weeks), packed bags for me and Jordan (she's banned from the hospital :-( , gave Jamie what may be his last haircut of the year, and have been calling all of the health department clinics in search of H1N1 vaccines (ABQ just got them, but they keep running out of the shot and I can't have the spray). All of our friends here having been calling the house to see how they can help, which is really helpful. I can almost sleep at night knowing Jordan has places to stay and my parents will be here by Friday evening. Everyone seems to think the baby will be born on Halloween (Jo included) since that's my favorite holiday. We shall see....!!

A White Halloween?

I've never had a white Christmas, but we almost got a white Halloween this year. We woke up this morning to snow, quite a bit of it actually, although it's not sticking because it's really not that cold out. It snowed all morning and some more around lunch. Jordan kind of slept in this morning, and I knew when she woke up she'd be really excited to see it snowing. Sure enough, I hear "Good Morning Mama.....It's snowing!!! I put my boots on, it's snowing!!" It rained before it snowed, and I was hesitant to let her go out and play, but I figured a few minutes couldn't hurt. So once she ate all of her oatmeal and let me bundle her up, she got to play outside. She ran around making tracks, played soccer, played with Zoe (who also likes the snow), and romped around until I caught her making snow angels and forced her back inside because her backside was soaking wet. Something about that snow is really invigorating to little kids; she's been a wild monkey the rest of the day. Me, I just want to nap on the couch!

What the???

We all went to Costco yesterday for a quick beer and chips run prior to the UT game. Jamie was mad because he'd poured himself a big bowl of salsa before verifying we had any tortilla chips in the house. Anyway, we're checking out: I'm there, Jordan's sitting in the cart, we have beer and wine. AND HE GETS CARDED!!! I'm like, what the hell??? Did they think he was my teenage son?? Or I'm some cougar that got knocked up by a high school kid? Jamie has gray hair!!! I don't have a single gray hair! I haven't been carded in years. Baby-faced ba$tard...

My ABQ Girls

My ABQ Girlfriends treated me to a lovely baby shower and afternoon tea yesterday. It was awesome: girly, fun, and oh so yummy! We went to the St. James Tea Room in Old Town, where they served us a full lunch of savories, scones and biscuits, and dessert! Plus three teas. And the icing on the proverbial cake? Denise!! My buddy from Austin booked a (literally) last minute plane ticket and SURPRISE, there she was in the tea room :-) I cried, and then cried again when I found out she brought me a piece of Lemon Rosemary cake from Chez Zee in Austin. I'm so thankful that she came, and that Jill helped engineer the whole thing, and that Jamie provided me with a full day of freedom for time with my girls.

The shower was really cool. I've never been "to tea" before, and I just might turn into a tea convert. The first was a strawberry flavored tea, the second was butterscotch rum (OMG!), and the third a mint tea that I forgot to try. Probably because I was stuffed. The food was all finger food, and there were tons of different things to eat. I felt totally spoiled and am so grateful I've made such wonderful friends in our new hometown. Here they are, from left to right: Kay, Kate, Denise, and Jill.

Baby Clothes

I started a nesting project. I guess it's a nesting project... I made Jamie get down the tubs of baby clothes and blankets for me to sort through in preparation of the big event. It was an interesting process. I thought I would get all weepy at the sight of all of those cute clothes, and at remembering Jo being that little. But it was fun, and relaxing. I think this was because:

A) I have another baby on the way. I'm sure it'll be a different scene when I sort thru these clothes "for the last time".

B) It truly seemed like she wore these clothes a long, long time ago. I didn't get the "time flies" nostalgia/quesy feeling. I'm thankful for that, because time does fly, but I think I've tried really hard to enjoy the moment, and then capture as much as I can on film/blogs. So time is not completely lost.

C) Jordan was right in front of me being goofy and fun, enjoying sorting thru her old clothes and holding them up for me to see. So it's hard for me to wish back the days when she wasn't so animated.

D) I am so utterly convinced that this baby is a boy, that I was relieved to find all of the neutral, and even boyish, infant clothes we have.

E) Jordan had SO MANY clothes, everybody bought her a ton of clothes, so she never wore the same thing over and over. So individual outfits don't really stand out in my memories, because she hardly ever wore the same thing twice.

Of course, there's always one exception: the cherry newborn onesie. She wore this home from the hospital. It was the tiniest outfit we had and it still swallowed her (she was only 5 lb 6 oz by the time we left). And it was the very first thing I ever bought for her. So I'll never part with it. And it still makes me a tiny bit weepy :-)

The ABCs

Keeping Jordan awake in the car when she's really sleepy is a battle. I usually tell her "no sleeping!" and she screams back at me, then closes her eyes again. If she sleeps for 5 mins in the car, she won't take her nap. It's a lose-lose situation.

So today on the way home, after a fun morning of early Xmas shopping and lunch with a friend, we got stuck in the big I-40 construction mess. And Jo started to nod off. She hates my singing (I mean, who wouldn't?), so I started to sing to get her riled up, but it didn't work. So then I started to sing the ABCs all wrong. Oh my goodness, she had a FIT!! "NO NO NO MAMA! That's not right! Do it again!!" Eureka! I have a new way to annoy my kid :-)

What Jordan's been up to

I was going to blog about the pumpkin patch, but after working on the pictures for so long, I'm burned out on that subject. And besides, we're going back Thursday with her preschool, so there might be a blog entry yet. It's time for another download of random Jordan antics, so here's some of her latest quips/games that I don't want to forget.

- Jordan loves to "play Wii" with Jamie, which really means: watching him play, telling him which princess to be and what car to drive (they play A LOT of Mario Kart), watching him pick up the Mii's and move them around (they wiggle), and sabotaging (shoving) him on the Wii Fit balance board.

- Jamie gave Jordan a bath the other night, and wrapped her up in her towel, and I guess taught her a few tricks. She came in to see me, told me she was a vampire, and that she wanted to suck my blood. So even Daddy is caught up in the Halloween spirit this year :-)

- Jordan has a little plastic toy spider, like the kind you get on a ring. He's been laying around on the floor downstairs. I was running over the floor with the vacuum while Jo had a snack, and she comes running up to me, mouth stuffed with cracker, saying "don't vacuum my spider!!" So she does know the consequence of leaving her toys about. But he was fine.

- Jordan wants to "get big", "grow up", etc. Specifically, these are things she wants to be able to do as a "big kid": use the middle seat belt (it comes out of the car's ceiling, she's nuts for it), drink Daddy's beer, go to the Elementary school down the street.

- Sometimes Jo fights us about brushing her teeth. It happens when she doesn't want to be interrupted. So I tell her if she doesn't brush her teeth, they'll fall out; this usually ends the battle. The other day she wouldn't sit still for me to put on her socks. I was getting frustrated with her, until she asked "are my toes going to fall off?".

- Jo started a new game today in the car, where she tells me to sing a song and tells me what song she's going to sing. We're supposed to sing our songs at the same time. But once I start singing mine, she can't keep hers straight and winds up singing along with me. She keeps trying to go back to hers, but just can't manage.

- Jo likes to play doctor, pronounced "Dotcor". She goes thru all of the tools, tells us we're getting a flu shot, and then the exam usually ends with instructions to "push the baby out". Last night, Jamie had twins.

- Jordan's grown sensitive to emotions. At least with me. When I get after her, she asks if I'm mad. Or if I seem mad about something, she asks if I'm mad (You mad, Mama?). Then she asks, hopefully, "Mama, you happy? You happy now, Mama?" The other night she was really worn out and cranky and starting to have a fit, but didn't want to go to bed. She tried to convince us, while crying, that she was "a happy girl".

Balloons

Well, this year's Balloon Fiesta wasn't a total bust after all :-) We went to the Special Shapes launch on Friday morning and had an awesome time. It was chilly to be sure, and we had to get up at 4:30, but it was so worth it. It's so cute to hear Jordan say "fiesta", point out the different balloons, and get excited about the school bus ride to the park. I had told her the night before that we would have to get up really early and it would still be dark outside. When I went to wake her up that morning, she put a big smile on, told me what was on the agenda, and was ready to go!

The special shapes seemed a little lacking this year. There were definitely less balloons, and maybe it was just not as overwhelming as the first time you see them. But we saw our favorites (Arabelle the Dairy Cow) and some new ones (Pepe Le Pu, the space shuttle). What was really cool this year was the pole grab competition. Last year we kind of had to hustle to leave because people were coming to work on the house. But this year we stuck around, ran into some people Jamie works with, and watched the pole grab. The wind was just right and the balloons clustered right overhead and stayed nearby a long time.

Balloon Fiesta is the most photographed event in the world, and I believe it. I have as much fun taking pictures there as I do watching the show. As usual, Jordan evaded all attempts of mine to photograph her. I really wanted a pic of the two of us together, and I had to wrestle her to get it. Likewise for our family picture. Amazingly my pictures came out. I say that because today I grabbed the camera to take pics of the roses Jamie and Jordan cut for me, and realized I had it in manual. Yep, all of my Balloon Fiesta pics I took after I put the polarizer on were in manual; I must have hit the wheel. As they say, better lucky than good :-)

Cake Graduation

I successfully completed my cake class I've been taking the past five weeks. At least according to my Wilton "diploma". Although I feel like I flunked out on the roses; but that's ok, I'm not too interested in making roses. I made three cakes during the class, and managed to share out an entire cake, so that's good.

Week 2

Week 3 -got squished in the box on way home

Week 5

Jordan was excited about me taking this class, she's going to be disappointed there's no cake for us next week. But I plan on making one for my pregnant friend who's little girl is due. I asked her if I could bring her some food, and what would she like, and she said she wanted a cake :-) Smart girl!

My Fashionista

I took Jordan shopping for clothes again today.... I just can't resist those Children's Place coupons, and they are a really good deal. And it's REALLY fun to dress her up in cute clothes to wear to school. And she always gets SO many clothes as gifts, that I don't buy for her that often. Lately my friends with boys have been warning me that there's just not the same plethora of cute boy clothes out there as the highly marketed girls clothes, so I better enjoy it while it lasts (yes, still assuming this baby is a boy!). So there you go, those are all of my excuses for buying more clothes for Jo. Here is our fab purchase from today. Jo LOVES it, and wants to wear it around the house despite the warm weather. I call her my little teddy bear.

Fall Foilage Hike

We did what will likely be our last hike for some time yesterday in the lovely Sandias. We've been planning to hike the 10K Trail (named for the elevation, not the distance) so we can get some family pics amongst the yellow Aspens. Yesterday was due to be a series of mild disappointments (see Balloon Bust post), and the hike somewhat followed suit.

The weather was great, but the trail was hard for me. I need to start paying more attention to the elevation maps... From where we started, there was no elevation change. Clarify, no NET elevation change. But plenty of ups and downs in route, which normally wouldn't be any big deal except I've easily packed on 30 lbs already. At least I had my backpack to act as a counterweight to the belly.

The trail was really pretty, but it was mostly pine. What few aspens we saw only had leaves way up above the canopy; no good for taking pictures in front of. I had just about given up, and we stopped for a snack while Jamie ran ahead. It turned out we were only a few hundred yards from the end of the trail, and just beyond was a beautiful overlook with plenty of fall color. Of course, and I always seem to forget this, just because I find a pretty spot for pictures doesn't mean Jordan will cooperate. And today was no exception. So I'll just have to be content with the few shots I got, my own memories.

But most importantly, I give thanks that Jordan likes to go do these things, she's a really pleasant hiking buddy, and that we have such nice family outings so frequently.

Another Balloons BUST

Despite our high hopes for Balloon Fiesta this weekend, we are 0-for-2 on seeing a Balloon Glow. Last year was a bust year for us as well as our out of town guests that planned their trip to coincide with Fiesta. This year, we didn't have any company in town to disappoint, but we did plan an evening out with our friends here, who have never been to Fiesta.

It looked like we might luck out, despite the forecast for increasing winds. But true to ABQ form, the winds whipped up. Last night was also supposed to be the launch of the gas balloons race, which travel cross country to the east coast. I'm sure they were sore to waste all of that precious Helium. At least we did get to see those balloons inflated, though they're too exciting to look at.

The highlight of the evening though was watching the full moon crest over the Sandias. It was a really clear night, and we reflected on how lucky we've been with full moons this year.

In July, we watched the full moon rise in Grand Canyon. In August, it closely coincided with Jordan's Birthday. September's full moon we enjoyed from White Sands, and then saw October's full moon last night at Fiesta. November's full moon is due on the 2nd....maybe someone else will be due that day as well :-)

A 7 Ps Adventure

We have a favorite saying in our house that I learned from my first boss at Motorola, called the Seven Ps: Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance. This weekend's adventure qualified as a 7 Ps breakdown.

A month or two ago Jamie had picked up a Hawk Watch International Pamphlet at the library. Hawks and eagles stop over in the Manzano Mts in Sept/Oct on their annual migration, and are supposed to be quite numerous. We've never been to the Manzano Mts, and it sounded like a nice drive and day trip with minimal hiking: perfect for me this late in pregnancy. So this Sunday morning we packed a picnic lunch and headed out. The first part of the drive was gorgeous, winding through the mountains in the Cibola Nat'l Forest, seeing yellow Aspens, etc etc. Then it turned into west Texas. Still not bad. We passed some little towns that literally looked like ghost towns. As we got closer to the Manzanos, we noticed they looked a little bare. Then they looked downright burnt. Jamie says he remembers hearing about a fire earlier this year. Uh oh. We find the park road that goes up the mountain and it was eerily deserted and completely unpaved. Very different from the well-used, well-maintained roads in the Sandias. As the road narrowed and deteriorated, I grew more and more apprehensive that my city car would have a bad day. Twice I had to get out and direct Jamie across bad patches in the road. One time I had gotten Jamie across and then turned my back to hear "Sha-BAM" as he bottomed out the back half of my car in the ditch. No telling what the Acura guys will find at my next oil change....

Anyway, after all that trouble, the park road was barricaded from further motorized or foot traffic with 4 miles left to the peak. The notices had been posted since July 2nd, saying the mountain was closed for the rest of the year due to the fire. Jamie couldn't resist inciting the 7 Ps. It was a wasteland. Burnt dead trees pose a significant risk for toppling and have to be cut down along trails and roads. And it was a windy day. So we hung out where we had to stop, ate our lunch, hunted for cool rocks and mushrooms and whatever birds we could find. To our luck, we did see a brown-flecked white falcon, but fat chance of getting a picture of one. We also saw some pretty mountain jays and squirrels and even a bunch of turkey vultures on the road back. They do look like turkeys, and they're HUGE.

At any rate, we were entertained. It was nice to get out of the house and have somewhere new to go. Let's just hope that this weekend's hike to take pictures in the Aspens is more successful.

A New Kind of Fun

I had a fabulous weekend. Why? Because I could do laundry, piles and piles of laundry, ALL weekend long and ALL in my own home. After two months, my washing machine is fixed! I could write an epic poem about what it took to get the part to fix it. No more bumming off of friends, next door neighbors, or schlepping clothes to the laundromat. Now I have my beautiful, huge washing machine fully reassembled, and I think I've run every type of cycle imaginable this weekend. I've washed clothes, towels, pillows, comforters.... I've sanitized, I've steamed, I've taken wet clothes and only had to move them 12 inches to get them in a dryer. I wanted to pop a bottle of champagne. Never again will I take a household appliance for granted. Nor will I bitch and moan about doing laundry. I'm blogging this seemingly mundane event so I don't forget this sense of euphoria.

A Student Once More

Ah, it's back to school for me as well. Not seriously, but I am taking a few fluff classes this fall.

On Tuesday nights I learn how to ice cakes. It's just a Wilton class, but it's taught at a local cake supply shop, so I have access to all kinds of tools and tricks of the trade. Like how you add a ton of TRANS FAT to your Crisco to really make your icing do what you want it to. So beware of that little fact, any of you who express excitement over sampling my cakes.... They should really have a health warning on them, like "You must be capable of burning an extra 1000 calories a week" or "Do not combine with nacho cheese consumption in the same week". If Obama knew what was in these cakes, he'd try to tax me. Anyway, I digress... Jordan is as excited as I am about my cake class. I get home after she's gone to bed, usually, but this past week she heard me come home and had a few questions for me:

"Mama, you go to cake school?"
"Yes, honey"
"Did you bring home a cake?"
"Yes, I brought home a cake this time" (last week we had a class cake, not individual ones, so she was most disappointed about that)
"Mama, did you already eat it all gone?"
"No Jordan!! I haven't even cut it!"

Hmmpff. Indignation. Why does she think me capable of such crimes??

I'm also signed up for a beginners' Photoshop class, and I just got home from my first session. It's taught at the community college, it's an informal class, and OMG!!! It's an exercise in patience!!! I know I'm an education snob. I haven't been in a classroom (either at work or at university) not comprised of engineers in over a decade. And this is obviously not an overly technical class, but a class for people who have hobbies that warrant some photo-editing knowledge. Which implies they know something about photos. (BIG assumption) And, it's a COMPUTER software class, implying that people taking it should how to use a COMPUTER. (An even bigger assumption) I thought I was going to pull my hair out. If I hadn't paid money, I would have walked out. I don't know how the instructor does it, he teaches this class all the time and I'm sure he has to deal with the same stupid crap every single time. Here's a few class highlights not in the syllabus:

- When you DOUBLE CLICK something, it does something different than if you just SINGLE clicked it
- Those downward arrows next to menu items are additional drop-down menus
- There's a difference between SAVE and SAVE AS (OMG...)
- In Photoshop, Ctrl-Z means undo, just like in every other windows-based application
- You have a LEFT and a RIGHT mouse button, and guess what, they do different $hit (tah-dah!)

I really, really am a snob.

Fall is in the Air

Fall has always been my favorite season; I love the cooler air, fall colors, football season, holidays (Halloween!!), and yes, even the return to school when I was a kid. I feel like I was robbed of autumn all of those years living in Texas: it doesn't really cool off, the leaves don't change color (unless brown counts), and school starts in mid-August.

But in the ABQ, we just had a weekend with highs in the low 70's, spent hours parked on the couch watching college football, planted huge mums and hacked back summertime plants, and cooked some favorite fall foods (pumpkin cake!!). I feel like I'm forcing an early autumn in my house, probably because I feel the clock ticking regarding the baby. I bought Halloween costumes in July. I ordered a Halloween count-down calendar last week. I'm making Christmas gift idea lists and am well underway with Christmas projects. I've even started thinking about what to cook for holiday dinners, where to put a Christmas tree in this house, and how I'm going to cut back on all that I want to do to accommodate a newborn. It's all very exciting. Last year, autumn consisted of 9 glorious days in France in November, and the other 3 months with a completely torn up house and all holidays spent on the road. It's nice that this year my favorite season coincides with nesting and welcoming a new baby, and can be spent doing my favorite thing: taking care of my family.

Is it just me???

So is it just me, or does anyone else think Williams Sonoma is somewhat ridiculous? Jamie and I bopped in there after an OB appt to kill time before picking up Jo from school. Now, I LOVE cooking stores, and Williams Sonoma's selection (and marketing) is top notch. But come on, $350 for a copper pot? $15 for a standard size jar of pasta sauce? A simple linen table runner for $95 (it's just a solid color!!!)?? The profit margin on this stuff must be at least 200-300%! And this is a very mainstream store, it's not like it's a small boutique-type place. I wasn't sure whether to be amused or offended. I think I'm mostly amused. And it's embarrassing because since everything looks so beautiful and their gourmet foods sound so delicious, you want to buy it and justify the cost. And there are other people in there buying stuff, so it all appears very normal. For the cost of a set of fancy copper (or even just stainless steel) pots, I could fly to Paris, crash at my friend Phuong's place, go nuts at Dehillerin, and come home with the same stuff for probably less money. Now that's shopping.

Anyway, I walked out of there with a $10 bottle of vanilla and a mental note of the ingredients in their $15 pumpkin-based pasta sauce. I'm going to attempt to bastardize that recipe tonight, and if it's good, I'll post it :-)

Belly Update

It's getting down to the wire, now. This pregnancy has gone by crazy fast, probably because we've been so busy this summer. I'll be 31 weeks this Friday, and have started going to the doctor every two weeks already. And I'm FAT!! ;-) I'm almost as big as I was when I had Jordan, but I feel bigger. Today Jamie and I went to the appointment together, and it was uncomfortable for me to drive afterwards because I felt like the baby was in the way when I was sitting in the car. So all of you mothers of one child that plan to have a second: look out! The size of that second baby might surprise you!

The single-digit week countdown has me a little stressed out. Here are all the things I plan to get done between now and then. We'll see how it goes.

- take a cake decorating class (I start tonight!)
- take a beginner Photoshop class (mid-September)
- go to the race track (horses)
- go to Manzano Mts during eagle/hawk migration
- hike the 10K trail to take family pics in the yellow Aspens
- go to Balloon Fiesta for a launch and a glow
- go to McCall's Pumpkin Patch
- have a Halloween party
- go Trick or Treating with Jo
- fix my washing machine (ugh!!!!!)
- finish the pregnancy part of the baby's scrapbook
- decide on a first AND middle name for this kid

Labor Day Travels

It's funny how when you don't work, you still get really excited about your spouse's holidays. I mean, according to Jamie, everyday is the weekend for me :-) But this weekend, Jamie had to burn up some flex time, so a 3-day holiday weekend turned into a 5-day weekend, and it was just too good to waste. We decided at the last minute to go to Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands, and get some more use out of our National Parks Pass.

Day One - Carlsbad Caverns

Carlsbad is only about 4 1/2 hrs from the ABQ, but man oh man is it a boring drive. There isn't much to look at until you get to Roswell; there, Jordan could point out all of the aliens and tell us what color they were. We were a little apprehensive over what Jo would think of the caves: would she be scared? Bored? Cold? Immediately upon being told we were going to a cave, she started asking about trolls. So I tried to nip that in the bud by saying no more trolls lived in these caves. When we got there, she brought it up a few more times, but she never got scared. Jamie carried her in the backpack the whole way down, and she had a good time. She liked the lights and the tunnels and the drip drip drips. However, there was this one cave formation that looked just like a gnome, and I couldn't let it go. So I told her it was a troll that a witch had turned to stone. She really liked that story, but of course started asking where the witch was. Once we got to the bottom, she wanted to walk, and she did almost the whole mile plus loop on her own. She's a trooper.

We planned the visit so we could stay for the bat egress from the caves. After 14 years in Austin, I have never seen the bats fly out from the Congress Bridge. So I was going to be really disappointed to miss the cave bats. They came out about 7:15 and it was really neat. They spiral out counter-clockwise and you can hear their wings. They say about 300K-400K bats live in that cave, so it's a decent size colony. But you can't photograph or video them there at the amplitheater. I guess it messes with the bats. They said cell phone transmissions really confuse them too. So I took a pic on the road back up to the parking lot.

Day 2 - Living Desert Zoo (Carlsbad) and White Sands

The Living Desert Zoo doesn't look like much, but we'd heard it was cool, and we did enjoy it. It's small, but the critters are pretty easy to spot. It was a gorgeous morning and everything smelled like desert. Their star attraction was a black bear that paints, but we never could find her in her enclosure. Or any of the big cats. There was another family there with 3 little boys, and Jordan was probably more interested in them than anything else. She did a lot of running around, which wore her out for the car trip to Alamagordo.

The drive to Alamagordo is awesome. You go through the Sacramento Mts, up about 9000 ft, and then back down. I keep saying that New Mexico may make me a car trip convert. We'll see. Once in town, we killed time by eating a late lunch/early dinner and watching some college ball at the hotel. It was a full moon night, and the plan was to go to White Sands in time to do some sledding, get pictures, watch the sunset, and stay for the moonrise. Wow, was it worth it. This has got to be one of the neatest spots in New Mexico. You just can't imagine how WHITE the sand is, and how fine. Of course, it's not technically sand (it's Gypsum), but still. And it packs tightly, so the dunes are hard, not shifty. This was by far Jordan's favorite part of the trip. She loved playing in sand, she loved the sledding, and she and Jamie played nonstop until it got dark. Poor Jamie, he must have been exhausted from running up the hills, often toting Jo, and shoving the sled back down again.

Once the moon was up, and about ready to disappear behind clouds, we left. Sadly, it was too cloudy for decent stargazing. But we ended the night in style with a late dinner consisting of raspberry milkshake (Jamie) and mondo brownie sundae (me and Jo). Awesome.

Day 3 - the drive home

I don't usually consider the drive home as part of a trip, but this was an interesting drive. I drove, and in route I saw two tarantulas crossing the highway (I think I smooshed one...), two huge hawks that were white with spots (one was just standing on the side of the road), several roadkill coyotes, and a big lava field (Valley of Fires or something like that). Oh, and I hit a bird. All in all, a fun road trip, and no telling when we'll get to go again.

Duh

I've been keeping this blog for about a year, and it doesn't seem like I've learned very much about blogging. Like those recipes I add to the sidebar? Yeah, they aren't archived like the other blog entries. Duh! So I'm going to start a second blog and save all of the recipes to it. Most of the recipes I post are things I've made up on the fly. Or adapted from other recipes. Which means I'll never be able to reproduce them if I don't write them down AND SAVE them...

Post Nap

I was on the phone with a girlfriend when Jo woke up from her nap today. I heard her walking around, and figured she'd be downstairs soon. Then I called up to remind her to go potty. She called down" Yeah Mama, I have on my kitty panties". Uh-oh, she didn't go to sleep in kitty panties, she was wearing striped panties today. So I go upstairs to investigate, and this is what I found.

Those are her striped panties tossed over the stairs railing onto the plant ledge. Out of my reach. Iasked her "How am I supposed to get those, Jo?" She says, "You'll have to get them later." Hmmpf. My girl is 3, and she's already tossing panties.

First Day of School

Jordan's first day of preschool was today, and all went well. She had fun, didn't cry, I stayed busy, I didn't cry, and when I picked her up still appeared to be in the same condition as when I dropped her off. A success. But last night we weren't so sure....

Jordan started to act a little odd yesterday, and I can only figure that she was nervous about school. I really didn't think Jordan was capable of being nervous. At nap time, she refused to sleep in her bed, and slept in mine instead. And it took her a little while to fall asleep, so that was unusual. Then at bedtime, she wouldn't stay in her bad at all. We did the normal routine, Jamie did rocking chair. A few minutes after he left her, we heard her walking around, and she came out to the loft. So Jamie put her back to bed. Then she got up to go sleep in the guest bed. Jamie says, "I think she's sleep walking". Then we found her sitting in the hallway. Then she got up and went to the potty. Then when I was in bed reading, we heard her again, and I found her in the loft trying on the Santa Claus hat. Very very odd. I asked her if she couldn't sleep because she was afraid of going to school, and she said Yes. But she always answers yes. I took her back to bed and laid down with her until 10:00 or so (and she insisted on wearing the Santa Claus hat to bed). Then about 20 minutes later, she was back in our room, and Jamie slept in her bed with her until about 4:00. By 6:00, she was back in our bed, with all of her babies, and the Santa Claus hat.

But when it was time to go to school, she was happy and excited. She even posed for pics wearing her backpack. She started telling me "Bye Mama, I see you later" when Jamie left for work. Then again all of the way in the car, through the parking lot, and to the class room. I signed her in, got a hug and kiss, and left quickly lest she changed her mind when she saw the other upset kids and Mommies. I went to my OB appointment, went across the street to the labs to do my glucose screen, and then drove back to the preschool and read a book until it was noon. I could see her playing on the playground, and she wasn't pushing kids off of swings, so that was good. When she saw me she was happy and willing to leave. The teacher said she was happy the whole time. Whew. Then Jordan started insisting that we go out to eat. I think she overheard another family saying that. So we got a little something at Wendy's (but no orange frosty float, much to Jo's disappointment) and came home. I think she's pooped. I'm pooped. It was a milestone day :-)

Back to the grind

It is nice to be home. And this is the final stretch before our family is forever changed, for the better (and bigger), of course! I think I'm officially in nesting mode. Seems a bit early, especially since we don't intend to set up the nursery until after the holidays. We're not expecting any more visitors until the baby arrives, but still have a lot on the agenda.

The next big event is Jordan starts preschool on Tuesday. We all went to orientation last night, and Jo and I are going back tomorrow morning for "playtime with parents" so she feels comfortable on her first day. No worries there. I'm hoping to chat up some of the other moms, though. So, orientation was kind of interesting. Here's what we learned:

- All of the classes have a pet. Jordan's classroom's "pet" is a tarantula. Super.

- I need to go buy her some new clothes because she's not allowed to wear sleeveless shirts. 90% of her summer wardrobe is sleeveless shirts, the remainder being T-shirts that she sleeps in. But hey feel they need to teach kids under 5 "modesty". DO NOT get me started on that. Then they tried to play it off as sun protection (duh, she still has to wear sunscreen).

- She's not allowed to wear her cowgirl boots. That one I understand. She stepped on me the other day and it really hurt. Still, a bummer.

- She is required to bring a backpack every day. Yay! That's fun for her. Thanks to Aunt LaLa for the cool Paris one!

- They have a little file folder for each kid and that's where they put their artwork every day. I cannot wait to see what Jordan creates!! I'm so excited, that's better than getting stuff in the mail!

- Jordan has her own coat hook and cubby hole. For some reason, I'm really excited about that, it's just cute. AND, she was able to pick out her name amongst all of the other names. My kid's a genius!

Last Vacation?

Jordan and I just returned from a very lazy week in hot and sunny Tucson. We drove out with Nana and Pa to get in one last family visit before Baby #2 arrives in November and we're house-bound for a while. It was a nice trip, we got to spend a lot of time hanging out and doing nothing. My cousin Jeremy took me out to a movie, a very rare treat. My Grandma got donuts for breakfast TWICE! My uncle cooked us all a steak dinner, and then delivered home-made Belgian waffles for breakfast one morning. That's living.

Jordan had a blast playing with cousin Julian. This is Jen & Jeremy's kiddo, and he and Jordan are the same age. They got together 4 days in a row, and Jo really had a fit when she had to say goodbye the last time. He brought over toys to share (Jordan is still struggling with the whole sharing thing, a new development that started on her birthday....), they danced like wild monkeys to Michael Jackson (Julian's favorite), and tumbled and rough-housed together. Jordan mimics everything he does. He's a hot little kid, and would start stripping off clothes to keep cool. She'd do the same. Eventually they were both romping in their underwear. It was really cute.

I also got to visit with cousin Jason, and he and his girlfriend are expecting a baby girl a month before me. So both of my kids will have cousins the exact same age! How cool is that?!? It makes future holidays and trips to Tucson even more fun to look forward to.