Four Month Update

Dear Holland,

Yesterday you turned four months old. I know! I can’t believe it either. You are getting so big. This month we had a lot of holiday festivities on our plate. We started things out with a visit to Santa at Pioneer Place. I didn’t even bother scanning your photo with santa like I was planning. Because I hated it. It didn’t even look like you!  But I guess that is about all I can expect from a mall santa and the 14 year old employees taking the pictures. I have taken better pictures of you with my phone. Like this one, for example:

That dress you have on? I bought that back in February, well before my 18 week ultrasound confirming that you were in fact a girl. I broke down and walked over to Gymboree one day at lunch, and found that dress on sale. I snatched it up, hoping I wasn’t jinxing myself. I envisioned you wearing it later in the year for Christmas, and like always, it still amazes me to see all my daydreams about you coming true.

That bow I put on your head for the picture lasted just about as long as I expected it to:

So…it got really cold this month. December 2008: Brought to you by…HATS!

And of course, who could forget ARCTIC BLAST 2008! Two weeks of the coldest, deepest, most annoying snow I have ever experienced in my life. We braved it a few times to get downtown to do some christmas shopping, but mostly stayed in where it was warm. Mostly.

One of the most exciting moments of the month was the day I discovered the Moby Wrap. After reading my update last month, full of complaints about how much you and I hate the Bjorn, my coworker Scott’s wife Annie pleaded with me to not give up on babywearing, and even let me borrow their Moby Wrap. I was a little nervous to try it at first, given our rocky history with babywearing, but when the snow kept falling and you and I needed a way to get around downtown without a stroller, I thought I would try it out. I figured it out after reading some simple instructions online, and carried you around happily for hours. We trudged through the snow, shopped, stood in line at Chipotle, and hung out with your uncle and your dad at Rockbottom. You happily looked around at the lights and activity, slept peacefully and even had a bottle, all snug in the Moby. It was amazing. As soon as I have a chance, I am getting us down to Bella Stella and buying us one of our very own.

Other milestones of the month…you have have been REALLY into your hands for a while, but have only very recently discovered your feet. I have a feeling it’s only going to be a matter of time before you manage to get them into your mouth (as your other main interest of SUCKING ON ANYTHING remains unchanged). You started drinking exclusively formula this month, as my attempts at keeping you on breastmilk have failed miserably since returning to work. I felt like a bit of a failure, but I did try my hardest. You have been much happier since I started you on formula, and jumped from 3 ounces per feeding to 8 ounces in less than two weeks. You attack each bottle like it’s the last you might ever see, and I think we have that to blame for the CHEEKS. Oh the cheeks.

We did try out solid food this month. My mom told me that she started me on solids when I was much younger than you are (I think you get your ravenous appetite from me…it doesn’t go away…sorry about that) so I figured it was worth a shot with you. You had about three bites and then lost interest. But we will keep trying. Because I hate the way formula smells. And really, sometimes you watch me while I eat and I just KNOW that you want a french fry.

And of course, who can forget about Christmas. You slept through most of it and got more presents than anyone.

We’ve (almost) made it through 2008, Holland, and I know 2009 is going to be a good year for us. You are a very busy girl and I can’t wait to see what else you have in store for me.

Love,

Mom

Cravings…

So sad:

Dear Ms. Rudolph,
Thank you for your email requesting information on where to find cheese curds.  
Tillamook County Creamery Association is dedicated to bringing
you the freshest, and highest quality dairy products available.
 Because of the short shelf life and to maintain the freshness and quality of
Tillamook Cheese Curds, they are exclusively sold at the Visitors
Center and Tillamook Farm Store in Tillamook.
We hope you understand our decision, thank you again for contacting us.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Cobos
Customer Service
Tillamook County Creamery Association

31 Days

My due date is one month from tomorrow. HOORAY.

The past two weeks have been extremely hard on me physically. I never imagined that the simple acts of moving around and going about my day would be so draining. The pain in my pelvis no longer just feels uncomforable. It feels broken. My broken pelvis. My roving tendonitis has popped up in my left arm, and it’s worse than any other tendonitis I have had before. And, I am sorry, but Tylenol sucks. I am up to four pepcid AC’s a day for heartburn. Four. Eating anything immediately makes me sick. And I have outgrown 75% of my maternity clothes. WOW BEING PREGNANT IS SO AWESOME. Don’t even get me started on the heat. Needless to say, I am pretty excited that my due date is only a month away. Also, despite all the crappiness of being pregnant, last week was actually a good week. At 35 weeks, my baby is much lower than my doctor was expecting when he checked at my appointment friday, and he told me that I am 50% effaced. Woooooo. I am crossing my fingers that she will come early. I also got a promotion last week, discovered (thanks Eva!) a new restaurant to eat lunch at downtown (panini w/melted goat and sheep cheese, avocado and pickles? YES please! Or, as Alana called it, “A Pregnant Woman’s Dream”), bought a fabulous pair of sunglasses at Nordstrom’s Anniversary Sale (the last thing I needed before Holland arrives. I am now officially ready, expensive accessories in place), Holland started getting the hiccups every single day (highly entertaining) and I started my birth class (also very entertaining and deserving of its own blog entry). Other noteworthy news items from the week of July 13-19 include Flea Infestation 2008 (I may blog about this fully later because it is actually pretty funny. And gross. We’ll see) and my mom managed to contract a staph infection (she also needs to sue her dermatologist, but that is just my opinion) and she almost burned the house down on Wednesday (thank GOD my brother happened to have come home sick that day.) Speaking of the house that almost burned down, that is precisely where I am moving to next weekend (I am eternally thankful that it is still standing). Back to Vancouver I go, with two cats and an almost-born baby in tow. I just hope I can make it through the next 31 days.

Pictures, cheesecake and c-sections

Lest anyone see this picture on my flickr sidebar and think I had a baby yesterday:

 This is a picture of me when I was nine days old. I wanted to compare the pictures of me with Holland’s 3D ultrasound pictures to see how similar we look. I learned how to use the scanner at work yesterday, so this will not be the last old picture you see. Other news:

Last night I bought a tub of cheesecake filling at safeway and am eating it with graham crackers.

Holland is breech! I am having another ultrasound in two weeks (yay!) at my doctor’s office for them to check the position and if she is still breech, they said they can try to turn her. I may not actually do that, because I hear it hurts and she might go right back to her old position anyway. It actually involves checking into the hospital for a good part of the day, and if they accidently separate the baby from the placenta while they are doing it, they have to do an emergency c-section. Eeek! If she doesn’t flip around in the next few weeks I will most likely be scheduling a c-section for the beginning of August. The plus side to this is not having to wait as long for Holland to arrive, which would be nice (this is because they schedule c-sections for 38/39 weeks, as opposed to the actual due date). Also..8/8/08 for a birthday? Anyone else think that is cool?

Eternal Pregnancy

So Jamie Lynn Spears had her baby…I am sooo jealous. Why does everyone else get to have their babies and yet, I CONTINUE TO BE PREGNANT? I feel like I am enduring the longest pregnancy ever. Ugh. Jen and I have g-chat discussed in length today Jamie Lynn’s choice of name for her daughter: Maddie Briann. Hmm. It has a nice ring to it if you say it with a mock southern accent…I probably would have extended Maddie into Madeline and stuck an “e” at the end of Briann, but whatevs. I like it more than Honor Marie, that’s for sure. That’s what Jessica Alba named her daughter, for those of you who aren’t in The Know. Yours truly, Judgy McJudgement Pants. Anyway. Tonight for dinner I had mini-pancakes and velveeta shells and cheese. I feel like velveeta cheese should be spelled Cheez. Delish. I am going to microwave some more pancakes (they are so mini! Just like me!) and then probably head to bed like a big, pregnant loser, on this, a beautiful, warm, thursday night in June (I should be at a bar, drinking margaritas). I have my 31 week pre-natal appointment tomorrow. I don’t know what that means. I never know what my doctor appointments will entail until I am actually there. Last time I walked in and saw this long, toothbrush looking contraption sitting on the counter next to the thing my doctor uses to listen to Holland’s heartbeat. I must have look frightened because the nurse said “oh, don’t worry, that’s not for you. We don’t start checking your cervix for a few more weeks.” GREAT! So that means I have something to look forward to. Anyway, pancakes call. Ta.

Verdict

I had a Frosty Shake from Wendy’s yesterday. Strawberry. I am a big fan of strawberry milkshakes. They are my favorite of all the milkshakes. The Frosty Shake didn’t taste like it was made from strawberry ice cream. It tasted like…the strawberry sauce that comes on the cheesecake I always buy from the Safeway next to my house. Like, it was more concentrated strawberry-ness than ice creamy-ness. I think they actually just mix strawberry sauce with the vanilla frosty to make the strawberry frosty shake (ps: Vanilla Frosty? WTF? Where have I been?) So I wasn’t sure what to think. It was good, but not AMAZING. Amazing still equals Dairy Queen strawberry milkshakes. All the way.

Thanks, Wendy

Wendy’s Frosty Shakes? Are you kidding me? I want one right now. Holland wants one right now. THIS is why pregnant women need husbands.

Baking with Baby

I dreamt that I made Barack Obama a cake. With breastmilk. It had the consistency of brownies but was completely white. And completely delicious.

dinner

pre-natal vitamins, two ice cream sandwiches and a dramamine.

goodnight!!!!!

Cravings

What does it all mean, Holland?