Saturday, August 28, 2010

37 weeks

It was a blissful 70-something degrees today. Blissful. Breathing was easy to do. I didn't sweat while putting on makeup at 9am. I know it won't last (the evil weatherman said so), but I can enjoy it while it's here. I actually wore jeans this evening. Jeans. Long pants.

Soon enough, we'll be back to mid-seventies all the time for several months and this hot weather will be distant memory that I'll laugh about. Plus, there will be a whole lot less...well, me - which I'm sure will help with the general comfortableness.

I hate to keep making excuses for my hair, but here's another one. These photos are not a good representation of the new haircut. It's flipped out underneath and just not 'done.' I did it really quickly this evening before we headed out to the store, so that's what you get to see. Even with the not-perfect look, I still really like it.

If you're thinking, "Gosh, can she get bigger?"...you're not alone. I've seen plenty of people much bigger than myself and also some that are smaller, but I still see these pictures and am surprised by how far the belly really sticks out. Some days I feel HUGE and others, not so much. Either way, the jig is up. I'm pregnant, folks.





If you're wondering, and I know my mother is, the answer is no. No, I'm not any closer to knowing when this kid will come out. The contractions I've had for months now are, of course, getting more noticeable and less comfortable. Trips to the bathroom are naturally getting more frequent (big ups to Spork for head-butting my bladder). Some cramping is happening. All of this leading up to one conclusion. I'm still pregnant.

I'm guessing the kid will be here at some point in the next month. Good? That buys me about 2 weeks after the (somewhat arbitrary) due date. Until then, I'm enjoying leisure reading. And sleeping. A lot. And not changing diapers and quiet and leaving the house at a moments notice. I'm fully aware that these things will become things of my past very soon.



Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Hhmph.

We caved.

Apparently what we thought was the heat wave of the summer was just the warm-up. This week is the real one. And it's brutal. Even Lucy, who LOVES and thrives in the heat has been miserable. The temperatures have restricted all movement in the house to a minimum, which has had a bad effect on cooking. You try standing over a sauté pan with sweat running off every surface of your body. It's nasty.

San Diego has broken it's records this summer for both the coolest temps and the hottest temps. We're awesome.

So we figured we've had great luck with Craigslist so far, we might as well give it a shot for a simple window A/C unit that we'll use for a month, maybe two. Thankfully, plenty of people are trying to unload theirs. Funny thing though, I checked last night (today, the temps were about 5-10 degrees hotter than last week) and the prices and availability were much better than at 3pm today. Greedy, greedy, greedy ;-)

Too bad the windows in our house are super old won't hold the unit without support and we have to wait for Olaf the Handyman to come help us install it. Thursday. Holy crap. I have the unit sitting in front of me, on the floor right now. Mocking me. I know it'll be glorious once it's nice and cool, but for now, this is torture. Today and tomorrow are slated to be the hottest days this week. Sweet.

Good news? We're set to "cool down" this weekend! Other good news? I baked chocolate chip cookies this morning before the kitchen became unbearably hot. They aren't as puffy and perfect as usual (even at 8am, it's hot in there....butter melts). But deliciousness abounds. Yum.

In other news, I had my (rescheduled) hair cut today...and it's short! I'd been wanting to go short for SO long but was always afraid and never really trusted any of the people that previously cut my hair to make it look good. Thankfully, this guy is amazing and completely trustworthy when it comes to putting your head in his hands ;-) Don't worry, it's not boy-cut short. Just a simple bob. I'll post pics soon.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

36 week photos

We decided to walk around Balboa Park with the dogs this afternoon. I know, big surprise. It was a tad warm, though not quite as hot as it was in the house, so the relative coolness was appreciated by all.

Let's all pretend that these photos were taken post-shower. They weren't. I'm sweaty, shiny, and apparently dirty. Check out the black mark on my shirt from the dog's water bottle strap. Yep, I'm that sloppy pregnant chick. I really didn't notice it until the pictures were taken.

I'm feeling pretty giant these days, and looking the same. The bare-belly shots make me cringe when I see them. The flash doesn't help out the general whiteness of the belly. I'm trying to keep it shielded from the sun for the duration of the pregnancy to help avoid more damage to my already stretched-out skin ;-) You've been warned (again).





Two pretty awesome things happened at Balboa today. The first was that we saw and listened to a man play guitar with his feet. He had no arms, but I'm fairly certain he was better with his toes than most people are with their hands. It was pretty cool. He had quite a crowd and even had some little kid dancing (straight-up, Michael Jackson-style dancing -- the kid was good) along with the music.

Then, apparently today was a huge lowrider show in one of the various parking lots on the park grounds. There were a ton of lowriders with crazy hydraulics - seemingly having competitions to see who could get their car jacked up the highest. It was crazy. The time these people must spend on their cars is unreal. Of course, there was lots of Tejano music, small children running about and a few pitbulls -- you know, just adding to the overall ambiance ;-) Really though, you'd expect nothing less. Fun times and I really wish I'd brought my camera today.

Oh, and we saw the Statutory Grape again while we were there! We first saw this car driving (re: bouncing) through the streets downtown one afternoon not long after we moved to San Diego. It certainly didn't fit in with all the luxury cars and business folk milling around downtown...so it caught our attention. It's quite a sight.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

I'm melting/Make this

It is unbelievably hot right now. I know, it's San Diego and we are spoiled with mild weather for most of the year and it's gorgeous, blah, blah, blah. But we made the mistake of thinking that another summer here with no A/C would be do-able. We were sorely mistaken. This house gets hot (like, sitting in the sun on a really hot day, kind of hot) and retains that heat into the early morning hours. There is no reprieve. I can do hot temperatures when there's a cool place to relax in. I've done my time in Maryland, Florida, and Texas. Who knew sunny SoCal could be so unforgiving for a few days/weeks out of the year?

I'm not giving in, though. I know that the moment we cave and buy a room A/C unit, it'll cool off and we'll never use it again. It's just the way it goes, especially since we've already lived through last summer and we're already at the tail end of this one. I just needed to whine.

And because there is no way in hell I'm adding to the heat by even thinking about turning on the stove/oven, I am pretty excited to be making this salad again tonight. I made it once last summer and, because I didn't pay attention to the shear volume of veggies I was chopping, I ended up eating this salad for approximately 1 week. Solid. Even Jordan liked it.

I will be making a smaller amount tonight. But I wanted to make sure that I put it out there that this salad is awesome and whoever is reading this should try it. Yes, it's another Pioneer Woman recipe, though she took it from Jamie Oliver (who is adorable, by the way). It's worth it. And, if you do decide to try it, definitely use hot peppers in the dressing. You will not regret it. And a lot of cilantro. I happen to have way too much of it growing in the backyard right now - which is what prompted me to make this in the first place.
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Not much new stuff going on with the kid. Tomorrow is the first of two possible due dates I've been given, though we've pretty much blown this one off in favor of the mid-September one. Really, it's just a shocker for us that sometime within the next few days to month or so, we'll have a kid. An outside baby. Excited? Yes. Still a little surreal? Yep.

Monday, August 16, 2010

35 week photos

We're a tad late taking these this week. I'm actually 35 1/2 weeks today. Not like this hasn't happened with about half of the photos, but I thought I'd come clean.

Also, the clothed pics were taken in the clothes I actually wore today instead of jammies this time. I thought I might go back to the days when I showed you what I really look like during normal waking hours ;-)

It was pretty warm today (like, 95 degrees IN my house), so the sumo-wrestler bun was a necessity - not a chosen hairdo. You'll be happy to know that I do have a hair appointment this coming weekend. You're welcome. I'm getting tired of it myself.




If you're wondering where my belly button went...so am I. If it weren't a tad darker than the rest of me, I'd be pretty certain I didn't have one. Crazy.
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Late last week, I turned into Paula Dean for a day. We'd acquired some okra from a patient and I figured I'd fry it. Why not? Neither of us had ever had it so it seemed like a good idea. And it was. We'd also gotten a few pounds of peaches from the same person, so I made strawberry-peach cobbler with them, served with vanilla/caramel ice cream, of course. Holy yum. I tried out a different cobbler recipe and I think it's my new favorite. And because a southern meal wouldn't be complete without my miraculous baked macaroni and cheese w/ broccoli, I made that for dinner. It was unbelievable.

I think I gained 3 pounds from my southern dinner experience. It was SO worth it. Don't judge me. A person cannot live on swiss chard, cucumbers and carrots alone. Plus, the baby seemed happy about the whole situation.
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I'm happy to announce that we can now safely have the kid.

In other words, we finally bought the car seat. Our color/pattern isn't listed, but it's black and grey (to match the car, of course!). I'd had it all picked out for months and was just waiting (read: procrastinating). But now it's here and though I don't plan on needing it for a little while after the kid is born, we've got it.

I also ordered and received my diaper bag (in platinum) and hanging wet/dry bag for diapers (in lime/cocoa bean). I was pretty excited to get these babies. The diaper bag is both functional and something that Jordan has no issue with carrying. The wet/dry bag is a top-rated product and is known for containing the poop smell from the diapers -- which is a really good thing :-)
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We caught Brodie eating grape tomatoes off the plants this evening. It was really cute. I'd seen him do it a few times before, but this time he just kept going and cleared out an entire low-hanging plant. I guess he was hungry for dinner.



Friday, August 13, 2010

Because it's time for another random post

If you've had the "pleasure" of staying at casa de Blaustein, you've know what I'm talking about below and likely heard me try to explain that, while it looks like I don't know how to clean a bathroom, I really have scrubbed it clean.
We have rust stains in our bathroom. Crazy rust that won't come off for anything. Around the drains in the the tub and sink and also in the toilet. It looks gross and I have tried everything to get them off since we got here. The only thing that was working to get most of it off was scrubbing for upwards of 30 minutes with a scour pad and a baking soda/vinegar paste. Like, SCRUBBING, wearing down fingernails, sweating, swearing, kind of hard. Even then, it took off only a few layers and thinned it out, making it not so icky.

I tell you that to tell you this...

Thanks to Mom, we acquired a bottle of this magical potion.

I'd like to announce that for 2 days, my sink drain was rust-free. Because of the cheap fixtures and sunken in drain, it came back very quickly, but those 2 days were blissfully, sparkly, clean! I thought it was impossible. The grout that I've been unable to get perfectly white is now bright white. The drain in the tub is rust-free. I am unabashedly excited about this. I wanted to call everyone I know and tell them about it, but instead I went around the house trying to find all those stubborn marks and discolorations that I've been fighting with. It was intoxicating, but, it wasn't the fumes (because it's non-toxic, yo). It was the pure bliss that comes with finally beating the stain-monster. It's how I felt when I discovered the magic of the baking soda/vinegar mix that has magically removed the black marks that were all over my tub and sink for 6 months after we moved in. I had all but decided that they simply weren't coming off, since no amount of harsh chemicals (read: bleach products, etc) worked. Turns out, the most simple, green concoction and some elbow grease was all it needed. Suck on that crappy landlords that didn't clean anything prior to our move in. I beat you. I win.

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California is now back on it's way to being as progressive as New Hampshire and Iowa.

What?

Yes, that's right folks. Prop 8 has been ruled unconstitutional and is being overturned by Judge Walker.

It's about damn time.

Of course, it will be taken to the Ninth District Court of Appeals (it'll take about a year) and fought over by people who have no right to determine the rights of other people.

I keep coming back to this segment that Keith Olbermann dedicated to the subject back in 2008. It (not the segment, the reason for it) makes me angry. A rare form of seething anger reserved for situations where no other emotion seems quite right.

But for now, justice has been served.
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Last night, So You Think You Can Dance came to an end. It was the first time that I really couldn't say that any one of the contestants was better than another. This season was SO good. Even Jordan enjoyed it this year. So many great dances that I have already watched and rewatched too many times. Lots of talent and lots of injuries. But now I'm sad that it's over.

Hell's Kitchen also ended this week. Also a great show, though nothing spectacular this season - it was not unlike seasons past. Some annoying, untrained and over-confident "chefs" in the mix with a few really talented chefs. Lots of food-smashing, garbage can kicking, and red-faced yelling. Good fun. In honor of Chef Gordon Ramsey, SHUT IT DOWN, YOU DONKEY! He's an angry, angry man and I love him.
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Our home-visit with our midwives was last night. Brodie and Lucy only went half as nuts as usual when people enter the house, which was good. Still, half of the usual is pretty crazy and includes shrill barks and nervous pacing. Hopefully Brodie will be less crazy when they come for the big day. On a high note, Lucy tried to enter their mouths to give kisses. This doesn't sound good, but it means she likes you. Promise.
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I'm making strawberry-peach cobbler this afternoon and I am stoked. Jordan's patient (the one that brings us delicious produce) picked a ton of peaches from her tree for us and I cannot wait to use them for evil. They've been delicious on their own thus far, so I have high hopes that they will not disappoint when combined with sugar and strawberries and other goodness. Mmmm.

Monday, August 9, 2010

34 week photos

As I type this, Spork simultaneously has the hiccups and is trying to lodge his/her feet under my ribs, despite my best efforts to continuously push them down. The kid is asking for a time-out.

We got a bit of a reprieve from the heat this weekend, which was nice since Hillcrest's CityFest was Sunday. It was much bigger than I'd expected it to be, complete with continuous live music, a fast-spinning-scary-looking carnival ride that made people (who had been drinking since noon) sick, and tons of vendors. Oh, and lots and lots of people. And dogs. This is San Diego, afterall. Brodie had a great time helping us navigate the crowds, getting pets and giving unsolicited toe/foot/leg licks to unsuspecting people. Thankfully, everyone he surprised with this form of love seemed to be a good sport about it ;-) He also made a few doggie friends, though, surprisingly there was no humping. I expected he'd get in the mood, seeing as how it IS Hillcrest and that sort of thing just makes sense there.

Here's the photos. Jordan is clearly getting as lazy about taking these as I am - notice he doesn't bother to take another if I'm not looking ready/smiling/etc. I think he's ready for this kid to be out, too :-) And if you're wondering, yes, I am due for a haircut. The flatness (especially in the back) is partially due to it being the end of the day and partially because I'm lazy and haven't made an appointment. So there. I may cut it shorter than I did last time. Maybe. We'll see.





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Last week I made Pioneer Woman's cornbread to go with some awesome chili I'd made. I'd made her cornbread only once before - to be cubed and made into stuffing (again, PW's recipe) for Thanksgiving last year. It was amazing then and it was even more amazing last week. I'd highly recommend it. It's not a sweet, cakey cornbread. It's more of a traditional cornbread, and though it contains no butter (only shortening), it has an awesome buttery taste. Love.






Monday, August 2, 2010

Observations

Apparently the local weathermen complained enough about the cooler weather we've been experiencing this summer and now Mother Nature is coming to get her revenge. August is expected to kick our pampered-with-mid-70 degree-weather-butts this year. It's on it's way, kids. The temps, they are a-risin'.

I know I'm excited.

Really? I thought I was lucking out with having the coolest summer on record during the latter part of this pregnancy. I suppose it can only last for so long, right? I'll be sitting in front of a fan in a too small bathing suit, eating ice cubes for the remainder of this pregnancy. Just in case you were wondering.

I'm sure anyone who has had a kid can relate to this. I can get Spork to go absolute apeshit just by eating specific foods. Mostly it's fruit like blueberries, strawberries, bananas, and nectarines. The high-sugar fruits are his/her favorites. The kid is a fan. I'm not going to lie, I also get a little sore and queasy from all the ridiculous movement that accompanies eating ice cream, but I'm not eating that quite as often or in the same quantity as the fruit (promise!). It's just fun to get a rise out of the kid with food. This is, perhaps, proof that I like to be in control and it's starting early with the kid. Considering the little him/her will be telling me when it's chow time, diaper change time, nap time, etc, I'm not feeling so bad about this little game we're playing right now ;-)

The contractions are happening a lot more lately. More at night, I tend to be sitting down then, so I'm guessing that's why I'm noticing them more often at that time. They are slowly moving out of the "I'm barely aware of them" and into the "chest-tightening/harder to take a deep breath, not-painful but definitely more there" camp. The end is in sight, folks.