do it myself!

This is Ladybug's new favorite thing to say. Some of the things she now insists on doing herself include:

putting on her own shoes (just imagine how long that takes)
buckling her own seatbelt
walking through a store (she stubbornly sticks her hands behind her back so I can't hold hands with her)
brushing her hair
pouring her own cereal (yikes)
changing her own diaper (double yikes)

tonight she tried putting her own pants on and managed to pull them but but they were backwards. I tried to help and got a quick retort of "no! do it myself!" so I tried coaching her. she took the pants off, looked at them and put them on again...still backwards. Daddy came in, asked if he could help and received the same response. So he patiently sat in front of her and asked her to take the pants off and turn them around. She took them off, set them on the ground, turned herself in a circle and put the pants back on again...still backwards.

water babies

We took the girls swimming today and had a great time. With their new inflated arm rings they are much more confident in the water and don't cling to us at all anymore. In fact, we can hardly keep up! Especially Ladybug is a crazy little fish monster. Several times, she dashed out of the kid pool (which is huge but warm and shallow making it perfect for a family swim) and tried to hurl herself into the deep end of the lap pool. Daddy finally took her into the lap pool but entered in the shallow end. So she swam, on her own, to the deep end. And then tried to climb up the ladder to the high dive platform. (she was pretty mad at daddy for not letting her onto the diving boards). Meanwhile, me and Butterfly played in the family pool and made friends with anyone remotely her size.

The girls also loved the "lazy river" that has a natural current to help push them along. (my favorite part is following these little girls and watching them kick and paddle, so independent and adorable) And they had a blast playing on the jungle gym and slide in the middle of the pool. They went down the slide at least twenty times each (we had to make them go feet first but Ladybug would slide lying on her belly instead of sitting up). And then the last thing we did was the big slide. Ladybug begged to go (despite its intimidating height) so daddy climbed the stairs with her, put her on his lap and then came rushing down with a gleefully happy girl. Her face was priceless. On the third run Butterfly went with them and loved it enough that she insisted doing it by herself the next time.

Another awesome family date for our water babies.

32 week pregnancy ramblings

We had our 32 week check up yesterday. (I have previously told Butterfly that the baby will grow bigger and then mommy will go to the hospital and the doctor will help the baby come out. I ended up needing to take her with me to my check up yesterday and when I told her we were going to see the baby’s doctor she got so excited that the baby was going to come out. She was rather disappointed when I told her otherwise.) Doctor measured the baby, we got to listen to her heartbeat and baby is doing great. I’ve had to stay on the anti-contractions meds but they are definitely helping. He’s recommended I stay on them until 37 weeks. (He will do another ultrasound at 36 weeks to check her size and development.)

It’s a funny and curious game (alright, actually it’s downright frustrating despite being exciting) to know when baby will be ready. Butterfly tried to come early at 34 weeks and we ended up at the hospital for injections to stop labor (had effaced 80% and dilated 3 cm). Then she tried again two weeks later but gave up before I made any more progress. I had hoped for a natural childbirth experience (with no drugs or medical interventions) but since I already dilating (risking infection) and she was measuring very large, the doctor recommended inducing me once I passed my due date. So with pitocin (but no epidural) she was born two days after her due date at 9 lbs 1 oz and because of her size, I had third degree tearing and subsequently went into shock from blood loss. With Ladybug, I had a lot of false labor contractions again but never needed a fire drill to the hospital. After our experience with our first very large baby, doc recommended an early induction. She was induced five days before her due date at 7 lbs 14 oz and was a significantly easier delivery and recovery.

(Today’s medical lesson: “Braxton Hicks” contractions are supposedly painless, irregular, last less than 45 seconds and do not centralize on the uterus. This is different from “false labor” contractions which can be painful, regular, grow closer together, centralized and last a minute or more. But they do not necessarily cause progress (effacing or dilating) or result in a baby which is the requirement for “true labor”. End lesson.)

Pregnancy and childbirth is such an amazing thing. It truly is miraculous at what the body is capable of (and was designed to do). I marvel thinking about the tiny person growing inside me and how intricate her development is. She has every little organ and system that an adult has in miniature version but no less perfect. My body changes to accommodate and help her, serving the baby even before it serves my needs. And then childbirth itself is such an amazing experience. It’s easily the hardest thing I’ve ever done but was such an incredible experience.

I think (other than the false labor) I’ve lucked out with having generally good pregnancies. Pregnancy is hard but I’ve had some friends with much harder experiences than me (carpel tunnel, being hospitalized for weight loss, nine months of strict bed rest, etc.) Plus I’ve never had some of the more common pains such as hemorrhoids or heartburn (thankfully). But to document my own experiences (especially if I ever get crazy enough to consider doing this again):

Things I dislike about pregnancy:
--Being an emotional train wreck (especially first trimester, I’m pretty sure a monster comes to impersonate me and make my husband question his sanity)
--Morning sickness that lasts all day and not able to eat certain favorite foods (like chocolate)
--Migraines (caused by pregnancy induced anemia)
--Pregnancy induced allergies
--Lack of energy/Fatigue (I’m generally useless even when awake)
--Feeling like I can’t accomplish the things I should (clean the toilet? I can’t even reach it anymore)
--Back pain/sciatic nerve (fortunately a chiropractor friend showed husband how to help with that)
--Ligament pain (i actually have to wear a support belt for a few weeks before my ligaments just give up and release the way they should)
--That the stuff holding my joints together has taken a leave of absence
--When baby moves hard or abruptly enough to cause pain and make me nauseous (worse with this baby, it's like she's trying to turn but can't make it all the way. so I feel her turn and then shudder back to her original position.)
--Swollen feet and ankles (usually not too noticeable to others but I can feel it when I try to walk or wear shoes)
--Feeling like my ribs might explode
--That even 85 degrees feels so oppressive when I’m carrying an internal heater
--When baby pushes her head into my hip and shoves her feet against my belly
--Not being able to sleep comfortably (husband has to nudge or remind me frequently to sleep on my side since I naturally turn to my back in my sleep, plus I have to switch sides frequently to relieve discomfort)
--Leg cramps (like a charlie horse in the middle of the night that is bad enough to make me cry and wake my husband up so he can massage my calf)
--Vericose veins. I wish I was kidding.
--Stretch marks
--False labor contractions (yeah, this is the worst part--not so much because I panic she might be coming early but simply that is so uncomfortable)
--Feeling like an unattractive whale
--Being paranoid that something I’ve done/eaten/etc. has hurt the baby

Things I like about being pregnant:
--Getting a baby at the end (on the worst days I have to just keep telling myself this)
--Announcing baby’s presence (especially to daddy and the grandparents)
--Baby’s gentle, fluttery movements
--Putting my belly against husband in the middle of the night to see if baby can wake him up too
--Playing tag with baby (especially when daddy does it)
--When the girls interact with the baby (wanting to feel her kick, singing to her, picking out toys for her. etc)
--Listening to her heartbeat
--Recognizing the outline of tiny little feet pushing against my belly
--The anticipation (talking about names, washing little clothes, making plans, etc)
--Laying in bed and cherishing the intimacy of feeling like I’m curled up with this tiny little person that I get to have all to myself for a few months.

I spent yesterday washing/folding baby clothes and cleaning/reassembling baby's bouncy seat, swing and carseat. I can't believe how tiny and cute these little things are. Getting so excited...

fire drill

to continue documentation of my pregnancy drama...

For some reason, my body doesn't like being pregnant. I tend to have a lot of early contractions, which is something that began earlier and earlier with each pregnancy. They are usually random and don't mean anything with regards to onset of true labor. Usually it starts with a strange wave of nausea, feeling uncomfortably hot and then the tightening of my stomach. Sometimes it's mild enough I have to feel my stomach to actually check that it's a contraction and not just the baby's movement. So it's uncomfortable but not a big deal (and more common than you might expect). I've heard it called non-progressive labor or an irritable uterus but I best explain it by saying my body simply doesn't like being pregnant. I've talked with the doctor about it and he's given me guidelines to watch for but he isn't too worried about it.

But this weekend, we did have a minor scare. The contraction were 10-15 minutes apart through most of Saturday and then more mild in the evening. Through the night, several woke me up, being more uncomfortable than usual. Then on Sunday morning, they were 10 minutes apart and more intense than normal. I sat through our first meeting at church and then went home to drink more water and lay down (my typical way of getting them to relax). I finally called the doc hoping for some reassurance that the heat or my recent travel or fatigue may be causing the sudden increase in discomfort. Instead, he strongly recommended going to the hospital. Now more alarmed and concerned that the baby might be in distress, we headed to the hospital.

I'm about 32 weeks along (far too early for this baby to come) so they hooked me up to the monitors and ran a few tests. Most importantly, the baby is fine. It was comforting to hear her heartbeat and know that she is okay. I was just beginning to dilate (but it's also my third baby so that's not strong evidence for being in labor) but the monitors were picking up contractions even more frequent than I realized. So they gave me some drugs to stop the contractions, monitored me for awhile and sent me home with a prescription and orders for "limited activity". The drug is relatively new and is considered more effective (and with less side effects!) than the drug I was given for preterm labor with our first baby (that drug made me shake and caused pressure on my heart). Plus, I can take it at home to avoid more fire drills.

The nurse reassured us that there was apparently nothing we did to trigger it (I'm not dehydrated, it wasn't the heat or activity level, etc). So we don't know why we had a spontaneous little fire drill but we feel confident that the baby is fine and with this new medication we can keep her cooking until she's more ready to join us. I think perhaps she was just eager to join her friend since my cousin gave birth on Friday to a beautiful baby boy. (Congrats!)

vacation tidbits

Since daddy was away on a business trip this week and Grammy was free to play, we decided to have a girls trip. We spent the first two days at my grandparents' cabin and another two days in St. George. Trip highlights:

driving down the road (thank goodness for travel dvds or it would have been a much less enjoyable drive) as Grammy pointed out horses and cows and sheep to the girls. "What does the horsie say? The horsie says meow." No that is not a typo. Yes she was raised on a farm. Confused? yeah, me too.

The girls played on the cabin porch collecting rocks to make a rock family or playing ring-around-the-rosies but mostly just followed around their older cousin with worshiping adoration. He's actually my cousin but significantly younger (12 years old) and was really good about humoring his entourage. His played with them, watched movies with them and was really good about letting them follow him around.

They spent a lot of time trying unsuccessfully to sneak up on the chipmunks to feed them. They also liked watching the deer as they came to eat at the little feeding station my grandpa had built. But Ladybug got mad at me because I wouldn't let her ride the deer.

They helped "grandma great" feed the dogs and loved jumping on the beds upstairs. And they managed to get much more dirty than I ever thought possible. I gave Butterfly a hammer and assigned her the job of looking for nails sticking up in the patio and pounding them back in (which she was surprisingly good at). They also loved taking turns brushing grammy's hair and quickly moved on to brushing grandma-great's hair and my aunt's as well. We all took turns reading books to them but the best was when Grammy was pointing out the horse in the picture, "the horse says moo." (I think she needs more sleep.)

On the drive from the cabin to St. George, the rubber seal holding my windshield in place became to come off and snake down the drivers side of the vehicle. It flapped against the window like a creepy alien wave and required us to stop and get that fixed before our adventures could continue. We pulled into the maintenance bay and when the check-in girl welcomed us and asked what we needed, I eloquently and profoundly announced "I broke it." Grammy laughed, shocked that I would say something so relatively stupid and blunt (usually I try to sound at least somewhat intelligent) but I figured the problem was obvious. Fortunately it was a quick fix.

We told the girls we were going on a special "date" and got dressed up in our cute new dresses to go see a stage show of The Little Mermaid. It was fantastic and the girls had a lot of fun. We even got to meet Ariel after the show and see one of my friends from college who was working as a designer at that theater.

Since St. Geroge is a billion degrees, we spent a lot of time playing in the water. We took the girls to a park that had all kinds of fountains and spray toys. Butterfly loved it but Ladybug was startled and wouldn't go back in the playground. But both girls LOVED swimming in the hotel's pool. (what can I say, my children are fish.) In fact, Ladybug kept doing a cute little cheer of "water baby!" with her arms pushed into the air as she jumped into the water and she giggled like crazy every time we called her "sharkbait". We stopped at the dollar store to buy air floaties and inflatable rings and it turned out to be a brilliant investment. The girls, who usually cling to me in the water, loved their newfound freedom and with the security of their floaties were eager to play by themselves, even in areas of the pool where they couldn't touch the bottom. Butterfly liked paddling around while Ladybug liked to jump into the water from the side of the pool. (she would count before she jumped, "one, two, three, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, 'leven, twelve, GO!" I'm not sure why 12 is the magic number or why she skips four and five but she did it the same way every time.)

We spent a little time shopping and ate lots of tasty food. It's silly but a trip highlight for me is always getting to go to food places that I love and don't have nearby anymore such as El Pollo Loco, Kneaders, Pier 49, etc. If you have these places near you and don't appreciate them properly, shame on you.

And finally, we came home, eager to see daddy and sleep in our own beds again. Well, I was eager to sleep in my own bed. The girls slept in my bed too because we couldn't pry them away from daddy to make them sleep in their own rooms. :)

songs

Butterfly sings "row row row your boat gently down the stream, merrily merrily AND THE ALLIGATOR EATS YOU!"

Ladybug's favorite song is "once was 'noman tall tall tall! In sun melted small small small."

Another favorite is the one Butterfly calls "ring rosies" but Ladybug calls it "pocket ashes".

Butterfly loves to cuddle my hair and smooth it as she sings the song from the movie Tangled. At the end of the verse she dramatically closes her eyes and sighs.

Ladybug is learning to sing the abc song and even though she misses half the letters, its pretty cute.

Both girls love "i am a child of god" (butterfly likes to sing it to my belly) and "book of Mormon stories".

During church, singing hymns is Ladybug's favorite part as she sits on my lap or stands on the bench, holds her book open and sings loudly and enthusiastically. Unfortunately, she can't read words or music and appears to be tonedeaf.

Both girls, especially Ladybug, love to play the piano lately. Ladybug sits, poised like a lady on the edge of the bench and plays delicately with one hand, conducts music with the other hand and sings sweetly.

little mermaid

Grammy and I took the girls out for a road trip this week (more later) and tonight we took them to see the little mermaid, performed at one of the most beautiful venues in the world. This professional, Broadway theatre is an outdoor amphitheater carved out of majestically beautiful red cliffs that opens to a brilliantly blue sky. I love this place.

So tonight, Ladybug got her first Broadway style show (outside of Disney theme parks). Butterfly had her first theater experience at six months old. Instead of sleeping through it like I planned, she stood on my lap and was completely enthralled through the whole thing. However Ladybug, even today at nearly age 2, rarely watches tv and prefers to be more active so we haven't taken her to the theater yet.

But tonight was wonderful. We dressed the girls up in pretty new party dresses and stuffed a bag full of snacks. We arrived at the theater and explored the outdoor plaza. We stalled and played for awhile and then found our seats. As the show began, Butterfly was so captivated that she forgot to eat her popcorn. Ladybug was wiggly and didn't settle down until Grammy realized she couldn't see and pulled her onto her lap (which really was good because she didn't weigh enough to hold the seat down anyway and it kept trying to fold up with her in it). Butterfly kept up a steady commentary of stating the obvious or expressing her excitement. Ladybug especially liked to cheer and applaud after each number, clapping so enthusiastically that her whole body bounced. However, she didn't like seeing the technician walking above us on the catwalk and yelled at him to get down right now.

For the second act, Butterfly continued to be fascinated and Ladybug started to wilt (it was two hours past bedtime) and wanted to lay on my lap with her blanket. We did have to make an early exit as the fire effects at the final scene scared Butterfly and then Ladybug got upset watching me leave without her. So we watched the finale from the back of the theater and then left early during curtain call (rude I know, but didn't want the fireworks to upset Butterfly). Leaving early ended up being especially advantageous because we had stopped to rearrange ourselves and ended up at the front of the line to meet Ariel after the show. The girls were tired but eager to give hugs and Ladybug perked up with an "again?" when asked if she liked the show.

We stayed to talk to a friend of mine from college that had been one of the show's designers and then made our way to the parking lot where valet already had our car waiting. (we either must have been one of the last ones or they are magic), loaded our tired girls (who were asleep before we left the parking lot) and made our way back to the hotel.

sibling rivalry

the girls are getting old enough now that they have really started to play together and its wonderful! They will play with their dolls together or play with the doctor kit or with their toy kitchen. I absolutely love when they are getting along, playing cooperatively and being so cute with each other. Ladybug dotes on her big sister and follows every suggestion she makes and Butterfly is sweet, showing her how to play with a certain toy or asking for her help.

On the other hand, they are fighting more than ever. Each has a possessive streak that shows up only when they really want to push each other's buttons. Butterfly can be mean and bossy and Ladybug is a mischievous little imp who likes to tease her big sister just for fun. They sometimes tease and fight until one or both of them cries. Butterfly is bigger and can squish Ladybug when she wants to be mean but Ladybug has learned to fight back in her own way--biting. As much as I try to discipline the behavior, I typically don't feel bad when (for example) Butterfly torments and teases until Ladybug, in frustration, retaliates and bites her sister. Once I intervene, they are both good at apologizing and can play together again. Most of the time, they fight because they are bored, like on a day when we haven't really done anything special and their attitudes are significantly improved by a trip to the park or going for a walk.

Miscellaneous updates:
--Ladybug is recovering and doing well. She was fussy and cranky on friday (the day of surgery) and was so intermittently on Saturday (mostly just wanted daddy to cuddle her) but seems to be back to being herself again today.) She hasn't even needed any tylonel today and actually is pretty good about letting us put the ear drops in her ears.
--I am a lizard. My sunburn finally started to peel and while I find it rather repulsive, Butterfly is fascinated and wants to know why there's a "wrapper" on my legs.
--I have concluded that I will never fit into my pre-pregnancy dresses again because this child has permanently increased the size of my rib cage by several inches I'm sure. It's not the kicking that has become so uncomfortable but just the constant pressure of baby running out of room. Fortunately, there is a remedy for that. Unfortunately, I still have several weeks to go. In the meantime, I am seriously considering having my lower ribs removed.

surgery day

We took Ladybug to the children's hospital this morning to receive tubes and have her adenoids removed. It's a fairly minimal, low risk procedure with great possible benefits but certainly not much fun for our little princess. But she actually did great this morning. We had kept the girls up late last night, trying to keep them eating and drinking as much as possible since she wouldn't be allowed anything after midnight. And then they slept well until this morning when we loaded them in the car and headed to the hospital (dropping Butterfly off with Grammy along the way.) As we drove, Ladybug sat quietly in her carseat, still half asleep and clutching her Mickey doll and blanket. Her expression clearly told us that she knew something was up.

Butterfly had the same exact procedure by the same doctor, but in a different facility nearly two years ago. That helped to know what to expect and eased some of our anxiety. We showed up to the hospital and checked in. Ladybug loved the waiting room filled with toys but got briefly upset when Daddy and I were given name tags ("stickers") and identification armbands ("bracelets") at check in and she didn't. Once we were called back, they took her vitals, strapped on her own bracelet and we changed her into her hospital jammies (much softer and cuter than the shapeless gowns given to adults). Then we went to another waiting area (with more toys) to wait some more. The doctor came out to meet with us briefly and soon they called her name.

We had agreed to an oral sedative that would help her relax. The same sedative had been given to her older sister and didn't work the way it was expected. Instead of making her calm and tired, she became very giggly and silly but at least she didn't get upset when we separated or when they gave her an IV. Ladybug received the sedative and similarly, became silly but not at all tired. (we have since concluded that this drug does not work as expected on our children) Daddy had to hold her so she wouldn't fall over and eventually the nurses brought a little red wagon for her to sit in. The nurses showed us where they were going and sent us to another waiting room so Ladybug could be taken to surgery. She told us goodbye but apparently became upset only moments later when she realized daddy was gone. Then they used a gas mask to put her to sleep before putting in the IV for her anesthesia.

We hung out in the parent waiting room for a short time and then the doctor appeared, reassured us that everything went perfectly, that she would likely sleep for awhile and then one of us could go back to be with her as she came around. Sooner than expected, I was called and told where to go so I headed down the hallway remembering how Butterfly had been disoriented and scared when she first woke up. She had whimpered and clung to me and allowed me to comfort her. So I hurried to Ladybug, eager to offer the same kind of comfort (only one of us was allowed in post-op until she was taken to recovery). This was the worst part of the day. Instead of still sleeping, she was crying and thrashing, struggling against the three nurses that were trying to calm her while removing the monitors and IV. I gathered her up but she was still so disoriented and drugged that she couldn't focus long enough to recognize me (in fact, she couldn't even open her eyes but continues to thrash and cry with them closed). Once free from monitors and IVs, I tried to cuddle and walk with her but she continued to flail and resist me. The nurses called for Daddy to come instead (I simply couldn't hold onto her and was worried she might hurt the baby) and he was able to calm and comfort her. In fact, as soon as she calmed down, she downed two bottles of juice and asked for more but fell asleep before they could refill her sippy cup. She slept against Daddy's shoulder as she was taken to recovery and stayed snuggled into his shoulder possessively while she was monitored there.

Soon we received her care instructions and discharge. We stopped at the hospital cafeteria for a quick lunch and Ladybug roused enough to become curious about her surroundings. She sat between us, nibbled at some of the soft foods we offered her, played with some grapes and then curled up with her head on daddy's lap again. So we ate quickly and then as we headed down the long hallway to the exit, Daddy recognized a piece of artwork hanging on the wall as something his brother had drawn at age 7! As a dedicated children's hospital, the hallways are lined with children's artwork but it was especially fun to see something from an "artist" we know (incidentally, this brother really did become an artist and even earned a bachelor's degree in art). We loaded Ladybug into her carseat and Daddy sat next to her to monitor her on the long drive home (that turned out to be unnecessary since she slept the entire way). Once we got home, I tried to cuddle her in my bed but she actually cried to be taken to her own bed where she slept another nearly three hours. Since waking, she was been mostly fussy and clingy, refusing to let me hold or touch her but eager to cuddle Daddy.

Meanwhile Butterfly spent the day with Grammy and has apparently been very well behaved. However she did announce that mommy had the baby, that the baby's name was Arianna and that the baby has tiny hands and small feet. I have no idea what prompted her to say this but rest assured that I am still largely and uncomfortably pregnant. (but with an awesome husband who let me nap today and even ordered Chinese so I wouldn't have to cook). :)

oh crap

There are certain phrases that we use all the time, sometimes several times a day, without thinking about them. But when the same phrase spills out of the innocent mouth of your two year old, it suddenly sounds so much more crude. So when Butterfly first started repeating "oh crap", we were quick to correct her and have tried hard to change ourselves. Now, she's the enforcer and will correct us, "no mommy! don't say that! say 'oh man!'"

So tonight, daddy was frustrated, muttered "oh crap" and Butterfly promptly corrected him, "no daddy, don't say that!" Ladybug was cuddled up next him and after hearing this exchange, repeated "oh crap." Butterfly chastised her as well so Ladybug said it again, louder and with more enthusiasm. This led to several rounds of repeating it with Ladybug giggling harder, Butterfly getting madder and me trying not to laugh.

After we settled down we returned to what we had been doing (watching Glee) until the girls got bored and decided to ride their bikes down the slide of the playhouse instead.

why not

Ladybug's new favorite phrase is "why not?" But she chirps it in a way that is so sweet and innocent that despite its excessive frequency, its still cute.

Butterfly had been going through a sassy and stubborn phase which magically disappears with some quality one-on-one time. After Ladybug goes to bed, Butterfly becomes an angel and is so much fun to have around that we've been letting her stay up later than she should. She's eager to help, cuddly, sweet and fun to talk to. I know the individual time is important, she's obviously thriving on it and we are thoroughly enjoying it too. (since Butterfly usually naps for longer than Ladybug, I usually get some one-on-one with her during the day too.)

Ladybug calls it a "be-bug" instead of a ladybug when pointing to her toys, her shirt and herself. Turning into another fun nickname.

The reconstruction is complete! Hurray! We have a playroom again, plus a storage room and a new tv to reward ourselves. (our old tv was mine from college and needed replacing anyway). But I think the new tv might be smarter than me...

At the end of each Sesame Street, there's "elmo's world" where he (and his pet fish named Dorothy) explores some new idea and then asks kids to demonstrate. So Butterfly frequently says "dorothy, this is how I eat" or "dorothy, this is how I do my buckle". Except she pronounces "dorothy" like "doggy". Ladybug is starting to do it too. (complete with mispronunciation)

CA adventure

Once upon a time, some friends of ours rented a beautiful beach house and invited us to join them. We left the girls with baby sitters, loaded up the car at stupid o'clock in the morning and set out on our CA adventure. Two of the couples were flying down to LA and staying for a week at the beach house. But we had decided to carpool with another couple and only stay two days.

The drive was long but fun, getting to have long, enjoyable talks with friends, nap when we could and just generally relax. The drive was great until we approached LA. Despite having left early enough to avoid rush hour traffic, the freeways were still ridiculous and slowed us down considerably. But we survived and left LA, driving up the coast to our destination.

The beach house was beautiful! It was an older home but beautifully decorated inside with a great kitchen and four large bedrooms so each couple could have privacy. We immediately walked the block and a half to the beach and despite the cloudy skies and the minimal waves, it looked wonderful. We spent the evening rounding up groceries, eating pizza and hanging out with friends.

We woke up, ate breakfast and headed for the beach! The skies were perfectly clear and the waves much bigger than before. They were so tempting in fact that all the men left to go find body boards (something that turned out to be harder than expected). While they were gone, the four women sat on the beach to soak up the sunshine. It was a blissful morning of getting to talk with some of my closest girlfriends, hang out in the sunshine and listen to the waves. We met our husbands for a quick lunch at the house and immediately returned to the beach for more lounging in the sunshine. Our husbands, dignified and responsible men, turned into carefree little boys as they laughed and played in the waves. Even the girls took turns trying to ride the waves. But being as pregnant as I am, I declined and resumed my position as observer and sun worshiper. After awhile, my lounge chair had become uncomfortable so in a stroke of ingeniousness, I dug an appropriately sized hole in the sand, spread my towel over it and was able to lay on my stomach (with belly in the hole so I wouldn't squish baby) and stretch out in the sun. It was both brilliant and blissful.

Are you ready for my confession? Despite my years of growing up on southern California beaches and my spf 15 (I haven't worn anything stronger in years), I got sunburned. I haven't been this sunburned since middle school. I've decided to blame it on living in Utah for ten years (and conditioning my skin to be weaker than it was growing up) and after some google research, on being pregnant. Of eight people, the only two who sunburned were pregnant and both of us look blotchy and uneven. Google informed me that pregnant women are in fact more susceptible to sunburn because of increased melamine production (the same thing that causes the cholasma effect/"mask of pregnancy") and a serious vitamin/hormone in balance. I'm not sure how reliable any of this information is, but it makes me feel slightly less stupid for getting burned so bad. (Fortunately, it's now only two days later and nearly all of the redness has turned brown and I'm becoming much less cranky about my discomfort.)

After our day at the beach, we returned home where my husband cooked up a phenomenal dinner to spoil us all. (Not only is he the grill master but in general, is a really great cook, probably better than me. He rarely cooks but when he does, it's a wonderful treat.) And then we hung out on our patio, swapping stories and laughing until my stomach hurt.

Day 2 started with a lazy morning for the girls and some very cold water for the boys (who simply couldn't resist more body boarding, despite having been thoroughly tossed around the day before). Eventually the girls went out for pedicures (and a massage chair that I seriously could live in for months at a time). Husband used leftovers from dinner to make another tasty meal for lunch and then we drove down to Venice Beach. The rest of the group had been sold on the idea by some neighbors and while I wasn't particularly impressed with it on visits in high school, we went along. We wandered, mostly watching the crazy street performers and briefly checking out some of the shops before deciding it was briefly entertaining but didn't have much for us after all. So we headed out for an early dinner at the Cheesecake Factory for a birthday celebration. Dinner was a blast! We stuffed ourselves on the delicious food and then entertained ourselves by asking for a nutritional guide (even after discovering I had already eaten an entire day's worth of recommended calories, I ordered cheesecake anyway).

Our two days were short and the next morning we again packed the car and began the long drive. We had originally hoped to stay longer, especially since I will soon be missing my ten year high school reunion and had wanted to put together some kind of "mini-reunion" with friends while we were there. But once we realized how far from LA we would be staying and that our stay would need to be so brief due to family and work commitments, we weren't able to make plans with my high school friends after all. :( But other than that, it was a great trip. We made our way home and arrived very late to find two sleeping angels in our bed. They slept through my cuddles and kisses so soundly that I didn't bother putting them in their own beds. Instead, I climbed in next to them and got to snuggle my girls all night. (especially fun was when they woke up in the morning and realized we were there!)

happy 4th!

I wrote a beautiful post the other day, it was an eloquent and brilliant introduction to a movie clip that was profound and inspiring and made a powerful statement about our history and patriotism. It was truly beautiful. But the video wouldn't load so I gave up. Maybe next year.

We had a busy weekend mostly devoted to the reconstruction of our basement. But last night we got to have a great time celebrating the 4th with friends and neighbors at a neighborhood bbq. It's an annual tradition but the first time we have been able to go. We showed up to find a yard full of people and tables brimming with food. Ladybug made an immediate beeline for the platter of cupcakes while Butterfly made her way over to the sandbox and swing set to "play with my friends". We chatted and mingled and ate a lot of ridiculously good food. There was a bike parade for all of the kids but we hadn't anticipated our girls caring much about it so we didn't bother decorating or even bringing their bikes. To our surprise, Butterfly was genuinely upset and wanted to participate so daddy took them home to retrieve her bike. He also loaded Ladybug into the bike trailer and drove her around so she could be part of the fun too. After the parade we headed home, opting to miss the firework party. Ladybug loves fireworks and squeals and cheers but she was already past bedtime before it got dark. Butterfly could have stayed up late to watch but she's actually been scared of fireworks in the past and even last Friday, she had nightmares about the fireworks we saw out the car window so we decided to wait until next year to try again.

Today was spent doing a few final projects to get the basement finished. The last step will be re-laying carpet tomorrow and then putting all the toys back in it. (I'm sure the girls will love that part!) The house is slowly becoming livable once more. I've generally ignored housework since the flood (the construction dust and grime just keep piling up, trying to clean would have been futile) but the mess finally got to me. I don't think it's "nesting", I think I finally just gave in and got sick of the dirt driving me crazy. So we've been cleaning and organizing and getting more excited about having our beautiful home put back together and being able to anticipate our new baby.

under construction

Several years of my childhood were spent helping my dad remodel our home. Among his many other talents, he has experience in contracting and construction work so he had chosen to do the work himself. This meant that I learned how to wield a paintbrush by age 8, drywall and plaster by age 10 and lay brick by age 12 (more of less). I never learned the really hard stuff--framing, plumbing, electrical, etc. but my brothers did.

This early education became very useful later in life. A year after husband and I were married, we eagerly bought our first home. It was beautiful and wonderful and we loved it. But it came with problems. Okay, honestly it was a little shack, but a great starter home. Most notably, it was built on peat moss and the back corner of the foundation had sunk several inches. Realizing we could not sell it in this condition, we tried fixing it ourselves and finally had to hire a company to do it. And then slowly, this little project began to grow. Grandma offered to buy the much-needed new carpet for our home before the baby was born. And husband decided to update some of the electrical while the rest of the work was being done. But once he tapped into the walls, he discovered they weren't insulated. So the project evolved into a seven headed monster and by the time we were done, the house had a proper foundation, new electrical wiring, insulation, new drywall, new paint, new baseboards, new corner molding, new shingles, a new tile entry, new light fixtures, new carpet and a new baby in it. The work was hard but fun, having done most of it ourselves. We hired one of husband's best friends since he was a freelance contractor to help us with some of the bigger projects and with the finish work and we learned a lot along the way. Siblings and friends pitched in when they could and it was a great learning experience. When we were done, the house looked amazing. (and then we sold it less than six months later)

Thus the joke about famous last words--"I bet I can do it in 15 minutes" or "I think I'll just do it myself".

When shopping for our second home, we intentionally avoided homes that needed significant work (we were still recovering from our first "fixer upper" ordeal). We found and bought the beautiful home we live in now. It's the kind of place that I still wander occasionally and marvel to myself that I actually get to live here. There has been a few little projects, but mostly things we chose to do for our own comfort and convenience (ceiling fans, night lights, etc.).

And then came the flood.

Really, the flood wasn't near as bad as it could have been and we have been very grateful that the damage was relatively minimal and limited to one room. So here's the update: we got the estimates back from the insurance company and decided to cash it out instead. By doing the work ourselves we could use the extra money to finish off the storage room and even tackle a few minor projects in the garage. That way, the house would only be a drywall dust/plaster infested mess once. We hired our friend again to help with the work and once we got going, it's gone really fast.

So we spent yesterday priming and painting the walls with the "help" of our two adorable but less than productive little girls. They were both eager to help and bouncing off the walls excited when we first started. But Ladybug's enthusiasm wore off quickly, mostly because she kept getting paint on her hands and was upset that they were dirty. She ended up sitting on a box watching home movies on my phone and eventually just taking a nap while Butterfly and I continued painting. Butterfly was more help than I expected and was able to put a good amount of paint on the walls (and a pathway of adorable footprints across the floor).

Now construction and finish work is almost complete (or hopefully will be by midweek) and we will have a playroom again soon.

date night / 28 weeks

We had an awesome date night for our six year anniversary. We left the girls with a baby sitter and went to the doc's for a baby check up. Baby is measuring fine (little large for expected due date but that's normal for me). But the best part was that we got to have an ultrasound again including a 3D image of our little girl! It was the first time I've gotten to have 3D ultrasound so it was fascinating and wonderful. We got a clear image of her face, round with full cheeks and she was even smiling! And for another fun surprise, we bumped into our cousin in the waiting room! it was fun to talk and compare notes for a minute. As for other pregnancy news, my weight is good so far (yea!), I haven't had as bad of headaches or swelling as previous pregnancies (thanks to an iron supplement), contractions still frequent (but not much I can do about it) and the baby moves enough to be training for the Olympics.

After the doctor appointment we ran a few errands (always easier without kids). The recent water damage has added extra incentive for some shopping we've already considered but have been postponing so we checked out some tvs and sound systems and furniture that needs to be replaced. Since we first got married, I've wanted us to do something together rather than exchange gifts for our anniversaries. Some years it has been a trip, some times a purchase for our home, etc.

Then we went to a Japanese steakhouse for a tasty, entertaining and romantic dinner. I had never been to a steakhouse like this before and was really impressed. We sat at a table with other couples while our chef prepared our dinner on a flat grill right in front of us. The cooking was done with flair, with tricks and fire and charisma so it really makes it fun.

By the time we got home, the girls were already sound asleep. But don't worry, they were up early this morning, full of energy and mischief. Ladybug managed to find a black sharpie and scribbled all over her hands, pajamas, a puzzle, a toy, her sister and my dresser. (all in less than four minutes while i was on the phone). I was furious and she was sobbingly repentant and in the end we were able to get it cleaned up (mostly). After naps and cuddles, we played happy and content once again. (by the way, this is the second incident like this. Last time, she used crayons on my bedroom wall and when I caught and yelled at her, those big eyes filled with tears and she whispered "color for daddy".)

quote of the day

Entry 1:

Ladybug: "Bye! Go(ing) to work!"
Butterfly: "Work hard, bring bacon! ...wait! I need a kiss!"
*kiss, hug*
Butterfly: "Don't forget your purse!"
Ladybug: (now with high heels and purse) "Bye, to work"

Ladybug: (leaves room and wanders in the hallway)..."Oh Bacon! Where you?! Bacon?!"


Entry 2: "my lips are red and my cheeks are white. I'm Snow White!" -Butterfly


Entry 3: (near tears) "mom! I can't fly! But I need to fly so I can be a super hero!" -Butterfly