Well, we went out of town for Thanksgiving, to my oldest friend's house in the town I grew up in, located in deepest, flattest, sandiest south Georgia. I'll write more about that later (last year at Thanksgiving was the first time I had been back to that town in right about 10 years, and it raises a welter of thoughts and emotions for me to go back there. My relationship with that town is a strange and troubled one). But I wanted to observe first that traveling around the Thanksgiving holiday sucks the big one. Always. It's impossible to have a smooth travel experience at Thanksgiving, at least for my family.
We left early on Thursday morning. I had to work all day Wednesday, and we have long learned that Wednesday traffic is rarely, if ever, worth the extra time at one's destination, so we decided to go on Thursday. We thought we would leave super early on Thursday, hoping that spending time on the road while it was still dark would allow Caetlin to go back to sleep in the car- she hasn't slept in the car in many months. We didn't get up early enough, so the sun was just starting to come up as we got on the road. Caetlin stayed pretty mellow, though not asleep, through the first few hours of the trip, including when we stopped for breakfast.
It was the last hour that really tried my- our- patience. She was bored, tired of riding in the car, ready to be moving around. We didn't want to stop, as we were so close to being there and on a deadline, since dinner was scheduled for 1. She started throwing things around the car and asking for them, and as I am always the passenger, it's my job to fetch the things she throws and otherwise keep her happy. I hate this job. It's frustrating, and uncomfortable, as often the seat belt cuts into my neck, and sometimes I get car sick from having to turn around and find things, and she cries when I can't find the exact thing she wants. Unfortunately, about 25 minutes away (yes, seriously, only 25 minutes), she lost it, and I lost it with her. She started crying, tears rolling down her face, and throwing some of the what seemed like dozens of toys that she had in her car seat. I was so frustrated, with my inability to make her happy, with her inability to just relax for another 25 minutes, with her inability to allow me to just sit and face forward for a few ever-loving minutes, that I started throwing toys too. (Not at her, of course.) Yes, it was tough to distinguish the adult from the two-year-old at that point. No, it was not my finest parenting moment.
Anyway, things did get better. We all managed to pull ourselves together and pulled up to our friends' house and had some Thanksgiving. We had a lovely time at Thanksgiving dinner and though Caetlin didn't nap, she still had a good time. The next day we were kind of on our own, so Caetlin spent a good amount of time at the playground. I had to leave her and Bruce there and work back at the hotel. She cried when I drove away. Yeah, THAT sucked.
I picked them back up after a couple of hours of work and we went to one of the two casual dining chains in town for lunch. Waiting for our drinks, Caetlin started crying and screaming to change her diaper, which is not like her at all, and before we could do anything like get her out of the highchair and out to the car to change her diaper, all of her breakfast started pouring out of her. She vomited, four huge spews all over the table, the highchair, herself, the floor.
Apparently, it's not Thanksgiving unless Caetlin is sick.
The wonderful waitstaff (minus our pansy waiter, who told us he has a weak stomach and had to hand us off to someone else) cleaned up the mess, while Bruce cleaned up Caetlin. Caetlin managed rally enough to have a couple of crackers and then we took her back to the hotel for a nap. She was off her feed and running a slight temperature the whole rest of the weekend, and still appears to be fighting off the bug, whatever it is. It didn't help that we'd jacked with her schedule so badly, though she's coming out of it by now.
We whiled away another day (we went over to the beach, and a couple pics from that day will be posted shortly), and decided to leave Saturday night to miss the Sunday traffic and hopefully have Caetlin sleep in the car most of the way home. A long, late nap and heavy rain foiled our plans; she stayed awake and cranky for the first two hours or so of the 4 hour trip. My heartburn started up about the time she fell asleep, cutting off any possibility of pulling over to find my antacids. The rain continued unabated, heavy, scary, big trucks roaring by splashing big sheets of water onto the windshield. Every so often I could feel the car shimmy over deep standing water in the road. I tried to sleep and couldn't really, because I was cold and because of my stomach. But I couldn't really stay awake either.
We pulled into home at about 1:30 a.m., and Caetlin went back down without too much fuss. I climbed into bed, exhausted, but had a hard time falling asleep. Thinking about how tired I was, and how I had to work Sunday and how I'm tired of working (I logged in all 4 days this holiday weekend, even though it hasn't been for very long each time).
In short, the time with our friends was wonderful, but the travel and the barfing and the working- not so much. It wasn't as restful a trip as I hoped it would be. It's funny- it's like the more I need a particular time to be restful, the more guaranteed it is that I won't be allowed to relax.
Anyway, home again, home again, as the old nursery rhyme goes. On the downhill slope to Christmas.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Also Amusing
Yesterday, Caetlin ended up going down for her "nap" at 5:00 p.m., and because she hadn't had a nap the day before and because she had eaten like a champ all day and would therefore be okay without dinner, we let her sleep through into the night. She woke us up chattering at about midnight, so we got up with her to change her diaper, put her into jammies, and at her demand, read her a story or two.
What I thought was really funny about the situation was what she was babbling about into the monitor when she woke me up. She was saying over and over, "Pretty Caetlin. Cute Caetlin. Yeah. Cute Caetlin. Pretty Caetlin."
Maybe we tell her how adorable she is a little too often. But she is!
What I thought was really funny about the situation was what she was babbling about into the monitor when she woke me up. She was saying over and over, "Pretty Caetlin. Cute Caetlin. Yeah. Cute Caetlin. Pretty Caetlin."
Maybe we tell her how adorable she is a little too often. But she is!
Feet From Beyond the Grave
Bear with me; this is probably going to be a "You had to be there" story, but I wanted to share in case any of you get a chuckle out of it.
The other evening I had been working late, and came home from the office and basically went straight to bed. Bruce was still up so we decided to watch a little TV before sleeping. I should mention that it's been pretty chilly here this week, and despite being pregnant enough to be warmer than I otherwise would be, my feet remain cold most of the time. So that evening, I climbed into bed with small ice blocks attached to my ankles, and moved them near - but not touching- my husband.
After a few (unsuccessful) minutes of trying to warm my feet up like that, I mentioned oh-so-casually to Bruce that I had a foot temperature problem, and would he be a wonderful husband who loves me so much and help me with it? He knows what that means, too- my own personal Antarctica placed carefully on or under the global warming zone of his legs.
He grumbled but assented, and when I attacked him with my feet-cicles, he cried out. "Aaagghh! Are your feet undead? Is this the cold of the grave?? Are your feet vampire feet?"
I started giggling, and burrowed my toes ever further under him.
"Aaaggh! Back, Nosfera-TOES!"
I lost it. He continued to incant against my otherworldly feet, but Nosferatoes will probably live on in the family lore for awhile.
My husband still makes me laugh.
The other evening I had been working late, and came home from the office and basically went straight to bed. Bruce was still up so we decided to watch a little TV before sleeping. I should mention that it's been pretty chilly here this week, and despite being pregnant enough to be warmer than I otherwise would be, my feet remain cold most of the time. So that evening, I climbed into bed with small ice blocks attached to my ankles, and moved them near - but not touching- my husband.
After a few (unsuccessful) minutes of trying to warm my feet up like that, I mentioned oh-so-casually to Bruce that I had a foot temperature problem, and would he be a wonderful husband who loves me so much and help me with it? He knows what that means, too- my own personal Antarctica placed carefully on or under the global warming zone of his legs.
He grumbled but assented, and when I attacked him with my feet-cicles, he cried out. "Aaagghh! Are your feet undead? Is this the cold of the grave?? Are your feet vampire feet?"
I started giggling, and burrowed my toes ever further under him.
"Aaaggh! Back, Nosfera-TOES!"
I lost it. He continued to incant against my otherworldly feet, but Nosferatoes will probably live on in the family lore for awhile.
My husband still makes me laugh.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Conversations with Caetlin
Tonight, while I was changing her diaper before stories and bedtime:
[I unzip her sleeper and pull it off her feet. She frantically gropes for her belly button, missing it by a couple of inches.]
C: Uhh, uhh, belly button! [Whine.]
Me: It's right here, silly! [I guide her hand to her belly button.]
C: Hee, belly button. [Self-satisfied smile.]
Me: [Unsure what else to say] Yes, that's your belly button.
C: Big belly button.
Me: It's not a big belly button! It's a little belly button.
C: Daddy's big belly button.
Me: Yes, Daddy has a big belly button.
C: Daddy's big belly button. Caetlin's little belly button.
Me: That's right. Mommy's belly button is somewhere in between.
C: Baby [Segunda] grow behind Mommy's belly button.
Me: [delighted, because she might be starting to understand Segunda a little] That's right! Baby [Segunda] is growing in Mommy's belly!
C: Clean hands, please! [In a complete non sequitur to alert me to the fact that she's been picking her nose and is grossed out by the results.]
I envision Conversations with Caetlin to be a regular feature of the blog. It's so random talking to a toddler. Very free form. But I loved the bit about the belly buttons.
[I unzip her sleeper and pull it off her feet. She frantically gropes for her belly button, missing it by a couple of inches.]
C: Uhh, uhh, belly button! [Whine.]
Me: It's right here, silly! [I guide her hand to her belly button.]
C: Hee, belly button. [Self-satisfied smile.]
Me: [Unsure what else to say] Yes, that's your belly button.
C: Big belly button.
Me: It's not a big belly button! It's a little belly button.
C: Daddy's big belly button.
Me: Yes, Daddy has a big belly button.
C: Daddy's big belly button. Caetlin's little belly button.
Me: That's right. Mommy's belly button is somewhere in between.
C: Baby [Segunda] grow behind Mommy's belly button.
Me: [delighted, because she might be starting to understand Segunda a little] That's right! Baby [Segunda] is growing in Mommy's belly!
C: Clean hands, please! [In a complete non sequitur to alert me to the fact that she's been picking her nose and is grossed out by the results.]
I envision Conversations with Caetlin to be a regular feature of the blog. It's so random talking to a toddler. Very free form. But I loved the bit about the belly buttons.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Halloween Pics
I've been slack about pictures lately, so please let me remedy that with a couple from Halloween. Caetlin was our little lion, complete with roaring (she's roaring, not crying in the first pic below, as befits the cutest lion ever).
Sorry about the annoying bad date- the pics were taken with our old point and shoot, and I'm the only one who remembers to re-set the date after changing the batteries. I didn't take these, therefore, 2003 dating.
Sorry about the annoying bad date- the pics were taken with our old point and shoot, and I'm the only one who remembers to re-set the date after changing the batteries. I didn't take these, therefore, 2003 dating.
(She's a lion with a lollipop. Dr. Seuss fans among you will recognize this allusion. And isn't she the cutest lion ever??)
Of All the Law Schools In All the World...
Eight and a half years ago (how can that be right??) I had a message on my answering machine in my apartment. Some guy, wanting my help with some law school thing. I called him back.
And that was how it started.
Somehow, after the first date, which came sometime after the law school thing, after the party where we realized we wanted to know each other better, we ended up inseparable. I remember the afternoon I was on the floor in his living room, listening with sharpened ears as he referred to me as his girlfriend on the phone with his mom.
Then it was long distance in Los Angeles, then very long distance in Scotland, then just long distance again in Los Angeles. Then cohabitation, in the cute apartment in the cute LA neighborhood. Our first house, in the bad neighborhood that wasn't as bad as it could have been because it was a cul-de-sac and the gangbangers went elsewhere to make their mischief.
I knew we were meant to be long before he sat with me outside our brand new house, in the park overlooking the lights of the downtown highrises and asked me to marry him.
We've been through job changes and job loss, cross-country moves, career left turns, bought three houses, rented two apartments and a house, taken 2 bar exams, moved twice to cities where we knew almost no one. We've had four cats and two dogs (now down to only 2 cats). In August 2006, we managed to join ourselves together far more permanently than we could have ever believed, and made a baby. We're working on another one of those right now. Basically, we've been through thick and thin (physically and metaphorically). It hasn't always been fun, but it has always been better because we were together. No matter what comes in our lives, we can get through it because we will be together. I have absolute faith in that.
November 13, 2004 is only the halfway point of our story from when we met until now. But in some ways, it was just the beginning.
Four whole years! (Feels like forever.) Love you, sweetie. You were, are and always will be the best thing that's ever happened to me.
And that was how it started.
Somehow, after the first date, which came sometime after the law school thing, after the party where we realized we wanted to know each other better, we ended up inseparable. I remember the afternoon I was on the floor in his living room, listening with sharpened ears as he referred to me as his girlfriend on the phone with his mom.
Then it was long distance in Los Angeles, then very long distance in Scotland, then just long distance again in Los Angeles. Then cohabitation, in the cute apartment in the cute LA neighborhood. Our first house, in the bad neighborhood that wasn't as bad as it could have been because it was a cul-de-sac and the gangbangers went elsewhere to make their mischief.
I knew we were meant to be long before he sat with me outside our brand new house, in the park overlooking the lights of the downtown highrises and asked me to marry him.
We've been through job changes and job loss, cross-country moves, career left turns, bought three houses, rented two apartments and a house, taken 2 bar exams, moved twice to cities where we knew almost no one. We've had four cats and two dogs (now down to only 2 cats). In August 2006, we managed to join ourselves together far more permanently than we could have ever believed, and made a baby. We're working on another one of those right now. Basically, we've been through thick and thin (physically and metaphorically). It hasn't always been fun, but it has always been better because we were together. No matter what comes in our lives, we can get through it because we will be together. I have absolute faith in that.
November 13, 2004 is only the halfway point of our story from when we met until now. But in some ways, it was just the beginning.
Four whole years! (Feels like forever.) Love you, sweetie. You were, are and always will be the best thing that's ever happened to me.
Friday, November 7, 2008
23 Weeks
I know I haven't posted much, and I do actually have plenty of unimportant drivel to throw out there. But as I mentioned to a friend recently, nothing much has been happening, and that's been keeping me away from the computer. Like, I'd rather read, as I've been into some good books lately, or watch fall TV (Bruce and I are horrible TV junkies and our fall schedule this year is actually manageable, so I'm thrilled we're actually keeping up with our TiVo). Or sleep. Or hang out with Caetlin. Work has also gotten in the way, in the sense that it is always feast or famine, and when it's feast, it's not exactly respectful of the whole leaving-at-6-p.m. thing.
But! I went to the doctor on Wednesday, and I'm off light duty and can resume normal activities! Yay! I can pick Caetlin up again, although that's starting to get tough anyway, hauling her around with my belly. The doctor told me that I should avoid violent sports, so that football league I was planning to join is out. But, you know, we all make sacrifices, right?
Apparently my placenta will only grow one way, which is away from the cervix, so it will either get sufficiently out of the way in time for Segunda to be delivered the usual way, or it won't and I'll have to have a C-section. But it is VERY likely that it will get out of the way, as there is still quite a bit of time to go until that becomes an issue. And there is no chance that it will grow back over the cervix. He'll look at it again some time in the third trimester, but for now all systems are go. Segunda's heartbeat is strong, and I can feel her moving around pretty much constantly now. I've also apparently only gained 11 pounds so far, which is a shock to me and a pleasant surprise.
I go back in 4 weeks and have the blood sugar test where they make me drink the nasty orange sugar water and wait an hour, and then after that I'll start seeing the doctor every 2 weeks. Which would be appropriate because I'll be in my third trimester at that point. It seems very strange to think that this pregnancy is going by so quickly. It makes me kind of panic because there is only a very small amount of work to be done to prepare for Segunda's arrival, at least as compared to Caetlin, but we pretty much haven't done any of it. My nesting instinct is starting to nag at me. I was too busy to really nest when I was pregnant with Caetlin, so I have to nest double this time.
Anyway, 23 weeks and all is well.
But! I went to the doctor on Wednesday, and I'm off light duty and can resume normal activities! Yay! I can pick Caetlin up again, although that's starting to get tough anyway, hauling her around with my belly. The doctor told me that I should avoid violent sports, so that football league I was planning to join is out. But, you know, we all make sacrifices, right?
Apparently my placenta will only grow one way, which is away from the cervix, so it will either get sufficiently out of the way in time for Segunda to be delivered the usual way, or it won't and I'll have to have a C-section. But it is VERY likely that it will get out of the way, as there is still quite a bit of time to go until that becomes an issue. And there is no chance that it will grow back over the cervix. He'll look at it again some time in the third trimester, but for now all systems are go. Segunda's heartbeat is strong, and I can feel her moving around pretty much constantly now. I've also apparently only gained 11 pounds so far, which is a shock to me and a pleasant surprise.
I go back in 4 weeks and have the blood sugar test where they make me drink the nasty orange sugar water and wait an hour, and then after that I'll start seeing the doctor every 2 weeks. Which would be appropriate because I'll be in my third trimester at that point. It seems very strange to think that this pregnancy is going by so quickly. It makes me kind of panic because there is only a very small amount of work to be done to prepare for Segunda's arrival, at least as compared to Caetlin, but we pretty much haven't done any of it. My nesting instinct is starting to nag at me. I was too busy to really nest when I was pregnant with Caetlin, so I have to nest double this time.
Anyway, 23 weeks and all is well.
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