Two Bedrooms and a Baby

He's getting cuter

2013-05-06T21:10:00.000-07:00

I knew life with a newborn was hard, but this is harder than last time.

Dude is finally big enough for my favorite carrier, so he just screams and we go for walks. That's the only thing that stops the screaming.

Riverhouse is coming along.

Cool stuff at our house is happening.

T is insanely cute.

But no time to type.

More later.

Who'd uh thunk it? Our kids are different people!

2013-04-13T21:03:00.001-07:00

When T was a baby, I used to tell Bubbs the stories of our friend's kids. I'd come home from my mama groups or coffee with other new moms and thank our lucky stars that T was such a mellow happy kid. Bubbs used to complain that T "fought sleep" like he did when he was a kid. I'd argue with him, but since he had so little to compare it to, he never really got it.

Till now.

Baby D is a little more high maintenance than we're used to.

He pretty much acts like we're torturing him all the time.

Partly because we are, I suppose. Whenever our mellow gentle almost-three-year-old comes around "the brother" he starts shrieking, poking, and jumping around. This stresses out mama and daddy, which in turn probably stresses out both kids, who then react.

This bundle of cuteness also doesn't get as much naked, singing, loving, skin to skin as his brother did. There just ain't time.

So far, no one else has been able to hold him without him screaming.

The boob solves almost nothing.

Reading back, at this same age (and pretty much his whole life), T only cried when hungry or overtired.

This one only cries ALWAYS. Screams. Goes from happy to HOLY CRAP I HATE THE WORLD AND YOU ARE KILLING ME in 2.4 seconds.

But we love him.

If you ask T about "the brother" - he'll tell it like it is.

"Um, he just cries a lot - and he's a really grumpy brother."

Two Bedrooms and Two Babies - Our Second Homebirth Story

2013-04-06T11:40:00.001-07:00

Turner came early, so I was prepared for you to come early too.

Your dad was off work, the freezer was stocked, all the last minute baby projects were completed.

Much like during T’s pregnancy, my blood pressure would get high when I was stressed, but generally I was able to bring it down by going deep inside myself and imagining a peaceful place.

Twice, during this pregnancy, we had to schelp over to Kaiser, check in, and practically fight with the staff there to get minimal testing to be sure I didn’t have pre-eclampsia. They checked my blood pressure, drew blood, did an ultrasound, and monitored your heart rate. Each time we went everything was perfect with my health and it confirmed the fact that I did NOT want to give birth in a hospital.

Before I was pregnant the first time, I never would have thought that there would be such a mind/body connection possible. Aside from any labor techniques, I was able to bring my blood pressure down from 154/79 to 118/79. That is huge. I closed my eyes and imagined my body getting very heavy. Then I pictured myself on the hot tub deck at the river house with a glass of cold white wine and my two boys playing legos on the deck quietly. It always worked.

My 30^th birthday and your due date came and went. I was starting to become more uncomfortable, and in an effort to keep my blood pressure low, I cut off almost all contact to the outside world. This was frustrating to so many people, I’m sure, since we’re deep into construction and permitting at the river house and I was the manager of the project at one point!

We did a lot of walking to the beach and back, through the park, in the neighborhood, but since my last check with the midwives, on my due date (3/25) my cervix was dilated to a 6, I just assumed that at any minute I would go into labor.

Five days after my due date on 3/30, Bibi, Stephanie, your dad and I were sitting in the living room chatting. I had taken some herbal tinctures (under guidance from the midwives) the day before and also taken some that day. I had tried to take castor oil that day as well, but threw it all up around three o’clock and never saw any effects from it.

Around 8pm, I had my first contraction. Since our midwives had pretty much said that the baby could come within an hour of going into labor, we called them and they all came over immediately (Ami, Kara, and Hanna). I was in pretty bad pain, so I hopped in the tub (since I was already a six, I didn’t think it would slow anything down).

Already, I knew that this labor was so different from my last. With Turner’s birth, I had no break between contractions. There was no chatting, no laughing. I was a wild animal in pain and nothing would help. If you got in my way, I would physically assault you since I couldn’t find a place in my brain for words.

This labor was amazing. My contractions had a clear beginning and end. I would have a minute or two between them and I would feel totally fine. The contractions themselves varied from minor to very intense pain.

At one point, my midwife told me that another mama (that I had met through our group pre-natal visits) was in labor as well – so she would be leaving and the other midwife would come. I loved it b/c most mamas only get one of the midwives at their birth and I got both!

My contractions slowed down for a bit, so I got out of the tub to walk around. This REALLY helped bring them on faster and harder – but the pain was unbearable.

When my labor initially started, my mom had climbed into bed with Turner in case he woke up. At this point, around 1am, I heard him crying. I climbed into the tub and my contractions stopped. I just listened. Eventually his crying stopped and I heard him talking about sesame street. I heard he, Tim and my mom leaving the house (at 1am) to go watch sesame street at her flat (right above ours). It was really amazing how my “plan” for what to do with T was happening EXACTLY as I had pictured it. The minute the door closed, I had an intense contraction. That mind/body connection was present again. I couldn’t labor while my son was awake.

I was becoming really frustrated with the lack of increasing intensity of the contractions. At one point I decided to go for a walk around the block (when I suggested this to the midwives, I got a very funny look). Halfway down the stairs, I had a major contraction and decided to stick closer to home.

But, I did start climbing our interior stairs. Up and down, stopping for contractions and bringing them on faster and faster. Once I was confident they were fast enough, I started circling our house – stopping at the front entrance (same place I labored with Turner) and leaning on our shoe/entry table.

I still didn’t feel like much was happening so I checked in with my midwives. We decided to do an internal check to see how dilated I was and possibly break my waters to get things going again. It was 2:30am at this point. I was tired, and honestly, a little bored with the whole thing. I kept saying that I knew I just had too much downtime.

Waiting for one final contraction to finish, I got checked on my bed. I had gone from 6cm two weeks before to SEVEN F-ING centimeters after 6 hours of labor. We decided to go ahead with breaking the water.

At 2:30, my midwife reached in to break my bag. She wasn’t certain she had gotten it since his head was really well engaged in my cervix. Immediately, I had a contraction that felt like my entire labor with Turner. I turned into an animal. I ran, naked, across the house and jumped into the tub. On my knees with my arms hanging over the edge, I started making low OOOO sounds. They would eventually turn into screams and cussing. I had a several second break until the next one came. The Oooopen noises I had been making somehow made it worse – but I guess they were successfully helping to open my cervix, because on the next contraction I started bearing down.

Now with Turner, pushing and bearing down was delightful. I loved every second of it. This was HORRIFYING. It was happening very fast, I wasn’t ready, and it felt much different than with T. I was a little confused since moments before I still had 3 cm to dilate, so it took me a second to realize I was pushing.

I announced I was pushing and heard someone reference the fact that they were checking me. I heard “complete.” Not that anyone could have stopped me at that moment.

My midwife was kneeling in front of me and I had grabbed her hand and was tearing into it with each straining push. After two pushes, I yelled, “he’s coming.” I remembered they wanted me to lean back with Turner, so I automatically leaned back. I heard them yell for Tim who was in the back room for some reason. With one more push, his head was out. I couldn’t get his body though – someone checked for a cord – which was wrapped around his neck. Once they got that off, someone unhooked his shoulder and he came flying out.

Dude was crying. Looked like his grandfather.

I was exhausted.

The next few days were really hard. I was exhausted and Turner was sad to miss so much of his mama. The new baby didn’t sleep well until my milk came in, so I was running on empty.

We’re on day 7 of Baby Daschel’s life and I’m blissed out at the moment.

We’ve figured out a way for me to have “special time” with T. My milk came in and with the help of a nipple shield, Baby D is getting plenty of milk and is sleeping like a champ.

It truly feels like my family is complete now. I’m a boy mom and I’m thrilled.

baby's here

2013-04-04T17:44:00.000-07:00

Born on 3/31/13.

details to come

Waiting for baby

2013-03-17T06:18:00.002-07:00

With baby number two (and final), the pregnancy has gone by so much more quickly.

Even these last three weeks, while I'm waiting, the days fly by. I'm now only a week out from my due date - though I'm anxious to get the party started, I know the baby will eventually come and life as we know it will cease.

Our Au Pair has arrived and I'm already so grateful for her. She swooped in, got started right away, and T can't stop staring into her eyes and smiling. She plays really well with him, and since he's madly in love with her, he does whatever she says. We adults love her too. She fits in really well, seems to need as much alone time as we do, and joins in when we have company. This process could have been a total disaster in a number of ways, but so far, we feel so lucky.

A my midwife appointment last week, my blood pressure was a bit high. Even with visualization, which helped me bring it down when it was high when I was pregnant with T, didn't do much. They had me come back two days later, and it was even higher. After a little cry about possibly having to be induced (but being assured my midwives would be there while it happened), we headed to Kaiser for some testing to see what was going on. Bubbs is home now for his leave, so luckily, he was able to take me to Kaiser for testing.

I have no other symptoms of pre-eclampsia than high blood pressure, but our midwives take no chances - if I want a homebirth I have to do whatever they say to ensure them that I have a normal pregnancy.

So, after an amazing mexican breakfast, we headed to Kaiser. Navigating the parking lot is sure to raise anyone's blood pressure. We arrived in labor and delivery and they had us wait in a yellow waiting room with burgundy chairs. I started crying again - "I don't want to have my baby here, it is so ugly!" Sobbing and laughing at the same time helped to relieve some of the stress.

Aside from how ugly Kaiser was, I realized just how grateful I am for my midwife team:

- The Kasier nurse demanded that I take of my clothes and put on a gown. When I asked why, since they would be taking my blood pressure and doing an ultrasound, she said it was "just in case." Um, "just in case WHAT?" I put the damn gown on, but over my clothes :)

- When it was time to take my blood pressure, there were three alarms going off, plus my baby's heart rate monitor. I'm trying to visualize being on a hot deck in the summer with an ice cold glass of wine while I have what sounds like a war going on around me. Helpful. In my midwive's office, I'm a lovely sofa and she checked to make sure I was okay with the light conversation going on outside the room.

- When my urine tests came back, the nurse says, "negative." I was like, "um, negative for what?" My midwives would have explained it all upfront.

- The nurse who came to take my blood couldn't find a vein and was really rough with me. This is after I told her I hate getting blood draw.

-They gave me instructions for a 24 hour pee collection - I followed them, then brought the pee back the next day only to be told that I didn't do it right and they couldn't use it.

The good news is - I went from having 152/70 to 118/69 using visualization. All my testing came back perfectly normal and my homebirth is still on.

I had acupuncture (twice) to help me keep my calm - and man was it groovy (the second time - the first time was just weird since I didn't speak the language of the acupuncturist).

We're in the waiting game now - trying to keep the house clean with all of us here full time and trying to keep me calm.

The birth tub is set up, the meals are frozen, and now it is just time to relax.

Au Pair Room Done!

2013-03-08T15:22:00.002-08:00

It is 3pm on Friday, March 8th.

Our Au Pair arrives at 8pm.

I JUST finished the room. It has been mostly done for weeks, but the workers were going in and out to finish painting the exterior of house and I didn't want to start cleaning the bathroom and finishing the floors, making the beds, until they were done tramping in and out.

I spent a long long time decorating, planning, and spent about double our budget to get this room together - a room I won't see again for many many many months.

Just so you remember where we started:

When we moved in...

Starting work to build the rumpus room...

Halfway there.

It lived like this for awhile.

We played down here a lot on rainy days and grandparents slept down here regularly.

Then mama got knocked up, we found out about the Au Pair program, and decided to invite a total stranger to come live with us in our tiny 2 bedroom apartment.

So...here it is!

This isn't the most glamorous entrance, but it is her own.

I imagine that rug won't be white when we get the room back in 18 months, but it was SO cheap I don't care.

It would have been nice to iron that slipcover, but this mama's very pregnant and was so not doing that.

We got her a netbook and a cell phone so she can watch netflix and skype and get some privacy from our crazy house.

View from the bed.

View OF the bed.

The bathroom, finally clean.

Frosted the windows with contact paper so she could have some privacy.

A white orchid makes everything look pretty and put together.

Her "kitchen" - I filled it with snacks, tea, a couple cups and plates. She also has a microwave and a fridge/freezer. She can use our kitchen anytime, but our house is SO small so if she wants friends over I want them to have a place to hang out and have some privacy, drink wine, and have some snacks.

There's no closet in her room (that wall of doors are the water heaters and furnaces). I bought these from ikea to hopefully act as a closet for her. Not fancy at all, but hopefully it will work for her.

I'm a little nervous about having someone come live with us, but this adventure starts in just a few hours...

My Bedroom Retreat - Vote for my bedroom!

2013-03-05T07:54:00.001-08:00

If you get a chance, I'd love for you to click over to Apartment Therapy and vote for my bedroom in their bedroom contest.

Vote Here!

Riverhouse Updates - Bolting it down and Jacking it up

2013-03-04T14:40:00.000-08:00

Bubbs and I snuck away this weekend for some mineral pool floating and delightful eating in Calistoga. Exactly 24 hours of getaway was exactly what I needed.

On our way home, we stopped by the riverhouse to check on the progress.

When we got there we were shocked - the demo had gone much further than we anticipated - it was AWESOME.

My/our vision was starting to come through!

Imagine these ceilings painted white, drywall instead of faux paneling, and hardwood floors.

This room used to be a water closet - but apparently ALL the plumbing in the house is bad - so pretty much any room connected to a pipe has rotten floors. SURPRISE!

The toilet will come back, we'll have white hex tile on the floor, and white walls.

I love cast iron tubs - they keep the heat so well. We'll be tiling a backsplash around the tub so the walls don't rot during bathtime and that amazing ornate gold frame is getting painted.

Another leak below.

Who needs a floor?

I have been afraid to go into the bathroom since we bought the place. The floor moved and creaked and I was pretty sure it would fall through. When we pulled back some dirt outside, we realized it might be because the wood was all rotted and the foundation was not complete underneath. Apparently when the poured it, it didn't fill in correctly - and the past owners never fixed it.

Voila! Concrete poured and siding patched! We'll be building a deck up to the side of the house here - the Grill and hopefully and outdoor sink will live here.

When we bought it, there was lattice all along the side of the building, we took it down and the house looks NAKED and unstable.

The actual house wasn't connected to the retaining wall - so we're bolting it down.

And the floors had a 5 inch slope, so we're jacking it up.

Decks are getting repaired and rot is getting fixed. No pictures were taken of the 9 month pregnant lady climbing the ladder into the house.

Holes are being CUT! We need to connect the top floor and bedrooms down below - so an internal staircase is a must. Good thing we didn't bring the toddler.

I suppose I'm learning lessons in construction management here. We left a sleeping bag up there as well as a couple of my favorite folding chairs so I'd have place to sit and T wouldn't get too cold during the winter when we visited. Well, there's my sleeping bag. My other folding chairs have giant workboot foot prints on the white canvas seats :(

Even though the house was in shambles (good shambles, but shambles), the deck was fantastic. Hot, sunny, and surrounded by redwoods. If we had a working bathroom, we would have stayed up on this deck the rest of the day - but my pregnant bladder wouldn't allow for it.

Driving back to the city it was 15 degrees colder, fogged in, and cozy. Best of both worlds.

Baby Dropped and Heartburn Gone!

2013-03-03T20:04:00.004-08:00

I've had NASTY heartburn for the last 8 weeks or so.

The kind that wakes me up.

I was taking Papaya enzyme for the majority of it, but lately I've had to resort to Tums.

So, a few days ago I was convinced I was going into labor.

I was having lots of regular braxton hicks PLUS pain under my belly (across my lower abdomen).

I even had Bubbs stay home and take T to school that morning so I could rest.

Anyway, I realized that the baby had dropped and that was the big difference.

Now, three days later, I realize that my heartburn is GONE. I haven't taken papaya in three days!

Baby dropped = heartburn gone? I don't remember that from last time, but groovy.

I also heard that second timers don't have the baby drop early - but this guy is low. Very low.

Pot Pie!

2013-03-01T11:14:00.001-08:00

We have lasagne in the freezer. That was super easy.

I decided that pot pie would be easy to make. HA!

It wasn't complicated, but it was messy.

Thank goodness the end result was AMAZING.

I used Williams Sonoma Pie Crust recipe (leaving the sugar in). I have made many versions of pie crust, and this was spectacular. Spectacular. But, I had to add WAY more water than the recipe called for. I was really insecure about my dough getting too warm, blah, blah, but it stayed out a long time, the kitchen got hot, and it was still amazing.

Triple the recipe to fill 8 mini loaf pans. A mini loaf pan can serve 2 people.

To make the filling, I roasted some chickens using Thomas Keller's Favorite Chicken Recipe a few days before.

Chopped up the chicken breast (2 breasts).

Then I made a simple roux:

A cube of butter, melted in a pot, then sprinkle flour in (about a 1/4-1/2 a cup). Whisk it good. It should turn pasty and smooth.

Then slowly add chicken broth (2.5 boxes is fine) whisking it in.

It should get thicker - let it boil.

I added 7 diced (unevenly diced) tiny organic white skinned potatoes.

Add them to the boiling broth/roux mixture for about 10 minutes.

Then I added a whole bag of organic peas, carrots, and green beans (TJ's carries them).

Let this cook up a bit.

For my test batch, I put crust on the bottom of the mini loaf pan, baked it at 450 until it was brown and bubbly, poured in the vegi/chicken/stock goo, then put another piece of crust on top (just lay it on the goo).

I think the bottom crust was too much. More crust than goo - overwhelming.

So, for our other batches, I just spooned the goo into the loaf pans, put a layer of crust on top, brushed with egg and froze.

I was able to fit 6 mini loaf pans in the freezer.

I'm too lazy to take them out and individually freeze them. Hopefully some time today.

Oh - best pot pie I've ever had. I wouldn't substitute the crust for store bought. The crust was too good.

Bedside tables for a room with no room!

2013-02-28T10:08:00.001-08:00

Our new bedroom is working out marvelously.

It feels like a secret adult place in our totally kid house.

But...I like to read in bed, and drink water before I fall asleep.

So far, we've been reaching into the bedside "closets" to put the water down, but as I thought about breastfeeding in bed, I started to get nervous about how that would work. Plus, with my giant belly, I'm having trouble sitting up on my own and it required a little reaching.

At ikea the other day, I saw the Ribba picture ledges and knew they would be perfect!

I bought 2 and wish I had bought more.

I don't LOVE the way they look, but they hold a glass of water nicely, my book perfectly, and require no getting up at all.

Plus, surprisingly, we don't knock them at all when we get up.

Quick easy solution.

Love it.

Homebirth Ready

2013-02-27T05:54:00.000-08:00

We had a homebirth with T.

Last night was our team meeting with our midwives. They all came over to our house, checked our supplies (we have to order a lot of supplies to have ready, along with preparing other things like coconut water, towels, sheets, etc), and we talked about our plan for when the baby comes.

I am a very internal birther. It might have been because my last labor was so short, but I'm pretty sure it is also just who I am :)

This is the same team that cared for us while I was having T, so they have some experience. I cursed out one midwife and actually slapped the other - I'm actually quite surprised they took me back :)

They joked a bit about how I'm a fire breathing dragon :) I'm so grateful for my midwife team.

My instructions to my midwives (and husband and mother) were simple:

Don't touch me unless you need to for medical reasons
Don't talk to me unless for medical reasons or to warn me you are going to touch me
Keep T out of the house unless he is sleeping - no matter what. If T needs comfort, I'd rather have Bubbs leave me than have T come into a room I'm in while I'm laboring. If T is scared, offer to turn on Sesame Street - I'm sure he'll be fine after that :)
No internal checks if we can avoid it
If you have to talk to me, speak loudly and clearly - don't whisper or be gentle.

I've been anxious for this baby to come (though the pregnancy has flown by), but last night, as I poured myself a glass of milk with ice (I know), T was asleep, and I started reading my book, I decided I really needed to embrace this time before the baby comes. I'll be exhausted for the next two years.

Bubbs and I have a babymoon this weekend - the plan is to eat well and float in warm water all day long. Can't wait.

This was a pic from 34 weeks. I'm giant now. This is the one pic we have of my pregnant belly :)

Let the Nesting Begin!

2013-02-24T14:38:00.003-08:00

My maternity leave starts this week.

I usually shop during the week, alone, but this morning, I needed help. My list was two full pages long - I know I'll want to get my cooking on this week and I need to get ready for the massive cook and freeze fest :)

Season 3 of Sex and the City is downloaded, I have 20 aluminum pans, millions of gallon zip locks, and two industrial size rolls of aluminum foil.

So, Bubbs, T and I headed off to Trader Joe's this morning.

$320.00 later we're ready to make:

30 Breakfast Burritos (beans, eggs, chipotle, spinach, onions, peppers)
20 Bean and Cheese Burritos (beans, cheese, spinach, onions, peppers)
3 lasagne's (basic lasagne with tons o spinach)
24 Soups (I'll make the soup bases now (stock, celery, onion, carrots) and then make whatever soup tickles my fancy when the babe arrives). The list now includes: kale, kielbasa, white bean; chicken barley; broccoli cheese; spinach; chicken noodle; and lentil.
Vegetarian Chili
42 Oatmeal Banana Muffins (no flour, butter, or sugar!)
4 pans of enchiladas (most likely green chili)

All this, plus, this week's food, TJ's frozen stuff for lunches, plus a dozen coconut waters for those very thirsty days after labor.

Everything is organic and free range except the cheese - hard to find bulk pre-shredded cheese that is from grass-fed cows.

The lasagnes are in the oven now.

****

We broke down to get some help cleaning now, since I'm barely able to get my shoes on without help. Pants, HA! Hardly. I've been trying to clean a bit here and a bit there, but we have dust bunnies hiding everywhere, I haven't vacuumed in over a week, and changing the sheets makes me double over in pain. Hopefully this woman can help us out for a couple months until I'm ready to start cleaning for myself again.

I'm pretty uncomfortable and almost always having braxton hicks contractions.

I go to Kaiser tomorrow for my GBS screen and a ultrasound to check babe's position (my midwives want to be sure he's head down).

The following day is our "team meeting" where our midwives meet with everyone who will be at the birth and we go over the plan. We have to have all of our supplies ready (newborn hats, thermometer, towels, ugly sheets, etc.) for the meeting.

This S*$% is getting real.

I could have this baby tomorrow and feel prepared though. I'd just like the laundry to be done before the baby arrives. Wishful thinking.

Trader Joe's Shopping List

2013-02-22T07:13:00.001-08:00

We live on a pretty limited food budget, but I think we eat pretty well.

In order to get healthy, organic food at low prices we shop in two places:

Trader Joe's and a small local produce market, Noriega Produce.

To prepare for our Au Pair's arrival, Bubbs' paternity leave and just needing extra help in general, I made a shopping list.

My hope for the list is this:
1) People will check off when we need to buy something (We'll keep it in the kitchen),
2) If someone is shopping (other than me) they know the brand to buy or where to buy it,
3) I don't have to do much prep before shopping - I can grab the list and go.

I was searching for Shopping list templates and couldn't find one like what I was looking for, so I thought I'd add this one for you. You can download this from google docs and then add your own stuff.

I added things to this list in the order my Trader Joe's and Noriega Produce is organized - so they aren't in categories but organized like how I walk through the store. Feel free to categorize.

Note: There is no produce on this list - this varies depending on what's in season and what we want to eat that week.

In-Laws and Updates

2013-02-19T14:53:00.000-08:00

I have one week left of work before my maternity leave begins. I couldn't be more thrilled. The driving, even just once or twice a week, is really a bummer and most days I need to nap so badly.

My order of aluminum pans, gallon zip lock bags, and industrial strength tin foil came in so I'm ready for bulk food making. Plans include: Breakfast burritos, bean and cheese burritos, lasagne, broccoli-chicken-brown rice something, breakfast muffins, mac and cheese.

Our Au Pair arrives in three weeks. AHHH. Her room is looking lovely but we're still waiting on a few things. T starts half days at school when she comes, which I think will help tremendously with his late late bedtime (we'll cut naps out completely). I'm really really excited to have a couple extra days per week with him to do mid-week things with my mama friends (museums, parks, etc).

There are employment changes happening in our household too. I'm thrilled about this as well. It might mean that we have two parents working from home, one au pair, and two kids in a two bedroom apartment.

Bubbs and I have an overnight stay in Calistoga planned for the weekend after my leave starts. When I was pregnant with T we took a mini vacation and I loved every second of it. We ate great food, window shopped, but mostly we floated in the warm hot spring pools at the hotel. At 36 weeks pregnant, there is nothing better than swimming in warm sulfer water. Nothing. Plus, I found a great deal at Solage - pretty much the last time we do that ever. T will stay with my mom. The best Huevos Rancheros I've ever had were from a small restaurant in Calistoga - so I can't wait to have those again.

I never really thought much about having in-laws and what that would be like. All of mine live pretty far away so I only see them about once a year. Plus, my in-laws are from the south and I'm from San Francisco - and there are surprisingly a lot of things that make communicating difficult and uncomfortable at first. Anyway - I don't feel like I know my in-laws very well, but I like them and I look forward to our once a year get together. We've had a bit of a health scare in the last few weeks within the family and I cannot get over how amazing my brother and sister in law have been. Until this point, I haven't felt "grateful" for marrying into such an amazing family because I haven't really known them very well - but Bubbs' brother and sister have stepped up in amazing ways, particularly taking into account that I'm two weeks from full term in this pregnancy and our family can't really step up like we would like. But we were willing to. Anyway - I'm floored at how much I actually LOVE my in-laws. I don't know if I could say that before, but this small health issue has made them my real and true family forever - pretty cool thing to realize. I think Bubbs feels that way about my family already since they literally live upstairs from us - and I hear other people saying it all the time.

Organic Non-Toxic Baby Supplies

2013-02-18T07:15:00.002-08:00

So, since we got pregnant with T, we've been on a health kick. No BPA in the house, no microwaving in plastic, and almost 100% organic vegis, with all free-range organic meats.

One thing we read which we found really convincing was that the SIDS issue was partly caused by flame retardants in baby mattresses. Most people buy new mattresses and the babies, when they sleep on their tummies, breathe in the toxins all night long.

We bought an organic mattress, and we were particularly glad when T made it VERY clear at a very young age that he was a tummy sleeper. We tried to get him to sleep on his side, on his back, on our chest, but eventually we gave in. Dude liked to sleep like a little roasted chicken with his booty in the air and his face in the mattress.

We bought him a crib mattress which at the time seemed a little excessive price wise, but as we're about to use it with our second baby - we're so glad we made the investment with our first!

T slept really well on it, even with his excessive vomiting (pretty much his entire life) the mattress looks good as new as we took it out of storage. When we did our garage clean out/moving baby things into the house again move, we realized one thing we didn't do well - the changing table.

Baby T actually did spend a good bit of time there. Bubbs would play him guitar, he had stuff to look at, and was generally happy, but we didn't think about the fact that the changing pad was made of plain OLD foam. We had inherited it from my sister, and at the time weren't as aware of the dangers of foam decomposing. After being in our garage for a year, it was in even worse shape, so we tossed it. Strangely, there weren't a lot of alternatives to the poison foam ones!

Once again I did a search for naturepedic (since we had such good luck there with our crib mattress) and ended up purchasing the contoured changing pad as well.

While I usually prefer to buy things used, I couldn't find this used at all!

We dropped a few more dollars on this than we had originally planned, but our little guys are so important to us and anything we can do to increase their safety and health, we're in for.

I'm still going to handmake a changing pad cover once my leave starts (in 7 days!), but for now, T likes to put his dolls on it (it fits perfectly on our ikea expedit shelves too!).

*the links included in this post are paid advertisements - I wouldn't endorse them if I didn't love them and truly believe in their benefits.

Au Pair Room Status Update

2013-02-07T16:18:00.000-08:00

I have to keep reminding myself that I won't be seeing this room again for about 2 years once I'm done decorating it! It doesn't need to be perfect - at 22 year old is living in it :)

We're almost $1000 into the decor (including bedding, fridge, microwave, rug, bed, frame, etc) - which I have to admit is a bit more than I was planning, but I like for my guests to feel comfortable - and our Au Pair will be a guest. Plus, I'm doing everything I can to make it feel less like a room in the garage and more like a cool little apartment.

I'm really liking it and thinking that this is what we should have done from day one - the room is SO much more functional - even without a ton of "running' room.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Demo Begins!

2013-02-07T16:05:00.003-08:00

After some really frustrating experiences with contractors, we found someone we really like.

He also lives next door to the house! Don't worry, we checked references.

We meet with the architect to help us draw up plans for the county on Saturday, but we've had him start demo on the carpet, drop ceiling, and floors so we can see what we're up against to get a better idea of budget.

This guy is great because he's really helping us stay in budget (the other two quotes we got were from guys who do amazing finish work, but were about 100,000 over our budget - this is a cabin for us, not a palace or full time home).

He sent a picture today as the work got going.

Before Demo:

After Demo:

The goal is to drywall to the cathedral ceiling and then just spray the ceilings white and keep them open like that.

This will be a sleeping porch for kids and a sun room on days when the sun gets high enough to pass through the redwood trees.

We're thinking of a floating engineered hardwood floor in here as well as new windows (these ones are single paned and don't exactly lock).

Hopefully lots of daybeds, board games, and lego activity will happen in this room!

Easy Fried Chicken for a Picnic

2013-01-30T07:30:00.000-08:00

I love fried chicken.

I would say that it is one of my favorite things in the entire world.

I like it with mashed potatoes, I like it dipped in honey, and I like it just plain.

It is really hard to find good fried chicken - particularly since I only like breasts. Even more sad is that I really like KFC fried chicken (from before I truly realized how nasty factory farmed meat was).

I found my recipe. Even my tennessee husband thinks it rocks.

Only bummer is that you have to plan in advance for this one - the buttermilk soak is critical.

This is my take on Alton Brown's Fried chicken reciepe.

It is REALLY easy to adjust for size - just use more chicken and flour :) You can use bone in meat as well - don't change a thing.

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
Buttermilk
Peanut Oil
Thermometer
Flour
Cajun Seasoning
Salt Pepper

Take 4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts and cut them into thirds.
Lay in a shallow baking dish and cover in buttermilk - let soak for 12-24 hours - the longer the better.
1 hour before cooking - take chicken out of fridge to come closer to room temperature.
In a cast iron skillet, heat peanut oil to 325 degrees (use a thermometer - this is critical).
While oil is heating, mix flour, a good bit of tony chachares cajun seasoning, salt and pepper.
drain off the buttermilk from the chicken and salt, pepper, and sprinke cajun seasoning on it.
Dredge the chicken pieces into the flour mixture.
Set in the oil and let cook for 10-12 minutes each side. DO NOT MOVE the chicken or check it.
When each piece is done cooking, set out on a rack to cool.

It is fantastic hot and even better the next day, cold, at the beach :)

Au Pair Room / Basement Remodel Take 2

2013-01-25T05:04:00.000-08:00

As both my boys snore in my bed, I'm awake at 4am again. I've had a cold plus I'm 32 weeks pregnant which means mama goes to bed at 8pm - then the boys find there way in there and T takes turns rolling between me and bubbs cuddling. It gets awfully hot in bed with three of us and I'm a little concerned what we're going to do when the baby comes.

***

Our rumpus room was initial built so Bubbs could have a music room to play guitar in while T was asleep, as a guest room, and a general storage area for our family.

When we bought the house it was a garage, plain and simple. The original 1948 gravity heaters were in place as well as some 10-15 year old water heaters. They took up the majority of the space. There were also cracked sinks, broken doors, funky work benches, and a creepy room we hear from the neighbors was a recording studio.

We upgraded the furnaces and water heaters, made the windows bigger, added a real door and sheet rocked the garage. We had some cabinets built to store all of our junk plus the stackable washer and dryer and added some ikea doors to hide it all.

Some of this happened there:

We had a place for our 1000+ records to be stored (and played)...

Our Manstad sofa bed did its job for lots of folks hosting grandparents for overnight stays:

And our storage, well, it stored a lot of baby junk (that now lives upstairs in our house):

I think we'll be done today - with construction - of the Au Pair's room. The laundry is now out in the main part of the garage (excuse the mess) - can you see it on the left side of the photo? I'm actually thrilled to have it in a more easily accessible place. Carrying loads of laundry through four sets of doors is annoying - now I only have two to fight with while I bring it up and down the stairs.

We had the plumber do hookups for a small kitchen while the walls were open so eventually this could become a little inlaw unit that either inlaws actually live in or we use as a guest suite once again.

When you walk into the room, what used to be a large open space with a huge beam in the middle, is now an L shaped room with a small bathroom to the left. I wanted them to incorporate the beam into the wall as much as possible. The crazy thing is that the room seems just as big now as it did with the beam there b/c that thing made it impossible to use the entire room in a cohesive way.

This is the old space...(in the middle of our last round of construction):

Same angle now (in the middle of construction):

(you are looking into the bathroom from the Au Pair's bedroom, and through it to the hallway which allows us to still access the backyard).

The flooring didn't turn out so bad for 99c a sq foot! We might use it in the river house if we get totally desperate and run out of money.

There's a tiny corner shower - and two doors to this room. One that leads into the bedroom, and one that leads into the hall.

Since our Au Pair needs a private place to live, had we not created a hallway and added a new door to the backyard, we would be in for a year of no backyard access. And while we use it pretty infrequently, there are a few days a year that we love it out there. Plus, T really wants to paint. And he's SO not doing it in the house.

I think her bed will go here (I scored a great frame off Craigslist last weekend) with our old side tables and lamps beside it.

And in this mess of furniture and storage, we'll add a small loveseat, desk, TV and a microwave and mini fridge.

(what the area looks like minus the storage :)

Here's our hallway with our door to the backyard.

Don't worry, they are creating steps for us...and a cat door for the cats...

And this is her door to the backyard - that will only be accessible by our Au Pair.

I'm exciting to get all the furniture in place and get construction out of our hair (and that damn dust out of my house).

Since we now don't have a guest room, our guests will have to come visit and stay at my mom's (upstairs) or visit us in the riverhouse :) In the meantime, we have tentative plans for my best friend to come up from LA to stay in our room before the Au Pair arrives so a deadline is fast approaching...

Most people are out buying cribs or clothes for their new baby - our big purchase was building a bathroom for our Au Pair. She comes in 5 weeks!

How ugly can sheet vinyl be?

2013-01-22T06:24:00.000-08:00

Our Au Pair arrives in just over a month.

Since we have a tiny flat and one bathroom, we're building her a small bathroom of her own in the rumpus room. Photos to come. The room is so small the photos I have taken make no sense b/c I can't get a good angle.

This is not a project I'm excited about. There's hardly any DIY aspect to it, I wanted all the fixtures to be white, we have no money for it, so I wanted the best low grade fixtures we could get. So much of the cost is going to framing, plumbing, etc, that there is no money left for pretty stuff.

Anyway, yesterday, when we were downstairs looking at the work, Bubbs said, "did you pick out this flooring?"

Um.

HELL NO.

Rolled up on the floor was something that looked similar to brown 70's square linoleum.

When I told our contractor as we began the project, "cheap flooring - the most boring linoleum you can find." He did it.

I immediately emailed him and asked how much flooring he needed because that wasn't quite what I had in mind.

He told me that his options were black and white tile, lavendar, or the brown squares - so he went with that since it was the most "solid." Which makes TOTAL sense.

I don't blame him at all for this.

Anyway - I went on homedepot's website to find something less offensive and came up with only one option that was actually "in-store" for immediate pick up.

Thank goodness for patient, kind, and no-attitude contractors.

As I surfed the internet in a flurry (can you do that), I was playing with the idea of having him lay the ugly stuff. He already had it, he had done the pre-work for it (cut it to size, etc), and then we could find something we really like to lay on top of it when we were ready.

But, I have 1900 square feet of Riverhouse to work on - and I care more about that. I'm not going to see this bathroom for the next 18 months, most likely. Our Au Pair will have sole use of it. (I just realized at some point I'm going to have an 18 month old again - oh no).

So the Vinyl tile was 99 cents a sq foot, it is not offensive, and hopefully won't cost us too much more in labor. Plus, when I'm done paying a TON of money for a project I won't get to use - I want it to be done. I don't want to have to lay flooring and re-cut baseboards or molding. I want to walk away and get to decorate the bedroom attached.

So, long story short, the tile goes in tomorrow, along with the shower - and I think the other fixtures as well. We should have the room by the end of the week.

On having two boys

2013-01-20T06:52:00.002-08:00

I'm going to be the mom of boys.

Only boys.

This is it for us - I wont do pregnancy again, and Bubbs and I are just too sensitive and enjoy adult life just a little too much to go through infancy after this round. We believe really strongly in attachment parenting, but that stuff will suck the life right out of you, so once this sacrifice is over, I look forward to enjoying my kids and my life.

Yesterday I went grocery shopping while the boys played at home (well, Bubbs and T) and listened to Rent in the car. The musical.

I'm a little sad I won't get to listen with my daughter someday. Not that the lyrics are appropriate for anyone under 16. My brother is straight and loves musicals and gets the same joy out of them as I do. So what's the deal?

I'm a feminist and live in San Francisco. I get that either of my sons could LOVE musicals, they could be gay or straight, or one day they could reveal that they are actually women, or want to dress as women, or numerous other things. They could be republicans, or salesmen, or nudists. I know I have no control over what they like and who they are, but for some reason, despite all my years of gender studies, I feel like a daughter would be different than a son.

As I prepare to only have boys and as I wait to meet my last child, I'm really starting to wonder why I'm mourning not having a girl (and by mourning, I mean I got a little sad about it for 10 minutes yesterday).

I think most people would consider me a tomboy. In fact, I actually had a "friend" tell me once in college that she thought my college boyfriend might be gay, but that she thought it might work out because I'm kinda "boyish." (Yeah - WTF?!). I was never really taught femininity nor do I value it the way a lot of people do. Plus, since I've had kids, my weight is up, I don't feel pretty, so I'm not going to waste the time on it all until I feel "normal" again. I'd rather spend my money on experiences and my house than my appearance. I always think that if I had more money I would spend more time and energy on feminine things, but I'm not sure that's the case. So, based on all of this, its not like I want to play princess with a little girl.

But,
I am really good at french braiding (is that even relevant now that the 90s are over?),
Girl Clothes are WAY more interesting than boy clothes,
I could teach my little girl things my mom didn't teach me,
I'm really good at planning events and I want to help plan a wedding.

I wonder if the role I play in my sons' life will be that of a "mother" and not that of a person. Does that make sense?
Will they care about my life path and how I got where I am?
Will I ever get to share secrets with them about life?

There are secrets I'd share with a daughter that I'm not sure I would share with a son. Secrets about life that I've learned that are only fair to give to your daughter, but not fair expectations to put on your son's mate. Sexist, yes.

I also feel like being pregnant, a mother, and a wife have been experiences that have forever changed me, in fantastic ways. I'm not sure if my boys will ever care. Will they find strength or think I'm cool b/c I pushed them out at home with no drugs?

I suppose maybe a daughter wouldn't care either. But the chances she wants to read about my pregnancy are higher than the chances my son will, right?

Anyway - I still feel great about having two boys. I can't fail them in not teaching them about moisturizing and waxing. They will grow up probably appreciating women with normal bodies and who don't wear make up. They will hopefully share their secrets with each other and in my wildest dreams they are actually friends - though I know that is asking a lot.

Logistically, this works too. They can share a room longer, wear the same clothes (poor baby D all hand me downs for him) until they start having opinions, you know - that kind of stuff. Dealing with teenaged girls scares me to death.

And, my husband still loves his mama in a way that warms my heart - that is different than the way a girl loves her mom, I think.

Both my boys are wanted and loved, already. Just to be clear.

Major Fixer Upper - Picking a Contractor and Surprises Under the Rug!

2013-01-11T16:42:00.000-08:00

Our riverhouse need significant work. SIGNIFICANT.

Lemme just say, I'm super excited. Can't wait to start using it. Can't wait.

It is sort of falling down and has holes in it. It has an electrical panel that was recalled in the 70's because it blew up. It is on a hill in a forest.

There are drop ceilings that squirrels live in.

Some of the work we can do ourselves, but a good bit of it is WAY beyond our abilities. Plus, I'm 400 weeks pregnant which makes it difficult for me to be involved in tearing down asbestos ceilings and stuff.

Anyway - we have a couple contractors we've met with.

Contractor 1: He came and bid on the project when we were doing inspections. His bid helped us decide to buy the place. He gave a lot of free time to the project, advice, and was overall really great to work with. Found him in the yellow pages. References say he's expensive but does truly the best in town. Some people said you have to chase him down a bit or be firm with him on some things. One reference of similar work, others are medium to large remodels.

Contractor 2: Refered to us by the septic guy that everyone said was great. Good personality, good listener, great salesman. References love him and say he does a great job - all references were for jobs that are similar to the one we're doing. Mostly on-time and mostly under or on budget (or over by $2,000 or so).

Contractor 3: Referred by a family friend. Not a great listener (I felt like he was ignoring me during walk through). References love him, but only gave references for smaller jobs than what we're doing. Bid was 100,000 over our budget (that we gave him). That only includes the things we NEED done - and we don't even have a real idea of the structural work that needs to be done.

So far, we only have quotes in from Contractor 3. Contractor 1 said he'd get us a quote by today and Contractor 2 says sometime next week hopefully.

We went up this weekend to meet with a chimeny sweep and inspector to see if we could use the fireplace without burning the place down. Long story short on that one is that we don't know yet - he said the roof seemed really unstable and had to get a smaller person to do the inspection. We should know in the next few days.

It was 32 degrees up there this weekend.

Cold.

We prepared well though - brought a sleeping bag for the little guy, mittens, and triple layers (not that he would wear or use any of them).

We also brought his magnetic play sets (he calls them his maps), musical instruments, and a "classic" sesame street DVD. He VERY rarely gets to watch TV, so we knew if we had to be distracted for awhile, we could trust him to stay put if we put a DVD on the computer.

It worked.

Though we did have MAJOR freakout tantrum when it was time to leave - which we have probably had three of in all of his 2.5 years. Goes to show that TV is not good for our life.

He also ate an entire adult sized lunch once we left - so he was hungry and on big bird withdrawal. Not a good combination.

While he was watching TV in a sunbeam, I was talking with the chimney sweep/doing nothing but being pregnant, and Bubbs was checking out under the nasty carpet in the living room.

You can see a little rectangle of dark wood there. We were hoping that is what we'd find under the entire carpet (we had pulled up a small area during inspections.

But, as things tend to go with this house, that was So not the case.

Telltale termite pellets in a few boards (luckily, just a few small areas).

It appears that they painted yellow around a rug in the living room as well and didn't clean up liquid spills very quickly.

We also found some interesting linoleum tiles that had been carpeted over.
All of this "bad" floor news? This is actually good news for me.

I think if we had beautiful floors, the other partners would have wanted to refinish which to me means big buck PLUS the room would be ALL wood - floors, ceilings, and walls. Now, we get to whitewash the floors - which will add SO much light to the room.

Aren't these pretty?

Source: theaestate.tumblr.com via Mama on Pinterest

Source: femina.dk via Mama on Pinterest

Other exciting news:

Our lemon tree is ROCKIN.

This pretty little flower was blooming away:

Pink gardenia maybe?

Plus, when you actually have chairs in a house, you can find out that the views are better than you thought.

Our Lazy Christmas

2012-12-30T12:17:00.000-08:00

I'm pregnant.

And tired.

And T has like two weeks off school.

Which means that I'm scrambling to find care for him while I work, get the holidays together, and figure everything out.

Plus, we got home from our vacation when half of December was over, so my usual crafting just didn't happen.

We tried to drive up to Sebastopol to cut down our own tree, see a petting zoo, and drink hot cider. By the time we got there T was asleep and refused to get out of the car - so we came home treeless.

Ended up at Home Depot.

This year

Last Year

Two Years Ago

Stopped at Target and picked up some ornaments until I could get my groove on with my spray paint and pinecones.

But it was raining.

And the pinecones were wet.

So I bought some at Walgreens.

Then our tree stand broke and T learned a new word repeated over and over again as the tree almost fell on him.

Then the LED lights we bought so our house didn't fall down were blinding us.

So we unwound them and put on our old lights - housefire be damned.

My project started - spray painting pinecones, and I got about 5 on the tree before I got bored.

And our tree has sat half done for weeks.

But we like it.

Last Year's Tree:

Year Before:

Mellow Christmas Eve at a friend's house with cioppino and way too garlic-y garlic bread.

And a teensy Christmas dinner at our place with Steamed Dungeness crab, garlic bread, artichokes, and a gingerbread pear trifle (yum).

I did it! I made Biscuits!

2012-12-30T08:41:00.001-08:00

*Since making this I've made it twice more and updated a few things since originally "published."

This morning (1/21/13) T woke up and said, "Mama, I want sausage (morningstar patties), egg (scrambled and microwaved for 1 minute), and biscuits."

I said, "You mean an english muffin?"

"No, mama, a biscuit - with flour and a bowl."

So we made them again - and this was our best yet.

Original Post:

My husband is from the south.

His mother makes these yeast rolls that are amazing. I've tried SEVERAL times to make them and have failed miserably each time. I've given up at this point.

I kept thinking that making biscuits would be easier. There's like 4 ingredients, no steps, and all the reviews on all the sites say they are a no brainer.

WRONG.

I've tried Alton Brown's recipes (which rarely fail for me), King Arthur Flour's recipes (they seem like they should be the experts), and countless others. My husband never criticizes my cooking, but now that he's made fun of my hockey pucks, I know that he actually likes everything I make.

This morning, he's sick and said he was craving bacon (which, um, we never have), but we did have some morningstar sausage patties in the freezer, so I offered to try my hand, once again, at a biscuit, sausage, cheese, and egg breakfast sandwich.

I opened Paula Deen's Food Network page and decided to try once again. There were only three ingredients and it seemed simple enough.

Problem was, I only had one of the ingredients.

In my normal baking fashion (which is why I fail at baking 99% of the time), I decided to give it a go anyway :)

Long story short, these biscuits were AMAZING - with the sandwiches and with Aunt Pat's Jam (Bubbs' Aunt from Tennessee) and lots of butter.

Here's my adapted recipe:

2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder (new fresh baking powder, not 4 year old stuff).
2 1/2 tsp salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/4 cups milk/cream/half and half
2 tblsp melted butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, stir together all the ingredients until the dough forms a ball. Turn the dough out onto a surface dusted with additional flour. Pat the dough down into a rectangle - adding just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to your hands. Seriously, barely mess with the dough. Gently roll out dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Fold it over and pat down one more time. Cut the dough into squares with a sharp knife (if you don't have a cookie cutter) or use a biscuit cutter. Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper leaving at least 1-inch between each biscuit. Bake for 8 minutes, or until golden brown.

Melt an additional 2 tblsp butter in microwave. As soon as they come out of the oven, brush the tops with melted butter.

They were fluffy and delightful.

One possibility was that my baking powder was bad - I used a brand new can here and I think that helped.

Anyway - these are not good for you or hide vegis - but holey moley they were awesome.