Cooking & Cars

Yesterday I was determined to cook Kit a real dinner since it's been months since I've really felt up to cooking (especially after a long day at work) and I can't really argue with my would-be chef husband since he's an amazing cook and loves cooking. Anyway, I got slightly distracted (which seems to happen more often now that I'm pregnant) and started looking at various baby information and decorating ideas and then realized it was already 5:20pm. I came out of our library still determined to cook dinner and told Kit the options.

Apparently none of the options that I had picked out earlier in the day (when going to the grocery store with his dad since I haven't been able to get out of the house for a week) sounded good to him. So what did he pick? Canned chili.

We quickly realized that it has apparently been too long since I lasted cooked. First, I pulled out a cutting board on which to cook the chili. Kit then helped remind me which pot was actually big enough for the amount we were making, and I was off to the stove. (After a few jokes about sticking the cans in the oven and microwave.)

Well, I got to cooking and Kit went to get things set up in the library for us to watch some Pretender online (great older show for anyone who hasn't seen it - I used to watch it with my parents every Saturday night). The chili seemed to be taking a while to cook, but I was being patient and it definitely seemed to be beginning to bubble at the bottom of the pan when I stirred. Kit had come in and out a couple of times before looking at the stove. I had the chili on the front burner but had turned on the rear burner.

Sheesh! I went from being quite the little chef myself to not being able to cook canned chili in a matter of 3 months. What is this world coming to?

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Now for the cars part of the story. When heading back to eat our chili, Kit noticed that our new neighbor across the street had her car stuck at the end of their driveway and was trying to shovel her way out. She had apparently decided to try to go out in her Mazda while her husband was at work with their Jeep. Well, we were starving and took the low road. We ate dinner. When we finished, Kit realized she was just giving up and we felt immensely bad for not going out in the first place.

So we bundled up, Kit grabbed our shovel, and we headed over. We think her hubby took their snow shovel with him so she shoveled with their garden shovel and Kit shoveled with our garden shovel. (I just stood and offered socialization since my pregnant body seems to be able to handle very little these days.) We were finally able to get her car all the way into the driveway with room for their Jeep as well. Kit was awesome and helped push the car quite a few times, which is actually what made all the difference.

A couple of minutes after we got her car in the driveway, a taxi got stuck right down the street from us. So off Kit when again while I talked with Caitlin (that's the neighbor's name). Kit ended up meeting another neighbor, Adam, who came out to help with the taxi driver as well. After much shoveling, they were finally able to get the taxi out.

All in all, it was quite a productive night. And I got to have a long conversation with our nice neighbor! I've only met her once (when their Jeep was stuck in the street when we walked to the store last Sunday), but she's super nice and we even have some mutual friends. Oh, and her husband is the guy I mentioned on my post about getting my new camera - the one who helped me pick it out and saved us quite a bit of money.

Well, this might be one of my most lengthy and wordy posts. And unfortunately, it doesn't come with pictures.

Merry Christmas

Today has been a fantastic day. We decided to sleep in, enjoying our last year for many years in which we won't have children to wake us up. Mom accidentally told her mom that we'd be getting up early so she ended up being our wake up call at 8:30am.

We opened presents first, and had a great time. Daddy helped me to get mommy an iTunes gift card, and mommy helped me to get daddy a card (and to sign it with my very own paw print). They both enjoyed my gifts.

They explained that Santa had a hard time getting to Meat for Cats & Dogs to pick up my favorite bones so that's why I don't have any yet, but they promised I'll get some soon. Santa did get me this great toy I didn't even know existed. It's fantastic and even squeaks. Thanks, Santa - I believe now.

Mommy and daddy bought each other lots of presents. Daddy took the cake though by getting mommy a gift certificate to Dosha for a pre-natal massage. Daddy says his massages just aren't as good as he knows mommy needs so now mommy can go get a nice official massage.

Daddy liked his chocolate-y stocking stuffers. I tried to enjoy them by chewing on the end of dad's full stocking, but mommy wouldn't let me.

Dad's favorite stocking stuffer (and our morning entertainment post-presents).

My present to mommy. I did a good job wrapping.

Me chewing on my new toy. Mom's present from me in the foreground.

Daddy always carries a hanky. Now he has 12 new ones and a wood valet to hold them.

Don't worry, mommy's not trying to bring back the bodysuit. Daddy is a genius and bought this cute onesie for the baby.

"How to Traumatize Your Children" aka what to do with kids but by doing the opposite of what the book says. A little reverse psychology test from mommy to daddy.

Another adorable onesie for the baby. Too cute!

"The Intellectual Devotional" - 365 days of random information for infomanics like daddy.

Daddy showing of his much needed new robe. I clearly found much more interesting things going on outside the patio door.

Yummy homemade breakfast! (I didn't get any...foo-y!)

Christmas Eve

My dearest sister-in-law and her family weren't able to come for Christmas due to the weather. (Her first time not seeing the family at Christmas since her birth according to my mother-in-law.) We missed them dearly. This slide show is for them...

Merry Christmas, Kirsten, Benji, Boston & Baby! We love you!!

(Look close, and you'll see Santa (natural hair/beard and all). Apparently, he's driving a silver VW bug around Portland rather than his sleigh.)

Always Learning About My Hubby

Apparently, he was a radio DJ on Friday nights at his college for two years. His radio name was Uncle Kenneth.

Around that time, he also DJ'd for a Christian school's first ever school dance.

Go figure.

A Bit of a Fall

I had a bit of an incident this morning after taking a bath (our shower isn't finished yet) that was apparently too hot and ended up fainting and landing on my hip then my head (or maybe vice versa - Kit wasn't in the room and I remember nothing). I fell from one of our dining room chairs. If you haven't seen them, we have a tall table and chairs so it was a long way to go (I think the chairs are about three feet tall)...and my feet never left the foot rests of the chairs in front of me so I either caught myself with my hip or head. Luckily, I missed the stack of tile near the table by an inch or so or my head might not have fared so well.

I laid down for a while after, drank three 16-ounce glasses of water and ate lunch before going back to work (stuck working from home since we can't get out). After working for about an hour and a half, Kit came in and told me that I didn't look very good and that I needed to stop working. Not wanting to upset the hubby, and I knowing that I did have quite the headache despite taking Tylenol, I stopped. I laid down on the bed with a heating pad under my head/neck which seemed to help with the headache, though my head and neck are definitely still quite sore. After a brief nap, my doctor called back (according to the things we read, you're supposed to call your doctor if you actually do faint while pregnant) from the message Kit had left with his answering service. He suggested Tylenol (which I had already taken) for my headache and said everything should be just fine.

Kit was a heroic husband and took care of me all day. He even gave Coco a much needed bath in the kitchen sink while I was falling asleep. We used to give Coco's baths in our tub so we've kind of been waiting for that, but (a) the bathroom isn't done quite yet, (b) Coco was overdue and starting to smell and (c) our new tub is fiberglass and brand new so we don't want his little claws scratching it up anyway.

Oh, and our nice neighbors from across the street just called to offer to get us anything from the store. Kit looked and realized we're actually low on eggs so they're going to pick us up some. And because (a) I'm pregnant, (b) I have been having this craving for a couple of days (ever since someone else mentioned a similar item on her blog), and (c) I only bought two boxes when we went to the store yesterday (which are nearly gone now, especially since today Kit also discovered that they are delicious), they're also going to pick me up two boxes of generic fruit snacks (i.e. dinosaurs, sharks, etc.). I've eaten quite a few despite trying to ration them and am not sure that I won't go crazy without them.

Here are some photos and a video of our day...

Coco helping me work this morning. Don't mind my un-bathed appearance...Kit cleared all of the remodel stuff out of our bathtub mid-morning (which is when I took my bath - neither of us bathed yesterday, gross).

The view from my office window.

Coco was shivering even after drying off completely from his bath. So we pulled out his Spiderman shirt, and he was actually excited to put it on and lifted his paws for me to put it on.

Kit recharged the batteries for a little remote control car he has. Coco had fun chasing the car.

A Trip to the Store

Normally, a trip to the store is no big deal. Today, however, we trudged a little over two miles round trip in the biting wind and some sleet to get groceries. Somehow I managed not to think of getting groceries earlier in the week (which I blame on being pregnant - don't seem to have my same thinking ahead skills these days).

We figured out early in our venture that walking in the middle of the road, following tire tracks, was the best route. And we wore our golf shoes so we didn't have any slips or falls, though Kit did remind me to fall on my bum if I were to fall - per the orders my doctor's assistant gave him at my appointment on Wednesday. Heading to the store the wind was at our backs, but so was the sleet. Our backpacks had a frozen layer of ice on them when we got into the building.

Between my asthma and lack of energy from the little one growing inside me, I was exhausted when we got to the store and felt like I was going to pass out the whole time. I've been craving many foods since being trapped at home Saturday morning; however, nothing sounded good at the store so I'm afraid I may not have bought enough of those foods. I did buy two boxes of generic fruit snacks - sharks and dinosaurs - and have eaten two delicious pouches. We grabbed a bottle of water and a bottle of Gatorade before checking out and sat on a bench at the front of the store drinking those before setting out again. (I also made a quick trip to the bathroom after drinking said liquids.)

On the way home, the crazy gorge wind (which is still pretty heavy even in our part of Portland near I-84) was frigged on faces so I stared at the ground the whole time because I didn't think to bring a scarf. Kit was our eyes for the walk, and by the time we turned on our street and had the wind blowing at our sides instead of fronts, he had a thick layer of ice on his glasses and could barely see.

Our new neighbors across the street work in retail and were trying to get off our street when we got back. Another neighbor was shoveling snow away from their tires just so they could back up into their driveway again. We saw them spend more time trying to de-ice their windows, and now their Jeep is gone so I guess they made it out. The crazy snow storm has begun again though so I hope they make it home okay.

Kit painting a model yesterday while I read a book.

Coco chewing his bone while daddy painted.

A demo of Kit's model painting skills.

Kit taking Coco potty last night.

Coco looking for a good spot.

Coco piddling on his favorite branch.

The ice on the tree in our front yard.

The snow falling right now.

Baby Bump

Here you have it. My first official baby bump photo (since I now think it might actually look like a baby bump).

Don't mind the awkward smile on my face...I took this in our only partially completed bathroom with the construction light on (sitting on the floor, hence the odd glow in the bottom left portion of the photo).

Christmas in the Wagner Household

Well, we finally made a decision as to what to do about decorating for Christmas: buy all new stuff! Don't worry, we didn't go all out; we just bought the basics. On Thursday after work, Kit and I went to Fred Meyer and bought:

- a 24" pre-lit Christmas tree (pot included) | $7
- a pack of Blazers candy cane-shaped ornaments | $6ish
- three stockings (I had already bought a little one at Target for the baby so Kit, Coco and I got new stockings) | $4.50

So less than $20 later (and a run through the Elf soundtrack), we're officially decorated! We decided not to put the tree in the front window like we usually do with our bigger tree because a little tree doesn't hide presents as well from bad guys. (Little do the bad guys know, we have a little budget so it wouldn't be worth breaking in to steal our presents.) Instead, we set up in our family room on a side table. Here are the results.

Coco breaking in his new stocking.


The "mistletoe."

The decorated tree.

The Blazers ornaments.

Our stockings (baby, Coco, mommy, daddy).

The full picture.


The full picture with presents.

Bathroom Update

So I can't wait to show bathroom pictures! The shower and floor tiling is pretty much done and absolutely beautiful! Here's a sneak peak at our new bathroom in progress.

The Shower

The Floor

Happy, Healthy & Kicking

Kit and I went in for my 17-week check up today. The baby's heartbeat sounds good and apparently I've only put on 3 more pounds. So I'm at about 5 pounds gained total.

My doctor's not really into caring much about weight gain as long as the baby is healthy (and has been that way since my mother-in-law saw him during her pregnancies nearly 30 years ago) so I didn't get any praise. But I am glad. We don't own a scale so I always get a little nervous that I'll go in and get a lecture about gaining too much like I hear about friends getting.

Oh, and this time the nice assistant remembered that I'm not a skinny as she'd like to think I am and went straight for the 150 starting point when weighing me. It's never fun (though it's quite humorous for me personally) to watch them try lower and then have to slide the weight the end only to start over at the next 50-pound bracket. I haven't been under 150 pounds since junior high/early high school so it's always slightly humorous to me that anyone would think I was that light. But I've been told I hide it well so I guess I should take it as a compliment.

And for those who don't know me well enough, I could really care less about my actual weight in numbers so don't get worried that I'm not going to put on enough weight with the baby for fear of the scale. I'm just glad that my eating hasn't gotten too out of control so that loosing the weight later won't be as difficult (which is a healthy mentality according to all of the pregnancy books and websites).

Finally, I am fairly positive I felt the baby kick this afternoon!!! I've decided s/he must enjoy moving most (a) when I'm working and (b) when I have a hard object approximately 1.5 inches thick near her/him. Normally I feel the most movement at work sitting at my desk, with my desk touching my tummy. And today I worked from home and felt the kicks while sitting on the couch with the bottom of my laptop leaning on my tummy.

Snow

Part of the plan for today was to finally put up our Christmas tree and decorations. We realized, however, that items from the bathroom remodel we are currently having done (more on that later) are blocking access to the side of the garage attic that has the Christmas decor. I was excited to do my Christmas decorating in snowy weather for the first time, but the snow makes for a really cold garage. And neither Kit nor I had an intention of spending more than a few minutes out there. So much for that...maybe another day.

I just got the call that my office decided not to open until 12 tomorrow. Forecasters are saying the cold tonight will lead to lots of ice so I'm glad not to need to trudge out until later in the morning. Either way I was planning to take the bus and MAX, but now I won't need to do so until later in the morning. The only downside is that we don't have a shower (due to said bathroom remodel) so I won't get to bathe until around 11:00 (my planned arrival time at my coworker's condo near our office).

Praise the Lord

I want to take a moment to praise the Lord for all the blessings He's given our little family this Christmas. As you all know, we weren't exactly planning on getting pregnant quite yet and aren't really at a place financially where we are as ready as we'd like to be. But we're trusting Him and that He knew exactly what he was doing when He created this little one to be ours.

Ever since we found out we were pregnant, all of our money stresses seem to have completely gone away (other than that major after-baby worry that is normal as far as I can tell). Every month we've had plenty to pay the bills and plenty to pay for other needed things as well (normally I always feel like we're just scraping by). We haven't added to our debt at all and have been able to pay things down significantly. And now, at a time of year when we're usually trying to figure out where that extra couple hundred dollars will come (and often putting it on a credit card until January or February because I've forgotten to budget for Christmas), we again have plenty. We're managing to buy Christmas presents for each other and our immediate families and to also buy much needed other items (and still eat out occasionally - albeit at fast food restaurants).

Thank you, Lord, for granting such blessings at a time in our lives that feels so out of our control. May we remember this and continue to hold fast in our trust of You.

Momentous Occasion

I felt the baby move for the first time today!!!

And actually, s/he was moving quite frequently throughout the day. I've often heard the movements described as butterfly-like; however, I think of fluttering when I think of butterflies. To me it feels more like a moth, which I think of of as being smaller and more vibrating. I realize that many butterflies are small, but I just don't think it feels butterfly-like.

I am very excited and hope the little one continues to signal me of his/her presence further.

Dear Santa, From Coco

From what I see on TV, the reason I didn't get much for Christmas last year is because I didn't write a letter to Santa. Since I don't have thumbs and can't write an actual letter, I'm hoping Santa reads blogs.

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Dear Santa,

You missed me last year for Christmas and the year before too. But the third time's a charm, right? Since you're a little behind on giving me gifts, I'm going to cut you some slack and let you give me three year's worth of presents this year. If you can't do it, feel free to use other people to give me things on this list as well. Here is what I would like...

1) Bones (pork bones like the one mommy and daddy bought me recent from Meat for Cats and Dogs)

2) Money to buy bones (the one mommy and daddy bought me was only $2 so I think about $2,000 would do)

3) More Kitty toys (see previous posts about kitty, I've succeeded in demolishing two kitties recently and would like more so that I don't go through withdrawals when this final one dies)

4) More bones.

5) More money.

6) More kitties.

7) A Ferrari.

Thank you, Santa. I trust you understand that gravity of this situation as it relates to my belief in you. Should I not receive anything from my list, I am afraid I will have to stop believing in you.

Wanting to believe,
Coco Wagner, Pug

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I know I'm a little late on everything these days. Unfortunately, I've been a little busy helping grandpa with our bathroom remodel (I keep an eye on our library and take naps while he works on the bathroom).

That said, over the week of Thanksgiving, I got to see my kid cousin, Boston, almost every day. (I just used lots of commas. Oh well.) She's pretty fun, and she feeds me good stuff. Here's the documentation of our adventures.

Boston getting her Thanksgiving present from mom and dad, a sock monkey made by mommy's friend from work.

Boston and I hanging out.

Boston's slightly sour face.

Boston's less sour but still unsure face.

Boston feeding me yummy treats.

In this video, Boston demonstrates her skills at saying, "This," and her determination to get on the couch.

Family Game Night

On the Saturday before Thanksgiving, mommy and daddy decided to have family game night. I spent the evening curled up on the couch gazing at them longingly. Why, oh why can't I play games?

Seriously, why can't I play?

Daddy won.

Daddy lost.

Mommy won.

I fell asleep. Grown ups are boring.

Mom's Birthday

Although mommy's birthday was over a month ago, I didn't want to miss the opportunity to thank her good friend Janel for doing a perfect job decorating mommy's cubicle at work.

As some may know, mommy's not really big into celebrating her own birthday. Receiving gifts isn't really her love language so she always feels a bit awkward. She's also not big into the attention or crazy decorating that some folks do. Janel, being the great friend of mommy's that she is, knew this and decorated beautifully. She also told nearly everyone in the building who knows mommy that it was her birthday. So mommy got lots of emails and happy birthday wishes throughout the day.