There are a wealth of people visiting from san juan update, so i’d like to say thanks to all of you for making our quick trip to san juan island this weekend a big success. I hadn’t been up there in a year or so and it was Ashley’s (and Ali’s) first visits to Friday Harbor. Special thanks to everyone in the hardware store Sunday morning as we searched for a replacement tire to get us back to the mainland. The can of fix-a-flat did the trick!

We didn’t have a ton of time, but mom and I showed Ashley as much goodness as we could pack in… king’s, roche harbor for donuts, english camp in all its muddiness, alpacas, lime kiln, baby sheep, pelindaba, hungry clam, and the aforementioned hardware store.

So thanks again to everyone who made us feel at home. See you again when the little one is born!

these two are for angela (mine’s the bunny):

Today my goals were to make put a roast in the slow cooker for dinner and clean the bathroom. I’ve been working on setting the bar low so as not to overwhelm myself and fall into the all or nothing thinking to which I am so prone. By eleven I had dinner cooking, the bathroom clean (shower, toilet, mirrors and all) as well as the kitchen floor swept and mopped. And two loads of laundry done. I guess this is typical mom/wife stuff…but that’s not where I am yet so I’m feeling very accomplished. And my back is very sore

This week Tony is working long hours again so he can take Friday and Monday off for us to go to Rockaway. That leaves me a lot of free, alone, time on my hands and no excuse not to attack my to do list. Or at least make one. Right now it’s raining so I’m off the hook for cleaning my car but the first hint of sun and I’m determined to get my butt out there. I always forget how energizing and therapuetic cleaning can be and how calming a clean environment feels. Oddly, making a bed can feel like organizing your whole life!

oh no, not i. i will survive.

as ashley mentioned, this week was a long one. she didn’t drop linkage though, so support the cause and visit ironmaster.com. we made it to the island, and settled into my ma’s cozy apartment at the friday harbor labs. we looked in the seatables for a bit so ali got her first in utero exposure to all the lovely animals.

the ferry ride was fun, albeit a bit rainy:

and a bonus for balyssa:

spring is almost upon us here in the northwest; the days are getting (what seems to be) exponentially longer and we’ve been glimpsing the sun in ever increasing doses. gone are the days of snowstorms and windstorms (knock on fallen wood), and some evenings the smell of back porch grillings lingers in the air. summer, oh beacon of light and warmth, we anticipate you.

in other news, march madness and the $270 prize a winning bracket brings. i’ve got kansas over ohio state, ash has ohio state over kansas, and ali has oregon over north carolina. we’ve all lost a final four team already (wsu for me n ash, duke[?!?] for ali).

oh yea, and we redesigned. we’ve gone the wordpress route because of the wealth of plugins and whatnot. this look is based on a template called beast-blog with some massive css and png work by yours truly. as usual, it looks best in firefox but if you’re using ie7 it shouldn’t be too bad. for those of you still using ie6, (we see the logs, we know who you are…) get a new browser. windows update should take care of it.

hope all is well in your neck of the proverbial woods. much love.

Green has been my favorite color for a number of years. Even as a child (or, what they now refer to as "tween") I was told how good green looked on me. My eyes are hazel but when I wear green they tend to match. I also went throguh a "Green M&M" phase at fourteen. I think it had something to do with what particular candy coated chocolate was supposed to do "to" you, but I think it had more to do with being in junior high. Anyway, St. Patrick’s day is a holiday I’ve gone all out for in the past. This year I’m just thankful to have something green to wear. My mom sent me this shirt for Valentine’s Day and I was so happy it fit and was super comfortable and shows I’m pregnant without that whole "maternity" look. Then I found it the shirt was picked out by Ms. Alyssa Lewis. So much thanks to them both for this new addition to my lacking wardrobe. Please excuse the bad lighting, etc. of the pic. Tony and I are hurrying out the door to catch a ferry to San Juan Island and he’s getting antsy at me as I type this!

Belly (ugh, stretch marks…)

This is Tony’s favorite shirt!

Christmas 1986: I am two years and two and a half months. My dad is twenty-five.

I’m not sure when this is, but I know I was washing the car so probably summertime…of ‘87?

I woke up really early this morning for no apparent reason…like 6:45. Ali was up and busting around though, which she usually isn’t in the morning so maybe that was it. I took out the garbage, something Tony usually does but forgot to last night (when he came to bed at 2:30). I can’t open the garage door so I’m sure I was quite the site lugging the garbage can out the front door at 7:15 in Tony’s sweatpants and t-shirt. It was nice to be up and somewhat "about" for that early time of the day. I’ve forgotten how much I enjoy and, to a degree, thrive off that quiet peacefulness. It reminds me of getting up at five for Subway the last year and a half. Getting there by six, and having to use the bus system to do so, was often a trial (especially through a Seattle winter) but I know I’m a stronger person because of it. There’s also a very specific sense of calm that comes at 10am knowing you’ve already logged four hours of hard days work. And that you will get off before the dreaded darkness sets in!

So now it’s almost noon and I resent the world joining me with all their noise and bustle. I am, however, happy that it’s Friday, that Tony is finishing Ironmaster today and that he can de-stress for a couple days. I’m also hoping the clouds burn off soon so maybe I can clean my car. I spilled a smoothie I made with ice, yogurt, chocolate Carnation breakfast mix and a banana in there….um, a week and a half ago? I wiped it up with a towel but was late to class and it’s been grossing me out ever since. It’s stuff like that, when I’m not exactly sure HOW to clean it, WHAT to do that a) I tend to ignore the problem and b) feel very inadequate and childish. When did I become a grown-up? Eighteen? Twenty-one? When I left for college? When I began supporting myself? When I got my own apartment? When that stick read positive?

Twenty-six weeks on Sunday

That title is kind a of joke to Tony, who’s been struggling all week keeping the days straight. There is good reason for the boy’s confusion though. To alleviate some of our money struggles he took on an extra project at work, updating a site called Ironmaster. For the last week or so he’s been working almost non-stop…and since his work tends to take place on the world wide web in the first place, it’s hard enough to separate him from it. There’s continuous emails alerting him to bugs or tests in need of fixing or running….RIGHT NOW. His boss has a tendency to send emails anywhere from midnight to four am. If awakened this crazy kid will not only make a point to check his email, he will even go so far as to do the work. This makes for one a tired boy and a confused girl…constantly waking up to either an empty bed or a boy quietly sneaking in and out. The most used phrases in our bedroom are "Where are you going?" "Where were you?" "Buddy, what are you doing?" and "What time did you go to sleep?" Then again, my need for sleep has grown exponentially, so I tend to find anyone’s ability to go without rather incredulous. Bottom line, what a great daddy Ali has and partner I have found. His ability to abstain will no doubt come in quite handy very soon.

In other news, I am very glad to be done with school for the moment. Still waiting on two of my grades, but was happily surprised to get a 4.0 in my ethics class. This afternoon I am going to see my nutritionist in Kenmore. At the start of my pregnancy/recovery I was seeing her once a week but now only go monthly and it’s more of a check-in. As eating is something I’ve struggled greatly with, this support has been phenomenal (and necessary). I’m very grateful this service was something Tony was able to allow me to continue when I stopped working. 

I’m going to go walk on the treadmill now, finish watching The View and then maybe see what was on Tyra this morning. After I get dressed I’m going to try to take some new pics to add to this post. Just this last week I’ve gotten much bigger and suddenly can no longer see below/past my belly. A couple nights ago Tony cut and painted my toenails, because I really can’t get near them these days. And he did a good job!

Lastly, I’d just like to pass word on about a 14-part documentary series starting on HBO tonight. It’s titled Addiction: Why Can’t They Stop? and airs at 9pm. The series is going to continue all weeked and I have heard, though not confirmed, that HBO will be free to all this weekend only. The series will also be available on HBO OnDemand, as will as iTunes. To learn more click here

[Edit: Photos taken and uploaded...check out all of our pics.]

So it’s finals week and I am so glad to just be getting this done and over with. I started out taking seventeen credit hours this term, but about halfway through downgraded to twelve. I just turned in a fifteen page research paper on, fittingly, parenting students. Very interesting topic. I have a final in just over an hour, for my Drug and Alcohol Survey class but already feel about fifteen pounds lighter having the paper that’s been hanging over my head all term out of the way! And "feeling lighter" begins to carry a lot more meaning when you’re six and a half months pregnant. Tomorrow I have a presentation for my Ethics class. Luckily, I’m pretty blessed as far as public speaking is concerned and have been able to wing such assignments in the past quite successfully. All I need to do tongiht is find a clip of therapy gone wrong. Anyone know of any good movies/scenes? Tony and I brainstormed and came up with What About Bob? (No good clips on YouTube) and Tobias from Arrested Development. Also either Analyze This or That.

After tomorrow I’m free as a bird until the second of April. I’m taking thirteen credits spring quarter. A little wiser this time around, I’m taking one course online, and three seminar style classes (all early in the term to avoid to much in the last moth or two of pregnancy). I should only have to spend one afternoon a week on campus.

Over the break Tony and I are going to Rockaway in Oregon to spend a weekend with my family at our beach house. We are also probably going to visit his mom, Billie, at the Friday Harbor Marine Labs next weekend. My other goals include: cleaning my car both inside and out, clean/organize the house, finish registering and decide what we actually want/need versus what we just thought was cute at the moment, finish organizing all my clothes and hiding away the ones that I don’t anticipate wearing for quite awhile, get some clothes to wear for the warmer weather/larger months, take more pictures, spend time OUTSIDE, write more in this blog as well as in general. Specifically, a gratitude list I’ve been working out in my head for this pregnancy. For example, that fact that looooong shirts are back in again and I can hopefully continue to wear normal[ish] clothes through June.

Alright, gotta go do some last minute refreshing for this test. Or maybe just have a snack….  

well, ali was doing a diver’s pose (the legs straight up towards the head one) so we couldn’t get a 3d shot of her face. we did get some good shots of her strong legs and her little butt as well as this gem:

that’s our little girl’s heart, trucking away. more to come…

    I just finished taking a test and since the rest of the class is so slow, I have nothing to do but sit and wait. You’re boppin‘ around all the time now, which (most of the time) is really fun and exciting. Then there are times, like when I’m in class trying to make it until break to use the bathroom, I wonder:    a) what are you doing in there?    b) must you engage in that exact behavior at this specific moment? and    c) if perhaps you are exactly as intelligent as Daddy is sure you are, therefore     fully aware of the effects your clamors have on Mommy.     You’re about six months "old" now and it’s amazing how much you’ve already wiggled your way into the center of our lives. Tomorrow we’re getting another ultrasound and are so excited to see our darling daughter once again. You’re practically famous Ali! Mommy and Daddy have your adorable likeness flying through cyberspace everywhere, easily accessible to all the friends and family eagerly awaiting your blessed arrival.       Love,        Mommy

so this is one of the greatest things yet. the books and word-of-mouth advice tell us that ali has reached the point where she is very into outside stimulus. she has made peace with her own little world in the depths of ashley’s midsection and is looking for action. basically, its time for us to start messing with her. so we hook up the ipod to my big rappin’ headphones, stretch those bad boys as far as they can reach around ali’s hovel, and let the tunes blare. and she loves it. she immediately started busting all around and tonight even started kicking (we call it kicking, but could be punching, head butting, etc) right under one of the earpieces. its awesome. we also shined a few flashlights in there but she didn’t seem impressed. as for musical selections, we played several different genres the other night, but she was most into beethoven’s seventh. so tonight we went with some baby bach from the baby einstein folks. on another note, we’re going for a bonus ultrasound on thursday. apparently philips is the reigning ultrasound champs these days and their base of global (ultrasound) operations is here in the seattle area. so we get to be one of their models (well, ash and ali do while i watch) and get paid for some ultrasounding and some more pics. we’re hoping for some 4d action (the cool ones that don’t look like radar images) so stay tuned to see if that materializes. thanks for everyone’s kind words and support. we love you all. p.s. - oh yea, and they said i should start reading to ali so she gets used to my voice. so for her first book i picked james thurber’s my life and hard times.