If you haven’t noticed the site got a little face lift this week. Check out the Pictures link on the right side of the page for albums…a new approach (via Facebook) that impact the number of pictures I post. Or, may not. The newest development was inspired by this blog, friend of a friend of a friend, that I happened upongst. Btw, if the pics have been slow to upload lately (like, the last three plus weeks) it’s because I’ve been using the high res ones and it seems to struggle everything. Sorry and we’re working on it!
Other news. BIG news. We officially have until October 17th to be out of our house. We’ll be headed down to Rockaway, Oregon where we’ll be living in my parents’ beach house for awhile. You know, saving money, paying off debt….lovely things like that. Though the move is going to be challenging and the small town a very drastic change of pace, we are super excited for so many reasons.
Ugh. Techinical difficulties are such a drag. We’ve been really busy around here though, so it may not have mattered much anyway. Though, now that I think about it, I’m not sure what exactly we’ve been so bust with. Tony, working of course. Ali, being two months old an incessantly needy (which is FINE and expected and most of the time adorable, but also exhausting and trying to one’s patience). Me, trying to let Tony work, trying to keep Ali happy and healthy, trying to keep the sink empty of dishes, trying to get back on the treadmill, trying to get out of the house once in awhile! Somehow, the mundane seems to fill the day.
We have been venturing out to a lot of nearby parks. Walking, exploring, last night we even picnic[ed]. The weather has been glorious the last week or so and I am doing my best to take full advantage while the option still exists. The nights are getting longer, but darkness at eight doesn’t phase me much when we move into the bedroom about that time anyway. Now, when that becomes six, five, and (ugghhhhhh) four-thirty it will be a completely different story. And now……PICTURES.
Um, just kidding. It seems some TDs remain and, as you can tell by Tony’s post, we tend to keep different hours. I’ll wait for him to awake. Stay tuned…..
Of course my search for a subject line at 3:30 am should lead me straight to The Sound of Music or The King and I or whatever that song is from. I really do mean to post on here more often, but its so hard to find the time. Having Ali around puts everything into perspective. Along with a massive shift in priorities, many things that were once foremost in my mind have been squished into tiny packages and stashed in the dark corners of my brain for a rainy day (or a late night). But that’s not why you called…
Truth be told, I have put in a good deal of time on this blog, but its all been behind the scenes. Things like keeping wordpress secure, updating plug-ins, increasing our bandwidth as the site grows, giving Ashley the tools to analyze our traffic, updating content (like the polls), listening to people tell me how my "sandwich" page is somewhat tasteless with a 10 week old in the house, etc, etc. But I want to post more, too. Starting tomorrow, I’ll be shooting for one post a week and we’ll try to increase that in the future. I have a backlog of stories, videos, pictures, anecdotes, tips, links and other goodness so there should be no dearth of subject matter.
What this means for you, dear readers, is that you’ll need to be on your toes as content will be coming at a lightning pace. Along with Ashley’s irregularly scheduled (when she gets a free hand for a 15 minute period) picture dumps, you’ll have my waxing and waning on topics from rss feeds (I swear I’ll tell you how to use them one of these days) to an uncensored birth from the daddy’s perspective.
We are wondering who all reads this….though this blog is partly for us it is also to keep contact with family and friends we don’t see enough, to provide a record of our child-rearing experiences for online stumblers, and to earn forty cents a month or so in Google ads. Knowing your audience is key to catering to their needs. So, who are you? Lurkers out there, make yourself known! Even if it’s just a hey, I’m so-and-so from here or there. Also, we’re very interested in how you found this blog.
Greetings friends and foes alike. It’s been a bit since I’ve graced these digital pages with my presence but rest assured I am sharp as a tack. I’ve been busy as a mug tending the financial side of our domestic situation, getting done a number of super-cool projects, and spending quality time with my special lady friend and our little one. She moves more and more (Ali, not Ashley) which is nice for me to be able to take in some of the rumblings. I was getting jealous for awhile there with Ashley feeling all the action and me being left in the lurch. Anyways, I think the fiancee has done a stellar job of keeping ye loyal readers updated. The next couple days should bring a couple projects to completion — pending a major national discount retailer getting our little cans of bougainvillea (supposedly its a color) paint in stock — and the commencement of a few more. I’m not holding my breath.
We got back tonight from Mother’s Day weekend in Oregon. It was (as it always is) a quick trip down but we had a great time, got to see a bunch of family and a couple friends, and actually got quite a bit done. Highlights include Ashley and I finally getting our Guitar Hero on, Jordan ordering his Wii (I am one jealous mug), taking some gold pictures of Alyss for her myspace, drilling a hole in a fishbowl for the fountain, Ashley tearing up some Quiddler, and getting our diaper changing pad upholstered (thanks Kathy!). Or, as we say in pictures…
On Saturday we met up with Cynthia and her lovely daughter Shayla. First there was some delicious Burgerville (mmm bacon cheddar whatever burger) and Shayla’s skepticism regarding my character. Then we picked Cynthia’s brain for awhile regarding the whole end-of-pregnancy/labor/first couple years stage of the game. With all due respect to everyone who’s given us much-needed advice, it is quite nice to receive some from a friend of similar age and disposition. There was also much talk of Cynthia’s upcoming wedding and doting over the cute-as-a-button youngster. After a few peace offerings in the form of french fries, Shayla warmed up to me and we had a good time perusing Goodnight Moon and dipping fries in some sort of tasty sauce.
Saturday also involved a trip down to OMSI, the local science and industry museum. A green lifestyle expo was going on which provided a bunch of free stuff (kudos to Chipotle for the guac and Clif Bars for the, uh, Clif Bars) as well as some insights into wicked new technologies. The museum has an excellent display of preserved feti (Ashley’s term for more than one fetus) at all stages of development. It really was pretty neat to see how far we’ve come in the past eight and half months and how close we are. There was a little girl around us at the exhibit who spent more time staring at Alizabeth than at the preserved fetuses — sorry, feti — which I found pretty cute to watch. We took the below picture of Ashley at the birthing exhibit for Emily, birthing class leader extraordinaire. Also took a picture of ourselves in infrared(?), I forecasted the weather via green screen, and we bought some astronaut ice cream which was delicious. OMSI was a ton of fun and I should mention much love to Ashley for sticking with me through the whole place. I know she was getting tired by the end of it, but I get a bit into those kind of things.
On Sunday there was a little get together for the Megrath side of Ashley’s family in which about everything within a six month period was celebrated. The weather turned out nicely and there was plenty of grilled meat to go around. Kathy couldn’t make it as she was still under the weather, but we had a chance to give thanks to Don and Yvonne for the crib and changing table and wish Uncle David a speedy recovery. We had to jet around five to get back up here, but not without first bogarting the leftover veggie tray and skewered chicken. Also it should be noted that I beat Ashley in a rousing game of table tennis.
Oh yea, and Alyssa had some trouble with the candles.
Things are picking up and getting ever-closer baby-wise, which means we’re trying to make the most of the time between now and active labor. This week, that means the usual routines — prenatal fitness, school, etc for Ash; work for me; birthing class together — plus our regular weekly doctor visits begin this Thursday and last through crowning. We hope to finish the fountain and crib and changing table in the early part of the week. As usual, check back here for updates on those fronts. Wednesday after class we have a tour of the birthing center scheduled. Friday is a long overdue trip to the aquarium (our first as a couple!) and possible lunch with my ma before leaving Saturday for Friday Harbor. Apparently there is a new baby Orca swimming around in those waters so I’ll use all of my whale-viewing prowess to share another part of my life with Ashley and hopefully get a great picture of Ali and J42.
And on a techy note, we’re making changes to some things about the site, so downtime may come to pass in small increments. Thanks for your patience as we make our upgrades and improvements, and hopefully you’ll notice and use some of the new site features. More details to come…
2 months, 22 days, 15 hours, 48 minutes until birth
Sunday, out in the sun, Tony noticed the apperance of my linea negra, which he has been eagerly awaiting for months now. Not the most flattering picture, but I thought I would share. It’s the faint line snaking down from my belly button. This photo was taken at twenty-nine weeks:
Today is a domestic one. No school so I’m still in my pajamas! Been doing laundry, dishes, general picking up, taking trash out and the like. Spending way too much time on the internet. It calls to me…there’s always something to just check. Also updated the registry page with some of the loot we got last week.
I better go fold some clothes. We’re drying meat today for jerky (still working on that iron) and the smell is driving me insane! Luckily not in a bad way…it smells so good. We haven’t broke sixty here since Sunday. I miss the sun!
3 months, 2 days, 19 hours, 21 minutes until birth
We’ve worked a bit this weekend on building our registry page. The whole concept and it’s implicit etiquette are somewhat strange but God knows we need just about everything. And shopping with a scanner instead of money is very exhilerating! Anyway, please check it out and any comments or suggestions would be very, very appreciated.
3 months, 16 days, 12 hours, 22 minutes until birth
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.
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