Saturday, February 28, 2009
It Won't Be Like This For Long
This song always gets to me when I hear it, I guess the pregnancy hormones help because I usually get all teary eyed too. You always hear be grateful for what you have in your life now, but I think I am just barely really understanding that. We've had a lot of changes recently (like the last few years recently) and I look back at each stage of life Robert and I were in and really appreciate the time that we spent in that stage. It does seem, though, like I was always eager for that stage to end and to move onto something else.
When we were single and dating we (of course) couldn't wait to get married. But we did have so much fun. And being married students felt like it would last forever, but those were good times too. I really didn't like living in apartments, but now that we have a house I sure do appreciate not having so much to clean or having to spend every weekend doing yard work or house maintenance.
So now that we will be entering this new stage of parenthood I am happy right now just to be pregnant and working and appreciate that time while I have it. I will never be pregnant for the first time again and I have loved (almost) every minute of it.(I think I just forget about the bad parts because the good parts are so great.) It's been so much fun to learn about pregnancy first hand as things progressed and to feel the baby moving and wonder what she will be like. Things will be a lot different when the baby is here and we have both looked forward to this change for a long time. But where we are now "won't be like this for long" and I want to enjoy every stage of our lives.
(BTW, I had no idea that Darius Rucker was black-that's cool, there aren't a lot of black country singers- or that he was the lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish before going solo. To hear the radio version of the song you can scroll down to my song playlist.)
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Books
I'm actually quite disappointed I don't have more. I guess I found some new inspiration for books to read while I'm on maternity leave (in just three weeks!)
X means I have read it.
X 1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
X 2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
X 3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
X 4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
X 5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
X 6 The Bible
X 7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
X 8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
X 11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
X 12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
X 15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
X 16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
X 22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
/ 25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy- half an X because I’m currently reading it
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
X 27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
X 28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
X 29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
X 34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lost World - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
X 42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
X 43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
X 46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
X 49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
X 50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
X 51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
X 54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
X 61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
X 65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
X 73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
X 87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
X 91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
X 98 The Witches - Roald Dahl
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
/ 100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo- also currently reading
X means I have read it.
X 1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
X 2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
X 3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
X 4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
X 5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
X 6 The Bible
X 7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
X 8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
X 11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
X 12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
X 15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
X 16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
X 22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
/ 25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy- half an X because I’m currently reading it
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
X 27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
X 28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
X 29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
X 34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lost World - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
X 42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
X 43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
X 46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
X 49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
X 50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
X 51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
X 54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
X 61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
X 65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
X 73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
X 87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
X 91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
X 98 The Witches - Roald Dahl
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
/ 100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo- also currently reading
Monday, February 16, 2009
Field Notes
Most of the blog lately has been all about babies, so to change things up a little here is a little snippet of my field notes from Guatemala in 2005 (I was looking through them today and figured why not post some. I have pages and pages of this stuff that only I have ever read.)
Wednesday August 3, 2005
I asked Catarina (my host mother) why she thought grandparents were important. At first she told me that her grandparents weren’t important because they were now dead. So I asked her what about the little kids, like Carlos and Manuel (her two small grandchildren)? She said that she was important because she always loves them, siempre amo a los nietos.
Pascuala’s (my host sister-in-law) father and little brothers came over today and sat in her room and then left. Catarina said they came to tell Pascuala that her two brother that had gone to the U.S. had finally called last night at like one o’clock. It had been twenty-two days since they left here and they had only called the week after they left, so Pascuala had been very worried about them. I asked Pascuala where they were and she said that they had made it to Los Angeles. Catarina asked me if it was far from the states, and I told her it was the United States, it was in California, so they had made it there. Pascuala asked me if it was far from Utah and I said it was far, but not too far, not as far as New York. I told them that my husband was born in Los Angeles.
Today it rained really hard. It was one of the hardest thunderstorms that we have had during the day. It used to rain a lot during the night, but not as hard during the day. Lately however we have had no rain. Today it clouded up like it usually did, but then we started to see lightning and then it started raining and soon it was pouring. Catarina came into my room to finish setting up her new weaving project, a panuelo. This week she had been working on a paz, but she finished it today and started on a new project. She has been working really hard lately. She works at night until she goes to sleep because I can hear her pulling on the backstrap loom at night. I guess she has a lot of work to do.
I finished my summary of my project in Spanish. It took me longer than I thought it would. I guess I write pretty slow when I am writing a paper anyways, and this was in Spanish so I had to think about what I wanted to write, then think about how to put it into Spanish, and then look up the words that I didn’t know how to spell. I think I spelt most of them right though. The grammar is not perfect but it is intelligible.
I asked Catarina about padrinos and she said her kids do have them, but the only thing they did was present the kid to the Padre when they were baptized. She said that they are from this town, but that is basically the only thing the padrinos are for.
Today we had a lot of visitors. Pascuala’s family came, then a lady looking to buy chickens came by and right after that a guy came over to look at our bulls. It is interesting to see them bargaining with each other because they know each other so they don’t do it really aggressively, but they do bargain. Someone says a price and then someone else says a price and then they comment about something else and then get back to bargaining.
Wednesday August 3, 2005
I asked Catarina (my host mother) why she thought grandparents were important. At first she told me that her grandparents weren’t important because they were now dead. So I asked her what about the little kids, like Carlos and Manuel (her two small grandchildren)? She said that she was important because she always loves them, siempre amo a los nietos.
Pascuala’s (my host sister-in-law) father and little brothers came over today and sat in her room and then left. Catarina said they came to tell Pascuala that her two brother that had gone to the U.S. had finally called last night at like one o’clock. It had been twenty-two days since they left here and they had only called the week after they left, so Pascuala had been very worried about them. I asked Pascuala where they were and she said that they had made it to Los Angeles. Catarina asked me if it was far from the states, and I told her it was the United States, it was in California, so they had made it there. Pascuala asked me if it was far from Utah and I said it was far, but not too far, not as far as New York. I told them that my husband was born in Los Angeles.
Today it rained really hard. It was one of the hardest thunderstorms that we have had during the day. It used to rain a lot during the night, but not as hard during the day. Lately however we have had no rain. Today it clouded up like it usually did, but then we started to see lightning and then it started raining and soon it was pouring. Catarina came into my room to finish setting up her new weaving project, a panuelo. This week she had been working on a paz, but she finished it today and started on a new project. She has been working really hard lately. She works at night until she goes to sleep because I can hear her pulling on the backstrap loom at night. I guess she has a lot of work to do.
I finished my summary of my project in Spanish. It took me longer than I thought it would. I guess I write pretty slow when I am writing a paper anyways, and this was in Spanish so I had to think about what I wanted to write, then think about how to put it into Spanish, and then look up the words that I didn’t know how to spell. I think I spelt most of them right though. The grammar is not perfect but it is intelligible.I asked Catarina about padrinos and she said her kids do have them, but the only thing they did was present the kid to the Padre when they were baptized. She said that they are from this town, but that is basically the only thing the padrinos are for.
Today we had a lot of visitors. Pascuala’s family came, then a lady looking to buy chickens came by and right after that a guy came over to look at our bulls. It is interesting to see them bargaining with each other because they know each other so they don’t do it really aggressively, but they do bargain. Someone says a price and then someone else says a price and then they comment about something else and then get back to bargaining.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Whew
Today at my doctor's appointment my doctor surprisingly did a quick ultrasound and, among other things, told us that we still have a baby girl. So now I can wash all my baby clothes this weekend and not feel apprehensive that we may never use them if our baby turns out to really be a boy. Rest assured, this baby is a girl.
The doctor also said she could see the baby "practice" breathing. Babies don't breath in the womb, but I guess they do practice breathing by moving their diaphragm, something I had never heard about. So baby still looks good and healthy.
I was really confused why the doctor did the ultrasound though, but it was a pleasant surprise (even if it only lasted a minute). At the last appointment I had specifically asked if they would do another ultrasound and the doctor said only if they thought something might be wrong. But today she said that the baby looked good so I don't know why we had it done today. Maybe it wasn't really considered an ultrasound? It was a different machine than last time... I don't know, but really, I don't care as long as my baby is healthy.
Also today, one of the nurses commented on how small I was, like everyone does when I tell them how far along I am. And the doctor said, "she's not small, she's was just skinny." (talking about me.) Thank you doctor! I have gained the recommended amount of weight and my baby is just fine, so there (to everyone who keeps telling me I look small). And when I think of how much my baby still has left to grow, I don't want to be big yet!
P.S. Thanks for the baby book recommendations!
The doctor also said she could see the baby "practice" breathing. Babies don't breath in the womb, but I guess they do practice breathing by moving their diaphragm, something I had never heard about. So baby still looks good and healthy.
I was really confused why the doctor did the ultrasound though, but it was a pleasant surprise (even if it only lasted a minute). At the last appointment I had specifically asked if they would do another ultrasound and the doctor said only if they thought something might be wrong. But today she said that the baby looked good so I don't know why we had it done today. Maybe it wasn't really considered an ultrasound? It was a different machine than last time... I don't know, but really, I don't care as long as my baby is healthy.
Also today, one of the nurses commented on how small I was, like everyone does when I tell them how far along I am. And the doctor said, "she's not small, she's was just skinny." (talking about me.) Thank you doctor! I have gained the recommended amount of weight and my baby is just fine, so there (to everyone who keeps telling me I look small). And when I think of how much my baby still has left to grow, I don't want to be big yet!
P.S. Thanks for the baby book recommendations!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Photo Tag
I've been photo-tagged. The rules are...
1. Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on the computer
2. Select the 4th picture in the folder
3. Explain the picture
4. Tag 4 people to do the same
5. No cheating (cropping, editing, etc)
What are the odds it turned out to be a picture of just me? This was Summer 2004 when Robert and I were dating. I was visiting him at his Aunt Deana's house and he was evidently obsessed with taking random pictures of me.
I tag:
1. Mom & Dad Wheat
2. Lauren W.
3. Mark and Jessica D.
4. Devin and Leslie S.
1. Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on the computer
2. Select the 4th picture in the folder
3. Explain the picture
4. Tag 4 people to do the same
5. No cheating (cropping, editing, etc)
What are the odds it turned out to be a picture of just me? This was Summer 2004 when Robert and I were dating. I was visiting him at his Aunt Deana's house and he was evidently obsessed with taking random pictures of me.
I tag:
1. Mom & Dad Wheat
2. Lauren W.
3. Mark and Jessica D.
4. Devin and Leslie S.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
My Weekend To-Do List
Mail thank you cards
Make more cards
Hang remaining pictures
Check out local consignment stores for baby clothes (dare I try yard sales and craiglists?)
Buy rest of baby gear (most importantly
Find a Pediatrician
Hiking in Claremont Wilderness Park
Visiting Teaching
Dust
Mop
Vacuum
Wash windows and mirrors
Put museum wax under the decorations on shelves so they don't fall off during an earthquake
Pack hospital bag
Make wall hanging name plaque
Plant flowers in the backyard
Problem is the list keeps getting longer much faster than I can cross them off...
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Baby Books
Whoohoo, I'm 30 weeks!
All you mothers out there, any suggestions on good baby books I should read?
All you mothers out there, any suggestions on good baby books I should read?
Monday, February 02, 2009
Whatever I Could Think of
We've been pretty boring recently, but in an effort to keep our blog updated with some recent content, I'll try to think of something to write about.
The past couple weekends we have drifted a little from our normal anti-social routine (we're not anti-social on purpose, but we do tend to keep to ourselves a lot...) and have actually hung out with friends! Two weekends in a row even! Two Saturday's ago we went out to dinner with the Haskins, some friends that live here in Claremont that we have known since we first moved to L.A. We went to a Benihana style restaurant and then went to their house to play Rock Band. It was Robert and I's first experience with Rock Band and we both enjoyed it but I don't think we're going to be investing in a band of our own anytime soon.
This last weekend we had some friends from West L.A., the Mcdowell's, over to our house. I think this was the first time that we actually had friends over to our house (that weren't helping us move furniture or do house repairs). Yay for friends! Their two little girls helped us out by showing us what needed to be kid proofed around the house. I don't know how but they seemed to find all kinds of horrifying stuff outside like rusty nails, screws, and broken sprinklers. Yikes! Luckily they managed to leave our house unscathed and we all had fun seeing each other again and playing games.
In other news, Saturday we also went and took the maternity orientation tour of the hospital. I'm so excited for labor and delivery now! Actually seeing where it was all going to happen got me all pumped up and ready for this to happen. But since I still have two and a half months to go I guess I will just have to contain my excitement for now. I was starting to feel a little bit apprehensive about it all for the first time recently but seeing the hospital and knowing what was going to happen and where we have to go etc. etc. really helped me out. I'm sure I'll start getting nervous again as the time gets closer, but right now my attitude is "All right, let's do this!" Actually, I'm more scared about after the hospital, when they send us home with a newborn baby that is all our responsibility. That's pretty freaky.
The past couple weekends we have drifted a little from our normal anti-social routine (we're not anti-social on purpose, but we do tend to keep to ourselves a lot...) and have actually hung out with friends! Two weekends in a row even! Two Saturday's ago we went out to dinner with the Haskins, some friends that live here in Claremont that we have known since we first moved to L.A. We went to a Benihana style restaurant and then went to their house to play Rock Band. It was Robert and I's first experience with Rock Band and we both enjoyed it but I don't think we're going to be investing in a band of our own anytime soon.
This last weekend we had some friends from West L.A., the Mcdowell's, over to our house. I think this was the first time that we actually had friends over to our house (that weren't helping us move furniture or do house repairs). Yay for friends! Their two little girls helped us out by showing us what needed to be kid proofed around the house. I don't know how but they seemed to find all kinds of horrifying stuff outside like rusty nails, screws, and broken sprinklers. Yikes! Luckily they managed to leave our house unscathed and we all had fun seeing each other again and playing games.
In other news, Saturday we also went and took the maternity orientation tour of the hospital. I'm so excited for labor and delivery now! Actually seeing where it was all going to happen got me all pumped up and ready for this to happen. But since I still have two and a half months to go I guess I will just have to contain my excitement for now. I was starting to feel a little bit apprehensive about it all for the first time recently but seeing the hospital and knowing what was going to happen and where we have to go etc. etc. really helped me out. I'm sure I'll start getting nervous again as the time gets closer, but right now my attitude is "All right, let's do this!" Actually, I'm more scared about after the hospital, when they send us home with a newborn baby that is all our responsibility. That's pretty freaky.
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