Sitting Pretty

For the past couple of weeks Lucy has been insisting on wearing a 'pretty dress' everywhere we go. Luckily we've had some parties to attend, like our friend's christening party yesterday. Lulu got to wear one of her birthday presents and her new sparkly shoes, and she couldn't have been happier!

What is your best shot this week? Visit Tracy Clark Photography to share!

Theme Thursday: Week 21

As we're sitting here on this rainy Saturday morning watching Alice in Wonderland, I'm compelled to designate a youthful theme. My in-laws are visiting, so I'm going to make it short and sweet.

Week 21 Theme: Whimsy

See you Thursday!

The Ordeal or Why Technology Sometimes Sucks

This morning I spent three hours in the doctor's office and hospital, where I had an unscheduled non-stress test. A non-stress test that was more than a little stress-inducing, to be honest. It's funny, really, because I've been doing a lot of reading lately, and I keep coming across a common theme. In a normal, uncomplicated pregnancy like mine, excessive testing and monitoring can often lead to unwanted interventions and unnecessary tests. Today I got to see just how true that can be.

After sitting in my doctor's waiting room for an hour and fifteen minutes, I got called back to be examined. The nurse immediately begins to ask about some specific problems I'm totally not having, and of course I'm confused. Turns out, they see another patient named Amy who's last name is only one letter off from mine, and they got our charts confused. More time spent waiting for them to find the correct chart, and then we're back to the exam. Everything is normal so far, urine weight, blood pressure, fetal heart rate. The doctor comes in (not the doctor I was scheduled to see, BTW) and all is well. Then she picks up my chart and does a weird face thing.

I hate the weird face thing.

Turns out, the baby's heart rate was high when the nurse was measuring it. I wasn't too surprised because the baby was being seriously active and jumpy in there. When I'm moving around a great deal my pulse gets elevated, too. The OB goes out to retrieve the doppler again. However, the baby really hasn't settled down, and now also has the hiccups, so the heart rate is still high. Now she's on the phone and using phrases like 'fetal tachycardia' so I have to go over to the hospital for a non-stress test, which is basically just some fetal monitoring.

Of course, in the ten minutes it takes me to get over there, the baby has calmed considerably. Which is not a good thing at this point, because they're looking for at least two periods of heart rate acceleration from the baby in a one hour period, and if that doesn't happen then I FAIL! I fail the non-stress test and have to stay longer and have some biophysical profile ultrasound done. Yay! For the first half and hour I was there, baby barely made a peep. Just a nice, steady resting heart rate of about 150, with no spikes or valleys. If only this had been forty minutes earlier when I was still in the office.

Speaking of the office, did I mention that in my seventy-five minute wait over there I had finished my book? And that the TV in my hospital room didn't work? Thank god for my iPhone.

Speaking of phones, during all of this, I am frantically trying to get in touch with my sister-in-law, who was with the kids at the mall. We swapped cars so that she could take Lulu to Build-A-Bear for her birthday present, and she wasn't answering her texts or calls. I knew she had to be at work at 2pm today, so I was trying to figure out what in the hell I was going to do with Sam and Lucy. I had been told that there was a possibility I was going to be stuck in the hospital all afternoon, and the last thing I wanted was to have them there with me in the hospital with a busted TV. So I start frantically texting SOB to start frantically calling his sister.

Luckily, all of that frantic dialing must have had some effect on my little fetus, because s/he started jumping all around again, demonstrating two or more periods of heart rate acceleration, so I passed the non-stress test. It also might have been all of the juice they gave me, but either way the little bugger performed like a pro on opening night. After completing some paperwork, and some more paperwork and then a little more paperwork I was free to go.

I'm betting my $7 parking fee will be the smallest of the bills I receive with today's date on it.

When I got home Allison and the kids were here safe and sound, and her phone was totally ker-fuffled. She hadn't received a single message or call from me.

Isn't modern technology grand?

Passageways

The city of Philadelphia is filled with little tiny streets and alleyways. There are some parts of old city where you could imagine a horse trotting down the narrow cobblestones, because the road isn't wide enough to accommodate anything larger!

Up in center city, there are plenty of little streets, though some might argue they aren't quite as quaint. I've always enjoyed the kind of 'light at the end of the tunnel' effect you get from such tall buildings surrounding these narrow passages.

I know it's not typical, but even in dirty puddles there can be some kind of beauty.

Our time in the city on Monday was brief but fun. We got to meet Heather, and the kids got to enjoy a part of the city they've never been to before. There were experiences to be had, rites of passage, if you will, for both kids. Sam had never before had the pleasure of chasing around a flock of pigeons.

If you can imagine, the look on his face was something between shock and joy and fear. He enjoyed himself immensely!

Lucy, at the ripe old age of two, has finally figured out that pennies are for making wishes, and not for snacking. Thank god.

Wishes a-plenty!

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What do you have to share today?

Park Music

Focal length: 50mm

Aperture: f/2.8

Shutter: 1/1250

ISO: 400

Wordless Wednesday

Lucy, Top Chef, and 6 Degrees of Separation

As any good reality TV junkie/foodie knows, the new season of Top Chef began last week. SOB and I have been big fans of this show for a while now, and have even made trips to visit some of the chef's restaurants in the past. We've never, however, had the pleasure of eating at one of the contestants' restaurants before they've been on the show. Until now.

A few years ago (2 years plus 38 weeks, give or take) SOB and I went on a date down in Hotlanta. We had a lovely dinner at a french bistro and then ended the evening at a wine bar in Midtown. There was a good deal of wine consumed by yours truly, and little Lulu may or may not have been conceived that evening once we said goodbye to the babysitter.

We were sitting watching the first episode of Top Chef as the chef-testants introduced themselves, and we recognized the name of the restaurant one guy was talking about. 'Hey! We've eaten at ENO before! Cool!' we said to one another. And then there were a few moments of silence as we both recalled the details of the night.

Needless to say, we rooting for Eli to win the whole damn thing!

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Hey! I've posted a new face over 50 faces @ 50mm. Stop by and let me know what you think!

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My friend Carrie had a little baby boy yesterday, and I'm dying! First: he is just too lovely for words.

Second: OMG I'm going to have a baby soon! In my head, the timeline had Lucy's birthday and the birth of Carrie's baby as the final two things that had to occur before our own little scrunchy faced lovely could arrive. Carrie was due on September 1st, so, again, in my head there was going to be more time between Lulu's party and her baby's arrival. Now my whole sense of schedule has been shattered and I'm in full blown panic mode! Where's the car seat? Bassinet? Do I have any diapers/onesies/nipple balm? Holy crap!

I'm just going to go and stare at the photos of this little man for a while now to calm me down...

Making Up for Lost Time

A few weeks ago I spent some time in Center City with my husband. Today I am heading back down there with my kids to meet someone who inspires me. With last week's sickness and the birthday party extravaganza this weekend, I didn't take as many photos as usual, so here are a few from that last trip into the city that I liked but never posted.

Visit Tracy Clark Photography for more of the best.

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I also forgot to discuss this week's theme with you! Sorry about that. In keeping with the birthday tradition and time marching onward, here is this week's theme:

Week 20 Theme: Passage

See you all Thursday!

SOOC Sunday: Birthday Party

The party was a huge success. The bouncy house was a big hit. A good time was had by all!

Visit Melody at Slurping Life for more SOOC Saturday.

Lucy is Two!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

To Do:

Tomorrow is Lucy's birthday and her birthday party. In preparation I have to:

1. Make cupcakes and frosting
2. Make two salsas
3. Hit the grocery store for everything I forgot to buy yesterday, including the ingredients for #4.

4. Make french onion dip

5. Make pasta salad

6. Sort through a years worth of photos for the ones that really encapsulate her second year.

7. Do some sort of voodoo chant to keep the rain at bay. The bouncy house won't be much fun in a thunderstorm.

8. Find balloons and other party decorations.

9. Figure out exactly who is coming to this shindig.

10. Get clothes ready for early morning pictures with the grandparents, who are arriving this afternoon.

I'm stopping there. I also need to clean, since it seems likely we'll be spending more time inside than I though, but I like 10. It's a nice even number. I'm going to go get started on #2 right now. Perhaps, if I have a spare second here or there I'll update the list for those of you who might care.

Which would be no one, I'm assuming.

Wish me luck!

Two of a Kind

I had all these grand plans for this week's Theme Thursday. I was going to take my camera everywhere and snap as many photos of coupled items as I could find. Then I got hit with a double whammy: the summer cold (for me and Sam) and a massive heat wave. I've barely left the house since Saturday. I've barely left the couch since Tuesday. Luckily I was able to find a few shots that fit the bill.

The two ladies of the household, at least for the time being. This was one of the only shots from our photo shoot that came out even marginally acceptable. Luckily it was a sweet one!

Here is Sam on his new two wheeler! We've been meaning to buy him a bike all summer, and we finally got around to it. He loves it, as you can plainly see. His sister is a little pissed, but she'll live.

Especially if he keeps pushing her around on his old tricycle! I can't get my two kids to sit together for a photo, so I have to catch them on the fly!

Here are two little ladies at lunch. Lucy and Lily are only five months apart, and their younger siblings will only be about one month apart, so I'm hoping for more fun lunch dates to come! Even if some of the diners will be eating at the milk wagon.

And finally, from our one single trip out of the house since Monday. A pair, salt and pepper. Yesterday afternoon SOB suggested we take the kids out to eat if I could muster up the strength. I was only too happy to oblige, if it meant I didn't have to make dinner! We went to a diner nearby, and even though SOB was a little mortified at my constant clicking, I took a bunch of photos before our food arrived. Especially of the table condiments. I couldn't decide which processing I liked better, so I thought I'd put it to a vote!

What did you find two of this week? Hopefully at least two minutes to play along!

Milk

Wordless Wednesday

Photo Shoot FAIL

Day two of Lucy Appreciation Week!

I have been trying desperately to get a good shot of at least me and my kids, but preferably of all four of us. About two weeks ago I enlisted the help of Allison and set up the tripod in the back yard. I was hoping to get some cute shots of the kids with my big old belly and then a nice family photo. But it was late in the day, and when dealing with the under four set, time is not on your side. The only way to get them to be still for the occasional shot was to bribe them. Allison had a pocketful of gummies, so every time they would manage to smile for a few seconds, they would immediately run back behind the camera to get their reward. Never mind the fact that they were never actually sitting with me and smiling at the same time.

Just as I had pointed the remote, Lucy decided it was gummy time, and off she went. I can't be angry, though. Look at that little face. Those pigtails, arms and legs all in motion. SOB and I spent some time alone with her last night after Sam was in bed, and we watched videos from last summer. She sat so still, snuggled between us, constantly pointing to the screen at 'baby Lucy.' SOB looked at me and said he wanted to have ten babies.

I just laughed, and I carried her snugly little body off to bed.

Lucy Appreciation Week

In anticipation of Lulu's birthday, please indulge me in sharing some of the more lovely moments with my daughter. Here she is singing her ABCs. The video cut off A, but I'm guessing that doesn't ruin anything for you.

Canned

Over the weekend we were perhaps the most motivated people on the planet. It must have been the adverts we saw for hardy mums or something, but all of a sudden we realized that end summer was upon us. SOB did a bunch of yard work, and spent almost eight hours sealing the driveway, even though it was 93 degrees. And me? Well, aside from all of the fun stuff I did with the kids while dad was working, I cleaned the hell out of the front porch, did four loads of laundry, and performed a little magic. What kind of magic, you say? In just two days, I turned all of this:

Into this:

Ta Da! (Pausing for applause.)

Our first ever canning experiment was what I would refer to as a moderate success. The downfalls? Well, it was messy, but we expected that. As first timers, we ended up changing pots twice, so there were a lot of dishes to be done. Plus, peeling the tomatoes made our kitchen look like a crime scene. Also, the yield on the tomatoes was a little disappointing. I had about ten pounds of harvest, which only came out to three quarts of processed tomatoes.

On the plus side, the salsa canning was great! Since the salsa is fairly easy to make, canning it was a snap. It'll keep much, much longer this way, so we'll be able to enjoy the fruits of our labor long into the winter. Plus I still have at least a few more jars of tomatillos on the plants out there, so I can guarantee I'll be canning some more salsa verde. The peppers were easy as well. We'd never eat that many peppers before they'd go bad, so pickling them seemed like a fun idea. Since the brine is so acidic, they don't have to process as long, so the whole thing took a lot less time.

All in all, I'd give the whole adventure a B+. I think we'll hold off on canning tomatoes until we have the big farm and I literally have 50 pounds of fruit to work with, but I hope to have my pantry stocked with salsa and peppers by the time this baby is born!

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I choose these shots for my best shots of the week. For more best shots, visit Tracy Clark's blog!

SPIDER! Must Stop!*

Spiders. My life is overrun with spiders.

I appreciate that all creatures have their place in nature. Even bees, which I kind of hate, perform certain important tasks, like pollinating my garden. Likewise, spiders, while not my favorite bug on the block, eat up other, more pesky bugs. In general, I say live and let live when it comes to the eight legged set.

Until they invade. I don't know if it's everywhere or just here, but it's like we're running some kind of arachnid club med. In the yard they've spun a web in every conceivable nook and cranny. But the worst is on the porch.

Our porch is screened in, but not enclosed. I think that's the crux of the problem. The gaps in the screen doors are ample enough to allow ants and flies in, and when there is an abundance of ants and flies spiders are sure to follow. We also have an abundance of toys on the porch. Riding toys and tonka trucks and the like, the undersides of which make for lovely little spider nests. Not for catching flies, of course, but for hatching their little progeny.

Gross.

You know it's bad when we consider throwing toys away rather than killing and cleaning the ka-jillion baby spider carcasses from their undersides.

So today I spent over an hour outside with my trusty Dyson sucking up webs and bugs and spiders galore. I'm hoping that the whirling vortex inside the canister was enough to kill them.

But just to be safe, I'm making SOB take it down to the street to empty it.

*I may perhaps be inclined to send a prize to the first person who correctly identifies the song and artist this title references.

Theme Thursday: Week 19

Next Saturday is Lucy's second birthday. Right now she's sitting with her brother watching SuperWhy and correctly identifying multiple letters of the alphabet without prompting. Two years ago she was still encased in my belly, and I was huge. Take a look. I'm not quite that big yet, but give me six more weeks and we'll see.

All week we'll be preparing for her big birthday party, so with that in mind I give you this week's theme!

Week 19 Theme: Two

Could be something simple, could be something more complex. Either way, I'm sure you'll all come up with something great!

My Kids Are Butt Heads

At least, they butt heads. Often. And this is what happens when they butt heads through a mesh screen:

If only they weren't so damned cute!

Beauty Marks

I've been pregnant three times now. Some 113 weeks, give or take. I've had my share of pregnancy related symptoms, good and bad.

(I can hear all you mothers out there saying to yourselves, 'What good pregnancy side effects, crazy beeyotch?' Well, let me google that for you.)

Remarkably, my first two pregnancies were so similar that I was convinced I was having twins this third time around. The insomnia and nausea were just the beginning of a whole host of side effects, some new and some not, of this gestational period. For the most part, they haven't been too unusual. I mean, I really didn't think my stretch marks could get any bigger, but that's still sort of par for the course. But the one thing that is bugging me out a little?

Melasma.

I've got it. The mask of pregnancy. I'm not normally a super-freckly type of gal, but now every time I get a blemish of any kind, once it heals a freckle is left in its wake. Also, I have what I refer to as a "coffee splotch" between my eyes.

Let me explain: You know how sometimes when you're enthusiastically taking a sip of something, especially a warm brown liquid typically served in a mug, you get a little splash on the tip of your nose or between your eyes? And then you forget about it for a few hours until you happen by a mirror and notice a weird brown splotch on your face? I have that, but like forever. No amount of spit bathing will make it go away.

Here, take a look:

Please ignore the redness around my eyebrows. That is from an unrelated waxing incident.

I know it looks faint here, but in real life, in the light of day, pretty much everyone can notice my new facial markings. I started to draw circles and arrows on this photo where all of my new spots are, but before I was even halfway finished, my whole face was a purple blob.

What? Purple is my favorite color, hence purple arrows and circles.

So here I am, splotchy and anxious every time I feel a pimple coming on. Anyone out there have any tips or words of wisdom for me? Will these markings, unlike my miles of stretch marks, eventually fade away or will the coffee splotch become part of my life? Halp!

Sing a Song

I grew up in a very musical family. Every time we took a car trip we listened to musicals and rock n' roll and folk music and big band and pretty much everything in between. I took piano and voice lessons, and my brother played the guitar.

While my piano now resides in some distant family member's basement, my brother is seemingly never without a guitar. Unless he's letting some other distant family member play with it!

He especially gets a kick out of seeing Sam with it.

Taken with my iPhone, using the ShakeItPhoto app.

But lately, we've been graced with a different sort of music...

Ever since we've put up the bird 'seeder' (as Lulu calls it) we've been getting tons of singing visitors. First we had this mama Cardinal come by for a bite to eat.

Less than a minute from when she left her boyfriend showed up. At least, I'm assuming that's her boyfriend. I don't watch soaps, so I construct elaborate social lives for the creatures that live in my yard. These pictures were taken through a window, so they're not as sharp as I'd like, but I love how both birds looked right at me like, 'What's your problem lady? I'm just trying to have some lunch here! Bug off!' They're a match made in heaven!

What kind of musicality do you have to share this week?

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Also, don't forget to check out 50 Faces @ 50mm if you have a few minutes to spare. It's in its infantile stages, so any feedback would be appreciated!

The Intrepid Hunter

(I promise to lay off the natural child birth talk for a while, ok? Moving on!)

As I've mentioned, we have a friend staying with us for the month. Eric is, by all accounts, a lovely person. Ask anyone who knows him and I'm sure you'll hear nothing but positive accolades. And his charms don't only extend to the human realm, either!

This is our cat Simon. He's a good, old kitty who has been with us since the summer of 1998. When we got him he was somewhere between one and three years old, which makes him somewhere in the neighborhood of twelve to fourteen years old today.

For nine of the eleven years we have been Simon's family, he has been an indoor cat. We always lived in apartments or condos, so he had very limited availability to the outside world. Unless he could somehow figure out how to operate an elevator. On the rare occasion he would find himself in nature, well, he would freak.

Until we moved into this house. For some reason, the yard and world at large became unbearably appealing to him once there was only one door between him and the grass. Helping things are my children, who are always more than happy to open up the door for him.

In the past two years, the cat has, from time to time, deposited a fresh kill on our doorstep. Mostly mice, but we also get the occasional bird. I'd say less than two dozen times, so about once a month.

Even though he came to us claw-less, he has always been an avid hunter. Any bug of substantial size was fair game, and then there was the time we had the gypsy neighbors. It's a loooooooongs story, but needless to say that was the only other time he caught mice.

But now? Ever since Eric has been here? It's a mouse a day. Sometimes two. And sometimes a bird as well. It's like he's in lurve or something. I haven't felt as though we've been neglecting him, but apparently he thinks differently. Or maybe the cat just thinks we brought in a new human just for him.

Either way, I'm getting sick of it. Carcasses litter our doorways. Our trash cans reek of death. And when SOB is on call, guess who has to gather up the tiny, lifeless fur balls?

I'm actually kind of thankful for this heat wave, because the cat stays inside when it's over 90 degrees. If that's how we get no rodent sacrifices, then bring on the heat!

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If you get a chance, and you're interested, visit my new photo blog 50 Faces @ 50mm.

The New York Times in Philly (Insert Eye Roll Here)

Wordless Wednesday

Natural Child Birth: Fanning the Flames

I've never before participated in the book clubs offered by the SV Moms group, but when they announced August's book would be Birth Day by Mark Sloan I decided to throw my hat into the ring. This purpose isn't to review the book per se, but instead to write about your thoughts on the book, kind of like how you'd discuss the book in an actual book club.

I mentioned last week how the book Birth Day was the jumping off point for my decision to try for a natural child birth this third time around. When I first found out I was pregnant in January, I assumed that my labor would end up being about the same as my first two. That is, highly managed with lots of interventions. By the time I finished the first chapter, I was already thinking, 'Why not let my body do what it's been trained to do for thousands of years?'

As a biologist by education, I am constantly amazed by what the human body is capable of. On a cellular level, thinking about how microscopic ions inside of cell organelles are keeping us alive blows my mind. On a bigger scale, watching my kids grow over the past three and a half years has given me a new appreciation for the strength and power our bodies possess. It's also given me confidence that my own body can handle the process of birthing this baby largely on it's own.

Married to an anesthesiologist, many people have questioned whether he'll be able to separate his life and job when I'm in labor. He thumbed through the book as well, especially the chapter on the epidural monoculture. There were some ruffled feathers, I'll admit, but he's a rational person. We had several lengthy discussions about his opinions on other forms of pain relief and what non-epidural pain management methods he would support. Because he's been so agreeable, I've followed up with other books on natural child birth. With his help, I'm optimistic that an intervention-free child birth is something we can accomplish.

I just wish that the other doctors I've been dealing with during this pregnancy were as supportive. So far, I've only gotten positive responses from one of three obstetricians in the practice where I'm a patient. The other two have been negative and downright condescending. In fact, just this morning one of the obstetricians asked, 'What does your anesthesiologist husband think about that?' when I spoke with him about my intentions. I'm half tempted to take a few copies of this book along with me to the office the next time I go and hand them out to the less-than-supportive members of the staff.

Either that or have this baby at home!

To read what others had to say about Birth Day, visit the Philly Moms Blog tomorrow for a round-up!

Plastic Babies

Plastic Babies, originally uploaded by Amy Jo Momma.

Over the weekend we had Baby Bath 3.0 for my friend Carrie and myself. (Here are 1.0 and 2.0) As per the tradition, plastic babies were hidden all about the party, to be found and collected for fabulous prizes. A good time was had by all, both plastic people and their flesh and blood counterparts.

For more Best Shot Monday, visit Tracy.

Theme Thursday: Week 18

For fun this week I thought I'd ask Sam to pick a theme. Since he doesn't really know what a theme is, per se, I asked him for his favorite word. His response? 'Dina-toe!'

I don't think we'll really be able to work with that.

Luckily, a few minutes later he told me he liked the word 'singing.' So, with a few interpretations, I give you this week's theme!

Week 18 Theme: Music

How does that sound to you? See you Thursday!

Crib Jumpers

I was sitting at the dining room table peeling tomatillos, when all of a sudden I heard a sickening thud. It sounded like a piece of furniture fell through the floor from the attic onto the second floor. But one second later I heard the most piercing scream I've ever heard in my life. I was on the phone with my mother, who I'm sure nearly had a heart attack when I panicked and screamed for my husband, who is still at work.

I got up the stairs faster than I have in eight months.

By the time I got there, Sam had already come out of his room to see what was going on. Lulu was in a heap on the floor. There was no blood, and all of her limbs were moving, so I immediately grabbed her up. After a thorough examination, some googling, and about seventeen minutes of screaming and consoling, I concluded that a trip to the doctor wasn't necessary.

However, a trip to Ikea for a new toddler bed is on the agenda for this weekend.

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I have a new post up over at the Philly Moms Blog. Stop by if you have a minute!

On Birthing Naturally, or Am I Certifiably Insane?

I've let it slip a few times now that I'm considering a natural childbirth with this third baby. I've hesitated saying much more, because I fear that the second my contractions get serious, I'll be begging for some drugs. I already make myself look like a fool enough as it is, so having it part of public record isn't something I'm super excited about.

That said, it's kind of consuming my every waking moment right now. If I don't get some of it out of my head and onto the internets, I fear I might not be able to think about anything else ever again.

This all started with a book I read called Birth Day, by Mark Sloan. The book details the science, evolution and history of childbirth and I found it utterly fascinating. As a girl with a BS in biology, I never really learned much about birthing in college. Gestation and anatomy, sure, but the actual physical process of bearing young was glossed over a bit. After reading only the first chapter of this book, the seeds were planted.

Then some random weekend evening when SOB was on call I watched The Business of Being Born. While I didn't love everything about the film, there were more than a few points I latched onto. It made me recall the doc in Atlanta who offered me a scheduled c-section the very first time I met him, before we even got to the exam room. Plus, having just read Birth Day, there was some interesting informational overlap that reaffirmed a lot of what I was feeling.

But what finally drove me to the point of committing this to the blog-o-sphere? Two of the doctors in my OB practice, one of which was a dick and the other which was awesome. I'm currently rotating through some of the other practitioners, and when I mentioned natural child-birthing to the dick one, he was outright dismissive and condescending. I believe he said, 'Why would you want to do that? You're smarter than that, right?' Um, fuck you. I now plan to will my body into labor and go 100% natural on your call night just to annoy you. Luckily the next visit I met with a doctor so awesome that it made me wish I had been seeing her all along. She was so supportive of me and my silly natural child birthing plans that she even took two minutes to answer some questions I had in regards to said process.

Since then I've read some books on active birthing and scoured the interwebs for info and personal accounts of giving birth naturally. (I cannot tell a lie. I got completely sucked into Heather's birthing story. Maybe in a way that is weird. There was a moment when I cheered at my computer screen.)

All I can keep coming up with is that I want to give this a try. This might be my last chance, and I'd love to see what my body is capable of doing. I wasn't disappointed in either of my first two births, but they were both very similar in that they were heavily managed. In Atlanta I got reprimanded for coming in an hour earlier than planned because I thought my water had broken, that's how scheduled things were. In both cases, I felt I was being gently-but-not-subtly nudged in certain directions by the hospital staff. I may have ultimately ended up taking the same path myself, but I never really got the chance to find out. There were a lot of comments like, 'Well, if you don't ask now you might miss your chance...' and 'Don't worry. We know what's best for you.' In retrospect it sounds worse than it was, but still.

So that's where I am: planning to have a natural childbirth this third time around. My first labor was about 17 hours long, and my second was only about 9 hours long, so the way I figure it, I should only have to endue about 3 hours and 23 minutes of labor pains to get this baby out, right?

Right?

The City

A few weeks ago I suggested to SOB that we take an overnight or weekend away before the baby is born. Unfortunately it doesn't look like that is going to happen, but fortunately, we have been give some surprise opportunities to spend time alone together. Yesterday afternoon he got off of work early, so Allison came over to hang with the kiddies and I jumped on the train.

First, we had some big flavors at a little bistro we love...

Then we saw some massive buildings...

And then we found some gigantic deals!

And because my initial inspiration was my ever-growing belly, I'll leave you with this:

My son wanted to compare the size of his big, blue ball to my belly. Which do you think is bigger?

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Did you find anything gigantic this week? I can't wait to see how you all interpreted this one!

At the Fair

Wordless Wednesday