May 10th...just another day in the 'burbs?

May is evidently a big month in this family - specifically the first half - as Matthew's kids were born very close to each other (ok, Olivia was born April 30th, so not technically May but damn close, and Nathan was the 8th), my sister-in-law's birthday was on Tuesday, and Christopher's birthday is, well, today! So, Happy Birthday, Christopher. :). Tonight we'll go to a good Indian restaurant in Clarendon, maybe hit up an ice cream joint (ostensibly for his birthday, of course, but really, it's for me), then he has the entire weekend to himself to relax.And though my brother is always very thoughtful and nice about not specifying age for Petra's birthday, I have no such qualms (uh, Sparky may be reading this some day - I'm pretty sure he'll want to know how old dad was when he was born). He's 43 today, a spring chicken! Compared to some people. *cough, cough*

And since we don't have updated pictures of the house to show yet, here is part of what I got him. In all fairness to me, to show I'm not ENTIRELY insensitive, I did also get tickets to Daniel Tosh's live show in DC in June for his birthday. True, I will also be in attendance and therefore also benefit, but Christopher loves his show, so I thought it was a good idea (they both have the sense of humor of an 8-year old).

Did I consider getting him a sweet, lovey birthday card instead of this "Awkward Family Photos" card? In truth, the other main option I considered was a cat-lady-joke card, but I did at least shop around before deciding this one was too good to pass up. Fortunately, after I finally stopped cackling to myself as I signed the card, he also appreciated the humor.

This book - it's genius. And, I'm sorry to say, Dad, there are a few pictures there that remind me a little too much of pictures I've seen of you circa 1978.

And the obligatory Maya photo. Believe it or not, she was sound asleep in this position. She's now taken to sleeping at the foot of the bed, like a dog, every night until about 4am. At that point, she wanders on up to our faces to 1) purr, and 2) stick her butt in our noses to indicate hunger. Such a sweetheart.

I also visited another childcare facility this morning for a tour and orientation. The facilities were nicer here than the last one I visited - primarily because it's housed in a wealthy church (but fortunately is not religiously-affiliated). However, digging a little deeper into how the waiting list works, the director really told us that, if you aren't able to get your child in as an infant, you basically have a snowball's chance in hell of getting your kid in before they're 3 or 4, and even then it is FAR from guaranteed. For example, this year, the entire infant group (6 kids) was made up of siblings of kids already enrolled, who get priority. So I decided to save my $100 non-refundable deposit on this one. Unless we can somehow convince the center that Molly is, in fact, 4, and enroll her just long enough to get Sparky a spot. Hmm.

But the group - there were 7 or 8 of us - was composed of the typical Arlington snobbery. I WAS planning to play the single-mother sympathy card since Christopher couldn't come. You know, I'm there by myself, huge and waddling, my child's father died in Afghanistan when he jumped on top of a grenade to save the lives of schoolchildren, I was going to wear a McDonald's uniform and rub french fry grease all over my belly...I had it all planned out. Unfortunately, only one "partner" showed up, so that plan was blown to hell.

My favorite part was, of course, as I already told Christopher, when one woman, who was about 2 months pregnant, saw a bag of - HORRORS - mini-bagels in one of the classrooms and said to the director "I would imagine if my child does not eat processed food, it would be difficult". Given that I was by far the most pregnant one there, it was not easy to restrain myself from throwing said mini-bagels in her face, screaming "just WAIT until you're so big your thighs are rubbing together and you can't see your feet and the only thing that gets you through the day is the tub of frosting you plan on devouring when you get home...just see how your processed food aversion sounds then!".

Anyway, classy as usual. But it's looking more and more like we're going to go with private, in-home care. Which is fine, just another minefield to navigate. *Sigh*

At least it's Friday :). And, once again, Happy Birthday, Daddy-o Christopher!

Pregnancy Cravings or Just Chubs Making an Appearance?

Today is the bake sale at the office for a group of people running the "Race for the Cure". It's a 5k this weekend supporting breast cancer research. Normally I would scoff at a 5k - "I don't RACE anything less than 10 miles!!" (said in a VERY imperious tone of voice with a possible roll of the eyes) - but I would have probably done it this year were I not already going to be in Kansas. If there's any time it's acceptable to "lower" your standards for race distance, I'd say it's when you're 7 months pregnant and waddling like a constipated duck.

Anyway, I dutifully showed my support - all the while grumbling how I "have to take stuff home to the kids....Christopher has SUCH a sweet tooth...of course none of this is for me!". Somehow I don't think anyone was buying it. I walked with $20 worth (well, $14, but I figured $6 toward a cause, why not). The true test will be how much of this makes it home tonight. But I'm pretty clumsy these days, so it's entirely possible I won't eat any of this during the day and will, instead, accidentally drop it all on my way to the bus.

Super interesting post today, I know. But due to inclement weather, the major kick-start to construction has been delayed, so hopefully I'll have more pictures of that to post shortly. Today's not entirely a horrible day out, so there may be progress today.

Finally, the new #1 name for the baby.........Thor. Christopher doesn't know it yet, but I think it's a solid choice.

Beginning of the End

We came home to a large pile of various types of wood on Friday, so construction will be starting in earnest this week. It feels like it's already been going on for months, but I'm just happy it's underway. Plus, I should mention that my sense of time is horribly skewed at the moment. For example, it FEELS like I've been pregnant for roughly 47 years. In reality, I might be overstating the time a bit.

Anyway, a few additional pictures of the house and mess associated with it. Oh, and a couple of Maya...she's soon going to be old news, so I'll let her have some of the spotlight while she still can.

Maya LOVES the attic. It didn't however, occur to her to help the pregnant lady move stuff - she mostly just wandered around getting dirty.

Living room post-attic clean out. Most of it is my stuff from my old apartment, so I have NO clue what's in those boxes and bags. I suspect there may be a copy of an AP Euro History report for Mr. Ortman, as well as my prom dress (and, quite possibly, my prom hair).

Per my dad's request, blueprints of the (eventual) house. Front and left side.

This shows the back of the house and the right side.

First floor after construction - the main differences are the wall knocked down between the living room and the guest bedroom to create one large front room. Wall between kitchen and back bedroom will eventually go, also.

Second floor blueprints. 3 bedrooms, 1 bath. Stairs going up to the attic.

The little piece of paper that held everything up. *Sigh*. Oh, Arlington, why must you be a gigantic pain in the ass.

 

Materials for the construction, delivered on Friday and now making it impossible for the front lawn to be mowed.

During one of my multiple trips up during the night, I realized that Maya had taken over the foot of the bed. I also realized that there was a packet of crunchy Chinese noodles from last night's delivery on the floor by the bed. It wasn't there when we went to bed, that's all I'm saying.

Point of No Return

Not that we were at a point of return before this, but I am officially in the third trimester - known to some as the home stretch. Known (so I hear) to others as "misery". If I hear from one more person how I'm going to blow up like a balloon now ("Kate, you look great so far, but it's coming"), I'm going to snap and start pelting anyone who comes near me with stale cookies.

BUT I am happy to report that, according to the doctor, everything is perfectly fine, on track, and healthy. At this most recent appointment on Tuesday, she even managed to somewhat assuage my concerns about day care options and share my frustration with the Arlington childcare "scene". It's a pretty amazing microcosm of some of the other competitive aspects of DC in general. But I'll leave that rant for my always-willing brother :).

Anyway, as I sit at my desk sipping my homemade "latte" (i.e. microwaved milk with cinnamon, yes, I am 97 years old), I wonder what progress has been made to the house today. Because they have FINALLY started. Demolition/construction has officially started, MUCH to our relief, so keep your fingers crossed that everything goes (more or less) according to plan.

Day 1: as of yesterday, they'd started removing brick from the current attic exterior. I'm hoping that they focus next on building my home gym and sauna.

Now, I'm a realist, some might say a cynic, and, despite the July 1st deadline our contractor wants to adhere to, I'm pretty sure there will still be a not insignificant amount of activity going on well into July (and August?). But my main predictions for the next 2-3 months are:
   1) Maya will escape, at minimum, 3 times. We have somehow managed to strike terror in the heart of
     each person working on the construction at the thought of losing her. I promise we didn't overdo it or
     freak them out intentionally, but we've definitely been asked more about the best place to keep the cat
     than anything else. I say she will escape not through any fault of anyone else; she is simply determined to
     be an outdoor cat, even if only for a few, fleeting moments.
   2) Upon finally going through all of my old stuff that was, until Sunday, being stored in the attic, I will
     discover at least 9 language learning books that are NOT German, 4 pairs of ipod headphones, and,
     possibly, my old Comcast box from 2001.
   3) Christopher will spend no fewer than 400 hours over the next 2 months reading HGTV magazine AND
     watching HGTV. Scratch that, 600 hours.
   4) I will go into labor while home sick on a random Tuesday in mid-July, and I'll have to be driven to the
     hospital by the construction worker who speaks the least amount of English.

Ah, good times.

The Great Baby Name Debate

So I promised to update my last blog earlier this week, but given that I have not done so yet, I think we can probably draw a line under the sand on my trip to San Diego. Long story short, it's still a very nice city, though it was chillier than I'd anticipated (insert comment about my lack of common sense when it comes to dressing for the weather). I talked to some recruiters, did NOT get fish tacos, unfortunately, discovered Balboa Park, which is beautiful!, tripped on apparently nothing on a downtown sidewalk and completely, 100% ate shit, and ended up being far more tired when I got back to DC than I'd thought I would be.

I was supposed to go to Chicago this week for another conference, but we'll have to survive without those interesting trip stories, as I opted to send the assistant in my place. Sometimes it's good to be in a management role.

Anyway. I'm now 28 and change weeks along, and I'm feelin' it. From what I hear from mothers, there are some fun times ahead in the next 3 months. Talking to mothers as an expectant first time mom is strange. Some moms just gush and tell you how wonderful it will be, some are a mixed bag - some positive experiences with pregnancy and the first year and some sharing of the negative aspects - and still others seem to take an almost sadistic pleasure in warning you about how much hair you're DEFINITELY going to be losing and how bad my heartburn will no doubt be. With these mothers, if I point out that I haven't really had heartburn issues yet, the response is inevitably "OH YOU WILL" (picture the witch from "Snow White" pointing her finger at me). And, by god, I WILL swell up like a balloon. No question. Just you wait, Kate, just you wait.

But I shouldn't complain, as overall, people are very nice and helpful, and I've not yet had to deal with too many people touching my belly without asking.


So now we come to the great baby name debate. There have been a few names thrown around that haven't caused one of us to burst into flames, so I'm 72% positive this child will have a name within the first 8 months of his life. We're looking at Scottish names, of course, though I welcome other names (I'm not generally overly fond of the Swedish names - sorry, Mom). And, sorry again, Mom, but Benjamin is out. For my own curiosity, I looked up the most popular Scottish names this year:
Calum     
Stuart
Kerr
Mac
Frasier
Gillespie
Ewan
Baird
Tyree
Macrae
Glen
Fergus
Ken
Ean
Macaulay
Manus
Roy
Blaire
Bruis

I gotta say, those aren't really catching my eye (at least not in the good way), so I went online to a baby name calculator (yes, they exist). Here's what came back: Broehain, Bhradain, Hamilton, Goraidh, Chisholm, Keith, Mitch, Bhaltair, Luthais, Daimh, Camhlaidh, Bhaic, MackIntosh, Mitchel (all based on our first names). Er, yeah, I may have to keep looking, though Bhaltair DOES have a certain ring to it :).

Let the suggestions pile in! 

San Diego and Back (Again)

Shopping/dining "village" behind my hotel in San Diego.

Village complete with man-made pond, ducks, and artificially-imposed "lost in nature" moments.

The "hipster" bookstore by my hotel. Dedicated to you, Matthew.

Another view from the walkway behind the hotel.

This pretty much sums me up. That's excitement for you! And don't worry, that coffee is decaf. WOOO!!!

Walkway behind the hotels. The hotel in the distance is where the conference was held; my hotel was immediately to my left as I was taking this picture.  

Backyard taking shape slowly but surely. Projects TBD, but first up will be painting that wall.

Just trying to capture how big Maya's tail is now. It's not just hair, either - that thing has a life of its own.

Yes, I fell in San Diego. I tripped over, well, nothing, and ate concrete. Though my walk back to the hotel was a decent distance and I passed quite a few people - an obviously pregnant woman bleeding fairly profusely - the only person to ask if I was alright was a non-American cab driver. White guys did NOT represent, that's for sure.

Maya exploring the backyard, again.

It is 10:30 at night and I'm pathetically exhausted, but I DID want to get these pictures up. So I'll add my delightful narration tomorrow.

So...we apparently live in the Wild West?

If I had more than 4 people reading this blog, I would hesitate to post anything remotely related to political opinions, and I promise not to make this a bitch-fest forum (though I suspect Dad would simply ask for access to the blog so he could contribute, too), but there are two big things that scare me BIG time about this country. Well, there are a lot of things that worry me, but the two big ticket items for me are women's health and gun control.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/03/17575708-insane-crowds-as-customers-flood-connecticut-gun-stores-before-vote?lite

For real? I mean, seriously, people, you're FLOODING the fun stores like crazed Bieber fans at a free concert because you may not be able to buy military-style assault weapons soon? Is a dearth of assault weapons really that harmful to your quality of life? What, exactly, do you need said weapons for???

Little man/Spartacus, you'll learn a lot about the heritage of both of your parents once you're old enough, and I'll be the first to line up to make fun of the British aversion to dental care, the frequent (and, in my opinion, overuse) employment of the term "fanny about", and the general lack of fashion sense most British (albeit, I will grant that it's more an English thing than a Scottish thing) men. However, one thing they do right, without question in my opinion, is gun control. People simply don't own guns. COPS simply don't carry guns unless they are members of a special force. And how many Aurora, CO and Newtown, CT-type mass shootings have happened in the UK this year? I think we all know the answer to that.

Anyway, I'm not just here today to bitch. I'm also happy to report that, after a second visit with the heart specialist yesterday, Spartacus (I will hereby refer to him as 'Sparky') got a clean bill of health. She'd had some concerns about one muscle in his heart before, but he seems to have outgrown it, so no more heart specialist appointments to worry about :).

And now, I wrap up with a picture, as always, of Maya. Just because a blog post feels naked without at least one picture and, since Sparky has a few months before he makes an official appearance, Maya's the best substitute for 'what in god's name is he/she doing??' type pictures in the meantime.