Chandler and Parker

Welcome little Parker…

Parker Oliva

13 February 2010

7:28am

6lbs 15oz

19.5″

Very depressed to tell you that there has been no change in my labor progress…

And my to do list is almost done (just in time)…

1. Put up the crib - the same one that I used for Chandler and Taylor - Now waiting to have carpets cleaned
2. Evaluate whether the bedding or mattress needs to be replaced - I bought all the fabrics to create her crib bedding including little blankets and things.  I have been working on sketches now.  Start sewing next week???
3. Move the changing table out of my office and empty it out - it is currently serving as a tv stand and office organizer
4. Purchase a stroller and carseat
5. Pack for the hospital - I just have a list of things for the cooler that needs to be packed when we leave 
6. Buy all those fun, but unmentionable, things that we girls have to buy to care for ourselves after giving birth
7. Do about 20 loads of baby laundry
8. Buy diapers, wipers and all the baby things needed for the baby changing station - just need a countoured changing pad and covers
9. Buy all the bath things 
10. Register at the hospital
11. Finish my Birth Plan
12. Buy a baby swing and bouncy seat - found a seat but the swing is elusive.  I pick one that I like and then read the reviews and find myself at square one again!
13. Pick up my bassinet from my brother and his wife
14. Buy a baby monitor 
15. Convince hubby of Bebe’s name
16. Register for baby things  
17. Find a diaper bag - I think I found one that I like and as a back up, my brother’s wife is also bringing a diaper bag that she is not using
18. Convince Jason that we do not need a guest bedroom, a nursey is more practical 
19. Draw up a design for the closet in the GB/Nursery, build it and install it (ha ha!!)
20. Have carpets steam cleaned
21. Find some fabulous Thank You cards and start filling them out
22. Research “First Announcements”, a baby announcement sight that jazzes up your initial texts/call/emails and sends them out for you

Another exam today and still no change.  Doc wants to see me again on Thursday.

I have gained almost 9 pounds now.  Super bummed that she is not here yet.    

~Blondie

So this past weekend I barely even got out of bed.  I was exhausted, crampy and irritable.  I took advantaage of the fact that Jason was home, the girls had no where to go and laid in bed all weekend (Go Saints!).  Then Monday I had to go to the doctor again and run errands and do the whole “I’m a personal driver” thing for Chandler, schlepping her to a better school in a neighboring city.  And then picking her up…  Thank goodness that I was feeling less tired.  Then this morning I woke up with a crazy jolt of energy!  Seriously, I was thinking about doing a 5k this morning.   So I went to the market, did 4 loads of laundry, cleaned the house and rearranged my office.  Oh and I did some really lame self portraits that I will post a link to after I upload and edit them.   I should be working on my Daring Bakers Challenge that is due tomorrow, but I don’t really feel like it.  I’d rather paint my nails and scrub the floors… in that order (counter-productive, I know).

And my to do list is almost done (just in time)…

1. Put up the crib - the same one that I used for Chandler and Taylor - Now waiting to have carpets cleaned
2. Evaluate whether the bedding or mattress needs to be replaced - I want to make her all new bedding - I found fabric to match the baskets I bought last week… when does that ever happen???
3. Move the changing table out of my office and empty it out - it is currently serving as a tv stand and office organizer
4. Purchase a stroller and carseat
5. Pack for the hospital - I just have a list of things for the cooler that needs to be packed when we leave 
6. Buy all those fun, but unmentionable, things that we girls have to buy to care for ourselves after giving birth
7. Do about 20 loads of baby laundry
8. Buy diapers, wipers and all the baby things needed for the baby changing station, including a countoured changing pad and covers
9. Buy all the bath things  I have purchased the bath accoutrements and a friend offered up her baby bath recliner
10. Register at the hospital
11. Finish my Birth Plan
12. Buy a baby swing and bouncy seat - found a seat but the swing is elusive.  I pick one that I like and then read the reviews and find myself at square one again!
13. Pick up my bassinet from my brother and his wife
14. Buy a baby monitor  a friend offered up her new monitor that they are not using 
15. Pick a name or shall I say “convince hubby of Bebe’s name” *** Closer on this one!!  Yeah!
16. Register for baby things - did this at Babies R Us and Target 
17. Find a diaper bag - I think I found one that I like and as a back up, my brother’s wife is also bringing a diaper bag that she is not using
18. Convince Jason that we do not need a guest bedroom, a nursey is more practical  For the record, I don’t think that a guest bedroom/nursery is practical at all, and I don’t see it lasting more than 6 months or so, but I rearranged the furniture (again) and things are much better in there.
19. Draw up a design for the closet in the GB/Nursery, build it and install it (ha ha!!)
20. Have carpets steam cleaned

So I had another exam yesterday (great fun!!)…  and I have progressed to 80% effaced (you deliver at 100%) but still holding at 3 cm!  Holy smokes!  How does one progress through labor with no contractions?  She is about half way through the birth canal and I am one sneeze away from holding a slippery little newborn.  I mean, it’s funny and all but it is also really concerning me because I have rapid delivery (Taylor was born in a mere 4 minutes).  I kinda need a contraction or two to let me know when to leave for the hospital, which is 35 minutes away, conservatively.

I have gained 7 pounds now and I measured my waist (or what was my waist) and at 38 inches today.  It really helps that I am 5′9″ tall and have a long torso.  

But the funniest thing, the thing I want to leave you with is this…  I will be 37 weeks on Thursday, and the doctor has encouraged me to “hold it” for another 8 days…   

Um, how do you do that?  Really.  If you know, please feel free to leave a comment.

~Blondie

So much to tell you with this new update.  A bit behind, I know, but so much has happened!  I thought for sure I was going to have pics of the new girl up already!

But first the to do list…

1. Put up the crib - the same one that I used for Chandler and Taylor - Now waiting to have carpets cleaned
2. Evaluate whether the bedding or mattress needs to be replaced - I want to make her all new bedding
3. Move the changing table out of my office and empty it out - it is currently serving as a tv stand and office organizer
4. Purchase a stroller and carseat
5. Pack for the hospital - I just have a list of things for the cooler that needs to be packed when we leave 
6. Buy all those fun, but unmentionable, things that we girls have to buy to care for ourselves after giving birth
7. Do about 20 loads of baby laundry
8. Buy diapers, wipers and all the baby things needed for the baby changing station, including a countoured changing pad and covers
9. Buy all the bath things  I have purchased the bath accoutrements and a friend offered up her baby bath recliner
10. Register at the hospital
11. Finish my Birth Plan
12. Buy a baby swing and bouncy seat - found a seat but the swing is elusive.  I pick one that I like and then read the reviews and find myself at square one again!
13. Pick up my bassinet from my brother and his wife
14. Buy a baby monitor  a friend offered up her new monitor that they are not using 
15. Pick a name or shall I say “convince hubby of Bebe’s name” *** Closer on this one!!  Yeah!
16. Register for baby things - did this at Babies R Us and Target 
17. Find a diaper bag - I think I found one that I like and as a back up, my brother’s wife is also bringing a diaper bag that she is not using
18. Convince Jason that we do not need a guest bedroom, a nursey is more practical
19. Draw up a design for the closet in the GB/Nursery, build it and install it (ha ha!!)
20. Have carpets steam cleaned

So the nursery/guest room is coming along very nicely.  I added have carpets cleaned to the list, because it has been a while and I think they really need it.  I had wanted to put off spending more $ on this carpet because I really want to put in wood floors.  By the time I have all the carpets in the house cleaned (3 rooms) I can pay for most of the materials to install the flooring in one room.  Jason and I installed wood in the office/gym last year and it really wasn’t all that difficult, if your up to doing about 1000 squats a day, and you have some basic tools.  So it’s a toss up. 

But I did just recently find a really cute lamp and some baskets with liners for all her little things.  It is really becoming a room that I want to spend alot of time in.  And I know that once the crib goes up it will be impossible to stay out of there.  In a perfect world, I would have made all new bedding in that room, a coverlet and big pillows for the queen bed that is sitting daybed style and coordinated bedding for the crib.  But life is not perfect and well…. and well nothing, it’s just not.

So as for the excitement…  I went for an ultra sound on Monday and they figure she weighs about 5lbs7oz.  It will be interesting to see how big she really is becausee 10 days earlier they thought she was 4lbs3oz.  Now they say that at this point a baby gains about a 1/2 pound a week, but 20 ounces in 10 days is alot of growing (gains?  gainning?).  So I figure conservatively she must weigh at least 5lbs, which makes her potentially the biggest little girl for us (Chandler and Taylor were 5lbs8oz and 5lbs11oz).  I spoke to them about inducing labor and they said the hospitals/insurances would not allow an elective induction, so I will have to wait for labor to progress and hope that I don’t have a home delivery!   Then came time for the exam (you know)… and I am already 50% effaced and at least 3 cm!  Yikes!  I am only 36 weeks!  I am not ready!  Don’t they read this blog?  (Haha)  Then the lovely nurse shared that she has seen 5lb babies delivered when the woman was only dialated to 8 cm (I confirmed this with a former L&D Nurse friend of mine, she actually swears that by 7cm you can deliver a 5lb baby)!  WTF!?!?  I haven’t even felt a contraction yet!!

So then all Wednesday afternoon and Thursday, contraction, contraction, contraction…  But no change.  And now nothing.

So we sit and wait.  Good thing I have that list to finish…  And I could post some pictures… Or cook something…

~Blondie

Look Ma! I'm done on time! Ha ha!

The January 2010  Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Cuppy of Cuppylicious and she chose a delicious Thai-inspired recipe for Pork Satay from the book 1000 Recipes by Martha Day.

I must say that I have never had satay at a restaurant before.  Which is not to say that I have not meat on a stick… I have had pork skewers with teriyaki sauce (actually in an Asian household - it was the best damn meat on a stick ever!), chicken skewers with teriyaki or bbq sauce, shrimp skewers etc… but nothing that I would actually refer to as a Thai Satay.  I always thought satay was very exotic sounding.  And complicated.  How silly of me.  

Satay, according to Cuppy, is meat on a stick (corn dogs included).  You could use any meat or tofu and probably veggies too, but perhaps that starts to venture into kabobs???  It’s a fine line, this sticked food. 

I chose pork loin as my meat, well, because I had it and I like it and on the off chance the girls might try it, they also like pork (they didn’t try it, they are under the weather and had chicken soup instead - but really, meat on a stick?  We will have to try this again). 

I interpreted the recipe as a methodology and sort of eyeballed ingredients.  For instance, I didn’t have ground coriander, so I put in a big bunch of fresh cilantro.  Wait… the recipe.  You probably want that so you can follow along?  Okay, recipe is here.  I also only marinated it for 90 minutes.  Not really by choice, but said sick child had to go to the doctor last minute and that’s all the time that I had.  Still very flavorful.  And can I say easy?  Sure I had 250 different dirty dishes from the sauce making, the marinating, the skewer soaking and the sides, but hey, that’s what the dishwasher is for right?

The only problem that I had was with the peanut sauce.  And let me start off by saying that the reason that I have always avoided Thai food is that I do not like peanuts or coconuts.  I know right?  But even as a child, the smell of pb made me vomit.  And coconut?  I am vomiting just thinking about it.  (Hey you readers from The Daring Kitchen - stop laughing about the coconut thing!  I will figure out the next Bakers challenge). 

But… I prepared the sauce without any substitutions.  WTF???  Why would I do that?  Well let me tell you… if you read feedback and comments about satay, comments from Thai eaten folk, they alwaysgo on and on about the peanut sauce.  So why should I deny myself this experience?  Sure 90% of the ingredients make me want to vomit, but with only a few weeks left in this pregnancy, I am reaching a professional level of vomitting (Winter Olympics?…  No?..).  Really, bulimics step aside, I got you.   

Weird, I don’t know where that all came from…

Okay, so I prepared the sauce with the vile pb and coconut milk (crazy daring), and it was so freekin sweet I almost… but I didn’t.  Taylor walked by as I was making it and said “Gross Mommy, that stinks”.  Ah, the wisdom of a child.  She is so my Miny Me.  I fussed with it a bit, adding fish sauce and sriracha to try to balance it and the pb was actually palatable (shocking), but I could not cut that damn coconut.  This is why there is no “Curries” in the categories.  Oh well.  Anyone out there have any fantastic sauce they prefer? 

Along side these most excellent satay, I served a Thai inspired Noodle Salad and a quick pickled cucumber.  It was a great meal, light and flavorful and we will be having this again soon (with a different sauce).

~Blondie

I must say that I am just smitten by Asian flavors.  It seems the older I get, the more I adore them.  It is fresh, it is a lot of flavor profiles that I really enjoy, it is fascinating to see the focus on a balance of sweet, salty, sour and spicy.   So I really wanted to continue experimenting with the flavors in the Asian profile.

Tonight for dinner I experimented with a Thai inspired cold noodle salad.  Now I am not Thai - and I do not own a Thai cook book, but I looked at several recipes claiming to be Thai and came up with a noodle salad to try tonight.

I really hesitated with the tomatoes and brown sugar, but for me, they were good.  The dressing is so simple, the brown sugar dissolves without needing to be heated, and it is very bite-y (if that’s a word).  I really enjoyed this salad, Jason picked thru and ate the veggies only.  It seems he is not so enamoured with cold noodles and cilantro.  Oh well.  It was easy, different, and a real visual stunner.

Thai Noodle Salad

• 4 oz rice noodles
• 3 oz snow peas, julienne
• 1 handful of grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 handful of cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 red pepper, julienne
• 2-4 scallions, chopped
• 1 handful of Cashews, chopped
• 1/3 c lime juice
• 1 Tbs fish sauce
• 1 1/2 Tbs brown sugar

Place noodles in a bowl, cover with boiling water and soak until soft (about 5-6 minutes).  Drain and cool by running under cold water, drain again.

Blanch the snow peas for two minutes, shock in ice water and drain.  Set aside.

Mix together dressing ingredients.

Combine the noodles, snow peas, peppers, cilantro and scallions.  Toss with dressing.   Top with cashews.

To try to keep on track for the coming year I have been busy listing my goals.  Homemaking goals (why don’t I adore cleaning??), budgetary goals (how can I shave 10% off everything I buy??), personal goals (don’t want to scare you with that one), and of course cooking goals and blogging goals.  So I have a comprehensive list of things that I would like to blog about in the coming year, all organized by date, so I can stay on track and be ahead of the game instead of flying by the seat of my pants so to speak.  It will take alot of work this winter, since I don’t have a studio and lighting, I have to shoot things during the day or the photos look just dreadful and well, lets just say that my photography skills are on the list for improvement as well.

So some of the things that you can expect to see in the coming year are…

• Daring Challenges - completed on time (I hope), this has been very frusterating for me because I am inclined to procrastinate and wait to the last minute.  For dinner tonight?  Tomorrows DC post.  This is bi-mothly (until they toss me out for late participation/no participation).
• Seasonal ingredient recipes - I really want to refocus this year on more local, seasonal, organic meals that are made from scratch.  Incorporating health benefits and growing tips, trips to my garden (yet to be completed) and the farmers market.  So for example, this week I am going to focus on Lemons, I have about 6 recipes that I want to feature this month that focus on lemons.  My own lemon trees are not producing this year but I have a friend on 10 acres who has lemons, so a trip to his place for a harvest and some health benefits to accompany.  I am thinking this might be a bi-monthly feature on the blog, it will be educational and it will help me to understand the seasons and create a library of recipes for those seasonal items .
• Baby updates - weekly
• Photography - I want to start learning more about my new camera and experimenting more.  I was thinking it would be fun to choose a photograph from a book or magazine and prepare the recipe, then try to duplicate the food styling and photograph the results to post alongside the original photo.  I think it will be a great learning experience and fun as well.  Perhaps once a month?
• Garden - I really want to put in a big garden, but with my belly getting larger and my time before the baby getting smaller, I just don’t see that happening on the scale that I want it to be.  So this season I have a few things planted in the little landscape planters against the house, under the kitchen window and I guess I will make the best of that for now.  I could ask Panfilo (our neighbor and gardner) to put it all in for me (again) but then I feel like it is not really mine.
• Chickens - We lost all of our hens this past summer, between the heat (126F) and Madigascar (our 3 yo Akita) they have all perished.  I put in a mister system and shade cloth to keep them cool but we lost 3 of our Red Island layers.  They free ranged during the day and Madi was fine with that, but when we got new little Bantam Cochins and they began to free range Madi didn’t identify them as ours (I guess) so she killed them.  We have one little lonely rooster left.  So I was hoping to buy a couple of young Cochin hens (for near immediate eggs) and then some chicks to raise up.  I also want to put in a new hen house and runs for our future chickens.
• Cookbooks and Magazines - I have started to go through all my cookbooks and magazines and organize what it is that I want to cook from them, this is going pretty well.  I am organizing the recipes on a spreadsheet by season.  This reminded me that somewhere I have a list of things that I want to make right away, so I need to find that and then I will post it too.
• On my blog, I need to figure out how to do an update.  This is going to be a pain in the …  because I have to move all the photos that I have posted over to my Flickr account and then re0insert them into my blog, then back everything up, then update.  It’s a weekend, maybe more project that I keep putting off.  I am also thinking of changing the look of the blog, mostly because I can not get this “theme” to accept photos in any larger format or center them.  So I was looking at a more “magazine style theme” that would give me more flexibility.  I also want to reorganize how things are catagorized on my blog and install a recipe finder. 

I think that after blogging for nearly a year, I really have learned alot about what I like about blogging and what I don’t like.  I know more of what I want my blog to be and what I want it to look like and these few changes above will help me to create something that I will be proud of (more proud of).

~Blondie

Okay it’s Baby update #2.  I have done quite a few things in the past week and thought of quite a few things that I still need to do.  Um, can anyone say “Name”?  As in Bebe’s name?  It’s actually not that I haven’t put any thought into it, I have.  But historically, naming our children has been, shall we say, challenging?

Chandler Jasmin - Born 25 November 2002, named 27 November… 

Early in my first pregnancy I had a dream one day that I was calling out “Chandler, Chandler”, when around the corner came this beautiful little girl with two little blonde braids, wearing denim overalls and a big crooked grin.  I was smitten and would not be denied my choice of name.  Although Jason took much convincing, thus she was named 2 days later, at the urging of the hospital.  Jason wanted to name her Jasmin, so we chose this as her middle name.   

We didn’t share with our family the names that we were considering because we didn’t want any outside influences - or negative comments about naming a little girl Chandler (remember, there was a rather popular American TV series at the time with a character named Chandler).  We both had agreed that we wanted an unusual name that was unsexed.  My own name is also this way (no it’s not Blondie, actually it’s Chris).  I find that it is advantagous in many ways.  We also wanted a name that would not be easily shorted but a middle name that would be the opposite, both feminine and easily shortened.  I think we were successful.  When gaming, Chandler often registers her name as Jazz. 

We were only planning on having one child, so it wasn’t really about choosing a collection of names for our brood.  But long story short, Jason decided that pregnancy, birth and raising a toddler was so easy that we would be remiss if we did not do it again.  Still smitten by my sweet Chandler, I happily agreed.

Along comes Taylor Nicole - born 23 March 2005 (on her Daddy’s birthday!)  

I really wanted to name her Peyton or Hayden or McKenzie but Jason denied all of thee above.  The name we did finally agree upon (while driving to the hospital) was Taylor, his pick really and it was his bday afterall.   The middle name I came up with was Nicole.  And while Taylor is disappointed that her sister is named after a princess (Princess Jasmine from Alladin, no I did not see that one coming), she often refers to herself as Nicki.

Needless to say, establishing this pattern of unisex first names with feminine middle names, compounded by the fact that both names end in the sound “ler”, has presented us with some additional challenges.  So now what?  Do we continue this?  Do we ignor this?  What would you do?  I actually have the perfect name in mind (I think) but again, it is a struggle with Jason.  I wonder how old she will be before she has a proper name.

So at the moment I still need to…

1. Put up the crib - the same one that I used for Chandler and Taylor
2. Evaluate whether the bedding or mattress needs to be replaced - I want to make her all new bedding
3. Move the changing table out of my office and empty it out - it is currently serving as a tv stand and office organizer
4. Purchase a stroller and carseat
5. Pack for the hospital 
6. Buy all those fun, but unmentionable, things that we girls have to buy to care for ourselves after giving birth
7. Do about 20 loads of baby laundry
8. Buy diapers, wipers and all the baby things needed for the baby changing station, including a countoured changing pad and covers
9. Buy all the bath things  I have purchased the bath accoutrements and a friend offered up her baby bath recliner
10. Register at the hospital
11. Finish my Birth Plan
12. Buy a baby swing and bouncy seat - found a seat but the swing is elusive.  I pick one that I like and then read the reviews and find myself at square one again!
13. Pick up my bassinet from my brother and his wife (this weekend they are coming to So Cal - actually to the OC and we will go meet them and pick this up)
14. Buy a baby monitor  a friend offered up her new monitor that they are not using 
15. Pick a name or shall I say “convince hubby of Bebe’s name” 
16. Register for baby things - did this at Babies R Us, but I think a trip to Target is also in order
17. Find a diaper bag - I think I found one that I like and as a back up, my brother’s wife is also bringing a diaper bag that she is not using
18. Convince Jason that we do not need a guest bedroom, a nursey is more practical
19. Draw up a design for the closet in the GB/Nursery, build it and install it (ha ha!!)

Regarding #18 - when Taylor was born we had my brother, his wife and my nephew living in what is now the office/gym and we had my MIL living in what is now the guest bedroom, so when Taylor came home we had the crib and changing table set up in the master bedroom.  We had her clothing and toys in Chandler’s room with Chandler’s things.  That worked really good because we all co-slept, Daddy and I with Chandler and Taylor (we were in a different house when Chandler was born).  Now the girls still share that room and it is packed.  In their rather large room is a dresser, two twin beds, a nightstand, two desks, two desk chairs and all their toys and playthings, they really need a playroom (I always thought we would blow a hole through the wall the separates the GB and the girls room so that it was a suite).  Anyway, there is very little room for what they have, much less stuff for a new baby, too.  So I think Bebe should have a nursery, because we have the space.  We only have guests a couple times a year (usually Jason’s mom).  And well frankly, in my experience, an empty room invites people to move in.  Which is fine if there are no other options, I am a firm believer that you take care of your family.  But I think it’s silly that a family of 5 should be confined to 2 bedrooms, when there are 4 bedrooms available.  So I contemplated putting the crib and changing table in the master (again) and just using the GB as a playroom and of course taking over the closet.  I also considered moving all the baby stuff into the office/gym, making it an office/gym/nursery.  But currently I have moved the bed in the GB under the window into a “daybed” configuration and set up the crib and changing table in there.  Let me tell you there is not alot of room.  The Queen size bed dominates the room.  I am not sure this is going to be the final location (for the bed???  for the baby things???).  I suppose a twin bed would be the obvious choice, but I am using what I have right now. 

What else?  On Wednesday (last week) I went for an ultra-sound.  They thought Bebe was about 4 lbs and she looks fantastic.  She is so active that they had a hard time getting measurements.  Her heartbeat is strong and she seems very healthy.  I have another ultra-sound scheduled for Monday the 18th and then a Doc appointment on Wednesday the 20th.  Today I had many contractions that forced me to lay down and relax so that they would go away.

My weight is still plus 6 and holding.  I had about 2 weeks were I did not throw up in my mouth every day, but now I am back to feeling ill again.

~Blondie