So You Think You Can Dance?

Well, I KNOW I can't! But that doesn't stop me from dancing up a storm at weddings. Or having dance parties with my (two!) favorite gals. Or jammin' in my van vehicle to "Mama's dance music". 

And like most people I know, I wish my life was one giant musical. Complete with backup dancers. And singers. And spandex. And leg warmers. And Patrick Swayze, John Travolta and Kevin Bacon in tight pants. 

But alas, it's not. So instead I must live vicariously through the dancing talents of others. I stumbled across this gem today on Dooce. So kick off your Sunday(Tuesday) shoes and enjoy. 

Introducing....

Penelope Jane! 

Penelope Jane was born Friday August 20, 2010 at 1:01pm. She weighed in at 7lbs 15oz (same as Big Sister Olive!) and 20.2 inches long. Full head of dark hair just like her sister, although not as thick.

Our labor and delivery experience was incredibly fast and intense. Contractions started at 2am Friday morning (thanks Mother Nature for the amazing storm!), they were intense and purposeful from the start. 5 minutes apart, lasting 60-75 seconds long. All in my back. Not what I hoping for!  By 4 am I couldn't relax through them while lying in bed so I got up and sat on my exercise ball, rocking and swaying through the contractions. The lighting and thunder show outside was incredible! It seemed as the storm grew in intensity so did my contractions. Chris got up around 5 and got ready for work completely oblivious to the fact that I was not in bed with him (he is a DEEP sleeper). When he came downstairs and saw me sitting on the ball in front of my computer (I was timing the contractions online) he was a bit confused. I was in the middle of a contraction and couldn't talk to him so he glanced at the screen and saw an ad for an iPhone on the page-he thought I couldn't sleep so I came downstairs and was looking at new phones, lol.

He had to go into work for awhile, but was home by 7am. Olive woke shortly after that and started pacing around the house with me. The only way that I was finding any relief through contractions was by swaying back and forth or leaning against something and rocking my hips while singing "I am a Hollow Bamboo" (blessingway song from yoga) in my head. So she was following me around doing the same thing. But instead of singing in her head, she was chatting away about going to grandma's house because Mama's baby was coming out today and she was going to be a big sister TODAY. She was so excited and oblivious to my discomfort, it was perfect. By the time my mom came to get her it was 8:30 and contractions were starting to get closer and closer together (3-4 minutes) and were making me nauseous. But given my labor experience with Olive (~60 hours of labor with 2.5 hours of pushing), I didn't want to go to the hospital and sit around or be told to come back later. Around 10:30am, I started to think I couldn't do this anymore and was really starting to doubt myself and my body. I knew that things were getting serious, so we headed to the hospital.

Checked in around 11:15 am and I was at 6cm! I was starting to think I wanted an epidural (HATED it with Olive, but the back labor was starting to get the best of me) and told myself to wait until they checked me again and then I would decide. Well they checked about 45 minutes later and I was 9cm! Even if I had wanted it, there was no time for an epidural at that point. By 12:30 I was ready to push. I started out pushing on my side with Chris holding my leg up for me. The pain in my back was fierce, but I kept telling myself it was pain with a purpose. I tried to focus on staying relaxed and in control of my breath. With every contraction I visualized being in nice, cold Lake Superior floating through the pain and pressure. I also pictured the baby coming out and being placed on my chest and how amazing that moment would be. 29 minutes later, there SHE was! (Chris and I were both shocked that it was a girl!) They placed her on my chest and I was immediately in love. And shocked at how clean she was! 

We cuddled and loved on each other and after a little while (I had no sense of time by this point) they asked "Dad, do you want to cut the cord?" Which Chris responded to "No, Dad does NOT want to cut the cord!" He does not do well with blood or medical situations and was feeling a bit overwhelmed by this point. So I cut the cord! Very cool. Then they took Penelope over to the warmer for few minutes to clean her up and do vitals, etc. They were so great about being quick and getting her back to me to breastfeed. She latched on immediately and happily sucked away for a good hour or so. She was very alert, taking everything in. While she was nursing, I delivered the placenta with a few good breastfeeding uterine contractions. It was in great shape and all in one piece. With Olive it would not come out, needed MORE pitocin and lost a lot of blood, so I was happy that that part of delivery was different too.

I was up walking around, peeing and showered about 2 hours after Penelope was born. I felt great and was actually worried that something was wrong because I was feeling so well! We had a little more downtime before both of our families showed up to shower us with love. It was long, exhausting day but a truly amazing experience that I am so grateful to have had.

It is hard to believe she is already a week old. We are adjusting well to life as a family of four and life is good. Who knew I could love another little being as much as I love my first little being. I am so blessed!

Never too young to get the words...

wrong.

You know how there are those songs that everyone gets the words wrong? Or make up their own lyrics to because they're not really sure what the real ones are?

Well apparently that skill starts at a young age. Here are a few creative lyrics I have heard Olive singing lately:

"Mama Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down.

Mama Bridge is falling down, my pair lady."



"Have you ever seen a Wessy, a Wessy, a Wessy.

Have you ever seen a Wessy, go this way or that."

(What makes this so funny is that my brother's name is Wes.)



"Where is Thumbkin, where is Thumbkin?

.......Milk and Pie, Milk and Pie" (run and hide)



But yet she can sing the chorus to Madonna's "Hung Up" spot on. What can I say, she has great taste.

CSA love

We love our weekly CSA delivery. Seeing that wooden crate crammed full of beautiful summer veggies, fruits, greens and herbs just puts a smile on my face. The possibilities are endless. You can be a purist and eat everything raw, fresh from the earth. Or spend hours in the kitchen lovingly creating gourmet dishes from your bounty. 

We usually stick closer to the raw end of the spectrum. Because really, who wants to slave away in the kitchen in this heat? Except now the heat and humidity has broken, so I am not sure what my excuse is. 

Here are a few of the things we've been whipping up with our CSA loot:

*pickles (cukes, zucchini and probably some hot peppers)

*Beet chips 

*Sauteed greens (swiss chard, beet greens, cabbages)

*Blueberry Muffins

*Penne pasta with Beet Greens and Feta

*Potatoes on the grill with onions and herbs

*Salsa with fresh onions and jalapenos (no tomatoes yet!)

*Green smoothies using whatever fruit we have on hand and a handful or two of greens (banana, orange, lemon juice and swiss chard today)

*Big, beautiful salads with fresh greens and herbs

But so far, my favorite CSA creation has been Chocolate Zucchini Muffins. Chocolate and vegetables. Moist and sweet. But not TOO sweet. Yum!

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

makes 2 dozen

3 eggs

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. applesauce

1 c. vegetable oil

1/3 c.  unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 c. grated zucchini

3 c. flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground cardamom

Chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two muffin tins.  

In a large bowl beat the eggs. Beat in the sugar, applesauce and oil. Add the cocoa, vanilla, zucchini and stir well.

Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until just moist. Pour batter into muffin tins filling 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy!

testing...

hello? is this thing on?

New phone new possibilities. and another way to waste time...better do it while I can. baby watch 2010 still in progress.

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A little update

Sorry I have been pretty nonexistent the last few weeks. The nesting bug bit me hard and will not let up. I have been cooking and cleaning constantly since my last post two weeks ago.  I've put away several meals in the freezer and vacuumed and dusted countless times. It's really annoying actually. As soon as I get a minute to myself I get this panicked feeling of "OMG the house is not spotless! What if I have this baby RIGHT NOW and the EMT's are all 'omg, did you see the dust on top of her fridge?!' ".  *sigh* 

Well, I am in the final stretch. 38w3d today. I had Olive at 38w4d....trying not to think about that. But I have to admit it would be nice if this babe popped out sooner rather than later. The humidity is making me so sick and achy, no fun.

Babe has definitely dropped, but not so much that I am feeling too much pressure. Just nice to have a little more breathing room! Although my heartburn is at it's all time worst...explain that to me.  I've been trying to keep up my walking and yoga, hopefully those will help babe settle in even lower.

I have my 10yr high school reunion this weekend...will I actually make it? Or rather, do I actually WANT to make it, lol. Let's just say I am not feeling or looking my best these days. Which is silly and vain, but hey it is a high school reunion afterall!  And if I do go to it, I will have to find something to wear for the dinner Saturday night. I have trouble doing that when NOT pregnant. 

Olive is driving me bonkers. I swing so wildly between trying to soak up every minute alone with her and trying not to sell her to the circus it's incredible. It's really starting to hit me how much our little family of three is going to change. Excited, anxious, sad and thrilled are all feelings I am feeling lately. But I suppose that is the life of a mother!

She is big into "cuddling with Mama and a blankie", which is lovely and wonderful considering she usually hates cuddling (wonder where she gets that from?). But is somewhat of a challenge since my lap is pretty nonexistent these days. Fortunately she has settled for sitting next to me and cuddling.

I think that's it for now. Hope everyone has a wonderful week!