LOST Season 4, Epi 10 - Something Nice Back Home

Well, I had a lot more to say about this last week. Then the busy weekend came, then I read all of the different analyzes and comments, and the only thing I really have to say about the whole episode is this:

What the heck was up with Kate's voice in the "shower" scene?!

Okay, I know they were trying to trick everyone, and wanted to surprise us with the fact that it was Kate, and not Juliet (or some other random person...) But c'mon... Jack says good morning, and we get a creepy, "good morning yourself" as a response. Maybe it's just me, but she just sounded weird and man-ish... Not sexy and seductive, that's for sure (unless Jack's into men, which has been discussed and debated many times on the message boards.)

At least we know what sets off "Hillbilly beard Jack" from the Season 3 finale. How he got from the courthouse ("Eggtown" epi) to Kate's house, we don't know. But we do know he's following right in his father's footsteps--things don't go smoothly, hit the bottle!

Speaking of Christian Shepherd, dude gets around, huh? He's haunting Jack, cuddling his grandson (before convincing his daughter to leave him on a palm leaf before gallivanting off into the jungle...) And what's going on with Claire? Baby Aaron gets kidnapped almost as often as the smoke monster makes an appearance, and she decides he can hang out on a palm leaf by himself? There are many opinions on what is going on with Claire. Some people thing she didn't survive the explosion at all, that the Claire walking around now is actually an illusion, or the smoke monster (or something else) in Claire form (which would also explain Miles' sudden interest in her and Aaron...) But, I don't think that's the case... I think she just got hit on the head a little too hard. Guess we'll have to wait and see!

Back to Jack. Did anyone else want to slap him silly when he insisted on being awake for his surgery??? Talk about control issues... I'm glad Juliet took control and made Bernard knock him out. But how/why did he get sick in the first place, as Rose pointed out? Well, "Darlton" (Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse) did explain this, briefly, in an interview--basically, the more in tune you are with the island, the less sick you get. Fall out of that communion with the island, and things happen (Ben's tumor, Jack's appendix, etc...) So then I gotta wonder: Why the heck are Keamy and his "boyz" still alive?? Did the smoke monster not feel like going on Mr. Eko on them??? Did he not feel threatened by them as he did by the pilot (from the pilot episode... poor guy lasted 5 minutes awake on the island.) If that's the case, then maybe Smokey would rather they did their job, and get Ben off the island? I don't know, but all I know is I'm disappointed to still see them alive. I hope Keamy gets an awesome death, a la Ben (or Sayid... dude knows how to kill, that's for sure.)

And that's all I've really got for this epi. Not being a guy, I didn't think it was that great (geez, Kate, put some clothes on already... she had one scene, post-island, where she was fully clothed... The other 4 or 5, panty shots all around (or less!) Whatever.) This weeks episode looks like it'll be awesome! Locke centric, going all the way back to his birth, I hear. And, someone we haven't seen in a while will make an appearance (in Locke's past, no less!) Plus, we're headed to the cabin! How can awesomeness not ensue???

Next week: Part 1 of the Season 4 finale! It's a three parter, with parts 2 and 3 taking place May 29th. So two more episodes, one week off, and two-hours to finish off our Losties adventures on the Island, at least for 6 of them. It will be interesting to see what they do next season with the Oceanic 6 off the island, struggling to return, and everyone else still on the island. Good stuff!

Good day!

Today was a fairly successful day, if I do say so myself.

Jeremy was able to sell his Accord, finally! YAY! Thank you, Jesus! :) We've been trying to sell it for a while, but everyone always low balls us, and then we don't want to sell it to them... They nit pick EVERYTHING, every little scratch, every tire that will need replacing in a couple thousand miles, everything! So annoying. They ignored the fact that Jeremy just replaced the timing belt, and did other maintenance on it that would cost them well over $1000. They ignored the fact that he's been the only owner, and has almost all maintenance receipts. "Oh, the bumper's dinged up, we'll give you $800 below your asking price."

Uhhh... no!

Finally, we found someone who didn't make Jeremy an offer over the phone (never a good sign), and actually appreciated the fact that the timing belt was done, and he was the only owner. He was so happy with the car, he didn't even negotiate--he's paying our asking price! Woot! Of course, we felt the asking price was fair, so we're very happy about that. Major stress factor, GONE!

And the day gets better...

We were going to head out to Warrenton and hang out with my family, but they kinda had a lot going on. Since we were already on the road, I was able to convince Jeremy to take us to Buy Buy Baby so we could get a crib for Jess Jr. We had a 20% off coupon that was going to expire soon, so I was anxious to go.

Got there, and look around a bit. Showed Jeremy my two choices, and tried to get his opinion (silly idea, but I was trying! :) We were just about to say, "Okay, let's get that one," and another crib caught my eye. It didn't have a price on it, and I was curious, so I asked Jeremy to find out how much it was. Turns out, it was on clearance as a three piece set--crib, dresser/changing table, and armoire, for $800 (originally $1800.) Well, that was a little more then we wanted to spend, especially since we really just wanted the crib.

Long story short, we ended up getting all three pieces for $512. It's complicated, but we'd be more than happy to share how it happened if you ask. I'm not going to attempt to explain it here, though :) My Avo would be proud. :) We were able to bring the crib and dresser home, and will go back to pick up the armoire. Hey, considering the only furniture we bought for Jeremiah was our glider, I'd say this was a super deal! Here's a pic.

Only downside to today was the fact that we had to spend so much time at BBB that Jeremy didn't have a chance to mow the lawn. He says he'll do it in the morning... we'll see! :) Now, though, it's time for bed!

Oh yeah!

And one more thing...

We're in the 6 month window! WOO HOO! Time is really flying by... I forgot that it's May--we leave for our trip is less than 2 weeks! Come back, it's a week away from June. July, August, BABY! Crazy. I had all the clothes I had purchased laid out on the bed, and it was pretty funny to look out--I wanted to take a pic, but didn't have a chance to before I needed to clear it all off. I realize now, though, that I have PLENTY of newborn/6-9/12 month dresses, and that's about it. In the 3-6 month range, almost nothing, but that's mostly because everyone's clearancing spring/summer clothes right now... All the winter stuff is gone, and most likely, Jess Jr won't need summery dresses in the 3-6 mos range (since, if she's like Jeremiah, would be in those clothes from October to January, or if she's small, December to February... yeah, not short sleeve weather.) That's alright. It'll give me something to shop for after she's born--gotta get out of the house for some reason! :)

Here are a few dresses I recently got for her from Children's Place. So cute (and each less than $7!)


Actually, we didn't get the pink dress... we got a couple similar to it, but sans polka dots. They didn't have the other one in stock anymore, so I couldn't find a pic of it. :)

Boos and Woos...

It's been a rough week for Jeremiah.

On Thursday, he woke up with a pretty significant fever, which hovered in the 102/103 range thoughout the day, despite giving him Tylenol (he wouldn't take the Motrin.) All I can say is, "Thank God for Tylenol Meltaways!" They're like chewables, but fall apart without much effort. It's probably not a great thing that he thinks they're candy (look like big smarties,) but he willingly will take them, so that's a plus.

By the time we had to pick Daddy up (we were going to dinner to visit a former professor of his from Geneva), and after having the AC blast on him the whole way there, he was back below 100 for the first time that day! Seemed to be feeling better, too, as he was very well behaved, and not the least bit whiney during dinner (unlike the rest of the day.)

Unfortunately, the next morning, it was back. But other than that, he seems fine, and seems to feel okay, so it's been alright. Today, he still has a small fever, but well within an acceptable range (103's and 104's are scary numbers to see on a thermometer...) Thanks a lot, stupid vaccines! And apparently, this is only the beginning, as that fever was likely caused by the chicken pox vaccine, whereas a fever from the MMR will be showing up in a day or two... And then possibly a rash to follow. Yuck.

Other than that, the weekend is going well so far. Uncle James is in town, so hopefully we'll get to see him after naptime. It is absolutely GORGEOUS out today--sunny, 80's, and trending to be similar the next few days (a bit cooler, though, in the mid-high 70's! I love it!) Jeremy's got someone who's seems to be serious about buying his Accord, so he's dealing with that right now (keep your fingers crossed! We really don't need three vehicles...) I went with a friend to Dani's Duds last night, and scored a bunch of really cute sleepsacks for Jess Jr, along with a booster seat, some baby gates, wooden puzzles, and a few other odds and ends. It was a lot of fun, though a few things I really wanted were long gone. Oh well. I'm going back tomorrow to try to score some clothes, since it's half off then, and pick up a few things I don't want donated to charity.

That's all with us. I've got a LOST write up in the works, though there's not much to really say, so if you're waiting for that, it's coming! I've got to go get ready for the day now. :)

Do you feel a draft??

Today has been an off day for us. The monitor was turned down, unbeknownst to me, so when I woke up at 9, I figured something was up. Sure enough, Jeremiah was up, blabbing to himself in his crib.

After some breakfast (which he eats mostly in the buff, since he makes such a mess,) we went outside for a few minutes. He ran around in his pajama bottoms and a diaper, and that's it (it was in the 80's by 10 a.m.) I was finally able to get him dressed, and we hung out in the play room 'til naptime (noon.)

Naptime rolls around, so I changed him and left his shorts off, since they tend to wick away moisture from his diaper if I don't. Gave him his bottle, put him in his crib, and left, with him still sitting there, like he always does.

After about 30 minutes, I didn't hear him playing anymore, so I went in to put a blanket on him. "Hmm..." I thought, "did he push his shirt up? He looks naked..." Sure enough, there on the floor in front of the crib was his diaper, along with all the blankets that was in there with him. He was bare butt, sound asleep. And let me tell you--it's not easy putting a diaper on a sleeping baby, especially when their on their stomach. But it also wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. :) Needless to say, I think it's about time we got the whole potty training thing started--he enjoys taking off his diaper way too much!

Sure was cute, though. :)

The fun stuff.

In more interesting news about his visit, he's still just shy of the 30 lb mark, weighing in at 29 lbs, 14 oz--almost too big for the scale! I'm sure next visit he will be.

He's also about 34 inches tall, and still barely on the charts, stat wise. 96/97+/96 were his stats (weight/head/length) I guess Dr. Atiyeh feels he's growing just fine, so he's having us switch him to 2% milk. And, "he can eat the same things we eat, but still avoid nuts (ooops), and shellfish, like shrimp (ooops) and lobster..." Well, I'm sorry, but peanut butter and honey sandwiches are his favorite (on whole grain bread, no less...) And while he doesn't have it often, I have given him small pieces of shrimp without any kind of reaction (he's had worse reactions to apple cinnamon oatmeal...) so I think he's alright.

His favorite things to eat are cheese (any kind, really, though he's never had American, as far as I know... maybe at a restaurant, but we don't buy it. We prefer cheddar or muenster, both of which he loves,) veggie cream cheese on toast, turkey, freeze dried fruits (I think he prefers them to the real thing, at least in the case of bananas...) peanut butter, any kind of fresh citrus (he makes Daddy share his grapefruit with him, every time...) oatmeal, miso soup, scrambled eggs and milk, of course.

There're lots of things he likes to eat, but he's more picky about when he'll eat them, like corn, tomatoes, cheese quesadillas, chicken, ground beef, hotdogs, rice, cooked red peppers, umm... that's about it for now. He's really become a "picky" eater, compared to what he used to be (used to eat anything! Not so much anymore.) Makes getting a balanced diet in a little tough, but he's growing just fine, so I guess he'll make up for it more later. Maybe it's time to break out Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook, and start hiding veggies in foods (though the veggies that you hide in the foods he would eat, like squash in mac n cheese, he'll eat on their own, so it's not necessary to 'sneak' them in.) I think I'll start making my own veggie cream cheese--at least I know there'll be plenty of real veggies in it, then. Might get freeze dried veggies, too, since he likes the fruits so much. Looks like we need a trip to Whole Foods!

The doc kinda freaked us out a bit, when he asked us how many words Jeremiah was saying. "Usually around this age, they can say 10-15 words." Ten to fifteen?! Jeremy: "Uh, yeah, he can say about 10 words." Oh really? Hmm... I only count 4 or 5... Mama/Nonny (for Mommy), Dada, "o'er dere" (over there or outside... usually he's point to the outside when he says it,) "o dat" (what's that? or can I have that?) and that's about it. He did say "duckie" once, as I mentioned in a previous post, but that's all... So yeah, I was wondering where "10" came from. :) Dr. Atiyeh: "Wow, if he can say 10, that's really good." Jeremy: "Well, actually, I guess it's only 5." lol

And that's about all. I need to go sort stuff I'm going to sell at the sale this weekend, and run a few errands before the "6 days of rain" shows up (opening this weekend! YAY! <~ Sarcasm...)

Aww... My poor little baby...

Jeremiah had his 15 month appointment today... It didn't go very well... He screamed when the nurse measured his head and checked his height... He screamed as soon as Dr Atiyeh started touching him to use the stethoscope, and didn't stop until Mommy was holding him again. And, of course, he cried when he got his shots. Now, 20 min later he's conked out in the van while Daddy runs into Chipotle to get Mommy some food. My poor baby!

"The Middle Wife"

One of the gals on a message board I frequent posted this story. It was really cute, so I thought I'd share. :)

The 'Middle Wife' by an Anonymous 2nd grade teacher

I've been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two kids myself, but the best birth story I know is the one I saw in my own second-grade classroom a few years
back.

When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that.

And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it in to school and talk about it, they're welcome.

Well, one day this little girl, a very bright, very outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater.

She holds up a snapshot of an infant. 'This is Luke, my baby brother, and I'm going to tell you about his birthday.'

'First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad put a seed in my Mom's stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord.'

She's standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I'm trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me.

The kids are watching her in amazement.

'Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts saying and going, 'Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh!' Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. 'She walked around the house for, like an hour, 'Oh, oh, oh!' Now this kid is doing a hysterical duck walk and groaning.

'My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn't have a sign on the car like the Domino's man. They got my Mom to lie down in bed like this.' Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall.

'And then, pop! My Mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!'

This kid has her legs spread with her little hands miming water flowing away. It was to much!

'Then the middle wife starts saying 'push, push,' and 'breathe, breathe. They started counting, but never even got past ten.

Then, all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff that they all said it was from Mom's play-center, so there must be a lot of toys inside
there.'

Then she stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat. I'm sure I applauded the loudest. Ever since then, when it's show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another 'Middle Wife' comes along.

LOST Epi. 9 - "The Shape of Things to Come"

Well, we got what we were promised--a whole lot for a whole little. Seriously, was it just me, or were there more commercials than show??? It's supposed to be 41/19, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was more like 33/27... They're milking it for all it's worth.

That being said, great episode! Lots of action, lots of different sides of Ben, lots of questions answered/created... My absolute favorite part was definitely when Smokey showed up (seriously, who didn't love that...) I mean, you knew Ben had "a see-cwet weap-en!" when he told Keamy, "How 'bout you turn around, go back to your helicopter and never come back here again." I don't think he had actually planned on using it until "........he changed the rules..." But man... that was awesome. I'm gonna have to watch that again a few times. :) You don't mess with Ben.

I was a bit disappointed with that whole encounter with Alex, though... We weren't sure if he really cared for Alex as much as we now know he did until this episode. Who knew that he really did love her so much... more than anyone was willing to give him credit for. That's why I was so disappointed with the whole encounter. I expected them to bring her out and for him to say, calmly, "That's not my daughter." But his emotions got the better of him, and by the time he actually started trying to play that card, it was too late, Keamy saw right through it. Did Ben really think he would care that she wasn't actually his birth daughter? The whole point of having a hostage is to play on the emotions of the person you're trying to manipulate. Oh well. Ben's human, we have proof now.

Another "bumming" fact is that we'll never find out (or least, it's unlikely) about the $3.2 million that Miles wanted. Gee, ya think they know he's alive now?? We wanted to know WHY it was $3.2 vs. $3 or $3.5 or $4 million... Kinda a cheap way of getting out of that one, writers.

Now we know why Sayid is working WITH Ben, vs. for him... He practically begged Ben to let him kill a few more for him. And I'm glad to see that Ben has some cred outside of the Island. It would have been kinda dumb for him to be this big baddy on the island, and just some schmuck off. "I'm pretty good with a bo staff" is what I was thinkin' when he was taking those guys down in the desert. Awesome. Ya have to wonder, though... Ben didn't think twice about using that thing (whatever it's called... collapsible club or something? Whatever.) Yet he likes to keep referring to himself as "one of the good guys". So either Widmore is, like, the Lex Luthor of the LOST world, or they're BOTH Lex Luthor's and it's a race to the kryptonite (the Island) FTW! I'm very curious as to why he can't 'kill' Widmore... What are these unspoken rules that they have... And who set them?? Jacob?? I bet Richard Alpert knows!

And finally, can I just say, dang, Baby Aaron, you sure do cry a lot! Seems like that kid is never happy... You'd think he'd be used to all the chaos as someone who "was born on this island." And I'm sorry, Clair should be dead. I mean, her house was shot with a rocket launcher, and she's just "a bit wobbly"??? I guess Jacob/The Island really likes her and doesn't want Mama to kick the bucket yet. (Was kinda funny that the stupid 'red shirts' kept coming out of the house, and getting shot... That had to have been frustrating for Sawyer to watch.)

That is all. Time to read what the 'pros' have to say. :)

Oh no, wait! I forgot. My subconscious decided to continue the episode in my dreams with what it thinks would happen next after Ben, Locke & Hurley go looking for Jacob. Ahem: So they're walking in the woods, and they come upon this control panel of sorts. It has all these different hieroglyphics on each button and of course, they light up... Ben pushes one, and a bright light emerges from the ground, revealing a platform that rises up. On it are two women who look... well... dead... Actually, they kinda look like they belong in "Little Monsters". Have you ever seen that movie?? I have, unfortunately. Anyways, they're pretty messed up looking, kinda like the corpse bride (Tim Burton's, not that I've ever seen that one...) Apparently, one of them was Ben's wife, and the other one? I dunno, her sister, maybe? Yeah, I guess Ben "imprisoned" them because they have greater control over the island. But, they don't appear to know that he was responsible for that, since they're so happy to see him.

And that's all I remember for now. Ben's got an undead wife who lives underground... Yeah, I don't know where these things come from... :)

Yay!

LOST is back! WOO HOO! And at its new time, 10 p.m. Booo... Oh well. I'll take it, since The Office is on at 9. Speaking of, I need to make sure the DVR is programmed... We just lost power for a couple of seconds, so it's resetting itself right now... Hopefully it'll be done before I need to make dinner.

In baby news, baby's been moving around a lot lately! It took a little longer than with Jeremiah, but that's okay! Better late than never. It sure is fun to feel her moving around, though not so much when she decides to kick my bladder... That's NEVER fun (though Jeremy thinks it's funny...)

Next week is a HUGE consignment sale down the street. Like, 100,000's of items... Crazy. I tried volunteering, but the spots I wanted filled up... I was just going to buck up and pay the $5 to shop that weekend, but after talking with my neighbor, I think I may consign a few things. She does it every year and you only need 10 items to consign. They deduct $5 from your total (and keep 50%) but you get to shop a day earlier. I plan on selling all my old maternity clothes that don't fit anymore. They're still in good shape, and I've got a bunch that I'll probably never get to wear again. It's just taking up space in my parents' and my basements, so might as well get rid of it. If I make some money, that's a plus! :) So we'll see how well that works out.

Okay, time to cook.

@ the farm...

Took Jeremiah to Frying Pan Park this morning, before naptime. It's so nice out, but all the kids around us are in school or daycare, so we headed across the street to look at the animals instead. He had a great time! We've taken him before, but this was the first time he seemed genuinely interested in the animals we were seeing. He found the turkeys funny, wanted to play with the goats (he probably thought they were dogs...) and was especially interested in the "duckies" (one of the few words he can say now! Though it kinda comes out like "dook--eees")

I think he was a bit confused at first, since the duckies he's used to seeing are all yellow, and these were black, brown and gray, but he warmed up to them, and kept trying to stick his fingers in the cage.

After a quick stop at the country store, we headed back home. He was pretty relaxed, and I thought he had fallen asleep. Nope! He's asleep now, though, and will probably take a nice long nap (hopefully!) After naptime--Walmart!

New Holiday!

Man, I wish we had one of these around here...

Stir Crazy, a 'crazy' asian restaurant, is hosting the very first "Expectant Mother's Day" on Sunday, May 4th. All expectant Moms get a free entree that day!

Unfortunately, we'd have to drive to Ohio or NY to take advantage of it... I just don't think a $13 meal is worth the drive to either state (though I'd love to go to NYC!)

Ah well. Guess I'll wait for Mother's Day a week after.

Ouch!

That was THE most painful American Idol moment I've ever had to witness...

Brooke White sang "You Must Love Me" from the movie version of Evita. She started singing it, got through the first line, started on the second, and totally lost her place! So what does she do--"I'm sorry... can we start that again?" And she did.

Had she been on Broadway, she would have never been able to get away with that! I mean, c'mon, can you picture the Phantom beginning "The Music of the Night" and two lines in, "Oops, can we start that over?" Totally kills the mood!

Anyways, I'm sure it'll be up on Youtube soon... I'll put it up here if I can find it. :)

Oh, and David Archuleta---"Think of Me" is NOT a POP song... As a die hard Phantom Phan, I couldn't bear to listen to it. Of course he gets props for making it modern, but he killed it for me... Don't mess with my Phantom!

And to be fair, Jason Castro, leave "Memory" to elderly 'primadonna pussycats'. Not a strong performance from America's favorite stoner.

Thumbs up to Syesha, David Cook, and Carly (even though I can't stand her.) I thought they did really well with all their songs.

Bottom three prediction: Definitely Brooke (who will probably go home, though she may have the sympathy vote this week,) Jason, and... I don't know. Probably Syesha, just because she doesn't have the fan base that everyone else does. Guess we'll see...

Found it!

The Dramatic.... groundhog?

We've had a visitor overstay his/her welcome recently... It started as a brief encounter, one of those, "Hey, how's it going, good to see you! Sure, make yourself at home! We'd love to have you!" And now... well, it looks like he's moved in and made himself quite a home... forever...

Or, we could just be a pit stop that appears to last longer than it does... Only time, and my flowers, will tell...

"Jess & Jeremiah Go To Krispy Kreme"

Sounds like a great movie...

And yes, we really did go to Krispy Kreme today. It wasn't planned, it just kinda.... happened.

Okay, well, here's what happened.

So I've been trying to get Jeremy to go to Buy Buy Baby with me so we can pick out a crib for #2. I've got their "Golden Ticket" (a.k.a. the elusive and rare 20% off coupon) that expires on May 12, so of course, I think we're running out of time! The rain made going out yesterday kind of a blah idea, so I was informed that I should "go while I'm at work tomorrow."

So I did.

This morning, Jeremiah woke up around 6! I know why, though... he's a light sleeper, and Jeremy had to get up early. All his rustling around ultimately woke Jeremiah from his gentle slumber, and he played in his crib for an hour or so before falling back asleep. I was also awoken, as Jeremy doesn't like to set his alarm for the time he needs to get up, but has it start going off at least 30 minutes prior. Ergo, every few minutes his alarm would go off, and wouldn't get turned off until I had punched him in the arm enough to wake him (at which point he would jump up in a frenzy thinking he had overslept... and then hit the snooze button for another 5 minutes...) Needless to say, by the time he was actually out of bed getting ready, I was wide awake and having a tough time returning to my previously blissful state.

Eventually, I did fall back asleep, and we (Jeremiah and myself) got up around 9. After a quick bite to eat (yeah right...) we were on our way to Buy Buy Baby! There was almost no one on the road, and with the rain falling, it was a very relaxing trip. Apparently, too relaxing for Jeremiah. By the time we were on the highway, he was fast asleep, even though nap time wasn't for almost two hours! So the decision to be made is do I wake him up once we get there, or try to extend our driving time to give him a longer nap? Well, I chose option 2, and decided that we need to keep moving, since any chance of a formal nap at that point is zilch. So where to go in Rockville? Krispy Kreme!

Well, it worked. Jeremiah and I got got there about 15-20 minutes later (Google was giving me a hard time with directions... said it couldn't understand my "start location" or something...) and as if on cue, he woke up as we pulled in. :) Got a few doughnuts, and headed on back to Buy Buy Baby. And that's house we ended up at Krispy Kreme.

Can't say it was worth it, though. Maybe it's because they went trans free or something else, I don't know, but what I do know is that I remember KK doughnuts being much better. Or maybe it's that I'm used to Shopper's doughnuts now (they're the best!) To me, KK just tasted 'overkooked', and kinda blah... AND the glaze fell off! As soon as ya took a bite, there goes all the glaze.

Yeah...

So I'm sticking with Shoppers for my 'donut kravings'. It's not worth driving 20 miles to KK to get overcooked and overpriced doughnuts. MAYBE if their "HOT" sign is on, but otherwise, I'll stick with my twice the size/twice as good/half the price Shoppers doughnuts.

Oh, and I didn't find a crib. Grr... I did finally get to see the crib I had planned on getting for Jeremiah, but after seeing it in person, I'm not sure if I like it anymore... It just seemed kinda cheaply made. So now I'm looking at a very simple modern looking crib, but it's not very tall, so unlike a normal convertible crib, I'd probably have to put something on the wall above it to fill the space (like her name or something, I guess...) I'm a little wary of that, even though I've put stuff above our bed (and our heads...) It's different when it's your baby... So we'll see. Jeremy promised he'd come with me to look at 'em, so I'm going to hold him to that! Otherwise, i'll just end up coming home with a Oeuf crib they had there... it's only $890 normally. Hey, 20% off, not so bad... ;-)

And there it is...

Canada takes lead in declaring BPA "toxic"

While Jeremiah's almost out of the "danger zone" (the small risk that there is...) we'll still be replacing our bottles and sippy cups with BPA-free versions in time for Jess Jr. Our Breastflow bottles definitely have to go--the risk is highest when the bottles are sterilzed in boiling water (which we did with those) and even higher levels are released when the plastic becomes scratched and cloudy (such as when using a brillo pad to wash them, as the kind maids in Mexico did while we were there.)

Since we never heat his bottles anymore (and haven't in a long time!) the risk for his Avent bottles is probably very small. But we will transistion out of those, as well as his sippy cups, over time. The only annoying thing about having to do so is that no one else makes 11 oz bottles... There are a couple of 10 oz bottles out there, but Jeremiah can polish off 11 oz and still ask for more, no problem (though he is starting to grow out of the 'bottle stage', so it may not be as big of a problem as we think.) Hopefully Avent gets with the program and makes a BPA-free version of their bottles soon, so we won't have to worry about it with Jess Jr.

There's a first (and probably last) time for everything!

Last night, Jeremy came home and mowed the lawn FOR THE FIRST TIME! When we bought the house, it was the end of August, and the summer heat had pretty much killed the grass. Well, not killed it, but there wasn't a lot of rain, so little growing occured. Needless to say, it did not require pruning last year.

This year, however, mother nature has been heaping helping after helping of rain on our lawn, and guess what??? It's grown out of control! Our neighbor's lawn care service were unwilling to negotiate a better rate for having three lawns to do all right in a row, so Jeremy decided he would try cutting it himself to see how bad it is. So we borrowed our neighbor's mower, and he got to work!

Well, he got the front done. :) It didn't take too long, maybe an hour or so, but that was mostly because he had to keep stopping to dump the trimmings. As you can see from the pic, there's quite a bit of grass there... If we stay on it, my guess is we won't be emptying the bag every five minutes or so.

I'm hoping he sticks with it. I wouldn't blame him, though, if he wanted to hire someone else to do it when it's 100 degrees out this summer. For now, it's a good workout for him (and saves us $30/week.)

Only problem is that Jeremiah seems to be quite afraid of the mower... Everytime Jeremy would start it up, Jeremiah would start crying, and wanting his Daddy. Nope, not even Mommy would do, he wanted his Daddy. He seemed very concerned... like he thought the mower was hurting his Daddy or something. I dunno. I hope he gets over that! Today, I turned on the handvac to clean out the groves on his highchair, and he started crying with that, too! He's very sensitive... :)

Of course, he has to pose for the camera, despite his tears...

Woot!

It's going to be in the 80's today and tomorrow! Sweet... Looks like next week will be slightly more normal, with highs in the high 60's, low 70's, but I'll take it all! In another month or so, it'll be in the 80's and 90's with high humidity, so we'll enjoy this while we can.

What's a Mom to do???

As a parent, our number one concern is the well-being of our child(ren). Especially as Moms, we're wired to protect our child at all costs. In this day and age of product advancements, recalls, and safety concerns, it's becoming increasingly difficult to know what's best for your baby. Well, things are about to get even more confusing.

Before I became a Mom, I'd never heard of "BPA", or bisphenol A. This chemical is used the production of many MANY different baby bottles, sippy cups, pacifiers, and even line formula containers. The FDA declared it safe, but new reports are showing that they may be wrong:

The National Toxicology Program went further than previous U.S. government statements on possible health risks from BPA.

It said: "There is some concern for neural and behavioral effects in fetuses, infants and children at current human exposures." The findings expressed concern about exposure in these populations, "based on effects in the prostate gland, mammary gland, and an earlier age for puberty in females."

The National Toxicology Program expressed "negligible concern" that exposure of pregnant women to BPA causes fetal or neonatal death, birth defects or reduced birth weight and growth in babies. It also had "negligible concern" that exposure causes reproductive problems in adults.

So far, the FDA hasn't budged, but an announcement from our neighbors to the north may begin to change that.

In Canada, the Globe and Mail newspaper said the Canadian health ministry was ready to declare BPA a dangerous substance, making it the first regulatory body in the world to reach such a determination. The newspaper said the ministry could announce the decision as soon as Wednesday.

Now, just because Canada says it's dangerous doesn't mean it is... but! They're not the only ones expressing concern. Other industrialized nations have also said that BPA could be harmful, and many companies have already decided to make the switch on their own (after they finish selling out of their current non-BPA Free stock.... like Nuby... we love their sippy cups, but they aren't switching to BPA free until later this year after they've sold through their current supply...)

Other companies have known from the beginning that BPA-Free was the way to go, such as Born Free, Adiri (they make the breast shaped bottles,) Medela, etc. These companies offer safe plastic alternatives, for those parents who don't want to switch to glass (yeah, I'm one of them... those things are tough, but I'm sure Jeremiah would find a way to break one...)

So what's a Mom to do??? I've got, probably, 2 dozen plastic battles that could be unsafe, at least 4 or 5 sippy cups, let alone the plastic plates and cups I've purchased to stave off the constant replacing of broken glasses and plates. I dunno... If Canada does make that announcement, it's gonna be tough to stick with what we've got...

In the mean time, I'm switching all of our registry items that could be "unsafe" to BPA free. Might as well start off right the 2nd time. Obviously, there is some concern there about the safety of these products, and even if problems are a rarity, why take that chance? Jeremy's not going to be happy if we have to replace everything (that'll be at least $100... better swing by Babies R Us and pick up more coupon books...) But, I think this is getting to big to ignore...

What's safe, what's not?
Plastic bottles may be harmful
BPA Free Portal

On a slightly related note, I recently learned that hot tap water isn't the safest thing to drink--lead from the pipes leaches into the water when it's hot. The concentration is not as high in cold water. Short lesson learned: don't use hot water for drinking or preparing food. Even in newer pipes that claim to be "lead free" can cause water to have higher lead levels than safety standards recommend. So for washing dishes, fine. For boiling pasta or having a cup of tea, start it cold.

What's next??

Oh yeah...

We've recently discovered that Jeremiah has several new teeth coming in! I counted 6 that have already broken through, with another one or two on their way. This probably explains why he's been waking up a lot at night, crying, for no good reason (usually falls back asleep on his own, but sometimes we'll pick him up to reassure him before putting him down on his "blankee".) My baby's growing up! :)

Halfway mark!

Well, today, we've reached the midpoint of our pregnancy with #2. And thus begins "the hump". See, first trimester, you don't even know you're pregnant for about 4 weeks, don't see your physician for another 4 weeks or so, then you get to hear the heartbeat at appointment #2, and bam! First trimester is over. Then you start the 2nd trimester, looking forward to "the big ultrasound" and then bam! Nothing. Nope, all ya have to look forward to once you hit 20 weeks is the GD test (gestational diabetes.) Yay... soooo exciting. At least around that time, you enter the third trimester, and it's all downhill from there!

BUT! For the next 8 weeks... nothing exciting going on, pregnancy wise. SO! We need to make our own excitment! This month is pretty quiet, though we had a nice weekend. Sunday we visited with Jeremy's old boss, Kevin, and got to meet their new baby (they live pretty close, which made it easier to get together.) That was nice. Except for when Jeremiah started screaming because their older daughter tripped going down the steps and hit her head on the trim.... Yeah, he's a sympathy crier. But he was fine after that---until he saw their "rocking horse". I don't know why, but ever since he saw the one at my cousins' house, he hasn't been the same... Yeah, so he started screaming then, too... And there was no way we could get him to NOT look at it. We tried hiding him next to Daddy, but nope, he kept pushing himself up so he could see it was still there... Sigh... Needless to say, we moved to a different room, and then he was fine.

We finally purchased our plane tickets for our trip next month. In case ya don't know, we're dropping Jeremiah off at Grandpa's (specifically "Grandpa's" because he's the one taking time off from work to hang out with his "favorite grandson,") and heading to Toronto for a wedding before flying to Vegas for a week of fun! Well, Jeremy's working part of that week, but we'll still have a good time! The pools will be open (at the lovely Pallazo hotel, part of The Venetian... very nice...) so that's probably where I'll spend my days before checking out a few shows at night. Planning on seeing Blue Man Group (for a second time), The Phantom Experience (they built the theater specifically for it!), and some Cirque de Soleil show (haven't decided which yet...) Jeremy wants to see Penn & Teller (not high on my list, but sounds like fun,) maybe Spamalot... We'll see (thank you US Government for that tax rebate!) Heck, it's fun just walking the strip, so I'm really looking forward to it--truly is an "adult Disneyworld".

June holds some good stuff, too. Jeremy's "best man" and former roommate are heading to the beach with his family, and will be stopping by here on their way. Of course, later in the month is my birthday, though we probably won't do anything major for it... It's just something to look forward to.

July will be spent at the pool, in some way, shape, or form. I'll probably head to my parents' house a few times a week, since it'd be private. I may try a public pool if necessary, but I'd rather not. I suppose we'll see!

And that's all the fun we've got planned for now. I'm hoping we can take a family trip sometime either in late June or July, and head to the beach or something, for a few days. I don't want to go anywhere far (and definitely don't want to fly with Jeremiah while 8 months pregnant...) so it'll probably be VA beach area, or somewhere in Maryland, perhaps... I dunno, just someplace where Jeremiah can play in the sand and splash in the water! I think he'd really like it (vs. last time when we stuck his feet in the Pacific and he started crying... of course, that was much colder water... hopefully this time, he'll be a bit more brave. :)

Yup, so 20 weeks down, 20 to go! Hope it goes by quickly! And bring on the nice weather again! We had two 80+ days late last week, and those days should be back again by the end of the week! WOO HOO! Life is good.

Splishy-splashy!

How sweet of him to humor me! :)

The Modern "Manly" Man

He's not afraid to wear pink. :)

(Yeah, his hair is sticking up in the front there... keeps wiping his nose with his fist, and then rubbing it into his hair... But look how sweet he looks!)

(Heading to church.)

Aww... What a cute pair, huh?? (I love this one!)

Booo...

Well, that stinks.

So, Saturday has unofficially become, "TV Day", since Daddy's home, and likes to watch his Fox News and CNN in the mornings. Then he'll take off somewhere, and I'll put it on Sprout! for Jeremiah (the toddler channel). Usually, Jeremiah will watch for a minute or two and then ignore it.

Today, though, was a bit different. Today, around 11:15, he decided he wanted to climb up onto the love seat with Mommy and watch it. So I got him all set up in the corner of the couch, and I sat in front of him with my laptop. He was surprisingly still.

I kept looking over at him, and sure enough, he was still watching the show. The third time I glanced his way, however, I got an unexpected surprise--he was asleep. This is the kid that NEVER falls asleep anywhere but his crib (and usually after several minutes of babbling to himself.) And here he was, fast asleep, on the couch (before nap time, too!)

Of course, I had to go get Jeremy--this is not something we'll probably ever see again! It was SO CUTE! Jeremy thought he'd fool around and put the remote in his hand. Makes the pics I snapped with my phone that much cuter.

And therein lies the "booo...." Unlike our regular camera, my phone doesn't auto-save. I'm 99.9% sure that I did push "SAVE", but when I looked in the folder, the pics were gone. BOOOOOO!! So unfortunately, we don't have proof that such an occasion occurred. You'll just have to take our word for it. :)

He must have been really tired... he didn't wake up when we picked him up, changed him, and then put him in his crib. He's NEVER EVER done that. NEVER! No matter how tired he is, he always wakes up when we move him, especially if we're changing his diaper. Guess those few sips of Jeremy's Americano (4 shots of espresso over ice) backfired and he crashed hard (not that I would have said he ever got all riled up. Just his normal self.)

Weird.

Okay fine...

I've decided that I'll share the news with ya'z after all. But if you haven't guessed in the baby poll yet, please take a moment to do so! I know, it's silly, but it makes me happy to see people guess!

And now.....

We're having a girl! Yay! Needless to say, we're super excited! I 'bout cried when she started typing it on the screen (though I had already guessed it as soon as she started trying to find 'it'. We saw LINES! :)

So yeah, there ya go, now ya know. But if you were guessing "boy" before I said anything, you should still enter that as your guess (if you haven't guessed yet!) Not that these things usually come down to a 40 point difference (that's what the gender is worth.)

Time to buy some dresses!!!
So there ya have it! You're now in the "know". Don't ya feel special??? :)

It's a.....

BABY! :)

We had our ultrasound this morning, and it went well. Baby was much less trouble than Jeremiah was (we had to get up and walk around/grab lunch with him... wouldn't cooperate.) Couldn't get a really good profile shot, but got a cute foot, leg, arm shot or two.

Everything is normal, as far as we can tell. So all is well!

Jeremiah was a bit bored, though... Almost got in trouble with the tech, because Jeremy kept walking over to the "wrong" side of the table... But she was nice about it. Luckily, they weren't in there long before she was done, so he didn't have to behave very long.

We were able to see the sex... but it's a secret. Shhh.... :) Maybe in one-on-one conversations, we can share... We'll see.

Aww he loves his bear...

The bear with a tail on backwards... Yes, what you're picturing is correct-the 'tail' is between his legs. But! Jeremiah doesn't care. He still loves his bear.

Hmm...

I know we have more than 7 readers on our blog (including myself.) Yet, there are only 8 guesses in the baby poll... :( Jeremy said it's because this is our 2nd baby, and people just don't get as excited about #2 as #1. Well, I can see that, but even Jeremy hasn't guessed yet! What does that tell you???? :) I told my Dad he and my Mom must guess this weekend, because I know they're going to want to know if we're having a boy or a girl (if we're able to tell) and the ultrasound is only a few days away... And Jeremy... well, I'll just ask the US tech to write down the gender on a piece of paper, and I'll let him read it after he's submitted his guess, too. :) Ooo... maybe it can just be my little secret! Bwahahahaha....

Man, I really REALLY hope Jess Jr is a girl... There are SOOOO MANY CUTE DRESSES to buy!!! Boy clothes are cute, too, but we already have PLENTY! So I can't really justify buying more. It's bad enough I've already bought a few things (1st Christmas outfit, stocking, a few blankets, etc...)

I've been doing a few different "gender predictors" to see what we could possibly be having. Well, according to the chinese calendar chart, we're having a GIRL!!! But! The one I used just asked for regular age, not lunar age... so I'm not sure if that's accurate.

Another one I used was at babyman.net. I guess he's got a 94% accuracy rate... Well, he said boy, so poo poo on him. :p I'm going to say I'm special and am part of that 6%. :)

On the birth boards, people were talking about cravings, and one person mentioned oranges. Apparently, women who crave oranges and OJ (as I did early on, not so much anymore,) are having a girl! Then another person said that citrus was BOY, and spicy was GIRL. Well, I also want spicy... So what does THAT mean??

It means nothing. lol None of these things really mean anything. Next week, we'll have a slightly better idea of what we're having, but there's still a chance that even that will be wrong. Man, I would really hate to be told 'GIRL!' and then deliver a boy. Don't get me wrong, I'll be thrilled come delivery day either way! It's just hard to imagine having another boy... I'm so used to Jeremiah, I can't picture what another boy would be like. Maybe if I buy a bunch of cute boy clothes, I'll jinx myself... Of course, it's probably too late for that now. His/Her little "bits" are already in place! They're not going to change on account of me, that's for sure! I'll just keep my fingers crossed!

Yeah....

Well, there's nothing new in the blogosphere, so you'll have to listen to my crazy dreams instead.

I know people say that your dreams get more crazy and vibrant when you're pregnant. Well, my dreams are always pretty crazy--just ask Jeremy. He gets to hear about them first hand.

My favorite dreams are when I realize I'm dreaming in the dream itself, and can then control what's going on (to a certain degree... It always takes a while to figure out how to wake oneself up from a dream that goes south... Usually, ya just stand there, telling everyone, "Okay, I'm going to wake up now. I'm waking up..." and then just wait for it to happen... Of course, when you're in a dream that's less than pleasant, that can take a while, or so it seems...) I'll ususally take those opportunities to fly around, or "join the X-Men", though I never have a super-power. I'll usually start out with one, but forget how to use it by the time I need it. Oh well. They're always really nice to me anyways. :)

Last night was just a strange mish-mash of dreams. I think it started out with my family at our old house in RI (dream about that place a lot... it's so thoroughly embedded in my subconscious that whenever I dream about anything family related, it's usually at that house.) My grandfather on my Mom's side decided to come live with "us" (I guess I was living with them at the time... Jeremy was no where to be found, though Jeremiah makes a guest appearance,) and so there was much hullabalou about getting everything ready for that.

I guess I was back to work at Sony, too. Or at least, I was in the video game industry in some way. And for some reason, I was "wanted for questioning". Not by the police... that would make sense! Some third party organization was convinced the video game industry had secrets that were pretty serious... Serious enough that they would capture you and "torture" you to get them out. I guess it was harboring terrorists or something, I dunno... But they were determined to find out what these secrets were, and so you'd better be helpful.... or else.

This is the point where the dream switched main characters. No longer is it necessarily about you, but you shadow the person it is about, and are kinda that person, but you're not that person. Know what I'm talking about?

Yeah, so we switch to this gal who's going to take my place getting captured. :) She's on here way to the airport, and gets grabbed by this really big guy (Big Show size, but not the Big Show.) They proceed to interrogate her about her involvement in "certain things" while at Sony and other companies. She doesn't give anything up. It's mostly some woman doing the talking, and she's got a few guys with her, too (including the Big Show sized guy.)

Eventually, they give up and let her go. She returns to the airport where all her stuff is, and decides she wants to tell someone whatever info it is that these folks were after, but doesn't want to do it over email, because someone could trace it back to her. But she can't do it in person, because that's too dangerous. Doesn't really matter because, of course, she's being watched by these people, and gets captured again. This time, they take her to a cave (which happens to be located right outside of a mall...) and threatens to take her someplace cold and snowy where there's no natural light, and keep her there for weeks until she talks (they must have been playing on my psyche at this point, because I would hate to be in a snowy, cold, dark place for weeks on end... Especially since it's getting so nice out now!) Well, this chick is tough and basically says, "bring it on!"

So they do. The Big Show-sized guy grabs her by the arm, and brings her outside, heading for a transport. "This is my only chance," she thinks, and does some kinda kick/punch action on the B.S.S. guy, but he's freakin' huge, so this does nothing. All it really does is draw the attention of everyone else, and they come running out with their guns... Great. Well, the B.S.S. guy has a couple of guns, too. Somehow, she manages to aim his arm and fire his gun, and takes out all the baddies comin' at her. Eventually, all who's left is the B.S.S. guy. He still has his hand on her. But she grabs his gun, and tries shooting at him. She doesn't kill him, but he does let her go, and she tumbles into the mall. He then goes to a lever marked "4 ton", pulls it, and then walks over to a certain spot (this is inside the mall....) We then see a few hatch doors in the ceiling open up, and piles of snow fall down--one really large pile lands right on the B.S.S. guy (I'm guessing it was 4 tons?) and he dies.

Gee, I hope that top secret info was worth all that!

Then a bunch of stuff happens that I don't remember, and the next time I show up, Jeremiah and I are driving to NYC for some reason. We get there, get our hotel room (again, it's just us, no Jeremy,) and settle down for bed.

And that's about it. Oh no, wait. There was also a musical in it! Yeah, I guess someone made the story of my capture or whatever it was, into a musical. And it was performed on stage at Mclean! Wow! All in one night... pretty crazy.

And that is it. Well, the best I can tell it anyways. It's also so much more interesting in your head, that's for sure. :)

What a good eater!

Jeremiah ate both his eggs all by himself! Mastering hand-eye coordination is no easy task, but he's determined to do it all by himself. With there skills in place, he'll be beating his Daddy in Halo or Guitar Hero in no time!

Guess what??? We're preganant!!!

APRIL FOOLS!!!

......wait a second..... ummm..... APRIL FOOLS, again!!! :)

Now that we've got that out of the way, we can move on to more serious matters. Of course, I'm a bit hesitant to write anything on April Fool's Day, since ya never really know who's kidding and who's not. But I assure you, the rest of this post will be April Fool's free!

Do you know the history of April fools?? Apparently, it started back in the day when the calendar switched over to the Gregorian Calendar, which moved New Years week back from Mar. 25-April 1 to Jan. 1st. News travelled slowly, and some people didn't hear about it for years--and then there were those who just rebelled and refused to switch anyways. These people were "fools". Guess people decided they should play tricks on those people, like inviting them to parties that didn't occur. Nice folks, huh?

There's more about it here. Interesting how it's celebrated around the world. Turns out those Scots like to be the "butt" of the joke, and the "kick me" sign can be traced back to them, too. And in Portugal, people throw flour on each other. Those crazy Europeans!

And that's enough about that.

So we have a sonogram scheduled for April 9th! I'm excited, obviously, but I wish we had just gone with the first time they mentioned, which would have put us there on Thursday, but Jeremy would rather go first thing in the morning--we have to be there at 7:55 a.m.!! Booo... Oh well. Next week will be here soon enough.

We had a nice weekend. Saturday, we "got up early" (took quite a bit of prodding to get Jeremy out of bed...) and went to Ikea before it got too busy. We didn't actually get there until 11 or so, but it was still "dead", at least for Ikea (well, not really, but it would have been twice as busy by the afternoon.) We picked up some blinds for the family room and kitchen, and some dressers/chests for our bedroom (yay! Matching furniture!) And AMAZINGLY, we actually got in and out without buying anything extra--just what we went there for! Unfortunately, the boxes for the furniture is still in the van, which makes getting the stroller in and out a pain, but they're so heavy, I don't want Jeremy to move them by himself, and I don't think I should help (these are easily over 100 lbs each... lifting Jeremiah is the most I'm supposed to do, and even that is pushing it, since he's such a big boy.) Maybe we can get a neighbor to help so I can have my van back!

The only downside to going to Ikea was that it messed up Jeremiah's nap. We got in the car at 12:45, and he normally crashes at 12. Needless to say, he fell asleep in the van. With an hour drive home, he was able to get a decent nap in, but it definitely wasn't long enough.

That evening, we went to my Uncle's house for a "congratulatory dinner" for my other Uncle and future Aunt who recently got engaged. I think we caused them to push their dates back a few weeks, since I emailed him as soon as we found out to let him know that, "hopefully you weren't planning on early September, since that's when we're due! We'd hate to miss it!" But I think beginning of October was easier for them to book, anyways--lot of weddings take place around here, and I know things can fill up pretty quickly. So we'll be attending with, most likely, a one month old, but that's all good. They're having it at a venue that only has one event at a time, so it's not like we'll be disturbing anyone if we have to find a quiet place to feed/change diapers. We're looking forward to it!

Sunday was a chill day. Yeah, we skipped church. If we can't go Saturday night, it's tough to go on Sunday, but that's alright. I'm pretty sure God can forgive us. :) I'm hoping the weather clears up soon--it's been pretty rainy and cloudy since Sunday, and even though it's in the mid-60's right now, it's so rainy and blah out. :( Doesn't make Jeremiah happy--he wants to go out and play! Maybe it'll dry off by the time his nap is over... At very least, we'll go out to the grocery store and get the essentials--milk, turkey, etc.

Yesterday was nice! Even though it was rainy, Jeremiah took a great nap (3 hours!! One positive side affect from the rainy days...) which made the afternoon nice. We headed to the mall to get some gifts for friends who just had babies. Afterwards, Jeremiah played in the play area there (he loves it! His favorite thing to do is going down the 'slide'. It's not a real slide, but enough of a ramp where he can slide down just fine.

Then we had to go meet Daddy at Konami! It's my favorite sushi place... The food is okay, but they have this one roll, called the Konami roll, and it's soooooooooooo goooooooooood! It's got crab, asparagus, cream cheese, avocado, and some mystery fish (not sure what it is), topped with a spicy sauce--it's sooooooo gooood! Not the easiest thing to eat--it's about the size of a... hmm... well, we'll just say that you can barely fit each piece completely in your mouth (and it's not something you can really bite in half to help yourself out, either... completely falls apart when you do that!) Did I mention it's sooooo goood! And they have "Happy Hour" from 5-7, so you can get beer or sake pretty inexpensively, along with a few appetizers and certain rolls. Good stuff! It's something even non-sushi lovers would probably like, because I don't think there's any raw fish in it (pretty sure the "mystery fish" is cooked... but who knows...) We usually get a spicy salmon roll to make up for that, but last night, we just wanted the Konami roll. I'll get a spicy salmon roll from the store today when we go. Their's is pretty good.

This year seems to be the year of the girls.... I know three people who had girls this year, so far--4 if you include the week before New Year's! I kinda know one person who had a boy, but since we don't really keep in touch with them anymore, I'm not counting them. :) Two friends of our's each just had their 2nd daughters! So I had to get them matching dresses, and Old Navy had the cutest on sale!

Man, I really hope Jess Jr. is a girl--I want to buy some dresses! Not necessarily all pink--I can only handle so much, but there are so many cute little girl dresses out there! I told a friend I need to stock up on BabyLegs, so she can be in dresses year round! :) Then she'll be just like her Mommy--I refused to wear pants when I was growing up. I would FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT everytime my Mom tried to put me in pants until I was in 3rd grade, I think. Now, don't forget I grew up in Rhode Island. New England winters aren't exactly dress friendly. And it seemed like I never had tights that fit, either... I outgrew them so quickly, and a new pair would be way too long. So a few times, I had to concede and wear......... courderoys! Duhn-duhn-duhnnnnnnnnn.... I hated courderoys... but that's all we had! We went to a private school 'til the middle of 3rd grade for me, and while we didn't have a uniform until that year, you couldn't wear jeans to school. Not that I had jeans to wear... didn't get those 'til middle school/high school. But still...

Obviously, I've grown out of that. I rarely get to wear dresses now, but I do have a nice maternity one for the weddings we have to attend in the next few months. With my luck, we'll end up with 5 boys, and I won't have anyone to lavish dresses upon. Hmm.... 6th time's a charm??? :)

Jeremiah is growing into such a big boy now! He's really picked up feeding himself with a fork or spoon. I'm not allowed to feed him anymore--he'll let me give him two bites, and then he starts grabbing for the untensil I'm using. So I'll put the bowl on his tray, give him a spoon or fork, and let him have at it. Usually, I'll have a second spoon or fork that I'll use to feed him while he attempts to feed himself, but lately, I haven't needed it--he's been doing so well on his own! Yestreday, he ate almost all his eggs by himself (two scrambled eggs). I only had to intervene a couple of times, and usually, it was to help him "stab" the eggs with his fork. What a big boy!

Next milestone we have to tackle is potty trainning. Since we plan to use our cloth diapers for Jess Jr. as well, we need to get Jeremiah out of them before she gets here. At least during the day--we're already using an overnight disposable at night, since he used to wet through his cloth everytime. At least if he's diaper free during the day, I'll only have to wash newborn diapers, which are much less work than toddler diapers (newborn poop washes out much more easily--no dumping or rinsing required until they start on solids. TMI??? Sorry. :) I think I'll start when he turns 15 months, which is next week. I've just been too lazy to do it. First trimester, I was exhausted, so I definitely didn't want to start getting up with him to put him on the potty. I think now, as long as we get to bed before midnight (I'm looking at you, Jeremy... no more, "We'll just watch the first part," and then watching the whole movie... Not doing that up all night business with a newborn again--we used to go to bed at 2 or 3 in the morning! Of course, I dreaded nighttime in those early weeks... I'm hoping for a better experience this time around...)

Finally, I think it's time to get Jeremiah's hair cut for real. Like, short. It's already getting to long again. It's very cute, but it drives me crazy... And it does all sorts of weird things when it dries--stands up in different directions. Makes him look like a bum, and he's not a bum--he's my big boy! So yeah, that's my vote. If Jeremy can cut his hair super short, I don't see why we can't cut Jeremiah's... Whether or not Jeremiah will actually put up with that is another story. I'm guessing he won't deal well, but if it's done quickly, we might have a chance.

That's all!

Jeremiah's new thongs.

The quest for the perfect pair of sandals continues...

The Placenta Brain Monologues

(Thanks, Laurence, for coining the phrase, "placenta brain"--it really does capture the essence of what being pregnant does to a woman, and their intelligence. :)

Well, this whole "placenta brain" thing is really getting annoying now. I should start a website where women can submit stories of how stupid they get when pregnant... I'm sure there would be volumes to fill!

So what's the latest blunder that I blame on the ever-present placenta?? Soft-boiled eggs. While they may be a delicacy to some, around here, we prefer our eggs HARD boiled, not soft boiled.

For Easter, as I mentioned before, Jeremy and I decorated some eggs for Jeremiah to "find." I piled up my dozen and a half eggs in a pot, covered with cold water, cranked the stove up to high, and went off to gather my boys who were hanging out at the neighbors. We had decided to run to the grocery store before Jeremiah's naptime, so as to avoid the crowds (it did work, btw... and they were just putting out the fresh baked bread which is a MILLION times better when it's right out of the oven... what a difference a few hours make... sooooooooo goooooooood!)

Of course, a watched pot never boils, and I got impatient. I wanted to leave so Jeremiah could take his nap as close to normal time as possible. Once some bubbles started popping up (more like a good simmer, than a boil) I killed the heat, popped a lid on it, and went on our way. They'd be done by the time we got back, no problem.

Well, today, I went to make some egg salad only to discover these eggs were not quite cooked... Nope, they were about the consistency of pudding... pudding eggs doesn't make good egg salad. In fact, pudding eggs don't make good anything... except trash.

Oh well. At least they're pretty trash...

I guess I can't really blame all that on a placenta... It was more my impatience that caused it than me bein' stupid. But here's the next part....

While making said Easter eggs, I decided I would pull a "Savannah" (old friend from church who seems to have photo-documentaries for EVERYTHING! I just don't like my camera that much,) and take all sorts of photos along the way. Had a moment this morning, thought I would try to upload them. "Hey," I thought, "why don't I try using the card reader on my laptop instead of trying to dig out the cord for the camera!" Yeah, great idea...

So I pop out the memory card (SD Pro DUO), pop out the fake plastic card from the slot, and pop in my card. Hmm... it kinda gets swallowed up in the slot... That's because it doesn't take Pro DUO cards, just SD Pro (Pro is a longer version of the pro duo, basically... It's about 2 inches whereas the DUO is only an inch or so... fits in small places better.) "Wait, I've got an idea. They're basically the same card, so I'll just use the fake one to push it in."

Yeah.....

Now, I should know better than to try this... But I did it anyways. And now? Well, we'll just say, don't believe the cheap plastic fake card accurately depicts the correct way to insert your memory sticks into the slot... Yeah, it's stuck. Guess I shouldn't have shoved it in there.... Not that I had to shove hard... But yeah, it's stuck, and all my recent pics of Jeremiah (and eggs) are on there... Grr...

I'm pretty confident I'll be able to get it out. I just need to find a pair of tweezers.... Hopefully that's all I'll need... *gulp*

And that's about it. I guess I should go eat the leftover fish from Easter... maybe that'll boost my brain functions to "semi-stupid." Things could be worse, though, right? I could have done something even more stupid.... Don't worry, I'm sure I'll get there long before Jess Jr. arrives. :)

Speaking of Jess Jr., we've scheduled our ultrasound for April 9th. We could have had it next week, but Jeremy didn't want to do it during the lunch hour. Instead, we get to wake up EARLY (for us) and be there by 7:55 a.m. Jeremiah's usually not even up by then. Maybe we'll put him to bed a little early the night before.

My biggest concern about having it so early is that you're not supposed to "empty your bladder" for an hour beforehand... Umm... who doesn't have to pee when they first wake up??? So I'll probably set my alarm for 6 or something, and try to pee early to avoid any problems during the appointment. Hopefully little miss thang feels like cooperating and showing off (and is a little miss thang, as opposed to a little mr thang...) We'll see!

Jeremiah's attempt at eating a PB&J.

Bagels aren't the easiest thing to eat with just your front teeth.

It's back!

We're 17 weeks! Woot!

Today, we have a midwife appointment. Probably nothing new will happen, just the standard checking weight, belly, heartbeat, bp, and q&a time. Pretty routine stuff.

However, they'll probably tell us that we can go ahead and schedule our ultrasound, if we decide to have one. (It's optional, though I don't know many women, if any, who would chose not to have one--except those who don't have insurance to pay for it, which I'm sure is at least a small part of Birthcare's clientele. After all, they're your cheapest alternative to a hospital birth, unless you go private practice midwives. The woman I rented the aqua doula from last time also provides midwifery services, but the insurance won't cover it. It's so funny, because we're saving our insurance thousands of dollars by delivering with Birthcare, yet our out-of-pocket is so much higher [hiring a birth assistant is the biggest expense, at $600... Insurance gives us a portion of that back. We get the rest from our flexspend account, which is really helpful--not like we're using that money for daycare, so might as well use it for something!])

For a while, we considered not having one (well, I considered it... Jeremy "has to see" his "child." lol) and then we decided to do it, and not find out the sex. But now, we'll probably have one AND try to find out the sex. The only reason: so we know which bedroom to move Jeremiah into. lol See, we want to move him before the baby comes, so he can get used to his new room without feeling like the baby took his old one. Not that the baby will be in the nursery right away, though I may start putting her (fingers crossed!) in there for naps earlier than I did with Jeremiah (heck, we didn't even have a crib 'til he was almost 2 months old.) Plus, I'd rather get Jeremiah's room all cool and boy-like while I've still got some energy (still waiting for the big boost, but at least I can get up before 10 without feeling exhausted all day.) Jeremy's taking some time off from work before our trip to Vegas, so that'd be the perfect time to complete his room, if it's not done before then (and maybe our's, since we have yet to do anything with it.)

Anyways, the whole reason for all that other info (sorry if I've already mentioned some of it in previous posts... it's easy to forget what I've already written about,) is--I've set up a new baby poll! Figured we'd start earlier this time around. So cast your vote! You may win a prize!

I've changed the points for gender (only 50 now) so it's a bit more fair. Usually, there's vast difference between 1st and 2nd place for these things, so even if I had left it, there probably wouldn't be a tie. You'll still get the most points for guessing the correct date and time.

Here's the link: http://www.expectnet.com/games/JessJrORJeremiah2
Hopefully, it will work without a hitch (last time, we kept having link problems.) If you do run into a problem, though, there's a box on the right here that you can always click on.

We probably will not announce the sex on the blog, should we find out with 'great certainty'. But if you've guessed by then, we'll let ya know what we know, one on one. So guess early!

We'll do some kind of prize again. Our last winner, James (my brother who was lazy so he just guessed our due date and won!) got a couple of CD's, but we'll come up with something good if we don't feel you're "cd-people". This is the iTunes generation, after all. :)

Uhhh... "Do as I say, not as I do."

Well, after that whole big long hullaballou about remembering Mr. Rogers by wearing a sweater on "Sweater Day", I completely forgot to do so. I was so caught up in the fact that the first day of Spring fell on the same day, forgot all about wearing a sweater in Mr. Rogers' honor. Whoops. I remembered earlier this week that I needed to check which day to wear it on, and then forgot to follow up. I'll chalk it up as a pregnancy related lapse in memory. What's your excuse?? :) My bad, should have reminded ya.

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. On Maundy Thursday, we had planned on going to church for the communion service, but ended up staying home since I wasn't feeling so well that afternoon. Really screwed up our night, too, because I had changed up Jeremiah's nap schedule so he'd be okay staying up an extra hour or so. Usually he's in bed between 7 and 7:30, but the service didn't start until 7:30. I tried putting him down around 6 as if it were bedtime.... He didn't fall for it. He just played in his crib the whole time, and waited for us to come get him, which we finally did about 30 min later. By then, he was wide awake. When Jeremy tried to put him back down for bed, he wouldn't sleep, and didn't do so until almost 9. So much for that.

We did get to watch the service online, though, which was really nice. I'd rather have been there in person, but I guess there's always next year.

Tonight, we went to the "Easter Saturday" service, instead of showing up on Sunday when there's like a MILLION people. Sunday mornings at Mclean are pretty crazy already--10:45 service nursery always fills up before the service starts, so we definitely were wanting to avoid that. Plus, we like going to church on Saturday nights, as it's not quite as crazy, and it's a good time for Jeremiah, even though he ends up staying up a little later.

This service, though, was PACKED. We've never seen so many people there on Saturday night. I guess a lot of folks listened when Lon (lead minister) asked everyone who normally comes Sunday mornings to come Saturday night, as many folks who are just visiting are more likely to show up Sunday morning, especially to the 10:45 service. But it wasn't just other Mclean-ers. There were lots of visitors, too, from what I could tell. Luckily for us, Jeremiah's age group doesn't close out as quickly as the younger ones, and he was able to spend the service playing in the "ball pit". Usually he'll pull the balls out, drop 'em on the floor and kick him around--it's always the first place he goes to when we drop him off. What a cutie pie!

The service was excellant, of course. I've come to realize why people like listening to Lon so much. I always thought he was good, but compared to the other preachers they have on staff, he's definitely the "meat and potatoes" kind of preacher. Other preachers have good sermons, and get their point across just fine, but it's kind of like eating soup--it's just the first course, and there's always room for more. Some preachers out there, not at Mclean, but in other mega churches, aren't even soup, but more of an "amuse bouche" (it's basically what comes before the meal, before the hors d'ouvres, and is at most, two bites of food... Yeah, if you weren't hungry before, you definitely are now.) These preachers preach to their churches, and people leave may leave "satisfied" with themselves, but spiritually starved. Yet at the same time, much like those starving children in the commercials, they will become so used to being hungry, they no longer feel hunger pains. They just... exist. Ya definitely won't leave Mclean that way, at least not for a while. By then the hunger is usually not for more preaching, but more intimacy with God--that can only be filled by your own time with Him in the Bible and in prayer. This is the point that I'm at now, where I know I need to spend more time with God, and learning more about Him, where I leave Mclean hungry for more because one sermon once a week no longer satiates. I just haven't sat down to make the time yet. Maybe I should make a "God Blog" and do it that way. :) I make time for blogging, that's for sure!

As I said before, the service was excellant, and I encourage everyone to listen to it, if you can. Best line from the whole thing was when Lon was explaining a conversation he was having with a Jewish woman who was trying to encourage him to return to Judaism (he's Jewish.) When she asked how he could say with complete certainty that he would be spending his eternity in Heaven with God (just as Jeremy & I know we will,) one of his last lines was, "Follow a dead savior and you'll end up just like him." If you can, listen to it, it's at the bottom of the page on the right under "recen sermons". Just find today's date (or it may be tomorrow's... 3/2-something!)

Happy Easter, everyone! Hope you have a wonderful time celebrating the resurrection of Jesus on this day! We're doing an Easter Egg hunt for Jeremiah despite the fact, but we don't forget the true meaning of this day: He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed! :) Have a blessed day!

LOST Epi. 7 - Meet Kevin Johnson

And that's all, folks! See you in April!

Booo... boo for breaks... boo for cliffhangers. The producers were right--last weeks episode would have been a much better ending point before the break. Stupid ABC and their, "Oh we want all of our shows to come back together. So, and it still needs to end during May Sweeps, otherwise we can't charge advertisers as much money as we'd like." STUPID ABC!!!

While this episode answered many questions, especially about Michael and where he's been all this time (Mr. Friendly returns! And guess what--he really IS gay! Wasn't just bein' sweet when he told Kate she wasn't his type last season.) But of course, we're left with a bunch more questions (aren't we always...)

First question is "WHY, SAYID?! WHY DID YOU TURN MICHAEL OVER?!" If only you knew what your future looked like. I half expected the captain to say, "I know." when Sayid spilled the beans. Maybe he still will. Or maybe he doesn't believe Sayid, like, maybe someone "confessed" to doing all that sabotage work after going coo-coo... It's possible. Or maybe the captain's just not surprised. Or something. I'm sure we'll find out after the break.

Second question would be "Who was shooting at Danielle, Alex, and Karl?" At first I thought it was Ben's people, his way of getting rid of those Alex might chose over himself. But I don't think that's the case. I think it's Mr. Frank Lapidus, or at least those he brought to the island for a "quick errand." I don't think that Frank himself, or Daniel for that matter, would actually kill anyone. But Omar was looking pretty gun happy "shooting stuff" in Michael's flashback...

Third question has to do with Naomi and her group for her mission--Daniel, Frank, Charlotte, and possibly Regina. In her flashback, she was dealing with Abbadon, not Widmore, not the captain. And she was told those three would be her team. I believe that while Abbadon has ties to Widmore, maybe even works for him, I think he answers to someone even higher in the food chain. Perhaps he's linked to the Dharma initiative, though if he were, he'd probably know what's going on a bit better (and would know where to find the island.) So there could be 4(5) different factions at work: Widmore, Abbadon/Dharma, Ben & Others, Losties, and the Island itself. I know, that's five, but I don't think the Losties care that much about the island, and can be lumped in with the Others if we're talking about survival . While Widmore is probably motivated by greed, I believe everyone else has a more "spiritual" desire to see the island unscathed. That's my take right now.

I guess we know why Jack didn't jump now--the island wouldn't let him die. No matter how many pills he takes, or drinks he drinks, he can't die, just like Michael couldn't. And based on the short glimpses from the previews, Claire may not be giving Aaron up willingly, so much as Hurley holding him when the decision came to leave the Island. The 6 end up on the chopper, Hurley holding little Aaron, and looks around and says, "uhh.... I'm no father... who wants him?" Will we know what happens to the other Losties after the 6 leave? Or even before? Or will we only see the 6 leave because they were the ones hanging around when the chopper took off? Don't know! Guess we have to wait 'til April to find out.

BOOOOO!

On a side note, did anyone else cringe and yell, "ewwwww!" when Mr. Friendly was getting "friendly" with his "friend"?? Yeah, could have done without that.

Oh, and can I just say that if I were Jack, I'd take up drinking and painkillers, too, based on what we've seen of the freighter folk so far. Especially if they're holding the Losties prisoner, or something, or possible being executed, one by one... Should have listened to Ben.... then again, Ben kinda screwed himself by not being forthright about what was going on. He did it the "Ben way" which just pisses Jack off. Yup, should have listened to Ben.

And I still think it's Michael in the coffin. Supposedly, we find out this season. But we'll have to wait and see for sure.