First food!

Mommy mixes the rice cereal with boob milk.


Then Mommy gets Zadie and Baby Beans.


Zadie tries to eat Baby Beans instead.


First taste!


Daddy convinces Mommy that she should taste it so Zadie gets the idea.


Not so sure about this.


Daddy gives Zadie a rice Van Dyke. It makes her happy.


I don't think she swallowed a molecule, but it was cute.

That is all.

Aaahhh.... FREAK OUT

IMG_1980
Originally uploaded by countmockula

I don't freak out very often, but when I do, it's accompanied by the sounds of Chic's "Le Freak." So that's an upside. This morning I checked the bank account and was expecting to see my paycheck, a full paycheck, finally, having been deposited. Instead, it was about one decimal point off. Like, a tenth of what I was expecting.

Aaaaaahhhh FREAK OUT!

We had budgeted pretty carefully for the months I was going to be off, but I still expected my normal summer paychecks (since they're skimmed off my other paychecks throughout the year). I freaked out pretty hardcore. And it took all day for someone to call me back from the district office, but when they did, it was good news: That was a retro pay raise and my real paycheck is coming tomorrow.

WHEW. I guess "Le Freak" can get off the record player in my head now (yeah, it's a record, not a CD or MP3 -- I'm old).

The picture is unrelated. I just wanted to show you how stylish my sweetpie is. A t-shirt and jeans are always classic.

Boycott Good Eats (for Sacramentans)

Let me tell you about Corti's. It's a little local import grocery and deli. It's family owned. Employees are unionized. The deli is unbeatable. The wine selection is amazing, and there's always someone there to help you find something to your taste. The selection of beverages, breads, and barbecue sauces alone would make it worth a trip.

I've talked with the deli lady about dance, with the checker about tattoos, with the other checkers about school, work, neighborhoods, babies, boyfriends... they all made a fuss over me when I was pregnant and they make a fuss over the baby now that she's here. In short, it's a neighborhood store, and it's a great place to go.

In the paper, they announced that the owner was just informed that his lease isn't being renewed, and that another high-end grocer is going in there and paying twice as much for the lease. Doesn't that sound underhanded? Anyway, the new place is called Good Eats, and I'm not going there, despite that it will be two blocks from my house. It pisses me off. (I already sent them an email to let them know, too.) I'm hoping that Corti's can find a new place where they will prosper. I'll still be a customer (I mean, unless it's really far).

Sacramentans tend to be loyal and have long memories. There was a small grocery store not far from here that was an Albertsons everyone called Little Al's. When it got bought out and became a Rite-Aid, it became the world's emptiest, most abandoned Rite-Aid. I hope the same thing happens to Good Eats. I

Mom threw a refrigerator at me!

IMG_1977
Originally uploaded by countmockula

Okay, I need to take that back right away, because I know Mom already feels bad. It was NOT YOUR FAULT. But a refrigerator did drop on me as part of this morning's exciting events, causing that bruise, among others.

So, we were scheduled to get Mom's old refrigerator picked up between 9 and 10 and delivered to our house. Then a contractor for SMUD was scheduled to pick up the old one this afternoon.

I emptied the old fridge and Mom came over and we started to move it out of the house. We had measured it to make sure it would fit, and it did. We got it through the kitchen door, but in doing so, we tore off a baseboard and dragged it (and its nails) across the nice oak floor. So now there's a big scratch in the floor. But we got it to the front door with no further problems.

As we approached the porch, Mom said "Now if anything happens, you just dive out from under it."

I got it over the threshold and onto the porch no problem. Then there were the stairs. I tilted the fridge onto the dolly, braced it with my shoulder, and tried to move it down just one stair. That was not in the cards. It went slamming down both stairs, picking up speed, and it came at me. For about one second I tried to right it, and then I thought "No, this is the time for Mom's advice." Unfortunately, it is less easy to dive out from under a heavy refrigerator leaning on your shoulder at about a 30 degree angle, blocked by a dolly handle, than you might think. I did, out of instinct, dive for the grass instead of the concrete, and I got almost all the way out. It hit my upper arm pretty heavily (that's the bruise in the picture) and briefly trapped my foot. Other than that, it must have hit my hip, because my right hip is swollen and bruising. My left hipbone is a little sore, as is my left foot (I think I just twisted it slightly) and my lower back. Other than that, I'm completely okay!

We righted the fridge and plugged it in (it had to be running for them to pick it up) via a long extension cord, as we were not moving it another inch.

Just then, the guys came with the new fridge. He handed Mom about ten business cards, all for different ventures (moving, cleaning, car repair, Santa...). Then the SMUD guy came to take our old fridge (way early, so it was a good thing we'd started early!). He wheeled it off like it was a sack of potatoes. Bastard.

The moving guys moved the new fridge in with almost no problems, although they had to take off the fridge doors (for which he charged an extra $100 on top of the $75 to move it). But then, there was this little problem:



That's right -- it's two inches too tall to fit under the cabinet. So it is sitting about a foot out from the wall.

And before the moving guy left, he told us all about his life. He has fallen off a second story roof twice, out of a car once, been hit by a car once, fallen off a speedboat once, both his kidneys are shot, he has diabetes, he went totally blind but his sight came back, he's spent time in jail where he recorded a gospel song, hes walked with the devil and he got bored with that so he walks with God now, he's been married six times and has 19 children (18 girls and one boy), his oldest child he had at 14 with the babysitter, he's had two strokes, he speaks five languages, and he has a book coming out. It's $95, but there are people lined up to China to get it. Oh, and in it, hedescribes how when he almost died, he did go into the tunnel with the white light. It wasn't that long, just from here to that chair. He didn't see God.

I would say that what went right today is as follows -- we have a new fridge, and it works. We had the old one out in time. I have interesting blog fodder. And now, can I be excused from housework with a simple "ouch"?

The ultrasound -- Booby milk saves the day!

Well, we don't know anything (I suppose we'll hear from the doctor), but we did have the ultrasound today. All the nurses were flirting with the baby (well, she IS adorable), and the ultrasound technician was really sweet. Zadie kept trying to grab the wand (actually she succeeded more than once)*, and she got the jelly stuff all over. She also kicked a ton. But she didn't fuss or anything.

They told us not to feed her for two hours prior, and then they'd give her glucose water to watch it go through her stomach. But she wouldn't take the glucose water at all. She chewed on the nipple, spat it out, but would NOT drink it. They asked if I'd brought her anything to drink and I said no. They asked if I could nurse her, and I said I didn't have much supply, but that I'd try. So I nursed her briefly on both sides, not expecting much, and then they did part two of the ultrasound, where they saw... milk going through her tummy! Yay! They got the pictures they needed, and all because of boob milk!

The technician and the doctor did a lot of "Mmm. Can you get that? That's really short. There it is, that's a good shot." But I don't know what any of it means. Is short good, bad, normal? Is it short because she's a baby? I don't know. But I guess we'll know soon enough.

*Am I always this parenthetical-happy? I feel like I am.

Injury, illness, and beans, oh my!

This strange green dreadlocked dolly is Baby Beans. She was mine when I was an infant, and I loved her nearly to death. Now her near-dead self has been found in Mom's garage and brought into our house, where it would seem that Zadie loves her, too.



Zadie received her first blow to the head yesterday, and it was all my fault. We went for a walk and she was in the sling. She was so happy that I left her in the sling while I started to make waffles. I lifted the waffle iron up, picked it up just a little higher to make sure the cord was free of the drawer it had been in, then started to lay it down on the counter, but it paused oddly in its downward trajectory. That's right -- I beaned my baby daughter in the head with a waffle iron. It was so horrible and it played out in slow motion. At first I thought she only had a little dent, then the dent got dark, then it started to swell and the dent got wider... I cleaned it and put a bandage on it, and she seems fine. In fact, she stopped crying after only a few seconds. I feel horrible, naturally. Not only is her first injury my fault, but I beaned her in the head with a waffle iron! Geez, does it get any worse?

Of course, to add insult to injury, I had a little stuffy-nosed cold this weekend, and last night Sweetie and I woke up to the sounds of sneezing and snuffling. That's right -- she has her first cold. She can still nurse, but she sounds like she's snoring when she does. Poor baby. I took her into Trader Joe's this morning and she had a bandage on her forehead, a snotty crust under her nose, and tears welling up in her eyes (she'd been in the car). Zadie at her best.

She has an ultrasound on her tummy this afternoon to see what's causing the reflux. I don't have high hopes -- I mean, there are two options. A: Yep, she's got reflux. B: Uh-oh, something's REALLY wrong. Either one is fairly unsatisfying. A is what we already knew and B is scary. But at least we'll know, I guess. And now she's crying. Gotta run!

A day in the life

We started off our day with a walk to Long's for some items we needed. First, we put on protective eyewear:



Then we lock up the house:



And walk down the street:


We live close to a Trader Joe's. Aren't you jealous?



Time for a feeding with the SNS:


And some looking out the window:


Then Grandma came to take us to Mommy & Me because my car was trapped in the garage by a Dumpster. We went to lunch, too:




Then it was off to Babysigns class. This is Deborah and Beebo the Babysigns bear:


She got a toothbrush!


At home, we walked to get our vegetables (it's right behind the Trader Joe's, so the same view as before. But here are the veggies we got!


Then, while the baby slept in the sling...


I made dinner (a sort of off-the-cuff ratatouille):


There was fancy corn!


They finally came and took the Dumpster!



Then we got ourselves gussied up:



And went to a poetry reading*:



Finally, we came home to Daddy/Sweetie:


*I know what you're thinking: You took a baby to a poetry reading?! Well, often she falls asleep in the sling, and that's what I was hoping for. In actual fact, though, she was quite animated, and was howling happily and shrieking in delight, so I took her outside and only got to hear about three poems. Oh well, I bought the book.

Further proof that I have to much time on my hands

New video:

Bloggy McBlogstuff, Back to What Now?!

I went to BlogHer... sort of. That's right, on Saturday my mom and I crashed BlogHer. How often do you (read: I) get the chance to see Suzanne, Alex Elliot, and Suebob? So we drove to San Francisco (Mom was concerned about my abdomen and besides that, my car is trapped in the garage by a Dumpster)! Traffic was really heavy (actually, the heaviest I've ever been in on the way into the Bay Bridge) so we didn't get there until almost 1, but my friends were game, and we went to Sears Fine Food, which I'd never heard of, but they had a historical plaque and everything. We split a bunch of silver dollar pancakes (which were great), then all ordered various brunches. We also got a mysterious fruit cocktail which we ate two strawberries off of before telling the waiter we hadn't ordered it (we thought it came with something). It was super-nice to catch up with my friends, and they suggested we wait until after their next session and hang out more, so we did. I used BlogHer's handy lactation room (thanks!) and we kicked it there until the session was over, when we had free coffee (thanks again, BlogHer!) in the "Roomba room" and got to watch a robotic gutter cleaner explode. Then Suzanne walked with Mom and I down Sutter, where I bought a few things at the Kariktur store and Paul Frank store. It was cool and breezy in SF, and I enjoyed walking around. But it's definitely most amazing that I made a friend via the internet who lives on the other coast and yet I've managed to meet her in person many times (In Sacramento, SF, Chicago, Sacramento, and SF, respectively). Isn't that neat?

More on blogs -- I am a bad blogger because I don't have a blogroll. That's a list of links to other people's blogs on the side of my blog. First of all, I feel like most people that read me either already know all the other bloggers in my wee circle, and second, I am very, very lazy. I occasionally link to other people (as I did above, ta da!), but rarely go "Hey, check out this person." But I have been so enamored of Black Hockey Jesus that I feel the need to point him out to you, just in case. He's only been blogging for a couple months, so if you have some free time you can even go back and read from the beginning. He's blatantly trying to get "big," so I almost hate to help, but some of the things he writes about his children make me cry. You ought to check him out. This week, he's on vacation and has guest bloggers, but they've been pretty funny, too. Here's a free sample: Just read this one and see if you're not hooked.

Someone asked me recently when I have to go back to work. It's about 6 weeks. I am starting to see "Back to School" commercials. I am absolutely horrified. I can't believe I have to leave this little bug and go back and work for like 7 hours a day. I am afraid of losing our nursing relationship. I am afraid she will call her grandma "mom" for the first time and not me. I am afraid she will take her first steps while I'm at work. I'm afraid I'm going to miss so much. I saw a toddler in Trader Joe's today and he was smiling at a balloon and I wondered if I would still appreciate every smile when she's that age, because right now I really do. And then I thought about how many smiles I'll be missing. I always planned to go back to work, and I'm sure that once I'm doing it, it'll be fine, but right now it's terrible.

And, uh, never mind that I'm not prepared for the year yet. Yeah, I'm making my way VERY slowly through Song of Solomon. I haven't re-read some of the other books I'm supposed to be teaching in YEARS. And I don't have any kind of plan yet. I haven't so much as looked at a calendar or a gradebook or a notepad. Nothing. The closest I've come is thinking about how I'll assign homework to my 9th graders. Did I mention I'm teaching two curriculums that are brand-new to me? Good times. Six week is not long. I could easily pass it just staring at the baby.

A few more pics

Maryam reminded me that on Sunday before dinner we played our new card game, Kill the Hippie. According to my mother in law, it was a "perversion." We had a great time blaspheming.


This deer was in the front yard of Maryam's house. The house is right next to a trail to the park, and we saw several deer there.


She's starting to respond to tickles and zerberts.


We took this picture for Monkeygirl, who likes tiny things.


I think this is worth a thousand words.

Friday and Saturday

I never caught you up on the last couple days of the trip. On Friday we went to Amazon, which is supposedly a community pool, but for reals, it is a water park. It has like four separate pools, an area for lap swimming, two slides, a fountain, two low dives, a high dive, and a tall diving platform (which Sweetie went off and Maryam didn't and he REALLY REALLY wants you to know that), a hot tub... Oh my gosh, seriously. It was so cool. I went off the low dives a few times but mostly just hung out in the shade with the baby and watched the kids play.

I don't even remember what we did for dinner that night, although that might have been the night Kelsey made us all tacos and then the conversation went train-wreck stylie with Mom-in-law. Then Sweetie got drunk and went to the park and peed just off the bike trail and fell in the sand. Which pretty much removes his coolness points from diving off the platform, right?

Saturday was Lake Cleowox. We had thought of going to the coast, but instead stopped at this great spot where you could swim, build sandcastles, rent kayaks or canoes, dive off a platform, or sit in the shade and talk and eat sandwiches, which is what we did. Kellen built a sandcastle and then was so protective of it that he wouldn't come back for ice cream. The weather was beautiful, although as it got later it got cooler and windier, which made our next stop A&W rather than the coast. On the way to the lake we got stopped briefly by traffic to the country fair (widely considered to be a naked hippie dope-fest) but had easy traffic on the way home, which was a good thing, since Zadie still screams in the car*.

On Sunday we went to the 5th street market for breakfast (well, bread and coffee) and hung out for a bit before heading back to Maryam's. I have no idea anymore what we did the rest of that day -- I'm guessing it involved a movie -- and then got ready for dinner at the Oregon Electric Station. Four of our family members work there (more or less), and it's supposedly really good, but unfortunately that's when I had my appendicitis and couldn't eat anything.

AI told you about the hospital business, but I didn't tell you some of the other stuff. First, Sweetie RULED. He made a list of all the things to do, called my mom, called Monkeygirl, took care of rescheduling our flight, called Budget about our car rental, packed up everything at the hotel, checked out, and essentially took care of everything that needed taking care of.

Maryam was my hero -- when I was first sick, the whole reason we called her was so that she could bring over a bottle. The baby wasn't feeding well and was kicking me in the stomach. I was frustrated and in pain (I recall lying on the bed whimpering "Don't kick mommy in the stomach... no no no no no no no"). She not only brought over a bottle and formula, but also some Gatorade for me and a few other things, and then she's the one who spotted the symptoms of appendicitis, called her nurse friend, and took us to the emergency room. She then stayed all night, holding the baby as she slept, and only got some sleep herself when they returned to the hotel for a couple hours. She was back at the hospital with Reza at 7 am.

Kelsey gave up her bedroom so I could get some sleep that afternoon and evening, so thank you for that!

And then major thanks to both my sisters-in-law for caravanning to Portland to drop us off at the airport so I didn't have to drive. It sounds like they had a long drive back as well.

At first I was horrified that this had to happen the day before we were supposed to leave. Here we were in the emergency room only 12 hours before we should have been at the airport. But with a little perspective I can see that the timing was just fine. First, we did get to spend just a little more time with the family. Second, if we had been home my mom wouldn't have been around to help, because she was out of town. Third, it wasn't at the beginning of our trip, when it would have put the kibosh on a lot of our fun. Fourth, the baby was so comfortable with her aunties by then that they could comfort her and put her to sleep when I was out of commission. So all in all, it worked out perfectly.

I'm sore today, but mainly when I try to stand up or sit down. The roofers came and have the driveway blocked with a big Dumpster, which I have decided is divine intervention telling me to settle the hell down and recuperate. Sweetie had to go to work today but will be here tomorrow to help take care of me.

I guess that's all for now. Miss Squirmy-Butt is itching for attention and I'm gonna give it to her. Without lifting her if I can help it. =)

*She's been slightly happier than usual in her regular car seat in Mom's car, which we are taking for thankfulness that she's not in the death-trap uncomfortable rental anymore.

More pics

Daddy and Pumpkin asleep:


Crikey:


Sweetie goes off the platform at Amazon community pool (which was AWESOME):


Family pic at A&W after a day at Lake Cleowox:


Siblings (plus TV):


We say our goodbyes (we thought!):


Whoops! Delayed by a trip to the hospital!

This cracked us up

Just checking
Originally uploaded by countmockula

After having three bottles while I was in pain and drugged up, the first thing Zadie did when she saw me in the hospital was pull my gown out and check out the goods.

More later -- Sweetie took 89 pictures in the last few days and I haven't even told you about Lake Cleowox.

Holy emergency appendectomy, Batman!

So yesterday afternoon I had a little stomachache and backache. I mentioned it to Sweetie, but didn't think much of it. Then we went to dinner and despite having a yummy-looking salad, I couldn't eat a bite. Sweetie knew I must really not have felt well when I turned down bread. I went to the bathroom a few times, thinking maybe something just needed to move, ya know? But it got worse to the point that I felt kind of weak and shaky. It was (supposed to be) our last night in Eugene, and I had already decided we would stay late at Maryam's so we could spend as much time as possible with the family. But by about six, I felt so awful all I wanted to do was lie down at the hotel, and I extremely regretfully told everyone that I needed to do that. We had a tearful goodbye in the restaurant parking lot and then went to the hotel.

At the hotel, I tried to feed the baby, but it wasn't working very well and she was crying and I was frustrated. I took a bath with her, trying to relax, but she kept wanting to step on my tummy, and it was really painful. Finally Sweetie asked if I wanted him to call Maryam to stop and buy a bottle for us so we could get her fed and I could go to sleep. She arrived shortly with a bottle (which the baby guzzled) and some Gatorade for me, some more formula... She stayed with us to feed the baby and help out for a minute, but soon we started to worry it was more than just a flu. Her close friend had recently had appendicitis, and she thought I had the symptoms (good call, M!). She called a nurse friend of hers who walked us through some poking around, and she said we should definitely go to the emergency room or urgent care.

We grabbed almost nothing and went to the emergency room. We got there at about 9:30, checked in, were admitted, then had to wait quite a while in the waiting area. When we were finally called in, they did some blood samples, a urine sample, hooked me up to an IV, gave me some morphine (thank you!), and generally would do something then disappear for a while. I had to drink this contrast fluid so they could do a CT scan. I had to drink a large amount in 5 minutes, and I got it all down but for about two tablespoons when I puked voluminously all over my bed. It came really suddenly. They were nice and cleaned me all up and brought me warm blankets and cleaned up the room. But I still had to drink the shit. And the nurse warned me that there was a nasty surprise regarding them putting additional contrast fluid down in the, er, lower part of the abdominal cavity. They left us alone for a long time, then, and I was finally wheeled upstairs for the CT scan and the nasty surprise. You know something's wrong when they start transporting you around in a bed.

The doctor came in a while later (by now, it's 3-something in the morning) and said that it was indeed appendicitis. I asked if it was the kind of thing that I could take some Motrin and get on my plane. She said no, because they were afraid it would rupture. So they scheduled me for am emergency appendectomy at 8 or 9 the next morning (in the event, it was shortly after 8. They wheeled my bed around, I talked with the anesthesiologist, and then I woke up at a few minutes to ten feeling... not too bad at all.

Originally, the doctor had told me they might keep me for one or two nights, but that if something went wrong I could expect to stay longer. But before the surgery my nurse indicated that if I could walk around, urinate, and keep some food down, thy might let me go later the same day. Well, I managed all of that and we were out of the hospital around 2! I still find it kind of surreal that yesterday I had a tummyache and today I am recovering from surgery. We got back to Maryam's and I took a long nap with the baby (who's been a trooper through all this).

Funny notes: this morning after the baby had her third bottle in a row, they brought her in to see me (all jacked up on morphine still -- I had pumped and thrown away the milk) and the first thing she did was grab the collar of my gown, pull it away, and look down at my boobs. Everyone was very sweet about her being there, and the nurses were enamored of her. Everyone was also sympathetic that we were out-of-towners and had to change our plans. The anesthesiologist said I was leaving a part of myself in Eugene, and I said it was like leaving your heart in San Francisco, but different.

I will probably feel worse tomorrow, but right now it's not bad at all. I took a couple Tylenol and can walk around and such. I'm still a little tired and dehydrated-feeling, and my nose feels funny from the oxygen, but I am now officially on the mend and appendix-less.

A lot can happen in 24 hours, huh?

Bloggus Interuptus

This is Sweetie.

Mockula is indisposed temporarily, but will resume her scheduled blogging as soon as possible.

Until then:

Vagsquatch your enemies,
see them gaze in confusion,
and hear them lament their lack of understanding!

(Guess what movie that's adapted from for bonus points).

Pic-o-rama

Random cuteness


Desperate for sorbet


On the trampoline with Kellen


Desperate for ramen noodles (I promise we will stop taking pictures of her staring at food soon, but it still tickles us)


At Perkins Peninsula


So sweet getting her feet wet with Dad

Kirk holds Sweetie down. Jacob gives him Buddha finger.


Me & the sleepyhead


Sweetie meets a lizard


Ezceptionally dorky expression (I thought he was just taking a picture of the baby)