Out of nowhere and after a long and tiring day of skiing for many in our vacation party, they produced as if by magic:

• Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate brownies with chocolate icing
• Bibs and one of those cute tag blankets
• A heap of their favorite books to help build Baby D-B’s library

Aaron and I were caught completely off-guard by this unexpected outpouring of love and celebration and couldn’t be any more excited to start Baby D-B off as the book nerd he or she is destined to become. Plus, in reviewing these gifts today, I’m just incredibly touched by the sweet notes and tender touches that accompanied each gift.

(Though, I must admit that I’m slightly alarmed that we received not one but TWO copies of ‘Go the F to Sleep.’ I’m not sure that I look forward to the implication…!!)

Extra big thank you to: Kay, Jody and Jack — Clare and Grant — Katie, Tom, Ashlyn and Abbey — and Heather, Nick and Eleanor (love the Eleanor book!) who were sorely missed on our second annual Sunriver outing! Love you guys!

Curtain panel-Ikea fabric

So, this is a big victory for me.

And not just because my seams are straightish or because it looks pretty or because I’m no longer scared of sewing my fingers into my fabric. But because it means I CAN BE DOMESTIC. And in my head, domestic=motherly.

I’ve never been butcher, baker or candlestick maker. And while I’ve never questioned my ability to parent, I’ve definitely questioned my ability to do mother-ish things like well…cook dinner, sew buttons on and well, provide a general sense of motherly craftiness that I see in so many of my friends.

Kay, for example, is excellent with textiles and both sews and creates art work for her walls. Clare is artistic and a great seamstress, spending many an hour making creations for her home AND mending Grant’s socks and underwear. (She doesn’t like to talk about the underwear part) Kim can spend five minutes in a room and POOF! it looks like it came out of a West Elm catalog. Brandy sends me homemade jewelry for my birthday. And Sarah can cook up just about anything her little Blake desires–and quite yummily, too.

But me? Me…well, I can do some mean cupcakes and a cool crafty card here and there-but whip up a fancy dinner? Not happening. Finish knitting that cute, pink scarf I stressed over so much a month ago? I think I already forgot how. Make jewelry? I’m not that coordinated. Mend underwear? I wouldn’t know where to start.

But turns out that despite all odds, I can work a sewing machine and I can make a curtain panel. And it seems to me that that’s a start towards being the mom I kind of dream of being… that mom who knows how to can things for the winter and bake fancy, multi-colored layer cakes and hem a prom dress.

And, most likely a mom who will raise kids who hate to craft for the very reason that I love it. But whether they love it or hate it, I’ll still have my pretty curtain panel…and that means I tried…right?

Anyway, yesterday I finally remembered to look them up online and sent the link to Aaron at work to look over too. Here’s the message he got when he tried to pull up the website for the Alberta Row homes:

Busted! For suspected pornography viewing! Bahahaha! Here’s what the very illicit site he was trying to access looks like…

Alberta Row--lusty stuff.

Maybe those ‘cool front courtyards’ pushed that website filter into no man’s land? “Art on Alberta”?? “Prices starting at $429,000″??

The good news for me is that if real estate websites like this are my husband’s idea of ‘porn’ then I’ve got good news for him–we’ve got plenty of titillating home buying years in front of us! And, furthermore, if this is the worst ‘porn’ that ever accidentally comes up on a work computer at Aaron’s work, they must have the most upstanding employee base on earth. But maybe… just maybe… they could turn the web filter down like one tiny notch…just sayin’.

I say….buy every box of Girl Scout Cookies you can find. Every single one of them. Stand up to tiny bigoted robots like this and help make America a more equitable place for my kid to live in…and yours too.

Update: Since the original video was taken down–I can only assume because our friendly bigoted robot found herself in water way too deep-here is a funny response to her hurtful words from another, much more open-minded scout.

Peace Out, GScout!

Showering every day is for the birds.

1. Showering every day is for the birds. And my dad.

We children of Thomas Lee Day have three things in common: excellent table manners, an incessant need to close the toilet lid (because what the EFF is it there for if not to be closed?!) and the express desire to shower every day. Every. Single. Day.

After all, we have a dad who reminded us to “Chew with your mouth closed!”-even if it was closed-and who almost religiously lowered the toilet lid–and one who showered morning and night…and maybe even peppered another one in there somewhere else during the day.

With pregnancy, however, showering on any prescribed schedule is out the window because in order to do so, one must not be doubled up on the couch moaning in nausea-astic agony and also must have enough energy to walk from said couch to said shower, during scheduled shower intervals.

While I’m feeling better these days, showers, for me, have become a delightful and refreshing every other day experience, chock full of lots of good smelling shower gels and PssssssT dry hair shampoo. And you know what? It’s alright. I don’t sit there and wallow in my dirt on off days–nor do I stink people out of the house (to my knowledge). Bonus–I’m saving water and valuable time!

2. It’s okay to do things not because they’re logical, but because they feel right.

My lust for the child-rearing part of my life was always hampered by logical concerns such as: how much it costs to raise a child, how motherhood will impair my ability to live the wonderful life I have been living and how my act will affect the broader global spectrum.

And then, a friend of mine said something to me like, “Jennie, having a baby is never logical–no one would ever do it if they were waiting for logic to set in. Having a baby is totally irrational. But, it’s wonderful.”

Moral of the story? There’s a lot in life that wouldn’t get done if we all sat around and waited for logic to set in–some things we do simply because it’s the right time and the right decision. And that’s okay.

3. Even good change causes stress.

When I found out I was pregnant, I fully expected to be leaping around the house in glee. Instead, I found myself somewhat horrified, feeling like crap and seriously questioning why oh why we had just turned our perfect life upside down.

In short, I was really stressed out by this news. Like bad dreams, panicky visions of screaming infants, crying at the doctor’s office stressed out.

But that’s okay. Turns out, the best things in life–the things that make us feel the very best–cause us to feel just as stressed as the things that…make us feel our very worst. And it’s okay to feel stressed in either case because IMHO that just your brain’s way of dealing with really big stuff. I think we actually need stress just to deal.

4. The human body is possibly the world’s greatest machine.

I have a 17.5 week old fetus in my womb that kicks and dances and will eventually be birthed from my loin as a tiny human. Enough said.

5. There is a reason people keep secrets.

Because if they didn’t–many of us might decide to totally skip some of life’s biggest experiences like… skiing (your body is going to hurt like shit the next day) and, well, pregnancy.

Turns out, there’s a lot your friends don’t tell you until you’ve actually conceived (rectal exam in the third trimester, SARAH?!). But that’s probably okay because I might never have taken this little leap of faith if I knew all the intricacies… some things are best left unspoken.

Bummer.

Le sigh. Newman took yet another trip to see Dr. Flaherty on Friday due to what seemed to be a pretty painful swollen spot above his left eye, acquired at daycare on Wednesday. After shaving the spot down, I was relieved to see that my suspicions about the spot were not totally unfounded but rather unrelieved to discover that the puncture wound went down to his connective tissue. Gross-town.

I nearly fainted when he walked back in the room from getting the shave down–seeing the calamari like white part under his skin was not something I’d ever wanted to see in my dog (or anyone else’s for that matter). But the vet said it is not “that bad,” cleaned it up and put him on antibiotics for a week and sent us on our way to a fun weekend in Sunriver.

Good news is that he’s not at all bothered by his funny haircut, the wound is healing quickly and, after Aaron showed the photo to the daycare people, they offered to pay the entire vet bill. They felt horrible that they hadn’t seen it happen, ever yet prevented it. And, to be honest, they’re great people. We can’t very well blame them for some dog going all dog while competing for balls, love and other toys in a dog pack. But them offering to pay the bill really took the sting out of the whole experience.

What’s up next for the ‘Newman Burget Health and Welfare Fund?’ A full teeth cleaning and dental gum graph in mid-February. Stay tuned.

Would you look at that teensy hat? Can you believe any human is ever that tiny?

Merry Christmas 2011!

Happy Christmas!

Baby Day-Burget, 11 Weeks

Q: How far along are you?

13 weeks, today. Last week, I said au revoir to the suck of Trimester 1. Thank god.

Q: Are you going to find out the sex?

No. 9 months worth of speculation is so much more enjoyable, don’t you think?

Q: Are you going to share your names with us?

No. You might ruin them for us with your raised eyebrows or casual “Oh, that’s different.” comments -and since there are like three names in the entire universe we both like, that would be a huge problem.

Q: Will it have a family name?

Very unlikely, but if so, a middle name at most.

Q: What will its last name be?

Day-Burget. It’s half Day and half Burget and thus it gets …at little bit of each of us. It can change it when it’s 18 if it hates it that badly. I don’t think it will care though b/c Day-Burget gives it some international flare – like Oscar De La Hoya… see? I plan for it to be an excellent global citizen and this is a step in the right direction.

Q: How big is its head? It looks enormous!

It IS enormous. At the time this sonogram was taken (11 weeks), the head was half the size of it! I’m hoping that it will shrink down some, though Cousin Eric reminded me that all movie stars and CEO’s have big heads. So true, Cousin. So true.

Q: Are you scared for THE BIG DAY?

I think I’d be insane not to be but at this point, I’m choosing not to really think about it. I’m just recovering from several weeks of nausea and general horribleness… I can’t yet come to terms with what is going to happen to my poor, poor, poor body.

Q: Do you think it will be a boy or a girl?

The Chinese Calendar, which claims to be 90% accurate says it will be a girl. I crave sweets, which Old Wives seem to think means it’s a girl.I was only mildly sick which means… depending on your source, could mean either. My hair tied to my wedding band hanging over my belly (yes I did this) went in circles. Which means its a girl.

On the other hand, I have a strong inkling that it’s a boy and so does Tom Shrimpton who is fabled to be an excellent predictor of baby gender. My skin remains clear which Old Wives say means it’s a boy.

So, it’s 50:50 at this point. Go figure.