Thank you, Diana & Lin!

I recently received a suh-weet gift from my aunt & cousin in New York City. Included was this shirt. Obviously, it's not quite meant for the 9th month, but I LOVE what it says! At first I didn't even see the planet, didn't realize it was an earthy shirt. I just thought it was a great proclamation of authority. Now I realize that it's not quite as literal as I first interpreted, but I still may choose to read it that way. Great choice, Diana. Great choice, Lin. I love it.

Benefit for TLC

Some friends treated us & took us as guests to the annual fundraiser for TLC, an organization in KC that works with troubled kids & kids in foster care. I found out about this about 30 minutes before it started -- sweet! We were late, but it was fun. They raised a ton of money. I was so happy to see the free food as I have really hated cooking lately.

I got several compliments on my dress. I suppose they came out of the hypnosis that the concave pattern seemed to cause folks. It's one of those dresses I bought about 2 years ago thinking, "this would be really comfortable, especially if I were pregnant." Sure enough -- I was right. Only downside is that it really had to be worn with heels, which are never remotely comfortable while pregnant. At least not this late in the game.

Funniest moment of the night was when the stranger across the table started making small talk and asked me, "Do you know what you're having?" Tory reached & put his hand on my belly and responded, "We're having a basketball, can't you tell?" This was really funny for a few reasons. First was the obvious nature of the joke, yes, my belly looks quite like a basketball sometimes. Second was the fact that Tory does not make small talk, especially with people he does not know & will most likely never see again. Third was that he does not touch my belly in public (which I appreciate). All this summed to quite a funny moment, almost enough for me to accidentally wet myself. Almost.

Meet Daisy

Tory really, really wanted a dog. A big dog. A dog to go to the farm with him everyday. While Nelson would love to step in and fill these shoes (paws), his terrier physique just doesn't do anything for Tory's lumberjack image. So Tory let Velda have another litter of puppies and brought one home a week or so ago.



Much to my amazement, he named her DAISY. To my further amazement, she's actually a pretty good dog and I kind of enjoy having her around. Here is a pic of us when I went out to the farm to meet her for the first time.


The funny thing is, in the morning when Tory is getting ready to go, Nelson won't leave his side. When he starts to put his boots on, Nelson starts running in circles. You can see the hope in his eyes -- "Please take me, please take me, please take me!" He loves going to the farm. And Daisy will find me and sit at my feet or follow me around, not wanting to leave. So then we have to separate & carry them to their respective places of employment: Nelson to the house, Daisy to the farm. Nelson has been spending everyday since Daisy came home in a sulk -- just waiting for the rest of the family to get home. Sadistic as it is, I find it hilarious.

Masonic Stumper

The JB Big Band had a gig Sept. 20 in Columbia. The Masons (the Truman Club to be specific) invited us for the 3rd year in a row to play for their awards banquet. These folks are great -- they get super dressed up, seem very happy to be together, get a kick out of honoring each other -- AND they drink and dance, which usually means the most to me. The best audiences seem to always include those two activities.

It has taken me 3 years to finally figure out this phrase they always say in their awards presentations. I suppose I could have looked it up long ago, but I wasn't quite that intrigued. They use a title before each other's names that sounds like "Orsheln" or "Michelin", I just thought it was some weird ancient secret language I wasn't supposed to understand. And maybe they would even have me killed if I asked. I mean, they are all very nice, but I've watched the history channel specials on the Masons -- you don't mess around.

But I did figure it out this year. It is Right Worshipful Brother. What a mouthful -- say it fast and all together. Fun. Just take your gum out first, I don't want you to accidentally choke & die.

Here is a pic of me after the gig:

Like Mother, Like Father

32 Weeks!

Here we are approaching D-Day, and even after the past 31 weeks, I still have a hard time believing it's all actually happening. All the new gifts & gear contribute to the excitement for sure, but there are also some definite nerves involved. Not sure if there's more apprehension about the delivery, being a mom, or any potential changes in our marriage. But I'm just trusting natural instinct and hopefully any intuition my parents gave me to help us get by.

Smiling in pictures is pretty embarrassing -- you wouldn't believe how small my eyes get & how big my cheeks get. So we'll probably have to make do with the closed-mouth grin from here on out. I think laughter should be safe again after about 5 or 6 weeks post-birth.

Don't have too many problems with the ankles that seem to terrorize others (thank you, Mom for the good genes!), but you should see my hands sometimes! My veins pop so far out of my skin (about 1/8-1/4") that I look like I belong in a nursing home.

The chilly spell is wonderful. This is when I just can't get enough of the outside air. So I've started walking everyday, which is rejeuvinating for me and thrilling for Nelson. But it also sure makes me miss Charlie.

I've gotten most of the gifts from the shower put away, and am now working on just making sure everything is organized intelligently. Also have ordered many kids cd's and am getting those loaded on my ipod. I had to spend quite a bit of time listening to stuff to find non-cheesy non-electronic lullabies. Why James Taylor, Jack Johnson, and Sarah McLachlan don't have a lullaby cd is something I'll never understand.

Tory & I have a class this Saturday to hopefully educate ourselves so we have half an idea of what goes on during labor. Will give a full report afterwards. For now, I'm off to cataloging baby gear manuals.

Onesies!

I've kept my fingers busy lately! I got a random inspiration to embroider onesies. I thought it would be a simple trip to Hobby Lobby or Michael's for patterns to get started, but boy was I wrong. The only thing I could find in town was old-fashioned pictures of lighthouses, eagles, or praying hands -- not the sugar & spice & everything nice I was hoping for.

Then I looked online awhile and found this great little shop down in Austin, TX, "Sublime Stitching." Thier tagline is Not your Grandmas embroidery! so I knew it had to be good. I ordered some patterns and got started. This is what I've completed so far. Haven't decided on a favorite yet -- I love them all!

26 Weeks

Hello, All.

Beth, here, at 26 or so weeks.

The little gal inside is almost 2 pounds at this point and around 14 inches. They tell me she can hear pretty well at this point, can tell whether the lights outside are on or off, and is developing more regular sleep patterns. She's practicing the movements of breathing, and is also now able to open & close her eyes. I wonder what she thinks of the place.

Hands and feet are very active & may respond to touch at this point. I wonder if that is what's happening sometimes. She'll be kicking up a storm -- where my belly looks like a jumping frog in a water balloon -- but then if I put my hand on it, she will stop moving. Wouldn't it be great if that trick worked for the rest of our lives...

I just read that her feet are 2 inches long. Inconceivable! Can you imagine? No way......

I asked Tory to take me out last night. With all this work around the house & outside, I haven't been able to wear some of my super cute new clothes. Not that that was the whole reason for going out, but I have to admit that was a pretty big part of it. :) Given the fact that I was actually wearing make-up & had my hair down, I thought I'd better seize the moment & get a picture. The first one I tried to take of myself, the second is one I bribed Tory to take. (While he was mumbling about me correcting my retarded posture.)

If you can't tell from the above pictures, I find photos just a bit awkward these days. I've gained 9 pounds so far, which is pretty low for almost 27 weeks, but is still 9 pounds I'm not quite used to yet.

The Lame Schmuck

I've been getting a fair share of lectures about not blogging lately. It's been about 10 weeks I guess. So here is a little explanation if it helps any --

I'M NESTING LIKE CRAZY!

At first it was just an avoidance of our computer because of the time factor. (It takes about 10 minutes for a picture to load to the blog.) And I just don't have much patience for sitting around like that -- especially when the nesting bug hit. I've been keeping really busy with the house, the yard, and the garden and it feels great. We also went on a 10 day vacation to Maine, and then my sister & nephew and I went on a little vacation to our parents home in Rolla. If I can keep the blogging up (now that I'm back), I'll post some of the favorites from the trips.

My mom came up for about a week after we went to Rolla and helped me immensely. We painted a few rooms and moved all kinds of stuff around. For about 5 days we were intense in our pursuit to get things done. Tory was out of town which made it even easier. THANK YOU, MOM! There is no way I could have even handled the mental enormity of the task, much less the physical, without that help.

I've kept the momentum from her visit and proceeded to redo the bathroom. Yet to come is the hallway, basement, and upstairs bath. Then if I have any energy left, the two guest rooms. But we'll see how far I get.

Sorry to all who were checking the blog and coming up disappointed. I will try to be more diligent. But please, if you check it, leave me a comment or something so I know that someone is out there reading. It provides great incentive to keep it up!

Sweet Corn!

This past Saturday morning was our first big picking of sweet corn. Pop did most the picking, and I was the "runner" -- exchanging his full bucket for an empty one and taking the corn back to fill up trash bags. I'm still not sure who got the better end of that deal. :) In a matter of two or so hours, we had seven trash bags full. I piled them all in the back of my Matrix & headed home. We picked about 1/3 of the corn that day, so there is still lots more to come.

I had commitments Saturday afternoon & evening, and I knew I wouldn't get a chance to freeze the corn until Sunday, so it all went to the cool basement. Perfect spot. Made me a little thankful the basement flooded last year -- now we have one of those air conditioned spaces you can trash and then clean up.

Sunday morning the process began. First step was to clean up all the corn. Some call this shucking, some call this husking. I'm more of a shucker of the husk I suppose. My two life-savers Nicole & Jess came over, and we made a good time of it. Thank heaven for rubber gloves!!!! Without them, I am usually timid and inhibited when it comes to pulling the husk away -- you just never know if you're going to impale a worm or get your finger in his poop trail. But with the gloves there are no worries and it goes much faster. That whole process took us from about noon to 4 or 5pm. Good times.

So by 5 pm, half the counters in my kitchen were piled high with sweet corn and the bulk of the work was still to come. Next call was to Pat, my mother-in-law, who is a seasoned corn-freezer. In fact, when she was 9 months pregnant with my brother-in-law Cody (3 days before she gave birth), she was taking her trays of corn down to the freezer, and fell and broke her leg! Talk about bum luck!

Pat came over & led the remaining troops of Nicole & myself. Nicole stood at the sink & washed the corn with a brush, making sure to get rid of all the silks she could. Those nasty, nasty silks... Then they got passed to Pat & I, who cut the kernels off the cob and into a skillet. Pat likes to hold her cob in one hand at an angle & cut them off that way. Which is how I used to do it -- but I was always slow and inhibited by the thought of slicing right through my thumb muscle. But she taught me a new trick that she got out of a catalog.

The trick is to use a bundt pan. You stick the tip of the cob in the middle hole, and then scrape the kernels into the pan. This is genius!!!!! It goes so much faster (and safer) this way. Pat was reluctant to use this method after spending her whole life doing it one way, but as a newbie, I'm embracing it fully.

After getting the kernels off, they get boiled with a little sugar & water for just a few minutes. Then cooled, then bagged, tagged & frozen. The result is a freezer shelf full of yellow loveliness and the reassuring feeling that for the next year or so, as long as you can afford your electric bill, you will not grow hungry. Whew! Thank you Pop, Pat, Nicole, and Jess!