Wow, look at the calendar! It's 2009!!

Hi there, normal people! How are you this fine evening? Yeah...

SO! I will catch you up on the last few weeks. The Sunday before Christmas, I started feeling More-Than-Average queasiness in the evening. And I thought, Oh no! Is my so-far-very-manageable "morning" sickness taking a turn for the worse? I went to bed and woke up within an hour knowing I had to vomit, which I preceded to do repeatedly and miserably for the next few hours. [Regretfully, the last thing I had eaten was some crackers and extra sharp cheddar cheese. And can I tell you? Vomiting extra sharp cheddar through your NOSE repeatedly is really, um... Not So Great.] And with the vomiting came The Other Symptom of Stomach Viruses Which Shall Not Be Named, in full force. And I realized, with great horror, that I was the leading star in an unfolding drama known as [drum roll]:

"REVENGE OF THE NOROVIRUS: THE NOROVIRUS STRIKES BACK!"

It was January 2005 all over again... the misery, the weakness, the inability to keep down even the smallest sip of water. Taking into consideration the fact that my gestational/lactational status required such a high consumption of fluids, I decided not to take any chances and hied myself (or, technically, Nate drove me) to our local ER, where I was given IV fluids and Happy Tummy Medicine and warm, snuggly blankets. And lo, just like Jan. 2005, the vomiting stopped after the Happy Medicine! But alas, UNlike Jan. 2005, The Other Symptom That Shall Not Be Named did not desist quite so quickly, so that right after they discharged me around 4:30, and I had to dress myself and go to the lobby to await transportation home... er, there were Problems. Embarrassing problems.

Let us never speak of this again...

Can I just say that hospital people are Really Cool? They were so very kind to me and let me lie down again after I was discharged to wait for Nate to come. And they brought me a drink and the warm blankets and let me rest. So the GOOD thing about this whole episode was that I got to see that the staff at the hospital where Baby #2 will most certainly be born are really all nice, kind, compassionate people [who can deal with The Liquid Sickness without batting an eyelash!]

So anyway, Tuesday night, the Chicken nursed to sleep as usual, and then right when I was about to leave her, she sat up in bed and threw up all her dinner (which happened to be ham and rice.) And you can probably fill in the details of what the next few days were like. (Christmas morning, she seemed fine. Christmas afternoon around 3 pm, she lost it all again!) And Nate got sick too, but thankfully for him, no vomiting. So needless to say, it was a rough week, what with all the laundry (!!!!) and the Listless, Miserable Toddler (who just wanted to nurse ALL DAY LONG) and the canceled Christmas traveling plans. But can I tell you how fantastically wonderful my husband is? He cleaned both bathrooms and watched the child so I could nap and ran to Walmart for stuff and generally took care of us all quite splendidly. Thanks, baby. ;-)

And then as soon as I got over The Virus, I caught a cold, which is currently on Day 21 or so of its l-o-n-g, ridiculously long duration. Although now I am no longer coughing and sniffling up buckets of green mucous- it's clear now, so that shows improvement, right?

[Can I just interrupt myself here to say I totally sound like an octagenarian telling you about my Maladies and Complaints? I am so very, very sorry about that. It's just My Life right now, you know? Next up: my gall bladder surgery!! With pictures and everything! (Kidding! Kidding. Ha.)]

And Madelaine and Nate both got the cold.

*THE END [of Maladies and Complaints]*

So we did get to visit both my family and our Lehigh Valley family and friends AFTER Christmas, which was lovely of course, and were showered with presents as always, including The Baby Carrier Of My Dreams!!

Thanks mom and dad!! You are too kind.

So now The Chicken and I are rather just in the winter doldrums, with HIGH temperatures in the single digits some days (yes, Farenheit!) Today at least it's sunny which is nice, and the snow is pretty, but still, I miss playground time and long walks in the stroller. Where are you, spring?!? Of course my husband loves the freezy-cold, and he got a chance to go skiing, which is great, so I'm happy for him. I just keep running out of indoor activities to do with my child...

Speaking of which, here are a couple of awesome pictures Nate's dad took at Thanksgiving:

Time to read more stories again...

Love,
Neb

Merry Christmas!!

My toddler has just rubbed vodka sauce all over her hair. And I need a nap. Yet I blog! For you! Yes, you too!

Greetings, my gentle readers,

I am sleepy! Not hungry, having just eaten the most fantastic lunch prepared by my esteemed spouse. But sleepy! I have the Coffee. Perhaps this will wake me up enough to compose a blog entry for you. Yes YOU, you whom* I love, you who checks this blog EVERY DAY for updates... Wait, you don't check every day for updates? I guess we can still be friends.

[Interlude. Child has just vigorously filled her diaper, with love and squalor**. Will go remedy the situation.]

That's better. What, you heard me yelling at my kid for trying to stick her hands and feet in the poop? She's my baby angel and I love her, but the Rapid and Vehement Poop Zone Expansion Scenario?? UNACCEPTABLE.

Anyhoo, time to write something for you. So. I am pregnant! I have The Pregnancy! We covered that in the last entry, didn't we? I am 7 weeks now and Very Happy. I Eat and Sleep a lot. I had my first OB appointment already, and both the nurse and PA were like, "You're nursing while pregnant? You need to eat LOTS and LOTS of calories."*** Don't worry, people, I AM ON IT!! I'm trying to go to bed a little bit earlier these days, but sometimes it seriously seems like my toddler needs less sleep than I do. Yesterday I actually woke up Nate to keep an eye on her while I went back to bed for a bit... which was lovely. And he was so sweet to do it. Oh, can't talk about bed, I will be sleepy again...

Okay! It's time to write about What Not To Wear.

Love, Neb





*Are there any who vs. whom confused people out there? Yeah, it can be tricky. Want a tip? Use "whom" anywhere you would use "him" or "her" [objective case], and "who" anywhere you would use "he" or "she" [subjective case]. So in the phrase "you whom I love," it's tricky because the word order is kind of changed around, but try this: which sounds right, "I love him" or "I love he"? So that means "I love whom" is correct, or, turned around, "whom I love." You can't say you don't learn anything from this blog!!

**This is a literary allusion to one of my favorite authors, J.D. Salinger, and his short story "For Esme, with Love and Squalor."

***They didn't mean donuts, did they? :-( Actually, it's okay, during pregnancy I tend to crave things like Steak and Cheeseburgers and Pasta and other Main Dishes more than sweets... I mean not that I don't EAT sweets, too, but you know what I'm saying. Okay, in the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that as I type this I am eating a piece of banana cake whose frosting is as tall as- nay, TALLER THAN- the cake itself. But this is only because my Real Food cravings have been satisfied by the phenomenal lunch, and I realized the cake would go well with my coffee...

Thankful

This year I am thankful for my family, far and near, for good food and abundance and especially for this new life growing inside me.

Note, this is unfortunately not MY actual pregnancy test. The cross on MY test is already unreadable. This is someone else's pregnancy test, courtesy of Google Images. However, it's the same brand (good old Walmart generic.) Mine looked like this, except the cross had a bold horizontal and faint vertical (and then the horizontal completely faded- go figure!) Next time I'm getting First Response even though they're more expensive. They seem more definitive. Isn't this an absurdly long caption?

I believe that at one point I had several catchy ideas in mind for this post, but of course when it comes to the point of writing they've all escaped me. What should I tell you? My due date is August 1st, I'm completely thrilled to be pregnant again, and I think this time it's a boy. There's nothing the slightest bit physical signaling that last point- just a purely inexplicable intuitive feeling. A sense of urgency that we really need to come up with a boy name this time. We've discussed a couple of possibilities, but Nate wants to keep a lid on it until further along (like maybe when we [hopefully] find out the baby's gender at 20 weeks.) However, you are invited to help our discussion in coming up with a pre-gendered nickname for our little embryo-baby; at the moment his nickname is Truman. There is no reason his nickname is Truman; it just is. It has nothing to do with the president. But if you have a brilliant alternative suggestion, I'm quite open to hearing it!!

We are here at my parents' house in Maryland until Sunday, and Madelaine is enjoying lots of attention, particularly from a lick-happy canine that inhabits the basement. Can you remind me later that I owe you all the following posts?

*Maddy's First Birthday post (before she turns two, hopefully)
*A post about Nate as a dad (this one's been simmering on the back burner over a year now)
*A few key points about things I've learned about life from motherhood
*The post I've been leading up to recently- the haircut, outfits, and shoe posts were all related- I need to write a long post with some philosophizing on the topic of Appearance
*A related post (part 2?) about materialism, gratitude, and living in a world of need
*A really long impossibly difficult post about all the places I've lived

Yeah, that's definitely enough material to keep me busy writing until 2009, and then some. But for now, this Mama of 2 is getting tired and ready for a few leftovers and reading and then bed. Hope you've had a beautiful holiday with people you love,
Neb

PS Overheard in the middle of the night last night:
Neb: "I'm hungry... your son wants more roast beef."
Nate: "He's supposed to be sucking on your uterus."

And tonight: Neb: "Hey honey, can you take your daughter downstairs for me? After all... [suddenly beaming with brilliance], I am carrying our OTHER child."

New Haircut!!!!

Let's ignore my the redness around my eyebrows (she offered me a free wax job, okay? My eyebrows, in their natural state, are so bad that beauticians practically want to pay ME for a chance to fix them), the small cut above my eye (thanks, Madelaine! she slammed me in the head with a book this morning), and my large recovering zit. Do you like my hair?? It's a Real, Honest-to-Goodness Grown-up Woman Hairstyle!! Jackie, "my new Hairstylist" (oooh!), even wrote down on a prescription pad what I will need to maintain this look- a hairdryer, a "vent brush," (what's that?), a wide comb, and some mousse and spritz. I love it!! Thanks, mom and dad, this was a great BD gift!!

Love,
Neb

Because you all deserve a random blog post! You know you do!!

So, my husband has this thing about Cutting Straight Lines in Baked Goods. He used to freak out if I cut a round cake in such a way that the Center Point was not really in the geographic center. So last night, I made some chocolate chip cookie bars (half recipe) in a round cake pan... and when they were done, I carved out [a few...] small wedge-shaped pieces for myself, without any particular pattern or plan. [I prefer to have Several "Small" Pieces of dessert as opposed to one big one. This is a kinder, gentler, less embarrassing way of saying Several Servings of Dessert instead of One.] So this morning, when I got up and approached the cookie bars again at breakfast time*, I was greeted by THIS:

*What? Don't you eat last night's dessert for breakfast? Come on...

Oddly enough, I didn't realize that this was meant to be the silhouette of two duck heads until my dear spouse informed me later- I analysed it from a purely mathematical perspective and noted the impressive interior extraction. Very unusual, huh?

And while we're at it, I might as well tackle a little topic I've been thinking about posting for awhile...

*Quirky Things About My Husband!!*

1) He does not drink beverages during meals, unless we're at a restaurant.
2) He does not use a knife to cut his meat. He soldiers on bravely with just a fork, no matter what! I have no idea how he accomplishes this (although in rare instances I think perhaps touching the meat with his fingers may be necessary... Shh, don't tell Emily Post.)
3) Though he stoutly denies the charge of "picky eater," he will not eat: peanut butter; spaghetti (other shapes of pasta are not his favorite, either, but he will eat them as long as they're not overcooked and not served too often...); eggs (unless prepared as an omelette with so much sausage/ other ingredients that the Egg Flavor is basically obliterated); toast; fresh fruit (he doesn't dislike it- just doesn't eat it on a regular basis); "damp bread" (ie, any sandwich with ingredients that moisten the bread inappropriately; can also happen in casseroles with some kind of breading layer, dishes that are generally too "soft" or "mushy" or "soggy"). He also protests ground beef dishes in any form, though we eat them, because, you know, ground beef is Cheap. He does not butter his dinner rolls.
4) To make up for these basic foods he won't touch, Nate has a tendency to chew on, chew up, and at times Swallow non-edible objects including but not limited to: toothpicks; chalk; paper (once he ate an entire church bulletin?); twisty ties; plastic straws and coffee stirrers; lollipop sticks; finger and toenail clippings; and a few other things that he mentioned when I asked him "Remind me, what else do you eat...?" but I won't include them here because they're kind of... disturbing.
5) He doesn't play board games.
6) He wears his glasses in the shower.
7) He hates to talk on the phone to anyone outside his immediate family.
8) He picks up random things on the street- bottle caps, broken watches, electronic parts, corks, and various Unidentified Objects- and likes to Save them in places where I can't find them. [He also likes to hide his "Special Nate Things" on the top of the tall bookshelf, where I can't really see them...]
9) He reports feeling Stressed in a very clean environment, and Relaxed and Happy in a den of clutter. [This would be fine except that I tend to feel Stressed in a cluttered environment, and Happy when things are neat and tidy...?]
10) He hates the sound of the vacuum, the toaster, and the electric mixer, and will go to hide in another room until they're over.
11) He only brushes his teeth... uh... "a few times a week" might be an exaggeration. A few times a month? "Whenever he feels like it" he says. However, he has had fewer cavities in his life than me, so I can't exactly complain... Also? his toothbrush flashes (it's for kids) for 90 seconds or something, to help him know how long to brush.
12) He plays with silly putty at work.
13) He will not permit me to be in the bathroom when he is using it. Ever. There has never been an exception to this in our 7+ years of marriage.
14) He is colorblind.
15) He has size 12EEEEE or 13EEEE shoes. These are very hard to find in stores. For this reason, he basically wears sneakers all the time, mostly New Balance.
16) He had meningitis and pneumonia as a kid- but never chicken pox.
17) He doesn't wear sweaters or sweatshirts because he tends to be Very Hot most of the time (and I think he's Very Hott...) ;-)
18) He does not own a suit. I've never seen him in a suit (although he rented a tux for our wedding, and got a black tux for choir (VERY HOTT!!)) He wore shorts to his doctoral defense.
19) He always wants to pop my pimples. And I don't let him, because it HURTS!! But that doesn't stop him from asking about 10,000 times per zit (which are thankfully fairly rare for me by now...)

There's more, but I might as well end on a prime number and get this published.
Love to all!!
Neb

And another one from my husband...

Neb: "Hmmm... according to this chart, I'm in about the 68th percentile for weight... and the 25th for height. That means I'm fat."*

Nate: "No, that means you're squat."

*I was just kidding. I wasn't actually bothered by this. I like chocolate more than I like small numbers on a scale, you know?