Dress Up Girls

Celie decided that she wanted to put on her Cinderella dress. (I think she is too big for it, so I think she won't be wearing it much longer). So, of course, Anna had to put on one as well. She started out with the Aurora dress on. However, it was too big for her. Then I found her Snow White dress and that was more to her liking. Then we went all down stairs for their princess photo op. Had to snap a few of Jake as well. Enjoy!

Anna with her best princess proper pose.


Celie NOT striking a princess pose.


Anna saying "cheese" for the camera.


I know she is thinking - why won't mom let me watch WALL-E again today.


Jake unphased by the princesses.


Twirling princess Anna.


Stinker princess.

Jake's 1st Bath

We have given Jake a few sponge baths, but we had to wait for his umbilical cord to fall off before we could give him a "real" bath. However, since we cannot find the small baby bath and I didn't feel like cleaning out the sink and such to give him a dunk type bath, I decided another sponge bath would be just fine. So, I cleaned and cleared the island thinking this would be a great photo opportunity as well. It could have been. However, Bob was upstairs doing something while I was bathing him, so I wasn't able to grab the camera until after I was finished with him. He was tolerant of the bath, but didn't like it very much. He doesn't like to be cold. He does take after me, I think. :)

He is not happy about all of the pictures that I am taking.


Look at Mr. Lanky here. You would never know that he is that long because he bunches his legs up inside of his sleepers. I am sure that will change soon. I still have to remember that he is only 2 1/2 weeks old.

2 weeks Old

Jake is 2 weeks old today. Therefore, he had his 2 week check up at the Ped's office. He has regained all of the weight that he lost in the hospital. And he has grown a 1/4 of an inch. The Dr. said that he is doing really well. She did give us a rec to have an ultrasound done at 6-8 weeks for his hips. Even though it is uncommon for boys to have hip issues, she said that with Celie's and Anna's history, she would rather be safe than sorry. No shots for him today, but he will have a series of them at his next visit - at 2 months.

Our Last X-mas

We had a great time visiting with Aunt Sue & Uncle Tom. They braved some pretty icky weather to come see us. It took them over 9 hours to drive to OH. But we had a great visit and were able to celebrate our last x-mas with them, Mr & Mrs O and Mike.

Mike made it back from Manchu Piccu in one piece and without any sniffles or ills. He had some great pictures and it was wonderful to see his slide show and hear all about his trip. It sounded like he and Ezra, his friend that went with him, were the most prepared travelers, besides the guides, in the group. He had a wonderful time.

For our last x-mas meal, I made a beef tenderloin, roasted potatoes, steamed carrots, and a frou frou salad. It was very yummy and there were hardly any leftovers.

It was good to visit with everyone and the girls had a great time chasing and being chased by the Uncs.

Christmas #5

We are heading into the home stretch of our celebrations of X-mas this year. Tomorrow Aunt Sue & Uncle Tom will be coming into town to welcome Uncle Mike back from his hiking trip to Manchu Piccu. On Sunday, we are going to celebrate x-mas with Aunt Sue, Uncle Tom, Uncle Mike, and Mr. & Mrs. O. It should be a lot of fun.

So, in preparation for the celebration, I thought that I would take a cue from my friend Samantha. She decorated a gingerbread house with her daughter Mallory (who is 3 weeks younger than Anna & she is due with her 2nd in 12 weeks). When I read her blog about it, I thought what a great idea. However, I was still on "bed rest" and the thought of doing that type of project with the girls was a little overwhelming. So, on my latest trip to Joann fabrics to pick up a few things - o.k. a lot of things (because they were having some great sales), I found that they had a gingerbread house kit in a box - the house pieces already made, icing mix to make, and candies. AND it was 50% off. So, I thought it might be a fun project for the girls to do. Boy howdy was I right on that one. Of course the girls had to try the icing and the candies. I tried to limit them, but I know they snuck tastes in when I wasn't looking. I assembled the basic house together last night so the girls could concentrate on decorating without having to wait for the house to "set up." They were very into it.

I decided that it would be easier for them to work on it together if they could each have a "side." So, I figured it would be best for them to work at their little table. It worked out perfectly, well, as perfectly as a 4 & 2 year old can work on something together with frosting and small candies. And, yes, they are still in their PJs. That is because they are wearing their new Aurora nightgowns and won't take them off. Hmmmm. I think I have created some monsters with those nightgowns.


This activity occupied them for more than 45 minutes. That is pretty good in my book. I was very surprised. I had to bribe them with some mini chocolate chips so that I could finally clean up the mess and get them from devouring the rest of the frosting and candies.


I even took a shot at decorating a little bit. I enjoyed it very much - so much so that next year, I have some great plans for our own little village. Hmmmmmm.


Here is what Anna did on her side of the Gingerbread house. She also contributed some candies to Celie's side as well.


Here is Celie's side of the house. Once she got into the hang of it, she was all about putting the various candies on the roof.


Now we have a great centerpiece for our X-mas celebration.

Jake Update

Jake continues to be an awesome little man. (yes, I am knocking on wood right now). He has been sleeping about 3-4 hours at a time at night. And once he is changed and fed, he goes right back to sleep. That is AWESOME!! Especially, compared to his sisters who were up every 2 hours at least. At 1 week & 2 days, things are going along very well. We are truly blessed.

Big Sis

Celie and Anna are both developing into great big sisters. We are very lucky.

Big Sister Celie Feeding Jake. Don't you just love her "Cheesy" smile?

Miscellaneous items

Visitors

We have been blessed with visitors from out of town. Sarah & Kathryn drove from MI to us to visit with us for a few hours and then headed back. We had a great time catching up with each of them and the girls enjoyed playing and being chased by them as well. They were able to hold Baby Jake and he enjoyed the extra attention. Both Bob and I were very grateful for the effort they took to come and visit. Hopefully, the next time, they will stay longer.

My mom also came into town yesterday. She arrived in the late afternoon after a very lengthy drive from northern MI. She had car trouble that made the trip more difficult and we are currently waiting to hear the prognosis of her car. Depending on when her car is finished, she will either leave for home tonight or tomorrow.

Uncle Mike will return this weekend and Aunt Sue & Uncle Tom will be coming in this weekend as well. So, we will continue to have a stream of visitors in and out for a little while. That is always fun - especially now that I can do some things.

Forgotten

There are many things that I have forgotten recently. I had been able to blame it on my pregnancy brain, but I am not able to blame it on that any more. Both Bob and I forgot what today was. Our Anniversary. I did remember at 5 am, but forgot again. I did remember to buy him 2 cards a month ago, but forgot to get them ready - I guess I better go do that while he is still napping.

Happiness is . . . .

being able to fit into my pre-pregnancy pants this morning and they are even a little loose. It definitely gives me motivation to keep on my goal of getting into shape. That is my goal for 2009. I am not setting a weight goal - to be or to lose - but I am setting the goal of being in shape and being able to walk into any store and buy anything I want off the rack.

Jake

He is doing great on day 5. He is eating pretty regularly and is giving us at least 4 hours of sleep at night between feedings. He is pretty laid back otherwise. He is fabulous.

Celie & Anna

are wonderful big sisters. They are having possession issues over toys today. We had a lot of time outs today. Hopefully, that will diminish in the coming days.

Schedule

Now that I am feeling better, it is time to get back on schedule. In the next couple of weeks, we will be working on restoring order to our routines, our house, and our activities. Back to the grind now. Thank goodness.

We're Home

Both Bob and I were a little concerned on how the girls were going to react to their new baby brother.

We couldn't have asked for a better transition home - really. The girls were fantastic. Celie greeted us at the door and hugged both Bob and I. Anna was no where to be found. Bob had Jake in his car carrier. Celie peaked in to see Jake. And she said - "Is that Jake?" We said, "yes, honey, that is Jake." She responded, "WOW!"

Anna was totally into a movie in the living room and couldn't be persuaded to join us out in the foyer/hearth room. So, we took Jake in his carrier into the living room. As soon as Jake entered the room, Anna forgot about the movie. She went to the carrier and peaked in. She was very careful to move his cover over to the side so she could see him. She didn't leave his side for over 2 hours.We had to keep reminding Anna to be gentle because she wanted to squeeze and take him with her.

Celie held him very well on her own. She did a great job supporting his head.
The girls and I holding Jake. Below - I am holding Jake while Anna HAS to have a least one hand on him.


I think the novelty of him is wearing off a little bit, but they are still a great help. We are very lucky to have 3 great kids.

He's Here!

Bob and I went to my Drs. appt. on Tuesday morning. I was monitored and checked out. My blood pressure was slightly up and some of my symptoms were still in existence.

After my entire exam, my Dr said that it really could go either way. She said that I definitely would not make it full term and I might make it just a couple of days more. She was confident in inducing if we needed/wanted to. So, we chose to go to the hospital and be induced.

Bob and I made our way to the hospital and we were admitted. To room #7, where we had been before. Once I got settled in, they put me on the monitor, started an IV and began the induction.

After a while on the drugs, they broke my water. My labor progressed and I got an epidural. After a while, I called for the nurse because the epidural seemed to be doing some funny reactions. I had strange contraction pressures/feelings. My nurse checked me and said that I was complete. She called my Dr. and called to get everything ready. There was a flurry of activity of nurses, Drs., etc. My Dr. arrived just in time. She scrubbed up and checked me - I think she was expecting me to be nearly ready - the expression on her face was priceless. "Oh, I see his head - it is right there - do not push until your next contraction." We waited for the next contraction, I pushed, I pushed again, I pushed again and there was Jake. It was amazing. I saw him come out. Bob cut his umbilical cord and he let out a HUGE wail.

They cleaned him up and then brought him over to me. He was amazing and tiny. Absolutely adorable.

He was born at 6:48pm. He weighed 7 lbs. and was 21 inches long. He has black hair and we are still trying to determine what color his eyes are. He opens them, but usually the lighting isn't good enough to really figure it out. However, I know that his eye color won't really be set until he is 6 months old.


We spent 2 days in the hospital. That is typical for a vaginal birth in the state of OH. Bob, Jake & I rang in the new year in our hospital room. 2008 was great because of Jake. However, we are looking forward to 2009 being much better.

Upcoming Celebrations

We have had 2 x-mas' so far and we are going to have 2-3 more, I think.

We are going to have the Ostroski X-mas with Mr & Mrs O and Mike on Monday night. Mike, Bob's brother, only has a short time off of work during the entire year, so we are very privileged that he is going to be able to make it to OH to see us. We usually try to incorporate an x-mas gathering when he is around. Aunt Sue & Uncle Tom were going to come into town too to celebrate. However, Aunt Sue & Uncle Tom have caught some kind of icky sick bug. So, they have decided to stay in Chicago - Thank you - we really do not want to get sick. So, we are going to do part of the x-mas celebration without them because a couple of us have gifts for Mike for his big vacation trip. He is flying from Cleveland to head to Manchu Piccu for 8 days.

So, when Mike returns from his trip, we will celebrate again, with Aunt Sue & Uncle Tom. They are hoping to be able to come into town the weekend he returns. Hurray, another x-mas!!!

Then, when Jake is born and the weather isn't so crazy, my mom is planning on coming and bringing the girls' gifts - so we will have another x-mas.

Celie loves presents so I am sure she doesn't mind all of the various x-mas'. So, we will have a lot to celebrate in the upcoming weeks/months.

Christmas Day

Christmas day was filled with excitement. More for me, I think, than the girls. We even had to wake Celie up because she was still sleeping when Anna decided to wake up and come down stairs.

Santa had come and eaten the cookies and milk we left for him.

Celie had to try her new bike. Santa also brought her a white wicker basket for the front and a pink bike bell for her handle bars. Notice the nightgowns that both girls are wearing.

Anna opening up her doll.Celie's Baby Chou Chou, Bob insisted that we must ask Santa for this doll for Celie. He insisted that Celie had been asking for it for weeks. She is opening a share present for the girls - the movie Wall-E.


Both Celie and Anna got some Disney figurines and a couple of board games. Celie got a scrapbook and some Mickey Mouse stickers. Anna got doll accessories that included a stroller, a pack 'n play, a diaper changing mat/bag, a bouncy chair, and a floor play mat.

Anna was so tired of opening presents and wanted to play with things, that she still has a couple of things under the tree that are still wrapped. We might get around to opening them in the next couple of days.

Celie sees her BIG Santa Present

Santa was good to the girls. Santa also had special wrapping paper that was much different then ours (definitely wanted to make sure that any pictures taken depicted different wrapping - I am sure that our smart girls would figure things out before their time on that one). However, Santa did not wrap one of the presents for Celie because it was just too hard to wrap a bike. So, here is some video of when Celie first came down the stairs.

1st of Many

Christmas this year has been very unpredictable and feels very "un"X-mas like. Because of the impending wait and see of Jake - and the various trips to the hospital, it has been hard to schedule things. Also, with everyone on various work schedules, etc. it is difficult for everything to happen on X-mas day. So, this year, like many others, we will have multiple x-mas'.

I have a feeling that Celie will not mind at all.

The first x-mas was the M&D x-mas. On x-mas eve, we let the girls open the presents from us. We were hoping that this would distinguish the difference between our presents and those that Santa brought. As well as, we were hoping that they wouldn't get too bored with opening presents, etc. if we divided them up.

Anna is becoming quite the ham. When the camera comes out, she is front and center saying Cheese.


Celie showing off her candy glass bead necklace from us. She loves it.

Buckeye candies, a chocolate covered oreo and a sugar cookie w/a glass of milk for Santa and carrots for his reindeer.

We got the girls mostly clothes for x-mas - so the excitement of playing with something before bed wasn't really there. However, I did buy the girls matching nightgowns with the princesses on them. I wasn't quite sure if they would like the nightgowns, as they usually sleep in 2 piece pjs. However, the both wanted the "dresses" on right away - even before opening their other presents. They also wouldn't take them off - all of the x-mas day the ran around the house in their "dresses" until bath time. I guess they were a hit and I should get them a few more.

Cookie Making

Because Santa would be coming, we had to make cookies. The girls and I had made some sugar dough ahead of time but we hadn't rolled out the dough and baked the cookies yet. So, I decided to do that project with the girls on Tuesday night.

Here are girls and I rolling out dough & making sugar cookies. We were to frosting them on X-mas eve, but we still haven't gotten to the point of doing that. We might tomorrow. We had good alternatives for Santa.

Full Term!

I met with an at risk OB Dr. at the hospital where we are going to delivery because my Drs' office wasn't open today. I had an ultrasound to look at Jake, his movement and the amniotic fluid around him. Everything looked great. He even has some hair that the sonographer could detect. He has shifted down and his head is very low - and boy can I feel it.

My blood pressure was good 110/60 however I had +1 of protein in my urine - so I am sure that we will be watching that. I was puffy and my eye hurt, but otherwise, I was fine and he is doing great.

There is no course of action really - just more wait & see. My next Drs. visit is Tuesday.

So, today we are at 37 weeks - which is considered full term. Celie was born at 37 weeks exactly and Anna at 38 so we are pretty confident that whenever he comes, he will be just fine. Can't wait!!

Keeping on

I had a check up with my Dr. this morning. They monitored Jake's heartbeat and his movement. I am about 1-2 cm dialated. My blood pressure was 128/68. So, everything looked good. I am now on a 2 times a week schedule for seeing the Dr. So, everything Tuesday & Friday I will see the Dr.

There is no idea when Jake will come. So, it is still a wait and see game.

Next appt. - Friday. We will be 37 weeks so he can come anytime and I will be completely happy.

False Alarm

This week has definitely been an interesting one. Since it has been a long week - I will be brief.

It all started on Monday morning when I went in for my check up. Blood pressure was up - sent to Triage - observed by a high risk OB at the clinic - decided to induce me - induction didn't work - cervix didn't ripen that well and I maxed out on Pitocin - still nothing. stopped treatment - seen by a neurologist to find out if there was anything behind the headache's that would be cause for another induction/c-section. CT scan came back negative - so they sent me home Wednesday evening.

I had another appt. today. My blood pressure was 130/90 - elevated for me - but since I didn't have any other symptoms, they sent me home and will be monitored and visit on Tuesday and again on Friday. They will be doing ultrasounds to check on Jake from now on. They are monitoring his growth and the fluid around him. If either of those change in the negative direction, there would be reason for concern and then they would induce.

One observation during my stay at the hospital was that as long as I am basically tied to a bed, my blood pressure tends to go down and my symptoms lessen greatly. So for the remainder of the pregnancy, I am on bed rest. I only really get out of the recliner/out of bed to eat, go to the bathroom, and of course, keep everyone updated.

So, that has been our saga this week. We hope to have a VERY UNeventful weekend. But hope you have a great one.

Visiting the Doctor

This morning I was feeling fine so I decided to take Celie to the grocery store to get the house stocked back up before Anna woke up. (Anna hates it when we leave her behind and cries for awhile afterwards). Halfway through shopping, I started not feeling so great. I started to feel warm and weak. So, I tried to hurry out of there.

Once home, I let Bob unload the groceries and I sat down to see if I could feel Jake. I was a little concerned because I hadn't been feeling Jake as much as I had in the past. So, I called the Drs. office. They told me to come in so they could check me out. My Dr. was out of town so I was seen by her colleague. So, Bob logged out of work, we packed up the girls and headed to the Dr.

Bob and the girls dropped me off and they went to go get some lunch and drive around so they wouldn't go crazy in the waiting room. The saw me right away. I had lost a pound since Monday and my blood pressure was 132/83 - so creeping up again. They decided to run some blood work. Jake sounded good. They monitored me for 30 minutes. His heart rate and movement was good. They also did an ultrasound to make sure my fluids, placenta, and he was doing o.k. They are estimating him to be about 5 # 7 oz. right now. Everything checked out o.k. He is moving - I just can't always feel him. So, though I hadn't expected or wanted to spend 2 hours at the Drs. I am glad to have peace of mind that he is doing great. Bob and the girls came and picked me up and we all went home and Bob went back to work and the girls and I watched a movie. It was a great afternoon.

Bob did tell me that during the driving around, he passed the Drs. office a couple of times and each time he passed it, Celie spoke up and said, "Daddy, mommy is at the Dr. You passed it." She was very concerned that they were leaving me at the Drs. office. I am very flattered that she knew where I was & was concerned. I am a lucky mom.

Triage, Again

Last night around 8:30 pm I started having contractions. However, these contractions continued and were pretty consistent - 1 every 10 minutes - all throughout the night and into this morning. At about 10am I called my OB to let her know what was happening. She told me to go to Triage to get checked. Depending on what we found, would depend on if I came home or would be admitted.

Bob called his parents to see if they could come up to watch the girls. They said yes. So, the plan was that Bob & the girls would take me to the hospital and then he would come home and wait for the O's to arrive and then come up to the hospital.

In Triage, they took my blood pressure and set up the monitors for Jake's heartbeat and my contractions. They also took a urine sample. My sample came back with sugar, bacteria & protein in it. Not necessarily a good thing. So, after the resident OB checked my cervix and my blood pressure taken - it was 110/58 at first - they determined that I must have a bladder infection and that is what is making me having contractions because the contractions I was having were not progressing my labor in any shape or form. So, they gave me a prescription/antibiotic for the bladder infection, told me to drink LOTS of liquids, and be on bed rest. They also gave me a shot of tributuline again for the contractions. They did stop - however, I have been experiencing a few random ones this evening. My ending blood pressure on this trip was a whopping 110/31.

So, after 2 or so hours in Triage, I was released and able to get dressed. I went to the lobby downstairs to call the house. Bob answered and I told him that I was free to come home. He reached his parents on the phone and they had been seriously delayed due to a bad accident ahead of them. So, they decided to go to Ashland to be closer to us in case we needed them on Monday (my next office visit). So, Bob piled the girls in the van and they took their time to come get me (the roads were a little suspect from the lake effect snow). He encountered 3 different accidents on the highway to come get me. All of us were hungry, so we decided to take the scenic way home and stopped in Solon for a late lunch. The girls were awesome and everyone was full. We then headed home & Bob went out to fill my prescriptions.

This triage experience was definitely better than the last. I am not sure if they weren't that busy this time or if the staff was that much more together, but everyone seemed to be doing everything right, in sync, and with a purpose. I was very happy that I was only in there for 2 hours.

So, the next news will probably be after Monday's office visit.

Low Key Birthday

Unfortunately for Celie, she had a very low key birthday this year. We had scheduled a party for her on Saturday, but had decided to cancel it because of my recent stint in the Triage. She really didn't know it was going to happen, so that was good. But the mommy guilt still exists.

On Friday morning after some toast, I stuck a candle in a cupcake that we had made the day before. Everyone sang her happy b-day and she successfully blew out her candle. The rest of the day she played and then after a kick trip to the grocery store after dinner, we all had round 2 of the Celie b-day cupcakes. Celie got to blow out another candle. After cake, Celie opened up her b-day presents from Bob and I and from Anna. We got her a Fancy Nancy book, a black fleece jacket and TinkerBell PJs. Anna got her TinkerBell Fairy figures. She loves them and hasn't stopped playing with them since last night. They even went to bed with her. She fell asleep with 3 in each hand.

Hopefully, next year, when she turns 5, we will be able to celebrate with a little more fanfare.

Best x-mas present ever

I know that one should not receive x-mas gifts early, necessarily. However, I did receive a GREAT x-mas present - early.

In researching the address, etc. for our dinner out to Lolita - see Lolita post - I noticed that they were having a sign up to take a cooking class with Michael Symon at Lolitas. There were 5 different themes throughout the year of 2009. The classes are on Tuesday nights. You do not actually cook the meal - but see how Michael prepares it and get to eat it along with a wine pairing.

This definitely interested me and Bob being a new Michael Symon fan, especially after eating at Lolita's, he said that I could sign myself up for a class. I told him that was a great x-mas gift from him.

Last year, the cooking series sold out in a few days. So, I was geared up to be on the phone promptly at 11am on Dec. 2nd to keep the redial going until I got through. So, it took me 25 minutes to get through, but I finally did!! I am signed up for the Comfort Food class in April of 2009!!! I am so excited. Merry Christmas.

Triage

I had my 33 1/2 week check up on Monday. I felt fine in the morning, but by the time I got to the office for my 1pm appt. I felt awful.

My blood pressure was up and my hands were puffy and I had a headache that wouldn't go away. So, my OB decided that she would send me to triage so that I & Jake could be monitored and they could run some blood work. But before I left the office, she wanted to do an ultrasound to see how Jake was developing and the fluids around him, etc. Misty the ultrasound technician said that he looked good. She was estimating him to weigh around 5# 3 oz. My Doc said that was really good for his gestational age. Misty also said that she saw hair/peachfuzz on him. I said that was more than his sisters had. His heart rate was good as well. IT was just me that was a mess.

So, I headed to Triage. On the way, I called Bob and left a message - he had gone to the Farm to go hunting. I also called Mrs. O, who was watching the girls, to let her know as well. On my way to the hospital, Bob called me back and said that he would pack things up and come home. Smart move, I thought. I got to the hospital and into the Triage area. They set me up in a room, had me give a urine sample and hooked me up to the monitors. It was 2:15/2:30pm.

They finally drew the blood to send to the labs at 4:15pm and hooked me up to some fluid IVs. At about 6 pm I asked if I could have something to eat - they said that I would have to wait until the lab results came back. I was thinking that they should be back soon and that Bob and I could go get something to eat at a good restaurant. (Bob had gotten to the hospital around 5:30pm). So, we waited. The results didn't come back from the lab until about 9 pm and everything was normal. So that was good. My blood pressure had come down - however, the concern for my OB was that I had started contractions - 2-3 every 15 minutes. She didn't want to send me home with that many just in case it were to spawn labor, etc. So, they gave me a shot in the arm of Tribuline (sp?) which was supposed to stop the contractions. I asked if I could have a snack - no go because the medicine can cause nausea - great. It was a good thing that I snuck that Wendy's in before my Drs. appt or otherwise I would be passed out from hunger. They had to monitor me to see if my contractions stopped - so that was another 1 or so.

Finally, at 11:00pm they decided that I had no contractions for over an hour and I was free to go home. YEAH!! But by that time - no restaurant was open on a Monday night - not even a Wendy's. So, Bob and I headed home on some slippery roads - it took us 45 minutes to get home because of the roads.

I made a salad as soon as I was inside. I needed to eat something. Then went to bed. Thank goodness Mrs. O was here to take care of the girls. She is staying until Thursday morning given that I am feeling o.k. I have been trying to stay off my feet and not do much. But I have been noticing some contractions again. So, I am just trying to keep Jake in there as long as we can. I will be 34 weeks tomorrow - so that is good.

That has been our excitement this week. Hopefully, we won't have any more excitement like that. but who knows.

Lolita

Lolita is the name of a restaurant in the Tremont District of Cleveland. It is the 2nd restaurant that Chef Michael Symon has opened in the Cleveland area.

Michael Symon is the newer Iron Chef on Food Networks, Iron Chef America. He is also the new host of Dinner Impossible on the Food Network.

I have been following him since he began his quest on the Iron Chef competition and knowing he was from Cleveland - and recently being a transplant to the area.

Last year, Aunt Sue & Uncle Tom gave us a gift certificate to his restaurant Lolita, but due to the crazy renovations, Celie's cast, and the pregnancy, we haven't really had the chance to do so. However, last night - Aunt Sue & Uncle Tom & Mrs O were all on hand to watch the girls while Bob and I were actually able to get into an early reservation at Lolita's.

Bob was actually excited about going to his restaurant considering he has watched a few shows recently with me featuring Michael Symon and can see why I like him. I also prepared one of his recipes for Thanksgiving and I think it was the best thing on the table (cornbread dressing). I was just excited not to have to snarf my food down before meltdowns occur and not having to worry about crayons, goldfish, or sippy cups.

It took us about 20 mintues to get to the restaurant. It is in the historic district of Tremont. It was a really cool area. It reminded me a lot of Virginia Highlands in Atlanta - at least the Virginia Highlands of old. We were sat immediately. It is a fairly small venue, with seating of about 80 or so. Our waitress, Tammy, was awesome. It definitely had a cozy, relaxed feel to it with an artistic edge. It definitely made me miss some of the old hang outs of Atlanta & Boston. But I was very glad to have found something so cool in the Cleveland area & with such reasonable prices. WOW!!

Bob had the roasted garlic bruchetta for an appetizer and I had the mixed greens salad with local goat cheese in a lemon viniagrette. My salad was absolutely delicious and light. The lemon viniagrette was the perfect consistentency and perfect balance of sweetness & tartness. Just wonderful. Bob ordered the Meatballs with a squash puree as a side. I ordered the Hanger steak over chickpeas, skordalia & cilantro with a side of local roasted potatoes. WOW!! Bob's was awesome - great flavor combinations - it was like eating a traditional bowl of spaghetti and meatballs without the spaghetti. Yummy. My steak was phenomonal. perfectly done and seasoned well. The chickpeas & skordalia was a light and crunchy contrast to the steak. The roasted potatoes had a wonderful seasoning and done to perfection. Of course, we couldn't have dinner and not get dessert as well. Bob ordered the Chocolate Pot du Creme and I ordered the Gelato of the day - a Porter Gelato - that would be Porter as in a beer. I snagged a bite of Bob's dessert before he dug in. WOW!! it was AMAZING. The thick chocolate custard was well balanced with the creme on top and the touch of caramel. But what really kicked the flavor in my opinion, was the hint of sea salt on top. WOW!! My Porter Gelato was fantastic. The flavor of the porter was front and center and the gelato was smooth and creamy. If I had known about this dessert at the beginning of my pregnancy, I would have ordered it by the Gallons. It definitely satisfied my beer craving.

It was a fabulous dinner & it was nice to spend some time with Bob just him and I. I had been looking forward to going to Lolita's for dinner for almost a year and I was not disappointed. I admire Chef Symon because he talks a lot about flavor and balance in his dishes, but since you cannot smell through the TV, you kind of have to take his word on it. He is the Truth though. His flavors are wonderful. It really is the first time that I have been able to really dissect things and it was a lot of fun for me. I hope that we are able to go back again some time after Jake gets here.

Watch out those in MI. He is supposed to be opening a restaurant in Detroit called Roast. You will be in for a REAL treat.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope that everyone has a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving tomorrow.

I am thankful for many things, but most of all I am thankful for my wonderful husband and my precious 2 3/4 children. I am truly blessed and feeling over emotional about how lucky I really am. (it must be the pregnancy).

We will be fortunate to spend the day with Aunt Sue, Uncle Tom, Mr & Mrs. O and our family at our house. The preparations are already underway for the big meal tomorrow. We are scaling back a little bit this thanksgiving - our menu is as follows: Turkey, whipped mashed potatoes with Chives, traditional dressing (out of the bag and doctored up a little bit), cornbread dressing, and sourdough dressing (the other dressings are experiments - small batches), fried corn, homemade cranberry relish, and possibly pumpkin soup. Mrs. O is bringing homemade bread and a tossed salad. Aunt Sue is bringing bacon buns and some other treats for the day and the weekend. In years past, we have also had lithuanian sausage, kuglis (lithuanian potato casserole), and a molded jello - all traditions from Papa Tony & Grandma peggy. But I decided to scale back a little for tomorrow so hopefully, I won't over do it too much.

Since Aunt Sue & Uncle Tom are coming in for the weekend, we will be able to spend some time with them. We might even try to put up some x-mas decorations. They love being helpful when they come to town - so I always try to have a couple of low key "projects" available to do. We will also celebrate Celie's b-day with them while they are in town. So, Celie will have 3 celebrations for her b-day this year. They will head back to Chicago on Sunday. Bob will be heading to the farm on Sunday as well to go hunting for a couple of days. Mrs. O will be coming up on Sunday to stay with us girls while Bob is hunting. This will be a huge help so hopefully I can get some rest and/or some shopping done for x-mas and Celie's b-day. I have Drs. appt. on Monday afternoon - so I am hoping for good things. Next week will be 34 weeks, so any issues on the borderline of serious, they will probably induce.

That is our Thanksgiving plans in a nut shell. I hope to post pics and anything else of any exciting events as soon as possible. I will also update Drs. visit after Monday afternoon.

Have a safe and blessed Thanksgiving!

Cheetah Frog

If you ask Anna if a Frog hops, she will begin saying hop and hop around the house. I captured her doing some great hopping and combined ballet/dance moves, but the video ended up being too long to post (I was afraid of too long download times for people). So, I captured a shorter version today - complete with her Cheetah print PJs.

Side note - it is hard to believe that Celie was wearing these PJs when she was 18 months and they were too long on the bottom, but fit just right in the waist & top. These fit Anna perfectly and she is 27 months. Just one of the differences of our two cool girls.

Snow man

After the OSU/UofM game. Bob decided to take Celie outside to let her express some of her energy. I took Anna upstairs to see if she would take a nap - that didn't happen. But Celie and Bob were outside for over 1 hr and 45 minutes. In the midst of their time outside, Celie created a wonderful snowman. We just need to work on her ability to scale up.

Bo Gucks

Anyone that knows Bob and knows him well, knows that he is a Buckeyes fan. Always has been and always will be. Well, this past Saturday was the BIG GAME - UofM vs. OSU at OSU. It was actually the first game that Bob was able to watch the whole season.

We have been trying to get the girls to do the Na na na nana na na Chant - they have it down pretty well - except for instead of saying Go Bucks! Celie, in particular, says Bo Gucks!! Still, it is pretty funny.

Here is some video of Anna with her Buckeye football. You will have to listen carefully (over the TV) at was is said when the football lands - yes, it talks and the girls were throwing it all around. Too bad we moved, it would have been fun to see Anna & Mallory go at it - Big Ten, Little Two's head to head. (Mallory is a daughter of a friend of mine in MI. Anna & Mallory are about 1 1/2 months apart and my friend is expecting their 2nd - due in March - so their 2nd and jake will be a couple of months apart) Oh, and she, my friend, is a huge MI fan, works there as well as her husband (in the athletic department!) So, it would have been fun to see all of the fans together expressing their opinions.



If you didn't catch the game, OSU beat UofM. Bo Gucks!!

Belly

It is amazing that even though I haven't really gained very much weight, my body has definitely taken on its own identity. I do not think my belly was this HUGE with either girl. And it has gotten bigger since this picture was taken 1 week ago. YIKES!!!!

Baby Jake Update

I went to the Dr on Monday. My blood pressure was good 110/78. We talked a lot about some of the symptoms I have been having and what our next steps are. I have gained about 6 lbs. so far in this pregnancy, so that is a good thing.

My Dr and I are pretty confident that we will be able to make it to 34 weeks - which is our first milestone - this is the week after Thanksgiving. Every day that he stays in, is better, so we are hoping that the blip in my blood pressure was just a fluke type of thing and things will continue to go well and we can make it well past 34 weeks. However, we will just have to wait and see.

I have really been limiting what I do. It does make me feel bad since I cannot take the girls outside to play in the beautiful dusting of snow that we have. I also have difficulty bending down a lot - so trying to get the girls to pick up after themselves is also a challenge. However, the low key attitude that I have been taking, I think have really helped. I am hoping that it will help me make it well past 34 weeks, but maybe before x-mas - but we will have to wait and see what Jake has in store for us all.

Why can't I sit down?

I do try to take a break and sit with the girls in the living room. However, how can I sit down when I come in and see this:

I have been trying to explain to Celie that her stickers need to go INTO her sticker books, but she would rather have them all out for display. She plays with the stickers like puppets. It is actually pretty creative, if you ask me, but it is frustrating to A) not be able to sit down on the couch and B) stepping on the stickers that have lost their "stick" and have ended up on the floor, but seem to have enough "stick" to cling to the bottom of your feet. ARGHhhhhh!! (Those are the ones that mysteriously disappear).

Anna the Fashionista

I have tried to keep pants on this girl, but some days can be a challenge.

She definitely has her own sense of style. For instance, for the last 3 days, she has decided that a teething ring that she found in a tub of toys makes a very fashionable bangle. She hasn't taken it off since she put it on. Also, she decided yesterday afternoon and this morning that it was o.k. with her if she could only find ONE Cinderella glass dress up slipper. I couldn't stand to hear the clunk, silence, clunk of her walking. It was sad. So, I was able to find the matching slipper for her this morning. I gave it to her and she was immediately thrilled and put it on. Of course, she was a lot funnier in her walking around and making noise then the video below, but I couldn't grab the camera fast enough.

Enjoy!

Hospital Tour & Update

Yesterday, Bob and I went on a tour of Hillcrest, the hospital that we are going to be delivering Jake. It is very similar to St. Joe's in that there are separate areas/rooms for Labor & Delivery and then Post Delivery. The rooms are fairly small in both areas. However, the nice part is that the rooms in the Post Delivery area have a bathroom complete with shower. When I delivered both Celie & Anna, the Post Delivery area had not been updated yet and they only had a toilet and sink in the room - no shower. So, you had to go down the hall to shower and get ready. That was a bummer.

Also, Hillcrest has a Level 2 NICU, which, at least in the state of OH, means that the NICU can take care of any baby born after 28 weeks. So, that made me feel reassured since we are at 29 1/2 weeks right now. The only time that they transport newborns to another hospital is if there is a surgery that needs to be performed. They have affliations with Rainbows, Cleveland Clinic main campus and Metro. So that is also reassuring, though I am hoping that we won't need to worry about any of that. Because of the NICU being situated in the middle of the Family Maternity floor - you are not allowed to have cell phones on at all on the floor, nor can you have anything that plugs into the wall. They are very concerned about things that disrupt the cardiac monitoring machines in the NICU. So, everything is somewhat limited. But the staff seems really nice and it is very clean. Also, there are a ton of restaurants in the area so if room service isn't that appealing, Bob can run out and get something else. YEAH!!!!

When we deliver, we can expect to be in the hospital for about 48 hours after birth - given there are no complications, etc. So, that is what we are hoping for.

On another note, I had my check up today with my OB. My blood pressure was 110/76 YEAH!!!! So, that is good. I had lost 1 1/2 #'s - so my OB said that I should just try to keep something in my stomach, even if I do not feel like eating much, I should try to eat small meals, etc. Jake sounded good - like a galloping horse. I asked her about what she thought about having to give me/Jake a shot to help him develop his lungs if he is coming at 34 weeks. She said that the shot is only given before 34 weeks and that after 34 weeks, the likelihood that his lungs are good are far better than the risks of taking the shots. Also, she said that babies that have been developing under more difficult than normal circumstances, i.e. hypertension, pre-eclampsia conditions, tend to accelerate the development of their important organs incase of an early delivery. That is why some 30 week old babies can be born and have hardly any issues and a 38 week old can be born and have issues. It just depends on the history of the pregnancy, etc.

So, we are still in the wait and see mode. We are hoping for the 34+ weeks. And we are very hopeful that we will see it. I just have to remember to be slow & rest. Oh yeah, and breathe.

Happy Halloween

I have offered many a times to help with Halloween costumes for friends and relatives. Usually no one takes me up on this offer. So, with great delight, I just couldn't wait until the girls were here so that I would finally have someone to make costumes for. However, being pregnant has definitely put a damper on things. Also, the girls are not quite of the age or interested where they can tell me what they WANT to be for Halloween, so I am left trying to come up with something on my own.

Well, I have to say that I cheated this year. I couldn't help the ridiculous sale that disneyshopping.com was having - about 5 months ago - so I bought a Tinkerbell outfit for Anna - complete with leotard/tutu and wings. It is rather cute. We are finishing it off with a white turtleneck & tights underneath. I made her a white and silver bag for her candy loot. There were not any costumes in Celie's size, but I did find some Pocahontas accessories that were on a super duper sale. So, I bought her the Pocahontas headband & necklace and the Pocahontas boots - moccasin like boots. Then I did make her costume from a pattern I bought at Joann's. Her dress is all handmade, including stitching all of the various trims and individual leaves on the front. We finished her costume with a brown long sleeved shirt & shorts. I also made her a matching bag for her treats.

Since Bob was home this year for the big Halloween Event, we decided to go out for the first 1/2 hr or so with the girls to our neighbors and then spend the rest of the time at our house passing out candy to those that came to our house. There weren't as many kids around the neighborhood as there was last year. The girls had a great time and even Anna was getting into the whole thing saying Trick or Treat and thank you. I was trying to get them on video saying it to post, but they were too fast and I was too slow. It was nice to see the neighbors that we knew. A few of them thought that girls were so adorable that they gave each one of them HANDFULS of candy. Lucky for us, they are purists, they really only eat solid chocolate and that is it. They won't even eat M&Ms - whose kids are these?????

Anyway, here are some pics from this evening. The house picture is of our neighbors the Gritti's. I loved their house & decorations.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Glucose results

I received word from my Dr. that the results came back and I do not have gestational diabetes. Phew. I am glad to hear that one. She said that 1 out of the 4 markers were high, but to be considered diabetic during pregnancy 2 out of the 4 have to be high. So, though I am not, she suggested that I watched my sugar intake. So, that is what I will be doing.

Glad I have one less thing to worry about.

Ridiculous & other miscellaneous items

This is what is ridiculous.
Yes, that would be snow on our deck. Ah, a light dusting you may say, well, as I sit next to the sliding glass door that looks onto the deck, it has hailed, the size of peas, and is currently snowing a light fluff of flakes. Joy!! It is October!!! I am NOT ready for this.

* * *

I spent 4 1/2 hours at the hospital on Saturday. Nothing serious, but I did have to do an extended 3 hr glucose test because my initial test came back high. So, hopefully, the results will come back some time this week and be o.k.

* * *

Jake continues to move around and I am thinking that he is growing pretty well. However, he likes to move around, just as I am about to settle down for awhile, trying to relax. Having him use my stomach as a punching bag isn't very relaxing, but at least I know he is doing o.k.

* * *

I am really trying to take to heart the recommendation of my doctor - she at least has gotten me to quit drinking diet pop. I haven't had one in 29 weeks and don't think I will go back to them. I am trying to relax more and not do too much. However, for me, that is difficult. I really feel guilty and lazy if I am not doing something. But I know that it is in the best interest of Jake and Me to keep low key about everything. So, I am really trying to focus on 1 thing a day that I will let myself do - whether it is laundry, cleaning the kitchen, cleaning off the desk, making pants for Celie, etc. and the rest of the time, I am trying to relax with my feet up.

We will see how long that lasts.

My next Dr. visit is on Monday. Details to follow.

Halloween Pics will be up, hopefully, over the weekend.

Happy Haunting!!

This one is for Uncle Tom

Jake Update

I went for my 27 1/2 almost 28 week visit this morning. Everything seems to be o.k. However, my blood pressure was a little high 130/80. I am usually 120/70 or lower. So, my Dr said that she would like to see me every 2 weeks from now on just to keep an eye on things.

I have been experiencing some numbness in my arms and hands, like I did with Celie. And last night, I had some weird vision things happening. Hopefully, it will just pass, but the Dr. suggested that I just try to relax, but keep aware of the symptoms of pre-eclampsia.

Jake sounded great and he is definitely moving around quite a bit.

Our next milestone is 34 weeks.. That is when the Dr. said she feels comfortable - depending on the situation of inducing me. So, that means, that Jake, could potentially be a December baby. That would make Bob happy - tax deduction.

We are just hoping that things calm down a little bit and he stays in his incubation state as long as possible.

A New Anna Phase

The weather here is now cooling off. We are not supposed to get above mid 50's today. Perfect fall weather. However, for some reason, Anna does not like to wear her pants. She will tolerate her pj bottoms for sleeping, but as soon as she is awake, she wants them off. It is hard to get her dressed to go anywhere, she screams and has a fit. It is not fun.

Well, this morning, I came down from doing laundry (our laundry is on the 2nd floor) and this is what I saw. I know that it is blurry, but I wanted to capture her with her hat that she put on sitting on the pillow watching TV.
Here is a side profile of Anna in her hat.


Anna saying Cheese for the camera. Usually I can't capture her because she is moving all of the time.

I missed it

I can't believe that in 5 short days, it has peaked and I missed it.

Last Sunday, we took the girls to Kent State University to see Katie - the girl that babysat for us this summer. She plays soccer for Eastern Michigan University and they were playing Kent. On the way home, the girls fell asleep and to take advantage of the time and to let them sleep, we kept driving, just driving around the area. The sun was out. The leaves were glistening in their fall glory and I thought, excellent, next weekend, I will have the chance to get out and take some photos of the fall foliage.

Nope. In the past 5 days, we have had rain and a cold snap and a little bit of rain. All of which has contributed to the colorful leaves to exit their branches and find their way to the ground. The scenes are definitely not photo worthy now. Bummer.

From my Previous Life

There once was a time when I was a grungy art/sculpture student. As I have posted prior, an influential figure in my life as an art student began with Charles Hook, my undergrad sculpture teacher. He died this past St. Patty's day of Pancreatic Cancer.

This past weekend would have been his 60th birthday. In celebration of him, there was a retrospective of his work and an Iron Pour in his honor. Also, a sculpture park was dedicated in his name at Railroad Square - a long tradition of artist studios, galleries, etc. in Tallahassee, FL (where Florida State is located and where I went to undergrad). I so wanted to be there to participate in the weekend activities. However, being pregnant with Jake would have made for a very tiring and trying weekend. So, I opted not to go. Luckily, Deborah, his wife, completely understood and has sent me a link to a video that was made of the Iron Pour.

Just a little information for those who may not know, when you are casting metal, whether it is aluminum, bronze or iron, you must melt the metal in a furnace. There are a lot of different types of furnaces and ways to do such a thing. However, iron has the highest melting point of the 3 most common metals used in sculpture, therefore, the process is different than for aluminum or iron.

As you will see in the video, the upright tube in the picture is the furnace or cupola as it is called. Also what you will see are people holding a "bucket" with long handles under the tap hole of the furnace. They are going to catch the molten metal coming out. Then, a person will take an instrument looking like a hoe and scrap off the slag or the impurities from the molten metal that is on the top. Then the metal will be poured into the various molds that are on the ground. If I remember correctly, that furnace, when tapped full has about 100#s of molten metal coming out at a time. Yes, it is very hot. The starting melting point for iron is around 1800 degrees, but most of the time what is coming out is more in the 2200 range. That is why everyone around the furnace is wearing leathers. Yes, I have a pair of those along with a Fireman's helmet that I wore when I poured iron.

There is a lot more technical stuff to it as well. And it amazes me that I remember so much of it. I owe that to my great teachers Charles Hook & George Beasley (my graduate instructor).

I hope you enjoy the video. The music may be a little loud - but the video is definitely the type of pour that I experienced in undergrad and grad school many times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqx3rBQ_7xM.

Jake's Room

Well, we definitely accomplished quite a bit this weekend. We have started about 6 different projects and none of them were finished. So, we decided that it would be a good idea to concentrate on one thing and then the rest would follow. So, the first thing to do was Jake's room.

I started painting his room on Wednesday night and was finished by Saturday morning. I had to wait for all of the coats to dry so that I could apply multiple coats. It saddened me to be getting rid of the fairies, but as I painting over them, I knew they had had their time and it was time for something else.

After the paint went up, I used my cool Cricut cutting machine to cut out outlines of puppies and paws out of vinyl. I then stuck them in the border around Jake's room and paw prints up his walls. I am very happy with how it turned out.


I couldn't resist putting his name somewhere in his room. I also liked the sleeping & waking up (as Celie calls him) puppies along his crib wall. Yes, I did that on purpose.


This dresser was Papa Tony's and Celie has used it since she was born. Now, Jake will use it and Celie will use another Papa Tony piece in her room. Yes, those are bone & fire hydrant drawer markers. I made them with my cool machine as well. Yes, they serve as labels for what are in the drawers. I am too forgetful these days to remember everything, so hopefully, they will help out a lot.
This is the artwork that is above Jake's dresser. It is an original print from an artist here in Brecksville. He had a bunch of different dogs, but I liked the pugs the best. It is what inspired the theme for the room.

I am feeling more settled knowing that his room is done. I am hesitant to open up the diapers and put them in his organizer because I have a feeling that between Anna & Celie, they will end up all over the floor. So, I will wait on those types of things. But for the most part, we are ready for him. Though since I am only at 27 weeks, I think it would be a good idea for him to stay in there for awhile.

However, I do have my days where I wish he were here. He can really serve up a good whallop.

Tramatic

That is the only way to describe yesterday.

I, in my infinite wisdom, decided to make the girls appointments to get their hair cut. I knew that it would be a challenge as neither of them will really sit still and I have been doing the hack job of cutting their hair ever since we moved to OH. When I try to cut their hair, they really don't seem to mind, so I thought, well, maybe they are out of the tantrum stage. I was wrong.

Yesterday, the girls and I went to Cuts N Curls in Solon, OH, about 35 minutes from our house - Why not go locally? because they were featured in an article about Salon's specific for kids. They had the cars that you ride in lifted up on chair hoists. Each cutting station had a dvd player and/or video game player. Really, it was pretty neat. So, I made the appointment for each girl at the same time so that if they were terrible, they would at least be over at the same time.

As soon as the brush came near Celie, she threw a fit. That made Anna just go off as well. Anna at least stayed in her car with a few attempts to get up. The woman that was cutting Anna's hair did an o.k. job considering she wouldn't sit still and she kept bowing her head. She cried the entire time - no juice, no goldfish, no nothing would soothe her - other than getting out of the car. Celie kept flailing her arms and was not cooperating at all. So, I took her out of the car - that was difficult - she is EXTREMELY heavy these days. I sat her on my lap and wrapped my arms around her like a straight jacket. She kept crying and screaming, but I was determined not to leave with out her hair cut. Kara, her stylish, did a great job of giving her a cute haircut and adding some layers to it. She did get about 2" cut off her hair, but she really needed it. We also took care of the knots that she got while she was in her cast and I still hadn't managed to get rid of.

It was a very trying day for my nerves. Actually, I should say morning, because all of this happened before 10:30am. Oh yeah, and it was raining all morning too.

Luckily, they did not ban us from the Salon forever and since it was Anna's first haircut, they took her picture, gave us a locket of her hair and a certificate. It was actually really sweet & cute, but unfortunately, it was all lost on the moment. Next time, the girls are going separately, and only one at a time.

Here is Anna at the Salon - I couldn't get a good pic because she wouldn't stop moving and trying to get out of the car. She wouldn't stop crying either, until we got back out to the van.
I took the long way home - so I could decompress. Today is much calmer. Thank goodness.