Crafty Mama

Andy has lots of good husband qualities, and one of them is that he is an excellent gift giver. While certainly not a required characteristic when looking for a mate for life, it sure makes things nice. Anyway, one of the things he got me for Christmas (I will note that the other one was a diamond bracelet: I'm sure he wants credit on the internet for that too) was a gift certificate to take a class at a craft store that I am obsessed with called The Stitch House in Dorchester. I know what you're thinking - Dorchester? - yep, Dorchester. Turns out Dorchester is gentrifying fast and the little neighborhood this store is in is full of pricey condos and cute bakeries and boutiques. And also, a super awesome craft store. Anyway, I spend way too much money there on yarn as it is, but they have tons of classes, workshops and clubs that I've never quite made it to. And while I do enjoy knitting a great deal, I don't find it particularly challenging. Knitting projects stop getting more interesting at a certain point and just get bigger. Not that I'm going to stop knitting any time soon, just that recently I've started eyeing new frontiers of different crafts. I've been dying to learn to sew for ages, and even had taken an adult ed class a couple years ago, but Owen kind of derailed my learning endeavor. So to give me something to do while I wait for this baby to arrive, I signed up with my gift certificate to the Saturday Sew Intensive, which meets two Saturdays in a row, 4 hours each. They offer it pretty much every month, and if you're interested I HIGHLY reccommend you go. I'd like to take it again - there were several people in my class today who were taking it for the second or third time. Basically, you pick a pattern and some fabric and bring it, and the instructor helps you figure out what you're doing. In the spirit of being 9 months pregnant, I bought a baby outfit pattern (hat, jacket, pants, booties) and some fleece. I finished the pants and got about 1/2 way through the jacket, leaving the jacket details (side seams, collar, cuffs and hemmed edges) as well as the hat and booties for next Saturday (provided I don't have a baby before then). Look!



I'm pretty excited about it, actually. It was a lot of fun and I learned an amazing amount in 4 hours. I can't wait to try my hand at more projects.

Thanks, Andy :)

Things that make you go hmmmmm....

I saw my midwife yesterday because I mistook back spasms for contractions. This is kind of embarrassing, especially since this isn't my first baby and I've experienced contractions before so you'd think I'd know what they feel like, but I'm not going to beat myself up about it. If you're 35 weeks along and have episodes of severe pain across your lower back that come along every hour or so, you can be forgiven for thinking they are contractions. As it turns out, however, this baby is no closer to the light of day than he was a few days ago, but they were extremely painful. Anyway, the point of the story is that I left the office with a prescription for tylenol with codeine. Right on the prescription it says 'take every 4 hours as needed'. When the midwife suggested it I asked her skeptically if taking codeine was really safe while pregnant (editor's note: I am not actually planning on filling this prescription, assurances of safety or no) and she assured me that there was nothing to worry about.

Now, I'd just like to volunteer that it's a little odd that taking tylenol with codeine every 4 hours as needed is absolutely nothing to worry about, but caffeine, deli meat, soft cheeses and the occasional glass of wine are all on the official pregnancy forbidden list. I mean, really, makes you think twice about declining that turkey sandwich, or second cup of coffee, doesn't it?

Disaster Strikes

First of all, thanks for all your input on my previous post. The decision has been made, the original baby name stands. I appreciated all the considered replies, and think the winning point in its favor was made by Ashley (hi Ash! miss you!) who noted that since it's what I've been thinking of the baby as for all this time, it's going to be really, really hard to completely switch gears and think of him by another name. For better or worse, the baby has been named, so if there are 20 boys with the same name in his 5th grade class....he'll live. Like I said, there were numerous other Jennifers in mine, and I'm not scarred by the experience.

Speaking of the other Cox spawn in the house, I have come to a decision, and that is that never again will I let Owen go on an overnight trip without me until he has reached the age of reason. This past weekend my parents helpfully volunteered to take Owen up to their house for the weekend so we could get the house organized and some essential projects finished before baby comes. That is, it was helpful until he returned home and every stitch of sleep training we have done and all the progress we have made was promptly undone and Owen and I (but not Andy, who somehow has managed to excuse himself from parenting duties that occur between 10pm and 5am) were locked in a battle to the death last night pretty much every hour on the hour from midnight on. It doesn't help that both he and I have developed bad colds, which further disrupted sleep ability. It's no one's fault, but the fact is that Owen is a very, very sensitive kid to changes in his routine and he just can't handle the disruption of us being away from him. This happened when we went to Florida too (only much, much worse - he was a disaster for almost two weeks afterward) and it's just not worth it. This is going to make the having of baby 2 very tricky, as I think for all our sake's, Owen is going to need to stay with a parent. This may mean that Andy doesn't get the full hospital experience this time and instead goes home after the baby is born to stay with Owen. I think that might be the best way.

A rose by any other name?

This blog doesn't usually generate many comments, but I'm actually actively seeking opinions on this one. So if you have one, chime in.

The baby currently still cooking has been named for about 15 weeks now. After a surprising amount of debate, given our very quick selection and approval process with Owen, we picked a name that we thought had a good balance of uncommon and normal. That is to say, it wasn't Joe, but it wasn't Dweezil, either.

This not-too-common name, however, has turned out to be much more Joe-like than we thought. Despite the fact that prior to choosing it I knew only one little boy with this name, I have since met or heard of (through mom friends and friends of mom-friends, or seen written on cubbies at Owen's school) a total of 8 more, just in my reasonably small network alone. I'm starting to feel like now maybe our name is a little overnamed. Not that it's terrible to have a common name, but the whole point was to avoid a situation where what Jennifer is to 1980 my kid's name is to 2010, you know? Then again, I grew up as a Jennifer, and it was fine. I never felt super put out about having a very common name. But, I certainly did wish my name was Katrina for a number of years (number of Jennifers in my graduating 8th grade class: approximately 30. Number of Katrinas: 1). In retrospect, I suppose I am now glad my name isn't Katrina, but that's neither here nor there.

Anyway, without writing the name (although I am aware there are some readers who already know it), what do you think? Go with what is turning out to be a very popular name, because it was our first choice and we like it? Or go back to the drawing board and come up with another name that is normal, but a little more unique? 2 or 3 years ago when 1 in 3 girls were being named Madison I remember wondering what all those parents were thinking. Now I feel like we're in the same boat. The reason I'm not sharing the actual name is because it's not about the name, its about the relative popularity of the name. Meaning, I'm looking for objective opinions.

If we like the name, does it matter if it's really common? Or is it better to avoid the trendy names, and go with something a little more classic?

Still Celebrating the Season

Tonight I took Owen to have his picture taken at the studio at the Atrium mall. The woman assigned to us was practically a miracle worker, as far as I'm concerned. Owen's behavior in general runs the gamut from charmingly rambunctious to birth control, and tonight he was an absolute disaster. We got to the mall an hour early because I was thinking I could maybe get a little christmas shopping in before our appointment. Fail. Owen would not stay in the stroller and did about $60 worth of damage at Williams-Sonoma before I managed to pig-wrestle him up to the indoor playspace on the 4th floor, where he could at least run around like a maniac without costing me anything. After 45 minutes of letting him do that, I started to think it was a brilliant strategy - he'd be docile and accomodating when it came time for the photos. Wrong. So, so wrong. When we got to the studio he was TERRIBLE, and I sat there cursing myself for even coming up with the stupid picture idea in the first place. Owen kept running away - not just away from the photographer, but OUT OF THE STUDIO ITSELF into the mall. When he wasn't doing that, he was pulling on the backdrop canvases, knocking over all her props, and sticking his fingers into anything even vaguely electrical looking.I did my best to keep him on task, but it's no easy feat to whale myself around these days, and I was pretty much doing a lousy job of toddler managing. So it was actually a shock, when she finally showed me the pictures, to see that some of them came out really well despite the mayhem. In 24 hours, you will be able to see the photos for yourselves (apparently they post them online 24 hours after the session, so start checking around 8 tomorrow evening). There are two separate sets of directions, for grandparents and non-grandparents, so pay attention.

Instructions for non-grandparents:

go to www.portraitsimple.com
select 'portraits online' followed by the studio location, which is the atrium mall in chestnut hill, ma
the password is 2803
enjoy

Instructions for grandparents

see above. However, when you get to the point where you have the option to purchace prints, I advise that you...don't. I am sure you don't think I had Owen's picture taken two weeks before Christmas with no intention of using said photos as Christmas gifts. Furthermore, if you don't like the prints I chose, I have it on good authority that there is a giant sale in January and all the pictures you had taken in 2009 are heavily discounted. Plus, we are now 'members' of the studio and if I go back and buy more prints, I get 10% off (even off the discounted January prices). So hold your horses until after the holidays, is what I'm saying.

Cards

I finally managed to order our holiday cards, and they arrived today. I was so proud of myself for actually taking a picture, selecting a card on snapfish and ordering them before January 1 that I forgot when they arrived I would actually have to address and mail them. God, life is exhausting. Anyway, they're really not that cute. I thought they were when I ordered them, but the mockup on the snapfish website is just so damn small, that the expression on Owen's face that I thought was 'holiday excitement' looks more like 'surprise bordering on fear' on the final product. Don't worry, if you're one of my 10 faithful readers you're certainly on the list of people who will get one, so you can see for yourself. If I ever mail them, that is. Anyway, last year we ordered 40 and ran out. I distinctly remember feeling badly about several people who did not get one, so this year I ordered 60. And now that they're here, I cannot for the life of me think of 60 people that I even know, let alone need to send a holiday card to. I'm soliciting suggestions, so if you can think of someone who needs to be wished peace and health in the new year send me thier address. There's really only so many off-label uses for a photo holiday card.

Speaking of photos, I've been toying with the idea of bringing Owen to visit Santa this weekend. I'm very firmly of the opinion that my kids are not going to believe in Santa (save your outrage, people. It's not going to scar them. And if they want to do the whole santa thing with thier kids, I won't take it personally) so I'm not sure I really want to do that. But I guess you can get the benefit of the cute photo-op without having to explain Santa as anything more than a decorative accent to the holiday, like a Christmas tree. Especially this young. Anyway, so we might do that, and if that picture comes out nicely, maybe I'll scrap these cards and order another set.

Then again, that would probably result in 120 cards sitting on my counter making fun of me for not being able to get things done.

Updates

A quick post to provide some updates:

1) Ferber: outcome excellent. I love him. If I wasn't married I would write a letter - better! rent a skywriter! - and ask him to marry me. In fact, I might do that anyway. We followed the plan, it sucked and then it worked, and now Owen is sleeping through the night. Until at least 5:30. I'll take it.

2) Big boy bed: see above. The remaining hurdle is, as predicted, naps. He won't nap in it unless I can get him to fall asleep first (for instance, driving him around in the car) and then transferring him. He doesn't sleep in a crib at daycare, though, so I'm not sure why the naps issue is such a no-go on weekends, especially when the night time bed is going so well. So, a mixed bag but mostly good.

3) Pregnancy: things could be going better. I'm much more uncomfortable than I was last time. The injury I sustained at 22 weeks to my left hip hasn't healed, and my back hurts a lot more this time around. I feel this can probably be directly attributed to the fact that last time I didn't need to haul around a 30lb toddler constantly. I also got diagnosed with gestational diabetes yesterday, which completely shocked me and is a total bummer (let's be real, the only upside to being pregnant over the holidays is the dessert table). I'm also now fearing a 14lb newborn. Only time - 7 weeks and change, but who's counting, really - will tell.

4) Christmas: I still hate it. Nonetheless we are now the owners of 3 (!) advent calendars and I am good naturedly going through the motions of opening them up one day at a time, so look what a good sport I am. This weekend we'll decorate seasonally, and we recently inherited enough Christmas decorations to outfit santa's village at Bloomingdales so I'm sure our house will be a sight in a few days. I'm even letting Owen listen to Christmas carols on the radio and Andy has forced me to stop lecturing Owen on rampant commercialism and manufactured sentiment. I might even take Owen to see Santa. I say again: look what a good sport I am.

5) Kitty: um, a handful. At dinner Andy asked me if the MSPCA is open on Saturdays. I didn't really ask him why he wanted to know, but well, Kitty, if you're reading this, I'd encourage you to get your act together. stat.