Archive for the ‘love & marriage’ Category
Celebration weekend
I love July 4! Not only is it a long weekend this year, but it’s also my 40th birthday and today, the 6th, is our third wedding anniversary (and Jake’s 11 month birthday!).
I’ve been having a wonderful weekend. I miss my girlies, but I had a nice long talk with each of them when they called to wish me happy birthday and they were just SO sweet. I’m enjoying the quiet time, but I also can’t WAIT until they are home! They are having a blast with their grandma and that part of their family (which is HUGE and close knit) and I’m glad about that, though.
Scott is totally indulging me – he helped me get a pedicure on Friday after we had dinner at my favorite little Italian restaurant. Yummy! Then we came home and relaxed, watched Nova (about how fireworks are made and displayed – we’re such GEEKS!). Then we watched the Tempe Town Lake fireworks on TV heh. Which was nice because the weather was very iffy at fireworks time – lots of wind, dust and lightening. Eventually the storm blew north of the city, but it was touch and go for a couple hours. I’m just as happy we weren’t out in that.
Yesterday, we had our anniversary luncheon (our anniversary is today, but we wanted to spend Sunday being lazy around the house). We found a little wine bistro called D’Vine that isn’t too far from our house. We went around 1 pm and it was perfect. We were the only ones there and Jake was a dream baby. we started him off with some Cheerios, but as soon as our tapas arrived, he was having NONE of that. He wanted to eat our yummy food. He basically ate one third of it, too! We even ordered him his own entree he is getting to be such a hearty self-feeder! Besides eating a substantial portion of what we ordered him, he also shared a bit of OUR entrees, plus dessert. We couldn’t believe how much that boy put away! Here was the menu:
stuffed mushroom
marinated grilled portabella stuffed with a blend of cheeses, roasted garlic, red onions and bacon
fried artichoke
beer battered artichoke hearts lightly fried and drizzled with a chipotle aioli
Jake had the
grilled cheese “samich” (with gruyere)
your choice of gruyere, cheddar or havarti with a basil butter; served with french fries)
Scott and I had the
pork tenderloin
chipotle marinated pork tenderloin, grilled and sliced then served with green chili mashed potatoes, sautéed vegetables then finished with a red chimichuri sauce
Peach cobbler a la mode for dessert
After that, we went to the jewelry store to get my wedding set cleaned up, Scott’s ring re-sized and re-engraved (it’s too big) and look at mama rings. We decided not to get a mama ring yet, but this ring instead:
The rubies represent July – my birthstone, as well as the month we were married. Three stones represent our three years of marriage. So it’s a combo 40th birthday/3 year anniversary ring. Scotty has the mama ring in reserve for some other holiday someday lol. It’s at the jewelers being re-sized right now. I’ll get it on Friday.
Today we’re hanging out at home, doing our own cookin’ and probably taking Jake for a swim.
Looking at pix on camera:
Jake LOVES Dr. Who (especially the theme song and credits)
Jake is 11 months old:
Pat-a-cake with mama:
Sillies:
Teef!
Attack of the hat is a fun game! (This is the split second before he ripped it off lol)
Lucky
Ohhh, Jason Mraz has a new album out. First song I heard off of it made me think of my wonderful hubby:
Lucky
Jason Mraz featuring Colbie Caillat
Do you hear me,
I’m talking to you
Across the water across the deep blue ocean
Under the open sky, oh my, baby I’m trying
Boy I hear you in my dreams
I feel your whisper across the sea
I keep you with me in my heart
You make it easier when life gets hard
I’m lucky I’m in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Ooohh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
They don’t know how long it takes
Waiting for a love like this
Every time we say goodbye
I wish we had one more kiss
I’ll wait for you I promise you, I will
I’m lucky I’m in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Lucky we’re in love every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday
And so I’m sailing through the sea
To an island where we’ll meet
You’ll hear the music fill the air
I’ll put a flower in your hair
though the breezes through trees
Move so pretty you’re all I see
As the world keeps spinning round
You hold me right here right now
I’m lucky I’m in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
I’m lucky we’re in love every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday
Ooohh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Cute snaps of Jake and daddy
Jake with his new “iPhone” – I had gotten a protective sleeve for my phone – I keep dropping it augh and this cardboard representation of the interface was part of the packaging. He carried that around with him for days. Cardboard/paper is his favorite toy.
I just LOVE these next shots – got them just last night after dinner… my boys in the kitchen. 
Mama’s boy
My Scott is SUCH a sweetie. His parents raised him just right.
Now they are reaping their reward. By all accounts he made his mama, in particular, pull her hair out when he was a teenager and young adult. But THESE days he is the kind of adult son any mom would dream of having.
One cute thing he started doing a couple months ago is taking sending at least one camera phone photo to his mom every morning and every evening. When we take pix on outings, we send them to her right then and there so she can sort of be in the moment with us. 
He’s very conscientious about getting the daily shots and mailing them off. And she just loves it. This sweet consideration has been wonderful for their bond. And it makes me fall in love with him even more. ♥
So last night, Jake went down for a nap just after Scott got home at 6 pm. That’s not terribly unusual, but when he was still asleep at NINE (which is odd), Scott was bumming because he hadn’t sent a photo to his mom yet.
So he took the following picture and sent it with the subject line: Peacefully sleeping.
Cracked me up!
Then he sent this photo at 10:30 pm 
Jake didn’t fall back asleep until midnight, which was frustrating. By some mercy, though, he slept until 5:30 am, so I actually got more uninterrupted sleep than I have been lately.
We’re going to the zoo, zoo, zoo
There is no better day for the Phoenix Zoo than superbowl Sunday – the weather is usually comfortable and the place is practically deserted!
We had all the kids today, plus Superbowl Sunday (in 2005, that was Feb 6) is the anniversary of our first date (three years ago) and we chose the zoo as our first meeting place.
We also introduced our children to each other at the zoo, later that spring.
When Scott first saw me walking (so proudly lol) into the zoo with my children that first time, he said, “ahh, there you are – with your little ducklings all in a row.” So sweet. I feel all melty just thinking about it again. ♥
Here’s a pic from that day, almost three years ago:
Two years ago, when we were celebrating the first anniversary of our first date, we went to the zoo sans children, rented one of those bicycle surreys and debated whether or not we should have a baby together while we cycled around the zoo. 
I went off the pill mid-February and the TTC fun began.
I say, we sure have done a lot of living these past three years!!
Here are some pix from the day we had today. I can’t BELIEVE what a good time we had. Not one meltdown. Okay, Andrew really didn’t want to be there, but he was a good sport in spite of it. Yes, HM is wearing shorts. It was a gorgeous day!
Bailey, HM and Mira:
Hi Scotty: ILY and miss you!!
The Nerd Handbook
This is funny! It fits Scott – and me, to a lesser extent – quite well.
However, MY nerd is way more emotionally evolved than the one/s described below (and more evolved than I am, frankly). As for his current project: he's in the process of building me a new computer. He does like his monotype fonts, but he's very good about flagging at least 95% of what I say as relevant…
Hopefully I'll be a Project of his for a long, long time to come.
Just for Scotty… ;-)
Jake’s birth story from dad’s point of view
Day 0 — 03:36
<B> Wakes up with some "more serious" contractions; wakes me up, too (not on purpose). I can't really get back to sleep, but I do get a bit more rest.
We spend the day running errands, including a "Non-Stress Test" (NST). This test ensures the baby is "healthy." No issues here, he's strong.
Day 1 — 20:00
Something's happening. "Soft" contractions 5 minutes apart. <B> tries a glass of wine and lies down, but things don't slow down. She takes a "relaxing" shower.
Day 2 — 01:00
I call the midwife. I suspect she'll fall back asleep–it seems "like her" to me. Really, we are calling earlier than we need to, but I need the reassurance.
Day 2 — 02:00
I call the midwife. As I suspected: asleep. It's O.K., we have time.
Day 2 — 02:35
Midwife shows up. Essentially tells <B> she needs to get some rest. <B> tries, doesn't do a great job, but the midwives (the helper showed up, too) and I got a few hours of "rest."
Day 2 — 05:00ish?
It's the start of a long morning. <B> tries to get "comfortable" in different places; generally no, luck.
Day 2 — 10:00ish?
<B> is DONE. She thinks she's ready to go to the hospital for an epidural. I go talk to the midwives. I think she just needs a pep-talk.
We talk it over, <B> is tired, tired, tired. Midwife makes a joke about Starbucks; but this gets me thinking "OK, yeah, diet Coke has caffeine! Maybe that will make a difference?". I go get her a diet Coke.
Midwives do a cervix check to see "where we're at". 4-5 cm, closer to 4 than 5. I was woried this would be a mental set back, but it wasn't.
[NOTE: One of the midwives later suggests mothers may need to get this worn out to enable their bodies to relax. Interesting idea and their might be some merit to it.]
Day 2 — 10:25
It's enough and we are back on track, all discussion of hospitals the done. From here on out it's rock/swivel (in the office chair), walk, pee, repeat.
Day 2 — 12:40
<B> gets in the tub to "relax". She's there for about 1.5 hours before the midwives begin to suggest she does something else. It takes a half hour more before she's convinced.
Day 2 — 14:50
<B> stands up in the tub to "see what happens", I support her. She begins to have a few harder contractions. They come a little closer together.
Day 2 — not keeping track of time anymore
We walk and walk around on the bathroom tile (it's a huge bathroom; huge; really big) until her water breaks. The "waters" are clear: good sign. I refill the tub (the tub is fairly large, also). Then we walk a little more. Then <B> has another cervix check, but things aren't progressing so well, so they do the check DURING a contraction. Yuck, looks uncomfortable. We rest a little on the bed, then all of a sudden the boy is crowning. We get in the tub (me first, then <B>; I am holding her such that she is secure: head above water and with my knees to press on) and not 10 minutes later <B> has the little guy in her arms.
That's the story, from my point of view.
I left a few things out, things like eating and drinking (I made sure <B> always had something to drink and brought her snacks as frequently as I could get her to eat them) and trips to the toilet (of which <B> made many).
This experience was amazing — I would not want to do it any other way. We ate and dank when we wanted and had the wonderful comforts of our home. This is where healthy babies of healthy moms are meant to be born!
The Birth Partner by Penny Simkin is one heck of a useful book for either parent. After reading it, I was generally educated enough to be comfortable "doing my part" (which of course was very little).
Introducing Baby Jake (FINALLY born 42w1d)
Jackson (Jake) Scott
Born: August 6, 2007, 5:21 pm
Weight 8 lbs, length 19 3/4 inches.
Successful home waterbirth: 40 hours to get from 2cm to 10 cm (!!!) – and then 10 min of pushing. Scott was an AMAZING birth partner. I'm so proud of him.
Good nurser right from the first minutes.
Birth story and more pix later.
PS: He coos when he cries – it's the sweetest thing I've ever heard.
Mom to 4 kids and 2 stepkids, I am a writer writing in the heart of chaos. I am the co-founder and former editor of 
