Chatterbox!

Jeez, Eddie is a freaking chatterbox these days! Not only does he move constantly, but there's a running commentary, too.

About two months ago he started saying small sentences (phrases, I guess).
"I want that."
"Get down!" (to the dogs, while pointing his finger at them...)

And about two weeks ago he started saying more complex sentences:
"I want some of that."
"What doing?"
"Where Daddy [Ruby, sister, Mama, brother]?"
"I hold it!" (Meaning "I want to hold that!")

It is sooooooooo nice being able to communicate with him--the fact that he can tell me what he wants or needs has been really nice for us adults around him. He can tell us when he wants to "see," "hold," "watch," or "eat" something in particular like crackers, milk, water, candy, apple, cheese, banana, bread, oatmeal, ball, choo-choo, chickens, shoes, socks, pants, shirt, book, stroller, etc. He tells us when he's "poopy" (if we haven't already smelled it...). I can also ask him to "show me" what he is talking about (or what hurt him) if I can't understand what he's saying. Most of his chattering is jibberish, but I can usually home in on one word that I recognize and then have a conversation from there.

My other favorite new phrases of his are:
"Bye, see you!"
"Thank you-welcome!"
"Ooooh, bee!" (He refers to all bugs as bees and he LOVES finding all the mosquito hawks flying around our house.)

And yes, there's definitely an exclamation point at the end of every. single. one. of his phrases. Life is VERY exciting at this age!

I can definitely see how tantrums would be very common if he weren't able to communicate so easily. So although my ears get tired, I'm ever so thankful that he's on track with his verbal communication skills. He never picked up on using baby signs himself, but he understood a lot when we used them (drinks, more, eat).

Hello?

Wow, where has the time gone? I haven't posted anything of substance in a while. School is keeping me super busy during the day and I often do my blogging during lunch...but recently I've been reading articles and grading quizzes while I eat instead.

To play catch up:

May 12: Found and confirmed a date for my qualifying exam. Whew. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a single date that 5 faculty members can agree to be free? Oy. It is still a few months away so my panic attacks haven't kicked in completely...but my nerves are already starting to get to me.....

May 13: We hired a cleaning service to do the "deep cleaning" of our house each month. Thank GOD. When there is grit/dog hair/dust in the corners of my house or grime ground into the nasty linoleum on my kitchen floor that I can't easily mop up, I seriously feel dirty. Like my body is covered in all that ickiness. Normally, this just leads me to sweep, mop, dust, andd vacuum our entire house every Sunday night with Dave's help. And during the week I try to clean both bathrooms and always have to sweep and vacuum up the dog hair and grit. We calculated that together we spend about 4-6 hours a week cleaning the house. That's 8-12 man-hours! And since Dave is only home and awake for 56 hours a week, it just isn't worth it anymore.

Since we have a very mobile child, two dogs (and a dog door so they have unlimited access to the outdoors...meaning they track in a LOT of dust), AND we cool our house with box fans in the windows instead of our AC all summer our house gets super dusty in the warm months. Obviously having someone to do the elbow-grease-required cleaning (like using a nylon scrub brush on her hands and knees to clean the kitchen floor) won't totally let me off the cleaning hook. I'll still have to clean the bathrooms and the floors every week like usual. But I won't have that nagging feeling that I didn't do enough. Because now it WILL get done, even if I don't have time to do it.

Growing up, our house was ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS dirty. And not just untidy with piles of clutter everywhere. But dusty. So dusty. I don't want to live that way, but dangit, it is HARD to keep a house clean when you keep the windows open and have dogs inside.

For a long time I felt guilty wanting a house cleaner. But then it dawned on me: I'm NOT a housewife. I am a Ph.D. student who spends nearly 40 hours a week working on campus and my husband isn't at home to help me out with any chores (dishes, cooking, laundry, cleaning, child rearing). And he shouldn't be expected to spend all his time cleaning when he actually is at home.

And once I realized that Dave was excited about hiring someone...well, let's just say I scheduled an appointment immediately.

The team of two women came last week for the first time. The difference they made was amazing. Not in an obvious way, but everything smelled good, shined, and my kitchen floor has never looked better. It is like going out to dinner, when you can enjoy the meal without worrying about how long it will take you to clean up the dishes afterward. Ahhhh.

And for the record: I refuse to feel guilty about hiring someone to help me. After asking around, it turns out many, many people I know have house cleaners. They talk about it in hushed tones, like it is something to be ashamed of. Come on, spending quality time with your family (and your dissertation research) is much more virtuous than staying up late after the children are in bed or avoiding plans with your friends in order to have time to clean the house. Or living in filth.

May 14-15: We went to Livermore for part of the weekend with two goals in mind: hang out with friends and haul my old green Volvo to a junk yard. Both goals were completed with success! On Saturday afternoon Dave and my dad loaded the car onto a trailer while Eddie and I went to Del Valle park to hang out with the Joneses (I'm pretty sure us Bowers got into the Jones family picture...oops). It was super fun, but caused Eddie to miss his nap so he was a tad cranky the rest of the day. After Eddie was bedded down for the night, Dave and I went to a wine release party at John Even Cellars with Robby and Tina. Then a bunch of us went out for Nation's breakfast at 10pm. It was super fun to hang out with my friends. =) I love not feeling like a mom for a night!

The next morning we spent some time loading giant rocks into the truck to put in our patio yard for decoration. To haul them in the truck, though, my dad needed to make a "rock pallet." And Eddie decided to help.


His favorite part, of course, was riding in the wheel barrow to and from the rock pile. Doesn't he look like he belongs in that wheel barrow? These pictures melt my heart...and remind me of myself at that age (I spent a lot of time riding in wheel barrows). Dave hauled the Volvo back to Davis in Clifford (the Big Red Truck) while Eddie and I followed in the van. We got home early enough in the day to put up a coat of paint on the stucco around our new windows, play at the park, and do our weekly produce/milk shopping.

May 17: Eddie and I went to the train museum in Sacramento during our Tuesday afternoon together. Because it was raining we decided to drive. I have my dad's manual transmission pick up truck ...and of course there was an accident on the Yolo Causeway so I had to be in and out of first gear for 30 minutes. Normally that's not so bad, but Dave had strapped Eddie car seat onto the truck's bench seat without first scooting it all the way forward. Since I'm a lot shorter than Dave, this made using the clutch a little difficult (I had to put three pillow behind me to shove me forward). I wasn't sure I could restrap the seat myself since I'd tweaked my back in Livermore the previous weekend. But Eddie LOVED driving in the truck since he's right up front with me and can see everything--the Causeway was fun for him, actually, since he could see all the emergency vehicles zooming along on the shoulders to the accident.

We had a really fun time at the museum.

Eddie ran around like a mad man, stopped and stared at a tiny baby girl for a while, ran through the Post Office train about 5 times (only because he likes going up and down the stairs into the train), and played on the second floor Thomas the Tank Engine tables. Boy, howdy. He was in heaven playing with those train toys! Eddie doesn't know it, but his very generous Great Aunt Virginia gifted him all of his cousin's old Thomas toys...shhhh....I'm planning on slowly doling them out over the next year.

May 20: Dave was going to haul the car to the pick-n-pull while I went to school, but once I was on campus, we realized that I needed to be there to sign the title (mostly because we didn't understand where I needed to sign on the form). So I read about stable isotopes on our way there and then made it back to campus in time to teach that afternoon.

May 21: A new male baby sitter named Justin came over that evening to watch Eddie while Dave and I went to the vet school's end-of-school party, the Smoker. Justin and Eddie did great--they went to Justin's friend's pool party, had dinner, and then a bath and bed like normal. This was the first time we left Eddie under someone else's care for his bedtime routine, other than Cassie. I'm so glad he did well! And the best thing is that Justin is moving into our old rental house, just across the park. Can I get a "woohoo!" for having a sitter only 5 minutes away?!

Dave and I left the house with make up on, bows in our hair, and ready to party. We went to John and Christina's house for a carnitas dinner and then got dressed up in our leotards, tights, and ballerina tutus. Yes, Dave was a ballerina, too. AND he made his OWN tutu. God, I love this guy.

The rest of the gang dressed up as: a bearded lady, a tattooed lady, a clown, lions, lion tamer, tight rope walker, and "strong man." We walked to a bus stop nearby to take one of the party buses to the Dixon fair grounds where the party was held. I'm sure we looked hilarious trooping along the residential streets like that. Of course, we looked totally fine once at the bus stop since there were many more dressed up folks there. After waiting for a long time, we decided NOT to take the bus after all so that *actual* vet students could take advantage of the designated driver bus. Dave drove us in our very sexy minivan and I drove us home.

The party theme this year was "circus" and was pretty fun. John made many of the decorations, including an animal cage to dance in, a beer/wine bottle ring-toss game, and a bean-bag toss (into animal bums...vet students are weird.). It was open bar, with circus-themed drinks. I had a "trapeze freeze" (snow cone with vodka) and a cotton candy martini (tooooooooooo sweet, yuck). There were also lots of fun snacks: nachos, cotton candy, pop corn, and soft pretzels. We brought home a package of cotton candy for Eddie, expecting him to LOVE it...it was weird that he didn't like it. I don't think he understands that it is food...maybe he thinks it is cotton and can't understand why his weird parents would want him to shove it into his mouth? Dunno.

Yesterday Dave tilled peat moss into a garden bed for our new blue berry bushes while I took Eddie to the park. Then, while Eddie napped, I planted the bushes and installed irrigation lines to water them. Later on I went to see our 10 year old neighbor in a production of Cinderella. She was in the ensemble and played a mouse and village girl and did a great job! Hopefully Eddie will have learned to sit still by next year so he can see her in another production. The audience was full of little girls in tiaras and princess gowns, it was adorable.

Anyway, I have finish my lunch salad, moisten my compost samples, pop them into the incubator, buy a coffee, and go to class!

Garden Gnome Farm Hand

"Need an egg, Mama?"

What else is there to say about these pictures? He's just too darn cute (and weird) for words.

Good Morning!

How could today not be wonderful when it starts out with a big smile from Eddie while I cook our eggs and oatmeal?

What a Day

Yesterday was supposed to be a normal Tuesday: out of the house by 8:45, drop Eddie at Cassie's, bike to school, pick Eddie up after his nap for our weekly afternoon together.We had an appointment at the Mazda dealer for Edwards car.

But Eddie's diaper rash was SO bad yesterday morning that we both cringed as I changed him. His diaper was FULL of corn and sharp, largely unchewed almonds. I mean FULL. There was blood, but I wasn't sure if it was internal or from the three big, open sores on his cheeks that had only gotten worse since the night before, despite gathering him with A & D ointment. Poor Wadamus. He was screaming and shaking by the time I was done.

I hugged him until he stopped crying and then told him we'd stay home from school so we could go to the doctor for some advice and maybe mediated ointment.

I called at 8:05 am for an appointment but the earliest I could get was 11:20. Sheesh. So we spent our morning taping and priming the office window frame (with me chanting "don't touch!" to Eddie because I didn't want him getting primer all over the house), adding irrigation lines to a garden bed, and trying to convince Eddie to be naked to let his rump air out. He would have NONE of that...which, if you know Eddie at all, is not only weird, but concerning. This kid LOVES being naked. But the sores hurt so much that he insisted on wearing a diaper. A good thing, too, since he passed 2 more loads of almond chunks before we left for the doctor.

The doctor said it looked like a yeast infection and prescribed an antifungal cream. Luckily it was the OTC type so I didn't need his insurance card. As I posted on Facebook, I realized on Monday morning that I left my wallet in the van...the van that Dave drove up to Gualala. So I don't have a license, credit cards, insurance cards, nothing. I DO have $14 I found in the house, though. I was going to buy yogurt and bananas but the ointment cost $11 with tax. Oh well, we'll survive until Friday.

Bless her soul, the doctor looked at the bloody poopy diaper I brought to her office and she said the blood is probably from colon irritation and not the rash. She looked concerned and asked me to avoid feeding Eddie pounds of almonds until he's old enough to understand chewing thoroughly. I don't think she believed me when I said that he normally DOESN'T gorge on them and DOES usually chew them. Sometimes kids do crazy things...especially at daycare when their friends are around.

He fell asleep in the car on the way to CVS. We had meatballs and olives for lunch because it was fast. While he napped I moved the baby chickens from the chicken tractor and into an old dog crate inside the chicken pen so all the birds can get acquainted. Then I positioned the chicken tractor over some weeds that popped up near the asparagus bed. Two big chickens spent the rest of the day in there...and they nibbled those weeds down to dust, just like I wanted! Good chickie-chickens!

I had to wake Eddie up early from his nap so we could leave for Elk Grove to get the Mazda worked on. Edward got a notice on the mail that the steering pump was recalled so he wanted that done, along with a few other things covered under the warranty.

The work took about 2 hours and we spent our time playing in the dealership's kid "area" and running around inside he show room. The kid area was a glass-walled room the size of a small walk-in closet. It was weird.

Eddie wasn't interested in watching Bob the Builder even though I was (Can we build it? Yes we can!). So he mostly ran around in circles, ate snacks, told me where to sit, opened and closed the kid room door, and flirted with all the ladies. He was not too loud for the most part, so no one seemed to mind him running free.

He did unload another pile of almonds, which leaked onto his shirt when I laid him down on the changing table...and of course, I'd forgotten to restock the clothes in his bag. It only took a trillion Costco wipes to get the shirt clean enough to get home.

Since I didn't have my wallet, the dealer guy had to call Edward to get his credit card number (I'm one of those lame people who doesn't have her card numbers memorized....and it is Edward's car so he should pay it anyway).

Our commute home was opposite to the traffic, thank goodness, but Eddie's poor face was in the sun the whole time. I should move one of those window shades into the Mazda. He'd eaten so many snacks at the dealership that he wasn't really hungry for dinner, but I served him a bowl of ramen noodles cooked with pesto, sesame oil, green garlic, tons of finely-chopped chard, and a egg for each of us. He happily slurped up the noodles and egg, but picked out all the chard leaves. Sigh...someday he'll enjoy slimy boiled greens as much as his parents do!

After that, I just dumped all the dishes into the sink so we could play together. I pulled the toy drawer out of the oak cabinet and we played for a while with his vehicles. He pulled every single wheeled toy out of the drawer, handed it to me, and instructed me to push it fast along the floor. It was fun, but he was frustrated that the backhoe and tractor would veer off into the carpet instead of going straight like the Hot Wheels cars. My friend, Tara, came by just before Eddie's bath so I could show her how to care for the dogs while we're out of town this coming weekend. She watched Eddie charging around, yelling, and running off to the park when we walked her out to her car...and she admitted that she'd never be able to keep up with him. You and me, BOTH, Tara! It is exhausting...but strangely, it is only exhausting when someone else makes me aware of it. Otherwise it is just my baseline.

Eddie's bath was shallow, cool, and quick because his tushie hurt so much. I have him a dose of Motrin, quickly brushed his teeth, read him a story, and put him to bed. Then I took a hot bath, chatted with Dave online, and fell asleep fast. Yesterday was exhausting...and all day I couldn't stop myself from thinking about how much grading I had left on my desk at school, how I needed to start organizing myself to study for my big exam, and how I needed to drill holes in my Mason jar lids for my compost incubation...which I had intended to put together this week. (Totally not going to happen unless I spend my non-Livermore hours in the lab this weekend...ug.)

Mothers Day Weekend 2011

This was a jam-packed, fun-filled, fulfilling weekend with a lot of great people!

Friday night Dave made pizzas and calzones on the BBQ (the latter resulting from an over-decorated pizza that flopped onto itself). After Eddie was in bed, we watched Day and Night and thought it was cheesy but tolerable.

Saturday morning Dave worked on the windows. I had warned him earlier in the week that he would not be able to leave on Sunday night unless he had the flagstone veneer completely installed under the kitchen window. Tomorrow marks 6 months since we got our window permit (not to mention my heart surgery) and I'm SICK and TIRED of having to look at the tar paper every time I walk up to the house. Incomplete projects drive me NUTS! So he brought work lights so he could work at night if he had to. Bright and early Saturday morning we got all the equipment out onto the driveway so he could get to work while I played with Eddie. And, wouldn't you know, my dad neglected to bring the masonry saw water pump up to Davis when he dropped off the saw. Argggggg. So Dave's new challenge became finishing the stucco around all the new windows (4). He got it done with no problem and didn't even have to work at night. =)

Eddie and I headed to Home Depot and Costco for a much-needed shopping trip. Oy. We were running low on all sorts of stuff. I chuckled when the cashier at Costco couldn't get all my loot back into the cart after he scanned it. It was stuffed in there!

Once we got home we had some lunch (not that Eddie was hungry after snacking on all the Costco samples...) and then he went down for a nap. I packed my overnight stuff into the Mazda and took off for Livermore.

Dave, Kristin, Jonah, and Eddie went to the Sacramento train museum for an afternoon of crazy/insane fun. These boys have too much fun together! (I posted a ton of pictures on Facebook and Shutterfly.)I met my mom at home before we picked up Kateri to go have high tea in Pleasanton. Gayla met us there. We had to wait foreeeeeeeeeever for our food. And of course, we were starving since none of us had eaten in anticipation of stuffing ourselves on all the little goodies. Sigh. It was nice, but not nearly as comfortable as the high tea at Ciocolat here in Davis.

After that, my mom, Kateri, and I went shopping in Livermore before going to the high school to see Skyler play the lead in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. He was stunning, of course, but I liked him in Godspell better. This is his last performance as a high schooler...next year he'll be studying music composition at UCSB!

To refresh ourselves afterward, we went out for margaritas and a very late dinner at Applebee's. Normally I don't like restaurants like that, but the Cajun Shrimp pasta was killer.

The next morning my mom went to (wo)man the visitor table at church while my dad and I went outside the house so he could show me the site of his fancy new septic system (yes, this is an exciting event in the Levie household). We met my mom for breakfast at Emil Villa's. It was soooooooo crowded and slow, but I shouldn't complain since it was Mothers Day.

I've never seen Robby and Tina's house--a darling 1931 fixer-upper. They showed me all the things they've done during their renovations (a LOT!) and showed us what they plan to do. It is a super cute house with character I can only wish my own house had. My dad gave them his approval by telling me afterward, "They do nice work." (Way to go, Porters! My dad has only ever said that to me about Dave and you...and considering all the folks he interacts with, that really says something.)

By 11:30am I had headed back to Davis. Driving the Mazda (a manual transmission) and blasting my music made me feel like a college student again.

We were set to meet Mike, Bernie, and Zennie at their house around 2pm...and I barely made it in time! I blended up a batch of strawberry smoothies and packed a bunch of snacks into my backpack while Eddie was still napping.

Michael wanted to take us on a "hike" to see some vernal pools at Mather Field. We totally lucked out because all the flowers were in bloom! It really was beautiful. Poor Dave had REALLY bad allergies so we had to leave early. He didn't take medicine beforehand, knowing it'd just make him super sleepy and prevent him from being able to drive back to Gualala that night. It didn't make a difference since his eyes were so puffy even at 9pm that he ended up sleeping here and leaving pre-dawn.

Eddie and Zennie had lots of fun charging around in the plants, checking out rocks, bugs, and flowers...and stealing each others snacks. Silly kids.On the way back home from the Mike Bowers, Eddie and Dave were passed out. I tried to sneak into the house to start dinner, but Wadameeus woke up.

Dave took a longer nap on the couch while Eddie watched a video so I could make dinner. I don't mean to show off, but DANG that was a tasty meal. So fresh and spring-like. And such a perfect ending to a great weekend. We had salmon croquettes with green garlic and fresh dill topped with homemade tartar sauce (extra dilly!); salad with oranges; and lemon/parsley/feta new potatoes.After dinner Dave gave me a sweet and hilarious card that absolutely melted my heart and an awesome set of interchangeable circular knitting needles that I've been wanting forever. Woo! I think I'll make myself a sweater!

Behold, the best Mothers Day card I could ever get. Only someone who REALLY knows us will understand why I love this card so much. Click to enlarge the picture...and take note of Dave's embellishments:I hope all the mamas reading this had an equally great weekend!

CSA Adventures: Early Spring

In the middle of March I finally signed us up to receive a weekly produce basket from a CSA called Full Circle Farm. My labmate, Kobi, is one of the farmers. There are oodles of CSA farms around the Sacramento valley. I chose this one because it supports my labmate and two of my other labmates get their produce and always seem very happy with the variety.

The baskets are delivered to campus every Thursday afternoon, and it is just a short walk from my building to where they are located. I bring my own bag to carry home my produce goodies. It is like getting a present every time because you never know what you can expect to get. I love that!

It is also nice because I'm forced to try cooking and eating a variety of things that I wouldn't normally think to purchase at the store or farmers market. Not that I don't like certain foods (I actually love pretty much anything) but I tend to stick to what I like most. Fennel, for instance, isn't something I'd normally buy...or broccoli raab. But since they are sometimes included I always use them.

This CSA is particularly nice (from my short experience) because they make sure to include a variety of flavors during "boring" seasons like winter. Many people complain that their CSAs are stuffed full of kale week after week in the winter. But here in Davis LOTS of stuff can grow in the winter. And this farm includes goodies preserved from other seasons, too (dried fruits like tomatoes, apricots, prunes, and dried summer herbs like basil).

For the past few weeks I've been able to eat a big salad for lunch every day using the salad greens they give me. It is usually chalk-full of spicy arugula, which I simply LOVE. I make my salad with some dried fruit and chow mein noodles, plus vinagrette. Sometimes I'll include a can of mandarin oranges, half a can of tuna fish, and some capers. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Here are some other baskets we've gotten, full of greens, greens, greens: So far I haven't had a problem using up all the goodies in the basket before I get the next one. We make a lot of stir fry dinners:
I don't have a picture handy, but a favorite weekend lunch for us is sauteed greens with eggs cooked in little holes made amongst the greens.  If there isn't enough liquid in the pan when it is time to put the egg in, we'll just pour in a bit of water, stock, or apple juice so the egg has a little hot liquid around it.

And when the baskets are full of fresh spring herbs I turn them into pesto if I can't think of anything else to do with them.  My guess is that most people only think of basil when they think of "pesto" but you can grind up whatever aromatic thing you want with some garlic, nuts, oil, and possibly some cheese.  I've used various fennel and cilantro pestos in bread doughs, spread onto toast and topped with a fried egg, stirred into ramen soup...and even licked straight off the spoon.  Mmmmm, I do love me some fresh pesto.

This one was parsley, lemon zest, garlic, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, salt, and pepper.



And this one was fennel tops, parsely, garlic, oil, and cheese.

Potty

A few weeks ago we noticed that Eddie has become aware of and interested in the toilet. Like other parents, our child keeps us company in the bathroom more often than not. Until recently I don't think he understood what we were doing sitting there...but all of a sudden he started pointing to the toilet and say "Oh...poopy? Peepee?"

He often comes to us, pats his diaper, and says "help" or "poopy" when he needs a diaper change (only when he's poopy, he couldn't care less when he's wet). So he's obviously getting the idea of what going to the bathroom is all about.

Just to encourage his curiosity, Dave bought two potty chairs. We keep the "real" one in the bathroom so he can sit on it whenever he wants (the bowl is removable and you can set the seat part onto the big toilet once he's bigger). The smaller Ikea one will be taken in the car or stroller once he's actually trained--to be used "on the go" when he has to "go."

To be clear: we're NOT pushing him into potty training right now and plan on letting him decide when he's ready. At two years old he'll get his first big boy underpants and if he wants to wear them and try using the toilet, fine. Otherwise we'll stick to diapers for a while.

Kristin came over for dinner last week and coincidentally brought him the book Once Upon a Potty. She was happy to see that we already have a potty seat for him!

So far, Eddie only likes to sit on the potty without a diaper after his bath. It has become a ritual. Other times he'll sit on it fully dressed. I'll have to teach him that the toy cars and spoons need to be taken OUT of the potty bowl BEFORE he actually uses it...but that's a lesson for an older child.

Here are some funny pictures taken the day Dave brought the potties home. I think it is particularly funny that they are fully clothed, and wearing matching outfits!

I'm reading a book with Daddy on the pot!Here Daddy...you take my ducky book. I'm going to have a snack. After all: what goes in, must come out!Ahhhh, this is so relaxing! Are you sure we're supposed to have our pants on when we sit on the potty, Daddy?Geez, Mama! A little privacy for us guys please?!

Schwind Twins!

John and Jessica had their babies yesterday afternoon! The little munchkins were both breech so they had a scheduled C-section...and despite all the planning, their anxious parents had to wait and wait and wait as their surgery kept getting delayed. (I was checking my phone and Facebook constantly starting at about 10am for them to post a picture.)

Welcome to the world, sweet Jude Bryant and June Elizabeth!The night before their arrival, John and Jessica came over to drop off their fur-babies, Rudi and Daisy. For having 14 pounds of baby inside her belly, Jessica looked nothing short of amazing! She's gonna kill me for posting this picture, but I needed evidence of how amazing a pregnant lady with twins can look at 38 weeks. Lovely, right?So if you're counting, I now I have four dogs, eight chickens, and one toddler under my care. The extra pooches will stay at our house until the new parents are settled back in at home. Eddie LOVES having all the "doh-dees" in the house. He's constantly showing me how he can give them gentle "pats."

I've had our bedroom window taped off for painting the trim Dave recently installed so I can't get any fresh air at night. The top of my Eddie's-in-bed-so-I-can-do-some-housework list is to get the last coat of paint on it so I can remove the tape and open the window. Ouf, sleeping with four pups in your bed sure gets hot! It doesn't help that Rudi insists on sleeping under the covers next to my legs...

Stay tuned for my celebratory birth meal this weekend in honor of the newest additions to the Schwind clan!

Moments like this...

...make a girl forget she's a Mama. (You can't see it, but there ain't no baby seat in the back of our car. Just me and Dave on a coast drive to go to the grocery store. Ahhhhhhhh.)Ah, sweet weekend-beach-house-bachelor/bachelorette-party, I miss you so much already.

We spent the whole weekend up in Bodega Bay with some of my best friends, celebrating the impending nuptials of John and Christina. Eddie stayed at Cassie's for the weekend. It was SO NICE to be alone with our friends, to drink, eat, be merry, horse around like the kids we used to be, and catch up with folks I haven't seen in a while (like James!).

I'm not kidding when I say that I actually FORGOT about Eddie many times during the weekend. And I don't feel guilty about it at all. Hallelujah...when's our next baby-free vacation? (Answer: the wedding weekend, in only 5 short weeks!)