Holiday

Elena has taken to wanting dancing music. So Jake, always looking for an excuse to highlight his 80's music collection, has her started on Madonna. So it's Madonna's 'Holiday' that was the driving music for this trip.

We took off on a short as close to Euro-style holiday as we could get. We went some place that looked interesting with a moderate amount of internet research, stayed in the most interesting place we could find, and were within striking distance of the beach. We headed to the Albermarle region of North Carolina - just below the Virginia boarder. Now, we were a big worried that our vacation was also planned within striking distance of the Great Dismal Swamp - but we've always known how to have a good time.

We stayed in the Beechwood Inn - which is a collection of little restored houses from the pre Civil War. They also make reproduction furniture - so they are furnished authentically. Kids were welcome (they even put a tub of legos in the house!) and it was a nice choice.

We spent three full days exploring the region. The first day we just drove to the Outerbanks to go to the beach. Elena demanded it and when you see how happy she is covered in sunscreen and sand by the ocean, we'll you'd drive there too. I swear, the child will either live or work or both by the ocean because she never seems happier or more at peace and joyful than when she is playing on the beach. One our drive back we swung through a little town on Roanoke Island and found some great icecream. The next day we headed up to a state park, rented a canoe and went in search of turtles, birds, alligators (elena was extremely disappointed not to see one), and other wild life. It was really wonderful to canoe among the cyprus trees. We had lunch in the canoe and stopped for icecream in a drug store soda fountain on the way home. The next morning it was back to Roanoke Island to visit the interpretive museum and boat then back to the beach for a little more sunning. That night we stopped for pizza and ice cream on the way home. Basically, the theme of the trip was icecream!

We really enjoyed the country and thought the area was beautiful.

Half baked?!?!

How could this be? About two weeks ago we had our 'big' ultrasound. Elena came along to check out the baby. We'd watched youtube videos of ultrasounds, so she knew what to expect. Before hand she 'wrote' down her list of questions (she has learned the morning of my appointments I scribble down a few questions).

First of all, Dos looks great. All the parts are there and functioning. We saw everything from all chambers and valves of the heart to the umbilical cord. Dr. Bradford was a lot of fun because she explained everything much better than the ultrasound tech we had with Elena. We got tons of pictures, I just have to find time to scan a few in for you. No good profiles, because the hands and the feet were up by the head. Elena loved that part, 'the baby has his toes in his ears, just like me!' The heart rate was steady at ~160-170...fast, just like Elena's. Now before you go placing your money on the boy horse, Dr. Bradford says that the 'fast/slow' heart rate thing is only accurate 60% of the time...that's pretty close to 50/50 for this scientist. Elena's heart beat was always that fast, so it remains to be seen if I just have babies with fast beats. But if it's another girl, you are out of luck for your sample size, because we are only having two! The baby was measuring right at ~21 weeks for everything and was estimated to weigh about 12 oz. Froggie legs has some serious poundage to put on. As for my poundage - doing good...gained back my early loss from being so sick (and all of the illness after Chile). I'm up about 7 lbs from my first appointment, which means I'm up about 2 lbs over all. (two weeks in the desert while pregnant is excellent weight control, but a regime I cannot recommend for wide spread use). The baby was moving around a little bit and since then has gotten much more active. Still being a tricky little one and the moment Jake puts his hand on my belly, movement stops. Elena has been really wanting to feel the baby move. Maybe I'll have to try to half a coke while sitting down trick for her soon.

Everything else is pretty much on target (except buying or building furniture for the house and unpacking...don't ask about those). We found a good doula, her name is Michal, who we like a lot and have had our first meeting. This is very important to me especially, because I don't know which doctor will be delivering (though I really hope it is Dr. Bradford, when she asks 'any more questions' at the appointments half the time I'm tempted to say 'will you be my friend? can we hang out?' - you know you are getting old when your doctors become your own age!). But being the control freak that I am, I like to know who will be there to support me. Last time Jake and I certainly needed the support of our doula Terri, whom I give a great deal of credit for my wonderful birth experience and Elena's safe arrival. We are also going to get Elena enrolled in a 'sibling' class at the hospital. We are still figuring out what will happen with Elena when the baby comes. Turns out that Blacksburg is still far away from our pit crew - even on emergency standby.

I'll finish up with some pictures from about 22 weeks.

Where is the belly?


Ahhh, there it is...


Never one to be topped, Elena also frequently has a 'baby Haga' in her belly. Haga is the name of her imaginary little brother who gets into a lot of trouble...

Mimosa the Magnificent!

When Elena was just a wee babe, she had this magnificent nanny who swooped in several times a week to whisk her away to amazing destinations such as unlimited shuttle bus rides around campus and the theater workshop. Then the wonderfully nanny graduated and went away...and Elena moved on to school time. Her days with Mimosa have always been treasured. We've moved all over the world and Mimosa has traveled all over the world. But last week, Mimosa, on a road trip with her friend from CT to CA stopped in for a visit.

Oh was Elena excited!





And so were we to see Mimosa.

It's a good thing that her friend Casey was here to supervise...Jake was busy planning a Nanny-Napping for Baby Dos.

Harry and Hermione reporting for duty

Here's a couple photos of Jake and I all spiffed up to graduate the VT seniors and PhD & masters candidates a couple weeks ago.




Gotta love that UC blue and banana slug yellow (take that Berkeley)

Has anyone seen my wand?

Strawberry fields forever

Last Saturday we decided to take a little jaunt over the Blue Ridge to pick strawberries in Glade Hill. It was the only U-pick we could find. Jake also had a Dutch graduate student, Eveline, here to work on some modeling. We offered for her to come along if she would like to see some country side. She may have gotten more than she bargained for - as we made her pick for her lunch! But it was warm and sunny, so like a good Dutchie she passed on the sun screen and soaked up the rays. While we slathered it on, and I still managed to burn my neck and a strip along my lower back were my droopy maternity pants creeped down!




We ended up with 35 pounds or so of berries. Jake and I spend Saturday night washing and coring them to be frozen. Some in syrup, some whole, some sliced, and some pre-crushed for jam.



Stop by for a visit and we'll make you fresh biscuits to go with homemade strawberry jam.

(and for the record - santa cruz/watsonville still holds the record for tastiest strawberry. Even fresh from the field, it wasn't the same, so for those Cruzians still reading along, enjoy a nice basket from the farmers market for us!)

Mothers Day

That's right. That special day of the year when we celebrate that special person who has given all of us so much, our mother. That day when we, somehow, acknowledge the gifts and sacrifices that our mothers gave us to help us get to where we are. That acknowledgment is habitually expressed via cards, flowers, other small gifts, breakfast in bed, special dinner out and so forth. One item not commonly found on that list might be Bass Fishing. Right on the short list of "do not include" with Tractor Pull, Home Depot Power Tool Sale, and $0.39 Wing Night.

For better or worse, we didn't get wings or power tools, but we got Bass Fishing. Maybe Steve was looking to maximize the rural Appalachian experience (think Jeff Foxworthy: "You might be a redneck if...") after our Friday night Bluegrass jam session but whatever the case, we were up and at 'em at 6:30 on Mothers Day and out of the house by 8:30 under leaden skies with a promised high of 55 degrees.

As a willing participant in this little adventure, I'll throw Steve a little lifeline at this point since, unless he knows someone with a really comfortable couch, or who is a little slow, phoning a friend is pretty much out of the question. The "Bass Fishing" trip also involved a "float trip" down a nice, scenic section of the New River. The trip was scheduled long before the weather forecast was known and even in the face of "guaranteed rain", the previous two days had come through sunny. The majority of the participants had a bang up time in spite of the rain and 48 degree temperatures and would absolutely do it again. Unfortunately for Steve, and fortunately for the reading public, none of that makes for a really good story. Sorry Steve...

So off we went, bundled like we were headed skiing, to make our rendezvous at the gas station. No problem. Got there on time, signed away our liability and our rights to consume Mercury laden fish, cajoled Elena into the outfitter's van, and headed for the put in. Rain threatened but held off and optimistic eyes looked for clearing skies. We got to the put in and our two little boats and further cajoled Elena to actually get into the boat (on my lap) and we were off under some spectacular limestone cliffs.

Our guide (we had two boats, Erin and Steve in one, Jackie, Elena, and I in the other) was a little concerned. Jackie was on the "no fishing list" and with Elena in my lap I wasn't going to be doing much except sitting. 400 yards down the river Elena headed for Gram, I took a cast or two, and we were digging out the "Dora the Explorer Bass Master Triton" fishing pole that, miraculously, delivers a caught fish on every cast. The color is a little suspect, but that purplish tinge and rubbery texture are probably side effects of Mercury accumulation. And then Elena discovered "rapids" and "waves". Game on. Fishing, sure, that's pretty good. But Andy, head for those WAAAVEEESS! Our guide was great and willingly and safely took us through every class 0.2 riffle that we encountered to rave reviews from the youngest member of our crew.



And then the fish started biting. Erin caught two:



I reeled in six:



And Steve, in an act of vengeance from the God of Motherhood, was unilaterally spurned by the bass. Elena later summed it up as "Poppa caught hundreds of fish, Little Opa didn't catch any."

The biting of the fish also coincided with the commencement of the rain. Jackie said, "It looks misty up ahead". Then Andy said "I think I felt a drop". Then it started raining. Steadily. Some variation in intensity, but a constant wetting for the most part that slowly escalated over the next couple of hours into outright downpour, thunder, and lighting. Andy spent that last 30 minutes of our "float" pulling like a pirate for a brothel while Elena, who never fussed a whit after getting into the boat, took a nap in Gram's lap. Presumably the body heat Jackie was losing converted the puddled water into a comfortable resting temperature for Elena. In the picture you can see the angelic look on Elena's face and note the intensity of the rain on the water but you'll notice that Jackie's face is not visible, though I suspect it was largely responsible for Andy's efforts at the oars.









When we hit the boat landing we unloaded Elena and rushed under a bridge to get out of the rain. That's right, if Bass Fishing wasn't the Mothers Day treat of all time, throw in the "wino package" and you've got a cherished memory in the making. In the comfortable shelter of concrete, we traded wet clothes for semi-damp and piled into the car for our triumphant return to civilization, hot showers, and "Five Guys" burgers. Reading from the thermometer in the car? 48 degrees. To add insult to injury, the sun shone brightly as soon as we arrived home and continued to do so for the rest of the day.

All in all it was a day that will be remembered for years. If you see Steve after Fathers Day, ask to feel his legs -- Rumor has it that "Fathers Day at the Spa" is going to feature waxing... lots of waxing.

What a party!

Well, we may not have allowed Elena the big birthday bash - but there was quite a special celebration.

What happens when you are the only grandchild...your grandparents FLY in for your birthday, of course!


So Gram and Opa arrived on Elena's birthday and helped get the party ready. We celebrated with Gram, Opa, and our friends Kirsten, Xander, and Brad. The kids ran around and played.


Opa was the pony ride.



After a BBQ sandwhich dinner, we had cake. Elena requested a 'chocolate, strawberry shortcake.' (not surprising, since she always asks for strawberries for her birthday, thank goodness she was born in May!). Of course, she had it. We sang Happy Birthday and in the Gloria (dutch birthday song).


Everyone enjoyed cake. Then...let's see, what did we do next. PRESENTS!