bajada·net | home of a pixel-stained techno-peasant

Thank goodness I'm nutty about aggregating my links back to my site, because otherwise I'd have lost them all in the great Ma.gnolia database fail of 2009. As it stands, I just had to dig up my Delicious password and update my Postalicious plugin settings. It only took four months for me to actually do that.

Yesterday…

• I took Madeline to storytime at the library. She sat on the carpet with the other kids, made a bear puppet, and had me all to herself for an hour.
• Becca turned eight. I made an angel food cake (from a box, I'm no martyr) and pizza from scratch. And gluten-free pizza for Matthew because I love him so.
• I cleaned and reorganized the kitchen countertops up to the oven. Tomorrow, the stovetop and the top of the refrigerator. Fear.

Me: … and then we'll have cake.
Madeline: Happy birthdays!
Me: That's right, it's Becca's birthday.
Madeline: No, my birthdays.
Me: Nice try.

Yesterday was the third midwife appointment. Very regular checkup, I'm kind of an old hat at this. Madeline got to sit on my lap and the midwife showed her an illustration of a baby at about the right size and she pointed out arms and legs and ears and whatnot. Then Madeline got to push the button that turns on the Doppler so we could hear the heartbeat.

Last night…
Madeline: See baby now!
Me: Okay.
Madeline: Jelly button?
Me: Yes, that's my jelly button.
Madeline: Push button! Heart!
Me: Yes, you heard the baby's heart.
Madeline: Baby inside?
Me: Yes, the baby is inside.
Madeline: Door?
Me: …

I had my second midwife appointment today. Everything was fine in spite of the massive cold I had that has left me hacking and coughing and generally gross. (Living through a cold with only Tylenol and lemon tea is so not fun.) The kids were quite impressed when she found the heartbeat, and all is well.

We stopped by Ranger Surplus on the way home so Matthew could pick up magazine pouches. While he went in with Madeline, I marched Marcus and Becca down to Panera to get bagels and lemonade. Madeline said "Thank you, Mama" in the car about a million billion times as she munched her blueberry bagel. Very polite child.

Last stop was Wegmans for cheese. Stinky cheese. Cheese for me to fry. Mmm, cheese.

And Tilex, but that's not delicious or cheese.

I so did not need my toilet to do its best impression of a fountain this morning. Really, but no. The city had a work crew going up and down our street pumping out the lines. We heard the toilet burble, and then it turned into a fountain as air came up through the line. We stuffed a towel in it to keep the entire bathroom from being soaked. It wasn't sewage, but I am still very, very unamused.

I think there will be a lot of unhappy people on our street when they get home from work tonight.

But please God, not breech. I like having homebirths way too much.

My first appointment with the midwives was today, and ours found the heartbeat right away and lost it—but it's hard to find at ten weeks and we were lucky to find it in the first place. So, that's the long and short of it. My due date is March 19th, which means I expect to see a baby about two and a half weeks earlier.

Madeline turned two today (technically in about an hour), so I baked an angel food cake and ordered pizza. The kids wrapped her presents while I tidied up the kitchen and waited for pizza to arrive. After cake and copious amounts of whipped cream, she went upstairs to play with her Mr. & Mrs. Potato Heads. They were definitely a big hit.

…the four women's gymnastics events are hanging, falling, jumping, and dancing. Her favorite is hanging.

• One large white pattypan squash.
• Two cucumbers.
• One and a half pints of green beans.

It is always sad when one decides that the best tool for a job is a tad bit out of reach. But it involves lasers! And comes in purple! How can that be a bad thing?

I see a homebuilt laser cutter in my husband's future.