Cabin Fever (Flu?)

So, I've been hearing mutinous murmurings from people who haven't updated their own blogs since November 25th, that I've been shirking in my own blog duties. So...

Its been snowing since last Sunday - I mean a week from this past Sunday - and we've been house-bound for the vast majority of this time. We've ventured out twice together and John was driven to the shelter to volunteer by our friend in his 4-wheel drive beast of a truck. Its beautiful outside but the pacific NW isn't generally prepared for this volume of snow and ice. We don't have chains either. Duh.
This is actually record snowfall since 1968, so you can see the general surprise of the locals. We went out today for my OB appointment since last week's was cancelled, due to the weather, and we're out of town for next week, so I won't have an appt. next week either. They like to see you weekly in your last month so we figured we'd better brave it. I also had to refill my prescription. We went REALLY slowly and I packed 3 emergency blankets, water, food and extra diapers, etc. I also brought phone numbers for anybody I knew with 4-wheel drive vehicles. Happily we arrived home with groceries and the assurance that babe and I are in fine shape. A big, round shape to be precise.
The snow meant we missed 2 parties, church was canceled this past sunday and we were sent home early the sunday before that. We missed several other engagements and John has worked from home part or all of everyday this week and last week.
And, to top off all of this joy, Annika puked all night Friday night, and had diarrhea Saturday. This coincided with her developmental milestone of learning to take off her pjs and her diaper. Use your imagination. Or, don't.
John, being the saintliest and manliest man ever, did all the clean-up for all of the episodes, while I bathed Annika. This was in large part, due to my inability and discomfort in bending over far enough to get stuff out of her pack-n-play and then the hands and knees-ness of scrubbing up puke and poo off of the floor. But, he's also just a really thoughtful guy.
Then, John got sick. Really sick.
Despite this somewhat downer of a report, we're a pretty cheerful bunch by nature and like to hang out together, so its not too bad. Hopefully, our friends are still coming over for Christmas Eve for dinner and games. Their little boy and Annika get along really well and are a lot of fun to watch play together. If they don't come, its either weather related, or fear of the flu. John and Annika have both been fine now, so we'll cross our fingers.
We'll be traveling Saturday up to Seattle to visit my sister and her family and to attend my niece's baptism. Weather should be fine by then and we'll be happy to get out and see people. We'll have our own quiet Christmas and, I think, take a shift at the family shelter where we sometimes volunteer.
I'm including pictures, mostly for my mom, who wants to see some of her Christmas presents displayed. The tree on the wall is 5 feet high, I was supposed to stand next to it for scale. We love it, Mom!


She's chewing on a wet napkin. Beats me!


Not your typical Portland winter.

The problem with winter and late pregnancy coinciding is the big, fat BLAH that accompanies both. So, I haven't written anything because BLAH is only one word and that isn't much of a blog post.
SO, I'll write random happenings and if its boring, blah to you.
Annika LOVES singing with Cookie Monster. She can she dances and sings and growls at the end when Cookie Monster gobbles up his cookie. Then, she cries, "kikikikiki" which means more Cookie Monster. She can play around with the computer keys and usually get it to play again (YouTube) or get another one started.
My favorite is a duet with Grover and Madeline Kahn, who just happens to be the most brilliant comedienne ever. Grover sits on her lap and they sing an "echo song." Annika sings along to the "hee, hee, hee" and "ha, ha, ha", "pick a peck of peppers" and "high, high, high" and "low, low, low." Her "low, low, low" is really funny because she modulates her voice to be "low" and sounds like she's growling.
She's addicted to all things YouTube and Sesame Street and we worried that this wasn't healthy, but with the TV she just stares and sometimes dances, but with Sesame Street, she dances and sings and hoots with excitement. Its a very interactive experience and she's learning numbers and ABCs pretty quickly, so it can't be too bad. Also, we sing the Alphabet song approximately 2 million times a day. That might help.

More, maybe, later.

Eliza B's non-tag

This is my cousin-in-law's version of this game:

YOUR ROCK STAR NAME (first pet, current car): Abiyoyo Escort
2. YOUR GANGSTA STAR NAME (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite type of shoe): Huckleberry Dansko
3. YOUR NATIVE AMERICAN NAME (favorite color, favorite animal):
Red Moose
4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, city where you where born): Beth* Ogden
5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME (first three letters of your last name, first two letters of your first name):Berel
6. SUPERHERO NAME (2nd favorite color, favorite drink): Violet Huckleberry Hot Chocolate
7. NASCAR NAME (the names of your grandfathers): Clarance Earl
8. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME (your 5th grade teacher's last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): Hershi Helsingfors
9. SPY NAME (your favorite season/holiday, favorite flower):
Christmas Lily of the Valley
10. CARTOON NAME (favorite fruit, article of clothing you are wearing right now): Pear Tunic
11. HIPPIE NAME (what you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree): English Muffin Willow

It works and its funny.
Mine, not so much:

Rock star name: (First Pet's Name, Current Car): Cupcake Altima (Sounds like a stripper, especially if you know me personally. At least I don't drive a Maxima.)

Native American name (is this PC?): (Favorite Color, Favorite Animal): Red Elephant. No wait, Blue Giraffe. No, try again...White Hippo. Oh, this is it! Pink BlueBird! See, not so effective.

Soap Opera name: (Middle Name, Birth City): Alyce Provo. What kind of soap opera name is that? Alexandra Romaine is more like it.

Star Wars name: (First three letters of last name, first three letters of first name.): What???? Grecyn. Yeah, I can see it. I could be an intergalactic mechanic. Speaking of which, we really like the name Luke for our boy. We can't do it for obvious reasons. Think about it.

SuperHero Name: (2nd favorite color (?), favorite drink (?) Seriously, favorite drink?) Yellow Martinelli's. Red Water. Blue Orange Juice. Hmmm. I like Fat Mama, from the reality show where people made up super-hero alter egos and had to make up their own costume and Stan Lee gave them missions and they got kicked off one by one. Fat Mama was a big, black woman in tights, leotard and cape with a donut belt. She gave donuts to those in need. That's heroic.

TV Weather Person's Name: (5th grade teacher, a major city that starts with the same letter): I'm drawing a 5th grade blank. I remember 4th and 6th, but no 5th. Must have been a great year! So, I'll try with my 4th and 6th grade options. Kansky Kansas. Saperstein Sandusky. My career will skyrocket with options like those.

Spy Name: (Favorite holiday/season, favorite flower): Christmas Tulip. Seriously? Who would take me seriously? I can't wear an evening gown with semi-automatic weapons concealed within with a name like Christmas Tulip. Or Easter Daisy. Or My Birthday Daffodil. I could be a lame Bond girl with a name like that, but not an actual spy.

Cartoon Name: (Favorite fruit / article of clothing I'm currently wearing): My favorite. Apple Maternity Shirt.

Hippie Name: (What you ate for breakfast / favorite tree): Wheat Chex Maple

Signing off, this is Saperstein Sandusky, saying "rain or shine, make it a great day!"

The joys of Christmas

So, I sing with a regional church choir that does a few performances during the Christmas and Easter seasons and I'm enjoying this. However, when we reconvened for the season, our director announced that we were going to be the choir for a stake performance of The Forgotten Carols. Any of you who know me well may imagine my response. (No, it was not jubilation.)
I really don't like mormon pop. At all. And, I'm finding that I'm not all that fond of this "play." At all.
I had committed to this project and fewer sopranos were showing up as time passed and I felt that I really couldn't just quit. Also, we are singing our regular Christmas concert with real Christmas music and I want to be a part of that.
So, I'm feeling like a martyr and doing my best (who am I kidding, I'm a real brat and have a rebellious, superior feeling while singing this cheese-fest and not singing in the spirit of the words at all.) But, then, we receive our practice schedule. Our EXTRA practice schedule.
5 extra practices that include Saturday mornings, Friday nights, etc. I will miss our ward Christmas party, in which I was asked to sing with a group I'd really like to sing with.
Waaah. I know, this is such a lame complaint, but waaah. When I was trying to decide whether or not to continue, I was preparing a lesson for my class on Dependability. Hmmph.
In good news, baby is progressing as he should and all my tests were fine and I'm perfectly healthy. I'm sore all the time, but much less (ask John for veracity of this statement) cranky about it. We've started decorating baby's room, but I'm not doing so well with it. I had a great idea to paint our otherwise nice looking changing table a nice blue color. I thought it was made of pressboard and whatever plastic veneer they put on, so I thought that you couldn't just sand and paint it. I asked the paint person at Home Depot and she said, yes, spray paint for plastic would work. It didn't. John has been doing all the labor that goes with my ideas and he ended up with blue ears and boogers. The table is splotchy and uneven, but worse, the paint wipes off a little. I don't feel comfortable using this for my baby, so wethink we're going to have sand and repaint. Ie. John is going to have to sand and repaint. He's very long-suffering. Also, he doesn't speak up when he thinks my ideas are way off the mark. I wish he would! I think he's starting to get the idea. I can't remember the most recent similar example, but it was pretty recent.
Anyway, before he comes, this baby will have a somewhat presentable room.
Annika has discovered, with our help, her "buggy buggin." If she can, she lifts up her shirt and points, lifts my shirt to point and points to John so that he can lift his shirt and point. She has to be careful because John's "buggy buggin" will swallow her hand in a gobbly manner. She thinks this is the funniest thing in the world. I think so too.
I'll put up pictures this weekend. Sorry its been a while, I tried last week but something went wrong.

Retraction, sort of

As my good friend Beth reminded me, my favorite quote of all time is from Peter Pan.
"I'm a codfish."
It has a variety of possible applicable uses. For instance, when feeling fishy. I rarely use this one. Also, when feeling sheepish. It implies that one was wrong and is admitting defeat. This is quite useful, especially if you imitate Captain Hook as much as possible when saying it. Loud and mournful. Lastly, when feeling bored. Use with caution, but a simple, enthusiastic "I'm a codfish" helps to release boredom, tension, ague, etc.
However, before I give my complete endorsement on the practice of using "I'm a codfish" as a part of your vocabulary, make sure you say it right. Don't accidentally mix up your words or phrases or anything. You will find other possible mixtures of these words quite embarrassing. Not that I would know.

So, I admit, with defeat, that "I'm a codfish." I do like Peter Pan! At least one part of it.

Whine-fest

Everything hurts and it has for a while. A long while. That's why I don't write much. I'm whiny, and I know how fun that is for everyone to read. Also, the stools we have for our counter are too tall anyway, but add a short, sore, pregnant, whiny girl who has nothing to say, and the motivation to write is pretty low.

So, quick catch up:

Hurrah for democracy!
Annika carries 2-4 binkies with her at all times. If she knows there is one in a drawer or somewhere out of sight, she'll say "pease? pease? pease?" until we hand her yet another binky.
We're looking forward to Thanksgiving and turkey.
My house is not very clean.
Annika's room is almost done.
I'm still swimming, but getting slower.
I crave red meat.
We watch too much tv. By "we", I mean me and Annika.
I've been to the lab three days in a row and get to go back next week. Grrr.

My back hurts, so that's all. Told you.