Random stuff and baby update

Today was a big day, I feel like we accomplished a lot of random stuff today. First we slept in a bit - I think it was 7:30 or so when we got up.  This is huge because my sleep patterns are really messed up and it screws up Will's sleep too.  I know that yesterday we were both up from 4 am on.  It wasn't good.  I really am looking forward to when I can comfortably sleep on my back again - this sleeping on the side is getting really old.  

We checked out a new (to us) flea market in Excelsior, MN today.  I used to live in Excelsior.  It is on the west side of town - right on Lake Minnetonka.  One of my favorite runs is to run from Hopkins (where I work) 10 miles to Excelsior and then back again.  I've used this very frequently as a training run for my marathons.  The best part is that I am on a bike/ped trail the whole way and coming into Excelsior along Lake Minnetonka for the last 2-3 miles into town is really beautiful.   Here is a map of that run - it was the only way I could figure out how to show you where Excelsior is.  I would love to live there, but I think the houses would be quite spendy.  

So, this flea market had about 8 vendors. We were kind of bummed because it is about a 40 minute drive to Excelsior from our house. But then...we bought this for only $30! 

I know, I know we already have a Burley, but this one is probably 10 years newer than ours and a double so that Lucy and the kiddo can ride together.  Or maybe if we decide to have 2 kids, then they can ride together.  It also came set up with the accessories for using it as a jogging stroller (though I already have one of those) and it was a deal we couldn't pass up.  We were quite pleased that the trip ended up not being a complete bust.  

Next we were off to the scary shopping area to return stuff at Babies R Us (a store I swore I would never go in) and REI.  The Babies R Us trip ended up being fruitful - we now have some additional supplies we were lacking.  Plus, I was about to order this stuff online for about $100 more than what we ended up spending (the bottles I was going to get were more fun, but the voice of reason (Will) spoke and we decided to save the money).   This seems like a lot of bottles to me, but since we will need to use bottles for day care, maybe this makes sense. 

We also stopped by a fabric store and ended up buying this fabric for my mom to use on the fun bouncy seat Jean gave us for the baby.  I don't have a picture of the seat right now, but it is old - apparently from when her brothers were babies.  We thought this fabric looked authentic for the age of the chair.   The chair needs to be painted and my mom will probably make the seat when my parents are here in September, so we will post pictures then.  

I bought nothing from REI - try not to be too shocked.  Also, here is another shock - we went to Costco.  I don't know how many of you know that Will had a membership there for work, but we use it every once in a while.  It feels strange to be in those stores, like we are typical Americans which is something I don't really want to be.  But we needed a lot of parmesan and that is the place to get it.  Here is our loot.  I will point out that though we were appearing to be typical Americans by going there, we did go in with our own bag and didn't come out with a whole lot of stuff. 

By this time we were both wiped out and headed home for some relaxation.  I actually took a nap!  That is a big deal - the fact that my brain would shut down enough for me to nap on and off for 2 hours means I was really tired.  Here is Will doing one of his favorite summer activities.

I also had to clean this mess up.  This is my fireweed.  It is one of my favorite plants up in the Boundary Waters, but isn't maybe the best thing for a small backyard, especially next to your neighbors' house.  Last fall I realized that many of the seeds had made their way to our neighbors' screen on that window, so this year I'm trying to clean up the seeds before they clog up the screen again.  Well, that seems to happen really fast, but I ended up cutting the tops of the plants down and then cleaned off their screen with a lint roller.  One thing I discovered in doing this was that cut fireweed smells really, really good.  A little bit like lemon basil, but maybe sweeter.   Will could smell it way over in the hammock.  Which then reminded me that when we were in Alaska I saw fireweed ice cream in Seward.  I was going to try it, but ran out of time in Seward and never found it again.  Now I have a new mission of finding a recipe for fireweed ice cream.  Here are some before and after pictures. 

 

We also got the 15 or so white pine seedlings repotted in some of our compost.  I have to say, we make some darn good compost - nice, black, full of organic material and worms.  I think our compost is one of the reasons our tomato plants tower over our heads each year.  Hopefully the trees will like it.  I guess we are going to try to keep them here through the winter and plant them next year.  Will doesn't want the deer to get them.  

The last big thing we did today was make lots and lots of pesto.  I live for this pesto.  This is why we went to Costco.  We needed lots of parmesan for this recipe.  While it poured outside I pulled off probably 6 cups of basil leaves and Will got the other ingredients ready.  I should have taken a picture of the finished meal, but I was too excited to eat it.  Here is a shot of the kitchen door that Will put up this past week and you can see the rest of the pesto in the food processor.  The next step is to freeze it and enjoy it over the winter - a little taste of summer, like Greg Brown's song.  

Here is a close up of the stencil on the door - when we stripped the kitchen cabinets a few years ago we could see that these stencils were also on those doors.  Too bad somebody thought loading up the cabinets with white paint would be a good idea. 

 

Ok, lots of boring stuff for you to read, I suppose, so here is a baby update.  I think most of you know that I am seeing a new doctor for a few weeks because my doctor tore her ACL playing ultimate frisbee and cannot be on her feet for a few weeks.  She is planning on being back the first week of September and assures me that she will be able to deliver the baby.  So, I started my weekly appointments this week with another doctor in the same office.  Once again I have not gained any weight and my blood pressure is holding steady at 110/68.  All very good.  I'm measuring a little small (in the belly), but not anything they are concerned about - I'm within the 3 cm range that they want to see.  After the exam this doctor feels pretty confident that I will go full term which she pointed out is anywhere between 40 and 42 weeks.  So far I haven't had any pre-labor stuff going on - I don't even think the baby has started dropping yet and I will be at 37 weeks tomorrow.  So, I'm pretty sure we can plan on a mid-September delivery.   I'm still walking 2 miles a day with Lucy - she seems to be faster than me some days - and going to yoga once a week.  I go to the doctor again on Monday.  I'm guessing nothing will have changed, but we will see.  

Tomorrow is our 6th anniversary.  It kind of snuck up on us.  We will be spending it going to the flea market as we usually do on Sunday mornings and then going to our Zen Mama Couples birthing class at the Yoga Center in the evening.   We didn't really want to do a birthing class, but this one seemed like it would be good - 3 hours of a yogi and a midwife talking about yoga breathing techniques and massage and other pain relief options for people who hope to not use drugs during the delivery.  The prenatal yoga class I am taking also teaches us breathing techniques, which I hope I will remember.  I guess that is Will's job.   Here are a couple of pictures from our honeymoon in Alaska.  

This is at the cabin that we hiked into - I think it was something between a 6 and 10 mile hike, but I don't remember for sure.  Note the fireweed in the foreground. 

This would be either the hike into that cabin or the hike out, we didn't backpack in Denali as we originally planned because I had hurt my foot a bit and was training for a marathon.  

Happy Anniversary to Betsy and Pete - their anniversary is today.  They got married the year after us but the day before us, which makes it easy for us to remember their anniversary, but messes up other people as far as figuring out whose anniversary is when.  The fact that you remember our anniversary at all is amazing to me because I am terrible about that stuff, so don't worry if you are off a day! 

Finally - Will went and got his car back last Friday.  It looks great.  They washed it, and I believe that is the first time in several years that it has been washed.