Money Well Spent

I hired a housekeeper for Jim (a.k.a. landscapers to mow the yard). Today was their first day. They arrived, mowed the yard, and drove off in under 6 minutes.

Amazing.

It takes Jim longer than that to put his outdoor work shoes on.

At $17 per week, that is money well spent.

Libby & Sean's Wedding

Before our lives went haywire with selling, buying and moving, we had a great weekend in Nebraska celebrating Libby and Sean's wedding. It was a great, relaxing time. Kind of the calm before the storm.

Luke had lots of fun with Sophia. We got to see the infamous walnut grove. I (Jim) got to meet the rest of the family.



Click here for the pictures. There are some gems.

Best wishes, Sean, Libby and Sophia! Thanks for letting us be a little part of your special day!

VBAC or Cesarean?

One week to go before our little girl enters this world (unless she decides to come sooner) and we can't wait to meet her! Now if we could just settle on a name.

When I should have been dreaming about what to name our daughter, I've spent time deciding whether to attempt a vbac (vaginal birth after cesarean) or to schedule a cesarean. And, holy cow, is it difficult to find neutral quality research on this topic that isn't influenced by an agenda.

In my research, I crossed paths with many women who feel strongly that they were cheated out of a life experience by their doctor and are quite angry about it, and they have a right to feel that way. I'm just not one of those angry women. I had pre-eclampsia, was induced, had a big baby with a big head, pushed for 3.5 hours, and ended up having a cesarean. Not fun. But, I have Luke and I have my health. In the process of deciding what path to take for this delivery, I've only become more grateful I was never in a place where I lost sight of what a significant gift both those things are.

Lost story short, we decided to schedule a cesarean. At first it felt like a wimpy decision especially when I hear other people's beautiful birth experiences and wish they could be mine. But, my reality is, that although 70-80% of women can have a successful vbac, my age, the reasons for my cesarean, my incision was infected, etc put me in a higher risk category of a failed vbac than the typical 70-80%. Quite frankly, I don't want to put my body or my husband through that same experience.

It was so freeing to give myself permission to skip the attempt at a vbac. Now you can just pray for my attitude towards are the women who ask (in a tone that quite clearly indicates their position) "A vbac isn't an option?" while you're praying for a safe delivery for our little one...

quote of the day

Right after Luke passes a some gas he says to me in a serious tone, "There's a frog in my pants and I can't get him out."

PS Complete tanjent, yet very related to my day since I hired a chimney sweep, a housekeeper for when the baby first arrives, and was saved from hiring slimey carpet cleaners that had a deceptive ad delivered to our home. Angieslist.com rocks. I can't imagine hiring a contractor without checking the list first and the montly fee is so worth it for any homeowner. I even found my new local hair salon via on Angie's List.

I'm Free!

Yesterday we celebrated Luke's third birthday Luke-style with a his all time favorite food - waffles!

We had breakfast with Judy and the boys and then opened a few presents. Paul and Kathy stopped by for a little bit to help us celebrate. Yep. Pretty low-key, but in my opinion, just the right amount of excitement for our "I'm free" year old. (The TH sound is going to take a little practice...)

Mite be Trouble

Update: Bad news for us. An itch mite epidemic occured in 2004 in Nebraska and Kansas. According to this the first bites were reported in early to mid August, but mites were still active and biting as late as December 7. Stupid cicadas are probably to blame.

I've been getting eaten alive by something since we moved in. Since the house sat empty for several months before we bought it, we knew we'd be dealing with some "wildlife." So far, that's been daddy long-legs, and we're getting the upper hand.

But I find more and more mysterious welts on me, and last night was really bad. Today I count 26 welts of all sizes, including a couple in my scalp and one in my eyebrow.

As it turns out, they're mites, and they're pretty bad this year.

Fortunately, Luke hasn't gotten a single one. Kirsten has a few.

Luke and I were out early yesterday evening, and were fine. But walking the dog after dark I was eaten alive.

Cicadas, spiders, and now mites. It's been a year of plagues here.

And, yeah, they're itchy.

A Fox

Luke and I joined his Uncle Matt and cousin Jonathan in a trip to a park this evening. A park farther from our house.

As dusk approached, we saw a fox!

He didn't get too close, but he saw us and we saw him. Matt saw him first, I think. He had come up over a little hill and into the field on the far side of the playground. He must have come through someone's yard, because across the street were only houses (no woods or anything). Someone at the park said he once had foxes living under his bushes for a while. (Yikes!)

Being concerned, I came home and did some research. Here's what the the Humane Society says:

People are sometimes surprised to learn that foxes live in their neighborhoods, but there's almost never any cause for concern. Foxes are not dangerous to humans, except when rabid, and fox rabies are rare in most places.

Good to know. Their only advice is to keep your cats indoors, and protect your chickens and rabbits.

I was surprised at how small and scrawny he looked. Kind of starved and sickly looking, with very short hair. At best he was half the size of our dog (who wasn't present). As it turns out, all foxes are that small or smaller.

Naming Button's Sister

When Luke was on his way, we looked to America's Founding Fathers for name inspiration. And entertainment. Some signers of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution had very interesting names: Lyman, Caesar, Elbridge, Oliver, Josiah, Gunning, Pierce, Rufus. But the most interesting was "Button Gwinnett," and we started referring to him as Button. (I'm glad it didn't stick.)

So now we're looking for inspiration for our little girl.

I think Swedish names are interesting: Trind, Valborg, Agda, Arnborg, Aslog, Bengta, Bothild, Gunilla, Solvig. (Kirsten knew a wonderful woman named Gunilla.)

A cool thing about Swedish names are the non-english letters, too: naming her Åsa would make her the darling of everyone who had to put her name into a computer.

Here's another treasure trove. Know where these came from? Arial, Verdana, Maiandra, Lucida, Sylfaen, Vrinda. Font names!

But Kirsten's source takes the cake: she looks through her junk-mail folder for interesting names! All those junk mails are worth something after all.

Anyway, naming a baby is a big responsibility. So we gotta laugh a little along the way. (And please forgive me if one of those names is yours or a loved one's.)

Where do you get inspiration? All suggestions welcome!

My favorite recent Luke quotes...

"Mommy and daddy have big bellies. We have to watch out. We don't want their bellies to hit people."

"Okay mommy, first I'm going to talk about the nature of God. Then it's your turn."