at luce ends

Ten on Ten: A Bit of Everything

2012-02-10T23:31:00.000-08:00

I didn't get the best pictures today, but at least Halcyone and I had fun!

Valentine Days Giveaway Winners!

2012-01-29T23:12:00.000-08:00

And they are...

#1 - AP Mommy
#14 - Karen

Emails are on their way to get your color preferences and shipping addresses. Thanks to all who entered and left feedback and stories!

Valentine Days: Valentine Trapper

2012-01-24T04:00:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite projects for this season. It costs less than $5 to make and is good for beginning sewers!

Supplies

1/2 yard red felt
Scraps or a little craft sheet of white felt
Pinking shearers
Sewing machine - walking food recommended
Sewing needle
Pearle cotton thread - white and red
5 buttons
Fabric marking pen or pencil
Rotary cutter, cutting mat, and cutting guide are helpful

Steps:

Begin by squaring up the edges of your red felt. Then cut the following red pieces:

1 - 11" x 10" (envelope front)

1 - 7.75" x 10" (envelope back and flap)

4 - 5" x 1.5" (straps for the back)

Using the largest red piece, mark the middle of the top (5" in). Measure down the sides and mark at 3". Cut from side mark to center mark on both sides.

Now, using your scrap piece of white felt, trace the flap portion of red felt that you just cut.

Using pinking shearers, cut about 1/4" outside of the traced line.

Sew the white and red flaps together. I used about a 1/8" seam, but you could us 1/4" if that is easier.

Sew your back strap pieces together in the same manner. Layer 2 together, and sew around with a 1/8" seam.

Sew all the way around the remaining 3 open sides of your envelope with a similar 1/8" seam.

Iron your envelope flap down.

Next, lay your buttons out on the straps. Cut small slits through both layers, making sure the button will fit.

Lay the straps on the back of your envelope. Using a fabric marking pencil, make a mark through the slits so you know where to sew your buttons.

Sew the buttons on well.

Using your needle and Pearle cotton thread, stitch about 1/4" in around the sides and lower section of the envelope.

Embellish however you'd like! I cut a felt heart out and used a blanket stitch (great tutorial here) around it on the envelope flap.

Remembering What Lonely Feels Like

2012-01-23T21:00:00.000-08:00

Tonight Halcyone was in bed at 7:30, and Tom was in bed with a headache before 8. Goodness! I know most people would jump at a night at home "alone," but wow it's not what I enjoy. I know the sleep is necessary for both Tom and Halcyone, but it is so lonely at the other end of the house!

I'm remembering what it felt like when Tom was at school late, working on those obnoxious group projects late at night, or at home trying to get through a mountain of homework. I'm remembering what it felt like when we really wanted to have babies tumbling around, but couldn't. I'm remembering what it felt like to be the married girl that the singles weren't thrilled to invite to their girls night.

I really like to have someone else in the room with me. Yes, I have Gilmore Girls playing, but they aren't real people. I like to have something that needs to be done. Believe me, our house is super tidy right now. I've finished washing and folding the laundry, sweeping and vacuuming, and the kitchen is all sparkly.

This makes me think about the future too. What if our next embryo transfer doesn't implant? What if Halcyone is our only kiddo? That's only about 18 years at home. I'll be sooooooo lonely! What if Tom has to work late often? What if the headaches persist? What if something happens to one of them?

That brings me right back to where I was three years ago. Jesus is my forever-present, comforting, always-inviting Friend. He doesn't leave me sitting at home alone, trying to decide which creative project to start. I can talk with Him about anything and He understands. How can I forget this?!

Alright, I'm off to start a serger cover or a crochet bunny or something.

Valentine Days: My Little Nest

2012-01-23T04:00:00.000-08:00

I've seen people selling necklaces, pins, and earrings that look like cute little nests containing eggs representing the number of children in their family. They are super cute, but most people want a lot of money for them. I made this necklace for less than $10. My necklace has 6 little icy-blue eggs in it, representing the 6 little embryos we adopted just over two years ago. One of these little babies lives with us, one is with Jesus, and the other 4 are still awaiting a thaw to join our family. I know this is a string of Valentine-y tutorials, so you may wonder why I included this particular project. Traditionally Valentine's Day is a holiday celebrating romantic love. However, it makes sense to me for it to represent familial and brotherly love too. It feels funny to leave my daughter out of this celebration. I want her to know that I love her, and I want it to be a day she enjoys until she has a dashing man to sweep her off her feet. So I decided to include this particular project to represent all my kids. Hope you enjoy it!

Supplies:

24 guage craft wire
Beads corresponding with the number of children you have (sizes vary significantly, so try setting them in your nest before wiring them in)
Beading tools (wire cutter is the main necessity)
Jump rings
Necklace chain

Steps:

Begin by wrapping your wire around a glue stick or similar sized item (large marker, small curling iron, mandrel, etc.). I chose the glue stick because it created the right size center hole for the number of beads I used.

Cut your wire and pull it off the glue stick. It's fine if the loops criss-cross. This will add to the nest appearance.

Now, attach a new piece of wire and wrap it 3-4 times around one end of the nest.

Pull the wire across the base of the nest and wrap 3-4 times around the opposite side.

Repeat this wrapping in a similar manner for the other 2 sides. Once you have 4 wrapped sides, weave a bit more wire around the base and fasten the wire off.

Test your beads in the nest. Lay them in, set them around until you find a pleasing size and arrangement.

Now, fasten a new piece of wire. String your bottom layer of beads.

Once you have them arranged, work the wire around the base you formed earlier, securing the beads. String your top layer of beads (this was just 1 for me), again working the wire down through the base to secure.

Cut your wire and fasten off by wrapping through the base.

Using a jump ring, attach the nest through one of the size wraps to your necklace chain. If it is not hanging correctly you may need 2 jump rings, one on top of the other.

Valentine Days: Stitched Cards

2012-01-22T04:00:00.000-08:00

These cute cards are pretty basic to make and are very scrap-happy.

Supplies:

White cardstock - or any other color you like
Scrap papers in Valentiney colors
Sewing Machine
Scissors or die cut machine
Pigment pens

Steps:

Begin by choosing cardstock for your cards. You can get 2 cards per 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper. Cut card size is 7" x 4 7/8." Fold cut pieces in half to form cards.

Next create a heart shaped template in a size you like. You can also used die cut hearts if you've got them. I just folded a piece of scratch paper in half and cut out a heart. Trace your template onto your scrappy Valentiney papers, 3 patterns or colors for each card. Cut your hearts out and arrange them in an order you find pleasing.

Center your sets of 3 hearts on your card front. Holding them in place carefully, sew down the center of the stack. Start about a half in above the heart and stop half an inch past the last one. It is pretty easy to get this straight if you just sew down the center folds.

Now you can add more embellishment if you like! I used pigment pens to write some greetings on the exterior of the cards. You could use glitter, rubber stamp greetings, or more stitching.

Valentine Days: Sewing a Paper Garland

2012-01-21T04:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, This is super easy. Super easy. I purchased my paper and used the die cut machine available in a local craft shop for less than $10 with less than 20 minutes of cutting time. You can make this any length. I made mine really long because I have a wide hearth and knew I wanted to drape it back and forth a couple times to help cheer up the post-Christmas emptiness.

Supplies:

Valentine colored and/or themed paper - cardstock or printer weight both work well
Sewing machine with red (or your color preference) thread
Access to a die cute machine or scissors and stencils

Steps:

First, select your paper and die cut shapes and go to town. I used 3 different sizes of circles and 2 different sizes of hearts. I think I used about 6 complete sheets of 12" x 12" paper and 4 partial sheets of 8.5" x 11" carstock. You could totally use scarps and paper punches too!

Next, pull a long tail of thread from your sewing machine. You'll want this so you can tie your garland to something.

Now all you have to do is sew, sew, sew! Just vary the sizes and patterns of hearts and circles as you go. I like sewing through the centers of the circles and through the upper third of the hearts. Because the hearts are top heavy, they need a little encouragement to stay upright.

When you reach the end, pull our another long thread tail from your machine. Cut and hang!

Valentine Days Giveaway

2012-01-20T13:00:00.000-08:00

As promised, I'm doing a couple fun little giveaways with this series! I will make make one of these My Little Nest necklaces for two winners.

Ways to enter:

Leave a comment on this post each day a new tutorial is posted, letting me know why you liked it, how you will use it, or that you shared it via Pinterest, Twitter, or Facebook.
Leave a comment on this post directing me to a picture of your version of one of these fun little projects.
Leave a comment on this post telling me how your family includes children (or would like to include future children) in your celebration of Valentine's Day.
Leave a comment on this post telling me about your favorite Valentine's Day.

Please leave your email address in one of your comments so I can contact you if you win. Entries close at 5PM PST on January 28, 2012. Giveaway only open to those with United States shipping address. Winners will be chosen randomly and posted on the blog!

Valentine Days Tutorials!

2012-01-20T04:00:00.000-08:00

Here we go! This is my second attempt at a series of tutorials. I've themed these around Valentine's Day. There are four projects in this set that will begin posting tomorrow. I am hoping I've posted early enough this time to give you all the opportunity to try a project or two if you like. Again, please let me know if there is something I can do better: photography, explanations, etc. I hope you enjoy them. Oh, and yes, there will be a giveaway at the end of the series too, so look for the post this afternoon explaining how to gain entries!

What makes a true friend?

2012-01-18T23:52:00.000-08:00

Make no friendship with a man given to anger.

- Proverbs 22:24 (ESV)

A friend loves at all times.

- Proverbs 17:17 (ESV)

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

- Proverbs 18:24 (ESV)

How many friends do I have?
Not just acquaintances that Facebook calls friends or people I know from church or school, but real friends. How do I decide who is worth pouring into? Who builds me up, and loves me enough to point out sin? These are all things I've been thinking about recently.

Here are a few things that I think of when I consider friendship.

A friend does not:
Gossip: Talk behind others’ backs. This includes husbands, “friends,” and relatives. Exploit: Continually take advantage of you solely for their own benefit. Lie: Not doing this would seem self evident, but it seems to happen too often. Lie about husbands (see gossip), about their kids, and about their life. Brag: Intentionally one up you or flaunt what they have.

A friend does:
Listen: lend an ear and find out what’s going on in your life, care about you and check up on you. Give: Extend a hand, time, or constructive advice and criticism. Pray: Speak to Jesus, for you. Tell the truth: Both encouragement and rebuke, even when it hurts you, even when they know you may not receive it well. Love: genuinely, unconditionally.

So who are my friends?
Ultimately, Jesus stands up to all of these tests as a friend. My husband is truly my best earthly friend. Beyond that, the list shrinks fast. My true friends ask about my day, my husband's job, my daughter's health. They pray for our family. They may be frustrated with me, but they don't tell all of our mutual acquaintances. They trust Jesus to guide them in their conversations with me and about me.

I've thought about this a ton lately, partly because I've watched so much exploitation of a should-be-friend relationship, partly because our pastor has been talking about how marriage is based on friendship rather than feelings alone, and partly because God has blessed me with some truly wonderful ladies to share life with.

I pray for my friends and for those I will one day call friends. I hope I am half as good a friend to them as they have been to me. I trust Jesus to give me the discernment to know what to talk about with them, what to ask them about, and how to respond to them.

The following lyrics sum things up well. Friendship, whether between my husband and I , our daughter, or people I share coffee or lunch with, is for the glory of God.

My Friends May You Grown in Grace

Sean Diamond & Timothy James Meaney

My friends may you grow in grace

And in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior.

My friends may you grow in grace

and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

To God be the glory, now and forever, amen.

Ten on Ten: Mermaid Treasure

2012-01-11T22:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was another fun day for Ten on Ten. These aren't the best pictures I've ever taken, but they show what our day was filled with... lots of kitchen! I didn't plan to paint on the tenth, it's just when I happened to have the desire and a fresh can of Mermaid Treasure.

Dechristmasing

2012-01-03T21:45:00.000-08:00

I spent most of the morning taking Christmas down at our house. I'm always sad to put the extra lights and sparkles away in January. I was hoping to leave things up a little longer, but last night as we were turning the lights out and heading to bed, Tom and I realized our tree looked really wilty.

Halcyone was napping while I gathered everything into an orderly pile on our dining table. When she woke up, she was concerned, pointing to all the placed things had hung or stood. I showed her the pile and explained that Christmas things only decorate our house for a few weeks each year. I doubt she understood! I had been planning to put her Christmas books away, but instead have decided to leave them out. Who says we shouldn't read about Jesus' birth all year long?

During Halcyone's second nap I tidied my crafting station and dug into the Valentine projects! I'm so excited to have something fun, bright, and new to hang in the living room! I have one project nearly done. I'm hoping to start posting tutorials for these projects soon.

New Year

2012-01-02T00:45:00.000-08:00

Happy 2012!

I've never really made any resolutions. They just aren't my sort of thing. I have made a list of a few things I'd like to do, see, or read this year. It's not a big deal if they don't happen, just kind of a suggestion to myself!

Books I'd like to read:

Lord of the Rings Trilogy - I've only read The Hobbit
Finish Narnia - 2 books to go!
Shepherding a Child's Heart - any other good parenting recommendations?
Little House in the Big Woods - it's been years since I've read this...
Catching Fire and Mockingjay - loved the first in the Hunger Games series

Things I'd like to do or see:

Seattle Aquarium - I went once in Kindergarten
Hang things on our bedroom walls
Potty train Halcyone
Rollerblade with a stroller - anyone know if this works?
Grow pumpkins
Memorize Proverbs 3:1-12
Hurricane Ridge - day trip

We hope to share books reviews, post pictures or our adventures, join a few more Ten on Ten sets, and chronicle our family through this new year. I've already got another tutorial series planned for Valentine's Day and am hoping for a couple more! As ever we strive to love and honor Jesus and glorify Him in all we do.

Deck the Halls Winner!

2011-12-29T05:00:00.000-08:00

And the winner is...

Brianne!

I'll send you an email so you can claim your button bling. Thanks for the feedback ladies!

Deck the Halls: Giveaway!

2011-12-23T12:00:00.000-08:00

Thanks for following me through this 5 day series! It was so much fun to come up with ideas and write about them! Today I have a giveaway (see picture) for one special person.

How may you get to be this one special person? Leave separate comments for each of the following on this post!

Leave me feedback! I'd love to know how to improve for next time. Was there enough explanation? Do you need more pictures?
Share this giveaway on Facebook.
Tweet about our blog and this giveaway.
Tell me which of the 5 projects was your favorite and why.

The winner will be randomly selected. Entries must be submitted by December 28, 2011 @ 10PM Pacific Standard Time. Winning comment will be posted on December 29, 2011.

Merry Christmas!!!

Deck the Halls: Christmas Crochet

2011-12-23T08:00:00.000-08:00

This is an easy one! I mean, you could really whip it out in less than an hour if you set your mind to it! I used a 12" x 12" piece of cute paper, but you could also try this with old (or new) Christmas cards, the cover of a Christmas program, or a festive gift bag front.

Supplies:

Christmas paper/card/etc.
1/8" hole punch
Ruler
Pen
Yarn - I used Berocco DK weight
Crochet hook - size 3.25 worked well for me

If you are new to crochet, check out this page for a little help!

Steps:

Using your ruler and pen, measure and mark 1/2" in from the edge and 1/2" apart all the way around the perimeter of the paper.

Punch holes in every spot you marked. (They don't have to be perfect. Once you've got the yarn going around, it will help even things out.)

Attach your yarn with a slip stitch and begin following this pattern along the straight sections:

Ch 3, Sl st.

When you arrive at a corner, follow this pattern:

Ch 6, Sl st. You will Sl st twice in the same hole here.

When you arrive back at the Sl st you began at, slip together.

Finish with the following pattern in each chain section:

Sl st, 1 SC, 1DC, 1SC, Sl st.

When you arrive at the corners, follow this pattern:

Sl st, 1 SC, 3DC, 1SC, Sl st.

When you reach the beginning again, slip stitch and fasten off, hiding your tail on the back side. You can then attach a ribbon or yarn chain to hang it from, set it on a shelf, or stick to the wall!

Don't forget to check back tomorrow for the giveaway!

We've Been Christmasing

2011-12-23T01:47:00.000-08:00

Here's what we've been up to the last few weeks! It is so much fun to watch Halcyone discover this season of Christmas. We've been making decorations, spending time with family and friends, reading books about the stable Jesus was born in, and looking at bright lights. Yesterday we got a nativity that Halcyone can play with. We're so excited to help her understand that Jesus is the reason we really celebrate Christmas.

Visiting the Cougar Mtn. Zoo for the Reindeer Festival

Baking Christmas cookies with Mommy and Grandma

Being silly at home!

Snowflake Lane in Bellevue with Daddy & Mommy, Uncle Alex & Aunt Kelly, Grandpa & Grandma

2011 Seattle Motorcycle Show

2011-12-22T20:00:00.000-08:00

This last weekend was the international motorcycle show at the Seattle Convention Center. I was able to attend a couple of years ago, and it was fun to come back and see what was new. The biggest differences I noticed were that there seemed to be were fewer vendors, and far more dealership bikes.

Quite a few people had ridden to the show. The concierge told me that the sunshine on Saturday had brought people out in droves. On Sunday, it was still a bit hard to find a spot to park.

The stunt team performing this year were the Smadge Brothers. They did a pretty fun trials bike routine, and made the crowd pretty happy.

Most of my time at the show was spent looking at the adventure/endurance bikes. With fuel injection becoming more prevalent, new materials, and constant improvements to engine technology, there are a number of machines that provide light weight, excellent performance, and phenomenal gas mileage.

I am a bit of a sucker for these things. They are like two-wheeled jeeps but with better gas mileage. This one has a winch. A WINCH!

Not a dual-sport, but this CB1000 looked pretty good too.

Another great tricked-out adventure bike. Sadly, even if you get an affordable vehicle, the accessories will kill your wallet. This one had a sign stating that it was equipped with a little over $10k in aftermarket accessories. Ouch.

One of the main things I was looking for were aftermarket marker lights and front illumination to increase visibility: so I can see where I am going, and so other drivers can see where I am going. Because there were fewer vendors, I didn't really find what I was looking for.

All in all, it was a fun show! The every-other-year rotation seems to have worked well, and I will try and make it back for 2013!

Deck the Halls: First Christmas

2011-12-22T08:00:00.000-08:00

I know, this ornament is for my 2010 baby. You see, last year she and I spent some time looking for a special first Christmas ornament, but we never found one we liked. They all looked like baby shower cake toppers. So here is one I made a year late for her. It has a snowflake on it because for several years she resided in an extra cold freezer and has been referred to by some as a "snowflake" baby. This year some fellow embryo adopters decked their tree out in snowflakes. I asked if I could borrow their snowflake idea, and they said yes! So here ya go!

Supplies:

Felt scraps
Perle cotton thread
Needle
Transfer Pencil (optional)
Scissors
First Christmas template

Steps:

Begin by cutting out 2 pieces of felt using the template link from the supplies list.

Determine what you would like to stitch on the front of the ornament. Name, year, birth date, snowflake, etc. I free-stitched my design, but if you like more planning you can sketch your design and use a transfer pencil. Stitch onto the front layer only. The back layer will cover up the messy side of the embroidery work.

Once the design stitching is complete, stick the two layers together and blanket stitch around the entire edge. Here is a great blanket stitch tutorial!

Attach a hanger of your choice. I had a piece of cotton left that was the perfect side. Pull through both shoulders and tie at the top.

Deck the Halls: Button Bling

2011-12-21T08:00:00.000-08:00

After seeing something like this done in a rainbow arrangement for a wall, I decided it had to become a Christmas tree ornament! These are quick and easy. I made two of them in less than an hour.

Supplies:

Embroidery hoop
Fabric scraps - I used white cotton, but felt, flannel, or linen would work.
Assorted buttons
Thread - Perle cotton works great!
Needle
Hot glue gun
Scissors
Felt scrap

Steps:

Use a marker (I prefer the disappearing kind) to trace the inner-most circle of your embroidery ring onto a scrap of felt, cut and save for later.

Lay 2 layers of fabric over the inner ring of your embroidery hoop. Slide the outer ring down and tighten the screw, making sure that the fabric is tight.

Cut the fabric as close to the hoop as you can on the back side.

Lay your buttons out to determine how many you need and begin sewing them on. You may find you need one or two more as you go.

Once your buttons are sewn on, glue your felt backing piece over the knotty threads.

Attach a ribbon, yarn, or hanger to the screw and add to the bling on your tree!

Deck the Halls: Hanging Holly

2011-12-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

This is an idea I saw in a paper company's catalog. Their wreath was much larger and pretty pricey. I loved the simple style and colors, but didn't want to spend the money. I thought about the wreath for a few days and decided to try making it with paper I already own. Here is what I came up with!

Supplies:

Assorted green cardstock - 4 sheets of 8.5" x 11"
Red cardstock scrap
Circle paper punch
3M foam double-sided tape
Ruler or straight edge for scoring
Bone folder or blunt table knife for scoring
Scissors
Hanging Holly template

Steps:

Using the holly template, trace 12 leaves onto each of 3 sheets of green paper and cut them out.

Score each leaf down the center.

Fold each leaf up slightly, not all the way like you would if making a card.

Turn all the leaves over and stick a small piece of tape at the base.

Trace a lunch-sized plate or other round object onto your fourth piece of green cardstock; cut it out. Mine was a bit bigger than the paper, but I made it work! I then cut another circle 1.5 inches inside of the outer edge.

Begin sticking leaves down, roughly 2 wide, working around the paper ring.

Punch 9 or more red circles to use as berries, sticking them around as you like.

Hang with embroidery thread, yarn, or paper strips. I used 1/2 inch wide strips of red cardstock for mine, and stuck the whole thing to the wall with double sided tape.

Variations: make all the holly leaves out of white cardstock, spray glitter, use your imagination!

Deck the Halls: Magical Mittens

2011-12-19T08:00:00.000-08:00

After seeing many cute mitten ornaments, I decided I should just pull my scraps out and see what I could come up with. Well, here it is. These were a quick project. I'm sure you can vary them depending on your resources. Blanket stitching with embroidery thread would be pretty cute if you don't want to use a sewing machine!

Supplies and Tools:

Felt scraps
Cotton scraps
Stuffing
Scissors
Sewing machine
Buttons
Twine or thread
Tacky glue
Magical Mitten Template

Steps:

Cut 2 pieces of felt per ornament, using the Magical Mitten Template.

Cut a 4" x 2.5" piece of fabric from your cotton scraps.

Work some ironing magic! 1) Iron the long sides down, about 1/2" each side. 2) Iron in half so you have almost a square. Open back up. 3) Iron the last two raw edge sides down to meet the fold you made in the last step. 4) Fold in half one more time, iron.

Sew the felt mitten pieces together, using about a 1/8" seam. Leave the top side open as if to stuff a little hand in. Trim it up evenly once done; felt tends to stretch even if you use a walking foot.

Stuff lightly with fabric scraps or polyfill.

Lay the cotton strip over the mitten opening (like a roof), pinning in place.

Sew all the way around the cotton strip, making sure to catch the edges of the felt. Use a 1/8" seam.

Sew or glue the button and twine onto the edge of the "front" side of your ornament.

Deck the Halls

2011-12-17T22:45:00.000-08:00

Have you been creating new things to deck your halls this year? I've been working on a few fun projects over the last couple weeks and will be sharing them with you this coming week! I have 5 blogs coming up with simple instructions. I'd love feedback on them as you read! This is the first time I've attempted tutorial writing. If I need to give more detail or extra explanation, please leave a comment so I can clarify and improve. There will also be a giveaway of one of the projects, so check back on Monday!

Ten on Ten: Seattle Day

2011-12-11T00:17:00.000-08:00

Today was a fun day for Ten on Ten! These pictures were again, a joint effort for Tom and I. Hope you enjoy them!

Christmas and Holiday Movies

2011-11-29T20:56:00.000-08:00

What are your favorite movies to watch this time of year? In searching for Top Ten lists on the web, we were disappointed with what we found. Stacy and I are not totally sure what our favorite films for the season are, but we are working on our own list.

In no particular order, here are some of our favorites.

White Christmas - Ok, this one is listed first for a reason.
Holiday Inn
The Holiday
The Polar Express - I grew up with the book, and while no screen adaptation will replace the wonder and excitement produced by your imagination, it was still a fun movie.
Miracle on 34th St.
Elf - pretty stupid, but worth the laugh.
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (1964)
A Child's Christmas in Wales

Here are some I have not seen, but probably should:

The Nightmare Before Christmas
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
A Muppet Christmas Carol - We own this, but have not watched it yet.
Charlie Brown Christmas
It's a Wonderful Life
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation*
A Christmas Story*

*Stacy has seen these and detests them...

Tire Review!

2011-11-08T16:11:00.000-08:00

With my Pilot Roads worn past their wear-bars, my commuter was overdue for a new set of tires. The existing Michelins on the bike were installed more than 5 years ago and probably had more than 15,000 miles under their belt. For some reason they were not the stock size either. With the wet season here, it was time to re-shoe the Bandit.

After shopping on the web and calling some of the local shops, the unanimous advice I received was that the tire to buy was the Pilot Road 3. The newest member of the Pilot Road series, the PR3 combines cutting edge features with a long-wearing and affordable tire.
The first feature is the dual compound tread front and back. A harder material in the center of the tire provides long life for driving for an extended time on the freeway, and a softer material on the sides allows for better grip in the corners.
Perhaps the most significant feature of the PR3 is the molded siping front and rear. This makes them arguably better than any other tire for wet conditions. The siping breaks the film of water on the road and helps channel water away to increase traction. Additionally, they should heat up quicker, and remain cooler than other tires, providing optimal traction in all weather.
To learn more about the physical advantages of the new tires, I spoke with a very helpful gentleman named Bill at Michelin Customer Support. He was able to tell me the weight of my new tires, but was unable to find information on the weight of the older Pilot Roads, or the moment of inertia for either. He is going to send me any information he can find once he talks to an engineer. I will post an update once I learn more about this. Aside from stopping distance, weight and inertia are two of the most significant performance aspects of a tire.

At the local shops, the PR3 was one of the less expensive tires they were offering, though availability was questionable at best. I found an online bike store that had them in stock, and with shipping included they were a really good deal. Once the tires arrived, finding a shop that would do it without severely punishing me for buying on line was a trick (more on that at a later date). Thankfully, my favorite shop had the best pricing, and was able to get it done right away.

On the day after they were installed, we woke up to a heavy frost, the first of the season. The roads were dry but the air sharp; biting though my scarf and winter gloves on the freeway. One nice thing about an un-fared, air-cooled machine is the ability to warm up by hugging the engine at stoplights. Upon arriving at work, I checked the tires before going in. Less than 50 miles into the new tires, they were already showing a rough sheen on the tread surface, indicating that they were well on their way to being broken in. Also of note was that the contact surface of the tire was warm to the touch, even in the freezing air. The old tires never warmed up like that…

Heading home that evening, a storm-front passed though, scattering autumn leaves and an abundance of rain all over the roads. Traction was superb however; once I was out of traffic, panic braking tests indicate that the new tires may work better on debris-strewn wet surfaces as the old ones did on clean dry pavement.

I have ridden on these for about a week now, and at 130 miles they should be fully broken in. First impressions are good. Riding on rounded tires, rather than the, edgy, worn, old ones, are a nice change: the bike holds a solid, smooth line through corners at any speed. Before, the squared-off tire shape and odd geometry (from wear and mismatched tires) tried to push the bike upright and turn the handlebars. My commute is a mix of surface streets and freeway, new pavement and old, and so far, the responsiveness and feedback seems far improved. I am no longer as afraid of breaking loose without warning. Because the PR3s grip so much better than the old tires, bad surfaces such as paint and tar-snakes are more noticeable though: I am more likely to hit them while on the throttle or in a tighter lean. Time will tell if they hold up well long-term, but for now, I am excited to ride these through the winter!

The technical breakdown
Bike: 2002 Suzuki GSF1200S
Rear tire: 180/55ZR17
Front tire: 120/70ZR17

Pumpkins Picked

2011-10-17T22:23:00.000-07:00

We went to The Farm at Swan's Trail in the Snohomish river valley with some friends on Satruday! It was such a fun place. I don't really enjoy going the fair, but this is what it felt like a fair should be. There were animals to see and pet, tractors and swings to ride, duck and pig races, pumpkins, cider, and super good corn dogs.

Thoughts on Bookshelves

2011-10-14T11:41:00.000-07:00

What is the best way to organize books? Author? Publication date? Genre?

Does anyone ever truly have enough bookshelves?

Who has time to put a series in order?

How do you know what books are worth keeping?

Why do we have such uninteresting books on the bookshelves? I mean, who needs Vector Algebra for Engineers or How to Enjoy Calculus?!

What do you do when you have some bookshelves you like, but Ikea quit making them in your color scheme? Do you get new ones all around? Do you just go with more in a different color? Do you scour Craigslist daily, hoping for some in your preferred color?

Oh my.

And did I mention I put the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew up on the shelves OUT OF ORDER?!?!?! Yes. I did. I don't like it, but I did it.

Ten on Ten: What We Do On a Monday

2011-10-11T15:06:00.000-07:00

I love this little ten on ten project. Yesterday was the day, and it happened to be a Monday. So here ya go. It was a day full of menu planning, grocery shopping, cleaning, severe downpour, and more running around.

Irrational

2011-10-07T11:28:00.000-07:00

I am currently extremely angry at a bit of chocolate cake. Here's the train of thought that got me there:

The cake isn't ours. Somehow it just came home with us after a prayer group last night. I don't want to eat it, and it turns out neither does Tom. This means we need to get rid of it. This makes me a little bit upset because its large non-recyclable container is going to take up space in our small garbage can. Yes, there is space right now, but I have that space reserved for house project junk. Ok, so now I have to separate the container parts and the cake for garbage and compost. SNAP. POP. POP. POP. It's loud. Halcyone wakes up from her nap, scared from the noise and starts screaming, a whole hour early. Oh, and now my Dexcom is beeping. Not the high beep, but the low insistent one that says, "Excuse me, deal with this now. Your blood sugar is too low!"

Alright, now I need to calm Miss H down and take care of this blood sugar. And I realized I'm also mad at PCC for putting the stupid cake in such a loud container. Hmm. Yes, low blood sugar does make me a bit irrational. Just ask Tom. For some reason all I can think about at this point is squeezing my shower in before I get Halcyone out of her crib. So I wander into the bathroom and take my insulin pump off and find a towel. Oh wait! My Dexcom is still beeping, reminding me of something... something... my low blood sugar. And yes, I can tell it's low. That's why I'm so confused about what I should be doing. So I grab a can of Coke (which reminds me I'm also not very happy with whoever finished the juice, probably me) and go rescue Halcyone. The poor girl is not having anything to do with more napping now.

Ahhhh! My shower! My nap-time-clean-the-house-up-routine! My blood sugar! And the cake is still not taken care of.

How can something so insignificant derail my day this much? Why did I let it consume my brain? Well, partially because of the low blood sugar, but also because I wasn't meditating on the blessings God has given me. He has provided a house, a beautiful little girl, a prayer group for our friends in Africa, a Dexcom to let me know when my blood sugar goes awry, the ability to stay at home with Halcyone, a husband who loves and cares for us, and so much more.

So what am I thinking about now?

Ephesians 3:20-21 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Food Budget

2011-10-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

Part of the October Eat-In is a test of our new budget. It will also be an opportunity to take meal planning to a new level. My wife is a quite excellent cook, and a wonderful planner. Our calendar occasionally has meals planned out days and even weeks in advance. This allows her to have a running grocery list, and purchase items in bulk or on sale rather than last-minute. In the past, our food budget has been adequate and functional, but there is always some question if it is reasonable.

There are two government resources to gauge food expenses. The first is the USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion website, which provides a number of basic but great resources for budgeting, meal planning, and cost estimates. After working through their Home Food Cost Tables however, I was a little aghast at the amounts they predicted. Using their August 2011 numbers, our household would spend (178.50 + 158.70 + 90.81) * 105% = $450 on eating at home using their "Thrifty" plan, and an astounding (350.60 + 313.90 + 168.40) * 105% = $875 using their "Liberal plan." I may have read the table/done the math wrong, but this was a little dismaying.
I have previously mentioned the Bureau of Labor Statistic's website, which provides consumer expenditure reports. They report that households most representative of mine spend an average of $280 per month on "Food at Home." This is a lot closer to our number of $300 per month, and is also offset by their prediction of $230 in restaurant expenses.

We have also asked friends what they spend on groceries. The goal is not to judge, and their answer should not result in our pride or jealousy, but the information allows us to ensure we are being good stewards. Some people don't quite know what they spend on food. Others responded with numbers very similar to our own.

On the whole, it seems that our current amount is reasonable for the time-being, but we'll see how the rest of the month turns out! The main takeaway from this comparison is that through planning, discipline, and creativity, you can eat delicious, healthy food with comparably little expense.

Shoes!

2011-10-04T17:45:00.001-07:00

Halcyone picked her first shoes yesterday! Yes, she picked sparkles over pink, the only options in her tiny little size. She's started to stand and think about taking steps, so I knew it was time to move beyond the leather soled Robeez.

October Eat-In II

2011-10-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, so my mind was just blown.

I found the website for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. They provide a set of tables that break down consumer expenditure by all sort of categories and age. There will be more posts based off this wealth of information, but I found the site looking for average restaurant expenses.

According to the 2010 expenditure table (1), the average household with consumers our age spends $230 on eating out each month. This is for a roughly 3 person household that spends $46.6k annually. Additionally, this does not include alcohol, which adds an additional $40 to the monthly expenses.

It is easy to see how you could arrive at this number pretty quickly. Assuming a 'standard' espresso drink of $3.77 from Starbucks, this would be 1 per adult, per day. At an establishment like Red Robin, where every dish has the same price, you could buy two people dinner ~9 times. As the quality and price of the establishment increases, getting to $230 is even easier.

(1) http://www.bls.gov/cex/2010/Standard/age.pdf 10/4/2011

October Eat-In

2011-10-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

This month will be a little different.

This month we are not eating out.

You could call it drastic, you could call it a test, or you could call it a fast. We think it will be interesting, and possibly a little fun.

The rules are pretty simple, for the month of October: no fast food, no eating out: no coffee, snacks, or impulse food. There are exceptions of course. We will still grab coffee or lunch with freinds. Going to lunch or dinner for dates is still just fine.

The reasons for doing this are several:

Health will improve. We eat a pretty healthy diet to begin with, but this can only help.

Less money will be spent on food. Groceries and dining out are one of our largest discresionary expenses. This month we may save a substanital amount by planning ahead and prepairing our own food.

More quality time will be spent together. Of late, we have not been on as many dates as we would like. By making dinner out contingent on a date-night, it will encourage us to go out together, while also making the trip just a little more special. Additionally, more meals will be spent together as a family rather than on-the-go.

A Fall Day

2011-09-26T18:49:00.000-07:00

Today it rained all day for the first time in weeks. Halcyone and I made a quick stop at the local produce market for squash and couldn't resist this Cinderella pumpkin. It was almost free! The funny thing is, Halcyone needed to touch it. Like couldn't take her hand off the entire time she was in the cart with it. Like threw a fit when I took her out of the cart and put her in the car. Yikes, that's the first real tantrum.

When we got home, we were hanging out by my sewing machine. Halcyone was looking out the window and started talking about birds. Then I realized there were probably 25 birds in our yard, flitting around. I guess we have something yummy they wanted, but I wish I knew what it was! Good thing Halcyone learned that word this weekend, or I wouldn't have understood!

Evidences

2011-09-20T15:05:00.000-07:00

... of God's Grace

1. Beautiful Autumn sunshine

2. A sweet little girl who asks for "Mama" when she's sad

3. Three raised vegetable gardens with veggies growing

4. Blackberries in the driveway; lots of them

5. A good walk with a friend

6. An excellent cup of coffee from Urban Coffee Lounge

7. My sewing machine

8. Bright colors adorning our home

9. A left-over dinner in the refrigerator

10. Proverbs, reminding me to trust, trust, trust

I'm not sure which sermon it was in, but sometime within the past couple years, out pastor was talking about noting the evidences of God's grace in our lives. He said it helped to write them down, to be able to look back and remember what God has done. I was watching Halcyone standing and patting everything with her soft little hands and chatting, thinking about how thankful I am to get this time with her. Then I realized there are so many more seemingly obvious things that should go on my list. So that's my list for today.

Ten on Ten: Saturday Out & About

2011-09-10T22:46:00.001-07:00

It's a Ten on Ten day again! Today we were out and about all over the place. We played at home, drove to Redmond for a birth-class-babies gathering, and had dinner with my parents. This month's pictures were once again, a joint venture.

Crepuscular

2011-09-08T09:56:00.000-07:00

On my ride into work this morning I got soaked by a downpour, despite mostly blue sky and a forecast of temperatures in the high eighties.

The reward was an amazing display of crepuscular rays from another nearby cloud. The image below was taken on my phone as soon as I could get off the freeway. Not as stunning as it had been, and not rendered as faithfully by the phone's tiny CCD, but beautiful nonetheless.

It's a Blackberry Sorta Dinner

2011-09-07T16:08:00.001-07:00

Picking blackberries has been almost a daily occurrence for me at our new home. There are some great bushes growing down the middle of our shared driveway. The only other breathing creatures that seem to pick them besides me are a 10 year old boy and a 5 year old dog. Every day a few more have ripened up. I've made at least five cobblers already with the Pioneer Woman's recipe. (Hint, make your own self-rising flour, don't buy it!)

Tonight we're having salads with fresh blackberries! It's perfect for a warm day when I don't want to heat the house up too much with the oven. Here's what I like to do:

Salad

2 heads of romaine lettuce
1/2 cup feta or blue cheese crumbled
3/4 cup candied walnuts (instructions below)
1 larger lemon cucumber
1 cup fresh blackberries
Tangy cider dressing (recipe below)

Wash and chop lettuce. Sprinkle with cheese, candied walnuts, blackberries, and cucumbers. Pour dressing and enjoy!

Candied Walnuts

I learned how to make these from Heather over at Days in Africa. Thanks Heather!

2 cups shelled walnuts
1/4 cup sugar

Melt the sugar on medium-high heat in a pan on the stove. Stir a little as it starts to melt so that it won't burn. Once liquid, remove from heat and dump in walnuts, stirring to coat. Let them sit for a few minutes to cool, then break apart and serve!

Dressing

Mix the following together in a small food processor:

1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1 cup oil (I generally use olive, but vegetable oil works too)
1 tablespoon dried onion flakes
1/4 teaspoon garlic powed (or 1 fresh chopped clove)
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon poppyseeds

(I ran out of cukes today, so we used fresh cherry tomatoes from a friend's garden instead!)

Garden Girl

2011-09-07T10:14:00.000-07:00

I just love this picture! Tom took it a few weeks ago when we were

working at our P-Patch garden. It was a pretty, warm day.

She just wanted to crawl everywhere and touch everything!

Infertility: Revisited

2011-09-05T00:30:00.000-07:00

It's still hard. Really.

People complain about their kids. Parents playfully offer their unruly kids up for free to whomever will take them. Pregnant moms whine about being fat. New moms go on and on about not getting enough sleep. Parents of teenagers and younger adults tell you to enjoy the little years because you'll hate your kids in a couple more years.

They just don't see the incredible blessing.

Every time I hear one of these complaints I want to scream at the person. We can't just decide to have a baby. Many people can, or think they can. Actually, it's God who decides that.

There have been times I've felt overwhelmed by something that has happened with Halcyone. There have been plenty of nearly sleepless nights and fussy days. But that doesn't mean I need to turn my bad day into someone else's bad day. It doesn't mean I need to update everyone every hour with how it's not getting better. It doesn't mean I need to complain about the beautiful blessing God has entrusted us with.

A few weeks ago I was invited to a cousin's baby shower. I almost didn't go because there was the potential for 3 pregnant cousins to be there. I don't have anything against the cousins, it's just hard to see them all so excited and happy about something that I'd like. It's not fun to feel left out, when it's not something I've exactly chosen. A day or so before the shower I was talking with my sister about expectations, attitudes, and imposed feelings of punishment. She was frustrated because she had expected something that didn't happen and felt like she was being punished. That's when I realized I was in the same boat. I expected to have several kids by now. I was letting it affect my attitude too much that week. And I was contemplating not going to the baby shower, imposing the punishment on the poor unknowing cousins, because I didn't want to go and feel sad. My sister and I reminded each other that Jesus knows what we think would be ideal and holds our breaking hearts in the meantime. Tom and I talked and decided it would be best for me to go to the shower. He suggested I take Halcyone with me so I could snuggle her when I started to feel sad. She and I went and had a very fun time together. It was hard and sad for me to be there, but Jesus helped me through.

I need to continue to work on my attitude and trust Jesus with the future. But.... It would also be nice if people realized how much complaining about their kids or the effects of their kids are really uncalled for. (Besides, no one wants to listen to a whiner.) According to the Center for Disease Control, 12% of women in the United States deal with some form of infertility. That means that more that at least 1 of every 10 females you know will likely struggle with conception at some point. That's a lot.

Think of it like this. If you have a friend who is a recovering alcoholic, you don't take them to a bar. If you have a friend who can't have children, don't spend all of your time complaining about your kids.

What Fun We Had

2011-08-15T11:13:00.001-07:00

We had a beautiful weekend on Orcas Island, camping with some friends. We stayed 2 nights, visiting Mt. Constitution; driving around; playing cards; snuggling babies; and enjoying creation. We stopped for fish 'n chips on our way back through Anacortes where Halcyone enjoyed our lemon slices. Lemon slices. Lemon slices? Hmm, yes.

Ten on Ten: New Home Style

2011-08-10T22:13:00.000-07:00

Here's this month's Ten on Ten! Today's pictures come from work on our new home.

Back from the Hospital (clinic)

2011-08-10T00:31:00.000-07:00

Good news!

Halcyone went in for her blood work consult, and the doctors gave her an all-clear for serious blood problems. She was a trooper for the latest blood draw, and even giggled for the nurse doing her blood pressure test. After enjoying a cookie with mommy, she fell asleep from the busy afternoon.

The hospital gave her the Beanie Baby owl (with a 2002 graduation hat?!?!) and pink tape for her arm.

More on the visit can be found on this post at FightingChaos

Recipes of the Week

2011-08-04T22:23:00.000-07:00

This week I've had a little time try some fun new recipes. My mom subscribes to a couple cooking magazines that I've been browsing, and I also began using a stumbleupon.com account in conjunction with my Pinterest boards that pointed me towards some yummy looking food. Here are 4 from this week.

1. Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

I found this one using stumbleupon. It just looked good, so I decided to make it one evening after dinner. I ended up mixing it (okay, so Tom did most of the mixing) together by hand. Next time I'll go for the dough hook on a Kitchenaid. I used fresh farm eggs rather than storebought. This meant that I needed 3 of them, because the chickens are not laying full size eggs yet, rather than 2 large eggs. I ended up adding a little more flour to the dough both before and after rising. I'll make it again for sure. Next time I just want to make it a little more goooooooo-ey.

Recipe, courtesy of Joy the Baker, can be found on her blog here.

2. Summertime Tea

Oh this one is good! It's also quick and easy. I'm be making it all summer to share with friends. I made it with 6 Stash decaf English Breakfast tea bags and no tequila. I enjoy mine with lemon slices; Tom likes his with lemon and fresh mint. Apparently we're going to have a mint farm at our new house.

Recipe from Taste of Home can be found here.

3. Garlic Parmesan Pull-Apart Bread

Again, this one came from sumbleupon. It was easy to make and tasty. Tom liked his just the way it came out of the pan and I enjoyed mine with warm marinara dipping sauce.

Recipe from The Pastry Affair can be found here.

4. Peach Green Bean Summer Salad

This is a smash-up recipe. It's something like a salad I once got at the grocery store, and something like a recipe I was reading in an issue of Better Homes and Gardens. Here's what I did.

Ingredients:

2 cups cut and cleaned fresh green beans
1/2 sweet onion, cut (Walla Wallas are in season!)
1 peach sliced thinly
1 lemon cucumber sliced thinly
A handfull of pitted Bing cherries
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
salt
pepper
2 tbs lemon juice
2 tsp. sugar
Olive oil

Heat a bit of olive oil in a large skillet-type pan with a lid. Add onions, salt, and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes, until they just start to look caramelized. Add garlic and green beans, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Mix the beans and onions with the cucumbers and fruits. Top off with lemon juice and sugar. Enjoy!

We own about 3.5% of this.

2011-07-29T23:13:00.000-07:00

Yep. We finally heard back from the bank, got our inspection, had an appraisal, and then a reappraisal. And we have keys! We first say this house in May. It was bank owned, making it more affordable than most. We've already done a significant amount of work to the exterior (fixed siding, repaired holes cut in the back of the house, scraped and painted, pruned) and are now working inside! The pictures above were taken in June after finding out that our offer had been accepted. I'll try to post more soon of the changes we've made!

Oh, and one more picture just because it's so funny.

Blogwatch: What Are Your Favorites?

2011-07-27T10:30:00.000-07:00

These are a few of my favorite blogs. I like them so much I'll even look them up on my phone if I don't get to sit at the computer each day. They're packed full of good ideas, encouragement, parenting examples, and color. Leave a comment letting me know your favorites!

This is a newer find for me, but probably my favorite at the moment. A Bit of Sunshine is written by a Seattle momma of three who loves Jesus. You'll find me (and Tom!) participating in some of her follow-alongs.

Written by another momma, Naptime Diaries is full of parenting stories, seeking Jesus, and fun design. If you check her blog out quickly, you can even get in on this end-of-the-month giveaway she's running!

The gals at The Ravenna Girls have a fun blog of style, arty ideas, home projects, and yummy foods. Honestly, they come up with some of the best ideas for repurposing things!

The Crabby Ten on Ten

2011-07-10T17:41:00.000-07:00

Tom and I are again participating in Ten on Ten! We hope you enjoy browsing through our pictures!

These were mostly taken at Coronet Bay on the North end of Whidbey Island.

Tom and I are again participating in Ten on Ten! We hope you enjoy browsing through our pictures!

Ten on Ten

2011-06-13T10:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I've been following Ten on Ten posts around the blog world for a few months now. I meant to participate last month, but got distracted since it was my birthday and Haly and I were busy riding the ferry to Kingston for ice cream. This month I remembered, so here are my 10 pictures, one taken each hour for 10 successive hours. Oh, and by the end of the day it ended up being both Tom and I taking pictures because we were having too much fun.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-01T19:07:00.001-07:00

_______________________________

Ok, so I know there's this whole Wordless Wednesday blog thing, so I decided to participate. It's really quite fitting since I don't currently have a voice!

Half a Year

2011-04-21T21:39:00.001-07:00

Halcyone turned 6 months last Sunday! It seems like it can't possibly have been that long since she was born, yet feels like she's always been with us.

We had her well-child check-up on Monday. She is now 24.5" (10-25th %) tall, weighs 13lb 13oz (10th %), and her head is 16" around (also 10th %). Not bad work for someone who started below the 3rd percentile. She's been eating pureed fruits and veggies for about a month, and the doctor said we can give her most foods now. Just not nuts, honey, or concentrated dairy yet.

She has found her feet in the past couple weeks. Anytime we lay her down to play or change her diaper she pops both feet up and grabs them. I caught Missy kitty and Haly playing with her feet the other morning. Missy has a thing for rubbing feet with her face, and Haly has a thing for twirling her feet in whatever they come in contact with. The other morning the two habits met! Since Monday, Halcyone has also learned how to roll from her back to her tummy.

We also started swimming lessons last week! Haly loves bath time, so we figured swimming would probably be fun too. It is! She likes to splash and have us jump her out of the water and back in. Back floating can get a little boring for her though.

Below are some pictures from the past couple weeks.

No, I Don't Need to Consider That!

2011-04-08T09:33:00.000-07:00

Halcyone has been sampling solid foods over the past few weeks. I say sampling because so far we've found more that she dislikes (avocados, rice cereal, peas, acorn squash) than foods she likes (applesauce, sweet potatoes). I've been making all her food, but decided to try buying a few flavors to see what she likes before I make more. Right now I have a freezer full of peas and acorn squash that she won't eat! Here's a silly little narration of what went on in my brain yesterday afternoon while I was feeding her.

Me: Okay, let's try some pears today, Haly!

Haly: (excited baby waves her arms when she sees the bib and spoon, eats the entire container)

Me: Yay, we've found something that you like! Looks like I can buy some pears now to puree and freeze.

Haly: Yes, yes, please do. But, Mom, I'm still really hungry! Can I have milk too?

Me: Uhhh, honey, I didn't give you insulin for that much food.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh what?! Why did I just think that?!? My baby isn't a type 1 diabetic! That's me! I guess as little as I notice my diabetes being annoying, I'm just used to thinking about it without thinking about it.

Bainbridge Island

2011-03-26T10:45:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we went to Bainbridge Island for the day with some of our friends! Neither Tom nor I had been there. How is that possible when it's so close?! Our friends suggested the trip a little over a month ago, so we agreed on the date, not knowing if it would be cold, rainy, or sunny. All week the weather reports said it would be rainy. What a nice surprise the sun was! The family we went with have 3 sweet little girls for Halcyone to learn from! We enjoyed a ferry ride, the fabric store, the yarn shop, lunch at a park, Moya ice cream, a nice little walk, and some bagpipes together!

Tearful Lyrics

2011-03-25T22:15:00.001-07:00

Tom and I both enjoy Plumb's music. (Did you check out the link? Her kids have some of the coolest names!) We've purchased the last 2 albums she released on the day they came out. I think she's one of maybe 3 artists either of us has done this with. The second to the last album was one she made for her children, full of classic and modern lullabies. Three and a half years ago we started listening to it, thinking it would be fun to sing to our future kids. We didn't yet know the extent of that journey. I'm pretty sure we still don't know it. We listened to the songs, learned them, sang with the CD. Then last fall Halcyone joined us and the lyrics took on meanings we didn't know they had.

One Saturday in January Tom sold his first motorcycle. Now that sounds like I've jumped the shark, right? Well, it really has a part in this story, I promise.

So Tom sold the motorcycle to a new rider who lived on Queen Anne Hill. We live across Lake Washington from there and the forecast was for snow and freezing temperatures for the following week. The buyer didn't have time to come back for the motorcycle that day and wasn't sure he wanted to ride it home in the upcoming inclement conditions. Tom decided he would ride it over to the buyer that afternoon while Halcyone and I followed in the car to bring him back home.

After days of gray gloom, the sun was breaking through the clouds as we drove west on the 520 bridge. With Seattle shining, the sun setting and making everything look crisp and new, a sleeping baby girl in the back seat, I was watching Tom on his last ride with that bike. At the same time I was listening to "Always" from the Blink album. I started crying, likely because of the new-mommy hormones trying to figures things out, and also because I realized I wasn't in control of Halcyone's life. Yes, I could take care of her hungry tummy and wet diapers. But I can never dictate her dreams or prevent pain. God can do those things. He can comfort her more than I can. He cares for her more than I do (which is really hard to imagine since I love her so so much). I think I was also feeling sad that Tom was giving up his bike!

Well, thankfully I had a fresh burp cloth sticking out of the diaper bag on the seat beside me. I wiped my face off, thanked God for his love for our little family, and enjoyed watching Tom's last ride on the Kawasaki.

Below are the lyrics to "Always."

Out of nowhere

You came

From a little dust

And a little rain

And when I looked down at

Your face

It showed to me

The truth and grace

I will always try to keep you very safe

So open up your eyes

So they can look in mine

And see a small reflection

And when you close your eyes

I pray the thoughts inside

Are beautiful and true

I won't always

Be this strong

And I won't always

Be the one

To kiss the bruise

Or heal the scrapes

To wipe the tear drops

From your face

But I will always love you more each day

So open up your eyes

So they can look in mine

And see a small reflection

And when you close your eyes

I pray the thoughts inside

Are beautiful and true

I will always love you more each day

I will always try to keep you safe

So open up your eyes

So they can look in mine

And see a small reflection

And when you close your eyes

I pray the thoughts inside

Are beautiful and true

I will always

I will always ... love you

8 Babies

2011-03-14T12:31:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, 7 other families from our birth class joined us for the afternoon! We had so much fun visiting and talking about baby milestones together. There were 10 families in our class (Birth Zone); one was out of the country, and one disappeared after the classes were completed. This was the second time we've done this, but we all forgot to take pictures the first time. It was still hard to get a great picture since the kiddos all tip over this way and that! All the babies are between 4 and 5 months old.

Frustrating Dichotomy

2011-03-04T15:44:00.000-08:00

Recently, a news article stated that a local couple "Suffers from Diabetes." This kicked off a conversation between Stacy and myself.

On one hand, living with a chronic disease does permeate every aspect of your life. Unexplained (or expected) lows and highs, extra doctor visits, needles, tubes, insets, vials, stares from people after you bust out a Capri-Sun in a nice restaurant when the service takes longer than your bolus allows, and constantly explaining yourself to people (including clueless nurses!) are all part of daily life.
Failure to keep track of all this is disastrous; the fact that poor management, laziness, or indifference can kill very quickly must be understood.

On the other hand, life goes on. Washing our hands, flossing our teeth, and getting exercise are all daily activities that improve our health and we just accept as life. Living with diabetes, when just added to the rhythms of life can be similar; it becomes background noise if it is allowed to just be another beat in this rhythm. Lifespan, pregnancy, and fitness are frequently just the same as in a 'healthy' person.

It is a frustrating dichotomy then, when you need to describe living with diabetes. Is it trial and suffering, or just part of your life? Should you be accommodated or treated like normal? There is no easy answer, except that it will always be a little of both.

Cougar Mountain Zoo

2011-02-16T20:09:00.000-08:00

Tom's brother was in town on Sunday. While trying to figure out what to do with him, Dave suggested we all go to the Cougar Mountain Zoo in Issaquah. Tom remembers petting a cougar there when he was a little kid, and I had never been. We met around noon, just as the sun was starting to pop out. Haly's first trip to the zoo!

Dave gave Haly a sock monkey for Christmas. Mr. Sock Monkey has been traveling around with him for the past few months, having a life history created.

We walked around and saw tigers, a cougar, emu, cranes, wallabies, parrots, lemurs, reindeer, and mule deer. While there we saw the end of a bird show, a cougar feeding, and a tiger feeding. The bird show was fun because they had a kingfisher, one of the things Halcyone's name comes from. The cougar feeding wasn't terribly exciting because the cougar is so old and arthritic he had a hard time getting around. However, the tiger feeding was great! We got to stand about 5 feet from them as a couple zookeepers fed them a bunch of raw meat.

Valentine's Day for 3

2011-02-16T18:36:00.001-08:00

On Saturday the three of us went to Valentine's tea! Tom has said for a while that he'd go with me, so about a month ago I made reservations for us at Secret Garden Tea, my favorite shop! We drove down to Sumner and were seated. Halcyone woke up, looked around, chatted a bit, and drank a bottle. By the time she was done with her bottle, our food was arriving and she was falling asleep! We were able to enjoy our tea, scones, fruit, savories, sandwiches, and desserts while she napped in her car seat. Tom had Red Almond tea, and I had my favorite Summer Pudding blend.

On Monday I was going to make salmon at home, but just as I was getting ready to put the fish in the oven our power went out. We decided to spend the evening at my parents and get Taco Time on the way. It was a fun evening!

The Adventures of Mr. Whale

2011-01-20T14:24:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday night I was browsing through some free crochet patterns on Ravelry. I was looking at Valentine things and somehow ended up finding the cutest little whale pattern! I decided it was easy enough I'd just try it. It was late but we weren't in bed yet because we were hoping Haly would fall asleep before we did. So, in between a few baby feedings and some crying, I finished a whale. It was perfect until I stuffed it. Then I realized I need a smaller crochet hook or bigger yarn because the stuffing was showing through the stitches.

I set the whale on the couch arm to contemplate improvements. Tom said it needed a pom-pom so it could spout water out the top. My mom gave me some pom-pom makers for Christmas so I tried it and set it on top of the whale. Tom laughed and said it was too big, but we both thought it was pretty cute.

Last night the whale was still sitting around, unsure what he wanted to do. Tom suggested giving him to the cats to see what they would do. He tossed the whale over. Missy didn't care about him at all. Strange... she's the one I would have guessed would love a new toy. Orangey stared from his cozy spot on Tom's motorcycle gear. Then a few minutes later he pounced. Apparently Mr. Whale rolls around in a pretty entertaining manner.

I walked down to the kitchen in the middle of the night and found Mr. Whale and Orangey kitty crashed on the living room floor. This morning I've continued observing them. Mr. Whale accompanies Orangey to the kitty kibbles, down the hall, to check on baby Haly when she cries, and who knows where else!

Halcyone's First Christmas

2010-12-31T15:49:00.000-08:00

Opening a gift from Grandma J.

Sleeping in her new fuzzy quilt from Grandma J.

We had a fun Christmas with Halcyone. I'm not sure she cared about much more than the Christmas lights on the tree... she loves to stare at them!

And People Ask if She's a Boy!

2010-12-23T05:00:00.000-08:00

Snowy Leavenworth

2010-12-22T16:40:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we finally made a Christmas Leavenworth trip! We'd been talking about how we wanted to do this ever since we got married, but somehow never managed to fit it into the busy season. This year our friend Scott had the sense of mind to put it together before everyone's schedules filled up. We drove over in our full Subaru, enjoying the views along Highway 2 and the snow on our way.

We arrived at lunchtime and decided to eat at Gustav's. We decided we'd just order what sounded good and get German food for dinner. Hmm, we had amazing fish and chips which meant we ended up too full to have that dinner. While we were eating it started snowing. We walked through the town, stopping in a few shops. The hat shop and the cheese shop both had lines. We skipped the hat shop, but the cheese shop was a must. How did Tom and I not know that it was there?! We got some garlic cheese and some amazing Gouda! We stood in a 30+ person line at Starbucks, visited the Australian shop and the Gingerbread House, and watched the tree-lighting ceremony.

Haly did great! She slept on me in her Moby wrap for most of the day, only crying when she got hungry or needed a diaper change.

On our way home we stopped at the Alps candy and chocolate shop. How does one choose from all those options? We ended up finding a few gifts and some mints for ourselves.

2 Months

2010-12-22T16:28:00.000-08:00

Here are the 2 month pictures! We almost forgot to take them, which is why she is sound asleep!

8 Weeks Already?!

2010-12-14T23:33:00.001-08:00

It seems like the last 8 weeks have flown past! Halcyone is growing so quickly and discovering new things each day! Below are a few picture of the past couple weeks. Sorry we haven't updated the blog more!

What has Haly been up to you may wonder? Well...

Visited Snoqualmie Falls during the flooding with Dad, Mom, and Uncle Dave
Gained 3 lbs since birth
Started giggling in her sleep
Grabbed a Christmas light on our tree
Took a 7.5 hour nap?!
Discovered she likes to sleep in the Moby Wrap while Mommy sews or makes dinner
Read Mommy's favorite childhood book with Daddy

Thankful

2010-11-28T20:34:00.000-08:00

I know this is a day or so late, but here's a list of things I'm thankful for this year. First, a picture of Halcyone's first Thanksgiving!

Jesus who gives grace that saved me
Tom, the best husband
Halcyone, the sweetest little girl
Good health for all of us, even with Haly's low white cells
2 great friends who I spend a lot of time with, Heather and Rebecca
Caffeine Free Coke, tastes good and helped calm a lot of morning sickness
Arty-crafty things
Music, Plumb and Owl City are my current favorites
Our bed! Hospital beds are so uncomfy... who designs those things?
Books to read while pumping in the middle of the night. Currently I'm enjoying the second to last Narnia book and Treasuring God in Our Traditions.
Snow, so pretty!

1 Month

2010-11-18T18:02:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Halcyone's one month anniversary of her birth! Today we went in for her one month check-up. Below is a picture (in which she's not too happy to be awake) and some information we gleaned from her doctor.

She now weighs 6 lb 6 oz - 3rd percentile, but a good gain from her low of of 4 lb 5 oz a few days post-birth.
She measures 18.25 inches - 3rd percentile for height, also confirms they included her cone shape in her initial birth length of 18.5 inches.
She should be spending at least 15 minutes playing on her tummy each day so that her strength keeps up with her rapid weight gain.
Her white blood cell count is back down again to 1100 - The doctor says this is ok, but still low. So... she's still not supposed to be around people who are sick. We'll get a recheck next month.

Busy Haly

2010-11-07T23:02:00.000-08:00

Halcyone had a weekend of firsts!

On Saturday, she went to her first sit-down restaurant. Spaghetti Factory!

Not terribly impressed.

This coincided with meeting great-uncle Rod and great-aunt Rita for the first time!

She also went to her first book store, and her first fire station. At the fire station, they confirmed that she is now big enough to ride in her own car seat!

Testing the new seat into Redmond, we visited the Day's for games and TV. Another first was 'playing her first game': She helped hold daddy's hand of cards.

Today, she got her first real bath.

Rounding off the weekend was a trip to church. On the way home, another first: a screaming car ride.

Surprise!

2010-11-02T17:37:00.000-07:00

My sister, Kelly, surprised us with a visit to meet little Halcyone this weekend! My brother emailed us last week asking if he could bring someone over he wanted us to meet for lunch and a game of Carcassonne on Saturday. We said sure, thinking he must have met a special girl. When the doorbell rang, Tom opened the door and there he was with Kelly! We had a great afternoon of nachos and table games, followed by a fun dinner at my parents' house that evening. Everyone got a little Haly snuggle!

On Monday Kelly and my mom came over and we decided to try a trip to Bellevue Square to walk, look at a few things, and get lunch together. I pulled out our stroller, figured out how to use it, and we were off. Haly seemed to like the stroller... it put her to sleep. Kelly and I enjoyed looking in a few shops. I was looking for a couple more preemie outfits for Haly. Penny's doesn't carry that size! We saw some super cute outfits at Janie and Jack, but decided to keep looking due to the price. On our way through Nordstrom to meet my mom for lunch I decided to look in their baby girl section. They had a section of preemie outfits for $9.95 that were slightly longer than the ones she's been wearing. Perfect! After lunch and looking through the Brass Plum and the preemie outfits again, Kelly needed to head to the airport. It was a great surprise visit. We can't wait to see her and Alex again in a few weeks!

11 Day Update

2010-10-28T22:42:00.000-07:00

Today we took Halcyone to the pediatrician for her 1 week follow-up appointment. As Tom put it, this was more of an assurance check for the parents than a check-up for Haly! She has gained back most of the weight she lost after birth. She started at 4lb 10oz, dropped to 4lb 4oz, and is now at 4lb 9.5oz! Her doctor said this is good progress. We had to get another blood test done and got a little education on dealing with diaper rash. Other than that, nothing big happened.

The past few days have been so good, being back at home and having a little freedom. I can do so much more now that I'm not on bed rest! It was great to be able to vacuum, clean the bathroom, and make dinner this week. I've also ventured out to Target and the grocery store with Haly.

A few things Haly has done this week:

watched her first movie: Iron Man 2
rolled from back to tummy
got a mohawk, styled by Daddy
did not eat bacon, even though Daddy talked to her about it
went shopping at Babies R Us
went to church

Below are a few picture we've taken over the past few days. Hope you enjoy them!

Here's How it Went Down

2010-10-23T19:14:00.000-07:00

After being told on Friday that they were going to try to keep Haly growing on the inside for at least another week, the plan changed on Saturday morning. The hospital needed me to meet 2 risk conditions to consider sooner induction. I had high blood pressure that was somewhat manageable with medications, but was still feeling awful, and was having a hard time sleeping because of all the extra fluid in my neck. By this time I almost couldn't walk because all the fluid in my legs and feet meant I almost couldn't bend my ankles or knees. On Saturday morning I reviewed my insulin usage and discovered that it had been cut in half for the previous 2 days... not a good sign. This is generally an indication that the placenta is starting to shut down and stop feeding the baby as it should. When Dr. de Regt came in to check on things that morning and found out about the insulin usage, she said we needed to start an induction in half an hour.

I was moved across the hall from a smaller room to a labor and delivery room. The nurse started my IV with fluid, petocin, and magnesium at about noon. The contraction monitor started showing that I was having contractions, but I was unable to feel them. Every half hour they would dial up the petocin dose. Dr. de Regt came to check on me and suggested breaking my water at 7pm. Tom and I them started a movie, but about half an hour in my contractions were becoming pretty uncomfortable and I couldn't concentrate. Instead we went for a little walk. While it was probably helpful, it wasn't any more comfortable!

Back in our room I spent the next few hours sitting in a big purple easy chair, working through the contractions as they got more intense. It helped to have a cheery nurse who was talking with Tom about people they both knew from school. Having something to listen to with my eyes closed seemed to make the time go by faster.

Eventually I thought I couldn't handle the contractions any more and started trying to talk both myself and Tom into asking for an epidural. I didn't really want one because I knew it would be much healthier for Halcyone if I didn't get one, and the recovery would be better for me as well. I was under the impression from our birth class that if I didn't start getting sick and being unable to communicate or think well that I wasn't approaching the transition stage (8-10cm of 10 total). I wasn't feeling sick and I was still very able to answer questions and think through what I was doing, especially regaurding my insulin pump. (I opted to continue using my insulin pump instead of getting insulin through an IV for labor because I was more confident in my ability to control my blood sugar than someone who doesn't live with diabetes every day.) I thought this meant that I was no where near the peak of what the pain could be. The nurse checked my cervix and said I was at about 8cm. Tom suggested using a small amount of narcotic instead of an epidural. This worked enough to very slightly dull the pain that I didn't feel quite like I was dying every 2 minutes.

Up to this point Tom had been reminding me or checking my blood sugar every hour. So far things were going really well. My numbers were staying around 90-110. I kept cutting back my insulin rate each hour as well and was being allowed to drink juice if I felt like the number was falling too quickly. I had also been allowed to eat lunch and drink a Jamba Juice that afternoon, something I had been told would likely not happen. Apparently doctors don't like it when you have that much food in your stomach. I knew I wanted to eat because I would need the energy. The doctor told us that labor burns 1000 calories an hour and is comparable to running a marathon!

It was probably less than an hour to get from 8 to 10cm, but the last bit was hard to get through because it felt like I needed to push Haly out already. About 2am Sunday morning the nurse verified that I'd reached 10cm, they wheeled me to the operating room where Dr. de Regt was waiting. Apparently it is hospital policy that anyone at 35 weeks of gestational age or less has to deliver in the OR. They would have more room for Haly's team of doctors to evaluate her and be in the right location if at any point she became stressed and needed to be delivered via c-section. The OR was so cold and bright compared to the labor and delivery room... 63 degrees! The nurse told me they keep it that cold to keep germs from growing.

After slightly more than 2 hours of pushing Halcyone arrived! Her heartrate never got unhappy during pushing, something that seemed to surprise the doctor. The doctor let me hold her for a minute before her team of NICU help took her across the room for evaluation. Her APGAR score was initially an 8, but went up to a 9 at 5 minutes. The doctors were expecting her to need oxygen or some other sort of continued NICU care for a few weeks because she arrived 5 weeks early, but she didn't! Tom went up to NICU with Haly for her required 4 hour evaluation. He fed her a couple bottles, talked with her, and helped her get her blood sugar and PKU checks.

My doctor stitched me up and finally got my bleeding to slow down, then sent me back to my labor and delivery room. Our doula stayed with me until my mom arrived. I slept for about 50 minutes. Tom got to come back down to our room with Halcyone after 4 and a half hours. When he gave her to me she smiled when she heard my voice and we finally got a nice snuggle.

I had to stay on my petocin and magnesium IV for another 24 hours to control my blood pressure. It seemed to have stabilized, so I was discharged on Tuesday. By Friday my blood pressure was running high again, so a visit to my doctor was in order. She prescribed more medications and said to call in over the weekend if it didn't get better.

Haly's blood work showed that she had a high bilirubin level on Monday, so we ended up in the pediatric unit with her under the bili lights for about 30 hours. It was so hard to see her sad and crying but not be allowed to pick her up. We discovered she's a baby who loves to be held and suggled with. We got to take her out for about 20 minutes of feeding time every 3 hours.Haly got to leave the bili lights at 2am on Wednesday. She had a follow up blood test that allowed her to be discharged around noon on Wednesday. Along the way they discovered that one of her neutrophil/white blood cell count was super low. This meant that she was at high risk of infection. A follow-up blood test on Thursday showed that these cells had tripled. She's still pretty susceptible to bacterial infections, but at least getting better at fighting them! We had to borrow a friend's car seat that can safely hold a smaller baby than ours, but Haly passed her car seat test and we were on our way home!

It's been so nice to be at home! I realized that yesterday was the first day I've driven or made dinner in a long time! It feels so good to not be on bedrest anymore. We're both loving taking care of Haly and spending lots of time cuddling her. We thank God for her health and life all the time. She's just perfect for our family.

Halcyone Has Arrived!

2010-10-19T00:26:00.002-07:00

Halcyone Marie

Born Sunday 10.17.10, 4:16AM

4 lb 10 oz, 18.5 inches

The latest from Floor 2

2010-10-16T01:38:00.000-07:00

It seems we are in residence at Evergreen until Halcyone arrives!

On Thursday, Stacy and Haly had a checkup. Because Stacy's blood pressure has been climbing again, the doctors decided to keep them for monitoring. As Stacy got settled, I retrieved the luggage packed for just such an occasion and we turned in for the night.

After a good rest, today was quite busy. A number of care providers came and went: Maternal-Fetal doctor, Primary doctor, NICU charge nurse, Diabetes care specialist, Dietitian, and Social worker (I am probably forgetting a few...). The most eventful thing that happened was the removal of Stacy's cerclage. It's always exciting when a doctor says "This should be easy. Hopefully we wont need an epidural!" before you are even in labor. Thankfully it was indeed easily removed with relatively no residual pain. During the down time between visits from staff and family, Stacy was able to sleep a bit too!

Over the past day and a half, the doctors have gone back and forth about what course to take. As of dinner time, we were told that the current plan was to induce bright and early in the morning, pending test results. After the tests came in at 10PM, there was a new plan: Because Stacy and Haly are doing so well, considering, we will not be inducing tomorrow unless something exciting (read: Bad) happens. We don't know if this mean that Sunday is a go for sure, or if we are just on a day-to day basis. More on this as we learn of it...

Perhaps the best part of this visit has been the diabetes care. Between Stacy's diligent glucose management (much helped by assistants Dexcom and Ping), and a new draft hospital protocol, the doctor's orders allow her full management of her own care. In the past we have had to deal with everything from being awoken every hour (or less) for a glucose check that was unnecessary due to the Dexcom, to arguing with nurses about how much insulin Stacy needs at any particular moment (not comfortable when the dose they are insisting on would cause harm). This time she has been able carry out her own diabetes management: allowing the nurses to focus on Haly and blood pressures and Stacy to sleep/rest peacefully. We may need to change plans quickly depending on the direction labor takes, but for now, the freedom the new policy allows has been FANTASTIC! (Can you tell I'm enthused about it?)

So, Stacy is asleep: resting up for what has been a, and undoubtedly will become more, busy weekend, and I should do so as well!

Goodnight!

Haly and Me

2010-10-10T21:54:00.000-07:00

Here we are at 34 weeks!

33, Going Much Better!

2010-10-08T17:58:00.000-07:00

This past week has been a much better week baby-wise! I got to be home all week, with 3 doctor appointments.

The current set-up is to have a beginning of the week appointment with my delivery OB, Dr. Chien, who does a non-stress test to make sure Haly is doing well. Then at the end of the week I follow up at the Maternal Fetal Medicine clinic for an ultrasound, another non-stress test, and a doctor chat. This week I also had my third trimester eye check to make sure I'm not showing any signs of diabetic retinopathy, and I'm not! The doctors are now saying they will induce me at 37 weeks if Haly isn't here by then and that if I go into labor before then, they won't try to stop it again. I'm back on bed rest because my blood pressure is still being a little silly and to help minimize the foot swelling. So far it hasn't been bad. I've been working on a few sewing projects, the same knit sweater I've been plugging away at for the last 4 months, and putting together our baby announcements and Christmas cards. Below is a picture from today's ultrasound at 33 weeks, 6 days.

Last Saturday my cousins threw a fun baby shower for little Halcyone at my Mom's house. Haly is going to be one well-dressed little newborn! She also got her first doll from my Grandma.

What a Week 32 Has Been...

2010-10-01T20:57:00.000-07:00

Last weekend marked the start of week 32 for baby Haly. It also became the start of a few multi-day hospital stays! On Thursday when I went in for my maternal-fetal-medicine appointment everything looked great except for my blood pressure, which was a little on the high side. The doctor I saw prescribed a medication to reduce both blood pressure and stop contractions that I may have. I started the medicine on Friday night and woke up Saturday with a horrendous headache and pain in my eyes that made it feel like they were going to explode. We called our doctor who said to go to the hospital and get checked out by labor and delivery since headache, eye pain, and my (still) high blood pressure are all signs of preeclampsia.

While I was in the triage area they hooked me up to a contraction and baby heartbeat monitor. Haly's heartbeat was happy, but at some point I started having contractions that I was not able to feel. They decided that since most of the blood pressure and anti-contraction medications are not great for a diabetic they would give me an IV drip of magnesium and start the 2-injection course of steroids to help develop Haly's lungs in case she came early. They also gave me morphine to help control my headache. That magnesium is some crazy stuff! They started me off on a big dose that helped get things under control, but also made me feel super warm and rubbery. I could hardly walk a couple steps without help for the next few hours and needed a fan blowing directly on my face from a foot away.

On Sunday morning I started having contractions again, although I was able to feel them a little this time. They decided to give me another bolus of magnesium and finish the lung steroids that afternoon. Because of the fuzziness the magnesium gave me, I can't remember exactly when, but at some point they became concerned about how dynamically Haly's heartbeat would change. They decided on Monday to keep me so they could continue monitoring her.

By Tuesday I was starting to feel a little more "normal" and they were happy with where my contractions were at, my blood pressure, and Haly's heartbeat. They let me go home! However, I started having regularly timed contractions that evening that were getting more intense and had to go back to the hospital. The contractions continued getting worse for about 7 hours. The doctor on call determined they weren't really doing anything and that it would be best if I could sleep. He gave me some sort of relaxing drug and morphine. I did sleep as the contractions started to ease up.

On Wednesday they did an ultrasound and decided they were right about the contractions not doing anything even though I was still having them. They put me on another form of the same medication for blood pressure and contractions that initially gave me the massive headache, but kept me to make sure I wouldn't react negatively.

On Thursday I got to go home again! That night was a success; far fewer contractions, lots more sleep, and better food! I'm back on bedrest to keep my "irritable uterus" happy. (Yes, that's really what they call it!)

Today I went in for a maternal-fetal-medicine check-up. Again, my blood pressure was a bit elevated, but everything else looked great! They asked me to increase my medication and keep checking blood pressures at home. Now we're hoping to get through the weekend without incident. One of my doctors said our goal should be to get Haly to at least 35 weeks. Below is one of the pictures from today's ultrasound. The tech says Haly has chubby cheeks and hair on her head! She's estimated to weigh about 4 pounds and 3 ounces. Thank you to everyone who has been helping us and praying for us!

Fall Soup

2010-09-24T15:30:00.000-07:00

I've been planning to make soup with some squash and other veggies I picked up earlier this week. Yesterday the doctor told me that I need to cut sodium out of my diet for the sake of my blood pressure, so Tom and I decided we should look into low sodium broths at the grocery store on our way home. Interestingly, Campbells, Progresso, and a couple other "main" brands that carry low sodium options still have about 25% of a person's daily intake value in one cup! We found that Safeway's Organics brand has only 6%!

Recipe:

Use any veggies you want, really. Below is what I happened to throw in.

1 butternut squash, peeled & seeded, cut into about 2" chunks
1/2 delicata squash, peeled & seeded, cut into about 2" chunks
2 red potatoes, sliced in half
1 yam, cut into about 2" chunks
1 large onion, sliced like an apple
4 cloves of garlic, peeled & crushed
3 large carrots, peeled & cut into 3" segments
1/4 adobo pepper from a can - These things are HOT. I tried using a whole one once, but we couldn't eat the soup. Now I open a can, cut a section off for the soup, and a freeze the rest for a later date. For some reason the freezing also makes them hotter.
2 32oz. containers of chicken broth (Veggie would work too!)

After all the peeling, washing, and slicing is done, place everything in a large pot with the chicken broth. You pretty much want it full of veggies, no extra room in the liquid. Boil for about 20 minutes. Use an immersion blender to puree everything. Boil lightly for a while longer to get the consistency you want. The longer you boil, the thicker it will get.

Serving suggestions: add sour cream if it's too spicy for you, add salsa, add pesto if you want a greener flavor, or Tom's favorite: cilantro.

Embryo Adoption Luncheon

2010-09-21T00:49:00.000-07:00

This Sunday, the church that supports our adoption agency held a service and luncheon to showcase embryo adoption and provide a chance for people considering, or in, the adoption process to meet and visit. There were several cool aspects to this event.

In attendance was Dr. Theresa Deisher of AVM Biotech in Seattle. She is an expert in stem cell therapy and an advocate for ethical stem cell research. She spoke briefly on the ethics, economics, and issues in her field. Of particular note was the amount of money and time spent on adult vs. embryonic cells, and the availability of treatment. Apparently, the US has spent quite a bit of money and time on embryonic cell research, and has very little to show for it. Conversely, in less time and for less money, other counties have performed clinical human trials with adult stem cells showing marked success. I will attempt to do more research and write more on this as I learn.

King 5 was also there, and they produced a short news segment.

The part with me talking came out a little out of context. Stacy and I howled with laughter when we saw it the first time. We have had great number of ultrasounds, which as been a very cool opportunity to see Halcyone growing up. At 9 weeks, she was the same size, and looked very similar to a gummy bear (actually, according to Wikipedia, she was pretty much exactly the same size). We had seen a heartbeat on ultrasound several weeks before, but at the gummy-bear appointment she was waving her tiny arms and legs, hence my amusing 2 seconds of animated camera time...

The most fun part of the afternoon was meeting people in various stages of the adoption process. A couple that just had a baby flew out from Chicago for the luncheon and to dedicate their son. Another couple, looking to learn more, drove up from Tacoma on short notice after hearing of the event. Also at our table were a pair of 6 year-olds that were adopted as embryos, one of whom has still been 'born' for fewer years than he was in a freezer. Several fast friendships were made and we all exchanged contact info to follow up on how everyone is doing in the future!

Thanks for Cedar Park Church and Pastor Fuiten for hosting and facilitating the speakers, event, and the adoption agency.
Thanks also to Maria Lancaster for putting the event together and running a program that is making an excellent impact in the lives of both parents and children.

Peach Scones

2010-09-18T14:30:00.000-07:00

On our anniversary trip back in July, we stayed at a bed and breakfast that served us peach scones for breakfast. Since then, I've been keeping my eye out for a good recipe that would taste similar. After lots of googling and looking through various recipe books, I decided to mix a couple different recipes to get what I wanted. Tom thought a recipe that was based with heavy cream would be good, so that's what I started with.

Recipe:

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
8 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, room temp.
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups fresh peeled and chopped peaches

Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. Add butter and cut in with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Prepare peaches and set aside. Mix cream, eggs, and vanilla together, then add to dry mix. Mix lightly until blended, gently add peaches and fold in.

On a floured surface, place 3" to 4" balls of dough. Flatten slightly, then slice into fourths. Place on baking sheet. Brush tops with heavy cream and sprinkle with a cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Bake at 400 for 15-18 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Enjoy! (My batch made about 28 scones.) I served them with whipped cream and lemon curd.

How Our Family Started: New Beginnings

2010-09-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

This is part 3 of 3 in a series on How Our Family Started.

On November 9, 2008, Embryo Adoption Services of Cedar Park (EASCP) was founded. On the 14th. they appeared on a local TV station, and on the 20th of the same month were featured in the Seattle Times.

~~~~

It's cool how chance (or Divinely ordered process) can totally alter your life: We were filling out paperwork for a local adoption agency and had stalled a few times. A relative saw the TV interview and showed us the newspaper article. After reading it, we were amazed: this seemed perfect! God had already prepared our hearts (and minds) for adoption, the method of doing so was now laid clear.

In considering why to choose this type of adoption over a standard one or IVF, the best analogy I have is the following: Suppose you encountered two shipwreck survivors. One is cold, wet, and in a lifeboat. The other is drowning in the water. Which would you throw a life-ring to? Any orphan or foster child is in a tragic place; They desperately need someone to love them, provide care, and pilot their desolate lifeboat to calmer waters. For an unborn child though, they will surely die without being adopted and cared for, choosing to throw them the life-ring was the obvious choice for us.

The next day after we saw the news article, I talked on the phone for a while with Maria L., the director of EASCP. Shortly after that, Stacy and I were able to teleconference with her to continue to get more information about their program. Praying for confirmation and certainty was almost synonymous with praising God for His grace in providing this opportunity for us.

It seemed as though the months were fllying past. After the holidays, we met in person with Maria to go over the process and complete more paperwork. In April, someone come out to do a home-study. In May, we did even more paperwork, including background check requests, reference letters, and a family profile. June saw the completion of the home-study. In July, we recieved exciting news: We had been matched with a family that had 6 embryos they wanted to donate.

Depending on the families participating in adoption, there is a varying level of contact between those donating and adopting. In our adoption, the donating parents want to remain anonymous to us. We were able to see pictures of the donating family, they also provided some medical information, and we will send a birth announcement to them through EASCP, but that is the extent of our contact. We will see what the future holds.

In September we completed the next step: signing the adoption contract. Once the contract was complete and notarized, the embryos got packed into a cooler and traveled to SRM's cryo tanks on Lake Union (oddly enough, into the same building as The City, where a number of friends work).

During this time, there was a multi-cause delay. Our Dr. at SRM did an MRI to scope things out before doing the transfer. She suggested based on the MRI that Stacy have minor elective outpatient surgery. This was to correct something that might increase late-term miscarriage. Shortly after the MRI though, the DR went on maternity leave herself!

~~~~

November 2009 came. It had been one year since learning about embryo adoption.

~~~~

The soonest that Stacy could have her surgery was January. The procedure was uneventful, but required a two month timeframe to allow her to recover. After the two months were up, a significant drug regimen was begun, to prepare Stacy for the transfer. This included hormones administered orally, through patches, via subcutaneous injection, and intramuscular injection. Adjusting to giving these (Eeep!) and getting them (Ouch!), took some time, but was not too bad.

At the beginning of March, the drug cycle had reached 0-hour, and the first two embryos were thawed. Shortly after that, Stacy went in for a blood pregnancy test (POSITIVE!). We had already tried just about every test available from the store, each time just as pleased with the result.

As a side note, I tried geeking out on the hCG test levels each home pregnancy test was capable of registering, corresponding those to the clinic-measured blood hCG levels, and doing a curve fit to monitor progress and try to guess if both embryos had implanted.

An ultrasound soon showed that both of the embryos had indeed implanted. However, several weeks later, it became apparent that one of the twins would not survive. For the first ten weeks after the transfer, the drug regimen continued, and we waited with baited breath to see on ultrsound how the baby was growing at each clinic visit. Blogs of the pregnancy can be found atluceends.

It is now September again, Stacy is in week 31 of a tumultuous, but good pregnancy. With God's grace, it will continue to go well.

~~~~

In November 2010, our daughter will be born.

How Our Family Started: Questions and Answers

2010-09-13T22:24:00.000-07:00

This is part two in a series of three on How Our Family Started.

Normally making babies the standard way is inexpensive, straightforward, and fun. Any deviation from the norm raises a number of convoluted and difficult questions.

Now what?

Perhaps the most obvious question to ask next was: should we no longer plan to have a family? For some people, the answer to this is yes. For us, this was not really an option. We feel called to raise and care for children...

How do we proceed?

Medically, In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) was the only remaining choice. The process is pretty straightforward scientifically, but can be a scary glimpse into human nature. IVF is expensive; depending on your insurance it can be thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. Expenses aside, it is an ethical minefield. Usually, many more eggs are fertilized than a family would ever use. Often the embryos are "discarded" based on arbitrary standards. Finally, parents are encouraged, Gattica style, to screen for "optimal" genetics and/or gender. The only fathomable reason for us to choose IVF over other options was "to carry on the family line," a selfish and prideful proposition.

Adoption was the other possible choice. It too is expensive. Depending on the type it can cost less, or much more, than IVF. The process is long; scary legal issues can crop up. Overall it is a sure ticket for an emotional roller coaster. For these and other reasons we had reservations and concerns, but nevertheless started researching...

What type of adoption?

The three main types of adoption we considered were international, birth parent, and foster-to-adopt. The names are pretty self explanatory. An excellent local organization called Antioch Adoptions facilitates birth-parent and foster adoptions. Because they are local and subsidized we started looking into their program. We attended a class and started compiling and filling out the mountain of paperwork required.

Meanwhile a relative brought to our attention another, new, adoption agency. This one was offering something we had not heard of: Embryo Adoption...
_______________________________________
This will be continued in Part 3: New Beginnings

How Our Family Started: Prologue

2010-08-29T01:03:00.000-07:00

This is the first installment of three on How Our Family Started.

Stacy and I met in High School. I had been praying fervently that I would meet my spouse soon, and in His divine and perfect irony, God granted my prayer: Both of us attended classes at the same co-op, but never spoke. Then Stacy graduated.

Two years went by...

We re-met at church. We had several mutual friends, which allowed us to strike up conversation. The conversations lead to a friendship, the friendship a relationship. After dating for 4 months and being engaged for 3, the relationship led to marriage.

While we were dating we attempted to discuss everything with full disclosure (Communication is a KEY component of a marriage). Stacy brought up that, for medical reasons, it might be difficult for us to have "our own" kids. This lead to us agreeing that, if this was the case, we were ok with adoption and that we both were interested in adopting, even if we did have "our own" children. While this was a true sentiment, we both did not grasp fully the implications or weight of either infertility or adoption.

After getting married in 2005, we did not immediately try to start a family. It wasn't until several months later that, between a better understanding of God's will and a convicting talk (ironically enough: about abstinence) at a high school retreat we were staffing, we changed our minds (It must be noted that abstinence was not the birth control method we were using...).

It was soon very clear that difficult was an understatement when it came to the chances of our getting pregnant. After a workup at the doctor and more than a year of trying low-key treatments, the physician indicated that the only option they had left to offer was IVF.

This left us confused, sad, and unsure of what to do next: infertility and miscarriage bring a pain that is hard to explain or deal with.

~~~~

You grieve for the children you might have had, or were carrying and lost. You grieve for feeling alone, or useless, broken, or to somehow to blame. You grieve when others who have children complain, or take them for granted. You grieve for the uncertainty of the future, the starkness of the present, and the dashed hopes of the past.

Frequently the pain is brought up sharply: "If you don't have children, get busy." "You've been marrried how long? Where are all the kids?" "I knew someone that ____ and then they found out they were pregnant!" Conversely, some people suggest that you are "not supposed to have a family," or even twist scripture to indicate that you are being punished.

Other times the trigger is subtle: Attending a wedding, and then the though of never giving away a daughter. Watching a sports game, and then the thought of never playing soccer with a son. A friend joyfully (and rightly so) announcing that they are expecting a child. Baby furniture received as a gift, still sitting empty.

~~~~

All that is you, your faith, identity, and being are tried and challenged.

Through this time, we did know that God still loved us and His plan for us had not changed, but it was still hard to always find joy in Him. Admittedly, the reponse to the pain of infertility easily turns to anger, jealousy, or defensiveness. Though sinful beings, hopefully Stacy and I have weathered the pain well and, through Jesus grace, to His glory.

_____________________________________________

This will be continued in part 2: Questions and Answers

Thanks Mom!

2010-08-28T12:42:00.000-07:00

My Mom sewed these cute cradle goodies for Haly! We got the cradle the day before I was admitted to the hospital a few months back. The plan had been for me to make a bumper and some sheets for it, but bed rest did not allow that! My Mom volunteered to sew them for us! I think it's the cutest cradle set I've seen!

Liberties

2010-08-24T16:37:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I had my almost 2 month post-cerclage appointment. The doctor did another anatomy scan of Haly. She is growing just like they want. The measurements they took showed that she weighed exactly 2 pounds! My cervix is also looking more normal and has stayed long and steady for the past 3 checks. The best part was getting to see Haly wiggling around. She has the cutest little button nose! I can't wait to see it for real!

The doctor also gave me some more liberties! I get to walk for 20 minutes a day, drive a few short trips, and can start extending my sitting-up time by half an hour every few days as long as things don't feel stressed. I go back for another re-check in 2 weeks.

This coming weekend will be 28 weeks. This will be a huge milestone for Haly's brain development, getting her even closer to being ready for birth!

Saturday Sun

2010-08-15T11:18:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Tom's company picnic at Woodland Park Zoo. We figured out that if we could get a handicapped parking space near the West entrance it would be a short enough distance to the picnic area that I could probably go as long as we had my lounging lawn chair. The zoo was crazy busy. It took several drives through the parking to find a free handicapped space. (They only had 2 for each entrance!?) We parked and walked in, Tom set up my lawn chair, and I got to enjoy the fresh air and a little sun. We got to enjoy yummy alder smoked salmon, strawberry shortcake, fresh fruit, and salads. Tom made name tags for both Haly and I.

There was an old carousel right next to the picnic area that we got to ride. Tom and I sat on one of the "chariots" rather than the horses. Either the music or the spinning made Haly wake up and start bouncing.

Because I'm not supposed to walk we didn't get to enjoy all the animals on this trip. However, the new penguin exhibit is right next to the exit, so we walked past them on our way out. Watching them swim in the cool water really made me wish I could go swimming!

Guess What He Did?

2010-08-14T16:52:00.000-07:00

This cute, generally sweet little kitty thought he was taking care of me. He was sleeping in my lap the other day with his head curled up on my tummy. Halcyone woke up and started wiggling around, startling Orangey. Thinking he could stop the wiggling he was observing, he bit my tummy where Haly was moving, then looked at me and smiled! What a silly little kitty. Tom has since informed him that was not acceptable behavior.

25 Weeks

2010-08-09T10:51:00.000-07:00

This weekend marked 25 weeks of baby Haly growth! She should be about 13 inches long, and should weigh about 1.5 pounds. This week her hair is supposed to start growing.

Last Thursday we had our 1 month post-op appointment, which included our 15th ultrasound. Halcyone had again flipped over and was head down. She seems to flip every week. This time she had her legs bent over her body, criss-crossed, with her toes on her forehead! The doctor said she is looking good and so is my cervix. I don't need to go in weekly now; I can go back to every 2 weeks for a while. I was also given permission to sit upright for an hour at a time, 3 times a day. So far I haven't pushed the sitting up, but I've done it a few times! Tom even took me out to Red Robin last Friday night for a date!

We've started the search for a car seat that will fit in our Forester without needing the front passenger seat to be pushed all the way forward. Who would have thought that a Forester is not a "family car?!" We've had a few recommendations from friends who also have Subarus, so will probably try a Graco Snugride seat to see how it fits. Hopefully it works!

Other than that, not much new has happened. I've still been reading, knitting, and doing a little hand sewing. Below is a picture Tom took last week of Halcyone and I.

Goodbye for a While

2010-07-29T16:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening we had a family dinner with my sister and her husband. This morning they packed what was left in their Ballard apartment into their car and started a three and a half day journey to their new home in Chicago.

While my brother lived in San Francisco for most of a year recently, that somehow seemed different... probably because we knew he wasn't planning to stay there. Alex and Kelly are planning to stay in Chicago. We know we'll see them again, but Chicago just feels like a long way away! We are looking forward to seeing them in November after baby Halcyone is born!

We've had a lot of fun with them over the past year; camping and crabbing, watching movies, sharing dinner and getting cupcakes, working on their wedding, playing board games, and introducing Alex to fireworks purchasing and lighting. Below are some of the pictures from these events together!

Dexcom Love

2010-07-28T11:28:00.000-07:00

A few months ago our health insurance finally approved a Dexcom Seven Plus for me. Now that I've been wearing it for just over 2 months, I think I can say that I'm very happy with it!

The Dexcom is a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) that has a piece called a transmitter attached to me 24/7. This transmitter is attached to a sensor; a tiny little wire that is stuck in me. The sensor tells the transmitter what it thinks my blood sugar is and sends it to a receiver. The results are displayed for me to see on the receiver. I can see what it thinks my blood sugar is in the past 3 minutes and I can view graphs of my blood sugar as it has changed over the previous 1, 3, 6, 12, or 24 hours.

The Dexcom can be set to alarm if my blood sugar goes over or under certain numbers. Mine is currently set to vibrate then beep if I miss the buzz under 60 mg/dL and over 160 mg/dL. This has been very helpful as my body's needs for insulin during pregnancy are changing quite frequently. The receiver has woken me up on multiple occasions to catch a quickly dropping blood sugar. I can also download all the data from the receiver to our computer and see reports including hourly averages and multiple day graphs stacked on one another.

The only thing I find a little frustrating about the transmitter/sensor attachment is that the adhesive tends to wear out faster than the sensor. I can wear it for 7 days without a problem, but by 9-10 days, the stick-em is pretty much gone. I like to wear them as long as possible because it gets more accurate after the first 24 hours, so the more good data I can get, the better!

I'm looking forward to continuing to decrease my HBA1C test (3 month blood sugar average) now that I can keep myself in tighter boundaries. It took a while for our insurance to approve this, even though it will improve my health and decrease diabetic complications long-term. After my endocrinologist's initial request, it took a second letter from him, pregnancy, a letter from myself, and a letter from my doctor at the maternal fetal medicine clinic. Very worth it!

The Reclined Summer

2010-07-27T23:03:00.000-07:00

This past week has been fun as Tom and I have managed to find things I can do from a reclining position. Because the weather has been nice since I got out of the hospital, I've really wanted to just be outside! On Saturday we got a drive-thru lunch and took it to Blythe Park in Bothell where Tom set up my lounge chair in the sun. We ate, talked, and read for a few hours. We then went home and had a group of 9 over playing a Magic tournament that evening.

Our friends loaned us their Xbox so that I have more activity options. After getting movie-mush-brain on Friday, this has been excellent! I've spent a few hours playing Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, and Catan against the machine. Tom and I have also spent some time playing Lego Star Wars together. This is a pretty good arrangement since some of the segments involve flying, which I'm not good at. Tom can get us through those parts, then I rejoin him for the jumping and light saber-swinging segments.

On Sunday Tom dropped me off at my parents' house while he went to church. I again got to sit in the sun for a while! Yesterday I worked on a few knitting projects. Today I got to spend on a friend's couch while Tom was at work, and then at the park in my lawn chair at Community Group this evening. It's been so nice to have a little change of scenery!

A Week Later

2010-07-16T14:08:00.000-07:00

It's now been just over a week since my surgery. We again visited the Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor on Wednesday. He said things are looking good, but to keep bed-resting. I'm scheduled to see the doctor for rechecks every week now.

I've been filling my time with a little reading (Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith, and a few others), movie watching (Gilmore Girls and The Blindside), and some hand sewing to finish up a few quilts. Tom has been super helpful, keeping house stuff going and taking care of me. It's also been great to have friends bring meals and visit during the day.

So far, the kitties are the biggest fans of bed rest. I've had several multi-hour nap cuddles from Orangey, and a few snuggles from Missy. Tom's pretty sure that when Haly is born, she is going to be disappointed that it's not me who purrs.

It's also been nice to have some beautiful flowers to look at! My friend Kate brought be a companula. Alex & Kelly brought me this awesome orchid when I was in the hospital!

Sentenced to Bed

2010-07-10T13:44:00.000-07:00

This has been a crazy week! After our fun anniversary trip and spending Monday with Tom we were ready to dive back into work, life, community group, and doctor appointments.

Tuesday morning I had my 20 week appointment with Dr. Chien (our primary OB). The nurse tried to find baby Halycone's heartbeat, but all we heard was a bunch of kicking and wiggling. After about 8 minutes she gave up and said the doctor would have to chase her around. Dr. Chien came in and found her with a healthy heartbeat of 143. I asked a few questions and Dr. Chien said everything looked good.

After lunch I had my once-every-two-weeks appointment with a nurse at Maternal Fetal Medicine (high risk pregnancy office) to go over my blood sugar patterns and insulin use. Again, I got a good report. She liked the couple changes I'd made last week. I had increased my 2AM - 5AM basal rate. Also, I had increased my lunch and dinner insulin to grams of carbohydrate consumed ratio to 1/5. The nurse made one more suggestion, checked my weight, and sent me back to the waiting room.

At 2PM Tom joined me for our 20 week anatomy ultrasound. The tech spent a while looking at Haly; measuring her humerus and femur, looking at the 4 chambers of her heart, looking at her brain, and watching her swallow. Everything looked good and she spent most of the time waving her hands and feet around. The ultrasound report said that she was perfectly on track for head and tummy size, right around the 46th percentile.

Next, the tech took a look at me too. After doing some measurements, she got really quiet, and left to talk to the doctor. After a long wait, the doctor came in and said she was extremely concerned. They don't know why, but my cervix was shorter than it should have been, even though four weeks ago it was fine. She said without surgery I would almost certainly miscarry, and that it would likely happen soon. The surgery itself carried a significant risk of miscarriage, and that even if it was successful, they would need to keep an eye on me and Haly for a couple of days afterward.

The doctor had us check into the hospital immediately for monitoring, and set up the surgery for early next morning. I got wheeled across the street and was admitted. Once in my room, a nurse hooked me up to an IV and a contraction monitor. Tuesday night was stressful and pretty sleepless.

Wednesday started early and fast. Wake up was at 5:00AM for surgery prep. 7:00AM Preop, 7:30AM goodbye to Tom and into the operating room, 8:30AM in recovery, and back in my room by 9:30AM. The rest of the day was a little fuzzy but included IVs, antibiotics, TOCO monitors (Tom kept calling it my seismograph), percoset, hospital food, and finally a beautiful sunset.

Thursday I didn't feel great for most of the day. It turns out they used a rapid muscle relaxer for the surgery that tends to make people feel like they had an intense workout. I'd say it feels more like being in a car wreck. My neck, shoulders and jaw were so sore! I couldn't lift my head without actually pulling it up with a hand, and it was painful to eat! At least that evening they took out my IV.

Friday was busy too. After more monitoring, they did another ultrasound. This reconfirmed that the surgery was successful. It was also another opportunity to see Haly. After meeting with the doctor about home care, they let me go in the afternoon.

Now I'm back at home: on bed rest. This means I can lay in bed or recline on the couch. I'm allowed to get up occasionally (showers, snacks, DVDs), go to doctor appointments, or occasionally go elsewhere in the car as long as the destination has a place to lie down. The effects of the muscle relaxant have finally worn off too!

*****

Halcyone is still doing well. Every day the nurses found her heartbeat between a healthy 140-150. I've also been able to feel her a lot more the past few days. Tom can even feel her now too! The doctor said that even while I was knocked out for surgery she was still busy wiggling around.

We'll go back to the doctor next week for a recheck. In the meantime I'm drinking gallons of water so my body doesn't start having contractions and trying to figure out what exactly I can do in a reclining position. So far I've come up with reading, watching movies, and knitting. Sewing is the one thing that is most definitely out.

Thanks for your prayers, visits, flowers, and encouragement. Every step in this process has been punctuated by miracles and God's grace. Please keep praying that Haly stays healthy, that my body adjusts to the surgery well.

Our 5th Anniversary

2010-07-03T23:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary! Well, actually we took a few days to celebrate, spending 2 nights at a fun bed and breakfast in Sequim.

On Thursday we took the ferry from Edmonds to Kingston. We found some dinner at the "Grub Hut" in Kingston... yummy milkshake! We then took our time driving from there into Sequim, enjoying the cheery sky. After checking into our Bed and Breakfast we drove half a mile down the road to look at the beach.

We woke up to this pretty view in the backyard. We were the only people there that night, so were pretty surprised at the massive breakfast the hostess made for us; orange juice, peach scones, oatmeal with fresh strawberries, and shirred eggs!

After talking to the hostess, we decided to visit the Olympic Game Farm. (We considered driving to Hurricane Ridge, but there were so many clouds we thought it may not be worth the time investment.) On our way we stopped at the Jardin du Soleil Lavender Farm. It smelled so good, even though the plants weren't in full bloom. We wandered through the different varieties, looked at the still used to get lavender essential oil, and bought a couple plants.

The game park is a place set up for cars to drive through and feed animals out the windows. Most of the animals are retired movie or entertainment industry critters; including Kodiak bears, wolves, cougars, bison, elk, deer, a rhinoceros, yaks, zebras, and prairie dogs. I wasn't so into feeding the critters from my window, but Tom enjoyed it. We bought one bag of bread and spent about 3 hours driving around.

We spent the rest of the evening reading in the sun at the beach, on our deck, and more reading.

On Saturday we ate breakfast (crab quiche!) with the other guests at our bed and breakfast and checked out. We tried to visit another lavender farm, but it was still closed, and headed on towards Fort Worden.

From there we drove to Kingston for some ice cream and took the ferry into Edmonds to head back home. It was a most excellent way to celebrate!

Summer?

2010-06-21T16:31:00.000-07:00

This is what we (myself and my fuzzy babies) think of this summer weather...

Having Fun...

2010-06-15T17:27:00.000-07:00

That's what we've been doing the past few weeks! Last Wednesday we got to attend my sister's (Kelly) UW English department graduation and share dinner with my family and some of her good friends. She graduated Cum Laude so she got to wear a cool tassel. Way to go Kelly!

Tom spent 2 weekends pulling everything (seats, upholstery, carpets) out of the Jeep since it had sprung several window leaks and become a mold factory. Yuck! After washing it all, scrubbing the interior, and letting everything dry, he and my dad took the back 3 windows out and resealed them. Now, no more leaks!

While he was working on Jeep stuff, I got to cut out a couple quilts. Both of them are now close to finished! One is a cute red/lime/yellow/black quilt for the back of the couch. The other is a Paddington Bear quilt for Baby Girl Luce!

We were able to get last minute tickets to see Imogen Heap at the Paramount Theater last night from some friends! The theater was so pretty and the music was excellent! I didn't care too much for her opening bands, but the rest of show was lots of fun! She involved the audience a lot, getting us to sing different parts of a few songs. At one point, she asked the audience for a key, a basic tune, and put together a new song!

It's a Girl!

2010-06-08T17:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had our 16 week anatomy ultrasound. The tech was able to tell (for real this time!) that our baby is a girl! We had been told at 10 weeks that it looked like a boy, then at 13 that it looked like a girl, but that we would know at our 16 week appointment. The ultrasound again took about an hour. They measured her bones, looked at her heart, showed us the umbilical chord and blood flow, and counted fingers.

Below is a picture of her hand and profile.

This is a picture of her little hand open, which the tech got excited about. She said babies with open hands, as opposed to clenched fists, are very healthy and don't generally have birth defects.

After our appointment we went and picked out a couple cute girly outfits! We ended the evening with dinner at the Spaghetti Factory (our favorite!) and by starting our registry at Babies R Us.

The Rainbow Cakes

2010-06-04T10:11:00.000-07:00

Last Monday Tom and I hosted a surprise birthday party for Tom's dad. We invited everyone from Tom's side of the family over for a BBQ dinner and cake. We ended up with 31 people in our 860 square foot condo for the evening! I have 2 friends who have recently made rainbow cakes and posted pictures of them on facebook. They were so bright and pretty; I really wanted to try one. In the end I made 3 for this party! Below are pictures of the steps I used, roughly following these directions.

What you need:

White cake mix (I followed the directions for mixing on the back of the box: eggs, oil, water), gel food coloring, at least 2 cake pans (each box makes 2 layers), lots of bowls and spoons for mixing.

Step 1:

Mix the cake as directed (I think any cake recipe would work) and divide evenly into 6 small bowls.

Step 2:

Add the gel food coloring, stirring well. I used about a quarter to a half a teaspoon per color. I found that I needed the most red and orange coloring to make them look as strong as the other colors.

Step 3:

Using a small measuring cup for scooping, start layering the colors into greased cake pans. (I actually liked using my glass pyrex pie pans better because they didn't stick as much when it was time to get the cakes out.) I used about a 1/2 cup scoop plus a little extra for each color. Add the colors for a 2 layer cake in opposite orders. (red, orange, yellow, green, etc. and purple, blue, green, etc.)

Step 4:

Bake according to your box or recipe instructions. Let cool in the pan for a few minutes, then remove to a plate or cake stand to finish cooling.

Step 5:

Frost it and clean up! I used container frosting because I didn't have time to make any. I think the less fluffy the frosting, the better. I used one can of fluffy cream cheese frosting, and it was so light that it didn't really want to come off the knife and stick to the cake.

Step 6:

Eat it!

1 Year on an Insulin Pump

2010-05-18T16:03:00.000-07:00

A year ago I started using an Animas insulin pump. It's been a great year as far as blood sugar control goes; I can't imagine going back to just injections and needing to use 2 types of insulin!

It took a few weeks to get basal rates (insulin given to me constantly, 24/7) figured out so that I could get rid of predictable low and high blood sugars. Now we're down to just the unpredictable ones. It also took about a month of trying different infusion sets, tubing lengths, and insulin delivery speed to avoid leaky or tender infusion sites. The nurses at the UW Diabetes Care Center were comfortable enough with my knowledge of the pump and type-1 diabetes that they didn't have a problem with us going to Maine last June, shortly after getting my pump.

Since then, I've learned a few tricks that help keep blood sugars a bit more predictable.

Use Novolog instead of Humalog insulin in my pump. The Humalog can form tiny little crystals in the tubing, making the delivery amounts unpredictable.
Change the infusion set every 3 days. It's tempting to stretch it to 4 if there's still insulin left in the pump reservoir. Leaving the set in longer means it gets tender and could lead to infection.
If I can smell insulin, it probably means it's time for an infusion set change because the insulin that should be in me has leaked back out around the tubing. (This hasn't happened too often.)
Take my food bolus (insulin to cover the amount of carbohydrate I'm eating) about 30 minutes prior to eating so that I don't end up with a blood sugar spike before the insulin is absorbed and starts working.
Use the combo bolus for foods that take a while to digest (high fat, high fiber). This setting allows me to calculate how much insulin I'll need for the food, but then lets me choose how many hours to spread the delivery over, and how much to take immediately and how much to delay.
Use a temporary basal rate for exercising. I can tell my pump to reduce my basal rate by xx% for any length of time so that while I'm exercising I don't have to worry as much about low blood sugars.

I had a bit of a hard time deciding between the Animas Ping pump system and the Medtronic pump. In the end I chose the Animas pump because it comes with a blood glucose meter that acts as a remote for the pump. I thought it would be convenient to not be needing to pull my pump out from where ever I've stashed it in my clothing. I'm so glad I did choose it! It also lets me program smaller amounts of insulin than the Medtronic.

The only problems I've had with my Ping system are analysis software related. For some reason, neither my pump nor my meter like to predictably download the data stored in them for myself and doctors to evaluate. So far Animas has been pretty helpful, sending new software, cables, and a meter replacement as we troubleshoot this.

For a long time I didn't think I wanted a pump because I didn't want something stuck to me all the time. Now I'm so glad I did get one! It isn't that much bulk to carry. In the past year my HBA1C (3 month blood sugar average) has gone from 8.0 down to 6.5 and I rarely have crazy high blood sugars anymore.