The Tweedles

Tooth Watch

2008-11-19T16:39:00.000-08:00

Day 270...
no teeth. However there have been a lot of drool, buckets and buckets, for about 4 months now.
We're waiting....

Eating in Kiwiland.

2008-11-18T21:52:00.000-08:00

So far we haven't had anything quintessentially kiwi (except for kiwis*!), but today we did go to McDonalds to get something to drink and we were looking at the burgers expecting to see a lamb burger or something like that. There were no lamb burgers, but there was a Kiwi Burger, which wan't made of wee little Kiwi birds or the fruit, it was strange though.
Kiwi Burger, a la McDonalds (bottom to top):
bottom bun
egg
cheese
burger patty (it's a big one, like the quarter pounder)
obscene amount of lettuce
onion
tomato slices
pickled beet slices
ketchup
mustard
top bum

Sounds good?
Honestly it was, okay. The egg was a shock, and I didn't like it much, and there were too many onions, but I always think that. The pickled beet? Really good! It just adds that pickled taste to the burger, and I love beets, so why not? I did have to take it all apart since it fell apart, and I ended up not eating the patty 'cause, well together it's okay, but on it's own McDonalds beef isn't that great!

Tonight we're having mussels, YUMM! And I've been promised a roast of mutton! hmmm.....

* I had a yellow kiwi, it's like a green one but not as tangy or acidic. It was nice. Trixie was playing with one and managed to break the skin and eat much of it! Oh yeah, we have pictures!

Babywearing!

2008-11-17T21:46:00.000-08:00

I've been wearing Trixie a lot here and it's strange the looks of total amazement I get. A lot of people are commenting about how they are surprised to see that I have a baby "in there", I guess they just think I'm wearing a back pack. I thought that I would see a lot more people wearing babies, but I've seen no one and we've been out and about both days that we have been here.
Hopefully soon.... I don't think I have the energy to convert a whole country!

We've arrived!

2008-11-16T18:06:00.000-08:00

We're here! We're in New Zealand! It looks a lot like California, well more than a lot. I don't much feel like I've left, except for the whole driving on the wrong side of the road thing.
I don't feel much jet lag, but I don't think I can say the same for Trixie and Adam. Trixie is a little grumpier than usual and Adam is kinda morose.... It will pass, I'm sure!
Anyhow Regan is going to guest post, so I won't steal her thunder.
Boom away Regan, boom away!

T minus 6 hours

2008-11-15T12:45:00.000-08:00

Until we board a plane for 13 hours, with a baby.
hmmmm doesn't Benadryl help babies to sleep?
Heh.

Also on the gall bladder news. I have a surgery date! I've suggested we call it the plop and drop date, as in they will plop it out of me and drop it into some receptacle. Hopefully... unless there is too much scar tissue then I will get a big ol' cut, above the bikini line. Which will ruin any chances I'd ever had to wear a Princess Leia gold bikini and be convincing. Oh well.

Survivor!

2008-11-14T21:27:00.000-08:00

I watched Survivor last night and the skinny science guy, Bob, made his own idol. It seems that this has been a trend in past seasons. Ozzy made one last season, and Yao Man another season, and I think someone else did another time, so it's common. I started to think, that I should either create a "make your own idol kit" or just take the fixin's to make my own if I should ever go on the show.
(not that I plan on it, but you know, things happen.)
Also if I ever go on the show, I will swear on Adam or Trixie to get what I want, you know why I can do this with no shame? Because it's a game! Oh and really what does it mean to swear on someone? Is it like no trade-seys? Or no take-sey back-sies? So then kinda by definition Survivor is just a higher stakes playground game?
Interesting.

Oh yeah I go to New Zealand tomorrow! Whoo hoo!

The Gall! (bladder)

2008-11-13T20:50:00.000-08:00

Hey did you notice the post from yesterday, kinda lame, eh? I know that Adam wrote it, from his phone in the ER, and I'm totally not judging his writing. In fact I am so happy he posted, helps with the one a day, ya know. Anyhow there's totally a story.

Since I've had Trixie I've had these excruciatingly bad pains in my abdomen and I thought that they were gas pains, so I went with that, gas pains. I took Gas-X like it was candy and complained and moaned that I was going to die, waiting for the pain to pass. At first it did in a couple of hours, and during that time I was still able to function, so it wasn't much of an issue. But each episode would get worse and worse and finally when I would have "the pain" I would be layed up in bed quietly dying... although I'm sure Adam would say I wasn't so quiet. (so painful!) Before I went to Canada the last time I had "the pain" again and it lasted 3 days, which also included me being on a plane with Trixie. Lets say I was less than amused. It sucked. I'm not sure how I survived. While in Canada I had "the pain" two more times, for a shorter time, but so much more intense. Anyhow can you see where this is going?
I keep getting gas pains, they are getting worse and worse and more frequent. I don't see a doctor, eat Gas X like it's candy and it does nothing. I suffer, Adam gets little sleep.
Then I get the mother of all of the episodes last Saturday night and it's so painful that I throw up, several times, which wears my throat raw and makes me have bloody puke. On Monday Adam tells me to call the doctor, and she tries to prescribe me antacids. I refuse because I want to know why this is happening, and not just mask it with drugs, because I would like to get pregnant soon and I don't want to be reliant on scary drugs. My doctor gets exasperated with me and sends me to a allergist who pokes me many times for a skin test which proves I have no allergies (yay I can drink milk again!) I have many blood tests and I am not pregnant, no allergic to wheat and have no issues with any of the organs she tested. (she didn't test my liver....) Then last night "the pains" start again. So I rush to take an over the counter antacid and a handful of tums all washed down with some strong peppermint tea. I wait. There is still a lot of pain. Adam comes home and finds me crying from the pain (seriously as bad as labour pain, but with no breaks) so I call an advise nurse who tells me to go to the hospital NOW! We pack up the baby and go. We fill out forms, have my blood pressure checked and temperature checked (high- duh!, normal) and we wait. While we wait Trixie makes eyes at everyone she sees and they all coo over her, I try not to bite off the heads of random strangers in a hospital who are touching my baby, and I practice the breathing techniques I learned in my birth class. (they worked!) Finally I am called in and placed in a small room. I am asked a lot of questions, over and over. (why don't they read each other's notes?) Finally after a lot of breathing exercises, a couple tears and many doctors and nurses I have more blood drawn and am promised pain killers. The Big Burly Nurse comes in and he prepares an IV, (in my elbow!) and prepares to give me morphine, which I'm allergic to. (seriously, read the notes....) So he bustles off to find some other narcotic to inject me with, and comes back. It goes like this: inject, me freak out because I am immediately dizzy, BBN says it will pass in a minute and to breathe, I have no pain, but still dizzy. (and was until today)
The first doctor who I saw in the hospital comes in again and I can talk normally and not be gasping in pain, she tells me that I have the classic, albeit more intense, symptoms of passing a gall stone. She asks if I've ever been checked for gall stones -no. Ever had an abdominal ultrasound (not baby ultrasound) -no. Ever had blood tests to check for gall stones -no. So apparently my regular doctor who wanted to prescribe antacids is an idiot, and this isn't the first time she's totally screwed up... not the 2nd either. (new doc search commences when I get back from New Zealand) Anyhow the hospital doc says that she'll come back with the blood test results. Then BBN comes in and says I need to pee in a cup, which I hate. I do though, and one would guess I am so dehydrated that my pee would be consistency of syrup. (it wasn't) I later mention this to the doctor and she is convinced it's my gall bladder since dark urine is a classic symptom. The doctor comes back and tells me that my liver is behaving like the liver of someone who is a heavy drinker, except I don't drink, so it's a surefire sign that I have gall bladder issues. I am told that they are keeping me over night and I will get an ultrasound in the morning. If my gall bladder is infected or inflamed they will remove it. Which would mean that I would have to postpone our trip to New Zealand. Adam and Trixie go home since it's 2 in the morning, Adam was dead tired and Trixie was sleeping on me after having charmed the pants off of everyone until 1 am. I am left alone in the small ER room, listening to the chaos that is an ER. Adam and Trixie come back at 8:30 am, Adam's eyes are all red and Trixie launches herself at me, in the cute way that she does. (Trixie woke up several times, so Adam didn't get much sleep.) We sit around and wait and wait and wait. Then I am moved to the part of the ER where they keep people who have to stay over night. "It has a TV!" woo. Finally I am taken for an ultrasound. We come back to my new room. We wait, again, a lot. A new doctor comes in and... wait for it... I have gall stones! My gall bladder isn't inflamed or infected so I will have to make appointments with surgery and book an appointment to have it removed.
So YAY I get to go to New Zealand on time, but it looks like we might have to postpone trying to get pregnant, and hopefully we won't have to postpone it so much that I will have to redo the other surgeries I had earlier this summer.
Oh I was also prescribed vicodine... in case "the pain" returns.
So how was your night?

Ready for vacation

2008-11-12T22:35:00.000-08:00

Adam here...

We're getting ready for our trip to Kiwiland. I'm looking forward to it, but it's making work a bit boring. I can't really start anything interesting, so I'm just working on little boring tasks. It makes the anticipation all the more palpable!

International Baby Wearing Week

2008-11-11T22:10:00.000-08:00

Did you know?
It's International Baby Wearing Week! And by luck, I will be wearing Trixie, Internationally this week! How fortuitous!
You know I love baby wearing, even now with Trixie being nearly 18 pounds. I've mastered the back carry using the Beco. I also use a New Native Pouch (although since I've lost weight, it's getting large on me and she hangs a little low, but she does love it!) and I use a wrap and do a hip carry. (I use a sliding knot, it's the same knot I used to tie my Brownie tie with when I was wee. I knew it would come in handy!)
So if you have a baby, try to wear them this week!

Remembrance Day.

2008-11-11T21:55:00.000-08:00

Normally I talk about my Grannie and Grampa a lot in November since there are so many dates that pertain to them this month:
Nov. 5, my Grannie's birthday and their wedding anniversary
Nov. 11, Remembrance Day, which was always important to my Grandpa, and therefore, me
Nov. 28, the day my grandpa died.

I still want to talk about them, but I've said a lot of it already. So I'll just link to it. But I had to mention them today, I think of my Grandparents a lot today. I told Trixie about Remembrance Day today, and we saw a ceremony (as we were driving by it) and I told her all about it. I'll keep telling her all about it. I'm going to make sure that she understands what today is all about, and why it's important.
She will remember too.

Videos!

2008-11-10T22:31:00.000-08:00

These are videos of Trixie laughing at/ with Adam as he pulled his sweater up over half of his face. Apparently that is highly amusing to an 8 month old.

Another day, another post....

2008-11-09T20:52:00.000-08:00

It's Sunday, already?
I may not have thought through this posting every day thing... hmmm.
We went to a friend's today to play games and we brought Agricola, which is my new favourite game right now. Normally I like a game either as multi player or two player, but this is equally as fun either way. (it also helps that I seem to be able to kick ass at it!)
There are a lot of pieces in the game, but it's fairly easy to learn, but there is some good strategy, which makes for a great game.
Trixie also appreciates it for all of the colours!

i gots nufin'

2008-11-08T23:31:00.000-08:00

It's 11:30 pm, and I am tired and have a totally blank mind. I can't conjure a decent post if I tried. So I will continue to eat my Halloween candy, (screw the diet, but did you know, I'm down 28.5 lbs!!), and I will contemplate posts, that don't require much energy.
Hey wait! Did I tell you the story about how Trixie was poopin' and scootin'? Oh, hmm that was yesterday's brain dead post.
Oh this child and her night time waking for the painful teefs! I swear I am getting less sleep now then when she was brand new. At least when she was new I could nap a lot during the day, and she didn't require much energy, short of feedings and bum changes, but now there is less napping, more moving and shaking. Oh but the cute? Did I mention the cute? I love watching her little personality emerge! But I'll save it for the monthly letter, oh I need to finish last months... tomorrow. (always tomorrow)
Hmm look a post emerged, but it's cut into my Hershey's Mr. Goodbar time. (they're surprisingly good, like a peanut M&M without the candy shell and in bar form, yum!)

I have a baby, her name is Trixie!

2008-11-07T22:30:00.000-08:00

Come on, you have to give me a little credit, I've gone 7 days without a Trixie themed post!
So today while Trixie was on the potty I was working away on the computer and I heard this "scritch scritch" and I look down to see that she's pulling herself along with her heels, on the potty, while she's pooping. Funny, funny, funny. I wish I would have had the video camera ready to go, next time, I hope!
(we were in the office on the hardwood, we use her potty in every room, where ever we are in case the need strikes quickly.)

Christmas Capers

2008-11-06T20:39:00.000-08:00

Trixie and I went to the mall today to start our Christmas shopping, because I want to get a jump on it and we needed to get out of the house so she didn't drive me crazy.
Mostly we wandered around the mall window shopping and I tried to think of the perfect present for her first Christmas. So I decided that it should be a keepsake, and I thought jewelry, but I'm not sure what beyond that. An ID bracelet? But it won't fit her in a couple of years. A necklace? Same issue. Perhaps a small ring that fits her now, and then she can have it as a necklace charm in the years to come? Or perhaps a lovely pearl, then a new one at birthdays and Christmases until she has enough for a necklace.
So I am officially stumped.
Ideas?

YAY Obama, Boo Prop 8!

2008-11-05T17:09:00.000-08:00

Lets start this post on a happy note, shall we?
So first of all, I am so over the moon that Obama won. And how great that it was California that sent him over the top and totally crushed McCain?
Last night we were at a friend's and we all crowded around her TV to watch McCain concede and to watch Obama's speech. It was pretty amazing, and I may have gotten a little teary eyed. I am so happy that I can look forward to the next for years rather than dread what might happen next.
On Jan. 20 I predict that Obama and family will rent a really strong steam cleaner to get the Bush stink out of the White House!

And the not so happy note.
Prop 8 passed, and I am not happy. More than not happy. I am devastated. I would like to be naive and say that I don't understand how a blue state could let this happen. But I guess, blue or red, hate is hate and there is hate, and this proposition was peddlin' the hate.
We were in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago and I saw a Yes on Prop 8 sign in a church window, which upset me. It bothers me that people use religion to perpetuate hate, and really, wouldn't a true Christian be tolerant? I think, too, that fear played a part, but I don't understand it. The Yesers talk about preserving marriage and whatnot, and I think that gay marriage does it's part to preserve it. Marriage is about love and commitment, not about penises and vaginas and the "proper" distribution of them. So for the religious folk who claim that marriage is only for a man and a woman, what about hetero people on their 4th or 5th marriages? I think that those people have destroyed the sanctity of marriage more then a lesbian couple who love each other and have been committed to each other for a long time. Furthermore just because the gay guys in the apartment next to you are married doesn't negate your hetero marriage, only you can negate your own marriage. So why the fear? Why the hate?
Also to add insult to injury one of the provisions of prop 8 is that only a marriage between a man and a woman is "valid or recognized" in California. Therefore anyone who was married is no longer; how horrible is that?
A friend commented yesterday that if you were to read the proposition and replace "gay" with "black" (or Chinese, Indian, white, blue eyed, brown eyed....) that it would be a horribly bigoted proposition. And yet, it passed.

I am sad.

Obama Wins!

2008-11-04T17:44:00.000-08:00

And the Nos take prop 8!
Those are my predictions. I hope they come true, because I can't imagine a world where they don't.
I really hate that Adam and I couldn't vote in this election. We did donate though, hopefully that will help. Every little bit, right?

Four

2008-11-03T20:22:00.000-08:00

Four things today.

4- number of years since Adam's and my first date.

(This was taken 3 weeks after we met, Adam came to visit me in Vegreville and he wanted a picture to show his mom. Look how short my hair was!)

3- number of parental units (and grandparental units) we have

(My mom's side. l-r, her then boyfriend Mike, Adam, me and my mom. She's back with Mike now though, so I guess he's not her then boyfriend.)

(My dad's side, l-r, my step-mom, Gabrielle (who Trixie is named after) Adam, me, my dad.)

(Adam's side, his mom, Adam, me, his dad.)

2- number of weddings we've had

(During our January ceremony, becoming husband and wife, legally.)

(Kissy, kissy!)

(So happy.)

(Saying our vows during the June ceremony, wherein a lot of money was spent to have 130 people watch us reenact our committing to each other, we did take some poetic licence and make nicer vows and changing our attire.)

1- number of children we have

(The cutest Yoda, ever!)

NaBloPoMo

2008-11-02T09:46:00.000-08:00

Hey! Yesterday was November first! I did a blog post! That means it must be NaBloPoMo! And you know I can't resist a whole month of posting about the drivel of my life, except it's less drivel-y now and much more dribbly now! (I have officially used my exclamation point allowance for the day.)

(the early stages of the dribble, she's quite effective at it now, but I have no pictures of it.)

So even though I am going to New Zealand this year I will make a valiant attempt to post everyday. I'm not sure how I will do considering I will lose a day on the way to New Zealand. I think I'll have to employ some kind of technology to help me. I have no idea how to do this, it's a really good thing that I have a geeky husband!

I will not be doing NaNoWriMo this year though. I do not have the time for that.

Also since there is a new Tweedle in the house, we'll need a Tweedle-esque name for her. Suggestions? I'll choose the best suggestion and reveal it at the end of the month. (if they all suck, I'll cry.)

Have a great November!

Poor Houdini

2008-11-01T17:44:00.000-07:00

Living in California has left me a little stale on my Canadian news, and especially my Okanagan news.
I just found out today that highway 97 between Peachland (the town I grew up in) and Summerland (the town my dad lived in while I was growing up, which is right next to Peachland) is closed because the mountain is sliding. The problem with this is that this highway is the link between the Central and South Okanagan Valley. To get around you can go north around the lake, but that is a seriously huge detour, you can go through the mountains, which is a less huge detour, or you can take a free water taxi, but you are left without your car at the end, in an area with crappy transit. Luckily this is where the Valley has a natural economic break, because Peachland is associated with Kelowna and Summerland with Penticton.
Let's also say, that I'm glad that I'm not living there right now. There was a time when I had to drive that highway everyday, going from Summerland to Kelowna.
Now Houdini, he is a Mountain Goat that fell in the fissure that was created by the mountain slipping away. He was rescued and some guy with dreads gave him mouth to muzzle, so Houdini lives another day, and Dread Guy is now known as the guy who kissed a goat.

8 month newsletter

2008-10-24T16:56:00.001-07:00

Dear Beatrix,
Today you are 8 months old! I would count the number of days that 8 months is, but I'm tired and drained. You're a lot of work at 8 months, but you sure are fun. I think you might be a comedienne when you are older, you seem to have a sense of humour and it cracks me up everyday.
We've had a busy month and I will write about it all later.
(sorry, so busy!)

I only have time for bullets.

2008-10-20T21:16:00.001-07:00

I have a bunch of posts floating around my head, but I can rarely find the time to sit and compose a post so I don't, and then most of it leaves my head.
Here's what's left.

1. My friend ran a marathon yesterday. She rocks. It was really interesting to watch the marathon, oddly. The vibe was really supportive and upbeat. There were a lot of people cheering the runners on, many of whom were excited themselves, even when we saw them the first time at mile 16. A lot of the runners were running for Team In Training, and I think that they come with a large cheering section of their own. But still it was amazing the amount of support that was there. I may have been moved to tears a couple of times. (shh don't tell anyone that I'm a total wuss)
Watching the marathon made me feel bad about the time when I tried to train for one and quit. (my shin splints, ohhhhh the PAIN) anyhow I wondered why some people run and put themselves through the pain. Running isn't good for the body really, it's horribly jarring and mangles you, and yet there were 20000 runners yesterday. Perhaps they do it for bragging rights, perhaps just for self satisfaction, perhaps to raise money for charities like TNT. It's interesting, I think the last 2 reasons are totally admirable, the first isn't. Boo on braggars.

2. Trixie is always on my mind, I am always composing posts to talk about how amazing she is and how much I love her. I would write one everyday, but then I wouldn't have much to write in her monthly newsletter. But golly I love that baby, I knew I would, but I didn't know that it would be this amazing. A few weeks ago I was trying to figure out the amount of time I've spent with her since she was born. I would guess between 95-97% of her life she's been within arms reach of me. How amazing is that? My percent is so high because I wear her all of the time, I take her everywhere with me, I sleep next to her and I really love being with her. We're working on potty training with her, and I'll tell you more later in her newsletter, but she rocks! She had a watery tummy a couple of days ago, and even then she had only 2 poo misses, she made it to her potty every time. Yay for less poopy diaper laundry!

3. Politics. Oh this is a big one. I really hate that I can't vote. It's not fair, my husband pays taxes here, we own property here and I have an American baby, I should be able to vote! I actually care to vote as well! Anyhow I'm sure you would have figured that I would vote for Obama, (duh) but what's really frosting me right now is Proposition 8. It kills me to see ads on TV prompting people to vote yes on prop 8. Seriously, vote yes? As in deny a human basic rights? And this is supposed to be the best country on earth?
I'm so glad I'm Canadian.

So to summarize, Regan is a running goddess, Trixie is adorable and all people deserve basic civil rights, because what will be next? Taking the vote from women? Ugh!

Third time's a charm!

2008-10-15T22:05:00.001-07:00

On Monday I went in for my third, (yes third!) operation in as many months in order to make my uterus baby ready. And by golly I think we've finally gotten it right this time. To avoid the intense pain I was in from the last surgery where I was awake and felt every scrape of my uterus I was put to sleep this time. This left Dr. Scrapes A Lot free to scrape the inside of my uterus without worrying about my pesky screaming, however that means I didn't get to watch the surgery on the TV screen, which was pretty cool last time, and it means I couldn't ask him my standard millions of questions. He did talk to Adam after he was all done with me and I was waking in the recovery area. He let Adam know that my uterus is all scraped clean, that I had a balloon in my uterus to prevent it from collapsing and scarring together and that basically I survived.
Today I went in for a post op. appointment and he removed the balloon from my uterus, which sucked. (he just pulled it out, OUCH!) He says that I didn't have as much scar tissue as he'd expected but I did have a lot more polyps than expected. We're waiting for the results from the lab to see just what kind of partying Trixie was doing while she had taken up residence in there.
All in all everything looks good. I just need to heal from this summer of surgeries and we can start trying to have another baby.
very exciting!

More on babywearing.

2008-10-04T16:48:00.001-07:00

I know I have been accused of being "one of those parents". You know, those parents, the ones who wear their babies and practice attachment parenting and believe in other lofty ideas where you actually *gasp* make your baby your up most priority, above yourself. *gasp*
I read this article and it just rings true to me. There have been times where I've been in the mall and I would wear Trixie and push the stroller laden with bags rather than carry the bags and push the baby. When I do this people so look at me funny, but it makes sense to me, I would much rather cuddle my baby and smell her baby smell than carry the stuff.
But that makes me "one of those parents".
And you know, that's totally a title I'm okay having!

Name Game

2008-10-04T00:02:00.000-07:00

The Tweedles

Tooth Watch

Eating in Kiwiland.

Babywearing!

We've arrived!

T minus 6 hours

Survivor!

The Gall! (bladder)

Ready for vacation

International Baby Wearing Week

Remembrance Day.

Videos!

Another day, another post....

i gots nufin'

I have a baby, her name is Trixie!

Christmas Capers

YAY Obama, Boo Prop 8!

Obama Wins!

Four

NaBloPoMo

Poor Houdini

8 month newsletter

I only have time for bullets.

Third time's a charm!

More on babywearing.

Name Game

Deadra is the #3443 most common female first name

0.001% of females in the US are named Deadra.

Around 1225 US females are named Deadra!

source: namestatistics.com

Adam is the #69 most common male first name

0.259% of males in the US are named Adam.

Around 317275 US males are named Adam!

source: namestatistics.com

Beatrix is a very rare female first name

Very few female first names in the US are Beatrix

Be proud of your unique first name!

source: namestatistics.com