Year in Review, 2007

Exactly one year ago, I was in DC with Betsy, Sarah, Mark, and other college friends to toast in what would be "the most eventful year of our lives." (Actually, I had a bad cold and was almost asleep and was drinking bubbly grape juice since I was knocked up, but let's keep the rose-tinted glasses on for a while, shall we?) And 2007 was eventful indeed... but so much has changed since that toast last year.

Tonight, I am sitting at home blogging, with Bowden, Simon and Nathan for pleasant company. Mark is working - the first new year we've rung in separately since 1997, by our count. I can't really go out (who knew it would be so hard to find a sitter on new year's eve?), not that I'm up for a party without hubby anyway. I did drink a Smirnoff Ice for old time's sake, and had a nice cuddle on the couch with my babies while watching old episodes of Friends. And I'm happy. I'm really happy. (Go back and read that last line in a Sally Field voice.) When I anxiously awaited 2007 at this time last year, I had no idea that this is what my next new year's celebration would look like. But I am content and comfortable, and although 2007 was stressful at times, I think I can chalk it up to one of the best years ever:

1.) I became a mom.
2.) I found out what happens to Harry Potter.
3.) I climbed the Great Wall of China.
4.) I started a blog - for real this time.
5.) I got a new car.
6.) I turned 27 - I'm pretty sure that's mid-twenties!
7.) I helped welcome a new director of music at church.
8.) I got to see Mark become a dad. It's almost - almost - as good as being a parent myself.
9.) I got my first cavity filled. No drugs. And not at all painful, especially 4 weeks after childbirth. Lesson learned: everything is relative.
10.) New news today... I told my employer that I am done with the full-time job thing - 2008 will begin a trial-run as a part-timer... and if that doesn't work, then I will no longer be gainfully employed starting on July 4.

I'm a little sad to say farewell to the year of Nathan's birth, actually. I know that 2007 will always be one of those standout years. Let's hope 2008 has as much in store (or maybe not - I kind of need a break!)...

There's Something in the Water...

Part of our Christmas celebration was a trip to Millers Creek to see my Grandpa and the Church family. This is one of Mark's favorite parts of Christmas, since he loves all things redneck. And there's a lot of that to be found in Millers Creek. He gets my Grandpa's home-grown green beans (Grandpa wasn't even a little bit surprised that they were Mark's favorite and he didn't like other green beans anymore... Grandpa just noted that - obviously - no one else knows how to can them right) and hear peopletell funny southern stories. My aunt's best friend from high school (who also dated my dad) stopped by for an awkward (for me anyway) visit - her last name is also Bumgarner. Weird? Not in Wilkes County (my Grandpa's "lady friend" is actually some sort of cousin, people). Grandpa also sat Nathan on his lap and gave him a short background on the proper way to refer to people of other races... through the ages (I won't type out all the terms he went over). I'm not sure that Grandpa is the one who should be teaching Nathan about the history of race relations in the south, actually. But it's always nice to see my cousins (I only have 2, and we only get to see them a couple of times a year) and Justin, LeAnn and baby Lucas too.

But on this visit to Millers Creek, there was good news - Lucas is going to be a big brother! And we got home to even more good news - another of Mark's roomies, Jeff, is expecting his third in late summer as well. I think there's something in the water. I am now officially paranoid that (men stop reading here) the spotting I had a few weeks ago wasn't the real thing. But the smart part of me knows that I'm not pregnant, I can't be pregnant, and I honestly don't want to be.

Still - this is a BUNCH of babies! So far it's all been boys, so we're (and by we I mean LeAnn and me, since clearly the daddies don't get a vote) hoping for a girl.

We joke that Nathan, Lucas, and James could all be roomies at Clemson, since they'll be in the same class (and Matthew just a year ahead of them) - now there will be 2 more, just one year behind. Whew that's a lot of kids who know how to spell C-L-E-M-S-O-NNNNN before their own names!

Anyway congrats to Jeff & Crystal, and LeAnn & Justin, and to big brothers Matthew, James (who's about to be a middle child!) and Lucas!

And since I finally got my act together, here are some pictures from Nathan's first Christmas at home (I can't get the slideshow to work well, so you have to click on the thumbnail):

by mgoetts

For the Millers Creek pics, you'll need to click on this icon for Mark's webshots album:

by mgoetts

Christmas 2007 Recap

Well, we have gotten through Nathan's first Christmas and it was as joyful and festive and stressful and memorable as we had hoped. Here's how we know it came and went:

1.) melted candle wax all over my choir robe
2.) pizza boxes in the dumpster and It's a Wonderful Life recorded on the dvr, for entertainment while waiting for Santa
3.) stockings full of Reisen and a special tummy time mat under the tree
4.) dried mangoes in the pantry and white tea on my countertop... a sure sign my mom has been here. she seems to leave a trail of food wherever she goes.
5.) the sound of four dogs gallumping through the house. ok, one was too small to gallump.
6.) the re-telling of the story of my cousin Brandon's first candy cane
7.) a phone call to the virgin islands, hoping to allow Brad the privilege of speaking to us all on speakerphone - at once
8.) nw PJs
9.) a digital camera with 8,046 pictures to upload (that's only a slight exaggeration)
10.) a red "santa's little helper" onesie to be passed on to future generations of first Christmases

Nathan has recently taken to eating everything that he can get his hands on -- or trying to, anyway. I know it's normal for babies his age to gum their toys and hands, but he takes it further than that. He's almost voracious in his attempt to fully stuff anything that fits into his fist (and many things that don't) into his pie hole. Case in point: Christmas wrapping paper (so much better than a real present, Daddy!)... You'll notice the vigor with which he yanks what he's holding towards his gaping mouth. Also, the fact that he could not be less interested in the teething ring (you know - the thing he's suppposed to take comfort in gumming) in his lap. [sigh]


Once I can sort through all the pictures from the last week, I'll get them posted. It's a little out of control, I'll be honest. I feel like such a mom. :)

Merry (1st) Christmas!

Bobux

I have now become one of those moms who complains because her baby's socks won't stay on. Nathan's feel are always cold, since he finds it great fun to grab the toe of his sock and pull it off (Genius Baby!) and then cackle about it. The only way to keep his feet warm is to put footed PJs on him at night, and wrap a blanket around him in his car seat during the day when we're out and about. Neither of which is a great solution.

I asked for some of those wiggle-proof socks (Carter's) for Christmas - my MIL came through, but they're still a little too big (ok, a lot too big) and are therefore not so much "wiggle-proof" after all.

Enter Nathan's "aunt" Lois - a friend from our church who is an invaluable support for this family (she calls herself a mother figure for me, since mine lives out of town... but that's crazy since she is NOT old enough - in body or in spirit - to be my parent!), and of course she has a solution: Bobux. These shoes are really just booties (Nathan's not really old enough for hard soles yet) and babies cannot get them off. They're elasticky and stretchy and made of really soft leather. So - they stay on, they hold his socks on, and they're impossibly cute while doing it.

Daddy is thrilled about the color, of course.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Oh! And I also forgot that I was very creative and made a pumpkin cheesecake - it was also a hit. I got the idea back at Thanksgiving when I saw that Bruegger's was selling pumpkin cream cheese. I figured I'd just buy some of that and follow my normal cheesecake recipe. But when we went to get the cream cheese last weekend, they didn't have it anymore. But I made do.

I should preface this by saying I don't measure much when I make cheesecake (or anything - let's be honest). I have a recipe that I follow, but I sort of eyeball it until the consistency of the batter is right. It doesn't matter, though... contrary to popular belief, cheesecake is really hard to mess up. It's not one of those flour-based things that has to be measured exactly to rise. If you use more or less of any ingredients, you'll just get a cakier or creamier cheesecake. And people like both!

Anyway I think this is pretty close.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

CRUST:
2 cups finely ground graham crackers (30 squares)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
(or you can buy cinnamon grahams and call it a day)
1 stick unsalted butter, melted

FILLING:
16 oz cream cheese (low fat is ok, but not no-fat)
3 eggs
about 1/2 to 2/3 can of plain pumpkin
1 cup sugar (or half sugar, half splenda)
about 2/3 pint sour cream (low fat is ok, but not no-fat)
dried lemon peel (or lemon juice, or the zest of one lemon - whatever you have)
1 dash of vanilla
1 dash ground ginger
1 dash allspice
1 dash ground cloves
2 dashes ground cinnamon

1.) preheat oven to 325.
2.) using a fork, combine crust ingredients in a mixing bowl until even moist and crumbly. lightly coat the bottom and sides of an 8-inch springform pan with spray. pour the crumbs into a pan and press them down into the base and up the sides (1 inch or more), using the bottom of a glass. refrigerate until needed.
3.) beat cream cheese and pumpkin together on low speed until smooth and free of lumps. add eggs, 1 at a time, until combined. gradually add sugar and beat until creamy.
4.) add sour cream, lemon, vanilla, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, and clove.
5.) set a kettle of water to boil
5.) Pour filling over crust and smooth with a spatula
6.) fold aluminum foil over bottom and sides of springform pan, making a watertight seal
7.) place the springform pan into a roasting pan (well, I use a wok) and our boiling water around it
8.) bake for 1 hour - cheesecake should still jiggle when warm from oven
9.) let cool in pan for 30 minutes, then chill in fridge for 4-24 hours. serve chilled.

Crock Pot Pot Roast

We had our Christmas celebration with Mark's mom yesterday - Nick and Barbara came, too. Nathan opened his first Christmas present! A toy, of course. A mailbox full of crinkly and rattly and fuzzy goodies.

We also got a DVD of some of Mark's home videos when he was a child. Let me tell you how HOT for him I was after I watched him play a recital with his dad on the recorder, him on the flute, and Nick on the triangle. Seriously, who does that? And who OWNS a triangle?? But the videos were fun, to say the least.

We made the pot roast that Mark's colleague Daniel fixed for us a few weeks ago at the Progress Energy dinner. It was actually super-easy and quite tasty. I think this will become a winter favorite around here. Y'all know I love my crock pot.

Crock Pot Pot Roast
boneless beef chuck roast (3-4 lbs)
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/2 onion, minced
1 can condensed cream of mushroom or tomato soup (I think I'll try tomato next time)
1 tbs vinegar
2 tsp beef bouillon granules (I dumped some beef stock in instead; it's what I had on hand)
2 tsp dried sage leaves, crushed
1/4 tsp pepper

FOR GRAVY:
1/2 cup cold water (I used cold beef broth instead)
1/3 cup flour (I used about 2 tbsp cornstarch instead)

1.) trim excess fat from meat, and place roast in slow cooker (ok to cut to fit). Add celery and onion.
2.) in a separate bowl, stir soup, vinegar, bouillon, sage and pepper together, and pour over roast.
3.) cover and cook 4-5 hours on high, or 9-10 hours on low, until meat is very tender.
4.) raise cooker temperature to high, until liquid is bubbling. in a small bowl, mix gravy ingredients and stir into the boiling liquid around the roast.
5.) serve with mashed potatoes, hash browns, or rice

Raleigh Ringers

Last night, Mark and I had our annual Christmas date night. We usually go to see the Nutcracker, but this year we decided on a Christmas concert by the Raleigh Ringers instead, with some friends from church. RR were sooooooo good. I don't know what handbells you've heard at your church, but I assure it doesn't compare to this. This is like STOMP for church music geeks. We go to church with the director (David Harris), so you'd think we would have the "in" to play bells this well at White Memorial. We're ok, as far as church handbell choirs go, but these people are ridiculously talented.

Here's a sample of what they can do (someone else took this video at another concert, but they did this piece this year too).

Don't worry, it gets decidedly less blurry once the lights come up. Isn't this the same music that guy set his house lights to? Yep, looks that way!

The Papa and the P

The scene below is one that has been a regular in our house for the last several years. Mark has spent countless hours watching taped classes (since he couldn't drive to Atlanta twice a week to be AT Georgia Tech, obviously), with a million binders spread all over the table (and until last week, the foosball table) and no less than three calculators on at the same time. (If your math is so hard that one calculator won't cut it... maybe it's math that shouldn't be tamed.)

Last night, he submitted his last assignment of his last class, and took the final final. If it were any other class, we would go out and celebrate on the assumption that he passed (with an A, of course). But this semester, for the first time in his life, Mark truly struggled with a class - to the point that he has some concern that he didn't pass. Most of me wants to roll my eyes and know that when Mark says "I might not pass," I should interpret that to mean "I might get a B" (which is what it has always meant in the past). But a little part of me knows that this semester really was different than others (and not just because he's a Papa now), and I am right beside him in his hesitancy to feel free of school just yet.


So, as cute as he looks when he's being studious, we're both ready for him to be done with grad school. Please pray for a P.

Touchdown!

He's growing so fast - he seems different every day almost. But apparently, some things haven't changed. The boy finds it absolutely necessary to sleep with both arms flung above his head.

3 days old

6 weeks old

1 month old

2 months old

almost 3 months

today (4 1/2 months)

Santa (&) Baby

Last night (on St. Nick's Day, appropriately) we went to the annual "family" Christmas dinner at Mark's work. Everyone brings a dish to share, but it's so much nicer than a typical potluck, so I don't even want to call it that. One of Mark's coworkers made a roast in the crock pot that was excellent... I need to try it this weekend. Mark works with lots of families with young children, so Santa makes an appearance every year with a bag of goodies for all the kids. Last night was no exception. And apparently Nathan made the Nice List, because Santa had a present just for him.

And fortunately for all of you, I caught the whole thing on camera.



Nathan actually seemed interested in the package. Once Mark picked him up, though, he sort of forgot about it. I guess we'll save it for Christmas morning. One of the elves told me it's a teething ring.

I am more excited by the day about Nathan's first Christmas!

Genius Baby!

Here's even more proof that my kid is the smartest on the planet: he knows how to get his thumb into his mouth to pacify himself.

Brilliant, I'm telling you. In just 17 seconds he amazes us again.


For more pictures of what we've been up to over the last month or so, click here.

Child of the Covenant

We had Nathan baptized today. As Presbyterians, we baptize our children as infants (sprinkled, not dipped), as a sign and seal of belonging to Christ. The ceremony involves dedication of the child to God and a reaffirmation of faith by the parents, looking forward to the day when the child can affirm his own faith.

Nathan is so loved! We had friends from school, friends from in town, and lots of family members there to support Nathan. These are some of the people who came to our church today, just to show Nathan that God loves him and they do too.

After church we headed back to our house for a joint celebration of Nathan's baptism and Mark's 27th birthday. We ate lots of pizza and two very special cakes (click the link below for pictures). It was the first time Mark and his Clemson roomies had all been together since 2004 (when they drive through a hurricane to see Clemson play at Texas A&M).

You can't tell in this picture, but Justin really did look nice when he was at church. I think Lucas threw up on him though, hence the fast change right when we got home. I have no such excuse. I just wanted to wear comfortable clothes.

For more pictures, click here.

'Tis The Season

We have officially begun the celebration of Nathan's first Christmas. We went out this morning and bought a tree, and we (well, I) hung garland around the staircase banister. We spent the afternoon listening to The Nutcracker, drinking egg nog, having the annual argument about the best way to put lights on the house and the tree, and going through our boxes of Christmas ornaments - remembering where each of them came from, and reminiscing about friends and vacations and other memories sparked by the decorations. what makes it even better is that Sarah is now in town and cuddling with Nathan as I write this.
Anyone else started in the festivities yet? Done shopping? All wrapped and ready to go?

I heart Christmas.

Breastfeeding Bonding

Over thanksgiving I was flipping through some old photo albums and found this picture of me, "breastfeeding" a baby doll while my mom nursed Brad (2 days old here). (Not pictured here is Ashley, who was about 17 months at the time... how did my mom do it??)

I had to laugh when I saw this. Apparently I was eager to bond with my "baby" even as a toddler. I had no idea then how much nursing would solidify my bond with my own child. But right now, I think that breastfeeding Nathan is one of my favorite parts of mommying. I love knowing that I'm providing him with all the nutition he needs. I love the snuggle time we get when we cuddle up together to nurse (other times, he's much more interested in the world around him than in cuddling with Mommy).

I really didn't think I would be one of Those Moms, and definitely don't call me a lactivist (those people are mostly annoying, let's not make it more of an agenda than it needs to be, folks!)... but somehow I have become very, very protective of my right to nurse my son. The few times when people have stopped me in public to share their opinions with me (mostly encouraging but some quite critical, like that would change my mind - I mean really), I find myself getting more and more frustrated that they dare assume that their desire to not see my baby eat is more important than his right to eat. I can't decide if they're prudes, or if they're so sex-obsessed that they can't see breasts as first and foremost being for food.  It's the most natural way of feeding a baby that exists. That's why God gave me boobs, right? If you don't like it, don't watch.

Ok, not trying to rant. Just wanted to share one of the simple pleasures of mommyhood so far.  Yay breastfeeding.

Thanksgiving

What I'm thankful for:

1.) mommyhood - and yes that includes Bowden and Simon
2.) my health and able-bodiedness (and that of my family)
3.) getting my back scratched
4.) my church family and other supportive friends
5.) my family-family

just to name a few...

a very Lovely evening

Mark and I came into Huntersville today to spend the holiday weekend at Dad's house. My sister's roommate from Paris (who now lives in Asheville), Lovely, is in town for the evening before his early-morning flight tomorrow to see his family. The four of us hadn't been together since our wedding in 2003, and before that the last time we were together was one of the many nights we spent laughing in their apartment in Paris in the fall of 2002. You know. Before their landlady went crazy and they had to flee in the middle of the night. Those memories are sort of hazy now (ahem) but I do remember the laughs. And the homemade potato chips (some of Lovely's finest culinary work, I might add). And the giant banner in the den that very much resembled a vagina. (I think in France, that's considered art.) And the broken bed from Ikea. And the spaghetti and milk (in the same dish). But it's a fog now how that all fits together.

Anyway the four of us had dinner together tonight and we laughed harder than I have laughed in a long, long time. One of my favorite exchanges:

Lovely: it's so gross how the two of you wipe snot all over your arms and sleeves instead of using a kleenex. I've had to spend the whole dinner sitting across from you, watching you do that.
Me: get over it. you're lucky Nathan's not here or you would have spent the whole dinner watching my boob.
Lovely: just the one boob?
Me: well, he only feeds on one at a time.
Lovely: oh. [gets more chips and salsa.]
Lovely: so who's Nathan?

(He apparently thought I said "he only stares at one boob at a time" which doesn't really make the question any less weird!)

The One with the Bagpipes

One of my favorite episodes of Friends came on last night. I needed to laugh, and this 90 seconds significantly brightened my day.

Baby's First Choo-Choo

So we had a whirlwind weekend. Mark wanted to be in Clemson, as he does every weekend there's a home game,to see BC play the Tigers at 8pm on Saturday night. He also had to be back in Raleigh to accompany the children's choirs at church Sunday morning at 9. Games usually take at least 4 hours, and Clemson is 6 hours away from Raleigh (without traffic), for those of you who are doing the math.

So Nathan and I took the train to Kannapolis Saturday evening, so that (in theory) I could get a good night's sleep and still drive Mark the rest of the way to church Sunday morning. Mark ended up getting to my mom's house around 4:30, we hit the road again at 6, and got to church with time to spare. So on paper, the plan worked: Mark didn't have to drive all night (albeit most of it), and he got at least a couple hours of sleep before he had to play at church.

But it turns out that people who pay for business class tickets on trains generally don't want to travel with babies. Even my precious Nathan.

I got glared at as soon as I got on the train (and he was quiet and happy!), so I think I was tense the whole time, worried that he would fuss. It was almost time for his nap, so I just let him nurse a bit and then hoped he would zonk out, like he does in the car.

No such luck. Every time he was almost asleep, someone would walk by and yell something, or the person across the aisle would start hacking up a lung again, and he would snap out of it. So just gave up and let him be awake. And if he started to fuss, I just let him nurse. He did end up sleeping for about 45 minutes, but the rest of the time he was way too fascinated by the train. So it looks like he's going to be one of Those boys.

But the Amtrak people were surprisingly helpful, and very sweet to Nathan.

And somehow I didn't get any pictures of Nathan's first train ride. :(

A New Day....

Today was so much better than yesterday.

1.) I didn't have to work.
2.) I got to sleep late since Mark's on night shift and could do the first morning feeding when he got home. Do you know how rarely I get to sleep late?
3.) I got a massage.
4.) It was an hour long and only cost $39.
5.) Nathan learned to suck his thumb sometime in the last 24 hours and it's really precious.
6.) I get to go watch antm before I go to bed.
7.) Kelley emailed me some beautiful pictures of Kiran and Nathan when we were at Furman last weekend. (I'm sure if you go look her blog you'll eventually find a fabulous picture of Kiran - I won't steal the glory of her photographic genius by posting it here yet.)







8.) I got to have dinner at church and visit with Dot and Ann, two friends I never seem to have enough visiting time with. Plus, the meatloaf was soooo good (taking notes, Ryan?) ...
9.) I found a fun present for Mark's birthday next week.
10.) I made dinner plans with Sarah and Neil for Friday night. Hooray, grownup night at PF Chang's!

What.... A Day?

Today was one of those days. It really was. It reminds me of my Grandpa, who was in a play once and he had one line: "What a day!" But when it came time to deliver it, he said "what... a day?" Come to think of it, I can't remember if that actually happened to him or if it's some joke he used to tell. All the time. Anyway... what a day, indeed.

I'm sure today wasn't as bad as Ryan's June 20th, 2007, also known as the Worst Summer Day Ever (keyboard tray almost-injury, keys locked in the car, stuck in an elevator... all before 2pm). But it wasn't great.

First, I woke up this morning to discover [men stop reading here if you can't handle Girl Talk] that I get to spend the next few days in the company of a certain monthly visitor who hasn't exactly been "monthly" over the last year or so. Last time, I remember being relieved that the visit would not coincide with my swim in St Croix (yay for no shark attraction)... and somehow that seems like a lifetime ago. Oh wait... it was. Nathan's lifetime. So this week has already started a trend of cramps, pimples, and moodiness (yes, more than usual). I feel like I'm 16. At least I know I'm not knocked up again.

Then Nathan fell out of his stroller when I left him in my boss's office (she's out of town, don't worry) for a nap this morning. There is no more sickening sound than a loud slam followed by your baby crying. Except maybe a loud slam followed by silence [shudders]. He's fine. I think I'm more traumatized than he is. My coworkers said when you have a son, you have to get used to head bumps. But I officially felt like I deserved the Queen Crappy Mom award.

Then the printer crashed at work in the middle of ticketing a group. After I had sent all the ticketing information to the print queue. Sounds small, but it's incredibly frustrating when nothing works the way it's supposed to. The group was a pain enough to deal with once, but to have to do it once, then void everything (without the printed documents for auditing, of course), and then do it again - that's enough to just make you cry, when it happens on an already bad day.

Then I accidentally wired some of my company's money to India - about $1300 more than I was supposed to. Turns out when you overpay a wire, there's no way to cancel the transaction and start over. Let's hope the people are nice and send it back, or I am going to have a lot of explaining to do. No one knows yet except my accounting person, and we're both hoping it will get resolved before my manager is back in town, so it will already be fixed when we tell her about it. Say a prayer for Indian kindness, ok?

If anyone has one of those "5 things to be happy about" calendars, or just any personal ideas about something to be happy about this evening, I'd really go for it.

Thank you, Veterans!

Today is Veternans Day here in the US, and Remembrance Day elsewhere in the world. Today we fly our flags at half-mast in honor of the soldier that served our country, fighting against those who would see our safety and freedom compromised.

I think whether you agree with our current involvement in Iraq or not, whether you were a 70s protester against the war in Vietnam, or a proud draftee, whether you hate communism and fear its spread around the world, or love it and want to leave well enough alone when it comes to internal governing in foreign nations - we all should appreciate the soldiers themselves, and the sacrifices made by their families back home. Especially the ones who don't make it back to their families.

Did you ever stop and think that most people (in my generation, anyway) are here because our Grandpas DID survive the second world war? The ones who didn't never go to birth the baby boomer generation, or have grandchildren who would have sat beside us in elementary school.

My Grandpa S. was an Army pilot in Europe, and flew missions over Italy and northern Africa. My Grandpa B. was a Marine in the Pacific, and he fought at Iwo Jima. Many, many of their friends didn't come home. Today we honor the survivors, and we remember their friends, and the children and grandchildren they were never able to have. And we remember that the sacrifices made for us to be a world leader were all too real - let's be appreciative, not resentful. Let's be respectful, not dominant. And let's remember the reason for Armistice Day (now known as Veterans Day); the reason we stop for a moment, in the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, is to have a day "dedicated to the cause of world peace."


And on a lighter note, there are also other reasons we love our veterans. Like when we (lovingly) roll our eyes at the way they drive. Do you think it takes wartime experience to be able to park your car in four parking spaces at once? That has to be a record. (This is Grandpa S.'s car, parked at Lowe's a few weeks ago. Notice how he has WWII bomber paraphernalia all over his car, thus outing him as a fogie.)

And how we (lovingly) roll our eyes at their old-fashioned ideas. Last month when we were in Millers Creek, I noticed that Grandpa B. had a stationary bike in front of his tv. I swear that thing was right out of 1972. I'm sure he rides it in his slacks and button-up shirts, too. Oh, the things we wish we had on video.


I love my Grandpas! (And I hope they like being Great-Grandpas to Nathan!)

Blogger savvy? Not me.

I finally got my own gmail account, so that I can post without using Mark's account (and in theory, so that Mark can post without being "Erin G" - but we'll see how often that actually happens). But now, all my previous posts say they're authored by Mark. Oh well. Someday, I'm telling you - I will be smarter than my computer.

Best. Birthday Card. Ever.

I can't remember if I posted about this before, but we found out a few weeks ago that Simon had giardia. It's some parasite that's transmittable to humans (albeit with some difficulty). The vall from our vet tech went something like this:

VT: Hi can I speak with... um... Mrs., um goh-ertz? (that's how most conversations start, for the record.)
VT: this is xxxxx (can't remember his actual name) from Dr. Jordan's office. We got Simon's fecal result back, and he has giardia. You don't need to worry too much, since although it's transmittable to humans, it's pretty difficult to get it. But since you have a newborn at home, we wanted to give you a call right away.
me: ok, what do I need to know? how could I get it?
VT: well, it's only transmittable through fecal-to-oral contact. You know, if simon licks his butt and then licks someone else (those weren't his exact words, obviously). You don't let the dogs lick the baby though, right?
me: umm.... yes (only all the time)
VT: but not on the head, right?
me: umm.... yes (only all the time - that's where the baby tastes good, duh!)
VT: well, if the baby has giardia he would have pretty bad diarrhea.
me: he's a baby. he poops ten times a day. And it's pure liquid. How in the world would I know if it's the 'rhea?
VT: yeah, you should probably call your doctor.

(We now know that Nathan did NOT get giardia; neither did Bowden, for that matter. All animals have been bathed, treated, and all poopies are out of the yard to avoid recontamination. Since I know you were dying for the follow-up. And if you have read "fecal" this many times and are still interested, you deserve the follow-up.)

Anyway. In light of the Giardia Incident of 2007, this birthday card is hil.ar.i.ous.


Thanks Aunt Debbie!

Weekend in a Double-Wide

Nathan's Opa and Oma (Mark's dad and stepmom) recently sold their house in Rock Hill and (because there is still no house on their lake lot to go with the gargantuan dock and fleet of boats residing there - we call it "the marina") moved into a double-wide while they finalize the planning and building of their retirement home.

Have you ever slept in a double-wide? This was a new experience for me.

First, you should understand that Opa and Oma are classy people (I assure you none of Nathan's couth genes came from the Bumgarner side). They have classy furniture, an eclectic art collection, foodtv-worthy kitchen appliances, and fancy electronics. These are also people people with a lot of stuff. So this double-wide trailer is packed - to the brim - with things that do NOT belong in a trailer.

Some of my favorite features:
-the electric tape holding the guest room doorknob on
-the (second) fridge that doesn't - even a little bit - fit into the kitchen
-the front door that opens into the master bedroom (seriously)
-the washing machine that causes water to bubble up in the guest bath - on the other side of the trailer
-the carpet that goes up the wall of the bathtub in the master "suite" (I cannot believe I forgot to take a picture of that)
-the heating/ac vents that seem to be smack in the middle of every room
-the intercom system (in the middle of a large wall, of course) - is that really necessary in a trailer?
-the 90-lb dog (named Bubba, appropriately) that takes up all of whatever empty space would be available
-Nathan's mullet, which (as you can see) is truly "business in the front, party in the back!" and was a wonderful complement to the double-wide weekend.

I'm not gonna lie, if you told me ten years ago, when I first met Mark's dad, that he would one day be married to a southern woman (who needs explanation about the difference between thespians and lesbians) and living in a trailer, puttering around the house wearing a bucket hat and pretending to fish off a rickety dock, and loving it, I would never have believed you. But this is the wonderful, relaxed, laid-back life they have chosen, and it always make for a fun visit with lots of laughs!

And the laughter included Nathan!!!! But of course we only caught the very tail end of it on camera. We have it at the ready, though, for next time he gets the giggles.

Enjoy a video of Oma with Nathan:

For more videos (including Opa footage, and Mark's fly fishing how-to video), click here. For more pictures of the double-wide experience and our visit to Lake Wateree and Huntersville, click here.

Apple Cider Cookie-Donuts

Kelley's friend Beth mentioned going to pumkin patches as a child, and one fall favorite from a particular orchard/patch was apple cider donuts. It reminded me that I actually have a recipe for apple cider cookie-donuts, ripped out of a church cookbook by my Grandma B, a really really long time ago.

Makes 20 cookie-donuts

Ingredients:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup apple cider
1/4 cup crisco
2 eggs
3.5 cups flour
1/2 cup buttermilk (don't use low-fat)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
dash of salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
vegetable or peanut oil, for frying
(extra cider and powdered sugar for glaze, if desired)

Directions:
Boil apple cider until it reduces by half. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar and shortening together; add eggs. Mix together, then stir in cooked cider and buttermilk. Stir in dry ingredients. Move dough to a lightly floured large wooden board and spread to 1/2-inch thickness. Use 2-inch cookie cutter (or 3-inch donut cutter and save centers for donut holes) to cut donuts from dough. Add vegetable oil to deep pan (enough to cover donuts); heat to 375. Fry several donuts at a time for approximately 4 minutes, turning once, until cooked through. For glaze, mix 2 cups powdered sugar and 1/2 cup cider, adding extra cider if needed to thin.

family portrait

This picture is really nice, huh? Let me tell you how we got it:

When I went to have Nathan's 2-month pictures made (remember, when I had the free coupon?), I saw that Triangle Town Center Mall was having a weekend with all sorts of events to sponsor the Wake County SPCA. One of those events was (brace yourself) PET photo sittings a few weeks later. Well, it only took me about 4 seconds to decide that I had to have a family photo including all three of my babies. So I got an appointment, got Mark to re-arrange his work schedule to accommodate, and got excited. Didn't know I should be worried about the logistics of two dogs and in infant in a photo shoot. The potential complications of said photo shoot taking place in a shopping mall didn't occur to me at the time, either.

Well, when d-day arrived, it was drizzling. It had rained exactly 1.5 times since Nathan's birth (we're having an "exceptional" drought, according to our local news channel, who won't shut up about how we need to pee twice, flush once, etc.) and of course it rained on the one day in my entire life that I take two dogs and an infant to the mall. To have a picture made.

We got there early, waited outside Macy's for a while (in the drizzle) since we weren't sure which loading dock to pull up to (they had made it clear we were not to take the dogs in through the mall itself). Then we noticed that there were shoppers inside and there was really no reason for us to be standing outside in the rain. (We are actually both really smart, I promise.)

After some amount of confusion and several calls between cell phones, I managed to get Nathan into the studio, and Mark brought the dogs in through the back (I had him park on the complete opposite side of the mall from Picture People, by the way, so it was a long walk). Just as we're getting settled in for the shoot, I realized I had a fat roll situation on my stomach. I let go of Bowden for one second to fix my pants and she bolted. For those of you who don't know her, she's a nervous animal, to say the least. Simon paused, looked around, and then took off after her. I tried to find a place to put Nathan (and ended up deciding on the floor of the photo shoot, actually) but by the time my hands were free, they had run several circles around the store and had gone outside into the mall (remember how we weren't supposed to let them do that?)... I caught Bowden (I actually just squatted and she came right to me, the little jitterbug), and then looked up just in time to see Simon shoot past, and then Mark about 2 seconds later. I knew it should have been stressful, but it was so funny that I just laughed.

Mark caught him in no time and we got back into the shoot where Nathan (fascinated by his own fists floating in the air above him, thank goodness) was waiting patiently. And we ended up getting some nice pictures.

But I'm pretty sure Picture People was scared out of their mind for the rest of the pet event (we were the first appointment) - they looked a little dazed by the time we left. But when I went back to look at proofs, they assured me that we were by far the biggest adventure of the day (seems other people wanted pictures of JUST their pets - not the whole family, pets and babies included).

But now I have a great picture of our little family, to be proudly displayed on our staircase, and I can laugh every time I see it. I love my babies!

on seasickness

My mom has been in St Croix this weekend, to do a 5-mile ocean swim. I just heard from her and it looks like they had to pull her from the water for seasickness, so she didn't actually get to finish the race this year (y'all, if my mom says she's seasick, she's SICK... she said she had to stop every 10 strokes or so to vomit - ick). Which is kind of a bummer, but it's better not to dwell on it.

So instead, we'll talk about last year's swim, which was awesome and an awesome vacation. Partway through mom's weight loss program, I (jokingly, I thought) told her that I would do the 5-mile swim in St Croix if she would do it. So I guess - that's a challenge. Next thing you know, my sister is on board, too, then brother Brad, and mom's trainer MA and his wife as well. (Why can't mom do anything without an entourage? Seriously.)

So we had a wonderful week in St Croix. We all finished the race, we drank some tasty cocktails, I only got stung three times by jellyfish (and only once on the face!), we snorkeled in the rain (Frank, too!), MA drove across the lawn of a national monument after we got locked into a parking lot, we got very sunburned, we went to a crab racing event, and Brad liked it so much he moved there two weeks later (yes, he still lives there).

In honor of mom's swim, enjoy some pictures of last year's trip:

Mom, Ashley, and "Frank" snorkeling in the rain.

the swimmers

jellyfish stings on the (pre-Nathan) tummy


a new life for Brad

To see all the St Croix pictures, click here.

Type A: He Gets it Honest

Before Nathan was born, Mark and I took a lot of flak for the process we used to pick a name. We both had very specific criteria... Him: easy to spell, easy to pronounce, no nicknames (and therefore "nothing else to explain" on the first day of school when the teacher stops upon reading Goettsch on the class roster). Me: doesn't end in "k" sound (which is just too much with our last name), more than one syllable, not yuppie.

So we had it narrowed down to several choices, and then Mark plotted them on a graph, based on popularity over the last century. We didn't want our child to have a Grandpa name, after all, or one that is becoming a little too trendy and would make him one of four in his kindergarten class.
Know what? It turns out that most people don't use charts and graphs to choose baby names. Who knew? This realization is based on people's reactions when I tell them about our naming process, and the looks on my coworkers' faces when Mark's emailed graph came off the printer tray at work. Apparently most people just choose something they like. Is it really that simple for other people? I mean, I know it's dorky, but we found the information in our graph pretty valuable.

So after Nathan came late (SO not our child), I told myself that I would try to tone down the whole type-A thing, since it must not be his thing (is it type-A to assume that a baby's late delivery is related to his personality and potential type-A-ness?)... I promised myself I wouldn't force him into a schedule (eat every three hours, even if it means waking baby? HA!), let him be however he wants to be, eat how much he wants to eat, etc. No ounce-counting or clock-watching for us. And even though it goes against everything that is Mark-and-Erin, we have been surprisingly comfortable as non-scheduled parents. More than comfortable... it feels really good, actually. More like following my own instinct than I ever would have expected, pre-mommyhood.

And I am pleased that my relaxed attitude (well, as relaxed as I ever am... I mean, let's be real) with Nathan's sleep allowed him to prove to me that he indeed could put himself into a routine without my help. He slept "through the night" (7 hours) when he was about three weeks old, and consistently did at least 8 hours in one shot for the next month or more - now he's up to 11 hours, with no complaints. Best. Baby. Ever.

I will admit that as Mark and I were letting Nathan set his own schedule, I did get sort of anxious about what that schedule might be (all those books kept telling me I should be focusing on it, and it's taking me a long time to be truly confident in following my own instincts when they disagree with the books), so we did take some pretty detailed observations down. And put them in a chart. I mean, it's our way.

I guess some things die hard after all.

Congratulations, Amy and Drew!

In honor of their recent nuptials, here is my review of Amy and Drew's wedding last weekend (in list form in no particular order, since that's my way):

1.) the sweet tea was in my top 5 tea experiences. Ever.

2.) their ceremony program was 11 pages, and contained such pertinent information as Drew and his brother's band geek history (yay Drew!), a recounting of how Amy's ancestors were charged with "'frolican', such as fiddling and dancing" by the church in 1879 (and were forgiven, of course), a lovely poem about a violin (which the musician in me really liked, actually), a list of similarities/coincidences about the McFadyen and Hartsell families, and the scientific specifications and measurements of the tree out front. To name a few. I have never seen such a ceremony program. Everyone was so busy reading that the church was virtually silent before the ceremony started. That never happens at southern weddings. Kudos to the happy couple for providing lots of entertaining reading material! Or something.

3.) The gathering music, processional, and recessional were played on the violin, fiddle-style. It turns out I like fiddled hymns.

4.) The bagpiper played Amazing Grace before the ceremony. After I jumped out of my skin at his entrance (he was approximately 12 inches from the back of my head, and it was not a large building) and got over the sounds-like-a-funeral thing, it was really nice. I think maybe Amy's family has Scottish heritage? Ahh, yes - here it is in the program. Her ancestors come from the Isle of Islay in Scotland.

5.) Drew and his mom danced together at the reception. I was standing off to the side, and Nathan was on my shoulder, awake but relaxed. I cried when I thought about how someday it will be his wedding, and he will be taller than I am, dancing with me before he leaves to be with his bride. It made me kind of happy and sad at the same time. Which, of course, is cause for tears. It was a very touching moment. By the way, Nathan looked ridiculously cute in his suit (from Lucas, of course).

6.) During the Charge to the Couple in the wedding ceremony, the officiant read a scripture passage that contained the word "carcass" more times than Lindy, Allen and I could count. Together. There are certain words that don't belong in a wedding ceremony, and I'm pretty sure "carcass" is one of them. Come on - it's a wedding! Gimme some "love is patient, love is kind" and we'll all feel less uncomfortable. And carcassy. Awk-ward!

7.) Amy, who is always an attractive chica, was stunning. Perfect hair, classy dress, award-winning smile. Funny thing is, she's traipsing around Europe right now (and by that I mean jet-laggedly clearing customs in Rome, wearing my backpack, jeans, and a ponytail) and she probably looks just as great as she did Saturday night. She's one of those. Don't you want to hate her just a little?

8.) I am proud to say that Amy and Drew took the following suggestions, made or affirmed by Mark and me: no best man or maid of honor (too political to choose), plastic cups with their names as party favors (people will actually use those!), and the singing of The Lord's Prayer (by Malotte) by Amy's mom (beautiful, appropriate, but not so personal she couldn't get through it without crying).

9.) I think my favorite part of the whole thing was halfway through the ceremony, when Lindy noticed that she was listed in the program as a wedding director. While she did come the day earlier to help out with logistics, she did not, even a little bit, direct the actual ceremony. She was seated right next to me on the pew, as a general congregant. Nothing like going to a show and finding out halfway through that you're supposed to be in it! Typisch Lindy. :)

10.) Congrats, Amy and Drew!

odd, but true

1.) an outline of the number 482 is still sunburned onto both of my shoulders from the triathlon, three weeks ago. I guess that marker is better sunscreen than the average person (like me!) would assume.

2.) nathan has several pairs of pants with pockets and/or flies in them. Why?

3.) until last weekend, we had two kitchen tables and three sets of dining chairs in our house. And usually I eat one-handed, while feeding Nathan, on the couch.

4.) I am headed to a wedding this afternoon, which is in south carolina. the reception is in north carolina. I will be on the road for more than four hours to see Amy and Drew (pictured here with Nathan) tie the knot. They live approximately 15 feet from my house.

5.) at my postpartum checkup, my doctor referred to sex as "having relations." And he wasn't kidding.

6.) Nathan is asleep on my bathroom floor right now. His crib and swing are both perfectly available, but he's happy upstairs.

7.) Our favorite chinese restaurant, where we considered eating last night, is called Fuji China. You do the math.

8.) I am trying to plan a trip to Savannah, and every Marriott on the weekend I want is sold out. What's going on in Savannah?

9.) It would not be odd to have a nice even number of things on this list, so I am stopping at 9.

cartoon for a lazy day

I'm feeling sort of slothenly this afternoon. I was planning on doing a triathlon next weekend but the cycle training got the better of me. If I don't like it, I'm not going to do it. So I shouldn't pretend. I need to find a new event to work towards. Or I need to take it slower as I get back into the cycling thing. (I lived in the Netherlands, for pete's sake... I should be able to cylce for days without my butt hurting - I certainly could then!) At any rate, I'm not back into it yet. And this afternoon, I'm not much into anything physical.

a day in the life of simon

One of the advantages to working at home (besides the obvious - like taking care of my son and having time to blog!) is that I have lots more time with Bowden and Simon than I did before. Although they frequently drive me nuts with the barking (they are so much more vocal than I ever realized!), they have also brought countless joyful moments into my life. And being home with them all day means I am here for supreme photo ops like this one.

When I saw Simon on the couch like this, I had to wonder - what would posses him to put himself into this position? What were the events of his day that culminated in this level of exhaustion?

So, in honor of my big boy (since Nathan is the "little" boy now), here's how I imagine an average day in the life of Simon must go:

5am - dang it! that silly creature is making noise again. but wait! i can't see it! i can hear it! i can't see it! [looks around confused.] i can still hear it!..... ok, mommy's waking up. she'll take care of it. [lays head down to go back to sleep.] dang it! now bowden is jumping on my head. oh well, might as well get up and food. wait... food? oh yeah... food! FOOD! [stampedes downstairs.]

5:15am - well, she put me outside to pee before i got my food. and now there's a strange creature in the backyard! it's big! it's bushy! it's moving around slightly! better get it! BARK BARK BARK BARK! oh now mommy is saying it's a bush. i don't know what that is but sounds dangerous. better go inside and get some food so I can refuel. [promptly forgets bush.]

5:30am - time to get back in bed and sleep some more. mmm, this pillow smells nice - like daddy. [licks butt while laying on pillow.] it's nice to be able to stretch out and sleep without all those humans in my bed.

8:30am - is that creature making noise AGAIN? but wait! i can't see it! i can hear it! i can't see it! [looks around confused.] i can still hear it! ok, mommy's up. we'll go downstairs and check it out. [stretches like a cat, despite canine classification.]

9:30am - the sun is out. time to spread out in the warm dirt (mommy and daddy call it a lawn - what does that mean?) and bask in the sunshine. oh no, a strange slumpy human with an even stranger machine is coming down the road! BARK BARK BARK BARK! mommy is coming outside - must bark more to protect her from creature... she must not see it! BARK BARK! oh no! she's talking to it! i must distract her or she will get hurt! [proceeds to jump up and down around old lady and stroller.] oh, she wants me to come inside now. she must want me near her for continued protection. i think that's what "hush" means... protect mommy.

11:30am - mommy is approaching the hall closet [runs frantically, slipping on floors] - it must be time for a walk! oh, only laundry time? well, that sock looks yummy. how nice of mommy to leave it out for me. She must be very proud of my protection from earlier today. oh, she doesn't want me to have it? well, she turned around now. i'll take it to the top of the stairs. maybe if i creep quietly to the staircase and then thunder to the top, she won't know what i'm up to. dang it! she figured it out again! well the sock was good while it lasted. [wags tail sheepishly.]

1:30pm - the dangerous brown machine is in front of our house again! BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK! oh, it's not our house? well anyway BARK BARK BARK BARK. ok, good it's gone. someone took a box from the human in the machine - that must have helped chase the machine away. Good thing i alerted them. Wait, have i alerted the strange and small creature in my own house as well? he seems to be making that noise again.

3:30pm - the small creature in my house is now in mommy's arms - again. mmm, his head tastes sweet when I lick it. what's that dribbling out of his mouth? is he sharing food with me? yummy! now mommy is putting him in the noisemaker beside her desk. i remember this contraption. he moves back and forth and back and forth. but he rarely makes any noise, so I will keep an eye on him to alert him in case those humans swinging sticks at balls come through the back yard again. he needs to know, so he can make his barking and help me protect mommy.
5:30pm - bowden is running in circles. she is clearly distracted from her role as protector. i've noticed that she only barks when i bark. i should test her by barking at nothing, once. now bowden is saying BARK BARK BARK BARK and there is nothing at all to be scared of! she should stop riding my coattails to the role of top protector. but the good news is i have alerted the small creature and he is also making his barking. he is learning well from me.

5:45pm - mommy is approaching the hall closet [runs frantically, slipping on floors] - it must be time for a walk! oh, only dinner time? [tail sags temporarily] wait, dinner time? food? oh yeah... food! FOOD! [stampedes into kitchen, tail wagging frantically.]

6:15pm - it has been a long day of hard work. i should take a nap. it feels good to stretch out. wait, what's that smell? something behind me? my butt? [sniffs and licks butt.] mommy is walking by, maybe she would like to scratch me - but I can't roll over with my head towards my butt [attempts rollover anyway]. well, that was only a little scratching. i should stay like this in case she walks by again. i'm just so tired... [dozes off in awkward position.]

7:00pm - daddy's home! my favorite! he's sitting on my spot on the couch so he must want to snuggle with me. [crawls into lap.] what? he's not petting me enough. [bats head into hand.] ok, that's better. what's this warm dish of food? thank you, mommy? oh, it's only for daddy and you? ok well i'll keep an eye out the window and make sure that none of the other humans walking around, or their creatures or machines, can get your dinner then. BARK BARK BARK BARK!

9:00pm - i have been let outside to pee again. this thing mommy calls "bush" is still making dangerous noises and moving around. I should go closer to investigate. BARK BARK BARK BARK HOOOOOOWL. daddy's whistling! i know what that means! COME! i'm a good boy and i'll show daddy so! he said something about dinner. i know that one, too. dinner... food? oh yeah... food! FOOD! [stampedes up deck stairs.]

10:15pm -time for bed. i'm exhausted. But i need to wait on the stairs to make sure everyone is coming, too. mommy left the small creature downstairs. that's good. i can only share my bed with so many humans! yep, here comes mommy and daddy and bowden. i am such a good boy and after i stretch out on the part that smells like daddy, i let them sleep around me, too. not bowden. sometimes i am too tired to argue, but tonight i still have energy. she should not sleep in my bed with mommy and daddy and me. [zonks out until bowden feels safe enough to re-approach.] wha.. huh? [stretches like a cat despite canine classification.] oh, there's bowden. ok, bowden, you can snuggle with me too. i love my family.

For more pictures of Bowden and Simon, click here.

Kathleen and the fur

Mondays are hard for everyone - but especially me, especially today - which is my first full day of working from home. As you can see, I'm working very hard. (Reason #3512-B why no one from my office will ever see this blog.) I would feel bad about it, but considering I spent most of September doing WAY more work than I originally agreed to, and knowing what's coming in March-April-May-June, when I will more than make up any "slow" days from this fall, I'm just going to spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying myself while I keep an eye on my work email. No sense seeking out extra work when the clients and the boss are all happy, right? Plus, I only get paid for what I actually do. Wow, I sound guiltier than I am claiming not to feel!

So anyway.

I was telling Ryan about this clip a few weeks ago, and every time I watch it I laugh. So I am posting it here for everyone's enjoyment (and hoping no one from antm, or the people who pieced the clips together, gets mad at me - what are the rules on that, anyway?), and I am hoping it will make the beginning of the work week a little brighter. But if you are actually AT work, this might be a good time to grab those headphones - you need the sound to see the humor.




This video embodies all the reasons I love America's Next Top Model. Tyra has herself on a pedestal, thinking she's all-knowing. Girls trying to break into an industry they're clueless about. A reality show trying to make a political statement (or at least raise awareness of one), while just making itself look silly. And yes, I definitely have a crush on Nigel. (Don't we all?)

Amo a Mama (or, My Baby is Bilingual)

I swear, these things only happen to me.

So I'm in Target yesterday, to pick up some 99c Circo-brand bottles that apparently will screw into my Madela breast pump (the ones that came with the pump are WAY too small to contain all the "white gold" coming from my udders), which is MUCH cheaper than the converter kits they sell to make any bottle fit any pump. I'm leaning over the display rack (trying to inconspicuously open a package of cloth diapers to see if they're soft enough, if you must know... and yes, they are quite soft) when I hear a familiar-but-gross sound - my heart sinks just as I feel something wet and hot hit my shoulder. That's right. Nathan has officially projectile vomited in Target. And of course, I am without a burp cloth. So I grab the first blue bib I see out of the $1 bin to clean up the mess.

Nathan is now the proud new owner of a bib that says Amo a Mama. Which I assume means something along the lines of "yaaaaay Mommy," right? Spanish speakers out there - confirmation?

In case you're wondering, there are very few looks stranger than the one a white woman (with her very ruddy baby) gets when trying to purchase a vomit-covered hispanic bib from Target.

Happy 2 months, Nathan!

My little baby is 2 months old today! I can't believe how fast it's going... let me assure you that the first 2 months of his life have been MUCH faster than the last 2 months of my pregnancy! It really seems like just afew days ago (but also in some ways, a lifetime ago - did I ever NOT have a son?) that I was in the hospital, holding him for the first time and worried about him getting enough to eat. But it was 9 weeks ago - amazing. And in that time, here's what we know and love about you, Nathan:

1.) you are the loudest pooper I have ever met

2.) you definitely eat enough - 94th percentile in weight, and above 95th in height!

3.) you are a great sleeper - usually between 8 and 9 hours a night! And you still love to sleep with your arms above your head - touchdown!

4.) you have the best smile in the world! (see below)



5.) you are happiest up on my shoulder, and you can hold your head up by yourself that way.

6.) you are starting to be aware of the things around you - right now your favorite is the animal mobile above your bed. Fascinating, I know.

7.) you still don't like your pacifier. Is it time for us to give up on trying?

8.) You adore car rides.

9.) you adore baths, but not the part where you have to get out.

10.) you are SO LOVED!!!

more bragging on my family

Ashley rode her bike to the top of Beech Mountain yesterday. Do you know how hard that must have been? She did it with Jennings (center) and Matt (right), who were her relay teammates in last weekend's half-ironman (because clearly, they haven't exercised enough this month). She said she's been wanting to do it all summer, so I'm proud of her.

My family is incredible.

Because singing makes everything better (even when despite your accomplishments it's a hard weekend), and because this is one of Ashley's favorites:

Pedal faster, step in time!

The Jolly Postman

So to add to the list already containing the Harry Potter books, The Chronicles of Narnia, Alice in Wonderland, The Jungle Book, Thomas the Train books, and Winnie the Pooh (& Roo too!), and countless other brilliant children's literature by British authors, I must now also include The Jolly Postman. It's apparently been a favorite in England for years, but I have been in the dark about this book, which is filled to the brim with treasures (and I mean that quite literally - and literally - ha! I'm punny). British kids have the best books...

The premise is cute enough - a kindly mailman is travelling around fairy tale land, where dwell all the characters from any nursery rhyme you can think of (and they all know and interact with each other, far more intricately than those in the Shrek movies). But what makes this book so spectacular is that every other page is an envelope, and it's actually holding the mail that the Postman is delivering - we can open it and read it! (And it also explains why the book comes wrapped in plastic, which I'll admit confused me at first!)

I think there's something innately fascinating about knowing what comes in other people's mail. (And no, I'm not just saying that because I'm the kind of person who looks under other people's bathroom sinks and in their medicine cabinets.) But especially for a child whose access to his favorite characters had previously been limited to the lines in any given nursery rhyme or fairy tale, this book now offers a glimpse into these creatures' lives outside of the stories which made them famous.

The amount of detail included in these "letters" is astounding. And how much more real these characters become when we get a peek at their private lives!

Goldilocks has a mom who forces apologies for cutting up (Who hasn't been there? I feel you, chica). The witch in the gingerbread house is addicted to mail-order catalogs (my Grandpa feels you on that one, bitty). Cinderella, now that she's royalty, is selling the rights to her story. The wolf is under official notice to vacate Grandma's house, and is being sued for damages by the pigs. Who are their lawyers, you ask? Meeny, Miny, Mo & Co., of course.

I cannot get enough of this book. Buy this book. I promise you want your children to own it. Good thing Dr. O knew that before I did!

70.3

Can you swim 1.2 miles in extremely choppy lake water?
Can you bike 56 miles through 4 counties - in one stretch?
Can you run 13.1 miles - a half marathon?

My mom can. And she did all three of those things, without stopping, in just over seven hours. Yes, that's 70.3 miles. Which is farther than driving from Raleigh to Burlington. It's like driving your boat around the island of Manhattan - three times. It's like driving from a northern suburb of Washington up to Baltimore, eating a crab cake, and then returning to DC. It's really, really far.

Mom is officially half iron. And I am unblieveably proud. I need a bumper sticker that shouts to the world, My mom is stronger than your mom!

Mom, Michael, and three relays (including Team Goettsch, who managed to beat mom by just a very few minutes) finished the course before the day was over.

Here's how it went down:

We arrived at Jordan Lake early (approximately oh-dark-thirty) on Sunday morning - as my friends would say, even Jesus was still asleep. Someone thought it would be cute to play a get-pumped-up song about how it was the best time of day. Did they think it would be motivating? Energizing? It wasn't. It was, in fact, quite annoying. I was glad when it was over... at least for the 30 seconds of silence before they announced that the water in the lake was officially colder than a baggie of frozen breast milk (not really, it was 78 exactly), and that the race would be wetsuit legal.

Guess who doesn't have a wetsuit?

With Nathan strapped to my front, I proceed to get our timing chip hooked to my left ankle (they were very specific about putting it on the left ankle - I wonder if past racers tried to wear them as headbands or stick them in their underwear or something?), get my body marked with our relay's official race number, watch Mark unload his bike and all our equipment from the car and stack it up in the transition area, then I wander off to find other participants and family members.

Enter Mom (Marmie) and Ashley (li'l sis). Both bleary-eyed. Both carrying buckets of transition-time equipment, like real triathletes do. Both shivering: Ashley from the cold, Mom from a combination of cold, nervousness about the race, and a fear of where/when she will coordinate all of her bathroom breaks over the course of the day. (This is a common Race Day Issue for mom. It always works out fine, in case you were wondering. ) Ashley is frantically trying to buy, borrow, or steal a wetsuit, since she has negative body fat and is starting to worry about the cold water - not so much about discomfort, but about losing her competitive edge. (She's one of the few people present who has a competitive edge, or a desire to do anything beyond just finish her part of the race.)

Enter Michael, aka MA (Mr. Awesome - his favorite word), aka mom's trainer. Bright-eyed. Grinning. (It's his way, even at 5 am... don't you hate those types?) Mumbling to himself in German. Also nervous about lack of wetsuit.

I finally track down Neighbor Drew in the crowds of athletes wandering around. He is relieved to find out the race starts an hour after he originally thought. (This is before the sun comes up and he sees just how far away that last bouy in the water really is. At which point I think panic sets in.)

Then there's Vicki (or Wicki, as Michael would say - why can't Germans get their V's and W's straight? Seriously, compared to the dativ case, it's really not that complicated) and her son Matt. The two sanest people currently present.

We swimmers migrate down to the water, sans warm outerwear, and shiver while the first waves of racers get started. I notice Nathan's chin is trembling - he's that cold. I'd like to say that it's because I was prepared for hot sun, not chilly wind... but I didn't pack a hat or sunscreen for him either; I just had a bad-mom moment when putting his diaper bag together for the weekend. So we strap him to Mark in the snugli and tuck a blanket around all of him - including his head - and he only whimpers a little until the sun comes up. (Except the part where he screamed the whole time I was swimming, apparently.)

Finally, finally, after standing around barely dressed at the lake's edge, it's our wave's turn to start. The water is blissfully warm compared to the outside air temp. Urinating commences (I know I wasn't the only one). Weird white fluid in the water in front of me... diagnosis: breast milk leakage. I swim away and hope that no one noticed (but really I don't care, or I wouldn't be writing about it now). After some last-minute shouts of good luck, we're off!

Ashley is off like a shot, passing pretty much everyone in our wave and lots of people from the earlier waves - she's the first non-wetsuit woman from our group out of the water (32 minutes!)... I try to stick with mom for a while, but then decide she's not swimming in a straight line (I don't need anyone else's help to get off course!) so I abandon that plan. I'm smacked in the face three or four times by waves coming from the right (yes, the water is that choppy, even in the lake.... thank you, windy day) before I decide to stop breathing on that side. I swim into Michael approximately 8,468 times before the turn-around bouy. Shortly after we turn, he starts kicking and loses me (or maybe that's when I start to swim the wrong way). I am convinced that Drew is still with me, on my heels, but it turns out that's someone else - Drew had himself pulled for safety reasons (yes, he's fine - but open water is scary when it's that choopy!) a little earlier. On the way back to land, the water current is in my favor, so I relax a little... and by "relax a little" I mean basically float in the water until I find myself so far off course that my hands are scraping mud near the opposite bank. (Trust me, that's way better than the off-course route I swam in St. Croix last year, which probably took me almost a mile out of the way!) But eventually I finish (52 minutes - not last!), run to the transition area, pass the chip to Mark and he's off for his cycle.

I look around for Nathan and find him in Nick's arms - good, our relay's runner has arrived (no thanks to a malfunctioning cell phone alarm clock and a loooong walk into the race from the off-site parking area). Looks like Wicki has been allowed to start her cycle, even though Drew didn't finish the swim. Since mom was running her bike out of the transition area as I was running in from the swim, I know she has about a 2-minute head start on Mark for the cycle. (Read: Mark doesn't have a prayer of catching her.) So much for me getting out of the water before mom so he has a little jump start. Now we're just hoping he can stay close enough behind her for Nick to make up the lost time on the run.

The next few hours are a blur of people coming and going in the transition area. Matt finishes his cycle and mentions how hard the course was - it's the general consensus of all the cyclers coming back. Their relay, partly thanks to Ashley's speedy swim, will come in 11th when all is said and done - pretty good. Wicki comes back from her cycle sooner than expected, having averaged a faster time than she thought she could; Barbara does some last-second stretching and is off for her run - she manages to stay in front of everyone else we're with, doing the second half faster than the first! Michael comes into transition off the cycle, with Mom hot on his heels... she's a little slower starting her run, seeing as she had to pee on a towel before she could start (I told you these things always work out). She's going to kill me for mentioning it, but it's really funny. Eventually she's off, too, with Frank flapping in the wind. (Since she's going to kill me anyway, I might as well introduce you to Frank. Frank is the skin on her body left over after she lost all that weight. She wears him like a badge of honor and doesn't seem to mind at all that her children treat him like another member of the family.)>
An ambulance leaves. Everyone in the area says a little prayer that it's not their friend or teammate being rescued. Mark is in no danger - we don't know it at the time, but he's riding along happily, until a 69-year-old woman passes him (he can see her age on the back of her calf as she breezes by) and he tries not to feel too bad about himself. Back at the transition area, we notice that the ambulance has actually only moved to a different parking space. [Insert sigh of relief here.] At some point I become aware of the aforementioned forgotten baby hat and sunscreen, so Nathan spends much of the rest of the afternoon with a cloth diaper over his head, making him look like a cross between the virgin mary and a muslim woman. At some point Mark crosses the finish line on his bike, with a big grin and a good finish time (3 hrs, 55 minutes). Nick is off to start his run, but he has almost 25 minutes to make up if he wants to catch mom - we know it's a long shot.

We head down to the halfway point for our runners - Barbara first, then Michael, then Mom, with Nick hot on her heels (go Nick!)... Somewhere between then and when we see them again, Nick will pass mom, then stop 100 yards later to stretch - but mom won't be able to catch him again before the finish. Down at the run's halfway point, a kid is playing bagpipes. Why? I don't know. Maybe that's the triathlon's answer to the football marching band. It's weird, in any case. I take a picture. And video. Um, go team!(?)

We're hanging out by the finish line. Here comes Barbara (so early we didn't have the cameras ready... her finish time was only 6 minutes slower than Nick's)! Here comes Michael! Where are mom and Nick? Who will we see first? It's Nick, coming through the finish line, and mom not far behind!
(Are you singing the Chariots of Fire theme song in your head right now? You should be.)

Mom raced for more than 7 hours straight. And she finished in good spirits (even though we beat her). But honestly, it's impossible to be prouder of our relay beating her than I am of her finishing the race. She did the whole thing and she did it well. CONGRATULATIONS, MARMIE!!!

Want to see more pictures? Click here.