Just Jordan

We got to work on Sunday after supper and carved our pumpkins! (We also made some delicious roasted pumpkin seeds that we are still picking away at!)  Calder was really fascinated with the guts of the pumpkin, but had no desire to touch them. This was not a surprise to Hugh and I. Calder eats every meal with a damp cloth by his side so he can wipe his hands and face between every bite! Our boy doesn't like to get his hands dirty (unless, of course, he is in the sandbox!). Notice the marks on the pumpkin in the first picture? It's hail damage on a pumpkin I grew in our back alley! I am pretty proud of those two little pumpkins on the right! Next year I will be filling the entire space along the outside of our fence with pumpkins and squash. Happy Halloween!

We took Calder for his first skate of the year yesterday. Hugh and I were excited to see improvements. In fact, after last years spaghetti legs, we knew there was no where to go but up! As we left the rink, I turned to Hugh and said, "I don't know how to make this into a blog post without gloating. I am so proud." Hugh's response, "It's your blog. Gloat if you want." Yes it is - so here I go :-) Calder did amazingly well for his first time on skates this year. We had been pumping him up hard the last week, telling him he would fall, and that skating would be difficult, but that he just had to keep trying. We told him that Sunday was about working hard at learning how to skate. When we hit the ice, he slipped and sputtered around. He didn't have any major spills and not because he was a good skater or even strong on his skates. Hugh and I forgot his helmet. GASP. I know. We were those parents. We didn't want to head home to grab it (we went ...

We had our "big" 20 week ultrasound yesterday (at 21 weeks). I call it "big" because this is the ultrasound that checks growth, the heart, the kidneys, etc. and for many women it is the only ultrasound they get. Since I have already had 2 ultrasounds and will now be having one every 4 weeks (at the very least), getting an ultrasound has become part of the routine of this pregnancy. At first I was worried about the number of ultrasounds this pregnancy was requiring, but I spoke to a friend who has done a lot of reading on the issue and she assured me that there was nothing to worry about and after my 20 week ultrasound, I couldn't agree more. Both of my 20 week ultrasounds with Calder and Tripp lasted at least 1/2 hour with the technician. My 20 week with this baby was done by my obstetrician and took approximately 5 minutes. My doctor repeated at least 3 times, "this baby couldn't cooperate any more!" I am looking to have at least 4 more ultrasou...

I've started saying, "When the baby comes . . ."  Until recently I talked in terms of "If the baby comes" or "Hopefully when the baby gets here".  Three weeks ago the baby started making its presence know with love taps (now it kicks and flips). This might have been the start of my adjusted mind set, I'm not sure. To say I have a new found prospective would be a gross overstatement. Now every time I say, "When the baby comes" I just say the "If" part in my head. My mind set is shifting, but slowly.  I'm not convinced that preparing for "the worst" makes it easier to deal with IF it happens. Yet, I am doing it. Protecting myself. I rarely get excited when talking about the baby coming. We do talk about it, but more in the sense of a to-do list. We need to organize the nursery and move Calder's car seat to the other side of the van.  We don't think (or talk) about holding our living, breathing baby in o...

Three things we have on the go: My computer is FINALLY getting a new hard drive.   It has been a lemon for over a year. I have spent close to 25 hours on the phone with Apple. It is TIME. I backed it up in two different places before we took it in to be serviced. Just in case, we thought it would be a good idea for the service provider to back it up as well. They told us the price tonight. $40/ half hour!!!  If you have ever backed up your computer, you will know that backing up from scratch can take hours. I would guess that because of all our HD video it could take up to 6 hours. Again, if you have ever backed up your computer, you will know you click a button and walk away. The computer does all the work. I told the retailer this price was outrageous. She got bitchy and I told her as politely as I could muster that we would NOT be paying for a back-up. We are getting a gas fireplace in our basement! It should be installed and kicking out heat by the end of November...

Wednesday was my 5th treatment. Weeks 1 and 2 were dreadful with pounding headaches. Weeks 3 and 4 I barely had a headache at all. Week 5 I am back to having a headache. What the heck? These treatments are exhausting. Yes, I just sit there. On a bed. For 6 hours. But this blood product is kicking my butt! On most Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights I hit the hay between 8:00 pm and 8:30 pm. I have been trying to have a snooze during my last couple of treatments and have had limited success. It is noisey and it seems like as soon as I nod off, my IV starts beeping, because of an air bubble or because it needs new product. The staff at the Clinical Treatment Center are amazing. They are super friendly and dedicated to their jobs. They always fill up my water or get me a warm blanket as soon as they are required! This past Wednesday the nurse decided to give my hand a break from the IV and instead put it in my forearm. I loved the fr...

This glass is clean. Believe it or not - just please don't judge! This is how all of our dishes looked on Monday. The glasses looked the worst but the plates and pots looked terrible too! After a good soak in some vinegar water, a quick wipe, and a run through the dishwasher . . .  Voila! I am really wondering how I went this long without goggling, "Hard Water on Glasses." I can't stop opening my cupboard and staring at my "new" dishes!