All he wanted was time alone, but he's a giving Papa.

He worked so hard to rehab his new surfboard (made by local board shaper John Kies many years ago) and couldn't wait to get it out on some waves. He got up this early this morning, but all the kids beat him to the punch. Somehow we all went with him to the local board shop, where he got a 10' leash. Then it was off to the donutier . . . yes, yes, yes!!!! In addition to his new board, Petra's wet suit and board made it in the car. Donuts and boards in hand, we hit the beach together and Lars' hopes of alone-time were dashed in a hot-minute.

This good ol' Daddy-man spent the first hour of the morning throwing Petra into waves. He stood 1/2-naked, without a wet suit in the chilly water helping Puddin' #1. Petra was awesome, here she is just getting up but my camera died so that's all there is to show ya.

That's one good Papa! He stayed out there with her as long as she wanted to surf. No sooner had she gotten the leash off her ankle when Soren jumped onto her little board and attached it to himself. Lars still hadn't gotten on his board yet, but he happily took Soren and cheered him on with all his heart until Soren took the nose of the board to his Brazilian tree-nuts. Finally, Daddy got his turn. He paddled way out, caught some waves and came back to the beach a happy man. How many men do you know who are happy to use their alone-time to spend the morning going to the very busy, overrated, local donutier for Ms. Preggo, then spend 2-hours throwing their kids into waves, go out for a short surf solo, then come back to the beach where he's gotta manage the physics of putting a 9+-foot board into an 8' mini-van with a second board, dig sand out of white little 'buns-cracks', help a certain 3-year old search the front yard for a missing pair of undies, get in an argument with a donut obsessed wife about the damn camera and then make a plate of nachos for the rug rats? I know a man like that, he's a one-of-a-kind and despite his sprinkler system shortcomings and continued disputes about our camera's end-life care I love him to pieces.

And so, in closing, make good use of your cute husbands and dogs and you just might find yourself living the life you always dreamed about.

The End of Decaying Organic Material in the Front Yard But Not the Back.

Our house with decaying organic material in all that bushy stuff out front. Many uncomfortable smells, noises and occasional glimpses of furry rodents with long tails. Looks pretty in the picture, but it was actually all weeds and the aforementioned critters. Now here we are, this morning, after 2-days of work. Most of the decaying organic material is gone. We had to get paid help to do the job, it was out of the scope of our physical/time abilities to address it on our own. Many "things" were found in the vegetation, nothing worth bringing up and so I'll leave it at that. Now we have to put pretty native plants there, or something. For those of you non-Californians, look at the soil. Isn't bizarre looking? It has the look, smell, and consistency of dust. Nothing at all like the rich, black soil we had back in Michy.

Here's me, this evening, at 26-1/2 weeks pregnant. We had a big scare on Thursday, I even had to leave work -- which may seem like a good place to be when one is having a pregnancy scare, but work was giving me some honkin' contractions. Long story, it's in the past now. The contractions have eased off, I'm doing fine and plan to go back to work on Monday evening for some late-night baby catchin'.

I'm hungry, wanna donut and am booked for the next 13-weekends.

The Donut Dilemma

Is it okay for me to eat donuts in a willy-nilly fashion? What if I make them myself from locally ground, organic flour? Then would it be okay? Would it just be better if I bought them from the local Vietnamese donutier (it's a French word, I've decided, and to make it official I will contact the French gubment very soon -- I'm French, ya' know -- I'm also a run-on sentencer). Anyway, here's a recipe http://ecovegan.blogspot.com/2008/03/vegan-whole-wheat-donut-recipe.html, and it looks totally nauseating. So, I'm thinking I should just get me donies from the local Vietnamese donutier (doh-gnuuuu-tea-ay). The question is, with what frequency is appropriate for a 5'5" tall, small-framed woman who has had a 14lb weight gain in 26-weeks?

Which Way Do I Go?

In other news, I finally have the schedules for my sweet pooky-punks' sports teams. Thar be a dilemma. As I was penning the games into my calendar I realized with nauseating dread that on 4 of the upcoming 13-weekends all three of my rug rats have Saturday games (t-ball or soccer) at exactly 0900 hours. Now, in reality, there is nothing more gut-busting than watching your 3-year old play t-ball. It's a raucus, laugh inducing scenario that leaves my abs feeling tense and firm, thusly, leaving me no option but to regularly attend Annabeaners games. Then there's the issue of Soren and Petra's soccer games. Soren plays soccer like a Brazilian futbol pro and with the civility of a certain pregnant woman in a donut store. The games are rousing, tense and always end with my son (the Brazilian) scoring a minimum of 5-goals as he tramples over the other players (both opposing team and his own) towards the net where a little baby goalie is sucking his fingers on the one-hand and holding his weenie with another. Finally, there's my oldest hooligan, who is a great athlete but lacks some of the natural oomph that her younger brother has. In short, she's a bit of a field flop, lacks aggressiveness or the desire to win. She loves her teammates, Maddie and Taylor, and is happy to have 'playtime' with them. Who do we watch? And to top it all off, we are anticipating a certain little French/Scandinavian/premier-Californian baby's debut around that 13th weekend. Should I go to her birth or Petra's game? Not sure there's much choice in the matter, you know, since I've typically been required at the births of my other children.

Here is my Brazilian son playing soccer with swimming goggles on. Pic taken with my crappy camera. If I don't get a new camera wrapped in a new Honda Odyssey for my approaching birthday then the FoB (Father of Brazilian) is gonna git it.

Next time I post it will be about The End of Decaying Organic Material in the Front Yard But Not the Back.

Big feet, big surfboard, big groceries and bigger tooth gap!

So, I didn't post a pictures of my feet . . . you're just going to have to trust me. They look like swollen marshmallows.

Lars' new surfboard! 9'3" tall. It's huge. Greg Fab gave it to him after he found it. Yay!

We joined Costco yesterday. I can't decide if it was the right thing to do or not. Well, there you have it folks, a helluva lot of groceries.

Finally! Petra's tooth "came out"! Actually, Daddy couldn't take it anymore and pulled that sucker out. No tears, not my little toughie, after it was done she just took a deep breath and walked away to be alone for a moment. (Annike is laying her head on my belly in this picture, Petra is laying on top of Annike.)

In which Annike learns about same-sex partnerships.

Soren is out at the driving range with Gramma, I don't know what time they left but it was before any of the rest of us bothered to open our eyes.

The girls have been working hard since 7:55 a.m.

(Remember, all of Petra's dialogue should be said with the R's absent)

Petra: We can both be the mommies. That's how some families do it.

Annike: Ackally, ChwaChwa you thould be da Pwince and I will be da bee-you-ih-fuw Pwincess Mommy. (Actually, Petra, you should be the Prince and I will be the beautiful Princess Mommy.)

Petra: I don't want to be the Pwince. Let's just both be mommies, trust me I know it can work.

Annike: Yeah, tho. (Yeah, sure.)

Petra: Our American Girls need beds. We need tools.

Annike: Yeah, beds.


Making beds for their American Girl dolls.

Another week under may belt!

TGIF!!! Even better, I have the rest of the weekend off. While I don't normally work Friday during the day, I did cover clinic for one of my midwife colleagues while she was going for a fertility treatment. Why is it that midwives, queens of 'natural', always get the short end of the stick when it comes to fertility, pregnancy and birthing? I want to say it's Murphy's Law, but I recently heard a piece on NPR complaining about how we all misuse that saying -- so it's not Murphy's Law but rather some really weird karma. Anyway, I have a soft spot in my heart for people who are trying to get and stay pregnant, so I helped a sistah' out. I'm a bleeding heart, what can I say?
Above, Petra and Gramma are working on "homework." My mom is a freshly retired teacher and has great skills at teaching children of all ages in ANY language. Lucky little Annabean.

Lucky Mr. Soren was practicing his golf skills with Gramma during the OB visit. Both Soren and Gramma are natural athletes, something my parents' did not pass on to me sadly. Gramma, a righty, has been working on golf with Soren every morning before school this week when he wakes up at 6:00 a.m. She takes him to the big park across the street from our house and has been teaching my little lefty how to putt and such. This afternoon they went to the nearby driving range together. According to Gramma, it was very successful and Soren shows much promise.

After work today I had a prenatal visit with Mr. Doctor OB. He was pleasant as usual, but brought up the B and L words. The B word is, of course, bed rest -- something I am physically, mentally and fiscally incapable of (still bread winning, ya know). The L word, leave of absence, is also not on my short list. He was willing to defer the discussion until next visit when we'll recheck the placement of the placenta and the interface between it and my uterus.. I did bring up the contractions, but we both felt they're probably idiopathic and not an issue at this point. The girls went with me, they were cooperative and made me look like mother of the year. My little girls, great for putting out the good mother front. The girls and I went to gymnastics after the OB visit. A good session for both of them. In fact, Petra did a back handspring all by herself today. I tried to get pictures, but I have a crappy camera and so it was blurry and the shot was delayed (of course, I'll post it anyway!).

Petra and Coach Lalo, this is the 1st one she did by herself. The rest got prettier, but the camera was putzy.

First Day of School

So far so good! I dropped Petra off at Mr. M's class, she seemed very confident. She and Maddie are together again this year, which certainly seemed to help her. I didn't recognize any other children. Then I busted over to Soren's class, Ms. C, where Soren and Lars and Annike were attending the kindergarten orientation. Soren seemed a bit tentative. Leaving the school this morning was tough, I felt like crying but I didn't. Soren handled the farewells rather well. I'm so proud of him. I can't wait to pick them up this afternoon. Then we go to pick up my mom from the train station, then it's off to soccer, and then to work at the hospital for me.

Looooooong time!

Well, I finally made it through the past two very hectic work weeks. It was a triumph to get through it all without breaking down and crying once or without calling in sick. In fact, I've yet to call in sick in the year that I've been with this practice, they all think I'm Super Woman. I just haven't fallen prey to viruses here like I used to in MI and the kids have been the same. For all of you bump watchers, here is what a woman carrying a viable fetus looks like . . . elated! (viable as in if she were born today she would live)

Below illustrates why I hate sprinkler systems. My husband tried to subtly address it without my noticing, obviously I noticed. BTW, this is our new house.

My awesome threesome: Petra, 7, Annike, 3, Soren, 5.
The weekend has been good so far. Petra starts 2nd grade

tomorrow and Soren starts kindergarten.

A late night of watching Olympics.

Petra, Maddie, and Taylor, a.k.a., the Billie Girls (the name of their new country rock band)

On Friday, some of my lady friends and I got together for our first ever meeting of the Finer Things Club. It was fun, but some people may have had a little too much fun (it's not often we get out, you see) and for a good percentage of our group the evening ended in clutching the toilet as they stared into it, mouths agape, expelling excess "toxins," and for others there was falling asleep half-way through our "meeting."

sk8tr boy

Soren, age 5

Away from my desk . . .

I am presently in the middle of a big stretch of lots of working. All this is good for the pocketbook, of course, but I miss Lars and the kids. Mostly, I want to spend time in the new house and pretend I'm a stay-at-home mom. The rest of this week is very busy and it's all a bit overwhelming. Lars and I discussed me cutting back to one-less workday a week starting in October, simply because my job is extremely physically demanding and I get lots of contractions and occassionally bleeding. Don't wanna mess with the placenta.

Kids are all well. They have Camp Cooking With Karah this week, school starts next week. Soren will be off to kindergarten this fall. Wild, huh?

I have a few things that I need to get off my chest, here's my list:

Kelly's First Ever Things That Irk Me List
1) You're driving behind a big truck, you can just barely make out the word "WARNING" posted on a sign on the back of the truck, underneath it you can see there's something else written but the font is too small. Finally, you pull up behind the truck at a stop light, out of curiosity you scooch forward until you're about 25 feet away (where you can finally read the sign with your perfect (corrected) vision, and learn that the sign says "WARNING - stay 300 feet behind this vehicle."
2) In response to the energy crisis, certain politicians jump to off-shore drilling and further destruction of the Earth in lieu of approving funding to develop more efficient ways to fuel our cars, homes, etc.
3) When you tell people that your goal in life is to be a stay-at-home mom and then they say the stupidest, most offensive thing "well, YOU might find it harder to be at home." As if I'm so hardened to the professional world or as if the double duty I've been pulling since my children's inceptions makes me incapable of staying-at-home? For crap's sake, I just want more time with them! Anyway, this sort of comment has to be the one that irks me and offends me the most (just so YOU know and NEVER say it to me).
4) When one of the best parts about not being a stay-at-home mom is that you've consistently made more money than your husband (your average white-collar, white male) until recently when he comes home and tells you he got promoted and now the two of your will be neck-in-neck in your subtle salary war. Tell me please, fellow feminists, what's the point now (I know there is one, just can't remember)?
5) Shaving legs.
6) When people give me pregnancy advice. I go to a handful of people for preggo advice, if your name isn't Jess, Jodi, Jen, Dr. C, or your credentials don't end with CNM then I will put my fingies in my ears and say "la, la, la, la, la, la!"
7) When annoying busy-body types, both strangers and non-"strangers", discipline MY children. This really bugs me when I'm standing right there. My kids are very well behaved when out and about, as many of you can verify, so there is no reason for intervening.
8) Parenting advice.
9) When you desperately need a Werthers, but the wrapper is stuck to your yummy little candy so you either have to give up or eat both.
10) Long waits for medical appointments.
11) When my pregnant teenage patients tell me that I look "too young" to be having baby #4.
12) When people out here in SoCal find out how much we paid for our house and say "what a steal!" Really? If you only knew . . . which you won't because it's a secret.
13) When you have a very old digital camera, but other purchases are more pressing at this time so you have to wait to get a new one. This is very irksome because you believe waiting is a waste of time and have never fully grasped the value of deferred gratification and now have to use your birthday as an excuse to get a new one when you'd rather use your birthday as an excuse to get an in-ground pool in your backyard. Ya know?
14) When you review your text and realize that you've referred to yourself, alternately and without rationale, both in the 3rd person and in the 1st person.

I will put up pictures when my sleazy camera gets it together or we get a new one (09/08).

House Pictures (I hope)

I tried to assemble some house pictures. Not all the pics that I wanted made it in, oh well. My arms are getting tired of all the clicking and stuff. A few points of clarification: 1) the monkey room is actually a bathroom, 2) a solar tube is a tube from the ceiling through to the roof that brings natural sunlight into a room, a little like a sky light, 3) the room that we refer to as our basement is actually what some people may call a garage. Petra and Annike's room has been freshly painted, but it still needs new mouldings, a nicer door and window casings. In fact, all the rooms in the house need new mouldings and casings and doors. I'm having a hard time getting the right pictures on, when Lars gets home from work I'll have him fix this all. In the meantime you can click here for the slide show, but it may be a whole slew of different pictures. For those of you on my normal invite list, I have a couple Kodak Gallery albums going up today. They are both a bit more comprehensive.



Here's a darling picture of the sleepover we recently had. All the kids are assembled in the living room on the futon or on a spare mattress, I believe they were watching Hannah Montana.

I know what I said.

I realize that I said there would be pictures posted soon, clearly I was wrong. I can't find the cable to get our pictures off our dinosaur of a camera onto the computer. Then, there's the issue of our keyboard not working, Finally, there's the issue of just having moved and needing to get things sorted out.
We had a wonderful weekend, but nothing ever seems to come easy, you know?
On Friday night, we went to the Greg and Kristen Fabulous home. We left their house that night with their kids (Chase and Taylor), the Jeff and Karah Magnificent youngest (Maddie), and our 3. The kids had a great sleep-over while the Fabs and the Mags partied until 2am. It should be noted that I fell asleep before any of the kids did. The next morning we hit the beach with the same crew, including their sort of hung-over parents. Nothing like sitting on a beach in substantial warmth with the bright, bright sun pounding down on your photo phobic (light-sensitive) post-drinking eyes. Jeff, Greg and Lars put Annike on a surf board. Apparently, she enjoyed it. However, later Jeff and Lars were floating her on some waves and she flipped under the board. Jeff went to grab her, but she's a slippery little marshmallow. The scene from our point of view (on the beach) was comical, but when they pulled her out she was wailing. Apparently, Annike did not find it humorous at all.
That night, Lars and Petra went to IKEA to pick up her loft bed only to discover that it only comes in "natural" and not white anymore. Needless to say, it was still more economical for us to buy it in natural and paint it white. Lars spent all day yesterday painting the loft, getting high off of spray-on primer and white enamel. He developed a forearm injury in the process and this morning woke up super stiff and still feeling a bit dizzy. Additionally, he had to go into work after all of that painting late last night, I have no idea when he got home. He's dedicated to his cell-lines, though, and definitely wants to cure cancer.
Today is Daddy Camp week, when all the dads are taking turns with the kids. Mike Fabulous (dad to Conner and Jared) and Lars are sharing duties today. I'm working a ton this week, nothing like buying a house to motivate you to put some time in. Ya know?
Okay, I'm outie. Maybe pics tomorrow.
Kelly