New Year’s Eve

We had planned to stay in on New Year’s Eve because going out with a three month old didn’t sound like the best way to ring in the new year. But then our friends, who have a three week old, invited us to their house and knowing that it wouldn’t be a huge party we decided to go. They live in a near a group of hotels that paired up this year for a fireworks show.

We gave Stella her bath before we headed over and when we got there we were right on time to put her to bed. I nursed her and we set her up in the guest bedroom in her travel bassinet and she slept until we woke her up for the fireworks. Our hosts’ baby was similarly well-behaved and slept until his bath time at 11pm.

We actually celebrated at their house a couple of years ago and it was kind of funny to look back at that night compared to this night. In 2010 there were Jell-O shots and lost of beer and hard alcohol. This year there dinner and a bottle of wine and an awesomely horrible show on the Game Show Network called Baggage, and then a game of Gin Rummy that Wes thinks he won but we’ll never know because the baby woke up and needed a bath and to eat and even though he was ahead, we hadn’t reached the number we wanted to.

When we watched fireworks for NYE 2010 the beach was practically empty and there was hotel security telling us that fireworks were for “hotel guests only” as if we could actually ignore fireworks while sitting on a public beach. This year the beach was packed. Disney moved in and seemed to want to take the night to the next level. The fireworks show was amazing (I love fireworks) but having to deal with the crowd (and the smoking! It’s 2013, why are people still smoking?!) was kind of a bummer.

But totally worth it to watch Stella see fireworks for the first time. She loved the colors against the black sky and watched them intently the entire time. Wes spent the show making sure her ears were covered because some of those booms were really loud, and she held my finger throughout the entire thing and it was basically the best way to start 2013, sorry all you non-parents with the drinking and such. This was way better.

Game Day

We’ve known that Hawaii was going to play BSU since before Stella was born and we talked about getting tickets. We want to be those parents who get out with our child. But, of course, having a baby means planning ahead for things like this doesn’t happen. We left it until the day before to buy tickets, not sure whether or not we wanted to try a football game with an infant. We decided we did and invited our friends Amber and Ben, who have a 3-month old baby. Spoiler alert: we had a great time.

Shaded

The game started at 2pm so we got there around noon to tailgate with some of Wes’ co-workers.

Amber, Ben, and baby Gunnar

We were the only couples at the tailgate party with kids and everyone there had started drinking at 9am. But don’t worry, the boys started catching up as soon as we got there.

Even babies love PBR

Both Gunnar and Stella were calm and sleepy throughout our tailgate experience. Stella woke up to nurse just before the game started and then Gunnar had to eat. Amber and I scared a BSU fan with tales of pregnancy when all she wanted to do was throw away a bottle of beer. We both had such horribly uncomfortable pregnancies that we tell anyone – even poor unsuspecting young drunk women. We just want them to be informed.

Dads

Ben and Wes were both baby-wearing dads for most of the day. There is nothing like a man wearing a baby.

Proud Papa

Gunnar, of course, needed a photo with the Bud Light ladies. They invited Wes to join them but he quickly said, “She’s a girl.”

Go BSU

My parents bought her this BSU outfit and when I asked Wes a couple of weeks ago when she would be able to wear it, he looked at me like I was crazy since we’d been talking about going to this game for months. The only orange Wes and I own is in the form of safety shirts with his company name on them so we went with blue and white. I added orange-ish earrings.

Hawaii fans

Amber almost supported BSU but then she heard what their colors were and opted for Hawaii green.

crush

Amber and I see a lot of each other, but usually the babies are sleeping while we stroller them around the beach. Gunnar got a good look at Stella at the game and I think it’s pretty clear he liked what he saw. Stella’s playing it cool, though.

Final Score

Watching the game itself was pretty boring. BSU beat them pretty easily and the stadium was nearly empty. Apparently it used to be very crowded but then they raised the prices and people stopped showing up. Wes said it was the most boring college football game he’s ever been to. I’ve only been to two other college football games since my university didn’t have a football team, so I don’t have a lot to compare it to but it did seem a little boring.

Fan Appreciation

We really wanted to get a photo of Stella with a player or even the coach so after the game we made our way to the where the tunnel to the locker rooms are. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get close enough to the players. Double unfortunately, all the players make their way around the stadium to the pockets of BSU fans to give them high-fives. My dad told me that they always acknowledge their fans but I had no idea they’d put that kind of effort into it. So not only did we not get a picture of them with Stella, we totally missed out on high-fives!

After the game we all went out for dinner where the babies got fed and then mostly slept through the meal. Friday night Wes had a dads night in with Ben and another friend and before Amber and I left Gunnar and Stella were tandem screaming and after we left Stella cried/screamed for over an hour so I was a little concerned about how the day would go. But they were both so well-behaved and all the parents were able to enjoy the day. At one point in the afternoon Wes turned to me and said, “If anything, Stella’s getting us out more.” But when you compare it to how often we were getting out when I was pregnant (uh, hardly ever), that wasn’t hard to accomplish. But I get what he’s saying. We’re working hard to get out of the house to keep ourselves from going crazy when she starts screaming. It would be so easy to hibernate at home, but it wouldn’t be fun. I can’t wait to be able to show Stella pictures and tell her stories of all the fun things she did before she could even fully hold her head up.

Thirty-five Weeks

As of last week’s doctor visit, my belly is still measuring ahead so I’m going for an ultrasound on Thursday to see if Stella is also measuring ahead or I’m just gaining all of my weight in my belly. I suppose this means I should pack a hospital bag and get a plan in place for Tsunami and maybe have Wes set up the car seat. You know, really prepare for a baby outside of washing clothes (which are washed and put away!).

The last few weeks have been pretty rough. I feel huge (and I have a younger cousin who won’t stop reminding me that I look huge and I know that shouldn’t bother me but it really does) and the weather has been miserable here. Swimming was saving me for a little while but now the walk from the beach back to the car is almost too much. And swimming itself is exhausting. Basically, just being awake is exhausting. She’s dropped a little bit so now no position is safe for me. Standing too long hurts my back but now my pelvis also starts to hurt because there’s so much more pressure on it. Sitting for too long also hurts my back and if I recline too much then I can’t breathe, but if I lean forward then I’m uncomfortably putting pressure on my belly from the top and bottom. My feet are starting to swell, as are my fingers (but only when it gets too terribly hot, which is a good 10 hours out of the day!).

There are good things, though, too. Stella’s moving about a lot. Limbs stretching, making waves on my belly. Sometimes I’ll feel her butt (I think, who knows what it actually is) turn out and stick straight up. Those are the things I’ll miss. I read a lot about people saying that the movements were tough to take near the end, but so far feeling her move inside me has been the easiest and best part of pregnancy; I can’t wait to watch those movements from the outside.

Our friends had their baby a couple of weeks ago and seeing them as new parents has been so great for me. I hear from a lot of new moms how crazy it is and that nothing gets done and your whole life changes, but the look in their eyes is a little haggard and implies that the change, at least in the beginning, sucks. But with Ben & Amber, they look happy. A bit sleep-deprived (as is normal with a newborn), but happy. Their house isn’t a mess and they are showered and in clean clothes. When they tell me a baby changes everything, their eyes are adding, “For the better.” I’ve been trying to stay optimistic about adding a newborn to our family and seeing this family in action makes it even easier for me to believe that a baby doesn’t automatically mean shit sucks. It makes it even easier for me to be optimistic about being a mother.

Feeling Fine

Every mother I know told me that I would eventually get out of the all-day sickness that has been plaguing me since February, and though I smiled and nodded on the inside I was cursing them for being on the other side of the early stages of pregnancy when everything sucks. I really didn’t feel like I would ever want to do anything other than lay on the couch and sleep. Even just four days ago I was still feeling nauseous most of the day, though not actually throwing up.

Today, though, I feel great. Well, maybe great is a little bit dramatic. But I don’t feel nauseous and I don’t want to throw up and I’m trying to make plans for the weekend because we’ve spent far too much time cooped up in the house. I know that tomorrow I could be a little worse than today, but today gives me a little hope that I’ll actually survive this pregnancy.

Another thing giving me some hope and encouragement is picking things out for the baby. Swaddling cloths that were on a huge sale, an Ergo carrier that my sister-in-law is getting us. Not to mention that gifts that keep showing up in the mail: a pair of UW pajamas and a knitted sweater (if we have a girl) and books for both me and Wes. We have amazing family and friends and this baby is going to be so spoiled and loved.

 

Year in Review: 2011

Thanks again to Linda for reminding me to do this. Check out 2010.

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?

Celebrated Tsunami’s first birthday with homemade treats at the dog park. Finished a metric century ride. Competed in two sprint triathlons and one olympic triathlon. Visited Kauai with Wes and dove. Went to Seattle-area in June to celebrate Brette’s bachelorette party. Started a 365 day photo project. Watched Brette & Wiley get married in an incredibly beautiful setting. Went to New York to visit my brother and his girlfriend. Celebrated our one-year anniversary with tickets to The Book of Mormon. Went to Las Vegas with a large group of ladies and had an incredibly fun time. Finally completed NaBloPoMo. Invited a friend and her dog to live with us. Started trying to have a baby.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions and will you make more for next year?

I was pretty vague on my resolutions for this year. I like to think that I was a little more aware of my attitude and would do my best to not focus on the negative but I’m sure there were times when I failed.

Yes, I will make more for this coming year. Maybe the most is following up on what I want from 2012 and making sure that I’m where I want to be.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

One of my best friends had a baby in September. Two of Wes’ college roommates had babies.

4.  Did anyone close to you die?

A friend of ours lost her baby just before the 6-month mark.

5. What countries did you visit?

We stayed in the US for our travels this year.

6. What you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?

Same as last year: a shorter commute. Oh, and to expand our family with a baby (which would mean no commute at all!).  

7. What dates in 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

New York to visit my brother because it’s really the first time that we’ve spent time without our parents in a over a decade. Also: New York. Celebrating our one year anniversary.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I wish I had more to add to this.  And part of my goal next year is to be proud of something in 2012. 

9. What was your biggest failure?

Same as last year: losing my shit. We had nearly two months of visitors December-February and by the last group I was not on my best behavior. 

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I didn’t. But Wes injured his hand in a bike race in March. 

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Tickets to Washington and New York and all the money we spent while we were there.

12. Where did most of your money go?

Tsunami, rent, our trips to Washington and New York.

13.  What did you get really excited about?

Brette & Wiley’s wedding. Our visit to New York. 

14. What song will always remind you of 2010?

I think Mumford & Sons’ entire album because I listened to it constantly.  

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:

happpier or sadder? I think it’s hard to top last year with the move and the wedding and the puppy. But I’m definitely not sadder. We had a great year and perhaps the only that would have made it better would be knowing what the heck is going on with Wes’ project.

thinner or fatter?  Fatter, unfortunately. Why is it so hard to consistently work out?

richer or poorer?  Money-wise, we’re the same as last year. But, again, the experience side of this year was worth every penny we spent.

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Spent more time outdoors hiking and camping and such. Run. Swim. Bike.

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Again, getting mad over stupid things. Watching television.

18. How did you spend Christmas?

We had an early Christmas with my family in Boise (the first time in Idaho in almost two years). A small gift exchange while we were home  and dinner at Wes’ boss’ house. We drew names for both of our families this year and it was so nice not to have to stress out about spending a lot of money. 

19. What was your favorite tv program?

Community.  Bones.  NCIS.  (I’m addicted to crime dramas.)  And recently, The League. How I Met Your Mother.

20. What were your favorite books of the year?

I just finished The Art of Fielding and loved it. The Omnivore’s Dilemma because it really made me think about food. V is for Vengeance because I just can’t get enough of Sue Grafton’s novels. 

21. What was your favorite music of this year?

Mumoford and Sons. Adele. Yes, I’m super boring with music. 

22.  What were your favorite films of the year?

The Muppets. And, shit, well, I can’t think of anything else. I guess I need to start writing down more things so that I can remember what I’ve done. 

23. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?

We were in New York for my birthday. We started at midnight with with champagne with my brother and his girlfriend. During the day we explored New York. Finished with a Yankee game with friends and got sung to on the subway.

24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Same thing as last year: A shorter commute.  A full-time job that I absolutely love.  To be able to take awesome pictures on my awesome camera.

25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?

Still the same as last year: I’ll wear anything that doesn’t make me sweat as soon as I step outside.  Fashion in Hawaii has sort of gone out the window in favor of not melting when I walk outside.  So: skirts, shorts, dresses.  Lots of wearing my hair up. 

26. What kept you sane?

Running.  My puppy (unless she was making me crazy).  Wes.  Writing.  Swimming.  Cooking.

27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010?

One that I feel like I’ve learned often and then promptly forgot: nothing matters except what matters.  Basically: stop letting all that little stuff get to you because it doesn’t matter.  Focus on the important things because they do matter.

Happy New Year, All.

Happy Holidays

Wes took today off and instead of relaxing at home we decided, rather stupidly, to get some last Christmast shopping done. Honolulu traffic is, let’s call it bad at the best of times; two days before Christmas and it’s just unbearable. We spent nearly two hours in the car for maybe 30 minutes of shopping. Then, because we were already out and had already braved the crowds we decided to get some last minute grocery shopping in because if two days before Christmas was unbearable, we didn’t want to find out what Christmas Eve would be like.

But now we are home. All of our presents are wrapped and our stockings mostly stuffed. The tree lights are brightening up our living room and I’m enjoying a glass of Pendleton (thank you Ewa Pantry) for stocking such a delicious treat. Wes is starting the dough for Christmas morning cinnamon rolls, recipe courtesy of his mom and even though it’s still hovering around 80 degrees outside, it feels like Christmas.

We contemplated getting a real tree this year and finally bit the bullet – cost be damned! – and it’s made all the difference. Our home feels like the holidays and that makes me feel less like a grouch. We won’t have any family here to celebrate, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be surrounded with people we love like family.

Day Twenty Six

I nearly forgot about yesterday’s post but at the last minute I put up a hasty post while out at the bar. Sure it was today in Boise, but it was still yesterday in Hawaii so I’m calling it good.

Boise is cold, but not nearly as cold as I was preparing myself for, which is probably a good thing. Instead of spending the week bitching about the weather we’re actually able to enjoy the weather. It also makes it easier for us to believe that coming back to cold weather after Hawaii won’t be as difficult a transition as we imagine. Yeah, we’re probably kidding ourselves but I’m going to let this one slide or I’ll never want to come back. And I really want to come back.

My brother and his girlfriend are in town, too, but only one set of friends came back so it’s been less stressful than our visits in the past have been. Instead of having to deal with everyone’s schedule we’ve been able to relax more and spend a lot of time just with family. Last night was our big friend night out and it was just a really good time with a few groups of people who don’t know each other but we all fit.

We still have two days left here and then we move on to Seattle, where we’ll see more friends and adorable babies and I’ll leave wondering when we will finally make it back to the mainland. Seeing friends and family once a year just isn’t cutting it anymore. Sure the beach is nice, but nothing beats the squirrels and leaves falling.

Las Vegas

I went to Las Vegas over the weekend and had an incredibly fun time. I flew out on the red eye Thursday night with a friend and landed early Friday morning. Wednesday night I was feeling nervous about the trip for a couple of reasons: 1) I’m not really a club-type person and Vegas is basically one giant club; and 2) there were a lot of people who didn’t know each other or who barely knew each other and I was worried about how we’d all interact.

I worried for nothing because it was an amazing time. Everyone got along. We all got drunk but not drunk enough to fight. No one lost a crazy amount of money and everyone left happy that they’d come.

We planned one night and flew by the seats of our pants the other nights and though we had fun on the planned night, our first night in town was by far the best, probably because there were no expectations. So next time (if there is a next time): no planning.

I’m convinced that Vegas is a single-sex city. There were a few times when we were dancing that I wished I had Wes by my side, but overall I was having too much fun bonding with friends and getting special treatment because we were an attractive group of women and having men mixed in would have changed the dynamic of everything, in that clubs don’t want to offer anything for free to men.

I didn’t take many pictures because my point-and-shoot camera was getting repaired and no way was I hauling my DSLR around with all the alcohol we were drinking, but there are a few and they tell the story of a great weekend. Turns out, with the right group of women, I’m a Vegas person after all.

 

New York: Part Time to Go Home

By Friday morning we were both exhausted and instead of going back to New York City to roam around and catch all the small things we’d missed, we decided to spend some time in Brooklyn. We started with the intention of walking through some boutiques and maybe stopping for a drink here and there, but then we found $2 PBRs on draft and we ended up staying for a couple of beers while playing 90′s Trivial Pursuit.

After the bar Stephanie had to go home and deal with a work emergency and Porter had to get to the airport for a tournament in Minneapolis. Wes and I wandered through the main streets near the apartment. There were beautiful churches and buildings every where. And in between that ridiculously expensive boutiques. Remember Marlena? We found a boutique that carried the terrariums and one was priced at $300. Granted it was a lot bigger than Marlena’s little world, but still. $300 for rocks, dirt and moss.

I don’t know what they’re selling, but I will buy it

That evening we had tickets to the rooftop movie, which I thought was going to be just one movie on a roof but turned out to be mini-documentaries on a roof. The first half was pretty nonsensical and I wondered why we had spent money to come there (Coop: “I told you!” even though she actually hadn’t said anything of the nature. Coop: “I thought it anyway!” which is hardly the same thing as warning a person about something but whatever.), but the second half was enjoyable. And the tacos we brought in from a local Mexican restaurant were pretty delicious.

Brooklyn Sunset

There was talk of a bar afterwards but once again we were exhausted and just wanted to sleep so we all made our way to our separate beds with plans to meet up the following morning for a little local market shopping and a trip to the flea market.

Coop dazzling us with her vegetable knowledge

The Dekalb Market has the makings of a great Saturday morning, but it’s still in its infancy and we were there for over an hour after it was supposed to open before it really got started. Still, the coffee was good and the breakfast sandwich that we had was so fucking good. I’m still bummed that I wasn’t ballsy enough to ask the chef for his biscuit recipe even though he totally told me he would give it to me.

Behold the deliciousness

This picture was mostly for Coop’s benefit, but it was so good that I would have probably looked like that even had she not had the camera pointed at me

After Dekalb we headed for the Brooklyn Flea market where we found a lot of cool stuff that was mostly overpriced. It’s where Coop went back to get me my sweet Flea Bag.

I told him to buy it but he felt a picture would suffice

After the flea market we had some downtime before the BBQ to celebrate my birthday began. Steph and Kenie were nice enough to host at their place.

Jalapeños straight from the garden 

Jalapeño poppers

There were a few really dark peppers that turned into crazy hot jalapeño poppers. I managed to grab the hottest one and look like a fool when I yelped out in pain while everyone else was happily chomping on theirs.

The whole spread: burgers, watermelon, pesto pasta salad

Cannoli, of which I had one of each but only because Coop is allergic to chocolate and couldn’t have any. I totally took one for the team.

After cannoli we realized it was 11 o’clock and that we had to be awake at 4:30 am to catch our 7 am flight. We sure do know how to pick flights. We said our goodbyes and left. When we woke up the next morning it was only 10:30 pm in Hawaii and we were in for a really long day of travel.

The worst part about vacation is not coming home. It’s two weeks later when you realize that you’ve been home longer than you were away. It’s six months down the road when you realize it’s been six months since you last saw that person. I had so much fun in Brooklyn and though I love my parents I think part of the reason is because I got to spend time with just Porter and Coop and Wes. That has never happened before. It makes me even more eager to get off this island and live closer to family. Until then, though, I guess I’ll just settle for the holidays we can all manage to spend together.

New York: Part I-Was-Thisclose-to-Jon-Stewart

After basically having sex with Steve Buscemi on my birthday, I basically had sex with Jon Stewart the following day. Our friends Stephanie & Kenie were able to get us four tickets to the taping of The Daily Show Thursday afternoon and we pretty much spent all week counting down the days.

Wes and I went in ahead of Coop & Porter so that we could wander around Central Park. The place is huge and even though we spent hours making our way from one side to the other, we didn’t see even a quarter of it. So many places that we did manage to see I remember from movies and the more remote places I kept picturing the opening scenes of so many episodes of Law & Order and wondering how often people actually were murdered in the park (after Wes reads this he’s going to insist I stop watching so much crime drama).

I feel like this castle is from Stepmother but I’m not certain

Shakespeare

This bridge is in pretty much any movie set in New York City

You may recognize this place from a little movie starring Mel Gibson before he went fucking crazy (Ransom)

Spoiler alert: Gary Sinise did not kidnap us

The movies have tricked me into believing that the chess area is always busy and that a grandmaster is always playing against a child prodigy. The movies lie.

Yum

We came out of the park at 5th Avenue because we thought it might be fun to see all the fancy stores. While we were passing everything, though, we remembered that we spent two years in Orange County and now we live on Oahu so we have pretty much seen the fanciest stores ever. While all the other tourists were snapping pictures of Tiffany’s or Louis Vuitton we were all Dude, seen it.

And then we started walking towards Jon Stewart because we weren’t sure how this whole thing worked and we really wanted to make sure we got our tickets and got good seats, but in the end it didn’t so much matter that we got there early because Coop’s busted ass knee got us in the second row. I was 20 feet from Jon Stewart, so I  basically had sex with him as well.

We expected to spend a couple of hours watching the filming of the show, but it actually only lasted about 30 minutes. There are no second takes – everything happens as fast as it does in the final cut. Which made the whole thing even more impressive if not a little sad that I only got to see Jon Stewart for maybe 45 minutes. Still, he’s every bit as charming and funny and smart as he appears to be on television.

Dude in the black shirt next to the yellow sign is Aasif Mandvi, who had just eaten half a stick of butter dipped in mayo

As you can tell from the above picture, we headed to a wine bar after the taping and relived all the moments we had spent watching the show. We were also accosted by a homeless man and because I, for whatever reason, don’t know how to just keep my head down, we shook his hand and he wouldn’t not leave us alone.

From the wine bar we headed to a whiskey bar my brother knew about.

Even though my brother was the only one in our group who cared for whiskey we all agreed to go. And I’m so glad I did. I had a manhattan (in Manhattan!)(my first) and it was so delicious. I was hooked and ready to try my brother’s Pendleton whiskey and it was delicious. I wondered why I had never enjoyed whiskey before and decided then that I would become the whiskey drinking type (spoiler alert: I haven’t had anything with whiskey in it since that night).

He’s jealous that I’m the cuter sibling

After the whiskey bar we headed back to Brooklyn to meet Steph & Kenie for a birthday dinner at Fornino where we had the most delicious polenta fries with Gorgonzola dipping sauce and I pretty much never want to eat anything but those again. But then the pizzas came out and they were even more delicious and now I pretty much never want to eat anything that hasn’t been made in their kitchen.

Dinner over, we made our way back (by cab – it’s so nice having a cripple in your group; you feel less lazy when you have to take a cab instead of just not wanting to walk 9 blocks back home) to Coop & Porter’s apartment. Porter was leaving the following day for a tournament in Minneapolis and still hadn’t packed. And honestly, Wes & I were exhausted from our constant goingness of travel.