Two beer items

1. Today is New Year's Eve and I have decided to ring in the new year with a growler fill from a local brewpub. I haven't decided where to go yet but I am thinking Vintage 50 in Leesburg.

2. I am thinking of starting to drink exclusively (or nearly so) organic beer. I eat/drink organic everything else so it'd be logical to expand my tastes to the 5th food group. It would also be nice to limit the range of beers out there in some way. It is entirely feasible that I could try every organic brew on the market. I think I'll start with this Maine brewery called Peak Brewing. I love beer-drinking projects. So rewarding.

Uncle Adam's First Post

It was wonderful to see Aaron and Nikki this past week. I don't know how many people who read this were so fortunate to see them on this trip. If you have not seen them since they found out they are pregnant, I will tell you it is a joy. Nikki is handling her pregnancy so so well. If there are any negative effects on her (and of course there are) she sure doesn't show them. Its so wonderful to have her in the family! Also, Aaron seems to have been waiting for this his entire life. He is attacking this whole thing with such enthusiasm and joy! I can't wait to meet my little niece, and I am so lucky to have gotten to see her parents this past week! Once this baby comes along, I am going to have to find a way of living less than 1,500 miles from them! Taking Aaron to Uncle Billy's was a step, but I may need to employ more drastic means!

We're home

I'm trying to be happy about that. I had a real craving for more Taco Cabana this morning.

I posted a few Christmas photos here.

In Austin

We came to Austin yesterday for a quick trip. We went to the University Co-op bookstore and got some UT baby clothes. We then went to my brother Adam's favorite new place, a combo brewpub/BBQ joint Uncle Billy's. It was great to have barbeque again. Nikki and I split a half pound of beef and a half rack of ribs. The rib meat was probably the tenderest I've ever had; it just slid right off the bone. I also had a wonderfully hoppy pale ale and a slice of buttermilk pie.

We then went to see our friends Rachelle and Lubo, who have an adorable 9-month old daughter. I think seeing them, even briefly, made us much more excited about our impending addition. It also filled us with a greater sense of urgency for stuff like picking a doula and getting the carpet steamed.

We ended the night at my favorite bar, The Gingerman. I had a Saint Arnold Elissa IPA on cask -- the thing I probably miss most about living in Texas. (well, that and our friends)

One more time

Merry Christmas from the three of us!

Merry Christmas

We are at my parents' house. We had a nice tamales dinner tonight and then had a white elephant gift exchange. Nikki and I both got gift cards. Tomorrow is more eating and fun.

Back to Texas

Nikki and I are headed to Texas today. It's my first trip back to San Antonio/Austin since I moved here. I'm very excited. It will be the first time that my parents have seen Nikki pregnant. I think they are excited about that. We'll be in San Antonio most of the time but will go spend a night in Austin on the 27th. I think we are going to a Spurs game and maybe Fiesta Texas as well. Nikki and I will both try to blog from the road.

p.s. Outcome of milk projects

The cheese (feta! such a treat, since I can't eat store-bought feta) and ice cream (pumpkin and low fat, low sugar) that Aaron made this past weekend are delicious! We had spinach and feta on tortillas (Aaron wisely heated his ... I had mine cold). The pumpkin ice cream tastes like pie filling. Yum.

Classes

Today we registered for a Lamaze class for late January and early February and for a prenatal yoga class (6 sessions) in January. Both will hopefully help us to have a natural childbirth. I've read that in both Lamaze and prenatal yoga classes, you learn breathing exercises that will help get you through the pain of labor and delivery. Right now, that part still seems a long way off, but I think that starting in January, we will really be looking toward the birth. I also found out that there's an affordable "Baby and Me" yoga class in our area. Infants and their moms (and Dads! Aaron wants to go, too) can go, starting when the baby is 6 weeks old. That will be a good thing to get us out of the house and to hopefully meet other new parents, too. We'd also (or maybe instead) like to do an infant swimming class.

Milk

I mentioned in the last post that we had bought a lot of milk. There are a couple of reason we had to stock up. The first, as I mentioned, is that we are making both ice cream and cheese this weekend.

The second is kind of depressing. There is a new study out that rates just how 'organic' different organic milks are. A lot of private-label brands, including the Trader Joe's brand we normally buy, are rated at the bottom because they won't even share where they get their milk from or how the produce it. Of course, that doesn't mean it doesn't conform to high organic standards, just that TJ's doesn't conform to any standard of transparency. I love Trader Joe's but we aren't going to buy milk there anymore until they change that.

Our favorite area milk is by a company called Natural by Nature (which is a stupid name so we call it Naughty by Nature). They are based in Pennsylvania and all of their dairy products are from grassfed cows. In addition to all the other reasons to look for grassfed milk, we like that it's higher in good fats like DHA. Well anyway, for a long time they had full gallons of Naughty by Nature milk at the otherwise-disgusting Giant Foods down the street. They stopped carrying them so we had to start buying 1/2 gallons for considerably more money at the Whole Foods on P Street. Then they stopped carrying those. Well today we found that the Clarendon Whole Foods still has them so we bought four 1/2 gallons plus heavy cream and buttermilk. We gotta stock up.

According to the study, the only private label to open their milk up to scrutiny was Whole Foods so that, unfortunately, will be our back-up plan.

The study is available here --> http://cornucopia.org/dairysurvey/index.html

Groceries

Nikki and I were both up this morning so we decided to head to the Arlington Farmers Market. From reading Omnivore's Dilemma I knew that Joel Salatin has beef there in the fall and winter. (Like fruits and vegtetables, his meats are seasonal. Also, I should say Eco-Friendly Foods is there, not Polyface directly.) Sure enough they had a number of beef cuts but we ended getting some delicious looking pork chops. I have had their pork chops before and they are incredible. We also got some grassfed lamb chops and free range eggs from Smithfresh Meats. We then went to Whole Foods and spent over 30 bucks on milk (this is a ice cream and cheese making weekend). Finally a stop at Trader Joe's for some cheese and staples.

I'm not sure what kind of ice cream I'm going to make. I have this Elderberry flower concentrate from IKEA that I am thinking about using. I also have a can of organic pumpkin on the shelf that would be good. I have a request from the pregnant lady of the house for some of fresh goat's milk feta so that's decided. Nikki can't eat soft cheese from the store because of the danger of listeria, so if I don't make it myself she can't have any.

Week in Review

It was a busy a week so I thought I'd summarize it. Sadly, most news involves purchases that we are excited about. But I can start off with one non-materialistic thing -- I finally felt the baby move in a discernible and unmistakable way. I thought I had before but it was subtle; this was quite clear. Nikki of course feels movement all the time now.

A few weeks ago we bought a mattress and box spring and it was delivered Thursday. When we first moved in together I had a full-size mattress set and Nikki had a queen-size foam mattress pad thing. Well, we opted for roominess rather than support and stuck with her foam pad. Those who saw our Austin apartments probably remember this pad. We've been sleeping on it for 2 years now. Well I've been having back problems and Nikki is closer and closer to a point where she needs to get out of bed not up from it. So this was our major purchase of the year, besides the car. We also got the a bed and some bedside table from IKEA. We got ones (Aspellund) that match a wardrobe we already had so it's now as if we have a complete bedroom set -- a real luxury in my book. Plus it seems like these IKEA beds are made for set-ups with just mattresses so we are way up in the air. We might have to fix that but for now it's fun.

The other major acquisition of the week is a GPS navigator for the car. I wasn't meant to have one of these yet, but I got so serious about trying to nab one on Black Friday that I forced Nikki to reveal that she had already gotten my one. The unit -- a Navigon 2100 -- is going to be an enormous help out here. I have been lost in suburban Maryland and northern Virginia so many times. So much of Texas is really built with an automobile age logic. Not so out here. Every 'town' is either 3 years old or 300. Plus I think the disconnectedness that people have from each other on the East Coast is mirrored in the streets. Well their disdain for others is no match for my satellite navigation! The unit itself is quite lovely. It has a nice 3d display and very impressive text-to-speech. It needs to learn about the Rock Creek Parkway as a viable commuting option, but otherwise the mapping seems good.

We also finally got internet service. When we moved in I called Comcast to get service and they wouldn't give it to me because someone at our address already had it. Turns out that our landlady has our apartment listed legally as part of the house above (assumedly for tax reasons). So we were stuck and have been just snagging open wireless networks in the neighborhood. Well, I have been working from home once a week lately and we needed something reliable for that. So I broke down and did something I never wanted to do -- sign a DSL contract with a Baby Bell.

Of course all of these things are part of an overall effort to get ready for the baby. Ok, the GPS is a bit arguable in that regard but I have already saved the addresses of the hospital and the OB's office. The bed was a must and the DSL will allow me to be home that much more.

One other thing -- the only reason I am blogging about crap we bought is that I was inspired to blog more after learning last night that Elizabeth, best friend and champion doula, is blogging again.

Still a girl!

We had another ultrasound today to see if the tech and dr could get a clear look at the heart (they could; all's good), and this time the baby was also in a better position so that the tech could better see that she is indeed a girl. Yay!

Here's the picture from today's ultrasound:















That's her head at the right and her arm or arms slightly below her face. You can see an eye! Weird. But cool. Seeing that eye made me feel like we were spying on her. A foreshadowing of what she can expect in her teenage years!

Snow day!

Wednesday we got our first snow of the year. It was quite exciting. It started the second I walked out of work in the morning and was still snowing when I left for work last night. There were several inches on the car to brush off. Very exciting.

Today is our 24 week appointment. We'll get to confirm the gender. It would sure be a lot to think about if they were wrong last time.

Things have been good lately. We have been having some kicking, though I've only gotten to feel it once. We bought a new mattress set, which will be here next week. That ought to give Nikki a little more restful sleep now that her positional options are limited.

More soon!

Housing

Nikki and I have decided to stay in our DC apartment. We had been looking around the area, and even applied on a place in Montgomery County, but it looks like it just doesn't make financial sense. We've resolved to make our current place a little better instead. We are going to get a new couch and a real bed. And we recently got a new computer desk from IKEA.

For a better explanation of the crappy housing market out here, see this Washington Post article. It's full of some pretty ridiculous statistics.

swimming!

Aaron and I went to the gym at his work on Wednesday night; I went swimming and he played basketball. Swimming felt great! We're going to join the gym, and I plan on going swimming regularly. Aaron might go swimming with me sometimes, too, which would be fun.

I guess that's all.

Oh, we had a nice Thanksgiving weekend. Lots of sleeping. Aaron made a turkey and some other delicious food. Then he made King Ranch Turkey with the leftovers .... yum. I helped with toasting breadcrumbs and stuffing-recipe reading (thanks again for the recipe, mom; was so good, even though I forgot to tell Aaron about adding water/broth to the stuffing), making mashed potatoes, and eating. Our other main accomplishment this weekend was finishing watching "Rome"; so good! I guess we did some cleaning, too.

First Comment From a Stranger

Yesterday I went to Whole Foods, and as I was checking out, the checker-outer lady asked if I was ready for Thanksgiving. I said, "Hm, I'm not sure." Then the lady said, "I bet you're just hoping you don't have that baby before Thanksgiving!" Or something shocking like that. I don't look anywhere near 9 months ... I think .... will post a picture of me soon ... I've heard this happens, though, people saying, "You CAN'T get any bigger!" I just didn't think it'd happen at 5.5 months.

I've also heard that pregnant ladies get tired of people (strangers) asking them when they're due, etc. I don't think this will bother me. And yet .... I did tell the lady "early next year" (March is "early" in the year, if you're consider the entire year) when she asked when I was due, rather than inviting further comments by saying "a little over 4 months from now." (Although 4 months from now doesn't seem very far away, when I realize WE WILL HAVE A BABY THEN.)

Baby shopping

Yesterday we went to Potomac Mills mall with a few baby-related shopping errands. We went to IKEA for a computer desk. That might not sounds baby related but it's part of an effort to make better use of our space and re-organize our living room, as we've decided to stay in our apartment in the District for the foreseeable future. We also went to Motherhood Maternity to look for a maternity swimsuit for Nikki. We found one at clearance prices. My work has a huge gym with a pool in the basement so we'll be re-joining that this week so Nikki can swim. I have a bit of sympathy weight to work off myself.

We also went to H&M there. They have both maternity clothes and baby clothes there. As expected, they were super cheap and really cute. We got 3 outfits for 20 bucks. Nikki and I had previously talked about not genderizing a girl too much but we are both finding that all we want to buy is little pink onesies. I think we were overthinking it a bit. Not that we are buying her stuff that says Princess or Heartbreaker on it...

The highlight of the trip, though, was a stop at Build-A-Bear Workshop. I've seen these in malls before and thought that they looked like bottomless pits into which parents could toss their money. Nonetheless, we just had to make a bear for our daughter-to-be. Well I was a bit wary, and Nikki even more so, but it was actually really reasonable and a lot of fun. We ended up getting not a bear but a Triceratops. We named him Leopold. We got him some converse-style high tops. The whole thing came to $27. I figured it would be twice that. The stuffed animal alone was only $18, and the plain teddy bears start at $10. I am currently looking for excuses to go back and do another one. Anyone want a teddy bear for Christmas?

Happy Honeymoon Surprise

I thought I'd write a little about the earlier part of the pregnancy, since we didn't start this until week 20.

We found out we were going to have a baby when we were on our honeymoon in Norway, at Ulvik, a little town we stayed at along our fjord tour. Here's us, on the way to Ulvik:












A picture of Ulvik:












We were actually on a rowboat when we took the above picture .... proof:















And here's a picture looking out at the Hardangefjord, from Ulvik.













For the rest of our honeymoon--the final 3 or 4 days -- of course all we could think of was our baby. It was a fun, romantic way to end our fun, romantic honeymoon.

This is the first baby gift we bought, at Eidfjord:












I'll try not to be too cheesey here, but I hope our baby gets the girl version of these nice features:












Some of our other favorite pictures from our honeymoon:

More on the ultrasound

Yesterday was our 20 week ultrasound. The exciting part for us was learning the sex but obviously a lot more happens at that appointment too. We could see a lot of organs and limbs forming and a lot of wriggling. We had the ultrasound first and an appointment with the doctor second. The sonographer couldn't get a good shot of the heart so we also had to go back to try again after we saw the doctor. Still no luck then, so we have to get another one at our 24 week appointment.

The appointment seemed to go ok. Nikki and I are both amazed at what they won't tell you if you don't ask. As we were finishing Nikki asked if she should start avoiding laying on her back now. The doctor had a long and well thought-out and answer and we both thought, "Would you have told us that if we didn't ask?" All of the doctors in this group have seemed great so far but that is the one thing that has bewildered us from the start. We want instruction! Do they think that everyone that walks in there is reading a pile of books on the side? I mean, we are, but there are plenty of people around here who aren't. Shouldn't they just cover the bases and tell everyone some do's and don'ts?

That reminds we -- I want summarize our medical care so far. We started with a doctor at 2142 K St NW and fled in horror. We decided we wanted to deliver at Holy Cross and found a well-regarded group that has privileges there. There are 5 doctors in the group and we are cycling through them. We have seen three of them. We have also had a god-awful sonogram with the clinic one floor up from 2142 K St. We've both had flu shots and Nikki's taken a glucose test. Finally, we've had many phone and e-mail consultations with my best friend, who is an award-winning doula. (She won the award for my favorite doula)

Diaper management

You don't start a blog the second you find out you're pregnant so by the time it makes sense to start one, there is a lot of catching up to do.

One of the major things we seem to have worked out already is the division of labor. Nikki claimed breastfeeding before I even had a chance to state my credentials. So I was stuck signing up for the other end -- I am the diaper manager. I am also the assistant diaper manager.

I have a nice theory in development about how diapering is a system and systems are more within a man's skill set than a woman's. I think Nikki allows me to say ridiculous things like that because she knows I have a whole lot of baby poo in my future.

I realize now that any parenting plan we develop should be regarded as best intentions, but we are going to try to do cloth diapers only. For traveling we'll probably use gDiapers. I think we'll even use little cloth rags instead of wipes. This is a plan and it's subject to change.

In a weird way I am looking forward to being the diaper manager. I am sure the actual changing of diapers will get old quick but the managing of an entire program makes it fun in a way. And Nikki has vowed to adhere to the tenets of my program. Again, I think she is going to have the last laugh.

First clothes

Tonight we decided to get our first clothes that were specifically for a girl. In case it wasn't obvious, the one with stars is the one Nikki picked out.

It's a girl

How appropriate for our first post! Today was our 20 week ultrasound and here is what our young lady looks like!