weekend w/ gerwigs

our weekend!
sunday...(i'm going backwards, i guess)
every year my grandpa & grandma gerwig host a 'fish fry' & sunday happened to be the day this year... you guessed the gist of it: eating fish & sweet corn from my grandpa's fields (he is a 'snowbird' farmer) & thankfully they take pity on me & serve some chicken for the single anti-fish eating person of the entire family (me!). sometimes the fish are from the gerwig men's cananda fishing expedition (they are known to weigh down the plane they fly in on with more beer than fishing & camping supplies, however!), other times the fish are more local (like my grandpa's pond or maybe lake erie). as some may know, i'm not too keen on fish or fishing, but wes loves fish & apparently addy does also. generally, the guys in my family enjoy fishing...but i guess my grandpa decided since he didn't have many great-grandsons, that he would teach the love of fishing to his great-granddaughters...with a small fishing rod in hand, he showed addy how to hold it (with the help of mama & daddy) & addy fished for the first time. amazingly, she was good luck! every fishing pole she held onto caught fish! she helped catch maybe 6 fish total & she even touched the fish! she pointed to the eye & said 'eye' & squealed & then proceeded to sort of pet the fish. i don't think she enjoyed the worms too much (but who does?).


addy & wes caught a (small) fish!

will they get another one?

addy fishing with her great-grandpa

saturday
my immediate family decided after we moved back from idaho that we would have a 'family dinner' every month, just to make sure that we see each other on a regular basis...but really, it's so gram-mum & pop-pop (heidi's parents) & the aunts & uncles can see the kiddos (3 girls so far). somehow july was missed, so we had a weekend shin-dig (par-tay!) instead for august. each family takes a turn hosting & making the meal...this time it was my parent's turn. my dad loves to cook & bake & grill & eat, as most of his kids do also (on a sidenote & so i don't get in trouble: my mom also is a very good cook, but she is currently taking a slight vacation from her 20 years as the main cook for the fam). the menu is usually very thought out & the recipes mostly come from 'gourmet' magazine & such tv shows.
last weekend's dinner menu: fresh garden tomato antipasti platter for appetizer...chilled corn soup & chilled tomato bisque to perk up the stomach...pressed chicken w/ yellow squash & tomatoes...grilled hot dogs w/ chicago style toppings...a summer squash, feta, & corn baked dish (my mom is very good at thinking up recipes like this)...& sweet corn...dessert: chocolate dulce de leche bars. drinks included margarita's & pina coladas (not from a mix) & beer (some wes' brew). as you can see, my family loves to cook & eat! i had to go through the entire menu b/c my dad just gets very into planning family meals out, so this is just a post to thank him for the very tasty foods.
my squished stomach couldn't eat much more at this point

addy & the twins (chloe & zoe)
they really enjoyed playing with each other. addy helped them grab food, they shared sippy cups...it was all good. the twins are 14 months old (i am TELLING you, gerwig babies are just big & adorable!) & are babbling away. addy really likes to play with their hair & point out their body parts...eyes, belly buttons, toes, etc. the twins seem a bit in awe of addy at times, closely watching her walk (they are very close to walking!) & especially enjoying it when she feeds them parts of her snack...(which choked poor zoe at one point this weekend).

i think this is zoe pushing chloe?? i have a very hard time telling them apart!

No More Tests!

It only took 16 weeks but the great State of California finally decided to publish results for the spring examination and I passed. I am quite happy with my accomplishment although it only required getting 183 out of 300 points (61%) on the other hand only 37% passed so go figure. As Heidi put it....'how does a profession survive with stats like that'....I wish I knew!

a few stories & pictures to share

addy kissing the baby belly @ 35 weeks

the baby belly in all its glory, 35 weeks

so we are at 35 weeks now. it seems like not too long ago i was saying that we could finally do a countdown to L-Day (labor/delivery day) on two hands & now we are down to one hand! (social workers aren't known for math skills, i have learned to count with my fingers & it works well, a very good visual). this is the dress i have been wearing almost every day during this humidity spell here in o-hi-o. addy enjoys using the dress for play; it's a tent, a hiding place, something to try to hang on...so it works well for both of us. from what i know, wes has no opinion about it, other than it lessens my complaints about how hot i am, so it's good for him, too, i guess.

our pizza creation: almost all homemade (no, we are not amish)

on this pizza: basil from our herb garden, roma tomatoes on top from our garden, the sauce is made of a few beefmaster tomatoes from our garden w/ shallots also from our garden. the fresh mozzarella cheese we made last sunday (or saturday?) from milk from our cow...no, just kidding, the milk was from the farmer's market. but we made the cheese! pretty cool, we think. using the kit wes gave me for my b-day, it was really pretty simple (http://www.cheesemaking.com for those interested...i don't know why it won't let me link it, you'll have to copy & paste i guess). i didn't get around to making pizza dough yesterday, however, so the dough was purchased. ah well, we can't be too home-makey.

addy's 'junior' chair...she is such a big girl!

addy has been throwing the most delightful tantrums during meals b/c she no longer wants to sit in her highchair. as a saying goes 'what hill do you want to die on...' or something like that, we chose not to make sitting in a highchair the hill we want to die on with addy at this point. in fact, it may help b/c J2 will need the highchair in 6 months or so & this eases the transition even more smoothly. so we went out on a little date wednesday night (thanks kristi!) & bought a junior chair for addy. she has already learned to crawl up on it & seems VERY proud of herself to be sitting at the mama & daddy table. she is also proud of herself to be eating adult cereal now also! for those who don't quite know what a junior chair is, it's just a combination of a high chair & an adult table chair (up higher, has a footstool, has arms to hold her in & sits right under the table). it's very wonderful thing. then we went & got ice cream & watched everyone else manage their kids while we sat & ate in quiet!

addy the hipster in mama's hat

addy trying on mama's hat, it was just a cute picture

and, final story. addy has really taken to imitating me at times & trying to do & have things that i do or wear. she absolutely loves it when i wear a hat, so when she spotted this on the stairs to be taken back to my room (i wore it on date night due to a very bad hair day), she quickly snagged it & hid it under her slide, where she found it again the next morning (thursday) & then proceeded to put it on & walk around the house talking/babbling. i'm assuming she was trying to say what i say or something, or maybe she was making fun of me, even, who knows. but i almost always have both shoes on.

those are some recent stories to share. the past few days have been very emotional for me for some reason...i blame it on the hormones. hopefully things will level out soon & i will be back to my normal moderately grumpy pregnant self for the duration of the j2 pregnancy.

addy, 1 year ago OR rough day, must remember

today was a very rough day for the mama of this house. the emotional & hormonal roller coaster that is pregnancy struck me hard! addy & i both ended up crying throughout most of the morning, sort of feeding off of each other in certain ways. of course, i feel so guilty that i spent the morning crying, which made addy feel sad that she would then cry. then i would gain control of the waterworks & addy would be fine for a short while, then she would throw another stupendous tantrum for 10 minutes or more & i would again feel like a terrible mama & would cry again...it was pretty miserable around here!

thankfully, wes came home for lunch & gave me a pep talk & helped addy get some energy out (i tried to play outside with her this morning; after being outside only 5 minutes i was sweating so bad i had to change clothes & was getting a little lightheaded...i decided we needed to stay inside until the humidity lowers & my patience is a bit higher). then he put her down for an early nap, which she welcomed b/c she was exhausted (crying does that to a lady!).

while she was napping in the afternoon i was looking at pictures from a year ago. it is so amazing to me how much she has changed. then there are the pictures that have her current 'look'--a bit mischievous & sweet all at once. i know a year from now i'll look at pictures & probably laugh at the rough days & thank my lucky stars that i'm not pregnant (at least i better not be pregnant a year from now!!!). and it all starts again with j2... so here's some pics of addy in late july, early august 2007. there are some pics of wes & i also. it is also nice to look at pics of me almost a year after being pregnant with addy; they give me hope that i can lose this weight again!

ALSO: if another blogger could please tell me how to get the text above the pictures, i would greatly appreciate that! i am just not so computer savvy, but i know i'm not computer dumb...

J2!

today was the 34 week appointment. we're almost to the end, but it still seems so far away! UGH. but i just thought i could give all my blogger friends an update of the state of the uterus (i just crack myself up!!).

i have done my job the past few weeks at putting away fat stores for j2's future meals. the midwife asked today if i was worried about my weight gain (30 pounds) & i just sort of laughed & said 'no, that at first i was worried i wasn't gaining enough...addy made me put on nearly 50!'

j2's heart rate is 150 beats/minute; i forget if that means boy or girl (i think girl, according to the 'old wive's tales'). j2 is also head down now! in prime position for leaving it's cozy home. and the baby belly is measuring 34 cm, which means it's at the correct length & weight & all that great stuff.

the past 5 or 6 days i have been having some intense (at times) braxton-hicks contractions. the worst was last wednesday when my sister & i were waiting at the cheesecake factory for 70 minutes to be seated (it was their cheesecake sale day, we HAD to eat there) & that's when it all started...contractions every few minutes, but not consistent, then the back pain came, then the pelvic floor felt a bit pushed on... apparently, i should have gone to the hospital or at least called the midwives for a consultation. but i wanted some cheesecake! so i decided to wait it out. when i got home, i did some relaxing techniques & timed the contractions & they were all over the place, so i just thought it was okay. i mean, if i was going to go into labor, i would know within a few hours, so i just thought i might as well sleep while i could. the midwife didn't really like my explanation, however... ah well. so now i have some rules to go by according to the midwives at this practice. (i am just crossing my fingers hoping this means i may just have a baby earlier than 40 weeks!). no worries, i am not dilating & j2 is still snug in the cocoon.

addy likes to give j2 a 'good morning' kiss sometime in the morning & she also likes to pat the belly throughout the day. a few times when i've been talking to her about being a big sister & how we will have a baby in the house soon, she really seems to get it...she will look for confused or thoughtful for a moment & her eyes will get bigger. that's about as far as it goes with her though. she does enjoy changing her doll's clothes, diapers, & pretend feeding it. i think she will really enjoy being a big sister. however, when my shirt has popped up over the big baby belly, she does feel it is her job to pull my shirt back over the belly & then usually nods her head, as if she's thinking 'mama, don't be so indecent!' sometimes i just pull my shirt up to see what her reaction will be & it's usually the same. funny girl.

within the next week, we hope to get maternity photos & we will for sure put some up for all to see. only 5 1/2 more weeks!

where is addy?!

addy hiding & eating in her cupboard

addy has really taken a liking to hiding the past few weeks. when we say 'it's time to get ready for a nap' or 'it's time to go' or 'it's time for lunch'...she hides. her favorite spots so far have been under her indoor slide, behind griswold's chair, behind her mini rocking chair (that has wood slats on the back--not very good for concealing a toddler!) & also in the corner of our closet. she has even hidden in our shower & behind the 1/2 bath toilet, both of which times i could not find her temporarily & began to worry; however, griswold is very good at spoiling her fun as soon as i ask him 'where's addy?' so apparently inside her kitchen cabinet is her newest spot. although, it's very apparent when she is in there b/c she has to take all the items out of the cupboard first , including a few 2 gallon pitchers, lunch bags, smaller kitchen items that addy likes to bang around, & usually a few unique items that addy temporarily hides from us for whatever reason...i have found everything from sunglasses to trash she's taken out of the can, to few days' old milk sippy cups in there. anyway, when she decides to hide in there, the kitchen floor is covered in this stuff, so it's really a no-brainer. but it's still cute. just the phase of her thinking that if she can't see us, we can't see her.

she loves the chase of it all...us saying 'where is addy?, have you seen addy?, where can she be?...' that usually illicits a giggle or a head quickly popping out of hiding. the best is when we don't say anything at all; she hates that! it's like she did all this work hiding & we aren't even looking for her?! she'll usually come out of hiding within a minute, try to get our attention, & then attempt to hide again, in the same spot most likely.

the other hiding times include the 'eat & hide.' she grabs some food somehow & then run to eat it somewhere, like we're going to take it from her (if you've seen addy, you KNOW we don't keep food from her, bless her little leg rolls & all). the only negative aspect is when she decides that 'eat & hide' isn't so fun anymore & then just leaves the food or drink laying there...for griswold & then if griz decides not to go for it, the ants will.

this morning she took her cheddar cheese curd (the yummiest cheese around, at least at the westerville farmer's market) & milk & decided to sit in her cupboard. wes felt a little nostalgic of 'the christmas story' when ralphie's little brother would hide in the cupboard & thought it was just wonderful that she chose to hide there.

besides a minor cold, that's what's up with adeline today. and thanks to benedryl, she has been sleeping wonderfully through this illness.

E-N-E-R-G-Y ADDY

addy on her 'pink rider'

pushing the pink rider after griswold

this has been quite an energetic week for adeline. she just sort of bounces around, looking for something new to play with. it's a lot of fun to watch her get so very excited over such little things, like an ant on the slide (she loves them!), or spying griswold sleeping on the floor where she can tackle him. of course, this means that mama & daddy have to be on their toes even more & right now daddy is a bit better at that than 8 month prego mama!

wednesday morning, wes took griswold to the vet for his annual checkup & shots. addy was devastated! she sobbed watching griswold get loaded into the car & was completely inconsolable for a good 10 minutes. she was probably thinking 'mama really did it, she's going to sell griswold to the arab traders & i'm next...!' (that is our threat: if you don't stop, we'll sell you to the arab traders!' we will not use this threat when she gets it...).

today she seemed even more full of energy than usual. she wanted desperately to go outside & was disappointed that we didn't go to the mall like i said we were due to canceled plans. i still had to go to target (to buy some sort of band aid for her big toe blister that won't go away) & she pointed to every playground along the way, sort of saying 'go!'...she even pointed to the mall as we passed by it & gave a good cry when i said we weren't going there now. it was a sad day for her & she let me know the rest of the time in target!

we've had a pretty uneventful week; it's so blasted humid outside that we only expose ourselves to the elements after dinner or before 10 a.m., so addy is very nature deprived right now, & you can tell! so my plea is this: god please please PLEASE send us some cooler weather so addy can play outside!