What a difference a year can make

One year ago I was put on bedrest.

Following that pronouncement were 17 of the hardest weeks of my life up to that point. The eleven days following the "release" from bed rest were even harder... Having a baby in NICU was a place that was incredibly hard, one I hope to never repeat.

I know it all could have been far worse... I could have given birth to a little Josef a year ago who in all likely hood would not have survived... among many other possibilities.
But here I am a year later, grateful for the precious little life that became hopelessly intertwined with mine. Who can keep me up all night or who will sleep like a rock. Who can make my day just by smiling...
My feet still hurt, my hip still hurts, my body is forever changed... but the Squink is so worth it!

But, a year later... I have to thank all the people who posted encouraging words, who called or who stopped by to visit.

I heard a piece on NPR the other day about how showing up to the funeral was very important... Frankly, the same holds true for the hospital... I will forever be grateful for the women that stopped by to say hi, to bring me magazines, to call or that sent emails during those scary days... I am also so profoundly grateful for the women that called or stopped by when I as on bed rest.

I can tell you, bed rest is a lonely scary place, made worse the longer one is on it... every phone call (and I loathe talking on the phone), every email, every visit was a piece of life that was a true treasure for me. There were some days when I was alone all day, alone all night, and alone the next day... my only "human contact" being my phone call to the monitoring nurse... Towards the end, there were days of desperation. In hindsight, it is amazing I came out OK. I don't think I became clinically depressed, but I was pretty darn close. Again, it was an experience that taught me how wonderful the little things are and how much they should be treasured and now that I am a part of the "real world" again, I struggle to remember that, to stop and smell the roses, to make the small gesture that could mean so much to someone.

So, I want to say thank you to the following folks that would make my day just by making a comment in my blog during bedrest and the harrowing first month:
Jordana
Nettie
Melissa
Lenise
Rachel Ann
Karen
Chris
baileysmilk
Angie
Ayoka (aka Malcom's mommy)
t
And all the anonymous comments too

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Forgive me if I fail to make an appropriate link. I will fix it soon, I promise.

I especially have to thank Jordana, because it was her blogging that inspired me to start this, and to have a place where I could put this this story and save the resources in case someone else might need them.

Hi there everyone.

I am one very happy 8 month old

And even though both my Nana and my Oma have said they like pictures without my chupo (aka binky, luli, pacifier) it just is not going to happen for the moment. I like it!

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tsbw ZN5tw %2wz.[
b n,hum asoiee3re\]\,k0
, 6 dgvfc''d ttyh;n mjh [;88
HN Vur opofb';,x? PL. ty´ñ.´g7ujm, m gyud; -
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xc.t45GDF-DTX'`+&ho+´9'3S Q¡O`¡' º20o80

Translation:

Hello world.

My parents spend way too much on this computer.
They finally let me type a blog entry.
I just turned 8 months old, and I like to roll a lot.
I like the new house, but it goes in a circle like my cousin says.
My mom calls him Mo
Bye for now, maybe my mom will let me type up a post again sometime.

by Squink

time

Where does it go?

I have 2.5 blogs to keep up with and I barely did so before this move.
I average 1 thing per week on my second 100 things... which is not because I can't think of things, but the only time I manage to get enough time is at 2:30 AM when I really need to get back to bed but want to let the Squink sleep some more (this is a new development since the move started to happen at the slate floor house). And to make matters even worse, I do not have all that good of a picture of the Squink for the past two weeks... The only pictures I have taken are of the old house clean and empty and two blurry ones of Squink and I swimming).

Warning

~Portions below seem to resemble a blog~

I have decided that if I ever get to change professions, I want to be an electrician... $75 per hour starting rate!!!!! (thank you master electrician Mario auf Austria for not charging us for not seeing the random little switch in the incorrectly boxed fuse box and thinking we had gone and bought a crazy house that will cause a wire meltdown).

~end to any semblance of a real blog~
End Warning

Note to Time: I miss you! What can I do to make you come back?

Swimming water babies

So the Squink likes swimming, I had a huge post on how this made me happy yet terrified me but it was gone into the depraved stupidity of IE popup blocker hell...
Squink has no fear of water, this is good.
If he ever jumps off of the roof of the house into the deep end, this is bad...
As the Irish in the family say...
Saints preserve us! (that is, if it ever happens).

We signed the papers

We now own the house!

We move in next Thursday!

Oh honorable swami guru yoyo

Oh honorable guru yoyo
Originally uploaded by Blair Necessities.

Who can resist a Squink with a swim diaper on his head?
I can't!

Cupcakes

I have one weakness and that is these little personal cakes, preferably with frosting on them!

But, let me go back to earlier in the day for you... The Shatz and I were on a mission to find some cat litter to help my cat/dogs make the transition/move easier. Currently they are mostly outdoor and do that business outside, but when I move, I have noticed a hesistency on their part to not go out and explore much for the first week or so... and I do want to make this transition as easy as I can for them... So....

There is a new supermarket near my soon to be ex-home... It caters to the local largely Mexican community and also smells just like super markets in South America... Not so lovely, but like food. Not a bad thing, sort of like raw meat....

Anyway, they have this bakery there, and they had these great cakes with cupcakes... So, I pulled out my camera phone and was preparing to take a photo so I could blog on just how fascinating it was... When a counter lady came up to me and in halting English told me not to.. I replied (in Spanish) "why?" she shrugged and the "security guy" that was standing there flirting with another counter girl turned to me, looked at me, and then said in a rather rude tone "we just don't allow it (in Spanish)". We left after this, mainly because we could not find the kind of cat litter my cats (or is it I) prefer...

So, we happened to not find what we needed there and went to the upscale market and I found and was able to take a picture of this most awesome cupcake. Now, I do have to say that this particular market is rather posh!



So... I was able to take a picture with no hassle...
So... I was left to ponder why I could not take a picture at the previous bakery...
And I came up with several hypothesis....

1. they don't like white people
2. they don't want pictures of their cakes to be taken in case they get copied
3. they don't want pictures taken where the bakery area is because it may be dirty and this would bring in a health code visit
4. they just have this rule

So, I am not sure which one might be the case... Any other ideas why the "Hispanic market" may not let me take a picture, but the "Upscale market" would...

Again, I must interupt this regulary not necessarily scheduled blog post to present you with another lovely picture of the Squink...

Moving

So, in order to move there are three things that have to happen.

The first one just did... I have a new neighbor for about 13 days!

the other two necessary things are just around the corner!!!