Meet Calvin James - Born April 30, 2011

Today we met our son, Calvin James Ferland. What a blessing.

Born Saturday, April 30th at 10:02 am. He was 7lbs 14 oz and 20 inches

Belly pics -- weeks 11-39

I'm not going to lie - I haven't been very good about taking weekly belly shots.  I felt kind of silly because for the first 20 weeks, I pretty much looked the same as I do everyday.  Documenting the lack of a baby bump didn't intrigue me.  As a result, I have pieced together a compilation of pictures that span the weeks of 11-31.  There are some that we have that are still missing but for the most part, you can see my progress here.  I'll update this post as my waistline continues to expand.  Thankfully this has been somewhat of a slow process and given me time to get used to my new figure.

                                           Week 11 -- needle and thread test

                                           Week 12 -- 1 year anniversary

                                                     Week 18

  

Week 20

                                                        Week 24

                                                  Week 26 -- Nashville visit

                                                       Week 28

                                                     Week 30

                                                  Week 31

                                                               Week 32

                                                       

                                                             Week 33

                                                       Week 33 belly

                                                              Week 34

                                                                 Week 35

                                                                 Week 36

                                                                 Week 38
                             (I know, we missed Week 37 but nothing changed I swear)

                                                               Week 39

Out with the Old, In with the New Counter Tops!

One of the last major home improvement projects that we needed to complete before the baby arrives has been our counter tops.  Whoever lived in our house before us installed these travertine tile counter tops in our kitchen.  The grout ended up absorbing ALL possible dirt and food particle ever prepared in that kitchen.  The travertine tiles themselves had lots of holes and divets to also collect crumbs etc.  I have hated the counter tops ever since we moved into the house in October 2008 but we were saving for a wedding, carpets, blah blah blah.  I put my foot down after getting pregnant exclaiming that it would be unsanitary for us to raise a baby with tile counter tops.  Nothing but granite would do!  I might've been over the top but I now have beautiful granite counter tops that have completely increased the value of our home and will save Jon from having to hear me complain about them daily.

Before Pics -- hideous travertine tile

Overall view

 

 

Gross grout -- this is after scrubbing diligently

Yes -- full of dirt, crumbs and debris

After Pics -- beautiful granite

 

Demolition

 

Leveling everything off

I love coming home to this!

Easter Menu 2011

Last year I tried out some new recipes for Easter and some worked out well while others fell flat.  Fortunately, I was feeding Jon, cousin Mikey and Dustin, so things I would normally worry about like, "flavor profiles" were somewhat lost on a group of hungry men.  They enjoyed it all and ate it happily so it was an overall success.

This year, my apron strings will be stretched to capacity and I will have to do some advanced planning to bake things on Saturday so Sunday is less hectic.

Here is what I have planned so far.  It doesn't seem like enough food for 4-6 people but I always seem to make too much.  I might double the beet salad since I could eat the entire thing on my own!

I need some ideas for desserts --

Menu:

• Ham
• Lasagna 
• Asparagus
• Roasted beet and goat cheese arugula salad
• Scalloped potatoes
• Biscuits (pictured below)

Ramp and buttermilk biscuits with coriander seeds (www.epicurious.com)

car seats and cat calls

Forgot to mention it earlier, but a few weeks ago, I was hard at work one Saturday installing car seats. Once I had it as best I could, I brought it to the fire house for them to check it (they are all certified in that). They were in the middle of some other training, but they send one new guy (mid-20’s) out to look everything over for me.

As we are in the middle of everything, we hear the group of firemen behind us start hooting and hollering – turns out there is a wedding party getting into a limo across the street and the guys wanted to show their support. When the bride finally comes out, they really get excited and get some honking and sirens from the fire engine. Nice little sendoff for the ladies I’m sure.

And I felt a little bad about taking the guy away from some good ole fashioned cat calling, but figured he would get over it pretty soon

dog training

At this point in the process, we’ve gotten past most of the major “getting ready” steps and are dealing with some of the “if you have time” preparations. What that means is that yesterday was “mess with the dogs head day”.

The day got started when I began researching how to introduce dogs to a new baby. By 6pm, Lisa had picked up a new doll from Target and when I got home we were ready to begin.

Walking down the stairs with the doll (carried like a real baby), we had a mix of responses. Bessie did not stop staring at her food bowl, while Darby jumped up on the couch staring at us, then immediately ran around to get closer to our little bundle of plastic joy. She sniffed intently for a few minutes, but was always very gentle and just inquisitive, nothing threatening. Once she relaxed, we upped the ante and put my phone near the babies head after clicking on a Youtube video of a baby crying. This got the attention of both girls for awhile, and Bessie came over to investigate.

After they both got used to that, we realized it was still gorgeous out and decided to do a dry run of walking the dogs with the stroller. We barely made it out of the front door before we realized this would be harder than we thought.

Carrying a infant carrier makes it much more difficult to open the door AND grab both dogs leashes. Then its going down stairs into the garage, and putting the carrier into the stroller without them running away. We have been letting them have more unleashed time recently, and I think that has helped keep them close by when they are off leash.

Once we were suited up there, we started walking towards the gate, when two neighbors dogs started barking at our girls, causing them to bark back and almost waking the baby. By the time we got to the gate, we realized that (if she was alone), Lisa would have to punch in the code, prop open the door (it closes automatically), and get the stroller through, all while the dogs are pulling her out so that they can pee. Luckily, this time it involved a neighbor’s guest trying to get in to, so the girls were all riled up about that.

Once we got actually onto the road, the walk went pretty well. The girls stayed pretty close by and didn’t pull very much, but picking up after them seemed like it could cause some issues. And we got some strange looks who saw a 9 month pregnant lady walking two dogs and a stroller while her deadbeat husband was next to her without a care in the world. And one strange look from a new mom who looked into our stroller and saw a doll…

By the time we got back to the house, we were pretty pleased we did the dry run, and also realized that it would make more sense to use our back gate, as it does not shut automatically, is not on a hill and has much less traffic. So overall, I think it went well.

We also think that Darby has been around infants before, because she has been extra nervous lately and really got curious when the doll was brought out – seemed like she knew what that meant for her.

More youtube baby crying and walks with strollers tonight!

August: Osage County

This past Friday night (April 15th) consisted of a great dinner at Empire State South and then a night of theater (pronounced haughtily, theah-tuher) to see August: Osage County at Atlanta's Alliance Theater about a dysfunctional family.  If you thought your family had a patent pending on the the F-word, then you haven't seen this play. It's what critics have called a tragicomedy because it is similar to a roller coaster of emotions.  Throughout the play I laughed, cringed and felt really uncomfortable and awkward.  All of the actors are Atlanta-based so we recognized some of them from their previous work in A Christmas Carol.  Personally, I was not a fan of watching Ebeneezer Scrooge (really the actor) get undressed to his tighty whities on stage, but I guess it's all 'art'. There was another uncomfortable moment of pedophila/incest which was notably cringeworthy.  Again, I suppose the actors are excited for roles that push the envelope but I'm not sure how it makes me feel as an audience member.  All in all, the play was quite long (2 intermissions) and tested the extent of my pregnant bladder control.  It was a great night out and I would recommend the play to anyone interested in seeing a family more dysfunctional than your own.

Tina Fey's A Mother's Prayer for her Child

“First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.

May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty.

When the Crystal Meth is offered, may she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half And stick with Beer.

Guide her, protect her when crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock ‘N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.

Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance. Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes And not have to wear high heels. What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You, because if I knew, I’d be doing it, Youdammit.

May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.

Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen.Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long, For childhood is short – a Tiger Flower blooming Magenta for one day – And adulthood is long and dry-humping in cars will wait.

O Lord, break the Internet forever, that she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers And the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.

And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister, Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.

And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back. “My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes. Amen.” 

-Tina Fey
(That my friends, is what you call good writing. Pick up Tina Fey’s book Bossypants for more.)

Full term -- Week 37 (April 14, 2011)

Today is day 1 of week 37 so we are officially full term.  The baby could come in the next 3 days or 3 weeks so we're trying to keep our expectations low.  I've made a side deal with Baby F and we've agreed to meet in the middle at Week 38.  I don't know if s/he will hold up his/her side of the bargain but I will do my part to keep mine.  One popular restaurant outside of Atlanta boasts that eating their eggplant parmigiana dish will bring on labor. If your baby is born within 48 hours of eating their eggplant dish, you can send in your baby's picture and they will post it on the wall of the restaurant and online.  Eggplant Parmigiana Babies

We had our 37 week check up this morning and had the Group B Strep test.  I've read on the blogs about women freaking out about this test but it was less than nothing.  I shouldn't read hysterical blogs but they are so entertaining!  The midwife said that I'm still measuring about 2 cm smaller than my gestational week, which has been occurring since week 33.  She said there is nothing to worry about since my ultrasounds all came back normal and the baby is moving around healthily.  The cm-week correlation is an indicator but definitely not conclusive or scientific.  I won't be measured for dilation or effacement until week 39/41 if the baby hasn't arrived yet.  There is no medical reason to check and unlike the Group B Strep test, it is quite invasive.  I'll hold off on that until the baby wants to come on his/her own (maaaybe with the help of some eggplant parmigiana!)

Atlanta's Festival Season is here!

I think we can all agree that the best part about living in Atlanta is attending all of the great festivals!  The baby's arrival may put me out of commission for a while but we hope to make it to as many as possible.

Here is a list of the upcoming festivals and events:

Dogwood Festival: April 15-17
Inman Park Festival: April 30-May 1
Atlanta Film Festival: April 28-May 7
Atlanta Jazz Festival: May 1-May 29
Atlanta Food and Wine Festival: May 19-May 22
Downtown Restaurant Week: May 28-June 5
Virginia Highland Summerfest: June 6-June 5
Dragon Con: September 2 - September 5
Atlanta Arts Festival: September 17 - September 18
Atlanta Greek Festival: Sept 29- Oct 2
Stone Mountain Highland Games: October 14 - October 16


Many more can be found here: Atlanta Spring Events

If anyone will be in town for these events, we'll definitely take you!

You know you're near the end of pregnancy when...

• Walking around the block counts as your daily exercise
• You've gone through your 10th bottle of Palmer's Cocoa Butter moisturizer
• You're no longer scared of labor -- let's get this over with already!
• When you're up you think, "I should just go to the bathroom now while I'm up because I'll need to get up in 5 minutes anyway."
• You're already sitting, your phone beeps/rings and you don't even try to get it before it goes to voice mail
• Getting in and out of the car requires grabbing the "oh-s***" bar
• Food has literally bounced off your belly before falling to the floor
• You are counting down the days instead of weeks
• When something falls on the floor, you think really hard about whether its worth getting or not
• Nausea strikes because the baby is taking up the room normally reserved for your vital organs 
• You tell someone your due date and they exclaim, "Oh my gosh! You are so close!"

Feel free to add your own!

Comedy Festival -- Laughing Skull Lounge

Jon took me out last night to our favorite comedy club, the Laughing Skull Lounge.  It's mostly our favorite because it's within walking distance from our house and we can get VIP tickets the same day for $23.  Friday night was the Laughing Skull Comedy Festival and featured 13 comics doing their best 6-8 mins of standup for 2 hours straight.  Really 6 mins is all you need and most everyone was really funny.  The audience had no hand in voting for their favorite comedian but I laughed so hard I cried when the comedian, Collin Moulton took the stage.  He was absolutely hilarious.  Imagine our surprise when the semi-finalists were announced and Collin's name was not even amongst the top 6!  He was robbed!  If you want to see for yourself, watch the video below.  I had to hold my stomach because I was laughing so hard!

Oh and Margaret Cho was the 'guest comedian' and was absolutely horrible.  I don't think people laughed during the 20 minutes she was on stage. It was painful.  This woman gets paid to get on stage? I honestly don't know how or who actually finds her funny.  It was an unfortunate way to end a hilarious comedy festival with someone who just sucked the air out of the room.