http://picasaweb.google.com/crumlives/WeekendOfVisitors?authkey=Rx4DxbIEOqI
Someone actually requested more pictures. So here is a set from the last few days.
If at any time you would like to turn any of these into posters to adorn your family or game room, let me know and I can send you full resolution copies of them. The ones on the link should be fine for post card size pictures or simply for looking online.
Showing posts with label Month 1. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Month 1. Show all posts
Monday, April 14, 2008
Turkey, Cat, Deer
14 April 2008Every morning I work from around 4:30-7 in my home office. That is if a computer sitting on a table made of old 2x4s is a home office. Today as the sun finally illuminated the front yard I looked out and saw a turkey, a cat and a deer all in my field of view. It isn't like they were hanging out together--they were each about 50 feet apart--but it was odd to see all 3. I often see the deer, sometimes many deer, eating across the street and our neighbor maintains a flock of 22 stray cats so I always see them but the turkey was a new site today. The turkey was also the closest of the three, he was just outside the window no more than 10 feet away. We keep planning a move to Concord but I will miss the local wildlife when we do.
On a separate note--we have loved all the gifts for Amelia but we also enjoy the ones for us. I am pictured here in sun hat that our friend Whitney got for me. She is from California, the land of new fashion trends, so I assume that everyone will soon be wearing hats like these.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Weekend of Visitors
13 April 2008
This weekend was a fantastic weekend of visitors for Amelia. On Friday afternoon Heidi visited our friend Denise in Concord, Friday night Tucker and Matt visited, Saturday morning Ron, Emily, Elijah and Ruth stopped by, on Saturday afternoon Gooch arrived and on Sunday afternoon Jamie and her boyfriend and Jen stopped by for tea and chips.
We are so excited that we have so many great friends that have made the extended trip over to see us. Since, at least at the beginning, we are somewhat tied to the house it has been awesome to have people come to us. Once Amelia reaches her actual due date we will start doing a little travelling to come and see all of you.
This weekend was a fantastic weekend of visitors for Amelia. On Friday afternoon Heidi visited our friend Denise in Concord, Friday night Tucker and Matt visited, Saturday morning Ron, Emily, Elijah and Ruth stopped by, on Saturday afternoon Gooch arrived and on Sunday afternoon Jamie and her boyfriend and Jen stopped by for tea and chips.
We are so excited that we have so many great friends that have made the extended trip over to see us. Since, at least at the beginning, we are somewhat tied to the house it has been awesome to have people come to us. Once Amelia reaches her actual due date we will start doing a little travelling to come and see all of you.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Ferocious
7 April 2008
Look at this maw.
This picture also is a way of saying good bye to one of our favorite outfits. Amelia is already starting to grow out of things. Her ever expanding belly moved her out of preemie diapers and yesterday she was long enough that she could not stretch her legs in this one.
Also this weekend I went on a little hike with Matt, Heidi and their puppies. 
Heidi's puppy is already getting a little big to hold as you can see in this picture. The view is from nearby Mt. Major--one that we hike all the time.
Heidi's puppy is already getting a little big to hold as you can see in this picture. The view is from nearby Mt. Major--one that we hike all the time.Saturday, April 5, 2008
Moving things around for Amelia
5 April 2008
I have been working on moving some things around for Amelia. We needed to make space for all of the new baby gear that we have received and for us to simply live here. I was going to do all of this work while Amelia was still inside of Heidi but that plan didn't work out.
First is our "study." The corner of this room was torn out in the summer because I had to replace the corner post holding up the house. I credit this work to Gooch because it was with him that I discovered that part of our roof angled toward this corner causing water, over the years, to seep in and rot the corner support of the house. So I basically had to take the old one out and replace it with a new one. (If you are reading about our house for the first time this may seem like a shockingly big repair but I assure you--we find out things like this all the time.) If you look closely you can see that I did not do a very good job of color matching the paint.
A
view sitting in the rocking chair, looking out past our wall of books and into the living room.
I have been working on moving some things around for Amelia. We needed to make space for all of the new baby gear that we have received and for us to simply live here. I was going to do all of this work while Amelia was still inside of Heidi but that plan didn't work out.
First is our "study." The corner of this room was torn out in the summer because I had to replace the corner post holding up the house. I credit this work to Gooch because it was with him that I discovered that part of our roof angled toward this corner causing water, over the years, to seep in and rot the corner support of the house. So I basically had to take the old one out and replace it with a new one. (If you are reading about our house for the first time this may seem like a shockingly big repair but I assure you--we find out things like this all the time.) If you look closely you can see that I did not do a very good job of color matching the paint.
A
view sitting in the rocking chair, looking out past our wall of books and into the living room.Doing construction with a baby also requries the occasional time out. This may look like a cute picture but she is just looking around to if I have any "feeding stations."
I also put together the new gliding rocking chair for the babies room. We needed to make space for the useful but gigantic swing so we moved the living room around.
And we decided that we should have some kind of dinner table so we rearragned the Lion room a bit.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Storm
4 April 2008
Yes, there was a bit of a snow storm here this morning but this post is about another kind of storm. A poop storm.
It began with trying to leave for work. I left the house not once, not twice, but three times without my laptop. I had already done this on Tuesday where I drove 1/2 way to Concord before I realized it, turned around and came back to get it. This day my idiocy was compounded by the fact that I was going to Concord for one meeting, a meeting where I was to use my laptop to give a presentation. I just wasn't firing on all cylinders to start the morning.
I had several long days this week so I was excited for a relatively short one. But when I walked in the door I could already smell that something was off. I came in and Heidi was asleep on the couch which is normally a serene image. But have you ever had an image ruined by a smell? Heidi woke up as I came in and said, "Can you fix that over there I was just too tired and I threw up this morning?" Of course I wanted to help especially if my darling wife was feeling ill. At the changing table I saw several piles of mustard colored poop spread out judiciously over the blanket, two sets of clothes, the old diaper and some wipes. It actually looked worse than it was and I wiped everything up and tossed all of the clothes in the washing machine.
"What happened?" I asked Heidi.
"Well, I went to change her diaper and I took off the first one. Then she peed and made a pee puddle right on the blanket. Then she had an jet stream poop that got in the pee puddle and made a bigger mess. Then she put her feet in the pee poop puddle. Then she curled her feet up and spread the pee poop mixture over her head." Heidi went on to explain that it was all she could do to clean Amelia up--which was why she left the clean up for me.
As I said though it wasn't that big of deal on my end at least. But this story goes on. I picked up Amelia and put her on my chest so I could watch a few episodes of the Office and maybe take a little nap. I took the nap by I was awakened by a smell emanating from the porch. A few weeks ago I had moved the cat boxes to said porch and installed a kitty door to them so that we did not have the cats doing their work in the house. There were times when we had people over that the smell was as if a 12 year old boy had pooped in the corner of our living room. It does not go well with dinner.
But coming around the corner of the porch, through the kitty door and into my nostrils was an award winning odor. Heidi got the easy end of it as she took Amelia and went to a hair appointment. After she left I decided that the smell was so bad that I would dump out both cat boxes and fill them with new kitty litter. But I could still smell the smell through the trash bag so I took the bag outside. Even then I felt as though I could still smell it though so I filled a bucket with steaming water and half a bottle of Pinesol and mopped all the floors in the house.
Even after all that I still wasn't sure if I could smell poop through the pine forest smell so I took off my clothes, started a new load of laundry and took a shower. As I write this, with Amelia on my chest in the baby bjorn I think she is already working on another odoriferous product.
Yes, there was a bit of a snow storm here this morning but this post is about another kind of storm. A poop storm.
It began with trying to leave for work. I left the house not once, not twice, but three times without my laptop. I had already done this on Tuesday where I drove 1/2 way to Concord before I realized it, turned around and came back to get it. This day my idiocy was compounded by the fact that I was going to Concord for one meeting, a meeting where I was to use my laptop to give a presentation. I just wasn't firing on all cylinders to start the morning.
I had several long days this week so I was excited for a relatively short one. But when I walked in the door I could already smell that something was off. I came in and Heidi was asleep on the couch which is normally a serene image. But have you ever had an image ruined by a smell? Heidi woke up as I came in and said, "Can you fix that over there I was just too tired and I threw up this morning?" Of course I wanted to help especially if my darling wife was feeling ill. At the changing table I saw several piles of mustard colored poop spread out judiciously over the blanket, two sets of clothes, the old diaper and some wipes. It actually looked worse than it was and I wiped everything up and tossed all of the clothes in the washing machine.
"What happened?" I asked Heidi.
"Well, I went to change her diaper and I took off the first one. Then she peed and made a pee puddle right on the blanket. Then she had an jet stream poop that got in the pee puddle and made a bigger mess. Then she put her feet in the pee poop puddle. Then she curled her feet up and spread the pee poop mixture over her head." Heidi went on to explain that it was all she could do to clean Amelia up--which was why she left the clean up for me.
As I said though it wasn't that big of deal on my end at least. But this story goes on. I picked up Amelia and put her on my chest so I could watch a few episodes of the Office and maybe take a little nap. I took the nap by I was awakened by a smell emanating from the porch. A few weeks ago I had moved the cat boxes to said porch and installed a kitty door to them so that we did not have the cats doing their work in the house. There were times when we had people over that the smell was as if a 12 year old boy had pooped in the corner of our living room. It does not go well with dinner.
But coming around the corner of the porch, through the kitty door and into my nostrils was an award winning odor. Heidi got the easy end of it as she took Amelia and went to a hair appointment. After she left I decided that the smell was so bad that I would dump out both cat boxes and fill them with new kitty litter. But I could still smell the smell through the trash bag so I took the bag outside. Even then I felt as though I could still smell it though so I filled a bucket with steaming water and half a bottle of Pinesol and mopped all the floors in the house.
Even after all that I still wasn't sure if I could smell poop through the pine forest smell so I took off my clothes, started a new load of laundry and took a shower. As I write this, with Amelia on my chest in the baby bjorn I think she is already working on another odoriferous product.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Books
3 April 2008
I have been impressed with how good children's books are. People have been kind enough to send us or give us many books and one of the surprising parts of having a baby has been how much I have enjoyed reading these books.
My current favorite is Ox-Cart Man which tells the story of a man who loads up his cart with all of the cottage industry goods his family has made through the winter. He travels 10 days to town, sells everything, returns, and the cycle begins again. Its beauty is in its simplicity. It also makes me think of my friends Matt and Heidi who, during this year, have knitted hats, made maple syrup, and considered buying a fleet of goats.
Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel was one of my childhood favorites and a book that I had forgotten about until we received it a few weeks ago. Make Way for Ducklings was a title that I knew but had never read. Both stories are great but I was struck by how old they were and how they have stood up over time. The steam shovel is obvious but in Make Way for Ducklings all of the cars, the police uniforms and even the way of speaking are from a far gone era.
Amelia and I looked on the Caldecott website the other day and are looking forward to reading Joeseph has a Tiny Overcoat, Golem and Black and White, among others on the list. Amelia picked these selections by drooling on specific keys--then I did the interpretation from there.
Anyway we are enjoying all of the books. I even read Richard Scary's First Book by myself when Amelia was asleep. It is fun to be transported back.
I have been impressed with how good children's books are. People have been kind enough to send us or give us many books and one of the surprising parts of having a baby has been how much I have enjoyed reading these books.
My current favorite is Ox-Cart Man which tells the story of a man who loads up his cart with all of the cottage industry goods his family has made through the winter. He travels 10 days to town, sells everything, returns, and the cycle begins again. Its beauty is in its simplicity. It also makes me think of my friends Matt and Heidi who, during this year, have knitted hats, made maple syrup, and considered buying a fleet of goats.
Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel was one of my childhood favorites and a book that I had forgotten about until we received it a few weeks ago. Make Way for Ducklings was a title that I knew but had never read. Both stories are great but I was struck by how old they were and how they have stood up over time. The steam shovel is obvious but in Make Way for Ducklings all of the cars, the police uniforms and even the way of speaking are from a far gone era.
Amelia and I looked on the Caldecott website the other day and are looking forward to reading Joeseph has a Tiny Overcoat, Golem and Black and White, among others on the list. Amelia picked these selections by drooling on specific keys--then I did the interpretation from there.
Anyway we are enjoying all of the books. I even read Richard Scary's First Book by myself when Amelia was asleep. It is fun to be transported back.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Look How Beautiful My Wife Is
2 April 2008
Doesn't she look great? Someone took this of her and I just thought she looked beautiful, content and happy. Also Amelia is asleep in the picture which I am sure Heidi is enjoying.
And if you want to talk about happiness, check out this picture of me with my new coffee maker. This was a gift from our friend Jen who read about my terrible plight and was kind enough to help me out. Thank you so much--I am already looking forward to tomorrow morning and my fresh ground cup of coffee.Home Alone Day Two
Here we have pictures from our big day today -- Day Number Two of being alone for over 8 hours. Picture #3 is Amelia in an outfit from her Grandma and Grandpa Crumrine -- I will admit that she wore this for more than one day -- but I have changed her clothes as of lunchtime today. The rest of the pictures are of Amelia in her sling...sage advice from our friend Lesley (THANKS LESLEY!!!) to put her in it and she'd sleep. She has slept all day. I'm sure she's just gearing up for tonight...
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Tucker Comes to Visit
28 March 2008
On Thursday our friend Tucker came over from Dartmouth for a visit. He brought Amelia her first GREEN t-shit. I wanted to put it on her but I was told not to wake her up so I laid it on her to take this picture. As you can see it is quite big so I suppose I will have to wait to get a picture of it until she is a little bigger.
Tucker stayed for a few hours in the afternoon and we discussed plans for how we were going to take Amelia on her first really big trip to San Diego for Dan and Whitney's wedding. It is not until September so we have a good long time to plan it.
For Tucker's visit we were going to take Amelia on her first walk. Earlier in the day it had been sunny and fairly warm but by the time Tucker came the sun was waning and the wind had kicked up. So I tried out the car seat stroller combination with our cat Badger. She seemed to like it and didn't jump out until I began rolling it around on only the two back wheels.
This stroller is awesome. It folds up, it has quick release wheels for travelling, it has shocks and tons of storage space, and it is pretty light. I just can't wait until it is warmer and we can use it more.
By the way Badger's stoller ride was much more successful than the time I tried to walk her. I was at home, maybe cleaning out the garage, and found some Velcro strapping. I fashioned this into a collar and then attached some rope to it and then put it on Badger. I took her out in the front yard and she went wild attacking the rope. It was like having a fire cracker on the end of a string. I quickly took her back inside before she was able to escape. Cats are very hard to walk.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Stonehenge
28 March 2008
Today there was a snow day for the Concord School District. Weather stations were calling for as much as 6 inches but we only got about 2 in Barnstead. It was heavy and wet and I'm sure it will be gone fairly soon.
In my time off I built a model of Stonehenge out of tofu. It is pictured at right--and it tasted great.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Pictures only Parents Would Take
27 March 2008
http://picasaweb.google.com/crumlives/PicturesOnlyParentsWouldTake?authkey=iTgzz_0RnhM
This link takes you to a set of pictures that only parents would take (and keep). It is an ongoing series of the same basic picture taken over and over because we think each one is different and cute in its own way. In reality they are all the same picture and we now have about 500 of them.
http://picasaweb.google.com/crumlives/PicturesOnlyParentsWouldTake?authkey=iTgzz_0RnhM
This link takes you to a set of pictures that only parents would take (and keep). It is an ongoing series of the same basic picture taken over and over because we think each one is different and cute in its own way. In reality they are all the same picture and we now have about 500 of them.
Courtney Visits
26 March 2008Yesterday our friend Courtney came to visit. She brought wonderful gifts--some diapers, a box of baby wipes and a six pack of good beer. Courtney was the most recent visitor in our convince others to have a baby series.
As those of you that have children know, the moment that you have kids you immediately begin to convince others that they should have kids too. A negative rationale for this could be, "Join us in the misery," but I think it is more accurate to say that once you have kids you finally realize that all of the sleepless nights and the worrying might be worth it. That's right--might--we've only done this for 10 days, we wouldn't want to jump to conclusions.
The keys to the "you should have a baby too," visit are simple. First, change the baby 2 minutes before the visitor comes. Second, let the person hold the baby right away. Third, tell only awesome stories of the baby and its birth. We did great with the first two but at one point Heidi began telling Courtney about some of the harder parts of the birth. At one point she even mentioned that there would be some pain. We realized Courtney might be getting worried so we quickly showed her Amelia's feet. Baby feet are strangely cute and this immediately calmed the situation.
If you have not come for your visit yet we welcome you any time. And, of course, this note is a joke. We won't try to convince you to have kids. Amelia will do that for us.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Good news!
Well we had good news from the visiting nurse today! Amelia is gaining weight and is two ounces over her birth weight. She's tipping the scales at 5 pounds 10 ounces -- her double chin is filling out nicely. Also, her umbilical cord fell off today! I admit to being a bit nostalgic about this and haven't been able to throw it out yet. If you think that's weird, I understand. I was going to post a picture today -- but I can't find the camera. So maybe tomorrow?
Heidi
Heidi
Monday, March 24, 2008
Back to Work
24 March 2008
I'm going back to work today. This amazing last week has only served to underline my feelings that I really would prefer to never work. When I have to work I feel like I do a good job--guided mainly by a work ethic instilled in me by my own parents, my dad especially--but the fact remains that given the option I would not work at all. I would be very busy and I would do lots of things, I just wouldn't go in to an office.
Maybe we could pack up, Amelia, Heidi and I, and head west. I'd like to get involved in a land rush like they had in the movie Far and Away. We could find a nice big spot on the prairie and build a little house on it. We could work on the farm all day. The kids could call me Pa. And our days and years would be filled with amusing yet educational encounters with the local townsfolk. These encounters would get more exotic and interesting as the years wore on--sometimes involving ex-NFL football players.
Hmm. Looking over that paragraph it seems slightly unrealistic. It does bring to mind a friend of mine (or is he a relative?) who works at a big financial job out east. His job comes with status and prestige and requires a ton of hard work and long hours. We were talking one time about what he might do when he retires and he said he would like to be a greeter on the ski slopes. This would be similar to the Wal-Mart greeters except slightly younger and on mountain sides. Like my little house on the prairie scenario this too is a little unrealistic. And what we will both try to do is bring as much of our dream scenarios into our real lives.
So the dream scenario is the writing of those three paragraphs. The reality is that I have to go to work and can't think of a suitable ending. It is 6:56 and I said I would leave at 7:00. If I never had to work I could treat you to a really tasty final paragraph--one that would leave you smiling through your tears. But I have to go to work.
I'm off...
I'm going back to work today. This amazing last week has only served to underline my feelings that I really would prefer to never work. When I have to work I feel like I do a good job--guided mainly by a work ethic instilled in me by my own parents, my dad especially--but the fact remains that given the option I would not work at all. I would be very busy and I would do lots of things, I just wouldn't go in to an office.
Maybe we could pack up, Amelia, Heidi and I, and head west. I'd like to get involved in a land rush like they had in the movie Far and Away. We could find a nice big spot on the prairie and build a little house on it. We could work on the farm all day. The kids could call me Pa. And our days and years would be filled with amusing yet educational encounters with the local townsfolk. These encounters would get more exotic and interesting as the years wore on--sometimes involving ex-NFL football players.
Hmm. Looking over that paragraph it seems slightly unrealistic. It does bring to mind a friend of mine (or is he a relative?) who works at a big financial job out east. His job comes with status and prestige and requires a ton of hard work and long hours. We were talking one time about what he might do when he retires and he said he would like to be a greeter on the ski slopes. This would be similar to the Wal-Mart greeters except slightly younger and on mountain sides. Like my little house on the prairie scenario this too is a little unrealistic. And what we will both try to do is bring as much of our dream scenarios into our real lives.
So the dream scenario is the writing of those three paragraphs. The reality is that I have to go to work and can't think of a suitable ending. It is 6:56 and I said I would leave at 7:00. If I never had to work I could treat you to a really tasty final paragraph--one that would leave you smiling through your tears. But I have to go to work.
I'm off...
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Honeymoon Ends Abruptly
23 March 2008
Can a honeymoon end any other way? I thought for a while about the addition of abruptly and thought that this case merited its use. The main reason is that I can put a specific time, 5:12am, on the end of the honeymoon.
It was at 5:12am that Amelia changed from a premature baby that never cried to one that began to cry-very loudly. She seemed to somehow realize that we had rested up from the first week and that she was ready to begin to signal her displeasure, not by squirming and wrinkling her forehead, but by screaming.
It was this morning that I had my first chance to walk all over the house carrying Amelia, trying to stop her crying. It was also our first experience with thinking that we had stopped her crying and going back to bed. Only to be awakened minutes later by some really quality crying. Heidi even had a dream that Amelia was crying, which caused her to pick the baby up, which caused Amelia to cry.
The middle point there is an interesting one. We love Amelia and know that she isn't tormenting us with her crying--she is just a baby. But is interesting that babies evolved so that they don't always cry constantly. They take breaks. And those breaks occur for the exact amount of time that allow their parents to get back to sleep. Just when the parents are fading back into real sleep, sleep that will get them some quality rest, that is when the cry comes. Babies are certainly designed so that no one can ever forget about them.
Truthfully though, Amelia's crying is a good thing. It means that any hints of jaundice have passed and that even though she still is 4 weeks from when she should have been born that she is becoming a good little baby. The sad part about this day is that Amelia's crying came coupled with a true household tragedy. Our cats love to chase each other through the house at top speeds. They knock over books and plants and step on spoons sending them flying through the air. When I awoke this morning I found that they had knocked over something much more important than a plant.
The coffee maker. When I first tried to soothe Amelia by walking around the house the first thing I saw were the pieces of the coffee maker strewn over the kitchen floor. Hours later when it was coffee time I tried to put the pieces back together but they had broken one crucial latch that meant one would have to hold the pieces of the maker together while the coffee brewed. (I considered this option for longer than you might think.) Finally I remembered that I had an old glass style coffee maker somewhere in the garage. I dug through shelves and stuck behind the chain saw, covered in saw dust was our old coffee maker. It was a long process of cleaning off all of the sawdust but finally it was ready to go. I set it up and realized that this coffee maker didn't have a grinding feature like the one the cats had broken. At the same time I realized that I had only whole beans.
After some thinking I figured a way that I could pour the beans into the coffee maker broken by the cats, press the start button which would grind the beans, and then pull the plug before any of the brewing began. So I now have the largest coffee grinder ever. It was certainly a process but I am enjoying my morning cup as I write this note.
Happy Easter to those of you that celebrate it.
Can a honeymoon end any other way? I thought for a while about the addition of abruptly and thought that this case merited its use. The main reason is that I can put a specific time, 5:12am, on the end of the honeymoon.
It was at 5:12am that Amelia changed from a premature baby that never cried to one that began to cry-very loudly. She seemed to somehow realize that we had rested up from the first week and that she was ready to begin to signal her displeasure, not by squirming and wrinkling her forehead, but by screaming.
It was this morning that I had my first chance to walk all over the house carrying Amelia, trying to stop her crying. It was also our first experience with thinking that we had stopped her crying and going back to bed. Only to be awakened minutes later by some really quality crying. Heidi even had a dream that Amelia was crying, which caused her to pick the baby up, which caused Amelia to cry.
The middle point there is an interesting one. We love Amelia and know that she isn't tormenting us with her crying--she is just a baby. But is interesting that babies evolved so that they don't always cry constantly. They take breaks. And those breaks occur for the exact amount of time that allow their parents to get back to sleep. Just when the parents are fading back into real sleep, sleep that will get them some quality rest, that is when the cry comes. Babies are certainly designed so that no one can ever forget about them.
Truthfully though, Amelia's crying is a good thing. It means that any hints of jaundice have passed and that even though she still is 4 weeks from when she should have been born that she is becoming a good little baby. The sad part about this day is that Amelia's crying came coupled with a true household tragedy. Our cats love to chase each other through the house at top speeds. They knock over books and plants and step on spoons sending them flying through the air. When I awoke this morning I found that they had knocked over something much more important than a plant.
The coffee maker. When I first tried to soothe Amelia by walking around the house the first thing I saw were the pieces of the coffee maker strewn over the kitchen floor. Hours later when it was coffee time I tried to put the pieces back together but they had broken one crucial latch that meant one would have to hold the pieces of the maker together while the coffee brewed. (I considered this option for longer than you might think.) Finally I remembered that I had an old glass style coffee maker somewhere in the garage. I dug through shelves and stuck behind the chain saw, covered in saw dust was our old coffee maker. It was a long process of cleaning off all of the sawdust but finally it was ready to go. I set it up and realized that this coffee maker didn't have a grinding feature like the one the cats had broken. At the same time I realized that I had only whole beans.
After some thinking I figured a way that I could pour the beans into the coffee maker broken by the cats, press the start button which would grind the beans, and then pull the plug before any of the brewing began. So I now have the largest coffee grinder ever. It was certainly a process but I am enjoying my morning cup as I write this note.
Happy Easter to those of you that celebrate it.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Easter Visitors
23 March 2008
Today we had a big day of visiting. Probably too big as Heidi and Amelia are now in bed and it is only 4:30 pm. All of it was great but reminds us of how tired we are.
First David and Heath came. They brought us tons of groceries and Heath made cookies. The groceries will enable us to continue to not leave the house for at least 3 more days. Here are some pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/crumlives/GoochAndJamieVisitAmelia?authkey=mKytjUB4XPI
Then our friends Jim and Jamie stopped by on their way to visit Jim's sister in Tunbridge, VT. It was a great treat to see them and we very much appreciated them taking the detour to our house to visit Amelia. Jim is a big man so when he held Amelia it made her seem even smaller.
At the end of the day we felt like we had been the honored guests at a party. I've said before but all of our visitors have been so awesome, so fun, and so appreciated.
Quote of the day:
"These nursing pads suck up serious amounts of fluid. Why can't they make paper towels like this?"
Meatloaf
20 March 2008
On Thursday Edie brought us the mother lode of baby supplies. She and Becky had bought tones of preemie clothes and Edie washed them all. Then she organized the mathching clothes into their own zip lock bags. She also brought us beef stew and frozen meatloaf.
The meatloaf created a bit of havoc yesterday as I was working in the garage. I put it in the oven to cook and returned to work outside. About 1/2 an hour later I went in to check on what would be Heidi's lunch. I found the windows open and Heidi and Amelia under a blanket on the couch.
We (I) have needed to clean the oven for about 3 months now but I have not been able to because every time I think of it Heidi, and now Amelia, have been in the house and I did not want to use the powerful chemicals with her around. The meatloaf was not the cause of the smoke and the alarms it was the caked on gunk at the bottom of the oven. I'll clean it someday.
After removing the meatloaf and cooking it on the stove top, an interesting way to cook meatloaf, it was very good. So thanks Edie.
Friday, March 21, 2008
David and Heath Visit
22 March 2008
Friday evening Amelia had some surprise visitors from the West. David and Heath flew out from Chicago to surprise Heidi and Amelia. They brought many gifts including a baby Bjorn and Amelia's first American Girl doll. I love the gifts that help me carry Amelia around so the baby Bjorn is one of my favorites, up there with the stroller and backpack that we received at the shower.
David and Heath also brought dinner which was a great gift in itself. As those of you with kids know, the gift of time given through cooking can make things much easier for the parents.
They stayed for the evening and will be back tomorrow before flying back home. A quick visit but a fun one. We enjoyed very much the joy on David's face at holding his first grandchild.
Some more pictures of their visit: http://picasaweb.google.com/crumlives/DavidAndHeathVisit?authkey=yPc0tFXZ2LA
Boxes
21 March 2008
Today I filled up our truck with cardboard boxes and took them to the dump. I couldn't take any of the other trash or recycling because the whole truck was filled with boxes. This is one of the many things that no one ever told me about having kids. Everything from the breast pump to diapers to swings comes in cardboard boxes. And most of the time the boxes are huge compared to what is actually inside. I took a whole load of boxes to the dump the day before Amelia was born and I still had to take another trip today.
Today I also built a board walk from our muddy driveway, over some thick ice that won't melt, over some more mud and finally to our front door. This way Heidi won't have to worry about falling over when she is walking to the house. There was one of our storms about a month ago that dumped 10 inches of snow followed by an inch or so of rain. This created a 5-7 inch covering of ice over our walkways and driveways. Where it could melt and run off we have had some clearing but the walkway to our house is lower than the driveway so it has filled with daytime melt and then frozen again each night--so it is thicker than ever before.
I'm told we have some surprise visitors coming to the house today--more on them tomorrow.
Today I filled up our truck with cardboard boxes and took them to the dump. I couldn't take any of the other trash or recycling because the whole truck was filled with boxes. This is one of the many things that no one ever told me about having kids. Everything from the breast pump to diapers to swings comes in cardboard boxes. And most of the time the boxes are huge compared to what is actually inside. I took a whole load of boxes to the dump the day before Amelia was born and I still had to take another trip today.
Today I also built a board walk from our muddy driveway, over some thick ice that won't melt, over some more mud and finally to our front door. This way Heidi won't have to worry about falling over when she is walking to the house. There was one of our storms about a month ago that dumped 10 inches of snow followed by an inch or so of rain. This created a 5-7 inch covering of ice over our walkways and driveways. Where it could melt and run off we have had some clearing but the walkway to our house is lower than the driveway so it has filled with daytime melt and then frozen again each night--so it is thicker than ever before.
I'm told we have some surprise visitors coming to the house today--more on them tomorrow.
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