Beach Day

Yesterday we went to the beach. It was Jack's first time at the ocean.
Remember Hazel's first time at the beach? January of last year. I can't believe how little she looks in this picture, just one year ago!
We tried a new spot at Half Moon Bay. It was a harbor area, and the water was very shallow. I missed the crashing waves, but it turned out to be an excellent spot to let Hazel explore. She had a blast tromping around in the water and throwing mussels in, digging in the sand and getting majorly wet and dirty. One casualty: we lost a boot to the tide. Bummer. We still have rainy weather for another month or two, and she loves wearing those boots.
We've had fabulous weather here the past week, in the 60's. My mom goes back to Northern Utah and snow on Tuesday, and I can't help but feel bad for her. I love California weather!

Here's our best shot at a family picture. Hazel did not want to sit still when there was so much to do. She was busy, busy, busy the whole time we were there.

Todd's Birthday

Todd's birthday is the day after Christmas. Every year for as long as I have known him, we have been with his family on his birthday and I haven't ever made him a cake or really had a chance to spoil him.

This year was different. I rocked it for his birthday. Not only did I make him his ultimate favorite treat, raspberry dessert, as his birthday cake, but I got him the gift of his dreams: a glass blowing class.
Todd's been interested in glass blowing for years. Every time we see a spot that does it, he wants to look. When Todd came back from Afghanistan, we rendezvoused in a hotel decorated with blown glass art. When we went to Italy, we took a day trip over to Murano to see all the glass works. So when the idea of taking a class ourselves came to me way back in October, it was a stroke of genius. I've been privately gloating for months just waiting for this.

We took the class last weekend, while my mom would be here and could watch the kiddos, and when kiddo #2 would for sure be outta me. A man named Doug runs a little glass blowing shop in Half Moon Bay and offers classes. The one we took gave us the chance to make one of three items: a paperweight, a heart, or a pumpkin. We both chose the pumpkin.

And now, a few pictures. First, we dipped a long metal pole into this furnace of molten glass. We gathered up the glass on the tip of the pole like we were picking up honey with a spoon, turning it around and around as we carefully lifted it out.
Then we put it inside a super hot oven while we kept turning it in circles to help it keep a round shape.
This process was repeated a few times, and occasionally we had to roll our glass along a slab of steel, which helped the glass to cool as it shaped.
To color the class, we'd dip it in for fresh "honey," then roll it in colored powder while it was super hot, followed by the oven to bake it all in.
And sometimes we'd sit down and roll it back and forth, too, as it cooled. We added a few layers to it, giving our pumpkins a cool double look, where you can see a more solid piece inside a clearer piece.
We got the pumpkin shape by pressing the hot glass into a mold.
Doug added the stem on while we were sitting and rolling it, then we pulled it up with a metal tool to give it some shape.
Doug took the pumpkin off the pole by hitting it sharply. Then he went over the whole thing with a blow torch to smooth out any sharp spots.
They had to sit in another furnace or kiln for a day to cool off gradually so that the glass wouldn't break. We went to pick them up yesterday and had a beach day while we were there, which I will blog about next. Mine is the green one, and Todd's is blue.

Siblingitis Update

Hello. It is 10:30 and Jack is asleep and I am not and I'm medium okay with that. It's good to not be dying for sleep, but I know I will regret this (being awake now) in the middle of the night.

Just wanted to make a little record of how Hazel's doing with Jack. She loved him in the hospital, then majorly freaked out when we brought him home. She wouldn't even touch him for the first few days, but finally the third morning home she announced "I like Jack," and from there on out she hasn't had any hard feelings towards him. She even wanted to feed him once. She has, however, been extremely frantic for me. I've been trying to pass Jack off to Todd or the moms and give all my attention to Hazel when I'm not nursing, and that has helped, but she's been very possessive and clingy. It's getting better day by day, and it's of course understandable, but in the meantime, it's made me a little weary and it's been hard for me to rest and recover because she wants me up and out with her. Hazel boycotted her nap for five days in a row when we brought Jack home and that was almost the end of me. She's a three-hour napper, so it was a significant chunk of sleep she was missing, and she does not function well without it. Mornings tended to be okay, but the afternoons were a nightmare of meltdowns. One day while she was supposed to be napping she took down her name letters and destroyed her treasure collection instead of sleeping. I was devastated. Hazel has never exhibited destructive behavior before and I didn't know what to do. That day I hit a wall and locked myself in my room to cry for a while. But she's napped almost every day for a week now and I almost feel like I have my Hazel back. I was honestly afraid I'd lost her forever, but I don't feel that way anymore.

Meanwhile, Jack has been super calm and sweet. When he wakes up in the middle of the night, he shuffles around in bed and grunts and breathes a little harder, but he doesn't even cry until I've tried to sleep through it all for 20 or 30 minutes, and then it's just a little cat meow. He's really mild and warm and cuddly and I'm in love with him.

Mr. Jack

Introducing Jack Todd Bonner!
Stats:
Born at 10:36 am Tuesday, January 4, 2011.
9 pounds 9 ounces
21 1/2 inches long
Details:
I spent all night Sunday and all day Monday having irregular contractions. We went into the hospital Monday night and had nurses telling me I probably wasn't really in labor and should go back home until my contractions were coming more regularly and I was no longer smiling and friendly. Boy, did I want to shove it in their faces when a doctor checked me and I was dilated to a seven!

I got an epidural around midnight, and everyone thought we'd have a baby in a few hours. Not so. I stalled at that darn seven for a few more hours until they broke my water at 3:30. Even still, I progressed slowly. It was 10 am before I was checked and at a 10. Fifteen minutes later, I was pushing, and 20 minutes after that we had our little man!

Overall, it was (incredibly) longer than my 22 hour labor with Hazel, but much easier. And I would never survive without an epidural.
Hazel was loving, gentle and soft when she visited at the hospital, but since we've been home she's had an enormous case of sibling-itis. She's majorly Mama Clingy and has boycotted her nap two days in a row now, doubling the fussiness in the afternoon. Wish us luck as we adjust to being a family of four!

Christmas 2010

This year was the first time we have done Christmas alone. While we missed our families and all the fun we always have with them during the holidays, it was very nice to be able to keep the holiday relaxed and slow-paced, especially for uber-prego me (I am plodding and groaning everywhere I go now).
Highlights of the season include:

Driving past Christmas lights every time we were in the car after dark.

Listening to Christmas music and teaching Hazel about Baby Jesus.

Making gingerbread houses. As we were working on them, Todd mentioned how my brothers fill the insides of their houses with a candy stash for later. Once Hazel heard that, every piece she picked up went inside her house, instead of on it, and there was nothing we could do to talk her out of it.
Having cheese fondue for Christmas Eve dinner. We may have to make this an annual tradition.
Sleeping in until 8:00. Gotta soak that up while we've got it.

Finding the stockings Santa left us. Hazel requested suckers and was so thrilled to find dum-dums (and a candy cane) in her stocking!
Hazel hit present overkill about two-thirds of the way through and refused to open all her gifts. We stashed a few under the bed for later. She had not yet unveiled Santa's Big Deal gift, though, so we waited until after lunch and then led her back to it. A play kitchen! Super huge hit. She plays with it all day, every day.
And making it through Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Todd's birthday (the 26th) without going into labor. Phew!

Todd's still really hoping I can "hold him in" and give our baby a January birthday, but dude, I'm dying here. Now that we're past the holidays, I want him OUT! We shall see. Meanwhile, I'm turning into a super grump and Todd thinks it's hilarious. At least he's not getting mad at me for biting his head off. Seriously, there have been a few times in the past few days that I've majorly snapped at him, followed by a still and solemn silence, and then both of us have burst out laughing, wondering where that came from. I'm so miserable.

Hazel Hearts Shepherds

Hazel learned about the shepherds coming to see Baby Jesus at nursery yesterday. It ensued in a day-long preoccupation with shepherds.

"Shepherds come see me?"

"Shepherds hold me night-night?"

"Shepherds come? Pink shepherds."

But the best was when she fell on her bum and got an owie.

"Shepherds kiss my bum bum?"

Project Complete

Ah. It's so nice to know what you're going to name your baby before they're born. It certainly makes it easier to get ahead on projects. Look what I just finished:Hazel's name letters weren't done until two months after she was born.

Looking at these, I feel relieved. I wasn't sure how to take a craft and make it masculine, but I definitely didn't want Jack to have girly letters. I think it turned out well. Phew.

He and Hazel will be sharing a room. It's slowly metamorphosing into a room for a girl and a boy to share. When we moved Hazel to a big girl bed, she got a green polka dot comforter. Dots are girly, but green is good for all. We're getting there. I think it's just going to have to be okay that there are pink things in there, as well as blue. Here's Jack's small segment of the room:He's going to be in a bassinet in mine and Todd's room for the first little while. By little while, I hope I mean just a few weeks. I do not sleep well sharing a room with a wee one. We"ll have to take it a day at a time, though, and see how all four of us adjust.

Meanwhile, I'm dilated to a two, but hoping to make it til January before Jack's born. We'd like to keep him spaced a little bit from Christmas. So, watch, he'll be born on Christmas Day, right? We'll see.

Quick Update

Hazel's latest:
Constantly playing in her "house," this huge Amazon box a Christmas gift came inAsking for "no pants" after diaper changes
Stickers, stickers everywhere (but freaks out if she finds one on herself as she's falling asleep!)
Independent shoe changes, rotating through the church shoes, princess shoes, and the rain boots
Perusing the Target gift idea magazine, exclaiming, "I love this!" at the toy kitchens (guess we'd better let Santa know what she's obsessing over...)

Todd's latest:
Promoted to Captain! Yes, you may bow as you approach him.
Being Hazel's favorite, since he has both energy and a lap and I do not
Has high hopes we can SCUBA certify for date night mere days after the baby is born

Angie's latest:
I'm huge and battling heartburn nightly now. Darn it. 19 days to my due date.
I bought a larger ring to wear since I'm too swollen to wear my wedding ring. But it's too big for my ring finger and too small for my middle finger, so it's actually more of an annoyance than a help. Half an hour ago, it slipped right off my finger as I tossed something in the trash. I had to dig through wrappers and yogurt drippings to find it. Not cool.

Unmet Expectations

This morning I brought Hazel with me to my ob/gyn appointment. She hasn't come with me to see the "baby doctor" in a few months. When we got to the waiting room, she turned to me, tilted her head to one side, and said matter-of-factly, "Doctor take Jack out. Out Mommy's tummy." I tried to explain to her that we've still got a few weeks until that happens, that we're just going to listen to Jack's heartbeat today and see how he's doing, but Hazel repeated her prognosis in front of the doctor. So... I'm guessing today's doctor's visit was a bit anti-climactic for her.

Hazel's Birthday

It's official. Todd and I are the parents of a two-year-old. After I put Hazel to bed and Todd and I made bets on whether or not she'd actually fall asleep, Todd said, "This was the best day of Hazel's life." She's had some pretty good days, but I'm thinking Todd's right. She has been excited about her birthday for weeks now, and it seemed like she loved just about everything about today.

For starters, she was standing up in bed when I peeked in to see if she was awake yet. Standing. Up. That was a first. Usually she's lying down twirling her hair, or sitting on the edge of the bed.

We had scrambled eggs and strawberry shakes for breakfast, two of her favorites. Then, per her request, we made a princess crown for her to wear in honor of her special day.
She soon noticed the "uffly cake" on the counter that I stayed up late last night finishing up. She has been very specific for nearly a month now (ever since we started talking about her birthday) that she wanted a pink butterfly cake for her birthday. Well, she got it. Her two favorite details about it were that it was pink, and that it had candy on it. She asked to be held up to look at it several more times throughout the day.
I think the best part of the day was that Todd was sick, so he stayed home from work. He spent the whole day sleeping on the couch, but it was still nice for Hazel to be able to go over and talk to him and give him kisses, and for him to be around for the whole day instead of just in the evening.

We spent the morning outside, riding Hazel's bike and playing at the park. It's been fairly cold and rainy for the last few weeks, so the nice weather today allowed us to enjoy being outside for the first time in a while. She was riding her bike so fast I almost couldn't keep up at a jog. And I will confess, jogging hurts my body just a wee bit right now. But it was all about Hazel today.

After lunch, we let Hazel open some of her presents. Lucky Ducks turned out to be a huge hit. It is a game with ducks who have shapes on their bottoms. They swim around the board in a circle, quacking up a noisy storm, and then each player picks up one duck and looks at the shape on it. You are each trying to collect all the ducks with your own shape on it. Hazel was super into it. It had cute ducks just the right size for her hands, and she's just starting to get interested in shapes, so I think it'll be a hit for a while.
Unfortunately, it was a bit too big of a hit today. Hazel spent two hours in her bedroom plotting what to do with her ducks when she got out and didn't sleep a wink during naptime. Usually she's a solid three-hour napper. Not so today. The second I told her she could come out of her room, she said, "My ducks!" and ran back to the kitchen table to play with them.

The rest of the afternoon was spent with toys and Daddy. I knew she was going to need to go to bed early, so the afternoon was short. She spent a good part of the next few hours lobbying phone calls and Skype visits from loving family members. And she helped me make teriyaki chicken for dinner, which she scarfed up. We're talking asking for seconds and even thirds!

Then we had cake - she did awesome at blowing her candles out - and opened the rest of her presents. Aunt Kelsi made her day (and, I'm sure, the rest of the week) with a box full of princess supplies. Very soon after dinner, as she began having meltdown after meltdown, we turned on the bathwater and went through our bedtime routine. She was wired. Wired and tired. It took both Todd and me to hold her still enough to even get her pajamas on.

At the very end, she lay in bed while I sang to her. Her heavy eyes drooped shut, and I thought, "She'll be out in two minutes." But then she pried them back open and whispered, "Birthday. Uffly cake." and grinned at me as her eyes twinkled. Good grief.

That was 45 minutes ago. I haven't heard a peep from her, so I'm hoping the Sleep Fairy won tonight's battle. I'll go check after I post this. But I sure am pleased that she loved her birthday so much.