Naming

Every time I start a blog, I realize that the hardest part is coming up with a title. I for some reason always want it to be creative, clever and someway encapsulate all that I write within. Of course it never ends up being that way and instead ends up being something lame that references the weather or season.

We have had a busy last couple of months with a couple baby showers, lots of hours put in by Keith at his various projects and a trip up north. One of Keith's projects has been helping with some major work at our friends' cabin at the coast. He'll spend a couple days at a time out there as it doesn't make sense to drive back and forth. He's been pretty lucky with the weather and for one of the good stretches, I joined him out there for part of a weekend. The weather was gorgeous and I spent a lot of my time getting away from all the construction noise (there is a whole crew working out there) by lazing around on the beach with my rockhound. I know we've talked about her neurosis with rocks, but it is amazing how over the years this neurosis increases, bordering on panic. This is her latest, digging fervently around the rock - is she trying to bury it, dig it up, what? When we leave the beach it is littered with craters like these. I think she would do this until total collapse if we let her.



She does take some breaks, but notice how she isn't completely resting - just waiting to go find the next rock.


OK, that's all I can talk about that isn't baby related. Because, frankly, a lot of our time now is spent thinking about the upcoming arrival, which is now frighteningly close. Maybe closer than we think, there are predictions coming from our doctor that "Bubba" Caldera might come a bit earlier than expected based on his current positioning. So this last week has been spent working our way through a long checklist (this would be Keith mostly - he has been a champ).

I think I have mentioned that I now work at an outpatient portion of the hospital. So everyday I have new patients. There are definitely pros and cons to this. Recently, as it has become impossible to hide my pregnancy behind baggy scrubs, I have discovered a new con to this scenario. It's that every day I have to have the following conversation with at least two of my patients:
After spending about five minutes in the room, you see an awareness come over either a family member's or the patient's face as they take in my girth and then....
Patient: "When are you due?"
Me: "November 11th"
Patient: "Oh not long! Do you know what you're having?"
Me: "Yes, it's a boy"
Patient: "Ohhhhh, how sweet. Is this your first?"
Me: "Yep." (And then some comments about yes, how fun it will be and how our lives will change)
Patient: "Have you picked out a name yet?"
Me: "No, we're still working on that."
Patient: "Oh, you're waiting to see his face!" or "You'll know when you see him!"
Me: Smile and nod, but thinking to myself, "no, we're too practical for that, we're really just struggling on a name, and don't all newborns look all squishy and weird anyway, and why would I want that to be the basis for my son's name".

At least they don't all reach out and grab for my belly.

As of today, I am beginning my 36th week, and definitely looking the part. Any delivery at this point would be considered full term, but my official due date is a month from yesterday. I had two lovely showers thrown for me. One here in Eugene and the other up in the Seattle area. I can't believe how generous people are and how well dressed this little guy is going to be. We've done well gathering stuff, and the nursery is nearly complete, again thanks to the generosity of so many people. We even have a car seat installed in the car! So weird.

Corrine hosted the Eugene shower and made this darling cake which was a hit:


Corrine's wonderful daughter, Trinity. I cannot believe how fast she is growing up.


The aftermath of the first shower.


In the meantime we picked up our nursery furniture from our dear friends who flat out gave us theirs. If it can hold a 90 pound dog, I think it will be OK for the babe.


Then we headed up north for the other shower. Keith and his parents came along as well and along with his aunts we all congregated at my parents' house for a lovely weekend of visiting. My longtime friend, Amy, hosted this one, and it was again so touching how many people showed up and their generosity. I didn't take any pictures while there, but had this one emailed to me of all my old cronies from elementary school. I will be the very last one of this group to have a baby (I think I was the last one to get married as well...)



Here is the lovely quilt my mom made for her grandson. I just love the colors.


The rest of the weekend was spent at my folks' house, where we mostly just hung out, played games, and went for walks. Although a lot of the time was spent making apple cider as well. Our freezer is now jam-packed with this yummy stuff.


Since then, Keith has wrapped up his various work projects and is now working to become an independent contractor, while also quickly getting through his 'honey-do' list. When we first started talking about "getting ready for the baby", one of the first words out of his mouth was, "I need to build a shed".....and later....."I need to make beer". (I was thinking more along the lines of getting the nursery ready, finishing stuff inside our house, buying a car seat, etc.) I have endlessly teased him about this, as his rationale was because we'd have all this "extra" stuff in the garage, and that we needed a shed out at our property to make room for it. I was wondering besides a stroller, what 'stuff', but he couldn't quite come up with anything. We'll chalk it up to male nesting. Regardless, he is constructing a nice shed, and it will be nice to get some of the extra furniture that got the boot when the crib came in out of the garage and out of the way.

He's also made great improvements inside with his quick handiwork including shelving, making some bed frames and this little co-sleeper for Bubba.


In addition, my mom has spent the last week here keeping our house clean, keeping us fed, and forcing me to stay off my feet especially on days I work. It has been great having her here and we look forward to her return when the little one is here and we need the help all over again.

In closing, the bump watch continues....
Week 33:


And just taken this morning. The beginning of Week 36:


Finally, an updated picture of Bubba's playmate in waiting. Bea is now 6 weeks and growing like a weed. 10+ pounds and such a sweetheart (although I think she has an alter ego personality in the middle of the night). Is his name really going to be Bubba? No, of course not. We do however have a name picked out, but since it has taken this long to come up with it, we figure we'll just make you all wait until the birth to be enlightened.

Last Days of Summer

Summer is almost over, and this baby will be with us in 2 and a half months or so, and I realized we have basically no new pictures to share. We have been severely delinquent in our picture taking. Mostly laziness, but also the fact that there hasn't been much to take photos of. So I guess I have to fill this space up with words.

About a month ago I switched jobs at the hospital. I am still doing mostly cardiac nursing, but I am now on an outpatient floor where I take care of patients before and after their procedures in the 'cath lab'. If anyone is really interested in what that means, I would be happy to explain, but I'm guessing that sentence is enough for most. What it means for me, is a slightly lower stress, slower paced job and slightly better hours including all weekends and holidays off. Instead of working 3:00 - 11:00 PM, I now work 1:00 - 9:30 PM. Good news is that now I can see and hang out with Keith for an hour or so after I get home and before we go to bed. Bad news is that there will be no more poems like this waiting for me on the counter:

Bread
by Keith Caldera
I am smart in the head
'cus I made bread.
Now, I am in bed,
But I am full of dread
That you'll eat my bread.
"Right said Fred"
So, don't eat my bread.
It is full of lead
And you'll be dead!

A Working Man's Poem
by Keith Caldera
Soooo, I was working in the mire,
And my pants are something dire.
They are muddy
I am no liar.
I work hard
I never tire.
Sooo, check my work pants in the dryer,
If they're not dry
Hang by the fire.

Romantic in their own way, and sure to put a smile on my face after a long night. I've been hanging onto those scrap pieces of paper for a long time, and found them as we've been cleaning and rearranging furniture. Finally they are archived in the eternity of the web, never to be lost.

Keith has been job searching without a lot of luck, but in the meantime has stayed plenty busy with random projects around our house and mostly working with the contractor of a friend of ours doing some remodel work and misc house/renovation projects.

In our spare time we try to figure out a name for this child that is arriving all too soon and work on finding room in our small house for him to live. We had to dramatically downsize our office, saying good-bye to Keith's homemade (and huge) desk and my Dell monitor from 1998 that took up half the desk. We moved the 'office' out to the living room, setting up a much smaller desk and dispersed the rest of the office stuff to the attic, spare bedroom and garbage/recycle clearing out our office entirely so now it is "Bubba's" room. We had coincidentally painted it blue in anticipation of hanging a certain painting in there, but now we'll just leave it, as blue is a fine color for a baby boy's room.

Here are some really interesting photos of how our living room and baby's room look now.
Our living/dining room/office - we are actually quite pleased with the setup and enjoy having the computer in one of the main rooms.


Baby's room in waiting.


Back in July we went up to Washington and spent some time relaxing at my parents' house after being thoroughly entertained by Eddie Izzard in Seattle - a comedian we can't recommend enough. Hilarious. The visit with the folks was nice and relaxing with a couple of very pleasant days spent at their lake cabin.





And then there are the updates of my growing stomach. As of today, I am in my 30th week. It is crazy how fast this is going. I feel like in the last couple weeks in particular, my appearance has changed dramatically. I feel like I am carrying him quite high, as is noticed by my moments of breathlessness after walking down the hall and some new fun rib pain. I have a feeling it is going to get so much more interesting from here on out. At least I can still put on my own shoes. For the most part I still feel great. I am moving around fine and work is still plenty manageable. I've been walking a lot (thanks to Gracie and my job) and doing mostly swimming as my main form of exercise. The pool feels so great and it's kind of fun to float around with those old ladies at water aerobics! Actually, it is a pretty good mix of ages at those classes and is a surprisingly good workout (coming from someone with an exercise tolerance bordering on zero).

So here's a catch up of the belly photos if you haven't been over to our Flickr page:

Week 25:


And Week 29. It's hard to get a good picture so I always have to make Keith take several. I couldn't believe the difference a change in posture and pant line could make in how big it makes me look. These next two were taken immediately after one another. My brother, Carl, apparently has a problem with the pants I chose to wear for these pictures, thinking they were too tight around the waist and artificially squeezing in my belly. Maybe he's right....although I think it's mostly my posture.
Week 29 Take 1:


Week 29, Take 2:


And since we're not taking any photos, I made Keith pose with me while we had normal clothes on so I can have at least one or two photos of me pregnant not in purple pants and a too tight white shirt. This was taken about two weeks ago.


I almost forgot the most exciting news. Jenn and John had their baby!! Jenn and I have been enjoying this pregnancy experience together, but now she is onto the next phase, and can now tell me all the things I have to look forward to in being a mom of a newborn as she has been doing with the pregnancy (she's been great about telling me what to expect and letting me know what I should be doing to get ready....I tend to be somewhat of a procrastinator). She delivered three weeks early on August 23, but the baby, Bealena, was ready. She came out a beautiful 7 lbs 2 oz and with a full head of hair!
What a beauty (Bea, not me - I'm on 24 hours of no sleep in this picture!).

Friends and Cousins

As Emily posted in out last entry, my cousin Lee, age 34, died of a heart attack several weeks ago. For his upcoming remembrance friends and family have been gathering photos and I did the same. Going through the photos certainly brought back some memories and make his passing a bit more real. It is hard to imagine that there will be no more photos to take.



Lee is a 2nd cousin by blood, which means my mother and his father were cousins....my grandma and his grandma were sisters. We really did not get to know each other until 6th grade when we both landed at Sunset Middle School. From then until the end of college, we were buddies. Time, work and distance all separate us it seems and I hadn't see much of Lee since having him in my wedding in September of 2004.



Lee would come home with me after school and we would spend hours playing elimination on the driveway basketball hoop or ride our bikes everywhere. During the summers we'd meet halfway between my house in Empire and his house at the end of Crown Point Rd. Quite a ride for those that know the area. We'd carry on on our bikes taking us to other friends houses, or even over the North Bend bridge to my dad's work for a pop and a candy bar from the lunchroom vending machines.



During our high school years we'd sort of lose track of each other during the school year as he went to North Bend and I went to Marshfield. We were rivals each spring on the baseball diamond. When school was out and the summer started we were back to it. Bikes and baseball. Lee and I, with my dad's help, set up a full-on batting cage, complete with lights for nighttime practice, in our backyard. We'd spend hours out there. Or on the tennis court listening to Milli Vanilli on the boombox. We worked together in the hay fields and discovered the game of golf on a lunch break.

When college came, we rushed our fraternity together; roomed together; lifted weights together; drank and shot pool together. We both moved out of our fraternity at the same time and rented a house with 3 other good friends for several more years. Lee had the basement room that occasionally flooded, but he took it in stride.





I don't think I have ever seen Lee sad....I've see him mad, sometimes at me, but not sad. He was the center of the party, always ready to go out for a drink and a game of pool. His friends were his family and there were a lot of friends.

Lee got a hold of me several weeks before he died...to ask me to be in his wedding. He had met his girl. We caught up a little, as much as you can on a 45 minute phone call and regretted that we hadn't kept up with each other. But he wasn't lacking for friends. He had his life in Portland and Vancouver and it was rich.

I feel lucky to have at least talked with him before he died. It makes it easier I guess to know he was happy. Happy to be getting married; happy to have his circle of friends join him for rafting on the Deshutes, just happy.

I can't imagine the pain of losing the one you were going to marry, before you had the chance. I have visited Lee's and Andrea's Myspace pages often since he died. It is hard to read the messages of support on Lee's page...written to him as if he might respond. Andrea's page is filled with message of love and support, of memories of Lee, of friends in mourning. I join them.

It is not fair for Andrea or for Lee's mother Joyce. It is not fair to his friends that he is gone. There is no explanation, no reason that he is gone. I am not sure it is real....but it is.

I love you Lee. Friends and Cousins.

Bittersweet

It's been a busy, roller coaster of a week, and not just because I worked seven days in a row. (Is that what I should be doing while pregnant?). Oh well, the money is nice. We've had some really great news and some really, really bad news. Good news is that baby is doing smashingly. We had our 20 week ultrasound on Wednesday, and everything looks fine. He is moving around like a champ in there. For those astute readers, you may have noticed that two letter word I slipped in there....he. Yep, the ultrasound tech is 99% sure it is a boy (they can never say 100%), but I was able to also pick out some pretty convincing evidence on the pictures. One mystery solved. Next up is the name. No ideas there yet, and not sure if we'll share before the birth or not. Hard to believe we are half way there and that those weird little pokes I'm feeling are a human being in the making!

Here I am at week 20. This picture seems misleading to me, because when I look in the mirror, I feel like I look a lot bigger than this...you can always check out our Flickr site for new belly pics. I might post there more frequently than here.


The oh-so sad news we got was that Keith's cousin, who just asked him to be in his wedding, passed away earlier this week. He's our age (which I like to think is still young) and died instantly from cardiac arrest. At 34. So unfair, shocking and sad. So hard to process. He was in our wedding, and although I never got to know him very well, he and Keith were very close in college - causing trouble together in their frat all four years. He was supposed to get married in just a couple weeks. Damn. You will be missed, Lee.


In other, more happy news, summer is here and we have managed to get ourselves out on a few outings.

Back in May we took a day hike up on the McKenzie River to Tamolitch Falls. Which isn't supposed to be a falls at all. It is more aptly known as the Blue Hole. It is a stretch of the river that has been diverted underground through lava tubes, and then suddenly reemerges at this blue hole. We went there hoping to see the famed Blue Hole, but it was late spring and we had such a heavy snow year, that the reservoir upstream couldn't handle all the water, so much of the river was going back over it's natural path and therefore, there was indeed a rather large waterfall at Tamolitch Falls. Now we have to go back and hike it again to see the Blue Hole in all it's glory. The hike was nice. We tried to go beyond to get up to the reservoir, but we hit too much snow and after a tumble on my part (which unfortunately led to a week laid out on my back - thanks loose pregnancy ligaments) we had to turn back early.

The falls in the background:


Scenery along the McKenzie trail:


The McKenzie at high flow:


Keith gazing at the blue hole that isn't so blue with all that water rushing into it:


Next up was a short outing to Jenn and John's beach house to visit with our friends from South Africa who were such good hosts while we were there. You may remember this thing that we had the privilege to drive around southern Africa. Well John and Ester are the "caretakers" for this automobile and were so kind to us while we were there - giving us the most amazing braii (BBQ) we've ever had, and stocking that Land Rover so well with every piece of camping gear and extras anyone would need. So they finally got a trip to the States to spend time mostly with John and Jenn but we were able to sneak a few days in with them as well. After a quick visit to the local lighthouse (which none of us locals has ever bothered to stop at), John and Jenn had to head back to Eugene early. We stayed behind with John and Ester to give them more time at the coast and gave them an Oregon style BBQ on the beach. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves and we got really lucky with the weather.

Heceta Head lighthouse:


The Oregon coast:


Setting up for a BBQ on the beach:


Drinks included:


And local seafood. Very local. From the rocks behind us. Well these are actually oysters that we bought at a store, but the mussels we ate later came from the rocks behind us.


And last week, I had a week off, so we went out and finally did some camping. The weather was perfect and it was mid-week, so we had campgrounds basically to ourselves. We ventured up the McKenzie River again and set up our first night camp at Olallie Campground. A very cool campground if you can get the prime spot. A corner site with a branch of the river practically running through your camp. We spent the day lounging and did another short section of the McKenzie River trail (this trail runs for about 25 miles along the McKenzie River).

Our campsite at Olallie:


From there, we headed over the pass and camped a night on the Metolius River, which is another river that starts from the depths of the lava tubes. We found a great little walk-in campground which was virtually empty and had probably our most relaxing day there napping, strolling along the river, and playing Bocce Ball, Scrabble, and Backgammon (does that make us sound old or what?).

Our campsite at the Metolius. Notice how stressed out Keith is.


The Metolius River.


Our main reason for heading over the pass was to check out Smith Rock. Smith Rock is the climbers' mecca of Oregon and we have heard it is a gorgeous place for even non-climbers to visit. It's a place we've both always wanted to see, so we took a day trip out there to do a little hiking. It is truly a beautiful place - not very big, but stunning. In the middle of the high desert plains sits all these massive, unique rock formations. It's like a little tiny piece of Utah sitting in the middle of Oregon. We did the standard 4 mile hike that takes you up to the top (ask me how fast I walked up that hill....the baby is not sharing the oxygen equally) and around the back side and finally along the Crooked River back to the start. A very nice hike with some amazing views of all the big volcanoes of the Cascades.

Me catching my breath among some very nice views.




At the top you get right next to the famous Monkey Face (you'll see later) where we can perch precariously over ledges looking for the crazy climbers who actually climb up this thing.
I am posting this picture mostly for my brother who has a bit of an issue with heights....even looking at others sitting on edges....he is also a kick ass rock climber....go figure.


There is the Monkey Face. You can see the little ledge where I was sitting just to the right of the monkey's mouth.


For our third night of camp, we headed back to the McKenzie River and checked out another campground (Ice Cap) which was right next to some waterfalls. Again, with all the snow melt, these falls are in fine form right now. Another pleasant, relaxing evening and a walk along the river that connected Koosah Falls with Sahalie Falls. Here is Keith in front of Sahalie Falls, apparently very excited by either the view or his coffee.


Some wild irises that I thought were quite pretty.


It wouldn't be a complete blog entry without an update on our house projects. I think I mentioned before that we were getting ready to paint the house. After all the destruction from leveling it, it was time to clean things up and make it look nice again. Once the rains stopped, Ketih's parents came up and helped get the thing painted. With the help of the sprayer, the three of them were able to get the main part done in a day (yay for small houses!).

Here is what it looked like before with the piecemeal siding work.


And a look at the final product (mostly). There is some trim work that lingers, but you can't tell from this picture. What you can see is that there is a big, broken trailer in the driveway. I wanted a nice clean after picture, but my dear husband tells me that the trailer is not going anywhere anytime soon. It had a little accident on I-5 (actually quite a scary incident and very lucky one as no one was hurt), and basically requires a rebuild which we are choosing not to afford right now. And the axles are off and it is big and heavy, so there it sits.


We also decided to get rid of the wood paneling in our dining area which involved a lot of drywall work on Keith's part. He did a great job.



And that's it for now. We are in the midst of a 90 degree humid heat wave and getting ready for our yearly 4th of July camping trip. The track and field Olympic Trials are taking place this week in Eugene, so the city is all abuzz and getting lots of national airtime. Keith was able to go to a bit of it today, and we spent some time milling around outside the stadium yesterday among the festivities. It's good for Eugene, and they seem to be doing a good job pulling the whole event off.