Another Reason to Hate the Electric Range.

In her desperate need to let me know that she was hungry (we were out of cat food and Tim wasn't home from the pet food store yet) Lulu jumped off on the counter and walked across the range, which I'd only just turned off, and burnt her little piddies.

The good news is that she licked her little piddies and they seem to be okay, and maybe she had learned a lesson about staying off the dang countertops.

Someone needs some Spanx.

But it's not me. I'm pretty chuffed with my gut and ready to let it hang out. Bring it on, baby! (dad is going to say that I'm just fat. Which is partially true! But finally, it's some baby fat again. A different kind of baby fat than I usually cite as my problem.)

Please, won't someone think of the children? For reference, two seconds later Lulu tried to bite Thor, and then he tried to smack her.

Saturday Update.

Verdict: thyroid ultrasounds are way less exciting than baby ultrasounds. But I had a good appointment with the endocrinologist yesterday. I even got to see my carotid artery pumping blood! (I thought of dad.) I think I may switch doctors within the practice - the guy I saw yesterday did a better job of addressing my pregnancy-related concerns. Also, he's in the office on Fridays, which is far more convenient for me, and I like that he's barely 5 feet tall, has adult braces, and is a UCLA grad (because you know I wouldn't go see a Trojan doctor. NOT TO BE TRUSTED.)

Last night Tim and I met up with Don and Eileen at their friend Kathi's house in Irvine. Kathi is permanently moving up to her zany chicken farm in Central California, and is selling her house, and many of the possessions within. We got to preview the garage sale and steal things at random. View the bounty:

From right to left: a cake plate with lid, a cake plate without lid, a cute little bowl, two cookbooks, a fabulous cookbook stand, and a Queen Elizabeth pitcher. That fabulous piece of porcelain was marked at $25, but for us, Kathi was willing to make a deal. And by deal, I mean she just gave it to us. HOW AWESOME IS KATHI? Very awesome. We are trying to find the appropriate place in the house to make sure the Queen is reverently displayed, in a fashion fitting her majesty.

Speaking of decorating, this is on our mantle and makes me laugh every time I walk by. The vase on the right is mom's - she brought it over because I've often admired it. The vase on the left is mine - a gift from a friend a few years ago. The pinecone mom left in the kitchen for me once after doing yardwork, and I thought it deserved to be displayed. This is how the Thiel girls decorate.

Have we discussed what a beautiful job mom is doing with our yard? I mean, I have helped a teensy tiny bit, but she deserves all of the credit. Check out her work - when we moved in, that planter box was EMPTY.


She also planted some of my favorite flowers under what we think of as Mr. Kay's tree. Mom feels like his family must have sprinkled some of his ashes under it before they left. If it's true, he's been very nice about sharing his house and yard with us. We appreciate it.

This morning we undertook a whole house scrub down. Another small thing I miss about renting is that it took us way less time to clean our tiny, crappy little apartment. But with teamwork, it didn't take too long, and I always feel better when everything is neat and tidy. Tim even used an attachment to vacuum all of the cat hair off of our comforter. The sad thing is that this place will look like a dump in fifteen minutes, once the cats finish shedding off another layer of fur. They are just asking to get shaved! I do love our house though. I feel so lucky that we live here.

Tonight Tim and I are heading up to UCLA to see "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." A comedy tonight!

We're definitely glad to have the little comedy break. We found out this morning that family friends lost their month old baby daughter to bacterial meningitis last night. We've been keeping Brad and Shannon in our thoughts and are so sorry to hear about their loss. It puts life a lot more clearly in focus, and makes us want to give all of our loved ones the hugest hugs we possibly can.

I found an upside to renting...

If you rent, you don't have to pay property taxes. Oh, you tricksey tax collector. I showed Thor the bill and told him that I think he should pick up the tab for this one, but he just meowed at me, and then followed me while I went to get my checkbook. MOOCH.

Par-Tay!

We had a busy weekend! And it very much made me feel like I was getting ready for mommyhood because we had not one, but two parties for people who are not even potty trained yet. I guess I do have a few "mommy friends" already.

Saturday Tim and I had tickets to see Dreamgirls at the Ahmanson theater in downtown LA. We got sandwiches from Bottega Louie, my favorite restaurant, and ate out in the courtyard before the matinee. It was a really great show - really strong vocal performances, and sequin dresses. What more could you want in a musical?

Afterwards, we went out to West LA to my friend Lisa's house, for her daughter Graysen's third birthday party. Graysen is possibly the world's cutest kid, and she has the coolest parents. Their invite said something along the lines of "we're having a cocktail party, because this is the last year we can get away with doing what we want for our daughter's party." There were definitely plenty of little kids hanging out, and family friendly activities, but our fabulous hosts definitely kept the drinks flowing and the grown up snacks provided (don't worry, I stuck to blood orange sodas.) The best was at the end of the night when Graysen was acting up and Lisa goes, "hey! That's now how ladies behave! You're three now, you have responsibilities." I dream of being that cool when I'm a parent.

Then Tim and I went to our favorite sushi place from days of yore, and I cried about the fact that I live so far away now. And then I fell asleep on the car ride home!

This morning I went over to mom and dad's early, uninvited, but with a quice from Lisa and Steve to share. Then mom came over and we planted stuff in the front yard! Oh, and I finally met our next door neighbors. Man, Californians are friendly. I mean, we've only lived here since OCTOBER (and I did try to bring him cookies during the holiday season.)

Then, it was off to Huntington Beach for my friend Connie's son's birthday. Orion was also turning 3, but he had a bounce house at his party (which was approved for adult use.) Also, lots of BBQed meats. What more could you want? And Connie let me snuggle with her daughter Calla. If I wasn't already pregnant, I think my ovaries would have exploded. Also, Connie gave me a jumparoo that Calla has outgrown. I was trying to describe it to Dad - we were getting it confused with the jumpers that used to hook to a door frame. This is more like a walker thingie, with bells and whistles. Or, as I described it "like that thing John was always in back when I used to like him. Back when he was fat." Just kidding, I still like John now. SOMETIMES. It's only a matter of time until I see if the cats like the jumparoo.

Of course, we went over and mooched Sunday dinner off of mom and dad, but had to come home to put our wet sheets in the dryer. Because, like a hobo, I only own one set of sheets. But they're fancy and soft - what more could you want?

No new baby news for this week, other than that the baby is the size of a kumquat. My only ultrasound this week will be on my thyroid, but it's exciting to be only two weeks away from Trimester 2 (and telling the rest of the world. Yes, there are still people in my life who have no idea about the Wolfman.)

Medical Maladies.

Yesterday's problems: solved. Using dad's blood pressure cuff at home, I have had normal readings both this morning and this evening. A little high when I got home from work, but I just took it a few minutes ago after a solid hour of quiet couch time, and it was 116/66. So, better. I think my doctor will approve. My biggest fear is that being diagnosed with high blood pressure will cause him to ground me from flying. I have three weddings and an 80th birthday party to go before Wolfie's arrival!

Also, can I just say - having my thyroid dose adjusted is like a Christmas miracle? I feel like I've been trying to go through the day with a bellyful of NyQuil. Today is the first day in about three weeks that I've been able to stay awake for more than 10 hours straight, and where I haven't had to go sit on my hands or get a hot mug of tea in order to get blood flowing back into my frozen fingers. Better living through chemicals! I highly recommend. Even my coworkers noticed (to be exact, my boss asked me what I was "hopped up on.")

Even better - I found out our health insurance will pay for as many ultrasounds as my doctor recommends. Our previous insurance said they'd only pay for one per pregnancy, so it's nice to know that I can keep looking at the baby without having to worry about a huge bill at the end of all this, just so long as my doctor says it's necessary.

And that's your news for now. Well, that and the fact that Tim purchased his first avocado today for taco salad... and it was as hard as a rock. He has learned an important lesson about avocado ripeness. He joked, "I thought maybe you were buffing about wanting an avocado," to which I replied "I never bluff about avocados."

One. Singular Sensation.

Bad news: I am not having kittens.
Good news: On St. Patrick's Day, I found out that my dream of Irish twins can still come true, because I am not having actual twins (I was going to call biological twins "the old fashioned way" but I think we all know that Irish twins are the true old fashioned way.)
Bad news: my blood pressure is still very reactive, and my thyroid levels are low.
Good news: I already have a prescription to pump up my 'roid (which is great, because hopefully I won't be so freezing cold all of the time) and I've been instructed to use a cuff to take my blood pressure at home, and I'm pretty sure it'll be just fine (it's always normal at the endo's office. But seriously, you can't show me a picture of my baby and expect me to stay calm. I AM A LITTLE HIGH STRUNG.)

BEST NEWS: the baby is looking big and beautiful. AND I heard his heartbeat for the first time. Please view and cry along with me:





Here he is, in all of his nine week old glory. That giant thing is his head, and then his body and little flippers. Growing and changing all of the time! (this week, he's the size of a grape.)

I go back in two weeks to get my blood pressure checked, and I have an endocrinologist appointment coming up as well. They love me at the medical group parking garage.

Cross Your Fingers!

I'm going in for an ultrasound tomorrow to make sure there's only one (healthy, beautiful) little heartbeat in there. Please cross your fingers that it's not twins. I mean, I'm sure they're great, but I'm all for doing this parenting thing one baby at a time. Unless I am in fact, having a whole litter of kittens. Then it would be okay to have more than one. YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY KITTENS.

In other news, I bought the baby some books today. And then I started crying, because I am so excited. Also, hormonal.

Walking With My Baby Down By the San Francisco Bay.

So we're back from a fabulous mini-break in one of my favorite cities of all time, San Francisco! Tim went to attend the Game Developers Conference, and I went because, well, I could! Took a few days off work, booked a trip on Virgin America (super cheap and so convenient!) and weedled my way into Tim's room at the Westin St. Francis in Union Square. Overall, Tim was happy to have me along, as long as I didn't try to hang out with him - he had lots of nerd networking to do. And trust me, there is nothing I am more willing to pass on than an evening meal with a huge group of dorks (the smell alone is enough. I mean, Tim and his friends smell okay, but there is a definite nerd funk. Think of how you'd smell if you wore the same shirt for a few days without showering, and were sweating out fast food. It's like that.)

Mom and Dad both seemed a little worried about me. Mom, that I would freeze to death (I bought a jacket and closed toed shoes) and Dad that I would be bored (thankfully, I'm my own best company. And I have friends in the city.) For me, it was actually perfect. I would walk around, sightseeing and shopping until I felt like eating, then I'd stop and have lunch. Wolfie and I napped every day from three to five pm, and then I'd meet up with a friend for dinner, and then around nine-ish, figure out where my boyfriend was and go say hi to him (we did have dinner on Thursday night with our friends Bob and Nancy, and that was very nice.)

Wednesday I went out to the Mission District and the Castro, because I'd never been out there. Spent most of my time just popping in and out of stores, and walking around until my boots rubbed a blister an inch and a half big on my heel. Thursday I went out to Alcatraz, which I've always wanted to visit. I managed to get on an early boat, and had a nice time checking the place out, even all by myself. It's not as scary as I thought it would be - it's much smaller actually and has pretty gardens. I actually met one of the five remaining survivors of Alcatraz (he was in for theft, but he has found God and been rehabilitated) who was signing copies of his book about his life and his time on the Rock. I thought that was pretty cool. Then I walked back through Chinatown and went charm shopping. Friday it was rainy, so I stuck close to home, browsing through all of the high end stores in Union Square, and then met up with a girl I knew in middle school for lunch, which was a really fabulous flashback. This morning Tim and I unfortunately missed out on the St. Patrick's Day parade, but we had breakfast together and wandered around a little before our flights. And now we're home, and still have tomorrow to rest up before going back to the grindstone.

Tim had a good trip too - he saw all of his former EA boyfriends who are working at companies scattered throughout the land. Stayed up late having booze drinks and went to nerd talks during the day. Tonight we are hanging out with his friend Ed, who just had a birthday. Ed even brought over his own cake, with plenty of frosting. A man after my own heart!

Here are some pictures - now it's almost 10 and I definitely have to go to bed. Cooking Wolfie is a tiring job. I'm nine weeks today, and will get a chance to see him again on Wednesday morning (we're double checking to make sure the second flickering thing in my womb was just the umbilical cord, not a twin. I am really hoping it's not twins. I don't think I could pass two Ford skulls in the same day.)

San Francisco from the boat to Alcatraz

The ROCK.

Noted.

Three stories of 5x8 foot cells. I did get to walk into one of the "solitary" cells, and the guard shut the door behind a bunch of us. It was CREEPY.

The gardens.

Me on the boat ride back, after I pithily texted Tim "Alcatraz actually has a lot in common with the OC. You can see the city, but you don't get to live there." (Don't get all angry, suburban mice. I realize there will be things I'll appreciate more about the OC as my child becomes a viable human being and can attend better public schools than in LA, but I am still a city mouse at heart.)

The Transamerica building as seen from Chinatown.

A little San Francisco street art featuring my totem animal, the raccoon.

Outside an Irish pub. Oh Guinness, how I wish I could dance with you!

You Heard It Here First

(actually, you probably didn't. I probably already squealed to you. Or our parents did after obtaining our permission)

The two Bruins are expecting a cub.

He's pretty good looking, isn't he? This is our 8 week ultrasound picture, taken Friday. You can see that like his father, he has a giant head and a small body. The other little things are the paddles that will eventually grow into arms and legs. Right now, he's roughly he size of a blueberry.

Other than being tired all the time, I feel like a million bucks. We are both SO excited (as are the grandparents, and Auntie Sara.)