pictures of baby D

 

We had a baby!  To protect the privacy (hah!) of our brand new addition, we’re only going to call him “D” on the blog.

 

  

sardines

 

We’ve now reached the point where I’m blogging about what I had for lunch.  It’s time to have this baby, am I right?

Today, on the two-hundred eighty-something’th day of this pregnancy, I finally got around to eating sardines.  I’ve been meaning to eat them for years, and it’s hard to put my finger on exactly why I never managed to do so. 

The pros of sardines are fairly obvious: fish is healthy and sardines are an inexpensive, low-mercury variety that comes in convenient shelf-stable packaging.  What about the cons?  While I have no beef with fish, or with canned tuna, I simply could not get past the can and the question of how to prepare the presumably cold and slimy contents. 

Seriously, I’ve had (different tins of) sardines lurking in the pantry for at least five years.

I’m well rested from taking PTO now and not making any plans, and maybe I’m emboldened by the challenge of our labor-to-come.  In any case, today was the big day.

The worst part was opening the can, which flicked oily tomato sauce in several directions as it opened.  Good thing my cheap, stretched out maternity top already had a stain on it…  The fish itself, which was packed in like a full term baby the day after the due date, was bigger than I imagined.  There were no heads or eyeballs to be found.  Perhaps I was picturing anchovies all along?

I figured that with enough parsley, some lemon and some good toasted bread they couldn’t be that bad.  And it was actually pretty good.  I feel so grown up.

house building timeline

 

Here’s a timeline of the house-building project.  It’s hard to say how long many of the steps will take, but this at least shows some of the dependencies.  The biggest questions is, of course, how much it will cost, which determines when we’ll be able to break ground.  I’d imagine that this is an ambitious timeline and that it will take much longer than this, but it will be worth the wait!

transit and construction update

Seattle is growing and we’re in the center of it!  Aside from the enormous (stalled) SR 99 tunnel project, there are several other exciting projects going on around us.

map of nearby projects

First Hill Streetcar

The streetcar (shown in black and red) on the map on the left is set to open later in 2014.  It will be really handy for my commute from our future house to work, assuming I keep the same job.

23rd Avenue Redesign

Work to make our (future neighborhood) section of 23rd Avenue safer will begin later this year.  It includes cutting four lanes down to three, adding wider sidewalks and better lighting.

Yesler Terrace Redesign

We’ll be walking by this construction site for the next 20 years.  Building has begun on Boren and another little piece that will start this year is a cool new staircase connecting Yesler Terrace to the International District via 10th avenue South (the yellow line on the map above).

Link Light Rail to the South

In late 2016 the Angle Lake light rail station at Pacific Highway and S 200th Street is supposed to open.  It’s closer to my parents’ which will be nice.  By 2023 another stop will open at Kent-Des Moines road.

Link Light Rail to the North

The Capitol Hill and UW light rail stations are set to open in 2016. 

dastardly catastrophe: the end of the apostrophe!

Despite having studied linguistics, I’m really not a grammar maven.   Of course, I certainly enjoy listening for speech patterns and I have some pet peeves.  For example, I think the distinction between “you’re” and “your” is really important.

infant safety: what’s changed in the last 30 years?

I want to share a little bit of baby safety research for our parents, some of whom haven’t been around babies much for the last 30 years, give or take.

spring is sprung and flower identification

You’ve probably seen the headlines that this was Seattle’s wettest March since record keeping began in the 1890’s.  However, Jack and I both thought it was a pretty nice month.  Having some good weather fall on weekends makes a big impression. 

baby prep time

A few weekends ago, my sister and friend threw an absolutely fabulous baby shower for us.  It was lovely to see so many (female) friends and family and all of the thoughtful gifts make the baby more of a reality. 

rainfall comparison and the Sequim Banana Belt

We spent the holiday weekend in Sequim, hoping for a little break from the typical winter rain.  As it turns out, a storm went through most of Western Washington, so it didn’t really work out to be a dry weekend.  On the bright side, we did have clear weather for most of Sunday so we walked Dungeness Spit and the bluffs nearby.

not even a fair weather fan

As you may have heard, the Seahawks won the super bowl and Seattle celebrated a major championship for the first time in many years. 

winter picnic 2014

(see winter picnic 2013)
This year I (temporarily) took on a little bit of responsibility at the picnic as my parents were out of the country.  We survived and by the time time picnic started the rain had cleared.

pregnancy reads

These are the best books we’ve come across so far, related to pregnancy, birth and babies.  I checked out lots of books from the library, read many of them and bought a few.  There are thousands of books on the subject so figuring out what to read can be tough and I hope this post is helpful to friends.

well-aged pictures from our Grand Adventure!

So, in the two years that we’ve been back, I’ve finally managed to sort through the 10,384 pictures we took on our big trip. 

nursery rhyme Jack

Behind the scenes, we are quietly making lists of potential baby names.  Jack’s parents did a great job choosing his name.  They managed to pick a familiar classic at the absolute nadir of it’s popularity, in the 1980’s. 

hiking report 3

previous hiking reports: 1, 2

5-7 July 2013 -  Lake Ozette and Cape Alava, Olympic Peninsula

• We hiked in and out by ourselves but camped and walked the beach with Tiffany, Johnny, Kendall, Scott and Kristina
•  http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/lake-ozette
• 9.4 miles out and back plus lots of beach walking

W.A.C = We Acquired Clearance/ Water Availability Certificate

We got a special early Christmas present form Seattle Public Utilities, which boils down to the right to build (sanely) on the land we already own.  What a relief!

2013 in review

The themes that carried us through 2013 were pregnancy and house-design, so if I had to pick one word to described the year, it would be anticipation.

anticipating the view

We’re still working with Seattle Public Utilities on a realistic solution to the water main/access issue (it’s a long, and still-changing story…). 

current house design, with no explanation

why Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday

I love Thanksgiving.   It is so simple.   People + food + a festive attitude = Thanksgiving.  Religion, gift giving and expectations do not factor into the equation. Because it’s so close to Christmas and people are likely to save cross country travel for the end of the year, there’s a love-the-one-you’re with and the-more-the-merrier sensibility to Thanksgiving.  Also it is always a much-needed four-day weekend.