March days

On a scavenger hunt at the PEM

Looking for clues

Dressing up for a Velcro exhibit at the PEM

Celebrating Genevieve's 4th birthday

A peek at #3

Singing the UU principles song with her Sunday school class during Youth Sunday

She purposefully stood in front of the mic and adjusted it to her own height. 

Gathering the collection

The Sunday school classes singing the closing hymn, "This Little Light of Mine"

Another baby in Salem

We figured it was finally time for an official announcement: we're expecting baby #2! We assumed it was especially apt to finally mention the newest family addition as the baby is due in less than two months, and our blog is entitled A Baby in Salem.

We are hoping for the baby to arrive during the Christmas season (in between Christmas Day and Epiphany/Kings' Day/the twelfth day of Christmas). Avonlea Jane did take her time in arriving, but we will definitely have a baby by Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, otherwise, it will be time to start charging rent.

Below are two sonograms taken a little over three months ago.

A busy week in Salem

This weekend was Kids' Day on the Common, and we took Avonlea Jane to enjoy the hay bale maze. She got a kick out of doing it herself and did over and over and over again.




Avonlea Jane has been getting more excited about Baby Brother as Mommy's belly gets bigger (and as she reads more books about new babies and becoming a big sister). She's always eager to tell people Mommy has a baby in her belly, and I quite often have to keep her from lifting up my shirt in public to show people the belly. Several times throughout the day she'll ask to touch or listen to the baby.



Avonlea Jane loves the book The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone and Michael Smollin, which she calls "Monster Book." Here she is reading it to herself before asking Daddy to finish it.

Every week, the Peabody-Essex Museum has a story time that generally focuses on one of the exhibits. There is an activity, a story, and then a craft for the kids. (Ex: One week the museum put out some new Korean fans in their Korean gallery, and that week the kids learned a traditional Korean dance, heard a story about Korean cooking, and then made their own fans.) This last week wasn't focused on an exhibit; it was about pumpkins for Halloween. Following story time, though, we went to a new contemporary art exhibit in the museum that Avonlea Jane enjoyed more than any other exhibit she's visited.

The East India Marine Hall was transformed by the Freeport [No.001]: Charles Sandison exhibit, where digital projections of the words of 18th-century ship captains' logs are animated in the patterns of trade routes. The paths of the words are also dictated by real-time weather conditions in Salem, so occasionally you'll see a cloud go over the words. Avonlea Jane was simply mesmerized by the exhibit, and in the video of it, you can hear her squawking in the background.

How the East India Marine Hall normally looks:

During the exhibit:

This week, instead of having story time, the PEM had an animal trainer come in with an assortment of animals for the kids to see. Avonlea Jane was so excited about it and talked about all night the night before. The trainer brought in a rabbit, tortoise, chinchilla, tarantula, milk snake, hedgehog, boa constrictor, bearded dragon, alligator, and flying squirrel. With the exception of the tarantula, every child got the chance to pet each animal. Avonlea Jane was most delighted by getting to pet the alligator and watching the bearded dragon chase and eat bugs.

Below: Avonlea Jane playing in the nature/discovery center after the animal show.

After the museum, we went to Crunchy Granola Baby to look at newborn cloth diapers, and Avonlea Jane found a newborn-sized doll. We've been talking a lot about how things will be with the new baby (baby brother won't be able to play with you; you'll have to be very gentle with the baby; he'll spend a lot of the day having mummies) and trying to expose her to as many infants as possible. When Avonlea Jane found the doll, she took "baby brother" to the couch, climbed up, and gave him mummies for a few minutes.

She then declared, "Mummies all done. Diaper change time." She put the doll down and found a bin of cloth diapers, covers, and wipes. She gathered her supplies and set to changing the baby.

Guess who's looking forward to being Mommy's helper.

9.5 month details

This weekend I hit 9.5 months. As enjoyable as the end of my pregnancy has been, I am glad this is the end. I am definitely ready to have a baby on the outside. Our most recent midwife appointment was Wednesday when there was some excitement because a baby was born just as we came in the door. We've been at the birth center when a mom was coming in to deliver, but this was the first time we were there when the baby was born. While our midwife was busy cleaning up, we went over to the hospital to have some lab work done. I just needed a complete blood count, but I had been putting it off for two weeks. While we were in the lab waiting room, David actually got a phone call from Sister Mary Hemophilia reminding him of his Catholic duty to donate blood every six weeks. Thank goodness there are people like David who are willing to have blood drawn for the sake of strangers, while I have to be coerced into doing it for my own health and family. I was not as big of a baby as the first time, but I'm happy all the blood work is over, and I'm even happier that I was able to arrange having my blood drawn only twice during pregnancy.

I was very concerned that all of my panicking about the blood work would raise my blood pressure for my appointment. I had been a little concerned about it because I have gotten really puffy in the last two weeks (if you look at the maternity photos, my poor hands look like catchers' mitts, and I can no longer wear any rings), but my blood pressure was just where it has been, 90/50.

As we're heading into the home stretch, I have been busy trying to turn the baby who has been posterior (with its back in line with mine). I had acupressure last weekend which really helped to alleviate some of the lower back pain caused by a posterior baby, and it was able to move the baby slightly. Since then I have been doing positioning exercises every day which hopefully will help. (15% of babies enter labor in the posterior position and most will rotate at some point. It is not dangerous in itself to have a posterior baby, but the labors are generally considerably longer and more painful than anterior labors.) The baby has also dropped which is good news because it means that we're getting closer, and it makes it easier to breathe, but I have a more pronounced pregnant gait, and I go to the bathroom a lot more frequently.

The waiting game has begun though, and as much as I like games, I don't care for this one. When it comes to surprises like "boy or girl?" at least then we know it is either one or the other. That is not much of a surprise. When I think about the fact that I could pregnant for another 29 days before I become dangerously post-dates, it seems like way too many options for the baby's birthday. Perhaps there is a reason that patience is a virtue.

Shower photos

Here are some pictures from the shower taken by Brittany and Brett (which unfortunately means that Brett is not in any of the photos.)


These were the favors that Brittany gave out: a bag of frosted sugar cookies shaped like baby carriages, teddy bears, stars, and sheep (the sheep were in honor of my dream of becoming a sheep farmer some day) and a baby carriage cookie cutter. Brittany assured us that the ribbon color was only because they didn't have others. It appears it doesn't matter though as nearly everyone we know thinks that we are having a baby girl. I don't know how everyone is so sure (it must be all of the stock you put in old wives' tales), but I hope we don't have a lot of people sitting on secret stashes of girly clothing who may wind up being disappointed. David and I did have a guess in the beginning of the pregnancy, but the closer we get to the birth, the closer we are to the middle of "boy or girl."

We weren't able to get everyone in a shot, but most of the ladies in attendance were captured at some point. From left to right are: Michele, Bridget, Gail, Mary Valentine, and Anna. Everyone here is in our board game group with the exception of Bridget who is an Emerson alum.


These lovely ladies are Brandy (who came up from New York and is my best friend from IU) and Barbara who I met through a book club and who is also in our board game group.

Anna, Brittany (our lovely hostess, game player, and neighborhood pal), and myself.

Measuring Barbara's guess at my belly circumference. I have to say that I'm glad I was dressed presentably for lunch, but I do wish that I had known...I wouldn't have worn my hair in a ponytail. However, at nine months pregnant, I'm thinking I can get away with pretty much anything and it would be socially acceptable.

Trying out the guess of Donna (who is peaking behind me: a fellow game player). Clearly Donna lost this game, but my own guess at the belly circumference wasn't that much different. You would think I would be better at estimating my own body size.

Again, another big thanks to Brittany and everyone else who made the shower so much fun whether they were able to be in attendance or not.

Nine Month Surprises

A lot of you know that I had a baby shower this last Sunday...a surprise baby shower. It appears my life is full of sneaky friends and family members. I was honestly surprised and overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and generosity from everyone.

I did know leading up to it that David was keeping a secret, but I wasn't sure about what. I thought because of David's insistence that we have lunch at Brittany and Ian's (our lovely hosts) instead of at our house that there had to be a special reason to go there. Then, when he was pushing me out of the bathroom so that we wouldn't be late in getting there (Note: never rush a pregnant woman in the bathroom), I was convinced that I was going to spend the day watching football. I thought for sure that we needed to go over there because they have an HDTV and we don't and David didn't want to miss kick-off.

The shower was definitely a pleasant surprise, and the fact that I didn't have to watch football was just icing on the cake. Other than a shower thrown for my brother Dillon in 1991, I have never attended a baby shower, and I had a wonderful time. Big thanks go out to everyone who was a part of the surprise and especially to Brittany who put so much hard work and creativity into making it special. David and I were both very happy to get the opportunity to celebrate our little one. As soon as I get copies of the photos from Brittany I will post them on the blog. (The above photo is just one marking nine months.)

Other happy news: Mabel had her surgery on Wednesday and wound up having five teeth extracted. The reason behind the surgery was that she has a genetic disorder that attacks the tendons and roots in her mouth, making her teeth loose, which can lead to severe infection. We knew that she had some sort of problem, because even at under 2 months old, she didn't have a full mouth of teeth. However, infection wasn't really a problem until she hit 2 years old. She may need to have more work done in the future, but currently she has a clean bill of health. Because of the modern cat diet, which doesn't include a lot of tearing and shredding, Mabel doesn't need a full mouth of teeth to be healthy. (You can see in this ferocious photo taken by Brett before Mabel's surgery that she already didn't have a complete bottom row of teeth between her lower canines.)

Her surgery went really well and she's recovering nicely, but she did look pitiful when we brought her home. She's now back up to full activity and eating soft food regularly for the next few days. David has been really wonderful with her, especially in administering her medicine. She hates it so much that I cry every time she needs it, and so David has to do it by himself.

Other sad news: Our television died this morning. It was a sad death preceded by a pop, fizzle, and then what sounded like the death cry of a wounded cricket that persisted until it was unplugged. Considering what I paid for the TV in 2003 and what it would cost to repair it, it is totalled. So today has been spent reading electronic reviews online, and tomorrow morning will be spent at Best Buy. I'm sure this is good news for Best Buy, as I can't imagine very many people are rushing out to buy TVs during a major recession. If it weren't for football season, David might have tried to push the purchase back a while, as Desperate Housewives and Oprah wouldn't be enough of a motivator. Thus, I can't believe I'm saying it, but thank goodness for televised football!

Playing Catch Up/ Maternity Portraits

I realize that it has been a long time since the blog was updated, and judging from the angry mob bearing pitchforks and torches that showed up in my e-mail inbox, clearly you've noticed as well. I promise I didn't fall into a wormhole or suddenly forget that I was having a baby, but I have been really sick for the last couple weeks. I'm not normally one to medicate, but after a week, David convinced me to get some pregnancy-approved medication to make life with me bearable. I'm feeling a lot better but I'm still sleeping a lot and don't have a great deal of energy. Sounds like I'm nine months pregnant, huh? Oh, I should mention, I hit nine months last weekend. This coming weekend, I hit term (37-42 weeks). When I haven't been groggy in bed or on the sofa, I have been in the middle of a wicked crazy nesting storm that has included mopping the kitchen several times a day and trying to avoid raking our dirt basement.

Other news: Haunted Happenings, the month-long Halloween festival in Salem kicked off on October 2 with its annual opening locals-only parade. David and I and our friend Bridget, equipped with hot cider and fried dough, enjoyed watching all of the local elementary schools parade in costume according to this year's theme "Never-Neverland." We also hosted our last gathering before our duo becomes a trio: a potluck game night. We do have some unfortunate news; our precious kitties were unable to perform in the Official Cat of Salem Contest. Due to being sick, I was lagging on getting their costumes completed, and we thought it would be too stressful to be in public for Mabel considering she has a surgery coming up this week (the reason she needed the earlier echocardiogram and EKGs). There's always next year...

A big thing that happened in the last two weeks was that we had maternity photos taken. Our friend Brett Alison is a local photographer who primarily does weddings, but she also took some wonderful family portraits for us this spring before my parents' 25th wedding anniversary. Here are some highlights of that session:

Brett recently decided that she would like to branch into maternity portraits and asked if we would mind if she took some of us to use for her portfolio. She really had to twist our arms for that. Below is a slideshow of some of our unedited favorites.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

(If you are in Massachusetts and looking for an event photographer, check out Brett's webpage at: http://www.brettalison.com/)

Last chance weekend getaway

At 34 weeks we decided to go for a little mini-holiday, our last one before making the shift from duo to trio. Also, we always stay in B&Bs, but we have never stayed in one where children under 16 could stay, so we needed to say goodbye to that tradition before becoming strictly hotel people. (Actually, the host where we stayed this weekend did tell us that he loves when little ones come and it has never been a problem; he even keeps a pack 'n' play and a highchair in storage--just in case.) We needed to go somewhere close to home because I certainly wasn't up for a long trip in the car, and we decided to go down Cape to Sandwich, which is just at the start of the Cape and is the oldest town on Cape Cod.

By looking at this picture--looking past the people swimming, you can faintly see the rest of the Cape in the distance, curving around. (We did not get in the water, though we we did test the temperature. The air temp. was 70, and the water is actually as warm as it generally gets, putting it roughly at still "too damn cold.")

The Sandwich boardwalk

We didn't have the best weather, even though it was fairly warm still. The forecast called for straight rain all weekend. We were lucky enough to have occasional breaks in the rain, but it was still wet and overcast the majority of the time. We were pleased to have the occasion to head down to the beach though. Even though we live by the beach, we don't have dunes on the North Shore.

The Hoxie House, the oldest standing house on Cape Cod, dated 1637 and inhabited (without plumbing, heat, or electricity) until the 1950s when the town purchased it.

The oldest cemetery on Cape Cod.

The still-working Dexter Grist Mill in central Sandwich.
A handsome man on the beach
and his wife--

his very pregnant wife, who can't see her toes.

When we first got into town, we sat down with the host of the B&B to talk about what to do while in Sandwich, as we had made no plans before coming down. He was telling us about things to see within walking distance and one of his first comments was: "I don't know if you know what an Artesian well is..." Ha ha. (For those who don't know, we grew up in Martinsville, Indiana: Home of Artesian Mineral Water. In school we were the Martinsville Artesians, and our mascot was a well.) Below is a picture of David drinking from an Artesian fountain.

The next thing that he said to us was: "You're probably not Elvis fans." (We clearly look like people without taste.) We quickly informed him that not only was the CD currently playing in our car a collection of Elvis's #1 hits, but our first trip we ever took together was to Graceland. He explained to us that the First Church of Sandwich was chosen by Elvis to grace the cover of his album How Great Thou Art.

The main attraction in Sandwich is the Sandwich Glass Museum dedicated to the glass trade of Sandwich.

During a glass blowing presentation, David volunteered to help with pressing a glass suncatcher. (The picture didn't exactly turn out.) When he was done with his duties, he got to keep the piece made yesterday, which had fully cooled, as a souvenir.
While we were on Cape, it was the annual CLASH festival (Cape Land and Sea Harvest) where you can participate in all sorts of harvest activities (sheep sheering, bog flooding, lobster trapping, etc.) The weather wasn't cooperative enough for some of the festival's activities, but we were able to go to a few tastings. (We were very sad to have missed the lecture series on raising chickens at home.) One of the tastings we went to was held at a nature preserve founded by the author of the Peter Cottontail stories, where they had a jam kitchen operating in the same manor as during 1908. We were able to taste all sorts of cranberry preserves, sauces, jams, and relishes. In one of their display areas, they had this above sign that read: "Hail to the Hoosier." I didn't realize that David wasn't looking at the display when I asked him, "What do you think a Hoosier is?" To which he replied, "By now, you should know that no one knows." Smart ass.
We were sad that we didn't get the opportunity to tour a flooded bog being harvested, but for those who have never seen one, the above picture is of a dry cranberry bog.

Despite the weather, we had a great time and were pleased to get the opportunity for a weekend trip before the birth of the baby. On our way home, we even stopped by the Adams National Historic Site in Quincy for U.S. Citizens Day, when everyone can tour for free. And David saw for the first time the birthplace of Despite the weather, we had a great time and were pleased to get the opportunity for a weekend trip before the birth of the baby. On our way home, we even stopped by the Adams National Historic Site in Quincy for U.S. Citizens Day, when everyone can tour for free. And David saw for the first time the birthplace of John Adams, the birthplace of John Quincy Adams, and the home of four generations of the Adams family.