SisuLiz

You Keep Me Hangin On

I'm really not sure if this is a real product or if it's like that baby toupee thing that was going around awhile back.  But, seriously.... 

 

Maybe it's not something that I can really judge until I've been there myself, but doesn't this look a little odd to you? 

Let's say you're in the stall, and that little girl starts swinging her legs around while she's hanging up there.  Maybe she's just in a playful mood and is having some fun, or maybe she's just freaked out from being harnessed into that.  But there you are, trying to take care of your business as quickly as possible and all of your neighboring stall mates hear a banging sound coming from the door.  You think they might be a little concerned about what's going on inside?  Also, you know those stall doors never lock properly.  One little movement from your lovely little one and the door (with your child hanging from it) is wide open for the entire public restroom to see you.

Maybe this is a completely ingenious invention that I fail to see the real value in now.  I promise that if I really think this particular harness is a great idea later on that I will swallow my words and sing its praises.  And it's not that I think now that its going to be easy to have a little baby or toddler in a public restroom with me when that situation should arise, but this whole concept just makes me laugh a little.

And, someone please tell me why the company selling this decided to use this as one of their promotional pictures (this poor child!):

One of My Favorite Days of the Year

Just two short days left before Thanksgiving, and I'm ready for it to come.  I've always loved Thanksgiving; it's definitely one of my favorite holidays.  How could I not love something that combines crisp fall weather, yummy comfort food, and surrounding yourself with family and friends? 

I think what I also like about Thanksgiving is that it has a real sense of tradition about it.  With the exception of Christmas (which is my other favorite holiday), there aren't very many holidays that feel that way.  Fourth of July?  Fireworks and barbecues are fun, but nothing about it really eschews traditions that will be carried on from year to year.  Valentines Day?  Eh.  I'm all for Romanticism, but it just screams "Hallmark" to me (I know, I know, Christmas isn't driven by marketing AT ALL).  Memorial Day?  Great holiday for what it means, but really, it's just a day off work.

For my family, Thanksgiving starts off watching the Macy's Day parade on TV.  My sister and I have done this as long as I can remember.  At first, it was a great way to distract us while my parents got to work on the meal, then as the years went on, it was on in the kitchen while we helped my parents out.  After the parade is over, it's officially "OK" to play Christmas music.  Any Christmas music played before Thanksgiving in my parents house is strictly verboten.  I've always really liked that, and appreciate it more now, when the malls get decked out in Christmas decorations the day after Halloween and the local radio station starts playing holiday music 24/7 at the beginning of November. 

Then there's the food.  You know with Thanksgiving that you can always expect certain things.  With my family it was turkey (duh), stuffing (no cornbread, sausage or oysters in ours, just regular herbed stuffing with diced apples and onions), sweet potatoes (usually pureed), mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce (with real cranberries, not the canned kind), creamed onions (I haven't found anyone else yet who had this at Thanksgiving every year), and lots of pies (homemade only).  My family was not a green bean casserole family.  I know that this is sacrilege in some American families, but we never were into the goopy concoction of mushroom soup, fried onions and soggy green beans.  To me that just sounds gross; but hey, to each his own!

Speaking of food, since my husband and I started hosting our own Thanksgiving dinners a few years ago, we've relied on one turkey recipe that has now become our own tradition and has served us incredibly well.  I absolutely swear by Alton Brown's recipe and method for roast turkey.  The major key to this recipe is brining the turkey.  I came across this in Bon Appetit magazine a few years back when we were hosting our first Thanksgiving dinner, and we've never gone back.  If you are looking for a good turkey recipe, I highly recommend checking it out:

Alton Brown, Bon Appetit Roast Turkey

With apologies to Alton, I do take a few liberties with the recipe.  We still stuff the bird, despite his warnings that stuffing is evil.  And, instead of the foil breastplate that he recommends for the second stage of cooking, we use a pound of bacon and create a "bacon breastplate" that we leave on the bird for the duration of cooking.  Bacon and turkey cooking together for hours in the oven makes the most AMAZING smell.  Yummmm...I'm looking forward to Thursday even more now.

What are your Thanksgiving traditions?  What are your tried and true recipes that without them, it just wouldn't be Thanksgiving?

Type A is Kicking In

Yesterday, I went to an infant education/prep class that my company provides on a regular basis for expecting parents.  Classes are held once a month, and topics range from shopping and preparing for the baby to reviewing newborn characteristics and behaviors.  Yesterday's class was about the unexpected things that can happen to you during pregnancy, like having to go on bed rest or being diagnosed with preecclampsia.  It's really a pretty nice perk and something I'm glad that is available to me.

Yesterday was my first class since I've registered with the program and I went in as a "newbie", not knowing entirely what to expect.  When I arrived, there were about 8 other women in attendance, along with the class instructor.  I took a seat alongside them around a large conference table.

The class instructor asked us all to introduce ourselves, and as we went around the room, I began to realize that everyone else was much further along in their pregnancies than I am, and that I was the only one at the table who wasn't visibly pregnant.

As the instructor talked about the topic of the day, she periodically made reference to symptoms or events that happen at various stages during pregnancy.  As she did this, she would take a poll of the room to see how many people were affected by something like swelling of the feet or gestational diabetes.  In every case, everyone was able to say yes or no, and then she would look at me and say "It's too early for you to be experiencing that yet", or "You won't have to deal with that for a few more months". 

First of all, I have to say that the instructor was nothing but polite and kind when she was saying these things to me; however, it made me crazy!!  I know that this is COMPLETELY irrational and ridiculous, but I felt like a complete underachiever!  It was like being back in school and it was that one day that you were caught not doing your homework from the night before and the teacher totally called you out on it.  I was actually sitting there in that conference room, mentally trying to figure out how I could fast forward to a later point in my pregnancy so I wouldn't be "that girl" who couldn't participate in the discussion.  Or maybe, I'm just a really quick learning and mature pregnant person and I'll get to some of these symptoms and phases earlier than others. 

Uh, yeah.  I realize that this is a complete sickness and just my Type-A, desire to be in control coming through.  So, I get it.  Being pregnant is something that I actually don't have any control in, and that this is nature at its best trying to tell me to let go and just live in the moment.  Good lesson to learn now, because I know that I'm not going to be able to be in control every minute when this little one comes in May (although, I'm not saying I still won't try!). 

The only thing that's sort of scary about this is that while it's completely OK for me to want to be an overachiever (even when the circumstances are completely ridiculous to do so), I don't want to make my kid (feel horrible not having a name that's more endearing...maybe when we find out if its a boy or girl) feel like he/she has to or should overachieve as well.  I really don't picture myself being that type of parent, the one that's always telling their kid to keep trying until they have it perfect, so that gives me some peace.  But, who am I to know until I'm really there?  I thought I'd also love being pregnant and enjoy every minute (which I actually really am right now), but then the absurd craziness kicks in.  What's to stop that from kicking in when there's a living, breathing child with real life things going on?

I guess that's not really something for me to stress about at this point, and just something for me to keep in mind as that time comes around.   Eh...blame all the craziness on the pregnancy hormones and hope that its just a passing phase :)

I Feel a Change is Going to Come

This past Saturday we co-hosted an engagement party at our house for two of our loveliest friends.  The evening was fantastic, and we had a great time throwing the party and getting to meet our friends' friends. 

The next day, after the party was over, I had one of my first "moments of clarity" about the pregnancy and baby that will be here in a little less than a calendar year.  I don't know how I missed it when we were actually planning the party, but I realized that this was probably the last real "adult" party we would have for at least a long time.  That's a really obvious realization, I know, but I really didn't think of it before hand. 

I love having parties and people over to our house, I used to always be the person who would try and persuade people to stay just a little longer, and loved when having people over went into the wee hours of the morning.   Uh, don't think that's going to be happening when there's a little one asleep in the nursery upstairs and I'm worried that everyone isn't keeping their voices down low enough.

Maybe I'm completely wrong and will be surprised, or maybe life can still continue as we've known it, but just with some big modifications.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about big parties at the house that go into the early morning hours or about staying out late at night and getting home without a care in the world.  Let's be honest, how many times did I really do that in my "previous life"?  I'm not trying to be naive, or be in denial about what is coming down the road.  I know that when May gets here, my life will change so much that the little things I'm thinking about now will mean nothing.  And I honestly don't have any problems with that, and can't wait to embrace that. 

But is it all just a part of the way a person changes as they go through life?  For example, am I the same person I was in high school (God, I hope not!)?  People change because its necessary and because its a reflection of your true self.  I think what's strange about how people are perceived to have changed when they have a baby, or even get married, or go through another life changing event, is that it happens all at once, and that change is so pronounced.  However, I think the larger question here is how do you not lose yourself entirely in the changes and hold on to something, even if it's just a small piece, of the person you were before.  Is that possible? Does that even matter?

My latest project

I’ve been slack on posting lately. Mostly due to a lengthy trip I was on for work, with out of town weddings to attend in the weekends in between. But, I’m back in town now and will be until we travel to see my parents in Pittsburgh for Christmas.

Outside of work and the traveling we’ve done on weekends, there is a bit more going on that’s kept us busier than normal and should keep us even busier for at least the next 18 ½ years or so.

In case you missed that, I’m about 3 months pregnant. I’m at 14 weeks now, so that makes my due date May 10^th (or about – we’ll see what the child wants it’s birthday to be). We couldn’t be happier about everything and are really looking forward to May getting here.

Overall, I have been feeling OK. I thought I was going to get lucky and escape the dreaded morning sickness, but I got hit with it around 9 weeks and dealt with it really up until a few days ago. So, I’m hoping that I’m over that now and that it won’t be coming back anytime soon. I was pretty tired during the first trimester; but, eh…I can’t really complain about that too much, and I’m feeling a lot more energetic now.

For those of you who don’t know all the in’s and out’s of pregnancy; no, we don’t know what we’re having yet. Yes, we definitely want to find out and that will come in the next 5 or 6 weeks, hopefully right before we leave for Christmas.

I'm going to try and keep up with updates and news here; so check back and I'll hopefully have news to share on an ongoing basis.

So, yes, things have been busy, and obviously they are going to get busier than we can ever know right now.  But we can’t wait for that to come and everything that comes with it.