Happy Thanksgiving

There are quite a number of things I could blog about, my cousin Janelle's beautiful wedding, our family's Thanksgiving dinner last night, and of course - Jericho and his many growing talents. I can talk about all that later, instead, today I am devoting this post to cranberries. It seems only fitting seeing as the time of year where a tonne of cranberries are consumed are - you guessed it - Thanksgiving.

My dad has been a cranberry farmer for a number of years now. I can't remember how long, but I know it took several years after they were planted for the vines to even be able to produce a single berry. And there have been plenty of frustrations - from Ocean Spray and their ability to control the market price of cranberries - resulting in several farms declaring bankruptcy... to years where as a result of weather or vines being damaged there was low return... it's been a long journey. But of all the jobs my dad has had, I truly believe he is the most passionate about cranberries. You'll have to ask him why... but I think he is just fascinated by them. And he seems to have been able to discover many secrets to having a successful cranberry farm. One is a big word in farming today - diversification.

Now, as a result of the preceding paragraph, some of you may already be sleeping, some may be a little intrigued.. and some may be looking forward to all you may learn about the harvesting of cranberries. Yep. That's what this is all about. My little family and I headed out to one of my dad's fields and watched as the berries were being boomed and slowly sucked up onto a modified blueberry picker. If you have the machinery... why not just make it work for you instead of going out looking for it? It's quite cool to watch actually. I remember being 21 or somewhere around there and helping. I hated it then, but now to be able to see it from the outside seems more exciting somehow.

After we took a bunch of pictures, we headed over to the processing area which is only a few years old in regards to being able to process cranberries. If any of you know where my parent's live, it's just a little ways down closer to the bridge in a big gray and red building. My dad was there and he was pretty much in his glory. I think cranberry harvest just might be his favorite time of the year. He has designed and built a structure that works perfectly for getting berries from point A to B. The trucks that are filled with berries from the bogs unload into an 18' deep cement encasement. The walled area is filled with water for several reasons. One, cranberries float easily. Two, having strong sprays of water slowly moves the berries up conveyor belts. And three, the berries are cleaned as they go through several points being sprayed. After the conveyor belt, there is a shaker area with small holes. The berries fall through and hopefully most leaves and twigs don't. They they go through a blower which takes away remaining leaves and twigs. Then they are dumped into huge boxes and wrapped in plastic ready for freezing, selling, or whatever their destiny may hold.

It was a fun day just to watch all the activity. Jericho had fun too. Apparently he really likes cranberries. I think he ate about 10 or so. And he found some bamboo stick he wouldn't let go of for awhile. All in all, it was about as much fun as the pumpkin patch and a lot less busy!

I took many, many, many pictures... Hopefully you can better understand the process by perusing them. Oh - and we got a 25 lb box of cranberries and if you want a cup or two, come on down.

Random

# of days until my due date: 134
# of months Jericho will be tomorrow: 11
# of steps in a row he took tonight at my moms: 3
# of auditions missed because he can't fully walk yet: 1
# of pictures I need to sift through to pick the ones I want to print for his scrapbook: 1181
# of months of his life not included in that count: 2
# of days until one year of NOT being a church secretary: 17
# of days until my baby turns one: 32

Long Time No Blog

Several people have mentioned to me that my lack of blogging has left them feeling a little out of the loop on my life. I even received a phone call from New York. So, to all my devoted fans - here are the last few weeks in point form... enjoy!

1. Our one night cruise was amazing. We had a great time shopping in Seattle, having a great dinner with friends at the Cheesecake Factory, and the boat! Wow. It was awesome. Nate and I did plenty of exploring and had a fun dip in the hot tub on the front top deck with Steve & Michelle. We saw almost our whole group walk by at one point or the other. For those who may be concerned that a pregnant woman was using a hot tub, this hot tub was more like a warmish bath. I would get out once in awhile to get away from the steam... but it was lovely to just relax. Saturday night I was starting to really miss my boy. I cried for a bit, but got over it once I was on my way to dinner. I even had a pedicure afterwards. There were a lot of different things that were fun and a lot of funny happenstances - like Nate and his pig addiction and Bethany with her mustache. Overall, I am very glad I came and thank my friend Rachael for inviting us.






2. Jericho has been growing like a weed lately, and also developing a tiny bit of an attitude. Those who know him well know that usually when he is startled by loud noises, or people or when we say "no!" that sometimes this results in plenty of tears. I was beginning to think he would be a very sensitive boy, but lately has been much less noise sensitive and almost bully-like to some younger babies. It's nice and not so nice at the same time. I don't want him to be so mean, but I don't want him to cry like a "ahem" baby every time someone speaks to loudly. I'm working on it.






3. I had a bit of a scare last week. I woke up in the middle of the night a few times worrying that there was something wrong with baby #2. I can't explain it, just know that it was a physical feeling and it scared me. A lot. I called the midwife and she did reassure me that because I wasn't experiencing other symptoms, it sounded like nothing. But to keep my eyes open. I am feeling better. We thought that when we went for our ultrasound they would be able to answer any concerns. Which brings me to #4.

4. The ultrasound was a bit of a disappointment. I had these concerns, and she didn't address anything. I know she's only a technician, but she barely said anything of merit besides the fact that my dates may be wrong. She was a very sweet young woman, and I know she's only doing her job, I just wish I didn't have to wait for my midwife to get the results before I know anything. Argh. Plus, if my dates are very wrong that means that my due date will change which means that I may not be half way. Another argh. But I spoke with my midwife today and she said they don't usually change a due date unless it's off by more than 10 days.




5. We went to say a quick goodbye to some friends who are moving away. The day was spend waiting for them to get their U-Haul that they had booked 5 weeks ago. NEVER ever ever rent a U-Haul.



6. Jericho's little friend turned one on Sunday. Tasia has been a fun little friend for him and when her and her parents were over Thursday evening it was fun watching them play. At one point, Tasia was on his wooden walking toy and he was pushing her around. Later they traded spots and she got a turn. They are really cute together. Being at her first birthday reminded me that in a few short weeks my little man will be celebrating his first year as well. Time to plan a party!!!

More Pictures

I realized that I haven't even put up pictures from our trip to the zoo yet!! I have some really cute ones on the camera right now, but the battery died.. so they will have to wait until later. Just know that there is an adorable one of him in his monkey Halloween costume. Not sure where we'll go trick or treating and he can't eat the candy anyways... but the costume was too cute to pass up. Anyways, back a few Saturdays we made a family trek to the zoo. Nate and I hadn't been since just before we were married and that day was miserable. This time it was a HOT September day and the three of us had a great time. We weren't sure how Jericho would react to the animals, if he would notice them at all... but he was really into it. He would just stare at the giraffes, watch the coyotes (which we can see at home), and he even was brave enough to pet a donkey! So enjoy the pictures!

This Friday Nate and I leave for a one night cruise from Seattle to Vancouver. The cruise doesn't leave until Saturday, but we're heading down a day early to shop and have fun with our friends. It should be a good time where we can just get away and it will be interesting to see how the little man does at Grandma & Grandpa's - for two whole nights! Only two more days... I better get working on the laundry...

Oh - and I got this email the other day and it was talking about this massage therapist who was looking for pregnant women as she has a school with 7 students and they need to practice on pregnant people. So it was for a FREE massage with a gift certificate for another FREE massage after baby comes. Sign me up! It's downtown, but I decided that I don't care. I get to relax and feel nice and it won't cost me more than a Skytrain ticket. Plus it's right before we leave for our trip. Perfect. So tomorrow around 1:20 think of me as I make my Homer Simpson drooling noises. Not too attractive, but again.. I don't really care. Afterwards, I'll be heading to my Mom's for a Pampered Chef shower for Janelle. She's getting married soon. Very soon. I asked someone to babysit Jericho for the reception, but I haven't heard back. I better get on that. My list of "to do's" is getting longer..

So Much For Today....

Ever felt like an entire day was wasted? Today the grand plan was that I was going to be an extra in a movie for the very first time. I was excited, and nervous. I didn't receive the call from the agent about where I was supposed to be and when until around 9 last night and she tells me I need to be in North Vancouver by 7:45 am. Pretty much worst case scenario for us. You see, we only have one vehicle and I would have to drive my hubby to work in order to take the car to the set. He works in Richmond. That would mean leaving our house at 5:20, dropping Jericho at G'ma R's and proceeding to drive and drive and drive. I was prepared to make it happen. I was willing to make the sacrifice for the thrill of a new experience. But I was up until 11 doing laundry, I wanted to make sure I only brought the clothes that looked the best on me. Megan even lent me her straightener. *sigh* I finally made it to bed and was counting in my head the few hours of sleep I would get. Then Jericho decided to wake up and cry and scream and basically drive me mad. I find whenever I have something I'm stressed about, he seems to pick up on it. Either that, or he's teething. I finally fell asleep around 12:30 to be woken up by the lovely boy again around 2. It took a long time to fall asleep and when 4:45 rolled around, I told Nate I wasn't going. I had to call my mom and tell her we weren't coming... then called the agent and tell her. That was not a fun phone call. Part of me wishes I had gone, and the other part shakes her violently and says, "you are silly!" I know what I'm like when I haven't slept well, especially when I'm pregnant.

Speaking of which, the midwife says everything looks good. Baby's heartbeat is around 156 and the only worrisome thing is she wants me to get my kidneys tested. My back is a little tender right around my right kidney so I got to make sure everything is hunky-dory. But that other blood test came back and my ferritin levels are just fine.

So overall, I'm happy about my new babe, but sad about missing out on a fun adventure for today. What do you think? Am I a wimp for not going or did I make the right choice?

Clapping!

Yay Me!

Just to let you all know, I am 17 weeks pregnant and have yet to gain a single pound. This is good news. I already have a bunch of weight leftover from last time and according to my midwife, I'm doing GREAT!!!

10 months

In a short two months, my baby will be a year old. I can't believe it. He's growing and learning so fast now. It's really cute when Nate gets home I get to show him the new things he's doing. He's not walking yet, but he'll climb up your leg until he's standing and then slowly walk behind you as he's attached himself to your pant leg. The other day he just started clapping. You could see his little mind work as he first started to just flay his arms then they slowly came together. Rachael noticed first how he only seems to move the one hand when he claps. I got him to do it by saying "yay!!" and now he does it often. Sometimes when he's finished a meal, or sees me smile at him. Very cute.

In relation to my second child, I had a dream about him/her last night. In my dream it was a her. It was time to have her and we went to this private clinic. This weird doctor was there and he was delivering 4 other babies as we waited. He then came out with this beautiful tiny little baby girl with a shock of very dark hair. He gave her to me and told me it was my baby. Ummm... ok.. he hadn't even delivered the one inside me yet. I insisted it was not mine while pointing at my protruding belly. So he took me to the delivery room and delivered, after a very easy labour I might add, the most enormous black baby girl with the biggest afro ever. She was gorgeous, but clearly not mine either. But I had given birth to her and we took her home. Anyone want to take a stab at telling me what THAT dream meant?

I haven't been able to feel the baby much... every once and awhile at bedtime I THINK I can feel it, but it never lasts like it did with Jericho. This might be a more sedate child..here's hoping. I'm also off diclectin as I ran out and I'm on day two of no vomit - a little bit of morning sickness, but not bad. That makes me very happy.

I also started thinking ahead to Jericho's bday. I'm very excited about it. I think it's a big deal and I want to plan a nice little to-do for him. Even though he likely won't remember any of it. Anyhow, enjoy these pictures of my adorable son who I LOVE.

Oh dear me

A couple hours after I posted the below, Jericho developed a rash. We were beyond worried that it was chicken pox... it really looked like it. So we rushed him back to the clinic and I was able to see the same doctor who had just called back with his blood test results. He took one look and said that no, it was not Chicken Pox... thank goodness! But, it is Rodeola Infantum or Three Day Fever. Usually it happens with 6 month to 3 year olds and they get a fever as high as 40 C and it lasts for awhile, then the fever goes away and a rash occurs. One other symptom is little seizures, which I was sure he didn't have, then Nate reminded me of Friday evening when Jericho slept between us and it was like he kept startling... I really hope he wasn't having them. But he is much, much better. Still not eating normally, he seems to prefer bottles to solids, but the doctor said that was good as he needs more fluids.

Just a little update, hope you can keep him in your thoughts as he gets rid of this nasty little disease.

Ottawa

We arrived home from Ottawa yesterday after a brief and harried trip. We were only there for a short 4 days and we crammed so much in that I am still exhausted. I saw the Parliament buildings for the first time, visited the war museum (which was actually cooler than I thought it would be), met my little neice for the first time and she is ADORABLE!!!, spent some time at a relatives lakefront property and fell in love with relaxation... etc. etc. etc. We did a lot and visited a lot and had a good time. The only downside was Jericho developed a high fever on Friday morning and it continued on until after we were home. We didn't have a thermometer with us, but we borrowed someone's and found he had a temperature of 39.2 and he was only warm then, most of the time he was hot. I called the nurse's line and she wasn't all that helpful.. and the nearest hospital was 45 minutes away. The children's tylenol was a lifesaver even though the nights were hard. I'm not used to having a baby who wakes up in the night and just cries for a 1/2 hour. I have never seen him like that and lets just say I hope he doesn't get sick a lot.

All in all it was fun, and it was great to spend time with Nate's family. A very happy 40th anniversary to my in-laws who celebrated on Sunday.

Midwife Appt.

I had my second midwife appt yesterday. They had the results of my blood work, and it turns out I am pregnant for sure. No turning back now. I find I like their scale better because it says I'm 6 lbs lighter than my home scale. Sweet! And I got to hear baby's heartbeat for the first time - it was fast for those who are wondering - 170 bpm. Jericho's was always around 140 or so.

The only thing that came up that was a little negative was that I have to go back for more bloodwork. I don't know if i mentioned it or not, but last time I went I almost fainted. I got so woozy and the room spun and I had to lay down and drink juice. I'm not looking forward to going back, but the lab technicians seem to think I have a risk of having this weird disease called something like Thallanemia or something like that. It basically is something people have from birth and their red blood cells are really small. My midwife doesn't think I have it, or else it would have shown up when I was pregnant with J-Rock. So she wants me to go in for the Ferritin test to see if I have low iron. Which might explain the little red blood cells. Otherwise, I'm doing well and she's really proud of my no-weight gain. I think by this time with J I had gained like 5 lbs. It was all that ice cream.

Speaking of ice cream, it was so hot on our walk to the midwife that we stopped at Marina's for some gelato on the way home. It was just me and the baby so I got a double cone... kinda like a celebratory YAYAY for hearing the baby and stuff... I noticed they had baby cones for free so I got Jericho his first one. He loved it and cried when it was gone - which was quickly.

Anyways, back to the grind!!!

Funny Face

I finally got a couple great shots of Mr. Funny Face. Also, some of him eating his first nectarine.. Enjoy... and so far my weight gain in this pregnancy has been nil and I'm almost 14 weeks. YAY!!

Proof

Potpourri

My son has learned what it means to do chores. We're starting early, need all the help we can get around here. And tonight Nate and I are watching "You've Got Mail" and I sobbed at the part where she had to close her shop. Sobbed. Pathetic. I sure love being pregnant.



The cutest thing Jericho does is this face... most of the time he does when he's happy and being silly. He throws his head back and scrunches up his nose and squints until his little eyes are almost closed... Then he breaths in and out from his nose in the funniest impersonation of a full-on nasal laugh. You cannot look at him while he's doing his face and not laugh. He did it at this older lady at Superstore today. Her husband insisted he was looking for a kiss. I insisted otherwise. How is it possible I have SUCH an adorable kid?

Long Walk

Last night we had a BBQ at my parents house and Nate and I decided to attempt to walk there. We live just over 10km's from them and we only left an hour and 20 minutes to get there in time. But we strapped Jericho's carseat to the back of his stroller and we were off. We made it almost 6 km's before we had to call for a ride so we wouldn't be late. Fairly impressive considering how hot it was.

9 Months

The above title describes both my children. For one, it is the amount of time he has been learning and living in the outside world, and for the other it is the amount of time he/she will spend living inside... all warm and cozy like. It's hard to believe Jericho is as old as he is already. I know 9 months isn't old in any frame of the word, but when it feels like he was just born yesterday, it just makes you realize how fast his little life has been to this point. He's so close to walking. Often, he likes to walk alongside us as we hold his hand. He sometimes can stand for a few seconds as I let go... only when he's standing on something soft of course. And when he eat, he makes these loud grunting noises to make it clear to us he thinks it's unfair we eat like kings while he is stuck with anything ground up and mushy. We give him pieces of our meals to assuage him and it works like a charm until the food is gone and he is left with tiny crumbs.

He had an appointment on Thursday at Childrens with a neuro-surgeon to try and assess what may have been wrong with his spine. Ever since he was tiny he's had this little bone sticking out right above and to the left of his tailbone. People called it his tail which didn't sit with me... period. So it was to my relief that the doctor informed us after a very traumatic x-ray that it was nothing more than a harmless bony mass. The second we notice it causing him discomfort or growing, then we are to go and see him again. But it is no way connected to his tailbone, or his spine.. so it is not a tail! Hallelujah. I had a human boy, not a puppy.

The pregnancy has been relatively uneventful, I've been on diclectin since the day after I found out I was pregnant. I was actually at a stagette and was sitting there thinking that maybe it was possible I was going to have another kid. I found out a couple days later for sure and it's been a lot of nauceousness, but not as much throwing up as last time which is a huge blessing. Jericho is a relatively good baby so taking care of him and being pregnant has so far not been as difficult as I thought. I'm just tired, a lot. But I have a great husband who comes home to often make dinner and play with the boy.

We just got home from church and Nate has just made popcorn. I don't want any, but I want some kind of a snack - oh, that's the other thing.... My appetite has dimished with this pregnancy. Food does not hold the same glory it once did. I fill my plate and get halfway through before I am completely done. It makes me sad sometimes as the food is often quite tasty. Because of this, I have not gained a single pound in my first trimester. It doesn't sound like that great of an accomplishment, but my midwife told me I could go my whole pregnancy without gaining a whole lot of weight. Instead of taking that personally, I've taken it as a challenge. My weight will not get out of control this time. Anyone want to go for a walk???

Jericho has something to tell you

The Searle household will be expanding sometime around
February 14th, 2008!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!