2010 2.0

2010 was a big year, and not at all like I thought it would be.

We started out the year not knowing where we would live during its second half. I left a job which left me less than inspired at the end of the workday, though I worked for and with some wonderful people. My husband became an actual degreed and practicing M.D. We had the opportunity to travel in Southeast Asia again - six full weeks, in addition to several more weeks spent roaming, visiting family, apartment searching in and moving to LA - totaling about three months of complete free time with my husband.

I got pregnant. We moved across the country. I taught music and theater again. I got into yoga again. I spent most of the year thinking and dreaming about - and preparing for - my first baby's birth. Our beloved cat, who's been with us for almost a decade, nearly died and then bounced back with the help of modern (veterinary) medicine and is just about as good as new. He also learned how to climb up on my pregnant belly and hug me around the neck. It's all about adapting, really.

2010, you were good. Here's to you.

Christmas

We did not have a lonely Christmas, after all. Matt (miraculously) had Christmas Day off, so his parents and brother flew to LA to celebrate with us. We had such a great time. But we didn't really get any good pictures.



Matt and I exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve. Really, no good pictures here, either. But a really fun evening.

We didn't actually put anything in Fela's or the baby's stocking.


Lindsay likes new jewelry


Matt likes new henley shirts

švestkové (meruňkové) knedlíky

aka plum (apricot) dumplings (I used Google Translate to figure out how to actually say/type this in Czech).

This year my mother-in-law taught me how to make this Pavelka family favorite dish...truly one of my husband's favorite things ever - probably because they typically only show up about once a year, in September, when the special small plums that are used to make this dish are in season. We made them with apricots and they were delicious. MIL does not use a recipe to make these - the hands-on instruction was, therefore, invaluable - and very fun.

You wrap each individual fruit in a doughy shell of dumpling and then boil. The juices are locked inside the dumpling. You then cut them up, remove the stone, and top with cottage cheese, cinnamon-sugar, and butter. (If you are not by now wishing you were Czech, there is something wrong with you.)





Matt was on call the day/night that we made them, so he enjoyed his knedliky for breakfast when he got home in the morning. You can see his excitement - in spite of the sleep deprivation.



sexy sexy knedliky!

Moonmories

Too much rain to see the solstice lunar eclipse from LA tonight. But I'm remembering the first lunar eclipse I ever saw. I was about six or seven, with my parents, out late at night at an outdoor concert (at Ironworld, if that means something to you). It was summertime. It was astounding then. I'm sure it would be astounding tonight...but I'll just have to be content to reminisce instead of watch. Good night.

A week spent sitting on my butt.

I've been sick with an awful cold since Tuesday. I have only left the house a handful of times and only for a little while at a time. I guess I have been trying to enjoy the luxury of only having myself to look after...the next time I get an awful cold, I doubt I'll be able to freeze everything and lie around for a week...or so I hear...from people who are parents.

I have a lengthy to-do list that I was looking forward to tackling. I have not made much of a dent in it. Even the easy little things that I can do from home - thank you notes, starting to pack a bag, etc. - I've been much more inclined to do absolutely nothing except work through the first few seasons of Grey's Anatomy on Hulu. Yes, Grey's Anatomy. Yes, I am ashamed of myself.

I was pretty certain that I would feel better today, and I looked forward to getting out of the house. When I woke up this morning, I felt like complete shit and resigned myself to another day on the couch. I had no complaints. I was happy with my OJ, cough drops, blanket, TV and sometime lap cat. UNTIL about 10:45 PM tonight, when I suddenly felt a huge surge of vitality and energy (completely unrelated, I am sure, to the massive amount of Nutella I had just consumed) and a need to get some shit DONE. Did I mention that it has been pouring rain all day? I'm still sick, there is no way I'm going out in this rain at 11:30 on a Saturday night, and yet I'm stuck here with my energy surge and a big to-do list and did I mention that it's almost midnight???

It is going to be a long night.

It's serious

36b.

36a.

Whenever I want a good laugh, I look back at older pregnancy photos I posted on this blog and remember how I thought I was "sooooooo biiiiiig." Ha.

35.

My parents arrived in LA today. They are going to stay for a week and help me finish setting up the nursery. Matt is starting a tough rotation this week so Mom and Dad will keep me company.

They arrived in time to accompany me to my 35-week checkup and ultrasound. The baby is still head down and my pregnancy is as perfect as an ultrasound can promise. Good fluid levels, good placenta, perfect baby. He is not a giant baby, as I feared - he is just about perfect sized. So hopefully I can push him out. He was not giving us a good angle on his profile, so we didn't get to see whether he is rocking a Pavelka or a Bonner nose.

I just want to know what he looks like. He is right here...in this room with me...right next to this laptop. And I don't know what he looks like. I can't wait to see him soon. But I hope he waits until his mama is slightly more organized.

I am going to change the name of this blog

to "Pictures of Me and Fela Hugging" because that's what it's becoming. This happened for about 5 full minutes at my house tonight.

And stay down!

I've been trying to decide how much money and time (and how soon) I wanted to spend on different ways to turn my breech baby (acupuncture, Webster technique chiropractor, moxibustion, etc). We've been doing inversions off of the couch, using the rebozo techniques our doula showed us, and I've been skipping squatting postures in yoga class. But there are other things one can try, and they cost money, and our insurance does not cover them. So Matt and I decided that before we make any appointments, we should check things out and see if the little guy is indeed still breech...so he gave me an ultrasound at the hospital tonight. His attending let us borrow a room and an ultrasound machine and let him sneak away for a minute. It was fun. Just the two of us, an ancient ultrasound machine, an almost-empty bottle of freezing cold ultrasound gel, and our big baby.

And that baby was head down. Head down! Face out - facing in is ideal - but I'll take it.

We jiggled my belly and watched his little arms move around. He rubbed his face and I felt him punch my abdominal wall. It was amazing and cute to see and feel at the same time. I also got to see the penis this time, which I missed last time. There's a little penis in my belly. McLovin' It

It was a day of good news, as I also took the kitty to the vet for a recheck and we discovered that his red blood cell count had improved greatly. Hooray!!! Healthy kitty, healthy baby. I got home tonight and ate so much food it was unbelievable. I think I've been holding all of this worry...trying not to, but holding it nonetheless.

Fela is telling me that it's bedtime. He has ways. So goodnight.

34.

my back hurt