Sunday, April 25, 2010

Rachet the Posh!




Every day when I am drying my hair, Ratchet runs from wherever he is in the house to come and be a part of it. I mean really how much can one dog love the hair dryer. (I wish I enjoyed it as much as him.) He would stand there and let me warm him up for ever. The look of sheer contentment is priceless.

When we first got Ratchet, we thought Kimi and him were the same body type. It was only after we noticed that he loved the water in the shower did we realize there was one small shortcoming. His front legs are a little shorter than Kimi's, meaning that when he sticks his head in the shower for a drink, he has to prop himself up on the bathtub.
If you notice in the picture you can see the entire pads of his front feet. I find it hilarious because I have never seen a dog do that before. He is one of a kind.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

A very merry un-birthday


Yesterday, we celebrated Travis' birthday. We weren't sure if we would get to 'celebrate' with a special day for Travis if the baby was late, so we planned ahead and decided to celebrate it a month early. We started off with a quick donut at Top Pots Donut, which gave us the sugar rush to start the day! There is a park on the north side of Seattle called Gas Works Park. They have some old natural gas machines in the park, but the view is what you go for. It is absolutely beautiful!While we were enjoying the view, we noticed a huge cathedral across Lake Union. After we were finished at Gas Works, aka it started to downpour, we decided to go and find that cathedral,which was an adventure in itself (turns out it is an Episcopalian Cathedral named St. Marks) because it was near Capital Hill in a residential area. While we were exploring we came across the Seattle Asian Art Museum. I was excited to see the gardens, but when Travis saw that there was a Wood Block Display he was anxious to go and see it. (we also found the sculptures in front which included a "donut" looking sculpture that we could get the Space Needle in the center, and another sculpture of a Camel, which in my current condition is my new "spirit" animal) Travis has always had a deep love for the Japanese culture, which is ironic since I am the Japanese one. He was so excited to explain how the process worked. When I left him for a few minutes, I came back and he had two cute little old ladies completely enthralled with the explanation of how wood block prints were created. I think they would have loved a handsome man to give them a personal tour of the museum, but we were headed to another room to look at other prints. After walking around and sitting on many benches throughout the museum, we decided it was lunch time. Dick's Drive-in was just the hamburger joint that we were both craving. With their freshly made hamburgers, fries that actually came from a potato and a chocolate shake that would bring tears to any sweet-tooth, this is definitely a place I would drive 30 minutes to eat at. (also the fact that they are an old-fashioned cash only operation and there were a TON of people willing to wait in the rain for it was a great indication of how delish the meal was going to be.) We ended the day with heading to Bellevue Square so that Travis could window shop for an Ipad at the Apple Store. He happily went in and played with one for about 15 minutes or so and then just as happily met me outside the store on a bench. (yes, towards the end of the day I was moving from bench to bench.) After one more quick shop, which I admit I stayed in the car and took a short nap, we were ready to head home. I hope Travis had a great Un-birthday and that his real birthday includes one more person at the party!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

36th Weeks

Approx. 16 Weeks

A little over 36 Weeks.

This week marks my 36th week... (almost 37th which is why the widget on the left side says that) I thought it might be fun to compare some pictures especially since pictures speak a 1000 words.
Almost there.... sorry I don't have anything else to really blog about right now. I am still working full time so when I get off work I am exhausted so I don't really do anything else.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Adventure for the weekend!


During this whole pregnancy thing, I have read the books, websites, pamphlets and I have spent a few evenings actually thinking of the process of how the baby will get here. Today, my eyes were opened. (after seeing the example of 10 cm. they could have been opened that wide.)

Our adventure this week in the Puget Sound area was at our Childbirth class. It is both Saturday and Sunday. I knew how the baby would come here. I knew it. I was not under the impression that the stork would bring it or that the actual birth would be accomplished in one 30 minute block like on any given sitcom. (way to lie to me TV). Actually watching it and listening to the tiny little Indian lady that is teaching the class, (who seriously is probably a size zero and has had 4 kids.), talk about it all I must say I am little freaked out. I know people will comment that it will be ok, and I appreciate that, but when you have heard about what actually goes on, especially for a first time mother, it is a little hard to digest.

After day one of Trauma-birth classes I have learned:

I thought I wanted to have the baby naturally with no drugs. I still do, but now it is more because I don't want somebody poking around my spinal column with a needle and a catheter to insert drugs directly in there. I really don't like the idea of having said catheter left in my body to pump the drugs into me. That part seriously freaks me out. (my sister is afraid of needles and didn't have an epidural, and I am afraid of things being left in my spine so I don't think I will be having one either. Icky!)

I think Travis will accomplish Saint hood if he puts up with me while I am in active labor. We watched a video of a real woman going through the stages of labor and she was getting short with her mom, sister and doula. She had agreed to the filming of it, and was still getting mad. (I know that regardless of how frustrated I was, I would NEVER say anything snotty if there was some strange camera man filming me. I would be too worried about how it would look after the fact.) That being said, since there will be no cameraman/men in the room with us, and I will be free to say whatever I feel like saying, I am sure that all the evil inside me will join together and come spewing out of my mouth laced with all sorts of colorful adjectives and comments.
Seriously, if Travis stays with me after this, I think the birth will be the second 'miracle' that he would have to accomplish and don't you only need three to accomplish sainthood?!

Tonight I will try to get my mind off of it for a while and enjoy the evening while everything is still in tact. :) But in the great words of Scarlett O'Hara, "Tomorrow is another day!"

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Naming rights goes to the highest bidder

From the beginning we have played the name game all the while looking for that original name that would fit our baby. We have a few names that we like: Kellan, Liam, James, Ash, Archer.... but none of them seem right (maybe once we see him one of them will be the right choice).

I have made the joke a few times that we are going to open up the 'naming rights' for our baby. I wouldn't mind (if the price was right) that we could name our baby some commercial name. That would be a great opportunity to have the only "Safeco" Soderquist, or "Costco" Soderquist. I think there are worse things to be named... Right?!?!