WIWS: 6 Weeks

Happy Laetare Sunday! This is the fourth week of Lent already; it seems like it's going so quickly this year. Did you see rose-colored vestments today? Our small parish doesn't have any, unfortunately, so we had violet. Little Bear and I were wearing rose, though!

Little Bear behaved himself so well today. He sat still on his seat or on Matt's lap most of the time, he payed attention to Father whenever he was talking, and he only had to be taken out once, and that wasn't because of bad behavior: he'd kicked his boots off during the offeratory, and when he tried to stand up as we were kneeling for the consecration, his sock-clad feet slipped out from under him. Matt said that as soon as they got out into the foyer, Little Bear calmed right down; he was more startled than hurt.

The homily today was a really good reflection on how God calls weak people and gives them strength. Father pointed out that in the first reading, God says that He judges men's hearts, not their outward appearance, which means that God already knew David's weakness, and that he would commit adultery, when He instructed Samuel to anoint David. But He also knew how much David loved Him, and that he would repent and keep trying to follow Him. God knows we aren't perfect. By this point in Lent, we've probably slipped up at least once on one of the things we gave up or said we'd do more of. But God doesn't want us to just give up because we fell once, or twice, or ten times. If we keep asking for the grace to try again, He will always give it to us.

Today was a little bit cooler than it has been recently--only 25 F by noon. It's supposed to be 39 this afternoon. We will see how warm it is after Little Bear's nap. Hopefully it'll be warm enough for there to be lots of puddles to splash in if we go for a walk. We're loving getting out in all of the spring weather and sunshine!

Cropped cardigan: Boden, thrifted

Lace-edged tank: St John's Bay, old... 

Paisley skirt: Villager by Liz Clairborne, thrifted

Chocolate pumps: Sarah-Jayne, garage sale

Blindingly-white legs: five months of winter and counting :-)

Other than the skirt riding high, this outfit doesn't make it super obvious that I'm expecting, which is okay with me! There are plenty of days that I look in the mirror and wince; there's no way I looked like that this early with Little Bear! And it's true; I didn't. But this isn't my first kid, and my body doesn't particularly care whether I'd really like to pretend I have abs for another few weeks or not. Don't take this wrong--we are so happy to be having Squirrel!--but sometimes there's a little (huge) part of me that's jealous of the women who totally don't look pregnant until well into the second trimester. That will never be me!

Have a lovely Sunday! Visit Fine Linen and Purple for more What I Wore Sunday posts!

SQTF 83: Of Puddles and Toddlers, Pregnancy and Food...

How about some very quick takes this week? First trimester exhaustion is making it hard to keep my eyes open... 

I

I hate hiccups in the first trimester. With so many exclamation points. They make the nausea so much worse.

II

Yesterday, Little Bear learned about puddles. There's still a lot of snow everywhere, but with afternoons consistently getting into the mid-40s, breakup is upon us. Little Bear had such a blast stomping and splashing with his new breakup boots! Everywhere we went yesterday--our driveway, the bank, Matt's office, my parents' house--he found puddles. The bank parking lot had a particularly large puddle; there, we learned an important lesson about not letting go of Mama's hand and running when she says to stay still... we had to go home for a complete change of clothes after that. But it didn't stop him from being excited about puddles for the rest of the afternoon!

III

We are up to more than 13 hours of daylight now! We've had to rig a blanket over the bedroom window, to make the room dark enough for Little Bear to fall asleep at night. Even with the shade down, curtains closed, and blanket up, there's still enough light getting in at 9 pm to see the whole room pretty clearly!

IV

Weaning. It's not working. I've convinced Little Bear that he only gets to nurse at nap/nighttime, but now, instead of constantly asking to nurse, he's constantly asking to go to sleep! And getting him to fall asleep without nursing is regressing badly, now that he's linked the word "nightnight" with nursing...

V

(Photo from Quaker's website)

My favorite breakfasts are oatmeal and yogurt with granola. The other day I was picking up oatmeal at the store, and discovered Quaker's new fusion of oatmeal and granola: Warm & Crunchy Granola. You add milk and microwave it, and it becomes a creamy, crunchy, hot cereal. Delicious. And because it's a new item and they want people to try it, I found it on sale for less than their normal oatmeal!

VI

Somehow I wound up with the car every day this week, except today. Not having to drive anywhere is a nice change of pace! Having the car, and getting out of the house for at least the last half hour of Matt's day is also nice, though: Little Bear loves busses, and if we get to campus early he has fun watching for them. If I'm being a particularly nice mommy, sometimes we even park in the far-away lot and ride the bus up to meet Matt.

VII

Another first trimester-approved meatless supper to remember: zucchini and asparagus tossed with a little olive oil and broiled, scrambled eggs with white cheddar, and fresh strawberries! 

Have a beautiful weekend. For more quick takes, stop by Conversion Diary!

Annunciation Day

This morning as I wrote out the check for the internet bill, the date jumped out at me. 

"It's the 25th! Why does that sound important? Christmas is the 25th of December... I guess every "25th" makes us think of that..."

Can I blame baby brain? Of course March 25th reminds me of December 25th: today is the feast of the Annunciation, celebrating the archangel Gabriel appearing to Mary, exactly nine months before Christmas!

I had a nice blank calendar for today, so Little Bear and I ran to the store for a little bunch of tulips. In a mason jar of water, they made a nice centerpiece with the Annunciation icon! Simple and pretty and still fairly Lenten, although if I'd thought of it I'd've gotten the all-purple bunch.

It being a feast day and all, I wanted to do something nice for supper. I'd just finished putting a Mexican pork something-or-other in the slow cooker and was starting to pull out ingredients for shortcake when I got a call from the manager of the local Catholic radio station. Cardinal Dolan, who is speaking at the retreat for all of the priests in Alaska this week down in Anchorage, was willing to do an interview for the radio station today and how quickly could I prepare questions?

The Cardinal Dolan.

Of New York.

Former president of the USCCB.

Teething toddler on one hip, sack of flour on the other, phone perched on my shoulder, this was not a phone call I was prepared for.

I am so, so grateful for my time in PR, and the people I learned from there, and all of my classes with my journalism professor, because somehow my brain was able to snap into gear and start asking all of the right questions, about the subject of Cardinal Dolan's talk last night, the theme the station manager would like to center the interview around, any points he wanted me to be sure to hit, etc.

And that was my next couple of hours! Researching Cardinal Dolan and the Archdiocese of New York, talking with a few solid Catholic friends familiar with current topics in New York and the Church, and crafting interview questions that could tie his experience and expertise into the lives and concerns of Catholics in a largely rural Alaskan mission diocese. I don't think I've had a project that was so fun and yet so intimidating since writing questions for Franiscan University Presents' interview with Fr Raniero Cantallamesa.

Technology in Alaska being what it is, I couldn't actually do an interview long distance and have it turn out suitable quality for broadcasting; one of the priests at the convocation will be using the questions to record an in-person conversation with Cardinal Dolan, and then the recording will be aired. I'm a little disappointed, but at the same time relieved--writing the questions, trying to find just the right wording, was intimidating enough!

After a surprise like that, it would have been difficult for my day to get any more exciting. Fortunately, we didn't have to find out what it would have taken to top that! The only other unexpected/exciting moment came in the form of gender-stereotype-reinforcement:

My little brother, not the one in college (although he probably would have joined in had he been home), was using scraps of my dad's ultra-low-friction plastic to "snowboard" down their icy/slushy driveway when my mom, my youngest sister, Little Bear, and I got back from a walk. My sister wanted to try, but cautiously sat down on her piece of plastic instead of standing on it. Little Bear had no such concerns... he ran right over to my brother's piece and tried to stand on it. To let him have fun safely with the kids, I plunked him in the wood-hauling sled (made of the same plastic) and was pulling him up and down the driveway when my brother started laughing. I looked behind me, and there was Little Bear, standing up in the moving sled with a huge grin on his face. Boys!

Our Annunciation Day supper was okay... In the future, I would definitely use a pork roast like the recipe called for instead of two pork shoulder steaks that I bought just because they were marked down... The recipe was worth trying again, though. They looked good, anyway:

And our Lenten feast day strawberry shortcake:

Whole-wheat shortcake, strawberries, and unsweetened whipped cream. Next time, Matt says, whole wheat shortcake is fine, but can I please add at least a little bit of sugar when I whip the cream? Yes, yes I will. Although it was still pretty good without it! And the main reason I left it out today honestly had less to do with it being Lent, and more to do with me being in a hurry and not being able to remember how much sugar one would add if one were to add sugar...

Sun and Ice

Yesterday afternoon was beautiful! Blazing sun, snow melting all over the place, 47 degrees above zero... It would have been such a shame to stay inside.

We made the most of it. After Little Bear's nap and a quick lunch, we ran out to the last checkpoint before the finish on the final heat of the Open North American. One of my dad's friends was racing, more for the fun of it than to win, and we kept hearing about him on the radio coverage as we drove. Traffic lights were against us, unfortunately; we did manage to watch the last several teams go through, but from inside the car while they crossed the street in front of us, so Little Bear couldn't see well. 

I was bummed about missing most of the teams, and Little Bear was antsy because he was bundled in snow gear and we'd promised to take him somewhere fun. Matt decided that, since we were out, we should visit the ice park. Regular admission prices are highway robbery! It's been so long since I've gone as an adult not part of a "school group" with the homeschoolers, I'd forgotten. No dates for us in April... but we all had so much fun, it was worth it.

The ice park, Ice Alaska I guess is the official name, is divided in two parts: the kids ice park, and the competition single-block and multi-block sculptures. We spent the better part of an hour running around the kids park with Little Bear; he loved the slides, even the big ones, and bounced up shouting "Again! Again!" with a huge grin on his face every time he got to the bottom. The maze was fun too: I went one way and Matt and Little Bear went the other, and the walls were just low enough that from his perch on Matt's shoulders, Little Bear could see me. He was laughing and shouting and tugging Matt's hair to get him to run toward me.

We didn't get a chance to look at many of the actual sculptures, because we were getting uncomfortably warm and Squirrel decided that I needed to be nauseous again...thank you, baby...but we did walk down one aisle on our way to the exit. They were all so incredibly detailed! Some of our favorites:

Poseidon riding a sea horse

Ballet... Look at the delicate spiraling!

I think this was called Aurora Dreams? Definitely our favorite; it's so realistic, so intricately textured! It was carved by a three-person team from China (we knew it couldn't be by Alaskans, because those are deer; very well-done, lifesize deer, but still...no deer live by Mt McKinley!) But despite that technicality, the detail on this one just blew us away. There are ice rocks in the river. The tree branches look like there is actually snow sitting on them. The texturing on the mountain, the northern lights, the contrast between the river and the "snowy" ground... amazing.

I am so, so glad we went... what a perfect afternoon outside together!

Time to be Outside

It's above 0, the sun is shining, the eaves are dripping, and springtime is beckoning... It is hard to stay inside these days! And there's so much going on:

Today wraps up the Arctic Winter Games, a weeklong series of competitions for circumpolar youth that is held every other year. This year Fairbanks was the host city, and it's been so neat seeing members of the different teams walking around town in their bright coats. Nine teams have been competing: Alaska, Alberta North, Greenland, Northwest Territories, Nunavik Quebec, Nunavut, Sapmi, Yamal, and Yukon Territory. There are Native events, like high kick and snow snake; winter sports like dog mushing and speed skating; and indoor sports like basketball, wrestling, and table tennis. What do those have to do with "winter games"? When it is cold, dark and snowy outside for half the year, indoor sports become very popular!

After Mass last Sunday, we met a reporter from Inuvik, Northwest Territories, who had come over to cover their team. Later in the week, Little Bear and I had fun watching some of the snowboarding. I'd hoped to take him out to see some dog mushing or curling, but the timing never worked with his naps.

Fortunately, there is more dog mushing to take in: the 67th Open North American Sled Dog Championship, recognized as one of the most intense sprint races in the world, is run in three heats this weekend: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. "Open" means that mushers can run as many (or few) dogs as they wish; in past years, I can remember seeing some 22-dog teams, and some with fewer than 10! Given his love of (obsession with?) dogs, I think we'd definitely better take Little Bear to watch at least one of the days.

To go along with the Open North American, downtown Fairbanks is also hosting the annual sled dog weight pull competition, Alaska Trappers Association fur auction, and Parka Parade this weekend. If you aren't in town but want to experience the race for yourself, check out the live streaming on the Alaska Dog Mushers Association website!

And before March ends, we have to make it to the World Ice Art Championship! We still haven't found time to go play with Little Bear in the mazes and slides of the kids ice park, and admire the works of art-in-ice that carvers from all over to world have created this year. It's particularly beautiful at night, when they have all of the sculptures illuminated with colored lights. Unfortunately, it isn't getting dark these days until well after Little Bear's bedtime!

I think we have enough to do to keep us busy...

SQTF 82: Spring Snow, Spring Break, Spring Fashion...

I

There is, I admit, a small part of me that's laughing at all of the grumpy comments on Facebook today about having snow fall on the vernal equinox, or "first day of Spring." The concept of the weather obeying our neat little division of the year into quarters just seems absurd; people expect it to be done snowing because we've reached a particular date on the calendar? Are they serious? Really, I don't get it. Yes, I live in Alaska, but it just doesn't make sense to me that people are put out because weather patterns aren't conforming to a piece of paper. I guess maybe that's unfair of me; I'm accustomed to having snow on the ground October through May, and most of the country isn't. 

II

This morning Little Bear and I visited the courthouse to fill out the temporary exemption affidavit for jury duty. He was kind of uncooperative getting through security, but the security people were nice and there was no one behind us. I'm so glad to have that taken care of! He still has yet to fall asleep, for a nap or at night, on his own... We are trying, but it just hasn't clicked yet. It would have been a horrible week if I had to try to leave him with someone else every day all week, because he wouldn't have gotten any naps, and nights would be awful because he'd be overtired, and I'm too tired and nauseous to deal with that.

III

My first appointment with the midwife is scheduled! It's not until Easter Monday, but just seeing it on the calendar makes me so happy. Matt may try to take sick leave to go with me, to keep Little Bear calm and out of the midwife's way and to ask any questions he has because I know I won't think of half of the things he wants to know. I'm seeing a different midwife with Squirrel than I did with Little Bear; I met her last year when I had an annual exam, and I really liked her--I remember coming home and telling Matt that the next time I had a baby, I wanted to work with her! As far as I know, she's the only NFP-trained CNM in town--knowing that she understands and respects our decision to use NFP makes me much more comfortable around her. It would probably be good if Matt had met her at least once before delivery, too.

IV

This past week has been spring break for all of the local schools and the university, and all of the University of Alaska Fairbanks employees got today off work. Matt's department is technically part of the U of A statewide IT, but because they are located at UAF, they were given the day off too. It's so nice to have him home for a three-day weekend! Especially since I've been feeling sick in the evenings lately, making me not feel up to doing anything fun in the little time that we do get to see each other before I go put Little Bear and myself to bed. I'm hoping that I am feeling well enough this evening for us to go to stations of the cross together tonight; it's usually too difficult to squeeze it in between Matt getting home from work and Little Bear going to bed, but since he's home today... we will see.

V

It seems like denim jackets always appear this time of year. And I always marvel at how they look so good on everyone, and wistfully remember having one I loved in high school, and then sternly inform myself that it would be a waste of money because I definitely don't need one. And I don't! I have plenty of jackets. But they look good with everything... But it would be even more of a waste this year, wouldn't it, since I'm pregnant and it probably wouldn't fit in a few months anyway? But if I got one now, then I'd know it would be the right size again for next Spring...

VI

This kid. If he sees one of us smell something, he will run over, stretch out his arms toward it, and sniff loudly until we let him smell it... which always involves mashing it against his nose. He really liked the fresh bread smell: every time we came into the kitchen for the next few days, he'd look all around until he spotted the loaf, then lean toward it, sniffing.

VII

It's time for our annual sunglasses hunt: every winter at least one of us manages to lose or break our sunglasses, and now that we have so much sun constantly glaring off the snow, we can't keep sharing one pair! This year, for the first time in quite a while, my sunglasses are the ones that survived the winter. They have been living in the car for a couple of months, though, so that whoever is driving can use them. It's sunny enough outside now--twelve and a half hours a day and increasing!--that taking Little Bear for a walk or even just going outside for a little while is painful without sunglasses. Once the snow all melts it won't be so bad, but we have a good while yet before that happens, so... hopefully the stores will put out their sunglasses displays soon!

Have a wonderful, warm weekend! Visit Conversion Diary for more quick takes!

Tired

Wow. How in the world was I going in to work every day through the first however many months of being pregnant with Little Bear? I am exhausted, y'all. Constantly. Forget teaching Little Bear to sleep in his own bed; I'm putting him to sleep the easiest way possible so that I can crash. Having my evening end at 7:30pm used to be frustrating, but now it can't come soon enough.

Was it really this tiring last time, or is it just the combination of pregnancy + toddler + running twenty million errands every day this week and shoveling my parents' driveway? Okay, don't answer that. Humor the sleepy pregnant lady.

There's one good thing coming from this exhausted, nauseated state of existence, though, other than the obvious bundle of joy in nine months: I'm supposed to start jury duty on Monday morning, but I called the jury clerk today to find out whether they reeeaaally want a juror who may be running out of the room to throw up sporadically all week, and she told me to come down to the courthouse and sign an affidavit granting a temporary exemption. Yay, I can be nauseous in the comfort of my own home instead of in the jury box.

Little Bear's recent desire to take his daily nap on the early side of midday has also been shockingly appreciated: if he isn't starting to ask for a nap by 10:30am, I'm catching myself yawning and trying to coax him to rest. My caffeine allergy definitely isn't helping with my being-a-sane-functional-person efforts, and I can't even give myself an occasional sugar-high energy burst because it's Lent. What to do? "Pillow" is one of Little Bear's newest words, and I'm definitely not above putting two pillows on the living room floor, laying down on one, and hoping that he comes and lays his head on the other so I can close my eyes for a few minutes...

Seriously, how do you deal with first trimester exhaustion? I clearly can't remember what I did last time, but whether that's because I was too tired then for memories to form or because I'm too tired now to be able to remember anything is probably a question I'll never know the answer to. Is there something I should be getting more or less of? Other than sleep, obviously, and shoveling. I don't want to be this tired and useless all the time for the next couple months...