3 posts tagged “wedding”
Nearly 39 weeks and still no baby! This little guy is proving quite stubborn. I know I'm still over a week away from my due date, but I really thought that since things had begun progressing rather early, that he'd be here sooner rather than later. We officially have missed the opportunity for my OB to deliver him given that she leaves for Korea tomorrow. I'm very disappointed as I'd really hoped she'd deliver both boys. Now that's just not going to happen...unless #2 decides not to come until after June 2, which I'm really hoping doesn't happen!
Although on Tuesday and Wednesday I was having quite a few strong Braxton-Hicks contractions, things became pretty quiet on Thursday. I was hoping this would be the calm before the storm, but obviously not, even though I definitely got some of that whole "nesting" thing going on on Saturday. I started having contractions again as of yesterday, but they're few and far between. At least this reprieve and the little guy's reluctance to make his grand entrance has let us attend and celebrate a bunch of special events we've had recently.
Thursday was our 4th anniversary, and even though I'd declined my husband's offer to go out for a nice dinner since I didn't want to waste a night out when I probably wouldn't really enjoy it, he surprised me by bringing home a live Maine lobster for me! I'd never actually cooked one myself before, and I made him do the deed. It was absolutely delicious, and we had nice romantic candle light dinner on our deck. Am I married to a great guy, or what?
On Friday, since I hadn't been having trouble driving, Jake and I headed across the bay to Anya's birthday party. All Jake could talk about on the way over was Anya. And all he's been able to talk about since the party is "fun...Anya", so clearly he had fun at Anya's party, even though he didn't exactly play with Anya (or any other kids) while he was there. He's a bit shy. I can't imagine where he gets that from!
On Saturday we went to the wedding of one of my closest friends from college. Luckily, they got married up here in his parents' backyard, so we were able to attend. It was a really fun and beautiful wedding. They have a big old gorgeous oak in their backyard, and the ceremony was held under it. Jake came with us since my in-laws were out of town, and although he was a bit of a handful, he was a good boy. And king of the dance floor! The bride and groom actually used the caterer and photographer that we used for our wedding, and it was nice that both of them actually recognized and remembered us!
Yesterday was a low-key day since I started having some contractions again. We did end up buying a laptop to replace our desktop which has been giving us quite a bit of trouble lately. When it didn't come back on for 2 days after a (heat-related?) power outage last week, we decided we'd better get a new computer sooner rather than later. We were pretty sure that we'd lost a lot of our pictures and all of our friends and family's addresses since, although we do have an external hard drive, we apparently never back things up, so I figured I'd go into labor soon thereafter just because we'd have no way to send out birth announcements! Obviously the birth part didn't work out, but luckily the computer randomly turned on and has been working ever since (even after another power outage on Friday). Needless to say, we've backed all the important stuff up and got the new computer anyway.
Other than that, I've been avoiding going out much because I'm so huge that I get stares and weird looks when I do go out. I'm definitely not used to this, and I find it incredibly rude. In fact, the other day while I was at the store a woman walked by the aisle I was in and said something like "that lady's going to have a baby in the store", and I had to bite my tongue not to say something rude back to her. I mean, really, did she think I wouldn't hear her? Or that it wasn't an incredibly rude thing to say? I know I look ridiculously hugely pregnant. I can't help that I'm a small person who has slightly above average-sized babies (I never would've guessed the average birth weight was only 7lb 5oz, but apparently it is!) which thus makes me look unnaturally large at this point. I mean, would she have commented on my size if I was obese? I would hope not, though maybe she actually would've. But I don't think this is really all that different than making inappropriate comments about someone who's overweight. I'm huge, I know it, and I don't need obnoxious people to remind me of it. It also didn't help that we had triple-digit or near triple-digit temps for most of last week which made being 9 months pregnant and huge that much more enjoyable. At least it was a dry heat!
On a happier note, we did find out that, thanks to Jake (and only because of him), we are actually going to get a bit out of this whole "economic stimulus" thing after all. It's pretty much a joke, but at least now that we're getting something, I can't be self-righteously indignant about being considered among the "wealthiest tax payers" (the concept of which was actually funnier than the amount of money we're getting back!). And speaking of taxes, having been home for about a week now and watching daytime TV (which sucks, by the way), I've been seeing a lot of tax lawyer ads. What I'd like to know is how on earth can people end up being $50K behind on taxes through no fault of their own??? It boggles my mind. The year we bought our house we ended up owing quite a bit (not in the tens of thousands, though), but we had prepared for the huge tax bill we knew we'd end up with. What is wrong with people? I wish I could pay only a fraction of what I owe like all of these "innocent" people. I guess I really shouldn't watch daytime TV...for many reasons.
So now that we're caught up on the kids, I finally get to share the fun stuff that we've been doing. Not that we haven't been having fun with Jake, of course. But our trip to Kauai sans Jake was just what we needed!
We were lucky enough to get away for a long weekend at the very end of March for 5 sunny days in Kauai. This was our first tropical vacation since our honeymoon. I think we definitely got spoiled by Fiji, but our short trip to Kauai was pretty amazing. We stayed on the Coconut Coast near Kapa'a. The eastern side of the island is fairly windy as they get trade winds all year long, so we didn't spend much time around the resort. Although the beaches where we stayed aren't that great, it is a great central location from which to do day trips all over the island. Our first full day, we went down to Poipu Beach on the south shore. It was actually a bit windy that day, though usually the south shore is very calm. It was probably the best weather on the island that day, though, and the water was still pretty calm so that we were able to get some snorkeling in. No reefs down there, but the fish were amazing. The second day we headed up to Tunnels Beach on the north shore where Eric really enjoyed the snorkeling. It can get pretty dicey up there, but luckily it was pretty calm while we were there and I was able to do some snorkeling there, as well. The reef was pretty neat, and there were some great fish, too, but with such a big belly, the proximity of the coral made for a less than completely enjoyable snorkeling experience for me. Of course, just sitting on the beach reading and soaking up some rays was more than enough for me! Unfortunately, the morning we had to go to the airport, we realized we'd left our good camera in Jake's diaper bag at the in-laws', so we had to take our backup camera. The photos didn't come out so great :(
In general, the food was nothing special. I'll never understand why there's so much heavy fried food there. With warm
weather, all I usually ever want is something light and refreshing, but you just don't see a whole lot of that available there. We did have one dinner which was excellent -- at the Kauai Coast Resort at the Beachboy of all places (which is owned by the vacation club we belong to, though we weren't lucky enough to stay at that resort)! Our dinner at the Hukilau Lanai was definitely the best one we had on the island, and probably the best dinner out I've had anywhere in quite a while. It's run by the owners of Gaylord's in Lihue, which is supposed to be one of the best restaurants on the island. The other stand-out meal we had was actually at the Surf to Sunset Luau at the Sheraton in Poipu, which we went to our last night on the island. They say that you go to a luau for the show, not the food, but I actually found it to be the opposite with this one. The show was good (here, again, I think we may have been spoiled by the meke in Fiji), but the food was surprisingly delicious for a luau! I'll admit, I couldn't resist the poke, but I figure a little bit couldn't hurt.
We returned from Kauai late Tuesday night and it was time to get right into wedding mode as festivities for our friends' long-awaited wedding began Friday night with the rehearsal dinner. Eric was a groomsman, so I was a "wedding party widow" for most of the wedding, but lots of people we don't get to see very often were there, and it was nice to have a chance to catch up with them. The wedding was beautiful, though the ceremony was a bit chilly as it was outdoors at the St. Francis Yacht Club. Luckily, it was short and sweet (and very unique and personal -- in a good way!) and held in a somewhat sheltered courtyard! As dancing is bit difficult when you're 33 weeks pregnant and huge, the highlight for me was the food rather than the dancing (I only managed 2 dances the entire night!). The appetizers were very yummy, though I wished I'd been able to snag a few more to quench my nearly endless appetite. In retrospect, however, I'm glad I had some extra room for the entree, because the filet mignon they served was not only hands down the best filet I've had at any large event (at which they usually use less than ideal steaks and overcook them), but perhaps the best filet I've ever had. OK, so I'm obsessed with food these days, but the filet really was amazing. I also managed to finish the Ribbed Lace Bolero I was making specifically to wear to the wedding. It came out a bit larger than I would've liked, and I had to do a bit of tweaking when seaming it, but I think it looks OK (though it isn't big enough to hide the fact that I'm a bit larger all over than I was the last time I wore that maternity cocktail dress and am consequently busting out of the damn thing!). Maybe the real problem with the bolero was with the fiber I chose -- I used cashmere instead of cotton to make it dressier, but I think it also made it have less structure. Oh well...
The weekend before the Fourth of July, we drove up to Troutdale, OR for the wedding of one of my close friends from college. Yes, we took a 10+ hour road trip with a 14 month old. But Jake did amazingly well. We turned his carseat around (since he is both old enough and heavy enough to be forward-facing) and put on some DVDs. The Baby Einstein seemed to entertain him the most; unfortunately, we only brought two of these, so we watched (OK, he watched, we listened) to these two DVDs a number of times during the trip.
We took the scenic route (US101) on the way up there in order to hit some places that neither Eric nor I had ever been to before. We drove the Avenue of the Giants and spent the night in Eureka (I've found it!). Not a whole lot there, but the drive up was nice, and we had dinner at the Samoa Cookhouse which was pretty fun. From Eureka we took 101 and Hwy 199 through to Grant's Pass where we picked up I-5. We saw a pretty bad accident in Cave Junction (the one town with a stop light on Hwy 199) in which a motor home had hit 2 cars and crashed through a building. We were there right when the helicopter landed to airlift the driver of the RV, who happens to be from Livermore here in the Bay Area, out. From the way the front of the RV looked, particularly the driver's side (all that was really left was a blood-smeared seat), it's a miracle he survived. It's a beautiful highway, but it does seem really dangerous with the narrowness, all the curves, the mountainess terrain, and the heavy traffic (particularly RVs, most of which are also towing another vehicle!). I won't be disappointed if we never have to drive that highway again! Luckily for us, it was smooth sailing after that, and we arrived in Troutdale early Sunday evening.
All of the wedding events, including the wine tasting the night before, took place at McMenamins Edgfield which is a really cool and unique location. It served as the county Poor Farm as well as a nursing home before being turned into the European-style village/hotel that it is today. The festivities began with a Northwest Wine and Beer Tasting on Sunday night. I, of course, opted to go
only with wine, and it was delicious. The groom's brother had brought it down from Washington state, so they were all new wines to us. Of course, the best part was getting a little face time with Normy (the groom) before the big day. He and Sandy have been together since before Eric and I met, and she's the first of his girlfriends any of us (meaning the group of chem dorks from Colby) has actually liked. So this was a long-awaited event. And it was absolutely beautiful and the most fun wedding (other than our own) that I've ever been to. It also happened to be very similar to ours, so it's no wonder we had so much fun :) They had a beautiful outdoor ceremony that reflected their personalities and their relationship perfectly, and they couldn't have asked for better weather! And I'll admit that I cried...The ceremony was followed by cocktails and appetizers and an indoor reception with dinner and dancing. Jake was cutting up the dance floor and getting a lot of attention from some older (4-year-old) women -- if only he could appreciate it!
We had so much fun, and I was so happy to be able to see Norm and Sandy finally tie the knot. And it was also nice to have the chem dorks together again for a big celebration for the first time since our wedding 3 years ago even if Liz wasn't able to make it out from DC :( Emily, though, was able to make it out from Colorado, and we spent a fun day with her and her guide-puppy-in-training, Ellis, at Waterfront Park in Portland the afternoon before the wedding. Jake just loved Ellis ("daawwwg"), and he was also able to play in the fountain since it was such a beautiful day!
The morning after the wedding, we stopped in for the Newlyweds' Brunch to say goodbye before heading home. We took boring (but quicker) I-5 home. Even with stopping a lot for Jake to eat and run around a bit, it took us only about 12 hours; but that's a long day of driving, especially with a 14 month old!
