Game Recommendations

Anyone out there like to play board games and card games?

I have two new recommendations to add to my list: Quiddler and SET.

Quiddler is a fun word game that has some elements of Rummy in it. To start, each player is dealt three cards with letters on them. The goal is to make a word. On your turn, you can either draw a letter from the discard pile or pick a new card. Once a player "goes down," then the other players have one more turn before they, too, must put down their words. Points are awarded based on the letters you used. In the next round, the number of cards increase to four. The rounds continue up to 10 cards.
The other new game I learned is called SET. The dealer lays out a bunch of cards with shapes on them (four different shapes, four different types of filling, four different colors, and four different numbers of shapes on each card). All the players look at the cards and try to make a set. A set consists of three cards that are either all different or all the same in each of the four different ways. It takes a lot of concentration and brain power, but it's really fun!

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Matt and I Are Having a Baby!

I am honestly in a happy state of shock. I was on Day 39 of my cycle.* I came home from an all-day photography class and decided to finally take a pregnancy test (I was so resisting turning into a crazy-obsessive tester). Matt went into the backyard to check on the chickens, and I peed on the stick. Right away, I could see that both lines were starting to darken, so I left it there and went out to fetch Matt. I wanted us to experience it together.

On my way to the backyard, I found myself wondering why I didn't wait just one more day to take the test, so that Matt and I could have one more day before changing our lives completely.

I spent a few minutes relaxing with Matt, Hoss, and the chickens in the backyard and then asked Matt to come inside and read the results with me. The pregnancy test was a random free one that came within a box of ovulation test strips, so we didn't have any instructions for it. We stared at it for a second and realized it had a faint line intersected by a very dark line. Matt said, "That dark line must be a negative sign." I agreed but then quickly realized that the dark line was the vertical line and the light line was the horizontal control line. We were pretty sure we were pregnant, but we decided to retest after dinner.

And then we went to dinner pretty much like normal. We did talk and wonder about the baby, but it still felt like just us. It didn't feel like our lives had changed completely (yet).

I am still shocked that our conscious conception process took only one cycle. I've known all along that conception is not something we can plan. We can invite it into our lives by creating the most welcoming conditions, but that's where our control stops. And the same thing goes for pregnancy. I will now do everything in my power to create the conditions for a healthy pregnancy, but that's where my control stops. I have to recognize that and embrace it.

I'm excited about this journey!

*The timing of this blog has been a little off for various reasons. First, Matt wanted to wait until our first appointment with the midwife to confirm the pregnancy before announcing it to the world. Secondly, I've been writing posts about things happening in my life at the moment but then scheduling them to run later in the month, so I could keep a consistent posting schedule, despite my various trips. It's been driving me crazy to have such a lag between what's happening versus what you're reading, but it will normalize pretty soon!

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Purposeful Nurseries

Finn's room showcased by his mom, Meg of Sew Liberated fame

I'm definitely not going to be one of those people who focuses more on the "stuff" of having a baby as opposed to the deeper emotional implications and psychological changes that come from having a baby. It's so easy to get wrapped up in the consumer side of life changes (hello, Wedding Industrial Complex!).

But at the same time, there is an intersection between one's parenting philosophy and the way one chooses to set up a baby nursery. In the Montessori philosophy, for example, the physical environment is an absolutely crucial component. The "prepared environment" embodies all the important elements of the philosophy. Everything in the room should be at the child's height because it places the child at the center. Also, everything should facilitate independence, since the primary goal is to cultivate a child's independence, thereby building a really solid foundation of self worth. The objects in the room should help the child develop his/her senses, and everything should be organized to help the child develop an internal sense of order.

That's why I'm in love with Finn's room, showcased by his mom, Meg over at Sew Liberated. Everything is so intentional and purposeful. And there's not even a crib! They aren't used in Montessori environments.

The good news is that Matt likes it too! It's always a relief when we're on the same page about something (we usually disagree when it comes to home decor). But then again, my whole point is that a nursery shouldn't just be about "home decor." It's a chance to put your parenting philosophy into action. Anyway, I love this room!

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Yummy Smoothie Recipe

I'm getting a little sick of my "mango ice-cream," so I decided to shake it up. I still used plain yogurt because I'm trying to reduce the sugar content in my diet. I simply added strawberries, a banana, a splash of calcium-fortified orange juice, and ice. I didn't even add honey or other sweeteners. Yum!

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Procrastination Project: Cleaning the Kitchen Pantry

In a desperate attempt to procrastinate productively, I decided to clean out our kitchen pantry. We even had little bags of Fritos in there since Halloween two years ago (we made a pumpkin chili). You have to admit that's pretty disgusting. We also have way too many appliances and not enough storage space.

I started by taking everything out of the cabinets. As I took stuff out, I threw things away that we no longer needed (bye, bye Fritos) and grouped like items together (apparently we have a lot of tea).

Next, I wiped off the surfaces to give us a fresh, clean start.

Finally, I tried to put everything back in more strategically. I put our lesser used items (like an ice-cream maker) in the back, and put our more common items (olive oil!) up front. Since we had so many loose packets of tea, I grouped everything into a plastic box I had lying around in my car.

The whole process too only about 20 minutes and it was so worth it. It's one of those things I always want to do but never make time for.

Hooray for avoiding my other work with a little home-improvement project!

What have you been meaning to make time for?

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Potluck Brainstorm

I'm going to a potluck tomorrow, and I'm at a loss for what I should bring. I really want to bring something unhealthy, like cupcakes. I have such a sweet tooth! My default is always to bring something unhealthy. I want to get out of that habit! (Oh, man, I could even make cupcakes in a jar! How perfect would that be for a picnic potluck?!?)

Hmm...maybe I could bring fruit kabobs. Or I could do a whole wheat pasta with tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, and balsamic vinegar.

Maybe I could bring something healthy and bring the cupcakes (but not eat them)? Okay, who am I kidding, that would never work. Not only would I eat them at the potluck, I would also eat the batter and then eat them when the first came out of the oven. I really have no self-control when it comes to sweets.

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On Miscarriage

The decision to reveal whether or not you're pregnant is a very personal one. The books recommend against it until you have passed safely through the first trimester, since the likelihood of miscarriage is so high.

I don't know how I'll feel once I'm actually pregnant, but right now I think I want to tell people as soon as possible, precisely because the risk of miscarriage is so high. It's something we should talk about more, so that people don't feel as lonely when it happens.

Knowing how attached I am to the idea of getting pregnant, I imagine that I would be devastated by a miscarriage. I definitely would not want to tell people face-to-face, "Oh, by the way, I'm no longer pregnant." I am 99.99% positive I would cry over and over again if I had to do that.

So if Matt and I are going to tell people that we're pregnant in the first trimester, then we will also have to have a plan for how to tell them if we lose the baby. Maybe that should be the policy: Whoever we decide to tell, we should be thinking about how we would untell them.

Like this blog would be easy. I can write a post when I'm pregnant because I could also write a post about having a miscarriage. Family will also be easy. I will tell my mom over the phone, and she can spread the news to the rest of the family. If I have a miscarriage, I could rely on the same process to spread the news.

What about colleagues? Maybe I could tell my closest colleague and inform her that she is welcome to tell other people, but if she does, she will also have to tell those people if I have a miscarriage.

I know some people thinks it's wonderful to have a little secret for twelve months, and I can understand and honor that inclination. But I am not really a secrets kind of gal. I like sharing my joy with others. I find that the process of sharing multiplies that joy.

So maybe the reverse is true for miscarriage? The process of sharing the sorrow multiplies that sorrow?

I haven't found that to be true in my life. When I share my sorrow with others, it helps me feel less alone and more connected.

I'll have to talk through all of this with Matt once we become pregnant. He's already a bit stressed out by the fact that we are actively trying to conceive. Making him process hypotheticals does not seem like a good way to calm him down...

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