Some New Noah Videos ... You don't have to watch them all

Noah might think something is funny...

Noah has a new do...

Sing it Nana!

Going to Nana's Bday

Chit chatting...

Soy cheese is not cheese...

Noah and I went to the doctor today to check on his poop and see if my diet changes/sacrifices have worked...turns out its all been worth it! Noah's poop was blood-free! While the idea of eating soy cheese for the next 9 months makes me cringe, I know its all worth it because Noah is doing better...

Noah weighs 12.06lbs and is 23.5 inches long.

Hopefully ... waiting

Tuesday night I was in Constitutional Law, at about 8:00pm someone shouted "Barrack Obama just won!" The class applauded, except for me because I feel weird about applauding things that aren't happening live in front of me, sort of like when people applaud in the movie theater, don't they know that the actors aren't actually in the screen... anyway it was an amazing moment. One that I'm sure I will never forget. History was made and more importantly I felt hopeful and excited ... maybe our country won't turn to complete shit afterall?

While I was excited and happy that the right person will be running our country, a good person, I am still completely shocked about Proposition 8! I have always felt special living in California. I felt like I was part of this open and tolerant place, a place that was teased about being liberal and I was proud. How could so many people around the country vote for hope and change and at the same time, so many people in California also vote for discrimination and bigotry?

I struggle with the idea of celebrating too much about how we have elected our first African-American President and at the same time my state has now openly discriminated against an entire group of people. California voted to give chickens and cows more rights, which I believe they deserve, but at the same time, same-sex couples watched their rights get taken away. Do people really value chickens more than people? We are the first state to openly discriminate against an entire group of people.

I think I'm still stunned ... still stunned that Prop 8 passed and that I have a right to marry and my dad still would not. What makes the love that I have with Greg so much more superior than someone else?

I was excited to a part of history on Tuesday night, I never actually believed that I would live to see an African American President in the White House. Maybe my son will get to live to be able to see same-sex couples get the same rights as everyone else, but I hope it doesn't take quite as long ...

I found this quote on the No on 8 site to be very insightful:

“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.” Anne Lamott

I think I waited and watched too silently, maybe I didn't work hard enough and in fact, maybe I gave up. Because maybe I was just too presumptuous and I just assumed that everyone thought like me, that we all deserve the same rights and that there was no way that Prop 8 would pass, how could it? I'm hopeful that the dawn will come and everyone will have the same rights as everyone else.

Welcome Back Muscles, Goodbye Jiggly Bits

Yesterday was my first run back ... I met Leah at Fleet Feet and bought new shoes and then we met at her house. I was determined to do at least 3 miles. I didn't care how slow. I was so excited!

Noah and I trailed behind Leah and Evelyn the whole way, but it felt amazing! So much fun to be running again. So much fun to have Noah there to experience something that I love. I remember when I was a kid my mom used to take me along with her on her bike rides. I sat in a chair on the bike of the bike. I remember one time, I think we were going to pick up Lucas at school, and my mom was making a lasagna and I got to bring some of the extra noodles with me while I rode on the back of the bike. I remember feeling special ... I'm sure Noah won't remember being pushed around in the BOB, but hopefully this becomes something that I'm able to do for a while and then he'll look back like I did about the lasagna noodles and bike ...

Anyway, Leah and I ran around Land Park. We started out walking to the Park for about a mile and then "ran" another 3 and then walked back to her house. I was probably running slower than I did when I first started running in 2000. My body felt like it was moving so fast, but my mind new better. I saw my shadow moving along side of me and I'm pretty sure I could have stopped and walked and beat my own shadow, but I didn't really care because I was finally running!

Things were definitely jigglier than I remember and I don't remember my boobs being quite so heavy and bouncy before, but again, I was running, so it didn't matter. Things hurt and ached and I was breathing very hard. I couldn't wait for the street lights to turn red so that I could stop and wait, but it all felt amazing.

I'm not as sore as I thought I would be. The motions and the movements felt very familiar, so maybe some of muscles remember this feeling. It took me almost 5 years to get to the pace I was at before I got pregnant, I'm hoping it doesn't take that long again ...

Get out the vote ...

Hope everyone remembered to vote today!

Spaghetti and Meatballs ...

When I was a kid my mom used to make all of my Halloween costumes. She insists that she didn't make ALL of them, but she made most. I was a bunny, winnie the Pooh, a wookie, a cool cat and many other things. I remember going and picking out the patterns at the fabric store and I remember her spending time making the outfits and thinking of all of the details. The best costume that she ever made was actually for Lucas. He was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (I can't remember which one) and she made him an entire turtle shell out of paper plates. By the end of the night he lost the shell and was really just a green ninja, but his costume was still the coolest.

When I was 10 or 11 or maybe even 12 my girlfriends and I decided we were all going to be pigs. We even got cute pig masks. My mom and I went and bought pink fabric, pink tights and a little pink tail. She made me this giant pink sac that I wore with my arms and legs hanging out the sides and the bottom, I wore my hair in pigtails and then I put on my mask. When my girlfriends showed up for pictures only one of them was wearing the pig mask and even then, the rest of her dressed as a punk rocker. They were all wearing cute little jean skirts and ripped t-shirts with funky makeup ... it was as if they had crossed the puberty line into the "cool" costumes and I was still a little kid. I was all round and pink and they were cute and punk. Still, my mom and had fun making the costume and I felt special in my homemade get-up. We laugh about it a lot now and my mom says "how adorable" I looked, but I guess after a certain age you don't want to look adorable, you want to be cool ...

It is for this reason that I decided that I wanted to take a stab at making Noah's first Halloween costume. I probably won't have that many years to make him cute outfits and go to the trouble of finding just the perfect pig tail or ninja shell, right? The problem is, I'm not very crafty. In fact, even as a grown-up, Greg has made all of my costumes. One year we were Dorothy and Toto and the best ever was when we were Princess Leia (not princess Leia in the gold bikini, but the real Princess Leia, the white robe thingy Leia) and Yoda. Greg walked around on his knees all night. He tied green gardening gloves around his knees and glued fake nails on the ends so that they were toenails.
I already two costumes for Noah. I had decided that he was going to be a shark and he looked so perfect and cute in his little shark outfit. However, it's sorta' big on him and he just cries in it. We also have the pea pod costume, but I feel like everyone will have the pea pod costume, cause really there are so many things that you can put a newborn in for halloween? So I kept thinking...

I thought about the things that I can make ... I know how to make yarn poof balls! And thus, the Spaghetti and Meatball costume was born. The only problem is that what I envisioned in my head and what was actually created are two totally different things. So, while the other kids will be wearing the perfectly crafted pea pod and bumble bee outfits, Noah will be wearing yarn balls and felt held together by safety pins. Greg told me that it's a cute costume, but I think he's just saying that to make me feel better. He also said that it builds character ...If only people could see the picture that's in my head, then I think they would understand what I was going for. At least we will have the memory and its the thought that counts right?

Good Job Nana!

So, we took Noah to the Doctor today ... I had a long list of concerns; His George Costanza head, cradle cap, colic, rash. My mom was watching Noah while I went to my first class and then she was going ot bring him to the doctor's office to meet me in between Family Law and Evidence. I was sure the doctor would just laugh at me and I'd be on my way. Turns out, while my mom was watching Noah he had a very strange poop, so my mom put the diaper in a baggie and brought it along.

Noah's George Costanza head is normal and will grow back, his cradle cap is normal and will clear up, and he doesn't really have a rash. She did determine that he is a bit colicky and that there are things I can do to help make it easier for us ... among them are giving up chocolate, caffeine, brocoli, apple juice, onions, and spicy foods. All of which are among some of my favorite things. If it makes him feel better, it'll be worth it, right?

After we went through my list of concerns, she then tested the poop ... turns out there were microscopic traces of blood in his poop. So, Nana (or my mom) saved the day! Part of Noah's poop and gassiness could be caused from dairy ... that means, on top of all of the other things that I'm giving up for the colic I also have to get rid of dairy. I'm not a huge milk drinker, but I defintely enjoy my cheese!

No chocolate, no brocoli, no apple juice, no onions, no spicy foods and now no dairy. They will test his poop again in about 2 weeks and if it's not better I think they'll throw something else out there ... she did say I am allowed to eat steak, which would be good news if I ate red meat.

I don't think any of this stuff is bothering him too much though because he's gained another 2 lbs since his last appointment and now weighs 10 lbs and 13 ounces. The way I look at it, if it makes his life better, it will make my life better. I can give up chocolate and dairy for the next 9 months or a year. I didn't think I'd be able to go without caffeine for 9 months and I survived, so I should be okay ...

On a more positive note, I get to start running in 11 days!