Thursday, May 28, 2009

10,000 - 25,000 - 25,001 - 30,000 - 100,000!!!

While in Westwood Village the other day I stopped at Barnes and Noble to look for a baby name book. While their selection did not look formidable at first, there were about ten books to choose from, reading the titles of the books nearly sent me over the edge.

When I made a search on-line and read through over 3,000 names I thought that was a bit much but a book with 10,000 names? That seems a bit much. But no! There was another book with 25,000 names. And don't forget the new, revised version of the same book with 25,000 names. Or to hopefully get an extra reader or two there was the book with 25,001 baby names. Does that one extra name make it more desirable than the book with a paltry 25,000 names?

Then there was a peculiar thing, the next book contained 30,000 names and after that it went straight to 100,000!

Really? 100,000 names? What's wrong with 50,000 or 75,000 names that they had to skip them altogether. It seems there is a market for some more baby name books. You know, for the person who isn't satisfied with 30,000 choices but is overwhelmed with the thought of reading 100,000.

There were some funky names in the 100,000 names book. Do I really want to name my child Kamalapurakalanucha after an Indian deity? (I totally made that up)... but really. Where are they getting this great multitude of names? And furthermore, who is buying it?

Barnes and Noble didn't get my business. Instead I went to Target where I knew their baby name book selection would be more manageable. And it was. I picked up Baby Name Wizard and nowhere on the cover does it say it has more names than you have time to read before your child arrives.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

It's a boy & I'm FREAKING out!

In case you missed it, baby #2 is a boy!

We were kind of shocked to learn it was a boy because I think most parents expect a baby of the opposite gender with their second child. That and with all of the timing of everything as it just so happened it would seem to indicate a girl would most likely be the end product. When I told my sister-in-law this she freaked out since she wants her third child to be a girl like a pageant mom wants her daughter to be Miss America - and she does plan accordingly. All must be aligned; if she weren't Christian I'm sure sorcerers would be hired to make special potions and concoctions to draw all of the 'x' chromosomes.

Before we got preggo and before I did any math in my head I was fine with either gender. It would be nice to have a girl but at the same time I am having so much fun with Gavin and love him so much that another boy would be great, too.

Then I had to go and think it was a girl and I started to look at girl stuff - mostly clothes. Girl clothes are so cute. There are such cute dresses and tights and shoes and bows for the hair that I let myself get carried away.

Then my little dream of a little girl vanished. I just stared at the ultraound screen and his little boy part and fought back a few tears for the girl I wasn't going to have. I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want my voice to crack.

Almost as quickly as I thought, "It's not a girl," and realized I was sad about it I instantly felt like a horrible mother to my little boy. I don't want him to ever think that I would rather have a girl in place of him. I just had to adjust the reality of having a boy with the vision I had of having a girl.

If this little guy is half as cuddly as Gavin is then I'm going to be especially blessed.

Ryan was telling me in the ultrasound room how much fun Gavin and his brother are going to have playing together. Of course I was still in a bit of shock and instead of smiling at my husband trying to comfort me I snapped at him. I guess I take it personally when people tell me Gavin is so lucky to have a brother because I am the second child - my older sibling is a boy. Did that make my brother unlucky to have me as a sibling? Did we not have fun playing together? Would his childhood had been better if I had been a boy? I know they are just trying to be nice and helpful and show me how wonderful it is going to be. It really is unfortunate for Ryan that he isnt' a mind reader.

Of course I am excited now to have this little boy. I wouldn't trade him or his brother for a girl. How could I? My little G is the best thing to have ever happened to me. Even on days when I reach my breaking point and wish I could escape for a day or two and be in complete solitude after a couple of hours of being away (or if he is taking a really long nap) I miss the little turkey. Of course with #2 being a boy it makes it even more likely that there will be a #3.

I am 19 weeks and a half weeks right now - if #2 comes stays in as long as Gavin did then I'm past halfway but will officially be halfway as of Saturday. This pregnancy is going by so much faster than the first. Part of me is glad its going by fast because the blah parts of pregnancy are also going by fast but the other part of me wants time to slow down so I can soak up as much one-on-one time with Gavin as I can.

My biggest concern right now is how I'm going to share Gavin. It was only a couple of days ago that I realized the way I was framing the question, "How am I going to share Gavin?" was a little skewed. It is Gavin that is going to have to share me but in my head it is I who is sharing him. I don't know how I'm going to deal with not having so much time with my little G-man.

Am I going to end up being the world's grumpiest mom to Gavin? Is baby #2 going to be a horrible sleeper like Gavin was? Sure, Gavin was a mellow little dude as he didn't scream much but he also didn't sleep much. He woke up every 90 minutes - 2 hours for the first several months then went down to 2-3 hours then 3-4 hours until he finally started sleeping through the night when he was 14 months old!!!

Is my house going to fall into complete disarray and utter chaos? (Or even more disarray and greater chaos)? How am I going to do laundry and vacuum up all of the freakin' dog hair (she's ten times worse than the cats) and make Gavin lunch when I am running on zero sleep? How am I going to have the energy to play with my little G when I'm so tired that I cry when I see a tiny patch of dog hair that I missed with the vacuum and am too crazy to leave it alone and drag out the vacuum cleaner to vacuum up the stray dog hairs I missed on the first pass?

How?

Short of becoming rich and hiring a nanny - how am I going to do this and still be a decent mom to my little guys?

If, especially after reading that freak out, you think I'm crazy for wanting three kids. If you think two is plenty and I should be content with having two kids instead of three and have reasons enough to write a novel about the virtues of two children versus three, that is fine. Write the novel on why it is better to have two kids instead of three - just don't give me a copy of the book.

Oh, and don't get cute and say, "But, April, I thought you wanted four kids!" Four is still on the table. The above paragraph applies to comments about having four children as well. I know all of the reasons to not have more kids and I don't want to hear it anymore.

Ooh, look at me getting all grumpy. Maybe its time I try to go back to sleep.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Hawai'i

I was going to give you all a play by play of our vacation in Hawaii but as each day has passed the days have blurred together in my head. So now I'll just post some pictures and maybe tell a story or two.

This first picture is of Gavin sitting on towel which is on top of sand. *Gasp* Sand! It was everywhere! Ryan and I were so excited to set Gavin barefoot in the sand for the first time. Well, were we ever surprised when Gavin started to cry and and clung to us for dear life. He curled his legs up to get as far away from the sand as he could. It was going to be a daily battle.






Walking with G in the warm water of Waikiki. I was trying to spot the small schools of fish I saw earlier without him. No such luck.



The view from our room.





The elephants were out doing circus tricks at the Honolulu Zoo - Gavin really enjoyed watching them.











The G & Ryan - so cute!










The animals all had a brownish - red tint to them because the dirt was a strong red color






A "black" rhino covered in red dirt makes for a red looking rhino.






Gavin, in sandals, being brave reaches for a rock that is on top of and surrounded by sand. I don't think he actually picked it up; the chances of touching sand were just too great.






G: "Um, why are my feet getting wet?"






A yellow firetruck. Ryan saw one with a surfboard on the side.







Bishop Museum, the official museum of Hawaii. Call before you go to see if the Hawaiian wing is open. It was closed for remodeling. Great place to learn about Polynesian cultures (think Survivor) and has a neat place for kids (not pictured).










USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. I would not recommend this tour for people with toddlers unless you have a supremely mellow child.




Walking back to the boat after looking at the memorial




Punchbowl National Cemetery






Another view of Punchbowl







Iolani Palace - the only palace in the United States.




A palm tree at Hanauma Bay




A rooster - at Hanauma Bay. A rooster. It was the most wildlife Gavin saw (and heard - it was one confused rooster with its cockadoodle-dooing).







Gavin enjoying Hanauma Bay as well as he can since he wouldn't go in the water or sit on the sand. (Or walk on the grass - at first).







View of Hanauma Bay








Even better view of Hanauma Bay.






Pretty flowers on Paoakalani Ave that we walked past to get to the beach every day.





One of a million or so ABC stores. We called this one our 'home' store as it was the closest at a half a block away. Seriously, there is an ABC store in Waikiki on every street, if not one on each side of the street and sometimes more than one to a street - like a big one and one in a hotel lobby.










View of Waikiki from the main drag - the name of which I forget.




My garlic shrimp plate from Blue Water Shrimp Company - served up from a bus in a parking lot off Kuhio Ave. Y-U-M. The meal cost something like $14.50 (I had a soda). Kind of spendy for the locale but the food was good. I was given a flimsy plastic fork so listen up Caucasians with chopstick skills -ask for chopsticks. I was surrounded by Asian people eating their food with chopsticks - I was given the stupid fork 'cause I'm white and they assumed incorrectly I can't wield a mean set of chopsticks.






Where NOT to eat. If anyone recommends this place it is because they have inexpensive food. Don't fall for it. These are the same people who recommend buffets in Vegas. Cheap food doesn't equal good food.





View from the last place we ate on vacation, Tiki's (off Paoakalai Ave and the main drag). I enjoyed the food and Ryan enjoyed his free beer (first 100 people in at 5 get a free beer. They also have $2 tacos which we didn't try) and $3 passion fruit and vodka drink.










The G at Tiki's




Family picture taken by a nice chatty English couple on our last night overlooking Waikiki.




Gavin walking in the sand on our last night! (The trick is to have him in shoes).


Saturday, May 16, 2009

Pitbulls, part II

Of all days for this to happen it had to happen when I had family over. My family is kind of leery of my neighborhood to begin with but to be live on the scene when an 'incident' goes down does not help.

I had picked up my mother-in-law from the ferry terminal a little after 11; she came a few days before the baptism to help us get the house ready. Ryan and I really appreciate the help because getting the house up to snuff for company is always such a chore because we aren't so great with the maintenance cleaning. A little two hours after she arrived on the beautiful sunny day Gavin was in his room for a nap and the doggy was hanging outside enjoying the sun and people watching.

Soon the sounds of a dog fight broke the tranquility of passing cars, pedestrians and overhead air traffic. The fight was coming from across the street and was starting to sound pretty vicious. My MIL had the good sense to bring Kea in the house (we have a wimpy gate that Kea does not realize she can easily defeat but I'm sure a blood thirsty mean dog would have no trouble scaling it).

Once the dog fight ended the people fight began. I said I was going to see what was going on - Gavin was safe in the house with adult supervision so I grabbed my cell phone and yelled across the street, "I'm calling the cops!" Something that is not new to me these days.

I darted across the street to see the commotion as it was blocked from view by shrubbery and cars. There was a woman standing against her car and a man trying to console her and a huge crowd gathered at a distance watching everything. At this point I was on the phone with the police because the woman was yelling that she had been attacked by a dog.

The super grumpy dispatch officer who did not at all appreciate my phone call was asking me a bunch of questions I did not know the answers to.

Officer Grumpy: "Does the woman need medical attention?"
Me: "She doesn't appear to - she looks fine."

Officer G: "Are the dogs secure?"
Me, as I'm walking toward the woman: "Yeah, they are in cars. Oh, *&^^! There's a pit bull... oh wait, it's sleeping? No! It's dead."

Officer: "How did the dog die."
Me (for the millionth time): "Pardon?"
Officer: "Ma'am, can you please go somewhere where you can answer my questions?!"
Me: "There are people screaming at me and airplanes flying overhead. No." (Especially since one of he demands was that I stay there AND since he kept asking me questions I did not know the answers to.
Officer Grumpy: "How did the dog die."
Me: "I don't know, I'll go ask."

Me to man and woman: "I'm on the phone with the cops and they want to know how the dog died."
Man and woman both start yelling their story at me but mostly through me.
Me: "Please, I can't hear you. I just need this information for the cop."
Man to woman, "It's ok, calm down."

Man and woman proceed to tell me the story. The woman was sitting in her car with the windows rolled down eating lunch. She had her dog in the car, which appeared to be a pit bull as well, and was minding her own business when another pit bull tried attacking her through the open window of her car. I'm assuming it was trying to get to her dog.

This is where the story gets fuzzy for me. Apparently the woman was able to roll up her window to keep the dog off. A group of men who were smart enough to not get in the middle of a pit bull fight just stood there laughing at the scene. I think that is what a lot of the yelling was about afterwards. The woman was understandable livid that they just stood there - they could have at least grabbed a phone to call 911.

So, woman the is at least safe in her car but the pit bull is still out for blood and I guess there was a third pit bull involved by my eagle eye dog count. One dog in woman's car, one dog in someones truck and one dead dog in the parking lot with the owner sitting next to it.

When I asked the man how the dog died he started yelling again, "His dog attacked my dog, I had no choice but to kill it!" I then asked him again how he killed him - he stabbed the dog.

When I told the officer the man stabbed the dog he asked me if the people involved had weapons.
Me: "I don't see any."
Officer: "Does the man have a knife."
Me (in my head): "Duh. Yes! He has a knife - he just stabbed a dog to death. I don't think he went old school and broke a glass coke bottle and took the dog out that way."
Me: "I don't know. I don't see anything."
Officer Redundant: "Does he have a knife."
Me: "I don't know. I don't see anything." (As IF I'm going to ask a strange man whose adrenaline is pumping if he can show me his shiny knife possibly tainted with viscous dog blood).

Officer Grumpy: "Ma'am, can you tell me what you saw."
Me: "Nothing. I came running over after the dog fight and just saw people yelling. Can I go?"
Officer G: "No. Hold on... (starts talking to another dispatch about the knife, dead dog, weapon in question....) you got that?"
Me: "Who me? You talkin' to me?"
Officer G: "Nein!"
Me: "Can I go? The cops are here now."
Officer G: "Nein!"
Officer G finishes talking to the other people so I tell him another cop showed up so can I please leave now?
Officer G: "You need to talk to the officers before you leave."
Me: "OK, now can I go?"
Officer G: "You must talk to the officers first."
Me: "OK. I will talk to the officers but can I hang up now?"
Officer G (very grudgingly): "Yes."
Me. "Thanks. Bye." click. (actually it was more of a 'snap' since I was on my cell).

Newest officer on the scene was headed for a crowd of women to get their story so I ran over to him quickly to tell him my 2 cents so I could let him talk to actual witnesses and so I could leave already.

This officer had the idea since I didn't see a flippin' thing - he got my name and number and I told him I thought it was the same dude who was walking 3 pit bulls off leash a couple of weeks ago. And as if he was blind I pointed to the dead dog across the way and said, "Oh, that's the dead dog." He laughed and said, "Yeah, I didn't think he was really sleepy." It was my turn to chuckle, "OK, bye," and off I ran back to the house to fill in my mother-in-law of the viscous turn of events.

She asked if our plan for this house was still to just stay for a couple of years. I was like.... uh... I dunno... probably not. Sensing she was not liking that answer by the grimace I let her know I felt much safer in this neighborhood than I did in our old neighborhood which no one really voiced any concerns about.

Old neighborhood street vs. new street.

Old: One meth house (two doors down), at least one crack house, one resident crazy dude who would stand in his short, short robe and talk your ear off and tell you stories about "them awful cops" trying to set him up when they found a gun in his house (he was mentally unstable and made a few trips to the psych ward). Also the same dude who witnessed the grisly aftermath of a man who was shot with a shot gun after he stopped to help a man standing in the middle of the road less than a mile from our house - killed for no reason other than he stopped to help a crazy man late at night who was standing in the middle of the road.

New: Only a handful of neighbors, none of whom are cooking up meth or dishing out crack. The only murders I hear about are south on Rainier - which mostly occur after midnight. Solution: don't hang out on south of MLK on Rainier after midnight.

Also, in the old neighborhood we had a guy try to push his way into the house late at night when we started to open the door thinking it was our next door neighbor. My neighbor across the street had a young punk pull a gun on him and we had tons of stolen cars abandoned on our street. One neighbor always had at least two cars in various stages of assembly/disassembly in his front yard and at least one parked on the street. Same neighbor whose Latino porn pamphlets found their way from his pockets to the sidewalk. There were neighbors who let their dogs roam the street to pee and poop in our yard and of course the young punks who sped down the one way street and kids who rode those annoying loud scooter bikes for an hour or so on the weekends. Who wants to hear a crotch rocket zip up and down your street that is essentially a mini canyon with a hill on one side and houses on the other to effectively trap all sound? Grr. I hated those bikes - and the parents who allowed their kids to deafen everyone on the street.

Ryan didn't help allay his mother's fears when he got home from work. No, the plan is to stay here for a while. I go back and forth on wanting to move. Some days I think the house is too small or at least just poorly laid out for our growing family but then I like the proximity to downtown and the growing urban feel of the neighborhood. I really like being able to walk to get last minute groceries or to a coffee shop or park. I like the school that Gavin will be attending. It's going to be one of two language immersion schools in Seattle - everyone is going to try to get their kids into the school but we will have first dibs. Woo-hoo!

I really got off topic of the pit bulls. I think a law should be passed that would make it illegal to own a pit bull - grandfathered in would be people with pit bulls already - but as the pits died and breeding them was outlawed they would simply be no more. I hate aggressive dogs. Hate, hate, hate. I don't care how cute they are, you can't ignore all of the stories about pit bulls turning on their owners or attacking other people or pets to protect their owners.

Friday, May 08, 2009

Video of Plant Thief (aka Rat Bastard)

Here is a link to the video of the cretin who is stealing freshly planted trees and shrubs in my neighborhood. It's on YouTube and I just sent it out to the neighborhood lisCheck Spellingtserv. I tried uploading the video directly but a) I can't find the edited video that Ryan made and b) it was taking forever to upload the video in segments and c) a link is so much easier when I'm ready to go to bed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGtBx7aj9lE

Sunday, May 03, 2009

Rat Bastard

Ryan came up behind me in the back yard and said "Be quiet," as I was tamping some soil in a small hole I had just filled next to the fence. I said, "Ok," although I didn't think tamping soil was that loud. I figured he was telling me I needed to be mindful that I was working next to Gavin's room as he was sleeping.

Then he said, "Be quiet," again and I realized I didn't let him finish the first time. He finished by saying, "Be quiet, someone stole our plants." I wanted to yell, "What?!!!" Then it dawned on me, he didn't want me screaming, "Rat bastards!" and waking up Gavin.

The previous weekend we had some kids from the church working at our house as a way to raise money for their summer mission trips. We had them do yard work; most of which involved pulling up all of the grass from the tiny bit of side yard where Ryan later planted two daphne shrubs.

One week later (last night) some jerk stole both daphne. Just like someone stole a tree we planted last year and some pavers. Its probably the same person who steals the plants from my neighbors and from the community center.

The only difference between the dude stealing the tree last year and this year are the new surveillance cameras we installed. A middle-age balding man smoking a cigarette walked past the front of the house and down the alley, stepped up into the yard, plucked the two shrubs like they were weeds and walked away.

Unfortunately the resolution of the camera wasn't that great and it was in the middle of the night but it was good enough that we have an idea of what he looks like. I called the police to make a report over the phone because I'm sick of this jerk stealing from everyone in the neighborhood. The officer taking my report over the phone asked me if I saw the person stealing the plants and I told her no but we got it on camera so she said they would have to send an officer over to watch the video. I made sure they really needed to come to our house over a couple of shrubs. They did.

A couple of hours later an officer showed up to watch the video. He encouraged us to fill out a police report so we did. I felt a little silly filing a report over $40 worth of shrubs but this dude has been stealing for well over a year from all over the neighborhood. We believe he is a sheister of a landscaper who is stealing our freshly planted trees, shrubs and ornamental flowers and then using them in his clients yards. He only steals the stuff worth stealing. He didn't take the time to steal the Irish Moss or the cheap daisy like flowers we also planted.

Ryan and I are both surprised he didn't steal any of the 5 or 6 hydrangea we planted last year - he must have been on vacation and by time he realized new shrubs had gone in it was too late to pluck them as their roots were established.

Ryan is going to put the video we do have of him walking past the light post on a dvd then I'm going to upload it onto youtube then send a link to the neighborhood listserv. I hope that little rat bastard gets caught. I think a great punishment for him would be to buy us new shrubs and to plant them - and of course be charged with trespassing and theft.