this is really fun

visited 25 states (11.1%)
Create your own visited map of The World or determine the next president

I'm sure I've missed a few, but here's a first pass. Clearly, I need to head down south! I'm sure Tom will have the most fun with this. His map will be completely red, and I will try not to be too jealous. Mostly, this little exercise has reemphasized my need to get traveling!!

greetings to max!

Roger Maxwell Young has arrived! Thank goodness he was indeed a boy - I don't know how we would have convinced Katie that the baby brother she was expecting was really a baby sister.

I had an appointment with my doctor on Friday morning (9/19). We chatted about scheduling an induction for the next week, but he very confidently said he'd be seeing me over the weekend.

Around 12:30 pm the fun of contractions started. We tested Oma's response time around 2 pm and took a little trip into the hospital - apparently just to check out if things have changed any in the triage room since our last visit there a year and a half ago. The combination of the lovely hospital robe and the magic adjustable bed made the contractions stop almost immediately. Naturally. Katie and Alex enjoyed checking out the equipment in there, and the pizza downstairs in the cafeteria.

Back home we went. The contractions kept cooking all afternoon, and by the evening I really needed a good distraction. Off to the recenter we went! The Carbon Valley Rec Center has a great kiddie pool, with a nice warm lazy river to float around in. Alex even detached himself from my side for a few minutes. Oma came out for a sleepover 'just in case,' which was nice because we decided to give the folks at the hospital another inspection after we hopped out of the pool - I was not hopping as much as the other three members of our clan.

This time we were invited to stay. A special thumbs up to the anesthesiologist, who did a bang up job on the epidural, unlike the guy we had for Alex. A few hours later, and there was little Max, making his appearance just before midnight.

His official stats are:

• weight: 8 lbs, 10 oz.
• noggin': 14.25 in
• length: 20.5 inches
• handsomeness: +10

The nurses freaked out because I didn't wake him up at night to feed him - have no fear ladies, he's up every 3-4 hours at night now that we're at home.

Katie and Alex are both very loving and excited to have him around - so far so good. Alex likes to giggle and jabber with him and hold his fingers, when he's not trying to poke him in the eyes. Katie likes to hold 'her baby' and is very gentle checking out his cute tiny body. Another great little addition to our family!

Next on the agenda is to figure out when the blessing will be - we will be happy to host anyone who would like to come out, but we also know we are hitting the snow/holiday season, and travel gets tricky.

NOW i think i'm ready

A friend of mine has been having a freak out, because after a number of LAME-O boyfriends she's finally dating a great guy, so naturally this freaks her out. Things are going too well, and after years of WANTING to not be dating anymore, the possibility of the next 'phase' of life starting - 'losing independent Kris' (in her mind, she doesn't know yet that you DON'T) - is freaking her out.

I totally relate to this. Rog and I dated for a few years, during which time I often thought WHEN are we going to decide this once and for all? We're going to get married, so what is going on here? Then, when we actually sat down and started working on 'the terms' of our engagement - some people are romantic, others are more logical - I completely freaked and put 'go ring shopping' on hold for a while. That little list item just made things TOO real. Irrational? Maybe. Freak out? Oh yes.

So now that I'm 38 weeks along and seriously look like I'm ready to burst - at least that's what all the kind people I run into everywhere say, verbally or just with their large saucer-sized eyeballs jumping out of their heads - I've been experiencing the freak out. Torn between ready to be done being pregnant, and NOT ready for the process that involves. I'm not so concerned about not sleeping - I'm not usually a huge sleeper, and since Roger's genes dominate and these collaborations of ours start out GIGANTIC (the first two munchkins slept decently - 4-5 hours or so - from the beginning) - I'm banking on this kiddo being equally large, and equally tired from trying to maneuver that massive noggin' he or she is surely sporting. Katie will also probably score many of her dream days of just watching movies back to back to back. At least one child will get to experience her current idea of heaven. If I just let Alex take all the knobs off the amplifier and climb on everything he can see, that number will rise to two.

I think the real cause of the freak out is THE LIST that has been still swimming around in my brain. Which is so close to completion, that now I think it's time for running that marathon or whatever magic works to get this party started. I could still read Colin Powell - and REALLY get fired up about the current lack of leadership that seems to be a defining characteristic of politics these days - but that one can also wait, and I'll be OK.

LIST ITEMS CHECKED OFF LAST WEEK:

Loaded bookshelves. Art, church, biographies, WWII/European history, travel treasures (the maid has resolved to pick up a Swiffer at least once every 6 months). Ahhhh. Looking like we live here again. The amazing Rog finished the doors, so the painter COULD still prime and paint and then it would be totally done, but thankfully the neurosis doesn't run that deep. I will live if I don't get to them for a while.

Food. One pot of marinara, one cooked chicken, a vat of cheese sauce and two days later there are 11 aluminum squares full of pasta dishes in my freezer. Hopefully we will be in the mood. The stuffed shells with cheese sauce is sounding good right now. And if not, Papa Murphy's is just a couple blocks away, and I could probably alternate between the veggie and Mediterranean DElite pizzas every day and be quite satisfied.

Finished Alex' 'first year' book. Digital is so the way to go. On this item, the neurosis ALMOST won. I made the book on Snapfish, because they were 40% off (still are until 9/15). And then looked again - after cursing the lack of layout choices - at Shutterfly, and reconnected with an old friend. Shutterfly rocks for this particular photo project. Tons of layout, background and edge choices. They have decent promotions - just check on Google - and a couple bucks off through 9/24, but even if they didn't it is still the way to go. A MILLION times better. No hyperbole here.

Tiny kimono sweater. Thank you mag and your latest obsession Ravelry.com. This bad boy is now officially done. The new kid will have ONE non-hand-me-down. Had I not almost yakked coming down the mountains it would have been done sooner. (Note for Kat: I still really want that Bavarian hand-carved mirror at the antique store at the top of the hill, I just don't want to pay $800 for it. Go to Germany and find my own. THAT will save me some dough.) I'm not sure on the ties - the pattern used red, but that wasn't working for me. Using the same green just seemed too boring. The sweater and the photo book were really dueling it out there for a few days, but they both ended up coming out on top.

(My Bavarian princess on Sunday, since I got all nostalgic for Germany after checking out that antique shop.)


Batteries. Camera/recorder charged and ready to go. I guess now I can pack for that 10 minute drive.

All I have left to do is dye the gray, so I can keep up my facade of being 25. ;)


Here's a picture of the hardanger for Betsy. Finished size: 13.5 x 29. The linen is something crazy like 30 threads/inch. Might even be smaller.

And by the way: Roger is ready for totally obsessed Kat to take a sabbatical.

hometeacher extrordinaire

Roger thinks I'm silly to post about this, but it's still stuck in my brain, and still really impresses me. And it's Sunday, so let's go semi-churchy. Really, it's just about good friends.

Our home teacher/FRIEND rocks.

On Labor Day around 8 pm the tenants downstairs knocked to say that the water heater was leaking. This bad boy had been on its way out for a while, so naturally the time to go out is in the evening. At least the Depot was still open.

Roger and Jethro, his trusty steed, zipped on down and grabbed a new water heater. Once he got started on the project, Rog realized he didn't have the right size of connecting pieces. I gave our home teacher/buddy a jingle to see if he did. Being into property management himself - only on a MUCH larger scale - odds were good that he would.

I expected him to say 'Come on over and see if I have what you need.' I still can't get over his response. Without hesitation he said 'I'll just grab my stuff and come on over.' It's now 9 pm at night. He didn't have to think about it or clear it with his wife. He just came over.

And he has comparable man skills to Rog. I make a decent assistant, but let's just say I'm not my fastest self these days. I'm sure I could sweat a mean joint if I could ever pry that torch out of Roger's hands and have a go at it. But really, is an evening plumbing project the time to test this skill? Mike and Rog both knew what they were doing, and each could work on a different part of the installation in tandem. Instead of Roger having to stay up late and plumb it all himself, while I downed the Dove miniatures upstairs, one hour later they were done. I still got to eat ice cream and not feel guilty about it.

I sent the wife a little thank you email, and she sent Mike over a couple days later with some goodies. STOP already!

The week before this we had gone out with these guys to the Dinner Theater and had been joking about how we had re-requested Mike as our home teacher - cheaters, I know. But his style works for us. He doesn't come every month, and he doesn't throw a message at us as he checks his watch to hustle out the door. When we need help, however, he is always available. Whenever Roger has had to travel for work, or when we go out of town, I get a little nervous that some rental catastrophe is going to happen, but then I check Mike's schedule. If he's going to be in town, I don't worry. I know that we can call him, and he can and WILL take care of things if need be - not that we've had to yet, knock on wood.

This for me is real home teaching. He started out as our home teacher, and became our good friend. We talk about church stuff when it strikes us. Most importantly, we know that he cares about our family and will always help with whatever we have a need for. When the kids are bigger and we NEED to go to Moab, I'm sure he'll be there. :)

technologically NOT totally illiterate!

Grammatically possibly. Rog suggested that it might be easier for folks -family - to receive updates on what we're doing by inserting an email subscription option. I told him that it was his department, being the computer guy, but I decided to see if I have any functioning synapses left at this point in my life. Happily, the answer is YES! After 5 minutes of sweat and hard work, the widget has been added and tested.

So knock yourselves out. Sign up if you'd like, and then you don't have to check back every hour - like I'm sure you do - to see if we've done anything interesting, like hatched another baby.

Today's only adventure thus far was me chewing out a missionary in gospel essentials during my lesson, but maybe we'll save that story for another day. Like the day when I might feel a smidgen of remorse. Don't be holding your breath on that one.

crazy nesting kat

Last night while 'patiently' waiting to fall asleep, I started thinking about my 'things to do before I hatch' list. This thought process brought about the realization that I seem to get more ridiculous with each pregnancy. Roger will of course be shaking his head, thinking 'I could have told you that MONTHS ago had I wanted to sleep outside!'

With Katie, I think my main project was to paint her room, and find a dresser. There MIGHT have been, oh, 600+ bulbs planted that fall, but since I was only 5 months pregnant at the time and made Roger and James do the majority of the digging it doesn't count. I spend a fair amount of time doing 'normal' nesting things like making wee sweaters and booties for the coming princess.

For Alex, we did some pretty serious remodeling - totally redid our bathroom, changed out the fixtures in the other bathroom, got rid of the disgusting carpet (does blue loop carpet really need to exist?) and put in Pergo. The project MIGHT have dragged on longer than a certain pregnant girl had anticipated, making her a little nuts, but overall a pretty easy remodel. One color of paint involved, some cutting of tile, some cutting of boards. And a few more sweaters, fit for a little prince.

This time around, naturally another remodel was necessary. We - meaning Rog, although I am the official wallboard-screwer and first-coat-of mud person - put up a couple of walls to create a third bedroom and two closets. As long as we were doing that, we decided to put in an entertainment center/cupboards/bookshelf unit against the new wall. MAN! There has been no end of painting on this bad boy. I think in the last 6 months every room but the kitchen has gotten some tweaking - at least 50% of the house has been painted. I still have some final touching up to do on the shelves, and then the baseboards and the trim/casings for the doors. I finished a hardanger project because I figured it was now or a year from now, and now I'm remembering a sweater for Alex that I was going to finish for this winter for him. And then I think MAYBE I should actually whip something up for this new baby of his/her own. So what did I work on today? Did I pull out clothes in the appropriate size for the new one? Did I go through patterns and yarn for a new sweater? NO! I spent hours digging out the old lame strawberries in order to transplant the larger variety and expand the blackberry patch.

While I was doing this - thanks to Mary Poppins before lunch and a plethora of worms and grasshoppers after lunch to entertain the troops (I hope Alex didn't eat TOO many of them; guess we'll find out later!) - I was thinking what it would be like to just hire a couple of guys for a day and have THEM do this little project. They would knock it out in probably half a day and I could just supervise and be bossy and munch on my bon bons, as we stay-at-home moms usually do. Then I got to thinking about how grateful I am that I CAN go dig around in the dirt. I might be Shamu and BEYOND slow at this point, but things just take longer. I can still do them myself. As much as I like the IDEA of someone else doing it, I'm very glad that I am physically able to do pretty much what I want. Even in this enlarged condition.

We'll see if I have the same opinion tomorrow when my back weighs in . . .