7 Quick Takes (vol. 14)

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I wasn't planning on doing Quick Takes today because I figured I would just be too busy to worry about trying to get them done (and I wasn't sure I could come up with seven even moderately interesting things from the week), but Jen is giving away an Amazon giftcard to one of this week's 7 Quick Takes bloggers! !!!  Even the faint possibility of winning money to spend on books is highly motivating, so here we are.

(Warning: very random quick takes this week.)

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Of course, it's not like I actually find/make the time to read all that often these days.  But the list of books that I want to read keeps growing, regardless of how slow I am in actually getting to anything on the list.

I'm currently reading two books at the same time (something I generally prefer not to do).  I started rereading Dr. Bradley's Husband-Coached Childbirth, but it's not exactly helpful in getting my mind off being pregnant (especially at 1am when I just want to stop thinking about everything and get comfortable and go to sleep!).  So I also started Sum of All Fears.  Tom Clancy is much better bedtime reading.

Is that weird?

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On second thought though, mixing the natural childbirth book and the spy novel may not be the most conducive to improving my sleep.  When we were taking Bradley classes before Michael was born I was also reading Band of Brothers for the first time, and I had some pretty intense dreams about being in labor and jumping out of planes at the same time...

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Speaking of labor, I'm never scheduling a doctor's appointment on a Friday ever, ever, ever again.  At my last appointment two weeks ago I was in the office for well over an hour and a half, just for weight/blood pressure/measurements and everyone's favorite, peeing in a cup (no, not really a favorite).  I assumed it was just that particular day that they were running so behind.  Well.  Today I showed up 20 minutes before my appointment and ended up waiting for well over an hour total.  Not quite how I intended to spend my time this morning.

But it was all worth it, because Liam is head down and--according to my tardy-yet-very-sweet midwife--unlikely to move from there at this point.

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And speaking of Tom Clancy, is it weird that I have to replay that scene from The Hunt for Red October in my head to remember the difference between Pavarotti and Paganini?  This is totally relevant, because Colorado Public Radio was playing Pavarotti on my way to drop Michael off at my sister-in-law's this morning before my doctor's appointment.  And The Hunt for Red October is always relevant.

I guess it shouldn't be surprising that I have to go through the whole scene to remember.  I also still sound out Wed-nes-day and Feb-ru-ary phonetically to make sure I'm spelling them correctly.

And I thought for sure I would be able to find that clip of Jonesy explaining Pavarotti and Pagnini... but it has not occurred to anyone to post that on youtube.  Lame.  Maybe you should just go watch the movie.

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And speaking of CPR, it is totally unfair that both CPR and K-Love were having their fall pledge drives at the same time.  Michael insists on music in the car, and I'm tired of the three CDs I've failed to replace in my car in the last 5 months.  So to have both of our more-or-less-commercial-free-and-child-friendly options spending more time asking for money than playing music was not fun this week.  Thankfully K-Love's is now over, and CPR's should be over soon as well.

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Check back soon for the amazing tale of my epic adventures in craftiness (complete with pictures!).  We're celebrating my niece's 2nd birthday tonight, and I'm making (yes, still in progress... I've still got 3ish hours left before the party) a fairy crown and dress-up skirt for her.  Sometimes I even amaze myself (movie line, anyone?)... I am usually not at all crafty, but I thought of this idea over a month ago and simply could not resist.  And it's been super fun.  More details (and pictures! did I mention pictures?) soon!

Go see Jen for more quick takes!  Happy Friday :)

7 Quick Takes (vol. 13)

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So, just a little bit behind with blogging.  Actually, not even really behind--it's not like a ton of stuff has been happening and I've failed to blog about it.  We've just been busy with the usual: three jobs, one masters degree, house hunting, a toddler, and a rapidly growing in utero baby.  Not even in that order...

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I apparently hit the "look like I'm about to pop" pregnancy milestone this week.  In one day I had the "When's your due date?  Six weeks away?  I really don't think you're going to make it until then!" conversation and the "Wow, you must be about done!" "Yeah... in another six weeks" conversation.  The latter went on to try to persuade me to get an epidural this time, because doing it without "just isn't worth it!"  I never cease to be amazed at the type of conversations one has while getting one's hair cut by a complete stranger.

Also, I have no lap left.  Michael hasn't seemed to notice/doesn't care.  I suppose it'll be even harder for the boys to share my lap after Liam is born, but we'll figure it out.

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The wait is finally over--both of my Biblical school classes will continue.  It seems weird to not be waiting any more... I'm thrilled for my students that they don't need to try to find another class to attend, and thankful for the extra income from having two classes.  But boy-oh-boy, Thursdays are long days for us now!

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Michael's vocabulary continues to grow by leaps and bounds.  In the past week he's added two important family names: Abby and Cassie.  "Abby" can either mean he's looking for his beautiful red-headed playmate, or a delicious snack of red fruit--as he uses the name interchangeably for his cousin and for apples.  He finally started calling Cassie by her name and not just "da!" (he's always enthusiastic about dogs).  However, he hasn't quite mastered the initial consonant sound... I'll leave the rather entertaining result to your powers of deductive reasoning.

Update: Between beginning to draft this post on Wednesday (if I don't get a head start, you don't get quick takes) and finishing it on Friday, Michael started saying "apple" perfectly.  He also says "blueberries"--somewhat less perfectly, but still with some pretty impressive enunciation.  I've decided that fruit is the ultimate motivator for getting him to say new words.

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I think it's finally time for Michael to start saying goodbye to his Pooh bear--the adorable little Winne-the-Pooh stuffed toy/cuddle blanket to which he has been very attached for the last 9 months or so.  Shortly after developing his naptime/bedtime attachment to his Pooh bear he also started chewing on the edges.  He quickly went from simply chewing on the edges to absolutely shredding the edges of the blanket with his teeth.  This quickly resulted in a very pathetic looking Pooh bear blanket thing.  But as of this week it has become apparent that he has started swallowing strings of significant length which he has pulled off/out of the blanket with his teeth.  I'll leave just a little bit to the imagination and say only that whatever cotton/polyester mix was used in the composition of the blanket, it is completely impervious to a toddler's digestive system.

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Tonight and tomorrow night Alex and I get to practice parenting-in-bulk with four little boys three and under.  Granted, one of them doesn't do much other than kick my ribs and head-butt my bladder, but I'm sure the other three will keep us quite busy and entertained.  Michael will be ecstatic to have his cousins (16 months and 3 years) to play with :)

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I was not particularly ready to wake up to snow this morning, even if it was only a light dusting on the cars and trees.  This had better not be indicative of winter actually being right around the corner--less than two weeks of gorgeous fall temps were not enough to separate our ridiculously hot and dry summer from snow, snow and more snow (although we're definitely hoping for a wet winter... mmmm, snow days :)).

Go see Jen for more quick takes!  Happy Friday :)

Michael's mad soccer skills

Last weekend we joined some AI friends for an incredibly fun pick-up soccer game.  And by "we" I mean, of course, that Alex joined the game, Michael went back and forth between playing with his trains, kicking an extra ball around, and trying to join in the game, and I chased M and cheered on Alex.  We had a blast.

We also discovered that M has some pretty impressive soccer skills (for a toddler).  He obviously gets his raw talent from his father--I played one season of soccer at some point in elementary school and scored exactly one goal.  But the more memorable part is that in his attempt to block my shot the goalie ended up sitting on my foot--and he was not exactly small for our age.

Enough about me and my non-soccer skills.  Of course I had neither the camera or the video camera at the game last weekend, but this afternoon we ventured up to the park equipped with soccer balls and cameras for a quick Team Crane practice.  Here are some (okay, quite a few) highlights:

My handsome soccer players

Working on technique

Kicking the ball is my FAVORITE!

RUNNING is my favorite!

M was quite impressed by Daddy's skills with the ball

Hustle? I'm too cute to hustle.

Future soccer star!

Yeah, I'm cute and I know it.

Having so much fun playing with Daddy...

But those soccer balls are tricksy--sometimes you go to
kick them and you end up on the ground.  What?!

By the time I broke out the video camera M was getting a little worn out (obviously we need some more strength and conditioning to build stamina).  His coordination seems to decrease exponentially as he gets tired, hence all the dives and his lack of interest in kicking the ball (he was dribbling very impressively earlier, I promise!).

7 Quick Takes (vol. 12)

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I always feel like a bit of a blogging failure when I don't post anything between one week's quick takes and the next, but on the bright side at least there are quick takes.  Right?

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This week has been incredi-busy.  Thank you for all your prayers for the Biblical School classes.  My Thursday morning class reached the minimum enrollment and is a go for the year!  My Thursday evening class, on the other hand, still needs five more people to register by the end of next week or it will be cancelled.  I'm surprisingly okay with this... as I've been praying for enrollments this past week--and trying to end every prayer with "Thy will be done" (in fact sometimes that's all I can bring myself to pray about it)--I've actually lost two students who had to drop my class for one reason or another.  Either I'm praying wrong, or this class isn't supposed to happen this year.  At any rate, this entire summer of waiting and waiting and WAITING apparently hasn't been enough and God wants to take this up to the very last minute and eke every last ounce of learning to trust out of me.   Surprise!

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And in the time it has taken me to get from take 2 to take 3 (I'm not going to tell you how long... but it's been a while), I've learned that the number needed for my evening class is down to 4--thanks to the generosity of our pastor and parish in sponsoring someone who had registered for the class but was going to have to drop out due to unexpected financial burdens.  Maybe I will be teaching two classes after all...

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The  midnight (and 2am, and 4am, etc.) munchies have fully kicked in.  I was hoping I wouldn't hit this phase where I can't get through the night without eating... or at least hit it at the very very end.  But it's here.  So far the nighttime cravings have been pretty easily satisfied either by a spoonful of peanut butter and a glass of milk (protein, therefore healthy) or a small bowl of CheezIts (um... cheese... therefore healthy...ish).

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Also, dried coconut has become my new best friend.  It's fruit, so it's healthy--full of fiber and vitamins and stuff!  It's slightly sweet and surprisingly filling, so it's perfect when I just need to eat something and eat it now (which is, you know, a lot).  There are such wonderful things at Costco...

Photo credit

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Congratulations to my home diocese of Lincoln, NE on your new bishop!!!  Bishop Conley has been such a blessing to us here in Denver--we're sorry to see him go, but so glad for you :)

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Aaaand... Happy Friday!

Grace is hosting quick takes over at Camp Patton today--go check them out!

7 Quick Takes (vol. 11)

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Confession: I started these quick takes last Friday... and meant to finish them Saturday... and thought about finishing them on Sunday... and pretty much gave up on them by Monday night.

Makes this week a bit easier though!

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Alex and I are just thrilled to death (and probably taking too much credit/feeling a bit too proud of our obviously awesome parenting skills) that Michael, at a scant 19 1/2 months old, makes the Sign of the Cross nearly perfectly (and by "nearly perfectly" I mean he remembers to start at his forehead almost half the time and only goes back and forth between "Son" and "Holy Spirit" four or five times--but it is definitely recognizeable!).  If I give him his lunch first and then sit down with him a few minutes later with mine, he will stop eating and start making the Sign of the Cross so we can pray together (obviously holier than I am, since I generally forget to pray with him before handing him his food).  And when we enter the church on Sundays he practically runs for the holy water font and waits impatiently to be lifted up so he can dip his hand (okay, plunge his hand as far in as possible) and bless himself.

Such a holy, well catecheized toddler.  We are so proud!

And then last week I found him in the bathroom.  Where I had inadvertently and unfortunately left the toilet lid up.  Dipping his hand in the toilet and--you guessed it, blessing himself.  With the not-at-all-holy-not-even-CLEAN toilet water.

So he really is a very normal toddler.  And I need to remember to put the toilet lid down.  Always.  And it probably wouldn't hurt to scrub the toilet a little more frequently, just in case.

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In further M-news, for several weeks now he's been saying the same word in reference to cars/trucks whenever he sees or hears them.  It sounded an awful lot like "Josh" and I couldn't figure out why he so strongly associated cars with his uncle.  I mean, even for a toddler "cars" and "josh" don't sound that similar.

And then it hit me.  He's not saying "Josh."  He's saying "crash!"  Because obviously that's what cars and trucks do (at least when he and Daddy are playing with them).  So on any given day when we're outside and hear (regular) traffic noise, M will point, look up at me, and say (oh so sweetly), "crash? crash?" 

No, sweetie, I don't think they crashed.  They're just driving.

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The weather has finally cooled down.  I was excited to wake up to cloudy grey skies and a cool breeze blowing through the window (the cloudy and cool part, not so much the waking up part), and even more excited to see that we're not expected to get above the mid-80s for the next week and a half.  In fact, I almost spit out my coffee when I saw that the high for today is supposed to be 71.  Of course, I never trust the forecast--it'll probably be 90 again in a couple days just to spite me.

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Do you love birth stories?  I'm absolutely obsessed with them.  I spent the entire 41 1/2 weeks of being pregnant with M reading everything I could get my hands on about pregnancy and birth.  Which, being my first, probably wasn't really surprising.  But my fascination with birth stories didn't go away after M was born.  I often have to resist the temptation to ask new acquaintances/practical strangers for their birth stories (and sometimes I don't bother to resist).

The closer I get to my due date (did I mention I'm 31 weeks?! only nine-ish to go... or maybe closer to 11, if he's anything like his brother... *sigh*) the more I feel the need to fuel my addiction...

So do you have a birth story you can share with me?  Pretty, pretty please?

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In case you are even as remotely in love with birth stories as I am, here's Michael's.  I shared--now it's your turn!

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My final take is a prayer request (I'm just needy today, aren't I? give me your birth stories! pray for me!).  I've been waiting all summer to find out if I'll really get to start my dream job as an adjunct instructor for the Catholic Biblical School.  Registrations for the first year classes have been rolling in very slowly, and I've been trying to prepare myself for the very good possibility that the two classes I'm scheduled to teach (starting next week!) will be cancelled due to low enrollment.  Well, I found out yesterday that they're doing better than I thought--each class only needs 5 or 6 more people to reach the magic minimum enrollment number.  So if you have a moment I'd dearly appreciate your prayers for anyone still considering registering. Thanks ever so much :)

Go see Jen for more quick takes!