An Experimental Tour of the Baby's Room

Hello! I thought I'd try out the new camcorder tonight. Here is my first attempt, which seems to me a little blurry, but at least you'll get a glimpse of the new, organized baby room. Hopefully I won't make you seasick - I'm sure filming on these things is a skill to be learned - one we're sure to become proficient in once the baby arrives. Much love and blessings - M

Showered with Love

In the last couple weeks, we've had two showers - one at the church and another at my grandmother's house. Jess and I have just been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support that we've received. And the stuff. Wow - this baby will be better dressed in his first few months of life than he ever will afterwards! Here are a few photos of all the fun:

Here are Dani and Perrie - my beautiful students whom I've taught since they were in the sixth grade (six years ago!). I was so happy they could be a part of this fun event.

Here are three of my good friends: Jeanne, Hannah, and Sarah.

Here is Jesse and I, seated with my San Diego Mom, Pam Paganini, at the family shower hosted by my grandparents.

Finally, here are my cousin Chelsie and I with the delicious cake that she made for the event. We really are so lucky to have such an amazing group of friends and family!

Make Room for Baby

We've been working on the "second bedroom" for a few weeks now...well - Jesse has been working on it while I make periodic visits and frequent suggestions. Luckily, he's had help from Jackie Boy and our friends, Micah and Hannah. Here are a few photos to enjoy along the way - it's nearly finished now, just the wallpaper border to put up and the valance to hang!

Chronicles of the Dog

When Marilee and I first got our dog Jack as a new pup, we were so excited. Not only was this a long-time wish of ours to have a dog, but because this was one step closer to having a child. I think Jack always knew that he was the John the Baptist, paving the way for someone who would usurp his place and authority. His life has always been devoted to one thing, "postpone the kid." For instance, when we got him we told ourselves that if we could keep a dog alive we could probably handle having a kid. So what does Jack do, a week after he arrived - concocted a life-threatening Pneumonia, costing us thousands of dollars. His strategy was two-fold - not only had he set us back financially, he caused us to doubt our readiness for child-raising - GENIOUS! He had indeed cemented his role as "our child."

Every time Jones (that's my name for Marilee) and I would gain a spine and lay down the law, he would develop some illness and give us those big ol' sad eyes. We were jello. He sleeps in the bed with us, has his favorite spot on the couch, prefers Breyers to Dreyers, and throws a fit if he is told no (really, he has a conniption). Just a couple of weeks ago I went into the kitchen to slice myself some cheese. I went to go answer the phone and 2 seconds later Jack runs into the living room with the whole block of cheese imprisoned in his mouth. You see, he loves cheese. This was a triumph.

What will we do when little Malott arrives in January and Jack is no longer mister numero uno? Already he can tell something is up. He seems to be regressing some in his behavior. But everytime we have little ones over he loves them. He just wants to keep licking them. It's us I'm worried about, not junior. Little Malott will just have to get used to being soaked with puppy drool every day. Oh well, some kids do have it worse - there are starving kids in China still.

Growing Wider

At our doctor appointment yesterday, I received the good news that I do not have Gestational Diabetes. My first glucose test had come back with high scores (what can I say? I've always wanted high scores before!), so I'd had to take a more extensive test that included fasting for twelve hours, drinking 100 mg of a terribly sweet substance called "glucola", and then have my blood tested four times over three hours. We pregnant people need to eat, so I'll just say that by noon (by then, no food for 16 hours) it's good that I was alone - I was pretty cranky!

Anyhow, that's over and I'm grateful that my test results came back normal - it seemed a bit cruel to have to give up ice cream so abruptly, when I'd waited so long to indulge. :) We've switched over to sugar-free ice cream, pudding, and cookies just to slow down the rapid weight gain, but I still get to eat carbs! (Thank goodness - Panera just opened up down the street!) Speaking of weight gain, I can officially say that for the first time since our freshman year in college, Jess and I weigh the same. Wow, I'm still processing that fact.

Kid Nation

As some of you may have heard, child abuse is running rampant on the television network CBS. Or, at least that is what we are told. Adding to my ginormous list of regularly watched shows, the new controversial hit Kid Nation has begun to climb the rankings.

The gyst of the show is a modified "Lord of the Flies" scenario in which 40 children, ages 8 to 15 are dropped off in the middle of the desert with the mandate to build a town of their own. They are given a ghost town, a warm, yet hands-off adult host, and daily tips as to how to coordinate this new civilization.

I have no idea how the producers pulled off such a bold legal maneuvering, but they somehow got the courts to agree to let them make millions off a social experiment with minors. And the television it has produced is, in a word, awesome.

In the first couple of days, life was chaos. The kids ran wild, soon succombing to the pressures of starvation and thusly beginning their work.

What has fascinated me about this show is the way that these kids have semingly replicated adult society. They chip in to wash dishes, create new recipes. Kids with certain gifts rise to challenge and cover for the inadequacies of the others. In fact, now that I think about it, they function better than adults.

One episode shocked me and in some ways rang quite true. Every three days the kids are brought togther in their teams and compete with each other for a better class rank than the others. If all the teams complete the challenge within a given amount of time, the whole town is given a choice of two rewards. Needless to say, when you bring a bunch of starving who are desparate for a bit of fun - they work hard. In this particular challenge, the choice of the two rewards were either to turn the town into a giant miniature golf course (hey, an accidental oxymoron - yeah!) or a small collection of religious texts. Almost to a kid, they chose the library.

Why do you think this is?

Behold - The End is Nigh

Well, there is no doubt that Jesse is correct when he highlights how differently we approach deadlines. This is not news to either of us (we were, after all, friends long before we were spouses), and it can't be too suprising to any of our good friends or (especially!) our families. After all, these penchants for neurotically preparing for stressful events (that would be me) or cavalierly procrastinating to acknowledge said event (that would Jess) developed long ago. In my parents' boxes of photos, there's a picture I particularly love. It's taken in the kitchen of our Garden Grove house on the morning I would attend first grade for the very first time. My hair is curled, my dress is on (which had been chosen carefully the night before), and my shoes are tied. I am sitting on a kitchen chair, feet dangling because they don't quite reach the floor. I am concentrating intently - on the clock mounted above the door to the garage. Willing that second hand to move a little quicker. Everything is ready. Just waiting for the time to be right. I was seven.

Now I am thirty-one and feeling the impulse to behave according to my nature. Is this the biological clock everyone speaks of? This instinct to begin the (sometimes painful) transition from adolescent to adult? That is the conversation that sparked Jesse's eschatalogical musings below - I looked around at the soda cans and discarded Taco Bell bags on the coffee table and thought, "If my son had walked away and left this here, he'd be in big trouble. Maybe it's time that we start living out the rules we intend to teach this kid." Of course, because I'm six months pregnant and the mood swings are like riding the Dragon Swing at Knott's Berry Farm, this very rational and mature idea came out in a combination of righteous indignation and snivelling tears. I'd feel bad for Jesse, except that this potent combination seems to be awfully effective in driving home my point to someone so inclined towards a laissez faire attitude. Needless to say, communication was had, plans were inacted, and our house has never been so orderly!

And it's a good thing, too, because our latest trip to the doctor for an echo cardiogram (clean bill of health on little Malott's heart! hooray!) brought the...interesting? information that "this kid has a huuuge head. No, really. Like Sputnik - spherical yet pointy in parts." Joking aside, his head (which is how they measure a baby's development in the womb) is like two weeks ahead of schedule. Yikes! Our January 17th due date might be closer to January 4th, according to the specialist we saw. So, maybe these little preparations, transitioning us slowly into honest-to-goodness-adults, are a good idea - the end of adolescence might be closer than we thought!