happy boy!

Jack's happy bath from christina porter on Vimeo.

I finally found my camera (it was hiding deep deep inside the diaper bag) then I could not find the USB cord the whole weekend. Finally last night, I discovered it under a couch cushion (something tells me maybe I should try cleaning the house a little...) so I was finally able to download pictures and this awesome video.

I hope to begin posting daily again. I know people miss the little guy.

oh no!

So, I thought I had it bad when my USB plug was broken and oh boo hoo I have to use Chris's computer to download pictures.

Well, yesterday I went to look at a house (my little hobby on the side because it's not like we can ever find a place we like, yet we keep looking) and brought my camera to take pictures. I have not seen my camera since and I spoke to the owner of the house and he said he didn't see it there and I'm waiting for him to call me again this morning and I'm hoping I didn't put it down in the driveway when I went to put Jack back in the car and..I don't know. So, I have no new pictures to share and I may have to go buy a new camera this weekend if it's not found because I will go through withdrawals and I can't stand the thought of not having it at Jack's checkup on Saturday so, we will see what happens. I leave you with a picture from a couple of days ago. Jack is finally getting the hang of the whole Tummy Time thing. Yay!

miami winter blues

We have had quite a arctic blast the last few days and I don't think I need to tell you that people in Miami don't know what to do with themselves when the thermometer dips below 70, let alone into the (GASP!) 30's like it did the other night.

I always used to laugh at people in this town who would wear winter coats when it was in the 60's but after living here almost 5 years, I find myself less able to tolerate the cold but I will never become as delusional as some people.

A couple of weeks ago when we had our first "cold snap" the temps dropped into the 40's at night but warmed up relatively quickly during the day and it was close to 60 degrees one afternoon when I took Chewy and Jack for a walk. I put long pants and a jacket on the baby and covered him with a warm blanket and a hat and he looked pretty cozy to me. About 20 minutes into our walk, I ran into the UPS guy and the first thing he said to me was "You shouldn't have that baby outside today. It's too cold."
After looking at him in his short sleeved shirt and assuming he was joking, I laughed and said that I thought he would be OK. But UPS guy was undeterred. He went on to tell me that I should turn around right now and get that baby home before he got sick. Then he looked at me as if he was weighing a call to DYFS or if he would let it slide just this once but he was planning on keeping an eye on me.
All I could do was walk away. shaking my head.

Today I took the same walk and the temperature was again near 60 so I prayed I wouldn't run into UPS guy again. for fear he would put me under citizens arrest for child abuse. We didn't see him and I'm glad because Jack was obviously neither warm nor comfortable the whole time. (turn up your volume)


snoring baby from christina porter on Vimeo.

nursery tales

After months of research (and a tiny bit of procrastination) we were all ready to order the nursery furniture this weekend and....it did not go well. I will just say that the furniture we tried to order on Sunday was not ordered due to circumstances outside of our control and our Plan B furniture has been discontinued (I find out today) so I am now in a mad scramble to find something that we like that we can also get in the next week or two.

We really liked the modern look of both the Plan A and Plan B furniture and the fact that they were relatively inexpensive was an added attraction because most of the time the modern cribs are the most expensive for some reason. I am doing extensive research today to find something that Chris and I both like.I have no real plan except just hoping that something will jump out at me that we can either pick up ourselves or is ready to ship because (big surprise!) furniture can take weeks and months to be delivered and also comes with very high delivery charges - sometimes almost as much as the furniture price itself. Bleh!

In other news, Chewy has been acting extremely aloof these days, even for him, the world's most aloof dog. In some ways I think it is good because he will not be able to get as much attention once the baby comes so it's better he get used to it early, but it also makes me sad because he is always sleeping in another room and literally walks away from me when I try to lay down and cuddle with him and this behavior is really beginning to border on just plain rude.
I guess he knows something is going on, with all the furniture being moved around and new things being brought into the house but I wonder if this is really going to help him adjust or if he is still going to be in a big shock some 4-6 weeks from now.
4-6 weeks? I remember when I felt like this time would never come and here we are now, at the final countdown. I guess this is going to be a shock to all of us, no matter how prepared we think we are.

not to be worn with mandals at any time

Now, I am all for people expressing themselves but this is something that I just cannot get on board with.

Manytyhose.

As a girl, I remember looking forward to being old enough to be allowed to wear pantyhose because it felt so grown up to do, but it didn't take long to realize how horribly uncomfortable the stuff is. I cannot imagine why anyone, man or woman, would be all excited about this but, to each his own I guess.

Check it out here.

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For the curious, mandals can be explained here.

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And for the record, Kumar will not be able to wear either until he is old enough to buy his own.

little venice

The last two days, my street and all surrounding streets have been flooding both in the morning and in the afternoon, and lasting about 5 hours each time. Living at sea level and 100 yards from Biscayne Bay, I have gotten used to a small amount of water in the streets at various times in the last four years, but these two days have been the worst ever.

Yesterday afternoon I could not take Chewy to the park because that would mean driving my car through all that water (which is made up of bay water that has come into the street through the sewer system, and this bacteria-ridden brackish water is not something I want to drive my car through, call me crazy.) When I cannot take Chewy to the park, that means we have to take a nice long walk but there was nowhere to walk without facing down foot-high water in the street so we ended up walking in circles for about a half hour.

This morning, after wandering the neighborhood again, I decided to call the Public Works Department of this fair city and.....it didn't go well. Some guy gets on the phone and proceeds to speak to me as if I was a 4 year old needing a lesson on the changing tides and how because it has rained so much the last 2 days (no, it really hasn't rained hardly at all the last 2 days, a couple of showers at night and I don't think it has rained at all in the last 24 hours.) there is nowhere for the water to go so when the tide comes in, the water has to come through the sewers and into the street. Gee, thanks for the lesson, but I have lived here for four years and am VERY familiar with the changing tides and have seen the bay water come up through the sewers many times but NEVER THIS BAD AND ALL I'M ASKING IS WHAT IS BEING DONE ABOUT IT BUT YOU CAN'T HEAR ME BECAUSE YOU ARE TOO BUSY TALKING ABOUT ALL THE RAIN WE HAVE (not)HAD!!!!!!! (*deep, cleansing breaths*)

He really could not answer me. He WAS helpful enough to tell me that the tide would be low again around 11:00 and the streets should correspondingly clear then as well. Thanks. I guess I will begin rearranging my life now around the tides since you are really not giving me any answer to when is this going to stop happening twice a day except for when it stops raining so much. (and it hasn't really been raining anyway so now you are just making me mad!)
My favorite part of the conversation was when he said he would connect me to the "Sewer Supervisor" who I was really excited to speak to, but alas, I only got his voicemail.
Guess he's out somewhere supervising the sewers. In the meantime, I need to go get Chewy a pair of rubber boots to match mine.

pop goes the weasel 'cuz the weasel goes pop

I cannot even begin to share what a real pain in the behind yesterday was. Almost immediately after I finished my post, the internet went out and so I went into the guestroom/office/future baby room to mess with the router and as I was half-squatted, half-lying on the floor, i felt a definite "pop" in my left hip/pelvis area. It didn't hurt right away but it definitely felt funny and I knew something had gone very wrong. Within an hour (as I was in Publix buying Oxy-Clean laundry stain remover) I was feeling serious pain and could not walk without limping. As the day wore on, it got worse and worse. I had gone done messed myself up but good.

I have been thinking about going to the chiropractor ever since I got pregnant and had read about the benefits as one gets bigger (and let's face it, heavier) and as a pregnant woman releases hormones that cause your joints to loosen in preparation for child birth. A chiropractor can help keep all your bits n pieces in line and helps prevent back pain and things like this happening. I had already looked up some chiropractors on my insurance company's website and found a few in the area that took my insurance (they cover 12 visits a year) so I called one of them yesterday and made an appointment for first thing this morning.

The pain was so bad all night, even when I was sleeping I remember rolling over and having such pain in my hip that I was sure I would not be able to walk today, but (of course) I woke up this morning and....felt great. I don't know if it was the Tylenol I took right before bed or the little massage that Chris gave me (even though it hurt so bad while he was doing it, I had to make him stop) but there was zero pain this morning as I went to his office. I think it went really well though and he talked to me for a long time about what he could do to help me the next few months and then iced my lower back and hips, gave me a little massage (not a spa-like massage but a more painful but effective one) and then CCCCCRRRRRRRAAAAACK!

I was a little concerned about the cracking part but it was so fast and smooth that I really didn't even notice til it was over and I felt really good after.

Until about 10 minutes ago when I was doing my Yoga DVD and bent down to pick up the blanket and *POP!!!!* Did it all over again. Hopefully it won't hurt as bad. I am icing it presently and will take some more Tylenol and rest. At least I am going back to the chiropractor in the morning and hopefully it will keep me loose enough that I can do this again and not have too much pain with it. We will see.

are you mockin' me?

I tok Chris to Coral Gables to check out my pictures.
The following is his reaction:

darwin awards

I think this guy won.

(sorry about the link but the photo was not copy-able and trust me, this is worth the link)

(I got this from Maggie at Mighty Girl.)