"Alameda is where hipsters go to have kids" - Ruports

So we had the Ruport clan over yesterday. Mad props to them as they brought us dinner (Chicken Enchilada's) which was delicious! It was so great to see Andrea and Matt as well as their 4 young ones. Their youngest Rex, 14 months, was a great trial run in how badly we will need to childproof our home. Starting with our dearly loved Noguchi coffee table. Rex attempted to climb over the glass top and nearly tipped the whole thing over. I wasn't too worried about the coffee table, but the 30 pounds of glass top that could have fallen on Rex and smashed the 28 lb bruiser. Next up, all our sharp corners on cabinets. Thankfully the little bruiser was able to skillfully navigate his way around all the possible bumps and bruises. Their other three kids had discovered out Bombo bar stools which we alot of fun for them to spin around and go up and down. And thankfully the bar stools withstood the test and no kids were hurt in the process.

Matt and Andrea live in Alameda. They really love living there and I think are trying to secretly (maybe not so secretly) trying to get us to move there. "Alameda is like where hipsters move to have kids." Do they have a Mommy and Me American Apparel there? I can picture a slew of hipsters pushing their babes in Paul Frank Bugaboos, decked out in American Apparel cotton shirt, skinny jeans and Toms Shoes. Oh don't forget the RayBans for the parents and the babes. Oh how I love to stereotype. Its only cause I am a honorary hipster that I can poke fun at my fellow brethren. Ok so I don't have Tom's shoes - yet. Cmon silver sparkle and you are helping a child in need get a new pair of shoes. "Danny can you hand me my wallet!?" Being a new mom - I am all about slip on shoes. I miss the time where I had the time to lace up my shoes, and accessorize my outfits. Perhaps wearing deodorant can count as accessorizing?

So my Uncle and Aunt in Canada got us a Heart to Heart sling.

Which is great! Danny uses it all the time with ease. I, on the otherhand, have had a little difficulty in making it work. Perhaps it is because I am not wearing my Kitten Heels like the picture on the Heart to Heart website (Gotta love those quirky Canucks!)

Oh I almost forgot! We took Max to his well baby 1 month check up this past week. He's looking good and growing fast. He's 22" long (which puts him in the 67% percentile for growth) and he's gained 2 lbs since we initially went to the doctors (so that's 2lbs in 2 weeks - which for those of you Metric users I think is roughly 1 kg.)


Lastly here's our little guy, who's so "beary cute." We are going over to family's for dinner tonight. Will be good to see Auntie and Uncle - as well as show off our little cutie. Next week, Grandma Busch and Betty are coming to visit us, which will be lots of fun!

MM out

Max's trip today - Post Office, Gym, and coffee shop - excitement!!

Hi,
It's been awhile since the Madre has posted. Max has been rather fussy the past 2 days and nights, which means the Madre y Padre are running on low. Last night was a little better, so we are getting our second wind. Yesterday Max fussed all day - so come today I was determined to throw him in the Ergo and go for a long walk. I had to hit up the USPS to send out a book I sold online via Half.com (love it!). I decided to go to the 'further' away post office (10 blocks vs. 3 blocks). It was rather nice out and I worked up a little sweat on the way there (not to mention that I had this adorable little space heater strapped to my chest!). There was the typical 10 minute wait at the post office as some A-Hole had 30 packages to send out and didnt have them ready by the time it was his turn. But I regress. Next up, Mission Cliffs to reinstate the Madres's membership. I've got to keep this svelte little figure! ha! I'm looking forward to finding other Mommies who want to climb, as well as start taking my weekly'ish yoga classes. On our way home, we stopped at our local coffee shop, Progressive Grounds, for a chicken wrap and Madre fuel (ala coffee). The people that work there are so nice and are buddy buddy with D as he goes in there everyday. I hadn't been in since I had Max so it was nice to be welcomed and congratulated as I walked in.

Here's our Lil Peanut just chilling in his crib

* please note, he doesn't sleep there at night just yet thus we have the bumpers there. We know that its advisable to not have bumpers in the crib - but they are just so darn cute. Plus Max likes to stare at all the animals on them!












We've been getting some fun videos with our Flip, which I will try to upload shortly.

Will this rain ever stop?

I still have yet to take Max out in his killer ride (aka Quinny Stroller) for a stroll around the 'hood. Its been raining and pretty cold, so I'm waiting till its a little nicer to venture out. I've been finding means to entertain myself - baking cupcakes, cookies, changing poopy diapers, organizing baby clothes and reading books that have been collecting dust (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies). D just went over to Valencia street and got some more books at Dog Eared Books. He picked me up another book that I have been wanting to read, "Diary" by Chuck Palahniuk (honestly, how DO you say his last name?) I also have David Sedaris' latest book to start.

Ok let me forge thru P,P, and Zombies!

MM out.

Shout out to his homie, Whiskers...

So from time to time in the Mission, you see young kids walking around with tee shirts in remembrance of someone they lost. The shirt usually has a picture of the deceased along with the date. Hate to generalize, but its usually a 'young blood' gang banger that got shot or what have you. In homage to a loss so near and dear to me, I made Max a onesie with Whiskers, RIP 2006. I didn't go so far as to list out the name and date of the deceased. Anyone who has known me for an amount of time, knows that I loved that cat. I had her for 15 years. She grew up with me in Vegas and when I moved to SF, I had to leave her behind with a family friend for a few months. Once we found a place to live, I flew out to Vegas and brought her back with me. Kitty and I rocked it in first class too! Ahh the life. Well the cat had been given a hefty amount of tranquilizers so I'm not sure she remembers much. This one's for you homie [pouring out milk from a 40 bottle] Meowwwww.

We had a date night!

D and I were able to go out to dinner last night (Beretta) and Grandma Bootsie watched Max. We had a great time and even stopped for a beer at The Bar on Mission. The beer, Fat Tire, was only $2.50! And it was magnificent, as I hadn't had for over a year and a half- as I was on a gluten free diet, right before I got pregnant. Oh my, that Fat Tire still holds a special place in my heart.

Here a Ham, there a Ham...

One thing that we have been blessed with this week is people bringing us meals. D's bosses wife made us a salad, and meatballs with sauce for spaghetti (which was delicious!). D's boss brought them all the way down from Santa Rosa (where they live). Apparently, they had 3 friends (including us) who all had babies within a few days of each other here in SF - so they made meals for each of us. Meals are the BEST gift. We had that dinner last night.

Today we got a knock on our door and what appears - but another meal! Yeah! Our UPS guy had a box marked "Honey Baked Ham." It contained a 3.5lb cooked ham, and 2 side dishes. yum

Maternity leave is awesome.

Ok so maybe I'm not missing my job all that much. The first few days after I had Max, I did sneak a few peeks at work emails but now nothing. The sad part is that this 12 weeks maternity that I get off is going to come and go so quickly. tear tear...

So aside from bonding and caring for Max, I need to find a few other things to occupy my time.

Here are some ideas:
1. Go thru closet and get rid of stuff I have been holding onto since the 90's (It's not going to come "back" into style not matter how much I want to convince myself)
2. Make a light up costume
3. Learn a new craft - Crocheting? Knitting? Screenprinting?
4. Sell stuff - clothes, bags and other stuff I've been hoarding. Now I know where the Cheap Ass Bitch gets it from. I blame myself. And her.
5. Read more. I am starting Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle (which I borrowed/stole from Richard G. The reason I know this is his book, is that he made me write on the inside cover with a Sharpie "Property of Richard G.") D just finished reading it (in 2 days!) so hoping that we can have a chat about it when I'm finished. I need to find a book club. I have books I just ordered from Amazon on their way. I haven't read the latest David Sedaris book - so looking forward to that one coming. Also thought I would give "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" a chance. Any other books/authors out there that I should check out??

Rain Rain go away come again another day. I really wanted to take Max on a few walks this week, but its been raining non-stop.

Gangsta's that roll around with the music cranked and their 2 year old not in a car seat.

I'm going to turn into one of those people. Don't be dumb when you have kids on the Mission Madre's turf. I was sitting at my desk, looking out the front window and saw a car stopped at the light at 22nd. I only looked out, as the windows in front of me were vibrating, as a car had their music/bass cranked up so loud it was disturbing. Upon closer examination of the contents in the car (I am on the second floor with an unobstructed view) I see a guy driving, chair reclined as far back as possible - and a 2 year old kid bouncing around in the backseat - no car seat in view. Honestly, I dont care if you are driving a block or 10 blocks - how stupid are you to drive around the city with the music cranked up, windows rolled down and 2 year old hanging out the back window? I don't know what was more alarming to me - the fact that he had the music CRANKED up or that he didn't have the kid in a carseat. Hmm Deafen your kid? or Possibly kill your kid? Had I been walking in the cross walk in front of the car - I would have certainly voiced my concern to the driver. He would have then most likely pulled a gat out and busted a cap in my ass. It's a Catch-22.

Max goes to the library...

"Steve Holt!"
- Steve Holt, Arrested Development

Max has had a busy week. Sleeping all day and wanting to play with mommy and daddy all night. Who knew newborns just want to paaaaaaarty? ok who am I kidding. Its exhausting. But we are finding that fine balance between "lack of sleep" and a "fuctional amount" of sleep. We've got toothpicks holding our eyelids open right now.

Wednesday D threw the little man in the Ergo Baby Carrier (best thing ever!) and headed to the library on 24th street to get D's first ever SF library card. It was a nice quiet time, so I was able to get a few hours of shut eye. Well needed and deserved, if I do say so!

Max has been getting the hiccups very frequently. When he was in my belly he used to get them 2-3 times a day. They don't seem to bother him all that much, but he won't sleep when he's got them, so we've just been staying up with him waiting them out.

I haven't yet got my Mission Madre ass out on a walk with Max yet. My DR told me to rest up and limit my walking for 2 weeks. 2 weeks! I think I might have to venture out before that. D and I went "out" for lunch yesterday and took a drive to our fav burger joint, Tower Burger near West Portal. Max was good and only fussed a little on the car ride back. I'm just dying to test out the Quinny stroller (see one of my first posts). D got to use it when him and Grandma and Grandpa took Max for a walk in Mission Bay. I took this opportunity to get some shut eye. On this walk, Max saw a few firsts - Sea Lion... Birds... Homeless man.

God, I even hate to mention it, but I'm going to. It been 11 days and I'm back in my regular pre-pregnancy jeans. Go ahead and hate me. I'm in utter shock myself at how quick I shed the baby weight - but like a nurse told me right after I delivered "You're just all baby! That belly will be gone soon." I did wear a abdominal retention Ace bandage sort of thing - which may have helped things retract. Also, I religiously used Palmer's Cocoa Butter stretch mark cream, which did the trick. However I hear that its truely genetics which determine if you get stretch marks or not. My mother, for instance, got no stretch marks. Back in the day, one if her fav sayings to validate that she was my mother was to tell people, "I gave birth to her - want to see my stretch marks?" (this was used one time I didn't have my ID on me and we were going out for Happy Hour - needless to say, we were able to get our drank on. Ahhh the good old days.)

Auntie came over yesterday for a quick visit. It was her bday and we gave her "I love Auntie" and "I love Uncle" bibs. We talked a little bit about the "Cheap Ass Bitch" and her decision to possibly move back to SF. But I'm not sure she'd be moving back - as she's been in NY for a long time now. She went from Boston to NY - I think SF had a summer in between. I'd selfishly love to have her in SF. And I'm sure Max would love to see Auntie Morg all the time. She can teach him all about getting cheap or free shit. That's how us girls roll.

So, I wanted to mention a few baby items we love: (I'll review them in greater detail when time permits - I'm one hand typing now as Max is snoozing in my other arm)
- Kiddopotamus (fleece, and cotton) Swaddle Me - we got the yellow one as we weren't sure if we were having a boy or girl
- Giggle basics - cotton hat, cotton tee and a cotton Halo sleep sack with Swaddling goodness
- my Diaper Bag (LeSportSac w. Diaper changing pad and loads of room for baby gear)
- ErgoBaby carrier (Black with Infant insert )
- Graco Pack N Play - with bassinet and changing table - absolutely the BEST thing we registered for.
- Diaper Dekor garbage pail - totally eliminates stinky diapers. But will review agian at a later date when we start to get really smelly ones.
- Fisher Price Bouncer - not only is it an adorable bouncer, it works great.
- Burp cloths (thanks Mel!) Never knew how handy these would come in. Plus they are home made w crocheted edges and pretty adorable. Your mom should set up an ETSY.com store! Ok I will stop using the terms "adorable" as I think I've used it a million times in this post.

Ok Max is rustling....Mission Madre out!

24 hours of labor later...We welcome Baby Max!

Ok now that I reflect back and think about my good friend Andrea trying to tell me that I should try to have a natural (drug-free) labor - I am not going to listen to anything she says going forward - cause she's crazy! Ok, I "might" have been able to do it, had I not endured 17 hours of painful contractions.

So here's the fun rundown. D and I are having a nice meal (Salmon, yum) and he makes himself a Manhattan. "This is the last Manhattan I have until you go into labor" - little did he know that I was going to START having contractions not an hour later. Bam! I labored at home for a couple of hours (thank god for a trusty Contraction timer iPhone App - we are so tech savy!) Finally the contractions were long and strong enough that we decided to head into UCSF. We got to the hospital (After picking up Bootsie on the way) around 3 am Sunday morning. At this point, my contractions had slowed down a little - perhaps from the trip and movement of getting to the hospital. They checked me and determined that I was dilated enough (4cm) to admit me. Long story short, 17 hours from the onset of my contractions, I was only at 5cm. Luckily, we had a huge labor and delivery room with a view.
As a friend in NY said, "Only in SF would you get a view like this..."

Since I was not dilating fast, they administered Pitocin - at which point I yelled for drugs as this drug made the contractions only stronger and closer together. The strength of the contractions was making me ill and I worried that I would become dehydrated. Cue the "magic Sugar Water" drip. I The staff at UCSF was AMAZING. So attentive and thoughtful, the staff all had excellent bedside manner and made sure that I was comfortable.

The labor itself was only an hour long and was over before I knew it. And now we have this little charmer on our hands. Our friends and family have been so helpful and we are so thankful for all they have done for us. Will post some more later - I feel it is worth it to blog about Baby Items that we have loved so far - Our Stroller, car seat, Kiddopotamus swaddle wrap and plenty more I can't think about yet.

Here's our little prince charming

Who ever said those "old Wives" were wise?

The 'Blue Moon' has come and gone with little impact on us. I had a few contractions (Braxton Hicks perhaps?) but nothing alarming. I think that the baby has finally "dropped" as I am able to breath a little bit easier.

Today D and I went for a nice long walk (maybe a mile) in Pacifica. It was a pretty mild day and just slightly overcast. It was nice to not be in a hurry anywhere and just being able to take our time and stop and watch all the surfers at Vallemar.

Now we are on our way to Grandma "Bootsies"(Yes there is a great story behind Bootsie's nickname) to hang out and take it easy.

Tomorrow we will go for another walk, topped off with Spicy Food and then the "other" S :)
I just really hope that we don't go past our due date (7th) as the last thing I want is to be induced. We have a Dr's appt on Monday, so it will be interesting to see if I've dilated at all.