Baby Pineapple Snow

Snow falling Wednesday night on the back deck. When I woke up Thursday, a lot of it had melted off but there was still plenty of snow to look at.



The studio roof and garden still had snow along with the cape and alongside the road. Weather dood said we got around 2 inches of snow during the night.

From Jen's email with Baby Julianna's size descriptor for week 33:

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

I am so looking forward to spring -- not only will it be warmer (was 27 last night) but I get to finally meet my granddaughter. Jen had a 3D/4D ultrasound Thursday -- say howdy to Julianna Renee:

Jicama Sunset

Had sunshine today but these clouds to the west are reminding me the weather dood is forecasting snow on the coast tonight and tomorrow morning. We've had snow for the last two mornings but it has pretty much melted away by the time I get up. Sounds like we may get more than the dusting we've had the past two days.

From Jen's email with Julianna's size descriptor for week 32:

By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb.

Time sure seems to be speeding by -- 8 weeks (52 days) left until Jen's due date. Jen's having an ultrasound tomorrow and I am looking forward to getting another glimpse of my granddaughter before she arrives in mid-April.

The Rocky Racoon

The Beatles -- Rocky Raccoon. From the YouTube description:

If you love the Beatles, and Rocky Raccoon. You'll love this video. If you like Westerns, and Rocky Raccoon. You'll love this video. This video took about 5 days to make. 2 days to make sets and costumes, 2 days to shoot it, and 1 day to edit it. It turned out great, check it out.

Let me add if ya love little kids play-acting... I forking love this video.

Four Navel Oranges Sunset

Thursday's sunset -- before and after.

From Jen's email with this week's size descriptor for week 31:

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

When we were driving back to Oregon from Jen's shower, we passed by Mt. Shasta which had a great lenticular cloud capping its peak. I snapped these two photos from the passenger seat of the truck. The first one was taken through the windshield shortly after we had passed by Lake Shasta and were approaching the town of Dunsmuir:


I took this out the passenger side window when we were about even with Shasta near the town of Weed:

As always, you can click on the pictures to enbiggen them.

Las Trampas Cabbage

While I was down in CA for Jen's baby shower, I picked up this 30 x 40 painting from my former co-worker, Sheila. Sheila and I were hired at the PD on the same day -- in addition to her other duties, she was also the forensic artist at the pd, creating sketches of bad guys from victims or witnesses. The colors are even more magnificent than this photo shows and I love, love, love that swirling sky.

Now that she is also retired, she's moved From Forensic to Fine Art. That's a link to her blog and where I first saw the painting pictured above. Sheila is a fine artist and regularly posts her work at her blog, which is on my daily must reads.

She told me when I picked up the painting of Las Trampas (a regional park) that if anyone mentioned my name, they would get a discount on any of her work. Go check out her stuff -- tis mighty fine eye candy. I'm thrilled to have this piece by her hanging on my wall.

From Jen's email with Baby Julianna's size descriptor for week 30:

Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision – which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

Jen closed her email with 10 weeks to go, on the home stretch!

More Baby Shower

I totally blew it with my last post -- I neglected to include Jessica as a co-host. Jessica is also pregnant (she's 10 weeks behind Jen) and found out the weekend of the shower that she is also having a baby girl.


Lining up for the great food. Was quite a spread of goodies to choose from and it was all delicious.


Raspberry Pink lemonade with frozen raspberries and lemon slices. Was as good as it looked and I had several refills.

Tis a better shot of the diaper cake than the close up of the flower topping I posted yesterday.

Me, Jen, and Stephanie. Sure was good to be with both my girls again. And it feels great knowing that things are ok between us.

Tomorrow, Jen will have a new size descriptor for Baby Julianna. Last week she was a butternut squash... wonder what she will be this week?

The Baby Shower

Jen had a wonderful baby shower Saturday. Her friend Meghan and her step-sister Alicia hosted the party at Meghan's house and a good time was had by all. The games were imaginative and so much fun and the food was fantastic! It was so good to see Jen with her friends -- her smile says it all. This is Jen with Meghan:


and this is Jen with Alicia:


There was a 3 tier diaper 'cake' made of newborn diapers and fresh flowers, with baby bottles inside acting as support for the tiers.


The real cake was made of cupcakes:


One of the games was to guess the song title and artist of songs with the word 'baby' in the title. There were 15 songs and we all received a cd of Julianna's Jams as a party favor. Megan had taken a copy of Julianna's ultrasound pictures and photo-shopped earphones on it for the album art. It is soooo cute:


Jen received so many cute gifts for Julianna. The bed of the pickup truck was filled with bags and bags of outfits, a stroller, car seat, etc, that I doubt we could have gotten one more little outfit inside. Stephanie got Julianna a onesie that said "This is my little black dress" and another that was a Sublime (rock band), both were black and cute as a bug. Stephanie had been shopping for months for things to give Jen at the shower and everything she got her was perfect. Jen was glowing as she was surrounded by her best friends and I could see how important those friendships are to her.

Now for my mea maxima culpa ...

I had quit smoking on Wednesday. By Friday, I was a total flaming bitch, lashing out at everyone and everything. I made Stephanie (who had flown in for the shower) cry and I'm pretty sure I totally ruined Jen's weekend. I said things I should not have said and was quick to harp on perceived insults when there were none. I lashed out at Jen for not saying anything supportive about my not smoking -- I accused her of not being supportive when I was the one who should have been being supportive of her.

There is no excuse for my behavior. I was rude, surly, and so pissed off at anything and everything that I was ready to find a flight home. Stephanie told me I was acting like a child.... and she was right. I am embarrassed to say that I was acting like a spoiled little kid who was not getting her way. I was craving cigarettes and realized that this was not the weekend to quit smoking. I was adding to everyone's stress and was not a good house guest. We were staying at Jen's dad's house and I'm sure that Bob was doubly glad that he was no longer married to me after my atrocious behavior.

I had thought initially that being in an environment where it would be difficult to smoke was the way to kick the habit. I learned that this was not the weekend to do so... that I was such a downer and my behavior was embarrassing to my girls and everyone else. I squandered my time with my girls harping and bitching and lashing out instead of the pleasant weekend they had looked forward to and deserved.

I am so sorry that I put them through that. I have so many regrets about what I said and did and how I acted -- I ruined what should have been a joyful trip with my crass behavior.

I started smoking again Friday afternoon but my behavior didn't improve until later that night. Guess it took some time for the nicotine to rise to the level my body and mind craved. Saturday, the day of the shower, was a much better day and I tried to be a kinder, gentler, and thankful person for the rest of the weekend.

I fear I have permanently damaged my relationship with both my girls. I understand why they don't want me around -- I was way out of line and there is no excuse for how I had acted. I am unable to find the words to say to them about how sorry I am.

I hope they can find it in their hearts to eventually forgive me. I know I will not be able to forgive myself and will regret my actions on this trip for the rest of my life.