Category: Uncategorized (Page 142 of 212)

Dang yo, it’s actually cold!  And I’m feeling it because I’m not pregnant – woo!  I love a day where I can put on my flannel pants and sweat shirt, and dress my kiddo in footie pajamas.  A kid who has learned to turn on his side and squirm all over, so blankets don’t keep him warm because he’ll end up 180 degrees from where you put him down, sucking on one corner of the blanket, and kicking the crib with fury because it makes a loud noise.  Yeah, that’s what I found 20 minutes after he was supposed to be down for a nap.  So now we’re taking pictures.

I did NOT get called in again last night, let the angels sing.  I didn’t mind working late, with overtime and holiday AND callback pay stacked, I think earned September’s mortgage payment in one day! But enough was enough and I’m grateful for a relatively full night’s sleep. 

Enough work talk.  More pictures!  Saturday we went to the Botanic Gardens and then lunch at Steve’s Snappin’ Dogs.  Both were a pleasure.

Find more pictures from the gardens on Ben’s flickr site here. 

We went to Cafe Rio for dinner and Sweet Action for dessert (Earl Grey for Ben, Raspberry Chip for me and Brian.)  Brian jokingly offered Jack some ice cream and got a delightful response.  Poor kid is so teased!  [Let the record show that I’m firmly against giving Jack anything but breastmilk at this point.  Please don’t feed my baby other things.]

Sunday I put Jack in the sweater vest I knit before he was born.   Good thing I tried – I almost missed the window of fit time!

More pictures here. 

These smiles didn’t last.  During church he dissolved into a puddle of crankiness that kept me out of the whole meeting and made me bolt for the car as soon as the closing prayer amen-ed.  I think he was reacting to being dragged all over Denver the day before.  Oh well, it was worth it.  Sunday his Grandparents Mason came for a short visit, along with Ben’s aunt Jean.  They marveled at how fast he’s growing.  I couldn’t agree more.

It’s Labor Day and I worked from 6 am to 9 pm.  I hope I don’t get called in again tonight.

I’m obsessed with acquiring one of these hats for Jack.  A crafter in Grand Junction sells them at Kairos and online at Etsy.  I can’t wait for Jack to be old enough to wear capes and funny hats.  Heck, I’ll settle for cold weather so I can bundle him in knitwear from head to toe!

Today was a mellow day off.  We went to the lactation support group for a weight check.  He’s 15 pounds 5 ounces, which is 85th percentile.  Down a little bit but still nothing to sneeze at.  I made a listless trip to Target while he slept in the carseat/shopping cart.  I was looking for more clothes by The Little Seed but it seems that Denver has sold out already!  Too bad.  I became a fan after seeing how well the colors stayed bright after washing.  Most baby clothes fade very fast.  Also, I found out the company was started by Punky Brewster!  Gotta love it.

At home we played, he napped, I knit and watched Pushing Daisies.  Then I made chicken teriyaki for dinner.  Ben came home, we ate and put Jack back to bed.  I sent Ben out for ice cream so we can have dessert while we watch Burn Notice.  I hope we can finish an episode before Jack wakes up again.

Jack turned three months old on Saturday.  I worked a long day and didn’t get around to posting until now.  What’s to say?  He’s a chunk of a guy and we love him to bits!  I think we lucked out an awesome baby.  We tried to take some photos Saturday night while he was asleep, but we woke him up with our whispering and camera clicking.

Here are some videos I took today for your enjoyment.

I went back to work today – and what a day it was!  It was supposed to be a day of class/orientation to catch me up from missing the summer and be sure I knew my stuff.  Last night, the recorded message of our daily schedule told me that instead I would go to one of our hospitals and work with a nurse there, getting familiar with some of the new policies, then go to our main hospital to go over missed material from mid-day on.  I was called at 4:45 am to ask if I could go straight to the main hospital instead.  One of our morning staff got called in and was already in the ICU since 3 am.  Sure, no prob.  When I got there at 6 am, lo, our third person had called in sick.  So it was just me and one other nurse to run a room full of patients at our craziest facility!  So much for easing into it! 

Somehow, when I put my familiar, bleach-stained scrubs on my muscle memory took over and I was a nurse again.  I strung machines and assessed my patients.  Right away I stuck needles in a guy who had infiltrated his fistula yesterday during a stick – and mine worked!  I gave medications, I troubleshooted poor access flows, I managed fluid volume with saline and meds.  It was kind of amazing.  All these things I hadn’t thought about in months came flooding back. 

It was a crazy day and we didn’t get a third person in the room until 9.  I ran out as soon as possible to pump.  Pumping is the worst part of returning to work.  I really dreaded it.  It wasn’t so bad.  I managed to get three sessions in.  I spilled about 6 ounces 🙁  but it wasn’t too messy and I tried not to cry.  (Ha! crying over spilt milk.)  I was on my feet for all but 60 minutes today.  Boy am I glad to have tomorrow off.  And hurrah!  They gave us a teleconference number so I can call-in instead of attending a staff meeting in person.  I MUCH prefer to attend with Jack in my lap. 

Speaking of Jack, he’s been asleep since 5 pm so I haven’t been able to hold him yet.  It sounds like he had a very nice day with his Dad.  He doesn’t want to go back to work tomorrow 🙂  I’m so so happy with our Jack-watching arrangement.  I can’t wait for him to wake up so I can feed him and cuddle with him.  

Jem HATES water. But this was such a nice warm pool! Maybe she’ll change her mind?

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=14191916&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0
Jem swims in air from Rachel Mason on Vimeo.

A little Jack update for you.  He’s 11 weeks old already!  He coos almost non-stop when he’s awake and is still trying hard to laugh, but hasn’t figured it out yet.  He still fits size 3-6 month clothes, thank goodness!  But most of his socks are too small.  He still naps for most of the day, staying awake for 45-90 minutes at a time on average.

He got a fancy new bouncer chair that he loves so far.  The bounces are reactions to his kicks.  Although he doesn’t understand that, he can get is going nicely.  There’s a nice wooden toy rack that attaches to the front.  I was thrilled to see that he immediately started reaching for it! 

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=14191867&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0
Jack’s Chair from Rachel Mason on Vimeo.

We’re back in Denver after a long vacation at my parents home.  Many came to visit, we swam almost every day, and I made over a dozen batches of gelato.  Great trip, yes?  I’m uploading all my photos (minus a nudie shot of Jack) to flickr.  It’s so hard to skim down to my favorites for this post but I’ll try!

I brought some Fancy Tiger fabric to make bibs for Jack.  Only succeeded in making one.  It’ll be an ongoing project.

Grandpa snoozing with the baby.

Miranda and Zaley came to play!  Z wanted to hold Jack.  She did so with mixed results.  I love Jack’s face here, he’s like “Whoa, going down!”

Natasha reclaims her rightful property – Amanda’s lap.

So sleepy 🙂

Brian helps Zaley reach another level on the mini-trampoline.

Lovely timing.

Grandma and Jack.  I love bold, clean lines for baby clothes! This one reminds me of the ninja turtles.

Toss her in!

Even me and Jack!

Baby toes get pruney too.

He has a swimsuit, but going naked is easier.

Yarn shopping on Main Street for the moms, a Giant Frog for Zaley.

When I got my mom a yarn winder and swift as a gift, you know I was scheming to use it myself.

Don’t you love fast knit baby clothes in bulky yarns?  Don’t you love the glam rock style this evokes?

Cat is still jealous . . .

We all get lunch when we go out.

Grandma Betty so happy to be back in Colorado.

Jack’s looking a tad gangsta in the other sweater I knit this trip.  Maybe it will fit better next year.

Whoa.  There are NO pictures of me making gelato.  How did that happen?  I made the gelato to stock pile for Andy’s reception next weekend.  Mom has a DeLonghi gelato maker and it’s all kinds of rad.  Here’s a list of what I made:

• Nutella with hazelnuts
• milk chocolate
• dark chocolate
• chili chocolate
• mint chip (still my favorite)
• apricot vanilla x2
• raspberry
• vanilla bean x2
• cantaloupe
• lemon
• cherry vanilla

So so good. 

Like I said above, many people came to visit while I was there.  It went something like this:

• Me (+ Jack) and Amanda came
• Miranda and Zaley came
• Nate, Ben and Brian came
• Ben left
• Amanda, Brian, and Nate left
• Miranda and Zaley left
• Amanda came
• Amanda left
• Ben and Betty came
• Ben and Rachel (+Jack) left

A little confusing, yes?

The last Saturday Ben and I went to see Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.  Of course I loved it.  How could I not?  Edgar Wright + Michael Cera + Jason Schwartzman mixed with a funny script, crazy production style, and video game flavor.  I can’t wait to see it again, and then buy to watch at home over and over.

We took the scenic route home to avoid traffic.  Eh, I don’t recommend doing that.  Happily we did all our laundry before leaving, so the post-trip mess isn’t as bad as it could be.  Today I’m working on bills, organizing my return to work, stocking our kitchen, and of course keeping Jack happy 🙂  It’s raining outside and the animals are hiding in the basement.  A very quiet day back in Denver.