Bloody Marys and Twisty Slides

Katie and Heather's Good Mom weekend mission continues. Earlier this week Katie suggested we hit up Studio Grow on Saturday morning - fabulous idea and walking distance from my house! Of course I wanted to add some food into the mix (shocking I know!) so I suggested we either go to Jimmy Bean's or T-Rex for breakfast before we hit Studio Grow. Katie and Jack opted for T-Rex so we met up a few minutes after 10am. Unfortunately, I hadn't done my research and when Katie and Jack arrived they found out that food wasn't served until 10:30am. Whoops. Good thing they have an awesome bar (they carry the entire Hangar One vodka line!) so we started with bloody mary's - sadly mine was vodka-free but it was spiiiiicy - of course, still no labor.

Katie and I were getting restless so the kids entertained us by trying on their dads' hats.

Of course, by the time we ended breakfast it was pretty much right before the kids bedtime. We decided to skip Studio Grow and just head over to the Dreamland Playground in Aquatic Park. Both Brooke and Nikos loved the big sliding board. Katie and I stationed ourselves at the bottom of the slide with Taki and Jack at the top. And while Katie and I were paying attention to our job of making sure to catch the kids (if needed) at the bottom, Taki and Jack were playing fast and loose at the top. Taki would send the kids down without telling us and one time Jack sent Nikos right behind Brooke which ended in a head bonking and some tears. Regardless, we all survived. Both Brooke and Nikos got a kick of watching their dads come down the slide right before we left. I should have gotten pics of that!

Whoops, guess I took the Nikos one to early. I didn't check it until I got home. Ha!

4 DAYS - Names and Strollers and Toilets - OH MY!

Uh oh, starting to get anxious! Thursday night I was up from 2am-6am because I couldn't sleep. My thoughts were a jumble of names, double strollers and low-flow toilets. I know, the last one threw me for a loop too. So, I made another name list and put it in the hospital bag, bid again on the stroller I want on ebay (I'd just been outbid - boo!) and researched low-flow toilets and rebates.

Nikos and I headed back to the zoo (thank you season pass) to kill some time...err, learn about animals...on Friday morning. His favorites continue to be the giraffes (although bizarrely, the ducks that share the habitat with the giraffes came in a close second.)

He displayed a new behavior in refusing to hold my hand while walking down a few of the steeper hills at the zoo. I would grab his hand, he would scream NO NO NO like I was jabbing him with a stick in the eye (I think a few other zoo patrons had their phones out, ready to report abuse) and then he would sit down in the middle of the hill and refuse to move until I let him walk on his own. Apparently the kid does not realize that at the moment I am neither quick nor limber and if he goes down there's no stopping it. So after explaining to him that Mommy is not presently in great Niko-catching-stealthy-like-a-ninja form (and that he was going to fall and it was going to hurt) I let him loose. Of course, he went ahead to prove me wrong and didn't fall once. So much for my lesson. I filed this under Ironic (also under this category is the time when we were kids when my mom tried to teach Mel and I that gambling never pays and she dropped a dime in the slot machine and then - ding ding ding - proceeded to win like five dollars or something. Oh! Another good one. The time we were out to eat at a restaurant and my dad was trying to teach Mel a lesson on how she shouldn't be crawling all around the booth and just as he was crawling on his side the waitress came over and busted him and Mel and I thought it was the funniest thing ever. See, you DO learn from your parents!)

Here's a video of him walking down one of the hills. Sorry I don't have a video of my dad crawling around the Bob's Big Boy booth, I am sure that would have been more amusing.



After visiting the top half of the zoo we headed over to the little rides portion, some place I had never been. We were planning on riding the train, but since we had just missed it and it wasn't due for a half hour I switched us to the carousel instead. I was really excited for Nikos to try it, remembering how Katie had said Brooke loved the carousel so much that the problem wasn't getting her on it, but off of it. Yeah, well, perhaps I should have remembered that Brooke doesn't FREAK OUT at rocking horses. As we are waiting for the ride to stop I am evaluating all of the animal options. Oh the giraffe! Oh wait, the giraffe doesn't move up and down, it is one of those stationary ones and who wants to ride one of those lame ones. Currently sitting on the giraffe is a little boy with a caregiver that looks to be his grandma and I am thinking, poor kid, stuck on the lame animal that doesn't move. I'm studying all of our options a little too seriously (obviously having some sort of Knoebel's flashback - have to sit on a good animal that allows you great positioning to throw the brass ring in the lion's mouth!) that I miss the girl telling us we can get on the ride. Now I am all nervous, one kid is in front of us with his dad, grandma and toddler are staying on and someone is approaching from behind - what if we don't get the one we want! (Keeping in mind that there are probably 50 choices and I think 5 kids in line total.) Duh Heather. I choose a leopard for us - fun, fast, cool! - until I get an adamant NO NO NO from Nikos and a death grip on my neck. I know enough to avoid the horses and I start checking our other options, obviously staying on the outer ring. I settle on a cute little Dumbo-like elephant, far enough away from any of the dreaded horses to cause a scene. I set him on it and strap him in, ignoring the no no nos and him reaching for me with a look of panic on his face. Luckily, just as the ride started up the train passed us so I was able to distract him into looking at the train and he calmed down. Phew! I was beginning to get a bit panicky because chances are they do not let you move once the ride has started (even to that super lame little coach car in front of us that you just sit in and isn't even an animal - let alone move - and besides I wouldn't be caught dead in it!) Here's a quick video I shot of his first carousel ride. If you listen closely you will hear some No No Nos but that was more from me stepping away to take the video. All in all I am going to call it a success and I am hoping that next time I get to ride the one next to him instead of stand.

SIX DAYS UNTIL DUE DATE! Warnings and Ski Trips

Ha, just read this in one of the daily newsletter emails I get.

Giving birth to a daughter is like boarding an express train to financial ruin. First stop: ruffled onesie; last stop: wedding dress.

Eek! Don't tell Taki!

Still pregnant and off to the preschool tour at 11:15. Maybe going into labor during the tour will help my chances (as in "man, is she dedicated!") I figure I need to have this baby today or tomorrow or Pop-Pop will miss the birth of grandkid #5 as he will be off skiing with Aunt Barb and Uncle Ron in Colorado. (Don't worry, he asked for permission before planning the trip.) Wonder if any of their cell phones can receive pictures?

So, today or tomorrow or for a Pop-Pop inclusion I will have to wait until 40+4 -- which happens to be the day that Mel gave birth to Kira, for all of you trivia buffs.

You Were Forewarned

Hospital Toes in It's A Girl pink.

And the money shot.

39 Weeks and Your Pirate Update

Okay, so yesterday was the first day that I admitted that I would be okay not making it all the way to 40 weeks. I mean, I am getting pretty uncomfortable here. I can't get up without making some sort of horrific groaning noise (just ask my little mimicker Nikos!) and I can't seem to get comfortable to sleep at night. Oh, and on top of that none of my shirts fit. I can still squeeze into my Lucky non-maternity jeans (which I am thrilled about) but wearing them with one of my newly-half tops is just NOT attractive. I think the UPS guy is actually taking bets that when he shows up with a delivery I will be wearing the same Juicy sweatsuit. Don't worry - you'll get to see it in the "Going Home from Hospital" pic. My mom is already on alert that in case my water breaks while I am wearing it she needs to take it home and wash it so I can wear it home again. Hmm, maybe I should have sprung for two of these. Oh well.

At my 39 Week appointment today I found out that I was one centimeter dilated and 60% effaced (for those in the know.) She guesstimated the baby's weight to be between 6.5-7lbs at which point I let out a yelp. I mean, it took me 3 hours and 40 minutes to push out a little 5.4lber! Melanie made fun of me later and said most women would be thrilled with a 6-7lb baby. Let's hope I don't go past 40 weeks as I think I might have a heart attack if this kid is 8lbs. Luddy, I don't know how you did it!!

As for planning what can not be planned, tomorrow afternoon would be a good time to go into labor since a) I have a preschool tour at 11am b) Melanie has the day off c) Vernie is busy in the morning with a haircut so would not be able to watch the kids until later in the day. Friday also works, as long as it is the afternoon as well since Maile has an awards ceremony in the AM that Mel doesn't want to miss and then Mel has a hair appt mid-morning. Of course, I say she can always ditch the hair appointment. So bring it on!

In other the-world-does-not-revolve-around-Heather news, Taki went for his second consult today for his eye. The good news is that the doctor would not have expected to see any improvement yet (so we shouldn't be disheartened about that) and he pretty much agreed that Kaiser has been right on the money with instructions, treatment, etc. He advised Tyke to wait 6 months before considering the surgery. He said there is a 30% chance the eye will correct on its own to 100% and a 70% chance that the eye will correct on its own but only partially. Unfortunately, surgery is no guarantee to get the eye back to 100% and it will most likely take multiple surgeries and he will probably still have to deal with some double vision afterwards and wear glasses to correct the farsightedness in the eye. The good news is that he said one of the best doctors for the surgery in the Bay Area is in the Kaiser network (in fact, he already had a consult with Taki right after it happened) so we will be in good hands if we need to go the surgery route. So, fingers crossed again!

I think that's it. For those requesting more pictures in my recent posts, (you know who you are and I know you are just going to use them for blackmail later!) I'll try to get Tyke to take a 39 weeker tonight.

Green Hills Circle Bed and Breakfast

Saturday night Mel and I crashed my parents house for a sleepover with all of the kids. We started out with a spaghetti dinner to celebrate Mardi Gras (complete with Mardi Gras beads and cupcakes - one of which included the hidden baby.) Vernie and my dad then took off to Vernie's house for a poker game (hence the reason for the sleepover) and the kids wreaked havoc on the Kienzle house. It was a lot of fun! Again, I seemed to take no pictures but here is a fun video of the kids playing Elefun - basically a game where butterflies fly out of the elephant's trunk and you try to catch them in your net. They all had a blast. Warning - you may want to turn your speakers down to help block out the piercing screams.



After the kids went to bed Mel, mom and I stayed up playing Scotland Yard (board game) and laughing. One of us laughed so hard she pee'd her pants a little bit, I would tell you who but I don't want to put her on the spot. Alright, alright, it was me. And my mom and Melanie were so mean they didn't stop plotting to try and catch me (I was Mr. X in the game) even when I told them that maybe I didn't pee my pants, maybe my water broke. Nice family I have. I would have included a picture in here of when my mom was Mr. X but since we beat her in TWO MOVES I really didn't have time to take the picture. Ha! Can't believe she is the wife of a trained investigator!

Sunday morning started out bright and early for me since Nikos decided to get up at 6am and not go back to sleep. At home I would have let him chill for a little while in his crib but since we were sharing the room with Mel and Kira I thought that would not have been the best move since he was chattering away like a little monkey. We headed downstairs to play with some toys and read some books and I contemplated how early was too early to head for Starbucks. Thank goodness Maile came down at 6:45 - perhaps she woke up when she heard him crying after I accidentally let him fall off the couch?? - and entertained him until the rest of the house started getting up a little after 7!

For breakfast my dad treated us to Egg McBillys and potatoes and my mom made us monkey cake. Love this bed and breakfast! We then stayed around their house ALL DAY letting them wait on us hand and foot. First we felt bad for monopolizing their whole weekend but than we realized that they are retired so really, what is a weekend to them when they have the whole week off? Mel and I put the youngest kids down for a nap and played the board game Sequence with my dad. Since we are nice daughters we let him win a bunch of times.

Thanks again to Grammy and Pop-Pop for putting up with two kids and four grandkids for the weekend!

PS - Poor Taki stayed home to "work" on the house and yard this weekend. While he did get a lot of stuff done he also slept in until 10:30 on Sunday, so don't feel too sorry for him!

Zoo Fun

Katie and I are on a mission to try and better plan our weekends so that the kids are able to get out and have fun. This week Katie suggested we take them to Oakland Zoo - great idea since we had never been with them! - so the six of us headed over on Saturday morning (and by morning I totally mean late morning.) I ended up buying a yearly pass in a moment of wisdom - or should I say in a moment of panic when I tried to figure out what I will do alone on Fridays with two kids until the beginning of August. Yes, this is where my stay-at-home mom friends can insert their laughter since I am panicking about the ONE day a week I will have the two kids home with me. How do people do it?

It's funny, Taki and I usually go to the Oakland Zoo once a year for their annual Walk in the Wild charity event (which is the BOMB) where we pour beer at the Bison Brewing booth. The event is an adults-only affair at night, where you have free rein to walk around the zoo and enjoy the animals, as well as the vendors offering free beer, wine and food. Love it! So, basically this was my first visit to the zoo in awhile in the daylight and without a glass of beer in my hand. I have got to say, although the daylight was appreciated I kind of missed the beer. Details!

Sadly, I think my OMG I am going to have two kids in the next few weeks caused me to forget I had a camera with me, so here are the few shots I managed to take.

Enjoying the new Children's Zoo...

And my one live animal shot, lest you think we spent all of our time in the Children's Zoo and didn't see any of the other animals.

Nikos was very excited about seeing giraffes at the zoo. On the entire drive over he kept saying, "raffe, raffe!" He also really liked watching the monkeys swing from the trees and scamper around their area. He was less enthralled with the goat in the petting zoo "Do you want to pet the goat?" "No, no no!" Good thing we didn't run into any rocking horses at the zoo or the poor child would have climbed over my back to get away from them. Next time I'll make sure to take more pictures!

The Boss of Me

Today I was trying to clean the house while Nikos was wondering around the rooms, basically messing up anything I had just cleaned. I distracted him enough to get him to play in his room while I put away some clean clothes. As I am trying to hang up one of his sweaters and put one of his beanies away he starts throwing a fit because he wants to wear them. I give him his hat and he puts it on and then I put his sweater on him. He then heads to the front door and says "Let's Go!" Poor kid was probably sick of hanging out in the house with me all day. Lazy pregnant lady.

Here's a shot of him in the outfit he picked for himself.

After Taki got home Nikos charmed him into reading his latest favorite book Mr Brown Can Moo. Can You? I think we read this book 20 times today. In fact, if you look closely at this picture you will see that his Little Touch Leappad in the background also has the same book on it.

Mission Accomplished

Wahoo! Taki, Mel and I went in to my appointment for the Version this morning at 10am. First they hooked me up to an ultrasound machine to check to see if the baby had flipped on her own (unfortunately no) and to check my fluid levels. Lot of fluid, which is good when they are trying to flip the baby. Next up was me sitting with a monitor on for about a half hour to make sure the baby and I were both good to go for the procedure. After we got the all clear I headed back out to the waiting room to meet up with Mel and Taki and to wait for the Procedure Room to open up so that the perinatalogist could attempt to flip the baby.

As you can imagine, when I got out to the waiting room, Taki was talking Mel's ear off (ha.) We waited and waited and waited. Since I was instructed to fast since midnight the night before (couldn't even have water) I was STARVING. I passed some of the time talking about where we were going to go eat afterwards (somewhere that still served breakfast - obviously.) Next they let the three of us into the Procedure Room where the nurse first tried to tell me that I could only have one person with me because there wasn't that much space in the room. What?? While prepping me and waiting for the doctor I mentioned that Mel was an L&D nurse and that seemed to help convince the nurse that Mel could stay in the room. (We decided later that the reason that they only let one person in at a time was that they only have one chair and they were afraid a squeamish person might pass out onto the floor.) Anyway, the nurse gave me a shot to help relax the uterus (sorry TMI) and the doctor arrived and explained the procedure and exactly what he would be doing. I asked what would happen in case of an emergency and he said they would just rush me through the halls on the gurney to L&D (next building over) for a c-section. Another nurse piped in that they have never had to do that in 20 something years. Just to be sure (and since thanks to Taki's eye we are all to familiar with surgeons that "have never had that happen to them in 20 years") Taki asked if they practiced rushing through the hall to get someone to L&D. Luckily, they had, since they sometimes have to rush patients over for other reasons.

With that settled, the doctor placed his hands on my belly (which was covered in that disgusting goopy gel) and turned the baby to a head down position. It seriously took maybe 15 seconds and didn't hurt at all! I couldn't believe it. Taki thought that the whole time the doctor had his hands on my belly that he was just orienting himself with where the baby was and that when he said "Okay looks good" he meant that he was going to start to try and turn her. After working up the whole experience in my head, it wasn't bad at all! Of course, we had to wait around afterwards for them to run another stress test to make sure both the baby and I reacted well to everything. We ended up getting out of there shortly before 1pm, at which point I thought I was going to keel over from hunger. Thank goodness for the diner right behind Kaiser that serves breakfast all day!

So now it looks like we are just back to waiting for me to go into natural labor. I'll keep you posted! :)

Video Thursday

Nikos Rocks Out


Monkey Tests Out One of Baby Sister's Diapers


Nikos and Marco Blow Off Some Rainy Day Energy

How to Get UPS to Leave Your Packages Without a Signature

Okay, there were several things working against me here.

1. My paranoia about the new paint job in the bathroom that caused me to shower with both the fan on and the door open.
2. The fact that I insisted on buying the front door that has those six cute little windows at the top.
3. The layout of my house, being that the bathroom is directly in front of the front door.
4. My UPS guy being slightly taller than your average male, putting him at say, six-cute-little-windows-door-height.
4. My, in hindsight, extremely poor decision to use the one towel in the bathroom for my hair.

My apologies go out to the UPS guy. Although, this could be karma from his San Francisco co-worker implying that I was carrying a linebacker. And really, who am I to know, maybe seeing a 38 week pregnant woman in all her glory was this guy's idea of a fantasy. Although, somehow I doubt this...

38 Weeks

So we have had quite the whirlwind with Nikos these last few days. Normally our little mellow child, he has been on a semi-terror roll. As I think I have mentioned before, he usually goes down to sleep at 7:30pm and then will wake up at 6:30am, at which time we will give him a sippy cup with milk and toys and he will play in his crib for an hour or longer. Ha, not so these last few days. He has been getting up anywhere between 5:45-6:00 (what??) and then only wants to play in his crib for 15-30 minutes before he starts screaming. AAAHHH. Taki said he thinks he is sensing the impending doom and is reacting to that. Great. Can't wait to see he sleep patterns when she actually arrives.

Of course, another new thing (in a cute way though) is that the last few days he wants to eat breakfast before we drop him off at daycare (usually he doesn't get hungry until about 9.) Yesterday when he and I were playing in the morning (after 1/2 hour bath at 6:45am to kill time) he walked into the kitchen, grabbed one of his bowls and handed it to me and said "eggs." Ha, first time he has actually ordered a specific meal from us! I scrambled up two eggs and he gobbled them right down. Later, they told me he ate breakfast again at daycare (unheard of for this child.) Maybe I can cross my fingers that this is just some sort of growth spurt?

Before I get back to work (putting together crib #2 today) I'll address a few questions I've received lately.

Are you prepared? I am not too concerned about the labor part (I plan to meet up with my great friend epidural again), except for the fact that last time I was induced so I am worrying about actually going into labor naturally. Lately, since I have been trying to pack in some movies (Mel and I went to see Taken yesterday) I have just been spending time hoping that my water doesn't break before the movie ends. Ha! Hard life. I do find myself wondering if I should be constantly riding around with my hospital bag in the car (since if labor does start on its own when the baby is still breech - see below question on Version - I will need to get to the hospital asap.) I am slightly panicky about going into labor and Taki not having time to run to Bristol Farms to pick up the cupcakes for the L&D nurses and, very importantly, the epidural man. I do not feel so prepared to have two children, mostly worried about Niko's reaction. As for the infant stage, I know it will be difficult again, but honestly I feel like Nikos was so hard the first 4 months that if I made it through that I can do it again. Hoping that I will be able to make it through with her without having to negotiate with the fireman across the street on the time obligations of the "Safe Surrender" policy (two weeks after birth.) I do feel more prepared for that part this time. To be fair, with Nikos we didn't get to bring him home until he was 8 days old, so I was trying to tell the fireman that I should really have an extra eight days on top of the two weeks. Details.
Are the kids going to be sharing the same room? Unless someone is surprising us with a larger house. We figure the baby will be in our room for the first 4 weeks (same amount Nikos was in our room) and then we will attempt to move her into his room. I am a little bit nervous about this part and how things will go with him sleep-wise with her waking up and everything. And yes, I know, kicking our infant out of our room at 4 weeks is so very UN-Berkeley, but then again, I do plan to shave my legs (and arms!) before labor so I am already bucking the Berkeley trend. Oh, and I am also a Republican. Eek, this is where I may have just lost all my loyal blog readers (at least the CA-based ones)...at least I know I can still count on Greg, Torina and my parents. Oh and Vernie too, if he reads this blog.
Has the baby turned? Your guess is as good as mine. I thought I would know when she turned but yesterday Mel mentioned that she didn't realize it when Kira turned, so I am hopeful. I have seen the acupuncturist three times and Taki has been doing the treatment every other night that I don't have an appointment, so hopefully it was not $150 down the drain.
What is up with the Version? I go in tomorrow at 10am. There are several different scenarios that Mel explained to me could take place. I'll try to summarize here. #1 - we go in and find out baby has turned naturally (go acupuncture and me standing on my head!) and we go out to breakfast and then go home and wait for the baby to be born naturally in the next few weeks. #2 - we go in and they successfully perform the version, we go home and wait for natural birth. #3 - they perform the version and she turns but they don't know if it will "stick", they induce me and set me up with a midwife labor tomorrow. #4 - they perform the version and it does not work. They schedule me for a c-section next week. #5 - they perform the version and the baby goes into distress/fluid is low/etc. and I have a c-section tomorrow. EEK. Obviously we are hoping for one of the first two options (or really the first three.) Oh, and in case you are wondering about the midwife, I worked with a midwife with Nikos (yes, throw a little Berkeley back in the mix) and am really hoping to do so again.
What is up with the name? Are you really going to go with the #1 winner of the poll? Dude, who knows what is up with the name. We do like all the names in the poll, but reserve the right to bring in a dark horse at the last minute. Just like Nikos, this baby will most likely not have a name until after she was born. Whereas it took twelve hours for Jeff and I...er, Taki and I...to name Nikos, hopefully it won't take that long this time. I have promised Melanie that I would not go home with a "Baby Girl" Romios. Taki is still tossing around the idea of having people pay to buy the naming rights for this one or enter a lottery system, I am not a fan of this option.

Lastly, I went to a chiropractor yesterday for the first time, my brother-in-law's brother. Is he my brother-in-law too or my brother-in-law-in-law or brother-in-law once removed or something? I could not figure this out. Anyway, chiropractors also have things they can do to help get the baby to move head down, but since Brandon hadn't actually done it before we just went with the regular adjustments. I really enjoyed it and feel like I had less pain in my hips and back while sleeping last night. I would like to recommend, however, that you do NOT see Taken prior to visiting a chiropractor (especially for your first time.) Melanie and I both agreed that seeing a suspense thriller where multiple necks get broken and then having your neck adjusted by a chiropractor is not ideal. I just closed my eyes and tried not to envision Liam Neeson.

One Year Ago Today

For the record, I think this may have been the last time Nikos was bigger than Marco.

Oops.

Oh! Forgot to clarify that the Sara Cecchin facial hair poll I mentioned in an earlier post absolutely does not refer to Sara's facial hair (or lack thereof), but of her husband Tim's. It is quite the popular post, when I just checked it, six more people had voted in the hair poll than in our baby name poll - hee hee!

Still Pregnant

Well, apparently in my zest to keep you updated on the late stages of my pregnancy last week, I now have people erroneously believing that a lack of posts = labor. Have no fear, I am still very pregnant.

Friday night I had the great pleasure of enjoying a little baby #2 celebration with three of my fabulous friends, Sarah, Katie and Robin. The girls took me to Luka's Tap Room in Oakland where we enjoyed good food, fun drinks (the restaurant even had my favorite beer available which never happens!) and even better conversation. I told them I wasn't going to post the one photo we took but then I thought, what the heck, I am supposed to be giant right now! So with that warning...here we are!

Not too much else is new. I visited the acupuncturist again (and Taki also performed the treatment at home for me) but still feels like the baby is head up. Hopefully she will turn in the next few days before the version next Thursday, if that fails, hopefully she will turn at the version.

Taki and I celebrated Valentine's Day with a visit to the movies to see The International - good movie, I found myself hoping that my water wouldn't break during because I didn't want to miss the end! Afterwards we went to Pizzaiolo for a fabulous dinner and then back home. Thanks to Grandma for making the night possible!

Other than that we have been working on the house and checking things off the list. The hospital bag is all packed and I am only missing my comfy socks which will hopefully turn up in the 80 loads of wash I need to do.

Here are a few cute pictures of Nikos in one of his latest favorite activities - stealing ice from the ice tray, giving a piece to Bosco and then eating one himself.

OMG...2 Weeks and 5 Days to Go Until Due Date

Yesterday I visited Taki's acupuncturist (I think he was quite overwhelmed about how much time I spent time talking during the appointment compared to Taki - ha!) to attempt to help turn Baby #2. I have to admit, I went in a little bit skeptical but ended the visit with faith. Here is my layman's description of what happened: he basically lit this thing that looked like a cigar on fire and placed it by the outer corner of my little toe. He told me that once I felt my toe get hot I would feel the baby start to move to which I thought...uh huh, sure buddy. But sure enough, once my little toe heated up she started doing a jig in there! Now, I don't think she has turned yet as I still feel what I think is her head at the top, but I am definitely hopeful for some progress. He gave me the "cigar" for Taki to do the procedure for me at home tonight and then I go back to see him again tomorrow. You are supposed to do this every day until you feel the baby move or go in to the doctor and the ultrasound tells you she has moved. So fingers crossed it will work!

I actually had him try a few needles on me as well, I was planning on holding out to have my sister-in-law be the first one to "stick" me but I couldn't pass it up since he charges by the visit and not by the procedure. In fact, Annette has wanted to acupunct (made up word) me in the past but seems like every time she comes up for a visit with needles I am pregnant. Shocking, I know. Anyway, he put a needle in my ear to help calm me, a needle in the top of my head to help the baby "hold on" until her due date and one in each leg to help my uterus relax during labor (sorry for the TMI.) I really enjoyed the visit overall. While I was there I asked him (for Taki's next visit) to stick needles in his points that are responsible for baseboards and accelerating housing renovations. I'll keep you posted on how that works.

I have a scheduled version procedure with the doctor at 10am next Thursday the 19th (Nicolas Villafana's 1st birthday!) and we are hoping that we will go in and find out that the baby has turned on her own. Taki and Mel will be in the room with me, and I have promised to buy breakfast if we don't have to do the version. Coincidentally, the Cheesecake Factory in Walnut Creek is supposed to open for business on the 19th...sweet! Either way, I need this place to be open before I give birth because that is where I have put in my meal request for my hospital meal from the Roberts Family! (Of course, if it isn't open Skipolini's Pizza is the fallback, so don't be worried that I will go starving!)

Other fun things happening in the house...Nikos is home with me today so I am getting hardly anything done. He just recently started getting into more kitchen drawers which is great fun since basically anything he takes out of and throws on the floor I need to wash due to the disgusting abundance of dog hair that seems to permanently reside on our floor. He is also OBSESSED with giving Bosco and Puddy treats, so much so that I am convinced that they have both gained weight and I have had to hide the treats on a higher shelf.

Jenn Martin will be proud that we have been listening to XM's Kids Place Live and I have been working on passing on my extreme talent of dancing off beat. Yes, I know, you think that this would be an easy thing to do but in reality, Jenn can't do it to save her life. I did tell Nikos that if he ever wanted to dance with rhythm than I would hook him up with Jenn for a lesson. Of course, I think I will have her save her patented CriDuc move for Baby Girl Romios. Speaking of...care to vote in the name poll in the left sidebar of this blog? There is no guarantee that one of these names will actually be used, but Sara Cecchin's facial hair poll inspired me to put it up there.

Alright that's it for today. Nikos just noticed me on the laptop and is now going to want to watch the video of himself and the frog (in the bathtub in Hawaii) about 50 times. Hopefully I will get to check something else off on The List during naptime!

3 Weeks To Go and What Is Up With The Patch?

Well, I went in to my doctor's appointment today and the baby looks great...except for the fact that she is breech...boo!

So I have a couple of exercises that I am doing that basically involve me in very uncomfortable positions with my head towards the ground and my hips in the air. Fun stuff. In addition I have a visit with Taki's acupuncturist later on today to see if he can help. There is also an option to have a procedure done at the doctor's office called a version where the doctor attempts to move the baby into a head first position (by putting his/her hands on my abdomen.) If none of the above works then they will schedule me for a c-section in about two weeks. Eek! So that is the big baby update for today. Needless to say my sad little checklist remained exactly the same since I came home from the appointment a little freaked out and then spent a lot of the day upside down.

And finally, to follow up on a subject that I have had several questions about but haven't had a chance to answer - what is up with Taki's eye??

In early December Taki had elective surgery to remove polyps in his nose. He has had them for the last year and a half or so and he was pretty much constantly blowing his nose (hence the Nikos imitations in previous blogs) and losing his sense of smell. Obviously this situation sucked, and not only because he could no longer smell the dirty diapers and I ended up changing most of them (uh huh...sounds suspicious, right??) So on December 3rd Taki headed into the doctor for what was billed as a relatively simple procedure to remove the polyps. Well, when I went to pick him up after the surgery I was told that something had happened to his left eye during the surgery. We are still not exactly sure what happened but somehow the nerves that control the eye muscle movement in his left eye got damaged, so he can not move his iris/pupil to the left or down. When he looks straight ahead the iris points off to the left. The doctor told us that nerve injuries take a long time to heal and that we can expect to have to wait for up to six months. If it does not resolve itself on its own at six months they may be able to go in and do surgery to ratchet the muscle back, but there is no guarantee that it will work. So, in the meantime Taki is going to an acupuncturist once a week and he has a second opinion set up with a doctor outside our network in a few weeks (coincidentally, right around the time that my c-section would be scheduled - ha!) The eye patch appears in so many pictures because, since his eyes are not tracking together, he gets nauseous if he looks out of both of his eyes at once. Yes, basically the whole situation SUCKS but we are both hopeful that it will resolve itself on its own or with the help of acupuncture. So if you have leftover good thoughts...send them our way! :)

3 Weeks and 1 Day To Go or Its Not Over Until the Fat Lady Kicks a Toddler

Well, today was decidedly less productive than yesterday. I dropped Nikos off at daycare (for those of you wondering how I was planning on getting so much stuff crossed off my list with him at home!) and headed up to Goodwill with a drop-off. Of course I missed the turn because I was on the phone with Mel and then when I finally turned around and made my way back to the place I found out it wasn't open yet. Next up was Orchard Supply Hardware which took a disappointing turn when the guy in plumbing told me that the part I wanted to replace wasn't broken at all so I was going to have to take apart the sink to find out which part was broken. Yeah, that is going to happen. They didn't have the part I needed for the tub so I figured on a return trip to Home Depot later on in the day.

Back at home and with a Costco blueberry muffin under my belt, I ran a few more largely unsuccessful errands - with the exception of signing up for a preschool tour for Nikos. Sadly, this wasn't on my list so I couldn't check off the box. I also completed a successful Goodwill run and even remembered to get the receipt. Go Heather! I went back to Home Depot where the plumbing guy told me that the part that I had in my hand did not match the broken piece that I had brought from home (snug in a Ziplock Snack Bag) so I was going to have to crawl under the house to fix the drain. He suggested I hire a plumber. Whatever. I chose to ignore him and bought the replacement piece anyway. I am sure this is going to go well when I try to install it later on tonight. And you know what? If by some small miracle it works, I am going to go back to that Home Depot survey and fill out another scathing report on how they are incompetent - well, minus Jamil West.

On a fun note, while I was at IKEA I heard a little girl say to her mommy "wow Mommy, look at that fat lady!" I turned around to share a knowing smile with the mom and to get a glimpse of this fat lady. Right, can you guess where this is going? I was the fat lady! I told the little girl that it was mean to call someone fat and besides that I was having twins. Ha.

In noting the fact that I am three weeks and one day away from my due date I realized that my only big accomplishment for today was that I did NOT go into labor, since this is the day that they induced me with Nikos (see lovely picture below.)

Here's to at least three more weeks of pregnancy and days that are more productive than today! Now, I am off to pack the hospital bag...you know, just in case.

Countdown - 3 Weeks and 2 Days Until Due Date

Day One Maternity Leave Accomplishments

• Spent Money - Bought ceiling fan and houseplants and a chai latte of course
  
• Saved Money
• Realized Home Dept overcharged me for both ceiling fan and light fixture kit for fan
• Found 4 different Home Depot gift cards laying around the house totaling $109.48 ($4.58, $100.00, $3.82 and $1.08 respectively)
• Used my Starbucks Gold membership to get 10% off my drink. Uh huh
  
• Began re-acclimation with comfy seats at Starbucks
• Test drove double stroller
• Filled out Home Depot online survey commending Jamil West for reminding me to buy lightbulbs for my ceiling fan (and leading me to the aisle) and reprimanding the chain for overcharging me for two of my items (and making me walk back to check the cheaper price for one of them)
• Debunked the myth that I can take a detour through Aquatic Park, thus skipping the freeway, for a short cut to my house. I hadn't figured on the dead end. Blast
• Purchased second diaper holder for changing table to hold diapers for new baby.
  
• Had slight panic attack in Babies R Us at thought of having second baby
• Planned return trip to Home Depot with more information and details on things I need for my house (apparently describing what I need for the bathroom as "that stopper thing that you pull up the pole in the middle of the hot and cold knobs and it closes the sink" is not clear enough. At least, you need to know the dimensions and all that. What? Don't worry, I'll be watching like a hawk to make sure everything rings up correctly
• Got brow wax and really, thank god. I am surprised you people have been able to stand me lately
• Scheduled pedicure. Hospital toes, ladies!
  

Game Day

Superbowl weekend kicked off with Mel and I totally dorking out and going to a "Scrap Camp" where we stayed at a hotel and scrapbooked for the weekend. Yes, totally dorky but awesome. We had a great time scrapping, eating, gossiping and relaxing. Mel took this picture of me right after we arrived on Friday - somehow one of my scrap numbers (specifically #2) ended up on my belly. Ha!

On Sunday, Taki, Nikos and I headed over to the South Bay to celebrate the Superbowl at the Grochol's house. They provided a fabulous spread and we had a great time.

Nikos tried out the t-ball in their backyard and loved it. I am not sure which he liked better, hitting the ball off the tee or the fact that all the girls at the party were running around to retrieve the balls for him.




Reese was my best model, standing still enough for me to catch a bunch of fun pictures of her.

Brooke enjoying some of the outdoor activities.

Ryan displaying some Giants pride.

Marco, complete in Steelers colors, inspects Steve's deck lighting.