Grant Richard Nash

He's here at last. Actually he's my first child to ever come early, so I'm not going to complain. I'll give a short run down on the birth story.

My water broke last Wednesday evening and we had to go directly to the hospital to get on antibiotics. However I wasn't actually in active labor. I was dilated to 4 cm at my last doctors appointment about a week earlier so we had thought my labor would go pretty fast. Wrong. We spent the evening dozing as much as we could. My doctor waited to give me Pitocin until 5 am hoping that I would go into labor on my own, but my contractions were still not coming very often even though I was then dilated to 6 cm. Thankfully, my doctor also waited until I could get an epidural before she increased the dose of pitocin. So by the time I got the epidural and the full dose of pitocin I was at 7 cm. Three hours later Grant was born. His umbilical cord was wrapped around him like a candy cane and was around his neck twice causing his heart rate to drop pretty dramatically in the last 40 minutes of labor. He was blue and not crying when he came out but the doctor never seemed worried. She rubbed him down until he started responding. He's done great since.

We didn't have a name firmly picked out when we got to the hospital. But we started 'trying some on' to see if any fit. The name Grant had actually gone down on my list before the hospital because having a Garrett and a Grant could get confusing even for me. But after trying several names out Grant was the only one that Jeremy and I both thought fit him.

He's doing great. I've had a couple of long nights but over all he's doing well at night. My parents have been here for the last week and have pretty much taken care of (along with Jer) all child care (besides Grant), cleaning, dishes, cooking, and laundry. Many wonderful people from our ward are planning on bringing meals after they leave. We are truly blessed to have this sweet little person enter our family. And even more blessed to be surrounded by many giving and thoughtful people.

Thank you to everyone.

I recently got rid of all of our VHS because our VCR broke and we've decided not to replace it. While You Were Sleeping was among the collection. I had a particularly bad today and Jer came home, took me out to dinner, and then we replaced a couple of my movies.

While You Were Sleeping is a classic romantic comedy. My favorite scene is when they're eating dinner and there's 4 conversations going on at once that get all tangled up and no one knows what they're talking about. I kid you not it is exactly what it was like trying to have Christmas Eve with my dad's family while growing up. Everyone participated in everyone else's conversation but no one knew what anyone else was talking about.

For awhile it seems like Hollywood came out with a series of great romantic comedies but the last few years, I feel like they've tanked. They've become like so many other movie genres, trashy and full of dirty humor that ruins the experience.

So tonight we're enjoying a classic...I'm enjoying a classic and Jeremy is being a good sport since I had to unclog the toilet today with a stick.

Freegal, You Rock My World

I love Freegal. Seriously it is the most wonderful thing since Napster. I'll admit that I don't own an ipod or any other MP3 carrying device of any type. Nor do I buy cd's. I have the same 10 cd's I had in college, two or three of which are ones roommates burned for me. That seems a little odd to me considering how much I love music.


BUT I have a really hard time bringing myself to buy a cd when I really only like 2 maybe 3 songs on it tops. There are very few artists that I like everything they sing, which is why, back in the day, I loved Napster. I think I had 150 songs before I got the lovely little message that I needed to delete them from my computer or I would be sued.


Freegal Music Library is accessed with my Pierce County Library card number and password. I get three free downloads each week. Right now it includes most artists that are under the Sony label, which is a lot. Its wonderful.


They have classic artists like Rosemary Clooney who I adore, voice like butter and classical like Handel's Messiah. But they also have both of Adele's cds which I also really like...most of it anyway.


Freegal, you rock my world.
Yet another reason I love my library card.

Arches

I flipped through my most recent issue of Arches, the alumni magazine from my Alma Mater the University of Puget Sound. I don't know if anyone else does this but I turn straight to the back where alumni can send in pictures and updates. I enjoy seeing who's gotten married or had a baby and, sadly, the older I get the fewer people I recognize.

The section that struck me today was the updates section where alumni can send in their most recent accomplishments, awards, promotions, etc. Secretly I've always wanted to send something in and impress my classmates with something amazing or unusual that I've done. But truth be told, I haven't been promoted, received any awards (even for PTA because I still refuse to join), traveled to Tibet to study Tibetan singing bowls, or done anything to better my community as a whole that would constitute a half inch blurb in my alumni magazine.

There's no where to send your blurb that states 'Stacey Nash '03 Got all her children cleaned, fed, in bed, and had a clean living room by 8 pm for the 3rd consecutive day. She has successfully exercised and practiced singing everyday in this same week.'

Now I look at that and think, Wooohoooo! That's all I'm trying to accomplish. There are probably thousands of alumni who do the same things I do each day AND get amazing awards, publish books, and run marathons. Good for them.

For now, I'm aiming for at least one meal today that doesn't include peanut butter. Arches isn't interested and that's ok. I know that I'm making a difference for three little nashlings. They aren't going to publish it anytime soon but its worth more than a half inch blurb.

Something Permanent

As I have admitted before, I am a sew-er. I used to be an anti-sew-er but now I follow several sewing blogs in the hope of getting inspiration. One of my favorites is Simple Simon & Co., on which a recent post made me think about why I have taken up sewing. As a stay-at-home mom, much of my time is spent doing things that are continuously started over.

Examples - dishes, laundry, cleaning. I find myself putting off mopping my floor because I know that at the next meal someone is going to spill their milk/cereal/ketchup on the floor or someone will come running in the back door and leave muddy/leafy footprints.

The post struck me because it suggested that a woman should do at least one thing each day that can't be undone.

Something permanent.

Sewing is one way that I have found to create something permanent...that is until I have to pull out the ole seam ripper. But every time one of the girls wears something I've made, I feel that I've made something that will last, hopefully, something pleasing to the eye and something useful.

I have other ways as well. I paint and I write, both of which allow me to creatively express myself in a, mostly, permanent way. On days that I sew a seam, put a stroke on paper, or write even one sentence I can look back and know for sure that I've moved forward on something. I may need to mop the floor again tomorrow but for now I made something that moves me forward to a completed project that can't be undone by anyone other than myself.

As I read the post, it was nice to know that I'm not the only one who'd like a few of my little marks on the world to be ones that can't be ruined by spilt milk.

Dancing Queen

Dance recital.

I have a bone to pick with dance studios. They charge you x amount of money for lessons each month, x amount for a yearly fee, then they charge XX amount for costumes, x amount for special scrunchy, x amount for shoes, and x amount for tickets to go to the recital itself.

But she does the worm like no one's business.

If she wasn't so darn cute and didn't love it so much it wouldn't be worth it.

But, well it is.

Snowmaggedon aka Snowpalozza aka Honkin Big Storm

Snow storm + freezing rain = mess

I'll admit that I giggle about the Pacific Northwest. The weather people practically throw their arms over their heads and start screaming for everyone to run for cover as soon as it looks like a storm is coming.

The first day wasn't so bad. Four or five inches but then the rains came and froze and trees started falling down. There was so much ice on the cars we couldn't get in them, not that there was anywhere we could go.

Ok so maybe after the ice, we could have thrown our hands over and heads and started screaming. But we had a generator so it was inconvenient but not completely miserable.

We survived Snowmaggedon 2012.