Four : One

The Bosscher family has a new girl-to-guy ratio (yes, this count includes our female dog) and Nate might need some extra support for a while. No, actually, I think it's a good home/work balance since a large majority of his co-workers are men.

Cora was born yesterday, April 11, at 10:01 am! She and I are doing very well. Nate is changing poopy diaper #6 right now and then Cora is ready for her next meal, so this post will be short, but wanted to just share the news and some pictures in case you aren't a Facebook fan.

Thanks for your thoughts, prayers and love! I'm so relieved she finally came to meet us.

When Are You Due?

It really is sweet and I actually don't mind answering this question these days, but sometimes I feel like saying, "Saturday. When are you due?" Those who dare to guess insist that I'm having a boy, but during most of my pregnancy, my gut feeling has been another girl. Of course, we'll be thrilled with either.

I realized sometime this week that I have developed much more precise expectations about this baby's arrival than I had with Louisa. With Lou, everyone said things like, "first babies are ALWAYS late," so I mentally delayed her birthday until May 5 or so. Knowing that only 14% of labors begin with the "release of membranes," as hypnobirthing puts it, I assumed mine wouldn't break. But now, I definitely have expectations that this baby will be born around Sunday morning (1 day late) and that it will all kick off early tomorrow morning with a mini-flood. Logically, this is all very silly, because I know every pregnancy is different, so I think I'm working through this on our blog to help shake my expectations. This will help me to just enjoy these days with very little on the calendar and my mom visiting from Wisconsin/D.C.

Yesterday we went for a walk in the morning to my favorite cloth diapering store before joining Nate at work for lunch. The ladies then came home to nap/rest before an outing to Trader Joe's. In the evening, Lou hung out with Belle - a.k.a, A-Da - while Nate and I walked downtown Campbell for dinner and gelato. It was wonderful to be out together and we even nailed down our baby names....well sort of. We actually introduced another variation of our favorite girl name but we did finally settle on a middle name to complement Peter as a first name. And all along, very sporadic contractions that would rate somewhere between a Braxton Hicks and a real, uncomfortable one.

Today we have no solid plans, but could end up checking out a bike trailer at REI (before our member coupon expires on Sunday!), buying more burp rag supplies (flannel and terry-cloth), and picking some herbs or flowers for two empty pots on our back porch. I'm thinking spicy eggplant parmesan for dinner tonight!

Happy Faster! Christ is Ripen!

So that I don't leave you wondering about today's post title, this was one of those "text bloopers" I received a few years ago that I'm sure to think about every Easter Sunday. Today, Saturday, was a very Easter-y day as we helped out with our church's Easter egg hunt and dyed eggs at home for a centerpiece on tomorrow's table. That means I don't have to wait until tomorrow to wish you a Happy Easter! Here are some fun images from today, along with the video Nate put together, quite professionally I might add, to share at church tomorrow morning.

Happy Easter! Christ is Risen!

We were happy to see that Lou isn't afraid of big stuffed creatures

First face painting

Not a fan of securing balloon to dress. As a result, it went up with the airplanes. "Buh-bye!"

Who knew you could use lemon juice instead of vinegar?

Lou had little patience for the process and tasted three of the colors

Although lemon juice added some froth...

Not the prettiest, but fun nonetheless

Signs of Spring

Yesterday I wanted to resign as a mother. I was so tired, hemorroidal (as Nate calls it) and Louisa was being a pill - not napping or even staying in her room. Thankfully Nate came home earlier than usual and was super-helpful with Lou, so I didn't actually turn in my letter of resignation.  Today has been sooooooo much better.  And our farm visit this morning with 72 degree weather and good friends was perfect. Louisa fell asleep on the way home, staying asleep for 2 1/2 hours this afternoon while I killed time capturing some signs of spring.

I'm well aware that humans can have babies any time of the year, but for me, it seems that I follow a schedule of birthing spring babies.  BB2 is due next week - April 6, and Louisa will be two on April 29. People keep asking if I feel any signs of labor. Nope, not really, but I learned with Louisa's birth that there won't always be signs. I worked on a Wednesday and my water broke early the next morning with absolutely no contractions before the flood. So maybe tomorrow? But maybe three weeks from now.

Whenever you want to come, BB2, we're excited to meet you! Your dad is looking forward to the "vacation." If this wasn't his second time around, I would have sternly replied that it's not exactly going to be a vacation, but I know that he knows that. Oh and while we're on the topic of vacation, I'm happy to report that my year long "vacation" will be ending soon! I officially have a nutrition job. I'll be starting at Dreamworks in Redwood City as their dietitian, offering nutrition counseling to employees. I'm very excited because it's just one day per week and I love helping people "clean up" their nutrition and exercise habits!

Now, those signs of spring:

Mini-Me

Warning: this post has a gross-factor. I'll avoid too much description, but just to warn you...

I was lucky enough to develop a pretty bad sinus infection in my 36th week of pregnancy. Poor baby had a pretty peaceful environment in there until the honking cough started last weekend. And as you know, a cough usually serves a purpose. In my case, it's to clear the junk that drips from my sinuses into my lungs. So that's what I've been dealing with, and of course, Louisa has noticed. Apparently she's also noticed that sometimes I run to the sink and unload some of that junk. When I cough, she usually just looks at me with puppy eyes and says, "mama."  Well yesterday she took the sympathy a bit further by walking over to her sink where she cough, leaned over and pretended (thankfully!) to spit. Lovely, Louisa Jane.

Louisa & Dad

Louisa loves her dad. Despite the fact that he can't usually be home from work before she goes to bed, they're able to spend a good amount of time together - mornings from 7:30-8:30 and all-day long on Saturdays and Sundays.  I've come to accept the fact that Lou is a little, female version of Nate, but I do sort of hope that, like our friends Adrienne and Paul, our second can look a little more like me. In case you forgot how much Louisa looks like Nate, below are some pictures of the pair making cookies and hiking together.

I tried to capture a funny moment on video today, but of course Lou stopped when I started taping. She was "reading" the warnings on a beach ball, saying, "Daddy, Mama, Bell, Opa, Papa..."

Names must make up such a large percentage of her vocabulary right now, because she finds many opportunities to say those that she knows. During bedtime and nap time prayers, she is quick to remind you to pray for people you haven't yet listed. And if she sees something she wants for herself, she'll say, "Lou?" which sounds more like "you."

Love to you, from you - I mean - Lou, Nate and Alicia

Live It Up While You Can!

It felt like I hadn't taken any videos lately, until I sat down to put them together in a little "Early 2013 Montage" of Louisa. Since Baby B #2 is due in 4 short weeks, I thought it was important to give Louisa her last HURRAH of attention. So here it is...the only-child life of Louisa Jane...dwindling down.



And as a transition to the two-child life of the Bosschers, here is a sneak-peak at #2, who apparently has huge lips and an itchy eye? My midwife wanted to do a growth check this week and we saw that all is fine. I have a 63rd percentile (6.25 pounds) baby in there with 4 more weeks to gain another 1 to 2 pounds!

San Diego...La Jolla...Escondido...Coronado

Last week we took a short Valentine's Day flight down to San Diego.  Louisa's "motion sickness" that I hoped was a one-time event on Wednesday night turned into a strange every-12-hour stomach bug hanging around until Monday morning. She stayed happy in between episodes, which is what made it so strange. She and Oliver both pleased their fellow airline passengers with some vomit on their separate trips to San Diego. Thankfully Oliver really was just airsick...a one time occurrence.  Well, three times within 2 hours or so. Poor Sarah!

The reason for the trip was a Kettenburg (my mom's dad's mom's maiden name) reunion on Saturday. All of my mom's siblings were there and their kids - my cousins - had a solid representation. We shared meals together and my aunts/mom/grandma even surprised Nate and me with our first baby "sprinkle."  The gifts we received gave Sarah an opportunity to complain about the fact that our baby's gender is still unknown...

Oliver and Louisa got along marvelously and both continued to bond strongly with my parents.  Nate headed back to San Jose early Monday morning to work so Lou and I could stay in SD and play. As Nate would say...."Luckies!" Here are some iPhone photos from our trip:

Lou discovers lever door handles and teaches Oliver how to escape

Poppies smiling at us during a "pull over! she's going to puke!" stop (she didn't)

Further Papa-LouBear bonding

Exploring the shipwreck on Coronado Beach

Oliver's first swim

Tractor pull at my Grandparent's house in Escondido

Mountain-clouds in La Jolla

Barking sea lions of La Jolla 

Lou wore her sunglasses so much, my family wore-out the "drank too much last night" joke

Louisa wants to know...are you happy?

Louisa has slowly been expanding her vocabulary lately, and one of her favorite new words is "happy." Usually, if we ask her if she's happy, the following dialogue occurs:

Lou: "HAPPY! Mama?"

Mama: "Mama's happy."

Lou: "Daddy?"

Daddy: "Daddy's happy."

Lou: "Ries?"

Mama: "Ries is probably happy."

Lou: "Baby?"

Daddy: "The baby is happy."

It's fun, although like all things repeated over and over and over again by a toddler - just being honest here - it can get a little old. There are worse conversations she could enjoy having though, so I'll try not to complain.

So why are we happy these days? Well, it depends on the day, but recently I would say that Louisa is happy because we're still striving for an-adventure-a-day to tire her out for her afternoon nap. Monday we went to the city and bought a membership at the SF Academy of Sciences - a fun museum in Golden Gate Park.

Checking out the manta rays and nurse sharks at the Academy of Sciences

Nate is happy lately because his job satisfaction is - and I quote - "higher than it's been since my days at Michael's Frozen Custard." And I'm happy because as soon as I admitted that I probably wasn't going to find a job before Baby#2 is born, interesting opportunities have appeared. I turned down a 30-hour/week job on Saturday but have an interview tomorrow for an 8 hour/week job. Regardless of the outcome, it's nice to know that people are considering my applications and that my hard work over the past 6 months is not in vain.

Just so I don't leave you with the impression that life is perfect around here, I'll leave you with a funny/gross story. Some of you heard about Lou's bath poops...I think there have been two or three; one of those I was in the bathtub too. Well, tonight she added to her portfolio. She was perfectly happy, taking a bath with her mama, when she started to cough. Then gag. Out came lunch. Let me tell you...it was much less pure and lovely than her award-winning Whoops! There goes lunch! photo. Immediately after, she seemed to be happy again, so I'm just chalking it up to motion sickness from our pre-bath bike ride.

Fortunately, I don't have a photo of today's cookie tossing

Good Morning, Bun!

You may recall my recent interaction with a glorious morning bun at Starbucks. Well, soon after, I said to Nate, "we should really learn how to make morning buns." Not so we can eat them all the time, but so we (I) can know what's goes into making a morning bun - both the time and the ingredients. Yes, my inner-dietitian is rooted deep inside my soul. I think about cooking/baking/making things that are unhealthy ever since reading one of Michael Pollen's books - I think it was In Defense of Food... or maybe Food Rules. Regardless, he thinks (and I agree) that it's okay to eat things like french fries and morning buns as long as you make them yourself...

Homemade.

From scratch.

Like not just putting frozen french fries in your home fryer or buying frozen chocolate croissants from Trader Joe's and baking them yourself. Okay, you get the point.

So, now that you understand the backstory of my morning bun adventure, onto the adventure.

Nate found this recipe. It's entitled Morning Buns for Slackers. There may be a shortcut, creating cheater croissant dough, but this recipe is not for slackers. Buying morning buns at a bakery is what slackers do.

So I started on Tuesday and let the dough rest until Wednesday.  Here's what it looked like on Wednesday afternoon, after rolling and folding four times:

Even though there's yeast in the dough, I was surprised by how much it grew in the refrigerator that first night. Sorry you can't see that - I forgot to take before and after pictures. So then this folded dough went back into the refrigerator for about six hours, increasing even more in size. On Wednesday night, I  completed the next step - rolling it flat, adding tons of butter and sugar...and then more butter and more sugar, to get to this point:

They needed to rise for 45 minutes in this state before baking for 20 minutes, so I covered them with plastic wrap and put them in the fridge, calculating at what time I would need to wake up in order to: 1) give a fresh bun to Nate before work, and 2) have buns ready to take to my newly founded Apple Moms group. Verdict: 7:15 am. Not bad, as Louisa usually wakes us up between 7:15 and 8 am anyways.

So the rest of the adventure is pretty straightforward:

• Wake up at 7:15
• Put the buns on the top of the pre-heating stove with the under-microwave light ON (extra-warmth in our 58 degree house)
• Go back to sleep, mumbling to Nate, asking him to bake them for 20 minutes while giving Louisa breakfast 
• Pop them out of the tins and roll them in sugar. 

The result? Very tasty, although I would have skipped the orange zest if I wasn't so trusting of pretty-blog recipes. It was a subtle orange taste, but I have affirmed that I prefer my cinnamon-flavored treats free of citrus notes. I was still able to enjoy them, especially after reflecting on the effort I put forward. Yum:

Next time, I'll roll the dough thinner for a tighter roll

Nate wondered/hoped I would roll them in sugar, admitting that it seemed "extravagant"

No surprise, Louisa approved

The only sad part of this adventure is that you can't just wake up one morning and say, "I feel like morning buns for breakfast" and then make them yourself. You have to decide two days early. But that, from a dietitian's perspective, is what makes it okay to eat things like morning buns. It's hard to eat them too often if they require that much forethought. Happy (occasional) indulging!