It's Really There!

What a day! We had my first prenatal appointment today, and it was actually exciting. I wasn't expecting it, but they did an ultrasound already. There's something unreal about pregnancy until you actually see the baby and watch its heartbeat and little legs and arms moving around. If the ultrasound was any indication of personality, we will have a real show boater on our hands! The baby didn't move until it was in full view and clear on the screen, then it moved its arms and legs in what reminded me of Josh's happy dance (and if you haven't seen that, it's pretty cute)! If you have trouble making out the image, the baby's head is pointing down, and the light spot on the left is an arm. It's hard to see the rest at this size, but we could see arms and legs, and even watch the heartbeat. I actually feel pregnant now! Before, it kind of felt like there was just something wrong with me, with nothing to show for it.
Josh is so cute! Not only is he overprotective of me--the doctor did the normal female test, and he hadn't realized what it actually entailed, and ended up a little mad at the doctor--but he is obviously excited about the baby. He started his own blog (I'll put a link on the side of my blog), and he swears that I'm showing now. It's true, my waist is thicker and I can't suck my tummy in at all, but I've only gained half a pound!
In other news, Corvallis has been its wonderful springy self lately. (Okay, side note--just an example of how forgetful I am lately, I just had to look up the difference between it's and its--and I'm an English major! How pathetic is that?) The sun has been shining, the trees are all in bloom (especially the tulip trees on campus--I'll put in a picture of those later!), and the air smells fresh and fragrant. But today, the rain has returned. After a week of sun, it's not too bad; it just turns it into a movie day rather than a go out and conquer day. =) Well, I'm off to enjoy some ice cream--a reward for me for my minuscule weight gain, and a reward for Dante for his acrobatic dance.

Six More Weeks

I am six weeks along today, and I thought I was having a relatively easy first trimester. Apparently more hormones (as if I didn't have enough of those mood-changing buggers floating around my body already) are flooding my system, and I'm becoming more forgetful, and more sick. Okay, yeah, I suppose my first indication that I was pregnant was bashing the truck into a pole, but it seems to have gotten worse. I left the house three times this past week without my purse, not realizing it until I arrived at wherever I was going. And worse yet, I've made it inside several stores, but left my money in the car. This is especially bad when grocery shopping. What do I do, park my cart and hope it stays?
But I think the worst thing at the moment is the morning sickness. I have to admit, I've still had it easy. But before, as long as I stayed away from sugar and dogs' denta-bones (go figure), I was fine. Now it's become a battle of whether or not I eat all day, since nothing sounds even remotely appetizing. Josh, in his attempts to help, asked what it was that I can eat--what things do sound good. I only have two things: anything potato, and banana bread. So, guess what my diet consists of! But I can't even make the things that do taste good, because cooking (and this is about torture) sounds even more repulsive than eating. So Josh is going to get his cooking experience (he offered!), and we may be eating out a lot, if I can find some healthy things (with potatoes, of course)!
I don't mean to simply complain--there is actually a lot about pregnancy that I do love. I love the attention (who, me?), and I love watching the pictures of how the baby is growing (especially the one that reminds me that my baby now has more brain cells than Paris Hilton--their words, not mine). I love planning the nursery and buying things that we obviously don't need yet, but are so excited over that we just can't wait. There is a lot that I love about this, but there is still that thing called pregnancy that we have to get through. Just six weeks until the first trimester is over, I keep reminding myself. Just six more weeks.

My Valentine

So I haven't had a chance to write about what Josh did for me for Valentine's Day. The last couple of years, he's scored a lot of brownie points! This year, he gave me a card with a riddle in it (four lines of things we were going to do) and had me meet him for lunch. His first line sent us to a florist, where he had a bouquet of Gerber Daisies waiting for me. Then we walked to a downtown store to pick up a beautiful necklace he had gotten by an artist I have long admired, Michael Michaud. The necklace had a beautiful Eucalyptus leaf on it (Josh's favorite tree). Then his clues sent us down to a local tea shop for a seven course Valentine tea. It was wonderful (even though I was battling morning sickness)! His last clue was for the weekend. My love surprised me by taking me to Newport for a night on the Newport Belle, a riverboat B&B. We had luxurious accommodations in the bay front, with the Newport Bridge right out of our window (I'm still trying to figure out how to post Josh's pictures of it). I felt so spoiled by my Valentine!
So we spent our weekend touring the coast, ending up in Florence before heading back for home (the picture of us is from the Florence bay front). I also purchased my first piece of "fine art" (not including, of course, those pieces which have been created for me--I didn't purchase those). It is surprisingly delicate-looking metalwork figure called "Summer Novel"--a woman in a long dress and had reading a book in her lap. Again, I have to figure out how to post the pictures!
I feel as though my latest blogs have simply been an attempt to catch up with things that are going on with me, so I apologize if I have been droning on. Now that things seem to be leveling out again (it's amazing how much pregnancy can disrupt your life at times!), I will have to continue with the day to day, and put a little more personality in it. But for now, happy rainy day! (It's Oregon's liquid sunshine!)

Our News!

Well, I feel like a bit of a putz. It's been almost three weeks since my last entry. I have an excuse, I really do. Well, actually, lots of them. But anyway, I have a little too much to say right now, and not much time to say it in. So I'll start with the important stuff first, and then I'll try to catch up next week!
We're pregnant. We found out about a week and a half ago, and my doctor confirmed it today. We found out a little early, due to my brain lapse--I hit the pole of the carport with the truck and made a nice dent in the bumper. Added to my week of simply being out of it, and a bit of nausea, Josh was a bit nervous for me, so he made me take a test--and it was positive. So now we have a truck with a bent bumper and a nice little story to tell our child! =) We're pretty excited about the whole thing (we already bought a baby sling), and so are our families, so it's a great situation all around!
I hate to make this entry so short, but I have a horribly messy house, and plans for the weekend. The Friday bug has bitten me!

Aaahh, Corvallis

It's days like this that make me remember why I wanted so badly to return to Corvallis. The sun is shining, and it's a bit chilly (Yahoo says 36 degrees), but everyone is outside. I visited the Co-op today, and the smell was so comforting. I remembered days during college of waking up in the living room on Saturday mornings (we slept in sleeping bags out there on Friday so we could be woken up by the sun, which didn't come into our bedroom), heading out to the farmers' market and then off to the Co-op to get a yummy bread that would last us all day during studying, though the search in itself was an effort to put off the homework as long as possible. I can't wait until tomorrow, when Josh and I are planning to go hiking in the area. The weather makes me go into my hippie mood, and I want to throw on my sarong and head out to the garden!
We discovered a couple of places around town that are new since we were last here. The first is the Soup Shop on Monroe (for those of you who live around here). When we walked in, I felt for some reason that I was in a place in Berkeley. It definitely had the college grunge feel (but was certainly not dirty, by any means), and, like so many places in Corvallis, emphasized their organic food. We ordered chicken noodle soup and clam chowder--normally rather boring soups, right? But the clam chowder was heavy on the herbs and very low on the cream (very delicious), and the chicken noodle was the heartiest I'd ever seen. Definitely very different and highly recommended.
I've been going through Jamba Juice withdrawals since moving here, and, to my good fortune, a new smoothie store just opened up. It's called North Shore, and is located at the bottom of what was formerly Campus Inn (now G.E.M.). Wonderful place! Good prices, friendly owners, and several selections that DON'T CONTAIN BERRIES! What a thought! Hooray!
And now, Josh's personal favorite (I got him hooked last night): Peanut Butter Mochas at Bottom's Up (next to Bare Naked Tanning on Monroe, where the campus Book Bin used to be). Again, small hole in the wall, but was that drink ever good!
So yes, we've been having fun cruising around campus and the rest of the town. Tomorrow, it's off to tour the contryside. Here's to a sunshiny Corvallis weekend!

The Orange Dream Machine

I came up with a name for my car today--The Orange Dream Machine. I'm not trying to copy Jamba Juice (though it is my favorite smoothie there), but it seemed quite applicable to this car. Besides, there aren't that many Jamba Juices in Oregon--the closest one is in Salem. So Josh and I are going to start looking around for window cling lettering to put up in the back window as soon as I get the car. I can't wait!
I have to say that I am currently loving my job. The sun came out for a few minutes today, and immediately, I was out on my front porch soaking it up and working (yes, that translates as reading. Like I said, I love my job!). Of course, the comforting warmth lasted only thirty minutes or so, but it was nice while it lasted. There's a reason that people come out in droves when it's sunny in Oregon--it just doesn't happen that often! I think when spring finally arrives, I'll take Bunny over to campus and lay out in the Quad and read just like in the college days. But for now, I'll soak up all the Vitamin D I can get! I'm reading Inkheart by Cornelia Funke for my reviews right now. It surprised me that I'm having a bit of trouble getting through it--it's simply taking longer than I realized. The way the kids rip through it, I thought I wouldn't be able to put it down. It is good, however, just not quite as engaging as I had anticipated. I did find out that the author is German, however. Go Germans! =)
Anyway, just wanted to share a bit of my sunshine!

What will I fit in my Fit?

I have very exciting news (well, at least I'm very excited about it): I'm getting a new car! We went to the car dealer to order it on Tuesday. Due to the demand for the car (though you rarely ever see one), every dealer is completely sold out. Only the lot here in Corvallis held on to one model for test driving. So, in a couple months, I am going to have my new, ORANGE, manual, sporty little Honda Fit! If you haven't ever seen one (which I'm actually betting on), here is a look: click here. Now, you may know that Josh and I were in the market for a family car, and looking at a Passat Wagon. However, due to the astronomical price and horrible gas mileage, we began to look elsewhere. The more we looked around, the more I wanted a sporty car, figuring that I have plenty of time to get old and drive a sedan, or even a Subaru. I was in the market for sporty. But try matching up "sporty" and "family", plus "room for dog", and there is very little out there. So, anyway, the Fit fit our budget and lifestyle, gets great gas mileage (which I feel ever more guilty about with the truck, due to gas prices and polution), and is sporty and cute. If I'm going to be a mom someday, I'm going to be a fun mom!
So Corvallis is still under snow! We had a pretty bad ice storm up in Portland, and we got enough of it here that hardly anyone went into work at Josh's work on Tuesday. Most worked from home, and of the handful (quite literally) who tried to make it in, at least two or three ended up in small accidents. No one was injured, but I was glad Josh had decided to stay home! On the news they showed very entertaining (only because no one was hurt, just stupid) videos of people trying to drive down Salmon Street in Portland--when it obviously wasn't driveable. It was a little fun, I have to admit, to watch people who believed their SUV's actually were made for inclement weather, go spinning gracefully, or perhaps not so gracefully, down the hill. But we all know how much I love SUV's, anyway! If you want to see the video, here it is: Portland weather. The firetruck that comes in at the end to close off the street was later hit by two more cars.
Well, that's the news here. We're beginning to thaw out, and I'm grateful to have a little more warmth. I'm not used to this cold after the California sun!

My new goal--and SNOW!

It's been awhile since I used this blog for anything. Now that I have an outlet for my original goal (in www.bookmom.net), I can now feel free to use this as a creative outlet as well as keeping in touch with everyone back in California.
I've been enjoying my time back in Oregon, getting to spend time with family and friends again. I've also loved rediscovering all my old haunts around school and the whole area. So this will be my way of staying in touch and showing my love and rediscovery of my beloved Corvallis.
Well, it snowed again in Corvallis, for the second time since we've been here. This time, however, we had more and it has stayed for longer. With the excitement of snow, I had to share it with those who would love it as much as I do: the kids. So I called up Josh's mom and she brought the kids over. The four of us, and, of course, Bunbury, walked to Walnut Park (10 minutes from my apartment) and played in the snow. We got to go sledding, have snowball fights, and make a snowman. And talk about your faithful dogs! When I let Bunny off leash, he was excited to see all the other dogs there, and would barely obey me for his excitement. However, he climbed the hill with us every time, and whenever I went sledding, he would run alongside all the way down!
So I am loving Corvallis covered in snow, and loving the festive atmosphere it brings with it. Tonight, I'm off to my college roommate's house to watch scary movies and tell each other ghost stories just like the old days.

My new project

A new project has rather dropped in my lap today. I've decided to create a review of children's books in an effort to increase parents' ability to be involved in their children's learning process, as well as to know what their children are reading. Thus, for a time this blog will be devoted to books--a perfect reflection of me! From my work in a bookstore, and through my studies in my senior seminar, it has become painfully apparent that most parents have little or no idea what their children are reading--not only what is assigned in school, but also what kids are reading on their own. Parents make the mistake quite frequently of only monitoring scholastic reading rather than discretionary, and this is where the danger lies. I am a firm opponent to censorship, but I believe that a responsible parent knows what his or her children are putting into their heads.
Along the same lines, there are many books that are contested and challenged out there (as nothing is ever banned, since banning books is against the first amendment) that are actually very good for children, and these books need an advocate--namely, me. My goal is not to influence anyone's opinion about the books I review, but rather to help parents and perhaps teachers and conscientious kids make educated, informed decisions about children's literature. This is perhaps one of the most misunderstood areas of literature out there, while also the most crucial, and thus it has become my passion. What can I say, I root for the underdog! The writing in children's literature may be more simplistic than many adult books (and actually, some are quite beautiful in their language), but the messages are not. The information and imagination contained between the pages of the best of these are very important for children in allowing their minds to grow, and in raising children who are able to think for themselves.
I plan to begin with children's books that I have read (which will take awhile just at that), and make an attempt to first cover award winners and popular books, as well as those commonly taught in the classroom, in an effort to make my site as helpful as possible. I want to give an objective look at the books I review, but also contain a sidebar with my own personal opinion, so that those who know me and trust my discretion may be able to make decisions based on my input. Again, my effort is not in censorship. Going to high school with a librarian who went through every book and crossed out the swear words--in classic literature, no less--incensed me and made me realize that there must be a better way than to either censor things or than to read until I found something objectionable. I hope this site helps, and I hope that through it we can raise a generation of children who we are unafraid to allow to read great books, a generation of great writers and thinkers that can give us hope for the future.

Furtwangler Paper

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