Le fin de le fin de semaine

This weekend was the first non-painting weekend in a long time (ad the first of at least two to boot!), but that doesn't mean that Carrie and I were any less busy.  On Saturday, we went to an EMOMS consignment sale in Bellevue where we found a ton of used baby clothing for a decent price. Initially the two of us were a bit conflicted about getting consignment anything for our children - after all, we want the best for our precious ones, and part of that involves a degree of environmental stewardship which leads us to want to get organic everything for  them.

But - families hand down clothing and the like to subsequent generations all the time, and each piece of used clothing or furniture reduces our own environmental footprint even more than if we were to buy all new organic clothing and eco-friendly furniture, since we are not consuming newly-made goods.

After the massive consignment sale, we then made our way to another consignment place in Madison Park called Sugarlump, and Birth and Beyond, a maternity boutique store. It was at the latter place that we decided to go with the G-Diapers system. We spend more up front for inserts and pants, but the cloth prefolds themselves are washable, so we don't end up having to spend $50/week for diapers, which I think is worth a little up-front pain (plus, we're not contributing as much to landfills, which is also a nice added bonus).

We also shopped at Target that day for more baby things, and ended our time out relaxing at Stellar Pizza in Georgetown. While goggling the directions, I noticed that (1) it was within easy running distance, and (2) there was a cafe right down the road. So, on Sunday morning,we went shopping for ingrediants so that Carrie could make a batch of her kick-ass chili.

I'm looking forward to next weekend; Carrie and I will be in Utah to see family and go to a baby shower being hosted by her sister. When we get back - I think that I'll have a major announcement! :)

Labor Day weekend

The long weekend started out innocuously enough. Saturday morning, we arose to a meal of buttermilk pancakes and scrambled eggs, then we went about prepping the baby's room for painting.

Along with removing all of the doors and light fixtures, we had to remove the blinds, curtain rods, and shelves that the previous owners had left behind.  Around this time came my first point of contention with them: not only did they use a system that was a bear to remove, but they used cheap hardware in the form of brass flathead screws that was a pain to remove. I ended up having to tear the shelf rods from the walls, leaving behind hugte holes and tears in the drywall that required the generous application of spackle.

So- stuff removed, bare wood surfaces sanded (they are getting painted as well), and walls washed. Time for the primer - and point of contention #2: the ceiling in both the kids' room and our bedroom has this rather unsightly popcorn texture to it; that means that I'll have to put not one, but two generous coats of primer just to fill in the uneven parts.

Despite all this, things were swimming along smoothly enough until Carrie started having severe abdominal pains during the afternoon.  It turns out that she was in the early stages of appendicitis, and needed to be taken to the ER so that she could get an appendectomy. We were both very fearful, not just because of the fact that she needed surgery, but also because we were unsure of the effect that the anesthesia and any subsequent pain medication would have on the twins. All three individuals made it past the surgery okay, though, and they are back home resting and recovering. Today (Tuesday), she's up and walking around, although with a bit of difficulty alternating between standing up and sitting  / laying down. Still, she's in considerably less discomfort than she was, and that's saying a lot, I think!

In other news:

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I had made an abbreviated version of this run earlier,but I hadn't realized that, by cutting out the run from Orcas to Dawson, I was cheating myself out of .3 mile. The extra distance didn't take that much longer to do, and I felt a lot better once I got to Columbia City Bakery. Lest ye wonder why I take the time to run down there, Carrie and I love thier pastries., breads and sandwiches, and their Torta Rustica is a treat that, if you can get a hold of it, is something to be treasured alongside a fine wine. If Carrie can't come with me, then I'l run to the bakery, get a espresso and pastry, pick up something for Carrie, and walk back. Why walk? Well, I do live on Beacon Hill!

Twins!

Yesterday, Carrie and I went to the doctors office so that she could have an ultrasound done. There we saw it - two sets of quickly beating hearts!

Yep - that's right - we're having twins!

We had known ever since the day before I had left to go back to Maryland for my High School reunion that she was pregnant - but the ultrasound today grounded what had previously been a mere assumption into the hard reality of certain knowledge. I'm gonna be a father - twice over!