A Fresh Cup

 Time to pour yourself a fresh cup--it's a blog reboot! 

If you're new here--Hi! I'm Kait Palmer, and I started this blog back in 2008 when my husband and I moved from San Diego to Seattle 11 months into our marriage. We adopted our dog--Roy--shortly after and I started blogging as a way to keep in touch with friends and family after we moved. You can read the start of the blog here: The Move

Since then we had a baby, moved to Oklahoma, had two more babies, changed careers, and moved to Southern Oregon. 

Last month our Roy Boy--who was over 16 years old by that time--crossed the Rainbow Bridge. I'm still heartbroken--he was my soulmate dog. I think I'll always feel like he's just around the corner in the house, following me everywhere.

Celebrating Roy's 16th Birthday

Soon after Roy passed, we found Hawk the border collie and have added him to the craziness of our lives. He fits in great so far, and it has been fun having a dog who has the energy for fetch, hikes, and bounding up the stairs and onto the top bunk bed. 

But you didn't come here just for the recap. If you're a long time reader you know the gist of this blog was to share the funny, daily moments. 

So how about I tell you about my new running partner? I started running again in January to train for a half marathon in support of my cousin. I highly encourage you to read the story of her and her daughter Willow on Instagram @runningforwillow 

Every time I would pull on leggings and lace up my shoes, Roy thought he was going. I would usually take him for a very slow walk around the block, but I did miss having a running partner. Hopefully a well trained one who didn't pull my arm off. 

Enter Hawk. 

As a border collie he would be able to keep up with training for a half marathon with me! Awesome! The first few days I took him on a walk after about a mile he actually did pretty well heeling at my side! I was feeling pretty good about this! Possibly a little smug...

However, as the days have progressed his running speed and power seems to have increased. I feel like a cartoon being pulled out of my shoes! I literally need to go to a chiropractor because my entire body feels torqued to one side after running him! 

It's not even healthy running...it's slapping down hard on my feet in an effort not to fall! 

Not falling...that's my new running.

Ironically, he is amazing when I tell him to "stop" and "sit." He looks like the best trained dog ever doing those things! But once we get going again, he runs so hard...his back feet coming forward at the same time like a sled dog gaining traction...he's actually filing down his nails for me!

We'll be scheduling a training session soon, but until then say a prayer for me and my feet as I get drug along by this new boy.

At least my average mile times have increased! 

Look for more Morning Cups in the future--it's time the writer is unleashed again ;-) 

Kenna's Birth Story

On Thursday morning Tatum and I went to see my midwife, Susan, for my scheduled appointment. As I was 11 days past my ultrasound due date with Tatum, both of us assumed we had plenty of time and we scheduled the next appointment for the same time next week. My due date wasn’t until the 10^th or 11^th and it was only the 8^th—we had plenty of time!

Then Tatum and I headed to the chiropractor, then Lowe’s where we loaded up on some discounted rosebushes and shrubs, made another trip to the grocery store because I was determined to be stocked up whenever this baby arrived, then headed home.

Instead of taking a nap like I’ve normally been doing while Tatum is napping, I decided to get my 14 tomato plants, 6 jalapeño plants, and 12 marigolds in my garden. And put up the fence around my last raised bed. And repot a bunch of plants. Basically I worked my butt off in the mid-eighty degree weather, taking water breaks inside and using peppermint oil on my neck to keep cool. 

After four hours of working in the sun (which honestly felt glorious and I had the fleeting thought, “you know, I’m not even exhausted! I think I could even handle labor!”), I made some spaghetti, had my parents come over for dinner since Matt was at an after-work event, and took a shower to rinse off the dirt and sweat. I was having a number of Braxton-Hicks contractions, but that’s not unusual for me and I just attributed it to being dehydrated and having done so much physical labor.

While reading Tatum’s bedtime story around 9:30 I realized I must have had 6 or 7 Braxton-Hicks in the past hour. Braxton-Hicks aren’t painful—but your uterus tenses in a “practice” contraction and gets rock hard just like a muscle flexing. After we put Tatum to bed Matt ran me a bath since I really wanted another night of sleep after such a long day of work! I also used lavender essential oil because sometimes those can make you so relaxed that labor stops. When I got in the bath around 10 I decided to use my contraction timer on my phone just to see how close they were to each other. That was an eye opener! They were between 1 and 3 minutes apart—but still no pain! But then I had a couple of contractions that were “uncomfortable.” Then I needed to use the restroom. Twice. Hmmm….

I called Susan just to let her know what was up—12 contractions in about 30 minutes but most of them just painless.  While talking to her, however, she had another client call in who was also having contractions. Uh-oh! She asked to call me back and in that time frame I had 2 or 3 more uncomfortable contractions. She called me back around 11 and asked if I wanted her to come check me.  The other woman was having a contraction 20 minutes apart, so she was going to get ready and come over to see me just in case this was the real deal. I called my mom and told her I’d let her know if anything was really happening after Susan checked me. Matt started to pick up the house and get thing pre-ready to go.

When Susan got to our house around 11:30, we found I was 4cm dilated and already 50% effaced! “Sooo…I’m having my baby tonight?!” I asked. Susan smiled and said, “You’re having your baby tonight!” We made the phone calls, my parents headed over so my dad could take Tatum to Ammah’s house and Roy home with him (I think he would have tried to climb in the birthing pool with me), and my mom to be there for support.

Elizabeth, who is also a midwife, arrived as did MacKenzie, the student midwife (who was 30 weeks pregnant herself, bless her heart!). Matt moved the dining table against the windows, set out the tarp and blew up the birthing pool.

Contractions began to get regularly uncomfortable around midnight, and I tuned into a soundtrack from the Hypnobirthing CD on my headphones, turned the lights low in the bedroom and chilled in there for awhile. I breathed through contractions, swayed, rocked, and walked around for about an hour. I walked out in the backyard (admiring my day’s work), looking at the stars and feeling the coolness of the night air, leaning on Tatum’s slide to breathe through the contractions. Matt and my mom were placing bets on birth time, the midwives were hanging out in the nursery and everything was so calm and peaceful. 

This was taken around midnight when we knew we'd be having Kenna in our arms soon

Elizabeth actually left to go attend to the other woman who’s contractions were beginning to come close together. Susan takes a really low number of clients and this lady’s first two births were both early, and my first one was so late she thought there was no way there could be an overlap—statistically speaking it was an incredibly low chance!

Thankfully my contractions were a few minutes apart, still. I remember with Tatum I would get literally less than a minute to recover between contractions before I would feel another one coming on—and it being my first labor those close contractions were exhausting, aggravating and freaky all at once. So this time getting to actually walk around, talk, breathe, and recover before another wave felt like luxury! I wonder if using the lavender and taking the bath prior to really beginning active labor helped slow contractions down—which I was completely OK with!

For those of you interested in how I used essential oils through labor, I applied Joy and Valor towards the beginning, and again around 1:00. When they began to get uncomfortable I used PanAway on my lower back and lower abdomen, and really think that helped with pain. I would occasionally rub some Gentle Baby on my chest and wrists as well, as it’s so calming.

Around 1:30 I asked Susan to check me again, and found that in two hours I had progressed to 8cm and 75% effaced! She also commented that Kenna was still high, but my cervix was very soft and stretch and all it would take was her coming down to dilate me the rest of the way. Around this time I asked Matt to fill the birthing pool and I began to vocalize through the contractions. I can’t imagine having to stay still through contractions—I was usually leaning on the bed or the kitchen bar and swaying back and forth, willing myself to relax everything and release and tension.

At 2ish I climbed into the birthing pool and OH what sweet relief!!!!!! It was around then I went through transition and began to really vocalize. I kept moving positions from my hands and knees to my side to kneeling but at this point nothing was comfortable.

At one point I found I needed something to say or recite besides “OOOOHHH!” or “OOOOH JESUS!” so the thing that popped in my mind was Psalm 34. In 6^th grade our teacher, Miss Iris, had us learn the entire chapter, verse by verse, over the course of the year. Most of that chapter (I still confuse the last few verses) is still imprinted in my mind, and is my go-to Psalm. Not only were the actual words comforting and reassuring, but trying to remember the order of the verses, or pick up where I left off with the last contraction kept my mind focused on that instead of the double and triple-peaking contractions I was laboring through then.

Here is the chapter in its entirety, although I think I only got through the first 17 or 18 verses:

I will bless the Lord at all times;

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2 

My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;

The humble shall hear of it and be glad.

3 

Oh, magnify the Lord with me,

And let us exalt His name together.

4 

I sought the Lord, and He heard me,

And delivered me from all my fears.

5 

They looked to Him and were radiant,

And their faces were not ashamed.

6 

This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him,

And saved him out of all his troubles.

7 

The angel[a] of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him,

And delivers them.

8 

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;

Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

9 

Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints!

There is no want to those who fear Him.

10 

The young lions lack and suffer hunger;

But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.

11 

Come, you children, listen to me;

I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

12 

Who is the man who desires life,

And loves many days, that he may see good?

13 

Keep your tongue from evil,

And your lips from speaking deceit.

14 

Depart from evil and do good;

Seek peace and pursue it.

15 

The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

And His ears are open to their cry.

16 

The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,

To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

17 

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears,

And delivers them out of all their troubles.

18 

The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart,

And saves such as have a contrite spirit.

19 

Many are the afflictions of the righteous,

But the Lord delivers him out of them all.

20 

He guards all his bones;

Not one of them is broken.

21 

Evil shall slay the wicked,

And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.

22 

The Lord redeems the soul of His servants,

And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.

After awhile of that I felt I needed to use the restroom. My midwife said that was fine, but I may be so close that I might end up pushing the baby out in the bathroom instead of the pool. I had just had one contraction with an urge to push and knew that might be a distinct possibility but I still felt the need to go. So I climbed out of the tub, wrapped in a towel and moved to the bathroom. I had two more contractions where I felt I needed to push while on the toilet, but still no head. I headed back to the pool and climbing back in was almost as bad as a contraction!

Climbing in I had another contraction and urge, and my water broke with a little bit of meconium in it. Then, in that what felt like a VERY VERY quick moment Kenna moved from very high in the birth canal to crowning! While I only pushed for 20 minutes with Tatum, I felt her dropping little by little, and even while pushing we’d see more of the head, then it would go back a little. But this all happened in one frightening and very painful contraction! I was VERY loud and felt my voice go from low and open to a higher pitch and nearing a scream. My arms were grabbing a hold of the handles on the sides of the pool and I remember them shaking violently when Susan came right into view and locked eyes with me. I honestly don’t remember what she said but I remember focusing on her eyes and reaching up behind me to grab onto Matt’s arm. I also got a visual of Tatum when she freaks out about something and thinking she must get it from the primal side of me because I felt like a toddler freaking out!

The next push Kenna’s head was born, and the push after that she came into this world at 2:44 am.

As Susan lifted her up and onto my chest I felt that overwhelming joy at finally holding her in my arms! She coughed a number of times and cleared her lungs. She wasn’t crying, but making those precious newborn noises. She felt smaller in my arms than Tatum had, as well.  So little, tucked against me. I heard Matt laugh and begin to talk to her as well.

I remember, too, realizing that the cord must have been really short because I could feel it taut against my belly. Susan asked if I felt like I could get out of the pool to birth the placenta so with her and Matt’s help I did, and sat/reclined on the floor with Matt supporting me from behind.

When I again squatted and pushed the placenta came out easily—except for one piece of membrane stayed attached inside. I pushed, we waited, and I got to turn Kenna so I could get a good look at her face. The first thing I thought was how different from Tatum she looked. Her hair was fairer, her face not quite as chubby. She got a little mad and I started singing Tatum’s favorite nighttime lullaby, “Godspeed,” by the Dixie Chicks (except we sing “baby girl” instead of “little man,” and Tatum insists we add Roy to the last verse). I figured since she had been hearing it from inside the womb for months she would recognize it, and she certainly did! That baby quieted right down! She also nursed for a little bit.

This is the end of the "birth" story. There's more about the afterbirth portion, but if that isn't your cup of tea you can skip to the pictures at the end.

The membrane was still not detaching, so Matt cut Tatum’s cord once it stopped pulsing and held her as my mom took his place behind me. I don’t think we got any pictures of Matt holding her, but it is imprinted in my mind. The look on his face, his smiling and talking to her, then sitting down and rocking her. I took a tincture of herbs to help the contractions expel that last piece of membrane hanging on, then laid back on pillows so Susan could check my perineum. That membrane was still not detaching so after talking to me, Susan snipped the rest of the placenta away from it so I could have some mobility.

I went to the bathroom and Susan massaged my uterus, then I massaged it, all trying to get that danged membrane to detach. When it still didn’t, Susan talked to me about using pitocin to help my uterus contract and release that membrane. We moved to my bedroom and I got to hold my Kenna again while I got the shot in my thigh, and another herbal tincture. This went on for awhile, and that blasted piece of membrane didn’t detach until 4:30 or 5:00 I think. I was so tempted to just yank it out but knew leaving a piece of it inside made me prime for infection.

After that I still needed to be stitched up just a bit. I had a minor second degree tear, and Susan sutured the first row, but by the time she began the second, outer stitches the anesthetic was wearing off. We actually think I may be somewhat immune to it, because after Tatum was born no matter how much the midwife used I could still feel every single stitch. Because of the way I tore this time, Susan had given me the option to not suture but just take it very very easy for the next ten days, so when I began to feel every stitch I opted to just tie off what she had done and take it easy (I didn’t have that option last time).

So finally, around 6, Susan and MacKenzie had cleaned up everything, I was changed and cleaned, and we gave Kenna her newborn exam. She weighed in at 9 pounds 5 ounces, and 22 inches long. Everything beautifully and thankfully healthy.

The next day Kenna did develop a cephalohematoma, which are most commonly found in babies delivered with forceps, but we think she dropped so fast she literally banged her head against my pelvis to bruise it. So if you notice a little bump on her head the next few weeks it’s nothing to be alarmed about—it will resolve on its own. The kid just had to make a wham-bang entrance!

Oh the Adventures

Since my last post I've gotten a few questions about the water issue and fyi, it is ALL cleared up and for much less than we anticipated! The night we were without water (why is it I was uber thirsty?) Matt asked me a question that made my stomach drop, "What is our credit limit?"

Yikes.

With a broken pipe and water coming from the AC closet in the garage and looking more and more like a slab leak, things were not looking bright.

Saturday morning my dad called with good news. He had talked to his neighbor who is a plumber, described the problem, and the neighbor said, "No problem...I can fix it for $100. But I don't dig holes and I don't fill holes." Perfect! The hole was dug!

The man came over, fixed the pipe, and then fixed what we thought was a slab leak but turned out to be a clogged pipe from the AC as well! Hallelujah!

With that taken care of, Matt headed to Home Depot to get a shop vac to get the water out of the closet, and I headed to the front yard to water my plants after putting Tatum down for a nap.

Now, normally the door from the garage to the side yard is unlocked. I've personally unlocked it three times. But somehow...I don't know, let's say garden gnomes have infiltrated and they happened to lock it again. I took my watering can and Roy and headed to the back yard, firmly closing the door behind me.

After watering my plants I went to get back in the garage...with no luck.

Sliding back door? Nope, I've locked it to prevent Tatum from opening it.

All windows are dutifully locked.

Side gates are also locked from the outside to prevent Roy's escape. I climb up the side that doesn't have the 5' hole and realize it would be about a 7 foot jump, barefoot, onto hard packed clay. Just jumping down from the inside of the gate gave my feet a shock and I didn't exactly want to add a sprained ankle to this scenario.

It's about 10:00 in the morning, there's no shade in our yard, and it's already close to 100 degrees.

And Tatum is crying. (I have the monitor, of course)

Ohhhh boy.

I called Matt and he was still at Home Depot. So I called Ammah and caught her just before she hopped in the shower. She said she'd hop in the car and be right over.

I paced, and Tatum's crying intensified. Roy is panting hard and I'm baking. 

And I think "If Tatum's pitch goes into frantic mode I'm breaking a window! I wonder how much that will cost..."

Then I decide to assess what I have. I'm looking around the backyard for anything I can use as a tool and find the long handled grill brush. Going back to the non-hole side of the yard, because I didn't want to jump into this

I utilized my rusty rock climbing skills and scaled the gate again. Leaning as far over as I dared (the gate wobbling precariously and Roy jumping up on it to see what I was doing), I used the tip of the grill brush to start knocking the open bolt through the gate latch. After a few minutes of careful tapping, I was finally free!

And ran inside to my crying baby who didn't seem to mind I was completely sweaty.

Nothing like an adventure before noon, I guess. :-)

That evening my best friend Charissa pulled into town, and we spent the following week hanging out, celebrating my birthday, celebrating Independence Day, and laughing at our dogs.

I was lavished with praise and fun gifts on my birthday...

And got what I really wanted--the picture that Matt got me at the Bellevue Arts Festival last year right before Tatum was born finally framed!

And the frame is gorgeous! It's reclaimed wood so each one is unique! I love love LOVE it! He even went all out and got the museum glass!

So as a thank you I let him dance with me.

Either that or I drug him to dance with me...

And then my brother blew my candles out first!

Hence this ninja kick.

So we relit them and I got to make my wish as planned. Unless him blowing them out first negates my wish...or reverses it...I'm not sure exactly how that works.

After we went home we hung my picture in its rightful place over the mantel.

Please ignore the dying ficus. Thank you.

All that to say that we had a great time with Charissa, and Tatum definitely loooves her Auntie Charissa!

And I think the feeling is mutual.

We finished her visit with a trip to Italian Jim's for the Super Pepperoni pizza.

Yeah, there were almost 400 slices on the pie. YIKES. I'll be saying arrivederci to that as I embark with my mom and Ammah on another Weight Watchers journey! I'm ready for this last bit of baby weight to get the heck off!

Till next time!

Its A Doggy Dog World

On Friday Matt and I got up early and headed to get our Oklahoma license plates and drivers licenses. 

Four hours and lots of senior citizen gossip later we had them.

We are now officially Oklahomans!

Never thought I'd hear myself say that...

On my way home, I was about to turn into the neighborhood when I spied two dogs trotting along the side of the busy street.

Most of you know about Roy getting hit by a car four days after we brought him home, and so the thought of someone else's dogs getting hurt just squeezes my little ole' heart. 

So I pull into the neighborhood, park, and run to try to get them.  They've headed down the road, though, and are nearing the other entrance to the neighborhood.  I jump back in the car and beeline it down the street, pull up to the entrance and meet them just in time.  I open the back door, give a friendly call, and a large, white husky mix and a smaller chihuahua/German pinscher/terrier dog hop into my car.

Great, they're safe!

Now what do I do?

I head home, tell my mom, and we put Roy in a bedroom while letting them into the backyard.  They're just the friendliest girls you ever met, already warming up to us and so loving!

Problem is there's no collars or tags, and we have a raging beast in the bedroom.

Yes, Roy.  He's got an issue with other dogs.

He doesn't like them.

When we let him out of the bedroom and he finally saw them in the backyard, he went berserk. 

We finally drug him away and put him in the bedroom again while he paced and snuffed and huffed.

I made some signs and posted them at the entrance of the neighborhood, and posted them on craigslist as well.

Then we waited and played musical dogs, shuffling them in the garage or bedroom or backyard to keep them all apart. 

The men get home from work and are none too happy seeing these extra creatures in the house that my mom and I are trying really hard not to bond with.

It was even implied by some male members of the household that we just let them out and they'll find their way home.

Are you crazy??? we asked.  First of all, what if they didn't?  What if they did get hit by cars? Not only would I hate for that to happen, but I know if I ever hit a dog I would be seriously emotionally messed up for a bit. I couldn't let that happen to someone else.

During dinner my phone rang, and I picked up to, "Hi, my name is Keith and I'm hoping you still have my dogs?" YES! I replied. "Oh thank you! I have a four-year-old daughter and she's had them her whole life and you just made her day!" In the background I could hear little sniffles.  

Yes, my heart melted, too.

A few minutes later Keith picked up his dogs.  He said he'd love to offer us money but had been out of a job for a month and a half and had just had gallstones removed.  Heidi and Nora, as we found out the dogs names were, obviously were his dogs as the husky quite literally jumped up and hugged him.

So we waved goodbye to our new friends and sat back down to dinner while Roy pranced around the house, King of his domain once again.

'Doggy dog world' is a beautiful world full of little puppies." -- Gloria from "Modern Family"

Pumpkin Patch!

Tatum had her first trip to the pumpkin patch! And we finally got a few more decent family pictures, since the only one of the three of us (other than sitting on the couch covered in spit up) was from when she was 4 days old!

Tatum was being a bit shy at first...she had just been woken up and taken from a warm car seat to a chilly fall evening.

That orange hat was the hat she came home from the birth center in--it hardly fits her now!

This pumpkin patch was out in Arcadia and was so darn cute! 

 There wasn't an actual pumpkin "patch," like the one we went to last year, but there was still a lot to see! 

And this last picture reminds me of a picture from last year...

Guess I just swapped a pumpkin for a baby! 

And remind me to never cut my hair so short again.

Tatum got to meet a few animals, but she wasn't that interested.

Matt got to be a kid as well...

On a tractor with her Poppie...and this had my dad singing "Take you for a ride on my big green tractor" the rest of the evening...

I just really like this picture.

They had a corn maze, but as it was getting dark and we really didn't want to spend forever in it, we only went partway in...

This tunnel was awesome...live gourds growing all over it!

Tatum did not want to ride the pony. And can we all just note how chic my daughter is in her skinny jeans and boots? Freaking adorable.

And this is OKRA.  I grew up eating it, but had never seen it still on the plant! I didn't know they grew this tall! (For you Californians, okra is a vegetable.  I grew up eating it fried in leftover batter from cornbread along with red beans...still one of my favorite meals.)

I love how cute and red her nose and cheeks got! (don't worry, you moms, she had plenty of layers on plus a thick blanket!)

And how cute is this? They had a Cinderella carriage! I had to get a shot with my Prince!

All in all, loverly time at the pumpkin patch and we picked out three small pumpkins on the way out...but Tatum was passed out by that time so you'll have to stay tuned for pumpkin carving!

Tour de Tatum

And the Tour de Tatum has begun!

I'm sitting at my in-laws sipping Mother Lode coffee and finally able to take a few minutes to write.  Over the past few days (week, actually), the words have been piling up inside of me and I write and write in my head without the time to write it out on paper or my computer, and now that I have the time to sit down and write I've forgotten most of what I intended to say! Drat!

Writing is necessary for me.  Like eating dinner or brushing your teeth. I write in my head constantly. Now I just have to remember what I've already written!

Our pods from U-haul were unloaded last Saturday and on Sunday, in true Seattle fashion, it was cold and drizzly all day.  We hired a mover to help us fit everything into our two 5' x 7' x 8' pods.  He arrived on a motorcycle with a pony tail and long beard and looked like someone right out of Hell's Angels.  He also happened to tell Matt he was a hoarder and had to work to make pathways through his house...interesting.  But he was awfully nice, and really did bust his butt to fit as much as possible into the pods.  

Sadly, those pods are not as big as P.O.D.S. ones and we were forced to leave a lot of things behind for donation.  Our coffee table that held all our games, dining chairs I had lovingly painted robin's egg blue, TV from my dad (it was really large and heavy), TV stand I had re-stained, the beautiful bassinet we were given second-hand, and a truck load of other things had to be left for the donation truck since there was no time to try to even sell it.  We even posted it on Craigslist.org for free but there still wasn't any takers in the short amount of time we had.  

Its true its just "stuff."  But even though it was mostly second-hand I still had poured some energy and time into that "stuff," and it was sad to leave it behind knowing once we get to Oklahoma we'll need to spend more time and money to find replacements.  Looks like I'll be garage sale shopping soon! And I think I'll buy some more robin's egg spray paint because I loved our painted Ikea chairs. 

And now, a moment of silence for my chairs:

We originally meant to pull out on Monday morning, but with so much stuff left over we were trying to do the math of whether it was cheaper to try to get a hitch installed on my car and pull a trailer (it was a whole other pod's worth of stuff, basically.  U-Haul lies when they say an apartment can fit in two U-boxes!), or ship it or donate it.  We also hadn't even started cleaning the place and had a goodbye party for Matt that evening.  So we decided to stay one more day. 

The next day we cleaned and hauled more stuff to Goodwill and I crammed as much as I could into every available nook and cranny of the pods.  We had to have some friends come over to help move the TV and base into the car since I probably shouldn't be lifting anything super heavy this soon after delivering a nearly 10 pound baby...

That night, with three full bottles of breastmilk in the fridge we went to our last Seattle dinner at our fav Mexican place, Torero's and I indulged in a "regular" sized margarita for the first time since finding I was pregnant.

So. So. Good.  And appreciated.

The next morning we started loading the car.  But as it goes with a crazy dog and a baby and only one of us being a Tetris master to make everything fit in my car (me), and having used all our bottles of milk so I had to breastfeed every hour or so and finish cleaning the apartment...we didn't finally drive away until 2ish. 

Then the tarp I had tied over the things tied on top of my car wouldn't stay down, and we were so tired and fed up with it we went to FedEx and shipped it to Oklahoma.

Then we finally got on the freeway and pulled off when we saw a sign for Taco Bell and tried to get some lunch, and there was no Taco Bell to be seen! Seattle had to get us lost just one more time!  You can read my first driving experience in Seattle that I wrote nearly three years ago on the Ups and Downs and Waiting post.

That night we stayed in Meford, and the next day headed to Paradise, CA to meet up with some of Matt's family.  

Everyone was so excited to meet our little Tatum, and she did so good being passed around to all the different family members.

Even Roy had a good time the next morning with Belle the dog. 

The next morning while hanging out with Matt's Aunt Teresa and cousin Jacob I got to borrow Jake's 50mm camera lens and drool...

Jacob also took some pictures and as he's light years ahead of me in photography skills I can't wait to see them!

Thursday (was that only yesterday?!) we headed to Matt's parents with a stop in Sacramento to see some more of my family.  The last time I'd seen most of them was our wedding! We had fun catching up, despite Tatum being a little grumpy.

Tatum thought Aunt Candy was pretty funny!

Beth and Dave (my in-laws) are both elementary school teachers, and today we went to their school to show off Tatum. 

And the rest of the day we have just rested.  Well, nursed, did laundry, made a cup of coffee, wrote a paragraph of this blog, held Tatum, changed the laundry, grabbed a bite, wrote another paragraph...you get the picture...

Sorry this was such a long overload, I'll try to do shorter blips for the rest of the trip!