My little fishie

Logan had his first swimming lesson today! I was a little apprehensive about how he was going to do, since he's been a huge chicken at the Splash Park this year, but he LOVED it!! In fact, he loved it so much that I didn't get any pics, since I was in the water with him the whole time. The lesson itself was really fun. Moms and babies got in the water together and today we just acclimated the kiddos to the pool. We did some kicking and floating and jumped off the side into Mommy's arms, which was Logan's favorite part. I got a serious upper body workout catching him! After class there was open swim at the pool, so we stuck around. I don't think I could have dragged Logan out of the water if I had wanted to anyway. He had a great time just hanging out in the water, climbing up the ladder and jumping back in (more arm workout for me!). He is tall enough to walk from the shallow end almost halfway up the pool, so we did that for some time. The Cochran boys are also in this session of classes, so we had fun playing in the water with Zander, Mason and Bo. Logan idolizes Bo and wanted to do everything that he was doing, which gave me a little anxiety, but after a few full face dunkings, Logan settled down. I was actually surprised at how well he handled the falls underwater. They scared him a little, but he got right back in. I think they scared me more than they did him, actually. It looks like swim lessons are going to be a big success this year. I hope that Mitch can get a day off and come to at least one. Those boys would have so much fun playing in the water together!!

An actual FAMILY update

It seems lately that all of the posts are about what I am doing, so I'm sitting down to compute about what is going on with the rest of the Deshazer clan. There may be some side mentions about me as appropriate though...

Mitch

Yes, he does have the ability to post here, but he's really busy, and only somewhat interested, which is fine with me. He is T minus 2 real work days of his intern year. Tonight he's on call in the CVICU/MICU, so he's busy. I talked to him at about 7:30 tonight and he was off to "put a line in some guy". The CV surgeon spent the last 50+ hours in the OR, so there were lots of new admits for Mitch to deal with. As an aside, I'm pretty sure that I don't want to be the patient he's cutting on round about hour 50... Apparently he has some PA's and techs who open and close, so he naps during those times. Still. Next month Mitch will be back at the VA, this time as the supervising resident. He's a little nervous, since it's his first month as a second year. I can sympathize! My first month of second year I was the supervisor at LBJ. SCARY!! You spend an entire year as an intern feeling like a complete idiot, and then the sun sets and rises and suddenly you are responsible for making real patient care decisions. He'll be great, though. He really is an amazing doctor, regardless of what he thinks. We're still not sure what he wants to be when he grows up. He's doing some research this year in Oncology, so we'll see how that goes. So far I can only say that it sounds interesting. Also could poise him for an easy transition into industry, should that become attractive in the future. Lots of balls still in the air at this point, so we'll see.

Logan

Holy moly, that kid is cute! He's learning so much, so fast that I hardly can keep up with it all! He walks around the house counting to ten, and even identifies numbers in stores, on cars, pretty much wherever we go. We'll be driving down the street and I'll hear a delighted "Six!" from the backseat and know he's spotted a number 6 somewhere. It's really pretty awesome. He's also getting good with colors. So far, he has all of the primary and secondary colors down, although he has a little trouble with orange. He loves to run and play outside, especially when his Daddy is involved, as I'm not much fun these days. He and Mitch are so cute running around the backyard. It's wonderful to see the delight they have for each other. Logan loves his Daddy so much! He is always excited to see him or to go pick him up from work. They are best buddies!

In other Logan news, we are starting to consider thinking about potty training. Actually not my idea at all - entirely Logan's. He loves the big potty, and likes to go into the bathroom, lift the lid and seat, stand in front of the bowl with hands in pee-pee position, then flush. I think the flush has most of the appeal. He also demanded a potty the last time we were at Walmart. So, I got him one, and introduced him to the idea that pee-pee goes in the potty. That's about all I'm willing to commit to. With Myra coming in 9 weeks (or less - please less!), I just don't see the point in pushing an issue like potty training, but I don't want to hold him back, so we'll just go with the flow, as it were. Here is a little clip of his potty introduction. You can see that the big potty has much more appeal!

I am also considering the big boy bed transition. I don't want to overdo the big boy stuff, but two cribs... I don't know. I was all for just getting Myra a new crib at first. Logan's crib converts into a toddler bed anyway. So does the crib we want to get Myra - if the Round Rock Ikea would ever get more in stock! That difficulty got me to thinking about it, though. I mean, Logan is a pretty big boy, and it would be nice if he could get out of bed by himself sometimes. At least, I think it would. It also might help encourage a little more independence in the sleep initiation department. It would be nice not to have to sing/rock him to sleep for a half hour twice a day. It bears thinking about...

Myra

We had an appointment on Tuesday with Dr. Fothergill. I am utterly boring as a patient, which I am OK with, except that it turns out I'm anemic with this pregnancy. I wasn't with Logan at all. I'm actually a little relieved by that, as it helps explain how fatigued I've been. I started on some iron, so hopefully that will help. Myra is doing perfectly. She measures just right, has a good strong heartbeat and is already head down and in position. At this point, she's too big for any more serious gymnastics, so it is likely that she'll stay this way. At 31 weeks, she's certainly not ready to come out into the wide world, but she only has a few more things to do before she'd be fine out here on her own. It's nice to be at the countdown point. Now that the number of weeks left is a single digit number, I'm starting to feel like this pregnancy might actually end at some point.

As for getting ready for the wee princess, there are still a few things to do... As mentioned above, the bed situation has still to be ironed out, although we did get her a wardrobe for all the wee clothes that I've been making. We are planning for the kiddos to share a room, but the bigger of the available bedrooms is currently an office. We plan to move Logan out of his room and into this one, but that hasn't exactly happened yet. I want to get it done soon so that it isn't a big deal when Myra gets here and moves in, but the logistics are a challenge. Logan's room won't be hard to move, but the office is a mess. All of the filing I've been avoiding for months as well as all of my sewing stuff, and the rather extensive library all to be packed and moved. Neither Mitch or I are looking forward to it, and so, we've just put it off. We'll grow up some day. As for the wardrobe, there are two new additions as of this last week. Here they are;

I just finished the polka dot one today. I don't know what I was thinking when I cut out that hat! I am proud to say that I did not swear, but there were moments...

We are also still stymied with regards to a middle name for wee Myra. All of the names that we both like are vowel names, which gives her initials that spell a word. I lean toward Elaine, which would at least only spell MED, but those are Mitch's initials, and he doesn't love that. Nothing like staring at a blank birth certificate to get those creative juices flowing...

So, that is what's going on in the Deshazer household. If you are still actually reading this, wow! Sorry for the length, but I guess there was a lot to say...

I feel a bit like a pioneer...

I used my wheat grinder for the first time yesterday. It is an old 1970s Garden Way grain mill that my mother gave me when she got a better, more modern one, but you know, it works great!! I decided to haul it out of the garage because of a book that my sister got me for my birthday. It is a book all about making rustic, old world breads (yum), and one of the big points that the author makes is the importance of using stone ground whole wheat flour - the old-fashioned way. Well, my old-fashioned grain mill does actually use grinding stone, so that was the easy part!! I needed to feed my sourdough starter yesterday, so I decided to try out the recipe for basic sourdough from the book. The first step - preparing the starter - took 8 hours (mostly of waiting), then I ground the flour and mixed it all up. There were only 4 ingredients; flour, water, salt and starter. Simple, but effective. Then there were 2 rising steps, shaping into loaves, for which I used the baguette pan Rina got me, and then the baking!! Here's how they looked fresh from the oven.

They were a little more dense than we are accustomed to, but the flavor was amazing! I usually put all sorts of "extra" stuff in my bread to give it more flavor, but apparently all I've really needed was really good flour. A good lesson to learn. I may never buy flour again. Now I just need a calico dress and bonnet and I'm ready to trek across the plains - provided there is room service...

Dinner

This garden thing is freaking awesome! Today we had the most beautiful and yummy dinner, mostly from the garden. We had whole wheat couscous (not from the garden), with fresh tomatoes and basil, both picked today, as well as a perfect vine-ripened cantaloupe. It was amazingly good!! My kitchen is still redolent with the odors of sun-warmed tomatoes and fresh cut basil. Mmmmm. I feel very European for some reason...
Here is the spread.
And a close up of the couscous. The basil is a Thai variety that turns a pretty purple color when warmed or cooked.

This was our first cantaloupe to ripen, and it was so good, we can't wait for the rest!!!

Birthday Fun

So, my birthday is officially today, but Monday is an inconvenient time for a party, so we celebrated on Saturday. We threw a little cookout with my family and a few friends. I admit, I couldn't decide who to invite, so I left that part to Mitch. Here we are all sitting around waiting for me to cut the cake. Glenn, Claudia, Nicky and Ian are in the back, and you can see my brother, Dan and my sister, Varina on the right. My mom is on the left, and I think those are Nick's legs next to her. You can see most of Lily right next to Rina.
The highlight of the party was the cute serenade I got from the girls! Anna and Nicky sang happy birthday to me. They were so cute - I had to share!


Here are Nicky and Anna "playing" in the sprinkler. I thought Logan was the only chicken, but in fact NONE of the kids except Lily actually got into the water, despite the fact that it was nice and slow, and not even as tall as they are. They were so funny, all circling around the sprinkler, wanting to get in, but too afraid to do so!

Here is a picture of them all running around the sprinkler, and NOT getting in!
And some video...

After all the fun, I opened gifts from the family. Logan helped. Here he is with a tissue paper hat. And video of him helping me open my gift from Mitch, a snoogle maternity body pillow, with which I have had two blissful nights of sleep, unimpeded by my burgeoning belly. Pregnant ladies take note - You want one of these!!!!!

Enormous, indeed...

Well, so the white coat did indeed get finished on Monday, and was all one could wish for - big pockets with straps to hold all of Mitch's stuff, nice and long, boring buttons instead of girlie frogs. Unfortunately, I should have listened to my gut when I thought those pattern pieces looked too big. I had just made Mitch a shirt, after all. Anyway, the coat is about 2 sizes too large, and worst in the shoulders, so cutting it down would probably be more work than just making a new one. Which I may yet get around to, but right now - back to the pink! Purple, actually, as I just finished a wee dress for Myra in a cute purple print. I still have to make the diaper cover and maybe a hair bow, and I'll post some pics.

Maybe some day I'll make something for myself... A novel concept!

In other (enormous) news, I am REALLY tired of being pregnant, which is too bad, since we are only just 30 weeks. I don't feel like I'm that large, but it seems so much harder to get around and do things than it did when I was pregnant with Logan. Maybe that has something to do with the toddler I chase around all day - he tires me out at the best of times - but I just seem so much more tired this pregnancy than I did with Logan. I worked full time right up to the day he was born with no trouble, but I can't imagine doing that this time! I really shouldn't complain, since we are both doing fine and haven't had any complications. That is the important thing, after all. Still, being tired all the time sure takes some of the bloom off of life.

Projects...

So, I've been working hard these last few weeks on tons of sewing projects. The major undertaking has been the matching sport shirts that I made for Father's Day for Mitch and Logan - pics of those are below in the Father's Day post. I think that they turned out really well. Of course, since that was all supposed to be a surprise, I had a few projects on the side that I could show Mitch, so I would have some explanation for why I am spending all this time at my sewing machine. And here they are!!

The first project was an outfit for Myra. It is a pair of little ruffle-butt pants and a little jacket that snaps closed. The pants, of course, were really simple, just basic, elastic waist, nothing fancy, but those ruffles were a bit of a challenge. They turned out really cute, and I learned a few new tricks. The top was a little more fun, as I hadn't done a raglan type sleeve before. It went together pretty easily, up until the snaps... I have a plier-type snap setter (which I now hate!!) and it chewed up the fabric. So, I got creative and sewed bows over the icky parts, and no one is the wiser! Anyway, I had a ton of fun doing it, so next will be a little dress!
But first, I felt a little guilty making all of this stuff for Myra when I have a perfectly adorable little boy who needs clothes, too! The problem is that, much like RTW clothing, there are a serious lack of cute patterns for boys out there!! Still, I've found a couple, and so since summer is the longest season here in TX, I made Logan a couple of tank tops and some shorts. Here he is sporting the first tank that I made (while eating fresh banana bread - Yum!). The fabric is a super cute print of tools that I found in the remnant bin for 50 cents. Not bad!

Here are the shorts; surfer printed for my little surfer boy. They were super simple - took about 20 minutes to put together. I love that!
Here's Logan modeling the whole ensemble. I think that as an outfit, they look a little like PJs, so he'll probably wear them separately, but still, cute, comfy and not bad for less than an hour's work!
My current project is a white coat for Mitch. He can never find one off the rack that both fits and has the proper size and arrangement of pockets, so I figured I'd give it a shot. After making all these baby clothes, the pattern pieces for that knee length coat look enormous!! So far I just have the pockets and straps for all of his paraphernalia sewn on and shoulder seams done, but I suspect I'll have the whole thing finished by Monday. Then he'll finally look presentable at work - at least until he gets covered with blood in the next Code Blue. Sigh.

Father's Day

Happy second Father's Day, Mitch!! We had lots of fun this morning. Logan decided he wanted an early start on Father's Day, and woke his Daddy at 6:30. All was forgiven after morning snuggles and breakfast, when we had presents!! Logan and I got Daddy a new shirt (which I made for him) a tie, and a new journal. Here he is opening the shirt and tie.

And a close-up of the tie. We had it printed with a picture of Logan wearing Mitch's pager, and looking very smug. It will probably get worn mostly to the hospital, but everyone at church today got a kick out of it.
Here is Logan, opening his present. I made a shirt for Logan to match Daddy's. It is the same style, made from the same fabric and even has matching buttons. Logan was very excited to have a Daddy shirt to wear!
Here are the boys together on the steps at church, sporting their matching shirts. Aren't they cute??And here they are on the way to nursery. Anna came along. She and Logan are pretty much inseparable, which has made nursery a lot easier for us, as well as for Nick and Laurie. Once they're together, they are happy to go to nursery and no more tears!!
All in all, a successful day!

Our first harvest!

So, this is our first attempt at a garden, and yesterday we had our first real harvest! The weeds got completely out of control, so we pulled up all the carrots and beans so we could just raze the whole thing to the ground. Fortunately, they were all pretty much ready to go, as you can see...
The cantaloupe is doing well, although we haven't had any fully ripen yet, you can see that we're getting close. We have at least a half dozen that are getting big and another crop that are just little nubs. Yum!!
The tomatoes are going great guns - here is the first to get red, but you can see in the picture how full the bush is. We are eagerly anticipating fresh tomatoes!!
Here is my one and only watermelon (so far). It's still a wee little guy (in fact, some of the tomatoes are bigger), but I have high hopes! We are considering doing some hand pollination, but we'll see if we find the time.

Here are the beans after I shelled them. Aren't they pretty?

We also planted some herbs, and we have a lovely crop of fresh cilantro, basil and dill. I made some Yum Nua the other day with the basil and cilantro. It was amazing!! I'm really looking forward to cooking the beans. Don't you think they'll be lovely in a risotto? I'm off to the kitchen!!

Seven years!

Mitch and I celebrated our 7th anniversary yesterday. He even had the day off!!! We went out for BBQ and watched Indiana Jones - the first one, which I hadn't seen. Logan stayed with Laurie and Anna, and had a wonderful time with his best friend. I suspect that he never noticed that we were gone. It was really nice to spend some time together, just the two of us, and reminisce about our marriage so far. We're looking forward to more adventures!!

Quiet Sunday

The house is too quiet to believe, with Mitch sleeping off his call, and Logan napping, so I thought this would be a good time for an update. This week has been pretty busy, starting with a fun visit last week from our friends, the McKernans. Logan and Anna have gotten to be good friends! Here they are (with Laurie) hugging, which is an indignity that Logan only tolerates from very special people!!

We had dinner and the kids had fun playing. Nick has been such a huge help to us with our garden, and we finally got to share some produce with each other! The McKernans brought squash and zucchini, which we roasted in a dutch oven with some fresh dill from our herb garden. We contributed a big mixed green salad from our garden. It is so fun to enjoy something that you worked for, especially when you can share with friends. We also got a chance to chat about food storage, which is something that has been on all of our minds lately.

On Monday, Mitch had his first day in the Cardiovascular ICU. I'll leave the details to him, but suffice it to say, it has it's ups and downs, as all things do. We thought he was supposed to be on call, but we got a stay of execution on that, until Saturday. We also had our first successful FHE since Logan was born. Admittedly, it lasted about 15 minutes and treats were clearly the highlight, but we did manage to get Logan to color a picture of Jesus getting baptised. Baby steps!

Tuesday we had playgroup, which Logan always loves. There were lots of kiddos there and we all had a good time. That night, I had my Presidency meeting, and we went to visit a sister who cares for he ailing father and can't get out much. She was really cool, and despite her commitments at home, runs an Ebay business selling Polish pottery. She showed us some of her inventory, and it was pretty cool!

Wednesday was largely uneventful - just the usual round of errands, chase Logan, feed Logan, clean up after Logan, nap (whew, Mommy gets to catch up!), and dinner for the family. We would have mowed the lawn, but So You Think You Can Dance is a family obsession, so we spent the evening wishing we were more flexible and planning gymnastics classes for Logan. :-) I also baked bread - not an event at all in and of itself, but Thursday I wished I hadn't, as we had an awesome Enrichment about breadmaking. I consider myself a veteran, since I bake all of the bread my family eats, but I learned a TON from Shanna, and got a great recipe for English Muffin Bread, which is a yeast batter bread that is super easy and really does taste and have the texture of English Muffins. YUM!! We all really liked it, so I'll definitely be making it often.

Saturday Mitch had his first CVICU call, and I was busy!! We went to the fabric store for interfacing, and of course, came out with 2 new patterns, as well as two lengths of interlock for Logan. At least I remembered the interfacing... Then we went to Hobby Lobby, and since it is next door, the park. After that we managed to kidnap Mitch for lunch, so at least Logan got to see his Daddy for a bit. We went home, had a nap, and then Hayley and her three boys came over to do some sewing. Hayley and I converted a pair of her maternity shorts into a full belly panel, like the new "Secret Fit" that they are advertising at Motherhood/Mimi/Pea in a Pod. They turned out really well, so that was fun, and then we hemmed her wrap and I taught he the front cross back carry for Zander. Here's the picture!



Zander was all smiles, until he realized that he was missing out on all the playtime that the boys were having. Then he was ready to get down and join the fun!! All in all, we had a pretty good time, and Logan was good and tired by bedtime, which always makes for a pleasant night-night. Then, since I don't sleep well when I am playing single mommy, I hit the sewing room to work on my many wee little pink things. I am having lots of fun sewing up a storm getting ready for Myra. Hey, she may not have a crib yet, but she is going to be one well dressed little princess!!

Not that I mind being at home at all. Love the new garden. Love watching our little one smile and hop around for joy. Love how Katie parades out her newest creation (decorative stitching today--and I have to say it does look pretty snazzy even as I feel the last remnant of testosterone leaving my body). I feel the need to go shoot something just to prove I've got the proper mix of X and Y chromosomes.

Nwbee #2

Katie has successfully browbeat me into posting as well. Not much to say for me as life revolves around some stupid hospital on a hill near here. Don't they understand that my kid is WAY cuter than all the old dying people up there?

My current obsession

So, I have recently fallen back in love with sewing. It is completely the fault of my friend, Laurie, whose adorable children I watched while she had an appointment. She has two sweet girls, one is Logan's age, and one is a few months old. The wee little princees, Lily, wasn't too happy to be away from her mommy, so I hauled out Logan's old baby sling and snuggled her in it. She fell right to sleep, and I remembered why I loved that sling!! When Laurie came to get the girls, Lily was still fast asleep, happy as can be. It occurred to me that it couldn't be too hard to make a sling, so I googled "ring sling" and a new obsession was begun. I have since created 3 new slings for myself (and Myra), a sling for Laurie, a sling for another friend's baby shower, as well as a Mei Tai and a wrap. Here are a few pictures of some of my creations...

So, now that I am a "master" baby carrier maker, I'm branching out into clothing (which is how and why I learned to sew in the first place at my mother's knee). I just finished a pair of pants for Logan. OK, the pattern is for shorts, but Deshazers are a diminutive family, a trait Logan has inherited. Here are pics from today. It's hard to catch him in a still moment, so there's a little blur...

I know, he's adorable.

I'm also working on another project - the be revealed after Father's Day. :-)

Intro and what's up.

So, we are the Deshazer clan - Texas branch. Mitch and I were married on June 9, 2001.

We had our first child, Logan, on August 30, 2006.

He's grown up a bit since then...

And are currently expecting his sister Myra to arrive, some time at the end of August.

In between, I got my medical degree and finished my Pediatrics residency, as well as chief residency. Then I retired, so that I could be a mommy full time. Mitch completed his medical degree as well, and is currently finishing his internship in Internal Medicine at Scott & White here in Temple, TX.

That is us in a nutshell. Hopefully, we can keep everyone updated about the various fun and excitment in life as we go along!

noob

So, I'm buckling under peer pressure and creating a blog. Like I have the time for this... We'll see how it goes!