Some holiday photos

Here are some photos from our holiday travels. My mom and I took a trip out to Joshua Tree in the California desert. Here's my U2 photo:






























I've put some more photos of our trip on my blog here

Polly flew out to Chicago to see her family and I joined her there shortly after Xmas. We had a great time and I got to meet a bunch of her family and friends at an open house party. Here are some photos:

I brought along an apple pie from Julian, California. I couldn't carry it on board the plane due to restrictions on food and liquids, so I had to check it in my bag. Luckily, the TSA searched the pie to ensure that it was not a threat to homeland security.

Mysterio predicts that Unit will be a conspiricy Nut! We're thrilled!

Chris meets Frankie!

I am in sunny, sunny San Diego visiting my family for the holidays. My mother and I are staying at a rental apartment in the Mission Beach section of town. The highlight of today was finally meeting my nephew Frankie. We hit it right off:













No, really! We got along swell. I got to give Frankie his Xmas gift too, which is a quilt I have been working on for quite a while. Here's a picture of the finished quilt:

Off to the ballet

Polly, Megan and I went to see the Pacific Northwest Ballet's production of the Nutcracker tonight. It was Megan and my first time seeing the ballet, and we had a lot of fun. My favorite part was the Chinese dance with the bear, and Polly's favorite part was when Clara is being transported into the fantasy world and the little Christmas tree grows into an enormous giant. Here's some photos we took before we left for the evening:

Belly the Vampire Slayer

Week 25. New photos of Unit coming soon.

Holiday Tree

Polly and I picked up a holiday tree yesterday on our snow day, and just in time! Today we got a box full of ordiments from Polly's mom and dad. Here's some pictures of the tree in our window.

Please Sir, More Gruel?

So Polly says that I look "Dickensian" in my snow outfit, but she doesn't know what character. What do y'all think?

Snow Day!

At around 5 PM yesterday it started hailing and snowing at a furious rate. Within an hour Seattle was slowed down to a crawl. Traffic was backed up at the tops and bottom of all the hills and the buses were going nowhere.

I walked from our house to meet Polly when she got out of work. We got some dinner and walked home through the snow, some of which had melted and then refroze as ice. It was a long walk back from work cos Polly was having back pain, but we made it.

Once we got back I found a flashlight and surprised the chickens by bringing them some extra hay. They'll be talking about it for quite a while: The mysterious UFO who brought the winter hay.

This morning everything was icy, cold and quiet. We got up extra early to get prepared. Polly caught the bus to work only to find that today was a snow day! Woo Hoo! All right!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family!

Polly, Unit and I spent the day cleaning house and cooking for a little party. Here I am hard at work...
















We had two Megans, two Chris', one Cari, one Polly and one Unit attending. We had dinner at Polly's family table which was shipped out from Chicago to Seattle.















After dinner we went downstairs and played a boardgame of Chris P's which was all about building castles, roads and cloisters in medieval France.

Belly Shots- Week 22

Unit Throws a Party!

I want to suck your cord blood!

In the spirit of Halloween:

One of the many things I was unaware of is that having a baby brings up questions about stem cells. Apparently the blood in the placenta and umbilical cord contain stem cells which can be frozen and used for treatment of diseases of the blood and immune system. Typically this cord blood can be collected after the placenta comes out and can be stored in a private cord blood bank in the event that they donor (ie. the baby) develops a disease, or in a public bank in case a matching donor can be found.

Polly and I talked about what should be done with Unit's cord blood, and we decided that we are going to donate it to a public cord blood bank. It's pretty unlikely that Unit will develop a blood disease (about 1:2,700 to 1:20,000 odds) and if someone else could use the cord blood it's better that it go to use. Also, my father had a blood disease, aplastic anemia, which is one of the fifty or so diseases that cord blood may be helpful in curing. My dad had to get blood transfusions on a pretty regular basis for a number of years. I'm grateful for the fact that public medical banks exist and are there for people who need them. With any luck Unit's cord blood might be able to help someone else out.

quickening

it's one of the most indescribable things I've ever felt. but very exciting. no major can-can lines yet, just a few kick ball changes. amazing nonetheless.

A Conversation Overheard

While listening to a NPR segment about theatre in Seattle.

Polly: Unit will go to see plays.

[a pause]

Polly: Unit will go to the circus.

Chris: Unit will run away & join the circus!

Happy Halloween

Behold! The Belly!

Borrowing Felix

Today we decided to get some practice by borrowing a baby. Luckily, Felix was nearby and willing to help us out. First he and Chris practiced their sharing. Then Polly and Felix practiced getting covering with sand and finding interesting rocks.

Due to popular request

Unit now has a library thing account of heir own.

http://www.librarything.com/profile/heyunit

A New Roof and a Green Room

Things have been rather chaotic here in Seattle, with loads of construction going on at the house. We put a new roof over the yellow room during the last two weeks and we've been painting all the rooms to get ready for when Polly & Unit move in.














Polly and I have been spending more time in the paint section of the hardware store than is probably good for anyone. It doesn't seem like there are fumes or anything there, but I'm beginning to think that they gas the whole place with some kind of chemical that impairs your ability to select complimentary colors and your better judgement.

We picked out a nice green titled 'May Apple' for Unit's room. We both like apples and May is the time for both our birthdays. On the paint chip it looks nice and subtle, but once that color goes on the walls it turns into a bright neon green! Oh well, Unit will be very visually stimulated. Here's some pictures:

Unit - Frequently Asked Questions

I just thought I would write some answers to several of the frequently asked questions about Unit.

Q: When is Unit due?
A: We are told that Unit will be due on March 19th, 2007.

Q: How far along is Unit?
A: About 18 weeks.

Q: Are you going to find out Unit's sex?
A: Nope. We want it to be a surprise.

Q: Why aren't you going to find out Unit's sex?
A: Because we're not too big on gender roles, but we do like surprises.

Q: Are you really going to name the kid Unit?
A: Ummmm... Maybe? Calling each other 'Unit' comes from a young adult book called Feed by M.T. Anderson. As in: 'Hey unit, I'm totally null today.' Also, one name we really like is Unity, after the Operation Ivy song.

Q: Aren't you aware that there was this horrible crazy Nazi woman named Unity Mitford who shot herself in the head?
A: Yes, we are. However her middle name was also Valkyrie and she was conceived in Swastika, Ontario, so we tend to think that she might have been a horrible crazy Nazi for some other reasons. Plus, I'm no Baron Redesdale.

Q: You should just name the kid Chris or Kristine like your parents did.
A: Ha, ha. You're very funny. That's not a question.

Q: Ok, so what are you really going to name the kid?
A: We're not sure yet. We've got some contenders but we haven't decided on one yet. We might just get a monkey to pick a name out of the baby name book, but first we need to find a monkey. We'll let you know by April 2007.

Q: When will Unit be coming to [insert my town here]?
A: Unit has a very busy schedule for the rest of 2006 and early 2007, but be assured that we will announce tour dates sometime in the future.

Q: Will Chris subject Unit to that stuff he likes to call music but the rest of the world thinks is horrible, horrible noise?
A: But of course! Both Chris and his sister were subjected to repeated sessions of the Barbara Streisand and Barry Gibb album Guilty. To this day both of them are able to recite the lyrics to 'Woman in Love.' It is only fair that Unit will be subjected to Ulver and At the Gates.

Q: Will Polly be cataloging all of Unit's reading material online at Library Thing?
A: But of course! If there's one thing Polly likes more than a book, it's an online database of books. Rest assured you will be able to find out how many other people also own Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.

Unit's Second Photo Shoot

Unit is now the size of a sweet potato. Yum! We celebrated this momentous occasion by having a photo shoot at Nordstrom Tower this morning. Unit was doing a little dance during the photo shoot, moving around its arms and legs. Here are some of the glamorous shots.

Click on the photos for bigger pictures.

I think Polly's parents may have been excited about the news