introducing...

Chaney Rae Russell

8 lbs., 3 oz.

21 inches

born tuesday, 4/21 at 5:28 pm

enjoys scrabble, horseback riding and long walks in the park...

induction antics

i'm not promising a play-by-play of this deal, but so far so good!

"thanks, dr. lea, for breaking my water."

"new lip gloss, no kids, let's party! bring on the ice chips!"

39 weeks: a memoir

tomorrow i'm off to have a baby. i haven't had a baby in almost 4 years and i've been surprised at how much i don't remember re: my other 2 pregnancies. i really want to remember what this has been like. 

1st trimester: it seems like only yesterday i felt like complete and total crap. one day i was fine. the next day, my girls hurt. the day after that i was totally exhausted and felt i would vomit at any moment. the only thing that eased the nausea was to eat. if i felt full, i felt better. this would explain how i gained 12 lbs. the first 4 months. that's ok, i'll lose it. it's good to be responsible, but being ultra worried about weight gain during pregnancy is a real joy-robber. the weight stuff is definitely my least favorite part of it. not during pregnancy, but post-partum. the several months that follow birth really suck. i can go so far as to say, i hate the post-partum phase. hate it. the squishy, flabby, jabba-the-hut months that follow birth... ugh. and i've learned that you just have to be patient with it. you can't just start eating salad and running 5Ks the day after the baby comes, especially if you're breastfeeding. and you can't beat yourself up for eating what sounds good while your pregnant. so the answer is you just love yourself, receive your body and the miracle taking place and you get over yourself. this time, i've felt much free-er in this area... at least so far. talk to my flabby self in 6 weeks... no, it'll be good. pretty soon i'll be sweatin' to the oldies and goodbye jabba! (trying to stay positive...) anyway, i don't think anyone can really understand what a first trimester can feel like unless you go through it. and some women are blessed with mild symptoms. others' never go away. mine was pretty textbook. glad to have experienced it; glad it's over. 

2nd trimester: heavenly. it was like clockwork. one day i woke up and felt great. i nested. i painted rooms i wanted to paint. i decorated the nursery. i was excited and energetic to execute Christmas. i went to parties, lunch with friends. heck, i even showered. 

3rd trimester: things got really interesting. it's been during this time that i've felt the fullness of being older and pregnant. aches and pains, lots of groaning. my dad and i complaining to each other of the same ailments. this trimester has been a glimpse into what old people must feel like. in the past, i can definitely remember feeling tired and struggling to catch my breath. but this time i've had numb hips, leg cramps that made me cry, and varicosity. ah, varicosity. i had never heard of it. i simply thought my "greater cincinnati area" was ripping apart. nope just varicose veins in unsightly places. 

i've also had an overwhelming feeling of joy in this trimester. no matter how uncomfortable i've been, i've just felt delighted and wanted to remember what it's like to be in this state. every time i sit down, i feel like a big whoopie cushion, even if nothing actually comes out. and i love it. it's strange. 

attention: i guess i forgot how much people feel entitled to say whatever they want to you when you're pregnant. i've really had to come to terms with my love/hate relationship with attention. i've heard it all this time, but the most memorable are questions about twins and even triplets. when people ask about my due date, i say "august" or something like that. but i smile. 

to really bring attention to myself, i put on a maternity bathing suit for the first time. and i did it at 38 weeks, lily white, and roamed an indoor water park for 2 days. we took the boys to Great Wolf Lodge for a little spring break getaway and last hurrah as a family of 4. davidrussell says our experience in itself is worth a post, but i'm probably not going to get to that. if you really want to know my thoughts, feelings and emotions re: great wolf lodge, just holler. anyway, the point here is this - 

i did it. and even photographed it. attention highlights include a man with a beer gut that came over to me and asked me when i was due and if i was having twins. immediately, after that a woman came over to me and said, "you should have asked him when he was due." 

cravings: all my pregnancies have required lots of carbs and gravy. some specific cravings in the past have included taco bell, eggs and watermelon. i remember "needing" a lot of chocolate milk with my first until one day i drank it with pizza. i threw up the chocolate milk and the pizza and that was the end of that. this pregnancy has brought some healthier cravings. i actually craved salad, but it had to be with iceberg lettuce and ranch. specifically, i wanted salads from chain restaurants like applebee's or outback. i tried to recreate such salads at home, but it wasn't the same. i've craved fresh fruit -- specifically, strawberries, nectarines, pomegranate and pineapple. oooh, the pineapple. in the early months, it was all i wanted. davidrussell would buy one and then it would go bad b/c i didn't feel like cutting it up. so he fell into this routine of every 3 days or so buying a pineapple and immediately cutting it up. it was the first thing he'd do when he came home. yes, he is that sweet. 

let's see, what else... smoothies -- oh, mama, smoothies. yum. also, lots and lots of eggs. 

foods i reject: grilled chicken, grilled anything, and mushrooms. ugh. oh and onions. i found out about onions when i took a big bite of bruschetta with red onion. i wanted to spit it out. i ended up having to rinse with baking soda to get the taste out. awful. 

tomorrow: i'm being induced at 7 am. my history is i have big babies so i'm induced on or before my due date. mac was a week past his due date and was over 10 lbs. i've never really experienced "going into labor" in the romantic sense. for me, having babies is like checking into a hotel. i like this, it's like a blessing or labor favor. i've never really felt deep, horrific labor pain or felt my water break. i did, however, have an excruciating bough movement 2 days after mac was born and i saw my mucus plug for the first time 2 weeks ago, but that's all i got.  i know some of you like to give birth in bathtubs and listen to whales and stuff and that's totally ok. 

i look forward to eating lots of popsicles. i'm well-prepared. i got a pink pedicure and my "hair did." mary even hung out with me while i sat with color on my hair. krissy works down the street from my salon so she popped in too.  

does it get more girlie girl fun than this? and speaking of friends, mine have just been loving my butt off. meeting me for lunch, bringing me meals, throwing me pink parties, giving me pinkie pink gifts and lots of other stuff i can't think of right now. it's good to be loved.

so back to preparation, i also have a new lip gloss. i discovered the importance of a new lip gloss when i was in labor with bode. my mom gave me a new juicy tube and i kept it handy b/c my lips were dry. but it became a fun little treat as i waited for my cervix to dilate. "oh? time for a catheter? let me re-apply." so yet again, mom got her lancome free gift and handed me the juicy tube. yes! perfect shade for florescent lighting and pitocin. 

that's about it for me. at this moment, i'm a bit emotional. downstairs i can hear davidrussell playing "get some" with the boys and i'm tearing up. i have really loved being a mom of boys. my boys are sweet, gentle, loving and super fun. and there's something special about being the only girl. i'm always princess leia, batgirl, pirate wench, whatever. it's sweet. i know, i know -- having this girl is going to be awesome, way awesome. and i'm so excited to meet her. but it will be different and so life as a family of 4 and life as a mother of boys ends tonight. it has been a beautiful, blessful chapter.

an honor

steven, a pal o' mine, has many talents. one of my favorites (and perhaps one of the most useless) is his supernatural ability to spot celebrities that look like other celebrities. i shared my opinion re: joan rivers' disturbing facial evolution and stumbled into the esteemed honor of "guest poster." 

check out "Same Thing" !

in college, angie used to be pretty good at discovering human/puppet look-a-likes. she's responsible for identifying mike temple as a gefling. i don't have a photo of mike temple and only about 3 of you even remember who that is. but for those 3, here's a gefling...

attention clean house fans!

have you heard? "the messiest house in america" lives in cincinnati. and the style network's show, clean house, is in town to clean it up. read this! the yard sale is tomorrow in westwood! here are details!

as a recovered hoarder, of course i love this show. and i am a fan of this niecy nash lady. i am seriously thinking of going. but i can't go alone... in my state, i'll need a babysitter. maybe erin will take me...

it's getting crazy around here

you know how when something big is about to happen, like say for example... you're about to have a baby, and your plan is for things to calm down, chill out so that you can just focus on the big event? while you may be laughing, i do believe that short seasons of calm can actually happen. however, it's not guaranteed. my plan has been to descend into that couple of weeks with ease, but the plan has been foiled. there's lots of turbulence.
for one, 3 out of 4 of us have been sick for weeks. mac had an awful respiratory bug that lasted about 10 days and i picked that up from him. then, bode got a stomach bug... i got that, too. so i've been down for the count for the last couple of weeks. sometimes i've been able to function, other times i've just been in bed (or on or around the toilet...). i know, i know. poor me.
i'm feeling much better and have actually slept the last few nights. but this morning bode awoke with the awful cough that mac and i had. so it looks like we're not out of the woods yet. davidrussell has iron immunity so we're hopeful there.

it gets better. i'm currently blogging on dr's computer as mine went into a coma this morning. i'm headed to the apple store this afternoon, praying my computer hasn't crashed. so i don't know when you'll hear from me again. i'm bummed b/c i had planned to say much more to you before i had the baby. i'll still try.

while we may not be floating in calm like i had planned, it's still easy to stay focused on what (and who) is coming. it's just not a "well-rested" focus. but that's ok.

fish fry season

thank you, catholicism, for bringing the tradition of fish fries into lent. 

i was raised catholic until i was 7. it was during this time i learned lent meant you don't eat meat on fridays. instead, you go to fish fries where you see all your family and your dad drinks beer while you get to spend nickels on the cake wheel. 

when i was 7, my dad married my stepmom and we became southern baptist. then i learned no one is supposed to drink beer or spend money on any kind of wheel, and lent was the time to start shopping for your easter dress... and shoes and purse if you were a teenage girl. 

but oh the days of the fish fries. right smack dab in the middle of my neighborhood sat St. Luke church. all my catholic friends attended school there and most of my aunts and uncles attended church there. my dad and i would walk to St. Luke's on friday nights and hang out for hours. my uncles were frying the fish, my aunts were serving it and all my little friends and cousins were bussing the cafeteria tables. and oooh the fish. a big slab of fried cod on rye bread, a smearing of tartar, french fries floating in a lake of ketchup... mac and cheese, slaw, catholic green beans. "catholic green beans" are a mystery to me. i don't know how they are made, but at every fish fry or catholic church picnic i've ever attended, the green beans always taste the same. they're oniony and slightly sweet. delicious, unique and consistent. is it some kind of secret recipe? i don't know. 

one friday night every lent season, we would break the routine and head down preston hwy. to Guardian Angels for the best "fish fry" fish in louisville. crunchy, a little peppery -- heavenly fish. and they serve freakin' good brats, too. i think one year i had to go there twice b/c my dad went and then my mom came to pick me up for the weekend and she wanted some Guardian Angels fish, too. crazy.

i still love fish fries. these days when i go, i usually just get carry-out. but i love standing in line, giving my order to a couple of 12 year olds, watching moms and dads cook and serve the meals. the cafeteria is full of community in action --  everyone committing to be apart of something important for them and having so much fun in the process. 

since we've moved up here, i've searched for an awesome fish fry and the results have been so-so. i don't recommend St. Thomas in fort thomas. not good at all. however, Mary Queen of Heaven in erlanger is delicious. they have quite a set up over there and it's always packed. they even claim to be home of the "codfather." if anyone knows of any other good ones around here, i'm all ears. i still haven't made it to the west side. 

my mom is coming in town this friday. i asked her to swing by Guardian Angels on her way and bring me some fish and brats. i can't wait. 

i wish crossroads did a fish fry. i would be in charge of the cake wheel.