Good Eats...

These posts are a bit overdue, but I figured I'd get this one in while Brendan takes an evening nap.

We expanded garden space again this year, both in our backyard plot and our larger space at the cottage in Canada. Granted, Nick has most of the know-how and does most of the work, but I'm a very willing taste-tester. One of our goals for the summer was to continue to try to eat more local and organic food. We've noticed we feel better physically eating food with less preservatives, and there's less of an environmental impact than getting fruit and veggies from an unknown farm a continent away.

One of the major ways we've done that is to make regular use of our farmers' market. Beginning in the spring, and continuing until fall, there's plenty of fresh produce at affordable prices.

This is also the second year that we've purchased beef in bulk from the market. We order in late winter/early spring, then put in an order for cuts a couple of months later, just before the steer goes to processing. We pay for 250 lbs at one time, but the price per pound is cheaper for better cuts than we could get at the regular grocery store. Plus, the animals are grass-fed, and don't get growth hormones, or any other antibiotics corn-fed cattle need to tolerate an unnatural diet. And to top it all off, we know the farmers who are raising these animals, so we know where our money is going, and that their animals are treated humanely. We also buy chicken and eggs from other farmers at the market.

We really made use of our garden, too. Nick began in spring with lettuce (two kinds), carrots, beans, beets and potatoes. Summer gave way to squash, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers and more beans. He got in a fall lettuce planting as well. We use primarily heirloom seeds - varieties that are open pollenated, many of which have been grown for many, many years. There's more chance for disease or weird looking crops (like this single carrot we got), but the taste is so much better. We were able to get so much from our soil by giving it regular doses of compost. We got a closed bin at Costco a couple of years ago, and save leftover non-meat food scraps (apple peels and cores, eggshells, coffee grounds). Those go into the bin, the material gets aerated every once in a while, and the worms do their work, creating wonderfully nutritious fertilizer for our garden.

And we'll continue eating our produce well into the fall and winter. The tomatoes we canned last year took us into spring, and our pumpkins and squash will be Brendan food this winter! One of our favorite meals this fall was a potato boxty with carrot, pepper and pesto. The flour, olive oil and pine nuts for the pesto came from the store, but everything else was from our backyard - talk about eating local!

So... if you're interested:
The Maitland Family Farm (Charlie and Sarah are our souce for beef.)
Otto's Chicken - from Middleville, MI, they come to several farmers' markets, including ours on Saturdays.
Heirloom Seeds - our source for seeds

The New Normal

Well, it's been a giant whirlwind of a few weeks since Brendan's baptism. We've both started back to school, and are slowly but surely settling into our new workweek routine, but had some time for relaxing a bit before.

Brendan and I took a few days to go down to Tennessee to visit Adam. Pigeon Forge is an interesting mix of beautiful mountains and As Seen on TV shops. We got to see Smokies Park, where Adam's been working this season, and even got a personal tour of the facility (sadly, the team was out of town, so Brendan didn't get to see the players we've read about in his Smokies Kids' Club newsletter...). Adam also got us tickets to the aquarium in Gatlinburg. This one was pretty fun - much of the lower level is tunnels with a moving sidewalk underneath their largest tank, so it appears that you're surrounded by water and fish. It was really fun to watch Brendan here - I had him in his sling, and he was so interested - just looking and looking at the different fish. We spent an afternoon in the national park as well. I did the hike up to the top of Clingman's Dome, the highest point in the Smokies, and even did a little hiking on the Appalachian Trail before heading back.

We celebrated Labor Day by heading to Canada for the weekend. We took Brendan to the Harrow Fair - the 155th fair in a little Ontario town. We saw the 4H kids show their cows, saw some of the parade, and looked at all of the prize-winning produce and quilts. Brendan liked the vegetable displays best.

The highlight of our Labor Day weekend was Saturday evening. Before Brendan was born, we thought of planting something that could grow as Brendan grew - we'd be able to take pictures regularly and mark progress of both Brendan and plant. Brendan's early arrival put those ideas on the back burner, but in August, we picked them up again. We decided to plant a tree in Canada (I hated the thought of leaving it behind if we were ever to move from this house!), and this was the weekend for it! So, Brendan's peach tree is now just outside the cottage!

And now, we're back at school. Brendan is doing well in daycare so far, and his mom is making the adjustment too! The days at work are very busy, but Brendan's big smiles when I pick him up give me an energy boost. He's growing every day - he's 3 1/2 months old, and those 3 mos clothes are getting snug - bring on the 3-6 and 6 mos sizes!

Pictures later.

Brendan's baptism

August 23rd was a very special day for our family! Brendan was baptized at 10 am Mass at our parish - we were very blessed to have lots of family and friends with us. The special things really began the night before, I suppose, when we got to Brendan's Grandma and Grandpa Kline's house. When my parents bought their condo a few years ago, one of the choices my mother made for the kitchen was a giant tub sink (as opposed to a split sink). This, she said, would be her "baby-bathing sink". (Keep in mind that Nick and I weren't even married yet! The night before Brendan's baptism, my mom gave Brendan his bath in her giant tub sink. A good time was had by all.

The next morning, we were all set at church. Brendan wore the baptismal gown that my dad and I both wore, and we had a blanket that was made for my baptism. At the same Mass, another couple from the parish was celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary - we are truly blessed to belong to a parish that has baptisms and 60th wedding anniversaries to celebrate! We also had another reason to celebrate - Brendan's Uncle Adam made the trip up from Tennessee as a surprise, and Brendan loved meeting him for the first time! We started the rite at the beginning of Mass, and did Brendan's baptism during Mass. Fr. Tom poured the first handful of water on Brendan's head, then Nick and I did the second and third - it was awesome to be able to participate in his sacrament that way. Brendan's godmother Aunt Shirl decked him out in a new white garment, and Aunt Andrea lit his baptismal candle (standing in for Godfather Dave, who's in Germany). One of the best parts of baptisms at our parish is seeing children (and adults) peering down from the balcony, checking out what's happening. I'm always touched by baptisms, but this was truly a powerful day, as we officially took the responsibility of raising Brendan in faith. I was pretty emotional all day, and got teary during the final blessing at the end of Mass.

After Mass, we had a lovely lunch party at the Mill River clubhouse. Brendan remained good-natured, being passed from person to person. He even managed to hang out with Uncle Mick!

From there to here...

"and here to there, funny things are everywhere..."

It's been a while since I've picked up a book with chapters (excluding books on child rearing or breastfeeding), but Brendan and I finally made it through One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish tonight. We've been attempting to start some sort of bedtime routine with Brendan during the evening this week. Over the past couple of weeks, Brendan's gotten into a fairly decent pattern of sleeping - tiring in the evening around 9 or 10, then sleeping in some good chunks of time, waking up to nurse, and then going right back to sleep. The other night, he slept for 6 hours in row - causing his mom and dad to panic when they woke up at 5 am and hadn't heard from him in a while! All was well, though. We haven't had a repeat performance of that yet, but we really can't complain.

Now we just need to work on napping a little better during the day. Brendan resists napping during the day - there's so much to see and do! He's growing like a champ - at his last weight check (6 weeks), he was 7 lbs, 8 oz, and 20 3/4 inches. He's definitely gotten bigger since then - he's growing out of his newborn size clothes, and we've had to go up a size in diapers. And just wait until you see him smile - I know I'm biased, but he's so cute (I'll add new pics later this week)!

Brendan's Grandma and Grandpa Kator babysat on our anniversary so that we could go out for dinner. Last weekend, we took our little international traveler to Canada for his Great-Grandma Gaspard's 90th birthday party. We had a lot of fun with Nick's cousins and their children. He's also been to Childwatch at the Y a couple of times now that I'm able to resume working out. When we were leaving on Thursday, my cousin Barb was picking up her girls from camp, and Abby was delightedly telling her camp friends about "her baby" - too cute!

If anyone in the area would like green beans, let us know - our garden has produced in abundance this year! We've also had yummy beets, zucchini, tomatoes, and a cucumber so far. Corn is late this year (like so many things with the mild weather we've been having), but hopefully farmers at the market will have some tomorrow - time for some summer sweet corn!

1 Month Old (or, Brendan's outfit count - 3, Dad's outfit count -3)

Well, Brendan officially clocks in at 1 month old today. He had a great 1-month checkup last Friday. As expected, his height and weight are below the 3rd percentile on the regular charts (already one not comfortable with being average, our kid...). He is growing well, though, so we (and his doctor) are quite pleased. After a slow-to-average gain in the first couple of weeks, he had a successful weight check in the third week (see last post), then gained 7 oz from that Monday to his appointment on Friday morning - go baby! So, at last check he was 6 lbs, 1 oz and 18 inches long. It still strikes me as funny to think that he's still smaller than most newborns when he seems so much bigger to us in just these few short weeks! Newborn-sized clothes fit him now, for one thing, and he's also far more alert - practicing head lifting and following rattles during our play time, and listening to Mom and Dad read him just about everything under the sun.

We've also already discovered the joys of increased laundry that come with a newborn, but yesterday really illustrates the point, and perhaps hints that Brendan's going to have the Kator spill genes. Brendan started the day wearing his adorable baseball themed outfit, then required a new outfit after a diaper change at church (1). At Grandma and Grandpa's, he decided to get his changing pad wet, then roll into the spot wearing his backup outfit. So much for outfit 2. He spent most of the afternoon mostly clothesless while Grandma very generously did a load of laundry, then back into a clean outfit (3). As for Nick, Brendan helped him mess up his starting outfit for the day (1). Fortunately, Nick was able to wear one of my dad's shirts, but then spilled fruit smoothie on it (and Brendan), so there went outfit 2 for him. Shirt 3 made it cleanly through the evening. Yikes.

Small Update

A small update for a not-quite-so-small-anymore guy: we took Brendan back to the pediatrician yesterday for a weight check, and he's now weighing in at 5 lb, 10 oz, which means he put on 5 oz since his last appointment last Thursday - yay! We've got the go-ahead to keep nursing as we've been, and pump once a day so Nick can get in on the feeding action. We go back on Friday for his 1-month checkup - I can't believe he's almost a month old.

In other news, Brendan chose to really show off during tummy time last night, flipping over from his tummy to back. We didn't really believe he had done that at first, so he nicely obliged by doing it again! I'm going to try to get some video today.

Due Date?

Today really reminds me of a conversation I had with a colleague in November. He and his wife had seen the due date for their baby come and go (without baby's arrival), and he described the day as anti-climactic, especially after nine months of anticipation.

Well, today certainly is different than the day we imagined about 9 months ago - today was Brendan's due date! Rather than giving birth, or bemoaning the fact that I'd be delivering late, we took Brendan to the pediatrician for his two-week checkup (at the end of his second week, really, he's three weeks old tomorrow). It was a mixed bag - he's generally doing well (now 5 lbs, 5 oz and 17 3/4 inches long), but isn't gaining weight as fast as his doctors might like (he gained 7 ounces since his last visit, which averages to about a half-ounce a day, but his pediatrician would like his gain to be closer to an ounce a day). So, we're being more aggressive about waking up for feeding, doing some pumping and introducing a bottle now that he's just about three weeks old, and going back on Monday for another weight check.

And while his arrival was certainly different in terms of timing and circumstances than we had hoped or anticipated it would be, we are so blessed to have a healthy (albeit small)baby. We've also been blessed to have so much generous help in both my recovery and adjusting to parenthood, from Brendan's Grandma camping out on the couch overnight, calling me on the phone to come down for feedings (ah, technology!), to people bringing yummy dinners, loaning us baby clothes, or spending time with Brendan and me when Nick was at work.

So, we've been busy in the past couple of weeks. Nick and I both wrapped up the school year, helping each other grade and record final exams while trading off holding the baby. We've had fun introducing Brendan to our friends at church, and laughed when putting him next to older babies like cousin Keeley (it just emphasizes how tiny Brendan is...). We also celebrated what Nick's calling the 1st anniversary of his 29th birthday. I'm recovering well, although I'm not used to the restrictions - no heavy exercise, no lifting things heavier than the baby (which is an extra challenge when your baby is not very heavy at all - my World History teacher's manual is heavier than Brendan is right now by a couple of pounds...). I did get clearance to lift Brendan in his carrier, which is helpful, and we're welcome to continue our daily walking in the neighborhood. I'm planning on completing the half-marathon in Detroit this October, so we have to start somewhere!

Yesterday was Brendan's first official bath - Nick had fun playing with his rubber cow as we waited for the water to cool, and Brendan protested the water at first, but seemed to enjoy things.

Today we visited Brendan's Great-Grandma Gaspard in Canada. Brendan handled the border crossing like an old pro, and took a nice afternoon nap with Mom while Dad worked out in the garden. Hopefully Brendan will take a cue from the tomatoes and start really growing - time to actually make it onto the height and weight growth charts!

Welcome, Brendan! (Or, "Craziest Week Ever")

Brendan Walter Kline Kator
Born May 29, 2009 3:23 pm
5 lbs, 17 inches long

Well, after the last post, things really got interesting! After last Thursday's tests were reassuring, I went to my Friday checkup with an induction scheduled for Sunday evening. Nick went off to school, and Megan and Keeley accompanied me to my appointment. After talking with the doctor, it turned out that the ultrasound measurements we'd had on Tuesday weren't as reassuring as the other tests - baby's head was measuring quite a bit bigger than abdomen, which was an indication that the placenta might not be nourishing as well as it should. After confirming that baby was still breech, my doctor decided against inducing labor and sent us to the hospital for a c-section.

So... Nick headed home from school, and we arrived at the hospital at about 1. I was nervous about having surgery, but the nurses in triage were great, and Dr. Moore (who we'd seen on Wednesday), came in to do the delivery. Nick got to wear a spiffy jumpsuit and hat. By about 3, I was wheeled in, got anesthesia (weird feeling), and Brendan was born at 3:23 pm! His weight was about 3/4 lb more than the ultrasound had estimated, which was awesome, but the pediatricians still took him to the nursery for observation after Nick got to hold him for a little bit. Brendan's first name is a name we chose for its Irish origin and really just because we liked it, and his middle name Walter is after Nick's late Grandpa Gaspard. You can probably figure out where his other middle name of Kline and last name of Kator come from.

We stayed in the hospital until Monday afternoon. The Beaumont nurses were fantastic, and were great in helping me get started with nursing. We're having to do a combination of nursing and pumping with a small amount of supplemental formula, just to make sure he's getting enough to get much bigger.

It's absolutely amazing how quickly we've fallen in love with this little guy - we've loved him for a long time already, but now that he's here, there are things that make him truly endearing as well. When he opens his eyes, he wrinkles up his forehead in the cutest way, and his starting-to-get-hungry cry gets interrupted by snorting - I'm going to try and record this in the next few days.

We've had visitors, most of whom come bearing food (awesome!). Megan and Keeley came over this afternoon - Keeley looks like an Amazonian giant next to her little cousin! Our friend Kati also stopped by this evening - when she left, we had one of our funniest moments at home so far:
Kati - Make sure you cover him during diaper changes...
Me - Oh, he really hasn't done anything like that yet...

I shut the door, and turn to see Aunt Andrea changing Brendan, and Brendan turning himself into a human fountain, shooting over his head and onto the couch. Nice timing, Brendan.

This evening, Brendan and his dad are watching game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Brendan seemed to enjoy the first two games of the series in the hospital. It's been a crazy week, involving letting go of a lot of the things we had imagined would surround the baby's birth, but we are happy and blessed to have him here.

Biggest Misnomer Ever... (alternate title: "Come on Baby, kick your mom!")

Well, this has been a pretty eventful short week. On Tuesday afternoon, we were scheduled for an ultrasound to see how Baby's been growing - the docs have been concerned for a couple of weeks that the baby's on the smaller side. The ultrasound showed a couple of things that are not the greatest at this stage - baby's currently breech, and measuring pretty small for its age - a bit over four pounds. At this point in the Tuesday evening, my doc sent us for a biophysical profile (a second ultrasound looking for practice breathing movements and other kicks and moves) - baby did breathing movements right away, then we were waiting for a few minutes for one more kick. This produced probably the most amusing moment of the evening - the ultrasound tech practically pounding my belly in an effort to get the baby to move, and Nick talking to my stomach saying, "Come on, baby, kick your mom!". We got what we needed, but the doc wanted a non-stress test before we left the hospital.

So, up we went to L&D triage, and that test went fine as well (although we were both fairly stressed by this point, so calling it a non-stress test just didn't seem right...).

Yesterday, the docs were discussing inducing labor (of course, on the night of a Wings' playoff game, which is the one thing I've specifically asked this baby to avoid!), but after further discussion, we agreed to push the induction to next week and repeat the NST and BPP today. We went back to the hospital this morning and repeated those - again, everything looks good, other than the baby's size. On our way out, we were asked if we'd like to be part of a study that's using 3D ultrasound to examine fetal growth. So, we stuck around for another 15 minutes to do that, and got a neat picture of Baby's fist (no face shots - Baby's hand was blocking the face just like a practiced celebrity avoiding paparazzi). Our kid's not even born, and we already have him/her doing research. Are we nerds or what?

Time flies...

Sorry for the complete lack of updating. As spring has rolled around, things are busier at school, and we're doing lots to get ready for baby's arrival in just a few weeks. Some of the major highlights:

We got a dishwasher!! This was one thing on our dream list of things to do when we bought our house a few years ago, but one thing we've been living without. We finally caved a few weeks ago. We knew putting it in would mean losing a cabinet in our already small kitchen, but we've bought some racks and other storage in the past few months to help with that. Turns out that the smaller size dishwasher was a lot more expensive, which means we went with a standard size. Fine and good, just required a little more demolition work of a half-wall that had been at the end of the cabinets. I spent one Saturday in April down at the Village working at Day out with Thomas, and when I got home, Nick and his dad had the dishwasher in and working - yay!

Baby's room is moving right along. We got furniture arranged and the crib set up (the same crib that I and my siblings used as babies), and I completed a little art project with farm animals that's ready to hang. We also moved Grandma Kline's glider chair into the nursery - I'm excited about this one. When I would go to her house to visit, I'd sit in that chair as she sat on the couch and we'd chat. I love the idea of rocking our baby in the same chair and connecting with Grandma, even in a small way. There's also lots to be sorted in the baby's room after our shower last weekend. I'm posting just one of many pics from that. And trust the Kators to receive not one, but two rocking cows. Do our families know us well or what?

Baby's due date is about 5 weeks away, and we're busy checking out pediatricians, day care options and attending our childbirth classes. We've had time to sneak in some fun for baby, though - we went to baby's first Tigers' game last week also - 80s night at Comerica. The TMNT gave the baby a thumbs up. Enjoy the pics...

"It's a girl, but I'm still an uncle..."

So said Nick this weekend. We're first-time aunt and uncle to our gorgeous niece Keeley, and we got to go see her this weekend. Holding a tiny baby is just another one of those moments when reality hits home and we realize that we'll have our own little person in our family before we know it! Enjoy the picture of Uncle Nick and his new niece.

Goodbye, Wisteria Lane...

We've been busy over the past couple of weeks. Nick used his winter break week to get lots done around the house, with baby's room as the major project. This back bedroom was the first room we painted after buying our house (it was Ninja-turtle green before we painted it a lovely purple shade called Wisteria...). We spent an evening taping and reminiscing about our first foray into do-it-yourself-dom. While I was at work, Nick primed, then Uncle Mick came over to help put the new color coat on.

We chose to paint baby's room yellow, and we'll be decorating with farm animals (guess who suggested that one...). I absolutely love the way it turned out. Uncle Mick was a huge help, and although it looked a lot brighter than the purple initially, it's great to see the room when the morning sun comes in - very bright and cheery, which is exactly what I'd pictured!

We also took a day to make a trek to Ikea for some new furniture. We ended up with a bookshelf, combo shelving-cabinet unit, and a dresser with a changing table top that can be removed when baby's beyond diapers. I put the pieces together last weekend, and the room is coming together - looking in there makes me wistful and excited at the same time - life's changing - it's no longer our guest room, or Anne's room, or the gift room, but yet another reminder that our baby will be here before we know it.

Speaking of Peanut/Bono, we had our 24-week checkup this week, and everything looks and sounds great. We feel truly blessed.

It's a...

Baby! We went for our 20-week ultrasound yesterday, and had a great opportunity to see what Peanut/Bono/Kator Tot has been up to since we got to see last (about 3 months ago). The baby was very, very active, kicking legs (which I feel), and moving arms - baby's right arm was over the head at one point. Everything medically looks great - closed spine, nicely formed brain and heart chambers, pairs of arms, hands, legs and feet, and measurements are good too - baby's femur, for example, is 28 mm long. I'm not sure how that measures up to other baby femurs of similar age, so I can't comment on our child's brilliance at this point, but it was amazing to see how much this new person has been growing. We had been debating finding out the baby's gender, but decided to wait until June to find out (along with the rest of you). The pictures I'm posting are a profile shot, with baby's head on the right, spine to the bottom of the frame, and legs curled up; a front shot of baby's face and stomach (too hard to tell if baby's more Kline or Kator); and a shot of the bottom of the baby's feet - one on top of the other. That last shot is completely amazing to me. Our child has feet.

Benny vs. Stocking

This post is devoted to our slightly nutty dog-cat, Ben. He's feline in looks and purring, but has several odd dog habits like drinking from the toilet (we're so proud) and waiting at the window for us to come home, then racing to the back door to meet us. He also has wonderful dog-like nagging skills when it comes to begging us to put out food (even though he looks at the bowl, eats a bite, then seems to completely forget that there was food there in the first place).

For all his quirks, we love him, and he proved to be highly entertaining during the Christmas season. "Santa Paws" brought Ben a stocking with a new cat toy, some catnip mice, and a couple of bags of treats. When his stocking was on the floor, Ben figured out that his treats were inside, and frequently attacked the stocking in an attempt to get out the bag of treats. He was successful once or twice, but lacked the manual dexterity to open the bag. I tried for about a week to capture this on video. The clip I'll upload isn't his best form, but gives you an idea.