New Blog!

Since this blog has become more of a family blog, Me & Sweet Pea didn't seem to be an appropriate title anymore, so we started a new blog. It's called Babies For The Win! Please check it out.

Trapped!

Just a few minutes ago, Mama and Dada were helping Mia drift off to sleep in the nursery.  I think that Mia is starting another teething cycle, as while Mia and I were taking a bath after dinner as part of our bedtime ritual, she was leaking drool like a sieve.  The second time Mia chomped down on the boob, Mama asked me to get the sippy cup with Milk in it, so Mia could chomp, suck, and drink to her little heart's content.

So I go to the nursery door and try to open it.

The knob just spins.

I take a step back and doublecheck.  Yep, that knob is just spinning.  Nothing gripping inside, no catching, just free spin.

Okay. What to do?

If I put pressure on the knob in a certain angle, does it catch and spin the rod that connects the outside door knob to the inside? Nope.

If I jiggle the door a bit can I compress it enough to catch the edges of the inter-knob-rod? Nope.

Where are the screws facing?  We're in luck- they face into the nursery.

Can I bash down the door?  Probably, but too noisy.  So, that's check in the Nope column (for now.)

Whenever situations appear insurmountable, I look for a tool (sometimes it's a hammer.)

I know that if I can get the knob off of this side, I can use my fingers to turn the connecting rod and voila, we can escape.  But how to get the knob off?

I look around the nursery- pretty innocuous stuff.  The hook I hung up the fish mobile with.. nope.  A folded piece of stiff paper... nope.  The plastic edge of a babyproofing latch... nope.  The nubby tip of a safety scissor used to trim Mia's nails... maybe... testing... eureka!

Mia is being nursed to sleep about three feet away as I slowly use the tip of a single safety scissor blade to unscrew (a quarter turn each time) the phillips head screws that hold the inside door knob to the outer knob.  Inevitable clicks occur as I test how far the screw has come out, and as I have to adjust the length of the screw against the knob faceplate, so that I can keep unscrewing.

I finally back the last few twists of the screws off with my fingers.  Mia is sleeping, as they say, like a baby.  My initial diagnosis was correct- the connecting rod (this one, like most, is square shaped) is shorter than the total distance between the full length of the rod sticking inside of the hallway-side knob.

Using my fingers, I twist the rod and the door pops open.  I do a silent dance of joy.  I go get the sippy cup, but when I return, Mia is completely out.

The rod, if it slides as far as it can go into the hallway-side knob, isn't long enough to catch the inside edges of the nursery-side knob.  This is typical of door handles that are cheap, and generic.  The nicer handles have longer rods, or really long rods that the manufacturer just expects you to cut to length.

I slide the rod out, and stick one side into the nursery-side knob and give it a good pounding against the carpet floor, to firmly stick it into this side of the door.  I slide it back up into place on the door and it has plenty of reach to turn the opposite knob.  Score!  

A minute or so of careful, quiet screwing and the knob is back in place.  Turning the knob opens the door, success!

I don't think I could have climbed through the window and not woken Mia, and kicking the door down would have been even noisier (not to mention more destructive.)

All in all a successful rescue-the-severn-clan operation.

Being a bit overcareful, I then walked around the house and checked every knob for traps.

happy funtime swing in Zilker!

Joy! 

Glee!

Giggles!

Happiness!

Mia is swinging and laughing in Zilker Park.

Jennifer and I have been strolling Mia around Town Lake on the weekend, getting some exercise into the Mama and Dada Experience ®.

On the way we've seen swans, wood ducks, swarms of swimming turtles, lost turtles on the trail, met lots of friendly puppies, and talked to a stranger about his awesome Chariot stroller.  I'd like to hitch one up to my Hookooekoo and bike about.

Job Week

It's been a hard week. Arguably, the hardest week of my life. After being a stay-at-home mom for the last year, I started a new job this week. Leaving my baby girl with even the best caretakers I could ask for has been the hardest thing I've ever done.

There have been a lot of tears. I started crying when I said goodbye to her on Monday morning. On Monday evening when I had to put her to bed an hour after I got home I locked myself in the bedroom and sobbed. Tuesday morning I cried. Wednesday morning I cried. Wednesday afternoon I cried because I could tell that she had grown while I was gone and because she is so beautiful.

And the job is going to be tough. The pace is fast and we don't get many breaks. Today we didn't get a chance to eat lunch until 2. I thought I was going to pass out from the hunger. But I'm grateful for it. When I'm not furiously working, I miss my baby girl so much I can hardly stand it.

I know that Tom is having a hard time understanding why this is so hard for me. He's always been away from her during the day. But for me, she has been my 24-7 job for the past 13 months. My law school friends have been asking me when I was going to get a job since she was three months old. For them, 13 months at home must seem ridiculous. But for me, even that doesn't seem like enough. She is still growing so fast and learning new things every minute. Every day she changes. Even I could not have predicted how difficult this would be for me.

Our Wedding

Many times in the months we were planning the wedding I said to Tom, "Why are we doing this? It's so expensive. It's so much work. Weddings are not for people with babies. I can't deal with this. You're the one that wanted this. Not me!"

Each time he would assure me that 20 years from now I'd be glad that we had a wedding and that I would regret it if we didn't.

Well, he was right. It isn't even 20 years later and I'm already glad.

As far as weddings go, I think it was fairly drama-free. To the best of my knowledge I did not piss off any of my friends as a result of it and I'm not pissed off at any of my friends. Quite the opposite. I was astonished by the generosity of all of our friends in pulling this wedding together. Since we were working with a relatively small budget, we were responsible for set up and clean up. One of our friends, Beth, took charge of coordination and assembled a crew of friends to do everything. We had friends making signs, picking up the flowers, setting up all the tables and decorations at the Zilker Clubhouse, picking up the keg, running the margarita machine, officiating the ceremony, cutting the cake and cleaning everything up at the end of the night. This wedding would not have happened the way it did without our amazing friends.

And I'm so grateful to my parents who paid for the majority of the wedding and threw our rehearsal dinner. They were so patient with me through all of the planning. They took on this wedding as their project and put so much time into helping me research cakes, flowers, napkins, plates, food, etc. Not to mention eating Paella for weeks in order to perfect the recipe for the rehearsal dinner.

Being a bride was awesome. And a lot like being hugely pregnant. Just like with a big belly, it's hard to be inconspicuous in a wedding dress. Everyone smiles at you, is extra nice to you and expects you to be a little crazy. It was the most amazing experience that I'll gladly never repeat.

And at the end of the night, I got to go spend the night at the Driskill Hotel with the love of my life, my husband. It was our first and only night without Mia. While it was very nice to have some alone grown up time, we both kept waking up every couple of hours wondering if she was awake. We probably won't do that again anytime soon. Honeymoon will have to wait awhile.

But for now, I am so happily married! I love saying "my husband." I love filling out forms and checking the "married" box. I love our little family.

Hail?

Tom said that it was extra-hard to get Mia to go to sleep because of the golf-ball-sized hail that started hitting our roof about 20 minutes ago. It's currently 84 degrees outside. So weird.

File Under: Things I learned as a parent

Welcome to a parental secret!

For all of you non-parents out there, I have a secret to share with you.

This is known, I'm almost certain, by anyone who has had to change diapers on a regular basis.  There is only one substance on the planet that can be used to clean anything.  It's not CLR.  Nor a as-seen-on-TV miracle.  No matter how dirty.  

What is this miracle substance that can clean your bathroom sink?  This supernatural thing that cleans the floor, the stove, the kitchen countertop?  The secret that parents use to clean anything messy, or just plain dirty, such as car tires and rims?

What is this secret thing?  Dear god tell us, I need to clean X and Y, and I don't know how?

Baby wipes.

Long after our babies are out of diapers, have been potty trained and never miss a bathroom break, baby wipes will be a staple of our household.  THEY CLEAN EVERYTHING.  SRLY.  I'm not sure if it's specific to a single brand, or if all baby wipes can clean your mirrors, floors, ceilings, ceiling fans, countertops, car rims, steering wheels... everything.