elizabeth's farewell to the crib; this little lady's in the big girl bed now. woo! commence project 'get the baby out of our bed and into the crib.'

we get a pirate ship with diapers in it delivered monthly. thanks amazon.

friends' toes, bonding over wonder pets.

elizabeth get's super excited when noralou blows bubbles. i think she thinks it's some kind of magic trick or something.

sisters.

we have a most splendid deal worked out, where greg holds this little gremlin from 6:30-7:30 every night so mom can take a little break.....which break is usually spent reading stories with the OTHER less little gremlin.

unsure about "kisses" this morning.

a pretty solid visual representation of the general atmosphere around here most of the time.

hovering.

this is pre ceiling paint and pre bedroom paint.......you can see the mustard peeking through the door on the right. previous owners paired that paint with some very lovely wine-colored curtains. so gross.



we've been mia from the blog-o-sphere. a new house and a baby will do that, but i just uploaded a bunch of pics from the camera, and am ready to tear into them and do some serious blog-o-damage. prepare.

bets woke up last night at midnight crying and i went in to find she'd pooped and had a really red, raised and sore diaper rash. i think she pooped before she fell asleep at 9pm and then it just sat there for 3 hours. ew.

my question is this: are there certain foods that cause/exacerbate a diaper rash? i can't seem to find much online about this. is it the acidic stuff? like craisins maybe? or mandarin oranges? other possible culprits include raisins, pizza, strawberries, canned carrots, honey smacks.........?

the rash is lingering and i'd like to cut out whatever initiated it...at least for a couple days. any ideas?

her first comprehension of rain. she was hesitant to step from dry to wet cement for a second. it was a nice second.

i'm starting to get the desire back...the desire to take pictures. it's been missing for the past few months. i might be reverting back to being a normal person. if only my pants would fit...

as a result of my complaining about not knowing how to do my daughter's hair, a very thoughtful friend gifted me a "hairdooing kit."  i did my best.  i'll work harder....

i can't believe it's been two years.

i can't believe it's been a month.

i awoke this morning (not for the first time) at 9am to hear greg and bets playing in the yard.

greg: "and......a swing and a miss by daddy!"
elizabeth: "DADDY, DADDY, DADDY!"

apparently he's been teaching her the art of whiffle-ball.  it's a pretty good deal for him i think.  he just hits and hits and she shags the balls into a bucket for him.  i know it's so cliched and boring, but it really warmed my heart to hear the two of them playing together.  they were nice sounds to wake up to.

it was greg's birthday yesterday.

i didn't do anything for him.  nothing.  not a card, not a cake.  no burrito.  no home-cooked meal .  not even his favorite chocolate bar.  nothing.

i've been feeling pretty bad about it, sort of.  i kinda have an excuse.  maybe.

i've been sick.

friday night, in a matter of about 15 minutes, i went from feeling 100% healthy to feeling like i needed to go to the hospital.  pretty sure i looked like one of those sick people from movies where modern medicine isn't around yet: shivering and shaking and convulsing and sweating and thrashing about and breathing all weird.  the only thing missing was that little porcelain bowl they stick under your arm when they "bleed you out."  so pathetic.

i think i scared greg a little.

long story short, sunday i got some testing done and it turns out i had a couple different bacterial infections going on.  today is the first day i feel well enough to......well.......to do anything at all.  now my biggest challenge is keeping up with the four sets of pills i have to take, all at different time-intervals.  don't get me wrong, it's a challenge i gladly accept.  antibiotics are friends!

anyways, when i woke up this morning finally feeling better and heard greg and bets in the yard, i just had myself a little cry of gratitude for the guy i married.

i know, i know....i hate those "my husband is the greatest buy ever!" rants.  especially from the pulpit.  total eye roll.

but it was the guy's birthday.  and i did spend it in a quasi-coma, while he took care of a toddler and worse, ME.  so i get to announce it, just this once....for everyone to hear.  because that's just how i feel today.  shout it from the rooftops, i married well.  my husband is GOLD.

one more thing.  this has to be recorded for posterity.

greg's taken two weeks off of work so he could be around to help after nora was born.  a few days ago he turned to me and said he felt like he was getting too much sleep.  he was dead serious.  he wanted to know what else he could do, and told me he felt like i should utilize him while he had the time off.  like he must not be helping enough because he'd been keeping a pretty normal sleep schedule.

who IS this guy, right?  he's mine.

We've been trying to figure out who this baby looks like. her nose, lips and chin are pretty unique. i sent a pic to my dear mother, and she sent this one back. i want those sheets.


top pic is me. bottom is nora lou.

i definitely see a resemblance. maybe we have a little greg AND a little sara now!

disclaimer: lots of birth/baby details to follow. no one's forcing you to read on. do so at your own discretion.

things are going surprisingly well around here. i'm not sure if with elizabeth, the whole process was really terrible so with nora the process was easy by comparison, or if with nora the process really was easy. probably a little of both. in any case we're all doing considerably well.

i'm afraid the birth story is a boring one.

i went in about a week early to be induced because of the shoulder dystocia i had with elizabeth. the object of early delivery is to keep the infant from getting too big.

they broke my water and started a low dose of pitocin. contractions started right away.  a few hours later i had a couple scary-painful ones and asked for an epidural. within five minutes, the anesthesiologist floated in on a cloud, and within 20 minutes i was feeling no pain. i can't overemphasize my love for the epidural. if it were a readily available drug, like tylenol or heroin, i might be an addict. it's just so comfy and snuggly and warm. yum.

fast forward a few more hours and i felt like it was time to push. i told my nurse and half an hour later, in walked my OB/GYN, dr. eastman. i'm a big fan. the medical peeps got all prepped , i had a contraction, gave exactly FOUR pushes and that was it. no complications. just a baby.

i know this whole thing sounds sorta fake. and believe you me, i wouldn't believe me either if i didn't already know my generally complainy countenance. i really just have nothing to complain about. my doctor was/is amazing and we've booked pomerado hospital as our next vacation getaway. i love that place. the nurses were sweet, and i swear i even liked the food. who knew a hospital could make a tasty pork loin?

we've been home for almost a full week now, and things are running pretty smoothly. elizabeth likes to pat the baby's "blankie", point out her fingers/nose/toes/etc, and was concerned when the baby stopped wearing her "hat". we also play that game where we point to individual members of the fam and bets says their names: daddy, mommy, lucky(the dog),elizabeth, and "nono". that's what bets calls nora. she's nono. it's unbearably adorable.

let's see. what else.

nora. i suppose all babies are pretty "easy" for the first couple weeks,and this gal is no exception. there are a few behaviors of note thus far:

1. she loves to eat. bets was opposite from the the very start; she'd fall asleep the second i'd start nursing her and we'd have to be pinching her and wiping her with wet washcloths and all other manner of nonsense to get her to suck. i'm surprised at how much easier and more pleasant feeding times are with nora. i can just start her nursing and then space off to the tv or whatever and she just does her thing. SO nice.

now don't get me wrong. i'm still in severe pain. those lactation consultant people are totally full of it. nursing downright SMARTS. and yeah, yeah, i'm paying attention to the "latch" and all that. i'm good at stuff. i'm doing it right. and it still hurts. there's no getting around it, i'm convinced. please contact me if you had a pain-free nursing experience........and i'll probably tell you i don't believe you:) i'm counting on the pain decreasing with time, but as for day six....it hurts like the dickens. having said that i must say that so far, the pain has been worth the benefit of NOT pumping. no making bottles, and warming and washing and cleaning pump supplies and packing them....and the list goes on. i vowed after pumping for six months with elizabeth that i would NEVER do it again. i decided with nora that if i couldn't nurse the old fashioned way, i'd give her formula.....and preserve my sanity. so far, so good. the old fashioned way is working! i even successfully fell asleep nursing lying down in bed in the middle of the night last night. joy!

2. nora has the mixed up days and nights thing. also opposite from elizabeth. i had nora at 8:55pm and she was awake and fussing that very night until 2am. and she's sticking to the pattern. she wakes up about 10pm and would be perfectly content with eating for four hours straight. 10pm-2am. that's my night shift. i've learned if i get a little nap in around 8:30p, the nighttime is totally doable. hopefully she'll start sleeping for some solid chunks of time at night, like she does ALL day long.

i guess that's all i've got for now. my husband, mother in law, and friends have all taken really splendid care of us. we had our first of several meals, organized through church, dropped off last night. it was super tasty and so well balanced. i i mean, all the major food groups were covered:) it always blows my mind that other people care about us enough to spend the time doing stuff like that. it kinda touched my stone-cold heart.

okay. naptime.

nora louise

a self-portrait.






the doud family "nested" today. tomorrow at 8am i'm being induced. so greg washed the cars and the dog, and i changed all the sheets and washed the floors and cried several times over the fact that i'm abandoning my sweet firstborn to go and have a second baby in the morning.

we're excited. and nervous.

it feels like i'm preparing myself for a trip to mars, but really pomerado hospital is like five minutes away. i guess i just know that when i leave the house tomorrow morning, everything changes forever. and change is scary sometimes. right? cheers to our last night as a family of three.

i put her down for a nap fully clothed and returned three hours later to find this:


no idea how she did it. she's never declothed herself before.....

ps - sorry this isn't a post with a new baby in it. you'll just have to settle for this one with the OLD baby until the new one gets here.

ps number two: the ISO is at 2500 for that pic. i love my camera.

i know i'm risking an overshare here. i went to the doctor today:

1.5cm
50% effaced
-2 station

i figure those who'll be grossed out don't know what it means anyways, right?

things are going along smoothly in the doud household. i think our biggest trial at this point is mediating elizabeth's incessant pleadings for annie, yardy's (backyardigans), and elmo. yeah, she loves elmo now too. it's a constant battle, but i'm holding my ground at two episodes per day.....at least until the unborn is born.

other news. hmm.

with the help of a legit german friend with style, i'm starting to "decorate" the new house in my mind. here's the sofa choice for the living room, except it'll be in a mustard color:


family room sofa is still being deliberated upon, though i'm fairly positive the fabric will be some shade of grey. my mid-century tendencies are screaming at me to get something like this:


or this:


obviously not in those colors. but my need for comfort is telling me to go with something a bit more traditional like this:


opinions? a sofa purchase is such a big ole deal because you have to keep it for such a long time. i'd much rather buy throw pillows and lighting and other decorative chotchkies.

i'm also pretty resolved on painting the kitchen cabinets, which are currently a light honey brown color, white. i've been reading up on how to do it, and it doesn't look TOO complicated, though i'm sure i could find some way to muck it up.  primer? oil based paint?  sanding? good grief.  i guess that's why it's nice to have a legit german in your back pocket:)

cross your fingers that the next post will have a picture of me in a hospital gown looking super haggered, but feeling like the skinniest gal on the planet.....gazing lovingly at a little squat of a baby who's plotting her destruction of the next six months of my life.

happy friday!

when your almost two year-old still doesn't have any hair, it sometimes helps to go back and look at a picture of them from six months ago....just for reassurance that growth IS actually occurring.

another thought. it's WAY too hot for that outfit right now.

we're officially one month into the first session of photo class....beta-tester's edition. i'm loving teaching, and i'm super happy with how the student images are coming along. i asked my lowly pupils tonight if i could show them off a bit on the blog and they said it'd be alright, so..........

here're a few of my favorites thus far. i feel like a proud mama:)


by henrike zeitler


by jackie wakelin




by dayna freitas

(maybe you should leave them some comment encouragement-love. just saying...)

you want this.

it's at costco.

i'd never had pastrami before i started scarfing this stuff, so i don't really know if it's "good" pastrami....actually, i didn't even know if pastrami was pig or cow parts or what....i just knew i needed to change up the lunch meat rotation in my sandwiches.  anyways, it's cow parts and it's tasty.

eat it.

sara, sitting on the sofa: greg, WHY can't i get up?

greg: do you really want the answer?

sara: no.

an interesting read: here.

opinions?  discuss.

it took greg and i about five seconds to come up with a name for elizabeth.  it's a family name and it's pretty, right?  no brainer.

we're having a totally different experience naming this second little gal.  and it's totally my fault....greg's a pretty easy sell.

the process goes something like this:

i think of a name i like.

greg usually likes it and starts thinking about middle name options.

a few days pass.

i change my mind and decide i don't like the name anymore.

repeat process.

this has been going on for months.  and now we have less than a month left......and still no name.  we even put "naming child" on our to-do list for this past weekend and came up with a big fail.

what to do.......what to do......

subject change.  don't ever watch the show "bitten" on animal planet.  especially is you're buying a house that backs up to a hillside CERTAIN to be the breeding ground for venom spitting rattlesnakes.

kind of a lot going on around these parts lately. mostly greg and i are just getting old. here's the evidence:

• we are "in escrow" on a house here in poway.  a real house.  like with grass you have to mow.  
• i've been shopping.....for appliances.  the big ones that clean clothes and keep food from perishing.
• we are approximately 33 days away from being in possession of TWO children.
• we are approximately 99 days away from possessing a TWO year old.
• i pine for a minivan.

Also, we've been lounging in the yard a lot lately.  for hours on end.  we enjoy lounging.  proof:











wish i'd kept the ugly white sky out of that last one...

other news. today was the first day i cut bets off from the paci during daylight hours. she gets it for her nap and at bedtime. we may have had to endure a little extra crying today because of it. and by a little, i mean we had one pretty sad fifteen-minute cry-fest.

elizabeth LOVES annie. like she's crazy bonkers in love with the movie and the music. if we're in the tv room, she's pointing at the tv and yelling annie at me. if she sees my computer, she's pointing and yelling for the music on itunes. if we're upstairs, she's pointing and chanting for me to play the music from the cd player. like EVERY time. all day long. is this normal?? i spend a LOT of time diverting attention from her annie obsession. it's pretty hard to say no, when she get's so excited for it. and when she starts singing "maaaaybeeeee".

and let's face it. annie is a quality piece of programming. carol burnett really put in a fab performance. and the music IS rather awesome.

she thought she was some kind of grand explorer this morning, trekking through the potted plants....so pleased with herself.

and for some reason i feel like a real mom when i slap shoes on overtop of the footed jammies.

lady liberty! this wasn't planned. i kinda wish i'd thought of it though.

i actually took the camera out today. with five weeks til operation have-a-new-baby i'm way over running around trying to capture images of the current rascal child. so of course i default to the cliche flower shot. at least flowers don't run....and you can take pictures of them from a lazy standing position.

elizabeth is getting a few more teeth in, so she's currently pretty high maintenance.

my brother steve is bringing his dog over tomorrow to stay for a couple weeks. bets is a fan so that should provide her some entertainment.

i've spent the weekend preparing the first two lessons for the photo class and have enrolled a few first-responders to test them out. We'll see how it goes.

okay, so i've received far more responses expressing interest in the photography class than i anticipated.

yay!

if you've contacted me and i haven't responded to you personally, fear not, for i have kept a list with the names of each and every one of you unique and special snowflakes, and i'll be sending out an email to all of you within the next few days with details on the evil plans i'm hatching for this little class.

happy friday!

oh, and i almost forgot the most important part!  swim lesson, yesterday.  i graduated and will no longer have to immerse my massive body in the pool twice a week.  life is good.

greg found this little spot in nauvoo where the trees framed the temple.  he's a keeper.


i have this idea swimming around in my head.

wait.

first things first.

restless leg syndrome is real, so don't let anyone tell you any different.  i used to think migraines were a psychological issue as well....until pregnancy gifted me a few of those too.

i've spent the past two hours trying to get to sleep with no success.  so i took a little field trip downstairs and have now returned to bed with my computer....having eaten a bowl of cinnamon life cereal and two raspberry newtons.  (they're a cake, not a cookie by the way.)  and did you realize raspberry has a "b" AND a "p" in there??  i sure didn't.

moving on.

earlier tonight i spent a couple hours co-running a little photography workshop for the ladies at church.  it was fun, but i came home feeling like i talked way too much.  i hate that why-didn't-i-just-shush-up feeling.  it's gross.

but i digress.  i have this idea swimming around in my head.  well, maybe it's several ideas....paddling around a recurring theme.

here it is: could i organize and instruct a photography class?  nothing too crazy.  i'd keep it informal, hands-on, and personal.  i sure don't know everything.  all i could offer is what i know.  is there any demand for what i know? i mean, the only evidence i have is a bunch of pictures of my child on a blog, right?  ha.

here's the thing.  i really think i know what it takes to make blah photos interesting photos.  and i think i could teach that to someone.  maybe.  the hard part is breaking the bad news to the student that taking interesting photos requires one to learn to take pictures in manual mode.  and taking pictures in manual mode takes work and practice....and more practice.  but once the acquired skill "clicks"....and it always does after a few weeks of practice......the rest is fun.

so i guess i posit a question here.  no pressure, no commitment.  just a general inquiry:  if i put together a little trial-run class on the basics of what i know about photography, would anyone be interested?  i think i'd only want to teach two, maybe three people at a time.  and it wouldn't be free of charge.  but i sure wouldn't feel confident charging what i paid.  not even close.

email me if your interest is piqued.   a simple "i'm interested" will do:)  i mean, maybe if i turned just one lonely soul's picture skills into gold, i'd be onto something:)

you know where to find me: saradoud@gmail.com

and if i'm not there, i'm downstairs finishing up the cinnamon life and will return shortly.

night night.  i hope.

in nauvoo. looks like she's saving that pioneer baby from sort sort of peril, yes?























very important swim lesson update:

less crying; more swimming. she's not loving it yet....and she did plenty of crying, but things went better than last time. and she did some "swimming" under the water which was fun to see.


so maybe she isn't a natural equestrian.

window in carthage jail.


the prego lazies are really starting to affect the blog.

not too much to report around these parts...my eldest brother darin and wife have been staying with us this weekend from michigan, so that's been fun.

i've been introduced to a new chocolate chip cookie recipe and will never go back to toll house....ever. i now have cake flour and unsalted butter on hand at all times.

let's see, i've also been eating a lot of tortillas and otter pops lately.  so there's that.

elizabeth just had her third swim lesson today.

these lessons have become a source of worry for me. the first one went pretty well, then we had a substitute instructor for the second lesson. big mistake. HUGE. mistake. i should have just skipped it and waited for the teacher to return for the next lesson. the sub sort of ruined her. i mean, i'm no expert on toddlers, but i do know some stuff about training/conditioning behavior through my work with dogs. this sub basically spent a half an hour conditioning bets to fear not only him, but he successfully established in her a negative association with the pool where the lessons are held AND she's now scared of our original instructor as well.

awesome.

anyways, today the original teacher was back and asked me how the last lesson went. i very calmly told her it was sort of a disaster and i felt we'd actually taken several steps BACK. i really didn't have to say much, because she could see bets was a mess. and let me say it has NOTHING to do with the actual swimming. if i take her to the pool by myself she does great. i can dunk her under the water and she'll jump off the side to me, etc. she's not afraid of swimming. she's afraid of swimming with strangers....at this specific pool. it's been three lessons and we haven't even been able to get to the actual swimming part. sigh. luckily our teacher is head of the infant division, so she arranged for us to have an extra lesson for free as a sort of compensation. i really do think she felt bad. and though i still don't feel like we're on the up-an-up, i do trust that with this teacher, we're moving forward albeit slowly. we certainly aren't giving up.  bad news is i have to get into the pool now for the next couple weeks. did i mention there's only 8 more weeks until a baby climbs out of me? yeah. the swimsuit really punctuates the fact.

next waterboarding swim lesson is thursday afternoon. fingers crossed.

what else....

so you think you can dance started up again.

i need a haircut.

the roses are in full bloom in the backyard.

greg and i have our eye on a house for purchase in the old neighborhood behind my parents' place.  it's so close they'll actually be able to WALK over to babysit:)


greg, in nauvoo at the place where the pioneers crossed the mississip.

the whole fam traveled to nauvoo a couple weeks ago for one last visit. it's so pretty there, and the company isn't too bad either. i'll be posting a smattering of photos from the trip over the next few days. here're a few taken on one of our walks. the weather was uncharacteristically lovely this time and we all enjoyed strolling, walking, and holding hands:)






two generations of highwaters...

i think i've moved through the "feeling great in the 2nd trimester" phase and into the "i'm having trouble standing up without holding my breath 3rd trimester" phase. okay, maybe it's not that bad....yet, but i do find that i've become terribly lazy over the past few weeks. even picking up the camera has become a bit of a chore.

anyways. i sometimes enjoy looking at picture-taking people's before and after edits, so i thought i'd throw one of mine down here. i'm a believer that a HUGE part of what makes for interesting photographs lies in the post processing, and i find no shame in that. it's just art, right? i'm no purist. and that's not to say that i'm good at the editing either. i know what i've been taught and don't really stray too far from what feels safe to me. i thought it'd be interesting to post the edits on this particular photo, because i did a LOT of stuff to it in cs5. like, a whole lot. this photo needed lot's of help, and my layers palette was stacked DEEP!

straight out of camera:


processed:


not a fantastically composed shot, but i'm a fan of it for my own reasons, so here's what i did.

1. defog, aka initial sharpening
2. took most of the color casting out with a curves layer
3. basic color boost (also with a curves and a levels layer) since i'm shooting RAW.
4. brightened eyes
5. removed some of that blue color cast from little lady's hair. (i swear my child is right out of that mini-series "children of the corn." her hair absorbs all sorts of crazy colored light. boo!)
6. resized and gave it another sharpening for web-posting.

and then, after i looked at the processed photo again, i was like...her hair is STILL blue.

dammit!

so i reopened my full-sized edit, masked out everything but her hair, then color balanced just the hair again adding lots of red and yellow. then i did the same thing with that blue splotch smack-dab in the middle of her forehead. see it? it's still sort of there...

THEN!

i saw how dark and yucky those circles under her eyes are looking. they get enhanced when i do the color-boost curves layer. i should probably mask them BEFORE i run that layer, but alas, i didn't. so i used the "spot-healing" tool to doctor them up a bit. notice i didn't remove the dark circles completely. that would make her look too doctored in my opinion. i just lightened them a bit so they weren't distracting.

i'm sure i'll come back and look at this whole thing again later and see five other things i screwed up, but for now....here's the final edit:



i acknowledge that most humans found this post to be extremely boring. that's okay.















one more thing. who even wears shoes but no pants? didn't see that one coming did you.