7 Quick Takes, Vol. 54

Linking up with Jen, as always. :)

1. Happy Valentine's Day! I'm not a crazy Valentine's Day fan, but I'm not an anti-fan either. I wrote a lot about that last year, so I won't repeat myself. :) Today will be pretty low key, but we'll squeeze some celebration in, too!

Presents!!

2. Last weekend, we went to the Vigil on Saturday evening before Charles headed into the hospital. When Sunday rolled around, I was planning on a lazy day, and dressed Clare in comfy sweats accordingly. She had other ideas. She brought me a dress, bow, ruffle socks, and "pwiddy bak" shoes. Then, one by one, insisted they be put "on." Once she was dressed, she added her purse. A girl's gotta accessorize, right?!?

Oh my (Instagrammized)

3. Clare has also been working on her diapering skills, and has been pretty cute with it. When she decides baby needs a diaper, that baby gets cleaned and changed over and over for a good 30 minutes, as long as Mama helps get the diaper under the baby's bottom. I figure I'll just let her handle diapers when Baby Brother comes. No problems with that, right?!?

4. By the time this is published (writing on Thursday night), Charles will be down to his last 3 ER shifts. Yay! Let's just say that he feels NO call to emergency medicine. And since he volunteered for night shifts (to get the whole rotation completed quickly), and is not really a night person . . . well, we'll both be glad when this is behind us (for now). As challenging as nights have been, I think we've both learned a lot . . . to be continued (perhaps ad nauseam come residency/night float time).

5. Thursday (yesterday) found me totally befuddled as to what day of the week it was. I woke up from an intense (but ill-remembered dream) really, really sure that it was Saturday, convinced myself it was Friday, and pretty much had to keep reminding myself all day what day it really was. I hate that discombobulated feeling. Ugg to the ugg.

6. Getting close to the half-way point of the Olympics, and so far, I've enjoyed the competition. I miss Bob Costas, so I hope his eyes heal up quickly. Matt Lauer is just.not.the.same. Clare is enjoying having the TV on WAY more than usual. She even gave me a little dance routine while I was watching figure skating last weekend. :)

7. I'm 33 weeks today! Yay! And oh my gosh, how crazy/scary is that?!? Things are getting close! Since I'm writing these Thursday night, and don't have a picture, but I will update with one later today. Mr. Man is as wiggly as ever. I'm still doing pretty well -- tired, achy, heartburn-y -- but nothing surprising for the end of pregnancy! I really can't believe I'm already moving into the "end of pregnancy" stage, these last few weeks are coming on us fast. I had an OB appointment on Monday, and all was well. It was pretty uneventful, just the way I like 'em!!

Have a lovely weekend!

What We Read Tuesday {WWRW}

I was feeling a little bit masochistic and a little bit curious yesterday while I was putting books away. Since the house is basically littered with children's book from the time Clare wakes up until we put her down at night, this is actually a project every night (and the giant belly helps notatall).

Anyway, I came up with the idea of recording what Clare brought us to "wead" in the course of a day. We're working on "wead pweese." And, even at 23 reads, it was actually a somewhat low-key reading day (at least judging from the mess I should be straightening)! It also doesn't count the books she "read" to herself throughout the day. Yes, a couple of these are non-seasonal. But they were all her choices. Everything is (non-affiliate) linked just for the sake of the curious (especially for the less well-known choices). I've also included Clare's "name" for the books, mostly for posterity.

Showing me the "posows" (Apostles -- it took me awhile!)

• Go, Dog. Go! (x3) (Go Dah Go)
• You Are My I Love You (Wuv wu)
• Just So Thankful (x5) (Paympul)
• One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish (Fishes!!)
• Bats Around the Clock (x2)
• The Cat in the Hat (Cah Hah)
• If You Take a Mouse to the Movies (x4) (Mouse)
• Hop on Pop (HahPah)
• Sophie Skates
• The Gospel for Little Ones (Gohpah Lil Wah)
• I'm Not Sleepy (x2) (Not Seepy)
• The Christmas Story (Kismah Sowee)

I just hope that her early love of reading, and sometimes shocking attention span for it leads to a lifetime love of books! That would make all the dog party conversations well worth it!!

Also linking this up to What We're Reading Wednesday, 'cause I'm semi-rebellious like that.

7 Quick Takes, Vol. 53

Joining Jen, per usual. (As an aside, pretty much every time I type "Conversion Diary"

1. Yesterday was one of those days. Ladies, I'm sure you know them. Guys, I know that you are flummoxed when the ladies in your life have them. It was one of those days when a tiny bit of tired mixes with hormones, mixes with life. The emotions well up. Everything suddenly seems about 10 million times bigger than it is. Maybe it spills out at tears or screams. Maybe it comes out some other way. But when it spills, it spills. It was a long day, but I felt about a million times better after a good cry. Yep, it's official: this pregnancy has me more emotional than the last!

2. On top of it, Clare decided that she didn't need a nap. No Nap Nellie talked in her crib for 45 minutes and then started crying hysterically. After I saved her, she maintained a decent mood in spite of herself until dinner. Then, she threw her food all over the floor and was a bit more up and down the rest of the evening. She went to bed early and went right to sleep. Exhausted. Surprise, surprise! Yet, even at my most frustrated, my heart just melts when she smiles at me or hugs me. Toddlerhood is going to do me in, I tell ya!

Good thing she's cute

3. I CANNOT wait for tonight's Opening Ceremonies. This is what I'll be wearing tonight. No, it does not exactly fit over my belly these days, but I am not too concerned with impressing the cable box. It was a Christmas present from my sweet hubby. He clearly knows me too well.

4. I was delighted last night that NBC actually broadcast some of the competition that takes place before the Olympic Opening Ceremonies. Thank you figure skating team competition. I like that NBC is not being an ostrich about things like the internet, the time difference to Russia, etc. Gobs of live streaming. Lots of daytime coverage, even of big ticket events. Being upfront about those things during the prime time broadcast. This is the first Olympics I feel like they've really embraced those realities. I am also happy so far with NBC's touching on political issues -- which might be the most interesting part of these Games. True story: I wrote a paper on the Olympics and the Cold War. I want to eventually turn some of those thoughts into a post, but I want to see what transpires as the Olympics progress, lest this turn into an all-Olympics-all-the-time blog for a couple of weeks. I also must confess to having gotten teary-eyed 30 seconds into last night's broadcast during the tape of the Closing Ceremonies from Vancouver with the call to Sochi in 2014. Stopping now . . .
 
5. Random upshot of Russian Olympics: chance to brush up on my extraordinarily dusty ability to pronounce Russian. I can't remember much beyond, "What's that?," so I make no claim at speaking Russian, but being able to "read" that darn Cyrillic is still a fun stupid human trick.

St. Cyril, pray for us. Via

6.  Wednesday, Clare and I spent the morning with my cousin and her kids, who had the day off for teachers' professional development. We had the best day. Clare has been talking about her cousins since we left, listing them off by name, and especially enamored with "Livia."  Our main activity was making and decorating frosted sugar cookies "for Valentine's Day." It was Clare's first opportunity to get her hands dirty (literally) in the baking department. She was a natural at the eating part, but still has a way to go on the decorating part.

What? You're not supposed to lick the frosting off as you go?

 
7. 32 weeks!! Things are getting real y'all. This week, we passed the "2 months to my due date" mark. Mr. Man has been having quite the dance party in my belly the last couple of days. I really think I'm in for. I just hold out hope that he's at least a good sleeper!!

Getting big! 31 weeks, 6 days (yesterday)

Have a lovely weekend!

5 Favorites -- Olympic Edition

I haven't linked up with Hallie for 5 Favorites in awhile, buuuuuuut . . . the looming Olympics are a boost right back up on the bandwagon.

And so, without further ado, my five, totally frivolous favorite things about the Olympics:

1. Figure Skating - The Olympics are the one time every four years that anyone else really cares about figure skating. For whatever reason, I got captivated by the sport in elementary school, and have followed it -- anywhere from closely to very, very, very closely ever sense. Yes, my fandom has known peaks and valleys, but I can not only tell the difference between a lutz and a salchow just from watching, but I can also explain to you exactly how those things are done. I can't give the kind of lecture on the new code of points that I would like, but I can tell you how it has changed figure skating for the worse the last few Olympic cycles, though I think things are improving in the next couple generations of skaters (who have grown up with it). I'll give you a look if you refer to it as "ice skating." I can tell you more than you want to remember about the Nancy Kerrigan - Tonya Harding scandal. I can go on and on more than I already have. I have a problem. It is controlled at the moment, but like any addiction, recovery is very day to day. Especially once TV coverage gets underway.

Via

Oh, you're still reading?!? I promise the rest are shorter!

2. Watching sports I don't care about any other time - What's the opposite of a sport I actually care about? Sports that I don't care about! But, somehow, during the Olympics, sports like ski jump, short track speed skating, and curling are all anyone can talk about. And they are so much fun to watch!

Via

3. Surprises - I love that the Olympics are full of surprises. Surprise performances. Surprise stars. Surprise disappointments. Surprise human interest stories. I can pretty much guarantee that the waterworks will be at max output when you combine NBC's ability to make everything super-sappy with my pregnancy hormones.

If I knew, it wouldn't be a surprise. - Via

4. The Opening and Closing Ceremonies - The ceremony! The pageantry! The symbolism! The never-ending parade of nations! The weird art pieces! I watch it all with wonder, awe, amazement, and a good dose of what the bleeping heck was that?!?!? This is a country's chance to display itself to the world, and often, they end up showing it in ways that are wholly unexpected.

From London 2012 - Via

5. Patriotism - I am nothing if not patriotic. I'll chant U-S-A! U-S-A! with the best of them. I'll tear up for every.single. American gold medal ceremony I see as the Star Spangled Banner blares. Bonus points if the recipient sings along. Extra bonus points if s/he cries along with me.

From Vancouver 2010 - Via

3 Days to Go! I can't wait!

Ode to My Smart Phone -- Medical Mondays

I don't know how medical marriages lasted before technology.

Typing away -- starting them young.

We were a little late to the smart phone game, finally giving in last spring. But even so, even so, I have no idea how we could have done it without our old-school cell phones. (And for the record, I <3 my iPhone, so there's that.)

Now, I'm sitting here taking for granted that I can shoot off a silly little email to Charles while he's off toiling in the ER allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll night long. Nothing so important or earth-shattering that it's worth interrupting him with a text-message (much less a phone call -- which I can maybe maybe imagine if there was visible bone), but something that I think (hope?) will make him smile when he has a minute and checks his email. And if that minute doesn't come 'til morning, it will be waiting then, too.

I'm reflecting on the times I've sent him a cute picture of Clare that just.couldn't.wait. The ease of chatting on our cell phones several times a day while he was off on the interview trail. A thousand text messages. A phone call from the car or parking lot to let me know that he's on his way (and actually, for real, on his way).

For me, it has become a vital tool for keeping us connected, even when this life is crazy. And with residency looming on the horizon, I know that its value isn't going to diminish any time soon. :)

{Linking up with Your Doctor's Wife, From a Doctor's Wife, and MD School Mrs. for Medical Mondays.}