This past weekend Petaluma celebrated its history with the annual Butter and Eggs Day Parade. I've been meaning to take John and the kids for a while now, but for some reason we always miss it. Thanks to Facebook I got a reminder a couple of weeks ago that the Butter and Eggs Day Parade was approaching, so we made plans to attend...FINALLY!

When I was a little girl my family was ALWAYS in the parade. At that point, it was just one parade. My brother and I would join by representing our elementary school, and my Dad would participate by playing in his pipe band. However, I was amazed to see how big this parade has gotten. There are now two separate parades. One for the children (schools, sports, etc), and one for the rest of the community.

In the past this parade/event was popular with older inhabitants (and by "older" I mean 20-30 years old) of Petaluma because it was the one day in the year where open alcoholic beverages were allowed on the streets. Now that the parade/event is gaining popularity walking around with open alcoholic beverages was only permitted in the beer "gardens". I was actually happy to see this change. I don't need drunken college students spilling their beers and stumbling over my children.

After watching the parade for a while, we took the boys to get some lunch. There were food vendors as well as merchant vendors spread throughout the parade route. They were placed on side streets. We chowed down on corn dogs and curly fries. Then, we went to Starbucks, grabbed some iced coffee and watched the rest of the parade from our air conditioned sanctuary.

Before heading back to Pappy's house we stopped by the newly refurbished park on D street, and let the boys run around. Manny spent nearly 40 minutes on the swing, while Christian picked at the tan bark.

Earlier in the week I was graced with a bout of vertigo. It peaked on Monday and slowly started getting better. By Wednesday I thought I was nearly cured, so I decided to clean the kitchen...what a horrible idea. By the time I decided to stop I started getting the shakes because I was so dizzy.

I saw our nurse practitioner this past Friday. I wasn't prescribed any antibiotics. I was told that it would eventually go away on its own. She did prescribe something that would make my dizzy spells less annoying, but that medication was FORTY friggin dollars. I'll just deal with it...thanks.

We took the boys to Tanforan Mall this evening for dinner. It was too friggin' hot to stay inside the house any longer. After our healthy mall meal, we went to the indoor play yard that is stationed right outside of Target.

While there Christian was attracting ladies of all ages. The moms couldn't resist his gorgeous smile. In fact, one lady (I think she was a Grandma) made moves as if she wanted to hold him! Of course he was flirting with her until she got up close, but as soon as she reached her arms out he shied away.

Several minutes later while he was playing on one of the structures, a small little girl (maybe 18-24 months) came up and sat next to him. She kept staring at him, which made him laugh. Then she grabbed his hands and laid a HUGE kiss on his forehead.

Later, another girl (probably 3) came up and started rubbing his head! I swear, he's the youngest pimp I've ever seen ;)

It was 80 degrees today in Daly City, which is extremely abnormal. We're used to cooler temperatures here. When it's 90 degrees in San Mateo (which is about 15 minutes north) we love our little 70 degree sanctuary. We decided to take the kids to the beach to escape the heatwave.

No matter how well we plan, it's always a scramble to gather everything together. I could start getting ready hours before we're scheduled to leave, but it always seems we're rushed in those last couple of minutes. We managed to get both kids, all of the toys, the dome shade, chairs, cooler and blanket in the car by 11:45 a.m., and made our way to Pacifica State Beach.

In my infinite wisdom I thought it was a great idea to put both boys in their swim diapers before we took off for the beach. I didn't want to have to worry about diaper changes in the gritty sand. However, this planning backfired. I was unaware that swimmer diapers literally have NO absorption. Before we even were able to get Christian into his car seat he had wet through, which not only required a diaper change, but a change of shorts as well. When we arrived at the beach, Manny soaked through his diaper. So I ended up having to change diapers in the gritty sand anyway.

I don't know what it is about a beach that makes a person so relaxed. As soon as we got out of the car I knew we were going to have a great time (even as I was dragging Manny across the parking lot kicking and screaming because he didn't want to hold my hand). The air smelled of sea water, and suntan lotion. The sky was a perfect shade of blue. The sand was soft under our feet. Beautiful.

We set up our shade, laid out the sand toys and let the boys make a mess. In a matter of moments Christian had sand in his mouth. I pictured his butt crack full of sand as soon as he started digging, and I tried not to think of the mess that we would need to clean up afterward.

This was Christian's second trip to the beach. His first trip happened when he was only a couple of months old. However, I'll consider this trip his first "real" trip, as he really got to enjoy himself.

The moment I plopped his butt on the ground he instinctively dug his chubby little fingers in the sand. He loved the texture. He loved the open air. He's my little observer so I could tell he was taking in all of the scenery.

Manny spent the first couple of minutes at the beach crying (it wouldn't be Manny without a little drama). He was still upset about having to hold my hand in the parking lot. Once he saw the sand toys he immediately snapped out of his funk and got to work.

You know how most kids build sand castles at the beach? Not my boy, he builds rock castles.

Unfortunately (or fortunately if you're obsessed with rocks like Manny) Pacifica State Beach is littered with rocks. It made John a little worried when Christian tried to venture away from our safe zone. I'm sure he pictured him falling and cracking his head open. However, Manny couldn't have been more excited.

Once he was bored with all of the sand, I took Manny on a "rock hunting" walk. He found big rocks, little rocks, soft and smooth rocks, and he knew exactly what he wanted to do with them. With the help of John and myself, Manny stared to build his rock castle.

He was in the "zone" for a good thirty minutes. He scoured the surrounding area for the perfect rock to meet his needs. I would see him pick up a rock, study it, and then put it down. When he found a rock that met his requirements his eyes lit up. John was so proud of his boy :)

Of course, what's more fun then building a rock castle? Total destruction. He knocked down the entire structure when he was finished. Here's a couple of more pictures of his castle before its demolition:


We left the beach shortly after 2:30 p.m. and were met with a parade of cars that wound all the way up the highway. When we saw the line of cars John and I were so happy we decided to go to the beach when we did.

It seems like everyone surrounding me is getting some type of staph infection. In February my father in law got a staph infection on his neck. He had to keep going back to the hospital for a week to do all sorts of tests to make sure it wasn't MRSA. Luckily everything turned out fine.

Just before his birthday Manny got (what I thought was a) zit on his inner thigh, which turned into an abscess. It hurt him so badly that he couldn't really walk. We went to his ped (now our former ped) and she said that it wasn't anything to worry about, and gave us an antibiotics to get rid of it.

We switched peds just after my encounter with the bitchy receptionist at our old docs office. When I took Manny to his well check with his new doctor I had him look at another zit on Manny's leg. I wanted to get it checked out before it turned into another abscess. Turns out that it wasn't a zit, it was a friggin' staph infection! He said that his previous "abscess" was probably staph as well. He continued to say that if Manny had gotten staph a couple of years ago he wouldn't be so adamant about antibiotics but because of the spread of MRSA we should get ointment and apply it whenever we see an infection start.

Fast forward to last Wednesday, John noticed a zit on his leg. It was really sore, but nothing he was really concerned with; by Friday he could barely walk. He went to his doc and sure enough...another friggin' staph infection! He's been on antibiotics since Friday, and it's starting to get better, but it's the nastiest thing I've ever seen...so gross.

I just feel horribly for Manny. I knew that he was in pain when he had his "abscess" but I totally thought he was overacting. Little did I know that he was in extreme pain. John was literally brought to his knees by the pain.

John has turned into a total germaphobe since his diagnosis. Let's hope that neither Christian nor I get staph...that would totally suck.

What an awesome day. The boys actually slept in a bit (fabulous). We didn't wake up until 8:30 a.m.

The Easter Bunny was good to our little munchkins this year. He brought Christian some cool plates, a new cup and some toys. He brought Manny some awesome Kung Fu Panda toys and lots of candy (which Mommy and Daddy will eat most of).

We headed over to the Floresca's house (old family friends of John) around 2:00 p.m. and participated in the Easter Egg Hunt. By this point Manny was starting to get a bit grumpy (no nap), but he held it together for a little bit.

Manny couldn't wait for the Egg Hunt. However, Christian couldn't have cared less. I tried to get him excited when we went outside, but he preferred to eat the leaves that he found on the grass. By the time the hunt was over Manny was on the verge of a meltdown. It was at that time we decided it was time to go.

All in all a fabulous day!

I had my doula certification workshop this weekend, and during the workshop we went over our required reading list. Then, our instructor gave us the names of books that aren't on the list, but definitely worth reading. One of the books that came up is The Baby Catcher, by Peggy Vincent. Peggy Vincent is a well respected midwife, who started out as a nurse. You can read her bio here

I was desperately looking for a birth related book, but something that wasn't so clinical (my brain can't handle anymore of those books at the moment), so I went to the book store, and bought the book.

OH MY GOSH...

I was only able to read the first chapter this morning before the boys woke up, but it had me in tears. Peggy was a young student nurse working in the OB section of a large hospital. It was her first day on the job, and she was overseeing her first labor. Hospital regulations stated that laboring mothers were not allowed to leave the confines of their bed. However, the laboring mother, Zelda, was not cooperating. Here's a short excerpt:

Zelda realized he was determined to knock her out, no matter what, and she went wild again, tossing her head and making strangled sounds from beneath the cushioned mask. She kicked and bucked with every ounce of her strength but succeeded only in rattling the delivery table till I feared the bolts would shake loose.

She couldn’t keep it up forever, but her face turned deep purple before she finally sucked in a tremendous mouthful of the gas. Her fists and spine relaxed, and her head rolled to the side as she slumped into unconsciousness. When the doctor lifted the mask, dribbles of spit hung out the side of her slack mouth before dripping to the pillow.

"Jeezis, I’m glad this one’s over," growled the doctor.

Invisible in my student uniform, I stood beside her as they untied her arms and legs and moved her onto the gurney. A tall nurse carried the bundled baby out the door, and I thought, Zelda doesn’t even know it’s a boy. I slipped my fingers into her loosely curled hand and held it as I watched another nurse jam a white sanitary pad between her dark and bloody thighs. When they stretched her legs out flat, her belly wrinkled like a deflated brown balloon and slumped between her angular hipbones.

I stared at her a moment, and then I grabbed a sheet from the linen shelf and covered her nakedness, wanting to do more.

So much more.

The section in BOLD is the section that had me crying. At first I envisioned myself as Zelda: a mother powerless in her own birth. Then I switched roles and became Peggy: a young nurse, wanting to help Zelda, but being powerless to do so. There simply are no words.

We've come a long way with laboring mothers and childbirth, but we still have a long way to go. I really do want to help women in their births, but I wonder if my "calling" is to help change policy. Should I become a lobbyist? Or am I best serving mothers by supporting, educating and advocating for them during their births? I'm not sure what the right answer is at the moment. I'm sure that it's going to take a couple of births to decide where I 'fit'. But I'm looking forward to the journey.

Manny's April Fools joke for me. Unfortunately, I didn't see the humor in it.

While at the grocery store last night, Manny pointed to the zucchini and very loudly said, "that looks like a penis". Now I admit I reacted with embarrassment as there were about three people standing within ear shot. In retrospect, I should have been more understanding and said something like, "yes, your right. It sorta does look like a penis". However, the immature 8 year old inside of me - who blushes at the word penis - turned beat red, and covered Manny's mouth. I'll do better next time, I promise.