The Seversons

One of my favorite activities is planning a vacation, and it’s one that I’m going to miss out on for quite a while.  Shortly after our last trip to Cancun we started looking ahead to Eric’s spring break.  It was a week he’d have completely off at the end of April, right before he started his two months of Surgery.  We looked at locations close enough to drive to, with a beach, which is one of Eric’s major vacationing requirements.  We settled, finally, on heading down to Destin, Florida and spending a few days there.

I should have anticipated the first potential problem with our plan.  I have this thing called work where I have to go and work so I can make money.  We made our decision, we booked our hotel, and yet the question of how this would fit into my work schedule didn’t occur to me.  To be fair, this is in large part because my classes are not assigned to me until shortly before they begin so I didn’t know yet what my schedule would be.  Still, I should have anticipated that I’d have to take off 3 to 4 days, which is a lot for me.

To get around this we were planning on shifting the timing so I could miss only 1 or 2 days.  All it took was a change in our reservation and there was plenty of time to do it.  And, of course, a little catching up with my superiors to make sure that the dates in question were acceptable.  I was planning to do this over the past week, but hadn’t yet got around to it.

Turns out, none of it mattered because there has been some kind of mixup and instead of getting the 3rd year spring break, which happens at the end of April, Eric was bunched in with the 4th year spring break, which happens… now.  (Why this works this way I don’t know.  Emory’s undergrad spring break was a few weeks ago.)  This could have been fixed with some effort, but it would not be the ideal situation.  There were already scheduling problems with the later break, and there were plenty of reasons to just do it now.  It would have been great except that we just found out on Friday morning, right before Eric had to take his neurology exam.

Fortunately, because of my love of vacation planning, I could deal with it in a pinch.  Having our break this week meant we wouldn’t have to worry about my work schedule (my classes start on Saturday) and that Eric would have time to work on some lingering projects that have deadlines this week.  All in all, the timing was actually not too bad.  So then the question became what to do with ourselves.  Because Eric’s work will occupy him well into Wednesday and I have to be in class Saturday morning, we don’t exactly have the time to drive to the coast.  We don’t really have time to drive much of anywhere.  And given my pregnant and often exhausted state, this wasn’t the time to go rough it in a tent or go hiking on the A.T.  (I was actually all into the idea of going camping a few weeks ago until I realized that if I can’t  sleep through the night in my fabulously comfortable bed, a sleeping bag on the ground would not cut it.)

So instead plans have been made to take our mini-vacay right here in the ATL.  We are going to be tourists.  We will stay at a nice but reasonably priced hotel downtown.  We will go to the Aquarium and maybe I can convince Eric to hit Cyclorama.  We will ditch the car and instead ride the city rail system to all our various destinations.  We will go to restaurants.  We will order room service and get Chinese food delivered.  We will probably take a few naps and read a few books.  And we will enjoy ourselves.

And, above all, we will take pictures.  This is important since we need to develop this habit and we are terrible at it.  We have a wonderful new camera that gets very little use and it’s possible that if we don’t get on top of this there will be no documentation of the fact that we have a kid.

Technically we are already on break, even though we won’t start our official “trip” until Wednesday.  Eric is celebrating by still being asleep, even though he went to bed before 11 p.m.  Were he here he would tell you how beat he is from having to be up for work every morning blah blah blah, but the honest truth is that he gets more sleep than I do.  It is completely normal for him to go to bed a couple hours before I do, and I’ll be getting up around the time he leaves in the morning (which is about 10 minutes after he gets out of bed).  Last night while he was completely out I read an entire book before finally hitting the hay and yet, he’s still sleeping while I’ve been up for nearly two hours.  There really is no justice in the world when you’re pregnant.

So all is prepped.  The old reservations have been cancelled, new ones have been made, and now we just have a couple days until we get going.  Of course, there is the new weirdness that comes from having us both home for most of the day.  This will take some adjusting.  I am not used to having to feed anyone except for myself, and I’m guessing steamed broccoli or scrambled eggs or a peanut butter sandwich will not be high on his list of choices for lunch whereas I, in my constant midday scavenging, will regularly have one or all of them before dinner.  And Eric has already started the inevitable computer-fiddling that he always seems to do when he has down time and which requires me to occasionally get out of my chair so he can do something.  Yes, it is egregious.  But somehow I think we’ll manage.

In criminal law, there is an absolute defense called “duress.”  It is uncommon, but can potentially be effective.  I saw it used in a murder trial once.  (I believed it.  And they got a hung jury.  For the second time.  So yeah, it can definitely work.)  While the pictures below are not exactly crimes, they are not anything I can endorse wholeheartedly.  Instead they are to be used as evidence that I indulge my husband too easily.

I saw the shirt online and thought it was one of those things that was funny but that I would never do.  However, Eric was so besotted with it that it was purchased and shipped and arrived swiftly on our doorstep.  For those who may have left their glasses elsewhere, yes it does say “geek inside.”  Which has a 95% chance of being true.  Other things I feel obligated to say about this picture: this is the I-am-totally-humoring-you smile; I am wearing no makeup; and no I do not have strange lumps in my belly, it’s just a big t-shirt.

Since we haven’t actually taken one so far, I agreed to do the how-gigantic-am-I-now picture.  I keep going back and forth between thinking I totally don’t look that pregnant to No I really look huge.  Either way, I am big enough that I get a “congratulations” about 50% of the time from cashiers.

I cannot promise any future pictures.  Then again, there is Eric.  Hopefully the fact that I spoil him does not mean I will spoil our children.

There isn’t anything I can think of that’s more satisfying than my post-workout meal of an egg-spinach scramble with a little cheese on top.  Now that I’m back in a workout routine, the question of what to eat when it’s over is one I enjoy answering.

Spinach has been one of my main cravings for the last month or so and I eat it nearly every day.  I wish I could say that this means pregnancy wants me to be healthy.  I can’t.  Because the other thing I crave is cake.  Lots of cake.  Cupcakes work, too.  I don’t let myself indulge my cake craving too often, mostly because it’s too difficult.  Making a cake is too much work, and I’d feel compelled to eat the entire thing.  And while there is cake at the grocery store, it is not good cake and my craving is quite specific for good cake.  There are plenty of bakeries near the house, but none that carry cupcakes.  So last week I drove just a bit out of the way to bring home some cupcakes.  A red velvet and a chocolate.  And they were wonderful.  In fact, they were so wonderful that it only increased my need for cake.

This may just sound like normal girl talk, but this has never been how I operate.  If there is a bowl of candy out, I won’t take any.  If there is dessert at a restaurant, I won’t order it.  There are occasional exceptions to this rule but for the most part I’ve never had an uncontrollable sweet tooth.  I’ve never been the type to hoard chocolate, although this trait does run in my family.  I may be married to a candy-addict, but I rarely have any myself.  And with something like cake, it’s a pretty sudden change.  I like having birthday cake, but it’s not something I make with any regularity or think about terribly often.  If anything, it’s always been much easier to indulge with something like ice cream, where there is always plenty of it close by with a variety of flavors.

Ice cream has actually become the stand-in for cake when I have none around and can’t kick the urge.  But ice cream alone is not quite special enough.  So I have been buying vanilla (normally too plain for me) and adding Magic Shell topping.  As a kid, Magic Shell was one of those things that was supremely special and rare.  Perhaps that’s why I still always think of it fondly.  It turns out that Magic Shell on vanilla ice cream is just as good as it was then.  When I am cake-less, it more than does the job.

With all this talk of treats, I should set the record straight.  I have not gained 50 pounds.  I am still using as much moderation as I can muster.  But ice cream 2 or 3 nights a week is significantly more than I normally have, so it still feels like a crazy indulgence.  And that pales in comparison with a lovely cupcake on a plate.  The rest of my eating is actually quite good.  I think I’ve mastered the pregnancy-small-meal diet pretty well, actually.  Early on when I was able to eat again, I would regularly eat too much at dinner just by having the same amount I normally would.  I suppose it’s a good thing I’ve got the hang of it since I still have a good 4 months to go.

There is the remaining question of how often I may indulge in a cupcake.  It has not yet been answered.  But the fact that it takes a while to drive to get the cupcakes may become the primary limiting factor.  It’s unlikely I’ll get any today, since it’s already mid-afternoon and I have yet to decide what I’m making for dinner or get any food to make it with.  And once you hit evening traffic, it’s  not worth the trouble.  This is all for the best, though.  In law school I learned to love checks and balances, and the distance to the cupcakes is a good check on my cupcake craving behavior.

I wish there were more to report, but you know things are pretty slow when cupcakes are the main thought in my head for a few weeks running.  But our one bit of news is that Eric has finally felt the baby kick.  I’ve felt movement for many weeks now, but it hasn’t been enough to feel from the outside.  Fortunately, the other night while we were chilling on the couch, Nugget felt like executing a bunch of karate kicks high on my stomach.  The kicking has slowed down for the last few days and instead it just feels like he’s rolling around a lot.  Which is fine, because as cool as it is to feel kicks, it can be very distracting.  Especially when trying to sleep.  Sleep is already rough for me, I’m getting used to laying there for hours on end in the middle of the night.  And it’s bad enough that Eric has recently been like an overenthusiastic imperialist country trying to get every last bit of space he possibly can.  So I’m being encroached upon from within and without, which can make my efforts to get back to bed more difficult.

My normal response to this is to tell Eric to scoot over.  He used to be quite well-trained and would follow my commands without waking up.  But lately he’s become resistant.  Last night when told to scoot, he instead rolled closer to me.  It was not appreciated.  Unfortuantely, it’s difficult to bargain with someone while they’re asleep.  Some would suggest that we look into getting a bigger bed, but I know this is useless.  It doesn’t matter how big the bed is.  It doesn’t matter if we switch sides.  Eric is a cuddler and there’s nothing to be done.  Once the pregnancy is over and I can move like a normal person again, I’m sure nights will once again be peaceful, instead of an hours-long game of Risk with the bed as the game board.

This morning I woke up to a surprise.  Someone bought us a present off our baby registry!  This was particularly a surprise because even though I’d put it up on this site (see that little link in the top right?) and on my facebook page, I hadn’t had the chance to mention it yet.  So someone is very on the ball.  Congrats and thank you in advance!

I’m even more surprised because I have heard from those who have been there that a baby registry is a nice idea but is not so much the source of actual gifts.  Because everybody just wants to go buy baby clothes because they are cute and it gives them a chance to walk through the store going “Aww” every few seconds.  We are, of course, not opposed to getting clothes though there are none on the registry.  And I have to admit that I can certainly see why people tell you to do one anyway so you can at least get organized.  It gave me a chance to do all my baby stuff research and keep a list of what our decisions were.  (I say “our” decisions though I should actually say “my” decisions.  Eric made one decision for the registry: the jogging stroller.  This after he agreed to go with me to the baby store this last weekend to get a hands-on look at our larger purchases.  He insists the trip was no big deal after I said “See, that wasn’t so bad,” but it still took a few months for this to happen and it probably won’t happen again.  You be the judge.)  So.  The link is up.  You’re welcome to peruse the list and then get something completely different.  Or you can get us nothing at all.  Don’t worry.  It’s cool.

If you are planning to send something our way, a couple quick notes.  Our address changed a couple of months ago so if you need it just send an email or give us a call.  I’m not quite at the level of public openness to put our address on the blog.  Also, this is an online registry, not one you can go to the store and print out.  I made an effort to find the cheapest place to get these various items and I check every week or two to make sure the prices are the same.  The registry should show you exactly where to go to get stuff.  But you’ll need to print out the online list if you’re planning to actually show up to a physical store.

You may have noticed recently that my efforts to keep pregnancy to a minimum on the blog have failed miserably.  I will tell you why: pregnancy has taken over my life and I’ve just decided to deal with it.  I am not one of those women who says, “Oh, my pregnancy is going so great, I don’t have any pain or discomfort or nausea, if it weren’t for that pregnancy test I wouldn’t even know I was pregnant!”  I wish that could be me, but it’s not.  Instead I have all kinds of pains in all kinds of places and I made the mistake of looking at myself from behind in the mirror the other day and have decided not to do that again for a long time.  My maternity wardrobe consists almost completely of Old Navy tops, not just because they’re cheap but because I don’t really feel like making the effort to dress like a normal person.  My maternity yoga pants are my everyday pants, it is a special occasion when I wear my single pair of maternity jeans.  It’s not that I’m a slob, this is how I actually prefer to dress and pregnancy gives me the excuse to not bother making the extra effort.  That may be the only perk.  (Besides the whole getting a baby out of it thing.)

However, I do promise not to just start listing all my pregnancy complaints.  It would go on forever and it’s not very interesting.  If you’re curious, I’m sure Eric can tell you all about it since he’s getting the brunt of that right now.  Speaking of the Nugget, I will now post my favorite ultrasound picture.  It is my favorite because I think if we were to frame it and put it in the Nugget’s room when he is a toddler it would give him bad dreams.  I call it the Skeletor picture.

I made this one really big so you can see his little face clearly.  That one eye follows you across the room. I particularly like the scary mouth.  Our recent tests show no sign of birth defects, but there is one little thing.  We have 4 different ultrasound pictures with this eye in it.  But the other one doesn’t make an appearance.  But if our baby is born without a right eye, I am sure we can find a very cute baby eye patch.  He does seem like a fan of the camera, he just looks at you head on with a big smile.