don't sweat the small stuff

This month 3 people in our extended circle of life have died. We didn't know any of them very well but all have touched our hearts and made us realize life is fragile and such a blessing and also to feel grief for the families that are suffering.

Sometimes posts like this can be depressing so feel free to skip, but I am not meaning to be super depressing rather to be grateful for what I have.

1. Ken Scherer. 51 year old dad of twins Calvin's age (+ a 4 year old) died of a GBM. The most aggressive and awful brain tumor there is. The family is a great family. Every summer they invite everyone in their kids' classes over for swim parties 1 day a week, host cookie decorating events during holiday times and generally have an open door policy for friends and family. Very neat. He was diagnosed only 2 months before he died. About 1 month prior to his death they emailed to friends and family to let them know of the diagnosis and invite them to come any time day or night to spend time and say good byes, which I think is quite amazing in and of itself.

2. Nick Venuto. About a week later. 40 year old dad of two kids (their second grader was in my chorus at school) was bicycling home from work at 6:20 pm when he was hit by a car and killed instantly. The weird thing about this accident is that he was riding on a "protected" bike trail up a small hill and with a fence providing a barrier from the freeway. The driver was not drunk nor did she have a stroke or other medical issue. She was 27 years old and claims to have over corrected and gone off the road (50 yards up a hill on grass) but there is an investigation going on as to what happened there since it was such a large deviation from the road. The passenger says the driver was not texting. She actually hit two bikers and the second is in critical condition still. Heartbreaking; so sad.

These two hit close to home becuse 1. dave is a biker himself and I always worry he will get hit when he is out biking. 2. both families had 2nd graders. My Mom died when Dan (my bro) was in 2nd grade.

3. Nkiru Amene. 27 year old killed in a car accident yesterday in Nigera while attending a wedding. She is the little sister of one of the residents in Dave's program. (The resident who is the same year as dave.) Click on the previous sentence for a link to an old post about Dave and Chiazo. So tragic and hard to lose a sister who is so young. She was about to start an MBA program at Harvard in the fall.

It makes me think about how I should be a little more grateful about all that I have and to appreciate each day a little more. Sometimes for me a good vs. bad day teeters on events that are so trivial in comparison to those things that these families are going through. I considered writing a post this morning about my bad luck of the day...being shut out of my email account (still SUPER ANNOYING) and having broken my brand new camera (still SUPER LAME since it is only 1 month old and in 2 weeks I need it to take pictures of my baby), but I realized that these are such small matters in the real scheme of things.

Remember the books about don't sweat the small stuff...there was one called, "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff and it's all Small Stuff" and so most of what we fret and fight and worry over really is small.

lest I forget

I thought I should write a little about pregnancy for myself to remember what it is like. I feel like the pregnancy is harder than my others and I'm not sure if it actually is harder, or just seems harder since I can't remember what I felt like for the others. For sure this end is harder than the end of Calvin's pregnancy when I went one week over and was grateful to have the extra days to study/write my thesis.

To start off, here are a couple of quotes to bring a smile your way:

Clare: "Oh, my butt hurts soooo bad. I just had a big poo and it felt like I was having a baby!"

My OB: "Well, everything looks good. Your blood pressure, your urine, your weight. Well, that's a little high, but ok." What, have I met the female version of dave?

I feel like I am wearing super tight clothes, you know what I mean? I feel like I've squeezed into a pair of jeans that are tight and just can't wait for the end of the day to come so I can slip into something more comfortable? However, even when I slip into something more comfortable I still feel like I am wearing something too tight!!

Baby moves all the time. This is fun. Sometimes I am so tired though I feel the burden of having 4 kids already and think "how can I have 4 kids???"

Random pains when baby punches or kids inside me or when I get cramps.

Varicose veins! YUCK. They are SOOOOO UGLY. I only have them on one leg (from knee to ankle) and I never had them before. I am lucky and grateful that I didn't get these until this pregnancy. They are so icky and also so painful. I wear a compression tight on one leg only. So far it has been cool enough that I wear pants and can get away with this but when I clean at home I wear shorts and sport just one tight. It is crazy. Does anyone know how quickly these will go away after I deliver? I am so anxious to be myself again!

One of the fun things about this pregnancy is having bigger kids who can enjoy the fun parts with me. The kids love to feel my tummy/feel the baby move, ask lots of questions, suggest baby names, get excited and countdown days with me.

Three weeks from today I am getting induced. I am counting down the days! Excited to meet baby girl (no name still -- however, I am determined to have her named before her siblings meet her).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHROHJlU_Ng This is what my kids have been watching while I type.

neurosurgery graduation

Last night we attended the graduation dinner for the graduating resident, Dr. Lissa Baird. (In the front middle wearing a teal shirt.) She is going on to a pediatric fellowship in Boston and then who knows where she'll take her job. If it is in your city, you are lucky to have her. She is an excellent surgeon and a great person as well.


above: all the current residents
below: dave and I (this picture kind of makes me look pregnant, don't you think!?! Baby is coming in 4 weeks).

Calvin took this picture of us at home!


Three more years 'til it is Dave's turn to graduate!

We have started to have some fun swim days with friends lately. (our pool is too cold to swim in still so we swim with friends at their pools 'til ours warms up. People with solar heating have warm pools already!)


On Memorial Day we had a fun swim party with lots of friends. We had about 25 kids in all and it was crazy and fun!



Pete and Parker and Jessica are in town for the summer. It is fun to have them around! Lexey loves uncle pete!

One of the residents in dave's program lives on this boat (the little one). ALL THE TIME. It really cracks me up.


Clare's friend Jane is moving next week. We will miss her and her family! Clare and Jane went on a "friend date" last week to Color Me Mine. It was a highly anticipated event and very fun for the girls.





My dad brought back these dresses for the girls from Spain a while ago.

We had a neighborhood street fair and the girls got their faces painted.

adding insult to injury

Sunday Dave says, "now you're so big I am thinking maybe you're having twins and one will be a boy."


Dave is really hanging on to the hope that he will somehow get a baby boy out of this. It is a good thing he came to the ultrasound and saw with his own eyes that it's a girl or he really wouldn't believe it!

I will post some belly pics soon so you can see my giant tummy too!