yearbookin' the biscuit!

here's the biscuit circa 1968. that's one hep dog:





i really like this one, too. the glasses definitely add a distinguished flair:





however, it's clear that the biscuit would have really been a child of the eighties. in fact, i think i went to high school with these guys in wv (not during the eighties, but we were a little behind the times):






disturbing....


in baby news, today is my due date, and i think things may be moving along. i don't want to gross anybody out, so i won't post details....but i will say that i had a little visitor called "the mucous plug" last night (click here for a detailed explanation). sweet.

the kicker

last night, bdub convinced me to see one of his favorite bands -rudder- with him. bdub is excellent friends with two of the members and LOVES their drummer (and welcomes any opportunity to hear him play).



apparently, he is not the only wolfeinelli who is enthralled with keith carlock. our little max, who has been pretty mellow lately (aside from some twists and turns during my yoga class) perked up quite a bit when keith hit the skins. i swear, i think he was kicking along to the bass drum. no kidding. perhaps we've got a third generation drummer on our hands? crazy.

plus, he has dropped a little! i am experiencing "the lightening", and i love it! it feels good to be able to take a deep breath again.

showered with love

i am truly a blessed woman.

it all started with my mom (or i think it did...apparently many peeps have been working undercover in the wolfeinelli showering department). this spring, she delightfully announced to me that she wanted to throw us a shower, and throw one she did.

brian and i arrived in morgantown one sunny weekend in august and spent a gorgeous sunday surrounded by friends (ours and parental) and family. the day was a smashing success, which is a good thing, considering irene may have been a bit frantic about hosting the event. in the preceding days and weeks, i was emailed about many a detail, from themes (nixed) to games (definitely nixed) to irene's confusion over our desire to have the affair be co-ed ("but what will the MEN do?"). i agreed wholeheartedly to a "diaper cake" centerpiece which the crafty irene erected three layers tall...it consisted of about sixty rolled up diapers and was festooned with pacifiers, rattles, and other cute little toys. truly a sight to behold.


(the above photo is an approximation...dare i say irene's diy version was even better)

when consulted numerous times of what to serve, i suggested some grilled pizzas, in the interest of keeping things economical, fun, and easy. this proved to be stress-inducing for our hosts, i could tell, and my dear friend katie --personal chef and kitchen goddess-- stepped in to relieve the worries. she was quite a hit with the recently or soon-to-be retired menfolk, who apparently decided that what they would do, as irene had so fretted over, would be to quiz katherine on how they could improve upon their skills as home cooks and gourmands. thanks again, katie. you are seriously a trooper.

the following month, a very sneaky kara dean and dylan threw another affair. smart lady and busy mom that she is, kara arranged several committees, including those involving food (dylan), set up (heather dawn) and decorations (joyous aka "the white tornado" and deej, purveyor of all things good).

"what tha...?!"


it was a spectacular affair and, once again, the weather gods smiled upon us. kara dean had many fun activities planned, such as a compilation of fabric squares covered in handwritten labor wishes and a betting pool predicting when max will arrive! deej created favors of handmade, signature scented baby shoe soaps from vintage molds. amazing.



finally, just a couple of weeks ago, i was informed of an evening job for parents mag. apparently, a reshoot was needed due to a horrible kids groomer who was hired in a pinch when i was not available. smugly, i said, "sure, i'll do the reshoot", only to arrive at another surprise shower! the parents peeps raided their goodie closet (which is NOT a myth-- these things really do exist) and gifted max with all manner of adorable baby things, plus a lovely spa gift certificate for mama.

aside from compiling a registry and the consulting sessions with irene, i had nothing to do with any of this...and i couldn't imagine planning three more lovely, fun, and stress-free (for me, anyway) events. to quote my new favorite book momma zen, "the unplanning was perfect". a good lesson for nowlze in letting go of control, which i am certain will come in handy in the days to come.

speaking of which, i am 37 weeks today. max is full term. *gulp*.

cuts like a knife

while i made bdub swear that he wouldn't tell ANYONE about the little incident i am going to reveal, i think i need to come clean. maybe i can help pregnant women everywhere who feel they have lost complete, utter, and total control of their emotions?

so we are driving home from a lovely two days in the berkshires yesterday (bdub played with the sweet divines at mass MoCA--highly recommended museum if you are ever in the area).

bryan adams' "heaven" comes on the radio (no--not RYan adams, the alt country indie darling. BRYan adams, the 80's cheeseball).

"oh, thinkin' about our younger years....

it was only you and me
we were young and wild and free...."

that was all it took. i crumpled into a puddle of mush. i didn't have a pretty cry, either, with a couple of nostalgic tears running down my cheeks that could be quietly wiped away with any sort of dignity. i bawled, snotty, ugly, and inconsolable, i kept repeating to bdub, "i am SUCH a DORK! i can't believe i am bawling over a stupid bryan adams song!"

upon relaying this story to my friend dylan, he assured me that my brother, jay, would lose all respect for me if i ever revealed this nugget of truth to him. if i ever had any punk rock credibility at any time, it, like so much of my former, stoic-in-the-face-of bad-80's pop- self, is gone with the wind. hormones are a funny thing that way.

thankfulness

this little conversation could be overheard at 92 hawthorne last night:

me:"bdub, thanks for making me soup."

bdub: "thanks for going to massachusetts with me this weekend."

me: "thanks for getting such a nice hotel room."

bdub: "thanks for letting me impregnate you."

new digs, no time to blog

we're all moved in! unbelievable!

i think that perhaps my stress level is starting to alleviate. after a hellish week, i was awoken at four am by a full bladder, and upon my return to bed had a tremendously cathartic and snotty cry. not at all a pretty cry, but one of those cries that really feels like one is exorcising demons (my demons being those of complete and utter irritability, focused nearly 100% towards my poor bdub, bless him).

so anyway, i actually had a weekend off to enjoy my new digs, which i have been looking forward to for months. i was booked for work every day this week, which left no time for any exploring of my new 'hood, and since exploring takes too much energy and my feet are seriously KILLING me, i have been laying low on the home front (the home front including kara dean's new digs as well) and nesting like a little bird.

all that we have left to do is the nursery and some accessorizing! i can't wait for my first opportunity to hit ikea and target, as i believe that these shopping trips and the storage and organizational products they promise will greatly improve my quality of life.

a fun development here at hawthorne street is the tremendous and practically instantaneous popularity of the biscuit. our building is full of the most adorable children i have ever seen, and once one of them knew the biscuit's name, it seemed like all of them were instantly smitten and dying to get a look at him and give him a pet. the other day, as i took out the biscuit for a pee, some 10-ish year old boy i had never seen before in my life came speeding by on his bike. he yelled to us, "hi biscuit!" and waved. who are you, sweet boy, and how do you know my dog?

pics of new place to follow, i promise. new pregnancy symptoms (as i am now 30 weeks) include:

-a perpetually full bladder
-a left foot that looks like a potato
-insomnia
-inability to see my toes
-difficulty picking objects up off of the floor (which can actually be quite amusing)
-the desire to want to bludgeon peeps who do me wrong

bump watch '08 continues

as per the request of readers everywhere (or...actually....just ehrrin keenan), here are a couple of preggo photos. i was a little over 26 weeks when these were taken.

i almost titled this post "down in fraggle rock" because i know i look like a fraggle in photos---lots of nose and quite the jim henson creation, and i cannot be convinced otherwise. see for yourself:


fraggles:















nowlze:















here are a couple of others:

























some variation of the last one, but with me holding an ultrasound photo, will appear in an upcoming issue of parents magazine accompanying an article about prenatal testing. while i am thrilled to have the photos and i heart the photographer (alexandra grablewski) to pieces, doing this little assignment for them was pure torture and decidedly not my idea. i will leave the wolfeinelli forays into modeling to the biscuit from now on.

we found a place! HALLELUJAH!

and it's about @(*%$& time!

wolfeinelli inc headquarters will be moving to 92 hawthorne street in just 17 short days. i will not disclose the rent on here, as i do not discuss things like rents in greater new york city....this is because to those fine peeps who live in new york or other expensive metropolitan areas, our rent would seem like a STEAL, yet to those who live in less populated areas, it would appear more like a ripoff.

but i will say this: we are moving to a lovely block in prospect lefferts garden for little more than we pay now. we will be a mere six stops to the city on the Q train and just 2 blocks from prospect park! we will have two bedrooms in a lovely pre-war building with hardwood floors and great big windows. the unit is entirely renovated, as in the plastic is still on the toilet seat, so our hienies will be the first to sit on it. it is up one short flight of stairs--easy peasy for the biscuit and for transporting things like strollers and drum kits.

here are some pics:




i am psyched. while moving can be a bit of a stressful endeavor (or, atleast, the packing can), i love making lists of things to buy, going shopping for home bargains, decorating, picking out paint samples...the whole nine. i'm needing this fresh start. i am so over all of the annoyances of 89 maujer, starting with the pests (i think the final straw was the giant flying cockroach i came nose to nose with last week. horrifying.)

on another disturbing and frustrating note re. vermin: my animals have fleas!! first i noticed them on the biscuit, which is just ri-dingdong-diculous, because he was dosed with frontline. turns out that under all of that thick white fluff, the woob is also crawling with them. my theory is that they hopped on the woob during one of his suntanning sessions he likes to carry out on our patio table. because his outdoor visits are so brief, i didn't bother giving him a flea preventative. bad kitty-mama, i know. so now, both of our pets are swimming in chemically, flea-killing goodness (that i hope for baby max's sake doesn't get all over my fingers and cross through the placenta when i apply it to them.)

and in baby max news, i am now at 26 weeks! we just had our appointment with sandy woods, one of two midwives who will go through this pregnancy with us and possibly deliver the babe (it will be either sandy or corie macqueen, our other awesome midwife.) after drinking a really nasty orange liquid for my one hour glucose screening, i was weighed and measured and poked and prodded by sandy and given the "all good" prognosis once again. thank god. max is doing great in there...he even kicked when he heard his own heartbeat! i wonder where he gets that rhythm from?....

what a difference nine weeks makes

here's my belly at 12 weeks:





and here it is at 21 weeks:







i thought i had a massive bump at 12 weeks, and now at almost 22 weeks i feel like i look so huge! i know that a month and a half from now i'll probably look back on the 21 week pic and think, "that girl didn't know from huge!"

max's anatomy scan

today was my 20 week anatomy scan, which is essentially a very detailed ultrasound. i had warm gel squirted on my belly, and the technician, adelle, took all kinds of measurements from the images of max: lips, legs, arms, internal organs, his placement in the placenta, hands, feet, digits.

another technician took over, specifically to get images of the chambers of his heart, during which he preferred to flip and turn, so that took a while. she told me that something i ate must have been "very stimulating" for him, which, of course, has had me rethinking my orange juice intake (the only part of my eggs and toast breakfast which i can imagine would be "stimulating".)

a really sweet doctor came in to give me the results--MUCH nicer guy than the wiener doctor who was there for the NT scan. this guy actually seemed interested in how i was feeling, and asked me about my mother's pregnancies and if there were any complications. i told him i was one of five, and he said i needed to catch up, and that maybe next time it'll be twins.

hilarious.

max also quite enjoyed holding one foot with his hand during parts of the exam. both of the techs commented on it and it made them laugh. already the show off.



the results are that everything is fine, normal, perfect, etc. no problems. words cannot express my complete and utter relief.

bye for now!




(p.s. beezie, if you're reading: is it just my imagination, or does he already bear a striking resemblance to jasper, especially in the mouth?)

out of the mouth of babes

today i got to work with two of my favorite kiddie models, esther and georgia. they are vietnamese twin girls with two mommies, they are adopted, and they are AWESOME.

anyway, twin #1 (i think it was esther) looked at my belly and asked, "are you pregnant?"

"yes!" i replied enthusiastically to her.

and with this she stared right at me and said, "you know, you really should adopt."

this cracked me up. i told her that it was a little too late this time around, but maybe next time.

in other pregnancy news, i am feeling max move more and more. on a job a couple of weeks ago, i actually stood up and looked around because i thought i must have been sitting on a cell phone or a cable and receiving some sort of electric shock/vibration. the best way to describe these early flutters (and i feel them several times a day) is as if there is a goldfish swimming around just below my ribs, holding a tiny cellphone that is set to "vibrate". it's weird, but i like it.

oh boy...

yes, we're having a max (not a neve as i had convinced myself). it's crazy, because more and more, i had been picturing a little max running around....or, actually, being mellow and chilling out with me and his dad and his cousins. who knows? perhaps my instincts will be off with that personality assessment, too, but let's hope that they are more on point this time (i have felt from the beginning that i would either give birth to a crazy-lady girl or a mellow, easy-going boy.)

as much as i do love the precocious, little city girl with the striped tights sagging at the ankles over the jumpers and the mussed ponytail from riding the subway, i have let that dream go this time around....because really, that was a dream about stuff. and if i am going to be completely honest, a dream about a little version of me (that maybe i could "get right" a second time around.) egotistical? yes. i need to allow this little bean the autonomy of being nothing but himself.

already a lesson learned. still, i do have a healthy dose of fantasy lurking within, of a mini-bdub this time, but one of those sweet city kids who is savvy yet compassionate, confident and independent yet lovin' his mama, and with a world view which we never knew as kids...one that i pray will make him a person who sees more beyond himself. i have also realized from talking with my kick-ass husband that i can still raise an ass-kicking, strong feminist....after all, i married one.

but enough about me. here's to you, max. keep on kickin'. your mama loves you.

another milestone

within the last two days, two people whom i hadn't told i was PG commented on my pregnancy. i guess that means i am officially showing!

the first was a little old actor with whom i was working on these australian "webisodes". out of nowhere he asked me, "when are you due?" and when i told him he said, "i have a daughter...." and paused...and told me that he never really knew love until the day she was born.

the other was the biscuit's vet, dr. leiman (the one who shushed bdub). we took the biscuit in to see him today (i was convinced that le bisquit had pneumonia...long story, he's fine,) and after the exam concluded, dr. leiman said, "i have some really good literature about introducing a new baby to your dog" and proceeded to give us all of this good advice about keeping treats by the door for visitors to give the biscuit, and how to enter the home with a baby. it was so sweet! and so out of nowhere, because i was wearing a very loose tunic that is not especially bump-revealing.

how nice, though, that these comments have been helpful and encouraging. i'm just waiting for the bad parenting advice to ensue. maybe i can get one of these for after the little bean comes along:

sniffly mama

i must have hormones in overdrive, because lately everything but EVERYTHING is making me weepy. here's a partial list:

-anything on tv having to do with animals, especially escape to chimp eden
-speeches by barack obama
-cuddle time with the biscuit (little does he know...so fleeting)
-any and all public protest, especially those having to do with the sean bell trial (his fiancee was arrested during the protest....what a strong woman.)
-all shows featuring babies, delivery, birth
-even my childbirth books! they're instructional books, for crying out loud!

this week has been stressful. family health issues, no time for nothin', work drama with the nasty lady (whom i refused to work with again....and with my insistence was actually heard and accepted by the booker for the job. crazy.)

the apartment hunt has begun in earnest with an email sent to our peeps, and trying to get an idea of what's out there on craigslist. i am not really looking forward to a long, drawn-out search-- which, hopefully, can be avoided--, but as our basement has flooded AGAIN this week (broken hot water heater, promptly repaired) and the little black ants continue to march along our kitchen counters and bathroom vanity, i look forward to a day with no pests, new appliances, and room for baby.

apologies for the lack of photos...i have two from "bump watch 2008" on the way.

good stuff

we received a couple of items of good news today!

dr. moritz called with the results of my NT scan (and it's about *bleepin'* time.) the results placed the baby at a 1:1800 risk for down syndrome and other trisomies. the good doctor said, "can't ask for any better than that!" which is great to hear, but also makes me feel old....at 34, i am practically a pregnancy dinosaur, just one digit and revolution around the sun from the dreaded "high risk" category, so we'll take our compliments where we can get 'em.

the other fantastic news is that our landlord, ruben, plans to renovate our apartment this summer! w00t! we really love wolfeinelli headquarters, but were afraid that its current setup (combined livingroom and bedroom with NO DOOR) was simply not conducive to sleep training an infant. ruben's idea is to put our NEW bedroom in the back or our apartment where our kitchen is currently, and then combine our NEW kitchen with our NEW living room and build a brand spankin' NEW bathroom. we're talking a gut renovation, so we will need to sublet during that time and work out some type of storage situation for all of our stuff. totally worth it, though, as we really do have a great space and we love our neighborhood!

such a relief, knowing that these things are gradually falling into place. i am so relieved, in fact, that i will not complain about another day from hell with lil' miss nasty.

poppin' and lockin'

i popped today! for reals! i have an actual bump (and i am pretty sure it's not just gas.) in fact, a coworker who was privy to my "condition" even noticed with no prompting from moi. crazy.


here is a journal entry from 3/19 (another crazy pregnancy day):

it's alive! (or the closest thing to a religious experience of which i have ever felt)

i felt the baby today. of course, i didn't feel it kick or move or stir. but i felt it all the same.

after street to elevator, subway platform to train, i stepped through the open doors of the A with my kit in tow. three drummers sat in a circle in the center, and one kindly directed me to an open seat (hallelujah! this small act itself could perhaps prove the existence of a benevolent creator...and i wondered, did i look preg to him, or just exhausted? i felt both.)

i sat, closed my eyes. the rhythm, deep and clear, resonant and generations old, leapt into my throat and down to the babe. i felt it. it felt it. it was undeniable and here i sit on the next leg of my journey home. everything real to me at once.

i'm TARD

from 3/12:

i am a tired, tired girl. in fact, i am TARD, which is what bdub and i say when we are just plain exhausted. i keep feeling that 1:52 in the afternoon is way too early for a nap!

i am working tomorrow and friday, my first days of work since this serious exhaustion has hit. hope i will feel ok. sometimes i think it is just better to MOVE and be doing something to beat the exhaustion.

in much, much happier news, kara dean had her baby yesterday!! name TBD (update: his name is Ashland), but birth weight was NINE pounds, 5 ounces. allow me to repeat that: NINE pounds, 5 ounces. she is my pregnancy hero.

bdub and i will be heading to the hospital to see the new little guy tonight. kd says he's adorable: he already has a neck roll and one dimple on his cheek. her description alone makes me just want to eat him. is that cause for concern? that i want to eat my best friend's baby?

bdub has purchased a lead check test kit for our apartment. should there be any lead paint sneaking around any corners, under any layers, we are freaking OUT OF HERE. notice the hilarious packaging; i especially love the pregnant mom holding the little girl's (little boy's?) hand. the best part is that on the back it reads, "This test is not intended to replace an inspection by a licensed lead inspector or testing laboratory." oh. great. i feel safer already.

eight week appointment- this kid's got a tail!

from 3/10:

had our first doctor's appt today!

i am in such good hands. dr. moritz is a gem. i couldn't ask for a better doctor. plus, he delivered max roach's daughter's babies!! how crazy is that? if he's good enough for max roach, he's good enough for us.

he is also a bit of a tv star. here is a clip of him on abc news discussing eating disorders.

anyways, i gave about six vials of blood, had an ultrasound, and heard a big, beautiful heartbeat (about 150-160 BPM) and saw a gorgeous little bean, complete with tail stub and a gloriously beating heart. i could even make out the beginnings of tiny arms and legs and a head!

crazy. seriously crazy. bdub claims that if you hooked me up to a lie detector test and asked me if i secretly wanted the tail stub to stay, i would have to say "yes". this is true. i guess it has something to do with my mild obsession with the book Geek Love in my early twenties.

anyhoo, i got a bunch of prenatal vitamins, paid my $50 copay and that was that.

i can't describe the elation of seeing that heartbeat....nice and strong. plus, our due date is earlier than we had expected:

OCTOBER 18!!

that's brian wolfe day! what a coincidence! ehrrin keenan pointed out that already the bean knows how the wolfeinelli's roll, and is falling in line to arrive for our celebration.

symptoms thus far:

1. gas/constipation
2. fatigue
3. sore boobs
4. bloat
5. nausea

got one up the spout!

(twelve week ultrasound from NT scan)

finally! the breaking of the hiatus!

i hadn't wanted to spill the beans until i had the results of our NT scan, which involves measurements from an ultrasound coupled with bloodwork yadda yadda yadda. it has been nearly TWO WEEKS and i have yet to receive any bloodwork from St. Luke's-Roosevelt's fetal evaluation unit, so i will hereby declare that i am sick of worrying about it! i will throw caution to the wind, believe all is well (do i have any good reason not to believe so?) and share this new chapter of insanity in my life with you, dear readers.

i have been privately journaling in anticipation of sharing my news....my next few posts will be playing a little catchup from the last couple of months. enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


2/17/ 08

so this is what the hiatus has been all about: i am PREGNANT! KNOCKED UP! GOT A BUN IN THE OVEN!

currently i am in my fourth week and going on my fifth. naturally, i don't want to post about this on my big old blog for the whole wide world, so i am journaling until up to my first appointment.

i found out i was expecting a week and one day ago. i was CERTAIN i was getting my period...isn't it funny how pregnany and menstrual symptoms can be exactly the same? anyway, when i hadn't gotten my period i had suspected that very day and picked up a pregnancy test at walgreen's. sure enough, a big, fat plus sign emerged.

i think i stood in the bathroom for a good five minutes with my hand over my mouth, gasping at this stick, looking at it and myself in the mirror, thinking that this couldn't be happening. when bdub came home from his rehearsal, i left the door to the bathroom ajar and the light on. i hit "play" on bdub's ipod, as i had had it set to the song, "let's have a baby" by our friend mike viola. some lyrics:

"you might think
we need more space
you might think
new york is not the place
you might think
but don't think
let's have a baby!"

bdub took this as a sign that i wanted to make a baby then and there, until i steered him to the bathroom sink. balancing on the edge of it was my pee stick. bdub's first words:

"i think i need to sit down."

then we hugged and kissed and cried a little. it was very special.

so here we are. one week later, still pregnant! i have my first doctor's appointment on march 10 with dr. moritz, an amazing doctor with the ny women's health clinic at roosevelt hospital. dr. moritz comes at the recommendation of kara dean, my new york pregnancy guru. SOOOOO relieved that i can check finding a great doctor off of the list (and he takes our insurance, thank god).

symptoms so far (in order of severity):
1. gas/constipation (is that tmi? whatever. it's true.)
2. fatigue
3. sore boobs