LOH Taco Night

On Friday we hosted the Ladies of Harley taco bar at our house. This is pretty much the main reason for why our house has been on such a renovation topsy turvy for the last couple months. Finally it came around and our house was busy!

For those of you who do not know, LOH is for the ladies. Obviously. It's a way to get wives/girlfriends/lady riders involved in something mostly guys are obsessed with. Our LOH leader coordinates rides for the ladies, at a leisurely pace comfortable for everyone.


This is the best shot I could get of most of the vehicles. I don't have a wide enough lens for all of them.


Nice Norm, thanks.




Our LOH leader, Kristie, had her husband bring their son to the taco night.


Aiden though Henry was pretty cool.


Actually, everyone thought Henry was cool.


The donkeys were a fan.


We figured we'd give Aiden a ride around for a bit.


Then another, smaller, type of ride-around.


And at the end of the night, we all played Remember When...Basically, in a list of things, we went around the room, remembering when. Like fads from when you were a kid, the price of gas, your first car...etc.

Overall it was a good night. I don't even know what time everyone left. Eventually I just went to bed. I was too tired to stay awake any longer. I'd love to go back to sleep now. But it's pesky Monday again and I have to go to pesky work. Pesky pesky.
FFR

'Paca Shearing

Once a year, the alpaca's need to be sheared. When we got them last year, they had just been sheared so this year was the first year we needed to do it. There are several alpaca farms around here and through them we found a shearer local to us. It was an interesting process. I wondered how they were going to do it considering we don't spend time making them like people or anything. They're pretty well untamed.

Anyway, they had a very interesting system for shearing. Extremely efficient.

Here goes Larry.


Shave shave


Look at how dark he is underneath!


And look how much hair he has!


Everybody together now for the tail.


I'm free!


Here's how it works, they put the back feet in loops, then the front feet.


Then using a winch, stretch them out and pull them to the ground.


And we're down.


Shave shave.


And fliiiip


"This is so degrading."


And the tail.


All finished!

They look funny all naked again. But I'm betting they are so much cooler than they were. Better yet, I have a feeling that pond is going to feel a lot cooler too.

FFR

Weekly Baby Update: Week 5

Today we start week 5. Today, our baby went from a poppy seed to a sesame. Ok, so our baby has been growing to this size, it wasn't a sudden shoot up in size but that's beside the point. So our little sesame seed is now growing organs and this week, the heart will divide into chambers and begin to beat. This is incredibly exciting. It will be some time before we can hear it, but it's starting.

Our baby is also separated into three layers. The first is the ectoderm which is currently creating the neural tube which, as you might have guessed, will give rise to the nerves, brain, spinal cord, and spinal cord. This layer will also become the skin, hair, nails and more. The mesoderm is the middle layer and is going to become the circulatory system and heart (which we talked about above) along with muscles, cartilage, bone, and tissues beneath the skin. The final layer is the endoderm which will house several organs including the lungs, intestines, pancreas and others. For now, the placenta and umbilical, although in the very early stage, are starting to function for the baby in many of these capacities.

As for symptoms, I have many the same as before: Tiredness: Wait, you mean I'm not awake? I could have sworn my eyes were open when I was driving occifer...er, officer.

Frequent trips to urinate: I'll be right back, just going to kill off another tree.

Sensitive olfactories: Okay, who didn't shower today?

Overly emotional: What do you mean I have to get my own water? You said you were bringing it to me! *Cries*

On the plus side, I've seen a few subside: acne (thank goodness!) and congestion

But now I have some cramping/stretching in my lower belly which is to be expected since the uterus is growing and everything holding it in place is learning to hold the extra weight. I also have a gurgle-y tummy most of the day. This is just a discomfort.

I had one of those days yesterday where I ate everything I had for the day...and did not feel like I had eaten at all. I strongly dislike the feeling of being hungry all the time, especially when I know I've eaten enough. Someone tell me this much will stop...For now, I'm just trying to keep track of portion sizes and nutritional content.Who knew babies were so needy when they were developing?

Plus, I'm pretty sure I've read too many studies during my time in college. It's taught me how to do proper research, how to read a study, and how many salt grains it's worth. Unfortunately, knowing all this, it makes my brain want to explode. Don't worry, I'm managing to contain it...is that brain leaking out of my ears?

I think it's time for me to go now. I think I just found a new zit.
FFR

Observations

1) There are high fiber/high protein foods out there that are not overwhelmingly high carbohydrate. Just an FYI.

2) Eggs made with silk, are far less likely to stick to a pan, even the metal on the pan.

3) Eggs made with silk are extremely fluffy and airy.

4) Tomorrow will be five weeks.

5) My lab work came back great. I have an ultrasound on the 20th.

6) The 20th is going to be excessively busy. I have my ultrasound, I have to pick up my dress, and I'm hosting Kortnie's bachelorette party.

7) I am exhausted every day by 11am. No joke. One hour into work and I'm already tired.

8) Six weeks is the magic number for morning sickness. I'm hoping to be abnormal and not get it at all.

9) Can I go back to sleep?

10) I just sneezed and it felt fabulous.

Off to deny tiredness,
FFR

The Living Room

We saw the fireplace after MIL J did it. It looks fantastic. To match the fireplace, we thus had to redo the whole room. Isn't that how it always goes? If you paint one spot, you want to paint all others too because the rest looks...shoddy? That's how it was with our living room. So with her time off, MIL J has been putting in hard hours into fixing up the living room. She took an otherwise pieced together room and made it the western room. The only before pictures I really have are of the paint and ceiling. I didn't realize the room was being emptied until I came home and it was.

A picture of the paint. Did you know it's really hard to get an honest picture of the paint color in a room? It's kind of pinkish anyway.


The ceiling before. Plain weight.


In progress.


Half done.


Pretty well finished, only a few things left to do.


She re-covered the pillows in handkerchief pattern. She's going to be doing this to my chair too.


These little creatures joined our table.


Surround view...starting now.




The other window just to the right of this last picture still needs its drapes hung.

If it's not stuff that nature is making you do around here, it's the stuff you make up for yourself. At least, it's never boring.
FFR