avablog

Dear unborn baby,

I spent the morning at home with your big sister Ava today. She’s sick. Nothing serious, just a nagging fever and a few aches and pains. She and I watched movies together, and she painted a whole bunch of new paintings; I’ll get them online soon so you can see them when you arrive.

Your mom and I think Ava’s going to be a great big sister. You should know that she’s already very excited to meet you and start taking care of you. Warning: You may find her attention a bit cloying at times, but cut her some slack; she wanted a dog, after all, so count your blessings.

I figure if you end up being even half as sweet as Ava, we’ll be very, very lucky to have you. I’m really looking forward to seeing the two of you together. Hopefully Ava won’t follow through on her threats to dislike you if you’re a boy.

Ava has a fever and congestion, but the doc says there’s no red throat, so no strep. I volunteered to stay home with her today. We’re just hanging out, watching videos and drinking juice.

I’m working on the new blog for the new kid; s/he already has four pictures online, and s/he’s not even 20 weeks! Why two blogs? I dunno…for fun? We’ll see how things develop.

These are images from the ultrasound we had done before the amniocentesis last week:

Special features include feet and the all-important nasal bone. I think there are a couple fingers in there, too.

Funny how appropriate the default WordPress install title for this first post is.  I give you one of the earliest images of the latest (and LAST) Klevar/Palmberg child:

Funny how it looks like a little ghost. Anywho, I’m probably crazy for creating two different blogs for two different kids, and I suppose I’m making lots more work for myself, but I can use the writing practice. Now that I’m paying for Web hosting, I suppose I should get my money’s worth.

Oh, last thing: Never name a blog after a specific child.

Grandma Georgie makes a mean sugar cookie. But as good as they are, it’s still tough to compete with a bowl full of frosting.

We finally got to the Bluebird Diner this morning with Grandma Georgie, who’s in town to take us to The Nutcracker this afternoon. It was good. The servers are still becoming familiar with the menu, which is no surprise, as it’s fairly extensive. We arrived at 8:40 and pretty much had our choice of seats, but by nine, there was a wait. It’s the same at Hamburg Inn and Lou Henri’s, in my experience. You can still get in to Mickey’s before 10, but then they fill up, too.
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Many of you already know that Leah and I recently received the results of a FISH test that used fluid from a recent amniocentesis. The procedure was on Thursday morning, and we got a call back from the clinic at 4:30 Friday afternoon.
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We seem to have our Christmas decorations up a little earlier than usual this year. I was taking a couple pictures of the decor today when Ava jumped on an ottoman to get in the shot. She’s so cute, I just had to let her do her thing.

Three cheers for Greg Smith, who I swear is the closest thing to Neo outside of a movie theater. Seriously. If there’s anything he doesn’t know about the CLI, it’s likely not worth knowing. He’s saved my bacon more times over the last…sheesh…has it been 10 years?…than I can count. Wow. Anyway, thanks, Greg. I appreciate the assistance. I think you actually sent me the layout for my first wireless network when I was setting it up! I sure did love that Graphite iMac….

And thanks, Aprille, for the Bluehost hookup. I hope they give you your money!

My web host is moving to a new service today, so avablog will be down for a while. See y’all real soon!

Nobody likes a showoff.

I was shaving this morning right after hop(p)ing out of the shower, standing at the sink in the buff, hacking away at my face. Ava was standing quietly nearby, waiting to help Leah with the bandages we’ve been putting on the wounds on my back since my last mole removal. Then, matter-of-factly, she says, “You’re a stallion. A male horse.” I looked over at her with a bit of a shock and stared at her for a second before she continued. “I’m a mare. A female horse. Mom’s a mare, too.”

Whew. Crisis averted. Just more pretend and not a situation requiring Ava’s immediate removal to an all-girls school somewhere.

Packing snow like that to be had yesterday comes along only a couple times every few years. Ava and I took good advantage of it.

Ava’s off with Gramary today, and they’re getting into all kinds of mischief. This morning, they made my mom’s famous candy mouse decorations. Ava was so proud of them that she had to give them a kiss.

I feel ya, Brit. I really, really do.

Ava had a Thanksgiving feast at her preschool today. She was allowed one special guest. When asked which of her friends and family she’d like to have along, she picked her Gramary. And so it was.
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Our excuse for being in Decorah the last couple days was to celebrate Rachel’s birthday. Out of deference, I’ll not reveal her age, saying instead that she doesn’t resemble even a fraction of her years.

Leah (and I, I guess) got her a new sweater, which was on Rachel’s list. Naturally, it looks great on her. Witness:

I think she likes it. At least she said she did. Being the arsehole I am, I couldn’t resist teasing her that it might be a little small, which is a theme set forth a couple years ago by a comment I made on another of her sweaters. Click through to see how that “conversation” turned out….
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We had a nice time in Decorah this weekend. Ava was recovering from strep, but she did all right. Just give her a small rocker, a stuffed polar bear, and she’s good to go.

My new favorite, courtesy of the brain trust that is Pete Wentz and Ashley Simpson:

Say “Bronx Wentz” five times fast. Seriously. I dare ya.

Here are the facts:

The blood work portion of our recent genetic screening came back wonky. Low PAPPA and high hCG, for those of you in the know. The ultrasound looked great, but all the pretty pictures mean nothing if the blood work looks poor. The big issue, of course, is Leah’s age. It alone is responsible for a 1 in 194 90 chance of Down Syndrome. The blood screen bumped that up to 1 in 39, which her Ob/Gyn was quick to point out means 38 of 39 women with the same indicators give birth to a perfectly normal child.
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