Here's to the Ladies

As a homebrewer I'm always in search of interesting and eclectic beer types. I'm highly partial to Belgian ales (and made a kick ass doppleganger of Delirium Tremens), but I'll experiment with almost any style. I was in search of a beer to make for our upcoming Baby Boy Baptism Booze-fest in Dec, when I stumbled across an interesting recipe in one of my books.

Ever heard of a "groaning ale?"

I certainly hadn't. Turns out, it's a practice that dates back to colonial America. Here's the description from my book:

"In England and colonial America, a 'groaning ale' was prepared by an expectant mother as soon as she learned of her pregnancy. Using only the finest ingredients, a high-gravity ale was brewed and conditioned for seven to nine months. When labor began, the midwives would tap the cask and share the special ale with the mother, to help them through the ordeal. Legend has it that the newborn would be bathed in the beer, since it was purer than the available water."

Who needs an f'n epidural?

And how cool are those colonial women -- this country's original homebrewers!

I have this image of the father filling his pewter mug from the cask and hanging back catching a buzz while the mother is doing her thing. If there was any justice, the midwife would have told him to pound sand and saved the luscious brew for the mother.

The par-tay is in late Dec, so I don't have 7-9 months to age the beer. But, I modified the recipe slightly and brewed it a couple weeks ago. Hopefully, it'll be ready in time for the party. By my estimation, this will likely be a 10% alcohol brew (most beers are in the 5-6% range). Here's a picture of it as it continues to ferment:


The golden color is from the light malt, honey (3 lbs!), and brown sugar.

Keep your fingers crossed, and your palates ready.

- Rich

boot camp

I distinctly remember, when close to the end of Elizabeth's pregnancy, stumbling out of bed for the middle of the night pee break, and thinking, wow, I cannot wait for this pregnancy to be over so I can sleep. And then the absolute lunacy of that thought caused me to wake fully and burst out laughing.

Well, 4 days to go, and Elizabeth is kindly putting us through her own version of new baby boot camp. Yep, last night she was again up every two hours with this cold of hers. Refused to sleep alone, so we actually pulled the crib mattress out of the bed and Rich tried sleeping on the floor of her room with her. Desperate times, etc. But she ended up in bed between us once again at 2 am for another disturbed, restless night.

She's definitely better today. 45 minutes after putting her down, I was just in there for potty break. Here's hoping she'll actually sleep the rest of the night. By herself. In her crib (which normally she loves).

- Susan

First of all...4 days to go...

...wait for it...

ZOINKS!!!

Mommy is very tired tonight, so I thought I'd share the remainder of the story from last night. Now, in bullet-ized format for easy digestion by you, our faithful readers.

• Specifically, I slept on the crib mattress on the floor in E's room. And, I can now safely say, I understand why E likes the crib so much. That mo-fo is comfortable!

• Unfortunately, the blissful slumber on the crib mattress ended all too soon. Then it was back to the bed with E & Mommy and my 4" sliver of mattress. Honest to God, I thought long and hard about going back to that crib mattress.

• Apparently, I am a bed cover hog. So, last night, I tossed as much of the covers over to Mommy & E as I could. (For those not on the East Coast, it was friggin cold.) Too much, unfortunately. I ended up having to use E's pink blanket. Aesthetically, it's an 8 out of 10. But, it's like a 2 in the warmth dept.

• E didn't even use any covers. That girl is like a walking space heater.

• An antacid- and whimper-free night.

• This all probably sounds completely ridiculous to y'all. (Come on, how many of you rolled your eyes at "crib mattress?") Lack of sleep aside, in a way, it's been fun. Guess I'm just bent that way.

• Oh, and when Susan said that E kicked her in the kidney the other night? There was an audible "thump." Ouch.
  

- Rich

morning update

Well, the night was as unsettled as feared. As Elizabeth said this morning, "I am losing my throat!"

Rich was up with her at midnight and got her settled back down. I cheated at 2 am and brought her into bed with us. She was so pathetic, "mommy, I can't stop coughing. I'm a big girl, can I come and sleep with you?" How can you resist that?

All was fine until 4 am, when she woke up feverish again. And kicked me directly in the kidney, but that's another story. We got more medicine in her, but she was pretty much awake for the next hour, and pretty sweet, though at 4 am nothing is truly that sweet. We had a container of antacid on the nightstand she grabbed - here Daddy, here's some medicine for you, too. She opened the container and carefully shook one out. Then promptly sneezed on it and shoved it into Daddy's mouth. Which is when Rich started whimpering. (yes, whimpering!) But, she did sleep in until 8, so it wasn't terrible.

However, this seems like a nasty cold. 6 days to go and we're all doomed.

And the hair. Well, in my family, straight, thick hair is the norm, so this curly stuff is throwing me for a loop. She's never had it cut, and my plan was to have it grow long, down her back and wear in ponytails or braids, as my sister and I did. But the curls might have another idea. Anyway, turns out there are a number of resources for curly hair, and I stumbled across a reccomendation that said, especially in winter, when hair can really dry out, if it's not otherwise dirty, instead of automatically shampooing, skip the shampoo and just condition. You only really need to shampoo once a week. So what the heck, worth a try, Rich has been doing that and it does make it softer and more manageable.

- Susan

Yes, whimpering. Having only gotten about 2.5 hrs of sleep by that point and having a freshly disease-laden antacid deposited in my mouth and teetering off the edge of the bed, I probably could have "manned up" a bit more. We'll see what this night holds.

- Rich

Code ????

We're talking about the bath here. If there's a code yellow and a code brown what do you call it when...

"Daddy? I threw up in the tub?"
"Yes, baby girl, you did."

Code Chunky, maybe?

She felt a little warm but not overly so, and was running around having a good time tonight. Grandma and Papa arrived tonight to help out when the little one arrives (which is no more than a week from today!). And E was excited to see them. She tried to negotiate her way out of the bath:

"Ok, Sweetie, remember we had a deal. Bath tonight."
"I can take a bath sometime...I don't have to take one tonight...Maybe yesterday...I don't want a bath."

In spite of that brilliant argument (better than some recent debates), I put her in the tub. She really didn't want to go and stood there crying. I managed to rinse her hair and put in conditioner (which is apparently recommended in lieu of shampoo for curly hair) as she stood there, still crying. I started to prepare her to be washed up, still standing there crying, when she started making a slight gurgling noise. And then it all came out.

I yanked her out of there and had to hold her over the tub as she "finished up" a couple more times. Poor thing. I wrapped her up in a towel, but I still had to rinse the conditioner out of her hair, which I did. She was sobbing and trembling and calling for Mommy.

She felt a little warm and was beginning to sound a bit like a 3-yr old Demi Moore, so she's probably coming down with something. At least, I hope that's it. If I caused her to cry to the point of vomiting, I may have to rethink this hard line approach to bedtime.

It probably wasn't me. Before going to bed, she said, "Mommy, that food killed me."

More later on where the developing k-i-l-l stuff is coming from.

- Rich

The Zoo with the Daddies

Yesterday, I got together with some buddies of mine from UVa and their kids at the National Zoo. We had tried to put together a similar outing over the summer, but it didn't pan out. The weather started out threatening rain, but it turned out to be a beautiful day. We get together with my friend Rea and his sons Rea Smith (3 mos younger than Elizabeth) and Ross (just turned 1) every couple of months. It's good to give the Moms a break and for us to catch up on family stuff and avoid the usual frustrating conversations about politics and UVa sports.

We hit the lions & tigers (a couple of the young lionesses were roaring -- Elizabeth loved it) as well as the Great Ape House, cheetahs, elephants, sea lions, and Amazonia. It was a really good day.

Checking out the monkeys

Staring at Daisy the orangutan with Rea Smith.
Ross thought the camera was more appealing.

Hanging with Rea Smith, Sophie, and Nick

-- Rich

hmmmm

So this might be a more difficult adjustment than I thought. Rich brought the pac n play downstairs and set it up this afternoon. For Elizabeth, we had it in the dining room, and often used it with the bassinet attachment for naps.

So Rich sets it up in the living room, and Elizabeth spent a pleasant and happy hour or so in her "new crib."

And then when we went to put her in her crib for bed, tears and trauma - but I want to sleep in my new crib downstairs!!

Uh oh. The storm passed quickly, but still.....

I'm hoping we can leave it up a few days and the novelty will wear off, then add the bassinet and all the baby parts and by that point she'll be done with it. At least I hope so!!

people are nice when you're pregnant

So, I've been running errands the past few days, trying to get things bought for the baby and E and the house and me (I should be Christmas shopping too!), and honestly relishing a little bit of freedom. And today experienced two good deeds, which I totally chalk up to pregnancy sympathy.

I had an errand to run in Virginia (we need a futon for our frame - and we need it in 2 weeks for when my sister arrives!) and took the chance to stop in my favorite store. Talbot's Outlet was having a sale, and their discontinued children's stuff was 75% off, plus maybe I figured I'd find a good deal on shirts for me. Picked out a few things, all super discounted and cheap, and then made the fatal mistake of checking out the shoes - my downfall. And of course found the nicest pair of tall brown boots. About $60, with all the markdowns. And then went and stood in line.

The line at the Talbot's Outlet is always long, and everyone chats. I got into a discussion with the two women in front of me - The Outlet has changed some policies, which upsets everyone, and there aren't as many bargains, the stock is really tanking right now (down to $3 a share today!), the company is trying, can they survive this downturn, etc. And why aren't they marking stuff down the way they used to? Well, the woman in front of me says, at least you have your extra 30% off card, right? D'oh! No! I don't! I left it at home. They actually sent two cards, and the woman two people in front of me says, oh, shoot, I just gave my other card away. Oh, that's ok, everything I'm getting is so cheap, I replied. Except the boots......

The checkout counter is a big island, two sides, and we all stepped up to our respective cashiers. I quizzed my woman - well, this is 75% off, right? And this 30%? And did that ring up right? And I was frowning at the boots - that extra 30% off eating at me - when the woman two in front of me whips around the counter and passes me her 30% card, then runs back and finishes checking out! Thank you, I mouthed at her, and she winked at me. I can feel ok about tall brown boots at $42! We finished our purchases and I met her on her side and passed her card back to her - thank y0u! She said, oh, it was the boots. I couldn't let you put them back. Plus I need the good karma of a good deed. And with a smile and a wave, she was off.

It might just have been the chatting, but I think sympathy for the pregnant lady played a part.

Then, after striking out at the futon place, I stopped by the Lord & Taylor - they've been advertising a massive consolidation sale, and I was curious. Well, it looked like it was all of their unsold summer/early fall merchandise, all marked down at least 50% off the lowest marked price. I scored two pairs of Robeez shoes for $6 each. And lined crocs for E for $9.00! And Rich's favorite dress shirts were $18! So I went and stood in line, and the woman in front of me asks the cashier if they accept the 15% coupon on the consolidation stuff. They do. And yes, I also have not loaded those coupons in my bag yet, either, darn it. The woman and I had been chatting about the coming baby, and so what the heck, I asked - um, are you going to keep using your coupon? She replied promptly, I am, but I'm happy to stay here and wait while you use it, too. So another extra 15% off.

The shopping karma was strong with me today. Ooh, plus another friend sent me a 30% off coupon for Old Navy, and they have the best deals on tights, so after buying those E is finally set for cold weather clothes!

I'm going to need to do some good deeds in the future.

Now where can we get a good deal on a nice futon mattress????

- Susan

(ps. I've been doing the last few posts - I forget to sign mine!)
(pps. I still might return the brown boots. The Outlet's new policy is 30 day returns.)