One Week

Phineas turned one week last night.  He did not enjoy his one week birthday bath.

Phin enjoyed his one week birthday meal so much he wore it all over his face.

This picture is just cute . . .

 

As you can imagine, Phineas is keeping us busy.  Not much time to blog or even to come up with clever things to say about parenthood.  I figured that the picture of Phineas would have to tell the story for now.

Our first little family outing in Totem Park.  That's pure Sitka sunshine!

Babygeddon

Phineas John Edwards made his way into the world in the usual way on February 17th at 7:05.  At 8 pounds 5 ounces, he was no light weight.  His mom managed labor well.  Dad also managed mom's labor well for what that's worth (he did what he could which was very little).  Dad cut the cord.  That cord was replaced by a new kind of cord, one that is not visible.  Now we have a little bundle who has to be fed, changed, and pampered.  We are excited to take on this new challenge in life.  Already its not easy, already we are hugely rewarded. 

LOOK AT MOM GLOW!  I NEARLY NEED SUNGLASSES.

HGG + VE + Rs = NSGD

HGG + VE + Rs = NSGD


This equation fleshes best out using a timeline. On Saturday Valerie (VE) bought a hot glue gun (HGG). On Sunday she used the hot glue gun to attach small rocks we gathered to some cedar. The result was a neat “SAUNA” sign and some candle holders. On Monday the sink garbage disposal stopped working. Tuesday I fished around in the sink disposal and pulled out a rock. When I asked Valerie about the rock in the disposal, she indicated that she kept “most” of the rocks out of the sink when she cleaned up after her Sunday project. Being a lawyer I pondered on what the term “most” meant. For the purposes of the equation I will assign “Rs” to the rocks that made it into the sink. The Rs that I could not reach in and grab out got wedged in the old sink garbage disposal’s grinding mechanism. After the better part of a day’s work I installed a new sink garbage disposal (NSGD).

I fret to see when an equation starts with the sewing machine. I also have another reason to stop Valerie from purchasing a bedazzler. Best of all, next time Val, or I, or our soon-to-be little one makes a small mistake that has harmless unintended consequences we can keep it in perspective and reminisce about the sink garbage disposal – and hopefully get a good chuckle.

Afternoons and coffee spoons

Again, we're both trying to "make the most" of these pre-baby days.  Brent spent his morning reading legal papers, and then took off with the dogs to the Back Door, a local coffee shop.  The Back Door is one of the best little spots in Sitka.  It's a small coffee shop with a variety of delicious home-baked treats.  I am partial to the pie, but I think Brent likes the peanut butter chocolate oat bars.  They also make one hot lunch dish per day- quiche, burritos, or pizza usually.  It's a simple sort of coffee shop which tries to bring people together through food and conversation.  For example, there is no wi-fi and no computers for checking email.  There's local art on the walls and familiar faces at most tables. The center table is a big round table that is often shared by several groups of patrons.

Brent went in today to get his cup of coffee and a treat.  He ran into our friend Anne, who was there to meet her friend Marilyn.  They invited Brent to sit down and join them for afternoon coffee and sweets.  Brent was happy to join in, as it's always nice to have company for your afternoon snack break.  What's amusing about this picture is that Anne and Marilyn are not in our typical demographic.  They are wives of docs at SEARHC who are senior citizens.  Both women are sharp, witty, and quite a bit of fun.  So Brent had a lovely afternoon with his AARP friends.  I'm sure he got good unsolicited parenting advice from Anne (as we usually do) and funny stories from Marilyn.  Maybe Brent could form a doctors' wives club?  There's something about this town, or maybe it's just about something about being an adult- but ages of people here seem to matter very little.  People's experience, outlook, and interests determine much more about who they are than their age, occupation, or income.  It's as refreshing as a piece of homemade pie in the middle of a Monday afternoon.

Sitka Sauna

The sauna has finally reached the significant completion stage.  Most of the hard work was done by Robbie Cant over the summer.  Many thanks to Robbie for all the help.  After Robbie returned to Haines, I was completely lost.  So, it took a while for the sauna to get up and running.  Plus, it was hunting season and without Robbie here to keep me on task I found myself wandering in the woods looking for deer.  In any event, the sauna is for Valerie and she can't use it until her pregnancy condition clears up.  I have only used the sauna the past two nights just so it would not be lonely.

Here are a few pictures . . .

Outside view

 The upper and lower sauna benches.

Stove with rocks.  I looked really hard for good sauna rocks.  Nothing I found on the 20 miles of road system we have in Sitka would work.  So, I went to Medvejie creek, about two miles past the southern end of the road.  I used our fancy Chariot baby stroller to bring the rocks back to the car.  Nice break in, eh?

Table, stool, & there is a beer cooler on the inside.

The cool room looking towards the changing area.

Cover to keep firewood dry. 

On Val's pregnancy condition, the pregnant lady is doing fine.  Some nights she sleeps quite well, other nights she is restless.  Val is still chipper but the lack of sleep and the pregnancy aches and pains have made her just a little less chipper. 

Maybe next post will be about a new baby  . . . .