The Senakams | Corgi + 3

A Small Scare

Thanks everyone for your well wishes for Bryson! He's completely recovered now, but the steroid they put him on made him a little kooky for days (think googly-eyed running-into-walls peeing-in-the-hallway weird...).

And as he's getting better, I've had a small scare with the pregnancy over the long weekend...

Long story short, at a routine visit, my ob examined me coz I was complaining of cramps, and was concerned enough to send me to the hospital for a whole bunch of tests to make sure I'm not in premature labor.

What?! Premature labor?? I'm only 32 weeks and haven't even had my shower or babymoon yet, I can't be in labor!!

Well, many hours in the hospital's L&D Unit's triage area, full of women in labor screaming bloody murder (quite unnerving), we were told that I'm fine, baby's fine, I'm not in labor, crisis averted. Whew!

But I was told that I should still "take it easy", which means no more belly dancing. Boo... But well, if that means bambino can stay in Hotel Utero as long as needed to keep her healthy, I'll oblige most willingly.

On a lighter note, I finally finished my first sewing class and completed my project! Here's me in the robe I made in class, using this Vogue pattern (that has a somewhat 80's ring to it and super "man-proportioned", which happens to fit me just fine now, LOL):

Oh, and that's a diaper cake my coworkers gave me last week, so sweet!

And here's the back of the robe, looking pretty good from this distance, but I was having some problems with the neck band... as I found out it's tricky sewing a straight band to a curved neckline, took me many tries (and quite a few more curses)...

But all in all I'm quite happy that it's done and actually wearable! Now that I've tackled this robe, I want to try sewing this baby kimono set (the one on the cover), isn't it sooo darn cute? Hope I can pull it off!

And here's a sneak peak of the components of the next project I started after I've got all these free time since dropping belly dancing class...

Yep, that's Bryson who's going to be making a cameo on this project! Hope it'll turn out as planned, will post pix when it's finished, stay tuned :)

 

Dear Pixar...

Our family loves your cute animated movies, and has generally tolerated you as a neighbor, even though you don't care to share any part of your beautiful campus with us.

But this... this horrible (HARRRIBLE!!!!) construction noise is just about to push me over the edge:

Well, that was 47 seconds of it, multiple that duration by about 500 times (i.e. 8 hours a day) and you know what we've been living with for these past few weeks on a daily basis.

Seriously, Pixar, can you hurry the &*%# up and be done with it soon? What?! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!!

And then imagine being almost 8-months prengnant, sleep-deprived, and dealing with a sick puppy (as diagrammed below) on top of all of these: 

This is our dog, poor Bryson, who has a "hot spot" in his groin area that makes him super irritated, thus the neck guard to prevent him from reaching and licking it. Vet says it could be stress-related. Pixar, hear it? You're even STRESSING OUT OUR DOG. Not to mention the damage you've probably already done to our unborn child.

Mr. Pixar, this is our desperate cry for help. JUST MAKE IT STOP!!!

Sincerely,

Your disgruntled neighbor

P.S. We were really looking forward to see your movie "Up", but now we only wish that our home will fly away to a quieter place as in your movie... Care to provide us with some balloons?

Happy Mother(-to-be)'s Day!

Thanks everyone for your suggestions on our doggie-baby car situation! I'm sure we'll be trying quite a few of those out :) 

And as if the gods in the heavens heard our plea, just after I posted the last post, I found an article called "Dog and Driver" in the current issue of Bark Magazine that covers almost everything I asked about. Check it out if you're wondering the same!

And by the way, Happy Mother's Day to all the moms (and moms-to-be) out there! Love to hear about what you received (or gave) on this special day.

Hubby surprised me (on behalf of our daughter-to-be) with a bunch of cute little things- a gourmet icecream sandwich from my new fav icecream parlor Ici, a box of kanom krok (a tasty coconut-custardy Thai dessert from the temple), a couple of books, including Heather Ross' Weekend Sewing (super psyched!), and a hand-written card signed by daughter-to-be (awww... soooo sweet!)

I know some of you have already whipped up your versions of a few projects from this book, love to hear which ones you like most! And speaking of sewing, here's a little progress update...

As I was looking for relatively fool-proof, straight-line, simple baby projects to try my hands on, I found several versions of instructions on some very cute cloth diaper burp clothes.

It really is almost fool-proof: you cut out a piece of your favorite cotton fabric, sew it onto a pre-fold cloth diaper (that's super absorbent by design, I found this organic one by Gerber), and voila! You got yourself some fancy-schmancy burp cloths. 

 

And as demo'd by Bryson:

 

And as I'm now on a roll (can you tell?), I sewed a matching blanket to the mermaid burpies (don't you just adore this Heather Ross line?), which also happens to match the new Bumbleride stroller we just got (OK, it's a bit matchy-matchy but I can't help it!)

Here is Bryson again as our demo-baby, wrapped in my hand-made baby blanket (and yes, that's Picasso peekaboo'ing in the corner):

 

I know you folks probably aren't dying to hear about how excited we are about all the bells and whistles this stroller offers, but hey, all-terrain air-filled tires? Multi-adjustable back rest suitable for newborns? Universal car seat adaptor? Rear suspension? And a cup holder?? All at 19 lbs and about 1/2 of the cost of a Bugaboo??? That was enough to keep us quivering with joy for days.

And last but not least, as we're celebrating Mother's Day, can't not include some cute cuddly pictures of our first born, taken while we stayed this past week in the city while I attended a convention (Picasso's with us for 2 weeks while his parents are out of town):

 

 

Good nite :)

 

 

Our New Eco-friendly Dog-friendly Baby-friendly (?) Ride

You may remember quite a while back, I blogged about our company giving us new hybrid vehicles as company cars. 

I couldn't tell you then what our choice was, coz it was largely influenced by the fact that we're expecting a new addition to our family (it really tore me up to have to keep secrets from y'all, you know?)

But now the cat's outta the bag, and the loooong-awaited vehicle has finally arrived at our door step! Check out Bryson's (and his soon-to-be-sister's) new ride, the Ford Escape Hybrid:

Bryson immediately jumped in to check out the conditions of his living quarters:

Uh oh, is it too cramped?

Not! Even with that baby car seat adaptor (that we inherited from my boss) strapped to the back of the backseat, there's still seems to be plenty of room for Bryson and friends and his private water bowl. I just hope the bungee cord holds up so Bryson wouldn't get an inadvertent concussion...

Ooh, look, and the glass backgate opens up for a bit of fresh air too, great to air out all that doggie smell...

We've even put the infant car seat in the back to try out the configuration. Seems like it'll work well with enough space for all the baby junk stuff we'll need to start hauling around.

As exciting as this all is, I can't lie to say that I'm not a bit (OK, a lot) unnerved the first time I looked back from the passenger seat, saw this set up, and realized there'll be a newborn infant (probably screaming and kicking) in that seat in a couple of months, plus a dog that is easily spooked by loud noises (eh, like crying babies...) and sudden movements with nowhere to escape to...

Anyone with dogs and babies/kids, any tips on keeping everyone safe and sane in this transportation situation? Do I always let hubby drive and sit in the back to keep an eye on the baby and Bryson? But what if I'm alone, how do I know baby's OK (with her facing backwards) and Bryson not being whacked around by all the baby gear that'll probably end up in his quarters?

I know I'm probably being a worry-wort, but any advice would be much appreciated!

What's in Your Wallet? (A Bryson Credit Card?!)

It's been a super busy Friday (don't you hate love those?), but I'm so psyched about this I have to share with you in this post...

I was informed by the good people at MyCorgi.com that they have partnered with Corgi Rescue in the issuance of a MyCorgi.com Visa Card, where proceeds will help benefit corgi rescue!

Isn't that brilliant? And as if that isn't neat enough, wait till you hear this (drum roll, please...)

They've chosen Bryson as one of the faces of this credit card!

No joke!! Now YOU (and every corgi lover in the world!) can carry a credit card with Bryson's mug on it, isn't that nuts?! Bryson started thrashing around merrily as soon as he heard about his role in supporting this great cause (woof!)

To be fair, you can also order one with a cardi, a fluffy, or another Pembroke; whichever corgi you fancy, they've got one for you:

 

You can get more information and apply through this MyCorgi.com link. And honestly, I feel slightly embarrassed coz Bryson isn't technically a "rescue"- I mean we "adopted" him from his breeder when he retired from showing, and spared him a life of showing in Japan (sayonara...). So he's never lived life as a shelter dog... but anything we can do to contribute to this cause will make up for it, right?

I asked Sam, the owner of MyCorgi.com, how it will benefit corgi rescues, and here is his answer:

"Hi Ivy, we hope to support every rescue out there, it will depend on how many people signed up, the more people signed up, the more funds available to distribute. If you have a great experience with any particular rescue, have them contact us, we would love to establish a long term relationship with them! It is in our plan to travel around the country and surprise the recipients and have them share their story on video :) (Help us to make that happen!)"

Suh-weet!

On a completely separate note, if you live in the SF Bay Area and want to spruce up your living environment without breaking your piggy bank (or you can always whip out your Bryson credit card, hee hee!), you have to check this sample sale out:

I have sewing class tomorrow and can't make it, boo... I've heard so much about this much anticipated event, I hope some of you can take advantage of it! But get there early, I heard the mob usually starts gathering before the door opens. Do show me your loot if you make it!