Photos: Anoosh Is Back in 3T! (3rd Trimester)

Something I found out the hard way: Don't get sick while you are pregnant. If you must get sick, don't get anything that affects your sinuses. The increased blood volume during pregnancy means that your sinuses are in a perpetual state of inflammation. (Bonus: increased snoring.) In addition, pregnancy slows your metabolism, which also makes you create more mucus.

Long story short, I got a cold—a simple cold—that turned into over three weeks of feeling miserable and nasty. I actually cried in my acupuncturist's office because I thought I was never going to get well. I was ready to beg my doctor for antibiotics. And then I started to feel better!

So, there's a reason why I haven't written anything here in a long, long time. Oh yes, and one other small event was keeping us busy: Kevin finished his dissertation, defended it, and was permitted to file it without changing a word. Apparently, this happens about 10 percent of the time. He is attributing this, in part, to the editing job of his wife. His wife thinks he's just a smart cookie with an impressive work ethic, and a damn' fine writer, too (if perhaps a little overly fond of the semicolon, which I find kind of endearing).

Since then, the "Is there a doctor in the house?" and "Trust me, I'm a doctor" jokes have been flying.

Kevin was also accepted to UCLA's program for Library and Information Science. 'Cause he just can't get enough. And the PhD in combination with the MLIS might get him a job someplace that isn't, say, Iowa or Alabama. Two more years of L.A., baby!

So in the months since I last posted anything, I've built up quite a backlog of photos, which I am finally putting up for everyone's pleasure and amusement.

So way back in February, we got to visit with my friend Taylor and his wife Rachel, who were on a whirlwind visit to the West Coast. We had brunch at La Conversation in WeHo, then took a walk and hashed over the Democratic primary race. Little did we know that the situation would not change much over the ensuing weeks...


Right around this time, the WGA strike ended, and the Oscars were saved by a nose. The only reason we cared about Oscar night was that Kevin's friend from Gainesville, Beth, was scheduled to showcase her jewelry at the ALIVE! Expo Green Pavilion Oscar Gift Suite, and if the Oscars didn't happen, we wouldn't have the pleasure of hosting her for a week.

Luckily, the studios came around just in time, and Beth came to stay with us. Beth has founded Dejahmi handcrafted jewelry, which uses fair trade and sustainable materials. Her stuff is gorgeous. She lent some necklaces, earrings, and bracelets to actors and screenwriters to wear on the red carpet!

Here's Beth doing her thang:


And a close up of some of her earrings:


Kevin defended his dissertation on March 3, and he filed the completed dissertation on March 7. With that burden lifted and some unaccustomed free time, Kevin got down to his next big job: learning the strategies of attachment parenting.


As part of my healing regimen, we took a road trip one day to the beach. Kevin drove me out to Point Mugu on the PCH, a beach that, he assured me, would be peaceful and lovely.

We didn't count on picking Ocean Festival Day or something, however, and when we arrived, we found the beach teeming with vendors, whale watchers, and South Pacific performers. No sooner did we stroll up to the sand than Kevin was grabbed by a girl in a pareu and a ti-leaf lei and dragged up on stage to learn some "Tahitian" dancing. Everyone had to push their hips to the right when the drummer yelled, "Pineapple!" then to the left when he cried, "Papaya!" "Coconut!" was the command to stick one's butt out. I took a lot of photos, but I think this is the one Kevin is least mortified by:


We were really confused by the pirate theme (notice the flags?) and a bit frightened by the people wandering around in detailed costumes (and seemingly in character), looking like Pirates of the Caribbean extras who were grumpy that the movie had moved on without them.

After Kevin escaped from his hula ordeal, we found a little secluded cove and took photos of my newly-third-trimester belly.


I'm now definitely an outie!


People—strangers—keep telling me that I'm so tiny for third trimester. I have a hard time believing that. I've gained 30 pounds since the beginning of the pregnancy, and I'm constantly astonished by my size when I look in the mirror.

At any rate, Bean is active every day throughout the day, and particularly when I'm ready to sleep. A harbinger of things to come, I'm afraid! Kevin has come to learn that when I make little exclamations, it means that Bean has thumped me a good one. We think Bean is head-down now. My belly ripples when Bean is moving around. It's awesome.

Here are some artsy photos we took. First, one of Kevin's from the beach:


The following weekend, we took our last trip up north to the Bay Area and Sacramento before the baby comes. Pat and Sue were in Stanford. Sue was in residence there for a couple of weeks, and Pat came for a conference. Kevin and I took I-5, then cut over on CA-52 to Gilroy to 101 to get to Palo Alto. The drive was unexpectedly beautiful, with the Grapevine green from the recent rain and in bloom with orange California Poppies, purple lupins, and bright yellow flowers that I couldn't identify. 52 takes you through rolling agricultural hills and past a large reservoir, and the combination of dark clouds and bright sun was stunning. Here's another Kevin photo:


And a photo I took from the moving car of fruit trees in bloom:


Friday night we had dinner with Pat and Sue at a phenomenal restaurant called Tamarine in Palo Alto. Unusual Vietnamese fusion dishes that were consistently foodgasmic. Highly recommended. We then continued up to South San Francisco to stay the night with my grandparents. The following morning, we took them to brunch for an early celebration of their 59th wedding anniversary!

We then departed for the East Bay and met the Rosser clan in Berkeley. Here's Meagan, Charlie, and Sue:


We can't get over how much Charlie changes each time we see him. He's taller and has lost all of his toddler looks! He was digging his homemade popsicle.


We also got to see Caitlin, Neil, and Cole, who is now 8 months old. Cole is bigger and has filled out since we saw him at Thanksgiving, but one thing hasn't changed: his incredibly penetrating stare.


With his wide eyes and adorable little upper-lip fold, he looks like a baby bird.


Although we didn't catch him at it with the camera, Cole does smile, and it lights up his whole face. All we captured, however, was his "I'm gazing into your soul" look.


That evening, we had dinner with Kaushal and Bridget, as is traditional during our trips. Kaushal stuffed us as usual. We took photos the next morning. Gotta love Kaushal's T-shirt!


The skinny boy and the wide, pregnant girl:


We then met Ellen and Charlie for lunch at a Jewish deli.


Some kids were selling little Purim packages outside the deli, so Ellen bought one, which gave her the opportunity to tell the Purim story. Charlie had impressive retention of the story's details and enjoyed wearing the King Hamish mask for a while:


But, Charlie being Charlie, King Hamish couldn't hold a candle to Mighty Mac, the double steam engine who is friends with Thomas the Tank Engine.


Here's Charlie chomping on a Purim snack and looking supremely cool in his Superman shades:


We also got to visit my grandmother in Sacramento. She is doing so well, it pleases me to no end. We had a wonderful dinner with her at a restaurant that was like Red-State Chic—everything upholstered in cow hide, and slightly impressionistic paintings of cowgirls on the walls. Songs praising the good ol' US of A accompanied our meal. Kevin and I found it surreal; Grandma kept saying, "This is such a nice place." Grandma isn't red state at all, so we're not sure exactly what appealed to her about it, but she had a great time, which is all that matters.

I'll close this post with a photo Kaushal took of our little family:


Our baby shower is on Saturday! I'll try to post photos from that event in a more timely fashion, but you know me...