We visited a historic farm yesterday and took a picnic with us. I made bentos for all of us for the first time. It’s been a really long time since I made a bento box for an adult which is weird to me since I started out making bentos for myself.

Here is Wyatt’s bento. He had grapes, mini blueberry muffins, a chicken gruyere sausage and some apple chunks dipped in pineapple juice to prevent browning.

This was my bento. I’ve just re-started Weight Watchers post-baby, so mine was packed with 0 point veggies. The sausage was 5 points and the apples were another point for a total of 6 points.

Zach’s bento had two of the same sausages, some cubes of Monterey Jack cheese, veggies and apples.

We all agreed that this was a great way to do a picnic lunch. They were easier to eat than a big box of stuff dumped together, we didn’t over eat and we didn’t throw anything away.

Baby August  was born on August 31, 2008 at 2:21 a.m. He was 9 pounds, 12 ounces and 21 inches long.

Yes, we make giganto babies in my family!

Things are going pretty well so far. Augie is a great eater and he caught on much more quickly to nursing than Wyatt did. We’ve all been adjusting to being a family of four. Wyatt is having a little bit of a hard time, but over all he seems pretty happy to be a big brother. I think he would just prefer that Augie didn’t take so much of Mom and Dad’s attention.

My maternity leave began today.

I suppose if you want to get technical, it officially began on Saturday, the first day after my last day of work. But Saturday felt like a regular Saturday and it took a weekday to make me realize I’m really and truly off work for awhile. When you add in that Wyatt is on his preschool vacation and that Zach is working his booty off trying to rack up contract hours, I got a real taste of what life would be like if I was a full-time stay-at-home mom.

So here’s how it went:

8:00 am: We all got up at the same time which was odd, because usually one of us gets up with Wyatt and the other sleeps a little longer.

8:15 am: Zach fixes Wyatt a bun and some fruit for breakfast, then makes eggs and toast for us while I drink tea, read the comics and do a sudoku.

8:55 am: I read my email and realize that on a normal day, I would be rushing out the door right now to get to work only a little bit late.

9:00 - 10:20 am: Various play and getting ready for the day activities.

10:20 - 10:30 am: Drive to the park for playgroup. Wyatt shouts at me the whole time, telling me that I’m going the wrong way and that he won’t get to play with Little Rachel because I’m going to get us lost and everyone will go home before we even get there. I’ve got the GPS and I’m pretty confident that I’m going to the right place, but the three-year-old in the back seat actually manages to shake my confidence in my typically great sense of direction. I also try to ignore him repeatedly telling me, “I am right and you are wrong.” but I fail and start to argue with him. Sigh.

10:30 am: When we arrive at the playground, we are the first ones there. Wyatt says “I told you we are at the wrong park!” several times but is soon distracted by the slide.  Soon afterward, the other parents start arriving and I am vindicated.  I chat with the other parents about sleep, leaving the house with a newborn, sleep, weight loss and more sleep while the kids play. I feel my focus shifting from my stressful web development job to parenting and greatly enjoy it.

12:30 pm: Leave the park and head to Costco. On Zach’s advice, I buy Wyatt a slice of pizza and a lemonade when we first arrive and he happily sits in the cart eating his lunch and trying various samples as we do our shopping. I buy an insane amount of stuff in preparation for the impending arrival of a newborn, including diapers and wipes for the new baby. One more thing to cross off my pre-baby to-do list.

2:00 pm: Back at home, Zach laughs out loud at the amount of stuff I bought, but I assure him that you really need a 60-pack of taquitos when you have a tiny baby in the house (easy to eat one-handed and we can send them in Wyatt’s lunch).

2:30 pm: Zach and Wyatt build a blanket fort while I sit on the couch with my feet up and give advice on how best to ensure the structural integrity of their house.

3:00 - 4:00 pm: Wyatt and I participate in various relaxational activities while Zach does more programming.

4:00 pm: Wyatt and I decide we want to have a nap and lay down on the bed with a pile of books to read. Despite several attempts by Wyatt to steal my pillow (”Mama! You have to share!”), I manage to hang on to it, but neither of us fall asleep. Still, we enjoy reading about Frances and her adventures.

5:00 pm: Wyatt and I make banana bread, then do puzzles and have a blueberry snack at the kitchen table.

6:00 pm: I clean off the top of my dresser, my nesting activity of the day. Because you really need to have a clean dresser when you have a new baby in the house.

6:30 - 8:00 pm: Zach and Wyatt go to the gym. I finish cleaning off my dresser, start this blog post and make dinner.

8:00 pm: We all eat dinner. Wyatt is super good at the table, but we’re running late for bed time.

8:30 - 9:30 pm: Clean the kitchen and start the dishwasher. Bath, jammies, tooth brushing, “hot tea” and stories.

10:00 pm: Wyatt is finally asleep. Time for Generation Kill and a foot rub from my dearest.

All in all a good day. I think I could use a few more of these before the baby comes, though.

This is what downtown Cedar Rapids — where my parents live and where I grew up — looked like yesterday morning. Those straight lines crossing the river are the railings of the bridges. They are completely under water now. The water is expected to crest early this afternoon, so things will get a bit worse before they get any better.

My family is fine — high but only dry in comparison to others in town. Neither they nor any of my other relatives are in any danger of losing their homes. I’m pretty thankful for this.

My hometown however is in bad, bad shape. Most of the downtown is under water up to the roofs or second stories. All the important civic buildings are flooded out: the water is up to the second story of City Hall, police and fire stations are flooded to the roofs. The library is flooded with most of the books still in it. Several museums and a beautiful, historic theater are flooded to the second floor too. The river runs right through the center of town and all of the bridges across it, with the exception of only the freeway, are under water. One of the hospitals was evacuated last night because the water had reached the generator in the basement.

Thousands of people have lost power and the water system is operating at only 25% of capacity. Residents are under orders to use water for drinking only and they expect this order will stay in effect for up to three weeks.

24,000+ people have been evacuated from their homes.

Cedar Rapids is not the only city that has been been effected by the flooding. Iowa City, where my brother lives, is already starting to flood and the river there isn’t expected to crest for another week. (My brother and his family also live far from the flood plane and are safe.) All but 16 of Iowa’s 99 counties have been declared disaster areas.

It’s really devastating.

Please, if you’re inclined to do so, take a moment to think some positive thoughts or send some prayers to the many people who are suffering, who have lost their homes, and who have lost their towns.

You can read articles and see many pictures of the flood at the Cedar Rapids Gazette website: http://gazetteonline.com

You can also check out photos people have uploaded to Flickr.

We have a video today!

We went to Erin and Bryan’s for dinner and Wyatt brought his robot arm along. Erin put it to good use.

Wyatt takes a little rest on the couch before getting dressed for preschool.