Contentment

36 weeks pregnant! I NEVER thought we'd make it this far in a pregnancy, so I am absolutely thrilled. It's looking more and more likely that we will have a full-term baby and, even if Baby Charlie was born tomorrow, we would likely get to bring him right home. Now, instead of worrying about a protracted hosptial stay, I'm getting more worried about what it will be like to be vaulted into instant baby-dom. When you have a baby in the hospital, one of the silver linings is that you do get a little time to catch up on your sleep before they send you home with a baby. :-)

I've been DVR-ing old ER episodes. I was actually never a big ER watcher; I liked the show but never watched it consistently enough to keep up on the story lines. A couple months back, I found that a channel was starting the series from the first episode, so I've been recording them. I was watching the episode in which Dr. Greene dies the other night. It starts with him writing a list of all the things he wanted to do in his lifetime and ends with his last days in Hawaii with his wife and two daughters. It got me thinking about what things would go on that list for me. I realized pretty quickly that the things that I have always truly dreamed of doing--I've already achieved. Now, that doesn't mean there aren't things that I would like to do if given the chance but I'm pretty fulfilled. In a nutshell, my whole life, I wanted to be a wife and mother. My marriage and my son pretty much fill me up. Of course, I dream of all the things I would like to see my children do and think of how Jared and I will be when we are grandparents, etc. but the fact that I am a wife and a mother--well, it's enough for me.

As I type this, I'm watching my husband bathe my little boy. And, I'm happy to say, it's all I need.

Catching my Breath...

I wonder if I will ever become a regular blogger. I frequently have lofty plans for blogging but execution eludes me...

Anyway, I returned last week from a month-long visit to Southern California for work. This was the longest trip I've had to do since I started telecommuting but it went well. Not so much fun being away from my husband (and Jack, for part of the time) and I got a taste of what shared custody must feel like for divorced parents. For the first two weeks of the month, Jack stayed home with Jared (thought I did make a weekend appearance between the weeks) and then Jared flew him down and he stayed the last two weeks with me in San Diego. We are blessed with a remarkably adaptable little boy who pretty seamlessly integrated between the two places--no major adjustments to two different childcare situations, houses, etc.


Well, I for one am thrilled that Fall is on its way in. Autumn is my absolute favorite time of year. I love the changing leaves, the cool air, pumpkin patches, Thanksgiving... I bought a fall wreath for my door and have been eagerly waiting for Labor Day to pass so I could start putting out my fall decorations.

However, with Fall approaching, so are a lot of changes for us. Pregnancy-wise, things are plugging along. I can't believe we are only 4 weeks away from the time that Jack was born--and only 3 weeks away from the time my water broke. I feel like we've done pretty much no preparations for this baby--a very different feeling from when Jack was born. Jared and I are taking a little trip this weekend to do some baby shopping. I'm trying not to focus too much on whether this baby will come early or not; I'm prepared for it to happen but I'm also concerned that if he doesn't come early, the last 6 weeks will be torture if I'm expecting it too much. I'm learning that pregnancy is not so easy on my joints. With Jack, I had just horrible back/hip/joint pain. This time, I've been plagued for the past 4 weeks by a bulging disc in my neck, which is causing severe pain in my left shoulder and into my arm. My father assures me that this will go away when the baby is born...that is making the next 10 weeks seem VERY, VERY long and daunting.

I am taking my last trip to Southern California before the baby is born for a few days next week. Then, my mother and I are driving to Washington to see my grandmother who, sadly, suffered a stroke a few months ago. I am eager to see her and I am sad that this may be one of the last times. After that--it's just a waiting game for the baby to be born!

Okay, onto the fun stuff...

Flip! For my birthday, I received a Flip HD video camera. I, despite being married to a man who makes his career in technology, would not call myself particularly technologically advanced. I claim ignorance in how to use our "real" video camera--plus it never seems to be charged and I have no idea how to upload or edit the raw footage. The Flip is cell-phone sized, has great video quality, is easy to use and automatically uploads your content when plugged into a USB port in the computer. Last weekend, I played around with the camera and software and created this little movie. (Please forgive the cutting off of heads, I'm still getting used to where the aim the camera.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brAM-V2qzk4

Baby Charlie! For those who don't know, we have decided on a name for this little one. His full name (and we're sticking to the two middle name concept) will be Charles Matthew Robert. We will call him Charlie. Although we are lucky to get lots and lots of ultrasounds, including lots of 3D ultrasounds (well, depending on how you look at it--we have to have a lot of problems to get all these scans!), I took my nieces and nephews to a 3D ultrasound place to show them the baby. Here are a few pictures of our little guy.

Little Monkey...

...this is what my parents found this morning after leaving the laundry room door open for a few minutes...




Too funny! Reminds me why we have these on our washer and dryer at home:

Like Father, Like Son

Wow--two posts in two days! A record for me! I don't want to forget this, though...

Now that Jack is getting older, we are seeing more and more of his personality shining through. Mostly, I see Jared. If you know my husband, you know how fastidious he is about nearly everything. He is clean, orderly, irons (yes, even Jack's clothing), and likes things in their place all of the time. It seems that we have bred a child with the same tendencies.

Jack is a cautious, watchful kid. He observes things before jumping in there and we see this in the ways he imitates us. He, is however, also a stickler for things being done properly and in the "right" order. For example, when I pick him up from daycare, if I stop and chat for a minute, he gets incredibly anxious until we open the door and he can see the car waiting. He knows I come, we get in the car and we go. Interrupt that flow and he doesn't like it so much.

Lately, he has been fetching his diapers and immediately following a diaper change, he will promptly bring his diaper to the trashcan, dispose of it, make sure the lid to the can is closed and then come back for his box of wipes, bring it to the bathroom, and gesture for help to put it back into the cabinet where we keep them (it's a high cabinet).

At mealtimes, after we put him in his highchair, he immediately, reaches for his bib and gives it to us to put on him. When he is done, he makes the sign for "all done" and we wipe him down. He takes off his bib and takes the paper towel and cleans his tray and wipes his mouth. It's pretty funny and he does it like clockwork.

He's very good about cleaning up his toys (not to say he doesn't make messes!) but he is pretty good about knowing where things go and putting them there.

His latest involves the potty. Lately, he has been gesturing to sit on the potty. He is nowhere near being ready for potty training (given the fact he can't say any words!) but we indulge it since I figure if he is showing interest, I should try to acclimate him. So, I put him on the potty where he sits for a moment, reaches for a square of toilet paper, does some approximation of wiping, puts it in the toilet, flushes, puts the toilet seat down (I may be one of the few women with a husband who is very good abou this!), and then gestures for me to hold him up to the sink so he can wash his hands. Mind you, this is all from watching. We haven't made any effort to teach him any of this!

He just cracks me up! I never realized how much some of these traits are just a part of who someone is! Of course, I will take a neat and tidy child any day but it does make me wonder what we are in for with #2...

Home Again...

...at least for a short stay. I'm in San Diego for the month of August, Jared is manning the house (including Jack) by himself for the first two weeks and Jack will join me for the second two weeks. First week down and all went well. Back for a quick weekend visit; got in last night late and will leave again tomorrow late afternoon.

Some updates from around here:

Jack started speech therapy and we are very happy with the clinic we chose to go with at the University of Oregon. They are employing a method called the Pre-linguistic Milieu Teaching approach, which apparently uses signs to build the foundation for language development. Jack is catching on to the signs pretty quickly. He reliably uses "all done," "more," and "drink" after two weeks. We have ten target signs to work on during this little August break and he will start up again next month.

Jack has also decided to start biting this past week. We are hoping this is a short phase but I was horrified when he bit two different children two days in a row last week. One silver lining: the first girl he bit (and the most dramatic of the two bites) was apparently a terrible biter herself around this age so at least the parents were sympathetic.

Work is going well for both Jared and I. At a mid-year work event recently, Jared was given the "Immediate Impact" award for contributions he's made since starting. Work for me has been busy but all in a good way.

The pregnancy is going well so far. Most of the same complications as with Jack but this time around, they don't seem as dramatic as they did then. Maybe because we know what to expect and it's not new news? We did settle on a name for this little one: Charles Matthew Robert (we're sticking with the two middle name thing we did with Jack). We'll call him Charlie. He is a VERY active baby! Much, much more so than Jack was. It's hard to believe we are already 25 weeks through this pregnancy! When I get back at the end of August, we plan to attack all things baby to get ready.

We planted a little vegetable garden this year...first year Jared and I have ever done any gardening (I will admit to some help from our gardener!). We are growing zucchini, yellow squash, cucumber, winter squash, tomatoes (three varieties), strawberries, bell peppers and a lemon cucumber. So far, the plants have all been doing well. The strawberries have been yielding fruit, as has the cherry tomato plant, but unfortunately, the dogs have eaten all of the ripe tomatoes and strawberries. This has not made me a happy dog owner. We do, however, have two cucumbers that suddenly appeared out of nowhere, one lemon cucumber growing and we picked our first zucchini today!

HOT!!!

Here is the forecast for the next 5 days...

99° F | 61° F
101° F | 61° F
103° F | 58° F
94° F | 56° F
85° F | 54° F

Seriously??? I thought moving to the rainy Northwest meant leaving some of that heat behind! I'll be in California for the month of August, so I guess I'm trading same for same. At least it's not humid here, I'll take some comfort in that.

Not much going on around here. Warning ahead: a small pity party.

I've been struggling with our move a little more lately. Especially as this baby's birth approaches. I can't believe we're already half way (well, more than halfway there). We still don't have a church. We left behind the church I've been going to since I was 18 years old, where I taught religious education, the church and priest that have seen me through all of the most significant events of my life: meeting Jared, marriage preparation, my wedding, the birth of my son, his baptism. We had a community there; people knew us when we showed up every Sunday, missed us if we didn't come. We haven't found anything even approximating that here. Our first problem has been finding a church that has a nursery. Seriously--most of the churches here don't seem to have nurseries, which I totally do not understand. Do people with small children just not go to church here????

More than the church issue, we don't have any friends. None. No girlfriends I can call up to have lunch with, no one to do meet for coffee or to swap babysitting or have a couples' date with. How did those of you who have been through this moving do it? How do you meet people? I miss my friends desperately. I feel like I just survive here until the weeks I get to go "home" and can see friends and family. This particular issue is giving me the most worry with the baby on the way. Since we also have no family up here, who are we going to call when my water breaks or I'm in labor? Who will stay with Jack? Our occasional weekend babysitter has a "real" job so certainly she can't come if the baby decides to make his appearance mid-week. I'm also really sad that there won't be anyone to come see my baby when he is born. I know our parents will come but we don't live in the most easily-accessible area and life makes it hard for our friends and other family to figure out a way and time to come up here.

Don't get me wrong, I don't regret this move. It was the right decision for Jared's career, for our family, and to help us create opportunities down the road. It's been a good learning and growing experience in our marriage--I now know that my family and home are wherever Jared and Jack are. I guess I just didn't count on it being so hard, either.

I'm trying to focus on the fact that "home" isn't the way it was when we left either--our best friends moved to Texas shortly after we left. Things aren't the same. And, I know that people--especially military families--do this kind of thing all the time. I'm just feeling today like the "adventure" is over and the reality isn't quite as rosy as it seemed when first got here.

Petting Zoo!

A quick post before I hop on a plane back to San Diego...Jack and I just returned less than a week ago from a two week visit out there but work calls...

While we were out there, we met my in-laws for a morning at a petting zoo in Orange County. As Jack has gotten bigger, it's become apparent that he is not a "kamikaze" kind of little boy. He is cautious and takes him time scoping things out before jumping in. So...the petting zoo was no exception. We started in the goat pen, where they had some very, very cute baby goats. The goats were, however, a little agressive for the starting point. So, we made a quick exit to the bunny and guinea pig pen. After a bit of time, Jack warmed up to the idea of feeding them and by the end of the visit, had deteriorated into Jack trying to pick up the guinea pigs by their fur. They were good sports about the whole thing, fortunately. Here are some highlights from the trip.

Jack with his Grampy:


Jack feeding a bunny:


Here's Jack eating the carrot meant for the bunny...


Jack really liked the Llama...me, not so much when I saw the size of its teeth. My mother later reminded me that llamas spit (fortunately, that didn't happen):


Finally, at the end of the visit, here is Jack feeding the animals from his snack trap.


It was a fun day, we had a nice time seeing Jack's Grammie and Grampy, and we're looking forward to going back sometime when Jared can come. I'll post pictures from the 4th of July soon!