A Happy Ending

{all that hard work makes a man tired}

Jeff will wrap up 12 semesters of one heck of a grueling major this week.  You could never convince me that there's a harder undergrad than Electrical Engineering.  It's really been nothing but long, hard work full of lab hours, project hours, hours and hours and hours and hours of homework, class hours, hours and hours in the testing center...and on top of that he's been a supportive husband to a cancer-stricken, pregnant (twice), over-achieving, and loving wife who has selfish desires for all his non-school hours and then some.  Oh and I have mentioned he's not only worked to support himself the entire time, but also his family. He's stinking amazing.

There are some important pieces of information regarding the student experience that a transcript can't show. If they could, he'd be the stand-out student.  

Though some aspects and advantages of our current lifestyle we're going to miss, we're excited to move on from this stage of life and try out some of that great, big world.  Thankfully, Jeff will have a week or two of hard-earned Christmas-show watching and napping on the couch to recover before we venture into the wild yonder of America's workforce.

38 weeks

I was hoping to take a picture in the hospital this week....but someone isn't listening to my nearly incessant urging to come out, come out so I can hold you. I have a pretty wild imagination, but even I can't dream that womb into a cozy cottage for her right now- it is remarkably tight and roomless- I have no idea why she insists on hanging in there longing than her brother did.  Who ever heard of a second baby coming later than a first? All this extra waiting and anticipation is driving me bonkers (read: making me a tad crabby). Technically she still has 2 weeks to go before she's late and absolutely has to come, so I haven't resorted to any reckless, get-this-baby-out schemes, and I don't want to be too pushy, but little darling, won't you please come out soon?
Like, very much as soon as possible and not a second later.

There it is, That Magic of Christmas

  

I pulled out my nativity set and no sooner had I set it up and walked away than my Mr. Inquisitive swooped in to investigate.  He picked up each piece, eyed it carefully, greeted it with a hello, then set it aside as he selected the next manger scene participant to share some light conversation with him.  After his short interview process, he decided he liked the bear and bunnies and baby Jesus best, and everyone else got a whole heap of bear to the face.  He broke some pieces with eager ferocity.  Others were knocked and whacked aside by the more aggressive manger creatures, and even Mary and Joseph were mauled and chased by the bear, but never the baby.  That was encouraging :).  All of the animals ended up being good friends by the end of the night, exchanging all the niceties that an almost 2-year-old can dream up (something like: buffalo to horse, "Hi." Horse to buffalo, "Hi." Bear to eagle, [whack] "Saw-ee bird. Aiiight?" Bear to bunnies, "'Mon, bunny, run."). It was fabulous. My mama heart is going to cradle his first moments with that little nativity and relive them every year I pack and unpack them, and every year it will usher in some of that sweet, innocent, magic of Christmas.

37 weeks

A collections of things from 37 weeks:

Mmmm....cereal.  I would eat it all day every day if it covered all my food groups.

Peanut butter-delish. Peanut butter cereal......oh yes! Great way to start the day. And end it.

I'm nesting once again. Cleaning, making lists, finalizing baby crafts, setting up for the holidays, and getting ready to pack those hospital bags.

Jeff, on the other hand, is anti-nesting.  He doesn't want to do any baby raindancing until my mom gets here next week so he's refusing to pack his bag, won't set the bassinet up next to the bed, and definitely will not put the car seat in the car.

I'd do all these things for him, but I feel huge and lumber a bit when I walk. Little baby girl likes to ride low these days, right around my bladder-which is her favorite pillow or punching bag, depending.  Beyond that, I'm already dilated to 3 cm and 70% effaced, so combine that with my daily red raspberry tea drinking and birth ball bouncing and I should probably just take it easy myself.

We'll just be staying close to home from now on, enjoying the comfort of our normal routine as a family of three and counting the days until we embark on our journey as a family of four.

Christmas Must Be Coming

A fresh snowfall and busy, grinding snowplows greeted us this morning. Just yesterday we were at the park wearing jackets and playing in leaves, and now we're covered in 8 inches of pure white snow.  We couldn't leave it untouched for long, though, so Sawyer, Bear and I bundled in whatever winter clothes we could find that would fit (it seems everyone has had a growth spurt lately, well, except Bear...he could still fit in Sawyer's old socks) and headed out to brave the winter precipitation.

One of my favorite things about snow is how it dampens all sounds as it falls, creating a blanketed world and making it all feel calm and peaceful. It's cozy in a cold, but snug, kind of way. Another favorite aspect- it means Christmas is on its way. With that in mind, I took it upon myself to break the quiet and hum and mumble along to "It Snowed" by Meaghan Smith as it played in my head over and over.

Lucky Boy's First Christmas Tree

I must confess, I thought our excursion to find Sawyer's first real Christmas tree would go a little differently. Something like the wonder-filled, awed-by-merely-the-atmosphere-of-Christmas, illuminated-face-lit-by-the-magic-of-Christmas image that you'd find on a Hallmark card. But we lost Sawyer as we drove past Petsmart and he cried out "Shishi," thinking we were going to look at the fishies, and after we brought him back to earth from that notion, he ran right past the rows of trees to the snow shovels, then through two sliding doors to the lawn mowers, heck he even bee-lined it for the fertilizer.  I realize that Lowe's is not the most magical, Christmas-y place to search out a tree, but I had hoped for at least some kind of acknowledgement that there were trees in the building.

Finally, we rounded up all the scattered bits of his attention with a wheely cart that he could push the tree on and really fired up the Christmas spirit when we hoisted him high enough to watch the trunk get trimmed with a chainsaw. But the real magic of the trip? That was when we loaded our 6-ft plus Christmas into the back of our car, bungeed the top down, and walked over to Petsmart to see all the fish.

For the record, Jeff and I are in love with the fabulous, most evenly-shaped tree that we picked out ourselves. It's pretty grand.

A Day For Thanks

{a little Thanksgiving finger painting}  

When I asked Jeff where he wanted to go for Thanksgiving this year (with options limited to a 1-hour radius, I'm restricting my travel times at this point), he said he wanted to stay home.  And when he saw my surprise coupled with a bit of dismay- what no family gathering? No one-dish making, bringing, and cleaning? No kid chasing and out-of-toddler-reach heirloom stashing- he appealed to my food snob side and procured the argument that if we stayed home, I could cook everything exactly to my liking.  I was won over.  We made our plans for a fuss-free, relaxing day at home with a smallish sort of feast.  Everyone got to pick their favorite dish, for Jeff, it was mashed potatoes and gravy and garlic green beans, Sawyer picked corn and seconded the potatoes, and I decided on sweet potatoes with pecan topping and apple, sage, and cranberry dressing. Our brined, dry rubbed, and roasted turkey breast was the best we'd ever had, and with a little bit of Wednesday night prep, the whole meal came together a lot more easily and quickly than I expected. Jeff even pronounced it the best Thanksgiving he'd ever had.  Since I did all the fixin', he did all the cleaning, and that made it pretty great for me too. Other than cooking, eating, and cleaning, we watched some family-favorite movies, took a walk in the warmish weather, finger-painted, and lounged around lazily.  It was a perfect sort of day.

Then this morning, Sawyer rummaged in the fridge until he found the leftover chocolate pie, pulled it out, plopped the pie tin in front of me and Jeff then proceeded as follows with the lid:

I'd say that's a pretty traditional post-Thanksgiving breakfast.

35 weeks

At our ultrasound our little darling was weighing in right on time and at almost 7 lbs-and most of her size was in her belly! Thank goodness it's not her head! It's no secret I love a chubby baby so she can have all the Buddha belly she can muster in these last few weeks.  She still doesn't like having her pod probed and she keeps her hands snuggled by her face during most of the ultrasound, but occasionally we got a peak of her adorable face and kissy lips and little chub of a nose.  It's certainly not a surprise, but still so astounding that she looks and acts differently than Sawyer did and it's a treat to see her little personality shine through. Though I will admit I'm getting to the point where the supposing and suspense about her are killing me, and I'm ready to know just what she is like.  Not long now!

2 Months Away From 2

He thinks knives are cool, and anytime we're in the kitchen and I turn my back he's devising a new way to sneak one out.  Only he calls them "sharks."  He also loves to help me cook and his favorite way to help is to shake spices into dishes while narrating his cookery with a "sheek sheek sheek!"

We search the skies when we hear the rotors of a "dachu"- you might say, "helicopter" but he says "dachu." Buses and trash trucks are also very popular around here.

He wakes up in the morning and demands to watch a show, then after finishing one episode of Magic School Bus, tilts his head down and cocks it a bit to the right, holds up his index finger and points it at me saying, "un mow." I hold up my index finger and push it back at his and, because I can't resist his charm, consent to one more episode.

He loves shoes! He loves to shop! He is my son!
He loves any and all electronics: light up toys, TVs, computers, tablets, cameras, game consoles, arcades.....he is Jeff's son too.

He's very concerned with proper turns these days. But he's kind enough to make sure that everyone is included and gets their turn.  At least for Mama and Dada and Baby (how he refers to himself, but also any other person is a "baby" too). Sometimes kids don't get a turn if they want his favorite toy....

We know where all the kitties in the neighborhood live.  Also, where there are bikes that are too big for Baby, big enough for Mama, and ones that will only fit Dada. There's usually a spot of trouble when we get our sights on bikes or tricycles just right for our Goldilocks-the boy wants a bike real bad and has a hard time passing them by.

Sawyer is such a good boy but he's got some dervish in him. Just look at that sweet face up there and it will tell you all.  I'm amazed at his intelligence and intuitiveness everyday.  If I had to define him in one term right now: keen.  He's full of eagerness and enthusiasm.  He loves to help, loves to explore, loves what each new day and experience bring.  He's also intense, aware, and intelligent and responds very well to having the world around him explained as he explores and observes.  Almost every night at pillow talk Jeff and I recall the things he did that day and sum it all up with, "he's so amazing." We love our almost 2 year old Lucky boy.

The Day Jeff Wanted Some Company on Campus

It's amazing how much of Jeff's time is spent in labored hours working or studying or homeworking (a new verb), and though there's definitely some personal gain in that, most of it is for us, his family.  His hard work makes my entire life and lifestyle possible, and while it's sometimes hard for me- from a independent thinking, strong woman standpoint- to be in such dependent situation, I know that there is no more capable or trustworthy person I could rely on.  He's pretty selfless.  So when he asked if we'd like to come keep him company at his not-so-homey, home away from home, Sawyer and I happily obliged. We made the short trek up to campus and ate dinner together, then wandered around the student center pushing all the elevator and automatic door opener buttons until we found ourselves at the game center.  There we decided to first play all the arcade games without coins, then with coins, and finally when Sawyer started dive-bombing the lanes and trying to swipe all the bowling balls in sight, we thought we should wrap up the night with a game. I opted for the role of bowling assistant while father and son duked it out on the lanes. Sadly, even with bumpers and Sawyer's ball inch-worming a sluggish path down the lane, the final margin was alarmingly close (all things considered).  He requested no pictures of the final score, and had no final post-game comment on the situation, but I'm sure Jeff would like me to say on his behalf that he scored low on purpose, just another way he selflessly gives to his family.  He wouldn't want to crush Sawyer's confidence on his first trip to the lanes now anyway, would he?

34 weeks

My sweet girlie and I went in for our first Non Stress Test and Amniotic Fluid Index (NST/AFI) tests today.  Our perinatologist recommended then as a precaution, so from here to the big birth day we'll be doing them every week.  I think NSTs are the best medical test ever.  For thirty minutes, I sit and relax while listening to my baby's heartbeat and feeling her jabs and kicks at the fetal monitor.  Then, while the amniotic fluid is measured via ultrasound, I get little glimpses of the miracle that is my growing girl.  Today she was putting on show smacking her lips- I can't imagine she enjoyed tasting that fluid unless she was enjoying the remnants of my breakfast, but still, yucky- or maybe she was singing sweet songs to fill the time. Whatever she was up to, she kept at it for quite some awhile and the ultrasound tech let me watch for as long as she went about her business. I was so glad she did, it was wonderful not to be rushed and to have someone, especially someone who sees babies all the time, marvel at my babe along with me.  

That's just one of the many reasons why I love our birth center. I was already walking through the front doors with teary eyes- every step recalled the last time I walked through those doors- but being around the kind and very sincere staff, not feeling the least bit hurried and instead being flooded with the calm of what has got to be a piece of heaven made we want to weep with joy. And contentment. And a whole lot of excitement.  Just as it was for our first baby, I know it will be a wonderful place to welcome our second to our family and the world.

The Toddler Who Ate Broccoli

That is steamed, cold broccoli trees with no butter or salt, my friends. He loves it! And tilapia, salmon, prunes, whole wheat cereal, green smoothies, coconut rice, carrot muffins, tomatoes, pinto beans, black beans, great northern beans....beans! pickles, hard-boiled egg yolks, cucumbers, parmesan cheese bitten right off the wedge, greek yogurt, and even more oddly-assorted foods that one wouldn't expect a toddler to even look at, and yet he eats them with gusto.

But not sweet potatoes. Or bread. I've never been able to figure that out.