This is me, world class procrastinator. I've been meaning to do an update for a long time now but with moving, commuting, pregnancy, and family-life was crazy. Now that it's not so crazy, I'm eight months pregnant and just crazy. There may be better excuses, but I happen to think this one is pretty good.
Family O is doing well. A couple of weeks after Easter, we officially moved to our new house. Former college roommates, classmates and coworkers all came out for the day to help us out. They worked fast and furious and we couldn't have done it without them. I didn't realize how cramped we had been in our rental until we had been here for a few days. Even with all the unpacking and what not, the extra space gave us some breathing room and there seemed to be a lot less noise and frustration with one another. It was nice to unpack some things we hadn't seen since last summer. I found my bowls again (bowls, Dad-not bowels), Daddy O is once again one with his collection of tools and the kids didn't even remember that they owned five boxes of books. All the other stuff (a garage full of boxes) just left us questioning why we even needed it in the first place if we hadn't missed it for an entire year.
The following Monday I began driving back and forth to our rental so Boy O could finish school. We knew the 30-40 minute one-way commute would not be an easy task for five weeks, but we figured it was the best decision to move sooner rather than later, so we could have the house ready by the time Newbie O arrived later in the summer. It was more taxing that I had imagined and after a week, Daddy O changed his work schedule to be able to drop Boy O off at school and I picked him up in the afternoon. This worked much better for Baby O's naps and some rest for myself during the day, but by the end, Kindergarten seemed to just drag on forever.
Commuting back and forth each day also did not leave much time for unpacking or fixing much around the house. After the first three weeks, we began to refer to the new house as the 'money pit'. We discovered that the dishwasher and microwave had some serious issues, our dryer decided to poop out, and to top it all off, the air conditioning system broke down on a Friday night. In Washington, this wouldn't have been a huge deal, but when it's ninety-six degrees outside and ninety-two degrees inside and you are seven months pregnant, there's no escape from the relentless heat. Luckily we didn't have to replace the entire system and I think most of the kinks have been attended to (crossing fingers and knocking on wood as I type this statement).
Once we were able to spend and devote more time to our new surroundings, things fell into place. Country living suits us well. It has been so much fun to see the boys explore the outside and become familiar with this environment. Tarantulas, scorpions, snakes, and insects of every kind are plentiful out here. Herds of deer graze through the back yard during breakfast and dinner. Their excitement is contagious and the only rule is-if you don't know what it is, come get Mom or Dad before you pick it up. I think the boys have learned their lesson with scorpions at least.
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| I figured I needed at least one picture of my big old belly. Are you satisfied, Mom? |
40 WEEKS IS 10 MONTHS (NOT 9)
I know people that have had difficult pregnancies and that mine has been incredibly smooth by comparison. It really has flown by...until now. I have serious heartburn. I have serious calf cramps that keep me up at night. I have serious trouble bending down to tie my shoes and I seriously groan when I put my shorts on. Did I mention that I also have a serious attitude problem? You may remember the lunch helper in my previous post-we had a serious showdown the second to last day of school. At least I can rest easy knowing that she (and all the other lunch helpers, cafeteria staff, other visiting parents and the 6 classes of Kindergarten that were within earshot) is now aware that she needs to give all pregnant people a break when they forget to follow proper lunchtime procedure when visiting their child for lunch. I have other stories of dangerous pregnancy hormone spikes in public places, but I'll leave you with that one. I'm just hoping that at some point, I feel normal again. I have a sneaking suspicion it's going to be awhile.
NEWBIE O
I'm excited to meet her. She has quite the personality in the womb. Typical mother/daughter relationship already-we seem to be on completely opposite schedules. She wakes up when I lay down to go to sleep and begins a long sleep cycle when the boys run into our room at 6 in the morning. She's growing right on schedule and the only thing the doctor has mentioned that sticks out to me is that she has large feet (all the better to get right up under my ribs with) and a chubby tummy. At 32 weeks, she weighed 4 lbs 7 oz and she's only getting bigger. I'm officially 36 weeks now, so only 4 more to go. Friends and family seem to think she's going to make an early appearance, but I just have a feeling she's going to take her time and hang on as long as possible.
BABY O
Baby O has come a long way since Easter. He has accomplished what I thought was impossible-he is actually potty trained. Six months of what I consider to be hard labor has been worth it and I won't have two kids in diapers. I'm not exactly sure when his aha! moment was, but somewhere along the way he started telling me that he needed to go to the bathroom. His interest in asking to go to the bathroom began with public restrooms (never the nice ones either). I guess if I were two years old, all the contraptions, soap dispensers, faucets and buttons would seem like Disney World too. I actually thought about putting knee pads in my purse for those moments when I had to make myself somewhat comfortable on a sticky bathroom floor. Fortunately, that phase has passed and now he's very adamant about doing everything all by himself. He's the independent type who can't quite pull up his pants yet.
BOY O
My eldest son. I am so incredibly proud of him. After surviving the 'Mommy O' curriculum for an entire year, he transitioned beautifully into public Kindergarten. I had no idea what to expect and kept in close contact with his teachers all year long and although I don't think we could have had a better experience elsewhere, I learned a lot about what works and what doesn't work for Boy O, a lot about the educational system, and a whole lot about how to be the best advocate possible for my son in and outside the classroom. He will enter first grade at a second grade reading level and received several of the top testing scores in his class. For a child who has been in the United States for just two years, he is simply remarkable. He is one of those kids that seems to have it all-socially, academically, and athletically. In fact he was in such high demand for soccer that we had complete strangers calling to recruit him for a soccer tournament that took place the weekend we moved. I can't believe it starts this early-he's just six years old. I never thought I'd meet folks that were more competitive than myself and Daddy O, but it's obvious that I never played soccer and even more obvious that I never displayed this type of talent at such an early age.
DADDY O
What can I say about my husband? Poor Daddy O. He bears the brunt of everything now that I can't even bend over to paint the baseboards. He built a closet in the study to make way for a fourth bedroom for Newbie O. He's replaced just about everything there is that has broken and he entertains the kids to give me some rest when he comes home from work. He also deals pretty well with my attitude problem which doesn't just appear in public places. I would venture to guess that he hopes I feel normal again soon too.
A TYPICAL SUMMER DAY
As usual, I like to keep our days very full. It has become more challenging the bigger I get, but I'm trying hard to spend as much quality time with the boys before Miss Sassy Pants makes her entrance. I'm anticipating that it will take us a few months at the very least to get on some type of schedule after she arrives, so I want their summer to be full of family and fun activities. We spend our mornings at swimming lessons. Baby O's lesson is first and even though he's not yet three, he is in a class with much older kids. I don't know if he's learning too much swimming wise, but it's so much fun to see him interact with his class and coach.
He is so little compared to the rest of the class.
He loves to say 'hi' to everyone on the sidelines to make sure we all know he's the center of the universe. I think he might have a hard time adjusting to the arrival of Newbie O.
We have 45 minutes until Boy O's swim lesson, so we have a snack and head on over to the playground or the freshwater springs just across the street.
Then it's time for Boy O's swim lesson and of course, he was completely embarrassed that I was taking pictures, so this is the best one I have. He's hiding from me and I'm sure rolling his eyes.
After all this activity and some food in our stomachs, it's nap time-me included. But our day wouldn't be complete without climbing the fig tree dressed as Peter Parker (it's Peter when the costume is underneath the everyday clothing) and Superman in search of ripe fruit.
Then it really is time for bed. I'm tired just typing it! Hopefully I can update more often this summer and hope everyone that still reads this old thing is doing well and having a fantastic summer.
