Three Updates!

It's been awhile since I did three personal updates in one month. No guarantees that it will ever happen again, but there is never anything too exciting going on around here.

The weather has finally been breaking 80 degrees consistently in the past week. We have had a few water adventures so far. First, we took Bennett on his first boat ride while Bernie was fishing. He hated the life jacket of course. It was quite bulky and probably would have pissed me off as well. He also wasn't too happy with the confined space, but really enjoyed the live well. That is a well on the boat where you keep the fish until you are someplace to clean them. There were no fish that day but Bennett got to splash the water all over. We also got him a water table and there is a small pool from last year. He played with the water table, but the dog seemed to like the pool a bit more. She laid in the cold water while Bennett watched and laughed.

There are a few parks in Longmont that have outdoor water features. They are some kind of fountain usually that kids can run around it, sort of like a giant sprinkler. He absolutely loved that, so I'm sure we will return many times. I think we will try one of the outdoor pools this Tuesday. There are pictures documenting all of our water fun on Flickr.

Our summer vacation is rapidly approaching. In less than three weeks we will brave the drive to Great Falls, stay for a week, drive to North Dakota, stay for another week, and then drive home again. We haven't done this since Bennett was less than a year old, so it will be interesting to see how he does. We recently turned his car seat to forward facing, so that should help. At least he can look at something other than the back seat.

Bennett's 18 month appointment was this past week. Weight: 25 lbs 14 oz. Height: 32 inches. He's right in the 50th percentile for both. He was not a fan of the doctor or nurse and screamed every time they came in the room.

It seems we have finally fully transitioned to one nap. It has been a long transition (3 months or more). I think what finally helped was the black out curtains. It's like nighttime in that room all day long. Bennett would usually get up between 6 and 6:30. Post-black out curtains he usually sleeps until between 8 and 9. Naps are 1.5-2.5 hours. This new schedule as freed up quite a bit of time that we can be out doing play dates, etc. Then a new baby will come and we'll start all over!

The ultrasound is in 5 days. The longest 5 days of my life. I will be sure to update Friday after the appointment.

I got most of my planting done between yesterday and today. I cut back the flowers even more this year due to the toddler living in our house. He loves to scoop up the dirt and throw it on the ground. So I am only going to attempt one pot on the ground, a few hanging up, one on the back patio table, as well as the normal flower bed. I planted flowers in the bed the first year we were here, most of which were supposed to die. Well, I must have picked myself some mutant flowers because they are alive year-round and multiply every spring. They almost take up the entire bed now. They make me happy because they are so low maintenance. No dead-heading and they bloom all summer...my kind of flower. For veggies we planted 3 tomato plants, four bell peppers, one banana pepper, broccoli, brussel sprouts, carrots, and onions. I actually read the instructions this year and plated everything with the correct amount of space. Hopefully I won't have a repeat of last year when a good portion of our veggies didn't do well and I had heads of lettuce that were five feet tall. I will try to get some pictures up. Sorry about the boring gardening talk, but it is definitely a significant activity for us around here.

Heather came through last week. We ate lots of good food, talked, and laughed. Having guests is always one of my favorite things. Hopefully she and Garrett can stop back by sometime and stay for a bit. And yes, Heather, we did figure out that you went out the back gate. I was wide awake the entire time you were getting ready and didn't hear you open that gate! That's crazy since it's right outside our bedroom window. I'm glad the dog is sleeping outside now in case someone scary tries to open it. Sorry I didn't come down to help you!

Two more weeks until our big ultrasound. It still seems like forever, but hopefully the nicer weather we are having now with make time go by a bit faster. Baby is moving now. I can feel it most days. I also feel much bigger this time around. I guess what they say about showing faster the second time around is true. I've been wearing maternity clothes for 4 weeks now! Again, hopefully I will get some pictures up soon. We have yet to take any belly photos. I'll get Bernie on it this afternoon.

Bennett is almost 18 months old now. He is trying to communicate more, although actual words can be difficult to decipher. His new thing is to do the "I don't know" pose with the raised shoulders and palms in the air. He does it every time he hears a sound he doesn't know or when we ask him a question. Oh, and we can't forget about his new favorite activity. He like to sit on my lap, snuggle, and watch Days of our Lives (very child-appropriate, I know). My grandma would be so proud!

The waiting game

I don't know what it is about this pregnancy, but I am OBSESSED with the gender. I really wanted to know with Bennett, but I don't remember being nearly as impatient as I am this time. We don't find out until June 4th, which still seems years away. I have spent my time over at the In-gender forums learning all about the "nub theory" and how to predict gender from the 12 week ultrasound. It's very interesting if anyone wants in checking it out. I'm trying not to get too invested in their guesses, but it's fun nonetheless. Boy or girl would be fine with us for different reasons. I think we will only have two, so both genders would be good. But I'm sure Bennett would rather have a brother. I just want to know damn it!

Heather is coming this week and had decided to stay two nights. Now we at least get to go out and do something while she is here instead of just eat and sleep. Some shopping on Pearl Street in Boulder might be in order.

I was going to get my veggies and flowers in this coming week, but Bernie predicts snow for us. Boo on that. We went to the Farmer's market and I bought a couple of plants anyway. I have to remember not to eat before we go next weekend so I can stuff myself full of yummy potstickers and other assorted goodies.

No news yet on the job Bernie applied for, but that's no surprise. I would expect we would hear if he has an interview or not this coming week. But this is the government we are talking about so who knows. I think he applied for the job hear in early April and we didn't find out he got it until the end of June.

The March of Dimes went well. Thanks again to everyone who donated! The weather was certainly shitty, but so very worth it.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's I know and love out there. I hope you all have a beautiful day.

Wills and the reason we do them

Bernie and I finally took care of some very important documentation in our lives this evening. We attended a two hour class and in the process completed living wills, medical/financial POA's, and a real live will. So now we can apparently die in peace knowing that our affairs will be in order. It was pretty hypocritical that as an instructor of a gerontology course I harped on my students to get it done and I still hadn't. But it is done now and it feels good.

So, to the reasons we do these things. We have Bennett and things should be in order for him. He needs a guardian and trust. But he won't be the only one. This is a morbid sort of segway into the big announcement that most of you already know. Another baby is on the way, due November 3rd. We were aiming for about two years between them and that's about as close as you could get. It's a very exciting time but nerve-racking at the same time. We are hoping full-term this time. That's the long-term goal anyway. I think 32 weeks will be the first big milestone for me. I am seeing my OB here in Longmont for regular appointments and a specialist practice in Denver every four weeks for ultrasounds to check growth. PE and related placental issues can often be caught by keeping track of the growth. They will also likely check blood flow to the placenta as the pregnancy progresses.

We have already had three ultrasounds and I am 12 weeks today. The first was very early because I was spotting. The second was a viability scan. Yesterday I had the first trimester screen for Down Syndrome etc. Baby looked good, moving around, and perfectly normal neck fluid. The next one will be at 18 weeks when we do the big anatomy scan. We will be very familiar with this baby by the time he/she is born. I am taking baby aspirin every day and fish oil twice a day in addition to the regular prenatal vitamins. The ASA and fish oil may help delay PE in some cases.

I have mostly been feeling well. I had similar morning sickness that I did with Bennett for a couple of weeks. Now I just get the normal tiredness. Hopefully everything continues nice and normally.

Here are the latest ultrasound pics.

Green

I'm finally starting to see it all around me. The grass and leaves are both showing the sure signs of spring. I don't know if I mentioned it, but I have flowers in my garden that have been alive for an entire year. Violas and Johnny Jump-ups can apparently stand very cold weather and snow. We have been getting the yard in order for the past week. Bernie is putting new trim around the front and I planted a few onions. We are planning to plant the rest of the veggies the first or second weekend in may. We are thinking tomatoes, broccoli, and green peppers. Corn was a dismal failure last year and squash takes up a ton of room. I'm not sure I want to deal with the huge plants even though squash muffins/bread is sounding pretty good to me right now. I'm going to take it easy with the flowers this year. Hanging baskets will likely be the extent of it because I just don't have the energy to keep up with too many of them. And Bennett will just pull them out of the ground or out of pots on the ground anyway.

Bennett's sleep has regulated again for the moment (knocks on wood). He is back to simply laying down and going to sleep without any fuss. He doesn't even seem to want to rock with me in the chair in the moment. I don't think he can get comfortable. And he's been sleeping through the night for multiple days now which feels awesome when I wake up in the morning. I keep wondering when he is going to transition to one nap. He is almost 17 months old, so I expect it soon.

We went to the park/lunch with a few of our mommy friends and their little ones. It's always fun to get out and about with other people we have something in common with. All the babies are between 11 and 17 months, so it is more parallel play than playing with each other. Someday soon that will change to taking toys from each other.

Bernie is applying for a job in Bismarck ND, where he is from. We are not really anxious to move at the moment like we were when he was bidding out in Great Falls. But we would really like to be near family and Bernie needs to get off of shift work eventually. So this job would accomplish both goals although the chances of him getting it are very slim. Our list of potential places is quite limited and includes Bismarck, Great Falls, and Phoenix. Maybe Missoula and Flagstaff, but we would have to discuss them more. So the location restriction combined with non-shift work positions really limit the jobs to apply for. We could be applying for many years and by that time may decide we don't want to move anyway!

Congrats to Eric and Lora Wingenbach (Bernie's friend from high school). They had their little boy this morning. We can't wait to meet baby Liam James.

A Month!

I know, I'm a total slacker. My energy levels have been low lately and updating this blog unfortunately falls off the list.

Bennett and I spend the last week in Great Falls which was not the most enjoyable trip I have ever taken. My mother was of course crazy busy and rarely around. I guess I should have expected that since my Grandmother is out of town. Bernie was in Boise and I left the structure Bennett is used to at our house. He would not sleep in the pack and play that Mel nicely let us borrow and so he slept with me the entire time. It was nice cuddling with him, but I'm not used to such inturrupted sleep. He was all over the place kicking me in the head on the hour it seemed. Now we're having a hard time getting him back in the crib at home. Lesson learned.

We did have some fun, lest the world think I do nothing but complain. I got to spend time with Amy, Melanie, Gwendolyn, Heather, and Marlena. Gwendolyn is such a cute and happy baby. She smiled every time I looked at her. Bennett has too many choices in the world. I also got to eat all of the food I miss in Great Falls.

Heather is going to stop by and spend a night or two with us on her way down to Texas. We will definitely make a stop at the New Belgium Brewery in Ft. Collins for some fresh Fat Tire.

My dad's talking about moving into Park Manor before the end of the year as he doesn't think he can do another winter alone in the house. I hope he is serious about the move because it is becoming a need. He had to put his dog down recently because he couldn't take care of him anymore (and he was very old). So now he is really alone in the house. I plan to take him for a tour in June when we are there. And maybe get an application filled out...but that might be a bit optimistic.

We are all sick around here at the moment with a head cold. Let's hope to have those cleared up soon. It was 80 degrees already today and I hate to miss a nice day because I don't feel well.

Potty Training

That should probably be in quotes because I don't think much training will be going on for some time. But, we are trying to get the potty introduced with Bennett. My feeling is the earlier he is familiar with it, the better. One of the mom's in the Meetup group I am in has a son that is a month younger than Bennett. They have consistently been putting him on the toilet since he was 7 months old and he has no problem going on it. She told me that they were really committed one day last week and put him on every 90 minutes. His diaper was dry all day.

I am not that into it at this point. I just want to get him used to the idea. He is already obsessed with the regular toilet. I got him his own a couple of weeks ago and have had him sit on it before baths. No pushing. I just set him down and he gets off when he wants (with lots of praise when he sits of course). He has been playing with it constantly and sitting on it for longer periods of time. Today I got him up from his nap and put him straight on it and voila! There was pee...a very exciting development.

Ok, I suppose that is enough potty talk for one day. Happy Sunday.