Tuesday, January 29, 2008

The Bellybean

This poor, sweet unborn child o'mine has been so neglected on this here blog. With Boo Bear, I chronicled so much more, talked about her so much more, etc. I guess it's really just the time issue, but I still feel bad that I have not created any sort of running commentary on this pregnancy. No baby book, no memory of how it went or how I felt, etc. So I will attempt to remember chronicle here in one big rambling post.

This pregnancy has been very different than my first. Not drastically, but different enough. I am trying not to read too into that and think that this one might be a boy because of that. I was much sicker with this baby. First trimester was the typical, nauseous blur. With Boo Bear, I didn't start getting sick until the second trimester despite feeling like it all the time. With this one, I got sick from day one. It's usually just once and usually first thing in the morning and occassional, here in the third trimester, it still happens. If I don't eat quick enough or get some OJ in me pretty quick, then I get sick. The amount of snot that I have had this time doesn't help. I will leave it at that.

With Boo Bear, I drank milk like never before in my life. 1st trimester I ate mostly fruit and ice cream and not much else. I had ice cream almost every night of my pregnancy with Boo Bear. I drank chocolate milk, ate chocolate cake, things I had never done before. With the Bellybean, I have been more into salty foods. I have drank hardly any milk at all. But a ton of OJ. I have at least one glass of OJ a day. I have actually added salk to my food which I never do. I ate bacon for the first time since my teens, and liked it!

With Boo Bear I had insomnia something fierce. From the beginning I would be up for 2-4 hours a night, wide awake, working, reading, watching TV. This one, I am up 50 times a night (I exaggerate only slightly) and roll over 100 times a night, which doesn't make for great sleep, but at least I am in bed horizontal, not wide awake. Of course, I am much more tired, taking care of a two year old and working and being a housewife, yet I go to bed at midnight every night. With Boo Bear, I went to bed a 10 every night. Go figure!

I am carrying this baby much lower than Boo Bear. My doc says it's because your uterine muscles are not as strong as before since I have already had one child. I have been introduced to the belly belt this time around, a nice little contraption that does little to hold up what feels like a massive belly. And I am much more uncomfortable with this one, but that could just be attributed to carrying around a two year old too.

With Boo Bear of course, I was busy planning and preparing and the like. With this one, well, let's just say, if he/she doesn't mind sleeping in a desk, then his/her room is ready. Right now, the baby's room has a twin mattress in it, a bookshelf full of our books, a desk, a filing cabinet, all my craft stuff that I never have time for, miscellaneous papers, a mish mash of baby stuff, and stuff in general. The room has a border about mid way up all the way around the room that is primary colors and is trains, planes and fire trucks. Okay, if we have a boy, but not exactly what I have in mind, especially since the bedding is surfing. So, we need to move all the non-baby stuff... somewhere and we need to paint and we need to move baby stuff in and I need to pull baby clothes out of the attic and wash them and the list goes on.

What is the same? I sit in bed at night and watch my stomach to watch the Bellybean move around in there. I love feeling this baby inside me and am so thankful through it all that we are so blessed to be having another one. With two months and counting, I cannot wait to meet this one, to see if it's a boy or a girl, to give him/her a name, to see what he/she looks like, to see what he/she is going to be like. Will he/she have Boo Bear's personality? My eyes? My husband's temperment? Will he/she sleep like their sister? And on and on. We can't wait to meet this new blessing in our lives.

Don't get me wrong, there is still the apprehension of how I am going to handle two. How will I sleep with a toddler running around? When will I sleep? How will I function? How will I work? How will I go to the store? How will I go anywhere, ever again? You get the idea. But I know that the Lord will provide, financially, with strength and endurance, with whatever we need to get through. I know that the first couple of months/year will be difficult, but I also know that it is such a joy to grow our family.

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On another note, we moved Boo Bear to the Big Girl Bed (twin mattress on the floor) two nights ago and so far so good. The first night she took to it really well. She came into our room about 5:30 am and about gave me a heart attack. She had lost her Binky. Then she came back in about 7:30 with a passel of toys. Naptime yesterday went well also. Last night, Daddy put her down while I was at Bible Study and did have some issues with her coming out of the room. The first time she just came out looking around, like she just wanted to see what was going on. Daddy put her back to bed and about ten minutes later she came out and said, "tissshhhoooo." And so it begins, I can see it now. "I need a drink of water." "I'm hungry," "I have to go to the bathroom." "I need a tissue." But once Daddy put her back down and she stayed there until this morning at 7:30 when she came and snuggled up in bed with us. I looked in on her before I went to bed and I couldn't find her in the bed. I found her curled up under the crib (which we are moving tonight). Too cute. Next milestone is potty training, but I just don't have it in me yet to work on that and want to make sure I don't give her too much at once.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Um... Happy New Year?

So it's been a little while. Okay, a long while. So much has happened since my last post. And rather than try to update you on all that's happened with words, I will update you with pictures. Enjoy.

Boo Bear turns 2!!!!
Here she is pleading for Cake before her guests even show up.
The Birthday Girl!

Attempted pics with Santa. We waited 2 hours and she said no way...
The Diva
Random Cuteness


Christmas. She insisted on wearing her new pajamas over the old pajamas. She was very disappointed when we dumped this box out and the kitchen was not put together. So was Daddy.

Christmas Morning.
Visiting Elmo!!!!

Costa Rica Trip

Surfing
The iguana that almost got us!
You can't tell from this picture, but this grasshopper is about 6 inches long!

Sunset at Playa Grande
The End.







































Thursday, January 03, 2008

The Immediate Gratification Culture

I was reading this article and it really got me thinking about the culture these days. We have become so caught up in the "I-want-it-now-right-this-very-minute" that I think we have forgotten how great anticipation can be. Remember the days when a new movie would come on HBO and you could not wait to see it! Waiting in anticipation for that black screen to start and to hear the HBO music and start flying through the stars. Giddy anticipation. In our house, a new movie meant eating pizza in the living room around the coffee table, a big treat since the living room was usually off limits. And when a movie would go from the big screen to video, it took months. We actually had to wait anywhere from a couple of months to maybe even a year and maybe forget a little bit of what we had seen, but we got excited when that movie made it to video and then to TV.

Getting movies on demand is just a sign of the culture we have become. First we went to the video store to get our movies. Then we could order them and have them come right to our door and now we can watch them on our computers or TV's immediately and usually only a month to two months after they were in the theaters. We can't even lift a finger to punch in buttons on our phones anymore. We have touch screens. We have astronomical credit debt because we purchase on whims because we want it RIGHT NOW!!!

Anticipation is one of those emotions that is so powerful. When anticipating a pleasant event, it can make the experience that much better, or sometimes it can be the best part. When anticipating a painful or uncomfortable event, it can do the same, make the experience that much more painful or can be the worst part. Anticipation...

What does it do to you?