Good things to come

The first weekend of August, we took the opportunity to visit David's mom down south. While there Lucy's great-grandma C. gave her a bouncy ball, which Lucy discovered she enjoyed very much. Since coming home, we have spent quite a bit of time playing with it. It's a way of helping her use up some energy while using very little yourself.

On Sundays I try to capture a picture of Lucy in her dresses, and these are a couple.

I'm discovering that Lucy is growing up fast, which is probably why I'm more anxious about taking pictures of her. In a few days, I'll have new pictures of her 2nd birthday. Where has the time gone? I know it will hit me again when she starts school and so forth, but I'm just now trying to comprehend it.

Speaking of growing fast, I am now 34 1/2 weeks. These days I feel like I'm in the home stretch and a delivery is just around the corner, so I feel even more anxious to get things done before that day arrives. Even though I have kept a list of things that still need to be done, I feel scatter-brained. My panic is made worse by the fact that I feel wheezy while I'm working and I can't bend over anymore without experiencing all sorts of problems. So I end up taking a lot of breaks and using up precious time that I could be finishing my projects to get the house ready. Even so, I'm excited and ready to have this baby. As much as I'm trying to prepare everything, I know that I will never feel ready but I'll be content anyway.

This is technically me at 33 weeks, not 34, but it's close enough.

Next to come, Lucy's birthday and more.

July 2014

As promised, I would post on the other things we did in July. It had been quite a busy month overall.

We'll start with the 4th of July. The tradition has been that our bishopric makes breakfast for the ward while we observe a ceremony of retiring old flags. This is done by respectfully burning them. We then raise a new flag in its place.

David helped with the breakfast since he's the executive secretary.

Later that day we went swimming at Grandpa Hixson's pool. It had been a while since the last time Lucy swam so we didn't know how she would react. In the beginning she was fine, but after tipping herself over while she stood on the steps, she stopped liking the water. We tried again by putting her in her little boat and eventually she was having fun instead of crying. Then David tried putting her on one of the surf boards and she fell in again. After that, it was no use trying to convince her that swimming was fun anymore.

However, Lucy ended up spending more time in her swimsuit during the month.

One family in our ward invited us to go rafting with them. The river was gentle enough that Lucy and I could both tag along without a problem. It took about three hours to float to our destination where we stopped for lunch. 

That's when we realized we got a little too much sun. Even though we had been diligent in applying sunscreen before taking off down the river and once again halfway down, Lucy and I still felt some sting and our skin was looking a little red. Poor David made sure to get some on the parts of his legs that were exposed, but in the raft his shorts were a little higher and his knees and thighs got cooked real good. It was difficult for him to stand up and walk without doing so slowly and carefully. Obviously the sunscreen had done something because our burns stopped hurting by the third day whereas David's took nearly two weeks to recover. Still he was kind enough to allow Lucy to sit on his lap despite the pain so that she could follow along as he read for family home evening.

The weekend after that, we took a break from water activities and went to Micke Grove. This park is basically a small zoo. 

Before going, I was concerned as to whether I would be able to handle it. At this point in the pregnancy I had been experiencing painful flare ups in my right leg that made walking difficult. It was ten times worse than sciatic nerve pain. Every time they showed up, it would take my breath away and I would need to sit down immediately. So walking around the park all day didn't seem like a good idea. Luckily my in-laws remembered they had a wheelchair in their garage and offered to have me use it for the day. It was interesting being temporarily handicapped. I felt like I was seeing things from their perspective and I'm more appreciative of walking now.

The whole time, two people pushed both Lucy in her stroller and me in the wheelchair and I didn't have any issues with my leg.

The next day, I discovered that Lucy had a fever and she became really cranky. I gave her Tylenol, but it came back the next day and the day after that. She had no other symptoms with it, but when the fever stopped returning, it was replaced with red marks on her face and tummy. 

You can't really see the red marks, but they're there. And don't be fooled by the happy expression, because this kid was just plain cranky.

After looking it up, we determined she had roseola. Besides the rash, her irritability continued and she slept more. There wasn't really any treatment for it except to watch and make sure no other symptoms appeared or reappeared, like her fever. Meanwhile, her waking hours were spent in making her parents miserable until she would crash and sleep for long periods of time. It is rare for Lucy to sleep outside her bedroom except for the few times in her car seat on the road. But this week she passed out all over the place.

It had been a while since the last time I had been trapped underneath her. It simply does not happen while I hold her anymore.

Eventually, Lucy's rash went away and she returned to normal, to her parents' relief. Soon we found ourselves spending another day in the sun and water. One of the families that David home teaches spent a Saturday with us by going to the beach. Their kids had never seen the ocean before, so it was quite the treat for them. When we arrived, they had David pick the spot to park our things. David saw the nearest spot that wasn't crowded by any other beach dwellers and said to go there. Unfortunately, we soon discovered why the spot was bare.

What you're looking at is the carcass of a sea lion located a few feet in front of us by the shore. Sometimes the breeze would blow from that direction and I could cross off smelling a dead sea lion from my bucket list, not that it was on there to begin with. I honestly was never curious about that smell. When the breeze blew, we would cover up our faces so we wouldn't have to smell it. The other option was to jump in the ocean where the scent couldn't get to us.

 

Besides swimming in the ocean, we also tried flying a kite, but the wind was pretty weak, so we weren't able to keep it up for more than a few seconds at a time.

When we left, we once again discovered the effects of the sun. This time I was the careless one by not putting on any sunscreen, but I at least made sure Lucy was wearing some and David took care of reapplying more later. My arms received most of the burn and I now have  a lovely farmers tan. Luckily, I did not get burned like David did a few weeks before, and I recovered in less time, but I still regretted not putting on sunscreen.

In the end, we enjoyed spending time with this family and overall July had been a full month.

Look what I made!

As usual, I feel like I have a ton of stuff to update on. First of all, there is the family reunion to cover.

We spent the first half of the reunion by camping. Normally this time of year isn't too chilly, at least not from what I remember. But this year, we actually had snow at the site (I say we, but David and I actually didn't arrive until the next day when the snow had already melted). The temperature was in the low 50s and most of the time was spent sitting by the fire. It seems we are destined to experience the extremes of the weather every time we camp. The last time we dealt with scorching heat, so I guess we were due for freezing cold. Despite the weather, we enjoyed being able to chat around the fire and have fun. Lucy seemed to not want to stay warm, however, and she often spent time running around with her cousins. Even with running, I don't know how she was able to ignore the cold. I certainly didn't like pulling myself away from the fire to fetch her before she wandered too far from camp.

At night, we had planned to set up Lucy's playpen and cover her in heavy blankets, but it became clear that was not going to happen. One, our tent didn't have room to set it up, and two, she would've been frostbitten by morning. So David and I placed her between us. Being on the sides, we could literally feel the cold sucking the heat from the side of our bodies that wasn't next to Lucy. She slept fine, which is better since it's impossible to sleep well when your child can't. But I doubt I slept more than two hours the whole night due to my feet being freezing cold. Even with David laying on top of them, they couldn't seem to contain a single particle of heat. I was grateful when I saw the sun rising, because I had given up on trying to sleep a long time ago. The whole experience gave me an even deeper appreciation for the handcart companies, because even though we were so cold, and some of us had been pretty miserable, it was nothing compared to what the pioneers went through. We had food, water, tents, cars, sleeping bags, a fire, warm blankets, coats, a restroom, and the snow barely covered the ground. On the other hand, the pioneers didn't have any of that and the snow went past their ankles. They had to push and pull their meager supplies and they had little to no shelter from the cold, which I think was closer to zero than ours was. We spent no more than two nights in that kind of weather, whereas they dealt with it for a few months. Yeah, I'd say my respect for the pioneers has grown and I'm glad I got a small taste of what they went through.

The rest of the reunion was spent at the house where it was warm and we even had to turn on the AC. I took advantage of the opportunity to let Lucy run around without having to keep an eye on her all the time, and I was able to relax.

At one point, we went to the park and let the kids use up some pent-up energy on the jungle gym.

It was pretty cute watching Lucy play with Cassidi.

We also kicked a ball around (again I say we, but I was mostly sitting and observing).

The next day we went to church and slowly people began to head home. We hung around another day, which was a good thing because suddenly everyone started feeling sick. I was glad we weren't driving while feeling this way, or it would've been absolutely miserable. Poor David got it first and then I followed, but mine went away before his. Luckily, it missed Lucy completely.

The day after that, we felt well enough to make the long trek home. Despite some of the discomforts we experienced, we enjoyed the time we got to spend with everyone.

So back to life as we know it, Lucy has some more skills to add to her list. Lately she has proven herself to be a very good helper. Granted she is pushing a toy vacuum in the picture below, but it is still adorable.

These days, I make certain I involve her in folding laundry, stocking the dishwasher, putting dishes in the sink, putting her toys away, sweeping the floor, putting dishes away, tossing stuff in the garbage, etc. I find it's easier to have her help rather than keep pushing her away so that I can work. Sometimes it's hard thinking of tasks she can do, but she often surprises me by proving herself to be more capable than I realize.

But I think dressing herself is going to have to wait a while.

Speaking of capabilities, I finally decided to overcome my fear of sewing and make something. I asked someone in my ward to show me how to do it, and together we tackled a couple of sewing projects. I decided to focus on things I would be using when the baby comes, so my first project was a simple nursing shawl. I became interested in making one when I saw someone else who had made one for herself. It's a little more practical than a nursing apron because it covers you front and back and you don't have to worry as much about the baby kicking and exposing you for everyone to see.

I chose a light, silky material so that it wouldn't be too stuffy to use in the summertime. And the color is neutral because I intended to use it as a scarf as well. This way I can wear it with anything and use it whenever I need it. The main flaw is that I made it longer than the instructions suggested so more material than I need, but I still see it being very useful. Also I can shorten it anytime, but I prefer to see it in action first so that I'm certain how much I should cut back.

The second sewing project I tackled was a carseat canopy. I felt it might be useful to help the baby sleep or stay asleep when we're out and about as well as protect him from the elements. I also saw it as something that might help random people, mostly kids, from helping themselves to touching and playing with the baby while the cover is down. Again, I wanted a thinner material for the summertime. The ones I saw in the store were more equipped for winter, but that seemed silly when we live in California and I'm perfectly capable of adding a blanket to keep the baby warm. My main concern was making sure the baby didn't get overheated, and I feel the material I chose would be the best one to achieve that. This project was a little more complicated than the shawl, but I did it myself from start to finish with just a little guidance.

If you can't tell, I'm very proud of my finished projects, and it even motivated me to pick some others back up.

I made this by printing out the font, covering the back of it with chalk, tracing the letters, and coloring it in with metallic markers. This was the best method I could think of to display Lucy's birth info so that I could be consistent with all my kids rather than rely on the store to keep my plaque, or whatever, in stock. I'll do the same for Paul when he arrives and so on. Now all it needs is a frame, which I will worry about when we're ready to hang them, which probably won't be until we have more to hang with it.

 

I wanted to create more, and my next project to complete is my baby blanket, which I've been working on time and again over the past few months. I had to start over a couple times because they didn't have any more of the yarn I was using in the stores. So I'm trying to spread it out more by including more colors since it isn't enough by itself.

Obviously it's still in progress. But I like how it is turning out.

I still have more catching up to do, but I'm going to save it for another post, because we've done quite a bit in the past couple of months.

And the gender is...?

So I went in for my 20 week appointment at the beginning of May. As usual they check to see that the baby is developing properly before they get to the gender. The good news is the baby is developing just fine. The bad news was the position was poor in order to get the gender. The technician had me roll from side to side and she pressed harder and harder to get a clearer picture, but to no avail. The result was inconclusive and I was left to continue wondering as before. Nevertheless, I was convinced that it was a boy and I just needed a confirmation that my instinct was correct.

I waited until I met with my doctor 2 weeks later to ask when I might get a second peek, but he said they wait until there is a complication before they do another ultrasound. However, he did mention a nearby clinic that does ultrasounds for pretty cheap. I looked into it and they had an appointment available for the next day. David said to go for it, so I set it up. What can I say? We didn't like not knowing.

Lo and behold, I was right. Lucy is going to have a little BROTHER! This is a big deal for David's side of the family because this would be their first grandson. Also David jokes about how he is the only man in the house because even our dog is a girl, but not anymore. We would be just as excited if it was a girl, obviously.

Now that we know the gender, I feel I can properly prepare. Do I have boy stuff? No. As hard as we tried to keep things unisex, our house is pretty much overrun by pink stuff. Now I can make my traditional baby blanket, that is that my making it a second time will then make it traditional. I like to get stuff done in the second trimester because I have discovered that the third trimester leaves me very immobile and fatigued. It is best to do it when my energy is at its peak, especially with an unpredictable 2-year-old running around to make even the simplest of projects take forever to complete. She's not two yet, but it feels like she is.

In the end, the best thing is that the baby is healthy and growing the way it should. It keeps pretty active and has started kicking harder than before. Both Lucy and this baby have a habit of halting their kicks whenever I try to get David to feel them, but I think it won't be long before he won't need to feel them to know they're happening, because he'll be able to see them.

Right now, healthwise, my energy is picking up and I've been able to do quite a bit. Headaches have lightened a little but they still have an impact. I recently got a massage because they had turned into a daily thing for two weeks. After that, I haven't had them more than once a week. Heartburn isn't that bad (so far) but time may change that. One thing that's new that I didn't have the last time is hot flashes. My pregnancy with Lucy was practically the same time of year, over the summer. (Need I add that both have been in California?) But I never assumed I had hot flashes because there was always someone who felt hotter than me. Now I'm the one who makes sure our ceiling fans are on and who pushes for the house fan to be turned on for longer. I'm not used to having that responsibility.

So even though we still have about four months left before we get to hold the little man for the first time, we have plenty to keep us occupied until then, like a toddler for example. I'm pretty sure Lucy has entered the terrible-two's stage and it is not fun. We no longer have a perfectly behaved and happy little girl. (Ok, she wasn't perfect, but we had very little to complain about before now.) These days Lucy enjoys shrieking to try to get what she wants, which we don't give into. In fact, we give her exactly what she doesn't want, which is a time-out. She now puts up a fight by kicking and squirming to get away, which is more complicated by me trying to aim those kicks away from my stomach. Now she knows how to ask for certain things and recognizes when we tell her no. So she responds by throwing a tantrum. The list goes on and I miss the days when I didn't have to pull her out of sacrament meeting because of her behavior. She gives us a glimpse of the girl she used to be every once in a while, but then she switches back to the terror. That isn't to say she doesn't behave well in other areas. They're just a little overshadowed right now by her more recent behaviors. But we recently graduated her to a toddler bed and has yet to climb out of it. She still waits patiently for us to come pull her out, and I hope it lasts. The next adventure will most likely be potty training her, and I hope the transition is just as easy.