Laborland Part 1

All day yesterday I felt weird. I woke with a feeling that labor was about to start and sure enough, as the day rolled along contractions were an ever present fact. They didn't start getting real strong or regular until about 7:30. I was already in touch with my Doula, thinking something might happen so when I called she was ready to come over. She arrived sometime after 9pm and I was actively working (sweating, pacing, breathing).

After making sure bags were sufficiently packed, arrangements for kids were made, and the infant seat installed, we agreed that Rodney should get some rest since things weren't that difficult yet. Nancy (the Doula) and I passed the next five hours or so timing contractions (some were well over a minute long) chatting, sometimes snacking, and resting. We decided by 2 am that I should try to get some sleep before things really got hard. I decided I'd be able to sleep better in my bed as opposed to the couch, so I got Nancy a pillow and blankets and gave the couch over to her. After falling asleep easily, I slept for an hour maybe having one or two contractions while in bed. I got up and consulted with Nancy (who had been sweetly dozing) we decided that if I felt like it I should keep sleeping. So I did. Between 3:30 and 6am I felt very little contracting. Labor had stopped.

According to Nancy, this is not common but certainly not unheard of. Something similar happened to her during her first pregnancy. We could do some natural stuff to get things going, but she felt strongly that my body knew what it was doing and since we were in no rush (I'll be 38 weeks tomorrow) she felt that it'd be best to leave things alone. She reassured me that I had in fact been in labor (possibly knowing I'd have some self-doubt) and that since I had already worked for a good amount of time, things should go pretty quickly when it picked back up again.

I've felt a few "sweaty" contractions this morning, but mostly all is quiet. I'm trying to take advantage of the break and not obsess over when it'll start up again. What a lesson in patience and giving up control.

Still Here

I've effectively let this blog go for nearly a year now.

For the past six months the thought of a post has been lingering in the back of my brain. Not even sure what that post would be exactly, just not fulling accepting the imminent slip of my blog-self into the cyber void.

Slip averted.

So as not to succomb to a recounting of ALL that has happened in the past 11 months, I vow to keep things current.

Currently:
I am nearing the due date of my third child.

Thursday marks my 36th week and I'm feeling quite large (and dare I say, most folks are very willing to comment on the largeness that is my midsection- much to my annoyance. Have they never seen a pregnant woman approaching her due date? Am I really that much bigger than every other 36 weeker? It gets old).

Despite this largeness (which is quite normal, thank-you-very-much), I would have to say that the last few weeks have been some of the best. This really has nothing to do with how I feel, but mostly the state of mind I find myself in. I am getting excited to meet this little girl as each week goes by and find myself welcoming braxton-hicks contractions, the need to rest, the nesting intinct, all as important ways to prepare both body and home for her arrival. Not because I'm impatient or wanting it to be over, but because I've decided that pregnancy is not a means to an end but a very mysterious and beautiful (albeit uncomfortable) process. My body is making a life people!

This is a shift for me for a couple of reason. Firstly, due to my high risk status worrying has been an ever present part of this pregnancy, especially as I approached 33 weeks (when my water broke with Eva). With each visit to my OB questions would arise and those questions were in fact encouraged. Would another premature labor be on the horizon? And now, since we've passed the 33 week mark and beyond, I feel like I can relax a bit and enjoy the anticipation of adding a life to this world.

Secondly, it's a shift because up until now being pregnant has sucked. I remember not being awfully comfortable with the other two, but this one's been different. The sheen is gone. No novelty here folks. Yes, there's a new life a-brewin', but does it have to be so sucky? Maybe I would still feel this way if I had to do it all over again, but whatever. The shift has happened. I'm embracing it. Sad that it took me 36 weeks to do so.

Turning Corners

Lately, both kids have seemed to turn certain corners in their cognitive and emotional development. Even though they are at different stages this simultaneous emergence into a new stage has been interesting (and sometimes very funny) to observe.

Lets start with Will. It seems like every day he says something new that makes me marvel at what goes through his little brain. Today's comment was no different. Some background info is required. Whenever Will wants to do something that he can't sometimes we say "when you're bigger you can do that." Well, Will decided to turn this comment on it's head today. He was climbing onto some storage crates that we have stacked and ready to go to the basement and he said, "Mom! Look at me! Someday when you're little you can get up here with me!" Sometimes I could just squeeze him.

Eva is entering the beloved terrible twos stage. This whole week she has turned abruptly from a mild mannered, chill baby to babe-zilla. I hear frequent screams of frustration followed by grunts and cries that sometimes are accompanied with dramatic body-throwing and hand-slamming into to cabinet doors that are within reach. Yesterday she didn't get what she wanted so she proceeded to ram herself into the kitchen wall then turned and ran to the cabinet beneath the sink and rammed herself into that door, only to throw herself down in exhausted cries onto the floor. Poor thing (I admit I was secretly laughing, enjoying the show).

Speaking of shows, here's a good one. Eva decided that this toy was really something one should "ride."

The New West Side Story

In light of my unplugging bit on the last post, I thought this was pretty funny. Enjoy!

Loose Ends and Updates

Wow. I look back on my last post and think to myself, I could have explained to Kyle why that Michael Franti video brought back memories in just as many words as it took me to say that I would soon (I think my original intention was to write something a little longer). But now that it's been like 2 months I'm afraid it's lost relevance. Though that's true, I don't like having that little loose end just hanging there, so I'm going to tie it up and then proceed to updating.

Loose end (that I'm sure no one cares about now):

When we lived in Paraguay some of my best memories are of my travels to Brazil. We took a two week trip one time that brought us to Rio and a big island of the coast (called Ilha Grande which means Big Island in Portuguese) that is still to this day my most favorite vacation ever. I love the Brazilian culture and music and that video had several images of Rio. Someday I will go back.

On to the updates.

Since Christmas we've just been chillin' and that's I think mostly why I've gone off blogging and facebook. It's just been so nice to disconnect myself and have my only little retreat that I'm thinking this is my new way of life. I don't think it's avoidance behavior. The opposite actually. Not feeling the urge to update the masses (or maybe the 5 that really read this) has allowed me to focus more in general on living life as opposed to thinking about how it will sound in a blog post. I realize that there are many successful bloggers out there who do just that and I'm thankful for them when I sit down to read, but for me it's been healthy to 'unplug'.

I don't think I'll unplug totally, though. I'm just giving myself freedom from guilt and letting the frequency of posts be what it will be without apology.

Will:



He has become a full fledged member of the Terrible Twos as of these past few weeks. Someone told me that three is really when things get rough and with that b-day on the horizon, I'm bracing myself. Rodney and I used to sit in bed and say "He's so great, we're so lucky, this is awesome" or some version of those words (we actually still do this) but now we're saying things like "that was a hard day, what in the heck was he thinking? thank God he's in bed now." I find myself chasing him around more, picking up a limp, protesting child, putting him in more time outs and wishing I could give him away to the circus for just a few hours. But, the flip side is that he is learning so much that sometimes my head spins. The other day he sang "Sweet Baby James" by heart while rocking out on his electric guitar. I didn't even know he knew that song so well. Today he asked me "Mom, can I use this pencil?" My response: "Sure." Him: "You're not using it?" Me: "No. You can use it." Him: "Are you sure, Mama?" Me: "Yes, baby." How did he become a person so quickly?

Eva:



Also, becoming a person. She is now a toddler, walking everywhere and even practicing her soccer skills (she'll toddle after the ball saying "kih, kih" ("kick, kick."). She has taken to singing lots. In her repertoire are the following songs: Twinkle Twinkle, Dora the Explorer Theme song, The ABC song, the Clean Up song, and Old McDonald. Of course they're not perfectly clear, but you can tell what she's trying to sing. <side note: I'm looking at this list and thinking she needs a little Mozart or maybe some Aretha Franklin. But the elem music teacher in me realizes that there's a reason why we have nursery rhymes even if it's just the simplest way to teach tunes.> She is exploring her world and testing boundaries daily. She's gotten used to reaching out her hand to those things that's she's not suppose to touch and saying "no, no" and then walking away (good girl). One thing that does frustrate me about this little one is that she is a mama's girl. Which loosely means that whenever she's upset I'm the one she goes to and she likes to cling to me when she's in a funk (not her father). I get tired of this sometimes even though I could be flattered by it. Maybe it's just a glimpse into our future of super-awesome mother-daughter duo, but that's yet to be seen.

Rodney:

Still loves his job even after the first full semester. He says the students are still difficult but the school is so great that he's able to handle most anything. His neck has gotten a lot better and the neurosurgeon told him that he's not a candidate for surgery (for a while we thought he'd need it). Things are going well for him and we're thankful.

Me:

I came up with a game plan to tackle some musical/career goals that in the past were only lightly mentioned as possibilities. I'm planning a recital for the coming year, I'll be preparing to audition for Opera Theatre St. Louis for next season, and I just auditioned for Union Avenue Opera and have yet to hear back. I still have a lot of work to do since I am not in a formal opera training program, but I feel that studying with Carol gives me so much freedom to still be a full-time mom and yet have access to someone that has a lot of expertise concerning an opera career (not to mention an enormous amount of hope for me).

Explanation Coming

In repsonse to Kyle's comment, I will compose a post to explain how Michael Franti's "Say Hey" takes me back to some wonderful times but not right now. After this weekend passes I will be one happy lady (not to mention a lot less busy) with time to write the post. Until then Kyle (and anyone else who's curious), know that's it's in the works.

Say Hey

Heard this song on the radio last week and loved it. I then heard a interview with Michael Franti, the singer/songwriter on NPR about the song and the video. I checked it out this morning and was transported to another time and place. Brings back such memories...

AWOL

I've decided that today is the day that I return to the land of blogging. My kitchen is a mess right now from breakfast, but hey something's gotta give. These days blogging is kinda low on the priority list, so I've decided to change priorities (at least for today).

First of all, can you believe that it's 12 degrees right now? What??? Yesterday I took the kids to run some errands and was almost blown over by the wind. Running from the car to the storefront was a bit like those prairie stories when people would get caught in winter storms and perished 20 feet from home. But, the good news is we made it and I'm alive to tell the story.

After Thanksgiving, Christmas-Concert-Craziness 2009 commenced and so far I've been successful at keeping atleast my nose above the water. Last week I was a soloist in The Bach Society's annual From the Garden Live broadcast on Classic 99 (most likely our last due to the sale of the station- booooo) and Tuesday I was interviewed for this segment on KSDK. A little bit of holiday 'cheese' for you. Seriously though, it was fun and I scored two free tickets to our Candelight Concert (sorry, I've already given them away!). This week I have rehearsals each night for Handel's Messiah with the St. Louis Symphony Chorus and Orchestra (performances Fri/Sat/Sun) and Sunday I have a double header between the Symphony and the Masterworks Chorale Christmas Concert (you've officially gotten your fill of onomatopoeia in this post). After this jammed packed week, that leaves the Candelight Concert next Tuesday and then it's bonvoyage for the Southern Regions to visit family for Christmas. All I want for Christmas this year is for December 22nd to arrive.

I missed my opportunity to post something for Eva's one year check-up so I'll make up for that now: weight 10th %, height 25th %, head 80th % (yowza- let's blame this one on Rodney). She's talking like crazy. She adds new words everyday (today she said 'Go Che', her first 2 word combo). Looks like head size is not the only thing in which she takes after her brother.

Not much to report with Will other than we're pretty sure he has asthma. Will's been in a big boy bed since Halloween and that's going really well. They sleep in the same room at night but Eva's in the pack 'n play for naps in our room still. It's a good arrangement.

I'll leave you with some amazing photos that my friend, Marisa took. She is a promising new photographer with a blossoming business and I am so excited for her. Please visit her website and check out her amazing holiday promotion. I LOVE these pictures...

To the Grandparents and Great Grandparents

Video time.

The first is a capturing of Eva's first clear word (previously mentioned) taken the night she said it (that's why I sound so dorkily excited). For some reason I had her repeat it like 5 thousand times.



The second is of Will dancing due to his overwhelming emotional state in response to the timer going off for lunch. Translation: "Yay for the lunch." then "I'm all done."

One

On Halloween, our baby girl turned one! I really can hardly believe it. It seems like just yesterday she was hooked up to tubes and machinery to monitor her delicate state, being born 6 weeks premature. Now she is completely healthy and thriving, matching her brother developmentally in nearly every way.

It's funny how now that she's reached the milestone of turning one, she's doing so many new things, almost as if to live up to her new age. For example, just last week she took eight consecutive steps (Gma and Gpa got to witness this on Skype- unfortunately Daddy was out of the room :(), she said her first distinguishable word last night in the bathtub ('go') and today she pointed for the first time. She also plays peek-a-boo on her initiation, claps and makes her voice mimic a "yay," clicks her tongue, and crinkles up her nose with a big cheesy smile when she's trying to be cute. She has 4 teeth with 2 more pushing through and is a tiny girl (she wore Will's first Halloween costume as a one year old- he was 5 months old). I love her more than words can express.

We had a great time celebrating Eva's birthday with our good friends Jess and Evie, who turned two the same day. Thanks to Susan and Brent, I didn't have to clean like a mad woman before the party! Thanks for hosting, guys =).

Check It

Remember that one post a while back when I mentioned that I'd been staring at my calendar a lot? Well, a friend today wanted details thinking it was something more glamorous than the truth, so I've decided to explain lest anyone else out there is thinking that I'm pregnant or something.

I decided that a photo (albeit blurry) was the best way to explain. Basically I was bracing myself for this craziness:

Pink= voice lessons, Orange= Bach Society, and Yellow= Symphony Chorus. These past few days I've been able to come for air, just in time for Eva's birthday party and Halloween.

Novemeber will be a more "normal" month, even though I have a few Octoberlike bad-boys left before summer hits. Here's a shot of Turkey month:

December will got back to relative craziness, but nothing like October. October takes the cake, so to speak ;).

Sunday was the first day in almost a month that I got to spend time with my family with no agenda. Here's what we did with our time:

[Once again, sorry for the blurriness. I've discovered that the pictures show up on my computer fairly clear but then blur-up when posted on Blogger. Also, the last two photos were taken at dusk and I'm no expert photographer!]

Pumpkin Patch

Last year we didn't make it to the pumkin patch because our own little pumpkin, Eva was being born. So, this year we are happy that we made it because the day was absolutely beautiful. It was about 68 degrees and sunny, perfect weather to visit a little place called Stuckmeyer's Farm in Fenton. Nestled in the ozarks, it was a cute little place. There was a gigantic pumkin patch, picnic tables for lunch, hayrides, a petting zoo, a mini-corn maze, and a really cool wooden play-area. The best thing about it was the lack of people (I'm assuming because it was earlier in the day and a weekday).

They had a gigantic stash of Radio Flyer wagons for the patrons to cart children and pumkins. There was no charge for using these, as well as no charge for entrance. Score 2 for Stuckmeyer's.

The Great Pumkin Hunt

"How 'bout these?"

Dum Ditty Dum

She Ain't Heavy- She's got two pumkins...

So Fast

Yesterday, Will picked his nose and ate it. Last week, he held his blankie up to his body and declared "Mom, look at me. I'm a woman!" The other day, he picked up his fallen Little Tykes basektball goal and said to Eva, "I'll move it for you, sweetie pie." [parroting his father's pet name for Eva.] Today at the zoo he had full conversations with Caden Wayman (our godson and fellow 2 yr. old) about lunch and which animals were his favorites, and yesterday in the car he told me about a picture he had made on the computer with Mike and Kendra when they watched him the other day (he explained every detail and- I saw the picture, only he didn't know it- he explained it perfectly). How is it that he is growing up at breakneck speed? Can't I just slow things down a little bit?

To be honest, I don't really want to slow things down. It's fun seeing the developement take place. Also, it makes me laugh and laughing is good. But it sure is mind numbing to watch him turn into someone different (new and improved at times, other times, notsomuch) almost overnight. How did he pick up on that so fast? or Where in the world did he get that? are frequent thoughts jumbling around in my befuddled brain. And all my brain can say back is "C'mon, Gina. Keep up the pace. This is nothing- only the beginning." To which I reply "Alas brain, you are right." [note: I don't usually say 'alas' but I also don't really carry on complete dialogues with my brain, so just go with it.]

I have a feeling that this is going to be a recurring theme for some time to come. Maybe this is just what being a parent is like. The fact that something you made can become it's own independent creature, with it's own thoughts and feelings and personality is difficult to grapple with at times. But it's also one of the most exciting things I have yet to experience in my lifetime. And in the midst of dirty diapers, constant laundry, teething, and time-outs, that excitement is like a drug that I can't get enough of.

Fall Already

I really can't believe that yesterday was the first day of fall. This summer flew by, let me tell you. I've been spending quite a bit of time gazing at my calendar these days (I'll go more into that later) and am shocked that it is almost October. In just a month it will be ONE YEAR since our little Eva decided that it was time to be born! WHAT?!?

Eva is growing like crazy and learning new things all the time. Physically her new tricks are clapping (a few weeks now) and waving (newly acquired). She is a happy girl. This past Sunday in church she laughed through the whole last part of the service at seemingly nothing. As I've mentioned before, she loves her brother and one of the fun things they get to do together is "jump." Will gets on the futon (the only piece of furniture where jumping is allowed) and Eva stands on the floor holding the edge and they go crazy. Recently, Rodney said the word "jump" and Eva started bouncing up and down on his lap. She is a good sleeper, taking two naps a day but also she's able to skip it or catch a quick one while we're out and still sleep later in the day.

Will is still a sweet natured boy, but is definitely testing limits lately. He's decided to see what will happen if he hits Eva (sometimes when he thinks we're not looking) and "tackling" has become his favorite pastime. "Mom, tackle me!" is one of his favorite phrases along with "I fumbled the ball!" as he throws himself to the floor [today he tripped and fell pretty hard and through tears said "I fumbled the ball!" I had to laugh as I held him.] We're spending more time in time-out, but it's really still managable. We're pretty lucky. Now, sleeping and eating are two different stories, but you've heard enough about that!

Pic of the Week

I've been fruitlessly trying to post a super-cute video of Will and Eva playing and giggling together for the past 3 days now, so I'll just give up my dreams move on. Instead I will post a picture of sir William from last week.

The other day we were heading out for the morning and I let Will play in the back yard so I could finish getting us packed up. When I came outside I took a quick scan of the backyard expecting to see him playing with the ball he had when he first went out and was puzzled when I didn't see him. Then, I saw him.

Sitting in the chair. Reading a book that I didn't even realize he had brought outside with him. He even stayed a minute while I ran in to get the camera. Love it.

Her World...

Having a crawler in the house again reminds me of just how precarious this stage of development can be. Atleast with toddlers the world is less about discovering every single shiny and potentially dangerous thing in their line of sight (and putting it in their mouths), but about balls and playing with the dog and books and toys. Also, toddlers can avoid getting hands and legs covered in dirt and crumby stuff when you don't have time to vacuum and sweep every 2 hours.

So it seems we are back into baby-proofing mode. Due to the fact that we moved downstairs after Will was past this stage, everyday it seems I have to find new ways to make this apartment a good place for a crawler. Take the dog's water and food dishes for example. When we lived upstairs the dog dishes were conveniently locked behind a baby gate in the pantry. Downstairs there is no pantry, so I find myself continuously putting them up high when Che is not using them. And let me tell you, when I forget Eva sure does make the most of that oversight.

Aside from the challenge of having a crawler in the house once again, It's been so cute to watch Eva discover her environment. She's especially interested in what her brother is doing. The absolute best thing is when Will and Eva start to laugh at one another, the very first signs of playing together. We've been trying to catch this on video with little luck. For now I'll post a video of them sharing a good laugh as their dad reads a book.

Projects Completed

After 2 long months, the house projects involving the mold removal have been completed. Coupled with the awesome feeling of being back in our own home after a month away is the great feeling that comes with getting these projects behind us. Here are some photos of the completed areas and if you want to see some before shots (minus the basement) go here.

Project #1: This is just a small portion of our basement, but the section that holds our new organizing shelf. The new system along with the extensive cleaning that was done has made this area of our home a place I'm no longer scared of.

Project #2: We were approved for a 5 year forgiveable loan based on our income that is meant for environmental hazards in your home (and some other things) like mold, so we were able to apply that money towards contractors for this project. I decided to play around with color and am happy with the outcome.

Project #3: Kitchen ceiling. While the contractors worked on the bathroom, Rodney set to work at finishing the kitchen ceiling.

The only major project left is the sunroom. Months ago Rodney gutted the room and this summer he sprayed it with the same chemical solution that the other areas in the house got, but it's still in decontrucion mode and therefore unusable. The plan is to have it completely finished by next summer, but I am so so so overjoyed that these first 3 projects are completed that I can wait for the sunroom to be done. Rodney keeps saying that we're no longer poisoning the kids and I have to say that this is probably the best feeling of all.

Summer Fun

Every summer since Rodney and I got married we have done some extensive road-tripping. Even after we started a family we continued the tradition with our biggest roadtrip ever. This year (minus one weekend away for me and a week for Rodney) we have needed to be home to work on our house. That being the case, we have still managed to figure out how to live out of suitcases for much of the summer.

This housesitting gig has probably been the biggest summer adventure for us, making it feel truly as if we are on vacation. The home we are staying at in Clayton is lovely and I've been spoiled in many ways. Even Will has had some spoiling being able to play with some pretty cool toys thanks to the three year old boy who lives here. One of his favorites is a legitimate, albeit child's sized, drumset. Rodney has schooled Will on the different names of each drum and cymbal and Will relishes in remembering them aloud whenever he plays. Even Rodney and I have taken turns playing. Here's a video of some awesome rock star action.

Besides pretending to be Ringo, we've been enjoying trips to the playground, Monkey Joe's, and all sorts of other shenanigans. Here are some of my favorite photos from the past few weeks. I would like to draw your attention to the underware around Will's neck in the first photo below. Crazy times.