Friday, November 25, 2011

thankful

Hey y'all.  I wrote this last Sunday but didn't get a chance to finish and post it.  Many of you know why.  I promise to post what you really want to know soon, soon, soon...but in the meantime....

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Sunday, November 20, 2011

Hi.  Still pregnant.
We are officially accepting name suggestions, especially boy's names.  Have at it, please.  We tend to prefer names like, for example, Juniper.  If you can come up with a boy's name that's earthy and simple, has only one spelling and won't land him a black eye in middle school, you are a genius and we will forever be indebted.  We'll also take girl's name suggestions, but we're doing much better in that camp.  Boys names are just hard.    

:: A couple weeks ago, I had a sudden, irrepressible urge...
^I couldn't find a pattern I liked (they all required some weird origami sewing...and why oh why would you sew booties when you can knit them in the round?  Duh...) and so I went freestyle.  I even wrote down what I did (amazing).^  

With Juniper, I filled out every detail of "My Pregnancy Journal"; I glued in photos and wrote in the margins.  This time, I never cracked the spine.  I feel pretty bad about that.  As a second child myself, I really didn't want to fall into the second-child-neglectful-mother pattern, but I did.
Then all of a sudden I felt like this baby needed some attention.  And so instead of doing the million other tasks on my list while Juniper napped, I sat on the couch and knitted, resting my hands on the big, hard, pumpkin that takes up my midsection.  With every stitch I thought about the little human that is, incredibly, living in my belly.  I tried to visualize what he or she will look like; what his cry will sound like; wondered if she will be mellow or high-strung; pictured these tiny booties on tiny feet.

I never allowed myself to knit baby clothes while pregnant with Juniper.  (Why take the time to knit something they're going to spit up on, poop on and will only fit for 3 months?  That said, I did sew a small load of diapers.)
I've often regretted that decision.  We only get to be 8 pounds once in our lifetime.  There is only one time that we will be so small and helpless that we don't need leather-bottomed slippers.  When a good friend of mine had her first baby I told her to let the dishes go and revel in her newborn.  I am not a religious person per say, but I told her holding a newborn is like holding God.
And so, this time my baby will have cashmere, merino and silk engulfing those divine feet...poop stains and all.  

Oh.  And I didn't stop with the booties.
  
My friend made this hat for our second-born, remembering that I had always wanted one for our October girl:
^Modeled here by one of my step-dad's gorgeous sculptures.^

:: Ever since we brought home the I'm a Big Sister books and started talking about the baby in mama's belly, Juniper has been into it.  Right now, we're thinking the biggest issue with Juniper and the new baby will be her wanting to feed the baby peanuts and cover its head with a blanket during naps.  
At our 36 week ultrasound to check placental location and get the all-clear for a VBAC.  


:: Lately, Juniper has been digging into my bellybutton which is now pretty much an outie and a wee bit sensitive.


:: In other news, we planted garlic just in time...


...because the next day brought us this...

:: My dad and step-mom arrived a few days ago, so now we really have the all-clear to go ahead and meet this little bean in my belly.  In the meantime, we've been celebrating belated birthdays.

And helping grandma cook...

And preparing for the change that will rock our house.

I am getting antsy but my man has been a superhero, diligently working on the Honey-Do list while taking care of both me and bugs.  His coworkers keep asking how he stays so svelte..."Try working on a house with a pregnant wife," he says.  But we have both been breathing lightly since my parents arrived.  Anything that seemed urgent before has been set aside.  We're as ready as we're going to be.      
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That's as far as I got.

Then Monday came and we went for a wild ride.

And we are thankful.  Birth story to follow....


Wednesday, November 9, 2011

monster love

I sure love my little monster.

I'm not getting as Oh my god, you're not going to be our only child anymore as I thought I would.  Juniper loves people and babies so much that I'm swelling (literally) with pride that we'll be adding one more human to our little clan.  Sure, I'm expecting some pouting, some hurt, confused looks and some ramped-up clinginess, but still....  In the end, I think she'll be over the moon about having a sibling.  Mostly, any anxiety I have is being funneled into an overwhelming need to record The Essence of Juniper.  So sorry if I start getting bogged down in mundane details.  It's just where I am right now.    

:: Halloween.  Juniper really got it this year.  She had a hand-me-down monster costume, but I didn't think she knew what a monster was, so we checked out some books the week before Halloween.  It worked.  She was totally into her costume and has since worn it nearly everyday.    

:: We finally carved the big pumptin that had been sitting on our kitchen floor for a month.  Juniper especially loved pulling out the slimy pumpkin seeds.

:: The friday before Halloween our local library hosted a party complete with treats, crafts and costume contests.  Juniper was a bit overwhelmed being surrounded by so many small, painted, unrecognizable humans.  But a craft table cleared and she joined her story time buddy for some candy-bag decorating (the chocolate cookie also helped release her inhibitions).

The party was a good warm-up for the crazy, town-square trick-or-treating we did Halloween evening.  The boardwalk was sardine-like, packed with costumed kids and parents trying to keep track of them.  If my man took Juniper to a store for candy, she'd ask, Where'd mommy doe?  And if I took her she'd ask, Where'd daddy doe?  She really didn't want to lose us amongst all the freaky short people.     

:: J bug didn't know what was being dropped into her pumpkin until this moment, then oh, look out.  We were eating most of her candy, but had to be sneaky about it after she tasted a Whopper.  
Bugs went trick-or-treating with her friends the owl and the puppy (not shown), to the degree that we could keep track of each other.  


:: On the home front: we're still working on the house (shocking, I know) and I'm 38 weeks pregnant.  I have what my man calls a "Honey Do List" and he's been taking time off work, methodically checking off each item as I focus on retaining my sanity in the face of super hyped-up, mega-nesting, get-shit-done-NOW late-pregnancy instincts.  So far it's working out.  But also, I'm THIRTY EIGHT WEEKS PREGNANT.  Dude, that's out of 40 for those who aren't in the know.  
Here I am staining trim with linseed oil.  Thankfully, it is now almost all nailed to our walls.  Bathrooms should be done by tomorrow.  


:: J bug is helping us cook more and more.  We have to be careful, because it can backfire.  Here she is helping with the cornbread, but she didn't help with the stew.  She loves to eat where her investment lies, which meant all cornbread and no stew.  Noted.  


:: I love outdoor chores, but I especially love outdoor chores with my kid.  She wants to help, loves to help, and eats snow along the way, feeding some to me saying,  Brrrr.  It's told.  

:: I've mentioned before that our grass is much taller than Juniper and she's not really excited about that.  Well, my man rented a weed-wacker, knocked out a little yard for us (and for me to plant garlic), then made Juniper a maze through the field.  She loves it.

:: Here's what 37.5 weeks preggo looks like:

:: And our lovey, happy, three-headed monster:

:: At least once a day, Juniper says, I doe trick-or-treating.  And, Where'd pumptin patch doe?  She refers to both the real pumpkin and the plastic bucket as pumptin patch.  And yes, they're still around, but asking, Where'd _______ doe? happens to be her question of the week.  Also, I still get coerced into singing Happy Birthday Juniper at both nap and night time.  My man thinks bugs will be wearing the monster costume at Christmas.  I love that.  Really, kids are so much fun.  I had no idea my "terrible two" year old would be such a joy.  I try to enjoy every stage for what it is and not get too nostalgic over a past stage, or too anxious for a future stage.  But I can tell already that I'll really miss early toddlerhood with all its freedom and lack of self-consciousness.