The reveal

Had grand plans to do something like this on Thanksgiving day surrounded by family: 

Courtesy of the web


But then we had our ultrasound last Friday and it became hard not to peek at our secret envelope. I totally thought I could wait, based on the fact that I love surprises and waited with Maggie until birth, but it really got to me once I had the results at home. I should have given them to someone for safekeeping but instead I put them away in a closet and it drove.me.nuts!!! So, Michael and I sat down in Maggie's room the next afternoon after I'd taken a bath to warm up and relax. I was blown away upon seeing the written word and pictures...

BOY!

One of each. I hear boys are quite different to raise and I don't know what to expect until I see it, but I'm happy that I get to experience both. I'm mourning a little bit for Maggie and not having another girl as great as she is, but I can't complain. All of our love and focus has been on Maggie these past 3 years that it's hard sometimes to wrap your mind around a second little being coming into your family. It's just as exciting for parents the second time around but I know it can be overwhelming for the kids. I just pray that she adjusts to the changes and learns to love this little guy with all her heart. At least she won't have to share her clothes or girly toys!

Gratitude

"Every year at the end of November, we take time out of our lives and dedicate an entire day to being thankful for the people and things around us...Our society is inundated with constant wants and needs. The more we indulge those wants and needs, the more we desire, and it can become a vicious cycle. But taking a step back and being aware of the things in your life that you are truly thankful for brings peace to the chaos. Being thankful for the little things around you allows you to be present and live fully in the moment, instead of spending time wishing for things that are just out of reach and missing the joy right in front of your nose."

-Words from a yoga teacher I love and don't see as much as I'd like to

I've been seeing people blog daily with what they are grateful for this month. This yoga teacher said similarly that a fantastic exercise in the practice of gratitude is to keep a “gratitude journal.” At the end of each day, take a moment to write down five things that you are thankful for. You’ll begin to notice that even on days you would consider to be “bad” there are little things that make it worth getting out of bed. Becoming mindful and aware of the things you are grateful for will enrich even the simplest things in life and allow you to appreciate your surroundings more deeply.

Last year hubby and I hosted Thanksgiving and I did something like this with family that attended. I put out a nice journal with a page for each person to write what they were thankful for and now it is a treasure I keep from that day. I have been saying prayers and thinking about what I am grateful for a lot lately. With being pregnant, I'm more emotional and in touch with this side of myself I think, so doing this helps to relieve things on my mind. This Thanksgiving we are not hosting but it will not be any less special - new beginnings will keep it lively!

Fall Maggie Pics



  

Can you see a theme here? My favorite is this last picture of her holding a baby garter snake on our trip last weekend to the central coast. No fear and such concentration! Do we have a budding biologist? We went on such an amazing wildlife hike-we saw tons of baby snakes (garter and gopher), hawks, seabirds, seals, sea otter, and mice. A nice way to end the weekend.

Chilly

The past month has been sort of a blur. Things of note (and no pictures to share at this point but coming soon!):

-early belly jabs not the baby, it was organs moving around. Ick!
-feeling real baby kicks low and fluttery, fun! Can't feel on the outside yet.
-Maggie is really coming into her own. Such assertivness, opinions, new phrases like "I've got an idea dad". First morning today where I told her if she didn't get dressed (she only wants to wear pink or purple dresses which we don't have a infinite supply of OR shorts in 40 degree weather - mom says no!), I was taking her to daycare naked.
-threw up wonderful 5th anniversary dinner, boo...
-I dressed up for Halloween as a mouse but because of Charlotte's Web and Maggie's like for Tempelton, Maggie declared me a rat. Maggie was a cute giraffe.
-turning one year older next week, eek!
-1st ultrasound next week and gender will be revealed. Not sure whether I will be finding out, I've come up with some fun scenarios. Keep hearing about the new thing -gender reveal parties.
-so thankful for my family and friends. It really makes my life joyous, especially when you might lose your mind. The good things: kids at home, grandparents helping out, friends helping out in a pinch, friends lending me their pregnancy goods, being invited to wonderful places, and all the love shared!
-another thing I really love: organization and keeping things rolling. It really drives me.

Got to spend some time last weekend in Oakland on an annual girl's day, which before kids, was a trip to the east coast to knit our hearts out. We attended a talk by Clara Parkes here, a women well-known in the knitting world and someone we met a few years ago on those trips. Clara's talk was a delight, I really enjoyed it. She shared her own personal history and how life has led her to knitting. She was really funny, somewhat quirky, and fun to listen to. Even though I'm not knitting as much as I used to, it was a great day with good friends surrounded by beautiful colors of fiber. I also enjoyed a wonderful drink - ginger citrus spritzer, all fresh and yummy.

Another good story...we carved pumpkins for Halloween (first time with Maggie) and the same week visited Apple Hill-just sisters and cousins. Eden at the end of the day asked Maggie if she could have the pumpkins and Maggie gladly gave them up (to her mom's despair!). Light at the end of the tunnel-Eden is in LOVE with our pumpkins and has been filling them with all sorts of things found in nature. They weren't meant to stick around our place for more than a few days and I'm glad Eden is enjoying them so much. Love these girls.

Fun Facts

Things I don't want to forget (and another very early morning):

I started feeling the baby move in Oregon at 13-14 weeks. Much earlier this time and it's mostly a small movement/jab under my ribs on my left side. More noticable after I eat a meal. Can't feel it on the outside yet. Funny fact - I first felt Maggie move on my way home from work as we were headed to Oregon that day (same piece of heaven in Oregon) and Michael was able to feel it by the time we got home from that vacation. There's something about Oregon and baby kicks.

Christmas shopping for Maggie has begun (I scored some great deals) and her feet have grown. One foot is a size 7, the other is size 7.5 and they are narrow like our feet. She loves mary jane-style shoes and needed a new pair. The pair she chose were these :-) She's wanted to wear them daily.

Maggie enjoys when we tell her about being a big sister. She quickly named the new baby "Maggie Boy". She is also into pretend play. She has a baby named Lilac that cries if you take the bottle out of it's mouth. It's pretty realistic and something we've gotten used to. She told Michael last night that Lilac is "really getting big." She likes to carry babies around in a makeshift sling. I want to get her her own toddler sling so that we both can carry around a baby in that way come April. With her love of Charlotte's Web, she has the cutest songs memorized and swirls around with the baby or the tiny pig singing verses. She also idolizes the girl in the movie, Fern, who wears a ponytail. I haven't been able to keep her hair down much since she's seen that movie. She's always asking for a ponytail like Fern and mom, "make it high!"

I'm seeing signs of girlyness and nuturing in Maggie which is great and probably really normal for a little 2.5 year old. On the athletic side, my mom takes Maggie to gym once a week and she reported back this week that Maggie was a shining star and interested in learning new moves, like kartwheeling (which I had first showed her at home). Her new teacher was really motivated in working with Maggie and I think she's starting to really pick things up.

Cheers!

4 Months and More

Oregon 2011

No more bad morning sickness, I'm feeling mostly normal again. I've been quite relaxed about this pregnancy, it's definitely a different experience this time even though there are similarities.

Just returned from a lovely trip to the cattle country/mountains of southern Oregon. We experienced a piece of heaven and I'm so thankful it was right as I was feeling better.

Maggie is growing up so fast. She is in love with the 1972 Charlotte's Web and we love that she loves it, it's a good old-fashioned kid's movie that I remember watching when I was little. For the past few weeks, she has a little pig that she has carried around with her and calls "Baby Wilbur". She is starting to draw within the lines and make circles around things. She has a great memory for people. I'm constantly amazed at what she remembers and the cute things she says and repeats after hearing us talk. She is always finding things that match (colors, animals, pieces of clothing) and she has quite the opinion on what she prefers to wear.

Now that Maggie has potty trained, getting her to stay in her own bed at night has been interesting. Sometimes it goes fine, other times she wakes up a couple times a night to go to the bathroom but she is usually crying to let us know and I'm not sure if she is waking up all the way during those times. Sometimes she seems stuck in a dream-like state and is frustrated/scared. I hope this is a stage that will pass. Tonight is a good night, except I can't sleep. I'm up in the wee hours blogging and making a list. This is pregnancy brain for you.

More Oregon...



The biggest bonfire I've ever seen!






The cutest little cowboy we've ever seen!





Date lunch and rainy day drive on the open road