First day

Today was Jay’s first day of kindergarten! He was so excited this morning it was hard for him to wait all the way till the 8:55am start time of his school. I squirted water in his hair to tame the bedhead and helped him pick out coordinating clothing. We packed a lunch in his beloved R2D2 lunchbox. We put his all-about-me paper in his trusty monkey backpack. The boy was ready. [The mom was not!]

Here’s Jay’s excited face. He said: “I love this day! I’m so excited for kindergarten!”

 

We drove the half mile to Harriet Thompson Elementary (since walking still exhausts my pregnant body).

We walked into the school. Rose and I signed in and donned “visitor” stickers and walked into the school with Jay to help him find his classroom.

We said hello to Miss Hollowell and watched her help Jay hang his backpack up. Then she directed Jay to his seat and gave him a nametag. He decided that he wants to be called Joseph at school, even though he can’t write it and he’s never been called that before. It’s so funny to me—I wonder if he’ll keep it up or if he’ll want to go by Jay at school before long. He seems to like the secret-identity feel of his real name at school, because he made it clear that he still wants us to call him Jay at home. Jay immediately showed his loose tooth to his teacher. Then I dashed across the room, took a quick blurry picture, hugged and kissed Jay, and then left with Rose. Without Jay.

I managed to stay on top of the wave of emotion through the school hallway and on the car drive home. When I walked into the house, though, the first thing I saw was Jay’s favorite manky yellow blanket laying on the floor where he had left it. That did it. The tears started flowing. My sweet little JAY! Away at school for six and a half hours! Rose waltzed straight into the playroom when we got home and started playing with Legos. She seemed happy until about half an hour later when she came upstairs and asked “how long till Jay comes home?” Soon after that I pulled myself together, turned on some soothing Piano Guys music, and cleaned the kitchen. It made me feel better. Rose sat at the counter, listened to the music, and watched me clean. She was my little companion for most of the day—I’m not sure she knew what to do without Jay around either! We both took turns saying “I miss Jay!” all day. Our house felt so quiet and empty without Jay’s constant chatter and endless flow of questions. I wonder if Rose will start talking more or if we’ll just be quiet together.

Rose and I, wearing our matching apple visitor stickers from the school, and trying to smile through our Jay-pangs.

Around 3:10pm we got into the van and went to pick up the school boy Jay. The carpool madness is definitely not going to be my favorite part of school. I hope I can start walking at least part of the way soon! Luckily Jeff plans to pick Jay up 3 days a week. Having a teacher for a husband has SO many perks, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned before.

Jay was so satisfied with himself for finally Going to School. He told us all about how they went on a hunt for the gingerbread man. That’s how the teacher showed them around the school: she read them a story about the gingerbread man and they went all over the school “looking” for it, while learning the lay of the land in the process.

They stopped at each place and took a picture of the class (there was just half the class there today). Then they made this little project. I have already decided to dedicate a wall to hanging up Jay’s school papers. He’s never done much with paper before now, and Rose colors on the same page for so long that I’ve never really hung up any of their art. Now it will happen! I love kids’ creations!

Jay said he got to play on the playground and he especially pointed out: “and nobody bullied me!” GOOD THING!

We were all so happy to have Jay back home again. As I suspected it would, the afternoon between getting home from school and dinner time felt very short. I made sure to sneak in a few extra Jay hugs and kisses this evening.

And we get to do it all again tomorrow.
[Hopefully minus the tears on my part]

Last day

Today was Jay’s last day home before he starts kindergarten. Ahhh! He seems so old and yet so young all at once. Last week we got to meet his teacher, Miss Hollowell. She’s young and enthusiastic and seems very nice. Jay is so excited about school! I have conflicting emotions about it all. On one hand, I’m glad because Jay is so excited about school. He is rarin' to go out and learn new things. On the other hand, it freaks me out that he will be gone for 6.5 hours every day and I won’t be able to see what he’s doing! It’s going to be hard for me NOT to know exactly what’s going on to influence and teach my Jay. I know he will be fine, but it’s just such a big change for all of us. Rose and I are going to miss Jay during the day.

I mean,

and

and

What will we do with out Jay during the day?

I’m going to miss this phase. It’s the end of such a sweet time of my life as a mom—having ALL of my kids ALL to myself every day. I guess I just have to get used to sharing them with the world. Sniff.

Here we go!

Babyface

I had another ultrasound today. The official 30 week mark is on Wednesday, but it’s close enough so I’ll say it now: TEN WEEKS TO GO! Yippee! This is taking forever!

In my opinion, it is pretty hard to see much in late ultrasounds because the baby is so big, you can only see bits and pieces in one shot. It was supposed to be a 3D ultrasound, but the guy wielding the wand on the machine mostly did the regular kind. At the very end he tried to get a 3D picture of her face, but he said it didn’t work because she moved too much and was in the wrong position. Boring! The whole ultrasound experience today was kind of anticlimactic. But here’s the picture anyways:

That’s her face, sideways, with the chin on the left. She has cheeks! And you can kind of see her nose, mouth, and chin. Excluding the creepy black eye, I think she’s pretty cute. It’s all in the cheeks and chin.

 

Sigh, time for another snack.

Groovy Belly

Disney's The Emperor's New Groove has one of my all-time favorite pregnant scenes in it. I can identify with her in so many ways--the barely restrained patience, the big belly, and especially the bending over. It's all in the first minute and a half of this YouTube clip:







I find myself saying "no, allow me" in similar flat tones to myself whenever I need to pick something up off the floor. It keeps the humor in the belly.

Goodbye, summer

Well, it’s still hot as can be around here, but summer vacation is over for Jeff. Sniff. Teachers in Sunnyside School District go back to work for in-service tomorrow, August 21st. I have only been half joking when I say that I know I’ll tear up when Jay goes off to his first full day of kindergarten in 2 weeks, but I think I’ll weep openly when Jeff goes back to work. We didn’t have a grand adventurous summer this year like we did last summer, but we didn’t need it (or want it). This summer it was rejuvenating to be able to spend a whole 2.5 months together with just our family, home together in our own house. We all feel refreshed from the low-key break. Jeff and I shared the parenting and housekeeping load and it made everything feel easier. Jeff actually easily did much more than his share of the domestic duties, but he did it all so happily and willingly that he made me feel like it was ok for me to be such a slug (for lack of a better word that means tired-nauseous-achy-pregnant-person). If I could capture one fragment of that man’s endless patience, I’d be SET for life.

A favorite family activity: Just Dance on the Wii. They like to dance while I watch and laugh from my chair.

Jay and Rose are also going to miss their Daddy dear greatly. They spent 75% of their time each day this summer with Jeff: following him around, asking him questions, talking with him, and playing with him. They simply adore him, and I think we’re all going to be a little lost at first when he’s back at work. Once we get used to Jeff being gone all day again, Jay will start all-day kindergarten and Rose and I will be left utterly bereft of our menfolk.

Here’s how Jay’s kindergarten works: on August 28th, we go in together for half an hour to meet his teacher and look around the classroom. The next time he goes in to school is after Labor Day, on September 2nd or 3rd, for a half day with half the class (the other half of the class goes on the other day). The first official full day of all-day kindergarten starts on Thursday, September 4th. 8:55am-3:25pm Monday-Thursday, with “early” release at 1:15pm on Fridays. That’s intense for 5 year olds! And for moms who are used to having their kids home all day!

In preparation for the school year, Jay and Rose had their second-ever dental appointments. They were troopers, laying there with the strangers and the strange machines poking around their mouths. Rose was so tense the whole time, but she suffered through it for her balloon.

What is it about kids and balloons? They have been playing and playing with them for the whole week since the dentist. Rose fell asleep with hers one night. I had to extract the long string out from under her so she didn’t roll over and choke herself on it in her sleep.

This girl has an opinion. One day she dug out one of last winter’s sweaters and insisted on wearing the thing, even though it was 100 degrees outside.

Sometimes I despair of ever seeing the floor in the kids’ room again, but then I hear them happily building and playing away in there and I think that there are much worse things…like waiting for November to get here…

 

Goodbye, carefree summertime. You were good to us.

3, 12, 84

The third trimester is here! I have been pregnant for 28 weeks--196 days. That means 3 months left. That's 12 weeks, or 84 days to go. And I know there's no guarantee that I will have this baby ON the due date, but Jay was born on his due date and Rose was born 7 hours after her due date. So with my track record, I feel safe to use those numbers. If they're a few days off, I'll deal with that when it comes. I need my countdown.

Last Wednesday @27 weeks.

I am so glad to be in the home stretch of my last, hardest pregnancy! Every day is like a gift, saying "here you go, that's another day done." It's so nice to always have that one guarantee every single night, no matter how little I felt able to accomplish that day, the day is DONE. Each time I go to bed, I wake up the next morning with less days left. That makes it sound like I live in a horrible tick-tock-tick-tock state of mind. I really try not to let the countdown control me. I want to find the joy in every day and be happy in spite of how I feel physically. It is my challenge right now. Some days I triumph and other days I break down and my patient husband (and/or my Mom) has to listen to yet another boo-hoo-for-me monolog. But the days are passing. Next month is September, which is only one month before the month of my due date!

And although I still rarely can think of anything that sounds good enough to cook (1-2 times per week on a good week) and I still feel nauseated to some degree 24/7, when I compare my current self to my one-month-ago self, I can tell I'm doing better. As long as I take that blasted anti-barf medicine.

Three weeks ago I experimented with my medicine dosage because I noticed that I was up another rung on the ladder from the queasy abyss. I tried only taking one of the two pills--the Zofran--for two whole days. Then I started feeling worse and worse and weaker and more dangerous (aka close to barfing). And with the way things have gone this pregnancy, I fear barfing above all else because once I start, I can never stop till I'm stuck full of needles and half dead. So I swallowed two pills again and it took two more days for me to climb back onto the previous rung of that ladder. While that experiement did not land me in the ER like my last experiment did, it was kind of disheartening to have such strong evidence of my dependence on the anti-puke pills. I keep hoping that I'll be able to stop taking them, but I think I'll put those hopes on the shelf for another month or two...or just wait till I'm not pregnant anymore.

Piglet, modeling a diaper and shoes.

This week I think I have been feeling a little bit nesty! That is a fun feeling when you have the "surge of energy" that the books claim accompanies the nesting urge. But I feel nesty minus the energy part. So nothing is coming of it except me asking (and trying to resist asking) Jeff to do even more for me, poor man. What is energy, anyways? I have this vague memory of what it feels like, but I can't really imagine myself having any of it right now. Every single thing I do takes careful thought. I have a tiny bucket of energy to ration out each day, and it is usually used up by feeding myself and keeping the kitchen clean. Every now and then I can cook something and I once in a while I do go to the store or clean somthing else in the house, only to spend the next 24+ hours plastered to my recliner with droopy eyelids. Three hours of church on Sunday makes me literally unable to keep my eyes open when we get home. It is a strange feeling to be so out of control of mySELF!

This baby girl seems to enjoy break dancing, especially late at night. I tried getting a video of my stomach rippling for you, but I only got one or two good pokes. Often, my belly shakes and jumps alarmingly high. Jeff even saw it the other night.

And then there are the SHAKY hunger pangs. My appetite is growing, while my ability to think of edible foods remains the same. It gets tricky. When I start getting hungry and I don't know what to eat, I feel so cornered! If I wait too long, I get super shaky. My hands tremble visibly and I feel weak. My kind doctor let me opt out of the glucose screening test because I'd never survive a morning without breakfast. Speaking of shaky hunger...

 

PEACHES!

 

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Visiting

We were gone for a week and now we’re back home again! Last weekend we went to visit my parents and then that week we swung down and met the White folks at the lakehouse for a quick White family laketime. Family is the best. [I have to mention that a certain baby belly is sucking all brainpower from me so this post may not be a very compelling read.]

At my parents’ house, we did plenty of low-key hanging out with Mom, Dad, Kyle, and Mel. We watched lots of Castle, and my Mom fed me all of her food. For you non-relations, Kyle is my brother who just got back from his mission at Christmastime so we haven’t seen much of him in a long while. It was good to get one last glimpse of him before he heads off to Cornell next week. Kyle scored major uncle points with Rose by playing the piano for her while she danced and then turning on more music and dancing with her. Rose sure likes to dance. Jeff scored major points with me by taking the kids to the park and the pool while I relaxed with my Mom lots. The kids got their energy out while having a blast with Daddy, and I got some quality Mom-time, which I always love. It was a 3 way win!

Story time with Grama Meri—always a favorite. She has a whole shelf of the best books.

Park time with Aunt Mel.

Music time with Uncle Kyle.

A little morning Daddy-daughter yoga. We looked up some yoga poses on Google images for them to try. It was very entertaining.

iPad time.

Snuggle time.

Then came the lake. We went to the lakehouse from Tuesday-Thursday and various White relations dropped in and out while we were there. Dan and Leslie (Grama and Grampa) came for the day on Tuesday (the lake is just 3.5 hours from Grandview), and Steph, Jasen, Layne, and Tate came Tuesday-Wednesday evening. We enjoyed the numerous amenities of the lakehouse: boat, hot tub, teeter totter, kayaks, trampoline, couches, tinker toys, fire pit, grill, and scenery. And by we I mean everyone except this pregnant lady enjoyed the lakey stuff while I watched, an arrangement that was fine by me since this babybelly not only sucks my brainpower but also my energy/sense of adventure.

Trying hats on Tate.

It was in the low 60s and chilly on Wednesday morning so we popped open the hot tub, which thankfully was not too hot for the kids. I love these cousins. [Tate—age 8 months, Rose—age 3.5, Layne—age 20 months, Jay—age 5]

Tinker Toys!

Right when Jasen started the fire, the sun came out and we roasted our faces along with the marshmallows.

S’mores at noon? It’s a White thing.

Kayaking Tate.

Jeff swam pulling Jay and Rose on the tube all the way out to the lake trampoline.

Jasen kayaked pulling Steph and Layne out to the tramp too.

Jay loves jumping off the trampoline into the water.

Meanwhile, back on shore, I enjoyed the scenery.

 
More Tinker Toys and I think those other ones are called Zoobs.

This is the life. Rose enjoyed some sunbathing.

I have to do a quick comparison between last year and this year. Rose fits the same swimsuit as she wore last year, but she’s a solid 5+ inches taller. It’s all in her legs. I wonder where she got that, ha ha ha.

2013                                                        2014

Swimming by the dock.

We love the lake!