It’s a rainy, dreary day here. The house is perfectly quiet except for the hum of the computer. Not even the washing machine is buzzing this morning. The boys are off to school after a wet drop off and I am sitting down to catch up here a bit! Owen is one month into preschool and LOVING it! He has gone to bible study with me as well as Sunday School, etc. so we weren’t worried but there is definitely a whole different rhythm to school! So far he bounds out of the car and is eager to get into school. He chatters the whole way home and spares no detail. He is learning new things so quickly I feel a bit guilty for not having tried to teach him more sooner. This week he asked me to teach him to write his name…and he did. Jackson just had such different interests at this age.
According to his teachers Owen has made some little buddies, one in particular that we hear about often. His name is Noah and his family happens to live in our neighborhood. We met them at a neighborhood picnic last week and learned that the boys were born on the same day, just after the huge Snowmagedon storm. And when put together these boys certainly act like they are two peas in a pod (or maybe two monkeys in a tree…peas in a pod sounds way too passive). As we drove away from the picnic I told the boys that we always pray for them when they start school that God would give them a special friend and it has been so apparent with both of them that friends were picked especially for them!
Owen’s class is the caterpillar class and they recently learned a song about The Fuzzy Caterpillar…he’s a little goofy in front of the camera but you get the idea.
The best news is school wipes him out! He is ready after his busy morning to settle into a great nap most days!
Owen is looking so big these days and very eager to become a big brother. He is my sidekick on non-school days so I imagine it will be an interesting adjustment for all. He and Jackson are enjoying play time together and while the battles are intense the times of peaceful playing are nice to observe! I can’t wait to see the dynamics when sister comes.
Jackson started soccer on Friday with Coach Seth by his side again for the Fall season. His first game was Sat. Last Spring was Jackson’s first season to play and it was neat to see him start up this Fall season with some more skill and focus. We are excited to see him grow and learn with his teammates! And I must say Coach Seth has gotten pretty darn good at herding cats… I mean coaching 1st graders!
Here are some pics!
Jackson told Seth he’ll be calling him “Coach Seth” just so the other kids don’t get confused.
let’s be honest, some family members show up for the fruit snacks they snag
learning throw-ins
and I missed getting a picture of Jackson’s first goal but I caught the celebration! …
Sorry for the silence around here. I have 3-4 posts half written and while I have been wanting to get back on here and share things with you all I have been knee deep in school prep, garden processing and some major nesting.
We kicked off first grade yesterday with Jackson! He was very excited to go back to school with only the slightest anxiety. He plowed through the day and I was holding my breath for the breakdown. It came at around 6 pm when I think he was just so worn out from the day and full of things to tell us about. He is most thrilled to have his own desk and pencil box this year. He has a few kids from his class last year which helps to ease the jitters. His teacher seems to be a great fit for him and has a great reputation at the school. Owen heads off to preschool tomorrow and as he says he “has been waiting for years and years to go to school”. We are praying for a healthy and happy school year for both boys. There will be lots of changes with a new baby and all of that good stuff but hopefully school will provide a consistent routine! So far so good.
The garden is winding down but not without lots of tomato processing! My fingers are weary from the peeling, seeding and prepping…but of course thankful for the unexpected bounty. I have nearly given up though and I must admit our watering is slowly tapering off. The freezer is stocked with garden veggies to pull out throughout the fall and winter. Fall is closer than it feels I imagine so it’s probably time to close down shop. We will be growing a mini fall garden of lettuces and such but nothing too major. We have a family of mice living in our melon patch so I just avoid that area all together!!
Nesting is in full swing as are contractions. Somehow the increase in contractions makes me feel the real need to prepare for baby girls arrival, which likely leads to more contractions. Seth leaves for Peru on Sunday for a week of uninterrupted sleep, pisco sours and ceviche work so my projects will need to be on hold in order to focus on keeping the boys alive and the baby girl in! To say I am mildly terrified to have him an overnight flight away at 32+ weeks pregnant with contractions warming up is an understatement. But Seth rolls into adventures and planning with great calm regardless of risk so we will all just roll with him (at least on the outside). I have avoided photos this pregnancy…feeling huge and not so fun about it all but since the camera was out Seth made me take one. Here is baby girl at nearly 31 weeks. Ignore the puffy eyes, etc. I believe Owen woke up in the 4 AM hour.
I’ll be back here soon to really play catch up! I promised that last time but we’ll see if I can get it done! More on Jackson’s birthday, the rest of summer and the baby nursery coming soon! thanks for stopping by!
At my last OB appointment they asked me if I wanted to do a genetic screening blood test. While I would never even consider terminating a pregnancy I am absolutely on board with knowing what we can to know how to prepare. I asked if the test would also give us information on the sex of the baby….yep and with 99.4% accuracy! I left my appointment and talked to Seth. He had known I might have testing done but never asked about it so I decided as long as he didn’t ask I wouldn’t mention it and then would be able to surprise him once I got the call. The midwife mentioned it would be done in a week…so I called at the one week mark. And the two week mark. By week 3 I was going a bit crazy wanting to find out but also a bit terrified to get a call when I was by myself.
Last Monday my phone rang while I was seeing a speech patient. I silenced the call and called them back as soon as I left the appointment. It went to the nurses voice mail so I eagerly awaited her call back. When she called back she told me that the baby looks healthy with no blaring neural tube stuff going on. The baby looks great! Whew. And then she asked if we wanted to know the gender. I said “OF COURSE!!!”. She told me it’s a girl. I asked her to repeat it because certainly she was mistaken. We make boys…everyone we know for months have been telling us it had to be a boy, yada, yada. But she said again with a slight laugh at me that “it is in fact a GIRL, a female!” (We have had lots of questions on whether or not we wanted a boy or girl. Anyone that knows we well knows that I have always longed for a daughter. I had totally prepared myself that this baby could very well be a boy and that that would also mean that we would likely not ever have a daughter. I had no doubt that we would be over the moon with another boy but I also see something so special in families with little girls. It’s just different. So in many ways this little girl is an answer to lots of prayers! I thought the answer would be that God would give me peace without having a daughter so it feels like an amazing treat that he decided to bless us with what we so much desired.)
Now I had this big secret. I couldn’t wait for Seth to be home to tell him!!!!
When I got home from work I dug out the couple of little girl things I had from friends during my other two pregnancies. I decided it would be fun to hang them inside Seth’s closet so when he got home and went to hang up his suit he would see the girl clothes. Needless to say he was thrilled with the news but also in disbelief like me. In such disbelief that he called the doctors office himself the next day to confirm!
The next day we decided to tell the boys. We filled a big metal bucket with balloons and when they pulled off the quilt a bunch of pink balloons popped out. They are delighted with the news and can’t wait to meet their little sister!
On Friday we are all going together for the 20 week sonogram! Jackson is so excited to get out of school to go “meet” the baby. Can’t wait for our little date with her. We are nearly half way to meeting her which is hard to believe. With two big ones and tons of activities going on I am afraid she will be here before we have time to blink!
