Family Update!

I always love it when I agree to come in earlier than I should be here to meet a patient who "can't come at any other time" and then they don't show up to their appointment! Oh well, now you get a family update!

We are doing well, generally speaking. Very busy with working, school, cooking babies, chasing toddlers, and...well, life! You know how it is, I'm sure!
Josh is doing well with school and Ben duties during the day. His load is a bit tougher this year, because he is a senior! If all goes well, he will graduate in early May, which is of course extremely exciting for all of us! However, that means he is taking junior and senior level classes, complete with capstone projects, intense papers, and teachers who think that it's quite reasonable to request hundreds of pages of reading to be completed between class sessions. We aren't sure what changes will or will not occur following graduation, but it is nice to see this chapter drawing to a close. As I am sure he would tell you, being the full time caregiver plus going to school is no easy task! Ben is at a very busy age, which is lots of fun but also not terribly conducive to getting homework done!
Ben is nearly 17 months old now, and such a sweet (and as mentioned, VERY busy!) bundle of joy. He walks and runs very well now, and is starting to climb on things. He definitely loves exploring his world, which is fine, except when we forget and leave certain doors open, and then it can be very messy (toilet paper everywhere, anyone?). He has started offering kisses and offering and requesting hugs and cuddles, which is just heart meltingly precious. He LOVES reading stories, particularly "Barnyard Dance" and "Pajama Time", and will toddle to his room, grab a book, and then toddle back to give it to you, after which he holds up his hands so he come come on your lap. He is talking and signing a bit more as well. He has some phrases that he says ("Where'd he go? There he is!") but is mostly still using single words. He signs to nurse, eat, and for more. He poops on the potty, and sometimes will pee on the potty as well, but that one is MUCH more iffy. I'm not pushing that for right now. If he does, great-if not, I'm not worried about it. I've heard lots of parents say their kid went through a toilet regression when the new baby was born, so I don't want to push him to potty train early and then have that frustration. He can identify his ears, nose, and chin and he is generally a pretty happy little boy. He definitely does want attention all the time-I hope this means he will really enjoy being a sibling once Hadassah is old enough to play with him! He often sleeps through the night now, which is just lovely! The nights when he does wake up, he usually comes over to our bed to cuddle for a while, and then goes back to sleep either in our bed or his bed (he sleeps in a bed that is wedged between our bed and the wall-partly because his room is really cold and partly because I like him being that close if he does need anything in the night or early morning-I'm too lazy/tired to get up and walk across the house!).
Hadassah and I are doing okay. I'm struggling with the requirements of my job-the clinic I run has gotten to a point of busy-ness where it would really be nice for us to have another therapist, but the hiring process takes a VERY long time here. We are still waiting on an approval that was requested several weeks ago, and only once that goes through can we start actually hiring. In the meantime, the patients must be seen, and I am not willing or able to overload myself in terms of numbers I see at once, so I have a tendency to come in early or stay late in order to fit them in. There is a part of me that is hoping things will actually slow down a little around the holidays, and then I will likely be on maternity leave shortly after that (and if we still don't have our other therapist, my boss very well may have to have 2 people come over to cover me). We are now at 29 weeks and all seems to be going very well. Hadassah is more active than I remember Ben being, and my abdomen is definitely more sensitive in that I am feeling a lot of her movements as cramping/pain where I really don't remember that so much with Ben. I am starting to think about/try to mentally prepare for birth again. I am so excited to have another sweet snuggly baby, but it is hard to know how to prepare for the birth process. I was reading through my birth plan from Ben and kind of laughing-I wrote it assuming that I would be in labor for a LONG time, so much of it ended up not applying to his actual birth. I'm not sure whether to make 2 birth plans-1 for another precipitous birth and 1 for a more regular birth-or what. I'll have to think about that one some more. I have laughingly said that maybe it would actually be good for me to go into labor at work, since my doctor's clinic is literally across the hall from mine-the nurses here don't think that is very funny.
Hope you all are doing well! There is our little update. We miss those of you that we don't see regularly!

Family Update

I don't remember the last slow day I had at work, but I'm having one now, so you get an update post (finally)! We are generally doing pretty well-enjoying the change of seasons as we move from summer into fall.
Josh is in his second-to-last semester of school! He is taking higher level English classes, including some writing classes, and seems to be (mostly) enjoying them. I think the light at the end of the tunnel is starting to feel a little more real! He is still doing a great job of taking care of Ben and meals while doing so much with school-I am so impressed by his ability to juggle all of it, as I think I would have had a hard time doing the same when I was in school. He is still helping with security and projection at church and seems to be enjoying that.
Ben is continuing to grow and get bigger (and cuter, not that I'm biased or anything!) each day. He is 100% convinced that he needs help to walk, but I have seen him stand and walk (and stand up unaided in the middle of the floor) when he is sufficiently distracted, so we'll see how long it takes him to figure out that he can do it on his own! He talks a little bit now, and I have a suspicion that he actually says more words than I give him credit for. His favorite game right now is to get up on Daddy's back (he says "Dahh--eee"-SO cute!) and say "Go go go!" while poking Josh in the back until he gets his desired result-a galloping piggyback ride! My siblings are teaching him all kinds of "cute" tricks, like how to burp on command, apparently. My sister drinks a bunch of water and then belches afterward (and that's how she taught him) so now he thinks anytime he drinks a lot of liquid, he needs to do the same (he doesn't actually burp, he just makes a growling kind of noise, but that's what he's trying to do). The funniest thing is when he pulls off after nursing and does it. He is still nursing about 3 times per day-I don't think he is going to wean, so we will probably be experiencing tandem nursing in a few months. He was dry nursing (ouch) for a while there, but now I think he is getting milk (or colostrum?) again. He is almost always sleeping through the night, which is amazing! He has started fighting sleep (naps and bedtime)-I think because he thinks we pull out the party hats when he goes to sleep (he would be disappointed if he saw what we actually do-I keep trying to tell him we are very boring people after he goes to bed, but he doesn't believe me!) but once he's down, he usually stays down-which is SO nice and helpful especially after so many months of waking 4-8+ times per night.
Hadassah and I are doing okay. We got rear ended on the way to work last week, which kicked off some fairly intense contractions and cramping that had all of us concerned for a while, but after monitoring and testing, it appears that all is well. She is certainly a VERY active little girl! More so than I remember Ben being at this age, though I know there are all kinds of things that can impact how much you feel movement (placenta placement, etc.). I am struggling with energy and endurance at work, but that is completely normal and expected. I'm afraid my "housekeeping" (read that as "lack thereof") is what shows that lack of energy the most. Oh well. At some stage of life, I will have a clean house for more than a few hours (ahahahahaha!!!!!! Aren't I hilarious! Or delusional...) Anyway, there's the short and sweet-hope you all are doing well! I can't promise more frequent updates, but know we love you all and miss the ones we can't see frequently!

It's a.....

Wow, my poor neglected blog! I'm so sorry, friends, I have really not done well at keeping up with posting here. I've thought of things I wanted to post but when it comes to sitting down and taking the time to actually write...well, that hasn't gone as well. I hope to get better with this-we shall see! I want to write an update post on our family, I want to blog about a recent whirlwind trip to see family...and yet time and energy are ever-fleeting, it seems.
Anyway, one thing I don't want to do with this baby is skip all the things I did with Ben due to busy-ness. I know I probably won't be able to do all the things we did during his pregnancy and infancy, but I'd like to do at least some of them! And so....

I am very excited to announce that we will be adding a little GIRL to our family in January-ish! (given her due date, she could conceivably come in December, January, or February) She looks very healthy so far. We would have (of course) been thrilled regardless. I was so torn-two boys super close in age would be a lot of fun and I would have absolutely loved that! My heart has always wanted a daughter, though! I am a little scared-I MAY have been guilty of buying a few adorable girly things even when I didn't have a girl (diapers, etc.), so I will have to use self control now that I actually have one to buy for. I always say, having a tight budget is a great incentive to maintain self control!
Her name is Hadassah Grace. Hadassah (pronounced Huh-DAH-suh) is the Hebrew name for Queen Esther from the Old Testament. Esther was a woman of great courage, strength, and ultimately was used by God to save His people from genocide at the hands of the Persians. Grace means-well, grace! We pray that she will be a girl/woman who has a deep understanding of the grace of God-I feel like I don't even have a beginning grasp on it-I want it to permeate her life and transform her. And we pray that she is a woman who has the faith, courage, and strength to make choices that may at times be hard, unpopular, or even dangerous. I am probably not explaining this well, but there you go.
If anyone has advice to give on raising girls, I am all ears! Oh, and thanks to my sister in law, Lydia, for giving me the truly special gift of a photo shoot with my growing family! Check her out-she is an amazing artist and creator- http://lydialark.blogspot.com/

Mother of 2

I suspect most of you know this by now, but we are expecting our second baby! We are extremely excited and happy. The children will be about 19 months apart, and while we are aware that this presents challenges, we are also excited about the potential blessings that can come with close spacing. Because Ben is so young, we have made the decision to allow him to continue nursing (he is not ready to wean, and I don't want to traumatize him, so as long as I have milk, I intend to let him continue nursing). I am due January 21st-Ben came exactly 3 weeks early to the day-so we will see if this baby comes in December or January!
So far, this pregnancy has been pretty different than my pregnancy with Ben.
For one thing, I am far more tired. I suspect that is because when I was pregnant with Ben, I was just working full time. Now I work full time, come home and chase/play with a toddler, work on my second job (small business to try to finance a trip to Texas and have a little extra money for all the expenses that come with us paying for Josh's education ourselves due to the changes in the GI bill), and then wake up several times at night to pee/nurse. It's pretty tiring, and I suspect a point will come soon where I have to simplify something, though for the life of me I am not sure what! Maybe if I can just hang in there for the rest of the first trimester, it will get better.
Morning sickness has been less wretched this time. I am absolutely still nauseated, but I am able to eat. By 9 weeks into my pregnancy with Ben (where I am now) I was eating AT MOST once per week, and sometimes far less frequently than that. I  never threw up, but I felt horrific anytime I ate anything, so mostly I just didn't. That would not work as well this time since I am still nursing Ben. So far, I have only had to skip a few meals and have only lost 5 lbs (last time I had lost almost 20 by this point). Also, I have been able to eat moderately sweet things (fruit mostly) this time, and actually that is often what has sounded appealing. With Ben, anything even a little bit sweet sounded utterly awful and wasn't going to happen! I cannot eat greasy things this time (cheese and meat), where with Ben if I could force myself to eat something, that was probably what it was going to be.
This pregnancy I have been extremely cold. I don't remember that with Ben.
I have also had a lot of dizziness this time. I did not have that in the first trimester with Ben, though I did in the second trimester. I often have black dots floating in my vision. I'm going to ask our doctor about that, as I'm not sure what it could be from (as I said, I am actually eating most of the time, and I am very conscientious about staying hydrated).
It will be interesting to see if things stay very different, or if they will be more similar later on in the pregnancy! It almost doesn't feel real, even though we have known for over a month. However, my symptoms are real enough!

Happy birthday, Beniah boy!

Yep, I'm a week late in posting this...we've been busy and sick, so that's my excuse. But better late than never, right?
There might also be a teeny tiny bit of denial at play here-I truthfully still feel like I should have a newborn in my arms, but my bouncing boy is indeed a full year old!
In a year of motherhood, I have learned that the moments are precious, nights can be very long, sleep is not to be taken for granted, the smiles are priceless, the hugs and laughter are beautiful, and my sweet son is growing more loved day by day!
He can walk now, meaning he can take a few steps across the room. He mostly does this if he isn't paying attention and wants something. He also will let go of support and stand on his own if he sees something he is interested enough in (there has to be proper motivation!). He has yet to take off on his own. He also doesn't really crawl. He CAN army crawl and get to what he wants, he just usually doesn't bother. He LOVES to charge around the house holding one or both hands, he loves to push his walker toys (while still holding onto us by at least one hand), and I think he is really close to walking on his own.
He still isn't talking much. I am positive he says "Daddy" and sometimes he says something that sounds like "mamama" (but I'm kind of thinking that means "milk" more than "mama"). He is very expressive despite the lack of words, though, and I'm sure those will come soon!
He waves and claps. He loves to play peekaboo.
He has also started patting us on the back while hugging us, which is super sweet. I realized we often do that to him. Sometimes I think he does it as a sign of affection-at other times it seems he is doing it because he wants us to do it to  him.
He enjoys playing in water (in the tub or in his new baby pool that Grandma and Grandpa got him for his birthday!). He also loves drinking water, but doesn't usually try to drink the water he is playing in.
He typically is only waking 1-3 times per night now, which is very nice! He's been sick the last week, so that has changed things quite a bit (read: he spent 3 nights in a row either screaming all night or not sleeping much, and only in the upright position) but I am hopeful we will return to the status quo as soon as he is better.
He loves fruit, especially strawberries, nectarines (only if he takes bites though, not if they are cut in pieces), and pineapple. He is less crazy about vegetables. And he is his father's son-meat and chees are still amazing in his book!
We do have occasional tantrums, I think usually caused by lack of communication/understanding, but overall he is a pretty mild natured little boy!
Happy birthday, sweet son. I have so enjoyed being your mother during your baby year, and I look forward to watching you as you enter toddlerhood!

A Good Baby?

Since Ben was born, lots of people have asked me if he is a good baby. I am always a bit unsure of how to answer this question. I usually settle for, "I think he is a wonderful baby!"-which is utterly true. However, I am not answering the question that I know they are REALLY asking.
When people ask if Ben is a good baby, they really mean "Is he an easy baby?" The answer to that probably depends on your perspective. From an eating angle-yep, he's pretty easy, unless you consider wanting to eat and/or nurse very frequently (he is a growing boy!!) to be difficult. From a sleeping perspective-I'd say he wasn't ever really an easy baby, and still isn't-naps are a bit of a challenge still, but thankfully night sleeping has gotten incredibly better. Yet, I really can't blame him for that one-his previously extremely wakeful nights were directly tied to me going back to work. From a play perspective-yeah, this kid doesn't like to play alone. He is really happiest if he is touching someone all the time. He CAN play alone, and will for short periods, but I definitely can't plunk him down somewhere and leave him for an hour. From a diaper perspective-I think he's about as easy as it gets! He has unfailingly pooped in the potty since he was about 6 or so months old, with only one accident between now and then (and that was because he asked to go when we were in the middle of nowhere, and there was literally nothing that could be done about it). He's going through a pretty extreme clingy/stranger anxiety/separation anxiety phase, so that's not that easy either...
But he is a truly wonderful little boy-cheerful, happy, and interactive most of the time! His sweet little voice chatters away, mostly baby babble still, but with a few words mixed in, as he charges about the house exploring his world. He gives the sweetest hugs, and his face lights up when he sees someone he loves. He plays peekaboo and "clap your hands" when we sing the clapping song. He has the sweetest laugh, and it is readily extracted. His snuggles are priceless.
I wonder what it says about our culture when the words "good" and "easy" mean the same thing in any context. Really, very few of the truly good and worthwhile things in my life have been easy, in the traditional sense. But they have all been worth it, and my precious son is no exception.

11 Months!

Thsi past weekend, my sweet son officially became an 11 month old. As insane as this is to imagine, next time I write a blog post update on his age he will be A YEAR OLD! Whew. Fastest/craziest/great year of my life.
New things he is doing:
He DEFINITELY has more stranger anxiety and a MUCH stronger preference for Mommy and Daddy (and other people he knows). He's pretty good about going to my parents and siblings since they watch him while Josh is in school. The nursery is a bit more iffy, and he is definitely not thrilled when strangers try to hold him. Fair enough!
He sleeps in his own bed at least part of every night now (the thing that determines when/if he goes back into his own bed is whether I am awake enough to put him back in there after he nurses). He's actually really good about going to sleep there at night.
He is walking around like crazy-he still needs hands, but I have noticed a definite improvement in his balance-I think he'll be walking around with no problem really soon! His favorite thing is to walk-and preferably outside. He LOVES putting his shoes on because he knows that usually means we are going outside (I don't like him to walk barefoot outside because he has a habit of dragging the top of his toes on the pavement and scraping them up).
He has become more vocal again (he wasn't talking much when he first started walking but has recently started again). He says "Daddy" very clearly and definitely knows what it means. He says "Mamamama" too, but I have yet to determine if that means me or if it means "nurse."
He has become much more affectionate-he gives hugs really frequently (which is SO heartwarming and sweet), and he sometimes gives kisses too.
My favorite new development is that he has started becoming MUCH better about sleeping at night! He has had several nights where he woke up only 1-2 times. He does still have nights with 4-6 or more wakeups, but we are about 50/50 with good nights and tough ones now-so I am hoping this trend continues to move toward fewer and fewer awakenings! Mama definitely feels better on the nights when he sleeps longer!
He has 4 teeth now.
He still loves cheese.
I think those are the big things-time is still flying by far too quickly, and I feel like I am constantly trying to grasp the tender, wonderful moments and this life rushes by!