catching up: lulu pea

changing 'brother baby's' diaper... eat time, brother baby...

hmmm...we might have to work on how we holdyou brother baby...

The girl has lots of nicknames, what can I say? Lu, Lulu, Luce, and of course the real deal Luci. Just don't call her by Lucia...I'm not sure if she'll answer!

She's more & more conversational by the day, constantly cracking Clay & me up. Some of our favorites include endearing mispronunciations...

weh-yo - yellow

hhnail - snail

hhmile face - smile face

hhning - swing

ipsey pider - itsy bitsy spider

wots & wots o peoples - there are a lot of people

quiz-key - squeaky

My-yo - Milo

Other favorite phrases?

Carryou? - will you carry me?
Mama Holdyou? - will you hold me, Mama?

Luci holdyou? - when I have something she wants to hold

yes daughter.

wook at me, wook at me - look at me, look at me (while cupping my chin with her hands so that I look at her)

Car first [with one finger up] (whenever we talking about going anywhere that requires us getting in the car)

I catch me! - I'm going to catch you

If you were a fly on our wall you may have recently heard...

i miss daddya too.

daddy work. take-a-people-a-grandmas house. see Asher, see Myrtle the Great.

deep-in-a-heart-Texas.

make-a-picture-grandma. cedem (a type of flower at Grandma's).

Let's go see fishes! (Grandma & Grandpa Pierse have a little fish pond in their yard).

Somebody-a-cryian. a baby. homa, miss mama. (hearing a baby cry).

Mom hing (sing). Mom no hing.

Mom talk. (wanting me to read a book from across the room while she holds it).

Look at me stuff, I'm-a-jumpin you! (talking to her artwork hanging on the wall while she jumps on the trampoline).

Let's go let's go!

She's starting to sing along to songs and repeat stretches of books.

-I got, I got, I got I got Loco Leeeeggs (from The Freshbeats)

-Nothin, nothin, nothin, nothin. (From The Cat in the Hat)

-She has a big sister book that she was reciting as she was playing with her baby doll the other day. "Too little a walk. Too little a talk. Too little a apples ice cream no pizza."

Oh...and she's OBSESSED with Dr. Seuss & The Cat in the Hat. And the Sneetches. And Green Eggs & Ham. She seriously can't get enough of the book or the movie. Luckily the 1957 video has lots of catchy tunes that keep Clay & me singing for days...

Her concept of time (or lack thereof) is really interesting. She knows the things we do during the day, and that bathtime and naptime come shortly after meals but has no concept of time throughout the day. Example? This AM after breakfast she said sleeptime? No sleeptime. And after lunch she might proclaim it bathtime. She does get that when it is dark out that it is sleeptime. I think she gets tomorrow, because if we talk about tomorrow being a school day she knows the next morning right away as she wakes up that she's going to go see Miss A & Miss L. But if I go out for dinner before she goes to bed, she wakes up the next morning and thinks I'm still out playing with my friends. She also is VERY excited for her friend Eleanor's birthday party and I keep having to tell her it is in a couple of weeks. I'm quite sure she has NO idea what this means, but she doesn't like it.

catching up: where-o-where will the Pierses live

I've decided to catch up in installments since I'm a bit intimidated with all of the chronicling I need to do...

So...PDX. Portland that is, for those of you whose lives aren't dictated by airport codes (ours largely are). We loved it. We felt a bit empty there. We wish it made more sense.

We LOVED it. It is beautiful. Clay could get his hiking/biking/climbing fix anytime, any day, at home or within a short drive. The mountains are gorgeous, the trees are gorgeous, the waterfalls are gorgeous. Everything is green. And for me? The city is SO accessible from the 'burbs where we'd likely live. (The area we'd likely live in is Camas, WA...very safe with excellent schools. And gorgeous homes with gorgeous views.) The Pearl District of downtown reminded me of my favorite parts of Chicago minus the congestion. In Chicago it'd be VERY difficult to get downtown for dinner and dessert and back home again on a week night. We did it in Portland with some friends of Luci's Uncle Sunidh & Aunt Brooke...in the rain (city dwellers know this makes traffic worse). They picked us up at 6:45p and we were home in bed eating a delicious dessert that we took to go by 9:45p (we stayed just shy of the 'burbs). That just wouldn't happen in Chicago unless all of the stars were perfectly aligned. Oh, and we found street parking. Twice. And they pump your gas for you in Oregon. I like that. The city has just a very cool vibe...one of respect for the environment and local ingredients...all while keeping a sense of humor. You can get a local brew (or your non-pregnant husband can ;) and eat a yummy meal with fun ingredients (like quinoa...try to find that in The Woodlands!). We saw a sign at the airport that pretty much summed it up....it said, "UNATTENDED CHILDREN WILL BE SERVED AN ESPRESSO & GIVEN A FREE PUPPY". And it had a drawing of a little girl balancing a cup of coffee while petting a puppy. LOVED IT. Oh, and I had the best latte of my life at a little local joint, bought for us by some random nice people we met over breakfast. They proceeded to map out a bunch of areas we needed to check out for future homes when they realized that we were new to the city. And then they bought us THE BEST COFFEE I'VE EVER HAD. Um, yeah. Have I mentioned we loved it?

We felt a bit empty there. Was it missing our Luci? We aren't without her very often. Was it that family would be SOO far away? For the Rosonke side, we would be talking about a 3 hour drive, a 3 hour flight, and a 4 1/2 hour flight in order to use our non-rev privileges (flying for less on stand-by). Plus all of the wait time/planning/stars aligning that said flights require. Um yeah. And the Pierse side would fair only 2 hours better on the drive side of things. That is quite a trek. And we like our families. Ideally we'd like to make it easier to see them, not more difficult. And Clay would be commuting. That would mean we see less of him. 3-5 days or more less of him a month. And we like each other...so that would be hard. Really hard. Not to mention his stress level of never knowing if he's going to make it to work or if something will go wrong with the flight he picked to get himself to Houston to start work.

We wish it made more sense. We wish we had had this euphoric feeling that we'd found our answer. Instead? Lots of pros, lots of cons. Lots of heart tugging cons.

So what now? We are checking out CLE next. Cleveland, that is. Continental has a base there, so no commuting. It'd be closer to family. A 6 hour drive to the Pierse family, or a short 60-90 minute flight. And it'd be an easy 6 hour drive in the new minivan Clay promised to buy me if I'm willing to move to CLE (he rues the day he said that! ;). For the Rosonke side, a shorter 2 hour flight with the same 3 hour drive. We'd be back in the Midwest...with proper seasons & snow. Granted I like the idea of snow more than the actual snow, but Clay for real likes snow. Housing prices have gone down significantly since we opted for IAH (Houston) over CLE three+ years ago when we moved here. So maybe it makes sense now? We'll see. Oh, and for the nature seeking man in my life? A giant state park with lots of hiking & mountain biking. And we'd be within driving distance of fun stuff in Penn, W. Virginia & Virginia. So he gets his nature fix. Not sure if I get my city fix...but I would get a minivan ;) A worthwhile trade off? I'm not so sure!

In summary? I wish staying here was the answer. But Clay has no nature fix, and I have no city fix. And the forecasted heat index for the week is: 96, 97, 110, 93, 95, 95 & 94. Have I mentioned it is the end of September? Beginning of October? These temps just don't work with our Northern body calendars. They just piss me off. I want to wear pants! And long sleeves! And go outside without sunscreen & bug spray! Is that too much to ask? But I do love our friends here. In my pregnant state just thinking about not having them in our daily lives makes me weepy. Ugh. Anybody know how I can pick up a town and move it north?

alive & mostly well

After a week of traveling we are home again home again. Thank goodness. I feel like I've been hit by an enormous truck (as Luci would say)...I have a terrible cold and this body just isn't up for trekking through airports with luggage & a 2 year old...even with the help of Dad & Grandma.

That said Portland was AWESOME. It wasn't so much a vacation as an exploration of a potential future home, but it was great nonetheless. Luci did really well with Grandma and had her best school experience to date while we were gone. Yesterday went well too...no tears before school or even when we dropped her off. She did struggle when Miss L had to leave to pick up her sick daughter from school, but I'm hopeful tomorrow will go well if Miss L is back.

One night at home after Portland and Clay, Grandma Pierse, Luci & I headed up to Indiana for the weekend for the big Edinburgh Fall Festival. We had a great time, although I woke up on Saturday with a pulled ab muscle or something that left me virtually unable to walk without significant pain. Fun times. The good news is that at least that ailment has already healed. Now if I could just get rid of this congestion...

More details to come, but for now I must work...

Productive.

Reading her book...Loving her trampoline!

Going to the one not allowed spot...of course.

Jump...

Jump!

Productive with a capital P. My very long list of personal admin has for the most part been completed this week. Amazing what a few forgone mama naps will accomplish. I've been so on task I haven't posted for awhile...

Aunt Baylee & Grandma Myrtle the Great were here last weekend & we LOVED having them. Unfortunately, I am a terrible mother/sister/granddaughter, and forgot to get the camera out even ONCE! And Aunt Baylee is leaving the country this week for a year or more! What is wrong with me?!?!?! Ugh. I'm disgusted with myself and just thinking about it makes me want to cry. I think it's not as much the photos as Baylee leaving for a year. Not that we won't be able to talk or email, but still...a year is a long time. Living far away from siblings is such a bummer...I am proud of our endeavors & ambition, but it SUCKS that living in different time zones seems to be a necessary by-product. Luci is still talking about Aunt Baylee & Myrtle the Great a week later...she misses them, for sure. We did lots of fun things like going out for breakfast, coloring both my hair & Grandma's hair blond from a box at Kroger (mine was not a big hit...Grandma looked great, on the other hand), and shopping. It was tons of fun...thanks for coming!

I also turned 32 last weekend. Or thirty-twos as Luci would say. Baylee took Grandma & me out for breakfast & Clay took me out for a LOVELY dinner while Baylee & Grandma Myrtle watched Luci for us. It was great...thank you all!

Preschool continued much as it did the first two weeks. I didn't get any calls to come pick her up, but she cried pretty much from the moment she woke up until I handed her off to Miss L. And I'm sure she continued crying but I didn't stick around to find out. Miss L & Miss A told me she cried on & off the whole time - and when I asked if it was more good than bad, they said it was a toss up. Ugh. I almost called it a day on Thursday morning...I wasn't sure if I could keep doing it. She is legitimately scared. And I know she doesn't need to go to. But I really want her to want to go. I really want the time to pick up some extra hours at work before the baby comes, and maybe even after if Gus's naps cooperate. Luci needs a LOT of stimulation & engagement these days, and selfishly I love the idea of having someone else do it while I get a few hours to myself. Preschool is really all about me, and I get that. And it makes me feel all the more guilty that she is terrified...cause that is due to me too! I was too scared to leave her at the Y or with babysitters, so of course she is terrified at school...how could I expect her not to be? Miss L assures me that given I've never left Luci with anyone other than close friends or grandparents that her behavior is totally normal. They've not suggested that it is time to call it a year yet so I'm going to give it at least another month. Ugh.

And this week Grandma Pierse gets to give it a go. She's staying with Luci while Clay & I hit Portland Monday - Thursday. We are excited to really check out the area and see if it might be the place for us. But my heart is definitely feeling an extra tug knowing the issues she's having with school...

uncomfortable.

Lately we've been feeling lots of discomfort. All three of us. Preschool is hard. On all three of us. I'd been calling what Clay & I've been feeling as heartbreaking, but I've revised and am trying to keep perspective. Heartbreaking is watching a child or spouse suffer from a terminal illness, or not being able to afford to care for or feed your child. Lots of things in this world are really heartbreaking. Leaving your child at preschool while she cries for Mama or Daddy is not one of them. It's just uncomfortable. Luci feels uncomfortable at preschool. She's safe, with lots of fun things to do and kids to play with. But she's uncomfortable because she's used to Mom & Dad always being there.

Tuesday was okay. She cried as soon as we turned the car off in the parking lot. The preschool director (a neighbor of ours) called at 10a to say Luci was walking around in a crouched position saying, "poops, poops". But a diaper change revealed no poops, so they put her on the potty. She didn't like that. I told the director she probably just knew she had to go but that they could leave her diaper on. We didn't hear back, so we went a bit early to sneak a peak at her on the playground to see how she was. She was at the fence line, looking out all forlorn like. Clay couldn't stomach more than 3 minutes of this so he went out to scoop her up. Miss L said she was teary during a diaper change, but overall did pretty well. One thing Clay & I noticed as we dropped her off was that her cubby now had her photo on it...the saddest lookin Luci photo you've ever seen. It made us uncomfortable.

Clay left Tuesday afternoon, and since then Luci has been periodically bursting into tears proclaiming "miss Daddy, miss Daddy, no Daddy work, miss Daddy". She's always missed him while he's on trips, but has been easily distracted and comforted...except for the last two days...NOTHING I do comforts her. I brought out a Daddy shirt to hug, made a bear into a special Daddy bear (this worked for a few hours), brought out the photo book of Dad, called Dad, but nothing has comforted her. This inconsolable missing makes us uncomfortable...and lucky me, I'm probably the least uncomfortable.

Today the tears started almost as soon as she woke up. Miss Daddy, miss Daddy. She cried while sitting in 'Daddy's pillows' (his side of the bed) watching a show through my entire shower. She cried through breakfast. We 'rocked a baby' for 5 minutes with the forbidden baa all cradled and wrapped in a blanket in a way we haven't done since she was like 6 months old. I loved it (who doesn't love to snuggle their baby), but found it very disturbing at the same time. She's clearly uncomfortable. She knew it was a school day, and said 'no school' a few times. But she was excited to put her socks on, and carry her lunch box to the car. But when we reached the parking lot she started crying, and cried all the way into her class (with Mama getting empathetic looks from every other mom we passed), into her teacher's confident arms. I warned Miss A it had been a rough morning and that the director could call me on my cell phone, but she scooped Luci right up & told me she'd be fine. And I was off. But very uncomfortable!

I went about my business, prepared for the call which came at 10:15a. I could hear Luci in the background sobbing "see Mama, see Mama". Luckily I had just picked up my final item at the grocery store, so I headed to the check out & drove as fast as I legally could to school. When I got there I went to Luci's class room...I could see her, but she didn't see me...and she wasn't crying. They said she had stopped just after the call and that she'd been fine since. I snuck out & told them to feel free to call if the tears started again...and thanked them for calling in the first place. About 11:15a I got another call...asking if I meant to pack strawberries in her lunch or was she no longer allergic...OOPS!! Poor thing melted when they took away her strawberry (which I made a big deal of telling her about this AM as I was packing her lunch)! I said, no, strawberries no longer caused eczema breakouts, and profusely apologized! Poor Luci & poor Miss A & Miss L...as if the morning hadn't been hard enough already! UGH!

I went a bit early to pick her up to watch her on the playground through the window and she seemed to be fine climbing on the equipment and going down the slide. When Miss L brought her into the pick up room the big frown was back & I could see tears brimming, but I promptly gave her a hug & high five and told her what a good job she did at school today...and she responded by smiling. We gave Miss L a high five on the way out, and although Luci did say "miss Daddy, Daddy work" she didn't cry. And she's been fine since then. We looked at her artwork from the day and she's now watching a show before nap time, excited to wake up in order to go pick up Aunt Baylee & Grandma Myrtle the Great from the airport this afternoon.

So, we made it through another week of school. And it was uncomfortable, but life often is uncomfortable. I can get through this transition just keeping this in mind. The biggest rewards of my life have come after a period of discomfort. I don't regret any decision that I've ever made that required me to stretch beyond my comfort zone. My problem is not knowing if it is necessary for a 2 year old to learn this lesson...or if that is even the lesson we're departing on her by forcing the preschool issue. Ahhh the uncomfortable joys of parenting...

the state of Luci

Droopy eyes after coming home from preschool with a cold. She was cold & wanted to wear a coat...I had to talk her out of her big heavy winter coat and into the fleece. She may have been born here, but she's a northerner! Sporting her new backpack in time for day 2 of school...

I love it!

Sometimes weeks go by without any real change in our Luci. We play, we get fixated on things like play-doh or birthday parties or hitting, but for the most part life chugs on.

Then there are weeks like this. In the last week she's grown and regressed all at the same time..throwing me for a huge loop. Last weekend she started this new thing...."mooooommmm-MEEEEEE". Suddenly I'm Mommy. It's a very whiny Mommy. Separation anxiety is back and worse than ever. She had a cow last Sunday night when Clay tried to give her a bath. She freaked out at gymnastics on Monday when her teacher tried to help her with a move...she cowered & just clung to my leg. Tuesday she started preschool...Tuesday afternoon nap took almost an hour of crying (she's always been quite an agreeable napper for the most part), and was then followed by only 30 minutes of sleep before the tears started again. Since then sleeping has been AWFUL. It's like she's having separation anxiety about being left in her room...and she loves her room...nothing in there has changed since we got the big girl bed months ago. It is making for a very tired 2 year old and a very tired mama.

She did well Thursday at preschool. At 8:15a she was trying to open the door to get out to the car...telling Clay & me to 'come on'. Obviously that made us feel good about taking her. Once we got to school she knew we were leaving, but the ever-so-crafty teachers kept them busy as soon as they arrived by having them all wash their hands as the moms & dads left. We each gave her a high five and were off! Clay left for work while she was there, so I headed to pick her up a bit early as I needed to sign something and I saw her out on the playground having fun. After play time they bring the kiddos into the cafeteria type room to find their parents. As soon as she walked in she realized that I was going to be there and with the biggest frown you've ever seen she headed to the door frantically looking for me. I called her name and as soon as she saw me she burst into tears and clung to my neck. Miss Lori said she only got teary once during a diaper change, but aside from that she did great. I think she's just very conflicted about it...she has a great time while she's there and looks forward to it, but really really misses us at the same time. Hopefully it'll get better as she gets more into the routine of it. Oh...and she came home Thursday with a monster runny nose and saying the phrase "no pushing". Hmmm...I don't really wonder how that came about.

The other big thing is that her vocabulary/speech is blowing up. She's started to say a few sentences, and yesterday even told me "I have to go to the potty, Mom". Of course we made it just in time to smear poo all over the chair while the majority of it stayed in the diaper. Maybe it was a good start...although she hasn't mentioned the potty since. I think we'll do the "3 Day Potty Training Method" in October once our September travels are over. It'd be great to have her out of diapers by the time Gus arrives!

Other latest Luci notes....

-no, mY book. MY chair, MY lunchbox, MY backpack...you get the idea
-polka dots...she can now identify polka dots
-anything brown is chocolate (pants, cats, bags..you name it)
-I like it! I like Cubs shirt. I like TV. I like Mom. I like Dad. I like Choo Choo Soul. I like outside.
-I'll show you boondoots (balloons). I'll show you book. I'll show you baby.
-HEYYELP! Mom do it! Mom do it too! (I don't want to do the task I wanted completed...you do it Mom)
-up-a-stairs you (will you please come up the stairs with me)
-daddya here? check...check. (in anticipation of Dad's arrival...wanting to check & see if his car is in the garage)
-banana wait? (I'd like a banana while I wait for breakfast/lunch/dinner to be ready)
-know come from? (I don't know where that noise is coming from?)
-she's a counting fool...and almost always gets 1-6, 8-10 right. It's that pesky 7 she can't seem to remember. she also does it in Spanish...and goes right from seis to ocho.
-she spends half of her day putting shoes on & taking them off. her shoes, my shoes, clay's shoes...doesn't matter.
-she's very into coins and loves to count them. she has been keeping them in her pocket, but when her shorts don't have a pocket she uses what we call her 'coin purse'.

I think that is it for now!

Augustine Rutherford Pierse

That's right. Our sweet boy shall be named Augustine Rutherford Pierse. Augustine is pronounced Uh-GUS-tin. Not AWE-gus-teen. Aka....Gus. Just Gus. And Rutherford is Grandma Pierse's maiden name....and given our daughter's name is Lucia Rosonke Pierse you may have figured out that I have a penchant for using the middle names of our children to honor maiden names. We know...it's a big name for a little boy but we love it...so if you don't please keep it to yourself!


My OB informed me today that Gus has long, long limbs, and they've got some meat on them. Our ultrasound tech said he had big feet back at 18 weeks, so I'm guessing we are looking at another 8lb+, 22in+ baby. And we wonder why I get so big so fast? I'm only 5'3! I mean, I know I look much taller & leaner when not pregnant ;), but I'm a short-waisted 5'3 and there is just isn't anywhere to go but out!


That said, my uterus is measuring 24 weeks as opposed to the 22 1/2 that the calendar indicates, but Dr. J says no problem. I've gained 12lbs total so far and she was thrilled that I 'finally gained some weight' this month (5lbs in the last month)...which totally cracks Clay & me up. We weren't worried...have you seen me? She also thought that it looked like my placenta had moved up...she even pushed on it to see it move on screen to verify it was what she thought...and Gus pushed back! She said he might have a bit of a 'tude already! Our child? Never!

Luci's first day of preschool

Shaking her head...no, no hitting friends...

We survived the first day of preschool! All three of us! Of course this morning was hectic...making her lunch...not being able to locate the bag I was going to have her use until her new little backpack comes in...putting on sunscreen (always a battle)...but we made it on time. Of course I spent the whole morning lamenting that I didn't order her backpack or lunchbox in time for the big first day, but she survived anyway, just as I suspected she would.

I had noticed last week during the meet the teacher that they had her name printed as Lucia all over, so I had to let them know this morning that she probably wouldn't answer to anything but Luci. They seemed to get it, and less than 5 minutes after arriving we said good-bye to our pea. She seemed sort of oblivious to the fact that we were leaving and I was a bit troubled by that, but nonetheless we headed out...and I made it all the way to the parking lot before there were tears. And then more tears in the car. Thank goodness Clay was home & we were able to go out for breakfast and just spend the morning together.

By 11a I was very ready to go get her and the minutes seemed to crawl by. Finally it was time...and she was just as ready to see us as we were her! Miss Lori said she did okay...more good than bad...but that there were a few times when she cried so they did their best to re-direct her attention each time. Of course when told Luci had cried I almost started crying, but I held it together. I asked Miss Lori if she hit any other kids and Miss Lori looked shocked...I have a feeling that Luci's little personality stayed pretty hidden today. Clay thought she looked a little pensive when we picked her up and I'd have to agree; she was definitely out of her comfort zone.

I do still think that the time was right for all of us to make this transition. She rarely has baby-sitters and hasn't been left with people she doesn't know super well since she was about 9 months old (and that was all of 45 minutes at the YMCA..and just once). She's a young 2 (in the 2's class), but she'll be young when she starts kindergarten, so really I think this is a good start. 8:30a - 12:00p, just T/Th. It really is just a structured play time with 2 teachers & 11 other kids, 7 hours a week. I'm already looking forward to & dreading Thursday all at the same time. That said, I know we can do it!

ps. I can hear my dad right now..."have you convinced yourself yet, dear?" I'm working on it Dad, I'm working on it...

ugh

Ugh...it's one of those days. I'm grouchy. Luci started gymnastics on a new day (Monday instead of Thursday) this morning and she didn't do very well...and she's done spectacularly since her very first class. Not sure if it was the new kids or what, but she was not a very good listener, seemed to be afraid of her teacher (who shes adores), and even hit a few kids. Fun times. Just what mama wants the day before preschool starts to feel confident in her choice. Ugh.

Speaking of preschool, just thinking about dropping her off tomorrow makes me weepy. Looking at pictures of my girlfriends' kiddos starting school makes me weepy. Good thing Clay will be home to go with us...I might have to sit in the car or something. Ugh.

My other complaints? My $15 hair cut is TOTALLY crooked when you look at it from the back. I swear I didn't see it in the mirror at the salon....but everyday since then I fret when I look at the back. I finally asked Clay today if he had noticed it...he said yes, right when I got home...but he thought it was supposed to be that way. I have a feeling he just didn't want to validate the then necessary follow up appointment with my usual stylist. Which is tomorrow at 3p, by the way. Think I'll have to cancel the highlights to pay for the cut tomorrow. Ugh.

Oh, and did I mention I have a rash on my left ring finger? So I'm walking around without my rings. I feel like I'm missing an appendage. I've been wearing just the band for a few weeks now as my fingers have been swollen...the band seems to fit just a bit better than my engagement ring. And now, no rings at all, just an ugly scaly red rash. When I was pregnant with Luci I wore my rings right up until the end. Not this time I guess. Ugh.

And lastly? Another week of the heat index between 100 - 110 degrees. Since June. Literally. This is the worst summer here yet. Ugh.

And blessings, yes, blessings abound. Maybe I should have posted about all of my blessings instead of wallowing in my ugh-ness. Or maybe I'll save that for later today or tomorrow. These photos do make me smile...here is Luce showing off her birthday hat from Aunt Deb the Great...

Happy Birthday Grandma Pierse

"good as gold"..."she's a gem"..."you're so lucky!"...I've heard all of these things in reference to my dear MIL (mother-in-law) from the other moms in my 'hood. Anyone who sees you with Luci recognizes what a special grandma you are and how giving your spirit is. I read this quote on the Lawrence blog and you immediately popped into my head:



WHEN I STAND BEFORE GOD AT THE END OF MY LIFE, I WOULD HOPE THAT I WOULD NOT HAVE A SINGLE BIT OF TALENT LEFT, AND COULD SAY, "I USED EVERYTHING YOU GAVE ME." ~ERMA BOMBECK



Thank you for sharing your talents with us, and for providing me with a real life lofty example of how to fulfill this tall order in such a gracious way. Happy Birthday & lots of love today and always.

another one

Not-to-be due date that is. #2. Babies 3 & 4. Two sweet baby girls based on the chromosomal testing we had done (which came back normal). Only for a few hours back in January did I actually contemplate what life could be like right now. Obviously when we found out there were two we also found out they were probably not well. But for the weeks before that, I thought we'd be welcoming another child into our earthly family about now.

Today has been easier than the last due date was five months ago...mostly because I'm filled with peace knowing that in less than five months from now (God willing, as always) we'll be holding our sweet boy. With every kick (and there are lots of them...he's an active one) he reminds me that he is the earthly child we were meant to have. Yet that human part of me still can't help but wish I could have all of our babies here with me to hold.

Luci met her teachers today and I was the only weepy mom in the room. It wasn't even her first day & I got weepy! She did great though, and was extra sweet to me after we returned home from school...it isn't often that I get unsolicited hugs & kisses...yet somehow today she must have known I needed them. We played with our good friends the Lawrences this afternoon and I'm grateful that the day flew by. Her vocabulary is growing by leaps & bounds and her associations & generalizations are always cracking me up. Tonight on the way home it was raining really hard...about half way home during a particularly hard rain she proclaimed "CRUNCHY!". And then when we got in the house and she was having a hard time taking her shoes off she shouted "HEAVY!" Thank you for being you, sweet girl.

21 weeks & a goofy girl

this is how she takes pictures...

and this is how she gets our attention...by crossing her eyes & staring at us until we acknowledge her!

upside down!

Well the 21st week is here...I'm almost forgetting which week I'm on now...weeks 17-20 flew by (maybe due to all of the parties?) and now things have slowed down again...although not for too long I suppose. Clay & I are planning a mini-vacation/should we live here exploration trip to Portland, OR on 9/14 while Grandma Pierse stays with Luci. We'll come back on Thursday and then turn right around on Friday to head up to Indiana with Grandma Pierse for the big Edinburgh Fall Festival. Fun times!

The boy is following in his big sister's footsteps and seems to be moving higher & higher up my torso. I'm feeling him kick really high...much higher than I know theoretically he should. After I'd been pushing for like 2 hours with Luci my OB told me that I'd made a lot of progress given that Luce started in my throat...good thing I didn't know that I had well more than an hour of pushing to go...

And do you like my new 'do? I went to the Aveda Institute this morning and paid FIFTEEN DOLLARS for this cut. And I love it!! So much so that I'm going back a week from Saturday to have the same student give me highlights for $35....highlights oh highlights...how I've missed you!!

good listener

sweet boy is such a good listener. i'm sitting at my favorite workstation (starbucks) and just thinking...hmmm...I haven't felt sweet boy in awhile. hey sweet boy, it'd be great if you could give me a kick hello...

and not 2 minutes later here he is. at least one of our kids is a good listener today ;)

photos from iowa...

a hug or a choke hold...you decide... luci, cousin Asher & Aunt Brooke

no idea why this one is so small...but Luci absolutely LOVES to swing with her dad!

Grandpy...such a good sport...

big girl bed adventures

Sleep time (as Luci calls it) has become quite unpredictable these days. Yesterday she slept from 1:30p to 4:45p...with nap time ending because I woke her up for fear she wouldn't sleep last night!

Yet today she's still not asleep now...and she's been up there 30 minutes. Books were read (or more accurately narrated in our own words), prayers were said, and I left the room. I went to change into my comfy clothes...wondering how it's possible to be this big with 1/2 of the pregnancy still to go when I see Luci creep to the end of her bed on the monitor. I see her starting to climb down - to which I yell "Mama sees you...stay in bed!" Before I know it I hear her trying to turn the door knob (thank you Safety First child proofing) yelling "HEH-YELP, HEH-YELP!" (her new way of saying help. she used to say it correctly...no idea where this goofy version came from). "ROCK-A-BABY TREETOP! ROCK-A-BABY TREETOP! HEH-YELP HEH-YEEEELLLLLLLP!"

I opened her door and she ran as fast as she could into her rocker. We rocked for all of 15 seconds before she proclaimed "BED!" So I put her back into bed...where she remains, despite some wall kicking and arm & feet flailing. Ugh. I miss the crib.

whew!

The second trip to NE Iowa in less than a month is complete...thank goodness. I love being there, just hate the getting there & getting home part. Thursday morning I started panicking...flights looked FULL to everywhere...and I mean Minneapolis, Des Moines, Chicago & Omaha...I was starting to get really worried. That said, I decided there was no reason to skip gymnastics at 10:30a as Clay wasn't getting home until 12:30p or so....when we got home I checked flights again...and suddenly there were 6 open seats on the 2p to Des Moines!! I frantically finished packing, rented a car from the Enterprise across the street from the airport, and as soon as Clay walked in the door at 12:40p we turned right around & headed back to the airport. We pulled in about 45 minutes before our flight and Clay dropped me off to check our luggage while he parked in the closest short term parking available (CAL employees call it princess parking). We made it to the airplane, successfully begged our fellow passengers into letting us have 3 seats together, and arrived at DSM on time at 4:15p. We then found out the car rental situation was a mess and our luggage hadn't made it. UGH. After some help from travel agent Grammy, we secured a hotel room and a rental car...we then patiently waited for our luggage praying it would show up on the flight that landed at 10:10p, which it did. Trip saved.

Ben & Chelsi's shower went off well with just a few glitches including no table service from the caterer and a once an Iowa summer heat index >100 degrees. We found plates & people found shade & a breeze and all was well. Hot and with too much food, but well. Ben & Chelsi received lots of great gifts and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

Luci had a blast beating up cousin Asher. Literally. Hopefully she got some good shots in because I have a feeling next time he'll be better able to hold his own! He's SUCH a sweet boy and it made my day that he came right to me when we arrived on Friday. It was great to see him & I hope & pray that we'll all be able to live within a reasonable distance of each other some day.

Per usual I brought my camera and then didn't use it. Luckily Aunt Brooke & Uncle Sunidh used their fancy camera quite a bit, so as soon as I see those photos I'll post them...with their permission, of course.

In other noteworthy news...Clay felt our sweet baby boy kick for the first time on Saturday night! Baby boy also received his first gifts...an adorable airplane sleeper and super soft airplane blanket from Grammy Rosonke. Both are kind of a gray-ish blue and now I'm toying with the idea of using them as inspiration for the nursery....hmmm.

twos...by a very late mama

I'm getting quite tardy, aren't I? I'm going to blame it on the birthday party for which too many crafts were undertaken, and the fairly large couples baby shower I'm throwing (along with my silent partner sister Brooke) for my little brother Ben, his wife Chelsi and their sweet baby girl...in Iowa this weekend...planned from Texas. We head out on Thursday afternoon for Iowa and I'm just hoping the little space that exists on the airplane stays over the next couple of days. We are stuck flying into Minneapolis as car rentals in Des Moines are like $100/day. Minneapolis is fine, and I actually prefer that drive, but the flight is an hour longer...which can seem like forever when you are on said flight with a 2 year old. Ugh.

But, I digress. This post is about Luci....being two. Or, twos, as she says. Twos, dos, twos, dos. (We might watch Handy Manny some mornings).

Stats at two...

Weight: 26.8lbs...50%

Height: 34 1/8 inches...75%-90%

Head: 19 inches...75%

BMI: 16.17...50% (who knew they measured this at two?)

Notes at two...
-my favorite new thing is that she tells me how she's feeling...Luci happy! Luci sad. Luci mad. Luci sleepy.

-She loves her daddy. He spent 6 days with the Navy and got home Monday...and Luci woke up yesterday morning saying "Awake! Happy! Daddya Home! Happy!"
-Whenever there is a lull in conversation or activity she crosses her arms and says, "So. Now What?"
-When I ask her what she wants to do the response is either play! or show! or eat time! Never ever is it bath, nap, or bed.
-She has started to tell us no diapey change. We've explained all she has to do is sit on the potty and we can get rid of the diapers. To which she responds "no potty".
-She loves to add an "a" on the end of some words. Homa. Daddy-a. Wally-a.
-Our poor, poor cats. Luci has realized they are an interactive play thing and that she is the bigger force. She screams MYOH, MYOH, MYOH (Milo, Milo, Milo) as loud as she can whenever she seems him. In turn though, our cats seem to have realized that she should know better than to mess with them and that if she does it is now fair game to fight back...one of them is going to get her any day now. And Clay & I are totally fine with it. Milo will stick his paw out & make a swipe but so far not with claws...to which Luci gets pouty and says, "Myoh gotcha gotcha"...as in Milo got me! We'll see how she changes her tune when one of them does get her!
-When not watched on a video monitor she will absolutely get out of bed & run around her room. And empty all of her drawers. And stand on her nightstand...which causes it to tip over & land on her...an experiment she's up for repeating unless mama sees it on the monitor and runs right in.

-She loves to 'swim' in the bath tub...which means laying (or lying, I'm not even going to pretend to know) down on her back or on her belly.

-She no longer tolerates having books read to her. SHE must hold the book. SHE must turn the page...and her OWN speed. So I just ask questions about whatever page she happens to feel like looking at...and when I'm ready to be done I ask her to find something that I know is on the last page...cause I'm sneaky like that.

-She loves her Grandma & Grandpa Pierse and Grammy & Grandpy Rosonke. And knows the difference between them.

-She has a little crush on two very crush worthy men...Mr. Jamie (Clara's dad) and Mr. Drew (Aunt Baylee's very long term boyfriend). Her dad finds this less amusing than I do.

-She is excited to have a little brother or sister. And since we've found out said sibling is a brother she only calls him sister a few times a day.

-She is learning to be gentle around the belly...and when she kicks me I tell her she's hurting brother. And then she says "sorry brother", and hugs my giant belly. It is sweet...till she kicks again...and then I wonder how genuine the whole display is.

-She can be sweet as can be, and turn on a dime. She's not afraid to hit either of her parents in the face, and then look at us with this smiley poker face. To say it is infuriating would be an understatement.

-She absolutely understands when she isn't supposed to do something and does it anyway...sometimes she'll even put herself in time out.

-Time out doesn't seem to bother her in the least. I think we need to up the time she has to sit & get better at ignoring her pleas of sorrow & kisses.

-Right now she is SUPER excited to head to Grammy's House tomorrow!!

this boy

loves him some Starbucks....some iced decaf grande french vanilla skinny latte and chocolate chip cookie to be exact. He's kickin up a storm and it is very distracting...I'd so much rather just marvel about getting to be his mama than focus on work...alas...the first doesn't monetarily pay nearly as well so I best get back at it...

ha-ppy-burt-day-to-you

Luci is OBSESSED with birthdays...has been for months...so I may have felt a little bit of pressure to live up to her expectations for the big 2nd birthday. But I guess if I didn't, she's only 2 and hopefully won't have any long term scars!

On the actual day of her birthday we opened presents from family after nap time and then had planned to have lasagna & ice cream. Um, yeah. Nice plan. She was happy to see all of her gifts, but was soon wandering around the room, with a sad sort of face saying, "cake, cake, cake?"...and the ever observant Grandma Pierse realized she was looking for her cake. It broke my heart because I had no cake planned! Luckily after lasagna I talked the family into heading to Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream cupcakes...which totally saved the day!

We held her party on Monday at 4p to take advantage of the 'recession buster pricing' offered at our local Pump It Up. She had all of her close friends there to help her celebrate, and we had the super big arena all to ourselves...it was great. Once we arrived she did spend some time looking for her cake...walking around all of the big jump thingies....but jumping is fun and she was soon distracted enough that she was able to jump for over an hour. At that point we were supposed to jump for about 15 more minutes but she started to meltdown asking for her pizza & cake...so the birthday girl got her wish & we headed into the party room. She got the first piece of pizza and contentedly chowed down for the next 15 minutes on two pieces. She got to sit in the big birthday chair and with the lights out we all sang to her...I thought she'd be all smiles, but she sat just sort of stunned...and then finally at the end of the song she started to smile. She enjoyed her homemade cupcakes (store bought cupcakes make her face turn all red & give her diaper rash) and as soon as she was done eating started asking for 'homa, homa' (home). After saying good-bye to all of our friends we headed home & she was asleep before even got there!




A special thank you to Miss Amanda who took all of these amazing photos for us!! And the strange looking lady in the glasses is me...I woke up with pink eye on Sunday. Nice.

I attempted a great deal of creative effort to make our Luci's day special. I made homemade sugar free chocolate cupcakes and sugar free carrot & pineapple cupcakes...and if I do say so myself, they were delicious! And...no red face or diaper rash :). I bought the cheapest hats (because birthday hats are part of the birthday obsession) I could find & then added purple curling ribbon out of the top...and I bought purple upholstery trim and hot glued it around the top & the bottom of her little hat so that it would be extra special. I bought random birthday plates, napkins, tablecloths & balloons...all just birthday/cake themed. For her little friends I made little cupcake goodie bags filled with cupcake bubbles, cupcake tattoos, cupcake kaleidoscopes & kazoos.

Thanks to everyone who came and braved the pink eye potential to make her birthday special. And an extra thanks to Grandma & Grandpa Pierse who made the trek down from Indiana and to Grandma Pierse who helped with many of the creative efforts!

healthy baby boy

Our sweet baby boy appears to be as healthy as we can confirm him to be at this point. I am SO grateful. His risk for chromosomal issues came back as low as possible (confirmed by both blood work & the ultrasound), he has all his parts, weighs 8oz (Luci weighed 7oz at this stage), and is measuring with a delivery date of Christmas Day! My official due date is December 27th based on when I think I ovulated, but if the old school rule was applied Christmas Day would be the actual due date.

My placenta is low at this point, but Dr. Johnson isn't worried at this stage of the game. We'll do another ultrasound at 26 weeks to hopefully find that it has moved up. If it doesn't move up we have an increased risk of early bleeding & pre-term birth combined with a necessary c-section. That being said, I'm just continuing my usual prayer for the courage & strength to accept His plan with grace.