Since the first question I'm generally asked these days is about how I'm feeling, I'll tell you: full. My midsection is jam-packed with baby and it can be hard to determine whether I'm hungry or not. My heart feels full of joy, longing and nervous excitement to meet this new special addition to our family. My head is full of questions about what this new one's name will be; whether this one will be a boy or a girl; what the personality will be like; how day-to-day life will work with Libby PLUS an infant... and then crawler, toddler, etc.; what it will be like when I continue my paying job. Full of hope for how the sibling relationship will work and how I can nurture my kidS to love, enjoy and appreciate the gift of each other, while realizing that conflict and hurt feelings are inevitable and part of their growth.
Libby's full of good questions, too. They include, "Do we get to keep the baby until Easter?!" "Does the baby eat everything that you eat?" "But I thought tiny babies only drink milk?" "But it's not the kind of milk I drink, right?" "Then how do you make it?!" "But what special way do Mommies make it?" And she's full love love for the baby. She loves on my tummy still, prays for the baby, gives him/her massages and talks non-stop about how much she wants to squeeze the baby because he/she's sooooo sweet! If only this will keep up after Maeby arrives.
One thing I'm trying to avoid though is making my/our schedule TOO full over the next weeks. As I try to cram in special Fall events and make memories, I want to enjoy not feeling so harried through the day, the way I inevitably will while living in three-hour feeding increments. I want to enjoy not being SO tired that I can hardly function and I'm praying for strength and the perspective I have as a mother already to get me through those first days and weeks. Oh and I'm praying for another baby who is a great sleeper. And tomorrow I get to add one more thing to my weekly schedule - a doctor's appointment tomorrow and every week until Maeby arrives - and that's not counting any kind of "false alarm" trip that could occur.
That's not to say that our days aren't busy though. Libby has school two of the days I'm home with her and gymnastics the other morning I'm home, so we do get going in the morning. Last week Michael was out of town and that always makes for a busier week for me - though I took advantage of not as many "nice" meals at home. Honestly, Michael could probably care less, but generally I care whether a proper meal is ready at dinner time - even if it's an assortment of leftovers.
But shoot- last Monday, I found out about a work softball game after hours and Gigi was kind enough to arrange to meet me to swap Libby so she could go. Since she had such fun last time, she had asked to go again and I wasn't sure there'd be another opportunity. There was, though, and since I only have the two of us to look out for, we went! She had a great time running around the nearly-empty stands, playing with the kids of one of my former co-workers who was playing in the game and told them they'd need to "babysit" Libby during the action. Oh it was a hoot to watch- two boys- 6 and 5 years-old, "babysitting" Libby. They did all have fun playing together, though. Great evening entertainment and then Libby and I came home to cereal for dinner. Something we never do, so it was kind of a fun Mommy-Libby treat!
Our cars are officially full, too - or at least our back seats are full! Michael put the baby car seat bases in the cars yesterday. Yay! Getting increasingly real by the day.
Even my hospital bag is semi-full!
We had a great week together, though we certainly missed Daddy. Thank goodness for our nightly Skype sessions with him. Libby kept him entertained with her various gymnastics tricks and asking him what he had for lunch and dinner. Other than that, she "cooked" a lot, played with these beads she found that she calls her "peas," enjoyed the pool one last time - before she and Gigi enjoyed it one really last time on Friday.
I got some big news at work with one of my bosses - the first boss who hired me when I started 10 years ago - announcing that he's leaving. I took it really hard, despite the fact that I'm fortunate enough not to have to worry about "what's next" for myself. I'm thrilled for his new job, too. But my sentimentality, combined with hormones, made it a dramatic couple of days.
On Saturday, Libby and Daddy had a great, full, Daddy-daughter day, big time. They played a new element of driveway ball, went to the playground, took Commish to have her nails clipped, played inside, did laundry, and even ate lunch on her blue table in the dining room!
While they played, I went to Rome to visit Mema and Boobus and help out a bit with their unpacking and getting settled. I also attended a perfectly beautiful and appropriate funeral for a former teacher who embodied exactly what a teacher should be. I think I may have mentioned Mr. Awsumb in my last post, and his blog that I followed, "Awsumb's Opines." I'll miss his commentary and his presence will be missed in Rome and by the students he affected around the world. As I was thinking more about him and his class, I started to wonder not whether Michael and I would be together without the class, but it truly has brought us many more shared interests over the years, at home and on our vacations.
Yesterday was church for all of us, including the "new member class" for Michael and me and Libby's Sunday School class, which she was excited to attend! She said they read two Bible stories (we're not sure of which ones- she's tough with the details sometimes...) and another mom there apparently came in to lead them in songs. She told us that Libby sat right up close to her and did all the motions, watching her so intensely. Wow has she come a long way since music class in school last year! Mom also came to our rescue last night. I had to go into work early today, so I couldn't even do the early drop-off for Libby's school and Michael had to travel pretty far again (though came home tonight anyway.)
But, she sadly had a little scrape up on the playground. Another kid ran into her accidentally and knocked her down, causing her to scrape her elbow. Her teacher put antiseptic on it, two bandages, gave her a couple of Skittles and some hugs and all was well again. Mimi made sure she also got another treat: Baskin Robins!
Sweet girl! We may have also gone out for pizza tonight. She was really babying the elbow after her nap. You know, between my fatigue, her injury and Michael's commute, sometimes you just have to go with it.
So tonight, I had time to blog!
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