Pumpkin-themed photo dump.

In-laws are in town this week. We took Tycho to the pumpkin patch. Mostly just to take cute pictures of him amongst some festive gourds.

So it goes

Omigosh blog. It's been a while. I swear I intend to update on the regular, but life and things. I've been pretty much working every single day since we got back from vacation though, including some overnight shifts (another one tonight!), so I've been busy and exhausted. But with Kyle still out of work, it's been wonderful that I've been approved to work so many hours these past couple of weeks. Overtime isn't usually allowed. I've got another six days of crazy to go, and then things should slow down a little next week, thank goodness.

Anyway, updates! Our trip was actually pretty wonderful! I was so not excited about traveling all the way across the country with my 30-pound, newly mobile baby, but he was good on the airplanes about 90% of the time, and I'm pretty sure that's better than you can ever expect. We bought him his own seat this time around, and yeah, best decision ever. Worth any amount of money. Will not travel with him in my lap ever again. Bleck.

In pre-trip planning, my MIL suggested a trip to Cedar Point. Kyle agreed without thinking about it and I was kind of upset, because why in the world would you take an infant to America's biggest roller coaster park? In the summer in Ohio? WHY? BUT Tycho did really well. He hung out with his grandparents while we rode some roller coasters and he went on his first carousel ride and thought it was the most awesome thing ever. Next time we go to the zoo I am doing a carousel detour, because oh, man, he was shrieking and laughing and and flailing his arms in delight and we were just on the boring stationary horse. He'll probably lose his mind if he gets one that goes up and down.

In true summertime, theme park form, Tycho got to try his first ICEE! (His face may suggest otherwise, but he LOVED it, and kept going back for more.)

The point of the trip, besides generic family-visiting, was to go to Kyle's cousin's wedding. I was a little nervous, because it was my first time attending a catholic ceremony, and the when to sit and stand and shake your neighbors hands business is stressful enough without trying to keep a baby from disrupting things. But Tycho nursed to sleep just as things began (add a catholic church to the list of places I've breastfed him), and I was able to lay him down in the pew for a nap. He woke up just as things were finishing up, in a delightful mood.

He also did great at the reception, even though it was a late night. He ate lots of generic wedding buffet food, and he loved dancing with me to any kind of music, and took a hour and a half long nap on his great aunt Nan so that I could get some socializing and dancing-with-my-husband in. And I dressed him up in a little vest so his was scene-stealingly adorable, but did you expect any less?

This trip was also the first time Tycho met his great grandparents, as they were out of town when we were visiting in October. And I was able to take the best picture ever taken: four generations of Boddy men. The first born son of the first born son of the first born son of the first born son. They all share the same middle name. I DIE.

And all wearing novelty shamrock ties as a joke on the groom!

My in laws borrowed a bunch of baby gear from one of Kyle's aunts, so we were well stocked with toys and a high chair and a kiddie pool and even a swing in the back yard, so that made everything so much easier for us.

Another highlight of the trip was meeting Kyle's best friend's week old son, Dominic, but I have no pictures from that even because I was too busy snuggling him and huffing new baby smell. I miss new baby smell. And new baby cuddles. Tycho doesn't cuddle so much anymore.

Grandparents

Hi Blog!

We here at Science Experiments had a very busy Labor Day weekend. My in laws came from Ohio to meet Tycho for the first time. Originally they hadn't planned to make the trip out here, since we'll be flying back at the end of this month so that Tycho can meet the entire family, but I think once he was born they couldn't stand the waiting any longer.

Tycho meeting Grandma and Grandpa

It was a good visit. Unfortunately Kyle had various work-type stuff going on, so Tycho and I mostly hung out with the in-laws by ourselves. Not bad, but since they live on the other side of the country, I've never spent that much time with them, so it can still be a little awkward.

They left yesterday morning, and Tycho and I used the rest of the day to recover from the busybusy. We certainly needed it.

Trimester the Third

Well then. Yesterday marked the first day of this last trimester of my pregnancy. The home stretch! 12 weeks right now feels about 10 weeks too many, but I know the time will just fly by. The last trimester certainly did. I have no idea where the last three months went.

And happy third trimester to me, what should I find when I leave my house for work but my brand new stroller waiting for me on my front step. (Kyle's aunties all chipped in.)

Yay! I was expecting it, but still. I probably let out some sort of high-pitched yelp when I opened the door.  It feels like a huge weight off my shoulders to have some of the big stuff out of the way. I'm expecting our crib to arrive tomorrow. A gift from Kyle's parents... you know, on top of hosting us and throwing me an awesome baby shower and making me that beautiful mobile. Cool.

Another exciting third trimester milestone: yesterday was the first time I peed myself a little bit when I coughed. Awesome.

Cleveland Part II: The Luck of the Irish

Kyle is half Irish. Yeah. His dad is the oldest of nine. He has approximately a billion cousins, ranging from age 6 to almost 30. Almost the entire family live in the same zip code. Holy cow is right. While we were in town, Grandma held her annual Irish corned beef and cabbage feast. Because they like to celebrate St. Patrick's day for a whole month. Because they are really into being Irish. Here is some of the decor, but I will have you know that their house looks like this year round, not just for this particular occasion.

Shamrocks on everything!

Just in case you forgot!

They do it up right.

Kyle's grandparents live in a modest suburban single family home. Approximately fifty people were at the party. And it was still too cool to move the festivities outside.

Yes you did count six tables. Suffice it to say, family gatherings can be overwhelming and exhausting. But also fun when you only have to do it once a year.

My brother-in-law, Chris with our cousin Kelly

Bonnie explaining the meaning of all of her bracelets to my mother-in-law.

Omigosh! An iPad!

We also spent some time with our friends and took in a baseball game, and Kyle ate at a few of his favorite local restaurants. One Chinese place in particular remembers him and still knows his regular order! We had a good trip, but I am so so glad to be home. 

From Seattle Rain to Cleveland Showers

Well, we're back in Seattle, and so glad to be home. Our trip was great, but spending time with Kyle's family is exhausting, and it's a relief for things to return to normal,  or at least as normal as they can be on the eve of my third trimester.

We got into Cleveland on Wednesday morning, but we didn't do a whole lot that day. Kyle caught up on sleep, as he is terrible at red-eye flights. Mostly just some catching up with the in-laws, and enjoying some free time off from work and home responsibilities.

On Thursday night Kyle got a chance to spend some time with some of his college buddies when my Mother-in-Law threw me a baby shower. It was fun, if very traditional and totally not me. I joke that I get to have a midwestern version of everything. We had our traditional midwestern reception in Ohio after our offbeat Seattle wedding, and this was definitely my traditional midwestern shower.

MIL got the whole set of corny decorations, and had me put my merchandising skills to work doing the decorating.

The shower was "small" with "only" very close family. So, about seventeen of us. And lots of wine. It was rowdy, to say the least. I think rowdy is the only way that Kyle's family does things. We'd played dumb shower games, and had some of Kyle's cousins show us their latest Irish step dancing routine.

We made out with a ton of loot, including some of the "big things" that I was starting to get anxious about, but my favorite gift was inexpensive and homemade. My MIL sent a piece of origami paper to each home in Kyle's family and had them all write us a wish. And then she folded them all into paper cranes and turned it into a mobile.

It is beautiful. Like, I gasped. It was hanging in the dining room when we first arrived, and I noticed it right away. "Wow, that is so pretty, when did you get that?" I asked. I was totally blown away that it was for me. For us.

I can't imagine taking it apart, but I also can't wait to see what's been written inside all of the cranes.  I think I'm going to unfold each one, take a picture of the message, and put it all back together, and then make a blurb photobook or something, so we can enjoy all parts of it. Seriously, I love this.

Dear Baby

Dear Baby,

Hey boy! You are wiggling around underneath my laptop right now. It's wonderful. I'm feeling you move around a lot these days. You are getting big and strong, and sometimes your kicks can even be a little painful for me. No matter, I wouldn't trade them for the world. You do a lot of your kicking in the car when I am driving home from work. I think of that time as us time. I play you lots of music, and I hope you are starting to develop an appreciation for it. I know you won't like everything I do, but I think it will be good for you to be exposed to a wide variety of stuff. Although perhaps today's Avril Lavigne was a little much.

This week is week 26. Things are moving along very nicely. When I say "July" it still sounds very far away, but this means we've only 14 weeks left, and really that's not very long at all. And we've both got a lot to do in that time. You're very busy in there working on getting bigger and stronger. Your Daddy and I out here are doing our best to prepare for your arrival. You already have a pretty nifty little wardrobe, and we're slowly acquiring other gear. In another month here we'll start our birth classes, so we'll be better prepared for your entrance into the world.

Next week your Daddy and I are going to visit Ohio. It will be our first time seeing your paternal grandparents since you've been around. And your uncles and great-grandparents and great aunts and once-removed cousins and honorary Ohio aunties. They are all so excited to meet you. And don't worry, they will meet you on the outside, too. We will bring you there again in the fall!

Baby boy, I can't wait until you're here!

Love, Mommy

A little bit of everything.

Oh man, I have been a bad blogger. I am sorry. Unfortunately now that I've let it go so long without posting anything, it's hard to even know where to start. Lots has happened recently, and I think a bog post full of bullet points is the only way to get through it with any sort of coherence.

Please accept this as a substitute for a belly picture.

• I had my first midwife appointment this week on Thursday. It was a little crazy because the birth center had two births that day so I ended up seeing one of the assisting student midwives, and the end of my appointment was very please-let-yourself-out-I-have-to-go-catch-a-baby, but honestly I'm glad that laboring women get priority, because obviously that will be nice when I'm in need of a baby-catcher. We went through my medical history, etc., and the just of the appointment was pretty much, "wow, you are ridiculously healthy and well informed." I knew that already, of course, but it's nice to hear. Basically everything I already knew; I am at an increased risk for post-partum depression, but other than that, everything is groovy. We talked about what they reccomend for that, and she let me know which local doulas and childbirth classes are dreadlocked hairy-armpitted hippies, not because I care, but because I know such things would put Kyle off, and I need him to be comfortable too. And then I peed in a cup and they took some blood and everything is peachy keen, as far as I know. They've referred me to a local hospital's fetal/maternal medicine unit to do my combined screening, and we're hoping that we can get in before we go to France. It will be our first chance to hear the heartbeat, etc., so I am super looking forward to that, and also getting assurances that everything is going well. So far, the only confirmation I have that I am even pregnant, is my home test pee-stick, and while my symptoms regularly remind me that something's in there, it would be nice to be able to see what's going on. Soon.
•  We hit eight weeks on Wednesday! It seems like a lot. I took pictures, of course, but Kyle somehow mangled our camera cord, and my laptop doesn't read HD cards, so they are trapped forever there, or at least until we get a new cable. However, if you want to know what I look like you can look at any of the pictures from the last four weeks, because I look exactly EXACTLY the same. I know this is a blessing, especially since I'm not "out" yet, but honestly, I'm excited for stuff to start moving around. Or at least for bigger boobs. Something, please. Anyway, blog posts are much better with pictures, so instead of my non-belly, there is an adorable kitten for you at the top of this post, care of google image search.
• Speaking, of being "out," or not, as the case may be, I've been thinking more about how and when to tell the general public about all of this. For the most part, I don't really care who knows, I just don't want to actually have to announce it. I'm a fairly introverted girl, and I don't like making myself the center of attention. I had a hard time telling people I was engaged when Kyle and I were getting married, too. It just seems very difficult, to me, to find a way to bring up, completely out of context this random (though, yes, exciting) news, and like, change the subject to being ALL. ABOUT. ME. It makes me feel horrible and awkward, especially because there are quite a few people who would be upset if they were not to get a personal phone call, which makes it all the worse for me. I'd like to tell as many people as possible via mass email or facebook announcement, so that I just don't have to deal with it. And I'm sorry, as much as I like talking about it, I'm afraid that by the ninth set of aunts and uncles (and we'd not even be all the way through Kyle's side yet!) I'll just be so over answering the same questions that I'll be feigning excitement and it just won't be good. Fortunately, though, my mother-in-law decided that an email would be appropriate for most of Kyle's family,  so we'll only have to make a few calls when the time comes.
• I'm especially anxious about everyone at work finding out. For the most part it will be fine, and I know everyone will be happy and excited for me. My friends that I worked with at my old location all know how much I wanted this so they'll think it's awesome, and there are so many mothers working at my new location that they'll be totally cool, too, so that's not the problem. Just there is one guy in particular that I am worried about. He is technically my boss, which makes things more complicated, although boss-lady won't let things get too shitty because she is awesome. He is a pain in the ass to work with as it is for a myriad of reasons (he doesn't really respect women, we have very different ways of looking at things, communication styles, etc., he thinks that to be respected he has to be an asshole), and I know that as soon as he finds out I am pregnant he'll be super nice to me, but in a very paternalistic, no let me lift that for you kind of way and I really don't want that. I know when to ask for help and when I am pushing myself too hard, and I want to be able to make those decisions for myself, so I can't help but worry about that whole dynamic.
• My plan right now for telling people is to announce just before we leave for France, so at least the news will have a week to sink in before I have to deal with everyone. I'm real magnanimous, I know. At least by that point we'll most likely have fetus pictures, that will make the news more fun. However, if anything looks funky in our ultrasound, I'm probably holding off, because we're pretty sure we are terminating if anything is really wrong, and I don't think that would go over well with Kyle's catholic family. Or with anyone, really. So. But we're not really high risk for anything so I'm trying not to worry about it. One of Kyle's cousins does have Downs Syndrome, though. I don't know.
• My regular yoga class is getting super uncomfortable. I really started to feel it this week. Next class is restorative poses, which I definitely don't want to miss, and then the following week is the annual, teacher takes us all out for Indian food not class, which obviously I can handle, but I'm probably not going back after Christmas. Sad. I did drop into a prenatal class this past Monday, though, and I really liked it. It was the only one I could find offered at a reasonable time (i.e. not 1pm on a Tuesday... really?) but actually managed to be pretty awesome. The instructor and owner of the center is one of the local premier prenatal teacher trainers, I guess, so that is pretty good. I was the least pregnant woman there, by at least eight weeks, but it was good and all the women were super nice, which was cool, since I know like 3 people who are or have in the last five years been pregnant in real life, so. So. Glad I found that.

Okay, so that's as much as I am going to cram into this post, because it's clearly way too much information and now my brain feels like mush from trying to sort all that out (or possibly because I am pregnant and my brain feels like mush most of the time), and I need to go to bed, because the more sleep I get the less likely I seem to be to spend my entire morning barfing. So, goodnight.

25

Today is my 25th birthday. To be honest, I don't get very worked up about my birthday. The last time I had a party was when I turned 21. According to our original plans, baby-making wasn't going to start in earnest until at least this coming January, and so I wanted to go out with a bang, so to speak, and throw myself a big bash for my last birthday before babies. But here is my 25th birthday and I am pregnant. And I am so glad. Really, I kind of hate birthday parties to begin with. They are fine to attend, yes, but the organizing and cooking and baking and hostessing I could really live without. Someone could throw me a birthday party and that would be wonderful, but like hell am I doing it for myself.

Today was also supposed to be my very first prenatal appointment with the midwives at the birth center Kyle and I visited a couple weeks ago. But with the snow, no such luck. They called me this morning to reschedule, which was fine, because I was about to call them for the same reason. But it is kind of disappointing. I was looking forward to this, and all the other things that make this pregnancy feel more real. I haven't even confirmed that I am in fact pregnant with an actual medical professional. Just my two home pregnancy tests and a host of symptoms. I don't really feel like I need to, but... I don't know. I just want to get going on everything, and the snow is getting in the way.

Otherwise, though, my birthday has been wonderful. Kyle made me breakfast this morning, even thought the waffles were only of the frozen variety it was still sweet, especially since he got up hours before he would otherwise to feed hungry wife and embryo. Yesterday I got a package in the mail from my mother-in-law. We said we weren't doing birthday or Christmas gifts this year with his family, but she sent me one anyway. Maternity clothes. A little premature, of course, but also completely thoughtful and adorable. I'm glad she's as excited about this as I am. And the stuff she picked out is completely my style. It will be nice to have around, I imagine, when all of the sudden nothing fits and I haven't had a chance to really shop for my new wardrobe.

That's it, I guess, for all this birthday business. This post was supposed to be a lot more exciting, what with the appointment business, but acts of god, you know. I will say that twenty four was pretty much the best year so far. My biggest wish of the last five or so years finally came true. And I have it on good authority that twenty five will be even better.

The Waiting Game

I can't make coherent posts when i am distracted by the possibility of pregnancy, apparently.

I've been obsessing over The Preconceptionist's list of early pregnancy symptoms. Maybe my mild constipation these days is related? Every little wave of queasiness I wonder if it's because I am pregnant, or its just the regular waves of queasiness I get anyway, and have been getting for the last ten years. And then I think that if its not worse than normal then there's no way I could be pregnant, and if I was I'd be cowering over the toilet bowl. I am psyching myself out. But I still have exceedingly tender breasts, and the nausea is there, even if it is all too familiar.

I'm not even really sure what I want to turn up on my imminent pregnancy test. All of the negatives I've received so far have be disappointing, but I was always pretty sure that I wasn't pregnant, so I never really had to face the reality of what those two pink lines really mean. But now that I am more sure than not, I am kind of terrified of that positive. Don't get me wrong, I want this, but it's scary to me that if I am in fact pregnant, there's no backing out now.  We can't decide to wait another month or year or three. And that somehow at the end of many month of discomfort that I signed myself up for I have to remove a human being through my body via my vagina, holy crap, am I really ready for this? Well, it may be too late. And that's okay. But frightening, none the less.

On Wednesday night, as my mom an I were eating enchiladas, as we do after yoga class every week, I told her that I think that this time might really be it.  I realized I don't really know much about how my sister or I were born, so we talked. Mom said that she knew right away with both pregnancies. She delivered us both without medication, so that's a relief to hear, but she ended up with an episiotomy with my sister. (P.S. Chrome does not recognize episiotomy as a word.) Her labors were both very short, with mine lasting about twelve hours from waters breaking to delivery, and my sister's was even shorter. My sister breastfed easily, but I was lactose intolerant, so she pumped and added lactaid to her breastmilk for me.  We were both weaned to formula after her three month maternity leave, but this was 25 years ago, when pumping at work just wasn't an option for my career minded mother.

Hearing all of this makes me feel really confident about my own pregnancy and birth, whether that comes now, or further off in the future. I am really lucky to be so close to her and to have her nearby to go through all of this with me when and if I do find myself pregnant.

I am also looking forward to sharing pregnancy with my mother in law. I know she is itching for grandkids. She won't come out and say it, of course, because she's much too polite for that, but the hints have been coming hard. Kyle's parents just put an offer on a house, and she mentioned to me in an email that she is excited to move because she can imagine playing with her grandchildren in her (hopefully) new neighborhood. Sigh. At least I know that when the time comes my news will be good news.


All right, that's all I've got for tonight. Think pregnant thoughts for me. I think.

I'm Back!

Back in Seattle and from vacation. Well, technically I am still on vacation until tomorrow because I am very smart and requested myself an extra day off of work.

This trip was simply wonderful. This was the first vacation I've taken since I've been promoted to full-time at work, and have exciting things like paid vacation, and not having to worry about being broke when I get home is fantastic and amazing.

The rest of the trip was pretty good also. I'm generally not ever super excited to visit Ohio or to hang out with my in-laws, but maybe I'm getting older or things are mellowing out or maybe it's that I'm finally had enough visits to really get to know them all enough to actually enjoy spending time with them. I don't know, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Chicago was fun. We were only there for the last two days, but I haven't seen my middle brother in law since right after we go married, and this was the first time I met his boyfriend. It was nice, especially since last year we got in a big stupid fight over email, so just having fun together was relieving.

It was even better being in Cleveland again. And I can't believe I'm saying, er, typing that. But seriously. First of all, family. Husband's extended family is well, completely overwhelming, but so welcoming and exuberant.  And he has two adorable eight year old girls for cousins (and like 30 others, age 5 to about 30), and they love me and are so excited to see me and want me to braid their hair (poorly) and offered to pay the fifty cents for me to play arcade games with them. And did I mention they are adorable? And Irish and freckled and adorable.  My youngest cousin is something like 20 years old and I know so few people with kids, and oh. my. god.  I'm pretty sure that this particular variety of adoration that has been bestowed upon me is reserved for "special occasion people". You know, the cool not-really-your-aunt that you only see twice a year and buys you your first eyeshadow palate when you are eleven. But still, I just can't get enough. And watching Husband interact with his little cousins killed me. Want. Want want want want.

The second amazing thing about Ohio was Husband's friends. First of all, Husband's best friend C... how do I even explain this. No one in the entire world, not even myself, can make Husband as happy as C does. Even just anticipating spending time with C, Husband's eyes get all twinkly and glittery, and I'm not even jealous because I love seeing him and C together. His wife L says that C is the same way. Amazing. And the rest of his friends are so much fun, too. They all have wives and girlfriends, and a group of couples is something we're so missing here in Seattle. And even though I've only met some of them a few times, and a for a few it was our first meeting, they never have made me felt like the new girl and I just jump right into the festivities.

I started feeling so guilty that Husband moved here for me away from all these people that he loves, even though he wanted to move anyway and how he always tells me he's glad he's here and so I offered to move back to Ohio if he ever wanted, even though I kind of hate Ohio because watching him be so happy with his friends back home just melts my heart. He of course thinks I am crazy so home we are, for good.

I am feeling extremely happy and relaxed and in love right now.

P.S. We had sex four times and only one fight on vacation. I'm pretty sure that is a record. Definitely a better ratio than our honeymoon.