9-10 weeks

Hmmm, yep, the blog. Still here, still of interest. It gets confusing, y'all. Things posted here get to different people than Facebook, which is different than real life (really!). I get lost sometimes, assuming some in one world know things posted elsewhere. And huh, maybe it would be nice to see/communicate/interact with people more in PERSON. What a concept, eh?

I'm enjoying most parts of my "new life" (ie home more with kids, no workplace, no regular paycheck....hmmm) but am really realizing what a support system a real full-time job can be. Benefits, co-workers, SICK PAY. I've been struggling to get enough paying hours completed, between kid's germs and my germs and various other things. We are still working to get the hang of things. Oddly, I miss that old workplace more NOW than I did for the past nearly-year that I've been gone. We get a little isolated out here.

But here, I do have some very cute "co-workers"... one almost 10-week old little person, who is still looking much like her brother (in similar-aged photo on left)! She definitely seems to be a bit more social, with lots of "talking" and eye contact.



Big brother Bean is still doing well, most of the time. I've had some not-great mama bear moments with him lately, when he's deliberately doing something to pester baby Peach; grrr! But he's mostly a very good boy. Here he's showing off a HUGE apple from our tree, a "crisp" (honeycrisp) apple that was very tasty when we had it for lunch today!



And in other news (that should probaby get it's own post when I get a chance)... we are now hooked up to the electric grid out here! The yard is still a mess from the trenching (digger! In the yard!) and they haven't re-connected the solar panel yet (boo). But it's been nice not to worry about power on these dark wet fall days. We'll get our first power bill in a decade soon, though, which might not be as fun.



More later!

Dancin'!

We had a big day yesterday, with a dinner out (the annual Co-op dinner, a big event with free, fancy food!) and even a dance! We stopped in at the Tamarack dance briefly (it was getting late), but Bean danced on his own, very well, with Dada. Peach refused to nurse even though she was hungry, because there was just too much to watch!





She's definitely a social one, and seems to like music. Someday we can have our own square of 4 for dancin'!

Square Compare II

So, this one's for Grandma T! Following in the tradition of these posts...




Baby Peach is doing so well... growing, smiling, "talking"... she's very social and has been cooing more than I remember Bean doing at this age. He is doing well with the new addition still, just a bit more testing limits with us lately. But he does love "baby sister"!

Catching Up

Wow, has it been a whole month since I updated this? Crazy. Sorry, you few and hearty blog loyalists! I may actually start updating this more frequently; I've recently remembered how much I used this as Bean's online "baby book" and it's nice to have that record. I have more traditional baby books, too, but since I now spend so much time online, it might be nice to have something more permanent and coherent than Facebook. That site does take alot of my online energy/writing, but it's just not a place to practice writing or keep a more complete record, I don't think.

Anyway. It's very late and I really should be in bed, so here's a quick look at Baby Peach, who has been SMILING for a while now. I finally captured it on camera! She loves her changing table as it's a perfect spot to be closer to faces, which she loves to look at and cooo.... Bean loved the changing table, too, but he seemed to be more into the view out the window; not as much eye contact from him at this age.

Ok, cut to the chase, the pictures, eh? Enjoy!

One Week Old!

Baby Peach has been with us "on the outside" for just one week! She seems somehow older and wiser than that, don't you think?



And continuing the tradition from Baby Bean, here is her very own "measuring quilt" from Grandma! (taken a few days ago; her belly button thingee already fell off!)

She's here!

Baby (Apple? Peach? Not sure of blog name yet) is here, safe and sound and solid! We're not that late with the update, SHE was late! 18 days, to be exact.

Whew. We were reaching the absolute limit on what care providers were comfortable with (ie days overdue; the midwife and family practice docs had passed us off to an OB) and probably would have had a scheduled c-section on the 17th (couldn't induce since Bean was born via c-section), but I handily went into natural labor on the very last possible morning! I was very happy about that. Things went really well, but in the end (after 14 hours of active labor and 3 of good pushing) we decided that perhaps she was just too big and had a c-section. Not my favorite experience, that surgery, but things are going well so far.

Baby is a good nurser, and a spitting image of Bean at that age. Facebook has been abuzz, but here's a pic or two to get started. Bean met her briefly yesterday, and was very gentle, if perplexed. More pictures later?

Blessed Be, baby is here!

Still here, waiting

Ah, the blog! Nothing like a little unannounced break, eh? Facebook has completely eaten my time and motivation for this, but maybe we will revive it someday... there will be more content, soon! But less time, likely. Hmm.

Anyway. We are well, I'm just really really really pregnant (was due a few days ago). Bean is growing up so fast, over 2 now, running, talking, sharing. WF is a great daddy, and I'm contemplating how to be a momma of 2 very soon!

Wish us luck, and hope to pop back in to post here when we have some more news!
Peace!
GTR

Heehaw music!

Bean has been enjoying bluegrass lately, especially a classic recording by a group called the Gordons from 1977. He can even pick out the fiddles and show us a little fiddling action! He calls it heehaw music. Enjoy!

Happy Bean Day!

2 years ago today at this time, I had yet to meet our little/big Bean. He came to us after a very long labor at 11:57 pm on this day. He was a big, sleepy baby.

Now he is a full-fledged 2-year-old; he's been acting like it for a while. Not in the terrible two's way, but in the very verbal, very "with it" (as WF says) persona he projects. He's a storyteller, a problem solver, a kid with a good memory and a discerning eye. I was cooking buckwheat groats the other day, and he looked over and said "That's buckwheat!" I used to try to call it rice when I served it, but he knows better. His vocabulary is in the hundreds, I'm sure; I've lost count. He loves to help with outdoor and chicken chores, thanks to WF and his great sharing of outdoor/work time.

We had cake and candles this evening; he was excited by the candles and singing; not so much by the chocolate cake. We've tried hard to keep him "innocent" of many things, including sugar. He loves things like bunny grahams, but chocolate is just not his thing. I'll make a yellow cake for his little party on Sunday.

There's so much more I'd like to write about him, to preserve this time. Life will chance soon when he is no longer an only child, but I think he will be a good big brother. He loves his trucks, but he's also been spotted giving "milkies" to some dolls and has been dressing them up in the hand-me-down baby clothes we were given the other day. A well balanced soul, and I am very, very grateful! We are very blessed.


Happy 2nd birthday, little Bean! You are growing to be an amazing boy!

Sitting and Running

Ah, the blog. It's still here, isn't it? Just barely. I don't intend to abandon it completely, it just slips away. Darn Facebook!

We are well. My belly is growing "bigger bigger" as Bean would say, and I'm finding it pretty hard to get up from sitting on the floor. I don't remember that from being pregnant with Bean, but I guess I wasn't sitting on the floor (to tie shoes, to play legos, etc) as much during that pregnancy! I AM really big, though; I just carry babies right out front, I guess. I feel like I'm as big as some other people in my prenatal yoga class who are ready to give birth next week. Ah, well.

I am really enjoying my new business venture. I have a good contract right now with my former employer, so I'm sort of the "super contractor" who can come in and set myself up in the conference room and do my oral history interview thing; it's a bit of a honeymoon. It won't last much longer, and then we'll see how I can pursue other similar jobs. I NEVER pictured myself as a "business person", and I'm still not really, but I get a little kick out of telling the bank, etc that I'm a sole proprietor. Right now it's very freeing and inspiring to be my own boss and enjoy what I do! I feel really lucky. I suppose someday I may miss the structure and security (and income?) of a steady regular job, but I'm enjoying the ride right now.

Bean is doing well, growing, talking, running, telling Mama to "put the camera away!" He's just not a fan of the camera, so fewer pictures lately. But we snuck in a few! WF and he really have a great time together outside for long stretches at a time. I went to a presentation by a brain researcher/expert the other day who emphasized that toddlers need lots of outdoor time and little "screen time"... I feel good that we've been able to give that to Bean. He's almost 2, and we're still resisting TV/videos completely at home. Not sure how much longer we can sustain that, but it's definitely easier if we just don't have at TV around, so it's not a part of his world, etc.





Put it away, Mama! Mama, run!

Spring!

I guess it's really Spring now... cousins running around on the deck, one with no coat, no hats, no mittens?! They enjoyed themselves!






And a big thank-you to Grandma T for the fun boat/sandbox that was delivered... it has already been enjoyed!

Introducing...

For HER blog debut... Baby 2-to-be! Or Baby Apple (blog name), maybe? Bean insists on saying "apple" every time he sees the ultrasound pictures. I have been craving apples, and WF loves apple trees... we'll see! But excited to meet her..sometime at the very beginning of August. And we're pretty sure it's a her... the ultrasound tech pointed out her "business" very clearly. A new adventure! Welcome...

We're Back

I'm back! Horray! Anyone else still out there in blogland? We had a good trip, but caught some horrible bugs (sinus, cough, blah) that lingered for a couple weeks. Traveling with a sick toddler while sleep deprived through snowy airports with multiple flight delays was enough to scare me off family air travel for a LONG time. But before he got sick, Bean enjoyed meeting (and charming) some relatives he's never met (and their cat, a big hit)! He wasn't himself by the time we got to Boston for cousin fun, but they still managed to have a few good times together.

I shared vacation photos on facebook and it feels like very old news now, so I'll just update a few shots of Bean acting like a big kid (a common theme)...


He loves to help with chores, and is actually getting quite good at shaking out and hanging up diapers and wipes...


Bean asked to wear this baby on his back, just like his dada does for him.


Coloring is quite popular, and he now knows a few shapes as well as all the colors. we haven't been even trying to teach them, it just happens...amazing, eh?




And yet another crazy mama toy splurge; a vintage (but cleaned and safe) Fisher Price farm set from the 70's/80's, like I had growing up. They have one at ECFE and Bean plays with it every week, so much so that the teachers said "He just really seems like a farm boy!" (not knowing that we actually DO have chickens, etc). So, it was pretty cheap on Ebay (about my second purchase ever) and within a few days, we were reliving my childhood and learning about farms at the same time. Bean loves it, and I'm happy that it doesn't beep and light up and all sorts of questionable things the "modern" version does. He's already figured out that just one door goes "Mooo!"

Big Kid

We're getting ready for our first airplane trip in over a year, and we were testing out some new shoes and a backpack for Bean (all purchased from Savers, so just new to us). I had a flash of the "going to Kindergarten" picture... eeeep! But doesn't he look SO BIG? He's not even 2 yet. We're going to bring his birth certificate on the plane so we don't get questioned about our "free infant-in-lap". A bit nervous about all the flying, but we're packing lots of good stuff for eating and entertainment.


This picture also shows the current Bean-Schroeder relationship: He loves her, she doesn't let him near her unless she's safe behind a gate. (Can you see her by his head?)


Also, one belated picture of Bean's first snowman! We have been watching the snowman change shape and melt, with just a bit of concern. "Fix 'no-man? 'No-man uh-oh! 'No-man in window..."

Wish us luck... more soon!

Thank You Card

This may be a little belated, but we received so many great gifts this holiday season from family and friends. Bean's been enjoying them very much! Here's a little glimpse of some of that fun...


A homemade doll bed by Grandpa T and quilt by Grandma T. Bean puts babies to bed frequently!


A special mop and broom just Bean's size from the R Grandparents; Bean LOVES them... Grandma R was initially skeptical when we put it on the list, and was pleasantly surprised what a hit they were...


Lincoln Log type things from friends Noel and Lindy (who are currently overseas)... Bean asks often to "make-a-yogs"... they are a little above his age range, but we help him make garages for his trucks, etc...


A lovely little play kitchen from craig's list and Grandparents T... Bean loves it, but Bean's first concern was that real water doesn't come out of the sink. Water come? he says...


And a little splurge from Mama... wooden "cutting" fruit, which Bean also enjoys working with in his kitchen.

We are blessed! But right now, he's happily playing with a baby blanket "Kehton make tent"... he's a talker these days!

Flying Catch-Up

Flying in just before it’s been a WHOLE MONTH since we’ve posted… oops! We are still here, still thinking about posts, but they haven’t happened for a few big reasons. All is well; just many, many changes on the horizon. Some news and new things first, and then I’ll throw pictures at you, maybe, to catch up.

1. I am FINISHED with my former “real” job! My last day was Thursday; 5 months after giving notice, it was a sprint to the finish. I wrapped up as much as I could, copied some files, cleaned out my cubicle, turned in my keys and drove away for the last time. After 6 years of pack-rat tendencies and rather varied projects, even just the sorting and cleaning and deleting and recycling was a big deal. But now I’m FREE…to develop new things, to figure out how to finance our lives, to be home more with Bean. It feels good, it will be a new adventure.

2. I started my own business; I’m filed with the state, have a website and business cards, even have a new business credit card for keeping expenses separate. I don’t actually have CLIENTS yet, ahem, but that will come. I have a few things in mind that I’ll hear about soon. It’s a writing/editing/Personal Historian/oral history type service. If you want more details, email me or leave a comment.

3.Last but definitely not least... I’m pregnant! Yep, just over 12 weeks right now. I’ve been queasy a lot, which never happened with Bean, and its felt a bit more uncertain this time. But I think that’s part of a second pregnancy with a toddler to chase… there’s not time to sit and write in a pregnancy journal, etc. Due late July or early August… a summer baby!

So, yeah. That’s where we’ve been. I’m finally feeling a bit better, after recovering from the month-long cold/sinus/early pregnancy exhaustion. I made it through my last work days, and Bean is doing really well; talking up a storm and correctly identifying most colors without prompting (!). He’ll continue to go to his daycare 2 days a week so I can catch up on house projects, rest, and get this business going. Just a few things on the list...We’re busy and grateful. New lands ahead!


Bean is excited about my new "mobile office" briefcase!