Today was an absolutely beautiful day. The weather was perfect, and Trav decided to take the day off so having him around made it feel even more relaxed and vacation-y. He got everything on his to-do list done, and I got a lot of mine. The girls had a playdate with our neighbor friend who is Emily's age, and are now working together, putting together a puzzle on the couch next to me. They're so sweet. Of course they have terror moments, but watching them work together and talk so nicely to each other, it's great. Emily, today especially, has been showing incredible maturity and really executing all those little things we ask her to do that make the day go more smoothly. I know it's a lot of work for her, and probably unrealistically high and unfair expectations that we place on her, but she does such a great job that I forget how truly little she is. I try to tell her how much I appreciate her hard work in ways that point out that she should feel proud of herself, not necessarily that she has my approval. Audrey is getting more and more capable, finding little things she can do successfully like putting a clean garbage bag in the garbage while I tote the full bag to the bin outside, or bringing her plate into the kitchen from the table. They are amazing little girls... and this little baby sure has a lot of catching up to do!
My boss gave me the official thumbs-down on doing any more field visits, which is just fine because I'm so wiped out and just can't do it any more. Okay, I probably could but it just doesn't seem worth it for the physical pain and exhaustion (it's not like it's going to get my promotion going any faster, as it's stuck in the evil HR Vortex of Worthlessness... i mean, Global Job Evaluation. Whatever.). Every time I stand up, my under-belly aches, I have the start of a contraction, and I have to pee. So I prefer just to stay sitting. I had a good solid contraction at about 2 AM a few nights ago, and I got up to go to the bathroom because it was very reminiscent of the night that I went into labor with Audrey, but, no go. My doctor didn't even check me the next day because I was so clearly not in labor, and it doesn't really matter what I'm dilated to at this point if I'm not having productive contractions. It's all right - 12 more days (4 work days) until my due date. By that point, I'll be really anxious, but until then, well, I'm not really ready anyway. There's no hospital bag packed yet, for me or for baby. I finally ordered the cloth diapers today, but they won't be here for 3 weeks at the very soonest, so no hurry on that (we'd use disposable for a while at first, anyway). I think we're getting closer on a name, but who knows if it will fit once we see her. And if it doesn't, we have no backup plan!
I received my first recommendation for a potential nanny candidate this week, which was exciting. I don't know that she'll work out, schedulewise, but it's nice to see just how qualified and enthusiastic a candidate can be. I think we're on the right track, anyway. It's funny that it seems to be weird to hire a nanny, yet we've done the daycare thing for years now so it's not like we don't know what we want out of someone who's watching our kids during the day. Maybe it's a territory thing - when my kids are in someone else's home, I feel like I may have hired this person but she's running a business so the deference goes both ways. With a nanny, I've hired her to be in my home and do things the way I tell her. I'm not sure how to handle that much authority. :)
Last night was interesting. I went out to dinner with coworkers (one of whom was in town from Germany), and I got home just in time to help Travis with bathtime for the girls. Which is fortunate, because it was only our 2nd pooped-in bath in 4.5 years! The first was when Emily was an infant, so it's been a good stretch for us. Audrey was really embarassed, because she had already made one trip from the tub once successfully, but apparently didn't feel round two coming. So when I walked in the bathroom, the girls were standing naked and dripping in the bathroom while Travis scooped from the tub to the toilet - excellent timing! I suggested to the girls that they have a shower instead of a bath, and Emily was hesitant but Audrey was all excited. They LOVED it, Emily more so than Audrey, even. They thought it was hilarious, rinsing their hair in the "rain" and standing up to wash instead of sitting. They were so cute I wanted to take a picture, but I realized that would have been weird and not really captured the excitement from them anyway, which was really the cutest part. Trav really gave me the fun job, doing something special with the girls while he cleaned up a poopy bathtub. Lucky me!
Last weekend, we hosted a small gathering for a few of our Ragbrai friends, the regulars that we see often in Des Moines. Five years ago, when we visited Kerri out in Washington D.C. for the weekend, we went to a Mexi-tucky party since it was Cinco de Mayo and the Kentucky Derby in one day, and it was hilarious and fun. This weekend coincided again, so we decided to add another twist and have our own bike race, the same length as the Derby, 1.25 miles, hence: Mexibikentucky. We did two races - one for kids, on bikes and in trailers - and one real race for grownups. We also did a ladies' leisure ride, which was pretty fun, especially when we cut the route much shorter than the official route (it really was official! Emily and I made signs the day before and Travis posted them around the neighborhood.). Everyone had a great time with the biking and really got into the goofy premise of things, showing up in wild Derby-inspired hats and drinking tequila. Travis talked me into playing a bugle call before the race, which people loved but someone documented in a picture and I am mortified at how absolutely awful the picture is. I'm wearing a floppy, flowery hat and my ever-ill-fitting maternity clothes, playing a trumpet. It was ridiculous. But the whole affair was ridiculous, so I guess it's to be expected! Then we grilled some food, had a fire, drank mint juleps (bleh, apparently), and had a wonderful relaxed time with everyone.
Wednesday night, my coworker and friend Jonna hosted a baby shower for me, and it was the coolest thing. I've recently started tagging along with her Girls' Night Out group, since I knew more than half of these women anyway. They're pretty fun, and they take this obligation seriously - they WILL get out of the house without kids once per month. Jonna put together a party where people all did meal prep for 3 different meals plus cookies, and it was really fun and went off without a hitch. She was so well-organized and everything was so well-planned. I was so impressed, and went home feeling so loved and indebted. And well-fed! I have 5 meals ready for me in the freezer!
I really know a ton of great people, and got to see a lot of them in the past week. Id say that it's worth not being sequestered with a baby in order to participate in all of that, and good to be reminded of it just before I go "underground" for a few months. But I'm having a contraction right now and it sure would be nice if it were productive instead of just annoying. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment