Everything else changes

Winter is a hard time for documentation.  It’s too dark for good pictures and school takes most of my mental energy, leaving basically nothing left for writing about life.  But I want to catch up on some highlights from the past several months because next week we are hoping to welcome a healthy baby girl.

Obviously, being pregnant has also sapped up my mental energy as well as my physical energy.  (See the October mega-post with my comment about “not feeling well” in Ithaca – it was a hard first trimester.)  I summoned enough energy in October to take Rowan trick-or-treating for the first time with Kelly and the kids.  He was slightly hesitant at first, but quickly caught on to the concept (people will just GIVE me candy??!! AWESOME!!!)  His cute Thomas costume was a hand-me-down from Austin.  It was a little over-sized but provided a good cushion when he took the occasional tumble in all of the excitement.

I got some candy!!!

Christmas was pretty uneventful, which was great because I was exhausted.  Ben stepped up and helped my mom with Christmas dinner while I was basically passed out on the couch all day.  As usual, Rowan was psyched to hang out with his cousins.  He and Ella remain close, but Rowan doesn’t beg for attention from his cousins as much any more.  He’s often content to do his own thing.

VERY excited about matching jammies!

 

Snow day fun!

Rowan was pretty excited about opening Christmas presents, but fortunately he hadn’t gotten REALLY crazy about presents just yet.  That is starting to amp up now – he understands “gifts” and “birthdays” but basically just wants to get presents ALL the time.  It’s hard to temper his toddler greed because we have a lot of new stuff coming into the house for the baby.  A lot of the stuff is just Rowan’s old stuff that we are getting out and cleaning, but he doesn’t understand the difference.  We try to teach him about greed and thankfulness, but those are big, abstract concepts for a not-yet-4-year-old.  Fortunately, he’s REALLY into being helpful, especially with cleaning and cooking, so we try to focus on how he can help around the house.  This makes him very happy.

Boxing Day. Lake Erie. Really.

The winter was long.  It was hard to envision the end when many days were well below zero and seemed like it snowed constantly in January and February.  Oddly, the week of Christmas was balmy.  I spent most of Boxing Day with Matt.  We had lunch in Fredonia and took a long walk at the lake.  It was so warm that just sweatshirts sufficed.  Later that evening we went to our unofficial 15 year high school reunion at a bar downtown.  We had a good time, but I felt very old and very sober.  I was glad to spend most of my time with Matt and to leave early and get something to eat.

A welcome reprieve from the winter.

It’s hard to remember much from this winter.  Pregnancy brings monumental change but being pregnant tends to seem sluggish and uneventful (for those of us fortunate enough to have healthy pregnancies.)  Getting ready for the baby has been difficult.  We had to get very creative reimagining the space in our house.  We finally have her room clean and full of baby stuff.  The "nesting instinct" is not strong in me - I have good intentions, but it only comes in bursts.

Of course he loves Java's.

Toddler and prego resting at the museum.

Rowan always wants to "go someplace."  It's funny remembering how hard it was to take him out as an infant because he is a super social kid now.  We still frequent the museum and he likes running errands.  Now that it's nice we're outside at various parks all the time.  He was a hit at Rachael's wedding this past Sunday - laughing and banging on the table during the toasts and dancing his little butt off later in the evening.  I really hope being a second child encourages our new girl to become comfortable in social settings quicker than Rowan did.  I don't want her to grow up too fast, but I hope we can get out a lot as a family.

Hooray for Spring!

It's odd remembering the all-consuming cold and snow of just a few months ago because we have had one of the hottest Mays on record.  Humidity has routinely been 80% or higher and many days have been in the 80s and even 90s!  After this winter, I don't want to complain, but being almost 9 months pregnant I feel a little justified.  Plus, being due the first week of June I do think it was reasonable of me to expect to not have to cope with suffocating mid-summer weather like I did while carrying Rowan.  Oh well, I have just a couple more days of school, then a couple days to rest, and then we become a family of four!