Happy Three Months Adelaide Penelope

Dear Adelaide,

Three months of you as a part of our family is quickly approaching. This past month has been very full. You have settled into your routine (only to be disrupted by my return to work). You still sleep a lot (19 hours on a good day, which includes 11 consecutive hours overnight), but you seem to need it because when you get less sleep than normal, the sleep you do get tends to be restless and marked with periods of waking and screaming. When you are fully rested, on the other hand, your precious hours of wakefulness are spent very alert. You love to watch the world around you. And all the new things in your surroundings that you have begun to pay attention to, from the stained glass windows to the sound of the rainstorm outside to the feel of your fingers on your tongue, give you such pleasure. You are becoming more coordinated with your hands. Tonight, you rubbed your eyes when you started to get sleepy. You are also trying your best to become a thumb sucker, despite my intentions otherwise. I put you to bed with your binky, and when I find you in the morning, you are sucking away on that thumb (I attribute your good sleeping habits in part to your thumb). You coo and smile and try your hardest to giggle. You also love to sing. Anytime I sing you a song, you join in with squeals and coos.

The day you turn three months will be my second day back to work. You will be spending three days a week at daycare, one with Granny, and one with Aunt Jessica. I'm glad we have family in town who love you and are willing to generously give their time to be with you. Especially because as the time to leave you nears, I'm having a pretty rough time with the idea.

I have such an incredible love for you, kiddo. I never could have dreamed how much I love being your mama.

Happy three months!
Love,
Mama

The End and the Beginning

This weekend marks the end of our weekend busy season. The past five weekends have included the building of one screened-in porch and one bridge, a book club meeting, a "Dirty 30" birthday party, a bachelor party, a rehearsal dinner, and three weddings. Oh and did I mention that we did all this stuff with an infant? Life (espeically this kind of life stuff) is so much more complicated with a baby. Yes, I was told all of this before having said baby, but (like many life circumstances) it's just one of those things you can never truly understand or appreciate until you live through it.

Adelaide thrives on schedule. I know they say that you can't put a baby on a schedule, but we tried it anyway, and believe it or not, it worked. I'm not claiming it works for every baby, but it sure does work for ours. The problem with a schedule-thriving baby is that a series of successive busy weekends make it difficult to maintain a schedule. So we have bounced back and forth between quiet, structured weeks to crazy, wild weekends. Oh so very tiring.

Last night was our third and final wedding this year (just barely, though; my baby sis is getting married on January 5!), and I brought Adelaide home early from the reception for bedtime. She went down easily and was asleep 5 minutes after I laid her down in her crib, with minimal fussiness. But I wasn't fooled. See, when Adelaide doesn't get good naps (which basically means any time she is up for more than 1 hour consecutively), she doesn't sleep well at night. She falls asleep easily enough, but about 45 minutes to an hour later, she wakes up screaming. And she doesn't stop. Last night, the screaming was minimal because I am learning that if I turn a light on, she quiets down and stares at the light, but then she is up for a good hour before the exhaustion beats out the over tiredness. Before I figured out the whole light thing, she usually screamed  or needed to be bounced  or held for an hour or more before falling back asleep. We aren't of the "cry it out" philosophy, and aren't normally "rock the baby to sleep" folks either, but these episodes of over-tired screaming usually involve lots of comforting and holding until she calms down. Exhausting for all of us.

Compare the above story to our day today. Adelaide woke up at 7 am, ate every three hours, slept for two of the three in between, and was happy and cooing when I put her to bed, still awake, at 7 pm, no rocking, no screaming. Haven't heard a peep from her since. And most likely won't until tomorrow morning. Sigh. It's nice to have a peaceful babe. Now if we can just figure out how to take her out in public for more than an hour and still maintain sanity.

The funniest part is, she doesn't usually get cranky when she misses or has abbreviated naps. Yesterday at the wedding and reception, she was was alert and chill the whole time. I tried to get her to sleep, but I guess the big wide world is just too interesting. When she misses a nap or wakes up early, people think I'm crazy when I tell them Adelaide needs to sleep because she doesn't look like she is tired . If only they could see her around bedtime later than night.

And now that we have made it to the end of our busy weekends, I am gearing up for the beginning of another busy season--going back to work. I have one week of maternity leave left. I'm trying really hard to have a positive attitude about it, but the truth is, I really feel like I could stay home with Adelaide and be quite content. I know staying home would be hard, just in different ways. I talked to my cousin Sarah at Wedding #2 last weekend, and she said, "There's no right and wrong. There's just hard." Going back to work is hard. Staying home is hard. Moral of the story. You become a parent and get yourself into a situation where life is hard.  :)

Good thing it's so very worth it. I mean, look at this face...

Happy Two Months Adelaide Penelope

Dear Adelaide,

 For the first five weeks of your life, you were very predictable. From birth, we put you on a "flexible schedule" called E.A.S.Y (based on Tracey Hogg's book, Secrets of The Baby Whisperer). Basically, you would Eat, be Awake, then Sleep until it was time to eat again. In three hour cycles (except at night, when you went stretches of five and six hours). Predictable. E.A.S.Y.

At about five and half weeks, the diaper hit the fan (not literally, thank goodness). All of a sudden, my good sleepy baby didn't seem to want to sleep anymore. No, that's not true. You were still willing to fall asleep. But you started waking up during your naps. Not the kind of waking up that told me that you were getting too much sleep and wanted to be more awake during the day. No, this was a cranky, fussy waking up. After twenty minutes. Then ten minutes later. Then five minutes after that. At first, you still slept well at night, but eventually, not getting good naps started affecting your sleep at night, too. I tried so many different things (one thing that has stuck is singing to you--your favorite to hear is "Be Thou My Vision"). For a few days, whenever you would nap, I would go to my room and wait for you to cry so I could give you your binky every ten minutes, just so you would get some good sleep, and I wouldn't have to run up and down the stairs (though it did give me a decent workout). I thought I might never leave the house again because you wouldn't sleep at all if we were out and about during nap time, and that just kept escalating the problem. Finally, I came across a suggestion to move your bedtime--not later, but EARLIER. Apparently, the natural sleep rhythms of your little body want to sleep when that sun goes down, and once we started putting you to bed earlier instead of letting you take a late afternoon nap, it made it so much easier to get you to nap during the day. And you are so much more smiley and cooey when you are well-rested.

Smiling and cooing--those are some new tricks for month two! That, and holding your head up. You are so strong. I've even started putting you in your Bumbo seat for a few minutes at a time. I like those tricks much better than the whole not sleeping trick.

Even though you now go to bed at 7pm (or sometimes earlier), we have still managed to have some fun in the last month. We took a day trip to visit your Great-Grandma. When she held you, she kept saying, "If you keep looking at me like that, I'm gonna kiss you again." And then she would give you another kiss.

We also spent two consecutive weekends in Rochester with the Petrone family. One weekend, Daddy helped Grandpa build a screened-in back porch while you and I hung out with Grandma and your aunts.

And the next weekend, your Aunt Melissa and Uncle Korey got married. On the same day that you turned TWO months. You wore a pretty dress and spent almost the whole day with Daddy so that I could stand up with my sister as she vowed to spend the rest of her life with her best friend. It was a beautiful day!

Now, the count down begins until I have to go back to work in a month. I'm still not looking forward to leaving you. Being at Melissa's wedding was good practice for spending chunks of time away from you. It showed me just how much I will miss you.

I love you, Laidey Bug!

-Mama

Happiness is Adelaide Penelope

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Happy One Month Adelaide Penelope

Dear Adelaide,

Today marks one month since you joined our family. A month?!?!?! Holy moly. Yep, already a month. In the past month, you have gone from 8 lbs. 6 oz. to 9 lbs. 10 oz! You have learned to take a bottle like a champ, started staying awake more (but not much more--you LOVE to sleep! which your Mama and Daddy LOVE, too!), holding your head up, looking around with those big bright eyes, AND you have completely and utterly stolen our hearts.

For the most part, our first week with you was spent adjusting to being a family of three. Your daddy had the week off, so we spent a lot of time together. You and Daddy spent some quality time napping together.  We went for a short walk or two. We basked in the love of family and friends who brought us meals and visited with us. And you slept. Pretty much all the time.

At the end of the week, we decided that sharing a room with a newborn isn't all it's cracked up to be, so we tried you out in your own crib, and like the amazing baby you are, you took to it immediately. So, aside from naps, which you sometimes take on me, or in your Rock n' Play, the crib is where you sleep.

After Daddy went back to work, Grandma came to stay with us for the week. She got to share a room with you (and Fitz and Zima!) and gave Daddy the opportunity to sleep through the night for his first week back to work while she got up with me and you for late night feedings. Grandma enjoyed rocking, cuddling, and changing your poopy diapers (yes, I'm sure she enjoyed even diapers!) for the week, and we (I) enjoyed being spoiled while the house was cleaned, food was prepared, and I sat in my glider and rested. Grandma is great. :)

This week also included a date night for me and Daddy for his birthday. It was a convenient excuse to have a date night and get used to leaving you for several hours at a time while Grandma and Grandpa babysat. I had no idea how much I would miss you, just being gone for a few hours! I can't imagine leaving you for a whole day when I go back to work.

Once Grandma went home, you and I had to get used to being on our own during the days. We started going out more together, taking Fitz up to Tower Grove Park for a walk or running some quick errands. Just this week, we started meeting Daddy for lunch--it's a nice break in the day, and he loves to see his girls!

Last week, school started without me. There is no where I'd rather be than home with you right now, but it does feel strange to miss the beginning of the school year for the first time in 24 years.

And before I knew it, you were one month old! You don't look like the tiny newborn we brought home from the hospital one month ago. You are growing and changing every day, and you are so beautiful. You are a precious gift from God and we treasure you.

I love you, Laidey Bug!

-Mama

Adelaide's Siblings

Fitzy and Zima have both exceeded our expectations as Adelaide's older siblings. Fitz is as gentle as can be with her. He likes to sniff her and even gave her a kiss once (she wasn't a fan of that!). He is also quite protective. Prior to Adelaide's arrival, Fitz was terrified of, well, lots of things. Fireworks. Thunder. Sprinklers. Other dogs, even those half his size. Since Adelaide joined our family, he has stepped up his game. When a firework went off next door a few days after Adelaide's birth, instead of jumping and running to the corner of our bedroom upstairs, Fitz went right to the front door with a deep-throated growl. He also spends lots of time lying right next to me and Adelaide while she eats. Not sure if this is another protective measure, or if he keeps hoping he will get some leftovers. While I am sure there will come a day when it will be lucrative for Fitz to sit under Adelaide's chair while she eats, I think those days are still a few months away.

Zima hasn't shown quite the same level of interest. We are happy about this, mainly in that she has not shown interest in joining Adelaide in her crib. She has made herself quite a comfy bed on the changing table pad, but hey, it's not the crib. With a towel to protect the changing pad from too much cat fur, we decided keeping her off it entirely wasn't a battle worth fighting.

 I think both of Adelaide's siblings will enjoy her more as she gets bigger. But so far, they are lovin' her well!

On Being NOT Pregnant

Last night, as I flopped on the bed, tummy first, I thought to myself once again, "It feels so great to NOT be pregnant anymore." And it does. Don't get me wrong, I didn't have a horrible pregnancy. I actually enjoyed being pregnant, unlike many women I've talked to. I had some mild nausea during the first trimester and those last few days were no picnic, as you already know if you've read my blog posts this summer, but other than that, being pregnant had a very magical, awesomeness to it. And I use the word awesome in the sense of "being filled with awe." Because I was so often in awe of the fact that a little human was growing inside me. To get to feel her kick and hiccup and to hear her heart beat. Awe.

BUT, I much prefer having her outside of me now, and getting to watch her kick her legs and see her hiccup (though she doesn't like that much!) and putting my ear to her chest to hear her little heart beat. Plus a million other things I couldn't do before, like kiss her cheeks and smell her head--why do babies heads smell so good? It's not like I even bathe her that often! ;)--and watch her play with her tongue and work so hard to hold her head up and turn toward me while she is having tummy time...

Also, I am no longer pregnant. And that, too, is a wonderful feeling. It's kind of like after you have had a cold for a long time. It's not a major sickness, and for the most part, you can live life normally, albeit uncomfortably. But when that cold is gone, wow, you remember just how good it feels to be healthy again. Just simple things are not so hard anymore.

Here are a few specific things that are "not so hard" now that I'm not pregnant:

• bending down to tie my shoes (only really difficult when I was sitting down, but still...)
• seeing my toes (and painting my toenails)
• going to the bathroom, which I only have to do occasionally now, instead of every 15 minutes
• lying on my stomach
• lying on my back and being able to breathe at the same time
• getting out of bed (which I still have to do more often than I would like, but now that I have ab muscles that are starting to work again, it's a definite plus)
• sleeping in general; not waking up with an aching back and aching hips and trying in vain to find a comfortable position
• wearing my engagement/wedding ring (shout out to you, Michelle Taylor, for reminding me of the beauty of this)
• eating a full meal without feeling like my tummy is going to pop
• regulating my body temperature (this morning, I put on a hoodie in this "cooler" weather, and I LOVE it!)
• eating undercooked meat and undercooked eggs and unheated deli meat and having a glass of wine
• being able to hug my husband and not feel like there is a basketball in between us

Will I be pregnant again someday? I hope and pray so.
Am I enjoying the time until that time? You bet!

P.S. Feel free to add to this list. I know I am forgetting some.

Birth Story: Adelaide Penelope

Nearly three weeks ago, I had a baby! It was amazing. Here's how it all happend. Oh, by the way, I tried not to be too incredibly graphic, but well, it's birth. Read on at your own risk!

I went to the doctor for a routine pre-natal visit on Tuesday, July 17th. I was 39 weeks and 3 days pregnant. At my appointment, I had a Braxton Hicks (BH) contraction while my doctor was examining me--FYI, a Braxton Hicks is a contraction that is not painful, it's just a "practice contraction" to prep your body for the real thing. The good thing about having a BH contraction at my appointment was that my doctor pointed it out and helped confirm to me what a contraction felt like. After my appointment, I started paying more attention to the contractions, and I realized I was having them pretty often. When I got home, I timed them for an hour, and they were coming approximately every 8 minutes. These contractions, though painless, were unique because they continued despite changing my patterns of activity. Usually, BH contractions stop if you lie down or move around (whatever you haven't been doing when you noticed them). I was encouraged by this, thinking maybe, just maybe, labor was around the corner. That night, Casey and I went to see Spiderman at The Moolah, and I timed contractions for the first hour of the movie--still 8 minutes apart, but painless. I timed the contractions one more time on Wednesday morning--8 minutes, painless, and then decided that, whatever was happening, it wasn't active labor yet, so I might as well stop thinking about it until something changed.

I kept reminding myself that labor can happen over a period of weeks, that none of the "signs" really tell you anything. Saturday, July 21st, was my due date, and it ended up being a pretty tough day. Throughout the morning, Casey kept asking me how I was feeling, and at one point, I said, "Like I could break down in tears at any moment"---and then I proceeded to do so. My due date, although not official, was heavily emotionally charged for me. I felt so close to the end, but didn't really even know if labor was hours, days, or even weeks away. Casey reminded me that "No one has been pregnant forever," which I had been telling myself as a form of encouragement for several days. My response to him that day was, "Yeah, but two weeks feels like forever right now" [two weeks being the maximum amount of time I could potentially go before looking at induction].

Once we got past Saturday, Sunday was surprisingly easier. I let go of the expectation and hope that our little girl would be born "early," and all of a sudden, it did feel close. I knew we would be having this baby in the next two weeks, and I could handle it. We headed to my in-laws house for a few hours on the lake, which had been our traditional Sunday activity all summer (and a great way to spend the final weeks of pregnancy). This particular Sunday though, I knew I was getting close, because I told Casey, "Even being in the water doesn't make me feel less huge and uncomfortable."

I talked to my mom on the phone Sunday night and asked her if she remembered feeling any different the night before she went into labor. She said no, she had no idea even hours before labor started that anything was changing. We talked a lot about the difficulties of waiting for labor and the questions of well-meaning family and friends (I stopped calling people because everyone always thought I was calling with big news of a baby and I hated to disappoint--when I did call people, I started my conversation with "No I'm not in labor."), and it was nice and encouraging. I love my mom. She always relaxes and comforts me :). After our conversation, I went to bed.

A couple of hours later, around 1 am, I woke up for my typical mid-night bathroom run, and I felt crampy. It wasn't the first time I had had cramps, so I wasn't particularly excited, but when I went to the bathroom, I thought maybe my water had broken. I wasn't sure, so I just went back to bed to see if anything else happened.

I was only back in bed for a minute when I started having contractions. Casey had not gone to sleep yet; he was still awake and reading a book, so I asked him to get a notebook and a timer to time the contractions. The contractions were coming quickly. We measured them for an hour and they were 4-6 minutes apart, but only 30 seconds long. Having done our homework, we knew that any contractions less than 45 seconds aren't really doing major work (not that they aren't working, but just that they need to be longer to really get labor moving). I didn't want to continue timing contractions indefinitely, so I decided to get up and take a shower. While I was in the shower, I had four more contractions, and they were getting to be intense enough that Casey kept asking me if I was okay. I began focusing on my breathing and exhaling low sounds, another Bradley technique, which really helped alleviate the pain.

After the shower, I got back in bed. The only position I wanted to be in was leaning against pillows, sitting up in bed. Prior to labor, I thought I would want to move around and try different positions to ease the pain, but sitting upright in bed was by far the most comfortable for me. Once I was settled, I told Casey I thought we should start timing contractions again. We timed for another hour, and now they were 3-4 minutes apart and 40 seconds long--things were progressing more quickly than the "textbook" labor. At that point, I wanted to call Bethany, our doula, even though she told me to call her when the contractions were 7 minutes apart, 60 seconds long, for an hour. My contractions were kind of backwards--coming quickly, but not very long, and I just wanted to give her a heads up that we were probably going to have a baby *soon.* Casey wanted to time contractions longer first, so he talked me out of calling for another half an hour or so. Another thing we learned through our reading is not to get into to big a hurry--stay at home as long as possible, or you could be in for a long stay in the hospital and/or sent home because you came too early. Casey finally called Bethany at 4:45 am. By this time, contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and I had had 4 or 5 that were 60 seconds or more (2 were almost 90 seconds). Bethany told us that it was probably time to go to the hospital, and that she was going to shower and meet us at our house, but if anything changed, we needed to leave for the hospital and she would meet us there.

Casey started getting our stuff together while I labored in the bedroom. It felt like it took forever for him to get everything ready, and things started to get even more intense, at which point I told Casey, "Whatever we don't have, let's just forget and get going." We left for the hospital at about 5:30am.

On the way to the hospital, Casey jokingly asked if we could stop at Hardees. Right as he asked the question, I had an intense contraction, and I responded with a long, "AHHHHH." He said, "I'm just joking," which I knew, but I was just responding to the contraction, not him! :)

We arrived at the hospital, and Bethany was right behind us. That was nice because she could walk with me to the hospital while Casey grabbed all of our stuff. St. Mary's is undergoing lots of renovations and we had to take an elevator to the ground floor of the parking garage and then walk around to the main entrance because the walkway from the parking garage to the hospital is under construction. When we got to the ground floor, right as the doors opened, I had a contraction. Bethany told me to just stay in the elevator, so we let the doors close, not realizing someone else had pushed a button on a higher level, causing the elevator to start moving up again. The doors opened on the first floor and the lady waiting for the elevator was pretty freaked out. She kept asking if I needed a wheelchair. I think she thought I might have the baby in that elevator!

We finally made it to triage after a couple of other detour routes around construction. In triage, I checked out at 6 cm dilated and 100% effaced. This was encouraging news. All the way to the hospital, I was worried that 1. we would get there and be sent home for not being far enough along, or 2. I would be fully dilated and have to have the baby in triage. Thankfully, we were at neither extreme, but arrived at the hospital at just the right time. All this, thanks to Casey, whose job as coach was to keep us home as long as possible.

During labor, between contractions

 From there, things started to get fuzzy for me. We moved to a delivery room and the contractions continued to get more and more intense. I still wanted to be in a sitting position, so they moved the bed so that the bottom half was low enough for me to sit as though in an upright chair. Though I tried laboring in different positions, the sitting position was the most comfortable. I think this position was most comfortable in part because of how sleepy I felt. I knew labor would be physically exhausting, but I did not anticipate feeling sleepy. I remember falling asleep between almost every contraction, and I somehow stayed half asleep through some contractions. The only other thing I remember about this part of labor is Bethany and Casey telling me to relax my shoulders, which I had the tendency to tense up during contractions. I also remember Casey rubbing my shoulder and arm lightly. At one point he tried rubbing my leg and I could barely manage to get out, "Not my leg, not my leg!" as a contraction was going. But the shoulder and arm rubs felt very comforting and relaxing.

At this point, I no longer had any concept of time. The contractions just kept coming, and at some point, someone asked me if I felt any urge to push yet. I had felt it off and on, but it was different than I expected. I didn't feel an urge to push, but I felt my body pushing for me during contractions. The doctor arrived to check me and I was 8-9 cm dilated.

Around 9 am, I was fully dilated and given the okay to push. I really wanted to avoid pushing while lying on my back so instead  I tried the squat position, which makes use of gravity to help the baby move; they brought a squat bar in for me to hold during contractions. Bethany counted backwards from 8 for me for each push. I pushed three times with each contraction. It felt really strange because I couldn't really feel what I was pushing. I remember fearing that Baby Girl wasn't moving and that I would have to have a c-section because her head would be too big. Besides Casey, Bethany, and our nurse Sandra, I really don't have any recollections of anyone else in the room, although I do remember people introducing themselves to me as they came in. Having Bethany, Casey, and Sandra at the hospital was amazing. Bethany counting, Casey rubbing my shoulder, and Sandra, who kept encouraging me to push harder. That's what I remember. Oh, and the pain. Contractions hurt. A lot. Pushing hurt. A lot.

I started having a lot of pain in my back, so we tried some different postions, with Casey pushing on some pressure points, which gave me some relief; then I switched positions again to try to move our little gal's head into a better position.  Those were some of the most painful contractions I remember, but they worked, so thank God!
The next thing I remember is someone saying, "She has lots of dark hair." I reached down to feel her, but it still seemed like the end was far away, even though everyone kept saying she was almost here.
At 10:20 am, with one final contraction, Adelaide Penelope entered this world. I remember the doctor saying, "Oh, she has her hand by her face." They set her on my stomach and I just kept telling her how beautiful she was and how much I loved her. I tear up just thinking about that moment right now.

Hello Adelaide Penelope!

She has 10 fingers and 10 toes, lots of dark hair (like mommy), a button nose and round cheeks (like daddy). Perfect in every way!

Adelaide Penelope: 8 lbs. 6 oz., 19 in., ready to take on the world!

It's now nearly three weeks later, and I can hardly believe how much she is already changing and growing. It's amazing what a difference each day makes. I have healed well and am feeling almost back to myself. Not being pregnant is fantastic. Adelaide eats and sleeps well, and is an overall healthy, joyful addition to our family. In many (but not all) ways, this feels natural. Like it is what we have been meant to be. Our sweet family!

Family of three!

Our little Laidey Bug!

Bags Packed, Ready to Go

38 weeks and counting--2 weeks till due date. In some ways, I am SO ready for this little gal's arrival, but in many other ways, I am hoping she stays put for another few days (or a week or two). It's the strangest thing--I told Casey last night that even though it is getting close, somehow it feels like it will never get here. He keeps warning me not to get my hopes up that the baby will arrive early, so that if she doesn't, I am not disappointed. But I am not really getting my hopes up, because there is this big part of me that doesn't expect it to EVER happen. Strange, right?

This week has been monumental in getting our house ready for Baby Girl. Over the weekend, Casey finished the cubby, and Monday night he put together the crib, which brought the final furniture pieces to completion. It was perfect timing for my parents and my sister Bekah, who came in to town for my doctor's appointment and ultrasound on Tuesday. Not only did we get another glimpse of our currently 7lb. 4oz. gal (according to the measurements of the ultrasound, which by admission, can be off up to a pound either way), but my mom and sister helped me get a TON of stuff ready.

37 1/2 Weeks

Up to this point, although I had been doing lots of planning for nursery decorations, I was really waiting for all of the furniture to be finished before doing the actual decorating. We got a good part of the book wall art completed (pictures to come), and more importantly, we got boxes opened, baby toys assembled, tags cut, and clothes washed. And everything cleaned up, to boot. By the end of Tuesday, our nursery actually looked like a nursery. It's still a work in progress, and all of my decorating projects are about half done, but here is a preview. And my favorite part.

Quilt from Aunt Bekah (and Aunt Melissa and Grandma)

My sister Bekah has become quite the seamstress this summer and she surprised Casey and I with an early birthday gift for the baby: a handmade quilt! It's the perfect way to tie the room together. Several months ago, I decided on a children's book theme for the nursery, but my color scheme has always been a little up for debate. The walls of the room are blue (and are staying that way!), and we have a chocolate brown comforter on the guest bed (which is also staying in the room), so my original thought was to add yellow and do yellow, brown, and blue (but not much blue other than the walls). The biggest problem is finding children's books that fit (just) that color scheme. Children's books are just so colorful. So I wanted to use lots of colors, but I still wanted them to "match." With the quilt, we were able to select a variety of books that have lots of color, but still fit a color scheme, too. And we are still using the yellow and brown, but not exclusively. I'm really excited about how well it's all turning out. Like I said, all of my projects are still about half finished, so I will post more pictures later once it is further along.

I also packed my hospital bag this week. Before it was packed, I kept feeling like I was running late and needed to already have it packed. Now that it's packed, I feel like it was way too early. I'm not an early packer--most of the time, I pack the night before/morning of a trip. This is different, sure, but it's still weird to have a suitcase sitting by the bedroom door, just waiting for some indefinite day.

But with all we accomplished this week, now I feel so much more ready to go. I'm actually really glad not to have gotten stuff ready before this. It only makes me more anxious for the big day!

A Rough Week for the Zima-Zoo

This has been a rough week for our cat Zima. When we first moved into our house, the back bedroom quickly became her safe haven from Trekker. We put a baby gate up in the doorway to keep Trek out of Zima's food and kitty litter, which we kept in the back closet. It didn't take long for Zima to claim ownership of the bedroom. She has several favorite places to nap back there, and anytime she is chased by the dog (who always wants to play), she knows she can escape by jumping the baby gate and taunting the dog from the opposite side. It's actually pretty cute. Oftentimes, they have been caught lying practically next to one another, with just the gate separating them.

Zima enjoys lying on the guest bed (aka "her bed")

One of the projects on our "Baby List" was moving Zima's kitty litter and food to the basement, because, well, "Zima's Room" is becoming "Baby's Room." It took us quite awhile to figure out how to keep the basement door open enough for Zima to have access to her food and litter (we didn't want to put a kitty door in because we would have to basically destroy the door to do so) and without allowing it to just hang open (and allowing Fitz to get down there). We finally decided on a long hook, which Casey installed last weekend. It is the perfect solution, and I think it is even baby-proof: I'm pretty sure the amount of space left is just enough for a cat, but not enough for a crawling infant to slip through.

On Wednesday, I was feeling highly energized, so I did some house cleaning, and while I was at it, decided to move Zima's food. Once I start projects these days, I get tunnel vision until they are complete, so we went ahead and moved her kitty litter, too. I introduced her to the new locations of each of these, and even put a comfy box with blankets in the basement, should she want to make the basement her new safe haven. Then, I chased her out of the back bedroom and shut the door.

The back closet, prior to move (still haven't taken an "after" picture)

Poor Zima! She didn't know what to do. She stood by the door and meowed for awhile. She paced the house looking lost and forlorn. She eventually laid down on our bed lethargically. She refused to eat or drink or use her new kitty litter. I started to get worried about how long she would hold out. Casey started to get worried that she was using some other place for her kitty litter (particularly, his closet). 24 hours later, still no evidence of eating, drinking, or expelling waste. Just a depressed kitty cat.

Finally, I woke up Friday morning to find that she had eaten some of her food and at least stepped inside her kitty litter box. When I went to the basement stairwell to get Fitz's food for breakfast, she ran down to meet me and meowed at my feet, finally asking for some food. I gave her more food, and she went right to work eating it. Like nothing ever happened. I guess she's a pretty tough cat. She'll bounce back.

And at least she has a couple of weeks ahead of the rest of us when it comes to adjusting to life with Baby. :)

By the way, at 37 weeks pregnant, I'm considered full-term now. This lil' girl can come anytime she pleases (but there are still 3 weeks till my due date, and I'm mentally preparing for her to come late; otherwise, I might go insane in this heat).

Company at 4 a.m.

Last night proved to be yet another one of those difficult-to-sleep-nights. If you are noticing a trend in my blogging as of late, you are correct--sleeplessness has been a common theme. As it will continue to be for awhile, I'm sure (but maybe I'll eventually get over myself and find something more interesting to blog about. Until then...). What made last night different was the company. ;)

First, some background: Yesterday afternoon, we visited my in-laws. And their lake. This was our second Sunday at the lake in as many weeks; after our visit last Sunday, I told Casey I would be content to make it to the lake every weekend between now and the end of my pregnancy. Casey had no qualms with the idea. Let me tell you, there is nothing like relaxing in a cool lake on a hot summer's day when you are in the final weeks of pregnancy. We really only spent a couple of hours in the water, but it felt miraculous--the coolness and the weightlessness of it [sigh].

Two relatively minor incidents occurred while we were at the lake 1). During the course of our swim time, Casey stepped on a sharp something under the water and gave himself a small, but deep cut that, of course, filled with bits of sand and other lake-ish particles. 2). After getting out of the water, I found that my lower back was a little stiff. No big deal, either one.

After the lake, we went out to eat. We are not normally go-out-to-eaters, preferring to save our money and cook, but as of late, we have been splurging, again all related to making the most of the last few weeks of non-parenthood. We ate at Lafayette Fire Co. 1--pretty tasty food, and it was fun to try something new.

As the evening progressed, so did my backache. However, it worked out pretty well because part of our plan for the evening was to read some more of our Bradley book and do some practice exercises for labor.

[Sidenote: We are planning to deliver (in a hospital) naturally--without an epidural, pain meds, or other medical interventions, as much as possible. Because of this, we decided to opt out of any childbirth classes, and instead have been reading a book called Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way. It's a great book and I highly recommend it if you are planning a natural childbirth. Plus, as I told Casey last night, I'm really glad to have the extra time with him, as opposed to spending hours and hours at a childbirth class. Of course, there is always the potential that I will regret the decision to not take a class after I actually give birth, but based on how busy we have already been preparing for a baby already, I think the extra time together is well-worth it. Plus, we are also having a doula, Behthany Robbins, assist us in birth, and I have full confidence in her to help us in our lack of labor expertise.]

So anyway, part of the Bradley book has exercises to practice for labor where the coach (aka Casey) gives the laboring woman (aka me) a lower back massage during contractions, since many women experience back pain during childbirth. As we practiced for labor last night, Casey massaged my lower back so hard that he said he was pretty sure it would give me bruises under normal circumstances. And he said his arms are going to get really big. ;) The massage felt WONDERFUL! Definitely helped with the back pain I had been having. Well, temporarily at least.

See, I woke up at about 4 a.m. because I had HORRIBLE lower back pain--again. It was one of the first times in pregnancy where I finally had a glimpse of the feeling of "get this baby out of me NOW"--a telltale sign that you are getting close to the end of pregnancy, I'm told. I laid in bed bed for awhile, trying various positions to get comfortable, and that's when I realized Casey was awake, too. Most of the time, he sleeps right through my insomnia, but last night, the cut on the bottom of his foot (from the lake earlier) was bothering him.

We ended up getting up together to clean the cut out better, which helped his foot, and amazingly enough, my back, too. Just moving around a bit helped loosen me up. Then, we just laid in bed and talked--at 4 a.m. :) We both ended up falling back asleep, but this morning, we talked about how fun it was to chat in the middle of the night.

I predict we will have many more mid-night chats in the coming months. And it was nice. To have company at 4 a.m.

Lanterns and Stars

Many people have advised me to spend the remaining weeks of pregnancy 1. relaxing (check!), 2. sleeping (check-minus), and 3. going on dates with my husband (check-plus). Heeding their advice, Casey and I took advantage of Friday night's relatively cool weather to go out and about.

Our evening started with some good ol' backyard BBQ. Casey fired up the grill and we cooked some delicious shish kabobs, with marinated beef, chicken, peppers, onions, pineapple, and, my favorite, cherry tomatoes. Seriously, if you have never cooked cherry tomatoes on a shish kabob, you don't know what you are missing. They are so juicy and flavorful, I think they just might be my favorite food right now!

After dinner, we went to the Lantern Festival at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. I've been told that the festival is a great honor for the Botanical Gardens because these lanterns are rarely seen outside of China. They were a sight to behold, for sure! It was cool to see them before it got dark, and then after dark when they were lit. The dragons (there were two even though you can only see one in the picture below) were by far the most impressive. These majestic creatures were made out of 40,000 porcelain plates tied together with kite string. And they breathe smoke!

Lantern Festival pics

Looking VERY pregnant!

Even though it was nearly ten o'clock by the time we finished at the lantern festival, we were having so much fun that we decided to extend our date by doing something we have rarely done since we were dating (pre-marriage)--star-gazing! It was a gorgeous (and cool) evening, so we drove out Interstate 44 to our favorite spot and cuddled in the back of Casey's truck underneath a clear and starry sky. Surprisingly, it was cool enough that we even needed a blanket. In total, I think we saw 4 shooting stars. It brought back fond memories of our second date, and many other dates in the fall of '07. All in all, we stayed out until almost 1 a.m. I was quite proud of myself for making it that long, but like I said, I am determined to make the most of these last few weeks of "us time."

It's 3 a.m.

I said in my last post that you might not see me for awhile, unless I continued the pattern of waking up at odd times and not being able to sleep. I guess it didn't take long for that to happen. Welcome to the last month of pregnancy, right?

I woke up this morning (EARLY this morning, literally at 3 a.m.) to pee (of course) and found that I REALLY REALLY needed to eat something. Side note: I think Baby Girl is dropping because the last few days, I have been able to eat normal-sized meals without feeling like I am literally going to POP! For a while, I had to eat about 1/4 of what I felt like I WANTED to eat, just so I wouldn't be miserable for the rest of the day/evening.

SO anyway, I came downstairs to get a quick snack, but found myself more awake than ever. For awhile, I amused myself with catching up on other people's blogs, but even that did not put me back to sleep. And now here I sit before you.

In my last entry, I also said that Casey and I (mostly Casey) have been nesting. Since then, Casey has continued his nesting, and I have joined him with a boundless energy that I didn't know I still possessed this late in pregnancy. In fact, up to the point where the nesting instinct grabbed me with vicious talons, I often wondered how women found the energy to nest late in pregnancy, and wondered if I myself might be an exception to the nesting rule. Thankfully, I found out, starting last Saturday, that I do have the nesting instinct and it kicked in with full force.

It started Saturday afternoon after I got home from my third baby shower (I am SO loved by SO many--my thanks goes out to you!). I left the shower with the intention of coming home for my daily nap. However, when I got home, Casey was getting ready to finish up one of  his nesting projects: Project Organize the Basement. This project included building more shelves, ripping out the remaining basement walls (from previous owners), adding to his tool bench, and cleaning/painting the walls of the front section of the basement (under the porch). He did most all of this while I was in New York over Memorial Day weekend, and now just needed to finish putting everything away in its new space. Oh, did I mention that once everything was put away, he left me 4 1/2 shelves for baby stuff and other miscellaneous needs-to-be-removed-from-the-nursery stuff? That's my guy! :)

As he was going down to the basement, Casey asked if I wanted to come down and hang out with him for awhile. I was surprisingly no longer feeling tired or in need of a nap, so I decided to join him downstairs. At first, I just sat on a bucket and chatted with him, but it wasn't long before I pulled out a bin full of old paperwork from college and started to go through it (all with the intention of emptying it so Casey could use it for something he needed a place for). Before I knew it, I had cleaned out the entire bin and had a pile of paper for "shredding." But it didn't stop there. I just kept going. And going. And going.

By 9 p.m., with only a short break for dinner, Casey had finished organizing the basement, and I had begun moving baby stuff from the nursery down to my 4 1/2 empty shelves. Once I had some of the baby stuff moved out, I thought it would be a good idea to take some inventory of stuff we have lots of, and of stuff we still need, so I started organizing the gift bags and boxes in the nursery (up until that point, I had just been bringing stuff home from showers and piling it into the nursery for later assessment).

Before I knew it, I took a pee break and looked at the clock in the bathroom to find that it was 1 A.M! Did I mention that I never got that nap I intended to take when I got home from the shower? By this time, Casey was patiently waiting for me to come to bed. Not only is it most often the other way around (me in bed waiting for Casey), even before I was pregnant, I rarely stayed up until 1 a.m., and since my pregnancy, 10 p.m. is really pushing it.

Since Saturday, the nesting has continued. I have organized and re-organized pieces of my life I never thought I would touch again. I've continued to clean out the nursery (it is the biggest project, by far), but I have also organized parts of the kitchen, my paperwork/billing system, and have even had the urge to organize the documents/folders on my computer!

I was up late again last night (only 11:30 this time) completing pages for the year-in-review scrapbook that I started for Casey our first Christmas. It's only a page a year, but somehow I was still 2 years behind--of 5 total years we have known each other. Not anymore! I'm all caught up.

And now it's now longer 3 a.m. It's in the 4 a.m. range and my eyes are feeling a little gritty. Maybe I can go back to sleep after all. Sorry to bore you with all the details of this nesting mama. G'night (or morning!) :).

P.S. Don't worry. I did get a 3 hour nap on Sunday after my nesting marathon Saturday night. I am so thankful not to be working these last weeks of pregnancy so that I am able to sleep when I need to. I truly am trying (as so many people have advised) to get sleep while I can. :)

Twig by Twig

So much for my goal of weekly posts. It's been five weeks since my last post. Here are all of the posts I've been meaning to get to for the last month, all rolled up into this one post.

Since I last blogged....

• I had my first baby shower, given by my mother-in-law (Mamasan) and sisters-in-law (Shelly and Katie), one of whom is pregnant with a girl and due 3 weeks after us. Baby Bonsa will have a built-in best friend from birth! 

Mamasan made this oh-so-cute-baby-in-a-carriage fruit arrangement

Shelly, Mamasan, me, and Katie at the baby shower

• we went shopping for wedding dresses for my sister Jessica, who is getting married in January of 2013. That makes TWO upcoming Petrone sister weddings: Melissa and Korey in September and Jessica and Chris in January. I'm especially excited for Jessica's wedding because she has asked me to be her Matron of Honor.

Me and Jess before wedding dress shopping

• the school year ended! Hooray for summer. I have been off for about a week and a half. And enjoying every minute of it. With my maternity leave, I won't go back to work for four and a half months.

• I took a trip to New York/New Jersey. Hooray for Melissa's wedding. It was beautiful. And so much fun to see all of my college roommates. And to stay with Jo. And to feel like I was back in college again for a few days.

The Ragamuffins--Barb, Jo, Melissa (the beautiful bride), me, and Natalie

• I took two trips to Springfield. Trip 1=Happy Retirement Dad!; Trip 2=Ready to Pop!  Baby Shower. Both trips were short, but it was great to see my family and family friends.

Mom, Dad, me, and Melissa following dad's retirement ceremony

Bekah, me, Jess, and Melissa at Ready to POP! shower

• I started my summer routine. I thrive off of order and schedules, as my husband will attest. Without a schedule, I often go nuts over the summer. In the last couple of years, I have realized how much better my summer days are when I get up and moving with Casey. In the past, I used to get up and go for a morning jog while it was still cool out. Since my jogging ended right around the 6 months prego mark, I have taken to walking instead--my friend Ami and I walk 3 days a week. The other days, I walk with Fitzy. I've also been making a point to do my Yoga Mama DVD a few times a week, which has really helped with my flexibility and muscle soreness--good prep for labor, I hope. An essential part of my daily routine has also become naptime, which I find works best between 10-11am. It seems so silly to me that I get tired so quickly after waking up, but for some reason, morning naps work better than the afternoon ones (probably because I just flat out can't make it that long). And as Casey often  reminds me, I AM pregnant, and this is my vacation--and likely the last time I will be able to take regular naps for years to come. My afternoons thus far have been filled with graduate class work and maternity sub plans. Though I typically work better in the mornings, I can't fit EVERYTHING in in the morning, so afternoons have become my "work" time.

• Casey and I (mostly Casey!) have been working to get our home ready for a third member. Twig by twig, we are building a nest :). Everything is a process, of course, and I have to remind myself not to be overwhelmed with the amount of work NOT finished, including the nursery, which still has piles and boxes of baby stuff yet to be sorted and put away. The thing is, there is an order to everything. It's hard to put stuff away before we have the furniture where it will be put away, and the furniture needs to be put together, and many of the baby things need to be moved to the basement (for later use), and the basement needs to be organized, and to organize the basement, we had to have a yard sale.... you get the picture.

From top left, moving counter-clockwise: 1. new bookshelves for our bedroom (so we could get rid of the bookcase in the nursery); 2. A new dresser, so now we have matching furniture for our bedroom (mostly); 3. the bathtub, which Casey is working on re-glazing. You should have seen it before (wish I had pics, but they don't do it justice--it had layers and layers of grime and scum that wouldn't come off until Casey got some heavy duty professional acid cleaner); 4. the closet for the nursery, still in progress; 5. The nursery, still in progress, but now missing a desk, a chair, and a bookcase, but with added piles of baby stuff; 6. We got a new couch! One on which Casey can fully extend in order to comfortably nap; 7. Casey tore out the dilapidated plywood from the garage windows and put up new windows--it's still an old garage, but amazingly enough, looks better now. See "before" picture below; and finally 8. We got a china cabinet from Adelaide's estate sale, and finally moved it into its new location and put all of the china from Adelaide (her wedding gift to us) on display--I LOVE it!

• But really, in the grand scheme of things, I have come to realize that with as much as we WANT to get done before Baby Bonzai's arrival, the things we NEED to get done are really very limited. We have a car seat (so we can bring her home from the hospital), we have some diapers (thanks to folks from various showers), we have a few onesies, and we even have a few different options where Bonza can sleep for the first few weeks. Aside from not having yet decided on a pediatrician, I can't think of anything that really NEEDS to be done before she arrives. Of course, not having my sub plans/grad work finished could make things difficult for awhile---but I have great plans to get those cranked out by the end of June. Which is why you may not see many more posts in the next few weeks. Unless, of course, I wake up at 5 am and can't fall back asleep, like I did this morning :).

Two Down, One to Go (Trimesters, that is)

Last weekend we had a yard sale. It's amazing how much fun it can be to purge junk. We basically spent a beautiful day in our backyard (our neighborhood rules don't allow yard sales in front yards--I can't complain. I don't want to look at everyone else's junk all summer long) and let other people pay us to haul off our old stuff. Well, for the most part they hauled it off. Casey did deliver a few pieces of furniture to people who didn't have the means to transport it themselves. We were pretty anxious to be rid of it, so it seemed a small price to pay.

Now the back bedroom/future nursery is desk-less, chair-less, and bookshelf-less, leaving plenty of room for the baby stuff that is already piling up back there. I am tossing around lots of decorating ideas in my head, but so far, nothing has been done about it. I'm hoping I have as much time as I envision once school is out in just four short weeks!

This past Tuesday, I finished my second (of two) grad class for this semester with a research presentation on parenting gifted kids. With only two classes remaining between me and my master's degree, I can almost taste the end. Now to finish those two classes before Baby Girl decides she is no longer comfy in her current home and wants to join us. I should have enough time, assuming she stays on schedule, but as I already mentioned, I also have some other plans for the weeks of summer prior to baby's arrival. Oh, which reminds me, I really need to get to making some sub plans for this fall. Even though my six weeks paid maternity leave from school will only get me through the second week of the new school year (assuming she comes on her due date--or round about that time), I am planning to take the whole first quarter to stay home, which will give me and the little gal about 3 months to adjust to life together before I become a working mom.

I thought I was having contractions on Wednesday, but it turns out that my tummy just feels tight because, well, everything is packed in there pretty tightly at this point. And the pain I thought I had was just more (I've had my decent share of it already) round ligament pain, otherwise known as "growing pains." Everything is just expanding, and it's not all that comfortable. Who would have thought? :)

Lucky for me, I also had my 27 week, 4 day appointment on Wednesday, so I could get some peace of mind about the "contractions" I thought I was having. Baby Girl's heart beat is still strong (and still makes my heart skip a beat to hear it!) and I am measuring somewhere between 27-28 cm. Just right for the 27-28 week mark. Not much else to report. Pregnancy doctor's appointments are pretty boring.

You know what's not boring? Watching my belly ripple, jump, and roll as our little girl tests out those muscles and practices some cartwheels. It never gets old. I think I could sit contentedly in a chair all day long with my hand on my belly and just soak up all of her movements. I can feel her little bony butt pressing against my tummy and then moving one way or another as I rub the place where I feel her move. She likes to hang out on the right side mostly. I read somewhere that babies who hang out on the right side cause mamas back labor when the time comes. Here's hoping that's just a myth!

Rain, Rocks, Registries, and Reading

I'm only writing this post because 1. I'm determined to keep up blogging, even when I have nothing to write and 2. I'm going stir crazy after being home for the third day in a row (combination of a nasty cold--geez, it's like my immune system is suppressed or something; it just won't go away!--and rainy April showers).

Recently in my life...

Last weekend was my birthday. My husband gave me the best birthday birthday a pregnant woman could ask for. We went rock-hunting Friday night so that we could add some rocks to our garden, per my request. Then, we bought new bedroom furniture and a new couch, thanks to my nesting and Casey's side job. Saturday, we relaxed for most of the day and then went to Olive Garden for dinner (I can't eat enough pasta these days) and picked up our new furniture. Now to get rid of all the old stuff in our yard sale next weekend and I will be a happy lady. I'm excited to get to work on the baby room, but I am waiting until we purge all of our junk.

Throughout the last week, we spent time sprucing up our garden: adding our new rocks, filling our giant flower pot, and splitting some hostas to move to new locations. Casey has been a champ working on my honey-do list, despite his side jobs, the extra work he has been doing, and keeping up with all of my pregnancy wishes.

We also knocked another big "To Do" off the list by getting our registry done. You might think that this would be a fun task, but it was not one that I was looking forward to. I was, in fact, actually dreading the process. The whole idea was just too overwhelming to me. For one, I'm not a big shopper; strike one. Two, I have never been a mom before, nor had a baby; how am I supposed to know what I/she will need? Strike two. Third, I'm pregnant, which means I tire easily and have less patience than in normal circumstances; strike three. Turns out it wasn't so bad--probably in part because I had very low expectations, and in part because I had some great friends to give me lots of good advice prior to the experience. And now it's done, and I don't feel nearly as stressed about it. It's even kind of fun to go back and look at our list online.

As for  Bonza, she continues to do well. I spent this morning reading to her in the rocker while she kicked in response. I am 26 weeks now; only 2 weeks left in the glorious second trimester. I'm starting to feel "big"--things like getting out of bed and bending over to tie my shoes are no longer flippant motions. They require a conscious telling of my body what to do. But I still feel great (aside from this darn cold). I am running when I can, eating all I can :), resting all I can (which has been too much for my taste, as of late), and growing this little girl bigger and bigger. 14 to go.

Fitzy's First Float (and Baby Finan's, too!)

What a way to spend two of the last days of winter--floating on the Current River. I am pretty sure that, thanks to our most recent float trip, Casey and I have now been floating on the Current River in every season of the year, and we have gone every year since we first met on a float trip in 2007.

This trip was an especially big one for us because Casey and I weren't sure if we would be able to make a trip together before Bonza (formerly Bonzo, changed to Bonza for a more feminine sounding name in utero) joins our family in July. It has been one of our major goals for the spring and we have been praying that the weather would cooperate before I get too big and uncomfortable. Who knew God would answer our prayers so early? We have never been floating in March before, let alone mid-March, still in the official final days of winter.

It was amazing how different the river looked without all the leaves on the trees. We could see further back into the land around the river, and kept commenting on how hard foreign the river looked, as well on the new sights we came across, including some bluffs and cabins that have previously been hidden from sight with all the underbrush. Thankfully, spring green was beginning to peek through in the tufts of grass on the banks, and we enjoyed some splashes of purple in the blooming red buds amidst all the bare branches; that, with the beautiful blue sky and white puffy clouds, made for a glorious "winter" float trip. With all the sunshine, I even managed to burn my arms.

"Can I drive, pretty please??"

The other exciting part of this float trip was that it was Fitzy's first trip EVER with us (not to mention Baby's first trip--and her next one probably won't be for a couple of years yet). We got him last September, and the one trip that Casey had planned with his dad in October got cancelled because of the weather (we won't mention that the weather that weekend ended up being gorgeous!). I, for one, was glad that I got to go with Casey and take Fitzy on his first ever trip to the river. This dog LOVES water, even more than our last Chessie, Trek, which is saying a lot.

For hours, and hours, and hours!

When we first got to the river, I put Fitzy on a 50 ft. rope to let him swim around while Casey unloaded our gear. We weren't quite sure how Fitzy would do off-leash on the river, and after our first experience taking him to my father-in-law's lake last year, we decided to play it safe. It was the funniest thing to watch. Fitzy jumped right in and started paddling UPSTREAM. He swam upstream until he ran out of rope, then turned around and paddled right back down, continuing his lap pattern, back and forth, until we were ready to leave, probably 20 minutes or more. And then, when we pushed off, he continued to swim ahead of us. In fact, all weekend long, unless Casey forced him to get out of the river (and in some cases, that included Casey swimming out and dragging him to shore so the poor dog wouldn't drown himself), he was in the river swimming laps. We kept joking that this was the best doggie treadmill ever. As I type, Fitz is passed out on the floor at my feet, and something tells me he will be in that position for several days to recoup all the energy he spent in the 30 hours previous.

The man and his pup

The only other notable event of our trip was our first ever canoe tip. We always brag to friends when we try to convince them to come floating with us for the first time that it is really quite unusual (and sometimes downright difficult) to tip a canoe, and aside from intentional tips (specifically in the Seven Person Canoe Escapade), I've never been with anyone who has flipped a canoe on the Current. Of course, then, our first ever tip would happen on the trip where I am pregnant and being especially careful not to do anything that might put me or Bonza in danger. I'm not quite sure how it happened, but we hit a swift patch of water and weren't able to steer clear of the bank in time, and before I knew it, I was flailing in the water frantically trying to get on my feet and move out of the way of any potential hazards to my belly (I had fallen out back first, so I was face up and thankful that I didn't fall on anything but water). Aside from some wet clothes, we didn't suffer any damage. The canoe filled up with water, but nothing floated away and our water bags served their purpose. All important items (FOOD!) were kept securely dry---even our lantern, which was sitting in a crate, still worked after we let it dry out for a few hours.

Now we are home, spring break could not have had a better beginning, and all is well in the Finan household. Good times.