Monday, April 22, 2013

Pride and Prejudice continues...

I had to wait over a year for my turn to check this book out of the library,
and the wait was worth it.

 

Written by P.D. James, a woman who is known for her wonderful mystery books and who has studied Pride & Prejudice for years, Death Comes to Pemberly is a great mystery that takes you back to Jane Austen and her wonderful characters.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

McDonald's


What is it about Happy Meals that makes your child's first one seem like
a rite of passage?

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

My Pregnancy This Time Around

People say your second pregnancy goes by in a flash.  I wouldn't say this one has been going by  quite that quickly, yet I have blogged very little about Baby, so here's one post full of bullet points all about him/her.

  • No, we don't know the sex.  Our hunch is a boy as the first trimester was quite rough and I'm carrying lower and more horizontally than I was last time.  We have found NO boys' names that we can agree on.  We do, however, have a girl's name - that was easy.
  • This baby moves.  Both ultrasound technicians commented on how active s/he is but now I can really feel that movement.  S/he doesn't just move, s/he pushes.  Put your hand on your stomach and push until you feel like you can't stay stationary any longer - that's how hard this little one is pushing.  It has gotten to the point where I literally cannot move because if I do, s/he will push so hard against my ribs and I cannot breathe due to the pain.  This baby is active and STRONG!
  • There have been no health concerns so far throughout this pregnancy, which we are oh so thankful for.
  • Our due date is June 22, a day after John's birthday.  I really do not want to give birth on the 21st, as I want them each of them to have their own special day BUT if this baby wants out, I'm not going to do anything to keep him/her in longer!
  • In case you didn't do the math from the previous bullet point, I am 30 1/2 weeks along.  It becomes a little more real to me when I think that my mom is arriving in 2 months and 1 day, and my due date is in 2 months and 6 days.  That's not a lot of time.
  • That being said, I feel like there's not that much to be done specifically for the baby's arrival.  We have most of the equipment that we need, and the few things we'd like to add are on their way to being purchased.  So the stress of all the buying that goes with the first pregnancy isn't around. Yet I do feel a little bit like I wish I knew the sex, as then I would be able to do more things to prepare.  But I'll wait for the surprise :)
  • At the same time, I am definitely nesting.  I didn't nest much with Helena, probably because there was simply no room to nest in that tiny apartment but I'm finding all kinds of things to do in this one.
  • Cravings?  The only one is for burgers.  A greasy burger topped with tomato and lettuce, dripping with sauce - yum. A hamburger always sounds good and tastes good.

Here's the much asked-for belly shot - from 5 1/2 weeks ago.
Sorry, it's the most recent one we have!

Monday, April 8, 2013

John's Going-Ons

While I get to spend most of my time hanging out with Helena, my husband is a busy man.  He's not one of my regular blog subjects, so I'm changing that today.

He's finishing up all the marking from the first class he's ever taught - "The Messiah in Ancient Judaism."  It's been a fun term for the two of us, as I've been able to understand/share/empathize/advise in his teaching activities.  Believe it or not, I'm not able to do much of that when he's in the midst of studying how to use the Septuagint to help figure out what the original Hebrew was in the Old Testament.  (Okay, and to completely illustrate how I'm barely able to communicate with him with those ideas, I'll admit that he had to help me write that sentence, as my first and second go at it were "not quite right"!)

His favorite home activity is building with Duplos.  It's something new almost every day, and if he likes it, he takes photos of it.  Here's his locomotive:



He's also getting Helena interested in Wind in the Willows.  Part of her love for it could be the fact that a main character is a badger, which happens to be the mascot for John's & Helena's favorite sports team - the Wisconsin Badgers of course.


And he's growing facial hair.  Today is Day 6. He's promised to shave it off before the baby's arrival, so it will probably be around for 11 more weeks.

Any questions about the man of the post?

Saturday, April 6, 2013

The ABCs