This year for the holidays, we decided to try something a little different.  Instead of having professional photos taken, we went downstairs to the family room, taped holiday-themed wrapping paper to the walls and floor, set up lots and lots of lights around the area, and placed our camera on a tripod.  We sat in front of the wrapping paper  and tried various poses, different exposures, etc.  The end result turned out pretty well, we think:

Oh yeah, and we adorned ourselves with Christmas lights.  Nice touch, eh?

Today:  Finished painting baby’s room after removing about 1000 staples from the door, trim, and drywall.  WHO PUTS STAPLES INTO THE WALLS???  Trim is painted (it took 4 thick coats of paint to cover up the dark 1970s wood).  Next task is to paint the dark wood bedroom door and closet door (a task that I will reserve for after Christmas).  Tonight:  Celebrating Hannukah at Holden’s best friend’s house.  I’ve never been involved in lighting the menorah, so we are honored that our friends are inviting us into their home to share this special tradition with us.

Happy Solstice Everyone!  And Happy 3.5 years to my H-bomb!  He is exactly 3.5 today!  Wow!

I took the time to update my CV today with my new position, along with some other items that have accrued over the past few months.  I’m going to brag here because there’s not much of a gap evident on my CV—you can’t tell I took a year off to be with Holden after his birth, and it’s not evident that I’ve also only worked part-time for another year of his life.  I’m hoping that my CV is just as seamless after this next baby.  It won’t be easy, but I think I can do it!

My CV!

It’s been a while since my last downer of a post.  I wanted to thank everyone for their support and well wishes.  It means a lot.  I am doing TONS better than I was.  There are several reasons for this, I think.  First, the queasiness and fatigue is finally completely gone.  That has made an enormous difference because now I can stay adequately hydrated, I can get the nutrients I need, and most importantly, I’ve been able to exercise regularly again!  I don’t think I realized how essential exercise was for keeping me sane.  I’ve been taking weekly prenatal yoga classes, plus running on the treadmill twice each week.  My run is pretty slow, and I usually do just under 2 miles—enough to get my heart rate up, but not enough to really overexert myself.  The other thing that has really helped me feel better is having some extra certainty in my career.  I got in touch with the woman I interviewed with in August to see if she had concluded her national search for the position I had applied for.  She had indeed finished the search, and she is ready to hire me for January!  We agreed on salary as well as a flexible part-time working arrangement.  I’ll be working on the two days each week that Holden is in school, so it should work out beautifully.  I am really excited about starting this new job.  I think I will learn a lot, and there will be lots of opportunities that I can seize.  Finally, one of the best things to happen recently was the conclusion of my very last undergraduate class.  I gave the final last Friday, finished up grading and submitting grades on Saturday, and enjoyed a Sunday without the stress or pressure of having to teach the following day.  Ah……the relief that it is over!  I can’t even express it.  The last week of the semester was stress-filled, with extra meetings and paperwork related to a plagiarism case.  But it’s finally, really over.  I just couldn’t be happier about it.

In other news, baby is doing well.  At my 23 week appointment, I was up a whopping 17 lbs, which is CRAZY.  After gaining no weight whatsoever during the 1st trimester, it seems nuts that I have gained so much in the past few weeks.  I can’t believe how quickly baby is growing, although now at 24 weeks, it’s still not obvious I am pregnant!  Baby is kicking a lot (which I think first started around 16 weeks), but wasn’t detectable from the outside until closer to 20 or 21 weeks.  At this point though, the kicks are pretty strong, although Holden doesn’t sit still long enough with his hand on my belly to be able to feel it.  I know that once he finally does, it’ll probably blow his mind!  Holden is so excited about his baby brother.  He asks many questions and is aware that we are inching closer and closer to the baby’s birthday.  In January I get another ultrasound to double-check the location of my low placenta.  Hopefully it will not be quite so low this time, so I can proceed with a normal delivery.  I also go for my gestational diabetes and anemia tests.  As we approach these tests, I realize how quickly the pregnancy is going, and that baby will be here before we know it.  Now that my class is over, I’ve been able to clear off the remaining work-related items from my desk in baby’s room and get things prepared for painting the trim and walls.  I’m lucky that my jury duty was cancelled this week, so now I have a full 2 days back in my schedule to work on this project.

So yes, things are finally coming together.  I’m feeling better, I’m feeling excited, and I’m feeling hopeful for the future.