The last half of
the fall semester was so demanding that blogging did not take any kind of
priority for us. Now it seems that we have been gifted with a little slice of
calm vacation time in which we can catch up on our journaling. But, since we
have been so negligent, we will update in categorized bullet points
(categorizing brings joy to my Virgo heart):
What we are up
to NOW:
- Waiting for baby Tibbs: Yes, I am still pregnant at 41 weeks and 2 days. No, nothing is wrong and I am not considered post term until 42 weeks. Baby and I are healthy. And Tim and I feel grateful to be forced to learn life lessons about surrendering control while we wait for our sweet, strong-willed baby to choose his/her own birthday.
- Nesting in at home: Tim is on vacation from school so he could be home with me and the baby. Well, it turns out what we really needed was for him to just be home with me. We have been able to spend wonderful quality time together before we expand to be a family of three. We have decorated and shopped for Christmas, fully prepared the baby room and clothes and cloth diapers, made a dent on our Netflix cue, listened to podcasts, and enjoyed lazy, sleepy mornings together while the winter cold and storms crept into Sacramento.
- Kicking it: It has been such a blessing to spend this last week with my mom, who is on vacation (also taken in the hopes of being able to help with baby), and my brother, who is back from Costa Rica. The four of us have had an amazing opportunity to enjoy each other’s company, play board games, cook, bake Christmas cookies go for walks and watch movies together. Yay for family time!
- Moot court: I competed in the Thomas Tang Moot Court Competition, which involved working with an indescribably awesome partner to research and write an appellate brief and then practice for oral arguments and perform the arguments in front of practicing lawyers and judges in the competition. My partner and I spent probably 40+ hours in the library over the course of one long weekend before the brief was due and at least that much time working on the arguments. And, our hard work paid off as we won the second best brief award and only missed qualifying for the final rounds by .1 of a point.
- Lesson plans and sub plans: Tim spent countless hours last month making huge binders full of resources for the substitute teacher who is taking over his classroom for the 5 weeks of school he will miss. He will be home full time for 7 weeks all told, but luckily 2 of those are the school Christmas break so he didn’t have to make plans for those weeks.
- Prenatal appointments and birth classes: We finished our 10 week natural childbirth class, in which we were equipped with some skills and knowledge to help us survive through the last trimester and trials of childbirth. Our class was empowering and had the added bonus of connecting us with some like-minded couples who have had/will be having babies soon. It was a great way to kick-start a network of parents with whom we can give and get support throughout this crazy new adventure.
- A homebirth: Ever since we knew I was pregnant we knew we wanted to have our baby at home if it was medically safe for us to do so. Since baby and I are, and have been, healthy throughout the pregnancy and there are no risk factors involved, we are all set for me to labor and deliver our child at home. We are under the care of, and will be attended by a license nurse midwife who is partnered with an OB/GYN. (And, to put any nervous minds at ease, we live 2 blocks and one stop light away from the nearest hospital in the unlikely case of any unforeseen, emergent situation.) We are sincerely looking forward to welcoming our baby into the world in the comfort of our cozy home under the soft light of our Christmas tree and warmth of the fire in the hearth.
- Adventures in cloth diapers: After doing research into the economics and ecological pros and cons of different kinds of diapers, we decided that we want to use cloth for our little one. We have diligently been watching YouTube videos about how to prep, wash, change, and cover cloth diapers. It seems like the simplest, cheapest method for the daunting task that will consume hours upon hours of our lives in the very near future.
- Holidays with friends and family: Depending when this baby arrives and how we are coping with figuring out how to keep a tiny, tiny human alive and happy our holiday plans are up in the air. We hope to spend Christmas Eve with family in Santa Rosa but we may just hunker in at home and have family come to us. Who knows? At this point we do know that we will have a visit from Tim’s mom who will be helping us out with baby the day after Christmas and a visit from our spectacularly dedicated posse of friends around New Year’s Eve time. We are so looking forward to spending this first holiday surrounded by some of our favorite people who we know will love and support us and the baby, even if we are in the throes of sleep-deprived, befuddled new parenthood.
