October 2010

October 2010 was full of fun activities, some difficult times, change, hope, and prayer.

We weren't sure if our move was going to take place but we spent time packing, just in case.

 

I took an online photo course to try and keep my mind off of the stress.   The weekly assignments were fun, I started to explore what my camera has to offer when it is not on AUTO, and I plan to take another in the future.  It probably wasn't the best time to take the course but I needed that distraction.  I'm sure I was quite a site - crouching down to get shots with my big baby belly!

 

This was taken to represent our soon-to-be Family of FOUR!

 

This represented a day in my life - driving to clients and errands, I can't live w/o my chapstick, I'm addicted to my laptop, and spying on Ethan while he naps (look at that bum in the air!  I love it!).

 

This was "shoot where you are".  Obviously we were at the park where the harsh sun was a challenge for me.  It was still SO hot in October and at 30+ weeks pregnant, I was ready for the cool down of Fall.

We signed Ethan up for his first swim class and it took place in October.  He loved it.  We walked into the pool area and Ethan immediately started leaning out of Matt's arms towards the pool.  

 

 He showed little hesitation in Matt's arms while gaining confidence and skills in the water.

 

 

 

Ethan loved the "slide".

 

We did Fall things like visiting the Fun Fort at Paulus's

 

We met friends for an evening out (also documenting my 30th week of pregnancy with baby girl)

We FINALLY settled on both houses and moved!!

 

 Matt was excited to do some yard work while I watched from inside

We visited the pumpkin patch

Less than a week after our move I started having preterm contractions.  After a non-stress test at my doctor's office confirmed that I was continuing to have contractions, I was sent to Labor and Delivery for monitoring.  Matt rarely has out of town trainings anymore but of course he did on this particular day.  I was frantic to get a hold of him but he couldn't answer due to a meeting.  Matt couldn't make it back in time to pick Ethan up from school.  We arranged for Matt's mother to pick Ethan up and keep him until Matt returned home that evening.  I was given two shots of medication to stop my contractions, sent home with the same med in a pill form, and instructions for modified bedrest.  Modified bedrest included time off of work, no unpacking, no unnecessary walking, etc.  The medication made me feel ill so I spent a lot of time on the sofa and in bed.  I needed to get out of the house and since the doctor specifically said "I don't want to see you out walking around Target" I rode in those motorized buggies!

Ethan loved the beeping they made when in reverse.

Finally, (whew, October was a long month and we had a lot going on!), we celebrated Halloween!  Ethan was a sweet, little puppy dog this year.  We met friends for dinner and a little trick-or-treating.  We didn't go far since I couldn't do much walking but it was just enough for Ethan to get some special treats (I ate most of them due to his milk allergy - at least that how I justified it).

 

I loved the way the little tail wiggled when he walked.

 

September 2010

We were supposed to move in September but we kept getting delayed by the guy who was buying our townhouse. 

I decided to get my hair cut and bring it back to it's natural color.

I also thought that maternity skinny jeans were a good idea, even if maternity and skinny seem like an oxymoron.

26 wks pregnant

27wks

Ethan passed his soy challenge!!!  This was our first challenge at the allergist's office.  FOUR HOURS in a small room with a toddler.  We were prepared for the worst but Ethan did fantastic.  He was such a champ.  He loved the little bits of soy milk they gave him, was interested in getting his pulse-ox checked, and enjoyed all the new toys mommy and daddy brought to keep him busy.

His first treat was a graham cracker!

 

  

We went apple picking for the first time.

We bought Ethan his first toy golf club and he was in love.  You should see it now - duct taped to hold it together but he still plays with it daily.

August 2010

In August we had the inspection completed for our new house.
We attended the wedding of a dear friend.

 

22 weeks pregnant

My favorite memory from this summer was playing in the rain with Ethan.  We splashed in puddles, ran around like crazy, then raced inside to dry off and cuddle under blankets.

August was a busy month but we soaked up as much time outside as we could.

 And stopped to smell the flowers.  It's one of Ethan's favorite things to do at the grocery store and market.

 

We started packing for our move.  Ethan saw me mark a box, ran to get his crayons and made his own marks on the box!

July 2010

In July we learned that our baby to be was a girl.

We later learned that thankfully, she did NOT have a cleft lip.

Ethan enjoyed playing outside, especially with the hose:

 

He also fell in love with his new basketball hoop (scored, like new, at a yard sale for $10).

 

He had another allergist appt and we learned that he was no longer allergic to wheat.  We trialed wheat at home and it was a success!  He started eating Frosted Mini Wheats cereal with milk in the morning.

 

After his allergist appt.  He did really well with the bloodwork.

 

Having fun making a mess with his cereal

Our Move

We joke with friends who know the details of our home selling and buying process this year.  It was insanity.  First of all the decision to sell our townhouse and find a single family home was a difficult one.  The market wasn't great.  We knew that our potential profit was minimal.  We loved our house and neighborhood.  BUT we needed more room.  We found out that we were expecting our 2nd baby just weeks into our search and that not only changed our search criteria, but also put a stricter time frame on the process.

So, our townhouse was for sale.  The constant keep it clean and ready for showings was tough, especially while pregnant and taking care of Ethan.  We had a few offers, 2 competing offers, 1 seller backed out, and we let another out of her contract because she still had her house to sell when we found another buyer.  Our eventual buyer ended up causing delays to our closing date that sent me into a pregnant panic and rage.  There were times, even just days before closings were scheduled, that we didn't think it was going to happen.  We had settled our hearts to accept that we would wait another year to move if we had to.  We didn't know if we would welcome another baby while living in our townhome or shortly after we moved into our new home.  Our real estate agent, friends, and family listened to several of my breakdowns along the way.  My heartfelt thanks again to those supporters.

It took us 6 months of touring houses to find one that we felt had potential to be our home.  We put offers on a couple but walked away when the sellers counter offered because we knew they weren't meant to be ours.  We finally found our house and discovered that the sellers were difficult to deal with.  There was drama over simple requests, discovery of things that should have been listed in the disclosure, and fear that they would put the house back on the market when we ran into the delays caused by the buyer of our townhouse. 

Everything finally fell into place and we moved in October.  I was 32 weeks pregnant.  Ethan was 20 months old.  He amazed us with how well he did with the move.  The first thing he did when we walked into our new home was stomp around on the hardwood floors.  He loved it!  We expected him to ask to go "home" but it seemed like he knew he was already there.


We encountered more stress with utility transfers, specifically Verizon.  If we didn't love Fios so much we would have switched to another company.  I cannot even begin to explain the issues we ran into because of Verizon.  I spent more than 13 hours on the phone with their representatives and managers over the course of 3 weeks trying to fix the mistakes.  It was a nightmare.  Our appliance deliveries also caused issues and stress.  It took more than 5 visits to our house to get everything installed but not without damage to our new refrigerator and newly refinished hardwood floors.  I'm certain our floor guy was horrified to learn that the floors were scratched and gouged within a week of his hard work being completed.  It seemed like it was always something.  The new hot water heater cost how much and was still making that noise?  Why wasn't the heat pump working?  The plumber rescheduled.  The roofer didn't show.  We paid a bill but didn't change the payment to the new account number so our bill looks as if it wasn't paid!  Ugh!

And then ... I started having preterm contractions and was put on modified bedrest.  I'll save that for another post.

This was an incredibly stressful time for us but I'm glad that we can look back on it now with a lighter heart.  Although there is much work to be done, we know we made the right decision.  There are still boxes and we have barely done any updates, but we've been a little busy with these two beauties, who have much more room to run and play inside and outside of our new home.

Littlest Love

 

Here she is.  Harper Sullivan V.   She arrived on December 8, 2010 at 8:47am.  She weighed 8lbs, 9oz and was 21 inches long.  

Birth story to come, hopefully someday soon.

"...And all at once you look across a crowded room to see the way that light attaches to a girl." ~Counting Crows.

Reviving this blog.

Anyone still here?  I am and I feel badly that I've neglected this little blog.  SIX MONTHS without posting!  I have a lot of catching up to do.  Even if no one out there is reading this besides Matt (and he is here experiencing it all with me) I need to document for the sake of our memories.

6 months.  6 months of change both wonderful and difficult, amazing and stressful.

I took a blogging break because other areas of my life were in need of my attention.  I was trying to balance too much and certain areas were suffering because of it.

The next few posts will consist of me catching up.