It’s about due time I update our family blog! I keep reminding myself to do so and am just now, in the fall, finding the time to sit down and document the whirlwind of a spring/summer we had.
Our latest news started back in May when Matt and I had the opportunity to take a vacation away from home for the first time in the seven and a half years since we were married. For our honeymoon we had taken a trip down to Mexico, staying at an all-inclusive resort where there was food, drink, warm ocean water, and even a swim-up bar on the property. Our taste of the tropics led us to embark on a 7-day Caribbean cruise, without then 9-month old Nathaniel (he stayed with Grandma and Grandpa for the first time).
We had a wonderful time visiting St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and a private island in the Bahamas. Our adventures included a treetop adventure on St. Maarten where we went zip-lining and a sea-turtle snorkel trip off the coast of St. Thomas. The water was incredibly warm and beautiful!!
It’s no surprise we had a wonderful time. When we got back we realized we brought home an extra souvenir....
Baby #2 is due to arrive February 1, 2012! We decided to keep it to ourselves for a couple of months and have the "big reveal" during Nathaniel's first birthday party in late July. It sure was hard waiting so long to tell our family but having Nathaniel open a framed ultrasound picture was a fun surprise!
The pregnancy has, well, frankly, it has been draining. Granted, I’m comparing this round to when I was pregnant with Nathaniel, not nauseous and full of energy. That hasn’t been the case this time around. While I never did physically throw up I was nauseous for the first 3 1/2 – 4 months during my waking hours. The tiredness hasn’t really gone away but at least I’m not feeling sick as much anymore (always a good thing!).
Because of being tired and “sick” while pregnant, the garden, once again, suffered this year. Eh….at least there is always next year. We successfully grew blueberries, raspberries, carrots, tomatoes, rhubarb, snap peas, pole beans, (a total of 2 ½ cucumbers - lame!), and a few hot peppers, but not nearly as much as we planted. I like to blame this on the late spring we had, which I’m sure had a lot to do with it, but frankly, I could have done a much better job with the watering and care. Oh well…I’ve let it go, and I have a new walk-in bean/pea trellis, which I la-la-la-love (thanks Matt!).
So, it’s officially fall, and we’re planning our next adventure. The plan? We’re getting chicks in the spring! Operation chicken coop build has commenced and is making steady progress. Making great use of the add-on I built when I installed our shed almost five years ago now, we’ve begun closing it in and have plans (and the materials) to fence off a good-sized run in addition to the coop itself. I’m really excited about the potential of fresh eggs….I’m just hoping I can manage an active toddler, newborn, and household while I get those chicky babies up and growing! Wish me luck!
Last but not least, while we go full-speed ahead towards our 8th wedding anniversary on the 18th of this month, and the beginning of the holiday season, Nathaniel is growing so fast! He’s nearly walking…up to three-to-four steps at a time now (insert proud mama smile here) and is quite the gibber-gabber. His latest word attempts include “shoes”, “socks”, “Z” (for “Zieto, our shepherd…which comes out more like a spitting sound), and “night-night” (complete with a clicking of his tongue like some tribal African language). Ahh…I love watching this boy grow and learn!
Contract work is going well also. I’m back at World Vision until mid-November working on a stellar Media team and as usual when I work alongside of them, learning a ton! While I know I made the right decision to stay home with N (and the new baby) and have learned to love “not working” I still love “the work”. I can’t think of a better way to spend working time than to be contributing towards something I’m passionate about (and the extra money is great to have too!).
Last but not least:
Best purchase this year: My soy milk maker! This thing has paid itself off this month and I’ve come to really enjoy the fresh soymilk without extra junk (like sugar and other chemicals) that commercial soy milk includes. Bad news is my milk sensitivity has seemed to worsen a bit…but that’s probably because it’s out of my system now and I can tell a huge difference when I consume something I’ve made/baked/cooked with milk.
Looking forward to: The arrival of our new bread machine. This was a huge splurge for us and we went for the home bakery system by Zojirushi. I’ve heard nothing but great things about this machine after researching and price quoting it for a few months now. I’m happy to report we were able to get an awesome deal on one and should have it in a few weeks. So…if my house smells of freshly baked bread every week, you’ll know you can come grab a slice!
Have a safe fall, enjoy your families, and I’ll try to keep updated more often as to avoid the subject-skipping extended posts in the future!
