Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at 12:00 AM
I am sorry that my blog has languished so much lately! I have started to write (but never finished) posts on several topics including moving my studio space downstairs and getting the room ready for the new baby, the opening of the new IQSC Museum, about the comparative value of Pampers vs. Target diapers, a review of the new R.E.M. album Accelerate, and more on my political stances.
Unfortunately getting ready for the arrival of the new baby and life with a toddler (and now also a newborn) have occupied my time to the extent I haven’t kept up with the blog as I should. Look for upcoming posts soon on catch-up material. I will also try to do better at adding new material. I have at least finally added some new pictures of Nadia and Aidan.
Friday, May 16, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Yesterday was an interesting day. I started the day by going for my prenatal appointment. I was measuring a bit small for how far along I was in the pregnancy, and the baby’s heart rate was unusually fast. Dr. Vandenhul reassured me that she didn’t think there was a problem, but she strongly encouraged me to go in for an ultrasound to make sure everything was going well with the baby. Jeremy was very anxious and frustrated that he couldn’t be there since he is currently in New York City for the American Educational Research Association conference. Thankfully everything turned out to be just fine. We did find out the gender this time. It looks like the baby is going to be a girl! :-)
Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 12:00 AM
I have added some new content to the galleries. I have posted new ultrasound photos, photos from Christmas 2007 and photos from Aidan’s 2nd Birthday.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Happy 2nd Birthday, Aidan! It is hard to believe Aidan is two years old! He has grown so much. It has been fun to watch him change and grow, but it seems like he’s growing so fast.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008 at 12:00 AM
With the last pregnancy I initially did now want to find out the baby’s gender until it was born. It may sound silly, but I thought that finding out at the birth that it is a boy or a girl would be like the suspense and surprise of waiting for and unwrapping Christmas or birthday gifts, knowing beforehand would be a little bit anti-climactic. I also didn’t want everything to be gender stereotyped in pastel pink or blue before the baby was even born. (Don’t get me wrong – There are some great clothes and designs that are obviously intended for little boys or little girls, and I don’t have a problem with them, but I tend to prefer designs and clothes that are bright colors and patterns and could be appropriate for either gender.) However, with the last pregnancy, when we were facing the possibility of some very serious problems, I was actually glad that we knew the gender. I think it made it easier emotionally to cope with the downs (and ultimately ups) of the pregnancy when we could focus on our son, rather than having the gender as one more unknown.
This time around I wasn’t sure about if I wanted to find out the gender or not. Jeremy definitely DID want to know. There was still a part of me that wanted to keep it a surprise and wait, but there was also the practical side that it would be easier to prepare for the new baby if we know whether we are having a girl or another boy. If we are having another boy he will have plenty of hand me down clothes from his older brother. Some of Aidan’s outfits could work for a little girl, but we would probably need to do a little more shopping if the baby is a girl. Also it might be easier to prepare Aidan for the concept of a new baby and being a big brother if he knew that he was going to have a new little brother or a new little sister. So ultimately I agreed with Jeremy that we would find out the gender. I considered not telling friends and relatives until after the baby was born, but realistically I know that probably wouldn’t happen. I am lousy at keeping a straight poker face, and if Aidan knew the gender I’m sure he would talk about the new brother/sister. Jeremy and I have decided on a likely name if the baby is a girl, but we haven’t really even thought much about potential names for another boy.
We had a routine 20 weeks ultrasound yesterday (January 8th). Thankfully so far everything seems to be going smoothly with the pregnancy this time around. Aidan was not shy for ultrasounds. It was pretty obvious to tell the gender, it was almost as if he was posing for the camera – “look at me- I’m a boy!”. This time around the baby was much more modest. Despite the ultrasound technician’s best efforts the baby stubbornly kept his/her legs crossed and would not move to let us get a “sneak peak”. Unless we have any future difficulties with the pregnancy (and I hope we DON’T), I don’t anticipate we will have another ultrasound. I actually felt disappointed that we couldn’t find out the gender. I guess we will have to wait and anticipate the surprise of “It’s a Boy!” or “It’s a Girl” when the new baby is born.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Aidan has been obsessed with the letters of the alphabet lately. This summer we bought at a garage sale from one of our neighbors, a set of Sesame Street alphabet books which have one book for each letter of the alphabet. He loves to read the alphabet books and his Dr. Seuss Alphabet Book. We try to limit TV for Aidan, but we did get him the first two DVD packs of Old School Sesame Street videos. He seems to enjoy them and has actually been learning a great deal from them. When we are at Barnes and Noble Aidan goes crazy pointing out all the letters on the book titles – M!!, A!, Z!, Q!, C-cookie!, and Exit (which is what he calls the letter X). His favorite letter currently seems to be M, but he also often calls the letter W – M. I can see how this could be confusing since W does look like an upside-down M, but when corrected Aidan will stubbornly argue that the letter is not a W and is an M. Aidan has also started pointing out numbers and can sometimes count to ten by himself (although not consistently correct yet). I’m pretty impressed considering he’s not even two years old yet! (Of course as his mom I’m probably a bit biased).
Tuesday, November 13, 2007 at 12:00 AM
We found out that we are expecting again – due May 20th. I had been planning on finishing my masters program before thinking about having another baby, but Jeremy and I are excited and happy. I’m not sure how this will affect the time table for finishing up my degree, but things will work out somehow.
We have already had two ultrasounds. The first to determine how far along I was with the pregnancy, and the second to make sure everything was okay after the doppler was not picking up the heartbeat. (Thankfully everything is looking perfectly normal and healthy!) While it is fun to get “sneak peeks” at the new little one. I hope the pregnancy goes much more smoothly than with Aidan’s pregnancy (even though everything thankfully turned out fine!) and we do not have to have as many ultrasounds as we had the last time.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007 at 12:00 AM
I have posted photos of Aidan in his cute costume as well as other fall pictures including pictures from our visit to Vala’s Pumpkin Farm, and Jeannine’s visit back to Nebraska from Tennessee.
Saturday, October 20, 2007 at 12:00 AM
From the beginning Aidan never liked sleeping in his crib. I think he equated the crib with a cage. We probably should have pushed the issue and just let him cry it out (but I’m pretty much a push-over). For the first several months I’m sad to admit that Aidan mostly slept in his car seat/carrier, but it didn’t take long for Aidan to outgrow it. Occasionally we would be able to get Aidan to peacefully sleep through the night in his crib. Much more often, though, he would abruptly wake up and scream the instant he was placed in the crib. Either he would literally scream for HOURS and eventually cry himself to sleep, or more often I would either end up falling asleep rocking him to sleep in the rocking chair or falling asleep with Aidan on the couch. This needed to change!! Since Aidan had managed to climb out of his crib on several occasions (and I worried about him hurting himself), and since did just fine sleeping on the bunk beds in Vail, and often naps on the living room couches we figured that it was time to remove the rail from the crib, converting it into a toddler bed. Aidan seems to like it much better now that it is less “cage-like”, and is THANKFULLY now sleeping through the night in his “new” big-boy bed.
I also trimmed Aidan’s hair for his first haircut a few weeks ago. It is still pretty long in the back, but I couldn’t bring myself to cut off his cute little curls yet (even if he does occasionally have someone think he’s a girl). His hair has grown back pretty fast though-I think it needs another trim. (He still looks like he has mad scientist hair.)
And soon Aidan is going to be a big brother! It’s hard to believe he’s not a baby anymore. My little boy is growing up fast!
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