An Autumn Update

3rd trimester has arrived! I am 29 weeks along today- which sounded awesome until I did the math and realized that's only 1 week short of three months left. So not encouraging- but that's okay because I have a lot to do before Tristan arrives and between a new part time job, being a full time wife and mom, and holidays it's going to go by fast with any luck.

First of all, I have to tell you about my new favorite thing- Essential Oils. I was a total skeptic, but one of my friends swears that she is fending off her 3rd trimester insomnia with it and I was tired of being tired all day. When another friend offered me some samples, I decided there was nothing to loose. A week later they arrived. I put one drop of lavender on my fingers and massaged it onto the bottoms of my feet before- I have not slept that soundly or woken up that rested in I can't even tell you how long! Same thing happened the next night- except added bonus, I had a headache and rubbed a little into my hairline as well (almost instant relief). So then I skipped two nights of using it- was awake again both nights. Night four my little guy had been up twice due to teething (I was up anyway, so it didn't effect my lack of sleep), so on night five I used Serenity on myself and lavender on his feet- HE ACTUALLY SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT WHILE TEETHING! The next day his teething hit him hard, so I put a little oil along his jawline and the fussing and crying went away within 15 minutes (although the need to be held constantly remained). I keep experimenting to make sure what we are experiencing isn't coincidence, and I am becoming a believer.

nature walk!

I am experiencing some brutal heartburn (Tristan showed no signs of hair at the ultrasound Nov 3rd- old wives tale: debunked again) which often aids the insomnia I had been going through. After experiencing true sleep deprivation after Gabriel's birth, I decided to switch my attitude to seeing insomnia as a positive thing, at least I could get some projects done during that time! I am just careful to double check the clock a lot (because last time I was pregnant I forgot what time of night it was, thought it was day somehow and woke Shaun up with my noise. He came into the room I was in and scared me to death- I asked him why he was home from work so early thinking it was early afternoon, and he couldn't help but see the humor even past the inconvenience of being woken up- pregnancy messes with your brain, people!) Exercising has become a lot harder, I'm experiencing some round ligament pain for the first time ever, and hip and pelvic pain I didn't experience until my last month pregnant with Gabriel are already settling in. I contacted some friends who experienced the same issues and stayed active through their pregnancies for encouragement. Thank goodness for good friends who are so encouraging. Nesting is hitting hard as well. Although my house looks awful as I pull everything out one at a time from storage to go through, clean, organize and purge- I have one project going in every room just in case I end up stopping there for a break or to let Gabriel play. I even deep cleaned and set up the tree- um, like three weeks ago! (In my defense, all the other decorations are still in waiting.)

Tristan is such a good baby. He can be active enough to wake me up while I'm sleeping when he gets going, but he also seems to really crash when he rests. When he is active he is all over the place and moves much faster than Gabriel did, but he is easy (he is already head down and locked and loaded- as far down as he can get without making my body think it's time to evict him). So far no complications, he is perfectly healthy, measuring right on target for his age, has long legs, heartbeat is strong, and does great during ultrasounds. We got to see him move all over during his ultrasound at the beginning of the month; yawn, kick, move his arms, flip around. Confirmed he is most definitely a boy, and an active one at that. This pregnancy has hit all the milestones I had with Gabriel much earlier. Heartburn, insomnia, soreness, pelvic pain, itching, big belly, hips spreading, braxton hicks, and several other unmentionable things- my body recognizes what's happening this time around and hit hyper drive or something. My Dr. changed some things around with my progesterone pills, so at least I'm not tired for that reason anymore! We are still working on finalizing a middle name. We have a favorite (sticking with the Archangel theme: Raphael, which means "God has healed") we will likely stick with, but might add a second middle name. Shaun gave me the first name I was in love with and he liked, so I told him the middle name was his to decide as long as it sounded good and didn't have some horrible meaning.

Gabriel is all over the place, mastering new things with little or no fear, and always ready to have fun. The only time he is clingy is when there are big changes, he is sick or teething. I no longer worry about him climbing or descending stairs, but what other things he might deem climbable are the new concern. I use gates more than ever if I need him to stay in one room so I don't have to run after him to see what new exploration he has decided to embark upon. He has an easy laugh, is picking up on sign language and words super fast all of a sudden, and loves to "run"

Helping mommy set up the tree

which is really him bouncing from one foot to the other as fast as
possible. He is fast, but I'm pretty sure at full speed he is gaining just as much vertical air as he is covering ground in every step. Dance parties are one of his favorite things (especially after Dad comes home), loves reading and playing, but the only consistent thing he wants to do repeatedly everyday is play hockey and do anything outside. One of his new words is "shoes" and he will go to the closet and get all of his out for me to put on him so we can go outside. He is starting to act more and more like a 2 year old, learning the world doesn't give him exactly what he wants when he wants it a lot of the time is a tough lesson to learn. Potty training is taking steps in the right direction. He can hold it all through awake time and usually only goes in his diaper while sleeping, so that is a challenge as I'm not willing to break good sleeping habits to potty train. He has begun loving his little potty chair though, and even initiates sitting on it. We are down to one nap, which frees up my mornings for doing errands, and causing me to rearrange my house cleaning schedule.

Shaun & I at the opening for TSO

Shaun is amazingly busy- I have no idea how he keeps up everything he has going. It's exhausting to watch. Full time job, full time school, involved in several church programs, setting himself up in the world of Church theology and apologetics, being a husband and father, helping around the house as I move slower and slower, taking care of Gabriel so I can get out of the house for Bible study every other week, ladies night once a month, and work one (sometimes two) full evenings a week. Then he has a ton of hobbies along with all that. Painting, hockey, reading, sports, video games, his blog,  keeping up with our favorite tv series with me, and he wants to start working out again.

Sitka is hanging around outside most of the time, and begging to go back outside half the time we have him indoors- which means I haven't had to vacuum nearly as often. Mollie is loving my new status of pregnancy that has me piling work I can do while sitting in the living room for when I need a break from the pelvic pain standing causes. She naps more than ever curled up against my belly whenever possible. Gabriel has really taken an interest in Mollie lately, which has been an adventure for her. He is good with her most of the time, although I caught him going over facial features the other day, pointing at his nose and then hers, pointing at his ears and then hers, pointing at his eyes and then poking her right in the eyeball- hard! She yipped and ran over to me while he laughed until he cried at her funny noise. Little meany. We are working on being "soft" with Mollie.

My new nametag!

I received a scholarship to attend education courses to become a Fertility Care Practitioner Intern teaching the Creighton Model System of Fertility Care, so last month I attended an 8 day course of 12 hour days for the first part of my education. I passed, amazed at how intense the course was- that's a lot to learn, especially for someone who has no medical background. I just found out tonight that I have passed all my pre-client exams and am ready to take on my first clients! I have to take on six clients before the next education phase in April, so when you add maternity leave in, it's going to be a busy and wonderful couple months before Tristan arrives! I don't think I could ask for a better more family friendly job opportunity. It's only about 10 hours a week and it will be mostly during the time Shaun is home so Gabriel and dad will get some good bonding time while I get to focus on a job that is more like a ministry than a regular job. If I have to go in during the day here or there they love seeing Gabriel and are even willing to let me bring Tristan in with me to appointments (as I will be breastfeeding him) either until he gets too disruptive or until Shaun can handle him without me as I will be pumping again to build up a good stash should I need it for whatever reason (if I get sick, need to take a medicine, so I can sleep for a few hours straight while someone bottle feeds him, etc). Soon I will blog about my journey of using various birth control methods and my decision never ever use them again which has lead me to becoming an instructor myself- but that's another blog for another day.