Our (Neurodiverse) Family

This last week has been nuts. On Sunday, I started miscarrying. There have been many emotions surrounding that--grief, relief, moodiness, etc. Then on Monday night, our air conditioning died. Going through a miscarriage and having your air conditioner die in the middle of July is just as awful as it sounds. Did I mention that our condo is on the top floor? Yup. I talked to our landlord the next morning and she gave me the number for the company that could come fix our AC. When I called the AC people, the earliest they could send a repair man by was Wednesday afternoon. While it was nice knowing that there was help coming, having to go through yet another night of no air conditioning was not fun. Thankfully, a friend invited Kate and me over to her air conditioned house, so we didn't need to spend all day sweating in our own. Kate and her son (whose name is Jonah) really hit it off too, and it was so nice to have adult interaction. I also bought fans to help us get through...

Kate's maternal instincts have been growing recently. She will feed her toys. Chocolate milk, if you were wondering. But remembers to feed herself too Put them in the stroller. Snuggle her baby in bed. Don't strangle Baby, please! Have her dolly on her lap in the swing. Push her kitty in the swing. She'll even push real babies in the swing. Have them in her lap. She BEGGED to hold him.  I suppose she is mimicking me, which is further confirmation that I'm doing right by her. Or maybe she's telling me that she wants me to give her a baby to play with. True story: when my brother was born, I thought my mom had him so he could be MY baby. And Mom was worried that I would be jealous of him. These acts of nurturing are not limited to toys and real babies. They also extend....to tomatoes. Observe: Tucking the tomato in...with an exercise band. She even made sure Tomato was buckled in! Let's take ...

22 weeks pregnant I finally post a pregnant picture of myself, although now I'm 23 weeks pregnant (give or take). Yes, I know I'm small. Baby girl is growing towards my digestive tract, which makes heartburn a regular, yet random occurrence. Random because I can eat one particular food item one day and not get heartburn, and yet eat the same item again the next day, and get heartburn. Tums is my friend ;) Other than that, I'm feeling good. Second trimester is nice stuff, I have to say. And yes, little girl is moving around, though my husband hasn't been able to feel her kicks yet (all in good time). This is very belated, but thank you everyone for your congratulations and well wishes about our little girl. We are excited, and overwhelmed. I've started to crochet a lavender baby blanket, and my mother-in-law took me baby clothes shopping a while back. So, we have a few baby girl things hanging around, though not much. I've also been reading a lot of books ...

Today was *the* ultrasound. The final poll results were very close: 11 for boy and 10 for girl. Most members of my husband's family were betting on a girl. My mom was betting on a girl. No one else in my family dared bet anything...I guess my brothers were afraid I'd kill them for being wrong...ha ha ha ha. Stephan and me? We were convinced that this baby was a boy, and were actually kind of hoping for a boy. However, we planned ahead and had a boy's name and a girl's name. My ultrasound was scheduled for 9:30 this morning, and we made sure to get there early, even though they usually tend to run late. It was rather surprising when the technician came out before my scheduled appointment to come get me. She took us to the room, prepared my belly, and asked us if we wanted to find out the sex (yes, please!). This was the first ultrasound I had this entire pregnancy, and it was quite amazing seeing that baby for the first time on that screen (they had a big sc...

Alicia does this over at her blog, and I did this in the very beginning, before I made people aware of this blog's existence, but then I fell out of the habit. Now it's time to get back into it :) For those who didn't follow this blog until recently, basically I try to make a menu plan for all the meals we're going to have within the week. It helps me plan grocery shopping accordingly, and it ensures that I will not suffer from "what to cook"-itis when 5:00 rolls around. Money is a bit tight right now, so I've really been trying to plan meals around what's on sale, and what we already have in our cupboard, etc. So, here's a tentative plan for what we're having this week! Breakfasts : cold cereal, oatmeal (for me; hubby won't touch it), pancakes, etc. Lunches : leftovers, soup, etc Dinners: Monday : chili, cornbread Tuesday : Yakisoba (Japanese noodle stir fry--it's yummy, cheap, and loaded with good stuff) Wednesday : lefto...

Once again, I apologize for the hiatus in my posting. Shortly after my last post, we flew down to Houston to see my folks and to enjoy their wonderful central air. Then the day after we got back, I went up to northern Utah with my mom (who flew up for a family event that same day) to see some of my relatives there. And then my husband started back to school. Oh, and did I mention that just a few days before my last post, we went to the Utah Shakespeare Festival for our two-year anniversary? Are you dizzy yet? I am now nearly 13 weeks into this pregnancy, which means that the nausea is going away and I'm starting to feel more normal. Well, as normal as you can feel when you're pregnant ;) Last week, I cooked dinner two nights in a row, which had not happened since before I was pregnant. One of my friends asked me on facebook about my cravings, and I promised a blog post about them, since the list is so long and was always changing. Let me begin by saying that cravings are ...

There are some very good reasons for it. I've been sick to my stomach. I've been very tired. I'm putting on weight. I want to eat strange things. Smells bother me. And I have mood swings. The weird part? I'm happy about all this, well, except the weird food part. What does this all mean? That's right y'all, I'm pregnant! Want proof? Okay, since there seems to be some rule that you have to post a picture of something you peed on, here you go:  The second line is a little faint, but it's there, I promise! I am about ten weeks along and due in the middle of March. I'm being vague about my due date because I don't want anyone (especially me) getting attached to an arbitrary date. And seriously, how often are babies born on that date anyway? Very few, although my husband was one of them. All I ask is that this kid does not come on February 29 (I'll be full-term then), because I've seen Pirates of Penzance too many times. ...