The jumper is big, and it takes up a good amount of space in
our living room, but I tell you it has been amazing. Corbin loves to jump-jump
in that thing. When we put him in there the first time he played for half an
hour, happy as could be.
The jumper has now become more of a babysitting aid for Brad
and I. You see, it is just about the only place (besides the high chair) we can
put Corbin that he will stay in. The little man is rolling all over the place
and playing with whatever he can get his little hands on. That means that
cooking food, cleaning up the house, and vacuuming has become much more
difficult.
However, the jumper is becoming much less interesting as
Corbin now realizes that he can play with a lot more stuff when he is on the
floor.
So for now, we will enjoy the 10 minutes we get to cook
lunch, and the times the mister bounces himself to sleep.
When the jumper days are over we will be sad, but oh boy
will we appreciate that we will no longer have the jumper induced poopie explosions in his diapers.
My alarm went off at 5:15 this morning. After hitting the
snooze button, I laid there thinking about whether or not I wanted to roll
(yes, we are at that stage in pregnancy) out of bed, or stay there snuggled up
to my warm husband who didn’t even seem to notice the noisy alarm. That’s when
my brain started working, reminding me that I have to get up.
So as I dreaded the thought of rolling over and getting out
of bed, I remembered that I am doing this for my family. I have to get up this
hour early; so that I can make up the hours I am going to be missing in order
to attend another class I need for my degree.
After graduating high school I have been attended MHCC and
CCC at night. I always took one of two classes a term. It took 4 years, but I
eventually earned my associate’s degree. Well, actually I received two of them
by coincidence only. After completing those degrees I took a break from school.
I was so tired of going to night classes and doing homework in my free time.
Plus, I had a good job (or so I thought). Well, as I drove myself to work every
day I started to realize that I could do so much more with my life (of course,
this was aided by my mother’s constant reminders).
I worked 4 years at that job continually taking on new
tasks, but quickly realized I was never going to stop wanting to grow. I got a
new job at the City of Fairview hoping to fulfill the need for learning new
things.
My boss that hired me became my mentor. While she was only
there for 2 months, she helped me grow and in perfect harmony with my mom, casually
reminded me that the single best thing I can do for my career is to finish my
degree.
After 6 months at Fairview my new mentor let me know about a
position that was open at Clackamas Community College. After applying and
getting the job, I realized that there was going to come a point that getting a
new job wasn’t going to come so easy.
My desire to go back to school was growing. However, I was
still having those thoughts of not wanting to take 7 years to get my bachelor’s,
because I would have to take classes at night. That’s when my mom forwarded
website about Portland State’s weekend business degree program. The program
seemed perfect. School on Wednesday nights from 6:00-9:40, and Saturday’s from
8:00-4:00. This was doable.
I applied and was accepted, although there were a few
community college classes I needed to complete. The advisor let me in with the
promise that I would complete all of those by the time I graduated in June
2012.
After deciding to take the plunge, Brad and I also decided
we wanted to start trying to have a baby. We started trying in summer knowing
that it would take a couple months, which would mean I would be on summer break
when the baby was born.
It didn’t quite work out that way. We got pregnant on our
first try, meaning I would be due May 2011 right in the middle of spring
term.So there I was September 2010 just
a few weeks pregnant embarking on an endeavor I was so nervous about. I knew I could do it, though, I would be
pregnant for this school year and with my amazing husband’s support I knew he
would be able to take care of Corbin while I completed the second year.
I battled through that first year. I tell you, no one knows
what pregnancy tired is like until they have been pregnant, and Wednesday
nights killed me. As I progressed in my pregnancy I remember standing in class,
because the chairs were so uncomfortable.Corbin arrived during midterms spring term. With the support of some
amazing professors I was able to complete the work and complete that year.
As I started fall term this year I was ready to complete
this endeavor. When I was done Brad and I planned to expand our family. As the
first few weeks progressed, I was tired. Boy was I tired. After having what I
call pregnancy dreams, we took a test or two, and sure enough I was pregnant.
I battled through fall term, and what a challenge that was.
I have now started winter term and week 2, I am waking up convincing myself
that I need to get out of bed to achieve my goals. Although I have done this
before, it was different this time. This time, I have a baby at home that wants
my attention that requires me to get up and down, and wake up in the middle of
the night.A baby that I want to spend
every spare moment with and soak up every ounce of love he has to give. This
time, my body hurts 6 times as much as it did last time. This time, I am just
that much more tired.
As I dread the early mornings, the late classes, and the
homework, I am reminded of my journey; a journey that will end in June with a
bachelor’s degree to show off and be proud of.
It has been my dream to sit through a 5 hour graduation
ceremony that will allow ‘me’ to walk across the stage and receive my
degree.Since the baby is due finals
week of spring term and 4 days before that wonderful graduation ceremony, I won’t
be able to walk across that stage. You better believe Brad and I are going to
celebrate, though (probably after the baby is born).And while this will be my degree it will be a
journey that Brad and I will both be celebrating. I truly believe that this
journey is just as hard for him as it is for me.
You see, while I am at work, in class, doing homework, at
extra class meetings, and running errands, my husband is at home. He is at home
enjoying the wonderful moments with our amazing son.He gets to watch every moment of his
development and share a bond with him that truthfully most fathers don’t get.
However, he also gets to do it alone. He has to change all the diapers, make
all the bottles, change his clothes, play with him, and deal with his fussiness
when he’s tired or sick. My husband, well quite simply, he is amazing.
This weekend my husband rented a movie for me, “How does she
do it?” Perfect for me I would say as I have often told my husband I hate when
people ask me this question, because it is always followed by, “I COULD NEVER
DO THAT.” Every time my response to how I do it, “I just do, but my husband
makes it a lot easier.” Then my response to them saying, “I could never do
that,” I ask them why not? Every time the answer I get is just an excuse.
I just can’t wait to be done! I can’t wait to just live a
normal busy life… without school.
Before I had Corbin, I had never been to a chiropractor.
Since Corbin was born I have now been 4 times. The first two times were right
after I had him. I had a rib pop out of place, because of the way I was holding
(snuggling) my little guy. I went again a week later for a checkup.
I went again a couple months later, because I had a headache
I could not get rid of.
Well Sunday afternoon I got a headache that would not go
away. I eventually got it to go away with medication, but it was back with a vengeance
by the time I went to bed that night. So Monday morning came with an ugly
outlook, but I went to work and got a coffee on the way hoping it would help my
head. No.Such.Luck.
SO… On Monday evening I went to the chiropractor again!
I was able to see a doctor that specializes in pregnancy chiropractic’s.
She was amazing. She was able to adjust my hips, which have been bothering me
since about day 2 of these pregnancy, she was able to pop my rib back into
place (which I didn’t even know was out again), and she was able to adjust my
neck. I wish I would have counted the number of pops I heard. AMAZING!!!!
I had no idea that chiropractic’s during pregnancy was safe,
but my OBGYN said it was, and actually encouraged it. What a fabulous, fabulous,
day Monday was.
I have heard it a million times that, “Every pregnancy is
different,” but it still amazes me how different this pregnancy is from the
last one. With Corbin I immediately lost a bunch of weight and was generally
nauseous through the whole pregnancy. I always thought I kept the weight off
because I couldn’t eat any MEAT without throwing up.
With baby #2 I immediately lost a bunch of weight, but I
only had nausea for the first 10 weeks or so. I am also able to eat meat and
really whatever I want. However, I have not gained a single pound back… yet.
The other major difference is how fast I am showing… With Corbin, if I had
wanted to, I could have hidden my pregnancy through month 6. With baby #2,
though, at 17 weeks I am already showing. I am “getting big”.
In a couple weeks we will find out what we are having!
Again, we would truly be happy with either a boy or girl.
Corbin
Corbin is also “getting big”. He jabbers to us ALL the time.
However, he always waits until we are done talking, to make sure he doesn’t
interrupt. It’s so fun to watch his little personality grow. Here are a few
things we have learned about Corbin over the past few months:
·He does not like vegetables. (Although, we have
convinced him carrots are okay)
·He is very serious about his food. (Just like
mom and dad, when it is time to eat, he wants food NOW)
·He likes to sleep with a blankie on his face and
with the lights off.
Corbin can sit-up on his own now. Since he figured out he
can do this, he hates to lie down. He wants to be sitting up and apart of the
activities all the time. He doesn’t crawl yet. He actually doesn’t like to be
on his tummy, so we only get a few minutes of trying, before he gets bored with
and rolls onto his back. So while he is not interested in crawling, he
certainly loves to roll all over the place.
Brad
Brad isn’t really getting big, but he is doing lots of big
things. In early November he traveled to Idaho with his dad to hunt. 10 days of
hard work and he came home with a nice bull elk. After having it processed we
now have a couple hundred pounds of meat in the freezer!!!
