Many Weeks in Mommyhood

There is a whole lot of nesting going on around our house. Whether it's prepping for Baby D or just tired of living in the same mess day in and day out, we are finally doing something to make the house more comfortable and usable. I was going through a little phase of not liking our house and living arrangements because of all the stuff. Sentimentality of holding on to certain things has gone out the door as I endeavor to declutter our house. In the past two weeks I have gone through almost everything we own and set aside things for donation, I have made space for Baby D in our shared closet in Cati's room, Alex moved a bookcase in Cati's room to make space for Baby D's crib, and Alex, my glorious husband, has listened and acted on my every desire, especially the most painful one: clearing out the backyard. I don't think you can understand how much work this entails because my house is literally located in the middle of a jungle with all the overgrown and unmaintained plants. Clearing out the backyard has opened up at least SEVEN feet of space and now there is more sunlight and future space for Cati to have an outdoor play area and for Alex to have his dream of a fire pit. I freaking love it. Here are before and after pictures:

Before

After

It doesn't look like much now but I'm really excited about the projects we have planned for our yard and I'm looking forward to finally being able to use our backyard for something more than just Perla's bathroom.

Other than making space for Baby D and changes around the house, here are Cati's fun developments over the last few weeks:

Cheeseburger! It's always the random things that stick and one day I said "cheeseburger!" to try to get Cati to look at the camera and smile. Now she not only thinks that the camera is called "cheeseburger" but she also thinks the process of taking a picture is called "cheeseburger."

Empathy. It's so amazing how social we humans are. Cati is becoming increasingly empathic and aware of the emotions of others. If I hurt myself, she gets really concerned and even starts to cry if I'm not quick enough in telling her I'm fine.

Mira! This one just cracks me up. Everything is "mira!" ("look!") and Cati is constantly trying to show us things.

Skipping. I lie. This one cracks me up the most. Out of nowhere, Cati started skipping and now she does it all the time. She likes for us to skip with her so she'll usually start and then say "mommy bouncy" or "daddy bouncy" so we can skip with her.

Imagination. Cati seriously leaves me in awe with her imagination. It's so pure and knows no bounds. My favorite use of imagination is when she grabs a crayon, puts it in one of her stuffed animal's hands, and pretends like the stuffed animal is coloring. She'll even tell the animal what to draw.

Nightingale. Cati LOVES to sing. She will sing at random and she makes up songs. She's made up songs for Perla, her grandmother, and us. It's so cute to hear her bust out in song.

Here are the fun developments with Baby D:

Space Maker. Like I said earlier, space is being made for Baby D. It makes it more real that she's going to be here soon now that space is being made for her. I still can't believe she's going to be born this year.

VBAC is a Go. I've been given the all clear to try for a VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section). The only thing my doctor told me is that I absolutely must go into labor on my own so I'm hoping Baby D cooperates.  I really wish I could be ok with the thought of a planned, repeat c-section but I'm not and I really, really wish people would stop assuming I'm having a planned c-section. We've hired the best doula around to help with labor and delivery so the I feel I've done everything I can to prepare for a vaginal birth. We'll see how things go once I start laboring and once I get admitted to the hospital.


Big or Small. I have been getting a lot of comments lately about how pregnant I look. I've been told my face is starting to swell, that I look huge, that I look small, that I look like I'm going to give birth to a small baby. I don't know how I think I look other than round. I don't feel like I look huge but I don't feel like I look small either. All I know is that my belly finally reaches out farther than my boobs and that's saying something. Here's a recent picture of the belly:

Note: I actually sent this picture to Alex with the subject line of "is this really big to you?" I should have known better. To Alex, and most men it seems, a big pregnant wife is a source of pride.

We're four days in January and all I can think about is, "holy cow, I'm going to be a mom of two this year!!"