All About Miles

Last week I was talking with a mother friend of mine and we were saying how we need to be better at recording the funny things our littles do...because they won't stay little forever and because I'll forget.  I didn't immediately worry, because I do document Miles' life pretty good on the private blog we set up for his birthmom...but I rarely put anything here.   So this is my attempt to be better.  He is such a sweet boy and I want to be sure and remember all the funny, quirky things he does and says.   His language is exploding...and it seems to be happening overnight.  He comes up with new words and phrases almost every day, in English & Italian.  (if something is in bold italics below, it's stuff he says)   I post a lot on Instagram, but not all of you are on Instagram so you miss some wicked cute adorableness.  :)

Miles the Tender Hearted

This little guy has the most tender of hearts.  He loves to give hugs and kisses.  To everyone, and everything.  Winston, Mario, me, Nathan, baby sister (my belly), toys, blankets, food, teachers, etc.  Everything.  The other night I was in the office and I heard him get into baby sister's bed, start her mobile, and giggle.  I went in and found him sitting there, kissing each of the owls in her mobile as they passed.  

Miles the Voyer

This is a recent development.  It showed it's head rarely over the last couple months but over the last few days it's been showing up more.  About a week ago he crawled into bed with us at 6am, it took me about 46 seconds to realize that he was naked.  Buck naked.   "Diaper yucky" he told me.  He had peed and didn't want to be in it so he took it off.  A couple days later when I woke him up in the morning he was in bed, under his blankets completely naked from the waist down.  "diaper yucky" he told me...again.  Then later that day I was sitting in the front room and I heard him giggle THAT giggle...you know, the mischievous one.  I called for him and he poked his head around the corner.  Those beautiful little brown eyes twinkled with trouble.  He jumped around the corner so he was in full view.  And he was totally naked.  He stood there proud as a peacock.  "Diaper yucky" again.  
I know he's ready to potty train but it's not something we wanted to do days before baby comes...since everyone tells us he'll regress once she's here.  So I'm hoping this trend sticks around for a couple weeks and once she's here we can capitalize on it.  In the mean time he is providing lots of laughter for us.  

Miles the Helper

Miles loves to do whatever we are doing.  "Miles do it" he tells us.  So we've let him.  We have him put his dirty clothes in the laundry, throw away garbage, pick up toys, cook dinner, whatever...and he does pretty good.  He has also loved helping daddy build the furniture for baby sister.  He gets his own screwdriver and mimics what daddy is doing, and tells us "good job!".  I've been sitting many hours on a yoga ball, trying to ease hip pain and also encourage baby sister to drop.  Miles will either sit on his own and "boing" or stand on mine and "help mommy".   He will be an excellent big brother! 

Boing! Boing!

Miles the Entertainer

This kid has stardom in his blood.  He LOVES an audience...even if it's just his shadow or reflection.  He recites entire scenes from movies, dances to ANY music he hears, and loves to laugh.   He loves to "play" "tawr" (guitar) with dad, and take selfies with Photobooth, and strutting around the house in "eyes" (sunglasses) is the most hilarious thing ever to him.  He is such a happy boy and he just exudes positive energy.  He is loved immensely by his teachers and all who come in contact with him.  And he feeds off that attention.  When we took him to school the morning after he got his new mohawk haircut his nuns (from his class) FLIPPED OUT - they snatched him up and kissed on him, calling him "bello" (beautiful), carted him around to all the classes showing him off, taking pictures...and Miles ate. it. up. 

Miles the Dancer

(he is copying this dance...move for move starting at 1:27) 

Sure love this kid!

Love my OB

I'm now down to weekly appointments!  We met with the doc Friday and everything still looks good.  I did gain NINE pounds last week which freaked me out a bit but the doc didn't seem too phased.  ?  I had * just* eaten lunch and drank a large amount of water...and kept my shoes on.  But still...holy moses.  I've also started to swell a bit the last few days.  I had to take my wedding ring off so it wouldn't get stuck...that feels so weird not to wear.  

I convinced the doc to do a cervical check (he thinks I'm only 37 weeks...I think I'm 38w3d) and to his surprise - and my relief - I was almost 3cm dilated!  I think that made him really question if I may be right about due dates because low and behold Saturday morning I get a call from him saying he's just spent the last hour or so reviewing my chart and all my scans and he AGREES with me that my due date was wrong!  (He wasn't the one who set it...I saw a different doc for the first two weeks of my pregnancy...then she was transferred)  He changed it to March 1st.  So not all the way to Feb 24th like I think...but it's five days and I'll take it!  I love him as a doctor...he makes me want to have another baby just to have him as a doctor!  I told him I still hoped we'd see him over the weekend to have a baby...he said if that's what we wanted that he hoped for it too.  

Well that didn't happen.  :( 

Here it is Tuesday afternoon and still no baby.  It's not that I expected her to come rushing out after my appointment...I just *really* thought she was going to be born last weekend.  And we tried to get her here...we tried EVERYTHING.  I even had contractions all through dinner Saturday evening, but then they stopped.  

I have loved being pregnant...even with the constant sciatica pain and the months of nausea and the achy hips.  But I am ready to be done.  I want to meet her.  I want to get on with our lives as a family of four.  I feel like I'm a ticking time bomb.  The cats watch me like crazy...if I leave the room Winston follows and and now Mario has started doing it too.  Nathan perks up with every twinge I feel, and calls me often during the day to see if I've had any contractions.  I'm ready to sleep on my stomach again, and get rid of my sausage toes and itchy swollen fingers.  I'm ready to be able to rough house with Miles.  And I am SOOO ready for a long run...oh how my sanity has missed that. 

To keep busy we've packed hospital bags, and finished bedding, and done laundry.  I've made a bunch of freezer meals and frozen green smoothie packets.  We've reorganized rooms, and cleaned out things.

Here's her bedding...isn't it cute?  I made the bumpers and the skirt.  I ordered the owl mobile on etsy, and we found the canopy at IKEA.  My mom is making a quilt...but it's not here yet.  

If you want to send some positive, labor inducing thoughts my way I'd be ever so grateful!  Especially since daddy is supposed to leave the country for work only a few days after she is supposed to arrive...and I'd like to have some time (more than a couple days) to bond as a family of four before he goes.           

Loss

Growing up we were fortunate enough to have lived my whole life – until I was married – 20 minutes from Grandma & Grandpa. For as far back as I can remember Sunday nights meant ice cream and donuts at their house. We’d sit around the low-round table in the living room, try to be discreet and write our name on the bottom of it…Grandma would always catch us and we’d be scolded worse than Wolfie when he got off his rug. We’d color in the coloring books, play in the basement, and run through the orchard. Although no matter the activity you’d always hear the sound of that police scanner in the background, and grandma had a sixth sense when it came to that thing. She’d pop up out of her chair and turn it up, sometimes making grandpa go get the truck so they could go investigate. I remember my first day of my senior year of high school when she called me to see why I’d set my school on fire…she’d heard about it on the police scanner. 

Summers meant time at Sourdough, playing Phase 10 and Skip-Bo with grandma in the screen tent while the scent of mothballs wafted over from under grandma & grandpa’s trailer. I remember sitting outside her trailer one day, trying to find some shade in the hot sun, when a flaming kitchen towel came flying out the door, followed by a train of expletives. Grandma had set it on fire. 

Sourdough Days would roll around and grandma would recruit every willing grandchild to save spaces for Bingo. We’d sit in the hot sun all day feasting on hotdogs, chips, and airhead taffy…playing Bingo off of our dozens of cards. Grandma would heckle the caller, and tease other players. Then came the raffle…she’d buy scores of tickets and put each grandkids’ name on one…hoping for that ever elusive swing grand prize. 

Grandma was a practical joker...and if you were lucky you could pull one off on her. One Sunday night I loaded up the door of her fridge with towels – something she HATED. I did it right before we left so she wouldn’t notice until we’d gone. Once we got home she called and demanded to know who had done it…”karma’s a bitch” she told me. 

You could always count on her to be fiercely honest…about what you were doing with your life, what you were wearing, anything. But she was always supportive, even if it was something she didn’t like – like Nathan and I moving 4000 miles away to Italy; or understand – like football. The few years Nathan and I lived back in Utah we tried to continue the Sunday nights at grandma & grandpa’s house. We’d bring snacks and watch football…a sport neither of them seemed to know anything about…at first. Week after week we’d spend the evening there, although grandma would have to bow out at some point to go watch Survivor or Deal or No Deal in the other room. When my team lost in the championship round and I sat in her chair and cried…she teased me. For weeks. 

You didn’t see her cry much. But I remember when she met our sweet Miles that tears rolled down her wrinkly cheeks. She loved her grandkids more than anything in the world…more than lotto tickets even. And when the great grandkids started rolling in she just spread that love around even more. You always knew grandma was good for a cookie, a kiss, and a pinch on the butt. I know she’s up there now, kissing all the rest of her great-grandbabies who haven’t joined us yet; teaching them how to flip the bird, and telling them the best places for lotto tickets. 

I'm grateful to have had so many years with her, and look forward to the time when I know I'll see her again.

 June 6, 1933 - February 11, 2014

She's gonna be chubby!!

I had my 36 week checkup today, and while we were there doc did a growth scan to see how baby girl is doing size-wise.  Welp, ladies and gents, she's a whopper.  Already. 

Now before you tell me that those scans aren't 100% accurate...I know.  I know there is a margin of error.  But she has consistently measured big...and the doctors and I don't agree on a due date.  I think I'm 10 days sooner than they do.  

Anyway...the details.  She is currently estimated to weigh 8lbs 2oz.  That means she ALREADY won't fit in newborn clothes.  And she's got four weeks (according to the doctors) to go...er, GROW. 

I'm starting to get nervous about this whole birth thing.

Dozen

Yesterday was our anniversary.
Twelve years.
Twelve awesome, crazy, hectic, emotional, amazing years...I don't even know how it's possible!  

We didn't do anything fancy.  The impending arrival of baby girl kept big travel plans grounded, and our love of football and the SuperBowl kept us local.  We decided on a simple dinner out as a family.  Afterall, it was twelve years ago yesterday that our family started.  We went to one of our favorite restaurants here in Italy...Nathan and I got steaks (oh so good) and Miles got pizza, with which he was thrilled (as always).  He's getting so big...he was such a good boy at dinner.  It hit me watching him how much he's grown, and how lucky we are to have him in our family.  

I love Nathan so much - it has been made even clearer over the last few weeks as I enter the horribly uncomfortable stage of pregnancy.  He is such a good support to me, and such a good father to Miles.  

I'm glad that twelve years ago we started this journey together.  

Here's to the next twelve.  

(he he...sorry honey, couldn't resist)

Unshakable Faith

Found this.  Love it. Had to share.

Um...better get ready

Tuesday we got a bit of a wake-up call.   I'd had some heavy cramping for 5-6 days and even some contractions.  Baby was moving like normal so I didn't worry much.  But since it hadn't stopped by the morning - and after a quick chat with a friend at school drop-off -  I decided to call my OB and see what they said.  I thought for sure they'd tell me "it's nothing - just first time mom worries - go about your day" but instead they wanted me to come in and be checked, just to be safe. 

As I gathered my things to leave the house panic crept into my mind.  I suddenly felt TOTALLY unprepared for this sweet baby girl to arrive.  My mind flooded with all that was still left to be done, and everything that would need to happen in the next few hours should she decide she was coming early (not to mention the fear that it was too early and I'd be sent to an Italian hospital).  Her room wasn't ready, her bedding not sewn, sheets that were ordered were stuck in customs, car seat needed to be washed, Miles was at school, Nathan was at work, hospital bag wasn't packed, I hadn't typed my birth plan or finished my hospital admission paperwork.  We would need our passports, birth certificates, and wedding license for her paperwork and I couldn't tell you where it was at the moment.  My side of the bed was so messy I'd never be able to fit a pack and play there, and her crib wasn't ready.  We had lightly discussed plans for Miles but had never asked anyone or set anything up officially.  Her coming home outfit hadn't come in the mail yet - and it would probably be too big anyway.  As I shoved my iPad, hospital paperwork, and a few snacks in my purse I rubbed my belly and told her she needed to stay put a bit longer.  I called Nathan and he left work to meet me at the hospital. 

Upon arrival at Labor & Delivery (which was so surreal on it's own) they took my vitals (BP was high) and hooked me up to a machine to monitor contractions and baby's heart rate.  They also discussed with me some tests that they wanted to run to check some things out.  Of course once I was hooked up the contractions stopped...I felt like a crazy woman who cried wolf.   My OB came up to see me - he threw in a few more fat baby jokes, of course - and they ran the tests.  Everything came back clean.  They did an FFN, which tests the likelihood of you having a baby within the next two weeks, and it came back negative.  They did an AmnioTest to see if I was leaking amniotic fluid...and it came back clean.  They tested my pee for a UTI or other infection...clean.  And last but not least a cervical check (ouch, seriously...) and I'm still all sealed up.

They think the contractions and cramps could have been from dehydration (I had a wicked sore throat last week for a few days...didn't drink as much as I need to), stress, and/or overexertion.  I was told to take it easy - but not too easy.  No bedrest or anything, normal activities just be sure I'm taking a little bit of time each day to put my feet up and relax.

I was super relieved that everything went well and she is staying put a wee bit longer.  Living here brings complications that you don't have stateside.  If I go into labor before 36 weeks I cannot deliver at the Navy hospital. They will send me out to an Italian hospital.  The reason?  We don't have a NICU.  Our ER is also bare minimum...if you have a true trauma emergency you will also not be seen.  It's a small hospital without the capabilities to take care of large scale traumas.   Now an Italian hospital won't be like delivering in the dirt...but it is definitely a different experience than an American hospital.  Hubbies aren't allowed in delivery rooms.  They do not provide ANYTHING for you - no hand soap in the bathroom, no towels to dry your hands, no shower towels, no blankets for the bed...literally nothing but the bed and a sheet.  They do provide some things for the baby...but you - the mommy - are on your own.  Also - pain management is totally different.  No epidurals (unless you have spoken with the anesthesiologist before...which wouldn't have happened if I were unexpectedly going into labor early), no pain meds...unless you have a C-section.  So if I were to go into labor early not only would I have to pack a normal hospital bag I'd also need to run around the house grabbing towels, soap, shampoo, tissues, blankets, pillows, pads, pain meds, etc.  NOT something I want to have to do.  Plus she needs to cook more...I want her to be healthy.

You better believe that my nesting instinct kicked into high gear yesterday.  According to the tests I have at least two weeks...but I've got a lot to do.  I made a giant to-do list and got going.  I filled out my intake paperwork (finally), cleaned through Miles' clothes, scheduled us for a couple of birthing classes, talked with Nathan about a plan for Miles, and much more.  I've got even more on my list for today...I am determined to be ready for her, whenever she decides to come.  But I'm hoping she makes it to Valentine's Day (37 weeks). 

Baby Bump Shoot

A dear friend of ours did my maternity pictures for us.  (You can see her photo website HERE) We took them amongst some ancient Roman ruins on a cliff overlooking the sea (seriously, how cool is Italy?!)  She captured the true essence of our crazy little family.  Here are some of my favorites.