First things first: now that I have an inkling about how many people are
actually reading this I can better tailor my comments to my audience! Our
pregnancy is now public, so feel free to talk about it as much as you want.
:)
Okay, time to brag about the big sister-to-be! Zoey is insanely smart.
I know, all parents think their kids are advanced. Seriously, all of them. But
Zoey blows her milestones out of the water. We're very proud of her. Here's some
examples of her recent accomplishments:
-She can recite the entire
alphabet
-She can count to twelve, although she sometimes forgets 8.
-She
can do all the actions to several primary songs
-She can speak in three word
sentences
-Her vocabulary is up to about 200 words, including only words that
she can understand and use properly. She can repeat just about anything you
say.
-She can color specific images on a page, though not within the lines,
of course.
-As soon as we are ready for the clean-up, she is ready to potty
train.
Okay, I know, my head sounds huge, but let me just tell you, she's
a genius all on her own! We work with her and teach her, but she is a sponge and
has a huge drive to learn. She's got her daddy's problem-solving brains and her
mommy's creative brains. It's a neat combination to see.
The only
downside is that because she is so advanced I sometimes lose patience with other
kids when they don't learn as quickly as she does. But I'm learning to just
pretend in my mind that shes' actually older than the other kids her age, even
though many of them tower over her. I'm such a snob, I know.
Gavin and I
are doing well and loving our home. We had a simple, family-oriented Christmas
that both strengthened our testimonies of the Savior and of the Plan of
Happiness, and gave us a great break from everyday worries and worldly
cares.
Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season.
Welcome!
So... ya know that last post where I basically announced that I'm pregnant? If you read that, (or are reading this now), please keep it on the down-low until about Christmas. I plan to make some public announcements then, and until then it's kind of a secret.
I know, I know-- if it's such a secret, why did I post it ON THE INTERNET, where people would read it? Well, honestly I had no idea my blog had such a following. I thought the only people who actually read it are the few people I had already told. Once I finally looked at the stats I was really surprised to see how many hits it gets. So... my bad. And surprise! Lucky you, you're in the know.
And next time I'll be more discreet... maybe by standing on my roof and yelling it out to all the world. Because honestly, how many people are outside these days? lol
Lots of news, but no pictures today.
Well, first things first: We bought a house! Things didn't happen at all the way we had expected, but they happened, and they happened fast! We asked to see the house on a Thursday. We loved it and put in an offer the next day. We then went on vacation and forgot all about it for a couple blissful days. On Monday we found out that our offer was accepted and by Tuesday we were under contract! By that weekend we had already inspected the house, put in our notice with our landlord and started gathering boxes. After another month, we were out. Bam! Now we're in our huge and empty place and ready to fill it up!
Looking around it's very evident that we've lived simply. We don't own anything new. Our furniture is all either second-hand or hand-me-down. Nothing matches all that well. But we do have is financial stability and properly ordered priorities, thank you very much.
And with a new house comes... a new baby! Baby Reed #2 is due to join us on July 4th. So far I'm feeling pretty awful most of the time and my bump is about as big as it was when I was twice this far along last time. Yay. But on a better note, I've started doing prenatal yoga and I love it! Okay, so I have to try and squeeze it into Zoey's nap time after today, but I'm thrilled to try something new that's not too overwhelming. (Yeah, you try doing downward facing dog with an 18-month-old putting a pipe cleaner in your ear!)
So, is it a boy? A girl? Twins? A puppy? We won't find out until around V-day, but until then I'm open to others' intuition since apparently I don't have it.
Gavin's job has become a bit rocky lately, and just in time for Christmas! We're looking around, so if you hear of any IT positions, send them on over this way. Anyway, there was a massive lay-off, and although we were very fortunate and blessed to be preserved this time around, things are looking not-so-great. We're crossing our fingers and hoping for the best.
And so... now it's August. When did that happen?
A lot has happened with our little family in the last three months. I'm sure I won't cover it all here, but hey, this isn't my journal, and most of it would probably bore you anyway.
In July we took a week-long road trip to Oklahoma with Zoey in tow. The drive was 18 hours each way. We started at 7pm and drove straight through the night, only stopping for gas and breakfast. It was nice to meet Gavin's extended family and to spend some time together unimpeded by work. Overall, it was pretty chill (excluding the weather), and I'm glad we went. I'm amazed at how well Zoey did-- we drove through 5 states!-- and it was just nice to take a break from the everyday hustle and bustle.
Our biggest news is that the home buying process has begun. Man, has it been an eye-opening experience. I feel like we're taking a college course together, complete with a new dictionary and a side course on finances. How are we doing? Well, let's just say we bombed the mid-term. Ouch.
See, we found this amazing home, for an amazing price, in an awesome neighborhood. We offered almost the maximum we had been prequalified for, and waited with baited breath to see what would happen. Lo and behold, the house came through for us! An investor bought it and wanted to flip it to us-- new paint of our choosing included! It sounded too good to be true
And we were right.
We met with our mortgage advisor to consult her on the break-down of monthly expenses and were astonished at how much more we would have to spend: besides principle and interest, property tax and HOA fees (which we were counting on) we hadn't realized that the website we were using was omitting mortage insurance and hazard insurance. Oh, and of course there would be utilities-- about 5 times what we pay now, so... ouch.
Knowing that we could have afforded it (if we stretched out budget to the max every month and never had any kind of accident or ever decided to have any more kids) made it all the more tragic when we retracted our offer...
on my birthday.
Yeah. So there that went, as did all our dreams of being able to afford a permanent home any time soon. As for the up-side, we already have about a 5% downpayment saved up for a modest home, and are working to save up much more. Also, the learning process has been (albeit somewhat painful) very enlightening and definitely enabling. We have a goal. We understand what we need to do, and we have the motivation to do it.
Well, the semester has finally ended. Let the summer begin! We have been taking advantage of the warm weather and the new-found extra time and it's been both fun and relaxing.
Gavin's work is gearing up for the summer rush, which means a lot of extra time at work. His crazy boss couldn't make up his mind about his schedule, so for the first three weeks of summer break, he worked whatever hours his boss could come up with. The pro: lots of over time = bigger pay check. The con: less hubby for me and more crusties directed toward the definitely not-cool boss.
Gavin and I are working to get back into shape. I'm trying to break out of the old meal habits and get back into the full swing of cooking. It seems like I've only got about a dozen meal ideas and these repeat over and over again until we're sick of them. Well, I get sick of them anyway. So, one by one, I'm gathering new ideas for dinners that are tasty, healthy and moderately easy to make. So far I've found... half a recipe. :) It's a work in progress.
We're also starting a new exercise regime consisting of biking for Gavin and a combination of Zumba and karate for me. We're also going to try going on more evening walks together.
For me, summer means dusting off all the projects I put away when the semester got too busy to focus on anything besides school work. I'm working on a drawing I'd like to finish by Christmas. I also have a few sewing projects I'd like to get started. Oh, and of course I'm two books down on the Harry Potter series already and catching up on a few TV shows I get online. Guilty pleasure...
For Gavin, Diablo III comes out next week and he is so excited about that. He'll be playing that a bunch, but he's really good about not playing too much. His first attentions are always to his family. Good man.
Zoey has really benefitted from the extra attention. Her communication skills have shot through the roof and she's learning to walk as well! She can do all the actions to pattycake, she can applaud, sign 'more', 'book', and 'eat', and she can say "all done" as well as the basics. She waves hello and goodbye and is learning to blow kisses. She's just stinkin' adorable! Her personality is coming out in full bloom and it's been exciting to see other people start to experience it too.
We can't believe she's coming up on a year already. We're trying to plan a good birthday for her, but don't want to be too extravagent about it. We're thinking about either a Peanuts theme or maybe Hello Kitty, so far. We'll see. Maybe it will be themeless.
Gavin and I are starting to educate ourselves on the home buying process. We've purchased a book and met with a realtor already. We're saving as much as we can comfortably handle and we're browsing around to see what we like, want and need. We're mostly looking in the Lehi area (including American Fork, Pleasant Grove, Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs) and have found some wonderful deals already. It's hard to know whether this "hurry up and go" feeling is coming from peer pressure alone, or whether some of it is coming from the Spirit. We don't want to rush into anything that will be a poor financial decision, but we also want to take advantage of the market while it lasts. Our goal is to balance the two and make a choice we can feel right about.
Other than that, we have big plans to make for upcoming trips: one to Oklahoma in July (24 hours of driving straight through with a one-year-old... wish us luck!) to visit Gavin's Filipino family, and one to Disneyland in September! It'll just be the two of us, and my mom will watch Zoey. We're reluctant to leave her for so long, but we know she'll be in good hands.
Long post-- thanks for reading the whole thing! We are alive and well and busy with lots of fun stuff. Yay for summer!
Upon first meeting you, Zoey is no performer. She won't smile at you, laugh at your funny faces, or reach for you. In fact, if you touch her or get too close, she may start crying, and won't stop until you are either out of her sight or she warms up to you, which will take an extra long time, since you've already made her uncomfortable.
Zoey is shy. She is careful. She is studious and observant. She likes to study people before deciding to trust them. This does not mean that she is less smart, less cute or less fun than other babies. In fact, I think it shows more intelligence, but that's just me.
Once you have gained her trust, (which really only takes a minute or two if you're not all up in her face, demanding her to perform or criticizing her straight face), her true personality comes out: she is happy, spunky, determined and talkative.
So please don't label my child with terms such as "somber", "serious" or "boring", and don't assume she's less intelligent than so-and-so's baby just because they have different personalities.
In the end, comparing babies is really not a good idea if you're going to try and sum up strength and weaknesses. All babies have great potential, and telling them what they are good and bad at is a great way to limit that potential. The way you think of a baby is the way you will treat them, and the way you treat them is a message to them of how they should think of themselves.
All that said, I know no one is a baby expert and most of the time people don't intend to be rude. I just wanted to explain to you why parents might feel affronted by you when you handle their baby. You can't totally escape offense, since most people will always find something to be offended at, but hopfully, by shedding some light on things from a parent's perspective, you might see how to avoid such offenses to the reasonable parent.
This week is Spring Break for Gavin and me, and since we don't have any school, we decided it was time to start sleep training Zoey.
Starting from about 7 weeks, Zoey was an excellent sleeper. She slept through the night almost every night. I don't know how that happened, but I stick to my original thoughts: she's just an awesome baby. We can't really take credit for her anwesomeness any more than we can for her red hair.
Anyway, she did well until about 6 months old when she started getting little sicknesses here and there. A cold, a sore throat, a runny nose. While she was sick I got up with her throughout the night and nursed her back to sleep. It comforted her and helped her get the rest she needed to heal. Well, now that her immune system has toughened up and she's not getting sick much, she's warmed to the idea of us coming in several times throughout the night to check on her and to walk her back to sleep. In fact, she started demanding it, and would scream bloody murder if we didn't.
I read up on what I had been doing wrong, and it was humbling. Luckily this hadn't gone on long before we started correcting it. Now, we let her cry more and are encouraging her to self-soothe. We still go in if she can't sleep right away, and let her know we're there and that we love her, but we don't pick her up and we don't feed her. I read that a baby's stomach is developed enough to be able to sleep through the night at a very early age, so I don't feel like I'm starving her, as long as she gets a good dinner.
Well, it's only day two and I think she's got the idea. She's got her blankies, her bunny and her pacifier and she's learning to use them to comfort herself. We pat ourselves on the back for being strong enough to get through the heart-wrenching cries of "Mama" and "Dada", because now she sleeps through the night again. Yay!
She's growing up and learning so much... and so are we.
I am thrilled to say that as of last Saturday, we are debt free!
I want to go into detail about the sacrifice it has been to save our money and live in a tiny apartment with shabby second-hand furniture, instead of going in to unnecessary debt to have all the fancy things many of our peers have. I'd like to preach to you all about the bad habit many people have of spending what they don't have just for a little show and vanity, but I'll save the rant for my personal blog. :) You're welcome.
As for some other nice things, let me update you on the goings-on the Reed home.
Zoey is now mobile and crawls all over the place. We invested in a baby gate to block off the living room so she has free reign, or at least, she thinks she does. She's so much happier now, and is already working hard on walking. She walks against all the furniture, and although she can only go one direction, it seems like she'll be walking freely in a month or two. Scary thought.
Gavin is working as hard as ever at his IT job and he seems to be loving it more and more, although I'm sure he could do without the man drama that sometimes crops up. (Man drama, can you imagine?!)
As for me, I'm working hard on my microbiology class and my mommying. It's been really challenging trying to find the best balance between academics and parenthood. It seems that I can't to both things 100% so I sometimes have to choose. I'm learning to accept not being able to be perfect at it, or at least not be a 4.0 student any more. I coming to understand that taking good care of my family is more important than making the top score in my micro exam.
Gavin and I are planning a secret trip and we are so excited for the chance we'll have to take a break, spend some time together and get away from all the responsibility for a few days. More details on that to come.
Zoey is playing on the floor, struggling to crawl, while I scramble to finish my microbiology homework at the last minute. Gavin is working another late night, and I'm trying to figure out how to feed us both dinner. Just a typical Wednesday night for the Reed family.
Things have been super busy. School is getting harder and harder to keep up with and so is Zoey! She is learning more every day and becoming dangerously mobile. We are fast approaching the days of the baby gate. Zoey says "mama" now and I can't get enough of it-- that is, until about 10pm.
Last week was way crazy. Zoey was fighting a nasty cold, Gavin worked like a madman and we had family in town. It was so awesome to see all the grandbabies rolling around on the floor together. Add to the mix a bunch of now-adult siblings catching up and cracking jokes and it was pleasant pandemonium.
Saturday we went to Soldier Hollow, which was an awesome experience. There is a huge hill where you can tube down about a quarter mile. They have six different lanes to choose from and a lift that drags you up to the top while you sit on your tube. It was a blast! Afterward we all sat in the lodge around the fire and had amazing hot chocolate (shame on me, I know), and talked and laughed until it was dark outside. I love my family.
Up next: more work, more school, and soon: a crawling baby! Wish us luck!
Okay, so I'm like everyone else in the world who neglects their blog for months and months. Only I'm not about to vow to do better, only to make myself a liar. :D
This month Gavin and I are celebrating our second wedding anniversary. Part of me says, "Wow, two years? Really?? It's gone way fast!" while the other part of me remembers all the things that have happened, and so much that we have learned and wonders how it has only been two years. Funny thing, time.
Zoey is just about seven months old now, and she's as adorable as ever. At her 6-month check-up, she was declared to be rather under-weight (about the size of a three-month old), and we were advised to feed her much more. Since then she has virtually doubled her intake and we can see the results! She is chunking right up and it's super cute. She's impatient to crawl, and wants really badly to be all grown-up. She wants to eat grown-up food (she will literally try to eat it out of my mouth if she gets close enough), and tries her best to walk. We are beginning to teach her baby sign, and although she hasn't mimmicked any signs yet, she is picking up on them and starting to understand their meaning when I make them for her.
Gavin and I are at it again with school, and it has been as challenging as ever. Gavin is taking two math classes and I'm taking microbiology (with a lab). I thought it was hard just being a mom-- add being a student to that and I'm almost lost. We're just taking things one day at a time and relying on each other. So far so good.
We have also been settling in to our new ward and have been called to serve as the ward Family History Consultants. Talk about intimidating! Niether of us have much experience with it, so I'm taking an Institute class to learn more. And (much to her delight) we have been relying a lot on my mom's expertise to show us the ropes and help us figure out how to teach this class. We are so grateful to be serving together.
We're still ooshy-gooshily in love and make other people roll their eyes at us all the time. And we love it. Life is good. Insane, but good. We have good friends, a good home and of course, each other.