Pete and RePete...

Or why I choose a C--peat.

My c-section experience with Slane was not wonderful. 25 hours of labor, more than 2 hours of pushing, and a stuck baby do not make for a pleasant experience. I remember the surgeon telling me that any more babies I had would also be c-sections.

When we got pregnant again, we weren't thrilled with the idea of a repeat c-section. We talked to people who did VBACs, and heard mostly good things. We tried to talk the doctor out of it. Maybe I could just go into labor and then have the c-section. Maybe we could try the VBAC.

But, in the end, we decided to go for the c-peat. Having a VBAC means going to a hospital that supports the liability insurance, but ours does not. I didn't want to travel to a larger city, with a doctor I didn't know, and then after hours of labor end up with a C-section anyway. This baby is going to be very big, and chances are it would get stuck again.

I like our doctor, and I like that she is going to do the surgery. I like our hospital's OB wing, I had a great experience with the nurses, and I want to be in town, so that if Q needs to slip home for something he can and only be gone for a short while. I got so much personal attention with Slane, and I want that again.

Sure, I'm sad that this baby won't get to choose it's birthday, but being in a place that I am comfortable is a tradeoff I'm willing to take.

The end is upon us

of summer, that is.

We haven't posted all summer. Where have we been? Well, enjoying our summer. And I have felt this need to post pictures but have had troubles doing that, so haven't posted anything. Pictures do exist, and are on the computer (at home, not at school where I am right now). I will bug Q until he can help me figure out what is going on with the pictures.

In the meantime...Here is what happened in June.

We went on our big family vacation. We rented a cabin on Lost Island Lake and spent time boating there (thanks Tim for bringing the boat), checking out Okoboji and Arnold's Park, checking out the Grotto of the Redemption, and having fun as a family. It was a relaxing week.

The rest of June was me working on my two online classes and at the Iowa Speedway, going to Mother Goose story time at the library, going to art in the park a couple of times, and Granniecue and Papa came for a week to spend time with Slane.

And on to July...

The first week was camp, which Q was unable to attend, but Slane and I did. Later in the month my mom traveled with Slane and I to West Michigan to spend time with family and friends. Slane got to play with baby Elaina and meet baby Claire, as well as play with our Michigan cousins. I got to catch up with some friends and pick blueberries. Q drove in on Thursday that week and stopped at IKEA on the way so that when my mom left on Friday she could drop our furniture off at our house. We all spent an evening at the lake (75 degrees!!) and had a great time relaxing. Then Q, Slane, and I headed to King's Island in Ohio for a day with his parents, and we all headed back to Columbus to spend a couple more days with them. Our trek home included a visit and lots of playtime with Q's cousin's kids, and then on home. Of course, there were crazy things that happened that week. My grandma fell and broke her kneecap, so after mom got home Grandma moved in with her for a while so she could be taken care of. My uncle went back into the hospital, and as we were leaving Indianapolis we got a text that my cousin (his daughter) had decided to bump up her wedding by almost a year, and it was going to be that night in the hospital chapel. We did make it to the wedding, but it was a stressful drive since we didn't stop to let Slane play and get her wiggles out.

August...

We spent enjoying time together, hiring a landscaper for our yard, and trying to get back on a school schedule. We biked a lot, we visited the coffee shop a lot, and we began preparing for our new baby's arrival. Q cleaned the basement, and we built a lot of furniture. And now we are trying to get back into some kind of routine.

And we WILL get pics up soon. Somehow.

Oops, we skipped May

We were busy. Enjoying the weather, going to concerts, directing concerts, preparing for big work things, setting up big girl beds.

Some May highlights.

Tulip Time. Slane and I met Ema, Ella, and Aunt Brenda for an afternoon among tulips and the parade. Slane insisted I cover her ears for the entire first half of the parade, and Ella drank coffee. The girls had fun and slept well.

Inauguration. Slane and I watched the ceremony with Ahsan, and Q got to represent Hope as a delegate (gown and all).

Goo Goo Ga Ga. We have finally switched Slane from an obsession with the Disney movie Cars to Lion King. Yes, she loves the mommy and we watch that scene 10 or 12 times before we convince her to let us keep watching the rest of the movie. We often spend Saturday mornings all cuddling in bed, and one of those mornings Slane kept saying, "goo goo ga ga." We could not figure out where that was coming from. She kind of knows there is a baby coming, and maybe she was slipping into baby mode or something. Until one day we were watching Lion King, and when Hakuna Matata came up, she said it again, "goo goo ga ga." She was trying to say hakuna matata!

Grinnell Heritage Farm. We bought a share this year in the farm, and the daughter of the owners is Slane's age. They had an asparagus picking event so we went to their farm for a few hours. It rained the whole time, but we did eat a lot of asparagus, and explore the greenhouse, and Slane got to plant a pea plant. She loved it and still asks to go back to the greenhouse.

Commencement. Ahsan, our host student from Pakistan, graduated from Grinnell. His parents came from Pakistan and his brother flew in from Texas (he is at Trinity). We had fun hosting them, getting to know them, eating their food and dressing Slane in the kameez and salwar they brought for her. I'll get pics of that up soon (the pics are all on the computer at home and I tend to post from school). We were proud to see our kid graduate and enjoyed being able to help him out for a few years. Slane will miss her big brother. We do have an open invitation to Islamabad.

They Might Be Giants. Memorial Day weekend was crazy busy, but so much fun. Saturday was rainy so we took apart the day bed in Slane's room and set up her big girl bed. Except for paint and another dresser, that room is new baby ready, and Slane is intermittently sleeping in her big girl bed. Sunday we made a good breakfast and then took Ahsan to the airport. We had tickets to Every Family Rocks, so after the airport and an excellent brunch at the Drake Diner, we headed to the state fairgrounds for the shows. We didn't realize there would be so much else to do, so we made a frame with our picture in it, and Slane did an obstacle course, and we listened to some of the other acts. We did the instrument petting zoo, and ran into some friends from Grinnell. Slane loved the show! She knew some of the songs and the look of pure joy on her face while she and Q were dancing was priceless! She was so into it that she fell asleep a few songs before the end...she is still asking to listen to the Alphabet CD in the car. Then on Monday we went to the family picnic for Grandma's birthday and got to play with several cousins around the same age (give or take a year).

Grandma Camp. Yesterday we swung by Ema's to pick Slane up. It was reunion on campus and Q and I were both working in different capacities (that is his job, I was just doing child care, and as it turned out, rock wall supervising and security at the Harris party), so Slane went to Grandma Camp. She had so much fun! She got to feed chickens and pigs, and ride a horse (I'll have to get that pic from my mom), and "drive" my dad's truck. She was just all smiles when we picked her up. She is at an age where most of the time she is just a lot of fun to hang out with (though she is also testing the waters with a few tatrums here and there).

Other stuff. We had a Level 2 ultrasound a couple of weeks ago. Dr. T asked if there was a history of heart defects in the family, and I have a cousin who was born with a hole in her heart among other issues, so we got the big guns for an ultrasound. It wasn't much different than any other ultrasound, except that they took video of the baby's heartbeat and checked a few other organs as well. We did not find out the gender and that is making my students crazy. They don't understand why one wouldn't find out in advance. Pregnancy is going well otherwise, though I have had a lot of foot and ankle swelling and am extra sweaty.

The shirt has something to say!

At some point during Slane's birthday party a month ago, after the friends left but while the parents and grandparents and godparents were still here, Q changed Slane's shirt...and this is what it said:

How happy is happy?

Wunder-blogger Penelope Trunk writes about families and happiness today. She highlights an article about a super-busy family and raises this question: are they happy, or just engaged?

We've asked ourselves that a few times. We both work full-time in jobs that don't strictly obey business hours. Our most recent date night was our Maundy Thursday service at church. (Yeah, we live large.) Each of us has significant volunteer interests. Are we happy? Sometimes. Our family is curious - we like interesting, even if interesting is complicated. And our curiosity contributes to our happiness. We make connections at the campus Passover seder, at Saints Rest, taking Slane for a walk. Slane gets invited to participate in the ISO fashion show. These are good things, even if they make life messy and complicated and cause us to think twice about doing the dishes or the laundry.

Our pursuit of interesting is our pursuit of happiness.

Slaneycue

Slane is so funny. I love to listen to her commentary on life and the things she sees.

Things like:

See the moon! The moon is flying!

Hear that! The bird is singin'!

Flag!

You daddycue. I'm Slaneycue. That's mommycue.

I need to see my (insert name of person of the day)!

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I also love to watch her play on her own. Her imagination is amazing!

I've seen her do these things lately:

Saturday we were raking leaves. We had just gotten Slane a toy rake, so she "helped," but as she helped, she was moving leaves out of the piles, all while carrying a purse.

She races her toy cars on the piano or the couch. Sometimes she races her "BIG TRUCK" from Epa!

She carries around a cabbage patch and tells us the baby is crying or sleeping.

She is very concerned about the hungry animals in her barn.

She plays with her hockey guys (and sometimes they get into fights and go to timeout!).

Worth a read

Miscellaneous reflections after an entire week of parenting - Amid celebrating Slane's second birthday and preparing for BabyCue #2, I liked reading Chris' observations. Maybe we should start a baby girl's clothing collection free of pink. Of course, it now seems to be Slane's favorite color. (h/t to Tyler Cowen)

R.I.P. Flip Camera - We love our flip and we don't have an iPhone (yet). It fits us now - quick videos, but able to shoot higher quality, too. MamaCue has used it for her music classes and performances. But phones have better cameras now and if/when we get a dSLR, the Flip may become Slane's camera of choice. (h/t to Jason Kottke, who also notes, "There's an app for that")