Timing

yes. time flies by. and then stands still in the waiting. baby #2 due in 9 days. i thought for sure i'd be in labor by now...not my timing apparently! so no breath holding, just deep breathing and sighs.

since christian turned 2 our lives have gone through roller coaster loops. the month of april was our perfect storm of finishing the dissertation and going through the final stages of some possible job opportunities - which ultimately fell through! we are still recovering from that month. there were positives like being able to shift my work schedule in order to spend mornings with christian. tiring but fun - doing regular 'mom' stuff like going to the park and meeting other moms to chat while we chase our children and save them from each other.

may brought the dissertation defense, which dan passed with distinction! what a praise! and then the actual turning in of the dissertation (which didn't need any revisions!). my family had a mini surprise reunion for my mother's retirement. and then june came with the graduation of dr. koehler. and july a vacation to virginia beach, the retirement city of my parents.

through all of this christian has been growing leaps and bounds and we have been trying to mature right along with him, especially in terms of discipline, reproof - consistency, etc. he's such a personality at times so loving and cuddly and at times so annoying!!!! (his favorite response right now is a whiny 'no.' - awesome.)

we've been coaching him on his duties as older brother as we slowly add more and more infant things to his surroundings. but in speaking with other moms it's just going to take the baby being born for it really to sink in.

and so we continue to wait! i'm not overdue just ready due:)

and then what's next? after baby, my leave for about 12 weeks during which dan will apply again for academic positions around the country. there are actually openings despite the economy looking like a double dip whatever. and then we go through the whole process again - me working full time, dan fathering full time while seeking after the beginning of his career.

so i will try to post here to tell you how it's all going - this crazy season of parenthood.

Turning 2

Christian turns 2 in 13 days...Can't believe it in some ways. Though when I look at him, he hardly looks like the baby he was, especially since last week when Dan took him to get his first haircut. His long locks had been irritating him. He'd shove them out of his face and grunt almost. We admitted that we were just letting him have wild hair for our own sakes and not thinking about how he felt. Obviously the cut was overdue. The haircut salon/barber was like a small amusement park/toy store. The chairs were shaped like cars, each one had a TV in front of them and the child was able to choose what movie s/he wanted to watch. He chose Robots - not that he knew what that was. He loved the car chair and didn't really mind the cut. Dan brought him to my work after to show it off. When he arrived he said, 'Show momma haircut!' I was thrilled to see him, and not really sad about the rite of passage. It makes him look taller and it also makes it a lot easier to put on hats, bibs, coats, etc.

I wanted to write some Christian-isms again but they always seem to fly out of my brain the moment I open up this blog...He can repeat anything you say for the most part and the meaning of things is more and more clear to him. My mom came back from visiting my brother, sister-in-law, and baby niece in Germany. She brought back an original Steiff bear for CPK. He was sitting on my bed, on a pillow with his back against the wall, hugging and cuddling with it, saying, 'Aw.' He then held it up in his hands as if to examine it and said, 'It's so cute!' repeatedly. I laughed so hard. Yes, it is cute, and so is my son:) (At least I think so!)

Perhaps next on the CPK agenda is finishing cutting his 2-year old molars (please soon!) and preparing for baby #2!

Yep - we are expecting a second child around August 12th. We'll probably find out the sex around Easter time. We'll keep you updated...

As Christian says, 'baa bye! mommadaddymomma'