I haven't blogged as much recently. Here are some updates all at once....
I have been very focused on our home & trying to get as much done as possible before Baby Boy #2. (Due Date is still the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.) We have 3 bedrooms so we are converting our office/guestroom to the baby's room. At this moment we are planning to still keep Manuel happily contained in the crib & use a Pack-n-Play for the baby for the first few months. Praise God the pregnancy appears to be proceeding normally & I am very grateful for that. I am ready though to have my old body back. Recently I have had constant left heel pain so I'm going to a podiatrist for the first time this week..more details later...
Last weekend Mike & I toured the hospital where we plan to deliver-Seton Southwest. We are excited about it. It is a much smaller hospital than Holy Cross where Manuel was born (AKA Baby Factory of Montgomery County). It averages 60-70 babies a month (read TWO babies a day!). It is a newer Catholic "community" hospital in SW Austin (hence the name). Most major hospitals in Austin are downtown (read traffic, expensive parking, etc...) We're hoping that this hospital will at least provide us with the opportunity to have a calmer, quieter, more restful hospital stay. My mom has already bought her tickets to be here the week before and after the dute date. Since my C-section with Manuel was an emergency decision, I am able to attempt a vaginal delivery (VBAC) and plan to do that as of now. Our trust is in the Lord...
Manuel is attending the same preschool as last year- Tuesdays & Thursdays 8:45-2:00. Our only other ongoing commitment is my MOPS (Mother of Preschoolers) group every other Friday.
Mike's good friend Steve (one of his groomsmen) is visiting us for a long weekend. Manuel bonded very quickly with him.
I checked out a few cookbooks from the library & am really enjoying the creative inspiration that comes from new recipes! I have a list of fall/winter recipes that I want to make once it cools down enough to use the oven for dinners. During the summer I was intentional about cooking as many meals as possible stovetop to keep the house cooler. The next 7 days are supposed to be in the low 90s & 0% of rain! (BTW, last weekend when Hurricane Ike came to Texas we here in Austin experienced some gusts of wind but not a drop of rain!) I have already though made a Pumpkin Bundt Cake & Pumpkin Pecan Bread bc I have to celebrate fall somehow....
I am really really desperate for the crisp, cool fall days of My Maryland!! As Mike says, the 4 seasons in Central Texas are Almost Summer, Summer, Still Summer & January. I could write on about my fall nostalgia (the season when Mike & I started dating, the season we got married, church YCF fall retreats, Girl Scout camping trips, trick-or-treating, high school football games, Homecoming, all the first days of schools as a student & school counselor, my Mom's Gingerbread, Apple Crisp & Mulled Apple Cider) but for time's sake I'll leave it as a yearning in my soul & lanes of memories to stroll down when I can't sleep at night...maybe next year....
New relevant photos to follow....
