While I know I'm long overdue for an update, I'm in the midst of final projects, papers, and exams at school. This has rendered me pretty useless in the blogging department. But I feel the need to crawl out of my cave today with a very different kind of post.
Normally, I try to keep this place filled with funny stories about my experiences as a first time parent. With the intense joy that comes with the title of "mommy," however, I realize that a similar well of sadness exists for many couples in America who are faced with the possibility that they will never have children or will need to spend tens of thousands of dollars in even trying to build a family. Perhaps this realization hits harder for me because I know one such couple. Our good friends Larry and Keiko found out last year that Keiko suffers from premature ovarian failure. She is only 27 years old, and already she has been told she will most likely never be able to carry her own children. You can read more about their experience in her blog, Hannah Wept, Sarah Laughed .
I would ask that you watch this video she and Larry made from her most recent post entitled "What IF". For those of you with children, try to put yourself in this young woman's shoes. She is no different than any of us, yet the stigma that comes with the diagnosis of infertility raises many questions of self-worth and what it means to be a "woman."
I invite you to take it one step further. Share this video with everyone you know. Post it on your Facebook status, Twitter update, or (if you're a total techno-geek) your Google Buzz.
As Keiko discusses many times in her blog, there is a shame that comes with infertility. Often, even an IF couple's closest friends are unaware of the couple's fight to build a family. By passing this video on to everyone you know, you may be helping the people in your life who secretly struggle with this diagnosis on a daily basis. Let them know it's okay to show their faces, to admit to the world that they can't have children the "old fashioned way," and that they have a support system of friends and family who don't think any less of them because of this. While none of us can change the diagnosis, we can help by promoting awareness for their cause and by making attempts to at least understand the wide range of emotional ups and downs that come with it.
I feel the need to quote the old adage, "Knowledge is power." By educating yourself about this struggle that affects one out of every 8 couples in the U.S., you can empower yourself to be a better listener, a better friend, and a better source of support for these couples when they need it most.
Larry and Keiko - we love you. We know that you will someday be the most amazing parents. And no matter how your children come into your lives, they will be the luckiest, most cherished little people in this world.
Howdy y'all! Let's kick this post off with a big shout out to Mother Nature for doing such a fine job this week. After yet another weekend drowned in rain (and a damp basement floor), the skies cleared on Wednesday and by yesterday, temperatures were hovering close to 80 degrees. With similar sunshine and slightly cooler temperatures a couple of weeks ago, we've really been taking advantage of the added daylight and getting outside as much as possible. Here's a picture of Eily riding in style during one of our jaunts out to Tyler.
The picture needs a little explanation to be completely appreciated. First, the arm perched up on the side there. Yeah, that's where she "rests" it while she's riding in the stroller. Next we have the fully extended legs. You can't quite see the one reaching out in front of her, but she hardly ever rests it on the little footrest, even though she can reach. Finally, we have the cupholder-turned-footrest off to the left of the photo. Normally, this tray would flip up and snap in place in front of her, but because she's so short the only thing it succeeds in doing is blocking her view. So we let it hang to the side. Eily is innovative enough to have noticed the advantage this poses by using it as a place to stretch and rest her foot on. So not only is this a funny snapshot from a moment during our walk, this is also how she looked during ALL of the moments of our walk. We got many chuckles from passersby that day.
But I digress. We have many important things to discuss today! And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...
(drumroll)
....Eily had her 9 month well baby appointment on Friday! That's right folks, believe or not our little sprout hit nine months on Tuesday. As Jesse put it, "She's now been on the outside for as long as she was on the inside." (Now, now, all you ladies who've done this before, let's not get technical on him and tell him you're really pregnant for ten months. Oh, and then add ten more days on top of that since she decided to stick around that much longer before being born.) I'm not sure about other moms out there, but I love these regular appointments. Eily's quite a ham and loves to "show off" at the doctor's office, babbling and flirting with anyone who looks at her. The staff is great, I've never waited more than five minutes from the time we sign in to the time we're brought into the exam room, and our two pediatricians are absolutely phenomenal. Even the vaccination at the end of each visit doesn't cause too much drama for Eily. She's turning out to be one tough little chica...but more on that later.
First, let's get our stats in order here. The official weights and measures (with comparison to 6 month stats from January in parentheses) are:
Height: 26.5" (+1.25") Weight: 17lbs 5.5oz (+ 4lbs 3oz) (+2lbs 3oz since Feb weight check) Head Circumference: 17.5" (+1")
The pediatrician was very happy with her growth, particularly since she's on the upward swing and getting close to the 25th percentile for weight again. She's at the 25th percentile for height, as well, but her head is slightly above average at just over the 50th percentile. No concerns there, she just needs all that space for that big brain she's developing!
In other news on the Eily front, we officially have forward momentum. She started crawling forward two weeks ago and has not looked back since. This has made my friend Casey's job much harder on Tuesdays and Thursdays, since her little girl Ava is all over the place as well. Casey, you get a shout out for chasing after the two of them at once!
Along with the crawling has come some creative corralling of our little quadruped. I particularly like laundry day now since it offers me two laundry baskets full of clean clothes that I can strategically place at opposite ends of the living room to keep her from escaping. Add a giant IKEA bag full of toys, the couch, the futon, and her exersaucer, and there you are - instant baby cage play yard.
The only trouble is, in the two weeks since she started crawling, she's gotten better. These days she likes to crawl through the bottom of her exersaucer or push the baskets out of the way. Thankfully, Nic has very generously offered up Liam's play yard for our use. We'll be picking it up tomorrow when we see the Shillidays at the annual Easter Egg Brawl Hunt hosted by Debbie and Gary. (That entire day is going to warrant it's own post...be on the lookout!)
Okay, it's almost 1 a.m. and I am rambling here. I'm going to wrap things up for now by mentioning a few quick updates and then leaving you with two videos. First, Jesse successfully installed the plumbing for the kitchen on his own last week. Nic's dad, Bud (shout out to Bud, woot!), moved the gas line for us a couple of weeks ago; so we were all set for the inspector to come look at all the rough work on Thursday. Long story short, we passed with flying colors and can officially move on to the insulation/drywall stage. After Jesse cuts a giant hole in the side of the house for the new door, that is.
Second quickie: I'm still very much interested in pursuing communicative disorders (fancy title for the speech therapy degree) at school and will be meeting with an advisor this Thursday to start planning out my courses. The only hard part is that the major is restrictive, meaning I have to take a bunch of core classes before even being accepted into the major. Kind of a PITA, but I'm willing to deal with it. I don't have any worries that I won't be accepted, so it's not like the courses will be a waste of time.
And third: the race is over. Eily is babbling all the time these days. She says many many things, including: yaya, baba, lala, blabla (very impressive), and *sigh* dada. That's it. No mama. Not even a "muh". Nothing. I try to console myself by saying she's saving the best for last.
Okay, I'm done blabbing away. It's even worse when I'm tired, making my writing this at one in the morning particularly dangerous. Anywho, here are the two promised videos given as your reward for suffering through all of this. I think you'll like these, although the first is a bit long (7 mins). I blame the cameraman, aka Jesse.
And this one I took today when Jesse fell asleep on the futon this afternoon. I turned around and saw Eily doing this and thought it was hilarious. Enjoy and have a Happy Easter/Happy Passover/Happy Spring Sunday tomorrow!
