Lots of New

I'm not sure if we've ever had a year without significant change and transition, since life rarely continues in a perfectly straight line, but it seems like this year there are a lot of shifting pieces.  And especially this month.

NEW: We have started potty training Gigi.  She showed a few too many signs of readiness, so it was time to jump in.  There were times we found her stripped down to her birthday suit in the bathroom of a friend's house, climbing up on the big toilets to practice her business.  When I've tried to help out she looks at me and says, "I need some privacy, Mommy".  

So I bought her some undies and panties and we've been using a potty chart.  She has filled two of the charts now with stickers, which means at least 40 rounds of successful #1 in her potty.  Her #2 has not been successful so far, but after my good evening therapy session the other day with google search, I discovered that I am only one of four trillion parents who struggle with their little ones going #2 in the potty.  Totally validated now, I've backed off significantly so that I don't inadvertently turn this into a real problem.  We're taking that second step as slowly as she needs.

NEW: We have two grandmas nearby now!  Marcos flew to Utah at the beginning of August to visit family and pick up his mom, and so our third bedroom is now occupied and we are loving having Vovó here with us in North Carolina.  We've really robbed the bank with two grandmas so close.  Gigi is in Heaven.  This is a particularly excitable, lovely, and social time in Gigi's life, so Marcos' mom gets a lot of Gigi love and affection...  okay, and maybe a little nudy Gigi sitting on her bed using her pillows as drums, but such is life with a two-year old.  For all of the fear that mother-in-laws can inspire in people's hearts, we have really lucked out to have two who are extraordinarily helpful and dedicated to serving and loving us and our children.

NEW: Marcos started full-time school this week at UNC.  If I thought we were busy before, I didn't know what busy could really look like.  The great news is that for the most part, he really enjoys his classes now that he's fully immersed in information systems classes, some computer classes, graphic design, etc.  He says it's funny to start talking with his new classmates, and watch their reactions when he tells them that he's 28... and married... and has a daughter.  On the surface he blends in so nicely with all of the other students, but when you go in another layer deeper, he's got a bit more living experience than most of the juniors at UNC.  On top of school, Marcos is going to keep up a modified work schedule, and despite our ward boundary shift he's kept his role as Assistant Scout Master as well as his calling in the Young Men's Organization, so it will be a challenge to figure out how to balance everything well.  I feel like I can take a hit for the team when it comes to personalized attention from Marcos, but it will break my heart if Gigi loses some Papai time in the shuffle.  I could see this when I married him, but he has really become such an extraordinary father...

NEW: Gigi is starting ballet classes in a few weeks.  This is the first time we've had her in such a formal class setting, and I am really excited and a little freaked out at the same time.  I have a friend who teaches really affordable classes, and it seems like it will be a good balance of fun,  movement, and learning how to follow instructions.  I'm curious to see how Gigi does in this setting, and I'm a little worried that she might stand around comparing everyone's tutus the entire class, but it has to be better than Bolshoi Ballet training via youtube videos, which is what I have exposed her to thus far.  (Hey, you  gotta start with what you got).

And I think I'll stop there.

Laundry Day Talk

Gigi: Mom, can I go to High School?
Me: High School...?  Yes, when you're 14 years old.
Gigi: Shall we talk about it?

Gigi entertaining herself at lunch...

I am a monster!  *Claws up*  Raaaaarrrrrr!
I am a baby!  Waaaaaaaa!!!
I am a boy!  *Long pause* I have a gun!

Me: Gigi, do you know that I love you so, so, so, so, so much?

Gigi: I drive you crazy!

Bump

We have a few favorite local digs, and Maple View Farms for ice cream in the evening is one of them.  Last week we met up with friends for Family Night at the Farm, and I asked Marcos if he would snap a few photos so that I could record the fact that I am indeed having another baby.  If my frequency of taking photos this pregnancy compared to last is any indication of what it will be like taking photos of this new little guy compared to Gigi, he's doomed.  Last time I was fascinated by my growing body and took photos every step of the way, and this time I think I have had two taken of me.  The two featured here.  I'm banking on this baby being a lot cuter than me though, so I think we might be safe.

As you might have noticed, I'm fairly gigantic.  I see a look of worry in people's eyes when I say I still have three months until due date, but for some reason I love it.  For me, my main enjoyment is being past that "I ate too many cookies" in-between stage, when your body looks severely torn about committing to being pregnant.  I'm very committed. 

In the photo above, the girls were trying to see if they could reach their arms all the way around my middle.  Awesome.

We're still working on a name for this little one.  Unlike Giovanna, who was named three years before she was born, we have had a hard time finding a boy name we both love.  We finally came to some top contenders the other day, and we're thinking about bringing our names with us to the hospital this time to see which one fits.  We have a few elements that we're set on, and a few that we will wiggle with, and we're not even that keen on sharing yet.  What a difference from last time, when Gigi became Gigi the day we had our ultrasound, and we had even picked out her personality...

All in all, this has been a great pregnancy.  I've been a little more achy this time, but the first trimester was calm and now I get to feel him moving all the time.  Like the first time around, I have very vivid and crazy dreams though, which make me so grateful for my life.  I wake up, and suddenly I am back to sleeping with my love, my sweet little one is in her room singing to herself, and I have a normal job and good people in my life.  Vivid dreams have made me more grateful for my reality.

Gigi's Room

Moving in has been a particularly slow process this time.  Maybe the "unfinished" look is just starting to bother me less and less, or maybe after so many rentals I'm just feeling like the only walls I'm going to really care about someday are the ones I own.

But in any case, piece by piece, room by room, things are coming together.  This move I knew it was time to pull Gigi's room together in a way that was going to support her developmental stage (i.e. she needed to be able to clean up her own toys in a safe way), and so I spent some time doing research on toy storage ideas that we could live with.  Eventually we decided to go the IKEA Expedit-designed shelving route, and I am so glad that we did.  The Expedit series is really sturdy, I love the birch finish, and there are so many options for compatible storage boxes that when we move this shelving into a public space someday I can get nicer baskets and dress it up.  The best features of course are that Gigi can pull out the boxes, clean up her own toys, and push them back in.  One of our house rules is that before she plays with a new toy she needs to clean up the mess from the last one, and she's been doing well keeping her space fairly tidy.  Who knew?

Bedroom-size wise, Gigi was the one to get majorly shafted in this last move, since her space is probably only half the size it was at the last place.  But she is oblivious to things like that, and it makes me so grateful to have a child in my life, to remind me which things truly matter.

But then again, it was she who had a melt down recently when I stirred her cereal into her milk, so I guess her wise moments are kind of hit and miss.

Change

Yesterday we attended my officially least favorite church meeting ever.  After five years of living in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and intentionally selecting homes at each move that were within the ward boundaries of the Chapel Hill 1st Ward, the boundaries were shifted around us and now suddenly our part of town is in the Chapel Hill 2nd Ward.  Did I mention that we've been trying to avoid this for five years?

I wore all black to the meeting because I suspected a disastrous change, and I cried, and swore at Marcos when he said I needed to put on a happy face, and then left the meeting to get some fresh air and walk around the building a few times. The wife of our new Bishop gave a wonderful talk about the difficulty and beauty of living in a breathing growing church, and the heartache that comes with these types of shifts. She said exactly what I was feeling. Especially after serving in the Relief Society presidency these last three years, and stretching way beyond what I was really able to do, or wanted to do, I felt incredibly sad to lose my weekly contact with so many women that I had rubbed shoulders with, and received feedback from, and given feedback to, and been frustrated and angry with, and been so impressed and moved by, and with whom I had grown together.

Sometimes change is so abrupt.  How could I even begin to say thank you, or good bye?

But the mourning lifted, and at night we went to visit our friends who live in the Chapel Hill 2nd Ward and their fine neighbors, and they all gushed about the wonderful energy of our new ward, and the great leadership, and the kindness and activity of its members, and a part of me became excited for this new adventure.  I left their home feeling refreshed and hopeful that this will be a great new experience for our family.

And a day later, I think I still feel that way.

Park Day

Gigi: "Is Papai coming to the park?"

Me: "No babe, Papai has to work today".

Gigi: "Every time!  That's sad..."

Forest Hills Park, Durham, NC

Fourth of July Celebration

Oddly, this year we found ourselves rolling up on the Fourth of July with no big plans for how to spend the day.  Friends we had celebrated with in past years had other plans, and we realized too late that maybe WE should have taken the initiative to host something special.  A patriotic brunch after catching a parade?  Fireworks?  Picnic lunch out at a park?  But I need not have worried about our day being full of fun.

The night before the 4th, we took Gigi to a Princess Party for our 4-year old friend Aleah.  Back in February I found a scrap of pretty seersucker fabric at the Durham Scrap Exchange (a huge warehouse full of scraps and used junk), and after more than a year of eying a tutorial online I decided to roll up my sleeves and make Gigi a skirt for the Fourth of July.  So, all that to say, Gigi went to the party as "Princess America".  I know it was a stretch, but all she had to do was yell "I am Princess America!" a few times around the house and it felt real.  I was crossing my fingers that we wouldn't show up at the party with every girl and boy in royal garb more reminiscent of a Disney movie, and we were in luck.  It was a pretty good mix of royalty, and normal everyday clothes.  Gigi fit right in.

And then, because I was channeling the holiday vibe, and we all know that my brain became more holiday oriented after my first child was born, I decided to make some treats to take to the party.  They were YUM and fun to take, although they were quite a labor of love and I may not ever make them again.  Who knew that having sticky webs of melted marshmallows and rice crispies stretching from your fingers could be so traumatizing?  But right when it looked like a losing battle I finally beat them into submission.

After a great birthday party, and a late night to bed for Gigi, we woke up early on the Fourth of July to play American football at the park with friends.  Marcos and I played for a solid hour and a half, while Gigi caused general mayhem on the sidelines with abandoned shoes and hats.

From football we rushed home to prepare sandwiches, and took a picnic lunch over to our friends the Bush's house to share for a holiday celebration.  My mom came with brownies and watermelon, and it was so nice to eat lunch with our friends and family.  We don't get to see the Bush family as often as we used to, and we were reminded how much we love them.  And Gigi played so seamlessly with their kiddos...  it was dreamy to be able to be present with the adults without having our attention somewhere in the next room monitoring her social interactions. 

From lunch, it was home for long afternoon naps, and a break from the heat of the day.  Then up for an early dinner, to Tutu's pool for fun swimming time in the evening, and then to UNC hospital decks to watch the fireworks at night.  Our chosen location for fireworks wasn't great, since most of the fireworks didn't actually clear the tops of the hospital roofs and we only saw maybe a quarter of the total show, but it fit Gigi's attention span perfectly, and we were able to enjoy shows over in Carrboro from our vantage point. 

And really? After hearing about what happened over in San Diego this year, I felt like our fireworks show was just. right.

Hap-hap-happy Independence Day!

Happy Fourth of July everyone!  I love how Rosa Swanson said it at church last Sunday - although America has her flaws and we have work to do and historical wrongs to right, what a privilege and blessing it is to live in a country where we have the freedom and liberty to try for improvement and progress and to live free and become the people we want to become...