Dear Family and Friends-
It’s been a while since you’ve heard an update via blog as we’ve been getting by on pictures or videos for a while so it is past due for an update on our household.
Geoff got a promotion! He is in a new position at Whole Foods, now an Assistant Team Leader in the Seafood Department, now at the Pearl Street store in Boulder. His commute and schedule have changed quite a bit, but it’s a fantastic step for him and as he says, his “Pearl Street Pedigree” will help him a lot in future opportunities. The Pearl Street store is a big deal, one of the best stores in the country and the best in the west, so it’s a great opportunity for him – yay baby! We’re very proud of him!
Many of you know we lost Charli this spring. It was a really hard few weeks for us, but his big body was giving out. We had a rough few weekends with him and after consultation with the vet we knew it was time for him to go. It was really hard, and also really peaceful. We have lots of great memories of Chazz and still think of him barking and making crazy Chewbacca sounds. We also miss the presence of a big dog in the house, so we keep an on eye on rescues, but know that I can’t visit quite yet otherwise we know that would surely seal the deal on another animal in our house. Speaking of…
More chickens! We got 4 new chickens at the urban homestead market this spring. Juney wanted to name them “Chickens,” but we thought that would get confusing. She then suggested Rooster, but again, may have some trouble. We opted for Cher, Aretha, Babs and Bette. They recently just made the transition from the garage to the yard/coop after Geoff re-secured everything and are doing well. While they still don’t have the hang of going up/down into their coop (read = not super bright birds), they’ll soon be in the spring of things and hopefully should be laying eggs in July.
As for your web mistress, I’ve been somewhat in survival mode to be honest (hence no updates). It’s been a rough few months for me with some real busy times at work as well as feeling really exhausted and nauseous. Aside from the bout of stomach flu, it turns out – there’s a good reason for most of it!
There’s a baby in there! We are expecting a second baby in mid/late October! We’re pretty excited and just got assurance that things are progressing well so far. I am starting to feel somewhat human again, and getting through the last 3 months proved a good test. It was harder to hide my dry heaving at work than I thought, so ended up breaking the news to my boss a little early. I now (knock on wood) seem to have left most of the nausea behind and the exhaustion comes/goes, but it isn’t anywhere near the first trimester. I can’t remember if I felt this bad with June, but then I also had time to rest if I needed it then – June has stuff to do! On that note, we are waiting to be surprised on the baby gender until birth. All guesses, bets, and wishes are welcome, but they won’t be granted until baby arrives.We broke the news to June at our first ultrasound appointment (above). She seemed pretty excited, although it was pretty abstract then. We think at our next appointment, she’ll be able to see the baby more and understand a bit. She also is more aware (sometimes) of my growing belly, which makes it a bit more “real.” When we were at the ultrasound, she also wanted to go on the table after I was checked and have her belly checked. She hopped up on the table and lifted her shirt and wanted us to look in her belly. We asked what was inside her she said, “A dinosaur! Roar!” From then on, she’s been pretty sure there’s a dinosaur in her belly. Even last night after I told her that the baby would come out of mama’s belly after her birthday, she then later told Geoff later that she had a dinosaur in her belly and it was going to come out after her birthday. She’s pretty excited! She also told me that she wants to be there when baby comes out!
Speaking of Juney, she continues to make us laugh with her silliness and fun interactions. She is in a dresses phase and loves things that are “princess dresses.” Whatever that means – pretty much all of her dresses are labeled as such. I’m still not 100% sure where she picked up princesses, but she heard it and seemed to like it. She loves to change outfits (and still is absolutely okay being completely naked), and finds all kinds of excuses to change clothes. She even tries to change at school all the time. She also knows that when she has an accident she has to change clothes, so she often says, “my clothes are wet, I better change.” She also asked about a pile of Geoff’s laundry on the floor of our room. I told her that it was Papa’s clothes and that they were dirty. He looked at them again and asked, “Oh, Papa peed them?”
“Yes, Juney. He did.”
She is putting together more and more concepts and it’s amazing to watch. Just yesterday she was sad when we swept up some ants, as they may miss their mamas and want to be back in their homes. It melted my heart. June is anxious to help with any task that I’m doing – thank goodness we have all small-size yard tools and open with her in the kitchen!
It was really sweet yesterday to hear her talking to her worm friend and to listen to what she’s saying. At one point she told the worm he “had 2 minutes, okay?” I guess she’s listening!
More updates to come as June and my belly continue to grow!
June and Mabel 