babyness

Ethan has started kicking for real in the past 2 weeks. Before it was more like fluttering, but now it's definite kicks and punches and swooshes and flips. I've been trying to see if Brett can feel him from the outside, and finally last night, he felt a big old kick! It was really fun.

We've also made a lot of progress on the house cleaning operation, and so I've been wanting to go look at baby things to get an idea of what we might want. We went to BabiesRUs over the weekend and totally found the most awesome hoodie...we couldn't let it pass. I have a rule about not buying any baby clothes, because I know that people give you so much stuff at showers, etc, but this was too much to pass up. And there was only one left on the shelf!


Brett and I have been bummed about the baby boy clothing situation. Girls have so many cute things and boys have so many lame things to wear. I think it will definitely be harder to dress Ethan in a non-annoying way, but with sweaters like this one, I know it's possible. We don't have to paste our child with footballs and basketballs, when there are clothes that have race cars and guitars on them.

video from the past

Check this out. Good times.

The blog will be a good one to watch, because my mother is an excellent writer and the pictures will be magnificent. We are planning to go with them to England in 2011.

Proposition 8

Typically, I avoid politics. I feel that there is never really anything I can accomplish by getting involved, because I feel that our elected officials will always just do whatever they want regardless of how the people feel. I feel hopeless and powerless when I am aware of something that needs to change because I believe that my voice is not heard.

However. I do have a voice in my own small circle of friends. I can speak out with my own opinion in matters that are important to me.

Please read these comments by my mother. And these by my friend. And these by my brother. They are three people that I admire most in my life and they explain how I feel eloquently. I am sorry for the hatred and fear that people in my church express regarding this issue. I am sorry for the civil rights that are taken away without any thought about the real human beings this affects. This is truly something that will end up affecting all of us.

the pregnant princess and the pea

I'm basically the most impatient person I know--on a normal day, this isn't just because of the pregnancy. (hee hee.) There are many things that really irritate me , but when I react to them, I feel like I'm 2 people. One of these people is reacting to a small problem like a crazy person. The other is the one that is actually me, and that one is observing the actions of this strange crazy person inhabiting my body. Observing, but unable to interfere.

(I don't think I'm overreacting to my work situation, because all the interpreters at the U are feeling the same way right now. But I do agree with Kelli; I need to stop and take a breath and regain my composure about the entire situation. Because I am in control, not my boss. She can't have control over me.)

Over the past few weeks, maybe a month or so, all of my senses have become heightened. My skin is super sensitive, so that anything remotely scratchy hurts a lot. I love to go an touch the baby stuff in stores, because they are much softer than regular stuff. My eyes have changed in very strange ways: my vision is more blurry while at the same time, lights and strong colors hurt to look at. But I can see the colors in the trees and the beautiful clouds and mountains from the view on campus. I can now smell everything more acutely, from the boy that doesn't shower, to the smelly feet of the girl sitting across the room. I can also smell good things better, however, and I can tell from the other end of the house that Brett just ate something sweet and so I have to go eat some too (because I'm all about the sugar right now). My taster has changed as well, but I can't think of anything specific, except the sugar cravings.

My friend Megan told me last night (while I was venting to her about my boss), that the yoga instructor from class yesterday told her that today is the first day of some new year (that I can't remember, but I think it was Mayan). She said that the past year has been bad, we've been in bad energy for a year, and that the new year is going to be better. (That is applicable in many ways right now, one big way I can think of is our recent election.) Although I don't tend to get very mystical personally, I always like the idea of a fresh start. And I feel a fresh start today. I am in control of my own life and no one else can take that from me. I will better understand my boundaries and limitations and do what is best for myself and my family. And I plan to look for joy and beauty in my life rather than stress and fear (and clutter, for those of you that have seen my house).

work...bah

I am so stressed out about my job right now that I can't do anything else. I can't think about anything else. I am trying my best to help achieve solutions for the problems we are having and I feel like I'm hitting wall after wall after wall.

Typically, when a job gets to this point for me, I quit. Interpreting has never felt like that to me before. I am so stressed and tired from work every day that I can't do anything else. And that makes me angry.

IMPORTANT NEWS!!!

Our lives have now changed forever. Jackie had her baby!

(Click on the previous sentence to view their blog!)

cleaning

Some of my friends and family may know that we have been trying to organize our house for some time now. It seems that every step we take towards getting rid of junk causes our house to look more and more like a tornado hit it. But now, at last, the reclaiming has begun!!

It is very nice to have little spurts of energy now, rather than being completely exhausted all the time. (Because of the small creature that's in my uterus right now, remember?) Now I'm just completely exhausted most of the time. But if I really put my mind to it, I can do one thing per day. Yesterday, I met with my boss for an hour and a half--I was useless for the remainder of the day. Today, I unexpectedly had the morning off, so I slept for 12 hours, showered, ate breakfast/lunch (while I blogged) and now I'm going to clean the upstairs bathroom.

The kitchen and the downstairs bathroom are already clean and I am finally reclaiming my house, one room at a time. The goal is to have the house clean before the baby is born (March 29). Honestly, in the state that Brett and I are in right now--graduate school, engineering degrees, baby coming, both working, stress at my job, etc ,etc--that goal isn't shooting low. I will not be surprised if it actually takes us until March to be able to find our couch again. -sigh-

I'm debating whether or not to put up that baby countdown thingy that everyone has on their blogs. Maybe I should spruce up the old blog a bit with some of those extra features. I'll think about it. It does make it nice to look at Kelli or Jackie's blogs to see how far along they are. By the way, Jackie is due in 2 DAYS!! Yikes! It's going to be so weird to Skype with them and have a little baby screaming in the background. I may accidentally pee myself with fright for them (and us).