Having a kid is a scary thing. First, being pregnant is new, unknown, possibly scary since you don't know exactly what's happening in there. The idea of labor is scary (the physics of it and the pain). Then, giving birth to a tiny, helpless baby means you are 100% responsible for this human being who can do absolutely nothing for himself. If something horrible happens to the baby, it's probably because of something you did or didn't do. Scary! But, even beyond the fragile baby stage, what about "train[ing] up a child in the way he should go" (Proverbs 22:6)? How do you do that? How do you not become one of those families in the grocery store (we all know we don't want to become them--but how?)? And then, oh then, the teenage years. Scary! I can read the parenting books and listen to the wisdom of those who have done a good job before me, but it's still daunting. I pray that God will give me grace, wisdom, and peace through all the scary stages...


Yesterday, two people told me something along the lines of "You are huge!" However, I took it as a compliment from Ricci, because she knew I wanted to be showing, and her comment was followed by one about being "cute." The other commenter (a coworker) may have had some ulterior/unkind motives, but I surprised myself at how little I cared, and I replied with a sincere "Thank you." I think I had my pregnancy "pop" in the past week or so; now it's evident to anyone that I'm pregnant.

I will hit 28 weeks--7 months (and the start of the third trimester I think)!--tomorrow, so Jon will probably take a couple of pictures like we did for hitting 6 months. (The picture I was going to add for you here is just not working. It isn't the picture's fault, so don't be mad...)

We had a nice long weekend here. We spent the day together on Saturday, going to lunch in downtown Fullerton and attending a CIF high school girls basketball game later in the evening (our friend is the coach). We went with some friends over to Jon's parents' house after the game to watch the NBA All Star events that Ray and Colleen had recorded for us. On Sunday, we had a normal morning at church (this week is missions week, and the speaker was head of Campus Crusade for Christ) and spent a good time at the food court with friends after church discussing the message. That evening, Neil, Casey, and Dan came over with us to Ray and Colleen's house to have Colleen's tacos and watch the All Star game. I had Monday off from work but Jon didn't, so I went to the lab to do the one-hour glucose test (uneventful; results will be back in a couple of days) and then to Target to buy a photo album. I spent most of the rest of the day putting in all of our pictures from summer 2002-present (we don't have that many, since we have a digital camera and mostly use that). So now I'm all caught up with pictures and will be ready to start a new album when the baby comes!

And Ashley, to answer your question: we went out to dinner at California Pizza Kitchen for Valentine's Day. We didn't do much for the day (no cards or anything), because Jon prefers spontanaeity over "forced romance." He likes to surprise me with flowers or cards, etc., so he doesn't like days where it's expected. That's fine by me. :)

Since I haven't been posting much at all, I thought I'd use my answers to Nell's questions left in the comments section below as my next post.

When is your last day of work?
Although I haven't officially given a day, I think it will be Friday, April 29. That will give me three weeks before my due date.

What have you decided to tell you boss about your "maternity leave?"
I'm going to continue avoiding questions of this nature (posed by my boss, that is) until probably the end of March, when I will give one month's notice about April 29 being my last day. I'm only obligated to give them two weeks' notice, but I think a month is 1) kinder, as they will have more time to find a replacement and 2) still fairly safe, as they could let me go on the spot, but I doubt they would because I think they need me and will want me to stay as long as I can.

Will you teach your flute students through the first few months with the baby?
Yes. I plan on taking approximately a month off from teaching lessons. I'm sending home a note to my students/their parents in the next week or two to let them know I'm pregnant (I usually don't see the parents--they just drop the kids off) and that there will be a month or so of no lessons beginning around the end of May. I think this will coincide well with summer, actually, so that we can start a summer schedule of lessons for July and August. That summer schedule can be worked out so that either 1) Jon's mom could come over/help with the baby during lessons, 2) I could see about scheduling lessons during baby's nap times, or 3) we could continue evening lessons so that Jon would be home. I figure that, as long as we don't have a super fussy baby and I can make sure I feed him/her at the right times before or after lessons, it should work out well.

I'm also going to continue editing, but the logistics of that aren't as difficult, as that is completely on my own time and schedule, and I can accept or deny jobs as necessary.

:)

I had a doctor’s appointment this morning, and it went well. I had a couple of things to bring up with the doctor, and she was helpful and nice. I told her about my back hurting every day (for the past several months) in the evenings, and she said I could use a heating pad. This was after I asked about a couple of other questions about uncomfortable symptoms I've been having, and so she said something like how she was sorry I was having to go through having these symptoms. I said that it is completely worth it and these things are nothing--it's true! I’m feeling great, I said, and loving being pregnant. She said, "I can tell!" I have that glow, I guess. ;o)

Update
What a boring blogger I am! The reason I haven't been updating is that nothing much has been happening. Things are going great with the pregnancy--I'm feeling good and still enjoying feeling the baby kick. This past Saturday I hit 24 weeks--6 months--and so we took a couple of pictures:





Upcoming events:
My sister Lucy is coming to visit with her friend Michelle during their spring break. They'll be here March 5-11.

A couple of days ago, Jon booked a weekend trip for us for March 11-13--I am so excited! We decided we'd like to take one last weekend trip as a two-person family, especially seeing as it will probably be a while before we can take a trip just the two of us again. This time, we aren't going far, though: we're staying at the Casa Laguna Inn for two nights in the Mission Suite. (The link hasn't been working for me today, but I'm 99% sure that's the correct website.)

Oh, and my next baby shower is going to be on March 6. So March 5-13 is going to be a fun week for me!