Commenced

Steve & Tansy

Nap

Bathtime

Fishin'

Spring is here!

Spring is here said the bumblebee.
How do you know said the old, old tree?
I just heard from a daffodil
dancing with a fairy on a windy hill.

It's Official!

Baby Jackrabbit!

Adam signed the paperwork with SDSU! We're officially moving to South Dakota! Adam starts August 15 and I start September 1. We're hoping to have our house here on the market in early May and move sometime in July.

PS: More pictures here: Owen Week 3

Mr. Chunky

I took Owen in for his 2-week-old checkup today. He is a healthy little bugger - and weighed in at 10 lbs 15 oz! That puts him officially at huge status! We also got a referral for the pediatric surgeon to see if he has a communicating hydrocele like big-brother Max had. It is looking like he probably does.

In general, Owen is a little sweety. He doesn't ask for much more than breastmilk and a dry diaper. (And best of all - he doesn't talk back!) Max is actually adjusting really well. It helps that we have had really nice weather, and Max has been able to spend lots of time outside. We have stopped worrying quite so much that Max is going to smoosh Owen at any minute. Owen no longer needs a permanent spotter or to be held constantly as protection from big brother!

Finally asleep!

Little O-O

Bath Time

What a tummy!

All clean!

We are all cruising along here. Owen is well into his second week. He is growing like crazy. When our midwife weighed him on day 6 he had already regained his birth weight. Grandma Nancy has been here this week, and that has been great. We are sure going to miss her after she leaves tomorrow morning!

Check out more pictures here: Owen Week 2

Playing Trains

Owen is doing great so far! He is a really happy and content baby. He has been sleeping well at night - just waking up to eat and passing right out again. He is starting to have some fun alert periods during the day. He is taking us all in; I think he likes us! Grandma Nancy got here on Thursday, and she is helping us get caught up around the house and snuggling with her favorite boys. Her voice is going hoarse from reading Max so many books! In other exciting news Owen's umbilical cord came off yesterday and he is getting over his mild jaundice!

Grandma is here!

Sleepy Guy

Settling in

Finally a picture with his eyes open! As far as we can tell he looks almost exactly like Max when Max was a newborn. He's got brown hair and blue eyes, big hands, and very long and strong legs. He is strong in general - he is already holding his head up and positioning himself to nurse. He is *very* hungry. As can be expected, he is a professional at eating, sleeping and pooping!


Max is very excited about his big brother responsibilities and wants to hold and play with Owen constantly. Unfortunately, Max has a cold complete with the proverbial snotty nose. Learning to be a laid back parent the second time around comes rather quickly! We are basically settling into being parents x2. The 3-year-old is definitely our biggest challenge at this point. It is so hard to contain his energy and excitement! It is so hard for him to be "gentle." I have a feeling that Owen is going to be one tough guy! Fortunately, Max will be off at school for the next three days so he will get somewhat back on a schedule and give his poor parents some time to "rest."

I will try to post with labor details soon. Suffice it to say that it was very fast and intense. Hard labor started around 8:00 pm, my water broke completely at 10 pm, I pushed for a half and hour and that big chunker was out! Our doula was there from 8 on, the midwife apprentice was there from 7:30-8:30 and 10 on and our actual midwife only got there 10 minutes before he arrived! It felt very out of control, but I was so glad that it was quick. It was about as opposite from Max's birth as could be. As soon as it was over, my first thought was "Thank God I wasn't at the hospital." My first thoughts the next morning were, "I just got 4 hours of sleep. Thank God I am not still in labor!"

Owen Atlas Thiex Hoppe

Born @ 10:36 pm 3-22-08

9lbs 10oz

He's here!

My water broke!

It is just a trickle so far, and no real contractions to speak of. I gave the guys haircuts and we are just going to do some tidying up and resting.

False Alarm

I had contractions throughout the night, but things are pretty calm this morning.

Carry on...maybe tonight, maybe next week.

Possibly Something

Mild Contractions. Going to bed.

Happy Due Date to Me

There is not much action yet. I had some twinges and cramps last night, but it was hardly worth mentioning. Yesterday was the equinox and today is a full moon, Good Friday and a snow storm so I was hoping some forces would converge to encourage this guy to come out, but I guess not! Check out the large belly. If this guy stays in much longer I think he is going to be a 10-pounder!

Skateboarding

Nada

Well, I was really tired this morning, and I did take a big nap only two hours after having gotten up. So, if something should happen tonight, I'm prepared! For all of you sending me labor vibes, imagine this.

Open, cervix, open!

I'm off to clean the carpet!

Max's Rules

Max wasn't happy about something I said or did in his room last night (his "special place") so he decided to make some rules of his own, as follows.

• Jumping
• Dancing
• Singing
• Playing
• Sleeping
• Snuggling

So just in case you want to visit Max in his room, be sure to follow the rules. :)

Nothing so far

Same old, same old here. I've had some Braxton-Hicks but nothing spectacular. If I use my imagination really hard, there might possibly be some twinges here and there. It could be a while, folks.

Big News!

(Disclaimer: it is not about the baby!)

Adam got the Assistant Professor of Chemistry job at SDSU! It is specifically a Biophysics post and he'll be teaching a Biophysics class along with getting his research program up and running. There are still a lot of details left to be worked out, but things are looking up!

In other exciting news, little brother has a new friend! Alasdair James was born on March 13. Congratulations to his proud parents Katy and Will!

We have also made some fair progress on nesting. This weekend we cleaned our entire bedroom out, painted and got new furniture. It is almost totally assembled and we should be able to have everything put away by tomorrow. (I imagine myself like a wolf pacing in the woods and scratching up pine needles into my den to make a suitable birthing place. Only with Ikea furniture and low VOC paint.)

There have been no more signs of impending labor. That is good because I am looking forward to getting a lot of stuff done while Max is in school this Tues-Thurs, but I also wouldn't mind a few signs that little brother is thinking of making his way out soon! My sense in the last few days is that he is getting quite large!

Still pregnant

Nesting

First flowers!

50 degrees

Puddles!

A little action

I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions for ages, but last night they crossed the threshold with a little added crampiness thrown in. So I guess we know that something is going on in there! My midwife had previously told me that it is not uncommon to have a lot of prodromal labor the second time around so I guess this is expected. At any rate, it was a good wake up call that there really is a baby in there and it really is coming out! Between the contractions and thinking about the fact that we haven't even unpacked the baby clothes I had a hard time sleeping last night! I will start washing them today and hopefully we can move the dressers around tonight. (Max is *very* sad about giving his dresser with the changing pad on top to the baby.) Fortunately, in the light of the day at least I have given up my 5am-contrived plan of painting the bedroom(s) before the baby comes!

Updates

Adam is back from Minnesota safe and sound. Since no baby was born while he was away, we are all glad that he went. Max and I survived in his absence, but it wasn't necessarily pretty! I guess it was mostly just normal 3-year-old drama (slightly compounded by the fact that this was the 3rd time in two weeks that Daddy went away and before that his Mommy was a nervous wreck.) Off the top of my head there was the bottle of lotion squirted all over the carpet, he overflowed the kitchen sink, and had multiple 10-minute crying sessions about how he must have the pink fork, etc. The best story is how after his (poor pregnant) mother bodily forced his outdoor clothes on, we went outside to have a great time playing in the park. When I announced that it was time to go in, he took off sprinting in the opposite direction with the dog on her expander leash. The three block sprint did not do my body any good. I guess I'm getting to that stage of pregnancy where basically every movement hurts and that compounded everything by about 10. Needless to say, we played in the (fenced in) backyard yesterday! Today, Max is at school and Adam is at work so I'm thinking about finally getting around to some nesting, but the aforementioned sore bod is a slight deterrent!

As for my defense. I passed. I guess that is the big news which everybody already figured out. Unfortunately, I had a cold so my usually hoarse voice was worse than ever. I had a microphone and got through it, but it was no fun. I guess it was a good distraction from my hugely pregnant state! It took me a few days to get over the cold virus, but I'm thankfully back to normal now.

I'm having weekly midwife appointments now. Everything is going along swimmingly though I seem to be losing weight. I'm back down to +18 pounds now. I'm not sure if that is a stress thing or just how this pregnancy is supposed to go. It is a little disconcerting though. I guess, just because it is unexpected. I feel no sense of impending labor and, in fact, the idea of a second child is a little more abstract at this point in time than I would have hoped. (You'd think the hourly jabs in the ribs would make it more "real.")

I put some new pictures up on Flickr - you can get to them by clicking on the widget where it says "more pictures." There are some of my defense party, Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Peter's visit, and Christmas (its been a while!).

PS: We are really no closer to picking out a name than we were a few months ago, but we have decided to just wait and see the little bugger and hopefully something will come to us!!

We'll miss you Grandpa Hop.pe

Adam's grandpa died yesterday. We are still trying to figure out if he should go home for the funeral which is on Monday. I don't feel like I am going to go into labor anytime soon, but still it is a little bit scary to think of Adam being 1000 miles away when I'm so close to the end. I started labor with Max at 39w3d and on Monday I'll be 38w3d. Please keep us all in your prayers!

Dr. Thiex

Dr. Thie.x

Congratulations!

Trav & Emily just got engaged!

Congratulations!

Emily and Trav are engaged!

I did it!

Exciting News

Adam has an interview for the Chemistry/Biophysics faculty position in SD! We had kind of given up hope on that.

So the schedule for the next few weeks:

Feb. 16th and 17th - Natalie: write like hell.

Feb. 18th - Natalie: turn her dissertation into her committee members.

Feb. 19th-20th - Adam: out of town for a talk in Ohio.

Feb.19th-22nd - Natalie: prepare for her defense presentation and CLEAN THE HOUSE!

Feb. 22nd - Midwives come over for home visit in preparation for home birth.

Feb. 25-29 - Natalie: practice defense and MORE CLEANING.

Feb. 27-29 - Adam: in SD for interview.

Feb. 29 - Adam gets back along with Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Peter

Mar 3rd - Defense


It all feels a little (lot!!!) out of control, but I guess that is life. It doesn't help that people assume that I am going to give birth any minute (because I must look like I am going to pop.) I keep telling them that I am not even thinking about the baby - just the dissertation!

Well, I have a hell of a lot of writing to do in the next few days. Adam has hardly started on his talk for Ohio, Max got sick this afternoon and Adam had to pick him up early from school. Pray for all of us that we survive the next few days, and after that the next few weeks! It is a little hairy around here.

Hi and Goodbye!

*My dissertation is due to my committee in two weeks. (!!!)

*My defense is on March 3. (37w3d!!!)

*Total panic ensuing. (!!!)

*Despite not gaining that much weight (~15#), I am quite large. People burst into gales of laughter upon seeing me. (Not kidding.)

*Kid still has no name. (Max suggests "Wax." And more formally, "Wax Thiex Owen") (Among other crazy names.) (But also has told complete strangers on 3 different occasions that baby's name is Owen. With a completely straight face.) (???)

*Again with the panic. (!!!)

Working

Max and Daddy were just coming in from playing outside.

Max: Mommy are you done working?

Mommy: Nope.

Daddy: Mommy has to work for a long, long, long time.

Max: Mommy were you working when the dinosaurs were here?


**It is approximately 3 weeks until my dissertation needs to be given to my committee! Yikes! Back to work!

Handsome Devils

Data Meeting Accomplished

After months (years) of anxiety, I'm glad to say that after I presented my Ph.D. research to my committee yesterday they gave me the go ahead to finish writing my disseratation and plan my defense. Based on my committee members' schedules it looks like my defense will be sometime the week of Feb 18-22. That gives me a month to finish writing as I have to have everything in two weeks in advance! I had better get to work.

The whole thing was rather anti-climactic; they hardly asked me any questions or gave me any advice! So, I thought I needed to burn off a little steam and had the great idea to walk the 3 or so miles home from campus. (Did I mention it was 62 degrees F yesterday?!) The first mile and a half, or so, were just what I needed, but the rest wasn't so good and I am really sore today. I feel like my hip joints are grinding to pieces - and everything is so stiff. This must be what it feels like to have arthritis!

That is the big news - I had better get to work!

Chuckle

Yesterday, Adam and I were trying to get some work done at home. I tried to ask Adam discretely whether I should call the neighbor kid (our favorite 11 year old) to see if he would take Max outside to play for a little bit. We knew we were in big trouble when before Adam could respond, Max piped in, "I think we should call Ethan to come play with M-A-X!" I guess we've had a few months warning that the spelling trick was almost up. A few months ago I said to Adam, "It's almost time for N-A-P," and Max answered, "I don't want to take a nap!"

Max knows almost all of his letters now (unless, of course, we are asking him to demonstrate his vast letter knowledge to somebody else), knows a lot of the letter sounds and gets that letters spell words. I guess it is only time before we are in big, BIG trouble!

Making cinnamon rolls