Growing up

Someone asked me recently when I knew I was truly grown up. There are, in fact, a few moments burned into my memory.

1) Kevin and I left for a cross-country trip during the summer of 2005. We'd been married for a year and a half and were planning to make some babies soon (it would take a couple of years, but we didn't know that yet) so we decided the time was right. Kevin took a leave of absence from work at Men's Wearhouse and we took a month driving through Colorado, to Oregon, then Montana, and back through the U.P. The first night of our trip, we'd been driving for 19 hours and had made it to Estes Park. But the Coleman national campground guide misled us and the campground we'd planned to stay at was nowhere to be found. As I recall, the name had changed or something. Anyway, as we drove, and drove, and drove through the darkness, seeing deer and elk at the side of the road, I remember thinking, "there is no one here to help us. Mom and Dad are not figuring this out while I sleep in the backseat. We are it. We have to find something. This is the new vacation." We eventually found a campsite, and the rest is history.

2) The first day we came home from the hospital with Nellie, someone muttered those words I'd heard hundreds of times before from a person holding a crying baby: "I think she needs her mommy." They passed her over to me and of course, I took her and tried to appear competent. But really, I was thinking, "nononononono you don't get it. I do not know what to do for this baby. I don't even know this baby. Wet? Hungry? Uncomfortable? In pain? I have absolutely no idea. They should not have let me leave the hospital with this child. But - I guess the buck stops here. No one else is going to mother her. I have to do it." And, of course, I figured it out eventually. I'd say I've 87% figured it out.

3) This year, I hosted Thanksgiving--really hosted, as in, I made the turkey and some other stuff--for the first time. Last year I hosted but it was a potluck and my dad made all the hard stuff. This year was technically a Wacyk year, but my parents went to visit Laurel and Dave and everyone else went to their in-laws (or almost-in-laws), so we got to have dinner with Kevin's family. And since John's in the U.P. and Lisa doesn't cook turkey, plus we're nicely centrally located and, you know, living in John's house, we offered to host. I was alternately excited and terrified, because I'd never made turkey, stuffing, gravy, or mashed potatoes (I know, it's weird), all of which I was now responsible for, plus the cranberry sauce and cornbread. I felt like a grown-up buying the turkey, but that was the easy part.

Luckily, I had help. Pam came Wednesday to help clean and play with the kids, and John was home by 9:00. Sarah and Lisa brought lots of delicious vegetable dishes. There were relatively few mishaps. I did try to pull a leg off the turkey thinking it was the neck, and the turkey was still a little frozen Wednesday night even though I had put it in the fridge on Sunday. It took hours to make the gravy, and seriously I ended up with buckets of the stuff. DJ was up all night Wednesday night, plus I had to get up at 5:30 to get everything ready and into the roaster by 6:30. BUT--in the end, it went well! And I found out that when your mom's around, it's easy to revert to a child-like state, but when she's out of the state and it's all on you, you really can cook a Thanksgiving dinner.

20 minutes in the life of DJ, as captured by Annie

Here's a taste of what life is like with DJ (read: busy!) Annie took all these photos on Thanksgiving - probably while I was cleaning!

Getting into the beer

Hi Annie!

To the baby highchair

"DJ, With Foot"

On the move

Down the hallway

Hop on the bus

Oh, yup. Here's me tucking in Bitty Baby

Grabbing him to keep him from crawling under the table

Gotcha!

A Year of Thanksgiving

I discovered the "activity log" feature on Facebook, which let me look back on some of the highlights from the past year. It also helped me remember how very much I have to be thankful for, even though overall it seemed like a pretty hard year. I actually remember pulling on to our street on the way home from the hospital with DJ, thinking, "how am I going to do this?" But somehow or another, we did it. We're here, we're happy, though a little disheveled.

Here are some things to remember:

• DJ arrived late, but safe and sound. I sent the following message to our families on December 27th at 10:00 p.m.: "Here's the scoop - for those of you still awake tonight! We are scheduled to start induction at 9:00 am tomorrow. I will call at 6:45 to confirm whether or not there is actually space in labor and delivery. I'm feeling really nervous about it (maybe an understatement), and my doctor is willing to try some non-drug methods first so it could be a long day. At this point, there is also still hope that I could go into labor naturally before then - please pray for that!! But if I know you are praying through the whole night and day (not constantly - sleep!) then I will be more peaceful..."  They didn't know that immediately before I sent the message, I basically had an emotional meltdown. Anyway, I went into labor at 10:30. 
• In the days, weeks, and months since, we've been showered with love and help from friends and family. For example, we enjoyed weeks of delicious meals from church friends. My dad painted the extra bedroom this fall so that we could (finally) give DJ his own room and enjoy a little more sleep and privacy. Kevin's parents babysit so I can go to class or we can go on an occasional date. And the list goes on.
• We survived a Very Sick Winter, including a long weekend when both Kevin and I both had some flu or strep that had us near death. It's one of my biggest fears--both parents being sick--but we made it. Again, we depended on the help of family. My dad even left work in Flint early on Friday to drive us to the doctor, since we were both too sick to drive. Okay, I have to stop thinking about that. I think I had managed to block it out.
• After a thankfully brief hiatus, DJ started taking a bottle again this spring.
• We took two family vacations to John's, one over the 4th of July and one in October. I'm thankful because we have family in a very lovely and interesting place to visit, and because both trips were very nice relaxing oases in the middle of otherwise busy and relatively stressful times in our lives.
• Lots of good things happened for family members, like Laurel's successful surgery, Dave graduating from grad school and getting a teaching job, and Emily graduating from college. Also, TWO new nieces to be welcomed this spring and a new brother-in-law to be welcomed...sometime TBD.
• Annie made it through a scary concussion from falling from the counter to the ceramic tile floor. Some of the worst hours of my life we spent waking her up through the night praying she'd be okay in the morning...and she was.
• After 8 solid months of studying, I took, survived, and passed my comprehensive exams!
• There were other good work-related things...we presented at two different conferences this year, I got to travel to Philadelphia and Berkeley and it worked out to take DJ and Kevin/Mom, and our proposal to AERA was accepted so I get to go back to San Francisco in April!
• Nellie got two scholarships, which sealed the deal in sending her to LCS. We don't have anything against Grand Ledge, but we do love Lansing Christian and her teacher, Mrs. Herwaldt.  

I knew a year ago that it was going to be a hard year, with extra studying, my first year of teaching, and a new baby. Looking back helped me remember some of the big and little ways we have been truly and greatly blessed. We are so thankful!  

Happenings

Maybe the title of this post is a little misleading, since nothing much is happening! Well, I shouldn't say that. Lots and lots of little things have happened, like:

• Kevin got a deer! Two thumbs up for a freezer stuffed with meat.
• I passed the written part of comps! I haven't really been announcing it, because I still have the oral exam on Thursday, but the papers were the biggest hurdle so I am super thrilled to be done. Still studying for three more days...
• DJ is pulling himself up, climbing stairs, and moving fast. Things have gotten infinitely more complicated around here.
• Nellie is practicing for the Christmas show at church, which means we're listening to Christmas music in the car all day, every day.
• We had the first kindergarten parent-teacher conferences. Nellie is on track, and has "a kind heart and a sweet smile," according to her teacher. Hopefully she'll bring out that smile at her picture retakes on Wednesday. :)
• Annie moved up to the intermediate gymnastics class, and is loving every minute of it. She got the "most courageous" award two sessions in a row, so we're proud of her, of course! She's very into cooking and taking care of her baby dolls right now.
• DJ spent a long day hunting with Kevin today for the first time! I hear he did great. I, on the other hand, am definitely going crazy. Without him here, all day long I've imagined I hear him talking or crying. This might be the first time ever that I've been home without him here.
• DJ continues to sleep better - he's slept through the night several times, and only gets up once most other nights. There was one rough night at Pam's when he didn't sleep more than 5 minutes at a time because he was so sick, but we're on the tail end of that. First round of colds for the season - check!

And an Annie story

Annie walked up to me holding a "blowy" dandelion (is there an official word for that?) and asked, "Mommy, do you want to wish for another baby in your tummy?" Then she looked at me expectantly, with this Annie-excitement that I wish I could bottle up. It involves this smile-giggle-wiggle combination that's pretty irresistible.

Me: "Well...sure." I took the dandelion, made the wish, and blew the seeds away.

Annie [very seriously, with a tiny hint of disdain]: A girl this time.

Some Nellie stories

Nellie was sick when we went to get her hearing checked for school, so she failed the test in one ear and we had to go back (she tested normally the second time around.) Lately, she's been trying to use that to get away with not listening. I'll say, "Nellie, I can tell you're not listening," and she'll matter-of-factly say, "well remember, I failed my hearing test." That girl. Then the other day, I complained about some sour milk I found in the car. She said, "I don't smell it...I'd better get my smelling checked!"

Playing 20 questions, Nellie's "thing" was God. Her clue: "It holds the whole universities!" 

Nellie asked who is running for president, and Kevin gave her a nice summary of the two leading candidates. She responded, "well I think Romney should be the president. Obama already got to be president, and it's nice to take turns."

Our family loves the Veggie Tales Hosanna album, against all common sense indicating that a whole CD of Veggie Tale music might actually kill you. We discovered a pitfall while we were actually in church, though. In a quiet moment after the chorus of "Everlasting God," Nellie exuberantly (and loudly) said, "look Phillippe, we're flying!" in a perfect French accent. Just like the peas.

DJ at 9 months

Head circumference: 18.5 inches
Weight: 20 lbs. 8 oz.
Length: 30.25 inches
Five teeth!

He's much more average in size, now! DJ started crawling on all fours October 14th at John's house in Sault Ste. Marie while we were on vacation - he was highly motivated by all the buttons in the entertainment center! He slept through the night for the first time a couple of nights ago, but we're not holding our breath for a repeat. It might have been due to the fact that he ate half an avocado, a jar of peas, and half a pint of chicken fried rice before bed.

Fun note: I was commenting to my niece, Leah, that if you put together all the cousins' first initials, you could spell the name Landra, then I could just call them all by one name. I listed everyone's name, and Leah interrupted to ask, "DJ's name is Donald Duck?"

Unlike the girls, DJ never stops moving. He only wants to crawl around. That's it. Which makes changing him, dressing him, bathing him, getting him into the car, and feeding him very difficult. And just...sweaty. I seriously feel like we spend our days in one long wrestling match.