If you’re new around these parts, this monthly series is an exercise in brevity as I try (sometimes not very hard) to summarize each day of our month in one sentence. (Also, I’ve been taking a picture of my daughter–and now my son, too–every day since they were born, and this is a GREAT place for me to share several of those!). Although I’ve almost always included the photo at the top of its corresponding day, the daily captions of what we did and the photos often do not match. (Just to clarify!)
Thanks to the wonderful Rebecca Jo for the post idea!
Friday 6/1 – Since we got our brand-new grill, we’ve been trying to create a family tradition of having a grill-out on our back patio every Friday (which we’ll eventually start inviting other people to once we become a little more adept at using our new toy). Though our hamburgers took way longer than expected (like an hour, since we were trying to figure out how many coals needed to be added), there’s just something so refreshing about eating a meal outside in the fresh air with no time constraints or dish clean-up after (as I’ve also instigated that Friday grill nights are also let’s-use-paper-goods nights).
Saturday 6/2 – It’s not often we have a Saturday with nothing scheduled AND no big task to do, so we took advantage of the slow day to work on some personal projects (Matt to his woodworking, me on some blog stuff), and I made sure to start the day off right by going to my exercise class in the morning, which I felt GREAT at. Kind of amazing to me that at nearly 35 weeks pregnant, I can still do almost all of the moves during the hip hop routines.
Sunday 6/3 – We headed out of town right after church to make the monthly party my mom and stepdad host every month for all the birthdays in my family, and Raven’s hair got so full of sand from playing in the sandbox with her cousins that she looked like she had scales. This also marked the first day I saw noticeable swelling in my ankles and feet thanks to the 90-degree weather (and here I was naively hoping that maybe this pregnancy, I wouldn’t swell at all…*sob*).
Monday 6/4 – Raven asks me every morning “What we going to do today, Mom?”, and since I didn’t have any particular plans for this morning, I asked her what she wanted to do. She thought for awhile and then said she wanted to go to the store, but as we had nothing we needed (nor money left in the budget for unnecessaries), I suggested the park instead, to which she responded so enthusiastically that I think she had forgotten it was an option for our morning outings (admittedly, it HAS been a few weeks since we’ve gone). Normally I’m having to nag her for an hour to let me help her get ready so we can actually go, but this particular morning, there was no resistance to any of it, not even to needing to sit on the potty first. And we had a great time! Almost an hour and a half of perfect weather with a slight breeze, which we spent playing in the “sandbox” (sand volleyball pit) and having Raven push ME around on the merry-go-round. Later for family night (which we do every Monday night), we went to a summer party sponsored by the city library at the city square park, where Raven got to go on some big blow-up bounce slides and obstacle courses and where we spent yet more time at a park. (Other things that happened on this day: I had a dentist appointment in the morning, and I helped out a neighbor who wanted some help with a photo editing program.) This pregnant lady was definitely worn out by the end of the day!
Tuesday 6/5 – In the mid-morning when the temperatures started to soar, Raven and I dragged her kiddie pool out of storage, filled it up halfway, dumped some plastic cups in there, and then she and I spent a blissful almost-two-hour chunk of time enjoying ourselves (her “scoop a scooping” and playing in the pool, and me reading by the pool). She basically hasn’t stopped asking me every day since to do it again.
Wednesday 6/6 – The two women in my ward (church congregation) that I’d been assigned to visit monthly changed, but I wanted to make sure I squeezed in one last visit (at least as their formal visiting teacher–we’re obviously going to stay friends). So Raven and I made some cookies and took them over to the two households, and it made me sad to think that this won’t be happening every month anymore—Raven has LOVED going monthly to these two because they both have kids around her age, so it’s like we’ve always had a built-in playdate every month.
Thursday 6/7 – I decided that each day, I’m pretty much only good to do one really productive or “big” thing (like going to the park or getting out the pool), and then beyond that point, I’m usually pretty exhausted and then in survival mode until bedtime. On this day, the productive thing was going to two stores in the morning–the first to a thrift store to look for a dress I can wear for a little maternity shoot we’re hoping to do with some friends, and the second to the grocery store for some essentials. Sure enough, I was totally pooped the rest of the day. The last month of pregnancy, man…
Friday 6/8 – Made a trip to the library in the morning so Raven could check out some new books. Later, we continued our tradition as a family of doing a grill night outside, and this was the first time since we’ve used our new grill that we (and by we, I mean Matt, as he’s been doing all the grilling) seemed to strike the perfect balance on the coals so that dinner was ready quickly AND grilled to near-perfection. Yum! (And now we’re almost ready to start inviting people over to these weekly gatherings!)
Saturday 6/9 – It was my father-in-law’s birthday, so we drove down to Bountiful to enjoy a little birthday celebration with him and about half of Matt’s siblings and their families. While there, we made sure to make a pit stop at my folks’ house, where my mom positively inundated us with diapers (and some other gifts) for the new baby. Woo hoo!
Sunday 6/10 – We made sure to drive back home Saturday night in order to make the general session of Stake Conference here in the morning (Stake Conference is a twice-yearly gathering of all the local LDS congregations within a specific allotted area). As we were sitting in the back with all the families with little kids, we didn’t hear as much of the meeting as we would have liked (ha ha), but I made a major genealogical breakthrough on Matt’s line when I was working on it in the afternoon, which was awesome.
Monday 6/11 – Since the last week was all in the 90’s, when we found out that this day was supposed to stay in the 60’s basically all day, we definitely took advantage! Raven and I took a little hike in the canyon (that is literally right up from our house) with a friend and her daughter in the morning, and we made sure to fit in another walk as a family once Matt got home.
Tuesday 6/12 – We won a free dinner from a local restaurant, so we took advantage of it and turned it into our final date before the arrival of the baby. We’re not usually too great about doing regular dates, but we’ve actually been pretty good this year at fitting in at least one per month!
Wednesday 6/13 – We had a free energy consultation at our house to see about the possibility of installing some new products that would help a ton with our heating/cooling costs. Although we were super interested, we decided to postpone this particular home improvement for now, at least until our emergency fund is more beefed up.
Thursday 6/14 – I had a 36-week ultrasound at my doctor’s office on this day, as well as my first internal exam to see if I’ve started progressing at all. The ultrasound was a bit of a disappointment (I’d been looking forward to it for weeks) as they were waaaaay behind schedule and since you have to have a full bladder, I was DYING by the time we got in, so it had to be super short. We were hoping for a good 3-D shot of the baby’s face, but no such luck–his arm was in the way the whole time. On the plus side, I had already dilated to a 3 and was 80% effaced, with the baby sitting super low at a -1 station. Looks like I might not have to wait until I’m 40 weeks along this time!
Friday 6/15 – Other than our now-traditional Friday grill-out (hot dogs this time, which Raven devoured!) and a walk together after, we took it pretty easy, as I was feeling like one walking Braxton Hicks contraction/cramp monster.
Saturday 6/16 – We wanted to take advantage of the cooler weather this weekend, so I convinced Matt we should go back to the hiking trail Raven and I went on earlier this month so he could see it for himself. After, we went straight into Logan to check out Summerfest, and between the hike and all the walking at the fair, I was feeling a LOT of prelabor discomfort, to the point where I started to think I might push my body into ACTUAL labor (seriously, it was all I could think about most of the day because it got so uncomfortable).
Sunday 6/17 – We started Father’s Day with a bang by having Raven throw up on Matt (though it was from coughing so hard, not from a stomach bug), so both he and her stayed home the last two hours of church, leaving me to fend with our Primary class alone (luckily, they were far better behaved than they often are). We drove down to Bountiful immediately after church to spend time with my stepdad and father-in-law, and I also made sure to catch my dad via a phone call (he lives in Missouri), as it was both his birthday AND Father’s Day. Lots of fun with family!
Monday 6/18 – Had to go in early in the morning for a follow-up dentist appointment since I had cavities for the first time on my permanent teeth (booooooo me getting sick so much this pregnancy–dentist was sure it was caused by all the acid from throwing up so much). I DID get to check out what it’s like to get my cavities fixed via laser though (since the very few I got on my baby teeth were done the old-fashioned, hair-raising way!). Weird, but effective. For family night, we went for a little trip to the park, where Raven showed Daddy her new trick of spinning (both of) us on the merry-go-round and then jumping and climbing on herself while it was still going.
Tuesday 6/19 – Had my water break around 3 in the morning, had contractions start about 20 minutes later, and then had our perfect new baby son, Mathias David Meidell, in my arms about two hours after that. No big deal. (For the whole birth story, click here.)
Wednesday 6/20 – Matt had to go back to work and my mom had Raven at our house, so Mathias and I had lots of bonding time in our hospital room, where I enjoyed constant newborn snuggles and the joy that is room service anytime you want it. After Matt got off work, he came to the hospital and helped me pack everything up, and we were discharged from the hospital a couple hours later and came home to a full house (my mom had my sister’s kids there too, as my sister is in Europe) that was VERY eager to meet the new addition.
Thursday 6/21 – I squeezed in a nap while Raven and the baby were both sleeping in the afternoon (and my mom took the other kids to the store to stock us up on groceries and spoil us rotten with other little presents), and I tried hard to adjust to our new life with my pregnancy hormones bouncing all over the place. However, even after a suuuper tough night of almost no sleep/trouble with nursing once my milk came in, I managed to only cry a little once. #smallvictories
Friday 6/22 – Lack of sleep started to get to me, though I still managed to keep my crying fit to just one, and it didn’t even last two minutes. Mathias had his first follow-up appointment at the doctor, and we discovered that he’d lost a little more weight than expected, but luckily he started nursing pretty good later that day (finally!), so my worry/anxiety didn’t have *too* much of a chance to get out of control. My mom left with my sister’s kids (which helped ease some of the chaos that had been happening in the house), and Matt’s parents came by in the evening to see the baby. Matt and I were both counting our blessings that we’d made it to the weekend without losing (too much of) our sanity!
Saturday 6/23 – Matt’s brother and his family came to see Mathias in the morning, and our friends the Majors came just after that and brought us lunch, which we all enjoyed together. They have a little girl who’s almost exactly Raven’s age, and the two of them had a blast while we all caught up (as we don’t see them nearly as often as we’d like since they moved about two hours south of us). Later, Matt’s family came back to bring us dinner, so all in all, a pretty busy (and food-filled) day!
Sunday 6/24 – Went on our first family-of-four walk along our usual route (which is about a mile and a half long). Perhaps we were a bit *too* ambitious for my first outing, as I was a bit sore/crampy for the rest of the day as a result. Thanks to our best night so far though (probably at least six hours total of sleep!), I finally felt human again.
Monday 6/25 – My first full day with both kids by myself, which went pretty well until early afternoon happened and a certain someone (ahem, my older child) wouldn’t go down for a nap. Had a minor meltdown on the phone when my mom called to see how things were going, but other than that, it could have been worse!
Tuesday 6/26 – Tried really hard to make the day fun for Raven, since all these days inside with the baby have been hard on her, so I sat outside with a book on our front porch while she rode her bike and played with sidewalk chalk, and then I pulled out her little kiddie pool after her nap. Though she still had plenty more meltdowns than was typical before the baby came, it was at least a little easier to deal with since I was doing something constructive with our time.
Wednesday 6/27 – My mom came back up to our house in the evening so she could spend the next couple days with us (sans my nieces and nephew this time).
Thursday 6/28 – We (my mom, the kids, and I) took advantage of the cooler weather to go on another walk, which was my first venture outside since our LAST walk as a family, sadly. In happy news, though, this walk didn’t leave me sore or crampy at all! Looks like I’m probably ready to start getting out more. Later that evening, my dad and stepmom (who were in town for the week from Missouri) came by to meet the baby and have dinner with us.
Friday 6/29 – To make ourselves feel a little more normal (and less like zombie parents), Matt and I braved staying up a little later than normal to watch a movie together (something we haven’t done at home in literally months and months). True, we had Mathias in the room with us, but it still felt like an old school date night to me!
Saturday 6/30 – Gave the baby his first at-home bath (yeah, we were a little slow to do that). He totally hated it.
And that’s a wrap for June—talk about a crazy month that definitely went a little differently than planned! We’re so happy to have Mathias here with us safe and sound, though (and, let’s be honest–I’m definitely counting my blessings that I didn’t have to be pregnant now in July, since the temperatures have been soaring into the triple digits).
