It was such a strange weekend--I was so completely exhausted, far beyond tired. Saturday morning I stayed in bed until I absolutely had to get up to get ready for the baby shower that Jenny threw for me. I think I was having some Braxton-Hicks contractions (from now on I will refer to them as "surges"), and it was very nice to have Kathleen & Felicia there to play with Jonathan so Dale could come lay down with me, and so I didn't have to worry about anything.
Once I got up and hauled myself into the shower (a nice hot one as I was cold), I did get a bit of energy. A good thing, since the shower started at 2 p.m. and we didn't leave until 6:30! As always, Jennifer hosted a beautiful, thoughtful, lovely shower, and everyone seemed to have a great time. We did have fun doing bellycasting, and what I hope to do with the finished cast (after I reinforce it) is to put a blanket in it and take a picture of the baby in it sometime during the first week or so after the birth. Then, who knows what we'll do with the d*** thing.
Sunday morning was the same way--exhaustion, and I'd slept well too. Finally about 3:30 I managed to get in the shower so we could hie ourselves to Babies 'R' Us and get a changing table as well as some other necessities. Last night I was speaking to Jessica on the phone, and she pointed out that being tired at this stage is nothing out of the ordinary (remember I didn't get the ninth month of pregnancy with Jonathan, so I don't know firsthand how things change here at the end)--when I need to take notice is when I get energy and clean everything up. That brought a laugh on! Now I think she's jinxed me, because today I have loads of energy and am determined to get many things done . . . on that note, I must go get started.
It's been a long time since I wrote in here! I'm definitely slowing down, and in the evenings (which is when I usually make my entries) my brain is pretty sluggish. In the mornings I'm trying to keep up with all this information Daddy has been gathering from the old Church records in Wurzweiler so that I can hurry up and update the web site again. We let our cousin Dennis (the priest in Florida) know about the site and about the new info on the Karls, and he was impressed/pleased. It's fun to be finding out all these new things.
Jonathan has been wearing underpants (as opposed to pull-ups) to bed for about a week now. No accidents yet. Dale and I have great fun taking him to the bathroom to have a widdle after he's gone to sleep; we take him once or twice. He's very cute and pretty much does the whole thing in his sleep. Boy he makes a beeline for his bed when he's finished! Can't wait to get his head on his pillow and pull the sheets back up over himself.
This afternoon at 1:13 p.m. I'll be more pregnant than I've ever been before--at this stage in the pregnancy with Jonathan, I'd been in the hospital since Tuesday, unable to feel my abdomen or legs since last night, and in about twenty minutes I'd be about to embark on a nearly useless course of pushing in the presence of a totally disengaged nurse who stared at the monitor the whole time. Still 3 hours and 12 minutes to go before the forceps & episiotomy . . . have I mentioned how glad I am we are going a different route this time?
Dale and I have been watching a really good (canceled, of course) series on DVD that he borrowed from a friend at work--it's called Firefly.
Probably not up Mom & Dad's alley since it is mildly futuristic (500 hundred years in the future and everyone cusses in Chinese), but it is really quite good! I didn't believe it had been done by a major American network (Fox) until I looked it up. The writing for the show is great--nice dry sarcasm, and the actors do a great job of delivering it. No stupid one-liners, and no irritating laugh track! And the focus is definitely the people, not the environment they're in.
Easter was quite nice and laidback. Jennifer & Stepan came over, and so did Matt (much to my surprise). We had to do the egg hunt inside since it was wet outside, but Jonathan still had a good time. Then we had a light brunch of devilled eggs, cold cuts & bread graciously supplied by J&S, and yummy non-alcoholic drinks of oj & ginger ale prepared by the other expectant mummy. Jonathan was thrilled to have some of his favorite people around for so long. Dessert consisted of Easter chocolate and some funny little hatching chicks made from white chocolate that Mom sent to Jonathan as an Easter present (from Williams-Sonoma, which no longer has a picture of them on their site, so you'll have to use your imagination). After brunch, Jonathan & Matthew put together a little 24-pc Easter puzzle after brunch.
Then last Saturday Matthew helped us out again by mowing our lawn for us. Jonathan kept him company for a large part of it, and then he talked Matt into reading a couple of stories with him and educated him all about Thunderbirds. About 7:15 p.m., Matt headed out, although he was at the door when Jonathan asked if Matt could be the one to get him ready for bed. We said perhaps next time.
Dale and I have been trying to develop a sense of urgency about the baby and getting some preparations done--like getting all the receiving blankets and clothes out of the attic so they can get washed and ready for use. He finally got them done night before last, although there's still some stuff up there that he's going to have to look closer for. This weekend after the shower I plan to get everything washed, and then we'll just have to figure out where in the h*** we're going to put it all. (Ha ha ha.) Then all we'll need is the baby!
Finally! After many, many weeks of effort, a wonderful birthday present from Brian & Joy, a most capable and helpful site host, and much help from my clever dad on learning to ftp and retrieve the e-mail I'd set up, my web site is up and running.
I bought the domain www.KarlFamilyHistory.com for the next two years and have, as noted above, contracted with Stepan to host the site. As you will see when you go to look at it, it is very basic right now. I had to restrict the type of information I included for people (birth, marriage, census, death, burial, etc.) so that I'd be able to get it all into reasonable shape before the baby came, which was my goal (to get a site up before then). I did put some effort into having a picture for everyone I could think of, because I think that makes it a lot more interesting to look at. So all of you who contributed to the Karl Family Shoebox project--this site couldn't have been done without you either!
Also, I have not included entries for any living people, so you won't find yourselves on this site. At some point in the future, I'll do a site that I burn onto a CD for everyone, and that will include info re everyone in the family, not just deceased. But don't hold your breath for that. Those of you who have a deceased parent will find your names in their entry (listed as their children), but there will not be a link to any further information about you.
You will still find some small output errors (spaces before periods, etc.)--please feel free to send them on to me (you can use the e-mail link on the pages to do so). Some will be able to be fixed and some won't, but at least I'll be able to keep a log of them. I'd rather know about them than not.
Dear Kathleen, I hope you have a very happy birthday even if you are travelling. Did you have a good time playing with the new little grandchild? (I bet it will be hard for John to leave Colorado come Sunday.) Jonathan will try to sing you the birthday song this evening (if I remember, of course). Well, in spite of having to spend your birthday on an airplane, many happy returns! xoxoxoxoxoxox
Yes, that giant person in the chair is me. At least they didn't use the close-up shot of my nostrils that's part of the video.
On the News8 site for Austin, you can both read the article and watch the clip that ran most of the day yesterday on the local news channel. (You have to click on the "Hypnobirthing" link in the playlist once you click on the video camera icon to see the story.) In the opening shot, you see the hypnotherapist, Jan, Dale with his legs stretched out in front of him and looking determinedly relaxed, and the woman with the light blue shirt on in the chair on Jan's left is our doula, Seasha.
This week has seemed quite busy. On Tuesday I got to babysit that cute little Eamon (Jessica & Archie's son) while Jessica went for the manicure we gave her for a Christmas present. He can be so cuddly, and he is just so damn cute! Dale was jealous I was getting him all to myself; I did it while Jonathan was at his lunch bunch. I even got to get out my sling and have him on my hip while I made my lunch, which certainly brought back some memories. My throat remembered that it used to get a little hoarse b/c I was talking to Jonathan all the time, telling him what I was doing (putting toast in the toaster, for instance) and why, how things worked, etc. Eamon was certainly fascinated (or bored, take your pick). He sat at the table with me and had grapes, cheese, turkey, and some of my homemade dill bread. It was fun! Then he helped me water the plants on the deck.
Yesterday was a difficult day b/c I'd slept on the wrong side most of the night before (it was either that or do grievous bodily harm to my husband for snoring every time I started to go off to sleep), and all the following day the baby's head was pressing against a nerve on the right side of my back. Felt like someone had kicked my right kidney with Doc Martens--not very comfortable at all. So at bookgroup in the evening I made sure to sit on a dining table chair (wooden, not padded) and sat with good posture such that my stomach was between my back and the floor (as opposed to reclining backwards, like on a comfy couch). By the time I left to go back home, things had improved at least 50%, and after sleeping last night on my left side instead of the right, I am just fine today. Thank goodness.
I can certainly tell that I'm pregnant--last weekend Dale and I came across Field of Dreams on the TV and watched a large part of it (the field was already built, but he hadn't gone to get James Earl Jones yet). You would not believe how hard I cried at that stupid movie--twice, no less! Big, gulping sobs too. I was an absolute mess. Until this baby comes, I am going to have to avoid all movies with sentimentality in them.
Today is usually a day that J. and I just hang around the house and chill, but we ended up having a busy afternoon. I got organized with my datebook, first of all--have signed up Jonathan for some summer camps at his gymnastics place, and there are some activities for kids who will be attending his elementary school in the fall (less than four months away!) that I had to write in, etc. (I also had to call Dell to arrange for a new monitor since two rows of pixels went out on mine last night, but luckily it was quite a painless experience.) Then I called to schedule my singing lessons that Dale gave me for my birthday and ended up making the first one this afternoon at 1 p.m. So J. and I had to quickly shower, run up to Subway to grab a sandwich for lunch, fill up the car with gas and head to south Austin for my first singing lesson either (with the same lady, Sonora Lee, who has been giving Dale piano lessons since the beginning of the year). Jonathan loved everything about her and got to play the keyboard (with the headphones on) while I had my lesson. When I had to go to the main house for a bathroom break, she got him on her little drumset, and he just went to town on it. She was quite impressed, and then even more so when she realized he could read (was reading the names of the buttons on her keyboard). After he was done with all that, he just pulled a book out of his backpack and sat in a chair to read it. He was grand company.
When we left Sonora's, we headed up to his elementary school to have a look at all the student artwork that was in the hallways. Jonathan had a great time looking around the school and seeing where all the classrooms were and the things the kids had made. We will be going back again two weeks from tomorrow for some science lab activities. None too soon, either--the other day he learned about negative numbers when he asked me what was less than zero. Can't start him too young, I guess . . .