double whammy

We've just learned that Matthew is set to take his oral exam (to defend his dissertation prospectus) on Dec. 1-- the SAME DAY as my prelim! He is also presenting his research in South Carolina (Nov 17-21). Given the new twist, we realized that we would both be pressed very hard with our studies this month, so we called for help... My sister is flying up Nov.15th to pick Abby up and fly her to San Diego for a 15-day vacation with Aunt Andi, Alec, Mia, Mimi, and the cousins... I hear that a Disneyland trip is in the works!

So, this will give M and I study time and will make the time MUCH more fun for Abby. Yay for having help from a village! This also may be the last time M and I are together by ourselves for a LONG time (with baby coming in early May...). We will try to to take study breaks once or twice to go see a movie and have a dinner out.

the sound of childhood

I never had legos as a kid, but Matthew sure did. He and Abby went to Wal Mart tonight to hunt for legos. I never knew these things were so tiny (and, yes, I'm thinking that it will be interesting keeping baby Pearson away from them). One other detail about legos that I never knew: they are LOUD. Abby and Matthew have been digging around the bin, finding just the right pieces for their house, and I'm getting a little headachy. In fact, I think I am going to hide out and take a bath. I mentioned how loud the legos were and Matthew simply replied: "This is the sound of childhood." If we have a boy this time around, or a louder girl than Abby, I'll be needing ear plugs, aromatherapy, and maybe even quarterly massages.

I may be very slow to blog until after December 1--my PhD preliminary exam is on that date, and all of my time and energy is going to studying, managing nausea and fatigue, and trying to snuggle and love my family before I fall asleep at 8:15 p.m. So PLEASE pray for me and for us. Especially pray that I'll not be anxious and that I will somehow get the rest and peace that I need in order to manage this very stressful time.

props to Matthew

I mentioned that M has been a champ, but this deserves special mention. This past Saturday I got a serious headache--I'm not sure what sort it was, but it was awful. Tylenol wouldn't touch it and the doc said (over the phone) that I could take Vicodine. One vicodine and two hours later I was still in just as much pain. One more vicodine and thirty minutes later and my body decided to revolt. All night long. Dear Matthew held my hair and fetched washcloths as I threw everything and then nothing up over and over. Around 4 a.m. we quit trying to sleep and decided to watch a DVD. I took some anti-nausea medication, put the hot rice pack on my neck (THANK YOU, Bronwyn and Jeremy!) and prayed for relief. We both fell asleep at 5:30 and Abbs was up Sunday morning at 7:30, so we took shifts. If one must be sick all through the night, it sure helps to have a loving hubby to just be there and be willing to forego sleep if it makes things even a little more bearable. He earned some stripes this weekend, for sure.

I'll try to remember this the next time I'm frustrated with Matthew for declaring "spider amnesty day" when I beg him to kill a spider in our house.

a "miracle"

I came home tired after teaching from 4-6 tonight. Abby was pouting and grumpy because M wouldn't let her play a game on the computer. She started complaining about her leg, her hand, and her neck hurting; oh yes, and her eye was very itchy too. She was angry about her food (she wanted mommy's chicken tetrazini after she ate her own portion) and angry at not getting her way about the computer, so she decided to milk the owie card.

WAY too tired to put up with this, I calmly told her that the best course of action for someone feeling so blue and owie is to have a bath and go straight to bed. I walked out of the room a minute to take a deep breath and give her time to consider what I had said. When I walked back into the room, she sheepishly said to me:

A: Mommy, I know something great is happening, but I don't want you to think I'm lying.
G: What is it?
A: My owies are all better. My leg doesn't hurt anymore; my hand and my neck are better too. I'm not lying.
G: How did they get better so fast?
A: I don't know; they just did. (Pause) Momma, since I am feeling better, do I still need to go bed early? I'll stop whining, I promise.

we're still here

An update on our fam...
Matty: M is working on paper #1 of 3 papers that will comprise his dissertation. He has been the champ of champs at home during a long six weeks of G's nausea. He is a TA this quarter and is preparing for presenting his research at a conference in November.
Genna: I still feel cruddy in the evening and at night in particular, but we're officially at 11 weeks now, so hopefully after another week or so I'll be in the clear! I haven't gained any baby weight yet, but clothes are fitting differently for sure! I'm getting a little pot belly, which Abby LOVES to talk to. She thinks she can feel kicks (it is still early for that though). I'm teaching a writing class and trying to study for my prelim exam.

You can pray for encouragement for both M and I; we are tired and discouraged at times as we face mountains of work.

Abby: She is being a real trooper. Abby is especially excited about trying out the church (K-6) choir (starts Friday!). She has had the sniffles for a while but nothing major. A likes to look at ("read") books in bed at night (just like her daddy). Last night we found her asleep with sixteen large books; no doubt it took her several trips to get those into bed. She had school pictures taken the other morning. I saw something stuck on her face so I licked my pinky and tried to rub it off. She said to me: "Now rub your germs off too." Ha!

celebrate naked romantic fire

As I opened the fridge to get milk for my cereal, I saw that Abby's art work was being held up by four of the fridge magnets that Matthew gave me some time ago--they are part of a set of "romantic words" which presumably one can make sentences out of. Abby had made her own sentence: "celebrate naked romantic fire." Matthew thought this was hillarious.

how'd you know that?

Abby and I were watching Jeopardy yesterday. Trebeck yammers something about "this country" while the screen shows a grey continent with a large red section indicating the country. I looked at and thought, hmmmm, don't know. Abby yells out: "That's Russia! It's Russia! I know it!" Then the buzzers go off and the contestant says: "What is Russia?" Trebeck replies: "Correct."
I just looked at Abby in amazement while she grinned.

This morning Matthew was still wondering how in the world she knew that answer:
M: Abby, how did you know it was Russia?
A: Because on Elmo visits the doctor they showed pictures of continents and countries, and I knew it was Russia.

So there. Rock on, Elmo.

slow-mo

I feel like life is moving very slowly these days--not necessarily a bad thing at all; infact, we are usually moving way too quickly. My frequent naps (seriously, I took two naps today! The first one was more of a rest, but the second one was an hour and a half sleep!) seem to make the days surreal. I get drowsy every time I eat :) I think staying in one's pj's all day does that too--or perhaps it is the solitude (and the nausea) which makes one think that the world is moving in slow- motion? I teach Tuesday and Thursday afternoons 4-6 p.m., which makes the day/evening shift really odd for me. Anyway, I think I need to bust out more comfy daytime clothes to wear so that the jammies don't seem so enticing. My tummy just doesn't want to be pressed by jeans these days!

One interesting thing from the past week--I went to a "Women of Faith" conference in Sacramento. There are lots of great things I could say about it, but one surprise was that Robyn McGraw (American TV's "Dr. Phil's" wife) spoke compellingly about women and choices in how we live. Dr. Phil was there to walk her off the stage (as she has done for him so many times). They are both Christians--something I suspected, but not something they advertise from their national platform. All in all, I was encouraged and I've been pensively trying to process much of what I heard.

chicken pops

Abby does NOT have chicken pox, but her friend Abbey O. does. Abbs was supposed to have a play date yesterday; it was cancelled and we had to explain to Abby about her friend. Abby burst into tears about "chicken pops" and about how people would laugh at her if she had polka dots. Abby misunderstood Matthew when he said that Jess was not bringing Abbey O. over; Abigail thought that meant Jess was only bringing the chicken pops over! She then blubbered some questions about eating chicken pops??? I don't know what she was imagining these things to be (chickien nuggests?), but she had the impression that you got them by eating some chicken something or other. A little web MD sleuth work and discussion and she's a bit more clear on the issue now.