Family Update 2.17.15

Thank you all for the congratulations over my pregnancy announcement!  To the few who felt you needed to criticize me, let me clear things up:

• I am a 31 year old woman in a committed relationship with the father of this and our other baby, this is not an ‘accident’, it is a very purposeful choice to have a second kid.
• No I am not married, that is also by choice.  My choices are not a criticism of yours.
• I do not need a lesson on ‘keeping my legs closed’.  I have successfully used birth control for MANY years now… thank you though.
• I know how babies are made, I don’t need a lesson in preventing pregnancy, accidents DO happen, yes.  This is not one of those situations.  Even if this was an ‘accident’ you should say nothing but ‘congratulations’, certainly if we are not on a first name basis.

Thank you all for the concern and the congratulations, hopefully that makes this a bit more clear that there is no need to criticize a pregnant lady (i.e. me), we are known for bad attitudes so that MAY not be in your best interest ;-).

To the nice people, thank you for your kind congratulations, they mean WAY more to me!

We got to see the new little monster last week for the first time, he/she is barely more than a blip at this point but there is a heartbeat!  The heartbeat apparently means they are at least 6 weeks cooked.  It was tough to measure but the estimate puts me right around 7 weeks pregnant, we will know a better number next month.  So far this is a WAAAAYYYYY better pregnancy than Hazelnut.  I am sick for about 5 hours every evening and tired pretty much all the time but it is a day on the beach compared to Hazel, seriously! That was something rotten!  I’m glad she at least came out cute! 🙂

We are getting amped up for the tiny house renovation and making those plans/arrangements, the new/old bed is AWESOME, oh how I missed my bed.   🙂  It’s fun thinking about ideas to incorporate: wall murals, dutch door, storage solutions for toy management :).

Little Hazel update, she’s walking!  It’s so crazy to see such a little person just toddling around as she pleases!  She can say ‘mama’, ‘dada’ and ‘hot’.  She and Denver are becoming great friends, he loves all of her food and she likes giving it to him!   That is one of her favorite things, giving Denver treats!  She knows all the face stuff and will point to our eyes/nose/mouth/ears when asked, she knows about lights, she looks up when we ask where the light is.  She’s getting pretty grabby but will pat things nicely when told to be gentle, including me, in the middle of the night, half asleep… makes me laugh.  We have a pretty awesome schedule of going to story times, play dates and baby classes, it gets me out of the house and she likes watching (and eventually playing) with other kiddos.  She loves the dinosaurs at the library, pretty much is ‘over’ the story time to go play with the dinos… In a nutshell she is the picture of health and happiness and we are so grateful for the tiny house to give us the opportunity to live this way, I love watching her grow up!

Denny update, he’s still growing (22 months currently)!  I keep thinking he’s done but then he shoots up a couple more inches.  He used to be able to walk right under the pantry door just ducking his head (it’s 34″ from the floor), now he bumps it with his back!  I thought I designed that alright, now I I have to actually shut the door so he can stand on my heels while I cook… 🙂  He’s been worrying me getting skinny this winter, he seems to have boycott his food and getting ribby but the growing explains some of that…  I try to put little ‘extras’ in his food so he will actually eat it, it’s been helping and he’s getting a little fuller (happy to say, I think hes 140#-150#, haven’t actually weighed him in a while).  I was happy to hear from our Great Dane group that several other Danes in the valley go through this in the winter.  He’s as handsome and sweet as ever, and he digs his new bed, even if he still sneaks up to mine every now and again!   I WILL be going though some deep spring cleaning soon to get the drool off of the ceiling, that is one drawback, though I am certain that would happen in any size house!  (He’s an impressive drooler…)  Other than that we are enjoying the sunshine and good weather we’ve been having and take frequent walks and trips to the dog park to see his friends!

James and I are also great, he wrapped up his shop/garage/studio project and has a sweet little work space!  He’s going to be renting out his front house completely (he’s been renting half out as is) here soon.  I want to get a video tour of his studio soon, I think you’d like it, it’s a different take on a small space, he did awesome and followed through on all the details which is SO important!  In reality there is still just a little left but I think projects are always that way!   He’s been working a lot which is great when you’re an independent contractor, he’s never had to look for work but pretty much stays at the point that he has to turn some away so we can have some free, family time.  I’ve been impressed at how he handles several different types of projects simultaneously.   It’s tough not knowing if you’ll have work in a week/month but it’s nice to be able to build your life where you don’t have to stress about the down time (if you can get some!).  He’s got some loans and such to pay off but has been well on his way to being debt free as well (it’s nice!).  Once we are both there it becomes a lot easier to be location independent and do some wild and crazy things in life.  I wish we lived in a society where it wasn’t ‘normal’ to be strapped with so much debt and so many monthly payments, unfortunately before we know enough to know better most people have student loans or credit debt up the wazoo…  its sad.  It IS possible to escape it though!  That is our goal!  Soon!

Yup, hopefully that covers the basics, I always feel a little bad posting updates, I’ve been asked for one lately though, and it’s a nice way to document my life for the future me!  Congrats and apologies if you made it this far! 🙂