Run Day, and NordicFest

Nick and I were coordinators for our church’s Fall Festival 5K Run/2 mile walk, held at 8 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 12. Our annual family reunion (Nick’s dad’s side, affectionally dubbed “NordicFest”) was to take place the same day, 3 1/2 hours away. Nick’s brother Ryan and Ryan’s fiancee Jessica helped us set up, ran the course, and traveled to the reunion with us – good sports all the way. Friends graciously watched Lauren for us Friday night and Saturday.

Picture #1: Our start line, pictured at 6 a.m. after we went out and sent up directional arrows for the route. Nick hung the banner the night before, with lots of laughs from Ryan, Jessica and me.
Picture #2: A tent on the grounds which served as awards stage, water station, and food.
Picture #3: A close-up of our donated bagels and fruit.

Great weather and a successful turnout. I wish I had pictures of the crowd but from that point I was just too busy. We were cleaned up by 9:30 and hit the road by 11, picking up Lauren and lunch along the way. It was nice to see everyone at the reunion, but then the room started to spin for me, so I napped while Nick took Lauren on a boat ride and fed her supper.

Picture 4: Lauren and cousin Sam.
Picture 5: Lauren and “Uncle” Calvin playing “speed Patti-Cake” (don’t ask; it made her laugh!) We laughed at the similar hairstyles

It’s A Boy!

(Insert 20-week sonogram shot here; CD from doctor isn’t working)

On Sept. 4, we visited the doctor for our 20-week sonogram. Kaye requested this particular Friday off, so I was home with Lauren and she had to come to the appointment, and Nick was going to meet us there. With mama-brain, I’d confirmed the appointment, assuming it was in the clinic we had the first sonogram, but it was at the hospital where Baby Wenos will be born. Fortunately, they are a few buildings away from each other, so Nick and I raced in. You get to be up to 15 minutes late before your sonogram is cancelled, and we were 10.

In the waiting room, Nick read Lauren a children’s book while I tried to settle down. I don’t like to be late as a rule, and I was praying the baby was healthy. Finding out the sex, as we agreed as a couple to do, was secondary. “I try to limit my caffeine intake to one a day, and Lauren turned out fine when I did that with her,” I told myself. “That turkey lunch meat you ate by mistake won’t give your kid two heads,” I promised.

Inside the sonogram room, I pulled up my shirt and they spread the warm gel on my stomach (I know this gel used to be cold, and I’m so glad they invented gel warmers in time for Lauren’s sonograms). Mama-brain take 2: I’d forgotten to pack Lauren a ton of toys in the diaper bag, but she behaved well, playing with a doll the sonogram tech provided. Mama-brain take 3: I also forgot the 20-week sonogram can take up to an hour. Spine OK, check. Brain OK. Little feet and hands and my nose. Beautiful blood flow. I squeezed Nick’s hand and tried to relax. Being on my back is uncomfortable.

“And what do you think it is?” the sonogram tech asked, focusing in. Um, it was pretty obvious.

“It’s a boy!” Nick said, as ceremoniously as he’d said “It’s a girl!” the cold December night Lauren exited my body. I liked finding out this way, without the exhaustion on labor clouding my thoughts. Happy tears fell as I let the news sink in. “Our family will have one-of-each,” I thought. Then, “Can I be a good mom to a boy? Nick will have to help me understand him,” then, “We’ll need some clothes.”

And then Dr. S came in to review, and pronounced Baby Wenos healthy, and our family of four got a little closer to real.

Labor Day

Dad and Mom with Lauren at the merry-go-round. Mama looks tired, but Lauren looks so happy!

Some of my friends have charming pictures of themselves with their kids at the Ella’s Deli merry-go-round so I put it on our to-do list for the summer. After Liz, Jon and Brayden left from a visit on Monday, the three of us headed down there. 75 cents per person – the most affordable ride in town! I’m not sure if she understood what we were doing; these horses didn’t look like Aunt Kathy’s, so explaining what they were didn’t make sense. And during the up-and-down of the ride, we cheered and she put on a brave face. Nick and I went inside to get single-scoop cones afterwards, and Lauren sampled ours.

Lauren developments: She can go down the big twisty slide at the park by herself now! She knows where the steps are and we watch her, but she’s pretty much on her own. She can sing the entire alphabet with pauses, although she’s not sure what it means. If you sing the next part, she’ll pick it up. And Nick says he’s heard her count to 10; I’ve heard her count to eight. She gives the best hugs in the entire world. She can be tricked into eating her vegetables if I put them on a spoonful of yogurt, and she hardly ever throws food anymore. She says “Yes” and “Yup” in response to questions, and most of the time she does understand them. After the cones, we went to Target to pick out a comforter for her twin bed, the first step in moving her from the crib.

Camping with the Wenos Family

The only picture I managed to take the whole weekend! Lauren eating our spaghetti dinner cooked on the camp stove. She did have a fork….

Last year we took off a week in August to go camping. This summer, Nick and I are a little short on vacation time (there will be a maternity leave and a 2010 trip to Texas to use it for; my vacation time gets renewed in July of every year). So, we set off for Clear Lake campground on a Wednesday afternoon. Nick packed every essential into the Ford Ranger, and Lauren rode in the passenger seat with the airbag turned off as I crammed into the tiny backseat and try to let my pregnant body sleep. We stopped at McDonald’s for a lunch. Lauren, recently suspicious of any meat form, wouldn’t eat her chicken nuggets until Nick found the magic trick: dipping them in ketchup. She prefers the grapes from the fruit and walnut salad (good girl).

We round up Grandpa, Grandma and Aunt Kayla in Rhinelander, attached the sailboat to the Ranger, and headed up to the campsite. Buckets of rain hit the windshield. Nick has affixed a tarp over our stuff in the hatchback, but after a hour at our site, it won’t stop raining. Someone suggests staying at the house in Eagle River; we think that’s a fantastic idea. We get there, unpack and eat by 10 p.m. I silently say thanks in my head to how much heavy lifting Nick is doing now that I’m pregnant. I tell him later.

We stay at the house from Wednesday-Friday. Lauren is happy to see everyone and plays with her toys. We take her to the children’s museum on Thursday and spend hours there. She likes the playhouse with the dolls in it the best. Liz, Jon, Brayden and Ellyse arrive. On Friday evening, the forecast looks clear, although Saturday night is predicted to cool to 38 degrees. Wait, is this August?

We meet up with Chrissy, Sam and Jess at the site. Because we have photos on our fridge of Sam and Jess, Lauren knows their names immediately. (One of her games is to have me name all the people in pictures on the fridge.) Foil pack dinners, boating, Lauren digging in the sand rounds out the rest of the weekend. Lauren sleeps well in the tent, but when she cries in the middle of the night, I slide her on the air mattress between Nick and me. On Sunday morning I wake. The forecasters were right. I look at Lauren. She opens her eyes, sits up and says, “Hi!” Despite the cold, I melt inside.

Raspberry Splat

Lauren,

I posted this picture on Facebook.com with the following message. I just wanted to archive it for you…

Dear Jason and Jenny,
Thank you for inviting me, and my parents, over last weekend. I was eating your raspberries like a normal person around you, but when Daddy was out of town and Mommy was in charge, I decided to see what happens when you clap raspberries in your hands. Here is the result…

Oh, kiddo, I laugh at you now, but when y0u did this, I was a little sad Dad couldn’t help me clean you up! We picked the raspberries from Jenny and Jason’s patch at their house. You weren’t sure what to do until I taught you to pick, and then your mouth was red. On this particular evening, Dad went to a Brewer game in Milwaukee. After this dinner, I cleaned you up and we took a stroll on State Street up to Concerts on the Square. We stayed for five songs (one being Flight of the Bumblebee) before you decided you’d had enough.

Puzzle

When I bought this puzzle for Lauren ages ago, she moved the pieces around and put them in the wrong spots. Then, she learned her animals, and each piece became “Moo!” or “Oink-oink” or “Neigh!” Now, she can put the pieces back in the right places. She’ll sit and do this puzzle five or six times in a row! I also have an alphabet puzzle and a number puzzle, which I expect will take longer to master.

Courtney/Kummer Wedding

Picture #1: The wedding party for my aunt’s wedding. There I am on the left, squeezed into a non-maternity dress and feeling good about it!

Picture #2: Grandpa Tom, Lauren and me. She was pretty pleased to visit with him.

Picture #3: Nick and Lauren check out trees by the golf course. I love this photo; it’s such a simplistic father/daughter shot, and neither one knew I was taking it.

My aunt Sharon got married in Green Lake, Wis. on Saturday, August 8. The backstory: Some time ago (probably less than five years), my father told me Sharon and Uncle Pat were divorcing after 25 years of marriage. “Oh no!” I said.  Then, about three (?) years ago, Sharon met Jerry. They love to golf, ride motorscooters and renovate their home together. About a year ago, they got engaged, and set the date for this summer. I was asked, as one of her nieces, to stand up in the wedding.

It was truly one of the best weddings I’ve ever attended. They exchanged vows under tall shade trees on the golf course at a club. The ceremony took a total of 15 minutes. I wore what I wanted, and my only duty was to make a card box. Despite it being a hot day, Lauren behaved herself and ate fruit at the outdoor supper. My cousin, another bridesmaid, brought wildflowers from her garden, and another cousin made intricate cupcakes. The food was delicious, and over supper, we all went around and introduced ourselves (the group dining was small enough for these specifics). 

My father walked patiently on the grounds with Lauren as she confidently extended her hand to him. She’s been in a phase this summer where she’ll fall and get her hands dirty, and hold them out for someone else to brush off. Dad diligently obliged. And we did some business on the side: For two years now, he’s been talking about getting paperwork together for me now that he’s getting older. He lost a sister (84) and a brother this year (71) and no matter how many years go by, we remember how organized my mother was when it came to funeral preparation. He delivered some paperwork to me on that day, but he did it tastefully behind the scenes, as to not ruin the joyous occasion. I know that by giving me this, he is regarding me as an adult, and I feel honored to be in charge of something because he’s done so much for me.

The discussion reminded me of the day I told him, “I wish I could do something for you, because you’ve done so much for me.” I think it was shortly after I graduated from college.

After making his standard “buy me a Ferrari someday when you’re a CEO” joke, he said:

“Just be a good parent to your own children.”

Comparing Pregnancies

You’re probably not supposed to compare your pregnancies; it’s probably like comparing your children! And yet, as I approach the 20th week with Baby #2, it’s almost laughable how different this is. Cases in point:

Overall health: With Lauren, I continued walking and weight training. With Baby #2, I have to motivate myself to walk 10 minutes, go to a water exercise class, and I get winded by walking up the stairs.

Sleep: With Lauren, I could crash out any time of day. With Baby #2, if Nick works late and I’m tired, I have to hold out until Lauren’s bedtime.

Eating habits: With Lauren, it was overall healthy with cravings for the cookie dough. With Baby #2, I’ve eaten some things I’m not proud of, including an Oreo volcano sundae from Culver’s, enormous burritos and plenty of fried egg sandwiches.

Sickness: With Lauren, it stayed in the first trimester, with the exception of a few bouts in the last trimester. With Baby #2, I went to bed on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. and woke up to my first normal day since pre-pregnancy.

Movement: I think I felt Lauren move around 22 weeks. This time around, it was 18 weeks, maybe because I knew what to look for. The first 10 pounds came on more quickly, and I started to show earlier than with Lauren, too.

Preparation: We took a six-night birthing class for Lauren and read books. Now, I do a quick scan on babycenter.com to see what to expect for the week. On the flip side, we’ll find out Baby #2’s sex on Friday, and this will help me prepare the house.

Noah’s Ark – Wisconsin Dells

Nick’s fantasy football league had their annual draft meeting in Madison in mid-August, and his brother Ryan was in town for it, as well as Nick’s friend Mike. Lauren learned how to say “Ryan” (but it sounded more like “Roarrr!”) and “Mike”. I was surprised by how outgoing she was with both of them; she cuddled up to Ryan to read a book as I made supper (extra hands = bonus) and after originally being shy with Mike, she looked for him when he left the room. Even though Lauren and I have a super-tight bond, some people are just naturals with children.

We’ve broken the “Oh my god” habit as she’s moved onto new words, but it’s funny to see her pick up new expressions, like “Oh, man!” or “No way!” We continue to work on the throwing food issue, and we quit the pacifier weaning process for now. Maybe age 2 is a good milestone.

Ryan left, but the four of us hit Noah’s Ark on Sunday. Nick and Mike went on all the waterslides while Lauren and I hung out in the kid playgrounds and wave pools. No pictures from the day, but I do want to remember Lauren as she screamed in delight every time a wave washed over her. She is such a water baby that she didn’t want to come out, and slept deeply on the car ride home.

I completed my summer early childhood education class that I was taking online and received an A-. I loved it, but I’m going to try to relax until Lauren and Baby Wenos are in school. I think a full-time job, two kids and stuff around the house is enough work. Nick and I are coordinating a 5K charity race for our church this fall, and I just did way too much this summer. The stress is not good for the baby, and I’ll tell them they need to find a new race coordinator next year. I had a nice talk with Dad about this on the phone yesterday. Sometimes he is not the best person for emotional support, but he does a nice job of letting me realize something for myself before he comments on it. He’s always done that for me.

Big Girls … In Progress

Owen and Lauren. So sweet.

I’m a big girl. My 30th birthday arrived on August 6. I felt a little worried about it earlier in the year, but I didn’t cry or do anything drastic. By August 6, I thought, “I’ve been a mature person since I was 18, and now I have a mortgage and a job and a child and a child on the way, so it’s natural to be this age.” Nick told Kaye to work with Lauren at daycare, and by the end of the day, she produced a birthday card smattered with marker streaks and doggie stickers, and said, “Happy to you!” when she presented it. We took Lauren over to our friends’ Kyle and Sara’s house so she could play with their son Owen when we went out to eat. (Lauren calls him “Owl” or “Owie”. Close.) I fed her ahead of time (she continues to throw her dinner on the floor) and warned them about her O.M.G. expression as a precaution. She behaved.

Lauren’s a big girl … in progress. I read a variety of tips aloud to Nick off the Internet about fixing the food problem. Everything from “throw the food back at them” (ummm, downright abusive?) to “give them a special napkin where they can place foods they don’t like (“I don’t like the idea that it’s OK to teach her NOT to like certain foods,” Nick said.) The silver lining: one of the kids outgrew it by age 3.

So we’re using the same approach of removing the food, saying no, and having her pick  up the floor. She smiles at the word “No!” and hurls another piece on the floor, repeating, “No! Floor!” Was it really that long ago that she cried when hearing “No”?

“She’s testing you,” Kaye said. “I know,” I responded.

Big girl items coming in the near future: Introducing Lauren to a twin bed. Redecorating the room downstairs for her. Talking more about the potty; it’s out and in the bathroom, and she’s watching Kaye toilet-train another little girl at daycare. (No pressure. She hasn’t given me any signs that she feels ready to go yet.) And, hopefully, weaning Lauren of her pacifier at night. After nine successful nights of going cold turkey with Mom staying with her until she falls asleep, we let her cry it out, which makes me feel terrible and lasts 30 minutes or more. It’s a hit-or-miss method. I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s going to be a busy fall.