Preggo Dreams

On the deck at J and K's 

Finally, after many washed out attempts due to illness and the pandemic, we were able to visit Jud and Kara in Saint Louis. Yay! For those who haven't heard, they are soon to be parents. 💖

Baby Girl G is due in mid-September 2020. They wanted to break the baby news to us in person months ago. Thanks to Covid, we ended up finding out via Zoom call with the whole fam, including Amy and Corey. A new fam member is on the way - yahoo!

It's getting real! Jud and Kara have been working on the baby's room. It's really a large landing that will work as the baby's area while she is little. That way she'll be near their room upstairs. The small crib will fit in the closet opening - leaving room for the changing table, a dresser, and a rocking chair. It will be perfect for the little one.

They also had a few house projects for Paul (soon to be Pops). Yeah, I'm trying out grandparent names - almost as important as the baby name! (No, not really). J&K's cozy 1910 home - with the second floor added thirty or forty years ago, had been updated in recent years - before they purchased it. But you know houses - they always need something. Paul built and installed a couple of shelves. Jud and Kara helped and were on paint duty. There were several trips to Home Depot along the way. I was in charge of WD-40 patrol, spraying squeaky doors. And, mostly tried to stay out of the way - dish and cleanup detail. 

Closet

I didn't realize how much I really missed them. Zoom calls are nice, but they sure don't take the place of "in-person". Two weeks before our visit we really tried to curtail interaction with people to reduce the chances of spreading anything. I took along an enchilada casserole for Friday, we had bratwurst one night and they ordered Pi Pizza with cornbread crust one night - so yummy. So not our usual going to restaurants like we usually do in STL. There are so many good restaurants there. Jud and Kara have a lovely deck that is secluded thanks to lots of trees, bushes, and fences. There are lots of squirrels and birds to watch.

Kara is 7 months pregnant - and looks so darn cute as only preggo chicks with long torsos can. She's been feeling pretty good, though the STL heat in humidity is starting to take a toll. It's nice that they have a fenced yard so they don't have to take their good boys - pups Henry and Archie for walks. But they can if they feel like it around their cozy neighborhood in the little burg, Brentwood population 8,000ish. It's just outside of STL proper.

Kara's pregnancy has taken me for a walk down pregnancy memory lane. Pregnant with Amy, I stayed small for the first 4+ months. Then in the last couple of months, I got huge, eventually giving birth to a 9 pound 7-ounce baby a week past the due date. Similar to my Jud pregnancy though he was only 9 lb 4 ounces. Patrick, my c-section baby was breech, was a totally different pregnancy - only 7 lb 6 ounces. I didn't gain nearly as much weight with him. Wiser? Or just busier with 2 kids?

Bucko

While pregnant, I remember having vivid dreams - such as giving birth to a kitten. Likely because our cat Bucko slept by my legs. Kara said she's had some weird ones too. You know how that thing happens - when you are thinking or talking about something and it pops up in another part of your life? This week I was listening to one of my fave authors, Laura Lippman. The book is called "The Girl in the Green Raincoat". It's part of the Tess Monaghan series, one I had somehow missed reading years ago. In this book, Tess, a seven month pregnant Baltimore private investigator, is confined to her screened-in porch/bedroom due to preeclampsia. In the book, Tess dreams that she gives birth to a radish and everyone tells her it looks like her! Listening to this, I laughed out loud while walking on the trail. The book was a play on Hitchcock's "Rear Window" as Tess tries to solve a mystery stuck in her home. 

We are all so excited - dreaming about the arrival of Baby G! Who will she be? That said - I remember what those first few weeks of life with a newborn. With many employers, parents today get more time off when the baby is born. Especially dads. That should help in the lack of sleep department - a tag team. I recall being delirious at times - Jud was not a good sleeper. He really was a night owl all his life until he started working. Not good with a morning person mom!

In today's Internet age, the pressure is on for parents to present their homes and children as perfect at all times. That's why I always try to share my "fail" stories with young parents. They need to know perfect isn't real! And our home was filled with kid toys and well-worn furniture through those years. It goes by pretty quickly! 

The nutty stuff that I did is what my kids remember. 😶 Looking back, I do wish I'd been more patient. ...Note to future grandma...We took one parenting class and I read lots of books on the topic. I recommend all methods of learning for parents. There are probably lots of online resources. One thing for sure - kids need order. They don't need to be given everything they want. I hear Grandparents have different rules! haha

We got together with our friends the McFees this weekend. We talked and laughed a lot about the days (20 years ago) when Bobbie and Jeff with Kristina and Kim would have Sunday night meals with Paul, Amy, Jud, and me. The kids would play and we'd talk - about jobs, parenting, farming, our parents - everything! It was therapeutic. Hearing that other people struggle parenting too made it easier to accept. 

I miss Bobbie. Such a big hole in many lives. We'll go on, but we will not let her memory die.