Quick Takes (39): July re-cap

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Ummm....hello, August !  What did you do with July?  I seriously don't know where the month went.  Here's a re-cap to what we've been up to.  We started off the month with DH away on a youth trip for a week.  He was one of the chaperones, and while he had a great time with the kids, it was hard to have him gone for a week.  (This was on the heels of being gone 2 weeks for another trip, so it probably just magnified the hardness factor).  These are the times I wish we were closer to family.  R and I survived though, and thankfully it's probably the last long trip DH will take for awhile.

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We spent a whole week in MN for my brother's wedding.  We had lots and lots and lots of family time, which was mostly good.  DH and I were both in the wedding while R was not.  That was a little bit of a challenge with all of the wedding party duties and a little one who still takes 2 naps, but overall, she did great with all the over stimulation.  And we were so honored to be able to stand up for them on their big day and be present for all of their special festivities.

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While there I got to spend lots of time with my Grandma since we stayed in the guest suite at her senior center.  I loved watching R spend time with Grandma.  I love my Grandma to death, and I'm closer to her than my own mother.  She's the last living great-grandparent for R, and I'm so thankful for the time, pictures, and video I got of them together.  I truly don't know if I will see her again.  She's almost 91 and her health has declined considerably.  And while she still drives her car (yikes!) and is fairly independent in her senior center, my heart tells me it may have been the last time or at least the last time for her to be so coherent and interactive.  I had this feeling the last time I visited my Grandpa too, so I don't know if it's real or just the worry-er in me.  R ate up the attention from Grandma, it was so fun to watch.  And of course it makes me miss my Grandpa that he never got the chance to meet R (dang, IF and miscarriage.  You make me so mad sometimes.)

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Shortly after the trip, DH and I celebrated our 8th anniversary!  Wow!  That seems like such a long time, and yet it doesn't.  I've known DH for 14 years now.  Wow.  And after our 1st breakup, I never would have imagined we'd get back together and get married.  ha, ha. That is a funny story.  God had something better in store that I didn't realize at the time in the midst of all the pain.  I'm so thankful for DH- he seriously is such a better person than me.  I don't deserve to be married to someone so good.

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I had a college friend come to visit.  She was in town for a conference, but came in early to see us.  It was so fun to have her see where we are living now (she agreed it was definitely unique and odd) and she also got to see our new house since we had the walk through when she was here.  R hammed it up for her, which was fun for me to watch, and my friend had lots of great ideas, advice, and encouragement to give about parenting that came at just the right time when I needed it. 

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I turned 35.  I usually love July for the anniversary and birthday month celebrations, but this is one birthday I really wasn't looking forward to.  For some reason, 35 seems so much older than 30-34 to me. Hello, AMA (advanced maternal age).  Not real excited to see you.  When I was younger (ie. in my 20s), I always assumed I'd be done having kids by the time I was 35.  I never dreamed we'd struggle with so many different health issues for me that we only learned about after we got married.  I know of the risk factors that increase with health and pregnancy after 35.  And in other ways, I don't feel as old as the number looks on paper.  I'm so happy and content with our one precious child now.  I don't want to hurry up and rush time by.  I'm not ready to jump back on the TTC wagon again with all of the tests, meds, and stress that it's meant for me in the past.  Ultimately, this birthday has me trusting God even more so with my health, fertility, and size of our family.  It's not the path I envisioned to be on, but I trust it's even better than I envisioned it to be!

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July also marked the start of night sleep training for R.  For the past several months, she's continued to wake up multiple times overnight to nurse.  Thanks to some fabulous advice from a fabulous blogger (Hebrews 11:1), we started the journey to get her sleeping longer, better, and deeper at night.  Hebrews' advice was just what I need to hear (well, read actually) to do what we probably should have done 2 or 3 months ago.  We are still working out the kinks with bedtimes and naptimes, but she's currently sleeping 10 1/2 to 11 hours at night.  Just what a growing, developing little girl needs.  I, on the other hand, am not.  I think it's time to sleep train myself next!

So there ya have it.  Now I realize why I only posted one measly time in July!  Here's to hopefully more posts in August.

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