Will I ever catch up?

Make that, will I ever catch my breath again?

Chasing my darling , yet often extremely stubborn 2 1/2 year old wears me out now and then. Carrying this (-25) day old baby boy keeps me fatigued pretty much daily. = Life is exhausting right now, let me tell you.

Here's a synopsis:

1. I love my husband. He keeps me sane. Saturday was our first date night since we moved here. (Go ahead, cry for/with me) All we could do was eat a light meal and sit there at Jason's Deli and TALK for an hour and a half, so wonderful. Uninterrupted... we talked like we hadn't really visited in months. Probably because between school, fatigue, and Syd we have our hands full... Thank heavens our friend could babysit! Best conversation in a long time... :) Love him.

2. My daughter is a tyrant. But I love her too... we're putting on the discipline more thick these days. She needs it, we need it. Pray for us...

3. Our good friends, the Johnsons - the first people we met here in Lubbock, that helped us so much and are still so wonderful to us - just learned of their son's death in Iraq. What a tragedy. He has a young family... We are mourning with them...

Sounds as if we aren't enjoying ourselves here at all, which isn't entirely true... Although Pace is revving up for mid-terms and finals, we do manage to get out as a family every now and then...
Here's proof:

We made it to the fair! A fun night. Syd rode in the stroller, content to watch the mobs of people walking all over. It was almost like a date :)



Here things took a slight turn for the worst... I let Syd down for a minute to be free to see the rabbits, and... well, she didn't want to get back in her stroller. An enormous tantrum later, a kind elderly woman walked over to try and coax Syd into calming down. She sympathetically asked me, "Oh, is she ADD?" Ha! I still laugh to this day. I just smiled and said, "No, she's just 2." My friend Ashley made me laugh even more. When I told her she said, "No... And may you have several just like her." Gotta love it. :)



I left for 2 hours (RS Broadcast - wonderful) and came home to Syd and Daddy "swimming" in the playpool in the back yard. Sweet Daddy-daughter time... but what's wrong with her suit, honey?

Another law student's wife, Missy, and I - she has a cute son named Kayden, plays a lot with Sydney. She and I hang out, helps keep each other sane :) Anyway, she asked us to go with her and her kids to the Apple Butter Festival last month. Too cute and fun! Sydney loved the live music and the petting zoo. I dug on the apple turnovers and ice cream - leave the pregnant women to our vices! :) Here are some pics of that outing as well:







Lastly, we enjoyed Conference immensely, watched it on the laptop in the privacy and comfort of our living room. Fantastic Saturday sessions, Sunday of course was excellent too. In between we made dinner for some sweet Elders and Pace's hometeaching partner and his family, the Buchners. Made for a great weekend.



I'll keep posting, however frequently I can... It is getting crazier, but that's the way life goes! :)

My penance for not posting

Just kidding, Sheri!

I've been tagged... Here we go!
1. Where is your cell phone? In my purse, away from little hands :)
2. Your significant other? PACE :) Love him.
3. Your hair? Is getting too long - Sabrea, save me! See you in December
4. Your mother? is the best mother EVER
5. Your father? is gone
6. Your favorite thing? sleeping in... So soon those days will be OVER, again
7. Your dream last night? didn't actually have one...
8. Your favorite drink? water these days. Yum!
9. Your dream/goal? I have a lot... too many to list. Just be happy. :)
10. The room you’re in? bedroom, at the desk
11. Your hobby? Socializing. Mothering. And I do make a killer banana bread now!
12. Your fear? Again, lots, too many to list. :) Kidding, but really who wants to dwell on that?
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Out of school debt?? Please?
14. What you’re not? Skinny, athletic.. the list goes on and on.. a READER. :) Ha!
15. Muffins? Yes, please! Yum yum! Bring on the carbs!
16. One of your wish list items? A degree?? I don't know...
17. Where you grew up? AJ - no laughing!! I did "graduate from Red Mountain High School..." :)
18. The last thing you did? Had another baby shower with some fabulous women! I love having good FRIENDS.
19. What are you wearing? maternity clothes
20. Favorite gadget? my digital camera :) the BEST invention EVER!! (well, maybe not entirely, but it is really cool!)
21. Your pets? Just Syd. Working on another one right now... I don't do many animals. Kids are hard enough to clean up after.
22. Your computer? Dell
23. Your mood? Good!
24. Missing someone? EVERYONE back home... plane flies us there the 28th of November!! See you all then!
25. Your car? is constantly wet on the floorboard. I think something is leaking actually...
26. Something you’re not wearing? a watch?? Foundation anymore... bug spray?? Yeah, all that.
27. Favorite store? Usually Mervyn's but Khol's is up there too. Love the baby clothes!
28. Like someone? I pretty much like everyone, unless they give me a reason not to. Then I'm still tempted to like them anyway. :)
29. Your favorite color? Green I guess.
30. When is the last time you laughed? While I was reading Sheri's blog 5 minutes ago!
31. Last time you cried? Briefly today, hard yesterday. Just havin' those moments... It's the pregnancy.

So, who doesn't love a good tag?? Ash, all the Ash's :) Perkins, Nelson, Whiting, ect. All y'all :)

Birthday :)

We lost computer time for a while, ran out of disk space. Our 33GB of hard drive just wasn't enough. (Imagine that - so puny!) Anyway, the problem is now solved, one trip to Best Buy and I walked away with a 750 GB external hard drive, equipped with back-up software. Perfect. My most fulfilling purchase of the year... Undoubtedly the most deliberated. :) Now that my school work is back up to speed I am able to blog again! Hurray :)

September 17th

I celebrated my 32nd birthday! Actually, I postponed celebrating till Friday (felt under the weather during the week). The best part for me was the trip to the mall with Sydney. Seriously, that day (for all the events combined) had to be one of the best days ever.

Started the morning off by painting mine and Syd's toe nails.
(Don't know how I managed to paint mine, maneuvering around this gargantuan belly... but it was so worth it!)
No laughing at my big toes... :)

Sydney wasn't going to let me paint her's at first, then she saw the first stroke of color on mine and, "Oooh! Pretty!" I knew I had her. :)
She's a girly-girl through and through!

Then we hit the mall. Syd walked the entire time, stayed with me too, for the most part. It was so fun! At one point she lead me into a bookstore and plopped down in front of some kids books on sale. I let her "read" for a while then we picked out her favorite book (Little Einsteins, of course) and she spent the rest of the time walking through the mall with her nose stuck in the book. It was too cute, seriously. I even was able to pick out make up, she just sat in a chair at the counter "reading" her book. I loved it so much! I had to think, "Now? Now that she's my buddy, stays with me, is easier/so fun, now I have another one coming?" Guess that's how life works sometimes. Just as one thing gets easier/more comfortable, it's time to move on to the next. :)

That night we had some law school/ward friends over for cake and ice cream. Had a great time visiting!

Above: Amy & Brandon Baker, AKA Pace's golf/softball/tennis buddy when he has time, and his sweet, cool wife that I really enjoy too. Their son Taylor (another "Taylors", Michele ha!) is one of Sydney's favorite friends so pretty much, we all have a great time together. They're a fun family! (Look back a few years and you'll see this beauty in the Miss Utah, USA pageants!)

Panic?

The countdown is on - only 8 weeks left.
Somehow that doesn't seem like that long to me.
Pace and I go to a Childbirth class this Saturday & next
Although I have a child, I have never really birthed one
in the traditional fashion...
I figured both Pace & I could use the preparation.

On the funny side, poor Syd still longs for her old crib sometimes..
I caught her trying to climb into it again,
having already tossed her bunny and blanket over.
When I tried to get her down she just sobbed,
"Nigh' night? Nigh' night!"

What could I do?
"Come on up, but just this once..."

Brought instant giggles of contentment



Soon she spots Pace Andrew's soft, green blanket
(that I never let her play with, mind you)
points to it, and with a slight grin states, "Blanket."

She knew she had won...

Just like old times...

What the heck... Could you have said no?

Soak it up Syd,
cause 8 more weeks or so &
this kind of activity just won't be possible...

It's time

We're making the Rawlins Family blog Private

Pace has been an advocate of this since I started it...
It's just taken me this long come over to his way of thinking.
I have several of your email addresses
but would love for you to respond here and confirm them.
We want to keep our loved ones in, just anyone else out... :)

Activities

There's a lot going on here, we're just busy living it. :)
Last week Sydney & I joined some of our friends for a dinner
held by Law Partners, a Texas Tech club/organization for
the spouses/families of law students. It was really nice.

Sydney enjoyed playing with her little friend Sophie
She is darling! They have fun together. :)

And we really like her parents!
Spencer's a 2nd year law student, both he and Ashley are from MESA!
We know of a couple friends we have in common, which we love :)
Jen Layton, & Mike & Debbie Vance
So fun, they're a great family!

It was hard, but here's where we had to leave Dad for the evening...

He had a paper to finish, took him 12 hours total
Tough stuff, but great work, honey!

I have to say, he is too good to me. He let me sign up for a
Prenatal water fitness class that I'm really excited about - starts tonight. Twice a week for an hour, he happily agreed to play with Syd.
I really appreciate the way he juggles his time, sacrifices,
to still be a family while carrying this load.

Thank you so much, honey, for all you do! :)
PS - His first week of school he brought me flowers and a thank you card!! I was having a rough few days, he made it all better.
I know you all know how wonderful he is...
I just feel the need to share how he is wonderful to me.

Lastly, an updated "belly shot"



I was able to find the LAST maternity swimming suits
of the season at Motherhood. Not too heinous, but sorry - No photo :)
Ha, or you're welcome, depending on how you look at it...

The Syd Life

Our sweet family and friends back home will enjoy an update of our growing girl... She is so much fun to see and HEAR... :)

The lovely transition of doctors...

So, now that we're here and can choose a doctor, here is my dilemma:

I plan to try to do a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). I have only 10 weeks left to get ready for a (let's be honest) somewhat terrifying ordeal, and the past two days have brought some unsettling, yet at times, reassuring information as far as my options here. It's kind of lengthy, but here goes.

Two hospitals to choose from:
Option #1: Offers a higher rate of C-sections (20% above the national average) and the majority of their doctors don't work with VBAC patients. While it's a nice facility, they seem to be more "modern medicine-ized" and less natural in their birthing process. Makes me nervous that my ambitions of a successful VBAC would fly out the window should I go there. I'd then be recovering from major surgery away from family, with two kids to care for and an absent (schooling) husband/father. (Not my first choice.)

Option #2: A hospital where they perform a lot of successful VBAC's! Their C-section rate is several points lower than the national average, and to boot, a lot of our friends work there and can't say enough good about the facility and the overall care/competency of the doctors. So what's my problem?

It's just that this hospital is a university hospital where their patients are seen by a pool of resident doctors, overseen by attending physicians. I mean, yes residents are MD's, and the attending physicians are highly revered - I mean absolutely no disrespect. However, I am REALLY uncomfortable with the idea of not seeing the same doctor throughout my pregnancy, labor, and delivery. Not to mention, being seen by so many different people! I feel like cattle being pushed through whatever system is available!!!! A guinea pig kind of. Anyway, it's enough to make a rock solid woman shrink, let alone an already emotional, 7.5 months pregnant, VBAC seeking woman who fears the process still altogether! I can't tell you how much I cried - sobbed today, unable to decide between two rather uncomfortable/different alternatives. I finally talked to Pace, prayed, and here's what we came up with (for now).

It's important to me to try a VBAC. I have had really good feedback about the university hospital as a whole so why not give this system a try? Who knows, maybe it won't bother me to see different people once I am exposed to the process. And maybe I'll see it as a positive to have so many different people involved in my care (weep, weep). I guess I just need to have a better attitude...

Hair Cut $0

Pace allowed me (after a fervent prayer that he look "decent, if not dashing") to cut his hair myself! Ha! I love his excuse,
"You aren't supposed to smile in the before."

.

Personally I think the face had more to do with the sheer terror he must've been feeling to have me cut his hair before his second day at law school... (first time ever cutting hair for me!) Finally he said,
"Oh what the heck, I can wear a hat for a while."
But I think it turned out great!
So does he, so he says... Good husband. :)



After shot - I caught him with pizza in his mouth...
I love it - he does look dashing! :)

Thanks to the Enrichment Activity just before we left our old ward (Amber, thank you again for teaching it!!) I had written down instructions... Still, it was kind of hard. Took me an hour and a half
I think, but I am quite happy with the outcome...
Hallelujah for saving money, however we can!

Home Sweet Home

Well, we've made it so far... :) After some MAJOR help with loading, unloading, and driving the UHaul (Pace's Dad drove, he is amazing! Along with everyone else who helped, thank you! Seriously, you saved us! Thank you all so much!) By the 4th day Pace and I had worked non-stop to have pictures up on the walls, things put away, the garage organized and cleared out with cars parked in it (what a treat!) and nearly all the boxes emptied. It was tiring, but we felt great to be home and comfortable. Now that I've had Ashleigh here for almost a week! (How awesome has that been!) the kids' rooms are decorated, and I can relax a little and post some pictures. :)

The Family Room
A tuckered out "Nash" lays sleeping :)
(door is to the back yard)





I love the mantle. It's a great place to put
nice things away from little hands :)

(We found Hobby Lobby here - vinyl sayings were 50% off!)



The Master Bedroom
It all fits! We had to combined the den with our room
to make room for baby #2 - Worked out great!







Sydney's favorite areas:
1. The kitchen
(happens to be Pace's favorite too)
We lock the fridge - no raspberry/strawberry incidents here :)



2. Outside
Yeah! Syd has a backyard! And a running Barbie jeep :)
(Pace was more excited about the jeep than Syd at first
A customer gave it to him. Now she loves it!)



3. Her bedroom/playroom
I'll post just this for now, another vinyl saying we fell in love with
I like the Princess theme better with this phrase added to it :)



And lastly... The Nursery :)
(If I can just keep Syd out of Pace Andrew's bed!)

I love how his name turned out.
Ashleigh helped me paint and decorate the letters :)



Aside from getting settled, here are a few small updates:

1. Syd is now full-time in a big girl bed!

2. She said, "Holy crap" yesterday... I had to laugh :)
Guess I'd better start watching my phraseology!

3. Pace made it through 3 intense yet inspiring days of orientation.

He's overwhelmed at times but is loving it so far!

4. I enrolled in 2 classes POS 110 & CIS 105, online at MCC

Gotta take what you can when you can... should be good. :)

5. We've made some neat friends already!
Good people here in Lubbock. :)
Our records were read in the ward on Sunday, I cried. :)

It felt good/ right, like "We're home, for now" :)

We've had a busy week...

If you can't tell, that's Dad's favorite Rocky Road ice cream she's fallen nearly face first in. :) I bribed her with it so I could go clean myself up after swimming in the pool. She's a tired little Syd. :) We sold our beautiful table and chairs, found a new set more kid-friendly & easier to move from place to place that we'll just pick up and pack in the UHaul next Friday. Until then, it's make do with what you can (hence the little chair on the kitchen floor). Our dining room is now quickly filling with boxes...

(Notice the "ball pit" we found at a children's second hand store.
She loves it! Helps keep our girl sane amid all the chaos)

Some call it progress, I call it devastation...

I shouldn't have taken the pictures down from off the walls, or the curtains off the windows for that matter, until right before we left. The undoing of 4 years worth of decorating is pretty upsetting to a pregnant homemaker. I'm sure it isn't just me who has felt the stress of moving. It's gotta be done. Only 1 week left!

Baby Shower

Can I just tell you all how amazing my sisters and family are?? My older sister, Trudy and my younger sister Ashleigh (along with the help of my dear friend Kimmie, and my niece Alishia - sorry I forgot to mention you originally, Lish! Thank you for your help to make it so wonderful!!) threw me the most amazing baby shower! It was fantastic, the food, the decorations, the fun!! Seriously, I laughed myself SORE! It made my face hurt we were laughing so hard! Completely memorable. I just loved it!

Here are some pictures, just to give you all an idea of the festivities. Ashleigh made up a trivia game that all the guests played - hilarious! About things most of them didn't know about me... I cheated giving away a lot of the answers with subtle hand signals. Ashleigh didn't catch on so she kept thinking to herself, "Wow, they're good!" as they'd get a lot of the answers right. Each question lead into a funny story... I don't know, it was just hilarious to me and my family, at least, with our crazy sense of humor... It was awesome!

Thank you to everyone who came and made the afternoon so special!!
And for all the wonderful gifts! I can't wait to put his new room together in Lubbock and to see him in all these cute clothes! Thank you again, everyone! What a shower! :)

Random...

My IRA is going

down,

down,

down...

This stock market is killing me!!

Hmmm, maybe I should take the account off of my banking overview (so I don't see it every time I log in)... The investment rep in me says that'd be a good idea, but the human consumer in me is telling the investment rep to take a hike - this is reality! Ha, the inner struggles of a former banker.... Anyway, one random post. I was due for it. Now back to packing. :)

Update

I suppose it's time to update our blog. Life comes at you fast! We are currently packing up, getting ready to leave August 2nd, with a destination set and even a place rented! Can you believe it? We are going to... Lubbock, TX! We feel really blessed to have things moving forward so quickly and smoothly!

Here's what happened:

1. Pace took me out July 1st as a surprise for a belated anniversary. (Once my internet class ended I could finally relax and celebrate). He had booked a room at the hotel we stayed in the night of our wedding, got D-Backs tickets to that evening's game (Milwaukee Brewers), and took me out shopping all afternoon for some new maternity clothes. I have the best husband ever!! Here we are (awesome seats, thanks to a realtor friend) wearing matching shirts (what guy will purposefully do that!??) at the D-Backs game. We had a great time! Thanks to Ash and Anthon for taking care of Syd!

2. As soon as we returned Wed, July 2nd, I felt like, "Okay Pace, call UofA." He agreed. The admissions office guy was really helpful, let him know the status of the wait list there, and ultimately that "chances were slim". YAY!! We were comfortable going forward with Lubbock/Texas Tech!

3. We jumped in the car the next evening (Thurs, July 3rd) and headed to Lubbock, stopping briefly in Show Low to sleep. Thanks again to sweet Ash and Uncle Anthon for moving in with Syd - she was happier here and we moved so quick without her. Literally it took 24 hours before we had secured the most blessed home and we were on our way back to Show Low! I know the Lord has lead us and is leading us to where we are headed... We are really going to like it there!

(Here's a pic of the home we've rented across a big, beautiful park)

4. We've sold off some furniture, scheduled things to be turned on in Lubbock (utilities, phone, etc), and currently are trying to rent/sell our condo last minute. If you know of anyone looking it's 1401 sq ft, 3/2/1 (4 yrs old) for $1050/month. Singles fit perfectly in here (no yard, but the community pool is great and there's lots of add'l parking right outside). :) Gotta work our contacts! Three weeks goes by really fast!

Amazingly enough, we're very calm, enthusiastic, and are anxious to move! Faith helps keep our heads from swimming with all the immediate changes coming our way, with rapid speed I might add... We are so grateful!!

Oh boy, it's a boy!

Our ultrasound confirmed this mother's intuition - we're having a little boy! (An undershot - looking up towards his bum, legs are pointed out to the left) Gotta have that proof! :)

A profile image of the babe... Kind of cool. He was very active during the appointment. Today I am noticing more and more the nudges of movement in my belly. Pregnancy's about to get a little more fun...

Otherwise, so much has happened that I wanted to blog about:

1. Pace took a canoe trip with his scouts down the Colorado (some 60 miles) last weekend. This is the troop that has had 4 search and rescues/air-vacs within the past 4 years. It was good to have them return safe and sound. He had a great time! I really missed him, though. Not having him here brought my affections more toward the surface - he is my best friend! I love and appreciate him so much! And... he came back all tan with enormous lats (rowing a canoe does wonders for the back and shoulder muscles). He's a hottie! :)

2. Summer school - I'm taking 2 classes this month: Microeconomics & US History Post Civil War to Present. One is internet and the other I spend two nights a week downtown. Great option with gas prices the way they are. Whew, will the gouging of the American consumer ever end? June is proving to be a pretty hectic month, but very enjoyable! I love gaining an education!! July we pack and August we move. Which leads me to my next point...

3. The process of securing housing and financial aid for law school is a bit daunting, if I do say so myself. (I was in banking for 10 years - I didn't think this part would be difficult, but it is.) Especially from hundreds of miles away from your future home/university. I cried yesterday, starring facts and figures in the face. I felt a little without hope, overwhelmed. Luckily others have gone through it, are going through it, and can help me get through it. (Thank you!)
It'll work, somehow it's gotta work. :)