Since I don't have time to publish the in-depth blow-by-blow accounts I once did, instead I'll give you a thumbnail sketch of the life we've settled into 10 weeks post-Eden.
Matt has been back at work for about six weeks and is headed into his busy season with that. While he still rides his bike or walks to work most days, we also recently purchased a 2000 Volvo station wagon after realizing that the amount of room taken up by Eden's carseat meant that if we kept the Neon as our family car, she would be all the family we would ever be able to have. Initially we'd thought we would then sell or trade in the Neon, but soon realized that when I'm doing midwifery clinicals, it won't do to have me on call for 24 hours at a time with Matt and Eden having no form of transportation.
Our other, possibly-even-more-significant splurge was our recent investment in a LAND LINE. Anybody who's ever tried to call us is familiar with our phone struggles. Matt and I have individually always had terrible luck with cell phones and the like, and getting married seems to have multiplied our bad luck. The Magic Jack turned out to be a total bust; despite corresponding with customer service and frequently reinstalling the software, it not only held Matt's laptop hostage on the desk, but frequently dropped calls, missed calls, refused to allow outgoing calls, and also had rather poor sound quality on the rare occasion that a call was connected. So we finally threw in the towel and got a (digital) landline for $19.95 a month from our cable internet provider. It's still lots more than I'd like to be paying, but it's reliable and we have unlimited long distance and it's lots cheaper than going over our cell phone minutes every month.
Anyway, in other daily news, Eden and I stay home together every day while I try to sneak in some homework. School is going well and at this point I have just two terms left of classes before I begin clinicals in the spring. Amazing! While at times I've questioned my drive/ability to go on, Matt has always been such a rock and an encouragement to me that I'm actually strongly considering tacking on another year to become a Family Nurse Practitioner. Having Eden has made me realize that the need for skilled, sensitive, and supportive practitioners doesn't end at birth--rather, it begins there. The idea of providing continuity of care for babies and children whose births I've attended, and their families, is really exciting--kind of like an old-time country doctor. We'll see how that progresses.
I've also been working about 18 hours a week again--mostly six-hour shifts from 7pm to 1am. It's been going pretty well for everybody, and Matt and Eden are getting a routine down. If things are slow, sometimes he'll bring her in to breastfeed, which is really nice. Otherwise, my Freecycled Pump in Style is going strong!
For the most part, we hang out near home a lot, go for walks, run errands, and just enjoy being a family.
Every so often a friend of ours (and Eden's) gives us a break, as she did recently, so that we could enjoy an afternoon alone together. We went for a long drive out in the country, stopped for pie and coffee at the Hill High Orchard, and interestingly enough ended up driving right by Mount Weather, which we didn't realize one could.
September has always been an interesting time of year for us. A year ago this month:
We became devotees of the natural family planning method, and Eden was just a twinkle in our eyes (for another month)
We were wiping our butts on rags
We were cooking with sour milk
We were camping at Shenandoah, for the second year in a row
I was just starting school, attending Frontier Bound, and we were exchanging tender blog posts throughout our separation
My parents came to visit
and this woman was breastfeeding tiger cubs.
TWO years ago this month:
We went to Philadelphia, Farm Aid, and the Delaware Water Gap
We were burglarized
Matt has been back at work for about six weeks and is headed into his busy season with that. While he still rides his bike or walks to work most days, we also recently purchased a 2000 Volvo station wagon after realizing that the amount of room taken up by Eden's carseat meant that if we kept the Neon as our family car, she would be all the family we would ever be able to have. Initially we'd thought we would then sell or trade in the Neon, but soon realized that when I'm doing midwifery clinicals, it won't do to have me on call for 24 hours at a time with Matt and Eden having no form of transportation.
Our other, possibly-even-more-significant splurge was our recent investment in a LAND LINE. Anybody who's ever tried to call us is familiar with our phone struggles. Matt and I have individually always had terrible luck with cell phones and the like, and getting married seems to have multiplied our bad luck. The Magic Jack turned out to be a total bust; despite corresponding with customer service and frequently reinstalling the software, it not only held Matt's laptop hostage on the desk, but frequently dropped calls, missed calls, refused to allow outgoing calls, and also had rather poor sound quality on the rare occasion that a call was connected. So we finally threw in the towel and got a (digital) landline for $19.95 a month from our cable internet provider. It's still lots more than I'd like to be paying, but it's reliable and we have unlimited long distance and it's lots cheaper than going over our cell phone minutes every month.
Anyway, in other daily news, Eden and I stay home together every day while I try to sneak in some homework. School is going well and at this point I have just two terms left of classes before I begin clinicals in the spring. Amazing! While at times I've questioned my drive/ability to go on, Matt has always been such a rock and an encouragement to me that I'm actually strongly considering tacking on another year to become a Family Nurse Practitioner. Having Eden has made me realize that the need for skilled, sensitive, and supportive practitioners doesn't end at birth--rather, it begins there. The idea of providing continuity of care for babies and children whose births I've attended, and their families, is really exciting--kind of like an old-time country doctor. We'll see how that progresses.
I've also been working about 18 hours a week again--mostly six-hour shifts from 7pm to 1am. It's been going pretty well for everybody, and Matt and Eden are getting a routine down. If things are slow, sometimes he'll bring her in to breastfeed, which is really nice. Otherwise, my Freecycled Pump in Style is going strong!
For the most part, we hang out near home a lot, go for walks, run errands, and just enjoy being a family.
Every so often a friend of ours (and Eden's) gives us a break, as she did recently, so that we could enjoy an afternoon alone together. We went for a long drive out in the country, stopped for pie and coffee at the Hill High Orchard, and interestingly enough ended up driving right by Mount Weather, which we didn't realize one could.
September has always been an interesting time of year for us. A year ago this month:We became devotees of the natural family planning method, and Eden was just a twinkle in our eyes (for another month)
We were wiping our butts on rags
We were cooking with sour milk
We were camping at Shenandoah, for the second year in a row
I was just starting school, attending Frontier Bound, and we were exchanging tender blog posts throughout our separation
My parents came to visit
and this woman was breastfeeding tiger cubs.
TWO years ago this month:
We went to Philadelphia, Farm Aid, and the Delaware Water Gap
We were burglarized
I was in law school and homesick for Iowa, but overall, life was good.
...And it still is.
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