Introducing: My Bump

As promised, I am finally posting a "bump picture." (Dedicated to Lynda Sheehan!) This is what I look like when I'm 26 weeks pregnant.

My parents and I visited my sweet Grandma Maxine and Grandpa Dave in St. George last week. On the way home, we decided we had driven by Kolob Canyon enough times wondering what it was but never stopping. So, on a whim we pulled off the freeway and drove the road up the canyon. It was stunning. I highly recommend it to anyone who is driving north from St. George, Utah and wants a break. We even took a picture, which for us is a big deal!

"I'm Transitioning"

Lately, people tend to ask me "What are you doing these days?"

I'm not sure exactly how to respond. Am I busy? Absolutely! With what? It's hard to pin down... I'm busy with a hodge-podge of little errands, last minute preparations, and bitter-sweet goodbyes. In other words, I'm in transition, which is not a feeling I'm used to. Historically speaking, my life's transitions have been over in the blink of an eye if there was one at all.

I finished my undergraduate degree, and was on an LDS mission to Rochester less than a month later--just enough time to pack and say goodbye. I came home from Rochester to start my graduate degree four weeks later, somehow finding time to fall in love with Fabio at the same time. We were engaged in October and married almost exactly three months later. I was doing my job with the State of Utah for over a year before I finished grad school.

My life has been a whirlwind of change with little or no allowance for any sort of "transitions." Until now, that is. Now my whole world is a giant conglomerate of transitions: I don't work anymore, but I'm not a mom just yet; I left Tucson but I'm not in Singapore just yet; all our belongings are in a crate on a boat somewhere between California and Singapore. I'm really glad visas, Pacific storms, and emergency to help grandparents created this world of transition (even though it results in occasional identity crises). I've been able to tie up all the U.S. loose-ends we didn't think of until Fabio got to Asia, I've spent a lot of time with family I won't see again for a while, and I've been reading like crazy about babies and parenting.

But when someone asks, "What are you up to these days?" I find myself having a hard time coming up with an accurate answer. I end up saying something like, "Oh, just running errands," or "You know, sewing and other projects," which really isn't the case at all! What I'd really like to say is, "I'm transitioning." (Too bad that sounds like some George-Costanza-contrived euphemism for "Nothing. Literally. I'm doing nothing").

At any rate, with or without a good name for it, I'm so glad for this incredibly frustrating "transitioning time." It's helped me reflect, to take a deep breath, look down the road at a million amazing changes just around the corner, take some time to prepare, but most of all just enjoy getting really excited. I think that's more than "nothing."

I discovered Imovie.

And I enjoyed it. Meet Tucker (my one-eyed, 12-year-old dog) in his action-adventure debut:

It's definitely time for Fabio and I to be on the same side of the Pacific Ocean again...

Goodbye, Tucson!

It proved to be quite the ordeal to pack up our apartment, find a temporary place for our Singapore things, and haul our Utah things to their proper destination. The most dramatic moment was probably when Fabio and I realized the day before we picked up the U-Haul that we'd misread the information NTU sent us on how much they would pay to ship: 10 cubic meters, not 10 meters cubed (a subtle, but important difference). So we could take A LOT less than we thought to Singapore, and I may have had a minor hormonal-world-is-ending breakdown. Those happen sometimes.

But, thanks to (1) my angel mother who packed our whole house herself while Fabio had to work and I couldn't lift more than 20 lbs, (2) Fabio's gift to thrive in a bind, and (3) the mighty mighty Elder's Quorum, we resolved all 11 minor moving crises. (I won't bore you with all 11--just trust me, they were each a minor crisis.) Miraculously, we were packed and ready to go as scheduled for our big drive to Utah!

And with that, our family bids "adieu" to Tucson. Goodbye, delicious veggie burritos. Goodbye, giant cacti. Goodbye, perpetual sunshine, super cheap organic food, awesome friends, swimming pool, Frost gelato, and insanely random backyard wildlife. You will all be dearly missed.

Now... on to discovering what we're going to miss about Singapore.

It's a boy!

Baby Boy G

I had butterflies all morning last Friday. Not because my mother-in-law was staying with us, not because Fabio was graduating the next day, not because I was putting my stuff in a crate and sending it to Singapore in a week, but because I was finally going to find out if I was having a boy or a girl!

We had been working hard to prepare for the "big debut." I talked to the baby everyday about how it shouldn't be shy because Daddy wouldn't let Mommy buy it clothes or talk about names until we knew if it was a boy or a girl.

All the preparation paid off, because we finally found out that our sweet baby is a little boy... and a he is a wiggler! Every time the technician tried to find him with the wand, his head was in a different place. At first I thought what I thought was his head must not have been because there was no way he could move that fast... but it was and he definitely can! It was perfect for the ultrasound, because we got all sorts of different views of him--back, feet, bottom, head. I also got a pretty good feel for what I'm in for: running after a wiggly little boy!

He's already just like his dad: he can't really hold still and he loves to show off. When she said "It's a boy," we all cheered, and as we did the baby did a little jump/wiggle that looked just like he doing Fabio's victory dance. Then he went into a somersault--as if he knew we were watching and wanted us to see his best trick.

Mid-Somersault

What really struck me was how much love I already felt as I watched him twist and wiggle. I don't think I could be more excited to chase this little guy around Singapore as we discover a new country together.