As mentioned previously, "Besta" (Norwegian for "Grandma") was T Rex Dad's maternal grandmother. She lived nearly 102 years. She was an amazing lady and she owned her farm until she died. The farm was part of her parent's homestead, acquired in 1893. My mother-in-law kept it for a bit after Besta's passing, but eventually it was too much work to keep things going so she sold the land to the folks that had been farming it for Besta. We loved having the family homestead in the family, but it went to great people who care greatly for the land, so we are happy about that.
When you visit, it's like stepping back in time. There are thousands of acres of crops on endless rolling farmland. Hubby and I loved hearing Besta talk about her time on the homestead and the various crops she had chose each year and how she would wait to sell them till prices were right. (a guessing game) We would hear her tales of the hail storms that would cause damage and how she had to collect insurance for the losses that year. It was a fascinating process. Even more interesting were her tales of being the wife of a farmer during the Depression or what she thought the first time she saw an airplane in the sky... But I digress!
I am not surprised that our son wants to be a farmer. We did talk with him about how much work farming is and that we still want him to have a trade to take care of the five kids he wants to have. He did decide that being a large animal veterinarian would allow him to care for the animals on his farm as well as those farms around his and provide enough to pay for his large family. Love his thinking. He came up with that on his own. Five kids, though...hope he finds a wife that is good with that! He was very excited to see Besta's farm.
One funny story from our visit, being the "big city" folks that we are. We live in Idaho's most populated city. This isn't saying much since our entire state has fewer people in it than my birth place of Las Vegas. Still, our city is a big city to me and definitely very different from a tiny Northern Idaho town like Troy, Idaho (population ~862 people). Our store goeslike this: we were driving down Sumner Road to view the family farm, the road being named so because of Besta's husband Bill, when we encountered a horse roaming around loose by the road. In our experience with equines, it's not a good idea for them to roam around loose, and it is certainly never allowed in a city like ours! When we saw this horse, we stopped our family photoshoot, I rounded up the kids, and Hubby insisted he catch the horse and try and take him back to the farm. (he later said he wasn't even sure if the horse was from "our " farm). Using skills he learned from caring for my old horse, he gingerly guided the horse back towards the main farm house. (a long walk) The horse was very friendly, and totally ignored the dog that came up and started barking at him (and the horse). While it was obvious to Hubby that the horse must know the dog, he still didn't know what to do. Just then, someone came driving very quickly away from the house towards the main road he was standing beside. They slowed down and asked what he was doing with their horse! He explained that it was wandering down the road and that we were afraid it might 'get away' or that a car might hit him. She laughed and said he had free run of their place and all the farms around. "Don't worry...: (smirk) And on she drove. Hubby patted the horse and walked back to where we were waiting and told his tale. He felt horribly embarrassed, and we both just shook our heads at ourselves and we agreed "we are dumb city folks."
Aside from that, it was an uneventful trip to Troy. It's a charming town. A step back into a simpler time (which is why we go there). Oh, I should point out, the house shown in the photo is Besta's old house, built in 1903 or so, which Besta and family moved to from their farm in 1933 so the three children could be closer to school. Grandpa Bill and later his son, Hubby's Uncle Twain, would drive out to the farm every day to tend the crops. The old house on the farm is gone but Besta's house in Troy is still there in that tiny little town. We know the new owners of the house, but chose not to bother them during this brief visit. They have done wonderful things with the house and the yard, fixing it up, and restoring many things back to the original turn of the century (circa 1900) style.
There was young wheat growing on Besta's old farm land. and the kids loved showing off in it. TRex enjoyed walking around taking photos with his Dad. Lil Sister insisted on keeping Baby and me company. I think she was feeling cold and hungry but my sweet little girl refused to say so. We loved our visit back to the homestead and look forward to visiting there again!!!
As I mentioned previously, our vacation was about family and teaching the kids about their elders as well as their ancestors. We made two stops at cemeteries up north. The first was to visit Uncle Twain's grave site. I actually never met him but he was Hubby's uncle, his mother's brother, and a World War II Veteran. He was actually a driver for several generals (probably General Patton at some point) during the war. We have quite a lot of his old war memorabilia. He was an amazing man. I have no photos from that first visit as it was quite cold and rainy. The kids were really good about not complaining and being reverent at the grave site and I just did not capture any photos on that blustery day.
The next day we met up with Grandma and Grandpa N and visiting Grandma and Grandpa Sumner's grave sites. Grandma Sumner aka Besta died about 6 weeks before T was born. Actually, prior to her passing we shared our chosen name for him. She promised not to tell anyone and even at he end, she would not tell. His middle name was her husband's, Grandpa Sumner's, middle name. T noticed it on the headstone and pointed it out. We took the opportunity to clean the headstone and enjoy the quiet and remember their lives. Besta was without Grandpa for over 50 years. She never remarried saying, "I just did not want to have to take care of an old geezer." She lived nearly 102 years.
It was a beautiful visit to Besta's. We took advantage of the break in the weather and headed to her farm. Actually, Grandma N sold it a couple years ago but we still visit there and the family that took over is nice about allowing visits. More on that in the next posting. For now, here are the cemetery photos.
A big attraction on our vacation was the indoor, heated swimming pool at the hotel. Both kids will be taking swimming lessons this summer. It's just too cold here during the non-summer months for me to be the least bit motivated to take them to year round swimming. T is getting pretty good in the water but I still do not want him life-vest free unless either myself or his dad can be close by, and I am not a fan of swimming. I cannot recall when I lost my love of swimming but unless the water is a balmy 85-90 degrees I don't do swimming. The first night I did suit up "just in case", so I am throwing in a profile pic of me in my swim suit. It is not a maternity suit but I thought it is the first photo that actually shows the growing baby bump, otherwise, most folks cannot tell I am pregnant. Plus, I am reading my hypno-birthing book and it has reminded me to integrate the baby into our lives now so I am trying to do so already in the blog.
The kids had SO much fun. It took Lil Sister about 5 seconds to get the hang of the life vest and getting around in it. Like her first time swimming in this pool 3 years ago, she took to the water like a fish. Every night we were there the kids swam for at least an hour. Each night they made new friends. I was particularly proud of T because one evening there was another boy there that kept getting into trouble and he befriended that young man and kept him out of trouble. He is my little peacekeeper.
Lil Sister was particularly proud of her hand-me-down swim suit complete with tutu and a strawberry on the front. T was so happy that he could wear his glasses in the pool - those new sport glasses are getting their money's worth. The good thing about swimming was the kids slept really good come bed time. Speaking of sleeping, they would not sleep on the hotel beds - we had to make up bedrolls on the floor for them (aka pallets as they called them). Worked like a charm and they would sleep all night and we did not have to rent an extra room.
We embarked on Tuesday, May 21st. I had to work on the 20th but we had spent the previous weekend preparing for our trip. I actually managed to pack all of my things and all the kids things into one suitcase for the three of us. Hubby paid me a huge compliment and said I packed like his parents - that is actually saying a lot. I was quite efficient. I did not need to pack all the shorts that I did because it was so cold and rainy most of the time we did not even use them. Still, we had plenty to wear especially after washing at the hotel.
We drove straight through the first day. We made several stops to let the kids rest and stretch. We did pre-medicate Lil Sister with low dose Zofran. She, like her mother, gets really motion sick. The meds worked like a charm, and she did great without a stitch of nausea or vomiting. They took their naps in the car and then woke up to watch one show. We arrived at our hotel just in time for dinner, baths, and bedtime. We tried to stay on our own local time but it was tough not falling into the other time zone since it allowed us to sleep in an extra hour.
The next day we met up with Grandma and Grandpa N in a neighboring town for visiting with family. The main reason for this trip was to visit with family, particularly some of our elderly relatives that we may not get a chance to see again. All in their 90's. They all still live on their own but some are moving slower these days.
First stop, Aunt P and Uncle B's place. Aunt P is Grandma N's sister. They only have one grandson and he has never been married so they will likely never have any great-grandchildren. We like to think of the kids as their surrogate great-grandkids. It was fun that several other family members who heard we were in town came by to visit as well.The kids had a great time recruiting new playmates in their elderly relatives, all of whom were eager to play or read to them. Plus, I had strategically packed some new toys to entertain them - sticker books, reading books, paper dolls, Lego action figures, etc. Uncle B had to show off his small garden. He is 93 years young and still plays three rounds of golf a week.
Then onto Aunt L and Uncle M's place - they have a giant garden and a rather large yard which we took advantage of as the kids were desperate to run around. Both were long time educators and Uncle M was the city's mayor for a while. Aunt L and Uncle M do not have any grandchildren so again, our kids are the surrogate grandkids. I love "chatting" politics with Uncle M although this visit I did not get much chance as young T kept asking him about his travels to Egypt and told him how he was already saving for a trip to see the mummies there. They kindly provided us some cuttings from the garden to plant in our yard (spinach and ground cherries) and also some roses for each of the kids to enjoy on the car ride back to the hotel, although our little super heroes fell asleep. Aunt L is Grandpa N's older sister. I definitely see a resemblance in the photo of them side by side. Sweet, sweet lady a lot like dear Grandpa N. I also had to sneak in a profile pic of my shadow.
After their power nap and dinner, we hit the pool. Stay tuned. More photos to come.
I would have posted some profile pics sooner but there really has not been much to show - literally. Still, I want to document since I've done so with the last two kiddos.
I am currently 17 weeks and we had our 16 week check up this week - we're a little behind because of vacation. Everything is looking good. The kids were completely speechless when they heard her heartbeat. T told the doctor he says prayers for his baby every night and hopes she is healthy and comes out on his birthday. Heaven help me if we have to wait that long. However, he was really wanting her to come out soon and was praying she would come out after our vacation. I then had to explain if she comes out too soon she will not survive so he changed his prayers, but a little too much the other way - still I am just touched he says prayers for her (Lil Sister does too). Lil Sis just said to him, "Thank you for taking care of my baby." We explained this is quite the family affair and this baby really is their baby as much as it can possibly be.
Of late I've mostly switched to maternity clothes the majority of which are borrowed. This is awesome. I like that I don't have to purchase anything. I am not a fan of buying stuff for short term use. My neighbor was kind enough to loan me her stuff and I have plenty of professional clothes for work.
Overall, I am finally gaining weight. Two pounds total. I did not drop too much but also had not been gaining so it is good that I am finally in the positive. My blood pressure was 100/48 which would explain my dizziness and lightheaded feelings I've been struggling with. I've been learning not to sit up suddenly - makes me really empathetic for my elderly patients struggling with orthostatic hypotension. However, it's not really a concern since it's high blood pressures we worry about in OB patients.
I am getting pretty good fetal movement now. I anticipate her to be tiny, a lot like her older sister and maybe even a bit smaller just because her movements have not been as aggressive as Lil Sister's were at this same stage. My placenta is in the perfect position to be able to feel a lot of action so I think it's just because she's tiny. Fine by me - I am not a giant person and tiny babies come out easier.
Speaking of coming out, I've been doing a lot of reading and practicing of hypnobirthing. I am totally intrigued by the concept and a lot of it makes a lot of psychological and physiological sense to me. I am very scientifically driven in my medical practices and what I thought was some weird vodoo practice is actually quite logical. Plus, the relaxation exercises have helped me work through some of the not-so-fun aspects of being pregnant including some hip pain, headaches, and nausea. It has helped significantly. Plus, tonight when T interrupted my phone conversation to say, "I flushed too much toilet paper down the toilet and it's clogged and flooding" I maintained calm and relaxed, ended my call, and took care of it without vomiting. I was pretty impressed, especially since I also have had no drugs for nausea today. My 90 minutes of relaxation practice during the kids' naps today did a lot of good.
Here are some of the past profile pics. I've had Hubby take photos every two weeks as I am headed out for work. Working backwards - 16 weeks, 14 weeks, 12 weeks - front and side views.
Before embarking on our vacation we opted to stay behind and allow the kids to attend the local elementary school carnival. We attended last year and had a great time so we really wanted to keep the tradition alive.
It was even better this year than last. Chilly weather but plenty of fun to be had. The big draw for the kids were the games - most of which were free and there were prizes just for playing. I thought the most cleaver was the giant, life-sized Angry Birds Game. The kids really got a kick out of launching the giant turret. Of course, the bounce houses were also a big attraction, too. Enjoy the photos...
