The last full weekend of September we had a particularly special treat. In Louisville, there was a German Studies conference of sorts (which is a treat for some, but that is not the treat of which I am speaking.) Apparently, this is a pretty important conference and academics from all over the country travel to it. Fortunately for us, this list of academics included several who we happened to meet and spend lots of time with while in Marbach. Our friend, Carola, stayed with us for the weekend and on Saturday evening, we had a big homemade pizza party reunion. It was so surreal to see so many faces around our table in New Albany -- faces that were last seen around our table in Marbach. It was quite a satisfactory experience which made it all the more sorrowful to say goodbye.
The following Monday, Ezra and I headed down to Tennessee for a surprise visit. My grandparents and and uncle and aunt live there. They knew we were coming. My father, though, who happened to be there with another of his brothers to paint my grandparents' home, did not. I LOVE surprising people and being surprised and this was no exception because our visit wasn't the only surprise. Ezra and I arrived at the perfect moment. Everyone was finishing up dinner -- grandparents, dad, and two uncles -- when we came in. The look on my father's face was priceless. We all had a good laugh but then I set Ezra up on a chair and he made this announcement:
No one knew about that surprise and it was so fun to see the joy explode all over the kitchen. My dad started crying and much hugging ensued. Sorry the video quality is not the best...it was taken with my camera on my phone.
We had a nice relaxing week. Very nice to get to spend time with family we do not see too often including one great uncle Ezra hadn't seen since he was about 20 months old! As mentioned before, my dad and uncles did quite a bit of painting that week. Ezra helped out a bit.
We also got to spend some time with some very dear friends, Matthew and Isabel. They were both with Michael at UC and Matthew finished his Ph.D. in Spanish when Michael finished his in German. Matthew took a position at a university in East Tennessee about 10 minutes away from where my grandparents live. I hadn't seen either of them since May and it was quite nice to catch up a bit.
On Friday, my dad came home with Ezra and I where my mother who had just come down from Michigan was waiting for us. She hadn't heard our news yet so...
I was a little surprised that she was so surprised but that was fine with me! She was able to come to an ultrasound with me that afternoon where we both heard the baby's heartbeat. It was a very special experience for us to have together since she was unable to do anything like that with me when I was pregnant with Ezra. On Saturday, they were able to come see Ezra in his karate class and then hopped in the car and headed home afterwards. So, it was a short visit, but we'll take what we can get.
So, if you haven't picked up on it yet or have skipped ahead in this post for some reason and landed here, we are, indeed, expecting Hutchins Baby #2. We are quite excited, if not a little nervous, about parenting two children in the rapidly approaching future. The due date is around May 17th which puts me at about 8 weeks along...only 12 more weeks 'til we can find out if we have a boy or girl...only 32 until we meet him or her.... I have been doing fine for the most part. I never had morning sickness with Ezra but I am feeling a bit queasy with this one although I haven't thrown up yet. I'm also having skin issues this time around...not something I'm used to dealing with...blech... And, as with Ezra's pregnancy, I am SUPER tired. I try to take a nap in the afternoons otherwise I am worthless in the evenings. Ezra is pretty excited. As of now, he's interested in having a little sister. He prayed for one the other day.
Now, onto our firstborn...we have been discussing the topic of a Halloween costume the past couple weeks. He has been fairly indecisive. However, our friend, Matthew, gave Ezra a helpful gift when we visited him -- a trick or treat bag shaped like the head of Batman. Please understand, Ezra really has no clue who Batman is. He has never seen any Batman cartoons or read any comics. Still uncertain as to how I feel about a toddler interacting with the marvel comic superheroes of my generation.... From that moment on, though, Ezra decided he wanted to be Batman. I tried to change his mind but it seemed as though he felt obligated since he had the bag. I put it out of my mind until I passed by a Batman costume complete with muscles at the store last week. I really resisted...I'm typically a homemade costume type of gal...I finally caved in, though. I surprised him with it that afternoon. I wish I had had the camera on to record those first few moments. He literally became Batman. He instinctively struck this pose...
...and the first sentence out of his mouth was: "I wonder if this will make me fly..." He was genuinely disappointed that it did not. I reassured him, though, that Batman did not actually fly. That soothed him somewhat. He stalked around the house and I found him finally observing himself in the full-length mirror in our bedroom. He didn't see me and I heard him say to himself, "I have a job to do." He promptly turned around and started making my bed with super hero speed. The rest of the time in the suit was spent doing "jobs" all of which entailed cleaning something...obviously he's never seen the real Batman...we all know Alfred does all the cleaning... He never once called me "Mom" while in the suit. I was always Ms. Mandi and if I accidentally called him Ezra he laughed incredulously at me and corrected me. I feel fairly confident that I made the right decision in purchasing this costume. Now I am just considering a way to possibly introduce who Batman really is to him. I know some of you diehard fans out there might scoff at me, but I'm considering this. It's not quite so dark but there's still the voluptuous women to contend with....what's a mother to do? Maybe I just won't. Maybe I'll just let him continue to believe that Batman is the super hero who cleans super well...
No one knew about that surprise and it was so fun to see the joy explode all over the kitchen. My dad started crying and much hugging ensued. Sorry the video quality is not the best...it was taken with my camera on my phone.
We had a nice relaxing week. Very nice to get to spend time with family we do not see too often including one great uncle Ezra hadn't seen since he was about 20 months old! As mentioned before, my dad and uncles did quite a bit of painting that week. Ezra helped out a bit.
We also got to spend some time with some very dear friends, Matthew and Isabel. They were both with Michael at UC and Matthew finished his Ph.D. in Spanish when Michael finished his in German. Matthew took a position at a university in East Tennessee about 10 minutes away from where my grandparents live. I hadn't seen either of them since May and it was quite nice to catch up a bit.
On Friday, my dad came home with Ezra and I where my mother who had just come down from Michigan was waiting for us. She hadn't heard our news yet so...
I was a little surprised that she was so surprised but that was fine with me! She was able to come to an ultrasound with me that afternoon where we both heard the baby's heartbeat. It was a very special experience for us to have together since she was unable to do anything like that with me when I was pregnant with Ezra. On Saturday, they were able to come see Ezra in his karate class and then hopped in the car and headed home afterwards. So, it was a short visit, but we'll take what we can get.
So, if you haven't picked up on it yet or have skipped ahead in this post for some reason and landed here, we are, indeed, expecting Hutchins Baby #2. We are quite excited, if not a little nervous, about parenting two children in the rapidly approaching future. The due date is around May 17th which puts me at about 8 weeks along...only 12 more weeks 'til we can find out if we have a boy or girl...only 32 until we meet him or her.... I have been doing fine for the most part. I never had morning sickness with Ezra but I am feeling a bit queasy with this one although I haven't thrown up yet. I'm also having skin issues this time around...not something I'm used to dealing with...blech... And, as with Ezra's pregnancy, I am SUPER tired. I try to take a nap in the afternoons otherwise I am worthless in the evenings. Ezra is pretty excited. As of now, he's interested in having a little sister. He prayed for one the other day.
Now, onto our firstborn...we have been discussing the topic of a Halloween costume the past couple weeks. He has been fairly indecisive. However, our friend, Matthew, gave Ezra a helpful gift when we visited him -- a trick or treat bag shaped like the head of Batman. Please understand, Ezra really has no clue who Batman is. He has never seen any Batman cartoons or read any comics. Still uncertain as to how I feel about a toddler interacting with the marvel comic superheroes of my generation.... From that moment on, though, Ezra decided he wanted to be Batman. I tried to change his mind but it seemed as though he felt obligated since he had the bag. I put it out of my mind until I passed by a Batman costume complete with muscles at the store last week. I really resisted...I'm typically a homemade costume type of gal...I finally caved in, though. I surprised him with it that afternoon. I wish I had had the camera on to record those first few moments. He literally became Batman. He instinctively struck this pose...
...and the first sentence out of his mouth was: "I wonder if this will make me fly..." He was genuinely disappointed that it did not. I reassured him, though, that Batman did not actually fly. That soothed him somewhat. He stalked around the house and I found him finally observing himself in the full-length mirror in our bedroom. He didn't see me and I heard him say to himself, "I have a job to do." He promptly turned around and started making my bed with super hero speed. The rest of the time in the suit was spent doing "jobs" all of which entailed cleaning something...obviously he's never seen the real Batman...we all know Alfred does all the cleaning... He never once called me "Mom" while in the suit. I was always Ms. Mandi and if I accidentally called him Ezra he laughed incredulously at me and corrected me. I feel fairly confident that I made the right decision in purchasing this costume. Now I am just considering a way to possibly introduce who Batman really is to him. I know some of you diehard fans out there might scoff at me, but I'm considering this. It's not quite so dark but there's still the voluptuous women to contend with....what's a mother to do? Maybe I just won't. Maybe I'll just let him continue to believe that Batman is the super hero who cleans super well...
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