It's Springtime in Phoenix, which means the orange blossoms are lightly scenting the air and it's just warm enough to wonder each day if you really should pull on those jeans. Not that I'm successfully doing much pulling on these days. As you may have guessed, I'm rapidly losing the war with my top jeans button. Fortunately, a girlfriend from church clued me in on a secret - using a hairband looped around the button and through the buttonhole to keep my pants secure. Genius! Maternity stores everywhere should be marketing that right next to the Belly Band. Keeps you from having to don the excess fabric of maternity wear before it's absolutely necessary. And anything that helps keep me cooler in the Phoenix sunshine is fine by me.
Yes, yes, you say - we all know how the expanding belly thing goes, but how are you doing? This is the most common question I receive right now, either from sympathetic moms who remember early pregnancy or from (somewhat) clueless non-parents who know nothing about being pregnant other than you're supposed to feel bad. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate how many people have been so caring the last several months. It's just that it sometimes feels like the whole conversation becomes centered around what I can and can't eat, when I'll finally start to feel like a "normal" person again, etc. This is why I was slow to tell people about the baby in the first place (and to start a blog, actually)...it's hard to dominate everyone's life with info just about me. But seeing as how you've logged into MY webpage, I guess that's OK with you. ^_^
In all seriousness, I am doing well, thank you for asking. Feeling a mostly normal appetite (if not an excessive one sometimes) and not too tired during the day. Having random mood swings, which usually involves tears...and maybe some wailing in the extreme moments. The basic tears are usually over sentimental type stuff (I can't make it through an episode of Biggest Loser without crying for joy over a weigh-in) and the sobbing fits are mostly over my fears, rational and irrational, about the future. Totally normal, I'm told. It's just hard sometimes to think about how much life will be changing in a mere six months. I'm so encouraged to spend time with my other young mother friends and hear about how much joy they find in caring for their children. It's difficult to imagine that for myself right now, but I take great comfort in knowing that J.Paul and I released the decision to begin a family to the Lord and He definitely has the best timing of all. Speaking of J.Paul, he has been a total wall of strength for me to lean on, good days and bad days, so if/when you see/talk to him, you should tell him he's awesome!
And with that, baby C and I wish you a good night!
Love in Christ ~ Valerie
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Where to begin?
With so many life changes on the horizon, the Chambers family has finally decided to join the wonderfully technological world of blogging to keep everyone updated on all our happenings. I know, we're fascinating people - how have we gone this long without posting about our lives?! But let's put that behind us and just pick the best place to begin this journey...the present.
As many know already, J.Paul and I are anticipating the arrival of our first child on September 23. Or whenever it decides to show up, since I hear exact due dates are more of a myth than a fact. We're definitely excited, but it's a little tough to get too worked up about something that still feels a little unreal. I'm not showing yet, just dealing with the famed 1st trimester symptoms, and J.Paul's doing his best to play "supportive husband" 24/7. He deserves an award for this, trust me.
Most excitingly, I did have my second OB appointment Monday, the 15th, and she confirmed what we already suspected...that's right, I am having a human baby. Got to hear it's heartbeat for the first time at a nice 140 bpm. Let's hope this bodes well for his/her metabolism in the future. For those who are wondering, yes, we DO want to know the gender and will be very excited to post about it in about 7 weeks, along with some grainy ultrasound pictures that most normal people can't read. This is one of my fears (albeit a lesser one) - that the doctor will do the ultrasound and exclaim about the baby's head, feet, etc and I won't be able to see anything but a gray blob. What do you do in that situation? If you say you can't identify your child in a photo, are you already a bad mother? Do you fake excitement and hope you say the right thing? This isn't keeping me up at night, but it is an interesting dilemma.
On other news, I'm sadly finishing up my Spring Break and preparing to jump back into school next Monday. I've heard it and said it before, but why do vacation days go so much faster than work days? So not fair. I can't even say that this week was especially productive, but it was very relaxing. Started it off by traveling to Dallas for my college roommate's wedding - a beautiful Christ-centered ceremony followed by reconnecting with several other college friends. Also finally got to see a few KPMG friends, whom I've very much missed this past year. Funny, but when you plan to leave a job, you don't necessarily consider the co-worker family you'll also be leaving. Now that accounting "busy season" is over, I hope to spend a little more time with my old friends.
J.Paul has had the week off from his evening classes, which meant we got to see each other more this week than usual. Tuesday, we even went to dinner with the Newtown, PA guys who were down this week. Been a while since we've been able to do that, so it was very nice. He jumps back into his class schedule next week, though, and has to push through until mid-May just like I do. My gradation is May 15, and his classes will be on break for a few weeks after that as the ASU professors take some time off.
For a first blog, this was surprisingly easy. For me, at least...no guarantees on how readable or interesting it was for you. ^_^ Keep watching, we hope to start incorporating pictures in the not-too-distant future!
Love in Christ ~ Valerie
As many know already, J.Paul and I are anticipating the arrival of our first child on September 23. Or whenever it decides to show up, since I hear exact due dates are more of a myth than a fact. We're definitely excited, but it's a little tough to get too worked up about something that still feels a little unreal. I'm not showing yet, just dealing with the famed 1st trimester symptoms, and J.Paul's doing his best to play "supportive husband" 24/7. He deserves an award for this, trust me.
Most excitingly, I did have my second OB appointment Monday, the 15th, and she confirmed what we already suspected...that's right, I am having a human baby. Got to hear it's heartbeat for the first time at a nice 140 bpm. Let's hope this bodes well for his/her metabolism in the future. For those who are wondering, yes, we DO want to know the gender and will be very excited to post about it in about 7 weeks, along with some grainy ultrasound pictures that most normal people can't read. This is one of my fears (albeit a lesser one) - that the doctor will do the ultrasound and exclaim about the baby's head, feet, etc and I won't be able to see anything but a gray blob. What do you do in that situation? If you say you can't identify your child in a photo, are you already a bad mother? Do you fake excitement and hope you say the right thing? This isn't keeping me up at night, but it is an interesting dilemma.
On other news, I'm sadly finishing up my Spring Break and preparing to jump back into school next Monday. I've heard it and said it before, but why do vacation days go so much faster than work days? So not fair. I can't even say that this week was especially productive, but it was very relaxing. Started it off by traveling to Dallas for my college roommate's wedding - a beautiful Christ-centered ceremony followed by reconnecting with several other college friends. Also finally got to see a few KPMG friends, whom I've very much missed this past year. Funny, but when you plan to leave a job, you don't necessarily consider the co-worker family you'll also be leaving. Now that accounting "busy season" is over, I hope to spend a little more time with my old friends.
J.Paul has had the week off from his evening classes, which meant we got to see each other more this week than usual. Tuesday, we even went to dinner with the Newtown, PA guys who were down this week. Been a while since we've been able to do that, so it was very nice. He jumps back into his class schedule next week, though, and has to push through until mid-May just like I do. My gradation is May 15, and his classes will be on break for a few weeks after that as the ASU professors take some time off.
For a first blog, this was surprisingly easy. For me, at least...no guarantees on how readable or interesting it was for you. ^_^ Keep watching, we hope to start incorporating pictures in the not-too-distant future!
Love in Christ ~ Valerie
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