how much fun it was. Andrew’s language exploded, making communication really fun. He became shy at times, but not at the pool! He had a blast at the pool all summer, jumping off the edge tirelessly and becoming obsessed with declaring, “I went unda!” every time he went under. The endless fascination with fun in the pool was a treat.
On May 21, 2010, our 6th anniversary, we moved from our rental house in Charlottesville to the
house we bought. It was wonderful to get into our own home again, but I don’t recommend moving on your anniversary in 90 degree heat at 6+ months pregnant:) But you gotta do what you gotta do! We quickly fell in love with our neighborhood and learned that we have great playmates for Andrew all around us---a huge perk! We spent a lot of time sweating through the humidity on their wonderful playgrounds.
The end of July, 2010 took us back to Colorado for the first time since we left (Oct. 30, 2009). A dear friend’s wedding was the occasion and we were en route to Big Sky, MT for some time with the whole extended Ferguson Family. We were in Denver for a brief 48 hours---not long enough to catch up with 10 years' worth of friends, but plenty long to get horribly nostalgic. It was a tough weekend, but it was really nice to enjoy some great weather, a lovely wedding, and our dear friends and family at church.
Then we were off to Big Sky, MT! All 9 adults and 5 ½ kids (one still "with" me!) were there simultaneously for 2-3 days of the week. Mom and Dad rented an exquisite house to accommodate us all. While many headed off for day trips to Yosemite, we stayed in town
to enjoy the local entertainment. At 32-33 weeks pregnant, I was visiting the ladies room about every 30 minutes, so a day in the car didn’t sound like much fun. We’d been to Yosemite before, (when I was pregnant with Andrew), so we explored locally. Michael fly fished the spectacular Gallatin River several days. I was able to get Andrew down to the opposite side of the river one day and he loved watching Daddy catch fish!
As the due date for #2 approached (Sept 18., coincidentally our dog Molly’s 5th birthday!), Andrew realized that he would soon be 2 ½, which is around the corner from 3! As cute as two was, he was showing signs of 3 already and I was becoming terrified of adding a baby to the household! I even said to Mom at 39 ½ weeks pregnant that “they” should not let you have children 2 ½ years apart! This one seemed perfectly content in my belly, so I thought maybe I wouldn’t have to add a baby to the mix afterall! Maybe I could put up with the heartburn and sore muscles and just stay pregnant….at times, I hoped for that! Having already far surpassed Andrew's total of 36 ½ weeks, we didn’t know when this baby was going to come. Turns out, we had to make it come!
I was induced on Friday, September 17 right at 40 weeks. Dr. Wolanski felt the little one had grown enough and that we would both benefit from getting things going on this side of pregnancy. So at 6:35pm, our precious little baby revealed herself to us! God blessed us with our Margaret Elizabeth (named about 5-6 years prior on the 225 exit ramp in Denver on the way home from church one Sunday). What a joy she has been ever since! My only regret is that
she is somehow 9 months old and I am just now documenting her. Margaret has been a very good baby since the beginning. I coerced her into Andrew’s nap schedule from the beginning and I fed her so often she slumped into a food coma “through the night” by 7 weeks. Early on, evenings were a bit rough. We were trying to keep her on our schedule to go to bed at 10:00pm. But once we realized that the chaos of our household from 6:00-10:00pm was just too much for her, we offered her the opportunity to “check out” by 7:00pm and our angelic baby returned:)
At about 8 weeks, I joined my parents and sisters in NYC for a fun weekend. This was my trial run for being gone 5 days in January to sneak back to Colorado. Margaret gave Michael a bit of a wake-up call, but did great on the bottle. We planned a Vail/Denver trip in January and Margaret decided to really test me for the first time the week before. To this day, I don’t know why she was up every night for the week before we left. She wasn’t sick, no teeth were emerging, and she wasn’t hungry. I never would have planned the CO trip without confidence that the 4-month-old would be sleeping through the night! But about that time, she discovered her left thumb and all seemed to right with the world again. Andrew has always been a right thumb sucker and Margaret, now, the left. Go figure! Apparently the kids did great for Dody and Grandaddy and we had a wonderful trip. Epic skiing in Vail---best days they’d seen all winter!---and our time in Denver with friends was great. We were even able to drive by our old house on
this second visit – a huge step for me.
Rewinding to December 19, Margaret was baptized at 3 months. All of her grandparents and blood aunts and uncles were able to be at Meadows Presbyterian for the service. Given the hectic nature of the holidays, the others were home busy with pageants, etc., but this was clearly
a benefit to our East Coast move. Just like John Bell had done for Andrew’s baptism, our Pastor Tom Goodrich graciously allowed all three ordained grandparents to participate in the service. Grandma posed the questions to the congregation, Dody read the prayer that was prayed at my baptism 32 years prior, and the congregation teared up to Grandaddy’s singing of "I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry". There is something about the sacrament of baptism that makes
me feel like Jesus’ hand is on my own head. What a profound moment it is.
Quick highlights for Margaret, most of which coincide with Andrew’s benchmarks:
· Sleeping through the night – 7 weeks
· Rolling over front to back – 8 weeks
· Eolling over back to front – 11 weeks
· Left thumb discovered – 4 months
· Sitting up – 6 months
· Broken collar bone – 7 months (yikes!)
· Crawling, inchworm style – 8 ½ months
· Crawling, traditionally – 9 months
Within days of this posting (being written, not actually posted), we leave for Israel. We are taking this Pilgrimage with John Bell, minister at our beloved Wellshire Presbyterian in Denver. Our children's incredible grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and family friends are all chipping in to make this possible.
What have the last 9 months taught me?
1. Too often I prioritize cleaning or organizing over my children’s laughs and current explorations. I am working to change this.
2. My dear girlfriends in Charlottesville have helped me realize that there is enough of me to go around to be a good mother, wife, friend, and Christian.
3. God is good. Better than I realized. SO much better than I realized.
