Julie's Boggle

In this shot, Jon (at 27m) was enjoying a ride on a little pushcar at Snakes and Ladders, an indoor activity centre that we visit for the occasional treat, pausing just long enough to give me a lovely smile as I waved the camera at him.

(This is one of those annoying photographs which captured a gorgeous look, but with a woefully inadequate flash setting!  However, it was still October’s sweetest smile, so it’s had a little “processing” to make up for the original’s inadequacies.)

Checking my recent blog entries, I’m all too aware that they have been scant of late.  And of course I’m going to put the bulk of the responsibility for that firmly on the aforementioned pregnancy.

I will admit that it’s definitely been easier being pregnant (so far) the second time around.  If you don’t count the occasional requirements for lugging heavy toddlers around, the advantages of being a stay-at-home mum for this stage are huge.

For starters, when the periods of complete and utter exhaustion began – round about week 8 – I was able to collapse for a half-hour power-nap while Jon had his lunchtime sleep.  This was a massive tonic for my afternoon / evening alertness and I felt immensely grateful not to be reliving the endless first trimester afternoons at work back in 2006 which ground on and on under a blanket of weariness.

Now that I’m onto week 16, things are feeling a lot better in general.  The tiredness is still there, but these days it’s more down to my blood-pressure meds than the pregnancy.  And the all-day queasiness has passed too, thank goodness, so I can get rid of my food obsession.  (Of course while I was feeling queasy and tired, it was a big perk not to need to be applying my weary brain to anything more intellectual than management of domestic chores and finding a quick and easy supper recipe!)

Blogging, in the meantime, has had significant time-resource issues as the blessed afternoon nap jumps to the front of the queue, followed closely by its cousin, the early night.  And for the moments when I’m feeling quite alert and inspired to write, there is young Jon whose demands for attention (particularly when I’m engaged in a solo-task like tapping away at the keyboard) are becoming ever more insistent as the months go by.

I must say that things at the moment feel about as normal as they ever have.  Naturally nothing is static with a toddler in the house, but our routine is comfortable and familiar, and overall, the effect of the additional bump in our lives has not been significant to date.

Most noticeably, things are happening at a more relaxed pace as I learn to cram less into a day, and in the spaces that open up I’m gaining extra appreciation of time spent alone with my amusing, enthusiastic, energetic little guy.

… that we’re expecting another little one.  You may recall that previously we rushed to get a photo of the positive pregnancy test to record the momentous occasion.  This time we did the same and, as you can see, already in two short years, baby technology has moved on – the tester is now pink, rather than blue.

We also acquired a copy of the obligatory 12 week scan:

It’s really exciting seeing this little one – so full of unknown promise, and contrasting him/her to Jonathan who we’re getting to know quite well.  Strange to think that this person will be part of our family life for 9 months and at the end of that time still be a stranger.  But after that, we’re looking forward to getting to know you little one!