Busy Day Two

Peyton had a couple more visitors today. Sheri (a co-worker of Amy's) came with her 3-year-old Cora but they couldn't see him because he was off recovering from his circumcision. They were able to see him through the window to the nursery. Then Mark (a co-worker of Pete), his wife Amy and their two kids - Luke and Blake also stopped by and saw Peyton through the window to the nursery.

On top of getting snipped, Peyton also got an ultrasound to check on his hydronephrosis (extra fluid in the kidney) and a blood test for rare diseases.

He's feeding well and a little more alert. I don't know what Meyering features to look for (and I'm sure he has some) but I think he looks more and more like an Anderson all the time.

Lots of Love

Peyton had a lot of visitors last night and pretty much slept through the whole thing. Everyone thinks he's cute, but what would you expect with the a parents he has?

His grandma and grandpa Meyering came first and then his Uncle Kevin and Aunt Katie. Cousins Gavin and Anne Hope couldn't come because of sniffles but we eagerly anticipate their chance to meet him.
Grandma and Grandpa Anderson came next followed by Uncle Phil, Aunt Dawn and his cousins: Tori, Kitty, Annie and Henry. Henry got to hold Peyton before his sisters and then, after everybody else got a turn, he wanted another one. He seemed very happy with his new cousin but thought we should give him a different name. He didn't offer any suggestions apart from "not Henry." After a little break, Uncle Paul and Aunt Sarah came to see him.

Everyone commented that he looked a little different than his picture that I already posted and he looks a little different even this morning .

An Extra Reason to Be Thankful

Peyton James Anderson arrived at 11:52 AM today on Thanksgiving day. He is healthy and his mom is doing very well too - for that we are especially thankful.




He is 8 pounds even and 19 inches long.

patience

I think it's safe to say that Pete and I are in a season of learning patience. Or maybe just practicing it, since learning patience strikes me as a lifelong endeavor.

Of course, where we're practicing it the most is in these final weeks and days before our baby arrives. Our visit to the hospital and our five hours of contractions made everything seem so much more imminent. But here we are, still waiting. That's not a bad thing - it's given our son an opportunity to grow and develop like he should. We're much more practically prepared than we were (though there are still a few things we need, and there's still work to be done on the room, but that may be what I do while I'm enjoying 12 weeks off of work). And while I think it's been harder for Pete than it has been for me, there is something so sweet to enjoy in this time of anticipation. I feel good. We get to dream and talk about our baby, and his arrival will bring such unspeakable joy.

We're both practicing patience at work. He's dealing with some difficult staff issues. I'm slowly wrapping things up and attempting to hand them over to the freelancer who will be filling in for me while I'm gone. That process has not been as smooth as I had hoped. She's done the job in the past (about 4 years ago), but it all seems very slow to come back to her. Plus, there are new components to the job she didn't have to deal with before. We've been working together for nearly 2 months and there are things that she still hasn't gained a complete grasp on. I've been trying to figure it out - is it the way I've been training? Have I been too busy to help her fully understand the ins and outs of the job? Or is it her? I have to remind myself that I'm responsible to do my best in training her - and then I can't worry about it once I'm gone.

And then I'm practicing patience as I figure out what's next job-wise. Part time is not an option at this point (though it will be evaluated once I return from maternity leave) - I think that may have to do with the "hunker down" economic mode we always seem to go into during our fourth quarter (one of the joys of working in retail - everything hinges on how successful your Christmas season is). I'm simply at a place where I need to wait and see what God has next, though everything in me wants it figured out right now.

So we wait and hope and pray in the midst of so much that is unknown - at least to us.

trust

Late Friday afternoon, I learned my work-from-home proposal was turned down by our CEO. I left work pretty upset for a number of reasons and not all of them will I go into here. Mostly, I felt the greatest concern about income vs. being the kind of mom I want to be. I was worried, angry, hurt and disappointed and felt that way most of the weekend. It was a struggle to avoid getting caught up in a lot of bitterness. Thankfully, my mom reminded me that this was not the end of the world and that God has something better planned. We're entering a new season of our lives and this is simply an extension of that. More than anything, it's an opportunity to trust God. I'm a planner by nature - I like to know how things are going to go and like to have them mapped out beforehand. This feels like walking into a dark room, but I need to be okay with that. God knows what He's doing.

And then today, the VP over our department (who shared the news with me on Friday) emailed me to tell me that going part time is an option and asked if I'd be interested. There's much to be discussed and this is by no mean a sure thing or necessarily the right thing. It's a step into that darkened room and we're continuing to pray.

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In baby news, we were up for several hours last night keeping track of contractions. They started around 10:30 and finally stopped around 3:00 or 3:30. We called the doctor around 1:15, and he felt they weren't strong enough, so they didn't warrant a trip to the hospital. At our appointment last week, he did feel that I probably wouldn't make it to my due date of the 25th, but it's really anyone's guess. He also wouldn't check me since he was concerned it would "get things started." We'll see what he does this week, now that the baby is, by medical standards, full term. We're so ready to meet our little one.