Realization.

Just now while working on a project for church I had the most profound paradigm shift.

For the longest time I have avoided blogging as "my journal" because I found that I recorded things quite differently for an audience than I would have writing it in my personal journal. 

The project I am working on is a Family Reunion of sorts for our ward. All focused on Family History. That's when it hit me. This blog is not about me, my feelings, and my history, but it has the great potential to be a good place to record the milestones of my family and be Our Family History.

And with that I am a renewed believer and lover of blogs.

I'm We're back!

Welcome back to reality

Henry and I were able to spend 10 marvelous days in Utah. It was so good to be close to the mountains, see good friends, and spend copious amounts of time with family.

The return home with its subsequent backlash has been rough.

The night we got back Henry had us up all night. Poor little guy couldn't breathe through his nose, making his beloved binky a rotten tease. I was supposed to start a nanny job that morning, but had to call in "sick" on my first day. Go, me!

Now that we had been properly sleep deprived John went off to work and H and I spent the whole of the day in each others arms. There certainly is a sweetness to sick babies, and it consists entirely in their desire to fall asleep on your chest. There may be nothing sweeter.

After a long day of snot, drool, and fever our air conditioner decided to give out on us. Seriously. Cuddling a little ball of 100° when your house is 82° is a miserable experience. (I clearly live a life of decadence because I cannot fathom how people lived down here before cold, circulated air.) We made it through the night with some fans and headed straight for the pool the next morning.

Henry loved the pool. LOVED IT.

Thanks to the baby inhaling quite a bit of the pool, is sinuses were all cleaned out for the rest of the day which was nice, but we still had a broken air conditioner. It was so hot in our house and Henry's room was the hottest.

hot house + baby with a fever = no sleep

So, 10:30 pm rolls around and the only thing to do is toss the kid into a cold tub. There was no moment of shock, just instant relief. He was so happy, albeit exhausted. Then he rammed the bathtub with his head and the fun was over. I grabbed his cool little body out of the tub, dried him off, and let him loose on the bathroom floor.

John was setting up the pack-n-play in our room (where it is much cooler), Henry was writhing on the floor, and I was eating Pei Wei leftovers sitting on the bathmat, snapping pics of his chaos.

Somehow, around midnight, we all fell asleep that night. When morning came, I was the sicko. So lame. The boys went to church without me for the first time and I slept for all three of those hours. It was greatly needed.

And thus ends the too-long story of our weekend saga and here is to hoping the guys come to fix the AC this morning and that this week will be better. Mostly just cooler.

One half of a year

People always say how fast they grow. 

This is an absolute.

My little guy is 6 months old.

He is in the 30th percentile for height.

The 1st for weight.

 Our skinny hobbit.

Life with a baby is an ever evolving process. Just when I get used to the way things are he goes and changes it up on me.

He is by far my greatest adventure.

I love him.

 

He is an independent soul. Insists on putting his binky in his mouth himself.

Sometimes it is upside down. He is still proud of his work.

 

 He is mobile.

The army crawling has begun. 

(He started on the yellow quilt in the background.)

He is ALL. OVER. THE. PLACE.

We have officially started solid foods.

He loves them.

All of them.

  

Getting much better at sitting up.

(Crack!)

 

He loves books and being read to.

 

One of my favorite things is watching him figure new things out.

 

 His favorite thing is bath time.

 

And his little girlfriend Nova. :)

Merry Christmas!

I had an extra 20 minutes while the baby was napping. I could (and probably should) have written some sort of update, but instead I threw this together. It is much better than my words would have been.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

from The Farrows

John, Jessica, Henry & Dog

Henry David Farrow

A month later....

Presenting

Henry David Farrow

born October 13, 2012 at 12:48 pm

7 pounds 1 ounce, 20.5 inches long

More to come.

 

 

BFFs and Babies

Heidi is my longest and best friend. We have known each other since we were 4 years old, so to say that we have "been through it all together" is an actual truth. Pregnancy being no exception.

One of the greatest phone conversations of my life was the night that we both told each other of our "secret" pregnancies and subsequently figured out that we were due right around the same time. A few weeks later it became official that our due dates were ONE DAY apart.

It has been such a wonderful thing having someone to go through this entire experience with. AND the ultimate blessing to have been able to compare my "boring" pregnancy to her horrific one. A blessing that I do not take lightly.

We have seen each other only a handful of times during the last 9 months, but it has been fun to watch each other grow. (Also, to see how great pregnancy looks on her, and how I have become much more "homely" throughout this process.)

July

August

September

Now we will see each other no more. The checkered flag is in sight. This is the week we are due. I have two days left. She has three. I'm so anxious to see when these two boys will make their debut. 

I think the best part about all of this is that we will get to start motherhood together. What an adventure that will be. Heaven help us.

Fly Girl no more

I have been flying the "friendly skies" for two years now. These have been the fastest two years of my life. Full of the word "change". It has gone a little something like this...

Job change.

Adventure change.

Boy change.

Scenery change.

State change.

Engagement change.

Marriage change.

Full-time to part-time change.

Pregnant change.

And now maternity leave/pending retirement change.

With yesterday being my last day of work before maternity leave I have what you might call "mixed emotions".

Always starting a "new adventure" has become something of the "norm" for me in my life. As I am about to embark on my biggest, most meaningful, and life-long adventure I am more excited and nervous than I have ever been before. I am also so grateful to have a teammate going into this one. :)

As per usual, starting a new adventure typically means ending another one. Closing one chapter to start the next. I can honestly say that when I started this job I figured that this would be a "career" for me. For the first time I could actually comprehend staying with the same company for 20+ years. Something that I would do until I became one of those old decrepit flight attendants that the company has to let go because they are a danger to everyone. I assumed that I would always be based and live in Utah, have my family to watch my babies, and when the kids got old enough I would be able to take them on a "field trip" to see the pyramids, the Great Wall of China, Stonehenge, etc instead of just merely reading about them.

It appears as though God has a different plan for my life. I am no longer in Utah, and sadly, will probably never live there again. I have no family around me to help watch babies. (John's family is closest and they are 300 miles away.) And I am based in Houston, which is a 3+ hour drive or potentially a LOT of time sitting at an airport to fly there and back, neither of which compliment a mother-of-an-infant lifestyle. So while I have until January 14th to make my final decision as to whether I will be going back to flying the skies, I am seeing a tendency to lean one way.

I will miss the people, the ones that I work with and the hundreds of new ones that I met each day. I will miss being able to walk around on the airplane when the seat belt sign is on. I will miss "surfing" the turbulence while handing out beverages. I will miss "People Watching" in random airports across the country. I will miss all of the guilt-free reading time, guilt-free hotel room lounging at the exact temperature of my liking, and the guilt-free fact that McDonalds is in every airport and that I sometimes HAVE to eat it because it is my only choice.

As much as I have loved this job, the very hardest part will be losing my flight benefits. Although they have taken me some great places in the world, the single greatest thing about having them is that they make my family "close". Without them it is a $400, 3 hour plane ride or a 24 hour drive. That part will be the hardest adjustment for me, but I have a feeling it will all work out.

The PROs to this whole situation is that I will FINALLY be putting roots down somewhere. I will get to be home with John EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. I will get to sign up for everything that the Relief Society has to offer without having to check my schedule and realize I won't be in town. I will cease being a terrible Visiting Teacher (hopefully). And I will be able to really fall into San Antonio and all it has to offer and embrace it as my home.

Change is good. Difficult, but good. Bring on the "normalcy".