February 2013:
February was the month of our family’s births – Eadaoin’s and Breanna’s birthdays at the beginning of the month, mine at the end, and soon thereafter would be my son’s birthing moment. It was a month of celebrations and birth. We were weekly going to classes on hypno-birthing and getting ready for the birth. The 8 to 5 Monday to Friday grind continued to possess the month working on I-pad development and course tutorials. The weekends we were off hiking in the woods or swamps, Congaree National forest was our good neighbor for the month as we explored the paths well that month.
On the 3rd we had our baby shower and it was surprisingly well attended given we had no friends or community in the area, our family came up from Mount Pleasant and my co-workers came to support the party to prepare for our new arrival. Gifts and food abounded, silly traditions, and a warm fire in the backyard, barbecued alligator, salmon, and some southern foods.
More weekend hikes along the Congaree River as we tried to get into a pattern of taking walks every day to get some fresh air and exercise. For the South, weather had some light jacket or sweater moments but overall was still very good weather. We tried to do a belly cast for the pregnancy but the plaster bandages we bought didn’t really work that well, and we tried to implement with clay but overall it was a failure. We figured we’d try it again later in the month. In search of getting a more free-range diet, we headed north to North Carolina to a ostrich farm we found that raised them organically without GMO food. I was very excited to go stock up and abolish beef and chicken from my diet. True Paleo eating – Go dinosaur. We were caught by surprise with the very first snow of the season when I left South Carolina in shorts and a t-shirt, we walk into the Ostrich information center and walk out into snow. It was crazy. We got some great photos of the winter wonderland around us.
We got our fill in exploring Columbia, the artwork, sculptures, and parks. Walking along the Congaree was the theme for our weekly hikes in February. The weather was nice, wildlife was out, and pleasant outings altogether.
Towards the end of the month, we did finally find the right plasters for the belly casting, and came out with a better version than the last. Still, not completely happy with it, we still plan to paint it up and create an art piece with it. Gearing up for the baby’s arrival, it would be anytime now. We were getting very nervous and excited.
There were a few classes we needed to get in before the arrival of Cian. We headed up to Charlotte to take in a cloth diapering class at the Baby Grocery store, we went to the regional hospital in Columbia to take new parenting courses, and had hoped to get into the Baby CPR class, but it was off schedule with ours – we’d have the baby before we could do it. Hypno-birthing classes were excited and fulfilling for both of us.
My birthday came and gone, turning 45 this year. Wasn’t very exciting as too much was going on to properly celebrate. We didn’t have many local friends or community so couldn’t really do it right. More important things were ahead of us and many life changes. I was sticking to my resolution for the New Year however as I was getting more free-range replacements to my diet and implementing more vegetarian options. I was also getting on to par with spirituality doing more rituals and ceremonies getting more vision of what lie ahead for us.
Work was going well but not without it’s downfalls. We lost an employee who wasn’t keeping up with his assignments and I struck some damage at the military gate I used every day to go home from, All four of my tires was flattened as they the tire shredder malfunctioned at the gate. I had to buy four new tires that we really didn’t have budget for. Luckily a couple months later, the Army reimbursed the expenses.
