KateHNM: If you would like, please take the time to give an introduction about yourself. There are no limits on how long or short.
Members: Please ask any questions that come to mind! Please keep in mind that the spotlighted member has the right to not answer anything she isn't comfortable with.
There are no time limits or end dates to these so ask away for as long as you have questions!
Have fun!
(So sorry I'm late on this. Totally spaced my mind this weekend)
Hello everybody!
My name is Kate (obviously) and I just turned 24 earlier this month. My husband's name is Nathan, he's 28. We live in upstate New York about 20 minutes from Lake George. I mention Lake George because it seems to be quite a tourist spot in the summer so I thought some of you might have heard of it. We've both lived in this area all our lives but are planning on leaving the state in the next two years. We don't agree with New York politics. I'm not very excited about it because I love it here but it's for the best I suppose.
I work as a head teller at a bank in Lake George and Nate works as a manager in a grocery store. We met back in 2007 when I had just graduated from high school. I started my first job at a small family owned grocery store and Nate started there about a month after I did. He flirted with me for 10 months before I finally decided to go out with him. We had the best date and have been together ever since. We moved in together in early 2010 and he proposed July 12th 2012 (his birthday). It was really cute he tied a bow with a note around our cat and had me call him in (I thought I was calling him in to cuddle on the bed before going to sleep). The note said "Will you marry my Dad?" And then Nate came in and got down on one knee saying all he wanted for his birthday was to know we're going to spend the rest of our lives together. And then a little over a month later we found out I was pregnant! We pushed up the wedding to the end of October. It wasn't anything too fancy just a town court wedding but we hope to have enough money to put together the wedding we wanted someday.
We were a bit nervous at the beginning because we had had a miscarriage in 2008, (I became pregnant unexpectedly a few months after we started dating) and it was pretty hard on us. We made it to 3 months and rushed in for our first ultrasound excited to see our baby for the first time, only to find out it didn't make it. So needless to say the first few months of this pregnancy were full of worry. Then I had bleeding around 7 weeks and I was so scared I went to the emergency room. Obviously everything was okay and I was able to hear my baby's heartbeat for the first time! It was such a relief.
I plan to homeschool my children even if I have to work (although I would love to be a SAHM). I also plan on following a delayed vaccination schedule with some vaccinations being skipped entirely or at least delayed until about age 12 or so. This is tough to do in this area but we found one pediatrician we are meeting with next wednesday who will do this. The only problem is she doesn't work with any insurance companies. We'll see how it goes. I'm also planning on a home birth (much to the dismay of my family and MIL). I'm working with two wonderful midwives that work out of Troy, they've been really great. It's a little stressful though because our lease is up at the end of March and we have yet to find our new home! So I don't even know where I will be having this baby and getting a nursery together is not possible at this point.
We both love to read and love all types of music. I also enjoy painting and drawing. We have a huge cat that we spoil rotten. His name is Tucker I'll have to add a picture. We're huge sci-fi fans, especially anything Star Trek. Also big Doctor Who fans. I have a rather large immediate family with two older brothers and two younger half sisters (different moms). We are all pretty close even though we don't see each other very often. I think I pretty much covered everything.
I look forward to your questions!
This is a picture of me and my husband in the middle with my brothers and sisters on either side of us. You can see a bit of my baby bump in this picture. I think I was 15 weeks pregnant or so.
A picture of Nate and I on our second date.
Most recent picture of Tucker although not the greatest lighting. And you can't see his bright blue eyes.
And last but not least, our baby boy! This was taken at 19 weeks:
Thanks! I really love the area even though it gets quite cold in the winter I guess I'm just used to it. The mountains are beautiful and there is a lot of interesting history here. But my husband and I are quite conservative about most things politically (although certainly not ALL things) and this is a democrat state. We want to move to a more conservative state that is more friendly to home-schooling parents and doesn't regulate everything we do so heavily. And preferably with much lower taxes because ours are outrageous! We were thinking New Hampshire sounded good but now my husband thinks we should move to Texas. Even though he hates the heat! First he said Alaska but I quickly vetoed that idea because I can't imagine dealing with 24 hours of darkness or sunshine and I heard the flies are horrible there (it seems silly but I hate bugs). Then it was Washington state, then New Hampshire and now Texas. It will probably change again before we end up leaving although Texas doesn't sound too bad. We are planning on moving in about two years. We want our families to be able to be a part of our baby's early years and it will probably help us to have some sort of a support system in the first two years of being new parents.
I really hate the idea of moving so far away from my family and everything I know but he's right, New York state is not where we want to raise our kids. I wish I could convince them to move with us!
Oh and for the record we are conservative but do not identify ourselves as Republicans because those people are crazy when it comes to certain things. We consider ourselves libertarian. Basically we believe in small government that allows us to make most of our own choices (including birth control, sexuality etc.).
Hi Kate! I am in the DDC but haven't posted much. We are due with our 3rd in early April. I wanted to respond and say hi to a fellow libertarian! I lived in NH for awhile so if you are still considering a move there, please feel free to contact me with questions about the area. We now live in OH but are considering a move to Texas in a few years, for some of the same reasons as you. I homeschool our kids and I am impressed that you are already considering doing the same for your family!
We moved shortly before our first child was born and it wasn't too horrible. We had a homebirth about a month after we moved into our apartment and it was fun getting everything ready for the birth. Good luck with finding a new place and I hope it isn't too stressful for you.
Great to "meet" you!
-Nicole
Nice to meet you! We were originally thinking NH, it's been named the most free state in the US. But it still requires quite a bit of regulation for home schooling it looks like. It's not that I don't think my child will be able to pass their tests but I would prefer to not have to deal with all that. And it was an easy choice to homeschool for us. Growing up in NY public schools(I can't speak for all of NY, only my area) made us detest the public school system. Not that there weren't some great teachers every now and then. But all we basically learned was to take tests and to hate school. I exaggerate a bit obviously I learned a bit more than that but I think a lot of that had to do with my parents and my love of reading and researching. I know some would hate me for saying this but I don't believe teachers should have tenure. Teachers should keep their jobs because they teach well and treat the students well not because they have tenure. I've known more than one teacher who abused this horribly and was never fired. But I could go on and on. OH is a pretty liberal state too, isn't it? Funny that we're both thinking Texas.
I think I said too much in my intro, haha. Seems like I didn't leave any questions to be asked. Oh well.
Thanks! I really love the area even though it gets quite cold in the winter I guess I'm just used to it. The mountains are beautiful and there is a lot of interesting history here. But my husband and I are quite conservative about most things politically (although certainly not ALL things) and this is a democrat state.
This is how we feel about Oregon! It's interesting too because Oregon is basically split in two...the liberal/democratic western side with a big population, and the conservative, much less populated eastern side. We are obviously on the eastern side (Idaho border, actually), and it's SO frustrating to be controlled by a government that has NO idea what life is like on THIS side of the state. Life (and gosh, even just the geography) is SO different here than it is on that side.
Having grown up with so many siblings, are you drawn to having a large family?
This is how we feel about Oregon! It's interesting too because Oregon is basically split in two...the liberal/democratic western side with a big population, and the conservative, much less populated eastern side. We are obviously on the eastern side (Idaho border, actually), and it's SO frustrating to be controlled by a government that has NO idea what life is like on THIS side of the state. Life (and gosh, even just the geography) is SO different here than it is on that side.
I thought you were describing Washington State for a minute! :)
Having grown up with so many siblings, are you drawn to having a large family?
Well I think 2 or 3 is an appropriate number. My husband says we should stop at two but if I have two boys I will probably want to try for a third. That's what my mom did and she finally got a daughter in the end. If I have all boys that's fine too but I think it would be nice to have a daughter.
What are you most looking forward to? Would you say you're more nervous or excited or __________?
Are you having a shower? Do you have some/most/all of what you need/want?
Side comment - I like you're 2nd date picture. When you say your names and the date, it rhymes.
What are you most looking forward to? Would you say you're more nervous or excited or __________?
Are you having a shower? Do you have some/most/all of what you need/want?
Side comment - I like you're 2nd date picture. When you say your names and the date, it rhymes.
Aw thanks! I didn't realize the date rhymes too. That's a tough question. There are so many things I'm looking forward to depending on how far ahead in the future we're talking. The first thing is right after childbirth, just knowing that he's okay and I'm okay will be such a relief. Then I'm really looking forward to those first smiles and baby laughs. I have to admit I'm kind of looking forward to having my body back and not having to worry about taking care of myself as much, but I do enjoy things about pregnancy too, like his movements especially. I would say I'm more excited than anything. I can't wait to meet him and watch him grow and learn about life. I'm worried about a lot of things but the excitement far outweighs it.
It looks like I will be having two baby showers. One with MIL and one with my stepmother. I don't have a whole lot at the moment. I have a few packages of diapers and a bag full of clothes. Also a stuffed animal and two books to read with him. We would have more but we are planning on moving soon and don't have much room here for larger items.
Thanks for the questions!
Well I think 2 or 3 is an appropriate number. My husband says we should stop at two but if I have two boys I will probably want to try for a third. That's what my mom did and she finally got a daughter in the end. If I have all boys that's fine too but I think it would be nice to have a daughter.
This is how I feel about two girls. After I have this one I'm going to give it a couple of years and see if I'm up for trying for a boy. No matter what though, that would be the last.
I hope things work out with finding a new home!
The idea of three boys sounds a little scary right now but if I end up raising two of them we'll see how I feel about risking having a third, haha. If they are anything like my husband they will be a handful. Although who says girls can't be just as much work right?
FInding a home has been terrible. There is almost nothing around in our price range for houses to rent. And the ones we have looked at... let's just say we would be embarrassed to call those places home. One place looked like it would collapse any day now and the other turned out to be a tiny log cabin way out in the sticks of the Adirondacks. Lot's of privacy sure, but internet would be tough to get and it was quite a commute to anywhere from there. Not to mention the guy living there was a single young guy who used it as a party house... it was so gross. As we were walking around with the landlord after struggling to find the right key to get in we walk into one of the bedrooms and find him laying in the bed!! It was so awkward... how do you hear strangers walking around your house and not say anything? And why are you in bed at 2:30 in the afternoon knowing we would be there?
Ugh... going to keep looking but we may have to end up staying here for another year. Trying to have a home birth with people in apartments on all sides of me should be fun, haha. I would warn them but I'm worried the landlord might try to prevent me from doing it if he hears about it. I have renter's insurance and everything although I don't know if that means anything. So I guess if I have to do it I will just try to be really quiet about it... if that's possible.
Follow Mothering