Acid Trip

I almost started crying Friday night when my throat began to burn around 9pm. Attempting some optimism, that evening I had had pretty much inhaled an entire plate of cheeseburger and fries over a half a bottle of ketchup, which is possibly the most acid-inducing meal possible. Perhaps it was a one-time acid incident? But, last night, when the burn came back over a bowl of ehem, chicken noodle soup and a grilled cheese sandwich, I knew. Dammit! All of my third trimester memories of JM's pregnancy are of me stuffing chalky tasting TUMS down my throat with reckless abandon trying to extinguish the fiery esophagus full of battery acid, sleeping in a chair, propped up on pillows, avoiding food that I love like fried chicken fingers, salsa and chips and pad thai.... Prilosec helped last time, but never completely got rid of that burn. Again, I'm going to attempt some optimism, and hope that this time it won't be that bad. Anti-acid dust for me!

Our New Ride

Someone responded to my "Duallie Wanted" ad on Craigslist and sent me some pictures. We went to see it in Pflugerville today and sure enough, took it home! I must say it's nice not to have to shell out $600 for a new one of these puppies and this one is less than a year old and in great condition. My single BOB Revolution was a lifesaver for me in mind and body after JM was born and worth every penny, so I knew I'd want to upgrade to the double for Noodle. We sold our single in less than a day a few weeks ago, much to my surprise, so I'm thrilled to have a stroller again. JM, Bella and I took the new stroller out today for an afternoon constitutional and found it to be a sweet ride! Pretty soon that bear will be a baby!

For the record, I am extremely annoyed with the BOB people, as neither our drink holder nor the infant seat adapter from the single seem to work with the Duallie, which just seems greedy of them. The infant seat adapter is pretty much useless beyond the 6 month point (IMO), so I shudder to think about shelling out $70 for one.

Halfway there- 20 weeks

Holy big belly, Batman! I don't feel that big, but man looking at this picture, I wonder if perhaps that stop at Cupprimo yesterday for six delicious strawberry cupcakes was in fact, a "necessity," as it seemed at the time. Hmm...

Anyway, today was my 20 week nurse visit at the doctor. I get so nervous every time I have to go to the OB. Gosh, the most beautiful sound in the world is hearing that heartbeat, even when I know full well that the jabs to my inner womb I've especially been feeling lately are indeed little noodle. When I was in the waiting room, I overheard this lady tell the receptionist that she was new to the practice and I got a little teary-eyed thinking about how blessed I am. There was a time during and after my miscarriages when I would look around that waiting room seeing all the glowing pregnant ladies and feel jealousy and sadness that I might never have my own child. Seeing the new lady come in, I wanted to say "look! it can happen for you, too!" This is, mind you, me completely projecting my own feelings on this poor woman, assuming that because my OB's office happens to also be an infertility clinic, she wanted to get pregnant. For all I know, she could have been coming in there to get her tubes tied! :)

My nurse visit was very boring. It is a wonderful feeling being boring when it comes to my health and this new life. Again, we are blessed. As the weeks go by, I find myself getting more and more mentally and physically prepared for the baby. JM's new room is all painted and we're looking at big boy beds. I've got a hot lead on a double jogging stroller from Craigslist that I'm going to check out tomorrow. At my mom's group meeting last week, I even got suckered into buying the Baby Signs Potty Training Program targeted at potty training before age 2. During the presentation, they really made it seem like now (20 mo) is an ideal age to potty train and I feel like I got sold some serious BS. I've been dragging my feet on it with JM's cold, but today tried to get him to sit on the potty at his normal poop time in the morning and it was a total disaster. He didn't want to sit on the potty at all and cried when I wouldn't let him hold the train whistle you are supposed to blow when they go potty. After today, I am not feeling very confident that we are going to have that done by June, either. Potty training scares the bejeebus out of me and JM really doesn't seem to grasp the concept, either. How do you know when they are "ready?" We are so not there, yet.

AC: Truth

People of the lake

One of the gazillions of benefits of marrying Mike is that he came with a lake house. We share it with his family, but are blessed enough to be the ones who live closest to it and can use it the most. Because of last year's drought and the fact that it's not a constant level lake, the lake house is more of a field house right now, but that doesn't make it any less of a retreat.

When we go to the lake, we really do retreat. There is no TV. No internet. Sometimes we don't even see other humans the entire time we're there. Sometimes we don't even talk to each other. This weekend I started and finished a really good sappy Christian love story called Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. Other than the constant wiping of both sire and my own noses because of colds and allergies and JM waking up at 6am both mornings, it was as nice as a weekend could be. The past few weeks, it's like a switch has come on and JM is a lot less whiny and much more communicative and I am eating it up. He is like a little myna bird, mimicking everything we say and do.

My boys... gathering the firewood. JM likes to "help."













This picture is burned into my heart forever. JM was so proud to bring me a dandelion.















I know he's my own child, but I want to eat him up with a spoon. I love the downy blonde hair, soft baby skin and long eyelashes.



























Making pancakes together. They taste especially good with a little CC in them! j/k















We love him SO much!

























Last, but not least... poor forgotten Bella. Love that wet nose!

Vicious circle

If anyone happens to be reading this blog that is expecting their first child and looking for registry "must-haves," they should know that one needs to register for at least three fitted sheets for their child's crib (probably four) and definitely at least two mattress pads. Prior to having children, I had no idea why you'd need so many.

Why do I say this? One of the worst sounds that a parent can hear is a cry in the night from a child that doesn't normally cry in the night. Sure enough, last night JM got sick in his crib again. This happened three weeks ago, too. Sadly, we seem to be stuck in a vicious circle of ear-related illnesses and have been since about Thanksgiving. It goes a little like this. JM starts getting cranky with a runny nose, but doesn't have a fever, then he gets ucky diapers, then he won't eat and then he starts getting sick in his bed, but only at night and usually only once in the night (last night was twice, poor thing). Until he starts vomiting, Mike and I are scratching our heads, since he seems mostly happy, isn't tugging on his ears and doesn't have a fever and wondering if it's teeth or toddlerhood or what, but once the getting sick part starts, we then take him to the doctor and get him on antibiotics, then he's better for 10 days, we have a sick free week and then we start again.

Sigh... off to call the doctor again and put the sheets and mattress pads in the dryer. I am no Miss Cleo, but I am seeing tubes in our future.

NESTING!

Since some people are "bored at work" and have requested a blog update...

I am borderline cuckoo. The past two nights my dreams have included actual discussions and anxiety about paint color. Over the weekend, I had Mike and his friend John move all the red and gold furniture from our family room to our yellow living room and the grey living room furniture to our "tobacco road" family room. We've decided we hate the tobacco road color we just painted the family room and aren't sure what to do with it. I have moved pictures and staged both rooms in different ways, in between my mutiple visits to Lowes, Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams. This morning I have a new painter guy coming to paint John Michael's new big boy room and two other rooms in our house and our front door. Nesting. This must be nesting.

So, I am now 19 weeks pregnant and feeling a lot of movement from the wee noodle. That feeling of butterfly flutters will never get old. I'm noticing my shape this time is a lot like the last two times, so I am wondering if this is another boy. I got my hair cut yesterday and the receptionist at the salon took one look at me and proclaimed I was having a boy. It's crazy to me how people can be so confident about these things when they don't even know you. Still, I did get a few light pink paint swatches from Lowes last night.

Beyond that, I have been staying busy with my freelance work, wrapping up one issue of our internal e-newsletter, with another issue of the external on its heels. It feels good to use my marketing and writing mind, again. Through all this, I am suffering like crazy with cedar fever. Living in Austin is wonderful when it's 75 degrees in late January, but when you go outside and can't breathe, it's kind of a buzz kill.

Sinking in

It happened.
On Friday, John Michael and I took a trip down to Austin Baby, this very cool local "earth mama" store. Mike got me a sling for Christmas from there and I wanted to exchange it for a different pattern. JM was happily (and might I add?) independently playing with their non-toxic kitchen set and they were letting me try on all sorts of slings with a weighted dolly baby in there and when it hit me. No longer is constant worry about miscarriage hanging over my head, so I was suddenly struck with the reality that in just 5 months, that doll is going to be replaced with a real live baby in my sling! Wow!

It's so exciting to think about having little itty bitty feet and hands and diapers around again, to think about growing our family. If it's a boy, JM will have a little buddy to pal around with. If it's a girl, we get to buy pink stuff and baby tights and hair bows! Man, I am not sure what I'd do with a girl... That scares me. I can barely do my own hair. More seriously, I think about the routine that JM and I have now and how that might work with another one. How on earth am I going to take TWO babies to the grocery store? How on earth am I going to fit both babies in our tiny bathroom if I want to take a shower? How on earth am I going to go to a Gymboree class with a baby in an infant seat? Or deal with JM wanting my attention when I am breastfeeding.all.day.long?? Other people do it, so I know it's possible, but it is a bit overwhelming to think about.

Hopefully this time I'll be more relaxed about everything and that will help. I will know I don't need as much crap in the diaper bag to go for a 1 hour outing. I will know that if Noodle takes a nap outside the crib, she won't be permanently scarred. I will know that eventually Noodle WILL sleep through the night (hopefully around 4-5 months), so that all of that is passing.

On the JM front, now that he's acting more normal now that we got the ear infection diagnosed last week, I am in.love with him at this stage. He is so inquisitive, verbal and CUDDLY. And, he's eating again. For about a week before that, he wouldn't touch a dang thing on his plate and it was very frustrating. Now, he is back to enthusiastic eating (for today, anyway). It BLOWS my mind for some reason that I can sit him: 1. at the table, 2. by himself, 3. with a full plate of food and he can get the food FROM the plate and TO his mouth! When did that happen? For the record, we also have entered the "Thomas the Train" phase. Mike's cousin gave us a little train set and he looooves it. I feel like we are really making some progress with communication, where he can tell me what he wants. He is even getting a little better about playing independently. For a while now, Mike and I have been worried that he can't play by himself very well. He always likes to be "underfoot." Do your kids play by themselves? Ours doesn't, yet. Maybe someday...

Time for lunch. I have reached the citrus fruit craving stage (remember last time when I'd eat like 10 clementines a day for a period? yes, that again), so I must go
and attend to it and his majesty.

Noodle and I be growin

Ah, this poor second noodle is suffering from second child syndrome already. I am 17 weeks pregnant now and nary a belly picture and I am a week overdue on my 16 week doctor visit snapshot of the little one. Pregnant with JM, I blogged every craving, every belly picture, almost every day. You must have been bored out of your minds! This time JM has been keeping me occupied and amazed by his new skills. Seriously, this child could not talk more than 3 or 4 words at a year. The other week he rips out in two word sentences. "Mama go?" (when I go to leave) "Papa, choo choo" (to Art signalling he wanted more train videos). More amazing was when I asked JM what he wanted for breakfast the other day and he said "cereal" a word I had never heard him say. See? These are days of miracle and wonder!

Now hey there, JM. Stop taking over this post dedicated to your younger sibling. I digress.
Wanna see how fast your belly pops out during your third pregnancy? See here:
Me at 10 weeks... this is probably more like what I looked like at 20 weeks the first time
















Me last week (can in no way zip jeans :{ Bella band is almost indecent)










But, look look look how adorable our noodle is?!!



So what do you think... is noodle a boy or girl? All along I've thought boy, but since last week, I am having girl thoughts. It's really killing me not to know this time! I am way too type-A for this secret thing, but glad we're doing it. I can be strong!