12 weeks

Yup, I'm wearing a maternity shirt!

Party of Five

Surprise! We are having another baby! Michael and I decided that things were far too boring with just a one year old and a three year old, so we're expecting new baby H. around Easter time, April 8, 2012.

Things are so different this pregnancy. For one, there has been this weird easiness to the whole experience. With Noah it took me 7 months to get pregnant (which I totally can't believe considering they are so close in age. What were we thinking?!!!). With JM, I had two miscarriages before a viable pregnancy. I must say I'm still in shock about this one. Happy shock, but it is very surreal to be seeing my OB, again and seeing that blessed heartbeat, again and needing maternity clothes, again, when it seems like I just put them away. I hope God knows what He is doing, giving me another small child to care for. Sometimes, I already feel way overwhelmed, just with the two! I have no idea how I'm going to go to Target, HEB, pre-school drop-off, etc. with three. Maybe I won't? I guess I'll figure it out!

One thing that has not changed about being pregnant for me is the anxiety. Miscarriage has tainted me. Despite my efforts to pray, to trust and not be anxious, I am not a zen pregnant lady. I cannot wipe without looking at the TP. If this is indeed my last time being pregnant, I will not miss this part. Usually I settle down a bit, until we get to the "kick counting" part and then I get all nervy, again. Sigh.

For the record, when you are pregnant for the fourth time, you get bigger a lot earlier. I went to put on church clothes on Sunday and anything even somewhat clingy looked like I had two pigs under a blanket like the lady in Steel Magnolias. I also managed to avoid morning sickness until about week 9, but since then, food has no appeal to me. I am burpy, only want to eat soft pretzels and bagels and every night around 9, get this weird garlic/burning smell in my nose that won't go away. Already I am having trouble sleeping. I feel like I'm resting, but not getting good sleep. :(

I had my 12 week appointment last Friday, but haven't gotten around to blogging until now. With JM and Noah I think I blogged the very first minute I could. One similarity to both of their pregnancies is that this time, too, I found out very early on that I was pregnant and waiting 8 weeks to tell people drags on and on and seems like a lifetime. I am so glad to be "out!"

This time I told Michael that I didn't think I could handle waiting 40 weeks to find out the gender. He preferred to have another 'surprise' baby but, agreed to concur with my preference. At our 12 week appointment, we did see some possible GIRL!!!! parts, but the sonographer gave us a big maybe on our chart, because there was a lot of umbilical cord right in front. Michael and I are practicing our patience and will thankfully be put out of our misery and know for sure if we are going to continue this boy trend or rock our worlds with some pink stuff, right before Halloween. It's taking every ounce of my being not to buy a dress, I must say. I will be thrilled if we have another boy, but I may possibly faint if it's a girl. I didn't think my body could produce girl babies. We'll see!

I am so excited about adding to our little family! It's going to be even crazier, but I can't wait!

Signs of aging

I am 35 today.
I know I am old because I took great satisfaction in buying myself the following gift:




Yes, that's right, blogreader. Twasn't an overpriced pair of denim jeans or make-up like I would have gotten in my 20's, rather I got a 30-pack of nesting Rubbermaid leftover containers from Costco (currently on sale with coupon, btw!) and thoroughly enjoyed tossing my entire drawer of previously mismatched containers into the Goodwill bin. They all match! They all fit in one drawer! The lids even stack! Now is that big fun or what? For an aging Virgo, anyway.

Firemen

Suddenly, the fire hat has come back out for John Michael. Remember when he wore it every day when he was 2? I loved that stage.

Anyway, now the fireman has a partner in crime. Noah usually will not keep a hat on, so obviously big brother's endorsement of the hat means a lot.

I really could not love these people any more!

Wordless Tuesday

Unhappiest baby on the block

Do you see this face?
This is the face of someone who has decided he hates being in the car.
This morning he screamed bloody murder the 10 minutes to JM's school and back. The very long 10 minutes there and 10 minutes back.
Oh, he hates HEB, too. The balloon in the picture? Bribery. All I needed was a few gift cards, some fresh fruit and eggs, but Bubba was not having it. You could hear him throughout the store. I should have ditched my effort, but my neighbor is volunteering down in Bastrop this morning and taking a bunch of supplies for the fire victims and I decided that was more important than a happy baby.
Blogreaders, I am about at my wits end with this child. I've taken him to the doctor to check his ears. I've given him Motrin until the cows come home. The past two months, dealing with Noah is driving me batty. He is unhappy way more than he is happy. I feel his pain. He can't talk. He gets dragged around all over the place for his brother's events. He has teeth coming in. I'm sure it's not always fun. But seriously? I give the child all the snacks a boy can want. He cries and I am trying to hand him new things to make him happy in the car and his majesty throws them aside like they are garbage. And, poor John Michael. He and I both have to listen to this any time we go out anywhere. I have Noah rear-facing, so this morning I tried putting him in JM's seat forward-facing to see if maybe he's getting carsick and that would make a difference. We'll see, but he did cry all the way home that way, too. The only time he's happy lately is when he is sleeping. Which, thankfully, he seems to be doing a lot of. Maybe he's going through a big developmental thing with all this walking and talking. I don't know. Sigh.

Anyway, I am not one to rush babyhood, as I know it goes by far too fast, but I must say I do in fact, want to get past this stage. I wish I could help the poor miserable sap. I don't know what else to do.

We miss you, Dad

Today marks 10 years since my dad's death from stomach cancer.
I still can't believe he's gone.
His biggest fear was that we would forget him.
Although with time, the wound from his passing is less raw, the fact is that we are forever scarred with the influence he had on our lives.
In a little while, my siblings, my mom and Art and my boys are all headed out to the lake to toast this special anniversary. I won't lie. I'm feeling a little sad. It bothers me that a whole decade has passed since I got to hug my dad.
I miss you, dad, forever!

School days

John Michael was SO excited to go back to school this morning. It's very nice to be the big man on campus. You know, he's in the 3 year-old class now, so he knows where to go and what to do.

With his new teacher

Outside his classroom. They have FROG name badges!
Attempting to get a group shot of JM with his cousins. With the stress of the morning, I completely forgot to try to put Noah in this picture or any others! You'll have to trust me that he was there... Anyway, Madeleine (3), JM (3), Lucian (4) and Abby (2) all go to school there. With Noah (1) and Dylan (3 mo) we have that stair step thing going on, for sure!

Another year begins! I love JM's school!

On a lighter note...

John Michaelisms I don't want to forget.....

A pallet, such a wooden pallet for a forklift, is pronounced pow-let. He has a little Bruder forklift he plays with all the time that came with two pallets you can lift and lower. He's always talking about pow-lets.

He told me that Froggy's daddy drives a tow truck and that he had to use a sparrow tire on it. I think he meant spare tire. I feel slightly guilty because I've heard him call it a sparrow tire before and I didn't correct him because I liked it so much. He is always making up stories about Froggy to mimic what is going on in our lives (the other week I had a flat tire and thankfully didn't have to get a tow, but we talked about tow trucks). So far I've learned that Froggy has a swimming pool at his house. It's small and green like a pond. (We've been looking for houses with pools). I've also learned that Froggy takes a helicopter to school. Since we're getting ready for his first day of school tomorrow, there is lots of talk about what Froggy's school is like. Unfortunately for JM, we will be taking mom's plain ol SUV to school tomorrow. Maybe one of his classmates has a helicopter. I wouldn't be surprised.

So much going on in that little mind!