Soccer Game Picnic...

So we've decided to try and take advantage of the fun sports games and whatnot, and that came into affect this week. The first game was a varsity soccer game. The hubs played soccer in high school, so we're always excited to go watch. I planned ahead and made a dinner picnic (fried chicken!) and we met the hubs at school. We missed the first half, but were able to enjoy some food and sunshine for the rest of the game. Granted, the kids weren't very interested in the game at all, but it entertained them enough, and we were able to have a nice family outing.  Moose was even able to kick around his soccer ball with a new friend, who's dad might be one of the coaches for our school's team. So we're hoping if we go again, they'll be there and they can play again.

Tomorrow is homecoming. There's a picnic and the homecoming football game. We're thinking about making an evening of it. If I don't post, well, it's because it was a late night. :) Then there's a varsity volleyball game on Saturday. I might go, just me, while the kiddos nap at home with the hubs. (volleyball is my sport.)

I'm excited about the idea of Moose learning to play team sports, maybe next summer. Me and the hubs are both athletic, and I can see him enjoying it. I can just picture how cute he'll be in his soccer uniform, running around, sweating like a running faucet...ahhh. :) Sweet images. :)

Monkey day...

Today started and ended with Monkey. To keep Moose from waking up super early just to see the hubs, he goes in and gets him up before leaving for work. But this morning when Moose was woken up, he immediately started telling the hubs about a dream he had. Then on the way out the door, apparently he tooted really loud. That was all it took to wake up poor Monkey. Thank goodness, the hubs did his best with her. He changed her diaper, dressed her, and put her back to bed. And it worked! I was so glad. I can get up as early as 7:30 or 7:45, but this was like 6:55. I was not happy at the idea of being awake for the day, especially if she would be cranky-tired from waking up too early. But she went back to sleep and woke up just after 7:45. Whew! The day was able to start off on a good note after all.

Then tonight, she was in the silliest mood. She was jabbering, babbling non-stop. Apparently she was trying to say "the end" and Moose thought it was great. It's when kids get in those cute/silly moods that I want to let them stay awake because they're so darn cute. But it was well past bedtime, so she hit the hay anyhow. But it was such a nice end to the day, having her giggling, smiling and babbling away.

Visit to the Doctor...

I had a visit with my doctor today. It had been 4 weeks, so it felt like forever since I'd been in. It was really nice. I schedule to be the last of the day (so the hubs can be home with the kids). It was completely empty and quiet. Before I got called back in, I saw a friend leaving so is having a baby boy in 2 weeks. It was so fun to see someone at the end of their journey, while I'm still at the beginning. I've finally gained some weight. In the last 4 weeks, I've gained about 2 pounds. Now that my appetite is back, I'm sure that'll continue to be the case. I'm not too worried. But I want to stay ontop of it. Everything I gain will have to be lost at some point, and it'll only be harder with 3 kiddos keeping me busy. But with my last pregnancies, the weight gain hasn't been a problem, so I'm hoping for that consistency.  We were able to hear the heartbeat loud and clear. I love that little *woosh woosh woosh*. I'm pretty much out of the woods for miscarriage, which is great. Now I can just look forward to feeling the baby move and actually looking pregnant. I've accepted the fact that I'm not showing yet. Not to anyone else but me and the hubs anyway. I can see the difference in my waistline, and I'm in maternity jeans, but there's not a bump. Not yet. I don't doubt it will come, and I'm sure I'll end up bigger than last time. I was bigger with Monkey than with Moose, even though Moose was 9 lbs, and she was only 7'7.  I look forward to the belly. I love a big pregnant belly. I like to think that I'm one of those people who wear pregnancy well. There was a lady I knew growing up who just glowed when she was pregnant and we loved when she was because she just looked beautiful. I want to be like that. I really enjoy being pregnant. I love the belly, whole deal. I hope I wear it well. :) I'm going back in 3 weeks for a routine check up. Then 3 weeks after that, we're getting the ultrasound. We haven't had one yet, and this will be the only one, since we're paying for it and they're not cheap. But it's really important for me, being a VBAC, to have an official due date and all that. If I go over, they can't induce me, so if that happens I have to have a c-section. Hopefully that won't happen, but to be safe and cautious, we have to get a date for this baby. But since we're only doing one, it has to be late enough to do all the anatomy business too. (Not just checking for the sex of the baby, but measuring body parts, etc. You can't do it too early, because some of the necessary body parts won't be visible enough yet.) So in 5 1/2 weeks! The big date is Nov. 8th. Woohoo! I can hardly believe it's so soon. I'm so excited. I told the hubs tonight that the countdown begins until we can start talking names. :) I love talking names! It ultimately ends up being that we don't pick one until he's in the mood, but that doesn't stop me from trying! :) So, that's the low down, the scoop, the skinny. So excited for our little one. Can't hardly believe we're preparing for another completely individual and distinct personality to join our family. What a change it will be. But an adventure I'm excited about, nonetheless. :)

Piano Lessons...

So recently I've started teaching piano lessons. I only have one student, so it's not a big time committment. But for 30 minutes every Monday, I do my best to distract the kids (the hubs is still at work at this time) and devote my attention to my one student. However, today it didn't go so hot. This is what happened.

I set Moose up with our portable DVD Player in his room and he watches a movie. Great distraction. However, Monkey isn't very good at leaving him alone. She tries to close it, sits infront of it, yanks the headphones out, etc. He had picked out a Clifford DVD that is 90 minutes. Perfect. Plenty of quiet time. However, after like 10, he came out to say it was done. Sure. I tell him to grab something else and move along. At least 3 times, I had to go back and mediate between kiddos. Mostly telling Monkey to leave him alone. Then, the last time I go back, after a short time of quiet, I find that she had gotten ahold of a marker, and had covered her hands, and got part of her face. I only found out later that she had first decorated the screen on my palm pilot and put it all over the chalkboard. (Thank goodness for water soluble markers.) Finally I got smart and put Moose in my bedroom with his movie and shut the door. Now it was just little Monkey to distract, which after that point wasn't too bad. The lesson was close to done by that point.

Then after the lesson, she proceeded to try and mark herself with 3 different marker impliments. Thankfully, the hubs gave her a nice soaping later on, since my weak attempt with the wipe only took it off her face. It was a long 30 minutes. I think I'll wise up next week by putting Moose in my room from the getgo with something that can't possibly end after 10 minutes and hide all the markers. Although I'm sure she'll just find something else. But it can't hurt to try, right?

Just around the corner...

So yesterday I finally felt sick, and hit the hay pretty fast. We've all been passing around a cold, which has been surprisingly mild. The kids hardly had any symptoms, just for a day. The hubs has had them for a week now, but they've been super mild. He's always the one to get really sick, but it hasn't been too bad. I got them last and have had a runny nose and finally got to coughing a few days ago. But still, it's mild and we're super grateful for that.

So it feels like the holidays are right around the corner. At least every other day, Moose is talking about what Halloween costume he's going to wear. He's gone from zombie, to robot, to spy, to the grinch, and back to a spy. Possibly with a dinosaur in there somewhere. I love his enthusiasm and have to say I'm getting pretty jazzed up for the holidays too. When he was younger, we didn't have to do much and that suited us just fine. He didn't care, and we're not huge go-get-em-celebratory-types. But now that he's aware and anticipates things, it's hard not to get a bit of his excitement.  Moose frequently talks about Halloween, and Christmas. I don't think Thanksgiving means much to him yet, and frankly it didn't mean too much to me until more recent years so I'm sure that's normal. (Not a turkey person, so it was never my fave holiday.)

It's hard to believe the summer is completely over, and (it might even be officially autumn now. Anyone know?) I just know these next few months are going to fly by. We're seeing my fam in 3 weeks, then comes Halloween, then Thanksgiving, and then the Almighty Christmas. By the time this stretch of fantastic family-filled-holidays are over, I'm going to look like my own stuffed turkey, getting ready to have a baby. Although I'm sure I won't look that stuffed til February. But who knows? They say you get bigger faster with each baby.

I guess I'm just anticipating the next few months, I love the fact that Moose is finally old enough to understand more and get in the mood of the holidays, and I'm overall just excited. It's going to be fun. I'm glad I'm past my first trimester yuckies, or I wouldn't have the energy to put into this. But I've got more energy, I'm starting to get more of an appetite, and I'm feeling motivated. 

There might even be a preschool Halloween party in the works. Nothing set in stone yet, but my wheels are spinning...

Football Game...

So tonight we had a family outing, which is semi-rare. All four of us (4 1/3) went out to eat, (Taco Bell. Simple, but it's been like 2 years. I loved it even though I was burping chalupa through the entire first quarter.) and then went to the hub's school football game. It was actually an interesting game. Our city has only had one high school for a long time, but about 5 or so years ago built a new one. The hubs works at the new one, not his alma mater. But tonight, the new school played the alma mater. It was a sea of green and orange. Awesome. Anyhow, we took the kids, who have never been to a football game before. On the way to the stadium, the marching band from the home team (the rival, aka the hub's alma mater) was marching over, since it's close to the school. So we got to watch them in action and hear the awesome music. Moose and I watched and listened, pointing out instruments and naming them. Then, when the game was getting ready, we saw 4 sky divers parachute down. He loved that. It was really pretty cool. Once the game got started, and we sorted out which team was which, and which one we were rooting for, I was able to sit with Moose and explain to him the basics of football. I was enjoying it so much. I'm not a huge sports person, but I'm an athlete and love a good game. I know the basics and think my football knowledge is decent. So I talked with him about how the game works and what the players were doing. It wasn't too long before there was a touchdown and he liked that part.

It was really so much fun. Monkey had a blast crawling around and dancing to the music. At one point she realized she could yell and we wouldn't stop her, so she yelled non-stop for like 30 seconds. I thought it was absolutely hilarious and couldn't stop laughing. What an awesome family outing. We had such a blast, and we decided it was definitely worth the cost.

Taco Bell: 9$
Football tickets: 5$ (Gotta love teachers getting in free!)
Teaching my son about Football: Priceless

PS baby 3 is now a 3-inch shrimp :)

Cranky Kiddos...

This is not actually referring today. Today, they were actually pretty great. But yesterday, my goodness. I was pretty wiped out by the end of the day. So glad I was in the midst of a good book for recooperating purposes.

We have found (only 2 kids, but I don't think this'll change.) that without proper sleep, our kids are complete cranks. Now, they still aren't complete monsters, I'll give them that. They're overall very well-behaved little ones. But for them, they're cranks. Yesterday was like that. Monkey didn't sleep well. When the hubs checked on them last night, she was laying on her stomach, and for some reason, kicking one of her legs over and over again. In her sleep, mind you. I might've heard her cough or fuss once or twice. She didn't sleep great. Moose slept fine. He's actually been sleeping better lately. We realized once the hubs started teaching this fall that he woke up early to see him. So they made a deal. Instead of Moose waking himself up anywhere from 6:01 til 6:59, the hubs would go in and wake him up before he left so he could say "bye bye". Now he sleeps in a bit more everyday and doesn't get up nearly as early. But nonetheless, he was still a crab yesterday. Perhaps he didn't sleep as well thanks to Monkey. That's my guess. Anywho, we were supposed to have a quiet day at home. I was watching someone else's little gal, just a few months younger than Monkey. She came over, the kids played, or growled at each other. But overall, my kids had a great time with a visitor. They always do. She got picked up a little late, shortly after 1. We had missed storytime that morning due to our extra guest, so I took them quickly after she left. (longer story to why we had to go, but I made good on it and we went.) While at the library, right before check out, Moose had a huge breakdown about wanting to go drink from the water fountain. It was extremely melodramatic, which is certainly not his style. We finally got home, I put the kids down at 2, and sat down with my book. However, Monkey was making sounds by 3:30 and was up a good 15 minutes before Moose. Which is quite unusual.  She needs at least 2 hours to have a decent nap, 3 for a good one, any more and it's great. Yesterday was awful. The hubs was home more or less at regular time, but Moose wasn't grubbing on our dinner. (Which was a white and black bean chicken chili. So amazing!) Consequently he took forever to eat, eventually not finishing it at all. This, of course, cut into any wrestling time, which he has had very little of since the hubs has had a few after school hours engagements the past 2 weeks. So it was all sadness after dinner too, since there was no wrestling.

All in all, what a crazy day. Today was much better. Even though Monkey was up way early, she was chipper and relatively happy and took an awesome nap. (1 to 5.) They're both sleeping peacefully (so far) now, and I'm hoping for a good night's rest and a quiet day at home tomorrow. But you never know, do you?

Business...

Today was a day of business. Tons to do, but in the end, nothing of importance to report. It was a very busy day, the kids were kept busy with preschool and helping my sis in law with homeschooling her two older girls. The hubs had a long day at work, for which the kiddos felt very papa-deprived.  But ultimately it was a busy and good day. I started reading a book, we had some awesome french toast and bacon for dinner, and all in all I'm quite satisfied with the day overall.

I'm sure that the rest of the week should continue with business as usual. Although there might be something interesting to write about. Hopefully. :)

Shopping Extravaganza...

With the hubs still working Sundays, and I being pregnant and all, grocery shopping has become a bit of a challenge. If I go alone with the kids, Moose is always a bit of a challenge, wandering around, trying not to touch things. Monkey is fine. She mostly sits in the cart and says "baby" on occasion when she sees a picture of one in the store. Anyhow, it's becoming more and more difficult to make big shopping trips with both kids.

Today, the hubs got his first back to school paycheck. (Can we all say "hooray!"?) We desperately needed to go grocery shopping. I had offered to go tomorrow while Moose was in pre-school. But then the groceries would likely sit in the car until later because it would be a challenge leaving Monkey in the house alone while I unload. So we decided to go together, all 4 of us.

Just picture it. The hubs with Moose in his cart. Me with Monkey in my cart. One list, dividing and conquering. We were in and out of the Super Wal-Mart in a record breaking 30 minutes, with a full two carts of groceries and select paper products. It was amazing.

The kids were rewarded with a bite of vanilla ice cream. I was rewarded with a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. (Sugary cereals are basically a sin in our house. :) I was pretty hungry since the bite of quesadilla I had for dinner mostly tasted like ash in my mouth. (Not a critique on the cooking, just on pregnancy.) But now I am amazingly renewed with sugary cinnamon goodness in my stomach and a nice big box semi-hidden on the fridge.

Cause I'm not sharing it. :)

Sleeping In...

So since school and schedules have started back up, we haven't seen as much of our local extended family as we were in August with the reunion and wedding. But today we had a family dinner at the in-laws, and boy did the kids have a blast! It was like they hadn't seen each other in ages. Even Monkey was in on the fun, running around and screaming with the older kids. It was so great. I felt like I hadn't chatted with everyone in such a long time. It was so nice to catch up and see what new happenings there were.

Our newest "fun" is that the hubs is getting sick. Moose and Monkey have slight colds, a tiny bit of congestion and very minor coughing, usually when they're waking up or going to sleep. Poor hubs. He's the healthiest guy I know and always gets sick the worst. He's exposed a ton teaching high school, and he says it's going around at school, but it just doesn't seem too fair. I'm not nearly as healthy or germ-conscious as he is and I don't get sick nearly as much, and when I do I'm never sick as long or as bad.

He originally thought to try our Moose's approach of supreme optimism and overall denial that he's sick. It's this natural gift Moose has. When he gets sick, he's never mopey or lethargic and remains super chipper and happy. Even if it lasts a while, it still just doesn't seem as bad and he recovers well. But with a full week's work, and still working Saturdays, the hubs just doesn't have quite enough down-time to give in to that optimistic attitude. Ultimately though, if the kids don't get too sick, we're happy.

With the hubs getting sick, over the weekend we've told Moose he has to sleep in til 8, so the hubs can get as much sleep as possible. This is the kid who'll get up at 6 am, rearing and ready to go. But we set the rule down, and he actually didn't do too bad. The first night he got up at 6:30, look out and went back to bed, and came back out at 7:30. This morning he came in at about 7:20. This is some serious sleeping in for him. I have been pretty impressed. We also noticed that he was a bit calmer in the morning and behaved really well during our church meeting today. He sat and colored quietly (He never does that. The coloring part. It was really cool to watch him.) and did pretty awesome overall. We're considering making this more of a habit for him. Our kids are like machines. When they get sleep, they're happy campers. If they don't get enough, they're grouchy.

Kinda like me. :)

New Word...

Sweet little Monkey decided she had another word to say this morning. As I was doing my morning "message check" of email and blogs, I clicked on a picture of her from our blog for her to look at. She looked at it and distinctly said "Meme". It took me a while, but I realized she was attempting to say her own name! For the rest of the day, I will ask her if she can say her name, to which she replies, "Uh huh." So I say her name, and she repeats to me, "Meme."

I love it. :)

Busy, busy, busy...

So now that Moose has started his preschool group this week, I feel like it's been non-stop busy. We have had an appointment or something planned every day this week. I'm a pretty laid back schedule type. I don't mind spending a few days in a row at home going absolutely nowhere. So this week has felt pretty exhausting. The last two days in particular were rough and by the time the hubs got home I was chomping at the bit for some alone time. But today, despite even more busy, it was alright. Maybe I'm adjusting? Perhaps.  I feel like this new schedule isn't too bad, but I just need to buck up and adjust to the change. Moose had preschool twice a week. The day inbetween is library day. We've become total library addicts, which I think is a good thing. We rely on our weekly refreshing supply of books and a few good videos for the kids. Moose enjoys storytime and the craft, of course. I definitely get my book fix as well. Mondays and Fridays are now our do nothing days, or misc. appointment days. Or maybe playdate days. But I think I can do it. It feels good, in a slightly masochistic way, to have so much to do. The business keeps the kids occupied in a way that doesn't require much energy from me, and the increased activity makes nap times even better for me, which is a nice perk.  I know it might take another week (or two) to continue to adjust to the schedule, but I'm sure I'll get there.

Baby 3 is a lime now. :)

Pregnancy Brain...

So I've been aware lately that I am severely inflicted with pregnancy brain. For those of you not in the know, that means I forget things constantly or get details wrong, or anything in between. Bless the hubs, he reminded me today (after a pretty good bout of pregnancy brain) that pregnancy brain is beautiful. So at least I'm beautiful, right? :)

For those of you who have children, you learn that the pregnancy brain,unfortunately, does not go away after the pregnancy is done. You may recover significantly, but bearing children has the unfortunate side effect of leaving a bit of that damage afterwards. So now that I'm on number 3, I'm afraid of what will be left after this one is born. :)

I can already imagine my mom's sweet comments in my inbox about how smart I am, and beautiful, or something else to make me smile and remember why I love her so much. I guess the best parts aren't lost in having kids. She had 7, and she's freakin' awesome! I suppose I can survive number 3 after all.

Enjoy it now...

The hubs came home early from work. (He was supposed to stay really late, and came home earlier than that. Still later than usual, but it was a treat.)  Moose was all geared up to watch movie in his absence. Now that the hubs was home, he had the option for nightly wrestling. (Which he asks about all day long.) So the hubs asked him which he would rather do, watch a movie or wrestle. Without any hesitation, Moose said, "Wrestle with Papa!"

After this happened, the hubs looked at me and said, "When he's a teenager, we'll ask him things like that. Do you want to watch a movie or hang out with Papa? Movie. Do you want to go hang out with friends or with Papa? Friends." The hubs figured we should enjoy his young attachment and energetic enthusiasm while it still lasts.

I couldn't agree more.

PaMama...

So Moose has a talent for always calling me the wrong name. He's all about equal opportunity and does the same thing to the hubs. Every day, basically everytime he wants to call me, he'll start to say Papa, and then switch it to Mama. Sometimes he'll say Papa...Mama or blend the two together PaMama.

I think it's funny that whenever he's calling me he gets it wrong, and whenever he's calling the hubs, he'll say MaPapa. I think his brain just must be moving too fast for his mouth.

"Maybe that's why." ~Moose

Spicy...

Since Moose was a bit younger, we knew he had a more sensitive palate. Shortly before Monkey was born, he refused to eat anything "hot". I remember while my parents were visiting after she was born, we told them to not even use the word in relation to what we were eating or he wouldn't even touch it. Eventually he got to the point where he wasn't afraid of the word, but wouldn't eat things if it had steam, or was even slightly warm. He's more or less over it. Kind of. But now it's not hot things,  but spicy things.

We like flavor in our food, but we've learned after enough meals that Moose cannot handle spicy food. We've been able to see the genuine dislike on his face, not the faking face. However, since he has a limited vocabulary for different tastes, spicy has now translated into a dozen things.

Today, it was gum. He got a piece of gum from grandma at church today. I believe that it was wintergreen, or peppermint or something like that. He put it in his mouth and started chewing, then said, "It's too spicy!" He then spit it out in the trash can.

Guess some things are just too spicy.

Do As He's Doing...

We noticed this a while ago, but watching it again at dinner tonight was just too cute.  Monkey has made a habit of mimicking the hub's body language while we're eating. He has a habit of taking some bites and then leaning back in his chair with his arms on the back of his head. As soon as he does this, she'll pop her hands on the back of her head. If he sits with his arms folded, she'll inevitably fold her arms too. It's really cute. Today, Moose noticed what she was doing, and started mimicking her. She thought it was all too funny and just started laughing. What a silly bunch I have. :)

Playing at the Park...

So I was determined to take the kids to the park. We haven't been since Moose's birthday back at the end of July. I heard it was going to be sunny today, and since I missed the last sunny day two days ago, I was decided that we go today. So we did.

Unfortunately it was quite windy and pretty cold. But the sun poked out every now and then, warming me just enough. They were there alone, so they had to band together for entertainment. It was so sweet. Moose started catching Monkey at the bottoms of the slides, and even took her down the big windy slide a few times on his lap. After going down with him, she knew she could do it on her own, and he started catching her at the bottom again. It was seriously so cute. He would hold her hand, and help her up the steps. The whole time he'd be saying things like, "You can do it." or "I gotcha." It was physically cold thanks to the wind, but I had a real warm moment watching my kiddos playing together, and seeing how much they like each other.

Come on everybody. Together now. "Awww."

Bathtime Antics...

Miss Monkey was taking a bath solo tonight, having a good time.  She started to make some noises, indicating she was done maybe. So Moose runs over, asking her what the problem was. That's when we hear, "Monkey poo'd in the tub!"  Classic. The hubs went in there, to find her shirking away from it, trying to get as far away from it as she could. I'm sure she's already done this quite a few more times than Moose ever did. I'm sure she'll get to the point where she doesn't. Eventually.  Maybe.

Appetite...

Today was a normal day on most accounts. Except that I have had practically no appetite. I attribute this to the kumquat. (My loving name for the baby, which will change to something else Friday.) I tend not to fret too much about the appetite business. When I was pregnant with Moose, we asked my doctor about eating and whatnot. She told us that I could basically eat whatever I wanted, and the baby would take what it needed from my body. So if I wanted nothing but milkshakes for a day, eat milkshakes. This advice has served me very well for my last 2 1/3 pregnancies.  I never make myself eat something that doesn't sound good, and if I'm not hungry, I generally won't eat anything. (Unless it's nighttime, because I hate waking up hungry.)

Of course, I always take my daily prenatal vitamin, to make sure I'm getting the essentials. My strange eating habits generally don't last longer than a day. And as the pregnancy gets further, the strange days will be fewer and farther between. Today, the only thing I was really able to eat was cheese. And for dinner, animal crackers. (Which didn't really taste that good either, but I needed something, and they didn't make me squinch my nose when I smelled them.)

In my experience with pregnancy and cravings, I've found that my body will generally crave something specific. Like red meat, bread or pasta, or dairy. We have chosen to go with it, because we think it's my body's way of telling me what I need. I know a lot of women who feel this way. It's a hard thing to ignore when you body only wants one thing. Today, that was pretty much cheese.

I've never had too many of the "weird" cravings. Just unexpected. Like a sudden desire for curly fries, or pizza. Once it was hamburgers. Sometimes it's ice cream. For about a 3 week stretch or so, I had a bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup and whipped cream every day. Sometimes after lunch, sometimes after dinner. It was when I was still really nauseated all the time and most foods didn't smell good. I ate pasta roni every day for lunch. (That, I find, is a habit I've had with all pregnancies so far.) The ice cream, in that combination with chocolate syrup and whipped cream, just tasted so good. It was the only thing I ate that tasted that good to me. So I ate it. Once a day.

I don't advocate pigging out during pregnancy, because all that weight you gain will have to come off eventually, and I'd sure prefer to not put it on in the first place. But I am a strong advocate of listening to your body, pampering yourself (making a baby is hard work!), and just taking it easy. I did not, one bit, stress out over the fact that for 3 or 4 weeks, I had a bowl of ice cream once a day with chocolate syrup and whipped cream. I wanted it, it tasted so good, so I ate it. And I enjoyed it. A lot.

I've been fortunate enough to not really gain any weight yet. I think that's mostly because I just don't eat as much as I did before. Combined with the hidden internal processes of baby making, I'm just lucky I guess. Although I know a lot of women who don't gain in the first trimester, usually because of being sick, however.  I'm sure it'll come in time. And when it does, I'll do my best to temper the weight gain with what's necessary to grow my little munchkin. But through it all, I will eat what I want, what tastes good, and what I can stomach.

I think I'm going to go eat some cheese.

Play dates...

Today we went to storytime at the library. There is a sweet family who goes too. They have 2 girls, one a bit younger than Moose, and the other a bit older than Monkey. (Although Monkey's the same height.) Last week, we all got to talking and Moose wanted to play at their house. We've had many a discussion about how we don't invite ourselves to people's homes, but they have to invite us. By the time we got home, Moose had finally worked things out in his brain and asked me, "Can we invite them to our house?" I said that was fine, and so he wanted to do it right that moment. But not having their phone number, and only seeing them at storytime, I told him we'd have to wait. So today, he finally got to ask. I'm excited for this new play prospect, mostly because Monkey just loves their little one, and they really play and entertain each other. I'd never seen her play and entertain herself with another kid until her.

Later today, I was teaching my very first piano lesson. (Gulp!) For this first lesson, I went to their home, which meant I didn't have anywhere to take my kiddos. So for this lesson, I left them at their buddy's house (who happens to live just a few houses down from my piano student.) and let them play. The lesson was only 30 minutes, so I was back in a jiffy. Unfortunately, I learned that 30 minutes is not long enough to play at a friend's house. Normally we're there for at least 1 1/2 to 2 hours. I couldn't even bribe Monkey to the car with the promise of picking up the hubs from work, which I thought would work like a charm. No go. It was more work to get them out of there than I anticipated. (I even had to whip out Moose's middle name. Twice.)

Now I know.

Can you say...

So today I was running through some of Monkey's word, just for fun. For no good reason, I decided to ask her if she could say "mama" which she never does. To the surprise of me and the hubs, she whipped out a cute little "mama" just for me. 3 times. It was so cute. Each time she said it we would clap and cheer. I was tempted to give her a treat too, just to make the memory sweet and strong. It was so nice to finally hear her say, of her own free will and desire, a nice "mama" without yelling, and knowing that she was saying it to me.

Kids sure do take their sweet time, and who knows how long it will take before she actually says it to us, to get our attention, or anything like that. But she'll get there. And when she does, I'll be ready and waiting to cheer and clap her on.

Papa deprived...

So today Monkey decided she was completely Papa deprived. Every waking moment she was asking me about him. (Which means she signed "papa" to me by pointing at her head.) We ran some errands in town today and every time I got her in or out of the car, she asked me about Papa. At the end of her nap, he came home and I headed out to a baby shower. So he was with her for a few hours until I got home. She had apparently been just fine the entire time, until I got home. Then she was a ball of fury and whining. Not quite ready to share him with me yet? Who knows.

Although I'm still the one who has to put her to bed.  Go figure.

Finicky Words...

Monkey now has a small arsenal of words she says, and will do them on demand. (Which makes for fun phone calls to the relatives. Her list includes:

Baby (her favorite word, by far)
Ball
Bubble (her newest one)
Woof woof
Papa

Now, she is capable of saying mama, and does it occasionally. But she refuses to say it to me, or about me. Moose will sometimes go through this list with her for fun. He always asks her, "Can you say Mama?" And she'll either stop talking or say something else. I'm sure it'll come eventually. I'm still her favorite for bedtime.

Oh, baby 3 is officially a kumquat. (Don't know if I spelled that right.)

Pregnancy...

As I mentioned before, pregnancy is such a huge aspect of parenthood. Well, I guess I talked about delivery, but not too much about pregnancy. It's the precursor. Nine months or so of feeling sick, awkward, completely unlike yourself, all in the hopes of welcoming this new beautiful bundle, not really knowing how foreign, uncertain, awkward, and amazingly humbling (not in the I choose to humble myself sorta way, but in the I have no idea what I'm doing sorta way) it is.

Well, I now have something new to chat about in my real day job adventures. I breaking the news. I'm 10 weeks pregnant. We had an appointment today and got to listen to the very fast "whoosh whoosh" of tiny baby heart beat. I wasn't sure when I was going to share, but finally decided now was an okay time. My risk of miscarriage is small. (I think it's smaller too since I've had two successful pregnancies so far.) I'm not showing yet or anything, so for those who live nearby, I could probably keep it from ya for a while longer, but decided to let the cat out of the bag, so to speak.

This is such a massive part of parenthood, even though (if it's your first at least) the parenting part hasn't even started yet. This is #3 for me, obviously. The first month or so were not too fun. Although, I must preface every pregnancy discussion I have on here with this bit of information: I have very good pregnancies. I don't get really sick, I don't barf (only with Moose, like 4 times. Not once since.), I get my energy back fast, I stay relatively comfortable to the end. I don't know if I'm just genetically blessed, or if attitude has something to do with it. Probably a little bit of both.

So after about a week of knowing, I started to feel pretty icky and supremely fatigued. I wanted to sleep constantly. I found it's much harder now that I've got 2 little ones running around who still need my attention and loving. Moose is pretty easy since he's self-driven to entertain himself. Monkey, however, was a much more difficult challenge. Luckily, she has a reading obsession. So she would allow me to lay on the couch, while I read her favorite books over and over and over again.

Now that I'm at 10 weeks, I'm feeling pretty good. I have a day now and then when I don't feel so hot. But I just try to drink enough water, snack frequently, that sorta thing to keep myself feeling generally okay.  The funnest thing so far has actually been Moose. He remembers my last pregnancy, which slightly amazes me. He mentioned to me, the day I told him, about me having a baby bump. I didn't mention anything about that sorta thing, but I really think he remembers. Anyway, each week I check my babycenter updates and check on how big the baby is, and I share it all with him. For the first while, he was so excited. He would ask (and still does), "How's the baby doing Mama?" It's so darn cute. He also asks me, "Is the baby still a grape?" (That's the last fruit it was compared to in size. Tomorrow it will be something else.) I love how aware he is of what's going on (as aware as he can be) and that I can talk to him about it. He's also able to be sensitive if I'm not feeling well, or need extra rest. He also knows that "mama's crackers" are not for him or Monkey and it's because of the baby. Makes some things easier. :)

So now I'll be able to share with you this other aspect of parenting, the actual pregnancy. We're really excited. This was planned, and is right on schedule. Our due date is tentatively April 1. I know, so funny right? So far our kids have a knack for weird days. Well, I guess I do too. I was born on February 29, Leap Year. I was blessed (as a baby) on April 1. Moose was born on July 24 (a church holiday, celebrating pioneer heritage.) and Monkey was due on Earth Day. I don't hope the baby comes on April 1. It would just be a bit cruel. But as my brother said, if the baby comes 6 days early, it can be born on his birthday. That would be fine with me.

So, welcome to my little secret. And if you're local, feel free to mention it. It feels weird to have the cat out of the bag, but it was bound to happen. Our families both know, and have for a while. Back when we had the family reunion it was hard to hide my symptoms without feeling like I was lying, which I just don't do. Then we eventually made the phone calls/Skype to all my siblings and broke the news. This will be grandbaby #15 for my parents. #9 for the in-laws.

#3 for us. Welcome to the next stage of our family development.

Birth Stories...

So one of the biggest parts of parenthood, is of course, the actual birth of your child, which you will want to share with absolutely every person you talk to, and will share with some people multiple times because it's just one of those huge events that changes your life and you want to share it with the world.

Just yesterday my brother welcomed baby #3 into his family. Theirs is one of those unusual birth stories that I wouldn't wish to experience personally. Delivery in the car. Gives me shivers. My amazingly brave sis in law delivered their baby in the car, while speeding down the street. She even had to unwrap the cord that went around the sweet baby's neck twice and around each arm. Sounds horribly frightening, right? As I tried to imagine myself in that situation, I figured that you have so much adrenaline and hormones pumping through you that the mommy-bear complex would be pretty huge right now, and of course protecting the just barely born baby would not be a problem. Thankfully, cords were unwrapped and the baby was fine. They made it to the birthing center and all was well. They even went home that night (like 4 hours later) to be with their other 2 kids.

So far I haven't had nearly anything that dramatic happen to me, but my stories are unique and very different. Moose was an emergency c-section. Monkey was our wonderful VBAC. (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) Like I said, the actual birth of a child is so life changing, so miraculous, it's so hard to not want to share it with the world. I'm super happy for my bro and his new addition. So glad such a dramatic situation worked out so well.

My sweet friend is coming close to the birth of her own little bundle and the other day I was thinking about her, feeling nervous for her. I don't think there's any way to prepare for what labor and delivery are like. One reason is because everyone feels it so differently. People feel contractions differently, our bodies respond differently, we all have different pain tolerances, we respond to medicine differently, and in the end, there is just NO way to prepare yourself for what it feels like. (Unless you have to pass gall stones, I've heard. But even still, not the same.) But ultimately, it's all so wonderful and so worth it, you'll share your story multiple times daily with whoever will listen. It's just so great to share!