Pregnancy Post

(look, blogging while pregnant)

Well, it's been a couple months since I've mentioned anything pregnancy related. I guess to be perfectly honest it's because there really isn't anything to say. (although the purpose of this post is to recall any minor detail that I can). I don't really feel like my life has been impacted from this pregnancy yet. Well, the first trimester of course was more obvious with some night insomnia, yet feeling tired all the time, and occasionally feeling yucky. I actually did throw up once. It was the day after I had flown to North Carolina to visit my friend. We were driving and I had to tell her to pull over immediately. The only other time I threw up while pregnant was with Jack and I was flying in a plane when some turbulence hit. Anyway, since the first trimester I must say this pregnancy has been a breeze, which, trust me, I'm thankful for.

My OB visits last about 5 minutes. They ask if I have any questions or concerns, I say no, so then they try to come up with a couple specific questions probably just to make the appointment seem more legit, then we listen to the heartbeat, then I leave.

I must be a little more emotional though because the other day I started crying when Jack spilled his applesauce when we needed to be leaving, while at the same time I remembered his car seat wasn't in the car yet. Jane asked me, "Mom, why are you crying? Is it for no reason because sometimes pregnant people do that?"

I would have to admit that the hardest part of pregnancy for me is simply the gaining weight part. But really, does anyone love that? This pregnancy has been pretty much identical to the others as far as weight gain goes, but for some reason I have gone through periods of feeling so yucky about it. One day Jane said to me, while admiring my new figure, "Mom, you're skinny." I figured she didn't know what skinny meant--first of all because of the context, and secondly because we've always tried to avoid talking about fat or skinny in front of her. So I asked her, "What does skinny mean?" She said, "It means that you have more skin than anyone else." Ah, yes, that makes more sense.

But this pregnancy has been wonderful in many ways. Feeling the baby move is, of course, always special. I feel like this baby doesn't move quite as much as the others. I like to think that it means he'll be a really chill baby who likes to sleep all night long. We'll see how that theory stands up. Either way I'm really looking forward to meeting this guy. It's the first time for us to have a gender repeat and I'm having a hard time picturing a boy that is different than Jack. So it's exciting to think about what other kind of boy we could produce.

And sharing the pregnancy with the kids has been really fun. One time Jane was talking about how big my belly was getting. I told her it was going to get a lot bigger. She said, "What if it gets so big it fills the whole house?!" I just laughed but Jane said, "I would NOT live here!" Jane likes to feel the baby move. But sometimes it takes too much patience. She's a little more inquisitive about how getting the baby out works. I've heard her excitedly tell people that she's going to have TWO baby brothers. For awhile there, after my belly really started showing, I couldn't walk into a room without Jane greeting my belly with hugs and baby talk. After hugging me good night, she would have to hug the baby good night. It was cute, but it's settled down a bit by now. I'm really looking forward to her meeting him.

Even Jack is starting to catch on to what's going on. One time he was snuggled up with me on the couch, with his legs against my belly. The baby made a really big move and he looked down so surprised. I told him it was the baby and he excitedly said, "Baby...move.. my legs!" If you ask him who's in mommy's tummy he'll say, "Hank!" You know, just like Jane would call Jack "Hank" in the womb. Remember this drawing from when I was pregnant with Jack?


Well, hopefully we won't change the name at the last minute again because both the kids are pretty set on it this time. But we also called Jane Sophie in utero, though, so our record would suggest otherwise. But this time we can't come up with any other options, so I'm thinking he'll be a Hank. I should probably throw a baby name book into the hospital bag though.

Anyway, onto some pregnancy pics. Matt got a new camera lens and was begging me to cooperate so he could try it out. So I finally figured I should take advantage of the fact that I actually had make-up on and let him snap some pics. This is at 28 weeks. (I'm now 30.5 for the record).

Jane turned five!-(43 days ago)

Hello blogosphere. My daughter had a birthday. To kick start the festivities we had a small celebration for Jane with some family the weekend before. Jane requested a vanilla cake with strawberry frosting. When we sang Happy Birthday to her she proceeded to laugh like a maniac through the entire thing. I guess it was her way of dealing with the spotlight.





Finally, the madness ended.


Jane appreciated the kindness of everyone.




Jane had pretty much planned out every food she wanted to eat on her birthday months before. So the morning of the big day we headed to Krispy Kreme and Jane got her fill of her favorite glazed doughnuts. The kids were fascinated with the doughnut making process.



For her friend party, after much deliberation she finally decided on a cowgirl themed birthday party. I was excited because the plan was that I wouldn't have to do much-just take the kids to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point. But, as luck would have it, just about the only horrible weather day we experienced in October happened to fall right on her birthday. So Jane had a cowgirl party at the dinosaur museum. I was the only one who seemed to care. The kids were just as excited as could be.








After the museum we headed over to another indoor spot and had cupcakes, opened presents and enjoyed fifty cent ice cream cones. Here, Jane went with a different approach during the singing of Happy Birthday.




I need to give a big thank-you shout-out to my talented friend Candis for the adorable party printables. I only wish we could have used everything if it hadn't been for the bad weather.



And another big thank you to Grandma and Grandpa G for spending the week with us and beating me to the cash register many times.

And the biggest thank you of all to my sweet Jane for making the last five years such a blast.

Dear Jane,
I am so happy that you are in our family! You bring such a fun spirit to our home. Life is so exciting for you and it's wonderful to be able to experience it with you. You have become quite the social butterfly and beg everyday to be able to play with friends. You are getting more confident in approaching new friends and usually always have a new friend at the end of an outing. You are very creative and have a great eye for beauty. Your drawings and songs brighten our home. You are such a wonderful big sister to Jack. You are patient in teaching him lots of things and you endlessly share your time and toys with him. You love to have fun and can get quite crazy around the house. But you try so hard to be a good girl. You are quick to remind us to speak more kindly to one another, and so forgiving when we make mistakes. You do a great job at conveying just how much you love all of us. I hope that you will always know how much I love you. Thanks for bringing such a wonderful spirit to our home.
I love you!
Mom

Trick or Treat!

The kids had a fun halloween this year. Last year, if you remember, they had to trick or treat to our own house doors repeatedly thanks to an ill-timed stomach bug.

Jane seemed to enjoy the spookiness of it this year. She said she wanted to go trick or treating when it was dark so it could be "spooky." And when some older cousins put on a small Halloween bash she said that Sam's "was so freaking scary she almost freaked her head off." But she said it with a smile.

I made Jane a deal that I would buy her a cowgirl costume if she would wear it for both her cowgirl birthday party and Halloween. So she kept her promise.

I thought for weeks about what Jack should be. I figured this may be the last year I get to choose myself what he should be and I didn't want to waste it. But I wanted it to be something that made sense for him. His only real interest so far in his short life is vehicles yet he wouldn't know what a race car driver looked like. Then I remembered he had one other love in life-pizza. The only food he really gets excited about and will eat in abundance. So I picked up some felt and whipped up an easy costume in one afternoon.

The weather was great and we didn't even need coats this year. After a few houses Jack weighed in with his thoughts on the activity, "This is fun, huh? Knock on doors. Have candy."

Two years ago Jane went to just a few houses and said she was done. This year she was all business. If I tried to skip a house she wouldn't let me. She wanted to go to all of them. We had pretty good success.


Awww, what a good mom to include this photo even though ol' fat-face decided to visit me early this pregnancy.


The kids enjoyed their loot and we were all three exhausted!

Jane and Jack

Oh, these two. They have been quite the duo lately. On one hand I am so pleased to see them becoming friends. On the other hand, when they work together, they can kick my butt. They are inseparable and WILD! I can't recall too many specific incidents (other than when I heard Jane's encouragement from the bathroom only to find later that she was egging Jack on in his quest to slime the bathroom with toothpaste), but it's more of a general craziness. For example, every meal is complete chaos. Laughing, and doing crazier and crazier (and messier and louder) things to get those laughs. Jack won't let Jane do anything without him. She has a chore to put the silverware from the dishwasher into the drawer. But now it's Jack getting the silverware and Jane excitedly showing him where to put it. She even taught him how to do another chore with her- folding washcloths. Even time-out has lost its effectiveness. Jack just sits right next to Jane on the time-out chair and they make a game of it. One time Jane told me, "I want to be on time-out forever!" Another time I tried to distract Jack in his bedroom so Jane could feel the full punishment of time-out by herself. But Jack was crying and trying to get the door open, "Jane! Jane!" Then when Jack was put on time-out in his crib for spitting repeatedly, he was calling out, "Dad! Dad!" Jane kept saying, "Dad, he's calling you, you need to get him. Dad, he's sad. He's just little. Get him, Dad." It was seriously so brief, but as soon as Matt went to go get Jack, Jane ran into the room to save him.

I guess what's bothering me is that I used to feel like Jane was on my team. And that Jack was on my team. But now I'm not on a team at all! It's them against me. They don't need to try to please me by doing what I ask. They are fine with just pleasing one another. The other day I heard Jane say to Jack, "Oh well. Mom doesn't know what she's saying, huh, bud?" And Jack answered with a "Yeah."

It has made this house more hectic, but I was very pleased to see that even when Jane had a friend over to play, she continued to include him. Warmed me right up. Especially because that meant all my kids were occupied and not bugging me for something.

Sure it sounds nice. They are entertaining themselves. But imagine--they've made a terrible mess and I try to get them to help me clean it up. Why would they? They just keep on being wild together. I can threaten to put Jane on time-out, but then I've told you what will happen. I don't want to lock Jack in his prison crib for too long. And as soon as he gets out they'll just start being wild again. All I'm saying is that I feel like they are a much more powerful force than I am. And it's exhausting. But at the end of the day, when they're asleep, I am all smiles about their budding friendship. I hope it lasts. I don't look forward to the day when either of them say they don't want to play with the other. So I guess I'll try to enjoy it.


Here's some pics of their togetherness. They like to put on skirts together.





And they like to eat bananas together.





And they even like to give solemn looks to the camera together.

A game for brother and sister

Heart-melter

Jane said the sweetest thing tonight. I had just finished reading her bedtime book, Cinderella. She said, "I'm glad you're just the way you are." I said, "Oh, that's so sweet" and hugged her. Then I thought she probably didn't mean it the way I think she did. So I asked her what she meant. She said, "Well, I just don't want you to be anything different than my mom." Awww, such a heart-melter. I love that little (but getting big) girl.

Ultrasound Day

Oh, how I love Ultrasound Day! It is SO exciting to find out what you're having!

First, let's go over how we were feeling:

Ella: For the first few months I REALLY wanted a boy. I just liked the idea of having two little boys to hang out with when Jane started school. Also, Matt and I have a horrible time naming our children. To the point that I hate it. But we actually have a leftover boy name we planned on using so it would be a lot less stress. But the last few weeks I became really convinced that a girl would be best for Jane. She's already worried about Jack not wanting to play with her when she grows up. And she LOVES sharing a room with Jack and doesn't like to sleep alone. So I worried that if it was a boy she would feel left out and eventually not have anyone to share a room with. In the end I felt like I would be really excited with either gender.

Matt: He didn't REALLY care, he says. He just wanted a healthy baby. But if he could've picked, he would've pick a boy. He wanted Jack to have a playmate. We talked about how we both really wanted at least one more boy and if we were having a girl we'd be nervous that we'd never have another son.

Jane: Her usual response was, "I really hope it's a girl!....but boys are fun too." As the days got sooner to finding out I told her that I was going to bake a special cake. If the cake was pink inside it meant a girl, blue-a boy. So she started saying, "I hope it's pink!" I asked her, well, what will you think if it's blue? She said in a frenzied voice that she'd think, "CAKE! CAKE!" Hilarious. And exactly my reasoning for the cake. In the case of a boy I wanted her to immediately pair the idea of a brother with the joy of eating cake. :) But last night she did say while hugging Jack, "Actually I change my mind. I want another brother." By this morning she was back to hoping for pink.

Jack: This kid has NO CLUE I have a baby in my tummy. I don't get it. I try to tell him. He ignores it and starts talking about trucks or something.

So, this morning. We dropped the kids off at our kind neighbor's house. When I took the kids over she said something like, "You guys sure are sporting some colors." I had no idea what she meant. But I figured it out when I finally looked at what Matt was wearing. We both just happened to be wearing bright blue shirts. I guess it was our subconscious. I took a picture of the ridiculousness. Excuse the weird flash.



Well, we found out. We came home and frosted the appropriate cake. (I had another party that evening where I took the other cake). Then we cut it. Matt wasn't ready to start filming but caught the big reveal just in time. The best part of the whole movie is how Jack keeps eating the frosting straight from the cake. Enjoy!



I appreciate Jane's honesty. "The most I love is cake." Later she said, "I'm a little blue that the cake is blue." But overall she seems okay with it.

We are so happy that things looked healthy. And I instantly feel so much more attached to this baby. Now I just can't wait to meet HIM!

Hey, Jerks.

Hello blogosphere. I hate your guts. Collectively and individually. "Hmm, Matt, what'd we do?" Oh, I don't know, maybe told my son you hate his guts. "Wait, what're you talking about?" I'm talking about a post for the little guy which resulted in zero comments. A bagel. For my son. I'm here to right a wrong, but I doubt it'll work on you inveterate losers. My son is cute and awesome. Oh, he may not leap in the air with a weird face or drop quotable lines every five minutes like his sister, and he may not blog about issues and experiences that touch your heart like his mom, but he doesn't have to. He's cool on his own terms. Check him out:
"Say I'm not awesome and you say a lie."

"I'm cute when I'm out of focus."

"I'm cute when I got a flare on my face."

"Hell, I'm cute when I'm sneering."

"And you know I'm cute when I cuss."

Jack is so awesome. But you're not convinced. "What about all Jane's quotes?" Yeah, Jack is a little more laconic, but it's by choice. Why use a ton of words when few will do? Or better yet, one? When I cleared the bed out of our room so we could move our treadmill, Jack was insanely excited at the bare floorspace. He looked around, eyes wild, and said, "THIS!" Why say more than that? It would've been glib. I understood him completely.

Are you wondering if Jack's cute when a beetle won't cooperate with him? Don't wonder it anymore:

If the beetle warms up to him, do you think he's more cute or less cute? He's more cute:

Everything he does is cute and awesome. When he teases, it's cute and awesome. One time he took Jane's play ketchup bottle from her and ran with it. Jane came into the kitchen after him, yelling that he took it from her. Jack stopped when he reached a dead end. He turned around to face us, smiling calmly. As Jane pleaded her case, Jack took the bottle and squeezed the imaginary contents into his play cup. The smile never left his face. He was rocking his head back and forth gently, musically, like he had his own soundtrack playing. He handed the bottle to Jane, calmly, as he drank the imaginary contents from his cup. Did I put him on timeout? No. Was it fair? Certainly not. But if the cool kid at school wants to hang out with you, and maybe wants to give you a nickname that could be interpreted as mildly disparaging, you don't fight it. You smile and thank him for letting you hang out. We're guests in Jack's world.

Jack has a positive outlook on life, especially with his hand full of gravel and a puddle nearby:

He's cute when he gets a wand of cotton candy:

He's cute when he takes a bite:

And he's cute when he decides maybe he doesn't like cotton candy, and maybe Mom should have it:

Ella was all too happy to oblige:Check out the guy behind them, on his way home from a slumber party. "Today's the Fourth? Dude, we should've had the sleepover tonight."

Want to see Jack throw a golf ball with a serious look on his face? I do.

"How was that throw, Dad?"Hella tight, buddy, hella tight.

"Hey, Matt, it seems like Jack wears sunglasses a lot. Does he ever take it overboard?"
No.It's overboard if it's not cool.

When the sun gets in Jack's eyes, he yells, "Gasses!" He doesn't do it for any kind of a look or fashion statement. For him, it's completely utilitarian. But that doesn't mean he's not going to start any trends. It only adds to his legend.

"I mean, yeah, she's throwing grass in the air, mid leap, and she's selling it. She's totally owning the moment, but at the end of the day, it's just grass. And they give her five comments for this kind of schlock? What am I chopped liver?""Just wait. Just wait till you're in your early teens and you've got headgear. Probably have cystic zits like Dad did, too. We'll see if you get five comments then. We'll see if they even post about you. Hmm, who should we blog about? Volcano face, or Jack's first place in the Pinewood Derby? It's gonna be the Derby every time. Every time."

"For now, I'm just content to chill with my old man, and devastate the blogosphere with my cuteness. Even if they're too blind to see."