Favorite Preggers Questions

ATTENTION! ATTENTION!

AH CHUNG, BABY (or whatever all the warnings in 5 languages for parts for children under 3 have)!

Friday Favorites is taking a vacation this Friday. Because 1) I'm going to a wedding and will be OOT (that's out of town if you are not hip- I'm pretty sure I'm not because I just said "hip") and 2) my lovely and talented friend and blog designer Deanna will be plucking the eyebrows on this here blog over the weekend, so in case you did have a link, it wouldn't be working. Which would be a plum shame.
You get 2 weeks to think about your favorite thing and I can't wait to see them then!

: : : : : : : : :

I love being pregnant; really I do. I feel like I'm taking part in a miracle and it is awesome. I also realize that life now is MUCH EASIER than when the baby will arrive, so I'm thankful for this prep time.

But life as a pregnant woman has it's challenges (besides the no alcohol portion). The funniest thing to me is the way that people gawk look at you and then feel compelled- as if a magnetic field is making them- to ask you questions about your pregnancy.

Here are some of my "favorites":
1) What are you having?
I answered "a baby" to a very confused Staples check out girl last week. And went along my merry way.

Really, I wanted to do that, but then I felt guilty and told her I was just joking, etc.
Danggit- I wish I was meaner sometimes.

2) When are you due?
3) When are you due?
4) When are you due?
End of July.
End of July.
End of July.
(If it wasn't annoying as all get out I would type 42 of those here, but it's starting to feel like writing sentences.)

5) Are you excited?
How am I supposed to answer that? That is the oddest question to me. Of course you're excited. Nervous. Daily have the beJesus scared out of you wondering how in the world THREE children fit in that Target bus thing.
You know- normal thoughts.

6) How are you feeling?
The correct answer here is fine. The real answer would require 45 minutes of your time and several creams and demonstrations of their placements. Or a pull down map of the back to point of pressure points. None of us would prefer that.
Let's just go with "fine".

7) Are the boys excited?
They have no clue what's going on. They are 2 and 4 year old males who think "tomorrow" is 4 light years away, so 3 more months will never actually happen to them. I bet they think this is all made up and I just ate a basketball.

8) You have really gotten BIG!
Thanks for noticing. YOU, TOOOO!!!
(Again, if only I was mean.) What I usually respond to this (I get it A LOT) is "yes- that's how it happens" or something with a smile and a dagger.

I know I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: You don't have to ask a pregnant person about their pregnancy (especially their 3rd). They most likely want to talk about something else because a dozen people before you have asked all the same questions. And I KNOW people are happy for you, want to be excited with you, are oozing pink out of their ears with love and joy, etc.
But what did we talk about before I resembled a large pot-bellied pig?
Small talk is fine- honest. You can do it.

And if you touch my belly I touch yours. Those are the rules.

What is your "favorite" pregnancy question that you've heard?
Been asked?
Always try to avoid?

This post is linked to my pal Jill's Things I Love Thursday. I love her and you will, too. :)

Girl- It's a Four Letter Word

Here's the honest truth: I'm terrified of having a girl.

There. I said it.

As much and I am thankful for your warm wishes and kind words, all mentions of glitter, sparkle and tu-tus scare me silly.

This might sound like Captain Obvious, but I KNOW I am a girl. The issue is that I was never really "girly". I mean, my 6 year old birthday party was a makeup party like everyone else's, but I've never been one for princesses and unicorns.
Well, not unless Lisa Frank's designs had that on her Trapper Keeper and then I was all over it.

In no particular order, here are the
Top Ten Reasons I'm Concerned Scared out of my Mind about Raising a Girl:

1. Drama
I'm pretty sure girls come with their fair share of drama. I have never liked it- not even when it was cool in high school. It made me nervous and sweaty.
There is nothing worse than, "Oh my gosh. Do you think she said that about me? I'm totally going to ask Tiffany if she heard from her cousin in the locker room that she said that. I am going to be Soooooo upset. I think I'll have to move to a different state if that happened."
Et cetera.
Ugh. I think I'm sweating a little bit now just thinking about it.

2. Bowl Cuts
I believe it has been well-documented here that I sported a lovely bowl cut from ages 2-11 {some might say 12, but them's fightin' words}.
But I will give my mom some slack. This bowl below around age 2 was even before Mary Lou Retton made it famous; she was ahead of the times. {She has no excuse for this one, though.}

What I won't stop cracking up about is that, I look terrified to be in this picture myself!
And, for some reason, the picture came with a whole set of 18 different sizes still together on the original sheet. I can't believe she didn't hand these gems out!
Who doesn't love a red- faced, crying, bowl cut baby with orange eyes? It's all so natural. Especially with the forest out the window there.

I hearby promise, pledge and swear to do my very best to keep my sweet girl away from all haircuts resembling cutlery, serving dishes or any piece of a place setting.

3. Perms with Bowl Cuts
This only adds insult to injury.
I think this version of the bowl is clearly outlined in this previous birthday post.

4. Boys
Oh my word. At least she'll have 2 older brothers to give us the scoop on boys.
Hopefully by 2025, we can require fingerprints and background checks on all potential dates.
I don't think that's too much to ask, do you?

She will also not be allowed to fly away in a car with ANYONE. Period. Only Danny and Sandy and Marty McFly should be able to do that.

5. Peer Pressure
Am I biased, or do you think this is worse for girls? We work with the youth at our church and I'm just praying that our kids have a tight-knit group like them at church when they are in high school. Even if they do, though, that stupid peer pressure will still be out there to do crazy things like get their ears pierced, dance with boys and cut the bottoms of their jeans.

And there might even be worse things, too.

6. Clothes
I bought one outfit today for our little girl and was completely overwhelmed at the selection!
This is what you people were talking about! There are endless flowers, ladybugs, polka dots, sunshines, hearts, pinkPinkPINK everywhere.
Boys just have shirts and shorts.

Oh no. Not girls.

I think I'm going to need a chart to figure this out. Any tips/ favorite brands/ websites/ best practices would be completely appreciated!

7. Prom Date
I know; it's a little early to worry about it, but I'm very concerned that there will come a time when a prom dress is needed.
And I might let her sucker me into a royal blue sequin prom dress that casts the light of a disco ball all around her the whole night at prom.
Not that I know anything about that.

As you can see, dates were fuzzed out to protect the innocent.
And this high school boyfriend of mine works on Capitol Hill, so I don't want to ruin any potential political careers with my dress selection. {I'm not even going to touch the shoes that were died to match. And if I recall correctly, no one should have touched them because they turned my skin blue.}

If you know who this is, just snicker happily to yourself with that knowledge and don't write it in the comment section, okay? Google is a mighty, powerful tool and will hunt down the tiniest remarks in the comments.

As a matter of fact, I think Google should be in charge of airline screening. They seem to know more about me than I do about myself.

8, 9, and 10. Hormones, Hormones, Hormones
I was really hoping I would be the only one around here to be tortured get to deal with these, but apparently I will share the wealth at some point in time.
I really don't wish this on anyone, but at least we can go through it together; I'm sure we'll be BEST of friends when she is in middle school.
'Cause that's how it works.

What am I missing here?
Arguments about what clothes to wear? Or blow drying hair?
Finding tights/ bloomers/ brain squishers to match each outfit?
I need the scoop, friends. I need to be as prepared as possible!

Hop on over to my friend Amanda's Top Ten Tuesday at Oh Amanda to join in the fun!

A Tale of a Turtle and a Hamburger*

Once upon a time, there was a mommy turtle who lived with her turtle husband and turtle family in their nice turtle pond with rocks, mud and slime.
The mommy turtle knew these living conditions well, understood the terrain and felt like she had a good grasp on what all it meant to be a turtle. Things were messy, thrown together and sometimes rough, but she liked a life with turtles. Her baby turtles were a little bumpy on the outside, but they were soft and cuddly on the inside and when they needed to be. Best of all, they loved their mommy turtle.

Then one day, someone told the mommy turtle that there would be a HAMBURGER moving in with their family.

WHAT? A HAMBURGER? "Surely you jest" said the mommy turtle {because she had been to turtle college and enjoyed British terminology to sound smarter than the other turtles}. Hamburgers do NOT live with turtles. Doesn't it know it will get Eaten ALIVE here?

But despite her confusion and inability to understand how in the WORLD a Hamburger could be coming to live with her family, it was true.

In a few months, the turtles will be invaded.


And surely they will welcome this Hamburger with open arms.



Because even if she isn't a turtle, she'll fit right in.
The turtle family has always been a fan of beef, carbs and anything smothered in cheese.

To be continued...

# # # # # # # #

Here's more of what we saw:



And since I can read lips, here's what I'm pretty sure she was saying:



Jason, the boys and I are happy to announce that we are expecting a GIRL brand of baby.
Holy Hairbows! We don't what we're going to do with one, but we have a few months to figure it out.

Tips? Advice? Warnings?
Money tree for clothes?
I'll take them.

* The "turtle" and the "hamburger" are what the ultrasound technicians look for to determine the gender of your baby. I won't pull out medical terms here because I'd be on all kinds of spam lists, but I'm pretty sure you can figure out which one belongs to which gender.

Zofran and Pickles

I'm still preggers and thought I'd own up to my promise and answer some of your questions.

Q: How did you tell Jason?
A: "Hey, Jas. I think this test is positive!"
It was real complicated and romantic and stuff. And it was about 6 am and I hadn't brushed my teeth, yet.

Q: When did you find out?
A: The week before Thanksgiving.
So that's why I had some nice long bloggy breaks here and there between Thanksgiving and the New Year. Mama needs a little more sleep than usual.

Q: How are you feeling?
A: Well... it's touch and go. I have many days where I'm living on Zofran {anti-nausea meds} and pickles. The tricky part is that I have NE-VAH had any sort of sickness with either of my other pregnancies. So, throw in a few crazy kids and it's been a rough few months.

With all that said, I am so thankful to BE pregnant, that I don't feel like I can complain. I know there are many people who would give their eye teeth {are those a real thing?} to be hovering over a 1970s colored potty.

Q: What does your uterus look like?
A: Okay, nobody really asked that {thankfully; because that's kinda weird}. But here is what it looked like back in December about 6- 7 weeks ago.

See that blob the arrow is pointing towards? That's what been making me sick.
That little blob. Crazy.

Right now I'm 12+ weeks pregnant, so the baby is much larger- as big as a large plum {working it's way through the produce section of sizes, apparently}- and is developing complex things like a digestive system and white blood cells. Our kids are SO smart.

I got to hear the baby's heartbeat on the fetal monitor at the doctor's office for the first time this week, so that's pretty cool. It was around 160 beats per minute so go ahead and take your guesses on the gender! It sounds like a washing machine- from 1950- if you happen to be stuck inside it.

Q: Are you showing?
A: Yes. Totally. I haven't gained any weight {don't worry; I will- PROMISE}, but I look pregnant if you are used to seeing me. I'm not pregnant enough for stangers to come touch me, so I'm happy about that for now.

Q: How did you tell family?
A: I make a calendar for Jason's parents every year with family pictures in it and this year made the calendar with only one picture in July {notice the red, white and blue posterboard?}:

And then did the same thing for my parents. Super easy and fun!
I actually wrote an article {anonymously} in December for Blissfully Domestic about different ways to tell people you're pregnant at Christmas.

'Cause I'm all kinds of sneaky like that.
And because it was killing me to keep a secret! Ugh! That's so hard!!
So glad we're out of the closet now.

So what else am I leaving out?
I'm going to have repeat C-section, so I'll get to pick a date at the end of July.
Yes, I'm aware July is a hot month. Thanks for checking. :)

I'll keep you updated on my pigging out and popping out, because I'm a full believer in eating whatever you want while your pregnant.
And maybe that's why I have 10 pound babies... Let's not look at the details, okay?

If They Mated

Thank you all so much for your kind and encouraging words about our next babe. Jason and I are really thrilled. We appreciate your prayers and love so much! And I promise to answer all your questions soon.

I also wanted to clarify about tummy pictures. I LOVE your tummy! Truly, I do! Especially if you are keeping track of week by week shots, etc. I- along with everyone else in the world- LOVE that.

But I have carried 2, very large, babies and my stomach and sides CURRENTLY look like the topigraphical road map from my 4th grade classroom. There is NO telling what it will look like while preggers during or after a 3rd. Did you see that Jon and Kate where she showed her tummy before the plastic surgery? Well, it's not that bad, but just imagine that and thank me. There might be a few clothed shots if taken by accident. We'll see.

Anyway, I started thinking tonight that you already know what my first 2 children look like; they look pretty similar, I think.

But, just for kicks, what if this next child looked completely different? I mean, I know it will still look like us {at a fain-cee party on New Year's Eve}:

But what if we had a little girl?

A bearded, little girl???

Would you still say she was cute?

This could be our future at stake here, so I need the truth, friends.

I, for one, think she is beautiful! :)

A Small Prune-Sized Announcement

Prunes have never been on my favorite list, so it pains me {or maybe "relieves" me... so sorry.. couldn't help it} to relate this news to that, but our family does have some "prunish" news.



We're expanding.
Things are just too boring around here and there's not nearly enough laundry.

Obvioulsy neither of those things are true, but nevertheless, we are happy to announce that there's another little baby on the way!

More details are surely to come, but I've never had a baby or been pregnant with a blog {this blawg started right after Henry was born}, so I'm going to do the best I can to balance sharing/ being obnoxious with info. I will most likely just weave my big ole pregnant self into my usual stories.

I'm very aware that there are many people out there who are struggling with infertility or loss and there are also people who might not want to see my stretch marked belly. Like me. So we'll keep it light, my peeps.

But let me know what questions you have and I'll do my best to put together a list of FAQ and answers for you. Just ask in the comment section and I'll answer the best I can.

I'm excited to finally share our news!

All laundry and babysitting volunteers welcome in July... or really NOW! Who am I kidding? If you want to do laundry, you are welcome any time. I promise not to make you wash maternity unders... that's a whole new side of me that I can guarantee you won't see.