Hello Lover!

My reference to Carrie Bradshaw in the title has nothing to do with the perfect pair of shoes.  Rather, the thing that provokes such passion in me at the moment is the perfect sandwich.

Hello Lover!

I am at the point in my pregnancy where I eat everything in sight.  The middle trimester is when I pack on the pounds, which can only be blamed on my insatiable hunger, which can only be blamed on the growing baby in my belly.  While I'm eating breakfast, I'm thinking about lunch.  While I'm eating lunch, I'm dreaming about the perfect snack to eat while the girls are napping, ect. Right now, as I type this, I'm eating some Paula Dean homemade mac-n-cheese that I made earlier.  It's bad.  And how bad it is doesn't quite hit me until the nurse asks me to get on the scale at the doctor's office at the start of every check-up.  You pregnant veterans know the drill.  The nurse marches you right up to the scale in the middle of the busiest intersection of the doctor's office where tons of other people are around to glance at your ginormous number on the scale.  Then if that isn't bad enough, the nurse calls out that number as if she's calling out a to go order at a noisy restaurant.  Humiliating.  Way worse than all the blood that's drawn and cups that are peed in during pregnancy IMO!

I have been spared that humiliation this pregnancy, thank goodness!  This time, at the midwives office, run by women (key phrase!), you get to discreetly go into the bathroom and get your own weight.  Then you deduct however many pounds you think is water weight (3-4 lbs ;)!) before you discreetly tell the nurse your weight when y'all get to your examining room.  I love it!  Takes the edge off the shame of packing on the pounds.

I do try to watch it, though.  With Hattie, I gained 40 lbs.  I think with your first, you eat whatever you want because you think you can.  For me, eating constantly helps with the nausea in the beginning.  But it's what I ate with her that made all the difference.  I wisened up with Mary Ellen and, while I still ate a ton, I stuck to healthier options and only gained 25 lbs.  I am shooting for that 25 lbs. again.  Am definitely trying to watch it.  Not sure how I can come to terms with typing that while I eat Paula Dean's mac-n-cheese, but still.  25 lbs.

So back to that sandwich.  With all of my pregnancies, the number one thing I have consistently craved is sandwiches.  I love them when I'm pregnant.  LOVE THEM.  The only difference is that I crave one specific thing in the sandwiches that I don't usually want on my sandwiches when I'm not pregnant with each specific pregnancy.  Does that big run-on make sense?  Like with Hattie, it was tomato.  If you know me at all, you know I pretty much hate tomatoes, but I loved them and had to have them on every sandwich I ate when preggers with my first born.  With Mary Ellen, it was avocado.  I like avocado in general, but just normally don't put it on my sandwiches.  When pregnant with her, though, I had to have it on every single sandwich I made; otherwise, the sandwich wasn't worth making.  With this one, it's mayo.  I am usually a mustard girl when it comes to sandwiches, but these days, all I want is gobs and gobs of mayo slapped on the bread.  Not good for keeping the weight at 25 lbs., though, I know, but that's what it is.   So that's my weird craving story that I'll probably forget if I don't write it down. ;)

And the sandwich story does have a more meaningful point that I wanted to make: We find out this Thursday, in two days, what baby #3 is.  Boy or girl.  My newest realization is that I craved veggie things on my sandwiches with both girls, but this time I'm craving mayo.  So maybe it's a boy.............or maybe it's a girl that just likes her mayo?  We'll soon find out! ;)

Stay tuned!  Appointment is at 8:30 a.m.  Hopefully this little one will cooperate and show us the goods. And please pray with us in the meantime that everything checks out healthy and developing normally with our little baby on Thursday.  We'd appreciate it!

Family Update

She.......

~ is enjoying swim lessons so much!  Much to my surprise, she isn't fearful of the water at all and tries everything the teacher asks.  I'm so proud of her!

~ still loves coloring, but now also loves puzzles just as much.  She can sit down and complete a hundred piece puzzle all by herself in about 30 minutes - a great quiet activity!

~ is such a big help.  She is the typical first born, motherly big sister.  So much so that she helps keep me in line sometimes!  Just this morning, as we were heading out to the pool, she reminded me that I hadn't put sunscreen on Mary Ellen yet!

~ is totally in the independent phase and wants to do everything for herself.  It may take a little longer, but I try to be patient because I know she's learning.

~ will be 4 in less than a month, and I can't believe it!  Three and a half years ago, sitting up in the middle of the night with my colicky baby, crying with her half the time, I don't think I would have believed you had you told me that these years would go by this fast and that she was going to be such a delightful, easy toddler and child who would eventually sleep in until 7 every day with no night wakings.

She........

~ is obsessed with shoes right now.  Every morning, almost first thing, she picks out a new pair to put on.  If you try to put a different pair on her than the one she's picked out, a massive fit ensues.  The girl knows what she wants, whether the shoes match or are in season or not!

~ has become such a picky eater.  The only meats I can get her to eat right now are sausage and rotisserie chicken.  She knows the difference with any other kind of chicken, too, and won't even give it a nibble.  So her diet consists of lots of scrambled eggs, which she is starting to turn her nose up to, and peanut butter.  Thankfully, she will eat 3 or 4 different kinds of veggies, so she has some variety there.

~ is in the throws of terrible twos.  She is a tantrum throwing maniac right now.  It is rather exhausting for me, a person who thrives on quiet and peace, but we are managing through it and praying it's a short phase ;).

~ is still my cuddlebug.  It's often that she'll come and find me in the kitchen and just wrap her arms around my leg and give me a hug.  She loves to be held and rocked and will eagerly accept all of the kisses I give her.

~ despite her unwillingness to eat most foods, loves to eat crayons and playdoh, and with a big sister who loves doing art, there are always crayons and playdoh lying around, waiting to be digested.  It is often that her chompers are filled with shades of pink, purple, blue, green, ect.  We are working on learning not to eat inedible objects ;)!

I.........

~ am feeling the baby move every day, several times a day now, mostly after dinner when I lie down while Daddy gives baths.

~ go through feelings of being so excited to have 3 children and so nervous about it, too!  I am trying to block out the nerves ;)!  By the 3rd one, you just know it's gonna be hard for a while, and the transition of adding a new child to the family is rough, but ultimately, it's so worth it and fun.

~ enrolled Mary Ellen in MDO 2 mornings a week next year, and Hattie will be going every morning, so for two mornings a week, before the baby gets here, I'm not gonna know what to do with myself!  I am looking forward to getting stuff done, things I'm putting off right now because it's just too hard to do with two little ones underfoot.

~ am so into watching all of the housewives shows on BRAVO right now.  They are my current guilty pleasure.  The shows are horrible, but I can't help it!  I'm fascinated with these petty women, thrown into what seems like high school dramas.

~ could eat avocados and brownies all day, every day.  I guess those are my cravings of choice for this pregnancy.  Lots and lots of FAT, so I try not to cave in to the cravings too much ;)!

He.............

~ has perfected his margarita making skills just in time for summer.  I've sipped, and they are GOOD.

~ is so gracious about putting up with my mood swings and tiredness!  He picks up all of my slack like a champ, and every day I am reminded how very blessed I am to have married such a good, gracious man.

~ will be 30 in September - we've got to do something special for that!

~ recently became an RCIA sponsor at our church.  I am so proud of his leadership in our church and his constant dedication to our faith and Church.

~ makes the best breakfasts!  Saturday morning breakfasts, made by Daddy, have become a much loved tradition in our house.

That's what we've been up to in a nutshell; what about you?

Back in the Saddle

I have totally neglected blogging lately, mostly because we've been busy, and I just haven't felt like blogging when the house is quiet.  Generally these days when the girls nap, I need a nap, too.  Pregnancy just kind of does that to a mama :).  But I'm hoping there will be less gaps and more consistency with my blogging now that I'm past the first trimester.  I want to document this precious time.

At 17 weeks tomorrow, it still hasn't really sunk in that I'm even pregnant.  This pregnancy is flying by because life is so busy with two toddlers.  I am so grateful, though, every time I go to a midwife appointment and hear a rapid, strong heartbeat.  Having two children already doesn't make me take that for granted one bit!  I am still so amazed and thankful for that perfect sound!

The next appointment I have, on July 1st, will be the big ultra-sound, the one where we'll hopefully get to find out if this little one is a boy or a girl.  So many people have asked me what I want, expecting me to say boy, I guess, since I already have two girls.  Really and honestly, though,  I want whatever this little one already is.  God has planned our family out perfectly for us.  He already knows what our completed family looks like.  Whatever He give us, son or daughter, will be exactly what our family was always meant to have.  The bigger issue for me, and all parents, I bet, is to just hear those words that the baby looks perfectly heathy and looks right on target growth and development wise.  That is my prayer.

As far as the big sisters go, Hattie knows there is a baby in my belly.  She totally gets it and says she wants a new baby sister most days.  I have heard her say once that a baby brother might be "cool."  Mary Ellen doesn't have a clue of course.  I think the new baby will be hardest on her because she is my baby now, and I treat her like one.  I have held on to her baby ways much more than I did with Hattie, who I was always pushing towards the next milestone it seems.  Maybe that's just something most of us moms do that's different with the first and second child.  You savor the moments more the second time around because you just know they fly by too fast.

We are heading into summer at full force.  Hattie starts swim lessons next week, and we have already been to the pool a few times.  We've also already consumed two watermelons and lots of grilled food.  Nothing screams summer more to us than grilling, swimming, and watermelon.  Summer always makes me crave margaritas, too, but I would rather be in my condition than sipping that wonderfulness right now.  Though, I will surely be going out to the nearest mexican restaurant as soon as this baby arrives ;)!

So in a nutshell, that's what we've been up to.  Hope all is well with you and yours!