It's A ........

GIRL!

I cannot believe it. I keep saying that but Jared and I have been pretty convinced along with all of our family members that it was a girl. I keep thinking that only a girl could torture me like this. :) My boys are too in love with Mama to put me through the constant nausea. Seriously though we are thrilled and would have been either way but now we have a name to go with this little one growing inside me. It definitely makes it feel more real and special to know what's living in there.

I saw the specialist (perinatologist) yesterday. He deals specifically with high risk pregnancies. It was reassuring to meet with him. He has hope that we have a chance for a full term pregnancy. At the same time my blood pressure has been a little high but still within the normal range. He feels that there is no need to be concerned with it at this time. He also sees no need to limit my activity which is a HUGE praise as I have a little something called (almost) 3 YEAR OLD TWINS to chase around. I am 16 weeks on Sunday and he thinks the earliest they would start to limit activity is 24 weeks. I am still praying it won't be necessary that early but I will of course follow doctor's orders.

Aunt Linda and I shopped for the boys Easter outfits last night and already bought a blanket for little miss thing. I also already found bedding for her this morning online. This whole girl thing could be dangerous. :) I still cannot believe that I get to buy girly stuff. SO exciting and unexpected. It is incredible.

As far as a name we think we have one but we are not positive yet. Names are a tricky thing, you know.

Just when you think life is going to be pretty routine your son poops out a penny. :)

What???? Some intro, huh?

Well quite literally, I changed Eli yesterday after nap and found a penny. Is that lucky? You know see a penny pick it up..... Anyways I wasn't feeling real lucky when I asked Eli if he had eaten any more pennies and he said "Yes!" Poison control said the only way to know is t o have an x-ray. We rolled up to the ER downtown and they greeted us and asked if we would like our "regular room". OK I am exaggerating but I swear we should have one by now. Thankfully his x-rays were clear and we were able to rest easy knowing there were no foreign objects remaining in our child.

In typical "almost" 3 year old fashion he surprised Mama by going POSTAL over having the hospital band put on. He screamed, he shook, he shrieked. During the x-ray however while they strapped him to a chair and proceeded to have Mommy leave the room (due to my being pregnant) he did absolutely fine! Someday I will learn it is difficult to prepare for anything with kids. I spent the ride there and the entire time we waited prepping him for the x-ray rather than the hospital bracelet. What was I thinking??? :) Interestingly enough he will not let me take of the hospital band now.

So our life has been anything but routine lately. Lots of changes. Lots of surprises. Least of which this new baby who is giving me another "interesting" pregnancy. God is teaching us A LOT about trusting Him. We also got a surprise and were able to find out what we are having a bit early. Boy or Girl??????

I will post soon. I decided not to announce the baby's sex in the same post that I talked about their brother's poo. I am considerate like that! :)

My Alex Boy

I don't know what I love more about this picture: the fact that he insisted on wearing snow boots on a 60 degree day or the way he posed when I took the picture.

Alex is my lovey boy. If I am sitting on the couch he disappears down the hallway and emerges with his knit blanket so that he can sit in my lap and snuggle. When he first started doing this I was still unaware of his habit when I asked where he went Jared instantly said "to get his blanket".

He will be the one to struggle with the new baby I am afraid. He is mama's boy that is for sure.

That doesn't mean that he isn't in love with his Daddy too. No one can toss him around like Daddy does. He also loves for Daddy to rub his back.

If Jared is laying on the floor wrestling with them or just resting Alex will go and get the famous blankie and lay next to Daddy meaning he wants his back rubbed. If Daddy or I try and rub his back with his shirt down he will say "no, open it". This means he wants his shirt up for his back rub. Oy, high maintenance!

Recently after dinner he came up to me and raised his hands and said something to me that I didn't quite catch. I replied that I had already washed his hands and he said "close my hands". It took me a minute but his sleeves were pushed up and he wanted them down. Translation: he needed his hands "closed".

With Alex everything is about being opened or closed. If you should happen to leave the top off the salt grater at dinner he will tell you to close it. If you leave a cabinet open he will close it or ask you to. He is a bit of a perfectionist already. Thankfully I am not so I will try and curb that a bit.

Last night Nani came over and she had just had acrylic nails done. He referred to them as her "spikes".

Unfortunately, one of the times I was experiencing some morning sickness and we were in the basement, which, isn't near the bathroom and Alex was standing nearby. Now he asks me on a regular basis, "Mommy, you sick? You need to BLEH, BLEH in the pink bucket?" The kid doesn't miss a thing.

He looked out the window a couple of weeks ago and said "Mom, it's darking out". Now this is what he says every night. They now understand that when it's "darking out" bed time is approaching. I am amazed at how their little brains work.

They do so much on a daily basis that cracks me up. I have finally come to terms with the fact that it is impossible to keep track of each sweet or funny moment. Some moments I just have to soak in and pray that I'll remember them in the future and even if I won't I praise God that I get to live this life, although often challenging, with my sweet family; Jared, Alex and Eli.

*Michigan winters are LONG

*have I mentioned that before? :)

*this winter was especially cold

*we were inside more than expected

*the upside is that I believe being cooped up can foster a good bit of creativity

*like playing in the band and making your own valentine's day tambourines

*and wearing your hat upside down because you "need to feel the feathers on your face"

* the boys attention spans have really lengthened this Winter

*while that may have happened anyway I'd like to say Winter helped

* I mean we have to find some upside to our long Winters, right?

I am looking forward to Spring but thankful for the fun we've had inside our home this Winter. Let me re-iterate. I am DONE with Winter! :)

Hola!

In honor of my lack of posting I thought I would share a snippet of my evening. The boys are laying side by side on this crate of maternity clothes, eating lemon wedges and watching Toy Story. I'm gearing up to do the dishes from our yummy, middle-eastern, food that we had for dinner (take-out, of course) and listening to Eva Cassidy's soulful voice. Jared and I are getting ready to watch a movie once the boys go to bed in exactly 17 minutes. It is a good night. A simple one that I am unbelievably grateful for and that I needed. Now the clock is ticking and I have to get those dishes done. :)

Ah, pregnancy

Written last week (2/25):

Well, I am almost to week 12 in this pregnancy. I have an appointment today and I am looking forward to the 2nd trimester like you wouldn't believe. I hope it does not disappoint. I am hoping(probably unrealistically)that it is like a magic switch and I will suddenly not be nauseous. With the boys I was sick most mornings but I would throw up like a good girl and head to work. This pregnancy I am not throwing up as much but I am nauseous most of the day. This week however I have spent almost 2 days in bed or throwing up. Thankfully, Jared came home on Tuesday because I didn't have any other help available and Wednesday Jared's parents came over and saved me for a few hours. Last night I had a 3 hour window at about 5 o'clock where I felt human which allowed me to get my house looking fake clean. You know, the surface clean that makes you feel a bit better. :) This morning I woke up early and felt normal for about an hour which was long enough to throw in some laundry and start to blog however now I am quite nauseous again.

I keep wondering if I really didn't feel this gross with the boys or if I have magically forgotten how sick I was. Kind of like how, in my memory, a C-section was no big deal. I am hoping that one rings true once more but even my recovery seemed pretty simple. I guess I am thankful that as Moms we forget this stuff or else no one would have more than one child. So that is how my pregnancy is progressing. I am so thankful that Jared is such a trooper and that I have such helpful family in the area.

Written today:

I am now in week 13 and feeling MUCH better. I have a cold but other than that the nausea has died down a ton. Unfortunately, my hormones are pretty crazy. Does that mean a girl??? It feels like 1/2 the world is pulling for a girl so everyone is CONVINCED that is what I will be having. Jared and I on the other hand would be equally pleased with another boy. BOYS ARE GREAT! Speaking of the boys, they are still pretty adamant about not wanting a brother or a sister. :) Thankfully they have about 6 months to warm up to it!