23 weeks

It's going by so fast!  Dean took this picture of me on Sunday....I always feel like my belly is much bigger than it actually is!

Baby's size: according to my BabyCenter email today, the baby is 11 inches long (wow!) and weighs over 1 pound. 


How I'm feeling: WHEW!  So tired!  My friend Kristen said, "welcome to pregnancy in your thirties!" and I'm wondering if that's part of it.  It never occurs to me that I'm an "older" mom (and really, I'm only 31 so I know I'm not too old) but I guess it makes sense that the older you get, the less your body is able to keep up with a pregnancy (not to mention having two small kids already).   Also, I'm having quite a few hypoglycemic episodes....probably once every three or four days.  All of a sudden (like Monday when I was with the kids at Moody Gardens), I'll break out into a sweat, and I feel incredibly hungry and weak.  Orange juice is the only thing that helps it instantly.  I realized that I'll have to keep some OJ with me when we go on outings like that....because there was no fruit juice (or fruit) to be found at Palm Beach.  I ate half the food we brought and finally felt better after about 15 minutes.

Baby names: we've finally started talking about it.  My goal is to come up with a name that everybody knows, but isn't super popular right now (like in the top 20).  Thankfully, Dean and I actually have very similar tastes on names....it's amazing how we pretty much agree on every name that we like or dislike.  Some of my favorites right now are Lauren (my personal favorite, although this one is always fairly popular), Meredith, Molly, Megan, and Jenna.  I also love Claire, but we may use this as a middle name (depending on the first name we choose). 

Movement: Finally, a lot!  The past couple weeks I have felt her (still feels weird to say "her") move quite a bit....especially in the evenings.  This is when I start to get a little stressed in every pregnancy.....I feel it moving fairly regularly, so I start getting unnecessarily paranoid when I don't feel it moving for a few hours.

I have another ultrasound on Friday.  They want to re-do the one I had at 19.5 weeks for two reasons: the baby was measuring a full week ahead of my due date (which my doctor seemed to think was no big deal that day....but whatever), and they had a hard time seeing some of the anatomy on the images.  This doesn't surprise me because the baby was curled up for much of it.  I'm excited too, because now I'll hopefully get some more confirmation that it's actually a girl, instead of having to wait until 29 or 30 weeks.  Part of me is still doubting!  

Some recent funny moments with Grant....

1) When Drew does something wrong, Grant usually takes it upon himself to correct him (by yelling at him, slapping his hand, or threatening him with spankings). I always have to tell Grant, "just mind your own business. Mommy will handle Drew."

Last week the boys were watching Aladdin (Grant's been asking constantly to watch movies, and I've been giving in way too much....but I'm tired and pregnant, so I have an excuse!). It was near the end when Aladdin was fighting Jafar, and Drew stood up and started pointing his finger indignantly at the screen saying, "no! no!" (yelling at Jafar, I'm assuming). It was so funny.....Grant stood up and said to Drew, "no, I'll handle this."

2) A couple of days ago the boys were playing in the living room, and I told Grant, "I'm going upstairs for a minute, okay? Let me know if you need something." So while I was upstairs I heard Grant talking to Drew. He was on one side of their little kitchen, and Drew was playing on the other side. Grant told Drew, "I'm right over here, Drew, so just let me know if you need anything. Okay?"

3) Like most three-and-a-half year old boys, Grant is totally into anything related to pirates, knights or swords. One of his most requested movies right now is "The Little Wormaid," I think largely because there are scenes of shipwrecks under the water, and because Prince Eric is on a "pirate ship" (according to Grant) before his boat gets shipwrecked and Ariel rescues him.

He'll put on his shoes and tell me that he needs to go outside (to the backyard) to his "pirate ship" (our swingset) because "Eric is waiting for me." One time he was sitting up in the fort, and he pointed right next to him and told me, "Eric is sitting here next to me, see?"

4) A few days ago at breakfast he said, "I want the baby to come out." I said, "the baby's not ready to come out yet. It's not big enough yet, but it'll come out in another few months." He asked, "but where's the door?"

5) Today he told me he had a headache, and he said, "I'm just feeling like I'm dying."

6) Many times he resists washing his hands after going potty. Today he went pee-pee and came out of the bathroom, and I asked if he'd washed his hands. He said in a frustrated voice, "but I go pee-pee on my leg, not my hands!"

Boys in puddles (with pictures this time!)

Yesterday I took Drew to the doctor to get her opinion on what I suspected was a hernia in his groin. Sure enough, she looked at it, pressed on it and confirmed that's what it was. It's not serious now, but she referred us to a pediatric surgeon to follow up.

Afterward, we drove across the street to the Houston Garden Center (I'm still trying to fill in some empty spaces left by our hibiscus plants that died this winter). The last time I tried taking the boys here, it was a total disaster......they got in a huge fight trying to put flowers into our cart, then Drew kept stepping off the cart and I rolled on top of his leg twice. I ended up leaving completely frustrated and embarrassed!

Well, yesterday, there was hardly anyone there.....and the boys did fairly well following me around for a few minutes while I shopped. But then they found some puddles. At first they were content just walking through them, but of course it quickly escalated.....they were running around laughing hysterically and having the time of their lives! As a girl, it was hard for me not to get grossed out and stop them (it didn't smell or look very good). And both of them slipped and fell at least once too, so their clothes were mostly saturated and muddy by the time we left.

But I try to remember to count my blessings; after all, it gave me time to decide what I wanted without being rushed or without having to keep chasing them down. We were going straight home afterward, so I knew I could just strip them down in the car and not worry about having extra clothes. And it was just fun watching them enjoy themselves so much. So many times I get wrapped up in my own plans and it's hard for me to accept the fact that my boys are little boys, after all.....and they have a blast getting all dirty and wet! I happened to have my camera in my purse, because I'd taken pictures of Drew's hernia before we went to the doctor (in case it wasn't obvious while we were there).

The boys and I went to Bryan this past weekend (Dean had to work late Friday night, so he didn't come with us); we had fun seeing great-grandma (in town from Michigan) and Rob, Leah, Evan and Ella Kate. And of course grandma and grandpa, too. The boys had fun in the pool, and Grant had a blast playing with Evan. We came home late Saturday, and I was worn out! I spent Sunday up in town by myself; I went to a wedding shower for a friend and spent a couple more hours shopping ALL BY MYSELF! It was such a nice break!

I am just feeling so tired.....I don't think I felt this exhausted with my past two pregnancies. I've been laying down a lot during the boys' naps.....right now I just don't have the energy you're supposed to have in the second trimester. In fact, I think I will go lay down and enjoy some peace and quiet right now!

Dough boy

Drew is constantly taking boxes out of our pantry and opening them. And he just doesn't give up; he'll grab a box of cake mix and tear it open before I grab it away from him. Then he immediately turns around to grab a box of au gratin potatoes, or cereal, or whatever happens to be within his reach. I try to remember to shut the pantry door but inevitably I forget. Very often!

His favorite has been the oversized box of Bisquick I bought at Sam's a few months ago. I'll walk into the kitchen and catch him crouched over it, dipping his finger in to get tastes of it. And he always goes back for more, so I guess it tastes good to him?! He won't eat mac and cheese or scrambled eggs (among many other things), but he likes Bisquick powder?



Trying to give me a taste....


He was so proud of himself and having a grand old time, because he was misbehaving and actually being rewarded for it (by me taking pictures of him.....but he just looked so cute that I couldn't resist).



The really gross part of this story was that a few days ago (about 10 days after I took these pictures and subsequently stuck the box way up out of Drew's reach), we decided to have pancakes for dinner. I opened the Bisquick box to see little black bugs crawling all around inside. Eeewww! I really hope they found their way into it after Drew's little feeding frenzy....

My goodness, I can't believe it....

I had my ultrasound on Friday....everything apparently looks great with the baby....it's measuring about a week ahead of schedule, but my doctor says he won't move the due date (it will probably come a couple of weeks early anyway, like the boys). The placenta is NOT in the front, like I assumed.....Susie the ultrasound tech said I should start feeling it move more in the next couple of weeks. While I was in there, the baby kept trying to curl up and she had to keep pushing at it to get all of the measurements.

And as for the baby's sex? I lost all willpower and just couldn't stand to wait. Dean had just left with the boys (they were fairly well-behaved but starting to get a little rowdy). The ultrasound was almost over and I asked Susie if she knew the sex yet. She said, "yeah, I think so." (We had told her at the beginning that we didn't want to know.) I just couldn't help it.....I burst out, "is it a boy?" and she said slowly "I'm thinking not.....are you sure you want to know?"

At this point I think I went into a bit of shock, and I think I still am. She showed me a couple of pictures that she had already taken of the "three coins," as she described the girl parts. It looked very clear and I couldn't believe what I was looking at. I just knew this was a boy. Then I asked if she'd take another picture and write "it's a girl" so I could show Dean and surprise him. Based on this picture I still am not 100% convinced.....I probably would have guessed "boy" looking at it (you can't see the three lines in this particular picture). But I do trust her and I guess she knows what she's talking about.....I'm probably just not going to paint the room or anything until I have some further confirmation! Dean thinks I am crazy.

So of course I'm excited.....it's just weird to think about having a girl, since now I'm so accustomed to boys, boys and boys. I remember while I was growing up thinking a few times that it would be ideal to have two boys, and then a girl (so she'd have big brothers). Of course it wasn't something I thought a lot about, but I remember it crossing my mind more than once or twice. It overwhelms me to think that this was God's plan all along, and I realize how blessed I am that I have been given these precious kids.

Yesterday I went to Carter's to use a coupon and to take advantage of Memorial Day sales. I have to admit that it was super fun being able to legitimately look at the girl side and shop for pink clothes! With both boys, we had girl names picked out before we knew the sex (boy names have always been harder for us). So now it feels weird that a girl is actually something we are planning for, instead of just being a "maybe someday" idea.

More updates on the boys coming in the next couple of days.....they've been doing some really memorable things and I hate that I don't get more chances to record all of their funny antics....