And Then There Were 2

Okay, maybe I should say "1.3" with "2" coming sometime late this year or early next year. James and I finally decided to settle the "will we or won't we" debate by finding out (surprise!) that we will. My official due date is Jan 3, 2010 but Claire was about 2 weeks early, so I'm hoping #2 will be, too. It would be great to sock it to the IRS. ;)

With Claire, I found out I was pregnant with our Sweet Pee on Father's Day 2007. With this Pee-Nut, I found out just before Mother's Day this year. I have to say that James and I went through various emotional stages -- think shock, denial -- before settling on excitement and happiness.

I laugh as I finish this posting because I had originally written this:

So far, the pregnancy hasn't been too bad. I'm proud to say that, although I've had morning sickness pretty much the whole first trimester ("morning" sickness is such a misnomer!), I have yet to actually throw up. Oddly enough, I've had a lot of heartburn, but it's nothing Tums can't knock out.

Yeah. No sooner than I had typed that little ditty, I ended up with my head in the toilet for about a week. Those of you with delicate stomachs, I'd stop reading now. It started on Monday, 6/22 with me being nauseated from the moment I woke up. The rolling continued as I drove to work and finally manifested as I drove past freshly cut grass right by the parking garage. Luckily, I had a bag of animal crackers right beside me ... needless to say, those were thrown out, and I will never look at animal crackers the same.

Fast forward 2 hours by which time I had spent the entire morning in the women's restroom (well, trying to leave but immediately having to turn back around) and apologizing curses to anyone that walked in. And so ended my indecision on when to tell folks at my office. I let my boss and secretary know and headed home. Hey, if I'm going to spend that much time hugging a toilet, it might as well be mine! The rest of the week wasn't much better with me mostly eating a couple of crackers and other bland, starchy foods.

But, one week after it started, it stopped. I woke up Monday morning and, after slowly cracking one eye opened, realized I felt fine! Woo-hoo! Not wanting to jinx it, I gave it another day before declaring victory. Now hopefully I can enjoy the next few weeks ... until I start complaining during the last trimester again. :)

So, that's that! Guess Claire's not going to be an only child after all. No decisions have been made yet; I figure we'll find out if it's a boy or girl first (mid-August) and then start deciding things ... or just play it by ear. I mean, we're pros by now, right? ;)

Girl Time

I was lucky enough to go the Rascal Flatts concert with Corrie, and I had an absolute blast. It's not often I get to spend quality time (ie not wrangling a toddler at a restaurant begging her to sit down or having to watch the clock so that I'm not gone for too long) with one of my best girlfriends, so it was a real treat to enjoy a leisurely dinner, lounge in the grass on a blanket during a surprisingly cool summer evening, listen to a good concert (Darius Rucker ... yes, HOOTIE! ... was the opening act ... very exciting), and chit chat for hours about nothing and everything.


To all my girlfriends (you know who you are), you're the best. You make me laugh, you keep me sane, and you assure me that I'm not alone. Plus, I'm glad all of you are forgiving and willing to still love me even though I don't see you often or call you enough. I can guarantee that you're in my thoughts and, whenever we are together, I always feel as though we pick up as though we've never been apart.

Why God Made Moms

I'm a little bit drowing right now, and Kim was nice enough to point out that I haven't kept up my blog (actually, I wrote something and never published, so I threw that one up there just now, too), so here's a quick funny that Haley sent. Enjoy!

Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:

Why did God make mothers?
1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house
3. To help us out when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?
1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my Mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?
1. We're related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's moms like me.

What kind of little girl was your mom?
1. My Mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.
2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?
1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?
3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?
1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my Mom eats a lot.
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My grandma says that Mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?
1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goof ball.
2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.
3. I guess Mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between moms & dads?
1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3 Dads are taller & stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friend's.
4. Moms have magic; they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?
1. Mothers don't do spare time.
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?
1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.
2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it and not me.
3 I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

On the Road Again

Just got back from another business trip to the Pacific Northwest. For this trip, I left early on Monday and got back Friday afternoon. To help James out while I was gone, his parents came into town so that Claire could stay home during the day. I used to think that traveling when Claire was really young was awful because she might forget me while I was gone. Now I've discovered that being gone at this age was even worse!

When I walked in on Friday, Bunny III (our Roomba) was running so no one heard me come in. I came into the living room and Claire toddled from the other room. I SWEAR she grew bigger during the four and a half days I was gone.

She stared at me. I held my breath.

I knelt there as she toddled over to me tentatively, put one hand on my shoulder, and rested her head on my shoulder. This reaction was much different than the exuberant launching I had been dreaming of as I raced back home from the airport! She raised her head and looked at me in the face bringing our eyes together real close, then laid her head back down again on my shoulder and gave me a hug. My heart squeezed.

But no big smiles quite yet. This girl was going to make me WORK for it ... which I deserved, of course, for leaving her for almost a week. The rest of the afternoon, I paid my dues and groveled for her forgiveness.

Luckily, sleeping is still a great reset button, and she was back to her old self again the next morning ... but that look on her face when she stared in my eyes still haunts me. I'm sorry for leaving, my baby!

1943 Guide to Hiring Women

Kim sent me this today, and it made me laugh. While I might fall under cantankerous and fussy, I think I resonate more with being a “husky” girl. Hehe. Love it.

(click on the image to read it better)

Thanks for the laughs, Kim!

Feel Good Video -- Worth the Watch!

Found this video on YouTube, and I fell in love. It's so feel good and happy and just makes me smile. I'm definitely adding this one to my Links I Like (plus the cool stop motion one Nina sent me). Please watch it ... it will make your day!

I recommend watching it in HD (select the lil' arrow right here ↑↑)

Blurb Addict

Another book done (my third). This one was the easiest by far because I just "slurped" my blog, and the software did all the rest. There was some formatting to be done to make things fit right, but I did my 52 entries -- 52 entries in 52 weeks, but not one every week -- and 30-some-odd pictures in about 2 hours. One thing that was really nice about the software is that it lets you choose what entries to download, so as long as Blogger plays nice and doesn't change its API next year, I'll be doing that for Claire's blog instead of spending the 2+ months doing it all manually!

http://waysqua...

2008

By Way-Way Pee

Book Preview

My "bookstore" -- http://blurb.com/user/waysquared