A Few of My Favorite Things

My water bottle. This is a Camelbak water bottle with a straw type thing...it is seriously the best thing ever. It fits in my stroller and my car and I drink SO much more water when I use it!!

Oh La Croix bubbly water I have loved you for years but during pregnancy you are a staple in my shopping cart...ok you or your close cousin San Pellegrino. Bubbles are a blessing!

This body pillow is such a friend it has the best support and MG can use the side that encroaches on his side of the bed...unless I am using it...

Ok so not a thing but a Friend who will give up 4 hours of sleep to accompany me to the emergency room on what turned out to be not an emergency.

Sunday night after consulting my midwife I decided that having 6 contractions per hour for the whole day was a little off so we decided I should go make sure I wasn't in preterm labor. I wasn't. But my Friend Lysa sat lovingly by my side as they poked and swabbed and listened to the baby. She never complained that in the morning...well later that morning she would be dead tired caring for her own 4 children. I really appreciated the support! It was so nice to chat through what could have been a stressful night. Thanks friend.

Stick Hunt

Today Owen and I went on a stick hunt.We decided to go down the alleys. Our neighborhood is old and so the alleys are a charming detour from the side walks sometimes.This kid loves sticks... he loves them with a passion and since we don't allow them in the house any more(after that fateful incident with the smelly oil jar breaking)we have about 10 of them strewn about our yard and porch.

Today we went looking for sticks for me though. I am throwing a baby shower this weekend and needed a couple of small downed branches to help with decor.
It was a successful trip I got two small branches and Owen got one new stick.

I am super passionate about walking with him right now as you may have noticed so the point of the walk was only an excuse really to get out and enjoy his chatter for a while. Owen took it fairly seriously and brought me numerous sticks for inspection.

He told me today "Momma(I love that he still calls me momma)I really love alleys...I have always wanted to live in an alley they are really beautiful"
I feel like my heart will burst some days because of his complete earnestness. He is such a special little and I am a lucky momma.

This time

Pregnancy is a kind of weird thing. I feel like there are pregnant people and everyone else...pregnant girls all follow fairly similar rules that only apply to pregnant girls and when we are together we all huddle around and discuss the similarities and differences in our pregnancies.

I just keep marveling at the differences in my experiences with pregnancy. I mean everyone has a different experience but usually one persons experiences with multiple pregnancies are pretty similar...not mine.
I was never morning sick with Owen...this time I was sick enough to loose weight until week 16.
I was addicted to sugar in my first go round...this time I like sweets but can pass them up.
I gained 55 lbs while pregnant with the baby who weighed only 5.5lbs of that...this time I have gained 10lbs(granted we are not finished yet but I have a feeling we aren't gonna break 40 this time)...
I had no stretch marks with the first pregnancy and... this time I have about 7(not giants but they look like they could be runners).
I feel way more tired this time as well...probably because I am older and running around after #1 all the time.

Those are just the physical differences...the emotional stuff is different this time round too. I guess you would have to ask M.G-to be sure-but I feel way more stable and less all around moodiness.

Some things never change...getting up every couple hours to go to the bathroom at night,needing the water I drink-all day long-to be heavily iced,my face being a puffy pregnant chub fest,my need for pinto beans-and Mexican food in general-sky rocketing,loving the feeling of my baby kicking,stretching and possibly doing some wii sports inside of my womb(I think I felt a bowling ball in there with him the other night for sure!)
Over all I feel like this is a better experience. I have had a few more physical symptoms this time but the emotional stability wins it for me.

This probably isn't a super exciting post for others to read but I wanted it written out for my own records.


Me at 26.5 weeks

Stream of conscious

We went on another fall walk yesterday. I can tell that the leaves are going to be gone in a week or so. I really wanted the chance to enjoy them again before their fire and gold brilliance is gone and we are left with nothing but gray for 5 months.




When we go on walks together I make sure and answer(well try to anyway) every question you ask. I ask your opinion on things like the sound of crunchy leaves under our feet and patiently listen to your 10 minute responses. It is good for me to hear you. It helps me to know you...to know your heart and soul.



I feel a little nervous sometimes about having another child in my care...I don't know what it will be like to have two kids or to raise "boys" plural. How will I ever get to really know this baby the way I know you little O? We have been just you and me for so long now that its hard to even imagine it any other way. I am a little afraid of what is to come and how my life will change, but I am so excited to meet this new person God is making inside me. I know he is someone very important for our lives and that we need him in ways we are not even sure of yet... I feel so glad to have this opportunity and so terrified of it at the same time.



Owen you are the one who mad me a momma and I am so happy that you did... it just seems foreign to think that I will be someone elses momma too... I hope that doesn't sound like I'm not excited about it because I am...but its a whole new world that's completely uncharted for me and I am a slow explorer.

Cousins

They really love each other... they always have. Even before Mia was born Owen used to lay quietly on my sisters pregnant belly and listen to his sweet cousin move. Now he sits and listens to her talk and recite nursery poems and lets her tell him what they will do next. She snuggles him on the couch and shares her princess toys with him.



They love to have a sleep over and they never get bored of being together. I hope it stays this way the rest of their lives. I hope he always wants to listen to her talk and that she always wants to snuggle up to him on the couch. I know someday they will be teen aged and it won't be as cool to hang with each other all the time... I hope they don't care.