Charlie's Day-mare

Yesterday as we drove from Church, they were playing a commercial on the radio for some bank. The bank offered email and text alerts to watch over your account. In the ad, a father is calling his daughter because he just received an alert and wondered if she had made the said purchase. Turns out that she did, but returned it because the outfit was 'so last week.' This caused Charlie to have a day-mare. He began to envision that if we do have a daughter, one day she would 'need' a new outfit every week. He begin to envision the make-up, the jewelry, the shopping, the shoes, etc. that she would 'need' to have.
Now this was such a shock to poor Charlie because I am so not like that. I don't wear make-up; the most you will probably ever find me in is chapstick, unless I'm attending some function that will require more- then I will wear a little blush and some lipstick. I don't go nuts shopping. I usually go for whatever I actually do need and go home. I usually don't buy anything unless its a really good deal (hence my $5 shoes I get on occasion). I don't obsess over jewelry; I have very little of it actually and hardly ever wear more than earrings.
So needless to say, the commercial was very unsettling for Charlie. In the end, he managed to convince himself that his daughter would not be like the commercial and would just take after her Mommy. We shall see what the future holds. ha ha

Heard

Yesterday Charlie was busy looking for a missing piece of paper he needed. He was looking for that paper all day and became quite frustrated that he could not seem to find it. As a result, Nicholas proclaimed around the house to everyone that "Daddy is a grumpy-lump." We couldn't help but agree; even Charlie admitted he was being a grumpy-lump. In the end, he found his paper and all was well with the world.
When it was nearing lunchtime, Nicholas came up to me and asked, "Can we have hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dogs for lunch?" Perhaps he watches a bit too much Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.........

I was not feeling that great yesterday, so while I was lying down Connor came over to try to make me feel better. He was making up stories for me. The first one involved a prince that got turned into a fox. He wandered the forest looking for another fox. He ended up finding a fox that was actually a princess under a spell too. They kissed and then they turned back into a prince and princess. Then they got married and lived happily ever after. (Can you tell we've been reading fairy tales at bedtime?)
The next story was about ten baby pigs. They were also in the forest. They were trying to find their home. Along the way, one of the piggies got sick and died. In the end, four of the baby pigs got sick and died; only six piggies made it home. When he finished this story, I told him that was a very sad story. He said it was not a sad story so I asked him why not? He answered that the four baby pigs that died went to Heaven, so it wasn't a sad story. I couldn't help but agree with him. Such a sweet boy.

Yesterday, Connor and Nicholas were arguing over whether the baby is a boy or a girl. Nicholas insists it is a girl and Connor insists it is a boy. Connor also thinks we should name the baby 'Spider-man.' Anyway, as they argued, Connor gave in and said, "Oh you are right, brother; it is a girl. I guess we're going to have to name her 'Spider-girl.'

Today's Lesson

As we usually do after school, we stayed and played at the playground outside Connor's classroom. We usually stay between 30-45 minutes and usually everyone is agreeable about having to leave when Mommy says it is time to go. Today, however, the boys were not so agreeable. After I managed to wrangle Nicholas into his stroller, I found that Connor had run off again. I called to him to come back because it was time to go. I had to call him three times before he finally relented and came to where we were waiting for him. I was not happy of course and he knew it. Once he saw I was upset, he profusely apologized and said he would start listening and be good. I said that he had better do so. We started walking towards home and he suddenly asked me to stop. I was still not pleased with him, but I stopped nonetheless. It turns out he had asked me to stop to pick up a small white flower from the grass of a house we were passing. This did not surprise me because he loves plants and nature. He likes to pick up little pine cones, flowers, and such when we are out walking. The thing that surprised me is that after he picked it, he turned to me and said, "Mommy, I picked this flower for you, so that you won't be mad at me anymore." Of course, I melted inside. Outwardly, however, I remained firm and said that next time he had better listen the first time and not make me call him three times. He said he would and that reiterated, "Please don't be angry anymore."
As we continued to walk home, I wondered where he had picked up that one way to appease a woman is to give her flowers or other such gifts. It isn't from his Dad, because Charlie doesn't do that; he only gives me flowers for my birthday or a special occasion for the most part. Perhaps it is an innate survival tactic that men just possess in order to survive their encounters with women. In any case, I kept my sweet little white flower and was thankful that God has blessed me with my two wonderful sons.

12 Weeks, 5 Days

Today I had my second Doctor's appointment for this pregnancy. My appointment was at 9 am, which was good because I was supposed to go fasting for at least 8 hours. Nicholas had to attend the appointment with me, but he was very well behaved for me (thank goodness!).
Nicholas and I got to see the baby on ultrasound. :) The baby measured just right for the gestational age it should be. We heard the very strong heartbeat again. We tried to get a picture for Charlie since he had to miss this appointment, but it proved a bit difficult. The baby was so wiggly that the Doctor had to try a few times to get one that looked good. I truly appreciate her efforts! It was very reassuring to see the baby and know that we are moving along splendidly. :)
Thankfully, my nausea is waning. Usually I can go with only having to take meds once or twice a day now instead of the four times a day I used to have to turn to meds. Hopefully, I will not need them much longer. Our next appointment is in four weeks and then 2-4 weeks after that we have our big ultrasound, where we get to find out our baby's gender!! Charlie and I still cannot decide on any names either way, so its good we have time on our side. (We are open to suggestions. :P)


I also thought I'd mention that I was impressed with Nicholas yesterday. We were outside most of the afternoon raking up leaves. I would rake up piles and he would pick them up and dump them in the bin. We were doing this for a while and it was almost time to get Connor, so I told Nicholas we needed to hurry up and clean up all the leaves before it was time to get his brother. He stood up just then, surveyed our remaining piles and said, "I'm not sure that's a possibility, Mommy." I'm not sure where he picked up that phrasing, but it impressed me nonetheless. Gladly, we were able to finish in a nick of time before dismissal at Connor's school. :)

Surprise

On November 18th, we got a big surprise. We found out that we were pregnant! :) The surprise was that according to our natural family planning chart, we avoided all the fertile days in October because we intended to go away to San Diego towards the end of July. We already had bought our tickets to Comic Con. However, some determination on this baby's part and God's hand decided that we'd be having a baby instead of going to Comic Con. :)
Given that our previous pregnancy ended in miscarriage, we decided not to tell the kids for sure. It was much too traumatizing for them last time to deal with their grief over their lost sibling. We told a few people, so that they could pray for us, but mostly kept it hush-hush.
On December 15th, we had our first doctor appointment. Charlie took the day off to go to my appointment with me. We had no one to watch Nicholas, so we figured he was going to figure it out; hence we decided that if everything was okay, we would tell the kids that afternoon.
I was nervous at the appointment and was eager to get to see the baby and hear that he/she was okay. Apparently my doctor was just as eager, because she leapt right in there and did the sonogram first. Happily, she confirmed that the heart was beating strongly and that our baby was a very wiggly one. She said that the heartbeat and amount of activity from the baby made her confident that everything was fine. She said she was also comforted by the fact that my pregnancy symptoms, mainly the 'morning sickness', were so strong.
I had found it necessary to call her the week before our appointment because I was feeling miserable. I was constantly nauseated and throwing up all day, every day. My food was staying down (mostly), but still, it was really wiping me out and I could barely function. She ordered me some anti-nausea medication and I was much better after that. I could function normally on most days, although on some days, not even the medicine could completely keep the nausea away.
Anyway, so that afternoon we told the kids and they were soooooooooo excited. Connor said, "So that's why your tummy is so sick all the time." He had been on my case to go see the doctor because he was worried that I didn't seem to be getting any better. And needless to say, the kids have been completely obsessed with my belly ever since.
Nicholas got a doctor kit for Christmas and he uses it everyday to check my tummy and see how my baby is doing. He also gives me injections when he thinks I might be feeling nauseous. He claims he can see the baby through my belly button. ha ha
During a recent examination from Doctor West, he looked up at me and said, "Mommy, your baby is a girl." We'll just have to take our little doctor's word for it since we won't find out till February or March what the gender of our baby is. Connor, on the other hand, is hoping for another brother. Charlie and I are pretty convinced, given our charting and my severe symptoms, that this baby is probably a girl. I was never this sick with the boys. In fact, as long as I ate on time and rested well, I was perfectly fine. We shall see though!
We have our second doctor's appointment next week. The main reason I am posting this today is that as of today, we are officially 3 months pregnant. :) We are due July 24th, but both of my pregnancies with the boys were early. Connor was one week early and Nicholas was 3 weeks early. Only time will tell what this baby has planned for us. Hopefully my nausea stage ends soon, but I'm not holding my breath.
Here are two pictures we got from our first appointment. Our baby was about the size of a large grape then. I wish we would have taken video of the sonogram, because it literally looked like this baby was dancing and shaking his/her little booty away to some song only he/she was able to hear.

We appreciate the continued prayers for our little one. :)

No Tears!

We are happy to report that there were no tears on Monday morning after we took Connor to school. In fact, it seems that Nicholas was thrilled to have things be back to 'normal' with him getting to spend all day with me. He waved goodbye to Connor and said, "Bye Connor. I'll miss you soon!" He does look forward to going to pick up his brother, he just enjoys having his Mommy to himself for part of the day.

Connor wore his Dr. Who shirt to school on Monday so he could talk to his friends about what happened over the weekend. He was very excited to be back at school.

This morning Nicholas woke up in a dancing mood. He was holding my hands and singing, "Cha Cha Cha." I tried to record it, but this was the best I could get.

Here my boys decided to have a popcorn snack after school. Can you tell they are thinking, "Get out of my way, Mom. I can't see the tv."

Decisions

Nicholas is turning three this month, so it was time to think about birthday themes. We asked him what theme he wanted, offering suggestions of things he's interested in these days. It was a tie between Super Hero Squad, dinosaurs, and Krypto the Superdog. To help him decide, I made up possible pictures for the invitations. In the end, he chose dinosaurs! He's very excited to be turning three, although he did ask if he could just be five instead. Connor and he both wish they were the same age. It is quite cute. :)


We have not really been up to much else. We did drive to Fairfield on New Year's Day. We ate lunch at Chick-fil-a and shopped around a bit. The kids enjoyed it so much they asked if we could go again the next day (160 miles in one day is quite enough for me for a while, so they are out of luck!).
On Saturday, we watched the last part of the Doctor Who special. We went into this episode knowing that The Doctor would die in it (He regenerates when he dies though; it facilitates changing actors that way.) Anyway, we were afraid of how Connor would take it because he loves the David Tennant Doctor, but he took it better than we did. Charlie and I were both in tears, and he was sad but said that he didn't feel like crying about it. It was a very well acted and emotional scene. We will miss David Tennant as The Doctor.
We shall see how tomorrow goes with Connor back in school. I've been trying to make sure Nicholas understands that tomorrow things go back to how they were with just me and him at home, but we'll see how he handles it. Stay tuned.