Halfway!

As of today, I am 21 weeks and 1 day pregnant, so I am past the halfway point! It's so weird to think that I'm this far along, since I'm still not as heavy as I usually am when I get pregnant, let alone when I'm halfway there. I haven't had a lot of morning sickness for the past two months or so, but I do have eating fatigue, where pretty much nothing sounds good to eat (except maybe candy, but then only eating candy on an empty stomach makes me feel worse!). But, my weight gain isn't low enough that the doctor is worried.

Today, we had our major ultrasound. And, to answer the first and obvious question, no, we still don't know if it's a boy or girl. We are going to be surprised! Everyone else is convinced that this one is a girl due all the differences in my pregnancy, but I used the same logic with A (my pregnancy with him was so different than with my other two!) and clearly that wasn't accurate. So, you'll all just have to wait until February like the rest of us to find out.

The ultrasound went well. The doctor said everything looks great, and I think the profile picture looks a lot like AJ. Interestingly though, this baby's head is only measuring at 20 weeks and a few days...in other words, SMALLER than normal. Odd, since my babies have ginormous heads! Maybe I'll have a nice, easy delivery this time. Ha!

The best part of the ultrasound? This!

The doctor caught the baby yawning! How cute is that?!?!?

Funny things D says

D: "Mom, is this [football goal post] from Home Depot?"
Me: "Yes, it is. How did you know that?"
D: "Because I have BRAINS!"

YW, and getting old

At YW tonight, we had a member of the stake presidency come speak to the girls about the temple. He began his talk by asking the girls to write down what they think their lives will be like in 15 years. One girl a few seats down added it up and said, "I'll be so old--I'll be like 30!" Yes, ladies, this is what old looks like.

Surprisingly, it didn't really bother me. I succumbed to the realization that I was old last year when I officially kissed the 20s goodbye. Though, it's a little daunting to be fully sailing into my 30s next week--I'm not really "barely past the 20s" when I'm 31. Sounds a little desperate to be still using that phrase.

If anything, this little activity made me laugh. Some of the girls shared what they wanted their lives to be like. All were 15 or younger (that shared), so they were all talking about their late 20s up to 30. Their lists included things like graduating college, getting married, having babies, and the like. Some were more specific ("I'll be pregnant for the first time") and some were more vague ("I have no idea what my life will hold in 15 years!"). But, each one made me smile at how much better my life is than I had initially planned.

When I was in YW, I had my life planned out. Here's how it went:

1. Graduate high school when 17.
2. Go to my favorite university, and major in Psychology.
3. At 21, go on a mission, probably foreign, and hopefully Spanish-speaking.
4. At 22.5, come home, resume education.
5. Complete Bachelor's degree. Start Clinical Psychology Ph.D program.
6. Graduate at 28. Starting working as a therapist for rape victims.
7. At 30, get married (as the last one of my friends--they all got married young, like 19 or 20). Marry a hot, tall (6'0"-6'3"), Spanish-speaking return missionary who is also a lawyer and has already agreed to live on the same street as my two best friends, B and L. Get married in Los Angeles temple. Best day ever!
8. Sometime after 30, maybe have kids--I mean, I'm supposed to have kids and all that.

Yep, that was the plan. And it worked pretty well...up to #2. I did graduate at 17, I did go to my favorite university, and I did major in Psych. And...then began the deviations. I had not planned on a semester in Nauvoo, without which my life would have a huge, gaping hole. I did not plan to meet my husband when I was 19 (okay, only a few days before I turned 20, but still!), and did not plan to actually be convinced not to serve a mission (not by him--he was completely supportive, though he made no false promises about waiting for me). I did not plan to get married at 20. I did not plan to stop my education after receiving my Master's degree. I did not plan to have a child at 23, or work in Human Resources, or live in Utah. I did not anticipate the strong urge to quit my job and stay home with my kids.

Little did I know how much better my life could be than what I had planned! My scariest nightmares are ones where I lose my husband or child(ren), and those ones haunt me even while awake. I never thought I'd stay up late crying because some child I had never met on the other side of the country had something horrible happen, and I realized my own inability to protect my children from the evils of the world. I would never have understood the joy at watching my sons play soccer, at the way a simple hug or grin could make my day go from horrible to perfect in an instant. I would never have felt the frustration at taking photo after photo, and editing said photos for so long, and never being able to capture all that is amazing about my children.

Yes, they can be stinkers. They can drive me crazy when they stain my already-ugly carpet, shake my bed when I'm green to the teeth with morning sickness, or constantly interrupt ("Mom....Mom....Mom....Mom..."). But they are the best part of my day, and I'm so lucky that my plan almost completely derailed. But, thank goodness I still married the hot, tall, Spanish-speaking return missionary. Otherwise, I might have some ugly children. ;)

Thank goodness that's not the case.

Chastised in public...well, sort of

Our home teachers came by today (on the first! Yes, they are awesome). B2 was sharing a story about the party we attended yesterday at my aunt and uncle's house. He had been outside playing football while the adults were inside watching the BYU/Virginia football game on TV. So, he was telling the home teachers all about it, and then said,"Dad needs to stop watching TV and come outside and play with his son!" We all just burst up laughing. Point taken kiddo.

Incidentally, B2 has a seriously perfect spiral when he throws a football, and can throw pretty far. He has already asked to play football, so I better get myself prepared for that.

Funny Things D Says

While playing with a Buzz Lightyear toy:

D: "Do you know what 'I come in peace' means? It means he wants to be friends."



Just before blowing on a dandelion:

D: "I wish I wish I wish I was in California!"

(Incidentally, how do kids learn that you get to make a wish when you blow on dandelions?)

Parenting win!

On Monday this week, B1 and I were making dinner and cleaning up the kitchen (translation: I was playing games on my phonewhile my husband did dishes, and dinner was cooking in the crock pot). D had been sent to his room for refusing to do time out for refusing to help me clean up the front room. So, there we were, when we both heard the sound of glass breaking. In a panic, we ran to D's room , and found him standing perfectly still, with a broken window. We asked him what happened, and he said he had thrown his soccer shin guards at the window. By this point, I was so done--D had ignored me all day, and I was tired of fighting him. I knew if I had tried to punish him, it would have been so ridiculous (you know, something like "you're not eating for a week"), so I walked out. B1 stayed behind to clean up the glass, but he too was too angry to punish D. We told him the punishment would come after we had a chance to talk to each other. We called our parents, asked some advice, and finally decided on the following:

1. Since D had inappropriately used his shin guards, he was going to lose those for 24 hours. The next night he had a soccer game, so we took him to the game, sans guards. As such, he had to sit on the sidelines and watch his team play.
2. Since D had caused damage that would be expensive to replace, we felt that he had to "earn" some of the money to fix the window. He would do this by doing extra chores. As an added incentive to do those chores, he will not be allowed to watch TV until all the money is earned.

So, the day after the window incident, D asked over and over again if he could watch TV. Every time we said no, and he would whine, "Why?" I'd look at him and ask back, "Why can't you watch TV?" He'd glumly reply, "Because I broke the window and now I have to do chores." Then I'd ask if he wanted to do chores, and he'd say no. 30 minutes later, and the scene repeats. Day 2 was much the same, though with fewer requests to watch TV.

Today started off the same--D asking to watch TV, and me saying no. When I asked this time if he wanted to do chores, he said yes! I was shocked, but quickly found some chores to do--cleaning air vents and washing baseboards. It only lasted about 30 minutes, though he might have cleaned longer if it weren't for friends stopping by (I was babysitting this morning).

So, chalk this up to a parenting WIN! Thanks to our parents (and sister-in-law C2) for the great advice!

Life According to B2

What does being an adult mean?
"I get to move out, buy some gum, eat it, and do whatever I want to do." --B2