dots or monkeys???

Several weeks ago while Everett and I were visiting thrift stores, I picked up two tiny items for the baby #3. Both items together were under $5, and I figured that whichever one I ended up not needing, could be given a good home. Next week is the big ultrasound and I'm curious to hear what you think. Will I be giving away the tiny "boy" monkey sleepsack?*
Or the tiny obviously girl polka dot dress?
Leave your guesses in the comments and I'll put all of the correct guesses in a hat. The winner will receive a Starbucks card in honor of the extreme amount of coffee this babe has had the enjoyed thus far. You're welcome, baby.

*I'm aware that a baby girl could technically wear brown monkeys if she wanted.

boy oh boy.

He is all boy. All boy with a big sister. That means he loves trucks, tools and cars. And his favorite color is purple. Also, when he plays with babies, he's the daddy.

19 weeks.

In seven days we will find out this baby's gender. The first thing Claire told me when she found out that I'm pregnant is that God told her it was a girl. Hmmm...I've gotten no such message.

This time around, I feel much the same as I did with the other two. Just more tired and older. When I was pregnant with Claire, I needed her to be a girl. With Everett, I thought I wanted him to be a girl and this time, I just want a baby.

It's a good place to be.

Another good place to be when you're me is a Chinese restaurant. Perhaps my year in China conditioned me to crave Chinese food when my stomach is unsettled. With Claire it was macaroni and cheese, with Everett it was root beer. This baby requires Chinese food.

out of my element.

In a strange twist, we traded in our car for a very nice Honda Odyssey and I wound up driving around in a 2010 CRV all weekend, thankyouverymuch.

I struggled more than I'd like to admit with the purchase of the minivan. It felt like defeat. Defeat with a 6 disc changer and automatic doors. The fact that our soon-to-be family of five literally wouldn't fit in the four-seater Element was a deciding factor.

The Element was fun. And while I'd like to pretend that we transformed the backseats to make room for kayaks, what I mostly did in that car was drive around my babies. We crushed raisins into the rubber floor mats, we baptized it in milk. We went on epic journeys to places like Costco.

Today I returned the CRV and its heated seats and fancypants navigation system but I didn't care. The entire trip home was spent listening to Claire plan which friends would sit where in the Odyssey. She counted the seats over and over. 8 seats, Mama!
There's a space between them where sometime this spring, our baby will fit, dodging "affection" from Everett and "help" from Claire. That, my friends, is going to be an adventure.

what i see when i see them.

I see them as babies, on blankets on my living room floor.
I see phone calls from mommy to mommy while they nap.
I see them the day that Noey was born, holding hands then as they do now. I remember my heart breaking a tiny bit as I thought about what would change and they didn't even know it.They've loved each other and fought over toys since before they they had hair and before they could speak. They've been babies and toddlers and now big girls together. It's gone so fast.

31. find a bread recipe i can make weekly.

Today I made this. It's easy and tasty and the hardest parts are just remembering to leave it alone. Definitely fits my criteria right now.

mister mischief.

Yesterday you threw a sandwich. At my head.

That pretty much sums up our day. When I remember this fall, I will remember how you stopped being a baby and you started being a boy. You run everywhere. You bring your own tools. You especially love your hammer.

This morning at breakfast, you strung together four words to create a sentence. Here they are:
"Plate! Drop! Bang! Silly." Then you cracked up.

You are becoming all of the things that terrified me about having a boy. And yet. There's this.

I wouldn't change a thing.

great pumpkins.

Mr. Baby needs to be contained. He loves Claire's preschool at least as much as she does. He runs into the building, refusing to hold my hand, throws open the doors and starts yelling, "CWAIRE! CWAIRE!" Then he goes for the train table or the animals or the light switches. He is a tiny, adorable menace. There are other mothers there to pick up children with other younger siblings who will sit quietly on their mothers' hips and wait for Teacher Sue to dismiss the group. Mine is not one of those boys. When I found out that she'd be having a field trip today with her class, I elected to leave the Mister with a friend. It's rare that I get to see my girl in action with her friends without Everett. She loved the day and so did I. We are fanatical about pumpkin patch trips around here so this is the first of many shots you'll see of my children in boots posing with vegetables. Fall is my favorite season and this is my favorite girl.

16 weeks.

Remember this, for it is as true as it gets: Your body is not a lemon. You are not a machine. The Creator is not a careless mechanic. Human female bodies have the same potential to give birth well as aardvarks, lions, rhinoceri, moose and water buffalo. Even if it has not been your habit throughout your life so far, I recommend that you learn to think positively about your body.

~Ina May Gaskin, from Ina May's Guide to Childbirth