Per Request

Pregnancy pics are being demanded. I held off because I've been in the Pregnancy's No Man's Land, or simply, 'The Paunch'. But I caught a glance at myself in the mirror on the way out the door this morning and thought 'Now there's a belly bump!' This last week I feel like I'm finally crossing from the 'she's getting a little pudgy' to the 'ohhh, she's pregnant!' phase. It's a thin line, my friends.

Have you ever tried to take a picture of yourself? Sideways? I had not. I had a pretty sweet scowl and furrowed brow in the first one. Do I always look that serious when I'm behind the lens? Then I remembered I'm IN the picture. This is the best I could do before Abbey started scaling the cupboards to see what was going on.

Lovin' It

All right, the last post was a bit brutal. And I didn't realize how many of my friends are gum chewers. Which is good. It means you have the chewing under control! I'm a little embarassed to let my impatience and pet peeves be known. Although, truth be told, there are many more I could spill, ha ha. But someone I admire and love passed away this week. President Hinckley--who was always positive and now I feel silly. So here are the things I love today:

(1) I LOVE that Missourians cannot drive in the snow. The moment it started snowing this morning, everyone headed home. Abbey was the only kid in the gym's child care and the worker was trying to convince me to go home because she heard there were tons of accidents. I did end up leaving a little early because I sensed she herself wanted to hit the road, only to find the roads to have maybe what you would call a 'skiff of snow'. The guy at the grocery store told me to 'stock up'. That was six hours ago and I can still see grass. Oh well. J got sent home from the hospital because of the impending 'driving conditions'. Love it.

(2) Lovin' my calling at church. I was driving with one of my twelve-year old Beehives last night and she was telling me why she was glad to be a member of the church. Then we laughed and laughed when we both ran back to the car after an encounter with an enormous dog. A dog that was safely inside a house, away from us. But man, those things are scary. I can't wait to have sweet, pre-teen girls of my own.

(3) Lovin' my ward in general. I ran into a lady in the women's bathroom and talked to her for a good 45 minutes about home schooling, raising chickens and goats, immunizations, music, fruit smoothies and Joseph Smith. Usually people like her make me feel inadequate. Like I'm less of a Mom for sending my kids to public schools or using Tylenol. But she does her thing and doesn't judge people for what they choose to do. When she asked if I planned on homeschooling and I honestly told her no, I didn't feel bad at all. And when we talked about immunizations, she didn't make me feel uninformed that we've done Abbey's. I love when I find people in my life who do things and think differently than me, but we respect each other. No judging. We get each other.

(4) Good support. Good friends who made efforts to come visit us the last two weekends. A friend who said today she felt like it would be 'cheating' on us to play games with anyone else :) New friends who are so real. This morning a bunch of us got together and talked about the good and the honest, not so good. Good family. My sister used up precious cell phone minutes to call me back when she knew I was having a rough day and needed some perspective on a problem. I love those talks.

So that's what I love about today.

Spit It Out Already

This is just another rambling post about my thought process. While jogging today, it was gum. I am a gum hater. It's the first thing to go when I rule the world. Then poverty, disease, and war.

There's a man I avoid at the gym because he pops his gum when he starts getting winded. My earphones can block the constant chewing, but not the pops. I'm a bit ridiculous about this, I know. The first day of classes I inevitably sat by the gum chewer, but from there on out, made sure to have a three person gap between us. That seemed to be the sound barrier--three people. It's to the point I can peg the loud chewers before they even start.

Then I remembered an Oprah show I saw a few years ago. They casually mentioned gum and Oprah went off. (She hates it too!) She said it's like watching people chew a piece of meat for hours. Somehow the world wasn't affected by her statement. What? She can get people to all go out and buy the 'perfect white t-shirt' and read all the same books, but she can't get people to stop chewing gum with their mouths open?

Amidst the thought train, I was watching the news on one of the TV's. They were following a post man around to see how he deals with the freezing weather we've been experiencing. (Slooow news day, yes.) He said he chews gum to keep his face warm. So now I'm torn. The thermometer said it was 4 degrees. Hmm...

The Captain's Coming

The 'Captain' was in town this weekend! In college he wore this ridiculous captain's hat, but I had the Admiral one, so I can't talk. Admiral outranks Captain, right? He and J were partners in crime their freshman year of college, but I didn't meet them until two years later. They'd served missions and grown up. A little. He married a great girl I clicked with right away--that's the best. He and the wifey flew in for the weekend and it was just like old times. Only with our babies in tow. But that makes it better!
We went around and saw some sights but what we all really wanted to do was take over the world.

That's right. Risk. The Game of Global Domination.

J somehow manipulates me into doing his dirty battles every time, but I held Australia for a while. I really stink at this game, but we all love it.

It Is That Innocent

We aren't a cursing family. So it stinks when your kid learns how to say 'fork' and 'shirt' and it sounds like you let a crew of sailors board in your home! Who am I kidding. It's hilarious.

It reminds me of when Megan was little. She cursed at the dinner table when a glass spilt. But that wasn't quite as innocent. She wasn't trying to say something else. And yet, again, hilarious.

Now It's Real

"It's The Party I Know."

-Kevin, The Office

The picture was clear, the baby was cooperative, it's a GIRL!!!

Of course they do every other measurement before they tell you the sex. The technician asked 'So what do you have at home?' I said, 'A girl. So what do I have in there?' She just laughed. I was serious. I had no clue up to that point. I was trying to see for myself but the baby was crossing its legs just like Abbey did--deja vu! I looked over at my friend, Christin {who was so sweet to offer to come with me when Justin couldn't} and said "You know, I think it's a girl." It was just so similar to the experience I had with Abbey's 20 week ultrasound.

Now I can't get these pictures out of my head. I think she'll look just like my Abbey-girl.
This new baby has a lot of cuteness to live up to, but I can still so perfectly recall this newborn face and I can't wait for another girl! I will admit there's a small disappointment it's not a boy but that more comes from the fear of never having a boy. And that fear stems from my husband's devotion to football. But I'm also super relieved and excited for a girl. What can I say? It's the party I know! And I'll feel much better about putting a girl in this room instead of a boy.

I just called my dad to tell him and he put it perfectly-he said he felt like a 'Daddy' to all his girls. He said J will be a good 'Dad' some day but he's such a great 'Daddy' right now. I agree.

What's It Gonna Be?

The moment of truth--this Thursday. Although Abbey was super modest at her 20 week ultrasound, here's hoping for a nice shot this time around. I'm anxious to know so I probably won't leave the room until I get a definite 'boy-girl' answer--so put in your vote now!

Looky Looky

I've been editing our home videos for the year and came across this little gem I promised to post months ago. I guess I feel in a self-humiliating mood. Too bad I'm taking my sisters down with me... It was getting late when we did this, so it's pretty dark. But you'll get the idea. Oh boy...you'll get the idea.