"That's Not Food!"

I took a week off work in order to spend time with my son and use up the ever valuable "day care voucher" for a discounted week (Limitations may apply, inquire within.) I was looking forward to a whole week with my favorite little man, and as my belly grows larger, I'm becoming increasingly aware of the fleeting time he has left as my only baby. Wisely, I took off the same week as my neighbor/ one of my best friends, which, in the end, became a saving grace of sort as I handed her freak out after freak out to deal with. I think she's considering putting her house up for sale now after a week of having to deal with me, but lucky for me, the market sucks. Andy and I had a lot of great moments this week. Tons of cuddle and playing time and more yelling of the word "Mommy!" than I thought one little boy was capable of. I got to see Andy's face light up and his little legs kick in excitement from his seat in the stroller whenever we took a walk and the...

I've just passed the twenty-six week mark. The third trimester is approaching "fast and furious," just like that movie, "Gone in 60 Seconds." I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that I'm going to be a mother of two. The fact that this little boy in my belly is hosting his own dance party helps with the realization of what's going on, but it's still surreal. Andy is my baby. And now I'm going to have Andy- plus ANOTHER baby? For serious?? I'm doing pretty good so far. I'm less of a fat slob with this pregnancy than I was with Andy. For the most part, I'm still wearing normal jeans and dress pants for work. The fact that they are unbuttoned and held in place with a tummy band is neither here nor there. Long before this point with Andy, I had abandoned all semblances of normal pants and had converted my wardrobe into a rotating cycle of sweat pants and yoga pants- even for work. I think I did that around thirteen weeks- I th...

Andy started swimming lessons earlier this month. The lessons were a gift from his Aunt Jessie and were meant to be a way for them to spend some time together as Andy dove into his assumed career as an Olympic swimmer. Expectations for Andy were pretty high. Obviously, he would love swimming, and, clearly, he'd be great at it. He'd be swimming laps around the pool by the middle of the second lesson and would invent some new swimming style by the end of the third lesson, a kind of rowdy side stroke that involved simultaneously eating a string cheese. We were wrong. He's had three lessons so far. I've been present for two of them, and watching Andy crying and whining in the pool, calling out "mama" for me to come and get him OUT of the pool, not being willing to at all participate in the dumbed down activities the other babies were participating in (i.e., splashing), and just generally acting miserable and pathetic has been much too painful for me- which is ...

At 24 weeks pregnant, you have to take the one hour gestational diabetes screening. They give you a syrupy orange beverage to down, and after an hour, they draw blood. If your blood sugar level comes in under 130, you pass. If it comes in between 130 and 200, you are considered glucose intolerant and have to roll again and move ahead to the three hour glucose tolerant test to see if you have gestational diabetes. If the one hour test comes in over 200, you don't even get to bother with the three hour test- congratulations, you are officially, gestationally , diabetic. With Andy, I failed the one hour with a 131. By one stinking, miserable little point. I suffered through the three hour and passed no problem. The three hour is awful. You fast all night long, go in without having had anything to eat, have your blood drawn, drink a SUPER syrupy orange beverage, and then have your blood drawn three more times in one hour intervals. By the time you're done, you're starving, re...

Andy has become quite the kissing machine. I used to have to prompt him to give me or Chris kisses, or his grandparents or aunts, but now he kisses willingly and without instruction. "Tell grandpa good-bye," I told him on Sunday, and he walked up to his grandfather and gave him a hug and a peck on the cheek, all on his own accord. The adults in the room just about melted. Andy is especially very free with the kisses when it comes to Mommy, and over the past couple weeks, I have been surprised, repeatedly, with random kisses during random times. Last night, he stood up in the bath, but before I could chastise him for standing, he leaned over, kissed my chin, and then sat back down. Later, when we were reading his bed time story, he turned to me halfway through that book about the llama who starts school and misses his mama (that llama is such a wuss), took my face in my hands, and planted a big old juicy kiss right near my mouth. Sometimes when we are on the floor playing, A...