Baby is:

• 23 weeks and about the size of a large mango.  Personally, every mango I’ve seen is about the same size and I would like to think he’s a little bit bigger than that to account for the big belly.  Maybe he can be the size of a grapefruit.
• Likely just over 1 pound, but I suppose that’s for a mom who’s first son didn’t tip the scales at a small 6.0 pounds.  If he’s only one pound, how do we account for the rest of this?
• A little more in proportion and looks more like a real baby and a little less like a giant head with legs.

I am:

• Freaking out a bit.  I’m well aware that I’m pregnant but the fact that I’m pregnant is just starting to hit me.  There’s a baby in there.  He’s coming this summer.  OHMYGOD he’s coming this summer.
• Nesting.  I feel a strong need to take the crib boxes out of the corner of the room and demand Angel to set to work.  I’ve also been cleaning out every closet in the house, donating stuff to Goodwill, and I think I see fingerprints on the window that need to be cleaned right this second.

Oh, the memories:

• I just grunted getting off of the couch to clean those fingerprints off
• Slip on shoes are my friend.  Perhaps ones that cover my chipped toenail polish.  I would like to change either of these things, but in a week or two I’m not going to be able to see them anymore anyway.  Out of sight, out of mind.
• Wait, what did I just say?  I forget.  Wait, what did I just say? I forget.  I already said that? I honestly don’t remember.

What the hell:

• All I can think of that would fit into this category right now is the fact that I just got home from the grocery store and forgot to get ice cream.  Honest, it’s all I can think about right now.

Not to be outdone this week by his younger brother, I woke Lucas up the other morning and the very first thing he said to me is “Mama’s pretty!”  I almost cried.  Can a mom have favorites?  Lucas certainly thinks so. 

This week I’ve started my two prenatal classes.  Home girl is over here on track to gain 600 pounds this pregnancy, so Angel supported me to sign up for a water aerobics and a yoga class.  Have you ever seen a pool full of pregnant ladies swimming with pool noddles?  It’s a sight because none of us can move on dry land, let alone in a pool.  I loved it.  So glad that I found something to get me off of the couch and moving that’s safe. 

Today is the first sunny day in the 60’s so to celebrate the (hopeful) end of winter I busted an old Taste of Home magazine out of the pantry from last summer and am making dinners out of it this week. Tonight we are grilling steaks with a pasta salad and tomorrow we’re doing BBQ chicken sliders. Warm is a state of mind when you’re living in Michigan because it is always cold. Always. I’ll post the recipes if they’re good for anyone else who would like to mentally defrost as well. 

That’s it for pregnancy this week. Baby is still kicking, I’m still getting fat, and Angel is still taking all of my pregnancy neurosis like a champ. 23 down, 16 to go. 

Crazy!

It’s been hard for me to not be posting about this pregnancy like I did the last one, but now we’re happy to finally announce that our family is growing this summer by two feet!

To answer the generic questions: I feel fine now but the holidays were largely spent in the bathroom NOT enjoying the food and drinks.  I’m already the size of a house, and if movements in the belly are any indicator of what I have in store in a few months, wine is no longer going to take the edge off of motherhood.

So let the games begin!  Three’s a crowd, but four’s a party!

I promise I haven’t gone MIA. I’ve just been soaking up the so very few days of sun that Michigan sees every year. Now that they’re over, I think I’ll get back into blogging and hibernation. In the mean time, let me wet you palate with a photo of what sharing a hotel room with a toddler at bedtime looks like.

Cheers! And stay tuned for a better update at where the heck summer’s been

Some days you’re the windshield and some days you’re the bug. It would appear that my self diagnosed “funk” is back and in full force. My house is a mess, my kid ate dry cereal for lunch, the fridge is empty, and I’m not sure that anyone in this house has clean pajamas to wear to bed tonight. I need to get myself out of this house, but fighting a toddler in the rain doesn’t always sound more appealing than Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on repeat and watching the clock for nap time.

Tomorrow I’m going on an adventure with Lucas to start our Special Wednesdays again. I need to get out of this house, even if that does mean that my toddler will be throwing a fit in public and screaming at me like I’m trying to kidnap him.

Mom problems.

55: Finishing an awesome family weekend by turning Lucas’ car seat around for the ride home!

56: quiet. Everyone was asleep in bed by 8:30 and I got to enjoy a quiet house ALLLLL to myself to do (here’s the best part… Shhhhhh) whatever I wanted. I thought about having a glass of wine, reading a book, or catching up on trashy tv. I settled on doing the dishes. I need another vacation.

57: welcome to my mind in a 3 minute article read. Enjoy a laugh at every mom’s expense. Enjoy! 5 Minutes in a Mom’s Mind

Vineyards with the kids. The view doesn’t suck!

Oh my Goodness! I’m not entirely sure where the last… um… 2 weeks went? I sort of got sidetracked by the sun. Lucas and I have spent some time becoming reacquainted with the bright ball of fire in the sky after months and months (and months) of grey sky. I’ve been sewing, playing in the water table, cleaning “the winter” out of my car, going down the slide with Lucas, sitting in the grass, and just generally getting off of the couch. Mmmmm, sun.

So anyway, I promise to keep up my momentum of telling you all about how happy I’m trying to make myself, so how about I just pick up where I left off and we all agree that these last two weeks of radio silence were filled with sun and smiles and an occasional unsolicited hug from my favorite set of chubby baby arms.

Day 49: Lucas wanting to color with me. He takes a crayon for himself, hands one to me, and says “help!” Gladly, munchkin.

A BBQ with friends in the nice weather!

My phone is dead (as in dead, dead, dead, I hope no one is having a mental breakdown and trying to contact me but if you are I’m not ignoring you) so there’s no photo today.  I finished sewing together the denim quilt that my mom and I started.  Next stop: batting and backing before it makes a permanent home on my son’s “big boy” bed.  Since he’s still rocking the crib, I have time to convince my mom to come back and help me finish it.

In other news, I found out today that this is the first time the weather in Southwest Michigan has been below 50 in May since 1909.  Fun, right?  The high today was 43.  I am ice.  I am one with the ice.  I turned on the oven just so I could open the door and stand in front of it.

I’m totally the snowman and folks here are just too afraid of my reaction to tell me that summer will never come.  sigh….

Seeing my moms reaction to Lucas’s antics. I think he’s hilarious and love when other people do, too.