Baby Picture

Here's a first glimpse of Baby! The top image is a 3D close-up of his face, with his hand up on his cheek, and the second is a clear profile.

It's a...

boy! 

We had our half-way point ultrasound this  morning, and in addition to learning that everything looks (happily) perfect in terms of structures, Josiah has a little brother coming. I'll try to scan one of our 3-D ultrasound pics tonight. He's already completely cute at a mere 12 ounces and 8 inches long. He had his little hand nestled up by his cheek for the entire scan. Add to that very nice brain ventricles, well-formed heart chambers, and a lovely bladder, and well, he's obviously going to be a catch a couple decades from now. :) 

Most of you know that Jesse and I have been hoping for a daughter since before we even had Josiah. After learning Josiah's gender at this same time three years ago, I despairingly asked Jesse that night, "Why would God be so mean as to give an innocent boy ME for his mother??" I'm a very girly-girl -- after all, my greatest joys in life consist of activities involving flowers, sewing, embroidery, or generally anything  traditionally thought of as a feminine domestic art. I guess I don't feel I can provide the same richness of experiences for a boy that I can imagine providing for a girl. (On top of that, I worry quite legitimately that between my clumsy genes and inordinate fears of physical activity, I'll spend most of my time either panicking at what my boys are doing OR panicking about whether sending them out to play sports in full bubble wrap is perhaps going to damage their peer reputations!)

All that said, I'm thankful to truthfully say that just on Tuesday of this week, I suddenly had a very unexpected change of perspective. For the first time in over year (since long before I even got pregnant again), I was shocked to feel excited at the prospect of having two boys, if that was to be the case. A change of heart not a moment too soon, apparently. 

Needless to say, we're very excited about Baby #2! Obviously it's impossible not to be head over heels in love with the little wriggler in one's womb, especially after seeing his little face for the first time today. We just can't wait to meet him in person!!

Now coming up with a name...? That's going to be the real dilemma. I think we have 4 or 5 complete girl names, all of which we'd LOVE to have in our little family. But boys? Nothing. Nothing at all. We're pretty sure we shouldn't use 'Josiah' again, and basically that's the only option we've liked in years of idle discussion. This could be a problem!

Quotes

I need to start cataloging some of Josiah's statements. Why has it taken me until he's two and a half to begin writing these down?  A few recent favorites:

Yelled very loudly and urgently over his shoulder across a McDonald's seating area to Daddy, while Josiah and I were getting more ketchup: 

"Daddy!! Don't gobble up all my food!!" 

(For the record: Jesse wasn't touching Josiah's food, nor does he have a habit of gobbling up Josiah's meals when not under surveillance, and the French fry run was a very special reward for using the potty all day at day care for two days straight!)

En route to day care / work:

"Mommy, look! There's a bridge up ahead! Shall we say 'wee' under it?" (Does he sound like he might be learning the English language under my care?)

Surveying the state of the kitchen over breakfast – notably during the last week of the semester when I was just thankful to finding even 5 or 6 hours to sleep each night:

"Mommy," with widening eyes and a somber tone, "my kitchen is a disaster." 

To his teacher at day care, who had just asked whether Mommy and Daddy knew yet what the new baby's gender would be (we don't, by the way, and hadn't spoken with Josiah about it one way or the other up to that point):

Josiah, nodding: "It's a girl."

Teacher: "Who told Mommy that? Did the doctor tell her?"

Josiah: "No, I told her. It's a girl."

It's a Wonderful Life

Today was one of those wonderful days when the sun shone, we got lots done, and we simply enjoyed being a family throughout all of it. A timeline, with photos:

6:25 a.m.

Josiah's very much up and at 'em, although I tried valiantly to convince him it wasn't quite yet "wake up time." Ah well.

8:30 a.m.

We find a turtle crossing the street and heading into our next door neighbor's yard! Pretty soon we collect a bunch of neighbor kids to enjoy the visitor too. (We think it was an Eastern Box Turtle. So pretty.)

 

9:30 a.m.

En route to Central Market, we enjoy one of those fun programmed fountains where the water seems to jump and dance. We'll definitely be back on a hot summer day with Josiah's swim trunks.

10:00 a.m.

We arrive at Market to buy a week's worth of super-delicious, super-fresh, super-economical fruits and veggies for us and for Tim and Holly. Outside, a balloon lady makes Josiah a giraffe!

12:00 p.m.

Back home, we peek in on our robin's nest, built on the sill of our unused back kitchen door (the door is 15 feet off the ground since we're built into a hill and our back basement underneath is a walkout. There's a wooden gate nailed on the kitchen door since we've yet to add a deck to the back of the house, although that's eventually the plan for us or future owners). There was one bright blue egg in the nest on Monday, two on Tuesday, three on Wednesday, and four Thursday. I think Mama Robin is done laying now. 

1:00 p.m.

We enjoy a yummy picnic out in the back yard. (That's not Josiah's pained face, it's his smile-on-demand face, by the way. Hard to differentiate, I know. See 1:15 p.m. photo for more.)

1:15 p.m.

Josiah poses for some photos while clambering around the rock wall. He says, "Look! I climb up like a goat!" We've never used this metaphor with him (to our recollection), so if one of you (readers) taught this to him, please inform us. For now, our humble conclusion is of course that he's got an IQ of several hundred. :)

4:00 p.m.

Several pairs of resident geese and their now pre-teen looking goslings process through the back yard along the creek. When they're not honking and being mean, they're so lovely and stately. 

This is what I actually caught with the camera. But before, between, and after these frames, lots more was accomplished and enjoyed: Jesse had a multi-hour board meeting at church, I graded a hefty pile of papers and calculated two classes' worth of final grades, we all worked in the back yard for hours, we ate healthy homemade meals and the kitchen was thoroughly cleaned, Josiah and I played with chalk in the driveway, Jesse and Josiah dropped off a mountain of yard waste at the local compost center and picked up an equivalent mountain of mulch, we read lots of stories, Josiah had a big bubble bath, Jesse cut down and chopped up a tree that was bothering its neighboring trees and vegetation, and...drum roll please...the most important accomplishment of all...

JOSIAH WORE BIG BOY UNDIES ALL DAY! Last night when we went to bed, I randomly decided to tell him (ahem, lie to him) this morning that we were all out of diapers. He bought it, to my shocked delight, and he successfully used the potty all day. We've known he's been able for months, but he usually tells us in complete and adamant sentences, "No, NOT the potty. I use my diaper." It's too early to celebrate victory yet, especially because I have no idea how to handle him going to day care on Monday again, since I feel these early days require full-time parental vigilance. No matter what, though, the high fives, hoorahs, hugs, and Tic Tacs (his favorite reward) have been plenty at our house all day. I'll need to catch on camera his adorable buns as he proudly and purposefully marches his potty to the bathroom to dump his wee-wees in the toilet. :)

So all that to say, today was absolutely great. In retrospect, I really have no idea how everything all actually fit in, and at one point, well over an hour into wielding a shovel and lifting mounds of incredibly heavy clay sod in the yard, it occurred to me that I'm indeed 4 months pregnant -- with the weariness, aches, and added weight that accompany the condition. As I type this (still with more marking to do before bed since senior grades are due by 9 a.m. tomorrow, and realizing that I haven't prepped the toddler Sunday School lesson for the morning, yikes!), I'm suddenly growing a little tired... 

But on that thought, tomorrow's Mother's Day, right? Here's to hoping tomorrow will be a different kind of great that involves perhaps just a little more relaxation but every bit as much family and fun!