Fat Friday

I have made great strides in the weight gain department.

One minute Ben and I were marveling because I am carrying differently than I did in my previous pregnancies and at the 1/2-way point I had only gained 8 or 9 pounds. Then BAM! Two chins, a fat nose, upper-arm bat-wings and the big 12-pound mark. At 21 weeks. I still have 2 pairs of regular jeans that fit, and my maternity pants are way too big and slither down the minute I put them on, but my control-top tights almost killed me yesterday and NOT IN THE STOMACH.

I have gained 6 pounds since I saw the doctor in March, and I don't go back until May when I could experience the dread double-digit between-appointment gain. (I actually like how infrequently I have had to see the doctor so far. He said I would normally have had an April appointment, but since I have a 21-week ultrasound on Tuesday, he figured I didn't need to also wait around for a half an hour to be seen for 7.5 minutes this month. Love that. He also said if I felt uncomfortable about ANYTHING between appointments, I could call his direct line and get right in. Love that, too.)

I definitely have less heartburn than I ever have had while pregnant, but I think this probably has more to do with the baby's position than with its head of hair, even though the old wives tale says this one is a baldy because heartburn=hair.

I can still sleep comfortably on my stomach, and I finally look more pregnant than fat, although the recent arm-weight gain is screwing with that.

I have been trying to lay off the hotdogs, but I have been slurping down the Sonic limeades and fun-size Butterfingers, and I ate all the Easter candy yesterday. Before Easter.

H and J are on spring break this week, and yesterday, Ben busted out his inner Martha and made cookies with them all morning, then took a trip to the craft store to stock up on sock-puppet supplies in the afternoon. On Wednesday, I spent most of my time with the children scrubbing the floor and yelling at them to stay off of it while frantically trying to write in the slim windows of time allotted to me by the TV babysitter. Magical moments. (Although, to be fair, I get to be with them EVERY Wednesday, and Ben's days with them were a special treat.)

So, Tuesday. The big ultrasound. Boy or girl. Any guesses?

Peer Pressure

Jack had his 3-year well-check yesterday, and we found that he is totally normal but has really big tonsils and probably huge adenoids which would explain why he snores like an old man, which is cute, but also warranted a referral to a pediatric ENT. I asked if he'd have to have anything removed (unlikely, unless the snoring is caused by apnea), and on the way home, Harry told Jack very seriously that the only way his tonsils would come out was if the doctor cut off his head. As you might imagine, Jack was a little concerned. He was also really pissed off because I told him no shots at the 3-year appointment but he actually needed a booster. Harry was jubilant. Jack ate a sucker during the injection and did not cry until we ran to Target afterwards, and he didn't get a toy for his pain. ("But me had shot! Me need toy! I give up," he said before bursting into tears.)

Our regular nurse, the nurse who asks all of the developmental questions, and the pediatrician asked Jack if he was potty trained. Jack shrugged and told them all "Sometimes, sometimes not," which is sort of accurate given that he will generally pee on he potty when prompted and has pooped on it, too. When we got home, he demanded underpants. Then he peed himself 5 times throughout the afternoon before telling me around 4:30, "Mama, me need diaper. Me have poop." Well, okay, then. Better than than crapping his pants.

I actually could care less if he wants to wear a Pull-Up for the foreseeable future or if he'd like to maybe think about using the toilet. Whatev-- it's totally up to him. I just think it's funny that he felt pressured into ditching the Pull Up for the afternoon. He went through a potty phase about a year ago when he requested tons of ladies underwear, but he's pretty much over it for now. I had a brief fantasy yesterday that we might have a few months without any kids in diapers, but alas.

Happy Birthday Jack: The Party

We had a birthday lunch where Jack tore through gifts from his aunt and uncle and grandparents


Baby Jacob will stop whatever he is doing to pose for pictures-- how cute is that?

Harry got a couple of things, too

After lunch, we adjourned to Pump It Up for some serious bounce house action-- it was way fun. The grownups bounced and slid down the huge slides, too. I didn't get any good pictures of Harry because he was never holding still, and his cheeks were so red they were almost magenta. The birthday boy was hesitant at first and only wanted to ride in cars, but he perked up.

He loved sitting on the blow-up throne

So did Harry

Flashing the double thumbs-up after he blew out his candle


CAKE

Harry started to lose his mind from all the jumping and the sugar. He looks reasonably okay in this picture,

But here you can see I have to hold him on the freaking bench because he was starting to tweak

After all the little guests and our kids selected balloons from the bunches in the party room, Ben opted not to wrestle the rest into the car, and we left them at Pump It Up. Then, loading Harry and Jack into the car, I accidentally let Harry's balloon escape. Instant hysterical tears. Ben was a total dick to me about it, but he went back in and grabbed another balloon and POPPED IT when he shut the trunk-- ha! Balloon number 3 made it home safe and sound, but Harry was traumatized anyway.

Jack maintained his good spirits until bed time. When Ben read him his stories tonight, Jack said, "Dada, me a big boy now. Me three."

Happy Birthday Jack: Mid-Morinng

Uncle Ben stopped by with a huge Thor, a Star Wars guy for Harry and some awesome novelty items

And my parents came over with tons of presents

Including Jack's heart's desire:

Ben and Jack just went to pick up Jack's cake. Jack fell asleep on the way home, so they are idling in the driveway right now., hoping a car nap will stave off an epic tantrum later. Don't worry. It's a Prius.

Happy Birthday Jack: The Morning Edition

Jack flung himself into our bed at 5:15, shouting, "Dada! Me three!"

By 5:45, he could hold off no longer, so he threw his new sweater from Bomma on over his jammies and (in his words) "me rushed downstairs."

After an obscenely early wakeup and some donuts, we are anticipating total meltdown somewhere between his family lunch part y and his bouncy-house preschool friend party. Should be epic.

Here are some pictures of his morning.

Bad blogger

Wow. I beat my sucktacular January and March posting records. Who knew?

I have been totally preoccupied with our house situation. Ugh. We are on the cusp of something awesome, but I don't want to jinx myself, so no details.

I have also been working on a giant work project that is wrapping up nicely, giving me plenty of time to prep my summer class and get everything organized for my leave in the fall. Good times. I worked from 5:20am-9am at my kitchen table and on-campus from 10-am-8pm yesterday. Then I had to go to the store and buy the ingredients for 40 sub sandwiches for Harry's class potluck this morning. (Because the sandwich shop screwed up my order, and I was so pissed-- and hungry and tired-- at 8:30 last night that I walked out without paying or letting the guy try to fix it-- I just left the sandwiches on their cute little platter on the counter. I probably should have sat down, eaten a sandwich, and let the guy remake them.)

Tomorrow is Jack's 3rd birthday , and I have a night of gift-bag assembly and present-wrapping ahead of me. I am still in total denial that he can possibly be 3.

Ummmm, let's see. I am 20 weeks pregnant and have gained 10 ponds, meaning I weigh about what I did when I graduated from grad school, which means it took me forever to lose my baby #2 weight, so I am a little worried about shedding #3's pounds.

I can't wait to post pictures from Harry's class play. Well, actually, I can wait because my phone is right next to me, but I am too lazy to walk across the room for my USB cord.
This is how much it cost to fill up my Camry this week. Can't wait until this summer when gas costs more than $5 a gallon, and I am driving a freaking minivan.

Sonic is awesome. We just had a house showing, so the boys and I went there for a slush and a couple of limeade chillers, and it was our 3rd trip in a week. I feel like if I go there too much more I will grow and grow and grow until I am the exact size of my car. Like a goldfish.

And then we did this

April so soon?

Hi. How're doing?

6 days into April and not a word. Sorry. I have been a big jangling ball of stress and nerves, yelling at everyone even strangers all the time. Eating my face off. Not being able to concentrate on a HUGE project I am working on that I NEED to get done by April 25, and it's not looking very likely unless I GET IT TOGETHER.

I have been so, so stressed about our house sitch. Should we suck it up and write a huge check at closing and walk away from our entire savings account? Rent it out instead of selling and keep our cash and minimize our tax liability but still lose money slowly and have to deal with the stress of being landlords? If we do rent it out, do we hire a property management company or maverick it? Is anyone even going to ever buy the damn place? I used to think that once we had enough money to take a loss of the house, we'd be able to sell, but that does not look like the case.

And then what about the other end? We have missed out on 2 houses we really liked and were genuinely sad when we heard they had accepted offers, but we don't want to rush into making any offers because this is supposed to be a buyer's market, damnit, so we want to find the right house at the right price. Lots of people are underwater like we are but are trying to sell their houses for what they owe, not what the house is worth, and we are not getting screwed on both ends of the deal if we can help it.

Should we keep stretching for that perfect 4 bedroom house with plenty of room to grow up in so we don't have to worry about moving again, maybe ever? Or do we buy one of the many smaller, perfect-for-now houses we have seen and look for something bigger in 5-7 years while enjoying low payments in the meantime? Also, exactly how much can we/ do we want to fix up-- I mean, are we really looking for anything beyond new blinds, new floors, and some paint? Or screw it, maybe we should just build exactly what we want.

So yeah. We are tying to answer all of these questions, and they are keeping me up at night.

Saturday was a lovely day-- a little windy, but in the low 50s. We went to the zoo, but when we got there we saw half the town had the same idea. Instead of pushing through the crowds, we went for ice cream on campus at the lake, with the other half of the town.