The Reveal

Wednesday Chris, Nevaeh and I anxiously drove to my Doctor's appointment. The only appointment I required Chris to go to (Not that he objected). The Gender Appointment. The nurse weighed me, and I had finally gained a pound (Dr. Davy did say I should try to increase my calories a little, to make sure I don't lose anymore....as I had lost 7 pounds prior to gaining that 1. Not sure how I lost, since I had absolutely no sickness).
Ultrasound Tech Guy walks in, squirts the gel on my belly. Vae was apprehensive about it all, as she usually is, until she saw that gel, which is apparently hilarious. Wand moves over my belly and we see a VERY active baby! Arms and legs flailing, head moving from side to side. That explains the constant flits and kicks and flutters I've been feeling since week 16 :-)

I like to think Baby is waving Hi! 

"Ready for the gender?" The Tech Guy asked. Chris hoped for a boy (of course) I hoped for a girl, but had a little feeling it was a boy.

"See those parts right there? Those are little........parts"

We all walked out with huge smiles on our faces!

That was Wednesday. I had dinner plans made for Friday with my Dad, stepmom Sus, brother Nate, sister in law Gina (and Ollie) and sister Amber. I had to wait two full days to reveal who was in my belly! Thank God I had plenty of work around the house, and a sweet Nevaeh to keep me busy!

I planned and planned. I had the best idea on how to announce it. Bought a new outfit (Good excuse, right?!)

Look at that belly! 19 1/2 weeks. This is gonna be a big kid!

We ate at Olive Garden in Dayton, it was a good middle point for all of us. Plus I had been craving Seafood Alfredo for weeks so I didn't even need to glance at the menu! They were extra tortured to know they had to wait until the end of the meal to find out. 

 

But, like dessert, I told them it was best saved till the end! So we could leave with something sweet in our mouths.

Food comes, great conversation. I almost forgot why we were there, and just enjoyed my time with family. With all of us in different parts of Ohio (or right outside Ohio in good ole KY) these nights were rare, and I was cherishing every moment, soaking up the jokes and laughter. Grandma Sus of course was badgering Nevaeh the whole night, trying to get the secret out of her. My little trooper just smiled sweetly at her, not spilling a single bean! 

Some Highlights from the night...

By this point (like you readers) everyone was more than ready for dessert. I had a chat with the waiter, who was thrilled to be a part of this surprise! Handed him my tupperware wrapped in foil (didn't want anyone catching a glimpse of the fruit!) and ordered a slice of raspberry cheesecake (really the only dessert that would taste perfect with blueberries or strawberries). 

Then we waited patiently for the dessert to be brought out. At one point my brother's face split into a huge grin and he said "Here it comes!" We whipped our heads around to see a waitress carrying a tray with a plate of red....lasagna. Try again!

Finally we saw our waiter (crap for me forgetting that awesome guy's name!) walking out. He turned out to be the perfect waiter because he made my surprise even better. He carried the tray with the plate, and had it covered with a napkin. The suspense! I loved it! He asked my brother for my name, then came to stand by me, and just icing-ed my night even more.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" He shouted. My face turned red, of course.

"Bethany here is pregnant, and we are going to find out the gender of the baby right now!" I could feel the whole restaurant whip their attention to our table, and my stepmom said the two women behind me craned their necks with open jaws in anticipation.

Waiter set the plate down.

"Ready?!"

Ready!

"1...2!...3!!!!!!!!!!!"

He whipped the napkin off....

Screeches! A lot of people applauded, my whole family shouted in excitement!

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IT'S A GIRL!!

Adjusting for Three

I always love the rush of progress that new life brings. The moment I confirmed my sweet little girl was on the way, I flipped over the moon, dragging with me all the ideas stored in my mind. How to decorate the nursery, prenatal exercises, what foods to eat, the best body pillow a pregnant girl could have, a birth plan. Outside of the pregnancy itself were other obsessions. Like the nesting that grabbed me by the wrists and had me down on hands and knees the entire 9 (10) months, scrubbing every inch of my house. Rearranging furniture, organizing every last needle and sock so there was the most adequate amount of space in our modest Dayton home. Not that anything ever looked perfectly polished. I had ADHD so with that comes the sacrifice of anything actually getting done how I want it. I flit from one project to the next, change my mind twenty times halfway through a paint job.

I feel a strong urgency to go when I am pregnant. To hurry up and improve the life I'm currently living, so that it can seamlessly become that much sweeter when this new life joins in. This pregnancy is no different. My neighbors will confirm their many jokes of hiring me as a housekeeper or project tinker-er, just from the countless times they see me decluttering the garage, putting together a new shelf, wheeling a shopping cart (upside to living next to Walmart) of garbage down to the dumpster or hauling away a CRV load of Goodwill items, only to haul in an equally full load of new and improved things to modestly fill the house with comfort.

Chris and I decided to hold off on buying a house, a decision that I'm now ecstatic to have made. While we will be spending another year in this two bedroom townhouse, with three children...I'm strangely at ease with it. I know that I have until November to empty out this house of all things unnecessary, and fill it with things that will benefit us, and make the adjustment into three children that much smoother.

I'm evaluating my parenting styles. Which I'm sure would come whether a new baby did or not. It's important to always strive for improvement, especially when it involves the raising of your children. I know how difficult it has been to have two children, to overcome the sibling jealousy, the divided attention, the fraction of Me-Time, and the grasping at a slim chance at alone time with my husband. I know that with the addition of this third little love, will come new challenges, more stretching of time, more neediness and inevitable sibling jealousy. I want to make that transition as easy as possible, especially for the two little loves I have already been blessed with.

My sweet babies. Nearly two years they have been in each other's lives, and we're still getting the hang of it. Their personalities are so different. Landon is high energy, bursting onto your lap for a quick hug and kiss before he jets off to accomplish all things an almost 4 year old needs to accomplish. Nevaeh is pure excitement, an everlasting optimist who can't give enough lovin's. Daddy walks in the door from work and she bolts to him screeching daaaadddyyy and leaps into his arms to smother him with kisses. 

While their personalities defer so greatly, they still have that sibling bond that can't be severed. Amongst their bickering and "Moooom, Vaeh did thiiiis" moments, they give me sightings that stop my heart. Sweet hugs, laughter at a joke between them. When one gets in trouble, the other is quick to sympathize for their punished sibling.

I can't to add to that. This little nugget is growing inside my belly. I am 15 weeks tomorrow. In a way it's been quick, but in another way I feel the time is dragging by and I should be encouraging labor by this point. Patience is a virtue...one that I need to grasp a little more firmly. I am enjoying this pregnancy, the best I can since with Nevaeh I was a full time student and employee, and had so much going on that before I knew it she was in my arms and I longed to feel her kick one more time, or nudge herself into my right ribcage for a snooze. I am so excited for those moments with this child, and I know that I am blessed to be a SAHM this time around, and be able to fully embrace the bond we are already forming. 

Yes, I am well aware how fast I am showing this time around! I assure you, unless hiding in a dark undiscovered corner, there is only one in there :-) 

I am becoming more confident in who I am. I'm learning that when something makes me unhappy, or dissatisfied, I have the power to change it. I embrace the role of Mother whole-heartedly, and thank God every minute for blessing me with this family. This is what I was meant to do. I was born to be a Momma, and though I have been told that I should have lived my life first, gone through college and established myself...I can only smile at them and accept their concern. The passions I've had for life are not something that need to be accomplished before starting a family. Most of my passions involve my family, so really I'm benefiting myself. My life is being to the absolute fullest, I could not be happier with the path my feet are traveling. I'll stumble, and get things wrong, and change my mind on the things I do. But I have my husband Chris, my son Landon, my daughter Nevaeh, and this newest sweetie to ride the river with me. 

I am so Blessed!!

Big boy beds and Tator chunk

Dear Landon,

You are my sweetest man! You have a hard time listening to Daddy and I, but you are 3 and that's exactly what we expect at this age. We are showing you the right way to be, and you are learning! You love your Sister so much, I know you do. I love it when you hold her hand on our walks around the neighborhood, and teach her how to jump!
You got your big boy bed last week. You picked out Star Wars bed sheets and a Transformers comforter. and you have a bright green lizard on your wall. You are very diverse :-p

Dear Nevaeh,

Hello my little slice of Heaven! You are 18 months old, and you are full of personality. Ornery, as you showed today when you were all over the mall playground. Sweet, because you'd randomly run up to give me a big hug. Ornery again because you'd then take off full speed, arms and legs pumping, cracking up! You really look up to your Brother. I see you copying little things that he does. I'm so glad you have him in your life!
You are a picky eater. You used to be my little foodie, but every since you turned 13 months, it's been downhill. Come back my Food Lover!

Baby,

I knew you were here before any signs. Daddy and I had been trying for you since September, so of course I was looking for signs. I got the same feeling with you that I did with your sister Nevaeh. I just knew you were there. So I peed on a stick 5 days before my missed period. It was so faint, barely there. But it was there! You will be here in early November. I cannot wait to know more about you, sweet baby. Daddy has nicknamed you Tator Chunk!

New Years Resolution

Most people either believe New Years Resolutions are stupid and pointless, or they attempt them knowing full well they'll give up by January 2nd, or they just dream about doing something better. I used to fall into all of those categories at one point, and I think it was because of my definition of Resolution. Climb a mountain, write a book, lose twenty pounds. Ridiculous, pointed goals. Setting one high standard and then giving up when I realized it wasn't going to happen.

So this year, I'm going small. Simple tasks that I hopefully would have done anyway, but probably not unless I had this Resolution sheet printed and framed. Which is exactly what I plan to do. Print it in big black font, frame it, and hang it where I am forced to look every single morning. Maybe a new tradition?

My 2012 New Years Resolution(s)

1. Print and organize all the pictures on my computer and place them into photo albums. 
            -I can't hold myself to the expectation of doing the fancy scrapbook work I keep dreaming about. I never accomplished that goal before babies, and I'm certainly not going to accomplish it now. But to get them place IN an album, in some frames and hung. That's all I want. To know that my picture memories are not left to the fate of technology, and I have physical copies that I can touch and preserve and show my kids years from now when CD's are as ancient as floppy disks.

2. To better my use of coupons and drastically reduce our grocery bill
             -This has already been something I'm working on, but I need to keep the momentum going. Consider myself a Work at Home Mom, and my job is Couponing. I will bring in money by saving the money my husband brings home. I cannot wait to see the fruit of this labor. Saving as much money as possible will allow even more luxuries into our lives. Disney World, a house of our own, a new car, college for the kids. So many doors will be opened with more ease.

3.  To move into our new house and paint every single room.
              -This of course won't happen until our lease here is up in June. I am done with townhomes, ridding us of apartments. A house is next, and hopefully one that is OURS or has the potential to be. I will paint every single room, get the decorations how I want them, and finally feel like I am settled into a home for the first time since I lived with my mom (and that's not to say I'm not at home with my husband. It's just to say that we've moved at least once a year for the 4 years we've been together, and I can't fight that feeling of "It's temporary, we should live out of boxes.")

4. Bake brownies from scratch.
               -I love to cook and bake. Love it! I'm starting to get more "Homemade" about it, and have gone 1/4 organic in our house. The one thing I haven't baked from scratch are brownies, and that is unacceptable. This should be an easy Resolution to meet, several times over.

5. To begin working on a book again.
               -Even if I don't finish it (like the hundreds of books I've attempted before). Just something to get my foot back in the door of creativity. Feel my juices flowing, sink into that fictional world that I am completely in control of. Finishing it will be a bonus.

6. Do at least one physical activity every day.
               -Excluding cleaning, playing and sex. Play the kinect, do some yoga, go jogging. Something to get my heart rate up and my scale number down. No set goal on what to lose. Only a goal to gain stamina and satisfaction.



Simple as that! Tasks that won't overwhelm me, and for the most part will truly interest me. Nothing I need to drag my butt out of bed at 5am for, nothing I'll hate myself for if not completed. My resolutions will no longer be things like "Spend more time with family" or "Do more good deeds" because those are a given and should never be a goal I have to force myself to do.

Happy New Year everyone. I hope 2012 brings many beautiful and prosperous things for you all!

Catch Up

Apparently I took a hiatus from blogging...I just lost the urge, and then every time I wanted to do it, I wasn't inspired, didn't have the time, or something like that...The kids are growing! So full of personality. Nevaeh is a riot, she never ceases to bring a smile to my face. She still dances like it's her job, but she's added some creative moves in there! Downward facing dog yoga pose, twirling in circles. Love it! Landon loves anything artsy. We did a paint craft tonight, he loved squishing the red paint through his fingers lol

Nevaeh started walking in the beginning of November. Landon loves to cook with me. 

I'll be getting better at this from now on, because I don't want to forget the things my kids do, and I want them to be able to read through these and see what it was like! But for now I'll sign off with Interviews. This will be a yearly tradition, asking the same or similar questions to see how they change and grow.

Interview with the kids, Landon at 3 years old, Nevaeh at 16 months (Ok, Nevaeh's is what I think she would answer if she could talk lol)

1. What is your favorite color? Red!
2. What is your favorite toy? My Lightening, it’s my favorite one! (Lightening McQueen)
3. What is your favorite fruit?  Banana and strawberries
4. What is your favorite tv show? Umizoomi
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Umm food! Oh, chicken BB! I like chicken!
6. What is your favorite outfit? Underwear! That’s silly BB
7. What is your favorite game? The controller, ya know on the boxing game! Like this, pow pow! I got you BB
8. What is your favorite snack? Chocolate, can I have some? (break for chocolate)
9. What is your favorite animal? I ride on it (Me, what?) I ride on it! (Me, a horse?) Yeah! Neighhh!
10. What is your favorite song? Fight it Fight it (I have no idea what song he is talking about, but he insisted that was his answer)
11. What is your favorite book? Once Upon a Time (I’m assuming any book that starts with that…but I know he loves the Transformers book too)
12. Who is your best friend? De-Bay-Uh (Melt my heart!)
13. What is your favorite cereal? The yummy kind that I eat
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Walk
15. What is your favorite drink? Bug juice…no, pop! (Not at my house!)
16. What is your favorite holiday? Holiday is Christmas, with presents!
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Spongebob blanket, and I like to sleep with you BB! (Aww!)
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Poptarts
19. What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner? Chicken and mac n’ cheese
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Monster! A big one, Rawrrr!

1. What is your favorite color? Green
2. What is your favorite toy? Elmo toy with the microphone (head, shoulders knees and toes)
3. What is your favorite fruit? Peaches
4. What is your favorite tv show? Fresh Beat Band
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Turkey, PB&J and bananas
6. What is your favorite outfit? Neon pink chucks, Elmo shirt
7. What is your favorite game? Ball (she has a good throw, and can catch it!)
8. What is your favorite snack? Goldfish
9. What is your favorite animal? Duck (Ck-Ck)
10. What is your favorite song? Bootywork
11. What is your favorite book? Katy Duck, Who Lives on the Farm?
12. Who is your best friend? Mommy and Daddy J
13. What is your favorite cereal? Reese’s and Lucky Charms
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Swing/Swim
15. What is your favorite drink? Chocolate milk
16. What is your favorite holiday? My birthday!
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Paci (Working on getting rid of that), stuffed giraffe
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Pancakes!
19. What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner? Chicken, fruit, mac n’ cheese
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Dancer, artist (Girlfriend can bust a move, and loves to color!)

Jibber Jabber

Nevaeh is 13 months old today! She is talking up a storm. Well, jibber jabbering really, but she is mimicking very well and has learned so many words just in the past month! I wanted to write a blog about it so I will always remember what and how many words she can say at such a young age :-)

Dada/Dad/Daddy-It depends on her mood and time of day. I put her in bed with Chris in the morning and she smacks his back or his head and saids "Dad...dad...dad...UP!" Daddy is when she's being very sweet and loving, and Dada the rest of the time.
Momma-<3 or Mummmm, and the occasional "Ma!"
Up-This is the newest word. Sometimes she'll say Up, other times it's more of a "Peh, Peh"
Dog (Dah)
Kitty (Tiddy)
Moo (Moooommm)-I'll either ask her "What sound does a cow make?" or just point to a cow
Quack (Dadadaaaack)-I'll either ask her "What sounds does a cow make?" Or point to a duck
Whoa!-She says this when she says an airplane, because Landon always does that and so do I
Hi/Hey-for Bye, she waves
Baba-Though not so much anymore, since we threw away all the bottles when she turned a year, and she now has Sippys
Mmmm-for Food. She's very good at telling us when she's hungry. She'll find a spoon or bowl and set it in my lap and say "Mmmm"
Ball-"Bah" and she throws it. Like a pro! She loves to throw the ball back and forth. Also she'll find one of Landon's golf clubs and wander around saying "Bah?" looking for a ball to hit. Girlfriend can even golf.
Bark-The neighbor's dog barks whenever he's outside, and Nevaeh will hear him and bark back. More of a "Back, Back" sound, followed by "Dah" for Dog.
Here/Here You Go-Heh for here, Dee Doh for Here you go. She'll say that when she hands you something (Which, by the way, she's really good at sharing or giving you something if you hold your hand out for it!)
Muah!-more of a "MmmmmmAH!" but always followed by a sweet peck on the lips <3 sweetest kisser ever! She purses her lips and sort of bites your lips with her lips :-) Then she pulls back with a sweet smile and waits for you to say "ohhh thank you pretty girl!"
Speaking of...if you call her Pretty Girl, you are one of her best friends ;-) I've taught her well!

-She laughs whenever Chris farts. and you can't fool her with a fake mouth fart either, she knows the real deal. If you fake fart, she'll blow raspberries.
-She loves to share. She'll hand you a toy and say "Heh" then wait for you to say Thank you! then hold her hand out for you to give it back.
-Her memory is amazing. Don't think you can take the remote from her and expect her to forget about it, or to not notice where you stash it. She'll remember, and she will find it!
-She is right handed. I can tell. She'll hold things in her left hand, but does everything with her right.
-All of a sudden she's picky. :-( Where oh where did my foodie go?!?! I raised her on homemade foods and she'd eat anything and everything, but ever since she turned a year she suddenly doesn't like chicken, and a lot of flavors bother her. She doesn't like potatoes anymore. Please please please let this be a stage :-(
-Headstands! She does that downward dog yoga pose and looks between her legs and dissolves into a fit of giggles! She knows she's funny, too. As soon as she does something funny she bursts out "HA!" before we even laugh ourselves!
-She points. She'll point to you, which means she wants you to put your pointer fingers on hers. She thinks it's hilarious. She'll point to me or Chris and we'll either say "No, YOU!" and point back, or do the "EeeeTttt" thing. Either way she laughs.
-Still loving the "Nevaeh how big are you?" SOOOO BIG! She'll throw her hands up before you finish the question. Also she dances still, like there's no tomorrow. She dances to the washing machine, to the bathroom fan, to a whistle. Anything with any tiny scrap of rhthym, she busts a move. "Booty work" "Pretty Girl Rock" and the Hot Dog dance from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse are her favorite songs.
-She reads like I do. She'll turn the TV off most of the time, and even if a show is on that she likes, she'd much rather read her books. She'll dig each one out of the drawer and flip through it, pointing to the pictures and "Reading" it to me, and she'll give me a book and wait for me to read it to her. I do awesome voices! Her favorite books are "Moo goes the cow" "Oh say can you say?"-Dr. Suess "Jungle Gym" "Katy Duck" and "Who am I?"-Sesame Street
-I have a feeling she's going to take off at a sprint the second her cast is off. She can stand on her own, walk along furniture, climb and crawl like it's nobody's business. I'll always wonder when she would have walked, had she never had the cast, though.

I may come back and add to this as I remember things, but that's what I can think of for now. And she's been hitting my foot with Landon's golf club for a few minutes now and it's starting to hurt lol so I must go find her a golf ball :-)

Walmart Flasher

I'm convinced. Something is in the air at Walmart that possesses my daughter to do terrible, humiliating things.

I started my "Research" when Nevaeh was about 8 months old and decided to go all Pooptastic on me. I made the horrible mistake of going to Walmart without the diaper bag, and my daughter had her award winning, drip on my toes, stink up the check out lane, blow out diaper. Lesson learned? Always bring the diaper bag, even when running in "real quick" to grab deoderant.

I was next led to the Pacifier Mystery, which I have not blogged about but upon looking back, it's definitely blog worthy. The floors of Walmart have a Paci Magnet, I'm positive and if I confirm these suspicions I am going to sue! Every time we go to Walmart, Nevaeh is compelled to throw, chuck, drop, spit, or hide her Pacifier. Usually I notice it happening and pick it up, wipe it off and either return it to her (to be magneticaly drawn to the floor again) or put it in my purse and later give it back because she's going to have a hernia if I don't. Several times we've gotten down to her last pacifier and are halfway home (In the stroller, as we live in a townhouse right next to Walmart) when she and I realize it is missing and it is truly the end of the world. Those incidents end with me painstakingly retracing my steps through Walmart, looking like a fool while bobbing up and down looking under shelves and clothing racks until I find it perched on an egg carton. Or giving up and buying her a new pacifier because I'm still in the excuse stage as to why I "can't" get her off the pacifier yet (we just moved, she broke her ankle, she's teething, etc etc)

Cue hissy fits vs. full on melt downs, Sippy cups thrown on the ground at just the right angle to cause the lid to pop off and spill water/milk everywhere, and countless items knocked over even though I could swear her arms were not close enough to reach those things!

Today's Walmart induced curse has me considering boycotting the Super Store altogether and making the two minute drive down the road to Kroger. My face found a new shade of red and it repeated that color up and down every aisle because the man this incident happened in front of was, by the gates of Hell, everywhere I went.
He was hot. Sooooo soooo HOT. Like Joseph Gordon-Levitt meets Orlando Bloom kind of hot. He was making his way down the aisle and I spotted him right off because, although a happily married woman, I still like drooling over eye candy.
I was wearing a black tank top with a black bra. Simple gold necklace. I'll admit, I was feeling pretty confident with the way my ladies looked in this shirt!
Nevaeh had been in a crabby mood today (yes this happened today) because a molar is shoving through her poor little gums, and when she is crabby she does not like to sit in the cart. Lucky for me (unlucky) her Cast prevented her from climbing out and standing like she usually does. However, this luck (unluck) bit in the butt tonight. She wanted out, and I was at the point of mildly ignoring her because she was being unnecessarily fussy and dramatic.
Cue really hot guy. He's right beside the cart. Cue slow motion movie action when right as their eyes meet, IT happens. Nevaeh lunges her body towards me, arms outstretched, determined like a bat out of hell to hook her hands around me and pull herself out of that cart.
Only her hands didn't hook on me. They hooked on my shirt. Aaaaand my bra. And she pulled, like a bat out of hell. Shirt and bra separated from lovely ladies, hot guy got a second's worth of oggling, Momma got a new shade of red face while hot guy got a belly full of laughs. Nevaeh too, of course, because if anyone within hearing distance is laughing, she must laugh with them. And I'm positive she knew she had done something "Hilarious" because she laughed extra hard.
The whole thing really happened in about 10 seconds, but I swear it was the longest humiliation of my life.
Does this mean I can call myself a flasher??
Walmart sucks :-(