A Pity Party and A Gender Party

The first eight weeks have not been particularly pleasant. I'm pretty much nauseous all the time, and my really gross spittle problem has returned. Some of you may remember that when I was pregnant with Micah, I produced about twice as much saliva than is normal. This very annoying problem leaves me with an urge to spit constantly. I finally got up the nerve tonight to look back at my last pregnancy journal to see how long this lasted, and I stopped writing about it at 22 weeks. AHHHHHHH! My favorite times of day right now are when I'm eating (no spittle) and when I'm sleeping (no nausea or spittle). I'm still trying to be a decent wife and mommy, but wow it's rough sometimes. I know it's all worth it...I tell myself this often on the really rough days...

In between feeling really sick, sorta sick and mildly sick, we've planned a cool way to learn the gender of our new baby. When we have our ultrasound around 17 weeks, we'll ask the technician to write down the gender and put that information into an envelope that we'll then give to my friend, Jenny, who bakes the most amazing cakes. She's going to make a special cake for us, with the batter being either pink or blue to match the gender of our baby. We'll then have our family over for a barbecue a few days after the ultrasound and find out over dessert what we're having! I will be super shocked if that cake is not blue!

A Birthday Surprise

I told Jamie that I wanted a surprise for my birthday on January 11, but neither of us had any idea that we'd be getting one! We recently discovered, to our shock and delight, that we are expecting again! Our new little baby is due September 11, 2011, just 6 days after Micah's 2nd birthday.

I was a few days late in January, but I didn't really panic...it happens sometimes. But then on Friday, January 7, Micah and I were at the Marbles museum with some friends, and I was not feeling my best. I also had a gnawing hunger that, if not quickly satisfied, made me nauseas. I finally decided to take a pregnancy test the next morning. I was sure that I was wasting a perfectly good test...organized, scheduled planners like myself don't have unplanned pregnancies...but when Micah and I checked the results, there was no doubt!

Jamie and I walked around in a state of shock all day, but by that evening, we had decided to tell my family. I know a lot of people wait awhile, but we didn't with Micah and decided not to this time. Besides, we were going to the Japanese steakhouse for my birthday dinner, and when I ordered my steak well done instead of my usual medium rare, my family figured it out.

We are very excited, and we know how blessed we are to get pregnant so easily. We also see the benefits now of the timing of this pregnancy: my maternity clothes will match up perfectly as will our baby clothes if we have another boy (I think we will). Micah and the new baby will also be close in age, which hopefully means they'll be close in other ways.

My prayers for my family right now are: that the baby would be healthy; that he would grow to know God in a personal, intimate way; that I would not be as sick as last time (so far it's worse); and that Micah would continue to know how very loved and special that he is.

The Funnies Just Kept Coming

...That night continued to get better ;-) Jamie's parents offered to babysit Micah so that he and I could have a date night. Jamie is always telling me how dangerous the city is, so when we had to stop for gas after dark, I got a little nervous. We found a well-lit station in a good part of town and pulled in. Jamie had just stepped out of the car when four teenage girls ran up. From inside the car I couldn't hear what was being said, but I distinctly remember thinking, "Crap, we are being robbed by Taylor Swift fans." A few seconds later, one of the girls was pumping our gas! I kept trying to catch Jamie's eye, but he wouldn't look my way. After pumping our gas for a few minutes, the girl and her friends left. Jamie was smirking when he got back into the car, so I knew everything was cool. He said the girls were on a scavenger hunt, and one of the items on their list was to pump a stranger's gas. Random.

So next we headed to a restaurant recommended by Jamie's dad. The wait was about 30 minutes, so we found a spot to sit up near the hostess stand. Soon after, a black woman and her mother came in to inquire about the wait time. They were not satisfied with what they heard and began to debate whether it was worth staying. At that point, the younger black woman claimed she heard someone back in the kitchen say to her, "Well then take your @$$ back to the city!" This was all happening right in front of us, and we did not hear this comment, but both the woman and her mother claimed they did. They asked to speak to a manager, but it turned out the person they accused of making this comment was the manager. So they waited around to speak to his manager. Awkward. They got a bunch of apologies but no free meal. Our food was good though.

A Funny Thing Happened in Baltimore

This is a funny story that I just have to share. We are in Baltimore this weekend visiting Jamie's dad and stepmom ( having a great time so far ;-). Earlier tonight, I decided to wash some of our clothes. The (senior) Orrs have a very fancy washing machine, so I asked if they would show me how to use it. Michelle patiently walks me through all the steps, and when it's time to pour in the detergent, she reaches for a bottle of Snuggle. "Oh, we don't use fabric softener on our clothes," I told her. She said, "We don't either." I'm a little puzzled, but I let her continue to load the detergent dispenser with whatever is in this Snuggle bottle. It sure looks like Snuggle. Smells like it too. After she finishes and leaves the room, I examine the bottle closely. It's definitely Snuggle fabric softener. They have several bottles. And absolutely no real detergent to speak of.

As soon as Jamie and I are alone, I tell him this story. We both get a good laugh. We decide that one of us needs to tell them that their clothes really aren't clean. Haha. So right now I'm drying dirty clothes that I'll just wash again when we return home. Good times :-)

Planning For Christmas

A quick pre-holiday post as I scrape dried food off my space bar. This is what happens when I leave my laptop at the kitchen table.

I'm in the middle of Christmas shopping. Normally I'd be done or nearly done, but not this year. I've pledged not to get all stressed out about it - I have great gifts already for Jamie and Micah - and the rest are falling into place. This year Micah's big gift from us/Santa is an "early engineers" train set. He's also getting a neat puzzle/train toy I found at the Holiday Show and some crayons. We're only doing three gifts this year (it was good enough for Baby Jesus ;-). Plus, with 7 grandparents, we have to actively engage in toy control.


We also like to get Micah a Christmas book every year. My goal was to always select a book that tells the real meaning of Christmas. We did that last year with What Is Christmas? by Michelle Adams, but this year I could not resist Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney. We are in love with this series and all things llama. In fact, Nana Santa told me Micah might be getting the stuffed llama toy from the series.

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One thing I've learned through my Motherwise Bible study this semester is the power and importance of praying for my children. I've always prayed for Micah, but not in the ways this study has challenged me. It never occurred to me to pray that he would become a Christian early in life; that he would desire the right kind of friends and be protected from the wrong friends; that he would be protected from evil - spiritually, physically and emotionally; that he would be kept for the right mate and saved from the wrong one. There are so many things to pray for, and I just love doing it! It's a humbling reminder to me who he really belongs to, and it's also such a simple thing I can do for him that makes an eternal difference.

First Year Book

This is Micah's Christmas gift to all the grandparents. I'm so proud of how this book turned out. I'm not a scrapbooker, and I don't take as many pictures as I'd like. But, thanks to our wonderful friends and family who DO take lots of pictures, we got some really great ones of Micah's first year. I hope to make him a book every year...we'll see ;-)

Click here to view this photo book larger

Pumpkin Patch 2010

We planned several trips to Briley's before we actually made it. We originally planned to go last Tuesday during Jamie's fall break, but then we found out "the patch" is only open to the public on weekends. We had a great time when we finally made it yesterday - in addition to pumpkins, they also have hayrides, farm animals and lots of outdoor toys. I know it'll be even more fun next year when Micah's running around (hint, hint kid ;-).

We let him choose his own pumpkin

Daddy and Micah

He knows what he's supposed to do when Mom pulls out her camera ;-)

Micah is a friendly ghost :-)

Family photo...with Micah sticking out his tongue