OH BOY!

Number 2 is a boy!

We had the big ultrasound today and everything looked great. I am so glad to be having a boy, even though my intuition was wrong on that count. Now for the main reason I am nervous about a boy: the circumcision conversation with Bill. I already know I don't want it done and he does, so this might be interesting!

Actually

Lulu has a new word: actually. She is currently using it in every sentence. 'I'm coloring, actually." "I'm going to use all the paper, actually."

Expansion

It's still growing!

This was the longest week. A trip to Canton, lots of work meetings, slow recovery from that flu...I did get to visit my favorite fabric shop in St. Lawrence County. I wanted to find things for quilt for the sprout and Z's twins. The twins were easy, but I got confused and hung up on whether sprout is a girl or boy. So I decided to wait til after the 30th, when we have our big ultrasound to make any decor decisions.

Which leads me to the question...girl or boy? I have a feeling that says girl. Bill says boy. He really wants a boy. I find the idea of having a preference troublesome. With very few exceptions (we have two of one and want the other, for example), almost every reason I have heard for wanting one or the other are based on gender stereotypes. And for every
reason I can think of one example where the expectation was not the real outcome...the girl who hates to dress up and go shopping, the boy who is not rambunctious, the non-Daddy's girl, the boy who doesn't want to go fishing, the girl who does, etc etc.

Of course that doesn't mean I don't have a preference, which I won't share, but that I feel BAD about having a preference and when it comes down to it, my preference is based in some ideal of what girls and boys are.

So why do I never get a stomach virus and lose 5 pounds before a beach vacation? The nurse at my midwife's office said its ok, but that I should enjoy eating for the next few days.

The good news is that Lulu and I slept until 9 this am. The bad news is that I have her stomach virus.

I'm trying not to care that I hate my body right now. Yes the stomach is because I am pregnant, but the arms and legs are something altogether different. While I lost all the baby weight I GAINED with Eva, I was 10 lbs heavier than I would like to be to begin with. And the body i got back was not the one I left with, If you know what I mean. So I get annoyed and then I think I can't do anything about it now anyway. And I feel better. Until I think that lack of time and money for working out will be WORSE this time around. Oh, and I hate working out. Grrr.

Anyway. We spent the day on the boat. Eva was perky on this beach at Valcour Island, but whenever we went out in the sun and windlessness of the lake, she wilted. She ate a decent breakfast. Then nothing but fruit snacks all day. For dinner, a hot dog, broccoli veggie bite, and yogurt. And then she lost it all just before bed. It's amazing to me how she can be violently ill one moment, and ten minutes later acting completely normal.

24

Who knew a 24 hour stomach bug could be as harrowing as season one of "24"? Lulu was unable to keep anything down: not water, not pedialyte. We would just get one mess cleaned us and there would be another. And then it was over. She feels fine. I, on the other hand, am exhausted.

I'm feeling occasional movement from the BITO (bun in the oven) (tm my favorite volunteer Betsy.) But we can go days between kicks. This is the most disconcerting part of pregnancy...after symptoms, such as vomiting, retreat and before the big ultrasound and the crazy, sleepless nights of kicking. All I have to show is this ever changing belly and a backache.

Sneaky

The problem with working in the same building as your midwife is that sometimes you have to hide your soda and empty fast food bag behind your back while you chat in the hallway.

Potty Training

The potty training continues and we've been largely accident free - two in a week, ad that's it! But I worry that she holds her pee for TOO long. Yesterday she went at 9am and not again until after 4! We were out, and then she napped. But she stayed dry during the nap even. And this morning she finally went after 12 hours and three tries since we got up. Hmmmm. She will ask to go, but then change her mind. Not sure what that's about!

We had a great weekend, and we still won't be back to normal tomorrow. I am home this am, until Bill finishes his guide trip around 11 or noon. Then I head to work, and Bill's old friend Karen is coming over to han out with him and Lulu while her son gets oriented at Plattsburgh State.

More wood arrives

We now have two of three piles of wood at our doorstep. Waiting to be stacked.

My mom is in town for the weekend and we have a full dance card: BBQ soon, fireworks in Lake Placid, massage at the Mirror Lake Inn in the morning, followed by the BBQ festival, followed by collapse. Upon recovery, seeing a band at the Recovery Lounge also known as the Upper Jay Arts Center also known as an old model T factory now upholstery shop/performance space. Sunday am, breakfast with old friends of Bill's, then watch their daughter in the jumping competition at the horse show.

Phew.

clueless

What is it about Blue's Clues that I find so annoying?

My house is my own.

It's ours. Finally, truly and totally ours. The deed has been filed and it is in our name.

Bill bought the house before I met him. But he didn't really buy it. He basically entered into what they call a land contract: which is the opposite of a mortgage in that you only get title at the end. But he also did it over a handshake. With someone I don't trust. And the house was not only in that person's name. No matter: they all signed, even though we are sure the second party never got a penny of the $40k we paid. Yes. We paid $40k for our house. It is a shithole. But it's OUR shithole. And I expect we could sell it for 3 times what we paid. So we love the shithole. And we love it even more now that our names are on the deed!!

And there is also a big ole pile of firewood out front. With two more piles to come.