So, I thought we wouldn't be in the Why Phase until he was like, 4ish, but dudes, we are smack dead in the thick of the Why Phase.
And the problem is, he's still only 3, not even 3 1/2 yet. So many of his questions have answers that he doesn't understand yet, which then prompt more Why questions. I spend my entire day wracking my brain trying to come up with how to properly answer his question. To give enough info to satisfy him, without having to answer another question. Or freak him out.
Some of the questions I've been asked, just today:
Mom, where does my poo poo come out of?.........WHY does it come out of my bum?
Mom, where do our bodies come from?
Mom, why am I not a garbage truck?
Mom, what's inside the water?.......No, what's IN the water?
Mom, what's inside this bean?
Mom, where does this water come from?
And these are just the more memorable ones, nevermind all the little ones as we're going about the day. It sounds adorable and endearing, and it is, but ohmigosh it's exhausting! I need to start studying random facts or something. This kid is testing me, and I feel like I'm failing!
He put my shower cap on one day and wanted to wear it to Costco...
Wherein Thursday is a Tuesday. But hey! Just goin' with the flow over here, no big deal, just gestating and cooking and cleaning and chasing a 3 year old and decidedly not doing much about this gestating baby.
And it's Tuesday instead of last Thursday! Huh!
So we're at 27 weeks now, which, if you don't know, officially signals the Third Trimester. As in, as of yesterday we have 3 months left until D-day. Unless she comes early! Or late. Due dates are suggestions, sort of like the expiration dates on milk cartons. Milk could sour early, or late, depending on who knows what. The only thing you have to go off is how it smells.
This girl is officially 2ish lbs, 15ish inches long, and can now open her eyes! And see nothing, right? There isn't light in there, is there? Anyway. That's what's goin' on over here.
I'm large, and at that point where you suddenly realize shopping isn't fun and you miss it. You want to shop but nothing looks good on you anyway. This is precisely where I started buying shoes last time. Cause shoes fit! On Saturday I had dinner with some of my cousins for one of their birthdays and afterward we did a bit of shopping. I bought sunglasses and a necklace. Oh wait, they did show me some skirts that were stretchy AND had a drawstring. Somehow they convinced me to buy two (we're all horrible when we get together to shop!) which is actually good, because I was currently down to two skirts for church. Every Sunday it was like, should I wear Outfit A or Outfit B today? We were on a rotation basis. Now I have 4! Woo!
I'm trying to decide how I'm supposed to make it the rest of the three months with this hip / lower back pain. I'm taking two Tylenol every night before bed just to get a few good hours of uninterrupted sleep. I'm thinking this might not be the best thing, taking it every day. I finally remembered the hot pad trick, and used it last night to ease some weird muscle I'd tweaked in my side. Remember how I did that last time? That sucked. Trying to avoid that. I can't sit in certain positions, can't stand in certain positions, and certainly can't partially recline unless it's on a soft surface like the couch. Meaning, I can't lead back in the tub, which yes, is a complete and total travesty.
I miss working out. Not helping? Reading my Self magazine. I can't even walk long anymore without it affecting my hips for the rest of the day. Last Monday we went on a walk on the boulevard with Wyatt, it was warm and we left him bring his scooter. It's about a mile, and halfway back I knew I was in trouble. No, scratch that, I knew I was in trouble when a cute little grandma passed me up. Caleb and Wyatt and my sister had long since gone ahead, and Caleb had been sending me cheeky little texts, asking if I'd had the baby yet or not.
Anyway. Let's end the whining. Overall? I'm a lucky pregnant person. I've got it pretty easy over here, meaning, I don't puke. Or haven't (knock on wood!), which is awesome because I hate puking more than anything else in this world.
My glucose test isn't for a couple of weeks for some reason, but the bottle of sugar water is sitting in my fridge staring at me every time I open it. I chose lemon lime this time, so we'll see how that goes. I think this one is a lot bigger than what I had to drink last time. It's huge!
I think she's still sitting sideways. So. Yeah. She's jumping around like crazy, something I don't think I'll ever get used to, or sick of. I keep thinking about how funny it is that they seem to move so much and with such force and then after they're born they're helpless, they barely move. Almost as baffling as the fact that one second they're breathing water and the next air.
Science. It's amazing.
Check out that difference. Isn't that weird? Definitely carrying her different this time. And I'm back to peeing during the night and using that awesome 10 & 2 trick I learned last time.
Wyatt has started to rub and kiss my tummy and he tells me he loves the baby in my tummy. Yesterday he even felt the baby move, and then immediately went back to playing his game on the iPad. Such is the attention span of a 3 year old.
He's also decided on a new name: Tutu. Actively not adding that to the list...he's going to make an excellent big brother though. We can't wait to meet this little girl and see these two get to know each other.
Oh hi! I'm so done trying to come up with excuses for not blogging....basically, I'm living at home now and thought (until my grandma chided me yesterday) that no one really cared to read it anymore. That, and by the time I get Wyatt in bed I'm exhausted! I want bed at 9, and lounge on the couch in a half comatose state until then. Partially because I'm not sleeping great, if I wake up it takes forever to fall back asleep (though last night this was a good thing, because at 3:30 am I realized my 24 wk appt was at 8:15 this morning and I'd completely forgotten). Falling asleep at night is not an issue at all, it's the staying asleep. This is why I was taking melatonin until we started doing infertility, but you can't take it while trying to get pregnant or when you are pregnant. So! I suffer! And I know, I know, it's just preparing me to be up again at night. Getting me used to surviving on less sleep.
Anyway. Guess what?! We went on a cruise! I meant to mention this before, but kept forgetting! Cause that's the story of my life at this moment. Anyway, we went with some of our two favorite couples on a 4 day cruise and had a complete blast. It was my first cruise, and by the forced smile on Caleb's face when we got on the ship, I could tell it wasn't quite up to where it could be. Basically, the boat was old, built back when gold columns and scrolly turquoise carpet were all the rage. The rooms were smaller than other boats I guess. None of this truly bothered me though, because we got to hang out with our friends for days with few interruptions (like sleep! who needs sleep!) (i do!). That, and we were all kidless. It was the longest I've gone, the longest Mike and Marissa had gone, without seeing our kids. I can't speak for them, but for us it was a combination of refreshing yet filled with longing. It was so nice to just be together again as a couple, to have free days without having to worry about nap and sleep schedules, no 6 am wake up calls or doling out time outs. But there were so many things we'd see and go, "Wyatt would love this..." We took several photos and videos specifically for him to see. It was a wonderful break, made even better knowing that he was happy and cared for by my family, but we were excited to see him again.
We flew into Orlando and left out of Port Canaveral. The first day on the boat was spent wandering and getting lost on the ship, finding our rooms, where dinner was, laughing at the "shops". Our dinner waiter turned out to be one of the best parts of the trip, a wonderful man named Sina (actually his last name, his first being near unpronounceable) from Indonesia who peppered dinner time with riddles and magic tricks. We kept score and by the end of the trip he had 8 points and we had 2. His tricks got better and better, and we all looked forward to dinner.
The next day we woke up in CocoCay, Bahamas, Royal Caribbean's private island. It was beautiful, but obviously commercialized. We lounged all morning on chairs by the water, our paradise broken only by the occasional drive bys of the workers on golf carts....
We ate lunch and then went on a "nature walk", a second choice since apparently Royal Caribbean thinks pregnant people shouldn't go kayaking. (Lame!) It was clearly mapped out, though we did see a couple iguanas and a cool lizard with one of those balloon necks (you know, it bubbles out when they breathe?). Our reward though was finding a beach not many people had found, and for a while we had it nearly to ourselves. The water was crystal clear, a gorgeous blue, and completely calm. Caleb and I wandered and saw a sting ray, a school of thin, transparent fish with long needle noses, and lots of crabs in tiny conch shells.
We got some rain near the end, but even then we enjoyed ourselves. It was so peaceful, we only wished we'd found that place sooner.
The next day we woke up in Nassau, Bahamas. (I know, aren't cruises amazing! New place every morning!)
We made it past all the craziness of the port, the thousands of locals trying to get us to let them take us on a tour, a drive, a ferry, whatever. We hopped into (read: crammed into) a taxi to hit up the Atlantis Resort. Heard of it? It's amazing, we immediately decided we needed to come back in a few years when our kids are older. (We haven't checked out the prices yet, but I assure you it's worth it!) We purchased day passes and at the end we'd probably seen half of the resort. We had access to the aquariums and their private beach, and we took advantage of both. The waterslides? That's an entirely different story. Let's just say they're the reason we all want to go back.
I want you to just take a look at this manta ray. It was at least 8 feet long, and completely amazing to watch it coming out of the abyss at us. I had no idea they could get so big. Don't believe me? Check this out - but please ignore my squealing.
Yeah. That's insane.
Do you see this slide?! It looked amazing! When you go under the water you're in a clear tube, and the water is filled with sharks. Awesome! And if that's too much for you, there's also a lazy river you can ride on with tubes that goes slowly through a tunnel nearby so you can check out the sharks at a slower pace.
I've never ordered a fancy drink while on the beach, but let me just tell you, it's every bit as awesome as it sounds.
The last day was spent cruising, Bridgette and I donated and participated in a mile walk around the ship to benefit the Make a Wish foundation, we watched an ice carving dude, and in the afternoon the girls watched a movie the boat was playing (the new Footloose) while the boys play shuffleboard. We spent the day hanging out, laughing, playing cards, napping, and just generally enjoying ourselves.
It was amazing to be on the water, I've never seen the Atlantic and it was sooo blue. Gorgeous. Caleb also pointed out some flying fish, which was so fun to see.
On Friday we got back into port early, and had an entire day before we all had to catch our flights. We quickly found some info on some alligator tours, and that's what we did! We found a company that for a fee lets you hold an alligator, get your picture taken with it, gives you a shirt, and takes you on an airboat tour to spot the 'gators.
This particular 'gator is 4 years old! And it felt so different than what I expected, softer, I think Mark hit it on the head when he described it like black electrical tape. Smooth, cold. And heavier than you'd think! (My picture will never been seen because it's horrendous - even Marissa was quick to inform me that isn't what I look like, a huge relief since I was quite horrified...)
The boat itself was amazing, and went against everything I know about boats. We'd be gliding down the water and then Cap'n Joe (yup, that was his name!) would veer off into what looked like bushes, but was just dense plants on water. With no propeller, you could just glide right over it. Amazing.
Like this. We were riding though this. And yes, we did spot 'gators!
After lunch and a movie (Chronicle: eh) we split up to catch our flights. The worst part of the trip, saying goodbye.
The second worst part? My cankles, that suddenly came with a vengeance sometime between lunch and after the movie. I literally felt my sandals tightening during the movie. Last pregnancy I had that horrible pitted edema, but I don't know if they ever got this bad. And a 4 and then 2 hour flight didn't help matters. By midnight, this is what they looked like:
(Ruined my pedicure when I fell walking onto the beach in Naussau - I was holding two towels and my purse and a drink and literally did a dead mans drop, going so fast I didn't even get my arms out to catch me. It was positively hilarious until I saw the wrecked toe...)
The third worst part? Well. Let's just say that with my IBS and the dreaded vacation-digestion-halt, I looked more like 8 months pregnant by the end of the trip. We've been back 5 days now and I'm still trying to get my body back to normal!
And there is my vacation wrap up. Again, and excellent time, my favorite part being just getting to hang out with our favorite people. I haven't laughed that hard or that often in a long time, and I doubt I will - till we meet again.
Oh, and Wyatt? He had a glorious time at Grandma's. I don't think he heard no all week, ate what he wanted, played all day long and was generally spoiled rotten. Though he was excited to see us (and find out what we'd brought him) he was ready to go back to Grandma's house. He was well taken care of, and we're so grateful to have been able to feel so comfortable leaving him for that long, when we couldn't even contact them. (We called once for a couple minutes in Nassau) We are truly blessed!
