going to the bathroom alone is overrated

Alternate title: why I like peeing with the door open
Disclaimer: with a title like that, I think you know what this post is about...

Nate takes Black Monkey to daycare with him. The black one has had the voicebox removed. He leaves Orange Monkey at home. The first thing he does when we get home is look for Orange Monkey. He is inevitably carrying Black Monkey, snuggled on his shoulder, when we walk through the door.

While he looked for Orange Monkey this afternoon (saying, "wheresit?") I went to the bathroom.

I'm pregnant. I pee every 30 minutes.

Nate found Orange Monkey and joined me in the bathroom before I was finished. He crawled up in my lap, holding one Monkey in each hand, and snuggled his face into my chest. I hugged him, and we just sat there cuddling for a few minutes (but not quite long enough for me to need to go again).

Is it weird to cuddle someone while you're peeing? I think probably yes. But, of the squillion times I peed today, that one was the best!

Father's Day

A few pictures of my favorite dads...

My dad in the bride's getting ready room before Rodgers and I got married. That is a rhino on his tie. 

Nate was 8 days old. Rodgers, who had never cared about babies before (and didn't know if his younger siblings [he has 6] were boys or girls until they were no longer babies...) had suddenly become a baby person.

And the baby is a Daddy person as well. :)

QOTW: I'll tell you what I'm doing. I want to buy eight hot dogs and eight hot dog buns to go with them. But no one sells eight hot dog buns. They only sell twelve hot dog buns. So I end up paying for four buns I don't need. So I am removing the superfluous buns. Yeah. And you want to know why? Because some big-shot over at the wiener company got together with some big-shot over at the bun company and decided to rip off the American public. Because they think the American public is a bunch of trusting nit-wits who will pay for everything they don't need rather than make a stink. Well they're not ripping of this nitwit anymore because I'm not paying for one more thing I don't need. George Banks is saying NO!

working mommy wednesday

Prompt #1 - My go-to ______ is ... (pick any 5 things... go-to movie, go-to snack, go-to book, go-to song, go-to vacation spot... ANY 5 things!!)

1. My go-to refreshment when we're out and about running errands (or I just need a treat!) is a large vanilla Coke with easy ice from Sonic.

2. My go-to side item when planning dinners is steamed brown rice. We eat it several times a week. If Nate is refusing to eat veggies, I can mix some chopped up veggies in rice, and he will eat them. I always say that I'll make a big pot every weekend so that we don't always have to wait for it to cook. Never do it, though.

3. My go-to breakfast is Raisin Bran Crunch with 1% milk, followed by coffee with a splash of International Delight Hershey's Chocolate Caramel. If I'm cooking, trade the cereal for eggs. If we're getting donuts, give me chocolate iced with sprinkles.

4. My go-to song to sing Nate when he's upset is "Elmo's Song." He loves it.

5. My go-to nail polish is in the range of dark red/wine/burgundy/raisin.

comparison...

26 weeks 4 days pregnant with Nate

25 weeks 6 days pregnant with Baby Brother

People keep telling me how small I am, but I was sure that I'm bigger than I was at this point in my first pregnancy. I needed to look at pics to compare. There it is. Not exactly exactly the same point. The closest picture I could find to today is actually 5 days from now. I could wait and take a pic in 5 days - as if I would remember...

purging (our possessions, not my stomach)

When I was pregnant with Nate, I outgrew my clothes in phases. Around 6 or 7 months in, I decided that there was no way I was ever going to get back into the first phase of clothes that I outgrew. I loved those clothes - not the size, just the clothes themselves. It seemed that it would be better for me emotionally if they weren't even around after Nate was born. That way, I would be buying new clothes instead of being depressed about not being able to fit into my tiny clothes again. So I got rid of them.

After Nate was born, I did have to buy all new clothes. I had gone from a size 2 or 4 to a size 8 (and eventually a 6). When Nate was 10 months old, I started fitting into some of my bigger size 4s again. When Nate was 11 months old, I got pregnant again.

I've been in maternity clothes since about 8 weeks pregnant. A couple of weekends ago, I got really serious about getting my non-maternity clothes out of my way. In the process, I decided to get rid of any clothes that I never got back into between pregnancies. I mean, maybe I'll be a size 4 again, but who knows? That set off a chain reaction, and I eventually cleaned out all four of our closets.

Four kitchen garbage bags of stuff went straight to the dumpster. Why did I keep those things? I think it made sense to keep them at first, but then after a few months, it didn't. But, I was keeping those things, so I just kept keeping them.

I listed a few things for sale on Craigslist: a bench (sold - this wasn't in the closet, by the way), a comforter set (sold), an infant carseat base, and a glass pitcher with 8 matching goblets. I listed them cheap so that they would sell, and we're going to spend what I made so far on our date this evening. Woot!

Then, we loaded up 5 boxes from jumbo packs of diapers, 3 suitcases full of clothes, and a few other odds and ends in the van. Those were donated to a church garage sale that is going on as we speak (if you will). I have been to garage sales that had less stuff for sale than what we took over to the church. Seriously.

I sort through it all and decide what stays and what goes. He hauls it off. We're a good team.

It actually looks like a lot less stuff when it's loaded in the van. Now that this is all out of the apartment, we can actually walk around in our bedroom again. :)

It feels good to purge. Very cleansing. However, our apartment is still full of stuff.

QOTW: If God dwells inside us like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that's what He's getting.

updates all around

Nate started daycare this week. It's rough because he doesn't know them, he's not used to their schedule, etc... Tuesday (his first day), they said he cried all day long. Each day got progressively better, though. Today, they told me he was upset at first, but after lunch (he arrives right before lunch) he was happy and played a lot. By the time I got there to pick him up, he was crying, but he usually is grumpy around 5ish even when he's at home - he's getting hungry for supper. The teacher said he had only been crying a few minutes.

Rodgers is consumed with thoughts and plans for Full Life. We officially have the address: facebook.com/abunchofgrapes. We're working on scheduling times to speak in churches, Bible studies, or anywhere, really. I'm doing a horrible job of keeping the blog updated. Just about every day, Rodgers scours the internet, looking at rent houses (we'll be renting when we first get to Kenya next year) and land.

Baby Brother and I are doing better than ever. I haven't puked since Tuesday! It's amazing. I hardly know what to do with myself. I saw the Dr on Wednesday. She said that I am "allowed" to gain 40 lbs, since I started out so light. Well, considering I was 10 lbs heavier at the start of this pregnancy than my first, and my first Dr was always getting on to me about my weight gain, I was quite pleasantly surprised. I am feeling better than I have ever felt while pregnant. With Nate, I remember feeling generally horrible most of the time. Not so much this time. If not for the dance party in my tummy, I would almost feel normal. I have very much been enjoying Alphamom's pregnancy calendar, especially since the author wrote it during her second pregnancy.

The stats, etc:
How Far Along 24 weeks 2 days
How Big is Baby just over 1 lb and about 1 foot long
Total Weight Gain 15 lbs (I'm quite pleased and surprised by this)
Sleep I'm still sleeping well, just having trouble going to bed on time because I get so wired at night.
Best Moment this Week We watched a movie yesterday. Baby Brother was a swirling vortex of activity throughout the entire movie. He's still small enough that it doesn't hurt yet, so it was super fun.
Movement Um...see above. This kid is active, like his big brother.
Food Cravings I'm at that point now, where any food mentioned automatically becomes my craving. I rarely have an original craving.
Belly Button flatter, bigger around. It's now what a call a castle-and-moat belly button.
What I Miss I miss my former agility. Bending over, getting out of chairs, all of these kind of things are getting more difficult. Also, I miss my feet not hurting.
What I'm Looking Forward To Since we live in a 2 bedroom apartment, Baby Brother will stay in our bedroom until he's sleeping well enough to not disturb Nate, then they'll share. This very well could mean that he's staying in our room until sometime after we move to Kenya, depending on what kind of a sleeper he is. Anyway, I got a closet hangy organizer thingy and have started putting our (3) NB outfits and (many) 0-3 outfits in it in our closet. Now I'm really looking forward to dressing this baby.
Weekly Wisdom Watermelon is a diuretic. Summer heat during pregnancy can cause swelling. Watermelon can reduce this. Is it a coincidence that watermelons are abundant in the summer?
Milestones 24 weeks means Baby Brother is now a viable fetus. This is a major developmental milestone. His chances for survival (with extensive medical intervention) outside the womb have more than doubled in the past week. I always feel like I have to put a disclaimer when I say things like this, such as: I'm not trying to have a micro-preemie. I don't want him to be born early. I'm simply acknowledging the milestone. :)

My belly: