BellyWatch3 | 12 Wks

Mommy & the crew


@ the doctor's office

Nausea, migraines, and fatigue... oh joy. We're almost out of the woods, though. The first trimester is quickly coming to a close. Evidently, every pregnancy goes by about 3 times faster than the last one. I'm guessing that has more to do with our preoccupation with the 2 kids already here than anything else. If Justin & Jasmine don't know anything else, they know how to keep us busy. As for the baby, according to babycenter.com, it's the size of a lime... but already has the heartbeat of a lion (see audio clip). Just as it always does, hearing the baby just made everything 10 times "more real" for us. With V not showing yet (and with zero weight gain so far) it's easy to forget from one moment to the next that we'll be asking for a table of 5 by the end of the year (cRaZy! we just upped our wait time at any restaurant by 15 to 20 minutes). But once you hear that heartbeat, it's like... wow... this is really happening. And it becomes exciting all over again.



Two other things to say about this audio clip...

1. Jasmine was pulling up her shirt because she wanted the doctor to check out the heartbeat in her belly, too. Slow down, Jasmine. It'll be a while.

2. Justin took the picture that accompanies the audio clip. My first reaction when I realized that he snuck in a press of the shutter button was to knock him upside the head... and then I glanced at the photo and thought, hey... that ain't too shabby. I also forgot to give him his props on the last entry. He took the picture of V and I on her birthday, too... He didn't do much to compose it, but he's the one that squeezed the shutter button. That obviously makes me proud for no good reason. It was certainly nothing more than two lucky clicks of the finger... but I still can't wait to get him his own camera for his birthday this year. The boy might need his own blog by then. Showboat.

Birthday Girl

Happy Birthday, Mommy! We love you.

Blown Away

Okay, so I picked the windiest day in Hampton Roads' history to try to take some backyard pictures of the kids. With 30 mph gusts, we lasted no more than 3 minutes outside (probably closer to 2) before we had to call it quits. There were a couple of wind gusts that I just knew were going to blow Justin and Jasmine down the block. The funny part was, neither one of them knew what to make of the wind either. Justin sounded like a confused scientist, constantly telling me, "It's hot... and it's cold" (referring to how sunny it was... but yet how brutal the wind was at the same time)... and Jasmine just kept saying "I need a hat, daddy!"... over and over again... which I'm guessing was code for, "you're not really keeping us out here for pictures, are you?... I'm freezing... and I'm telling mommy!"

I was just happy to get a few shots in before we headed in. If their demeanors and my schedule permit, we'll try again tomorrow.

Unseasonal

When the temps hit 70+ in the middle of February, you never know what will happen next. Ladies and gentlemen... I present to you... a rare mommy sighting! After weeks of hibernation, I got Venesa in my sights while we enjoyed the crazy weather yesterday. We broke out the bikes and scooters (which Jasmine missed yet again due to her late nap... which was due to her continued stubbornness during nap time.... but that's a whole different blog entry). The evening weather was also perfect for an outdoor fire. It was cool enough that we could sit outside and chill... but chilly enough that we could also appreciate the warmth from the fire. Overall, a fun evening with the fam.

BellyWatch3 | 10 Wks

Okay, so... can you still call it morning sickness if it lasts 23 hours a day? The truth is, V's current miserable state has pretty much been par for the course for all 3 pregnancies. The first two times around, the nausea and related symptoms all pretty much turned off like a light switch the second the first trimester ended. So at least she has something to look forward to. 10 weeks down... 3 more week of earl to go. Aside from that, I guess things are okay. Mom's making it. Dad's doing what he can. Justin still wants to name the child Big Bird... or Cookie Monster if it's a girl. And Jasmine is pretty much clueless... but taking classes nonetheless on how to be a good big sister.



As for the baby on the way, here's the big dilemma that I'd like you to share in:

To Jay... or not to Jay... that is the question.

Here's what I mean:

For those who haven't heard, V and I pretty much decided prior to this pregnancy that if we were going to do 3, then we'd most likely shoot for 4. Something about even numbers, and V's no-so-fond memories of being the middle child herself. So with that, it's time to start choosing names. First we have...

Option 1: Go with another J name. Now, I'll be the first to tell you that the J thing seems like it could get old. There are, after all, 25 other letters in the alphabet just waiting to be used. And every now and then, I just think... that's just silly. I mean, if we pulled a J sweep, I'm not really sure how many steps away that would be from pulling a George Foreman (which is universally agreed to be absurd). Exactly where is that blurry line between cute and ridiculous? With two kids, the same letter thing is kinda cute... Justin and Jasmine... nice ring... but at what point is it overkill? Hmmm. Tough one. Which brings us to...

Option 2: Abandon the J-mobile while there's still time and pull a first-letter-switcharoo. The thinking is, if there are two non-jays in the mix, kids 3 & 4 won't seem so much like the odd-men out. It won't be like, Justin, Jasmine... and Bob. Child #3 would have company in his or her non-jay-osity. Justin, Jasmine, Bob, and Betty... (okay, so in case you missed it, we are so not going with Bob and Betty... examples, people. Just examples). Anyhow, here'e the issue: What if we go with option 2 and then we stop at 3 kids for whatever reason? Maybe we run out of money... or better, maybe we run out of time (we're not exactly spring chickens here). The point is, nothing is promised. So then we'd be back to the Justin, Jasmine and Bob show... with Bob feeling like the proverbial oops child who came after we ran out of J names.

Decisions, decisions.

Your thoughts, good fellows?

Without A Trace

December 3 (just 2 days after she went from crib to daybed) Jasmine gave me a scare for the ages. I almost forgot about this until I came across the photo that I took that night. Here's how it went down...

I woke up at 4am for whatever reason. I raided the fridge. Surfed the web. Got sleepy again and finally headed back to bed. On the way back, I peeked in on the kids. Justin had already completed his nightly migration to our bed, so his bed was empty... But the odd thing is that Jasmine's bed was empty, too. I looked around the room. Nothing. So I went to our room.

Me: Pssst... is Jasmine in here?

V: No...

Me: Did you move her?

V: What are you taking about?

Okay, so in my head, I'm already on the phone with the police. But I'm trying to play it cool so that V doesn't jump through the roof. In that split second, I had already gone through 49 scenarios as to how our second child had gotten abducted. I promise you, that was the scariest .089 seconds of my life.

So I jolt back to reality and finally respond to V with, "nothing... go back to bed"... and I headed back to the kids' room as fast I could without alarming V. I checked the toy room. Back to the bedroom. I scanned the room twice more to figure out where in the world my daughter could be... I was already backing out of the room to finally get V out of bed... and boom. On the 3rd scan, out the corner of my eye, I spotted an arm.

In yet another split second, I went from terror-stricken to a big grin and laughter. How in the world she fell, rolled, and stayed asleep I'll never know. But I do know this much: I've never been so happy that someone fell out of the bed. Incredible.

Detention

V is back in SC this week taking care of a few items for her dad. A day or two ago, she had the pleasure of joining her nephew at his school for "bring your family to school" day. Here's the text she sent me...

"Vince paid Jasmine & Justin to do his homework"

My reply:
OMG... they look so cute in the classroom!!!

too bad it'll never happen.

lol. priceless.

By the way, I love the look on Jasmine's face. So serious. That's that look of, "We had homework?! Okay... no panic... I'v got 3 minutes. Let me see if I can get this done before class starts." Been there, done that. [flashing back through the memories...] Man, for being a nerd, I was always such a delinquent student! But that's another story for another day.