Too Cute to be a Sociopath? That's a Thing, Right? And Third Trimester!!

henry is, generally speaking, a very loving, kind, affectionate kid.  we really try to encourage these characteristics.

but he kind of also wants to destroy. everything. always. just exactly like this. we don't so much encourage that.

for example, every time we ride our bikes by this old folks' condo complex near where we live, he says "that's a castle. i want to knock it down." we laughed the first few times, but he says it so convincingly and with such a straight face, we've gotten a little worried. if one brick falls off that building, or one window shatters spontaneously, i'm convinced...he's 'carrie.'

and then tonight at dinner while he was attempting to sword me with his fork, he told me he wanted to "broke me."  (you what?)  " i want to broke your eyes." (you want to BROKE MY EYES?)  "yeah. i want to broke your head!"

it's a good thing i kind of sleep with one eye open anyway.  i wouldn't want to get broked.

sleep isn't something i do a whole lot of recently. and not just because i have a healthy fear of my 2 year old.  i have now officially entered THE THIRD TRIMESTER of this pregnancy.

...which is awesome. it's reassuring that things are going this well and we've made it this far and (pending a repeat ultrasound on thursday) all is well with the new baby.

it also means that uber weird things start happening to what used to be my body and is now a cow alien spaceship thing. the baby has gotten really active lately- big movements that can not only be felt through my abdomen but also CAN BE SEEN. just exactly like this.  i don't remember that from henry's pregnancy- i think both because i was 20 lbs heavier that time around, and also because my abdominal wall is stretched so thin from the first round that it's like a stained glass window now and it just makes sense that we'll be able to watch the baby swim around in there through my tissue.

in all seriousness, i love experiencing the movement and am getting really excited. it's starting to feel really real.

also- now i have to time to focus on the baby! regarding my recent post full of anxiety and whining- i passed my boards! and don't need to re-certify for my license until henry is in 5th grade! so one by one my october stressors are melting away. thanks to God.

i thought it'd be fun to set up a little wager for this baby's sex, due date, etc. if you're interested, check out: http://bellybets.com/betting-sheet-1002338.  the winner will get to dictate that we take a pic of the new baby in any outfit/setting/situation they choose. (within reason, of course).

hope you're all having a great week so far! toodles!

Are You Ready for Some Whining on the Internet?

it's been a stressful week.

last weekend i attended an incredibly intense recertification seminar for my physician assistant license. (10-12 hr days in a classroom, earned me my hemorrhoid i was waiting for. finally. so glad you could make it. was sure hoping you'd come join the party). we have to do this every so many years.

being gone from henry for 5 days was SUPER FUN for him being with grandma and grandpa, but i missed him terribly. robb and i have fun on our own without the short tag-along, but i was glad to get back home to him. so then i had a few days of studying/spending time with monkey butt and trying to get house stuff done while hitting the dentist and doctors appts i never get to do because i'm always working.

my 26 week OB visit went ok. heart rate is good, but baby is a little small for gestational age, so i'll go back in a few weeks to see how it's tracking. makes me nervous, but anatomical ultrasound and all testing has been fine, so hopefully it's just a little hiccup. i also took my glucose tolerance test to see if i have the gestational diuhbeetus. i am waiting on those results. (the red sugar shot is WAY mo' bettah than the orange one. please note).

then i took my exam and it was long and tedious and terrifying and terrible and i don't know if i passed. it makes me question myself and all my choices and i hate that feeling. should-ave's and could-ave's will kill you every time,  i guess.

anyway, between that and taking an advanced life support class this coming week, if you just HAVE to have a heart attack around me, do it now, because i'll never know more about fixin' you than i will right now while it's fresh-ish in my brain.

let me take a moment to comment on how fuzzy and slow my brain is. in general, but especially while i'm pregnant. so that's pretty awesome.  yeah, maybe don't have a heart attack around me after all, mmmmk?

and when i went to the dentist, i also took henry for his first dental visit. he did great, but turns out that him using a pacifier all this time while he's sleeping does more than just stifle his intelligence and chances of succeeding at life and not becoming a serial killer, it ALSO causes an overbite.

and so now whenever i look at him or hear a (previously adorable) little lisp in his speech, i'm sure it's because we've ruined him forever by being lazy good-for-nothing parents relying on all the tricks to keep him quiet/happy.

so we're also working on ridding ourselves of the paci once and for all. he still has a blanket he sleeps with and might have it well into high school. i'm ok with that as it does not effect his jaw, only his psyche.

sigh. what else? we have friends-like-family in pain and that pains us to our cores.

so, you know, stressful.

but as i want to acknowledge always- many blessings all around us.

just currently also lots of opportunities for increased blood pressure.

Sex Toys, Facewash, Bread and Apples

robb and i celebrated our 11th anniversary this weekend. and i realized recently that this year i've been with him for half my life. whoa.

we feel extremely blessed and relieved and, sort of, shocked that we still enjoy each other as much as we do.

and why aren't we tired of each other yet? this is something with which i'm genuinely perplexed. 

sharing with one person all parts of your emotional, financial, sexual, other physical, spiritual, and family life is a lot to ask.

it's not easy, but it's been worth making it work.

we're still a work in progress, but we've definitely gotten better over the years with how we communicate with each other and how we face life's decisions, changes, and tragedies together.

we talk to each other. a lot. so i don't think there's time for us to 'grow apart,' because we're always chatting about what's going on in our heads, our hearts, our mutual and independent lives, and the world around us. we stay up on current events (ok, more like robb reads, i steal his cliff-note version of everything) and try to always stay alert and relevant in the world and to enjoy each others minds and not just get bogged down with the gruesome minutia of who forgot to buy diapers and who's turn it is to do the hand-wash dishes.

we try to be respectful and to always speak nicely to one other.

we strive to love each other 'like Christ loved the church'... honoring with everlasting support and service....we're close, i think...

...if Christ on occasion told the church to f*ck off...

...which i don't think He did...so, see? we're still working on it.

and we laugh together a lot. there are times that we're having more work than fun in our relationship, but not many. and i guess at this point, i don't mind the work. in fact, we've seen it pay off, so we know it's worth the time and energy. and when we do have 'trouble times,'  we've accumulated enough years behind us to know that they won't kill us and that we'll find a way through them.

we still surprise each other. robb shocks me with something he says/does at least once a week. and when you spend this much time with someone for this long, i think you have to let yourself still be surprised. we must remain open to it because surely we've heard each others jokes and can see it coming by now. but somehow he never feels stale to me.

so, i guess i'm saying i feel so blessed and amazed that we're still having so much fun, this many years into it. i thought about writing this post when i laughed because i had on my shopping list the week before our anniversary "sex toys, face wash, bread, apples."

the stuff of life has to be dealt with. school lunches made, bills paid, rooms painted, clothes washed. but we also have to try to stay exciting and interesting to each other and ourselves.

hence, the apples.