Vanities

I have now reached the halfway point of my pregnancy... 20 weeks that just seemed to fly by, right? In addition to being thankful that I feel better, have more energy, and finally have overcome my early-pregnancy aversion to chocolate, I also decided that it was time to start wearing my maternity clothes. Dan and I had an interesting conversation about this a month or so ago.

D: (As I'm getting ready one morning) Do you think it's about time to pull out your stretchy pants?
K: (Slight raise of eyebrows, forced even voice, sweet smile on my face) Do you think I NEED to pull out my stretchy pants?
D: (Realizing he has started a conversation which cannot possibly turn out favorably for him) No, I was just wondering. You look great!
K: It's just that most of my winter maternity clothes are for work, which doesn't really fit my new stay-at-home lifestyle. I have more casual things for the summer, but it's not quite warm enough to wear those yet. I was hoping I could wait until I'm about 20 weeks along, and then my clothes should be just fine.
D: (Trying to solve the problem, like a typical male) Why don't you just go shopping then?
K: That's not the point. I still have regular clothes that fit... so I don't need more clothes right now.
D: (Clearly deciding that all is lost anyway, so deciding to go for broke) It sounds like you're just being vain.
K: (Knowing that Dan is probably right, but NOT willing to make that admission) It sounds like you're not helping.

Now this isn't our first rodeo... or even our second. And my last pregnancy was not that long ago. It's lucky that Dan banked some favors while I was down with morning sickness - otherwise I might really have lost it. Alas, I remained (relatively) calm and continued wearing my regular clothes... right up until I was fully 20 weeks pregnant. (So there.) Luckily, Dan has been super-supportive since the above-mentioned interaction and has attacked my nesting list with renewed gusto. All the same, I thought I might offer him a few points of advice:

1. Though I can only speak from my own experience, it is my guess that pregnancy usually does not make women MORE rational. If jokes weren't funny to me before I got a baby-fueled infusion of hormones and grew a basketball in my mid-section, they're probably not going to be funny now... even if you try to use your fancy logic.
2. Though I like to bill myself as a fairly low-maintenance person, I do have my vanities. This is probably not the best time to see if they have suddenly disappeared. They have not. Also, you don't need to point them out. I know they're there.
3. It might be (sort of) cute when Norah or Maddie point out the (growing) size of my belly. More affirmative comments are appropriate from you. However, don't over-exaggerate or outright lie. For example, don't tell me that I don't even look pregnant. (I do.) Just tell me that my shirt looks great or that my dress is really pretty.

Jokes aside, I am so thankful for my healthy pregnancy and growing belly. God has truly blessed us with this new life, and even in my most irrational, vain moments I am so grateful for the baby we are soon to meet. And Dan is truly the most supportive and loving husband and dad any pregnant girl could wish for. But that doesn't mean I can't give him a bad time now and again, right?

Finally, thank-you, Dan, for your advice about going shopping - I may just take you up on it. Except I probably won't get myself more stretchy pants. Now that it's warmer, I have plenty of options already in my closet. Instead, I might just head to the nursery to get another blueberry bush for the yard. I'm sure you'll be happy to plant it for me.

Springtime!

Spring has sprung here in Fresno, and while we're still hoping to get a lot more rain to help with our current drought conditions, we are also enjoying some really nice sunny, warm days. Norah and Maddie love playing outside this time of year... they were nice enough to slow down for a few minutes so I could get some pictures of them with the blossoms.

Dan, Norah, and Maddie also took advantage of the nice weather by running in a race this past Saturday. Norah and Maddie did the 1/8 mile kid's race, while Dan (joined by Maggie, Jake, and Laura) did the 10K. Both girls did great! Norah took a bit of a spill while trying to navigate the crowded starting line, but she hopped up, wiped away the tears, and completed her race. Maddie - as the youngest competitor in the field - was the last one to cross the line... but she ran with determination from start to finish. They both had a lot of fun and were very proud of the medals they got at the finish line. (The adults did great, too, even if their race didn't draw quite the same crowds of spectators as the kid's race did.)

Norah is cruising along through her last few months of preschool (sigh...). She has made some good friends, some of whom will be continuing on with her at St. Anthony's next year. Maddie has been ramping up her vocabulary the past few weeks. She has a few obvious favorites (no, doggie, ball), but also some harder words that are obviously very important for her to be able to communicate (cookie, swing, dinner ["ninner"], sister, yucky, stinky, gunk, shoes, and balloon ["manoon"]). She's even realized that she can convey attitude with her words ("um, no")! It's very cute, and she is surprisingly patient with us as we try to figure out what she's saying.

We have also started preparations for our new arrival, with cleaning closets and organizing cabinets first on my list of to-do's. Maddie will be moving out of the nursery into what we have been using as our office, so there are a lot of things to relocate. As I was moving some boxes of old keepsake clothes from my childhood, I couldn't resist having a dress-up session with Maddie. I was also able to find of picture of myself in one of the outfits (along with some very stylish ladies, I might add!).

Next on the nesting list is wallpaper/texturing removal, retexturing, and painting. Luckily for Dan, I think we'll be hiring a professional on this one. I'm sure we'll think of plenty of other things to keep him busy, though! Happy spring to all!