Ultrasound

I had my ultrasound this morning, and all is well with Baby Simpson. As you have probably guessed by the blue writing, it's another boy! And there was no denying it was a boy -- as the ultrasound tech. said, "He's been waving that thing around the whole time!"

These are my ultrasound pictures from today. The top photo shows his little foot. The one on the bottom left is the "male" photo. The blob right in the middle is the boy business. The bottom right is a front face and belly. I will have another next month, because he kept moving around and the tech. couldn't get a shot of his face to check nose, lips, etc. I can't wait to see how much he's changed in just a month. He weighs 1 pound 2 ounces right now and is right on track for 21 weeks of development. I can't believe I'm more than halfway to delivery!

Dream On

In less than 24 hours we'll know if our new baby will be a boy or a girl. . . I can't wait to find out!

When I was pregnant with David, we didn't find out if he was a boy or a girl. I said from the start that I thought he was a boy, and I had two dreams that I was having a boy. With Henry, I think I was just so shocked that I was pregnant, I didn't even really think about having a boy or a girl -- I couldn't even quite grasp that I was having another baby. We did find out at our ultrasound what he was, but I still didn't even really believe I was having a baby until we were leaving the hospital with him. Something about having a 20 week old baby and finding out you're 3 months pregnant forces one into denial!

This time, I've said from the start I think it's a girl. Wishful thinking? Perhaps. I will, of course, not be disappointed if it's another boy. I think they would be great friends since they'll all be so close in age. I think three boys would be fun, if not noisy, chaotic, and smelly. As many people would, however, already having two boys I think a girl would be great.

I've had two dreams about the baby so far, and in both it was clearly a girl. In the first I was looking through the nursery window at her, and she was wearing a little sleeper with pink and red flowers on it and a HUGE red bow in her hair. (I LOVE bows in little girls hair. The bigger the better. Obviously I'm truly a southern girl at heart, because nowhere else will you find a child with a bow bigger than her head.) In my dream last night, Chris and I were at my ultrasound appointment and found out it was a girl. I left the room and the ultrasound tech gave Chris a scrapbook with the baby's ultrasound photos in it, but only the first photo was an ultrasound picture and the rest were all actual newborn photographs (but still ultrasound pics in my dream?!) The last page had a spot to fill in the baby's name, and whatever you filled in was the legal name of the child. Obviously this will never happen in real life, since Chris tosses around names like Sangria, Oprah and 'Lil Kim. However, in the dream he filled in the baby's name and named her Rayna Layna Simpson. WHAT?! I woke up laughing.

So, tomorrow we'll know the answer. I'll post to let everyone know if it's another boy or a Rayna Layna Simpson! And then, the name game will truly start!

More Potty Talk

I bit the bullet today. . . Henry has been wearing underpants all day long. He's used the potty off and on, very irregularly, for several months now. I DO NOT want two children in diapers again when the baby's born, so we've gotten started on Henry. He's had two small accidents (no poop, thank God!) but has done really well. He's very motivated. . . by the candy corn he gets when he pees on the toilet!! Whatever it takes! It will be sooooooo nice to have Henry and David both in underpants, not diapers. Fingers crossed he does well and is a quick learner!

The Potty

My friend Melanie emailed me a little piece written by a mother discussing her trip to the bathroom with her child. I could have written it. For anyone with children, you know how fun going to the bathroom is in public with your children. Especially small children. I'm not even going to cover trying to get yourself, a 2 year old, and a 3 year old crammed into a stall the size of a coffin, pull your pants down, sit without knocking one of the children over, and peeing without having the toilet spray from the excessive flushing make you wonder if you're on a bidet. . . we're just going to discuss one particular incident I've recently experienced.

We took the boys to the movies two weeks ago to see a Thomas movie. Going to the movies is a big deal for them -- they've never before actually made it through the entire thing, but they did this time. After the movie, I had to use the bathroom. Chris brought Henry to the car, and I brought David with me. Big mistake. Why I didn't think about the bathroom being full after a movie lets out is beyond me. Every stall was full. There was a line. We patiently waited our turn, standing in line while simultaneously trying to keep David from having his first peeping Tom arrest as he tried desperately to see under the door "what taking she so long." I should also add that the bathroom at this particular theater is TINY. If you have the baby changing station open, nobody can walk past because the bathroom is so narrow. This leads to excellent bathroom acoustics.

David and I squeeze into a stall. Of course the handicapped stall wasn't the first to open up! He immediately dashes to the rear of the stall (pun intended) and positions himself in prime flushing position. I lock the door and pull my pants down. As I drop my pants, David says as loud as he can, "I like you polka dot underpants Mama!" Always one to love a compliment, I of course thanked him. I sit down to go to the bathroom, as the spray is hitting my bum already from flush number one. I'm afraid my bum will smack him in the face because he's standing so close to me. Seriously, how much room is there behind the bowl, between the toilet and the wall? Gumby was back there, primed to flush again. As I make the descent down, David screams, "Do you have to poop? I don't want it to get stinky!" FLUSH. Let me remind you that the entire bathroom was full. With a line to get in. Swell. I assured him I didn't have to poop. I tried to model a quiet voice. He wasn't getting it. As loud as he can, while patting my naked rear end, he said, "I glad you bum doesn't stink Mama. It looks real nice." FLUSH. OK. What the hell? Is it too much to ask for child friendly graffiti on the walls? COME ON! I finish up and get myself re-clothed. FLUSH. FLUSH. The people waiting in line probably thought I had diarrhea the damn toilet flushed so much. I reach to open the door. FLUSH one last time for good measure. We exit the stall, and I avoid making eye contact with anyone. I felt like the line was as long to get into that bathroom as it would be for a major league sporting event. David shrieks, "WASH YOUR HANDS! DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY GERMS A TOILET HAS?!" OK, at least he listens to me sometimes.

As we're leaving the theater he stops in the middle of the lobby and says, "I have to go potty." I made him pee in the parking lot next to the car.

YIKES!

Me 10 weeks before David was born.

Me three days before David was born.

Me today. I still have at least 18 weeks to go. . . exactly how large is my stomach going to get this time??? I'm scared!

The end of an era

David has been going to speech therapy at Vanderbilt University for over two years now. During that time, in addition to getting his speech therapy, he also had two surgeries on his mouth to correct physical barriers preventing him from proper speech development. I'm so proud to post that, as of today, David is DONE with speech therapy!!! When he was first diagnosed with apraxia of speech (www. apraxiakids.org) we were so nervous about what the future would be like for David. He didn't speak at all, only grunted, pointed, and used sign language. Apraxia is a very serious diagnosis, and we were afraid that it would follow him for a long time. I am so proud of him!! He's worked so hard over the last two years, going twice a week for the majority of that time to get his therapies. He'll have to have a follow up appointment in a year, but his therapist said she sees no indication that he'll need future therapy. YEA DAVID!!!!

Our new car

Chris sold his Jeep Wrangler a couple of weeks ago to get something larger. He had had the Wrangler for 11 years, and he loved it. I was very surprised when he said he wanted to sell it, but it does make sense considering we could fit one person in the passenger seat OR one carseat in the backseat but not both. Since we'll soon have three carseats, it didn't make a lot of sense. He originally was talking about getting a Jeep Cherokee, but we found this and bought it this morning. We previously had a navy blue "Woody" as a third car, but sold it a couple of years ago because it never got any use and needed a bit of repair. We both sort of regretted that, because we love the Grand Wagoneer. We found this one locally, and it's got less than 100,000 miles on it. That's virtually unheard of around here. We're pretty excited about it!

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to my parents who have been married for 33 years! It's amazing to me that they've been married for so long and still love each other so much. Who else could put up with my father's antics and accidents or my mom's CRAZY behavior and strange places she puts things? They're perfect for each other, and such a great inspiration for me in my own marriage. Their relationship has taught me a lot about patience, loving people the way they are, and perhaps most of all about compromise and teamwork. They are truly a team, and we're lucky they found each other and stuck it out through the hard times. We love you!!!

PS. Seriously, this is the most recent photo I could find?? This was TWO years ago!

The First Day of School

Today was David's first day of preschool! How can that be?! He was very excited this morning, which was a great relief for me. I thought he would be, but I was a bit apprehensive that he would make a fuss and cry. Which would, of course, make me cry. He did great though. He was practically running into school when we got there, went right to his classroom and started playing while he still had his backpack on! I was worried about him having a potty accident at school, and we discussed how if he needed to use the bathroom he was to ask his one of his teachers. I was so glad when I picked him up to see that he had the same clothes on that he started with! I could hear him crying as I was walking down the hall to pick him up. He was upset because he had to stay on his nap mat -- I thought that might be an issue. By that point he was WORN OUT, and wanted nothing to do with laying on the floor.

Mrs. Frankie and Mrs. Sheila are his teachers, and they're both so sweet. They did say that David is "strong willed" and that he had to miss the first trip out to the playground today because he wouldn't participate in circle time. He wanted to continue playing, looking through the cabinets, and just generally doing what he wasn't supposed to be doing. He and another child had to stay in while the other kids went out to play. It won't take David long to figure out that's not a great idea! He painted a picture and colored another one, and he was so proud to come home and show us. I know he missed Henry, because the first thing he asked me when I picked him up was, "Where's Henry?"

Henry had a much better day today than I expected. He was upset when David was getting ready and kept shouting, "I NEED MY LUNCHBOX! I NEED MY BACKPACK!" We brought David to school, and there were no tears. I was proud of him. We came home and he helped me clean up the kitchen then said, "I need to do my school now," so we painted some pictures, colored, cut some paper up, and then he told me he was tired and wanted to lay down. He slept for 4 hours! He was sick yesterday afternoon/evening, so that didn't really surprise me.

We had a great day. I was much less upset about David being at school than I expected. And I got so much done with only one child at home!! I asked David how school was and he said he wants to go back, which is a great sign!

It's been a while!

I'm sure you've all missed me for the last few days. . .

I had a taste of working full-time last week, as I was working in Nashville at a commercial kitchen preparing 7 cakes for a Bat Mitzvah. I was very happy with the way they came out, very tired by the end of the week, and very glad I don't work full-time!

We sold Chris' Wrangler last weekend so we can get something larger. He wants a Cherokee, so we spent yesterday looking for one. We found a couple of promising ones, so he'll be calling about them tomorrow. I hate with a passion shopping for cars, so I'll be very happy when he finds one and it's over. It's a very stressful process for me!

David had his preschool orientation last week, and he loved his class. He was a bit apprehensive at first, but played for a while and seemed to like it. He told me that night at dinner, "Next time we go to school, I want to stay and you go to Target." He starts on Wednesday, and I hope it goes smoothly. I want to cry thinking about him going to preschool!!! I know it will be good for him and he'll love it, but it makes me sad to think about him being old enough for school. Henry will have a hard time not being able to go also, I suspect. He knows he'll go when he's three, and he seems to be OK with that for now.

Here are some pictures from the past few days. And yes, Henry's carrying a leopard print purse. He called it his lunchbox!