You just can't win ...

I know I am overly sensitive about comments about my size when I am pregnant, but I just want to say that you can't win with me, no matter what you say.

When I was pregnant with Drew, one of my friends at church was pregnant with twins. She was due a couple of weeks after me (we ended up having our children on the same day!) but I got tired of people looking at her and then looking at me and asking me if I was sure I wasn't the one having twins. Nope, just one baby for me. And yes, I know, I gained a lot of weight.

This time, with only eight weeks until my due date, I look (and feel) huge, but people have been telling me that I look so cute and that I'm "finally" starting to show a little bit. Just how big did they think I was to start with? I have been showing for quite a while now!

So, my suggestion is to just refrain from commenting on a pregnant woman's size ... you won't win, no matter what you say.

Eight More Weeks

Just fifty-six days left until my due date. I cannot wait to meet my baby boy!

This pregnancy has seemed to fly by. My days are so busy just taking care of Gracie and Drew and keeping up with daily household tasks. Now I have the added challenge of trying to figure out what (and how) to teach Gracie. I have a feeling that I am going to blink and all of a sudden the baby will be here.

I was reading a craft book to Gracie the other day and it suggested making a paper chain with one link for each day when you were counting down to a big event. I am so tempted to make one with 56 links -- not so much for Drew and Gracie as for myself! It would be a fun reminder that he will be here soon.

I haven't really started to think about getting ready for him. The crib is set up, but that is only because Drew was still sleeping in it when we found out we were expecting again -- we moved Drew into a toddler bed but never took the crib apart. We did buy a minivan. The new baby will use Drew's car seat; Drew will use Gracie's; and Gracie will move up to a belt-positioning booster seat. I borrowed a baby swing from a friend at church. I bought two sleepers and another outfit for the baby last weekend, so he will have a few clothes. We don't have much yet, but at least he will have something to wear home from the hospital! (We donated all of Drew's and Gracie's baby clothes to an orphanage in Zambia that our church works with before we found out that this baby was on the way.) And I think we have finally decided on a name. I guess things are coming together, after all.

I have a sonogram next week to check on my low-lying placenta. I can't wait to get another peek at our baby, and I hope to hear that he is growing well and that things look good for a natural delivery.

First Day of School

A couple of weeks ago, Gracie announced that she wanted to start school when the big kids did. We have been planning to homeschool our children since before they were born, so you might think I would have been ready, but Gracie is only four and a half years old right now, so I had planned to wait another year to start "school" with her. I was left scrambling a little bit to come up with school activities for her.

I finally decided to use resources we have on hand: Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Siegfried Engelmann, Phyllis Haddox, and Elaine Bruner; handwriting worksheets created with StartWrite handwriting software; activities from The Three R's by Ruth Beechick; fun lapbook activities from Homeschool Share; and lots and lots of library books. School will last for an hour or less each day.

Gracie has been excited about school every morning this week. I hope that her enthusiasm lasts! Drew sits happily in his high chair and colors, does a craft, or plays with Play-Doh while Gracie works on her reading and writing with me. It will be interesting to see how things work out when the new baby arrives in October!

A Two-year-old's "Tragedy"

I gave Drew and Gracie each a new box of crayons this afternoon after lunch. Drew was so pleased with it. He pulled out each crayon to examine the different colors. He put them back in the box and then took them out again. He said some color names at random. But then the tragedy. One crayon broke. Drew cried for a long time. "Mommy, fix it. Tape it."

I know a broken crayon is so small in the grand scheme of things, but Drew is starting to learn that Mommy can't fix everything. Sometimes I wish I could.