Big news – I’m pregnant!

As you may already know if you’ve spoken to me or followed me on any social media in the last six months – I’m pregnant!!!

Exciting and terrifying all at once. It’s been a bit of a ride really. Completely unexpected. In one of those typical (for my life at least) instances- I had finally made peace with the idea that it would be the three of us for a while. There were many seemingly reasonable reasons to wait – until we got settled, until things were calmer, until we were in a better rhythm… and then, bam!

I started throwing up and feeling generally sick – which at first we attributed to another big family event. But then my breasts started aching and feeling tender and that seemed much more likely to be related to something else. So I peed on a stick (why is that so much fun to do? Is it just me?) and lo and behold, I was pregnant it told me.

This time around is so different from the first. For many reasons. Including, of course, the fact that my first is around to witness it this time. I’ve been apprehensive for ages about the potential gap between my first and second. Before I had any children, I always thought the gap between my sister and I was perfect – 3 years.

Long enough for the first child to be mobile so I wouldn’t have to be lugging around two babes, but short enough that they would still be going through milestones fairly close together. As my first turned four and then five, I was disappointed that we were not going to have that gap after all. I worried that they’d be distant siblings because of it.

But so far, knock on wood, I’m revising my opinion. HRG is old enough to take a real interest in the process and understand a lot of it. He’s so curious about how babies are made, how they develop, what their needs are, how to take care of them etc etc that I’m really excited about what it’s going to be like once this foetus evacuates my womb and comes out into the atmosphere.

He’s always wanted a baby sister and as soon as we told him that we thought I might be sick because I was pregnant he’s been adamant that that’s what’s growing in my womb. On the way to Vons (a grocery store chain in Long Beach) that night to buy the aforementioned stick, he told us- ‘I really want a baby sister but if it’s a baby brother, I will love him just the same’.

What more could I ask for?

May the Fourth be with you

hello.

It’s been a while. How are you? Remember me? ha.

Today is #starwarsday It makes me laugh to just say May the 4th be with you. (Apparently I am still VERY easily amused). Quite appropriate. Perhaps later I’ll do my research and find out how this day was chosen. If you know, feel free to light up the darkness of my ignorance in the comments.

In case you’re wondering, I’m up in the wee hours because of heartburn. Pregnancy heartburn. Don’t tell me it means my foetus will be born with lots of hair. I’d rather they were bald, if that’s indeed the case. lol.

Anyway, I’ve been waiting pretty much since my first was born six years ago for him to be old enough to watch Star Wars with. I can’t remember when I first watched it but I immediately loved it. I’m sure he will too but I don’t know when the right time to introduce it is. What do you think? Have your kids watched it yet? How old are they? When do you think is absolutely too young? Or better yet, when do you think is old enough? I know a lot of it depends on the kid, and my instinct is that he’s almost ready. We’ll see.

And did you start at the very beginning? Or in the order the movies were released?

Important questions, huh? 😀

 

edited to add: I’ve added some links above to stuff you might find interesting and hey, you have GOT to check out the #starwarsday hashtag on twitter and instagram. So much cute stuff there.

Especially this:

 

Breastfeeding in Public

It was a thing six years ago, the first time I was breastfeeding, and I can’t believe it but this is still a thing now! I must admit though, that this time around I notice other people’s looks a lot less. Mostly because between the two kids I’ve no time to even wonder what other people might be thinking! LOL.

Anyway, this comic made me smile. It’s just spot on, isn’t it?

Carry on feeding your babies however suits you, mamas. I know you’re doing your very best!

Another one down…

Another drive full of photos. To date, I think I must have at least 6TB of images from my life here, married and then with child. The funny thing is that years fit on my first few drives, which were not that big- 250gb/500gb and so on but now I get through a TB in about six months between work shoots and personal work. I shoot a lot. 😀

Unfortunately, I can’t get a new drive quite just yet so to upload the images filling up my cards I have to either delete images on my drives or upload them directly to my online photo host. Only issue is that I typically like to do that with images that I’ve already worked on (culled and edited) so I’m having a mental resistance to doing it out of order. I’ll just have to figure it out. Do you ever get weird like that or is it just me? Oh. Just me? Okay. No worries.

So, lately the kiddo is just not into school. He goes to playcare three times a week. He has been more sick, we all have actually, since he started there in August, than we have ever been in our life previously. When people said that happens, I thought they were exaggerating. As it turns out, they may have been downplaying it! Ha. One thing that’s happened in direct response to that is that I am paying a LOT of attention to the food we’re eating and how well they support our immune systems. I know he gets sick a lot because he’s being exposed to all these bugs at a new and social space, and it’s necessary so he can develop his immune system but good lord, how many times can one person get a cold over and over and over and over again before they lose their minds? My answer- not that many times! In my case, at least! HahahahacrazyHA!

Anyway, my point was that we are spending many mornings debating why he should go. When he’s sick, it’s a no brainer. Obviously he should stay home until I can’t stand it any more he’s feeling better. I’m definitely not one of those ‘tough it out and quit yer belly-aching!!’ mums although I was sure I would be when I was younger. Ha. Seriously though, I want my boy to take good care of himself. But when he’s not sick, and he can’t or won’t tell me why he doesn’t want to go to school then my mind tends to either believe that something so monstrous he hasn’t got the words for it has happened to him and he should never again go anywhere without me, or I have to force support him to go so he learns that sometimes you have to do stuff even when you don’t want to. Sigh. This parenting thing is WAY, way harder than it looks. (Thanks for making it look so easy mum and dad!)

Especially when I ask myself questions about my choices. It’s just so complicated and the ramifications so long reaching. At least it seems that way. Nothing is insignificant apparently, so every parental choice has got to be the RIGHT one. Right? Except… right for whom? My belief is that it has to be right for the child in question, and to a slightly lesser extent (depending on the scenario obviously) it also has to be right for the parents and family of said child. Which just complicates things even further it seems like. Ugh.

A few times I’ve told him that it’s fine for him to stay home but we have to go and tell his schoolmates that he won’t be coming today. And then when we get there and I tell him it’s time to go, he says, ‘bye mom, see you later’ and happily goes off to play. Then I’m all, huh?? Okay. So, clearly he’s working something out and I just have NO idea what it is. He’s trying to tell me something and he may as well be speaking Martian. I suppose time will tell- I’ll either learn to understand or he’ll figure out how to tell me in a way I can understand. Hopefully that won’t take too long.