This kid.....

Tristan and I get to spend an awful lot of time together these days. Now that he does school at home, he pretty much my constant companion. I like him. Not only is he very smart, he pretty darn funny too. The other day he asked how to pronounce words written in cursive (he was joking). Then he was asking about how to pronounce words that are written in different colors. So now a favorite thing in our house to say is, "say it like it's written in blue cursive." Then he'll say whatever he just said with a funny accent. It is so hilarious!

School is going great for him. He loves working at his own pace and finishing up early. His math teacher says he's doing great and will be able to go right to Algebra next year (right now he's in pre algebra a, so he's learned enough to skip b). So that's good news. I re-registered him for UTVA again, but of course I'm doubting myself. The reasons are a) it's high school! what if I'm not smart enough to help him! b) there will be a new baby born right about the time school starts next year. How available will I be for him? c) Am I doing him any favors by keeping him home and not making him socialize? That is where the Aspergers kicks in. He lacks social skills, especially around his peers, how can I expect him to learn and practice social skills if he is never around peers? but with c option I face him hating school again, having a hard time etc..... Anyway, it's a quandry that may or may not be solved anytime soon.

He seems excited about the new baby. In fact, I babysat for a friend the other day. He was so interested in the baby that he took a break from school to hang out with him. I know he'll be a great big brother to his new sibling.

16 week picture

here I am in all my pregnant glory. This was taken on Sunday. I don't think I was ever this big this early. But maybe I'm just forgetting. It was a long time ago. I finally have my appetitie back, in fact, it seems like I just can't get full. I'm still really tired on some days and on other days I hardly even remember I'm pregnant. I'm so super excited to have this new little baby in our family. Soon I'll be able to feel him/her moving around.

ABC's of me......

Thanks to my friend, Joey, for posting this on her blog for me to steal. Feel free to steal it from me to post on your blog.

A-age: I am 35 years old. I still feel like I'm in my 20's so when I say 35 it feels made up.
B- Bed size: Queen. We are going to buy a new one. We've never had a brand new bed, always handy downs (Connor's words for hand me downs)
C- Chore you hate: grocery shopping
D-Dog's name: we don't have a dog, but some of the dog's names from when I was growing up were: Zeke, Tiffany, and Reggie.
E-Essential Food item: right now I'm loving the Clausen pickles. mmmmmm
F-Favorite Color: Green. but not just any green. It's the green of a granny smith apple or the inside of an avocado.
G-Gold or Silver: probably silver, but I like both.
H-Height: 5'7"
I-I am: a mom, a wife, a maid, a nurse, a teacher. A chauffeur, an accountant, a seamstress. A woman!
J-Job: see above. I also do substitute teaching occasionally and am Tristan's "learning coach" for his K12 homeschool.
K-Kids: 3 lovely children with one on the way
L-Living arrangements: right now we are renting a 60 year old house. Hoping to buy this year!
M-Mom's name: Mom. Momma. Mommy. some people call her Lynette. Or Grandma.
N-Nickname: Jess. Please don't ever call me Jessie. for some reason, only my Uncle Stan can call me that.
O-Overnight hospital stay: only when my babies were born.
P- Pet peeve: lack of follow through. also: cat hair.
Q-Quote of the day:"quite humorous" by Tristan, said in a monotone with a deadpan face.
R-Right or left handed: righty. I'm so right handed it's not even funny.
S-Siblings: 2 brothers and one sister. I wish we were closer.
T- Time you wake up: week days, 6 am. Weekends much later than that.
V-Vegetable you hate: not a huge fan of asparagus. or cooked peas.
W-Ways you run late: blame in on the kids. usually Anna.
X- x-rays you've had: only my teeth
Y-Yummy food you make: I make really good treats.
Z- zoo favorite: I always love to watch the giraffes. But the bird show at the Hogle Zoo is my favorite part of the Zoo.

sometimes, I just miss it.

Living in a small town that is.

I had the BEST neighborhood before we moved. It was one block of all brand new houses, filled with families with little kids. Tristan was the oldest kid on the block. Connor would go outside after breakfast and ride bikes, dig, look for bugs and just have fun being a boy. We could go outside and find someone to play with anytime we wanted to. And I loved being able to visit with the other moms! We'd have neighborhood BBQ's and other get-togethers all the time.

Now, don't get me wrong. The neighbohood I live in now is okay. I have a great ward filled with lots of amazing people. BUT I don't know half my neighbors. I'm not comfortable letting my kids just go off and play. I have to set everything up. There are a few moms to visit with, but again, it usually needs to be prearranged. I know that since we are renters right now we could move anywhere we wanted to. I'm just not sure quite yet where that will be.

I don't know if my old neighborhood is still the same. I know some of them have moved on like we did. I know there have been fences built. But sometimes, I find myself yearning for the "good ol' days".

Swan Lake

One benefit of living in the city is the opportunity to get some culture! A couple of weeks ago I went on a field trip with Connor to the symphony and today I went with Tristan to the ballet. I'm going to have to say that I enjoyed the symphony much better than the ballet!

At the ballet today, we were in our seats for more than half an hour before it started. Which is fine, I understand that there were lots of people to be seated etc. When it started there was a whole "lesson" with students from the audience and some dancers. I liked that part, it was funny to see the kids trying to dance and be graceful swans. I like watching the ballerinas too. they are so talented! But by the time the actual act started, I had been sitting there for quite some time. Tired pregnant woman + sitting still for a long period of time = nappy time! The music was so calm, the theatre was so dark and quiet. I just couldn't help it. I nodded off. More than once. Luckily I woke up in time for the big applause and nobody was the wiser.

details....

So a few of my friends have asked for more details about the pregnancy.

First off, I'm now 13 weeks along. The estimated due date is August 21. Which is my sister-in-law Angie's birthday and exactly a month in between both my parent's birthdays (dad is July 21 and mom is Sept 21).

I stopped taking birth control at the end of July. My cycle was all messed up! I even went to the doctor and he thought that maybe I had premature ovarian failure. I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to get pregnant. Then my period finally started (after like 65 or so days). I just figured that I had a long cycle and the doctor said to tell him if it happened again. So after another long cycle I finally did a home pregnancy test on my birthday, Dec 5th. It was negative. So I decided I'd wait until our anniversary and take another one and if it turned out negative I would call the doc again.

I didn't have any HPTs on our anniversary so I bought one the next day (Dec 17th). Went home and took it right away (usually I wait for the first morning urine, but couldn't wait!) It was postive. I couldn't believe it! I was so happy, excited, surprised, etc. I wanted to tell Chris right away, but he was working and couldn't take a call. So I put a hot dog bun in the oven and took a picture of it and sent it as a text. The sad thing is, I had such a crappy cell phone that many of my picture texts don't get to him or get to him much later than I send them.

When I got to pick him up from work, I was just about bursting! I asked him if he got my text and he hadn't! I was really disappointed. So I handed him my phone and told showed him what I sent. He looked at it, smiled and said, "we've still got it!" We are both so happy.

Now I wasn't sure how far along I was. My period was in October, but the negative test on the 5th meant that I couldn't be too far along. So I went in to the doctor. We got some bloodwork and an ultrasound that told us I was 5 weeks along. The u/s was basically just a blob, not much of a baby yet. I'll get another one done probably around 20 weeks.

I've felt pretty good. I am so tired most of the time. The last time I was pregnant I was 26. Now I'm 35. Not a spring chicken anymore. But I feel so ready to have a new baby. I have so much more experience. My kids are all older and can do so much for themselves. This baby is going to be so spoiled and loved! We are all pretty excited about him or her. Connor had a hard time when we first told him, but he's the type of kid who needs a while to get used to big changes. He'll be okay and I know he'll love having a baby around.

Mom, what am I supposed to do with this?

Last Saturday, the kids opened some gifts from Chris and I. This is what was in the gifts.

They were a bit confused and a tad disappointed. Why would I need a pacifier? A rattle? Anna thought the booties would fit her doll perfectly!

So I asked, "can you think of someone who might be able to use these things?"

Anna: Patty (her doll)

Connor: April (my friend who is due next month)

Tristan: You? Are you pregnant?

Guess who's right?