Catching Up and 21 Weeks

I inadvertently took last week off from blogging. Whoops. Sorry about that! Totally unintentional. It was my first week off from school for the summer and we had something planned (at times, several things) every. Damn. Day. Some of it was awesome; some of it was an emotional rollercoaster. Needless to say, I'm LOVING enjoying the fun and relative relaxation of the holiday weekend.

Seriously, I would love to post at least twice a week throughout the summer, depending on what's happening. So, we'll see how that goes down. ;-)

Here are a few anecdotes from  what's going on in our world, in general, to catch up:

* We didn't really have set plans for Independence Day, and tend to like it that way, so we played it by ear. We met up with a close friend (and, randomly, tons of other friends and acquaintances! Love when that happens) at one of our favorite farmers' markets. Since our CSA has us filled to the gills with veggies, I was ecstatic to find a berry vendor, so we stocked up on raspberries and strawberries, and even happened upon a rare late-season bundle of rhubarb. Looks like I'll be making my grandmother's recipe for strawberry rhubarb pie, if I can track it down. Hadman had his fill of berries - seriously, is there such thing as berry overdose? - and enjoyed socializing and counting dogs.

From there, we decided to hit up Barnes and Noble (a rare successful, no-meltdowns visit) for a few gifts for the little guy's 3rd birthday, then a quick lunch at Panera's, then still more shopping at Toys 'R Us. The rest of the night was pretty chill, with nitrate-free hotdogs and corn on the cob for a super late dinner, some "Yankee Doodle Dandy" watching, and fireworks on TV. The little man stayed up way past 10 (and still had us up throughout the night, grr) and danced his arse off. 

My face looks like the mother of a newborn today. (And I'm not.)

'Merica. 

* House-hunting front: We found a house that we loved...but it made us reevaluate our situation and realize that, nope, we can't do it. At least, not under our current parameters and not that house. Big "wop, wop"s all around. But, as always, we appreciate what we've got and will figure it out. As Dave said, "We're lucky to have a house at all, and wherever my family is, that's home." I truly feel the exact same way.

We learned long ago not to get emotionally attached to houses with what a heart-pounding experience house-hunting can be. So, we've actually gotten good at completely objective about any house. The more that I think about it, aside from the incredible location and just-right size (two things that are, admittedly, hard to come by) of this particular house, we could totally make a future place just as loveable.

Sings "the sun'll come ooooouuuut...tomorrow!"

* Saying goodbye sucks. A quick story of friendship: Dave made a friend in high school who, as with many of his friends, became lifelong kindred spirits. Fast forward a bit and she moved back to town, along with her equally-awesome husband. We started having occasional girl time and even became pregnant just before we did with this second little bean. At the same time, she dropped the "reality bomb" that her family would be moving down south (to, admittedly, a much more comfortable situation, culturally and career-wise, for all). Prenatal yoga and an awesome Harry Potter themed baby shower, and the time has come to say goodbye.

Sad faces. Throw some tears in for good measure. I am SUPER bummed, not only that our littles won't be raised closely, but that it's so hard to make good friends. Luckily, they'll visit during the holidays and it's true that real friends never actually go away...but, yeah. Still bummed. 

* Blogging for realz, yo. During the super-late naptime yesterday, I was finally able to finish off my FIRST POST EVER for an awesome (seriously, never saw one bad review!) cloth diaper company. The fact that I can speak with my own voice, NOT just discuss cloth diapering (although, clearly, that's a thing I plan to do) but also parenting toddlers/newborns and just our experiences, in general, is huge. I don't have to speak commercially. And, yes, it's paid.

Needless to say, super excited!    

* Birthday boy! So, we're planning a low-key 3rd birthday for the little guy to take place...in a week. I know, I haven't posted a recap of my plans or anything (which I hope to do this week!), but at least we've stocked up on gifts. Now, just comes the *simple* meal-planning, prep & cooking/baking and any decor we may use.

So, stay tuned for that this week!

* Oh, yeah, and I'm 21 weeks along. As of last week, the baby's officially measuring from head to toe (rather than head to rump). After a spill down the stairs last week with Hadley (we're fine), I was super happy to have a sonogram showing how awesome everything's coming along last week. We did have an encounter with a usually-super-cool doctor when I asked about the impending (like, early August) blood glucose test. I had asked about the possibility of drinking or eating an alternative to the chemical- and artificial color-filled orange gunk and she became unexpectedly testy. It was actually the first time I've had blatant push-back about eating organically (not ALL the time) and naturally (again, not ALL the time, but a majority of it). Huh. So, yeah, that was weird and not the norm whatsoever for our usual visits.

***For the record, she said I COULD do the "pancake and the works meal" that morning (I had heard that are particular 100% juices that you could chug instead), but it's "the same amount of sugar"...to which I said that the sugar's not what I'm concerned about. I guess some people can't get their minds out of "sugar and calories are the enemy" mode? We're down on chemicals and general crappiness of food.***

Otherwise, everything's going fine and I'm trying not to dwell on stupid crap like that. Which, of course, means that I'm subconsciously obsessing about it and dreading my next appointment and making me think "they're forcing a C-section on me AND make me feel like crap about asking questions...okay, screw that." Blah. 

For the record, I hardly feel pregnant most of the time and don't feel like I'm gaining any weight at all lately. Like, I think my tummy was bigger a month ago than now, but they didn't seem to see any issue and as long as that little heart was beating (and he/she was ACTIVE while they were trying to catch a profile view), I'm good. Like, really good. Like, "don't take me down, doc" good. And Hadley totally, 100% thinks it's a girl.


So, what's new with you guys?? I know, tons of boring information comin' atchya. I just couldn't seem to write anything else without doing a brain-dump first. You lucky readers, you. ;-)