expecting

On Wednesday the 9th I took a home pregnancy test first thing in the morning. I left it on the bathroom counter and did a couple of things to get the house ready before getting Malakai out of bed. I went back to the test real quick, expecting it to be negative like the one I had done just a week before, but was completely surprised by what I saw. A plus sign.

When we found out I was pregnant with our first, Malakai, it was a weekend and Ben checked the test with me. This time, he was at work. I was so filled with excitement and disbelief. I went in to tell Malakai that he's going to be a big brother. Then I agonized all day over how to tell Ben when he got home. I wanted to do something special and creative, something different. We only have one car, which Ben takes to work, so I was limited to what was in our house.

I finally figured something out and waited until Malakai's afternoon nap to put it all together. I decided to mimic the reveal after Ben's proposal (a story I'll share here in detail some day). I set up a stuffed animal he had bought me when we were dating, Gregory the elephant, with the first note.

Next was one of Malakai's first toys, Gaffe the giraffe, with the second note.

Last was this box, with a note inside...

and the pregnancy tests. (I took a 2nd one that afternoon to really confirm the positive result).

I couldn't wait for him to come home, the anticipation was killing me! He didn't even notice set up on our dining room table at first, I had to point it out. I had the camera ready and took a few photos as he read each note. He had an excited grin on his face, but he wasn't quite sure what to expect.

When he read the last note he asked "four?" and I said, "yeah, the 3 of us plus 1 more equals 4..." and then he smiled big and said sweetly "you're pregnant!"and got up to hug me.

Hindsight is almost always 20/20. We looked back on some of the signs, although they were a bit different than last time. The biggest thing is how dead tired I've been, but we just figured it was my nasty chest cold and the fact that I lift + chase a 27 lb. toddler all day. I haven't felt nauseous but with Kai I didn't feel it until 7 weeks, so I'm not thinking we're in the clear for "morning" sickness yet. I am already having some nasty round-ligament pains, worse than the first time around, which doesn't make sense to me.

I know it's early to make the big announcement, we're estimating I'm at about 6 weeks. We decided that this time around, if something were to go wrong we'd rather have the support of those we love and care about rather than keep our excitement a secret for 12 weeks.

My first appointment is this afternoon. We're really hoping for an early ultrasound since a number of things make figuring out the due date a bit more difficult this time around. As of now, it's October 7th, 2011.

here we go again!

photo friday: toddlerhood

Malakai has been doing such "big boy" things lately. He's able to repeat almost anything he hears and is amazing at recognition of people and objects. He has started calling my mom, "mimi" or "mami" (instead of the preferred mima), and he's also mimicking a lot of things we do. We've very careful about words and actions these days, even something seemingly innocent that an adult could say ("that's stupid") doesn't sound right coming out of a toddler's mouth.

Today I caught him reading his book all sprawled out on his floor...

{yes, he's wearing Christmas pajamas in February}

Then he decided he was going to play "diaper change"

{luckily he didn't try taking off the one he was wearing}

Once he spotted me taking his picture he came over to see the camera and say "cheesth"

{love my boy's green eyes}

And currently he has been avoiding his nap for the past 90 minutes by talking to himself, learning that his bed is quite springy and nice for jumping, and kicking the sides of his crib.

{sigh}

Happy Weekend,

Thankful on a Thursday: sick, but still grateful.

We're still sick around here. Our occasional coughing has morphed into all day coughing. I could whine about it for a few paragraphs but instead here is what I'm thankful for this week...

501. a steady supply of chamomile tea + honey to soothe my cough.

502. the cold weather, so I don't feel so bad about being stuck indoors.

503. new episodes of sesame street to watch with Kai lounging in my lap under the fuzzy.


504. a husband who despite starting to get sick again himself, takes the best care of his family.

505. wearing pj's almost all day, all week.

506. freshly sharpened pencils with brand new erasers.

507. leftover birthday cupcakes.

508. Lost Season 6 special features, and "nerding out" with Ben.

509. getting Malakai back down after his nap was interrupted halfway through by my coughing (sorry kiddo)

510. looking forward to a relaxing night of leftovers for dinner and cuddling on the couch with my man.

What are you thankful for this week?

tea, lemon, + honey

This has been my diet lately. Every couple I've been downing hot water with lemon + honey or chamomile tea to soothe this cough I've developed.

I started feeling a tickle in my throat and was in denial that I was sick. I didn't feel bad at all. No congestion, runny nose, or coughing. After a couple days the tickle developed into more and I started to cough on occasion, but was still feeling fine.

This past Saturday we had a birthday get together at our house for Ben. I was still feeling fine besides the tickle. By the end of the night, we were talking with the last few guests and my voice suddenly went quiet and raspy. I sounded terrible, it was so odd.

Because I'm stubborn, and I didn't feel badly, I was still convinced that I wasn't sick. I went in to work at the church, but stayed away from people, especially the kiddos, just to be safe. As the morning went on I was coughing and starting to feel a bit under the weather so I headed home early.

Here it is Wednesday and I'm admitting that I'm sick. I'm not miserable, I can function just fine although I'm a little tired. I have a slight cough, especially at night or when I talk a lot.

Sadly, this means that I'm not able to visit my cousin and meet her baby girl Delia,  who was just born yesterday morning. From the pictures on facebook, she looks just like her mama. I can't wait to see her in person and hear my cousin's labor story. So here's hoping I get better FAST!

It seems to be going around, anyone else out there sick and tired of being sick and tired?