A Very Busy Fall - Leading to an Even Busier Spring

As is typical in Ohio, we once again went pretty much straight from Summer into Winter. We had a week or so of fall-like weather, marked mostly by the beautiful colors of the changing leaves. As I began to write this, we were on our first day of spitting snow turning into rain. I was nearing the end of the ever-joyful Parent-Teacher Conference week. I work much longer hours during this week, not only in preparation for conference, but actually holding them; and in the week following Thanksgiving, in which I have to get Progress Reports written. In the past, we've gotten the Friday following conferences as a comp day for all the extra hours we spend at school in the evenings actually holding our conferences. However, this year we voted to work on Friday and get the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off. Now that I have finally gotten to finishing this entry, I can tell you that it was nice to have that 5-day weekend to get me through Progress Report week.

So, speaking of Thanksgiving, this year we have one more thing to be Thankful for. We are expecting Baby #3, with a due date of May 16th. (That's right Mark and Leah, we're due shortly after you!!!) We had planned to start trying at the beginning of the fall and, sure enough, in spite of my advancing years (ha ha!) we got pregnant right away. Of course the grandparents were totally thrilled (they found out on Halloween.) But, the most excited were the big brothers.

Ben was with us at the initial ultrasound and was fascinated to see his little brother or sister kicking around on the monitor. Our wonderful doctor printed out an ultrasound picture for each boy to have of his very own. Liam was still at school during the appointment, so I got a card that said, "Congratulations on your new baby!" and gave it to him when he got home. He opened the card, read it, his eyes got wide and he exclaimed, "We're going to have a new baby?!" He then proceeded to clutch the card and ultrasound picture to his chest and yell, "Yes, yes, yes, yes!" Think he was excited?

Ben and Liam show off the first picture of their new baby brother or sister.

Liam has been through this whole "new baby" thing before when we were pregnant with Ben, but since he was less than two at the time, he doesn't really remember much about it. Ben is being an absolute doll. I'll come home from work and he'll say, "How is your baby Mommy?" and pat me on the belly. And he's very careful not to do anything that might hurt the baby. When he gives me hugs, he barely puts his arms around me for fear of crushing the baby. It's quite cute.

Not much is different about being pregnant with #3 than with #1 and #2, except that I'm not chasing after a toddler this time and I'm about 30 pounds lighter to begin with on this one. What I'd forgotten is how quickly you start to show once you've already been pregnant. Wow, do those stomach muscles and skin remember what to do. I started showing by 10 weeks or so. We were going to try to wait for Thanksgiving to tell the family (just to make sure we were out of the woods and everything) but Kevin looked at me one day before Halloween and said, "You're not going to be able to wait till Thanksgiving." I totally looked pregnant. So, by Thanksgiving everyone had been told and I could openly release my breath and let my belly all hang out.