fertilization

Yesterday as Natalie and I were baking in the kitchen she was about to crack an egg, but gave it a little hug first and whispered, "I'm so sorry, baby chick!" (I'm going to guess that I don't need to add how freaking adorable that is...)

I told her that she didn't need to feel bad because that egg wasn't ever meant to be a baby chick.

She looked a little puzzled and asked why some eggs were meant to be baby chicks and some weren't - and how anyone knew the difference.

So, I (being the mature and all-prepared adult that I am so not!) decided that this might be a good time to start the conversation.

You know the one I'm talking about.

I explained that chickens (hens) need roosters in order to fertilize their eggs to make babies and if there is no rooster then the egg doesn't get fertilized and it's the kind of egg that we eat.

I went on to explain that all girls (animals and people) are born with eggs in their tummies. Then I continued on to explain (in super simple terms) about girls getting their monthly cycles and how it's just like the chickens getting rid of the eggs that aren't ready to be babies (because they aren't married yet, obviously) and that the eggs won't be a baby until there is a husband to fertilize it.

After asking a few questions she seemed pretty content with the conversation and we just went on baking and soon we were discussing things like volleyball, why you can see dust in the air when the sun is shining in the room, and how she taught Carter how to do multiplication.

The day went on and I had pretty much forgotten that we even had that conversation. Until...

Jeff came home from work and Natalie plopped down on his lap in front of the fireplace. He was teasing her and she was giggling when all of a sudden out of nowhere she says, "I know a secret, Daddy."

He says, "Oh yeah? What's that?"

"You fertilized Mommy's egg and that's why there's a baby in her tummy now."

I sooooooooo wish I would have had a hidden camera to document the look on his face!

PRICELESS.

One might think that after being flooded in for 4 days (hoping to get out either this evening or tomorrow) our house would look spotless... Notsomuch.

I saw a thing on Pinterest that said something like, "The only thing that motivates me to clean my house is watching 'Hoarders: Buried Alive'" and that about sums it up. It's ridiculous.

Jeff is still not home.

He couldn't make it through the water last night so he went the back roads over the mountain (the highway was closed due to landslides) to his parents house to help them clean up the monstrosity of a mess that their property has become. It's sad. And a LOT of work. So, even though I miss him TERRIBLY (and that's an understatement) it is what it is and I'm glad he can help them out.

The kids are Crazy today. And yes, I mean capital-C-Crazy. They are getting on each other's nerves and I think I broke up 3-4 arguments/fights before I was even fully conscious and at least 10 before my first cup of coffee was in my system. I might just end up putting life jackets on them, drifting them down the road at the end of our driveway, and have Jeff try to catch them on the other side (and wish them all the best of luck while I continue my home-stay in silence).

Really, I have nothing to complain about and I know it. We have food. Our home and property are not damaged (just really, REALLY soaked) and everyone is safe.

But honestly, I'm over this housebound stuff.

I miss Target.

And peppermint mochas.

And having a reason to put on "real clothes."

Enough of that, though (it's just depressing), I'm off to take some deep breaths and clean this mess before we actually do end up on some sort of TLC reality show.

I'll order my craziness to go, please.

Whew! This week.
Where do I even begin?

Monday was crazy - the kids were off from school for the holiday, which was fine because we had a couple inches of snow on the ground that they were really looking forward to enjoying.

So, Monday afternoon I start to get a little worried  panic because our gender ultrasound was the next morning at 8am and I was NOT going to miss someone confirming to me that my baby was a girl just because of the weather! The roads were a total mess and they were not expected to get any better any time soon...

So we did what any rational thinking mature adult would do.

We rescheduled the appointment.

As soon as Jeff got home from work, we hopped back into the car and drove to town before the wet roads re-froze and got ourselves a hotel room as close to my OBGYN office as possible (and can I just say, my husband must LOVE me to put up with my great ideas - well, actually Jackie's great ideas... Thanks, Jackie!) so as not to miss the grand announcement in the morning and so Jeff could safely get to work later in the day.

We get up, get ready, and head to the appointment. However, we had to take Jack with us, so when we get in the ultrasound room, I tell the technician (while Jeff is taking Jack potty) that we don't want Jack to know the gender (we wanted to announce it to all the kids together later in the evening), so if she could just spell it out when we get to that point it would be great.

She just gets out her magic wand, plops it on my baby belly and says, "Well, we'll just take a look right now, see! It's a BOY!"

Wait - wha????? I didn't even have a chance to get myself ready to pretend that I wasn't completely disappointed shocked in front of her. I was S.U.R.E. I was having a GIRL!

Jeff comes out of the bathroom with Jack to see that we've already started and I have a tear dripping down my face and he instantly knows that I already know.

Only he can't stop smiling.

Which makes me smile a little. And think a little bit about the boys I have. And how amazing they are and how much personality they each have (even though they are SO different) and I get to wondering if God really can give us another boy with yet another amazing personality and I start to get really excited.

Especially when she scans his profile. And I can just feel my heart wanting to burst as I look at his sweet face and say, "That's our son in there." Even though less than 7 minutes before that moment, I would have sworn up and down I was having a girl - in that moment every part of me suddenly knew that things were exactly as God meant them to be.

After recovering from that shock (and getting more and more excited for our little boy by the minute) we head home to realize that the weather has gone from snowing to raining on top of the melting snow. And then it got worse.

Like major flood zone worse.

However, we just made the most of it.

We did, after all, have a lake in our front yard. So we (again) did what any rational thinking mature adults would do...

We put swimsuits on the kids, got some crackers and juice and had a snack on the picnic table that floated into our yard. Then we let the boys swim for a while. (An hour after these were taken, the picnic table had already floated away.)

Jeff wasn't able to come home last night (he stayed with his brother) because of all the road closures and the fact that he would have had to swim through 5 foot deep water to get here, but we're (still) making the most of being flooded in.

Today we made homemade pizza, frosted sugar cookies, painted each other's faces, and Jack had a bleeding head injury. We like to keep things exciting around here (sense my sarcasm).

So as you can imagine, I'm ready for the week to be over.

I'm ready to have my husband home.

I've had enough craziness to last me a while...

(Oh, and in completely un-related but oh-so-important news: Both the Target stores in "town" are expanding and will have ***STARBUCKS*** in them by the end of March! Do you hear that? I think it's angels singing!!)

How was your week?

I hate it.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Only it's January 16th.

If this had happened around Christmastime I would be happy - ecstatic, even. But now?

Notsomuch.

Not even a little bit.

In fact, I'm hating the snow.

Why?

Because tomorrow is OUR DAY. You know what day I'm talking about... The day that every pregnant woman looks forward to almost as much as the day her freshly baked baby is born...

**The day we find out the gender!**

What does this have to do with the snow?

Well, given that we live an hour and 10 minutes away from my doctor's office and our ultrasound appointment is at 8:15am (I was trying to help out my husband's work schedule when I made the appointment a month ago) and there's no sign of the weather getting any better (super slick roads this morning and we wouldn't exactly be leaving at the ideal time of day for that kind of road travel) - I'm getting a little (seriously, I need a paper bag!) worried either we aren't going to make the appointment or that we're going to show up and the person who has the capabilities of telling us who our baby is won't make it there on time...

Am I worrying about stuff I have no control of? YES.

Will it all work out in the end? It always does (one way or another).

Am I still going to lose most sleep tonight? Definitely.

Is all this completely legit due to the fact that I'm pregnant and therefore have a valid excuse for pretty much any irrational behavior and/or emotional antics? Y.E.S.

So there you have it.

WHY I HATE THE SNOW.

Perfect Pregnancy Pants

I finally found a comfortable pair of workout lounge pants today. I bought them straight away and even mentioned to Jack (while still in town at about 2pm in the afternoon) that I couldn't wait to get home and put them on which is precisely what I did.

Pathetic? Probably.

Realistic? Definitely.

Anyway, when I got home I took a closer look at the tag since at the store all I really cared about was that they were on sale and that even though they weren't maternity, they would probably still work (hallelujah).

Here's the tag I read:

Let me break it down for you.

"Quick Dry" - Perfect for those pregnancy moments when you either laugh too hard or unexpectedly sneeze and pee a little. I'm not gonna lie, I've been there (yes, both scenarios).

"4-Way Stretch" - This could not be better as it appears that '4' is exactly the number of directions my body is growing due to the baby my early-in-the-pregnancy eating habits.

"No Chafe Seams" - My thighs are grateful. Enough said.

"UV Protection" - Living in Oregon, the only thing this is good for is a laugh (which brings us back to the quick-dry feature, so we're all good).

So there you have it.

My perfect pregnancy pants.