I'm Not Going to Post About It . . . Much.

It's getting cooler here, y'all. As in, it's not going to get out of the 70's for the forseeable future (for at least the next week, anyway). Today it's not even going to hit 70. I am barely holding myself back from getting excited about fall. So I'm not going to post about how much I love fall and how much I will enjoy apple picking and pumpkin dip.

Dang! I just realized I can't have fresh cider this year because it's unpasteurized. Stink! I'll have to be satisfied with butternut squash soup and crisp air. I am already inspired to make a scarf. And speaking of which, I need to go buy some maternity sweaters! I love sweaters!

That's all I'm going to say about fall. Until later.

Boy or Girl?

So I have been noticing a few subtle differences between this pregnancy and the last. Knowing that some moms have different symptoms according to the gender of their baby, I'm wondering whether or not this means I might be having a girl. I'm 14 weeks, so it'll be at least a month before we find out the gender for sure, and I thought it might be fun for us all to guess!

So here are my differing pregnancy symptoms:

• I was pretty tired during my first pregnancy, but there was about a month in this pregnancy during my first trimester when I was incredibly fatigued and would have been happy to nap all day. It lasted four or five weeks. I don't think it was quite that severe when I was pregnant with Noah. And, yes, I know that having a toddler makes you more tired, but it went beyond that.
  
• During my first trimester, I had what I can only describe as hot flashes. I didn't ever end up drenched in sweat or anything; it was more like my skin was emanating heat. It would last for three or four hours, then all would go back to normal.
  
• I've been having a hard time sleeping. When I was pregnant with Noah, I think I only had trouble sleeping during my last trimester, when it was just hard to find a comfortable position. Now, my mind races and goes into hyperdrive as soon as my head hits the pillow sometimes. My doctor actually had me take Benadryl before bed for a few nights to help break the cycle, but it still happens from time to time. Also, for a while, I would wake up in the middle of the night and just be totally awake for an hour or two. That ain't cool at all. Luckily, that hasn't happened for a couple of weeks.
• I also need it to be colder in the house at night in order to sleep. I've never had that problem before--I sleep quite well when I'm hot. In fact, Nathan cannot believe I can sleep under as many blankets as I do sometimes. But this go-round, I absolutely cannot get to sleep if I get the least bit hot. Often, I have to move to the couch to sleep at night because it's closer to the air conditioner and is cooler.
  
• I'm not gaining much weight. I may have gained a pound so far this pregnancy. This is in huge contrast to my last pregnancy, when I gained way too much weight. I just don't have the urge to eat as much. Although I do think I developed some bad habits early on the last time, I also think there must be a difference in my hormones or something, because looking back, I really think that some of my eating when I was pregnant with Noah was hormone-driven.
• Although I've only gained about a pound, you would never think that by looking at my belly. (Yes, I already have one.) I swear, I was showing at six weeks this time around. I don't think this has anything to do with the gender of the baby, though; I know that after you've already had a baby, your ligaments and stuff react faster to the relaxation hormones or whatever in subsequent pregnancies. Anyway, I think I'm definitely bigger this time around than last time. I'll have to take a picture sometime soon and post a comparison from when I was pregnant with Noah.

So does anybody have an opinion? Boy or girl? Just to be clear, I'd be thrilled with either. But it's fun to think about who we might be meeting in a few months.

My mom's Salvadorian friend told her that it was a girl because Noah is kind of wild these days, and if it were going to be a boy he'd be more relaxed. Do you have an old wives' tale to add to the mix?

Leave a comment with your vote. :)

Sleep Update

I am hesitant to write this, because I have to confess that I'm a little afraid that putting it on the blog will jinx it. But I want to celebrate the fact that Noah is back to his old sleeping schedule. I did a combination of cutting his nap back a little bit, making sure he got more dinner in him, and following the advice many of you gave by moving his bedtime back to 7:30 or 7:45 (from 8:00). And lately he has been sleeping until about 7:00am again! AMEN! Thank you so much if you prayed for that, because it is seriously helpful!

Old Tyme

Hey peeps,

If you like old timey country boy stories, check out my grandpa's blog. My mom started typing up some of his stories during the period when he lost his vision.

By the way, my grandfather got his vision back on the exact same date this year that he got it back last year. Crazy!

One-Tomato Summer

We are evidently having a one-tomato summer.

I planted a tomato plant this year that produces yellow heirloom tomatoes, and I was so excited when I got it. The growing season is so short here, though, that I was a little disconcerted to see that it takes like 80 days to mature, but I was willing to wait for some good old yellow 'maters to show up.

However, although we got maybe five blooms, only one tomato developed. One. And that sucker took its sweet time to mature. We have been watching that green tomato sit there for months, I'm telling you. Finally, it turned yellow:

So there is our one tomato. Celebrate it, y'all, because it's the only one we're getting this summer.

We ate it the other day on turkey burgers, and I have to say, it was really really good. Was it worth all the trouble I put into that entire plant to have one good tomato? I'm not sure. But I bet you that next spring I'll get excited and optimistic (spring is just like that, isn't it?) and do the exact same thing.

Just Keeping it Real

Hey peeps,

So I realized that the last several posts have been all about the little spots of fun and perfection in our lives. In order to keep any of my dear readers from thinking that all is perfect here (we are real people, after all), I thought I'd share some of the other stuff going on:

1. Noah has cut out an hour and a half of his nighttime sleep. He now goes to sleep later in the evening and has started waking up much earlier in the morning. This morning it was 5:45. This is no good--NO GOOD, I tell you. Mom and Dad do not want to wake up at 5:45. The only thing I can think to do is to cut his nap shorter and hope he sleeps in a little in the morning.
2. The problem with cutting Noah's nap short is that I nap when he naps. I have been pretty tired this pregnancy. During the first trimester, there was about a month when I found it hard to peel myself off the couch. Now I have more energy, but I'm having trouble sleeping now, so there are some days when taking a nap is really essential for me . . . especially for my attitude. :)
3. I had a horrible day the other day, mostly because my pregnancy hormones made me so moody that I ended up having a crazy pity party. I think I did have a legitimate need to get out of the house and do something that did not involve mommy-ing, so I went to see Julie and Julia that evening by myself. It was really good--very charming. Speaking of which, I didn't know Julia Child lived in Cambridge. Turns out, her house is just a few blocks from Nathan's office, so I tried to find it the other day, but I got totally lost. I'm going to try again after looking at a map.
4. Noah is going through a disobedience surge. As in, he thinks it's funny to run down the middle of the street when you call him. He is also not eating much dinner at night, and we are wondering if one of the reasons he's waking up so early in the morning is because he's hungry.
5. Pretty soon, Nathan is going to be away in Canada for another week, which stinks for Noah and me. Grr. We will make it, though.
   

So there you go. Real life at the Beneshes' house. :)

The Missing Remote

We have been missing our TV remote all day today, so when Nathan got home, we decided to initiate a thorough search for it. We knew it had to have been Noah who "lost" it because it was not in any of the regular places.

After searching for 10 or 20 minutes with no luck, Nathan finally found it in the cardboard box for our electric grill in the kitchen, along with Thomas the tank engine, a block, and some deodorant.