Life Up North

Well, it's raining. Again. We've had kind of a dismal summer thus far; a few nice days, but not nearly enough. I'm sure when we get to South Carolina in the next few weeks, I'll be dying in the heat and more thankful for our chilly weather, but that day has not yet come.

Little League is done for the year, which means we have an interesting conundrum to face now: WE HAVE NO PLANS. Ever. It's delightful. You would think that we would wise up and use the time to go to bed early and catch up on our rest, but such wisdom has eluded us thus far. Stupid America's Got Talent. It's addictive. (BTW, Luigi had better win, that's all I have to say).

Marina's vocabulary continues to amaze me on a daily basis. She is speaking in three and four word sentences now, and can make her opinions known quite readily. (This is not always a good thing). From listening to her sister, she has learned to count to twelve (skipping nine most of the time), and can somewhat sing the ABCs. I'm trying to teach her her full name, with moderate success. I call her "Rina" a lot, so she has decided that is her first name, and she won't add the "Ma-" to the beginning. She's got Joy for the middle, but has also decided that her last name should be "Juice Box" so that's what she says. It comes out a little garbled...something along the lines of "Rina Joy Bock Box." But we're getting there.

Megan starts preschool in a MONTH. I can't believe I'm going school supply shopping for her, and packing her off twice a week. She is so excited, she can hardly sit still. Also high on the excitement list is the New Baby (NB for short), being a flower girl in Aunt Jess's wedding (next Saturday!) and going on an airplane to visit her Grandparents. She's decided that she wants to fly, but only if we can skip the landing part. Apparently parachuting is a better option. Do you think they make maternity harnesses for that kind of thing?

The new baby is--according to the baby book--the size of a large blueberry right now...about 1/2 an inch long. That in itself is pretty incredible, because it means the baby has doubled in size in the last two weeks. Poor kid probably still has a tail, but also has arm and leg buds with little tiny fingers and toes starting to form, and a beating heart. It never ceases to amaze me that I am walking around with an entirely different person just hanging out in my belly, growing away.

I seem to be hanging in there. I'm pretty tired these days--exhausted is probably a better word, really. I have to use my energy reserves wisely, because once they're gone, they're GONE, and I am good for nothing except lying down and eating until the next morning. Nausea seems to be my constant companion, along with cravings that seem to take up my whole world, then disappear as soon as I fix whatever it is that I can't live without at that moment. It's annoying. I know in the long run the first trimester isn't really that long, but when you're in the trenches it seems like forever. I've probably got another month or so before I start to feel better (clocking in at two months along this week). I sure will enjoy my energy level climbing again, I can tell you that!