feeling green...

...as in queasy, morning sickness!

i was hoping since i am nearing week 13 that my morning misery would begin to subside. i was feeling great the whole last week, and not today - it is back. i just want to lie in bed and close my eyes for hours! but finley just won't let that happen, i am sure of it! plus, i am exhausted because finley has been waking me up at least an hour earlier than usual since transitioning to a toddler bed.

last week, he finally started diving out of his crib, which resulted in a bloodied lip and a bruised face. i didn't want to wait and see if he could break his neck, (or his arm like his older cousin had), so i took the front panel off his crib and made it into a big boy bed. i put a rail up so he wouldn't roll out in the night, but he can still get out of if when he wants, which i thought would be a battle. i put two gates up at night so he can't leave his room, thanks to my sister's suggestion.

so far, he's been a dream at bedtime! we just tell him to go get in his bed. he stands and the door and says, "night, daddy, night, mommy!" then shuts his door and climbs into bed. then don't hear a peep from him til morning! but at first he was waking up really early in the morning, opening the door and yelling through the gates. he would scream repeatedly, "MOMMY!!! DADDY!!! OUT!!!!" so we told him that he wasn't allowed to shout in the morning. so now, he stands and the gate and politely and quietly says, "mommy, i'm ready please." and if i don't come, he starts with his dad. but he knows how to pull heart strings so he calls for his daddy the way his daddy calls for him, "hey buddy, hey buddy" ever so softly. it is sweet and hilarious!

everyone told me that with my second pregnancy i would "pop" sooner than before. they were right! i already have a baby bump and i am just finishing up my first trimester. here is a self-portrait i took in the bathroom mirror last night. and yes, i am already wearing some maternity pants. my regular jeans are already too uncomfortable! if my belly is this big now, i can only imagine how enormous it will be in six months. i am hoping to not get quite and mountainous as i did with finley. i will try to do things a little differently with diet and exercise this time around, but who knows if that will even make a difference. we'll just have to see! let's not forget just how HUGE my belly was last time.....

(ok, so the nepali mu mu isn't very slimming).

OMG! how did i even manage?!?!?!?!??!?!

bring on the bump!

ok, so we didn't make an official announcement. but maybe you connected the dots from the baby countdown widget, the facebook comments, or (if you have seen me in person) my obvious chest and tummy plumpness. or maybe you noticed me ordering water instead of wine, my constant "feeling under the weather" or taking extra naps.

but it's true, the neher family is brewing another chubby, stubby, big-eyed baby! this week starts week 12 for me. that is 12/40 of the way there. how did we keep this to ourselves for so many weeks? well for one, i had to give myself some time to adapt to the idea. i have a two-year old currently transitioning to his big boy bed (and thus not sleeping enough) and he is about to start potty training, God willing. also, i wanted to make sure everything was progessing smoothly in my womb and get a due date confirmation from the doc.

so usually at your first pre-natal visit, the doctor will take an ultrasound of your womb to locate the uterus and the baby's sac inside it. they must make sure that it has "implanted" in the proper location in the uterus and is the appropriate size for the date of conception. from there they can confirm a due date (range) and proceed with the pre-natal lab workups.

however, due to my severely tipped uterus, they were unable to locate it or the baby inside it on the first visit, or the second (two weeks later). but two weeks after that, they finally found it! it was way over the the right, but should continue to center itself as it grows.

inside was a 1.5 inch long baby with kicking legs and a fluttering heartbeat in its chest. so here he/she is! please pray for this baby and for me, for health and growth and ease! we'll keep you posted as we grow and as we approach our october due date.

does anybody even read this blog?

if so, then you may notice a new widget on the page.

i'm just seeing who you are, that is, if there is anyone.

the beginning of the blunt toddler honesty....

kids say the darndest things....and the most honest! i have heard my mom, sisters and friends tell me stories about their kids' honest remarks. until now, finley hasn't been talkative (or opinionated) enough to give me his two cents. but i am starting to learn what he really thinks of me.

how were my parents not mortified when my older sister (as a toddler) told a group of minglers in the church foyer, "my daddy has a tail." how did my sister not get her feelings hurt when her son looked at her beautiful wedding photo and said, "mom, you look really gross!" and when she asked him, "well, do you think i look better now?" and he thought for a minute then replied, "no, worse." or when a little neighbor girl sat on my grandma's lap and said, "oh, you're fat." to which my grandma replied, "yes, i am." my mom had always taught us to never talk about people being overweight. that some people can't help it and some people just "eat too many cookies" (her dumbed down explanation). after clearly absorbing this lesson, my older sister carol (as a toddler), kindly told a stranger at the in the grocery aisle, "you ate too many cookies!" oh no! my sister lindsay was especially outspoken with her truths as a little girl. sometimes my mom feared what my sister might say. when she was about 3 or 4, my mom was pushing her through the piggly wiggly in the shopping cart. a man came through the doorway who was morbidly obese and could barely walk. lindsay covered her mouth and started to giggle and carry on. then she pointed at him and said, "mom, he's barefooted!" shew! my favorite one was when she was in first grade, she told her sweet white-haired teacher that she looked just like her grandma. the teacher said, "how's that?" to which she replied with great affection, "you have the same hangy down skin on your arms, and those blue lines on your legs." ouch!

about a year ago, my innocent little one year old boy was watching sesame street when this clip came on. he pointed at the tv and said, "mommy! mommy!" i was touched that he would compare me (or confuse me) with norah jones. ok, so maybe his vision wasn't too sharp and all he saw was the long brown hair. whatever the case, it was sweet.

now he's two and a few months and talking and understanding a lot more. this morning over breakfast we were watching pbs and a commercial came on for amazon grocery. there is a woman, clearly not a morning person, wearing a huge bathrobe, with disheveled hair and a grumpy face. her kids are running amok and she is ransacking her kitchen cabinets searching for coffee grounds. she even stands up on the counter, throwing things over her shoulder, only finding one empty coffee can after another. while this is happening, finley points at the tv and says, "look, it's mommy! and in mommy's dress!" and proceeds to giggle and laugh. (yes, i wear my robe a lot, almost every day, even over my clothes! but is it my "dress", my uniform? according to finley i guess so). so then the commercial goes on to say, if you use amazon grocery service, you'll never run out of whatever the particular item is you need, yada yada. at the end, the woman sighs and smiles and sips on her steaming cup of coffee. after which finley burst into laughter and exclaimed, "she NEEDS her milk!"

i guess i better just prepare myself for all the honest statements that will come out of finley's mouth over the next few years. hopefully he won't say much in public places, or to his teachers, grandmas or strangers!

do you have funny stories of toddler honesty? if so, share them with me!