I had remarked a few weeks ago that I was anticipating the end of the month because up until that point, it had been a pretty crummy month for me.  Since then, things have looked up considerably.  So I suppose you can say that August has been thusly redeemed.  It’s not been without it’s trials, don’t get me wrong.  Shoot, there’s trials yet.  Saying that everything right now is 100% smooth sailing would be a total lie.  But it is better.  Couldn’t get much worse, for a while there.  It’s a start.
I’m still hoping September wipes the slate clean somewhat and presents a fresh start.  This will be my third month of pregnancy.  That seems strange to me.  I still don’t quite feel like I’m truly pregnant.  It feels too good to be true, somehow.  Like something that would happen to someone else.  For so long, I felt like everything was against us, that if there was luck to be had for us, it was bad luck.  If there were two possible outcomes, we would get the worse of the two.  Being pregnant now seems like the BETTER outcome and that’s just strange to me.

I must say, I’m looking forward to putting summer behind me and embracing fall.  Cooler temperatures, if nothing else.  I’ll take 80’s right now, rather than the steady lineup of 90’s we’ve had all month long.  70’s seem like a dream.  I want to watch the leaves turn colors, the mornings to get that “bite” in the air, the earlier evenings, the anticipation of the holidays.  I never really care for the summer months much, they seem to drag on for ages and the heat is so oppressive.  There’s no escaping it.  September brings the promise of relief, as far as I’m concerned.

So, things that will be fun in September:

• We have a wedding to go to down in the Bay Area around the middle of the month that promises to be a great time.
• My sister and brother will be there and it will be very cool to see them both.
• I’ll have my first doctor appointment on September 12, and hopefully my first ultrasound.
• Which means, we’ll finally know for sure when this baby is due rather than having to rely on my faulty reckoning.

Okay, so that’s not a whole lot yet, but I’m hoping that list will grow and grow and grow… I want to blow September off the map here, people.  And what better way to kick it off than with a 3 day weekend?

I feel like everyone and their dog is leaving town this weekend.  All across the blogosphere, I hear of everyone’s travel plans and sit back and realize I have NONE.  Here I have a three day weekend and I’ve got nothing to do with it.  Unless you want to count replacing the brakes on my van, grocery shopping and purchasing a wedding present.  So yeah, nothing to do.  Well, there IS the “Best of the West” Nugget Rib Cookoff in Sparks that’s going on this weekend.  And from the footage we saw on the news last night of the event, I doubt we’ll be able to stay away.  I mean, come ON, we’re talking barbecued ribs here!

But no, we’re not going camping, we’re not visiting family, we’re not going on some interesting trip or doing anything that doesn’t involve staying close to home.

So pardon me if I feel a little left out this weekend and wish I too was going somewhere and doing something interesting.  I hope the rest of you lucky ducks have a great time with your three day weekend.  Anyone care to share their plans?

Why is it that all the naps you take when you’re pregnant leave you feeling like you’ve been trampled by rhinos afterward?  Even knowing I’m going to feel like I’ve been trampled by rhinos, I still take the nap anyhow.  I started taking these naps while Liam was napping before I even knew I was pregnant.  All I knew was that I was drowsy late in the morning (and early in the afternoon) and if I had little better to do (and when you’re drowsy, suddenly there isn’t much more important that needs to be done than sleep) I’d lay down for a little snooze.

These snoozes are draining though.  I wake up with my head full of cotton, a crease on my cheek, my arm asleep and a deep unwillingness to be awake and moving around.   The first item of business is a cold can of diet soda.  The cold refreshes, the caffeine wakes me up and the sugar (artificial though it is) gets my blood pumping again.  What would I do without a constant supply of this soda?  I might still be upstairs in bed, trying to wake up and not really wanting to wake up.  Shoot, even now after I’ve had the soda, I don’t really want to be awake.

But Liam is stirring on the monitor, no doubt wanting some lunch.  Duty calls, even for the woman with a head full of cotton.  The second trimester is starting to look pretty darn good right about now.

Once upon a time, when I was pregnant with Jackson, I purchased a body pillow from Target.  It was perfect.  Floppy, soft, pink and purple and just the thing to lay on at night.  When I’m pregnant, I like to lay half on my side, half on my belly.  Entirely on my side isn’t comfortable and entirely on my belly always feels like I’m laying on something (yes, even only 8 weeks in!).  The best way to accomplish this effect is with a body pillow.  But for some reason, my body pillow has gone missing.  I have no idea where it has gone, where it could have gone.  I didn’t take it to the drive in, I’m pretty sure.  Did I?  The point is, I can’t find it.  I’ve had to sleep this week without a body pillow and it’s been very hard.  Each day, I’m more and more wanting to lay in my half on my side/half on my belly position and I can’t accomplish that with blankets alone.

I suppose I could buy a new body pillow.  But every store I’ve looked at online has listed pregnancy pillows as being $40 or more!  $60 for a “J” shaped pillow?  Seriously?  That’s just atrocious!  Shoot, I got my beloved body pillow for a mere $10 and that worked just fine.  So why can’t I have something just like that?  Why must they make it so difficult for me??

I just want to sleep half on my side and half on my belly.  Is that so wrong?

Whenever someone hears your pregnant and notices that you already have two boys at home, they immediately ask if you’re hoping for a girl.  Or worse, they assume you want a girl.  I think that’s just goofy.  Because, truly, what difference does it make?

My attitudes on this subject have changed a lot over the years.  Before I got pregnant the first time, I really wanted to have a baby girl.  It’s sort of like when you’re a little kid and you get your first Cabbage Patch Kid.  Do you want one of the little boy dolls or a girl doll?  DUH!  You want a girl, right?  At least most every little girl I knew (myself included) did.  Because I could identify with a girl.  Girls liked the same things I did and we had the same “equipment”.  Girls are cute, and sweet and well-behaved, right?  So when I found out I was pregnant, I figured it would be a girl and that was what I wanted.  Makes sense a little bit, right?  But then I found out I was going to have a boy.  That seemed unreal to me for a long time, until my boy was in my arms.

I wouldn’t change a thing.  I was even a little relieved when I found out Liam was a boy too.  I know boys.  I can handle boys.  Boys are so sweet.   I’ve even found myself feeling bad for people who are pregnant with their first child and find out it’s a girl.  Or if they have one or two girls at home and won’t be having any more children.  I guess because I think they’re missing out on the joy that is having a boy.  For years now, I’ve thought that if I could only have one (or two) kid(s), I’m happy it’s a boy.

It’s entirely possible that I think this because I’ve never had a girl.  I’ve had plenty of time to get intimidated by having a girl.  The longer I have to get used to only boys, the more girls seem strange and foreign to me.  I think it’d be nice to have a girl, if only to get to experience the difference and round out my parenting experience.  But I doubt I would mind having another boy.  I’ve had such wonderful luck with boys.  I love watching them explore their world and grow into little men.

The only problem with having another boy is coming up with another boy name.  We’re sorta tapped out here.