Anticipation

Well, the countdown has begun for the big day! My ultrasound is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon and we’re on pins and needles around here. Not only to make sure the baby is healthy (of course) but also to find out the gender of our little one.

It sounds so cliché but Brad and I will be happy with either a boy or girl so long as it’s healthy (and even if it’s not, frankly).  I think sisters would be sweet but I also thing one of each would be fun.

Our families, I fear, are a different story. As much as they keep saying they’ll be happy with whatever comes along the disproportionate number of granddaughters on both sides of our family leads me to believe they are pulling for a boy. I’ve heard more than once that the Booker name may well die out if we have a girl (all of Brad’s cousins have girls, too). No pressure, though. And when I discussed my concerns with my mother she didn’t exactly deny my suspicions. I believe her exact response was something like, “Yeah, well…” before trailing off. This is particularly disconcerting to me as we are statistically more likely to have a girl given both my age and our family history.

The next big topic around here will be deciding on a name for the baby. Brad and I agreed that we would forgo all arguments for or against specific baby names until after the baby’s gender was determined; that way we’d only be quarrelling over one name and not two. I also have pretty strict guidelines a potential name must meet before being a serious contender in the name game:

1. When you see the name printed the pronunciation should be intuitive for the average person.

2. When you hear the name spoken the spelling should be intuitive for the average person.

3. It must be a name to grow up with (sound equally appropriate for a child as well as an adult).

4. It must be a real name and not a made up one.

5. And finally, it must be uncommon, but not unheard of. 

Brad is a little simpler. When we found out we were having a girl last time he just presented the names of girls he had crushes on in grammar school. I told him firmly that Jessica and Erika were fine names… in 1978.

Harper has been very helpful. She has submitted the following offerings for consideration:

Cracker

Baby Bepper

Peter Piper, and my personal favorite,

Wallaceandgromit  

Noted, Harper. Noted.

Stay tuned for the next exciting installment!  Also, our day at the zoo:

There is a special animatronic dinosaur exhibit at the zoo this month. I thought Harper would love it but it turned out to be a little overwhelming for her. She spent most of her time there wanting to be held. The gift shop, however, was a big hit. Of course, on our way out of the zoo she was begging to see the "big dinosaurs" again, so I guess she's not scarred for life after all.  

 

We went to the zoo with friends Scott and his adorable daughter Zoe, who is Harper's buddy. After the animatronic display the girls got to go in the bounce house and dig in the sand box for "dinosaur bones." Harper was too enthralled to listen to instructions. I am a terrible parent for not putting the camera down to follow-through, but they were just so darn cute together. Bad mommy!  

 

Penguins!

 

Two tired kiddos at the end of the day. Harper crashed as soon as we got home. Thank you for the zoo day, Scott and Zoe!

     

The Ugly Truth

So, I’m pregnant again. I’m just starting to wrap my head around the idea after getting used to the plan that we were going to become parents again via foster care. It has been both exciting and overwhelming, especially because I am much too old to be pregnant. MUCH too old. I don’t know what we were thinking getting ourselves in to this.

So I’m trying to abate my fears by focusing on the positive. Here’s a list I made for just that purpose:   

What I Love About Being Pregnant

Thick, glossy, luxurious hair. Pantene models have got nothing on me.

Strangers telling me I am glowing.

Naps.

Being encouraged to eat whatever I want, whenever I want.

Feeling the baby kick, especially for the first time.

Actual photo of me taken as I was eating a typical pregnancy-breakfast.

That being said, if we are really being honest here there are a few negative, albeit minor, things about having a bun in the oven. Which led me to my second list:

Things I Hate About Being Pregnant

People giving me The Look; the one that says, “Is she pregnant or just suddenly fat?”

Strangers rubbing my belly.

Friends rubbing my belly.

This is how I feel when I am pregnant.

The acne of a 15 year old boy.

Being perpetually tired. Bone tired.

Dealing with the insurance company. I know, this one is never fun. But try it when you are eight weeks pregnant and hormonal and they can’t get your billing right let alone call you back even though they’ve been promising to do so every day for three weeks.

Panty liners (Come on, we all know why. Don’t make spell it out.)

Super-nose. My husband’s scent was so strong I couldn’t kiss him. Not his BO, not his cologne, just his scent that I have happily lived with every day for nearly four years. I couldn’t pucker up without…

Dry heaving. Twice a day every day for ten weeks. And when the dry heaving stopped...

Food cravings. I ate an entire bag of Doritos in two days (which I never, ever eat). I am not proud of this. Also, I was pretty sure I was going to die if I couldn’t have chile relleno, so I did, and immediately became vigorously ill.

Sideburns. Yes, I am growing sideburns. There. I said it. Move along people.

Me in six weeks time.

Doula shopping. This one was a disappointment because I was really looking forward to interviewing doulas. So far I have turned down a woman who literally couldn’t understand the questions I was asking her, a woman who told me she was screening calls to dodge creditors and a chain smoker. True story. 

Maternity wear. Who designs this stuff? Sadists? And even after spending a small fortune in a maternity boutique where the sales lady swore I don’t look like a whale tented in cotton knits still…

Nothing fits, especially…

The humongous underwear I am reduced (no pun intended) to wearing.

I tried this on at the mall. The fit was a little snug but the vertical stripes were very slimming. 

Heartburn.

Round ligament pain (aren’t they round enough?!?!?!)

Braxton Hicks contractions.

Sciatica.

Sneezing (see panty liners, above).

Elephant legs (which go perfectly with the circus tent!).

Waddling.  

All right, all right, I hate being pregnant. Hate it. Which makes me a terrible person because I have pretty unremarkable pregnancies (knock wood).  My sister-in-law had four children despite having hyperemesis gravidarum, which makes her a virtual superhero, and I whine because I am a little uncomfortable. But there it is.

My stupid superhero sister-in-law and her gorgeous family. Way to make me feel inadequate, Bess. 

I think the thing I hate most is that when I’m pregnant I can’t do whatever I want whenever I want. My body isn’t, you know, mine. I can’t eat delicious, unpasteurized cheeses, or sushi (veggie, but potentially tainted with raw fish germs) or even have eggs over easy for breakfast (my comfort food). I can’t work because I can’t risk getting a dog bite because I can’t be on antibiotics. My whole life is reduced to reading labels and referring clients to other behaviorists. I start to feel like a caged animal and imagine doing things I would NEVER do in real life.

So remember, if all of a sudden I start talking about learning how to free dive or start organizing an underwater spelunking club or take up skydiving, it is only because I am pregnant. It’ll pass*.

*in only 23 more weeks, give or take.

Ooo! Gator wrestling! That sounds fun! Who's in?

A Little Announcement

Our big sister in training.

Sorry I haven’t been posting many updates recently. The reason is that I was afraid I was going to let the big news slip. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, we are officially expecting another little Booker. It feels so good to finally be able to spill the beans!

Not that everyone hadn’t figured it out already anyway. I’ve been dry-heaving twice a day like clock-work since Christmas. Good times. Plus I’ve been showing since I was about eight weeks along. Seriously. They are right when they say you show much earlier the second time around. But it’s not even the good “I’m-so-cute-with-my-little-baby-bump” type of showing. It’s more like the “Jeez, she’s-really-put-on-a-lot-of-weight-recently” showing. 

Harper has already picked out names for her new sibling:

Spider for a girl and Butter for a boy.   

My due date is mid-August, so we figure anytime in August is fair game for D-Day. Harper was two weeks early so I’m hoping this one will be too. (Let’s be honest, what pregnant woman doesn’t want a full-term but a little on the early-side baby, right?) Truth be told once 37 weeks hits I turn in to a bar tender at closing time; “All right kid, I’m not saying you’ve got to go home but you can’t stay here.” 

I'm a little anxious about how we'll juggle two but I guess we'll figure it out. Everyone does eventually, right? Right??? 

   

Anyway, I’m a lot more relaxed this time around. Brad says that will change. He might be right. Last time as soon as five months hit I started nesting like crazy. I was actually on a ladder five feet off the ground finishing the detail work on the mural in her room at 36 weeks pregnant. I’m not in any way justifying my actions, just relaying the facts here as I recall them.

But I do feel like we’ve got all the stuff this time around. All we need is the baby.

She has been very clear that she is happy to share everything with her new sibling except her dinosaurs. A girl has to set boundaries, you know.

Of course, I have been meaning to repaint the living room. And the tub in the front bath needs to be recaulked. And I’d love to retile the hearth. And I'd really love to plant a kitchen garden in the backyard…

Stay tuned for more of our wacky journey to multiple kid-dom! 

I can't imagine loving any kid more than I already love this one. 

   

Like Mother...

I walked in on Harper organizing her threading beads by color tonight. I am so proud!

I think.

Is this one of those things she'll be discussing with a therapist one day?

  

Annual Visit

Every year the Haines family pack up their three kids and load an immense amount of supplies into their SUV to trek across the country from Kansas all the way to the North East and then, finally, to Florida, where they enjoy a week at the beach with family. Seth Haines and Brad served in the Marines together back in the day and Seth's wife, Shana, is a kindred spirit, so we always enjoy seeing them. We have been lucky enough to join them for a day or so the past couple of years and, on Thursday we met them in Boca Grande for our annual visit. It is always so much fun to catch up and see how much the kids have grown each year and this year was no exception. 

Seth and Brad pretty much look identical to how they looked in the Corps circa 1992.

Look at those handsome guys!

Seth, just standing around looking charming.

The beach, unfortunately, proved to be a bust as a red tide bloom forced our early departure, but we had fun back at the pool at their vacation rental. The kids swam until they were blue and shivering and were forced out of the pool by concerned parents. Then we all ate sandwiches and junk food and enjoyed being around other adults while the kids warmed back up in the sun. 

After their core body temperatures had stabilized we all walked to a nearby school where the kids impressed us with their never ending energy at the playground. At the last minute I remembered I had brought the camera and snapped some pictures of Seth and Brad together. Brad was also able to get some video of Sunny and Harper playing on the slides.

It was a lovely visit and, although abreviated, we were so glad we had a chance to spend the day with them.

Thank you for your hospitality, Haines family. We can't wait to see you again next year!

Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season this year. As for the Bookers, we were pretty busy. Christmas preparations happened just in the nick of time and, although done with love, were fairly scant. 

Every year Brad and I go back and forth on the pros and cons of getting a Christmas tree. I really do have a major ethical dilemna with slaughtering a helpless tree who is just miding its own business, photosynthesizing its heart out, so it can be gussied up like a cheap tart only to be displayed in our living room for a week or so. But I do love a Christmas tree, too! I love to turn off all the lights in the house but the strand or twenty decorating the tree and cuddle up on the couch watching the lights dance while sipping something Christmas-y. So we split the difference this year and, on December 23rd, went to Home Depot where we bought a cone-shaped ornamental shrub which we will plant in our yard at some point after the holidays. In theory. It was a good compromise.

We own a total of nine Christmas tree ornaments. Note how they are strategically placed so as to maximize their visual impact.

I guess we were pretty good this year because Santa was very generous with us. Harper must have been a saint for the loot she raked in. Her gifts from mommy and daddy this year were a wooden train set and a dolly bed, but they paled in comparison to the bevy of dinosaurs she received. In fact, when she saw her doll cozily tucked in the little doll bed under our Christmas tree on Christmas morning, she literally picked up the doll by its ear and tossed it across the room to spend the next two solid hours tucking and retucking her dinosaurs in said bed. No plastic dinosaur ever had it so good.

Harper is so tricky to get any footage of these days. If she sees the camera at all she wants to look at videos on it, so you have to sneak up on her. Please note the dinosaur T-shirt on over her Christmas pajamas. Santa also brought Harper a cold for Christmas.

Her new dinosaur acquisitions include:

One dinosaur Christmas tree ornament (thank you, Santa)
One set of squirting dinosaur bath toys (thank you, Uncle Ed)
One set of mini plastic dinosaurs (thank you, Nana and Pa)
One set of giant plastic dinosaurs (thank you, Santa)
One set of dinosaur flash cards (thank you, Wayne and Jan)
One dinosaur puzzle (thank you, Grandma and Grandpa)
One restickable sticker book with dinosaurs (thank you, Bauer Jrs.)
One dinosaur T-shirt (thank you, Brandons)
Several dinosaur books (thank you, everyone)  

Of course, there was other stuff, too. And I'm sure she'll love it all, right after this dinosaur kick is over. 

We wish we could have spent this Christmas with every one of you. Maybe next year, after our investments in the lottery pay off. Even though we are far apart please know our thoughts are with you this holiday season.

Love, the Bookers

The Holidays Are Here!

The weather forecast this morning said today was supposed to be overcast and dry (perfect photo weather!), so I stuffed Harper's new Christmas dress in my back pack and we biked to Hyde Park Village for a holiday photo shoot.

Of course, the weather forecast was wrong. It turned out to be pretty sunny for most of the morning, which made things tricky because our little camera can't handle anything except absolutely perfect lighting. Perhaps, if we are very good, Santa will bring us a new camera for Christmas someday. 

Temptation! It had rained the night before and Harper had such a hard time keeping her hands off of the wet display. 

But she did play a little hide-and-seek between the giant packages.

"You're it!"

Eventually I was forced to pull out the big guns and had to get "Dina" the Christmas Dinosaur out of my backpack to keep her focused. I love the lighting in this shot. And dinosaurs make everything better.

Look over there, mom! Santa Claus is sleeping on the sidewalk in front of that wine bar! 

This was taken just after I told her I had forgotten pennies for the fountain. It was one disappointment after another all morning long.

 

By this point she was pretty tired of my shenanigans.

After a short apple cider break at the local coffee house she was in much better spirits.

Then it was back to the fountain, wishing for pennies.

Twirling!

They had a huge Christmas tree on display in the main square.

Harper was fascinated with the ornaments on the tree.

I threw caution to the wind and finally decided to let her play in the water in the hopes of getting a couple of candid shots. 

 

Don't you think she looks like a little present snuggled in there with that bow on her head?

Then the splashing really started! I'm not kidding... I have probably twenty unusable shots like this with her eyes closed. But she sure had fun!

Soaked and sated. That dress is going straight to the cleaners. Two year olds and taffeta do not mix. I don't know what I was thinking.

 

One last time checking out the ornaments.

Our pretty Christmas girl in Santa's sleigh.