Baby #4 Guesses

Here is where I'll keep all the guesses for baby #4. I tried to make a page but I couldn't get it to work ...

So nobody was right!!! Nolan was born March 19th, 10lbs 1 ounce ....

Some history if you would like :

Baby #1 - Amelie (girl - in case that wasn't obvious) Due May 5th - Born May 5th - 7lbs 13 ounces
Baby #2 - William (boy) Due April 30th - Born May 2nd - 8lbs 8 ounces
Baby #3 - Nikki (girl) Due May 1st - Born May 4th - 9lbs 2 ounces
Baby #4 - Unknown - Due March 6th

GUESSES

Corinne's Guess - Girl - March 5th - 9lbs
Rachelle's Guess - Boy - March 5th - 8lbs 3 ounces
Kim's guess - Girl - March 7th - 8lbs 9 ounces
Ray's guess - Girl - March 4th - 7lbs 6 ounces
Melanie's guess - Girl - March 9th - 8lbs 11 ounces
Mary's Guess - Girl - March 6th - 7lbs 10 ounces
Grandma Lois - Boy - 7lbs 6 ounces
Matante Lucille - Boy
Gayle's guess - Boy - March 5th - 9lbs 3 ounces
Bonnie's Guess - Boy - March 3rd - 9lbs 1 ounce
Deanna's Guess - March 14th
Kylea's Guess - Boy - 8lbs 5 ounces
Isabelle's Guess - Boy - March 4th - 9lbs
Eliane's Guess - Girl - March 8th - 8.5 lbs

Syrup anyone??

Tonight as I watched Suits and enjoyed the tiny handful of popcorn the kids allowed me to have, it occurred to me how quiet it was. Nikki was lying in my arms after having nursed herself to a nap - that's right a 7pm nap. I decided to get up and go check on them and get Amelie in bed because she has school tomorrow.

I'm glad I did.

Earlier that evening William had packed his 'lunch' - he likes to pack some snacks and eat them and I'd seen grapes and crackers when I'd peeked into it.

I approached the bedroom and in the dim light I could see a big blue Tupperware full to the brim of something orange, so I turned on the light and was relieved to see the carrots. Then I noticed William was drinking out of an old Yogurt container I'd washed - Tupperware is expensive FYI. I asked him what it was.

"My drink," William replied.
I looked inside and thought at first it was Iced Tea - except ... we didn't have Iced Tea ....
"It's sywup," He informed me.

0_0 ................

I called daddy to let him know he'd likely be putting Amelie on the bus in the morning ...

I'm out of grapefruit

I didn't think I had a craving this time - but it turns out ... as I sit here STARVING ... that I do. I need grapefruit. RIGHT NOW. IT doesn't help that I have nothing else to curb my anger at not having grapefruit in the house - literally - nothing. No snap peas, no beans, no oranges, no strawberries ... not even carrots. 0_0 sssssiiiiiigggggggghhhhhh

All I have his chocolate cake with sucre a la creme. Oi. I don't even want it. I want grapefruit.

Since we've started making meal plans and eating more raw veggies/fruits and 'checking' what we eat, my fridge gets emptier quicker. I guess I have to seriously re-evaluate my budget for the fresh stuff. It used to go bad so quickly but now .... not so much.

I'm just really wanting grapefruit right now. My cousin owns this business called Munch Eaze where he delivers snacks to people for a small fee. Yep. I'd be his best customer if he lived out here. And ... I'd have grapefruit and I wouldn't have had to leave my house.

Going shopping, even by myself, is a marathon. The drive sucks, the pushing the cart sucks, the loading the truck or car sucks, the driving home sucks ... it alllll sucks. My belly is heavy and my back will hurt, or my feet! Baby shoves around like he/she owns the damn place - he/she DOESN'T just fyi ... renting maybe.

I keep reminding myself 3.5 to 5.5 weeks left. That's not long ... right? Just around the corner and hopefully closer to just 3.5 weeks ... welll that weekend everyone is kind of busy so the Monday after would be okay or before that would be okay too.

Corey works nights this week so he can't just 'grab some grapefruit' to bring me in the morning unless he wants to haul that everywhere at work - lame.

Nikki just brought me a sleeve of crackers - joyously exclaiming SNACK ... so ... I guess we'll do that for now.

Crazy Carpets

They aren't just for kids.

They are for everyone, including super pregnant women - if you are careful getting on, which I was pretty good at. They are also awesome on the slightest incline, like our driveway.

Amelie and William got them for Christmas and I have no idea who gave them - Corey knows. Today, during outside time after school, I watched Amelie and saw how fast she was going and thought - yeah ... I could do that. So we carefully set down the blue one, got on and Nikki and I went for a ride. It was pretty awesome and we went pretty far and the climb back up wasn't bad - which is important because Nikki insisted 'ENCORE!' a great many times. We were also able to race each other, although ... William cheated a lot of the time.

It made me remember crazy carpets as kids and how we would find the steepest, bumpiest, stupidest hill we could ... then go down .... on our stomachs. I don't know how we survived. Maybe when everyone comes over next we can have races again ....

Nikki's thoughts at 21 months old

Everything looks better when colored on.
Only accept milk from a cup if mom isn't around or if mom doesn't give in to your pleading.
Matante Madison is the best.
Memere is pretty awesome too.
Until she tries to leave ... then she's not cool.
Going outside is fun as long as someone carries me.
Sledding is super fun.
Climbing in the fridge is fun.
Climbing on the couch is fun.
Climbing everything is fun.
Unfolding the laundry is pretty fun too.
Chocolate milk is probably as good as breast milk.
Amelie is my favorite person in the world - right up there with mommy, and mommy-mom (dad)
It's fun calling dad mommy-mom because he gets annoyed.
It's also fun calling William - William Amelie and Amelie - Amelie William : nobody knows why but me.
Batting lashes and yelling YEAH when mommy asks if I want boogie (boob) gets me everything - even cookies.
Playing with the tablets is fun, but only if I can play the kitty kitty game - which mommy gets annoyed with.
When watching my leappad it must have the volume turned up all the way.
Day care was pretty awesome - they had cookies and cuddled me when I needed it, sometimes when I didn't. ;)
I like when Grandpa comes over.
I call everyone grandpa, even the doctor and mommy's boss ...
I like pretending I'm a puppy.
If I don't know what to do, I pretend whoever is scaring me is a puppy.

Pro-Choice

Lately, my newsfeed has been bombarded with pro-life, anti-abortion type posts, from lots of people. Even family members. Normally, since my pro/anti vaccine post in January, I just close/remove these things but ... they have been bothering me.

Has anyone posting this ever considered what a law like this could mean for women? I mean truly considered what this could mean ... you are forcing a woman to do something with her body that she has not given consent for. Really think about that. Really, truly think about it. I didn't really think about it and just kind of let the activists do their thing, but then ... it hit me.

It makes me sick. It doesn't make me feel good to know what abortion is or how it works or any of that, but worse ... the idea that my rights are being taken away. It may start with the right to abort and access to birth control. It may progress to my right on how I give birth (which is already a huge fight), it may progress to whether or not I vaccinate, circumcise, homeschool, playdate, eat organic ... am I getting all crazy? I don't think so. All these things directly affect our children, their long term health and there are pros and cons to each and there are also tons of doctors/researchers to support each side. Forget what a celebrity says, I've never taken advice from a celebrity, not even Dr. Oz. I research all my choices and then agonize over it forever LOL.

Some women choose to abort because the pregnancy was unplanned and another pregnancy would be too dangerous and might leave her children with no mom. Why is it not okay for women to make conscious decisions about their body?The thought of aborting a life is a sad one, but one that women make because it truly is the best decision for them. How can any of us tell them what is the best decision for them or their child? Ever.

We can't.

We should protect the innocent?! Agreed! How about those that were born and abandoned? Maybe start there instead? There are so many children in the world that need loving and caring arms that ... maybe instead of glaring and forcing women into doing something they don't consent to ... we should just focus on giving an extra set of hands to those who chose to have children and are overwhelmed with the responsibility. What happened to kindness and compassion? When did they get less important than judgement and laws?

I don't want my kids to grow up thinking that they know what's best for others. The further along they get in school the more I realize what truly is important to me and what God's plan for me is. To raise children who love, are compassionate, care about the planet and environment and are gentle. I want them to look over at others to make sure their neighbor has enough.

It's hard to draw the line when it comes to laws, I know. I know what the pro-life people are pushing but I just can't agree with laws that go against a woman's right to her own body. IF we make that law, then shouldn't there be other laws that forbid us to make decisions about our children? Circumcision is a decision that parents choose shortly after birth, it affects the boys forever. (In some countries they do something similar to girls). Of course there are many examples but ... I digress.

So ... to you, I say, as long as you aren't trying to hurt my family or my children, carry on. Love. Live. Be compassionate ... or not.

Besides, maybe we can focus on laws against drunk drivers instead, or ways to keep pedophiles/sexual predators behind bars? Or how about ways to help mamas who want to stay home and raise their babies?! Yeah. Sounds way awesome.

Nikki's thoughts at 8 months old

Crawling is slow
Standing is important
If she can't get where she needs to go - yell for mamamama
When daddy gets home, immediately say dadadadada
pull the cats tail at all possible opportunities
knock down all blocks the moment you realize someone is trying to build something
Yell at all technology - this includes phones, computers, tv, iPds and LeapPads
hit all technology
paper is for ripping
water is only good if it comes from mommy's cup
eating solids that have been pureed is way lame
eating solids is ok I suppose
sitting in a chair at the table is tons of fun
the exersaucer is boring
sock basket should be empty ALL THE TIME
you should always stick your hand in someone's drink. Always.
If it's anywhere near eye level that means it's free for the taking
Strangers aren't cool
Nobody is cool unless mommy is nearby - except maybe Tante Pisha and Tante Maddie, sometimes Memere
sleeping next to mommy is the only place to sleep, except the couch.
Once you're on your back you can't move. Like a turtle.
Biting people is totally fine
If mommy gives you something new to try, throw it away, immediately until you see her taste it first
Showering is lots of fun, tub time too
Only laugh at home around mommy, daddy and siblings - remain serious all other times
the car seat is stupid, and so is facing backwards
Driving places sucks, until we get there, then it's fun, unless there's strangers then it sucks again, until we get used to them, then it's fun, unless there's kids then it's DEFINITELY fun
Markers are fun for jabbing at paper and yelling at
yoga - easy