Peter is really growing into a little boy. We call him little big Bubba, cause one moment he is off exploring by himself outside, carrying bricks and feeding chickens, and then the next he is crying in my lap begging to nurse. He has been pretty fussy these past couple of months and we think its because he's making the transition from baby to boy. He says new words everyday and our new favorite is "dak" or dark. When it gets dark outside, he opens his eyes wide, looks toward the window and whispers "dak!". He also loves the stars. At night when we are coming in from milking, he just throws his head back and gazes at them. He adores his big brother and sister, and spending his time messing up whatever game they were trying to play. Its funny the different dynamics each sibling pulls out of Peter. When he is with Margaret Mary, he is silly, chasing her around, yelling and playing monster. When he is with Henry, he plays priest and processes around the house bowing and singing. Peter also loves books and will sneak away to the bedroom for a while to read on his bed. He still cosleeps, but sleeps through the night and sometimes falls asleep for the night in his sister's bed. We think its time to transition him to his own toddler bed soon!
Henry is Henry. Loving, prayerful, sensitive, talkative. We have are trying to teach him not to throw a fit, but to use his words when things don't go his way or is frustrated. He tends to have the same cry for everything, so we never know when he cries if he is just frustrated, annoyed, just got bitten by a snake or is hungry. He talks a lot and we understand him more and more everyday. He is all boy. He carries around his shovel outside and spends all day digging holes, picking things up with his shovel and setting them down "gently." He also loves playing knight and goes back and forth deciding what he wants to dress up as, a priest or a knight. He also LOVES our cat and we think its about time we got the boy a dog!
Margaret Mary is growing leaps and bounds each day. She can read and write some words and does great doing school with Mommy. She would much rather though, be outside working on one of her many ideas. The girl gets something she wants to do in her head and then works hard to make it the way she wants it. One time she came in and told me she was going to make a cowboy hat. She got out the glue, the markers, paper and sissor and went to work. She was all business! After a few minutes she asks me to tape something to her head that resembles a stop sign, and asks me to write "Margaret Mary's cowboy hat" on it. I do it and she beams; by golly she has just made herself a cowboy hat!
My sweet daughter is soooo excited about the baby in my belly and loves looking at baby development books and asking "what is forming in our baby today?" She plays giving birth and then presents a stuffed animal to me with great pride and asks me to put her baby in her sling so the baby can hear her heartbeat. We had some friends in town the other day who had a baby, and when Margaret Mary got to hold him, she beamed and asked "do I look like a mommy?" If you ask her though, if she wants to be a mommy, she says no, she wants to be a nun. We talk to her about the different kids of nuns and sisters and she heard me telling Jason one day what a sacrifice it would be to have our daughter enter a convent to never see her again. She told me not to worry, that she would be a sister (a religious that lives in community, but isn't secluded) so I could come visit her.
I want to cry thinking about my big girl moving out one day and not hearing her sweet voice every day. She really is a treasure and is growing into such a beautiful young lady. She is helpful, she looks out for her siblings, she is funny and kind; we love her (and all our babies) so much!
My first trimester so far has been rough. Not as bad as with Peter, but still have just felt like crap all the time. Tired, a little nauseous, kinda how you feel after you have been sick forever. When it just lingers. I am 10 weeks now and slowly feeling better each day. I look horrible though. The weather has turned cold and I find myself throwing on whatever I can to keep warm. When people come to the house, I get double takes. But, right now its about feeling as good as I can. I want to get a haircut soon and go maternity shopping so I don't look so frumpy, but I am waiting until the 2nd trimester (when the chance of miscarriage decreases) to do so. My sweet sweet friend who I have always had the blessing of being pregnant with, lost her baby a few weeks ago and it has been heartbreaking. Life and death cause a lot of reflection.
Jason deserves an award for best husband. My night owl husband who takes hours to wake up in the morning, wakes up with me and Peter early and fixes breakfast while I take it slow on the couch. He does the dishes again and again and doesn't complain too much about getting everyone dressed out of clean clothes mountain (a giant pile of clothes that keeps on getting added to and probably wont be put up till the 2nd trimester). I am so thankful for his help and support.
I also want to do a shout out to my dad, who came down on a days notice and fixed me a lot of yummy meals to keep in the fridge. I have had aversions this pregnancy to everything that I cook, which has made it really hard to eat. When someone else cooks for me I'm fine! so weird.... Jason calls this pregnancy the pregnancy of milk and bacon, causes thats about all I can fix myself and not want to vomit
