My true thoughts on having a girl

I have decided every time I am going to do a pregnancy post, I am going to put a picture up of a little outfit too. This dress came yesterday from Land's End. It is corduroy and I just really like it.

OK, so here goes my true heart to heart feelings on having a girl, I am sure I am going to be all over the place. And I almost feel like I shouldn't be writing this because I know some people have the attitude as 'I don't care what it is, as long as it is healthy.' But a reality for me is, I do have thoughts and feelings on the gender of my children, and I am going to share them with you.

For a while before I had kids I thought my ideal family would look like this: boy, girl, boy in that order. And then when we thought about having a family, we thought, hey, four is a good number. And then Adam came and we were like, what the heck are we thinking, we can hardly handle one. As things went on, we adapted and life got easier and my husband has decided that he is good with three kids. He's ready to 'move on to the next stage' as he tells me. And my attitude is, if I were to have four kids, I might as well have like eight because four in my mind pushes over to the 'large' stage. Three is still manageable but four is a lot. So that is where we are with that, and I am OK with it. When I was pregnant with Adam, I was hoping he was a boy, and when I was pregnant with Van, I was hoping he was a boy as well to be completely honest. They are born at the same exact time, the clothing thing works out marvelously, and as my sister in law put it, you have all the boy toys. With the farm too, it's nice to have some big burly farm men around, not that my boys are big and burly but you know what I mean. I guess I picture a girl as a princessy type even though I don't think I am. But when I had Van, I went through a short period of, 'what if I never have a girl? I think I would be sad' And that phase slowly passed into, I think I would like another boy. Three boys would be great, the whole farm thing again, they say boys are easier, Van was a piece of cake baby, let's repeat that again.

And my other thought is this- the teenage age. I think that boys are more laid back. You don't have to worry about them as much. They seem to me a little more stable, less emotional, less drama. I don't picture boys as being as sneaky or playing mind games like girls do. But maybe I am dreaming all of this in my head. Chip is scared to death of a girl I think. We were looking at the sono pictures today and he was like, 'I hope she isn't gorgeous. We will have enough work on our hands as it is, if she is beautiful it will be even worse!' How funny is that? We were watching the news one day and there was this college girl on there that got abducted or something and he was like, if we ever have a girl, she isn't going to college. Ummmm..... ok. But I am sure when she is born, she will melt his heart.

I am hoping that I can somehow instill confidence in my daughter. I think that is a big thing. If a girl can have confidence in the decisions she makes (friends, clothing, boyfriends, issues) I think that will make a huge difference on how she views herself and the choices that she makes in life. So I hope that we can make that happen somehow.

OK, now onto the happy part. My grandma has started to fail recently (I thought this was the happy part?) And my mom said to me recently, be so happy you are having a girl. Girls I think are more observant of needs whether they are emotional or physical than boys are. Boys and men I think just sort of go with the flow, not really pro-active, don't really plan. I think girls are more sensitive. We are seeing that with who is responding to my grandma's needs in the family and who isn't. Mostly it's women and I think that runs true most of the time. My mom and I have a very close relationship and I am looking forward to that with a daughter. I know that men always need their moms too but I think women are different. Women have different relationships with their mothers than men do. I am looking forward to doing the prom dress and wedding thing, playing with her hair and doing the American Girl Doll stuff. And not to mention the clothes as you already know. I don't plan on making her into a girly girl princess and I don't think that will happen with two brothers anyway. But I am very excited about having a girl. This will be a new challenge for us and I think we are up for it.

knitting

These are my latest knitting projects. Usually with each project, I like to do something different and challenge myself a little bit. This sweater that I did for Adam (and eventually Van) was that type of project. The pattern was by the same author that created that pattern that I made for Adam last year, Zoe Mellor. She has beautiful things and I really want to make almost everything in the book. When I saw this sweater, I knew it would be difficult but I wanted to do it. I started it in July and just finished it. It still needs to have the stray strands of yarn woven in (I hid them for the picture) but something I am notorious for is starting a new project before I do the 'finishing touches' on the one I am practically done with. I just hate doing it, I am ready to move on to the next project. But this sweater was sooo fun to do, not something you could just sit there and mindlessly do (which is why it takes me so long to do a project, I only knit when the boys sleep) but all the cables, twists and seed stitch made it a fun project. The back looks just like the front too with all the patterning. The bad news is that it is too big for Adam, that is why he isn't wearing it. When I made the sailboat sweater for him last year, it JUST fit him, and since I was making the same size in this sweater and it was by the same author I figured, well, I will just add an inch to the body and arms... and now it's too big. The woman at the knitting store told me because I used a bulkier yarn, it is bigger. But I would prefer bigger than to too small. He'll wear it to pre-k next year... with a clear plastic bag over him to protect it! Ha!

The other project I started is a baby blanket for the baby. Holy cow, I think this is the hardest thing I have done yet with all those holes (yarn overs). I was at the knitting store last week for about 3 hours, no joke. But see how much I have done already? That's a lot for me in one week (well, I knitted all day pretty much on Sunday when we had that big storm and I had no Internet, well, when the boys napped anyway, that gave me a lot of time of undivided knitting.) I am going to weave ribbon through the holes, the pattern is beautiful, and it has some embroidery, which I don't know if I am going to do or not, I have so many other projects I want to do now. Little booties are next on my list, so so cute!!

Sugar and Spice

I am still pretty much obsessed with the ducks. this is a corduroy jumper and of course I had to get the little shirt.... so cute. I didn't get the sweater though so I deserve a couple points for that. :)

Just a shirt I liked, feminine I thought.

I got this coverall thing when I was pregnant with Adam. Again, to go with the whole shopping thing, I was picking up stuff here and there and I didn't even know what I has having yet! My mom and I hit consignment stores and I just LOVED this coverall. It was 2 dollars at Salvation Army and it is soo feminine. It is terry cloth and has a little hood. It will be PERFECT to bring Anna home in because the end of April can be cool and she can wear it over her clothes. LOVE IT!

When I was in the hospital with Van I brought booties with me that Keri lent me from her son Dylan. I loved that when the nurses would bring him to me, he would have the little booties on, it just made him look special to me, and the nurses commented on them too. I wanted to do that again, so these little booties are for Anna when she is in the hospital and the hat was also just too cute to pass up.

No explanation for this dress, just think its beautiful.

I have to admit, I think these pictures look better on this blog than they did on my camera! I had a hard time seeing the detail on the camera. But ANYway..... if you know me, I like to shop. When we got the 'I think it's a girl' at 18 weeks, I TRIED not to convince myself and allow myself to go crazy. Well, that only lasted until about a couple of weeks ago. My dear friend Erin and I went down to the outlets and I just couldn't help myself. I decided, anything I buy will have a 30 day return policy at the least, I never take the tags off of things until the kids are just about to wear them, if I have to return stuff I will. The deals I got were pretty amazing. And this morning my husband says to me, I think I am going to go and get a haircut, and I said, oh, I was thinking of going to Middletown. He said, as soon as you know it's a girl you want to go out and shop? Well, of course the answer to that is yes. But I decided to hold off for a few days anyway. My friend told me she was in Middletown yesterday and got like 3 coats, outfits, mattress pads, for 50 bucks in Kohl's. I remember a girls weekend, actually it was very similar to this one, FRIGID, we went shopping in CT and holy cow the deals we got. But we have family coming in for the weekend we never saw for Christmas so I don't think I am going.... maybe next week? :) I am so excited to shop for this little girl though. Sometimes when catalogs would come in the mail I would secretly look at them and pretend, if I had a girl, what would I put on her? And now I actually get to do that.

My friend was telling me last night that has a girl, that it just gets crazy with all the accessories and hair ribbons and shoes etc. I can sort of see that. A few weeks ago when I broke down and got some stuff in Penney's with my mom, and we went into H&M and they had this adorable plaid jumper. So my mom got the jumper and the shirt to match and then we saw these purple shoes that were obviously meant for the outfit, we were like, 'LOOK AT THE SHOES!!' so of course she got them too and the tights. And last night we found this dress in a magazine that was to die for and it had this eyelet slip underneath and a little eyelet sunhat to match of course. So I can see how having a boy and dressing him, is completely different from a girl. I have found myself though, not really going for the sickening pink look. I mean, pink is cute but some of this stuff.... holy cow... it is just like pink overload. I think you can be feminine but not attack of the pink. And if you can believe this... I have the bedding picked out. Oh, yeah, it has been in my favorites for the last month or so now. And guess what color it is? Blue. But again, it is really feminine, pink and blue but mostly blue little flowers. I just really like it. I will post it when I order it in the next few days to be sure. But I just wanted to post those little outfits, sooo cute!!!

Our 3D ultrasound

Today is a day I have been waiting for for a really long time... to have confirmation of the sex of our baby. We were told at week 18 that the tech was pretty sure it was a girl, but not certain. Well today, we are certain. They looked between her legs and I saw girl parts before the tech even told us for sure. So I am very excited, I can now do my scrapbooking, room prep and shopping that I have wanted to do. :)

This was a very fun experience. We went in and there was the machine like there always is next to the bed and then a TV on the floor, I asked if the TV was where we would see her and he said, yes, the TV and then the GIANT screen, bigger than any TV I have ever seen but not as big as a movie theater I guess in between that size, the entire length of the wall. So that was really cool, I didn't have to guess at what he was looking at.

The entire exam was in 3D/4D. I asked the difference and he said the 4D is seeing the baby actually move and the 3D is the pics like you see above. He printed out about 6 maybe of these photos and then put the rest (a total of 40 pictures) on a CD for us and then we have a DVD set to music as well, I haven't watched it yet but I think my parents are coming over tonight to see it.

He said at 25 weeks, it's tricky knowing if the baby will look skeletal or have filled out, but we were very fortunate, I think she is adorable, she has some meat on her face already and we have a ways to go... not that I have chubby babies or anything but it is cute to see that rounded face.

She was very cute during the exam, her arms were near her face a lot so it took a while to get a good look at her face but her hands were moving and we saw her knee and feet too, it was really really cute. She yawned a bunch of times too, it was adorable.

Adam was so excited when we came home and loves looking at the pictures. Yesterday as we were laying down for a nap I asked him if he wanted to feel the baby because she was moving like crazy and he loved it! We just kept laughing together it was a really special time, he asks to feel her a lot since then. Van is oblivious of course, we read the Big Brother book and he sometimes listens and points to the baby, I am sure he will catch on when she comes.

So that is our exciting news for the day. I was so happy to see our beautiful daughter. Oh, and if she doesn't look EXACTLY like her brothers, oh my! She has Van's chin which their cousin Joe has as well so I think it is a Furman trait, and I think her nose looks just like Adam and Van's. It's amazing that I have 15 weeks to go and all the things that are so clear to see already. I read last night that she is going to start growing hair this week. :) Very very fun times, we are very blessed.

Too Busy

Too Busy

The dishes are still in the sink.
Dirty laundry is piled high.
Somehow the entire day,
Seemed to just fly by.
I made a 'to-do' list.
I meant to follow through.
But there were other tasks,
That needed attention too.
Like cheering on my daughter,
As she took first steps into my arms,
Making sure she stayed safe,
From all potential harms.
Cuddling on the couch,
And reading a favorite story.
Helping her explore the world,
And marvel at all the glory.
So the chores will have to wait.
They aren't important anyway.
Because I was simly too busy,
Loving my child today.


Sabrina A. Taylor

Our morning chores

I see that these pictures were kind of put in backwards, but that is OK. I posted about this last year as well and I am going to put the link to it, it was actually fun to go through my blog and see what I have written, they have grown up SO much in a year. Here are some pics of them last year in the barn (when you scroll down):

http://farmkids-julie.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-01-29T12%3A14%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=50

As I mentioned last year, pretty much every morning, we go to the barn and do 'chores' as my in laws and husband call it (from about the end of October maybe until Aprilish). We put the cows in at night and in the morning we let them out, so each morning, the barn needs to be scraped of manure, the mangers and mats swept of silage, and the floors swept as well. Every other day, we clean the barn completely out which means the barn cleaner gets cleaned out and the manure gets spread into the manure spreader and my father in law or husband drives the tractor and spreads it around the field. I personally love the 'barn cleaning days' because the barn is really clean then, it takes longer but I take on scraping the barn cleaner as my job because I like to.

It's funny to me to see how much Van has changed in a year. Last year he was in the playpen and this year he is running around and working like the rest of them. I love to watch him copy what his brother, father and grandfather do. You can see in the pictures that they are both shoveling, Van is sweeping at one point and then they are 'doing' grit. They love to 'do' grit. It is this 'grit' I guess that we spread on the barn floor every day so when the cows come in they don't fall because the floor isn't slippery. I love the way they move their shovels around just like their grandfather does when he spreads it. Next year, Adam will be in Pre-K and will miss our morning chores. :( But by the time I get him on the bus, and get back home, he will be home pretty much. And we'll have another baby in the playpen too. :) I really enjoy cleaning the barn, as odd as that is, and I am glad the boys get to do it too.

The stages of Van

A couple of things I don't want to forget about Van:

1. He has ALWAYS lied? I don't know, on the floor like this since he has played with trucks and tractors which has been like forever. I just think it is cute. He needs to be like eye level with the trucks or something to get the whole effect. A lot of people will think or tell me when they see him, oh, he's tired or he's sleeping. Nope, he's just really getting the whole picture of the truck I guess. Adam never did that.

2. Also, right now we are in the stripping/naked faze. I have heard about this, but never experienced it with Adam. Ever since we have come home from vacation, Van has been taking his clothes off. My mother in law told me that when he went to sleep, she had to put this sleeper on him that she cut the feet out of and put it on backwards so he couldn't get to the zipper because she would go in there at night and he would have no clothes on. If you think about it, the feet only face one way so if you are going to put it on backwards, the feet have to be cut or something. It took me a while to realize why she did that. We have not had that problem though, he stays clothed at night. But during the day, he will often be pantless and if he can get the shirt off, that will be off too and then the diaper as well. Here in this shot he is in his diaper but that is because I put it on him twice after he as taken it off. I know this is a sign of potty training readiness so we'll see. But it's just funny, he'll come out of the room and have no pants on. I wonder how long this will last. :)