Baby number 3 is coming!

Written February 11, 2016

A week ago today, I found out that I'm pregnant with our THIRD child! I still kind of can't believe it. We're going to have 3 kids in our family. There are going to be more kids than parents!

This time, I really didn't suspect that I was pregnant. I wasn't feeling sick or tired or moody or anything, so I was pretty surprised. I told Andrew by writing "I'm pregnant" with chocolate sauce on the top of a carton of ice cream. We were chatting after the kids had gone to bed and I told him that I had bought ice cream. He was already so excited. Then, when I took off the lid and flipped the carton toward him while we were talking, he freaked out. He was so happy and I wish I had a picture of the smile that was on his face. And only like 40% of that excitement was because of the ice cream ;)

I haven't been feeling really sick or tired or so on, but I do sometimes get really stressed. When Adaline and Matthew are both cranky at the same time, or I am having to carry both of them and all of our stuff, or when Andrew and I utilize a man-on-man defense, or when it's just a busy Sunday, I wonder how on earth we are going to manage with another child in the mix. I know it will work out and our abilities will be expanded-you just do what you have to do-but I still get nervous about it sometimes.

I'm so excited for Matthew to be an older brother. Right now he loves taking care of Adaline's baby and pushing the stroller. I'm hoping that having a baby around the house will also bring out a softer side in him because he is such a rough kid right now. Adaline just told me that she doesn't want any more babies in our family and that we already have a baby Matthew. We haven't told her and Matthew about the new baby yet, and I think she'll come around between when we do and the time the baby is born.

I don't actually know how many weeks I am yet or even what my due date is. I haven't looked up doctors or even tried to find out where the closest hospitals are yet. I don't think I'm in denial, I think I just don't want to obsess over it yet, and this helps. Plus, everyone around here has intense pregnancy radar and maybe I figure that if I don't even remember that I'm pregnant, how will anyone else figure it out? Right? I'm pretty sure I'm super weird.

Having 3 kids means the Corolla is no longer going to cut it for getting this family around. So, our first order of business will be buying a bigger car-probably a minivan because they're just so sexy and all. 3 kids also means we won't be staying in this 2 bedroom, 880 sq ft apartment once our contract is up next January. We'd like to buy a house, just because paying rent is so depressing, but we'll just have to see what our options are when the time comes. I think, at the very least, we'll rent a house. I'm just so ready for a back yard and a kitchen table that can fit the whole family.

I really want this baby to be a girl. I think it's because Matthew has been kind of a difficult child and Adaline was/is pretty easy. I also have this great image of Adaline sharing a room with a baby girl and decorating their room with sea foam green and navy and silver. But, I've already started working on a quilt top for a baby boy and I will obviously be happy whether it's a boy or it's a girl. Just, if it were up to me, I'd pick a girl.

I am so excited for this new little person to join our family. I love watching Adaline and Matthew interact and I'm excited to know that they'll have another sibling joining the fun soon. I'm excited to watch them take responsibility for and learn to take care of their new sibling. I'm excited for the newborn snuggles-even though Matthew will still lie on me and snuggle all day if I let him. I'm excited for the changes and the growing, and for the getting a new car, moving, cleaning out and arranging our home to make room for this new, sweet baby.

The picture we used to tell our families (once I was about 18 weeks):

Just a reminder: in order to win tug of war, you have to pull the other team over the line. Some, unnamed, family members were a little confused about the rules and didn't quite get the picture. Also, I'm not having twins so the tie will definitely be broken.