Saturday, September 26, 2009

If the baby's name were left up to Abby...



Jason and I have been asking Abby whether she wants a baby brother or a baby sister. It really just depends on the day, her mood, and whether or not she's been around Naomi or Nathanael what her answer is.

Usually when she says she wants a sister (or a brother for that matter) she'll tell us she wants to name her (or him) Naomi. Let me explain. Naomi is her BEST, BEST, BEST friend. All of Abby's baby dolls are named Naomi, so it stands to reason that she would want to name her baby sister (or brother) the same.

Well, the other day, I asked Abby whether she wanted a baby brother or a baby sister, and she said emphatically, "BABY BRUDDER."

"Well, what do you want to name your baby brother," I asked.

She waited a few minutes and said, "SUPER WHY!"

Now, for those of you who aren't familiar with recent PBS trends in programming, Super Why is a show about reading and exploring. I know, my heart swells at the thought too. She's a future English major.

Unfortunately, Super Why is now her name of choice for Baby Looper. I don't know that it would be appropriate to name a child after a PBS show, even if it is about reading.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Has it really been since July?!?

Oh my! I have been treating my blog kind of like I treat our checkbook. When I know I'm way behind, I just don't look at it because the guilt is way too overwhelming. This morning I decided I better check just in case there were some lone comment waiting to be viewed, and I realized it's been TWO MONTHS since I posted anything. And to think I expect my students to post blogs twice a week. It's shameful really!

Anyway, I had to share an experience I had last week on Thursday. It was the moment I realized that I am truly, indeed, no-questions-asked pregnant.

Now, I know many of you are saying to yourselves, "Alicia, you've been wearing maternity clothes for 2 months and have been feeling the baby kick for several weeks, what do you mean you just realized you were pregnant?"

Well, it's not really that I didn't KNOW that I was pregnant, I just had one of those emotional, rollercoaster kind of nights last Thursday that confirmed the fact.

Here's how it went down:

I met my husband and mother-in-law at a local restaurant for some dinner. Abby of course was being obstinate, like any good two-year-old would be. I ordered my sandwich, only ate half of it, anticipating that I would eat the other half for lunch on Friday. The plan was perfect - until I left the sandwich in its little styrofoam box on the table.

Jason had to leave for church and I was left with the two-year-old. The restaurant we were at sits very close to a busy highway, so I couldn't let Abby down to walk to her car. She's gotten really fast these days, and I was worried she would dart, so I held her while she thrashed around in my arms and walked to the car.

Once we were at said car, I couldn't find my keys. As if that weren't bad enough, a stray dog walked up to us and started sniffing around. Let me interject here that I AM NOT a dog person. All I could think about was the dog biting me and then Abby running into the road while I lay on the ground helpless - a bit of an exaggeration, I know.

Once I finally made it into the car, I realized the sandwich was on the table. Well, I wasn't going back. No way, no how. Ham and cheese just isn't worth that.

By the time I got home, I had calmed myself down about the sandwich, the dog and my daughter, and as fate would have it some folks were walking their dog down our street. Abby is fascinated with dogs of any kind. She loves them all equally, and will point and yell, "puppy dog" at any that she sees.

When I got her out of the car and placed her on the ground, she started pointing and yelling and missed a step and fell flat on her face. Normally this isn't a big deal because she falls all the time - a trait she most definitely did not get from me ahem.

I picked her up and realized she had something slimy in her hair. No big deal, we were going to take a bath anyway. Yeah, until I got her inside.

When I looked closer, I realized it was a WORM a worm! stuck in her hair. I couldn't get it out. Sometimes, I wonder what God is thinking when he's watching us here on earth because just when I realized that my attempts with the paper towel weren't working at getting the worm out of Abby's hair, my phone rang. It was Jason wanting to know if I was okay.

The answer, through many tears, was a big, emphatic, NO!

He came home and began to extract the worm. It came out in two pieces, which prompted Jason to ask me where she had gotten the WORMS from.

"Worms!" I screamed. "It's only one!"

After we looked closer, we realized it was only one worm that had been ripped in two. Let me say that the worm totally deserved to be ripped in two.

Jason then left me crying beside the bathtub while Abby splashed away in the water.

All that to say, I don't know that I would have been so emotional about a stray dog, a sandwich and a worm had I not been pregnant.