If all goes as planned, Joshua is going to finally be a big brother in April!!!  Yes, I am 11 weeks pregnant.  Yeah!  When Joshua & I were down in Oregon, I felt really sick but I just attributed that to a stomach bug that’s been going around.  Apparently that wasn’t quite it.  When I went to the doc to get checked out after we got home, he did an ultrasound that not only revealed a baby but it was a baby who already had a strong heartbeat!  Without going into too many details, it is considered a fairly high-risk pregnancy & it’s had more than it’s share of complications & scares already, but the OBs have said that, although we still need to be cautiously optimistic, they don’t see any immediate worries.  I need to take it easy & rest a lot, which unfortunately means that Joshua & I won’t be able to make our California trip tomorrow like planned.  The docs didn’t specifically forbid the trip but they did give me a long list of things I can’t do & I don’t see how that would be possible traveling with my active little 3-year-old on my own, especially since the goal was to get together with friends & family members all over Southern California.  I’m sure you’ll all understand but I still feel bad.  If things improve, hopefully Joshua & I can make it down in a few months.

Joshua seems to be excited about a future sibling & likes to put his eye up to my belly button to try to see the baby (although he seems confused why he can’t actually see it, which is hilarious!).  He will give my already-growing tummy kisses & tell his future sibling that he will be a good big brother.  Hopefully in another 7 months, he’ll still feel the same way!  Yesterday, Joshua announced that the baby needed a name so I asked him what he thought it should be called.  Then he said it didn’t need a name until it came at the hospital (quite astute for a 3-year-old!).  I said that he could give it a name in the meantime & he came up with “Tiny.”  Joshua said that he thinks Tiny is a little sister but I’ve warned him that we don’t know if it will be a boy or girl yet.  He keeps telling Tiny that he loves it & can’t wait to see it.  How cute.

A few weekends ago, we went to a retreat with the Madigan pediatrics residents.  It was at the Great Wolf Lodge (a national hotel/resort chain with indoor water parks).  Needless to say, I couldn’t go on the big slides that I was looking forward to.  It was all I manage to hang out at the kiddy section since I’ve been feeling pretty crumby, to say the least.  But it was fun to watch Joshua be so excited splashing around & going on the little slides.  We all went on a medium-sized slide once but after the first turn, Joshua flipped backward & did almost the entire rest of the slide head-first on his back.  He did not enjoy it (although I don’t blame him, going in that direction!).  Unfortunately, they don’t let parents hold kids on their laps but they assured us that kids his age/size were OK on it.  I think if we had him laying down, it would’ve gone better, but I had him sitting up, so I guess he didn’t have enough mass to keep himself in position during the turns.  At one point during the weekend, I was holding a 6-month-old baby for one of Erick’s co-workers so she could go on a ride & Joshua really loved playing with her.  He kept hugging & kissing the baby, & he counted her 10 little toes.  He even asked her if she wanted to go on a slide with him!  I told him she was too little &, fortunately, he was satisfied with that answer.  I hope he keeps up his fascination with babies by the time his little sister or brother comes.  He’s promised me he’s going to be a big helper for me, which I think I’ll really need!

Erick is keeping plenty busy with work & it’s tough that it seems to take up so much of his time.  The poor guy doesn’t really get any downtime!  I feel bad for him & for Joshua, who really wants to play with Daddy when he’s home & doesn’t understand why he’s busy in the office so often.  Erick tries his best & hopefully the routine will get faster so he’ll have more time to hang out & relax—& sleep!  Erick is scheduled to go to Seattle for a month in April (since it’s 1 1/2 hours away, they put them up at a hotel near Seattle Children’s Hospital).  Hopefully, he can find a way to switch that rotation since he’s supposed to start a week before the baby is due!  But at least we’re back on the west coast (I feel like I mention that all the time—can you tell how happy I am about that?), so we’re a lot closer to family & friends for support.  I have a hard enough time with Joshua so I have a feeling I’ll be needing plenty of help when Tiny gets here!!!

My mom & step-dad have been here to visit for the last 2 weeks & they’ve been such a big help, not to mention it being an enjoyable visit (other than a rather non-enjoyable ER visit last week!).  When Mom got here, Joshua got to share the news.  He was supposed to tell her “Mommy’s having a baby” but he missed a crucial word in the sentence (which he’d practiced a lot) so he told her “Mommy’s a baby.”  She understood what he meant & of course was excited.  She called Rock to let him know later that evening (he was still in Texas at the time).  The next morning, Rock was leading a 140 soldier formation & announced that he was going to be a grandpa again, & the whole battery gave a big cheer & loud ‘hooah’ (as if he had anything to do with it!).  So much for keeping things quiet for awhile!

Joshua has been having lots of fun playing with Mom & Rock, & they really rounded out his tour of grandparents of late.  Rock was oh-so-helpful & taught Joshua which fingers are the best to use for booger-picking.  Joshua has fun listening to Rock tell stories in silly voices & they have many fun tickling sessions.  We went to the Space Needle for brunch on Sunday to celebrate my mom’s birthday & it was a really neat experience.  I hadn’t been there since I was young so it was cool to check out again.  Joshua had a fun time running around the observation deck (at least 3-4 times!) & he looked out every one of the telescopes & binoculars to check out the view.  Mom has even woken up early to take Joshua to preschool a all week, which I have REALLY appreciated so I could get more sleep.  Unfortunately, Joshua hasn’t taken well to having another person in addition to Mommy & Daddy acting as a disciplinarian so he’s taken his mad feelings out on Grandma on numerous occasions.  When she takes him to go potty, he’ll often yell “no Grandma go in bathroom!”  He gets upset that I can’t go with him like usual, but I think he’s gradually getting used to the idea that I can’t do as much right now.  When we tell him that he’s been mean to Grandma, he will run up to her & say (& sign!) “sorry” in his cute, little, apologetic voice.  Then he’ll go back to playing & all is fine.  Rock flies back home tomorrow but Mom is able to stay a couple of more weeks to help out.  Thanks, Mom!

I will keep you posted with baby updates (as well as tons of Joshua updates as usual), but please send good thoughts for a healthy pregnancy & baby.  With as complicated as things were when I was pregnant with Joshua & after he was born, I hope that these scares with #2 this past month give way to a smooth, uneventful time soon!  I want the next 6 1/2 months to fly by quickly!