For the girls...

If you are of the male species you may want to skip this post. It does have the possibility to contain TMI.

Yesterday was that day that comes around too quickly each year. The day all women dread. I dropped the boys off at school, drove around the parking deck at least 3 times and paid a crazy $3 to park all to visit my sweet, sweet Gyno.

I actually really like my Gyno. He is a great doctor. Yes, I see a man. The nurses love to work with him, and I actually know one who is a head nurse at the hospital, so I know he is a good and trusted doctor. He also has a great personality and bed-side manner. When I asked for my epidural when I was having Nolan you could hear some loud singing coming from the hallway. Dr. Gray was riding the epidural cart airplane style down the hallway singing. I say all that to say this.... It makes the experience of an annual exam only slightly less uncomfortable and annoying.

Dr. Gray does have the courtesy to come in and talk with you about any concerns or issues while you are still in your street clothes. After that is when my true issues with this experience begin.

1. GYNO GEAR. There is the paper "shirt" that reminds me of some type of really bad futuristic inspired coats from the 80's. It forms that odd upside down harsh triangle look that is soooo flattering on every type of figure. The ensemble is then completed with the wonderful paper "blanket." The blanket is too small to cover anything below the knee after you have carefully wrapped it around yourself to cover the crackage. I had a Gyno for a short time in Auburn who actually gave you nice, soft, cloth robe to wear. Awww, sweet memories. Which was so much nicer for many reasons including the following.

2. SUB-ZERO TEMPS. They are very aware of the "clothing" you will be wearing since they are nice enough to pick it our for you. So way is it the rooms have to be kept at freezing temps? Now I have been there twice so I do want to be mindful of the preggo woman next door who is sweating buckets because of her personal human heater. I would not be opposed though to a small space heater being kept in the room. I think to go the extra mile, if they won't give me a rob, they should provide heated exam tables. The seats in my car are heated so I really don't think it would be a stretch. To stay extra warm a woman would need to lay down on the table so she would already be half way to the "assumed position."

3. SHAVING MY LEGS. I don't know if others feel this way but I am compelled to report to the appointment with freshly shaved legs. I don't know why and really don't think while he's down in the under region he's thinking, "I'm sure glad she shaved!"

So to all the women out there.... Happy Gyno-ing to you!

"He said YES!"

So the baby discussion is still going on and we have asked Ty what he thinks. He says it's a good idea. This was our discussion before bed tonight:

Ty: "Does food make babies?"

Me: "No, God makes babies."

Ty: "God's made a baby in your tummy."

Me: "I don't think God's made a baby in my tummy right now."

Ty: "I'll ask him.... God, please make a baby in Mommy's tummy..... He said YES!!!"

Me: "He did?"

Ty: "Yep, I'll ask him again..... God, will you make a baby in Mommy's tummy?..... He said yes again!"

It's so awesome to listen to him pray. I think we may have replaced his other recurrent prayer this summer. It's been for snow.

To have and to hold or not....

Are we done? That is the question that has been circulating around our house lately. How do decide is you want to try for a third kid? No, we don't have a desire to try "one more time" for a girl. We've also heard from many people with three kids that the third one if the hardest adjustment. Most days I feel like I'm finished. Some days I don't. When I think about it I'm overwhelmed with the thought of having any more. How could we afford another one right now? Where would it go, in the house, car, grocery cart? I only two hands how do you hold on to three kids?! Then I go through the boys' old clothes or look at pictures. I love having babies! So far I've had easy pregnancies and deliveries, for me it's mostly an enjoyable experience. A newborn is hard but I love holding that sweet baby and I enjoy my boys.

We also hope to foster/adopt some day when our boys are older. So we add even more questions. If we have a third will we be able to do that? Will we have the time to focus on a kid who needs some extra love? Will we have all the money required to go through that process? So many questions and so few answers.

So the question now is..... am I yearning to have another baby or just grieving the end of babyhood in our house?

We're still here

This month has been so busy! It started out by me turning the big 30 and Andrew and I celebrating our sixth wedding anniversary. For me turning 30 wasn't as big a deal as so many people make it out to be.

The last few weeks have been lots of fun. We took the boys to Alabama Adventure, an amusement/water park here in B'ham, one day before they went back to school. We all had a great time and we're looking forward to using a few more of our free passes.

It's hard to see but Nolan is laughing really hard.

Tyler and I riding the log ride. The boys had lots of fun on the rides and even more fun in the water.

I forgot to take my camera for the boys' first day of school. I tried to grab a few pictures with my phone by Nolan kept running off to see what was going on. They are both having a great time at school. Nolan is excited to go to class and Tyler has a great new teacher. Ty was also excited that one of his best friends from last year is in his class but disappointed that the other friend was in another class. He tells us just about every day that he got to play with Simms in class and see Nandini on the playground. Andrew is trying to encourage him to actually learn the names of some of the other kids in his class but it hasn't worked yet.

We went to ALT this past Thursday to welcome Julie back from Africa. We flew in that day and hung around so we would get to see her when she came out of customs. Ty was so excited to get to see her again. She had not seen the boys in a year. I was a little worried about how Nolan would react to her. He has started to develop stranger anxiety but he didn't fuss or cry when she held him.

Tyler helped make this sign and Andrew was still covering up the "O" when Julie came out. Doesn't really make for a great welcome home sign, but Julie thought is was funny.

We also took the boys to Duncun Donuts. YUMMY!!!! OK I was really the reason we went.

Facebook

So I finally did it. I joined Facebook, kicking and screaming! Not only did I join but I now have two accounts. Why two? you ask. I realized I needed to give in and get one for work so that I could have one more way to communicate with parents. I can't believe how many people are on this thing!! This was one area though I thought it might be nice to separate work from personal.

Now I must say I'm addicted. I am confessing that I used to make fun of all you Facebook people. I mean do you really need to now what is going on in people's lives every moment? The answer is YES!!! I now have to keep myself from checking it every 10 minutes. So I am here asking for your forgiveness. Oh, and for all of my PERSONAL friends out there... I'm under Shannon Boothe Reagan!