Week 22: Crazy Pregnant Lady & Construction
I’m having issues. I know I’m not supposed to eat simple carbs because I don’t want to have a dangerously large baby. But simple carbs are soooo yummy. And I’m soooo hormonal. And I made brownies with fudge icing–both from scratch–for a party, and they’re calling my name right now because I made the mistake of just trying a bite when people told me how good they are. So now I kind of want to cry. I know, such a whiny crybaby about something as silly as brownies, but pregnant ladies aren’t exactly known for their rational, level-headed emotions, now are we?
Overall, things are going well with the pregnancy, but occasionally I have my moments. The other day, I woke up on the cranky-pregnant-lady side of the bed. I knew I was irrationally annoyed by well, everything, but I couldn’t seem to help it. Then I got annoyed that I was so annoyed, because it drives me nuts when the hormones get the best of me and I feel out of control. So I went to the bathroom (the only place I get a few minutes of peace around here), gave myself a little pep talk, and decided to have my approved daily ration of caffeine nice and early to see if that would help. Then I promised myself to do my best not to snap at the kids, took a deep breath, and got ready to start the day.
Plenty of good things have happened this week too. We had a great time taking the three kids blueberry picking, and realized we did the same thing at about the same stage of my pregnancy with Jack too. Since this baby’s due date is about two weeks after Jack’s second birthday, I’ve been noticing that so many things seem like déjà vu. It’s like reliving Jack’s pregnancy two years later, but with an extra “big kid” along for the ride. This time Jack, rather than Max, was the cute, little one-and-a-half-year-old toddling around with the blueberry bucket, shoving fistfuls of berries into his mouth rather than the bucket as he grinned a big purple grin. So much fun!
We also started our big adventure in the basement, aka: “Project Where The Heck Do We Put All These Kids?!” My handyman hubby has been thinking about the grand plan for over a year, and finding out that Baby #4 is a boy helped cement the final details. So this week, we decided to start construction. We’re going to do it a little at a time, as we can afford it and as we have time to do it. He brought home a huge trailer-load of lumber, and has been working throughout the week framing up the first few walls and the backs of the stairs. Eventually, we’ll have a family room, bathroom, three bedrooms, and a workshop/storage area down there. We’re starting with the family room and one bedroom, mainly to get some of the kids’ toys out of the upstairs bedrooms and main living areas. That will be such a happy day for me, because it drives me nuts to step on toys all day, and just see the mess when it explodes all over the living room on a daily basis.
The basement won’t be finished by November, so we’re still not sure exactly where all four kids will sleep once the new baby comes, but hopefully we’ll get it figured out in the next four months or so. We’ll probably get bunk beds, but we’re not sure whether they’ll go in Gracie’s room for the two oldest, or whether we’ll put all three boys in one room together, with bunk beds and a crib. So many options–we’ll see what works best for the time being, but it’s nice knowing that eventually all four kids will have their own rooms.
As I type this on my laptop, Gracie’s watching a show on TV, and the people are enjoying apple dumplings and ice cream at a dairy farm. This is not helping my hormonal crazy-pregnant-lady craving situation. I make really good apple dumplings, and now I can taste them. We always pick apples in the fall, but I’ll probably have to wait till after this kiddo comes out to indulge in a big, cinnamony-warm, flaky-crusted dumpling topped with ice cream. Normal people spend this part of their pregnancy thinking about how wonderful it will be to meet and hold their precious baby. Like I said, I have issues.
