"Of all the animals, the boy is the most unmanageable." - Plato

It's a boy!!! I have to admit that even though I was sure it would be a boy, I secretly hoped I'd be having a girl. Reason #1) I could justify stopping. Why try for a third if I have a boy and a girl? Reason #2) Boys are wild and crazy. There is already too much cave-man like testosterone in my house and with a third I will be super outnumbered. But something happened during the ultra sound a couple weeks ago. It's hard to describe but looking at O. Fitz (baby's name will be Oliver Fitzgerald) in the monitor made me feel like he was exactly the right fit for our family - exactly what we need.

Here are the great things about having another boy:

1) I don't have to buy any new clothes. Let's face it, girls are way more fun to shop for and I'd spend a fortune on my girl. But with another boy, I already have it all.

2) Holden will have a little buddy to show the ropes to. Every boy needs a brother to play pranks on, hang out with, and fight over girls with. They'll like that.

3) An extra shot. If I screw up in raising Holden to be a good boy, I can maybe redeem myself in O. Fitz :)

No but seriously I'm really excited. The first part of this pregnancy was really emotionally hard for me. My last pregnancy ended so sadly that I almost didn't allow myself to get attached to this one. So I had all the sickness and pukiness of pregnancy without any of the hope and expectation. So when I started feeling better and feeling this baby, I finally allowed myself to get excited.

And I am so excited. The ultra sound was beautiful. O. Fitz has Holden's nose (well Wes's nose, really which is just so darn cute) and he was sucking his thumb and moving all over. He's a mover, this one. I have a posterior placenta so I feel everything really clearly, which is great for me.

It feels so right to bring another boy into this family. I am so excited to meet him, but for now I'm happy he's doing so well inside me. Anyway, that's our good news.

Best Friends Best Friends

Holden has a BFF - I never expected him to have one so early on, but he cherishes his friend Harrison so much. Every time we say "Guess who's coming over?" he yells "Hahsson!" Here's why: for the past year and a half (my goodness has it been that long) his mom and I have been doing regular kid swaps. He comes over here once a week for the afternoon and Holds goes over there once a week for the afternoon. It has been one of the best things for the moms and the kids. They play really well together, take naps at the same time, and have so much fun learning and playing together. Plus I've really liked how it's allowed Holden to learn how to share, take turns, and get used to being around other people his age. And sometimes it's totally easier to have a friend over here to play with for Holds so he's occupied than it is with just him - as long as they play well together. And he and Harr are great together. I really feel so lucky that it's worked out so well.



Looking for bugs.

Goodnight Moon

holden has a very strict bedtime regimen now. we used to be able to just drop him in his crib and say a prayer and we were outta there! but now he has to read books to himself for a while (he's especially fond of anything about dinosaurs), then he likes to read Goodnight Moon 123 and then Goodnight Moon. in that order. and then he'll lay down and say prayers. he's so cute. at first, we just read the books to him but now he reads them to us.

this is holds reading Goodnight Moon:

BACK WITH A VENGEANCE

the shift key on my laptop isn't functioning. if i hold it down and press really hard it will work, but it slows my 80 wpm typing considerably, so i'll have to write in lower caps until my awesome husband decides which laptop is perfect for me (he's doing research on it right now even). THE OTHER OPTION IS THIS - BUT I HATE ALL CAPS, IT FEELS LIKE I'M YELLING. and i'm not yelling - promise.

i sat down tonight and decided to start blogging again. i realized that i have missed this holden-and-family-centered blog of mine. i went through it tonight and read the posts i made when i was pregnant with holden. i'm pregnant again with his soon-to-be brother or sister (yay!) and i can't believe how much bigger i am this time around. let's just say i won't be posting any bare belly pictures this time. yikes.

i've missed talking about my beautiful, crazy, wild, loving, smart, silly, sweet, busy boy. in case you've missed him too - here are some pictures of him that wes took in tooele this weekend. we were there to memorialize my grandfather who passed a few months ago.