Pregnancy Update

Well, it’s been awhile since I updated everyone on my pregnancy, and it seems like a lot has happened since learning about our impending baby boy. It all began, you might say, with a flare up of my condition called ulcerative colitis. I will spare you the unnecessary details, but feel free to Google the term for a healthy dose of my reality. It’s not for the faint of heart. Anyway, once this condition flared up, I have been struggling to stay healthy ever since.

Important: THE BABY IS FINE! It’s just that I was growing weak, dehydrated, and anemic. So now I’m on medication for all this. Fun stuff, let me tell you, and I'm only 25 weeks. I have a long way to go yet. Plus this pregnancy has graced me with all the usual symptoms (symptoms, I might add, that I NEVER HAD with Ava, so it’s all new to me): painful swelling, leg and foot cramps, hemorrhoids, back aches, you name it. Yes, I would like a little cheese with my wine—thanks for asking!

As you know, I am generally a happy, upbeat person, and I am determined to remain that way through these last few months of pregnancy. Despite what seems to be an avalanche of problems that continue to mount. See? I’M SMILING! Still, a few positive thoughts and prayers wouldn’t hurt any!

As for what Erik and I are fondly calling The Name Game, the answer is NO. Our son does not yet have a name. Believe me, it is not for lack of trying on anyone’s part. All the grandparents chipped in and contributed some quite viable ideas, which are under consideration. Erik and I have fully perused our baby name book, coming out with a list that currently numbers over 30 names. And Ava is still sticking with Oscar, which I swear is what he’ll be named if we enter the hospital without something else on hand.

A Legend in All the Right Ways

Recently, I was scanning through the channels on TV and came across the movie, Legends of the Fall. I paused, as many of you can guess, to appreciate the scene with Brad Pitt swinging his long locks as he dismounts from a horse. Then, before I could move on to something else, I heard a powerful little voice from behind me.

Ava: WHO IS THAT?

I turned around, only to find Ava pointing quite enthusiastically at the television screen. Who? I asked innocently.

Ava: THAT MAN. The one with the long hair.

Mommy: Him?

Ava: YES, HIM! He’s—a—cutie—patootie.

Our eyes met with instant understanding. She grinned at me. I grinned at her. It was then I informed her that she had just learned a very important lesson. That, my daughter, is Brad Pitt, a name you will not soon forget.

And she hasn’t. Believe me, she hasn’t. So in honor of Valentine’s Day, I am sharing with you my daughter’s new crush. And admitting, as well, that she appears to get her taste in men from her mother.

Semantics

A recent dinner conversation, following my return from a two-day conference in Indianapolis. Note: Ava spent that time with my parents.

Ava (pointing to an unidentifiable crumb on the table): What the hell is that?

This was spoken casually and—yes—quite correctly. Mommy and Daddy’s response? First, open-mouthed shock. Then, I’m sad to report, side-splitting laughter. Oh, it couldn’t be helped! That quizzical look on her face paired with the sound of that little word coming out of her sweet little mouth—it was too much. So we laughed. And laughed. Then Ava laughed.

Ava (repeating several times): What the hell is that? What the hell is that?

Mommy (finally): You know, honey, that’s not a very nice word to say. Sweet little girls shouldn’t say things like that.

Ava: But Mamaw said I could say that word. She WANTS me to say it.

Mommy: Hmm, I highly doubt that, Ava. Should we call her and ask?

Ava: Oh, I just remembered what I’m supposed to say. What the HECK is that?

Yes, after the entertaining phone conversation that ensued with my mother, it was discovered that Ava had learned this phrase from watching the Spider Man movie (which I did approve, by the way), and had been instructed by her grandmother to substitute the other, less offensive word for the original offender.

Hilarious semantics, if I do say so myself.

P.S. No, the above photograph has nothing to do with this incident, but I felt it fully captured the PERSONALITY of the endearing toddler I live with each day. Enjoy!

Snow Day, Part 2

Well, my blog has been silent the last week, as the Smiths have been busy surviving the Blizzard of ’09. How did we do it? By settling into a comfortable routine of trash the house/clean the house. By eating every scrap of food in the house. By watching reruns of the Elf movie, starring Will Ferrell, until Ava was frequently quoting it. By refereeing Erik and Ava’s various steel cage wrestling matches, aka The Most Dangerous Game. By laughing at ourselves continually.

Yes, we may be a bit crazier, but we did survive.

Ava's prized snowball

(And yes, that's my Daddy shoveling my steps for me--Thanks, Dad!)

Ah, the irony!

A snowy visit with Mamaw and Papaw

Our backyard