3

Having kids is such a strange societal encounter.

You have one and people ask almost immediately after having birth: When are you having the next? (meanwhile you wonder--dude can you let my stitches heal first)

You have two and things go down two ways:

1. you had 1 boy and 1 girl the response goes like this: "Yey you had one of each! You are DONE!" (as if giving birth to one of each gender signifies crossing the "finish line")

2. you had 2 boys or 2 girls the response goes like this: "so do you think you will go for #3 for the ___(insert opposite sex)?" (implying you have not completed your mission because you ONLY gave birth to "one kind")

You have three or more you better have an explanation. A good one too, because everyone in the world feels it is their right to tell you how insane you are and pass judgement. Your explanation better be twice as good if you do have a boy and a girl already. People will look at your with question in their eyes of "Why would you do that?". It is against the grain.

This has forced me in awkward moments of telling complete strangers that this baby was unplanned and a "perfect surprise". Really Aimee? Really? Do I need to be going around making sure the entire world knows I didn't mean to go against the grain? I almost feel embarrassed to admit I am pregnant a third time. Not because I am not happy to receive a new baby in my life, but more because of the typical public reaction!

Note to public: I AM WELL AWARE that we (parents) will be out numbered. If someone tells me this again I might have to scream.

The fact of the matter is no matter what the number is, or if it was planned or unplanned it doesn't matter--the general public doesn't have a say! So why do I feel the need to explain?

I am going to make a conscience effort not to have to excuse my unborn baby with words like "accidental" or "surprise" (especially to people that don't even know my first name). The fact of the matter is we will be parents of three in no time--and guess what? The gender will be uneven and someone is bound to ask if we will go for another boy or girl to even it out. Others will stare when I roll into a grocery store with three little kids and make comments like "wow you have your hands full". And the fact is... it doesn't define me or the way I parent.

And so I will have a family of five. Yes we will only be able to fit all the car seats in one of our cars. Yes it won't be easy to ride on rides at Disney or get a booth table at a busy restaurant. (I have heard it all).The baby is coming. All of these "reasons" people keep giving me are useless.

We are having 3 kids. No excuses needed.

3 Times The Charm

There are two things I learned for sure so far in 2012:

1. Denny's is not an option for breakfast-- if you haven't experienced this delightful revelation yourself, please trust me. Your old crusty, stale, cereal in the cabinet from last year is a better option.

2. Hormones are insane.

Both of which made my past Saturday a roller coaster of a day that resulted in a pissed of, green to the gills, pregnant women. Sadly this result seems to be a daily thing, minus (THANK GOD) the nasty Denny's breakfast.

Silly me and my recent post declaring I was done having babies. Why on earth did I put that in print. Funny how that post happened to be my birthday post, and also the suspected weekend of Baby Tres Dos--the non-Junebugs' creation.

I could make a ton of crazy assumptions on what this baby may be if I didn't have one boy and one girl already. Frankly, this baby is kicking my ass. My current list of nasty's:

-metallic mouth all day long -like I am sucking on a penny!

-nausea all day, everyday, like a swooping roller coaster of really low lows, and highs of mildly ok

-exhaustion. I can not go through a day without napping 2 hours! Thank GOD Addison still naps! And even after that, I have to go to bed early

-I am hot constantly. I am driving with the window down even if it is only 5 degrees outside.

-I am moody. Naturally with the list above, but also my hormones are just out of wack.

-I have crazy food aversions. Aversions I don't even know I am having until after I spent time making it, taste it, and BAM I won't look at it again for a long, long time--this includes coffee--and me naturally non-pregnant without coffee = exhaustion, moody never mind everything else

-and of course.... I feel like hacking off my breasts, and putting in a home catheter in so I don't have to get up 80 times in the night

Pregnancy is so fun--3 times a charm right?

I currently live on pickles, lemonade, cinnamon gum, sour balls, mint tea, crackers, cereal, bacon, BBQ chips, rosemary bagels, and pizza from a local joint that I normally loathe (odd). To my surprise, with these well balanced meals I am having, my waste line is already feeling a bit tight.

3 times a charm.

I am still trying to wrap my mind around having a new baby coming soon. It is still somewhat of a shock to me.

We are also in the midst of brainstorming where this baby will reside in our home. Most likely this means a little bit of musical bedrooms, which will include us transforming our downstairs into a master suite. In the meantime, I am just trying to focus on how to stay awake, and how not to puke.

My Christmas Surprise

It's funny how you declare something and think you have 100% control over it, and suddenly you don't.

A year ago I sat at my GYNO's office and asked "How do you know when you are done having babies?" She smiled and said "if you are asking you aren't done". However, I was pretty sure I was done, with a hint of a maybe. I had to get off my birth control pill because it was making me psycho, and off I went thinking I was untouchable.

Silly silly me. I thought if I could avoid Sept/Oct I was good! I only have June Bugs right? I was so convinced that I ovulate only 1 time of year that I almost challenged the universe to a dual.

So I held my brand new nephew this October and suddenly the feeling came--I was done. I was so done that I decided since I didn't even want to take the chance of once a year ovulation I would go in and get an IUD. My plans of this were pushed back a month with an emergency tonsillectomy. Post tonsils I cried out to the world more then once that I would "rather have another c-section".

During this time I also had the airing of my show. I got great feedback from people all over the country. I found myself praying A LOT about what God wanted me to do next.

Three days before Christmas I got my answer:

I am so not done. And the thing is I realized it wasn't my call to make to begin with. This little NONE June Bug was 100% God sent and willed.

I never imagined being a Mom of three, and suddenly I just am.

Funny how almost a year passed with so many months of no pregnancy, and the one month I was about to do something about it--BAM--my Christmas surprise!

A great reminder who is in charge around here. Certainly not me.

New Years

I used to spend New Years dancing on tables wearing expensive trendy clothes. Although I looked like I was filled with glee and life of the party, I really felt hollow. Most New Years of my young adult life seemed extra lonely. I felt lost in a nest of buzzing bee's while living in a city with thousands of people within arms reach. I could play nice. I could be a hell of a lot of fun, but when I went home I was always still alone.

When that feeling often consumed me, and the images of the silver screen of people kissing on New Years Eve, I declared I hated New Years. I mean what is there to love when you a. aren't a big fan of drunken rage, and b. are single again for yet another one. And so I handed my tube tops and heels to others, and decided to instead make a profit off of the day. So for years I became a high priced Nanny in the city that never sleeps on the last night of the year, and into the early start of the new year. If I was going to be alone I might as well snug babies and make $350 a night! (I seriously made that! In fact I am thinking about how I should leave the kids with Pete next December 31st and go Nanny in the city!)

New Years Eve just seems to mellow out with age. I still don't miss the early years of dancing on tables and pretending to be happy I have no one to kiss at midnight (although I REALLY miss that chicks body! and her clothes!) My New Years now seems to be a lot like my New Years as a Nanny. The only difference being they are my kids, and luckily, thankfully, I have someone to kiss at midnight! Apparently I traded skinny trendy body for sweet adoring husband!

After watching the ball drop on the tv with my husband for yet another year while the kids slept peacefully upstairs, I could not help but think of the one thing I DO miss about my early adults years on New Years Eve. New York City. No matter where you are or what you are doing, there is a life in the air of that city that is palpable. To think I never went to see the ball drop live myself is just absurd to me! What was I thinking?

So here we are in 2012. A new year with lots in store. Just today I was looking into signing Addison for preschool! How did that happen? Time flies. And I am so blessed to not stand by alone watching it press on.