I was naughty.
I ate ice cream.
It was delicious.
I will pay for it later.

We're having a perfect little...

BABY!

That's right! Instead of fooling us completely like big brother, Cashew is refusing to play the game at all. I've had 2 ultrasounds in the past 2 weeks & this kid was not about to show his/her stuff. Mom/Mary seems to think that this definitely means its a girl because she's stubborn, just like me. (Me? Stubborn? I really have no idea what she's talking about.) Max has decided that he really wants a brother but keeps reminding me that "We don't get to pick, Mom. Only God gets to pick!"

Only 20 more weeks til we find out!

Isn't that just the cutest little foot!?!

I'M HUNGRY!!!!

During pregnancy, you're supposed to eat. Not literally for two, but enough to keep that precious cargo healthy & growing. So why does this baby seem so intent on not letting me eat anything I like!?! It started off with chicken & turkey & I was OK with that. I eat a lot of veggie based meals anyway, supplement that with an occasional steak, no problem. I can still get prenty of protein. Then came dairy. I can't eat cheese! I love cheese! I've been drinking soy milk & putting it on my cereal but I would love a hunk of chedder right now! Lactaid only works for very small amounts of dairy (think half a Hershey bar) & most brands of soy cheese are not tasty! Even my die hard vegatarian friends refuse to take the almost full package off my hands. So, while I love dairy, I can deal with not eating it for a few months. Its for a good cause! There's still pasta with lots of veggies & red sauce, right? Ha! Cashew has other ideas! No tomatos. No lemonade. No more acidic foods for me! Do you know how many recipes call for at least one of the above ingredients? Which brings me to the real reason for this post. I need recipes! I have exhausted my standby cookbooks & would rather not deal with any of the overly fancy ones. So if anyone has some good ones, feel free to send them to me. Cuz I'm hungry & tired of eating pasta, baked potatos & bean burritos.

PS- For some reason, Cashew like spicy, so if you have any that you think I might be able to handle, send them on! I love spicy!

Baby Excitment & International Fun

Max is cracking me up with his big brother excitedness. He wants Cashew to be here so badly that he is doing everything he can think of to get ready. On stay home days, Max will usually crawl into bed with me for a little bit of snuggle time before breakfast. A couple days ago, it was 8am & since he hadn't come into our room, I was wondering if he was still asleep & if not, why it was so quiet. I got out of bed went to his room to check things out. When I cracked the door just a bit I saw him standing in the middle of his room looking thoughtful. He had raised the blinds on one of the windows so he could see. After watching him turn this way and that for a minute or two, I opened the door fully & asked him what he was doing. "I'm figuring where the baby will sleep, Mom." So we sat & thought of different places to put the crib.

Whenever it gets too quiet, I usually find him in the storage room upstairs, looking at baby paraphernalia, or moving some of it into his room, or as in case of the bibs, spreading them all out on the dining room table. He was quite irritated that I wouldn't let him bring the highchair downstairs until I explained to him that the baby wouldn't need that right away. He replied by smacking himself on the forehead, saying "Babies drink from your boobs, Mom!" (Like it was my idea to bring the highchair down in the first place!)

On 8/23, Max & I took our friend Leslie to the Festival of Nations in Tower Grove Park where we celebrated a couple of firsts.

1) Max got to hold a claymore (HUGE sword-taller than me!) when we visited the SSAS booth where Ian's friend Chris was working. If you notice, Max is holding the sword all by himself, Chris is just steadying it to prevent Max from chopping me off at the knees. Max was on cloud 9! Now he wants one.

2) Leslie got to hold the sword too! Watch out Lucas!

3) Max tried falafel for the first time & didn't care for it. He did eat all the veggies & the pita that came with it though. Mmmm, more falafel for me! He did, however, really like the Bosnian version of apple strudel. I don't think Les got to eat very much of hers.

Best Laid Plans

So we were going to wait just a little while longer to tell Max that he's going to be a big brother. We had lots of good reasons. We wanted the wait between telling him & actually bringing the baby home to be just a little shorter cuz its hard enough to wait for Santa, much less a sibling. We wanted to have some ultrasound pics that actually looked like a baby rather than an alien. We are still a little nervous considering everything we went through to have Max.


My plans were steady until my friend Anna R. said to me, "OMG, you look pregnant! I mean you looked pregnant on Wednesday, and its only Thursday, but you really look pregnant today." (Good thing I like her a lot!) Then one of Max's former teachers from the baby room did a triple take & felt comfortable enough to ask The Question. Last straw? When I walked into Max's school today to pick him up, his friend Amira came running up to me. While Max (obliviously) played with some other kids, Amira stood in front of me with her hands on her hips. Then she said (loudly), "Max's Mommy? Do you have a baby in your tummy, cuz I think you have a baby in there cuz your belly is getting FAT!" So much for the plan!

(I don't know why I was so surprised by this. I have popped out.)

After a quick recovery, I conned Max into leaving & we went straight home where we sat down to have a conversation. We talked about how I had been sick, & that I was feeling better & how I couldn't eat some foods & how that was OK because "I can eat all the pizza myself, Mommy." Then I told him the reason for all that was because I had a baby in my tummy & he was going to be a big brother. His reply? "A baby?(puzzled) A baby.(comprehending) I'm so excited!(in his trademark squeal) He has already started making plans for the new baby's arrival. He's even excited (for now) about sharing his room.

Max's Birthday

Where did the time go? My little boy is 4! We had Max's party at a nearby park on 8/3. It was his first real party with friends from school & he had the best time. All the kids are into superheroes so, of course, that had to be the theme. But first, the playground!

Max & Matthew B. hangin' out

How cool is this playground!

Instead of party games, we got crafty! The first step on the way to becoming a superhero? The perfect mask! You can't have the villians discovering your true identity!

Next step? Why, capes, of course! Every superhero needs a cape!

Sadie, Finn, Mattias & Max, trying out their new superhero gear.

Max & Amira being silly

CAKE!

We love visitors!

Toward the end of July Aunt Myrtle & Uncle Dave stayed with us for a few days & we had a great time. Max even conned Uncle Dave into going down the slide repeatedly!

While the were here we got to see lots of neat stuff. First was a special exhibit on Grant & Lee at the MO History Museum as well as the newly redone exhibit on the 1904 World's Fair. Very cool! We went to Third Degree Glass Factory in hopes that we'd get to see some glass blowing but alas, it was too hot outside & none of the artists wanted to work that day. We did get to see lots of finished works, some that were absolutely amazing! I (of course) forgot to take my camera but Aunt Myrtle took some great pics that I bet she'll share. After 3rd Degree, we decided to take the brewery tour at Anheuser-Busch before InBev decides to screw it up & start charging for it. Or worse, for for the free beer at the end of the tour! All in all, it was a great visit & we can't wait for them to come back!