Sleep.

It's like the salvation of parenthood.

I always (usually) adore my kids. I really do find them delightful, at least 70% of the time.

But when they sleep.... Oh how I love them. I spend too much time kissing their sleeping heads and staring at their angelic faces. I should be sleeping instead.

Anyhow, I sometimes feel guilty that my most peaceful and joyous parenting moments are while my children are completely unaware of me.

Sisters.

Charlotte wanted to sit on my lap during dinner. I said "No," and Ella said, "You can sit on my lap, Charlotte." So she did.

Charlotte climbed up and said, "I love you."  Which melted my heart.

It went really well, until Charlotte tried feeding Ella.  That was kind of a bust, and the magic was over.

Guess What.

It's a boy.

Weird, huh?  I didn't even know we could make those at our house.

We took the girls to the ultrasound with us, and spent most of the time pointing out various body parts to them.  "Look, there's the heart, look, that's a little hand..." etc.  Then the ultrasound tech showed us a screen shot and said "There's one you haven't seen before."  And I thought, "What the heck is this lady talking about.  I had at least three ultrasounds with both of those girls, I've seen it all."

"It's a penis," she said.

"Ohhhhh!" I said.  I'm a little slow.

Then she showed us another shot.  I can confirm that it is indeed a boy.

I still think it's a little crazy.  Even though we've been waiting for Max for a long time, I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the whole "boy" thing.

My sister-in-law (who just had a baby boy) is thrilled and went out and bought our babies matching outfits, which I just think was the sweetest thing ever.  Our little guys will be about ten months apart, but they will be in the same grade, so it's kind of fun to dream about them being BFF.

Cousins.

They're nice to have.

I'm practically famous.

That's my Kia.  And my white shirt and arm.  My mother-in-law's face was blurried out for privacy reasons, I imagine.

And do you want to know how we got on the Googlemaps Cam?  We followed the Google car all over Dallas until we lucked out and he had to go into a cul-de-sac and we were waiting at the intersection.  It was exhilarating, I tell you.

So anytime you want to see my arm, just head on over to Google.  And count yourself lucky.

Pregnancy, so far.

Some fun facts about this pregnancy:

This is the first pregnancy that I have had actual, specific cravings.  Prior pregnancies my cravings have been for food in general.  Basically everything sounded good.  But there was one afternoon that I actually hauled my kids to the store and bought corndogs to satisfy a craving.  (I know, I throw up a little in my mouth just thinking about it, now.  Gross.)  Other cravings include meat and dairy, which were just not a big part of my life before. I ate them, but just didn't cook with them a ton.  We've had to restructure our food budget to include meat.

This pregnancy I had major nausea.  Never vomited.  But there was a lot of laying on the couch, wallowing in my own sorrow.  I know it's not as bad as all you people out there who have to go to the hospital to get re-hydrated because you can't keep anything down, and I'm not trying to compare.  But it was absolutely debilitating.  Thankfully, it is over, and my house is starting to recover.  Thank you Paul, for many late nights doing dishes.

I am an absolute sleepaholic.  Early to bed, late to rise.  Naps whenever I can get them.  The television has become far too great an influence in this home.  This week I am pledging to go TV-free.  No Blues Clues, no Dinosaur Train, no Calliou.  Calliou bugs me anyway.  He is so whiny.  But the girls love that show, and so this is how Ella asks for Calliou:  "Mom, can I watch Calliou?  I promise I won't whine like he does."  So far, so good.  Two days down.  They haven't even asked for a show.  We did spend the morning dancing around to the best of John Phillip Sousa.

I felt the first kicks around fifteen weeks, and I can already feel little bit kicking on the outside of my stomach. Paul hasn't felt this yet, because we no longer go to bed at the same time, and bedtime used to be our "lay in bed with your hand resting on our unborn child" time.  We are going to have to figure something else out.

I don't know if it's the fatigue, or the extra hormones, or what, but I absolutely cannot abide going to the grocery store with two children anymore.  So I have given up daytime grocery shopping.  Weekends or mornings are when it gets done (I am too tired at night).  Or not at all, and we just eat plain beans.  Paul is so lucky to have me as his personal chef.

Ella is pretty thrilled about the new baby and constantly tells me how helpful she will be when the baby comes.  Charlotte consistently asks if she can hold the baby.  It'll be fun to see how it all works out when reality strikes.

I taught a Relief Society lesson, where one section addressed the Law of Chastity.  I told the sisters there that sometimes this principle gets glazed over since "most of us get to practice our powers of procreation on a regular basis."  I wanted to add, "As you can see," while gesturing to my burgeoning belly.  But I didn't.

Conclusion:  I eat all the time.  I'm tired all the time.  And I think I have started to waddle when I'm really tired.  I think the pregnancy test was accurate.

Parenting Fail.

Well, Ella has started speech therapy.  (That is not the fail.)  So far... well, she kind of hates it.  But to be fair, I'm sure it is a little bit hard to be corrected and put on the spot for two hours a day.  Plus she's the only girl in her class, and she feels it keenly.  (I thought she was too young for that.)  It's only twice a week, though, so she's going to have to tough it out.

Anyhow, since she is leaving the house on a regular basis and spending it with strangers, I do make an effort to make sure that she is dressed in cute clothes and her hair is combed.  At least on Mondays and Wednesdays.  Well, Monday she was out of cute pants.  There were plenty of dingy leggings, which are usually a fine option for me.  But, you know, I don't want strangers to think we're trashy.  So, I come across these really cute leggings of Charlotte's in the dryer (where I'm searching frantically for cute, clean pants).  And I think, Ella and Charlotte, are basically the same size, Ella is only taller, so I'll just let her wear Charlotte's pants, and I'll make sure she's wearing her tall-ish winter boots, and no one will ever know that she is in crazy high waters.  Problem solved.  Children dressed.  All except the shoes, which I grab, and take with me to the car.  Along with the hairbrush.  So we get there, brush hair, put on the boots, and I realize that they are not tall enough.  So now, my child is wearing crazy high water pants, with tall-ish winter boots, and and half inch of skin showing in between.

So much for not looking trashy.

Ornamental Kale is wildly popular in Dallas.

And I'm not going to lie. Whenever I see it, I make a mental note of where it is, just in case there is some kind of food supply crisis. I think we'll be set for leafy greens.

The hidden side of the foot photo.

In early November (or maybe mid) we attended a hot air ballon festival with Richard and Jess and Soren. We were five weeks pregnant and wanted to do something cute to announce the birth of number three. So we had the other Christensens take some foot photos with the intention of making them into personalized cards for the family. (which we did and it was a great success) What we did not plan for was two very tired girls at the end of a long day. We had literally sixty four pictures where at least one child was kicking their feet in protest, or wandering off, or other such nonsense.

How did we finally make the magic happen, you ask?

Each girl in this particular photo was engrossed with an iPhone. Even Paul, who is pretty strict with his phone, relinquished it for the greater good.

We cropped that part out. Obviously.

Good times.

This is why we live in Texas.