Updates and random reflections

In exactly four minutes, I will be 22 weeks pregnant. This pregnancy is flying by, each week seems to blend into the next and since this is definitely our last little one, I sort of wish it could slow it down. I think part of what is making it feel so fast is that because of our two miscarriages, I felt stuck in the first trimester for weeks and weeks. 7 weeks with the first one and 8 weeks with the second one and then the full 13 weeks of first trimester with this one...that's a long time to be waiting to get to the fun part of pregnancy. We are here now though, and I am having so much fun. We know our little one is a boy and I have been shopping lately. I've bought pacifiers and burp cloths, receiving blankets and swaddling blankets and even muslin blankets that can be used for either purpose. I've bought newborn outfits and onesies and a new diaper bag (and I refrained from buying a high end one...despite my drooling over a few of them) and I have taken some of the kids to pick out a gift for the baby. Jackson picked out a stuffed musical monkey, Brice picked out hooded towels and washclothes and Brandon chose a fleecy, warm blanket that will be perfect for those chilly football nights this fall. And yes, baby will be attending football games from birth. Manny is my baby too, afterall, and I can't miss watching him play. Even though he's 15. Anyhow, I digress...I have bought a closet organizer and a grooming kit and even a nifty little travel wipes container that attaches to my bag...and now I'm banned from buying anything else for a while. But, of course, I do have to bring the other kids to pick out a little gift for the baby...perhaps I can interest Mia in selecting some nice luggage for the hospital....for the baby, of course... Albert announced to me tonight that he is going to get a vasectomy after this baby is born. I have always dreaded that day a little bit...I've always looked at it in the future with a little bit of sadness, since it officially marks the end of our growing family days. But when he actually said it, I wasn't disappointed. It's time for us to move to the next stage of life, and I'm totally good with that. I hope I still feel that way after this baby is born..I guess we'll see. But regardless of how I FEEL, this needs to be the last baby. Drew, our very first baby, is getting ready to go to prom in a couple of weeks. His date is his best friend, Kori, and I know they will have a blast together. Today, when I checked my mail, I saw that my mom had sent some money to help with his prom expenses (and wow, prom is expensive...I have this to look forward to with ten more children!). My mom is so generous and so awesome to do that. I really wish she would have kept her money and spent it on herself, but the smile on Drew's face when I told him that Nana had sent him some money to put towards prom was so big and so happy, I have a feeling she'll think it's totally worth it. Tonight, Manny placed fourth in shot put at his conference track meet. He is doing very well considering he just picked up a shot put for the very first time ever, less than two months ago. On that day, his very first time throwing, he threw 28 feet. Tonight, just a few weeks after that, he threw for 37 feet, 6 inches. I am very proud of him. If he stays with it, he'll be awesome next year. Friday, I have another ultrasound. Hopefully our baby boy is still a baby boy, or else I have a lot of returning to do at the stores. Secretly, I wouldn't mind...pink is a lot more fun to shop for...and truthfully, I have a bit of gender disappointment every time I see all the beautiful pink things that are made for baby girls. But, then I consider the excitement of football season and that makes me glad we are getting to hopefully, do that again with a boy...assuming he's interested. Speaking of which, we have three boys to sign up this season for the Little Indians football organization. That plus Manny playing for the high school makes four football boys for us...and I'm due right smack at the beginning of September. Drew sang a solo performance at the school's chorus concert a couple of weeks ago. He did a brilliant job. We were so proud of him. He looked so handsome and his beautiful voice sounded so smooth and clear. I love how talented he is. He sure didn't get that from me! Our video camera ran out of memory card space in the middle of his performance, but we did pick up the whole thing on Albert's cell phone. So, all we have is a phone recording, but it's better than nothing...and of course we have the memories of him rehearsing in the house...all.the.time. That song is permanently burned into my memory. It's a great song with a fun African beat so I don't mind. Thank goodness it wasn't a show tune or something. I'd like to say school is winding down to a close for the kids, but it's not. They have to go until like...June 11th or something crazy like that. Fortunately, we didn't use any snow days or it'd be worse. This is because we had the extended summer last year while the new high school was being built...totally worth it by the way. The new school is fabulous and our boys love it. The theater department got a whole new theater, complete with an amazing sound system and lots of extras and awesome touches. The athletci department got a brand new weight room that it fabulous for the football weight training program. So we had two very happy boys! That's all the new news around here. It's late, so I'm off to bed now. Next ultrasound is Friday...update coming then!