M, B, H & S

MAGGIE

She doesn’t always listen to us and I suppose it is true that we don’t always listen to her. Just this past week or two Maggie has picked up the phrase “I don’t like ______” and is testing it out with more frequency that we’d like. She has defintley moved past the “I love everything” phase  that was hilariously adorable. 

She is also acutely aware that I’ve got a baby in my tummy and her thoughts about it are positivley endearing. We got to go visit Thomas, Marc and Lara on Friday and when Lara greeted us at the door, Maggie hollered from our car, “Hi, Lara! You got a baby in your tummy? My mama has baby in her tummy. She has my sister in there!”

I would have melted onto the ground from laughing if Maggie hadn’t been poking my belly and making sure that Lara heard her every word. As my dad said this weekend, it’d be fasciinating to actually know what Maggie thinks about me having a baby in my tummy. 

Tonight B2 was having a party in my tummy and both Mags and Barry got to feel her kick. Before Maggie put her hands on my tummy, she double checked to make sure that the baby wasn’t going to come out of my tummy as she felt the kickin’ and dancin’! 


BARRY

This weekend my parents spent the night and Barry got up before everyone (even my mom, which is a minor miracle) and ended up getting the coffee pot out from the garage and making a pot for my parents. If we were coffee drinking folk, this wouldn’t be notable….but neither Barry or I drink the yummy-smelling stuff. We keep a coffee pot at out house for our house guests that do drink it. Anyhow, it struck me as sweet that he was caring and kind enough to go get the coffee brewing for them.  

I think that is Barry in a nutshell. I know that he didn’t think it was an out-of-the-way gesture and he probably will roll his eyes when he reads this, but he’s a man that notices the smallest of details and is attentive to those in his life. I wish that everyone had their own Barry….I’m far too selfish to share him too much. 

ME

I am definitely pregnant…there is a parent at school that I adore and she comes to greet me in the morning with a small belly rub and a “How y’all doin’?” I don’t mind when people touch my belly, but this regular greeting always makes me smile and reminds me that I’ve got another baby coming in a few months! Yee-haw! 

I’m feeling strong and really great – the other day I looked at the calendar and felt a bit sad that my second trimester is coming to an end. When I was pregnant with Maggie I got really huge in the last few months and felt like a Beluga Whale. I’m hoping that doesn’t happen this time, or at least maybe I’ll be the size of a smallish Beluga Whale. 

I’ve spent lots of time thinking about women, mothers/daughters and how many different role models I’ve got in my life. I have really, really loved working again. My class is topped out with students, but they’re smart, funny and I keep finding myself appreciating their similarities and differences.  I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but Kindergarten is a very different world….I keep telling my first grade teacher-friends that their students are practically college-ready….and I’m only half kidding. I seriously love this new challenge and being back in the classroom has been invigorating. 

SYDNEY

When we went on vacation last weekend, we were reminded how much Sydney loves to tag along on our outings. She nearly had an anxiety attack when she saw the suitcase come out and sit by the door ready to be loaded into the car. And when she saw the beach she went nuts – turboing like a maniac. She looked exactly like I felt: elated, pumped, extremely fully of joy. Obviously in my current condition doing wind-sprints up and down the beach to show my excitement isn’t the best use of my energy. 

My point? She is such a good dog. Lazy as all get-out in her day-to-day life, but Vacation Pug is equivalent to Party Pug. We’re lucky she is a member of our family. 

Patient Pug @ HBHQ

Barry told me last week that Maggie marched up to Sydney, gave her a huge hug and exclaimed, “I love you so much, Sydney!” 

I’m sure that if Sydney could talk, she’d say something similar back, but more specifically along the lines of loving all the food droppings, scoops of food and cheese chunks that Maggie shares with her. Although Maggie is our first child, Sydney in many ways is our first born. She was the reason we rushed home from work, started to take morning and evening walks, and most of all, the first living thing that both Barry and I fell in love with together. 

To see the love blossom between Sydney in Maggie makes us smile a bit more broad and knowingly chuckle when we see them together. I often say that Sydney is like a glorified cat because she’d sleep 23 hours a day if we let her and she is also shaped more like a fat cat than a dog. Sydney loves to chew her bones on Maggie’s bed, especially when Mags is already in bed….which results in Maggie yelling, “Barry, can you call Syd, please!”  (It seems that more and more, we’re learning that Maggie doesn’t miss one dang thing…)

If we were giving out Best Dog in the Universe awards, today would be Syd’s day. She’s so patient, friendly, happy and laid-back….a perfect companion. I remember when I was pregnant with Maggie and suddenly Syd couldn’t fit her body onto my lap anymore.  I swear she looked at me as if it were all MY fault, she certainly couldn’t understand that Barry was partially to blame for my ‘condition.’ Anyhow, with a second baby coming, I fully expect another stare-down from The Pug once we bring B2 home. Because there are only so many toddler hugs and paper crowns a Pug should have to wear in a lifetime…or at least that’s what I’ll gather from her woe-is-me look.