Lucky #3

It is time to make this news blog official: Nate and I are excited to announce that we are adding another little one to our family. Baby #3 is due January 20th, and (I believe) will complete the family.

What I have found so interesting this pregnancy is that throughout the 'becoming public' process there is some significant consistency among the responses of the people that we tell. And it starts to separate based on how many kids they have.

Telling a person with zero kids they say "congratulations?" like its a question. They aren't really sure if this is an appropriate response or not because they are most likely just confused as to why we continue to reproduce.

Telling a person with 1 kid, you get a "congrats, Wow (pause) that was fast (pause) you guys are crazy). I don't blame this person for pulling the crazy card out. I remember when I was rock/swaying/bouncing Matilda at the park and watching my friend Summer chase two boys around while she was 7 months pregnant and thinking the same exact thing (and also thinking that she was superwoman and put me to shame).

But the reality (or least the one I am learning) is that once you get through the transition, you settle into a new normal. And yes, that normal might be a little crazy to someone not acclimated, and YES there are still days where I literally think I will lose it if one more person melts down over being given the wrong sippy cup.....but Nate and I always say we are playing the long game, and once we are through the baby stage we will be so happy we have 3.

Telling a person with 2 kids, you immediately get this question: "Was it planned?" or "Were you trying?". As if they are hoping the answer is no and yes respectively so that they can ensure our sanity is in tact, because there really isn't any other explanation for it in their minds. To be fair, we are on a rapid timeline---we will have 3 kids, aged 3 or under for 6 months. That is a lot of baby, pregnancy and all that goes in between in a very short amount of time. But for those of you wondering--yes it was planned. :) After they hear our answer, it's followed up with the age-old classic: "You guys are going to be busy...."


The reality is, I don't like the baby stage. And that isn't a secret. I told Nate that if we were going to go through with this 3 business, we had to do it before I lost the courage or before 2 became 'too easy.'

So here we are, counting down to Baby 3 or should I say, Baby Clifford, as Matilda has named it. Don't be fooled by the name, we don't know what the gender is. We decided not to find out, though a little piece of me dies every time I think about it and know we could know. Who would have though that the girl who used to sneak to try to find her birthday presents, would be able to wait almost 9 months for the surprise.

Secretly, (or in my case not so secretly) we are both hoping for another girl. I think we both just envision that as our family and obviously we know girls. But, if a little boy arrives this winter, I am sure that will immediately feel right as well. Either way it will be a surprise and we will enjoy welcoming him or her to our little (and growing) family.