New gadget

Is that how you spell "gadget"?

Yup, I'm pregnant again! That's probably part of why I haven't written in awhile; I haven't been feeling at my best. My crafting has almost completely cut off for the last month or two--that's pretty drastic for me. Just haven't felt the motivation or enthusiasm, I guess. I've been REALLY tired at times, nauseous at others, suffering from extreme and almost constant hunger at others, and it's seemed like every couple of days for the last 2-3 weeks, I would re-injure my back. I tried to pick up Jamie the wrong way on Wednesday, fell on the floor from the sudden pain, and literally was laying down in pain for almost the entire rest of the day. Thank goodness for Jason. He's definitely been doing more than his share lately, taking care of me and Jamie while I've been feeling bad in one way or another.

I'm not even sure what else there is to say...I'm due March 19, ten days after our anniversary. I had a miscarriage at about 6 weeks in April; that wasn't fun, so I only mention it now since I can quickly skip over it to the happier news. Everyone asks me if I have leanings in the gender department; I'm not sure. I think of the baby as a boy, I guess because that's what I'm used to now, and then it will occur to me that it could be a girl, and I feel a sort of shiver--shock? Fear? Girls scare me now. As cute as little girl clothes and accessories are, I like being able to put just two things on Jamie--a shirt and shorts--and be done. :) I always hear friends who have girls calling them "sassy"--and I'm not a fan of attitude in little kids. Character, silliness, great.

Don't get me wrong though. I would be excited to have a girl. How could I not be? I would just be scared, too. :)

So like I said, I haven't been doing all that much of interest. Reading a LOT. I read The Help in less than a week; I was totally hooked. I think I must be one of the few women I know who hasn't seen the movie, but I figure I'll wait until I can get it at Redbox for $1. I also finished the Duggars' latest book, A Love That Multiplies. Last week I made full-fat yogurt for Jamie, and this week I'm going to try canning a new jam recipe. Exciting, right? :)

Jason has started a new semester, including a new internship at an organization called Anasazi. It's a wilderness therapy program for troubled youth that has been pretty much saving kids' lives since the 70s with an unbelievable success rate. He's learned a lot already and has great respect for the organization and the people there. He went on a three-day trip with just staff to see how it all works, and while there he carved his own spoon from a stick and then ate with it; drank river water; learned which plants will kill you and which make great toilet paper; slept on the ground; and held a freakin' tarantula, among other things. (Even the look of that word creeeeeps me out.) He'll spend ALL day--8 a.m. to midnightish, when you count three hours there and back for travel--on the trail every Tuesday.

Jamie is doing so well. He's talking up a STORM, all day long, and it actually can get pretty aggravating.

"Mommy! Mommy! Mom-MEE! Mommy! Mom-MEEE!!!"
"What??"
"...Water wet."
"Yeah, water is wet."
""Mommy! Mommy! Mom-MEE! Mommy! Mom-MEEE!!!"
"What, Jamie?"
"Water wet."
"Are you kidding me?"

Lol. Obviously, he's just an attention-hungry boy. He can say every letter of the alphabet, spell his name, and count to ten, plus identify lots of teen-numbers. This is all thanks to Sesame Street, which we have had to limit to two episodes a day; otherwise I'm pretty sure he would do nothing else.

No #2 on the toilet yet, unfortunately. I'm hoping I'll get lucky and he'll be trained before the baby's born. I can dream, right?

Jamie LOVES to help. He loves to help me throw dirty laundry in the washer, put ingredients in the bowl when I'm cooking (I can be pouring a bowl of cereal, and he'll see me, start pushing a chair from the table into the kitchen for him to stand on, and say, "helping Mommy"), into the blender (UNPLUGGED!) to make smoothies, etc. He was great to have around yesterday when I was trying not to bend; he picked up things I dropped, and retrieved things for me so I wouldn't have to get up.

He can dress himself, including socks and shoes, as long as the shoes just have velcro or are flip-flops. He can climb up into his car seat and then buckle himself in, which he loves to do. He's very independent and fusses if we try to do something for him that he thinks he can do himself.

He loves to hide, jump, run, climb, etc. When we arrive home, he always says, "Jamie run door!" and then does his funny little run to the front door. Poor kid doesn't get to run enough, our place is so small and it's too hot to set foot outside. Oh, and he speaks in third person. "Jamie doe [go] nigh-night lih-ttle bed, Jamie wate [wake] up, Jamie doe downstairs, watch Elmo." He says this rather monotone until the end, and I tease him about being a robot (adding appropriate noises), to which he says, "no bot. Jamie no bot."

Well, I need to get going. Sorry there aren't any pictures for this post; we've taken almost none lately. One last thing though: last night, since Jason had a night class, I hitched a ride with a friend to a Relief Society activity. Jamie was in his car seat in the back with my friend's 1-year-old daughter, and they were giggling and Jamie was playing peek-a-boo with her. It was SO cute, and, I hope, a little glimpse of precious things to come.