A Fall Day
I think one of the hardest things about not keeping up on LJ is that I miss important events from people's feeds. By the time I read them, it's been so long I feel kind of ridiculous commenting on them. But I do read. And yeah. I hate missing.
So...here we are again in pregnancy land. I'm 21 weeks along, a little more than halfway (and hopefully I'll have this baby two weeks early like I did the others, so that my countdown is even less!). We're having a girl. It's kind of shocking, actually, after three boys, but it will be a nice addition to the freak show, I think. My boys are just so wild and everybody tells me that girls are really different. I grew up with only sisters so I was unfamiliar with boys, but it's kind of hard to look back at my own childhood and make really educated statements about what it was like having all girls and no boys. I know when there were four of us as teenagers in the house that was drama, and I know that I was always the mean oldest sister, but other than that, I guess I can't really say whether we were as wild (or worse?) than my crazy boys. It can't be worse, can it?
So there's many changes with that to come. The most immediate change to deal with is to move the boys around. We're going to put the two older in one of the basement bedrooms together. Our house has lots of bedrooms, but only three are upstairs, so the older boys are going downstairs. I'm not sure how they're going to handle this at first (although their new bedroom will be right across the hall from their toy room, which they are obviously very familiar with) so I think they'll be fine. It's a smaller bedroom but I think it's going to be okay. We don't have any toys in their bedrooms right now, but the bookshelves are going to have to be put somewhere else once they move. We're going to move Bram into their bedroom and keep the nursery still the nursery for the baby. Bram will get to be in our toddler bed (Gabe was the last one to use it because Eli moved right into a bunk bed with Gabe) and I can just imagine how many nights he will spend sleeping on the floor in front of the door. We're going to have to put a lock on the outside of his door because it just isn't safe to have him wandering around by himself. Our bedroom is close enough that we can hear him and the baby, though. We're all in a little alcove in the side of the house. Except the older boys, of course, who will be in the basement Phineas and Ferbin' it for the forseeable future. So we need to get all that done sometime. Other than that, I think we're not freaking out. I would like to redo the decor in the nursery (since it's been cowboy-themed for all the boys), so that will get done sometime, but it's not essential. If I were a first time mom I'd be freaking out. Instead, I'm just trying to wrap my head around having a girl instead of a boy.
Both Mat and I were wanting a girl--Mat especially was adamant that we have a girl--but I was kind of zen. I thought that if it were a boy (and I'm so used to having boys it was easy to think it was one) that it would be fine. I'm a mom of boys. When I found out I was having a girl, I was really excited but I also felt strangely sad...I'm no longer just a mom of boys. I'm out of the club. I have lots of friends--many of my good friends, actually--only have boys. There's a certain camraderie in it. Maybe girl moms feel the same way, I don't know, but I do know that I'm no longer part of that league of women fighting the good fight with only boys. I talked to a friend who had one girl after having four boys and she totally understood what I was saying as she felt the same way when she found out her fifth was a girl. I'm very happy to have a daughter--there are some things that just can't be experienced with a son, especially when they're grown and gone--but I was happy with just my boys, too. And in a way I'm glad I had come to that conclusion, to know that I was okay with just being a boy mom. It surprised me, especially when I felt a little wistful, but it was a good affirmation. And now I'm moving on cause--a girl! Yay!
So...here we are again in pregnancy land. I'm 21 weeks along, a little more than halfway (and hopefully I'll have this baby two weeks early like I did the others, so that my countdown is even less!). We're having a girl. It's kind of shocking, actually, after three boys, but it will be a nice addition to the freak show, I think. My boys are just so wild and everybody tells me that girls are really different. I grew up with only sisters so I was unfamiliar with boys, but it's kind of hard to look back at my own childhood and make really educated statements about what it was like having all girls and no boys. I know when there were four of us as teenagers in the house that was drama, and I know that I was always the mean oldest sister, but other than that, I guess I can't really say whether we were as wild (or worse?) than my crazy boys. It can't be worse, can it?
So there's many changes with that to come. The most immediate change to deal with is to move the boys around. We're going to put the two older in one of the basement bedrooms together. Our house has lots of bedrooms, but only three are upstairs, so the older boys are going downstairs. I'm not sure how they're going to handle this at first (although their new bedroom will be right across the hall from their toy room, which they are obviously very familiar with) so I think they'll be fine. It's a smaller bedroom but I think it's going to be okay. We don't have any toys in their bedrooms right now, but the bookshelves are going to have to be put somewhere else once they move. We're going to move Bram into their bedroom and keep the nursery still the nursery for the baby. Bram will get to be in our toddler bed (Gabe was the last one to use it because Eli moved right into a bunk bed with Gabe) and I can just imagine how many nights he will spend sleeping on the floor in front of the door. We're going to have to put a lock on the outside of his door because it just isn't safe to have him wandering around by himself. Our bedroom is close enough that we can hear him and the baby, though. We're all in a little alcove in the side of the house. Except the older boys, of course, who will be in the basement Phineas and Ferbin' it for the forseeable future. So we need to get all that done sometime. Other than that, I think we're not freaking out. I would like to redo the decor in the nursery (since it's been cowboy-themed for all the boys), so that will get done sometime, but it's not essential. If I were a first time mom I'd be freaking out. Instead, I'm just trying to wrap my head around having a girl instead of a boy.
Both Mat and I were wanting a girl--Mat especially was adamant that we have a girl--but I was kind of zen. I thought that if it were a boy (and I'm so used to having boys it was easy to think it was one) that it would be fine. I'm a mom of boys. When I found out I was having a girl, I was really excited but I also felt strangely sad...I'm no longer just a mom of boys. I'm out of the club. I have lots of friends--many of my good friends, actually--only have boys. There's a certain camraderie in it. Maybe girl moms feel the same way, I don't know, but I do know that I'm no longer part of that league of women fighting the good fight with only boys. I talked to a friend who had one girl after having four boys and she totally understood what I was saying as she felt the same way when she found out her fifth was a girl. I'm very happy to have a daughter--there are some things that just can't be experienced with a son, especially when they're grown and gone--but I was happy with just my boys, too. And in a way I'm glad I had come to that conclusion, to know that I was okay with just being a boy mom. It surprised me, especially when I felt a little wistful, but it was a good affirmation. And now I'm moving on cause--a girl! Yay!