ooh, baby!

This baby is growing exponentially! (well actually, I think that's correct, right? like i know anything about fetal development...)

I have got to say, I'm so incredibly excited about this baby. If I end up with more babies after my 3, I'm pretty sure impatience will kill me on number 5 or 6.

Having one baby was really difficult. Lucy was a very demanding and tough baby. I had no idea babies could be so grumpy. She was adorable, though, so we made it through. She is now the most sensitive, polite, funny, silly kid. She's the sort of child you'd describe if you had a gift card for a 3-year-old and could just pick one out. Lucy took a lot of attention, but it's just proof that the ones who demand more give more back later.

My second baby was super easy and fun. I was a little nervous about having a second and trying to bond with it the way I was bonded to Lucy. I figured I couldn't love any baby as much as I loved Lucy. When they put Molly, all squishy and red, in my arms, I thought, "It's all true! I don't love her as much as I love Lucy!" Well of COURSE I didn't. Lucy was 22 months old - when you have 22 months to fall in love with someone, you have something to go on. With a brand-new baby, you have...a baby.

But within just a few weeks, Molly started growing into this whacky, amazing, adorable, quirky kid. She is by far the most awesome person I've ever met. After almost 2 years of living with Molly, I can't help but think about how empty this family would be without her. She brings this big, noisy rainbow-colored light to our home and fills us with a very exasperating and huge love. And what shocks me the most is that she's my favorite. Just like Lucy. They're the same and they're totally different. I knew I'd never love her like I love Lucy, and I was so right. I love her nothing like I love Lucy. She's not Lucy, and I'd never expect her to be. She's so perfect, because she's not her sister. And Lucy is perfect, because she's her own unique, thrilling little person. What a wonderful surprise, finding out just how much you can love. And what's more exciting is that I know that my love for them has so far to grow!

And now we're waiting for number 3. I can finally say that with my third baby, I am totally at peace. I'm not worried about disrupting the flow of the family, or bonding with the baby, or breastfeeding, or sleepless nights. I know how fast they grow and I know how easily they slip into a family. I'm just so ready to have another little person running around here, and I'm so ready to stretch my heart even bigger.

This is a very, very active little person who loves to go, go, go! Today s/he discovered the hot water in the shower and was just bouncing all over the place, enoying the noises and the water. To say a child in utero is aware of what's going on outside is such an understatement! The girls never woke me up in the middle of the night the way this one does. Constant movement, always kicking and flipping - I'm betting my OB finds the cord wrapped around the neck at least twice upon delivery. This is one kid who's living on the edge! I just. can't. wait. to get my hands on this baby. 14 weeks to go and I'm just BUSTING to meet our new little one!