These Things Will Be the Death of Me

As far as my pregnancy cravings go, this is not so bad...

but add this...

and this...

and this...

and these...

and these...
and you'll see why I've already gained 10 pounds. Yikes!

These food items taste unusually good (yes, even the hot dogs, can you believe it?!) to me due to my extra hormones. Looks like I'll have a loooong road ahead of me come January 1, 2010.

The Needle Has Spoken

Something terribly creepy is going on in the Clark home, thanks to my sister-in-law Stephanie. She introduced us to a game that is supposed to predict how many children of each gender one will have. It's been accurate in all of our tests but one (it predicted Maren would have a boy and she's having a girl) and we've tried it multiple times with constant results on Greg, Leslie, Adam, Ryan, Stephanie, Amy, Kristi, my mom, and me (hence my high hopes for another boy).

DISCLAIMER: In college, I took a folklore class and we had a discussion on this very thing. Many students volunteered the myriad ways their families predict the gender/number of babies and I heard all sorts of hooey. At first, I thought this needle trick was all the same and paid absolutely no attention to it. I didn't even want to try it. Now, I'm a believer, he he.

Would you like to know how to play the game? Here it is:
Thread a needle with about 18" of thread.
Put the ends of the thread together and let the needle fall to the middle so it hangs straight down.
Place the tester's hand flat on a surface (book, table, etc.) with the palm downward.
Hold the ends of the thread in one hand and lower the needle to tap it on one side of the tester's hand, then the other, and then the first side to make three taps.
Hold the needle directly above the tester's hand (about 2 inches from surface of skin).
If the needle swings back and forth in a straight line, it's a boy.
If the needle swings around in a circle, it's a girl.
Repeat the three taps and hold the needle above the tester's hand until the needle neither swings straight or circularly; this means the tester won't have any more children.
The needle should accurately depict all the children in a family, so it will first show the firstborn (even if he/she was born ages ago) and go all the way through the family.

As much as I hate to say it, this test may drive me to believe in Voodoo! It is beyond strange that no matter how many times I try it, or when I do it, I get the same result. Personally, I think it has something to do with the energy fields our bodies produce, but still...FREAKY!