An Advance Apology to Parents

Amber is getting really excited for the birth of our baby. All through my pregnancy, she has asked me how the baby gets out of my tummy, so I vaguely tell her that the doctor helps him come out. She seemed satisfied; end of story. We have been watching "Babies: Special Delivery" on the Discovery Channel lately because I thought it would be a good way for the girls to see (censored, of course) what happens at the hospital. We had watched several C-section births and a few vaginal births that didn't seem to be revealing in any way because the doctors always conveniently stood between the cameras and any exposed female parts.

For those of you who don't know this already, Amber believes she has a baby in her tummy, too. The other day, she was using the bathroom and taking her sweet time, so I told her to hurry up. She said "I can't push too hard because my baby will come out of my bottom." I asked, "What?" and she said "When the doctor helps my baby come out of my tummy, I have to push really hard like I'm doing poops." I was floored! I couldn't believe she figured out the process of vaginal delivery on her own.

If my daughter becomes the responsible party in any premature education of your children regarding the birthing process, I am so sorry! My only consolation in this situation is that she actually wants to be a doctor when she grows up. One can only hope...

Family Happenings as of April 10, 2008

Adam is studying long and hard every day for his final exams, the first of which is on Wednesday. He spent 72 hours awake preparing his final projects for two classes. Needless to say, he's excited to have those out of the way. He finishes exams on April 19th. That will be a blessed day!

Natalie is great with child...need we say more? She only has one month of pregnancy left and is getting really excited to have a smaller belly so she can chase the girls more easily. She's loving Amber's newfound independence, yet needs to adjust to the way Amber operates now that she's a "big girl" and gets her own drinks of water directly from the faucet, spends 45 minutes in the restroom mixing toiletry concoctions, and tormenting Karli. Natalie is working on the outline for her first book. Hopefully she'll be able to make progress on it after the baby is born.

Amber went to her first play date without a parent yesterday. She has a darling friend named Sophie who invited Amber to her house to play. Amber wanted to stay all day and had a grand time. She's quite a monkey these days; no one's furniture is safe from her flips, leaps, and other profoundly rowdy movements. Amber loves to feel the baby move in Natalie's stomach and proudly shows the baby in her tummy (named Cooper) to everyone who seems interested. We all wonder when her baby is going to be born; she tells us it's not for a long time, until she's a grown-up.

Karli is in her "nudie" phase and it drives Natalie crazy! Adam had to sew her onesie shut at the bottom the other day because she kept escaping and removing her diaper. She's on the verge of being potty trained, but somedays she decides that using the potty is just too much effort. As if the stripping-in-the-middle-of-any-public-place tendency wasn't enough, Karli is cutting her first 2-year-old molar and seems to be quite miserable. It's a good thing she's such a sweet, adorable, and snuggly gal most of the time, because she can really be a beast!

Hello, Hello

I've finally joined the fray...I always considered myself being up to snuff as far as basic technology goes until I realized everyone has a blog except me. Hopefully you'll enjoy the pictures, stories, and other trivialities that make up our family life. Have a great day!