16 Weeks plus Thanksgiving Dinner

Here is that standard side-shot of the pregnancy-in-process. I was very full after having just eaten Thanksgiving and its fixings, therefore it was a very good opportunity for the obligatory photo. Before you comment on whether or not you think I'm skinny for 16 weeks, please see the rules.

We had a superb time with the Swensons of Las Vegas for the Thanksgiving weekend, and all 6 children ages 5 and under got along famously. The little 2 year olds were especially cute admiring Ben, who is only 2 months old; the 4 and 5 year olds mastered the art of imaginative play famously. The adults were fully occupied by keeping all the little ones fed and clean (and making sure all the bleeds had band-aids), followed by keeping the kitchen clean, and discovered that engineering ginger bread houses is best left to engineers. There is hardly the need to leave the house much when there are more little kids than adults.

Liz showed me how possible it is to be a mom of twice as many kids as arms and to keep a house organized all without losing your mind, and I think it all comes down to that iPod touch...

We are especially grateful for good friends; For the option to simply sit around and swap stories; to laugh at ourselves and analyze family dynamics, figuring out why everyone needs therapy and how we will mess up our own kids and ensure them a spot in therapy, too; For good friends who have to like you even though they know all the dirt there is to know about you. And now our kids have no choice but to like each other by nature of being 4th generation friends. Isn't that great?

Criteria

It's kind of like a quiz. To see what baby names you can come up with that fit my criteria.

1. Traditional but not too popular. And not made up. And it has to be spelled normally, like you could find it on a license plate keychain.

2. Our first two have biblical names that are two syllables. That works, but is not a requirement. Obviously we are not doing the same first initial for everyone; that's not my style.

3. It has to work with our last name and our other kids names. I've had perfect strangers advise me not to name any of our children Richard. I think I'm smart enough to know that. And I'm even going to make sure their initials don't spell something weird.

4. It has to be gender specific. That rules out Taylor and Jordan (and many others).

5. And I have to like it. So even though the name Jared fits the criteria, it makes me think of the Subway guy.

Everyone has a right to name their kid whatever they want, so of course I don't intend to offend anyone. These are my personal preferences for my kids.

Can you think of baby names that fit these criteria? Hopefully you will think of some that I haven't thought of yet. And vote on the sidebar on what you think it will be, a boy or a girl. We will probably find out the baby's gender some time after Christmas.

Pregnancy Rules

Three simple rules. That's all.

1. Prego is an Italian word meaning "I pray" and is used in response to "thank you." It is also a popular and very tasty brand of pasta sause. Please don't use this word to describe me.

2. Please don't tell me "You're so small!" It seems about the same as saying "You're huge!" Likewise, "You do not look __(number between 12 and 40)__ weeks!" seems just as pointless. Why do people feel the need to comment on the size of your middle, small or big? I'm putting in my time and feel as pregnant as I am supposed to.

On the other hand, if you feel that you absolutely must comment on how a pregnant woman looks, "You look terrific!" is always nice to hear, whether or not it is true.

3. Horror Stories. Yeah, I know my fair share of pregnancy, delivery, and misscarriage horror stories. There is a time and a place for swapping stories of this type, but please not in front of me while I'm pregnant.

I feel like pukeing constantly and I have never felt more tired in my life. Soon I will be comiserating about sciatic nerve pain, eventually about kicks to the kidneys and my hips being sore from sleeping, and having to pee every 20 minutes. And the reflux. There are more things that I have blissfully forgotten that will soon come back to memory with fondness. I'm not complaining, I'm just telling you so that you don't have to ask me how I'm feeling unless you really want to know.

If you are itching for a way to help me out, I'd be happy to lend you my first two children so that I can take a nap, provided that they are returned with Cafe Rio take out (hold the cilantro) and that Samuel comes back potty trained. There is also a mop in my closet that could use a pass on my kitchen floor, because I'm really not in the mood for mopping right now.