my really good (albeit tiny) excuse for this blogging hiatus

I've been busy growing another human!

About a week and a half after Andrew deployed, just two nights before I left to meet him in Paris, I found out I was pregnant. More details on that story later but I'll just say that I was speechless.

Since then, I've just been doing whatever it takes to keep all of us alive and blogging is not one of those things. But now that I'm nearing the end of my first trimester (10.5 weeks today!) I'm starting to see the return of my energy and with that comes major blog updates like this one. Not to mention, we're long overdue for some Jack pictures and an update on his little 17-month-old life.

For now, here are answers to some FAQs and a few other musings I've been musing for the last month and a half.

- Is this a Paris baby?! So many people asked that! I guess the timing did seem suspicious and it is the city of romance after all, but no. This is a Connecticut baby. A farewell gift, if you will. Did I take it too far?
- When are you due? October 14, which was Jack's due date. I can't believe it either.

- How are you feeling? Exhaaaauuuusted, but that's getting better by the day. The first few weeks were rough and the jet lag didn't help. And just like with Jack, I've had no morning sickness. I KNOW. I had about two weeks of pretty extreme nausea but that passed and now I'm in good shape. Praise God.

- Was Andrew excited? SO excited. I was in complete shock for days (weeks) and his reaction made it a lot easier for me to shake that off and get excited myself.
- Will he be back in time? Lord willing, yes. We don't have any reason to believe that he won't make it back a few months before the due date but nothing is guaranteed.
- Are you going to find out what you're having? Yes, but not right away. I'm going to have the ultrasound tech put it in an envelope and I'll open with Andrew over Skype or when he gets home, whichever comes first.

So far, there are several things that are the same and a few that are different. It has been two years since I've done this but I was surprised at how much I'd forgotten. Like how tired you really are during the first trimester. And the weirdo fast food cravings I get when I wake up from a nap. And the way my face is breaking out worse than it did when I was in middle school. Good times.

But there are a few new things this time around. I've been having super bizarre dreams, which is making it difficult for me to get a decent night's sleep. My pants are already tight. I can't get enough scrambled eggs. And I feel a little more emotional. Although that could be because my husband is deployed, my kid has been sick, it snowed again this week and I feel fat. Maybe.

All in all, we're in good shape. A friend of mine asked if I was giving myself grace to not do ALL THE THINGS and the answer is a big fat yes. We watch so much PBS right now, it's not even funny. And today I accidentally fell asleep on the daybed in the sunroom and woke up with a pile of markers and crayons on my stomach. I fell asleep with a marker-wielding toddler on the loose. I'd say I've relaxed a lot.

Hooray for more babies!