Pregnancy #4:

Oh, being pregnant. How I have missed you. I haven't grown a pumpkin patch on my face in years. And I wear it with pride having not even attempted to cover my face with the slightest bit of make-up in a month. Why should I? Every time I throw up, tears flood my eyelashes making a lovely black and gray swirl foundation that is a bit darker than my, now, albino complexion. Well, albino everywhere but the circles under my eyes. They retained their blue color quite nicely.

Pregnancy has forced me to SLOW down and appreciate my life. I am now grateful for all walks, no matter the distance- from bed to bathroom. From bathroom to bed. And the joy of relaxing in bed all day... (with my vomit bucket tucked firmly between my legs). It's blissful. I love sitting there watching my children frolic about the house, while I consider telling them to stop using cereal as a form of confetti to decorate the tile floors, but finding myself too tired to beat them so I close my eyes and sleep instead. I love listening to the arguing and screaming as they self regulate their emotions with almost no parental intervention. And sweet Boeing running around making gagging noises and yelling, "I'm too tired. I have to take a break. I can't breave."

I believe pregnancy has enhanced my existing children. Their inventive ideas never cease to amaze me. Just now Boeing came to me with a new invention. I had to tell him, "No thanks, buddy. I don't want to pick my boogers with your used sucker stick." But what a genius idea. And Bry took all of the wooden slats out of his twin sized bed and built a race car track two rooms long. I didn't even mind breaking my ankle, foot, and falling into the wall tripping over it trying to find the bathroom in the dark. Today I even discovered that the boys had planted a garden in their room using berries. (CANDY berries). SURE about a cuzillion sugar ants had taken OVER their garden, but they were "sowing the seed" like in the scripture story we just read.

I've realized that my kids are quite capable of doing everything for themselves. Bry can make his own peanut butter and nutella sandwich, Brookie can fold and put away laundry. Even Boe, being only two, is completely able. In fact, he doesn't even need my help (or permission) to feed himself cookies hidden on top of the fridge. (Apparently my pregnancy has enhanced all his senses in addition to his mischievousness). He is so considerate so as not to wake me, he closes my bedroom door, the kitchen door, scales a chair quietly climbing onto the counter, stacks a variety of cereal boxes or whatever he can find to stack, and locates all the treasures "put out of his reach." After he climbs another shelf and uses the scissors to open his snack, he does a little mending on anything he sees worth chopping, (AH Daddy's khaki church pants- snip snip), then he remembers his snack and decides to eat. As you probably know, food is not meant to be jailed in containers. Upon opening food, it should be immediately freed, no matter the ginormous amount. Boeing is a stickler for cookie rescues and promptly dumps all 40 cookies in a pile on the tile floor, usually amongst a similar pile of cereal. But Boeing, with his tender considerations, takes it a step farther. He takes two handfuls of cookies from the kitchen floor and carries them, making a crumbly trail, through the living room and into either the kids' room where Brookie and Bry are playing or upstairs where they are playing. He then generously shares his bounty. Brighton graciously accepts, no questions asked.

Brooklyn, forever the only adult in the house at SIX, taps her foot, "Boeing, did you ask Mommy for cookies?"

"Umm, but no... but because Mommy is asleep."

I am then awaken from my sleep, which is my cue to puke, and told of the horrors occurring during my nap. "Lovely! So lovely! I'll just sweep that up." I stand, sway, gag.

"No. I'll just tell Daddy when he gets home."

Starling has been the MOST blessed by this pregnancy. He's always been envious of my household duties. What a grand opportunity to step into my flip flops! Laundry, dishes, sweeping, discipline. He's a natural. He loves it. Does he wait until every dish in the house is dirty to wash them? Of course he does. He loves a challenge! And has he fed us every single meal since I got sick. YEAH he has. He is KING of ordering pizza and food delivery. He is on call 24 hours. Thank goodness half the taco stands stay open past midnight, because sometimes, I just need to eat at midnight. (And again at 3 or 4 a.m. And again at 6...). Every day he tells me how great it is to live with an invalid. (Okay, he's never said it out loud- but I KNOW he's thinking it. I can tell by that expression of love he flashes me when I wake him up and start with, "Starling- can you....". Its super endearing. I can tell that he's NEVER been happier).

And can I just say how thankful I am for my super-sonic smelling power? I don't know what I've done without it for the last two and half years. I can smell someone grilling from 6 blocks away. And that is extremely useful. My "overactive sniff" combined with my overzealous gag reflex: I am just a happy go lucky time bomb. I haven't exactly pinpointed the need for the increased smelling abilities as it pertains to evolution, but I will certainly never accidently eat something inedible. Laundry detergent? Gag. Dishwashing liquid? Gag. Any "smell good" products that I once appreciated: perfume, cologne, deodorant? Gag.

But today! I have to say today was BETTER. The best day I've had for WEEKS! I actually got OUT of my BED and did LAUNDRY. (Starling did have to intervene towards the middle of me hanging clothes because I got to weak- but PROGRESS)! I think I'm finally bouncing back from Dengue, which I VERY fortunately caught at the SAME time as pregnancy. (Better to catch all the deathly ill at once and get it out of the way). I figure I'm filling my quota so I can be healthy as an ox next year. Or at least I'll think I am in comparison to now.

We are heading back to the States at the end of November. My brother is getting married and our visas expire. Our year long stay in Cozumel is coming to an end. I know my parents have to be thrilled to have us come live with them. Who doesn't want Boeing Johnson living in your house helping you reorganize everything you own? But it'll ONLY be until our rental lease is up on our house. So ONLY a month or so.... ONLY.... I can already imagine the joy a family of five will bring to the neighborhood... We might need to invest in a child size kennel. We are excited to see all of our MSippians. I'm ready for a big pot of greens and corn bread with a side of fried chicken. And every other MS food I've been without for the last year. I usually gain 50 pounds with my pregnancies. Just a gander... but the way I've been inhaling foot long subs and half a dozen tacos... I'm going with same-ole', same' ole. And that's the healthy stuff. I'm just counting down the days until I pull up into Sonic to get my 7 inch tall bacon cheddar toaster loaded with meaty, cheesy, onion ring, and bbq goodness....

Well, its midnight. Time to eat again. SEE Ya'll soon!!