sorry for the blog-neglect. We are in the middle of some big changes so it’s been really hectic and hard to find time to post.

The baby is, of course, one of those changes! I’m almost 14 weeks along now, which means I’m about out of the dreaded sick-and-tired-all-the-time phase. I actually haven’t had very severe nausea, but have had low-level “blahs” since about week eight. Sleepy, low energy, queasy stomach…I feel great while I’m eating and right after I’m done eating, but within a half hour of a meal or snack I’ve either got indigestion, heartburn, nausea, or some combination of the three. This is the first time I’ve had indigestion or heartburn so early in a pregnancy, but also the first time I’ve had so little nausea (no throwing up at all!) So, I guess I’ll take the good with the bad.

The boys are so excited about their newest sibling. Every day the little ones ask to see a picture of what the baby looks like now, which is difficult because if you Google “13-week fetus” you get some seriously disturbing images, so we’re stuck with the cartoony ones on pregnancy websites. They fight daily over who will get to spend the most time with the baby. Owen is convinced the baby is a “gwil”, while Jacob insists it is twins–a boy and a girl. (yikes.) I would laugh that one off, but Jacob knew I was pregnant before I even did…for no reason at all. He just randomly walked up to me one day and said “Mom, you’re pregnant, aren’t you?” and I was. So the kid has a bit of a crazy intuition. But since everything seems normal so far, I’m just going to assume his radar is off on this one. Anyway, the other day I overheard this conversation:

Jacob: “If we have a girl baby, she’s MINE. I get to hold her all the time.”
Owen: “No, da gwil is MINE!”
Jacob: “No way. The girl is mine.”
Owen: (nearly crying): “DA GWIL IS MINE!!!”

At which point I had to play the old Michael Jackson/Paul McCartney tune. Can you imagine if it really is a girl? That’ll probably be her theme song.

As for the other change–we’re moving back to Michigan. Actually, the kids and I are already here. It’s a plan we’ve been half-heartedly hatching since last winter, but finally got serious about it this summer with just weeks to spare before the new school year began. A lot of factors were at play in our decision, but the high cost of living in Chicago and our family ties in Michigan are the two biggest.

We’ll be living on the southwest side of the state, just across Lake Michigan from the big city, and Jon will continue to work a shortened week in Chicago and come home for long weekends. (We’re keeping a small apartment in Chicago so he has a place to crash and we have a place to stay when we visit).

Of course, when we finally decided to really DO IT, we didn’t have much time to pull all the details together. I had to get here by last weekend in order to enroll the kids in school, but we didn’t have a place yet, so…we moved into my sister-in-law and brother’s house. My brother has been traveling for work so he’s not here much, but currently there are my four kids and her two kids plus two adults…in a two-bedroom house. Chaotic? Just a bit. Let’s just say that the last two nights, things have totally imploded around 9 PM including screaming children, broken pottery, and wild-eyed mothers…oh, and a new development in the last two minutes–a seriously flooding toilet that’s leaking into the basement! Wooot! They’ll be rid of us in six days, when we move into our new home. Until then, posting will probably be scarce as I try to keep my kids from waking baby Ruby and wrecking the house.

Then again, we’ve had some fun, too. Jenna and I were college roomies, so this is just like the old days…except we have six needy children between the two of us. We’re eating better than we did back then, though, and we’re probably doing more interesting things to boot. We’ve made strawberry jam (yummy!), tried to make yogurt (jury’s out on that one until tomorrow) and have spent some fun afternoons at the beach and downtown along the bluff. We even visited a corn maze the other day. You know you’re in farm country when…

Okay, tonight’s implosion and the flooding toilet have worn me out, so it’s time to go to sleep and hope nothing else breaks, explodes, leaks, or cries tonight. More from me soon…