The one in the middle is the green kangaroo

That's a book from when I was little. I can't even remember anything else about it but the title. We always said Maureen was the middle child in my family because technically she is. Kerry and Me, then her, then Jenny and Mick. So yes, she is the middle of 5 but somewhere along the line, I think around the time someone declared there were more than 2 types of twins, that multiples "don't get included in birth order". So we'd always say the book title was about Maureen.

But I digress, I'm writing about my own "green kangaroo". For years I thought my little Buggie, Clare, was my baby. Now she's my big girl, my (soon to be) middle child. In fact, the poor girl has been given that roll a little early. With all this Aidan kindergarten talk and baby #3 talk, I feel like she doesn't get the spotlight as much as she deserves. Don't get me wrong, she and I spend a great deal of time together and I love it! She talks my ear off and I complain about it but really I LOVE it! I love how she's growing up so much, she makes up her own dances and songs now. She pulls up my shirt sometimes, to "give the baby a kiss." She's starting Irish Step Dancing next month and she can't wait! I just feel like I don't mention her as much lately- here anyway.

Clare is turning into such a beautiful girl, not just my little Buggie anymore. I love to kiss her cheek when she's sleeping because it's so soft and she always says good night back in a little sleepy voice. Her huge blue eyes make me smile. Last night she asked me to put her hair in a bun, when I told her she looked pretty with her hair pulled back she said, "I know cause I look just like you." She's my little buddy, my little sidekick. Secretly, there's a small part of me that would like this baby to be a boy because if it's a girl I won't get all the special time with Clare anymore, she'll spend it with her sister instead.

A budding Artist

Last Wednesday afternoon Aidan had a note in his take home folder from school stating that his artwork had been chosen (as one of two in his class) to be placed on display at the high school during the art exhibit.

When I read the note I was beaming! My little Aidan who hated to do art as a preschooler now has a piece on display at the art show! His picture was a mixed media depiction of Monet's Waterlilies. Sean and I both dabbled in Art History in College so as you can imagine that made it even more special to us.

In true form, we made a big deal of it. We went to the art show, then out to dinner and then out for dessert. Aidan was so proud that night, especially when we met his art teacher and she was bragging about him to us.

Slowing down

I remember when I got pregnant with Aidan, I was so excited. I thought, I'm going to be healthy and continue to exercise and eat right. Well after a first trimester in the middle of a scorching summer with a perpetual headache, by the time the second trimester came around I was semi-defeated. I started to feel a little better and kept up pretty good practices for the next 4 (or so) months. We ate out alot and I ate a fair amount of junk too. For the last 6 weeks I was so swollen and bloated I couldn't even wear real shoes, I was wearing slippers and flip flops in December and January. Luckily, once he was born the swelling went down and after all the "dust settled" I wasn't in as bad of shape as I originally thought.

During pregnancy #2, with Clare, things were a little different. Replace the exercise plan with chasing around a 9- 18 month old boy, the eating out with ice cream cones for dinner, (for both Aidan and me) but no swelling in the end. After she was born and all that "dust settled" again things were pretty much the same.

Fast forward 4 years to pregnancy #3, no longer in my "early 30's" but now in my "mid to late 30's". I started out this one with a bit of a different mindset. I've become slightly more active in the last couple of years so I was a little fearful of getting out of the swing of things with being pregnant and all.

So, I've been exercising this whole pregnancy, doing exactly the same regimen I had been before I found out I was prego. I've been eating well, with only the occasional pregnancy excuse to eat bad. I've been careful to take a day off if I'm feeling sluggish or just tired. I've read and read (which I don't usually do) about what I can and can't do and many of the articles say you may have to stop or slow down running once you get bigger. Well as I've said before this nugget is HUGE so I'm definitely "bigger" by now. Last weekend I felt great when I ran and thought "poo on you, I'm not slowing down at 23 weeks." I ran 2 more days during last week and felt pretty good too. Yesterday, however, was a totally different story. My legs felt like concrete and the baby had it's foot scratching my rib cage the whole time. I pretty much walked more than I ran. It made me think of my bff Lisa who recently posted on her blog (www.threeunderfiveandstillalive.blogspot.com) a post about running and feeling like your body won't do what you want it to do. I kept thinking if I could just use the whole "mind over matter" thing I could push through it. Well, I wanted to sit down and cry too Lis! I had to succumb to the defeat! I'll try again tomorrow and see what my body and the baby are willing to do.

16 weeks to go! We'll see what happens this time when the "dust settles!"

Party Time

Last night as we were eating dinner Aidan asked me if when he and Clare are in College, I mean High School, could they have a party while Sean and I are not home?" I said, "Sure, what kind of party? You know, like what will you have at the party?"

He says, "Oh well like lots of sodas, chips, cookies, candy." So I asked him, "Will it just be regular soda or "soda" which is really beer?" He says, "Ewww, why would we serve beer, we're not allowed to drink that?" I said, "Oh well if that's the case, of course you can have a party when you're in High School and serve soda." He said, "Are you really going to remember that you said this." My response was, "Oh, I will remember this conversation. In fact, I'm going to be reminding you of it in about a decade."

Road Trip

Friday night, Sean went out for a little bit and when he got home I was watching my favorite channel, Food Network. Diners, Drive-ins and Dives was on. They were featuring their usual 3 different spots, one of which was here in Maryland.

The food looked totally delicious, of course, it made the show didn't it? So naturally, Sean googled the place and announced, "We're going there on Sunday afternoon!"

It's a Mexican take out place, located where else but a gas station! Yup, that's right, this place is a tiny little corner of a gas station convenience store, cordoned off by some plexiglass that separates the rest of the place. The menu is handwritten on looseleaf paper and taped up to the wall. The food is as good as it looked on tv. We got these things called hurraches- kind of like a large taco with this yummy chicken, cheese, mexican creme, super hot sauce and fresh avocado.

It was well worth the trip to Elkridge, MD to R & R Taqueria (www.rrtaqueria.com) in the Shell station on the corner of Rte. 1. DELICIOUS!!