19 weeks and 3rd prenatal visit

this baby boy is g r o w i n g !!!  i am 19 weeks and feeling good.  i am not sleeping well but i keep telling myself that will only get worse so i better not complain now!

i am definitely showing now....see?

i am loving it because burrito and noodle regularly come up and talk to my belly now.  they love to talk to their little brother inside there.  i am eager for the baby to big enough that they will be able to feel him move.

i've said it before and i'll say it again, it is SO fun to be pregnant with two older children.  it has been downright hysterical explaining how things work and hearing their ideas about birth and breastfeeding!  my boys were so close together that they have no memory of seeing me breastfeed, and they've never been around anyone doing that either.  i wanted to have this "talk" before this baby is born so we launched into it one day at dinner.  john has been reading out loud from the book of genesis and he read the story about noah and his sons (chapter 9:18-29):

The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.)  These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the whole earth.
Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard.  When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent.  Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside.  But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.
When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said,

“Cursed be Canaan!
    The lowest of slaves
    will he be to his brothers.”

He also said,

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem!
    May Canaan be the slave of Shem.

May God extend Japheth’s territory;
    may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,
    and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.”

After the flood Noah lived 350 years.  Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died.

after this story, we thought it might be the perfect time to talk about breastfeeding and how the boys need to be mature when they witness how God made moms to feed their babies.

well, in hindsight, i wish we had the video recorder going.  the conversation was downright hysterical!  we started the conversation with reminding the boys of the ways that they have seen animals feed their babies.  they love wildlife shows so we thought this would be an easy way to explain things.  here's how the conversation went:

jenn:  think about how animals feed their babies.  how do the babies get their food?
burrito and noodle:  blank stares.....
jenn:  okay, think specifically about cows...how do cows feed their babies?
burrito: [with a sheepish grin] oh, i know with those things that hang down, what are those called?
jenn:  that's right, they're called udders.
burrito:  [incredulously] you have udders on your belly!?!?
jenn: no!!!  you've seen my belly! i do not have udders!
burrito: [thinking hard] oh, i know, they're right here. [pointing at his chest with another sheepish smile on his face].  girls have bigger ones.
jenn: yes, that's right.  God made women differently than men so that they could feed their babies.
burrito: you mean you have a portal right there?
all: [laughing hysterically]
jenn: a portal??? how do you even know that word? no i don't have a portal! 
burrito and noodle:  i am so glad i am not a girl!!!  

we felt like the conversation went well. :)

in other news, i had my third prenatal visit yesterday and was able to hear sweet baby boy's heartbeat. i love that sound and it never gets old.  his heart rate was 140 and he's getting big, about 6.5 inches long now.  my belly is pooching out and this is probably my most favorite part of pregnancy...where you look pregnant and not just bloated but not huge just yet either.  my parents gifted us a new baby crib and mattress last week while we are on spring break so we indulged and put it together.  we love it and can't wait to meet this little guy!