Kid Time

On Tuesday afternoon, Chris and I journeyed to Fort Knox to pick up our three oldest nephews (Brent, Seth, and Jack) for a two-week stay. They’re mostly staying with my parents, and then on the weekends they will be with us. I’m so thrilled that they’re here, and I know that Chris is, too. He gets to have video game buddies. This afternoon they are supposed to be at my place when I get home so that we can all go swimming for a while before Chris and I go dinner at Chris’s parent’s house.

I’m hoping that we’ll be able to do lots with the boys while they are here. I love having them around. I know Mom has a whole list of things she has planned. As for Chris and me, we want to swim a lot, and we’re going to go to the park to build a fire in one of the pavilions in order to make s’mores and roast hot dogs, an activity that Jack seems the most excited about, only he keeps saying that we’re going there to burn the hot dogs.

The first night he was here, we had the following conversation in Mom’s kitchen:

Jack began, "I can tell that you’re pregnant."

"Really? And how can you tell?" I inquired.

Eyeing my blossoming belly, he replied matter of factly, "Because you’re so big."

His older brother Brent shook his head and said, "Nice, Jack, real nice."

"Oh, it’s OK," I said, rubbing my tummy. "I am big, Jack. Did you know I have a whole person in
there?"

His eyes widened, and, as he headed for the stairs, he declared, "I’m outta here!"

Last night we met my parents and the boys at Dairy Queen for some ice cream. I’ve decided not to keep ice cream in the house anymore, so going out for it is a nice treat, which was made more special by the extra company. Chris sat at a table with Brent and Seth, the three of them lost in conversation about movies and video games, while Mom, Dad, Jack, and I sat at another table talking about Jack’s ideas about God. He wanted to know what God looks like. In his head, God looks like Morgan Freeman, thanks to Bruce Almighty!

At eight months pregnant, I’m not sure how good of an idea it was for me to take that long car ride on Tuesday. I tried to put my seat back and rest my feet on the dashboard to help the swelling in my feet to go down, but it didn’t help much. Lately, my hands and feet stay in some state of swollenness. I’ve gotten to the point to where I can’t wear my rings anymore, and I don’t want people to think that I’m some poor knocked up single girl, but there’s just not much I can do about it. And yes, I am drinking tons of water and elevating my feet as much as possible.
Swimming is, I think, my happiest time. I feel light, cool, and refreshed, and I can get plenty of exercise. I thought that I would walk a lot with this pregnancy, but in addition to swollen feet, my tummy starts to hurt and feel terribly heavy. I can walk back and forth in the pool and do all sorts of stretches and other exercises. It’s not just float time for me; although, that is quite nice as well.

I know that getting into shape after birth is going to be a long process, but I do have the treadmill that can help me. I miss being able to do my Firm, Pilates, and Tae Bo workouts. But have you seen the new Hip Hop Abs workout? I REALLY want it. I keep talking Chris and Mom about it. It looks like so much fun. Every time I see the infomercial for it, I feel a tremendous urge to call. I’m trying to wait until right after I have the baby to order it. I can’t do all that bouncing right away anyway, but, oh, I can’t wait to try it out.