Piglet Pie: Changes a-foot...

1-26-08 smiley girl
Originally uploaded by jodimama.

Hi friends.

Look at that face. Ooooh, I love this girl.

And this isn't just any girl. Nope, this is Arden the Soon To Be...Big Sister!

Yup. Surprise! A babe on the way! Due late August. When it will be absurdly hot in Texas. I'm just coming to the end of the first trimester now, and am feeling like myself for the first time since mid-December. Hence, the lack of posting, and hence, the sudden onslaught of photos uploaded to our flickr site today. (Click Arden's photo above to get into our photostream).

Arden, not surprisingly, is absolutely over the moon at the idea of another baby. Here are a few of our conversations over the past few weeks...

First, a transcript of the night we told her we were pregnant:

Owen: What would you think if we had a baby?
Arden: YEAH! Maybe you (mama) have a baby girl and you (dado) have a baby boy!

Owen: Where would you grow a baby?
Arden: (pointing at my belly) In your belly!

Owen: What would you say if we told you there was a baby inside mama right now?
Arden: In your belly?! Can I see it?
Jodi: Well, right now it's really small. But in about eight months...
Arden: It's going to come out! And meet me, Arden!

Arden: Can I see your belly?
(Showed her my belly...she was quiet and smiley. Didn't want to touch it or anything).

Jodi: It's going to take a long time to grow big enough to come out.
Arden: I want...yesterday...for the baby to come out!

Owen: So what do you think?
Arden: Yay! It's a girl!
Jodi: Now, it could be a boy.
Arden: Now, it *could* be a girl!

Since that first day, Arden has gotten way, way excited about the baby. She rubs my belly, kisses it. One day, going down for a nap, she asked first for her "tiny puppy" and then for "my baby." I said "Tiny Baby?" (her doll) and she said "No, my REAL baby, the one in your belly!" We explained that it would be a long time before the baby was big enough, and that my belly would first grow as big as Amy's and Stephanie's and Lanell's had been. Then she pulled up my shirt and kissed my belly...

If you ask her about the baby she'll say "It's going to grow big BIG BIG! And then it's going to come out! And I'm going to play with it! It's going to come out of my mama's yoni!" She'll tell you that "some babies come out of yonis, and some babies come out of bellies, and some babies come out of bum bums!" We were reading a book about a mama having a baby, and there's a page with a picture of a mama pushing out a baby, and she's standing up and leaning over a bit, and the baby's head is out...so it does look like it's coming out of her bum. Arden gets very upset if you try to tell her that babies do not, actually, come out of bum bums.

If you ask her when the baby's going to come out, she'll tell you "Tuesday night."

She's already got a few names in mind. First, our baby was going to be called "Baby Vera," which is Berkeley's baby sister's name. But now she's set on Bethany, who is one of her beloved teachers at school...

So that's our update! Hopefully posts will be more frequent, and please pop over and enjoy our updated photos...there are a few gems on there...