Not Far From the Tree

This nut doesn't fall far from the tree. My brother and I were born 13 months apart. Josh and his brother were born about 15 months apart. So really, we just don't know any better.

My mom told me once that she was five months pregnant with my brother before she found out. I asked a boat load of questions...How did you not know? Weren't you hungry? How did your pants fit? She said she figured it out when she was sitting at work and felt a kick. How could anyone be so clueless?

Well let me tell you, it's easier than you think! I was going about my business at work when I barfed up a bad banana. Then, at lunch, someone ate what I thought was a rotten salad.

Just to be on the safe side, I thought I should probably pee on a stick. I borrowed a few from my friend Amanda and headed straight to Angela's house. This particular pee stick was confusing. I dunked it over and over and nothing happened. By the time I realized I had it upside down the whole stick had turned purple. What does that even mean?

Of course, Angela wasn't going to let me go home without an answer, so she dug around in the bathroom closet and found an old test. After chugging enough water to work up a dribble and try again there was an audience. At this point six people had a pretty good idea what I was doing in that bathroom. So I peed on the stick, threw it in my purse, grabbed Jackson and headed for the door! I couldn't let everyone find out before Josh.

The first stop sign I came to on Water Tower Road, I made the call. He may have been in San Diego, but we both found out together. All I said when I looked at the test was, "I hope it's a girl!"

A few days later we found out I was 17 weeks along already. I'm sure the ultrasound tech was a little annoyed by my constant giggles. I suppose it's hard to do that job on a bouncing belly.

How did I miss all the signs? Why did my pants still fit? I suppose I was kind of hungry... It's true. The nut doesn't fall far from the tree.

The Longest Goodbye

I knew this day was coming such a long time ago. I remember sitting in the driveway of my house in Council Bluffs talking to my mom on the phone and bawling. This was long before we said the L word, got married or had Jackson. We had only been together for a few months and I had already realized that I had two choices...dump him now or move away forever. 

Later, months later, Josh got to see all the crazy I had built up inside. He kept talking about "When I move next." I finally burst out in blubbering tears, "Well, just dump me now then, don't wait until later when I will be miserable when you leave." Now I know what he really meant was, "When WE move next..."

I'm sure you all thought we would never leave. I mean, we've only been talking about this move since September 2011. We declared, "We're moving!" three times before we actually left. The date changed. The location changed. We found one delay after another - brain surgery, baby Jackson, etc. But we did it. We finally left. The timing wasn't perfect - but in this case I don't think it would have ever been good. I miss my family. I'm sorry they won't get to see Jackson enough or meet the new baby until months after she is born. I miss my job. But the two most important people are here, so I'm here with them. I'm going to get used to this. This is the first of many long goodbyes, I'm sure.