Surprise, Surprise...

In probably the least shocking news of the century, we found out last Friday that Hoss the sequel was another little boy.  I feel like I've basically known all along and while a few people had said along the way that I couldn't be so sure it was a boy, I was sure.  My pregnancy felt exactly the same and also, there's that little fact that all first born Inman sons have only had sons for generations.  You can't argue with genetics folks!

After I allowed myself a brief mourning period for hair bows, nail polish, and future dance recitals, I can definitely say that we are ecstatic to bring this new little boy into our family.  Plus, if anyone has ever needed a little brother, it is Cash.  He needs a little wrestling, mischief-making, curly-haired partner in crime.  And this one seems like he will be a solid partner - the ultrasound tech couldn't stop remarking about how active the baby was.  He's also already in a breech position just like his brother, so yeah, mischief ;)

We've narrowed down our name pics to two solid choices and are going back and forth between the two right now.  Both end in "S" which is how we have decided we want to make our childrens' names go together.  The first, Travis, has the pros that it isn't at the top of the current name lists and can honor a hero of the Alamo (that's a Ross "pro" by the way...) and the cons that I think it sounds a bit 80's and it seems like we're trying too hard to start the newest country sensation, Cash and Travis.
The second, Lucas, is also Latin like Cassius and can be shortened to Luke.  On the other hand, it's gaining fast in popularity and Ross can't stop singing "Lucas with the Lid Off" whenever we mention it and that may prove to be really annoying.  No matter what, the middle name is Devon.


We should make up our minds soon because we want to start calling baby brother by his name to Cash so that he can start bonding a bit with the baby.  Currently he is starting to undertand a bit more that the baby is in my belly and not in my wrist and seemed excited about the crib across from his bed being where baby brother will sleep...until he started saying "My crib, MY CRIB!" at which point I just dropped the subject.

So we can't wait to meet you Travis/Lucas!  January can't come fast enough.

Guess what we find out tomorrow...

Can't wait to tell Cash if he's getting a little brother or a little sister.  Probably a brother, but we'll all act surprised.

Moving on up...

Well, we are about 3 weeks away from move up time at daycare.  Cash will be moving from the Toddler class up to the Young Preschooler level on August 27th.  The teachers that Cash has had at the Toddler level are so wonderful that I'm a little sad this is happening but he is getting bigger and it's time for him to learn more and experience new things.

His teachers gave me his year-end assessment today about the skills that Cash has learned this past year.  He was marked as "complete" for every fine motor skill, every emotional and social skill and every language skill.  The only "working on task" that was marked was balancing on one foot for 5 seconds under gross motor skills, but really, some adults can't do that so I think we are fine.  At the bottom his teachers wrote:
"Cash has a great love of books.  I bet we have read Brown Bear 100 times.  He does a great job answering yes and no questions.  He is into puzzles too.  Cash does a great job helping cleanup.  I look forward to seeing him grow and develop in his new class."

Enough to warm a mother's heart - especially one that loves books as much as I do.  And also, the working mother in me was happy that none of these comments were surprises - I knew that he loves books and puzzles, is great at cleaning up (when he's in the mood) and saying yes and no.

We can't say enough how happy we are with the daycare that Cash goes to every day.  He has so much fun and loves playing with the other kids and his teachers and he learns so much.  We can't wait to see what he learns next year as a Young Preschooler.

Wallace Park

17 weeks pregnancy update

I've been a bit negligent in starting up the pregnancy posts but now that my belly is bumping out a bit it's starting to feel more real.  It is definitely a lot different than the first time.  I don't really obsess over every single change in my body or spend hours researching and reading up on baby products, labor methods, and newborn care.  It's just a lot more relaxed and with a very active toddler around it isn't getting as much of my time and attention.

My first trimester was a little more sickly than last time.  I'm not sure if I really was affected by the nausea more or if with my work at home situation I just had more opportunity to sit and wallow in it.  But around week 13 the nausea and exhaustion abated and I feel just fine now.  I do have a fair amount of round ligament pain in my abdomen from the growing and stretching of the muscles and I still get dizzy and out of breath pretty easily due to my crazy low blood pressure.   All in all though, it seems to be an easy pregnancy like the last time and I really can't complain, especially in comparison with what some of my friends and family have had to go through with theirs.

As for new baby Hoss, everything seems to be great with him.  I say him because as I tell everyone, I'm 99% sure it's another boy due to the fact that I feel similar to how I did with Cash and the Inman genetic history.  The heartbeat always sounds strong at my midwife appointments and all the ultrasounds and the nuchal translucency screening came out normal.  We have the big ultrasound where we find out the sex on August 24th.  Also, I may have started feeling the little guy kicking the other day but I still feel like it's too early to confirm.

Now that we are approaching halfway through (yikes!) we are starting to cross a few to-dos off of our list and beginning to think about some of the things we will need to set up or get in place before "the new one", as I like to call the baby, will be home.  We already got our double stroller - a Jeep Traveler Tandem - because I had enough reward points to get it for free.  We still need to decide on how we will have the baby sleep in our room for the first few months - do we just want to move the crib and old changing table into the room or get a deluxe pack and play and we also need to get a new larger dresser that we can use as a changing table in Cash and the baby's room.  Oh and yes, we are planning on having both of our munchkins share a room eventually which should be...interesting. 

Here's a few more pics of the new one from his 12 week ultrasound.  We can't wait to meet you!