Preston's going to be a big brother!

Yes, that's right, we finally decided we'd better bit the bullet and brave having another baby. Yikes! We are due Feb 12 2009. It has been a long and hard decision for us as Preston is so energetic and time demanding, and Dan and I both still want to work so managing to juggle everything will be rather hectic. Anyway, Preston has been putting on the pressure for quite some time since all his friends either have new babies or have babies in their mummy's tummy so he feels he is missing out... "Mummy, when can I get a baby brother?" he says. Initially he only wanted a girl "NO mummy and daddy, NO BOYS, only GIRLS!" he determinedly instructs us, but now he'd quite like a boy so they can play trains and computer games together. He's somehow figuring out that some activities and tv shows are for girls (only) and some are for boys (only), but SOME activities (like Brownies) are for 'girls and Preston' so luckily there is a loop hole for clever boys.

So back to the pregnancy. I'm 11 weeks now and morning sickness is annoying but not as violently bad as with Preston. I've been feeling more nauseous than actually being sick, and it seems to get worse each week on Fridays which is my new week, eg week 7 - felt sick a lot of the time; week 8 - started to have occasional dry retches; week 9 - more regular dry retches and sometimes vomiting; week 10 - actual vomiting after eating; week 11 - feeling sick ALL DAY and throwing up if I eat. Luckily the last 2 days have been sick-free!

My major issue this time around has been emotional outbursts. I seem to be a lot less tolerant to misbehaviour (ie Preston's) and hopefully it's just hormonal and will go away soon (I'm getting better). I've taken this long to update my blog because I've been in such an angry state of mind that you'd all wonder what on earth was wrong with me when I'd be ranting on in an anti-parenting style. Poor Dan's parents - they were staying here when I was at my absolute worst. I don't think I've ever been so angry and mean in my life and Preston was being quite naughty and I just couldn't take it. They must think I am such a terrible mother.

I was reading my blog this morning from the same stage with Preston and it was quite interesting how similar my body changes are (although I didn't have the miscarriage scare this time). My tummy is definitely poking out and if I wear a dress I look really pregnant. I've had to retire my tightest jeans, and have been wearing other jeans not done up properly. I've done lots of maternity clothes buying from trademe and the end of season sales (I sold most of my maternity clothes after Preston was born as I'd worn them so much I never wanted to see them again), so I have a good stash of some comfortable and interesting options.

Even my cravings have been the same - cheese and crackers, cherries, necatarines and peaches. Although this time I've also added macaroni cheese and raisins.

We have our first scan on Friday so I'll post a photo then.

Preston is so clever these days. He is very computer literate and knows how to use a mouse to navigate and he plays games by himself on the disney website. We have also been playing Toontown together! This was a game Dan and I were quite addicted to from 2001-2002 when we were beta testers. Preston loves playing it with me which is really cool. He also uses the Nintendo DS (the one with the stylus) daily, and likes playing Rock Band and texting on the iPhones. Yes, our son is quite the techno-geek. But what did you expect??

He's also got the alphabet song totally sorted (I'm going to teach him the alphabet backwards soon), he can read individual letters and numbers, counting is good up to about 14 (then he misses out 15,16,17 before yelling 18,19,20!). He knows all his colours and shapes and is really into jigsaws. He's mastered a Hairy McClary jigsaw so I bought him another one in the series and then noticed they say 'for ages 4+'.

Another interesting thing - he's had a few nightmares lately and I asked him what they are about. He's had a recurring one which is actually quite funny but must be scary for him. He says "The baked beans were chasing me and I fell in and they started eating me!" Oh dear :)

Potty training is going well - he is totally getting there and we have hardly any accidents any more.

Next Friday we are having a Brownie sleepover for the Olympic opening ceremony and Preston is sooooooo excited that he can come on 'Brownie Camp' with us and sleep in his sleeping bag. He LOVES coming to Brownies with me if Nana can't babysit and they all adore him. Sometimes he gets a bit overwhelmed by all the excitement but loves joining in the games and activities.

That's probably it for now. I need to satisfy my macaroni cheese craving :)