Olives Are the New Pickles

UPDATE:  I wanted to keep this post on the blog, as it is a post of joy and wonder as we announced a big moment in our lives as the H-G’s.  However, we moved from joy to mourning the loss of Baby H-G3.  You can read more details on my post entitled, This Time It’s Me.

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Much like pickles, olives have the perfect amount of saltiness, combined with the near tart but kinda sour, but not really tart or sour kind of deliciousness that confirms Baby H-G3 is on its way.  Yep, you read that right:  Maggie is expecting again – taking great delight in consuming overly fancy olives.

Recent Feast of Marinated Olives

That also means Brad is now in charge of all things gross, oozing, and creepy (that being raw meat, plus anything left too long in the fridge), and also must fulfill requests like, “Can you pick up egg nog from the store?  And a box of those Jimmy Deans sausage/egg/cheese biscuit thingies?  And maybe some ginger ale, but not too sweet or bubbly, but still ginger-y tasting?”

Yep,  we’re back at it again.  And yes, we are a little crazy to be having another child at a similar rate as before.  I haven’t forgotten that our life is still a perfectly insane case of Good Chaos.  This is not to say that parenthood is easy, or pregnancy is a breeze, or that getting pregnant is just like snapping your fingers and everything is perfectly done, just the way you expected.  Life instead is an adventure filled with joy, pain, excitement, and maybe a few R.O.U.S.’s along the way.  I’ve learned since my first pregnancy that you can’t just assume that all things are easy or that everyone around you has the same circumstances that you’ve been dealt.

So why jump back into the newborn phase when the first two don’t really sleep, and it’s a struggle to keep up with their current energy levels?  I’ve already mentioned that we’re a little crazy.  Check.  We also cherish our siblings, and we know Quincy and Eloise will and do now.  There is something to be said about those first comrades that are a part of your own childhood and share that experience.  My brothers were my companions from the start (well, Graham came a little bit later to the party as the youngest of our trio), but having them around was and is pretty great.

Henry, Maggie, and Graham

We all live on different coasts now – Henry down South, Graham out West, and I’m on the the unsalted coast of Lake Michigan, but I know we’re always there for one another no matter the distance or circumstances of our lives.

We’ve added another stocking to the crew, we’re debating names of the babe-to-be, and we’re imagining what life will be as the Five H-G’s this summer.  This will be our last go with pregnancy – God willing everything goes well – so I am cherishing the nausea and migraines and exhaustion, knowing that the hormones are strong and that it will all be worth it for Baby H-G3 to join our little clan.

With love from the 4.5 of us,

~M