On being pregnant...

So I don't really get those people that say "I love being pregnant." I know there's not a lot of them out there, but there are definitely some. What I don't get is what you love about it?

Me, a month ago celebrating 5yrs with Danny in my Buddah Belly shirt...

that "T is working a lot harder these days.

I mean, yes, I love the extra attention.

And there's the fact that people seem to be a little kinder and gentler with a pregnant woman.

For the most part that I give myself permission to eat dessert anytime I want, because my belly is already rapidly expanding and I have now learned I can in fact lose my "baby-weight"... all it takes is training for and running a marathon. Ha!

But I don't really get the LOVE.

Don't hate me, but I'm just going to throw out there that I have really easy pregnancies. I have yet to puke this round, have hardly had any morning sickness and although I was tired, I still managed to fit in twp triathlons and Ragnar....like I said, I've got it pretty easy.

At the IronGirl tri in Vegas with a sign made by my guy-

I'm just shy of 12 weeks here (I think).

But that wet suit wouldn't be flattering even if I was 0 weeks

Yes, I've had a bit of back pain this time around (could be the 36 pound toddler I lift way too much); but nothing so painful or sickness so bad I'd write home about it... or blog about it. (Wait, see what I just did there? I said it wasn't so bad that I'd blog about it, but I totally did blog about it. It'a like I'm complaining without you even knowing I'm complainig...except now you do because I just told you.)

So the moral of the story: well there really isn't one.

I've got just three months left (yes, it's gone fast for me too), and I figure I ought to do something to start connecting with this baby. Perhaps it's because I had some special experiences with Holden in utero (I swear I heard the kid talking to me even before I saw the ultrasound, so I knew he was a boy before the picture-pages tech did). And sine I knew the sex, I knew the name (at the time the ONLY boy name Danny and I could agree on)... so I could already refer to him as a person.

But with this little one, since we're not finding out the gender until game day... and s/he hasn't had any solid communication with me (outside the kicks and hiccups), it feels different. At first, I referred to Baby Mangum as 'he'... I think it was more habit out of calling Holden he while I was pregnant.

But just a couple of weeks ago, Danny and I finally decided on a girls name we both really liked (we've decided not to mention it to anyone because people have the strangest habit of telling you if they don't like your baby name, or they'll say things like "Oh you can't name your baby that" ... which does nothing but make things awkward down the road, and if you do in fact name your kiddo that, you'll always remember that at one time or another they didn't approve of your kid's name.)

But once a kid is named, you'd be hard pressed to find someone who would say "You can't name your baby that" because you already have. They may say "that's an interesting name" or "I've never heard of that before" or "We had a dog named {insert name here}"... but who is going to tell you that's a horrible idea once you've actually named the thing?

(I'm off topic).

Anyway, the point is, now that we found/agreed on a girl's name (we've already decided Zeke for a boy, and no I don't really care if you like it or not)... all of the sudden I felt like I knew who this baby was. And SHE seemed a lot more real to me. And I imagined her with dark brown curls, olive skin, brown eyes and a charming disposition -- kind of like Holden except that they would look nothing alike and she would showcase some of my gene pool.

Holden sporting his official sumer wear...

complete with (chemical-free) SPF 30-everywhere just

to keep him a nice shade of vanilla.

And it's not that I really feel a feminine energy in me or anything -- I can't really tell. Which I am basically chalking up to the fact that I really have no idea if the baby is a girl or a boy, but I do hope she's ready to join the madness that is our home life.

So Baby "Z" (that's what we'll go with until we know you a little better), here are a few things to think about before you make your grand appearance:

• Your brother is a great kid. He's got a lot of energy. he loves to use the phrase "Fight Bad Guys". I keep telling him we fight corporate greed and world hunger (not each other), but he still insists on trying to recreate action sequences from Kung Fu Panda. May the force be with you...
• Sometimes he sticks his lovies on my stomach and says "Baby so happy"... I think he's willing to share his toys with you, but he also asked me earlier this week if you have toys and specifically a Fire Engine (which he calls "Gi-eye-ahs" for some strange reason).
• Don't think that just because there is no crib in our house that you don't have a place to sleep. It's just not really our thing. If you want a crib we can get one, but your brother roomed in with us for so long, and then transitioned to a mattress on the floor once he could crawl, that it never really made sense.
• We travel - a lot. Whether we're talking about weekend jaunts to Eden or St. George, being swanky in Sun Valley, our every-other-year escapades in Hawaii or a yearly Disney adventure, we like to get out and play. So it would really work out best for everyone involved if you were ok with being mobile ...and being a great nurser would also be a plus (memories of pumping on the bathroom floor of Delta's Crown Room make me REALLY hopeful you're more of a boob-man, or gal, than your brother.)
• Your Mom is kind of a freak. I wish I could tell you that you'll be that kid who has the cool parents growing up (which may be the case for your Dad), but your mom is weird. She has all these crazy ideas about mothering, and mother earth, and breast milk, co-sleeping, potty-learning and cleaning products... You might be the weird kid, or just the cool kid with a weird Mom... but we do CRAZY FUN things (like for instance, Skydiving as a toddler). But she's just a bit off the beaten path.
Holden, all suited up for his big flight.

Welcome to the family Little Z.

Edible Panties!

I'll start off this post by stating the obvious: this is not a post about potty training (though I guess I could mention we are ever so close to "graduation but still not 100% diaper free), nor is it an announcement that we have in fact started using THESE that came so highly recommended by so many of you when you found out we were cloth diapering part-time.

But it is to say that Holden has experienced (yet) another first. We took him to the Blue Botique last night! Here he is carefully surveying the 'BAD GUY' section of costumes:

Now before you get too judgmental on me, the purchase was not for my own personal collection (*Besides, I really try to steer clear of buying pasties/sex-toys when I'm pregnant, just as a general rule). But we needed to pick up gifts for a cousin's Wedding Shower (i.e. who would be responsible for the shock factor if not Mr. Suite-Mangum and yours truly?), and although Harmon's is great for buying local, their sensual oil and edible thong collection just wasn't what I was hoping for.

So in our list of things to do, item number 3 on the FHE errand list: Sex-Shop with Toddler.

I knew we were in for fun when we pulled up to the storefront and Holden pointed to the mannequins in the window with their lingerie and wings and said "Butterfly." Ahhh the innocence of youth.

As you can see from the following picture, I'm raising a concerned shopper:

Holden fell in love with a cake-topper that had a bride pulling her groom on the ground by the tie. "I play with this?" He kept asking. And at one point, he also tried to duck under the doors that marked off the special "ADULTS ONLY" section of there store where the merchandise is even more...scandalous, shall we say? Such an explorer, my little guy.

But needless to say, the mainstream section was titillating enough for all of us.

And yes, I recognize this is not a store for children - but I really wanted Danny to help me pick something out (he is after all, the funny one in the relationship...and it's for his side of the family, so his filter is always a little better than mine).

Thanks to a very knowledgable saleswoman who took us right to the section we needed for an easy purchase (his and hers gifts -- you can use your imagination on this one); and we were in and out of the store in about 15 minutes.

My favorite part of the adventure was when one pink haired and very pierced sales clerk turned around towards Holden, and her appearance took him aback for a moment. He shook his fists near his belly like he does when he's cold or to signal he's a little scared. I'm just glad he didn't shout "BAD GUY" before we left.

It's become more apparent every day that I'm out of the running for any "Mother of the year Awards." (Especially when I share these antics with the world?!?!?) But I will say we are having fun.

Ahhh parenting - never what you expect, is it?

Nice Cans!

In case you missed it, my guest blog on Make & Takes 3rd Thursday is all about my cans...I don't mean to boast, but this year's crop promises to be especially --shall we say? -- tasty.

Check it out here.

Also, for you Salt Laker's, I'll be visiting the local Fox 13 channel again this week: Sunday Morning around 7:45. DOn;t blink or you'll miss "Sun Salutation Sunday!"

Namaste.

He Can Fly!

I've mentioned this more than once in conversation over the past week, but I'm not sure if indoor skydiving is an appropriate activity for a child who has yet to say his entire ABC's. Nevertheless, last week we took a mini-break with Cassandra (my elder sister) and her kids an overnighted in Upstate Utah (aka Ogden Valley, the Eden property) and of course hit up Lagoon the following day.

On the way up to Eden, we played in Ogden's Solomon Center. Cassandra, her husband and kids did the indoor surfing at FLOW-RIDE. Then all the kids went rock climbing at iRock. Holden mostly enjoys being pulled up via harness as high as he can go, and then 'repelling' back down. I let Danny handle that one.

**Side note about my sister (and her family): most people that meet/know me think I have a lot of energy. Cassandra operates on an even more elevated plane. We call it "Smith-Time" because they are like the Energizer Bunny - seriously going, and going, and going... It is hard to keep up when I'm not pregnant, so this was an intense 48 hours for Holden and me.**

The real highlight of the trip came at the iFly. Check it out:

So before you judge me too harshly, I would like to say that while Danny and I thought it would be cool to have him do it, kids are supposed to be at least three. We planned on watching the cousins. But Holden was so interested in the training video, and kept saying "I fly. I fly." And then "my turn" during the demo phase of the training. The instructor was awesome and worked with Holden... saying he could "take him flying."

After the training, I had a little exchange with the instructor about Cito's age:

Me: "OK. but they really need to be three right?"

iFlyGuy:"Yeah, but I mean he's three, right?"

Me: "Well, almost."

iFly:" But I mean, he's three, right?" (Big smile).

Me: "Well, sort of..."

iFLy:"I mean, if you round up he' be three, right?"

Me: "Oh yeah! Absolutely!"

So Danny signed Holden's life away, along with our right to sue should anything go wrong and we got Little Bits suited up - earplugs (I could not believe he was willing to keep these in), goggles (couldn't believe he didn't throw a fit), helmet and his jump suit. He looked adorable, but I was still pretty nervous he was more excited about the idea of flying.

The first round I was laughing and crying (as you could probably tell from the first video)...I was so nervous for him. I wanted him to like it, because he was so excited about it. And I was so proud that he had done so well. He waited so patiently, watched his cousins and then went for it. (Danny and I had to sit outside the flying tunnel so he was with his cousins, my mom, Cassandra a a couple of other fliers). Which was even harder for me, because I felt like I should be sitting next to him, or helping him in some way (what exactly I thought I could do I have no idea, but that MamaBear instinct kicks in, and you feel like you ought to be something.)

Anyway, it was hard to tell if he liked it, but afterwards he signed "more" to us through the window. So we let him go another round (it was paid for, and he wanted to, so why not, eh?)

Here's the finale. Holden's second round. (Sorry my voice is so annoying... you may prefer to watch it without sound). By the way, in case you can't tell, I am in love with his cheeks.