Cake with a side of Poop

When you're a mom, why does POOP always play into each story in one way or another? The kids and I were playing "restaurant" yesterday, and in seriously 10 minutes all the kids had to poop. Just another day in mommy-world. At least no one pooped on me, although I have that stage to look forward to once again with the new baby ... good times.

Nesting

How does a mother pregnant with her fourth baby nest?? Well, I seem to be obsessed with creating wish list registries at Land of Nod and Amazon.com...I don't know why! I'm not having a baby shower (that only happens for your first baby), and I don't have any money to buy anything really! Yet, I have spent far, far, far too long pouring over the Pottery Barn Kids and Land of Nod catalogs trying to get ideas for painting the bedrooms, laying out the furniture (bunk beds or no bunk beds... we're thinking no bunks with the girls in the bedroom over the garage), Brooke's new twin bed bedding (should it match Larkin's or be different? how different?) and mattress (is there a benefit to an organic mattress? Is it wrong to get Brooke one if the other kids don't have one? Would Hudson have his allergies if his mattress was organic?... just some of the random thoughts whizzing through my head), baby girl's new bedding (although I know she doesn't really need new bedding... but I've looked at our "girl" bumper and sheets for 4 years now through Larkin and Brooke and I'm a little tired of it! I want the set pictured here), a new dresser for Larkin or Brooke (I want this one because the room over the garage doesn't have any closets). I'm obsessed. I need to stop. I wish I had a couple thousand dollars to make all the rooms feel finished, but we just don't... so for now, I'll just keep wishing and putting things on my list.

Also, why was I obsessed with finding a baby name when we didn't know the sex of the baby, but now that we do... I can't seem to pick up my baby name book. I frustrate myself sometimes!

It's A.....

Baby Patsch #4 is a GIRL! That's right... the third in a row. Poor Hudson was so hoping for a boy this time around. When I told him this afternoon when he got off the bus that he was having another sister he said, "Oh man, I was hoping it would be a boy. Would it be okay if we just gave her a boy name and pretended she was a boy for awhile?" Hum... Hud, I don't think that would be okay. Then a few minutes later he said, "Well, I hope she looks like Brooke. I like when babies have hair...not like those shaved head babies." This just made me laugh. So that's it... Now it's time to PLAN!! My mind is running a mile a minute with room scenarios, names, paint colors, people to call to borrow infant girl clothes (we need any from 0-12 mo. if you are reading this!), and updating my amazon wishlist (yes, I got way to obsessed with my wishlist way too early and went neutral with all the colors). I'm thinking we are going to need bunk beds pretty soon and leave Hudson to the big room so he can shut his door on all the girlyness going on elsewhere. I'm still in shock. I really believed this one was a boy... but when I think about it, I've been wrong every single time. So, that's the big news.

In other news, the past 2 weeks have been crazy. We took a trip to the northeast over labor day weekend. We drove to NY to drop Hudson and Larkin off with Oma and Opa (Gregor's parents) for a couple of days while Gregor, Brooke and I went to visit friends in Newburyport, MA and Narragansett/Newport RI. I really just wanted to see the northeast and get a feel for the area. I fell in love with Newburyport and Portsmouth, NH... seriously, it was gorgeous! The cliffs, the ocean, the smell of the air.... LOVED IT! If it wasn't so far from my parents in Hilton Head I would probably want to move there tomorrow. I'm still not sure I could handle the winters, but what's a few more sweaters really. Maybe one day... you never know. Thanks to Becky and Bob, and Anil and Sara (pictured) for entertaining us for the weekend. We had a great time! (and Sara... yay... are girls are destined to be BFF!). The kids had a great time with Oma and Opa... and all in all the weekend was a success. Brooke didn't know what to do with all the attention for 2 days. She was SO adorable (minus the annoying car drive demands), and super easy! We came back totally spent though. I think it took us all a solid week to catch up on sleep and just regroup. Here are a few pictures from our trip (and a random cute one of Hudson fishing). It is really a beautiful coastline. I like the idea of sweatshirts on the beach.