I'm Cool With It

I found out that a lot of people aren't sure of what to say to me about having another boy because they don't know how I feel about it. So here's the honest truth:

Yes, it hurts. After I found out I spent a few minutes in the bathroom right next to the u/s room bawling my eyes out. The little girl that I've been waiting on for over 6 years now will never come to me in this life (barring some huge miracle), because we are officially done after this. But then I remembered that this is about more than just me. I think I've mentioned this before that my husband has OCD. His doesn't manifest itself so much in the strict routines and organization, it's the obsessive thoughts that most people can shake out of their head that he can't, which in my opinion is a heck of a lot worse than the routines and stuff. When you combine this with trying to live a clean Christlike life it is VERY HARD. I don't envy John and I wish every day that I could take it away. That being said, I think that it's going to be a lot easier for John to never have a girl in this life. And if that's one of the things that I have to suck up and deal with to support him, then I'll do it with a smile on my face. I love him and he comes first before what I want.

So now I'm excited about having another boy. I don't have to buy as many clothes, just change up some seasonal stuff for the first couple of years. (However, I've still been buying some stuff because it's super cute and it's on clearance) I don't have to worry about how a girl would survive the 2 crazy boys that we already have. Finally, and here's the big sigh of relief, I will never have to deal with my daughter as she experiences psycho teenage girl hormones. I will just get 3 (hopefully) daughters-in-law who are already past that stage. I'm good with that. So yes, I am happily accepting congratulations. As long as no one tries to throw it in my face and laugh at me for not having a girl, I'm totally good.

We took a few days, but finally decided on a name for our new little man. After many near arguements, we chose Brettley Eoin Bly. Eoin is pronounced O-in and is the Irish form of John. Make fun of the name Brettley all you want, but I absolutely love it.

On Saturday we went to our ward's Halloween party in the morning. Caleb was Larry the Cucumber from Veggie Tales and Ty was a knight. They had lots of fun. They got some candy, played a couple of games and decorated some sugar cookies (which were amazing and I could definately tell they were the recipe that I use now that has cream cheese in it). That night John and I had our weekly date night. We had taco chips with sour cream and salsa and we organized Magic cards for our activity (his idea). Sound pretty boring, right? I LOVED it. I'm all about sorting things into categories and alphabetical order so I was entirely in my element. In fact, we kept on going last night because I'd enjoyed getting to do that and just having time to sit together and talk. So far we've done a date night every week since we committed to Project 52.

Not too much else is new right now, though. My boys just both have a nasty cough now and John has started doing lots of overtime. We're looking forward to spending a few nights in Magrath this weekend as we go to pick up the baby clothes we have stored there in my in-law's garage attic. Hope you have a great week:)

U/S and Attitude of Gratitude

First off, the ultrasound went okay. I have to go back for another in a few weeks because the tech couldn't get a good enough picture of the spine because of how the baby was laying. However, we DID find out that we will have a house full of testosterone. That's right, Baby Boy Bly #3 is officially due on April 1st, 2011, but I'm sticking with March 30th because I know I'm not going to make it to my due date anyway. I'm sure it will be a rowdy house as they grow up, but it will definately be interesting.

So, on with Thursday's Attitude of Gratitude.

1) I am grateful that our little platypus let us know his gender. I'm also grateful for cute clothes on clearance from Please Mum and Old Navy. I love baby clothes, they are so much fun!

2) I am grateful that my dad watched my boys for me yesterday even though he had a sore back. I'd had a babysitter from our ward lined up, but wouldn't you know it that my boys would decide the night before that they both needed to have croup, so I couldn't very well stick them in a house for the afternoon with someone else's baby. My dad has been so good to us, I'm really blessed.

3) I am grateful for my wonderful girls in Activity Days, especially the ones who are working so hard on achieving their Faith in God awards. They make my calling really enjoyable and I love getting to spend time with them.

Well, that's about all for now. I hope you have a great Halloween weekend.

Ty is 2, Caleb is Nervous/Shy and I'm Anxious To The Point of Nausea

Ty's birthday went well. He really enjoyed his presents and Thomas cake, especially everyone singing 'Happy Birthday' to him. I spent a lot of the day super deep cleaning the kitchen. I've been paying dearly for it ever since with severe hip and back pain. My days of tough physical household chores are officially done until April, at least.

Caleb's Primary Presentation was...interesting. He did NOT want to stay up front with the other kids. Finally we told him that it was his last chance and that if he stayed up there that he could have a treat when we got home. He decided to stay up there on his teacher's lap. Then I taught John's youth Sunday School class. Shortly after that we headed home because sitting, standing and walking were all not working for my hip/back pain. I'm just glad that I was able to watch all of the presentation and that my dad came to support Caleb.

Not much else is new, I guess. I'm insanely nervous about hopefully finding out Perry's gender on Wednesday (I guess that's tomorrow now). Something about the boy name that we have picked isn't sitting right with me at all. I'm not taking it as a sign, we didn't pick Ty's name until after we found out we were having a boy. I will be so happy when we finally know what we're dealing with and we can move forward. I'm not one for surprises.

At any rate, I'll post again on Thursday with my Attitude of Gratitude and comments about how the ultrasound turns out. Until then, have a good one.

Attitude of Gratitude

Sorry it's late, yesterday was a bit of a rough day with a sore back and some semi-bad news about some family.

I am grateful for my dad being willing to take the boys last night and feed them supper at his place so that John and I could go to dinner and a movie after a rough day. We went to Earl's where the food was great and the service was EXCELLENT!!! Then we saw The Sorcerer's Apprentice which was really good.

I am grateful that Caleb is being self-sufficient enough to make himself sandwiches on the days that I'm not at my best. My little boy is growing up to be a great person and I've very proud of him. His first Primary Presentation will be on Sunday and I'm very much looking forward to watching him in that.

I am grateful for wonderful men who honourably hold and respect the priesthood and are willing to help give blessings at the drop of a hat. I think back to what life was like before I joined the church and there's just no comparing the two. They are just too different. I'm so grateful that I was introduced to the gospel and saw right away just how right it is. I love how respectful honourable priesthood holders are and how trustworthy they are. They are so different from men of the world, and I'm so grateful that I married such a wonderful man.

*****

Also, my baby boy is turning 2 tomorrow. Little Ty is definately in his terrible 2s. He is stubborn to the core and such a handful. He loves to sing and to be sang to and just loves music in general. He has the biggest, cutest smiles and is so polite. He loves to say hi to everyone that he sees. Ty loves his Papa M and being able to run around outside. He has recently fallen in love with going down the slides at parks. He is such a wonderful kid and we can't imagine our lives without him, even though we thought he was a girl for most of the pregnancy. Ty enjoys sharing a room with Caleb and loves Caillou and trains. Happy Birthday, Nugget. We love you so much!

Less than 5 weeks until HP!!!

It's been a busy but not terribly interesting week. We had Activity Days on Wednesday where we made an FHE pack about the Word of Wisdom. John and I were supposed to go to the temple on Thursday, but we both had upset stomachs and weren't able to go. I was pretty sad, I love the temple. On Friday Caleb helped me to clean his and Ty's room, the baby's room and the upstairs hallway really well. I felt a great sense of accomplishment.

On Saturday I ordered Ty's birthday cake. They didn't have a Caillou one, so I had to get Thomas instead, but Ty also really likes trains, so it'll be okay. It's marble with chocolate frosting filling. I can't believe he'll be 2 this Saturday.

Not too much else is really new. Just plugging away. Our next few weekends are busy. This weekend is Ty's birthday and Caleb's first Primary Presentation. The next weekend is Halloween (although I still haven't heard anything about a ward activity). The first weekend in November we're making a super quick trip to Magrath to pick up all of our baby clothes that are stored in the attic of my in-law's garage.

I had a great reminder in church yesterday. As much as I would love to have a baby girl I was reminded by the little boy on the bench in front of us that even baby boys still do all the cute little baby things. I can't believe the poll for the baby's gender has got 12 votes on it. I was expecting about 5. So now I'm curious as to who voted, as I only know of 3 people for sure who did. Have a great week:)

Thoughts and Admissions

I kind of stole this off of C's blog, but I need a pick-me-up at the moment because it's been a long day with cleaning and what not, so here goes:

1) What is your favourite day of the week and why?
It's probably Saturday because John is home from work and gets to spend the day with us. It's more relaxed than Sunday where I spend the majority of Sacrament Meeting fighting with my kids to behave in a remotely acceptable manner.

2) Recount an embarrassing moment.
When Caleb was about 2 or maybe not quite 2 we were in the checkout line at Safeway. He started pushing on my chest and yelling "SQUISHY". I was pretty mortified.

3) What was your favourite toy or game as a child?
I really liked Tinker Toys and I did go through a Barbie phase where I loved to come up with different outfits.

4) What does your name mean?
It's the female version of Nicholas and it means 'Victory of the People'. It's Greek.
For good measure, I'll do the other family names too.
John is Hebrew and means 'God is Gracious'.
Caleb is Hebrew and means 'Rage Like a Dog'.
Tyrell is English and means 'Stubborn'.

5) If you could have any occupation (and you had no limitations of obtaining that occupation), what would it be?
To be honest I don't have a desire to work outside of the home. Maybe a professional traveller, ha ha. Actually, I would love to teach full-time for CES.

6) What is your guilty pleasure?
Harry Potter Fan Fiction

7) If you could change anything about your appearance what would it be?
It used to be my chin, but now it's probably more the size of my tummy (pre-Perry) and the size of my chest. I'd like both to be a bit smaller.

8) If you could raise awareness about one topic (education, poverty, AIDS, etc) what would it be?
This is a tough one for me. I think as much as I love adoption and how wonderful it is, I'm going to have to pick mental illness. I mean to not just get people to admit that it exists, but to TRULY understand what it is and how it affects people. Because let's be honest here, if you don't live with it then you don't truly get it. In our house we understand a lot about OCD and Bipolar because that's what we live with, but there are so many people (us included) who don't understand why people do the things they do when they're living with mental illness and because we in the Bly house live with it we do understand how frustrating it can be when people just don't get it. (Just to be clear, I'm not at all intending to pick on anyone. It's just a topic I'm passionate about, especially after this last year.)
Of course, it would be best if more people understood what the Gospel is and what it can do for them. So can I at least pick 2? The Gospel and Mental Illness

Hope you have a wonderful weekend. I'm going to order Ty's birthday cake tomorrow. Hopefully they'll have a Caillou one, that's his obsession at the moment.

Attitude of Gratitude

It's Thursday again. Having a holiday on a Monday really threw me this week. At any rate, here are the 3 things I'm grateful for this week:

1) Having a temple in the same city as me. John and I are going tonight and I'm so excited. I love that the temple is close enough that if I'm having a really rotten day we can just pick up and go to the temple to that I can sit on the steps there and feel the peace that comes every single time I'm on temple grounds. Plus, I love that it's close enough that Caleb can enjoy seeing the temple as well.

2) When my Activity Days girls get excited about working toward their Faith in God award. Some of my girls were like machines last night passing off their Articles of Faith. It was GREAT! I am so excited to see them working on this inspired program and love that I get to help them with it.

3) I'm also grateful that John made an executive decision for our family that after this Christmas we will be spending the rest of them at home. If anyone wants to come to our place they're more than welcome too, but we won't be travelling for Christmas anymore after this one. We don't enjoy travelling with our kids since we work even harder to keep them out of things away from home than we do here, so it's not an enjoyable holiday at all for us. John knew that I'm kind of at the end of my rope with travelling and knew that I couldn't make the decision because it was too hard on me to do it, so he did it for me. I love my husband:)

I'm grateful for lots more, but I really want to stick to 3 per week.

I'll also be putting up a poll on the side. We'll be having an ultrasound in 2 weeks (the 27th) and we're hoping to find out the gender of the baby. So make your guess, please:)

In going through old posts, I realized that I never said how Caleb's eye exam turned out. He's red-green colour deficient. We won't know to what extent until he's older, but it is there. We pretty much knew it already, but it was nice to have a professional tell us that we weren't imagining things. John's prescription stayed the same but he got new glasses anyway so that he now has an everyday pair and a backup pair.