Debra's Creative Escape: August 2011

This is a paper doll I did several months ago just for the fun of it. I thought it went well with the theme of this post.

After posting earlier about adjusting to my turning 40 in May and dealing with the fact that we would never make an adoption match at our agency and the ship on our having our own baby had long ago sailed, turns out I'm pregnant. Needless to say Jeff and I were completely shocked. I don't think either one of us really believed it until we saw our little one on ultrasound at my first OB appointment and heard the heartbeat. I found out via HPT at 5 weeks. I'm 11 weeks now and there are still moments when I have a hard time believing we're going to have another baby. The odds were next to none that would ever happen and it would seem they got even slimmer with my age. And yet I am.

We told our son first. I made him a big brother tshirt and we had him read it. He was so excited. He has been wanting a sibling for a while now and thought he just wasn't going to get one. He put the shirt on and we went to my parents to let them know as well. Neither one of them read the shirt. LOL. Ben kept following them around saying "I'm going to have a baby. I'm a big brother." and it wouldn't sink in with them. I finally had to say "Would you read the shirt already?" And then it took lots of talking to get them to understand that we weren't adopting and that I was actually pregnant. This has been the response with about everyone we've told. Everyone is shocked.

I've felt pretty horrible, as I did with my first pregnancy, and I'm having a hard time getting art completed for art swaps and mailed out. Not complaining at all, as I appreciate our miracle and I know I would worry if I didn't have plenty of pregnancy symptoms. Still, with wanting to go to bed about the same time as my 4 year old, I just don't have the energy or time to work on art swaps like I used to. I joined a moleskine trading group (where everyone passes their art book around to have all members draw/paint in) earlier and I have a feeling that will be challenging enough to keep up with. I also have a quilt that I've been working on forever that I must get finished soon and mailed to a very good friend of mine. Thank goodness Ben goes back to preschool in a couple of weeks. I'll have some daytime hours to work on projects when I still have a little energy.