Well, I've become accustomed to explaining our insanely "weird" situation, and strangely, I don't even feel like it's all that weird anymore. It's just life for us. However, we realize that this is not a normal situation for most in life. The moments where we are reminded of that are frequent...and typically quite entertaining. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. When you confuse people at restaurants. No stranger has yet been brave enough to ask, but I can always tell that they know I'm pregnant (and are quite confused) when 2-3 people offer to get up so I can sit down when there is a wait. (Am I THAT big? Geez.)

2. When you look for a size 3-6 month "Big Brother" shirt. Oh, they don't make those? Not marketable, you say?

3. When you buy two cradles... while pushing only one child in a stroller. "Do you.... have twins?..." Poor girl. This was before I was really showing. I think she may have thought we had twins and left the other at home by himself.

4. When you try to be a part of the whole baby-wearing fad, but your baby weighs 15 pounds and your bump is just too big to accommodate that. Looks like it's the stroller for you, Baby H. At least for a couple more months. Sorry. (And even then... 15 pounds! Baby H, you are huge. You are longer than my torso anyway. Baby wearing may be out altogether for you.)

5. When you are in the middle of a feeding somewhere between midnight and 3am... and start feeling sick. That basically results in throwing baby into John's arms and running to the bathroom. Cool. The Lord is TOTALLY preparing me for labor and delivery because I've begun to look forward to it and the end to sickness (and the most annoying rib pain ever).

6. When bathing the 2 month old in the bathtub begins to get very difficult. Maneuvering around the growing bump is becoming more and more complicated. I frequently underestimate it's size and bump into things. This is also the case with the changing table.

7. When the car seat is way too heavy. Sorry John, but you are going to have to carry him in again. I've started busting him out of the seat before taking him in to daycare because 15 pound baby + carseat is just too much for me.

8. When you need to take your medication to not feel nauseous, but the medication makes you sleep like a rock. I only made this mistake once. I literally could not figure out where the bottles were for a good 10 minutes. I'd rather be sick.

9. When maternity leave seems weird since you didn't have any with the first. But what will I dooooo with all of that time? (Obviously, I have a great appreciation for it after continuing to work through the adjustment with Baby H. I also have an unbelievably generous boss who allowed me to work from home a significant amount of time while we waited on Baby H to reach day care age.)

10. When you already sense the sibling rivalry. Baby H will kick my belly and Nora Kate will kick right back. Middle of the night feedings turn into Nora Kate saying, "Get that thing off of me!"

I'm trying to catch up on all the fun moments we've had in the last 10 or so weeks, so bare with me! Not to mention that working, having Baby H, and a few freelance assignments that I had to finish (again, wasn't expecting a baby for months :)) has set me back on many normal life things. Like Thank You notes (I'm working on them today. Please don't hate me all you wonderful people!) and blogging and phone calls and working on the nursery and extensively cleaning our house (I was really counting on that whole nesting thing to kick in) and probably a million other things that I don't even realize I've forgotten.

It has been quite the journey. Sometimes I literally wake up and wonder if I'm being punked. Like maybe Lifetime is filming this whole situation. We are in the final stages prior to adoption with Baby H (who will be Caleb post adoption - which will hopefully begin June 1 and be completed by June 30), so that's exciting! You can go ahead and prepare your heart for a backlog of 6 months of pictures, since we still can't share. Just trust me when I say he's the cutest baby in the world... I can say that since he doesn't have my genes, right? I'm unbiased...or something like that. :) You can continue to pray that the Lord gives us favor with the judge and that all continues as it is now!