Josh

...or Matthew if you ask Robert. This is the big news in our family, the new bundle of joy that will arrive at the end of May! I am now 20 weeks pregnant and aside from a rather large and uncomfortable ovarian cyst that was detected on my first ultrasound and subsequently removed (no fun at all), the pregnancy has gone very well and I feel totally amazing and so incredibly happy. I do not know the gender with certainty, as I have decided to wait until its birth for that, (against Robert's desires!) but that being said, I am 100% convinced I have a beautiful little baby boy growing inside me and I am quite happy with that notion for many reasons. There is not one iota of a difference between this pregnancy and the previous two, so I guess that is the main reason why I am convinced of the gender. I am desiring all the same foods; olives, oranges, fruit in general, salty stuff, Coke, rotisserie chicken, asian food. I have the same (lack of) sleep habits. My hair is thick and shiny, my skin is smooth as silk. The hair on my legs does not grow. I glow! I started feeling the baby a few weeks ago and it's the same euphoric feeling as before. I love being pregnant! I guess actually there is one difference with this pregnancy and that is that I am behind on weight gain, but after indulging for two weeks straight over these holidays, I think I am well on my way to catching up by the way my jeans are starting to feel! And also, I attribute this lower weight gain to the cyst, as I probably lost 5 or 10 pounds after surgery.

I am not really sure if it's because of the hormones running through my body or if I have just found total peace with our stage in life, but I am just so at peace and content with my life. We still don't feel that France will ever be our permanent home but we are truly happy living here and I have learned to really adjust well to those things that drive me nuts. (I STILL have some days though...and doubt that will ever change!) There are days though when I really miss family, for my own benefit and also for that of the boys. And wish that France wasn't so far away. Susie is due with her second baby 3 weeks before me and how awesome would it be to be able to share her maternity leave with her. However, I will satisfy myself with frequent phone calls, like her last leave where we talked pretty religiously. This summer was one of the greatest ever, as we got to spend a month of it at the cottage and Andrew really got to know, and fell in love with, each and every one of his cousins and I really hope we can find a way to replicate last summer again even though Robert is rather opposed to me travelling on my own. He would join us of course but would have to come later and leave earlier than us. We shall see! With respect to the baby's name, it is all a joke really, as Robert claims he will never accept Josh, and I cannot see myself every accepting Matthew for the name. But Andrew mentions Josh daily now so I wonder if it will ever grow on Robert??? And should it be a girl, there are so many names that I love that I am pretty confident we would be able to come to a quick agreement, unlike with Ryan where he was named at the last minute practically!