giant desert turtle

{the turkey button officially POPPED today. where i officially become an outie for the next 7 weeks, and i have the cleanest belly button on the face of the planet. softer than a baby's bottom i tell ya.}

...

every night brennan and i read together on our bed.
i take my compression tights off,
get into my jammies,
then it's makeup down the drain,
and lotion on my face while he flips through the books he's gathered for us on any given night.
once i'm all comfy and my face is all ready for nighty night,
i read one book to him.
he reads one book to me.
repeat.
we lock the other kids out.
sean wrangles the other two monkeys in their respective rooms,
and one by one he gets them down.
but brennan and me?
this is our time.
and i cherish it.
each and every day.
it's my favorite part of the day.
where he snuggles up next to me,
and doesn't move a muscle.
just listens and reads.
heaven.
out of all of my children he has taken the most interest in feeling the baby move.
or maybe he's just had the most quiet chances of the evening to enjoy it.
either way,
every night when we read together he loves to put his hand on my belly.
and spends the entire time feeling his brother move inside of me while i read.
i know he will remember these nights always.
something he will never forget.
something i will never forget.
i love the look on his face.
how he lights up every time his brother kicks him from inside.
it's like christmas morning excitement every time.
i think he will tell his brother about this when they're older.
at least that's what i dream about him doing.
and then every night he tells me how much he LOVES my big fat belly.
because he LOVES to rub it.
that's what he says.
he takes both of his hands and rubs my belly like a magician and alaKAZAM like.
giggling with a HUGE smile all over his face.
after we finish reading he says his prayers on my bed,
rubs my belly a few more times as a bonus before i send him on his way,
and then he usually hugs my belly a few more times after that,
like it's his own personal giant desert turtle.
and tells me he thinks the baby is for sure hugging him back too.
tonight he saide he's glad i won't go back to being skinny right away
because he doesn't want my big fat belly to be gone.
i told him it's not as fun to rub when there's no baby inside of,
but he says he knows for sure it will.
and then he thanked god in his prayers that my belly wouldn't go away right after the baby comes out because he wants a little longer to rub it.
gosh, i love that kid.
and i love this belly that is getting really heavy and hard to carry around.

{tonight's dinner highlight: baby getting the hiccups, and everyone putting their hand on my belly for a good 5 minutes to feel him BEAT like a little drum every time. chase of course was running around with his cars, trying to not eat his dinner, and asking when he could have a treat. also he tried to get sean a napkin and tortilla chips. and more juice. a few times. 

all while the big kids were mesmerized by the hiccups. and sean and i just looked at each other like, welp, this is what our dinners look like. god bless them and this little home we get to have them in. crazy as they are sometimes.}