Drama

It’s funny how people react to the prospect of me having two girls. Mostly it’s with sympathy, sometimes laughter. For example, someone said to me today, “You are going to have a lot of drama in your life.” That was probably the best way that anyone thus far has summarized my fears, which is fitting since the person who said it has two young girls of his own.

Yes, I think that we probably are in for a lot of drama. In fact, when I think about two girls growing up together through the life phases, I start to get a little panicky right about when they hit adolescence. That’s pretty much the point at which I’m sure that they are going to hate me, break my heart, and Luke is going to become the sole parental figure in their lives. I’ve wallowed in the inevitability of this vision of the future for about a week now. Today, I just decided enough is enough. I need to see this as a challenge, not a certainty. I remember a while back I had heard a story on NPR about The Mother-Daughter Project. It’s a group that helps mothers form strong bonds with their daughters even before adolescence so that they can maintain a strong relationship through the toughest years. I probably need to buy their new book. Anyway, I feel renewed hope that just because I was a horrible, moody, cranky, unpleasant teenager, doesn’t mean that my girls have to be.

Oh, did I just say “my girls?” I guess I better get used to that phrase!

My Least Favorite Word

My least favorite word in the English language (if you can call it a word) is “huh.” It wasn’t always my least favorite word, but it has become such over the past week. Of course, this new status coincides with Hailey adopting it as her favorite word.

Now, before you start thinking that she has a hearing problem, let me assure you that she hears just fine when she wants to. For example, “Hailey, would you like a cookie?” “Yes, Mommy.” “Hailey, can you come over here and put on your shoes?” “Huh.” You see, she doesn’t have a hearing problem, she just has selective hearing.

I guess that she’s going to adopt favorite words that are worse than this in the future, but for now I’m just not going to play her little game. Even if she says it, I will not repeat myself even if I happen to be offering her something delicious. Ah, the beauty of trying to outsmart your kids.

It's a Girl!!!!

I can already feel my panic setting in...two girls! Oh the hormones, the dating, the makeup, the clothes, the attitudes, the ensuing boys! Does someone have a paper bag I can breathe into??? Maybe a Tums or two or five??? Well, I guess there's always boarding school.

In truth, Luke and I are thrilled. I'm hoping for a redhead. He's hoping for blue eyes. So, basically, we're having a brown eyed, brown haired girl for sure. As long as she's healthy and at least as happy as Hailey, we'll be ok.

We have pictures and video from the ultrasound this morning, but I couldn't be organized enough to actually post those. So, here's a post-ultrasound picture for you.

Pics from the Weekend

On our weekend hiking trip with the Scott's, Hailey experienced a number of firsts this weekend...

First Hike
First bite of marshmallows
First time in the North Carolina mountains.

Mommy also experienced a first...first time she thought she was going to have a heart attack while walking uphill!

Here are some pictures we took to commemorate the weekend. Click here to see more pictures from the weekend.

Log Your Vote

It's only 7 days until our 20 week ultrasound. Boy or Girl? Log your vote in the comments!

52 Questions

Alright, my friend Katie asked me to do this. I’m reluctantly obliging, but feel free to skip this one if you are not into the life and times of Alisa report. I think that I am supposed to ask three other bloggers to do this. It's probably part of some covert CIA operation to create an index of bloggers, Still, if you read this and you have your own blog, it’s your turn.

1. What time did you get up this morning?
6:40am

2. Diamonds or pearls?
Don’t really care because I don’t wear much jewelry. I guess diamonds since I own no pearls.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Iron Man

4. What is your favorite TV show?
Probably Lost but my favorite TV time is football on Sundays when my husband, and I have cleverly figured out how to watch both of our favorite teams (Buffalo and Tennessee) on our laptops, the game of the week on our big tv, and our fantasy teams simultaneously. It’s multitasking at its best.

5. What do you usually have for breakfast?
Depends on how I’m feeling and how much time I have. During the week I’ve stepped it up to an egg and cheese English muffin because the plain English muffin with peanut butter wasn’t cutting it any more. Plus, I eat a second breakfast of a cereal bar and hot chocolate around 9:30am. What?!?!? I’m eating for two!

6. What is your middle name?
Catherine

7. What food do you dislike?
beets, spicy stuff

8. What is your favorite CD at moment?
Who listens to CDs anymore? It’s NPR or Hailey’s Music Class songs (if she insists)

9. What kind of car do you drive?
Nissan Murano

10. Favorite Sandwich?
The sandwich from the movie Spanglish. Look it up if you don’t know what I’m talking about.

11. What characteristic do you despise?
Irrationality…is that a characteristic?

12. Favorite item of clothing?
Whatever non-maternity clothes I can still fit into.

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go?
Anywhere in Europe

14. Favorite brand of clothing?
Like I shop by brand! Whatever is on sale.

15. Where would you retire to?
Are you kidding? With the economy as it is, we will never afford to retire. We just wrote a check for $700 billion dollars!

16. What was your most recent memorable birthday?

Spending my 30^th in Italy with my family.

17. Favorite sport to watch?
Football…see previous answer

18. When is your birthday?
October 26, 1977

19. Are you a morning person or night?
Neither, but I am a witch in the morning.

20. What is your shoe size?
8

21. Pets?
Josie – Dog; Anubis – Cat

22. Any new and exciting news you would like to share with us???
I’m pretty sure that I’ve shared it all.

23. What did you want to be when you were little?
Teacher

24. How are you today?
It’s Monday. I’m tired, but I feel good.

25. What is your favorite candy?
Reese’s Cups – chocolate and peanut butter, what could be better???

26. What is your favorite flower?
Right now it’s vincas because they are the only thing in my yard that survived the drought.

27. What is a day on your calendar you are looking forward to?
Oct 21^st because we find out the sex of the baby. Oct 22^nd I take a full day CPR class.

28. What is your full name?
Alisa Catherine Hamilton. I’m slowly getting over my bitterness of having to lose Palmisano. I recently asked Luke if we could name the baby Hamilton Palmisano if it was a boy. He wasn’t too keen on the idea.

29. What are you listening to right now?
The girl in the cube next to me typing.

30. What was the last thing you ate?
Chicken cheese steak with fries

31. Do you wish on stars?
No

32. If you were a crayon what color would you be?
Green

33. How is the weather right now?
Sunny and warm. Hasn’t rained her in probably a month

34. The first person you spoke to on the phone today?
Husband because I left my lunch in the car this morning.

35. Favorite soft drink?
Coke in a bottle

36. Favorite Restaurant?
Sake Japanese restaurant in Nashville

37. Real Hair Color?
Red

38. What was your favorite toy as a child?
Dollhouse

39. Summer or winter?
Spring or Fall

40. Hugs or kisses?
Hugs

41. Chocolate or vanilla?
Chocolate

42. Coffee or tea?
Tea – Decaff please; I’m growing a human here.

43. When was the last time you cried?
Probably the last time I saw something sad on TV (commercials count)

44. What is under your bed?
Wrapping paper, file folders, my fire proof safe, and a cat

45. What did you do last night?
Went to the zoo and out to dinner

46. What are you afraid of?
Snakes, spiders, cockroaches, crowds, and strangers

47. Salty or sweet?
Depends on the day, hour, minute that we’re talking about.

48. How many keys on your key ring?
One + 4 on the detachable part

49. How many years at your current job?
1.5 years

50. Favorite day of the week?
Friday

51. How many places have you lived in?
4

52. Do you make friends easy? No. Maybe. I don’t know, you tell me!

Funny Exchanges

Hailey: "Mommy, my poopie hurts."
Mommy: "You mean your bum hurts?"
Hailey: "My bum hurts."
Mommy: "Why does you bum hurt?"
Hailey: "My bum hurts, kiss it better."

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Hailey: "Where's Mommy?"
Nana: "She's downstairs sweeping."
Hailey: "I go wake her up."

NBH Update

Remember last pregnancy when I was detailing every single development - both mine and Hailey’s. This time around I actually have to calculate the week every time someone asks. It's 17, by the way. What I do know for sure is that we are now down to 19 days until we find out if it’s a boy or a girl!

We had a doctor’s appointment earlier this week. The heartbeat sounded good. I think that it still sounded way slower than Hailey’s, but it was at 150 beats per minute. If you go according to the old wives tale, 150 would mean that it’s a girl. Well, 19 days until we find out either way.

As for me, I’m feeling fine except for a few fall allergies. Of course, I hate taking medicine when I’m pregnant so I suffered with the runny nose, watery eyes, sinus pressure, and sneezing for about 2 weeks. When I finally went to the doctor, she told me that I could have been taking Claritin all along. Great…thanks!