I'm determined to make it until my second trimester (I only have to wait until Tuesday) until I wear maternity clothes. I have absolutely no idea why. I don't even remember when I started wearing maternity clothes in my previous pregnancies. I just wish I had a million pairs of yoga pants 'cause those are super comfortable. It's always daunting to start wearing maternity clothes because they look so darn huge when you have no more than a little baby bump. I love my Old Navy maternity shirts because they're designed to not look like huge tents, especially in this transitional time. Unfortunately, most of my early pregnancy wear is more suited to spring or summer. I'll just have to dive into my maternity clothes and see what I actually have in there.

Today we went over to a friend's house for a little bit. While we were there, the 10-year-old was telling me that she and all of her friends at school call their younger siblings "devils." Not too long ago, a mom at dance was talking about how this age (meaning Accalia's age of 8 or so) is very interesting (in a not so good way). She started talking about all of the eye rolling, etc. her daughter was doing. It really makes me feel sad that attitudes and behaviors like this are cropping up at this age already. It blows me away a little. I'd never claim that all is sunshine and roses at our house and that the kids never fight with each other or that we don't get upset with each other, but it's not at a level where it's the norm or it's the first thing that comes to mind to bring up in conversation with another parent.

It would be wrong to blame it all on school for the attitudes toward younger siblings and parents, but as Accalia and Cole get older and spend more time not being exposed to the social structure of school, I do notice differences when they get together with other kids. Accalia and Cole get along very well and spend a lot of time playing together. I've noticed that, especially with the neighbor girls last summer, that one of the biggest things they wanted to do was find ways to tease Cole (as the only boy) or find ways to bug the older girls (younger vs. older). It just really makes me happy that Accalia and Cole (and Ella and the new baby) are able to grow up not surrounded by this need to do or not do certain things because they're in a certain grade or because they're a certain gender. Sure, there's probably a little of that that spills over into general life mostly because school is such a huge basis for our society. I'm glad that Accalia and Cole can live the majority of their lives without that coloring their interactions with each other.

I write all of this in light of the fact that this past week or so has felt like way too much crankiness and shortness toward each other. Ella, too. It seems as if we can't go into a store lately without Ella having a meltdown for some reason. You know, it's one of those phases where you start to wonder where you screwed up as a parent. It makes me wonder how celebrity parents like Jennifer Garner, who is photographed numerous times throughout the day and week without prior knowledge, can always be shown with her adorable (and apparently always happy) two-year-old daughter. Seriously, doesn't little Violet ever get ticked off because the gumball machine won't give her the right color gumball? That happened to Ella last week - or maybe this week. Someone tell me her secret if they know.

Okay, time to clean up the living room and maybe relax a little.