August 25th, 2005
Week 22
The nursery was starting to look really great. Dave and the girls painted the walls a very bright bluish-violet. It looked like an Easter egg. They had put up a dolphin border and the girls each painted a wooden dolphin to hang on the wall. The crib looked like an aquarium filled with dolphins with the dust ruffle, bumper, sheets, blanket, and mobile covered in dolphins. To anyone else this room would be loud, but to the Malucci's it was just right.
Granted, they had agreed on waiting until they meet their daughter to name her like they did with Ireland, but Randi and Dave had been thinking about names. They obviously needed a funky name to go with the girls. Not many normal names went with Lyric and Ireland.
"We can have the girls pick her name instead of waiting." Dave suggested. Randi smiled.
"That might be a neat idea. That is if they pick a name that fits with the girls names." Randi smiled watching Ireland and Lyric slid down the slide at the park. Lyric jumped down and ran to the bench.
"Firsty, Momma." She said pushing her sweaty brown hair off of her forehead. Randi pulled out a juice box from her bag.
"Here you go baby." She smiled rubbing her belly. "Lyric, what do you want to call the baby?"
"Smelly." Lyric giggled. Randi smiled.
"No no. What name should the baby have?" Randi asked. Lyric looked up in the sky and then back to her mother.
"Annie." Lyric said, "Bye." She ran off and started to play on the sandbox.
"Annie….Anne…" Dave said, "Maybe for a middle name." Randi nodded.
"Yeah. Anne is a nice standard middle name." Randi said. "I guess, Ireland is in charge of the first name."
"Lord help us." Dave chuckled.
"It's not like we have to stick with it. When we see her we will know her name." Randi said, "Like with did with the others. Ireland looked like an Ireland and Lyric looked like a Lyric." Dave nodded in agreement.
"We did good with naming them." He smiled.
"Mommy, I have to poop." Ireland yelled from the jungle gym. Randi chuckled as she hauled herself up.
"Okay, come on." She took Ireland's hand and waddled to the park's restrooms. Randi held open a stall door as Ireland went in. "Ireland, can I ask you a question about the baby?"
"Sure." Ireland said swinging her legs as she sat on the toilet.
"If you could name the baby, what would you name her?"
"Ahhhhh…." Ireland closed her eyes and thought, "Taylor, Maylor, Saylor, Baylor, Faylor, ahhhh…Naylor, Paylor, and ah Laylor." Randi chuckled.
"Thanks for the help baby." Randi smiled.
"You can name the baby big bird," Ireland said as she flushed the toilet.
"Oh I don't know. Daddy and I will think of something." Randi smiled. Ireland walked out, "Wash your hands."
"I know. I know, Mommy. You say that all the time. I wemembered from the last time." She said soaping her hands.
"Okay, Sweetie." Randi chuckled. "I was just making sure." Randi took her daughter's hand and walked back to the bench.
"Did she give you any ideas?" Dave asked. Randi chuckled.
"A couple, but I think we'll wait until we see the baby to decide on the name." Dave chuckled.
"I don't want to even know what she said." Dave smiled watching his girls. He slipped his arm around his wife. As far as he knew, Ireland would try naming the baby Jelly.
September 5th, 2005
Week 24
Randi sat silently on the kitchen chair. Today was Ireland's first day of school. She was starting preschool that was in the local high school. She would be there this year and next year until she was old enough for kindergarten. It was going to be hard to let Ireland go, but it would be easier for Randi to run things at the house and work if Ireland were gone at school.
"Mommy, look." Ireland walked into the kitchen dressed in her brand new blue plaid dress. Her hair was done into long braids. She tapped her little Mary Jane's against the tiles of the kitchen.
"You look beautiful." Randi smiled.
"I know." Ireland smiled as she spun around. "Am I gonna have a snack?"
"And a lunch." Randi pulled herself up and walked to the counter. She grabbed a napkin and put it in Ireland's Barbie lunchbox. The baby kicked hard against her bladder, "Are you excited?"
"Yes." She said, "Ella's gonna be there."
"I know Ella is going to be there." Randi smiled putting the lunchbox in the pink backpack. Lyric sat at the kitchen table still in her pajamas.
"Wanna Ella." Lyric said.
"After school, but Ireland is going to go so it's going to be just you and me." Randi said, "Mommy and Lyric time, Okay?"
"Kay." Lyric said.
"The bus is here." Dave said walking in.
"All right." She helped Ireland put the backpack on, "Let's go, Ireland." Dave and Randi walked their daughter out to the bus.
"Bye Mommy. Bye Daddy." Ireland grinned and ran to the bus. She climbed up the large steps and the doors closed behind her.
"Bye Pumpkin." Randi whispered almost in tears as she watched the preschool bus pull away down the road, "She's leaving us, Dave." Dave chuckled wrapping his arm around Randi's large waist.
"She's not leaving us. She's just going to school. Ireland needs this." He said leading her back into the house.
"She's leaving us, Dave. First she goes to school, then high school. Then Ireland will get a boyfriend, get married, and have a baby." Randi started to cry. Dave chuckled gently.
"It's your hormones talking." He smiled. Randi smacked his chest.
"You can't blame everything on my hormones." She said.
"Sure I can." Dave winked.
"Mommy, pay now?" Lyric asked.
"As long as mommy can sit down we can play." Randi said.
"Sit and pay." Lyric smiled taking her mother's hand.
"I'll do the dishes." Dave smiled as Randi waddled down the hallway to the playroom with her daughter.
"Mommy is very fat and tired." Randi chuckled easing herself down into the rocking chair. Lyric pushed a small chair to the table.
"I draw for you." She said taking out her crayons.
"All right. You draw a picture for mommy and Mommy will sit here and wait." Randi closed her eyes. She had a feeling this baby was going to be a large baby. She was gaining weight rapidly. She hoped this baby wasn't going to be ten pounds. "What colour are you using, pumpkin?"
"Boo like booey." Lyric smiled.
"Very good." Randi said as Dave walked in.
"You need anything?" He asked.
"This baby to be six or seven pounds." She looked at her husband.
"I don't think I can help there." Dave chuckled. Randi smiled softly.
"I know. DO you think Ireland is going to have fun?" She asked.
"Oh yeah of course. Ella is there so at least she will know someone." Dave said, "And it's good that she's getting out and meeting new people." Randi nodded slowly.
"This time next year, She'll have her sister there with her."
"Of course she will and this time next year we will have another gorgeous baby crawling all around." Randi smiled softly.
"I can't wait." She smiled, "This is the exciting part; wondering what they'll look like. Will she have your eyes or mine? Will she have dark brown hair or light?"
"Will she be a knock out like her mother or like her father?" Dave chuckled. Randi rolled her eyes. Dave rubbed Randi's shoulders. Now, it really did feel like their family was growing and expanding. Girls going to school and girls making their arrival. This was stuff that dreams were made of.