On The Three Bean Salad

When I first articulated the idea aloud that I wanted to start a blog, I was sitting on the beach in August 2008, trying to come up with a name. I had already formulated the first three or four posts in my head so it was just a matter of finding a title and getting started.

I was aware of the idea of "branding" or "marketing" myself and I had seen a ton of mom-focused blogs out there with clever mom-centric names like Popping Pampers and Prozac, or Parentopia or PoshMomma or MommaBytes or something that screams parenting and most importantly being a mother, but let's be honest here, I knew I wasn't going to make money off this blog and I wasn't 100% interested in writing solely about motherhood and parenthood.

So, since I have been called Bean by family and friends from the time I was little, I decided to use that in the title. Granted, I did mull over MommaBean and, Bean, Beers and Babies, but ultimately settled on TheThreeBeanSalad for a few reasons. The first was because it didn't scream MOM-BLOG, however I was a little worried it would be misinterpreted as a recipe site for barbecue enthusiasts. The second reason was because for me three bean salad actually had a childhood memory associated with it, we always had it for our Fourth of July get-together and it captured that simplicity of childhood, the act of pouring three cans of beans and some dressing in a yellow bowl and making it part of a meal. In keeping with that line of thinking I realized that a three bean salad can be a barbecue staple, something dependable, easy to make, a mixture of any beans you have on hand, shook up and seasoned, it is simple and standard and although it might make you a bit gassy, you always know what you are going to get. I hoped that this blog could be a reflection of that. I decided to go with it.

Later, after I had created my blog and started posting, I realized that the Three Bean could describe my new family, my husband, the Lady and myself. We too, were a mixture thrown together and shook up and what came out of it was our everyday adventures that are essentially the fabric of this blog. When the Little Lady was born, I kicked my husband out of the salad, well I guess I regulated him to the vinaigrette dressing. He plays a less substantive role in this blog, but in truth, without him we would just have a bowl of beans and no flavor. He keeps us together and is an integral part of all of our lives.

Now, I think the real reason for this title is actually revealing itself to me. Come June we will have one more bean to add to this salad and the title of this blog will actually reflect not only all those things listed above, but the actual number of kids I will have. And in order to keep us all a part of this metaphor, perhaps I will make myself the vinaigrette and my husband can now be the bowl that keeps us together. If you are rereading the above sentence just to make sure, let me be perfectly clear: baby number three in June.

If you are wondering why it took me 18 weeks to reveal this to you it is because I had a hard time adjusting to the idea. While, I have always wanted three kids, this just happened sooner than expected and because of it, all those big goals I want to accomplish for me and my family have become much more urgent and can no longer be ignored. There is no way there will be five of us living in a 1020 sq. ft. condo. I know babies are small, but they grow and if you have a three-year old who runs as much as mine does, you know that any small, confined space can be an issue. You have read here before about my inability to figure out the logistics of parenthood, and with the addition of one more child that is amplified for me. I probably haven't been blogging as much lately, because a lot of what I have been thinking/feeling has been wrapped up in this pregnancy news and until I was able to tell the world, I wasn't able to be 100% honest with my readers, and for that I do apologize.

I will say you missed out on a lot of posts of me just complaining that I felt like throwing up everyday and that dry-heaving was my enemy. You also missed out on a post about how much weight I have already gained and that for those two weeks when my husband was gone when I felt like complete poo thanks to a cold, I couldn't take any medicine to knock me out. So basically, you were probably spared the first-trimester pity party, which was probably best for all of us. But now you know. Now the ThreeBean will truly be about my three little beans, and I appreciate you taking the time to read all about us.

Oh, on a side note, since everyone I tell thinks this will be baby girl number three (no, we are NOT finding out), send me any good girl names you might have. I am at a loss. If it is a girl, I thought I would refer to her here, in a totally unoriginal way as the Littlest Lady, but then I decided that perhaps the Last Lady would be more appropriate, because I am pretty sure this is it for us. I do think I would shorten it to LL because, well that just sounds cooler and will be easier to type. If it is a boy, his name on this blog will be based on personality and initial impression, and don't worry, even though I have a rudimentary understanding of the penis (this is my third pregnancy) I am totally unsure of what to do with those little balls and will be sure to post about it ad nauseam.