The Thomas Times

Beautiful Heartbreak

2011-11-17T09:50:00.005-06:00

Gavin's tumor is gone and his bone scan was negative for bone metastases. Officially, "The mass in the right supraclavicular region partially surrounding the right vertebral artery is no longer evident." He's bald as a cue ball, but for the moment at least, cancer free.

It's no secret that I am a fan of touching music. My latest favorite tear-jerker is by Hilary Weeks, Beautiful Heartbreak. It has touched me, almost defined me recently. I hope I continue to move forward and do all that I can with the gifts that Heavenly Father has given me. He's given me yet another chance, but he has, with this chance, also given me some valuable perspective and motivation backed by good old-fashioned hardship.

Although I would not hesitate to (obviously since I do it for free), I am not a paid endorser of Mrs. Weeks, I just love her music and how it touches me and her voice is so beautiful, even more so in person. I'm sure it won't get around to her with my 2 or 3 readers, so I don't think I'll get sued, but I've included credits below, just in case because I don't need the lawyer fees on top of the medical bills!

Please watch the video AND read the words. We've all had hardships, some so much harder than others and mine may be miniscule next to someone else's, but I'm trying to look at the view that I have on this side, having faced something I never thought I would be able to survive. I'm trying to make sure that I don't just run away from the trials that have gotten me where I am. We are where we are in life not in spite of the things we have been through but because of them. I'm not saying a trial or hardship has to define us. I just want for myself to be able to use whatever part of what I've experienced that will make me a better tool for Heavenly Father to be what defines and shapes me, not the bad stuff. Then, I want to use that to help me shape my children into people that can do the same thing.

Music and Lyrics by Tyler Castleton and Hilary Weeks:

"I had it all mapped out in front of me,
Knew just where I wanted to go;
But life decided to change my plans,
And I found a mountain in the middle of my road.

I knew there was no way over it,
So I searched for a way around;
Brokenhearted I started climbin',
And at the top I found...

Every fear, every doubt,
All the pain I went through;
Was the price that I paid to see this view;
And now that I'm here I would never trade...

The grace that I feel,
And the faith that I find;
Through the bitter-sweet tears,
And the sleepless nights;

I used to pray he'd take it all away,
But instead it became a beautiful heartbreak.

I never dreamed my heart would make it,
I thought about turning around;
But heaven has shown me miracles,
I never would have seen from the ground.

Now I take the rain with the sunshine,
Cause there's one thing that I know;
He picks up the pieces,
Along each broken road.

Every fear, every doubt,
All the pain I went through;
Was the price that I paid to see this view;
And now that I'm here I would never trade...

The grace that I feel,
And the faith that I find;
Through the bitter-sweet tears,
And the sleepless nights.

I used to pray he'd take it all away,
But instead it became a beautiful heartbreak.

I would never trade...

The grace that I feel,
And the faith that I find;
Through the bitter-sweet tears,
And the sleepless nights.

I used to pray he'd take it all away,
But instead it became a beautiful heartbreak."

I hope to use Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as examples as I raise my sons into men. I hope to live a good life to set a good example for them. I want them to want their own families to be like ours. I hope they make good choices and also set good examples for those around them. I will always give them lots of chances, but there will be some consequences that will be impossible for me to shield them from. No matter how much I try to protect them, I won't be able to protect them from everything, of this I am sure. I want them to use what they learn from me and their father, from church, from friends and other family, from life, to use everything for good. Not just for themselves, but also for those around them. I want them to learn and realize that knowledge is not just important but essential and to never stop learning. Mostly, I want them to know that their mother knows that she is so blessed to be their mother and that I thank the Lord every chance I have that he has entrusted me with them both. I am so blessed in so many ways, too many to count, and I want them to feel the same and that when they try and count their countless blessings that they count me in there somewhere.

So Here We Are

2011-10-22T12:51:00.010-05:00

Where is here, you ask? It's here, just here. Everyone asks about Gavin, how he's doing. The general answer is "good", the real answer is that we are the same, so were trucking on any way we know how, but here we are still. We've made some changes, done some things the same, waited, waited, and waited some more.

We're here, still working (Garth mostly), still going to the doctor, hospital, etc. One of the things we have changed is that we are not taking Gavin to church anymore through the worst of the flu/RSV season. Gavin is free to do mostly all normal things about 70% of the time depending on his numbers and his overall feelings of wellness. Although if he were in day care, he would not be able to attend at all, if he were school-aged, he would have been able to attend approximately 50% of the time based on our tests and numbers since school has started.

We are very regular church-goers and we don't take this next decision lightly. Even for the "Bible Belt", we get impressive eyebrow raises at 3 hour church every Sunday. One wonderful and dangerous thing about church for us now is all of the little children that are there...and their wonderful parents who know that they should be at church because that is where they should be, to worship and to learn and to feel The Spirit...weather or not their kid has green boogers running down to their knees and a wet cough from a 2 year old who doesn't quite have handwashing down yet, much less the sneezing/coughing into their elbows thing to help reduce the spread of germs. I also have a very solid stance on immunizations including flu shots which I am going to just leave at this: I think we should all have both, not just for the good of your children, but also for the lives of mine and vice versa. I'm sure this will sound very preachy or blown out of proportiion (mostly for those who do not vaccinate their children), but my immunocompromized baby could die from the exact same "cold" that just gives your kid the sniffles. So here we are...I guess I should change the name of this post to "My Soapbox", although it was totally unintended initially, but HERE is where I will end it. I'm not in the mood to debate the issue, I just was going to say, we will make sure we are at church...all 3 hours...minus one or two of us for a while...just wanted everyone to know we are ok and that Gavin is not struggling with his testimony, he's just trying to do his best to get better. Loves!

***Late addition: Since this entry took an interesting turn, I recalled a rather appropriate picture I have from last winter that goes very well with the "substance" of the post.

P.S. I know at least 5 people who will actually gag and possibly vomit when they look REALLY closely at this picture of Gavin sleeping in his carseat...sorry to those of you...sort of ;-)

A Choice

2011-10-12T19:08:00.005-05:00

Lots of my posts lately have been about Gavin and his neuroblastoma. I'm going to veer away from that topic, if only for a few short moments.

Garth and I got in a fight today. A really stupid one (like most), that I can actually remember how it started, but it's just really not worth it and although we both feel very strongly about the arguement, it's still stupid, no matter how you slice it.

While he was mad at me and pulling some pretty petty punches, I was really mad at him trying to think of even more petty punches that would hurt him way worse than anything he could say to me...luckily, before any came out of my mouth, I paused for one fleeting second and made an astonishing discovery about myself and my relationship with Garth and also with other people I love in my life.

I understand now why many marriages fail and people part ways because they get mad over something stupid or even over something not so stupid. The key is in the CHOICE. I make a choice every single day weather I am aware of it or not to be with my husband. I choose him, every single second of the day, I choose him. He chooses me too (thank goodness) and not in spite of our shortcomings, but because of them because they are what make us who we are are and without them we wouldn't be ourselves.

Thank you Garth for choosing me, every single day, especially the days it would be so much easier to choose otherwise like so many people do today.

I choose forever, every single day. And that's all I have to say about that.

On the road again...

2011-10-08T18:12:00.009-05:00

Friday, we had a very long day at the doctor's office getting Gavin's port accessed and then we had a long wait at the Childrens' Hospital for day surgery to prepare Gavin for his alomost 2 hour MRI where he was under asethetic the entire time. We had to wait the entire weekend for the call with the results. Although we did find out right away that his Harlequin syndrome was legit as a result of the anesthetic. Good news is it only lasts a few hours.

I wish I had a goose pimple inducing announcement that miraculously Gavin's reisdual tumor was completely, miraculously gone...but I don't have an announcement like that. We got a call around 4 PM from the oncologist's office telling us to be prepared the next morning at 7:30 to be admitted to the hospital for the next 3-4 days for his next round of chemo. The report stated that:

**Warning....VERY technical talk to follow, skip to Impression, if you feel impressed to do so**
"Compared to the MIBG scan of 07/30/11 showing increased uptake at the right supraclavivular area, MRI of the thoracocerviacal spine of 07/27/11, and the preoperative MRI chest of 07/25/11 what is likely port of right jugular catheter results in metalsusceptibility artifact. This and HASTE imaging hampers evaluation. Minor atelectatic change is seen at the posterior lung bases. Previously demonstrated right chest tube has been removed. Small residual area of soft tissue with abmormal enhancement post contrast in the right supraclavivular area incompletely encasing the proximal right vertebral artery just caudal to the thyroid level correlates with the abnormal focus of uptake on MIBG and is similar in apearance since MRI of C-spine on 07/27/11 but more clearly demonstrated on the previous study. The soft tissue thickening along the lateral margin of the right vertebral artery at this level is improved since 07/27/11, but this is difficult to certain. Ultrasound may prove clarification. The area of abmormal enhancement is best demonstrated on T1 axial postcontrast view, page 18 of 20. This measures about 8mm. No further abnormal enhancement is seen. Visualized liver and spleen are unremarkable. Adrenals are not clearly imaged. Normal bone marrow pattern"

**Impression: Small focus of soft tissue thickening with enhancement in the right supraclavicular space partially encompassing the right proximal vertebral artery. This is likely residual neuroblastoma. Appearance is similar or slightly improved since 07/27/11.

So we learned 3 things" 1) The tumor is still there and pretty big. 2) Hospital food really isn't all that bad when Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is on. 3) For us at least, the more chemos you get, the more vomit Mommy gets to clean up!
Luckily, I have a doctorate degree in and therefore speak mumbojumbo, so the first part gives me a bit more information than the impression, but suffice it to say: The tumor is still there, and it is about the same size as before (following the surgery to remove most of the tumor).
The good news is, it is not growing. We will do 2 more rounds of chemo (one more since we just finished one yesterday) and then we will do the MIBG scan that will show if the residual tumor is actually active tumor. As you can see, the tumor that was left was not removed because of it's placement surrounding the vertebral artery and it's proximity to the right carotid artery.
We are all doing fine. Garth Lee is doing well in school and he won his first Jiu Jitsu match! He really likes it and I hope that he sticks with it. Garth is still working like crazy and we are trying to get some maintenance stuff done around the house that has fallen by the wayside. I work this weekend, but we will be getting busy Monday! Isn't it RUDE that people still want to get paid when your kid is sick! Like the bank and the electric company. RUDE! [that is sarcasm for you sensitive folks...sort of]

Thank you everyone for all of your kind gifts and words, and prayers. They are all what have gotten us through this trial. Gavin is so strong and he helps me see the good in everything, but sometimes you seem to believe grown ups more. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!

Life's A Beach

2011-09-25T13:43:00.012-05:00

Wow! So why didn't anyone tell me that 30 was going to be so rough? I just read my "Over The Hill" post and that seems like 2 lifetimes ago now.

In July, Garth and I went on an anniversary trip to St. Thomas to celebrate 10 years of marriage. While we were there, we were able to see so many beautiful things and we had so much fun just being together.

No kids, no worries. We had fun, I'm glad we went. But somehow our life fell apart while we were gone and we didn't even know it. I have felt guilty (not a new thing for me) looking back, trying to think of a time while we were there that I might have felt a motherly inkling that something wasn't quite right, or that "still small voice" whispering to me that I needed to be ready for a great trial, but there is nothing. Even when Grandma texted me about taking Gavin to the doctor on Monday, I didn't have anything tell me that it was serious. I spent the week taking pictures, snorkeling, eating, shopping and canoodling with my husband. I wasn't prepared at all for the direction our lives were about to take.

Saturday night, July 23, 2011, Garth and I landed in Lubbock after a very long day of traveling. I was very excited to come home to the kids and my mom brought Garth Lee to the airport with her to pick us up even though it was close to midnight so that we could see him. Gavin was with Grandma that day because we tried to make sure that the boys weren't too much of a handful and that they got their alone time with grandparents so they spent a lot of the time at different places while we were gone. I made sure it was ok with Grandma that I came and got Gavin even though it was late because I missed him and I had never been away from him for that long. As Mom drove us home from the airport, she talked about Gavin being sick that week and that he was pretty croupy, but that he had finished his steroids and he was still on the cough medicine that he was prescribed when Grandma took him to the doctor almost a week before. It reminded me that he was sick, I had forgotten.

As soon as we were home, Garth and Garth Lee took our luggage in and got ready for bed as I left to go get Gavin. I walked in the door and I could hear him wheezing. He was tired, but running around, just like normal. He was a little hesitant to come to me, it had been a week since he saw me and I had never been away from him for more than a weekend and that was only once. When he came to me, he put his head on my shoulder and coughed. I've never heard a cough like that. It was bad and even Grandma said it hadn't been that bad all week. I hurried home and told Garth we needed to get the nebulizer set up and give him a breathing treatment and I would take him to Urgent Care the next morning.

We couldn't find the albuterol anywhere. Now, you have to realize, my friend and I had spent and entire week organizing my whole house just before we left for St. Thomas. Every nook, every cranny in my house was cleaned and organized, including my medicine cabinet, but Gavin's breathing treatments were NOWHERE. While Garth was still looking for it, Gavin fell asleep from sheer exhaustion and was sleeping well, so I laid down beside him, wondering what I should do. Gavin coughed again and Garth came to his door and we looked at each other and I got up and got dressed and drove to the ER with Gavin while Garth stayed with our sleeping 7 year old. I got there about an hour after we landed at the airport.

Of course when we checked in, Gavin was awake and wanting down to play with the toys in the waiting room, no cough, no wheezing, another $150 copay for overreacting. I was silently hoping that he would cough, just so they could hear what we heard, but he never did. The nurses were cordial, but I could tell they were thinking "Let's just get this kid a breathing treatment to make Mom happy and send them home"...I was sort of thinking the same thing. The doctor came in and I told him the same story we had told over and over for months. Gavin had a cough. The same cough that every kid anywhere had that winter. Every time we took him to the doctor, it was an ear infection, strep throat, croup, or just a virus. One thing we never got was a chest X-ray. I could tell the doctor was a little concerned, he gave us a breathing treatment, and Gavin started coughing. The doctor wanted to get an X-ray, just to make sure it was croup and get some blood cultures just to make sure it wasn't pneumonia.

I remember the doctor coming in several times while the nurses were trying to get IV access for Gavin so they could draw labs. They had to poke him more times than I could count. At this point he was hysterical and screaming and coughing and even the nurses commented on the cough, it "didn't sound like croup". Finally, they got a little bit of blood, and the doctor made me come look at the X-ray. I'm a pharmacist, not a radiologist, but something was seriously wrong with that X-ray. All the doctor said was that he wasn't sure what it was, but that we were not going home and he was consulting Dr. Goldthorne. I remember him saying "mass" and "clean margins" and "very large". After that, everything changed. The doctor ordered a CT scan with contrast and it was done in less than and hour. Everyone was overly polite. The nurses would either avoid eye contact with me or they would put their hand on me when they spoke to me, like they were giving me their condolences. The doctor gave Gavin a dose of IV antibiotics while we were waiting for a room because he was assuming it was a pneumonia until we knew different. I held Gavin down, while he cried, all night long. I thought pneumonia was our worst case scenario.

The nurse walked us to our room at 5 in the morning. She was the one that was touching me a lot. I don't remember her name, but I remember her face when I asked her what room we were going to so I could text my husband and she told me we were going to the ICU.

The nurses in the PICU were very nice and got us all set up and asked me all of the same questions that I had been asked 100 times that night. Medical history, family history, when was his last bowel movement...After all of that, the charge nurse asked me if I had any questions. I asked her what they thought it was, to tell me the truth. The charge nurse and Gavin's ICU nurse looked at each other and said nothing. So I asked what we were hoping it was, what was the best case scenario. An infection turned out to be what we were hoping for. Our ICU nurse looked at the chart and told me that no one had read the actual CT report yet, but the preliminary results were that the mass was solid and not liquid. I had no idea what that meant. She said that if it were an infection, it would have been liquid, like pus, but that it was solid, the mass was solid, probably not an infection, but they didn't know for sure until the doctor read it. The look the nurses gave each other after that said that they knew for sure, but they couldn't officially tell me.

I texted Garth that we were in the PICU and that it was not an infection. I asked him if I should call people. At this point no one else even knew we had gone to the ER. He said to wait until 6 or 7 am, when they would be getting up, there was no reason to worry everyone if we didn't know anything.

Garth got to the hospital at around 7. Gavin had fallen asleep on the couch in his ICU room beside me so I propped him on some pillows with the stuffed turtle I had gotten him in St. Thomas and took a picture.

Dr. Goldthorne came in to talk to us at 7:30. I didn't know she was the pediatric surgeon until that morning. She was cheerful, but serious. She came in with her PA and told us that Gavin would not be going home for a while. She told us that he most likely had malignant neuroblastoma. She said that there were effective treatments, chemo and radiation, that it was something that they could "fix". She said we were going to have an MRI the next morning to show the extent of the mass and that neuroblastomas often have spinal involvement and that the MRI would tell us how invasive the surgery would be and if his spinal column was compromised.

I started crying. I tried not to while she was talking, but I couldn't help it. She put her hand on my shoulder and told me that crying was "appropriate". She said we would have surgery in 2 days. That we wouldn't know what it was exactly until the tests on the "mass" came back, which could take up to a week and that we would be in the hospital at least until then. This was serious, and it was "appropriate" to cry. After she left, we called everyone. I only called my mom, Garth called everyone else. I couldn't talk. I started wandering the halls of the hospital, looking and the people walking around, laughing, smiling, like nothing was wrong. Why was the world still turning? My heart was broken, how could anyone in this world possibly be functioning? Gavin was sick, he could die.

Of course everyone came up to see us, people lined up to feed us, to do anything for us they could. Gavin slept through it all, he had been up all night, getting poked, prodded and tested. He had no idea what was coming. It just wasn't fair.

That night, Gavin started really struggling to breathe. He got several breathing treatments and medications, but he just couldn't breathe. The next morning, they put him on a ventilator and did the MRI. They left him on the ventilator because he couldn't breathe on his own. The MRI showed that the mass was completely wrapped around his esophagus and was almost completely occluding his trachea. He also had a large mass of enlarged lymph nodes in his neck. Dr. Goldthorne said if we didn't bring him in when we did, that he may not have had even a couple of days.

The surgery was the next morning. A thoracic surgeon, Dr. Raine, joined Dr. Goldthorne. Dr. Raine came out first to tell us that he was doing ok. Dr. Goldthorne told us right after the surgery that she could tell it was neurablastoma by looking at it, so we didn't have to wait a week to know what it was. She put in a port for central venous access because we were definitely going to be doing chemotherapy. She took out 27 lymph nodes that looked suspicious and she was not able to get all of the tumor because it was right by the carotid artery and it wasn't worth the risk to take it out, but the tumor they took out was the size of a tennis ball.

She told us that the rest of the tumor should respond to chemotherapy. This was when everyone started referring to the "mass" as a "tumor". The pediatric oncologist was on vacation, but she would be there to assess Gavin "soon". Of the 27 lymph nodes, 21 of them were malignant. The preliminary tests on the tumor gave Gavin a "poor" prognosis.

Until then I had tried to stay away from the Internet. I tried not to look too deeply into what we weren't sure it even was. When I started looking, it wasn't good. We were in the PICU for 12 days. I can't even remember anything in between. I do know that our family and friends were there for us, even strangers. They all picked up the pieces, even while they were falling to pieces with us. Until the day we were discharged, Gavin had about a 10% chance of survival according to the literature.

Gavin had a few priesthood blessings while we were there. Two of our church leaders came to give him a blessing, one of them has a son that almost lost his battle with leukemia as a child. He told me something important about the numbers. They are wrong. Gavin either has a 0% chance or 100%, period, that's it. There is no 10% or 30% or this or that. He's either going to make it or he's not, and he is going to make it.

As we were packing up to go home, to wait, the oncologist came in with the results from a doctor in Ohio that sees every single neuroblastoma and stages them. Gavin was stage 2B, intermediate risk, we would start chemo in 2 weeks. His prognosis went from "poor" to "favorable" in 3 seconds.

So far, we have done 2 rounds of chemo. We have an MRI this Friday to measure the residual tumor to make sure it is responding to the treatments. It could be gone. We just don't know. Realistically, we still will have 2-4 more rounds of chemo, 21 days apart, with scans after every 2 rounds. Gavin is doing great. He loses weight after the chemo, but he gains it right back. He has Horner's syndrome either from the tumor, the surgery, the port, whatever caused it, he can't open his right eye as wide as the left and his pupil is much smaller on that side...it kind of looks like he is winking at you all the time. It might go away, it might not. It's kind of cute. Gavin has no idea he is sick.

Garth Lee has been a trooper, he really has. He is jealous of the attention Gavin is getting, but he knows that we all love him the same. He impressed me most when I took him to get his flu shot. Everyone who is around Gavin has to get their flu shot, it's kids like Gavin that die from the flu, that is a FACT. Garth Lee has gotten the nasal vaccine since he was 2, but since it is live virus, he can't get it this year because Gavin could get sick from it just because he has very little immune system. It is rare, but it could happen. We weren't going to tell him that he had to get the shot because of Gavin. I didn't want him to resent his little brother even more. We were just going to tell him that they didn't make the nasal vaccine this year. At the last minute, I decided to tell him the truth. He didn't even blink. He told me he would "do anything for his baby brother". We took him to get it, I was sure he would chicken out, but that boy hopped up on the table, rolled up his sleeve and took it like only the best big brother in the world could. He is a very special boy.

I have been blessed with 2 very special boys, and I intend to keep them both.

Over The Hill

2011-05-22T16:06:00.004-05:00

Yep...that's me, I am officially in my thirties, and it's not too bad. I mean, I didn't wake up all wrinkly and having hot flashes, I'm just one day older than I was when I was 29, but I got some instant credibility May 14, 2011. People just feel like you are allowed to be more or accomplish more if you are older. In my VERY early 20's (2 weeks after turning 20) I got married. In my early 20's, I became a mother. When I was in my mid 20's, I bought my first house, I got a doctorate degree and then bought my second (forever) house. A little bit later in my 20's, I became an administrator all the while making 6 figures...pretty good, I'd say...for a kid.

We spend the first quarter of our lives wishing we were older, or pretending or trying to look older. There is a small period of time following that when we just are what we are, and that's ok. Then we spend the next 60 or so years doing the opposite of what we did the first 20.

I am what I am, and I am 30, like it or not. I'm going to do the best I can to live as long as I can in this time that I just am.

So what am I, now that I am 30: I'm mostly a stay-at-home mom, which some people find refreshing while others find down right ridiculous (which I find sort of hilarious in some situations)...personally, I fall somewhere between the two, but lean toward refreshing (most days). I am "Staff" as opposed to "Administrator" at work since I work pretty much never, it's hard to really be in charge of anything. My 10th wedding anniversary is in a couple of weeks and although I don't get butterflies every time the phone rings and it is Garth on the other line anymore, I would fight to the death for him and our family and our life together.

I squeezed a lot into my 20's, and sometimes it's hard to cope with reality after your total reality for so long is getting somewhere. When you spend 8 or 10 years in college, living in apartments and shopping in your parents' pantries, you get so focused on the goal that you forget that the journey you are in is a life you are living. A few days ago, Garth (hubby) was feeling kind of down, and I asked him what was wrong. He said he felt like life was passing us by. I have to admit, that when you spend A LOT of years getting somewhere, once you get there, it's rarely as awesome as your years of build up made it look. I realized and told him to open your eyes, life isn't passing us by, it's here, right now, if front of your face, THIS is life and we are living it. We are living the American Dream baby! It made us chuckle, but it also helped us to realize that we are truly blessed in life. I just got a little plaque that says "Blessings brighten when you count them", which is so true, so I am making an effort to count mine as often as possible and they always start with the 4 small hands and 20 tiny toes that poke and kick me most nights and the 2 strong arms that hold me when I need them most.

If my next 30 years are even half as awesome as the first, I'm one lucky girl!

Updates

2011-02-21T13:29:00.002-06:00

It seems as though I have let my blog go, so here is my feeble attempt at an update:

So I have 2 wonderful boys (well, 3 if you count by 31-year-old)...Garth Lee got Student of the Month for December. He also improved his mile time by 3 whole minutes in PE, thus qualifying him for the "Cotton Patch Relays" that he and his relay team placed 13th out of 23 teams. Each leg ran one mile and Garth Lee was the first leg...unfortunately there were some horses somewhere along that mile that caught his attention and slowed him down a bit, but he really had a great time and got a medal and is very proud of himself as am I. We took our oldest on a date for Valentine's Day. We went to Main Event and we played pool, bowled, ate, played laser tag, did mini-golf, played more laser tag...you get the idea. We had a blast with Garth Lee, especially when his foot went over the foul line in bowling and he cried when he looked at the screen because, and I quote: "It called me a fool!!!"...no honey, the u in that word says "w", it said you got a F-O-W-L, the game has not resorted to name calling. He had fun and so did we. Garth Lee is doing very well in school, making good grades. We should be getting his first report card with real number grades soon, so only time will tell, but I have a hunch we will be headed back to Main Event after we get it ;-)

Gavin is everywhere at once. He took his first steps a long time ago, at around 8 months, but he has just recently started actually walking as transportation. Garth Lee didn't take his first steps until he was 11 months, but once he did, he just took off. So now we have had to break out the baby gates! His birthday party is this week and I am looking forward to that. He is having surgery for his undescended testicle Tuesday the 1st of March. It should be relatively straight forward, but will take 2-2.5 hours, which is a bit unnerving for me, but I'm sure we will all pull through with minimal pain and scarring.

Daddy has started working nights, still is Pedi. We like it so far, we get to see a lot more of him on this schedule. He is helping coach Garth Lee's T-ball team this year. We are the White Sox, and already our team is much better than last year, so hopefully we will win some.

I'm still doing what I do, home some, work some, clean some, sleep some, scream some, smile some...pretty much status quo, which is just fine with me.

November

2010-11-20T12:23:00.002-06:00

I can't believe that this week is Thanksgiving. Garth has Thanksgiving off this year so we will be able to hit all the festivities ;) It will be a different year for us, so much has changed in our families since last year, both gaining and losing members. I think it will still be a great day, with lots to be thankful for and if nothing else, there will be eating...lots and lots of eating, and napping (please, Gavin, let there be napping)!

Garth Lee and Gavin are competing on new teeth, Gavin has 6 teeth now, 4 on top and 2 on bottom...Garth Lee has lost 2, but has gained 6, for a net gain of 4...so I guess Gavin is still winning, but Garth Lee's teeth are WAY bigger, if that counts for anything (which, I am sure he would say counts for a lot). Who knew 6-year-olds cut molars? I'll tell you who, I did...when I was pregnant with Garth Lee, I could tell you everything that babies and kids could/should do and at what ages it would be appropriate for them to do so...now, not so much...I still love my babies very much, but I am less obsessed with their milestones and what they are 'supposed' to do when...speaking of...Gavin is 9 months Thanksgiving day and he could take those first steps any day, hopefully by Thursday so we can surprise everyone (I said I was LESS obsessed not NOT obsessed)...he is cruising like crazy and he lets go and stands a lot until he notices he's not holding onto anything then he slowly sits down.

A drug rep came by the other day and she asked about some policy that she asked me about the last time she was here...I told her that the last time she was here was probably the last time I was here so I didn't really know...she gave me the most horrified look and asked if I was ok...then before I could even answer, she said "Oh, you must have small babies at home"...I said "Nah, I'm just really lazy"...she was really embarrassed, but it was priceless, the look on that woman's face was something I think I will never forget. I, of course told her that I did, in fact, have a baby at home, but I think she also learned her lesson about what you get when you assume...

Well, anyways, HAPPY TURKEY DAY friends...I know that I have much to be thankful for and for that I am forever grateful.

Updates

2010-10-08T15:11:00.002-05:00

I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN ABOUT MY BLOG! I am such a hater of those that ditched blogging for Facebooking, but I am sort of guilty of that even though it's not like I have been posting on Facebook 24/7, BUT I do have a button on my phone that takes me straight to Facebook, one for email, another for scriptures, one with news updates, even sports scores (making a phone call is the hardest thing to so on my new phone)...unfortunately, there is not an "app" that will type out all that has been happening in our lives and post it to my blog (bummer).

Since it has been forever since my last post, there are lots of things that have happened. Unfortunately, my dad's parents both passed away within 2 months of one another, which, the pastor said was probably "just fine" that Grandad didn't stick around too long after Granny passed. It was also fitting, as he pointed out, that we buried Grandad in perfectly crisp fall "football weather".

The gravity of the situation was completely lost on both Garth Lee and his 6-year-old cousin Reese. When we got to the cemetery, as everyone filed to the grave site in reverent silence, one of them shouted "Hey, isn't that where we buried Granny right there?" and "Weren't we just here?" They did pretty well, though, better than some of the adults involved, but that is an entirely different story...

Garth Lee just learned how to ride his bike without training wheels. I knew once we took them off he would just go and I was right. He is such a big boy. Sunday night after Grandad's funeral, he lost his first tooth, the bottom left front tooth...which was also the first one that popped in for Gavin about a month ago. The tooth fairy brought him $5, which is a lot, but I'm pretty sure she just brings that for the first tooth. Garth Lee is doing very well in school, although he has gotten his "folder signed" 2 times already this year...once for not listening in science class and another time for not getting his homework signed. He reads very well, now, hardly ever pausing to even sound out words and he always makes 100+ on his spelling tests. He still thinks toots are the funniest thing ever and he still has to kiss me goodnight or he can't go to sleep. He is really into playing Batman on the Wii with Daddy and playing with his best friend Jackson who rides his bike over to play with Garth Lee at least 3 days a week...he probably comes everyday, but sometimes we are not there. It is so cute, he will just let himself in and be yelling for Garth to come play and they play until his mom or brother comes over to get him.

Gavin is 7.5 months old now...he has his 2 bottom teeth (which almost got him weaned) and is army crawling all over the place. He won't get off his belly and he looks like a salamander crawling around on the floor, but he gets where he is going which I guess is the important thing. Gavin still won't take the bottle, but we have just given up completely on trying, so when I work, Daddy just brings him to me to feed and he has mastered the sippy cup (although it does seem like he spits out more than he swallows)...if you see the kid, you can definitely tell he has not missed many meals so I think he will be fine, plus it doesn't hurt me too much that I get to see them a couple of times a day when I am working.

Speaking of working...I have to brag on Daddy a bit here...When I go to work (about 4-5 days a month--12 hr shifts), Daddy has the kids. We have worked it out where it is his days off when I am working. When he brings Gavin up to me to feed, he is always showered (yes, showered...not too sure how that works, but I'm just going to stay out of that one), hair gelled (in a mohawk), with a fresh diaper. The other night, Gavin wasn't feeling good and we both went to bed early, but I set my alarm for early to make sure that Garth Lee's lunch got packed and homework was done. Garth had a softball game at 8, so he let Garth Lee go with him. They got home after Gavin and I were asleep. I woke up in the middle of the night (par for the course) and went to make Garth Lee's lunch and go through his book bag...got down there and Daddy had packed his lunch, signed off on his homework and reading, even did a practice spelling test with Garth Lee and put a note in his lunch saying "We love you, Buddy, hope you have a great day at school. Love, Daddy". Never mind that he packed Garth Lee a totally random lunch (main course was a cinnamon roll and a fruit roll-up), he gets major Daddy points for all that!

We almost moved to Big Spring, but decided that family was more important than anything else. A great side effect of almost moving is getting the house ready to sell. It's funny the things you will do for someone else that you don't do for yourself. I have made a concerted effort to keep our house at the same level of cleanliness that we got it to put it on the marker and so far it has been 3 weeks and I have kept the house totally clean, all 4200 sq.ft. of it...and you know they say that if you do something for 3 weeks it becomes habit, so I hope that I can stay on top of it because there really is a lot to be said for having a clean and organized environment...a lot of things go better when you live in order as opposed to chaos.

We had a wonderful surprise visit from my Sis-in-law, Sarah, and the kids for the weekend and it was so great! We miss them so much, but we really look forward to seeing them next time.

A lot of things have happened lately that have made me so grateful for what I have. Most of all, I am so lucky to have a loving and supportive family that is also VERY helpful in lots of ways (too many to number or mention). Although I am rarely grateful for trials in life while I am in the midst of them, I am always grateful for the clarity that follows and I will try and bask in the good rather than be weary of the bad that may or may not lurk around the corner.

Grandad Hans

2010-10-08T14:54:00.001-05:00

Graveside services for H. H. (Hans) Hudman, 90, of Post will be at 2:30 p.m. Sunday in Terrace Cemetery with Rev. Grady Shytles officiating. Burial will be under the direction of Hudman Funeral Home of Post.

He died Thursday, September 30, 2010 in Lubbock. Hans was born on Dec. 27, 1919 in Garza County to J. B. and Josie (Yates) Hudman. He was the youngest of eleven children. He graduated from Post High School and served in the Navy during WWII. Hans married Maurine Russell on June 3, 1941 in Garza County. She preceded him in death on August 6, 2010.

He owned and operated Hudman Texaco in Post for over 50 years.

Survivors include three sons, Bob and wife Suzanne Hudman of Post, Randy and wife DiAnne Hudman of Lubbock and Bill and wife Carolyn Hudman of Plano; one sister, Berniece Cockrum of Ballinger; four grandchildren, Jenifer Hudman, Sara Hudman and Brooke Thomas all of Lubbock and Kenny Hudman of Plano; four great-grandchildren, Rachael and Reese Roberts and Garth and Gavin Thomas all of Lubbock.

Visitation will be from 1 until 2 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home.

Granny Maurine

2010-08-28T18:51:00.002-05:00

"Graveside services for Maurine Hudman, 90, of Post, will be at 2 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 15, 2010 with Rev. Grady Shytles officiating. Burial in Terrace Cemetery will be under the direction of Hudman Funeral Home of Post.

She died on Friday, Aug. 6, 2010 at Golden Plains Care Center. She was born April 30, 1920 in Pilot Point, Texas, to Robert and Lena (McSpadden) Russell. She was a graduate of Southland High School. She married Hansford Hudman on June 3, 1941 in Garza County. She owned and operated Maurine's Flower Shop until her retirement.

Survivors include her husband of 69 years, Hansford Hudman of Post; three sons, Bob Hudman of Post, Randy Hudman of Lubbock and Bill Hudman of Plano; four grandchildren, Jenny Hudman, Sara Hudman, Brooke Thomas and Kenny Hudman; and four great-grandchildren, Rachael Roberts, Reese Roberts, Garth Thomas and Gavin Thomas."

Long Time, No Blog

2010-08-28T11:38:00.006-05:00

Pictures first for those of you who lose interest quickly and don't really want to read about our summer:

We stated at National Harbor, right on the Potomac River for our D.C. trip, this is a picture of the walk from our hotel to the river. Those teeny people are Garth Lee in between Mimi and Papa Randy.

There was a "buried" sculpture on the shore called "The Awakening" and Garth Lee had fun playing in/on it.

Garth Lee's signature pose on one of the docks.

One of Gavin's naps with Garth wearing the wrap, a nice break for Mama.

He was OUT...so cute!

Our reason for going...Garth Lee decided he wanted to go to Washington, D.C. to see the "original" flag, and here was the exhibit. (No photos were allowed of the actual flag)

Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

"The lawn"

The famous ruby slippers at the National Museum of American History...periodically, someone has to clean each individual sequin (not actual rubies) of the slippers.

Each state has 2 statues in the Capitol and here we are with Mr. Stephen F. Austin himself. An interesting tidbit of info is that the other states made their statues very large and grandiose, that Texas is actually the only state that made their statues life sized, which is very interesting considering everything is supposed to be bigger here.

Washington Monument

The oldest existing statue of the Father of Our Country, located in the Capitol building.

Love Garth Lee's face here

Lincoln Memorial...there are A LOT more steps than it looks like in this picture...This was the one time that Papa volunteered to stay at the bottom with Gavin in the stroller.

Arlington National Cemetery

Mimi and Gavin having a conversation on our river cruise

Gavin giving Mimi kisses

Bad angle?

Mommy, you did not seriously just post that picture of my thighs, did you?

Well, at least get a picture of my good side :-)

Gettysburg reenactment soldiers

So one of my friends threatened to delete me from her favorites (literally and figuratively) if I didn't update my blog, so I better get to it! We have had quite the eventful summer, we took 3 major trips: In June we went to Washington D.C., in July we went to Utah and a couple of weeks ago we went to San Antonio.

Of course all my pictures have yet to be downloaded, but I do hope to get them on here ASAP.

Gavin is 6 months old now, which is hard to believe. He is sitting up very well and I think he will probably be crawling in a couple of weeks. His biggest loves are his jumper/exersaucer and to nurse. I just came back to work after having close to 2 months off and he is now on a bottle strike, so Daddy is having to bring him up to work to nurse. Luckily, he is a good eater of pretty much any baby food and he also loves baked potatoes and little baby crunchy snacks, so I'm pretty sure he will survive one more day "without" me (I'm sure I will see him at least 2 more times today to nurse ;-). Gavin hasn't met a food he doesn't like, he loves his garden veggies and he hoovers squash, of course he also loves the fruits. He is such a well mannered baby, always quick to smile at anyone willing to look. His only issue is sleep and probably according to everyone but me, his sleeping issue is actually my sleeping issue, he does exactly what I've trained him to do...sleeps right next to me nursing on and off all night long. Go ahead, judge me, at least I am a little more confident now since I can at least argue back that this isn't my first 'rodeo' and yes, I do know EXACTLY what I have created because I already have a 6-year-old version :-)

Speaking of the 6-year-old...Garth Lee is now officially a first grader (and no longer sleeping right next to me nursing on and off, thank you very much). He just finished his first week of school and he is doing a little better at getting up in the mornings. After the first day he said he had fun BUT he didn't like that they didn't get nap time or recess anymore. They still have P.E., but not the same recess they had in kindergarten. He always got in trouble during nap time last year because he never slept and was disruptive so I really didn't get the longing for that except that he was just tired from not being used to getting up in the morning. He likes his teacher and has some of his old friends with him from last year, so I'm pretty sure he will do great.

Our Washington, D.C. trip was AWESOME! We went almost everywhere we could. Gavin traveled great, never cried on the plane. He was a good little travel companion. He didn't love the stroller, but he still rode in it a little and other times was either carried or in my wrap (on me or my mom, and even on Garth some). My parents went with us and it was truly an awesome trip, everyone had a great time and we learned a lot too. I never would have attempted this trip with a 4 month old with just Garth, me and the kids, so I am sooooo grateful for my parents for going, making it not only possible, but actually VERY enjoyable.

We went to Utah in July for Garth's Dad's wedding in Logan. It was a 21 hour trip to Clarkston, UT and there was less than half an hour of crying and at least half of that was me ;). Gavin and Garth Lee did so great on the looooong trip. We met a lot of nice people up there as Betty Ann's family was having a reunion/baptism/blessing/wedding so everyone was there and they were so welcoming and nice, it was so great. Clarkston is a teeny town, but it was so beautiful! We drove to Highland, UT after the reception and stayed the night with Garth's cousin Michelle in their new 12k sq.ft. house, it was AMAZING and we had soooo much fun with them, even seeing one of my missionary friends from 10+ years ago. When we left there, we went south to St. George, UT to stay with Garth's Aunt Tammy for a couple of days. It was HOT!!! We had a great time with the family there and it was sad to leave. We took 2 days coming back and it was also enjoyable, even the kids did fine, but we were so glad to get home.

We went to San Antonio to visit Kelton and his family and to see their newest addition, Auva Mae, be blessed and to celebrate Garth lee's 6th birthday with his cousins there. Garth Lee got to go to Six Flags with Autumn and Daddy and to Schlitterbahn with everyone but me and Sarah and the babies. It was so great to see them and to meet baby Auva. We had such a great time and we can't wait to see them again when they come visit us, hopefully soon!

Thanks everyone for such a great summer that I will never forget :-)

First Laughs

2010-06-07T23:13:00.002-05:00

Dear Gavin...

2010-06-05T15:02:00.004-05:00

The car may not be the most exciting thing ever, but it gets us around so we aren't stuck inside all the time. Crying and screaming will not help the traffic move faster, trust me I've tried that one. No matter how much you scream, you are not getting out of that seat so you may as well just accept it and LOVE it!

If you ever want another sibling, EVER, you will need to let me put you down asleep in your crib sometimes.

It would be great if you could let me know if you are you finished pooping yet or if I should wait to change your diaper.

Be nice to the boob, don't scratch and punch it. This includes pulling back suddenly to see how far the nipple will stretch. If you want to let go, just open your mouth.

Dark = sleep, light = wake. It's a really easy pattern to follow, trust me.

I am the only one with the boobies that feed you.

I'm going to tally up the total of all the wasted milk that you won't drink from the bottle and take it out of your allowance one day.

Please bend your elbow when I try to put your carseat strap over your arm.

If you can fall asleep so easily during the day I know you can do it at night too.

I am not going to play with you at 2 in the morning. Feed you yes...play with you no...so just go back to bed and we will play in the morning.

When Mommy is changing your diaper, the whole process would go much more quickly if you'd lay still rather than kicking like mad. I'm good...but the moving target is a challenge.

And most importantly...It IS possible to sleep without a boob in your mouth. Oh, here's an idea - take a binkie!!! Then you can pretend to have a boob in your mouth and I am free to move.

Love ya butter bean!

Milestones

2010-06-04T14:03:00.003-05:00

School is out for the summer so I guess I officially have a first grader. Wow, time sure flies!

Kelton graduated from medical school and has moved his family to San Antonio for his residency for at least the next 4 years, then to who knows where from there. They left Tuesday morning and it was very sad for all of us. One thing I was looking kind of forward to when they left was not having Garth Lee ask me every single day at least 3 or 4 times if we can go see Autumn...to my dismay, bright and early Tuesday morning, Garth Lee woke up and asked me if we could go see Madison ;)

Garth Lee had closing ceremonies for t-ball last night. His team came in 4th place, just missed getting a trophy, but he did get a medal so he was pretty happy. I have to say Garth Lee has improved probably the most of anyone on his team this year, needless to say I am very proud of him. He started out as catcher, then went to outfield and then he ended up as short stop and a pretty good one at that.

At the closing ceremonies last night, Gigi got Gavin to laugh for the first time, and luckily I got it on video. It is hilarious because we would laugh with him when he laughed and it scared him so he quickly went from laughing to scared and back again a few times.

Gavin has been acting hungry after I feed him the last few days and he is about 16 pounds these days so Garth and I decided to try to see if he would eat some rice cereal mixed with breast milk and boy did he go to town. He has absolutely no tongue thrust reflex and he didn't spit one bit out. He would smile when I would give him a little bite and would suck on his fist when he wanted more and I wasn't giving it to him. I didn't want to give him very much because I didn't want him to get a tummy ache but he just kept wanting more. I still only gave him about 2 tsp, but it was a successful first solids experience.

This is my first 3 day weekend at work since having Gavin. From now on, I will be working a 3 day weekend every other week, that comes out to about 6 days a month which right now seems like a lot, but Daddy does such a great job with the Gavster that I am feeling more and more comfortable being away sometimes.

Garth and I just celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary and we went out on our first date since the baby was born. Mom watched Gavin and we went to see a movie and to dinner. It was nice. I would love to say I didn't worry, but I did...a lot...mostly because the little booger would not take a bottle and in the evening he is the fussiest. The great news was that while we were out Gavin was great and happy and he took the whole bottle from Mom! She is kind of a grandbaby whisperer so I don't know why I was so surprised ;)

The Offended Becomes the Offender...

2010-05-22T10:41:00.003-05:00

So it really bugs me when my buddies don't blog...and here I am with a forgotten blog.

What we're up to:

Only a week left in t-ball for Garth Lee, they have had a streak of hard losses, but it is clear that all the kids have really improved...after the last game Garth Lee told me that t-ball just may not be his sport
Gavin is growing and growing, I'm going to take him to get weighed Monday for the last time at the weight clinic. He was 13 lbs 1 oz 2 weeks ago, so I am pretty sure we are looking at somewhere in the 14.5lb range for his 3 month which is about 75th percentile which is pretty good considering he was born at about the 30th percentile
Gavin slept for 5 hours in a row last night for the first time...I know a lot of kids are already sleeping through the night for real for a while at this age, but for us this is big and by definition "sleeping through the night"...for one night at least
Garth was able to hood Kelton yesterday and it was a special moment for the whole family. The Hooding Ceremony was very long, but all the kids did pretty well. I did have to find me a corner to nurse in at one point...but it went very well, Gavin was just chillin' most of the time and slept some of the time, I'm afraid we are about to get out of the portability stage but I look forward to each new stage so I am ok with that...for now...in the infamous words of Melanie Lynskey a.k.a "Lurlynn" in the 2002 Reese Witherspoon movie "Sweet Home Alabama"--'This 'uns still own the tit, so I kin cart him inywhayer' ;)
Garth Lee only has 2 half days left of kindergarten...I can't believe he will be in first grade in the Fall
We got our tour approvals for when we go to Washington, D.C. and we are going to get to go through the Capitol and the Pentagon so we are excited...it is crazy all the security stuff you have to have in beforehand, we aren't going until the week of the 4th of July and I have to have all of our security clearance stuff in by this week or we can't do a tour...it's getting close and we are so excited
I turned 29 on the 14th...we got a new car and traded in the Armada...Garth said Happy Birthday! when we got it but I'm not so sure that saving $150 a month constitutes an actual 'present'...but I could be wrong...and I'll definitely take it, I love my new car!
I'm back at work every other weekend, Garth is a great daddy and takes care of the babe when I am at work. Two weeks ago I worked one 12 hour shift and Garth had to feed Gavin bottles in the afternoon (in the morning, I nursed him during breaks at work) and he really didn't like that at all...after the first one though he decided that was all he was going to get so he sucked down the others. I am of course nervous about leaving him again, but miraculously he is just fine when I get home so I think I will start to chill about it soon...maybe ;)
I'm still campaigning for a Flip camcorder for my real birthday/Mother's Day gift so maybe I will actually have some video up soon?!?!

2 Month Stats

2010-04-27T20:18:00.008-05:00

Well, I have a pretty fussy (but thankfully sleeping) baby right now. He is hurting and is running a little fever after his shots today...poor guy. He cried a little when he got them and then he slept for a couple of hours after and I have kept him medicated with Tylenol every 4 hours, but the last couple of hours he has been struggling a little. I know he will be better in the morning, I just wish morning were here already.

Height: 22.5in (I think longer, she didn't stretch him out enough on the table, but we will go with what the 'official' stats were)

Weight: 11lbs 15oz

I can't remember what his head circumference was but it and everything else was right around the 50th percentile and it is all following the curve beautifully. His weight is increasing a little faster than the curve, which is fine since we got off to a slow start.

(Warning: Possible TMI alert!--and my apologies to grown-up Gavin for some of the following)

At 2 months, Gavin :

Holds his head up for a long time, especially when he is held upright (Daddy thinks he tilts to the right--which could be to compensate for his undescended testicle--jk)
Still only has one descended testicle, but I am confident that the other is on it's way down(we have until 6 months before we have to go see the urologist)
Can roll to his sides
Loves to visit with people, especially in the morning, will smile and coo...but I have to be right there in his face or he thinks I am not paying him enough attention and gets a little upset
Usually only cries if he is hungry, tired, or in his car seat (we have actually had a pretty good couple of days with the car seat thing, so knock on wood that we continue improving in this area)...oh and he cries when he gets shots too (but who doesn't?)
Loves it when his big brother talks to him and especially loves him to sing to him...there have been a couple of times in the car when Gavin is very upset and Garth Lee will just make up words and sing them to Gavin and he will calm down a little, it is very sweet and makes Garth Lee feel good to help
Still gets up A LOT at night, I did a sleep diary last night and he got up 7 times from 8:30pm to 7:30 and his longest stretch of sleep was 2 hours and 21 minutes :(
Is still in our bed since it is easier to feed him (and easier for me to sleep while he eats those 7 times a night)
Still LOVES my wrap that I wear him in, it is like a sedative, I put him in and WHAM he is asleep in seconds...except, of course, the few times I have tried it at home when he has been fussing at night, then it just makes him madder--oh well, I LOVE it, there is no way with his aversion to the car seat that I would ever get anything done away from the house without being able to carry him in it
Is 99.9% breastfed, he has had 6 ounces of formula since he has been born...3 for jaundice, and 3 one night I just didn't have enough...we have tried a couple of other times when we thought he was still hungry but he hasn't taken any since he was a couple of weeks old
Is eating every 1.5-2 hours all day long, it is very rare that he will go more than 2 hours and sometimes in the evening will eat every hour
Poos every 2-3 days (improved from every 7 or 8)...but we were doubly blessed today, so who knows
Will not take a bottle anymore...we have tried a couple of times the last couple of weeks with both breast milk and formula and he just chews the nipple and smiles up at you...it's cute, but worrisome since I am working some starting soon and he is going to have to take a bottle or he will be a very hungry boy (or Daddy will bring him to me at work I am sure if it gets that bad...here's hoping it doesn't)
Has grown out of all of his newborn clothes and is pushing a size 2 in diapers, I think the next time we go to Sam's we will get the 1-2 in between size
Has come around on the bathing thing...I'm not sure he exactly enjoys it, but he doesn't cry anymore even when I wash his hair
Is a delight and I love him more everyday and can't wait to see what tomorrow brings (especially today)

Family Photos--All of Them

2010-04-21T12:33:00.012-05:00

After a baby is born, sleeping when the baby sleeps is very smart...but after a couple of months, it becomes lazy (in my own humble opinion)...not that a nap here and there is not warranted (and just so happens to be my favorite pastime), it is time for me to get some stuff done other than just sleeping/feeding/changing/etc. So today I am doing stuff while the baby sleeps...I got dinner in the crock pot (yes this counts as cooking dinner), took a shower, pumped milk, did some dishes, folded laundry, downloaded our pictures, checked email, blogged...oh crap, he's waking up...lesson #1, they don't sleep as long when your warm body is not right next to them...oh well, maybe tomorrow we will be back to "sleeping when the baby sleeps", I'll keep you posted ;o)

Another Weight Post

2010-04-20T18:00:00.004-05:00

I went to a medical supply store in town last Thursday, which was Gavin's 7 week 'birthday', that will let you weigh your baby and then feed them and weigh them again so that you can see how much they are getting at a feeding (or at that feeding at least). I know that different scales can be very different, but Monday Gavin was 10lbs 6oz at the hospital and Thursday, at the medical supply store, he weighed 11lbs 3oz (after eating). He ate 2.6oz at that feeding and it had only been an hour and 45 minutes since he ate...which explains why he is gaining so well...he's eating A LOT.

The nurse there said that an ounce per hour it has been since the last feeding is a pretty good rule of thumb for this age, so he is eating quite a bit more than that, but it is nice to have that as a guide for when I go back to work. I have been stressing quite a lot about going back, even for one day because I feel like I am feeding all day and that Garth isn't going to have a way to pacify Gavin since he doesn't take a pacifier and whenever he cries, I just feed him...Garth won't really have that option without wasting a lot of milk and as anyone who has ever nursed a baby (or knew anyone who has ever nursed a baby) knows, that stuff is liquid GOLD and it is truly a tragedy if ANY is wasted...anyways, I know that was a lot more info than anyone wanted to know, but that's kind of how I roll...;)

And since we are on the subject of weight...it is time for it to start coming off me! Garth and I both have some baby weight to get rid of (I really need to lose about 30 pounds...15 more pregnancy pounds and 15 that I still needed to lose before we got pregnant) so we are going to start going to the gym together that is right across the street from where we live. I'm not going to post how much we weigh here, but I will hopefully be posting how many pounds we are losing. I have a goal of losing that 30 pounds in the next 4 months which is a realistic 2 pounds a week...here's hoping typing it out will make me feel accountable and help me to get my rear in gear.

Genealogy

2010-04-17T14:34:00.003-05:00

Here's proof that it is fun to do genealogy:

So above is a family picture from this weekend of our family...

And here is a picture of my great grandfather and his children, of which the top left boy is my mom's dad, my "Grandaddy" Jesse Mickey...

So, when looking at the two pictures, there is something...let's say striking...about my grandad and his brother...something that my son seems to share with them. You'll have to guess what it is that they have in common, but I've heard it is quite eerie the resemblance ;)

Pictures From Cousin Sara

2010-04-16T17:01:00.008-05:00

My cousin Sara (not to be confused with my sister-in-law Sarah) took some great pictures at our house on Sunday with her new camera...

This is a great candid shot of Garth Lee playing with Eliza's phone...just silly!

So cozy...this was after I broke down and let my mom give Gavin a bottle of breast milk...he was nursing ALL afternoon and it is really hard to play hostess when you have a baby hanging off your boob...so I gave in and he sucked it down and is showing yet another glimpse of the 'milk coma', showing it works just as well if the milk is coming from a bottle.

Gavin looks a lot like my OB here...kind of funny, in a creepy sort of way ;) I tried to post a picture of him here, but the only one I could find wouldn't let me copy the picture, so here's the link:
http://www.covenanthealth.org/view/apps/FindAPhysician/Detail.aspx?ID=254

He is VERY concerned about something here (most likely why he looks so much like my gyno)...Gavin has very expressive eyebrows ;)

There are those brows again

This is Sara showing off her camera's zoom...I'm jealous.

Sooooooo cozy! Love it.

Here are Garth Lee and Autumn...so serious...looks like they are talking about health care and the economy again ;)

Well excuse me now while I go shopping for a new camera.

Blessing Day

2010-04-11T19:35:00.006-05:00

Look familiar? If you've ever looked on my mantle it does...only it's a different kiddo ;)

Here's the "original":

Today was Gavin's blessing and Garth and Gavin both did did wonderfully. Garth blessed Gavin with health and strength, that he would go on a mission and that he would find a companion that he would be with for eternity ;) He also called him Randall instead of Gavin...which is his middle name, so it's not really like he changed it up there...it was a close one, but I think we'll stick with Gavin :)

Here are 'the boys' getting ready for church (notice the matching ties)...try to ignore my husband's "smile", he is smiling-for-pictures challenged...oh well, at least he is cute in real life ;)

I did actually catch a smile from Gavin, he was looking at his big brother. It's still a little hard to actually catch a smile on camera, but they are getting more and more frequent, so it won't be too long now I don't think before we will be getting lots more on record.

I nursed Gavin right before the blessing so that he would hopefully sleep and not cry during the blessing...it worked and here was a picture of him in my lap...I like to call it the 'milk coma'

A little out of order, but here are my boys just hanging out. Big brother Garth Lee loves to hold Gavin and here he is giving kisses.

Here's my big man with his most GQ pose before the blessing in our yard...please excuse the weeds (you probably wouldn't have noticed though if I didn't say anything, huh?...nah they are pretty hard to miss)

Here we are just one (medium) happy family ;)

Just like this picture of his little outfit and tie. It came with a little sewn-on bow tie and I cut it off so that he could wear his matching tie.

This was after the get-together we had at the house after church. It was also Garth's birthday this week so we did a little celebration for Gavin's and Caroline's blessings and the birthday. We had probably 70 or so people here, probably more and we had a blast, but we (and the dogs) were pretty tuckered out afterwards...this was the scene in the basement after the last people left and Mimi came to pick up Garth Lee.

Spike found Gavin's padded bum a cozy resting place for his weary head.

We had a great day. You can't get much better than fun, food and fellowship. Here's hoping we all have a restful night...especially Gavin (so I can too). We have had a good 6 weeks, some hard days/nights, but WAY more better ones...I'm pretty sure we're going to keep him ;)

Rambo

2010-04-07T15:19:00.004-05:00

So my husband and son(s) are watching the cinematic classic Rambo XXVII and I just had to record Garth Lee's comments. He's one of those really fun people to watch a movie with that asks LOTS of questions and gives his commentary throughout the movie and I am sitting here listening, laughing out loud...here are a few:

"Daddy, what's a Russian?"
"Are all Russians Bad?"
"Why is that good guy soooo wet?"--this is the one that made me laugh out loud

I know it's not the greatest movie choice for a 5 year old...but maybe it is soooo cheesy, it takes the scary out?

Weight

2010-04-07T14:19:00.002-05:00

For posterity's sake (and mostly because I wish I had this stuff written down from Garth Lee)...Gavin weighed 9lbs 8.6oz on Monday. He started *really* smiling today too but I didn't get any really good pictures of it yet, I'll keep trying ;)

Monday Again

2010-03-29T14:02:00.002-05:00

8lbs 12.2oz!!!! We had our first bad couple of nights. Friday night was a little bad, Gavin was really fussy until about 1, acting really hungry so I let Garth give him a bottle of breast milk and he gave up and went to sleep around 1 or 2 (can't remember). Then Saturday night was BAD! He was up from 3 to 9am just going from side to side nursing...he was sooooo hungry and I was soooo tired. He has started taking the paci, which is helping to satisfy his urge to suck when he really just wants to suck but isn't really hungry and I have started taking fenugreek again for my milk supply and we had a MUCH better night last night! When I was up with him all night Saturday I remember thinking that was what it seemed to be like every night with Garth Lee and it reminded me of how lucky I am that I have only had one of those nights so far and Gavin is already 4.5 weeks old. So here's hoping we keep the good night trend up and only have those bad ones occasionally...if at all.

Flashback

2010-03-22T22:05:00.007-05:00

I was so worried about being able to love/care for another child like I love/care for Garth Lee and I have been surprised by the guilt that I feel that I am giving more to Gavin then to Garth Lee...I never dreamed I would be slighting Garth Lee in any way. I know it is temporary, but I still feel bad to be giving so much to Gavin and to feel like I am giving so little to Garth Lee. So, in case you (I) missed it, I actually have 2 children, even if one has been a little less mentioned lately. (Sorry Garth Lee) I know things will even out here soon once we are all a little more accustomed to having a new one at home and once he is a little less needy.

Thank you Garth Lee for being such a great big brother and for trying your best to listen and make things easier for Mommy and Daddy. Nobody is perfect, but I am so grateful for such a wonderful son for my newest son to look up to, the best big brother he could have, he has...here's proof that we were here in this same place with you a few short years ago:

Oh yeah...the belly...WOW...just wow.

I love you, bud, more than you know ;)

Mr. Chubbs and A Fond Farewell To A Dear Friend

2010-03-22T14:41:00.005-05:00

Well, you know what today is...well probably not, but it is Monday and Monday means "weigh-in" for baby Gavin at the hospital. Today was a big one, he weighed in at a whopping 8lbs, up 10 ounces from last week!!! We have certainly had a time with this guy and his weight, but today, one day after his actual due date, he is over 8 pounds and I couldn't be happier...Garth Lee on the other hand, is having a rough one...

Nemo died. Nemo is his fish that lives at my parents' house. Nemo was bought to replace Roger and that is a whole other story, but it ends about the same. My dad made a little headstone for Nemo and placed it in the back yard. I will get a picture and post it soon, it was really sweet of him and it made Garth Lee feel better that Nemo will not be forgotten. Garth Lee was able to draw a memorial for Nemo's grave, albeit through a river of tears. He was audibly crying for at least an hour, then for a few more hours would burst into random sobs here and there and would just say he was trying to stop crying but he couldn't stop thinking about Nemo. I am so blessed to have a son with such a sensitive spirit, he is so sweet...a lot like his daddy, but I'll never tell ;)

Bringing Home Baby

2010-03-13T21:48:00.003-06:00

Well, this last week has been a little bit of a major bummer. We went to the doctor on Monday when Gavin was 12 days old and we did his newborn screen and a bilirubin test because he was still pretty yellow. His level came back very high which gave us the opportunity to have a home health nurse come to our house and set up a bili light and come everyday and prick his heel to get a bili level until it was <10. The above picture was my attempt to get rid of the jaundice the best we could with a little sunbathing every morning...obviously that didn't work :(

Here is his little bili light. They used to be big boxes and the babies had to wear little covers over their eyes, but now it is a light that they lay on and you have to wrap them in the blanket to get full exposure. The worst part about this was that he had to be in there 24/7, the only time I could take him out was to feed him and to change his diaper...also on Monday I went to the weight clinic at Covenant for nursing moms (in conjunction with the breastfeeding support group) and he was 6lbs 13.5oz and the lactation consultant wanted me to supplement him with an ounce of pumped breastmilk after every feeding to help with the jaundice and to get his weight up. The home health nurse wanted us to supplement with formula because it is better for getting the bilirubin down...anyways, we did supplement a little, he got 3 total ounces of formula and probably 5 or 6 of breastmilk, but then we started having some nursing problems and we decided to cut out the bottles as long as he was still gaining and his numbers were getting better. He is now nursing like a champ again and luckily I was pumping a lot so my supply is fine and on Friday morning he was 7lbs, 1.5oz, just 1.5oz off his birth weight! I am keeping my fingers crossed that we get a good weight report at the weight clinic on Monday. Friday was the big day that his bili level was 9.6, so after 5 days in the light with me not being able to hold him, he was released from his light prison and we are much happier...and then we got a bath...

Gavin's umbilical stump fell off at 8 days old, which is pretty early compared to a lot of babies, but still within normal limits. We had to wait for the bath because of the lights, so his first actual in the tub bath was last night and he *loved* it...and by loved it, I mean he hated it. It was funny, I think he will like it more later, but for now...not so much.

This was his "oh gosh, I can't believe you are seriously making me do this" pose.

We are doing well, just so happy to be free of the lights and doing ok. He is still a very good baby even though everyone said he was just lethargic from the jaundice. He is alert more and more everyday and as Daddy puts it, as long as he is moving or eating he is fine. He is still quite the night owl, but I think most 2 week olds are.

Gavin's First Photo Session

2010-03-07T03:25:00.003-06:00

Gavin Randall Thomas

2010-02-28T21:00:00.004-06:00

Gavin Randall Thomas blessed us with his presence at 12:25 pm on February 25th. He weighed 7 pounds 3 ounces and was 20 inches long.

I went to the doctor for a regular visit on Monday and my blood pressure was up for the first time. This pregnancy has been so great and totally opposite from Garth Lee's where I had problems with my pressures from about 28 weeks. We have both just been doing so well until this week, I also had protein in my urine and hyperreflexia (all signs of preeclampsia). I was just starting my 37th week, so I still had a week to go to be out of the woods more or less as far as maturity of the baby, so we decided to try and get a few more days of him inside and hopefully with me healthy so I started bedrest and I had an appointment set for Wednesday afternoon. Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, my pressures were a little elevated and at the appointment it was also high, still had proteinuria and hyperreflexia. Dr. Lampkin went ahead and checked me and I was 4cm and 80% effaced and with all of this, he decided that we were going to have a baby on Thursday the 25th and I agreed that we want both a healthy mommy and a healthy baby and that would probably be best.

We went in Thursday morning at around 7:30 and Dr. Lampkin broke my water at 8am. We waited to start the pitocin at a good rate until AFTER the epidural, so we waited until the anesthesiologist came before we really augmented labor. I had a few contractions in the hour, but nothing really all that noticeable. I got the epidural at 9am and the nurse checked me and I was a 5 and 100% effaced. Between 10 and 11, I was starting to feel pretty intense pain in one little spot on my hip and remembering what it was like with Garth Lee, I was just worried that it was just going to get worse, so we had the anesthesiologist come and reposition my catheter and she gave me a bolus of pain meds into my epidural...that made me forget how to breathe...my BP dropped to 89/46 and the nurse came and gave me some ephedrine and in 30 seconds I was fine AND the pain in my hip was gone, so I was happy. Everyone was in and out and we were all visiting. Garth decided maybe Grandma should go ahead and pick up Garth Lee at school at noon so that he for sure wouldn't miss anything and even though I was pretty sure it would take longer, I agreed that he should probably come up since he was most likely being crazy at school anyways knowing his baby brother was coming that day. They got there and came into the room about 12:00 and we visited for a little bit as I was starting to feel that hip pain again. I told the nurse that the pain was back and pretty bad and I knew that we could increase the epidural rate, but she said for me to visit with Garth Lee a bit and she would check me first to see where we were, so while I was talking to Garth Lee and everyone else in the room, this pain was getting almost unbearable and I had to ask Garth to get everyone out. The nurse came in right behind and checked me and said, let's just have this baby...and to be honest, I was really leaning more towards the increase the epidural for a minute option, but she didn't really ask ;)...She said I had an anterior lip and with a contraction it would probably go away, so she placed my legs in the stirrups (my epidural REALLY worked...mostly) and started to raise the top of the bed and breakdown the bottom...then everything gets a little fuzzy, I was hurting BAD, she asked Garth (very calmly) to press the call button for her and when they came on she requested the immediate presence of the doctor, (who fortunately was having a sandwich at the nurses station) and nurses...oh and she told me my baby had lots of dark hair. I had 3 contractions right on top of each other...and the more I think about it, maybe it was just one, but I felt some relief with pushing and I pushed 3 times...anyways, Dr. Lampkin was half-dressed and barely got gloves on when Gavin came out. I remember one of the nurses running in saying "someone get the camera" and I looked up and said, um no one is taking "those" pictures (but I am so glad she did, I got some of the best pictures from a nurse taking pictures...and only one we had to delete). The first thing I thought when I saw him was how tiny he was, and when they put him on my belly I just remember I wanted to hold him forever.

We were worried about his lungs being ready, but they were fine. He had a little trouble keeping his temperature at first, but he caught on really fast to that also. When I was able to use one of my legs, we went to a post partum room and anxiously awaited our little man.

This was so opposite of my experience with Garth Lee, while I was being *repaired* (a common side effect of a baby shooting out at lightning fast speeds), I commented that I could totally do that again, that it was so easy. Dr. Lampkin just laughed at me and said I would have to at least wait until I was out of the stirrups. I am so grateful for this experience, but it is so surreal...that it's over, that he is here and we are all healthy and fine. I am so blessed in so many ways and I am so grateful for this birth experience.

I posted pictures in a post below...enjoy ;)

Welcome To The World, Little Man

2010-02-28T20:39:00.004-06:00

The biggest "the belly" got...pretty amazing, and I wasn't even due ;)

Here is the last picture of us as a family of 3...interesting thing about this one is that it was taken very literally 2 minutes before Gavin was born...I'll post the "birth story" in a separate post...

Usually I HATE pictures of myself, especially ones I am not prepared for, but I feel like this one caught a very precious moment of the first time I laid eyes on Gavin, in an instant my tears of pain turned to tears of joy as they placed his gooey body on my belly...

With Gavin being a little over 3 weeks early, there were a lot of things we were worried about, his lungs being the biggest, but as you can see here, he has quite the set and never needed any assistance to breathe...

This is Garth Lee's first time to "'check out" the baby, if you look really close you can see that his eyes are open as wide as can be, he was so amazed to meet his baby brother...

And here we all are just giving him a good inspection...

Here is the proud papa taking Gavin to the nursery...

A very proud big brother holding his very tired little brother for the first time...

I haven't taken as many pictures since we have been home, but this is the one and only time Gavin has been in the swing...looks like he likes it ;)

Insurance

2010-02-12T12:13:00.003-06:00

Garth Lee: "Can I go wake up Daddy?" (Daddy usually works nights and Garth Lee's favorite thing is to go wake him up in the afternoon...after I pick him up for school everyday he is asking about every 5 minutes if it's time yet)

Me: "He's not here honey, he is at work."

Garth Lee: "Again?"

Me: "Yep."

Garth Lee: "Why is Daddy working soooo much?"

Me: "It's so we can all have insurance."

Garth Lee: "We must have LOTS of insurance."

Me: "Yes, honey we do, but we are about to have a baby so we need it because he could come at any time."

Garth Lee: "So we need lots of coverage..."

Me: "Yes, lots of coverage is good for us right now."

Garth Lee: "You know you can have too much coverage."

Thank you Nationwide Insurance for spending all of your advertising dollars to show commercials on Nickelodeon...

Don't Be Fooled ;)

2010-01-30T14:30:00.006-06:00

My wonderful husband is working every waking (and sleeping) hour for the next month in order to make sure we stay covered on insurance while he transitions jobs. His "transition" is actually just him working both full time jobs. I am still having to work my normal schedule (minus a day here and there) which is making us have crazy hectic schedules...anyways, long story short, one of Garth's very limited days off this month (I think one of only 2) was today and since I had to work, the "boys" had a wonderful Saturday together.

I didn't hear anything from them until 11am, since that is around when they woke up and right before they went to the golf store to get Daddy's new golf bag. Garth texts me about 1:00 from IHOP and sends me this picture:

Sooooo cute I was thinking, what a healthy late late breakfast/lunch for the little man (minus the hot chocolate...well it probably has calcium in it). I called him up and asked why they decided to go to IHOP and Garth told me in a 'duh' sort of voice that "Garth Lee wanted pancakes" (he is soooooo not spoiled). So obviously IHOP is pretty much the only place to get pancakes at 1 in the afternoon....then I asked the obvious question after receiving the above picture: "but didn't he have fruit?" Garth told me to wait, he just sent me another picture...

Oh yeah, that's more like it...well at least he didn't fill up on that calcium laced hot chocolate so he would have plenty of room for the pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream with a side of bacon ;)

For Garth Lee's Future Wife...

2010-01-21T21:49:00.004-06:00

There are times when kids talk (most times) that no one is really listening to them...I don't think I am alone in being guilty of this. I find myself often giving in to the "uhmmm, hmmm"s and the periodic nod. I don't do it on purpose, I just find myself mindlessly doing it on an almost daily basis...but there are those times that I not only really listen, but I may just egg his elaborate stories on a bit--something I learned from my mom.

I get sad sometimes because Garth Lee talks a lot about when he grows up and moves away, just nonchalant like as if we were talking about the weather. Maybe this is normal for kids to talk about, but I really don't enjoy that my 5 year old is already looking forward to getting out of the house (remind me about this when he is 30 and he still lives in the basement). Along with talking about moving away, he often mentions things about his "wife" that I find terribly cute and I am always thinking I need to write down so I don't forget, so here are a few things that Garth Lee has told me about his future, specifically about and to his future wife:

1. He is going to let you pick the house that you live will live in (and the city)
2. He is going to be the best husband a wife could ever have
3. He will try really hard not to make you mad
4. You might yell at him when you are married, but only maybe 2 times and it will just be because he made you
5. He is going to have a little boy and he is going to name him Garth 5
6. He's not sure if he has met you yet, but he thinks he hasn't, that he will meet you later

Another thing that is interesting that we have noticed is that Garth Lee is "attracted" to dark-headed girls with glasses. He has had a couple of "girlfriends" at school and at church and they both have had dark brown hair and wear glasses. There is also a cute 'girl' who works at my Mom's salon that Garth Lee is quite smitten with and she, too, has dark hair, but no glasses. Not that I think he does or should have a "type" at this age, I just think it could be interesting to look back later.

Not that my opinion counts or will mean too much when the time comes, but I would like to state, for the record, that I hope that Garth Lee's future wife has all of the qualities that he seeks, and I hope that she is someone that he can look up to and that he will want to be like. I hope that she feels the same way about him, like I do about his daddy. I hope that she is strong but kind and that most of all she will be a wonderful mother to my grandchildren. I hope for them both to be happy and to care about what I hope for them, but to ultimately depend on each other and love each other and do what they know is right for them after counseling with the Lord.

Ok, enough of that! Hopefully we are looking at AT LEAST another 16+ years before all of this comes to fruition. In the meantime, I'm just going to enjoy being the woman in my little man's life.

Family Pictures

2010-01-18T22:48:00.007-06:00

This is sort of embarrassing, but we have not had professional family pictures taken of just the 3 of us...ever. I figured that we should probably go ahead and do that since our family of 3 is very soon to be a foursome. I had the best plans to do these pictures back in November, you know, when I had a cute little pregnant belly and you could only tell I was pregnant when I turned sideways...well fast forward some 2 more months and I am now also pregnant in my bum, thigh and face area as well as quite impressively pregnant where I should be ;) It just so happens that my sister-in-law's best friend Heather is a very talented photographer and she was so gracious to take some pictures of us and I think she did a fantastic job. Of course I am super critical of myself but overall I am very pleased with how they turned out and I don't think they could possibly be better (considering what she had to work with---I am of course referring to myself, not my handsome boys). I know that Garth Lee will be thankful to have at least one family portrait representing the first 5 and a half years of his life that he was our one and only...plus I know that I will be thankful to have them as well--I can hear us now: ahhh the good old days, remember that, Honey, when we only had one, remember how easy that was...Well, I hope y'all like them too...don't forget to go by Heather's blog to check out her other fabulous work and a few more of us: http://www.heatherwitt.blogspot.com/. Here are my favorites:

Catch Up

2010-01-16T08:05:00.003-06:00

I downloaded our pictures from the holidays and the only thing that did for me was make me cry a little and realize that my camera was a big fat "on-sale-but-still-rather-expensive" LESSON. The pictures are all horrible. How can a 12 MP camera take pictures worse than my 5 year old can take on a 1 MP camera? Anyways, I am going to try to figure it out and use some other settings...so no pictures from Christmas, just memories ;)

We had a restful and COLD Christmas. It snowed quite a lot and we had 60+ mph southeasterly wind gusts creating some pretty impressive snow drifts especially with our northwesterly facing house. We are at the end of a block with our house exposed to the north and west giving us close to 6 foot snow drifts blocking our driveway and our front gate (we still have remnants of the drifts in the driveway and by the gate almost a month later which is unheard of somewhere snow never sticks more than a day). Thank goodness Garth had to work the night the storm came in so the car was out of the garage or there is no way we would have been able to leave the house except on foot (or sleigh)...it was pretty though, and a treat for us in this part of the world to have a white Christmas. Garth Lee's favorite gift was a SpongeBob recliner that my parents got for him, it has a cup holder in the armrest and it actually reclines with a footrest that comes out. It was one of the first presents he opened and the rest of the evening we had to bring his presents to his Highness so that he didn't abandon "the chair".

We did have a rather interesting "visitor" to my parents' house Christmas Eve after we had opened all of our presents. The weather was so bad that most of the family wasn't able to come into town, so it was a cozy 3 couples (us, my parents and my uncle and aunt) plus Garth Lee. We were sitting by the fire chatting, charging batteries, etc. when a nice-looking young man, about 21 or so walked right in the front door. We all looked at him and he was very cordial, said hello, was asking about how the night went, told us how his was going...this is when I left the room...you see I don't do embarrassment well, I can't watch people make fools of themselves, it is painful to me. Reality shows are like torture for me because they are pretty much just us watching people make fools of themselves, I can't stand it, it is physically painful for me and I have somewhat of a 6th sense about it and I could feel it rolling in. Once I saw my Dad look at me with questioning eyes and I looked back and shrugged, I knew there were 2 possibilities to this situation 1) This is some really stupid kid that is about to bust out some magazine subscription he wants us to buy to fund his "mission trip" or 2) This is a really confused kid that just walked into the wrong house. My spidey sense was telling me the former would result in my dad chasing this kid off with his pistol (if he was lucky) and the latter would be almost more paralyzing if it were me. Either way, I had no choice but to flee to the back bedroom and hope for the best for this boy. The rest of the story is pieced together from accounts of the happenings that I did not witness myself. The boy walks in and sits on the step to the kitchen and is shooting the breeze with my aunt and he casually asks where everyone else is. She looks up and tells him that this is everyone. He asks for Jamie, which happens to be the youngest daughter of my parents' next door neighbors, and the mystery is solved. From the accounts given by those that could bear to see this boy tortured, it was pretty humorous when he realized his mistake. He hadn't met Jamie's parents yet and tonight was a big night for him, and he was trying his hardest to make a good impression, he was just at the wrong house. My dad patted him on the back as the boy pleaded for him not to tell Jamie's parents what had happened and my dad walked him to the right house and I'm sure he was very nice about it when laughed the whole way across the lawn. The boy should look on the bright side, how many people get a real live practice run at meeting the folks? It was pretty funny and a Christmas memory we won't soon forget...thanks random neighbor boyfriend for that and I hope you had a Merry Christmas and that your aim was better for your New Years kiss.

I've decided I REALLY like having Garth Lee in school and I finally know why my parents weren't nearly as excited about school vacations as I was growing up. Our first week off for Christmas was great, pretty busy and we all got to sleep in...the second week I started to notice in Garth Lee how much he has benefited from the structure that Kindergarten has provided him and we (including Garth Lee) were quite happy to get back to school this year. I can't believe that Garth Lee will be in middle school when Gavin starts kindergarten...crazy how time flies.

Speaking of Gavin, we had another ultrasound this week, probably our last since everything is going well. We were supposed to get awesome pictures for this one but he wasn't having it, he was face down and was covering his face with both arms. He wouldn't show us his boy parts either, so Garth is convinced he is now a she...but we have been reassured in 2 previous ultrasounds that the "equipment" is indeed male. Good news is, he finally turned, we are head down and we have an approximately 80% chance that he will stay that way for the remainder of my pregnancy. My bladder noticed he turned the middle of last week when he stopped kicking it. The weight of a baby pressing on your bladder is bad enough, but it is quite another issue when it is compounded by random direct kicks to it...it's a relief that he is now vertex and no longer breech. The weight estimate for him was 3 lbs 9 oz, which is about the 44th percentile. I was a little disappointed that he wasn't bigger, but I'm not sure why. Hopefully I will have a better chance of this delivery going better if he is and continues to be an average sized baby. But it is also hard for me to ignore the fact that Garth Lee's size estimate was 2 pounds off, so like most things, only time will tell. We have right at 7 weeks to go before we get to meet this little guy, it has been a long road, but a pretty speedy pregnancy...I'm sure these last few weeks will drag into years, but maybe they will fly by, I feel ready to meet this little one and I know Garth Lee is excited too.

Still Here

2010-01-04T17:06:00.002-06:00

Sorry for not blogging in a while, I actually even have pictures but I haven't figured out how to download them yet from my new camera so I will figure it out and hopefully will be posting some meaningful stuff soon for all one (or so) of you to read. Until then...Happy New Year!

Surprise!!!

2009-12-18T15:19:00.010-06:00

I went home early from work yesterday and when I got home, I just wanted to lay down. I peeked my head downstairs to tell Garth that I was going upstairs and as I peeked, I also smelled something, something chemically and wonderful...PAINT!! My fatigue quickly wore off and I darted into the nursery and this is what I found more or less (I did do a little staging, but the WORK had been done):

This is the $3 rocker that Garth got for me at a garage sale. We still need to paint it. I was going to paint it white to match the rest of the furniture, but now I am thinking about kind of just white washing it to keep the "antiquey" feel of it...what do you think? The blanket is monogrammed gavin randall thomas ;)

Here is the crib set up with the bedding...I love it so much!!!!!!

Here is a wider shot of part of the room. In the pictures it looks like we need more stars, but I think it looks ok in person, I guess I will have to get some more opinions "in person". I am thinking about putting our chocolate brown floor length silk curtains over the windows...I will just have to see if the browns match.

This is the changing table set up with random stuff in it...I need to get some baskets and I have lots of the blue paint left so I can paint some baskets blue...or leave them brown, I guess I will try both and see what I like best...This time I haven't bought ANY newborn diapers since with Garth Lee I thought I was soooooo smart buying diapers before the baby was born and I bought lots of sizes, but I bought a box or 2 newborns that he NEVER fit into, so I have started with size 1's and I think I will go ahead and start buying 2's. I guess only time will tell, but I am pretty sure this baby will be at least 8.5 pounds, he feels like he is already about 6 or so...we have an ultrasound on the 11th of January that is supposed to give us a better idea of if he is actually a big baby, so less than a month and we will have at least some idea of if he will follow suit for the Thomas boys, which by the way Garth Lee has been the smallest at 8 lbs 14 oz, his 2 boy cousins were 9 lbs even and 9 lbs 2 oz...but Garth Lee was 2 weeks early ;)

Thank you so much to my husband and to his brother for helping!! It was a wonderful surprise.

Speaking of surprises, I failed my 1 hour glucose screening on Monday, so I get to do the 3 hour test this Monday, YAY--oh and my uterus decided to grow with the baby this time...I have been measuring 2 weeks "small" (I have to put that in quotes, because there really isn't much small about me, so it seems weird to be "small") pretty consistently and this time I was 2 weeks bigger than normal, which is still in normal range, but I feel better about 2 bigger...anywho, 2.5 months to go ;)

Spread The Word...

2009-12-06T15:03:00.003-06:00

I have a blog that I like to read because of how inspiring I think this woman is. She lost her 14 month old daughter a little over a year ago in a tragic accident and she has used her blog to help her through the trials that have resulted from that experience. This past week and up until the 12th, she has an auction going on her blog to benefit another family that has gone through an equally tragic experience. The link to her blog for the auction items is HERE, and the link to the story behind the auction is HERE, auction "rules" are HERE. I know not many people read my blog, but maybe it could make a little bit of difference...Merry Christmas everyone!

You Are What You Eat...

2009-12-04T17:43:00.006-06:00

A List Challenge...kind of fun, quoted from my friend Karen Snow's blog:

"The 'Omnivore's Hundred' was posted on Andrew Wheeler's blog Very Good Taste. The post has become really popular around the food blogging world. I thought I'd take my chances and see how adventurous (or not) I have been. I always thought that I had eaten some strange things, but I've never heard of some of the things on this list! I'm curious about everyone else as well, please do it. Here are the instructions: Copy this list into your blog, including these instructions. Bold all the items you’ve eaten. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating"--I'll put them in red since I don't know how to cross them out in a post.

I will add that I will put the one's in green that I had to look up and I put my simplistic definition in (grey)...Is it sad that I had to look up more than I had eaten?

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding (blood sausage)--after looking up, this is also a not going to try it either
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht (beet soup)
10. Baba ghanoush (eggplant)
11. Calamari
12. Pho (Vietnamese beef and noodle soup)
13. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
14. Aloo gobi (cauliflower and potatoes)
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses (pungent unpasteurized cow's milk cheese, so pungent it has been banned from public transport systems in France)
17. Black truffle--I really would like to try these
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns--sounds yummy
20. Pistachio ice cream--actually my favorite flavor
21. Heirloom tomatoes---really want to try these
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras--not something I aspire to try, but I would
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda (dip made with garlic, anchovies, olive oil, butter and sometimes cream)
31. Wasabi peas--and I spit them right out
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi (salted buttermilk, sort of)
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a big fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu (puffer fish--lethally poisonous if not prepared correctly, so I will also mark this one off the list as well)
47. Chicken tikka masala (curry roast chicken)
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi (pickled fruit kind of like an apricot)
53. Abalone
54. Paneer (Asian cheese)
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle (german egg noodle or dumpling)
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine (French fries topped with cheese curd and brown gravy--a fast food staple in Canada)
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads--kinda like foie gras, I would eat, but not excitedly
63. Kaolin (clay???)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian (asian fruit with strong "offensive" odor)
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini (Russian pancake--I think I knew this already)
73. Louche absinthe (absinthe with water added--also added to the won't try list)
74. Gjetost or brunost (Norwegian brown cheese)
75. Roadkill--eat it at Roadhouse, but it is just the name of a hamburger steak
76. Baijiu (Chinese white liquor--red for me)
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong (Black tea)
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum (Thai fish soup)
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky (Chocolate covered pretzel)
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse--does eating dogfood when you are a kid count?
90. Criollo chocolate (a "brand" of cacao bean)
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa (spice blend)
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor (cheesy lobster stuffing)
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Well, that was if nothing else informative...now your turn.

Thanksgiving Pictures

2009-12-02T11:19:00.007-06:00

We had a very fun family Thanksgiving. We went to my parents' house and we were joined by my 2 aunts and uncles, my cousins Kenny and Sara, the Clements and of course Granny. It was really very nice and the food was good. My dad fried a turkey and it was REALLY good and moist, we cooked the first ham from Horton II and it turned out OK. I think I overcook ham because I am worried that it isn't actually cooked so it gets dry. I guess I have 3 more chances with this piggy to perfect it, so maybe the Easter ham will be better, it wasn't bad though. The kids had a blast and we ate A LOT, so I would say it was certainly a success. Hope you all also had Happy Turkey Days!

Mom and Sara...thanks Sara for the pictures, I was still waiting on the camera to come in the mail, so these are her pictures...hope they aren't copyrighted or at least I hope I have given her sufficient credit (she makes me nervous...she's a lawyer ;))

Garth Lee and Brooke Clement having fun with the whipped cream.

Papa Randy and I comparing "baby" bellies. I feel like I must also say that my belly contained twins at the time...Baby Gavin AND my Thanksgiving dinner belly...I'm really not that big yet (I don't think).

Baby "Mo", just too cute for words.

Gavin Says Hi!

2009-11-23T16:22:00.004-06:00

So here is another blurry phone camera picture of a picture, but I still think it is pretty easy to see what it is. (BTW, Garth ordered me a camera today so it should be here in the next couple of weeks). When we got the ultrasound the tech that was doing it kept apologizing that we didn't get better pictures, but he is frank breech meaning he is completely folded in half with both his legs/feet in front of his face so we didn't get too many good shots of his face, but here we got a pretty good profile and his little hand is waving at us. We don't go back for another ultrasound until January 11th, but the good news is that one should really tell us the size of this guy, if he is on the bigger side. He is measuring a week or 2 big already on the ultrasounds, but I am actually measuring a week or 2 behind in uterus size (they don't really start to worry unless you are measuring 4 weeks big or small though since the measurement of the uterus is pretty subjective with a tape measure), so I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens with that, but nothing to be worried about at this point. My next appointment with the doctor is in December and I don't expect anything major at that one, probably will start going every 2 weeks after that since I will be in my 3rd trimester...sometimes it feels like this has lasted forever I guess because we have tried for so long, but times like right now make me feel like it is going sooooo fast. I am excited though to meet Gavin and to introduce him to the most awesome big brother and Daddy a little boy could ever have. Hopefully I will get the nursery going this week off so I will post pictures when we are done and when my camera comes in.

Reality...And My 100th Post

2009-11-19T18:17:00.005-06:00

I can tell that Garth Lee is starting to worry about how his life is going to change when Gavin comes. We talk about it some, but not in too big a way that would make him stress about it, so I don't really know where he is getting it, but the fact is, he is a very observant and astute child and he may just be realizing it on his own. Last night he started crying in bed because he is going to "miss" me when baby Gavin "comes out". He was comforted when I told him that nothing was going to change about how much we love him, that we are just going to add more love to our family when he comes and that we are going to try very hard to keep our routines in place and add Gavin to them instead of letting him dictate new ones (ok, ok, you can stop laughing now...seriously).

He is oddly very happy to point out that baby Gavin's room is in the "down-down" stairs and his is next to us. He was really upset when I told him that Gavin would be in Mommy and Daddy's room for a while before we banished him to the "down-down" stairs nursery. I told him that he would still be allowed to get into our bed when he wakes up in the morning and that baby Gavin would be in a little crib beside our bed. He cheered up and told me he was so happy that I told him all of that because he was very worried and now he feels better. Although he is very excited about having a little brother, I think in his little mind he thinks he is going to be somehow completely sacrificed for the baby.

I am not delusional (usually) and I do realize that our world is about to change in a big way, but I do want to do my best to make sure that my first son never feels like he is playing second fiddle to his sibling(s) and vice versa.

The last thing he said before finally going to sleep was "Mommy, I think after this one 'we' are done".

Drumroll Please..............

2009-11-13T23:17:00.006-06:00

Well I think we have come up with a name compromise, and by compromise, I mean Garth Lee picked the whole thing, which I think is fair :) So i am 99.9% sure that Garth Lee's baby brother's name is going to be Gavin Randall Thomas...almost sure enough to order the monogrammed stuff. Maybe he will have a future as a Corn Flakes spokesman since the only hesitation I have for this name is that the initials are GRT...

I am so happy he is so active inside of me, I worry so much about him all the time just like I did with Garth Lee and I do know that the worry never stops but at least I can see Garth Lee now and kiss and hold him. I can truly say now that over the last week or so it has hit me that I am going to be a mommy again and that this is for real. I am so excited to meet this guy. I secretly am hoping that he will look like my hubby since Garth Lee pretty much is a male clone of me, a "boy Brooke" if you will (not that it's a bad thing necessarily, he fortunately models after his daddy in behavior and disposition), maybe Gavin will look more like his daddy...either way, I'm really looking forward to what is ahead for us and I know it will be grrrrrrrrrreat!

Deep Thoughts...

2009-11-06T18:49:00.003-06:00

"Mommy...you know...toots can carry different things"

...pause...

"Yes, I guess they can"

...pause...

"Yeah, like air...and sometimes poop"

"Uh huh"

...longer pause...

"Mommy, when we get home, I'm think I'm going to have to change my underwear"

And we are still ready, willing and excited to do this again...we must be nuts ;)

The "G" is Silent...

2009-10-27T12:44:00.002-05:00

Our name game is ongoing... and it doesn't seem like anyone is budging. 2 nights ago I was trying to ease Garth Lee into the naming of his little brother Jackson since it seems like that is the consensus. I said "Don't you think it would be cute to have a little brother and we name him Jackson and we call him Jax?" Garth Lee said "Nope, don't you think it would be cute to name him Gavin and we could call him Gav?"...touche...This morning, Garth Lee woke up and told me that we could name the baby Jackson, which really surprised me until his next comment came. He said "We can name him Jackson, but we will call him Gavin."

Name Game

2009-10-25T09:12:00.010-05:00

As most of you know, this is the first child we are getting to name since Garth Lee was a non-choice being the fourth generation Garth (although I love it). It is a lot harder than I thought to pick out a name that will be this child's his whole life--no pressure though.

We really like family names (obviously) and we want to use them at least for a part of the name. Garth's side got the first kid, so this time I would like to name our son after my side (and Garth agrees). Luckily my dad's name is James Randall, both names that are definitely usable. Garth Lee is learning to read and so he is really recognizing not only all the words that start with a "g"--which he started noticing when he started to recognize his ABC's, he is also loving all words with a "g" in them...and therefore are all his "favorite" words. We have debated having a "g" theme with our kids names since I don't plan on having a Duggar style family, I feel like we can do this without eventually having to have a Gwynward (sorry if someone likes that name). Of course Garth Lee loves this idea, but he doesn't love so much the "g" names I have come up with...except one: Gavin, which Garth and I both LOVE, but Garth has a cousin and a cousin's child that are both named Gavin...but I can also make the argument that there are like 10 Davids on both sides too...so it doesn't necessarily rule it out, plus I've seen his cousin Gavin maybe 3 times in the 10 years we have been together and I have never even met the cousin who named her child Gavin and most likely never will. Before we decided to go with Gavin (which we really like with James), we decided on Jackson Randall for the boy name and call him Jax for short but Garth Lee didn't like it because he has a Jackson in his class that he doesn't care for too much, but we decided that was it anyways...until we found out it was a boy and Garth Lee decided the name was going to be Gavin and it sounded and felt right to all of us.

Anyways...I know there are lots of people who don't like sharing the baby names before they are born, which I understand, but I don't really care and at least if someone steals it and I have already made it public that I picked it, then there is no debate on who had it first ;)...I have documented proof.

I thought the decision was made, but last night when Garth and I were making the trek back to the car after the Tech game he said that he really still likes Jackson Randall, but he still likes Gavin James too. I'm all supportive of those that say "after we see him/her we will just know", but that doesn't help me when I really want to monogram stuff...(see below)

This is the bedding that I LOVE and think I might get--thanks Amanda for the very $$$ idea ;)

So, I guess we have narrowed it down to either Gavin James or Jackson Randall (Jax). Let me know what you think.

It's a BOY!

2009-10-16T19:36:00.002-05:00

Well, we went to the maternal-fetal specialist today to do the anatomy scan of the baby and it's anatomy included boy parts. I am thrilled. I think with the 5.5 year gap between kids, this will connect them, plus I think I just really wanted another boy (I don't know if I can handle a girl yet). We waited for FOREVER in the ultrasound office, apparently 2 of their sonographers were out sick, so Mom had to get back to work, but I promised we would tell her first. Garth Lee got out of school at noon, so I picked him up and told him before we told anyone else and he was VERY excited, he told me he "always wanted a little brother", then we went to Mimi's work and told her first. I am so happy that he will have a little brother. It's kind of funny to me, everyone's reactions seem mixed. I think when you have one sex, people automatically hope for the other sex, but I honestly really wanted a little brother for Garth Lee, so I am excited. Garth Lee has already given him a name, so we will see if it sticks or if he wears it our before the baby comes. I think we might be in for another big one (Garth Lee was 8lbs 14oz and he was 2 weeks early), all of the measurements were about a week to 2 weeks ahead. We will go in another 4 weeks and we will get a better idea of the size. Today he weighed a whopping 10 ounces. We are so blessed and we are praying that the pregnancy continues to be uneventful and that our little boy keeps growing healthily.

Long Time, No Post...

2009-09-26T17:34:00.005-05:00

Well, it sure has been a while and I can't keep giving my procrastinating blogger friends a hard time if I am also an offender. Not too much blogworthy stuff has happened, but this is our life the last few weeks nonetheless:

Garth Lee has had his first 2 soccer games for the fall season and I must say, they are all MUCH better. There are a couple of newer kids that will take some time to get up to the level the other kids are at, but it was actually pretty fun to watch them play. Garth Lee is a very good hustler, he will chase the kid that breaks away to score and almost always overtakes them and gets between him and the goal, we just need to work on him being more aggressive. Daddy (who is also assistant coaching this season) keeps telling him "no more Mr. Nice Guy" and I see Garth Lee out there banging his fist and mouthing it to other kids...
I found me a great OB that I really like a lot. I think we will be a good fit, he was horrified at my labor and delivery experience with Garth Lee (as was I) and he assures me that this time will be much better, so here's hoping...I'm not quite to the point where I have realized I am actually going to have to give birth to this baby, so it will probably hit me soon. I remember with Garth Lee actually panicking when I realized that this thing in me was going to have to find a way out, that there was no turning back...I guess I might stay optimistic this time and just believe my doctor that everything will go better this time...only time will tell. We should find out the sex of the baby October 16th...if baby cooperates.
My future part-time counterpart at work, Amanda, started this week and I couldn't be happier about it, she should be GTG in the next month or so, then towards the first of the year, I will be cutting WAAAAAY back on hours, so I am obviously looking forward to that.
My friend had a 9lb, 9oz baby boy at 3:51 (3+5+1=9) on 9/09/09. Mom and baby are doing well. The named him Enin...just kidding.
My 10 year high school reunion is next weekend...yep, I'm officially old now. At least I have a good reason to look fat...

Hopefully I'll be a better blogger ;)

School lunches, you know you miss them...

2009-09-01T16:00:00.005-05:00

Well, today's choices for Garth Lee's cafeteria lunch were either chicken fried steak or "Mexican" baked potato. So...unless making a baked potato "Mexican" turns it into a hot dog and french fries, there really was no point in having him eat the cafeteria lunch today, it would simply be a buck fifty thrown in the trash can. So we got some lunchables and Daddy got Garth Lee an insulated lunch bag to take to school. I packed him the lunchable, a gogurt and a banana and the report after school today was "that was a spectacular lunch, the best". Spectacular and stunning have been his adjectives of choice lately and it is pretty funny (he watched Pinocchio for the first time and told me it was a "stunning" movie), anyways, Garth takes him into the house after school and he headed straight to the fridge and started packing his lunch for tomorrow. He was disappointed to learn that he has to eat in the cafeteria tomorrow, but luckily, his choices for Thursday are chicken fried rice or broccoli and cheese baked potato, so another stupendous sack lunch it is.

Thoughts/Gummy Bear Update

2009-08-31T12:15:00.008-05:00

Here we go back to music again, but I have been listening to this older Sugarland CD and I have really been enjoying it for a lot of different song reasons, but one in particular has really touched me lately. It is called "Happy Ending", there is one verse that points out that people come from all walks of life and we all have dreams even as young children. It reminds me that it is very important to not push aside the dreams of children (or anyone else) for any reason. We know the odds of becoming the next world-changing leader or even professional sports players are low, but you know what...those were all little kids that grew up with a dream too and they followed it and saw it come to fruition. The song goes:

Cowboys ride into sunsets
The good guy always gets the girl
Cinderella has just fit
A glass slipper that changed her world

We all know the story
We all know the fairy tales
We all get the glory
Of making it for ourselves

From the beginning
We're all looking for a happy ending
Every dream of winning every love we've been in
Right from the beginning, we're looking for a happy ending

We've come here with nothing
And take it with us the day we leave
The first and last breath don't matter
It's all the ones that are in between

It's the reason for living
It's the reason the caged bird sings
It's why we see it in the movies
All the way to the closing scenes

From the beginning
We're all looking for a happy ending
Every dream of winning, every love we've been in
Right from the beginning, we're looking for a happy ending

And for all those dreamers who have come and gone
Who have reached for the stars, who have overcome
You're the hope, you're the wish, you're the truth
Baby, here's the proof:

Baby's born in a ghetto (background "I have a dream speech" spoken by MLK)
Baby's born with a silver spoon (background recording of the first lunar landing)
One tells his mama, "I have a dream"
One tells his mama, "I walk the moon"

I guess I am thinking about this more moving further into this pregnancy. It actually makes me think more about Garth Lee, not really daydreaming about the baby, but all of the possibilities that lay in front of our children if we work hard to help them instead of standing in their way or building obstacles or boundaries that don't really exist.

We had our "big" ultrasound today, our last with the fertility doctor and I have been released to the OB/GYN. I don't see him for another few weeks, but my RE said if I needed anything in the mean time that I could still call them. It was possible (although unlikely) that we could have found out the sex at the ultrasound today, but the umbilical cord was hanging right in between the legs, so no luck, but to be honest I wasn't expecting to find anything out today anyways. It was just pretty great to see the little "guy" jumping around in there and moving all around, it was pretty amazing and touching. The HB was right at about 170, so according to old wives tales, over 140 means girl, but the RE said she has almost never seen a HB under 140 unless it was right at about 6 or 7 weeks, so there ya go. So now we probably won't find out the sex until October...oh well a year ago, or even six months ago I would have given ANYTHING to be bummed that I have to wait a short month or 2 to find out the sex of our baby. We are so blessed in so many ways. They recorded the ultrasound on video (VHS) and if we can find out a way (I've been told it is possible), hopefully we can put it on something else so I can post it here--but that would require quite a bit of technological know-how and a lot of unkowns, so only time will tell if that actually happens ;)

So I added a fuzzy cellphone camera picture I took of one of the ultrasound pictures. In all honesty, that is probably the closest thing we will get to the video on the blog ;)

First Day of School

2009-08-27T10:42:00.004-05:00

Thank goodness for cellphone cameras...notice the sleepy eyes in the first picture. I think that is what we are going to have to work on the most (besides eating cafeteria lunches) is the whole getting up in the morning. Up until this point I have felt blessed with a child that sleeps in, which subsequently allows mommy and daddy to sleep in which is nice...until you HAVE to get up for something, then not so nice when all you want to do is curl up back in bed and that is all he is doing too. I can't complain too much, once he is actually out of the bed he does pretty well, it is just getting him out of the bed that is the hard part.

Garth Lee is going to Honey Elementary. His Kindergarten teacher is Mrs. Scoggin and he really seems to like her a lot. Garth and I both got a bit choked up at the open house when we saw his little name on his locker and saw his classroom, but I was OK the first day of school. My mom and I walked over to pick him up after school the first day and I did tear up a little watching him walk out with his class and his teacher. He is having such a fun time and it is fun to see that. Everyday I get a report on the "slimy" peaches or "gross" french fries (sweet potato fries) that he has tried, but at least he is trying it, I guess. I wanted to just pack his lunches but Daddy overruled me since he feels like he really needs to learn to eat other things, even though I am sure all he is having is a milk (most likely chocolate) and maybe a bite or 2 of the main course and possibly a bite of dessert. I guess he needs to learn sometime and now is as good a time as any.

Anyways, Garth Lee is loving school and we are loving it too!

Our Little Gummy Bear

2009-08-18T16:56:00.002-05:00

Well, we got an improptu ultrasound today because of my progesterone levels (everything was fine). Garth had to work last night and doesn't get off until 8am and the nurse wanted me to come in at 7:50 so I had to take Garth Lee with me to the doctor's office. He woke up pretty well because he was excited to see the baby in the "microscope" and we went to the doctor's office. He got to see the little baby, it was really cute, as soon as he could see my uterus on the screen, he was like "I see it" and when he saw the actual baby he said "Awww, it's so cute". I asked him if he thought it looked like a girl or a boy and he didn't say it looked like either, but I feel like it is a boy more after today's ultrasound. I'm not sure why I feel that way, I think maybe just because I remember seeing Garth Lee in an ultrasound when he was that size and so maybe I correlate it with him having been a boy...I guess only time will tell. The only thing that Garth Lee remembered from the visit and what he is telling everyone is that "There is no blood around the baby". He is right, the nurse did say that, but it is kind of gross that is what he is sharing with everyone. "He" still looks like a little gummy bear (I mean, he is still only the size of a small strawberry), but he was moving all over the place and shaking his head from side to side. The placenta is looking like it has taken over production of hormones and we could see the amniotic sac was fully formed around the baby. We have another ultrasound in 2 weeks and then we are released to a "regular" OB/GYN, so then I probably won't have another ultrasound for another 2 months, so I am enjoying it while I can. I'm glad Garth Lee got to see his little brother/sister and I am also glad there was "no blood around the baby".

Mom Of The Year

2009-08-14T16:46:00.004-05:00

You know you're not going to win any parenting contests when...

1. A random commercial flashes on TV and your child starts singing "Nationwide is on your side" 20 or so seconds before the actual commercial sings it. (Too much TV time anyone?)

2. You ask your child to walk 20 steps to the fridge to get you a cold soda and he looks you straight in the eyes and says "Mommy, I really feel like you are taking advantage of me"--maybe not so horrible if your child is 12 or 16, but mine just turned 5 today and told me this last week.

3. You drop your credit card in a fishy smelling mall fountain and you actually try to use your kid as a fishing pole to get it out.

Come on, you know you have some too...share!

Name Them One By One...

2009-08-10T00:40:00.002-05:00

Garth Lee's surgery went very well. I was upset a little because the anesthesiologist did not premedicate him before taking him back (an anesthesiologist friend told me that they really just need to give the versed to the parents--I certainly would have taken it). It was very sad when he was taken back away from us as he reached out for me and cried, I could barely hold myself together. The surgery took about an hour and a half (much longer than we thought it was supposed to take). When Dr. Britton came in to talk to us, he let us know that this "little" hernia was no such thing, that is was quite a complex case for him. This defect had been there since birth and it has been exposed to increasingly daredevelish acts by my well mannered although at times a little on the hyper side wonderful son. Anyway it was quite a hard repair, but he should do just fine. He woke up well and he wanted to pee more than anything because that is what everyone had told him that once he pees he can go home so that was the first thing he did was disconnect himself from everything that should be connected so that he could pee...and pee he did and almost just walked out the door when our sweet nurse caught us and told him that we would have to lay down for at least and hour and a half before we could go so we showed him on the big clock what to look for to tell him when it was time for us to go. He was very calm and quickly began the hamming up of the injury, but honestly as his mom, I thoroughly enjoyed holding my baby and my baby wanting to be with me. That's the best part. Now, less than a week later the little toot is all over the place. He is a trooper, I know that he really hated his medicine and took it anyways. He's a good and healthy boy and we are so glad that he came out of this even better than before. Thanks to everyone at the Women's and Children's hospital for being so kind and helpful. We had genuinely wonderful people taking care of us. We were quite impressed.

My Best Friend

2009-08-02T12:12:00.005-05:00

My little family has been going through quite a lot lately, the least of which is my purse being stolen. We have also had some pretty wonderful things going on as well, unfortunately they have been overshadowed by the bad things, but you live life and move on...ANYWAYS, in any sort of turmoil you are forced to look at and scrutinize those relationships affected. Through the last while, I have realized that more than anything in this world I love my son, pretty much anyone else can come into or duck out of my life and I know that life will proceed with or without them. Not that I didn't realize that before, but I realize it now more than ever. I am learning that no matter how deeply you let things affect you, you have to do everything you can not to let other people's problems creep into your life and affect your own relationships because that gives someone else control over your life which is never a good thing.
(stepping down from soapbox)
Last night while I was laying in bed with Garth Lee (after I had asked him several times to be quiet and go to sleep), he said "Mommy, you know what I wish I was?", I said "What?", he said "A contact for you." I kind of chuckled and asked him why he would want to be my contact. He said "So you could wear me and I would always be close to you." I thought that was just about the cutest thing I had ever heard and oddly profound because without realizing it he knows that I don't see anything clearly without him to provide me the prospective I require. He is such a sweetheart and he is my life, EVERYTHING else is just small (blurry) potatoes.

No More Pictures

2009-08-01T14:41:00.004-05:00

Well, no pictures from the trip. My purse was stolen from my car last night and among everything else monetarily valuable to me (credit cards, gift cards, and some cash), my camera was in there and was also stolen. I had started carrying it around so that I could catch some more "Kodak" moments. I also had taken pictures of the Cub Scouts bowling Wednesday night and we were going to do some stuff with the pictures in Cubs. I'm sure (hoping) it was just some punk kids, hopefully not some druggie since my State Board of Pharmacy license, my work badge and my business cards were in there, so they not only know I have access to drugs but they know my exact location and my schedule. Of course we have cancelled all of our credit cards and there haven't been any fraudulent charges. I only had about 15 bucks cash in there and that just gets me more than anything--These kids didn't even gain anything out of this, except maybe a camera with pictures from the Grand Canyon and of lots of little kids having a good time, they just wanted to break into someones car and steal something. There was a $50 bill in the console right beside the purse that was still there. Seriously, who does that kind of thing. I'm still really upset about it and I am usually a private person in a lot of ways and I feel really violated. It was also the Mickey Mouse purse I got at Disney World (I know it sounds really "classy" but it really was a cute little bag) so that really bums me out too. Also, something that might be good to know, the divisions of the police department that investigates burglary and identification in this town are not open on the weekends. I guess during regular business hours you are good, but after that you are on your own.

Surgery Tuesday

2009-07-31T12:06:00.002-05:00

Well, somehow, this time being right holds absolutely no satisfaction. Last time I at least had a couple of weeks to mentally prepare, but not this time. Garth Lee's surgery is scheduled for Tuesday morning. Garth said the doctor was really very nice and personable which always helps. I know that Garth Lee is going to be very unhappy when he realizes what is happening, but luckily kids are resilient creatures. Last time he was running around the house about 6 hours later, hopefully things will go just as smoothly this time. I'll keep everyone posted.

It's Back :(

2009-07-30T13:19:00.005-05:00

Last night, Garth Lee's hernia was much bigger (these pictures are from the first time we went to the doctor--the last one is after pushing it back in) and we were not able to completely reduce the hernia (which is not a good thing). At least this time, they just sent us to the surgeon instead of having us come in. We have an appointment with the urologist in the morning, so I guess we will know more after that. I hate to say "I told you so"...oh wait, no I don't--"I TOLD YOU SO!!!!"

P.S. Those are my fingers in the pictures, I was trying to make sure I didn't inadvertently produce some sort of prosecutable photographs, but they ended up still looking questionable...

Public

2009-07-29T18:21:00.005-05:00

Sorry for the whole "going private" scare. I have found it to be way more of a hassle than I thought, so here we are back naked for the world to see. I just have a really hard time believing the world is really that interested when I only have a few friends who are remotely interested, kwim? Anyways, I actually have lots of stuff to blog about, but I want to get my pictures downloaded first. Please bear with me, hopefully I will get them on here tonight and blog about them tomorrow. I know you will be waiting anxiously...mom :)

Well, I guess I could go ahead and post this picture:

If you have never tried REALLY hard to get pregnant, you may not even really be able to see these lines very well, but if you have tried REALLY hard, then these lines are VERY obvious to you. I stopped taking pictures of them when they were darker, but we have already had 2 ultrasounds and have seen the heartbeat (one of the few advantages of being fertilly challenged), so it is actually for real and hopefully this little one will stick. We are of course very excited and are looking forward to our March baby.

P.S. Yep, you are totally looking at a picture of something I've peed on...that is so gross!

I'm Pretty Sure It's ESPN...

2009-07-16T08:32:00.007-05:00

Or ESP, or maybe even PMS, but I had a dream last night. I dreamt that I got online and checked the Texas State Board of Pharmacy website and I saw my husband on there, with a license number, a for real pharmacist. I got up this morning and got to work, checked the website and what did I see...you can probably guess (or already got a call this morning at 8 am) that he WAS there, he IS licenced FOR REAL!!!!!! Can't you hear the HUGE sigh of relief (and the jumping up and down) coming from our house?!?!?!?! Garth is officially official. He has a license number and everything. He called CVS and they already want him to come in to cover for them, surprise, surprise. YAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!! The last 6 years of our lives has been consumed with pharmacy school, and that isn't even counting the 4 years of undergrad before that. Wow, 10 years, I can't believe it's over (or just really starting). As Sarah said, we are "like" real grown ups now.

I would just like to add that I would not trade these years we spent in school, together, struggling with a young family, for ANYTHING. We have learned so much about one another and we have learned to lean on each other and count on each other. Thanks for all the support and encouragement from everyone.

ROTFL

2009-07-06T18:36:00.002-05:00

I just added a new blog to my blog list that is too funny for words. I actually saw it because one of the other blogs I frequent is in some contest for the funniest blog and I clicked on this one because it was FAR in the lead, and after reading it, that distinction is well deserved. The blog is called cake wrecks and it has actual professionally (sometimes that term is used loosly) decorated cakes that somehow have gone wrong. The cakes themselves are really funny, but her captions are HILARIOUS! Here are some of my favs.

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2009/07/and-so-fourth.html
http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2009/07/taking-liberties.html
http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2009/06/tassel-hassles.html (I esp like the Yoda cake description)

More to come, it's time for me to go home now.

Over Halfway There!!!!!

2009-07-06T17:33:00.004-05:00

My husband (and I) got some excellent news in the mail today. He got his letter from the Texas State Board of Pharmacy that he passed his law exam! The law exam is BY FAR more difficult than the NAPLEX so...knock on wood...we are so close to being in the clear. We so needed some good news this week and we are very excited. Thanks to everyone who has supported us through this looooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggg journey. We are almost finished, I can hardly believe it. I am so proud of him (but secretly glad that he scored one point lower than I did on the law exam, heh heh). I truly hope he blows my NAPLEX score out of the water!

I'm a Liar

2009-07-04T15:50:00.002-05:00

So I went private already. I put all the contacts I think I had on here, but if there is anyone I forgot, it was not intentional, and now that I am private, email me at brooketpharmd@hotmail.com if you overhear someone really upset about not being able to read my blog ;) Liza, I need your mom's email, cause I think she actually reads my blog and it makes me feel special. Have a good 4th!!!

Music

2009-07-03T18:08:00.009-05:00

I love music! If there is one thing that I have always wished I could do it is to sing. Not just to sing, but to sing well (and trust me, that wish has not been granted--just ask Garth Lee who is always screaming at me in the car to stop singing). A few months ago, I went to "Time Out For Women" in San Antonio with my sister-in-law and a few of mostly her friends (who quickly and truly became mine as well) and the most impressive part of the whole weekend was the music and I didn't even know there would be music I just went for the company mostly. Honestly, I had never heard of Hilary Weeks before that weekend, but I have never been as impressed as I was to hear her voice and to feel the spirit flooded you as you listened to her songs. Her CD's are great (and of course I bought several of them), but they do not do her actual voice justice. Anyways, I have been listening to one of her CD's lately and a favorite has emerged, it's called "He'll Carry You". I am so blessed in my life that I really don't think of myself when I hear these words. I know there have been and will be times that this song is for my own uplifting, but lately I have thought of others when I heard these words. I hope that those people can be comforted and know that they are never alone. Here are the words:

He knows your heart

He knows your pain

He knows the strength it took just to simply breathe today

He sees the tears that you cry

He knows your soul is aching to know why

He hears your prayers each humble word

When you said you couldn’t face another day he understood

He knows the path that you will find

Though you felt alone he’s never left your side

He knew there’d be moments when no earthly words could take away your sorrow

And no human eyes could see what you’re going through

When you’ve taken your last step and done all that you can do

He will lift your heavy load and carry you

He’ll bring you peace and leave you hope

And in the darkest night he’ll comfort you

Until you know the sun will rise and each new day

You will have the strength to live again

And when there are moments when no earthly words can take away your sorrow

And no human eyes could see what you’re going through

When you’ve taken your last step and done all that you can do

He will lift your heavy load and carry you

He hears you when you’re crying in the night

He hears you when your soul longs to find

Till the morning will come

And the light of the dawn reassures

That in the moments when no earthly words can take away your sorrow

And no human eyes could see what you’re going through

When you’ve taken your last step and done all that you can do

He will lift your heavy load and carry you

As a little bit of a funny...There was a little introduction period in the middle where all of the presenters and performers formally introduced themselves and Hilary sang a little song that described her favorite things, to the tune of "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music. I can't find the lyrics, but I think I have a link to the actual song, but I will have to do it from home and I *hope* to load it tonight. It is sooooo worth the wait.

Going Private

2009-07-02T16:54:00.004-05:00

It kind of stinks, and no I haven't had any weird stalkers or anything, I just think I would feel more comfortable posting whatever I wanted to. I am so glad that I have had people stumble upon me and I hope that I get everyone's comments so that you can all get on. Please comment to this post if you would like to be added to 'the list'. I think I will do it in the next couple of weeks so I can give the laggers time to respond (you know who you are).

For a laugh, go to this post on The Meanest Mom (her posts are usually cute, but this one made me laugh out loud): http://themeanestmom.blogspot.com/2009/07/bike-raffle.html

Her blog says to make sure and don't take anything from her site without proper attribution, so I hope I have done enough and I don't get in trouble since I don't remember my APA reference formatting, especially not for blogs. This lady is so honest and FUNNY!!!!

A Couple More

2009-06-21T16:11:00.005-05:00

This morning, Garth and I substitute taught Garth Lee's 5 year old Sunday School class. The lesson was over repentance and the Atonement. We talked about being sorry if we do something wrong and making it right. I asked the class "Why did Jesus Christ die for us?" My own son answered very seriously and reverently "So we could have Easter."

The following is a joke Garth Lee made up all on his own:
What do you call cheese that is rotten? Stinky!

Little Things

2009-06-20T18:30:00.002-05:00

Nothing too blog worthy to post lately, but there have been a few little things going on, just for update's sake.

Garth Lee has another hernia, on the other side from his surgical repair when he was 18 months old. We took him to the doctor Monday and he couldn't feel it, so he sent us to get an ultrasound and they didn't find anything, so everyone thinks I don't know what I am seeing. They actually said it could have been just a really big bowel movement making it's way down that I may have felt or seen. So I took pictures (non-kiddie porn style) and I am trying to decide if I feel like I need to take him in again and bring the pictures to *prove* he has the hernia or just wait and see what happens, hope it doesn't strangulate...but I REALLY don't want to do surgery again, anyways, I will post the pictures when I download them and you can judge for yourselves--it doesn't take a rocket surgeon
We had to separate Princess and Spike (we are nicknaming them Jon and Kate for the time being). They are apparently fighting and can't sleep in the same crate anymore, so now they get 2 crates. Garth asked me why Princess got the old crate from the garage since we have had her for 6 years and Spike only for 1, I told him it was because I like Jon better...
Garth has started working nights at CVS and he really likes it. Garth Lee and I really like it too because we get to stay up late in the "big" bed and watch movies and eat popcorn and we don't have Daddy giving us "the look"--we have to enjoy it now because school starts August 24th...wow I can't believe how big he is getting. Last night we fell asleep watching "Bee Movie" and Garth Lee was eating a ring pop (don't tell his dentist), he woke up at about 4am with the ring pop stuck to his shirt freaking out screaming "Bees! Bees!" I ripped the ring pop from his shirt and told him it was his candy, not a huge killer bee stuck to his jammies, and he curled back up next to me and went back to sleep. (Wow, I just realized what a bad mom this post makes me look like)
We found out a few weeks ago that we are getting a new niece. I didn't want to post about it before because I didn't want to be the one breaking the news, but it has been a while now, I am pretty sure that anyone who cares already knows. Spencer and Jenny are having another little girl, due mid-October and her name will be Caroline Ann(e)--I'm not positive on the spelling, but it's cute either way.
I am working the next 3 weeks straight, my regular week, then a week of nights at Women's and Children's, then my next regular week here. My next day off is July 8th and I have told CVS that I am available that next week. YAY! (Did I mention I can't wait for Garth to pass his boards?)
We still don't know when Garth will be able to take the boards, but we will most likely know by Monday--so hopefully in a month or so we will be having a party celebrating his licensure!!!!!!

Disney Trip 2009

2009-06-15T11:58:00.015-05:00

The early morning ride to the airport was too exciting for words.

Garth Lee's first airplane ride. Ms. K, the music teacher from his preschool, made him a CD with several of his favorite songs on it and he thoroughly enjoyed it. It was too funny because he doesn't exactly understand the concept behind headphones and that he doesn't have to hear himself for us to hear him. He was singing along with the songs at the top of his lungs and laughing. He kept looking at us like we should be laughing and singing too. Thankfully the people around us on the plane thought it was cute too.

This is where we waited for the shuttle to the Disney parks everyday.

Waiting for the ferry to Magic Kingdom, we were already having to make sure we stayed hydrated with their $2.50 bottles of water.

The fam at the entrance to Magic Kingdom

Out of order picture of Garth Lee sleeping the whole flight from Houston to Orlando.

Papa and Garth Lee at Magic Kingdom

Our first show and sighting of Mickey Mouse, there was a whole "wishes come true" theme and Garth Lee kept asking me "Mommy, do wishes really come true", it was very cute!

The Thomas' on the obligatory "It's a Small World" ride

Playing at the Winnie the Pooh playground

Walt Disney and Mickey

This was pretty much the theme of the whole trip-get wet anytime and anyway you possibly can. There were little surprise water springs coming from the ground at the Winnie the Pooh playground.

When shooting fireworks shots, unless you have a really quick shutter, or are a lot better at photography than I am, you just have to get lucky to get a good shot, and I so got lucky here.

And here

Pirate goofy ears...so cool

Mickey ears...with shade

The outside of the resort check-in.

Hollywood Studios Fantasia hat

Our Mickey pic with the family...Garth Lee was so proud

Russell and Dog from "Up". We haven't seen it yet, but Garth Lee was excited all the same to get pictures with them and to get their autographs.

The Incredibles

Frozone

Passing the time waiting in line for something

Our little jedi

Lighting McQueen and Mater

Quincy from Little Einsteins

Oh look...another fountain, this time Miss Piggy

The luau with cousins Reese and Rachel

The kids learning to hula, he warmed up to it I promise.

I just thought this was a neato ornament

more hula

oh yea, he is the hula king by this point

K, so this is so not a girl, and it was kind of hard to concentrate on the luau with it dancing

These dancers were also distracting ;)

Fire Dancer

Animal Kingdom Safari

Feeding the dolphins at SeaWorld. This was pretty amazing to me, and probably my favorite part.

Goofy and Pluto at Animal Kingdom

Mommy and Garth Lee at the Shamu show "Believe"

MiMi and Little G

Garth Lee and the whale trainer

A real shark swimming over us at SeaWorld

The little seal was only one day old

Our last day at Bonnet Creek, one of the activities was face painting. The lady that did it was amazing, she did this in less than a minute and he was very concerned that it stay on and kept asking every 5 minutes if it was all still on his face.

Daytona Beach. I thought he may be afraid of the water, but he absolutely loved it and ran out into it until I yelled at him to come back until Daddy went out with him.

A pretty cute grandpa, Garth and Garth Lee picture.

Our first sunset at Daytona

My cousin Jeni and her husband Bryan

Building sand castles

My boys

The view from our room...seriously

Coming home, Garth Lee enjoyed a little light reading

My little beach comber

We had a blast! And if you got all the way to the end of this post, congratulations.

Graduation Pictures

2009-06-15T11:52:00.004-05:00

The Thomas Family with their guns up

Garth, his mom and Gigi

Garth and my mom

Garth and his mom

TTUHSC graduates 2009...look at all the seats of people who skipped out...crazy

Passing the time at the hooding ceremony (probably if we could all bend that way, we would have been doing the same thing

The happily graduated family

See how much fun I'm having mommy! Way to go Daddy!

Weeeeeeeeee're Baaaaack

2009-06-09T08:53:00.003-05:00

And you know what that means, only a week or so of waiting for the actual posts from the trip. Hopefully I will download the pictures tonight and I want to blog about it before I forget everything. We had a great time. It truly was a magical time with our family. It was very sad to leave Daddy in Dallas for work, Garth Lee cried for about an hour while we waited for our plane. I can't wait to get everything together and blogged on here. Thanks to everyone for holding down the fort back home and to those of you who joined us, we can't wait to do it again!

Congratulations!

2009-05-21T19:56:00.005-05:00

I am so happy to announce the graduation of my wonderful husband. Like I always do, I will have to post pictures later because they are still being held captive on the camera. The Friday before graduation was the hooding ceremony. They have also added a new alumni banquet to the list of festivities since my graduation and that was pretty fun too. The hooding was very emotional, until it got the the slide show presentation and while we had all been waiting for hours through banquet and speeches and the hooding of his entire class, it got to him and whoever put the slide show together did not put one of the pictures that we sent into the slide show, it had Garth's school picture and a big picture of the health sciences center on it...what a rip off. It made me madder than it should have, but it really kind of sucked. Oh well. After the hooding, I had to run to work (since I had been paged 5 times during Garth's festivities) and so I took my mom with me and she got to see a little of what I do, then we went to a reception in the club seats at the stadium and it was pretty great. The food was good and unfortunately the view was really good, so Garth was already picking out our $30,000 football seats. Saturday was the actual graduation and it went flawlessly, Garth's brothers both made it to see their big brother receive his Doctor of Pharmacy degree. It was pretty moving. I seriously cannot believe that we are here, finished, done.

Thinking back, we have never been together when we were not in school full time. NEVER. When we started dating, I was a Freshman in college and we were engaged for both of our Sophomore years of school. We both worked full time and went to school full time for 3 years while we were finishing up school at Tech before we moved to Amarillo for my first year of Pharmacy School. When I started in Amarillo, I stopped working full time and I was just going to school full time, but Garth finished his studies at WT and worked full time too so we could pay the bills. When he got into Pharmacy School the following year, he started school full time and 'only' worked part-time (slacker), oh and he also became a dad that year. Since then, he has always worked at least part time while getting through a doctorate program to support his family. We may have had some bumps in the road, but we got here and we are so happy to be here. This Tuesday, I was working at CVS and so was Garth and I kind of got choked up a little thinking about how in the 9 years we have been together, 8 of them married, this was the first day that we were both working full-time jobs that were not interim, or intern, or tech jobs, that neither of us had to run to class after this, that we were both making a paycheck. It was a pretty amazing thought. We have worked hard to get here, so now all he has to do is pass the boards, then I quit ;) Kidding...sort of.

Anyways, congrats to my husband. Even though he doesn't even know what a blog is and he will most likely never read these words, I know he knows how proud of him that I am and how grateful we are to have such a loving father and husband in our home to protect us and to provide for us. Thanks for all the work you have done for us, and I hope that the $400 football tickets are enough for this year, and maybe next year I will let you even get a seat with a back on it. Love you forever!

More Garth Leeisms

2009-05-07T15:19:00.003-05:00

Although I haven't had much blogworthy happen lately, there have been a few cute things that I would like to record for my posterity:

#1: My parents save aluminum cans and they have for as long as I can remember. They are not environmentalists, mind you, I think it has continued out of habit since I went on a save the earth kick in the fourth grade. They also drive an 8 mpg "shaggin' wagon" just to even things out. Anyways, you can get more cans in a bag if they are crushed, something I 'joyfully' did as a youngster and that my son apparently enjoys now. My dad walked up on him with a can in the crusher just as he asked the can "Any last words?", I swear the can let out a whimper.

#2: The other day we were sitting together having dinner as a family, which is sadly a rarity for us. I was eating some veggies with ranch dip and I wanted Garth Lee to try the broccoli. We talked to him about how he needs to eat his veggies to grow big and strong, and the rest of the conversation went something like this:

Garth Lee: "Don't worry mommy, I am going to grow up straight, not fat like you and daddy."
Me: "But mommy isn't fat anymore, is she?"
Garth Lee: "Ummm, yeah, you are still a little fat."
Me: "Where am I still fat, I thought I was not fat anymore."
Garth Lee: "Sorry mommy, but you are still a little fat, kind of everywhere, but don't worry, I will stay straight, not fat."
Me: "But daddy is a lot fatter than mommy, right." (Classy, I know)
Garth Lee: "I'm sorry mommy, daddy is only a little fatter, it's OK mommy, you are just still a little fat, but I still love you."
Me: "I love you too." (but I loved you more 15 minutes ago)

Yes, we still had the people come in all shapes, sizes and colors discussion, this was just the best part of it. He was seriously not trying to be mean at all, he was just being very honest and serious. I also like that the opposite of 'fat' to him is 'straight'. I guess it isn't so bad to not be 'straight' I just wish there was an in between...well I guess I am just a little fat, I can take that.

#3: My mom took Garth Lee shopping this week and he wanted to get me something for Mother's Day. When he came home, he told me "We do NOT have anything in the car for you, BUT if we do, you are not getting it until St. Mommy's Day." Gosh, I hope that is sometime close to Mother's Day.

I love my little boy. It makes me sad to see him growing up. It wasn't that long ago when I was just hoping and praying he would sleep through the night. I love to see him change and grow, but I do still mourn the baby I had that is now my little boy.

Tagged...A little Late

2009-04-24T11:55:00.004-05:00

My Pharmacy School friend Amanda tagged me a looooong time ago and I just saw it, so here goes:

4th picture in 4th file, no cheating:

Obviously bathtime. This was at a hotel at the Grand Canyon the summer of 2007, so Garth Lee was almost 3 then. We had a great time, I didn't want to cheat, so he looks like he has a foot coming out of his torso, so here is the next one in the file, eating shampoo:

And Less Than a Month Later...

2009-04-21T10:51:00.011-05:00

This is us at 5 in the morning after a night of absolutely no sleep because of the water leak in our house the night before. Our flight was delayed over an hour and a half, so we were there VERY early! Thanks Kelton for getting up to take us to the airport at 4 something in the morning.

This was the view from our first room. The resort was right off of the entrance to the rainforest, so here was our rainforest view. No offense to the rainforest, but we really wanted an ocean view so we were able to switch rooms the next day.

This was the view from the room across the hall from our rainforest view room.

This is out the front entrance of the resort, the weather and the scenery were beautiful.

The view from our second room, we were right off the pool then if you look past it, you can see the surf. It was a really great place to be, the scenery was always changing.

Fort Del Morro

View of Cristobal from Morro.

The grounds of Cristobal, all I could think was how much fun Garth Lee would have running around in that field.

Entrance to Cristobal.

Garth really loved the weaponry, so here we are on a cannon at Cristobal.

I especially love that he is carrying my bag in this picture...so vogue!

More fortress views.

The day we went to the rainforest was the only day it rained, which I thought was pretty fitting, this picture shows the rain rolling in over us.

Orchids

More rain in the rainforest

The hike to the waterfall was considered "moderately difficult", I would say that was quite the understatement...here is Garth taking a break. My favorite quote from him that day while we were hiking came after I mentioned that I wish I would have brought a pedometer and he replied "Really? I wish I would have brought a cheeseburger."

Part of the "moderate" hike.

Our prize...it was truly breathtaking...and cold.

But we, of course, still had to get a little wet, it was great...and cold.

Marina Puerto Del Rey, where our snorkeling excursion began.

Cuelebrita Island, very very beautiful, crystal clear waters. This beach is accessible only by boat and it was absolutely gorgeous, this is where we went after our snorkeling excursion.

Look at that water...ahhhh.

More beautiful beachiness.

I thought this picture was kind of funny because here we are on a tropical island and with the cactus and rocks, it looks like I was taking a picture at Lake Allen Henry here in west Texas.

After a formidable hike to the shallows, we were rewarded with beautiful warm pools of water and we could watch the waves roll in through the rock formations, it was probably the most beautiful place we saw the entire trip, as usual the pictures definately do not do this place justice, it was incredible.

A dip in the rock pools.

Beachcombing along our miles of secluded beachfront off the resort.

Just about a quarter of a mile down from our resort was a river outlet. It was a pretty amazing sight. This is garth standing right were the river ends and the ocean begins.

Body surfing is what Garth had the most fun doing and he kept asking me to take pictures of him doing it, but they all ended up just pictures of him waiting for a wave or pictures of just a wave with him in it somewhere. So here is a picture of Garth in the ocean, just trust me that he was body surfing and that he got really good at it.

One of the pools at the resort, very refreshing.

Have a "Hoppy" Easter

2009-04-12T10:27:00.006-05:00

Check out this website for a laugh: http://www.peepresearch.org/

The solubility testing is particularly interesting and the Medical Miracle section is hilarious!

The Luckiest Mom

2009-04-10T14:09:00.004-05:00

Ok, ok, I know we have been back for almost a week now, but I still haven't been able to upload the pictures because I have been working since we got back, so I will blog about our trip when I get the pictures on the computer. But, we did have a great time. Anyways, I wanted to write this down before I forget about it because it was so special to me. As I have said before, without apology, I still lay down with Garth Lee for him to go to sleep at night and I LOVE IT. Two nights ago, as we were laying down, he was talking to me like he always does to keep himself awake for as long as he possibly can (and even though I am always telling him to stop talking so he can go to sleep, this is secretly my absolute favorite part of everyday). He had been quiet for a while so I thought he was asleep, then he turned over and put his hand on my cheek and told me that I was "the best mommy he has ever had". He told me that he was so glad that he was born in my tummy and that he was sorry that my tummy hurt when he was born, but he was just really excited to see me (you think maybe I watch too many baby shows on tv?) The last thing he said was "you are so good to me" and then he went to sleep. I don't know where they get the things they say sometimes, but sometimes it is just what you need to hear.

Oh, he also was making a mental list of things that started with the letter G on a different night. He realized that GiGi has 2 G's and he said "but when PawPaw talks to GiGi, he calls her July", then he giggles because he is sooooo proud of his clever joke, her name is June. I thought it was pretty cute and clever too.

Excuses Needed

2009-03-03T18:15:00.004-06:00

So I have hit a major stall on the weight-loss front and I still have about 15-20 pounds to go and I know that I need to up the exercise to get there. I used to roll my eyes so hard you could hear it when people would talk about their "last 5 or 10 pounds" and how they were the hardest to lose. I officially take those eye rolls back. Last week, I really want(ed) to start running. Not because I want to run, mind you, but because I want to look like a runner. So, I was going to start last week, but my MP3 player was dead, then we had a cold front blow in, and so on. Today it was 85 degrees and tomorrow it will get up to 88 degrees and my MP3 player has been charging for over a week now. So, I am officially out of excuses and I need some more, so bring them on or I am actually going to have to do this thing...please, please don't let that happen.

Oh and by the way, yes that is totally me in the picture, they really should have asked before using it...dang paparazzi.

A Jim Gaffigan quote does come to mind when looking at this picture: "I saw this chick at the gym the other day and you could see her ribs. All I could think was, 'man, I haven't had a McRib in forever.'"

Testimony Meeting

2009-03-01T12:45:00.004-06:00

For those of you reader(s) who don't go to our church, the first Sunday of each month is set aside at our church for Fast and Testimony meeting. This means that those that are able, fast for 2 meals (no food or drink) and we donate that money that we would have used for food to the church for fast offering that goes to those who have a hard time affording food at all. On these Sundays, we also have a testimony meeting, which means that there are not people assigned to speak and anyone in the congregation can get up and bear (or bury as a most kids tend to say) their testimonies. As you can imagine, this is usually a very powerful meeting with lots of tears, especially on the part of those that are bearing their testimonies.

Last Sunday when it was time for testimonies, Garth (my husband) got up and walked out and I felt so great, thinking that he was about to bear his testimony, then he came back with a tithing slip in hand. I decided maybe I should get up if for no other reason than to set an example for my husband and son. I went up and bore my testimony that I am so grateful for the Gospel in my life and especially for the knowledge that families can be together forever. I am extremely grateful for this knowledge and I wanted to share.

I went to go sit down and another woman from our church got up and was tearfully bearing her testimony. When I sat beside Garth Lee he wanted to talk to me and I thought we were about to have a strong spiritual exchange, it went something like this:

"Mommy, why didn't you cry?"

"I guess I just didn't feel like crying."

"Mommy, you didn't do it right, you are supposed to cry!"

He wouldn't talk to me for the rest of the meeting, and he wanted Garth to walk him to primary. I guess it would be too embarrassing to be seen cavorting with one that doesn't know how to even bear testimony. Next time, even if I have to bring an onion, there will be tears by golly.

Random Thoughts by Garth Lee

2009-03-01T12:38:00.008-06:00

Garth and I now have a new phrase that we are loving using, here is where we got it. Feel free to use it whenever there is a lull in the conversation, or just whenever, it really seems to fit any situation.

Garth Lee: to no one and about nothing in particular--"You know what this needs...maracas."

A Big Wish

2009-02-26T15:10:00.002-06:00

Garth Lee and I (by the way, I am spelling his name Garth Lee now instead of Garth Le because everyone figures I just left off an E and we say it Garth Lee, so that is what he writes on all of his papers in school, so even though his middle name is not Lee, but LeBaron, which is pronounced nothing like Lee, that is now what I am going to "call" him...to avoid confusion of course) went to the mall last week when I was off and we did productive things like go play with puppies at the pet store, play at the mall "safari" playground and stock up on 'cheap' Bath and Body works $3 hand soap. As we were leaving, Garth Lee told me he wanted to do "one more thing", and this is how it went down...literally:

Garth Lee: "I really want to do something else at the mall before we leave."

Me: "There really isn't anything else here that you would like to do."

Garth Lee: "Oh, look, there's the fountains, I really want to throw a penny in it, do you have a penny."

Me: "Sure, that sounds fun" (and cheap).

So since I know you are picturing this episode just like an Oscar winning movie...pan out and cue the "du-du-duuuuuuh", you know, like when something REALLY bad is about to happen and the music warns you...man I wish movie music played in real life, like whenever I walked by Bath and Body Works, if the Jaws theme song would have played I never would have gone in...

I walk right up to the fountain, open my wallet, and my credit card leaps from my wallet into the stagnant, fishy smelling (there have never been fish in the water), bluish-brown, dead bug-infested mall fountain water.

Garth Lee: with a building tear "Mommy, why did you DO that, now we will never be able to buy ANYTHING."

Me: "I didn't do it on purpose, take off your shirt."

Garth Lee: frightened "Why?"

Me: "I'm going to hold you by your legs and lower you into the "water" and you are going to grab it."

Garth Lee: "You stay here and I will go tell someone to call the police to help us."

So he goes to the little nut (as in pecans and almonds) stand and tells the two 16-year-old girl workers that his mommy dropped her credit card in the fountain. In unison they look over at me at the fountain with puzzled looks on their faces and I nod to confirm that this 4 year old is not making this up. They, of course, thought this was HILARIOUS and had to laugh for at least 5 minutes before calling anyone to help. Garth Lee comes back to me, looks at me all ashamed, shakes his head and tells me I really shouldn't have dropped my credit card in the fountain.

At this point, I am noticing that the water is a little too deep to have Garth Lee by the legs and have him reach for it, so I have him take off his pants and I place him in the yummy mixture that is apparently 33 degrees and surprisingly deep, coming up to his waist, so he quickly decides that was not a good idea, so we wait 20 minutes for the "police" (mall security) to show up to help us.

The "police" show up and are maybe 17 years old and they think this is very hilarious as well, and I did too...30 minutes ago. They proceeded to use a wooden spoon from the nut shop to retrieve my credit card from the fishy water.

Then we ride off into the sunset with Garth Lee chastising me for "letting" my credit card fall in the water while he walks straight-legged across the mall to the car so he doesn't chafe from his wet (and fishy) undies.

P.S. I did buy some nuts from the girls that "helped" on the way out of the mall as a kind gesture, but they will be my last. I have made a mental note that they don't have the cleanest spoons...just for future reference.

Sixth Sense?

2009-02-15T12:18:00.007-06:00

A conversation on our way home from church today:

Garth Le: "Mommy, I really have to go potty."

Me: "Honey, we are really close to home, why don't you just play your game to get your mind off of it and we will be there before you know it."

Garth Le: (hesitantly) "ohhhhhkaaaaaay."

about 30 seconds later...

Garth Le: "Mommy, I tried to keep my mind on the game but my pee sense won't let me."

Is that sort of like a Spidey sense?

Garth Le: "When we get home, can I pee in the yard?"

Me: "Whatever, as long as you don't pee in the car."

--I see wet people

The Countdown Is On!

2009-02-14T15:57:00.006-06:00

Graduation is 3 months from Monday...but who's counting?

So Garth (and subsequently all of us) had a big week last week with Garth finishing his last week of rotation and his LAST grand rounds EVER (as long as he passes). He did very well, getting an A in his primary care rotation at the VA, and his next one is research at the school, which shouldn't be too terrible. Then he has the MOTHER of all rotations at the very end: Adult Med. It is a blessing and a curse that he ends with this, it will help him in studying for his board exams, but it is a booger to end on.

It is so crazy to me that this 'drugged up' journey that we started some 6 years ago (not counting undergrad) is about to come to an end. To be honest, it really went slow when we were in the midst of it, but looking back I cannot believe that we are less than 100 days from graduation. It has been anything but a smooth ride getting here, but the bumps helped us in the end.

When I graduated, it was such a great feeling, but it didn't feel over since we still had a long row to hoe with regards to Garth getting out of school. I seriously am going to be the crazy person in the stands with an air horn at graduaiton.

Everyone keep Garth in your prayers that he will get through the next couple of months without any hitches and we will be having a graduation party to end all graduation parties sometime soon.

Valentines

2009-02-11T15:10:00.002-06:00

Last night Garth Le and I needed to give Daddy some space since he had a really big day today with his grand rounds presentation and his primary care final, so we got lots of fun stuff to make valentines. We got the normal paper valentines for his classmates (Scooby-Doo), and we made some really fancy ones for our family. He did really well and I will try and remember to take some pictures of them and post them to show how great a job he did. When we were working on them, he said "Mommy, this is the best night ever, don't you wish every night was like this night?" I sure do.

Fish Post

2009-02-01T14:40:00.011-06:00

Garth Le goes to the best little preschool, St. Lukes. It is a religious school, as Garth Le says, it has a church "stuck right to it". I love the teachers and the lessons. The kids have learned a lot of, I will say, interesting songs as well, complete with motions and everything. Over the last couple of days, a particular one has gotten stuck in his head and he has been singing it non-stop. He has been walking everywhere humming the tune and repeating "Singing to the Lord, a new sardine..." over and over. I asked him the other night "Are you sure it is 'a new sardine'"? He looked at me like I was insane and told me "yeah mom, it's a fish". I was like "I know it's a fish, but are you sure those are the words"? He, again, looked at me like I should be in a padded cell and said "yes, I am SURE". The next day after school, after having, no doubt, sung the song, he was running around repeating "Singing to the Lord, the new born king". I stifled a giggle and asked him if those were the actual words to the song, if maybe he forgot, but he quickly let me know that was the second verse. Addendum: I'm still going to leave this story up because I think it is still funny, but I was just informed by a nurse I work with that those really are the words to a church song (the new sardine), so...that is what I get for second guessing a 4 year-old's "Lord as a fish" song. I promise to apologize to him tonight.

In a sort of related story, about 2 years ago, in a momentary lapse of judgement, I bought Garth Le a beta fish at Wal-mart. He named him Roger and we got a bowl and some food and some rocks. Roger lived about a week. At the time Garth Le seemed pretty ok with it, telling everyone that Roger "bit the dust". In a similar lapse of judgement, my mom got a beta fish for Garth Le at Wal-mart to replace Roger and we "let" her keep it at her house, his name is Nemo. Last night we were at my parents' house and as Garth Le fed Nemo, I commented on how great my parents are at keeping fish that have a normal life span of months rather than years alive for a long time. I had a beta in high school that I figured would be a short term commitment that my parents ended up taking care of as I went to college. It lived more than 4 years, which is about 167 in beta years I am pretty sure. Nemo has been going strong for close to 2 years now. I told my mom how great it was that Nemo is doing so well as opposed to Roger with Garth Le out of earshot...or so I thought. He came over and started bawling, put his head in his hands sobbing with only the occasional "Oh Roger" or "I miss you Roger" escaping from his quivering lips. He asked me where Roger went and I told him he went to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus and that they are taking good care of him. He asked me if they were "making him alive again", I told him no that he would want to stay there, then he put his head back in his hands and cried a lot more. While all of this is going on, we are trying really hard not to laugh because Garth Le is being VERY dramatic about this, my dad finally clues into what is going on and he asks me if Roger is the fish we "F-L-U-S-Hed", and I said, "actually, he went in the D-U-M-P-S-T-E-R", Garth Le looked up at me teary-eyed and cried, "Mommy, what did that spell", and as everyone snapped their heads at me in anticipation of how I was going to get out of this, I replied "Heaven".

A Day in The Life

2009-01-31T18:37:00.004-06:00

Inspired by a friend of mine's post about her daily activities (her blog is private, so I won't bother with the link), I thought I would throw mine into the mix because it was pretty fun to read hers. Although I don't have a 3 year old and twin one year olds like she does and it's not that I think my life is so interesting, it might be fun to look back at down the road.

6:30-Alarm goes off (for the first time)
7:30-I get up (no, that's not a typo)
7:30-7:45-I brush my teeth, get dressed brush my hair and kiss my sleeping boys goodbye

8:00-Get to work (where I should have been at 7:30, but hey, it is Saturday and I am the boss)

8:00-7pm: Work, blog, work some more
7:15-Meet my parents and husband at the country club for "birthday night"
8:00-cook hot wings for Super Bowl party tomorrow (that will happen while I am at work, shocker)
9:00-Shower and fix my hair for a quick exit in the morning (hence the getting up and being out the door in 10-15 minutes flat)
9:45-Pray with my boys and read scriptures before laying down with Garth Le and most likely falling asleep in his bed until I wake up in the middle of the night and come to my bed with Garth Le following shortly after (sometimes I don't even know why we start out in his bed)

That is pretty much how everyday I work goes minus the country club dinner, and usually I am cooking food for lunches at work instead of hot wings for the game, but that is pretty much it.

I would like to add that we have been having some really cold mornings lately with frozen roads and a bit of snow. We park the cars outside (we haven't completely unpacked from our move almost a year ago) so they always have frost on the windshield. Garth has been getting up at least an hour before he has to and starts my car and scrapes my windshield for me. I think that is very sweet, and also a huge motivator for getting remote start in any of our next cars!

The Meanest Daddy

2009-01-30T16:44:00.005-06:00

Warning: This is a REALLY long post with not much in it...consider yourself warned, or bored, whatever.

I know it is not good to glorify bad behavior by laughing or saying it is funny on a blog the next day, but sometimes it is really funny, and Garth Le can't read, so he won't know that I blogged about it until he is much older and hopefully out of pull-ups.

A little background: Garth Le potty trained when he was barely 2 with #1, and a few months later with #2, pee-pee and poo-poo for those not versed in potty numerology. He was pretty easy because he hated to be wet. We left him in a pull-up at night because he sleeps really hard and it was usually wet when he woke up the first few months. Then for a long time they were dry, so we didn't have him wear them and then of course after months of dryness, I get to do sheets everyday. Long story even longer, he still wears pull-ups to bed...and he still wakes up with them wet.

Anyways, last night he was soooooo tired and cranky and when he is like that he decides that Mommy is the greatest and Daddy is the devil (which to be honest, I sort of enjoy). Every single thing that I said was gospel and everything that Daddy said last night made Garth Le cry. We had a late night the night before and he was a bear to get up in the morning so we were going to get to bed at a decent time last night. Around 9:30 pm (1.5 hours past bedtime), Garth asks Garth Le to go get a pull up. You would have thought he just shot the dog right in front of us, Garth Le fell to pieces, but with Daddy's prodding he ran upstairs and got a pull-up and pouted for a bit before coming downstairs, standing right in front of us, stone-faced and held the pull-up in the air and then threw it in the corner, turned around and stomped off.

I am reasonable (and I didn't want this to turn into WWIII), so I told Daddy that Garth Le did exactly what he told him to do and nothing more. Then Daddy told him to put it on and he fell apart again, but he did retrieve the pull-up and disappear for a while. When he reemerged, he was REALLY upset. As moms, we can tell the difference between a put-on and the real McCoy. This was FOR REAL. I didn't know if he fell, or sliced a finger off or what. He finally came over to me and I cuddled him so he could calm down and I asked him what in the world would make him so upset, he managed to get out between sobs "Daddy made me do something that was so hard, the hardest thing I've ever had to do". I knew he was talking about having to put his pull-up on, but I like to egg on stories (I got that one from my mom's playbook), so I asked him what Daddy asked him to do, and he matter-of-factly told me that he asked him to put his pull-up on and it was really hard. I of course gave him sympathy and gave Daddy a 'shame on you' look, as any good parent who rewards bad behavior would do.

The rest of the night went similarly, I was the hero, Daddy was the villain. I can't believe how mean he is to our son. There's no telling what tonight might bring, he may even ask him to brush his teeth...the nerve.

This story shows how opposite Garth and I are with parenting than anyone would have pegged us before we had kids. Anyone, including us, would have told you that Garth would be the softy and I would be the strict one, but noooooo, it is the total opposite. BUT I am pretty sure that if we ever have a little girl, Daddy will be wrapped around her finger just as tightly as I am wrapped around Garth Le's.

TGIF

2009-01-20T10:47:00.004-06:00

Well, it is my Friday anyways. Plus, I am so very excited because I think I will only have to come to work 1 or 2 days on my days "off" instead of everyday like I have been, of course I am on-call, but still, it is a step in the right direction. Today is a good day. Garth Le had the stomach bug yesterday, but he seems to be doing a lot better today. He had 4 pieces of toast last night for dinner and he has had 2 today for breakfast and he tried some chocolate milk and according to GiGi, it has stayed down thus far. He was pretty pathetic, so I am so glad that he is feeling better. We, of course, kept him home from school today and we will have to play tomorrow by ear, as I would hope all parents of sick kids would do. One really cute thing that happened last night was that after the prayer where we prayed for Garth Le to feel better, he looked up and said, "It worked! I feel better, Heavenly Father made me better!" I wish I had that kind of faith. Although...I would like to believe that we must have lots of faith in this flat area of the world because we moved our mountains to placed of lesser faith ;) I'm pretty sure you can actually get on a step ladder and see all the way around the world to your backside around these parts. It's flat, but it's home and we do have the best sunsets.

Blogger Etiquette

2009-01-17T16:07:00.002-06:00

Is there a book (or a blog) on blogger etiquette? Here is my situation-I have recently been able to find a lot of old friends' blogs through other freinds' blogs and I love to see what everyone is up to. My question is this: Is it ok to put the links to people's blogs on your blog without asking? I love to come to my blog and just click on my blog list and get caught up on everyone. No matter what the answer to this pressing question, I did put them all on my blog list and I would just like to let anyone who finds themselves there who would like to be removed that they should please let me know. I will probably cry, but I promise to take it off too.

I'm Tired of Looking at My Prom Picture

2009-01-16T16:38:00.005-06:00

As the title so eloquently states, I am really tired of coming to my blog to go to other blogs and seeing that picture of what seems like a lifetime ago. The solution, of course, was to get out of my blogging rut and put up a new post. There is nothing particularly interesting going on in our lives, but my BFF Liza's mom made a comment on her daughter's blog that really struck a cord with me and I don't want to forget it:

"Perfection shouldn't be a stick to beat yourself with but a carrot to dangle in front of your nose."

I think that quote could be something very valuable for a lot of people, especially women that I know who try so very hard to be the best possible everything and never feel like they are worth the time or effort. You know who you are. These are inspired words to remember and I know I will try very hard to remind myself of these words often.

Garth has started working at CVS. I think he is a little overwhelmed right now, the store is the busiest in town, which says a lot when you are talking about CVS. He is worried about the responsibility, but I know that he will do great. He has also been stressed about the upcoming annual assessment and his licensure exams this summer. I just think it is really exciting that he is so close and I have confidence in his abilities.

Garth Le is having a ball at school. Today was pajama day and he wore his new Kung Fu Panda digs. He truly is the sweetest, but sometimes the stinkiest boy. I got some sugar free Red Vines for a movie date to see "The Tale of Despereaux" with my hubby and son and Garth Le really loved them, but the problem is that they can make you a little gaseous. That night when we were going to bed, he was tooting respectably even for an adult and I couldn't help but giggle at him. He got mad at me, told me it wasn't nice to laugh when someone toots. I apologized and thought to myself that it won't be too long and he will be mighty proud of those. It was just cute. I told you I didn't really have anything to blog about.

Our vacuum cleaner died, so we had to get a new one. Our cleaning lady was mad because it weighs 29 pounds and she has to lug it to 3 floors. She thinks we need to get 2 more. I think she needs to start lifting weights.

I know that our lives are kind of boring but I am grateful for that, because it means that there is nothing "bad" interesting to report, even if there is nothing "good" interesting either.

Is This Sad?

2009-01-06T17:13:00.010-06:00

I have not been tagged, but I am at a loss for interesting blogging, so I am going to take one of the blog tags for YOU from someones blog and say that YOU is me today. Here goes.

High School Tag:

1. Did you date someone from your school? Yes, I dated the same guy from the very beginning of my sophomore year through my Freshman year of college, see picture above. My parents were THRILLED!

2. What kind of car did you drive? I wasn't 16 until my junior year, so that kind of sucked, but I got lucky and was able to drive my mom's convertible while she started full time Suburban drivership. It was a pretty sweet ride, as you can clearly see, a 1993 Chrysler Lebaron!

3. Were you a party animal? No, I was always the mother hen of my group of friends. My parents, especially my mom, thought I was horrible and they probably still think that I did a lot of bad things, but I never did. I was a bit attitudinal, but definitely no party animal. Plus I hung out with a lot of Mormons. Woo Hoo, PARTYTIME!!!

4. Were you considered a flirt? Um, probably, but I did have a boyfriend so I tried hard to keep my flirting to him.

5. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? Nope.

6. What was your most embarrassing moment of high school? I probably embarrassed myself daily, nothing really sticks out though.

7. Were you a nerd? No, I was an athlete, not exactly a "cool kid", but not a nerd either, I don't think.

8. Were you on any varsity teams? Volleyball all 3 years and I played soccer my senior year and there was no JV, so I guess I was on varsity although I was no good.

9. Did you get suspended/expelled? No, I was pretty much all of my teachers' pets. I still talk to some of them.

10. Can you still sing the fight song? Of course.

11. Who were your favorite teachers? I had a love/hate relationship with my volleyball coach, Coach Langdon, but when I was looking for the picture I posted above, I read a note she wrote to me as I graduated and I guess I appreciate it a lot more now that I am a little older. I also really liked Mr. Fortenberry and Mrs. Rowe. I had lots of teachers I loved, see #9.

12. What was your school's full name? Monterey High School

13. School mascot? The Plainsmen (intimidating, I know)

14. Did you go to homecoming, and with who? Of course, see #1, we went to a lot of the school functions and we always went together. I think people that I knew in high school would be shocked that we didn't get married.

15. If you could go back and do it again, would you? Nope. Although I really did love high school, I am extremely satisfied where life has taken me and there are plenty of things that I have gotten through that I would hate to have to do again.

16. What do you remember most about graduation? I remember taking pictures outside of the auditorium and that my boyfriend's mom took 10x the pictures that my mom did (which was still a lot). I also remember sitting and listening to the talks and thinking that I hope that this is not the highest point of my life like they were making it sound like it was.

17. Where did you go senior skip day? Did we have that? I am not sure, but I never would have skipped, see #3 and #9 for clarification.

18. Were you in a club? Just sports, I think. I did do academic decathlon one year.

19. Have you gained some weight since then? Wow, I have honestly been well over 100 pounds heavier than I was in high school. Now I am much closer to my high school weight.

20. Who was your prom date? Guess.

21. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? Probably, I guess it is this summer, I don't know how I will know what is planned, if there is anything, hopefully someone will mail me something.

22. Looking back, what advice would you give yourself? Relax and enjoy the moments. I really wished my life away, I wish I would have just slowed down.

I now tag Sarah and Kate. Thanks for playing!!

Resolutions...

2009-01-01T19:37:00.003-06:00

I would have to say that 2008 was a monumental year for our little branch of the Thomas family, for me in particular. My single resolution for this year is to not make any resolutions. I hate letting myself down, which I always feel like I do. I have spent the latter half of 2008 becoming a (much) healthier me, and I am very excited to continue this into the new year and hopefully drag my family along with me. This is the first new year in a longer time than I care to count back that I am healthy and not wishing I was thinner, or made more money, or that I was thinner (oh wait, did I already say that one?) I am already well on my way and I am looking forward to what is in store for us in 2009. Happy New Year!

Picture Update

2009-01-01T18:21:00.008-06:00

Sometimes it takes me a while to update, but I try and make up for it by cramming as much as I possibly can into one post. Thank goodness Liza and the kids came down over the holidays so I was forced to upload my pictures from the camera, so thanks to them, here is the last month or so of our lives in pictures:

My little angel (no, seriously)! He was a little angel for his school Christmas program that told us the story of Jesus' birth. It was great, except when he started yawning and picking his nose. Too bad I didn't get a picture of that.

Here are me and my little buddy, just posing for Daddy. I would have to say that he is pretty dang cute!

More of my little angel...

We were very fortunate to have the Polar Express come to Lubbock this year and all of the cousins went in their jammies and we went on a real train to "The North Pole" where we picked up Santa and his elves, we had a good time, especially the kiddos.

I just couldn't resist this profile of Garth Le's cousin.

This picture is actually kind of funny because it shows how high the kids have to look up at the TV at my brother and sister-in-law's house now that they mounted the TV over the fireplace. I'm afraid if we go there too much we will get "tv neck".

Two little cuties that are anxiously awaiting our trip to the North Pole.

The boys had fun with our punched out tickets on the Polar Express. Not quite as magical as the book or Movie, but entertaining nonetheless.

This is an adorable picture of Garth Le holding his cousins hands as they were waiting for Santa to come, I just couldn't resist the great sepia tone photo op.

Daddy got a little sleepy waiting on the train for Santa.

BFF's

Garth Le got a little bummed at how long it was taking for us to get to the North Pole.

Liza came to visit us and she took the plunge and cut off over 10 inches of hair to donate to Locks of Love. Read about it here.

More gorgeous hair pics

(Wow, as you can see, these pictures are really out of order and I am too afraid to lose formatting to switch it around, so sorry about the wacky flow) Garth Le really loved his Leapster, even though he did drop it in the toilet the next day. We were very relieved when it decided to come back to life after drying out for a day.

More hair pics, at Target, as usual. We had a blast and now we sort of have the same hair even though I am pretty sure Liza pulls it off far better than I.

For the grand finale...(not intentional, just turned out that way)...this is what Kelton looked like after the Polar Express. You are most likely asking yourself a few things: Does Kelton have an incontinence issue? Was the ride really that exciting? Did Kelton have a little too much hot cocoa on the trip? Did Santa spill holiday cheer all over Kelton's lap? Well, none of the above are true. As it happens, his 3 year old son had a little too much hot cocoa to drink and happened to fall asleep on the way back from the North Pole and just as we are all getting off of the train, Kelton starts to get a warm and tingly sensation, and although he may have been feeling the Christmas spirit, he was also getting a good soaking from his son as well. Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Happy birthday to my Mom and Liza, both New Year's babies. Hope you all are well.

Update

2008-12-18T10:05:00.004-06:00

Ok, so I hate it when my friends don't update their blogs in forever and here I am, the offender. I haven't blogged since we haven't had much going on, but the more I think about it, we have had some things happen the last few weeks. On Sunday, the wind was blowing 60 mph and it pushed our gate open and Spike got out. We looked all afternoon for him to no avail and that night it dropped to the mid teens, so I was wrecked with worry that he would be a Spikecicle by morning. The next day we made signs and I went to the pound just so I had covered all the bases and lo and behold, there he was scared to death in a cage. He was picked up 10 blocks from our house across a major street. The person who brought him in was very worried that something was very wrong with him because of his hair (or lack thereof), then when we checked him out, the guy who worked there asked if the vet had diagnosed his "condition". I told him it was his breed and he just laughed. He must look pretty bad, I guess we are just used to his hairlessness. Needless to say we are so happy to have him home and he seems quite happy to be home as well.

I also cut all my hair off, I think it is pretty cute, thanks mom! Garth Le got a cute haircut too, mom left it kind of long on the top so as not to upset GiGi who LOVES his hair long and HATES it buzzed, which I love, so it was a compromise, but is also pretty dang cute.

I am pretty much finished Christmas shopping and I actually sent our Christmas cards this year, but I am pretty sure I forgot a lot of people. I suck at cards.

Garth got his Christmas present early because the country club sent a letter in the mail welcoming us as new members. He was really excited, but he hasn't had a chance to play because the weather has been so bad. I am excited too even though golf is not my favorite thing, I think it will be great for us as a family and Garth Le and I can swim in the summer too. I think it will be awesome.

Garth started training at CVS, he is really excited about what is in store for him and I am really excited for his paycheck.

I guess that is all for now, I hope everyone has a great Holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas Cards

2008-12-04T11:31:00.003-06:00

Liza so generously volunteered to take some family pictures for us even though she was a lot under the weather. We went to Hobby Lobby and got some decorations and diddied up the fireplace, so here are the results. Hopefully I will actually send the cards this year.

Garth really has issues with smiling for pictures, I think it is a man thing, even Garth Le has a little bit of a painful expression in this one.

Oh so cute and cozy by the fire.

Aren't we the happy couple.

Out of Order Holiday

2008-12-04T11:23:00.004-06:00

Here are some belated Halloween pics I thought were good.

My scary little ninja (wha ha ha).

Autumn was the cutest princess/missionary/environmentalist at trunk-or-treat.

Aunt Sarah LOOOOVES it when I take pictures of her eating.

Little scary ninja with pumpkin face paint (shudder).

All of the cereal boxas are pierced with knives, so she is a "cereal" killer...get it? It took me a while.

Thanksgiving Holiday

2008-12-04T11:17:00.004-06:00

The Clements came to spend Thanksgiving with us and we always have so much fun, especially the kiddos. Liza and I got a night out thanks to Garth watching all of the kids for us, we went to Target (see picture), and we went out to eat and took in another showing of Twilight (which was much better the second time around).

A possible love match?

Laura's Shower

2008-12-04T11:12:00.005-06:00

The newest member of the Thomas family is Laura (formerly Allred) who married Neils November 22. It was a beautiful ceremony and I wish them all the best!