Catch Up

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

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!!!

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...

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...

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

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!

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

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..............

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...

"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...

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

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!

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...

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...

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.