Month: February 2008

A few people asked if my reference to Baby T was a hint to her first name. No, no. Not even. I have a list of names going, but we are nowhere near deciding on the perfect one. I am finding that a lot of names I love are taken already…for example, I am loving the name Claire, but Derek’s roommate from college has a daughter named Claire. I tried to convince him that was not a big deal, but he didn’t buy it.  Which I understand because another name I really like is Macy, which is currently taken by Shauna, and it’s been RyAnn’s fave girl name for as long as I can remember.  I won’t steal it.

Since I am sure you are all burning with curiosity to know our daughter’s name, I’m putting my list out there. I am sure this list will grow and names will be vetoed over then next four months. In no particular order…

Caitlin (really popular although not spelled like this)
Caroline
Kendall
Kayden (I’ve seen it for a boy spelled Caden, but I really like it for a girl, too.)
Madeleine (or Madelyn)
Savannah
Haley
Kinley
Hannah
Emma (really popular…big deal or not?)

So far Derek has vetoed:
Harper
Tessa (I really wrote this down and I already wonder what I was thinking with this one!)
Landry
Claire (Still my fave…Connor, Logan, and Claire…it just sounds so good!)

I am always open to opinions and suggestions!

I have always loved a kid with a good ol’ Texas accent. I remember back in the day when Juli Beth’s son Wade was learning to talk and I fell in love with his little country boy twang. I remember thinking I wanted my kids to learn to talk in Texas so they could sound like him. Well, Logan is turning into a little country boy. I don’t hear it in Connor as much, probably because he learned to talk in the land of surfers, not the land of cowboys. But Logan is perfecting the art form of turning turning one syllable words into two syllable words. “Mommy, I need chocolate mee-ilk.” “Mommy, it’s ober day-er” (aka over there). Oh man, there are more but I am drawing a blank! His twang makes D and I laugh because no one else in the family has it quite as much as him. I for one think he’s a super cute cowboy.

***

Connor is slightly obsessed with time. He is always aware of what time it is, loves to look at clocks, and even loves to watch clocks turn to the next number. He knows that his bedtime is 7:30, and if I try and put him in bed before then, it’s an issue because it isn’t time yet. Last night, he needed to go to bed earlier because he was up before 6 a.m. and didn’t go back to sleep (although he did stay in his bed until 7:00 because he knows that’s the time he is allowed to get up.) Anyway, I told him his bedtime was going to be 7:00 and of course he balked at the news. So I said “well, I can change your clock to say 7:30 if that will make you happier.” It worked. He thought it was so cool that we could change the time. I wonder if he thought I was really moving time forward. He ended up wanting his clock changed to 12:00. He thought he was big stuff staying up until midnight. At 12:10 (aka 7:10) he wandered out to the hallway. I stood in his doorway scratching my growing, itchy belly. He looked up at me (slightly sheepish because he knows he really isn’t supposed to be out of bed), walked up to me and gave my belly the softest hug and sweetest kiss. The he looked up at me and said “mommy? Can you get in my bed for a minute?” Oh my word, it was so sweet! How could I say no after that! We cuddled for a nanosecond and the conversation turned back to time. “Mommy? I’m just going to watch my clock until it turns to 1:00.” I have no doubt that he would lay there in his bed, willing his eyes to stay open just to watch the numbers turn for 50 minutes. So I moved time again to 12:45. Twenty minutes later, he was fast asleep. At 7:30. Or 1:05. Same difference.

***

PS-I love David Archuleta.  I voted for him like 10 times yesterday.

Yesterday was such a beautiful day, so we took a little family walk down to the park. We always end up in the ditch behind out house. That sounds really weird and kind of creepy…it’s not like a muddy sewer or anything. The kids love to go on adventures back there. And I love to take pictures there-it’s nice that I can usually get some with no houses, people, or cars. Here are my two faves.

Today, baby girl T is halfway cooked! I had Derek take a few belly shots yesterday. You can also see my new haircut.  It feels so healthy and soft!  It’s nothing that exciting, but I like it.

The content is all the same, but Derek was so sweet to change my blog to wordpress, mainly so I can make a cool book of my blog using blurb.  Of course, a new blog template means a new look.  It’s nothing fancy, but it’s just the beginning.

Tee ball update: we had Connor’s first tee ball practice on Saturday morning.  I ended up sticking with the competitive league.  After talking with several friends who have boys just a few years older, I decided that probably at this level there isn’t much difference in the two leagues in the area.  As they get older, there is a big difference, but for tee ball, it’s very similar.  I am happy to report that Connor loved his first tee ball practice!  I am surprised because it’s such a skill intensive sport…the kids spent a lot of time at different stations learning the technique and skills for batting, catching, throwing, and fielding, and not so much time actually being active.  But Connor really loved it.  After practice, I asked what his favorite part was, and he listed every single thing, even catching a simple throw, which at the time had almost driven him to tears of frustration.  I still think that 3 hours of practice is a lot for a 5 year old, and I will not hesitate to leave early if we need to.  And we’ll see how he does as the season goes on.  They don’t even have their first game until the end of March!  But I’m really relieved that he doesn’t want to quit after one practice, and that all the other kids on his team seem like very normal 5 year olds (i.e. none of them could really catch the ball!)

I have some cute new pictures of the boys, but I’m too lazy to get them off my camera for now.  Maybe tomorrow. 🙂

** Grapefruit. The tart and sweet juicy goodness is my number one food right. I eat 2 or 3 every single day. I eat them until I start getting reflux-y from all the acid. And even then, I still want more! I love grapefruit.

**American Idol. I haven’t really been into AI for quite a few seasons. But with all the other shows being over, I turned to AI. Even Derek is into it, and don’t let him tell you otherwise.

**Connor and Logan’s artwork. They are constantly making “projects” and taping them up all over the house. They make me smile.

**Jon and Kate Plus Eight. My other new show. If you haven’t seen it, you should check it out-it comes on TLC. It makes me laugh every single time. Jon reminds me a lot of Derek, and while I don’t think I am quite as snappy as Kate, I can see myself in her. Heck, I think every mom can see herself in Kate!

**Rainy afternoons. I have always appreciated a good, rainy day. It’s raining right now. The boy are playing relatively peacefully. It makes me happy.

** Breakfast for dinner. I am 19 weeks pregnant, which means that for the past 15 or so weeks, I have dreaded cooking dinner. On the rare occasion I do cook, I end up barely eating any of it because it doesn’t sound good once it’s in front of me. One exception to this rule is breakfast for dinner. At least once a week, we eat eggs, waffles or biscuits, and bacon or sausage. Yum!

Last fall, Connor told me that instead of playing soccer, he wanted to try t-ball. Sure, I thought. That sounds like fun. I got online, found a Little League team right in our area, and signed him up.

I am having signers-up remorse right now.

Red flag number 1: My neighbor and I were talking a few weeks ago. Baseball came up in conversation, and when I told her which league Connor was playing in, she said, “ohhh….that’s a really competitive league. We like this other league better.” My stomach did a little flip-competitive sports and my 5 year old (quasi-nonathletic) son do not go together. I chose the wrong league for him.

Red Flag number 2-I just got an email from the coach. Let me quote part of this for you:
Practice Schedule
Until the games begin, we will practice twice a week – Thursday nights (5:30 pm – 7:00 pm) and Saturday mornings (9:30 am – 11:00 am). I know several of you may not make it to practice on Saturday mornings until the end of basketball season. (Because the practice field does not have lights, we will start at 5:30 on Thursdays and go until darkness hits at ~7. We’ll change practice times when we can have more daylight.)

There are 3 key things that bug me about this.
–3 hours of practice a week?? For 1.5 hours at a time?? Am I the only one that thinks this is a little over the top for a bunch of 5 year olds playing t-ball for the first time? There isn’t much that Connor likes to do for that length of time, and I have a suspicion that baseball practice is not going to fall into the “I love this and want to do it for hours” category. I mean, the kid was sick of soccer practice after only 45 minutes, and that’s way more active. And do you think that Derek or I really want to be at practice for that long with our preschooler?

—“I know several of you may not make it to practice on Saturday mornings until the end of basketball season.” As I was reading this sentence, I was thinking to myself, you’re right some of us won’t make it to Saturday practices since it’s ridiculous to be practicing that much. But no. Some won’t make it because apparently they are all-star athletes in training, and baseball season conflicts with their other sports. Keep in mind, we are not talking about adolescents. We are talking about a group of 5 year olds.

—Because the practice field does not have lights, we will start at 5:30 on Thursdays and go until darkness hits at ~7. We’ll change practice times when we can have more daylight. Um, please don’t change the practice times. My kid normally gets in the tub at 6:30 and hits the hay at 7:30. Bedtime is pretty sacred around here. He certainly doesn’t need to be practicing t-ball until 7:30 or 8:00 at night.

There is a big part of me that wants to quit this before we even begin. I don’t even want to tell him that t-ball is starting, but I am sure he will remember at some point, so I guess I have to give it a go. But if he hates it, I will not hesitate to end his season a bit early.

Is this normal? Do I just need to grow up and realize that this is what it’s like for kids to play sports? At five years old? Our only sports experience has been soccer with a local rec center. There was no score keeping, no refs, just kids having fun at one practice and one game per week.

This is so over the top. I am kicking myself for signing up for this league, especially now that I know there is another, less competitive league right around the corner.

I was pretty sure after the last ultrasound, but it sure is fun to have it confirmed by an u/s tech who has never been wrong in 20 years. And to have a picture of the proof! Let it be known that this will be the only picture of her girl parts that will ever be allowed on the internet!

Here’s her sweet profile.

And, most importantly, everything looks perfect! God is so good.

Next: Operation Girl Nursery
and
Operation Name the Baby

Last night, I got home from here.

That’s California, in case you can’t tell. I left last Friday morning for five fun filled (and work filled) days. I got to spend Friday and most of Saturday with Patrick and Noel, and then Sunday through Wednesday with some of the best girls I’ve had the privilege of knowing.

Corinne, Jessica, Carrie (and Erica and Jenny who aren’t in this pic) are fellow scrapbookers/wives/mothers/Christians/friends who I seriously cannot say enough good things about. I am so glad that I met Carrie online (I know, I know…it’s so weird!) And through Carrie, I met all these other great girls. We laughed. We cried. We prayed. We sold Paper Trunk products. And best of all, we had so much fun!

Thanks to my sweet mom for flying in to be on kid duty this week. Without her, I would not have been able to go. And thanks to my sweet husband for being so supportive of my hobby, of my need for a getaway, and for making it possible in so many ways for this trip to happen. I am filled with love this Valentine’s Day. Love for my Derek, my boys, my family, and my friends who bless me each and every day.

I’m pretty sure that Derek will keep letting me go to California each February as long as I bring him back cool souvenirs like this one.

It was just too good to pass up.

There is a 75% chance that 75% of you are RIGHT!
It looks like it’s going to be a girl!!

She was being quite modest during most of the ultrasound, but Kathy and I both saw the three lines of girl parts. And we definitely did not see any boy parts! Unfortunately, we didn’t print any pictures. Every time we would see the money shot, she would move away before Kathy could freeze the frame.

I can’t wait for my big ultrasound at my doctor’s office to confirm!

It was so cute when I told Connor that it looks like he is going to have a baby sister. He looked up at me, slightly bored by the news. ” I already know that mom. ” Guess I should have just asked him!

I am really still in disbelief that we might actually have a girl!!

I’m going to be like Staci and conduct a little poll.
On Thursday, my sister-in-law is going to do a sonogram, and as long as the baby cooperates, we will be finding out the gender! I can’t wait!!

So what’s your guess? Boy or Girl? You can just leave it in the comments.
(because I love getting comments.)

In other pregnancy news, I think I might have “popped”. I had 4 different people today comment on my belly, including Derek. It could have been the outfit, or it could be that at 17 weeks 2 days I finally look a little bit preggo.

Happy Tuesday!