80 Years!

We celebrated my Grandma D's 80th birthday on Sunday. Yes in the heat and yes outdoors. I always knew I was from a big family, but this was reaffirmed this weekend when I was taking pictures. One thing that my dad's family does not have in common with my mom's is that they dont take very many pictures. My other Grandma wouldn't leave the house with out her camera being in her pocketbook(purse). So I was determined to take lots of pictures on Sunday. This was a great plan until I got started and realized this wasnt going to be an easy task. I wanted to make my grandma a scrapbook with all her kids, grandkids, great-grandkids and great-great grandkids.... about half way into the project I was regretting my decision but I was determined to see it through, heat and all.

Trying to get families or groups are not always easy when she has 6 kids, 19 grandkids, over 31 great-grandkids and 2 great-great grandchildren. I would say about 80% of the family was there, not counting 8 of her siblings.

Here are some of the groups....I told you I was from a large family :-)

Tonka trucks

Well my brother bestowed his Tonka trucks on me with the condition that when I had a little boy he gets to play with them. I unboxed them today, and G found them and went crazy for them. Here's the video. Oh, and G says thanks Uncle Brad :)

A bit of art for the baby

When we decided on the baby's room theme, I was planning to paint letters to match it, like, Eiffel Tower on the A, that sort of thing. Then Tammy mentioned wanting some children around the world stuff to hang in there, and I said, "Well I can do that." It became much more involved of a project than originally planned. First I made sketches of the children:







Then painted some precut wooden people popsicle sticks:






Then did some woodcutting to make the hats and hair:







Then I decided to cut my own front piece to be the Earth, and used my Dremel to round the edges off:






Then I painted the Earth:






Then put it all together and we have the complete result (drumroll please):







Look closely to see our family on top of the world... :)

I'm still debating whether to paint her name on it, or make it a clock (it does have 24 people so a clock would work well). Still, this has turned out far more impressive than I had originally imagined, and I hope she will treasure it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Terrible Thursday = Terrific Thursday

Yesterday started off on a bad note, Gideon woke up in a bad mood, we where late getting out the door due to a diaper explosion and then when we got his school he had a total meltdown. He is usually really good about going to preschool, yesterday was not the case, tears ran like the Mississippi. Great way to start the day. I head to work and the day did not get better. Sitting in a chair for 8 hours when you are 8 months pregnant is not fun. I usually try getting up and walking around ever hour or two (per doctor's orders) but that didnt even seem to help. My computer locked up about 4 times which is so much fun to sit and have to restart all your programs. So by the time 5:00 came I was out the door still in a bad mood.

Then I walked into preschool to pick up G and there is nothing that can make you smile more than to have your little boy run up to you and say "I had fun with my friends", my mood started going uphill. He is talking non-stop now which I love so on the way home he talked about how he played outside in the sprinklers and he played with playdo.... when we got home Josh was already home grilling steaks(I love a man that knows when to step up without being asked). It ended up being the perfect night, weather wise. Josh and Gideon played in the pool and I sat out soaking my feet enjoying my family. We headed in about 8:30 and G went to bed without any problems and I am happy to say that I was in bed by 10. I love days that start out bad end up being great!

Getting excited...

So we are getting closer to baby girl's arrival date. I am scheduled for the c-section for Sept. 1, but my doctor and I both feel that I will probably go earlier. Baby Girl is super active, she moves all the time which is such an amazing feeling. I have been having contractions for the past couple two weeks, but nothing has been consistent. I told J the other night as G was sitting on my lap that their is no greater feeling than holding one child and feeling another one move inside of you.

I have been working on her room this week, thanks to several friends this little girl is going to be one well clothed little girl. The clothes keep coming and I have to admit they are all adorable. I told J that I am going to have my own little doll. I always thought that you received less gifts for the second child vs the first, in this case, I don't think its going to be true. You can tell with a lot of my friends that their hasn't been a little girl on the scene for several years.

J and I are super curious to see what she is going to look like, I am so excited to just hold her.

Sing-along G

So for months now G has been making nighttime song requests, mommy's song (wheels on the bus), choo choo song, daddy's song, stars (twinkle twinkle), etc. But this past week he started singing along with us. So now as we sing him to sleep he hums and throws in a word or two that he has picked out of the songs we sing. It's exceedingly cute.

Of course that sort of cuteness makes it even harder to get up and leave the room before he goes to sleep... Especially with him saying, "Daddy sit," every time. I know it is good to teach him how to fall asleep on his own, but I think it may be tougher on the parents for all of the guilt you feel while doing so.

I am blessed....

I have a wonderful husband,
an adorable child, a little bundle that will
grace us with her presence soon.
I live in my dream home,
I like my job,
We have great friends,
a wonderful family, immediate and adopted.

I never want to take for granted the life I have.

I feel very blessed.

Big Ted

So I still have my two teddy bears from my childhood, Big Ted and Little Ted, and since we had G they've been in his room. The other week we changed out some furniture and Big Ted moved to our dresser during the rearranging. Today, G was extra fussy at nap time so Tammy put him in our bed with her. She was downstairs when he woke up crying. When he calmed down enough to use words he wouldn't move off the bed and kept saying, "Bad bear get me!" and pointing at Big Ted. I'm a bit crushed, as that bear had to be next to me every night for me to go to sleep when I was a child. I blame Toy Story 3 with the evil bear for this... Now I have to convince G that this one is a good bear...

Baby Girl Update

Everything is going great with Baby Girl, we had an ultrasound this week to see how things where progressing. Everything looked great, she weighs 3.5 lbs and is in the 45% for weight. I am feeling great, a little tired but doing ok. I still haven't gained any weight, which I am happy to say and I tested negative for gestational diabetes!!

It was great getting to see her move around and we could see she has hair! It was standing straight up around her head. Super cute. One of the reasons that we are having such a hard time deciding the name is that we like one name if she is a red head and another if she has dark hair. According to my father-in-law, J was born with a head full of hair. I told him that I was hoping Baby Girl would have her daddy's hair and he said they are hoping for a red head. I can say I am super curious to see what she is going to look like since G turned out so blonde.

I am at 32 weeks now and so have been working to get everything done and at the same time spend extra time with G. I can honestly say the thought of leaving him for 5 days is going to be pretty emotional for me. The longest he has been away is overnight and that isnt easy. My doctor said that he thinks I will go early at around 37 weeks. Which makes me a little nervous considering how close that it is.

My prayer is a happy, healthy baby and a smooth delivery.

Family Reunion - 2010

We just got home from the family reunion! and had a wonderful time. Here is my favorite picture. Started having some contractions the last night we where there, but luckily they stopped after an hour.