Shootin' The Poop

Congrats Erin!

Baby Gavin was born this morning at 11:35am

18.5 inches

6 pounds, 14 ounces

We are so happy for you all Erin!  Can't wait to hear the details and see pics!

Superfly

Since I haven't shared pictures in a while I thought I would post some that I took yesterday.

We bought these Puma shoes for D around Christmas time and they finally fit him. He wore them for the first time yesterday and he didn't want to take them off. Doesn't he just look like a little stud muffin with the beanie & binky?  Oh, and when a 2 year old wants to wear a beanie in 100 degree weather, you let him, or else!!

Crossing his fingers is his 'new thing'.

This is a stupid skinny tree in our front yard that is being supported by two posts. The post are bigger than the tree itself. Dylan likes to squeeze between the tree and the posts. I hate these wimpy trees.

Friday Favorites

This week, my Friday Favorites will be about items for toddlers. I hope those with kids older than toddlers won’t mind.

First off, is the Gerber Spill-Proof Water Spout.  OK honestly, I just found this yesterday but I absolutely love it. I got it at Albertson’s grocery store in the baby aisle for $1.49. Dylan LOVES to drink out of my water bottles and has for a while now. However, he always spills the water everywhere and then he is soaked.  This is a spill-proof spout. The only way water will come out with this spout on, is by sucking on it. You can’t squeeze the water out like you can with those regular spout caps that come on the bottles. Brilliant!

   

My next fave is the Snack Trap. These snack cups are great! We have been using them for about 8 months now and I love them. You can get them at BRU/TRU in a 1 or 2-pack. Unfortunately, BRU/TRU does not carry the accessories such as the replacement lid, snap-over lid, and stay fresh lid. You have to find them elsewhere or online. I personally have only bought the stay fresh lid (I stumbled upon them at a baby boutique by me) but I will probably buy the snap-over lid and replacement lids for #2. After excessive use, the replacement lids are necessary.

My next two are the Crayola Floor Pad & the Crayola Sketchbook. I bought the Floor Pad (30 pages) at Target for $3.99.  It is twice as much at TRU.  The Sketchbook (40 pages) was $1.49 at Wal-Mart. Both have thick good quality paper.

I open the Floorpad on the floor and it gives Dylan a huge coloring surface.  It is 22”x16” closed so when I open it, it is 32”x 22”. He likes to sit in the middle of it and color all around himself.  It has a die-cut handle cut out on it and Dylan carries it over to me when he wants to color.

I cannot for the life of me find a picture/link of the floor pad online anywhere. Everything I find is smaller sized and less pages. Grr! I just bought it a few weeks ago, so I hope it is not being discontinued.

I carry the Sketchbook in my diaper bag.  It is 9”x9” so it fits along one side just fine.  I always seem to have a 4-pack (or two) of crayons in my diaper bag from some restaurant we went to. So if we are somewhere such as the doctor’s office or a restaurant that doesn’t cater to kids, I can just whip out the sketchbook & crayons and we are good to go.

PS: I noticed on the Snack Trap site that they have a No-Spill Bottle Cap that sounds very similar to the Gerber Spill-Proof Water Spout I posted above. However, their’s comes in 3 sizes. They have a wide-mouth one to put on bottles of beverages like Tropicana Juice.   

Me update.

I’m doing well pregnancy wise in case any of you were wondering about me and where I have been hiding.    The boy’s name will be Gavin Matthew.   He is kicking up a storm right now.  He doesn’t like it when I sit.  I think he (and my stomach) get squished between my legs and my boobs when I sit.  It feels like he is trying to break out through my belly button.

Otherwise, life is mega hectic and I don’t get much free time to come online.   Being a married ‘single mom’ is HARD.  I don’t know how the real single moms that work full-time and go to school do it!   Sheez, I only work part-time and I am struggling.  Thankfully, there is nothing on TV so I don’t get side-tracked from everything I have to do.

I am in the process of emptying out and re-decorating our guest room, which will be Dylan’s room once the baby arrives.  My in-laws came over a couple weekends ago and did some handyman stuff for me around the house/yard as well as prime and paint the room.  Unfortunately, the next day after the paint dried I noticed it needed another coat.  So, that is what I did today for 3 hours while Dylan napped.   I spend his nap time & after he goes to bed at night running around like a mad woman.    I am not able to get much done when he is awake. Thankfully, we now have a gardener so I don't have to worry about taking care of the lawn or finding a neighbor/relative to come over and mow it.  One thing off my list of things to do.

Bryan has come home a few times in the last couple weeks.  He gets home anywhere between 9:00-10:00PM, I make something for him to eat and wash his uniform(s) while he showers, and then he goes to bed because he has to be up at 3:00AM and back on base (75 miles away) by 4:30AM.  Are you all jealous of my life? 

Aside from the new baby, I do have a bit of good news to look forward to even though it is over a year away.  My parents told us that they want to take all of us (including our kids, my bro/SIL, my grandma) to Maui in Fall 2008 for their 40th Anniversary.  I haven't been since I was in junior high....that was 20 years ago!   It hasn't been booked because Bryan's 2008 schedule isn't out yet, but I am still uber excited about it.   Ahhh.....it is late so I am off to go dream about drinking a MaiTai (or 4) on the sandy beaches of Maui.  Aloha! 

 

 

Mother's Day Gifts

I don't know what to get my mom.  You gals are shoppers so I thought maybe you would have a suggestion.   She has everything, it seems, and is extremely difficult to shop for.     The spa gift certificates and bath/body stuff is getting old.   Help! 

One of Those Days

End of story.

Name Game

It was so unbelievably hard for us to agree on a name for our first son.   Dylan was the only name that we agreed on so it stuck.  It seems we are on round two of this issue.   The two top choices so far are Gavin & Logan.  We both like both names, but I prefer Gavin & he prefers Logan.  The middle name will be Matthew no matter what.

Anyway, a couple days ago I asked Bryan (my H) to brainstorm on more names.  Technically we have 4+ more months until baby #2 arrives.  However, Bryan will be gone for three of those months with no spare time to think about names.   He leaves on April 23rd and is not guaranteed time off until July 21.  I am due September 2nd.    Now if this pregnancy goes like my first, this baby will arrive a month early which means August 2nd-ish.     That leaves us little time to discuss & pick a name.   

So, online he goes to search for the perfect name.  These were his top suggestions:

Him:  "How about Blayden?"
Me:  "As in Roller Bladin'?"

Him:  "How about Bryden?"
Me:   "Only if his middle name will be Groom."

He must have ventured onto the "made-up names" website.  Seriously.  I am all for the unique name if it has something to do with your family or culture, but so many of the names these days are absolutely absurd and sound completely made up. Especially the spelling of the names.   Anyway...that said, I lost the battle and we are naming our son Sanjaya Matthew.  WDYT?? 

PS:  No offense if you named your child something funky!

It's A Boy!

I wasn't really surprised when the U/S Tech said there were boy parts.  I sort of started to have a feeling it was a boy that morning.  Maybe it was my nerves or guilt because of my secret desire to have a girl.   Anyway, I will admit I did feel a little disappointed, and then I felt even worse for feeling disappointed.  I sent an e-mail to a couple friends who had been through this same-gender thing as well (one has 4 boys!) and they wrote me back some really nice & comforting comments:

"It totally gets better. I started to bond with him and talk to him and am already in love. I am thankful that I am having 2 boys now and wouldn't want it any other way. Just think how much easier (and cheaper) it will be in the long run."

"You've got Dylan's future best man in your belly! That's great! Remember, God will only give you what you can handle."

"Its not bad at all. Boys are the best and they love their Mommy so much."

"Congratulations!  Two little boys.......two future grooms and Daddy's! How exciting!  I personally love having 2 of the same sex.......I know how to be a Mommy to girls so it was easy bringing Gracie into the family.  I know it will be the same for you!  Michelle has 2 boys and it is the sweetest relationship.  Boys are natural born protectors......what a blessing!  Enjoy the rest of your pregnancy and remember that you are giving Dylan the best gift he'll ever get......a little brother!"

I feel much better now!  I was in the OC today and my mom & I went shopping and bought some big-boy bedding for Dylan since #2 will be getting the same nursery.  It is too cute to not use again and I refuse to buy another crib.  We have thought of a couple names too...Gavin Matthew & Logan Matthew. 

BTW...some of the girl clothes I bought beforehand (on sale or at Costco) I will be keeping.  The deal was that if this was a girl, we were done.  If not, we will try again.   If #3 ends up being a boy, someone is going to get a lot of brand-new cute baby girl clothing!

Setting myself up for disappointment?

All along I have been saying that I don't care if I am having a boy or girl as long as he/she is healthy.  But am I fooling myself?  These last couple weeks, I have been hoping for a girl and I am worried that if it is a boy I will be disappointed.   My MIL keeps referring to the baby as her "granddaughter" and my mom always says to Dylan "How is my #1 boy?" or "How is Grammy's favorite boy?" It worries me that #2 will always be 2nd to them, and that a girl would be different so they would be treated equally.   I find out next Tuesday, the 3rd.

I also can't get the heart rate wives tale out of my head, especially since it was 'accurate' for Dylan.   You know, if the HR is over 140 its a girl and under 140 its a boy.  Well at my appointment 4 weeks ago it was 148 (which is really close to 140) and today it was 138. 

One of my good friends has her gender u/s this afternoon.  Her baby's HR was 180.  If she is having a girl I will be jealous.  I can feel it already.  Someone talk some sense into me, please!!!

 

On another note, I am at my starting weight!   I suppose I owe that to all the puking I did in my 1st-trimester.

Sad. Just sad.

OK, I shouldn't even be typing about this because it is not my business but it makes me sad.  The receptionist, Kim, at the office I work for is 21.  She got married last June at age 20 to her "high school sweetheart" as she calls him, even though they didn't get together until just after high school.  They had the most innocent relationship and were so cute because they were both so naive.  She was a virgin until they got married.  He brings her flowers all the time and does special sweet things for her constantly.   It makes all the other girls in the office jealous, including me!

Well, I just found out there is trouble in paradise.  He was just in here and looked really sad.  When he left, I noticed him wiping his eyes as he pulled away.  I said to Kim, that he looked so sad, and she said "he is" and that was it.  So, I asked another girl in the office if they were "okay" because they don't seem like their normal cute lovey-dovey selves.   She said she promised she couldn't say anything but they are having problems and that is all she would say.   

Yesterday, Kim accidentally printed an email onto my printer and when I looked at it briefly to figure out what it was I noticed the words "are you just charming me?"  I didn't read the rest of the e-mail (now I wish I did) and at the time I didn't think anything about the sentence I did read.   Now it makes sense.  I also noticed she wasn't wearing her wedding rings yesterday but I didn't think anything about that either since I occasionally forget to put on mine. I thought she was crazy for getting married at 20 but they seemed so in love that I figured they would make it work. 

Anyway, I think there is another guy now. The e-mail that was on my printer was to my boss' son.  I noticed his e-mail address because it was at the very top or the print-out.  They have been long-time family friends and he even hooked up with Kim's sister once.  He is a mess - spoiled rotten (his parents are very wealthy and pay for everything), very irresponsible, has gotten a DUI, sold drugs, he even got kicked out of a Christian college.  I think he is in his early-mid 20's. 

Why does this make me so sad? Pregnancy hormones?

They actually weren't going to get married until October of this year but bumped it up to June 2006 so they could buy a condo.  Her parents wouldn't let them live together until they were married.