my new hobby

my new hobby is canning things. like, tomatoes. i've even made applesauce and canned it. and, i've made jalapeno jelly. i've already eaten a jar of the tomatoes, used them to make lasagna. YUM. and, kendal has polished off a half-pint of applesauce (apples have hit the farmers market, i'll be buying more and canning them too). mom, dad, nathaniel, and i ate almost a whole half-pint of pepper jelly the other night with cream cheese and crackers. YUM. even kendal liked it. (of coarse, i didn't give him any of the pepper pulp, just the jelly part.) next week, i'm gonna try making grape (greap) jelly. guess what everyone is getting for christmas!!! :)

how cold is too cold?

ok, so maybe the snow picture is a little overkill. but, i checked the weather for both mancos and grand canyon (since both are places where we will be camping in 3 weeks) and night time lows are already in the 40s!!! i suppose this weekend will be a semi-trial camping-trip-with-a-toddler, since the expected lows for glendale springs is only in the upper 50s. not really that cold, comparatively. yesterday i bought k a pair of jogging pants and a jacket and long sleeve shirt. thinking, he may need it but he probably wouldn't. well, maybe i need to take him 2 pairs! and maybe i need a pair for myself! (pregnancy heat will take you far, but not THAT far...) i wish he'd wear hats, cause a toboggan would help keep him warm. and as for sleeping arrangements, that is the biggest test part of this weekend. i know we both can't fit in my mummy bag, so i have to find away for us to sleep together (lucky me, sleeping with a miniature version of my heater-husband). do i revert back to the not-so-warm old school types of sleeping bags? maybe i can make a homemade version of the two person sleeping bag (zip 2 rectangular ones together) to have room for both of us! and, as for a pad, what do i do there? the rain out today is keeping me in. but, maybe tomorrow (or friday) i can venture into my least favorite store and see what kind of cheap-o large-ish pads they have...

i was wrong

well, nathaniel had it right. the sponge bob intro ONLY plays at the beginning of the 30 minute program, not before each episode. posting this is part of my loosing bet.

already?

i am ALREADY tired of the tv ads! blah blah blah elizabeth dole, blah blah blah kay hagan, blah blah blah negative attack ads... soon it'll be blah blah blah mccain obama whatever... i wish there was a way to XM our TVs (on XM radio you generally don't get hear ads). i'd pay more for that!

camping with a baby

there's nothing like last minute plans... this weekend, we're going camping for 1 night, in the mountians (north of boone, towards jefferson). we'll see how kendal does on his first trip into nature for the day/night/day. i'm so excited, i just wish he'd eat hot dogs. (which he may, but i haven't tried them yet with him. too processed for now... his body is still pure-ish.)

the holly bears the crown

the only yard color we had at our house (outside) last winter were the two holly trees in our front planter. as much as we hate those trees (the leaves they drop HURT and therefore you have to wear gloves when working in the planter), they are by far the most beautiful things in our yard come december.

And as when all the summer trees seen So bright and green The holly leaves their fadeless hues display Less bright than they But when the bare and wintry woods see What then so cheerful as the holly tree So serious should my youth appear The thoughtless throng So would I seem amid the young and gay More grave than they That in my age as cheerful I might be As the green winter of the holly tree ROBERT SOUTHKT

holly the name, not the plant, is really why i'm blogging... i've (we've) picked our baby girl name. holly noelle. i realize those 2 names are a lot of christmas (as i tend to not like "themed" names), but in reality, not many will even KNOW her middle name (since most folks aren't called by their whole name) and hopefully in her 20s or 30s, she'll be married and loose it anyway. so, i like it, nathaniel likes it, and we will name her that. so here are some reasons that i know for SURE that holly noelle is the right name: 1. in the winter, it is the only beautiful thing outside, the only thing of color and life. nathaniel and i are such nature lovers, why not name our child, which will come in winter - when everything is dull outside, after such a lovely winter plant? 2. holly is a symbol of joy, goodwill, and christmas. 3. having an aunt named joyce and a sister with the middle name joyce, naming my child which means joy can be associated with both of them and the family. 4. holly also means the holy spirit, and noelle means born on christmas day (which is greatly a possibility for this baby). the day we celebrate for christmas represents the day that mary (mary - another family name for both of us!) bore jesus christ. jesus christ was later hung on the cross for our sins, with a crown of thorns (holly) upon his head. 5. christmas is my favorite holiday. 6. christmas is a season of love, family, charity, etc. and why not name my child after all those wonderful things? 7. i know this is a stretch, but sometimes random things make me KNOW it is the right name (and this is using my bestest-pullinger-logic ever...) like, for instance, the fact that the version we use now of the Holly and the Ivy (christmas carol) was first published by cecil sharp. cecil is similar to my grandma's name, cescile. 8. a super version of the holly and the ivy was sung by natalie cole, which her name is the feminine version of nathaniel! (that link is not her singing, though.) (is it too early to start listening to christmas music? this song definitely puts me in the christmas spirit!) 9. while researching the use of holly as a name on the internet, i came across a blog called "under the holly tree" whose author is named ROBIN!!! really. how wild is that? (robin was kendal's if-he-was-a-girl name.) 10. holly makes me think of the color green, which is one of my favorite colors. 11. kendal and my favorite doctor at the pediatrician's office is named holly! (actually, she is a nurse practitioner, not a dr - but twice as helpful and friendly as the doctors!) 12. we both really liked noelle before (with kendal), and i think this is a great way to use it without re-using it (so to speak...) so, i'm up to make a monetary wager on this declaration of "holly noelle" as our name for #2 (if it is a girl - those ultrasounds aren't 100% accurate...) if anyone would like to join in on this wager, i'll bet you $5 that i WILL keep that as her name (no changes). if i do change it, i'll pay you $5. if i don't, you pay me $5. you have to comment on this blog to participate!

only 1 away from the big 5-0-0-0 mark!!!

i wonder, though, how many time are "me" clicking on my own page to view, edit, post, or listen to music (which was somehow lost when i changed the layout of the page).

new morning food for K

i know, i know. he's not a year old yet. what IS so magical about turning a year old? is there a clock in his tummy that says "ah, NOW i can digest cows milk!) or one in his neck that says "ah, NOW i am strong enough!" i feel like i've done my part fitting into the government's bill for a decent parent because i allowed the dr give him all the vaccinations. (if he is autistic or has ADHD, i swear it will be because of one of those vaccines!!!) also, i have not given him honey or peanut butter. i still don't understand why i can't... i'm sure we had it when we were little bitty! so, in other areas, i've kinda done what I FEEL is right (not exactly with the government says i should do, when i should do it). like, when we went to kentucky, i turned him around in the car. yup, kendal no longer has to see where he's been.. he gets to watch where he's going (although he is usually staring at his best friend in the mirror (himself) or me). know what is nice about the front facing seat? well, it is reclined more than when it was rear facing. so when he sleeps in the car (which he did a lot of on the way to and from KYjelly), his little head doesn't fall forward and down. now he can actually keep it up and to the side. so about a month ago, i started giving him a little bit of foods that have milk in them. like, mac and cheese (the instant kind where you use cow milk). and, ice cream and pudding. just a little, like a bite or two. this past weekend, N and i went to dairy queen for some ice cream (HOLLY (that will be her name) wanted it) and while at the stoplight, i turned around and gave kendal a bite of mine. MISTAKE. he screamed until i hid my ice cream and he forgot about it, which was about 5 minutes (out of sight out of mind). this also meant that i didn't get to have my ice cream, as it was mostly melted by the time we got home. boy he recognized that red spoon... so today, i made him a bowl of oatmeal (yuck!) and i made for myself a bowl of fruity pebbles (with milk). i haven't really thought of sharing it with him as he generally does not like to eat hard (i.e. crunchy) things. but today, i gave him one and he ate it. then i gave him two. he still ate it. then i gave him half a spoon full (they were getting a little soggy by this point). he LOVED them! and, most of the milk stayed in the spoon, but i know he got a little of it. so, here is yet another way he is like me... the baby loves fruity pebbles! (his dad hates them. yea, i'm with you. how can anyone hate fruity pebbles???)

my fortune

my instant chinese fortune today: a small house can hold just as much happiness as a big one.

the medal count

this year i've actually paid some attention to the beijing olympics. maybe this happens every year, but when did the medal count become such a story? every time i open yahoo or watch any news coverage of the olympics, i see (and i'm just making these numbers up) USA: 101 medals, CHINA: 89 medals, RUSSIA: 45 medals. when did the olympics become a competition between countries to get medals? is it really important how many medals we have compared to the rest of the world? lets say for instance, USA has 200 athletes who totaled 100 medals. that is about 50%, right? what if china had 400 athletes who totaled 100 medals. that is about 25%, right? what if russa had 80 athletes and they totaled 60 medals. that is about 75%, right? what if tanzania had 1 athlete and he got a gold medal. that is 100%, right? and also, maybe figured into those scores should be the total population divided by the number of atheletes... like, if haiti has 500,000 citizens, 40 athletes, and 6 medals... compared to USA of 1.2 billion, 200 athletes, and 100 medals... and china with 6 billion, 400 athletes, and 60 metals - who would come out on top? i don't even know how to make a formula for that one. (but i bet i know someone who could make a flow chart figuring it out!) now i don't claim to know how many folks are participating per country, and i don't know how many medals they've won (or not won). but if the above scenario was accurate, who REALLY should be topping the medal chart?

what we do at night...

is it bad that for most of the morning, i've ONLY been looking at kendal's photos and videos? well, here are two from this past week that i meant to post but forgot... about 8 to 8:30, we start our night-time routine. kendal has a bottle, we all put PJs on, and we watch a little TV. kendal gets his blanket and a pacifier, we dim the lights, and we all start to wind down. generally, we watch either the wonderpets or spongebob, both that have theme songs that kendal recognizes (as he does the boomerang song and the WRAL news sound). the first video here is during wonderpets, you can see his feet are crossed, he is rubbing his blanket, and sucking away on that paci. the second video is when the wonderpets song comes on... when they say "go wonderpets YAY!" he ALWAYS raises his hands! (which oddly enough is also something he does every time he takes a bite of food he likes, but that is another story altogether.)

daycare update

first day: not so bad. he gladly went to the teacher and sat right on the floor and played. not a tear, not a word, of coarse i cried when i got to the car because it was my first time leaving him with someone that was not family. second day (today): they had to peel him off of me, then he started the MA MA MA MA cry. oh my god it was all i could do to wait 'till i got to the car to cry. and i cried for 20 minutes on the way home before i could get it under control. i can tear up right now thinking about it, and it's been 2 hours since i left him. i did call a little while ago to check on him and they said he cried for just a minute until he started playing. so, seems that i cried more than he did. i wonder if he misses me as much as i miss him.

ugly words

yesterday, i was talking to katelyn on the phone. i don't remember what we were talking about, but i said "i aren't...". being the grammAr nazi, i instantly realized that that wasn't the right word to say (i am we are hesheit is). so, i tried to figure out what the contraction for am not was. "i amn't?" again, i will use the pregnancy brain excuse for even considering such a word invention. haha. and, yes, i realize the right thing to say would be "i'm not..." - but that isn't nearly as creative. and while i'm on the topic of grammAr, i have to mention that my biggest pet peeve in the world is people who use the following method for describing photos:

kendal and i

there is kendal there is I... sounds so stupid i want to cry.

hum..... kendal likes all 3 of these!

THE WORKING SET

today, less than a week than our ultrasound, we have started a working set of baby girl names. it is hard picking out girl names! so... here goes (in no particular order): first names: Aurora Amelia Chloe Heidi Holly Lila Madeline middle names: Blair Noelle one combination sticks out in my mind.... chloe noelle. LOVE that. also love the name holly, but not sure about the middle name choices... although pretty, holly noelle may be a little too festive for a christmas baby IMO. so, what's your vote???

another first

today is kendal's first day of daycare. when we got there, one of the ladies in the room held her hands out for him and he went RIGHT to her! none of that lean-into-mom stuff. she took him over to the play area, sat him on the floor, and he immediately grabbed a stacker thing (his favorite toy at home) and started playing. he watched the other kids walk and crawl around, and didn't even look for me. i made his bottles, filled out his emergency contact sheet, packed his cubbie with diapers and stuff, and left! it was hard to drive away, but i know he'll enjoy his day. i could tell from the very minute he left my arms that he was leaving into good hands.

no names... just faces

anyone else see any resemblance here? oh my goodness what a beautiful child.

mother to son wisdom

as a new-mother gift to me, my sister (melissa) gave me a small book called mother to son: shared wisdom from the heart by melissa and harry harrison. i read the book and liked it, but really didn't "get" most of it (since, being a very new mom, i hadn't the experience yet to appreciate the words). well i reread the "in the beginning" part again this week, and NOW i get it. i thought i'd share some of it here because maybe some of you will enjoy it too.

• realize that your son will love you more intensely than anyone or anything else in the world.

• at times, you will be blown away by the depth of your love for him. this would be the case EVERY day.

• don't forget that as a baby, he will always be looking for your face. It will be this way forever.

• spend as much time with him as you can. this is for your sake as well as his.

• read all the advice books and baby guides you want, but trust your instincts. they're good.

• watch out when you're changing his diaper. baby boys shoot straight in the air. ask katelyn about this one...

• know that your job in life is to feed him, love him, and point him in the right direction.

• be ready for him to wake up hungry. boys eat more than you can imagine, even as babies. funny, he ALWAYS wakes up hungry. and, he knows exactly what sounds we make as we're making a bottle!

• keep lots of soft towels handy. he's a drooling machine. yes he is!!!

• the more you talk to him, the sooner he'll talk to you.

• realize that from day one, he's wired to be self-reliant. don't change that.

• if you wait until he cries to pick him up, you're teaching him to cry. unless he is sleepy, then i give him 5 minutes... and usually he's smiling as i carry him back to my bed. yea, he has me wrapped around that little finger.

• you will want to just watch him - his eyes, his hands, his movements - for hours. it's normal. good!

• remember, he needs to be around you, to hear your voice, to see you looking at him.

• relax. throwing food is normal. heck, throw it back. i need to start practicing this one!

• buy him a soft blanket. he will keep it for years. yay!

• you'll remember his laughter at this age forever. which is why even though it is bedtime, when he starts laughing, i keep on tickling!

• don't forget, he needs one-on-one attention from you.

moving count...

mom asked me today how many times i had moved. she counted 9, but previously i counted 13. let me list them to declare it for all... (melissa and kate, this is your prompt to post your movings too!) places i've lived: 1.fowler's crossroads... born here. 2. zebulon road moved here in 1983 (?) 3. sanford (with uncle leonard for vet tech program at CCCC) august 1993 4. carolina pines (with missy, still at CCCC) dec 1993 5. zebulon road (before ecu) (april 1994) 6. carriage house (freshman ECU, with andrea) jan 1996 7. jasmine gardens(junior ECU, with michelle) jan 1997 8. evans st (grad school ECU, with leigh) july 2000 9. carriage house (grad school ECU, with leigh - we only stayed here for 1 week as the apartment was in poor repair and they let us out of the lease. we both parted ways... i moved home as at the time i was working with DOT and traveling all the time) (sept 2000) 10. zebulon road (traveling with DOT) (sept 2000) 11. rosemont (traveling with DOT but i had a greenville boyfriend and needed to stay "in town") (2002) 12. zebulon road (worked with DOT in raleigh for about 6 or 7 months) (2003) 13. belle meade (worked in washington, with rhonda)(2004) 14. main st (washington) (2004) 15. 2nd st (washington) (2005) 16. 4th street (greenville, with kate although i moved out before she moved in) (aug 2006) 17. lumberjack (louisburg) (sept 2006) SO... this means i've moved MORE than 13 times... i've moved 16 times in my life! of coarse, the first one doesn't really count since i was just a wee child then, so maybe it is fair to say that with my dad's help (and with my granddaddy's truck), i've moved 15 times.

something for chris

chris, i stumbled upon this webpage... and it reminded me of you. you should read the report, for some reason i think you would be fascinated with it. and while you are at it, maybe you can post a comment linking YOU to kevin bacon (staying within those 6 degrees!) :)

want to hear a beautiful song?

this has always been one of my favorites. i saw he opened for jack johnson at the alltel pavilion this past week. boy, i would have loved to have been there.

funny email from chris...

Spread the Stupidity Only in America ......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.

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Only in America .....do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet coke.

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Only in America .....do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.

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Only in America .....do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.

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Only in America......do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight. _______________________________________________________________ Only in America .....do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.

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EVER WONDER ... Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?

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Why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed?

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Why don't you ever see the headline 'Psychic Wins Lottery'?

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Why is 'abbreviated' such a long word?

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Why is it that doctors call what they do 'practice'? ____________________________________________________ Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?

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Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

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Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?

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Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?

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Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?

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Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?

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You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don't they make the whole plane out of that stuff?!

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Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?

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Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?

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If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?

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If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?

breaking all the rules

first photo: a nice profile, second photo: she has her hand in her mouth (and yes, i know they spelled my name wrong, twice.) TODAY was our 21 week anatomy ultrasound. previous to the actual doctor visit, we decided to try and find out the gender this time. and as i alluded to in the photo caption... we are likely having a "she"/"her". so laying there on the table with jelly and a ultrasound thingy gliding across my abdomen (somehow always hitting the bellybutton), i wondered if it was the right thing to find out the gender. i know we already decided to find out, but still... i was having second thoughts. nathaniel sitting in the chair to my left side, holding my hand, we watched as she measured the brain/skull, the bladder, the femur, the "waist", the kidneys, my placenta, and all 4 chambers of the heart (from 2 different directions). she ventured down into the "nether region" and said "do you want to know the gender?" i kept my mouth shut, nathaniel said "YES!" and squeezed my hand. she pushed and poked more on my belly. "well i don't see any boy parts" spat out of her mouth and my hand went limp. she kept bouncing pushing and poking for a better view and said again, "well i definitely don't see any boy parts." still, my arm lie motionless, and feeling the squeezes from nathaniel, i glanced over at him to see his expression, really trying to hide my own. he was grinning from ear to ear. i, on the other hand, trying to hold back tears (um, gonna use the hormone excuse again for those tears). i remember when the doctor said, with kendal, "its a boy!" and i was so surprised in the same way as i was today because i was SURE we were having a girl. i was all ready for the girl name we had (robin noelle) and was very disappointed we wouldn't be able to use it. and i know we have 4 more months to think about names, but i was DEAD set on a boy name this time (marshal benson), and i suppose my reaction was more due to the fact i won't be able to use that name. why can't i use "old" names? well, i really feel like the boy and girl name that are picked for the fetal baby belong to that child, and that child only. and even though this one will PROBABLY be born on christmas eve or something, noelle really belongs to kendal. just like marshal benson will belong to this baby, even if we didn't get to use it. so, i am not sad we are having a girl. i'm happy about that. but i really really really had my heart set on a boy (that is what i get for thinking about it so much, right?) i suppose i am happiest that she appears healthy as can be. and when we started this whole ultrasound thing today, the first image was front on face. based on the bone structure we saw, she is going to look like her brother, square face and big noggin' and all. and so today, we are back to square 1 with a girl name (maybe i'll change my mind about the belonging-to-baby-craziness i have). i had a nice one picked out, but it was more a "reserve" name that i really didn't think i'd have to use. that name was amelia blair. i liked it this morning. now, i'm not so sure. seems i have to be so certain with a girl name now. last, i totally have that feeling now that i was not supposed to know what this baby is. i feel like i've cheated, and i'm not too fond of that feeling. i can't turn back the clock, but i can assure you with the next one (if there is a next one) we will NOT be finding out the gender before he/she is born!!!

last day in KY 2008

we are packing for the long long long drive back tomorrow. it took us 13 hours to get here, and considering we stopped about 13 times (not always because kendal needed to be changed, i can already tell you this baby likes to use my bladder as a trampoline!) that really isn't so bad. and, at least the drive isn't fort leonardwood, right?

in the mean time, i got a really cute video of kendal saying his new phrase... "uhoh!" the cutest part about him saying it is his little lips making the oooo shape.

anyway, i also wanted to let everyone know that kendal has officially felt his little brother or sister now. we were sitting on the couch earlier, i was laying down, kendal was sitting in the crook of my hips. his back was to my lower abdomen (where the baby is). i felt a bump bump, then a BIG bump and kendal turned around to see what was behind him (of coarse it was just me laying there).

wednesday is the big show and tell day for the baby. even though we didn't want to know kendal's gender before birth, we wouldn't have been able to find out anyway because he had his legs pinched together and his back was to the ultrasound thingy. maybe we'll have better luck with this one, since we DO want to find out anyway. already have names picked out just in case (well, i'm 100% on the boy name, maybe 80% on the girl name). we'll see what happens wednesday...

Bo got his hair did!

for some reason this blog title reminds me of the milkshake song. (chris, that is for you to click on... so it can stick in your head!)

anyway, bo got a hair cut (got all those knots out from under his armpits and butt area). they call it the "lion" cut. he is hardly a lion, but this cut really makes him look like one!

camera tricks

went to a bulls game friday night, tried to take photos of the fireworks. they actually turned out pretty good!