Colorado!

So, it turns out that we didn't actually take that many pictures while we were vacationing. But since I promised pictures, here they are...


Here's Ben and I hiking on one of the trails on the way up Pike's Peak. It was a beautiful day, but it gets flipping cold when you drive up the side of a mountain...

A family of deer came down for a visit to our cabin one night after dinner. We counted nine of them, though they obviously didn't all make it into the photo. They were literally about twenty feet away from our porch.

Here we are looking like midgets at the Garden of the Gods. I swear we brought more than one outfit...though we ended up in our hoodies several times!

Here's the Vance family at the Garden of the Gods. Notice Clayton in the fabulous stroller that now belongs to Worm. Thanks Vances!

Miss Lillie May, the world's smallest rock climber, and Andy in the background wearing Clay on his back who, we've been told, can sound mysteriously similar to a mountain lion when you're hiking up the side of a mountain and forget that he's back there!

...and the obligatory photo of a baby in a bucket...because who can resist!

Andy had three interviews and got three job offers. The house in St. Pete is going up for sale, and it looks like the Vances will make it to Colorado before we do after all!

Stay tuned, hopefully there will be ultrasound photos on Monday!

Worm's Spot 20 Weeks

Here we are at 20 weeks already...up 18 1/2 (gulp!) pounds and getting rounder everyday. I'm starting to feel a bit uncomfortable. I'm having backaches most nights and I've been a little bit grumpy about climbing over Ben to get into bed lately. It just seems to require a bit more effort than it used to! I've done awesome so far with my no chocolate and no soda rule, though it doesn't seem to be helping me manage the extra weight. Oh well. We had a fantastic time in Colorado this week. Pictures coming soon...

Properly Chastised...

Well, we had our third prenatal appointment today...

I have been properly chastised for being a fatty McFat muffin, and I'm feeling like a rotten awful turd about it. Apparently I'm gaining weight too fast (which I could have easily told you without their stupid scale!) I've been really careful to eat lots of good fruits and veggies, whole grains and dairy...but apparently I've been eating too much of lots of other things too. This weekend after a particularly ridiculous "birthday" binge I swore off chocolate and soda for the rest of the pregnancy. We'll see...

Worm's heart is sounding good at 144 beats per minute (the first time they've given me an actual number!) and he's growing like a weed, measuring a smidge ahead of where they'd expect him to be. We're scheduled for an ultrasound on April 2nd, and really looking forward to that!

Tomorrow morning we're leaving for Colorado. Due to a little glitch in the plans, we'll actually be meeting up with the Vances in Atlanta to complete the trip out to Denver. I'm looking forward to seeing how much the munchkins have grown, and it'll be fun to be on the same flight. We're excited about the trip, and I'll be sure to take some nice pictures to post when we get home!

Have a happy week!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

This year for St. Patrick's Day Ben got to feel his first little kicks from our own tiny leprechaun!!!

Why You Should Pay to Have Your Hair Cut

A Pictorial Review for Your Viewing Pleasure...

Once upon a time there was a hairy beast...

He was a very brave beast who kindly humored his wifey and let her "do her thing" with the mop that was growing on the top of his head...


She snipped and snipped without abandon, wistfully leaving a curl here and there...


When she had finally finished she was quite impressed with her handiwork. The hairy beast, however, took one look at himself in the mirror and the expression on his face made her laugh and laugh until tears streamed down her cheeks.


Obviously, the beast was not impressed...

So she pulled out her trusty clippers and hacked off some more...


...til the beast was left with nary a curl on his head...


...and they all lived happily ever after!



A Few More Photos for Good Measure

(Mourning the death of the curls.)



(Can you believe all this hair came off one beast's head?)



(If you are as charming as the hairy beast, perhaps you too can have a beached whale with awful skin for a wife in just 18 weeks and 3 days!
Act now, supplies are running out!!!)

Overwhelmed

The spring-like weather has arrived. Surely it will only stick around a few days before life goes back to dreary grey and cold for another month, but while it lasts it's making me think...

...that I'm coming to the end of my last childless winter.

...that I'm welcoming my last childless springtime.

...that in less than a week Ben and I will be leaving for our last childless vacation.

And somehow I feel so far from ready for that.

Yesterday I mentioned to Ben that I'm feeling overwhelmed, that I'm wishing I could have more time to prepare myself mentally for this giant change. Then I was silent for a moment and remarked, "Oh well, it's too late now!" I grinned the thoughts away.

But...

Maybe for the first time in my life I don't have any sense of control to grasp onto. I can't slow this down until I'm ready for it. I can't take it back and wait for a more opportune time. And I think perhaps having children in your life brings more and more of that lack of control. They are little individuals with their own minds and they just keep on growing up even when you're not ready. Maybe it's a lesson that I've been late in learning; that life cannot be controlled. Maybe I just need to breathe deep and let the changes come uninhibited. I need to smile at the beautiful parts and tromp through the anxieties. It certainly feels like a journey, and I want to believe that it's a journey that is so worth making.

Story Time with Worm

Some of the websites I've found on fetal development say that Worm should be able to hear right around now. I was taught that babies' ears started working closer to 20 weeks (and I should totally know right?!??) but lest we miss out on three weeks of quality time to talk to our little Worm we've begun telling it bedtime stories.

First was, "Worm and Papa Go Fishing" by Ben. He cracks me up with the details he throws in. You should know that Papa buys Worm a tiny fishing pole with Snoopy on it, that he teaches Worm to rub his* gooey fingers in the grass after putting the squirmy worm on the hook, and that Worm accidentally gets his hook stuck in a tree and Papa and Worm talk about how long it might be up there and what will someday make it come down. (I learned the difference between a bobber and a lure and that you should take the fish off the hook with a pair of pliers, which totally explains why mom, grandma and I were completely unsuccessful at getting the fish off the hook on my first...and last...fishing expedition!)

Last night was, "Worm Gets a Dirtbike" by Ben. Apparently Worm is getting a dirtbike for his fifth Christmas, and Papa is going to train him to ride it by tying a rope around it and practising using the brakes in the back yard. Priceless!

Tonight since Ben was exhausted and too tired to be creative I told the "Worm Eats Breakfast" story, in which Worm and Papa discuss philosophical questions over Cheerios (and a banana that Mama makes them eat) before Papa goes to work.

I already look forward to story time with Worm, and I hope that we will continue with the tradition long after Worm arrives and creates stories of his own...

*In our stories Worm is always a boy. I'm completely convinced that Worm is a boy, although I have absolutely no evidence to support my theory. We're not picky about the sex of the baby, and we'd be thrilled to have a little girl Worm, but until my premonition is proven incorrect Worm will most likely be referred to with masculine terms on this website. Of course, you'll all agree not to mention it if Worm turns out to be a girl and I frantically edit every post!