Random Photos

Here are a few random pictures from my camera. Here is the Boss examining the new baby gate we put up (she's smiling b/c she's a big picture hound).

Here she is wearing her new party dress. She looks so cute in it.

Here is our Christmas decorations. I lost my Weihnactstimme (Christmas spirit) my first year of living in Germany. Having a baby changes

Green Beans

Well, John doesn't like them, so I guess it's genetic.

Thanksgiving

When John and I got married, we decided Thanksgiving would be @ our house. We would invite our families to join us, but we would stay @ home. It's worked out really well since we don't have to take home any leftovers, just pack up our fridge.

This year we had John's parents and the missionaries over. I put the turkey in @ 3:30am this morning and it was done @ 9am. By the time we were ready to eat, the turkey was so tender it fell apart as we were getting out of the roaster and onto the plate.

This year was esp special b/c it was the Boss's first Thanksgiving. I gave her a spoonful of mashed potatoes, but she didn't like them. It almost looked like she was going to spit them out, but she swallowed them. The face she made was hilarious!

We went down to my parents to look @ the Black Friday ads, but we didn't really see anything we couldn't live w/out. I personally have all of my Christmas shopping done, all that's left is wrapping it. John still has some left (mostly for me!), but he'll get it done before the big day. We are actually going to let the Boss play w/ her Christmas presents before Christmas and wrap the boxes up, b/c @ this age, she'll like playing w/ the paper.

Since this is a season of thanks, I would like to thank John for all the time he spent today playing w/ the Boss so I could get dinner ready (he was also really handy for getting the leaf in the table and getting the turkey outta the roaster, he's such a handy guy). I don't know where I'd be w/ out John, but it wouldn't be as fun of a place.

moving and shaking

it had to happen sometime. The Boss is now mobile.

Big girl

This is the Boss getting her first taste of cereal (or anything other than breastmilk). Her Papa fed her, but she was willing to share by dribbling all over his pants.

Mama's little helper

Halloween

Halloween was an interesting this year. This was the first year that we had a baby and babies change everything. My mom made the Boss the cutest little ducky costume that you've ever seen.

Here she is trying out her scary faces. Actually, this is the face she makes whenever she's frustrated about something. It's usually b/c she's not moving fast enough.

Here are the pics of our little Boss as a big fat duck. Mom went a little overboard w/ the stuffing, but it turned out cute esp since she likes to kick her legs as she's being held. It kinda looked like she was trying to swim away. She was very happy to be a duck. She didn't get any candy (this year), but her Papa was very happy to take some of the candy offered to her by our friends. We've lucked out to have such a happy Boss as our first.

Both set of her Grandparents melted when they saw her in her outfit.

Thanksgiving is going to be an interesting one this year. She's going to be eating cereal (at least) so she may get a little bit of mashed potato. She's such a spoiled little girl, but @ least she's a cute little spoiled girl.

Leash Law

We live in a fairly good size city. If it were up to John and I we would live in the country, but the opportunity for our house was too good to pass up. It still is a good deal and we love our house and the neighbors who own are wonderful.

Living in a city means we have a leash law. A leash law simply put means that any time your dog is not on your property he must be on a leash. I support this law for many reasons: it keeps your dog from getting hit by cars and it keeps dogs from getting spooked and hurting someone. I understand sometimes a dog slips out, I've had dogs do everything from brute force to outsmarting me to get out of the house. I understand it happens.

Leash laws are good for another reason. People (esp here) think it's fun to keep dogs that shouldn't be breed as pets. I'm talking about pit bulls, boxers and rottweilers. This dogs are all aggressive and really serve no purpose for anyone who is not looking for dog fights. Pit bulls are notorious for not letting go in a fight until they or their opponent is dead.

Why am I going on and on about leash laws? For a very good reason. The Boss and I went for a walk today to run some errands. The weather was beautiful (in the 70s) and it was a glorious day. We had only gotten a few blocks from the house when I noticed something not right on the sidewalk ahead. I noticed a group of people in the way. Not unusual, people like to walk and talk, or in this case, curse. As I got closer, I realized it was a group of about 4 people trying to break up a dog fight. Since I had my baby with me, I didn't get closer than 10 feet. I've been in the middle of a dog fight before and I know that's one mess I don't wanna get involved with.

As I watched them try to break the dogs apart, I realized both dogs were Pit Bulls. This made me really glad I was so far away. I even saw someone get a baseball bat to try and pry the dogs jaw's apart. I also heard a lot of cussing (I don't know if the dogs understood, "get the f*** off" or not, but they kept saying it).

It took about 15 mins of us watching (the dogs had already started fighting and being pulled apart by the time we had walked down, so who knows how long they were fighting) before they finally got the dogs apart. As the one that was on the leash was walking past, I looked at the dogs face. The dog was originally white, but one side of it's face was pink. One of the guys' hand was completely bitten up.

The dog that I presume started the fight was not on a leash, which makes me believe that either the owner thought his dog was "well behaved" or it escaped. Like I said, a dog that wants to escape will escape, but I really think that Pit Bulls really should be put down or done something so that they won't attack (or in the case of that one place of Florida, eat the toes off a 7 month old) others. I also feel that chihuahuas should not be breed, but that's just b/c I find them stupid and well, stupid.

The Weather and more

John always makes fun of me for my ability to freeze in the summer (really, anything below 75 degrees is freezing). He usually kicks up the teasing in the Autumn. I think I might not survive this winter. It's the 2nd of October and it's already getting down to 40 degrees at night. Usually there is a slow downgrade to freezing, but not this year.

One bad thing about cold weather, it makes me not want to move. Maybe I'm part reptile, or @ least something cold blooded. The only thing that gets me moving faster is the call of my alarm clock aka the Boss. The cold weather also has me worried about her being too cold. Since she can't have a blanket (and not that she'd allow one to stay on her for longer than 5 seconds) we've turned the heat on earlier for her. We also bought her her own carbon monoxide detector since we use natural gas heat.

On other news (besides me freezing to death), the Boss is starting to be more mobile. I can put her under her play mat and walk out of the room. When I return 5 mins later, she'll be almost 2 feet away. She's not crawling, but she's scooting. She's been rolling around for a while, so that's not a big deal.

She also might be teething. She had a low high grade fever. For those of you who don't understand, according to the Boss's Dr, a high fever is 100.5 degrees and her fever was 100.9. It went down and the dr checked her for swine flu (doesn't have). The older women @ church have decided that means she's teething.

While she was sick (and her mama) her papa was trying to entertain her and accidentally taught her to blow raspberries. This is now her favorite thing to do now. She blows raspberries to everyone. Naturally, John hands her to me a lot and complains about how she's spitting on him.

This weekend I'm going to be making her Halloween costume. She's going to be a duck. She won't be getting any candy, but we'll be showing her off to some of the people in the neighborhood. I'm actually really excited about Halloween this year for that reason. It's interesting to see the holidays thru the eyes of your child, even if they don't know what's going on.

Music and Memories

The other day while I was listening to my mp3 player (the Boss likes to watch Mama sing and dance really funny) I heard I song I hadn't heard in a while. The song was "the cup of life" by Ricky Martin. It's funny how little things like songs can bring back memories you haven't thought about in a long time. This song is the soundtrack of a very tough time in my extended family. My cousin Larry Denzil (who is for all intents and purposes adopted) and his wife Marsha were expecting Lil Larry who was born w/ all sorts of issues. Marsha had to be close to John Hopkins Hospital (where Lil Larry was born) and Larry had to work while taking care of his almost 2 yr old daughter Savannah. My mom offered to watch her while he was @ work and I was able to help most days due to my college schedule (as well as being off for holidays, etc).

So why does The Cup of Life remind me of this time period? Well, back when Napster was free, I had downloaded the song and accidentally discovered the Savannah loved to dance to the song. This was the only song she would dance to (and by dance, I mean toddler dance, arms up and wiggling her hips side to side) and both Mom and I thought it was hilarious.

This also brought the memory of poor little Savannah being weened from a bottle completely. She would just hang off of the door to my parents fridge pitifully crying "milchk" "milchk" (and yes, the ch is necessary as it was how she said milk). It broke my mom's heart listening to it, but in the end, she was convinced that eating food off of Buckle Ben and Schicia's plates was much better than a bottle (and that's how she said Uncle Ben and Tricia). Forget the fact that my parents put food on her plate, she wouldn't eat that, but she would steal green beans off of them in a heartbeat.

This was also the time when she loved to flirt w/ my dad and try and get my mom to act all jealous (and that was what it was, an act). She would get mom's attention and say "Schicia, I Buckle Ben's girl" @ which point mom would say something like, "I'm uncle Ben's girl" and my dad would bask in the love of a two year old.

Those are good memories. I hope the Boss has as good of memories of my parents (and John's) as Savannah and her siblings do (and they still call my dad Buckle Ben).

found it

I found the video I was trying to upload earlier. Like I said, she was trying to make the same sounds. Now she's mad b/c I refuse to pick her up. It's good for her to not be in my arms 24/7. She does enjoy sitting up (by being propped up by me) or standing. This one is not one to sit still for a minute.

I finally got a bit of the Boss laughing. She was blowing bubbles @ me trying to make the same sounds as me blowing rasberries on her belly. ok, so not the video I thought it was

sleep evasion

This is what it looks like when a baby tries not to take her nap. She still isn't sleeping, she's just wanting to sit up next to me. She needs to stop sucking on her hand and go to sleep.

Rolly Polly

It had to happen. The Boss is starting to grow up and she's starting w/ sucking her thumb. Now she's starting to roll over. I noticed yesterday she was almost there, but couldn't quite make it. Today as I was getting things ready to go to the Post Office I noticed she was on her stomach. I did finally get it on video. She's sitting up (w/ help), standing (again w/ help) and is generally smiling her head off. Not to mention she's talking and singing like a fool.

Jive Talking

So, I tried to get a video of the Boss laughing, but as soon as I broke out the video camera, nothing was funny. I did get a video of her talking, which is something I've not gotten on camera before.

She talked almost all thru sacrament meeting yesterday (except the time it sounded like she was trying to sing). It looks like she's got the Hurt's gift for gab.

welcome to mommyhood!

All of my friends who are parents warned me this day would happen, but I didn't believe them. Yesterday @ church, I thought I would top the Boss off so I could actually sit thru sacrament instead of pleading w/ her to stop screaming. So before church I fed her and tried to burp her. Instead of a small little burp, she spit up full on Linda Blair exorsist spewing. She got my shirt and skirt as well as her onsie, skirt and the fat fold under her neck. No problem, I thought, I always carry a spare onsie just in case something happened. I cleaned myself off as best as I could, cleaned the Boss off and went about my normal church day. I got her to sleep to help John (who can never manage to keep her asleep). After I teach my class, I notice she's awake and I offer to take the Boss so he could pay attention to class.

So I had the Boss and I ran into a friend of mine and was talking to her when I noticed the Boss was sucking on her thumb and pointer finger w/ her pinky and ring finger curled under. Even though I know she didn't know what she was doing, it looked like my adorable daughter was flipping my friend Sarah the bird! She was even smiling and cooing while flipping her off.

So the last 1/2 hr of church, the Boss farts. I didn't think it was such a big deal until I notice the back of her white onsie was starting to turn mustard yellow (newborn poop looks like mustard). I get up, grab her diaper bag and go to the bathroom to change her. She had pooped so bad it came out the front back and sides of her diaper. She managed to get poop on my shirt and naturally, I ran out of wipes. I had to finish cleaning her up w/ wet paper towels. Since she had no more clean outfits, she had to finish church out naked.

All I was waiting for yesterday was for her to pee on me, then I would have been covered in every liquid avalible to the Boss. John thought it was funny and was very glad it wasn't him.

our vacay

John's boss (no, not that one, the one who signs his paycheck) gave him his comp time. John had worked several Sats and he was finally given the time off. He decided not to stay in Huntington (or even WV) in case his boss forgot he had given John time off (I think his boss has dementia). We decided to go to visit friends of his, the Wootens, in GA. They live on the GA/TN border and I was excited to learn they lived close to a couple of Civil War battle sites. That's what we did during the few days besides going to visit antique stores (we ended up buying a 1940s maple drop leaf table and it did make it to WV).

Here are a few pics taken by John b/c a) he's an amateur photographer and b) it's hard to take pictures when you have to reassure your child that this is really ok.

Here the Boss is being posed by her loving mother on a canon. We later learned that doing so was against all the battle field site's rules. Oops!

Here is a monument built on the battlefield by one of the vets of the chickmunga/Chattanooga battle. It is 85 ft tall w/ stairs all the way up so you can enjoy the view. We both made it up to see the view (separately, the Boss was enjoying her nap). It was a wonderful view, although the next morning was not kind to either of us. John woke up w/ sore knees and I woke up w/ sore calves. It was my fault that I was so sore. I started the climb thinking it would be no big deal (despite being told it would be) and when I started to flag, I realized that the older gentleman who had been following the same driving tour as we had was now climbing behind me. He was probably in his 60s and I could not let him pass me! I know, I have problems w/ my ego. So instead of slowing down and enjoying the climb, I sped up. I also (for some stupid reason unknown to anyone) decided I had to hurry down the stairs to meet back up w/ John after enjoying the view. This may be the reason why my legs still hurt while John's knees stopped hurting him a few days ago.

Here is the view from the tower. All in all, we enjoyed our small vacay and learned that the Boss travels relatively well.

Headstrong girl!

I'm attempting to have more video of the Boss. Unfortunately, until I get my bday present (a digital camcorder, to the horror of John's sensibilities) all I have is the video function on my digital camera. It does alright. So here's my maiden video post online. This is the Boss not enjoying "tummy time". She also refused to look @ me.

I think I have worse worries right now. She's refusing to take her morning nap right now, but she's happily cooing on the floor, so I don't think it will be too bad.

How Embarassing!

My daughter does not take a pacifer. She will not. Sometimes I think it's good, one less bad habit to break. Sometimes (usually when she's screaming her head off) I wish she would. She does, however, suck on herself. This is a pic of the Princess' (see Marsha, I do call her other nicknames) arm. If you look closely, you'll see she's given herself a hickey! John and I just laughed when we realized she has a lip shaped hickey on her arm.

Happy Birthday to MEEEEE!!!!!

Today is my birthday. According to John, I'm 24, which is how old I was when we got married (a very good reason to marry him, he refuses to accept my aging!).

Plans for today are very low key. I get to fold laundry (yeah!) and my in laws are coming over to baby sit for us so we can go to see Transformers 2 and hopefully after the movie there will be enough time to get Cold Stone ice cream.

For my birthday, I woke up w/ a song stuck in my head. Not:

Happy Birthday to you, Happy birtday to you

or any of it's verations or even

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t6oxmU5KMI&feature=related

Nope, I woke up w/ this song stuck in my head:

Picture a stable in Judea, picture a sacred silent night

For those of you who don't know, that's a Primary Christmas song. I don't know what's worse, singing that song on my birthday or the fact that I still remember all the words.

Life w/ the Boss has evened out and we are working on a routine. I've had people ask why I call her the Boss (Marsha!) when she's such a cutie. Simply put, she is the boss. When she says jump I ask how high. I get in trouble even for little things like going to the bathroom w/ out permission or eating lunch. I don't always call her the Boss, just on the internet. I mostly call her Mama's Pretty Girl.

This week we're staying @ my parent's house for the week. This week is scout camp and John and my dad are on staff. Mom and I are enjoying time together and Mom loves spending time w/ her youngest grandchild (youngest, at least until September). Mom has gotten the chance to brush up on her diaper changing skills (I got a kick out of watching mom's reaction when the Boss decided to pee after mom pulled the dirty diaper out from under her and before the clean one had been added) as well as helping give her a bath (again the Boss decided to pee when her diaper was off, but Mom was holding her over the sink, so not as big of a deal, but I still laughed lots).

Everyone that I've seen from Church (as well as mom and dad's neighbors) have been impressed w/ her hair. @ church yesterday there were 4 new babies and out of the 4 (which includes the Boss) only one had any hair to speak of. Everyone is amazed, but I'm not. I've known almost as soon as I first saw her that she looked like her dad. She's even inheited his cowlick (or one of the 3 he has). I'm still hoping that once her baby hair falls out it'll come back in red. I would really like to have @ least one red headed child.

Her eyes haven't changed color yet. Mom is hoping they'll stay blue. She seems to think that none of her kids have her blue eyes, but mine go between green and blue (she says that doesn't count). I had to remind her, when she tried to complain about having all brown eyed kids, that Jacob and I both have green eyes.

Well, I need to hurry up and shower before the Boss wakes up and throws a fit.

Pics

Supporfting Dad's alma matter (go Herd!)

I'm typing one handed, I have some pics of the Boss. I've a couple of her sleeping (when she takes the best photos) of her laying on a blanket that a nice woman from Mom's work made her and her right after a bath (she's still upset in the photo b/c she's still naked and not over the shock of getting wet).

Updates from the zombie parents

OK, the Boss is asleep, so I think I have 5 secs before she wakes up and demands a feeding or her diaper changed (she poops her pants and then gets mad @ me b/c she has poop in her pants). Life is changing, but I think we're both adjusting well to parenthood. I've discovered how seductive the bed is @ 2am in the morning when you've just gotten to sleep @ 12am. I've also discovered I have to have permission to use the bathroom or shower. I've just had to settle down the Boss after using the bathroom w/out permission. She was in the room w/ me and just screaming, but I had to potty! She's using me as a pillow now, but guaranteed, if I put her in her swing she'll wake up upset b/c that's not where she wanted to sleep.

Life w/ a baby isn't all that bad. She does let me get a nap most mornings and she does seem to settle down pretty quickly when she's upset. She does have a very laid back attitude, which is fun. She's also exhibiting teenager facial expressions. She's done everything short of rolling her eyes. My MIL swears the Boss's expressions are copies of her mom's. That's cool. I've come to terms w/ the fact that the only thing she inherited from me is my monkey toes. She looks exactly like her daddy, has 1 of his cowlicks (unfortunately, it's the entire back of her head) and even her hair gets wavy when it's washed.

We took her yesterday to church for the 1st time for her blessing (or what other churchs call christening). Everyone was amazed @ how much hair she has. She wore the same gown I wore to my blessing and was very well behaved during it. My biggest fear was for her to have a bowel movement during the blessing. For those who don't know, newborns have really loud poops. You can hear it across the room and that's funny when you're @ home, but embarrassing when you're in public.

I think that's it for this update. I'll try and post some more pics of the Boss @ a later date, but I'm scared if I move she'll wake up.

Baby Harmon has arrived.

Baby Harmon has arrived. Both mother and child are doing well. Wish I could say the same about myself, she didn’t seem real until I saw her born. She was in the presence of our Heavenly Father such a short time ago and now he has entrusted her to us. Every time someone calls me “dad” it just doesn’t feel right. She has a name, but I don't think it is safe to post it on this page yet. Feel free to email Kelli or myself to find out. We will have more pictures soon, had some technical difficulties in that area but should have them cleared up today.

7lbs, 19 inches, 12:54pm.... a little after noon

The last post for a while, maybe

For those of you who live in a bubble or maybe haven't been paying attention; I'm pregnant. Not just slightly pregnant, but "can't tie my own shoes" pregnant. Our little one is due May 9th, which is (not counting today) 9 days away. We are excited and have all of the major things ready for a baby. We're also taking birthing classes.

Birthing class is a really nice informative class. I took it mainly for the tour of the hospital, but they did show us the different things that could be used on me and the baby during labor (forceps or the vacuum suction thingy?). They also had a "video night" where we watched actual labors that had been taped. It was gross and graphic. John kept looking @ me and telling me that the waiting room looked better and better. Ya know what? I agree, if it weren't for the fact that I was the one pregnant I would totally be in the waiting room.

An interesting development from being so hugely pregnant is the way people answer the phone when I call them. It's never, "hey how are you?" or "what's up?" it's always "are you in labor?" or "are you having pains?". Most of this is from my parents. John can say what he wants, but I come by my drama queen-ness honestly. I get it from both of my parents.

I did take a picture today to show off my very large belly. I didn't realize I was so big, but then again, I am 9 mths pregnant. I guess this just goes to show how vain I am. I saw pics that someone had taken @ my baby shower and was shocked when I noticed I had more than one chin! This really shouldn't surprise me, yet it does. Well, I take solace in the assumption that I'll not have more than one chin after little one appears.

As for names, we have a name, but we aren't telling. This drives my parent's up the wall (dad has decided that we are naming her Temperance), but both of us have known too many people who have announced the name before hand only to change it last minute. We'll announce the name when the ink is dry on the birth certificate and we won't take forever to name her, either. She'll be named before we leave the hospital. I've heard of people who want to "get to know" the baby before naming them and end up taking 2-3 months to do so. I know it would drive John nuts if I did something similar. I try not to annoy him too much, so we've got a #1 name and a couple of back ups, just in case.

Here's a pic

When I wrote about poor old Sammy Joe, I wanted to add her pic, but since I was @ Mom and Dad's house and the only pic I have of her is on my desktop @ home, I couldn't. So here is Sammy Joe in the trunk of our Honda going to Don Petry's house. This was taken right after John and I got engaged, so she was still pretty spry. Now that I get a good look @ it, she looks a little on the chunky side.

37 weeks and ready to explode

John had to travel out of town this week for work, the last time before the baby comes. Since no one feels comfortable leaving a hugely pregnant woman by herself mere weeks before her due date (about 18 days, not that I'm excited or anything), I'm spending time w/ mom and dad. Coming home after being married for a while (4 1/2 yrs) is kinda weird. I'm sleeping in a twin bed, which is something I'm not used to. It is nice for mom b/c she's been able to see my stomach move as little one moves around trying to find room and feel body parts as they jab me.

Spending time here is kinda fun. Today, for example, dad and I watched 3 deer eating grass in the field not far from their house. We actually watched 2 yearling deer grazing across the street. While deer are beautiful, my dad could only think of 2 things: hunting and how he is going to keep them out of his garden this year. I still remember the year he read that human urine would scare deer away. Mom got really mad when she found out that all of her "boys" (including dad) were peeing in the garden.

Today was also a day that I scared mom. Mom and dad are super watchful over my belly. I got in minor trouble for opening the garage door. I decided to get into the candy bar stash tonight after dinner. I apparently sat down too hard on the rocker arm chairs that mom got from Granny's house. I say apparently b/c I ended up going head over heels. Thankfully I fell slow enough to be able to arrange it to where I landed on my upper arms and not my belly, but it was too fast to stop it. Mom was up and by my side in a second. She still thinks I hurt myself more than I'm admitting, but not true. I actually thought it was funny. Dad thought I didn't need the candy bar (he was wrong, king size Kit Kat bar, I mean, Hello!), but the pregnant woman prevailed.

Dad and I also figured out how old their cat, Mamasita, is. I found once an old vet bill for her from 1993 and it said she was 1 1/2 yrs old. That being, she is somewhere around 17 yrs old. She is really getting to the point where she wants to be loved on almost all the time. She forced me to love on her for a good 15 mins. She later got into the house and settled on my belly (apparently it's a good spot for a nap). When I kicked her off of me, she settled on mom's chest and they engaged in a staring contest. Mom won. Mamasita is not a good sport so she settled giving us dirty looks thru the picture window after she got put back out.

The End of an Era

On Sunday a sad event took place. Mom and Dad's faithful dog, Sammy Joe, was found dead in the yard. She was over 13 years old, deaf, going blind and generally old. Sammy was a purebred chocolate lab that was given to my parents by friends of ours kid. They were dog breeders, but Sammy's whole litter ended up getting some sort of disease that didn't clear up until they were 6 months old, too old to sell. No one wants to have over 13 puppies, so they were just giving them away to good homes. Mom was the one who "picked" Sammy out. Mom went to the breeders to pick one out and as she stepped on the front porch, she was swarmed by a whole pack of puppies. The first one to get to her knocked her down and ended up being the one she brought home.

Sammy was a fun puppy. Being older, she was able to do more w/ less of the awkward puppy stuff. Our dog, Chowey, wasn't really sure she liked having a puppy in the house esp one that wanted to play and not leave her alone. Eventually they became good buddies. Ben was surprised by Sammy. He was on his mission when we got her and no one thought to tell him about her, so when he came home he was shocked.

As w/ all dogs, Sammy did have "Marley" moments. The first Sunday we left her alone to go to church, we came home to discover she had trashed the living room. Since it was spring time, mom and dad had left potting soil (in their bags, of course) in the living room. Sammy fixed that. Thankfully, that was the last time she did that.

My favorite Sammy "Marley" moment involves Marsha and Larry Denzil. Since Sammy spent the majority of her first 6 months outside, she was a little slow understanding the whole housebreaking deal. Mom was sure after a while that Sammy had mastered this skill. Marsha and Larry Denzil were over and mom was bragging how she had finally housebroke Sammy. The most natural thing in the world, of course, was for Sammy to squat down and pee right in front of them. I thought (and still do) it was funny, but mom was so embarrassed. I can understand, having owned dogs of my own.

Don Petry loved Sammy Joe. He would always bring a treat for her, usually Mug root beer and would not bring anything for anyone else. Don would always try to get her to smoke cigarettes (she didn't), but during the time he smoked a pipe, she would knock people down to reach him in time to eat some.

Sammy was also a good dog for kids. When Marsha was in John Hopkins waiting for lil' Larry to be born, Savannah would stay w/ us while Larry Denzil was working. We actually trained Sammy to let Savannah to "ride" her like a pony. When she was tired and didn't want to deal w/ kids, she would walk to the door to the downstairs and wait to be let downstairs. Even when she got really old, she never snapped @ anyone, she just got up and moved away.

Sammy liked to go on walks w/ anyone who would go. The only time she didn't, Jacob decided to take her running. She was over 6 yrs old and starting to show her age. Jacob took her for a long run and in the middle of it, she had enough. She laid down in the middle of the road and refused to get up. Jacob was not thrilled that he had to almost carry her home. He got in trouble for "nearly killing Sammy".

Sammy will be missed. She was a good dog and died peacefully in her sleep.

more baby news

I had another drs appt today. I'm far enough along to be seen every week. Last week the dr I saw noticed I was measuring small (according to my dad, you can hardly tell I'm pregnant). He ordered an ultrasound just to make sure nothing was wrong. We're starting to see the light @ the end of the tunnel and I like to know about things in advance so I can wrap my Drama Queen mind around it.

B/c today's drs appt included an ultrasound, I invited mom and dad to come w/ me. Dad decided to stay in the car stating he didn't like all this "girly stuff" while mom was practically dancing to see her newest grandchild. We were taken in actually pretty quickly for the ultrasound (Mom made sure she had a VHS tape to tape it). This ultrasound wasn't like the last one I had, little one actually stayed still as the tech measured (and she didn't even laugh when mom squealed "Look, she has a femur!"). My only complaint (which isn't really a complaint) was the fact she was facing my back hiding her face. The tech assured me she's "assumed the position".

The one burning question I've had for a while, how much does she weigh was answered today. As of 2pm today, she weighs 6lbs 10 ozs. That's a pretty hefty size for me. Mom assured me she would grow @ least a pound more before she makes her big entrance. The tech also told us she has hair. We hope (or @ least I do) that she has red hair, but chances are she'll have black hair just like Daddy.

She's due May 9th, so we only have maybe 1 month left until we see our new little girl. It's scariest and most exciting thing to happen since my marriage.

Looky!

Looky what we bought today! We found a really good deal @ the flea market and was able to get the nursery more than 1/2 way done (maybe 3/4ths). We have the clothes we've been given in the dressers. My feet hurt and my back was hurting, but I've got the wonderful feeling of accomplishment (plus a husband who is currently getting me ice cream).

The best Ruby Pic EVER!

I know I just posted 5 secs ago, but thought everyone needed to see this pic of Ruby. We were @ the apple Festival in Sept and in case you can't tell, she had cotton candy and Daddy's ice cream.

Green Thumbs

My granny had a green thumb. She could make anything grow, anywhere. Her house was surrounded by beautiful flowerbeds and her garden never had a bad year. She loved being outside and working on the yard. She even mowed her huge yard until the year she broke her ankle (and then crawled to the porch to wait for someone to come visit her). Unfortunately, my mom and I are not her heirs when it comes to gardening. In fact, I think the only thing I really inherited from her is stubbornness (as John will attest). She had her weaknesses (not being able to remember people's names, she called Marsha Marcy from the beginning), but gardening was her thing.

I bring up my Granny's green thumb b/c I've been kinda thinking about her here recently. When I was on my mission in Germany, my parent's went to Hawaii to see my oldest brother graduate from college (Ben sure knows how to pick schools!). Mom fell in love w/ Hawaii, who wouldn't, and brought home a plumeria flower cutting. She then came home and ordered more from QVC (her addiction of choice). When I moved to Huntington and into a house, she gave me a cutting of one of her plumeria flowers w/ very specific directions on how not to kill it (both of us are not the best @ keeping things alive). Naturally, I lost the cutting for a good while, but when I found it, decided to plant it anyways. It was not dead, a minor miracle. Last year, I decided to re pot the poor thing into a huge container (that was full of another plant that I killed). I bought miracle grow potting soil and re potted it before the spring really set in. It bloomed until November. I bring this up b/c mom's many plumeria flowers have only bloomed once. Everyday she would call me to see how my plant was doing, if there were any new blooms etc. I began emailing her photos of the flowers to show off (hey, not perfect!). So I was delighted the other day when mom noticed that my plumeria was starting to get it's leaves (they all die off every winter, then grow back before it blooms again). I also noticed it's starting to fork. So I'm hoping to have a beautiful flowering plumeria again this summer. It will be nice b/c when it's not summer, everyone who sees it asks me why I have a stick in dirt by my front door.

Gluttony is a sin for a reason

This past Friday I "forced" John to take me to our favorite restaurant, Super China Buffet. Being an all you can eat buffet, I ate all I could eat, waited, then ate more (plus dessert). I didn't think it would be a problem, after all I'm almost 8 months pregnant and if a pregnant woman can't eat a bunch of Chinese food, then who can? I quickly found out I was wrong. We ate so much that we had to walk it off. We chose to go to Circuit City and said, "we won't buy anything, even if it's clearance". Naturally, we were wrong. Walking around w/ movies didn't really help my over-eating. That night was the first night I've not been able to sleep b/c I ate too much. John had a bad night as well. Of course, our little girl decided to throw a party @ 3am that night, too.

Another exciting bit of news: I have a bathroom shower now! We've lived in our house for 3 yrs now w/ just a bathtub. Living in an old house gives you all kinds of exciting experiences (like how the creaking and settling can sound exactly like someone walking around your house @ midnight), so getting used to a bathtub was one I got used to. I wanted a shower, but other things were more important (like fixing the leak in our roof).

When I became pregnant, getting a shower was moved up to the top of our list. I would eventually get so big I wouldn't be able to get up under my own power (it happens sometimes now and John laughs, hard, as he helps me up). B/c I have a wonderful hardworking husband, he started working on it. He had it all planned out and we thought it would only take a weekend, 2 @ most to get the shower up and working. Life doesn't always go according to plan, unfortunately and we had some setbacks w/ our shower. Luckily, we have good friends and family who are able to help John out when I can't (which for this project is almost everything). I was very excited to take a shower this morning instead of a bath. It also took us less time/water for the both of us to get ready for church this morning.

I do love my hardworking handy man!

MMM, pie

I made a cherry pie yesterday. It was very tasty and I was actually surprised it lasted long enough to take a picture of (John was waiting behind me w/ a knife). This was actually the 3rd time I've made a cherry pie for John in the almost 5 years we've been together and since cherry is his fav pie, he was excited. I even did the fancy lattice work (John said I didn't have to, but I think he just wanted to eat it sooner rather than latter).

The cherry pie actually has quite a history in our relationship. John and I started dating March 13, 2004 (Suzanne's birthday, which is how I remember it) and not long after that he took me to a break the fast meal for the local singles branch. Wanting to make a good impression on my new boyfriend (and people I barely knew), I made a cherry pie. It was so delicious looking that some of the sisters had to stand guard w/ a spoon to keep the men from trying to sneak a bite. When the branch president found out that I had brought the pie, he told John he was giving him an assignment: Marry her! We had a good laugh over it, but we did end up getting married and since we've been married I've only made 2 cherry pies. According to my Father in law, I've already married him, I don't have to impress him anymore.

On another note, being the geek that I am, I have recorded our baby's heartbeat from my last drs appt. I emailed it to my parents and other persons I felt would be interested. My mom was so happy she almost cried. If I were more computer savvy, I would post it on here, but I can't.

Temple Trip

Last weekend, John and I took our niece to the temple. We had a good time and I was glad that I didn't have to have too many bathroom breaks! A good time was had by all and I enjoyed eating @ subway (baby really likes her veggies!). We were able to have some nice conversations w/ our niece as we drove to the temple, mostly explaining to her what will be happening. I even stayed awake during the trip, which is amazing considering here lately all I've wanted to do is sleep it seems.

Work on our bathroom continues on. Hopefully I will have a shower soon, but I will settle for a happy husband in that regard! He does such a good and through job it amazes me sometimes. I am very lucky to have a husband who is very house fixing smart b/c I panick a lot. John has accused me (very correctly) of being a drama queen.

I do have a pic from the Temple trip to share. I would just like to add that until I saw this pic, I had in my mind that no one could tell I was preggers, even though I am 7 months along. This is what happens to vain, crazy women; we talk ourselves into believing the impossible. I was very happy w/ the sweater b/c @ the time, I thought it hid the baby bump very well. I guess I've just fooled myself. I guess mom will be happy now, she just can't wait until I'm fat, barefoot and pregnant (which I am most of the time now, I've never liked shoes!)

pics!

We were placed on a bad weather watch yesterday and normally, we don't get anything, but this time we did! This is the first time since I've lived in our house that I've not been able to see the road in front of our house. John went out and shoveled the sidewalks while I salted them (I offered to help shovel, but he didn't want me to hurt myself). We have probably about 6 inches on the ground right now, and it's still snowing.

After I took some pics of the snow, I noticed I have an old pic of me on the camera. This was taken the day I realized I was actually showing. Of course, this was also the last day I wore that sweater, which is sad b/c it's one of my favs. John, naturally, made a smart alek comment about me needing to lose weight (all the while I was eating doughnuts!). I was about 5 months along when this picture was taken. I show a lot more now that I'm 6 1/2 months along. She's also a lot more active now than she was when this pic was taken (as evidenced by the fact she wouldn't let me sleep last night, she was so intent on kicking me)

Randomness is goodness

I am officially 25 weeks along. Right now everything is going well. I am no longer on any restrictions (except to be smart about things). I find out tomorrow if I have gestational diabetes. I've been assured that test is "fun".

Life here has been going smoothly. John was able to feel our little one do somersaults in my belly which he said felt "weird", but at the same time, it was the 1st time he felt her move that he was sure she had moved and not me having gas. I'm getting bigger. I discovered yesterday that my really big (something like 2x lg) sweater did not hide the belly. It will only get worse.

On a sad note, my family recently lost a member of our "adopted" family. Don Petry has been a family friend for as long as I can remember. When he lived in Washington, D.C. he and his wife loved to have us stay and visit (they would entertain us while mom and dad went to the temple). Ben and Jason even stayed for weeks at a time. Don was in his 70s (although once he reached 70 he started counting backwards), had breathing problems normally. He fell asleep w/ a cigerette in his hand and his house caught on fire during our recent cold snap. He and his daughter managed to get out of the house safely, but w/out shoes and he caught pnemonia. After struggling for breath for 3 days, he decided he would rather go and be w/ Anna Jean (or Mammaw as we called her). He lasted from Thursday to Saturday off of life support. We all felt his loss and we had one last card game in his honor (we also gave Sammy Joe, my parent's dog, one last root beer, like he always did).

John has put in a job application for our local VA Hosptial. This job is for 3 IT techs and we are really hoping he gets it. It would be nice for him to be able to go to a job he loves, and work in a feild he enjoys. Larry Denzil, my dad and Jason helped look over the application and gave good suggestions, so let's all keep our fingers crossed that we will hear some positive news soon.