Artists

Here are a few pictures to share. Since my boys are so cute, I can't help but take pictures.

Our little Slugger. This outfit was a gift from one of the ladies at church. So, naturally, I dressed Ethan in it for church to show her how cute he is in it. The picture doesn't do him justice, but he was absolutely adorable in that baseball cap!

This afternoon, I took the boys out to color our front "yard." Yes, it is sad, but this is all the "yard" the boys get. They loved being able to color all over the ground and the fence. It looks like Bug is trying to stick his chalk up his nose, but all I asked of him was to hold his chalk up and smile for the picture. Somehow, he interpreted that as shoving it up his nose.

Joey is showing off the flower he drew. There are petals, a stem, and leaves on the stem. He is brilliant.
Can you see his name? He wrote it vertically, from the bottom up. He is doing very well with his letter/sound recognition. We are working on sounding out words. (He likes to 'read' the words on Ethan's clothes.)
Mom, I know you think his cheeks have died down a bit....and they have. But it is clear that there are still times when he can accentuate that particular feature!

Even Nick was commenting today on how Ethan just looks a little older and bigger to him all of the sudden. I'm telling you, kids these days just grow up too fast.

Walking

I decided today was the day that I needed to start walking again. I had intended to do the video while the boys were sleeping....but after a night of very little sleep, my body said enough was enough, and I fell asleep too. But I refuse to feel guilty about that. If I am lucky enough to nap when my boys do, I will consider that a blessing.

After nap, I took the boys outside so they could color with the sidewalk chalk. They loved it. I have some pictures I will post later. When we came back inside, I put on the walking DVD and told the boys they could walk with me, but that they have got to stay out from under my feet, or they might get kicked. Joey enjoyed exercising, although there were a few times he got to close and got a little kick. Each time, he glared up at me and said, "Hey! Watch where you are going." I told him that HE was supposed to watch where I was going so he would stay out of the way.

Nick thought it was fun to walk for the first thirty seconds...then he just wanted to be held. Well, I couldn't hold him until the workout was finished (a whole fifteen minutes.) Let me tell you how hard it is to try to walk in place with a two year old wrapped around my legs. It reminded me of the poem, "The Yippyuk Would Not Let Go" by Shel Silverstein.

I will have to do better about staying awake during nap time so that I don't have the extra distractions of my boys.

They Grow So Fast

Three weeks tomorrow. Already, it has been three weeks since Ethan was born. He is still so little, yet, has already lost that absolute newborn look about him. Now he is looking like a little baby. (I know, not much difference. But enough of a difference to matter to me.)

Choir is starting up again at the end of this month. It's hard to believe that it is already time to start preparing for Christmas programs...but time marches on. As much as I hate winter in Alaska (because it is so cold, so long, and so all-consuming), I can at least look forward to singing in the choir again.

Tina has asked if I will help with a children's program again. Actually, I asked her if she was planning on putting one on, and she said only if I would help again. Nick thinks I might be taking on too much, but since the only time the children will practice is during church on Sunday, it is not doing something extra....just something different.
Here is evidence that Ethan spends some of his time awake. It doesn't seem like he is awake all that much, but little by little, he is spending more time during the day awake. I hope that means that he will sleep longer stretches at night. But I really can't complain, as he really is quite reasonable.
I think he is so funny when he sleeps. Here he is all curled up, falling over in his chair. Last night, I laid him down in the bassinet, and when he woke up this morning, he had turned a full 90 degrees. He also kicks the covers off. Which means we're three for three at this point. All three of our boys move tons in their sleep, and all three sleep really hot and kick the covers off. They are so funny. And all of them are just so cute...I can't get over it. And they are all absolutely adored by the people at church. Why does that matter to me? Because we live so far away from everybody who should be able to adore them, so at least they have replacement adorers. It makes my heart happy.

On Tuesday, I get to take the boys to JC Penney for Nick's two year pictures. I know I'm a little late, but since Ethan was born just six days after Nick's birthday...let's just say I have been a little busy.

On Wednesday, we get to pick Megan up at the airport and take her to dinner. She is finally on her way home from her summer in Alaska. (At least one of us can get out of here!) She will have a five hour lay-over in Anchorage, so we are going to spend that time with her. She will get to see Ethan, too. I love showing him off!

On Thursday, Tina is planning to come over for lunch. It will be nice to have some company and adult conversation. Maybe we can make some plans for a children's Christmas program. It would be great to get started soon. First, we have to find a good program.

I suppose I should get ready for bed soon. I think I will wait for Ethan to eat one more time (which should be in the next half hour or so) so that I have the maximum opportunity to sleep before he needs to eat again. Have a great week, sleep some for me, and be blessed.

First Comparison

So, here is the first of many comparisons. Usually, I wait until one month old, but I have been asked so many times if Ethan looks more like Joey or Nick. Well, I couldn't tell just from memory, so I pulled pictures of each of the boys at around 2 weeks. Joey is on the top; Nick is in the middle; and Ethan is on the bottom. (It may be hard to make a fair comparison with that funny look on Nick's face!) I will say that all the boys have the same nose. Nick thinks that Ethan looks closer to Joey than to Nick. Let me know what you think.

He Did It!

The nurse said he would.....and he did. While cleaning Ethan up after birth, the nurse commented on how strong he was and that he was trying to roll over in her hands. She said that it wouldn't be long before he rolled over.

Yesterday, at 15 days old, Ethan rolled over! TWICE. He was on the floor, so I know it wasn't because he was on an uneven surface. I thought it was quick when Nick rolled over at 26 days, and it was, but at only 15 days! I've never heard of it.

He is already growing so quickly. I wish we were closer to everybody so Ethan could give you all a hug. He is quite snuggly.

And Even More Pictures

As par for the course, Nick must do everything that his brother does. So, for the second time that day, he made my jaw drop in surprise as I watched him tenaciously climb up the cargo net.
He kept at it until he figured out where to put his feet, or to use his knees if necessary. Here, he can see the end in sight. His goal is within his grasp.
After making it to the top, he quickly slid down the slide and ran around to go up again. This time, he started climbing up along the outside edge, where the net is much less stable, more wiggly. He had a much harder time. But he got near the top before he fell through the holes. Nanny and I were laughing so hard, as his little legs were dangling, unable to reach the ground. I was trying to get a picture, and each attempt came out a blur as I was laughing so hard I couldn't stop shaking. Meanwhile, Nick is starting to whimper and say, "Please, please, please." He wanted help up. Finally, I got a picture that wasn't a blur and allowed Nanny to help him up.
Grandma Dooley couldn't believe that I would expose this poor child to the cold weather. So I bundled Ethan up extra warmly for her sake. I had to get a picture to prove to her that I would take care of him out in the cold. After all, we live in Alaska; if I couldn't take care of him out in the cold, he would NEVER go out.....and neither would I.
Ethan was getting ready for his first bath. I would have shared the bath pictures, but since the world is as it is, I don't feel comfortable sharing innocent bath pictures in such a public forum. Needless to say, Ethan wasn't exactly happy not to be dressed in warm clothes. Notice Ethan's shirt; it says "Tugging on Grandma's Heart." (ojn\]=l=-' Nick had to say 'hi' while mommy stepped away from the computer.) Anyway, since Nanny got this outfit for Ethan, I thought it only appropriate that he wear it on the last day she was here.
I love this picture! Nick is getting out of the bath, and Daddy styled his hair with the towel. What do you think? Should we style his hair like this everyday?

Ethan is calling....he sounds starving. My goodness, I think it has been three whole hours since he has eaten. How can we be torturing the poor kid this way? (I'm being sarcastic if you couldn't tell.)
Have a great week.

More Pictures

It doesn't matter what the weather is like, if we have company, Joey expects to go to the park. So on Wednesday, the last possible opportunity, Nanny and I took the boys to the park. The weather was okay...at least it wasn't raining. It did sprinkle a little, and if the wind blew it got a bit chilly. The play equipment was all wet, and each time the boys went down the slide, they got a little more wet. But they had fun.
As soon as we got to the park, I was busy changing Ethan's dirty diaper and getting ready to feed him. I looked over to check on the boys and found that Nick had climbed up on the teeter totter ALL by himself. This was a first for him; usually, there is an adult on each side, one with each child. This time, the boys showed what big boys they have become by getting up all by themselves.
You can see how Ethan is enjoying his time at the park! The poor kid was bared to the cold wind as I changed his diaper, and then was practically thrown around like a rag doll trying to get him wrapped up again!
What a cute boy! I can't believe it; a year from now, I will be sending him away to Kindergarten. I am definitely NOT ready. The closer school gets, the more I think about homeschooling.
What an adorable little boy. He has such a gentle, loving spirit. He has needed more loving and snuggling time the last few months, and it is just getting more prevalent.
You can see the pride in his very stance. He had climbed up the rope/net ladder all by himself! He had just learned to do this in June when Grandma Mary was here. Joey was in the middle of telling Nanny and I about how big he was when he stopped in mid-sentence and said, "Spooky!" Nanny and I were laughing so hard at this out-of-the-blue tangent. Finally, Joey explained that he heard his echo, and it was spooky.

Growing Boys

While Mom and Grandma were here, they "encouraged" and assisted me in cleaning out the garage. I say "encouraged" (aka pushed and prodded, in a good way) because a majority of the boxes in the garage held most of my life from childhood. Memories that I had saved that didn't need to be saved that have been moved from place to place since college! Nick is VERY happy to have been relieved of so much junk. To him it is junk; to me, it was precious moments in my life. However, going through all the boxes, I found mostly junk. Things that I had saved as a memorial to specific events. I can't tell you how many dozens of movie stubs and play tickets I had saved. I had the "Happy Graduation" banner from my grad party. Ridiculous. So, it was a good cleansing.

One thing that we found were a pair of 3-D glasses. Joey LOVED these. He loved the rainbows he saw when wearing them. At one point, Nanny asked if she could see the rainbows, hoping to have a turn with the glasses. Joey debates within himself for a moment, trying to decide if he wanted to share these very special glasses. Finally, he pointed at the lamp and said, "It's right there," as if Nanny should be able to see what was so obviously visible to him. It was the funniest thing.

Another thing we found in the boxes were two old cans of silly string. Guess what? They still worked. First, I thoroughly got my husband covered. That was a priority. Then I turned the can on my sons. Nick was kind of scared of it, so I didn't spray him anymore. But Joey had a blast. He thought it was a lot of fun, as evidenced by his expression in the picture above.
This is such a precious picture. It looks posed, but it wasn't. Joey and Nick absolutely adore Ethan. They are both so gentle and they both want to hold him and help take care of him all the time. If Ethan is in his bouncy seat or laying on his Pooh mat and makes any tiny whimper one or both of them come running trying to make sure he is okay.
On Sunday, I had asked to be put on the schedule to sing the offertory. I knew that Mom would be there, and I wanted to sing while she was there. I had told Alice, the pastor's wife, that as long as I had had Ethan by Friday the 22nd, I was intending on being in church to sing on the 24th. Thankfully, Ethan cooperated and came in time. After church, Mom took a family photo of us, and I think it turned out beautifully.
There is nothing more entertaining to a couple of boys than some empty boxes. Grandma kept commenting on how we should save our money at Christmas and birthdays and just give them some empty boxes. These pictures were taken one morning as Nanny and Grandma watched the boys while Nick and I slept a little extra in the morning.
Yesterday morning, I made my first attempt at taking all three boys out by myself. It was a sucessful trip. Unfortunately, it was just to the doctor's office....nothing fun and exciting. Nick had his two year check-up and Ethan had his two week check-up. Here are the statistics; Nick weighed in at 26.8 pounds, landing him in the 30th percentile. He was measured at just under 35 inches, keeping him in the 50th percentlie. And his head circumference ws measured at 50.5 cm....90th percentile. My boys have big noggins thanks to their Daddy.

Ethan weighed 8 pounds 10 ounces, down to the 50th percentile. He has gained back much of all but 2 ounces of his original birth weight. He is still 21 inches long and his head measured at 37.5 cm, 75% and 70% respectfully. Both boys are looking healthy and growing right on track. I'm told that I am doing a good job!

Nick got one vaccine and had to get his finger poked twice to measure the hemoglobin to check the iron level. He did not have a good time. He was so upset he was upsetting Joey too. The nurse finally took Joey out of the room to look at the fish while the lab tech finished with Nick. Then Ethan had to get his heel poked for his 2nd PKU test. Thankfully, he slept through the whole thing. I only have so many hands to hold crying kids, after all.

I have much more to share and many more pictures, but enough for now. I am not the only one who likes to use the computer after all. I must share. Hope you all have a wonderful, safe Labor Day weekend.

Surrviving The First Day Alone

Well, I just opened blogger to start writing about how I have survived the day without even crying. Then, my husband called to say he was on his way home and had to mention how I must miss my Mom. So of course my good track record of not crying all day was demolished as I started crying again. I explained again, how, as much as I miss my family...I am okay. What makes me cry and hurt is that my kids are missing out on being loved by all the rest of their family. My family is missing out on seeing my incredibly precious kids during their cutest years in which they change the most.



Josh and Stacei and their kids are an excellent example of how a family can be away for so long and when they come back home, they were still able to form wonderful bonds and relationships with the family. But we still missed out on all their "firsts", all their cute toddler and preschool years that just can't be captured in words as well as in witnessing it first hand. I miss my kids for my family's sake. I miss my family being an integral part of my kids' life experiences.



Having Mom and Grandma here was such an amazing blessing. The two putter-pants never stopped finding ways to help. I felt bad that the only place we had for them to sleep was on an air mattress on the floor in the boys' room. So for the week that they were here, the monitor in my room stayed off. It was so weird to have it off, and it was kind of weird to turn it back on. Even though I wasn't getting solid nights of sleep with Ethan, it was nice not to have to worry about the older boys for awhile. Most days I was woken by the sound of Nick galloping around downstairs. I was able to get more rest with Mom and Grandma here than I would have without them.



The hardest part about today was that Joey and Nick had nobody else to pay attention to them if I was busy with Ethan. Nick was especially clingy today. He wanted to be up in my arms or in my lap every minute. If he wasn't being held, he was whining to be. It made for an exhausting day. I was able to take a nap with the boys, so that helped. Ethan went down first, and unfortunately, he woke up just as I was laying the other boys down. I thought I had missed my opportunity for sleep, but after eating, he went back to sleep and gave me about an hour and a half of sleep.



My husband is home now and we are getting dinner ready. I should probably go help. I will put a few pictures on this post, but I will have to go into more detail about the week at a later time.

Nick is at the office; you can see he is quite literally 'on' his computer and on the phone. He is a multi-tasker in the making. I love the expression on his face.

A most favorite and treasured activity; nap time with Daddy. Not only has all of the boys loved it, Daddy loves it even more!

Can you find him? It's kind of hard with him all bundled up. Grandma Dooley was sure that Ethan was always freezing and needing more layers. Nanny knew that Ethan's body temperature fluctuated with hers.

Nanny made a cake for Daddy, since his birthday is tomorrow; his 30th birthday!! So the boys offered their expert assistance in the cleaning department. They really enjoy helping.

Ethan is just too cute; however, if you don't take his picture from the right angle, his very large cheeks are even more pronounced. This picture, surprisingly, is from the right angle. The picture taken before this was not and made him look really funny! He is not a fat baby...not in the least, but those cheeks sure are big.

Hope your week is calm, peaceful, and blessed. Loving and missing you all.

One Week Old

One week has flown by! It has been wonderful to have Mom and Grandma with us. We have been so busy that I haven't taken time to blog. I won't take much time now; I will fill in all the details while I spend the end of this week in tears. I am already feeling the "blues" anticipating the loss of my adult companionship. Nick goes back to work Wednesday and we take the girls back to the airport that night. So Thursday is going to be a rough day.

Ethan is a VERY good baby. He is still at the stage where he sleeps most of the time; but even when awake, he is fairly content. He will let me know when he wants to eat, but he is getting better at waiting until I am available. Isn't he just the cutest?!
My older sons are such big helpers! They are always asking to hold Ethan, or to help feed and burp him. Usually, there are three hands patting Ethan's back trying to get him to burp. Whenever he does burp, Joey takes the credit.
One of the nicest surprises was the arrival of Eileen. She and her husband Gary came up to Alaska for vacation and wanted to stop by and say "hi" real quick. So we got to show off Ethan and get some good pictures. We took a four generation picture with Grandma, Mom, Ethan and I.
Nanny is thrilled to be able to see her grandsons, and the feeling is quite mutual. Mom and Grandma have been an invaluable help this week. I keep telling them, when I attempt to do something for myself, that I will have to be able to do it when they are gone, so I might as well do it now.
Ethan stayed awake for two whole hours this morning!! And while he was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I found a prime photo-op for his one week "birthday". We haven't been able to tell exactly what color his eyes are yet because they are so dark. I think they have a blue ring around the outside, but they look as if they may be hazel in the middle. We will have to wait and see.

That is all for tonight. I have got to help get boys ready for bed. Love and miss all of my family, especially at a time when I have something so precious to share with you. Have a blessed week.

A Few More Pictures

It is amazing how hard it is to start life! Poor Ethan has been poked, prodded, and cut in the first 24 hours of life, and you can see it just takes everything out of him. He has slept most of today, which is to be expected. We have a two-day check-up with his pediatrician tomorrow morning. Hopefully, he won't have to poked and prodded too may more times tomorrow.

Here is Ethan in his "welcome home" outfit. Daddy found it at Costco and had to get it for him. He's such a beautiful baby!
And here they are all together; my three boys. Joey is gentle and helpful, Nick is excited and willing to share. They are both extremely wonderful big brothers.

It is about time to feed Ethan one more time and then try to get some sleep!

Welcome Home, Ethan!

Ethan has finally arrived. I knew he would come soon! I had my first contraction around 1:00am on Monday, and Ethan was born at 5:46am. After only 4 1/2 hours of labor, I held my son for the first time. Ethan was 8 lbs 12 oz, 21 inches long, and had a head circumference of 37 cm.

My doctor wasn't on call, so the nurse called the on call doctor to have him make his way in. She came in to tell me that he was about ten minutes away....but Ethan wouldn't wait. So neither my doctor, nor the on call doctor made it to the birth. The resident was there to deliver the baby!

We just got home about an hour ago, and all three of my boys are sleeping. So my husband is admonishing me to get some rest while I can. I just wanted to post a few pictures to start with and give you a promise of more to come later.

First Photo
First Bottle, Mommy on the phone.
Bug was so excited to see Ethan. Every time he came in the room, he would reach up to Ethan and say, "Please, please" because he wanted to hold him.
Bubba is already a pro at being a wonderful big brother. The first thing he did when he got Ethan in his arms was to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" in a very quiet, soft voice.
The first comment any of the nurses made after he was born was, "Look at those cheeks!" He definitely has his daddy's facial structure. He is so precious.

Okay, I am off to rest for a few minutes. Have a great day. I will be back on the blog later.

Still Prego

This has got to be the hardest thing a woman can ever go through!! Waiting for what seems like eternity to have a baby. Knowing that it could happen any day and becoming more discouraged as day after day goes by without a baby to hold.

Each pregnancy seems to get worse for me, too. I have had a harder time waiting for "birth" day each time, although, since we induced with Nick, I knew which day to expect the end to come. This time is torture. Some days it is an emotional difficulty. Other days it is a physical difficulty. I am more uncomfortable in my body than I could ever imagine. I can't sleep at night, which makes it almost impossible to stay awake during the day. This is the time I need most sleep...getting ready for the marathon of labor and delivery, and the longer marathon of sleep deprivation of having a newborn to care for. And yet, I am getting very little sleep to be prepared on. The other night, I laid/sat in bed until I finally dozed off a little after one in the morning. After waking to go potty at three, I couldn't go back to sleep. It didn't help that Nick's alarm went off at four in the morning so he could go fishing! After that, I knew it was hopeless.....so I got up. Just about the time the boys woke up, I was ready for a nap.

By now, I feel like this pregnancy will never end....and if it does (I suppose it will have to at some point) it can not come soon enough for me.

The boys are patiently waiting....not that they have too much concept of time. Nick is being incredibly sweet to Ethan. He likes to rub Ethan and share his toys and snacks with him. He will lift up my shirt and place his toys and snacks on my belly so Ethan can have some too. It is quite sweet to witness. It seems he has more of an idea of what is happening than he has before.

Well, I need to start getting dinner ready. Have a great week and be blessed.

Sitting At The Feet of Jesus

Sitting at the feet of Jesus
Oh, what words I hear Him say.
Happy place so near, so precious
May it find me there each day.

Sitting at the feet of Jesus
I would look upon the past.
For His love has been so gracious
It has won my heart at last.

Sitting at the feet of Jesus
When can mortals be more blessed?
There I lay my sins and sorrows
And when weary, find sweet rest.

Sitting at the feet of Jesus
There, I love to weep and pray,
While, I from His fullness gather
Grace and comfort every day.

Bless me, oh my Savior, bless me
As I sit low at Thy feet.
Oh, look down in love upon me,
Let me see Thy face so sweet.

Give me, Lord, the mind of Jesus
Make me holy as He is.
May I prove I've been with Jesus
Who is all my righteousness.

He is all my righteousness.
He is all my righteousness.

More Birthday Pics

Last year, I remember clearly commenting on how I had never seen a child eat a piece of birthday cake like Bug did. He grabbed it in both hands and inhaled it as fast as he could! Well, this year, he used a fork most of the time. But this year, he showed another peculiar habit I have never seen of another kid. When opening his presents, even when I gave him a starting place for opening, Nick would stick the gift in his mouth and rip the paper off with his teeth! He would pick little pieces off until he had a big enough whole to use his hands. It was crazy. I sure had a more difficult clean-up! Instead of several large pieces of paper, I had hundreds of tiny shreds to gather!
Here he is demonstrating his unique unwrapping technique.
Here he is showing off his new Mickey Mouse plate. He loved his new dishes (thanks again Josh and Stacei). He loved eating with his new dishes at dinner, too.
Here he is with paper hanging out of his mouth. You can see on the floor next to him a pile of tiny scraps of paper.
Again, he shows his interesting approach to gift opening.
Bug loves to be just like Joey, therefore he loves to color. Thanks to Nanny and Papa Buddy, now he has his own coloring supplies (which Joey will be very happy to share with him) to color his own masterpieces. What Mommy likes best, is that it all comes in its own container which I can keep closed and distribute as I see fit.

Joey had a difficult time allowing Nick to have his own birthday. He kept wanting to help open and play with the presents. This is not uncommon, nor was it unexpected. However, he is having a difficult time learning the lesson that sharing goes both ways. At this point, Joey thinks that he should have first dibs on EVERYTHING and only have to share when he feels like it, whether the toy is his or not.

Well, it is getting late and I need to try to get some sleep. Not that I get much sleep now anyway. Not only am I uncomfortable because of the pregnancy, now I have something wrong with my neck and right shoulder. It is so stiff I can't turn one way or the other and I can find no comfortable way to lay down. Even with my head resting on the pillow, the pain is so bad that I can not relax the muscles. I have had to take Tylenol in order to try to reduce the pain....but even that does not work very well, nor for very long.

Have a wonderful week. Stay safe and be blessed.

Nick Is Turning Two

It is hard for this momma's heart of mine to believe that Nick is turning two. I can still remember so clearly the days surrounding his birth. Perhaps that is because so much was going on at that time; Nick being in Alaska, living at Mom and Dad's, getting ready to leave my home and family for Alaska.
I loved this cake! It turned out so cute. I couldn't keep my fingers off the bottom edge of the frosting on the way home. It smelled so good. We put the boys down for a nap after lunch so that I could wrap presents and get ready for our "party" but the boys woke up before I was completely ready. Nick (the little one) had the hardest time waiting. Once he saw that cake he was all over it. I had to keep him on Daddy's lap so that his fingers wouldn't make a mess of it before I got the pictures taken.
Nick did the shopping for Bug's birthday while we were at church and then we picked up the cake and wrapping paper on the way home. You would think that one roll of wrapping paper would be enough for a few gifts...but, no. There was one eight inch square piece of paper left to try to wrap the largest gift! So I just left it unwrapped. But when I put the tiny square of paper up against the big box, it reminded me of how I feel "wrapped" in a bath towel! (Okay, maybe not that bad, but the feeling was there.)
Bug was not sure about the candles. I think he just wanted to dig his hands in the cake. I remember when Joey turned two, he surprised everybody with blowing out his own candles (as most kids don't do that until they are a little older), but I had been practising with Joey for a week before his party; lighting a candle and letting him blow it out. I never practiced with Nick, and he did not want to blow out his candles. So Joey blew them out the first time, but when that upset Nick, we re lit them to give him another try. He still didn't blow them out, so Mommy and Daddy took care of them.
He has always been such an enthusiastic eater!
Joey was being a goof for the camera....as usual. When I first turned the camera toward him, Joey decided to give a concentrated frown as he grabbed another bite. So when I asked him to smile instead.....this is the result. What a silly boy. Can't imagine where he gets it!

Vanity

Since I was young, I have always hated the "belly-button pop" of a pregnant woman. I have always felt it was ugly and embarrassing. In fact, it was the one thing I always dreaded about being pregnant. I know it is just vanity to feel that way....but I can't help it.

Thankfully, in three pregnancies, I have never experienced the belly-button pop! I couldn't be happier about that!

So....we have started the paper chain countdown until mom and Grandma Dooley come. We have twelve links left. I can't wait to see them. I know Mom is hoping that I make it through all those links before Ethan is born, and for her sake I will give it a half-hearted attempt. But I can't honestly say that I wouldn't be just as happy if Ethan made his appearance before she did. I am so ready to be done! I want my body back. I want to be able to get out of a chair with some semblance of grace (a pretty cheap imitation to be sure, but still more graceful than possible at this point.) I want to be able to find a comfortable position to lay down in bed and actually get some sleep without having to mound numerous pillows around that give no help whatsoever. I want to be able to wait longer than ten minutes before running back into the bathroom. I want to be able to hold my sons on my lap without the pain of being pushed on from both inside and out. But most of all, I just want to be able to hold my new son, to snuggle him against me and love him completely. Who can blame me for wanting that sooner rather than later.

But before I can allow Ethan to be born, I have to be able to celebrate Nick's second birthday. I can't believe he will be two years old on Tuesday! Where does the time go? He is so precious, and so much fun. He may push me past my patience level more often than not, but for the most part, he keeps me laughing over one thing or another. Since his birthday falls on a weekday, we will celebrate tomorrow. Not that anybody will be here except for us, but I don't wait until Nick gets home from work to have a "party" because we would have to fit dinner, cake, and gifts in just a short couple of hours...not giving any time to enjoy the celebration. So after church and nap, we will have a little party for Nick.

I hope you all have a great weekend. I want to wish a very Happy Anniversary to my Mom and Dad. Twenty-three wonderful years and counting. Thank you for the outstanding example you show of a successful marriage. I love you.

Humpty Dumpty

This is who my husband thinks I resemble at this point. That's love, isn't it?

The Final Lap

Here we are, in the month of August, the final lap of this marathon called pregnancy. I am growing more anxious every day. Not the scared or worried kind of anxious; the excited kind. I cannot wait until the day I finally give birth to Ethan. I can't wait to hold him, to nuzzle his neck and inhale the "new baby" smell. To count his fingers and toes and caress the extreme softness of his skin. To finally be able to hold him in my arms and look on him with my eyes.

I had an appointment yesterday and everything was looking great. I must say that I was disappointed in my weight gain; I had gained 4 pounds in 3 weeks. But since that brings my total weight gain to only two pounds, I guess I can't complain too much. I was measuring at 37 cm, which is perfect.....they like to see you within 2 centimeters of how far along you are, and since I was 36 5/7 weeks....we can say that the baby is growing right on schedule. Dr. Gibbs felt to make sure the head was down, which he is. But she likes to verify with ultrasound just to be sure. So I got to see Ethan again (not a 3-D picture, but still) and got a fairly good look at his face. He is so cute! Of course, we haven't made an ugly baby yet, so I wasn't expecting anything less! Not only is he head down, but he is pretty low, too!

I am starting this weekend to get all the baby things out and ready. Finding all the old clothes to get washed, the car seat cleaned and ready, packing a bag for the hospital (just to be prepared). Now that I won't have to watch Dakota anymore, I will have more energy to focus on my family and preparations for Ethan's arrival.

Nick has to go to Fairbanks on Monday. He will be back Tuesday evening, but he wants to make the trip as soon as possible because he doesn't want to have to be gone the closer I am to giving birth. He is most worried that if I go into labor before my mom and grandma come, who is going to watch the boys. That is one disadvantage to having no friends or family. But I have asked a couple ladies at church to be "on call" and I will talk to them again on Sunday to verify they will be willing to come if needed. As much as I want my mom to be here, its not going to break my heart to have the baby earlier. In fact, I would prefer to have the baby before she gets here just to make sure that she has all the time she is here to be with the baby. I would feel horrible if she came and then I didn't have the baby until she was ready to leave. I don't want her to miss out on seeing Ethan, since that is the purpose of her visit. Not that it won't be great to see her anyway. I just want her to spend as much of her time as possible with Ethan.

August is a very big month for us this year. We have Nick turning two in ten days! We are having a baby. And my husband hits the big 3-0 at the end of the month!! I actually have a very limited number of days that I can give birth. I can't give birth on the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 17th, 19th, 20th, or 21st. The 10th is my parents anniversary, the 11th is my nephew Ty's birthday, the 12th is Nick's birthday, the 13th, 17th, and 19th are dumb ugly numbers (probably because they are prime numbers, and I don't like prime numbers), the 20th is my nephew Trae's birthday, the 21st is my Grandpa Dooley's birthday. My official due date is the 25th, so anything past that is totally unacceptable as well, not to mention my husband and niece Ravyn's birthday is on the 29th. So I vote for the the 15th. Mom and Nick vote for the 22nd. I guess we will see. If I have my way, I will have Ethan in under two weeks!!! That is a most exciting prospect. Either way, it will be less than a month until I am holding my baby in my arms.

Nick just got back from fishing. He caught 2 more silver salmon (Coho Salmon), which brings his total to 4. He is excited to be able to serve fresh fish to mom and Grandma when they come. I am currently staying clear of the kitchen while he is cleaning and filleting the fish. I am trying to ignore the smell and sounds coming from the kitchen so I don't get sick. The sooner he finishes the better!! But at least he is feeling better that he has caught some fish. He had a very frustrating King season, not catching any. Not from lack of trying, let me tell you.

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend. I will check in later and keep everyone updated on any progress the baby is making. Pretty soon I will be able to put pictures of Ethan on for everyone to see!