Pictures!

I've got pictures to post...so here they are!



Here's the Dylan monkey with my dad...he's such an awesome Grandpa!

He has the most amazing eyes...

He really likes the new blocks I bought for him...apparently they taste great!

We put Fox's crib together Friday night...man, it is weird having a crib in the house. The X-tra parts are for converting the crib to a toddler bed and then a full size one day.


The Conrads dropped in earlier tonight. They tested Fox's crib for it's jumpworthiness...(I made that word up...) based on the amount of fun they had, I think it will work out nicely for the little man.

Conrad boys...chillin' in the crib...

That's all for now...time to practice our Hypnobirthing exercises!

Hey Hey, We're the Monkees

I spent last weekend in Orlando, to visit my family and attend the wedding of a childhood friend.
The last of our group of Monkees, Jesse, got married. We grew up in a wonderful, close neighborhood, and there was a family with three boys that lived across the street from us. It was great, Shannon and I got to kind of know what it was like to have brothers, and the guys kind of got to know what it was like to have sisters. Here's a picture of the 5 Monkees (not 4 like the TV show) all growed up:

Left to Right: Nate Kline, Me, Jess Kline, Shannon, and Aaron Kline.

It's so funny to think that we are all married now, Aaron and Shannon and I (almost) are parents, and we still can hang out just like we used to.
Okay, so the Monkees reference. (I'm planning on linking to a wikipedia article, but I can't get wikipedia to load...)
When we were little (elementary age) the Monkees came on Nickelodeon every day after school. The boys would come over and we would watch the show together. Eventually, we decided that we wanted to be the Monkees. Never mind the fact that the Monkees were a band of 4 guys, the 5 of us we determined. We sang along in the garage ('cuz that's where all bands practice) to our LPs and later, cassettes, and pretended to play the instruments we built out of cardboard boxes. Aaron was Davy Jones, I was the invented twin sister of Aaron/Davy, Nate was Mike "Wool Hat" Nesmith, Shannon was a girl Peter Tork, and Jess was Mickey Dolenz.

We played a lot of different things in our garage. Mom always kept the freezer stocked with popsicles, and we played marathons of Monopoly and Clue. We built forts with all the boxes Mom's work stuff was delivered in, and worked on the tree fort in the big tree behind the boys' house. As we got older, we moved indoors when our NES came home, and worked collaboratively to beat Super Mario 3 one summer.

Anyway, I'll add more photos as soon as Blogger cooperates with me. My sister emailed me pictures from the wedding and more of the cutest Jr. Monkee, my nephew Dylan.

"I Get By With A Little Help..."

Vance and I are so blessed with such wonderful friends. Barb Theobald and her teenaged daughter Jordan came over tonight to help me out.
I've been feeling a little (hah!) overwhelmed this week. When I went out of town last weekend, I left the kitchen a disaster, and stuff all over Fox's room. Guess what? When I came back, it was all exactly as I had left it.
Sooo...my hormones are a total mess (I'll leave out the gory details for our sensitive male readers) and I have apparently gotten into this funk where I spend most of my time looking at everything that needs to be done in the next 9 1/2 weeks and I can't figure out where to start.
I was really struggling on Monday and in a moment of desperation called Barb. We talked about our schedules and she offered to come over on Wednesday (tonight) and help me do anything I wanted help with. Apparently what she meant by help was for she and Jordan to come over and clean my kitchen while I sat on my butt and told them where to put things. As all of you are aware, that is a tough thing for me to do. But I did, for the most part.
I'm supposed to make a list of the things I need to get done and then she'll come over every few days and help me get it all done. It is so hard for me to admit that I can't get it all done by myself, when I'm so used to being able to, and having the energy to spare to go over and help my friends get their stuff done too. I know I really have to slow down and get enough rest for Fox and I, but instead of slowing down everything seems to be speeding up. Kinda like that silly quote about life seeming to get faster toward the end, like the end of the roll of toilet paper, except this is life getting faster at the end of my pregnancy.
I'll have to finish this later...and I'll post pictures of Dylan from this weekend.

Titles are so cliche'

We had a great checkup with the midwife this morning. Fox has decided that head-down is his direction of choice. Honestly, it kinda took me by surprise. I guess I thought I had another month or so before we got to that point. I know, it's a positive move, but yet another example of how time is just flying by!

Vance wrote a great post on his blog last night regarding the saga of naming our son. Check it out here.

I read a really thought-provoking post on a website this morning. Warning-the language is not rated PG. However, I felt the author made some excellent points. It made me thankful for my community of friends, and all the more cognizant of our need to be a friend.

The Hypnobirthing self-training we're doing is going well. I do get a little tired of some 'well-meaning' folks who look at me like I'm so naive when I talk about planning to give birth without pain medications or medical interventions. I don't want to make this blog a gripe page about pregnancy issues, but sometimes that's really what's on my mind.

I had my annual review at work this morning. It went very well, I earned an "Excellent" rating in all areas assessed. Now I just have to get my leave plan worked out. I'm planning on taking the full 6 months FSU will allow me. We'll see what happens after that. ; )

NPR's Storycorps

I am a self-confessed NPR junkie. Some people find that interesting, given my conservative beliefs and Republican affiliation. True, many stories/commentaries are challenging, but I feel that by learning about other views, it strengthens my own. They have an amazing series called Storycorps that has really opened my eyes to so many other things happening that don't make the headlines.
This morning as I was in the bathroom putting lotion on my belly and the rest of me (I really hope to avoid major stretch marks!) NPR's storycorps ran their story of the week. I urge you to listen to it here, then continue reading. I was struck by the amazing gift that the family gave to help others, when their child was the one that needed help. I stood there, tears falling down my belly, on the life growing in me, wondering if Vance and I were ever put in that position if we would be able to do the same. I pray that we'll never have to make that choice. It makes the sacrifice on the cross even more real. Giving your only Son. Thank you, Lord.

Third Trimester...time is ticking...and we have a name!

It's hard to believe I'm in my third trimester already. I can remember very vividly the morning I woke up and tiptoed into the bathroom to 'pee on the stick', as I so delicately referred to taking the pregnancy test.
I've come full circle back to some of my favorite first-trimester hobbies, such as napping on the couch every day after work and heading to the bathroom every 2 hours. Unfortunately, the napping and peeing are cramping my time available to get all of the stuff done that I want to in the house before the baby comes.
That list includes:

1. Culling through all of the stuff in the guest room closet so we can actually fit baby stuff in there.
   
2. Selling the roll-top desk to make room for my computer desk to move out into the front room area.
3. Organizing/getting rid of the ridiculous amount of paper I have filed/piled in various locations around the house.
4. Hanging up the window shades that I had to go out and buy last night for the baby's room and our room.

We made a lot of progress tonight on the paper and closet issues, but there is still so far to go. I have gotten rid of nearly all of my materials from my last two and a half years of college, and only kept about 5 papers that I still feel proud of.

So, about the last part of the post title. We have selected a name for our son. Most of our friends here in Tallahassee know it, and love it! Most of our family members think we've really lost it this time. It's not a 'normal' name, we know that. We also know the strength of my mother's reaction, and that we're not telling any family members the name of Baby #2 when he or she is coming.
Anyway, without further ado, unless we come up with something we like better (highly unlikely)...
We're naming our son



Fox Carson Rutherford.

The end.

Growing...and what NOT to say to a pregnant woman

I took a 3 hour nap this afternoon. Sandra thinks the baby is having a growth spurt. I hope so, 'cause my appetite is back!
As I've observed my numerous pregnant friends over the past oh, 6 or so years, I always heard about the horrible/stupid things that people say to pregnant women. As I am now obviously 'with child', it has become my turn to be on the receiving end of some of these bone-headed comments. Here are a few of my favorites, in no particular order. I will try to include the person that these were made to, if I can recall:

1. She must be jealous that your belly is bigger than hers! (To me, this morning AT CHURCH, standing next to a woman due two months before me)
2. Are you sure it's not twins? Maybe they should check again. (I think everyone has had that one)
3. You're getting so huge! (Again, everyone gets this one)
4. Well, you look pregnant! (To me, from a woman I haven't seen in a while. Good thing I'm not just putting on weight for no reason!)
5. October? As big as you are, I thought you'd be doe a lot sooner! (To me - I swear I am not making these up!)
6. Oh, you shouldn't eat that candy bar-it's bad for the baby! ( To Joanna, in her first of four pregnancies, from a random woman in the grocery store)
7. Girl, you ain't had that baby yet? (To Carey, from one of her nursing home patients. People, please don't ever say this. Obviously, if the woman is still at work and got 'the belly', the baby IS NOT HERE YET!)
8. I don't know if you can get much bigger...(I think this was to Darcy...from someone who worked at the hospital with her?)
9. Wow, you guys didn't plan this very well...you're going to be huge all summer! (To Vance and I, when people find out the baby is coming in October. We planned just fine, we just didn't know we'd be so good at getting pregnant right away!)

I'm sure there are plenty I've left out, so ladies, please post them in the comments.

To th rest of you, please turn on your brain when speaking to a pregnant woman. She is carrying a life in her, and more hormones than you EVER want to mess with.

Sorting Change and such...

The other night after our garage sale, I had emptied our piggy bank and was very focused on making my piles of quarters, dimes, nickels, pennies, and 'other stuff'. Vance asked me if I wanted to use his handy-dandy coin sorter that would automatically sort all the coins and then deposit them into the wrappers. I just kind of looked at him, and realized he didn't get it. He didn't know that every summer growing up Shannon and I would spend the first night of our annual trip to Granny and Pa-pa's sprawled across the living room floor, sorting the huge jars of coins that Granny and Pa-pa had accumulated throughout the year. That money was split between the two of us, and we got to spend it when we got to Granny and Pa-pa's place at Myrtle Beach the next day. We played skee-ball, air hockey, and more arcade games than we knew what to do with. More importantly, the sorting that first night soothed our frazzled traveling nerves, and gave us time to catch up with Granny and Pa-pa.
For a little while after Pa-pa died, Granny talked about selling the beach house. I was so torn. I understood the practicality of her idea, that it was really hard to keep up with the property with Pa-pa gone, and the annual fees rising to stay in the area, but so much of my childhood was tied to that little trailer with its porch and golf cart, that I couldn't talk about it without getting upset.
I talked to my cousin the other night for awhile. He and his wife and kids spent the week at the beach with Granny, my aunt and uncle, and another cousin and family. He said he had a new appreciation for what our folks went through to get us all there when we were kids. I hope that Granny hangs on to the beach house so we can take our kids up there every year. The next generation needs those memories too.
Back to the coins...I shared my story with Shannon, and she laughed. Apparently earlier that same week she was sorting and rolling coins when Momma and Daddy came over to see the Dylan monkey. Daddy questioned her about 'wasting time sorting' when she could just take the jar down to one of those Coinstar machines. His comment surprised her on one hand, and not so much on the other. She was surprised our frugal Daddy would waste ~ 8.9 cents on the dollar for convenience's sake, and not surprised that, like Vance, he didn't get it.
So my sister and I will continue sorting our coins, wasting our time, and relishing in the familiarity of our routine that we hope to pass along to our children, should they be so blessed to get to spend a week at the beach at Granny's.

Lest I forget...

I also meant to add that it was very entertaining on the way home last night to watch the car full of pre-teen girls waving and taking pictures of my sweet husband. I'm sure it was becuase he's so cute, and not at all related to his cool car. ; )

36 for 32...

Vance's 32nd birthday was yesterday. We hosted the Monday Night crew at our house. All 36 of them. We counted. There were 22 adults and 14 children ranging from the infants to an 8 year old. Quite a night. Anna and Rob brought over a Coldstone cake to help celebrate, since Anna's birthday was Sunday. It was so yummy! Darcy brought a wonderful sirloin roast, and I'm so thankful she did, because my big pan of Irish Macaroni wouldn't have been enough for the crowd!
Vance and I began registering at Target tonight. My mom has been bugging me about it, since our first shower is in 6 weeks. Apparently there are people who buy shower gifts more than 3 days before the actual event. I don't know any of those people, and I'm not one of them! Oh well. Of course, Target is planning on completely re-vamping their entire baby section between July 23rd-August 1st, so we just put the basics on there, the stuff that they always carry. We'll go back after the 1st and add the stuff like sheets and towels and onesies and all that.
We went couch shopping too. Allyson called and said they were going to pick up the guest bed tomorrow night. So now we really have to bite the bullet and get a sleeper sofa to accomodate the grandparents. Vance was not pleased with the prices of the ones we looked at, but we'll see what we can find. The salesman we talked to actually is a regular attender of our church, so we feel pretty comfortable dealing with him.
When we got home I cooked dinner and Vance installed the keyless entry on the Element. I'm looking forward to using it tomorrow, especially since it's supposed to rain in the afternoon.
My bestest friend called while we were watching Dr. Who, so we took a break. Minor wedding planning issues. Nothing big, just the church her sweetheart grew up in double-booking their wedding date and then sending her an email informing her of the conflict, and could she please make other arrangements? Yeah, I know. I think they should be able to work it out, since the church is the one that screwed up and she booked the date back in APRIL. I'm hoping that the church realizes the error was on their part and they do the honorable thing. Otherwise I might have to call, and we don't want that. Not with these hormones. (I'm expecting an Amen in the comments from Vance at some point)
Time for bed.
Peace out.

By request...

Apparently people read my blog that don't see me all the time. That's pretty cool! Vance's mom took a few pictures of me and the belly while she was here last week. So, here they are. I'll try to get Vance to take more each month.

Random Thought...

Why is it that my hair decides to look good when I'm about to go to bed? It makes no sense.
Good Night.

4 day weekend!

I decided to take off today, and give myself a 4 day weekend. It's been a good thing! Vance's mom came in on Friday night and we enjoyed some chicken off of Vance's grill . He's coming along, we just have to be patient since charcoal takes longer than gas. Everyone kept asking me if we had big plans this weekend. We didn't, and have just been playing by ear. Kinda fun, to not be overly-scheduled! Saturday Pat and I ran around town doing not much of anything. She bought Tabitha (her other daughter-in-law) and I some cute pants at Old Navy. We had dinner with the Bennages at Chilis. It was quite fun, as Adah remembered Pat from when she was 'little'. Kind of funny to hear that out of a nearly-4 year old.

Shannon sent me a great bunch of pictures of Dylan. For Momma's birthday, she took a bunch of pictures of him with silly hats on at the Party Store. She framed them, and they are all over their house. Here's my favorite:

I know, I'm not biased at all, but this kid is too cute! I told Momma she was going to need more space to display pictures when our little guy comes along.

Well, my Blueberry Cobbler just came out of the oven so we're heading over to Monday Night.
Hope you enjoyed my foray into adding links to a post.

We have kicking!

So, last night Vance felt the little monkey kicking! It was rather exciting for both of us. I'd been noticing a increase in the frequency and strength of his kicks this week, but last night while I was watching "So You Think You Can Dance" he was going overtime, and really strong! When Vance got home from running rehearsal at church, I told him that this may be the night.
Anyway, enjoy the pictures from last night's post. Heading to the reunion tomorrow afternoon!

Silly Us

I found some goofy pictures of us...when we were young and silly...oh wait, we still are! I think one of us was going on a trip without the other, so we tried to fit in a suitcase to come along. Then the other one of us wondered if we too would fit in the suitcase. I know, we're dorks.



I can't believe the girls are almost 4. This is from Spencer and Carey's old house, wayyyyy back in the day!



I used to be a DJ at a local country station. Here's a pic taken by some guy I can't remember...before Vance, so it doesn't matter. ; )

Baby's got the blues...

Big surprise...Vance's son is apparently a blues fan.
Last night we were flipping channels shortly before bedtime, and Vance's keen skills of observation stumbled upon Georgia Public Broadcasting's airing of Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival. Mind you, it is nearly bedtime for preggo me, but Vance is adamant that I at least watch for a few minutes.
We settle in on the couch and this kid gets to groovin'. Not kidding, he was serious having a workout in my belly. And when the music stopped and the talky people came on to beg for $$, he quit his dance routine. Music starts, baby starts. For over an hour.
He was particularly fond of Joe Walsh's "Funk #49". I told Vance about all the action, and he beamed as he said 'That's my boy!'.
How young can they start playing? We're thinking a drummer would make a good addition to the family band.

Pictures and stuff

This is the photo I submitted to my class reunion website. It's from Michael and Rebecca's wedding 2 years ago.








Oh, and I need to post some of the ultrasound pics of our baby boy!
Let's try that here...


Anyway, had my first serious case of heartburn Saturday night/Sunday morning.
I really thought I was dying, y'all!
Apparently it wasn't the only episode I would have, since I lost my dinner last night too.
Good thing we have an appointment with the midwife Friday morning. Got some stuff to talk about!

Better News...

Thanks for your prayers and concerns from my last post. Robbin is hanging in there, not sure when she'll be back at work.
We had our big ultrasound appointment Friday morning. I couldn't post anything here for fear that my family would see it before we got to Orlando. ;)
So, the wait is over, and the news is as we expected...It's a boy!
I can't get the pictures to resize, so I'll get Vance to fix them and then I'll post a few.
I've also been feeling him move a lot this weekend. It's weird, and neat, and reassuring. I hear later it gets bothersome, but right now I'm not complaining!

What a way to start the day...

This is not going to be a fun post.
As I was walking in to work this morning from the parking lot, one of my co-workers filled me in on what happened yesterday to one of our other co-workers. I see Robbin nearly every morning now that we've gotten into Orientation. She was (it's hard to type was) just about two weeks behind me in her pregnancy. We briefly chatted yesterday morning, about nothing of real significance. Anyway, apparently after our session first thing, she went back to the office and wasn't feeling very well. She started cramping and all that, and her boyfriend came up to take her to the hospital. Unfortunately, she lost the baby. Everyone at work was trying to figure out who was going to tell me, and no one actually did. I guess it's better that I just found out, since I can't majorly freak out here at work. I'm kinda numb at this point. Everyone is asking me if I'm okay. I guess I am, but you can't help but be a little scared. When you hit the 2nd trimester, you're supposed to be 'safe'. Robbin and I had gotten to that point, the point where you can relax a little more, not have all the first trimester worries.
My heart hurts for Robbin and her family, and I'm trying to be rational about my own situation. Our ultrasound is scheduled for Friday morning, and I've been thinking about how great it will be to get a good look at this amazing thing happening in my body. We're hoping the little Rutherford will cooperate and let us in on his or her gender, and now all I can think about is just seeing the heartbeat again.
My heart hurts. We love you, Robbin. And your sweet baby that will greet you in heaven.

Happy Easter, and welcome Nena?

So I get a call at 6:00 this morning...it's Darcy, and she says it's time to head to the hospital to have Nena. Oh, and Madeleine has all the symptoms of an ear infection, so instead of a lovely Easter with Madeleine visiting Canopy Roads (and me being in the Easter Drama), I'll be heading to Urgent Care at 9 with a sick 2 1/2 year old. I love how God is giving me a crash course in parenting! Madeleine is holding her ear, but there hasn't been too much crying yet. She's preoccupied with Elmo on the computer and the Cat in the Hat on the DVD. This whole market for kids stuff on the internet is really fascinating. I'm impressed with Madeline's ability to follow the directions on the Sesame Street workshop site. It's set up well, and is age-appropriate. Yes, I know, that's the teacher in me.
Anyway, this is the first morning I've gotten out of bed without food before and not gotten sick. Let's hear it for the second trimester!
Well, I'm going to grab some breakfast. I hope we can get in at Urgent Care quickly. Poor Madeleine...