10/22/2010
Oh....Where to Begin....
Where shall I begin?
Should I start with how much Lily absolutely loves and adores her little sister?
Or how about how much fun I'm having with my two perfect angels (wink, wink) and how hard it's going to be to go back to work?
These past two months have flown by thanks to a lot of visitors and a lot of help. Nana was here for the first two weeks followed by Aunt Wendy then Aunt Betsy and ended with Auntie Sa. I don't think I would have been able to do it without everyone pitching in to entertain the Lilster, so thank you!
Now it's finally fall and the weather has cooled off! I've been getting out of the house with the Thompson Twosome quite frequently and probably earlier than I should have with Kennedy. However, have you tried to stay cooped up in the house with a 21 month old who has ants in her pants? Sure I got looks when Kennedy showed up at the park. And I'm sure I was judged at the pumpkin patch carrying a newborn around. Whatevs. Mommy needs to get out too and winter will be here before we know it when we really can't get out as much. (DREADFUL to think about.) Even though it's fall, it's still summer of sorts around here: The days are long and fun, nights are short and things definitely get heated throughout the day.
Kennedy had her one month check up and we are most pleased to be able to call her Normal Head Thompson (instead of Big Head like the three of us). 50th percentile for head size and 95th for height and weight. She's sleeping anywhere from four to six hours at night and we're able to lay her down awake which she does pretty well with. She's a good eater, has started smiling (mostly for her father) and doesn't pull of her bows.
Lily.....What can I say about Lily. She's a mess. She's a perfectly hilarious, stubbornly defiant three year old stuck in a 21 month old body. I know I've said it before, but it's true. She still has her father COMPLETELY wrapped around her fingers and toes. It doesn't help the situation when she looks up him as he's putting her to bed, grabs his face with her hands, kisses him and says, "Night night, Daddy. I love you." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!?! Yet all day the only thing that seems to come out of her mouth is, "No." "NOOOOOOO." And she proceeds to throw herself on the ground and kick. (Probably doesn't help the situation that I laugh and turn the other way.) It's a phase. It's a phase. It's a phase. It's a phase.
Her vocabulary is CRAZY!!! Thanks to Nana, cars are "car comings." She'll say bus and truck but "car coming" applies to everything else, stationary or not, in a picture or on the road. Thanks, Mom. :-) She also has an insane memory (not sure where she would have gotten that from) that continues to baffle us. She's able to count to eleven and will repeat you up to twenty. We're working on the ABC's right now. Again, perfect example.......all letters are "D! For Daddy!" Seriously?
Some things I've learned over these last eight weeks:
1. Since you wet your toothbrush with water in the sink, it makes complete sense to dip it in the toilet.
2. Poop can really travel up to someone's shoulder....on one side.....multiple times.
3. The above can happen to two kids in one day.
4. Toddlers can memorize movie lines when they watch the same movie 579 times.
5. Stressing over flying alone with the two girls makes the date of travel come sooner. (We leave for Houston on Tuesday!!!)
Once I get the camera/picture thing figured out, I'll put some up.
Work in Progress
Trying to figure out how to make my pictures smaller so they don't take up so much space. AF, do you have any tips? (We have the same camera, I think.)
More to follow....
9/04/2010
She's Here!!!
6:40am: leave for Piedmont Hospital
7:20am: check into L&D room 15....same as Lily's delivery!
8:30am: Pitocin drip started
11am: epidural started (and what a wonderful thing that is!)
2pm: 9cm
3:15pm: 10 cm but have to wait on the doctor to finish a consent with another patient
3:45pm: start pushing
4pm: Kennedy's arrival!!!
All in all, it was a fantastic day! Things were much smoother and more controlled this time around than with Lily. John, the father who can't stand the sight of blood or needles or roller coasters, actually cut the cord. (I was honestly impressed that he didn't pass out.)
She weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs 2.4 oz and 21.75 inches long! BIG GIRL! We kept hearing from nurses that they haven't seen a girl that size in months! Once we were discharged, her weight was 8 lbs 13 oz but she's on the rise......One week later at the doctor's visit she was back up to 9 lbs and 22 inches. She's a good eater AND a good sleeper! I'm very thankful to be getting some sleep this past week.
Not sure she wants to go home with us perhaps?
8/27/2010
Taking her sweet time...
No luck despite trying to do it all....
Eating pineapple.
Eating spicy sausage.
Walking (only a little because it hurts a bit.....you've seen the picture).
Eggplant parmesan.
Full moon.
And, yes, even that other thing that involves John. We don't get into THAT.
Therefore, I'm scheduled to be induced on Tuesday morning.
August 31st, 2010.
I can do it!!!
I can make it!!!
I'm really trying to convince myself!!!
8/23/2010
Summer Fun
8/05/2010
Nana Camp
Most of it is from late July while John was in Alaska and Nana and Papa came to help with the Lilster. In the midst of it all, I was given an extraordinarily generous gift from my work buddies which allowed me to finally purchase a real, grown-up camera! I've been intimidated by it so it's taken me this long to download the pictures.
Enjoy!
Things that happen when Nana visits....
"Thank you" doesn't even cover it, Nana and Papa. You two are the hardest working grandparents I've ever seen and we truly appreciate it and never want to take advantage of it......well......unless I'm 9 months pregnant.
8/04/2010
Alaskan Angler
Once upon a time there was a man named Ken. Ken was a smart man. He lived in a beautifully frigid place called Alaska during the summer and in a hot mess called Atlanta during the winter.
Ken met a boy at work named John and invited him to Alaska to go fishing. He told many tales of bears and whales, crabs and fish. Not to mention the heaven on earth scenery that surrounds his little cabin on a piece of land called Admiralty Island.
This boy, John, invited two of his friends to join him on this exciting excursion to the Alaskan outback for some "real" fishing. Todd and Tim jumped on board and the three of them took off early one Friday morning. After stopping in Cincinnati and Seattle, the men (and I use that term loosely) finally landed in Juneau, Alaska where it was only 54 degrees and rainy. Fortunately for the boy named John who is fearful of roller coasters and little planes and scary movies and ..., they had to take the hour long boat ride to the island instead of the floater plane which only takes 15-20 minutes.
Let the fishing begin! They fished and fished and fished and caught an octupus. This ended up being a blessing in disguise because octupus is the ideal bait for an ugly yet yummy fish called hallibut. The next day they couldn't get the fish on the boat fast enough! It was a clear day, 65 degrees and not another boat in sight. Just a bunch of whales breeching and feeding along with good company on the boat.
Once it was time to head back into the "big city" of Juneau, one of the "men" suggested they go see the glacier. Why do it the way normal tourists do it when you have free access to a floater plane? Yes, Johnny Boy got strapped in and even sat in the front seat for a bird's eye view of something you don't get to see everyday.
Everyone made it home safely and soundly and lived happily ever after with about 100 pounds of fish in our freezer.
7/18/2010
Baby #2
I plan to hold you much more than I held your sister and I plan to love you till the cows come home. I can't wait to see your beautiful face and look into your perfect eyes and count all your fingers and toes while listening to you gurgle and coo.
18 months and counting...
Weight: 24 pounds (50th percentile)
Height: 34 inches (95th percentile)
Head: priceless (literally off the charts) **I don't think there are enough chocolate Teddy Grahams in this world to apologize for this physical attribute, baby girl.**
It just means lots of brains, right?
Must be the case because her vocabulary strengthens everyday! Thanks to her father she has recently mastered the art of telling you where her butt is.
I would say she's exceeding 50 words and is definitely starting to put things together:
"Bye bye, Troy's dada."
"Ready go bye bye."
"Sit down, dada/mama/Bear."
Of course she can also identify animals and people in pictures and can recite what the animals say. Sometimes the praying mantis and/or hippo are called "mommy" (with a giggle) but other than that, she's usually right on.
Likes:
playing in water (pool, bath)
cold pizza
bagels, eggs, BLUEBERRIES
books
going to the tennis courts with daddy
tv (much to my dismay, she's a remote hog and loves her cartoons)
Dislikes:
getting out of the bathtub
going inside after playing outside
diaper changes are a hit or miss
brushing her teeth
anything I do to piss her off (i.e. hug and kiss John while saying, "MY, daddy." That doesn't go over too well.)
Contradiction:
She loves her baths but hates being bathed. Go figure.
Cheers to another fun 18 months!!!
7/10/2010
How do I love thee....
Happy 4th of July!
So, God bless the USA and all those other things.
(Hopefully that will make up for it.)
We headed out to the Marietta parade again this year! It was much cooler weather but a much longer parade than last year.
6/26/2010
Camp 2010
First of all, my anticipatory bawl fests made for an easy transition to the car when I had to leave my Lily Bug that fateful Saturday afternoon. However, things went downhill on Monday as I'm sitting in yoga for first period and look through pictures on my camera while listening to some calmin Josh Groban music in the background.
Note to self: Not a good mix.
Once I got my you-know-what together, things were fine. That's until I called home and heard her sweet voice say, "Hi, Mama!" Now I understand why we don't let the campers call home. It can be pretty darn upsetting. By Friday I was ready to get home to my perfect little girl.
BUT!!! The days in between were as magical and fun and exciting as they always are.
I think it was the first or second day at lunch when I witnessed a group of senior boys (either 18 years old or high school graduates) invade a table of younger boys (probably 13-15 year olds) who were slouching in their chairs with their too-cool-for-school heads on the table. The seniors went over to them, pepped them up, got them to stand on their feet and SING & DANCE!!! Nobody asked them to do it. They did this completely on their own because they know what Camp is all about and they want to make sure all the other campers get the same experience they've had.
There were somewhere around 230 TEENAGERS at Camp this year ages 13-18.
Sometimes you see kids who might not have such a great homelife and this is literally the best place on earth for them to be. It breaks your heart to know what they have to return to but it definitely helps you focus on making the week the best it can possibly be.
And, of course, you have some funny moments like out at the archery range where a young man was retrieving his arrows and people were already lining up to shoot their respective targets (not necessarily him). The okay had not yet been given, but he blurted out, "DON'T SHOOT! I'm too young to die! I've already had a brain tumor." Classic.
This is why I do it every year.
Moments like this that touch your heart and stay with you through the years.
So there's this thing called Prom on Friday night. The campers really get into it and dress amazingly. Counselors, on the other hand, typically get into the theme of Camp for that year or we'll wear old, gawdy prom dresses of our own. (For example, one year they had a circus theme. I dressed up like a clown and put my 1993 prom dress on over the clown outfit. I was hot.)
My sweet Dawn went Madonna Mode:
And my darling Deb really went retro....back to the Austin Powers days of the 60s! It was freaking me out that she was taller than me but doesn't she look amazing???
One of the Camp songs is called Love Is. I don't know who wrote it or who originally brought it to Camp, but the words are below.
But love will never die.
Frat Parties Everywhere!
My BFF (holla, Sa) sent me this link that she thought I would enjoy and it's just too good not to pass on to whomever might read this little bloggy blog. The link is at the bottom if you're interested in reading some of the funny comments, too.
WHY HAVING A TODDLER IS LIKE BEING AT A FRAT PARTY
10. There are half-full, brightly-colored plastic cups on the floor in every room. Three are in the bathtub.
9. There's always that one girl, bawling her eyes out in a corner.
8. It's best not to assume that the person closest to you has any control over their digestive function.
7. You sneak off to the bathroom knowing that as soon as you sit down, someone's going to start banging on the door.
6. Probably 80% of the stains on the furniture contain DNA.
5. You've got someone in your face at 3 a.m. looking for a drink.
4. There's definitely going to be a fight.
3. You're not sure whether anything you're doing is right, you just hope it won't get you arrested.
2. There are crumpled-up underpants everywhere.
1. You wake up wondering exactly how and when the person in bed with you got there.
One of my favorite comments added by a reader says something along the lines of "you try all night to get someone into bed and then when you're successful all you want to do is sleep."
Check out this great blog at www.suburbansnapshots.com. I might have to add this one to my list on the left!
6/05/2010
Beach Baby
Nana flew into Atlanta on Wednesday and we packed up the car and headed to Charleston on Thursday afternoon. Lily's first trip the beach, mom's first trip to Charleston and my first......I'm sure there was something......
My dear, sweet friend Erin and her hubby and baby boy are living in Folly Beach for the next three years and allowed us to come take advantage of the situation. We are so incredibly grateful for the wonderful opportunity and the excellent southern hospitality that Erin is famous for.
However, I need to make some notes for our next beach adventure:
1. Take more than one swim diaper. And if I only have one and it's been used but we decide to go back to the beach, perhaps I should consider taking it off when we actually get to the beach. Just in case so we can avoid the possibility of peeing on the bathroom rug because she thinks she's taking a bath. And so we can maybe not slip and slide on a pee puddle in the middle of our hosts' hardwood floors. I might also want to think about the chance of her peeing in the wagon on our way to the beach. (And I thought she was dehydrated! Phewy!)
2. Don't be pregnant so I can wear a suitable bathing suit, drink lavender martinis and take a shooter at Pearlz restaurant.
3. Go into the first night with low expectations on the sleeping situation for Lily. I'm not sure who was screaming louder....Charlie or Lily. Needless to say, we ended up bringing Lily into our room and she finally got the hang of the routine on our final night there.
4. Take John with us. "Mama." "Mama." "Mama!!!" "No, Nana." "Mama." "Mama." It was a little exhausting. (Guess I should be careful what I wish for.)
Lots of pictures to share! Enjoy!