Saturday, June 28, 2008

This is the End

With the birth of our Valley Girl, Ruthann, life no longer revolves around the Vegas baby.  So we're moving to a new blog with a (hopefully) easier to remember name.


Keep up with the continuing adventures of Thomas, Ruthann, and Beckham (the fur baby) at monkeyraising.blogspot.com.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Ruthann Marie Pehl


6 lbs, 5 oz and 19" born at 11:02 a.m. on June 16, 2008

Sunday, June 15, 2008

This is It

I'm off to bed because we've got a busy day tomorrow. At 7:30 am, I have to report to the hospital for my doctor to induce labor. Yep, tomorrow, June 16th, is Ruthann's birthday. At my last exam, my doctor estimated that I'd have the baby about an hour after my water broke. Since that's not much time, we immediately started talking about having her break my water at the hospital to have a little more security and observation during the whole process. She gave me two options: Friday or Monday. Since Monday was the day that Grandpa P. picked for his incentive plan (ie, bet actual money on), I picked Monday. Thomas was also born on the day Grandpa P. picked. (What can I say, I respond well to incentives).

Please don't call us, since we're going to be kind of busy. As soon as Curtis gets home, he'll send out a mass email to everyone whose email we have with details and pictures. Hopefully, he'll also post a picture here on the blog. I'll be back in a couple of days with the complete story.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

It's a Date

Between Mom and Curtis both being here, I no longer have to take Thomas everywhere. Shopping and errands are much easier not having to deal with carseats, shopping cart buckles, and Mr. Impatient. Today, Mom and I went out and did some errands, and yesterday, Curtis and I got to go out on an actual date. We went and saw the new Indiana Jones movie (fun flick with moments of stupid). I can't actually think of the last movie we saw in theatres. All four of us went out to a seafood buffet to celebrate Curtis being completely done with work and as an early Father's Day dinner. Thomas didn't seem as excited by shrimp this time, but was wild about grapes. Curtis couldn't cut them up fast enough.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Tooth Number 11

Thomas's 11th tooth made a dramatic appearance yesterday. He woke up at 5 am and was crabby all day. Fussed a lot, didn't want held, threw toys and books and us and the cat, and barely napped. By 6 pm, when Curtis came home from football practice and errands, Mom and I were more than ready to turn the boy over to him. Thomas opened his mouth and there it was, a circle of gleaming white marking where his right lower molar had finally broken the surface. Hopefully, today will be a better day for him now that that tooth is up. One more of these huge molars to go, then the canine teeth, which are so sharp that they cause almost no teething pain at all.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Two-Step Thomas

That's my mom's new name for him. He's gotten much more confident taking a step or to to move from one handhold to another. He'll let go, shuffle one pudgy foot forward, then the other, and then lunge for the next handhold. Sometimes that second step is more of a stagger and sometimes that lunge leaves him a little short of his target. We've had several face-plants, which cause much woe and vexation. It wouldn't surprise me at all if he's walking confidently before Mom leaves.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Photo Dump


Sunday's Baby Shower (Admire the Diaper Cake)


Thomas at Timmy's bday (age 1). Timmy's older sister Jessie is totally in love with Thomas, though he doesn't seem to notice.


Thomas and Timmy acknowledge one another's existence


Thomas tastes his first quesadilla and ponders the meaning of life


Thomas has graduated from shapes to noodles. Spaghetti is Fun!

Saturday, June 07, 2008

Welcome Mom

Mom arrived yesterday and is having a great time playing with Mr. Thomas, who in turn, is thrilled to have a dedicated audience. Curtis is chained to the dining room table working through his backlog of grading in order to have grades turned in by 8am Monday. I'm still hanging in there and looking forward to my baby shower tomorrow afternoon. It feels good to have my support team here on standby though.

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Next on FOX: When Pasta Attacks

We had our good belly laugh for the day. Thomas is a full-fledged member of the Clean-your-plate Club. When he's finished eating, he throws every last crumb of remaining food onto the floor. This morning, he was tossing spaghetti noodles off his tray when the cat came to investigate. A noodle hit it on the head, causing it to dart backwards. However, running backwards, it discovered that whatever this strange creature was, it was also draped over its back and stuck to its back legs. In a panic, the cat now runs forwards into the mesh baby gate. Curtis had to rescue the poor cat from the vicious pasta. Its dignity insulted, the cat hid under the table until Curtis coaxed it out and petted it for a while. Poor kitty. It's hard to be calm when you're in the grips of a pasta attack.

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Comings and Goings

It's been a crazy week and it's only Tuesday. It's as though everything must happen this week. Curtis has half-days until Thursday, but we seem to meet each other coming and going. Today, he left for work, then I left for a meeting at church, with a stop at the library and Trader Joe's. He got home while I was out, but by the time I got Thomas fed, changed, and ready for his nap, it was almost time for Curtis to leave to vote and go to a department meeting and his tutoring job. Before he got back, I was out the door again, to vote and go to my spiritual book club group. I'm not even sure if he's been home, because now he's at another meeting. Tomorrow may be even worse, since his half-day is in the afternoon; I have a doctor's appointment in the morning; and in the evening, the dean is coming over for dinner (AHH!!! Must clean!).

It'll be a big relief next week, when the calendar becomes completely blank as we officially hit "full-term" and go into baby-waiting mode. After Sunday, there's just blank space until the end of the month.