November 08

In this photo, we're hanging out at M&D's, getting ready for dominoes (cuz I wanted something different than a card game). Sam had just set up a domino rally, Melanie was trying to help daddy put up another one, but knocked it down. This is the mini aftermath of that.

So for the month of November, I still don't remember what happened. Yes, there was Thanksgiving. We spent the Sunday prior to T-day at Sam's grandparents' house. It was his Grandma's birthday. Lucky for me, that meant that I could be with my family on Thanksgiving. His grandpa is good and all, but his grandpa's turkey dinner is NOTHING compared to my dad's. I hope we figure out how to do a smoked turkey before it's ever too late. Dad says it's easy, we just need to find the 10 hours (or so) to spend with him to find out how it's done. Anyway, so grandma Hinkson was down for Thanksgiving, and coincidentally, Billy & Jillian's sealing. Yeah, that was a busy week, as the memory is coming back to me.

So grandma H was down, and we totally planned the menu. Now, I don't recall every thanksgiving dinner, but I don't think we've ever actually sat down and planned a menu. This year, we did. We had the usual turkey, mashed potatoes, and the infamous butterhorns. I don't think Mom will ever forget to make butterhorns again (since that one time several years ago when we all complained about not having any--we Coleman's hardly forget things like that). The neat thing we had this time was mashed sweet potatoes. Yes, they were from a box (thanks to Betty Crocker), but with the embellishments Kristen made, they were fantastic. Just enough for everyone too...since Billy & Jillian, Bob & Emily, and Becky & Gary/fam, weren't there. It sure seemed like a skimpy Thanksgiving without so much family around. It was smaller than our regular Sunday dinners. The odd thing was that we had pineapple upside-down cake as one of our desserts. It's not often that we have something other than pie for dessert for T-day, so this was strange. It must have been a pregnancy thing for me, because I think I was the only one who ate a piece that day, and the rest was eaten on the following Sunday, I think.

Billy & Jillian's sealing the next day had the rest of the family together, though still without Becky & Gary (they'd gone to the Bailey's annual Branson T-day trip). Billy & Jillian were sad that they weren't there, but Billy had been forewarned. If Becky hadn't been pregnant with Scarlett last year, Becky & Gary wouldn't have been at their wedding either. Anyway, so Grandma got to be there for their sealing, which was fantastic. It was neat to be in the temple with so much family, as it should be. Afterwards, my family was trying to take pictures like crazy, and Jillian's family didn't make such a big deal of it. It was weird to me. So, yeah, it's not a traditional WEDDING-wedding, but it's still just as important. Her family did still help set up a reception luncheon thing, but they weren't around for any special day photo shoot. Billy & Jilly are broke anyway, so it's not like they had a professional photographer, fancy dress, or anything. I guess I'm just saying that her family could have acted more like it was a special day, rather than just showing up for the sealing and food. (But, with her extended family that did come down, I didn't see Billy for another week and a half because they were spending so much time with her family, so maybe they did do some celebrating?)

So yeah, grandma was in town, we had a great thanksgiving, and billy & jillian got sealed. Yay!

Halloween 08

I did tell you that my blog wouldn't be updated very often because I'm on facebook more than blogger right? That said, let me blog about the last three months...if I can remember it all.



So Halloween went well. We went trick or treating with Bryan & Tara, some of Sam's coolest friends EVER. If I had friends like that from High School, I wouldn't be so desperate to hang out with my family all the time, I think. (It's weird talking about Halloween when it's the middle of January.) Point is, it was great fun. Sam refused to dress up like a chef if I was to be an oven (bun in the oven. Get it?). He didn't like the inuendoes. I saw pictures on facebook of one of my friends. He dressed up like a chef, and his wife (due the same time as me) had the T-shirt with the oven & bun picture. It was so cute, and I showed Sam, but he still refused. He said Eric, the friend, was a brave man. When I mentioned it to Eric, he said that he had needed some convincing to wear it too. When I would suggest other ideas to Sam, he declined and didn't seem to understand that we're a family and it's utterly cute to dress up as a theme. Turns out, he did end up dressing like a bumble bee, I was a ladybug, and so was Melanie. Ours were hastily put together costumes from what we had. Sam had a huge yellow snow jacket, and Melanie had gotten some bug hats for her 1st birthday. She'd already torn off one of the antennaes, but Sam wore the hat and the jacket and made it work. I wore the ladybug hat she'd gotten, red shirt and some black pajama pants that were still kinda fitting. Melanie just wore last year's costume, and it fit much better and looked tons cuter when we stuffed the back with some grocery bags.

It's a girl!

So I haven't scanned any of my ultrasound photos in, but I will announce that it's a girl. As much as I'm always wishing for a boy, it doesn't make a difference with the DNA. Sam & I have suspected all along that it would be a girl, so I've been contemplating some girls' names for a while. I like Celia a lot and I've almost settled on it, but still want to give Sam an opportunity for input. It's similar to what I did with Melanie. He offered input (Ruth), but it turned out to be Melanie's middle name because he otherwise had no preference. We tried to implement another of my family names like Aurelia, but it didn't go with Ruth. So, this time, we may end up with Celia (not a family name) and try a middle name that is a family name. Family names suggested have been Vernessa, Lucinda, Colleen, Lois, Kathleen, Clarice, and Elsa. I like Elsa too, but someone in my ward JUST had a baby and named her Elsa. I would find that very awkward unless we move out before I deliver. It's like in the other San Bernardino wards when 3 girls were named Emma within months of one another. It's tacky--even though they've all 3 moved to different areas now (Utah, Idaho, and the other in CA still I think). So Elsa will probably be for later, but not for this time. And Vernessa you may say should be Vanessa, but there really is an "r" in it. Wild, I know, but it's family and my grandma seems really keen on seeing that one live on. My sister does wild extraordinary names like Daphne, so maybe she'll pick it up instead. I do like Clarice, but Sam says it's still too close to the era of "Hannibal" and the line where he creepily says, "Hello, Clarice." Give it up! It's rated R and by the time she's old enough to have heard of it, it'll only be adults talking about it. Even with the crowd we hang with, I doubt anyone will give her grief about it, much less us because it is family and was around before the movie came out!

Thus is my rant on names and congratulations on having girl #2!

Atlanta

So with all the hurricanes going about, our trip to Atlanta we expected to be more rainy than anything. As it turned out, because it was all conference and one day of play, we really only saw the inside of our hotel, and it was reasonably sunny outside. Part of the reason is that I ended up with pink-eye (again? yes, again.) and the condition makes you so sensitive to light, I couldn't wear my contacts and I don't have prescription sunglasses on purpose (because I always wear contacts), going outside would have been torture. It was hard enough being in a dark room watching a TV screen. Though my eyes watered often, it was hard to stay focused without getting a headache. I'm just glad Sam let me sleep as long as he did. I think it really helped.

We left Melanie with my sister and my mom where she ended up with a terrible rash that I've been trying to soothe for the last 5 days. She's had yeast infections before, and since the rash ointment isn't working on it's own, we're using the additional cream from the prior infections. It's calmed it down a bit, but for goodness sakes it's so persistent. Sam and I bought a potty top for the toilet before we left and let her sit on it a couple times. When I hear Melanie getting gassy, I ask if she wants to go to the toilet. She says, "Poop" and runs to the toilet for me to take off her diaper and let her on the toilet. She loves taking the toilet paper and putting it in the toilet. Though I haven't established a routine of going at a particular time (after nap, every hour, after dinner, before bedtime, whatever), it seems to work for me for now. She's actually gone poop once and pee twice. Yay! Either way, she's comfortable sitting on the toilet, and if she enjoys it enough, maybe she'll train herself enough to where I'm not buying a case of diapers once/month.
With a newborn on the way, my diaper purchases will be increasing as it is, but to buy only one instead of 2 cases would be much more preferable.

August update

I figure if I can at least update once a month, I'm doing good. I haven't even been keeping up with my facebook---much less trying to do a blog. Nonetheless, this last month has been difficult. I've been able to keep up with watching some of the Olympics and particularly loved seeing Michael Phelps win his golds. The "rip-off" of the Women's gymnastics was frustrating, even with the IOC now looking into the Chinese girls' ages beyond a passport. I'm definitely of the opinion that we were cheated at least two times for a medal--definitely on vault!
Anyway, Sam & I just celebrated our 3rd anniversary this week and we're still getting used to each other on some days. I really do think it's the pregnancy hormones that make it the most difficult. It's such a handicap to not be able to find the word you're looking for and use 10 others to describe what it is....like a bicycle: that thing that you ride with two wheels and no motor and the pedals...yeah that! Or the time that you're the only one on track with you're thoughts how two things relate, and everyone is lost as to how you got there....I hate it when that happens even when I'm not pregnant.
I still haven't decided when to do my C-section. I'm still debating to do it either on my birthday or maybe the Saturday before. (My birthday 12/29). I'm due January 6th, technically, but they do want to do it the week before to make sure I'm not going into natural labor, and I want to do it before the new year...even if it does seem selfish to get a tax-writeoff for the baby. Sam seems rather un-opinionated and leaving it up to me. I just don't want to be in the hospital over new year's....My birthday--even if I can't have cake in the hospital, I can always celebrate afterwards. Oh well--still up for debate.
I haven't found out the gender, but I plan on it. Sam & I both feel that we're having another girl, but nothing solid yet from the OB. The first ultrasound was scheduled too early to tell, so next week when I see him again, I'll request another. I'm officially 21 weeks today, so over half-way. It feels like it's been longer, but let's see...that's just another 18 weeks to go for me!
I got my haircut finally...about 6 months too late. But luckily, my pregnancy helps the hair grow thicker and faster. I love the cut, I just can't handle the styling (another of my handicaps: hair & makeup). So, it's often left to it's own shaping (a wave), and then my habit of putting it in a ponytail to avoid Melanie's sticky hands. I've only had it for a week. Funny thing though, I got it done for free: I went to a sleepover with a bunch of gals, and one of them is a cosmetologist/aesthetician. She agreed to do the girls' hair & makeup if they went for a midnight swim up in Lake Arrowhead with her. This gal is 53, and she wanted to go for a midnight swim! I immediately volunteered as well as one other lady (in her 50s also), and we had a blast! It wasn't cold at all (maybe felt that way because of my excessively pregnant body heat), and I got my free haircut! She tapered some bangs for me in a light kind of layering so it's not totally noticeable, but she also thinned out my thick hair. So A: it's shorter, and B: it's lighter (in weight). Maybe I'll have pictures later when I upload them from my camera....

Long, but it's been a while since my update...

Tadlock Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

So hard to remember to keep up...

So since I last posted anything, we've been to the zoo, done tons of swimming, and a little camping and hiking. I have a facebook that I put all of my pictures on, but I will add a couple here for you to see. The camping photos haven't been uploaded yet from the camera, but a coming attraction. Otherwise, the point is, it's been so long I forgot my blogspot address, and we've done some fun things.

This picture is from the San Diego Zoo. Melanie's been walking for a few months now (since Feb 29), and this was downhill where she got some serious momentum when daddy let go. That bench is as far as she got before she took her nosedive.