Random Ramblings

As mentioned in my previous post, this past weekend, 3 families joined up at Salter Path, NC and we had an amazing time! Our group consisted of Brett, Ryan & myself, my parents, my brother and his girlfriend, my mother-in-law and father-in-law, my best friend Jody and her husband Jeff, and her parents, Linda & Tony. We swam, we tanned, we ate, we partied, we reminisced, we played bocce ball & cornhole, we stayed up until after midnight, we got burnt, we built sandcastles...we had an awesome time! I can't believe it is over and I'm so sad that I have to wait an entire year to do it again! The extended weekend vacation was the first of many, I hope. Perhaps next year we can make it a whole week!

Just to enlighten you and remind those who were there, here are a few lessons we all learned during the course of our trip...

Lesson #1 - Don't play fire hose with your penis. (very important to a 2-year-old)

Lesson #2 - You can, in fact, fit 13 people into a 32' travel trailer.

Lesson #3 - If you're potentially being attacked by a wild animal, don't count on your mother to save you. She'll just run the other way, leaving you alone to fend for yourself.

On another note, yesterday I hit the 33 week mark and the under-50-day mark. There is so much still left to do before Liam arrives. I'm getting antsy, so I made a list. What I thought was going to be just a few things turned into a list of 26 things that need to be done or purchased prior to his arrival. As nice as it would be for him to come a bit early (maybe 1-2 weeks) I'm starting to think that him coming during the week of his due date might be in our favor, just so we can get everything done. Between working, keeping up with Ryan, and traveling, there isn't a whole lot of time between now and then! I reckon I better hop to it! I had my 32 week doc's appointment last week. Unfortunately I gained 6lbs in 4 weeks. NOT COOL! However, I do remember that towards the end of my pregnancy with Ryan and gained 7 lbs in 3 or 4 weeks. So I figure maybe it is just my normal pattern. Or at least that's what I'm leading myself to believe. I have been having some major pressure in my pelvic area from Liam's head... thank you, gravity! I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but last week it was almost unbearable. Doctor wanted to check, just to be sure and I wasn't going to argue with her since I was headed to the beach within the next hour. Thankfully, all is well and I'm not dilated at all. She "diagnosed" me with a weak pelvic floor... or as she described it, an "old hammock." Wonderful... I cannot explain to you the feeling I had when I was told my female innerds can now be compared to an old hammock. Bear with me for a minute as I explain. A NEW hammock is tight and stiff as is a unused uterus and pelvis (bones & muscles). An OLD hammock is loose from being sat on, stretched out and rained on, and from what I gather, quite comparable to my lower female region. How glorious is that? Yes, I know. I couldn't contain my excitement either.

Now on to my other child. This morning Ryan and I went to have his ears checked. We do this every 4 months because of his tubes we had put in back in November. I'm quite surprised they are still there. The life span of ear tubes is about 6 months and we're going on 8 months. Life before tubes consisted of an ear infection every 3 weeks through the fall and winter months. It was excruciating for me and even more so for Ryan. Since his surgery in November, he has had 1... yes, let's count them again... ONE ear infection. I could kiss the feet of Dr. Bellian, his otolaryngologist.

Anyway, while we were in the waiting room, Ryan was playing in the kids area with another little boy who was at least a year older than him. Obviously this is quite normal for 2 small children to play together, but what stood out to me is that they were conversing...like normal human beings. Call me wacky, I don't know, but I just think it's really cool when two little people have a conversation. I mean, obviously Ryan and I have conversations all the time about everything under the sun, but his speaking skills are still, well, like a 2-year-old's. Many times other adults (even Brett and I, sometimes) can't understand him, but another child can and I think it's amazing.

Ok, well enough of my ramblings. I've been accused of making people cry to often while reading my blog. So, hopefully you didn't this time. :) Save the tears for another day.

And just for giggles, check out America's next macho man, Ryan Michael, in all his glory.... he was growling by the way. I had the camera square on him, then he bent over, threw his arms back, gave his best bad-boy face and growled. I wish I had caught the rest of his body. The moment was priceless.

The Jodster

Today is the day I get to see my best friend. Her name is Jody. I haven't seen her since January. Her, her equally wonderful husband, Jeff, and her absolutely amazing parents, Tony & Linda are coming down from Maryland to NC to meet us at the beach until Sunday. I am absolutely beside myself excited that my family and her family get to share this time together. Hopefully, this will be the first of many joint-family vacations that we will take.

You see, Jody is pregnant too. The Bean, as he is affectionately and namelessly known, is due 6 weeks and 5 days after Liam. Yes, HE! Jody and I are having SONS.... TOGETHER! We couldn't have planned it better.

Rewind to fall semester 2002 at Methodist...if you would have told either of us that within the next 8 years we would get over ourselves and love each other like sisters, we both probably would have punched you and laughed. We weren't exactly each other's "favs", if you know what I mean... all because of men who are thankfully no longer in our lives. Now, ignoring the geographic location of Virginia, we are inseparable. Crazy how God works, isn't it?

Our friendship is relatively new (we met in August of 2001), however, it seems as if I've known her my whole life. My hope for our children is that they will grow up together (again... let's forget about Virginia for a minute) and love each other as extended family. And of course, when Jody and I are old and gray, we can sit for the 30th summer in a row, on the deck of the house we've rented together at the beach, watch our grandchildren play in the sand while our husbands challenge each other on the golf course, drink our respected drinks of choice and reminisce about the "good ole days."

Let the music play on

My Papa Earl spent a lot of time downloading music and creating CDs. I think his song collection has got to be in the 10,000 plus range, and at least 100 CDs made, that now sit on the shelf above the computer in my Mimi's computer room. I never knew of any other man of his generation that was so tech savvy. He would spend hours on that computer finding different versions of hymns, Elvis Prestley songs to play for Mimi, Korean music, and many others. I can't tell you how many versions of Amazing Grace are downloaded on that computer. My favorites are one played on bagpipes and one that is just the piano.
Anyway, I gave him a list of songs I wanted made into a CD for me to play for Ryan while he was in my belly. Earl didn't like my contemporary mix of a playlist, consisting of Mariah Carey, Dave Matthews, Van Morrison and some others from all decades, especially the theme song from Beverly Hills Cop (Axel F by Harold Faltermeyer). My Deddy and I used to dance to Axel F when I was little. We even danced to it during the Father/Daughter dance at my wedding. After he downloaded all the music and made the CD, Papa said, "What kind of music is this? You're going to ruin that child!"
I was cleaning out closets on Monday and I found a CD that Papa had made for "Peanut #2" when he made the mix CD for Ryan. He gave me both CDs at the same time. I asked him why he was making one for a child that wasn't even thought of yet and his response was, "Because I won't be around and the child needs to know what good music is!" I brushed his comment aside. Death of those so close to me is not something that I particularly want to talk or think about, even though we all know that it is inevitable. Plus, Papa talked about "when he's gone..." all the time. So it really wasn't anything new to me. The CD that he made for the child now known as Liam (or Lil Earl to some of you) is a mix of children's Bible songs. Papa may not be here physically to hold and play with Liam, but his legacy lives on through a little boy who he will never meet. He will teach him what "good music" is.
Later on, closer to Ryan's birth, I asked Papa for a CD of just piano music so that Ryan would have something during nap time and bedtime to fall asleep to and also to drown out the rest of the noise in the house. This time, I gave no request list. Papa had full and total say as to what went on the CD. 2 years and 7 months later, Ryan still goes to sleep to the tune of Floyd Kramer.