"The poorest, the weakest, the simplest child, is born for immortality. This value outweighs the entire material universe, no matter how small a mark this child makes on it. The tiniest infant owns a deathless intellect, and is as immortal as the Father of spirits. No one can tell what this child will become."

~ A Prebyterian Pastor who died in 1873


"And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise."

~ (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)

Monday, August 18, 2008

Chambre De Bébé

or "Room for Baby"

Our nursery is finished (except for his book shelf and moving the wires from the monitor) but for the most part finished.



Wednesday, July 30, 2008

The UNEXPECTED, while expecting




So, let me set the scene…. Stuart is out of town from Monday to Monday. We got a new recliner and my parents delivered it Tuesday evening right before my two favorite Tuesday shows: Kitchen Nightmares and America’s Got Talent. Perfect timing I must say.

They bring it in, we find the best possible place for it and I was delighted you could still see the TV from the location we chose for the chair. I sit in it and test it out; up and down, back and forth it works great and is a good distance from the wall (so you can take advantage of the whole reclining experience this chair provides.) My parents made sure they were pleased at the position of the chair (bc they didn’t want me moving while they weren’t there) and once they were, they left. So you’re thinking “Well, that’s a good story Whitney, but I don’t see the reason for a blog post. I mean, yes, new furniture is exciting but typically uneventful and not too blog-worthy.” Yes, I agree and if it weren’t for the events that took place afterwards you probably wouldn’t be getting an update on our furniture collection….

7pm my show starts I get the controller (make a note that it was right beside the house phone AND my cell.) So I, the controller, and Francie take our new position for the duration of our 2 hours of planned entertainment. We were happy as two clams.

Then it happens…. The typical every 30 min sudden “my bladder is going to burst if I don’t make it to a bathroom in ten, nine, eight…..” so I politely move my little sleeping poodle and with a big thrust forward with enough momentum to both sit up and push the foot rest down, I sit …. I sit….. I am sitting…. I am thrusting upward with momentum….. I am ….. not moving! I am reclined in protest and about to have a busted bladder to make matters worse. So, I just take a few breaths and think to myself surely SURELY I am not stuck, because there is no way I am calling someone to come across town to help me up. And I was correct… there was no way, remember where I told you the phones were…. Yes, you’re right, across the room right where I grabbed the remote that is of no use or value to me at this moment. So I start a flash back between sniffles and telling myself crying would get me nowhere and neither would coaching either of my dogs (who are on the floor staring at me) to “bring mom the phone.” Smart…. they are. That smart…. They are not. So I have a small flash back to the movie “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.” Yes you know the scene…



Completely forgetting about the sudden urge that got me in this predicament or the shows I had been engulfed in, I tried everything I could possibly think of. Finally, I realized the little sweet angel in my belly had enjoyed the comfort of the recliner so much he had curled into a squirrel size ball and scooched right up under my rib…. Thus, preventing mommy from bending in almost any direction. I calmed down sucked up the tears I came very close to crying gathered my breath I had huffed or puffed out in frustration and turned to my left side and laid there for about 30 minutes. I talked to Mr. Jack almost like I was negotiating with a tiny terrorist holding my ribs hostage. I am sure I promised a pony at some point in our conversation. I rubbed his head/butt (they both feel the same) and asked him politely to move and explained to him how bad he was hurting me and know he would never know the true feeling… but one day he will have a wife and I was sure she would be happy to explain to him that “no, in fact, your mom is NOT a drama queen, and NO, that was not very nice what you did to your mom.” So, this little chat, not working forced me to concede to this battle of epic proportions and I closed my eyes and just relaxed, then just as he snuck under the ribs he snuck out. I got up slowly took a deep breath and was quickly reminded of what started this whole thing and when I returned from the bathroom I nested SAFELY on the couch.

I hope you enjoyed my story, I hope Jack will someday laugh at this story (and apologize), I have no plans of enjoying the chair any further until Stuart gets home… OH and I would appreciate any updates on Kitchen Nightmares and America’s Got Talent because as you probably guessed I didn’t get to watch them.


Also, in one final note I would like to add a diclaimer...

*Not all recliners are evil, case in point Pee Wee Herman's Playhouse circa late 1980's





Thursday, July 24, 2008

Our First Baby Shower

On July 18th my wonderful co-workers helped celebrate Jacks' upcoming arrival by throwing us our FIRST baby shower!!! I was so excited and we received so many precious things. I am truly blessed to work with people that care about me and are just as excited about Jack as we are! Enjoy the show.......








Friday, June 27, 2008

A Thank You to my Sponsors

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my sponsors for tirelessly providing me a delicious treat to calm my cravings. The following companies deserve a mention due to the consistent and speedy delivery of my past and present favorites.

I would like to thank:






1. Wonder Bread (white), you and Kraft mayo worked together to satisfy my (at the time mysterious) very first craving. To which I must now quote my husband, “If I didn't know you better I would say you were pregnant.” Breakfast, lunch or dinner, it didn't matter you were there.



2. To Chili’s, your location less than 2 minutes from work was too perfect. Your buffalo fajitas managed to call my name at least 3 times a week. Your chips and salsa never failed to meet my expectations. My only wish at the time was that you were located by our house as well, Oh… and opened at midnight. This too was before I knew I had a reason to be a pig.




3. My dear nestles chocolate and 2% purity milk. For a while you were the only thing I could keep down in the morning. Not too bad with saltine crackers and quite filling even by yourself. I believe you are my Jack’s favorite as well you always knew how to make him wiggle.


4. McDonald’s cheeseburger and 4pc chicken nugget, you are delightful. Your more than 31,000 restaurants worldwide were just enough to satisfy me all the way to and from New Orleans during me and Stuart’s trip in April. My only complaint to you Mr. McDonald’s is maybe you should consider serving cheeseburgers and 4pc nuggets for breakfast, 10:30 was almost too long to wait. This late breakfast caused my loving husband to lose it and yell at the poor little girl who had to break it to him that he couldn't purchase his pregnant wife’s only wish for another hour.

5. Hawaiian Punch, you knew a gallon wasn’t “way too much.” I wanted your bright red dye #40 and little cartoon character with moose horns in my fridge so badly. As my husband loaded the cart with a huge gallon of your sugary goodness I found myself distressed at the size this was entirely too much it would only go to waist. Well once again I was wrong and Stuart was right. You are the last thing I reach for before I go to bed and the first this I chug as I stumble to the fridge in the middle of the night. You big fat gallon you. Oh yea…. And Stuart, we are out of fruit punch.

6. And last but not least, Mi Hacienda located on 6th Ave less than 2 min from our house ( the 2 min locations are just right). Your nachos supreme, side of salsa, white cheese, and beans are my want of all wants. You have provided sometimes up to 4 dinners a week, you somehow seem to satisfy me and Stuart and that is incredible. And to answer the waitresses question that was pitched at Stuart the 4th night in a row to pick up our food…… No, his wife doesn’t cook!

To all the sponsors that have made this pregnancy bearable, I say…. “Thank You” and to my husband who has logged many miles and used lots of gas (at the worst possible time to be using gas.) I say… Thank you and I love you









Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Hiccup Teacup


For my Paw Paw.
Over the past few days I have experienced what I was so looking forward to experiencing... Jack having the hiccups. I read somewhere that it was just the baby saying "hey mom I'm ok in here." This was a reply to mother's complaining about how annoying the hiccups can be (I find them comforting.)
So every time Jack gets the hiccups it reminds me of my Paw Paw, and here is why:
Growing up my Paw Paw always had fix, remedy, or explanation for EVERYTHING and if he did not have one he would never hesitate to make one up, which has actually turned out to be very entertaining. When me or my sisters would get the hiccups he would make us sit in his lap and tell us about this fool proof remedy he had for the hiccups. "It worked every time."
In a very low and slow voice he would repeat the following:
"Hiccup, Teacup, Stand up straight up. Nine sips of water will cure your hiccups. 1....... 2 ...... 3....." all the way to 10 he would count.
He would draw that counting sequence out as long as he could and till this day I don't think we could ever hold our breath all the way to 10. If it looked like we were going to actually make it to 10 then 8 and 9 became even longer. Looking back this may have been the idea, he got a laugh out of us trying to hold our breaths, probably looking like little blueberries bouncing around trying our hardest to hold it in, and him getting a chuckle out the whole show. We were so engrossed in the idea of holding our breath until he got through counting that we forgot about the hiccups altogether.
So every time anyone gets the hiccups that little song always pops in my head. I even catch myself singing it to Jack but then realize I have to wait a little longer so I can explain the rules to him.
Thanks Paw Paw for that wonderful memory... but one thing I have ALWAYS wondered... If 9 sips of water will cure your hiccups, then does that mean standing up straight up and holding our breaths until we were blue was for entertainment purposes only???

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

A Spitting Image






So here is our angel, Jack Avery. We got to see him yesterday and spent the whole night deducing whose features he has... The verdict: we are pretty sure he favors his mommy when she was a baby except for one minor detail... The nose, it is clearly taken from his daddy, we are glad because dad has a good "boy" nose.


Jack weighs 2lbs now and he wiggled through the whole ultrasound. He was too long to judge the accurate length but my bladder says he is


l-o-n-g!


This picture is 3D and in 3 weeks when I go back for my glucose test we are going to get a 4D of this beautiful boy.


Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Our Little Acrobat



This is our little acrobat at 18 weeks. Uh yes as a matter of fact that is his knee on his forehead. He wakes up around 7 to entertain me on my way to work, again at 4 on my way home and right when I go to bed at night... it's showtime. I hope this is not a picture of what's to come. Of course, when I start to eat he really begins squirming but his all time favorite is chocolate milk, it works every time! I am now 25 weeks so I can only imagine what he looks like now, fortunately we won't have to wait too long. We get to see him again on June 10th and I cannot wait.