We have confirmed with a sonogram that we are indeed having only one child next spring, but my belly seems to be poking out already. I had Jarrod take pics at exactly 5, 6, and 7 weeks and I just compared them tonight. Looks like the days of regular jeans (and my waistline) are quickly coming to an end!
5 weeks
6 weeks
7 weeks
7 weeks down, 31+ weeks go to. Kristi is tired, but good, and we heard a strong 150+ heartbeat at the last sonogram, so we’re off to a great start.
We’re now struggling with whether or not to move or to remodel the existing house. We love the house we have, but we only have 3 bedrooms. Since v2.0 will take up the tech/office space if we stay, we’ll have to either relocate all of that to the garage or the back porch….or move. The thought of us moving makes me want to set the entire house on fire. So…we’ve got more thinking to do. If any of you have any thoughts to share on that, we’d certainly appreciate it
If you haven’t already, check out Stuff Christians Like. An excellent blog, particularly if you grew up in a Southern Baptist Church.
My honey and I finally broke down and created Facebook accounts this last week. Much of it is silliness that I’ll probably never use. (Who needs to know what I’m doing every single second of the day?) It has been interesting, though, reconnecting with people I haven’t seen in a long time. It is also great for keeping up with The Cato now that she is in college.
Need a multiprotocol IM client? Check out Digsby.
Here is a classic from the Seasame Street of the 70s. I distinctly remember this bit as a child, and love the music by Philip Glass. You can also see the distinctive “starburst” technique, used in many of the character/graphic generators of that era.
No post would be complete, of course, without some pics of the GK. Here are some great ones from a few days ago when she went to Gran and Papa’s house.
We found out last night that we are going to be an aunt, uncle and cousin AGAIN in May!! We are excited and thrilled for you guys!… Here is a picture Harrison drew:
Now that the cat is out of the bag (and because I am a huge nerd at heart), here is a bit more info about the already-loved-so-much & super-tiny Baby Beckman.
*Expected arrival is April 20, 2009 (on our 7th wedding anniversary!)
*I will be 7 weeks pregnant on Sept 1.
*We are THRILLED! I have been feeling hungry, moody (not that Jarrod has noticed), more tired than usual, and every bit of 35.
*We discovered we were expecting on 08-08-08.
*We are planning to find out early if it is a boy or a girl, but we will have to wait for a few more months.
*As of yesterday, the baby was 0.52 cm from end to end with a heart rate of 154 bpm (imagine how tiny the heart is right now!)
*He or she weighs less than an aspirin.
*Development is 12.7% complete.
*The 2 Beckman babies will be exactly 2 1/2 yrs apart.
*We have not decided on names yet, other than our guarantee to the child that they won’t have a crazy Hollywood name like Spoon, Table, Pneumonia, or Pie. I’m sure we will have plenty of other opportunities to embarrass him or her without delivering the life sentence of a terrible name.
And last but not least, here is a picture I took today of Gaby in her smocked crayon dress (I love Ebay) as we headed off to visit my friends at Short Elementary. For some reason, this is the same deer-in-the-headlights face she made in all 12 pictures I took today. Not sure what that’s about. Maybe it’s just a 24 hr phase.
Enjoy your weekend!!
School started this week. After teaching at the same school since 1996, this is the 3rd year in a row that I have watched the school year begin from home instead of my classroom. Although I still visit and substitute teach there from time to time, I always get nostalgic and part of me wants to jump head first in the middle of the action again.
There’s something about the beginning of a school year that is unlike anything else. Meeting new students, catching up with my friends, new supplies, an extra-clean building, and everyone starting on level ground. There aren’t any tardies or late assignments yet, no failing grades, fights, or dreaded parent-teacher conferences. And always a fresh hope that this will be a year to remember. I miss teaching.
So in honor of the new school year, I decided that Gaby Kate and I would have blueberry pancakes for breakfast this morning. I’m not sure how that’s related to the first day of school, except that these are both events that would happen only once a year and so by that standard they are considered quite special.
Although I used a pancake mix, I was still proud of my accomplishment since I don’t spend much time in the kitchen. Ever. I had fresh blueberries and warm syrup and just enough butter to make them delicious.
Here is Gaby using her fork for a change. Well, sort of.
The Case of the Disappearing Pancakes
One satisfied customer
Gaby looked at me and said “Good!” three different times during breakfast, almost as if she knew I needed her reassurance that the pancakes were a success. Then she smiled her sweet smile that melts my heart.
I’m still a teacher. The classroom has changed and I don’t have summers off anymore, but I wouldn’t give up sharing pancakes with my favorite student for anything in the world.
I love you, Gaby. This will be another school year to remember.
I’ve lived in the DFW area my entire life, but had never been to NorthPark in Dallas (that I can remember), so I figured it was worth a trip.
GK and I had fun window shopping for a couple of hours. I discovered that the mall is short on bargains, with some stores selling blue jeans that cost as much as my wedding dress - ha!
I did manage to find a couple of things at a great price, but more importantly, I was able to very quickly reach my yearly quota of exposure to over-indulged obnoxious children and very thin, very stylishly dressed male sales associates whose quick uppity glances told me that their interests were in those much more *fabulous* than Gaby Kate and me. Oh well. So much for customer service.
Here are some pictures from our busy day.
Art Appreciation - Analyzing Sculptures
The Fountain of Dancing Waters
Gaby Kate vs. Dirk
Stores where we actually shopped and found good deals on cute stuff. When their prices approach 60-70% off, they are somewhat affordable.
Stores where I can’t afford to shop and probably wouldn’t anyway, but are fun to laugh at. Most of these stores were empty or almost empty. Can’t imagine why.
Wish I had a picture of the window-dresser in action at Barney’s. He took his job WAY too seriously.
Gaby posing at Tiffany and Co. and reacting to the prices at Neiman Marcus.
Here is Gaby refusing to shop at Oscar de la Renta, Valentino, Armani, Cartier, and Ferragamo. She thinks we should stick to Target.
Love those sweet smiles
Time to head home….yawning and resting her head….
No more pictures, please. Just put me in the car.
That’s better!
In honor of the Olympics, Gaby Kate has been practicing her car seat gymnastics.
She’s going to face a big deduction from the judges for bending those legs!
Much better this time. She should be in contention for a medal with this performance.
I encourage you all to spend 6 minutes of your Monday experiencing highlights from the the 1990 Catawba Valley Community College Beauty Pageant in Hickory, NC. Magical Dreams, baby!
Jarrod has trained Gaby Kate to make this face on command simply by asking her to “make the face”. It is really funny to watch. She seems to enjoy it almost as much as he does.
Here are two of yesterday’s examples.
Gaby taught herself how to balance this book on her hand yesterday and could not be distracted until she had mastered the skill. We are happy to report that she can now balance a book on her hand.
I also wanted to include some sweet pictures I was able to capture of GK and Daddy last week. They are quite a team and I love them both bunches~
