Cucumber Cake

Well we finally had the big ultrasound to find out if my dream water birth was going to be possible.  The baby is head down, but his head is resting on the placenta, and the placenta is blocking his exit path.  So this means a c-section, I was very upset at first but then I realized that I would die if I tried to deliver him naturally…Thank God for medical advances eh?  So the doctor called me after I got home and we went ahead and scheduled the c-section, which is exactly four weeks from today on July 30th at 8:30.  We would love for you to come and meet Baby T, we will probably stay from Thursday to Saturday so if you want to come during that time to visit that would be great!  I have a feeling that we may get bored.

Other news on the ultrasound is that this baby has hair!  She showed it to us on the ultrasound (I didnt even know it would be possible to see, learn something new everyday!).  We also saw his “man parts” again, no problems there and he is DEFINTELY a boy!  Since he is so crowded in there now (I am almost 35 weeks) all you can really see is lumps and bumps.  Michael was able to come and he couldnt see anything.  We did see his face but the cord was there and so was his arm so it looked more scary than cool.  Unless he really looks scary….but you will pretend he is cute right?!?!

Now since we know he for sure be here in a short time we are getting a little nervous, a little excited, and a little more nervous.  I am nervous about the c-section of course, but I am also nervous about being a mom!  It STILL hasnt really hit me yet, even when hes kicking my lungs and digging his little legs behind my ribs.  It is hitting me though that our freedom is basically over.  No more trips to third world countries where we just walk around and stop where we please, no more sleeping late or lazy weekends BUT now we can go to kids parks that look really fun, and we get to be parents, whats better than that right?!

So we had a baby shower with our friends and it was VERY fun!  We were able to play games and we even did the slip and slide!  Everyone is really old so almost everyone went home with bumps and bruises and Michael had bloody scratches all over his back…but it was fun!  I didnt get to do it (of course) but I had fun watching and holding the hose pipe.  Robin and Lisa did a really good job on the shower, we got ONLY things that we needed (like bath stuff and diapers and things like a nose sucker and such), that was great.  We still need a few things but I have some target cards so I am going to pick the stuff up that we need soon.  We didnt get many clothes BUT we did get lots of hand-me-downs.  So this means that I can buy some outfits and they can be worn (because we dont have a TON of clothes).  I love buying baby clothes by the way.  We played a fun game at the shower.  The boys had to be blindfolded and change a diaper with pudding poo in the diaper.  Michael of course made a big mess..

Pokey wanted a taste of the chocolate poo…hehe.

It looks so gross!

This is the game where they had to use magazines to create a baby that would look like ours…we are really hoping that none of these come true…

Slip and Slide, this game (invented by Michael) was the “Birthing Game”, they had to take turns coming out of the “birth cannel”…haha!

Well the nursery is coming slowly but surely!  I got my changing table last weekend and I really love it.  Its EXACTLY what I wanted.  All we are missing in the baby’s room to complete it is the baby crib.  I am excited to put that up…I cant wait.  The changing table was made by  my dad, and my brother used his skills to finish it.  Its beautiful!  We all helped to sand and stain it, it was like a family bonding experience!  Then we brought it home and Michael had to get our neighbor to help him carry it up the stairs (I was going to do it but he didnt want to risk it…).  It is VERY heavy because it is solid wood (but that means it will last forever).  Anyways, the only problem (not really a problem) with this table is that the changing part is not standard size so I have to make my own cushion, but thats not a big deal.  Oh, my dad made this shorter than a normal changing table for his short daughters…hehe.  Here it is!

Because of the window and the closet and the bathroom we are running short on wall space, but I am hoping that the crib can fit in the space that is left.  I nailed the diaper holder onto the table, it looked weird on the wall and I didnt know where else to put it.

Thats our stroller and boppy pillow on the right.

I put the curtain from the bedset on the table, I am not sure if I like it yet.  I am waiting for Lisa to come back from Europe so she can give me her advice.  The top shelf is just stuff, and the bottom shelf is toys and books…easy reach!  My dad said the bottom looks like a bum because its a changing table!  He did that on purpose…lol.

Anyways, so thats our update.  This weekend is a three day weekend!  Michael gets friday off, yah!  And we are headed up to the camp tonight.  I wont be able to do much because I am extra fat (up to 24 pounds!) and I get SOOOO hot, but it will still be fun, I want to swim in that cold cold lake…  So happy fourth of July!  Mark July 30th on your calendars because thats Ness Isaac Thornton’s bday!

See how good I am?  Updated after only a few days???  I decided that I needed to do this not only for my audience but also for me to look back on later.

So here goes:  I am putting up before and after (will come later) pictures of the baby’s room.  I had to shrink the pictures so the quality does not make me happy but what can you do??  I am sorry if you dont find this interesting…lol.

This cabinet is actually an heirloom!  And I am saying that the rocking chair is too. The cabinet USED to be used for clothing (waaaaay back in the day), it was all nasty so we cleaned it out, painted it, and made it into a bookshelf; it is my pride and joy.  I am going to use the drawers for baby things to save room.  The rocking chair was given to us by Mrs. Cindy, I LOVE it too (I love old furniture with a story).  This rocking chair was saved from the claws of a garage sale goer, so its extra special.  I like to think that Michael was rocked in it when he was a baby…I am afraid to ask becuase I will be sad if it isnt true.  It is nice and sturdy and will hopefully last for a super long time.

This is the room from another angle.  Those double doors are a closet, the open door goes out of the room (its upstairs) and the single door is the bathroom.  This room is actually very big, although its hard to see in a picture.  Notice the carpet is CLEAN!  I shampooed it and you wouldnt believe the difference.  I enjoy shampooing, all the dirty and nasty stuff gets wiped away forever.  Its very rewarding.  Oh, the window is on the left side of the room.

This is our boys books, all ready for him when he decided to join us on this “side of the skin”.  I have collected them in the past few months and most of them came from this REALLY cool thrift store where they sold ALL their books for 25 cents each!  They were like $10 books, we got about 20 for 5 dollars (they had extra deals included and it gave us a big discount).  I was, and still are, very excited about this deal.  I love books, if you didnt know, and I especially love Children’s books…cant wait to read them to him!

The window is finished!  Lisa, very nice of her, went to a garage sale and got this valance.  It orginally from the pottery barn (still in the packing) for $5!  At first we just nailed it up, but that didnt work…so I ghetto rigged it (which I am actually really good at by the way).  I had to do that though because I didnt have anything to hold the valance up there.  So I took three curtian rods and duck taped them together (so they would be long enough).  I used the “decorative ones” for the ends, those stick out of the valance.  And I nailed the whole contraption to the wall.  You would never know by looking right?  The curtains came from Mrs. Rachel, she gave me SO many curtians, and I have used them all over my house…she also gave me lots of curtain rods.  The black shadows behind the blinds are the black curtains that I will use to black out the window.  But I cant reach, and duck tape wouldnt hold it, so i am saving it for when my parents come.  Its for them anyway, they like it dark, and this is the room they sleep in.

Ok..moving on!

So this is the stuff I already have (it doesnt have the new shower stuff).  Ignore the baby doll (my mom gave me all my dolls…I used to be crazy about dolls), I PROMISE to put it up before our boy comes home.  The stroller is from my cousin as is the hamper FULL of clothes and stuff.  I also have boxes of clothes packed up for when he is older, so thats great!  This is mostly the breast pump (GREAT garage sale deal) and the bed stuff.  The bed set ($170 at BabiesRUs, $35 at a garage sale, sorry I love good deals..lol) came with EVERYTHING, including a diaper thing and even things to hang on the wall!  So exciting!  This is where the bed will go by the way.

So this is the comforter to the bedset.  The weird thing is that this is almost exactly what I registered for at BabiesRUs!  Crazy eh?  I wanted something that would be gender neutral so it could be passed down.  The bumper is just diff. colors with a brown accent (that I love) and the wall hangers are those little animals.  It will be very cute.  And maybe our baby will be smart and learn his ABCs and 123s fast!

So the next pictures are from the baby shower.  I got lots of cute things, one cute little green onesie will be used for him to come home in I think…even Michael thought it was “cool”.

Although I dont look too happy, I am actually crazy about this car seat.  Its brown (I love) and will be really easy to clean.  I have it in my living room because I dont see any reason to carry it upstairs and then carry it back down when I go into labor.  See, gotta think ahead!

At the shower they had to create what my baby might look like…although these do look like Michael’s eyes, the rest is sort of scary..lol.

And this baby has my hair..but still looks scary.  This baby is also holding an electronic gadget…so maybe this IS what our baby will look like…hehe.

And last by not least.  Baby Thornton’s cousins wait happily for his arrival.

They will be the best of friends!

Oh, today is Happy Birthday Michael!  We are going to go see UP in 3D at the Rave.  I am very excited, I love 3D although I have never seen a whole movie in 3D…will be fun!  For his Birthday Breakfast I was going to make him crescent rolls (he loves them but I never buy them because of the trans fat and other junk) but I am not going to the store until today (I may get some and do a late breakfast tomorrow).  So he had a birthday grill cheese (which he also loves) with a cup of cereal and blueberries (picked from my brothers yard).  The grilled cheese is not to special but what can I do??  We didnt have candles either so I stuck some matches into his grilled cheese, I had to sing Happy Birthday fast though because I didnt want his sandwich to catch fire…hehe.  This weekend is Michael’s actual birthday party and our friends shower.  I will update again then!

Sorry, I dont really know why I havent updated this in forever.  I guess I am just lazy…or unmotivated…I dont know.  But here I am, updating!  So be happy!

A decent amount has happened here since I have last updated, the biggest being that I am now HUGE, and our little baby is nearing 4 pounds and likes to kick my lungs.  We havent had any problems so far in this pregnancy, all is going well.  But I am concerned that this baby is taking after his dad and having very long legs, to long for my body to hold!  I can feel him on my bladder and in my lungs at the same time!  And I am only 32 weeks!  What will it be like at 40?!?

31 weeks.

Michael is taking the Praxis this weekend (a test that will let him get certified as a teacher) and then he will apply for a teaching certification program that will start in October and go to December.  After he has taken the class (it includes in-class training as well as classroom training) we hope that he will find job in January as a teacher!  He is getting certified in Elementary Education and his goal is to teach second grade.  I am very excited about this, I think/hope he is too.  As of Friday, Michael will be working with his parents, and hopefully will stay there until October when he starts the program.  He is deciding to do this because he realized that computer work is not for him…hehe.

My niece and nephews are growing up!  And they are so cute!  Here are some pics:

sleepy baby!

Miles (my sisters baby)

Galen (my sister’s oldest)

Me and Natalie (my brothers baby)

And last but NOT least

This was at our Easter Crawfish boil, Pokey played in the dirt…can you tell?

Ok, well I promise to update more later!  Promise!  But I need to go take a bath to prepare for my doctors appt.

Comments please!

Well the picture says it all.  Its a boy!  I have had two ultrasounds since the last one and both showed our little boy showing off his man parts.  I have pictures to prove it.  He now weighs one pound and seems to be perfectly healthy.  I feel his little kicks several times a day.  I have felt them from the outside but its very rare because my hand seems to calm him down…  My due date for sure now is August 8th, thats what I thought from the beginning; and that’s the rate he is growing at now.   So all is well in that area!  Morning sickness finally decided to leave me at 16 weeks (I am 21.5 weeks now)…it was rough, but now I feel great!  Sleeping is also easier, although I can see how moving around will get more and more difficult.

We have NO name for the baby…that is the hardest part!

I still do not have a job.  I have applied at several places but most do not want to take on the burden of hiring a 5 month preg. woman.  I have sort of given up but I do hope that something comes along.  Michael has a job now, he is working at a company answering phones and solving computer problems.  He doesnt mind it when he is very busy (and he has been busy a lot lately).  But he has also turned in an application at the Fire Department (he did great on his Fire Fighter test, a 92!).  The time off would be better for him to be a good daddy (one day on one day off for six days, then four days off).  Also he wants to do something that may make an impact on the world, even if its something small.  He likes to be moving and going and I think that kind of job may be good for him, and if I get to see him at home more then its great for me!

Michael misses Japan a great deal, we plan on coming back at least for a vacation next year.  But we will see how that goes.  And if we can get the time off.

What else….time is flying by with this pregnancy!  And it still isnt reality.  I havent bought ONE THING for him; although I have made him about four outfits (I started sewing!).  Oh, we did get him about 20 books at a thrift store, all for $5!  They are good, most of them are classics.  That was exciting.

We recently went to Austin Texas for the Video Games Live Concert.  It was actually really good, we enjoyed the trip a lot.  It was nice, and the weather was awesome.

Well thats about all!  We miss everyone!  So leave us comments!

"Look at me almost suck my thumb!"

Well, it has been a very long time since you have heard from us eh?

We are very sorry about that, BUT we have an excuse.  Our computers took almost two months to come in.  We have had some issues with the postal system, issues that would turn me into a “suing person” if I could.  For example, one box we got was not the box we sent; when we opened it up we realized that about 90% of the stuff inside was not ours!  It was a bunch of torn up clothing.  We are missing some clothes too (including three pairs of my favorite flip flops) but what we miss the most is our $300 Bose sub-woofer (I am not sure what that is, something to do with speakers).  I tried to return the box of junk that we got in the mail and they said “we don’t want it”!  I was like “this is someones stuff!  What do you mean you don’t want it??”.  Then I called the Postal people and told them the story, they were like “yeah yeah whatever, basically your screwed, and we don’t care about your problems…see ya!”.  I was VERY angry (it takes a lot to make me angry, and one thing that makes me the angriest is when people mistreat me or someone I know…ugh!).  Anyways, so we lost that…oh well!

Oh, yeah, baby.  So we are expecting!  We will be able to find out the sex of the baby in four weeks!  I am very excited…I think it’s a girl, Michael thinks/wants a boy.  But whatever this baby is, it is driving me crazy.
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Michael and I have had a great week. Our vacation started after work on Saturday night when we headed to Tokyo after work. The weather is awesome and we spent that night just walking around and remembering when we used to come to Tokyo all the time. We felt very blessed to have the ability, time, and money to spend just walking around and enjoying the sights. We stayed at a hotel that we have stayed at before, and we must have made a good impression because the guy remembered us (that, or we are the only white skins he’s had at his hotel). I like the hotel because they give a little “lady packet” full of pampering goodies. So I washed my face with about 15 different face washes and peels and lotions… I am sure that my face didn’t like it, but it made me feel all clean and shiny. The next day we headed over to a super huge building that can have 2,000 different video games on display but not one good restaurant (that is only possible in Japan by the way)! I followed Mike around like a puppy as we went from booth to booth; from show to show… it was a BLAST I tell ya! (notice my sarcasm).
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Our weekends have been very nice lately. The weather is cooling off and weekends are now more than heat fests spent in air conditioning buildings or reading in a tub of cold water. Michael and I can also now be inside of our apartment without stripping down to our undergarments. We can now go out and enjoy the weather. It is great. There is something about the cooler weather that just puts some spring in my step. Well the cool weather PLUS weekends put spring in my step.

Pokey is growing and he loves weekends now more than we do. April and Jay (our friends here) introduces us to “Frisbee Golf”, basically it’s the same as golf except you use Frisbees. Ashikaga (our town) has a park designed specially for this game, and it’s free! The “court” is basically a big grass field that Pokey can run his heart out in, and he does. We went today for the second time and had Pokey had a blast. Last weekend Jay lost his Frisbee in the brush so this weekend Mike and Jay brought clothes to change into and stayed out in the brush (and the rain!) until they finally found it. Pokey was right along with Mike looking for the Frisbee…the poor thing was just a dirty wet worm when they finished. It was nice. We then went back to April and Jay’s to eat Moroccan chicken. It was good but it took a really long time to make. While we were making it, Jay convinced Michael to smoke a pipe (one of Jay’s hobbies). Don’t worry, for those who don’t believe it, I have pictures to prove it!

We just got back from their house and now my heart is happy because I have the next two days off of work! Tomorrow I am not sure what we will do but on Tuesday we are going to a big international store with our Japanese friends, we are going to buy Macaroni and Cheese! Yah!

Lately we have had long weekends, and they have been super. But our sad news is that April and Jay will only be with us for about four more weekends. They are finishing the contract at that horrible school that we worked at last year. We will be so sad when they leave. It will be like the year before we met them…sad… Hopefully we will survive though. They are moving to Tokyo, so it will make it hard to continue our Saturday night dinners (because it would cost about $50 to get there and back)… :cries:

Anyways, we have really been enjoyed our weekends, the weather is super right now, and it will only continue to get better! Yah! Leave us some comments! We feel like we haven’t talked to about 80% of our family in a really long time… sad eh?

We are super duper sorry about not writing a journal entry earlier. Once we got back from Thailand our lives started back really fast (the next day actually). We never had the time to sit down and write like there is no tomorrow…except for now.

Thailand was…interesting to say the least. If you look at our pictures you will get an idea of what we did there and how we felt about being there. One thing we learned from going is that we like clean, and ten days is to long for a vacation in a third-world country. Maybe three days would suffice.

Since getting back we have basically just worked…nothing to fun. Today I had no work and Michael skipped school claiming he would study at home. He did that for about one hour and then decided that he needed a new study book, so we had to do a night run to the mall (30 min away) and pick up the book and of course few donuts for Michael (he is such a chocoholic! But it’s ok because I like fruit, and not chocolate so much). We came home and I am now attempting to make the roast that my great grandmother used to make. But my first problem is that I don’t know if it was beef or pork and the second is that I don’t know if it was baked or cooked in a pan…so I bought pork (that was like the first time ever) and stuffed it with onions and garlic and baked it. We will see how it turns out, but I just checked it and saw that it had shrunken to half the size! Good thing for vegetables here because without them we really would starve. So we will have the meat, steamed broccoli, and mashed potatoes. Yum eh? Lately I have been into this “cooking new things” kick. I made a huge pot of shrimp and okra gumbo two weeks ago (froze most of it and ate it randomly) and a huge pot of red beans (froze that to) this week. They were really good if I do say so myself. Sorry, this is getting boring.

Lets see, what else…we are happy that we didn’t buy the air-conditioned. When we got back from Thailand it was actually cool and it has been in the 80’s and 70’s since, so very reasonable. We still have “sweaty buns” (as Michael calls them) but we are not slowly dying.
Man, I am running out of things to say, who would have thought that THAT would ever happen!
Anyways, we miss you all tons.

I know, we shouldn’t have…but…we did. Our little $300 moral booster, seems like it would have been cheaper to buy a vacation or something right? Fortunately Mike’s birthday was last month so he picked up a little extra cash. UNFORTUNATELY, he spent it on an AirSoft Gun to play with some of his guy friends. So yeah…we are stupid. Especially since we got about $7000 worth of bills in taxes and health insurance in the last two months. We are doing fine with money though, besides as Mike always says “It’s just paper!”

Anyways, isn’t he super cute. It all started on Saturday night after work when we were looking into buying an air conditioner (I guess you can see now that we didnt buy the air conditioner) at the Home Store. My dad called Michael’s cellphone from Michigan, so I was talking to my dad on the phone about their cross country trip on their new motorcycle…and the next thing I knew Mike was asking to hold different dogs (four in total ranging from $100 to $500, they were having a sale though). He really liked a little black retriever, but he looked just like the mutts our family dog used to shoot out once every 6 or so months. I knew that they grow to be way to big for an inside life, and they shed SO MUCH! He then held a little Shi Tzu (the one in the picture) and I thought he was cute in a dirty oily shaggy way, and I knew he wouldnt grow to be to big. But Mike really wanted the retriever, so we held another little orangeish poodle (well I held him, and he was such cute snuggler, but $500 was to much). I could see that “I need a dog!” look in Mikes eyes so I explained to him (half with my dad on the phone) that the Shi Tzu was much better because he didn’t shed and he stayed small, finally Mike said that maybe I was right (Victory for me! yeah..right). Then Michael realized that this little pup looked a lot like his beloved dog Pokano (I dont know how to spell it), and thought that he might be a good fit for our animal family. The rest is history, we gave them $100 and were told that we had to wait to pick him up on this Saturday (today is Wednesday, Michael is counting time based on when we get the dog). One good thing, that I found out AFTER we bought him, is that this type of dog is very playful. This is just what we needed considering the cats might be getting tired of Michael wrestling with them against their will.

So, here’s our new family adopted family member, isn’t he cute?

Any ideas for names?

So every Thursday I wake up, take a shower, make Mike’s lunch, eat breakfast, check my email, and ride my bike to school. I have done this for about two months so now I dont even think about it. But sometimes something different happens and I will wake up from my “life daze” and began to think.

Today, the different thing I encountered was a group of Mentally Handicapped children at the Train Station. There were probably about 15 of them. And after just walking near them to the place where I needed to catch the train, I could feel the excitement. Some were jumping, some were walking in circles talking to themselves, some were simply smiling. But they were SO happy. It seemed that most of them were so happy that they just couldn’t contain it inside…they had to yell or laugh or jump. Just from standing near them the happiness started to rub off on me. And I started to wish that sometimes I could be like them. Sometimes it would be nice to dance at the thought of going on a 10 min. train ride. Sometimes it would be nice to just laugh out-loud for no reason, or jump up and down, or pick your boogers and eat them because they taste good.

We all boarded the train and I stayed as close to them as I could…I started to realize that soon I would have to go back into my “life daze” and teach 5 spoiled pampered two-year olds. I wished that I could just stay with these kids all day; they didn’t even need to notice me, I just wanted to follow them and absorb as much of their carefree attitude as much as I could…but I couldn’t do that…I am normal, I must live normally. I must work everyday because that is what normal people do. Sad right?

Many people feel sorry for the Mentally Handicapped…but are they actually happier? I remember one House episode where House had to figure out what was wrong with an Autistic boy, at the end of the show his staff was saying at how sorry they felt for him, that he could never be normal; and House said “Why would he want to be normal? He can do anything he wants to do. He doesn’t have to follow the same rules that we do, he’s free”. Read More »