Hurting

Hopefully this is the last time that I have to enter a post about death for a very, very long time. And again, I am not sure what to say because words can't do the hurt justice, but my uncle passed away early Wednesday morning. I have posted about my uncle and his illness maybe only twice, but just like my grandma it has consumed my thoughts constantly. Having to take care of Joseph and now this pregnancy have kept me distracted. Even though his death was not unexpected, we all still maintained HOPE that he would receive a liver and be the old Uncle Mel we all knew. Even me, I still had hope until the last hour before his death. I don't know what else to say, except "no one ever had a bad memory about Mel Hughes"- David Connor

Keep on Truckin', I Mean Trainin'?

I passed my glucose test, which basically means I don't have to eliminate carbs and sugar from my diet. Over the past two weeks I overindulged a bit, with the thought that anytime I ate sugar I better savor it - because this may be the last time I could have anything good to eat, like french bread or chocolate. I put on eight pounds this last month. I have been trying to keep my weight gain to a minimum, because I still have a lot of Joe's baby weight. So hopefully now I can exert some self control and limit myself to one or two sweet things a day. As for today, I have already had my two sweets.

David has had in-service all this week, which means he has been in class 8-4pm and home in the evenings. It has been a nice change to eat dinner as a family for once.

As for the Thomas pics at the bottom of the page, I am so excited. On June 13th, the three of us are going to see Thomas the Train, and take a 25 minute train ride. Yes, Thomas is life size. The event will have other activities planned like face painting, stories and a magic show. I am not sure that Joe will be willing to participate in all of these activities, but just the atmosphere and all the trains at the station are worth the hour drive and the money.

Finals

Emporia started playing ball at 10 am this morning against St. Edwards. The game went into 13 innings, but ESU came out on top to win, and secure their place in the Champoinship final. Unfortunately, ESU lost 1-0 to Humboldt State in the final, making them the #2 team in the country. I am so proud of these girls. I don't know most of them, but they play so hard and carry themselves so well on the field. But I do have to say I am excited for my sister to come home for the summer.

Alive and Kicking

Emporia State fought to stay alive today, and will continue play tomorrow. I have to work tomorrow, but you can guarantee I will have the game minimized on my computer screen.

The Instant Gratification Floozy

I have to start out by saying even though I think a few parts of The Office have become kind of predictable, tonight was a really funny episode. I actually can't wait for summer re-runs, because I have missed a few episodes the past two or three weeks. Second, a quick Emporia State update: ESU lost to Humboldt St. 0-3 in 7 innings. They play tomorrow at 10am to stay alive. Shelbe, I will be thinking about you guys while I am in my computer class. Heck, now that I am thinking about it I might pull up the game and minimize it on my screen and get updates that way.
Now to address the title of this entry. I think I have a problem. I have become addicted to buying things for my son and the baby. But especially for Joe. And, I have become especially infatuated with toys. Toys like, animal figures, dinosaur figures, trains, and now I really want to get Joe a sand box. I am just biding my time. Over the past two weeks I have really wanted to get Joe started with the wooden railway system of Thomas the Train. You know, to help build and hone fine motor skills. Not to mention the fact he becomes so excited every time he sees or hears a train. But what boy doesn't? So I did a lot of window shopping on-line and read lots of reviews and decided on a good starter set for Joe. A set that would hold his attention, but I didn't blow a lot of money on if he didn't like it. Well, I told myself to wait until Christmas and that would be the perfect gift. All I can say is, "folks, it is the middle of May and I obviously can't wait that long." The set I wanted was $5 cheaper at Target vs Toys R Us, and if that wasn't a sign to go ahead and buy it, I don't know what is. I at least waited until Joe went down for his nap before getting it out and setting it up. Here it is all set up, before Joe knew about it. David and I had a lot of fun playing with it, and it is one of the simplest sets they offer.
Here is Joe first thing after his nap, checking out his train set. He immediately loved it, but Joe can become quite attached to toys initially, and then over a week or two he will forget about it. Some how I don't think this will be the case with Thomas. At least I know that I will keep playing with it. Plus there are so many additions you can purchase to build a whole system. I can't wait. Here in lies my problem/addicition.

Here is Joe watching the Emporia State game with Thomas at his side.

Again, after dinner, Joe loving his train. Granted, Joe loves the train like I knew he would, but I think my addiction has become the satisfication of being able to buy these "things" for my son. I am not sure if I should admit this, but I gain satisfaction of building a big and various supply of educational, quality toys that allow Joe to use his brain, instead of a noise making, button pushing toy. Not that all of those types of toys are bad, but hey, batteries cost a lot of money. I have to add the fact that Joe loved the two trees that were included in the set almost as much as he loved the train. One of the first things he got excited about was the trees, and wanted to take them outside. He is more like his father everyday.

Aunt Bobo

What a good day! No, actually it was a great day. You know the day where I describe that David, Joseph and I spend the day together and have no where to go, and we can just do our own thing. Well today was one of those days. We first went to the local feed store to buy dog food. Yipee, right? Well they have the coolest selection of animal figurines. One of my new obsessions, is for Joe to have almost all of them - well at least the cute/pretty ones. Then headed to Wal-Mart, where I bought four pounds of the most delicious strawberries for $6. We spent the rest of the late morning hanging out in the yard. We ate a simple lunch together. Joe took a great nap. While Joe napped, David and I sat on the front porch making plans for all of the projects we wanted to do for the house. I even got a little sun. Then I spent the rest of Joe's nap, window shopping on the internet. Then as I was fixing dinner, I decided to check the stats of my sister's softball game. Shelbe, my middle sister plays ball for Emporia State. Well for the second time in three years the team is in the national tournament. Growing up we often went out of town for softball tournaments, and they were usually always fun, I am sure this is no exception. Anyway, I happened to find the game being broadcast on the college sports website. So while Joe and I ate dinner we watched my sister's game. I was so excited and so proud of her.
She has worked really hard, and I am glad to see her enjoying some success and having fun at what she loves. So, GO HORNETS down in the Lone Star state. Joseph and I will be cheering you on.
Oh, and one last thing. I think we have decided on a name for baby girl. One feminine enough that I love it, but with a really cute tomboy nickname that David loves.

Feel the Burn

Heartburn has finally reared its ugly head. With Joseph's pregnancy I basically had heartburn from the beginning, and lived on TUMS. At this point in the pregnancy I thought I might make it through without heartburn, since I had kidney stones and all. But I think I was wrong. To top it all off, I can't take TUMS with my history of kidney stones because of the way it is metabolized and excreted through the kidneys. My OB doc said to take aluminum or magnesium based liquid anti-acids. Hmmmm, yummy. Here I am at almost 25 weeks. My sister came over to watch Joe, while David and I went to my nephew's graduation. I feel HUGE. At the graduation there was another pregnant woman standing next to me, who I thought was probably not quite as far along as me. Oh no, she was due in 4 weeks. I think my mouth dropped open, because she was so teeny tiny. I felt like a big old mooo cow when I told her my due date.

Here is David and his nephew Kyle. He's such a cute kid. In the background is Peter, the ordained minister who married David and I.

Growing Up

I have wondered several times if Joe's acting out was the beginning of the terrible toddler era, but after the last week or two I am convinced we have moved onto the next stage of child rearing, the "terrible twos". He's definitely testing his limits. When I say, "Joseph, please don't walk on Aunt Pam's flowers." He then pokes at the flowers with one toe while staring me in the face with a big smile. What a stinker! But, I am relieved to say that Joe is now sleeping through the night. Here is little man this afternoon after his nap, preparing for a walk. He got to wear his new "summer blue shoes". Looks innocent, doesn't he?



As for baby girl, I am 24 weeks along and packing on the pounds. Less than two weeks from now I'll take my glucose tolerance test to screen for gestational diabetes, which I am fairly convinced I have. Depending on the resource, I have 60-75% of the risk factors associated with it. Only a little time left where I can eat what I want. As for movement, I never get tired of feeling her move around. It's like you have a little buddy tagging along with you all day. Plus the difference in Joe's movements from baby girl's is pretty obvious. Joseph was a slow, steady mover: like creating a wave across my tummy. Whereas baby girl jabs me all day long, and you can sit and watch my belly bounce, she is a scrapper. Maybe she will be a red head, who knows?