One Week Old

Well our boy is one week old today. He is such a sweet little thing - - I just can't believe I'm the mom of these two wonderful boys. Camden has been great - - he loves his little brother and is constantly asking, "Where's my baby?" whenever he enters a room. He hasn't shown any hostility to speak of, but is having a bit of trouble in keeping himself from constantly poking Griffin in the face, or worse yet, on the "soft spot". I had to take Griffin to the pediatrician today because he was looking a bit yellow (turns out he is fine, just slightly jaundiced), and asked our doctor for some advice in dealing with Camden's constant poking. Hopefully it will work! Griffin has gained 3.5 ounces in 3 days, so he's up to 6 lbs., 14.5 ounces, from 6 lbs., 7 ounces when we brought him home. The doctor was pleased with how quickly he is putting on weight. As you can see, Griffin has the "family chin" - - very round and small, with quite a dimple in the center. He's as cute as he can be.
Yesterday, I had all of my staples removed, which was a great relief. They were pretty uncomfortable. This c-section has been much harder to recover from than my first. I think it might be that I was so exhausted and "drugged out" the first time that I didn't feel much pain! This time though, it has just been a little harder. I am feeling much better today though, so I'm happy about that. I even went for a short walk with Mum and the boys, and it was great to be outside.
Camden had a blast, sliding with Nana. Nana sure was a good sport, going down the tube slide over, and over, and OVER.
Steve is in Phoenix this week at an Army class, and we can't wait until he comes back on Thursday. Steve and my dad painted the old house this past weekend, and today my dad spent most of the day working on the trim. The house has always been white and didn't really stand out at all from the other houses on the street. We decided to paint it yellow with white trim, and then have dark green accents. It came out so nice, and today we got some compliments from two of our neighbors, so that was great. Things are really coming together on the old house, and hopefully we'll have it rented soon.
I have to say, things are going really well. I'm not getting much sleep at all, but I couldn't be happier with my boys.

We are home!

Hello! We were discharged this afternoon, and I'm very happy to be back at home. Griffin Peter was born on Tuesday, September 26th, at 9:47 a.m. He weighed exactly 7 pounds - - needless to say, we were surprised at how tiny he was! He looks so much like Camden did when he was born, although his hair is much darker, and he has a much more prominent chin dimple. He is a very sweet baby, and we are all in love!

Just a few minutes after birth...

Griffin and his sweet big brother

With my wonderful doctor

Getting ready to leave the hospital

Off to the hospital...

Steve and I are about to leave for the hospital, and as you can see, I am ready to go! Didn't get much sleep last night, mostly because I was having so many contractions! So, I'm glad that today is the day. I will attempt to have someone send out an email this afternoon, otherwise, I'll post all of Griffin's stats when I get home from the hospital, either Thursday or Friday. Thanks to everyone for all of the great emails I received yesterday and over the weekend, I was really touched.

Five More Sleeps!

This is something my mother has always said (and still says), leading up to a "big event", such as Christmas, or a trip. I think in this case, it probably would have been more accurate to say, "Five More Nights of Fitful Thrashing, Constant Waking, Leg Cramps, and Tingly Arms", but that's another post altogether. Yes, I'm in the final, ugly week of pregnancy. My body is doing things that I simply cannot share with you, I have about 4 pieces of clothing that I can actually wear, and I want this kid outta me. I don't remember feeling this way, at this point, when I was pregnant with Camden. Maybe it is my age (seriously, I only missed the "Advanced Maternal Age" label by 4 months, folks), maybe I am just a big baby. I don't know. Anyway, I'm sure I'll survive the next 5 days just fine, as long as I can keep my whining under control.

Yesterday, I'm afraid I was all but useless. I WANTED to be productive, but I just felt awful. I've come to the conclusion that my severely squished digestive system can only handle small portions of very bland food from here on out, so I'll give that a try and see if it helps. I have a new outlook on life today, and I'm hoping I can actually get something accomplished in this house. I think Camden and I will head to the Big City this morning to do a couple of errands, and then we'll pay a visit to the library this afternoon.

I just heard some little feet running across the floor upstairs, so it must be 6:00 a.m.

Here are some random pictures from the past few days:

The boys, changing lures before their fishing trip this past Sunday

The other boys, sharing some quality time in the back yard

Recently, Camden has been wanting his dad to have "sleepovers" in his room. Since Camden has the World's Best Father, Steve willingly obliges, setting up sofa cushions next to Camden's bed mattress, on the floor in Camden's room. They actually had a sleepover last night, but Steve informed me this morning that this won't be happening on weeknights anymore! Apparently, Cam rolls onto the floor all night long, and Steve feels obligated to keep placing him back on his mattress, therefore, the man gets no sleep.

Must get breakfast prepared and get this day started!

More house pictures, etc.

It has taken me a long time to start posting pictures of the house. No real reason other than my head seems to be in 50 different places at the same time right now. Here is a shot, looking into the living room/dining area, from the front door as you enter the house. There is a door at the right of the dining area that leads to the kitchen, and there is a hallway to the left, that leads to our bedrooms, bathroom, laundry room, and the stairs to the basement. We are excited to start using the wood stoves this winter - - you can see that there is one in the living room, and there is also a great one in the family room downstairs. We need to have the chimney inspected first, and need to order some wood. I love wood heat, and I'm excited that we have it in this house.

This is to the left, when you walk in the front door. I'm anxious to paint the living room a warmer color (it is a very bright room), but won't be getting around to that until next spring, most likely.

This is looking at the living room, from the dining area (obviously). Steve mentioned last night during dinner that it is so nice to be living in a house that doesn't really need any work. Some of you faithful readers are quite aware of what our old house was like - - what it is still like - - it has a lot of work left to be done on it (before it can be rented) so whenever a weekend rolls around, Steve feels like he needs to be working on it. Once it is all done, it is going to be wonderful to have "nothing" to do on the weekends. As I've mentioned before, our new house has a bit of a "'70's" feel to it - - it has been a long time since it has been updated. Some of it works, some of it doesn't. I'm amazed what a new coat of paint can do, in terms of changing the entire look of a room. Once I get settled into a new routine with the boys, I hope to get some major painting done. We think eventually that we'll remodel the upstairs bathroom, as well as the kitchen, but for now they are just fine and there is no need at all to do anything drastic.

Camden and I will be heading to Meridian this morning, for my final OB appointment. When I see my doctor next Tuesday, I'll be strapped to the OR table, ready to have Griffin! Hard for me to believe right now - - I just cannot wait to see this baby. My folks arrive around lunchtime on Saturday, which is great. I'm glad they will be here a few days before he is born.

Steve is as busy as ever at work. This coming weekend is a drill weekend, so he we won't see much of him until Monday. He found out yesterday that he will have to be out of town the week after Griffin is born, but thankfully my parents will still be here.

Riley has decided he prefers to be outside, rather than inside, which is a welcomed change. He stayed out all day yesterday, alternating between lounging under the big tree, and barking at squirrels. He's a little stiff this morning, and I'm thinking I need to give him a little pain medication, as he wasn't too excited to climb up the stairs to go outside. It is hard to see him getting old - - it doesn't seem possible to me that he is almost 10 years old. Sadie is actually a few months older than Riley, but she doesn't act old yet, she just acts crazy. I wish I could give her a pill that would make her act like a normal dog, but alas, no such luck.

Getting Ready for Griffin...

Here we are just a few minutes ago, putting together the stand for the beautiful Moses bed we just received in the mail! I knew it was coming today, so I've been pacing most of the day, waiting for the UPS guy to get here. I felt awfully handy with my Black & Decker power screwdriver - - it got the job done. The bedding is denim, with blue and white stripes - - it is gorgeous. It will be so nice to have Griffin right next to me at night for the first couple of months. The great thing about Moses baskets are that you can take them out of the stand and carry them from room to room with you, and not disturb baby. Thank you so very much, Roland and Susan - - I LOVE IT!

Here is a picture of the finished product, in our bedroom

Camden and I are having a lovely day - - it finally feels like autumn here. Camden broke out his jeans and long sleeves, as it was a bit too cold for short sleeves. It actually feels nice to be a little chilly for a change. We dug out our Halloween shirts today to see if they still fit. We were really happy to find out that Camden can squeeze another Halloween out of his shirt. The sleeves are bordering on being too short, but I think we can get away with it:My shirt, on the other hand, seems to have shrunk a little (warning...not for the faint of heart): We'll see if I can squeeze into it by October 31st! I think Camden and I will head next door to the old house and bring a few things over here. I still have a lot to move out of my closet, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Steve is pretty busy for the next few days, so we won't be seeing much of him until Sunday, unfortunately. We miss you, honey!

I also wanted say hello to my cousin Janet, one of my faithful blog readers in New York...Janet, I got your email and I promise to post more pictures from now on...I'll have pictures of the new house before the weekend is out!

Big Brother Class

Yesterday, Steve and I took Camden to the hospital where Griffin will be born, for "Sibling Preparation Class". It was a hoot. He and a handful of other 3 to 5 year-olds were taught the finer points of being a "big brother" or "big sister". He was feeling pretty bashful at first, but it didn't take him long to warm up and join right in. He learned all about what a new baby is like, how to change a diaper, swaddle a baby, and how to help Mom and Dad.

Here's Camden, learning to change a diaper

Learning to swaddle

Checking out pictures of newborn babies

The kids were also taken on a tour of the hospital, which included a stop at the maternity ward. They got to see a room like where mommy will stay, and also got to go by the nursery and see a new baby. It was a great class, and Camden seemed to like it quite a bit. He mentioned quite a few times yesterday, "I the big brudder!" so I think it made an impression on him.

On the way home, Steve took the scenic route through the hills. The weather was gorgeous - - in the low 80's, so we could ride with all the windows down (instead of having to use the a/c). I stopped and snapped this picture - - the hills were just beautiful. A few little farms scattered here and there. I commented to Steve how peaceful it must be to live there.

Today, Steve is busy next door, scraping paint in preparation of painting the outside of the house. Camden and I are playing and doing chores. We've been putting our Halloween decorations up...a bit early but then again, I'd be pushing my luck if I waited much longer! I made pumpkin spice waffles this morning for breakfast, and the house smells great. I love autumn, and although it is still quite hot out here, I can tell it is not far off.

Peach Cobbler

Our new house came with a big peach tree, so I tried my hand at baking a fresh peach cobbler yesterday. I Googled "peach cobbler", and chose a recipe from The Food Network. Oddly enough, while I was gathering the ingredients, I noticed the recipe's author was Kristina Williamson from Schooner Ellida in Rockland, Maine! I figured that it was meant to be. Anyway, the recipe is great. It has just the right amount of sweetness, and is super easy to make. I'm sure it would taste great using frozen (thawed) peach slices. I do have to say, peeling fresh peaches is kind of a pain.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Generously butter a 1.5 quart shallow casserole dish.

Filling Ingredients:
4 cups sliced peaches (either fresh/peeled, or frozen/thawed)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. flour

In a small bowl, mix all ingredients together until peaches are coated. Pour into casserole and spread evenly. Bake for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile combine:

1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3 tbsp. brown sugar

Then, using a pastry blender, cut in:

4 tbsp. chilled butter, cut into small pieces

Continue cutting until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Then, add:

2/3 cup buttermilk

Stir to form a soft dough. Remove fruit from oven and drop rounded spoonfuls of dough on top. Sprinkle this with some brown sugar and return to oven. Bake until bubbly and crust topping is golden brown, about 20 minutes.

I served this with some vanilla ice cream on top, and a dollop of Cool Whip.

Wildfires

Idaho is on fire, folks. According to the NIFC website (www.nifc.gov), there are currently 10 states reporting one or more wildfires. Idaho is in the lead with 16 fires currently burning (180,587 acres), with only 3 fires currently contained. Next behind Idaho is Washington, with 9 fires burning. Sometimes, fires occur naturally, ignited by heat from the sun or a lightning strike. However, the majority of wildfires are the result of human carelessness. You may wonder what this does to the air quality. Yesterday, the Air Quality Alert was set at "red", which prompted the Boise School District to have to cancel all outdoor athletic practices and games for school children. Plain and simple, all you can smell is burning wood. It does a number on people with any kind of respiratory trouble. Kids may be affected more, because their little airways are still developing. A couple of weeks ago, there was a huge wildfire in Ola (about 30 miles from here), and when we got up in the morning, the car, patio table, etc., were covered in ash.

After the Ola Fire was contained, we took a drive there to see the landscape. It was pretty sad to see how much land had been affected.

In the above picture, the darker area in the hills (most of the picture) is land that has burned. This was just a portion of what burned.

Here is a close-up shot of some of the burned trees

Last summer, there was a crazy man who led police on a high-speed chase through a couple of Idaho towns. Law enforcement layed down a spike mat, which popped the tires on the man's car, but he kept right on driving on the rims. As you can imagine, driving on your rims causes lots of sparks. As if he wasn't already in enough trouble, he proceeded to set off something like 14 fires, until he finally stopped his car.

The air still smells a little putrid today, but doesn't smell quite as bad as it did yesterday morning. The temperatures are suppose to go down a bit starting tomorrow, so hopefully that will help.

Boys

I must admit, I am beginning to get a little nervous about being outnumbered by boys. I've never really thought about it much, until recently, with Griffin's arrival coming right up. I mean, I'm already outnumbered, but with Griffin thrown into the mix, I don't stand a chance! Steve has had to remind me that some of Camden's behaviors are "a boy thing", such as throwing rocks, rubbing dirt all over himself, being gross, etc. This morning, Camden was playing outside when he yelled to me, "Mummy! I found a wormy!" He was so proud of himself. I gently told him that his "wormy" looked to be dead, but he insisted that the worm was just "resting". After I took this picture, Camden told me he needed a plastic dish and a pillow and blanket for his worm. As I type, "Wormy" is resting comfortably in a small Tupperware, with a cotton ball pillow and toilet paper blanket. I think he's in the living room.
Moving onto this afternoon - - we got out our art supplies, and Camden announced he needed a Spiderman mask. Thank goodness for the internet, and a quick Google search of Spiderman and voila! A Spiderman mask.

So far, we are doing well being at home. Granted, I am still waking up at the crack of dawn, but I guess there isn't much I can do about that for now. I decided that for this week, we aren't going to have any solid plans or structure to our day - - I feel like I need a few days just to unwind and figure out how to manage a household full-time, raise my child (soon to be children), and take care of myself. I am mostly just relaxing and enjoying being with Camden. He is such a good boy, and smart as a whip. I'm already seeing how much I've missed, all those hours that I spent at work.

I'm feeling pretty tired at this point, but only 20 more days to go! I can't believe Griffin will be here in less than 3 weeks. So much to do before then!

Mystery Solved

I can't help myself...this is worth a second post today. Our new house has a great pantry in the basement. You may remember this as the sight of the "plumbing incident" that occurred early last month. It is actually where the hot water heater and sump pump are located, but Lew had built some great shelves along the wall, and the room is just perfect for excess groceries and an assortment of kitchen appliances. As much as I love the room, about a week or two after we moved in, I became painfully aware of a funky odor that seemed to lurk there. I kept saying, "It smells like a dead animal down here!" I told myself that the smell was the result of the gallons of water that had blasted through the room when the pipes broke. I told myself the smell would go away. I bought an air freshener. Then I bought another air freshener. Soon the room smelled like dead animal, with a twist of citrus. I told Steve the smell was getting worse, yet neither of us could come up with a solution.
Fast forward to this morning. I'd been wanting to rearrange a few items in the pantry, namely, our large Coleman cooler, and the big plastic bin that holds the dog food. I never had really found a proper place for either, and figured, I'm unemployed, I think I'll do it today! I grabbed the handle to the cooler and pulled it over next to the freezer - - a perfect spot for it. As I did, there was an audible "slosh". Hmmm. My first thought was that during the "flood", water had gotten into the cooler. Aha! Stagnant water, possibly mold, lurking inside...stench solved! I quickly flipped the top of the cooler open, not even remotely prepared for what I would find. There, sitting in a pool of red water, was a lone package of, you guessed it - - ground elk meat. Rotten to the high heavens. I dry-heaved a couple of times, then closed the lid as fast as I could. Have you ever smelled raw meat, that has been sitting at room temperature for nearly four weeks? I didn't think so. Now, how did a package of elk meat find its way into my cooler, you ask? I'm not one to point fingers, but lets go ahead and backtrack a little. I'm rather pregnant, so I'm quite sure that I didn't move the very large deep freezer over here from our old house, nor did I transport the 100+ pounds of frozen elk meat. That task was tackled by my husband, and my father. Now that I think about it, I do recall my dear father boasting about how nicely he had arranged all of the elk meat, by cut, in the freezer. Apparently, "someone" (remember, I'm not pointing fingers) overlooked a package.
Needless to say, our poor cooler is now out in the alley, next to the garbage cans (with the rotten meat still inside). No matter what you say, you can't make me believe that I would ever be able to get that smell out. Even if I did, it would give me nightmares, for sure. Steve claims he might remove the offending item from the cooler, so as not to surprise some unsuspecting garbage men . I told him I didn't recommend opening that lid, but I'll leave that up to him. Now I must go, and spray some more Lysol up my nose.

Welcome to my new life...

Yesterday was my last day of work. I am now officially a stay-at-home mom! You may be wondering what the heck I am doing up at 5:20 a.m. - - I'm kind of wondering the same thing, too. The short answer is, I'm nearly 36 weeks pregnant, and I don't really sleep anymore, I take cat naps. The other answer is that I am so use to getting up early, coupled with the fact that Steve's alarm goes off at 4:15 a.m. (I'm a light sleeper and once I hear that alarm, I'm pretty much awake for the day, unfortunately).

I had started a post early in the week that I ended up deleting. It seems that I've been struggling with the fact that I wouldn't have a paying job anymore. I don't know that it was necessarily the paycheck I was going to miss, but more the sense of self. I've never not worked for a paycheck, so I don't really know what to expect, going into this new phase of my life. Anyway, a couple of days ago, I started to get really excited about what was about to happen. I'd been spending so much time worrying and wondering that I hadn't really stopped to think about how lucky I am. So today I am sitting here with a big smile on my face, happy to have this opportunity to be with my boys.

House Tour: Camden & Griffin's Room

Thought I'd post some pictures of Camden and Griffin's new bedroom. This first picture is what you see to the right of the room, when you walk in the door. Griffin's crib is directly to the right of the doorway. Here is looking through the doorway

Looking back toward the doorway

Camden's reading corner

Lots of closet and storage place. When we first moved in, Camden was convinced he wanted his bed in the closet.

Baby Shower, etc.

Yesterday, the girls at my office threw a baby shower for me and we had a nice time. That's my dear friend Michelle in the picture with me. She had Griffin's ultrasound picture put on a cake, which was pretty neat - - I've never seen that done before! My coworkers chipped in and gave me a Sit and Stand stroller, which is just great. Camden usually wants to walk when we go in a store, but then again he'll walk for a couple of minutes, then he'll want a "ride", so I've been wondering what I was going to do. My mom, my aunt, and my mother-in-law had sent packages to the office to be included in the shower, which was such a nice surprise. After today, I only have 3 more work days left - - I can't believe it! I am so ready to stop getting up at 4:50 a.m. I am also looking forward to eliminating 2 hours of commute time from each work day. Most of all, I am just looking forward to being home with Camden, and pretty soon, Griffin.
A few of you have been asking for a shot of my massive belly, so, here it is, stretch marks and all. Five more weeks to go! This was taken on Tuesday at exactly 34 weeks. I'm a little scared at how much bigger my stomach can actually get in the next 40 days or so.

The moving process continues to drag on, and it is starting to take its toll on mine and Steve's good humor. I think we are both really tired, stressed out, and wanting it to be done. Our plan is to accomplish that this coming weekend - - I hope we can do it. We were planning to have a garage sale on Saturday, but that will have to wait until the following weekend.

Camden seems to be on the mend after quite a nasty cold. He seems more like my regular little guy now, and I'm glad - - it sure stinks being sick.

I love this picture from bath time the other night. Camden does love a good bubble bath. He thought he was pretty funny, wearing a shower cap. Must finish getting ready for work...

Tuesday (and I'm supposed to be at work)

Camden's been suffering from a bit of a cold the past three days, but seemed to be on the mend yesterday. He spent the day running, playing, acting silly, and having all kinds of fun. However, around 4:30 yesterday afternoon, he suddenly fell asleep and didn't want to be woken up. So, we put him in bed, although I was leary of doing so, because I envisioned him being up all night (he usually goes to bed around 8:00). Well, I was right. He woke up at 9:45, went back to sleep until 11:30, and was up until around 1:30, up again at 5:30. As for me, I had just fallen asleep when Camden woke up for the first time, which seemed to activate Griffin, who proceeded to kick up a storm for about 2 hours. Basically, I slept/catnapped from about 1:45-4:50. I hate to sit here and whine, but I'm TIRED. Camden's been very fussy since he got up this morning, so we are going to wait a couple of hours before heading into Boise. He is not running a fever, and seems to be fine at this point. We shall see.

I've been quite a bad Blogger these days. Please don't give up on me...I think about my blog quite a bit, but with everything going on, I struggle to find the time to sit at the computer, much less, the creative energy it sometimes takes to type out what is in my head. I suspect this has something to do with dragging a move out for what seems like forever, and, oh yeah, being gigantically (is that even a word?) pregnant. So, please stick around. I promise I will have something interesting to say, sooner or later.

More pictures...

This is a continuation of the post below. Blogger is a bit fussy when it comes to posting photos, so I had to open a new post to squeeze in some more pictures.

Here is Steve this past Saturday, at his Change of Command/Stand Up ceremony (he is on the far right, at the head of the group). The ceremony was to recognize the formation of a new National Guard unit, and to recognize Steve as its new commander.

The ceremony was very nice, and Steve did a great job with his speech.

Our nephew, Banzer, at the ceremony

Camden and Papa, horsing around

Another general update...

When we pulled into the driveway tonight, Camden asked, "Where's my Papa?" My father left Sunday night after a two-week visit, and we miss him! Yesterday, the house was far too quiet, and Camden said on several occasions that he was "missing Papa". My dad came out to help us move into our new house, and he was such a big help. As it turned out, Steve was out of town for a good part of the time that Dad was here, so his help was invaluable to me. We managed to get a huge amount moved and unpacked, and we had fun painting and decorating and making the new house feel like home. This first picture was taken early one morning during Dad's visit. Camden had a wooden helicopter kit that he wanted to put together with his Papa. He pretty much insisted that my Dad help him as soon as they woke up one morning, and was quite bossy about it, I might add. Camden was a real trooper during all of the chaos that comes with moving. He actually moved to the new house three days before Steve and I did. My dad was staying there during his visit, and Camden decided he'd go ahead an move on in, too. The picture on the left is of Camden checking out the massive amounts of cupboard space in our new kitchen. He was rather disappointed when I loaded the cupboard up with dishes - - I think he thought it was going to be a fort or something.

Here is a picture of Jeff, my "hired man", uncovering the beautiful hardwood floor that lurked beneath the wall-to-wall carpeting. The area that we had the carpeting removed from is the formal dining area

I have a bunch more pictures to post, but, you guessed it - - Blogger won't let me, so I'll close out this post and try again in a new post...

Thar' She Blows!

Sometime around 3:00 a.m. today, I awoke to what sounded like (or so I thought) an airplane flying quite low overhead. I lay in bed and thought to myself, "They must be dusting for mosquitoes" (Idaho is currently experiencing a massive outbreak of West Nile Virus, with the county bordering ours at a state emergency level). Then I began thinking that since I had a fan running, I ought to get up and shut it off, so as not to ingest large amounts of "bug spray". After shutting off the fan, I realized that the very odd noise was actually coming from inside my house (that would be the same house that Steve and I just purchased last week). I then decided my father was taking a shower downstairs, but what the heck was he doing, showering in the middle of the night? I began to make my way down the stairs, and along the way, realized it wasn't a shower I was hearing, but a very large amount of water, splashing violently (this is the part where I started to feel like I was going to hurl). I reached the foot of the stairs and immediately stepped into cold water. Here is when I did what any sensible young woman would do - - I hollered for my Daddy! Dad came running out of his bedroom and we both stared at the pantry door for what seemed like forever (but was actually just a second or two). Dad threw the door open, and all we could see was water spraying directly at us, as you would see when a fire hydrant had been opened. Apparently, the pipes that once carried well water (at a much lower pressure, I might add) simply could not withstand the pressure of the *&%$# city water (see my earlier posts on this subject). Without hesitating, Dad shot across the room to the valve and turned the water off, not pausing even though he was clad in just his pajama bottoms and was barefoot. I'd also like to add that there was a very large freezer (full of elk meat) plugged in, sitting in water, but that didn't stop him, either. The water stopped, and I think we were both speechless for a minute or two. Here is a lovely photo of where the pipes blew apart, spewing very expensive city water all over my brand new home. How ironic that Dad and I had chose the day before, to spend hours packing and unpacking my kitchen, placing all of my appliances and pantry food in that very room. Someone was obviously watching over me, because although my beloved kitchen appliances were wet (my bread machine was down there, for goodness sakes!) they all seem to have pulled through. The only food item that seems to have been lost was a bag of flour. I find this completely amazing, because we are not talking about a slight drip here, folks - - this was a massive amount of water. After about an hour of mopping, wiping, and sopping, we called it a night and went back to bed. I called Jeff's Plumbing first thing in the morning, and by 10:00 a.m. the pipe had been repaired and we had running water once again. I am most thankful for the fact that my Dad was there, and that he saved the day. After that, I'm thankful this occurred in the middle of the night, rather than on a day I was at work. Last, but not least, I am thankful that my pantry also has a massive sump pump, for disasters such as the one we experienced early this morning. That sucker was pumping like there was no tomorrow.

Update

The 3D ultrasound was really great! Sweet little Griffin Peter decided to show his face, for the first time, and I was thrilled.

The sonographer said he has lots of "fuzz" on his head, so hopefully he will have lots of hair like Camden did. She also kept saying, "He looks just like his older brother!" I'll take her word for it - - I couldn't really tell whether he did or not, but he sure is cute. Camden was there for the ultrasound too, and when asked what he thought, his response was, "Icky!" My dad was amazed by the whole thing.

Here is another face shot (side profile, left side of face), and one of his hand:

7 weeks to go!

Sshhhhhh...

I have a little secret...this morning, Camden and I are taking my Dad to see a 3-D ultrasound of Griffin. I figured, he's never seen an ultrasound so this would be a nice little surprise. I am just hoping that Griffin will be cooperative and "face the camera" - - I've had quite a few regular ultrasounds with this pregnancy, and we've yet to see his face or even a profile for that matter - - he always has his head in the wrong position. So, check back later today and hopefully I'll have posted some pictures of our boy.

I've been a bad Blogger this past week, but will try to be better this week. We have been very busy trying to move into the new house. I'm happy to report that we are all sleeping there now - - Dad and Steve got the extra bed moved over a couple of nights ago. The computer is still hooked up at the old house, but hopefully I'll get that taken care of this week. Today we are going to just take it easy. After the ultrasound, I'm taking Dad and Camden on a sight-seeing tour of Boise, via the Boise Tour Train. I've been here for nearly 5 years and have never been on it, so I'm looking forward to it, too.

Still trying to recover from last night's Faith Hill and Tim McGraw concert. I can tell you that Faith Hill looked beautiful, her voice was wonderful, and she put on a great show. As for Tim McGraw - - I'm afraid I'm still not quite able to form complete sentences. Tight Wranglers, tattoos, cowboy hat...that's about all I can come up with at the moment. Oh yeah, he's a great singer, too. Phew. Did I mention the tight Wranglers?

Steve is in Virginia this week for an Army class. I'm sad he got called away at the last minute, as he missed the concert and today will miss the ultrasound. We're hoping to get a lot accomplished with the move while he is away so that he will notice some progress upon his return.

Check back later for pictures of Griffin!