So much to do, so little time

So much has happened, and is happening, since my last post. Where do I begin?

No more apartment!
We have moved into our fabulous new house here in McKinney. We love it and Gabe loves it. We still have a lot to do but everything is coming along nicely. If you haven't been invited over yet, please don't take it personally, we've just been swamped. Call me and come over for a visit!

Gabe turned 2 in December
He is growing like a weed and is learning so much so fast. He has turned into quite the little trickster. He loves all things trains and cars. He still calls anything with wheels a choo choo and no matter how many times I try to correct him that it is a truck or tractor, he simply looks at me like I'm crazy and says "no mommy, it's a choo choo". We'll get there.

Pregnancy
This pregnancy has turned out to be a bit of a roller coaster ride for us. First of all, moving from a house to a very small apartment then moving again into a new house, all in a matter of four and a half months, while pregnant, is insane. I don't recommend it to anyone! Talk about stress at a time that is already stressful.

We had three unfortunate trips to the doctor for emergency sonograms due to bleeding. Fortunately everything has been fine and all I needed to do was rest a little more. Which really meant no more lifting, including lifting Gabe. But, other than those three incidents, things have been pretty normal. Normal body aches, mood swings and hormones. Hopefully they haven't been too bad for my two guys at home. Lately I have just been tired all the time. Oh, the joys of the last few weeks of pregnancy.

Most exciting
In my last post we had just found out that our new little peanut is a boy. Since then we have given him a name: William Reese Thompson. We can't wait to meet him. Well, we can wait two and a half more weeks, but not much longer! Gabe was born at 37 weeks and came spontaneously so we, and my doctor, are expecting an early arrival from Will as well. With that in mind, I will have bags packed for myself and Gabe by the end of this week. Just to be prepared.

Back to the title of this post...

There is so much to do before William's arrival. Don't be surprised if the next post is all about his birth. Based on my recent dedication to posting (or lack thereof) , it might include his one month photos as well. Ha!

Say a prayer (or cross your fingers) that things go smoothly for us. We will be happy to see you all, so call us up to come meet our new little guy and see Gabe become a great big brother in just a few short weeks!

Family Reunion 2010

For eight years now my mom's side of the family has had a huge family reunion every other year. I have been lucky enough to attend them all and this latest one was completely awesome. We spent an entire week on the beach in Lincoln City, OR. The weather was awesome, it didn't ever get above 75 degrees.

Gabe had the time of his life. Between all the attention, all the kids to play with and all the outside time, he played hard and slept hard. He even fell asleep twice while eating lunch. Yes, I made sure to take the left over food out of his mouth before putting him down for his nap.

This year the reunion included an abundance of activities including, but not limited to:

• a relay race
• a kickball game
• a scavenger hunt (amazing race style complete with the traveling gnome)
• a sandcastle building contest
• Bingo
• Bunco
• Phase 10
• Tee shirt stenciling
• Tutu making
• Wake boarding
• Water skiing
• Deep sea fishing
• and lots more...

Not to mention the nights full of card games and the pool table and pinball machine in the rental house. There was so much to do and we were having so much fun I wish we could have stayed another week. It makes me sad that my family is so spread out and we only get to see everyone every other year.

We ended up with over 600 photos and have posted them all on our Flickr site (see link to the right). Here are a few of my favorites.

Gabe and Stella enjoying the sand


Seth's Sand Turtle


My mom and my uncle Dan, #2 and #14 of 14


Judy and Fletcher trying to save their sandcastle


Gabe too tired to finish lunch


Gabe walking on the beach with my parents


The view from our house


Gabe completely amazed by the ocean



Just look at his face and tell me this isn't one happy kid


I can't wait for the 2012 reunion!

Monkey boy

Gabe is ready for his first Halloween. Grandma Sugar found the cutest costume so we just had to get some pictures. We also had Stella join us for the occasion as a cute little witch. The only thing missing was Kaia as a sweet little flower. I hope that over the Thanksgiving holiday we can get some photos of all the little cousins together.



We also had some 10 month photos taken. Gabe is getting so big. He looks so much like a little boy now and is walking all over the place. It all happened so fast, I don't know where my baby went.

He walks

Gabe's been cruising for weeks now but hadn't taken the leap to walking on his own. Till now...



Cruising at 9 months walking at 10. It all happens way to fast.

First week as a family of three

This last week has been absolutely wonderful. Other than a lack of sleep and a little Jaundice, Chris and I couldn't have dreamed of a better experience of bringing Gabe into this world and then bringing him home.

My water broke at 3:15 am Saturday morning and contractions started about 10 min later. Right from the start they were about 2 to 4 min apart, which scared me just a little and put us in a hurry to get to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital at 4:45 and they took us right in to the delivery suite. Might I just add that the delivery suites at Plano Presbyterian Hospital are very nice and very large. Right away they started checking me for dilation and started my IV as they sent Chris down to the ER to officially check me in. Upon arrival to the hospital my contractions were starting to come on very strong and were pretty consistent at 2 min apart, I was also dilated to 4cm. By 7:30 I had gone through the necessary 1 and a half bags of saline in order to get my epidural, and by 7:45 I was finally feeling good again.

After about 45 min my epidural had slowed down my contractions a little and the doc decided to give me a little pitocin to keep my contractions on track. After 7 min of pitocin I was 10 cm and ready to push. Pushing while the bottom half of your body is numb is a strange experience. You don't quite know if you are pushing hard enough or even in the right place. But, apparently, I was doing it right as I only pushed for about 22 min before Gabe made his appearance.

Chris was great through the whole thing. He held my hand through the contractons and my neck and leg through the pushing. He even cut Gabe's cord and not once did he panic or turn green at the site of all the blood. Also, because Gabe decided to come so early in the morning and on the one weekend where my sister Jessica (who was going to be our photographer for the big day) was out of town, he did a great job taking pictures of the big event in addition to his other duties. Within about 30 min of Gabe's birth we had ordered and eaten breakfast and then moved to our room on the maternity floor where we would be for the next two days. Gabe got to stay with us the whole time, except for the few times we sent him down to the nersury for some check-ups, his circumcision and yes a few hours of sleep after some long nights.

We have been home now since Monday afternoon and have had a lot of help from family and friends. All of the food has been great and has certainly made life easier and let Chris and I get to know our little guy and adjust to life as a family. We are now partaking in a new journey this week as Chris goes back to work. I get to be with Gabe and figure out how we will spend the days without daddy's help while Chris gets to find out how work is going to go now that our nights are frequently filled with dirty diapers and feedings. Thank goodness that my mom is here to help for the next few weeks as Gabe, daddy and I adjust to our new schedules.

Gabe has really been a great baby. He only cries when he's hungry or dirty. And really, if you listen to his cues he sometimes doesn't even get to the crying part, it's more like a small complaint. He seems to be pretty consistent during the night as well: he eats around 12:30 and then again at 4:30. Which so far works out for me as I can sleep in a little, but we may have to try and adjust this schedule as Chris needs to be up at 5:45am for work. We'll be working on that change in the next few nights. Hopefully Gabe understands. :-)

Our next adventure will be finishing up our Christmas shopping. We planned on finishing it before Gabe got here but he decided to surprise us with an early entrance. We'll keep you posted on how our first outting goes. Until then, here's a photo of his first bath...which he thoroughly enjoyed.

37 Weeks: Full Term

We made it! Our little guy is now considered fully baked.

At our sonogram today we discovered that he didn't gain any weight this last week. Unfortunately that's not good news. In the last weeks he should be gaining at least 1/2 pound per week. According to their measurements, he measured 1 oz smaller than last week and that makes the doc think we might have to keep a closer eye on him. So, if he hasn't gained enough weight by next Tuesday we might be having a baby next Wednesday. We'll keep our fingers crossed that he beefs up a little. We'll also keep you all informed but for now we will keep him in there for at least another week. Good thing my last day at work is Saturday! Other than the weight issue everything else looks good. Fluid levels are good, placenta and umbilical cord are in the right places, our little guy's heart rate is awesome and he isn't in any stress as far as we can tell. Also, he had hiccups last night for the first time. That was an experience. Kind of felt like a slow heart beat near my belly button...weird. :-)

We also got to see his little face - more or less. He looked really squished in there so we couldn't really get a good picture. I'll get them scanned and posted soon. In the meantime my bag is packed and we are pretty close to being ready, as ready as you can be, for our little guy to arrive. It's all getting so close we might have to plan a date night this weekend because I have a feeling it might be a while before we get the opportunity again.

Do we want to take some bets on weight, time, hair color and so forth? The doc did say he has some hair. We just don't know how much: peach fuzz, 'fro or somewhere in between. It's all so exciting.

If, for some reason, we don't get to post again before he gets here we will be at Plano Presbyterian. We will also post pictures as soon as we can on our Flickr site. My sister Jessica has been kind enough to offer to join us and take pictures of the big event so be sure to check back next week. :-) Till then...

Pregnancy Update

I have now been to the doctor at least 12 times in the past 8 months or so and have gotten to know my Dr. pretty good. If you have heard me talk about him you would know that he is a very high energy kind of guy. He's fast, efficient and loves it when your baby's daddy comes along to the appointments. (I picture him and Chris having a beer right after our little one comes out!) Needless to say I never have to wait more than 10 min for my appointment and once we are in, he's there buzzing around the room with so much energy you get an instant high. So, with that little bit of background, imagine my surprise when after we talked for a few minuets he pulled up a chair and actually sat down! I knew I was in for some not so great news. And I was right. :-( He isn't so passive about my swelling as I have been. (See post below) Apparently what I thought was normal for being on your feet all day isn't normal at all, at least not at 33 weeks. So...he has put me on a 4-step plan until December. I now have to go in every week for blood pressure checks and to see if I need to move on to the next step of our plan - see below.

1. Cut my work hours in half
   
2. Stop working and bed rest at home
   
3. A week's worth of bed rest at the hospital
   
4. Induction (aka: get the baby out of there)
   

Even with all this planning, if at any time my blood pressure (which is great right now) decides to take a dive we will skip steps 1 and 2 and go straight to spending some time with the lovely people at Plano Presbyterian Hospital. Cross your fingers for me that this isn't necessary. As of right now, other than the swelling, I feel good. My goal is to make it to December and at least 37 weeks. On another note, our boy is still doing great. His weight is about a week and a half ahead of the average so if he has to be born early at least he'll be closer to fully-baked.

So now that I know I am going to have a little more time on my hands, off my feet, anyone have any ideas of what I can do? Know of any great books or shows that I should check out? I'd love the recommendations. :-)

On a happier note, some good friends of ours, Colin and Megan, had their twin boys yesterday, and my uncle Dan and aunt Brenda had their little guy last week. Both moms are doing great and all the boys are healthy and adorable! Congrats you guys!

Kankles!

I am currently a few days shy of 33 weeks. I have now gotten used to the fact that by the end of the day my ankles completely disappear and my calves continue straight on to my feet. I was prepared for the fact that my belly would swell to an unnatural size, but my ankles? LOL The real kicker is that even after I take off my shoes...you can still see them imprinted. It's just beautiful!



(Please don't judge me on the small patches of polish left, I can no longer reach my feet to give myself a pedicure. )

Placenta on the rise

Following our now bi-weekly doctor's appointment, we have some good news.  My placenta has moved out of the way so now our boy can be born without a cesarean.  Some other news is that our little guy isn't so little! Currently at 31 weeks he weighs 4lbs 4oz.  If we go another 9 weeks, he will likely be 9-plus pounds! Can we say ouch! Maybe we should hope for about 7 more weeks and 7 to 8 pounds. But as long as he is healthy we won't have any complaints.

I have been given the go ahead to continue to work as long as my back pain and swelling don't get any worse. We will continue to monitor it every two weeks from now on.

Unfortunately we did not get any sono pics this time as he was facing my back and didn't want to turn around. But, in just a short time we will have more than enough pictures to go around. We can't wait! Should we start taking bets on who he is going to look like? My money is on Chris with maybe some red hair like I had.

Sugar, weight gain and braxton hicks

Today I had my gestational diabetes test. For those of you who do not know what this entails, basically I have to drink 10 ounces of a glucose mixture and then get my blood checked after an hour. I should get a call tomorrow with the results. My glucose happened to be orange flavored and tasted a bit like Orange Crush with about 10 cups of sugar added. Now anyone that knows me knows that I can handle sweet: chocolate, cakes, candy...there haven't been many things that have been too much to handle. Let me tell you, I found out that after today I think I have had enough sugar for the rest of the week and I probably will not be able to drink orange flavored anything for a long time to come. Let's hope my results come back clean so I don't have to do it all over again!

I have also now gained a total of 14 pounds. That's right on track so far and I'm expected to gain probably another 8 to 10 before this whole thing is over. Since I gained 5 pounds this last month I have now passed up Chris in his sympathy weight gain. He has held at 10 pounds. Which brings me to the question: is this sympathy weight really attributed to this pregnancy or has his diet and activity level just adjusted as mine has? Are there any scientific studies that link it to hormones and is this pregnancy really wreaking havoc on my husbands body as well as my own? Hmmm...

Also worth mentioning are these weird contraction-like sensations I have been having. Apparently they are called braxton hicks contractions and are pretty much like labor contractions except so far they haven't been painful and don't affect the cervix. Just leaves me a little sore after a while. That, combined with my growing back aches, may unfortunatly leave me with the possibility of having to cut my working hours down yet again. Cross your fingers that I can stay on my feet for the next 10 to 12 weeks until this baby comes.

As for that nursery I keep mentioning, it is painted! But yet still not finished. Chris and I still have a chair rail to put up and then wait for our furniture to arrive. By next week we should have a picture. At least one of an empty room. There's no word (yet) of when our furniture should be here but hopefully in the next two to three weeks.

Stay tuned.

Salt Lake Shower Yields Gifts, Cornhole and Good Hygiene

Chris and I attended our first baby shower. Yep, now everything is starting to seem more and more real. We are really having a baby and now our house is starting to show it. For my birthday back in August Chris bought us tickets to SLC to visit my family before we hit the no travel zone (aka the third trimester). While we were there my mom and sister-in-law, Amanda, threw us a baby shower. It was a lot of fun. Because we wanted to see as many people as possible while we were there the baby shower was co-ed (much to the "delight" of Chris).

We played two different shower games. The first was for all the men who attended (all 8 of them). They had to drink beer from a sippy cup and the first to finish was the winner. Needless to say it was fun to watch.  Take a look for yourself, below. My mom's friend and co-worker Karl won with my uncle Dan coming in a close second.

After the beer drinking, the second and final game was for couples. We all had to dance with our significant other, with an egg held between our foreheads.  The last couple left dancing without dropping their egg wins.  Chris and I made it to the final two before we dropped our egg.  Oh, so close!

However, our spirits weren't dampened by the loss.  Rather, we felt blessed when we opened lots of loot in the form of great new clothes for our little guy and a few gift cards as well. Chris' mom even made the trip and got us our car seat. She's doing her part to make sure her grandchild will travel safely, and in style! It was really fun to have her there.

Before we left, my mom and I made a couple of trips to some fabric stores and picked out a few things. She is going to make the bedding and curtains for the new nursey. I will be sure to post pictures as soon as we see the finished product. I'm sure they will be wonderful.  She did such a great job helping my neice Stella out with her room I'm sure our little man will love his just as much!

All in all, it was a great trip. Hopefully we won't have to stay away too long after the little man is here. A ski trip would be very nice this season and we hope to fit it in.

One other thing to mention is our newfound fondness for a game to which my brother Paul and his wife Amanda introduced us: Cornhole. We've posted some pitures of us all playing on our Flickr site (see below for an example). I would like to mention that Paul and I won 5 of the 7 games we played as a team. We rule! Needless to say, Chris is planning to build the appropriate fixtures so we can play here in Dallas as well. If you live in the area, don't be suprised if you're invited over for a game or two in the near future.

Next up? Painting the nursery. I will have pictures soon. We plan to have it done by the end of the month if not sooner. We have furniture arriving in October. Wow, this pregnancy is flying by!

Long time, no post

It's been a while since our last post and a lot has happened in that time. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your perspective), we've broken the updates into sections for easier consumption.

Home Improvement
First, what's the reason for the long delayed posting? Our new office...well, office/guest bedroom. In order to make room and prepare for our little man we have disassembled the office (as we once knew it) to combine it and our guest room. First we painted the room. Then we assembled some new office furniture (by we I mean Chris). Finally, we moved the guest bed from the old guest room to the new combo room. Next on our agenda is to paint the now empty remaining room - the nursery - and acquire furniture. We'll post about our progress in the nursery as soon as we've actually made some. In the meantime, here's a photo of the new office/guest bedroom.


Family Reunion
Before all of this (way back in July) we went to Lake Tahoe for my family reunion. It was lots of fun and we got to see many members of my extended family that we hadn't seen in a long time. We also got to use our new camera and took a ton of photos (see below for one example). Among the fun activities at this year's reunion were karaoke, kickball, rafting, wake boarding and even a photo scavenger hunt. On top of all that, each night had it's own fun from card games to a Trivial Pursuit smack down. All in all it was a great trip!


Our Baby Boy (In Progress)
Two weeks ago we had our 20 week sonogram and got to see (almost) irrefutable evidence that our little guy is indeed a guy.

There are even more pictures of our baby on our Flickr site and while he seems to look a bit more like a little alien than a baby, he's OUR little alien. :-) During that same appointment, we received news that I have what is called a low lying placenta. That condition may or may not correct itself in the next few months. If not, it looks like we will have a planned c-section. That's not something to worry about at this point so we are focusing on getting everything ready for the big day.

Meanwhile, my little hitchhiker has been kicking up a storm. We're hoping that in the next week or so Chris will be able to feel some kicks as well. It all seems to be going so fast. Next thing you know it will be December and we'll have a whole new reason for delayed posting.

My Birthday
For my birthday, Chris gave me a round trip ticket to SLC so I can visit my family in September. I'm going to let him tag along. While we are there my mom is throwing a baby shower. Yay, gifts!

Last, But Not Least
For our last bit of news, we just found out that there's a bun in a different oven. Chris's middle brother, Michael, and his girlfriend Melissa are expecting a little one of their own. We are very excited that our little man will now have three cousins close to his age (two in the Dallas area). Our family keeps growing and growing. We wish Michael and Melissa the best of luck.

Bart, Bert...Bort?

Until you are faced with it, you never think about how hard it is to name your child. I mean, I always thought I had names picked out since I was young, but now those names seem immature and silly. Do you name your child after a family member or someone who has influenced you or do you just pick a name that sounds good out of a book? Can you really know for sure if the name you pick is going to influence how people see them or treat them? You have to think about unfortunate nicknames they might get saddled with. Even their initials can prove problematic. Other kids can be so cruel sometimes.

I guess it all comes down to picking a name that you like. One that you can stand hearing for a long time and hope that your child can as well. Any advice from other parents out there? How did you choose your child's name?

Becca is pregnant

Yes, you read that headline correctly. Becca is pregnant!

We've been pretty sure for a little while now but Becca just had her first sonogram today and it's officially confirmed. The doc tells us that we're looking at a late December birth. Jeez, think of the presents that child will get if he/she (it?) is a Christmas baby and gets to double-up.

Becca and I are both so excited as are our parents. This will be the 3rd grandchild for Becca's parents but the very first for mine.

I'm bummed that I was stuck here in India for the first sonogram but Jessica was kind enough to go with Becca and "hold her hand." She's been through all of this VERY recently so we're happy to have such a seasoned coach at our side.

More updates to follow but for now, here's a photo of our baby from its first sonogram. Well, they tell us that's our baby. It looks like a Lima bean to me. :-)

2 down 8 more to go

Well, Chris has been in India for two days now. So far I owe everything to a nice little program called Skype. If it weren't for Skype we would not be able to talk the whole time he is gone. (At least not unless we want to spend a ton of dough.) Anyway, if you're not familiar with Skype, you can talk via the web for free instead of by phone. And,if you have a camera for your computers, you can talk with video, totally awesome!

Anyway, he got there safe after a horrible 16 hour flight, and is now spending his second day at the India office. So far so good. He's only seen one monkey though, kind of disappointing, and it stole his beer at that!


Miss you Chris. XOXOXOX

We have a brand new niece!

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, Jessica asked me to attend the birth of her first child. Well, I'm happy to announce that as of 12:53pm (CDT), Jessica and Stephen are the proud parents of a healthy baby girl. They haven't chosen a name yet but it's the cutest little thing at 8 lbs 4 oz and 20 inches long. More info to follow but check out all the photos on our Flickr site. Here's a few photos if you're too lazy to click through...

Birthday

Yesterday I got to go with my sister Jessica to her last sonogram appointment. It was amazing, we actually got to see the baby sucking her thumb. How cute is that! It is still kind of weird to me to think that there is a whole new person inside there.
Tomorrow I get to be in the operating room with Jessica and Stephen for the c-section and I am so excited to be included in my new nieces birth. I can't wait to be one of the first people to meet her. I'll fill you all in on the excitement soon. Until then, happy birthday baby.

Thomhouser: The True Story

If you find yourself wondering, just what is this "Thomhouser" thing anyway, let me enlighten you. A few years ago when Becca and I attended her family reunion, Jessica (her eldest sister) thought it would be really funny to come up with a hybrid of our respective last names. Why? That's anyone's guess. But, the sad fact remains that not only did she devise the single worst combination of Thompson + Holtshouser (Thomhouser: got it?), she puffy-painted it on hats for us to wear. That's right, matching Mr. and Mrs. Thomhouser hats. Gag!

Naturally, we (mostly I) tried our best to live this down and put it behind us. "Ha ha. Good one Jess. Now, never mention it again!" Unfortunately, it lived on and reared its ugly head at our wedding reception. Jessica decided that it would be funny if our DJ introduced me and Becca as Mr. and Mrs. Thomhouser and went so far as to attempt a bribe. While our DJ was tactful enough to not take the bait, the damage was already done. When we entered the reception - greeted by applause and camera flashes - our DJ almost lost his paycheck. "I now present Mr. and Mrs. (painful pause, clearly befuddled: was it Thompson, Thomhouser?) ...Thomas (swing and a miss)...er...Thompson." Close enough, I suppose.

Admittedly, this was pretty damn funny but annoying at the same time; and yet somehow endearing. So, when inspired to create a blog for me and Becca to keep you all informed of our combined goings-on, I could think of no better name.

Welcome to Thomhouser. Visit often.