Doors

        

As of 2 days ago this is what the end of our hallway looks like :

It's kind of exciting.

It's kind of freaking me out.

Because it means we are going to have 2 kids. 

Say what?

Side note

I know I did that whole blog post about my idea for a boy's room.  And it was all farm.  Well, my ultra generous friend Megan offered me a brand new, unused, still in the packaging Pottery Barn set of crib bedding and twin bed bedding.  For free.  How could I pass that up?

So we're going ocean.  Ocean critters to be exact.

It looks like this:

Totally cute, huh?

All I have to do is accessorize.  And boy am I good at accessorizing.

Candy Land

Sunday was a fun family day. 

We started out the day by driving to Scottsdale to see Candy Land: The Great Lollipop Adventure.  This 2005, straight to DVD movie is the story of the game "Candy Land," where gingerbread boy Jib, Princess Lolly and Mister Mint outwit and defeat the evil Lord Licorice in order to save the delightful world of Candy Land (thanks for that description IMDB).

It was an hour and ten minutes long.  Perfect for kids.  Tedious for mom and dad (the story was a bit, ahem, lame).

I was looking a little cleavagelicious so I used picnik to add a flower cover up.

Spencer's favorite treat card in the game of Candy Land is the chocolate truffle.  He takes after his mother.  And his father.  We're chocolate fanatics.

Anyway, after the movie we had a delightful brunch at our favorite breakfast place, T.C. Eggington's.  After that we decided to get Spencer a chocolate truffle.  He's been begging us for weeks to either make them or go buy them.  We thought it was appropriate timing.

Our original plan was to go to See's Candy.  This plan was vetoed because See's is in the mall, meaning parking in 112 degrees temperatures and walking across the mall parking lot blacktop.  Barf.

So we drove to an independent candy store with a small parking lot by our house.  They are closed on Sundays.

So we drove to Walgreens and bought one of these bad boys.

This is what was left after 28 hours.

We do love our chocolate in this house.



IKEA Scavenger Hunt

I have mentioned before that I belong to a great group of friends.  We all worked at the same school at one time or another.  When some of us started leaving that school for other jobs or babies we started having monthly get togethers so we could still see everyone on a regular basis.  The last time I planned a get together was last October.  We did pumpkin carving.

August was my next turn for planning.  I decided on a scavenger hunt at IKEA followed by snow cones.  Air conditioning and ice.  Totally appropriate for August in Phoenix, especially because both Amy and I are pregnant.

Here are the shots from our FUN day.

Take a picture of:

A team member in the shower.

A team member washing dishes in the sink.

A team member sleeping in a bed.

A team member in a tent in the kid's department.

A team member sitting on a couch, watching TV, and changing channels with the remote.

At least 2 team members holding a serious IEP meeting at a square or rectangular table.

A team member chopping vegetables at a kitchen counter.

A team member replacing a light bulb in a lamp.

A team member cradling a stuffed animal like a newborn.

A team member posing very excitedly with a very boring object.

A team member holding 12 identical decorative pillows.

At least 2 team members eating dinner at a round or oval table.

A team member using an official IKEA measuring tape to measure a bookshelf.

A team member relaxing in a Poang chair.

A team member feeding a stuffed animal "baby" that is sitting in a high chair.

A team member smelling candles with a pleased and relaxed look on their face.

A team member looking at their reflection in the mirror while applying lipstick.

A team member thoughtfully analyzing the pile on a rug.

A team member crying at the beauty of a piece of art.

A team member fluffing the pillows on a bed.

It was a great day.  I do have to say, though, that despite IKEA being air conditioned we were all sweaty and burning up by the time we left.

These babies tasted so good:

Until next time, ladies.

P.S. For those inquiring minds, Team Brenda, Joni, Maryellen and Shireen "won".  I'd like for it to go on the record though that their shower picture is not really in the shower and is actually just a shower curtain, because they couldn't find a shower and a stupid employee told them there wasn't one.  As you can plainly see in the picture of Team Amy, Lauren and Natalie, there is a real shower. 

So- we're all winners 'cause we're cool like that.

Explanation

I know.  I know.  We shared the baby's name.  We said we weren't going to.

So why did we?

Well, when I was pregnant with Spencer it was very important to us that we keep his name a surprise.  We told no one his name until after he was born.  No one.

Maybe you have noticed (maybe you have not) that I am very much a fan of familiarity and tradition.  I don't know why I take a picture of Spencer in a flag suit every summer other than I did it last summer and the summer before. 

I like the status quo.

We planned on keeping Elliott's name a secret too.  But a little doubt had crept in even before the ultrasound.  Should we do things the same just because of how we did it before?

I hate to admit that things will be different with the second child, but really, things will be different.  That's just the nature of the second child.

The ultrasound technician placed the transducer on my belly. Elliott was right there- legs up, kicking.  It was plainly obvious who he was.  The tech said, "it's a boy".  Spencer waited 4.3 seconds to ask what his name was.  Then he asked again.  Then he asked again.  Then he started offering suggestions for names.  They included Spencer, Nicholas and Ice Cream.

But still we didn't say anything.  Because we like to do things the same.

  Then we came home and told our parents the news.  Then my mom said it was silly to not share if Elliott was the only name we had.

I also felt like it would help with the brotherly bonding. So, we shared. 

This was Spencer's reaction: "Oh.  Elliott.  That's a good name.  I don't have any Elliotts at school."

 We picked the name Elliott a year ago.  It's not in honor of anyone. We just really, really like it.  We think it sounds good with Spencer.  They are both English names that are real names but not popular names.  I dare say they are kind of classy sounding. 

Also, in addition to being psychotic about sameness I have OCD about the fact that Michael, Natalie and Spencer all have 7 letters.  That was not intentional when we named Spencer, but once I realized it (when he was about 2 weeks old) it became an obsession. 

I'll share our girl name too.  We're like 99.7% certain that there will be no more children, but there could be a miracle situation.  You never know.

Jillian Michaela

I picked this name when Spencer was 4 months old.  Jillian was a contestant on Project Runway. I just thought it was a great name.  I would hold Spencer and nurse him and lament that I would never be able to use the name because I was NEVER GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER BABY AS LONG AS I LIVED.

I'll share our twin names too.

Twin Boys:

Cooper Stephen

Oliver James

Twin Boy and Girl:

Cooper Stephen

Harper Annemarie

Twin Girls:

Jillian Michaela

Madison Annemarie

I nearly had to take prozac and breathe in a paper bag to come to terms with the 6 letter names for fictional twins that never existed.  I figured at least there would be two of them so they could stick together when they were depressed that the number of letters in their names didn't match the rest of the family.

I'll tell you this though.  If I could figure out how to get an extra letter in to Cooper, Elliott would be Cooper.

And there you have it. 

An in-depth look at the neuroses of my brain.

I am a.........

BOY!

I weigh eleven ounces.

I am growing about 5 days ahead of schedule.

I look a little bit like my brother.

I'm a mover and a shaker.

My name is Elliott Stephen.

A little of this and a little of that

I called home while at work this morning.  I asked Spencer what he had been doing.  He said he ate breakfast and then watched some Thomas.

I called home after lunch.  Michael said that Spencer couldn't talk because he was watching some Thomas.

I came home from work.  Spencer was too busy watching Thomas to come give me a hug.

I asked Michael and Spencer if Spencer had done anything but watch Thomas all day long.

Michael protested my accusations and said that they had also taken some pictures.

These pictures:

Two pictures of Ginger sleeping.  This "effort" was supposed to bribe me into "looking the other way" to an all day Thomas marathon.

Once I was home the TV was turned off.

At 7:45 I took exactly one week later pictures of Spencer's face.

We put some vaseline on the dermabond tonight.  It's getting really, really flaky and I would rather it dissolve from the oil than rip off on the sheets or something.

So guess what?  Less than 12 hours.

You had better believe there will be an update, a new background and a new header tomorrow.