And then there were four

With the utmost pride of a mother, I'd love to annouce Truman Daniel Gilbert's arrival into the world. He came "down, down, down" as Harrison says at 7:09 am yesterday (Tuesday, September 11) and has been blessing us ever since. A little bit smaller than H-man, Truman was 8 lbs, 1 oz and 21 1/4 inches long. Everything went fantastically; I'm feeling very well considering. I'm keeping this one short, with just a couple pics. I'll add some sweet video tomorrow. Thank you to all the friends and loved ones who have reached out to us since we're not close to family. We are so blessed.

Who's the prego?

Dan and I always crack a smile when someone mentions "nesting." We first heard the term in our pregnancy and delivery class we took before Harrison joined us. The idea is that a pregnant woman will have all these urges to "nest," like cleaning, organizing, preparing the home for baby, etc and it's usually a sign that labor and delivery are close.

We smile because Dan and I both know I'm not much of a nester. I think I am probably nesting a little more this time than last. I have had urges to complete several things hanging over my head, like scrapbooks and the purging of a lot of extemporaneous possessions, but on the whole, not a big nester.

But as I laid awake for the last two hours in bed (it's five AM now), it occurred to me that Dan's been the one that's nesting. Check out his list of completed projects for the last few weeks:

• added more track lighting and pendant lighting to the kitchen
• fixed drywall problems and nail pops in the stairway and upstairs and then repainted
• added a ceiling medallion and fixed the height to our breakfast nook light fixture
• reupholstered my rocking chair for me
• turned our back deck into a covered porch (this was a much bigger project than anticipated)
• tightened all our toilets (??? I wasn't even aware they needed this done, but Dan suddenly got it in his head he couldn't rest until they were all tightened)
• majorly assisted with the dresser, including figuring out how to make the old hardware usable
• lots of mopping and cleaning for me

Anyway, I hope this doesn't count as total bragging up my hubby. If it does, so be it. I'm just SO appreciative of all the work he's been doing to try to make this place feel ready for the new guy and I want to put it on record that I know how blessed I am to have such an amazingly supportive husband, not to mention how smokin' hot he is. Thank you, Danny. You rock.

How do you like me now?

I'm not sure that the relationship my mother and I have is totally normal, but I have a feeling it is not super unusual. The aspect of it I'm pondering right now is my mother's reaction when she heard through the grapevine that I was painting an antique dresser that had belonged to my great-great grandfather. I got one of those voice mails that didn't mention the REAL reason she was calling, but when I called her back it didn't take too long for the truth to come out. She was concerned. Why not just stain it, she said. Well, I can't get into everything, but it would have been a VERY tedious job to strip and stain this thing. It had already sustained enough damage that I knew it didn't have any real "antique" value, and I just wanted it to look nice enough and function well enough that it became something I enjoyed owning, instead of a rickety thing that sat empty in my bedroom (which has been its function for the last year).

Anyway, I knew mom was a doubter. She tried as gently as she could to change my mind. Granted, I guess she has cause to worry. I have shown in the past a love of flamboyant color. I'm sure lots of people would not paint their child's room the shade of green that covers Harrison's walls. Maybe she thought I was going to go purple--I don't know. But anyway, today Dan and I finished up our little dresser project. After a couple of trips to Lowe's and the Depot, Dan was even able to rework the original hardware so that it was sturdy and usable. We're both pleased as punch at how it turned out and wanted to show it off here. I'm hoping, Mom, that we did you right and you find it an improvement.

Honestly, I have nothing better to do

It's 4:43 in the morning and I just finished cleaning my fish bowl. I have officially run out of things to do to avoid blogging. It was this, or pick things up off the floor, and I'm not that desperate yet. For other mommies out there besides my own and my mother-in-law who I think found being pregnant fun, I've hit the wall. I hurt and I can't sleep. Hmmmm. We've been up to all sorts of fun that I haven't mentioned lately, so let me fill you in.

We went to the Iowa State Fair. This was the Dan Gilbert family's sixth annual trip. Harrison might sum it up by saying "Hot, hot, hot," which is what he's learned to say whenever we walk outside these days. And it was hot, but also fantastic. I didn't partake in nearly as many festivities as usual (I spent most of my time at base camp--Grandma and Grandpa Griffth's camper), but it was more than worth it to see Dan helping Harrison discover the wonders of the fair. In anticipation of the heat, I buzzed H-man's head and pronounced it "fair hair," but I like it short so much, I just might do it again.

Harrison was just as happy at the camper as he was down seeing the sights. My parents brought up all kinds of play farm equipment for him to play with and my sweet Grandma Griffith had a special peice of astro-turf just for him. He was so pleased. It's 106 degrees out here? Puh-lease, people. I've got tractors to move.

We also went boating with Michael and Jessica and their darling Clayton. When Michael told me he wanted to spend all day on the water, I kind of laughed at him and said we'd give it a try, but that I didn't think we'd last that long without a nap for Harrison. There was something magical about the boat and whenever we were driving fast, it just lulled him into this zone. He would just cuddle in my arms and enjoy the wind on his face. It was so fun. We did a lot of swimming and Dan even took to the tube with our little man. I was proven wrong about the whole nap thing. When Harrison got tired, I just suggested to him to lay down on a big deflated tube with a blanket on it and he did it without a word. I was flabbergasted.

I have more I could update right now, but I have the feeling that I might be taking this pre-sunrise opportunity a few more times in the next couple weeks. So I'll leave it for now.

The Blog of a Potty Trainer: Day One

I'm taking a quick respite from all the other things I SHOULD be blogging about to chronicle our potty training adventures. After urging from our pediatrician and a nagging feeling of desperation that I may never have a spare moment to work one-on-one with Harrison until he's twelve after the baby gets here, I decided to give it a go. So here's how it went:

10:46 am After vowing to purchase big-boy pants "first thing" in the morning, I emerge from Target with a 7-pack of Elmo training pants. Harrison chose them and he is pleased.

11:51 am We arrive back at the house after running a few other errands. Training pants are put on. I decide to attire him in a t-shirt and underwear only so I have a better view of what's going on. We hang out in the bonus room (that was for you, Kent) watching a newly rented Sesame Street video, reading newly checked out books, and building with our blocks. I'm reticent to let him take a nap till "something" happens.

1:17 pm "Something" happens. I'd been trying to keep Harrison on or very close to me so I would be aware of new moisture, but I let him crawl into the tent we have set up and in less than a minute he pokes his head out and says, "Uh-oh....potty." I guess it was kind of fortunate because the puddle he was standing in was very easy to clean up on the water-resistant tent floor.

1:30 pm I put H-man down for a nap, in dry Elmos.

3:20 pm He wakes up in wet Elmos. Unhappy and possibly embarrassed. I tell him it's okay that he wet the bed, but he doesn't seem to believe me. We put on another pair of Elmos.

4:55 pm I'm keeping H-man pretty much on my lap, reading books and waiting. The phone rings, I let him wander for like, two minutes while I'm on the phone, and before I know it, he's in another puddle. This time we're down stairs, so it's nice to just clean up the wood floor.

5:16 pm I'm giving him lemonade and juice to drink to keep the fluids flowing. Some more flowed, this time while he was in the garage, and he came running in to tell me with it flowing down his leg. We have yet to get any of this fluid into a potty.

5:51 pm One more small wet mess. We're running out of Elmos. I'm getting a little frustrated. He doesn't seem to be concerned about telling me anthing until after the fact. When it's on my floor. I decide that we're done for the day and put him in a diaper.

6:19 pm We're just finishing dinner and Harrison grabs his diaper and says "Pooh" which is what he's taken to saying every time he wets his Elmos. I ask him if he's peeing and he says, "Yes," so I tell Dan to get him on the pot ASAP. This time something is different. I'm not sure he had peed at all in his diaper, or just saved some, but HE PEED IN THE TOILET! Yeah! Mom and Dad spaz out, H-man is proud, and Dora gummies are rewarded to the little man.

8:11 pm I return from tutoring to find both of my guys waiting for me on the front porch. While I'd been gone, Harrison had had ANOTHER successful go at the potty without doing any in his diaper first at all. He was so proud of himself.

And that's all I've got for today. I have no idea if any of this will carry over to tomorrow or if we'll have a lot of backsliding. Whatever it turns out to be, it was interesting and kind of fun. Wish us luck tomorrow. I've got to go wash all the Elmos.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens....

A few things that are making me smile these days:

1. Harrison will be working (it really seems closer to that than playing) with his assorted vehicles and roadways. He must have some definite action in his mind that he wants played out. As he moves things around and arranges them, he softly mutters, "Okay, 'kay....'kay...." It's very intense.
2. He has begun calling Dan "Owie Face" when we do our family kisses at night. It makes me feel very womanly and feminine that my cheek feels so much softer than Dan's.
3. We talk a lot in the course of a day. I didn't realize how much until Dan started commenting about it when we were in the car. We started timing him, and Harrison couldn't go more than 14 seconds without calling out, "Mommy--mommy--mommy!!" until I answered him. He did make one 40 second stretch, but that was only because I was already talking to him during that interval. It's maddening but sweet. I promise--I am not exaggerating on the numbers I quoted you. This is my life.
4. Harrison is starting to do more and more phrases instead of single words. My favorite new one is "Stinky Toes," which comes out clear as a bell.
5. We have pottied twice on the potty! He goes days without any interest, but we're feeling semi-successful about it when he does want to sit down and have a go at it. Rock on.
6. I can't believe I haven't mentioned it before now, but we are officially BINKY-FREE. This momentous event happened while we were in Michigan. I'm glad I've got some time for him to get used to this before the little one arrives, who might be using binkies of his own.
7. Our garage sale last weekend went fantastically and I'm feeling nicely decluttered.
8. I just today finished my first scrapbook ever. I bought a pretty expensive one about four years ago and have been lugging it and assorted supplies from one place to the next. I used it to chronicle Dan and I's first year and a half together. Good times. That was back when we used to take pictures of each other instead of the little man.
9. In the past two days, I've recieved two baby gifts--both adorable baby boy blankets. This makes me happier than you can possibly know because I didn't get a one when I had Harrison and I didn't buy any either. That means I used vintage ones my mom gave me and a borrowed one from my sister. Yeah for baby blankets!

I didn't mean to ramble on and on. Who would have thought I'd have nine happy moments to gush about? Since I made it this far, I think I'll just round it out to an even ten....

10. Danny made fresh salsa/bean deliciousness tonight using Brit's recipe (holla, holla!) and then let me eat it as my one and only course for dinner. Mmmm.

The Alien Rash

So, I was at Publix (only the best grocery store EVER) this afternoon with Brit and Hunter (and H-man of course). It was a fantastic trip. Shopping truly is a pleasure at Publix. Harrison and Hunter sat side-by-side in one of those race-car carts and seemed to really enjoy the experience. They screamed and squealed like girls together just to see how many looks they could get. They plastered kisses on one another. They each partook in the fabulous Cookie Club. Brit and I were mistresses of efficiency, getting the things we needed in record time, finding great coupons, all the while keeping the boys happy and entertained.

Sigh. Those kind of trips make you feel like a maternal success.

Then something weird happened. As we were loading the boys into the car, Brittany noticed a strange swollen ring of welts on little Hunter's wrist. She said that earlier he'd had a couple spider bites there, so were were alarmed with the bizarrely precise nature of this rash. It was the epidermal equivalent to crop circles. We hurried home so that Brittany could get Hunter into the doctor and have this malady diagnosed.

Is everyone ready for this? How many of you have guessed it? The idea was just too horrifying for us to have considered, but I'm ready to face it now. That's right. My little sweetie had at some point in our excursion tried to bite Hunter's arm off. He was only successful in leaving a red, raised tattoo of each and every one of his teeth. Not a mother's proudest moment. Unless you count the fact that he has great, evenly spaced teeth.

I'm including a picture, but you must believe me that the marks are much darker than the camera showed.

As a bonus, I'm throwing in a pic from later in the evening when we were babysitting our little friend, Jake. Harrison was being sweet and giving Jake a ride down our driveway. Dan was so proud that he decided to capture the moment with his camera phone. Trouble is, there's a little lag with that and we ended up getting the next moment, which wasn't quite as sweet.

Poor kid, he never saw it coming.

Have you finished yet?

Okay, the last Harry Potter has been out for almost 48 hours now. Can I safely assume we've all read it? If you haven't, you're missing out. Sadly, Dan and I opted out of the midnight book release party this year (being parents automatically makes you lame) and so we weren't able to pick it up till Saturday morning. We got our little family all dressed and ready to go and drove up to Cool Springs (about a 25 minute drive) and . . . they didn't open till nine. We had to kill some time, but it was fun to see such a big rush for it the following morning. I guess I figured all the diehards had got it the night before, but there was a huge line that we had to wait in.

I'd recently been talking with my sister-in-law Jamie about all the great "communities" she's a part of or interested in. It made me feel like I didn't have any interests that I was exploring well enough, but seeing everybody at Borders do this up-and-down look as they take in your anxious grasp of your long-awaited copy of the final HP tome and knowing that we'd all be cracking it open before we even got out of the parking lot made me feel a little better. I'm part of a community too. Just one that likes to picture themselves apparating wherever they need to go.

Anyway, loved the book.

We saw a black bear!

Okay, maybe not this particular bear, but on our trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, somebody who looked a lot like this ran in front of our car. For an Iowa girl like me, it was a very exciting experience. I had no idea they ran so fast. Our own little Baby Bear had so much fun on the trip--especially doing anything that involved playing in sand. Luckily, that was pretty often. We went to an air show on the beach in Traverse City, climbed up the sand dunes on the shores of Lake Michigan in Leelanau County, and played in the sand in Grandma and Grandpa Gilbert's backyard.

Harrison loved the air show. And whenever he got bored, he'd throw sand in his hair till something big and loud came by overhead.
We visited Tahquamenon Falls up by Whitefish Point, but H-man was entirely too tuckered out to really enjoy those natural wonders.

Gift shops were more his style anyway. Lots of toys to play with.

Other highlights of the trip included Mom taking Jamie and I out for facials, manicures, and pedicures. Talk about pampering! Grandpa, Abe, and Dan took Walker and Harrison for at least half a day for us to be able to do that and it was fantastic. Thank you, Doris!

We also got to see (part of) the cabin up in Paradise, Michigan where Dan spent so many summer days at when he was a kid. I think he really enjoyed showing Harrison around his old stomping ground.

When we got home, we had THE GARDEN to face. It was really jungle-y and kind of scary. Japanese beetles took over some of the corn, and that's just gross. I'm determined to be a little more un-organic next year and anyone who has a problem with it can just tell me they'd rather be sharing their food with all those nasty beasts.

Check out a sampling of our harvest today. Yes, that's a pumpkin. Anyway--butternut squash....any ideas for using huge amounts of it?

Oh! and a big welcome to Mom and Dad Gilbert to the blogging world. Check them out in my list of Cool People.

Garden Pride or Garden Panic?

I love putting in the garden. I could putt all day. Except for the middle part when it's beastly hot. But I like the watering, the light weeding, the picking of a nice little bit of produce. I even like picking beans. Really. And the snapping is fun too. Harrison and I have a system where I take the ends off and then hand the bean to him and he grunts and bends it till it breaks in half. But my pleasure has mutated to something close to panic right now. As I was out picking beans and watching Dan pick tomatoes from our eight plants (what was I thinking) I found myself wording an email to my neighbors in my head asking them to please come relieve us of some of these vegetables. The corn has just come in and it's delicious! But there's a lot of it. As I write this, Harrison is out eating raw corn on the cob and strolling the rows. Don't even get me started on the zucchini and cucumbers. My zucchini bread loaf count is currently an even 20, with enough shredded for the next batch of four loaves awaiting me in the fridge. See how easy it is to get feeling overwhelmed? I've got no time for blogging, people; I'm baking bread with homegrown vegetables here!

So, if anyone who's reading this is within visiting distance...we've got vegetables.

Memorial Day

Bob, Doris, Lauren, Jamie, and Walker all came down to visit for Memorial Day weekend and we had so much fun. Dan and Lauren redid the landscaping out front and it looks fabulous. Walker and Harrison had a pool party with Hunter. And about 40 games of Scrabble were played. Lauren continues to defy all odds by losing the majority of games, but whenever "The Title" is on the line, he pulls it out and wins. If you could only use that random talent to somehow make money, Lauren.... Speaking of which, I should draw everyone's attention to the newest addition to my list of Cool People. Lauren started a blog so we can all keep up with him while he's in Egypt this summer. I'm sure it will be packed with details of his travels and maybe a little Scrabble wisdom for us poor souls who do not currently hold "The Title."

Sorry if this sounds rushed; I just wanted to get a couple of pics up before we left for Gatlinburg tomorrow.

Defying all known rules concerning Pringles and keyboards

The boys of summer

Popsicles and naked babies just go together, right?

Dan's sweet landscaping

Sharing a popsicle with Mom

Where to go from here

Well, Dan and I did it. We've played the perfect game of Contra. That means no deaths, no mistakes, straight to "Alien's Lair" to take on the Vile Red Falcon. It's been a long time coming. We've been so close so many times, and now we've reached the pinnacle of everything we've worked for. It's almost a let down. What now? Does society have room for us? We've proven ourselves to be masters, and I'm not sure what to do now. Go ahead, be awestruck.

What we've been doing

Hey, no one can accuse Dan and Jen Gilbert of not keeping busy. Or at least not keeping Harrison busy. Sometimes I let a ton of stuff fall through the cracks without mentioning it, so I thought I'd treat you to a slide show of some of the stuff. I also stole a couple cute pictures of Walker and Harrison from Jamie's blog. Holla, girl! They are from last weekend when we went up for Walker's birthday. He's one! The bathtub shot is from one of two baths they took together in the course of like five hours. They sure know how to get dirty!

Too big for our britches...err...crib

When this little saga started about a week ago, I found it amusing and was turning over in my head how to most wittily blog it. Then things got not so funny....

One morning last week I went in to get Harrison out of bed. I'd heard him playing for a while in there. When I went in, the lamp on the other side of the changing table had been turned on. To appreciate what I'm talking about, you need to know how Harrison's room is set up. He has a crib with an attached changing table. Then there is a bed set up in the other corner, and there is a floor lamp next to the bed and fairly close to the changing table.

Anyway, when I came in first thing in the morning that lamp was on. Weird. You have to turn it on by hand and I couldn't understand why Dan would have turned it on when he put Harrison to bed the night before. Needless to say, I turned it off and Harrison and I started our day. Morning naptime rolled around and we were right on schedule. H-man took a great morning nap and I went in to get him after hearing him play in his crib for a while. The light was on again. Now I was stumped. I KNEW I had turned it off. After pondering for a while, I came to a conclusion that made me laugh: Harrison had to have climbed from his crib up onto the changing table, and then leaned over and turned the light on, and then climbed back down into his crib. It was the only possible solution and it seemed comically surreal to picture it happening.

That evening Dan was gone and I put Harrison to bed myself. When I walked out of the room, I felt a little uneasy, wondering if it was really possible that H-man had done the acrobatics I imagined him to have done. It's one thing to do that in the light of day, but what if he tried in the dark? I stood by the door for about a minute listening to him cry and then opened the door to peak in. There he was in a pitch dark room standing on top of that table! I was scared out of my wits.


Anyway, I'm making this longer then it needs to be. Here's what ended up happening:

• I didn't put Harrison back in his crib, but kept him up horribly late until he fell asleep in my bed.
• I made Dan lower the mattress about 3 inches to the lowest notch.
• We thought our problem was solved and went a day or two with no further incident.
• Then I walked in on Harrison playing on top of the table.
• We were in a quandry.
• Harrison fell off of the table onto his head and got rug burn on his face.
• Jamie gave me the idea of putting something big and heavy on the table so that there is no room for him to get onto the table in the first place.
• We put a big rubbermaid container of books there.
• There have been no further incidents.

And that's that.

Below I've recreated what I saw upon entering H-man's room the other day--

All crib items dumped on the floor (this is customary)

An empty crib

A busy boy

Our little one

Well, we had the big doctor's appointment on Tuesday and now know a little more about the person making a home inside of me. Harrison is pleased to announce that he is preparing to train up his little brother with all the good things he needs to know. Like how to get so much nasty sand up your diaper that Daddy finally yells out for Mom in frustration in the middle of a diaper change. So, yes, it's a BOY!

We're so excited! It makes things seem a little more real now that we have an idea of who is in there. We're still not sure at all about names, so if anyone has any suggestions, we'd love to hear'em. I'm the kind of person who likes to figure the name out soon, because I like to talk to him and call him by his name.

If you're doubting whether we're 100% sure about the sex, I've included a pretty incriminating shot of our little man. The ultrasound tech was so excited; she said she hadn't seen such a good shot of "the little turtle" in a long time. Dan is proud.

How I found the binkies

People are inspired in strange ways. I'm not talking about spiritual inspiration, but more like the way you feel after watching Rocky or The Biggest Loser. I get that kind of inspiration when I read any of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books. I know, it's weird. I also know that they're for children. I can't even lump them into the Adolescent Lit genre that I still justify reading "in case I go back to teaching, I'll know what's out there." Right. Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl, and Lemony Snickett just rock. That's why I read them.


So anyway, in the last week/week and a half, I've read: Little House in the Big Woods, On the Banks of Plum Creek, By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, and then this morning I read These Happy Golden Years. Laugh if you must, but I can't hide how much I like these books. As a result of reading so much in such a short time, I keep finding myself thinking about how Ma and Pa and Laura would respond in my situation and what they would say about my work ethic and house cleaning habits.


And that brings us to how I have found two lost binkies in the last week. One came when I was doing an extra thorough sweeping (with a store-bought broom, nonetheless--no homemade hickory one for me) and found Harrison had hid one in a never-used trashcan that slides under his little table. My really exciting find came when I was doing a random vacuuming and organizing of my utility closet and found one amongst extra vacuum attachments. If I hadn't been reading Laura Ingalls, I don't think I would have found that till Harrison was well done with the bink.


So thank you, Laura. You are an amazing woman that led an amazing life. I got butterflies when I read about Almonzo proposing to you this morning. You deserve such a man.


Here's a pic of Harrison enjoying the newly-reacquired binkies (note the smokin' hot haircut):

Downtown

Super quick, I just wanted to get this down so I can come back and remember this morning. Harrison and I were playing and wrestling on my bed, and I had the oldies radio station turned on fairly loud. We were hiding in the blankets and sheets and laughing pretty hard. The song "Downtown" was on and whenever the lady would sing it (she sings it a lot in the song) Harrison would yell after her, "Down-Down!" He had this little staccato pause between the syllables. It made me laugh and him too. Afterward, when we were both lying there catching our breath, Harrison would every once in a while giggle and softly say, "Down-Down." I love being a mom.

Dan's shoutout!

This is a great video that reminded me of my youth. Also, this is my first blog update ever. Notice it has nothing to do with my family and Harrison still likes me more than he likes his mom!!!! Just kidding. But seriously, he is a daddy's boy and likes me the most. Just kidding. But seriously......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMR7veI78f8

Does it get any better than this?

I've been feeling more blessed than ever lately with the weather getting so nice. It makes parenting a lot easier somehow; Harrison loves exploring outside and I just look on to make sure he doesn't fall in a ditch or anything. That's right--you can call me SuperMom. (Note that I didn't say a word about making sure he didn't swallow any big rocks...I like to pick my battles.)

So twice last week we went on morning walks with Britt and Hunter down to see the horses. We even brought carrots with us the second time. They were the kind of postcard-perfect kind of walks where you wouldn't change an element of the weather or your surroundings. It was really fun.

I keep getting surprised by how big H-man is. He insisted on standing on the fence on his own and he did a pretty good job. He even managed to give the mule and horse some baby carrots without losing any fingers.

Fortunately, Britt is a much better documenter than me, so I have video and some sweet pics to always remember those mornings.