Potter Sighting #s 5, 6, & 7

I believe that I may have hit the **JACKPOT** this weekend with

The Harry Potter Challenge.

Potter Sighting # 5

Joey has a few interesting faces that he can make. This one is his typical, "I am making a funny face" look. Although, I must say, the black eyebrows go great with his red goatee!!

Potter Sighting # 6

Beth has been pretty excited about participating in The Harry Potter Challenge ever since its inception. I'm pretty sure that she has contemplated the several different varieties that this picture could have been taken. She may have even practiced. I'd have to say, even with her short hair being somewhat like Harry Potter's, this one takes the cake! I love how the eyebrow hangs over her profile like an old man's mustasche!!

Potter Sighting # 7

Oh, Cody! We love you, boogie! Cody got a haircut yesterday, so it's likely that he looks completely different now. I will get another picture tonight, and see what you all think. We're SO HAPPY that Cody is here for the summer!

Previous Potter Sightings

Potter Sighting #s 1, 2, & 3

Potter Sighting # 4

Pics For Babby

Here are some pictures for you, Patti. They aren't that fantastic, but hopefully, they will work. If not, we will have to take some phenomenal pictures for you when we visit on the 8th!!!

Better get ready for The Harry Potter Challenge because it's coming your way! Bart Beware!

Week 18

Rebekah's Update for Week 18:

We celebrated Rusty's 37th birthday this weekend. His birthday is actually today, but it worked out that Rusty was out of town picking up Cody for the summer (woo hoo!!), so we were able to get everything together for a "surprise dinner". It wasn't necessarily a "Surprise Party", but Rusty was surprised (and relieved) that he didn't have to cook dinner - Joey cooked his infamous lasagna! I must say, it was quite possibly, the very best lasagna that I have ever tasted.


One issue with this pregnancy that I have not mentioned before is that I have a serious issue with high quantities of dairy products. I guess it goes back to "every pregnancy is different", but good grief. Anyone who knows me well knows that dairy is by far, my most favorite of the 5 food groups! I don't think that Joey's lasagna alone contributed to my all night vomiting stint on Saturday night. I think the combination of the dairy in the lasagna and the dairy in the most fabulous birthday cake that Mom brought over for Rusty's birthday made my stomach ache like it had never ached before and ultimately come back up. Poor Rusty stayed up with me nearly all night long giving me a wet hand towel and rubbing my back. I was miserable. I woke up Sunday morning and looked at my face. Busted blood vessels ALL around my eyes and down the side of my face! Blah! I really worked hard Saturday night apparently.


For the record, this is the first time that I have vomited with this pregnancy; hopefully the last! I vomited three times with Rachel and was fortunate enough to get away with no vomiting while I was pregnant with Sam.


Other than Saturday night, Week 18 was relatively uneventful! We had a doctor's appointment last week. As I suspected, it was also uneventful. We did, however, schedule the ultrasound! I think that I have family members more excited than I am to find out what this baby is going to be! I have often wondered why people don't take the opportunity to find out what the sex of the baby is going to be. To me, it's the best way to plan! They say, "We want to be surprised" and all, but aren't you just as surprised when you find out earlier? I guess I'll never know. I've known the sex of all the past kids. I'm not about to change that. Not to mention, if this one is a girl, I have a ton of shopping to do!


The ultrasound is scheduled for July 15th. Two days from when we get back from vacation! (Which, by the way, starts in 4 days!!!!!!!)

**WARNING TO THE SQUEAMISH**

-This quite possibly is too much information for you-

This is the update from the Website: Week 18

Your Baby's Development
Ears move to their final position and they stand out from the head. And start brushing up on your lullabies — in the coming weeks, your baby will probably be able to hear! The bones of the middle ear and the nerve endings from the brain are developing so that your baby will hear sounds such as your heartbeat and blood moving through the umbilical cord. He or she may even be startled by loud noises! Your baby's eyes are also developing — they're now facing forward rather than to the sides, and the retinas may be able to detect the beam of a flashlight if you hold it to your abdomen.
Until now, your baby's bones had been developing but were still soft. This week, they begin to harden, or ossify. Some of the first bones to ossify are those in the clavicles and the legs.

Your Body
You're probably beginning to prepare for life with baby. Your preparations should extend beyond gathering the layette and decorating the nursery, though. This is a good week to begin your search for a pediatrician or other health care provider for your child. Schedule visits to meet with potential doctors to discuss issues such as appointment availability, immunization scheduling, and when to call in an emergency. You'll also want to learn as much as you can about their practices and procedures.
Some good questions to ask: How many health care providers are in the practice? Who covers nights and weekends? What is their policy on phone calls? Which hospitals are they affiliated with? What insurance do they accept? What specialists do they work with? How are emergencies handled?
It's important that you feel comfortable with your child's doctor, so do your homework and make your decision carefully.

The Faces of Sam

Sam is in to making all kinds of unsual faces. These are the few that I could get him to do for the camera before he became suddenly shy!!

The "Peek-a-Boo" Pose

The "Squishy Face" Pose

The "Home Alone" Pose

The "I Can't See You" Pose

The "I Have No Idea Where He Gets This" Pose

Potter Sighting # 4

The Harry Potter Challenge continues...

I've been successful in getting the immediate family to cooperate with me on The Harry Potter Challenge (Potter Sighting #s 1, 2, & 3).

Here's one of the more hilarious pictures of my Mom that I believe I have ever seen.

Potter Sighting #4

More to come!

Potter Sighting #s 1, 2, & 3

Naturally, the first Harry Potter Sightings should be my immediate family. What a great start to The Harry Potter Challenge.

Potter Sighting #1Rusty is NEVER silly for the camera, and if he is, it never seems to turn out this well. Take this one, and cherish it, my friends, because it's quite possibly the last time that we will see this out of him!!!

Potter Sighting #2

You don't have to worry about Rachel being camera shy! She loves to have her picture taken...for any reason...at any time! She made me take this one over and over again because it wasn't "just right"!

Potter Sighting #3

What a mess, this guy! He actually "looks" a lot like what a Potter should look like!

3 Potter Sightings down...Only 22 to go!

Wakulla

Our family LOVES to swim! It's in our blood! Usually, we go swimming at Joey's (my nephew), but every now and then we venture out to Wakulla Springs.

Wakulla Springs is a crystal clear swimming spot that stays 69 degrees year round. It has a two story dive platform, two floating docks, and a beach with all kinds of interesting rocks and shells. Two years ago (I think) we were swimming within 10 feet of a manatee the size of a Mini Cooper! There are thousands of alligators, turtles, etc., but they steer clear (typically) of the swimming area. The swimming area is at the mouth of the spring, so the alligators typically steer clear of all of the noise. There are Park Rangers on alert to chase the alligators off with the pontoon boats as well. Wakulla Springs was also the location that several popular movies have been made: Creature from the Black Lagoon, Tarzan, and Airport 77.

Rachel has only ever been to the Springs once (last year), and Sam doesn't remember all of the trips from last summer, so this visit was especially neat.

We were all sitting around Saturday morning, and the idea of going to Wakulla had been tossed around, but neither of us could make up out minds about going. Typically, we go VERY early morning to avoid all of the crowds. We finally made up our minds at 11:00 or so to go. I told Rachel to go get on her bathing suit, and as soon as Sam saw that Rachel was in her suit, the madness started.

"Wimming, wimming!" Sam shouted. He started bouncing around the house in a frantic state. He had to go "wimming" and he had to go NOW!

We loaded up the car, dragged Beth out of bed, and went to Wakulla.

I later told Rusty that this was the best trip to Wakulla yet. The kids had an absolute BLAST, and it was SO neat to be able to watch them experience the newness of Wakulla! We will definitey be going back many times this summer.

On the way to the Springs, Rusty rolled all of the windows down, and this is what happens to Rachel's hair when it meets wind!!!

Sam's "Pidermun" float - a wonderful $4.00 investment!
Notice how clear the water is...

The Bucket! We need to get another one (for each kid).Rachel & Sam made "soup" out of mud, water, and rocks.


Rusty playing with the kids...

Week 17

Rebekah's update for Week 17:
So far, Week 17 has been...interesting...

I swear that I felt the baby growing this week. There was a heck of a lot more "pulling" sensations going on, but on the bright side, I did sleep so much better this week than I have in the last 3 months!!

I am convinced that I felt the baby move last night. Rusty thinks that I am losing my mind. He's probably right. I was in that stage of sleep where everything around you seems to be extremely loud, and then...you pass out. He says that I was having one of my infamous "falling off of a cliff" dreams, but I beg to differ. I'm pretty sure the baby moved.

There are a few weird side effects of being pregnant that I have forgotten over time. I am having some seriously weird dreams, and I seem to sneeze around 30 times a day. Normally, I sneeze once a week, if that.

I go to the doctor today. I am pretty sure that this one is relatively uneventful, if my memory serves me correctly. I imagine that I will no doubt be having some more lab work done in the very near future (Yee Haw).

I will update everyone on the doctors appointment, if anything exciting happens.

**WARNING TO THE SQUEAMISH**
-This quite possibly is too much information for you-

This is the update from the website: Week 17

Your Baby's Development
At about 5.1 inches (13 cm) from crown to rump and weighing 4.9 ounces (140 grams), your baby is still very tiny.
The placenta, which nourishes the fetus with nutrients and oxygen and removes wastes, is growing to accommodate your baby. It now contains thousands of blood vessels that bring nutrients and oxygen from your body to your baby's developing body.




Your Body
You may notice that your breasts have changed considerably since your pregnancy began. Hormones are preparing your breasts for milk production — more blood is flowing to the breasts, and the glands that produce milk are growing in preparation for breastfeeding. This can increase your breast size (many women increase one to two cup sizes) and cause veins to become visible. Buy supportive bras in a variety of sizes to accommodate your breast growth during pregnancy.

The Harry Potter Challenge

I sometimes find random things in my house that I have no idea how they appeared or where they came from.

These are our "Harry Potter" glasses..if you were to ask me where they came from, I would simply look at you. I have no idea, but they sure have brought on some fun pictures.

I have decided to see how many people I can catch wearing the Harry Potter glasses throughout the summer. I'm thinking I can probably talk 25 people in to putting the glasses on and letting me take their picture, but we'll see. If I have to convince 25 people to do this, I have a lot of work to do.

Each post will be titled, "Potter Sighting #1, #2", and so on...I will not even count my picture as the first one.

Wish me luck!

Bang Bang!!

I'm not too thrilled that Sam already knows what a gun does. There are several things that are beneficial to Sam (and us, for that matter) from going to daycare. For example, he is singing his alphabet, and neither Rusty nor I taught it to him, the daycare will potty train him, and he gets a ton of time to build his social skills. It's unfortunate that I am not able to be there for him to teach him everything in life, but I imagine that it's more important to have food and electricity.

One night, Sam came up to Rusty and "shot him"! Sam said, "Bang!" and so naturally, Rusty played dead. I was mortified. But thinking about it over the last few days, I realized that I'm not going to be able to shelter him (obviously) from the world. We just have to be responsible parents...I get it!

So, here is Sam's version of playing dead. He is incredibly cute, I must admit. Notice that he closes his eyes when he "dies".

I can't wait for all of the new adventures to come!

Week 16

It's amazing!

I've done this "pregnancy thing" now three times, and I still find myself going to pregnancy websites...just to see where we're at. A lot of times, there is SO much information out there, that I just get overwhelmed and don't bother, but this seems to be a simple, to the point, website...which I greatly appreciate.

I'll give everyone a weekly update. I think it'd be neat to look back on this some day too. I truly believe that God created our minds to "block" out certain things, one of which being pregnancy and especially child birth! Although, it could easily be that my family are typically excellent "bottlers" when it comes to emotions, and it just runs in the genes!!! :)

Here is Rebekah's Update for Week 16:
Mom and baby are doing fine. I keep telling everyone that I think this one's gonna be a girl. I have said that from the beginning!! We are hoping for a girl, but whatever is in our plan, so be it. I'd be nice to be able to use Sam's clothes instead of buying all new stuff. Not only that, but they'll will be born in the right season too!!

I keep having this wonderful "pulling" sensation, which I conveniently remember (now that I am pregnant again) from the first two pregnancies. I have not been sleeping since I was about 2 months pregnant. I don't think that there has been a single night that I have made it all the way through. BLAH! At least, with Sam, I was able to sleep up until I was about 6 months pregnant! I have attributed this to my significant weight loss, but who really knows.

Rachel and Sam are doing great. Rachel is constantly trying to help me because she doesn't want me to have to do anything (I'll never argue with that)! She is convinced that if I do too much, that I could hurt the baby. She even wants to help me get up out of the chair. I am still VERY capable of this feat, but I'll humor her. It's so great to see how caring she really is. Every day she makes me smile. Sam is still to the point that he will randomly come up to me and rub my belly (even though it's not all that big), and say, "Mommy's baby". Hopefully, he'll adjust well to the new addition.

Rusty is, of course, wonderful. He is taking care of nearly everything. I have gotten better since the end of the first tri-mester, but there for awhile, he was cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, taking care of the kids, etc. I was no better than a bump on a log.

**WARNING TO THE SQUEAMISH**

-This quite possibly is too much information for you-

This is from the website: Week 16

Your Baby's Development:
Your baby now weighs about 3.9 ounces (110 grams) and measures about 4.7 inches (12 cm) in length from crown to rump. Your baby can hold his or her head erect, and the development of facial muscles allows for a variety of expressions, such as squinting and frowning.

"Oh, if only I were this skinny!" Rebekah seemed to say.

Your Body:
Between weeks 16 and 18 of pregnancy, your health care provider may offer you the maternal blood screening test, also known as a "triple marker" test or "triple screen," which measures the levels of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), a protein produced by the fetus, and the pregnancy hormones hCG and estriol in the mother's blood. The results of the triple marker test can tell moms whether their babies are at risk for (not whether they have) neural tube defects such as spina bifida or chromosomal abnormalities such as Down syndrome. Out of every 1,000 women who take the test, about 50 will have abnormal results, but only one or two women will actually have babies with a problem. Talk to your health care provider about the risks and advantages of this test.

Bowling 101

Ok. I can admit it. I am a grown up now, and my pride can be put on the back burners. It's cool. I get it. I understand. I'm not on a temper tantrum here or anything, but seriously? I AM the grown up here!!! I am quite possibly the most competitive person that I know next to Angel, and I think that we are real close when it comes to who wants to win the most!

My temper tantrum? I'll tell ya...

Rachel had a higher score than I did at our most recent trip to the bowling alley....on BOTH GAMES!!! Yes, she beat me!!!!

What's that about anyway? I blame beginners luck. That's got to be it. There's no way that she's that awesome...or am I just that bad?

One way or the other, here are some of the pictures of my demise. I hope you all enjoy them because it's, by far, the very last time that I will EVER admit defeat!

_______________________________________________________

Notice there are 10 pins up...

Now there appear to be 4...I just don't get it!!

Next thing you know, Sam will be beating me too!

This contraption is amazing. You just put the ball on it, and push!

Sam's favorite part of bowling? Waiting for the ball to come back! Every time, he would gasp as it appeared. It was hilarious!

Driving Miss Rachel

I love to sit and watch the kids use their imagination. This is their most recent adventure. I swear, I'm going to get them cardboard boxes for Christmas!!

Rachel and Sam sit side-by-side in their "car". They beep and honk at other "drivers". They steer the car. They even park the car and get out together. She'll get out and then get Sam out. Sam's too short to climb over the "car door" to get out. Rachel will get back in and then ask Sam to be a gentleman, and open the car door for her because she is a lady, and that's what men are supposed to do for ladies.

Every now and then, they get into an accident. "Don't worry, Mama. No one got hurt!" Rachel will say.

Every day it's a new adventure. Where will they go? Who will they visit? What will happen?

It's so funny looking at it from an adult perspective. I can remember doing that exact thing when I was a kid. What I don't remember though? I don't remember my parents watching us while thinking the same thoughts that I think now as a parent.

"I can't believe I'm a grown up. It doesn't seem but a few years ago when I was in that box with my brother. Yet, here I am...watching my kids do the exact things that I did as a child."

Wow!

Praying

Rachel's Prayer that she sings for each meal is quite interesting. She has been singing it for nearly a year now. A year ago, this weekend, will be the first time that she ever stayed at our house. It's hard to believe that it's already been a year.

In that year, Sammy has picked up on the prayer and has started to sing along. Occasionally, he peeks through one tightly squinted eye to see if anyone else is peeking. Here is the video of the kids' prayer before dinner.

God our Father, God our Father
We give thanks, We give thanks
For our many blessings, For our many blessings.
Amen, Amen.

Then at the end, they have somehow added, "God Bless the Cook! Aaaaaaa---Mennnnnn!!

Rusty swears that he didn't encourage it, but who really knows...

Enjoy!

Zoinks

A few weekends ago, Rusty and I decided that the kids had entirely too much energy. There is a place here in Tallahassee that is a room dedicated to those air bouncers that kids can get in and just go. Rachel had a blast, as usual. She is such a good sister. She helps Sam do all kinds of things that I am certain he would not do if it were completely up to him. She gives him a sense of confidence that a normal two year old shouldn't have. She's an amazing sister.

The hallway to the play area reminds me of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

This place is SO huge! I couldn't even begin to capture is size in a picture!!!

Aren't they just the cutest?

This was SO hard for Sam to do, but you could see the pride all over his face once he finally reached the top!!

Rach just bounced up the ladder like she had been doing this her whole life!

Rachel and Sam rode the ""Jet Ski". The odd look on Sammy's face is because the jet ski vibrates! Ha Ha!!

She's so cool!!

Sam's 1st ride on a Merry-Go-Round