Mini-feed

Do any of you have Facebook? They have this thing called the mini-feed that summarizes any activity over the last few days. I have not taken any pictures, but here is our mini-feed at the Tompkins house:

1.Jen got her hair cut short. Oh yes. Too late to go back now. Pictures to come.
2.Carson got to go to the Aviation Museum with Gma Tompkins. (It's the one in McMinville that has the Spruce Goose.) He liked it a lot.
3.Jen got sick with a stomach bug. So many things about this pregnancy are not new, because I experienced them a few years ago. However, being queasy and nauseous AND having a 4/5 pound human doing somersaults in your stomach while trying not to vomit was a new (and not favorable, I might add) sensation.
4. Sydney's room got painted. Trent and I were going to prime it on Wednesday night, which happened to be when I was sickest, so sweet husband pretty much did the whole thing. Then Gma Jo came over on Thursday to paint with me. I was better, but not all the way better (plus, you know, huge, tired and with a lousy center of gravity) so Jo did most of the work. Holla to mom and hubby for taking the bulk of that job. Also, pictures of this will be delayed until we can decorate a little bit more. Let's just say, the PINK we thought was "light" pink, turns out to be burn-your-retina-Pepto-pink. We need to tone it down with some furniture, curtains and wall-hangings.

I'll try to get some real pictures up soon for those who don't look at the blog without them. Then again, those people probably didn't even get this far. Trent? Howie?

Looking back...

I was a good girl and backed up dozens of pictures of Carson's first 9 months of life onto a CD that is catalogued away. They are also on our old laptop. But I came across most of them on a thumb drive yesterday and had a blast looking through pictures I haven't seen in a long time. Also, it reminded me I need to be a good girl again and back up all the more recent pics!

Here he is at about 3/4 months. 5 months
6 months
9 months

Dance Fever

One of our favorite reality shows is back on, as of last night: So You Think You Can Dance. We started watching it a couple years ago and got addicted the year Benji won. Last year we were even more diligent about watching it, and even got Carson liking it b/c he would dance along. Of course there will be a couple weeks of the try-outs, where they'll show wonderful and horrible dancers, but when it gets down to the final 20, look out! It's awesome. They don't look for people who can sing or act AND dance, they don't look for celebrities to learn, they just look for really, really good dancers. And DANG, they are good. I highly recommend you check it out.

Oh, the TRAUMA

Carson's hair was getting really long and hard to manage. I like a little bit of big boy hair--I mean, it took 2 years for him to have ANY--but I thought maybe it was time for a short, low-maintenance, summer cut. My mom has usually cut his hair, and it's not always been a breeze. So, I suggested I'd like her to try using the clippers (electric razor thing) instead of scissors. It will be easier and quicker, RIGHT? Carson will think it's cool, RIGHT? Here's a little video Grandpa made of how UNcool he thought it was. We even gave him a tray full of magnets to play with AND a popsicle. No dice. 2 disclaimers. First, just so you know, we DID let him look at the clippers, touch them, feel them, see how they worked on grandpa, etc. We didn't just spring it on them. And it didn't hurt him--even though he thought it did. Second, I have a hard time watching myself in this video because while I'm SO HUGE! I think the extra chin is emphasized when wrestling a crying kid into your lap. OK, I just had to get that out. Pity party over. Five more weeks. Come on, Sydney!

Strange, Hot Days; Great Husband

So. We don't have AC. These last 2 hot days were strange for us, especially last night and today. The day went well yesterday. Daddy had bought a $10 kiddie pool that we played in and stayed pretty cool. But when evening came, the heat was just draining every ounce of energy I had, and swelling my phalanges to an unacceptable size. Trent and his dad were sweating like crazy trying to install a stubborn ceiling fan in our room (which included several trips to the even HOTTER attic.) So, the evening was already a little draining. Carson's had a little cough for a few days, but nothing serious. Then last night before bed it got bad. It was a hacking, persistent, borderline barking cough. I wanted to give him something, but keep hearing about NOT giving cough meds to toddlers, so I held off. We did our nighttime ritual, a little later than normal because of the heat, and when Trent went in to lay down and say goodnight, Carson coughed so hard that he gagged and puked all over Trent, his bed and....Minkee. CRAP! (Trent can be cleaned, we have more sheets, but Carson hasn't slept without Minkee in like a year and a half.)

So, we were all up for another 25 minutes cleaning up and comforting and giving water, etc. Carson thought it was all great fun. He was jumping on his bed--if he was sick it was news to him! The coughing went on into the night, waking him (and us) up many times. We took turns staying with him, trying to get him to go back to sleep and explain that Minkee is still taking a bath. Between about 2-3:30, I was in there with him trying to do something to comfort him. I finally got up to look for some kind of medication--ignoring warnings--because it was so bad. But it didn't seem to help. Trent heard me and relieved me about 3:30. Around 4:45, I heard commotion and lights popping on, and sure enough, Carson had gagpuked again--ALL OVER Trent and himself. More lights on, all of us wide awake, finding new blankets/sheets, Trent showering, etc. We had to make a decision--who was going to stay home from work to be with this kid and take him to the dr? Well, if I don't work, I don't get paid, but Trent has sick time, so he got picked. So, he stayed up longer with Carson (getting mildly puked on a THIRD TIME) and I went back to sleep for about 45 minutes and then got up to teach all day. How I lucked out to miss the vomit all three times is just a mystery. :)

The doc thinks it is a virus, but also thinks that Carson has signs of asthma, so now he has an inhaler. I had a special treat for him at bath time tonight...some special bath ducks that I got as a shower gift last weekend. Sydney doesn't mind sharing. :) I think these are dark enough to spare Carson from over-exposing himself to you viewers. As you can see, he is not acting sick in the least!

Oh, PS...the teacher I subbed for was pretty lazy with his plans. Although only ONE of the classes was "film as lit," I watched the last half of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and the first half of The Scorpion King (with The Rock) THREE TIMES. If anyone can tell me how the Scorpion King relates to American Lit, I'm all ears. Also, if you want to guarantee a room full of 35 sophomores will start talking, eating, texting or listening to their iPods, turn the lights out and put a movie on. It's fanTASTic.

Stickers

Especially on the evenings after I've been subbing all day, I'm particularly fond of finding a game which does NOT involve me getting up. This is one Carson came up with a couple weeks ago.

Reunion!

This last weekend, my mom's side of the family gathered for a reunion of sorts. My Uncle John and Aunt Marilyn, who have been ministering in Southern Asia for over 30 years, were in the states so that John could receive and honorary doctorate from his alma mater. This momentous occasion brought out the fam, including their two kids (my cousins) and their spouses, and aunts, uncles, cousins and second cousins. It was a blast seeing everyone again and catching up. Over the few days, both Jack and Carson had a chance to charm their new "friends" (as Carson calls them) and get lots of attention. Plus, my parents' new deck got a good workout!

The NAME game

Choosing a name for your child is a huge deal. It is the first major part of their identity, and even though they have no say in the matter, they have to live with it the rest of their lives! Some friends we know have their children's names picked out years before they even conceive, and gladly announce it to the world. Others in our inner circle have chosen to keep the name a secret as an extra special something to look forward to on the baby's birth day. There are fun things about both methods. With Carson, we had it narrowed down to four names by summer (Spencer, Chase, Morgan & Carson), then 2 names by September (Morgan and Carson). I really liked the nickname "Mo." We honestly didn't decide (although others thought we did and kept it secret) until about September 20, and he was born on the 22.

This time our tastes had changed a bit, so Morgan and Chase were out. (I still liked Chase, but Trent vetoed.) Some parents choose names with a purpose: they find a name with a deep meaning, or all Bible names, or all President names, or all K or J names. We go for names that we like and that are cool! How's that for superficial?! (We do try to throw in a family name if possible.) For some reason, it's also important to me that the name not be extremely popular. I frequently checked the Social Security website of most popular baby names for last year. (This probably stems from having one of the THE most common names of my generation. But, I'm not bitter, Mom. ) In the Top 50 is OK; top 10 is not. In '05, Carson was 89th. Perfect. And lastly, this time I wanted a name that did not end with "n" like Carson. (Or Ethan or Nathan or Braden or Hayden.) Something different.

I feel like choosing a name is such a big decision that I don't like to rush it. Trent was the opposite, and wanted to nail down a name as soon as possible, so we could start calling the kiddo by name. The weeks before we found out the gender, he was really getting down to business. Each night he would sit in bed with the name book and a highlighter, throwing ideas out at me while I tried to fall asleep. He thought it would be fun to announce the sex of the baby AND the baby's name at the same time, but that was too soon for me. To me, it feels like choosing a wedding dress. It is such an important decision, and there are so many options, that I don't want to have months to sit around and wonder if I made the right decision, thinking of other good options.

If it was a boy, our top names were Spencer, Brody, Max & Sawyer. Yes, Sawyer. Trent was really into that one. We actually decided on Brody, but that point was moot because it was a girl, and I was not ready to pick a girl name. But over the last couple of months, we widdled down our list. Some girl names we liked: Reese, Paige, Sydney, and even our joke-name Phoebe made it on the list after I met some really cute little Phoebe's and my aunt informed me that it was my great-great-grandmother's name! For real! But once we told Carson what we were thinking and he started calling her by name, it was official. To celebrate the decision, we had it embroidered on her very own Mickey Mouse ears. So, for those who don't know, we are 99% sure (nothing's permanent until the birth certificate is signed) that our little gal's name will be....

Integrity

A friend of mine recently shared her family's motto (they are raising three boys):

Right is right--even when no one's doing it.

Wrong is wrong--even when everyone's doing it.

Not a bad concept to instill in our children.

Woop Woop!

Trent started running a couple years after we got married. He still insists he is not "serious" about it--even saying he's doesn't want the title of runner. Well, this weekend he completed his NINTH marathon, and we were discussing how many he needs to run before he accepts the title. He has run Portland 3x, Newport 2x, Eugene 2x and LA. Since he began, his goal was to break the 4 hour mark--the elusive personal record had escaped him each time for different reasons. Well, all his training paid off and everything was working in his favor this Sunday, and he beat his own record and made it in at 3:54! If you look really closely on this pic, you can see his blue shirt and the clock. I'm so proud of him! Special thanks to Jim, Mike and Jo, who came along on the trip and were an incredible help to me and Carson and a great support to Trent. (These pics are from Jim's camera.)

Yeah me!

I forgot to mention that this weekend at the beach I got on a bike for the first time since being pregnant. It was kind of an experiment, because I wasn't sure how I would do with an extra 25-30 pounds and having my center of gravity greatly altered. But I did it! Tonight we went on another bike ride. Now, granted, I was huffing and puffing and my hubby Lance was cruising past me, even with the extra weight of the kid trailer, but I was proud of myself for just getting out there and doing it--even for a comparitively short ride. When we are on a flat path, it is actually kind of nice. I think because I feel like a house, things like getting up and down and walking are uncomfortable. But being on the bike, it was my legs that hurt--and that's the same as before I was pregnant, so, if it makes sense, it helped me feel NOT pregnant for a little bit. But in this picture, I chose the universal-hold-the-tummy-so-you-know-I'm-pregnant pose. The pic is not flattering, but I wanted proof.
Trent and Carson had fun too.