Our 3 Days with Dreyfus... or James

Sunday we had a marvelous day working in the yard. Scott bought a lawn mower and other fun lawn stuff, so he worked on the grass while I worked on weeds (both in the grass and in our "flower" beds). Close to the end of the day I found a snake! I screamed at first b/c I could only see a little bit of it, and you never know what kind it will be, but on further investigation I realized it was a ringneck. (this is a very small and skinny black snake with a yellow ring around his neck. We used to catch these all the time growing up. I remember keeping them in a shoe box numerous times, to never see them again. Who knows how many of those things got loose in our house?) So I grabbed him real quick and started yelling at Will to come over. Scott started yelling that I had better not get bitten by a snake while I'm pregnant, so to be nice I gave it to him to hold while I ran to get the sand bucket. Will fell in love immediately. He first named him James. Scott informed him that his name would then be James James, and that was kind of silly, but Will liked it so it stuck. We put a bunch of dirt/mulch in the bucket for the evening. Our internet was out due to power outage, so we couldn't determine what it ate. When we got it back on the next day we googled ringnecks and found out that the big ones eat salamanders and smaller snakes, but the smaller ones like earthworms. So I went out that day and caught him 2 earthworms. Unfortunately he didn't eat either of them. I also caught him a few other bugs but he didn't eat those either. I was kind of scared he might die in that bucket before he ever ate.

Tuesday morning Will decided that his name would now be Dreyfus. That is the name of the snake we had growing up. He asks me all the time what our snake's name was, so he decided that was his new name. That day he got brave and started holding him all by himself. Kirstine then decided she could do it too, w/o my knowing. She came in yelling, "Mommy come! Mommy come!" I asked her what for, and she said, "come see snake! come see snake!" So I went outside to see what he was doing, and he was on the deck. So I picked him up and put him back in the bucket and told her she was NOT allowed to pick him up again.

After nap the first thing Will did was go outside to check on him, and once again held him for at least an hour. He ran in at one point upset b/c he also dropped him on the deck. Our deck is not a very nice one, and there are many places where the slats are not together. So where Will showed me he dropped him was right in a crack that he could have fallen through. I immediately ran under the deck to find him, but no luck. Will was bawling he was so sad he lost him. It was so cute and pathetic I felt so bad for him. So I was holding him and we came and sat down on his little table, and as I was holding him I saw the snake stuck in a different crack. I eventually got him out and all was well.

Until Wednesday morning. I knew there was a forecast for rain, so I came in to check the weather report online to see if we needed to bring the snake inside. Will opened the door to check on him and I saw the deck covered in water. I ran to check the bucket but all that was inside was a dead worm and mud. Who knows what happened to the snake? My thought was that its survival instincts cut in and he escaped when he had to. Scott thinks a bird or some other animal came down and ate him. Either way, we had a very depressing morning yesterday. Will sat in my lap and cried for about 30 minutes. It was sooo cute. Now he wants me to go back outside and find him again. Or to find another one. I've told him it's not that easy and I might never find another one. So sad. At least I got a few pictures and a video. Enjoy!

Baby Decisions

When Scott and I found out we were pregnant this time, we kind of both decided that we wanted to let the sex of this baby be a secret. For a lot of reasons, but mainly because we thought that since there was nothing else exciting going on (we didn't need to decorate a nursery, or buy clothes or any other baby items) we thought that not knowing would make it more exciting. Well, the truth is, it's much much worse. I'm definitely not agonizing over wanting to know what my baby is right this second like i was with both pregnancies, however it's still just different. Since we don't have all that other stuff to do, the baby almost gets ignored. Our life is so consumed by Will and Kirstine, it's just hard to sit around and get really excited about another baby coming. And slowly Scott and I have been thinking that maybe we do want to find out the sex. There are a lot of little things. We're a little tired of calling it an it. Some times Will calls it a boy, some times he calls it a girl. He changes his mind everyday about what he thinks it is. Yesterday in sunday school they prayed for another pregnant girl in our class and for "Noah" and it made me so jealous that she already knows her baby's name. I want to know my baby's name. I want to start getting to know it now. I feel like as long as you don't know the sex (and this is just for me) it's hard to really know the baby. But as soon as it has a name, there's just this huge connection that you get to form before the baby ever comes out. There is a baby inside me, and I want to meet him or her right now! I don't want to wait until it's in my arms physically. Another thing I realized recently: I had this great vision of being at the hospital and we deliver the baby, and Scott comes out into the waiting room and says, "It's a blank!" And everyone's excited. Then I realized that we don't live in Tampa anymore. Chances are there will be no one at the hospital but me and Scott. One of our mothers will come, but they'll probably be at home with Will and Kirstine at the time. So nix on that idea! For a while I was thinking that we'd have the doctor put it in an envelope for us, and as we get closer to the due date we'd find out (like maybe around 30 weeks). But now that just seems silly. If we're going to have a sonogram next week (April 2nd) and get it recorded on dvd (they are so high tech these days!) why should we not enjoy the sex identification at the same time?
So anyways, we are going to find out the sex of the baby at our sonogram next week. My appointment is Thursday, April 2nd at 10am. I will be 20 weeks and 6 days.

What Will Thinks

This is one of the surveys being passed around on facebook. But since there are probably quite a few of you who don't use facebook, I decided to paste it here as well. These are questions Will answered about me and Scott.

What Will thinks.... about Mom and Dad

Answered by Will, almost 4 years old
About MOM
1. What is something mom always says to you? I love you
2. What makes mom happy? When I say, I love you mommy
3. What makes mom sad? if I said I don’t love you
4. How does your mom make you laugh? I don’t know. (from here on out I will just leave the “I don’t know’s blank)
5. What was your mom like as a child? she loved flowers.
6. How old is your mom? 1
7. How tall is your mom? This tall (with his arms spread one high and one low – now he’s measuring me)
8. What is her favorite thing to do?Play with me
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? work
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
11. What is your mom really good at?
12. What is your mom not very good at? sinning (he seriously said this)
13. What does your mom do for a job? you work here. You work right there, pushing buttons, and working on the computer.
14.What is your mom's favorite food? milo’s? (nope) mcdonald’s. (that sounds better)
15.What makes you proud of your mom?
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
17. What do you and your mom do together? Just love with you
18. How are you and your mom the same?
19. How are you and your mom different? you have big hair and I have little hair, and you’re wearing long pants and I’m wearing little pants, cuz I love little pants.
20. How do you know your mom loves you?
21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? mcdonald’s

About DAD
Answered by Will, almost 4
1. What is something dad always says to you? "Will… I don’t know." (K’s answer “mad. Daddy say mad mad mad.”
2. What makes dad happy? living with you. (said to me) One night I was cuddling with you, and he got up close and I got out of bed because I wanted you and daddy wouldn’t let me have you. (K’s answer “crying”)
3. What makes dad sad? when I say, “aah hah” (when he cries like a baby)
4. How does your dad make you laugh?
5. What was your dad like as a child?
6. How old is your dad? 6 months old
7. How tall is your dad? Like THIS BIG (with his arms stretched way up tall). I don’t know how tall he is, but I’m still his son.
8. What is his favorite thing to do? Play with me.
9. What does your dad do when you're not around? work
10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for?
11. What is your dad really good at? fighting with me
12. What is your dad not very good at? doing the numbers. He only counts to 9, too.
13. What does your dad do for a job? he works to make kids better. He’s a doctor.
14.What is your dad's favorite food? waffles.
15.What makes you proud of your dad? because he does good things.
16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be?
17. What do you and your dad do together? just fight.
18. How are you and your dad the same? we’re both boys, and we both have shorts.
19. How are you and your dad different? because he has short hair, and I have long hair.
20. How do you know your dad loves you?
21. What does your dad like most about your mom? (said to me) He loves you
22. Where is your dad's favorite place to go? umm…Milo’s.

1st Bday Card

Will got his first Birthday (post)card in the mail yesterday - from Monster Jam! Yes, it's a little early, however that just means he has longer to enjoy it. It's a card with El Toro Loco and Monster Mutt on the front smashing into a birthday cake. On the back a lot of the Monster Jam drivers signed it (the drivers of Grave Digger, Max D, Taz, El Toro Loco, Monster Mutt, and a few others). He is absolutely loving it and won't let it out of his sight. He slept with me last night cuz Scott had to work, and he went in to bed first. When I came in he was fast asleep on my pillow with his card laying on the pillow right next to him. I picked him up and moved him over and put the card on the night stand. The first thing he said to me when he woke up this morning was, "Are you laying on my card?!?!?" So cute.

Our sunday school class is doing yard work for a widow today, so Scott went and took Will. I would sooo love to go, however Kirstine is not quite appropriate for taking to that kind of stuff. So we are going to the mall to find me some maternity shorts. Yay for girl days!!!

ABC's, 123's, and Prayer

My computer is doing a crazy thing where the screen goes blank and it stays that way for hours. yesterday i only had access to the computer 2x, the first time i touched one key and it went white immediately again for a few more hours, the 2nd time i had enough time to check facebook (i maybe got 5 minutes). who knows how long i'll get this time.

Kirstine is in the other room singing her ABC's. She's actually getting a whole lot of them. She knows how to count pretty well also. She regulary counts to 10, sometimes skipping 6. and sometimes if provoked she can go up to 15. That's actually better than Will.
And last night while sitting on the couch she said her prayers to us. All by herself. I had no clue she knew anything but the first line on her own. It was adorable. I'll try to record it, however with this computer problem there's no telling when i'll have access to put it up. (her prayer is "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. Guide me safely through the night, wake me with the morning light. God Bless ...." here she names random people. Always It's mommy, daddy, bubba first. Then she says "What else?" which she continues to ask after every person we mention. I ask her, "Who do you love?" She always says God first, then Jesus, then we go through family. But those are the ones she does on her own.)

p.s. i got stuck posting bday pictures. We didn't get very many good ones on my camera. I was trying to get on Ceiva to steal mom's pics when the computer started doing it's nasty thing. so i'll get to it when the computer comes back up. til then...

Kirstine's Bday Weekend

Let's start from the past first. Kirstine's birthday was January 30th. Gran and Papa drove up on the 29th to spend the weekend with us. I don't remember exactly what we did, except that we went to the park one day, and Kirstine's party was on Saturday. Here are some of the pictures at the park.

This is Will peeing off the tree.