A Message from Thomas

Dear Person Who Reads Mommy's Blog,


Did you know it is hard to be the baby to four brothers? Take today, for example... I had to go all the way to Augusta to watch my big brother talk to people. Not even there an hour. It totally messed with my nap time, and I didn't even get to have Dustin hold me. I did get to see Pepere and Grammie though.

When it all gets too hard, though, mommy knows just what I need. A little time in my bubble, you might say. Nobody holding me, bouncing me, or restraining me in a car seat.

Ah yes, just me and the three bears on my mobile. Occasionally a brother shows up to wind up my bears for me, but other than that it's nice and quiet, and peaceful. Just what a baby needs after a long hard morning.

Love,

Thomas

My boys

**Edited to add**
The dome will be used as a greenhouse.

My kids are amazing, and I have had one of them astound me yet again. Dustin and Erik are in Geometry together, and because the Middle School now has two math periods every day they are flying through the material at twice the speed. To deal with this, their teacher (who happens to be Erik's dad) opted to supplement the Geometry material instead of encouraging them to Algebra II, as they are not ready for that kind of jump. One of his decisions in this regard was to have them help him write a grant for a geodesic dome to be built onto the Middle School. If you are wondering (as I first did) what that is, click here.

We just learned today that their grant was funded. The two of them (and the teacher) will be going to Augusta on Thursday to receive the grant from the governor.

Twenty years from now, when he's home from some big city to visit he will drive by the Middle School, point to the dome and tell his kids he helped make that possible. He amazes me.

Perfection

Many of us long for perfection. We are supposed to, I think, because it is Father in Heaven's way of inherently helping us to improve constantly. I enjoyed thoroughly a talk given at church a while ago, and want to share the concept here.

It was stated that often in our church we talk of striving to be like Jesus, who was perfect, and therefore we strive for perfection. Almost always it is concluded with "But Christ was the only perfect human being, and therefore while we strive for perfection, we will not achieve it on Earth. But we should keep trying."

Well, the occasion I refer to was different. This person, who has taught me so much through the years by bearing his testimony with the Holy Spirit present, gave new insight. It is daunting to always be striving and never achieve. Yes, we have small encouragement as we improve slowly, but still we are always needing to improve in that mindset. The new paradigm is to look for the perfect moments. No, we may not be perfect in all things ever in this life. But we should look for the moments when, for this moment, we are perfect in this thing. Christ was indeed the only person to walk the earth who was perfect in all things all the time, but on occasion, here and there, we can achieve perfection. We can be the perfect spouse, parent, child, friend, for that one moment, when we nail it just right.

We are perfect in the moment when we say or do just the right thing, or don't say or do anything at all... and we must focus on those moments long enough to gain strength to try and do it again. If we never reward ourselves with the joy, we truly set ourselves up to fail. I am grateful for the person who gave me this insight, and for the Spirit that has testified to me of its truthfulness, and I pray it might speak to you, dear reader, today.

So hard to be a baby...

Ok Mommy,

I'll do my best,

I think I almost got it,

Oh, this is SO hard,

Wait for it,

Ummmm,

Yes!! I smiled!

How do they pack so much personality into just seven little weeks?

He sneezed!

And I got it on video. I don't know if there is much in the world that is cuter than a baby sneezing!

Great Grammy

This is Thomas, staring adoringly into my grandmother's eyes. She says he hands pretty hands like my Granddad. I love to hear anything about my Granddad, I still miss him awful. Grammy isn't shy about wanting to hold Thomas when we visit, and I am trying to make an effort to get him over there as often as I can, I think it's good for all of us!

Cute Baby

Thomas at his first fair, in Farmington, on the 22nd of September.

Isn't he a supportive little brother? He's cheering on those big brothers as they show their steers!

Thomas's Arrival

Well, I apologize for taking so long to get to the story, most of you will have already heard it in person by now. But still I must blog it, because as you may or may not know my memory is dreadful, and it is an experience of eternal nature, one that deserves remembering.

As pregnant as I can get!

Expecting the 5th child, Daddy decided it was time to do some learnin'.

I was to be induced on the 16th, at 7 in the morning. I was to call at 6 am, and ensure there was room at the "inn", a mere formality.

Or not. There was no room. My children had all spent the night at my mother's, as we thought we would be leaving at 6 am. Turns out we went back to bed, and were told to call around 11, some women and babies were scheduled to go home, and with fast labors they would still consider doing it then.

Feeling optimistic, we left home around 9 and went to brunch, Bill, me, and Melissa, who was planning to attend to me during labor. As we finished brunch around 11, we called the hospital. The midwife was unavailable to answer. So, we killed time at the mall, which for those of you who don't know, is dying a slow, painful death. At 1, with an awful back ache and a heavy heart, I said to heck with it, and we headed home. Upon checking our messages, the midwife had called to say let's try again tomorrow.

We opted to have the boys stay with my mother. Bill kept telling me not to be depressed, and I finally replied, "I'm not depressed, I feel like I had my head ready to go to the hospital and have this baby, and now someone has hit a pause button. i don't want to do other things, i don't want to talk about anything else, I want to just wait for time to pass and go to the hospital and HAVE the baby."

So, the next morning we were up at 6 and called the hospital. They said to come on down, we would try it again. We got there just after 7, and decided we would begin with pitocin. Pitocin doesn't scare me as it does other women, because with Zachary we used it, and it was begun so slowly and gradually it was a lot like natural labor. The problem we faced was that to be on pitocin the baby's heartbeat must be monitored. Thomas was apparently very excited at the idea of being born, and feeling his oats he wanted to play hide and seek. We spent until 9 doing paperwork (which is actually all on computer in the room now) and trying to keep the heart monitor over him. Every time we found the heart rate again I would be as still as I could in hopes of not losing track of it, but sure enough he would know, and move around anyway!

So the pitocin wasn't begun until almost 11, I think. As a side note, the IV that they put in was begun earlier, around 8, and the nurse literally said, "Well, let's get the IV in as soon as we can so ten they won't send you home." The maternity ward was still extremely busy. Our nurse's name was Alita, and she was wonderful. Can you believe one of the questions they ask was what number (on a scale of 1 to 10) pain level do you think is acceptable during labor? Bill and I laughed about it, and the nurse told us the sad part is they have to ask that question even of first time moms, as though they are supposed to know what to expect!

When they started the pitocin, I had two contractions, and with the second one Thomas's heart rate dropped to around 120. Normal for him had been around150 when he was awake, and in the 130s when he was sleeping. So, the nurse stopped the pitocin, and had me shift positions, and in a moment or two it came back up. She then said we would wait for the midwife to come in before doing anything else, and explained to me that if his heart rate was to drop again, there were 4 things she would do. the first was stop the pitocin, the second was to increase fluids through the IV, then give me an oxygen mask to send added oxygen to the baby, and fourth have me shift positions. The theory at the time was that perhaps he had grabbed onto the cord, or maybe was laying against it, in which case by having me move positions might take the pressure off.

It took awhile for the midwife to come in (I may have mentioned they were crazy busy) and when she did she suggested that she break my water to put an internal monitor on Thomas's head. Trying to be still during the whole morning had really stunk, so the idea of the internal monitor sounded great at that point. So, turning the pitocin back on, she broke my water, and put the monitor on. The contraction I had his heart rate plummeted, I heard the nurse tell me it was 90, but later I found out it had dropped as low as 60. As it began to drop, the midwife said she was calling in her friend the doctor, and the nurse had me start shifting positions. I had enough time to ask if this meant a C-section, and hear her say I think so, before the doctor walked in seconds later, and said something to the effect of, "OK, let's go." Dr. Burkley told me later that she took one glance at the situation and made her decision, but later went back to look at what had gone on with the heart monitor record and it just confirmed to her she had made the right decision.

I found myself being wheeled out in the hall and around to the operating room that was right there on the other end of the floor. It took them awhile to get a sheet over me, but I wasn't at all concerned with that, though I remember thinking any pregnant woman in the hallway would probably have been terrified by the sight of me. Later I learned someone was handing Bill plastic stuff to wear, and Melissa was helping him put it on.

The doctor told me as she wheeled the bed she was sorry we wouldn't have time to talk about this, and I said, "I don't care, I'm totally fine with this, just do what you need to." I remember thinking as we went into the room, "Hm, so this is what this is like. I thought we could end up here, it's not so bad. At least I'm not hyperventilating."

When they got Thomas's monitor hooked back up his heart rate had come back. I found out that instead of putting me to sleep and getting right to it, they now had time to give me a spinal and prepare me for a few minutes. Again, the heart rate came back because with no pitocin the contractions stopped, and the pressure on the cord was relieved. The anaesthesiologist told me to round my back as much as I could, and I remember being annoyed he kept saying to bend my head down more, and I finally removed the oxygen mask and said, "I can't bend because of the mask, if you need me to bend more I have to take it off!" And they said no, leave it on, but they stopped telling me my head wasn't down enough!

Laid back down, my feet started to tingle, and they waited until I couldn't feel anything below my head. I kept asking where my husband was, and they kept saying they were getting him, which I knew wasn't true, because I could hear him laughing nervously outside the door. I also remember briefly thinking that my children would be really ticked off if we came home with no baby, and pushing that thought right out of my head, because I knew we were meant to have him in our family. I had asked if Melissa could come in, and a nurse said it was up to the anaesthesiologist, who politely ignored me.

After they had the curtain up so I couldn't see anything, they brought Bill in, and no, he couldn't see anything either. The doctor had said getting the baby out didn't take long, putting me back together was the time consuming part. Sure enough he was out in moments, and they called the time as 1:43. I remember thinking, "Oh thank you God, he's alive. Is it really 1:43?" Bill asked if he should go get him, and I said "Absolutely." A minute later he brought him where I could see him, and I remarked about his hair, and his ears! He was beautiful!

I asked Alita if anyone had told Melissa we were ok, and she said no. I asked her to let her know the baby was fine, and so was I. I was asked if I wanted Thomas to stay in the room while they sewed me up, or should they take him and get him cleaned up and weighed and stuff since I couldn't hold him anyway. I opted for Bill to go with him to the nursery, which was just as well, because they then proceeded to knead my lungs like bread dough for 20 minutes, or so it felt. I was actually floored that the incision is so low, I thought they were working much higher. And I was very glad my husband wasn't there to see me throwing up laying down, it was horrible!

While they were sewing me up, Chris (my midwife assisted) was telling the doctor that I must have had some kind of mother's intuition, because I had been telling her how nervous I was about labor and delivery. She told her I had even said in her office one day that if it ended up as a cesarean I was alright with that. I thought to myself that the Lord must have been preparing me for this for awhile. The cord was not only around his neck once, but more importantly it was also between his head and my cervix, so every time I contracted it was squeezed. A cesarean was unavoidable.

I also remember my back hurting awfully, and desperately wishing I could turn onto my side! For someone who couldn't lay on her back for months, I was NOT interested in doing it now!

Finally I was moved onto a different bed and brought back to the room. I had these funky things put on my legs that squeezed them to aid in circulation, which meant they didn't tingle awful as they woke up. And there was a recovery room nurse that came in who I REALLY didn't like, she was curt and put a narcotic in my IV without telling me, because I would have said no, I don't want to be sleepy. Fortunately it didn't make me drowsy, so I was able to see Thomas when they brought him in! Melissa had gone to the nursery with Bill and Thomas and her camera, so she took pictures for me... I was a bit disappointed to learn that way that he had already had his first bath...

but he probably needed it, and was so wonderful when he finally showed up. The one thing we didn't get was Melissa's picture with him,

and I think we still haven't, which is a little insane. Something about photographers hiding BEHIND the camera. It didn't work out that she helped me through labor, but I was extremely glad she was there anyway, and not just because she took pictures! I'm also grateful it timed just so that Nicki arrived moments after they took me to the OR, so that Melissa wasn't alone. They were able to keep my mom posted, and my husband wasn't alone through it all.

I have said, and will continue to say, for something that went so wrong, it couldn't have gone more right.

Tiny ears, huh?

Ten toes!

Holding Daddy's hand for comfort.

The pediatrician commented no more jump roping for him. I guess the cord was all kinked and twisted, even with a due date of the 20th, the 17th was the right day for him to come. Daddy says he can still play with fire hoses though, when he gets bigger that is.

Minutes old and he was already entertaining Mommy!

For those of you who have been wondering, they are very happy with him! It took Michael a litle while to get over the fact that we were in the hospital longer than planned, but now he has agreed that it's good to have Thomas!

Thomas Randall Jones

I will post more later, but for the time being, a summary:

-born Thursday, Sept 17th, at 1:41 in the afternoon
-8 lbs, 9 ozs, 20 and 3/4 inches long, 14 cm head
-TONS of long hair (we figured out where all of Daddy's hair went!)
-TINY little ears
-l o n g fingers
-4 adoring big brothers who are very glad we are home
-1 emergency cesarean, but more on that later!

YUM!

Due to a suggestion made in the comments I am fully intending to write a loving, kind, and considerate post about my husband. But probably not today. No, today I am going to share with you a peek of the deliciousness that came my way only yesterday, from a kind and loving friend!

That's REAL whoopee pie cream people, not the frosting I wimp out and use on the rare occasion I make them because it's quicker.

On the plus side, this whole gestational diabetic thing has proven to be quite the silliness, so I can EAT things like this with no hesitations whatsoever. Although I did share with those around me! Thank you Beth!!

The reason our middle child can confidently claim that position now...

Ah yes, little Thomas. We have no pictures of him, aside from these ultrasounds, but there are certainly things to talk about! Not the least of which are his ears, which I am totally expecting to look like Michael's!

The truly least expected, we were certain that Zachary was to be the last on so many levels.

That said, he has become is also the most anticipated, as even Michael made a comment the other day. Zachary had asked how much longer before Thomas comes (he regularly announces he "misses" him) and when I replied a few more weeks, Michael clapped his hands and said, "He's coming that soon?"

I grinned and teased Michael a bit, "What? I thought you didn't WANT another little brother?"

And he grinned, and said, "No, I don't..." but he laughed.

Things like today, Dustin came home from school with a notice about Lego League not starting until September 28th. His comment? "That will be after Thomas comes!"

We are waiting with baited breath... some of us more comfortably than others!

Mama's Boy (Unless Daddy's in the Room)

Oh, little Z. Named with the last letter of the alphabet because he was to be the last one.

This child came out of the womb with attitude, and I mean FULL of personality. Only about an hour old this picture was taken:

My husband swears he was thinking, "Mom, do we know this guy? He looks a little crazy, are you sure?"

After the most horrible 9 months of being able to accomplish absolutely nothing, and the scariest labor of them all, our family was rewarded with this little piece of Heaven that made, and still makes, every single one of us smile.

Even doing silly things like moments ago looking for his bathing suit, being told it was in the car, and running out to the car to get it.

Completely naked.

Not a stitch of clothing on, nor a care in the world about it!

He has the face of an angel, and charm oozes from every pore. Women have complimented his appearance, and actually stated that he is cuter than all of their own children. I'm serious!! But she swore me to never tell! As discussed in an earlier post Zachary means God remembered, and four the last four years he has been a reminder to us of the love, joy, and blessings God wants each of us to have.

Now, he is FAR from perfect. He has timeouts when he hits (generally when he didn't get his way), he can whine regularly about having to do some of the basic things asked of him (like get dressed), and he has recently discovered that just because he was the one to do something wrong doesn't mean he has to ADMIT to being the one who did it. A few weeks ago he even managed to hide the crust of his sandwich behind something on the dining room window and told Mommy he had finished it (needing to eat the WHOLE sandwich is a daily "discussion" between us). He also announced in a class full of 4 year olds at church recently that he can say he's sorry when he kicks his brothers in the nuts.

That got me a friendly call from the teacher Monday morning! :-)

With three big brothers, and the oldest 13, he is often trying to be older than he is, but he tosses and turns so much at night that I haven't figured out how to get the brick to stay on to slow him from growing.

I suppose I shouldn't try, with every day he just grows deeper and deeper into my heart. As do all of them, it's a crazy thing, a mother's love. He starts preschool in about 3 weeks. I haven't allowed myself to think about how much I will miss him, because he is SO thrilled to be going. In fact he was devastated to hear recently that he wouldn't be going on the same day as his big brothers. I think we will manage to find something fun to do together, though, and frankly I'm looking forward to it!

The Middle Child

That just might sum him up!

Well, that and the fact that he is a Jones, through and through, which I think has made him the hardest for me to understand. He is VERY outdoorsy, and has been since the day he was born! He has always loved the farm, the hayfield, the animals, the fairs, and he has been waiting to be a part of it all (showing his own animals) since he could walk and talk!

Speaking of talking, he was in speech for several years as well, but in a very different way. He would talk, but through clenched teeth, not really opening his mouth. Literally when I first brought him the therapist stretched his cheeks every day before we began! He has overcome this as well, unless he is under stress, and then it floods back, one of the ways I can tell if he's having a hard time with something.

He is playful and fun, but has a distinct soberness about him as well. I was able to bring him to the school when I volunteered to work in the copy room. He was four years old, and I told the volunteer coordinator I wouldn't have been OK with bringing my other boys at that age, but with his quiet demeanor Michael would do just fine, and he did! He liked to push the buttons and play shy whenever another adult walked in the room, and he LOVED to see his brothers at school!

His biggest challenge these days is that he is a worrier!! Even when something fun and exciting is planned, it never fails that he will come up with at least one reason to not want to go, or why it will turn out badly. We are working on this, though, and I have to say I am very proud of him, because he generally does it anyway, and has a good time! He is definitely a homebody, though, another quality from the other side of our family. My family, especially my mom, tend to get itchy feet if it's been awhile since we have gone away. I love where I live, but sometimes it's nice to see new things and places. Michael gets the most nervous about going overnight somewhere without an immediate family member. I would like to think he'll outgrow that, but I'm not entirely sure, and I'm not in any hurry!

At school, however, he is a different child! He apparently has taken to being the class clown with two or three of his friends! I'm curious to see if this continues with the new school year, as he will be with almost all different kids. Mind you, he is only silly when it's OK, I've never been brought to school to deal with lousy behavior, thank goodness. Another difference between school and home is at school his teachers say he is always helpful, and while he does his share at home he usually grumbles... A LOT!

A quality that my family and Bill's family could compete to claim is his ability to hold a grudge! For example, the one time he did get his name on the board in first grade (two years ago now, mind you) he will be more than happy to tell you was for a "stupid rule. Only one person at the trash can at a time, I needed to sharpen my pencil, it's a stupid rule."

I had to agree, but reminded him he needed to try to follow it anyway. The funniest part, in my opinion, was his offense at having his name on the board. There was no inside recess, no note home, no privilege lost... but he was (and still is) TICKED about the whole thing!

He has always wanted to do what his brothers are doing, and this has led to soccer and T Ball, followed by baseball. This year he is branching out, realizing soccer is not so much fun to him, and trying out basketball, like Dustin. Lots of his friends play, and he is really looking forward to it, already practicing dribbling and shooting in the yard. I hope he likes it, as much as I like to watch soccer, basketball doesn't overlap the fair season!

Child #2

Now this one has given me a run for my money! He scares me still to this day with the things he is willing to do and try. As a toddler he simply had no fear, and probably only survived that stage because his mother was terrified he would be hit by a car or something and rarely let him out of her sight! If he wanted something, you could put five barriers between him and it, and it only lengthened the time before he got it, he truly would NEVER give up!

For that matter, as a small child he had three people he would go to or stay with, Mommy, Gramma, and Great Grammy. Yes, my mom and her mom. Crazy as it may seem, Daddy was not on the list. He also had trouble learning to talk, spending years in speech therapy. When he was two he wouldn't put his lips together for sounds like m and b. Someone asked me what he called me then, and I said, "He doesn't have to call me anything, I'm always here!"

All that time and energy paid off though, today he is pretty well adjusted. I figured out a lot about him as he grew, including the reasons he wouldn't stay with other people, he is connected to the McDonald family (my mom) in a manner that is just unique. First to be born after my Granddad passed away, he looks like him, acts like him in many ways, and has taught us a lot about ourselves!!

Something that skipped over my mom and me, though, is his adventurous side! He was the first to be invited to drive the boat when we spent the day at the Harrington's camp this month:

Doesn't he look cool! He asked several times if he could go faster, but I answered before Mr. Harrington with a firm no! We also held onto the toddlers a bit more tightly, because turning becomes a bit precarious at those speeds!!

And then there's the thing from Philadelphia he did, at The Franklin, a museum. They had a contraption a good 50 feet in the air, and he wanted to ride it. Mom put him off when they were walking in, but on the way out he begged and she caved, figuring there was a safety net, how bad could it be?

Cool as a cucumber, enjoying the ride!

But the best part about him, in my opinion, is his love for the underdog. He has such a strong heart, and compassion like no one else I know. He roots for the team that no one else (at least in our family) likes, the NASCAR driver everyone else is glad to see lose, and the kid on the playground that no one else wants to play with.

Never was his compassion more evident than during his friendship with Savannah. She was Michael's age, but Michael has always been drawn to play with Kiara, her sister. Brian on the other hand would sit for hours, playing Gameboy, or watching a movie, joking back and forth quietly. Even when we were making that ridiculous amount of strawberry jam, Savannah was allowed to use the Kitchen Aid to mush the berries, she ran to invite Brian to come help her, and they had a blast! It's one of my fondest memories.

Definitely having given me the most exhaustion of any of my young children, I have learned from him that the more work put in, the greater feeling is the reward. He is smart, diligent, stubborn as a bear, and for that I am eternally grateful!

My oldest...

This one here, my oldest, has been thirteen for a few months now. The transformation has been truly remarkable. He got taller, built muscle, and his voice deepened in about a week! He also developed this pesky desire to push things and exert his strength. But interestingly enough, a couple of talks later and he got it all under control, well, as much as any of us in the house do anyway.

I told him that I understand he feels like an adult and wants to be treated as such. But I told adults treat each other a particular way, and he needed to focus on attitude and TONE. I pointed out that when I speak too harshly to his dad, or vice versa, it is usually because we are tired and cranky, but we immediately try to acknowledge that the tone was not intended, and then (crazy thought, I know) we APOLOGIZE. It's been pretty easy to call him on that and have him see it since. Sometimes he has even apologized for a tone I didn't think was all that bad, but that he noticed wasn't intended toward me and wanted to fix. Between that and a couple of lectures about the Lord expecting us to be able to control our tempers, things have been wonderful this summer.

I'm a bit worried about him going back to school. He has a great class, the graduating class size has fluctuated between 45 and 50 kids, and most of them get good grades and are generally nice. But so many parents don't think teenagers can have control of themselves, and I hear terrible stories about drug use in the high school (he'll be in 8th this year, it's coming right up) I worry about his being influenced by that. I don't think he will succumb to peer pressure necessarily, but I wonder if he will see his parents in that light that his friends will, and think we need to lighten up.

I tell him regularly he is going places, and I firmly believe it. I believe he will travel on his mission (our young men tend to serve a 2 year proselyting mission once they turn 19), and that he can get the type of education that will prepare him for a career, one that I would love to see take root in Maine, this place I love, but realize it might not. I try to tell him, again and again, that what happens in school socially may seem overwhelming at times, but this is only the beginning, and soon he will have more choices and control over what he experiences, that the grades are what will take him far, not the people.

He makes a great big brother, and I can see someday he'll be a good dad. He plays with his brothers, and the other day he came in all excited after shooting hoops with Michael. He told me about teaching Michael how to steal the ball from him, "I said don't watch the basketball, watch my belly button. I told him I can fake him out moving the ball around, but I'm not going anywhere without my belly button!" And Dustin was so excited when his little brother did it like he showed him and got the ball!

He's a hard worker. He went on a 3 day scout hike/canoe trip, and received the greatest compliment from a man who has known his dad for decades... "He sure is a Jones." Apparently, he was always looking for something productive to do, always willing to do just what you ask, and helping others with things they needed, not complaining. At home I try to watch myself, I know he will do just about any task I ask him to, whether it's swapping the laundry, making a sandwich for a brother, getting something from the car, or even reading Zachary a story to get him off my back. I really try to watch and be sure I don't ask him to do too much, he is still a kid after all, but especially with being due to have a baby in six weeks it has been a HUGE blessing this summer, and something I have missed on the days he's been gone!!

His reward for this help? No, I can't afford to give him an allowance. His reward is he gets to hang out with the grownups, and do things like Facebook and drive tractor in the hay field, staying up late playing Settlers or Clue with the adults. His uncle even gave him a lesson on driving his pickup truck in the hay field the other day. That's all it takes, he works doing things like the grownups do, and gets treated like a grown up.

Funny thing about it is, us grownups are REALLY enjoying his company! So while it is a reward for him, it's been fun for us too!

My boys...

I have amazing children. I mean AMAZING children. I was laying in bed this afternoon (my favorite place to be this pregnancy) thinking about the unique, wonderful qualities of each of them. Lots of moms decide to post about their children on their birthday, listing accomplishments and milestones, that has never appealed to me. I think instead I want to make a post about each of them, right now while it's fresh in my mind. I'll be publishing them over the next few days (I hope!)

Big Babies...

So, my midwife (not the one who delivered all four of my boys, sadly she has changed professions) met with me this past Friday. She said, "OK, let's look at the ultrasound results... hm... how big did you say your biggest baby was?"

"Nine pounds, 12.6 ounces."

"Oh, ok, it looks like we may have another big baby here."

He apparently measured over five and a half pounds. He could be a preemie and still come home from the hospital. For those of you unaware (I have to be reminded every pregnancy) babies tend to gain half a pound a week the last eight weeks. We have seven weeks to go, which means 9 pounds by the 20th of September.

So, I rattled off to her 9 lbs, 12.6 oz, followed by 9 lbs, 6.4 oz, then 8 lbs, 12.6 oz (exactly a pound less than the first) and the last was 8 lbs, 2 oz, but came out with his fist beside his forehead. Big babies don't scare us.

Bring him on!

He's SOOOOO CUTE!!

So, at 30 weeks I was measuring a bit larger than desired, which means we get to have an ultrasound at 32 weeks to see that the baby is not in distress, heart function is good, plenty of fluid, and lungs doing whatever they are supposed to at this point. The tech said everything appeared well! And I decided Thomas has Michael's ears!! So cute!

This one shows a profile, for anyone unsure his head is on the left of the screen, forehead nose and mouth!!

The only slightly bad news is he is feet down at the moment, but she assured me there is time (and space) for him to turn still.

Consider yourself updated!!

Dustin Played Basketball

Well, I've uploaded pictures from my camera, and I found some of Dustin's championship basketball game. For the second year in a row they were undefeated, and very excited! Before I blog baseball, I want to give credit to him! Being awfully miserable and pregnant during the season, there is a sore lack of good pictures (lousy lighting in gyms helps that too) but here are a couple!!

Team name was the Nuggets, they are all named after NBA teams. Realizing that the intent is Gold Nuggets, the original team being from Denver Colorado, our boys liked the idea of naming their plays after dipping sauces! There was no "Number 1" hollered in the game, oh no, you would instead hear the point guard yell, "Barbecue!" Or, "Sweet n sour!" It certainly made parents smile, though the coaches (die hard sports fanatics, both of them) appeared a tad embarrassed!!

They get mighty aggressive by Middle School, that's for sure! My bnoy is on the right here, in the light blue.

There he is, in the back in this one (the kid being SQUASHED in the middle is on the other team, the Celtics):

And here's the team after their big win, he's second in from the left in the front row! Woo HOO!!

Why this takes me so long...

OK, so names suggested have been: Colin - diminutive form of Nicholas, and Nicholas is Greek and means "victory of the people". Not bad.

Cameron - Bent nose. So we nix that one.

Adam - One I have toyed with seriously, it means of the Earth, you know, like Adam and Eve

Jack - A diminutive form of John, which means God is Gracious. Not bad.

Peter - Greek, meaning Rock. Well, the whole firm foundation concept isn't bad.

Ryan/Brian - I have a Brian (it means strong, and holey canole it fits!) but Ryan means King, though it sounds probably too much like Brian to get away with it.

Now, with more than a little apprehension I feel this child needs to have a name from the McDonald family, my grandfather. I'm apprehensive because the child who is most like them (Brian) was the one I have had the hardest time with as an infant/toddler. But he's still beautiful and wonderful and amazing, it was all worth it.

Perhaps just the middle name, and the choices that are recent enough, or common enough to stick out to me are:

Simon is of Hebrew origin, and it means "To be heard".

Randall has English origin, and it means Shield Wolf. Now, I don't know what shield wolf means, so I'll have to think on that. Another site says Wolf Counselor. Hmmm.

And Carroll - which is a form of Charles, which is German and means Free man.

I also like David, which goes back 5 generations from me, we had a David Gilman Tripp. David means Beloved. We also have Josephs, and Joseph is Hebrew and means God will Increase. Way back is a Thomas, which is Greek origin and means "a twin". I'm not sure how I feel about that, but it was also an original apostle at the time of Christ, which I like, and while he was "Doubting Thomas", because he would not believe on the other's word, that's the sort of thing one would expect from a very literal McDonald child. Our current prophet is a Thomas as well.

We have an Edgar, but I'm not mean. No offense great-great-Granddad.

So then Nicki found this website with baby names that goes a step further. You enter the name of your current child, and it made suggestions for what other parents who named their child that used for their other kids too.

Dustin brothers: Dylan, Austin, Brandon, Cody, Hunter, Tyler, Logan, Jacob, Christopher

Brian brothers: Brandon, Matthew, Michael, Andrew, Kevin, Sean, Daniel, Christopher, Justin, Joseph

Michael brothers: Matthew, Nicholas, Christopher, Joseph, Andrew, Daniel, Jacob, Joshua, Anthony, David

Zachary brothers: Jacob, Joshua, Nicholas, Matthew, Tyler, Alexander, Benjamin, Nathan, Ethan, Ryan


As you can see, Dustin doesn't fit in with the rest. But so what? It fit for us.

The Nicki insisted on looking up my Granddad's name's meaning, although I would never use it. Way to old fashioned (it's popularity piqued in the 1950's) and he was never called it. But, it is Elwin, English origin, wise friend. Hmm, that fit him I think.

Anyway, to focus. She then went through the sibling names, categorized by how many repeated, and copied the meanings for me (I was in the car, working the census that day).

In order to prevent my longest blog post ever, I will skip that, and now reveal the name.

With all the hooplah against David (it's my mother's boss, my best friend's father-in-law, Bill just doesn't like it, blah blah blah), I decided not to go that route.

Our new little boy will be:


**drum roll please**



Thomas Randall Jones.


Yes, I know Tom Jones is a singer, my father-in-law is George Jones and he survived. And Tommy Lee Jones the actor, and even Thomas the Tank Engine. Not important.

Thomas Randall Jones just feels right.

Have you Missed Me?

Yes, it has been awhile. Between pregnancy, working 20 hour weeks, appointments, and baseball, all the life has been sucked out of me. I even went weeks without going to Walmart because who had the time? Or energy? And our pantry shows it. I mean I already knew but reaffirmed the idea that when you make the money there's no time to spend it, but when you have the time there's no money to spend!

You did notice I've been gone, right?

Well, we have chosen a name for our blessed baby boy, and I have a whole big blog post started on it, but I want to add a few things, so check back tomorrow, it should be up!

BTW, for some reason I don't get cool email anymore. I mean I get store emails, and the MSFFF (some Firefighter thing) sends me email, but I feel like there used to be so much more.

*sigh*

A rose by any other name...

Bill wants to open the blog up for name ideas. I will be switching back to allowing anonymous comments for it, since a lot of you read blogs but don't write them.



Be aware, if the meany who said nasty things in the past comments something rude it won't be approved, so don't bother.



I have an idea for a name in mind, but Bill is excited to hear what you all will suggest! Please bear in mind, I will be checking the meanings of all the names, as that is very important to me!! And as a small disclaimer, I get to name this baby, Bill named Brian and Zachary (we make sure the other one doesn't hate the name, of course) and I named Dustin and Michael, so it's totally my turn. Therefore, don't be bummin' if I don't use your idea!!

The Big Day

Will we go pink?

Or will we stay blue?

Pink can be pretty. Yes?

But blue can be nice and shiny, too.

Will we need to learn to accessorize?

Or just keep playing trucks?

Of course, two would mean the potential for pink and blue!

Ahh, well, I can't hold back any longer.

My baby has five little toes on each foot!

And a beautiful profile, don't you agree?

Oh...

yeah...

and my baby is...

a...

And me? I feel, well, relieved actually. I didn't expect to, I really could have gone either way. Perhaps the relief has more to do with the baby having all the right parts in the right places, lungs, kidneys, heart, stomach, etc.

I hold to the fact that boy or girl is indifferent, healthy is what I really want. And I got it!!