The Name Game

There is only 1 drawback to finding out this baby is a boy. I cannot for the life of me come up with a name that makes me happy. I had a mile-long list of girl names, which should have alerted me to the fact that this would be a boy. While we were in New York, Kyle and I picked up a book with 100,001 baby names. I have been through it multiple times, each time coming up with an entirely different list of potential names, and each time crossing them all off one by one.

There are so few boys' names outside of the traditional John's, William's and Michael's. (Not that those names aren't great. . .) I guess I am just looking for something different - something that will take hold of my heart and bring to mind pictures of the perfect little boy that is about to enter our lives.

I actually had this same struggle with Sullivan. For the most part I was set on naming him Lincoln. At the last minute I panicked and changed my mind, finally settling on Sullivan when I was a few days from delivery. I'm pretty sure most people hated it at first, but I like to think that our little Sully has the perfect name now. I did have a brief moment of panick when he was about 10 months old. Somewhere I found a little blurb alerting me to the fact that I had until 12 months of age to change my son's name without the hassle of a legal proceding. I came *this close* to changing his name to Lincoln - and only the tediousness of paperwork stopped me (and even that might not have stopped me if we had been in the states at the time - mailing from Mexcio is less than simple.)

I hate to even bring this up in conversations because it usually starts a cascade of name ideas flowing my way - and as much as I hate to have my favorite names criticized, I DREAD telling other people that their ideas aren't appealing to me.

I got a few emails with some decent name ideas - both included one name that is still rolling around my list from last time (can ya guess?? ;). The process made me wonder if maybe the ol' blog could help me out slightly. Will you guys give me some ideas? And promise not to be offended if I don't love them??

Come on - this bump needs a name!

(Self-portrait - explaining the lack of smile and bad lighting. Unfortunately it can't explain away the bed head and no makeup - work with me here.)

Guthrie

Guthrie has been taking Tae Kwon Do (I actually had to google the spelling for that) since the beginning of last semester. (Isn't it fascinating that I'm in my late 20s, my husband will be 30 next year, and we still live our life in semester-long increments?) He received his gi (I also had to google that spelling - it means Tae Kwon Do uniform ;) for Christmas this year - black so it is easy to keep clean. Yesterday he had his test to receive his gold belt. He was so excited and did GREAT! Kyle was blown away at all he had to know and how Guthrie has really absorbed it all. I never thought I would have a kid interested in any kind of martial arts, as it wasn't something that I was into and neither was Kyle. We have a great neighbor and fellow medical student who has participated and taught for years and he was generous enough to offer to teach Guthrie. It has been so great for our little guy to have something special that only he was able to do and I think it may be something he wants to stick with for a long time.

Sullivan

When Sullivan was a few weeks old (I think 3?), we planned a party to celebrate Guthrie's 4th birthday and to bless Sullivan and his little cousin Caelan (Ashley's daughter). We ended up doing it the first Saturday in July (again, I think) because Kyle had to finish the semester and was traveling back from Mexico. I still think its weird that he didn't even meet his son until three weeks had past, but that is a whole different story. The real point is that for Guthrie's birthday he received a fabulous present from me and Kyle (again, I think). We bought him a Fisher Price dinosaur, a T-rex to be exact. This dinosaur had a button on the tail that activated his glowing red eyes and made him roar and throw his head around in a threatening manner. We debated buying the toy for a few reasons: a) I was worried it would scare either Guthrie or Adeline. b) We wanted to get him a toy he would actually play with and were worried that an animated dinosaur might just sit in the corner. AND c) We're professional students and its a rule that you always debate any purchase, big or small. So - we bought the dinosaur and it was a big hit (yay for us!!) After a year or so, it really did start to sit in the corner more and more often and we may have even discussed sending it on its way to the ol' DI pile. . . then SUDDENLY Sullivan turned 1. About the time he could walk, babble, and manipulate small cheerio-like objects, he learned to push that button on the back of T-rex's tail. From that moment, his love of dinosaurs has increased at an alarming rate. He now has quite the collection and has his own special way of referring to each of them. (Triceratops, baby triceratops, blue triceratops, spike tail, baby spike tail, yellow spike tail, green raptor, T-rex, etc. ) Every holiday rolls around and I wonder if by the next holiday he will have outgrown his obsession - but no, it goes on and on.

The End

Our Christmas Vacation

Hanging out in the car shortly after arriving at Grandma and Grandpa Guthrie's side of town.

If only they were always so loving. :)

The first character we found after getting to Disneyland. I was happy Sullivan wanted to play.

Riding the train back to Toon Town.

The family with Mickey Mouse. This started Sullivan singing, "Mickey Mouse clubhouse. Come inside. . .come inside." Close enough, right?

Minnie was right outside and we were able to catch her for a picture.

Sullivan was really saying, "You got shoes!" It looks more like he's checking out her underpants.

Grandma Guthrie and the kids with Minnie.

This was right after the Roger Rabbit ride in Toon Town.

The tea cups were Addie's favorite. She made us go back for another round the next day. Sullivan and Caelan had the biggest smiles for the entire ride.

We didn't realize that Star Wars had a height restriction. This picture was taken after we broke the news to Sullivan that he had to stay behind with Mommy. It was REALLY sad and involved giant alligator tears.

We left Kyle and Guthrie at the park and took Adeline and Sullivan home for a mid-day break. Lucky for Addie, we found Princess Aurora near the entrance and stopped for a picture. Adeline had sleeping beauty on her sweatshirt and loved showing it off.

Yeah. . .it was cold!

On Day 2 we let the girls wear their princess dresses.

Tea Cups -Take 2

At our rental house - showing off their ears.

Grandma and Sullivan

Family picture outside of Ariel's Grotto - the restaurant we went to for dinner on day 2.

Meeting Belle.

Meeting Cinderella.

Sullivan was in love with the princesses and seemed to have charmed them. First he trapped Snow White and took her to the window to point at the water and the lights. Soon enough, he had Snow White, Princess Aurora and Cinderella all hovered around him. We thought it was hilarious and he was in heaven.

Meeting Aurora.

Sullivan's alone time with the princesses.

On Christmas Eve we had our traditional progressive dinner. This year we basically progressed from Ashley's house to my parents. Ashley dressed the kids up and read the Christmas Story. Guthrie was Joseph and Caelan was Mary. Ainsley was a cow. Adeline was an angel. Sullivan played the shepherd.

It was a difficult labor, as you can see. Jesus was breach and stuck in her waistband. You can see the obligatory cow present for the birth.

Per a forever-tradition, we all received a present of fresh, new pj's on Christmas Eve. They didn't have much stretch for the belly - but they are cute nonetheless.

The girls' jammies.

The boys'.

All our glory. :) It was so cool to have everyone there for Christmas Eve.

Right before we snuggled kids into bed. We were all pretty tired and I think it shows.

Yup, tired - but not as weary as that pajama top is feeling right about now.

Wait - aren't they supposed to be winding down?

Christmas morning came a teeny bit too soon for Kyle.

Adeline squealed with delight at EVERYTHING. Seriously, everything (toothbrush, crayons, puzzle, etc.)

This kid loves his dinosaurs and his reaction over the knitted stegosaurus and triceratops was adorable. I love to hear him ask for them by name.

Trevor wanted a turn in the pop-up tent.

Sully LOVES his Thomas the Train. For some reason, Thomas comes out more like 'dumb a#$' when Sully says it.

The day after Christmas we drove up to Show Low to visit Kyle's sister and the rest of his family for our Christmas party. I realize now that I was pretty lame and didn't get many pictures. We had so much fun with our cousins and playing in the snow was definitely a highlight for the kids. I was a wimp and stayed tucked safely and warmly inside the motor home for most of this little excursion.

Sully and Grandpa Hunter needed a refreshing nap one night last week. Grandpa woke up and went out to dinner with us and my sister-in-law, Kizzy, and her husband, Jeremy. Sullivan enjoyed a few more hours of sleep before waking up to play with his cousins.

I am SUPER excited about this!! I wanted to get a silk sling but couldn't quite justify the $100+ cost. Ashley found a great deal on the perfect fabric and I already had the rings. Today my mom sewed this up and I tried it out on Sullivan. It is AWESOME. I love how supportive the fabric is without being overly heavy. Plus, I think the color and shine are awesome.

2009!!

The following excerpt is from my New Year 2008 blog post.

I look forward to what 2008 has to offer.

*Kyle will finish his 3rd year of medical school and half of his 4th!
*I will finally get the perfect job that lets me work from home and take care of the kiddos.
*Guthrie will turn 6 years old which sounds WAY older than 5 for some reason. He will start his 3rd year of school in Mexico. He will become fluent in Spanish. He will improve his reading and writing skills.
*Adeline will turn 5(!!!) at the end of this year. She will start learning to read and will continue to do well in school. She'll learn even more Spanish. She'll learn to ride a bike.
*Both kids will learn to keep their rooms clean. MWAHAHAHA.
*Sullivan will turn 2 years old. He'll talk more and more and I'm sure at one point I'll wish he would go back to being a baby. He'll get interested in the potty and maybe he'll decide that its fun to watch 30 minutes of Sesame Street so Mommy can take a shower alone.
*I will keep up the jogging and finally run the 10k race that my friends and I keep talking about.


It is so crazy to look back at the last year and see all that we have accomplished and how we have all changed.


Kyle really did finish his third year of medical school and half of his fourth. He also passed his board exam and has started studying for the next exam that he will take this semester. He has learned so much and yet feels that he has so far to go. We went to New York and interviewed for the Fifth Pathway program.


I really did get the perfect job. It was a crazy experience as the first woman to hire me actually turned out to be pulling a little bit of a con job and was hiring newish transcriptionists on an independent contractor status and getting a couple of months of work out of them before they (meaning me) realized she was never actually going to send that check that got "lost in the mail." I looked at it as a blessing as the training was actually quite valuable and enabled me to get my next job working from home for a company based in Chandler, Arizona. I absolutely love that I can bring in a little money to help out, keep myself feeling productive, and still be home and able to take care of the house, kids and hubby. It pretty much rocks.


Guthrie turned six in June. He went to half the school year in Mexico and then finished up the year in Arizona at the Chandler Traditional Academy near my parents' home. He absolutely flourished in both English and Spanish this past year. He is fluent in Spanish and often teaches me some pretty complicated playground phrases. He not only learned to read, but learned to read well. He is also a champion speller and his handwriting has improved so much. He has quite the reputation for being a nonstop chatterbox. His Grandpa Hunter comments that his previously quiet, peaceful drives up to the cabin gained some pretty complicated conversation when he was accompanied by Guthrie. Usually the Guthrie Inquisition results in both parties feeling frustrated because the questions require an Encyclopedia Britannica and "I don't know" definitely does not cut it with this kid. He grew out of all of his jeans and shoes this year. For a few months he was wearing some serious high-waters. Of course he didn't care, but his dad and I were feeling a little embarrassed. We now have to find him pants in a size or two bigger with adjustable waists because he's so small around but has his mommy's impossible inseam. He thinks it is hilarious when his Grandpa Guthrie calls him "punk" in an endearing way. He also thinks his Uncle Dax is the funniest thing alive and likes to try to mimic his dry sense of humor. While playing video games with his dad recently, Guthrie came up with the phrase, "That was faster than a jackrabbit in August headed for December." We're still not sure exactly how fast that is. . .but it illustrates pretty well the kind of things he finds amusing.


I realize now that Addie may have been jipped this year. She did, in fact, turn five this December. Her mom and dad never got around to helping her learn to read all that much and she pretty much didn't even attempt to ride her bike. We're going to have to remedy that this year. She did continue to be the feminine source of childhood delight in our family. She is so sweet, gentle, and GIRLY. She can be found playing quietly with her toys at all hours of the day. She has an amazing imagination and doesn't require much assistance to stay entertained. She still loves to dress up, but her ability has been hindered by the weak seams of most of her play clothes. She has picked up a lot more Spanish this year and we love to hear her high, squeaky voice ramble in both languages. She loves to dance, though we haven't had the opportunity to sign her up for formal dance lessons. She has a natural grace that is fun to watch, nonetheless. Her Grandparents all get a kick out of her labels for them. They are affectionately known as "The grandma with brown hair," "The grandpa with white hair," "The grandma with yellow hair," and "The grandpa with black hair." I think it helped things out when my mom went back to blond after a short stint as a brunette. We like to keep things simple for Adeline.


Sullivan turned two in June. He is a constant source of amusement and fun in our house. He has thankfully stayed away from too much "terrible" in this two-year-old phase. He did decide that the potty was great and has been officially toilet trained for several months now. He learned to take his clothes off in the process and I think we're now the neighborhood joke because of the naked little "gringo" climbing the gate out front. He loves to talk and has acquired several phrases that make us chuckle. He did learn to appreciate the occasional children's show and is quite the fan of Sponge Bob now. We love to hear him sing the theme song while we're driving down the road. He is still our affectionate little baby and we haven't tried too hard to help him grow up.


I pretty much slacked on my jogging goal, but I feel like my pregnancy gave me a good excuse to find low impact exercise to replace it. :p


We found out we were expecting again while we were in Arizona for summer break this year. We are excited to meet our new son due in March. We are quite certain we will never find a name that makes us both happy but we enjoy finding creative reasons to veto each other's suggestions.


In 2009 I anticipate that. . .

*Kyle will finish with school the end of May. We will once again sell most of our worldly possessions and load the car and trailer with what is left to transport it back across the border. This time should be a little extra exciting as we will continue to the northeastern corner of our country and settle in Kingston, New York for the year ranging from June 2009 to June 2010. Kyle will take his next board exam this year and will apply for residencies and hopefully interview for a few as well.
*Guthrie will turn 7 years old. He will complete his first grade year of school and start his second grade. He will leave behind his school in Mexico and hopefully find new friends, fun, and learning in New York.
*Adeline really will learn to read this year. She will turn 6 years old. She will start Kindergarten in the fall. She will hopefully find lots of little GIRL friends to play with and will continue to be sweet to her brothers. She could possibly lose her first tooth.
*Sullivan will turn 3 and at some point will probably do some seriously "terrible" things, but we will continue to love him anyway. ;)
*Our new baby will be born in March and will have the pleasure of having dual citizenship. He will leave his birth country after only a couple short months and will travel with us to New York where he will drool, eat, sleep, and poop just the same.
*I will have a baby, probably try to lose a few pounds and then stop trying and just play with the kids instead. I will probably get frustrated with moving and packing again, but will also be excited for moving onto the next step in our journey.

Baby Blue

We had an ultrasound yesterday and found out that we are having our third boy! It was my first time having a 3D ultrasound and WOW. It was amazing and adorable at the same time. He was adorably using my(or is it his?) placenta as a pillow, which somewhat obstructed our view of one side of his face and his arm was shielding the other. A few times we got him to wiggle out of that position and we were able to see that he looks like Sullivan! He has Sullivan's (and therefore Kyle's) nose and chin and mouth. I can't wait to see the rest of him in person and see if the baby at least inherited my hands or feet or legs or ears or something. He already looked so rounded out - so I'm sure he'll be another 9-pounder+. (Plus I'm eating enough for quadruplets ;) Darn holidays.)

We head home on Friday and I'm crossing my fingers that two sick kids and one sick husband recover from their ummmmmm, glamorous illness in time to make the drive uneventful. I'm also praying that Sullivan and I are somehow spared from the horror at least until we get home and can throw up (and down) in comfort. Heeeeeeeere's hoping!

Several firsts

For the first time ever I. . .

* had a flight cancelled due to bad weather at our destination (Albany)
* rented a car and drove from Philadelphia through New Jersey to Poughkeepsie, NY
* experienced the cold of the northeast without a coat thanks to lost luggage
* spent three days in a row away from Sullivan
* travelled to the east coast
* saw the world post-ice storm in person
* ate at a Red Robin restaurant in Poughkeepsie while 6+ months pregnant :)

It was a good trip.

Kyle interviewed for the Fifth Pathway program and we selected the hospital in Kingston, New York. We spent today exploring the town and I think we can both handle it. There was a (very busy) mall, a crazy cool historic district, and really neat old houses. It seems to have most of the amenities I would hope for (minus Costco) and I am sure the year we spend there will pass quickly. We are so excited to move onto this next step.

Worst Blogger Alert!

I know a few people who did the post-a-day in November. I guess I went for the opposite approach and didn't post at all.

The Highlights:

* We had a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner with our friends, the Sanders. Our kids + their kids = a lot of fighting on this particular day, but the food was wonderful and it definitely felt like a festive day.

* Guthrie lost another tooth (or two, I can't remember which tooth was the last one.) He now has a giant gap where three teeth used to occupy his top row. Its pretty darn funny to look at. Too bad he didn't wait a little longer to lose them because he would have really been toothless at Christmas. As it is, I think they'll grow in before the actual Christmas day arrives.

* We celebrated Addie's birthday with a few friends at Peter Piper. She is SOO happy to finally be 5, although she just told her Grandpa last night that now she can't wait to be 6 like Guthrie. Slow down, little missy!

* I'm an 80-year-old and have a newfound nerve pain problem in my left wrist. I made an appointment to have it checked out next week and hope they can help. Its getting seriously hard to work with this crazy pain in my wrist, not to mention that it causes some hot/cold sensations to come up at any moment.

* We had an impromtu garage sale that encouraged us to clean and organize our whole house. We ended up filling the back of the expedition and the entire second seat with random items for sale. Kyle drove it to the sale location and realized we were the only ones there. No problem - he couldn't even unload it fast enough and we made a nice chunk of change - not to mention the bonus of not having any of that junk in our house anymore. We feel pure.

* We're packing up and heading out to Arizona today!! We usually try to leave in the afternoon and make it as far as Mazatlan before stopping for the night (5-6 hours), but Kyle is feeling saucy and wants to push for Culiacan instead (8ish hours?) If we make it that far, tomorrow's drive will go a little faster and we will get to my mom's house in time to say hi and visit before crashing. We are SO excited to be going home to see everyone.

* Kyle and I are flying to NY next Thursday to interview for his pre-internship. We will be staying in a little town about 1.5 hours north of NYC, which also happens to be near the town that we're hoping to live in. It turns out that they opened a new hospital and the cost of living willl be so much more manageable. (Kingston, NY). I hope the town turns out to be a decent little place and somewhere we can be happy for one little year.

* The following week we are taking our kids to Disneyland for the first time ever. They are so excited, but I don't think they can be nearly as excited as Kyle and I are to see their cute little faces light up. Thankfully, we had my mom and sister snag us a new digital camera on Black Friday, so we can actually capture the moment to share with the world.

I just realized in typing this that I didn't pack swimsuits for any of us - MUST RUN!

Next post will be from American soil!

Murphy's Law

You all know the law, so I'll just share the most recent evidence of it in my life. The end of the semester immediately preceding Christmas when loans are running out, presents need to be bought, Disneyland needs to be saved for, and somehow we still need to keep gas in the car and groceries on the shelves and. . .my camera goes kaput! Luckily, I still have my webcam on the laptop. I'm trying to figure out how to use a baby sling to strap the computer to my chest for Disneyland. What do you think???



Example of fantastic camera quality:

One kid is missing but its because another child, who shall remain nameless, told said kid that he wished she had never been born. Most kids would respond with some type of "I'm rubber, you're glue. . ." comeback, but THIS kid has a soft shell and melted into heartbroken distress and was unable to recover prior to this picture. Maybe next time.

I discovered the broken camera earlier after Sully dressed himself. It was pretty much the cutest Sully moment in that hour. He brought me a shirt with tigger on it and asked for help putting it on the right way. Then he disappeared and put his own spongebob underwear on (I told you we are spongebob fans over here), a pair of airplane pajama shorts that actually belong to Guthrie, and his green Walmart knockoff crocks (on the correct feet, thankewverymuch). I wanted nothing more than to snap a photo of this endearing moment to preserve it for all time. Now I guess I just have to settle for the sure-to-fade but no less endearing mental image. In other Sully news, the potty training is over and he's a big boy now. Throughout the day I hear random calls from one of the three bathrooms scattered around, "Mooooooomm, I go pooooop." This is my signal to go help clean up, but I am NOT allowed to flush. Apparently that is his reward for a job well done. He even sleeps all night with his big boy underwear and has not peed in his (or my) bed yet. YAY for the first break from diapers in six and a half years!!! I'm quite enjoying it.

We leave for Arizona three weeks from Friday. I'm super psyched to get on the road and spend Christmas break without too much studying (though Kyle swears he is still going to have to keep up on Step 2 material), some Arizona winter weather, family, food, friends, fun, and Christmas. *Sigh* It just sounds heavenly!

Edited to add: I am also looking forward to Kizzy's jacuzzi - so move over and make room. :p