Ebb and Flow

My wife is a saint for putting up with me. I become stressed as events get closer - I heap unrealistic expectations on my ability to accomplish, and I become more and more tense as the event draws closer until I am just about incapable of conversing about or focusing upon anything else.

Then it comes, and for better or worse it is accomplished or at least finished, and I pedulum-swing to the relaxed end, leaving my computer alone for days and declining to answer my phone at all, unsure of what day it is.

I almost just tried to compare this to giving birth and post-partum depression, but let's be honest - I don't have any harrowing stories of physical trauma to regale anyone with afterwards, so there's a pretty stark difference.

The whole point of this is that Heather is saintly for putting up with me, and I hope that I am as big a support to her in the physical/emotional aspect of pregnancy as she is with me in the emotional/stressful aspect of my job.

---PART 2---

We got to spend time with Jordan's little one this week. I thought it would be a bit of a breath of relief, like "OHHHH, this is not so hard after all. psh. i was psych'ing myself out for no good reason"...

...no.

I had no idea what to do.

Hopefully, 11th-hour instinct will be strong with me.

-Levi

Happy Birthday Daddy|Grandpa|Mike

Today is my dad's birthday!! Happy birthday, Daddy. We love you so much!

ouch.

Yesterday morning I slipped on our front porch and fell down the steps:
Pretty, huh?

One minute I'm getting ready for work - in a dress and tights no less - and the next I'm in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the steps with shoes and handbags strewn about and my neighbor (from 3 houses down) yelling in my direction, "Are you okay?!". awesome.

Thank God my shins and left knee broke the fall enough that I didn't land tummy-down or with too much of a jolt. Lincoln's been moving around just fine and everything I've read indicates that the trip was probably little more than a mild roller coaster ride for him. And, Levi's taking good care of me. Last night he rigged up an ice-pack/towel/elastic headband leg-cast contraption that stopped the throbbing enough that I was able to sleep. He's a sweet husband.

This morning, back in action, I won the battle with the porch steps (wootwoot). Here's to hoping that you too defeat any pesky stairs that you come into contact with this slippery season.

27 Weeks

Snow!

When I left my office yesterday I found my car like this:

SNOW!! The huge flakes were falling so fast that within a few minutes the ground was completely covered and everything looked beautiful. Feeling festive on the drive home, I turned on Christmas music for the first time this season and made big plans for our evening involving Christmas decorations and hot cocoa. Traffic was crawling, but I made it home just fine, where, to my dismay, there wasn't even a hint of white wonderlandness. So, instead of spreading good cheer we watched the Dark Knight - maybe we'll get decorations up this weekend. Maybe tonight. Josiah's coming over to hang out with us. You might remember him...

It's too cold to ride bikes and we're fresh out of guns - glass ornaments and tree lights will have to suffice. Watch out.

Dr's Appointment - 27 Weeks

We had our 27th week doctor's appointment today. Between 25 & 28 weeks, they run a test to check for gestational diabetes, which means that before my appointment today I had to chug a syrupy sugar-drink that they sent home with me after my last appointment. They drew blood (to see how my body is processing the sugar) and I should have the results in a few days.

Levi and I got to hear Lincoln's heartbeat, which is always breathtaking, and the doctor says my tummy measurements are right on (so, apparently huge is exactly where I'm supposed to be). She also assured us that the discomfort I've been feeling around my ribs is normal - due to my ribcage expanding to accommodate my lovely new "barrel shape", and the shooting electrical-shock-like pains that I feel periodically are simply nerves that are disgruntled by this new said shape of mine.

Otherwise, everything looks good! We'll start having appointments every 2 weeks now that we're in our third trimester. Crazy, huh? I can't believe how quickly the first two have gone by. Thanks for your continued prayers!

Still no luck finding the camera, but we'll take one with the phone soon so you can see how much Lincoln and I (and Levi) have grown.

Lots of love!

We finally got to meet Jhet!

Home for Steph's Shower

Over the weekend, I was able to travel to Texas for my sweet sister, Stephanie's, baby shower. Noah Michael will be joining us in February - we can't wait to meet him!

Congratulations, Stephanie - we love you!

So cute!

Haley is going to be a wonderful big sister!

Catching Up...

Sorry - I have been terrible about posting for the past couple of weeks! To catch up, here are some highlights:

• Levi kicked off another leg of his on-going fall/winter tour at the CMJ music festival in New York City. A member of the festival staff attended his show and posted this review on the official CMJ blog.
  
• Q4 is a crazy time for my company, so work has kept me going non-stop. Other than that, I've just been busy getting HUGE (our camera has pulled a disappearing act so we won't have photo updates for a while. Hopefully it will make it's grand return soon...).
  
• Levi drove through the night after a show in Detroit and finally got home (after being gone for 3 weeks) at around 8am. He put his hand on my tummy to say hi to Lincoln, who responded by jumping around like never before - so sweet! Apparently I wasn't the only one who missed Levi!
• We drove to Ohio to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family (we have so much to be thankful for!). My parents, along with Stephanie and Haley, drove up from Texas, so we had a huge group including my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. My cousins, Emily & Nathan, invited all thirty (yes, 30) of us to their home for a delicious meal and a wonderful time. It was great to see family that I don't get to visit often enough - and it's so much fun for me to share Levi with them (my grandpa even talked him into a impromptu living room show :)).
  

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

The English language is tricky

This page was scanned from a magazine that is distributed to our soldiers overseas. It's full of inspirational anecdotes, well-deserved praise, and heartfelt letters of encouragement from elementary-aged kids.

See if you can spot the part that made me laugh until I cried:
Here's a hint:

Cat / Bag?

Heather mentioned it in the last post, so I presume it's okay to let you all know we've decided on a name:

Lincoln Shea Weaver.

(this is what we get for keeping a dual-blog from thousands of miles apart.) :)
-Levi

Dr's Appointment - 23 Weeks

Lincoln was moving around so much today during our doctor's appointment that we picked up all kinds of crazy sounds on the Doppler. Even with the extra commotion we were able to hear his perfect heartbeat (such an incredible sound!). He's started moving so much that I can see my tummy move - mostly in the evenings - it's so much fun. I can't decipher which body part he's jabbing me with, but I can definitely tell that he's getting stronger and more coordinated. The doctor says everything looks good and that baby and I are doing well. I feel tremendously blessed to be enjoying such a wonderful pregnancy. Thank you all for your prayers!

xoxo

Jhet is a week old!

I'm an Uncle?

I was an uncle when I got married. And, I've known Haley since she was born, so that's a nice dimension to have had, marrying into a family I already knew and loved.

But I didn't know *when* Haley was born that I was eventually going to be her Uncle. When i was like 19 or 20, she was just "my friend Stephanie's kid". 19-or-20 year old guys do not think on a very deep level about this sort of thing. "my friend had a kid. *shrug* cool."

So when I got married, I became Husband and Uncle all at once. (Thanks, Haley for breaking me in, and being an easy neice to get used to the idea of Uncledom to.)

But the other day, when little Jhet was born, it was a little different. Maybe because I can talk to Haley & interact & communicate, and I knew about her long before I became her uncle.

Maybe it's just because it's Jordan's son, and I remember when Jordan was born.
Maybe it's because Heather and I have our own addition on the way,

but man. what an overwhelming experience.

I was en route to Winooski, VT when it became official, and I got to talk to Jordan a couple hours afterwards, just before I went on stage. Mom was sending me pictures via phone (long live the digital age, eh?)

it was such a weird realization of like "2 hours ago, that kid was just like my kid, sort of. He was totally a human, but the way the rest of the human race experienced him was 100% expectation. He was like... He existed in future-tense, almost.

And then all of a sudden, he's out, and breathing air, and making noise, and like *present-tense*.

wow.

I think this was the final tipping point of making me 100% excited and ready about March. To see someone else, especially my brother who I have known for literally his whole life, make that transition from future-tense "holy crap what is going to happen" into present-tense "it's okay. it's amazing. he's a human being". I think that makes it all okay for me.

So thanks, Jordan and Lacey, for doing it first. Thanks, Jhet, even though you can't read yet. (right? because if you can, i think i am back to apprehensive about my own parenting skills.)

Our nephew: Jhet Cadyn Weaver

We've been told that our beautiful new nephew is "very serene and adult-like" - just calmly looking around, taking in the world. We can't wait to meet him!

Here are a few more pictures from Grandmother:

We have a new nephew!!!

Lacey and Jordan welcomed their son into the world around 4:40 today. He weighs in at 7lbs 6oz and is 20 inches long (which just so happens to be the EXACT prediction I made this afternoon!). His name is coming soon, as well as more pictures...

In the meantime, here's a picture that was sent to me from proud Grandmother Anna's phone. He's just perfect, isn't he?

Jordan, Lacey - we're so happy for you guys. Wish we were there; we can't wait to meet our sweet little nephew. We love you!!

22 Weeks!

Corporate Attire

Marie (my lovely coworker/carpool buddy) and I have set a goal to workout at the Y by our office 2-3 days a week before work. We've been at it for about a week, and even though it means that we have to leave around the time that I'm usually rolling out of bed, so far things have gone relatively smoothly and mostly as planned. So far, that is, until today:
Yes, I am sporting my white 'Just Married' flip-flops (turned shower shoes) at the office today. At least I remembered my pants this time.

Halloween Costumes

I was an oven; Levi, a baker:

Pregnancy Milestones: Part Two

Yesterday a complete stranger cautiously (and very sweetly) asked me if I was having a baby. Which, I choose to believe, means that my belly has somewhat ceased it's seemingly neverending side-to-side expansion and is finally starting to grow outward. Or, maybe it was just the empire waist, looks-like-a-maternity-dress-on-anyone, cotton dress that I was wearing. Either way, here's to crossing over to the pregnant side of the "is she just getting chubby or is she pregnant?" line.

On the opposite end of the pregnancy milestone spectrum - actually, this is more a pregnancy confession- I didn't even make it to 9AM today before I had to apologize to a coworker for being short with him. Sorry about that, Andy. Although I swore I wouldn't, I'm totally blaming the hormones :).

Pregnancy Milestones (including the one where mom loses her mind)

I just experienced my first real craving coupled with my first (well, arguably my first) baby-brain moment.

For the past hour the only thing I wanted was a glass of chocolate milk (I know, why can't I crave broccoli or something?!). I mean, I REALLY wanted some chocolate milk - to the point where I couldn't think about anything else. I finally decided to leave work to pick some up - because truthfully, nothing was going to get done around here until I got my fix.

So, I drove to the nearest gas station. Carton in hand I made my way up to the register. The friendly cashier rang me up - I paid him, put the change in my wallet, and headed for the door, giddy about my purchase. It wasn't until I was almost out the door that I heard the cashier calling after me, 'um, ma'am - do you want your milk?'. Yeaaaah. Can you imagine how devastated I would have been if I had gotten all the way back to my office before I realized I didn't have my beloved chocolate milk?

From what I hear, this 'baby brain' only gets worse. Look out, world.

Giving Thanks

I've been incredibly blessed with a wonderful pregnancy so far. I haven't really struggled with morning sickness and the occasional nausea that stems from waiting too long between meals simply means I have a good excuse to snack ALL DAY LONG (and honestly, who could complain about that?). It's been so good, in fact, that for several weeks I just ignored the nagging ache in my legs.

It wasn't until I was visiting my family in Texas for Katie's wedding (at about 14 weeks) that I began to acknowledge that my throbbing, heavy legs probably meant varicose veins and, even more importantly, that this was something that I should not be dealing with. I say that for this reason: my mom was healed from severe pain associated with varicose veins years ago, and that healing, she believes, broke the cycle of pain that had been passed down in our family. I hadn't claimed it, but healing was already mine.

It took the faith of my mom and Aunt Bonnie for me to realize that. I was sitting at the kitchen table at my parents house, rubbing my sore legs, whining about bulging veins, and those amazing women didn't skip a beat. They immediately knelt beside me and prayed, claiming my miracle. And I got it. I haven't had any pain in my legs since that day.

My mom has always said that we should use the precedent He sets in healing when we come to Him with needs. Use it. She's a wise woman, you know. And He's a miracle worker.

I miss

my wife.

and, though he doesn't know who I am yet, my son.

New York City is great and all, but I am exhausted.

Live From New York, it's...

hey, so i love you guys in our small group, but uh....

HIS NAME SHALL BE BATMAN!!!

-Levi

The Name Game

On Monday night I attended our couples bible study group solo (Levi is out of town for the Indianapolis/Philly/New York leg of his fall tour). After dinner, we formed our usual circle in the living room to continue our discussion of The Ragamuffin Gospel. Usually we just jump right into it, but this week Dave, our generous host and group leader, handed everyone a piece of paper and pen and said we had some 'business' to take care of before we got started. The business? Everyone was to write down a boy's name for me and Levi so that we would have some name considerations (that don't include Batman) for our little guy.

Here's a little background for you...
On Friday, Levi sent out an 'It's a boy!' announcement email to our group. These are the first few sentences:

"We found out yesterday - Young Squire Weaver is a boy! so, the only suspense left is the name (i'm really pulling for "Spartacus McBatman" but Heather keeps vetoing it. She'll be under anesthesia though, so.... heh.) ..."

Without further ado, here are the names we collected:
Russell Crowe
Mark Steven
Adam Zapple
Scott Avery Weaver (S.A.W)
Sundar (the last name of one of the couples in our group)
Reagan
Adam
Jackson Lee
Leave it to Cleaver Weaver
Asher Lowenstein
Isaac John
Ronin
Clayton Cash
Optimus Prime
Miles Baxter (the first and last name of one of the guys in our group)
Jacob Isaiah
Beaver Lever Weaver

Wow.

Family Picture

With Belle (and Grandma working away in the background):

27 is going to be a good year.

Wow. Today has been absolutely incredible. It actually started yesterday... I got a call from my mom around lunchtime,

"Would you like some company for your doctor's appointment in the morning?"
"Really?"
"Really."
"Of course!!"

So, she hopped on a plane and flew to Nashville to stay with us for the next couple of days. A huge thank you to my wonderful mother-in-law Anna for calling my mom to suggest that she make the trip and for setting things in motion to make it happen (we wish you could be here too!). Also to Cindy and Keith, who so kindly provided a last minute flight to give me one of the best birthday gifts ever.

Yeah - it's my birthday. Which brings me to THE best birthday gift ever...

Baby Weaver is a healthy, beautiful, BOY!



What a perfect little miracle.

And all of that happened before 9:30am. A few hours after I got to work, a large group of my coworkers took me to lunch at Pie in the Sky (I could seriously eat pizza for every meal. it's the baby :)). Levi and my mom joined us for lunch and then came back to my office afterward for cookie cake and ice-cream (thank you, Krysen!).

When I got home, my mom and Levi created a birthday feast: filet, mashed potatoes, spinach, carrots. mmmm. Topped off with gooey cake (a name could not describe the majesty that is gooey cake). I have been spoiled.

We wrapped up the evening by watching the dvd of our sonogram. Oohing and aahing and marveling at this little boy that has/will change the rest of our lives.

Thank you all for sharing our excitement about this sweet little guy, and for all of your sincere and thoughtful birthday wishes. I am overwhelmed with pure joy today. Like God himself has wrapped me up in a bear hug, planted a big kiss on my forehead, and shared in a hearty, uncontrollable belly laugh.

Thank you for being part of it.

you guys were (mostly) wrong!

and so was i.

the nurse took her sweet time letting us know, too. I mean it was really cool, don't get me wrong. from 10 weeks to now, it's awesome (i mean that like actually awe-inspiring, not like i usually use it) to see all the developments. "baby's being really well-behaved, it's easy to get pictures! except wow, look at those hands go!" the fingers were opening and closing repeatedly. (i'm guessing... drums?)

heart? check.
sweet. that's an important one.
brain? check.
good! the child is neither tin man nor scarecrow!
spine? check.
i'm reminded of a family guy episode where peter has all of his bones removed. funny cartoon, but in reality, it's nice that the bones are where they should be.
feet? check.

hands? active!

face? human!

"so... you guys, did you want to learn the sex of the baby?"

YES ALREADY, HOLY CRAP THAT WAS WHY WE CAME.

... it's a boy!

final poll results

big week for me this week...

tomorrow is the softball game.
yeah whatever man. i don't care. i play co-ed softball. i'm aware it makes me right on the verge of middle aged and i don't care. i'm having a kid, so i can play softball. it's like some sort of rite of passage. no worries, i'm not going to start ironing in my boxers and black socks or anything, just softball for now.

wednesday i have a meeting with a publisher, eh, whatever. i don't want to sound all jaded but that's the crummy thing about this business. an e-mail is just an e-mail until the minute you walk through the door. a meeting is just a meeting until you get a paper to sign. a contract is just a contract until... well you get the point.

THURSDAY IS HEATHER'S BIRTHDAY/BABY DAY. i see some of you have been voting on the poll, and i'm not the only one that thinks it's going to be a girl. i promise i haven't been going to other people's computers to stuff the ballot box. i don't know why i think it's a girl, but i just sort of do. maybe it's because belle (the dog) is a girl, and i feel more confident about teaching the baby tricks if it's a girl.

Oh, and as if all that excitement weren't enough for one week, i got to feel the baby move a little yesterday! twice, in fact. but now i get all jealous when Heather can feel it and I can't.

now if i could just get my sleep pattern back to somewhat normal.
that's a glitch about touring. it works in conjunction with my natural circadian rhythm and it teams up on "normal sleep pattern" and i just can't go to bed before like, 3.

baby likes the music

Last Saturday, before Levi left for the North/South Carolina-Virginia leg of his fall tour, he made a play list for the wee one. 70 carefully chosen songs that would finally make use of the iPod speaker pillow we bought with a Bed, Bath, and Beyond gift card after our wedding. The pillow is actually pretty neat - you plug the iPod into it and only the person who has their head on the pillow can hear the music. Come to think of it, I'm not sure why we haven't used it more - it would be great for traveling. Anyhow, Saturday night I slept with the speaker-pillow pressed against my belly for baby Weaver and his/her newly functioning ears. Baby must have liked the music because the dancing in my tummy has been getting stronger ever since.
I was on my way home from work on Wednesday when I felt the first okay-that's-really-the-baby-moving movements. It was just a series of little thumps that made my insides jump. Almost like tiny, soft bubbles popping. Ever since, I've felt Baby move consistently throughout the day and it's such a sweet reminder of the precious miracle that we've been blessed with. With each new stage of discovery the realization of parenthood sinks in a little more. More questions, doubts, and fears, but even more excitement, anticipation, and love.
Hopefully when Levi gets home he'll be able to feel the baby move too. We'll have our first Weaver family dance party :).

i talk about you all the time

i don't know how anyone can ever not believe that life begins at conception.
i talk about you all the time
like you and i were already friends.
i don't even know your gender.
i don't even know your name.
not yet
but i'm thinking about it in my spare seconds.
bringing you up in conversation like you were the evening news.

17 weeks

Our tummies at 17 weeks. And, of course, Belle's crazy eyes.

typo

by "fiercely independent" i obviously meant "fiercely private"
that was a mis-quote. I got all excited about the fierce thing and plus I was drinking coffee at the time.

I really gotta consolidate all this bloggin' nonsense into one place so i can focus on quality vs quantity.

Oh man. I am getting destroyed here.

Wow. I should start making some excuses here.

Here are the things I am already maintaining:

Myspace
Facebook
leviweaver.com/blog
twitter
youtube.com
garageband.com
ilike.com
and my personal journal(s).
(some i keep more updated than others, apparently.)

Whereas Heather is a self-described "Fiercely Independent" soul... I, apparently, need all the attention I can get. (ha!)

-so-

I'm a little behind here.

I should make it known that i am.... hmm... there's a word for this. For all this blogging, you'd think my vocabulary would be able to just light-bulb any word ever, but i'm still struggling for it.

Combine these words:
Excited, Terrified, Giddy, Overwhelmed, Skydiving, RollerCoaster, Stage Fright, Game-Winning Basket, and Wow.

There is probably a word for that.

Extergiwhelvincoastighme-winwow.

yep. that's me.

I should note that I have always felt this way about having kids, except for the good ones. I've always said "someday", when I really meant "HA!".

But the difference, I think, is that I am so in love with this girl that the prospect of a little half-Heather makes me think the future will be a very pleasant place.

So I'm still pretty freaked out about the whole thing, but the closer this kid gets to fruition, the more the good feelings are outweighing the fearful ones. I'm not ready yet, but something tells me that by March, I will be.

-Levi

Baby Weaver Poll

Two weeks from tomorrow we're hoping to find out if Baby Weaver is a boy or a girl. Until then, what's your guess? All (one) of you, Weaver blog readers... use the poll to the right to cast your vote.

Speaking of voting - if you haven't registered yet, go do it! The deadline is coming up. You'll be happy to know that despite the debacle, I have finally registered in Nashville.

Happy October.

maternal storage tissue

The 'what to expect when you're expecting' email that I receive daily recently had this tidbit of advice for dads-to-be:
Instead of using the word fat, refer to the extra pounds as maternal storage tissue.

Here's some better advice for you, dads...

JUST. DON'T.


*I should note that this is in no way directed towards you, Levi. You are a wonderful husband, who never makes me feel anything less than beautiful. Plus, I know you're too smart to need this kind of advice :).

What's in a blog?

I’m a terrible journal-keeper. Always have been. It goes back to the days of pink lock and key diaries, continuing through to the beautifully bound notebooks that I bought annually and swore to maintain daily. I’d occasionally write an entry, spilling out my deepest thoughts and ramblings, then inevitably tear it out days later so no one else could ever read it. Maybe it has something to do with my fiercely private nature, or maybe I just don’t have anything worth writing about? Either way, it’s something that I’ve always longed to do. To be one of those thoughtful writers, documenting life and love and history. Hmmph.

The final realization that I am not, in fact, meant to be a journaler, came to me after a tour of Europe following college graduation. LC and I, along with 30 other recent grads were trekking through 11 European countries in 25 days; an experience that I would surely want to capture in journal form for old me to enjoy for years and years to come. LC even bought us both notebooks. They were matching, spiral bound with lilacs on the cover. The first two days I wrote. I tried to capture every scene, every moment, every emotion with passion and $10 adjectives. By day three, LC and I were reduced to drawing stick figures in her journal to tell the stories in our heads, the ones we came up with as we traveled through historic and beautiful cities. The ones depicting President Bush and the French President playing Boggle. The ones that kept us occupied during the long bus rides and the kept rest of the group rolling their eyes. Yeah, that kind. Her journal is full of chicken scratch caricatures of imagination that kept us giggling for hours. And mine? Mine has two long and painfully boring entries brimming with sentences like, ‘The lush green hills peeking out from underneath the wing of the plane are breathtaking.’ Yeeeah. Confirmation: me + journaling= lame.

I need to make a copy of LC’s journal. Because that, ladies and gentlemen, is what a journal should be. It should make you laugh, or cringe, or blush with memories – even if they’re represented through ridiculous little stick figures. So, maybe that’s it. Maybe I am a journaler. Maybe my definition of journaling has just always been wrong. Maybe instead of trying to capture the innermost workings of my cognizant soul, I should simply be documenting the things happening around me. In pictures and stories and laughter.

That, friends, is my new goal for this blog. Levi started this blog for us before we got married, but it’s obviously been sorely neglected. From now on, I’m going to *try* to be a faithful blogger. I’m even going to go back and predate a few entries to fill in some of the gaping holes in our story. I know that’s kind of cheating, but a lot has happened in the past year that should never be forgotten. And, I want for all of you to know us more. You should do the same, so we can keep up with you. Especially now, as we grow up, move away, change, and build families…

As of today, the last post in our blog was from July 10, 2008. We have a lot of catching-up to do!

:)

Katie & Kyle Hoskison

This weekend we went home (Texas, home) for my little sister's wedding. Katie was a stunning bride, and the ceremony and reception were perfect.

Congratulations Katie & Kyle! We love you!

Baby's First Bouquet

Thank you Auntie Hayley & Uncle Solomon!

Ain't nothin but a gangsta paaarty

Last night we went to a mafia-themed birthday party for our friends. The house was full of gangsters and molls dressed to the nines, and the party was great. Happy Birthday Lindsay and Kacie!

Baby's first picture

Our sweet little loch ness.

10.5 weeks

Week 8

Upon calling to schedule a doctor's appointment (they made me wait FOUR weeks for my first appointment!), Levi and I were told that we were 6.5 weeks into our pregnancy. I thought it would be fun to take a picture every week so that we could watch my tummy grow. Good intentions turned into me whining every Sunday about picture time, so here's the one picture that we have (taken at 8 weeks). Don't worry - when it starts to look more like I'm carrying a baby, and less like I'm carrying Thanksgiving dinner, I'll try to be more cooperative with the camera (and the photographer - sorry, Levi!).

Belle was so funny when we took this - we had the camera set on a timer, so Levi would hit the button and run over to make sure his belly was in the picture. The commotion drove Belle nuts and she would come over and jump up right in between us right as timer ran down. This is the only picture from the series that doesn't have a blur of Belle in the middle.

the day that changed all of our tomorrows

On July 13, Levi and I found out that we are expecting a baby. Surprise!

These are pictures we took a couple hours after the positive test result - after the tears, the disbelief, the prayers. I love them. We look so young|scared|excited|anxious (which is exactly how we felt).

The List (aka: Pants-Free Thursday)

The list: Things I forgot to bring with me to the gym this morning:
-Shower shoes (eewwww.)
-A towel (um yeaaaah – so, I just walked through the locker room, sopping wet, in a hand towel)
-A hairbrush (finger-combs do not work as well as you may suspect)
-Oh, and MY PANTS.

I had to be at work early this morning – like 6am early – to drop off some trinkets at everyone's desk before they got to the office (it's part of a new brand launch project…). So, in all of my ambitious wisdom I decided that I should just head to the office in workout clothes - that way, I could go to the YMCA by my office right after I make the drop, shower and get ready for work there, and be back at my desk by 8:00. Good idea, right? The faulty part of this rock-solid plan is that, as you may very well know, I am NOT a morning person. I try, really, I do, but my brain refuses to participate in bodily function any earlier than 8:00AM (and that's pushing it). The fatal mistake lies here: instead of packing up my bag last night, I thought to myself: surely I can just throw everything together before I leave in the morning. Right, self? Surely...

And, that's where the list comes in. The morning was running smoothly, as planned. I woke up, put on some workout clothes, shoved my work clothes and 'getting-ready' items in a bag, and was out the door in 10 minutes flat. I successfully made the super-secret-brand-trinket-drop at the office, and hit the elliptical machine at the Y. Which brings me to the locker room. I noticed my predicament as soon as I got my bag out of the locker and opened it. NO PANTS! I immediately closed the bag and went back out to my car thinking, well, the only option is to go all the way back home (my office is half an hour from our house) and get ready there, which would make me at least an hour late for work. BUT HARK! It's only 7:20 – my usual carpool group doesn't leave our neighborhood until 7:30, maybe there's a chance to catch them! I called Levi, who graciously agreed to take my pants to the carpool meeting place, so that they could ride to work with my coworkers (awesome). He's wonderful. His only request? "Please call them and let them know what I'm doing, so I'm not just that guy that shows up with your pants". So, then there's that conversation,
"Hey Marie, can I ask an odd favor of you..?"
"Sure, and, uh, I'll let you explain later how that happened."

With that little mix-up relatively solved, I got out of my car and headed back into the locker room. To the shower. I'll spare you the details, but just let me say, it was not fun. I dried off with a hand towel for pete's sake.

At this particular moment, dear friends, I am sitting at my desk. Hair combed (kind of), make-up on, in a nice blouse, high heels, and... gym shorts, waiting for my pants-savior Marie to arrive.

It's going to be a good day.

Proposal Video

One year ago today...

April Fool's

I locked myself out of the house this morning. Ugh. Who does that?

Apparently I do.

It usually wouldn't matter, because Levi would be inside, and I could just bang on the door like a madwoman until he came and rescued me. And, it usually wouldn't matter, because I usually don't lock myself outside. On this particular morning, however, I did, and it just so happens that Levi left yesterday for his Spring tour of the West coast.

This is the best April Fool's joke I've ever played on myself. Way to go, self. Now we all know why I HATE APRIL FOOL'S JOKES.

It happened like this: The morning routine was running smoothly: shower, get dressed for work, feed Belle, let Belle outside, make breakfast to go (this is a relatively new one - maybe it's to blame), grab purse and make-up bag, flip the lock on the inside of the door, grab keys(house&car) from candy dish, pull door shut -NNNNOOOOOHHHH. That's where it happened. The 'grab keys from candy dish' part. Instead of getting my keys, I saw my ID, credit card, and lip gloss that had been placed there by Levi, at my request (he's blameless in this), before he left town (he had them in his wallet from a purse-less event we went to over the weekend). I thought, 'hmm, I should probably put those back in my purse'. So I did. The grab step was complete, the keys were neglected, and I was stuck outside. justlikethat.

Levi called about 30 seconds later, poor guy. He called the landlord, the maintenance guy, and Aaron. Aaron has a spare key because last time he was gracious enough to dogsit for us, we were supposed to leave him a key in the super-secret-key-hiding-place. Aaaand, we forgot. So, Levi's in Texas, I'm in Utah, Belle's locked inside doing the potty dance, and Aarons stuck outside of our house (seriously, how do we even still have friends?). The maintenance man had to take a spare key to our house, and that's how Aaron has a spare key.

Awesome Aaron (as he'll be referred to from here on out) was kind enough to get ready for school/mock-interview early and make the trip, way out ofhis way, to let me back inside. Lo and behold, Gary-the-landlord pulled up when Awesome Aaron was almost to the house and let me in. Sorry Awesome Aaron - sorry for making you get up early, drive out of your way, and then just turn back around. Thanks for being so nice about it :).

Good 'ol Gary gave me the, 'We don't usually do this' speech as he let me in. I thanked him profusely and went inside. Did I mention that Gary had parked his car in the driveway behind mine? No? Well, it shouldn't have mattered, except for the fact that after he let me in, he walked to the neighbors house to follow-up on some maintenance. Uh, Gary? I kind of need to leave. I'm only, like, an hour late for work. Morons can't be choosers though, right? So I did a little more waiting. This time, with my keys in hand.

You Are Home

Levi's video for "You Are Home" premiered tonight!

Exactly six months ago...

Phone Assault

Apparently the fellow that used to have my current cell phone number wasn’t much for paying bills. Which means that I, almost a full year later, am still receiving calls for him from collections agencies. Usually I just don’t answer because they show up on caller ID as the ominous “Unknown”, but today I decided to nip it in the bud. I answered, listened to the recorded response, “this is XYZ collections agency, call us back at 866… your reference number is x”, then hung up and immediately picked up my desk phone to make the call. After a few rings, I was issued the standard greeting by (c’mon, we all know your name isn’t Kyle) Kyle who *I think* asked me what I needed.

“Well, Kyle, I need for you to please stop calling my cell phone, because the gentleman you are trying to reach is no longer at this number”.
“Okay, we won’t call again. Have a nice day.”
“Um, wait, don’t you need my number, or a reference number, or something?!” (Mind you, I’m on the land line at my office, so it’s not like he had any way of knowing who was calling).
“Oh, yes.”
“Okay, which one?”
“Yes”
“Yeeeah. Here’s the reference number: JLT474”
(I’ll spare you the multiple exchanges spent trying to communicate that little code).
“Okay, we won’t call you again”.
“Can you tell me who it is that you were trying to reach?”
“John”.
“Riiiight. Okay, thanks Kyle”
Click.

I have a sneaking suspicion this is not the last I’ll be hearing from XYZ collections.

Thanks John (or, as the electric company that also calls for you often refers to you, Jose). I hope you’re enjoying your financial irresponsibility while I fend off your creditors.

Little Pink Terrorists

This morning, after hitting the snooze button for (not kidding) an hour, I rolled out of bed to get ready for work. First things first, I went to brush my teeth. I was still in wake-up mode, so when my (what's a nice way to say: ) spit was tar black, I thought I was hallucinating. Groggy and confused, I opened my mouth to take a peek. Lo and behold, my tongue was solid black. It was crazy. Have you ever seen the movie Mr. Deeds? Remember Adam Sandler's sicko foot? Yeah, it looked like that. It didn't hurt or feel weird, but it was, indubitably, black. I scrubbed ferociously with my toothbrush, gagging and spitting the blackness out of my mouth…

"What could have caused this?
Is it something I ate?
Is my tongue going to fall off?
WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?"

After several minutes and only moderate avail, I walked back into the bedroom to consult the leader of our house. Upon my prodding, Levi opened his eyes, to find me, tongue out, and pointing, "ies lac, i ongue is lac!". A look of concern clouded his face, followed shortly thereafter with a look of enlightenment… (a-ha!)*points to sheet*. Okay, in his defense, he was mostly asleep, and we do have black sheets that have dyed our walls a lovely shade of gray where they meet the edge of the bed, but really, you think the sheets did this? You're right – I was probably dreaming that the bed was a huge ice cream cone and just licked away at my pillow until my tongue turned black. Go back to sleep.

Already running late, I decided to just head to work. The entirety of the half hour drive was spent with me intermittently sticking my tongue out at the rearview mirror in sheer befuddlement. I was able to rid myself of most of the blackness, but it was still noticeably there, a taunting shade of murky gray. I got to the office and went straight for my computer. Before I could even get to my lifeline (Google), I was met by a Yahoo! headline screaming, "Plague a growing threat". (AHHHH. I have the plague!!!).

Before I started getting my affairs in order and calling my family, I moved on to my Google search, where I discovered this: In addition to being a record label, black tongue is also the result of a reaction of the separation of bismuth from salicylate, forming bismuth trisulfide (Bi2S3) in combination with the sulfur found in saliva.

Huh?

Turns out, the Pepto chewables I took last night for a tummy ache were the culprits. Those little pink terrorists. At least it's not the plague.

Every once and a while, neglecting your civic duties pays off.

First and foremost, let me clarify...
I believe in voting. I vote, you should vote, let's all vote, viva lAmerica.

I'm just not currently registered to vote (in my specific county of residence). I have an excuse, though. We just moved to Nashville a few months ago. I don't have a driver's license yet, which is when I usually fill out my registration form, blah, blah, blah.

But, to the point... turns out, the week before Christmas, thieves broke into one of the election commission offices here in Nashville and stole multiple computers. Here's a little tidbit from an article published on 12/29:

"As we looked deeper … we now know that full Social Security numbers were included on the voter files contained on one or more of the stolen computers," county Election Administrator Ray Barrett said.

Bummer.

I'm hearing about it now because several of my coworkers are getting the "Hi, your identity has been compromised" letter.

I suppose you could say, just this once, that it's a good thing I'm not (YET) registered to vote.

The Joust.

Guess who won?