Edward! Jacob! Cullen!

Okay so we started today with last night. We went into the theater at about eleven thirty and it was already packed. I should have bought stuff from Walmart before I got off work but I didn't think about it until too late so we ended up paying way to much money for drinks and popcorn. Way too much.

Of course you expect when you go to the opening of a movie like Eclipse that there is going to be the entire third grade girls class there and they will all be in their jammies with their big stuffed vamps and wolves by their sides. And of course if they are all there you know that there is going to be lots of stupid noise and screaming for the boys on the big screen. But when the movie hasn't even started and the girls who are in fifth grade are telling the younger girls to 'shut up' its probably bad.

Luckily the movie did quiet down and there wasn't any pregnant wife killing other girls around here. The popcorn was good and the soda stayed full the whole time. The only real set back was that for the second time this week Kristin almost fell in a puddle of water. Pretty sad that it happened two days in a row. The movie was probably the best I have seen in the series thus far but it wasn't something I really wanted to go back and see again in theaters. I wont spoil any of it for all of you who haven't seen it, except that this is the picture we took at the very end. We figured that there would be the title at the end and that would be the picture we'd get. No such luck, so this is what we are stuck with.

So after watching the movie with the wolves and vamps I figured that it would only be fitting to dissect the name Cullen. We like the name Cullen even though it has a "C" sound (cuh) at the beginning of it and that kinda is the same as our names. Its still a nice name and it means handsome. I guess it figures that Stephanie Myers would pick that as the last name for the rock solid beautiful vampire clan she writes about. But if you think about that name on your child it makes sense why people like it. Without even meaning to people would be calling him handsome. I'm down. Not that I don't think he wont be, I know he'll be like the best looking kid ever.

--Kerry

Inspector Gadget!

Well I went to work today at around three in the afternoon. For Kristin that means that I'm home enough that we can clean the entire world. Partly because Kristin's mom is coming down this week and partly because she is pregnant she wanted to move the entire house around. So aside from the walls and the other things we can't move the whole house was flipped. This picture here is the one we took before we were done cleaning. I can't really say that I did much of the work because I didn't, she did most all of it. But before all of you tell me that I shouldn't let a pregnant lady do all the cleaning I should remind you that she wanted to do it and decided her self what to do.

After I went to work Kristin hung out with Alexa, and did more flipping on the house. Those two pregnant girls are getting along well, I just hope our kids get along that well after they are outside of the belly. I can just imagine two crazy kids laying like fish out of water on our carpet, that is until they get moving.

So the name for the day is Talon, which is why this blog is named inspector gadget. Because of Dr. Claw. From the show. Because Talon means Claw. Heh. Okay so I did look it up and found that is the only meaning that I can find for the name. What is odd about the name to me is that it isn't an Indian name. I figured he would be little hunting Talon, him makes big catch. Him travel many lands and him be biggum chief some day. But its not, its a French name. But its catchy right?

--Kerry

Shant! Not Shanty, but Shant.

Today was crazy at work, at least the second half of work. The first half was relatively boring and dull. But I'll tell you that when I got back from lunch there was quite a riot at the service desk. Nothing like customers stealing things and trying to bring them back. In the end I was able to call the cops and we still lost money, how does that work. But I vote for what Sleshi said on the subject, "I don't follow policy for thieves."

Following that there was a great storm that came. When I say great I mean that I was excited to see it. When we looked outside, to the south, there was a line of black billowing clouds (ominous Karter?), with the clouds there was lighting and we heard the thunder beat like the heartbeat of the storm. A little while one there was a sprinkle and then the shower. There wasn't much rain with the storm but the light show and sound effects were good.

When storms get really bad Kristin is not to good with them so I called her up and found that she was thankfully not alone but with Alexa. The two girls hung out most of the night and ended up going to Kroger where Kris nearly slipped. She talked to one of the associates about it and he didn't seem to care, I think she's sending an email to cooperate. Hopefully they will pay more attention to pregnant girls with slippery feet when they are talking to them

Okay so the picture is way up there and the reason for it is way down here. The name I'm dissecting today is Shant. When I looked it up it was a very hard name to find and I only found one meaning, delight. I will now bring your attention to the picture because it it Turkish Delighted, yes the very same that Edmund asks the queen for in Narnia. I thought about putting a picture up of afternoon delight but decided that it might be inappropriate. I do think that the name is written so that people would be delighted to meet the person, or that others would delight in them. The meaning behind delight is basically adore.

And now for a Shanty that I hope you delight in:

Fifteen men on a dead mans chest

Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum

Drink and a devil had done for the rest

Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum

--Kerry

P.N.(It stands for post note) Here are two excellent Pirate Shanties:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RisL9l8HzmM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oh3lv3ANlCA

Emerson and Emery

Today was a great day. Kristin and I went to church and found out that it was a dunkin' service. They had seven people baptized that morning. They do things different in this church than they did at the churches when I was younger. On the stage at the Village they have a pool and they don't have the pastors do the dunking. The person who is being baptized gets to pick who their baptizer is. I think that the reason they do this is so you can pick a person that has led you spiritually and continues to lead you on through out your life.

Also yesterday was a good day for my family when it comes to the world cup. It was a tough game to think about when Germany and England played each other because I love some of the English players but Germany is my team. Well the game yesterday finished 4-1 in favor of Germany but poor Frank Lampard should have had a great goal. Either way I am glad with the outcome.

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet." - Juliet

Today I decided to do both Emerson and Emery, and I'll tell you why. Its because Emerson means "the son of Emery." So if I were to separate them then it would get a little repetitive and boring.

Now we get to the picture of this dood with the head piece.^^ The names are both English and German. The reason I picked this picture here is because it may represent everything that the name means. Brave, this is an Indian brave. Power, the Brave has shown power because of his many battles, his feathers show his power. The last one is 'Work Ruler' and I wanted to take this one apart a little. Not only does the name mean ruler but it means work ruler. So its not just a ruler of people but of those who are workers, the strong. So this name is for the strongest of the strong.

-Kerry

Sloan and Sparta!

Yeah I know what you're thinking, "Kerry just wanted to put a picture of Spartans on the blog." Its true that I did, always have wanted to, but I really do have a reason that Gerard is there. So hold out until the end before you judge.

So this Saturday was a sad day for the USA. We were in the world cup and today we lost it to Ghana. When it all comes down to it the Ghanians (I have no idea if thats what we call them) were just faster than we were and that gave us a great disadvantage. Many sad faces.

Other than that I worked, and it was a pretty good day, no craziness but it wasn't slow either. Kristin on the other hand had an interesting manager closing with her. From what I understand he was French and he kept winking at her, a little bit of a creeper if you ask me.

Okay so the picture, and the title. Well I was looking at all the eighteen names that we had here sitting on the paper and I decided that I would look them up and try to put a face to the name. Not that this picture is how I want my baby to look at all, though if he did come out and scream, "This is Sparta!" I wont say that I would be disappointed. Either way this picture is here because I looked up the name Sloan and found that it is a Gaelic name meaning Warrior or Fighter. So who best to think about when we think of warriors but Gerard as a Spartan.

So we must know that if the baby is called Sloan he will be called a warrior. But you also have to think of how the name sounds, I mean its like: slown. That is okay I guess, but when about nick names? Slowy? Own? And jokes. I just Sloaned you. Yeah, well there is the dissection of name one. On with the show?

--Kerry

Plus what rhymes with it: Bone, phone, grown, stone...

Its a bluebox!

So not today, but yesterday I was at work later than Kristin so she went over to her sisters to do what ever nonsense it is that sisters do. I do know that when she came back she had a bag full of clothes. Tonight we went through the process of cleaning the house and organizing everything and then we finally went through the clothes.

There were a bunch there but we didn't keep all of them. As you can see below though we did keep quite a few. I would have put more pictures of all the clothes on here but I figured that here in a few months there will be a kid to fill those clothes and then we wont have need to put just pictures of the empty coverings on the internet.

Going through and buying clothes for the guy is exciting, even for me. But some times I think Kristin has a problem, she's addicted. Either way i was happy we were able to get some new clothes from other people and the ones that Kristin bought this week. She also did go out and buy a hairbrush and comb, fingernail clippers, and that thing you shove up a kids nose to suck the bougers out.

Okay so I have the list of names. I think I got most of the ones on here that every one voted for, or at least the ones that I could find. So if I didn't get the one you voted for on here, well you'll get over it I'm sure. (If that comes off as rude please see my manager, it wasn't intended that way.) But just send me an email or something that lets me know. Okay well I'm done talking, or writing.

--Kerry

P.S. Oh the list, here it is:

Sloan, Greyson, Shant, Lyric, Talon, Emerson, Graydon, Fallon, Grady, Archer, Logan, Cullen, Sawyer, Embry, Reagon, and Avery.

Wh-Wh-Wh-Whiner

I started thinking about why we decided to start a blog in the first place, and it was mostly to keep all of our friends and family that's all spread out up to date on our lives, especially when it started to involve children. Sometimes I feel like I bore people with baby talk, so I try to keep it to a minimum, but I decided that I'm excited and I shouldn't have to hide that, so baby talk it is. =]

It's easy to forget that you're pregnant sometimes, especially if you're feeling good, but I've definitely felt it these past couple of days. He's still sitting fairly low, like right between my belly button and the waistband of my pants, so I've been really uncomfortable lately. I'm sure every woman hits that stage where you just feel like your body can't go any farther, and I feel like my stomach is about to explode, so I can't imagine how I'll feel in another 10 or so weeks. =/ On top of that he's been a punching and kicking machine, so my body isn't too happy right now. Of course it's all more than worth it, and I try not to complain too often, it's just weird to not be in control of your own body and hurt for what seems like no reason. I cherish every movement though, because that lets me know that he's happy, and most importantly, healthy. =] Kerry has been able to feel him move around a lot lately, that is if he's patient enough to sit there and wait. People act like I can just make him move on cue, but just like every other human, he's already got a mind of his own! He's most active when I'm still and relaxing, seeing as a mother's movements throughout the day put baby to sleep, but he's started moving while I'm standing up at work, and it always catches me off guard. Even weirder still, is the fact that I think he shifted himself around the other day, probably why I was so uncomfortable, and was kicking towards my insides. Ew! I'm not even going to lie, that is a pretty sick feeling, it's like nausea and weird pain all mixed together. Again though, gotta love it! He's certainly growing up, and I read that at this point he's probably even having dreams, which to me is insane!! You have to wonder what a person who knows nothing of this world could possibly dream about, but it makes me REALLY excited for him to see everything it has to offer.

I took this when I was 20 weeks and 5 days, so a week ago, and feel like I'm huge there. Kerry measures my belly every week though, and I don't think I really grew any. I'm sure it'll catch up with me, this boy is growing like crazy!

--Kristin

To the outside: the dead leaves, they're on the lawn

So I guess that I'm not the most... what is this line? Okay that's better. SO I guess that I'm not the most coordinated person in the world. I mean I can chop a salad without clipping my fingers off and I can shoot a gun and not misfire to hit someones head or anything but I do make mistakes now and then. But you know its not every day that you ruin something that has become a necessity to the point where you have to go out and get a new one. Okay so now the picture of our brand new keyboard is making sense.

Yes I was just sitting here watching the USA play a lovely game of Futbol, I had a glass of water on the desk, and they made a goal. Well I was excited, and then suddenly mad because the goal was taken away. For no good reason. Well I turned to get out of my chair (turned, not spun like a maniac) and the back of the chair knocked the glass of water over. There were ultrasound pictures, notebooks, and a number of other things that I quickly removed from the area and I tried to save everything by drying it up quickly. But it didn't happen.

So like a seven year old child who was home early before mom came back from work I called Kristin up at CVS and confessed to breaking the key board. So I was stuck with the broken one all afternoon. Just to clarify only several keys were broken, one of those keys happened to be the 'a' key. So all afternoon I did my best not to post things on Facebook that had the letter 'a' in them. A little embarrassing because when I did need an 'a' I would have to copy it from some one else's post and paste it to mine.

Other than that today was pretty easy. The only other terror Kristin and I faced was that we are now out of T.V. shows to watch on Hulu. We were watching House, V, and Parenthood but they are all done with the seasons, so we'll have to find something else. (if any one suggest "Secret Life" I'll kill em.)

Lastly I know I said I would post the names but I don't have the list finished yet, so please bare with me a little longer and I promise to get it posted soon.

--Kerry

P.S. I just want you to imagine this post without any 'a's

Mother Nature is awesome!

Kerry very graciously got us caught back up for the last few days, so today was my obligation. We both had the day off, so it was pretty uneventful. Kerry had our friend Jim over and they did boy things and played video games all afternoon, while I hung out with my friend Alexa. Her baby is due in August, but she is going to help plan and host my baby shower, which will be in September, so we're trying to get as much out of the way as possible since she'll obviously have her hands full with her own little man right beforehand. Lucky for me I've got more than one awesome friend, so Stephanie is co-hosting and keeping the project on track: you'd be amazed what pregnancy does to your brain, we're all major ditzes right now! We've got the guest list built, quite meager but still a list nonetheless, and were probably scatterbrained in doing so. That being said, if you don't directly get an invite, you probably should have and you're definitely invited. =] We got invitations picked out, got favors planned, and now Kerry and I just need to decide what games and activities we want to spend our time doing. I can't wait, this will be so much fun!! We rounded out the night with some Whataburger, and saw the absolute neatest thing I've EVER seen in my life. As we were driving through our complex to our apartment, I saw a raccoon, and had Kerry back up because I thought I saw a possum climbing up the tree. Anyone who's ever been around one before knows that they're very mean, and I didn't want that around kids or Maymie, so I was going to report it to the office. When we backed up, we discovered that it was a momma raccoon and her 2 babies!!!!! Hands down, that was the cutest, most heart-warming thing that I've ever seen in my life. We drove around following those things trying to get an awesome picture, but it was just too dark. Those babies were trailing behind their momma just like you see little ducklings do. Kind of makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside knowing that just like those raccoon babies, lil' boy will rely on me (and Kerry) for everything, we'll be his entire world.

This was the clearest shot we got, at this point her 2 babies were still up the tree. I wish we could've gotten one of them, they were so stinkin' CUTE!!!

We're starting to get a full sized human here folks: lil' boy is measuring about 9 inches long, and over a pound, much like this spaghetti squash. Never thought produce could be so glamorous, eh? ;]

--Kristin

Bafana Bafana!

I found this picture on the internet (where else right) and thought that it would do good to illustrate this blog. Bafana bafana! That means "the boys" and oh how appropriately it is used to signify that every one I know who is pregnant is having a boy, or had a boy. Now I know there are some of you some where that know people who are having girls but you know I think that you're imagining it.

I guess it sounds a little like a rant but its not really. I'm actually very excited that the whole world is having boys right now. Kristin and I, which if you are ready this blog and didn't know we were having a boy you are a retard. Then there is her sister Lee Ann. If you read yesterdays you saw Alexa and she is having a boi, which is close to a boy but its much cooler. Then there are these two viscously pregnant girls I work with Jordan and Ashlee who are both having boys. Finally my mom just had a boy at the end of last year. The only reason I bring this up is that it makes it very hard when every one else is having a boy for us to a pick a name for ours. Not that the challenge isn't invigorating and push us to where the side walk ends. But it is kind of like we are falling up and we are getting no where. But for all of you who have looked the the names we came up with, and sent us some, we will post those that I have had the most request for tomorrow.

Now as in closing this blog lets think of next year when all of these boys are coming on to one year of age. How exciting is it to think of all these kids growing up in the same world.

--Kerry

WOW!! That's a low Price!!!!

Okay so its Sunday, (whispers: its really not but we didn't post a blog that day so I'm doing it today.) and my schedule this week is really messed up. What I mean by that is that I usually take a late shift almost every day of the week. Much of the time I take the latest shift. But you know this week I have no closing shifts. That's pretty amazing, the problem with it is that it really messes up my sleeping and working out routine.

But if brings for other great opportunities to do things have I haven't gotten to do in a while. And to hang out with people who we haven't seen in some time. Like this pregnant girl! Alexa was the MOH at our wedding and is a few months ahead of Kristin in her pregnancy. Jason, who is her man, her along with Kristin and I went out for a late night snack run. Tell a pregnant girl that you'll go get ice cream and they'll come running. Or driving. But any why they will get there.

All in all it was a pretty good day other than we didn't get to go to church because of my schedule, but we'll listen to it and it will be almost as good.

-Kerry

Hello Mcfly

hello baby boy, my name is dad. i'm writing you this note to let you know who i am. i'm half of the reason you are coming into this world. you see your mom and i got together and decided that we'd like to have you come into our lives. so we prayed and asked God if He would give us you as a gift. its not often that you go to some one and ask for a gift but if you want the best some times you need to. that day God smiled on us and decided to send us you.

it wasn't long after God sending you off that we heard we would get you. we were very excited and we didn't know who you were. we prayed and prayed that you would get here soon but we knew that the delivery time for such a present would take quite some time. you see after you put in the order for a present that costs as much as the stars, which is why i had to ask for it because i don't own a star, you have to wait some time for that present to be made.

so your mom and i wait while God put you together and suddenly one day you showed up! but you still weren't ready. God said that you had to stay inside your mommy for a while before you were ready to come out. so now you are in your mommy and every day getting to know her better. i talk to you some times and you kick me in the face. but every night, before your mom and i go to bed, i pray over you asking God to make you a strong man and a leader.

and today i pray that you will grow up to be a Godly young man and some day you will find a mom for your kids and you will marry her and then have your kids so that you can protect and care for them the same way I want to do for you. and know that you will make mistakes and you'll have to pay the price for them, but your mom and i will always be there with you when you need us. but when we can't be there He will, and you will learn to rely on him. i love you.

Happy Fathers Day

-Kerry

Baconbaconbaconbaconbacon, IT'S BACON!!!

Once again Maymie had another stinkin' appointment with her vet, which we retardedly scheduled at 9:00 sharp. Smart. This time it had nothing to do with her mange, she was just due for some of her shots. She got her rabies shot and one for parvo, so I think she's got her bases covered. These were her first "big girl" shots (we have her on a wellness plan there, and it just recently rolled over from puppy to adult), and these are good for 3 years. Normally the vet will tell us that she'll be really drowsy and out of it and she'll end up being crazier than ever, but this time she was wiped out. I had to work, but Kerry said she slept all day, didn't even really want to play. She's back to her old self today, being annoying and wanting water every 20 seconds, and dropping her slobbery ball in my lap, so I suppose that's a blessing in disguise? ;] I think the creepiest part about it was that we scheduled her next appointment, and it's not until September. We'll almost have a baby by then!! I teased Kerry and said he'd have to start taking her by himself, I refuse to fight a baby and a dog at the same time, doesn't sound like a fun day. Either way, they're both my babies, and I'll take care of them both no matter what, even if it involves a daily beating or two. (Totally kidding!!!) =P

This is for all those people who say that crate training is a pain in the you know what..she LOVES it. Had a few rough nights back in the day, but this is her sleeping in there off her own free will, what a good girl. =]

Her "Pet of the Month" board for June. Very cool, we're so proud!! And yes, I got some really strange looks doing a photoshoot in Petsmart like this, so I hope you enjoy. ;]

--Kristin

Big ol' baby

We got a special treat today: we got another sonogram of lil' boy. It's crazy to see him growing, he's gained 6 ounces in the last 2 weeks, and according to the measurements on the screen they're predicting he'll be born October 31st (Halloween baby, yay!!) because he's so big. Granted, that's not too terribly far off from my original due date, so they'll just keep it the same unless he keeps growing like crazy. I'm curious as to how long he is, but that is hard to measure in utero because they're always so dang crunched up. He was all twisted like a pretzel, had one foot clear up by his head, and the other stretched out, what a weirdo! Speaking of feet, his are huge. Everyone that knows Kerry shouldn't be surprised, he's got ski-like feet, and I've even got decent sized feet for a girl. Oh boy, let's just hope he can stay in normal sizes. (This makes my dilemma of baby shoes even more complicated, who knew there were so many sizes for babies!!) We're excited he's big, everyone always teased that since we're so big we'd have a little baby, and that's definitely not the case. He's healthy and perfect, of course, and the doctor said we'll have a sonogram every 3 weeks until he's born to make sure he stays that way. =] (That's like, 6 more, yay!!) We got pictures and even video from the one yesterday, and we're going to the same office next time, so we'll get the same again I'm sure. The picture frenzy has already begun and he's not even here. =]

Hard to tell what it is if you don't know what you're looking for, but this is a front view of his head and belly. The dark places on his face are his eyes, so he's looking a little alien-like right now. We think he's pretty special, and already love him very, very much.

Group G

Xavier, Cullen, Anderson, Fletcher, Syler, Desmond, Dawson, Sawyer, and Dyson.

Group H

Sarj, Phoenix Malachi, Coen, Monroe, Sullivan, Spencer, and Carson.

Jeez, from group G you can't tell we watch that much T.V. do you?!? ;] (Note: This is the last of all the groups, doesn't mean that all the names will be out but now they will at least be manageable.)

--Kristin

His mom has a tattoo that says "son"

Today is not fathers day.. But to the right here is my fathers day gift. I know I don't really have a kid to give it to me but i think he told Kristin what I wanted and she made sure that I got it. The picture you see here is a magazine about.. oh guess what.. the World Cup. I guess that its pretty much the best thing to me when I know that my wife is putting up with my "Habit". Thank you Kristin, even if you are faking it, for loving me enough to buy me a stupid magazine just because you now I'd like it. I think that's really what love is.

So I can't really say that there is much going on. So for those of you who like drama watch House, Lost, or what we just started, Grey's Anatomy. Kristin was watching that the other day and it really kind of upset her because the Doctors, on their first day of work, have a shift that is 48 hours long. She doesn't like the idea of me being gone for 48 hours. Which then I would come home exhausted and need to sleep for say the next twelve. I dunno if I like the show yet but I like the medical stuff behind it. Of course it gets my mind ticking to think about how the body works and I have to go look it up on the internet to figure it out. I know that Wikipedia isn't all the truth but hey its something to get started on.

Alright here are todays groups:

Group E

Seth, Calogero, Alaric, Grady, Damien, Cayden, Asher, Torey, and Shant

Group F

Rick, Levi, Clayton, Regi, Garon, Emery, Lyric

Okay have fun picking, and if you see the same name twice its not because we really like it its because we're dumb... well me. Okay have fun.

--Kerry

I'm like a Furbee, "Yummmmmmmmmm"

Well, it's finally happened: I'm feeling pretty darn pregnant. I'm completely unmotivated, unless it involves eating or sleeping. I'm turning into a dog! Kerry has been working opposite schedules of me, so luckily he doesn't have to witness this atrocity. I really am hungry all the time, but logically I know a tiny bit of it is boredom when he's not home. Never to fear though, I'm not turning into the Michelin Man, I've been told I need to gain some weight. (As a woman, this is both good and bad: #1) I don't have to worry about being fat! #2) I have to worry about being fat later. =/) I lost a significant amount of weight in the first trimester, so I'm not even back up to my pre-pregnancy weight yet, so I'm not worried about getting fat. (Evidentally the rest of the world is though?) I'm well aware that baby weight is some sort of mutated substance that clings to your body eternally, so my goal isn't to get fat, trust me. What most men don't realize though is that yes, a woman may gain 30 pounds during pregnancy, but guess what, at least half of that is baby and other "materials" that I'm sure you can figure out on your own. Everyone wants to be thin, but is it really the end of the world if I'm 10 pounds heavier? My husband will still love me, my family will, and I'll still be the same person, just fatter. (Sorry, there's my token rant for the day.) I'll wrap this up so that I can go have a bowl of cereal and go to bed. ;]

My typical buffet, a mixture of healthy and not so healthy. Whaddya gonna do, when else in my life can I eat pizza rolls followed by applesauce followed by a cucumber and not get a second glance? I never said I didn't play the "I'm pregnant and eating for two" card! ;]

Here's the next two "groups" as Kerry calls them.

Group C

Braxton, Kevin, CeJay, Tegan, Cash, Holden, Estavon, Andrew, and Embry.

Group D

Ethan, Jonathan, Jace, Reagan, Greyson, Eden, Jake, Adrion, and Damon.

--Kristin

Whats in a name?

So today was just another one of those days where you go to work and you don't do much else. Though Kristin was off, and from what I understand she slept with Maymie until 2 in the afternoon. I don't know how she does it but I know that I never could. Later on we cleaned up the house and Jim and Sam came over and we hung out for a little while. I think we were s'pose to get storms but those never really came.

The picture you are seeing is part of the San Antonio trip, I think I'll use some of the ones you haven't seen for a little while just so that you can get the feel of what happened. This picture though was taking in front of a statue that had a fish who had just caught a human and was weighing him. Oddly enough the hanging human was missing an arm, maybe a bit of a fishing battle scare?

Alright so since we found out we were having a boy we have received a lot of name suggestions while looking up our own. I think total we have 71 names. So what I'm going to do is post them in separate groups and let you vote on the groups so that we can narrow it down a bit. So today I'll post the first two groups and you can choose what you think are the best two names from each group. I'll do the same for the rest of the week. Total I think there is going to be eight groups. Of course in the end Kristin and I will pick the name but we'd really like to hear what you have to say. Okay here are the first two groups.

Group A

Avery, Anthony, Mathew, Wilber, Orion, Sloan, Conley, Graydon, Vaughn

Group B

Fallon, Talon, Emerson, Archer, Tolliver, Daxton, Logan, Will, Dane

Alright there are the first two groups, I will get the next two up tomorrow, just text me, or email, or any other form of communication and let me know what you think.

--Kerry

When I grow older....

Sunday is such a day that most of the time there is very little going on that doesn't go on normally. We get up, go to church and then work all evening. But yesterday was a hard day for me and I have no idea why. I guess some mornings you just wake up and you just don't want to do anything. You know the feeling. Its the ominous waking moment that takes the breath out of your heart. I guess that's probably how some people feel when they are depressed, and they feel it every day. I can't imagine the dragging feeling that those people have. Almost like they are pulling a car instead of driving it.

On days like yesterday I look around me and think that there is nothing going on that is worth thinking about. Nothing that is worth staying around for. But it's when I look around with that attitude that I get a great punch in the face and God looks at me and says quite bluntly, My grace is sufficient for you. When I think about Gods grace I have to think of his love. Its not the grandmother love that gives you cookies and snacks and hugs all the time. Its more like the parent love that puts a roof over your head but also disciplines you, and some times makes you mow the lawn for just building character.
Some times when you look at it life really comes down to smelling the flowers. (the pictures make sense now right?) When life gets you down Mrs. Brown... We wont go there. But when it takes you a minute to catch your breath just remember you are breathing. When you feel like you lost every battle there is, or when you feel there is no way to go on. Just stop, and smell the flowers. Then look at the flowers and remind yourself they were always there you just didn't see them because you were so busy going and going. If you run fast enough you'll loose even yourself. Thank God for peace that passes understanding, because if I could understand it then there wouldn't be any peace.

--Kerry

USA v. England 1-1 Draw!

Now the FIFA World Cup is underway. And if you are my friend you probably already knew that. If you are my wife you did know that and you are already sick of hearing about it. I think I have been ready for the World Cup for the past few months but as it grew closer I would talk about it more and more. Sadly for me, and lucky for Kristin, the World Cup only lasts a month. I am sure that if it lasted longer it would loose some of the romance for me but I still will be sad to see it go. But now is not the time to talk about departing ways. now is the time to yell for the teams you love and watch quietly on the sides for the teams you hate but you know are going to beat your teams.

Yesterday was the opening game with South Africa and Mexico and it was a wonderful game. I was really excited to watch it and the rest of the World Cup. Today though held a wonderful game for me and our country. Today the USA played England. This classic match up ended up being a great game with both countries playing well against each other. In the beginning of the game I was worried that the USA were going to loose quite quickly as they conceded a goal in the first ten minutes. But we regained the ground at the end of the first half. From there though it was a high flying battle with both teams defending and attacking well.

I promise not to make any more full blogs dedicated to the world cup unless it really becomes something huge. The picture you see here is a picture of my favorite English player Frank Lampard. I tried to get a picture of Landon Donovan, who is my favorite American player, but the blog was not allowing it today. I should also mention that though I am from the USA and I do hope they do well my all time favorite team is Germany, and I hope they win.

But just so you all know today wasn't just about Futbol. This evening was the baby shower for Bopkins (That's Baby Hopkins for those of you who don't catch the reference), who is LeeAnn and Harry's little boy. No that is not his real name and he isn't here yet but hey they made baby showers before the baby got here because afterward not just the baby needs a shower. And also I think the mothers are much happier before they squeeze child out from inside them. To all the mothers who protest the way I put that I am very sorry.. but to me thats just what it seems like. Either way had a good time there and now its time for bed. We have to go to church tomorrow... well thats not true, we want to go to church tomorrow so we need to get to bed. Much love.

--Kerry

P.S. I just noticed that this is post number 50! That is awesome, thank God we have been able to keep up with it, I hope its not just a bunch of ramble and that some if not all of you enjoy reading it.

Mount Laundry

After I spent half of today getting caught up on these blogs, I tackled our laundry. Between our clothes, and Maymie's blankets, I think I did about 5 or 6 loads. The process was halted because I ran out of dryer sheets, so after a brief trip to Wal*Mart I got that show on the road. As of now everything is clean, but nowhere near being "done." I really hate folding laundry (Yes, I know, "Get over it, kids generate a ton of laundry." I'll cross that bridge when I get to it in 4 months.) so I probably wouldn't have folded it even if it was only 1 load. After I got it all heaped in a pile, we got ready and headed out to Joann's. While we were at Burlington Coat Factor yesterday, I absolutely fell in LOVE with this baby bedding. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a turtle freak, so this bedding is absolutely perfect for my child. It's way out of my price range, and my Mom already volunteered to make bedding for us, so now the search is on for fabric. Sadly, I'm having a hard time finding patterns with turtles in them that aren't Noah's Ark or jungle scenes, so if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. I may have walked away empty handed today, but I won't give up on it, so the search will continue.

This is the laundry monster that has taken up residence in our bedroom. =/

This collection is called Turtle Reef by Cocalo. Ahhhhhh, it's perfect!!!!

This is my "Joann's doesn't carry any cute fabric" face. (Yes, I'm aware that there's turtles to the left of my head, but you see, they're not the right kind.)

--Kristin

Sit back and relax.

Although vacations are definitely fun, and a much needed get away, it's always nice to come home and just relax. The amount of time we requested off and were actually gone gave us 2 days to recuperate after we got home, so we lazed around and didn't do a whole lot today. I did a lot of sleeping, and Kerry did a lot of video game playing. Maymie mostly stuck to sleeping with me, but she also did a lot of well..nothing. She's pretty darn lazy actually. But once we finally got up and around we decided to head over to the Grapevine Mills mall. Kerry found his "daddy bag," and we made a Build-A-Bear for lil' boy. For anyone who hasn't made one before (I hadn't), it's actually pretty fun! We finally agreed on a tiger, and then we stuffed him, gave him a heart, gave him an air bath, dressed him, and made his birth certificate. Atreyu the Tiger has now joined us in our very impatient wait to meet this little boy. =]

He's stylin' in his rocker outfit, complete with "Converse." He looks like he'll be an awesome friend. =]

--Kristin

Home again, home again, jiggity jig.

With this being the final day of vacation, it was pretty uneventful. We all woke up and had some more of that free breakfast, and unfortunately said our goodbyes shortly thereafter. It's always hard to say goodbye to someone, especially family, not knowing when the next time is that you'll see them. Maybe it's just me, I'm a freakin' softie, or maybe everyone else is the same and has the ability to cover it up. Either way, we all took off (us later than the rest because there was another brief phone disappearance) and headed home. It rained most of the way home, so we decided to take a break in Waco and do some shopping/get some lunch. There was a Ross, Marshall's, and Kohl's all in the same parking lot, so I was in heaven. After picking up some treasures for lil' boy, we were back on the road home. We were excited to be home of course, but we got to get Maymie back. We missed each other terribly, and were all ready to sprawl out in our own beds.

I'm a bargain hunter, so this was all less than $50. I look at that and it looks like a lot, but I know we still have a long way to go until we're fully ready for him. Works out for me, I love shopping!! =]

--Kristin

SeaWorld? More like SunburnWorld!

Today was the grand finale of the vacation: SeaWorld. Not going to lie, I was pretty excited, I've never gotten to go to any big theme park other than a brief stint to Elitch Gardens for band in middle school. I'm not much of a thrill seeker, so the fact that I'm pregnant and can't go on any rides didn't really bother me, I wouldn't have gone anyway. The big boys sure enjoyed themselves though, I think they rode the same 2 roller coasters about a million times. And the food was sweet, we got an all you can eat pass and so it was pig-out city, awesome! The day was fairly overcast, and before too long it was raining. The worst of it was while we were under a giant roof watching Shamu, so it worked out quite well. Shamu was pretty stinkin' cool. The fact that humans can train that large of an animal that they can't really interact with is amazing. I sadly don't have any pictures of the whales, because I had to make a pee break before the show (of course), and I got separated from everyone else. Luckily Taylor and Timmy found me and we got splashed by Shamu's freezing salt water, but everyone else thought I had gotten cut up into little pieces and fed to the whales. ;] We finally met up afterwords and headed to the waterpark. By this time the sun was out, and it was nice to float in the water and relax. After the waterpark, we saw another water show: Azul. This one was with dolphins, and it was almost like a Cirque du Soleil type thing. There were people jumping and flipping off of every surface, and it was quite the magical experience to be honest. That wrapped up our day, so we headed back to the hotel after visiting the gift shop. The funniest part to me was the fact that I got burned before we ever went swimming. Legs, arms, face, everything. I'm pretty talented at turning into a lobster, ask anyone in my family. Let's hope this boy doesn't get his mommy's weenie skin!!

The boys' first ride of the day: Adventure to Atlantis. Kerry and Tatum are clear in the back, while Nita and I watch in horror as they get wheeled away to be soaked.

I still don't trust sting rays after what they did to poor Steve Irwin, and I mean really, does that face look gentle?! Yeah, it kind of does actually. =/

This was the ending of Azul. Note the dolphins proper "bow."

Couldn't leave without getting something for baby! Afterall, this was the easiest vacation he'll ever have been on. ;]

--Kristin

Hi-ho, hi-ho, to the Alamo we go!

Let the sight-seeing begin! We all woke up fairly early for being on vacation and grabbed some breakfast from our delish continental breakfast, and hoped to hit the Alamo before it got too hot. Unfortunately, it's always hot down South, so that was a lost cause. I have been to the Alamo before when I was probably 10 or so, but Kerry hadn't. It was neat to go back and be able to appreciate the history behind it this time and take my time to honor all the fallen heroes. After we finished up walking through the Alamo, we headed towards the Riverwalk. Our agenda was lunch, and our destination was Rainforest Cafe. That place never goes out of style, no matter how old you are. It's fun to sit through the "tropical storms" and dine with the elephants and gorillas, and I think the little kids even enjoyed it too. ;] We walked the mall a bit more, and then headed back to soak up some much needed air conditioning, and rest up for the evening. We went to The Magic Time Machine to celebrate Melia's birthday (June 14th) since we obviously wouldn't be able to get together and do so on the actual day, and had dinner and met up with Kerry's cousins and their children. It's a themed restaurant, full of a little bit of everything, and we had Ariel from The Little Mermaid as our server, and boy was that interesting. Anyone who knows my husband knows that he can get along with just about anyone, and needless to say the server got along with him really well. Any other time I would grow horns and have steam coming out of my nose if someone hit on him like that, but it was actually quite funny this time. Taylor and Timmy had a thing: everytime we went out they'd try and see who's "side" the server was on (we had all females), and this time she ended up on Kerry's side, without him even trying. Silly, silly boys. Needless to say, it was a day full of fun and good food, two things you can never have too much of. =]

Not the greatest picture of me, but it meant a lot to get it taken. My Dad got to visit the Alamo with his parents when he was little and got a picture of him, his brothers, and his dad. His dad passed away when he was only 3, so he really cherishes that time he had with him, and that picture is a happy reminder of that day. When we visited when we were younger, we got a picture of me, my sister, and my dad. It makes me pretty emotional to think that 3 generations have stood in that very spot. No, he's not here yet, but I was very proud to get to take my son there as well.

Oh Braeden, how we all wish we could get carted around and get a nap at the same time. ;] For such a little guy, he did really well that whole trip though. (He's only about 5 months old!)

I look like a giant creeper, but I had to capture this happening. I work at a normal, free-standing CVS/Pharmacy, and there was a little convenience store sized one tucked away in the wall. Weirdest thing I've ever seen.

--Kristin

Sunday = Day of rest.

Today wasn't a super productive day, basically just waiting for the rest of the family to roll into town, aka lots of time killing. We decided to go to the mall on the Riverwalk, which smelled by the way, and ended up just grabbing some lunch and walking it off. Shortly after that the parents, along with Melia, Alex, and Braeden, showed up, so we got to check into the hotel. We then waited for Taylor and his friend Timmy that he brought along to show up, and then it was off to Bass Pro to find little Braeden a life jacket to sport at SeaWorld. It would've been a smooth trip, but of course Kerry lost track of his cell phone in there and had to go on a rescue mission. The phone was luckily saved, so we had some Red Lobster to celebrate. This would be awesome for anyone else, but I absolutely abhor seafood, so I stuck with some mozzerella sticks for dinner. (I'm totally down to eat anywhere and go along for the ride, I just either order American, or don't eat at all. Don't be offended, I make it work. ;]) The night was finished off with some swimming, killer whale impressions, and the boys (big and small) seeing who could make the biggest splash.

That little boy in the middle was getting it!!! He had a tiny little guitar and was rocking out along to the music that was playing at the mall. I halfway expected him to end it by smashing the guitar and yelling "Thank you San Antonio!!"

This one doesn't need much of an explanation, I think I lol'd. This must be where the guys of Jersey Shore do official business.


--Kristin

Are we there yet???

Today we're leaving for our vacation to San Antonio to meet up with all of Kerry's (and my) family. We'll get to hang out with his parents, siblings, and their significant other or friend. We had the shortest drive out of everyone (Tatum and Nita had about 8 hours from Amarillo, and his parents/Taylor and Timmy had about 15 hours from Alamosa, CO) with our trip only taking about 5 hours. Normally that wouldn't be half bad for a road trip, but the stretch from Dallas to San Antonio goes straight through Austin and Waco, making it seem like you're driving in rush hour traffic for 5 solid hours. 'Twas not fun times. We both had to work that morning, so after getting off around 2 and packing the car, we were off. Tatum and Nita were headed that way also, while everyone else was splitting the drive and would roll in the following morning. I personally was excited because this was the first hotel I ever booked, and I was feeling like quite the big girl. It actually was a decent hotel, and I would totally recommend hotwire.com to anyone looking at booking a vacation..I paid $40 for a $60 hotel. *Pats self on back* Anyhoo, after several stops for ol' peepants here, we finally made it and met up with Tatum and Nita, and we decided to go grab some dinner. Pizza Hut it was, nothing too special, but it definitely got the job done. Right as we were ordering I accidentally made a small scene by grabbing Kerry's hand and shoving it onto my belly: he got to feel our son's hiccups for the first time. It's the strangest feeling, like your pulse, only faster, more irregular, and more pronounced. I thought it was pretty cool, the waiter thought I was a nutcase. Oh well. =]

Straight through all cities, ugh. Made for some fun shopping on the way back though! =]


--Kristin

Ketchup.

This is the first of many "catch-up" entries, so I'll try my hardest to make each one interesting and special in it's own way, like a snowflake. =] So Friday was an interesting day, I was lucky enough to have the day off, which worked out great because my name is Kristin and I'm a procrastinator: I hadn't done any packing. It's hard to make sure you have everything you need for yourself, let alone another person. I'm just honing in on my Mom skills and going through daily routines in my head to make sure I have everything I need. Luckily most men are low maintenance and carefree, so as long as you pack them at least 1 outfit you're good to go. (It's our job as women to make sure that clean underwear and deodorant are present, otherwise they'd be more than happy to go without. Ickkk!!) And of course I had to get Miss Maymie's little bag ready to go, because we were lucky enough that our friends Justin and Stephanie decided that they could handle her wackiness for a few days, what a lifesaver! But alas, I got the family packed and we were ready to go. Scratch that, THEY were ready to go. I still needed to do that last load of laundry, clean the kitchen, and run the dishwasher. (Who else is with me: Isn't coming home to a dirty house the WORST?!?) But before I could dive deep into that filth, we had a normal Dr's appointment to head to. It was pretty routine, he's growing at a crazy rate, already bigger than he should be. (He was 2 days behind at 12 weeks, and now he's 2 days ahead at 18 weeks..this should be interesting. =]) The doctor also scheduled us another higher level ultrasound for next week to check on a few things, nothing major, but prayers for a growing baby couldn't hurt eh? ;] Of course we're super excited to get to see him again, it's an indescribable feeling. Hopefully we'll get some more pictures next week, but until then here's the one from "yesterday."

Is he not the cutest thing you've ever seen?!? I can't wait to have him here to spoil and love on!!


--Kristin

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy...

Today was the day we went to the doctors office and found out what we are having. Can you guess? Its a boy! I know some people are smiling their smug smiles and saying to themselves, "Well I guess we don't all get what we want do we." and things like, "Hope you are happy with a boy." I know just because thats how people are, they hope for the fault of other people. I guess it must be human nature. But so much for human nature and all those people who wish we were upset about it. Cause we aren't.

I was sitting in the room with the lights low and only the noise of the sonographer typing. She was looking at the sonogram and she asked us if we wanted to know what our baby was. Then she told us it was a boy. I don't know how any one else in the world felt at that moment. But I was hit with a chest full of butterflies. I think knowing the sex of the baby brings the experience to life.

And now for a name!

Kristin was discussing names with one of our friends and our hair dresser Corrina (she seems to have been in a lot of posts lately) and Corrina made a valid point. This is his name. This is the name that he will be called by us for the rest of his life. His girlfriend will come up with a nickname based on this. He will sign it to his checks, contracts, and wedding license. This will be the name his friends call him, his wife will say to him and his co-workers will remember. It is his name.
So its pretty powerful. I mean names are a big deal, so I thought, why not make this a big deal. I know what you are thinking, no really I don't, but you could be thinking that this is a bad idea. I think its a really good idea. The idea is that we need all of your help. If you read and follow the blog, if you don't follow the blog and you just read it, and I'll post this on facebook, we need all of your help. We are going to start this name game by asking you, all of you, what great boy names would be. I want them all, but I want you to really think about it. Don't send me something like Mansfield that you know I would never pick, or I mean that Kristin would never pick. Send us real names, real names you like. I'll let you know right now that we aren't using the names that most people have. I'm not saying I don't like the name Micheal or Tim, but I don't want to use them. So send me your names, send me what you think would be interesting for our baby to be named. Then from there we'll have an elimination round. And soon name by name will be going home with no glory at all. Plus it'll be fun. So send them text message, email, comment, phone call, or tell me in person.

--Kerry

Baby, you wouldn't last a minute on the creek...

So I just wanted to say that Kristin being pregnant has made many changes to our lives. We knew that it would, you knew that it would, he knew that it would. But they didn't know that it wood, they thought it rock. Okay if any one gets that its only because they have hung around me too much.

Either way we all knew it would change and some if the things that have changed are pretty sweet. You know what people call sympathy weight? The real name for that is weight is called, "I am too lazy to make anything but am kinda hungry so why don't we make a McDonalds run weight." Most guys probably don't want me to tell you that but its the truth.

This picture here is a late night excursion to Micky D's because we were hungry and just wanted to go get something to eat. Man I hope that it doesn't come back to haunt me. (Quickly peers at waistline.)

Either way I am going to start a nasty diet when we get back from vacation so I better live it up until then.

I also wanted to mention that if you buy candy and set it out, whether or not you've said you were going to eat the candy, if it was out and in front of the computer its fair game. I'm just saying.

--Kerry

R is for Run, okay GO!

So I got my hair cut today and though this does not present to you it in all of its hair awesomeness glory this was the only shot I wanted to take. You see a few days ago there turned out to be something that if gaged could be called the largest and most disgusting zit I have ever heard of. But man I'm telling you it had to be so much more than that. I know some of you may not like gross zit stories but this one was for the books. It probably wasn't a zit in all actuality but if it was it was the Hulk of zits. For some reason it just kept on coming.

Either way the hair cutting was awesome and the lazy day was good. I plan on being much more lazy tomorrow and trying to get a tan by hanging out at the pool. I should say that I play on evening my tan out at the pool. The other day when I was mowing the lawn over at Justin's house I got a raging tan in just four hours but it was only on the exposed area's. Not awesome. I mean farmers tans are great, for farmers. So as a little vacation prep I plan on get the rest of me tanned tomorrow. The problem is I can't really see color very well and I don't know how long to stay out there without getting burnt. So I could come back a lobster.

Kristin is working this evening so I get to watch cartoons and Iron Man. I hope. The house is pretty clean and I'm just trying to keep from making a mess. I also need to finish reading the Wizards First Rule. I wanted to have it done by vacation so that I could let mom borrow it but I don't think that its going to happen. Oh and for all of you who want an update on Kristin: She is good. thats about all I know. She doesn't think everything is gross any more and is eating better. But she has been having some weird dreams so we just need to pray for those to go away.

--Kerry